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why does fabric (temporally) change colour when it gets wet? | First of all, you have to look at how colour works. When light hits something, most of the light is absorbed by whatever is there, in your case, the backpack. What you see is only the light that isn't absorbed, it's reflected back at you. So, when you add water (rain) the reflection back is different because the water has changed how the reflection works. When you see something white, you see everything reflected back, when you see something black, thats because no light is reflected back. | [
"Linen fabrics have a high natural luster; their natural color ranges between shades of ivory, ecru, tan, or grey. Pure white linen is created by heavy bleaching. Linen fabric typically varies somewhat in thickness and is crisp and textured, but it can in some cases feel stiff and rough, and in other cases feel soft and smooth. When properly prepared, linen fabric has the ability to absorb and lose water rapidly. Linen can absorb a fair amount of moisture without feeling unpleasantly damp to the skin, unlike cotton.\n",
"Linen fabric feels cool to touch, a phenomenon which indicates its higher conductivity (the same principle that makes metals feel \"cold\"). It is smooth, making the finished fabric lint-free, and gets softer the more it is washed. However, constant creasing in the same place in sharp folds will tend to break the linen threads. This wear can show up in collars, hems, and any area that is iron creased during laundering. Linen has poor elasticity and does not spring back readily, explaining why it wrinkles so easily.\n",
"A side effect of textile optical whitening is to make the treated fabrics more visible with Night Vision Devices than non-treated ones. This may or may not be desirable for military or other applications. Optically brightened paper is often not useful in exacting photographic or art applications, since the whiteness decreases with time.\n",
"White was the universal color of both men and women's underwear and of sheets in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was unthinkable to have sheets or underwear of any other color. The reason was simple; the manner of washing linen in boiling water caused colors to fade. When linen was worn out, it was collected and turned into high-quality paper.\n",
"American researcher Alan D. Adler, confirming the presence of bilirubin on the fabric, noted that it is not light-stable and may change the color under any light. According to Adler, since the image fibers are at or near saturation while the surrounding cloth is not, the latter will gradually get darker until the image first becomes a silhouette and later finally vanishes.\n",
"Though many materials can be used to make form-fitting garments, the thinner materials, such as synthetic fibers, are the most commonly used, because of the smooth line that can be produced as well as their extra strength when pulled tight. Some fabrics cling to the skin or do so when wet, giving a form-fitting effect.\n",
"The transfer sheet is placed ink side down (usually) onto a t-shirt or fabric and ironed (without steam) onto the cloth. Some transfer sheets change color to signal that the transfer is finished. To create a glossy effect with adhesive based transfers, the transfer sheet is removed after it has been cooled down. To create a matte effect, it is peeled off while still hot.\n"
] |
what will happen if a republican president is elected in 2016 and signs the obamacare repeal bill? | Yes, it could be repealed, and what would happen depends on what exactly is in the bill repealing it.
While the Affordable Care Act is one discrete public law, it is codified by inserting provisions into various titles and sections of the U.S. Code (statutes) that deal with health care and insurance. So whatever act repeals it needs either to show what part of the current code needs to be repealed or it can repeal all of the provisions of the ACA at once and leave [someone else](_URL_0_) to do the dirty work of tracking it all down and updating the Code.
Then I suppose _URL_1_ goes down, no one gets insurance subsidies anymore, you can get jacked out of qualifying for insurance based on health condition, and premiums could be underwritten again. You might have to pay for preventive care, you might have a lifetime maximum benefit again, and there's no guarantee that the plans you do qualify for will offer decent coverage. A lot of poor people would get kicked off Medicaid.
It would be like 2008 again. | [
"In January 2017, at the beginning of the Congress, Collins voted in favor of a bill to begin the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (\"Obamacare\"). However, with four other Republican senators, Collins is leading an effort to slow down the ACA repeal in the Senate. Collins and fellow Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana have proposed legislation that permits states to either keep the ACA or move to a replacement program to be funded in part by the federal government. In January 2017, Collins \"was the only Republican to vote for a defeated amendment...that would have prevented the Senate from adopting legislation cutting Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.\"\n",
"After President Trump took office in January 2017, Senate Republicans, under McConnell's leadership, began to work on a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. They faced opposition from both Democrats and moderate Republicans, who claimed that the bill would leave too many people uninsured, and more conservative Republicans, who protested that the bill kept too many of the ACA's regulation and spending increases, and was thus not a full repeal. Numerous attempts at repeal failed. On June 27, after a meeting with President Trump at the White House, McConnell signaled improvements for the repeal and replacement: \"We're not quite there. But I think we've got a really good chance of getting there. It'll just take us a little bit longer.\" During a Rotary Club lunch on July 6, McConnell said, \"If my side is unable to agree on an adequate replacement, then some kind of action with regard to the private health insurance market must occur.\"\n",
"In July 2017 Thune said that Republicans would continue trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act regardless of whether that month's effort collapsed: \"We are going to vote to repeal and replace Obamacare. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when.\"\n",
"In 2014, Republicans recaptured the Senate; two years later, Donald Trump won was elected President on the Republican line. For the first time since the ACA had passed, Republicans had the political power to repeal it, legislation Trump had promised to sign while campaigning. But, in March 2017, two months after Trump took office and seven years after \"Waterloo\", House Republicans' effort to \"repeal and replace\" Obamacare, the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA) appeared to have foundered due to a lack of consensus among Republicans as to what form a replacement should take. A month earlier, \"The Washington Monthly\" had recalled \"Waterloo\" and said that Frum was \"[t]he one conservative who saw this coming.\"\n",
"President Trump's efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) did not pass a Republican-controlled Senate during the summer of 2017, although they did pass the more conservative House of Representatives. The proposals were highly unpopular, as they were expected to reduce insurance coverage and increase insurance premium costs on the ACA exchanges. However, a variety of efforts to hinder the implementation of the ACA were implemented through executive order or by other means. These actions also were expected to reduce coverage and increase costs relative to the current law baseline. These efforts were mainly an appeal to the conservative Republican base, which favors repealing and replacing the ACA.\n",
"On March 24, 2017, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the House Republican bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, was withdrawn by Republican House speaker Paul Ryan because it lacked the votes to pass, due in large part to opposition from Freedom Caucus Republicans.\n",
"On January 12, 2017, the Senate voted 51 to 48 to pass an FY2017 budget resolution, S.Con.Res. 3, that contained language allowing the repeal of the Affordable Care Act through the budget reconciliation process, which disallows a filibuster in the Senate. In spite of efforts during the vote-a-rama (a proceeding in which each amendment was considered and voted upon for about 10 minutes each until all 160 were completed) that continued into the early hours of the morning, Democrats could not prevent \"the GOP from following through on its repeal plans.\"\n"
] |
why there is no radio function in iphones (not sure about androids) radio was avaliable in almost all old phones | Because you need to add yet another chip which can receive the right wavelength, which adds complexity, costs, and takes away space for things you'd rather put in. | [
"Some previous iPhone models contained a chip capable of receiving radio signals; however, Apple has the FM radio feature switched off because there was no antenna connected to the chip. Later iterations of the iPhone (starting with the iPhone 7), however, do not contain radio chips at all. A campaign called \"Free Radio On My Phone\" was started to encourage cellphone manufacturers such as Apple to enable the radio on the phones they manufacture, reasons cited were that radio drains less power and is useful in an emergency such as the 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfire.\n",
"There were no mobile phones in the 1970s but simple HF radio sets were fitted to the 4WD vehicle fleet and some bulky handheld portables were available. The technology was primitive and the reception poor unless the user was on a high point somewhere. The radio signal was \"line-of-sight\" and bounced between fire towers and relay transmitters across the mountains back to the district offices. Safety became a real concern if someone was injured or stuck in a remote valley somewhere in a radio \"dead spot\". Nokia the largest worldwide developer and producer of hand-held mobile phones in the early 1980s, was initially a Finnish forestry company.\n",
"The device's main non-phone features are flashlight at the top of the device, and an FM radio. The radio requires a headset or headphones in lieu of an antenna to function, and can work in the background, thereby providing access to other phone tasks without having to turn it off.\n",
"The second generation mobile phones (circa 1978 through 1990) could be easily monitored by anyone with a 'scanning all-band receiver' because the system used an analog transmission system-like an ordinary radio transmitter. The third generation digital phones are harder to monitor because they use digitally encoded and compressed transmission. However the government can tap mobile phones with the cooperation of the phone company. It is also possible for organizations with the correct technical equipment to monitor mobile phone communications and decrypt the audio.\n",
"Recently, Sony Ericsson released a remote control car that could be controlled by any Bluetooth cell phone. Radio is the most popular because it does not require the vehicle to be limited by the length of the cable or in a direct line of sight with the controller (as with the infrared set-up). These also include remote controlled helicopters.\n",
"The original inventors of radio, from Guglielmo Marconi's time on, expected it to be used for one-on-one wireless communication tasks where telephones and telegraphs could not be used because of the problems involved in stringing copper wires from one point to another, such as in ship-to-shore communications. Those inventors had no expectations whatever that radio would become a major mass media entertainment and information medium earning many millions of dollars in revenues annually through radio advertising commercials or sponsorship. These latter uses were brought about after 1920 by business entrepreneurs such as David Sarnoff, who created the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and William S. Paley, who built Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). These broadcasting (as opposed to narrowcasting) business organizations began to be called network affiliates, because they consisted of loose chains of individual stations located in various cities, all transmitting the standard overall-system supplied fare, often at synchronized agreed-upon times. Some of these radio network stations were owned and operated by the networks, while others were independent radio owned by entrepreneurs allied with the respective networks. By selling blocks of time to advertisers, the medium was able to quickly become profitable and offer its products to listeners for free, provided they invested in a radio receiver set.\n",
"43–50 MHz cordless phones had a large installed base by the early 1990s, and featured shorter flexible antennas and automatic channel selection. Due to their popularity, an overcrowding of the band led to an allocation of additional frequencies; thus manufacturers were able to sell models with 25 channels instead of just 10 channels. Although less susceptible to interference than previous AM units, these models are no longer in production and are considered obsolete because their frequencies are easily heard on practically any radio scanner. Advanced models began to use voice inversion as a basic form of scrambling to help limit unauthorized eavesdropping. These phones share the 49.8 MHz band (49.830 - 49.890) with some wireless baby monitors.\n"
] |
why are australia's vast empty planes simply not covered in solar panels to help with their power productions crisis? | A couple of reasons:
* it's expensive as fuck
* you lose a lot of the power having to transfer it across lines to where it is useful.
* despite it being fairly inhospitable to people, there's still a great deal of wildlife there that would be impacted by such a huge construction project.
I mean yeah put a solar plant or two as close as you can to civilization, but don't cover the land with them. | [
"Solar Ship Inc. is a company based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada in order to develop hybrid aircraft to deliver critical cargo to cut-off places. The solarship gains lift from both buoyant gas and aerodynamics and uses power from solar panels. The aircraft is a new concept of transport that does not rely on fossil fuels or ground infrastructure.\n",
"Derry Newman, chief executive of Solarcentury, argues that the UK's \"famously overcast weather does not make it an unsuitable place for solar power, as solar panels work on daylight, not necessarily direct sunlight.\" Some solar cells work better in direct sunlight, others can use more diffuse light. While insolation rates are lower in England than France and Spain, they are still usable. Many of the solar panels can be monitored on the internet, such as the Slepe Farm in Dorset, a 492 kW solar field.\n",
"An offer to clean Hangar One and coat its outsides with solar panels to recoup the costs of cleaning was floated by a private company, but the plan never saw fruition because it was too costly and the orientation of the hangar for solar collection was less than ideal.\n",
"In 2006, an offer to clean the hangar and coat its outsides with solar panels to recoup the costs of cleaning was floated by a private company, but the plan never saw fruition because it was too costly.\n",
"The project generated controversy because of the decision to build it on ecologically intact desert habitat. The Ivanpah installation was estimated, before operations started, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 400,000 tons annually. It was designed to minimize impacts on the natural environment compared to some photovoltaic solar facilities because the use of heliostats does not require as much grading of the land. The facility was fenced off to keep out some terrestrial wildlife. However, birds faced the risk of collision with the heliostat mirrors or from burning in solar flux created by the mirror field.\n",
"In addition, land availability has a large effect on the available solar energy because solar panels can only be set up on land that is otherwise unused and suitable for solar panels. Roofs have been found to be a suitable place for solar cells, as many people have discovered that they can collect energy directly from their homes this way. Other areas that are suitable for solar cells are lands that are not being used for businesses where solar plants can be established.\n",
"In 2015, Wood told the ABC that the environmental benefits achieved by Australia's take-up of solar photovoltaic panels had come at great cost to Australian taxpayers- a net cost of \"about $9 billion\". He said \"in the time that we had could have done a lot better, with that money, or we could have actually reduced greenhouse gas emissions a lot more cheaply... and then we could have been moving onto a different future for solar.\" \"Solar with batteries in the future might be a much better way.\" John Grimes responded in defence of solar panel deployment, stating that the report Wood was referring to was \"cherry-picking\", and was \"designed to cast solar PV in the worst possible light.\" \n"
] |
why is it recommended to cook with cold water instead of hot water? | Yo ho ho! Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained:
1. [ELI5: Why is it better to start with cold water and boil it when making pasta or coffee, rather than starting with hot water? ](_URL_3_) ^(_30 comments_)
1. [ELI5: When I boil water, why am i supposed to use cold water? ](_URL_2_) ^(_29 comments_)
1. [When cooking, why do we not boil hot water from the faucet? Won't it be faster and doesn't the heat kill any bacteria anyway? ](_URL_1_) ^(_4 comments_)
1. [ELI5: Why do packages often say bring cold water to a boil? ](_URL_0_) ^(_11 comments_)
| [
"Since cooking foods at high temperatures in order to kill bacteria and pathogens is required, cautionary measures need to be taken into consideration. One of these precautions is the use of water and other solutions around deep fryers because water or ice that meets hot oils is likely to gurgle, splash, and bubble onto nearby surfaces or objects. In fact, the use of water or ice with hot oil can cause the water to evaporate at that high temperature leading to severe bodily injury or heated explosions. This is commonly referred to as the flash point and should always be avoided. It is always best to use a chemical agent like a fire extinguisher or cover the oil with a non-porous object like a metal lid or platter instead of liquids like water. Another precaution to consider when using a deep fat fryer to make sure that the oil does not overflow when food items are placed into the fryer and that the food item can be completely submerged to ensure even cooking, especially for large objects like a turkey. If the oil meets flames, from stove top burners and other sources, the results can be life threatening like heated or gaseous oils that can explode nearby workstations while causing wall and ceiling fires. Another factor that can cause oil fires is the environment surrounding the deep fryer such as keeping the work area clear of objects and placing hot oil containers/fryers on smooth surfaces so that they do not spill. Furthermore, carbon monoxide can be created from deep-frying and little ventilation/air flow can cause people in the area to be poisoned, which is especially dangerous, so carbon monoxide detectors should be maintained in working order.\n",
"Depending on the needs and on the water temperature, couple heating and cooling can be considered. For example, heat could first be extracted from the water (making it colder); and, secondly, that same water could cycle to a refrigerating unit to be used for even more effective cold production.\n",
"Water heating is a heat transfer process that uses an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating. In industry, hot water and water heated to steam have many uses.\n",
"Two conflicting safety issues affect water heater temperature—the risk of scalding from excessively hot water greater than , and the risk of incubating bacteria colonies, particularly \"Legionella\", in water that is not hot enough to kill them. Both risks are potentially life-threatening and are balanced by setting the water heater's thermostat to . The European Guidelines for Control and Prevention of Travel Associated Legionnaires’ Disease recommend that hot water should be stored at and distributed so that a temperature of at least and preferably is achieved within one minute at points of use.\n",
"With the aim of decreasing net efficiency, some brands of laundry detergent have been reformulated for use with cold water. By allowing the consumer to use cold water rather than hot, each load cuts back significantly on energy costs.\n",
"Cold brewing has some disadvantages compared to hot steeping. If the leaves or source water contain unwanted bacteria, they may flourish, whereas using hot water has the benefit of killing most bacteria. This is less of a concern in modern times and developed regions. Cold brewing may also allow for less caffeine to be extracted.\n",
"Since some hot tubs are not drained after each use it is necessary to treat the water to keep it attractive and safe. It must be neither too alkaline nor too acidic, and must be sanitised to stay free of harmful microorganisms. Partly due to their high water temperatures, hot tubs can pose particular health risks if not regularly maintained: outbreaks of Legionnaires' Disease have been traced to poorly sanitized hot tubs. Typically chlorine or bromine are used as sanitizers, but salt water chlorination is starting to become more common. Hot tubs should also be periodically shocked, which means oxidizing or breaking down organic material left behind from the sanitizer, as well as non-filterable material such as soap films and perspiration.\n"
] |
What properties make an object heat faster in a microwave? | You are observing the dielectric properties of the various materials. Some materials like dry ice are transparent to microwaves and will not heat up in a microwave because it has low dielectric loss. Some ceramic plates and bowls have higher dielectric loss than others meaning they couple with the microwaves and begin to vibrate generating heat.
Metals reflect most of the microwaves but the surface layer can build a considerable charge creating sparks if the voltage is high enough to arc through air. | [
"Different compounds convert microwave radiation to heat by different amounts. This selectivity allows some parts of the object being heated to heat more quickly or more slowly than others (particularly the reaction vessel).\n",
"Microwave heating can cause localized thermal runaways in some materials with low thermal conductivity which also have dielectric constants that increase with temperature. An example is glass, which can exhibit thermal runaway in a microwave to the point of melting if preheated. Additionally, microwaves can melt certain types of rocks, producing small quantities of molten rock. Some ceramics can also be melted, and may even become clear upon cooling. Thermal runaway is more typical of electrically conductive liquids such as salty water.\n",
"Because microwaves transfer electromagnetic energy at a molecular level, and the vibration of the molecules creates heat through friction, it is difficult to properly check for this highly localized 'micro'-thermal effect or create conditions where study of the putative 'athermal' effect is possible.\n",
"Microwaves are used for heating of various materials in cooking and various industrial processes. The rate of heating of the material depends on the energy absorption, which depends on the dielectric constant of the material. The dependence of dielectric constant on temperature varies for different materials; some materials display significant increase with increasing temperature. This behavior, when the material gets exposed to microwaves, leads to selective local overheating, as the warmer areas are better able to accept further energy than the colder areas—potentially dangerous especially for thermal insulators, where the heat exchange between the hot spots and the rest of the material is slow. These materials are called \"thermal runaway materials\". This phenomenon occurs in some ceramics.\n",
"BULLET::::- Any hot object ultimately returns to thermal equilibrium with its environment, due to heat loss from conduction, convection and radiation. Efficiency (the proportion of heat energy retained for a predefined time period) is directly related to heat loss from the collector surface. Convection and radiation are the most important sources of heat loss. Thermal insulation is used to slow heat loss from a hot object. This follows the Second law of thermodynamics (the 'equilibrium effect').\n",
"Acting as internal heat source, microwave absorption is able to heat the target compounds without heating the entire furnace or oil bath, which saves time and energy. It is also able to heat sufficiently thin objects throughout their volume (instead of through its outer surface), in theory producing more uniform heating. However, due to the design of most microwave ovens and to uneven absorption by the object being heated, the microwave field is usually non-uniform and localized superheating occurs. Microwave volumetric heating (MVH) overcomes the uneven absorption by applying an intense, uniform microwave field.\n",
"At very high frequencies, the wavelength of the electromagnetic field becomes shorter than the distance between the metal walls of the heating cavity, or than the dimensions of the walls themselves. This is the case inside a microwave oven. In such cases, conventional far-field electromagnetic waves form (the cavity no longer acts as a pure capacitor, but rather as an antenna), and are absorbed to cause heating, but the dipole-rotation mechanism of heat deposition remains the same. However, microwaves are not efficient at causing the heating effects of low frequency fields that depend on slower molecular motion, such as those caused by ion-drag.\n"
] |
How does our body keep track of time? And how might this effect space travel? | On your question about the role of the sun and the implications for space travel, there were a series of interesting studies a while back that provides part of the answer. The goal of these studies was to determine if our normal [circadian rhythm](_URL_3_) (as measured by physiological markers like the body temperature) as well the sleep/wake cycle was set by some kind of an internal clock or by external factors such as sunlight and other temporal cues. To answer this question researchers placed a group of individuals in a controlled environment e.g. in bunkers), where at first they gave them temporal cues (by providing access to TV, radio, etc) about the time of day.
During this adaptation period, both the circadian rhythm and the sleep/wake cycle remained matched to the 24 hour cycle. But then, the researchers removed these cues to see how the individuals would adapt.
Interestingly what happened is that the [sleep cycle of many of the individuals gradually lengthened](_URL_4_) ([source](_URL_1_)). In fact further studies have a shown that the sleep/wake cycles can vary significantly among individuals. In contrast, when the circadian rhythm was monitored by measuring physiological markers (such as the core body temperature), [researchers found that individuals maintained a circadian rhythm of about 24 hours (on average 24.18hrs)](_URL_0_), with much less variation. These results suggest that while external cues and stimuli can cause the activity cycle (or sleep/wake cycle) to change dramatically, the internal clock that sets the circadian rhythm is much more stable and in most people is tightly aligned with the 24 hour daily cycle. Nevertheless, this fact does not mean that external stimuli do not matter as far as the circadian rhythm is concerned. In fact over time the circadian rhythm can respond to match external stimuli such as the light/dark cycle in a process called [entrainment](_URL_2_). This fact makes it possible to gradually shift the circadian rhythm (within a certain range) from the normal 24 hour cycle by changing the external conditions.
Edit: Added in the original sources of the studies referenced, and made a key correction as pointed out by /u/whatthefat | [
"Time is discretized into time steps. This discretization in both space and time results in a cellular automaton. One can think of a cell as being a few car lengths long and the maximum velocity as being the speed limit on the road. The time step is then the time taken for a car at the speed limit to travel around 10 car lengths. However, the model can also be thought as just a way to understand or to model features of traffic jams by showing how interactions between nearby cars cause the cars to slow down. In each time step, the procedure is as follows.\n",
"Time has historically been closely related with space, the two together merging into spacetime in Einstein's special relativity and general relativity. According to these theories, the concept of time depends on the spatial reference frame of the observer, and the human perception as well as the measurement by instruments such as clocks are different for observers in relative motion. For example, if a spaceship carrying a clock flies through space at (very nearly) the speed of light, its crew does not notice a change in the speed of time on board their vessel because everything traveling at the same speed slows down at the same rate (including the clock, the crew's thought processes, and the functions of their bodies). However, to a stationary observer watching the spaceship fly by, the spaceship appears flattened in the direction it is traveling and the clock on board the spaceship appears to move very slowly.\n",
"Thus the duration of the clock cycle of a moving clock is found to be increased: it is measured to be \"running slow\". The range of such variances in ordinary life, where even considering space travel, are not great enough to produce easily detectable time dilation effects and such vanishingly small effects can be safely ignored for most purposes. It is only when an object approaches speeds on the order of 30,000 km/s (1/10 the speed of light) that time dilation becomes important.\n",
"One more important step being left out of the standard model, Wiltshire claimed, was the fact that as proven by observation, gravity slows time. Thus, a clock will move faster in empty space, which possesses low gravitation, than inside a galaxy, which has much more gravity, and he argued that as large as a 38% difference between the time on clocks in the Milky Way and those in a galaxy floating in a void exists. Thus, unless we can correct for that—timescapes each with different times—our observations of the expansion of space will be, and are, incorrect. Wiltshire claims that the 1998 supernovae observations that led to the conclusion of an expanding universe and dark energy can instead be explained by Buchert's equations if certain strange aspects of general relativity are taken into account.\n",
"BULLET::::2. The rhythms are entrainable. The rhythm can be reset by exposure to external stimuli (such as light and heat), a process called entrainment. The external stimulus used to entrain a rhythm is called the Zeitgeber, or \"time giver\". Travel across time zones illustrates the ability of the human biological clock to adjust to the local time; a person will usually experience jet lag before entrainment of their circadian clock has brought it into sync with local time.\n",
"Einstein showed in his thought experiments that people travelling at different speeds, while agreeing on cause and effect, measure different time separations between events, and can even observe different chronological orderings between non-causally related events. Though these effects are typically minute in the human experience, the effect becomes much more pronounced for objects moving at speeds approaching the speed of light. Subatomic particles exist for a well known average fraction of a second in a lab relatively at rest, but when travelling close to the speed of light they are measured to travel farther and exist for much longer than when at rest. According to the special theory of relativity, in the high-speed particle's frame of reference, it exists, on the average, for a standard amount of time known as its mean lifetime, and the distance it travels in that time is zero, because its velocity is zero. Relative to a frame of reference at rest, time seems to \"slow down\" for the particle. Relative to the high-speed particle, distances seem to shorten. Einstein showed how both temporal and spatial dimensions can be altered (or \"warped\") by high-speed motion.\n",
"Physically, traversed space and elapsed time are linked by velocity. It is logical, then, to consider that the tau effect occurs as a consequence of the brain's assumption regarding stimulus velocity. Indeed, different theories regarding the brain's expectations about stimulus velocity have been put forward in an effort to explain the tau effect.\n"
] |
How does graphite bind to paper, and how does an eraser remove it? | [So this is what paper looks like close up](_URL_0_)
[This is what graphite might look like close up](_URL_1_)
When you write, the graphite becomes all dusty and lands on the paper, and into the holes of the paper and all over it. But it isn't bonded to it. This is why, after long periods of time, lots of things like books and papers and letters fade and become harder to read, because this dust that is on the paper flies off.
An eraser rubs right on the paper, and pulls some of the dust off. This is why the eraser leaves little rolled up rubber side-effects, with graphite on them, because they got stuck to the sticky rubber.
There is no bonding, just being stuck in the holes of the paper and all around it, and so on. Also, pressing a pencil on the paper makes nice little indents for the graphite to stick into, so it's not just like you can shake your paper and have the graphite fall off! | [
"The ability to leave marks on paper and other objects gave graphite its name, given in 1789 by German mineralogist Abraham Gottlob Werner. It stems from \"graphein\", meaning \"to write\" or \"draw\" in Ancient Greek.\n",
"An ink eraser is an instrument used to remove ink from a writing surface, more difficult than removing pencil markings. Older types are a metal scraper, which scrapes the ink off the surface, and an eraser similar to a rubber pencil eraser, but with additional abrasives, such as sand, incorporated. Fibreglass erasers also work by abrasion. These erasers physically remove the ink from the paper. There is some unavoidable damage with most types of paper and ink, where the paper absorbs some ink, but not all.\n",
"Kneaded erasers are also useful for making impromptu sculptures to sketch from. Kneaded erasers are mostly used for slightly, but not fully, erasing the content of graphite. It has great plasticity and can be molded and shaped into desired forms for ease of usage.\n",
"While graphite is claimed to be a hazardous material in space because it burns and conducts electricity, two facts mitigate the risks: 1) the graphite in pencils is mixed with clay during fabrication of the \"lead\" to help hold its shape, and would only burn at greater than ; 2) the quantity of graphite particles actually produced during occasional writing would be too small to constitute an electrical hazard.\n",
"A fibreglass eraser, a bundle of very fine glass fibres, can be used for erasing and other tasks requiring abrasion. Typically the eraser is a pen-shaped device with a replaceable insert with glass fibres, which wear down in use. The fibres are very hard; in addition to removing pencil and pen markings, such erasers are used for cleaning traces on electronic circuit boards to facilitate soldering, removing rust, and many other applications. As an example of an unusual use, a fibreglass eraser was used for preparing an archaeological fossil embedded in a very hard and massive limestone.\n",
"Eaton's Corrasable Bond is a trademarked name for a brand of erasable typing paper. Erasable paper has a glazed or coated surface which is almost invisible, is easily removed by friction, and accepts typewriter ink fairly well. Removing the coating removes the ink on top of it, so mistakes can be easily erased once. After erasure, the correction is typed onto an unprotected paper surface and cannot be easily erased a second time.\n",
"When a large number of crystallographic defects(physical) bind these planes together, graphite loses its lubrication properties and becomes what is known as pyrolytic carbon, a useful material in blood-contacting implants such as prosthetic heart valves.\n"
] |
Royal chefs in Middle Ages | The first German language cookbook was written by a woman named Sabina Welserin in 1553 (you can read it [here](_URL_0_)). Not much is known about her life but she mentioned in one recipe that the cook for Count of Leuchtenberg instructed her to cook fish a certain way hinting she is a professional cook of some kind. From the recipes she wrote (many recipes ask for large quantities of spices and sugar and some recipes were clearly for fancy banquets) it suggests she cooks for a very wealthy (if not downright aristocrat) household. | [
"The most well known French chef of the Middle Ages was Guillaume Tirel, also known as Taillevent. Taillevent worked in numerous royal kitchens during the 14th century. His first position was as a kitchen boy in 1326. He was chef to Philip VI, then the Dauphin who was son of John II. The Dauphin became King Charles V of France in 1364, with Taillevent as his chief cook. His career spanned sixty-six years, and upon his death he was buried in grand style between his two wives. His tombstone represents him in armor, holding a shield with three cooking pots, \"marmites\", on it.\n",
"A type of refined cooking developed in the late Middle Ages that set the standard among the nobility all over Europe. Common seasonings in the highly spiced sweet-sour repertory typical of upper-class medieval food included verjuice, wine and vinegar in combination with spices such as black pepper, saffron and ginger. These, along with the widespread use of sugar or honey, gave many dishes a sweet-sour flavor. Almonds were very popular as a thickener in soups, stews, and sauces, particularly as almond milk.\n",
"BULLET::::- Martino da Como (c. 1430–late 15th century), \"Prince of cooks\", considered the western world's first celebrity chef. His book \"Libro de Arte Coquinaria\" (1465) was a benchmark for Italian cuisine and laid the ground for European gastronomic tradition\n",
"During the 15th century haute cuisine began to emerge, largely limited to the aristocracy. Cookery books from this period are aimed at the upper class. The first Dutch-language cook book printed in Brussels is called \"Een notabel boecxken van cokeryen\" (\"A notable book of cookery\"). It offers medieval recipes for festivities, such as sauces, game, jellies, fish, meat, pies, tarts, eggs, dairy products, candied quinces and ginger. The recipes come from various sources, many of them French. Historically, Dutch cuisine was closely related to northern French cuisine, since the two countries have nearby borders and the Low Countries and Northern France have been historically ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy. This is still visible in traditional Dutch restaurants and the Southern regional cuisine, that is still colloquially referred to as \"Bourgondisch\".\n",
"In the medieval cuisine of Northern Europe, pastry chefs were able to produce nice, stiff pastries because they cooked with shortening and butter. Some incomplete lists of ingredients have been found in medieval cookbooks, but no full, detailed versions. There were stiff, empty pastries called coffins or 'huff paste', that were eaten by servants only and included an egg yolk glaze to help make them more enjoyable to consume. Medieval pastries also included small tarts to add richness.\n",
"The Bors Hede Inne is a dinner theater restaurant, open year round by reservation. The food is prepared from recipes found in historical medieval cookbooks, and served by in-character interpreters. The Bors Hede is patterned after an actual late medieval inn, which would expect to serve the well-to-do. Guests are provided with Borde knives and spoons, and genteel lavering (handwashing) before being presented with a trencher, a flat half of bread, which serves as a plate. Throughout the meal they are periodically visited by a minstrel who plays songs appropriate to the period.\n",
"At the end of the Middle Ages, the level of refinement among the noble and royal courts of Europe had increased considerably, and the demands of powerful hosts and their rich dinner guests resulted in ever more complicated and elaborate creations. Chiquart, cook to Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy, described an entremets entitled \"Castle of Love\" in his 15th-century culinary treatise \"Du fait de cuisine\" (\"On cookery\"). It consisted of a giant castle model with four towers, carried in by four men. The castle contained, among other things, a roast piglet, a swan cooked and redressed in its own plumage, a roast boar's head and a pike cooked and sauced in three different ways without having been cut into pieces, all of them breathing fire. The battlements of the castle were adorned with the banners of the Duke and his guests, manned by miniature archers, and inside the castle there was a fountain that gushed rosewater and spiced wine. Noteworthy for its entertainment value to the assembled nobles of the time, the 17th century provided a memorable banquet event courtesy of the host, the Duke of Buckingham. In honor of his royal guests, Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria, a pie was prepared concealing a human being — famous dwarf of the era, Jeffrey Hudson. \n"
] |
why would human poop be white? | White stool is not normal and should be evaluated promptly by a doctor. White stool is caused by a lack of bile, which may indicate a serious underlying problem.
Bile is a digestive fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. Stool gets its normal brownish color from bile, which is excreted from the liver into the small intestine during the digestive process. If the liver doesn't produce bile or if bile is obstructed from leaving the liver, stool will be light colored or white.
Liver diseases, such as hepatitis and cirrhosis, can cause white stool. In some cases, the problem lies not in the liver but in the tube (duct) that delivers the bile to the intestines. This tube can be squeezed shut or blocked — for example, by a tumor or a gallstone — which prevents the bile from entering the intestines. Some babies are born with constricted bile ducts.
mayo clinic | [
"Sometimes food may make an appearance in the feces. Common undigested foods found in human feces are seeds, nuts, corn, and beans, mainly because of their high dietary fiber content. Beets may turn feces different hues of red. Artificial food coloring in some processed foods, such as highly colorful packaged breakfast cereals, can cause unusual coloring of feces if eaten in sufficient quantities.\n",
"The appearance of human fecal matter varies according to diet and health. Normally it is semisolid, with a mucus coating. A combination of bile and bilirubin, which comes from dead red blood cells, gives feces the typical brown color.\n",
"White adipose tissue, also known as white fat, is one of the 2 types of adipose tissue in mammals. White adipose tissue stores energy in form of fatty acids that are broken down from triglycerides. Its normal function is to store free fatty acids within the tissue. However, when the glucose level of in the cell drops in situations like fasting, white adipose tissue generates glycerol 3-phosphate. The presence of glyceroneogenesis in white adipose tissues is proven by an experiment with mouse. Since glycerol 3-phosphate is usually generated from glucose through glycolysis, level of triglyceride content was compared with normal mouse and mouse which cannot intake glucose in to their cells. Glucose transporter 4, also known as GLUT 4 (Figure 6) is the transporter protein of glucose which intakes extracellular glucose to intracellular environment. In order to examine the presence of glyceroneogenesis in mouse, genes expressing GLUT4 were deleted and triglyceride content of adipose tissue was compared with normal mouse. Since glucose cannot enter the cell, synthesis of glycerol 3-phosphate was expected to decrease. However, the result showed no change in triglyceride concentration. This experiment proved the presence of an alternate metabolic pathway to synthesize triglyceride in adipose tissues of mouse. Furthermore, an additional experiment was performed in order to examine the relation of the alternate glycerol 3-phosphate synthesizing pathway and PEPC-K. Triglyceride content in white adipose tissue of mouse with mutated gene which expresses PEPC-K was observed. Sine PEPC-K is the essential regulatory enzyme for glyceroneogenesis, mutation in PEPC-K genes would lower the activity of glyceroneogenesis. The result showed no production of triglyceride in white adipose tissues as expected. Hence, glyceroneogenesis was present in white adipose tissues because it was able to generate triglycerides without glucose and it was unable to synthesize when PEPC-K was mutated. Therefore, during fasting or low carbohydrate diet, white adipose tissues generate glycerol 3-phosphate using glyceroneogenesis.\n",
"Not all the effects of pigmentation are advantageous. Pigmentation increases the heat load in hot climates, and black people absorb 30% more heat from sunlight than do white people, although this factor may be offset by more profuse sweating. In cold climates black skin entails more heat loss by radiation. Pigmentation also hinders synthesis of vitamin D, so that in areas of poor nutrition black children are more liable to rickets than white children. Since pigmentation appears to be not entirely advantageous to life in the tropics, other hypotheses about its biological significance have been advanced, for example a secondary phenomenon induced by adaptation to parasites and tropical diseases.\n",
"Bilirubin is excreted in bile and urine, and elevated levels may indicate certain diseases. It is responsible for the yellow color of bruises and the yellow discoloration in jaundice. Its subsequent breakdown products, such as stercobilin, cause the brown color of faeces. A different breakdown product, urobilin, is the main component of the straw-yellow color in urine.\n",
"\"According to the Venezuela census the definition of White is: People whose skin tone is clear and that is why it is usually associated with populations of European origin. Although literally implies external issues such as clear skin, shape and color of hair and eyes, among others, \"white\" has been used in different ways in different historical periods and places. Like other common words for human ethnicities, its precise definition is somewhat confusing\"\n",
"White roll is the white line that borders the top of the upper lip. It's an adnexal mass of specialized glands and fat. White roll occurs naturally for nearly everyone, although it can be not white and less visible for dark skinned individuals. Well defined white roll indicates youthfulness and is considered aesthetically pleasing.\n"
] |
what is actually in contraband (cheap) cigarettes and why are they so cheap and illegal? | Because some states like New York tax cigarettes heavily. Contraband cigarettes are purchased out of state to avoid the taxes and sold at a discounted rate. | [
"The ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) warns counterfeit cigarettes were found to contain unsanitary ingredients (such as human feces, dead flies and mold), as well as a higher dosage of lethal substances in excess of legitimate cigarettes. Illicit cigarettes seized in Canada and the United Kingdom were found to contain five times more cadmium, six times as much lead, 160% more tar, and 133% more carbon dioxide. Consumers are warned to take caution and avoid the temptation to save money by purchasing illegal cigarettes as it poses greater health risks compared to legal cigarettes.\n",
"Since 2003 it is illegal to label a tobacco product as \"light\", \"mild\", \"low-tar” or any other misleading form of advertisement which could cause the impression that the product causes less damage than other tobacco products.\n",
"The illicit trade of tobacco is both supply and demand driven, as consumers look to save money by evading taxes on tobacco; and suppliers want to take advantage of easy border entry, high profit margins, and weak repercussions if caught. Illegal cigarettes are priced much cheaper than legal cigarettes, and do not undergo stringent regulation in the form of health warnings, product checks, or age verification. Studies highlight that increased tobacco taxes do not dissuade consumers from smoking, rather, consumers turn to cheaper brands and illegal cigarettes. Low costs of production and high levels of demand make illicit cigarettes one of the world's most trafficked illegal goods (Allen 2011). In London alone, 85% of smuggled cigarettes were found to be counterfeit, while the UK Border Agency averages more than 1 million counterfeit cigarette seizures per day (ICC 2007). Similarly, South Africa reports the incidence of illicit cigarettes has doubled the past 3 years, accounting for 25% of the total market in 2012. Public tolerance and acceptance of illegal cigarettes as a norm also factors into the continued purchase behavior among consumers, as they believe legitimate cigarettes are over-taxed and too expensive.\n",
"A federal law passed in the United States in 2009 has made it illegal for tobacco shops and stores to carry cigarettes that contain flavors other than menthol. The law affects the Djarum Black cigarette brand, and has made it unavailable for purchase within the United States.\n",
"The lawsuit claimed that Altria's marketing of \"light\" and \"low tar\" cigarettes constituted fraudulent misrepresentations under the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act (MUTPA) because it deceived smokers into thinking the products are safer than regular cigarettes.\n",
"Vending machines, individually sold single cigarettes, and product displays near schools, next to candy and sweet drinks, and at the eye-level of young children are all used around the world to sell nicotine-containing products. Even large brands are frequently advertised in ways that break local regulations. In many countries, such marketing methods are not illegal. Where they are illegal, enforcement is often a problem. For instance, Dr. Suresh Kumar Arora, New Delhi's chief tobacco control officer, said: \"We were wasting our time fining cigarette vendors and distributors. They had no idea of the law. Most are illiterate. Our teams would tear down posters and in no time, they would be up again because the real culprits were the big tobacco companies – ITC, Philip Morris (now Altria), Godfrey Phillip. I told them to stop giving posters to their dealers otherwise I would drag them through the courts. Since last May, Delhi has been free of tobacco posters, 100% free\". He has, however, been unable to keep mobile vendors from illegally selling cigarettes next to schools.\n",
"Costs of illicit trade also go beyond purely financial measures, with repercussions such as encouraging youth uptake of smoking, and increasing health risks for consumers, as illegal cigarettes are not bound by product and ingredient checks. Despite industry and government efforts to implement ID checks for tobacco sales to regulate availability, the prominence of illicit cigarette trade facilitates cigarette affordability for youth; with its lower-than-market price, and provision of easy channels for purchase in the form of small retailers and online. Internet sites have since become a core channel of distribution as it allows the selling and shipping of small quantities of cigarettes undetected by Customs Officials. Numerous studies also draw a direct link between the availability of cheap illicit cigarettes and the high youth smoking rates. In Canada, illegal cigarettes accounted for 17.5% of all cigarettes smoked by adolescents (Callaghan et al. 2009), with greater prevalence in Toronto and Quebec, where 22% of Canadian high school students regularly smoke illegal cigarettes (Callaghan et al. 2009). The study adds illegal cigarettes were responsible for providing an accessible alternative to quitting, and for youth in particular, encourages initiation and continuation of smoking over the long term.\n"
] |
Winston Churchill often spoke about his "little black dog" (i.e. depression) that constantly followed him around. Did any Nazi leaders suffer from depression or other clinical mental disorders? | Suicidal tendencies were a sufficient problem in the SS that Himmler made a point of saying that funerals shouldn't be given for officers who committed it for "trivial" reasons. Between July and September of 1942, 30 members of the SS committed it. One particular case was a SS Brigadier named Fritsch who killed himself in 1944 because he cheated on his wife and felt guilty. Himmler ordered the SS insignia removed from his headstone.
Source: Suicide in Nazi Germany
By Christian Goeschel
_URL_0_
| [
"The book revealed that \"Black Dog\" was the name Churchill gave to \"the prolonged fits of depression from which he suffered\", leading many later authors to suggest that throughout his life Churchill was a victim of, or at risk from, clinical depression. Formulated in this way, Churchill's mental health history contains unmistakable echoes of the seminal interpretation of Lord Moran's Black Dog revelations made in an essay by Dr Joseph Storr. In drawing so heavily on Moran for what he took to be the latter's totally reliable, first-hand clinical evidence of Churchill's lifelong struggle with \"prolonged and recurrent depression\" and its associated \"despair\", Storr produced a seemingly authoritative and persuasive diagnostic essay that, in the words of John Ramsden, \"strongly influenced all later accounts\".\n",
"Since the appearance in 1966 of Lord Moran's memoir of his years as Churchill's doctor, with its claim that \"Black Dog\" was the name Churchill gave to \"the prolonged fits of depression from which he suffered\", many authors have suggested that throughout his life Churchill was a victim of, or at risk from, clinical depression. Formulated in this way, Churchill's mental health history contains unmistakable echoes of the seminal interpretation of Lord Moran's Black Dog revelations made by Dr Anthony Storr.\n",
"Churchill himself seems, in a long life, to have written about Black Dog on one occasion only: the reference, a backward-looking one, occurs in a private handwritten letter to Clementine Churchill dated July 1911 which reports the successful treatment of a relative's depression by a doctor in Germany. His ministerial circumstances at that date, the very limited treatments available for serious depression pre-1911, the fact of the relative's being \"complete cured\", and, not least, the evident deep interest Churchill took in the fact of the complete cure, can be shown to point to Churchill's pre-1911 Black Dog depression as having been a form of mild (i.e. non-psychotic) anxiety-depression, as that term is defined by Professor Edward Shorter.\n",
"Du Bois took a trip around the world in 1936, which included visits to Nazi Germany, China and Japan. While in Germany, Du Bois remarked that he was treated with warmth and respect. After his return to the United States, he expressed his ambivalence about the Nazi regime. He admired how the Nazis had improved the German economy, but he was horrified by their treatment of the Jewish people, which he described as \"an attack on civilization, comparable only to such horrors as the Spanish Inquisition and the African slave trade.\"\n",
"By January 2001, she had been diagnosed as suffering from clinical depression. A memoir, \"Shoot the Damn Dog\" (2008), a partial reference to Churchill's description of his depression as a \"black dog\", recounts Brampton's experience of the condition and periods as an in-patient. The journalist Simon Garfield, writing for \"The Observer\" commented that \"her story is compelling and unflinching and she makes no claims that her descent and slow recovery will match those of others\".\n",
"Churchill spent most of his retirement at Chartwell House in Kent, two miles (3 km) south of Westerham. As Churchill's mental and physical faculties decayed, it is often suggested, he began to lose the battle he had fought for so long against the \"black dog\" of (clinical) depression. However, the biographical evidence, when carefully and comprehensively studied, suggests that \"black dog\" is more accurately interpreted as Churchill's metaphor for the temporary, non-disabling psychological reactions of worry and anxiety that he manifested throughout his career following severely adverse difficulties and setbacks. The unfailing remedy for him at such times, which he discovered in 1915, was painting; later on, he added bricklaying at Chartwell to his armamentarium. In advanced old age, his faculties too impaired to enable him to paint, he found some solace in the sunshine and colours of the Mediterranean. He took long holidays with his literary adviser Emery Reves and Emery's wife, Wendy Russell, at La Pausa, their villa on the French Riviera, seldom joined by Clementine. He also took eight cruises aboard the yacht \"Christina\" as the guest of Aristotle Onassis. Once, when the \"Christina\" had to pass through the Dardanelles, Onassis gave instructions that it was to do so during the night, so as not to disturb his guest with unhappy memories.\n",
"On 28 April 1940, three weeks after the German invasion of Denmark, \"Politiken\" ran an editorial in which Winston Churchill was called \"a dangerous man\". The editorial was written by foreign affairs editor Einard Schou after a conversation in the editor-in-chief's office with chairman of the board and soon-to-be-again Danish foreign minister Erik Scavenius. The aim is thought to have been to please the German occupation force, though no other Danish newspaper took such steps at the time. Usually, it was enough to keep within the newly introduced censorship. The article led to 15,000 readers, about 10% of subscribers, cancelling their subscriptions in protest.\n"
] |
If I unraveled the DNA in a human cell, how strong would it be? | What you're looking for is the tensile strength of DNA compared to the tensile strength of something like, say, nylon. It takes about 1 nN to break a strand of DNA, which at around 2nm wide and roughly circular, gives you a tensile strength of about 318 MPa. This is compared to somewhere in the neighborhood of ~100 MPa for nylon and other common polymers used in ropes. If we assume you can weave DNA strands into a cable, they would be quite strong, barring degradation and the thermodynamic nightmare that would be building such a large DNA structure.
Even though DNA is pretty rigid as a double-strand, once you get very long, thermodynamics make it want to curl up on itself, so you've got that working against you.
Source: Materials science researcher with a background in DNA nanotechnology | [
"Ordinarily, cellular transport mechanisms in humans and some other animals limit the amount of chromium(III) that enters a cell. Hypothetically, if an excessive amount was able to enter a cell, free radical damage to DNA might result.\n",
"Each human cell contains around two metres of DNA, which must be tightly folded to fit inside the cell nucleus. However, in order for the cell to function, proteins must be able to access the sequence information contained within the DNA, in spite of its tightly-packed nature. Hence, the cell has a number of mechanisms in place to control how DNA is organized.\n",
"The solenoid structure's most obvious function is to help package the DNA so that it is small enough to fit into the nucleus. This is a big task as the nucleus of a mammalian cell has a diameter of approximately 6 µm, whilst the DNA in one human cell would stretch to just over 2 metres long if it were unwound. The \"beads on a string\" structure can compact DNA to 7 times smaller. The solenoid structure can increase this to be 40 times smaller.\n",
"In 2015-16, a team at Ohio State University \"showed that, by carefully manipulating strands of viral DNA, an origami structure with complex folds can be created in just 10 minutes. Incredibly, these structures are only 100 nanometers across – that’s 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Small volumes of daunorubicin can be wrapped up in these minuscule pods, which can then be released into a leukemia cell-filled environment.\"\n",
"Microchromosomes are known to be gene-dense and particularly susceptible to damage, thus mega-telomeres may act specifically to protect these gene-rich but fragile chromosomes from erosion or other forms of chromosomal damage. The nearly 3MB telomeric array on the W chromosome suggests that mega-telomeres also play a role in sex-chromosome organization or distribution during, meiosis, however a mechanism is yet to be identified. It does not appear that the presence of mega-telomeres in a genome can alter the \"telomere clock\" or extend an organism’s lifespan.\n",
"Pioneering structural studies in the 1980s by Aaron Klug's group provided the first evidence that an octamer of histone proteins wraps DNA around itself in about 1.7 turns of a left-handed superhelix. In 1997 the first near atomic resolution crystal structure of the nucleosome was solved by the Richmond group, showing the most important details of the particle. The human alpha-satellite palindromic DNA critical to achieving the 1997 nucleosome crystal structure was developed by the Bunick group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The structures of over 20 different nucleosome core particles have been solved to date, including those containing histone variants and histones from different species. The structure of the nucleosome core particle is remarkably conserved, and even a change of over 100 residues between frog and yeast histones results in electron density maps with an overall root mean square deviation of only 1.6Å.\n",
"In \"B. subtilis\" the length of the transferred DNA is greater than 1271 kb (more than 1 million bases). The length transferred is likely double stranded DNA and is often more than a third of the total chromosome length of 4215 kb. It appears that about 7-9% of the recipient cells take up an entire chromosome.\n"
] |
why everyone seems to hate /r/politics. | Reddit as a website skews young, especially on the default subreddits. Reddit also skews liberal (which I am too).
As a result, you get a bunch of 15-18 year olds yelling about politics they have only recently started to be interested in and learn about and which they barely understand. They lack an awareness of context/historical precedents. Further, [/r/politics](/r/politics) has turned into a witchhunt for any sign of conservativism while it derides conservatives' endless debasing of liberals. The whole of the subreddit doesn't seem to grasp the irony that they're as distorted and left wing as Fox news is distorted and right wing. | [
"We were talking about all the bulls— on the Internet and how people just hate on stuff. We were saying, “What if we used that energy to spread positivity? Would it spread as fast as the hate does?” “All the hate and lies around us like an ember in the brush”: It just started writing itself from everything we were talking about. I think it’s a message that we all need to hear. None of us are impervious to being negative. It’s easier to complain about what’s wrong than it is to talk about what’s going right. We’re all a part of this, whether we want to believe it or not — why don’t we try shining some light in the darkness?\n",
"You're filled with hatred. Hate can destroy you, Daisy. Don't hate white people just because they're white. If you hate, make it count for something. Hate the humiliations we are living under in the South. Hate the discrimination that eats away at the South. Hate the discrimination that eats away at the soul of every black man and woman. Hate the insults hurled at us by white scum—and then try to do something about it, or your hate won't spell a thing.\n",
"Two private American non-profit organizations that monitor intolerance and hate groups are the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). They maintain lists of what they deem to be hate groups, supremacist groups and anti-Semitic, anti-government or extremist groups that have committed hate crimes. The SPLC's definition of a \"hate group\" includes any group with beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people—particularly when the characteristics being maligned are immutable. However, at least for the SPLC, inclusion of a group in the list \"does not imply a group advocates or engages in violence or other criminal activity.\" According to \"USA Today\", their list ranges from \"white supremacists to black nationalists, neo-Nazis to neo-Confederates.\"\n",
"A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other designated sector of society. According to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a hate group's \"primary purpose is to promote animosity, hostility, and malice against persons belonging to a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin which differs from that of the members of the organization.\"\n",
"Some reports show that extreme right-wing groups take advantage of the freedom of speech guaranteed by many countries’ legislations, to post hateful comments that however do not represent full hate-speech or illegal acts. Furthermore, these groups seem to mobilize efforts on Internet and social media to convey a more acceptable public image and recruit new members who would otherwise be offended by blatantly racist or hate-based discourse.\n",
"Apathy has been socially viewed as worse than things such as hate or anger. Not caring whatsoever, in the eyes of some, is even worse than having distaste for something. Author Leo Buscaglia is quoted as saying \"I have a very strong feeling that the opposite of love is not hate-it's apathy. It's not giving a damn.\" Helen Keller claimed that apathy is the \"worst of them all\" when it comes to the various evils of the world. French social commentator and political thinker Charles de Montesquieu stated that \"the tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in the democracy.\" As can be seen by these quotes and various others, the social implications of apathy are great. Many people believe that not caring at all can be worse for society than individuals who are overpowering or hateful.\n",
"There certainly were hate groups before the Internet and social media. [But with social media] it just becomes easier to organize, to spread the word, for people to know where to go. It could be to raise money, or it could be to engage in attacks on social media. Some of the activity is virtual. Some of it is in a physical place. Social media has lowered the collective-action problems that individuals who might want to be in a hate group would face. You can see that there are people out there like you. That's the dark side of social media.\n"
] |
during the cold war, how did the united states (and by extent, the soviet union) know that a nuclear missile was fired at thier respective country early enough so that they could deploy countermeasures? | A combination of huge long range radar stations and satellite early warning systems.
You can't really hide a rocket launch from a satellite. Large rockets like ICBMs have a *massive* thermal signature that is easy to spot. That is why the US and USSR (and now Russia) notify each other of peaceful rocket launches in advance. | [
"Soviet concern about the issue grew with the U.S. development of highly accurate submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) systems in the 1980s. Until then, the United States would have delivered most nuclear weapons by long-range bomber or ICBM. Earlier U.S. sub-launched missiles, such as the 1960s-vintage UGM-27 Polaris and 1970s-vintage UGM-73 Poseidon, were considered too inaccurate for a counterforce or first-strike attack, an attack against an opponent's weapons. SLBMs were reserved for attacking cities, where accuracy was of less importance. In the first case, an opponent with effective radar and satellite surveillance could expect a 30-minute warning of an attack before the first detonation. This made an effective first strike difficult, because the opponent would have time to launch on warning to reduce the risk of their forces being destroyed on the ground. The development of highly accurate SLBMs, such as the Trident C4 and, later, the D5, upset this balance. The Trident D5 is considered to be as accurate as any land-based ICBM. Therefore, US or UK Trident submarine systems could stealthily approach an enemy's coast and launch highly accurate warheads at close range, reducing the available warning to less than three minutes, making a counterforce first strike or a decapitation strike viable.\n",
"Strategies during the Cold War also dealt with nuclear attack and retaliation. The United States maintained a policy of limited first strike throughout the Cold War. In the event of a Soviet attack on the Western Front, resulting in a breakthrough, the United States would use tactical nuclear weapons to stop the attack.So, if the Warsaw Pact attacked using conventional weapons, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would use tactical nukes. The Soviet Union would respond with an all-out nuclear attack, resulting in a similar attack from the United States, with all the consequences the exchange would entail.\n",
"The first Cold War strategy against a Soviet attack on the United States was developed in 1948, made into an even firmer policy after the Soviet development of the nuclear weapon in 1949. By 1950, the United States had developed a defense plan to repel a Soviet nuclear bomber force through the use of interceptors and anti-aircraft missiles, while at the same time launching its own bomber fleet into Soviet airspace from bases in Alaska and Europe. By the end of the 1950s, both Soviet and U.S. strategy included nuclear submarines and long range nuclear missiles, both of which could strike in as little as ten to thirty minutes while bomber forces took as long as four to six hours to reach their targets. The concept thus developed of the nuclear triad where all three weapons platforms (land based, submarine, and bomber) would be coordinated in unison for a devastating first strike, followed by a counterstrike, accompanied by \"mopping up\" missions of nuclear bombers.\n",
"During the late 1970s, the Soviet Union fielded a large number of increasingly accurate MIRVed Heavy ICBMs like the SS-18. These missiles carried as many as 10 warheads along with up to 40 penetration aids, meaning that a small number of launches could present a threat to the Air Force's ICBM fleet while retaining a large force in reserve. If the Soviet Union launched a first strike and the US did not respond immediately, the majority of their missiles and strategic bombers might be caught on the ground. A credible deterrent force would remain, but such a force might not have enough warheads left to attack \"both\" the remaining Soviet fleet and cities and other military targets.\n",
"In August 1949 the Soviets tested their first nuclear weapon, thereby escalating the risk of warfare. The threat of mutually assured destruction however, prevented both powers from nuclear war, and resulted in proxy wars, especially in Korea and Vietnam, in which the two sides did not directly confront each other. \n",
"During the Cold War, the primary target of saturation attacks from the Soviet Naval Aviation, were the United States Navy aircraft carriers. In response the United States adopted the doctrine of attempting to destroy the Soviet missile aircraft before they could launch their missiles, this led to the Douglas F6D Missileer, which would give rise to the Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye and Grumman F-14 Tomcat/AIM-54 Phoenix pairing.\n",
"On the nuclear weapons front, the United States and the USSR pursued nuclear rearmament and developed long-range weapons with which they could strike the territory of the other. In August 1957, the Soviets successfully launched the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and in October they launched the first Earth satellite, Sputnik 1. The launch of Sputnik inaugurated the Space Race. This culminated in the Apollo Moon landings, which astronaut Frank Borman later described as \"just a battle in the Cold War.\"\n"
] |
Do rainbows also have sections in the infrared and/or ultraviolet spectrum? | Yes, definitely! You can easily see that in [this series of images](_URL_0_) taken in the ultraviolet (UV), visible, and infrared (IR) parts of the spectrum. As you can see there is a UV band below the violet edge and an IR band above the red edge, which you obviously can't see with the naked eye.
This result is exactly what we would expect. The way rainbows work is that when sunlight strikes water droplets suspended in the air, part of the light is reflected at the air/water interface at the back of each droplet, [as shown in this diagram](_URL_1_). Since water is dispersive (meaning that the rerfractive index varies by wavelength), each droplet effectively acts as a small prism spreading the white light into its spectral components. Now our eyes our only sensitive to the visible (by definition), which is why a rainbow looks like a colorful transition from violet to red. However, sunlight also contains [IR and UV components in addition to visible light](_URL_2_). While the water droplets absorb some of this light, much of it ends up reflected, as part of this extended rainbow that you can see from the IR and UV images posted above. | [
"Supernumerary rainbows cannot be explained using classical geometric optics. The alternating faint bands are caused by interference between rays of light following slightly different paths with slightly varying lengths within the raindrops. Some rays are in phase, reinforcing each other through constructive interference, creating a bright band; others are out of phase by up to half a wavelength, cancelling each other out through destructive interference, and creating a gap. Given the different angles of refraction for rays of different colours, the patterns of interference are slightly different for rays of different colours, so each bright band is differentiated in colour, creating a miniature rainbow. Supernumerary rainbows are clearest when raindrops are small and of uniform size. The very existence of supernumerary rainbows was historically a first indication of the wave nature of light, and the first explanation was provided by Thomas Young in 1804.\n",
"Rainbows span a continuous spectrum of colours. Any distinct bands perceived are an artefact of human colour vision, and no banding of any type is seen in a black-and-white photo of a rainbow, only a smooth gradation of intensity to a maximum, then fading towards the other side. For colours seen by the human eye, the most commonly cited and remembered sequence is Newton's sevenfold red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, remembered by the mnemonic \"Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain\" (ROYGBIV).\n",
"Like most atmospheric optical phenomena, rainbows can be caused by light from the Sun, but also from the Moon. In case of the latter, the rainbow is referred to as a lunar rainbow or moonbow. They are much dimmer and rarer than solar rainbows, requiring the Moon to be near-full in order for them to be seen. For the same reason, moonbows are often perceived as white and may be thought of as monochrome. The full spectrum is present, however, but the human eye is not normally sensitive enough to see the colours. Long exposure photographs will sometimes show the colour in this type of rainbow.\n",
"A rainbow spans a continuous spectrum of colors; the distinct bands (including the number of bands) are an artifact of human color vision, and no banding of any type is seen in a black-and-white photograph of a rainbow (only a smooth gradation of intensity to a maxima, then fading to a minima at the other side of the arc). For colors seen by a normal human eye, the most commonly cited and remembered sequence, in English, is Newton's sevenfold red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (popularly memorized by mnemonics like Roy G. Biv). However, color-blind persons will see fewer colors.\n",
"It has been suggested that rainbows might exist on Saturn's moon Titan, as it has a wet surface and humid clouds. The radius of a Titan rainbow would be about 49° instead of 42°, because the fluid in that cold environment is methane instead of water. Although visible rainbows may be rare due to Titan's hazy skies, infrared rainbows may be more common, but an observer would need infrared night vision goggles to see them.\n",
"The colour pattern of a rainbow is different from a spectrum, and the colours are less saturated. There is spectral smearing in a rainbow owing to the fact that for any particular wavelength, there is a distribution of exit angles, rather than a single unvarying angle. In addition, a rainbow is a blurred version of the bow obtained from a point source, because the disk diameter of the sun (0.5°) cannot be neglected compared to the width of a rainbow (2°). Further red of the first supplementary rainbow overlaps the violet of the primary rainbow, so rather than the final colour being a variant of spectral violet, it is actually a purple. The number of colour bands of a rainbow may therefore be different from the number of bands in a spectrum, especially if the droplets are particularly large or small. Therefore, the number of colours of a rainbow is variable. If, however, the word \"rainbow\" is used inaccurately to mean \"spectrum\", it is the number of main colours in the spectrum.\n",
"From above the earth such as in an aeroplane, it is sometimes possible to see a rainbow as a full circle. This phenomenon can be confused with the glory phenomenon, but a glory is usually much smaller, covering only 5–20°.\n"
] |
how can we identify different instruments playing at the same time if it is the same air that is vibrating? | Vi Hart explains it better than I ever could. Basically, it's what your ear was made to do. _URL_0_ | [
"When each instrument of a symphony orchestra or the jazz band plays the same note, the quality of each sound is different — but the musician perceives each note as having the same pitch. The neurons of the auditory cortex of the brain are able to respond to pitch. Studies in the marmoset monkey have shown that pitch-selective neurons are located in a cortical region near the anterolateral border of the primary auditory cortex. This location of a pitch-selective area has also been identified in recent functional imaging studies in humans.\n",
"When the tuning note in an orchestra or concert band is played, the sound is a combination of 440 Hz, 880 Hz, 1320 Hz, 1760 Hz and so on. Each instrument in the orchestra or concert band produces a different combination of these frequencies, as well as harmonics and overtones. The sound waves of the different frequencies overlap and combine, and the balance of these amplitudes is a major factor in the characteristic sound of each instrument.\n",
"Pitch detection is often the detection of individual notes that might make up a melody in music, or the notes in a chord. When a single key is pressed upon a piano, what we hear is not just \"one\" frequency of sound vibration, but a \"composite\" of multiple sound vibrations occurring at different mathematically related frequencies. The elements of this composite of vibrations at differing frequencies are referred to as harmonics or partials.\n",
"Musical instruments like bells and xylophones, called Idiophones, are played such that their relatively stiff, non-trivial mass is excited to vibration by means of a blow. This contrasts with violins, flutes, or drums, where the vibrating medium is a light, supple string, column of air, or membrane. The overtones of the inharmonic series produced by such instruments may differ greatly from that of the rest of the orchestra, and the consonance or dissonance of the harmonic intervals as well .\n",
"There are two types of tones: pure tones and complex tones. The musical note produced by a tuning fork is called a pure tone because it consists of one tone sounding at just one frequency. Instruments get their specific sounds — their timbre — because their sound comes from many different tones all sounding together at different frequencies. A single note played on a piano, for example, actually consists of several tones all sounding together at slightly different frequencies.\n",
"For example, some percussion instruments (such as the marimba and timpani) produce an obvious fundamental pitch and can therefore play melody and serve harmonic functions in music. Other instruments (such as crash cymbals and snare drums) produce sounds with such complex overtones and a wide range of prominent frequencies that no pitch is discernible.\n",
"Whenever two different pitches are played at the same time, their sound waves interact with each other – the highs and lows in the air pressure reinforce each other to produce a different sound wave. Any repeating sound wave that is not a sine wave can be modeled by many different sine waves of the appropriate frequencies and amplitudes (a frequency spectrum). In humans the hearing apparatus (composed of the ears and brain) can usually isolate these tones and hear them distinctly. When two or more tones are played at once, a variation of air pressure at the ear \"contains\" the pitches of each, and the ear and/or brain isolate and decode them into distinct tones.\n"
] |
what is the reasoning behind above-ground power lines? germany buries them, mostly, but the usa keeps them exposed to the elements. | Germany only buries the low-voltage power lines between transformers and the homes. The power lines between the transformers, switching stations and power plant are above-ground lines most of the time. | [
"In a building with electricity it is normal for safety reasons to connect all metal objects such as pipes together to the mains earth to form an equipotential zone. This is done in the UK because many buildings are supplied with a single phase supply cable where the neutral and earth conductors are combined. Close to the electricity meter this conductor is divided into two, the \"earth\" terminal and the wire going to the neutral busbar in the consumer unit. If the ground connection to the neutral is lost, all wiring and other objects tied to the neutral will be energized at the line voltage. Examples of articles that may be bonded include metallic water piping systems, gas piping, ducts for central heating and air conditioning systems, and exposed metal parts of buildings such as hand rails, stairs, ladders, platforms and floors. \n",
"Use of the area below an overhead line is limited because objects must not come too close to the energized conductors. Overhead lines and structures may shed ice, creating a hazard. Radio reception can be impaired under a power line, due both to shielding of a receiver antenna by the overhead conductors, and by partial discharge at insulators and sharp points of the conductors which creates radio noise.\n",
"\"Equipment earthing conductors\" provide an electrical connection between the physical ground (earth) and the grounding/bonding system, which connects (bonds) the normally non-current-carrying metallic parts of equipment. According to the U.S. National Electrical Code (NEC), the reason for doing this is to limit the voltage imposed by lightning, line surges, and contact with higher voltage lines. \n",
"Electrical circuits may be connected to ground (earth) for several reasons. Exposed metal parts of electrical equipment are connected to ground, so that failures of internal insulation will trigger protective mechanisms such as fuses or circuit breakers in the circuit to remove power from the device. This ensures that exposed parts can never have a dangerous voltage with respect to ground, which could cause an electric shock if a grounded person touched them. In electric power distribution systems, a protective earth (PE) conductor is an essential part of the safety provided by the earthing system.\n",
"Because of the many different types of materials that go into manufacturing each of the different types of underground lines, different detection and location methods must be used. For metal pipes and cables, this is often done with electromagnetic equipment consisting of a transmitter and a receiver. For other types of pipe, such as plastic or concrete, other types of radiolocation or modern ground-penetrating radar must be used. Location by these technical means is necessary because maps often lack the pinpoint precision needed to ensure proper clearance. In older cities, it is especially a problem since maps may be very inaccurate, or may be missing entirely.\n",
"Five years later, all components of the electrical equipment and the second line were removed as part of reparations to the Soviet Union following World War II. Because of the division of Germany, the line lost its importance as a north-south runway during the next four decades, but remained important for the Saale valley with Saalfeld retaining a significant freight yard. The border crossing at Probstzella was one of eight lines used by interzone trains running to and from West Germany, using the Saal line. The northern section of the line to Camburg was re-electrified in 1967 and by 1981, the line had been rebuilt as a two-track line. Following German reunification in 1990, the Saale Railway has grown to be an important mainline railway connecting central Germany and southern Germany again. Its electrification was completed by 1995 and further work on its restoration was completed in 2005. New high-speed lines, due to be completed in 2017, are being built to the west of the Saale line via Erfurt: the Leipzig/Halle–Erfurt and the Erfurt–Nuremberg lines. These lines will release capacity on the Saale line for slower trains. As of 2007 an ICE takes 53 minutes to cover the 85-kilometer section between Naumburg and Saalfeld, corresponding to an average speed of 96 km/h.\n",
"During the initial period of World War I, the Royal Navy used contact mines in the English Channel and later in large areas of the North Sea to hinder patrols by German submarines. Later, the American antenna mine was widely used because submarines could be at any depth from the surface to the seabed. This type of mine had a copper wire attached to a buoy that floated above the explosive charge which was weighted to the seabed with a steel cable. If a submarine's steel hull touched the copper wire, the slight voltage change caused by contact between two dissimilar metals was amplified and detonated the explosives.\n"
] |
how do free mobile games make money when all the ads in the game are from other free mobile games? | Free mobile games make money primarily in three different ways:
(1) offering in-app purchases usually used by their ‘whales’ (i.e - 20% of their customers who spend a significant amount of money on the game and keep it alive for the rest of the non paying users).
Edit: Just wanted to clarify that the 20% isn’t supposed to be an exact figure, it’s a reference to the [Pareto principle](_URL_0_) also known as the law of the vital few. I’m aware that the actual amount of users who pay can be significantly fewer.
(2) Is by running ads, usually bought as a advertising package (meaning you don’t have to you choose a specific game to advertise on you can just specify which customers you aim to target and how much your company is willing to spend on it and it is accordingly shown to such users. Alternatively, if your game if quite similar to another one in the App Store, you can specifically target that app as you might find a lot of users with the same interest all conveniently in one place) and shown to you based on your past user data and preferences from the App Store. They always make sure to give you the option to remove ads with a small fee - which appeals to our human need to remove a ‘pain point’ (an inbuilt aspect in many free to play mobile games that slows down the player or tries to push them towards making paid purchases - these include things like in-game wait timers).
(3) That other major way they make money is buy selling your user data to other third parties (businesses) as user data is an extremely powerful tool for companies to have because it allows them to understand you and how to market and target you as a customer. | [
"Many mobile games are distributed free to the end user, but carry paid advertising: examples are \"Flappy Bird\" and \"Doodle Jump\". The latter follows the \"freemium\" model, in which the base game is free but additional items for the game can be purchased separately.\n",
"Typically, commercial mobile games use one of the following monetisation models: pay-per-download, subscription, free-to-play ('freemium') or advertising-supported. Until recently, the main option for generating revenues was a simple payment on downloading a game. Subscription business models also existed and had proven popular in some markets (notably Japan) but were rare in Europe. Today, a number of new business models have emerged which are often collectively referred to as \"freemium\". The game download itself is typically free and then revenue is generated after download either through in-app transactions or advertisements; this resulted in $34 billion spent on mobile games in 2013.\n",
"The entire game is free-to-play. There is no in-game advertising. Players can spend real-world money to purchase an in-game commodity called energy. Energy can be exchanged for other commodities and currency, to accelerate a knight's development. Real money can also buy certain costumes and promotional items.\n",
"Free-to-play games are free to install and play, but once the player enters the game, the player is able to purchase content such as items, maps, and expanded customization options. Some games, such as id Software's \"Quake Live\", also use in-game advertising to provide income for free-to-play games. In addition to making in-game items available for purchase, EA integrates in-game advertising into its games. In August 2007, EA completed a deal with Massive Incorporated, which lets Massive update and change in-game advertising in real-time within EA games. Independent game developer Edmund McMillen has claimed that he makes most of his money from sponsors by placing advertisements into the introduction of a game and the game's title screen.\n",
"In 2011, revenue from free-to-play games overtook revenue from premium games in the top 100 games in Apple's App Store. The number of people that spend money on in-game items in these games ranges from 0.5% to 6%, depending on a game's quality and mechanics. Even though this means that a large number of people will never spend money in a game, it also means that the people that do spend money could amount to a sizeable number due to the fact that the game was given away for free. Indeed a report from mobile advertising company firm SWRV stated that only 1.5 percent of players opted to pay for in-game items, and that 50 percent of the revenue for such games often came from just ten percent of players. Nevertheless \"The Washington Post\" noted that the developers of two such games, Supercell (\"Clash of Clans\") and Machine Zone (\"\"), were able to afford Super Bowl spots in 2015 featuring big-name celebrities (respectively Liam Neeson and Kate Upton). The latter, \"Game of War\", was in fact, part of a roughly $40 million campaign starring Upton.\n",
"The game is free to play, with the option of players to purchase in-game content with real money; though everything that can be bought with real money can also be gotten for free by playing longer, essentially making payment a faster way to level up, obtain items and advance in the game.\n",
"Freemium and free-to-play games are typically playable online and provide a free basic game with options for players to purchase advanced features or additional items. They operate under the theory that a gamer will pay for additional in-game features after investing enough time in the game. In freemium games like \"Farmville\", these transactions are typically one-time payments for specific in-game goods (micro-transactions). Free-to-play games like \"Age of Conan\" instead try to induce players to enter into a pay-to-play relationship for premium content. While typically generating income though these other revenue sources, freemium and free-to-play games often feature advertisements as well via splash advertisements or advertiser sponsorships of virtual-good giveaways as additional income.\n"
] |
how do man-made canals work? like the suez, erie, panama canal? | Their purpose is to move boats between places that don't directly connect. This saves a lot of money on shipping things, because then you don't have to steer your boat all the way around Africa or South America if you're shipping stuff from Greece to India or from New York to San Francisco. They are built, as you'd expect, by digging out the dirt between the two bodies of water.
Most canals have locks, which are doors that close and allow the water level to change by pumping, kind of like an airlock but for water. This accounts for the water level differences between bodies of water. The Panama and Erie canals both have locks because of the need for changes in elevation during the crossing. In contrast, the Suez canal has no locks because there is no perceptible change in the elevation of the Red and Mediterranean seas. | [
"A canal basin is (particularly in the United Kingdom) an expanse of waterway alongside or at the end of a canal, and wider than the canal, constructed to allow boats to moor or unload cargo without impeding the progress of other traffic, and to allow room for turning, thus serving as a winding hole. For inland waterways, a basin may be thought of as a land-locked harbour.\n",
"This is a compilation lists, by country, of canals used mainly for navigation. Historically, canals are human-made structures, built for water control, flood prevention, irrigation, and water transport. Their exact design varies depending upon the local importance of each function. This is still the case today, and new canals generally serve multiple functions. Instead of the formal expression 'inland waterways’, the vernacular term 'canal' is often used to describe both human-made canals and river navigations, whether free-flowing waterways, or those with locks and dams or weirs.\n",
"Canals have various features to tackle the problem of water supply. In cases, like the Suez Canal, the canal is simply open to the sea. Where the canal is not at sea level, a number of approaches have been adopted. Taking water from existing rivers or springs was an option in some cases, sometimes supplemented by other methods to deal with seasonal variations in flow. Where such sources were unavailable, reservoirs – either separate from the canal or built into its course – and back pumping were used to provide the required water. In other cases, water pumped from mines was used to feed the canal. In certain cases, extensive \"feeder canals\" were built to bring water from sources located far from the canal.\n",
"The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade. Canal locks are at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, 26 m (85 ft) above sea level, and then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 34 m (110 ft) wide. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded canal began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, post-Panamax ships, capable of handling more cargo.\n",
"In the USA, the canal that brought about an age of canal building was the Erie Canal. It was a long-sought-after canal and connected the Great Lakes to the Hudson River. This canal initiated a half-century long boom of canal building and brought about many new features that allowed canals to be used in different areas previously inaccesible to canals. These features include locks, which allow a ship to move between different altitudes, and puddling, which waterproofed the canal.\n",
"A power canal refers to a canal used for hydraulic power generation, rather than for transport. Nowadays power canals are built almost exclusively as parts of hydroelectric power stations. Parts of the United States, particularly in the Northeast, had enough fast-flowing rivers that water power was the primary means of powering factories (usually textile mills) until after the American Civil War. For example, Lowell, Massachusetts, considered to be \"The Cradle of the American Industrial Revolution,\" has of canals, built from around 1790 to 1850, that provided water power and a means of transportation for the city. The output of the system is estimated at 10,000 horsepower. Other cities with extensive power canal systems include Lawrence, Massachusetts, Holyoke, Massachusetts, Manchester, New Hampshire, and Augusta, Georgia. The most notable power canal was built in 1862 for the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company.\n",
"The canal is primarily an irrigation canal, although parts of it were also used for navigation, primarily for its construction materials. Separate navigation channels with lock gates were provided on this system for boats to negotiate falls. Originally constructed from 1842 to 1854, for an original head discharge of 6000 ft³/s. The Upper Ganges Canal has since been enlarged gradually for the present head discharge of 10,500 ft³/s (295 m³/s). The system consists of main canal of 272 miles and about 4000 miles long distribution channels. The canal system irrigates nearly 9,000 km² of fertile agricultural land in ten districts of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Today the canal is the source of agricultural prosperity in much of these states, and the irrigation departments of these states actively maintain the canal against a fee system charged from users.\n"
] |
why are electoral votes all or nothing(for the most part)? why are they not divvied out representative to popular vote? | Because each state chooses to use all of its electoral votes to elect the person the majority of the electorate in that state voted for. Each state chooses to not divvy up its electoral vote. | [
"The advantages of this system are claimed to be that: there would be only one election campaign to fund, it does not waste votes because votes for minority parties will count in the Upper House and so it should improve voter turnout, and as the upper house has no direct vote it has no separate mandate and so the Commons will remain supreme. Critics however see a single vote as a choice between voting for an MP or voting for the upper house; if large numbers choose to vote for the upper house instead of their MP it would undermine the mandate of the Commons and create a confused election (for example MPs might be ousted by a poor performance of their party in the Upper House and vice versa). The Report suggested by Nick Clegg will be completed in the new year with a view to complete the bill by mid-2013.\n",
"A separate obstacle to proportional representation is that almost all of the states choose electors on a \"winner-take-all\" basis, where the state's electors are awarded to the candidate with the most popular votes in that state. Maine and Nebraska are the only states that instead use the \"congressional district method\", selecting one elector within each congressional district by popular vote and awarding two electors by a statewide popular vote. With the \"winner-takes-all\" method used by most of the states, a candidate can still win the presidency without winning the national popular vote (such as what happened in 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016).\n",
"There is some debate over whether the Electoral College favors small- or large-population states. Those who argue that the College favors low-population states point out that such states have proportionally more electoral votes relative to their populations. This is because each state's electoral votes are equal to the sum of its seats in both houses of Congress: the proportional allocation of House seats has been distorted by the fixed size of the House since 1929 and the requirement that each state have at least one representative, and Senate seats are not proportional to population at all.\n",
"Because the vote is split between constituencies and a list, there is a chance that two classes of representatives will emerge under an SM system: with one class beholden to their electorate seat, and the other concerned only with their party.\n",
"It also avoids disenfranchisement of large voter groups, that are only slightly in the minority, in cases where the electorate is split nearly evenly in its choice for representation, yet the preferred representative of only one faction must be chosen to represent the entire electorate of a party or district.\n",
"Also keep in mind that a maximum of 1 vote can be cast for each candidate by a single voter, and thus it would be impossible for a given voter to cast multiple votes for a single candidate. Especially because parties may not nominate a full slate in a given district since the party usually desires maximum influence on the candidates elected and because it is unlikely for the party to win a very large majority of seats that they had not anticipated, voters who support just one party have complained that their influence is diminished because they can only support the candidates their party has nominated and thus their remaining votes would only count as party votes and not also candidate votes.\n",
"Some do not support the idea of voters being compelled to vote for candidates they have no interest in or knowledge of. Others may be well-informed, but have no preference for any particular candidate, or may have no wish to give support to the incumbent political system. In compulsory voting areas, such people often vote at random simply to fulfill legal requirements: the so-called donkey vote may account for sufficient percentage which has the potential to change the result in close races. (Robson rotation can be used to distribute the donkey vote equally among all candidates, however.) Similarly, citizens may vote with a complete absence of knowledge of any of the candidates or deliberately skew their ballot to slow the polling process and disrupt the election, or vote for frivolous or jokey candidates. Such arguments are frequently aired in Brazil, where opposition to compulsory voting has increased from 43% in 2008 to 61% in 2014 and where two out of ten voters have abstained from voting in recent elections.\n"
] |
Why is the strong force repulsive at small distances? | My favourite [link](_URL_0_) for "why" questions, especially of this nature.
Also the Strong force itself isn't repulsive over short distances, just an effective description of it for use between nucleons is. | [
"The effective range of the weak force is limited to subatomic distances, and is less than the diameter of a proton. It is one of the four known force-related fundamental interactions of nature, alongside the strong interaction, electromagnetism, and gravitation.\n",
"This is because gravitation is an attractive force, but if there is an underdense region it apparently acts as a gravitational repeller, based on the concept that there may be less attraction in the direction of the underdensity, and the greater attraction due to the higher density in other directions acts to pull objects away from the underdensity; in other words, the apparent repulsion is not an active force, but due simply to the lack of a force counteracting the attraction.\n",
"Unlike the strong force itself, the residual strong force, \"does\" diminish in strength, and it in fact diminishes rapidly with distance. The decrease is approximately as a negative exponential power of distance, though there is no simple expression known for this; see Yukawa potential. The rapid decrease with distance of the attractive residual force and the less-rapid decrease of the repulsive electromagnetic force acting between protons within a nucleus, causes the instability of larger atomic nuclei, such as all those with atomic numbers larger than 82 (the element lead).\n",
"The word \"strong\" is used since the strong interaction is the \"strongest\" of the four fundamental forces. At a distance of 1 femtometer (1 fm = 10 meters) or less, its strength is around 137 times that of the electromagnetic force, some 10 times as great as that of the weak force, and about 10 times that of gravitation.\n",
"Because the strength of the force falls off rapidly with distance, it is measurable only when the distance between the objects is extremely small. On a submicron scale, this force becomes so strong that it becomes the dominant force between uncharged conductors. In fact, at separations of 10 nm – about 100 times the typical size of an atom – the Casimir effect produces the equivalent of about 1 atmosphere of pressure (the precise value depending on surface geometry and other factors).\n",
"The weak force is due to the exchange of the heavy W and Z bosons. Its most familiar effect is beta decay (of neutrons in atomic nuclei) and the associated radioactivity. The word \"weak\" derives from the fact that the field strength is some 10 times less than that of the strong force. Still, it is stronger than gravity over short distances. A consistent electroweak theory has also been developed, which shows that electromagnetic forces and the weak force are indistinguishable at a temperatures in excess of approximately 10 kelvins. Such temperatures have been probed in modern particle accelerators and show the conditions of the universe in the early moments of the Big Bang.\n",
"The force is only dependent on the charge and electric field strength. The lighter ions will be deflected more and heavier ions less due to the difference in inertia and the ions will physically separate from each other in space into distinct beams of ions as they exit the electric sector.\n"
] |
What are your favorite historical books about great empires and/or historical figures. | Caesar: Life of a Colossus
Adrian Goldsworthy
Fantastic well researched life of quite possibly the worlds most interesting man that is a great approachable read.
American Ceasar
William Manchester
Sometimes a bit heavy but riveting all the same. Makes this complicated controversial man understandable and appreciable on his merits. | [
"BULLET::::- Shadow of Wings (1972). A historical novel set around the rise of the Persian Empire. It starts with the career of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, but mainly deals with the rise to power of King of Kings Darius I (the Great).\n",
"His best known work is a History of the second phase of the Mongol Empire published by Eugène Cavaignac (1876–1969) in the world history series \"Histoire du Monde\", which treats the Central Asian ruler Timur (also called 'Timur Lank', or ‘Tamerlane’), of the Timurids (1405–1502, his successors: Shah-Rukh, Ulugh Beg, etc., to the \"Bataille de Chourour\"), Baber and the Indian Mongol dynasty (1526–1857) and the rulers of Khwarezmian: the Khans of Khiva (until 1920).\n",
"He is best known for his historical novels, especially the pentalogy Reasonable marriages, Emperor's violets, Mean blood, The happy widow and The royal charioteer (Sňatky z rozumu, Císařské fialky, Zlá krev, Veselá vdova a Královský vozataj) and the satirical pseudo-historical trilogy depicting the travels and adventures of an imaginary nobleman Petr Kukaň z Kukaně (Peter Coop from Coop) consisting of the books Queens have no legs, The ring of the Borgias and The beautiful sorceress (Královny nemají nohy, Prsten Borgiů a Krásná čarodějka).\n",
"The 96-page booklet is wrapped in a removable cover. The book includes a one-page introduction, explaining that this book covers the \"Old Empires\", three ancient kingdoms in the South of the Forgotten Realms world: Mulhorand, Unther, and Chessenta, each of which receives its own section. Pages 3–6 detail the history of the Old Empires, including a two-page timeline of important events. Pages 7–10 briefly describe the lands surrounding the Old Empires, which include Thay, Semphar and Murghôm, Aleaxtis (kingdom of the sahuagin), the Plains of Purple Dust, the Coastal Cities, Aglarond, Raurin, Durpar, Veldorn, Eastern Shaar, and Chondath. Mulhorand (pages 11–34) describes Mulhorand's people and society, geography, current economy, current politics, laws, adventures, religion, personalities, culture, and technology. Unlike the typical deities of the Forgotten Realms, the people of Mulhorand worship the gods of Egypt, such as Isis, Thoth, and Osiris. Unther (pages 35–49) describes Unther's people and society, geography, religion, personalities, and culture. The people of Unther primarily worship the gods of the Sumerians, including Ishtar and Ramman. Chessenta (pages 50–64) describes Chessenta's people and society, geography, current economy, current politics, religion, personalities, mercenary companies, and culture. Pages 65–70 detail several short adventure scenarios appropriate for the Old Empires. Pages 71–80 detail the spells of Southern magic, a type of magic that is written in a manner that makes it undecipherable to a practitioner of standard magic. Pages 81–86 detail the magical items unique to the region. Page 87 consists of a chart to determine random encounters in Mulhorand. Pages 89–96 detail eight new monsters for the region, including the brown dragon, the dracosphinx, and the desert wraith.\n",
"Conn Iggulden (born ) is a British author who writes historical fiction, most notably the \"Emperor\" series and \"Conqueror\" series. He also co-authored \"The Dangerous Book for Boys\" along with his brother Hal Iggulden. In 2007, Iggulden became the first person to top the UK fiction and non-fiction charts at the same time.\n",
"Alex von Tunzelmann writing for \"The New York Times\" called \"Hero of the Empire\", \"a tremendously readable and enjoyable book\", and Lucy Hughes-Hallett writing for \"The Guardian\" called it, \"a thrilling journey, and Millard tells it with gusto.\"\n",
"The Conrad Stargard books belong to the subgenre started by Mark Twain's classic \"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court\", in which a modern person goes back in time and anachronistically introduces various modern technical innovations and social institutions centuries sooner than happened in our history.\n"
] |
What did pre-Columbian indigenous nations do with the dead bodies of people who they fought? Did they just leave them on the field? | I can't speak to the specifics of Aztec battles, but the huge diversity of pre-Columbian nations over thousands of years and across two continents gave rise to a variety of methods of treating fallen combatants. There will be as many answers to this question as there are distinct cultural traditions and skeletal remains with evidence of interpersonal violence.
For example, the Crow Creek Massacre is one of the largest pre-Columbian skeletal assemblages attributed to a violent encounter in North America. Sometime around 900 CE the ancestors of the Mandans built several earthen structures in the south central portion of modern-day South Dakota. Eventually the Caddoan-speaking ancestors of the Arikaras replaced the Mandans (no indication the replacement was by force) and increased the settlement to a decent-sized community of roughly fifty-five earthen lodges.
For unknown reasons, in roughly 1325 CE, at least 486 individuals at Crow Creek were violently killed. Evidence of the massacre was discovered in 1978 when skeletal remains eroded out of a fortification ditch. Analysis of the remains indicated extreme violence during the attack. I will spare the gory details, the destruction was quite complete, and trophies appear to have been taken by the attackers. The state of the remains indicates they were exposed for a period of time and subject to the typical animal scavenging expected on the Northern Plains. Some time later the remains were gathered together, placed in a communal burial, and covered with a thin layer of clay from the nearby river. We don't know if survivors of the attack, their kin, or someone altogether different were responsible for cleaning up the battlefield.
For all the brutality of the treatment of the victims at the Crow Creek Massacre, biological archaeologists can illustrate the care taken with the burial preparations for victims of interpersonal violence across the Americas. As in our modern culture, treatment of the dead varied according to immediate circumstances and local traditions. | [
"In 1847, during the Mexican–American War, the U.S. Army occupied northeastern Mexico. Captain John E. Dusenbury, a white bean survivor, returned to El Rancho Salado and exhumed the remains of his comrades. He traveled with the remains on a ship to Galveston, and by wagon to La Grange in Fayette County, Texas.\n",
"It is described the Muisca did not sacrifice humans for religious purposes, yet in two other ways. When the Panche were beaten, the boys who were presumed still being virgin were taken and sacrificed. The ritual passed with screams and the heads of the victims were hanged on the posts of their \"bohíos\". The other way would be to sacrifice the young boys by priests [\"chyquy\"] close to the temples.\n",
"It has been described -by Pedro Simón among others- that at the entrance posts of the houses of the \"caciques\" human sacrifice remains were hanging and the posts smeared with blood from the victims, who were regarded as sacred when they were young boys (\"moxas\") or captured from neighbouring indigenous groups. Archaeological evidence from Mosquera supported this thesis.\n",
"The Tlalocan-bound dead were not cremated as was customary, but instead they were buried in the earth with seeds planted in their faces and blue paint covering their foreheads. Their bodies were dressed in paper and accompanied by a digging stick for planting put in their hands.\n",
"It is believed that some South American indigenous cultures, such as the Mayoruna people, practiced endocannibalism in the past. The Amahuaca Indians of Peru picked particles of bone out of the ashes of a cremation fire, ground them with corn, and drank as a kind of gruel. For the Wari' people in western Brazil, endocannibalism is an act of compassion where the roasted remains of fellow Wari' are consumed in a mortuary setting; ideally, the affines would consume the entire corpse, and rejecting the practice would be offensive to the direct family members. Ya̧nomamö consumed the ground-up bones and ashes of cremated kinsmen in an act of mourning; this is still classified as endocannibalism, although, strictly speaking, \"flesh\" is not eaten. Such practices were generally not believed to have been driven by need for protein or other food.\n",
"BULLET::::- 4,000 Native American remains collected under an 1867 order by the Surgeon General of the United States Army to Army medical officers to send skeletal remains of Native Americans to the Army Medical Museum. These remains were transferred to the Smithsonian Institution beginning in 1898.\n",
"Military confrontations between the groups were frequent, and prisoners of war were sent to ritual sacrifice, even without the habitual cannibalism in Mesoamerican ceremonies. The missionary friar Agustín de Cevallos, when he refers to the many indigenous groups in southwestern Costa Rica in 1610, states that they lived in constant war with each other, because they had to periodically sacrifice some people, \"and when they have none, without sacrificing any from their nation, attack those of another [village] and those that they capture are sacrificed; and if they have any left, they sell them to other neighbors for the same.\" The slaves would also be sacrificed for burial with chieftains or other members of the upper class.\n"
] |
why do we get random bouts of euphoria? | Hmm, I've never experienced that. I've known people who had sharp mood swings one way or another, but they usually had issues like hypoglycemia, bipolar disorder, etc.
I've for sure personally moved from down to up, but never very quickly, and never for no apparent reason. | [
"Euphoria () is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music, and dancing, can induce a state of euphoria. Euphoria is also a symptom of certain neurological or neuropsychiatric disorders, such as mania. Romantic love and components of the human sexual response cycle are also associated with the induction of euphoria. Certain drugs, many of which are addictive, can cause euphoria, which at least partially motivates their recreational use.\n",
"Euphoria may occur during auras of seizures typically originating in the temporal lobe, but affecting the anterior insular cortex. This euphoria is symptomatic of a rare syndrome called ecstatic seizures, often also involving mystical experiences. Euphoria (or more commonly dysphoria) may also occur in periods between epileptic seizures. This condition, \"interictal dysphoric disorder\", is considered an atypical affective disorder. Persons who experience feelings of depression or anxiety between or before seizures occasionally experience euphoria afterwards.\n",
"Many different types of stimuli can induce euphoria, including psychoactive drugs, natural rewards, and social activities. Affective disorders such as unipolar mania or bipolar disorder can involve euphoria as a symptom.\n",
"Euphoria can occur as a result of dancing to music, music-making, and listening to emotionally arousing music. Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the reward system plays a central role in mediating music-induced pleasure. Pleasurable emotionally arousing music strongly increases dopamine neurotransmission in the dopaminergic pathways that project to the striatum (i.e., the mesolimbic pathway and nigrostriatal pathway). Approximately 5% of the population experiences a phenomenon termed \"musical anhedonia\", in which individuals do not experience pleasure from listening to emotionally arousing music despite having the ability to perceive the intended emotion that is conveyed in passages of music.\n",
"In the body alkalosis generally induces vasodilation (widening of the blood vessels) but in the brain alone it causes vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels). This vasoconstriction appears to be made even worse by a sudden increase in blood pressure caused by squeezing or holding the breath \"hard\". The alkalosis-induced euphoria can be followed rapidly by hypoxia-induced unconsciousness. The sequence of events leading to unconsciousness from hyperventilation is as follows:\n",
"Euphoria sometimes occurs in persons with multiple sclerosis as the illness progresses. This euphoria is part of a syndrome originally called \"euphoria sclerotica,\" which typically includes disinhibition and other symptoms of cognitive and behavioral dysfunction.\n",
"There are a few causes for phantosmia, but one of the most common and well-documented involves brain injury or seizures in the temporal lobe. During a temporal lobe seizure the victim rarely faints, but usually blacks out and cannot remember anything that happened during the seizure. Several people who have had these seizures did, however, recollect having phantosmia just prior to blacking out. Epilepsy is a disease characterized by seizures. In the case of phantosmia, if smelling and something else become so strongly linked, the action of \"something else\" occurring can induce activation of the olfactory bulb even though there was no stimulus for the bulb present. This is an example of plasticity gone awry. Those with lesions on the temporal lobe, often brought about by a stroke but also from trauma to the head, also experience these olfactory hallucinations.\n"
] |
why does ssds have a specific number of reads/writes. | The way my boss describes it is like this:
When you write to a cell, you're basically shooting it with a shotgun (electrons). This makes it return a different signal when you apply power (to read it).
When you erase that cell, you take a giant magnet to rip the bullets out. Unfortunately some of the target comes out with the bullets.
Edit: I work in Intel's Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group | [
"SSDs store data in flash memory cells that are grouped into pages typically of 4 to 16 kB, grouped together into blocks of typically 128 to 512 pages. Example: 512 kB blocks that group 128 pages of 4 kB each. NAND flash memory cells can be directly written to only when they are empty. If they may contain data, the contents must be erased before a write operation. An SSD write operation can be done on a single page but, due to hardware limitations, erase commands always affect entire blocks; consequently writing data to empty pages on an SSD is very fast, but slows down considerably once previously written pages need to be overwritten. Since an erase of the cells in the page is needed before it can be written again, but only entire blocks can be erased, an overwrite will initiate a read-erase-modify-write cycle: the contents of the entire block are stored in cache, then the entire block is erased from the SSD, then the overwritten page is written to the cached block, and only then can the entire updated block be written to the flash medium. This phenomenon is known as write amplification.\n",
"While traditional HDDs have about the same IOPS for read and write operations, most NAND flash-based SSDs are much slower writing than reading due to the inability to rewrite directly into a previously written location forcing a procedure called garbage collection. This has caused hardware test sites to start to provide independently measured results when testing IOPS performance.\n",
"An SSI message consists of a 2-byte header and an \"n\"-byte payload. The header consists of a one byte address (wildcard is '?', 0x3F in ASCII) and a one byte message/command type. The different possible values for the message/command type are presented in SSI v1.2 command base.\n",
"Unlike basic service set identifiers, SSIDs are usually customizable. These SSIDs can be zero to 32 octets (32 bytes) long, and are, for convenience, usually in a natural language, such as English. The 802.11 standards prior to the 2012 edition did not define any particular encoding/representation for SSIDs, which were expected to be treated and handled as an arbitrary sequence of 032 octets that are not limited to printable characters. The IEEE 802.11-2012 defines a tag that the SSID is UTF-8 encoded and when interpreting could contain any non-ISO basic Latin characters within it. Wireless network stacks must still be prepared to handle arbitrary values in the SSID field.\n",
"Traditional SSDs maintain the L2P table in DRAM on the SSD and use their own CPU for maintaining that L2P table. With Open Channel SSDs the L2P table is stored in host memory and the host CPU maintains that table. While the Open Channel SSD approach is more flexible, a significant amount of host memory and host CPU cycles is required for L2P management. With an average write size of 4 KB, almost 3 GB RAM is required for an SSD with a size of 1 TB.\n",
"When an SSD is writing large amounts of data sequentially, the write amplification is equal to one meaning there is no write amplification. The reason is as the data is written, the entire block is filled sequentially with data related to the same file. If the OS determines that file is to be replaced or deleted, the entire block can be marked as invalid, and there is no need to read parts of it to garbage collect and rewrite into another block. It will need only to be erased, which is much easier and faster than the \"read–erase–modify–write\" process needed for randomly written data going through garbage collection.\n",
"Late 2011 and early 2012 benchmarks using an SSHD consisting of a 750 GB HDD and 8 GB of NAND cache found that SSHDs did not offer SSD performance on random read/write and sequential read/write, but were faster than HDDs for application startup and shutdown.\n"
] |
Why do so many aerosol products use things like propane and butane as propellants? Why not air or nitrogen? | Propane and butane are liquids when compressed. This allows a lot of the gas to be stored in a small space. Normal compressed air is still a gas, and has to be compressed at much higher pressures to even approach the compact storage of the usual propellants. | [
"Propane and butane are gases at atmospheric pressure that can be liquefied at fairly low pressures and are commonly known as liquified petroleum gas (LPG). Propane is used in propane gas burners and as a fuel for road vehicles, butane in space heaters and disposable cigarette lighters. Both are used as propellants in aerosol sprays.\n",
"A number of gases intended for household or industrial use are inhaled as recreational drugs. This includes chlorofluorocarbons used in aerosols and propellants (e.g., aerosol hair spray, aerosol deodorant). A gas used as a propellant in whipped cream aerosol containers, nitrous oxide, is used as a recreational drug. Pressurized canisters of propane and butane gas, both of which are intended for use as fuels, are used as inhalants.\n",
"Butane and propane are very flammable petroleum products; they are used as fuels for gas barbecue grills, disposable lighters, etc. Like gasoline, to which it chemically is closely related, propane has a tendency to explode if mixed with oxygen and ignited in an enclosed container.\n",
"Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the gas propellants used in aerosol spray cans, became a target for environmental concern in the 1970s and 1980s when research demonstrated that they had a harmful effect on the ozone layer in the atmosphere. The international Montreal Protocol of 1989 banned the use of these substances and they were subsequently replaced with volatile hydrocarbons.\n",
"Propane has low toxicity since it is not readily absorbed and is not biologically active. It is heavier than air and may accumulate in low places, particularly if they are poorly ventilated. Butane is similar to propane, and heavier, and has narcotic effects in large doses. Natural gas is lighter than air and disperses quickly in a well ventilated area.\n",
"BULLET::::- Propane is used as a propellant, relying on the expansion of the gas to fire the projectile. It does not ignite the gas. The use of a liquefied gas gives more shots per cylinder, compared to a compressed gas.\n",
"The use of chlorofluorocarbons as aerosols in medicine, such as USP-approved salbutamol, has been phased out by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A different propellant known as hydrofluoroalkane, or HFA, which is not known to harm the environment, was chosen to replace it.\n"
] |
why should i bother getting married? | From a secular point of view, a marriage is a contract between (usually two) people. They agree to pool their resources. The general idea is that both partners gain something from this, for instance financial security, a stable home situation and - not unimportant - a partner in procreation.
The government (that is, the other people who live in your country) generally find this pooling of resources an excellent idea and try to promote it by giving married couples all sorts of financial and other benefits that unmarried people (couples, single or otherwise engaged) do not receive.
So, to answer your question: nothing will stop you, and if you choose to not marry, you will miss out on (mainly financial) benefits that you would otherwise be eligible for.
The down side of marriage is that you enter a legally binding contract, and should you at any point in the future wish to disband it and no longer be held to the responsibilities that stem from it, you cannot simply quit operations and leave but have to go through a legal procedure (a *divorce*) which can set you back financially and emotionally. | [
"A marriage of convenience is contracted for reasons other than that of relationship of love. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as political marriage. Some cases in which those married do not intend to live together as a couple, typically marry only for one of them to gain the right to reside in a country.\n",
"Because a man is also married before he has understood the nature of life, its problems and its pleasures, he is satisfied with the slavish nature of the wife and the sexual pleasure she gives. If he finds any incompatibility, he adapts himself to his partner and the circumstances and puts up with his lot.\n",
"Some writers have suggested that to understand why women do not marry, one should examine reasons women \"do\" marry and why it may be assumed they should marry in the first place. According to Adrienne Rich, \"Women have married because it was necessary, in order to economically, in order to have children who would not suffer economic deprivation or social ostracism, in order to remain respectable, in order to do what was expected of women because coming out of 'abnormal' childhoods they wanted to feel 'normal', and because heterosexual romance has been represented as the great female adventure, duty, and fulfillment\".\n",
"Some couples may be married solely for legal purposes or tax benefits, i.e. what is colloquially called a marriage of convenience. For example, in the US a spouse is entitled to Green Card if married to an American citizen or permanent resident. Another reason for a \"marriage of convenience\" is the lavender marriage, which conceals the homosexual or bisexual orientation of one or both spouses.\n",
"A criticism of marriage is that it may lead to the social isolation of a person, who is often expected to diminish other relations with friends, relatives or colleagues, in order to be fully dedicated to their spouse. Julie Bindel writes that: \"Maybe those at the most risk of ending up alone are not the folk who never marry, but rather the people who chuck all their eggs in one basket. [...] During their marriage, believing as they did that they only needed each other, both parties would have neglected friendships, or indeed, failed to cultivate new ones\".\n",
"”You who are already, by the will of God and the commands of your father, lawfully married to noble wives of your own nation, whom you are bound to cherish. And certainly it is not lawful for you to put away the wives you have and marry others, or ally yourselves in marriage with a foreign people, a thing never done by any of your ancestors... It is wicked of you even to entertain the thought of marrying again when you are already married. You ought not to act thus, who profess to follow the law of God, and punish others to prevent men acting in this unlawful manner. Such things do the heathen. But they ought not to be done by you who are Christians, a holy people and a kingly priesthood.”\n",
"Young people usually choose their own spouses, as parents have little influence on these processes. Theoretically, a future husband must ask for permission of marriage from a girl's parents, but this does not always happen. The marriage ceremony is as simple as possible and limited to the participation of the actual married couple, who often arranges a small holiday for themselves. Some groups have been set up so that the groom brings some gifts to the young parents, and the groom handed over handmade items to the bride's parents. Marriage is considered concluded when the young spouse begins to live together.\n"
] |
how do mesh networks maintain speed? | Any wireless mesh network will lose speed each hop because of the overhead. Even wired networks you will lose some speed each hop but it is not near as noticeable because there is much less overhead in wired communication. Basically each wireless node takes the data off the wire, encapsulates it in the wireless packet, sends it to the next node which has to process the packet and send it back out for the next node to pick up. So if your PC is 5 nodes away then the wireless packet has to be processed 5 times coming in, and then another 5 times going back out. If there is a lot of traffic then it will be even slower because the radios will have to wait until the air is clear to send each packet. I hope this makes sense. | [
"A mesh refers to rich interconnection among devices or nodes. Wireless mesh networks often consist of mesh clients, mesh routers and gateways. Mobility of nodes is less frequent. If nodes constantly or frequently move, the mesh spends more time updating routes than delivering data. In a wireless mesh network, topology tends to be more static, so that routes\n",
"The network establishes pretty good routes in real time, and substantially reduces the number and size of messages sent to keep the network connected, compared to many other protocols. Many of the simpler mesh routing protocols just flood the whole network with routing information whenever a link changes.\n",
"A mesh network (or simply meshnet) is a local network topology in which the infrastructure nodes (i.e. bridges, switches, and other infrastructure devices) connect directly, dynamically and non-hierarchically to as many other nodes as possible and cooperate with one another to efficiently route data from/to clients. This lack of dependency on one node allows for every node to participate in the relay of information. Mesh networks dynamically self-organize and self-configure, which can reduce installation overhead. The ability to self-configure enables dynamic distribution of workloads, particularly in the event that a few nodes should fail. This in turn contributes to fault-tolerance and reduced maintenance costs.\n",
"Mesh networks are used to extend coverage (to cover entire homes) and for ad-hoc networking (emergency communication). Wireless mesh networks use a mesh topology to provide the desired coverage. The data travels from one node to another until it reaches its destination. In mesh networks using a single frequency, the data is typically store-and-forwarded, with each hop adding a delay. SIC can enable wireless mesh nodes to reuse frequencies so that the data is retransmitted (relayed) as it is received. In mesh networks using multiple frequencies, such as whole-home Wi-Fi networks using “tri-band” routers, SIC can enable greater flexibility in channel selection. Tri-band routers have one 2.4 GHz and one 5 GHz radio to communicate with client devices, and a second 5 GHz radio that is used exclusively for internode communication. Most tri-band routers use the same pair of 80 MHz channels (at opposite ends of the 5 GHz band) to minimize interference. SIC can allow tri-band routers to use any of the six 80-MHz channels in the 5 GHz band for coordination both within networks and between neighboring networks.\n",
"Wireless mesh networks is a relatively \"stable-topology\" network except for the occasional failure of nodes or addition of new nodes. The path of traffic, being aggregated from a large number of end users, changes infrequently. Practically all the traffic in an infrastructure mesh network is either forwarded to or from a gateway, while in wireless ad hoc networks or client mesh networks the traffic flows between arbitrary pairs of nodes.\n",
"However, in order to route traffic efficiently through the network, nodes in a structured overlay must maintain lists of neighbors that satisfy specific criteria. This makes them less robust in networks with a high rate of \"churn\" (i.e. with large numbers of nodes frequently joining and leaving the network).\n",
"A layer 1 network device transfers data, but does not manage any of the traffic coming through it, an example is Ethernet hub. Any packet entering a port is repeated to the output of every other port except for the port of entry. Specifically, each bit or symbol is repeated as it flows in. A repeater hub can therefore only receive and forward at a single speed. Since every packet is repeated on every other port, packet collisions affect the entire network, limiting its overall capacity.\n"
] |
why do i see product placement at big events in the form of only the name of a brand? | When you go to buy, say, a TV, you might see a Sony and a Magnavox. If you see Sony's name over and over again, you'll be more familiar with the brand name and think it more reputable. | [
"Due to the variety of ways in which product placement can be accomplished in any media, and because the category is nascent, this category is not standardized at all, but some examples include branded in-game goods or even in-game quests. For example, in a game where you run a restaurant, you might be asked to collect ingredients to make a Starbucks Frappuccino, and receive in-game rewards for doing so.\n",
"A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising. Name brands are sometimes distinguished from generic or store brands.\n",
"The positioning process is imperative in marketing because of the specific level of consumer-based recognition is involved. A company must create a trademark brand for themselves in order to be recognizable by a broad range of consumers. For example, a fast food restaurant positions itself as fast, cheap, and delicious. They are playing upon their strengths and most visible characteristics. On the other hand, a luxury car brand will position its brand as a stylish and expensive platform because they want to target a specific brand very different than the fast food brand.\n",
"Promotional merchandise is products branded with a logo or slogan and distributed at little or no cost to promote a brand, corporate identity, or event. Such products, which are often informally called swag (mass nouns), tchotchkes, or freebies (count nouns), are used in marketing and sales. They are given away or sold at a loss to promote a company, corporate image, brand, or event. They are often distributed as handouts at trade shows, at conferences, on sales calls (that is, visits to companies that are purchasing or might purchase), and as bonus items in shipped orders. They are often used in guerrilla marketing campaigns.\n",
"Brand recognition is a huge part of celebrity branding. Brand recognition is where the general public is able to establish a brand from its attributes. It is most successful when a brand is exposed without a company name and is then recognized by the customer through the visual signifiers such as logos, slogans, and colors. An Example of this is Coke whereby their signature color is red and consumers acknowledge that. Brand Recognition is extremely effective in promotional campaigns. To measure brand recognition and the effectiveness it has on promotional campaigns, companies will conduct experiments on study groups for results. If brands are equal in quality similar products brand recognition will always have an advantage of higher sales (Investopedia. 2016).\n",
"Because the product's appearance or its packaging, in terms of shape, size or colour, may be characteristic of a particular manufacturer, consumer may associate the appearance with either a brand or trademark in his or her mind, or rely on the appearance to indicate the use of the product without knowing the name of the product or manufacturer.\n",
"Branding goes beyond having a logo; it is how businesses communicate on behalf of their company, verbally and visually. A brand is a conversation it is how people talk about your company when you are not in the room. Consumers are constantly interacting and meeting with brands. This can be through television or other media advertisements such as event sponsorships, personal selling and product packaging. Brand exposure such as this is known as a brand touch point or brand contact whereby the organization can try impressing its consumer. Without branding, consumers wouldn't be able to decipher between products and decide which one they like most. People may not be able to even tell the differences between some of the brands, they would have to try each brand several times before being able to judge which one was best. In order to help with purchase decisions, marketing communications try to create a distinct image for the brand. Brand associations are made to encourage linkages with places, personalities or even emotions which creates a sophisticated brand personality in the minds of the consumers. This shows how brand communications add value to products and why branding is a crucial aspect to the communication platform.\n"
] |
What was the power relationship between USSR "spy agencies" and the Communist Party up until the fall of the Soviet Union? | First off, it's important to remember that the KGB didn't exist until the 1950s. The Cheka, OGPU and NKVD all came before. After NKVD director Lavrenty Beria fell in 1953, intelligence gathering was done by more than one agency, though KGB certainty had the most influence.
The answer to your question varies greatly with the time period being examined. Having the approval of the NKVD was far more important in the Stalin era than being on the KGBs good side during Gorbachev's reign. | [
"All sides in the Cold War engaged in espionage. The Soviet KGB (\"Committee for State Security\"), the bureau responsible for foreign espionage and internal surveillance, was famous for its effectiveness. A massive network of informants throughout the Soviet Union was used to monitor dissent from official Soviet politics and morals.\n",
"Following the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, commentators, including the US Congressional Intelligence Committee, noted a redirection amongst the espionage community from military to industrial targets, with Western and former communist countries making use of \"underemployed\" spies and expanding programs directed at stealing such information.\n",
"The KGB (), translated in English as Committee for State Security, was the main security agency for the Soviet Union from 1954 until its break-up in 1991. As a direct successor of preceding agencies such as the Cheka, NKGB, NKVD and MGB, the committee was attached to the Council of Ministers. It was the chief government agency of \"union-republican jurisdiction\", acting as internal security, intelligence and secret police. Similar agencies were constituted in each of the republics of the Soviet Union aside from Russian SFSR, and consisted of many ministries, state committees and state commissions.\n",
"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",
"The Soviet secret police have been frequently described by historians as a \"state within a state.\". According to Yevgenia Albats, most KGB leaders, including Lavrenty Beria, Yuri Andropov, and Vladimir Kryuchkov, always competed for power with the Communist Party and manipulated communist leaders.\n",
"It was Cold War policy for the KGB of the Soviet Union and the secret services of the satellite states to extensively monitor public and private opinion, internal subversion and possible revolutionary plots in the Soviet Bloc. In supporting those Communist governments, the KGB was instrumental in crushing the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and the Prague Spring of \"Socialism with a Human Face\", in 1968 Czechoslovakia.\n",
"Throughout the Cold War, the Soviet Union effectively used the KGB's Service A of the First Chief Directorate in order to conduct its covert, or \"black\", \"active measures\". It was Service A that was responsible for clandestine campaigns that were targeted at foreign governments, public populations, as well as to influence individuals and specific groups that were hostile towards the Soviet government and its policies. The majority of their operations was actually conducted by other elements and directorates of the KGB. As a result, it was the First Chief Directorate that was ultimately responsible for the production of Soviet black propaganda operations.\n"
] |
Could a large object come close enough to Earth to cause people to temporarily float without knocking the planet out of orbit? | For that to happen, the surface gravity of the object would have to be greater than the surface gravity of Earth. Such as object, presumably made of some sort of rocky material, would have to be of comparable mass to the Earth. The only way this object would careen past the Earth at super close range without hitting it is if it was going really, really, really fast. | [
"At a distance relatively close to Earth (less than 3000 km), gravity is only slightly reduced. As an object orbits a body such as the Earth, gravity is still attracting objects towards the Earth and the object is accelerated downward at almost 1g. Because the objects are typically moving laterally with respect to the surface at such immense speeds, the object will not lose altitude because of the curvature of the Earth. When viewed from an orbiting observer, other close objects in space appear to be floating because everything is being pulled towards Earth at the same speed, but also moving forward as the Earth's surface \"falls\" away below. All these objects are in free fall, not zero gravity.\n",
"Accidents can occur on the ground during launch, preparation, or in flight, due to equipment malfunction or the naturally hostile environment of space itself. An additional risk is posed by (unmanned) low-orbiting satellites whose orbits eventually decay due to friction with the extremely thin atmosphere. If they are large enough, massive pieces traveling at great speed can fall to the Earth before burning up, with the potential to do damage.\n",
"This maneuver can be approximated by an elastic collision at large distances, though the flyby does not involve any physical contact. Due to Newton's Third Law (equal and opposite reaction), any momentum gained by a spacecraft must be lost by the planet, or vice versa. However, because the planet is much, much more massive than the spacecraft, the effect on the planet's orbit is negligible.\n",
"BULLET::::- \"Floating\" objects in a spacecraft in LEO are actually in independent orbits around the Earth. If two objects are placed side-by-side (relative to their direction of motion), they will be orbiting the Earth in different orbital planes. Since all orbital planes pass through the center of the Earth, any two orbital planes intersect along a line. Therefore, two objects placed side-by-side (at any distance apart) will come together after one quarter of a revolution. If they are placed so they miss each other, they will oscillate past each other, with the same period as the orbit. This corresponds to an inward acceleration of 0.128 μ\"g\" per meter horizontal distance from the center at 400 km altitude. If they are placed one ahead of the other in the same orbital plane, they will maintain their separation. If they are placed one above the other (at different radii from the center of the Earth), they will have different potential energies, so the size, eccentricity, and period of their orbits will be different, causing them to move in a complex looping pattern relative to each other.\n",
"Earth's surface is situated fairly deep in a gravity well. The escape velocity required to get out of it is 11.2 kilometers/second. As human beings evolved in a gravitational field of 1g (9.8 m/s²), an ideal propulsion system would be one that provides a continuous acceleration of 1g (though human bodies can tolerate much larger accelerations over short periods). The occupants of a rocket or spaceship having such a propulsion system would be free from all the ill effects of free fall, such as nausea, muscular weakness, reduced sense of taste, or leaching of calcium from their bones.\n",
"Even in the unlikely event that this object is headed for impact with the Earth, whether it is an asteroid or rocket body, it is so small that it would disintegrate in the atmosphere and not cause harm on the ground.\n",
"The pull of gravity in LEO is only slightly less than on the Earth's surface. This is because the distance to LEO from the Earth's surface is far less than the Earth's radius. However, an object in orbit is, by definition, in free fall, since there is no force holding it up. As a result objects in orbit, including people, experience a sense of weightlessness, even though they are not actually without weight.\n"
] |
What was happening along the rest of the eastern front during the Battle of Berlin? | On the Balkans, the Croatians and Heeresgruppe F were retreating under the combined pressure of Titos (by now regular) army, the Soviets and elements of the Bulgarian army. They were mostly attempting to make contact with the British in western Austria to surrender to them in a vain hope to not be turned over to Tito or the Soviets.
The Soviets were pushing westwards from Slovakia into Bohemia and were clearing Hungary of German troops after Budapest finally fell. Towards the end of the Battle of Berlin they were at the outskirts of Vienna.
In Germany, the Soviets had reached the agreed demarcation line, and were fighting the German 12. and 9. Armee, which had fought their way to unite and then through multiple Soviet attacks and defence line to cross the river together with thousands of civilians to surrender to the Americans.
The Soviets were also advancing in Pommerania along the coast of the Baltic sea and keeping check on a small German force on the Hel peninsula (outside Gdansk) and a much larger one in Courland (what remained of Heeresgruppe Nord). | [
"The Battle of Berlin was the final major offensive of the European theatre of World War II and was designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union. Starting on 16 April 1945, the Red Army breached the German front as a result of the Vistula–Oder Offensive and rapidly advanced westward through Germany, as fast as 30–40 kilometres a day. The battle for Berlin lasted from late 20 April 1945 until 2 May and was one of the bloodiest in history.\n",
"When the Soviet offensive resumed on 16 April, two Soviet fronts (army groups) attacked Berlin from the east and south, while a third overran German forces positioned north of Berlin. Before the main battle in Berlin commenced, the Red Army encircled the city after successful battles of the Seelow Heights and Halbe. On 20 April 1945, Hitler's birthday, the 1st Belorussian Front led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov, advancing from the east and north, started shelling Berlin's city centre, while Marshal Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front broke through Army Group Centre and advanced towards the southern suburbs of Berlin. On 23 April General Helmuth Weidling assumed command of the forces within Berlin. The garrison consisted of several depleted and disorganised Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS divisions, along with poorly trained \"Volkssturm\" and Hitler Youth members. Over the course of the next week, the Red Army gradually took the entire city.\n",
"On April 16, the Red Army started the Battle of Berlin with a three Front attack across the Oder-Neisse line. By April 21, it had broken through the German front line in two places and had started to surround Berlin. The German Ninth Army covered the defenses of the Seelow Heights against Marshal Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front, but its position was unhinged by the successful attack of Marshal Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front (against Army Group Centre) on the Neisse. By April 20, the Ninth Army retreated south-east of Berlin, opening the way for the 1st Belorussian Front.\n",
"The battle in Berlin was an end phase of the Battle of Berlin. While the Battle \"of\" Berlin encompassed the attack by three Soviet Army Groups to capture not only Berlin but the territory of Germany east of the River Elbe still under German control, the battle \"in\" Berlin details the fighting and German capitulation that took place within the city.\n",
"The Battle of Berlin proved one of the last major engagements of World War II in Europe. With a great majority of German scientific facilities in Berlin and its suburbs, this area became a major target of the atomic-search teams. Haste was necessary, as the American military forces were rapidly approaching Berlin. Soviet troops broke the Berlin defense-ring on 25 April 1945, and the Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin on 2 May. The main search team, headed by Colonel General Zavenyagin, arrived in Berlin on 3 May; it included Colonel General V. A. Makhnjov, and nuclear physicists Yulij Borisovich Khariton, Isaak Konstantinovich Kikoin, and Lev Andreevich Artsimovich. Georgij Nikolaevich Flerov had arrived earlier, although Kikoin did not recall a vanguard group. Targets on the top of their list included the \"Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Physik\" (KWIP, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics), the University of Berlin, and the \"Technische Hochschule Berlin\".\n",
"The offensive to capture central Germany and Berlin started on 16 April with an assault on the German front lines on the Oder and Neisse rivers. After several days of heavy fighting the Soviet 1BF and 1UF punched holes through the German front line and were fanning out across central Germany. By 24 April, elements of the 1BF and 1UF had completed the encirclement of the German capital and the Battle of Berlin entered its final stages. On 25 April the 2BF broke through the German 3rd Panzer Army's line south of Stettin. They were now free to move west towards the British 21st Army Group and north towards the Baltic port of Stralsund. The 58th Guards Rifle Division of the 5th Guards Army made contact with the US 69th Infantry Division of the First Army near Torgau, Germany at the Elbe river.\n",
"Stalin directed the Red Army to move rapidly in a broad front into Germany because he did not believe the Western Allies would hand over territory they occupied, while he made the overriding objective capturing Berlin. After successfully capturing Eastern Prussia, three Red Army fronts converged on the heart of Eastern Germany, with one of the last pitched battles of the war putting the Soviets at the virtual gates of Berlin. By April 24, Berlin was encircled by elements of two Soviet fronts, one of which had begun a massive shelling of the city on April 20 that would not end until the city's surrender. On 30 April, Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide, after which Soviet forces found their remains, which had been burned at Hitler's directive. German forces surrendered a few days later. Some historians argue that Stalin delayed the last final push for Berlin by two months in order to capture other areas for political reasons, which they argue gave the Wehrmacht time to prepare and increased Soviet casualties (which exceeded 400,000), though this is contested by other historians.\n"
] |
can someone explain to me what a tax bracket is? | A tax bracket says the percentage of your income that is taken as income tax when you're earning a given amount.
So, for example, it might be (taken from the Australian tax scheme):
* 0 - $6,000: Nil
* $6,001 - $37,000: 15c for each $1 over $6,000
* $37,001 - $80,000: $4,650 plus 30c for each $1 over $37,000
* $80,001 - $180,000: $17,550 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000
* $180,001 and over: $54,550 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000
One thing to note here is that each bracket gets applied in turn. If you look at the $80,001 - $180,000 bracket, you'll notice that it says "$17,550 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000". This is because $17,550 is what you would have owed from the previous tax brackets if you earned $80,000. Generally speaking, you are said to be 'in' your highest tax bracket, as that informs how much of every extra dollar you earn will be taken in tax.
As an example to see how much tax you'd pay in this, assume that you earn $70,000.
From the previous brackets, you'd pay $4650. Then from the current bracket, you'd pay (70,000 - 37,000) * 0.3 = $9900. So your total income tax on $70,000 would be $4650+$9900=$14,550. | [
"Tax brackets are the divisions at which tax rates change in a progressive tax system (or an explicitly regressive tax system, although this is much rarer). Essentially, they are the cutoff values for taxable income—income past a certain point will be taxed at a higher rate.\n",
"Bracket creep is usually defined as the process by which inflation pushes wages and salaries into higher tax brackets, leading to fiscal drag. However, even if there is only one tax bracket, or one remains within the same tax bracket, there will still be bracket creep resulting in a higher proportion of income being paid in tax. That is, although the marginal tax rate remains unchanged with inflation, the average tax rate will increase.\n",
"The personal income bracket tax (\"trinnskatt\") is, as the employee's and self-employed's social security contributions, levied on \"personal income\". In 2018, is levied in four different income brackets:\n",
"Tax ladder is a term sometimes used to refer to the formula for calculating a taxpayer's tax liability in a given year for United States federal personal income tax purposes. The term \"ladder\" is used because as your taxable income increases, you \"climb\" the ladder and your tax rate increases.\n",
"Percentage rent, or a percentage lease, is a type of lease seen in commercial real estate. It is a rental charge based on the gross income of the tenant rather than a fixed monthly or annual value. In most examples, the percent rent only applies after a certain amount of base rent has been paid. The amount where the percentage rent begins to apply is known as the breakpoint. Some leases may be purely percent based and have no base component, but such cases are not common. Percent rent is normally considered an additional rent term.\n",
"There is a progressive tax on wages, social security benefits and pensions. Thus there are tax brackets, each with its own tax rate. Mathematically, apart from discretization (whole euros both for income and for tax), the tax is a continuous, convex, piecewise linear function of income.\n",
"In a proportional tax, the tax rate is fixed and the average tax rate equals this tax rate. In case of tax brackets, commonly used for progressive taxes, the average tax rate increases as taxable income increases through tax brackets, asymptoting to the top tax rate. For example, consider a system with three tax brackets, 10%, 20%, and 30%, where the 10% rate applies to income from $1 to $10,000, the 20% rate applies to income from $10,001 to $20,000, and the 30% rate applies to all income above $20,000. Under this system, someone earning $25,000 would pay $1,000 for the first $10,000 of income (10%); $2,000 for the second $10,000 of income (20%); and $1,500 for the last $5,000 of income (30%). In total, they would pay $4,500, or an 18% average tax rate.\n"
] |
Why is there so little known about seizures? | I think we know more about seizures than you'd think, and are learning more and more with the advancement of technology. It's just that this information isn't yet to the point where it is truly helpful to doctors.
> Doctor's cannot even tell us why it happens
Do you mean why seizures happen in general, or why they happen to your specific family members? From a research perspective we are beginning to understand more and more the genetics, heredity, childhood illnesses, previously unknown brain anomalies, etc that are associated with seizures. The problem is that there is a huge gap between where the research is and the clinical side of things. Our treatments (medications) just aren't good enough that it really matters what's causing an idiopathic epilepsy and so there's no reason for the doctors to try to figure it out (though in most cases they likely could with some degree of certainty). If we develop better medications then you might see doctors start to try to determine what is causing the epilepsy.
Using technology (MRI, fMRI, SPECT, Wada, MEG, scalp EEG, intracranial EEG, EEG with depth electrodes, Video EEG monitoring) we are getting really good at identifying exactly where in the brain the seizures originate for a given individual, and often times can surgically remove that area and drastically reduce the frequency and severity of a person's seizure disorder.
> There are no answers or cures
I'd agree that other than surgery there is no clear cure, but I think there are lots of answers. If you have more specific questions I'm happy to try and answer them.
| [
"It has been reported that repeated seizure stimulation can result in spontaneous seizures, but studies have had conflicting findings on this question. In humans, some seizure disorders come to an end by themselves even after large numbers of seizures. However, in both human epilepsy and in some animal models, evidence suggests that a process like that found in kindling does occur.\n",
"There are many causes of seizures. The factors that lead to a seizure are often complex and it may not be possible to determine what causes a particular seizure, what causes it to happen at a particular time, or how often seizures occur.\n",
"There is evidence that epileptic seizures are usually not a random event. Seizures are often brought on by factors such as stress, alcohol abuse, flickering light, or a lack of sleep, among others. The term seizure threshold is used to indicate the amount of stimulus necessary to bring about a seizure. Seizure threshold is lowered in epilepsy.\n",
"The earliest classification of seizures can be attributed to Babylonian scholars who inscribed their medical knowledge into stone tablets known as the \"Sakikku\" (meaning \"All Diseases\"). This dates from the reign of the Babylonian king Adad-apla-iddina of the Second Dynasty of Isin - estimated to be between 1067 and 1046 BC. Many types of seizures are described, each attributed to a certain demon or departed spirit and given a prognosis.\n",
"Concerns that video games can trigger epileptic seizures began in the early 1980s, with the first medically documented case of a video game-induced seizure occurring in 1981. In early 1993 \"The Sun\" reported a boy choked to death on his own vomit during a seizure triggered by playing a video game; similar though less serious incidents were subsequently reported by news media around the world, and within a year all video game console manufacturers required that epilepsy warnings be included in the instruction manuals for all games published for their consoles.\n",
"Seizures have a number of causes. Of those who have a seizure, about 25% have epilepsy. A number of conditions are associated with seizures but are not epilepsy including: most febrile seizures and those that occur around an acute infection, stroke, or toxicity. These seizures are known as \"acute symptomatic\" or \"provoked\" seizures and are part of the seizure-related disorders. In many the cause is unknown.\n",
"Seizures may be provoked and unprovoked. Provoked seizures are due to a temporary event such as low blood sugar, alcohol withdrawal, low blood sodium, fever, brain infection, or concussion. Unprovoked seizures occur without a known or fixable cause such that ongoing seizures are likely. Unprovoked seizures may be triggered by stress or sleep deprivation. Diseases of the brain, where there has been at least one seizure and a long term risk of further seizures, are collectively known as epilepsy. Conditions that look like epileptic seizures but are not include fainting, nonepileptic psychogenic event, and tremor.\n"
] |
how does billing work for toll roads? | Will be helpful to list the specific system you are talking about
In many cases in the US, tolls may be assessed on certain entry/exit points and certain points along the road. | [
"The toll can be paid by different means. Firstly, a particular route can be pre-booked over the Internet. Secondly, the toll can be paid at terminals (often found in fuel stations). Thirdly, the preferred method is the fully automated billing using On-Board-Units (OBUs) deployed in the trucks, receiving GPS signals. When the truck is started, the OBU localises the vehicle by satellite navigation. Based on the position and the road data stored in the OBU, the device can determine independently the toll regulations for the particular route. The data collected in this manner are transferred to the data center by (land-based) mobile data communication, and processed for billing. Thus the terminology of the system being \"satellite based\" relates to the positioning only, not to subsequent communication.\n",
"Collection of tolls on open toll roads is usually conducted through either the use of transponders or automatic plate recognition, the vast majority of which utilizes an overhead gantry system above the road. While rarely used as the primary vehicle identification method, automatic number plate recognition is used on a number of different highway systems. Both methods aims to eliminate the delay on toll roads by collecting tolls electronically by electronically debiting the accounts of registered car owners without requiring them to stop.\n",
"HOT tolls are collected by manned toll booths, automatic number plate recognition, or electronic toll collection systems. Some systems use RFID transmitters to monitor entry and exiting of the lane and charge drivers depending on demand. Typically, tolls increase as traffic density and congestion within the tolled lanes increase, a policy known as congestion pricing. The goal of this pricing scheme is to minimize traffic congestion within the lanes.\n",
"With a few exceptions, tolls on national expressways are based on distance travelled. When entering the expressway, one collects a ticket, which can be inserted along with the fare into a machine or handed to an attendant upon exiting the expressway. There is also an Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) card system installed in many cars which automatically pays at the toll gate. As of 2001 toll fees consist of a 150 yen terminal charge plus a fee which depends on the distance travelled. The rate of this fee depends on the type of vehicle as shown in the following table.\n",
"Tolls are often collected at toll booths, toll houses, plazas, stations, bars, or gates. Some toll collection points are autonomous, and the user deposits money in a machine which opens the gate once the correct toll has been paid. To cut costs and minimise time delay, many tolls are collected with electronic toll collection equipment which automatically communicates with a toll payer's transponder or uses automatic number plate recognition to charge drivers by debiting their accounts.\n",
"At conventional toll plazas, in lanes marked with the e-tag sign, overhead equipment register and verify the details of an e-tag in a slow-moving vehicle, and an amount is deducted from the road user's toll account, whereupon the boom lifts, or a light turns green. \n",
"The Ontario Highway 407 Express Toll Road (ETR), opened in Toronto in 1997 to ease the burden of traffic on Highway 401 which passes through the heart of the city to the south. Special technology is used to collect tolls without the use to toll booths. Regular users can equip their cars with a transponder that sends a signal to highway sensors when the vehicle enters and leaves the road. For those vehicles without a transponder, special electro-optical sensors read the number plate and a bill for the toll is sent to the vehicle owner in the mail.\n"
] |
You're in a medieval European city and you need to find yourself a place to call home. Who do you talk to? A medieval realtor? | Obligatory "medieval Europe can mean a lot of different times and a lot of different places." You should probably make your question a little more specific. | [
"In Medieval days a destination for such days out would be religious (to a nearby shrine) or commercial, for example to a seasonal fair. Later, in England, visits to stately homes by those who regarded themselves middle class became frequent and it was the tradition to reward the butler or housekeeper with a tip for providing access to their employers' home. As such homes were meant for show it is unlikely that the owning family would object, provided they were not in residence at the time.\n",
"The old town (Barribalto) is the stage for a return to the past where herrereños participate, either by incorporating their business, their welcoming spirit or their desire to have fun during one of the weekends in the October Herrera Medieval Market. Around the Parish of Santiago El Mayor and its square, a large number of taverns, inns and populate craft stalls with their products, the streets allowing visitors to move a few centuries back in time. Among the activities that have been conducted over the years and can be found in the Medieval Market include exhibitions of handicrafts made by local artisans, the parades, the tasting concoctions, crafts workshops, displays of fireworks, juggling, theater and belly dancing as well as activities for children, such as storytelling and face painting.\n",
"The medieval city was made up of the cathedral, castle and administrative buildings on the peninsula. The outlying areas were known as the townships and owned by the bishop, the most famous of these being Gilesgate (which still contains the mediaeval St Giles Church), Claypath and Elvet.\n",
"Although mainly a town of services, Ourense is not without its tourist sites. The town has three parts: the medieval, the area of 19th-century expansion, and the modern perimeter. Many who pass by on the highway linking Madrid to Vigo are unaware of the medieval quarter, with its narrow streets and tiny plazas. Once an area of a certain dilapidated charm the area is now undergoing renovation and is full of typical restaurants and bars patronized by the university students of the town. The Plaza Mayor is the center of city life with its arcaded shops and the Town Hall.\n",
"Other medieval European remains include the Church of Saint George and adjacent houses at the Genovese Square (called Kikar ha-Genovezim or Kikar Genoa in Hebrew). There were also residential quarters and marketplaces run by merchants from Pisa and Amalfi in Crusader and medieval Acre. \n",
"BULLET::::- \"Corso Vittorio Emanuele\" is the main street of the medieval town, surrounded by interesting buildings of different ages, such as several examples of Catalan-gothic (as the so-called \"House of Re Enzo)\", the baroque church of \"Sant' Andrea\", built by Corsican community, the neoclassic \"Civic Theatre\" and \"Quesada's palace\".\n",
"Delle Piane “the dweller at the Plain” was the name for someone who lived on the plain of Genova and of the Val Polcevera; the name may derive from the place name where the family held land or from a manor house held or where they had a religious dwelling in the medieval ages.\n"
] |
why does it hardly rain in southern california, despite being adjacent to the pacific ocean? | Proximity to an ocean is only one of the factors when determining rainfall. There's lost of deserts in the world that are ocean adjacent.
The overall weather patterns play a much more significant role. So air currents, ocean temperature, as well as land features like mountains. There's more important factors than how close you are to the ocean. | [
"The large Westerly winds from the oceans also bring moisture, and the northern parts of the state generally receive higher annual rainfall amounts than the south. California's mountain ranges influence the climate as well: moisture-laden air from the west cools as it ascends the mountains, dropping moisture; some of the rainiest parts of the state are west-facing mountain slopes. Northwestern California has a temperate climate with rainfall of to per year. Some areas of Coast Redwood forest receive over of precipitation per year.\n",
"Despite its long coastline, California is not vulnerable to tropical cyclones. Because of the cold California Current from the North Pacific Ocean and the fact that the storms tend to \"steer\" west, California has only been hit with two tropical storms in recorded history, a storm which came ashore in 1939 and dumped heavy rainfall on the Los Angeles Area and interior deserts and Tropical Storm Nora. The remnants of tropical systems will affect California more commonly, every several years.\n",
"Due to the rotation of the Earth, tropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere tend to move from east to west. This causes tropical cyclones to approach the West Coast of the United States infrequently. Another inhibiting factor for a California landfall is the surrounding water temperatures. Because of the water currents, the waters off the coast of California are rarely above , which is too cold for hurricanes to sustain themselves. This tropical cyclone was rare enough that only three other eastern Pacific tropical cyclones brought tropical storm-force winds to the Continental United States during the twentieth century. The Long Beach Tropical Storm was the only one to make landfall; the other three hit Mexico before moving north, but didn't make landfall in California.\n",
"There are two reasons why tropical cyclones rarely strike California at tropical storm intensity or higher: sea surface temperatures, and the usual upper level steering winds in the eastern Pacific, with sea surface temperatures being more important.\n",
"The west coast Peninsular Ranges, or other west ranges, of Southern California–northern Baja California, block most eastern Pacific coastal air and rains, producing an arid climate. Other short or longer-term weather events can move in from the Gulf of California to the south, and are often active in the summer monsoons. These include remnants of Pacific hurricanes, storms from the southern tropical jetstream, and the northern intertropical convergence zone.\n",
"Temperate winds from the Pacific Ocean and the cold California Current make the climate along the northwestern coast pleasant year-round. As a result of the state's location on the California current, rains from the north barely reach the peninsula, thus leaving southern areas drier. South of El Rosario River the state changes from a Mediterranean landscape to a desert one. This desert exhibits diversity in succulent flora species that flourish in part due to the coastal fog.\n",
"Northern parts of the state have more rain than the south. California's mountain ranges also influence the climate: some of the rainiest parts of the state are west-facing mountain slopes. Northwestern California has a temperate climate, and the Central Valley has a Mediterranean climate but with greater temperature extremes than the coast. The high mountains, including the Sierra Nevada, have an alpine climate with snow in winter and mild to moderate heat in summer.\n"
] |
Mom says you will catch a cold if you go out in the cold weather or rain without a coat. Do these actually contribute to getting you sick? And how? | The 'common cold' is usually caused by a rhinovirus. Cold temperature itself does not cause illness. [However, temperature effects may facilitate viral infection:](_URL_0_)
> Although not all studies agree, most of the available evidence from laboratory and clinical studies suggests that inhaled cold air, cooling of the body surface and cold stress induced by lowering the core body temperature cause pathophysiological responses such as vasoconstriction in the respiratory tract mucosa and suppression of immune responses, which are responsible for increased susceptibility to infections.
This is further confounded by the fact that people may stay indoors during the cold months, further allowing spread of the virus. | [
"In addition to providing warmth for residents, cold weather rules help prevent damage to homes. Wintertime temperatures can freeze Water pipes, potentially causing bursts in the lines as the water inside expands as it turns into ice. Cleaning up after this can lay heavy burdens upon people who are already of limited financial means.\n",
"Humans are sensitive to cold, see hypothermia. Snowblindness, norovirus, seasonal depression. Slipping on black ice and falling icicles are other health concerns associated with cold and snowy weather. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is not unusual for homeless people to die from hypothermia in the winter.\n",
"There is no vaccine for the common cold. The primary methods of prevention are hand washing; not touching the eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands; and staying away from sick people. Some evidence supports the use of face masks. There is also no cure, but the symptoms can be treated. Zinc may reduce the duration and severity of symptoms if started shortly after the onset of symptoms. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen may help with pain. Antibiotics, however, should not be used and there is no good evidence for cough medicines.\n",
"Grif and Simmons present various tips to combat the cold and flu, though they have little expert knowledge of the subject. To supplement this, Doc appears to offer his own advice, though it becomes obvious that he considers many of the side effects of 's possession of him to be common ailments that are met with the cold and flu, along with a series of listed effects. It is revealed that Caboose has been suffering from avian influenza, from which he believes he can fly, and falls off a rock trying to demonstrate his ability. Finally, Donut advises to stay warm and avoid computer viruses. As Grif pretends to be sick himself, Sarge prepares his own unorthodox treatments.\n",
"As well as the usual viral effects, Freshers' Flu can also have some psychological effects. These effects arise where the stress of leaving home and other consequences of being independent, not to mention various levels of homesickness and the attempts at making new friends, can further weaken the immune system, increasing susceptibility to illness.\n",
"Symptoms of cold agglutinin disease (CAD) are often triggered or made worse by cold temperatures or a viral infection. Therefore, symptoms generally are worse during winter months. Symptoms may arise suddenly leading to abrupt onset of severe anemia and hemoglobinuria or develop more gradually and insidiously in the background without patient's consciousness and precaution.\n",
"BULLET::::- Those sick with flu-like illness are recommended to stay home for at least 24 hours after their fever is gone, except to get medical care or for other necessities. (The fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) The sickened are advised to keep away from others as much as possible to avoid making others sick.\n"
] |
Instead of a space elevator, how (un) feasible would a railgun /coilgun be to shoot things into orbit? | Because even without drag, nothing could survive the acceleration required. Let's assume no drag, and you're on the surface of the Earth. In fact, we'll put you right on the equator, to get maximum benefit from the Earth's rotation. Now, the ISS is in LEO (low earth orbit) so that takes the least energy to get into place. It is traveling at 17000 mph around the Earth. So you at least need to accelerate to that speed in order to get into orbit (minus the 1000 mph you get from being on the equator). So, assuming you are accelerated over an entire mile, you must be accelerated at [16,244 m/s^2 ](_URL_0_) over the course of that mile, otherwise known as 1657 g's.
The human body can only withstand an instantaneous acceleration of 40 g's, and sustained it is somewhere less than 10. So, let's say it is 10 g's is how fast you want to accelerate this capsule. Since the above calculation was inversely proportional to distance accelerated, that means the tube we accelerate the capsule in would have to be 165 miles long. And of course, this is assuming no drag, and that it takes no energy to get to the height required. So in reality, it would have to be much longer than this. | [
"BULLET::::- In the video game \"Portal\", yet another similar gun to \"Half-Life 2\"'s, which is titled the \"Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device\", can create a weaker zero-point energy field by simply lifting objects and carrying them, but cannot throw or pull in from a distance. These items can also be dropped through the portals it can create. Unstationary Scaffolds and chamberlock elevators move on tractor beams. A tractor beam known as the \"Aperture Science Excursion Funnel\" appears in the second game in the series, \"Portal 2\". Razer Hydra owners get upgraded version of the Portal Device in \"Portal 2\" which can freely move objects in three dimensions.\n",
"A space elevator is a proposed type of space transportation system. Its main component is a ribbon-like cable (also called a tether) anchored to the surface and extending into space above the level of geosynchronous orbit. As the planet rotates, the centrifugal force at the upper end of the tether counteracts gravity, and keeps the cable taut. Vehicles can then climb the tether and reach orbit without the use of rocket propulsion.\n",
"A railgun is a device that uses electromagnetic force to launch high velocity projectiles, by means of a sliding armature that is accelerated along a pair of conductive \"rails\". It is typically constructed as a weapon, and the projectile normally does not contain explosives, instead relying on the projectile's high speed to inflict damage. The railgun uses a pair of parallel conductors - 'rails' - along which a sliding armature is accelerated by the electromagnetic effects of a current that flows down one rail, into the armature and then back along the other rail. It is based on principles similar to those of the homopolar motor.\n",
"In addition to military applications, NASA has proposed to use a railgun to launch \"wedge-shaped aircraft with scramjets\" to high-altitude at Mach 10, where they will then fire a small payload into orbit using conventional rocket propulsion. The extreme g-forces involved with direct railgun ground-launch to space may restrict the usage to only the sturdiest of payloads. Alternatively, very long rail systems may be used to reduce the required launch acceleration.\n",
"In addition to being considered for destroying ballistic missile threats, railguns were also being planned for service in space platform (sensor and battle station) defense. This potential role reflected defense planner expectations that the railguns of the future would be capable of not only rapid fire, but also of multiple firings (on the order of tens to hundreds of shots).\n",
"BULLET::::- A space elevator is a tether that is fixed to the ground, extending beyond geostationary orbital altitude, such that centripetal force exceeds gravitational force, leaving the structure under slight outward tension.\n",
"A space elevator is a proposed type of planet-to-space transportation system. The main component would be a cable (also called a tether) anchored to the surface and extending into space. The design would permit vehicles to travel along the cable from a planetary surface, such as the Earth's, directly into space or orbit, without the use of large rockets. An Earth-based space elevator would consist of a cable with one end attached to the surface near the equator and the other end in space beyond geostationary orbit (35,786 km altitude). The competing forces of gravity, which is stronger at the lower end, and the outward/upward centrifugal force, which is stronger at the upper end, would result in the cable being held up, under tension, and stationary over a single position on Earth. With the tether deployed, climbers could repeatedly climb the tether to space by mechanical means, releasing their cargo to orbit. Climbers could also descend the tether to return cargo to the surface from orbit.\n"
] |
Hypothetically, if someone with a cold ate ice cream out of a tub of ice cream and then the rest of that ice cream tub was put back into the freezer, would all the cold germs "freeze to death" making it safe for someone else to eat that ice cream? | Bacteria are not going to "freeze to death", they are frozen at much lower temperatures on a normal basis (a normal lab freezer is set to -20C). Ice formation in the bacterial cells can lead to them "freezing to death", but this is unlikely in your freezer. I suppose if you waited long enough, the tunneling effect would kill them but this is not going to happen on a realistic time scale.
That said, if you don't want the ice cream send it to me, the immune system is pretty incredible and I'll take my chances. | [
"BULLET::::- Freeze-dried ice cream is ice cream that has had most of the water removed from it by a freeze-drying process; sealed in a pouch, it requires no refrigeration. It achieved fame as a popular food in human spaceflight.\n",
"Some Turks believe that cold foods, such as ice cream, will cause illnesses – such as sore throats and the common cold; it is held that consumption of warm liquid while consuming ice cream will counteract these effects.\n",
"In 2006, some commercial ice cream makers began to use liquid nitrogen in the primary freezing of ice cream, thus eliminating the need for a conventional ice cream freezer. The preparation results in a column of white condensed water vapour cloud. The ice cream, dangerous to eat while still \"steaming\" with liquid nitrogen, is allowed to rest until the liquid nitrogen is completely vapourised. Sometimes ice cream is frozen to the sides of the container, and must be allowed to thaw. Good results can also be achieved with the more readily available dry ice, and authors such as Heston Blumenthal have published recipes to produce ice cream and sorbet using a simple blender.\n",
"“The water freezes and the germs are in the water. The freezing does not kill the germs for they are very resistant to cold and they remain in the ice until liberated by its melting when placed in water, or milk, or in contact with food taken into the system.\n",
"Freezers allow people to buy food in bulk and eat it at leisure, and bulk purchases save money. Ice cream, a popular commodity of the 20th century, could previously only be obtained by traveling to where the product was made and eating it on the spot. Now it is a common food item. Ice on demand not only adds to the enjoyment of cold drinks, but is useful for first-aid, and for cold packs that can be kept frozen for picnics or in case of emergency.\n",
"Anna Elisabeth Johansson Bågenholm (born 1970) is a Swedish radiologist from Vänersborg, who survived after a skiing accident in 1999 left her trapped under a layer of ice for 80 minutes in freezing water. During this time she became a victim of extreme hypothermia and her body temperature decreased to , one of the lowest survived body temperatures ever recorded in a human with accidental hypothermia. Bågenholm was able to find an air pocket under the ice, but suffered circulatory arrest after 40 minutes in the water.\n",
"It is also known as astronaut ice cream or space ice cream, typically a slab of ready-to-eat dehydrated ice cream. Compared to regular ice cream, it can be kept at room temperature without melting and is more brittle and rigid but still soft when bitten into. It was developed by Whirlpool Corporation under contract to NASA for the Apollo missions. However, it was never used on any Apollo mission. Freeze-dried foods were developed so that foods could be sent on long-duration spaceflights, as to the Moon, and to reduce the weight of the water and oxygen normally found in food.\n"
] |
how does an iud work? | Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained:
1. [ELI5: How does a IUD work? ](_URL_3_) ^(_18 comments_)
1. [ELI5: How do hormonal IUDs release a reliable, steady stream of hormones for years? And do they taper off or just stop releasing hormones? ](_URL_0_) ^(_3 comments_)
1. [How does a copper IUD work? (ParaGard or equivalent) ](_URL_2_) ^(_3 comments_)
1. [ELI5: how do non-hormonal IUD's work? ](_URL_1_) ^(_2 comments_)
1. [ELI5: How can IUDs prevent periods? Where does the uterine lining go? ](_URL_5_) ^(_3 comments_)
1. [ELI5: What are IUDs? ](_URL_4_) ^(_4 comments_)
| [
"IUDs primarily work by preventing fertilization. The progestogen released from hormonal IUDs mainly works by thickening the cervical mucus, preventing sperm from reaching the fallopian tubes. IUDs may also function by preventing ovulation from occurring but this only occurs partially.\n",
"An intrauterine device (IUD), also known as intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD or ICD) or coil, is a small, often T-shaped birth control device that is inserted into a woman's uterus to prevent pregnancy. IUDs are one form of long-acting reversible birth control (LARC). Among birth control methods, IUDs, along with contraceptive implants, result in the greatest satisfaction among users. One study found that female family planning providers choose LARC methods more often (41.7%) than the general public (12.1%).\n",
"The use of IUDs has increased within the United States from 0.8% in 1995 to 7.2% from the period of 2006 to 2014. The use of IUDs as a form of birth control dates from the 1800s. A previous model known as the Dalkon shield was associated with an increased risk of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). However, current models do not affect PID risk in women without sexually transmitted infections during the time of insertion.\n",
"Hormonal IUDs (brand names Mirena, Skyla, Kyleena, and Liletta; referred to as intrauterine systems in the UK) work by releasing a small amount of levonorgestrel, a progestin. Each type varies in size, amount of levonorgestrel released, and duration. For example, Mirena and Liletta measure 32x32mm while Skyla and Kyleena measure 28x30mm. The primary mechanism of action is making the inside of the uterus uninhabitable for sperm. They can also thin the endometrial lining and potentially impair implantation but this is not their usual function. Because they thin the endometrial lining, they can also reduce or even prevent menstrual bleeding. As a result, they are used to treat menorrhagia (heavy menses), once pathologic causes of menorrhagia (such as uterine polyps) have been ruled out.\n",
"An intrauterine device (IUD) is a small contraceptive device, often 'T'-shaped and containing either copper or the hormone levonorgestrel, which is implanted into the uterus. They are long-acting, reversible, and the most effective types of reversible birth control. Failure rates with the copper IUD is about 0.8% while the levonorgestrel IUD has a failure rate of 0.2% in the first year of use. Among types of birth control they, along with birth control implants, result in the greatest satisfaction among users. As of 2011, IUDs are the most widely used form of reversible contraception worldwide. IUDs also tend to be one of the most cost-effective methods of contraception for women.\n",
"Inert IUDs do not have a bioactive component. They are made of inert materials like stainless steel (such as the stainless steel ring (SSR), a flexible ring of steel coils that can deform to be inserted through the cervix) or plastic (such as the Lippes Loop, which can be inserted through the cervix in a cannula and takes a trapezoidal shape within the uterus). They are less effective than copper or hormonal IUDs, with a side effect profile similar to copper IUDs. Their primary mechanism of action is inducing a local foreign body reaction, which makes the uterine environment hostile both to sperm and to implantation of an embryo. They may have higher rates of preventing pregnancy after fertilization, instead of before fertilization, compared to copper or hormonal IUDs.\n",
"CRUD is also relevant at the user interface level of most applications. For example, in address book software, the basic storage unit is an individual \"contact entry\". As a bare minimum, the software must allow the user to\n"
] |
When I take medicine that supresses symptoms, do I prolong the sickness? | There are basically three classes of symptoms
* caused by the disease "intentionally" to help it survive
* caused by your body to manipulate your behavior
* caused by your body to promote healing
And each symptom is often a mix of the three. There isn't enough research in lots of cases to say surely if a specific symptom is good or bad, and intensity of the symptom is important to consider as well.
In short: it's complicated, and for your specific question, not well understood. | [
"Many pharmacological treatments which are effective for nausea and vomiting in some medical conditions may not be effective for motion sickness. For example, metoclopramide and prochlorperazine, although widely used for nausea, are ineffective for motion-sickness prevention and treatment. This is due to the physiology of the CNS vomiting centre and its inputs from the chemoreceptor trigger zone versus the inner ear. Sedating anti-histamine medications such as promethazine work quite well for motion sickness, although they can cause significant drowsiness.\n",
"Depending on the patient's condition, other medications will be prescribed accordingly. For example, if patients develop depression, antidepressants will be prescribed. Anti-inflammation and anti-nausea medications may also be prescribed.\n",
"Increasing the dosage of an antidepressant is a common strategy to treat depression that does not respond after adequate treatment duration. Practitioners who use this strategy will usually increase the dose until the person reports intolerable side effects, symptoms are eliminated, or the dose is increased to the limit of what is considered safe.\n",
"Withdrawal symptoms can occur when this medicine is suddenly stopped, such as paraesthesiae, sleeping problems (difficulty sleeping and intense dreams), feeling dizzy, agitated or anxious, nausea, vomiting, tremors, confusion, sweating, headache, diarrhea, palpitations, changes in emotions, irritability, and eye or eyesight problems. Treatment with citalopram should be reduced gradually when treatment is finished.\n",
"Many drugs taken to relieve typical symptoms of motion sickness (including nausea, dizziness, etc.) contain compounds that may exacerbate drowsiness. Antihistamines are commonly used to treat motion sickness; however, side effects include drowsiness and impaired cognitive abilities. Anticholinergics such as scopolamine have also proved effective against motion sickness, but may induce drowsiness. These treatments may be combined with stimulants to counteract typical motion-induced nausea and dizziness while also preventing sedation.\n",
"Patients must stop taking desmopressin if they develop severe vomiting and diarrhea, fever, the flu, or severe cold. Patients should also be very cautious about taking desmopressin during hot weather conditions or following strenuous exercise, as these conditions can place stress on the body's electrolyte and water balance.\n",
"Immunosuppressive drugs have the potential to cause immunodeficiency, which can cause increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections and decreased cancer immunosurveillance. Immunosuppressants may be prescribed when a normal immune response is undesirable, such as in autoimmune diseases.\n"
] |
if what we see and hear has happened in the past does that mean that time outside our sphere of awareness is moving faster? | It's all "going at the same speed", so to speak. The brain just takes a fraction of a second to 'boot up', and so it is starting out on the back foot.
A bit like... if you have two identical marathon runners in a race, but one of them is given an 80ms handicap. You wouldn't say that time is now "running slower" for that person. They are running at exactly the same speed as the person in front of them. They're just suffering the effects of a momentary delay to start with. | [
"A proposed explanation for this effect is that the visual system is predictive, accounting for neural delays by extrapolating the trajectory of a moving stimulus into the future. In other words, when light from a moving object hits the retina, a certain amount of time is required before the object is perceived. In that time, the object has moved to a new location in the world. The motion extrapolation hypothesis asserts that the visual system will take care of such delays by extrapolating the position of moving objects forward in time. As such it is related to the flash lag illusion.\n",
"Time perception is a field of study within psychology, cognitive linguistics and neuroscience that refers to the subjective experience, or sense, of time, which is measured by someone's own perception of the duration of the indefinite and unfolding of events. The perceived time interval between two successive events is referred to as perceived duration. Though directly experiencing or understanding another person's perception of time is not possible, such a perception can be objectively studied and inferred through a number of scientific experiments. Time perception is a construction of the sapient brain, but one that is manipulable and distortable under certain circumstances. These temporal illusions help to expose the underlying neural mechanisms of time perception.\n",
"The second arrow is the psychological arrow of time. Our subjective sense of time seems to flow in one direction, which is why we remember the past and not the future. Hawking claims that our brain measures time in a way where disorder increases in the direction of time. We never observe it working in the opposite direction. In other words, the psychological arrow of time is intertwined with the thermodynamic arrow of time.\n",
"The specious present is the time duration wherein one's perceptions are considered to be in the present. Time perception studies the sense of time, which differs from other senses since time cannot be directly perceived but must be reconstructed by the brain.\n",
"Unlike time flashes, during a temporal displacement, time is actually being changed. For example, the events of Desmond's displacement are different from that of the original events before he got to the Island. During the displacement, the person can either have their consciousness from the past in both times, or the present in both times (Desmond's experienced his 1996 consciousness, while Minkowski experienced his present consciousness).\n",
"The general awareness of proprioceptive responses seem to enhance, as emotional involvement is reported to enhance perception in general. Taste and smell seem intensified and visual scenes seem to have more depth while sounds are heard with more dimension. Perception of time is also reported to change: there is a general experience of time distortion where events take longer to occur and the subject is involved in internal fantasies with the impression that external time has slowed down. However, there seems to be no impression of speed or rapidity for internal processes. Similar effects are common in normal experience, for example when time slows down in boredom. It is proposed that this distortion is caused as the experience itself is the focus of attention rather than what is happening around the individual.\n",
"Although the perception of time is not associated with a specific sensory system, psychologists and neuroscientists suggest that humans do have a system, or several complementary systems, governing the perception of time. Time perception is handled by a highly distributed system involving the cerebral cortex, cerebellum and basal ganglia. One particular component, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, is responsible for the circadian (or daily) rhythm, while other cell clusters appear to be capable of shorter (ultradian) timekeeping. There is some evidence that very short (millisecond) durations are processed by dedicated neurons in early sensory parts of the brain\n"
] |
Is there any evidence to suggest that the Coliseum was flooded for sport? | Seutonius passes over it quickly in his *Life of Nero*:
> But he compelled four hundred senators and six hundred Roman knights, some of whom were well to do and of unblemished reputation, to fight in the arena. Even those who fought with the wild beasts and performed the various services in the arena were of the same orders. **He also exhibited a naval battle in salt water with sea monsters swimming about in it;** besides pyrrhic dances by some Greek youths, handing each of them certificates of Roman citizenship at the close of his performance.
There are a few accounts of it happening in addition to Seutonius', but the logistics and specifics are debated and not precisely known. | [
"The Coliseum by this time was hailed as a financial success. Besides football games, the facility hosted bicycle races, the Military and Athletic Carnival of the AAU, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, horse shows, agricultural exhibitions, and commercial trade shows. But all this would soon come to an end. On December 24, 1897, around 6:00 PM, during the Manufacturers' Carnival and Winter Fair, after many visitors had left the exhibit for supper, a fire caused by faulty electrical wiring broke out and swept through the building. Despite initial reports of numerous deaths, only one fireman died. The building was completely destroyed, primarily when one of the 14 arches supporting the roof fell over to bring down all the other arches like a row of dominoes. The fire consumed the building within 20 minutes. This massive structure, one of the greatest indoor facilities of the 19th century, had a lifespan of only 19 months.\n",
"Among other sporting events held at the Coliseum over the years were games of Major League Baseball, which were held at the Coliseum when the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League relocated to the West Coast in 1958. The Dodgers played here until Dodger Stadium was completed in time for the 1962 season. Even allowing for its temporary status, the Coliseum was extremely ill-suited for baseball due to the fundamentally different sizes and shapes of football and baseball fields. A baseball field requires roughly 2.5 times more area than a football gridiron, but the playing surface was just barely large enough to accommodate a baseball diamond. As a result, foul territory was almost nonexistent down the first base line, but was very expansive down the third base line with a very large backstop for the catcher. Sight lines also left much to be desired; some seats were as far as from the plate. Also, from baseball's point of view, the locker rooms were huge, because they were designed for football (not baseball) teams.\n",
"The city's largest indoor arena, the Scotiabank Saddledome, was among the facilities damaged as flood waters were reported to have filled up to the first ten rows of the lower seating bowl. The Calgary Stampede grounds adjacent to the arena were also severely flooded, less than two weeks before the scheduled opening of the annual exhibition and rodeo, however officials vowed the event would go on.\n",
"It appears it would have been difficult to flood the amphitheatre, but, because few records survive on the operation of the Colosseum, it is impossible to say for certain where the naval battles took place. Suetonius writes that Titus' brother and successor, Domitian, staged sea-fights in the amphitheatre, but he had made alterations to the structure, which probably included adding the \"hypogeum\"—a complex of underground passages that may have allowed the arena to be quickly flooded and emptied. While Suetonius only records that Titus' recreations of naval battles took place, Dio gives some details:\n",
"After Hellenistic festivals and bloody spectacles were banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I in the late 4th century, the stadium was abandoned and fell into ruin. Gradually, its significance was forgotten and a field of wheat covered the site. During the Latin rule of Athens, Crusader knights held feasts of arms at the stadium. A 15th century traveler saw \"not only several rows of white marble benches, but also the portico at the entrance of the Stadion, which he calls the North entrance, and the Stoa round the koilon, which he calls the South entrance.\" The derelict stadium's marbles were incorporated into other buildings. European travelers wrote of \"magical rites enacted by young Athenian maidens in the ruined vaulted passage, aimed at finding a good husband.\"\n",
"They then went on to create \"The Flood\" which inspired a stadium show that involved pouring in galleons of water to fill the stadium to simulate a flood. This caused multiple drownings and was very controversial because of this.\n",
"Actual demolition work began in late October 2005 with removal of most of the arena area. At 7:50 a.m. on January 20, 2007, after years of wrangling and delay, the Coliseum was finally imploded, using more than 2,000 pounds of explosive. It was said that the implosion could be heard all the way to Meriden and Northford. As it came down, a massive cloud of dust and smoke covered the surrounding area, but blew away quickly toward the shoreline. Upwards of 20,000 people watched from the nearby Temple Street Garage and other buildings, and residents of nearby apartments were evacuated. The two helical ramps were not imploded, and were subsequently destroyed by conventional methods.\n"
] |
Were there ever any battles that involved artillery units targeting each other? | It's a frequent occurrence known as counter-battery fire. It's one of the more basic artillery strategies there is, employed as far back as there's been artillery. I suggest picking up John Norris' *Artillery: A History*. It's a good introductory primer to the history of big guns. | [
"The firefight included large-scale troop movements and the simulated destruction of major bridges – coal dust and dynamite were used to create explosions. Nine troop formations held three positions each during the tightly scripted invasion sequence; they were directed via telephone (one line per formation) and flash-lamp signals from the headquarters established at the Chamber of Commerce building. The defensive pattern employed was similar to that used during the First World War in Paris to conduct soldiers to the front. Light tanks were stationed at road and rail junctions as fighting intensified. Thirty anti-aircraft vehicles fired blanks at fighter planes overhead, assisted by anti-aircraft gunners on buildings downtown. The first mock casualty was reported at 8:00 am. Dressing stations were set up at strategic points to treat the mock casualties; they also treated the two real casualties of the event – a soldier who sprained his ankle, and a woman who cut her thumb preparing toast during the early-morning blackout.\n",
"Artillery fire and air strikes played a large role in the battle, especially in the far north. In direct support of 2nd ACR, Colonel Garrett Bourne's 210th FA Brigade fired missions out to the 78 Easting. Close air support missions struck targets in greater depth, preventing some Iraqi units from closing with G Troop or escaping the battle area. Attack helicopters flew in support of air scouts at key intervals during the day and the 2-1 Aviation Battalion's Apache helicopters, led by Lt. Colonel John Ward, destroyed two batteries of enemy artillery and struck march units along the IPSA Pipeline Road at 4:30 p.m., just as the battle began in earnest.\n",
"Attacks were carried out in several manners, including single or double rank battle lines with individual regiments side-by-side in a line of battle, assault waves (with multiple regiments or brigades in successive waves spaced out loosely one behind the other), brigade columns (all regiments of a brigade in line one behind the other in close formation), and other formations.\n",
"In addition to units which engage in direct (line-of-sight) combat, both powers can build mortar and artillery units, which engage enemies at standoff distance through indirect fire. Indirect fire is characterized by a long time of flight to target, and low accuracy, but possesses a wide area of effect. It is particularly effective against massed infantry and light vehicles, but less hazardous to armored vehicles. A perfectly coordinated artillery strike can turn the tide of a battle, while a poor one can inflict significant friendly-fire casualties.\n",
"The battle was fought by both sides as a World War I Western Front style battle, with each side launching bloody frontal assaults on enemy positions in what became a war of attrition. The Nationalist tactic was to use artillery and aerial bombardment in small areas to soften resistance and then to launch a frontal assault with one or two infantry battalions to occupy the area. Each day 500 cannons fired more than 13,000 rounds at the Republican troops and more than 200 Nationalist aircraft dropped 10,000 pounds of bombs. Nevertheless, the Republican troops fought with stubborn bravery and repelled the Nationalist assaults with barrages of machine-gun and mortar fire. In many zones, the terrain was too hard to dig trenches or foxholes, and as the August heat became unbearable (on 4 August it was 37 degrees in the shade), the shortages of water and food grew worse for the Republican troops. The situation was made more desperate by the relentless bombing that the Republican troops endured from dawn to dusk, which made it impossible for bodies to be buried, and meant that the wounded could only be evacuated at night, by small boats.\n",
"Another fierce battle was at Najaf, where U.S. airborne and armored units with British air support fought an intense battle with Iraqi Regulars, Republican Guard units, and paramilitary forces. It started with U.S. AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships setting out on a mission to attack Republican Guard armored units; while flying low the Apaches came under heavy anti-aircraft, small arms, and RPG fire which heavily damaged many helicopters and shot one down, frustrating the attack. They attacked again successfully on 26 March, this time after a pre-mission artillery barrage and with support from F/A-18 Hornet jets, with no gunships lost.\n",
"Only one U.S. soldier was wounded by enemy fire during the battle. In the confusion, however, three U.S. M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles of C Company, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment were accidentally hit with 5 depleted uranium rounds fired by the tanks of Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment. At the time, the Task Force was under indirect fire and were \"buttoned up.\" The engagement took place using their thermal sights and the Bradleys of C Company were misidentified as retreating Iraqi vehicles. They fired between 15 and 25 rounds at what they identified as T-72 Iraqi tanks. This friendly fire incident resulted in the 10 additional American casualties: two deaths and eight injuries.\n"
] |
why does adobe publish so much software for free? | By publishing so much free software, they can get their name known to pretty much every computer user in the world.
That way, when someone needs some software which is not free, Adobe's offering is a natural choice, because you've already heard of them. | [
"Adobe's decision to make the subscription service the only sales route for its creative software was met with strong criticism (see Creative Cloud controversy). Several online articles began offering replacements of Photoshop, Illustrator, and other programs, with free software such as GIMP and Inkscape or competing products such as CorelDRAW, PaintShop Pro, and Pixelmator directly offering alternatives.\n",
"BULLET::::- Adobe Illustrator is a commonly-used editor because of Adobe's market dominance, but is more expensive than other similar products. It is primarily developed consistently in line with other Adobe products and such is best integrated with Adobe's Creative Suite packages. The ai file format is proprietary, but some vector editors can open and save in that format. Illustrator imports over two dozen formats, including PSD, PDF and SVG, and exports AI, PDF, SVG, SVGZ, GIF, JPG, PNG, WBMP, and SWF. However, the user must be aware of unchecking the \"Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities\" option if he or she desires to generate interoperable SVG files. Illustrator has been criticized for having a steep learning curve.\n",
"Adobe produces a suite of publishing software. SoftMan sells various software through its website, including individual copies of Adobe software that was originally part of a bundle. Adobe claims such sales are unauthorized and SoftMan is infringing both Adobe's copyright and violating terms of service that is embedded in each Adobe Software. The users need to agree to these EULA to install the software. In addition, Adobe claims that SoftMan is distributing Adobe software that is not genuine, because unbundled software does not give the customers access to Adobe's support services. Based on the aforementioned claims, Adobe applied for a preliminary injunction.\n",
"Adobe Systems made the PDF specification available free of charge in 1993. In the early years PDF was popular mainly in desktop publishing workflows, and competed with a variety of formats such as DjVu, Envoy, Common Ground Digital Paper, Farallon Replica and even Adobe's own PostScript format.\n",
"Adobe distributed its Adobe Reader (now Acrobat Reader) program free of charge from version 2.0 onwards, and continued supporting the original PDF, which eventually became the \"de facto\" standard for fixed-format electronic documents.\n",
"Judge Pregerson ruled that Adobe has sold its software instead of licensed the software. Thus under the first-sale doctrine, Adobe can not control how SoftMan resells those particular copies of Adobe software after the initial sale. The Court also found that SoftMan had not infringed on the EULA because SoftMan had never run the program and therefore never assented to the terms. In addition, the Court found that factual disputes exist on whether the separately sold copies are materially different from the original copies, which is central to Adobe's trademark claim. Since Adobe was unable to demonstrate a likelihood of success on both copyright and trademark claims, the Court denied Adobe's application for a preliminary injunction against SoftMan.\n",
"Adobe retains copyright on Atmosphere and does not give permission for others to distribute copies of the software, so the company's decision to stop making the Builder available for purchase has essentially halted the creation of new worlds. The plugin remains available as a free download on Adobe's FTP site, however. Adobe still provides 3D capabilities in its more popular Adobe Acrobat product, but these features were developed using technology from New Zealand's Right Hemisphere, rather than using Atmosphere. Nearly all of the Atmosphere development team went on to work with the Acrobat team. The only Atmosphere component still in use at Adobe is the scripting API; other Atmosphere components including scene graphs and the physics engine were licensed from other companies, such as Viewpoint.\n"
] |
if the europe-central map projection used in most places is inaccurate, why isn't a more accurate created and used instead? | Are you talking about the distortion of certain maps, physically? Or are you talking about the fact that it's centered on Europe, and people think it should be centered elsewhere?
In general, though, there is no "accurate" flat map of the earth. The earth is round, and a map is flat. That will cause every map to be inaccurate in some way. We just get to choose WHICH inaccuracy we want, when we use different maps. | [
"Modern national mapping systems typically employ a transverse Mercator or close variant for large-scale maps in order to preserve conformality and low variation in scale over small areas. For smaller-scale maps, such as those spanning continents or the entire world, many projections are in common use according to their fitness for the purpose, such as Winkel tripel, Robinson and Mollweide. Reference maps of the world often appear on compromise projections. Due to distortions inherent in any map of the world, the choice of projection becomes largely one of aesthetics.\n",
"Some maps, called cartograms, have the scale deliberately distorted to reflect information other than land area or distance. For example, this map (at the right) of Europe has been distorted to show population distribution, while the rough shape of the continent is still discernible.\n",
"Arthur Robinson, an American cartographer influential in thematic cartography, stated that a map not properly designed \"will be a cartographic failure.\" Any map that does not take its audience into account by assuming too much reader knowledge about the map area's context will not fulfill its purpose. Location maps help achieve this purpose by familiarizing the reader with the location of an area they may not have read about previously. A good understanding of the audience's mental map for a particular area is critical for a proper application of location maps. \n",
"The conveyance of proper scale was the foremost challenge in preparing the maps. Kaufmann noted that most modern readers are acclimated to online maps like Google Maps that allow users to easily zoom in and out, which is impossible to achieve with paint on paper. In order to present an \"easily digested, unified vision\" with a homogenous sense of scale, Kaufmann used a simplified legend across all of the maps. For convenience and uniformity, the legend's symbols flatten the differences between certain features. For example, the same icon is used to describe both a campground on one map and the much larger Fort Irwin National Training Center—with a total area of about –on a second, larger map.\n",
"On the other hand, because of great land area distortions, it is not well suited for general world maps. Therefore, Mercator himself used the equal-area sinusoidal projection to show relative areas. However, despite such distortions, Mercator projection was, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, perhaps the most common projection used in world maps, despite being much criticized for this use.\n",
"The map projection is used most often in maps of regions elongated east-to-west (such as the continental United States), with the standard parallels chosen to be about a sixth of the way inside the northern and southern limits of interest. This way distortion is minimized throughout the region of interest.\n",
"Where real-world patterns may not conform to the regions discussed, issues such as the ecological fallacy and the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) can lead to major misinterpretations, and other techniques are preferable. Similarly, the size and specificity of the displayed regions depend on the variable being represented. While the use of smaller and more specific regions can decrease the risk of ecological fallacy and MAUP, it can cause the map to appear to be more complicated. Although representing specific data in large regions can be misleading, it can make the map clearer and easier to interpret and remember. The choice of regions will ultimately depend on the map's intended audience and purpose.\n"
] |
what is the tech bubble burst that everyone keeps talking about will happen soon? | Tech is part of our daily lives now and it's unlikely that will change any time soon so the demand for tech is comfortably high. But what is happening is the nature of that tech is always changing.
Consumers are opting for tablets and smart phones over computers and laptops so the industry has to evolve to meet the new demand, and handle the decreased demand for products which used to be the bread winners.
Ironically in spite of all the money being spent on mobile devices, there was already a pretty big tech bubble that burst a few years back in telecomm with some pretty big names like Nortel and Alcatel. Even Nokia and Avaya.
Right now there is a lot of money being thrown at the internet of things and having many tiny, inexpensive, computers operating together rather than big machines being central to the home. If consumers decided they don't really need smart toasters and refrigerators, then that could be a bust and there will be some shaking up of the job market some more.
| [
"The dot-com bubble (also known as the dot-com boom, the tech bubble, and the Internet bubble) was a historic speculative bubble and period of excessive speculation mainly in the United States that occurred roughly from 1994 to 2000, a period of extreme growth in the use and adoption of the Internet.\n",
"The decline from this peak signalled the beginning of the dot-com bubble burst. There were multiple things contributing to this Dot-com boom and bust. Some optimists thought the internet and World Wide Web would be more significant to business than any kind of Industrial Revolution in the past, possibly enabling us to achieve a Technological Singularity. More pessimistic types were concerned that business would require massive technology replacement to achieve Y2K compatibility.\n",
"In 2015, Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team and star of the TV show, \"Shark Tank,\" sounded an alarm on his personal blog over the social media bubble, calling it worse than the tech bubble in 2000 due to the lack of liquidity in social media stocks. A year prior, however, Cuban told CNBC that he did not believe social media stocks were on the verge of a bubble. In a letter to investors in 2014, David Einhorn, who runs the hedge-fund Greenlight Capital, wrote that \"we are witnessing our second tech bubble in 15 years.\" He went on to write, \"What is uncertain is how much further the bubble can expand, and what might pop it.\" Einhorn cited several factors supporting the existence an over-exuberance including \"rejection of conventional valuation methods\" and \"huge first day IPO pops for companies that have done little more than use the right buzzwords and attract the right venture capital.\"\n",
"The dot-com bubble burst in March 2000, with the technology heavy NASDAQ Composite index peaking at 5,048.62 on March 10 (5,132.52 intraday), more than double its value just a year before. By 2001, the bubble's deflation was running full speed. A majority of the dot-coms had ceased trading, after having burnt through their venture capital and IPO capital, often without ever making a profit. But despite this, the Internet continues to grow, driven by commerce, ever greater amounts of online information and knowledge and social networking.\n",
"BULLET::::- The dot com bubble started growing in the mid to late 1990s and burst in 2000. The bubble was driven by a large increase in Internet access, large increase in wireless handset availability, and a belief that data intensive applications were going to drive the next generation network. The network was moving from being voice centric to data centric, from narrowband technologies to broadband technologies and from 2nd generation wireless to 3rd generation wireless technologies to accommodate real and perceived demand. Data bandwidth needs were doubling every 3 – 4 months. As the bubble burst, network operators, service providers, equipment manufacturers and others suffered huge losses. Over $2 trillion in market capitalization evaporated in less than 12 months and over 500,000 jobs were lost. Over 60 telecommunications carriers in the U.S. filed for bankruptcy between 2000 and 2002. By the end of 2000, it was difficult for companies to raise money through private equity funding or initial public offerings.\n",
"Economic bubbles thrive on collective infatuations of a different kind: 'all boom-bust processes contain an element of misunderstanding or misconception', whether it is the 'infatuation with...becoming the latest dot.com billionaire', or the one that followed with subprime mortgages, once 'Greenspan had replaced the tech bubble with a housing bubble'. As markets 'swung virtually overnight from euphoria to fear' in the credit crunch, even the most hardened market fundamentalist had to concede that such 'periodic surges of euphoria and fear are manifestations of deep-seated aspects of human nature'—whether these are enacted in home-room infatuations or upon the global stage.\n",
"The bubble, however, burst in 2000. The stock market took a dive, especially in tech stocks. A recession loomed. The year 2000 would prove to be the apex for NTI's revenue growth. What followed over the next decade was a slow, bumpy decline. Market forces and the increasing power of the Internet slowly began to erode the strength of the alternative press.\n"
] |
why do we pronounce the "w" in words like "swore," but not in "sword?" | Because English is a stupid language.
_URL_0_ | [
"Many imported words beginning with \"w\" in English have cognates in French that start with a \"g\" or \"gu\". This is because the English word was not borrowed directly from French or Old French, but from some of the northern langue d'oïl dialects such as Picard and Norman, where the original \"w\" sound was preserved (the majority of these words are words of Germanic origin, and stem mainly from either the Frankish language, or other ancient Germanic languages, like Burgundian). In Old French, the initial \"w\" sound was prefixed by the letter \"g\" as \"gw\" and then the \"w\" sound was later lost. The \"w\" survives in orthography as \"u\" in \"gu\", but only to produce a hard \"g\" sound.\n",
"BULLET::::- The letter \"w\" is almost always pronounced as , like in English, which also approximates the Flemish \"w\". In France, it is often pronounced , as in German. For example, the word \"wagon\" (train car) is pronounced in France but in Belgium.\n",
"BULLET::::- \"andwurde\", \"andwyrde\": 'to answer'. A combination of the prefix \"and-\" ('against', related to Greek \"anti-\") and \"wurde\" ('word'). By the end of the 12th century, \"andwurde\" had been replaced by \"andswerian\" ('answer'), (containing \"swear\", probably Common Germanic, attested at least before 900). Compare with German \"Antwort\", Dutch \"antwoord\".\n",
"BULLET::::- (pronounced like German \"ü\" and French \"u\") is a Greek sound used only in borrowed words. It is transliterated as \"w\" (as it uses the same letter that otherwise denoted the consonant ): \"azwmus\" \"unleavened bread\" ( Gk. ). It represents an υ (y) or the diphthong οι (oi), both of which were pronounced in the Greek of the time. Since the sound was foreign to Gothic, it was perhaps pronounced .\n",
"\"W\" was created in the 11th century from \"VV\". It represented in Germanic languages, not Latin, which still uses \"V\" for the purpose. \"J\" was distinguished from the original \"I\" only during the late Middle Ages, as was the letter \"U\" from \"V\". Although some Latin dictionaries use \"J\", it is rarely used for Latin text, as it was not used in classical times, but many other languages use it.\n",
"Pronounced , ' is a derisive term used by the Allies during World War I, often collectively (\"the Boche\" meaning \"the Germans\"). It is a shortened form of the French slang portmanteau ', itself derived from ' (\"German\") and ' (\"head\" or \"cabbage\"). The alternative spellings \"Bosch\" or \"Bosche\" are sometimes found. According to a 1916 article in the \"New York Times\" magazine \"Current History\", the origin is as follows:\n",
"BULLET::::- * — The use of in these two cases to represent \"w\" is rare in modern Japanese except for Internet slang and transcription of the Latin sound [w] into katakana. Eg: ミネルウァ (\"Mineruwa \"Minerva\", from Latin \"MINERVA [mɪˈnɛrwa]); ウゥルカーヌス (Wurukānusu\" \"Vulcan\", from Latin VVLCANVS\", \"Vulcānus\" [wʊlˈkaːnʊs]). The \"wa\"-type of foreign sounds (as in \"watt\" or \"white\") is usually transcribed to ワ (\"wa\"), while the \"wu\"-type (as in \"wood\" or \"woman\") is usually to ウ (\"u\") or ウー (\"ū\").\n"
] |
how can you get pregnant when not taking the pill every day at the same time/missing a day or when leaving the hormonal ring out for more than 3 hours? doesn't hormonal bc have a longer-term effect on women's bodies? | As I understand it (and I'm not an expert or anything close), hormonal birth control stops you from ovulating, and the part that it stops doesn't take very long. If it gets messed up, that little part will happen, then when whole process starts and you can be fertile. | [
"Progestogen-only contraceptive pills (sometimes called the 'mini pill') are taken continuously without a 7-day span of using placebo pills, and therefore menstrual periods are less likely to occur than with the combined pill with placebo pills. However, disturbance of the menstrual cycle is common with the mini-pill; 1/3-1/2 of women taking it will experience prolonged periods, and up to 70% experience break-through bleeding (metrorrhagia). Irregular and prolonged bleeding is the most common reason that women discontinue using the mini pill.\n",
"The placebo, or hormone-free, week in the 28-day pill package simulates an average menstrual cycle, though the hormonal events during a pill cycle are significantly different from those of a normal ovulatory menstrual cycle. Because the pill suppresses ovulation (to be discussed more in the Mechanism of Action section), birth control users do not have true menstrual periods. Instead, it is the lack of hormones for a week that causes a withdrawal bleed. The withdrawal bleeding that occurs during the break from active pills has been thought to be reassuring, a physical confirmation of not being pregnant. The withdrawal bleeding is also predictable. Unexpected breakthrough bleeding can be a possible side effect of longer term active regimens.\n",
"These medications tighten the bladder neck muscles and prevent semen from going backwards into the bladder. However, the medications do have many side effects and they have to be taken at least 1–2 hours prior to sexual intercourse. In many cases, the medications fail to work at the right time because most men are not able to predict when they will have an orgasm.\n",
"Certain medications, particularly contraceptive medications, can induce amenorrhoea in a healthy woman. The lack of menstruation usually begins shortly after beginning the medication and can take up to a year to resume after stopping a medication. Hormonal contraceptives that contain only progestogen like the oral contraceptive Micronor, and especially higher-dose formulations like the injectable Depo Provera commonly induce this side effect. Extended cycle use of combined hormonal contraceptives also allow suppression of menstruation. Patients who use and then cease using contraceptives like the combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP) may experience secondary amenorrhoea as a withdrawal symptom. The link is not well understood, as studies have found no difference in hormone levels between women who develop amenorrhoea as a withdrawal symptom following the cessation of COCP use and women who experience secondary amenorrhoea because of other reasons. New contraceptive pills, like continuous oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) which do not have the normal 7 days of placebo pills in each cycle, have been shown to increase rates of amenorrhoea in women. Studies show that women are most likely to experience amenorrhoea after 1 year of treatment with continuous OCP use.\n",
"Side effects can include nausea, headache, blood clots, breast pain, depression, and liver problems. Use is not recommended during pregnancy, the initial three weeks after childbirth, and in those at high risk of blood clots. It; however, may be started immediately after a miscarriage or abortion. Smoking while using combined birth control pills is not recommended. It works by stopping ovulation, making the uterus not suitable for implantation, and making the mucus at the opening to the cervix thick.\n",
"Side effects can include nausea, headache, blood clots, breast pain, depression, and liver problems. Use is not recommended during pregnancy, the initial three weeks after childbirth, and in those at high risk of blood clots. However, it may be started immediately after a miscarriage or abortion. Smoking while using combined birth control pills is not recommended. It works by stopping ovulation, making the mucus at the opening to the cervix thick, and making the uterus not suitable for implantation.\n",
"When a woman takes COCP, the hormones in the pills prevent both ovulation and shedding of the endometrium (menstruation). Traditionally, COCPs are packaged with 21 active (hormone-containing) pills and 7 placebo pills. During the week of placebo pills, withdrawal bleeding occurs and simulates an average 28-day menstrual cycle. The placebo pills are not required for pregnancy protection, and with any monophasic COCP the placebo pills may be discarded, and the next pack of active pills may be started to prevent the withdrawal bleeding. With bi- and tri-phasic pills, skipping the placebo week results in a sudden change in hormone levels, which may cause irregular spotting or flow.\n"
] |
why is it we find walking outside in 90 degree heat unbearable, yet sitting in a 90 degree sauna is so relaxing? | Part of it probably has to do with the sun. The temperature isn't really the unbearable part, the burning from the sun is. In a sauna it is dark and moist. Even so I still hate them. | [
"BULLET::::- Being in cold and humid places such as bathtub, swimming pool, cold tub, and steam sauna is not good for them, while taking intense exercise such as jogging, running, cycling especially under low sun is recommended to them.\n",
"Though known to cause a rise in the stress hormones due to hyperthermic stress, saunas are most usually perceived as a means for relaxation and for that reason considered healthy in the Netherlands and Flanders. \n",
"Occasionally one uses a bunch of leafy, fragrant silver birch called a \"vihta\" (\"vasta\" in Eastern Finland) to gently beat oneself. This has a relaxing effect on the muscles and also helps to soothe the irritation from mosquito bites. When the heat begins to feel uncomfortable it is customary to jump into a lake, sea, or a swimming pool, or to have a shower. In the winter, rolling in the snow or even swimming in a hole cut in lake ice, an avanto, is sometimes used as a substitute. Often after the sauna it is a custom to sit down in the dressing room or on the porch of the sauna to enjoy a sausage, along with beer or soft drinks.\n",
"A sauna session can be a social affair in which the participants disrobe and sit or recline in temperatures typically between . This induces relaxation and promotes sweating. The Finns use a bundle of birch twigs with fresh leaves (Finnish: vihta or vasta), to gently slap the skin and create further stimulation of the pores and cells.\n",
"It is also a common way of socializing and bonding with family or friends, but loud conversation and noisy behavior are not appreciated, especially not in the sweating room itself. In the Netherlands and Flanders sauna visits are used more for social binding and relaxation opportunity, rather than for spiritual of healing purposes as is common in the German language area.\n",
"Physical activity in extremely hot weather should be avoided. If a person starts to experience over heating, and symptoms of heat syncope, they should move or be moved to a shaded or cool area. It is also recommended to avoid alcoholic beverages in hot weather, because they cause dehydration which may worsen symptoms. Finally, drinking plenty of water with electrolytes is imperative when engaging in physical activity in hot weather.\n",
"Some clothing suppliers assert that the use of a sauna suit accelerates weight loss in exercise by an increase in metabolic rate. Others disagree, and indicate that the only significant effect is temporary water loss that is immediately reversed by subsequent drinking of water. A possible effect of wearing a sauna suit is that it may encourage the wearer to do physical exercise. The increase in body heat from wearing a sauna suit gives the impression of getting \"a good workout\".\n"
] |
How did the US become solely a British Colony when originally there were so many different colonial powers in the area? | Remember that the French controlled Louisiana (a territory that does not match the boundaries of the State of Louisiana) until well after the American Revolution. We bought it during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson.
Each area has its own history of turning from non-English controlled areas to either English or American control.
It is also a little misleading to say that the US became a British Colony. The US was an amalgamation of pre-existing colonies that had already revolted from colonial control and gone through one failed attempt at a common government by the time the Constitution finally knitted them together.
By the time the US was created, each of those colonies had already become sovereign states (little s to denote the fact that they were essentially countries) which agreed to give up a portion of their sovereignty in order to become the United States. | [
"Three types of colonies were established in the English overseas possessions in America of the 17th century and continued into the British Empire at the height of its power in the 17th century. These were charter colonies, proprietary colonies, and royal colonies. A group of 13 British American colonies collectively broke from the British Empire in the 1770s through a successful revolution, establishing the modern United States. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15), the remaining British territories in North America were slowly granted more responsible government. In 1838 the Durham Report recommended full responsible government for Canada, but this was not fully implemented for another decade. Eventually, with the Confederation of Canada, the Canadian colonies were granted significant autonomy and became a self-governing Dominion in 1867. Other colonies in the Americas followed at a much slower pace. In this way, two countries in North America, ten in the Caribbean, and one in South America have received their independence from Great Britain or the later United Kingdom. All of these, except the United States, are members of the Commonwealth of Nations and nine are Commonwealth realms. The eight current British overseas territories in the Americas have varying degrees of self-government.\n",
"Great Britain's Thirteen North American colonies were the first to break from the British Empire in 1776, and were recognized as an independent nation by France in 1778 and Britain in 1783. The United States of America was the first set of European established colonies to achieve independence and establish itself as a nation, and was the first independent settler state in the Americas.\n",
"As the colony grew, colonists and British military forces came into confrontation with Natives in the Western half of the state. Britain fought for control of the neighboring Ohio Country with France during the French and Indian War, and following the British victory the territory was formally ceded to them in 1763 and became part of the British Empire.\n",
"British colonies were created along the east coast of North America during the 17th and 18th centuries but by the late 18th century most of these colonies rebelled against British rule, leading to the American War of Independence and formation of the United States of America. Nevertheless, Great Britain retained significant colonies in Canada, the Caribbean and India, and shortly thereafter began the settlement of Australia and New Zealand. Following France's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, Great Britain took possession of many more overseas territories in Africa and Asia, and established informal empires of free trade in South America, China and Persia.\n",
"In 1775, on the eve of the American Revolution, the British Empire included 20 territories in the Western Hemisphere northeast of New Spain, and apart from the islands and claims of the British West Indies. These colonies were:\n",
"Two additional U.S. states on the East Coast were not among the original thirteen colonies: Maine (became part of the English colony of Massachusetts in 1677) and Florida (part of New Spain until 1821, though held by the British from after the end of the French and Indian War until 1781).\n",
"Britain approached the task of governing its New World territories in a less centralized manner, establishing about twenty distinct colonies in North America and the Caribbean from 1585 onward. Each British colony had its own governor and most would have representative assemblies. Most of the North American Thirteen Colonies that became the United States had strong self-government via popular assemblies that countered the authority of governors with their own assertions of rights via parliamentry and other English sources of authority. Only property owners could vote in British polities, but since so many free men in mainland British Colonial America owned land, a majority could vote and participate in popular politics. The British challenge to the authority of colonial assemblies, especially via taxation, was a major cause of the American Revolution in the 1770s.\n"
] |
Why isn't Juneteenth a national holiday in the United States? | Juneteenth does not commemorate the actual emancipation of slaves; that happened in January 1863 for the states in rebellion, and with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in Dec. 1865.
Juneteenth celebrates when news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached Texas in June 1865. Initially a celebration only among Negroes in Texas, the commemoration first spread to a couple of adjacent states, and in the 20th century traveled with African-Americans from Texas as they migrated to industrial cities elsewhere. In particular, it seems to have taken hold among those who moved to the Bay Area during World War II to work in shipyards and defense industries. It seems likely that its enduring popularity owes something to the summer date, suitable for large outdoor gatherings and celebrations. Only in the last 25 years has the celebration become known nationwide.
[The *Handbook of Texas* has a good summary.](_URL_0_) | [
"Commemoration of the American Revolution typifies the patriotic sentiment surrounding the American Revolution and the desire to preserve and honor the \"Spirit of '76\". As the founding story of the United States, it is covered in the schools, memorialized by a national holiday, and commemorated in innumerable monuments. Thus Independence Day (the \"Fourth of July\") is a major national holiday celebrated annually. Besides local sites such as Bunker Hill, one of the first national pilgrimages for memorial tourists was Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate, which attracted ten thousand visitors a year by the 1850s.\n",
"By 2008, nearly half of US states observed the holiday as a ceremonial observance. Forty-six of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have recognized Juneteenth as either a state holiday or ceremonial holiday, a day of observance. The four states that do not recognize Juneteenth are Hawaii, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana.\n",
"May 15, is celebrated as the feast day of San Isidro, sometimes with a rodeo. It is also common holding Independence Day with a parade of students. The Christmas is important because many people gather on that date with their families elsewhere.\n",
"In 1968, Governor Ronald Reagan signed a resolution calling for a holiday called American Indian Day, to be held the Fourth Friday in September. In 1998, the California Assembly passed AB 1953, which made Native American Day an official state holiday, observed annually on the fourth Friday in September.\n",
"The main Mexican holiday is the Day of Independence, celebrated on September 16. Americans are more familiar with the Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo commemorates the date of the Battle of Puebla, in which Díaz participated, when a major victory was won against the French. Under the \"Porfiriato\", the Mexican Consuls in the United States gave Cinco de Mayo more importance than the Day of Independence due to the President's personal involvement in the events. It is still widely celebrated in the United States, although largely due to cultural permeation.\n",
", there were eleven federal holidays in the United States, ten annual holidays and one quadrennial holiday (Inauguration Day). Pursuant to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 (effective 1971), official holidays are observed on a Monday, except for New Year's Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.\n",
"Each year, the United States celebrates a holiday known as Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. It is a federal holiday and frequently involves a family gathering with a large feast, traditionally featuring a turkey. Civic recognitions of the holiday typically include parades and football games. The holiday is meant to honor the First Thanksgiving, which was a harvest feast held in Plymouth in 1621, as first recorded in the book \"New England's Memorial\" by Nathaniel Morton, secretary of Plymouth Colony and nephew of Governor William Bradford.\n"
] |
the expulsions of the germans in european countries during and after ww2. | By the time of the World Wars, German speaking populations existed in many places throughout Europe, including Central Europe and along the Baltic Sea. These maps both show Prussia and other German states [before WWI](_URL_4_) and [before WWII](_URL_0_). Note how the territory is larger than modern Germany, and includes much of modern day Poland.
As WWII drew to a close, many German speaking residents of Eastern Europe/the Baltic migrated west with the retreating front line, fearing dire ramifications from the Soviets. Eventually by the war's end a lot of German speakers (regardless of ethnicity) and German citizens (regardless of language) ended up in Allied-Occupied Germany or Austria.
According to the Potsdam Agreement by Allied leaders on the state of post-war Europe/boundary changes/etc, this population migration continued up until 1950 or so. About 12 million Germans are estimated to have been moved. Up to 500,000 may have died during this migration.
If you look at a map of Europe, you can see notable changes, especially in Russian territory. [Koenigsberg](_URL_3_) for example, the former capital of East Prussia was heavily war-torn and repopulated with Russians. Today, it's called [Kaliningrad](_URL_2_) it's about 0.7% German by ethnicity.
EDIT: For more reading I'd recommend this _URL_1_
| [
"Germans fled, were evacuated, or were expelled as a result of actions of Nazi Germany, the Red Army, civilian militias, and/or the organized efforts of governments of the reconstituted states of Eastern Europe. Between 1944 and 1950, at least 12 million had fled or had been expelled and resettled to post-war Germany, almost all (11.5 million) from the territories of post-war Poland and Czechoslovakia. About three million persons of German ancestry remained in the expulsion areas, but gradually emigrated westward in the Cold War era or have been assimilated into the local populations. The areas from which the Germans fled or were expelled were subsequently repopulated by nationals of the states to which that territory now belonged, many of whom were Poles who fled or were expelled from the former Polish territories in the USSR. 148 000 of Polish citizens declared German nationality in 2011.\n",
"After WWII ended, about 11-12 million Germans were forced to flee from or were expelled from several countries throughout Eastern and Central Europe including Russia, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary Yugoslavia and the prewar territory of Poland. A large number of them were also displaced when Germany's former eastern provinces were given to Poland as part of the Potsdam Agreement, regardless of those annexed lands being ethnically, politically, and culturally German for nearly a thousand years. The majority of these expelled and displaced Germans ended up in what remained of Germany, with some being sent to West Germany and others being sent to East Germany.\n",
"During the later stages of World War II and the post-war period, German citizens and people of German ancestry fled or were expelled from various Eastern and Central European countries, as well as the German provinces of Silesia, Pomerania, and East Prussia. The idea to expel the ethnic Germans was supported by Winston Churchill and by the Polish and Czechoslovak exile governments in London at least since 1942. The expulsion of Germans formed also part of Stalin's plan, in concert with other Communist subordinates, to expel all Germans from their homes east of the Oder and lands which from May 1945 fell inside the Soviet occupation zones. Many Germans were murdered or died in transit to the remaining territory of Germany and Austria.\n",
"The expulsions of Germans from the lost areas in the east (see also Former eastern territories of Germany), the Sudetenland, and elsewhere in eastern Europe went on for several years. The number of Germans expelees totaled roughly 15,000,000. Estimates of number of deaths in connection with expulsion range from under 500,000 to 3 million.\n",
"Ingo Haar believes that civilian losses in the expulsion of the Germans from eastern Europe have been overstated in Germany for decades for political reasons. Haar argues that Cold War political pressure influenced the findings of the Schieder commission and the 1958 West German government demographic study that estimated 2 million expulsion deaths . Haar maintains that the actual number of deaths directly related to the expulsions is between 500-600,000 persons based on the findings of the German church search service and the report of the German government archives. Dr. Haar maintains that the figure of 2 million expulsion deaths includes \"a fall in the German birth rate, persons assimilated into the local population, military dead, murdered Jews and missing persons\" Haar has criticized the Federation of Expellees for inflating the numbers of German victims of the expulsion of Germans after World War II,; the former expellees' president Erika Steinbach in her reply accused Haar of reducing the number of victims.\n",
"The expulsion of Germans after World War II refers to the forced migration and ethnic cleansing of German nationals (\"Reichsdeutsche\") and ethnic Germans (\"Volksdeutsche)\" from the former eastern territories of Germany, former Sudetenland and other areas across Europe in the first five years after World War II.\n",
"In contrast to expulsions from other nations or states, the expulsion of the Germans from Hungary was dictated from outside Hungary. It began on 22 December 1944 when the Soviet Commander-in-Chief ordered the expulsions. Three percent of the German pre-war population (about 20,000 people) had been evacuated by the Volksbund before that. They went to Austria, but many had returned. Overall, 60,000 ethnic Germans had fled.\n"
] |
Why wasn't Augustus one of the "5 good Roman emperors"? | I think the best explanation in this case is the simplest one: the term “5 Good Emperors” refers specifically to the chronological succession of five emperors (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonius Pius, and Marcus Aurelius) who were lauded for their expansion of the empire and the relative stability of their reigns. It’s not simply a list of “the five best Emperors of Rome — number 4 will shock you!” it’s a non-dynastic succession of notable emperors. Augustus is widely regarded as a successful and comparable emperor, but he wasn’t part of the succession that involved the aforementioned 5, he reigned much earlier and as part of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. | [
"Many consider Augustus to be Rome's greatest emperor; his policies certainly extended the Empire's life span and initiated the celebrated \"Pax Romana\" or \"Pax Augusta\". The Roman Senate wished subsequent emperors to \"be more fortunate than Augustus and better than Trajan\". Augustus was intelligent, decisive, and a shrewd politician, but he was not perhaps as charismatic as Julius Caesar and was influenced on occasion by Livia (sometimes for the worse). Nevertheless, his legacy proved more enduring. The city of Rome was utterly transformed under Augustus, with Rome's first institutionalized police force, fire fighting force, and the establishment of the municipal prefect as a permanent office. The police force was divided into cohorts of 500 men each, while the units of firemen ranged from 500 to 1,000 men each, with 7 units assigned to 14 divided city sectors.\n",
"Due to his advanced age, Augustus was unable to travel to the east himself. There were few the Emperor trusted to settle matters in the east, but he was confident Gaius could. Gaius made a good choice, because his presence represented that of the imperial family – all orders, promises, or threats coming from him were as valid as if they came from the Emperor himself. Nonetheless, he was only eighteen, and therefore too young for the conduct of important business.\n",
"Although the most powerful individual in the Roman Empire, Augustus wished to embody the spirit of Republican virtue and norms. He also wanted to relate to and connect with the concerns of the plebs and lay people. He achieved this through various means of generosity and a cutting back of lavish excess. In the year 29 BC, Augustus gave 400 sesterces (equal to 1/10 of a Roman pound of gold) each to 250,000 citizens, 1,000 sesterces each to 120,000 veterans in the colonies, and spent 700 million sesterces in purchasing land for his soldiers to settle upon. He also restored 82 different temples to display his care for the Roman pantheon of deities. In 28 BC, he melted down 80 silver statues erected in his likeness and in honor of him, an attempt of his to appear frugal and modest.\n",
"The two victories were his contribution to the final triumph of his father over Licinius. Constantine was the only Augustus left in the Empire. He honoured his son for his support and success by depicting his face in imperial coins, statues, mosaics, cameos, etc. Eusebius of Caesaria wrote for Crispus that he is \"an Imperator most dear to God and in all regards comparable to his father.\"\n",
"The concept of \"The Five Good Emperors\" reflects the internal Roman point of view. As regards their treatment of Roman citizens, these five Emperors clearly seem better than other Emperors – specifically, better than Domitian who immediately preceded them and Commodus who immediately followed them – and this view was taken up by later Europeans, drawing on Roman historical sources. It is, however, not necessarily the point of view of provincials and of Rome's neighbors – particularly, of those targeted by one or more of these emperors in a war of conquest or in the suppression of a revolt. \n",
"Octavian's victory enabled him to consolidate his power over Rome and its dominions. He adopted the title of Princeps (\"first citizen\") and some years later was awarded the title of Augustus (\"revered\") by the Roman Senate. This became the name by which he was known in later times. As Augustus, he retained the trappings of a restored Republican leader, but historians generally view this consolidation of power and the adoption of these honorifics as the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire.\n",
"Modern historians conventionally regard Augustus as the first Emperor whereas Julius Caesar is considered the last dictator of the Roman Republic, a view having its origins in the Roman writers Plutarch, Tacitus and Cassius Dio. However, the majority of Roman writers, including Josephus, Pliny the Younger, Suetonius and Appian, as well as most of the ordinary people of the Empire, thought of Julius Caesar as the first Emperor.\n"
] |
How does the fact that heat moves from warmer objects to cooler objects relate to IR emitted from greenhouse gases? | No, that is a entirely unreasonable argument.
As an illustration, which do you think would heat up to higher temperatures? An oven with the door open or an oven with the door closed?
If you consider the surface of the planet to be the IR source in the oven, and greenhouse gasses to be the oven door, you have a fairly reasonable (albeit exaggerated) analogy on your hands.
Now the person you are talking to is onto *something* with the point that you can't increase the heat of an object by trapping smaller amounts of heat around it... but in the real world that really only applies to very specific and simple situations and is totally irrelevant here. The surface of the planet (rocks, soils, buildings, etc) are already in balance between heat gathered from the sun and heat lost to the atmosphere. As the atmosphere increases in temperature, the physical surface of the planet will have a harder time shedding heat, and it can be expected to increase in temperature too. | [
"When greenhouse gas molecules absorb thermal infrared energy, their temperature rises. Those gases then radiate an increased amount of thermal infrared energy in all directions. Heat radiated upward continues to encounter greenhouse gas molecules; those molecules also absorb the heat, and their temperature rises and the amount of heat they radiate increases. The atmosphere thins with altitude, and at roughly 5–6 kilometres, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the overlying atmosphere is so thin that heat can escape to space.\n",
"Because greenhouse gas molecules radiate infrared energy in all directions, some of it spreads downward and ultimately returns to the Earth's surface, where it is absorbed. The Earth's surface temperature is thus higher than it would be if it were heated only by direct solar heating. This supplemental heating is the natural greenhouse effect. It is as if the Earth is covered by a blanket that allows high frequency radiation (sunlight) to enter, but slows the rate at which the low frequency infrared radiant energy emitted by the Earth leaves.\n",
"The warmer temperature in a greenhouse occurs because incident solar radiation passes through the transparent roof and walls and is absorbed by the floor, earth, and contents, which become warmer. As the structure is not open to the atmosphere, the warmed air cannot escape via convection, so the temperature inside the greenhouse rises. This differs from the earth-oriented theory known as the \"greenhouse effect\".\n",
"Glass coated with a low-emissivity substance can reflect radiant infrared energy, encouraging radiant heat to remain on the same side of the glass from which it originated, while letting visible light pass. This often results in more efficient windows because radiant heat originating from indoors in winter is reflected back inside, while infrared heat radiation from the sun during summer is reflected away, keeping it cooler inside.\n",
"Objects struck by sunlight absorb its visible and short-wave infrared components, increase in temperature, and then re-radiate that heat at longer infrared wavelengths. Though transparent building materials such as glass allow visible light to pass through almost unimpeded, once that light is converted to long-wave infrared radiation by materials indoors, it is unable to escape back through the window since glass is opaque to those longer wavelengths. The trapped heat thus causes solar gain via a phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect. In buildings, excessive solar gain can lead to overheating within a space, but it can also be used as a passive heating strategy when heat is desired.\n",
"In all cases, the air has to be cooler than the object or surface from which it is expected to remove heat. This is due to the second law of thermodynamics, which states that heat will only move spontaneously from a hot reservoir (the heat sink) to a cold reservoir (the air).\n",
"The basic mechanism can be qualified in a number of ways, none of which affect the fundamental process. The atmosphere near the surface is largely opaque to thermal radiation (with important exceptions for \"window\" bands), and most heat loss from the surface is by sensible heat and latent heat transport. Radiative energy losses become increasingly important higher in the atmosphere, largely because of the decreasing concentration of water vapor, an important greenhouse gas. It is more realistic to think of the greenhouse effect as applying to a layer in the mid-troposphere, which is effectively coupled to the surface by a lapse rate. The simple picture also assumes a steady state, but in the real world, the diurnal cycle as well as the seasonal cycle and weather disturbances complicate matters. Solar heating applies only during daytime. During the night, the atmosphere cools somewhat, but not greatly, because its emissivity is low. Diurnal temperature changes decrease with height in the atmosphere.\n"
] |
how do the "double irish" and "double irish w/ dutch sandwich" tax avoidance techniques work? | The EU operates a free trade regime such that a state can't attempt to tax an entity based in another country selling to its citizens. In the US context its very similar to the way US states behave, if I live in NY and buy something from a company in MA then NY doesn't tax the company in MA for profits they make but instead they are taxed in MA.
In the EU Ireland has the most favorable tax rate so many corporations HQ there in order to pay the lower tax rate. If you buy a Dell computer in France you are not doing business with Dell France but with Dell Ireland. In effect businesses funnel all sales through an Irish office to pay a lower rate of corporation tax.
Ireland has a tax treaty with the Netherlands which massively reduces Irish tax burden for profit transfers there (technically its an entire exemption but some revenue will be subject to taxation due to licensing arrangements). Once in the Netherlands there is a small tax imposed (again licensing arrangements) but then it is transferred back to Ireland to a separate entity (2nd Irish subsidiary, hence the "Double").
A quirk in Irish tax law means that a company that is actually controlled by foreign managers can transfer all profits to that country tax free so the 2nd Irish subsidiary is actually controlled by another subsidiary in another country (outside the EU, Bermuda is popular).
[This](_URL_0_) illustrates the process fairly well.
Some countries (most of the Middle-East, Africa, Australia, Asia) has lax revenue shifting controls so companies also shift earnings from these subsidiaries through Ireland to similarly reduce their tax exposure.
While this is typically mentioned in the context of US corporations it actually has no impact on US tax revenue at all, its impossible to shift US based revenue out of the US and due to IP transfer fees (fees a subsidiary has to pay to its US parent to account for brand, technology etc developed in the US) some of the non-US revenue does make it back in to the US and instead primarily impacts EU income. In the Google example in 2012 they had an EU effective corporate tax rate of 4.4% while a US effective corporate tax rate of 29.1%. | [
"In 2013, Bloomberg reported that lobbying by PriceWaterhouseCoopers Irish Managing Partner Feargal O'Rourke, who Bloomberg labelled \"grand architect\" of the Double Irish, led to the Irish Government to relax the rules for making Irish royalty payments to non-EU companies (i.e. IRL2), without incurring Irish withholding tax. This removed the explicit need for the Dutch Sandwich, but there are still several conditions that will not suit all types of Double Irish structures, and thus several US multinationals in Ireland continued with the classic \"Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich\" combination.\n",
"The Double Irish is a base erosion and profit shifting (\"BEPS\") corporate tax tool, used mostly by US multinationals since the late 1980s, to avoid corporate taxation on most non–U.S. profits. It is the largest tax avoidance tool in history and by 2010, was shielding US$100 billion annually in US multinational foreign profits from taxation, and was the main tool by which US multinationals built up untaxed offshore reserves of US$1 trillion from 2004 to 2018. Traditionally, it was also used with the Dutch Sandwich BEPS tool; however, changes to Irish tax law in 2010 dispensed with this requirement for most users.\n",
"The 2014–16 EU investigation into Apple in Ireland (see below), showed that the Double Irish existed as far back as 1991. Early U.S. academic research in 1994 into U.S. multinational use of tax havens identified \"profit shifting\" accounting techniques. U.S. congressional investigations into the tax practices of U.S. multinationals were aware of such BEPS tools for many years. However, the U.S. did not try to force the closure of the Double Irish BEPS tool, instead it was the EU which forced Ireland to close the Double Irish to new schemes in October 2014. Even still, existing users of the Double Irish BEPS tool (e.g. Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, amongst many others), were given five more years until January 2020, before the tool would be fully shut-down to all users.\n",
"The Double Irish uses an Irish company (IRL2) that is legally incorporated in Ireland, and thus the US-tax code regards it as foreign, but is \"managed and controlled\" from, say, Bermuda (and thus the Irish tax code also regards it as foreign). The Dutch Sandwich, with the Dutch company as the \"dutch slice\" in the \"sandwich\", is used to move money to this Irish company (IRL2), without incurring Irish withholding tax. \n",
"The Double Irish was the largest BEPS tool in history which by 2015, was shielding over USD$100 billion in mostly US corporate profits from US taxation. When the EU Commission fined Apple €13 billion for using an illegal hybrid-Double Irish structure, their report noted that Apple had been using the structure from at least as far back as 1991. Several Senate and Congressional inquiries in Washington cited public knowledge of the Double Irish from 2000 onwards. However, it was not the US who finally forced Ireland to close the structure in 2015, but the EU Commission; and existing users were given until 2020 to find alternative arrangements, two of which (e.g. Single malt arrangement) were already operating. The lack of action by the US, similar to their position with the OECD MLI (above), has been attributed to the of tax havens. However, some commentators note the reform of the US corporate tax code by the 2017 TCJA may change this.\n",
"In an October 2013 interview, PwC tax partner Feargal O'Rourke (\"architect\" of the Double Irish, see above), said that: \"the days of the Double Irish tax scheme are numbered\". In October 2014, as the EU forced the Irish State to close the Double Irish BEPS tool, the influential U.S. National Tax Journal published an article by Jeffrey L Rubinger and Summer Lepree, showing that Irish based subsidiaries of U.S. corporations could replace the Double Irish arrangement with a new structure (now known as \"Single Malt\"). The Irish media picked up the article, but when an Irish MEP notified the then Finance Minister, Michael Noonan, he was told to \"Put on the green jersey\". A November 2017 report by Christian Aid, titled \"Impossible Structures\", showed how quickly the Single Malt BEPS tool was replacing the Double Irish. The report detailed Microsoft's and Allergen's schemes and extracts from advisers to their clients. In September 2018, \"The Irish Times\" revealed that U.S. medical device manufacturer Teleflex, had created a Single Malt scheme in July 2018, and reduced their corporate tax rate to circa 3%; and that the Irish State were keeping the matter, \"under consideration\".\n",
"In October 2014, as the EU forced the Irish State to close the Double Irish BEPS tool, the influential U.S. National Tax Journal published an article by Jeffrey L Rubinger and Summer Lepree, showing that Irish based subsidiaries of U.S. corporations could replace the Double Irish arrangement with a new structure (now known as Single Malt). If the Bermuda–controlled Irish company (IRL2) was relocated to a country with whom (a) Ireland had a tax treaty, (b) with wording on \"management and control\" tax residency, and (c) had a zero corporate tax rate, then the Double Irish effect could be replicated. They highlighted Malta as a candidate. The Irish media picked up the article, but when an Irish MEP notified the then Finance Minister, Michael Noonan, he was told to \"Put on the green jersey\".\n"
] |
how do they get water up large skyscrapers | with pumps! the pressure that is supplied by the water main available in most cities is usually only adequate to get water up around 6-8 stories. any building higher than that needs to supplement the water pressure in its system with pumps. | [
"In particular, the problem of bringing and keeping water on the upper floors is an important constraint in the design of skyscrapers. Water is necessary for tenant use, air conditioning, equipment cooling, and basic firefighting through sprinklers (especially important since ground-based firefighting equipment usually cannot reach higher than a dozen floors or so). It is inefficient, and seldom feasible, for water pumps to send water directly to a height of several hundred meters, so intermediate pumps and water tanks are used. The pumps on each group of mechanical floors act as a relay to the next one up, while the tanks hold water in reserve for normal and emergency use. Usually the pumps have enough power to bypass a level if the pumps there have failed, and send water two levels up.\n",
"A variety of materials can be used to construct a typical water tower; steel and reinforced or prestressed concrete are most often used (with wood, fiberglass, or brick also in use), incorporating an interior coating to protect the water from any effects from the lining material. The reservoir in the tower may be spherical, cylindrical, or an ellipsoid, with a minimum height of approximately and a minimum of in diameter. A standard water tower typically has a height of approximately . \n",
"The water tower, significant in that it is constructed of poured concrete, stands at tall and roughly in diameter. The capacity tank is supported by a hollow supporting column which contains an unusual set of spiral windows and an internal staircase. The tower pumped and stored water from a reservoir built below it at the time of its construction, releasing the water via gravity on demand.\n",
"A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water supply system for the distribution of potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. In some places, the term standpipe is used interchangeably to refer to a water tower. Water towers often operate in conjunction with underground or surface service reservoirs, which store treated water close to where it will be used. Other types of water towers may only store raw (non-potable) water for fire protection or industrial purposes, and may not necessarily be connected to a public water supply.\n",
"The original water tower builders were barrel makers who expanded their craft to meet a modern need as buildings in the city grew taller in height. Even today, no sealant is used to hold the water in. The wooden walls of the water tower are held together with steel cables or straps, but water leaks through the gaps when first filled. As the water saturates the wood, it swells, the gaps close and become impermeable.\n",
"The water tower is built in reinforced concrete. It has a round foot print and pilasters at close intervals. The lower part of the structure has round windows in a helix arrangement. It has a diameter of 20 m and is 34 m tall.\n",
"The rooftop water towers store of water until it is needed in the building below. The upper portion of water is skimmed off the top for everyday use while the water in the bottom of the tower is held in reserve to fight fire. When the water drops below a certain level, a pressure switch, level switch or float valve will activate a pump or open a public water line to refill the water tower.\n"
] |
how did media control symbols become standard (play, pause, fast forward, etc.)? do other parts of the world use different symbols? | _URL_0_
There is actually an international standard for all forms of icons.
I'm going off of personal knowledge here, so correct me if I'm wrong, but during the 80s when electronics started to become more widespread globally and production switched from the west to the east, many of the manufacturers understood they would need a standardized way of denoting controls on electronics. They held a convention to draft up a list of virtually any kind of control one would need as a symbol that could be understood. There like a huge book of hundreds of symbols.
TL;DR the symbols we used are arbitrary and standardized internationally.
EDIT:removed the extra "d". | [
"In digital electronics, analogue electronics and entertainment, the user interface of media may include media controls or player controls, to enact and change or adjust the process of watching film or listening to audio. These widely known symbols can be found in a multitude of software products, exemplifying what is known as dominant design.\n",
"The main symbols date back to the 1960s, with the Pause symbol having reportedly been invented at Ampex during that decade for use on reel-to-reel audio recorder controls, due to the difficulty of translating the word \"pause\" into some languages used in foreign markets. The Pause symbol was designed as a variation on the existing square Stop symbol and was intended to evoke the concept of an interruption or \"stutter stop\".\n",
"In the 1980s, public broadcasters started to randomly show logos during programs to prevent video piracy, following the lead of Italian broadcasters RAI and Canale 5. After the first private stations emerged in 1984, permanently showing their logo most times, the public broadcasters soon followed.\n",
"The well-known on/off power symbol was the result of the logical evolution in user interface design. Originally, most early power controls consisted of switches that were toggled between two states demarcated by the words \"On\" and \"Off\". As technology became more ubiquitous, these English words were replaced with the universal symbols line \"|\" and circle \"o\" (typically without serifs) to bypass language barriers. This standard is still used on toggle power switches.\n",
"Following a review of national signage in 1921, a limited number of warning and hazard information plates also used symbols, rather than only text. Such symbols had been developed in continental Europe as early as 1909, but before this had been dismissed by the UK which favoured the use of text. The symbols were simple silhouettes which were easy to recognise at a distance. Some were unusual, such as 'SCHOOL' (and later 'CHILDREN') was depicted by the 'flaming torch of knowledge'. The government made increasing efforts to standardise road signs in the Road Traffic Act 1930 (RTA) and regulations of 1933, being finally consolidated with the publication of the 1934 \"Road Traffic Acts and Regulations\" handbook. These saw the end of non-standard permanent signs being erected by motoring clubs, such as the black and yellow vitreous enamel AA signs (although this did not include temporary direction signs). While the RSAC had ceased erecting signs, the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) had begun to do so to RTA specifications (save for the inclusion of the RAC badge) and was very active in this respect in the late-1930s.\n",
"Printing control characters were first used to control the physical mechanism of printers, the earliest output device. An early implementation of this idea was the out-of-band ASA carriage control characters. Later, control characters were integrated into the stream of data to be printed.\n",
"In recent years, there has been a proliferation of devices that use media symbols in order to represent the Run/Stop/Pause functions. Likewise, user interface programing pertaining to these functions has also been influenced by that of media players. For example, some washers and dryers with a common illuminated play/pause button are programmed so that when the appliance is off, the play/pause light stays off. When the device is running the light stays on, and when the washer/dryer is in a paused state, the button flashes. This type of programing is similar to that of earlier CD players, which are also set to flash in this manner in the pause state.\n"
] |
what does 'all property is theft' mean? | It is a saying that implies that anything you can own involves the exploitation and/or abuse of someone or something that is not being compensated, and that you can't separate the property itself from it's origins... That you can't, for examply, own a pair of shoes without separating them from the fact that it likely used child workers to make them, or the rubber in them came from rubber trees planted on land taken generations ago from the indigenous people originally there. | [
"In common usage, theft is the taking of another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting, library theft, and fraud (obtaining money under false pretenses). In some jurisdictions, theft is considered to be synonymous with larceny; in others, theft has replaced larceny. Someone who carries out an act of or makes a career of theft is known as a thief. The act of theft is also known by other terms such as stealing, thieving, and filching.\n",
"Theft is defined in section 134 of the \"Criminal Consolidation Act\" 1935 (SA) as being where a person deals with property dishonestly, without the owners consent and intending to deprive the owner of their property, or make a serious encroachment on the proprietary rights of the owner.\n",
"Theft is defined in the \"Crimes Act\" 1958 (Vic) as when a person \"dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.\". The actus reus and mens rea are defined as follows:\n",
"Theft by finding occurs when someone chances upon an object which seems abandoned and takes possession of the object but fails to take steps to establish whether the object is genuinely abandoned and not merely lost or unattended. In some jurisdictions the crime is called \"larceny by finding\" or \"stealing by finding\".\n",
"Theft by finding occurs when someone chances upon an object which seems abandoned and takes possession of the object but fails to take steps to establish whether the object is genuinely abandoned and not merely lost or unattended. In some jurisdictions the crime is called \"larceny by finding\" or \"stealing by finding\". \n",
"Stolen goods: This term means property stolen anywhere, as long as the theft amounted to an offence where committed. It includes any proceeds of that property, including money for which it has been sold, and anything bought with those proceeds. However, property which has been returned to the original owner, or otherwise lawful custody, is no longer regarded as stolen, by section 24(3). This may create difficulties, as in Haughton v. Smith. It is not necessary that the property be \"stolen\" in a limited sense; section 24(4) of the Act specifically extends the scope to property obtained by fraud or blackmail. However, it is also implicit in the definition of offences such as burglary or robbery that handling may apply to the proceeds of these offences.\n",
"In the United States, if the owner of a property has renounced all property rights in the object, then the property is abandoned. Since theft is the unlawful taking of another person's property, an essential element of the \"actus reus\" of theft is absent.\n"
] |
why has the global temperature spiked so dramatically in the last 10-20 years even though that's the timespan we've become aware of global warming and started trying to combat it? | Guess what happened before 20 years ago? Rampant pollution while being oblivious. "Just exhaust it, planet Earth will pick up the slack and balance out" was the mentality back then. | [
"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated in its first working group report that “most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations, contribute to climate change.\n",
"\"The New York Times\" reported that \"the leading international network of climate scientists has concluded for the first time that global warming is 'unequivocal' and that human activity is the main driver, 'very likely' causing most of the rise in temperatures since 1950\".\n",
"In the scientific literature, there is a strong consensus that global surface temperatures have increased in recent decades and that the trend is caused primarily by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases. With regard to the global warming controversy, the scientific mainstream puts neither doubt on the existence of global warming nor on its causes and effects.\n",
"In the scientific literature, there is an overwhelming consensus that global surface temperatures have increased in recent decades and that the trend is caused mainly by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases. No scientific body of national or international standing disagrees with this view. Scientific discussion takes place in journal articles that are peer-reviewed, which scientists subject to assessment every couple of years in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports. The scientific consensus stated in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report is that it \"is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century\".\n",
"The anomalously high global temperature in 1998 due to El Niño resulted in a brief drop in subsequent years. However, a 2001 Hansen report in the journal \"Science\" states that global warming continues, and that the increasing temperatures should stimulate discussions on how to slow global warming. The temperature data was updated in 2006 to report that temperatures are now warmer than a century ago, and concluded that the recent global warming is a real climate change and not an artifact from the urban heat island effect. The regional variation of warming, with more warming in the higher latitudes, is further evidence of warming that is anthropogenic in origin.\n",
"The view that human activities are likely responsible for most of the observed increase in global mean temperature (\"global warming\") since the mid-20th century is an accurate reflection of current scientific thinking. Human-induced warming of the climate is expected to continue throughout the 21st century and beyond.\n",
"On 16 August Reuters said the \"panel will try to explain why global temperatures, while still increasing, have risen more slowly since about 1998 even though greenhouse gas concentrations have hit repeated record highs in that time\". \n"
] |
How do trees grow in such a way as to not fall over? | I think it has more to do with the roots than with the branches. If trees had to balance their branches in order to stay upright, they would get blown over all the time. | [
"Trees that grow adjacent to lakes or other natural forest edges, or in exposed situations such as hill sides, develop greater rooting strength through growth feedback with wind movement, i.e. 'adaptive' or 'acclimative' growth. If a tree does not experience much wind movement during the stem exclusion phase of stand succession, it is not likely to develop a resistance to wind. Thus, when a fully or partially developed stand is bisected by a new road or by a clearcut, the trees on the new edge are less supported by neighbouring trees than they were and may not be capable of withstanding the higher forces which they now experience.\n",
"An example of a small scale disturbance is a tree falling. This can cause soil movement, which redistributes any nutrients or organisms that were attached to the tree. The tree falling also opens up the canopy for light entrance, which can support the growth of other trees and plants.\n",
"The young plant grows straight upwards and has the form of a narrow cone with branches going out along the length of the trunk. However, as it gains in height, the lowest branches are shed, preventing vines from climbing. By maturity, the top branches form an imposing crown that stands out over all other native trees, dominating the forest canopy.\n",
"When the tree is about 1 to 1.5 metres in height, it is advisable to cut the roots on one side and lean the tree to the other (in the direction of the midday sun at about 30 to 45 degrees). This allows fruiting branches to grow all along the trunk rather than just at the top.\n",
"Depending upon climate and soil type the tree may grow to over in height, but it typically stands in height and the crown is round. The trunk is thick with corky bark. The branches are long and thick, typically drooping.\n",
"Individual trees growing on steep slopes tend to develop some buttressing that extends from the roots up into the base of the stem. This forms a sort of cushion that adheres to the rock and ensures a certain stability.\n",
"The branches droop as the tree grows, and will require pruning for vehicular or pedestrian clearance beneath them. The branches are breakage resistant. The trees require pruning to develop strong structure during young growth.\n"
] |
How did the idea of the atom advance beyond a theory? (other questions inside) | Atomic theory came from chemistry, from the realization that there must be little indivisible bits of each element. (Actually atomic theory is often said to go back to antiquity and the Greeks, but that's a bit misleading, because until the 19th century it all amounted to little more than "I bet stuff has bits in.")
So the chemists did their thing for about a hundred years, and came to the conclusion that you can't ever have less than *this much* of any element, and in fact all stuff is made of integer multiples of these little indivisible bits.
*Subatomic* theory didn't come until about a hundred years later, with the discovery of the electron.
I'm not sure where you got the idea that different elements can have the same number of protons. That's the *opposite* of the truth. Elements are *distinguished* by the number of protons in their atoms. That's why the periodic table of the elements has one entry for each number of protons, starting at one — hydrogen — and counting up to 118 or whatever we're up to now.
The number of *neutrons* in an atom, for a given number of protons, distinguishes *isotopes.* Some isotopes are stable, and others are unstable and will decay into more and more stable forms over time. This is the source of radioactivity.
The number of *electrons* in an atom can change essentially any time, through a process called ionization. Chemistry is concerned almost entirely with the way the electrons in different atoms interact.
And no, quarks are not "the smaller version of atoms." They're in fact completely different. *Completely* different. Once you get past "here are some things that are too small to see," you're basically done comparing the atomic model to the quark model. | [
"Atomism is a central part of today's relationship between thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. Ancient thinkers such as Leucippus and Democritus, and later the Epicureans, by advancing atomism, laid the foundations for the later atomic theory. Until experimental proof of atoms was later provided in the 20th century, the atomic theory was driven largely by philosophical considerations and scientific intuition.\n",
"At the beginning of the 20th century science was progressing quickly and the inner workings of the atom were just beginning to be discovered. In 1900, Max Planck proposed the quantum theory, the idea that all energy moves in discrete amounts called quanta. In 1905, Albert Einstein published his theory of special relativity, which would be instrumental in the progression of physics and the understanding of the universe. Around 1927, Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, collaborating with many other physicists, developed the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory, determining the probabilities of the movement of particles. These breakthroughs provided the model for the structure and workings of the atom and drove the revolution that would sweep up Nathan Rosen.\n",
"With the rise of scholasticism and the decline of the Roman Empire, the atomic theory was abandoned for many ages in favor of the various four element theories and later alchemical theories. The 17th century, however, saw a resurgence in the atomic theory primarily through the works of Gassendi, and Newton. Among other scientists of that time Gassendi deeply studied ancient history, wrote major works about Epicurus natural philosophy and was a persuasive propagandist of it. He reasoned that to account for the size and shape of atoms moving in a void could account for the properties of matter. Heat was due to small, round atoms; cold, to pyramidal atoms with sharp points, which accounted for the pricking sensation of severe cold; and solids were held together by interlacing hooks. Newton, though he acknowledged the various atom attachment theories in vogue at the time, i.e. \"hooked atoms\", \"glued atoms\" (bodies at rest), and the \"stick together by conspiring motions\" theory, rather believed, as famously stated in \"Query 31\" of his 1704 \"Opticks\", that particles attract one another by some force, which \"in immediate contact is extremely strong, at small distances performs the chemical operations, and reaches not far from particles with any sensible effect.\" \n",
"At around 450 BCE Democritus, a later Greek philosopher, developed an atomic theory that was similar to modern atomic theory. His mentor, Leucippus, is credited with this same theory. The hypothesis of Leucippus and Democritus held everything to be composed of atoms. But these \"atoms\", called \"atomos\", were indivisible, and indestructible. He presciently stated that between atoms lies empty space, and that atoms are constantly in motion. He was incorrect only in stating that atoms come in different sizes and shapes, and that each object had its own shaped and sized atom.\n",
"The theory of the atomists appears to be more nearly aligned with that of modern science than any other theory of antiquity. However, the similarity with modern concepts of science can be confusing when trying to understand where the hypothesis came from. Classical atomists could not have had an empirical basis for modern concepts of atoms and molecules.\n",
"One of the earliest steps towards \"atomic physics\" was the recognition that matter was composed of \"atoms\", in modern terms the basic unit of a chemical element. This theory was developed by John Dalton in the 18th century. At this stage, it wasn't clear what atoms were - although they could be described and classified by their observable properties in bulk; summarized by the developing periodic table, by John Newlands and Dmitri Mendeleyev around the mid to late 19th century.\n",
"Planetary models of atoms were not new, but Bohr's treatment was. Taking the 1912 paper by Darwin on the role of electrons in the interaction of alpha particles with a nucleus as his starting point, he advanced the theory of electrons travelling in orbits around the atom's nucleus, with the chemical properties of each element being largely determined by the number of electrons in the outer orbits of its atoms. He introduced the idea that an electron could drop from a higher-energy orbit to a lower one, in the process emitting a quantum of discrete energy. This became a basis for what is now known as the old quantum theory.\n"
] |
AskScience AMA Series: We're a group of paleontologists here to answer your paleontology questions! Ask us anything! | In your field, what is the biggest unsolved mystery or unexplained fossil that you want answered? | [
"The Paleontological Research Institution, or PRI, is a paleontological organization in Ithaca, New York with a mission including both research and education. PRI is affiliated with Cornell University, houses one of the largest fossil collections in North America, and publishes, among other things, the oldest journal of paleontology in the western hemisphere, \"Bulletins of American Paleontology\".\n",
"Bulletins of American Paleontology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Paleontological Research Institution and issued biannually that features monographs and dissertations in the field of paleontology and other related subjects. Founded by Gilbert Harris in 1895, it is the oldest continuously-published paleontological periodical in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the oldest in the world.\n",
"The British Society of Periodontology exists to promote the art and science of periodontology. Their membership includes specialist practitioners, periodontists, general dentists, consultants and trainees in restorative dentistry, clinical academics, dental hygienists and therapists, specialist trainees in periodontology and many others.\n",
"The Department of Periodontology is a division of the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine Department of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences. It carries out research and offers training for pre-doctoral and postgraduate students.\n",
"Dr. Judith Schiebout is an American paleontologist, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology at Louisiana State University and Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at LSU Museum of Natural Science.\n",
"Dr. Bonnan runs and updates the Evolving Paleontologist Blog which blogs and posts on all topics related to vertebrate paleontology, functional morphology, evolutionary biology, and whatever else strikes his scientific interests.\n",
"Since 1999, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology has awarded the John J. Lanzendorf PaleoArt Prize for achievement in the field. The society says that paleoart \"is one of the most important vehicles for communicating discoveries and data among paleontologists, and is critical to promulgating vertebrate paleontology across disciplines and to lay audiences\". The SVP is also the site of the occasional/annual \"PaleoArt Poster Exhibit\", a juried poster show at the opening reception of the annual SVP meetings.\n"
] |
would hiv/aids cancel out leukemia? | Not really, HIV is a virus, AIDS is a deficiency of CD4 white blood cells, and leukemia is a cancer causing elevated abnormal nonfunctioning white blood cells (there are more types than just CD4)
That about as ELI5 as I can get, there is alot more science behind it, between the progenitor cell lines and such. | [
"The AIDS crisis was shadowed by constant politicization which magnified the struggles of HIV/AIDS patients, as well as heavily hindered research and the search for treatment and/or a cure. The HIV virus wasn't discovered to be the cause of AIDS until 1984, and the first treatment, AZT, was not approved until 1987. So there were long periods of time following the emergence of HIV/AIDS in which there was no treatment, and community organizations could only focus on symptom management and social activism to push for a cure. Once treatment was discovered and approved, it was sold for an extraordinary price. In 1989, AZT was the most expensive prescription drug in history. Very few patients could afford to be treated or remain on the treatment for the long-term plan that was necessary to sufficiently lower patient's viral loads.\n",
"Ultimately, HIV causes AIDS by depleting CD4 T cells. This weakens the immune system and allows opportunistic infections. T cells are essential to the immune response and without them, the body cannot fight infections or kill cancerous cells. The mechanism of CD4 T cell depletion differs in the acute and chronic phases. During the acute phase, HIV-induced cell lysis and killing of infected cells by CD8 T cells accounts for CD4 T cell depletion, although apoptosis may also be a factor. During the chronic phase, the consequences of generalized immune activation coupled with the gradual loss of the ability of the immune system to generate new T cells appear to account for the slow decline in CD4 T cell numbers.\n",
"When in July 1982, the first cases of AIDS appear in hemophiliacs receiving highly filtered blood samples, the scientific community realized that AIDS was most likely caused by a virus. Jacques Leibowitch noticed some intriguing similarities between AIDS and the pathology linked to HTLV (Human T Cell Leukemia Lymphoma Virus), the only known human retro-virus at that time. Both situations affect CD4 T helper lymphocyte cells. HTLV induces the massive proliferation of one or several clones and their cancerization, whereas the other virus, the HIV virus tends to eradicate these cells without apparent discrimination. Otherwise, these two pathological descriptions are present in both Africa and the Caribbean (see. A Strange Virus of Unknown Origin Jacques Leibowitch, Ballantine Books, New York, 1985, translated from Un Virus Etrange Venu d’Ailleurs, Grasset Paris 1984 ). Indeed, in both Paris and Brussels, doctors had seen cases of patients having lived or spent time in Francophone Africa or in Haiti who suffered from a disease with an undeniable resemblance to that arising at the time in the United States in \"immuno-deficient homosexuals\". Leibowitch, informed by the Franco-American literary author Gilles Barbedette of the announcement by Robert Gallo in Medical World News (1 August 1982) that an HTLV type retro-virus could be at the cause of AIDS, found in that most succinct brief the profile matching his CD4-tropic exotic viral suspect (in Grasset, Ballantine Books, workS cited). The retro-viral inspiration was thus consolidated and opened between Bethesda (Gallo) and Paris (Leibowitch et al.) from August 1982 onwards. \n",
"People with AIDS have an increased risk of developing various viral-induced cancers, including Kaposi's sarcoma, Burkitt's lymphoma, primary central nervous system lymphoma, and cervical cancer. Kaposi's sarcoma is the most common cancer occurring in 10 to 20% of people with HIV. The second most common cancer is lymphoma, which is the cause of death of nearly 16% of people with AIDS and is the initial sign of AIDS in 3 to 4%. Both these cancers are associated with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8). Cervical cancer occurs more frequently in those with AIDS because of its association with human papillomavirus (HPV). Conjunctival cancer (of the layer that lines the inner part of eyelids and the white part of the eye) is also more common in those with HIV.\n",
"People living with HIV/AIDS will not only be unable to work, but will also require significant medical care. The forecast is that this will probably cause a collapse of babies and societies in countries with a significant AIDS population. In some heavily infected areas, the epidemic has left behind many orphans cared for by elderly grandparents.\n",
"Although there still is no cure for AIDS, it is preventable and treatable. The majority of new HIV infections could be prevented if current prevention programs were expanded. Prevention initiatives could arrest the spread of HIV and important treatment advances could sustain the hope of a longer and better life for people that live with HIV. This area urgently needs the implementation and advancement of programs and projects in order to: prevent the sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS; prevent infection via breastfeeding and in children; break the links between HIV and other STI; provide voluntary testing and counseling; and reduce the health risks in infected persons as well as other approaches. \n",
"HIV does not directly cause cancer, but it is associated with a number of malignancies, especially Kaposi's sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, anal cancer and cervical cancer. Kaposi's sarcoma is caused by human herpesvirus 8. AIDS-related cases of anal cancer and cervical cancer are commonly caused by human papillomavirus. After HIV destroys the immune system, the body is no longer able to control these viruses, and the infections manifest as cancer. Certain other immune deficiency states (e.g. common variable immunodeficiency and IgA deficiency) are also associated with increased risk of malignancy.\n"
] |
Why were the Channel Islands not liberated soon after D-day? | There was a plan to liberate them as early as 1943, called Operation Constellation. Drawn up by Lord Louis Mountbatten, based on aerial reconnaissance.
The problem was that, as it stood, the Channel Islands weren't actually much of a strategic advantage. Obviously if the Luftwaffe were to establish a bombing base there, that would change, but until 1945 the Germans hadn't made much of an advantage of the occupied islands. Really, the only purpose they had served for the Germans, was as a slight bloodied nose for the British.
Mountbatten observed that while the islands could be retaken by force, they were also heavily fortified, and it would require a fairly large landing force to retake these strategically unimportant islands.
The other consideration was the civilian population. They hadn't fared too badly under the Germans, there were no reports of abuses or reprisals, but attempting an invasion might put their lives at risk. Certainly their lives would be at risk if a battle broke out.*Mountbatten also noted that either aerial or naval bombardment would be necessary in order to break the islands defences, again at a potentially high civilian loss.
Mountbatten's plan was eventually rejected on the grounds that the cost would likely be far too high, and that the sensible option was to have them peacefully returned as part of Germany's unconditional surrender.
I'm afraid the only source I have for this is Lord Louis Mountbatten's biography, *"The Life and Times of Lord Mountbatten"*, John Terraine, 1968.
There is also a wikipedia entry for Operation Constellation, and most of it seems to back up what I've read in Mountbattens biography, for what it's worth:
_URL_0_
*Edit | [
"Not knowing that on 15 June the British Army commanders had decided the Channel Islands were not defensible, the islanders were surprised to see the resident army units quickly depart on ships, with all of their equipment, the islands were being abandoned. The \"Channel Islands had been demilitarised and declared... 'an open town'...\", without telling anyone, until after the islands had been bombed on 28 June, as the British government did not want to invite the Germans to take the islands.\n",
"Seized by the Germans in 1940, the Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to be occupied by the enemy during the Second World War. Not until after Germany's surrender were the islands liberated. \"Royal Ulsterman\" landed British troops on Jersey on 11 May 1945 and provided additional reinforcements on 18 May.\n",
"It was not all over after D-Day. The Germans continued to strafe and lay mines the remainder of the year. The Channel Islands were still held by the Germans which served as a military base from which to launch attacks. There still was a concern regarding enemy submarines.\n",
"Although plans had been drawn up and proposed in 1943 by Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten for Operation Constellation, a military reconquest of the islands, these plans were never carried out. The Channel Islands were liberated after the German surrender.\n",
"However, as the Channel Islands lacked strategic significance, the Allies bypassed them when they invaded Normandy. As a result, the German garrisons stationed on the islands did not surrender until 9 May 1945—one day after Victory in Europe Day. The garrison on Alderney did not surrender until 16 May. Because most of the German garrisons surrendered peacefully, the Channel Islands are host to some of the best-preserved Atlantic Wall sites.\n",
"During June 1944, the Allied Forces launched the D-Day landings and the liberation of Normandy. They decided to bypass the Channel Islands due to their heavy fortifications. As a result, German supply lines for food and other supplies through France were completely severed. The islanders' food supplies were already dwindling, and this made matters considerably worse – the islanders and German forces alike were on the point of starvation.\n",
"An important military consequence of the occupation and fortification of the Channel Islands was the deployment of very large numbers of German troops and high usage of slave labour relative to the minor amount of military resources and strategic value they held. This became evident in July 1944, shortly after the D-Day landings and the subsequent St Lo breakout. As the Allies simply chose to bypass the Islands, and many of the arguably far more militarily-significant French coastal ports such as St Nazaire, Lorient, Brest, and St Malo as well, all of which Hitler had previously ordered to be defended and held at all costs and consequently all of which were all heavily garrisoned, this meant that well over 100,000 German troops which could otherwise have served to help to defend Occupied France (and subsequently Germany itself), at a time when Germans forces on the Western Front were suffering from a massive shortage of manpower, were tied down in positions which were essentially militarily useless. The German historian Joachim Ludewig estimates from his study of German archival records that in the middle of 1944 the Channel Islands occupation alone was responsible for over 30,000 such misdeployed troops. Around 500 Germans had died in the Channel Islands.\n"
] |
how did mining work back in the day? did people just picaxe long tunnels into the rock hoping they’ll find something useful? | Yes and no. Depending on what's being mined.
Typically they'd find a vein and surface level evidence. (Think of gold washed down a creek, it comes from a vein somewhere) | [
"The task of excavating the tunnels began on 25 May 1782, carried out entirely by hand. The miners broke up the limestone rock using a variety of methods, including gunpowder blasting, fire-setting (building a fire against the face of the rock to heat it, then quenching it with cold water to cause it to shatter), quicklime (used to fill boreholes which were then slaked with water, causing it to expand and so shattering the surrounding rock) and hammering in wooden wedges which were expanded by soaking them with water, again causing the rock to shatter. The fragments were then removed with crowbars and sledgehammers. Progress was slow, advancing at a rate of only about per year, but the tunnels thus excavated have proved extremely stable and are still readily accessible today.\n",
"Agricola described mining methods which are now obsolete, such as fire-setting, which involved building fires against hard rock faces. The hot rock was quenched with water, and the thermal shock weakened it enough for easy removal. It was a dangerous method when used underground, and was made redundant by explosives.\n",
"Another technique appearing towards the early 18th century, \"hagues et bourrages\", was both more economically and structurally sound. Instead of tunnelling into the exploitable mineral, miners would begin at a central point and extract stone progressively outwards; when they had mined to a point that left a wide area of the ceiling unsupported, they would erect a line of \"piliers à bras\", continue their extraction beyond that line, then return to build a second parallel line of stone columns. The space along both lines of columns was then transformed into walls with stone blocks, or \"hagues\", and the space between filled with packed rubble and other mineral detritus (or \"bourrage\"). This technique allowed much more of the targeted mineral to be extracted, and provided a support that could both settle and shift with the mine ceiling it supported.\n",
"Although underground mining technology had been available for many centuries, it is likely that the joint problems of the hardness of the granite rock and the preponderance of underground water together with the relatively easy pickings from near the surface made deep mining unviable until the late 18th century.\n",
"Early mining often involved digging a coyote hole, essentially sinking a hole into the ground, much like digging a well, and bringing up the dirt and rocks by hand or by a windlass, or tunneling into the side of the hill to follow the gold bearing gravel. Coyoteing and early tunneling were dangerous, since often the shaft was inadequately timbered, and cave-ins were not uncommon. A major one in Relief Hill in 1859 killed two miners and, coupled with a drought, caused the town to decline. By then, other mining camps were developing hydraulic mining, which involves blasting powerful streams of water against hillsides to dislodge gold.\n",
"Mining saw a brief resurgence as a military tactic during the First World War, when army engineers attempted to break the stalemate of trench warfare by tunneling under no man's land and laying large quantities of explosives beneath the enemy's trenches. As in siege warfare, tunnel warfare was possible due to the static nature of the fighting. \n",
"Early mining was done by hand and extracted salt rock crystals as a solid. To improve efficiency, fresh water would be pumped into a cavern. After several weeks of absorbing salt from the walls, the water was pumped out to a processing plant in Hallein.\n"
] |
how does someone go from being christian to jewish and vice-versa? | Judaism discourages conversion (but encourages people once they've been accepted for conversion). So you'd first have to convince a Rabbi that you're serious about wanting to convert. Then you'd have to engage in study so that you know enough about what it means to be and live as a Jew (which will vary depending on denomination). When your Rabbi thinks you're ready, you'll appear before a Rabbinic Court, and convince them that you're ready. If they agree, then you can go through the ritual immersion (in a ritual bath called a *mikveh*) and, in the case of men, circumcision. | [
"List of former Jews, or more accurately, people of Jewish ethnicity and adherents of Judaism who have converted to another (or no) religion. According to certain concepts of Jewish being (cf. who is a Jew?), a Jew who converts to another (or no) religion is still \"a Jew,\" by family and heritage alone, if not also by culture, and to a certain extent, belief (cf. monotheism).\n",
"According to the simplest definition used by most Jews for self-identification, a person is a Jew by birth, or becomes one through religious conversion. However, there are differences in interpretations when it comes to non-Orthodox Jewish denominations in the application of this definition, including\n",
"Rabbinical Judaism maintains that a Jew, whether by birth or conversion, is a Jew forever. Thus a Jew who claims to be an atheist or converts to another religion is still considered by traditional Judaism to be Jewish. According to some sources, the Reform movement has maintained that a Jew who has converted to another religion is no longer a Jew, and the Israeli Government has also taken that stance after Supreme Court cases and statutes. However, the Reform movement has indicated that this is not so cut and dried, and different situations call for consideration and differing actions. For example, Jews who have converted under duress may be permitted to return to Judaism \"without any action on their part but their desire to rejoin the Jewish community\" and \"A proselyte who has become an apostate remains, nevertheless, a Jew\".\n",
"Israel's Law of Return stipulates that a Jew is someone with a Jewish mother or someone who has converted to Judaism and is not a member of another religion. The Israeli Chief Rabbinate requires documents proving the Jewishness of one’s mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother when applying for marriage. The Office of the Chief Rabbi (OCR) has underlined the basic principle that a child is not recognised by the OCR and other bodies as Jewish unless his or her mother is Jewish, or they underwent a conversion recognized by the body.\n",
"All Jewish religious movements agree that a person may be a Jew either by birth or through conversion. According to \"halakha,\" a Jew by birth must be born to a Jewish mother. \"Halakha\" states that the acceptance of the principles and practices of Judaism does not make a person a Jew. However, those born Jewish do not lose that status because they cease to be observant Jews, even if they adopt the practices of another religion.\n",
"Jewish views on religious conversion due to intermarriage are largely in opposition to such marriage even if such marriages are tolerated. If a non-Jew wishes to become a Jew, in the sense that they practice Judaism and thus are accepted as a Jew, they are, depending on the Jewish religious tradition, typically welcome. On the other hand, if a Jew desires to leave Judaism, they are regarded as apostates or \"assimilators\" into a non-Jewish religion or culture. Non-Jewish cultures, tend to be regarded and portrayed as negative; being idolatrous, or rejecting of God (as Jews conceive God).\n",
"According to Rabbinic Judaism, a Jew is anyone who was either born of a Jewish mother or who converted to Judaism in accordance with Jewish Law. Reconstructionist Judaism and the larger denominations of worldwide Progressive Judaism (also known as Liberal or Reform Judaism) accept the child as Jewish if one of the parents is Jewish, if the parents raise the child with a Jewish identity, but not the smaller regional branches. All mainstream forms of Judaism today are open to sincere converts, although conversion has traditionally been discouraged since the time of the Talmud. The conversion process is evaluated by an authority, and the convert is examined on his or her sincerity and knowledge. Converts are called \"ben Abraham\" or \"bat Abraham\", (son or daughter of Abraham). Conversions have on occasion been overturned. In 2008, Israel's highest religious court invalidated the conversion of 40,000 Jews, mostly from Russian immigrant families, even though they had been approved by an Orthodox rabbi.\n"
] |
Can you recommend any sources (book or journal articles) that summarize issues related to Oral Tradition? | All sources - every bit of evidence about the past - requires source criticism to evaluate what flaws have insinuated themselves into the weave of information presented. The difference between a written primary source and recorded oral testimony that is not first hand can be summed up with the following:
Historians continually find that primary source documents about the past have flaws that need to be identified and isolated from the telling of an accurate history and perception of the past.
Historians (and folklorists) are often surprised to find that a historical legend includes information that is accurate and can be relied upon in the telling of history and perception of the past.
In other words, historical legends are sometimes surprisingly accurate and primary sources are sometimes surprisingly inaccurate. Well, OK, maybe we're actually not that surprised about either, but there is a core assumption that primary sources depict the past (but we find they are flawed) and that historical legends are inaccurate and inflated beyond use (but we sometimes find they are useful).
Of course folklorists don't often look to historical legends to understand the period described. Rather, they look at a historical legend to understand the people who told it - it is a different use of the source. But that aside, there has been ample analysis of historical legends and their surprising value in capturing the nature of past events.
Of particular use here is a collection of essays edited by Reimund Kvideland and Henning K. Sehmsdorf: Nordic Folklore (1989). This includes essays by Lauri Honko, who is one of the great modern theoreticians when it comes to the nature of legend. A particularly good essay for your question is a chapter by Brynjulf Alver, "Historical Legends and Historical Truth."
The bottom line is that oral tradition can be a surprising conveyor of accurate information about the past. As I began - all sources require source criticism. It is simply important to understand that written primary documents require a certain type of analysis while oral tradition requires another species of analysis. The filter for oral tradition must be more intense if it is to be used to understand an historical event, and without the anchor of written documents, it is difficult to use oral tradition, alone, to peer into a remote past. | [
"Oral Tradition is a peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1986 by John Miles Foley covering studies in oral tradition and related fields. As well as essays treating certifiably oral traditions, the journal presents investigations of the relationships between oral and written traditions, as well as brief accounts of important fieldwork, a symposium section (in which scholars may reply at some length to prior essays), review articles, occasional transcriptions and translations of oral texts, a digest of work in progress, and a regular column for notices of conferences and other matters of interest. \"Oral Tradition\" spans a number of academic fields and disciplines, including, folklore, cultural anthropology, social anthropology, ethnography, ethnomusicologylinguistics, classics, and comparative literature.\n",
"The methodology of oral tradition now conditions a large variety of studies, not only in folklore, literature and literacy, but in philosophy, communication theory, Semiotics, and including a very broad and continually expanding variety of languages and ethnic groups, and perhaps most conspicuously in biblical studies, in which Werner Kelber has been especially prominent. The annual bibliography is indexed by 100 areas, most of which are ethnolinguistic divisions.\n",
"BULLET::::- Archives, oral history and oral tradition, William W. Moss and Peter Mazikana, Part of a paper this chapter discusses the importance and processes of oral tradition and Oral history in general United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization\n",
"The study of oral tradition is distinct from the academic discipline of oral history, which is the recording of personal memories and histories of those who experienced historical eras or events. Oral tradition is also distinct from the study of orality defined as thought and its verbal expression in societies where the technologies of literacy (especially writing and print) are unfamiliar to most of the population. A folklore is a type of oral tradition, but knowledge other than folklore has been orally transmitted and thus preserved in human history.\n",
"In addition to providing the infrastructure for the comparatively new academic discipline of oral tradition by means of organizing conferences, producing the first bibliography, history and methodological guide and classroom textbook on the subject, his principal contributions involved the study of oral traditional performance in the field, and the application of those observations both to ancient texts and to the emerging secondary orality of the Internet.\n",
"From 1986 till the end of 2006, \"Oral Tradition\" was published by Slavica Publishers, with an additional online edition through Project MUSE from 2003 onward. However, both of these publication venues are subscription-based and for that reason they unavoidably excluded a substantial segment of the journal's potential readership, particularly non-western academics and institutions. To rectify this, beginning in September 2006, \"Oral Tradition\" is published open access by the Center for Studies in Oral Tradition. All journal articles from this point onward will be published exclusively online, but back print issues are now available online as well.\n",
"A narrower definition of oral tradition is sometimes appropriate. Sociologists might also emphasize a requirement that the material is held in common by a group of people, over several generations, and might distinguish oral tradition from testimony or oral history. In a general sense, \"oral tradition\" refers to the transmission of cultural material through vocal utterance, and was long held to be a key descriptor of folklore (a criterion no longer rigidly held by all folklorists). As an academic discipline, it refers both to a set of objects of study and a method by which they are studied—the method may be called variously \"oral traditional theory\", \"the theory of Oral-Formulaic Composition\" and the \"Parry-Lord theory\" (after two of its founders; see below) The study of oral tradition is distinct from the academic discipline of oral history, which is the recording of personal memories and histories of those who experienced historical eras or events. It is also distinct from the study of orality, which can be defined as thought and its verbal expression in societies where the technologies of literacy (especially writing and print) are unfamiliar to most of the population.\n"
] |
why is feet bone structure much more complex and composed of so many bones, while hands are much more simple? | There are 27 bones in each hand. There are 26 bones in each foot. Can you please explain what you are talking about? | [
"Because of the wide variety in body types, scaling and morphology of the distal limbs of terrestrial vertebrates, there exists a degree of controversy concerning the nature and organization of foot structures. One organizational approach to understanding foot structures makes distinctions regarding their regional anatomy. The foot structures are divided into segments from proximal to distal and are grouped according to similarity in shape, dimension and function. In this approach, the foot may be described in three segments: as the hindfoot, midfoot and forefoot.\n",
"The metatarsals are the bones that make up the main part of the foot in humans, and part of the leg in large animals or paw in smaller animals. The number of metatarsals are directly related to the mode of locomotion with many larger animals having their digits reduced to two (elk, cow, sheep) or one (horse). The metatarsal bones of feet and paws are tightly grouped compared to, most notably, the human hand where the thumb metacarpal diverges from the rest of the metacarpus.\n",
"The unique plantigrade alignment of the human foot results in a distal-limb structure that can adapt to a variety of conditions. The less mobile and more robust tarsal bones are shaped and aligned to accept and transmit large loads during the early phases of stance (initial contact and loading response phases of walking, and inadvertent heel strikes during running). The tarsals of the midfoot, which are smaller and shorter than the hindfoot tarsals, appear well oriented to transmit loads between the hindfoot and forefoot; this is necessary for load transfer and locking of the foot complex into a rigid lever for late stance phase. Conversely, the midfoot bones and joints also allow for the transmission of loads and inter-joint movement that unlocks the foot to create a loosely packed structure which renders the foot highly compliant over a variety of surfaces. In this configuration, the foot is able to absorb and damp the large loads encountered during heel strike and early weight acceptance. The forefoot, with its long metatarsal and relatively long phalanges, transmits loads during the end-of-stance phase that facilitate the push-off and transfer of forward momentum. The forefoot also serves as a lever to allow balance during standing and jumping. In addition, the arches of the foot that span the hindfoot, midfoot and forefoot play a critical role in the nature of transformation of the foot from a rigid lever to a flexible weight-accepting structure.\n",
"Hand and foot morphology is strikingly diverse in an otherwise morphologically uniform group. While just under half of these species contain webbing between their fingers and toes, the remaining species experience little to no webbing and undergo elongation of their fingers and toes throughout development. Ultimately, the variation of foot morphology within this genus is primarily due to natural selection. Derived characteristics correspond to arboreal vs. terrestrial salamanders.\n",
"The human foot has two longitudinal arches and a transverse arch maintained by the interlocking shapes of the foot bones, strong ligaments, and pulling muscles during activity. The slight mobility of these arches when weight is applied to and removed from the foot makes walking and running more economical in terms of energy. As can be examined in a footprint, the medial longitudinal arch curves above the ground. This arch stretches from the heel bone over the \"keystone\" ankle bone to the three medial metatarsals. In contrast, the lateral longitudinal arch is very low. With the cuboid serving as its keystone, it redistributes part of the weight to the calcaneus and the distal end of the fifth metatarsal. The two longitudinal arches serve as pillars for the transverse arch which run obliquely across the tarsometatarsal joints. Excessive strain on the tendons and ligaments of the feet can result in fallen arches or flat feet.\n",
"Comparative foot morphology involves comparing the form of distal limb structures of a variety of terrestrial vertebrates. Understanding the role that the foot plays for each type of organism must take account of the differences in body type, foot shape, arrangement of structures, loading conditions and other variables. However, similarities also exist among the feet of many different terrestrial vertebrates. The paw of the dog, the hoof of the horse, the \"manus\" (foot) and \"pes\" (foot) of the elephant, and the foot of the human all share some common features of structure, organization and function. Their foot structures function as the load-transmission platform which is essential to balance, standing and types of locomotion (such as walking, trotting, galloping and running).\n",
"In the human and the elephant, the column orientation of the foot complex is replaced in humans by a plantigrade orientation, and in elephants by a semi-plantigrade alignment of the hind limb foot structure. This difference in orientation in the foot bones and joints of humans and elephants helps them to adapt to variations in the terrain.\n"
] |
what exactly happens to my body when i get the flu. | For most viruses, all the symptoms are your body's attempt to slow the progression of the virus while it searches for an antibody.
The virus is taking over cells and reprogramming them to produce more of itself. The only way to actually stop it is to produce the right antibody. I don't really know how that whole system works, but your body essentially produces millions of randomly shaped antibodies until the right one is made to stop the virus.
To explain some of the symptoms; a sore throat is acid being produced to kill off infected throat cells, this is a non-direct attack that kills healthy cells too. A fever raises the body temperature hopefully killing off or slowing weaker infected cells, chills make you seek warmth to crank your body temperature up even more, shivering produces more heat.
Vomiting speeds up the expulsion of dead cells. Your lymphatic system deposits them in your stomach, normally you would digest these and they would exit your body through stool and urine. But vomiting can get rid of a lot of stuff quickly, and it reduces strain on your kidneys that are also taking an increased load.
These responses are not perfectly utilized, over reaction of the immune system can make the symptoms way worse than they need to be. You vomit when there is nothing to vomit, and a high fever can kill you etc.
Some viruses directly cause side effects that are not an immune response.
It is a lot more complicated than this and I don't know what I am talking about really, there are a lot more systems and doo-dads doing complex things in your body. | [
"Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by an influenza virus. Symptoms can be mild to severe. The most common symptoms include: high fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pains, headache, coughing, sneezing, and feeling tired. These symptoms typically begin two days after exposure to the virus and most last less than a week. The cough, however, may last for more than two weeks. In children, there may be diarrhea and vomiting, but these are not common in adults. Diarrhea and vomiting occur more commonly in gastroenteritis, which is an unrelated disease and sometimes inaccurately referred to as \"stomach flu\" or the \"24-hour flu\". Complications of influenza may include viral pneumonia, secondary bacterial pneumonia, sinus infections, and worsening of previous health problems such as asthma or heart failure.\n",
"Typically, influenza is transmitted from infected mammals through the air by coughs or sneezes, creating aerosols containing the virus, and from infected birds through their droppings. Influenza can also be transmitted by saliva, nasal secretions, feces and blood. Healthy individuals can become infected if they breathe in a virus-laden aerosol directly, or if they touch their eyes, nose or mouth after touching any of the aforementioned bodily fluids (or surfaces contaminated with those fluids). Flu viruses can remain infectious for about one week at human body temperature, over 30 days at 0 °C (32 °F), and indefinitely at very low temperatures (such as lakes in northeast Siberia). Most influenza strains can be inactivated easily by disinfectants and detergents.\n",
"Human flu symptoms usually include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, conjunctivitis and, in severe cases, severe breathing problems and pneumonia that may be fatal. The severity of the infection will depend in large part on the state of the infected person's immune system and if the victim has been exposed to the strain before, and is therefore partially immune. Recent follow up studies on the impact of statins on influenza virus replication show that pre-treatment of cells with atorvastatin suppresses virus growth in culture. \n",
"The American Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) agrees that the \"spread of novel H1N1 virus is thought to occur in the same way that seasonal flu spreads. Flu viruses are spread mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing by people with influenza.\" The CDC also says that a person may become infected if he or she touches something with flu viruses on it \"and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.\"\n",
"Typically, influenza is transmitted from infected mammals through the air by coughs or sneezes, creating aerosols containing the virus, and from infected birds through their droppings. Influenza can also be transmitted by saliva, nasal secretions, feces and blood. Infections occur through contact with these bodily fluids or with contaminated surfaces. Out of a host, flu viruses can remain infectious for about one week at human body temperature, over 30 days at , and indefinitely at very low temperatures (such as lakes in northeast Siberia). They can be inactivated easily by disinfectants and detergents.\n",
"Common symptoms of the flu such as fever, headaches, and fatigue are the result of the huge amounts of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines (such as interferon or tumor necrosis factor) produced from influenza-infected cells. In contrast to the rhinovirus that causes the common cold, influenza does cause tissue damage, so symptoms are not entirely due to the inflammatory response. This massive immune response might produce a life-threatening cytokine storm. This effect has been proposed to be the cause of the unusual lethality of both the H5N1 avian influenza, and the 1918 pandemic strain. However, another possibility is that these large amounts of cytokines are just a result of the massive levels of viral replication produced by these strains, and the immune response does not itself contribute to the disease. Influenza appear to trigger programmed cell death (apoptosis).\n",
"Influenza is caused by the influenza virus, it is a contagious disease that spreads around the United States every winter, usually between October and May. Anyone can get the flu, but the risk is highest among children and each year thousands of people die from the flu and many more are hospitalized.\n"
] |
The M60 was the only machine gun authorized by the Army to be used on gun trucks in Vietnam. How did officers react when they saw gun trucks armed with M2s and miniguns? | The officers were the ones leading the development of the Vietnam era gun trucks. Company, Battalion, and Group (Brigade equivalent) level transportation officers in Vietnam were heavily involved in these field modifications, and they also were the ones creating the doctrine to allow their units to use these gun trucks as effectively as possible. Not only that, many of them recorded their experiences to share and preserve the lessons learned and at least one Captain went through the effort to have a gun truck sent to the US Army Transportation Corps Museum to serve as an example for future generations. So this wasn't a dirty little secret the soldiers tried to keep to themselves, it was leadership pushing this as a reaction to the conditions in Vietnam (along with other tactics to protect convoys).
Now when they say "authorized", they're referring to what's listed on the official Army "TO & E" (Table of Organization and Equipment) for that type of unit.
A TO & E is a document that lays out the organization and weapons/vehicles/equipment for a given type of unit according to Army doctrine. Everything from how many soldiers they're supposed to have and how the unit is organized, to what type of weapons each individual soldier is assigned, to the types and numbers of vehicles used, what (if any) weapons are assigned to those vehicles, and so on. If something isn't on the TO & E, the Army isn't going to issue it to your unit, hence the backdoor deals to get added weapons in Vietnam.
While the Army didn't adopt the idea of the gun truck at a higher level (it was never added to the TO & E and mostly forgotten after Vietnam), I'm not aware of anyone getting in trouble for any of these field modifications in Vietnam. While it was not necessarily viewed by everyone as the ideal long term solution to convoy security, it was also not viewed as a problem that needed to be stamped out.
Richard Killblane, a historian for the US Army Transportation Corps (featured in the Smithsonian video you referenced) has written two papers on the history of US Army convoy security.
[Circle the Wagons: The History of US Army Convoy Security](_URL_0_)
[Convoy Ambush Case Studies](_URL_1_) | [
"The M60 later served in the Vietnam War as a squad automatic weapon with many United States units. Every soldier in the rifle squad would carry an additional 200 linked rounds of ammunition for the M60, a spare barrel, or both. The up-gunned M113 armored personnel carrier ACAV added two M60 gunners beside the main .50 caliber machine gun, and the Patrol Boat, River had one in addition to two .50 cal mounts.\n",
"During the Vietnam War, the M60 received the nickname \"The Pig\" due to its bulky size. Vietnam's tropical climate harshly affected weapons, and the M60 was no exception. Its light weight led to it being easily damaged and critical parts like the bolt and operating rod wore out quickly. Even so, soldiers appreciated the gun's handling, mechanical simplicity, and effective operation from a variety of firing positions. United States Navy SEALs used M60s with shorter barrels and no front sights to reduce weight. Some SEALs had feed chutes from backpacks to have a belt of thousands of rounds ready to fire without needing to reload.\n",
"The M60 was a long-barreled, semi-automatic carbine model designed primarily for military training and police use. However, few of these were ever sold. Although mechanically near-identical to the submachine variants, the concept was borne out from H&R's ill-fated .30 carbine light rifle prototype that was trialed against the M1 carbine. The Marines used M60s for training, guard duty, and other non-combat roles. Some M60s were believed to have been issued to Marine officers at Guadalcanal. The remaining guns were passed on to State Guards and civilian law enforcement agencies. The M65 was developed as a sub-caliber training rifle version of the M60, produced only from 1944 to 1946. H&R later made updates to the M65 and sold them on the civilian market (and to the Marines in small numbers) as the MC-58 and M150/151/165 Leatherneck.\n",
"The M60 continued to be used in the 21st century by U.S. Navy SEALs. It was the main 7.62 mm machine gun by some U.S. special operations forces to the late 1990s. As of 2005, it is used by the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, and some reserve units. The M60 has largely been phased out.\n",
"The M60 AVLB and M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle were the only variants of the M60 series deployed to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The M728 was used in fire support, base security, counter ambush fire, direct assault of fortified positions, and limited reconnaissance by fire. The AVLB provided gap crossing capabilities when required to support armored forces. M60s were deployed at this time to West Germany during the Cold War to support US Army operations and participated in annual REFORGER exercises as well as Allied Forces Day parades in West Berlin until 1991. The M60 was also deployed to Korea to support US Forces Korea and participated in bi-annual Exercise Team Spirit maneuvers with South Korea notably with the US 2nd Infantry Division until 1991.\n",
"During the Vietnam War, some South Vietnamese army units and defense militia were armed with Thompson submachine guns, and a few of these weapons were used by reconnaissance units, advisors, and other American troops. It was later replaced by the M16. Not only did some U.S. soldiers have use of them in Vietnam, but they encountered them as well. The Viet Cong liked the weapon and used both captured models as well as manufacturing their own copies in small jungle workshops.\n",
"For example, the US Army and Marines now use the FN MAG (as the M240 machine gun), which is generally called the \"M240 medium machine gun\". It was originally adopted for vehicle mounting in the late 1970s, but its higher reliability resulted in the infantry adopting it for use over the M60 machine gun, despite it being several pounds heavier. They both have quick-detachable barrels, bipods in their light infantry model, tripod and pintle mount options for other models, and similar weight and size. The M60 was typically referred to either as a light machine gun or a general-purpose machine gun.\n"
] |
air conditioning | [This](_URL_0_) is the basic cycle of the refrigeration cycle. There is a lot of thermodynamics but basically it works on the fact that the liquid inside the air conditioner has a low boiling point and can transfer thermal energy well/ as it it pumped through the cycle the liquid experiences phase changes and these changes cause a transfer in energy causing the heat from the outside to be taken out of the air and this cooler air blown out of the air conditioner
| [
"Air conditioning is the cooling and de-humidification of indoor air for thermal comfort. Using a system of coils as a solution to cool and remove moisture from muggy air in a printing plant that was wrinkling magazine pages, Willis Carrier invented and manufactured the world's first mechanical air conditioning unit in 1902. Carrier's invention – encompassing the first system to provide man-made control over temperature, humidity, ventilation and air quality, was first installed as a solution to the quality problems experienced at a Brooklyn printing plant, Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company. Air conditioning not only spawned a company and an industry, but also brought about profound economic, social and cultural changes.\n",
"BULLET::::- Air conditioning – (often referred to as 'AC, A/C, or air con) is the process of removing heat and moisture from the interior of an occupied space to improve the comfort of occupants. Air conditioning can be used in both domestic and commercial environments.\n",
"In the most general sense, air conditioning can refer to any form of technology that modifies the condition of air (heating, (de-) humidification, cooling, cleaning, ventilation, or air movement). In common usage, though, \"air conditioning\" refers to systems which cool air. In construction, a complete system of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning is referred to as HVAC.\n",
"Air conditioning (often referred to as AC, A/C, or air con) is the process of removing heat and moisture from the interior of an occupied space to improve the comfort of occupants. Air conditioning can be used in both domestic and commercial environments. This process is most commonly used to achieve a more comfortable interior environment, typically for humans and other animals; however, air conditioning is also used to cool and dehumidify rooms filled with heat-producing electronic devices, such as computer servers, power amplifiers, and to display and store some delicate products, such as artwork.\n",
"BULLET::::- Air conditioner – Air conditioning (often referred to as AC, A/C, or air con) is the process of removing heat and moisture from the interior of an occupied space, to improve the comfort of occupants. Air conditioning can be used in both domestic and commercial environments.\n",
"Willis Carrier's igloo in the 1939 New York World's Fair gave visitors a glimpse into the future of air conditioning, but before it became popular, World War II began. During the post-war economic boom of the 1950s, air conditioning began its tremendous growth in popularity. Today, air-conditioning and HVAC is a staple in many American homes. Ceiling fans and air conditioning are often used in conjunction; in summer, a ceiling fan allows the thermostat to be set several degrees higher; in winter, a fan can be set to a low speed on reverse direction to bring down stratified heat from the heating system.\n",
"Air conditioners often use a fan to distribute the conditioned air to an occupied space such as a building or a car to improve thermal comfort and indoor air quality. Electric refrigerant-based AC units range from small units that can cool a small bedroom, which can be carried by a single adult, to massive units installed on the roof of office towers that can cool an entire building. The cooling is typically achieved through a refrigeration cycle, but sometimes evaporation or free cooling is used. Air conditioning systems can also be made based on desiccants (chemicals which remove moisture from the air). Some AC systems reject or store heat in subterranean pipes.\n"
] |
is there such a thing as a material that is completely impermeable? For example, can some molecules get though a plastic baggy? | Small molecules such as water may diffuse through most plastics, so even an airtight container is "porous" on a microscopic level. In any case, unless the bag is perfectly sealed by melting the plastic, chances are that the moisture can diffuse through small leaks at the sealing. | [
"Lightweight plastic bags are also blown into trees and other plants and can be mistaken for food. Plastic bags break down by polymer degradation but not by biodegradation. As a result, any toxic additives they contain—including flame retardants, antimicrobials, and plasticizers—will be released into the environment. Many of those toxins directly affect the endocrine systems of organisms, which control almost every cell in the body.\n",
"“It is true that substances used to make plastics can leach into food,” says Edward Machuga, Ph.D., a consumer safety officer in the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “But as part of the approval process, the FDA considers the amount of a substance expected to migrate into food and the toxicological concerns about the particular chemical.” A couple of cases have caught media attention in recent years. One case is in regard to diethylhexyl adipate (DEHA). DEHA is a plasticizer, a substance added to some plastics in order to make them flexible. The public concerns about DEHA exposure while consuming food with plastic wraps. There are potentials of exposure to DEHA; however, the levels of the exposure are much lower than the no toxic effect levels in animal studies. Another case is in regard to the dioxins, labeled as “likely human carcinogen” by the Environmental Protection Agency. The public has been misled by the claims that plastics contain dioxins, while Machuga stated that no evidence that shows plastic containers or films contain dioxins was seen by the FDA. Overall the use of plastic wrap in the food industry does not pose danger to human health.\n",
"Michils showed in 1948 that these organic compounds are easily deformed and accordingly named them, \"plastic crystals\" (). Perfluorocyclohexan for example is plastic to such a degree that it will start to flow under its own weight. \n",
"In amorphous materials, the discussion of \"dislocations\" is inapplicable, since the entire material lacks long range order. These materials can still undergo plastic deformation. Since amorphous materials, like polymers, are not well-ordered, they contain a large amount of free volume, or wasted space. Pulling these materials in tension opens up these regions and can give materials a hazy appearance. This haziness is the result of \"crazing\", where fibrils are formed within the material in regions of high hydrostatic stress. The material may go from an ordered appearance to a \"crazy\" pattern of strain and stretch marks.\n",
"Pure plastics have low toxicity due to their insolubility in water and because they are biochemically inert, due to a large molecular weight. Plastic products contain a variety of additives, some of which can be toxic. For example, plasticizers like adipates and phthalates are often added to brittle plastics like polyvinyl chloride to make them pliable enough for use in food packaging, toys, and many other items. Traces of these compounds can leach out of the product. Owing to concerns over the effects of such leachates, the European Union has restricted the use of DEHP (di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate) and other phthalates in some applications, and the United States has limited the use of DEHP, DPB, BBP, DINP, DIDP, and DnOP in children's toys and child care articles with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Some compounds leaching from polystyrene food containers have been proposed to interfere with hormone functions and are suspected human carcinogens. Other chemicals of potential concern include alkylphenols.\n",
"Materials and surfaces can give off substances which serve as a food source for microorganisms such as bacteria, algae or fungi. Microorganisms could accumulate and multiply. However, plastics could not only represent a food source to microorganisms, materials and surfaces may also be altered by the products of metabolism generated by the microorganisms (e.g. discoloration). This may affect the service life of materials and enable microorganisms to gain uncontrolled access to critical areas.\n",
"As the plastic particles are primarily found in the pelagic layer of the ocean they experience high levels of Photodegradation, which causes the plastics to break down into ever smaller pieces. These pieces eventually become so small that even microorganisms can ingest and metabolize them converting these plastics into carbon dioxide. In some instances these microplastics absorb directly into a microorganisms' biomolecules. However, before reaching this state any number of organisms could potentially interact with these plastics. During their expedition in 2016-2017, Charles Moore and Algalita found that more than 35% of south Pacific Lanternfish had consumed plastic particles. When ingested by the fish the chemical compounds found in these plastics cannot be digested. This can effect Humans as the Lanternfish is a food source for both salmon and tuna. In their PNAS journal, Dr Van Sebille and his colleagues report data showing that in 1960 less than 5% of seabirds were found to have consumed waste material, while as of August 2015 that figure climbed to about 90%. It is predicted that by 2050, 99%of seabirds will have consumed such materials. Scientists studying the stomach contents of Laysan Albatross chicks report a 40% mortality rate before fledgling. When the stomach contents were analyzed following necropsies, they were found to contain plastic waste. Not only do plastic pellets used in manufacturing worldwide absorb toxic chemicals such as DDT and PCBs from the water, but can even leach chemicals such as biphenyl. It is estimated that up to 267 marine species are affected by plastic pollution.\n"
] |
why is it a mark of quality for a watch to be "swiss-made"? couldn't a swiss company make a crappy watch? | Of course - but like much advertising it trades on beliefs and mystique rather than facts.
Switzerland does produce some truly amazing watches, but it doesn't have a monopoly on it.
Not sure whether they'd bother to produce really poor quality stuff these days simply because anything they could do badly the Far East could do just as badly but cheaper. | [
"The legal standards for the use of \"Swiss made\" on a watch are a very minimum standard, and the Swissness of a watch is largely dependent on the brand and its reputation. The Swiss watch industry has not reached an agreement over the specific definition of Swiss made, as some companies favor stricter regulations and others prefer including lower-cost foreign components. The Swiss Federal Council modified the ordinance regulating the use of the \"Swiss\" name for watches in 1995. This revision was explained in a press release entitled \"On foreign parts for watches\".\n",
"It is not generally known that quite a few Swiss companies have watches assembled in China for export to North America, Asia and even Europe, where the brand name is more important than the “Swiss made” label. Such watches may consist of a Chinese case and a Chinese crystal, a Taiwan-made dial and metal bracelet and Japanese hands. If the movement is to be considered Swiss, 51% of its value must be Swiss and at least the last wheel must be added in Switzerland. Swiss watch brands without the “Swiss made” label are usually equipped with a Japanese movement. The “Swiss parts” label means that the movement is assembled in Asia using kits consisting at least partially of Swiss made components.\n",
"The most popular items by far to have the \"Swiss made\" labels are Swiss watches. Almost all Swiss watchmakers, with the notable exception of Breitling, label their watches prominently on the dial. By convention, the words are fully capitalized, positioned on the bottom of the face, split by the half-hour indicator if available, curved along the bottom edge as necessary. Watches made in other countries typically indicate their country of origin on the back of the watch, except for very few well-known high-end manufacturers.\n",
"Use of the Swiss made label for watches is covered by an ordinance of the Federal Council dated 29 December 1971. The Swiss standard is often pejoratively referred to as the 60% Rule. However, it has its basis in real life economics. Again, the law merely sets forth a minimum standard. The famous or infamous Swiss Made Ordinance has, for a number of years, been subject to many criticisms, particularly inside the industry, because it is considered too lax, but also in legal circles, where the view is that it no longer fully meets the legal mandate specified in the companion law on trademarks (SR 232.11).\n",
"Switzerland is a leading exporter of high-end watches and clocks. Swiss companies produce most of the world's high-end watches: in 2011 exports reached nearly 19.3 billion CHF, up 19.2% over the previous year. The watches go to Asia (55%), Europe (29%), Americas (14%), Africa and Oceania (both 1%).\n",
"A watch that says \"Swiss Quartz\" is considered to be a proper Swiss watch. However, it is often improperly used by foreign manufacturers to merely indicate that the quartz movement is of Swiss origin.\n",
"Currently the aforementioned Swiss legal standards permit watch brands or watchmakers to label watches Swiss made under certain legally defined circumstances. These standards have changed over time and were not always codified in the national law, so older watches which bear the mark Swiss made may not necessarily meet the current legal definition. On the other hand, they might well exceed the current legal definition of Swiss made. Indeed, the current law of the applicability of Swiss made was codified on December 23, 1971.\n"
] |
Is it possible for an astronomical body to have a molten core, without orbiting a star? | Sure. If a planet forms and then gets ejected from its star system, there's no reason it couldn't have a molten core for a while. The Earth's core isn't molten because of the Sun, it's molten because of residual heat from planet formation plus radioactive heating from decay within the crust. | [
"Solid planets up to thousands of Earth masses may be able to form around massive stars (B-type and O-type stars; 5–120 solar masses), where the protoplanetary disk would contain enough heavy elements. Also, these stars have high UV radiation and winds that could photoevaporate the gas in the disk, leaving just the heavy elements.\n",
"Solid planets up to thousands of Earth masses may be able to form around massive stars (B-type and O-type stars; 5–120 solar masses), where the protoplanetary disk would contain enough heavy elements. Also, these stars have high UV radiation and winds that could photoevaporate the gas in the disk, leaving just the heavy elements.\n",
"Simulations suggest that solid bodies can stably orbit Rhea near its equatorial plane over astronomical timescales. They may not be stable around Dione and Tethys because those moons are so much closer to Saturn, and therefore have much smaller Hill spheres, or around Titan because of drag from its dense atmosphere.\n",
"With a mass only 93 times that of Jupiter (), or .09 , AB Doradus C, a companion to AB Doradus A, is the smallest known star undergoing nuclear fusion in its core. For stars with similar metallicity to the Sun, the theoretical minimum mass the star can have, and still undergo fusion at the core, is estimated to be about 75 . When the metallicity is very low, however, a recent study of the faintest stars found that the minimum star size seems to be about 8.3% of the solar mass, or about 87 . Smaller bodies are called brown dwarfs, which occupy a poorly defined grey area between stars and gas giants.\n",
"With a mass only 93 times that of Jupiter (), or .09 , AB Doradus C, a companion to AB Doradus A, is the smallest known star undergoing nuclear fusion in its core. For stars with similar metallicity to the Sun, the theoretical minimum mass the star can have, and still undergo fusion at the core, is estimated to be about 75 . When the metallicity is very low, however, a recent study of the faintest stars found that the minimum star size seems to be about 8.3% of the solar mass, or about 87 . Smaller bodies are called brown dwarfs, which occupy a poorly defined grey area between stars and gas giants.\n",
"A planet in a close orbit would develop the shape of the Roche potential and is very likely to be molten due to tidal heating. A planet with a density of over five g/cm is stable at an orbital period longer than 4.7 hours. A planet in this kind of orbit may have a temperature of 560 K and could be detectable in infrared if it was large enough.\n",
"It is projected to be dominated by a rocky core, but the true mass is unknown. If the orbit is oriented such that we are viewing it at a nearly face-on angle, the planet may be significantly more massive than the lower limit. If so, it may have attracted a gas envelope like Uranus or Gliese 436 b.\n"
] |
if working out is just damaging and repairing muscle tissue, couldnt we just mechanically damage the tissue and recouperate saving time and energy? | Finally something I might have insight on! First off, you can use electric pulses to build and repair damages tissue. I have had terrible knees for years, I started physical therapy at around 17. However, the cartilage damage was so bad in my knee, that I couldn't build the muscle in a healthy way to keep my knee in better traction. Long story short I had surgery. I am 22, and recovering. Because of the nerve and tissue damage I cannot build muscle in my leg through exercise alone. Instead, when I go to PT they hook me up to a machine that sends a small electric charge into my knee, making the muscles contract, nerves reactivate, and swelling in my knee go down. Because of this machine I am able to do my exercises after with little pain. So, regular exercise is needed to build muscle quickly and healthy, but you can use electric shock therapy to help your body out! It is really amazing. | [
"Skeletal muscle is able to regenerate far better than cardiac muscle due to satellite cells, which are dormant in all healthy skeletal muscle tissue. There are three phases to the regeneration process. These phases include the inflammatory response, the activation, differentiation, and fusion of satellite cells, and the maturation and remodeling of newly formed myofibrils. This process begins with the necrosis of damaged muscle fibers, which in turn induces the inflammatory response. Macrophages induce phagocytosis of the cell debris. They will eventually secrete anti-inflammatory cytokines, which results in the termination of inflammation. These macrophages can also facilitate the proliferation and differentiation of satellite cells. The satellite cells re-enter the cell cycle to multiply. They then leave the cell cycle to self-renew or differentiate as myoblasts.\n",
"Mesenchymal stem cells in the body can be activated and mobilized if needed. However, the efficiency is low. For instance, damage to muscles heals very slowly but further study into mechanisms of MSC action may provide avenues for increasing their capacity for tissue repair.\n",
"Ripping is considered a slow and sometimes painful process due to diet and exercise. A body builder will have to sacrifice many of their pleasures in life, in addition to increasing their workout intensity. But the goals in which they wish to achieve are far from easy, and it is known that some body builders may use performance-enhancing drugs or anabolic steroids to assist them along the way. There are many types of performance enhancers that can help with the loss of fat and the maintenance of muscle tissue. Of course, it is extremely unlikely that any performance enhancers or steroids will have an effect unless the person taking them is taking part in exercise or a specific diet plan.\n",
"repairing the body. Without rest, continual strain is placed on the affected area that is injured, leading to increased inflammation, pain, and possible further injury. Rest is recommended during the initial 24–48 hours after an injury, but after that modified activities can be started. Additionally, some soft tissue injuries will take longer to heal without rest. There is also a risk of abnormal repair or chronic inflammation resulting from a failure to rest. In general, the period of rest should be long enough that the patient is able to use the affected limb with the majority of function restored and pain essentially gone. \n",
"The process of muscle regeneration involves considerable remodeling of extracellular matrix and, where extensive damage occurs, is incomplete. Fibroblasts within the muscle deposit scar tissue, which can impair muscle function, and is a significant part of the pathology of muscular dystrophies.\n",
"However, regeneration is still too slow for patient care to effectively rely on this mechanism of repair. Part of this inability to regenerate quickly from injury results from the relative avascular nature of cartilage as compared to other connective tissues of the human body.\n",
"The cutaneous manifestations of dermatomyositis may or may not improve with therapy in parallel with the improvement of the myositis. In some people, the weakness and rash resolve together. In others, the two are not linked, with one or the other being more challenging to control. Often, cutaneous disease persists after adequate control of the muscle disease.\n"
] |
Chemistry - A few questions about pH buffers. | normally the range is roughly the pKa +/- 1. you can extend the range if you really need to, but i wouldn't recommend it. any more than that and it starts to lose effectiveness. to increase the capacity, use a higher concentration.
the way it works is that since the two "versions" of the molecule exist in equilibrium, when you add acid, the base absorbs the hydrogen ions and removes them from the system. the opposite if you add base: the "acid version" becomes protonated. the reason the entire system works is because there are so many more molecules of the weak acid/conjugate base than there are for the acids or bases that you add to the system. | [
"Aqueous buffer solutions will react with strong acids or strong bases by absorbing excess hydrogen ions, or hydroxide ions, replacing the strong acids and bases with weak acids and weak bases. This has the effect of damping the effect of pH changes, or reducing the pH change that would otherwise have occurred. But buffers cannot correct abnormal pH levels in a solution, be that solution in a test tube or in the extracellular fluid. Buffers typically consist of a pair of compounds in solution, one of which is a weak acid and the other a weak base. The most abundant buffer in the ECF consists of a solution of carbonic acid (HCO), and the bicarbonate () salt of, usually, sodium (Na). Thus, when there is an excess of ions in the solution carbonic acid \"partially\" neutralizes them by forming HO and bicarbonate () ions. Similarly an excess of H ions is \"partially\" neutralized by the bicarbonate component of the buffer solution to form carbonic acid (HCO), which, because it is a weak acid, remains largely in the undissociated form, releasing far fewer H ions into the solution than the original strong acid would have done.\n",
"A buffer solution (more precisely, pH buffer or hydrogen ion buffer) is an aqueous solution consisting of a mixture of a weak acid and its conjugate base, or vice versa. Its pH changes very little when a small amount of strong acid or base is added to it. Buffer solutions are used as a means of keeping pH at a nearly constant value in a wide variety of chemical applications. In nature, there are many systems that use buffering for pH regulation. For example, the bicarbonate buffering system is used to regulate the pH of blood.\n",
"Buffer solutions also play a key role in analytical chemistry. They are used whenever there is a need to fix the pH of a solution at a particular value. Compared with an aqueous solution, the pH of a buffer solution is relatively insensitive to the addition of a small amount of strong acid or strong base. The buffer capacity of a simple buffer solution is largest when pH = p\"K\". In acid–base extraction, the efficiency of extraction of a compound into an organic phase, such as an ether, can be optimised by adjusting the pH of the aqueous phase using an appropriate buffer. At the optimum pH, the concentration of the electrically neutral species is maximised; such a species is more soluble in organic solvents having a low dielectric constant than it is in water. This technique is used for the purification of weak acids and bases.\n",
"One use of conjugate acids and bases lies in buffering systems, which include a buffer solution. In a buffer, a weak acid and its conjugate base (in the form of a salt), or a weak base and its conjugate acid, are used in order to limit the pH change during a titration process. Buffers have both organic and non-organic chemical applications. For example, besides buffers being used in lab processes, our blood acts as a buffer to maintain pH. The most important buffer in our bloodstream is the carbonic acid-bicarbonate buffer, which prevents drastic pH changes when is introduced. This functions as such:\n",
"For buffers in acid regions, the pH may be adjusted to a desired value by adding a strong acid such as hydrochloric acid to the particular buffering agent. For alkaline buffers, a strong base such as sodium hydroxide may be added. Alternatively, a buffer mixture can be made from a mixture of an acid and its conjugate base. For example, an acetate buffer can be made from a mixture of acetic acid and sodium acetate. Similarly an alkaline buffer can be made from a mixture of the base and its conjugate acid.\n",
"The isohydric principle has special relevance to in vivo biochemistry where multiple acid/ base pairs are in solution. The simplifying isohydric principle gives two important concepts. First, all of the buffers in a multiple-buffered system contribute to pH of the system. Secondly, the pH (at equilibrium) can be calculated from an individual buffer system regardless of other buffers present. That is, in vivo, knowing the PCO2 (weak acid) and the bicarbonate (conjugate base) and the pKa of that buffer system, the pH can be calculated regardless of the presence of other contributing buffers. The clinical relevance is that arterial blood gas often directly measures the CO2 levels and the pH, but the bicarbonate levels are then calculated from that information—without regard to other buffers present\n",
"A buffering agent is a weak acid or base used to maintain the acidity (pH) of a solution near a chosen value after the addition of another acid or base. That is, the function of a buffering agent is to prevent a rapid change in pH when acids or bases are added to the solution. Buffering agents have variable properties—some are more soluble than others; some are acidic while others are basic. As pH managers, they are important in many chemical applications, including agriculture, food processing, biochemistry, medicine and photography.\n"
] |
how do composers write music? | It's all a grand formula called music theory. With Hans Zimmer and most other composers the steps go kind of like this: find a theme, build a central melody and build around the melody. Finding a theme is first step of the creative process and a theme can be deliberately sought after by a composer or it can just come to them. Hans Zimmer wrote the score to the Dark Knight because he was paid to write a Dark Knight soundtrack. Beethoven wrote his fifth symphony because he was contemplating his life after going near deaf. Think of this as the overall spirit or personality of the piece. The next step is developing a melody or motif, this step often includes most of the technical structuring of the piece. This can include time signature, playing directives, key signature and tempo. Think about the iconic Dark Knight theme and how it fits the theme of the movie itself. Or perhaps think about the easily recognizable opening of the Fifth Symphony (short short short long) that reappears throughout the piece. This step is probably the most important step in the composition process and is the heart of the piece. The last step is usually to develop a harmony and 'background'. This includes most of minor instrumentation, bass line and beat. This step is important and it's what separates a good composer from a great one, however it isn't as central to the piece as the first two steps. | [
"Although a musical composition often uses musical notation and has a single author, this is not always the case. A work of music can have multiple composers, which often occurs in popular music when a band collaborates to write a song, or in musical theatre, when one person writes the melodies, a second person writes the lyrics, and a third person orchestrates the songs. In some styles of music, such as the blues, a composer/songwriter may create, perform and record new songs or pieces without ever writing them down in music notation. A piece of music can also be composed with words, images, or computer programs that explain or notate how the singer or musician should create musical sounds. Examples range from avant-garde music that uses graphic notation, to text compositions such as \"Aus den sieben Tagen\", to computer programs that select sounds for musical pieces. Music that makes heavy use of randomness and chance is called aleatoric music, and is associated with contemporary composers active in the 20th century, such as John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Witold Lutosławski. A more commonly known example of chance-based music is the sound of wind chimes jingling in a breeze.\n",
"Although a musical composition often uses musical notation and has a single author, this is not always the case. A work of music can have multiple composers, which often occurs in popular music when all of the members of a band collaborates to write a song, or in musical theatre, when one person writes the melodies, a second person writes the lyrics, and a third person orchestrates the songs. A piece of music can also be composed with words, images, or, since the 20th century, with computer programs that explain or notate how the singer or musician should create musical sounds. Examples range from 20th century avant-garde music that uses graphic notation, to text compositions such as Karlheinz Stockhausen's \"Aus den sieben Tagen\", to computer programs that select sounds for musical pieces. Music that makes heavy use of randomness and chance is called aleatoric music, and is associated with contemporary composers active in the 20th century, such as John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Witold Lutosławski. A more commonly known example of chance-based music is the sound of wind chimes jingling in a breeze. The study of composition has traditionally been dominated by examination of methods and practice of Western classical music, but the definition of composition is broad enough to include the creation of popular music and traditional music songs and instrumental pieces, and to include spontaneously improvised works like those of free jazz performers and African percussionists such as Ewe drummers.\n",
"Although a musical composition often has a single author, this is not always the case. A work of music can have multiple composers, which often occurs in popular music when a band collaborates to write a song, or in musical theatre, where the songs may be written by one person, the orchestration of the accompaniment parts and writing of the overture is done by an orchestrator, and the words may be written by a third person.\n",
"Musical composition, or simply composition, can refer to an original piece or work of music , either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece, or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called composers. Composers of primarily songs are usually called songwriters; with songs, the person who writes lyrics for a song is the lyricist. In many cultures, including Western classical music, the act of composing typically includes the creation of music notation, such as a sheet music \"score,\" which is then performed by the composer or by other instrumental musicians or singers. In popular music and traditional music, songwriting may involve the creation of a basic outline of the song, called the lead sheet, which sets out the melody, lyrics and chord progression. In classical music, orchestration (choosing the instruments of a large music ensemble such as an orchestra which will play the different parts of music, such as the melody, accompaniment, countermelody, bassline and so on) is typically done by the composer, but in musical theatre and in pop music, songwriters may hire an arranger to do the orchestration. In some cases, a pop or traditional songwriter may not use written notation at all, and instead compose the song in their mind and then play, sing and/or record it from memory. In jazz and popular music, notable sound recordings by influential performers are given the weight that written or printed scores play in classical music.\n",
"Music manuscripts are handwritten sources of music. Generally speaking, they can be written on paper or parchment. If the manuscript contains the composer's handwriting it is called an autograph. Music manuscripts can contain musical notation as well as texts and images. There exists a wide variety of types from sketches and fragments, to compositional scores and presentation copies of musical works.\n",
"Composers also write songs on demand, telling a story told to him by an individual. The composer will then sing it and teach it to the \"rurubene\", making any needed changes. Composers also occasionally create songs of their own accord.\n",
"Once the music has been written, it must then be arranged or orchestrated in order for the ensemble to be able to perform it. The nature and level of orchestration varies from project to project and composer to composer, but in its basic form the orchestrator's job is to take the single-line music written by the composer and \"flesh it out\" into instrument-specific sheet music for each member of the orchestra to perform.\n"
] |
Did Sherman purposely let the Confederate garrison in Savannah escape? | "Sherman, along with Federal forces in Hilton Head, could have prevented Hardee's escape. Sherman was aware that the Confederates were building a pontoon bridge to South Carolina, yet upon his departure for Hilton Head Island on December 19, he left orders for his army not to attack the Savannah works until he had returned. Sherman's subordinates clearly observed the Confederate evacuation on December 20 yet did nothing to interfere with it. Sherman's victory in Savannah was won through default, not brilliant tactical maneuver."
source: [National Park Service](_URL_0_)
The article also argues that he was somewhat nervous about his army being divided by a river, which may have stopped him from attacking earlier.
I have not heard of the theory you mention. Where might I find a discussion of it? There is no conceivable reason for Sherman to allow Hardee's men to escape. | [
"Sherman's 1864 campaign against Atlanta, Georgia, was initially characterized by a series of flanking maneuvers against Johnston, each of which compelled the Confederate army to withdraw from heavily fortified positions with minimal casualties on either side. After two months and of such maneuvering, Sherman's path was blocked by imposing fortifications on Kennesaw Mountain, near Marietta, Georgia, and the Union general chose to change his tactics and ordered a large-scale frontal assault on June 27, 1864. Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson feinted against the northern end of Kennesaw Mountain, while his corps under Maj. Gen. John A. Logan assaulted Pigeon Hill on its southwest corner. At the same time, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas launched strong attacks against Cheatham Hill at the center of the Confederate line. Both attacks were repulsed with heavy losses, but a demonstration by Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield achieved a strategic success by threatening the Confederate army's left flank, prompting yet another Confederate withdrawal toward Atlanta and the removal of General Johnston from command of the army.\n",
"Sherman was able to concentrate his army faster than Beauregard had anticipated and arrived at Columbia on the afternoon of February 16. The only Confederates defending the city were small detachments from Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler's cavalry corps, Maj. Gen. Matthew Butler's cavalry division, and Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee's corps from the Army of Tennessee. Heavily outnumbered, Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton ordered an evacuation of the city without a fight, although they destroyed all bridges over the Congaree and Saluda Rivers in an attempt to delay the Union forces. Sherman occupied Columbia the following day. Much of Columbia burned to the ground in a fire that has engendered controversy ever since: some say it started when the Confederates set fire to cotton bales in the city, others say that drunken Union soldiers were fanning the flames of vengeance, while a few witnesses claimed that some of the fires were by accident. James W. Loewen researched the topic for his book, \"Lies Across America\", and found that most likely, the cotton bale fires spread and caused most of the destruction. He did find that there were some fires started by Union soldiers, but the effects of these were minimal. Most likely, the Confederates' scorched earth policy was to blame for the burning of Columbia (in which not much of it burned). After the burning, Sherman was quoted as saying that he never gave the order to burn Columbia to the ground but he was not sorry that it happened.\n",
"Sherman's Savannah Campaign is more popularly known as the March to the Sea. He and Grant believed that the Civil War would end only if the Confederacy's strategic, economic, and psychological capacity for warfare were decisively broken. Sherman therefore applied the principles of scorched earth, ordering his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, consume supplies, and destroy civilian infrastructure along their path. This policy is one of the key tenets of a strategy of total war.\n",
"As Sherman's armies neared Savannah on December 10, following their lengthy march from Atlanta, his troops were in need of supplies. Just off the coast was Admiral John A. Dahlgren's fleet waiting with the needed supplies, as well as mail that had not been delivered to Sherman's men for six weeks during their march. However, Confederate fortifications around Savannah prevented Dahlgren from linking up with Sherman. As Sherman deployed his forces to invest Savannah, his cavalry reconnoitered Fort McAllister and other nearby fortifications, and determined that the lightly defended fort could be taken by a determined infantry attack. Sherman realized that if Fort McAllister was reduced, the Union Army would control the Ogeechee River, providing an avenue to the sea. Sherman ordered Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard's Army of the Tennessee to reduce the fort. Howard chose the division commanded by Brig. Gen. William B. Hazen to lead the attack.\n",
"Sherman's objective was to divide the Confederacy in two along a West to East path following its strategic rail lines. Sherman's Army would exchange its inland base of Atlanta for the more secure base (Savannah) on the Atlantic coast, which was controlled by the Union Navy. Disrupt the Southern economy by limiting access to vast food stores, manufacturing and destroying their rail and communication systems. Further it would demonstrate that Southern Army could not defend their heartland. The campaign would prevent reinforcing of Lee's troops defending Petersburg, Virginia, and the Confederate capital of Richmond. Sherman's Savannah campaign was considered a major Union success. Historians have stated that this was a major contribution to the overall Union victory in the war. The March was considered revolutionary, and in some ways unique, in the annals of modern warfare.\n",
"Sherman's plan was to bypass the minor Confederate troop concentrations at Augusta, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, and reach Goldsboro, North Carolina, by March 15. As with his Georgia operations, Sherman marched his armies in multiple directions simultaneously, confusing the scattered Confederate defenders as to his first true objective, which was the state capital of Columbia, South Carolina.\n",
"During the night of March 21 until the following dawn, Johnston withdrew his army across Mill Creek and burned the bridge behind him, leaving behind a cavalry detachment as a rearguard. The Union army failed to detect the Confederate retreat until it was over. Sherman did not pursue the Confederates, but continued his march to Goldsboro, where he joined the Union forces under Terry and Schofield. After resting and refitting his combined forces, Sherman planned to continue onward to Petersburg, Virginia. However, following Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, Johnston surrendered to Sherman at the Bennett Place, North Carolina on April 26.\n"
] |
Are there more planets or more stars? | Based on what the Kepler space telescope has found, there are almost certainly more planets out there than stars.
Before Kepler it was hypothesized that few enough star systems had planets that there might be more stars than planets, but it turns out there are a lot more planets out there than expected. A few planets have even been found around Neutron stars which to this day has astronomers scratching their heads. | [
"The table below contains information about the coordinates, spectral and physical properties, and number of confirmed planets. The two most important stellar properties are mass and metallicity because they determine how these planetary systems form. Systems with higher mass and metallicity tend to have more planets and more massive planets. However, although low metallicity stars tend to have fewer massive planets, particularly hot-Jupiters, they also tend to have a larger number of close in planets, orbiting at less than 1 AU.\n",
"Observations of exo-planets have shown that arrangements of planets similar to our Solar System are rare. Most planetary systems have super Earths, several times larger than Earth, close to their star, whereas our Solar System's inner region has only a few small rocky planets and none inside Mercury's orbit. Only 10% of stars have giant planets similar to Jupiter and Saturn, and those few rarely have stable nearly circular orbits distant from their star. Konstantin Batygin and colleagues argue that these features can be explained if, early in the history of the Solar System, Jupiter and Saturn drifted towards the Sun, sending showers of planetesimals towards the super-Earths which sent them spiralling into the Sun, and ferrying icy building blocks into the terrestrial region of the Solar System which provided the building blocks for the rocky planets. The two giant planets then drifted out again to their present position. However, in the view of Batygin and his colleagues: \"The concatenation of chance events required for this delicate choreography suggest that small, Earth-like rocky planets – and perhaps life itself – could be rare throughout the cosmos.\"\n",
"Three other systems have been found to have planets, most notably the Sun-like star HD 10180, which has seven planets, plus possibly an additional two for a total of nine—as of 2012 more than any other system to date, including the Solar System. Lying around from the Earth, it has an apparent magnitude of 7.33.\n",
"Since the concept was first presented in 1953, many stars have been confirmed to possess a CHZ planet, including some systems that consist of multiple CHZ planets. Most such planets, being super-Earths or gas giants, are more massive than Earth, because such planets are easier to detect. On November 4, 2013, astronomers reported, based on \"Kepler\" data, that there could be as many as 40 billion Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars and red dwarfs in the Milky Way. 11 billion of these may be orbiting Sun-like stars. Proxima Centauri b, located about 4.2 light-years (1.3 parsecs) from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus, is the nearest known exoplanet, and is orbiting in the habitable zone of its star. The CHZ is also of particular interest to the emerging field of habitability of natural satellites, because planetary-mass moons in the CHZ might outnumber planets.\n",
"Planets in binary star systems may be candidates for supporting extraterrestrial life. Habitability of binary star systems is determined by a large number of factors from a variety of sources. Typical estimates often suggest that 50% or more of all star systems are binary systems. This may be partly due to sample bias, as massive and bright stars tend to be in binaries and these are most easily observed and catalogued; a more precise analysis has suggested that the more common fainter stars are usually singular, and that up to two thirds of all stellar systems are therefore solitary.\n",
"Most of the stars below are solar-type, mainly in the spectral classes F, G, and K, because astronomers tend to look for planets around stars similar to the Sun. Others are giants, which have used up all the hydrogen in their cores. Finding planets around giant stars gives clues as to how planetary systems evolve and how the properties of planets change with the evolution of the stars.\n",
"Heller and Armstrong speculate that the number of superhabitable planets can far exceed that of Earth analogs: less massive stars in the main sequence are more abundant than the larger and brighter stars, so there are more orange dwarfs than solar analogues. It is estimated that about 9% of stars in the Milky Way are K-type stars.\n"
] |
Does cold have diminishing returns, e.g. does -40 degrees generally really feel that much colder than zero degrees? | I can tell you first hand from living in North Dakota that base temp is not the end all be all of feeling cold.
The air from these arctic high pressure systems that have had a strangle-hold on us this whole winter is typically very dry and *crisp* if that makes sense. It's a lot different than that damp, wet cold you get on the East Coast in winter.
This weekend it was sunny, calm, and -15F out. Today, it's snowy, windy, and 3F out, and it feels much colder today than it was this weekend even though the base temp was about 20 degrees colder over the weekend. | [
"Temperatures rarely rise above 30 °C (86 °F). The average winter low is −10 degrees Celsius (14 °F) and temperatures rarely drop below −20 degrees Celsius (−4 °F) although strong winter winds can make it seem much colder.\n",
"Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic temperature scale. This corresponds to on the Celsius scale, on the Fahrenheit scale, and on the Rankine scale.\n",
"Cold-waves continue to be a problem in northern latitudes, where very low temperatures can be reached in a few hours and extend over long periods. Reductions in cold-deaths due to climate change are projected to be greater than increases in heat-related deaths in the UK.\n",
"Cold spells are associated with increased mortality rates in populations around the world. Both cold waves and heat waves cause deaths, though different groups of people may be susceptible to different weather events. In developed countries, more deaths occur during a heat wave than in a cold snap, though the mortality rate is higher in undeveloped regions of the world. Globally, more people die during hot weather than cold weather. Extreme winter cold often causes poorly insulated water pipelines and mains to freeze. Even some poorly protected indoor plumbing ruptures as water expands within them, causing much damage to property and costly insurance claims. Demand for electrical power and fuels rises dramatically during such times, even though the generation of electrical power may fail due to the freezing of water necessary for the generation of hydroelectricity. Some metals may become brittle at low temperatures. Motor vehicles may fail when antifreeze fails or motor oil gels, producing a failure of the transportation system. To be sure, such is more likely in places like Siberia and much of Canada that customarily get very cold weather.\n",
"The U.S. National Weather Service defines \"extreme cold\" as with winds less than . In these conditions, the unprotected skin of a healthy adult will develop frostbite in ten to twenty minutes. The Canadian standard includes lower temperatures.\n",
"A 2010 study concluded that under a worst-case scenario for global warming with temperatures higher than 2007, the wet-bulb temperature limit for humans could be exceeded around much of the world in future centuries. A 2015 study concluded that parts of the globe could become uninhabitable. An example of the threshold at which the human body is no longer able to cool itself and begins to overheat is a humidity level of 50% and a high heat of , as this would indicate a wet-bulb temperature of .\n",
"Temperatures on the southern part of the ice cap are almost always below zero in winter and can reach -20°C or -30°C. High winds and storms are common, and therefor wind-chill has to be taken into account as the wind can have a substantial effect on outdoor comfort, even when the ambient temperature is relatively high.\n"
] |
what makes rent so high in some areas for small apartments, and so low in others for relatively large apartments? | It can be largely based on surrounding areas income but it’s mostly just location. Are you in close proximity to a large employer (like a medical center?), close enough that people wouldn’t *have* to drive? Then it’s gonna be higher, marketed towards medical employees. It’s based on a lot of factors, but for most apartments that aren’t really near any significant employer but are surrounded by general urban sprawl, just check the average income for the surrounding neighborhoods and such. If it’s high, probably in a ‘better’ part of town. Low, ‘worse’ part of town and the rent reflects it | [
"Low-rise apartments sometimes offer more privacy and negotiability of rent and utilities than high-rise apartments, although they may have fewer amenities and less flexibility with leases. It is also easier to put out fires in low-rise buildings.\n",
"Price ceilings can create shortages and reduce quality when they are less than the equilibrium price. By capping the price of housing, rent control can increase demand and reduce available supply, causing a shortage. It is argued that rent control also reduces the quality of available housing, deters investment, and raises rents on tenants who are excluded from its protections (for example, in jurisdictions with vacancy decontrol, tenants who move or arrive later). When property owners are restricted in the rents they can charge, they are less willing to construct more housing (a form of capital strike). Since supply is low, landlords worry less about tenants leaving and have little incentive to maintain the property. For example, unless owners can reasonably expect that punitive action will be taken against them, they might let building maintenance deteriorate in order to mitigate the lower rental income. People moving into the city have difficulty finding housing because of the shortage created by rent control.\n",
"Public housing provides affordable homes for those on low incomes, with rents which are heavily subsidised, financed by financial activities such as rents and charges collected from car parks and shops within or near the estates. They may vary in scale, and are usually located in the remote or less accessible parts of the territory, but urban expansion has put some of them in the heart of the urban area. Although some units are destined exclusively for rental, some of the flats within each development are earmarked for sale at prices which are lower than for private developments.\n",
"After having made these decisions, the rent officer decides if the lowest figure is still much higher than most rents for properties in the neighbourhood with the right number of rooms. This might be because of the property is in the luxury end of the market, or because of the services or amenities provided. If it is much higher, the rent officer will decide a figure that is in keeping with the general level of rents.\n",
"Maintaining stable revenue throughout the lifetime is challenging for a non-profit. Often, affordable housing exists in weak housing markets and in neighborhoods characterized by high crime rates, vacant and abandoned properties and low rent prices. Housing in these markets is generally unattractive and thus difficult to rent, therefore buildings lose money due to high vacancy. Projects in poor markets can also experience high costs associated with increased screening of renters and preparation of units due to high tenant turnover. Also, affordable projects frequently rely on government subsidies to cover the portion of rent that low-income tenants cannot afford (usually the difference between 30% of tenant income and market rents); projects are exposed to risk of losing future cash flows if governments cut tenant assistance programs. Furthermore, inadequate property management can affect operating income through the ineffectiveness of collecting rents or managing costs.\n",
"Rent in basement apartments is usually much lower than it is in above-ground units, due to a number of deficiencies common to basement apartments. The apartments are usually cramped, and tend to be noisy, both from uninsulated building noises and from traffic on the adjacent street. They are also particularly vulnerable to burglary, especially those with windows at sidewalk level. In some instances, residential use of below-ground space is illegal, but is done anyway in order for the building owner to generate extra income.\n",
"High rents have not just affected those in the lower half of the income distribution; who have always been lifelong renters. In the era of the Keynes–Beveridge consensus those in the upper half of the income distribution would typically rent a home while saving for a deposit to get onto the property ladder. This is no longer possible; money which would have been used in saving for a deposit now goes on rent. The majority of new households formed in the UK can now expect to rent from a private landlord for life. This phenomenon has been called \"generation rent\" and there is much debate about the social consequences of this change. See inequality for further information.\n"
] |
why do bulbs (that glow white) become green and stays illuminated for a while? | I assume you're talking about fluorescent bulbs. They work by having a gas inside which generates intense ultraviolet light when you pass an electric current through it.
The inside of the glass tubes is coated with phosphor, this is a range of chemicals which glow in different colours when they absorb energy, in this case the mix of phosphors has been chosen to generate white light when uv light pumps energy into it.
When you turn off the power the uv generation stops, but the phosphor still has enough energy to glow faintly. The phosphors that glow greenish are most efficient at using the stored energy to glow so they go on longer and the light glows pale green for a while.
| [
"Incandescent light bulbs have been commonly used in holiday lights until recently. These lights produce a broad-spectrum white light, and are colored by coating the glass envelope with a translucent paint which acts as a color filter. Some early Japanese-made lamps used colored glass.\n",
"Film and TV productions typically use constant lighting in the studio and on location. Some types of bulbs cannot be electrically dimmed because of their design, and incandescent bulbs will progressively change in colour temperature, becoming more orange, as they are dimmed.\n",
"Bloom (sometimes referred to as light bloom or glow) is a computer graphics effect used in video games, demos, and high dynamic range rendering (HDRR) to reproduce an imaging artifact of real-world cameras. The effect produces fringes (or feathers) of light extending from the borders of bright areas in an image, contributing to the illusion of an extremely bright light overwhelming the camera or eye capturing the scene. It became widely used in video games after an article on the technique was published by the authors of Tron 2.0 in 2004.\n",
"Incandescent light bulbs use a tungsten filament heated to high temperature to produce visible light and, necessarily, even more infrared radiation. Round bulbs, often tinted red to reduce visible light, provide infrared radiant heat suitable for warming of people or animals, but the power density available is low. The development of quartz halogen linear lamps allowed much higher power density up to 200 watts/inch of lamp (8 w/mm), useful for industrial heating, drying and processing applications.\n",
"Traditionally, red lamps (or beacons) use incandescent filament bulbs. To improve the otherwise quite short lifespan, they are made with a ruggedised design and are run below normal operating power (under-running). A recent development has been the use of arrays of high-power red LEDs in place of incandescent bulbs, which has only been possible since the development of LEDs of sufficient brightness. LED-based lamps have a significantly longer lifespan than incandescent bulbs, thus reducing maintenance costs and increasing reliability. Several manufacturers have also developed medium-intensity white strobes based on LED technology to replace xenon. Xenon flashers, whilst more visually impressive, tend to require frequent replacement and so have become a less favoured option. With the advent of LEDs, white strobes are still somewhat desired.\n",
"Brighteners can be \"boosted\" by the addition of certain polyols, such as high molecular weight polyethylene glycol or polyvinyl alcohol. These additives increase the visible blue light emissions significantly. Brighteners can also be \"quenched\". Excess brightener will often cause a greening effect as emissions start to show above the blue region in the visible spectrum.\n",
"BULLET::::- Bulbs: LED rope lights feature bulbs that are available in different colours and the bulbs themselves generate the colours. In contrast, incandescent rope lights typically feature bulbs that come with a coloured filter that is applied around the bulb. Therefore, when an LED rope light is switched off, it appears colourless, while incandescent bulbs will still appear coloured.\n"
] |
can anyone explain if there is any actual valuable take-away from schrödinger's cat? or just an abstract thought experiment? | Firstly, the 'answer' to the Schrödinger's Cat thought experiment is not agreed upon. We simply don't have a universal answer to what actually happens. If you read the Wikipedia page, you get a short list of what the different interpretations on quantum mechanics say. It's not like actual physicists have one opinion and outsiders have another. Actual high level physics professors don't agree.
Okay. When quantum mechanics came around it was realized it said really absurd things about tiny particles. You couldn't know whether a particle was here or there. In fact, it's even worse. It seemed like the universe hadn't decided yet. When you actually looked directly at the particle, it suddenly seemed to be only at one place. Einstein was extremely upset and said that he may not know what God thinks, but God surely doesn't play dice with reality(he was talking metaphorically about God).
It's somewhat okay to accept these weird things about tiny particles. I mean, we can't really see them anyway. But what Schrödinger pointed out was that that's a mistake. He thought, what is true of the small must also be true of the large. And to illustrate this he came up with his cat experiment. If a particle's position can be at different places at the same time, why can't a cat be dead and alive at the same time? His experiment poses exactly that question. What is the physical mechanism that allows weirdness at the small scale, but not the large?
As I said, this is actually unresolved and there are a number of different possible answers. All of them really absurd.
_URL_0_ | [
"A variant of the Schrödinger's cat experiment, known as the quantum suicide machine, has been proposed by cosmologist Max Tegmark. It examines the Schrödinger's cat experiment from the point of view of the cat, and argues that by using this approach, one may be able to distinguish between the Copenhagen interpretation and many-worlds.\n",
"However, since Schrödinger's time, other interpretations of the mathematics of quantum mechanics have been advanced by physicists, some of which regard the \"alive and dead\" cat superposition as quite real. Intended as a critique of the Copenhagen interpretation (the prevailing orthodoxy in 1935), the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment remains a defining touchstone for modern interpretations of quantum mechanics. Physicists often use the way each interpretation deals with Schrödinger's cat as a way of illustrating and comparing the particular features, strengths, and weaknesses of each interpretation.\n",
"Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment, usually described as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. It illustrates what he saw as the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, applied to everyday objects. The thought experiment presents a cat that might be alive or dead, depending on an earlier random event. In the course of developing this experiment, he coined the term \"Verschränkung\" (entanglement).\n",
"However, one of the main scientists associated with the Copenhagen interpretation, Niels Bohr, never had in mind the observer-induced collapse of the wave function, as he did not regard the wave function as physically real, but a statistical tool; thus, Schrödinger's cat did not pose any riddle to him. The cat would be either dead or alive long before the box is opened by a conscious observer. Analysis of an actual experiment found that measurement alone (for example by a Geiger counter) is sufficient to collapse a quantum wave function before there is any conscious observation of the measurement, although the validity of their design is disputed. The view that the \"observation\" is taken when a particle from the nucleus hits the detector can be developed into objective collapse theories. The thought experiment requires an \"unconscious observation\" by the detector in order for waveform collapse to occur. In contrast, the many worlds approach denies that collapse ever occurs.\n",
"Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment, sometimes described as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. It illustrates what he saw as the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics applied to everyday objects. The scenario presents a hypothetical cat that may be simultaneously both alive and dead, a state known as a quantum superposition, as a result of being linked to a random subatomic event that may or may not occur. \n",
"BULLET::::- Schrödinger's cat, a thought experiment devised by Schrödinger that illustrates what he saw as the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics applied to everyday objects\n",
"BULLET::::- Schrödinger's cat, a thought experiment devised by Schrödinger that illustrates what he saw as the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics applied to everyday objects\n"
] |
Should the Chinese Emperors' mausoleums be excavated? | That's a very hard question to answer and honestly - I am
Not quite sure if I am qualified for it. Especially not for the imperial tombs in china.
What I can answer is what happens if things get done too fast, without a clear preservation plan and without a clear idea of what you want to achieve.
I am from Vienna and I studied art history there - and my dad was an archeologist at the Vienna city museum.
During his job he oversaw the excavation of Michaeler Platz (Michaeler square) if you have ever been in Vienna you can't really miss it since it's right in front of the Hofburg.
This is what it looks like : _URL_0_
So the square has quite an interesting history , with buildings from roman times , the Middle Ages and the old imperial theater being located there - and when a new subway line was built they excavated part of the square in the course of the construction.
They found some frescos on the medical buildings - the city wanted to have them displayed in Situ - my dad wanted to cover it up completely or at least transfer the Freskos to a safe spot.
Politically the city won - and the result is that the frescos are basically gone and the ruins are falling more and more into ruin every year since they are exposed to the weather year round.
And the can't really cover it up and keep it visible since this would destroy the sight of the Hofburg from
The Kohlmarkt which is a famous view of the Hofburg itself.
So basically even on a very small excavation, in a very rich city, preservation was not done as it should have been done and the buildings are falling apart more and more.
And I think that this is one of the lessons the Chinese learned from a lot of similar projects in Europe - that you need a perfect plan, a perfect idea of what to do and goals and to have the means (both in money and technology) to achieve those goals.
And as long as they are not 100% sure that they can conserve whatever they find in the tomb they won't dig it up - the risk is basically to high for them.
| [
"The eighteen mausoleums of the Tang Dynasty emperors (唐十八陵) in the valley of the Wei River north of the Qin Mountains(秦岭). Most are natural hills shaped by man, and they are among the biggest Chinese mausoleums, such as Qianling (乾陵), joint tomb of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and of the Empress Wu Zetian. Some mausoleums feature a burial mound: \n",
"The Wanli Emperor died in 1620 and was buried in the Dingling Mausoleum among the Ming tombs on the outskirts of Beijing. His tomb is one of the biggest in the vicinity and one of only two that are open to the public. The tomb was excavated in 1956, and remains the only imperial tomb that had been excavated since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. In 1966, during the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards stormed the Dingling Mausoleum, and dragged the remains of the Wanli Emperor and his two empresses to the front of the tomb, where they were posthumously denounced and burned after photographs were taken of their skulls. Thousands of other artifacts were also destroyed.\n",
"The Eastern Qing tombs (; ) are an imperial mausoleum complex of the Qing dynasty located in Zunhua, northeast of Beijing. They are the largest, most complete, and best preserved extant mausoleum complex in China. Altogether, five emperors (Shunzhi, Kangxi, Qianlong, Xianfeng, and Tongzhi), 15 empresses, 136 imperial concubines, three princes, and two princesses of the Qing dynasty are buried here. Surrounded by Changrui Mountain, Jinxing Mountain, Huanghua Mountain, and Yingfei Daoyang Mountain, the tomb complex stretches over a total area of .\n",
"The temple served as a mausoleum for several emperors. Their tombs are grouped together in what are today known as the \"Seven Imperial Tombs\" at Ryōan-ji. The burial places of these emperors—Uda, Kazan, Ichijō, Go-Suzaku, Go-Reizei, Go-Sanjō, and Horikawa—would have been comparatively humble in the period after their deaths. These tombs reached their present state as a result of the 19th century restoration of imperial sepulchers (\"misasagi\") which were ordered by Emperor Meiji.\n",
"The Qianling Mausoleum () is a Tang dynasty (618–907) tomb site located in Qian County, Shaanxi province, China, and is northwest from Xi'an, formerly the Tang capital. Built by 684 (with additional construction until 706), the tombs of the mausoleum complex house the remains of various members of the House of Li, the imperial family of the Tang dynasty. This includes Emperor Gaozong (r. 649–83), as well as his wife, Wu Zetian, who usurped the Tang throne and became China's only reigning female emperor from 690–705. The mausoleum is renowned for its many Tang dynasty stone statues located above ground and the mural paintings adorning the subterranean walls of the tombs. Besides the main tumulus mound and underground tomb of Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian, there are 17 smaller attendant tombs or \"peizang mu\". Presently, only five of these attendant tombs have been excavated by archaeologists, three belonging to members of the imperial family, one to a chancellor, and the other to a general of the left guard. The Shaanxi Administration of Cultural Heritage declared in 2012 that no further excavations would take place for at least 50 years.\n",
"The Dingling () is a mausoleum in China where the Wanli emperor, together with his two empresses Wang Xijie and Dowager Xiaojing, was buried. Dingling is one of the thirteen imperial tombs at Ming tombs in Changping district 45 km north of central Beijing. Dingling is the only tomb of a Ming dynasty emperor that has been opened.\n",
"The Imperial Burial Palace (寢宮) or Back Palace (後殿) is high and covers about . It has three yurts with yellow silk roofs; the central yurt houses the coffins of Genghis Khan and one of his four wives and the side yurts house the coffins of his brothers. Genghis Khan's coffin is silver decorated with engraved roses and a golden lock; weapons allegedly used by Genghis lie around it. There are also two other coffins for another two of his consorts. The site's main altar lies in front of this yurt. The cenotaph and its placement are highly unusual in China, which usually follows Han principles like feng shui in the placement of tombs, employing mountains, rivers, and forests in the belief that this increases its spiritual power.\n"
] |
why is bed-wetting associated with serial killers? | It is part of the Macdonald triad. The Macdonald triad proposes that three behaviours in youth (extended bedwetting, fire-starting, cruelty to animals) are indicative of later violent tendencies.
The thing is though, we aren't actually sure if the Macdonald triad is actually statistically a thing. Some studies say it is, some studies say it isn't, some studies say that those behaviours (among others) are linked to childhood neglect and abuse which puts a child more at risk of violent tendencies. The people who believe in this say that bed wetting longer than average can lead to feelings of shame and loss of control, which can then result in fire starting and animal cruelty (trying to regain that control), especially when they are punished by parents for this bed wetting. But like I said, there is a lot of debate if it is a thing at all. | [
"Confusional arousals have often been linked to sleep-related violence (self-injury or injury to the bed partner). The latter highlights important medical and legal issues when such behaviours are suspected and purported to have caused a criminal offense. The first documented case of homicide as a result of confusional arousal was reported in medieval times by the case of the Silesian woodcutter Bernard Schedmaizig. Sleep-related abnormal sexual behaviours (also called sexsomnia or sleep sex) are mainly classified as confusional arousals and more rarely associated to sleepwalking (also known as somnambulism). Even if sleep-related violence may occur during an episode of confusional arousal, it remains extremely rare and there are no specific predisposition to aggression during these episodes.\n",
"BULLET::::- Psychological issues (e.g., death in the family, sexual abuse, extreme bullying) are established as a cause of (a return to bedwetting), but are very rarely a cause of PNE-type bedwetting. Bedwetting can also be a symptom of a pediatric neuropsychological disorder called PANDAS.\n",
"The English term and concept of \"serial killer\" are commonly attributed to former FBI Special agent Robert Ressler who used the term \"serial homicide\" in 1974 in a lecture at Bramshill Police Academy in Britain. Author Ann Rule postulates in her book, \"Kiss Me, Kill Me\" (2004), that the English-language credit for coining the term goes to LAPD detective Pierce Brooks, who created the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) system in 1985.\n",
"A bedroom farce or sex farce is a type of light comedy, centered on the sexual pairings and recombinations of characters as they move through improbable plots and slamming doors. The bedroom farce is perhaps the most common form of farce.\n",
"A lot of sexual homicides are well planned due to extensive practice in form of sexual fantasies. The murders involve the infliction of a lot of pain and terror and this serves to satisfy the sadistic fantasy, albeit only temporarily. They start trying to replicate their fantasies more accurately with practice and will continue until they are caught as a fantasy can never be replicated with 100% accuracy.\n",
"The most critical component in the psychological development of a serial killer is violent fantasy, especially in the lust murderer. Fantasies accompany \"intrusive thoughts about killing someone that are associated with other distressing psychopathological processes\". Fantasies can never be completely fulfilled; sometimes the experience of killing can generate new fantasies of violence, creating a repetitive cycle. The purpose of fantasy is total control of the victim, whereas a sexual assault can be used as a vehicle for control. Sexual torture becomes a tool to degrade, humiliate, and subjugate the victim. Often the killer selects victims to stand as a proxy, resulting from childhood trauma. Fantasies may be fueled by pornography and facilitated by alcohol or other causes. Typically, fantasies involve one or several forms of paraphilia.\n",
"BULLET::::- Infection/disease Infections and disease are more strongly connected with and with daytime wetting. Less than 5% of all bedwetting cases are caused by infection or disease, the most common of which is a urinary tract infection.\n"
] |
when watching a screen, do our eyes focus purely on to the distance of the screen or the percieved depth of the picture? | Purely on the screen. Same if you're looking at a photo: the depth isn't real and doesn't affect your focus. | [
"Focal length and diaphragm aperture affect the depth of field of a scene – that is, how much the background, mid-ground and foreground will be rendered in \"acceptable focus\" (only one exact plane of the image is in precise focus) on the film or video target. Depth of field (not to be confused with depth of focus) is determined by the aperture size and the focal distance. A large or deep depth of field is generated with a very small iris aperture and focusing on a point in the distance, whereas a shallow depth of field will be achieved with a large (open) iris aperture and focusing closer to the lens. Depth of field is also governed by the format size. If one considers the field of view and angle of view, the smaller the image is, the shorter the focal length should be, as to keep the same field of view. Then, the smaller the image is, the more depth of field is obtained, for the same field of view. Therefore, 70mm has less depth of field than 35mm for a given field of view, 16mm more than 35mm, and early video cameras, as well as most modern consumer level video cameras, even more depth of field than 16mm. \n",
"Close focus distance is the closest point that the binocular can focus on. This distance varies from about 0.5 m to 30 m, depending upon the design of the binoculars. If the close focus distance is short respect to the magnification, the binocular can be used also to see particulars not visible to the naked eye.\n",
"In this approach, two cameras with a known physical relationship (i.e. a common field of view the cameras can see, and how far apart their focal points sit in physical space) are correlated via software. By finding mappings of common pixel values, and calculating how far apart these common areas reside in pixel space, a rough depth map can be created. This is very similar to how the human brain uses stereoscopic information from the eyes to gain depth cue information, i.e. how far apart any given object in the scene is from the viewer.\n",
"where formula_2 is the distance to the screen, formula_3 is the resolution of the screen in pixels per unit length, and formula_4 is the aperture of a cone having the apex on focus, height formula_2, and the base in the eye lens —the optical correspondent to a cone inside the eye having the same base and the apex in the other focus, the fovea. That aperture, which can be measured by visual field tests, varies widely among different human subjects.\n",
"BULLET::::- Animated prints: Here the distance between different angles of view is \"medium\", so that while both eyes usually see the same picture, moving a little bit switches to the next picture in the series. Two or more sequential images are used, with only small differences between each image and the next. This can be used to create an image that moves (\"motion effect\"), or can create a \"zoom\" or \"morph\" effect, in which part of the image expands in size or changes shape as the angle of view changes. The movie poster of the film Species II, shown in this article, is an example of this technique.\n",
"The ideal optimum viewing distance is affected by the horizontal angle of the camera capturing the image. One concept of an ideal optimal viewing distance places the viewer where the horizontal angle subtended by the screen is the same as the horizontal angle captured by the camera. If this is the case, the angular relationships perceived by the viewer would be identical to those recorded by the camera. A mismatch in this regard is traditionally disregarded, but some rotating motions can make these distortions very noticeable as a pincushion effect. This is likely in 3d video games, so gamers are likely to adopt close viewing positions matched to a game's fixed field of view.\n",
"Focus is relative to spatial depth. Selective focus in photography is usually associated with depth of field. A pinhole camera generates an image of infinite relative focus, from a point just outside the camera opening out to infinity. Lenses focus more selectively so that, for objects near the lens, the distance between lens and sensor or film is increased and is shortened for more distant objects, to a point beyond which all is in focus. In telephoto lenses this point may be tens or hundreds of metres from the camera. Wide-angle lenses distinguish differences in depth only up to a short distance, beyond which all is in focus.\n"
] |
do my dogs think i'm just a big dog? | It's hard to say what dogs actually *think*, but there are some things we can infer from their behavior and from their body chemistry. We have recently come to understand that dogs' brains are capable of generating oxytocin in the same way ours are, and under the same circumstances. When you interact with other humans, when you hold hands or hug or put an arm around someone's shoulder, your brain generates the hormone oxytocin, and this hormone strengthens human relationships. It's been referred to as the love hormone, because it's the chemical that seems to be most responsible for feelings of love and affection.
The fun thing is that dogs' brains do this as well when we interact with them. When they're being loved-on, hugged, petted, etc., their brains also produce oxytocin. Our best guess is that dogs probably realize that we are not dogs. They know that we're not dogs. They probably don't have the means to comprehend what we actually are, but they know we aren't dogs. But through tens-of-thousands of years of selective breeding, they've still come to view us as vitally important to them. They absolutely see us as part of their "pack." The part of your dog that is still a wolf tracking through the wilds with its pack sees you as a part of that pack. | [
"Additionally, most people can tell from a bark whether a dog was alone or being approached by a stranger, playing or being aggressive, and able tell from a growl how big the dog is. This is thought to be evidence of human-dog coevolution.\n",
"\"A dog has no politics or religion, so you can tell people about him freely, and when you have finished you have talked to them about themselves,\" Trimble said. \"I can tell more about people from what they say about their dogs than from what they say about themselves.\"\n",
"Much about Dog remains unrevealed, due to the few appearances he has made. Dog is tall and powerfully built and demonstrates impressive tracking abilities, though it remains unrevealed precisely how he locates James and Rose. Dog also shows himself to be a formidable combatant during his fight with James. \n",
"There are many different types of behavioural issues that a dog can exhibit, including growling, snapping, barking, and invading human's space. A survey of 203 dog owners in Melbourne, Australia, found that the main behaviour problems reported by owners were overexcitement (63%) and jumping up on people (56%). Some problems are related to attachment while others are neurological, as seen below.\n",
"BULLET::::- While dogs are often portrayed as heroic, brave and strong they don't tend to be portrayed as intelligent that often, though there have been exceptions: Droopy, Snoopy, Dogbert, Brian Griffin, Gromit, Goliath, Mr. Peabody, Tekko Taks, Fokkie Flink, Top Dog\n",
"Basenjis often stand on their hind legs, somewhat like a meerkat, by themselves or leaning on something; this behavior is often observed when the dog is curious about something. Basenjis have a strong prey drive. According to the book \"The Intelligence of Dogs\", they are the second least trainable dog, when required to do human commands. Their real intelligence manifests, when they are required to actually \"think\".\n",
"The name Doga is a derivative of dog, a creature which is extremely brave. Dogs are also scary and are usually kept for protection. These elements of a dogs nature are fairly prominent in the character of Doga.\n"
] |
why do we only see fog when it is at a distance? | Fog is a collection of tiny water droplets suspended in air at or just above ground-level. They are too small to see individually but they bend light never the less. As you get further away, there are so many droplets bending light that the objects further away from you can't be seen because the light from those objects isn't (entirely) traveling to your eyes. | [
"Fog shadows may look odd to viewers who are not used to seeing shadows in three dimensions. A thin fog is just dense enough to be illuminated by the light that passes through the gaps in a structure or in a tree. As a result, the path of an object's shadow through the fog becomes visible as a darkened volume. In a sense, these shadow lanes are the inverse of crepuscular rays caused by beams of light, but caused by the shadows of solid objects.\n",
"Visibility is generally very good, because of the proximity of industry to the coast, allowing breezes to disperse any smog. Mist and fog often occur, as well as coastal fog in the east, but it is generally not long-lasting. However, in winter, it can be slow to clear.\n",
"The presence of fog has often played a key role in historical events, such as strategic battles. One example is the Battle of Long Island (August 27, 1776), when American general George Washington and his command were able to evade imminent capture by the British Army, using fog to conceal their escape. Another example is D-Day (June 6, 1944) during World War II, when the Allies landed on the beaches of Normandy, France during fog conditions. Both positive and negative results were reported from both sides during that battle, due to impaired visibility.\n",
"Cloud cover is often referred to as \"mist\" when encountered on mountains, whereas moisture suspended above a body of water or marsh area is usually called \"fog\". One difference between mist and fog is visibility. The phenomenon is called fog if the visibility is or less. In the U.K., the definition of fog is visibility less than (for driving purposes, UK Highway Code rule 226), while for pilots the distance is 1 km. Otherwise, it is known as mist.\n",
"The term \"fog\" is typically distinguished from the more generic term \"cloud\" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated locally (such as from a nearby body of water, like a lake or the ocean, or from nearby moist ground or marshes).\n",
"There are also occasional extended spells when fog and stratus (\"overcast\") do not clear all the way back to the coast for several days. These extended periods of cloudiness are usually a consequence of a weak area of low pressure above the marine layer which increases its depth, making it more difficult for surface heating to evaporate the clouds within it.\n",
"Sea smoke has a turbulent appearance and may form spiralling columns. It is usually not very high and lookouts on ships can usually see over it (but small boats may have very poor visibility) because the fog is confined to the layer of warm air above the sea. However, sea smoke columns 20–30 metres high have been observed. Because this type of fog requires very low air temperatures, it is uncommon in temperate climates, but is common in the Arctic and Antarctic.\n"
] |
At the time of the American Revolution, were there any other republics in the world? | The Swiss Confederacy was a federation of states, named "cantons"; it was formed over time, starting in the middle ages, as different communities in the Alps developed a series of alliances.
It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire but it fought against the Habsburgs and did gain independence. That was formally recognized as an independent state by the europeans powers in 1648 at the Peace of Westphalia.
In Italy, the republics of Venice and of Genua were born as city states, mainly concerned with sea trade within the Mediterranean Sea.
Later, after the discovery of America and of the route to India around Africa, the Mediterranean become a bit of a backwater, and both cities expanded over land. Venice in particular did gain vast territories, expanding to the west nearly to Milan and controlling the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea (Dalmatia).
The were some other small republics in Italy, that based on the city state of Lucca and the tiny city state of San Marino (which is still existing today !). Also there were some city states that were nominally members of the Holy Roman Empire in Germany, but that in practice were mostly autonomous.
Keep in mind that those republics could all be defined as oligarchies: the power was concentrated in the hands of the members of a very small number of wealthy families, mostly very successful trading houses. Membership in the ruling councils was mainly by co-optation by the existing members, only extended to members of the families.
So nothing like the suffrage that was established in the United States, that was certainly not universal at the start but that was mush more effective and direct.
Also, many of those entities were destroyed by the revolutionary and napoleonic wars and the by the Congress of Vienna, with the exception of the Swiss confederacy. Venice was given to Austria, Lucca to the Duchy of Parma, Genua to the Kingdom of Savoy and Sardinia. | [
"Beginning the Age of Revolution, the American Revolution and the ensuing political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century saw the Thirteen Colonies of North America overthrow the governance of the Parliament of Great Britain, and then reject the British monarchy itself to become the sovereign United States of America. In this period the colonies first rejected the authority of the Parliament to govern them without representation, and formed self-governing independent states. The Second Continental Congress then joined together against the British to defend that self-governance in the armed conflict from 1775 to 1783 known as the American Revolutionary War (also called American War of Independence).\n",
"At first, during the French revolutionary wars these states were erected as republics (the so-called \"Républiques soeurs\", or \"sister republics\"). They were established in Italy (Cisalpine Republic in Northern Italy, Parthenopean Republic in Southern Italy), Greece (Septinsular Republic), Switzerland (Helvetic Republic and Rhodanic Republic), Belgium and the Netherlands (Batavian Republic).\n",
"Before the American Revolution (1775-1783), the British colonies in North America were protected from the Barbary pirates by British warships of the Royal Navy and treaties. During the Revolution, the Kingdom of France formed an alliance with the former British colonies in 1778, now the proclaimed independent \"United States of America\" and assumed the responsibility of providing protection of U.S. merchant ships in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic Ocean against the Barbary pirates by the French Navy. After the Revolutionary War ended and the new U.S.A. won its independence with the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783), it had to face the threat of the Barbary pirates on its own. Two American ships were captured by Algerian pirates in July 1785 and the survivors forced into slavery, their ransom set at $60,000. A rumor that Benjamin Franklin, who was en route from France to Philadelphia about that time, had been captured by Barbary pirates, caused considerable upset in the U.S. With the disbanding of the former Continental Navy and the selling of its last warship by the Confederation Congress in 1785, now without a standing navy, much less a navy capable of projecting force across an ocean, the U.S. was forced to pay tribute monies and goods to the Barbary nations for the security of its ships and the freedom of its captured citizens. As Lieutenant and consul William Eaton informed newly appointed Secretary of State John Marshall in 1800, \"It is a maxim of the Barbary States, that 'The Christians who would be on good terms with them must fight well or pay well.'\"\n",
"BULLET::::- American Revolution – The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen Colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America.\n",
"Thirteen of Great Britain's colonies rebelled in the American Revolutionary War, beginning in 1775, primarily over representation, local laws and tax issues, and established the United States of America, which was recognised internationally with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on 3 September 1783.\n",
"The American Revolution was a colonial revolt which occurred between 1765 and 1783. The American Patriots in the Thirteen Colonies defeated the British in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) with the assistance of France, winning independence from Great Britain and establishing the United States of America.\n",
"In the example of the United States, the original 13 British colonies became independent states after the American Revolution, each having a republican form of government. These independent states initially formed a loose confederation called the United States and then later formed the current United States by ratifying the current U.S. Constitution, creating a union of sovereign states with the union or federal government also being a republic. Any state joining the union later was also required to be a republic.\n"
] |
What was Attila the Hun's full name? | So far as we can tell, his name was Attila. As you've guessed, Huns did not use surnames or family names, and only a non-Hun would call him "the Hun."
Interesting trivia: *Attila* does not seem to be a Hunnish name but Gothic, like *Totila*. The Huns were not one tribe but a confederation of tribes including the Goths who did not flee them and the Sarmatian Alans. These tribes tended to adopt Hunnish culture, like cranial deformation and facial cicatrization. But it means that depictions of Attila as a Mongol might be quite a ways off: Goths were Germanic tribes, as in Ostrogoth and Visigoth (tribes that did flee the Huns).
Ingraham, *People's Names*. | [
"Attila (; fl. c. 406–453), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, and Alans among others, in Central and Eastern Europe.\n",
"Attila (also known as Attila the Hun in the UK) is a 2001 American television miniseries set during the waning days of the Western Roman Empire, in particular during the invasions of the Huns in Europe.\n",
"Attila himself is said to have claimed the titles \"Descendant of the Great Nimrod\", and \"King of the Huns, the Goths, the Danes, and the Medes\"—the last two peoples being mentioned to show the extent of his control over subject nations even on the peripheries of his domain.\n",
"Attila the Hun has had many depictions in popular culture. Many of these depictions either portray him as a great ruler or a ruthless conqueror. Attila has also appeared in numerous German and Norse epics, under the names Etzel and Atli, both with completely different personas. His sudden death remains a fascinating unsolved mystery.\n",
"Many scholars have argued that Attila derives from East Germanic origin; \"Attila\" is formed from the Gothic or Gepidic noun \"atta\", \"father\", by means of the diminutive suffix \"-ila\", meaning \"little father\". The Gothic etymology was first proposed by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the early 19th century. Maenchen-Helfen notes that this derivation of the name \"offers neither phonetic nor semantic difficulties\", and Gerhard Doerfer notes that the name is simply correct Gothic. The name has sometimes been interpreted as a Germanization of a name of Hunnic origin.\n",
"Flavius Aetius, a Roman general, is the only person who knows Attila since he was a hostage with the Huns for years. Aetius and his companion Prisco carry a message from the Roman emperor Valentinian III to the Hun's king Rua. After reaching their palace, Aetius learns that the king died, and that two brothers Bleda and Attila are now ruling the Hun kingdom. Bleda favours peace and tolerance, but Attila is at odds with him, and tensions develop. Yet Aetius knows to make an alliance between the Western Roman Empire and the Huns.\n",
"\"Totila\" was the \"nom de guerre\" of a man whose real name was Baduila, as can be seen from the coinage he issued. \"Totila\" is the name used by the Byzantine historian Procopius, who accompanied the Byzantine general Belisarius during the Gothic War, and whose chronicles are the main source of our information for Totila. According to Henry Bradley, 'Totila' and 'Baduila' are diminutives of 'Totabadws'. Born in Treviso, Totila was a relative of Theudis, king of the Visigoths. Elected king of the Ostrogoths in 541 after the assassination of his uncle Ildibad, having engineered the assassination of Ildibad's short-lived successor, his cousin Eraric, in 541. The official Byzantine position, adopted by Procopius and even by the Romanized Goth Jordanes, writing just before the conclusion of the Gothic Wars, was that Totila was a usurper: Jordanes' \"Getica\" (551) overlooks the then-recent successes of Totila.\n"
] |
what would happen to you if only your head was above water for a long, long time? | Depends how long and what kind of water.
The skin is capable of passing stuff in and out of the body. If you're under water this presents a problem, if the water is pure enough the overall transfer will be water into the body and salts/minerals out of the body (bones and blood would have major issues). If the water is very salty the process reverses to drive up salt in the body effectively dehydrating you (this is why you can't drink seawater). If the water had just the right amount of all the necessary components then it's harder to say what will happen, I can't give you an answer there.
A vacuum would be less forgiving, lets assume a space-like vacuum.
Any moisture in your skin exposed to the vacuum would boil away, the skin would draw more moisture from the body and the process goes on until you're a dried out meat husk. Not to mention of course that your digestive tract is a hollow tube from end to end, if only your head was protected then everything would be sucked out the rear anyway. There's slightly more to it but the end doesn't get any better for you. The whole ordeal won't take long at all, only a few minutes at most.
Obviously less intense vacuums would be much less severe, but given enough time death would be the likely outcome. Our lungs are designed to work with equal pressure, if the outside of the chest is a vacuum then exhaling becomes more difficult, your chest will want to expand into the vacuum. While not as dramatic as in space your skin will still dehydrate faster than normal, this could make you bleed and, as air is required for clotting, it might not stop. | [
"BULLET::::- \"This Is Not the Life I Ordered: 50 Ways to Keep Your Head Above Water When Life Keeps Dragging You Down\", by Deborah Collins Stephens, Michealene Cristini Risley, Jackie Speier, and Jan Yanehiro, 2007,\n",
"Hypothermia from exposure to cold water is not as sudden as is often believed. A person who survives the initial minute of trauma (after falling into icy water), can survive for at least thirty minutes provided they don't drown. However, the ability to perform useful work (for example to save oneself) declines substantially after ten minutes (as the body protectively cuts off blood flow to \"non-essential\" muscles).\n",
"Later, the inner room is now waist high in water. Only Pike is standing in the cold water, pleading with everyone to do something otherwise he will drown. Hodges is floating in a tank, the rest of the platoon is crammed onto the bunks.\n",
"BULLET::::5. Water should be poured over the head three times so that it flows all over the body, ensuring that the roots of hairs and parts not easily reached by water such as the back of the knees are washed thoroughly.\n",
"According to the \"Mishnah\" (older part of the \"Talmud\"), it is said of Hillel the Elder that he saw a skull that was floating on top of the water and he said (to it): \"Since you drowned [others, others] drowned you. And in the end, those that drowned you will be drowned.\" From Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva it is stated in the \"Mishnah\": \"If we were on the \"Sanhedrin\", nobody would have ever been executed.\"\n",
"\"I was asked to dip into the water near the well. As soon as I did so, someone shouted 'shoot him'. Sensing imminent death I somehow untied my hand, removed blindfold around my eyes and started running in the waist deep water. I could hear one gunshot behind me but I kept running.\"\n",
"\"Of course there's a concern. If I said it wasn't in the back of my head, I'd be lying. You don't want to think something bad could happen from just drinking water\", said Dominic Covone, 37, a resident of about six years.\n"
] |
why are paddling pools blue etc instead of black to absorb the heat and keep warm? | Blue reminds people of the seas and oceans (or rather shallow water near the beach). Black would be creepy to many people (b/c it looks like deep water).
Absorbing heat can make the water too hot, and most pools are sold in areas with a lot of sun, and people want their pools to stay cool.
Lighter color makes it easier to see dirt, so you know when the pool is clean. | [
"Starting 9 August, the pool used for diving competitions began turning a green color instead of its natural blue, followed by the water polo pool the next day. Several athletes reported that it affected their performance, either by preventing them from seeing underwater or hurting their eyes (possibly because of increased chlorine to counteract the problem). The color change was officially reported as being caused by a lack of chemicals used for the water treatment process, which resulted in the pH level of the pool to change. The diving pool was closed on 12 August after it began producing a sulfuric smell and was suggested to be a cause of eye itchiness among some athletes who competed within it. A report said that a sanitation contractor had added the dechlorinating sterilizer hydrogen peroxide to water that was already chlorinated, neutralizing the sterilizing effect of chlorine.\n",
"On Tuesday August 9, the water of the diving well turned dark green, originally thought to be caused by the heat and lack of wind in the venue. However, at the time a CNN photographer took a picture, an adjacent pool in the same location was not green. Olympic officials later confirmed that the change in color was due to 160 litres of hydrogen peroxide having been mistakenly added to the pool during cleaning. \n",
"The pool was cool enough up until 1991 for dark orange-brown cyanobacteria to grow throughout the pool. When combined with the blue of the water, the pool appeared to be an exceptionally dark green to almost black, hence the name.\n",
"Some constituents of sea water can influence the shade of blue of the ocean. This is why it can look greener or bluer in different areas. Water in swimming pools (which may also contain various chemicals) with white-painted sides and bottom will appear as a turquoise blue.\n",
"The species prefers areas in sluggish backwaters, lakes, and ponds with gravel, sand, or bedrock bottoms. They also can be found in very muddy waters and are able to tolerate poor water conditions. Green sunfish tend to spend their time hiding around rocks, submerged logs, plants, and other things that provide cover.\n",
"\"Nantucket Reds\" were originally inspired by cotton trousers worn in Brittany. A characteristic of Reds is that they fade to a \"dusty rose\" as they age. Since their inception, the cotton canvas pants have been marketed as shorts. The distinctive salmon pink color has since been used on hats, shirts, sweaters and socks. Reds are worn predominantly by summer residents of Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Cape Cod in place of khakis or chinos.\n",
"Emerald Pool, a hot spring named for its emerald green color, is one of the main attractions at Black Sand Basin in Yellowstone National Park. Its temperature is 154.6 °F and its dimensions are 27x38 feet with a depth of 25 feet. The color is due to growth of yellow bacteria and algae. Cooling, the result of objects thrown into the pool and natural debris, has affected the growth of the bacteria and algae, making the pool appear orange and brown around the edges.\n"
] |
A few questions on Wave interference | Observing interference is a little harder to do in those situations. Things like headlights and music are made up of lots of waves with many different wavelengths so the interference pattern is very complicated and you won't notice it.
There are two ways you could observe wave interference at home:
1. Set up your speakers as far away from each other as you can and point them towards each other, a few meters would be good. Instead of music, play a continuous note of a single pitch through the speakers. You should be able to google something to play single pitch sounds. Then, if the distance between the speakers is a few multiples of the wavelength, say 1:3 or 1:4 (pick either but be as precise as possible!!), you should set up a nice standing wave pattern, ie. constructive interference that doesn't change with time. To observe it, start with your head at one speaker and move your head along a line towards the other speaker. If your speakers are good enough (decent computer speakers should be) and you have set up the distances precisely, then you should notice changes in volume along the path.
2. With a wide pan or bowl of water you could dip you fingers in and out quickly at two different spots to make ripples which will interfere as they cross over each other. Watch closely though!!
You'd need better equipment to observe this effect with light. But if you have a laser pointer you could maybe do it with the [double slit experiment](_URL_0_). | [
"In physics, interference is a phenomenon in which two waves superpose to form a resultant wave of greater, lower, or the same amplitude. Constructive and destructive interference result from the interaction of waves that are correlated or coherent with each other, either because they come from the same source or because they have the same or nearly the same frequency. Interference effects can be observed with all types of waves, for example, light, radio, acoustic, surface water waves, gravity waves, or matter waves. The resulting images or graphs are called interferograms.\n",
"The phenomenon of interference between waves is based on this idea. When two or more waves traverse the same space, the net amplitude at each point is the sum of the amplitudes of the individual waves. In some cases, such as in noise-cancelling headphones, the summed variation has a smaller amplitude than the component variations; this is called \"destructive interference\". In other cases, such as in a line array, the summed variation will have a bigger amplitude than any of the components individually; this is called \"constructive interference\".\n",
"Interference is the addition, in the mathematical sense, of wave functions. A single wave can interfere with itself, but this is still an addition of two waves (see Young's slits experiment). Constructive or destructive interferences are limit cases, and two waves always interfere, even if the result of the addition is complicated or not remarkable.\n",
"Constructive interference occurs when the phase difference between the waves is an even multiple of (180°) , whereas destructive interference occurs when the difference is an odd multiple of . If the difference between the phases is intermediate between these two extremes, then the magnitude of the displacement of the summed waves lies between the minimum and maximum values.\n",
" In physics, interference is the meeting of two correlated waves and either increasing or lowering the net amplitude, depending on whether it is constructive or destructive interference. If a crest of a wave meets a crest of another wave at the same point then the crests interfere constructively and the resultant crest wave amplitude is increased; forming a much more powerful wave than either of the beginning waves. Similarly two troughs make a trough of increased amplitude. If a crest of a wave meets a trough of another wave then they interfere destructively, and the overall amplitude is decreased; thus making a wave that is much smaller than either of the parent waves.\n",
"Constructive interference occurs when the waves are in phase, and destructive interference when they are half a cycle out of phase. Thus, an interference fringe pattern is produced, where the separation of the maxima is\n",
"Interference is the process by which two waves superimpose to form a resultant wave of greater or less amplitude. Interference usually refers to the interaction of waves that are correlated or coherent with each other. In constructive interference, the two waves are of the same phase interfere in a way such that the resultant amplitude will be equal to the sum of the individual amplitudes. As the light in an optical ring resonator completes multiple circuits around the ring component, it will interfere with the other light still in the loop. As such, assuming there are no losses in the system such as those due to absorption, evanescence, or imperfect coupling and the resonance condition is met, the intensity of the light emitted from a ring resonator will be equal to the intensity of the light fed into the system.\n"
] |
Why don't orbiting electrons radiate? | It's not enough for you that they're in their lowest energy state? Clearly, they can't emit energy in the form of a photon and _gain_ energy doing so - that'd just blatantly violate of conservation of energy.
But fair enough then. If the electrons behave quantum mechanically (which you've accepted) and the field is behaving classically (which you're sort of implying), then it _still_ can't emit any radiation, even if the electrons have orbital angular momentum (not all bound states do though).
Because they're behaving quantum-mechanically, the electrons have no definite positions in space. You only have the electron probability-density (= charge density) around the atom. In the ground state and other energetic eigenstates, the state is _stationary_. The probabilities of where the electrons are likely to be doesn't change with time, so the charge density is stationary. There's no charge flux, no acceleration of the charges, nothing capable of emitting radiation.
| [
"This model is even more approximate than the model of hydrogen, because it treats the electrons in each shell as non-interacting. But the repulsions of electrons are taken into account somewhat by the phenomenon of screening. The electrons in outer orbits do not only orbit the nucleus, but they also move around the inner electrons, so the effective charge Z that they feel is reduced by the number of the electrons in the inner orbit.\n",
"In this model, the orbits of the electrons were stable because when an electron moved away from the centre of the positively-charged sphere, it was subjected to a greater net positive inward force, because there was more positive charge inside its orbit (see Gauss's law). Electrons were free to rotate in rings which were further stabilized by interactions among the electrons, and spectroscopic measurements were meant to account for energy differences associated with different electron rings. Thomson attempted unsuccessfully to reshape his model to account for some of the major spectral lines experimentally known for several elements.\n",
"Electrons in an atom are sometimes described as \"orbiting\" its nucleus, following an early conjecture of Niels Bohr (this is the source of the term \"orbital\"). However, electrons don't actually orbit nuclei in any meaningful sense, and quantum mechanics are necessary for any useful understanding of the electron's real behavior. Solving the classical two-body problem for an electron orbiting an atomic nucleus is misleading and does not produce many useful insights.\n",
"In 1913 [[Niels Bohr]] proposed [[Bohr model|a new model of the atom]] that included quantized electron orbits: electrons still orbit the nucleus much as planets orbit around the sun, but they are permitted to inhabit only certain orbits, not to orbit at any distance. When an atom emitted (or absorbed) energy, the electron did not move in a continuous trajectory from one orbit around the nucleus to another, as might be expected classically. Instead, the electron would jump instantaneously from one orbit to another, giving off the emitted light in the form of a photon. The possible energies of photons given off by each element were determined by the differences in energy between the orbits, and so the emission spectrum for each element would contain a number of lines.\n",
"Electrons do not have definite orbits, or sharply defined ranges. Rather, their positions must be described as probability distributions that taper off gradually as one moves away from the nucleus, without a sharp cutoff. Moreover, in condensed matter and molecules, the electron clouds of the atoms usually overlap to some extent, and some of the electrons may roam over a large region encompassing two or more atoms.\n",
"BULLET::::1. The electron is able to revolve in certain stable orbits around the nucleus without radiating any energy contrary to what classical electromagnetism suggests. These stable orbits are called stationary orbits and are attained at certain discrete distances from the nucleus. The electron cannot have any other orbit in between the discrete ones.\n",
"This is also evident from phenomena like electron capture. Theoretically, in orbital models of heavy atoms, the electron orbits partially inside the nucleus (it does not \"orbit\" in a strict sense, but has a non-vanishing probability of being located inside the nucleus).\n"
] |
How does LIGO know that the gravitational waves they observed were from 2 black holes? | The shape of the signal they detected -- how long it lasted, how its frequency changed, how its amplitude changed -- distinguished the event as a black hole merger, and even allowed determination of the masses of the two black holes.
There was a lot of modeling of various phenomena using general relativity to see what kinds of gravitational wave waveforms they'd produce, so that when there was a signal, the could recognize what kind of signal it was.
You can read a press release about the modeling of black hole mergers [here](_URL_0_).
| [
"BULLET::::- Existence of gravitational waves (1916–2016): On 11 February 2016, the Advanced LIGO team announced that they had directly detected gravitational waves from a pair of black holes merging, which was also the first detection of a stellar binary black hole.\n",
"In 2015, the LIGO project was the first to directly observe gravitational waves using laser interferometers. The LIGO detectors observed gravitational waves from the merger of two stellar-mass black holes, matching predictions of general relativity. These observations demonstrated the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems, and were the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger. This finding has been characterized as revolutionary to science, because of the verification of our ability to use gravitational-wave astronomy to progress in our search and exploration of dark matter and the big bang.\n",
"On February 11, 2016, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration teams held a press conference to announce that they had directly detected gravitational waves from a pair of black holes merging, on Rosh Hashanah 2015, (Weber's yahrtzeit), using the Advanced LIGO detectors.\n",
"On 11 February 2016, the LIGO and Virgo collaborations announced the first observation of gravitational waves. The signal was named GW150914. The waveform showed up on 14 September 2015, within just two days of when the Advanced LIGO detectors started collecting data after their upgrade. It matched the predictions of general relativity for the inward spiral and merger of a pair of black holes and subsequent 'ringdown' of the resulting single black hole. The observations demonstrated the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems and the first observation of a binary black hole merger.\n",
"On 14 September 2015 the LIGO gravitational wave observatory made the first-ever successful direct observation of gravitational waves. The signal was consistent with theoretical predictions for the gravitational waves produced by the merger of two black holes: one with about 36 solar masses, and the other around 29 solar masses. This observation provides the most concrete evidence for the existence of black holes to date. For instance, the gravitational wave signal suggests that the separation of the two objects prior to the merger was just 350 km (or roughly 4 times the Schwarzschild radius corresponding to the inferred masses). The objects must therefore have been extremely compact, leaving black holes as the most plausible interpretation.\n",
"As of December 2018, LIGO has made eleven detections of gravitational waves, of which ten are from binary black hole mergers. The other event was the first detection of a collision of two neutron stars, on 17 August 2017 which simultaneously produced optical signals detectable by conventional telescopes. All eleven events were observed in data from the first and second observing runs of Advanced LIGO.\n",
"On 11 February 2016, the LIGO collaboration announced the first direct detection of gravitational waves, which also represented the first observation of a black hole merger. , eleven gravitational wave events have been observed that originated from ten merging black holes (along with one binary neutron star merger). On 10 April 2019, the first ever direct image of a black hole and its vicinity was published, following observations made by the Event Horizon Telescope in 2017 of the supermassive black hole in Messier 87's galactic centre.\n"
] |
does poison ivy really get worse each time? why? | > "the memory of the last infection"
Your immune system has greater reactions to things it recognizes more quickly, and it recognizes things more quickly by being exposed to them in the past. I think this is why you can develop allergies to things like super powerful epoxy if it touches your skin too much.
Essentially, when your body recognizes a foreign and potentially dangerous substance, it produces antibodies that attach to that substance and serve as markers for other parts of the immune system to destroy things. After the threat is neutralized, your body continues to circulate antibodies for that substance, in case it shows up again. Then if you are exposed to that substance again, the immune reaction is even faster and more dramatic as a result, because there are already a lot of antibodies for the thing floating around. | [
"Poison ivy is particularly sensitive to carbon dioxide levels, greatly benefiting from higher concentrations in the atmosphere. Higher carbon dioxide levels increase the rate of plant growth, and causes them to produce more unsaturated urushiol, which causes stronger reactions in humans. Poison ivy's growth and potency has already doubled since the 1960s, and it could double again once carbon dioxide levels reach 560 ppm.\n",
"BULLET::::- Poison ivy and poison oak are still harmful when the leaves have fallen off, as the toxic residue is persistent, and exposure to any parts of plants containing urushiol can cause a rash at any time of the year.\n",
"Recent reports show that accidental poisoning rates have steadily been increasing since the use of natural pyrethrins, prompting some countries to ban their use altogether. In the USA, the use of pyrethrum in home bug sprays (ie. RAID) was banned in 2012 shortly after cases of fatalities in children emerged, prompting an investigation by the FDA. \n",
"Poison Ivy's body produces pheromones that make people susceptible to mind control around her, especially men, although strong-minded people like Batman are usually capable of resisting. She specializes in hybrids and can create the most potent floral toxins in Gotham City, ranging from truth serums and love potions. Often these toxins are secreted from her lips and administered in her preferred way, a poisonous kiss, usually after professing false love or affection for her victim. They come in a number of varieties, from mind-controlling drugs to instantly fatal toxins.\n",
"\"Poison Ivy\" is a popular song by American songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally recorded by The Coasters in 1959. It went to #1 on the R&B chart, #7 on the \"Billboard\" Hot 100 chart, and #15 in the UK. This was their third top-ten hit of that year following \"Charlie Brown\" and \"Along Came Jones\".\n",
"The differences in toxicity in poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac are due to differences in the side chains of the chemicals in these plants. In general, poison ivy has a C side chain, poison oak has a C side chain and poison sumac has a C side chain.\n",
"These drugs are efficient for acute poisoning of arsenic, which refers to the instantaneous effects caused by arsenic poisoning. For example, headaches, vomiting or sweating are some of the common examples of an instantaneous effect. In comparison, chronic poisonous effects arise later on, and unexpectedly such as organ damage. Usually it is too late to prevent them once they appear. Therefore, action should be taken as soon as acute poisonous effects arise.\n"
] |
Why do some vaccines, such as Hep B or HPV, require multiple shots spread out over time? | If you inject too much of weakened disease thingy's into your body at once, it can still overwhelm your immune system. You also need to keep your "database" up to date. Think of the immunity to the disease as something expirable. After a while of not using it, your system will toss it into the trash bin. It needs to be reactivated to stay effective. I think that's basically it. | [
"Research suggests that VLP vaccines against influenza virus could provide stronger and longer-lasting protection against flu viruses than conventional vaccines. Production can begin as soon as the virus strain is sequenced and can take as little as 12 weeks, compared to 9 months for traditional vaccines. In early clinical trials, VLP vaccines for influenza appeared to provide complete protection against both the Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 and the 1918 flu pandemic. Novavax and Medicago Inc. have run clinical trials of their VLP flu vaccines.\n",
"A vaccine probably would not be available in the initial stages of population infection. A vaccine cannot be developed to protect against a virus which does not exist yet. The avian flu virus H5N1 has the potential to mutate into a pandemic strain, but so do other types of flu virus. Once a potential virus is identified and a vaccine is approved, it normally takes five to six months before the vaccine becomes available.\n",
"In April 2019, following a large-scale ring-vaccination scheme in the DRC outbreak, preliminary results showed that the vaccine had been 97.5% effective at stopping Ebola transmission, relative to no vaccination.\n",
"During the H1N1 outbreak in 2009, vaccines only became available in large quantities after the peak of human infections. This was a learning experience for vaccination companies. Novartis Vaccine and Diagnostics, among other companies, developed a synthetic approach that very rapidly generates vaccine viruses from sequence data in order to be able to administer vaccinations early in the pandemic outbreak. Philip Dormatizer, the leader of viral vaccine research at Novartis, says they have \"developed a way of chemically synthesizing virus genomes and growing them in tissue culture cells\".\n",
"The two types of vaccines contain either inactivated \"Hepatovirus A\" or a live but attenuated virus. Both provide active immunity against a future infection. The vaccine protects against HAV in more than 95% of cases for longer than 25 years. In the US, the vaccine was first used in 1996 for children in high-risk areas, and in 1999 it was spread to areas with elevating levels of infection.\n",
"Many early vaccines used dead samples of FMDV to inoculate animals, but those early vaccines sometimes caused real outbreaks. In the 1970s, scientists discovered that a vaccine could be made using only a single key protein from the virus. The task was to produce enough quantities of the protein to be used in the vaccination. On June 18, 1981, the US government announced the creation of a vaccine targeted against FMD, the world's first genetically engineered vaccine.\n",
"Vaccinations exist for several biological BRD precursors, but the multitude of possible precursors complicates the process of choosing a vaccine regime. Additionally, vaccines are not completely effective in stopping the disease, but are merely helpful in mitigation. Many of the problems with vaccine effectiveness rest with improper use, such as failing to time vaccine doses appropriately, or not administering them before shipping.\n"
] |
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