Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 2]
Discussion
MissChief said:
Originally it started out as a method of starting each genre of programmes separate but also allowing enough space for extra channels in future. Now it's more tied in with channel type and availability. Sky sports 1 on 401 for example. There's no real technical reason from what I was told. Same with 0-99 but that does minimise confusion in case you want channel 97 and press another number and end up with 'livexxxchat' just as the wife walks in.
Nice one, cheers! Now I can tell Mrs Tex who always asks me why.Why don't countries cancel out national debts between each other to reduce their overall debts?
e.g - the UK owes Japan £15bn , but Japan owes the UK £4bn , so why don't we just write off what Japan owes us, in turn that leaves us owing £11bn , therefore we have reduced our national debt by £4bn. Is it to do with interest rates etc? but then surely something could be worked out.
(figures are purely fictional)
e.g - the UK owes Japan £15bn , but Japan owes the UK £4bn , so why don't we just write off what Japan owes us, in turn that leaves us owing £11bn , therefore we have reduced our national debt by £4bn. Is it to do with interest rates etc? but then surely something could be worked out.
(figures are purely fictional)
Supernova190188 said:
Why don't countries cancel out national debts between each other to reduce their overall debts?
e.g - the UK owes Japan £15bn , but Japan owes the UK £4bn , so why don't we just write off what Japan owes us, in turn that leaves us owing £11bn , therefore we have reduced our national debt by £4bn. Is it to do with interest rates etc? but then surely something could be worked out.
(figures are purely fictional)
For several good reasons, partially involving inflation and currency fluctuations, partially to do with holding forex and various other geopolitical reasons like "if China called in all its US debt, the system would collapse".e.g - the UK owes Japan £15bn , but Japan owes the UK £4bn , so why don't we just write off what Japan owes us, in turn that leaves us owing £11bn , therefore we have reduced our national debt by £4bn. Is it to do with interest rates etc? but then surely something could be worked out.
(figures are purely fictional)
Minor things like that.
CraigyMc said:
For several good reasons, partially involving inflation and currency fluctuations, partially to do with holding forex and various other geopolitical reasons like "if China called in all its US debt, the system would collapse".
Minor things like that.
China can't call their US debt because the US can just tell them to bugger off.Minor things like that.
For each tranche of debt the US is contractually obliged to pay 2% interest per annum for 25 years or whatever and then give the money back.
China can't just ask for the money back whenever it feels like it.
That would be like the bank asking you to pay back your whole mortgage out of the blue - of course the system would collapse.
Also in the China example there is very little debt to "net off". China really doesn't borrow very much from the US - it is de minimis in comparison to the flow the other way.
The main reason that where netting could happen but doesn't is because one debt is rarely exactly similar to another.
So £1bn of 25 year debt can't be cancelled by £1bn of 10 year debt for example.
Different maturities, different coupons, different currency, different terms etc...
In reality, the debts are netted because all that happens is that one government writes a big cheque for interest to another and vice versa. So the total impact on the "current account" is the same as a smaller amount of debt.
leafspring said:
gwm said:
Do a lot of insects die in heavy rain? Or what do they do, hide?
The unlucky/dumb ones die... the rest hide under rocks, plants, logs/bark, buildings, bigger animals etcCan an insect fly through heavy rain? I mean, are insects water proof to something that is relatively as big as they are?
gwm said:
Follow up questions if I may...
Can an insect fly through heavy rain? I mean, are insects water proof to something that is relatively as big as they are?
I vaguely recall reading that they are mainly small enough to get pushed out of the way by the air in front of the raindrop. So they get a very rough ride and don't have an easy time, but generally survive rather than being splatted down by the drops.Can an insect fly through heavy rain? I mean, are insects water proof to something that is relatively as big as they are?
As I understand it, the thing with small flying insects like mozzies is the rain drops don't actually transfer a lot of momentum, so the impact is relatively small - like a football rolling through a pile of ping pong balls, so the forces transferred aren't big enough to ruin their day - they recover quickly & carry on.
Shaolin said:
gwm said:
Follow up questions if I may...
Can an insect fly through heavy rain? I mean, are insects water proof to something that is relatively as big as they are?
I vaguely recall reading that they are mainly small enough to get pushed out of the way by the air in front of the raindrop. So they get a very rough ride and don't have an easy time, but generally survive rather than being splatted down by the drops.Can an insect fly through heavy rain? I mean, are insects water proof to something that is relatively as big as they are?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-206...
goldblum said:
These aren't bothered by raindrops:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-206...
Jesus! That fhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-206...
ker wouldn't be bothered by an RPG!
goldblum said:
These aren't bothered by raindrops:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-206...
The ones in King Kong were bigger.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-206...
wildone63 said:
Why do so many magazine articles begin with the first letter of the first word being in a much larger font than the rest?
Some consider it stylish. It's a convention that largely only occurs in magazines. There are no rules for writing magazine articles like there are for academic papers AFAIK.Halb said:
goldblum said:
These aren't bothered by raindrops:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-206...
The ones in King Kong were bigger.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-206...
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