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why does a shower speed up the sunburn symptoms? i just walked in with a light glow and walked out looking like zoidberg | Hot water acts as a vasodilator. It also irritates inflamed tissue if it's too hot, which your shower undoubtedly was if you're anything like me. So the shower increased blood flow to the inflamed area, and further irritated the damaged tissue. | [
"Other symptoms can include blistering, swelling (edema), pruritus (itching), peeling skin, rash, nausea, fever, chills, and fainting (syncope). Also, a small amount of heat is given off from the burn, caused by the concentration of blood in the healing process, giving a warm feeling to the affected area. Sunburns ... |
how do people in courtrooms, depositions, parliaments and what not type everything being typed up so quickly? | my mum does this for australian state parliament -
there's a button for every vowel and a button for most of the important consonants - stenographers create their own shorthand dictionary over time and there's shortcuts for every word they have to use. mum's been at it for about two - three years now and she's at abou... | [
"Internet researcher Annette Markham (1998) observes that text-based interviewing can take much longer than face-to-face, phone or Skype interviews because typing takes longer than talking. Textual methods require users to verbalize conventional aspects of polite conversation, such as nodding or smiling, which requ... |
why does/did fox own the rights to the simpsons and family guy, shows that often deconstructed and even scorned traditional values? | So, the first and foremost thing to understand about Fox is that it's a large organization with a lot of channels. And, like almost all large organizations, it really only cares about one thing. Money.
Fox News Channel (which came into existence fairly late in Fox's life) has discovered a niche where they can make mon... | [
"In 2007, John Ortved wrote an article for \"Vanity Fair\" titled \"Simpson Family Values\". Producers of the show, including Groening, Brooks and Simon, chose not to cooperate in the project. Ortved believes that the reason was because \"were upset [that] the myth of \"The Simpsons\" would be challenged.\" Shortly... |
why this new obama tax plan is making waves. i thought you had to pay 2% on income if it's over 380k? | The percentage you are thinking of is 35% for income wages over $379,151. Those who are making over $1 Million per year aren't likely to be making it from wages, the are making it from capital gains (read investment or Wall St.). Taxes on this kind of income can be much lower, and can be made even lower still for those... | [
"Obama increased taxes on high-income taxpayers via: a) expiration of the Bush income tax cuts for the top 1–2% of income earners starting with 2013; and b) payroll tax increases on roughly the top 5% of earners as part of the ACA. This increased the average tax rate paid by the top 1% (incomes above $443,000 in 20... |
If you hold in poop does your intestine still absorb nutrients or does it just kind of sit there at the end of the line? | Its called [encopresis] (_URL_0_). By the time you have conscious control, its more water being absorbed than anything else. If you refuse to poo, it gets harder and bigger so the next time you poo it hurts. Then, if you are a three year old, you repeat the process ad infinitum and drive me crazy. Don't do this. | [
"The small intestine is normally in length. As the Y-connection is moved further down the gastrointestinal tract, the amount available to fully absorb nutrients is progressively reduced, traded for greater effectiveness of the operation. The Y-connection is formed much closer to the lower (distal) end of the small ... |
is lava sticky? | I can't answer if it's sticky, but you don't have to be sticky to be viscous. Just as one example gear oil is quite viscous without being sticky, it's especially thick when cold and since it's a lubricant is the definition of not sticky. | [
"Highly viscous lavas do not usually flow as liquid, and usually form explosive fragmental ash or tephra deposits. However, a degassed viscous lava or one which erupts somewhat hotter than usual may form a lava flow.\n",
"Lava flows from stratovolcanoes are generally not a significant threat to humans and animals... |
How common was wearing masks in renaissance Venice? | Venetian masks outside of carnival (which only lasted for the month before Lent) and theater/masquerade were not so much a thing in the Renaissance; according to James Johnson in *Venice Incognito: Masks in the Serene Republic*, the practice began among the male and female nobility in the late seventeenth century and s... | [
"Another tradition of European masks developed, more self-consciously, from court and civic events, or entertainments managed by guilds and co-fraternities. These grew out of the earlier revels and had become evident by the 15th century in places like Rome, and Venice, where they developed as entertainments to enli... |
When alcohol is poured into a hot (for example almost boiling water) liquid does it vaporise? For example whiskey in an irish coffee or anything similar? | Yes, alcohol can vaporize. This fact is utilized in [distillation](_URL_1_) to separate alcohol from solution. You can see from this [phase diagram](_URL_0_) that the boiling point of a water/ethanol solution is lower than that of water alone. However, distillation relies on constant heat source - vaporization is an en... | [
"The final liquor is treated by blowing carbon dioxide through it. This precipitates dissolved calcium and other impurities. It also volatilizes the sulfide, which is carried off as HS gas. Any residual sulfide can be subsequently precipitated by adding zinc hydroxide. The liquor is separated from the precipitate a... |
why are single-use straws so bad even if properly disposed of in a landfill? | The goal is to reduce the amount of trash; period. Single-use, disposable, common items are a total waste of resources and fill up dumps. Straws are especially heinous because they generally serve no real purpose. Unless you're physically disabled in some way, just drink from the cup.
You also need to realize that a l... | [
"Microplastics pollution are a concern if plastic waste is improperly dumped. If plastic straws are improperly disposed of, they can be transported via water into soil ecosystems, and others, where they break down into smaller, more hazardous pieces than the original plastic straw.\n",
"Plastic drinking straw pro... |
How can some materials resist being dissolved by both polar and non-polar solvents? | While the chemical bonds in glass are slightly polar, the bonds that hold the atoms together are quite strong and also form a very large interconnected network. It's as if the whole piece of glass were one molecule.
It's not possible to dissolve it simply by surrounding it with solvent molecules. You'd need a solvent ... | [
"The polarity, dipole moment, polarizability and hydrogen bonding of a solvent determines what type of compounds it is able to dissolve and with what other solvents or liquid compounds it is miscible. Generally, polar solvents dissolve polar compounds best and non-polar solvents dissolve non-polar compounds best: \... |
why is there a lower limit to brightness on your smart phone. why can’t they make it so that you can keep on turning it down till your phone turns completely dark ? | Designer: Hey! Let's make it so the user can turn the brightness all the way down!
Boss: Great idea. Are you volunteering to go sit your ass down in that chair, put on the headset, and spend the next 5 years fielding nothing but support calls from angry customers?
Designer: But we'll have obvious ways to reset the br... | [
"A problem is that without the back light the screen looks very dark and it's hard to see the image, so the backlight must run continuously except when it's not necessary to look at the screen (for example, when using the console as an MP3 player).\n",
"Other display technologies do not flicker noticeably, so the... |
If carbon dioxide was once 20 times as prevalent in the atmosphere as it is now, why should we be concerned. | well, it's not that increasing carbon dioxide levels will destroy all life. If it spikes too quickly, it may cause a mass extinction of sorts. But life will still persist, and evolve into something different.
The threat is that we will turn the earth into an environment where we can't survive. It's a threat to humani... | [
"On 12 November 2015, NASA scientists reported that human-made carbon dioxide (CO) continues to increase above levels not seen in hundreds of thousands of years: currently, about half of the carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels remains in the atmosphere and is not absorbed by vegetation and the ... |
why does the clit exist? | All fetuses begin as female.
To put it simply, the penis is technically an enlarged clitoris, and the clitoris could arguably be considered a small penis.
Without the clitoris, there would be no penis. | [
"The clitoris ( or ) is a female sex organ present in mammals, ostriches and a limited number of other animals. In humans, the visible portion - the glans - is at the front junction of the labia minora (inner lips), above the opening of the urethra. Unlike the penis, the male homologue (equivalent) to the clitoris,... |
whenever my phone is near my computer, every so often it will pick up some really weird frequency's and will play through my headphones. | Your headphones are speakers, and speakers sometimes pick up on nearby radio transmissions.
You're cell phone has a transmitter which transmits radio waves to a cell tower. | [
"Some indications of possible cellphone surveillance occurring may include a mobile phone waking up unexpectedly, using a lot of the CPU when on idle or when not in use, hearing clicking or beeping sounds when conversations are occurring and the circuit board of the phone being warm despite the phone not being used... |
why are 'news' networks such as hln and cnn allowed to air such biased opinions on such a large scale? | I'm from Europe, and if you think that the European media are free of bias, you're very much mistaken. Quite simply, there is no such thing as a medium that is not biased, because all human beings are, by nature, biased.
The trouble is that as soon as you start making laws about what news media may or may not report, ... | [
"Some commentators have attacked CNN for the debate, calling it biased and poorly handled. Their accusations include claims that the final audience question was planted, that moderator Wolf Blitzer was overly favorable to Hillary Clinton, and that the use of James Carville, a long-time adviser to the Clintons, as a... |
why don't rovers on other planets or satellites in space ever take true video? | Probably because videos take a relatively large amount of storage space compared to photos, and they would take very long periods of time to transmit. Seeing as how there's no real added value to a video versus a picture when nothing is moving, there's not a great reason to do it other than "because we can".
"Because ... | [
"There are also rockets that record short digital videos. There are two widely used ones used on the market, both produced by Estes: the Astrovision and the Oracle. The Astrocam shoots 4 (advertised as 16, and shown when playing the video, but in real life 4) seconds of video, and can also take three consecutive di... |
How did the people of Imperial Japan view their German allies in WW2 and vice versa? | I can't give a full answer but Imperial Japan was very strict on censorship. I'm pretty sure Mein Kampf was banned. Foreign influence, especially western influence was considered a bad thing. And at the same time Nazi Germany was at war with The USSR, Japan maintained a non aggression pact. This hurt Germany because it... | [
"American media portrayed the Japanese negatively as well. While attacks on Germans were generally focused on high-level Nazi officials such as Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, and Göring, the Japanese were targeted more broadly. Portrayals of the Japanese ranged from showing them being vicious and feral, as on the cover... |
Did the Allies have a plan B in case the invasion of Normandy failed? | Not to discourage other answers, but you might find these previous posts to be helpful:
* [What was the back up plan if d-day failed?](_URL_1_) feat. /u/KroipyBill
* [Was there a "Plan B" if D Day failed? Or was it simply going "All in"?](_URL_0_) feat. /u/Rittermeister
They're both older answers, but the general co... | [
"The Allies staged elaborate deceptions for D-Day (see Operation Fortitude), giving the impression that the landings would be at Calais. Although Hitler himself expected a Normandy invasion for a while, Rommel and most Army commanders in France believed there would be two invasions, with the main invasion coming at... |
Is there a limit to the amount of potential/kinetic energy an object can contain? | > I've always heard that as an object approaches the speed of light, the energy required to further approach that limit increases asymptotically to infinity.
This is correct. There is no upper bound.
The kinetic energy of a particle with mass m and speed v is:
K = [1/sqrt(1 - (v/c)^(2)) - 1]mc^(2).
I've plotted it... | [
"Equivalently, it may be thought of as the energy stored in the electric field. For instance, if one were to hold two like charges a certain distance away from one another and then release them, the charges would move away with kinetic energy equal to the energy stored in the configuration. As an analogy, if one we... |
How do I choose what era to study in Grad School? | A great deal of the process of doing history - or "doing" any of the humanities - is the combination of distinct experiences and backgrounds in ways that yield unique perspective. You might find fertile ground by considering nineteenth-century British fixation on everything medieval - architecture, art, etc.This might ... | [
"Every year there are four major projects that each student will participate in. The first is the Faire, which is a school-wide reenactment of an historical age. These periods include the Renaissance, the Age of Enlightenment, the Victorian era, the Middle Ages, and recently the 20th century. During this time, each... |
what does it mean to "rewire" your brain? is it possible? if so, how? | Wires are a common analogy for neurons, the main cells of your brain (and the rest of your nervous system.) It's a fair comparison: neurons are long and thin, rapidly conduct electricity to carry signals, and even have a coating of insulation.
Neurons communicate with other neurons at points called synapses, where the... | [
"Another thing that concerns wiring and rewiring is the neurological phenomenon of synesthesia. There are over 60 known types of synesthesia. An example would be a synesthesiat hearing a sound and colors flooding their vision or someone reading a passage of words and each letter evokes a different color or a differ... |
Are the recent Iranian and Chinese earthquakes related given both of their positions along the Indian Plate? | Ahh it's 2:35 AM but I love this topic so I'm going to give it a shot.
Short answer: YES we think something is going on.
I like the maps you linked, but I would like you to look at [this world map](_URL_1_) and this [map of the major tectonic plates](_URL_3_), bear in mind they are not aligned (i.e. North America i... | [
"The Indian subcontinent has a history of earthquakes. The reason for the intensity and high frequency of earthquakes is the Indian plate driving into Asia at a rate of approximately 47 mm/year. The following is a list of major earthquakes which have occurred in India, including those with epicentres outside India ... |
what's a loan shark? | Someone who loans you money, usually with a very high interest rate, knowing that you won't be able to pay the money back. They then privately hound you for the money either threatening you or stealing your assets to repay the debt. | [
"A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and operates outside off the street (outside of local authority). The term usually refers to illegal activity, but may also refer to predatory lending with extremely high interest rates such as ... |
is there a correlation between c-section babies and mental health later in life? | I don't think so. In the past, c-sections were used even if they weren't even necessary. It was a money maker. I do believe their are midwives who are trained in breach deliveries, also.
Of course, without c-sections, there would be a higher mortality rate, but I really can't believe it could be linked to mental hea... | [
"Results from another recent study suggest that fetuses were able to form both short and long term memories. This conclusion was drawn from the fact that habituation rates (number of stimuli needed to habituate) were higher in babies in the neonatal stage that had not previously undergone fetal stimulations when co... |
regarding death valley, why is being 86 m below sea level so much more extreme than being 86 m above it? | The elevation actually doesn't have anything to do with it being extreme. It's the giant mountain ranges to the west that block all the rainfall and its geographic location in an area of few clouds, a somewhat southern lattitude, and lots of sunshine that make it a hot, baked desert. Lots of death valley is 86 M and hi... | [
"Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of the lowest elevation in North America, at below sea level. This point is east-southeast of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). On the afternoon of July 10, 1913, the United States Weather Bureau ... |
why do i feel something touch me just before it actually does? | It's actually called chronostasis, and it involves your brain filling in the time before the event and thus making the event seem to happen after you perceive it. There is a lag between when you something happens and when your perceive it, but your brain tells you that things are happening simultaneously.
EDIT: Link... | [
"\"Feel Something\" is a futurepop song written by Miller, Justin Tranter, Kennedi Lykken, and Mike Sabath and produced by Mike Sabath. Miller talked about the song: \"When you're experiencing pain of any kind, all you want is for it to go away. But weirdly that pain is kind of what makes you feel like a real perso... |
why/how do different alcohols (beer, wine, spirits) cause different hangover effects? | The more distilled something is, the less the hangover hurts.
The more sugar there is, the more the hangover hurts.
Basically, the closer you get to pure alcohol, the less you will hurt the next day. | [
"Several studies have examined whether certain types of alcohol cause worse hangovers. All four studies concluded that darker liquors, which have higher congeners, produced worse hangovers. One even showed that hangovers were worse \"and\" more frequent with darker liquors. In a 2006 study, an average of 14 standar... |
what is the science behind using a knife to cut things? | Blades take a small amount of force and concentrate it on a small area, which causes a large amount of pressure to break the surface. Then, the blade acts like a wedge, directing downward force outwards to drive the two halves apart. | [
"Implements commonly used for cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scalpel and microtome. However, any sufficiently sharp object is capable of cutting if it has a hardness sufficiently larger than the object being cut, and if it is applied with sufficient force. Even liquids can be used to ... |
why in 2014 is the ocean still such a mystery. we overcame obstacles to space travel 50+ years ago but can't figure out water. | We actually can do some pretty cool things in water. We get oil from miles below a surface that is miles below the waves, we explore at tremendous depths, and we lay cables that stretch the length of the oceans.
It's true that there's still a lot left to do, and we certainly could do a lot more. But the reason we s... | [
"The underwater world is still mostly unknown. The main reason for it is the difficulty to gather information in situ, to experiment, and even to reach certain places. But the ocean nonetheless is of a crucial importance for scientists, as it covers about 71% of the planet.\n",
"As space activity becomes increasi... |
what is isis? what makes them such a threat? what is their history? why can't a continental superpower such as the united states just wipe them out? | ISIS drops the mic and said "Hey, we're setting up a Muslim only state. Ya know all that stuff in the Qur'an? **We're doing it**. Right here, right now. Come act on your religious devotion and help us setup." Remember that scene in LOTR where they light the beacons? It's like that.
Muslims everywhere are like "oh ... | [
"ISIS was founded on a belief that scientists have an obligation to participate actively in solving major problems of national and international security. ISIS focuses primarily on four parts: 1) prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and related technology to other nations and terrorists, 2) lead to greater transpa... |
What are the roots of anti-intellectualism in the United States? What is its history? | Awesome question. The classic answer can be found in Richard Hofstadter's 1963 book, *Anti-Intellectualism in American Life*. Hofstadter, who went on to win the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction for the book, wrote:
> "Anti-intellectualism . . . is founded in the democratic institutions and the egalitarian sentimen... | [
"Anti-intellectualism in American Life is a book by Richard Hofstadter published in 1963 that won the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. In this book, Hofstadter set out to trace the social movements that altered the role of intellect in American society. In so doing, he explored questions regarding the p... |
how in the heck is edward snowden "living" in the russian airport without being seen? | He's not in the standard passenger area. He is in a hotel at the airport and in some back/employee type areas of the airport. | [
"Edward Snowden's asylum in Russia is part of the aftermath from the global surveillance disclosures made by Edward Snowden. On June 23, 2013, Snowden flew from Hong Kong to Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. Noting that his U.S. passport had been cancelled, Russian authorities restricted him to the airport terminal. O... |
in the us, why do nurses get paid considerably more than paramedics? | (As someone who is a paramedic, knows more than a few people that did the jump up to RN) Nurses have a lot more A & P and clinical knowledge than paramedics. Also relevant is the relative youth of EMS as a field. There are still people working who were around for when EMT and paramedic training became a standardized th... | [
"In the United Kingdom, there are two sources of supplementary nurses - nurse banks and nursing agencies. The former provides nurses paid on as \"hours as required\" basis and is often contracted to fill planned or unplanned shortfalls in staffing. Agency nurses, on the other hand, are employed through third-party ... |
when you choke drinking water, does the water actually go down into your lungs? if yes, what happens to it next? | to add something with less detail and specifically about drinking water: if it's a small amount (such as a gulp while drinking), you'd normally have your cough reflex kick in and drive that water out. I'll persist as long as there's still enough water irritating down there, which can lead to instead of just one or two ... | [
"If water enters the airways of a conscious person, the person will try to cough up the water or swallow it, often inhaling more water involuntarily. When water enters the larynx or trachea, both conscious and unconscious persons experience laryngospasm, in which the vocal cords constrict, sealing the airway. This ... |
do insects get food poisoning? | One reason insects react so differently to many toxins is because their digestive tract is alkaline in contrast to the acidic environment of the vertebrate intestines. A different pH may render some toxins less harmful and others more so. A common "food contaminant" for insects is *Bacillus thuringiensis*, a species of... | [
"Many insects are distasteful to predators and excrete irritants or secrete poisonous compounds that cause illness or death when ingested. Secondary metabolites obtained from plant food may also be sequestered by insects and used in the production of their own toxins. One of the more well-known examples of this is ... |
how did japan successfully land two rovers on an asteroid | Math, lots and lots of complex math.
You know its orbit, you know our orbit. Provide the right amount of thrust in the right direction. | [
"Following the approval of the asteroid sample-return project MUSES-C, a rover was proposed to be mounted on the asteroid explorer, and development of MINERVA began in 1997. Completed in February 2003, MINERVA was Japan's first space rover, and the first asteroid rover in the world.\n",
"The first Japanese astero... |
why do people listen to music with earbuds in while driving a vehicle that most likely has a stereo in it? | They could be listening to music from an audio player which can't connect to the car stereo (for example if the car doesn't have an aux input).
Or they could just be using their headphones to talk to someone on the phone.
And where I'm from it's very illegal. | [
"It can be used for personal audio, either to have sounds audible to only one person, or that which a group wants to listen to. The navigation instructions for example are only interesting for the driver in a car, not for the passengers. Another possibility are future applications for true stereo sound, where one e... |
When classical music was published in the 18th century, how did the music circulate? | The only media available for the recording of classical music in 18th century was print, of course, and that business is essentially the same now, with a few minor changes. The printing of music parallels the printing of words, with the earliest examples being carved on wooden plates, then engraved on metal plates, whi... | [
"BULLET::::- Musical publishing and distribution methods were very lax in 18th century Europe, with manuscript versions of music being freely circulated. This could easily lead to confusion about authorship, and frequent misattribution.\n",
"During the Medieval period the foundation was laid for the music notatio... |
What did nomadic horse archers use to make their arrows? | Hi, this is not to discourage other answers but you might be interested in [this post](_URL_0_) by u/krishaperkins | [
"A horse archer is a cavalryman armed with a bow, able to shoot while riding from horseback. Archery has occasionally been used from the backs of other riding animals. In large open areas, it was a highly successful technique for hunting, for protecting the herds, and for war. It was a defining characteristic of th... |
where does the "water" portion of beverages go when dumped down the drain? | It depends :)
In a modern, civilised and industrialised region the water goes through pipes to a water treatment station. This water follows the same path as the water from the bathtub, kitchen sink or toilet. The treatment station tries to purify the water through several organic methods (plants, algae, etc..) and in... | [
"It is essentially a grate, which allows excess and waste liquids to be drained away, and either collected in a pan under the grate, or drained away through a hose that carries the waste water and tea to a bucket or other drain. \n",
"Water is typically drawn from the pool via a rectangular aperture in the wall, ... |
how are some people addicted to work? | Psychologists have linked it as a means of coping with depression/lonliness, satisfying a craving for competition, or simply greed. This is a case-by-case type of addiction. | [
"Addicts often believe that being in control of others is how to achieve success and happiness in life. People who follow this rule use it as a survival skill, having usually learned it in childhood. As long as they make the rules, no one can back them into a corner with their feelings.\n",
"People who suffer fro... |
How do calculators deal with imaginary numbers? | Complex numbers are operated on arithmetically exactly the same way as normal numbers. Your calculator just knows how to keep the two separate. There's really nothing special about the process, other than having the capability of storing different number types and understanding how to display them in an appropriate way... | [
"With some exceptions, most calculators do not operate on real numbers. Instead, they work with finite-precision approximations called floating-point numbers. In fact, most scientific computation uses floating-point arithmetic. Real numbers satisfy the usual rules of arithmetic, but floating-point numbers do not.\n... |
given densities are well understood,what prevents geologists from predicting where minerals are,rather than prospecting?also since the heavy ,valuable metals sink,what prevents a rush to volcanic sites to mine these metals? | Because it's way, way more complicated than that.
Rocks move. Yes, the heavier elements might sink lower as the lava cools, but cooling lava isn't the only way rocks are made. Sedimentary rocks don't really care about density, but the order things fell on them as they were formed. Even the igneous rocks will get shift... | [
"Peak minerals marks the point in time when the largest production of a mineral will occur in an area, with production declining in subsequent years. While most mineral resources will not be exhausted in the near future, global extraction and production is becoming more challenging. Miners have found ways over time... |
Are there any historical precedents to a socialist/communist government before the 20th century?? | Sorry, we don't allow [throughout history questions](_URL_0_). These tend to produce threads which are collections of trivia, not the in-depth discussions about a particular topic we're looking for. If you have a specific question about a historical event or period or person, please feel free to re-compose your quest... | [
"In the United Kingdom, the democratic socialist tradition was represented in particular by William Morris's Socialist League and in the 1880s by the Fabian Society and later the Independent Labour Party founded by Keir Hardie in the 1890s, of which writer George Orwell would later be a prominent member. In the ear... |
how do professional songwriters write hit songs? | ask them r/music and related subs | [
"Songwriters can be employed to write either the lyrics or the music directly for or alongside a performing artist, or they present songs to A&R, publishers, agents and managers for consideration. Song pitching can be done on a songwriter's behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like \"RowFax\"... |
Gorbachev and Dissolution of USSR | I will point you to this [answer](_URL_3_) I wrote on the role of Gorbachev in the dissolution of the USSR. In essence, Gorbachev, after becoming General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1985, undertook a series of structural political and economic reforms that unleashed forces that were ultimately outside of his co... | [
"On 8 December 1991, the presidents of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine formally dissolved the USSR, and then constituted the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Soviet President Gorbachev resigned on 25 December 1991; the next day, the Supreme Soviet dissolved itself, officially dissolving the USSR on 26 Decembe... |
why do daily vitamins for seniors contain less or no iron? | Too much iron for people over 50 raises the occurrence of heart disease. | [
"It is designed for children 2 years of age and older. Flintstones Complete has a high supplementation of iron, iodine, vitamin D and vitamin E. Vitamin D is necessary for the maintenance and growth of bones in children. Vitamin D deficiency is a concern for infants, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. This is b... |
Why did European firearms technology become superior to that of other continent's? | For a very good recent book on the subject I highly recommend *The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West* by Tonio Andrade. He sums up a lot of the information and theories available as far as china goes and concludes that the main cause does seem to be a relative lack of major wars.
Ess... | [
"Central to the success of the Europeans was the use of firearms. However, the advantages afforded by firearms have often been overstated. Prior to the late 19th century, firearms were often cumbersome muzzle-loading, smooth-bore, single shot muskets with flint-lock mechanisms. Such weapons produced a low rate of f... |
how does the wifi bridge work on my phone? | Hey that’s a neat feature!
I’m not intimately familiar with the specifics of your phone, but I do have a fair knowledge of networks. What’s most likely going on is exactly the same process that 4G hotspot uses, but only involving wifi.
Basically the laptop is connected to the phone via some means (hotspot wifi, Bluet... | [
"Bridge is an accessory to connect an Ethernet network to MoCA. It supports Ethernet (10/100/Gbit) and MoCA 2.0 (up to 450Mbit/s) connections. The Bridge is most often used to connect a whole-home TiVo DVR + Mini network to the household WAN/LAN router. It can also be used to add MoCA networking to TiVo DVRs that d... |
why are fire extingushers placed in a glass case with a handle, yet in case of fire the glass has to be broken | Because some idiot would open it and play with it. Having to break the glass means that you're only going get the extinguisher if it's a real emergency | [
"Fire glass leaves no trace of ash, soot, grease or discernible odor when used as a medium. Flames produced using natural gas do not produce any smoke, produce less toxic gases and leave no trace of residual pollutants such as tar within the home. The combination is considered an eco-friendly burning solution. Addi... |
how can encryption methods be open source? | It is a generally accepted security precept that "The enemy knows the system." That is, when you are designing an encryption algorithm (or any security measure) that you assume the enemy knows its design. You assume that, eventually, an adversary will get a hold of the algorithm and therefore A) you cannot rely on the ... | [
"Attribute-based encryption (ABE) can be used for log encryption. Instead of encrypting each part of a log with the keys of all recipients, it is possible to encrypt the log only with attributes which match recipients' attributes. This primitive can also be used for broadcast encryption in order to decrease the num... |
Was Philippe Pétain unjustly criticized by the new French Republic? | It wasn't just about the fact that he had surrendered to the Germans that the French were pissed off about. Pétain and his government, shortly after the surrender, took a vote to reorganise the Third Republic into the French State, an authoritarian (and more importantly an extremely collaborationist) regime which is be... | [
"Philippe is best known for his role in the 2004 Haiti Rebellion which overthrew the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide due to, in part, allegations of election fraud in the 2000 parliamentary elections and other issues. Philippe's involvement can be traced back to 2000 when he was forced to flee to the Dominican... |
How come in Physics we can round off numbers willy nilly? | Someone asked a very similar question the other day and it got a lot of good answers, so I'd recommend you [read those answers](_URL_0_) (I linked directly to my favorite response). But here's my quick take on it. Numbers in math are ideal. If I ask you to solve the equation x^2 = 2, the answer is exactly sqrt(2), even... | [
"One early way of producing random numbers was by a variation of the same machines used to play keno or select lottery numbers. These mixed numbered ping-pong balls with blown air, perhaps combined with mechanical agitation, and used some method to withdraw balls from the mixing chamber (). This method gives reason... |
Is Stephen Hawking still relevant? | His work on black hole thermodynamics and his effort to merge quantum mechanics and gravity, though maybe done more convincingly by Unruh, are still relevant and very important.
He's a very bright man and, in addition to doing some very good research, dedicated his life to becoming one of the greatest public educator... | [
"Hawking achieved commercial success with several works of popular science in which he discusses his own theories and cosmology in general. His book \"A Brief History of Time\" appeared on the British \"Sunday Times\" best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. Hawking was a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS),... |
what are the implications of america leaving the iran deal? | A lot of oil companies who were in the process of investing in Iran for production purposes won't be able to continue if the sanctions go back in.
Iran will be free to restart progress toward its goal of making a nuclear weapon.
Our allies in the deal will not be able to trust us to keep up our end of any new deal t... | [
"On 8 May 2018 the United States officially withdrew from the agreement after Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum ordering the reinstatement of harsher sanctions. In his May 8 speech Trump called the Iran deal \"horrible\" and said the United States would \"work with our allies to find a real, comprehensive, and... |
how was gamma radiation discovered to be a photon, not neutron? | The Gamma ray was discovered by Rutherford in 1900 when studying radioactive elements. It was indeed neutral, but was reflected by crystalline matter, while a neutron would be absorbed by the barrier. | [
"Photon radiation is called gamma rays if produced by a nuclear reaction, subatomic particle decay, or radioactive decay within the nucleus. It is otherwise called x-rays if produced outside the nucleus. The generic term photon is therefore used to describe both.\n",
"Gamma (γ) radiation consists of photons with ... |
Could anything man-made trigger the Yellowstone super volcano? | All these answers assume there is eruptable magma down there currently anyway. While there is certainly magma, we don't know what the connectivity of it is like, the viscosity, or the internal pressure. | [
"Supervolcano is a 2005 British-Canadian disaster television film that originally aired on 13 March 2005 on BBC One, and released by the BBC on 10 April 2005 on the Discovery Channel. It is centered on the speculated and potential eruption of the volcanic caldera of Yellowstone National Park. Its tagline is \"Scien... |
how did the anime-craze start and evolve in america? | The answer is very multifaceted. Back when anime started to trickle into american television for the first time, one of the things it did was fulfill the rather common need for youth to find media that is (generally) outside the realm of their parent's enjoyments/understanding. In short, kids were attracted to it. Com... | [
"Anime culture in the United States began as a niche community that had a grassroots foundation built by groups of fans on the local level. Some of the earliest televised anime to air in the United States were \"Astro Boy\", \"Speed Racer\", and \"Gigantor\", which gained popularity with many American audiences dur... |
In The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, a character mislabels a union army because of dust on their uniform making him believe they are confederates. Did this ever happen in real life? | Misidentification wasn't uncommon, especially during the early days of the war when many units had different-colored uniforms. Notably, during the First Battle of Bull Run (July 1861), one of the turning points came when the 33rd Virginia (Confederate) regiment was mistaken for a Union unit. They were able to get close... | [
"In October 1863, Clem was captured in Georgia by Confederate cavalrymen while detailed as a train guard. The Confederates confiscated his U.S. uniform which reportedly upset him terribly—including his cap which had three bullet holes in it. He was included in a prisoner exchange a short time later, but the Confede... |
why does eating a lot of rich food cause a headache ? | It could easily be the ingestion of large amounts of salt and/or sugar (which are often heavily used in rich foods) causing dehydration. It could also be elevated levels of insulin being released into the body as the food is processed, or your body rejecting an ingredient in some way. Lots of intolerances can be very m... | [
"Many physicians also recommend changes in diet to treat chronic headaches. Many chronic headache sufferers fail to recognize foods or beverages as headache factors, because the consumption may not consistently cause headaches or the headaches may be delayed. Many of the chemicals in certain foods can cause chronic... |
How were WWI era reparation payments handled during the post-WWII separation of Germany? | Fortunately for post-war Germany they didn't have to pay any reparations from the First World War as the payment had ceased in 1932. Reparations had always been a thorny political issue in Germany, even from the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. In the Treaty itself, Germany was not given a definite figure to repay;... | [
"World War I reparations owed by Germany were stated in gold marks in 1921, 1929 and 1931; this was the victorious Allies' response to their fear that vanquished Germany might try to pay off the obligation in paper marks. The actual amount of reparations that Germany was obliged to pay out was not the 132 billion m... |
bone density after elongated periods of time in space. | Gravity constantly pulls on your body and your bones have to be strong enough to hold your weight, so your body streghthens them to withstand that weight. In space, you have no weight, so your body redirects your resources elsewhere. Your bones don't need to be dense, because of that, so the body weakens them so it c... | [
"Spaceflight osteopenia is the bone loss associated with human spaceflight. After a 3–4 month trip into space, it takes about 2–3 years to regain lost bone density. New techniques are being developed to help astronauts recover faster. Research in the following areas holds the potential to aid the process of growing... |
would a person on earth notice the andromeda galaxy merging with it? | Yes, if Andromeda merged with Earth it would get crowded.
If Andromeda were to merge with the Milky Way, no, as long as you stayed away from news, internet and large telescopes. | [
"Current measurements suggest the Andromeda Galaxy is approaching us at . In 3 to 4 billion years, there may be an Andromeda–Milky Way collision, depending on the importance of unknown lateral components to the galaxies' relative motion. If they collide, the chance of individual stars colliding with each other is e... |
why do some large retail chains (e.g. blockbusters, border's books, circuit city) grow and expand successfully til they are in every city but then go out of business suddenly without instead just scaling back down as needed? | Because the very nature of the business they provide becomes obsolete and scaling back does not provide a way toward regaining profitability. For example, let's take a retail chain that is hugely successful and everywhere today - Starbucks. They provide coffee to order ready to consume to the public. Let's now take ... | [
"A key drawback to supplier convergence is that one of the main concepts of it is to force smaller companies into mergers or out of business by replacing or threatening to replace them with one large company offering different products or services. Wal-Mart and Borders, two of the superstores cited above, have rece... |
What slang did German soldiers use to describe soldiers from various nations during WWII? | /u/LBo87 gave a good answer in an [old thread](_URL_0_).
There is /u/Astrogator's [answer](_URL_1_) as well, which adds one more term. See the last bullet point. | [
"One significant source of slang were the prisoner of war camps run by the Japanese, where Diggers sometimes ended up. These were the sources of many particularly strong expressions, such as \"white nip\" for a prisoner who collaborated with the Japanese, and \"japs\", \"nips\", \"jeeps\", \"little yellow men\", an... |
how does a phone battery hold a charge? what is flowing from the charging cord, where does it go into, and how is the phone able to use that charge? | Phone batteries use an chemical reaction something like
Li - > Li+ + e-
Mg+ + e- - > Mg
This means the the electron travels from the lithium electrode to the magnesium electrode creating electron flow and therefore energy.
In all chemical reactions u can push/reverse the reaction by adding energy to the aystem.... | [
"The port can charge the battery and power the phone while it is connected to, for example, a hands-free solution in a car. The FastPort became the only way to get external power to the phones. Chargers comes in several varieties, from 12/24 volt DC to use in cars, to 100-250 volt AC to use elsewhere. Some charger-... |
deli meat vs packages sliced meat | Yes. Freshly sliced meat that you get at the grocery store is, well, fresh. Prepackaged meat has to go to through the middle man, who slices and packages it before it's sent to the store. Getting the meat sliced at the deli means it skips the middle man and gets to you, more fresh than the prepackaged stuff. | [
"A meat slicer, also called a slicing machine, deli slicer or simply a slicer, is a tool used in butcher shops and delicatessens to slice meats, sausages, cheeses and other deli products. Older models of meat slicer may be operated by crank, while newer ones generally use an electric motor. While the slicer is trad... |
what was it about the catholic church that allowed it to become the most prominent religion in the world ? | Quite simply, the Catholic Church happened to gain a foothold in the most powerful countries in the world. Spain, Portugal, France, etc. Those countries then spread their faith through their conquests. This of course came from the apostles of Christ spreading the gospel throughout Europe starting in Greece and Turkey. | [
"Christianity had a significant impact on education and science and medicine as the church created the bases of the Western system of education, and was the sponsor of founding universities in the Western world as the university is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian s... |
What about Amsterdam has made it such a popular refuge for radical, creative thinkers, and how did they contribute to the Dutch golden age of the late 16th and 17th century? | During that time The Netherlands was fighting a war of independence, the 80 year war. While it basically stared as a revolt against the Spanish because of infringements of privileges like protection against unreasonable taxes etc.. It soon became also a religious based war between Protestants (Netherlands) and Catholi... | [
"As the centre of trade gravitated towards Amsterdam, Haarlem declined in the 18th century. The Golden age had created a large upper middle class of merchants and well-to-do small business owners. Taking advantage of the reliability of the trekschuit connection between Amsterdam and Haarlem, many people had a busin... |
I've a Ni-MH recharger. Does it matter if I constantly recharge certain batteries even though they're already full? | NiMH chemistry is much more forgiving to overcharging than other types of battery chemistry, but it's really not good for the cell. Get some extra cells, and only charge ones that have been (mostly) used. | [
"Manufacturers do not support recharging of disposable alkaline batteries, and warn that it may be dangerous. Despite this advice, alkaline batteries have been recharged, and chargers have been available. The capacity of a recharged alkaline battery declines with number of recharges, until it becomes unusable after... |
what will keep certain isps from providing "neutral internet" and completely destroying their competitors who don't? | To start an ISP you need to invest in a lot of infrastructure. Most ISPs is therefore limited to a small geographical area. And if there are two providers who need the infrastructure to every house then the service will be twice as expensive for everyone. Just imagine if there were two main water lines running to each ... | [
"The comedian says that Pai has also proposed \"laughably lacking\" alternatives to net neutrality. One alternative stipulated that ISPs simply include a voluntary statement in their terms of service indicating that they would not throttle or block content, which Oliver says would \"make net neutrality as binding a... |
When photographing a light, why do streaks show up in regular angular positions around the light? | That's the shape of the camera's aperture, and the effect is called [bokeh](_URL_0_). | [
"Dark slope streaks are albedo features. They appear to the eye as a brightness difference between the streak and the lighter-toned background slope. Usually no topographic relief is visible to distinguish the streak from its surroundings, except in the very highest resolution (<1 m/pixel) images. In many cases, th... |
When the Sun's red giant phase ends it'll lose roughly 50% of its mass to space, does this excess surface hydrogen have enough mass to create a red dwarf? | Red dwarfs are main sequence stars just like the Sun, except they only contain about 8-50% as much mass. As a consequence, the fusion in their cores proceeds slower, their surface temps are cooler, and their life spans are much longer.
During its Red Giant phase, the Sun will gradually lose much of its upper atmosp... | [
"The evolved red giant star is losing mass, since radiation pressure overcomes the low gravity on the surface. The outflow of matter is captured by the gravitational field of the white dwarf and falls on its surface in the end. At least during the active phase an accretion disk forms around the white dwarf.\n",
"... |
what is a constituent country and how does it differ from units like state or provinces? | Functionally they are almost identical to US State or Canadian Province. They do not have their own militaries, do not have their own passports, do not have their own treaties and trade agreements, but they do have some of their own laws and self governance.
Puerto Rico is a territory. They are partially subject to t... | [
"A constituent state is a state entity that constitutes a part of a sovereign state. A constituent state holds regional jurisdiction over a defined administrative territory, within a sovereign state. Government of a constituent state is a form of regional government. Throughout history, and also in modern political... |
Did the Russians really train their troops with broomsticks instead of guns during WW1? | In 1941 the British troops retreating from Greece to Crete were forced to leave their heavy artillery behind. In an attempt to prevent the Germans from making use of those guns, the British artillerymen took the gun sights with them to Crete. When the Germans invaded Crete those artillerymen were left with sights for n... | [
"The Imperial Russian Army had hunter-commando units, formed by a decree of Emperor Alexander III in 1886, which saw action in World War I prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Also during World War I, General Aleksei Brusilov became one of the first senior commanders to utilize the tactics of fast-action shock ... |
How long ago did the modern chicken lose its ability to fly? | Technically, modern domesticated chickens can still fly. Sort of. Not well. But... for short distances and not terribly gracefully^1. They are not flightless.
However, their poor flying abilities are the result of domestication, and selective breeding by farmers and the commercial poultry industry (1950s-now)^2 to be ... | [
"Many domesticated birds, such as the domestic chicken and domestic duck, have lost the ability to fly for extended periods, although their ancestral species, the red junglefowl and mallard, respectively, are capable of extended flight. A few particularly bred birds, such as the Broad Breasted White turkey, have be... |
what are city states and how do they operate? | Are you asking how the mechanics of city states works in the context of Civ 5? Or are you asking what city states in real life are? Two really different questions. | [
"In California, the words \"town\" and \"city\" are synonymous by law (see Cal. Govt. Code Secs. 34500–34504). There are two types of cities in California: charter and general law. Cities organized as charter cities derive their authority from a charter that they draft and file with the state, and which, among othe... |
Was it common for non-Abrahamic religions to have a "bible" of sorts? | There are actually several. The thing is, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all emphasize a "closed canon". Buddhism, for example, has a canon (though its often more of a library than a single book). But then again, Jews don't have a single book ("Torah is only understandable with Talmud") and Islam emphasizes generally... | [
"In the study of comparative religion, the category of Abrahamic religions consists of the three monotheistic religions, Christianity, Islam and Judaism, which claim Abraham (Hebrew \"Avraham\" אַבְרָהָם; Arabic \"Ibrahim\" إبراهيم ) as a part of their sacred history. Smaller religions such as Bahá'í Faith that fit... |
Does the recipient of a heart transplant inherit the resting heart rate of the donor? | Only sort of. After a transplant, the heart is generally not connected to the nerves that regulate rate. But cardiac muscle is not like skeletal muscle, in that the nerves do not directly initiate contraction, they just speed it up or slow it down. The heart itself has autorhythmicity. Not connected to those nerves... | [
"Full recovery of donor heart function often takes place over hours or days, during which time considerable damage can occur. Other deaths to patients can occur from preexisting conditions. For example, in pulmonary hypertension the patient's right ventricle has often adapted to the higher pressure over time and, a... |
what would be the effect, both positive and negative, if nobody on the planet had kids for 2 years. | Anyone working in childcare or childbirth would need to find new jobs for a while. | [
"There is also the question as to whether having children really is such a positive contribution to the world in an age when there are many concerns about overpopulation, pollution and depletion of non-renewable resources. Some critics counter that such analyses of having children may understate its potential benef... |
how does red dot sights work? | The dot in a red or green dot sight is not actually a coloured point that's hovering in a fix spot in the air like an iron sight does.
Instead, the red dot you see is a reflection of a little red lamp that falls onto a spherical mirror which filters out only the red (or green) spectrum. This mirror is installed in a w... | [
"A red dot sight is a common classification for a type of non-magnifying reflector (or reflex) sight for firearms, and other devices that require aiming, that gives the user an aimpoint in the form of an illuminated red dot. A standard design uses a red light-emitting diode (LED) at the focus of collimating optics ... |
What kind of tasks would fill the day of someone running a medieval castle for his lord? | Are you referring to somebody such as, say, a steward? Somebody who would manage the daily affairs of the estate while the lord was away?
I'm going to base this on the holdings of a knight such a sub fief beneath a baron. A lord with one castle/stronghouse, and some moderate to small land holdings.
There would have b... | [
"Early on, manning a castle was a feudal duty of vassals to their magnates, and magnates to their kings, however this was later replaced with paid forces. A garrison was usually commanded by a constable whose peacetime role would have been looking after the castle in the owner's absence. Under him would have been k... |
stem cell life science research | I'd love to answer your question if you could be more specific as to what it is you're asking. | [
"Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology—studies cell fate and tissue development. It examines various types of stem cells to generate neurological disease models, to discover and test drugs, and to develop replacement therapies for neurodegenerative diseases and disorders.\n",
"More specifically the way that stem cell r... |
What happened to the House of Kalākaua or the Hawaiian royal family after their overthrow? Were there ever pretenders to that throne or anyone who tried to stir up political trouble afterwards? | Queen Liliʻuokalani continued to resist the overthrow with political, PR and judiciary actions for many years.
The royalist rebellion of 1895 had participants from the Hawaiian Royal Family, most notably Prince Kuhio.
As an interesting side note, Kuhio defeated the leader of the rebellion, Wilcox in an election fo... | [
"It served as the official residence of the Hawaiian monarch until the 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Therein not only Liliuokalani, but, Queen Kapiolani and other royal retainers were evicted from the palace after the overthrow.\n",
"After Kalākaua's death and the accession of Queen Liliʻuokalani, Iauk... |
Did the Romans ever used pikes? | Pike phalanxes were not standard infantry, but were adopted numerous times, often when fighting cavalry-heavy armies from the east.
In preparation for his Parthian campaign Caracalla ordered 16,000 men to be trained in Macedonian drill and fight in a phalanx. Severus Alexander also had elements of six legions formed i... | [
"The pike was a long weapon, varying considerably in size, from long. It was approximately in weight, with sixteenth-century military writer Sir John Smythe recommending lighter rather than heavier pikes. It had a wooden shaft with an iron or steel spearhead affixed. The shaft near the head was often reinforced wit... |
what exactly does shifting my car into d3 do? | It's for driving in the mountains. D will allow your car to go into the highest gear... your car may not have enough power to maintain a consistent speed in this gear, so it will drop into a lower gear to get back up to speed. This cycle can be annoying. D3 prevents you from going to the highest gear. Additionally,... | [
"With the DVC system, the car’s bodywork moves independently from the wheels and engine. The DVC system automatically adjusts the tilt angle of the vehicle to the speed and acceleration of the vehicle in such a way that it always is in balance. It was designed as a proactive instead of a reactive system, meaning a ... |
can sports at an early age effect testosterone levels and how does this effect the physical appearance of someone who didn't play sports at all? | The different sports will cause different things to happen in your body while you're growing up. Yea you're genetics make you predisposed to doing well in sports or not but the type of sport will definitely effect you.
The more heavy lifting and explosive workouts you do the more testosterone you will develop and the... | [
"While a high level of testosterone is often associated with an increase in aggression, this is not a noticeable effect in most trans men. HRT doses of testosterone are much lower than the typical doses taken by steroid-using athletes, and create testosterone levels comparable to those of most cisgender men. These ... |
What happens when we overdose? | Heroin overdose is similar to any opiate overdose. Opiates depress the central nervous system causing a relaxed, "euphoric" sensation. After the initial rush, breathing becomes more shallow, decreasing oxygen to the brain and rest of the body. Without oxygen, the brain will start shutting down systems, including the ne... | [
"Overdose is a method of suicide which involves taking medication in doses greater than the indicated levels, or in a combination that will interact either to cause harmful effects or increase the potency of one or other of the substances.\n",
"A drug overdose (or simply overdose or OD) is the ingestion or applic... |
In the Ku Klux Klan's heyday, did people see it more as a social club with networking opportunities, or truly as an organization that defending white American interests? | If you're referring to the Second Klan (1915-1930's), it was certainly both. William Joseph Simmons *Invisible Empire of the Ku Klux Klan* was a religious, political, business and fraternal organization. Created during the Golden Age of Fraternal Orders, it was modeled on the multitude of existing fraternal orders like... | [
"Initially the KKK presented itself as another fraternal organization devoted to betterment of its members. The KKK's revival was inspired in part by the movie \"Birth of a Nation\", which glorified the earlier Klan and dramatized the racist stereotypes concerning blacks of that era. The Klan focused on political m... |
why some of websites is not available in some countries? | It has nothing to do with the websites, but rather, the service that the website provides. Netflix can't just take people movies and make them available for everybody to watch, that's illegal copyright infringement. They need to purchase the rights to distribute them, and most distribution agreements come with a partic... | [
"Some governments, such as those of Burma, Iran, North Korea, the Mainland China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates restrict access to content on the Internet within their territories, especially to political and religious content, with domain name and keyword filters.\n",
"The international channels and ... |
Was it because of a change in technology or a change in tactics, that machine guns no longer need to change barrels or be watercooled? | All general purpose machine guns (GPMGs) that I am aware of retain the interchangeable barrel function - a GPMG being a roughly 7.62mm belt-fed platoon- or company-level machine gun capable of laying down large volumes of fire. The M240 and MG3, the most common GPMGs in the western world, certainly have changeable barr... | [
"Machineguns used in fixed defensive positions sometimes use water cooling to extend barrel life through periods of rapid fire, but the weight of the water and pumping system significantly reduces the portability of water-cooled firearms.\n",
"The use of guns using blank cartridges to eject water from the barrel ... |
Are quarks shaped differently or are they all spheres? | As far as we know, they are all pointlike. This could understanding could one day be improved upon. | [
"Quarks are very small things that make up everything we see (matter). There are six different \"flavors\" of quarks: up, down, strange, charm, bottom, and top. Quarks also have three \"colors\": red, green, and blue. There are also antiquarks, which are the opposite of the regular quarks. In total, there are 18 di... |
why do blue laws still exist? | Many people are still religious and support such laws, so they remain. It is legal to make a religiously motivated law, just not to establish mandatory religion. | [
"In the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court has held blue laws as constitutional numerous times, citing secular bases such as securing a day of rest for mail carriers, as well as protecting workers and families, in turn contributing to societal stability and guaranteeing the free exercise of religion. The origin ... |
the symptoms of a common cold | A common cold has not much to do with actual temperature. It is an infection, mostly by viruses. There are dozens if not more viruses known that can lead to the symptoms commonly associated with a cold.
Now, how does a virus infect us? Normally your skin is pretty tight and prevents any pathogen (something that will ... | [
"The common cold, also known simply as a cold, is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the nose. The throat, sinuses, and larynx may also be affected. Signs and symptoms may appear less than two days after exposure to the virus. These may include coughing, sore throat, ru... |
nasdaq, dow jones, etc. | They are stock indexes. Basically they are each used as a measure of a certain "basket" of stocks. There are thousands of different indexes used to track different market sectors. The Dow, Nasdaq and S & P 500 are the three most well know in US | [
"The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index that indicates the value of 30 large, publicly owned companies based in the United States, and how they have traded in the stock market during various periods of time.\n",
"The NASDAQ is an electronic exchange, where all of th... |
Were soldiers traumatized or "shell-shocked" after the Napoleonic Wars or other earlier wars? How were returning soldiers treated by the public? Were they treated for their condition? | Diagnosing mental illness retrospectively is a minefield. With respect to soldiers in history and their relationship with PTSD, I would refer you to the FAQ or past threads like [this](_URL_0_).
Paging /u/Iphikrates to comply with the rules on linking past threads. | [
"There were so many officers and men suffering from shell shock that 19 British military hospitals were wholly devoted to the treatment of cases. Ten years after the war, 65,000 veterans of the war were still receiving treatment for it in Britain. In France it was possible to visit aged shell shock victims in hospi... |
What were the relationships of the various intelligence services of the Eastern Bloc with the KGB/Moscow? | There wasn't a formal hierarchy, but the KGB loomed large over all of the Warsaw Pact intelligence services, and its primacy was undisputed. Soviet intelligence personnel had a hand in creating all of the Eastern Bloc secret services, and KGB liaison officers were a constant and powerful presence in those agencies' aff... | [
"The KGB was not the only intelligence agency that Russia used to gain information around the globe. The Soviet Union formed two other well known agencies: GRU (The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation) and SVR (Foreign Intelligence Service). \n",
"All sides in the C... |
How does genetic testing work (in order to test for genetic diseases)? | A person with a genetic disease has a particular gene that differs from the normal, unaffected population. When a genetic disease is identified that can be tested for, the discoverers known what and where the gene is and what makes it different from the normal population. That difference is called a mutation. Mutati... | [
"Genetic testing identifies changes in chromosomes, genes, or proteins. Usually, testing is used to find changes that are associated with inherited disorders. The results of a genetic test can confirm or rule out a suspected genetic condition or help determine a person's chance of developing or passing on a genetic... |
What varieties of memory are there and how do they work? | Very detailed question, but i'll take a stab at it. I majored in Neuroscience and am now a first year medical student so I know a fair bit about this but I'm no expert.
1. The cerebellum helps to coordinate movement and accounts for one type of memory. This structure has an extraordinarily repetitive/simple neuronal s... | [
"Several memory models have been proposed to account for different types of recall processes, including cued recall, free recall, and serial recall. However, to explain the recall process, the memory model must identify how an encoded memory can reside in the memory storage for a prolonged period until the memory i... |
Why does bird poo look how it does? | Birds actually urinate and defecate at the same time - their urine is viscous and highly concentrated (I believe it has a lot of ammonia in it, which is the characteristic smell). The white liquid/paste is the concentrated urine and the black pellets are the feces. Hope this enlightens you!
Classic example: _URL_0_ | [
"It is a well camouflaged bird, it is usually shy and conceals itself close to ground vegetation and flushes only when approached closely. When flushed, they utter a sharp note that sounds like \"scape, scape\" and fly off in a series of aerial zig-zags to confuse predators. They forage in soft mud, probing or pick... |
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