question stringlengths 3 301 | answer stringlengths 9 26.1k | context list |
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Are there any obligate carnivores that are omnivores? | I think grizzly bears fit the bill. They are mostly carnivorous omnviores. They prey on large mammals like deer and moose, and they love fish. They also eat nuts, berries, tubers, and grasses. They probably eat more meat during the the fall so as to store as much fat as possible to prepare for torpor during winter.
H... | [
"Though Carnivora is a taxon for species classification, no such equivalent exists for omnivores, as omnivores are widespread across multiple taxonomic clades. The Carnivora order does not include all carnivorous species, and not all species within the Carnivora taxon are carnivorous. It is common to find physiolog... |
if alcohol tastes terrible, why do people drink it? | I think you start drinking it for the effect and then start to enjoy it after a while. It's like coffee as a kid I thought it was gross and then started liking it as I got older and like the affect.. maybe it's the same. It definitely doesn't taste great but it kind of tastes like relaxation and good times 👍🏽 | [
"Vomiting excessive amounts of alcohol is an attempt by the body to prevent alcohol poisoning and death. Vomiting may also be caused by other drugs, such as opiates, or toxins found in some foods and plants. Food allergies and sensitivities, such as lactose intolerance, can cause vomiting.\n",
"Alcohol can be a d... |
Why can't bacteriophages infect eukaryotic cells? | All viruses look for a specific site on the cell wall of the cell they are trying to infect. The sites that bacteriophages are looking for only exist on bacteria. This is one major reason why there is a significant risk of viruses being transmitted between humans and other mammals, but almost no risk of viruses being t... | [
"Gramicidin's bactericidal activity is a result of increasing the permeability of the bacterial cell membrane, allowing inorganic monovalent cations (e.g. Na) to travel through unrestricted and thereby destroying the ion gradient between the cytoplasm and the extracellular environment.\n",
"Though neutrophils can... |
if having a straight back is the 'proper' position, why isn't it the 'natural' position? | You are asking about natural posture, but you have probably never seen a human who lives in a natural habitat. Chairs, and a sedentary lifestyle, are the reason that most people don't have good posture. [Hunter gatherers have great posture and make it to old age with few back and hip problems](_URL_1_)
Western Europ... | [
"In general, the back should be flat. Overarching causes stiffness, rounding not only looks bad, but affects the rider's balance. A slightly rounded back is acceptable cross-country when used in the safety seat.\n",
"On the left are represented the more traditional and descriptive terms \"end\" and \"slotback\" (... |
with modern technology, why do pharmacists still exist as a profession? | Pharmacists are the human check of symptoms against legit prescriptions against frequency of dispensation. Advice of drug interaction between patients and a computer system cannot assess the individual patient's needs.
& #x200B;
They also provide advice for all customers and potential patients for low-level non-doct... | [
"Unlike Europe, the United States has never produced practicing pharmacist-scientists of the caliber of Carl Scheele or Joseph Pierre Pelletier, who made important discoveries in the laboratories associated with their pharmacies. It should be noted, however, that the sciences were becoming increasingly specialized ... |
Why did East Germany do so well in the Olympics, in relation to West Germany and Germany today | **Part I**
It is very tempting to reduce all of the GDR's success in the Olympics from the late 1960s to 1988 to the state's use of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. The GDR's program for these substances was quite large and substantial. Although other Olympic teams used such substances, the GDR... | [
"East Germany did however achieve significantly greater success in Olympic football than the amateur teams fielded by the Western NOC of Germany. In 1956, 1960, and 1964 both states had sent a United Team of Germany. For 1964, the East German side had beaten their Western counterparts in order to be selected. They ... |
why does technology seem to develop linear instead of in jumps? | The bleeding edge of research does move in jumps, but manufacturing doesn't.
The stuff that reaches consumers has to be produced in mass quantities in giant factories. You can't go retrofit the entire assemly line every time there's a research breakthrough, so there's a slow incremental change in production capacity ... | [
"Simulations can be performed offline (as in apart from when they are viewed) in the development of special effects for movies. Speed is therefore not strictly a necessity in the production of special effects but is still desirable for reasonably responsive feedback and because the hardware required for slower meth... |
why do printers decide to randomly do...something every so often? | Ink jet Printer heads need to have the ink wiped off of them before it dries, and also the head needs to be sealed to reduce risk of blockages. It doesn't do this right away because you might still want to print something. It has some logic which tells it it's time to clean during printing, or that it's sat idle for lo... | [
"When printing a web page, the ease of printing depends on the length of the page, compared to shorter web pages with pagination. In longer web pages which have infinite scrolling (for example, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter), it is harder to print all pages as the total number of upcoming pages is unknown. Therefo... |
how are these kind of space images captured? | Yah they are taken with the hubble space telescope or other ground based telescopes. None of the colors are real though. They colorize the spectrum so that we can see them and distinguish things. A lot of awesome space photos are taken in the microwave spectrum which we cant see at all so they just assign colors to eac... | [
"A digital photograph may be created directly from a physical scene by a camera or similar device. Alternatively, a digital image may be obtained from another image in an analog medium, such as photographs, photographic film, or printed paper, by an image scanner or similar device. Many technical images—such as tho... |
why proper emulation of older systems is still hard on new computers | Honey, let's take a break from the games and eat your peas.
Also: difference of dedicated processors v. multi-tasking within an already high-functioning OS. | [
"Earlier emulators had sought to accurately emulate all low-level operations of a target machine; this worked well for consoles such as the Super NES and Genesis that were substantially simpler than the computer running the emulator.\n",
"While the emulator is no longer updated and has become obsolete as other em... |
Any help would be appreciated
concerning history from 1800 - present | 1) Science does not conflict with religion, many prominent early scientists were quite religious. Believing in a God in no way hinders your abilities to make advances in science. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just being close-minded (this goes for both Theists and Atheists.)
2) Ironically, I would say that nationa... | [
"Robert Roswell Palmer (January 11, 1909 – June 11, 2002), commonly known as R. R. Palmer, was a distinguished American historian at Princeton and Yale universities, who specialized in eighteenth-century France. His most influential work of scholarship, \"The Age of the Democratic Revolution: A Political History of... |
Why are there mushrooms growing in a trail in my back yard? | Cool picture!
Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungal mycelium.
_URL_0_
The threadlike mycelium is growing under the ground there in the shape of that line. If I had to guess why, I would say they are associated with a tree root that is growing in that shape, as basidiomycetes (the type of fungi that make mush... | [
"This mushroom is common in grassy woods, and on roadside verges in Britain, Europe, Asia (Iran) and parts of North America, growing on rotting wood. It particularly favours wood-chip mulches in gardens, and parks.\n",
"Mushrooms are mostly found during hot spells in summer and autumn, growing in mycorrhizal asso... |
How realistic is widespread nuclear energy? Does the Earth have enough uranium deposits to provide power long term? | I'm hoping someone with more concise data comes in to add numerical content, as I don't have a lot of my data/notes available at work.
From a qualitative perspective, it depends on a lot of things. One of those things is what type of nuclear reactors we use in the future. Current plants generally use about 1% of the u... | [
"Various agencies have tried to estimate how long these primary resources will last, assuming a once-through cycle. The European Commission said in 2001 that at the current level of uranium consumption, known uranium resources would last 42 years. When added to military and secondary sources, the resources could be... |
i dont understand spacetime and its relevance with gravity, eli5 please... | To understand the answer to this question, we first have to understand what curved spacetime is, and how it relates to falling objects.
Spacetime is a four dimensional object. Three of these dimensions are spatial, and one is temporal. In classical mechanics, space and time are the stage on which things move: they ar... | [
"Special relativity eliminates absolute time (although Gödel and others suspect absolute time may be valid for some forms of general relativity) and general relativity further reduces the physical scope of absolute space and time through the concept of geodesics. There appears to be absolute space in relation to th... |
How close are we to being able to create a video game that interfaces directly with the brain? | Surgeons are capable of implanting electrodes directly into the brain that react when that area of the brain is activated (i.e. when the person has a specific thought), providing a direct form of Brain-Computer Input. One problem with this method is that the control method is not intuitive. To "go forward" in a game, f... | [
"BULLET::::- Google DeepMind – The company has created a neural network that learns how to play video games in a similar fashion to humans and a neural network that may be able to access an external memory like a conventional Turing machine, resulting in a computer that appears to possibly mimic the short-term memo... |
is there a non-cynical explanation for rich people running for office? or interested at all in cabinet positions and politics in general? | It's pretty simple: Running a campaign costs money. People who have lots of money don't have to go to work to get their paycheck. They can devote 100% of their time and energy to campaigning. They can afford all the flags and banners and employees and commercials that are required to run a successful campaign. And... | [
"There is also the so-called Carnegie effect describes the effect of how inherited fame and political network may decrease one's incentive to work hard. Most hereditary politicians were able to get a political position with relatively less effort compare to those who had no political background. Inherited advantage... |
When the Greeks fought the Romans, did they use short 6' spears or long 22' ones? | The short answer is both. The longer answer is far more complex.
'The Greeks' were not a monolithic entity. Nor was their military innovation static in the 300-odd years during which Rome fought with cities and nations that laid claim to Greek heritage.
The Macedonians, and the other Successor States of Alexander's E... | [
"Legionaries of the late republic and early empire often carried two \"pila\", with one sometimes being lighter than the other. Standard tactics called for Roman soldiers to throw one of them (both if time permitted) at the enemy, just before charging to engage with the \"gladius\"; however, Alexander Zhmodikov has... |
what's the behind the meaning of a "neckbeard"? | A decent beard should be, to at least some degree sculpted or manicured. Just basic hygiene really.
A "Neckbeard" refers to someone who has a beard not because they want one, but most likely simply as a result of inattention to grooming. Usually paired with wrinkled, smelly clothes, a surly attitude, and poor social ... | [
"\"Neckbeard\" is a pejorative term and stereotype for men who exhibit characteristics such as social awkwardness, underachievement or pretentiousness. The term is associated with the currently (2010–present) unfashionable facial hair style known as a neck beard, and by extension, to a stereotype of overweight, ath... |
why is an earthquake- warning system valuable when it only gives a warning a few seconds prior to the actual earthquake, at best? | The way I'm reading the articles is that the warning system itself was successful (as a prototype), and that 4 seconds is an indicator that they might be able to get more in the future (30 or 40 seconds) -- not that the 4 seconds was a successful warning.
30 or 40 seconds is enough to evacuate a small building, or sto... | [
"Earthquake warning systems strive to rapidly detect earthquakes and alert the population in advance. When the system detects an earthquake, a potentially large number of people in affected locations not too close to the epicenter can receive the warning several seconds (5 to 60) before damaging shaking occurs. Thi... |
what does franchise tagging mean in the nfl? | When a player completes the last year of his contract, he becomes a free agent and is allowed to entertain offers from any team in the NFL with one exception. The team that previously employed him has the option of employing the "franchise tag" so that he stays on their team one more year. As of the new CBA, they are f... | [
"NFL Players Inc. was created as the for profit marketing subsidiary of the National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA. Its stated goal is helping players in the National Football League use their commercial licensing rights to secure marketing and business opportunities. When players enter the NFL and ... |
why can people hold their breath for a relatively long amount of time, but feel out of breath after a few seconds of chugging water? | I’m sure it has something to do with how our brains react to different situations. If someone were to try to inhale water while in a pool, it would be extremely difficult because our brains know that it isn’t the right action to take. | [
"When not breathing for long and dangerous periods of time in cold water, a person's body undergoes great temporary changes to try to prevent death. It achieves this through the activation of the mammalian diving reflex, which has 3 main properties. Other than Bradycardia and Peripheral vasoconstriction, there is a... |
since reusable rockets can reduce the costs, why nasa never had the interest or investment like spacex ? | NASA was hugely interested in it. The Space Shuttle was a completely reusable rocket powered spacecraft. It brought back and reused the engines, the most expensive part of the launch system. The Solid rocket boosters on the sides were also reusable. Only the big fuel tank was destroyed each flight, and that was one o... | [
"If SpaceX is successful in developing the reusable technology, it is expected to significantly reduce the cost of access to space, and change the increasingly competitive market in space launch services. Michael Belfiore wrote in \"Foreign Policy\" in 2013 that, at a published cost of per launch to low Earth orbit... |
If it takes a few minutes for your brain to die without oxygen, why do people lose consciousness and die almost instantly when shot/stabbed through the heart? | > Physiologically, a determined adversary can be stopped reliably and immediately only by a shot that disrupts the brain or upper spinal cord. Failing a hit to the central nervous system, massive bleeding from holes in the heart or major blood vessels of the torso causing circulatory collapse is the only other way to ... | [
"Under normal conditions, humans cannot store much oxygen in the body. Prolonged apnea leads to severe lack of oxygen in the blood circulation. Permanent brain damage can occur after as little as three minutes and death will inevitably ensue after a few more minutes unless ventilation is restored. However, under sp... |
how does gas-x work? | The active ingredient in Gas\-X is Simethicone. This compound acts by making small bubbles of gas combine to form larger ones which are passed more easily. | [
"Gasotransmitters is a subfamily of endogenous molecules of gases or gaseous signaling molecules, including NO, CO, . These particular gases share many common features in their production and function but carry on their tasks in unique ways, which differ from classical signaling molecules, in the human body. In 198... |
why did us congress pass a law to ensure all helium in the us national helium reserve is sold by 2015? what benefit does this have? | In 1995 We had gathered a stockpile of over 1 billion cubic meters but had also racked up a debt of $1.4 billion doing so. The law was not to sell off all stockpiles, it was to start selling off the stockpile until that debt was covered. It was all part of a plan to privatize the harvesting of helium and get the contro... | [
"By 1995, a billion cubic meters of the gas had been stored, but the reserve was US$1.4 billion in debt, prompting the Congress of the United States in 1996 to phase out the reserve. The resulting \"Helium Privatization Act of 1996\" (Public Law 104–273) directed the United States Department of the Interior to empt... |
Is there any portion of your field that is limited by mathematics? | Oh see I find we have the exact *opposite* problem right now. We have so many different choices for the math, and we don't have the data to know which one is correct. | [
"Mathematical challenges generally refer to more basic mathematics such as that experienced in elementary or junior high school, but can extend to any realm of the study. It is commonly accepted that mathematics is a difficult area of study. Even so, it is generally agreed that the difficulty experienced when one a... |
How was the American civil rights movement covered in the media of apartheid era South Africa? | I'm afraid I can't offer specific information on headlines relating to major events, but I do know a little regarding the general social attitude, which was reflected in the media discourse of the conservative white newspapers.
I'm basing most of this on a collection of essays edited by Sue Onslow, *Cold War in Southe... | [
"In the late 1980’s South Africa was a bedrock for mass protest action met with violence from the apartheid police. By 1988 Aggrey Klaaste was the editor of The Sowetan (previously The World) which was the largest circulating black newspaper in the country at the time. The ANC accused The Sowetan of showing prefere... |
Is it possible to view the moon landing sites through a powerful enough telescope? | [This](_URL_0_) is about as much detail as we have so far....will we ever make a powerful enough telescope to see this? maybe..who knows.
The problem is that the objects are quite small, and the moon is a *long* way away. This heavily reduces the amount of photons being reflected by these objects, back to earth an... | [
"Moon-landing conspiracists claim that observatories and the Hubble Space Telescope should be able to photograph the landing sites. This implies that the world's major observatories (as well as the Hubble Program) are complicit in the hoax by refusing to take photos of the landing sites. Photos of the Moon have bee... |
I just read up on the Russian Sleep Experiment and the Milgram Experiment. Can anybody give me a list of similar experiments i can research? | The Russian Sleep experiment isn't a real thing. It's a work of fiction. | [
"\"The Russian Sleep Experiment\" (also referred to as \"Orange Soda\") is the name of a short Internet horror story and urban legend – a creepypasta – written by an anonymous author. The anonymously penned short story has since inspired artists in other media and has resulted in the publication of films and a nove... |
why does water on the horizon look as if it is above ground level when it is flat? | You're not used to seeing such an uninterrupted expanse (to the horizon).
The water lays at eye level, essentially.
A flat desert would look the same. | [
"Under ideal conditions, an observer looking up at the water surface from underneath sees a perfectly circular image of the entire above-water hemisphere—from horizon to horizon. Due to refraction at the air/water boundary, Snell's window compresses a 180° angle of view above water to a 97° angle of view below wate... |
how does a computer program arrange transistors to run a program? in other words, if transistors are so small, how can a computer ever know how to create the circuit required to run a program? | A computer does not "arrange transistors". They aren't moved around to form circuits to run programs, they already are in the required configuration within the CPU. The CPU is manufactured that way with everything already in place as needed.
Computer programs simply interact with the CPU as it is designed to perform t... | [
"A computer program is a list of instructions that can be executed by a central processing unit. A program's execution is done in order for the CPU that is executing it to solve a specific problem and thus accomplish a specific result. While simple processors are able to execute instructions one after another, supe... |
Why is it that the Gothic religion of Arianism died out as opposed to the more Roman-Orthodox sects of Christianity? | There's certainly more to be said, but you might [ find elements of answer ](_URL_1_) in t[hese posts](_URL_0_)
Basically, "Arianism" ( a pejorative name for Homoian creed, identifying it with actual Arianism) was a creation of the imperial court adopted by Goths at first to pay-lip service to the emperor (there's no ... | [
"The Gothic War also affected the religion of the Empire. Valens had been an Arian Christian and his death at Adrianople helped pave the way for Theodosius to make Nicene Christianity the dominant form of Christianity for the Roman people. The Goths, like many barbarian peoples, converted to Arianism.\n",
"Gothic... |
What are reliable sources of information on the Scandinavian invasion of the Anglo-Saxon England and their presence there from 793 till 1066? | Your go-to primary sources are *The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle* and Asser's *Vita Ælfredi*. Exercise standard cautions. It's also worth looking through William of Malmesbury.
Your standard work is Stenton's perennial *Anglo-Saxon England*. There's a whole library of literature on the reigns of Alfred and his descendants, b... | [
"After 800, records of Viking raids (as in the example above) also make up a large number of entries. Other entries include observations of astronomical events, such as a solar eclipse that took place on June 29, 512. Some events outside Ireland also appear in the Chronicle; during some parts of the eighth and nint... |
how does so much oil exist on earth? | The oil was formed over literally millions of years.
And we *are* using it up. At current consumption rates it could be gone in well under 200 years. | [
"Due to its high energy density, easy transportability and relative abundance, oil has become the world's most important source of energy since the mid-1950s. Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics; the 16 percent not... |
Does antimatter reflect photons? | The electromagnetic force (which is mediated by photons) does not distinguish between matter and antimatter. In other words, the electromagnetic force has [charge conjugation symmetry](_URL_0_). | [
"Seen another way, the photon can be considered as its own antiparticle (thus an \"antiphoton\" is simply a normal photon). The reverse process, pair production, is the dominant mechanism by which high-energy photons such as gamma rays lose energy while passing through matter. That process is the reverse of \"annih... |
Are there examples of cultures and acculturation in nature outside of the homo genus? | Cultures have been described in many primate species and aspects of cultures in other [animals as well](_URL_1_). For instance, in chimps and other primates certain groups use certain types of tools in very specific ways. One individual comes up with this novel use and then passes this use onto other individuals in its... | [
"A further key critique of cultural evolutionism is what is known as \"armchair anthropology\". The name results from the fact that many of the anthropologists advancing theories had not seen first hand the cultures they were studying. The research and data collected was carried out by explorers and missionaries as... |
time (before you downvote, please look) | No. Time passed before humans / earth existed. Matter collecting into planets takes *time*. | [
"\"Back in Time\" presents the most relevant events in history using a 24-hour clock as a time analogy. This analogy scales the entire age of the universe (13.7 billion years) into a single day (24 hours) so that the beginning of the universe (Big Bang) started at 0:00h and at present time the imaginary clock reads... |
What was pre-Christian Slavic society like? | The facts are is that we know very little about pre-Christianity Slavs. What little we do know is from Christian sources and, sadly, they're very biased against the Slavs. However, it's highly unlikely that they were as barbaric as they were depicted. As for the common people, very little would have changed for them, e... | [
"The organization of early Slavic society seems largely to have been based in small towns run by a group of people rather than a single leader, and had a strong emphasis on one's family unit. The area proposed as the homeland of Slavic peoples is roughly around modern-day Eastern European countries. East Slavs emer... |
how can it take more than 5 minutes for an airline to know exactly who was on a plane that went down? | Another point I haven't seen is that families are contacted first and unfortunate verification that the person in particular was on this flight would probably get verified in this manner. It's a time consuming process. | [
"BULLET::::- \"Nothing else comes close to those first few seconds after leaving the plane, because once you take that last step there is no going back. A racing driver or a skier or climber can pull over and stop, have a rest, but with parachuting, once you cross that threshold, you have to see it through.\"\n",
... |
In the winter, if your door is open, do you let the heat out or the cold in? | Both, as hot air flows out and cold air flows in. | [
"The thick stone walls and dome of the trullo that cool pleasantly during the summer, tend to become unpleasantly cold during the winter months, condensing the moisture given off by cooking and breathing, making it difficult to feel warm even in front of the fire. The inhabitants simply leave the doors open during ... |
why does sand stick to everything even though it doesn't feel sticky? | Sand sticks to things in many ways just like flour does. Flour particles aren't sticky at all (while dry), but small enough to be caught in tangles of fabric fibers, attracted by even the slightest charges, or "grabbed" by microscopic droplets of water or oil (and the human body is literally covered with oil-drop and w... | [
"Sand grains will always stick together unless the sand is reasonably fine. While dry sand is loose, wet sand is adherent if the proper amounts of sand and water are used in the mixture. The reason for this is that water forms little \"bridges\" between the grains of sand when it is damp due to the forces of surfac... |
How do USB power adapters convert power from outlets to that usable for our phones? | A power adapter is more than a transformer and rectifier. It first rectifies the AC into 170 or 340VDC (depending on whether you have 120 or 240 VAC service). Then a transistor switches the DC at around 100kHz and that is applied to a transformer. The transformer converts the switched DC (which is effectively AC now) ... | [
"Since the Universal Serial Bus specification provides for a five-volt power supply (with limited maximum power), it is possible to use a USB cable to connect a device to a power supply. Products based on this approach include chargers for cellular phones, portable digital audio players, and tablet computers. They ... |
what makes a dry martini "dry?" | There are two kinds of vermouth, sweet and dry. Sweet is red, dry is clear. A martini is made with gin or vodka and dry vermouth. When you ask for a dry martini, you're saying you want a minimal amount of vermouth. You're not specifying dry vermouth, since a martini is always made with dry vermouth. A very dry martini ... | [
"In a dry martini, \"dry\" refers to the amount of vermouth used in the drink. A \"perfect\" martini – or any other cocktail that uses vermouth, such as a Perfect Manhattan – is a martini made with equal parts dry and sweet vermouth.\n",
"BULLET::::- A \"dry martini\" uses less dry vermouth than normal, perhaps a... |
how is energy from renewable sources, like wind or solar, stored? | That’s actually a big issue holding us back from 100% renewables that they are still working feverishly on.
Right now, though, we can avoid the storage problems by having back-up energy capacity installed. Basically: if the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing, we just burn more fossil fuels to compensate for t... | [
"Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that comes from resources that are not significantly depleted by their use, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat. Renewable energy is gradually replacing conventional fuels in four distinct areas: electricity generation, hot water/space heat... |
quantum superposition | In a normal situation, things that you measure have that value before you try to measure them. You are in your parking lot before you look it up on GPS. You are moving 55 MPH before the cop radar blasts you. If you try to measure the speed or location of an electron, it actually doesn't have one until you take the meas... | [
"Quantum superposition is a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics. It states that, much like waves in classical physics, any two (or more) quantum states can be added together (\"superposed\") and the result will be another valid quantum state; and conversely, that every quantum state can be represented as a s... |
From what I understand, epic poems (Homer etc) were recited aloud from memory. Were there specific techniques the ancients used to memorise long passages? | Memory is pliable. Training in mnemonic techniques can be used to improve memory. The military academies require multiple things to be memorized at all times to enhance memory improvement.
Epic poems weren't recited word-for-word every time, at least not in our sense of the word. A poet would have a bag of tricks -... | [
"Research by Milman Parry and Albert Lord indicates that the verse of the Greek poet Homer has been passed down (at least in the Serbo-Croatian epic tradition) not by rote memorization but by \"Oral-formulaic composition\". In this process extempore composition is aided by use of stock phrases or \"formulas\" (expr... |
Russian Historians, any idea as to the context of this picture? | > Its a photograph entitled "Viktor Bulla's Pioneers in Defense Drill, Leningrad (1937)"
> It appears on page 79 of a book of photographs called "Propaganda and Dreams" by Leah Bendavid-Val.
Found [here](_URL_0_). | [
"In the words of the 2004 Encyclopædia Britannica, his \"History\" \"wove a vast body of data into a unified and orderly whole that provided an exceptionally powerful and vivid picture of Russia's political development over the centuries. The work inaugurated a new era in Russian scholarship with its depiction of R... |
Does one strand of DNA contain more genetic information than the other? | Both strands of DNA carry the same exact genetic information, just "mirrored" through base pairing. The genes are "stored" on both strands of DNA, that is how cells are able to copy each other via binary fission and not lose any genetic information. When it comes to the *reading frame* of a particular gene, this invo... | [
"Both strands of double-stranded DNA store the same biological information. This information is replicated as and when the two strands separate. A large part of DNA (more than 98% for humans) is non-coding, meaning that these sections do not serve as patterns for protein sequences. The two strands of DNA run in opp... |
Is there an opposite to clinical depression, a sort of "chronic happiness" or something like that? | To be classified as disorder, the condition must have negative effects to the person, his ability to to function, or to his environment. Mania is in some sense opposite of depression, but it comes in cycles in almost all cases, even if not every bipolar person has clear depression between manic episodes.
I think [h... | [
"A recent study analyzes time-dependent rhythms in happiness comparing life satisfaction by weekdays (weekend neurosis), days of the month (negative effects towards the end of the month) and year with gender and education and outlining the differences observed. Primarily within the winter months of the year, an ons... |
Why do temperatures seem more extreme when we first wake up? | Possibly because temperatures *are* more extreme early in the morning?
The side of the earth which faces away from the sun cools as much of the day's heat is radiated away into space. This is particularly true on cloudless nights.
From a more science-y standpoint, your metabolic activity decreases while sleeping, w... | [
"Sleep disturbances also affect temperatures. Normally, body temperature drops significantly at a person's normal bedtime and throughout the night. Short-term sleep deprivation produces a higher temperature at night than normal, but long-term sleep deprivation appears to reduce temperatures. Insomnia and poor sleep... |
im british and ive always heard jeff sessions's name bought up negativly...why are people protesting/ angry that he has been fired? | He recused himself from the investigation into Russians tampering with the 2016 election favoring Donald Trump. Meaning the investigation into Trump’s possible collusion with Russia and obstruction of Justice was being done by Sessions’ deputy, Rod Rosenstein.
By Firing Jeff Sessions, Trump can more easily stop the b... | [
"On September 15, 2017, Travis appeared as a guest on CNN, with anchor Brooke Baldwin, to discuss free speech, specifically whether ESPN personality, Jemele Hill, should be fired for calling Donald Trump a “white supremacist” and stating that police officers were “modern day slave catchers” on her personal Twitter ... |
why don't our lungs clog from all the tiny things we inhale? | In addition to the lung clearance provided by the ciliae there are tiny cells in the alveoli wall (the tiny bubbles the lung tissue is made out of) called macrophages whose task it is to basically "eat" rubbish and get rid of any foreign bodies. | [
"The lungs of mammals are spongy and honeycombed. Breathing is mainly achieved with the diaphragm, which divides the thorax from the abdominal cavity, forming a dome convex to the thorax. Contraction of the diaphragm flattens the dome, increasing the volume of the lung cavity. Air enters through the oral and nasal ... |
Why are humans still susceptible to superstitions? | There are a few reasons:
1) From an evolutionary perspective, there is a far greater risk in a false positive than a false negative. Think of the case of hearing a rustle in the bushes. You have to choose quickly whether it's a predator or not. If you think predator and you're wrong, you may feel foolish or waste some... | [
"In modern society, relying on superstitions has declined as there is more of an emphasis on rationality. As a result, many people are critical of acting on superstitious beliefs. Blindly turning to superstition, however, can still comfort the mind.\n",
"Psychologist Stuart Vyse has pointed out that until about 2... |
Why isn't spiciness a basic taste? | Spiciness, as in what you "taste" in peppers, is not a taste. It's actually a reaction between [capsaicin](_URL_1_) and the [trigeminal nerve](_URL_0_). Similarly, it's why you wouldn't call "minty" a basic flavor -- similar reaction, same nerve.
What capsaicin does to the trigeminal nerve is that it tricks the pain ... | [
"It has the unusual property that it either tastes very bitter or is virtually tasteless, depending on the genetic makeup of the taster. The ability to taste PTC is often treated as a dominant genetic trait, although inheritance and expression of this trait are somewhat more complex.\n",
"For most people, phenylt... |
If I donate blood while under the influence of some substance, will the receiver of said blood experience the effects of that substance? | They test blood for things such as this, they don't just take the blood right from you and give it to others without checking it first.
Now if you're asking whether they would hypothetically experience it, that would depend on how much blood of yours they received. Remember that your blood alcohol is a measure of the ... | [
"Donors sometimes have adverse reactions to the sodium citrate used in apheresis collection procedures to keep the blood from clotting. Since the anticoagulant is returned to the donor along with blood components that are not being collected, it can bind the calcium in the donor's blood and cause hypocalcemia. Thes... |
why does putting sugar on some things make it taste sour? | I'm pretty sure the coating is a mixture of sugar and citric acid. Citric acid is the main chemical that makes citrus fruits taste sour. | [
"Generally regarded as the most pleasant taste, sweetness is almost always caused by a type of simple sugar such as glucose or fructose, or disaccharides such as sucrose, a molecule combining glucose and fructose. Complex carbohydrates are long chains and thus do not have the sweet taste. Artificial sweeteners such... |
Could a cannibal contract AIDS from eating an AIDS infected person? | It's possible. The acids of the stomach would probably destroy the HIV virus, but if the cannibal has any sort of small cut or opening anywhere in their mouth or digestive tract and infected blood comes into contact with this abrasion, they can contract the virus that way. HIV is prevalent among gay men because during ... | [
"Baboons and pigs carry myriad transmittable agents that are harmless in their natural host, but extremely toxic and deadly in humans. HIV is an example of a disease believed to have jumped from monkeys to humans. Researchers also do not know if an outbreak of infectious diseases could occur and if they could conta... |
the difference between coke zero and diet coke, surely you only need the one product? | It's actually a really interesting story! In my opinion, anyway, though it might be more interesting or relevant to people who remember the failed experiment with "New Coke" in the mid 80s.
In the early 80s, diet sodas pretty much sucked. They tried to replicate the formula of the non-diet version just without sugar,... | [
"Coke Zero was originally specifically marketed to men, who are shown to associate \"diet\" drinks with women. It was primarily marketed towards young adult males and it has been nicknamed \"Bloke Coke\" in the UK. In the U.S., advertising has been tailored to its targeted market by describing the drink as \"calori... |
how does gorilla glass work? | It is done using using the ion exchange process:
"Ion exchange is a chemical strengthening process where large ions are “stuffed” into the glass surface, creating a state of compression. Gorilla Glass is specially designed to maximize this behavior. The glass is placed in a hot bath of molten salt at a temperature of ... | [
"Gorilla Glass is a brand of chemically strengthened glass developed and manufactured by Corning, now in its sixth generation, designed to be thin, light and damage-resistant. Gorilla Glass is unique to Corning, but close equivalents exist, including AGC Inc. Dragontrail and Schott AG Xensation.\n",
"Gorilla Glas... |
Why did Egypt's Old Kingdom fall? | I couldn't find another thread that explains this, which surprised me, but here is another discussion of the Old Kingdom by u/mp96 which gives some background such that I can skip over some basics: _URL_0_
To begin with, know that the ending/changing of 'Kingdoms' isn't anything noted by contemporaries, but is a moder... | [
"The fall of the Old Kingdom is often described as a period of chaos and disorder by some literature in the First Intermediate Period, but mostly by literature written in successive eras of ancient Egyptian history. The causes that brought about the downfall of the Old Kingdom are numerous, but some are merely hypo... |
stock grants | If you choose to sell your stock, you will sell it at whatever price you get, and be taxed on that.
For stocks in the US you will be taxed at the capital gains tax rate. You are not taxed until you sell, because until you sell your stock, the value is $0. Stock prices can change every millisecond. It could be $50 one ... | [
"Common stock grants are similar in function but the mechanism is different. An employee, typically a company founder, purchases stock in the company at nominal price shortly after the company is formed. The company retains a repurchase right to buy the stock back at the same price should the employee leave. The re... |
What happens to the probes that land on Venus? | Only the very first probes would have been crushed. In 1967, the Soviet probe *Venera 4* measured the atmospheric pressure. The next two Russian probes, *Venera 5* and *6*, would have imploded or collapsed, possibly a bit like [this](_URL_2_). In 1970, *Venera 7* landed without being crushed.
NASA's Pioneer Venus Mu... | [
"After a successful S-IVB burn, the spacecraft would pass approximately 3000 miles from the surface of Venus about four months later. The flyby velocity would be so high that the crew would only have a few hours for detailed study of the planet. At this point, one or more robotic probe landers would separate from t... |
if people are born in palestinian territories what citizenship do they have? | _URL_0_
People born to Palestinian parents get a Palestinian ID card with the approval of the Israeli government. They are Palestinian citizens, even if it technically means they are stateless (since Palestine is not an independent state).
P.S. Only some countries practice "jus soli" ("right of the soil") - i.e. they... | [
"The Jewish Agency promised to the UN before 1948 that Palestinian Arabs would become full citizens of the State of Israel, and the Israeli declaration of independence invited the Arab inhabitants of Israel to \"full and equal citizenship\". In practice, Israel does not grant citizenship to the refugees, as it does... |
does juice expire and how? is it more about the taste goong bad or is it unhealthy to drink juice that has expired a few months ago? | Juice can mold because of the sugar content. This would likely only occur if it was previously opened so the mold spores could enter, but nonetheless I would proceed with caution. | [
"After the juice is filtered, it may be concentrated in evaporators, which reduce the size of juice by a factor of 5, making it easier to transport and increasing its expiration date. Juices are concentrated by heating under a vacuum to remove water, and then cooling to around 13 degrees Celsius. About two thirds o... |
History of Abraham in Arabia | Hello,
As of this time, we have no archaeological or extrabiblical evidence that mentions Abraham, Ishmael, or Isaac. We haven't found any texts from Mesopotamia or Egypt that mention him, we haven't found his tomb, and writing was not prevalent or used much in the land between Mesopotamia and Egypt until about 800is... | [
"In addition to the Islamic tradition that Hagar and Ishmael settled in Bakkah, the Quran relates that Abraham came to Mecca to help his son Ishmael build the Kaaba adjacent to the well of Zamzam. However, in the Bible and ancient Jewish, Christian, and pre-Islamic tradition, Abraham is never mentioned as traveling... |
Does the Oberth Effect actually increase the delta v of the burn or does it just mean an equal delta v performed at high velocity has a larger affect on the orbit? | It actually increases the delta v of the rocket. To an observer on the rocket, the fuel is always leaving the rocket at the same speed. This means that to an observer who is stationary with respect to the frame the rocket is flying in, that the faster the rocket is moving the slower the expelled exhaust is. Thus, the l... | [
"Another effect is the Oberth effect—this can be used to greatly decrease the delta-v needed, because using propellant at low potential energy/high speed multiplies the effect of a burn. Thus for example the delta-v for a Hohmann transfer from Earth's orbital radius to Mars's orbital radius (to overcome the sun's g... |
why is the price of gas so much more fluid than any other good we purchase? | It changes often because the profit on gasoline is so thin and there is no way to spread that out. Most of the stations are franchised or lease the right to the brand name. That means that the station owner will lose money if the cost of the new shipment goes up by say five cent. Couple that with four stations on oppos... | [
"Crude oil is the greatest contributing factor when it comes to the price of gasoline. This includes the resources it takes for exploration, to remove it from the ground, and transport it. Between 2004 and 2008, there was an increase in fuel costs due in large part to a worldwide increase in demand for crude oil. P... |
how did mit become internationally renowned compared to other state technical colleges and universities? | MIT isn't a state school, it is private. So like Harvard they can be selective which allows them to cultivate a reputation for excellence. | [
"MIT was informally called \"Boston Tech\". The institute adopted the European polytechnic university model and emphasized laboratory instruction from an early date. Despite chronic financial problems, the institute saw growth in the last two decades of the 19th century under President Francis Amasa Walker. Program... |
Would an instrument sound different in gravity that is different than Earth's gravity? | Yes it would, the way we percieve sounds differs from one matter to the other. (Things sound different underwater then they do through the atmosphere). It also depends on the density of the matter. Under a significantly different gravitationnal force, the density of air would be different therefore soundwaves would tra... | [
"Many musical instruments are capable of very fine distinctions of pitch, such as the human voice, the trombone, unfretted strings such as the violin, and lutes with tied frets. These instruments are well-suited to the use of meantone tunings.\n",
"Many pitched acoustic instruments are designed to have partials t... |
how does a fertilized egg develop into the different parts of a fetus so specifically? | One could literally describe details on this for pages and hours, and if you want to get into the weeds, people work on researching this information as a career. I'm pretty sure they're still not entirely sure on the details. But because of where we are (and because embryology is one of my weak points) I can give a mas... | [
"Fertilization usually occurs in the Fallopian tubes and marks the beginning of embryogenesis. The zygote will then divide over enough generations of cells to form a blastocyst, which implants itself in the wall of the uterus. This begins the period of gestation and the embryo will continue to develop until full-te... |
How many workers died while building the national highway system? | There's no way to come up with a firm number, as the network of highways in the US was built over a period spanning centuries, by many different companies and agencies. Even if you're talking only about the Interstate System, those were built by hundreds of firms under the direction of 50 different state highway agenc... | [
"On April 15, 1982, part of a ramp under construction collapsed during concrete pouring operations near the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, killing fourteen highway workers and injuring eighteen more. In 1987, the state designated the route between US 12 and the Indiana Toll Road as the Highway Construction Workers ... |
why does 'republican' mean something completely different in europe compared to what it means in the us? | Because it is the name of the other major party of the US, so the political ideology and goals of that party greatly define what republican means in the US. In Europe on the other hand there are still a lot of monarchies (UK, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Spain) so republican is more understood as the opposite of monar... | [
"The term 'republicanism' is derived from the term 'republic', but the two words have different meanings. A 'republic' is a form of government (one without a hereditary ruling class); 'republicanism' refers to the values of the citizens in a republic.\n",
"The Republicans (, REP) is a national conservative politi... |
Is there an understood neurological difference between imagined vision ( mind's eye ) and actual sight? | There are some recent studies that indicate that imagery seems to activate similar populations as actually seeing the object, at least in higher visual areas (e.g., [Stokes et al., 2009](_URL_2_), [Cichy et al., 2012](_URL_1_)). In both of these articles, if I recall correctly, they are seeing to what extent activity d... | [
"However, while there exists to be two different hypotheses regarding the processing of vision in the human brain, it is still possible to accept both. Recent experiments prove that difficulties arise when deciphering between vision for action and vision for perception. A clear distinction between the two is diffic... |
is phantom pain considered psychological pain or actual physical pain? | It is actual pain. It occurs at the end of the nerves where they were severed. Those ends are exposed and aren't properly "wired" into the body and it causes the illusion of pain beyond their end (where the limb used to be). If you have a modern surgeon do an amputation, you shouldn't suffer from this condition because... | [
"Phantom pain refers to dysesthetic feelings in individuals who are paralyzed or who were born without limbs. It is caused by the improper innervation of the missing limbs by the nerves that would normally innervate the limb. Dysesthesia is caused by damage to the nerves themselves, rather than by an innervation of... |
Is it possible to experience withdrawal symptoms off of a placebo? | Asked and answered 11 days ago:
_URL_0_ | [
"It has been shown that, due to the nocebo effect, warning patients about side effects of drugs can contribute to the causation of such effects, whether the drug is real or not. This effect has been observed in clinical trials: according to a 2013 review, the dropout rate among placebo-treated patients in a meta-an... |
Do male Lions hunt differently than female Lions? | It used to be thought that male lions rarely hunted, with lionesses doing most of the work. More recently, though, it’s been shown that this is not true; it was simply a case of looking under the streetlights. Lionesses and lions have very different hunting strategies, and lionesses were easy to see hunting because th... | [
"Young lions first display stalking behaviour at around three months of age, although they do not participate in hunting until they are almost a year old and begin to hunt effectively when nearing the age of two. Single lions are capable of bringing down prey much larger than themselves, such as zebra, wildebeest, ... |
Opium Dens | They were smoking opium. Bootle diggers frequently find small long bottles with small openings and a long narrow interior, and they refer to these as opium bottles. They are not! These may have contained Chinese medicines, but they could not contain opium, which came in a black, sticky, tar-like substance packaged in t... | [
"An opium den was an establishment where opium was sold and smoked. Opium dens were prevalent in many parts of the world in the 19th century, most notably China, Southeast Asia, North America, and France. Throughout the West, opium dens were frequented by and associated with the Chinese, because the establishments ... |
why is it that some of the sugar i put in my coffee dissolves, but some always seems to remain at the bottom of the mug? | Let's look at this with the knowledge of chemistry from school that hasn't left me in the 20 years in between.
* The liquid could be over saturated. That means there is more sugar in there than the liquid can absorb. The rest would just stay crystallized. Since this would make your coffee pretty much syrup, I believe... | [
"Iced coffee may be served already chilled, or poured hot over ice. Because sugar does not dissolve readily into cold liquids, it must be added either directly to the hot base, or to the finished product in the form of syrup.\n",
"Designs in a syrupy solution of sugar or Camp Coffee are painted onto the metal sur... |
positive, negative and ground in an electric circuit. | The way a battery works is that it sets up a difference in potential energy (electric potential is *slightly* different but let's ignore that). The electrons at the negative terminal have a high potential energy, like a ball on top of a hill. The positive terminal is like the bottom of the hill (low potential energy), ... | [
"For power-supplies sometimes one of the supply rails will be referred to as ground (abbreviated \"GND\") - positive and negative voltages are relative to the ground. In digital electronics, negative voltages are seldom present, and the ground nearly always is the most negative voltage level. In analog electronics ... |
why are the democrats and republicans rigorously fighting over the next successor of justice scalia? | The Supreme Court has nine justices. Before Scalia's death, there were five conservative justices and four liberal justices. Scalia was one of the conservative justices. Whoever gets his old job will determine which way the balance of power is tipped. | [
"Political commentators at the time widely recognized Scalia as one of the most conservative members of the Court, and noted that President Barack Obama had an opportunity to name a more liberal replacement, a move that could alter the Court's ideological balance for many years into the future. The president ultima... |
What single event played the most pivotal role in changing human history in your area of expertise? | I consider my real specialty to be modern Malaysia, but for both modern Malaysia and modern Southeast Asia, IMO probably the most pivotal event has been WWII. The Europeans got the hell out of their Southeast Asian colonies after WWII because Japanese conquest:
1. Thoroughly demolished the myth that Europeans would al... | [
"The most important event in the regions history occurred in the 19th century. On 16 November 1846, during the Patuleia conflict, a movement that was apolitical turned bloody, resulting in the deaths of 200 people, before the wave proceeded into the lands of Murça.\n",
"The early twentieth century was a time in w... |
Why does Virginia have no major cities? | For the record, Virginia is certainly not unique in this way. New Jersey has a slightly larger population but New Jersey's largest city (Newark) is significantly smaller, population-wise, than Virgnia Beach and similar in size to Richmond. | [
"Virginia has 11 Metropolitan Statistical Areas; Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and Richmond-Petersburg are the three most populous. Richmond is the capital of Virginia, and its metropolitan area has a population of over 1.2 million. , Virginia Beach is the most populous city in the Commonwealth, with Norfolk an... |
why do containers form a vacuum when being heated in the microwave with their lid on? bowls with cling wrap do the same. | Because the microwaves excite the water, causing it to expand as steam, leading to pressure in sealed containers, some steam seeps out, then when the microwaves stop, the water loses the extra energy and begins to cool which causes a retraction in the air. If you had a very well sealed container(like an egg or somethin... | [
"Vacuum packing is a method of packaging that removes air from the package prior to sealing. This method involves (manually or automatically) placing items in a plastic film package, removing air from inside, and sealing the package. Shrink film is sometimes used to have a tight fit to the contents.\n",
"Vacuum-p... |
if easter is more significant than christmas, theologically speaking, then why do americans and many others make a bigger deal of christmas--for example, making christmas a federal holiday but not giving any days off for the easter weekend, as opposed to most european countries? | Christmas was not such a big deal until the big department stores in NYC started pumping it up as a holiday. Until the late 1800s, Christmas was a minor holiday, and some Christian sects actively tried to prevent them from being anything other than that. After they invented the rotund Santa Claus, and made up stories l... | [
"Many American Christians still celebrate the traditional liturgical seasons of Advent and Christmas, especially Amish, Anglo-Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Mennonites, Methodists, Moravians, Nazarenes, Orthodox Christians, Presbyterians, and Roman Catholics. In Anglicanism, the designation of the \"Twelve Da... |
What actually happens when a city is sacked? | In ancient Greece, if you were in a city taken by siege, it was generally understood that you were not going to have a good time:
> It is a law established for all time among all men that when a city is taken in war, the persons and the property of the inhabitants belong to the captors.
-- Xenophon, *Education of K... | [
"Because of its wealth and its strategic location near the coast, the city was sacked several times during and after the fall of the Roman Empire, by Goths, Vandals and, finally, by the Saracens who destroyed it in 827. The inhabitants subsequently moved to the ancient acropolis and founded a new community.\n",
"... |
why do humans take so long to fully develop? | The body is ready for reproduction around 13-14 years (and in some populations even earlier than that). This isn't that much longer than many other large-ish mammals.
It takes a long time for our brains to develop and learn properly (~18-25 years) because our brains are just so big and complex. And we have to go throu... | [
"The most important years of learning begin at birth. During these early years, humans are capable of absorbing more information than later on. The brain grows most rapidly in the early years. High quality teachers and preschools can have a long-term effect on improving outcomes for disadvantaged students.\n",
"D... |
how is saudi arabia on the un panel, when they have beheaded more people than isis, in 2015? | Look under the sand there. Guess what you'll find? Lots of oil. A state can behead as many people as they want if without much objection if they have enough oil. | [
"BULLET::::- 11 November: Islamic State has executed 40 civilians in Mosul. Islamic State has also announced it has beheaded six of its own fighters for deserting the battlefield. The Islamic State shot dead 40 civilians before crucifying them for \"treason\", and killed 20 more for \"leaking information\". They al... |
Did the Romans have something like Wall street/ The stock market? | They certainly invested in each other (by offering loans with interest); [this article, published by the US Federal Reserve, covers the topic very well, offering sources for your delectation]( _URL_0_). It is worth noting that Roman society was highly personal; the invention of limited companies is a later phenomenom. ... | [
"Rome was a subsidised city at the time, with roughly 15 to 25 percent of its grain supply being paid by the central government. Commerce and industry played a smaller role compared to that of other cities like Alexandria. This meant that Rome had to depend upon goods and production from other parts of the Empire t... |
ambulances carry teddy bears to give to kids after accidents. psychologically, why does the teddy bear help? | Being able to hold something warm and fuzzy is very comforting and offers a feeling of security. [Harry Harlow](_URL_0_) performed a whole bunch of experiments on using monkeys and fuzzy objects which demonstrated that this desire for a soft, warm companion is quite powerful, so if you want more info, Google his name.... | [
"Because police, fire and emergency officials found that giving a teddy bear to a child during a crisis stabilized and calmed them, NAPLC created the Teddy Bear Cops program to distribute teddy bears to police, fire, and emergency officials throughout the United States, for their use in providing teddy bears to chi... |
What did the Queen (Elizabeth II) say of the Rhodesian Republic? | Having read several biographies about QEII, I seem to remember that she did and said nothing publicly about this situation.. The Queen is a sphinx when it come to her personal opinions and rarely if ever lets them slip out. | [
"Until late 1969, Rhodesia still recognised Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, even though it opposed the British government itself for hindering its goals of independence. The Queen, however, refused to accept the title \"Queen of Rhodesia.\" Eventually, the Smith government abandoned attempts to remain loyal to... |
what happens to all the oil we use after we dispose of it? | It gets taken to a recycling plant, super heated and filtered and filtered again to get all impurities out. Then boom, back to the shelves. Or filtered and used in bio-diesel engines. | [
"Waste oil can be disposed of in different ways, including sending the used oil off-site (some facilities are permitted to handle the used oil such as your local garages and local waste disposal facilities), burning used oil as a fuel (some used oil is not regulated by burner standards, but others that are off-spec... |
During the end of WWII is there a record of the suicide rate of German soldiers and officers? | There's been some really interesting work done on suicide in Nazi Germany. When considering suicide, as an "illness" or as a product of it's context. A purely pathological view of suicide negates any questions regarding the choice and historical context. On the other hand, since the late 19th century, suicide has been ... | [
"BULLET::::- Died: Ernst-Günther Baade, 47, German general (gangrene from wounds sustained in battle two weeks earlier); Paul Giesler, 49, German Nazi official (suicide); Werner von Gilsa, 56, German military officer (suicide after being captured by the Russians); Wilhelm Rediess, 44, German commander of SS troops ... |
how do we make paper out of trees? | Paper mills liquify the pulp of the tree and turn it into thin slices. Paper reverts to its pulpy state when it gets wet. | [
"Paper is both made and used to make crafts in Mexico. Paper-making is a skill that goes back to pre-Hispanic times. The bark of two trees are primarily used, that of the morus or mulberry family for white paper and that of the ficus or fig family for darker varieties. Traditionally, the bark was cut and scraped by... |
why did the british army not attack loyalist paramilitaries as well as the ira during the troubles? | Because the Ulster Volunteer Force & Ulster Freedom Fighters regarded themselves as 100% British. They also had MPs in British Parliament as the Ulster National Party.
The IRA killed a lot of British soldiers, as they were regarded as the occupying force (equally, the SAS would assassinate members of the IRA).
If ... | [
"BULLET::::- 1969–97 Provisional IRA campaign 1969–1997 during The Troubles During Civil Rights Marches in the North, the British Army opened fire on its own citizens, sparking a blood feud that committed large numbers of Catholic Nationalists to use physical force in the form of terror bombings, sniping, raids, 'k... |
if a sizable spacecraft was hovering over earth, would we be able to see it? | You can spot satellites and the ISS from the ground already.
They look like shooting stars, but you can see them. | [
"Any planetary sized body 180 degrees from Earth should also have been visible to some space probes, such as NASA's STEREO coronagraph probes (two spacecraft launched into orbits around the Sun in 2006, one farther ahead of and one behind the Earth's orbit) which would have seen the Counter-Earth during the first h... |
How do scientists separate "science" from "non-science?" | Any thought is considered a valid hypothesis if it can be tested and disproved. Scientists across the world try to devise experiments that try to disprove the hypothesis. If they succeed, the hypothesis is discarded or modified. If the experiment can't disprove the hypothesis, it gains the confidence of the commun... | [
"Modern science is typically divided into three major branches that consist of the natural sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, and physics), which study nature in the broadest sense; the social sciences (e.g., economics, psychology, and sociology), which study individuals and societies; and the formal sciences (e.g... |
Why do certain flavours go well together? E.g. chicken/coleslaw, tomato/mozarella, spinach/garlic, walnuts/honey, tuna/mayonaise? | I read an [article](_URL_0_ ) recently on why gin and tonic is such a great combination. The article said it was because certain flavor compounds had shapes that “fit” with other flavor compounds, forming what the brain perceived as a new flavor compound. | [
"Flavours include minestrone, chicken noodle, tomato soup and chicken and vegetable. Low-calorie versions also exist in the UK, under the name \"Slim-a-Soup\", and include slightly different flavors, such as Mediterranean tomato. 2007 saw the introduction of \"Cup-a-Soup Extra\", individual sachets of soup and past... |
How did Romans prepare for bed and what kind of clothing (or lack thereof...) would they wear to bed? | From [Daily Life in Ancient Rome](_URL_0_), by Jerome Carcopino:
pp. 152-153:
> "On a base of interwoven strips of webbing were placed a mattress (*torus*) and a bolster (*culcita*, *cervical*) whose stuffing (*tomentum*) was made of straw or reeds among the poor and among the rich of wool shorn from the Leuconion f... | [
"The Romans also used a daybed for reclining in the daytime and to sleep on at night. Developed from the Greek prototype, the Roman daybed was designed with legs carved in wood or cast bronze. The Romans also adapted a chaise longue style chair for the \"accubatio\" (the act of reclining during a meal). At Roman ba... |
Unusual paths to a History PhD? | Have a Masters myself and know lots of history Ph.D's. None are employed in a history field. I usually try to avoid being overly negative to people looking into things like this. But bottom line is even if you went Ivy League and had publications it's an uphill battle.
Don't do it. It's not just hard to make it. You ... | [
"The Institute's MA in book history, which started in 1995, is credited as the United Kingdom's first postgraduate course in the subject. The Institute currently offers MRes, MPhil, and PhD programmes. \n",
"Helen Meriwether Lewis Thomas (1905–1997) was the first woman, second American, and third person to earn a... |
atomic bombs | This seems fairly comprehensive: _URL_0_
Search the subreddit for a few more. | [
"In July 1945, the first atomic explosive device, dubbed \"Trinity\", was detonated in the New Mexico desert. It was fueled by plutonium created at Hanford. In August 1945, two more atomic devices – \"Little Boy\", a uranium-235 bomb, and \"Fat Man\", a plutonium bomb – were used against the Japanese cities of Hiro... |
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