Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 2]

Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 2]

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3000GT ANT

347 posts

157 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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why do we have different accents??

DannyScene

6,651 posts

156 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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3000GT ANT said:
why do we have different accents??
Good question, I was wondering this the other night.

GroundEffect

13,855 posts

157 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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3000GT ANT said:
why do we have different accents??
You are brought up to speak a very specific way by your parents when learning sounds (effectively words are just groups of sounds). These will be fairly uniform across areas (such as cities) but when you move to another population there will be a different way of making certain sounds, on average.

Hence, accents.

lankybob

1,710 posts

191 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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What are flames?
It may sound like a silly question but what are they made of?

GroundEffect

13,855 posts

157 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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lankybob said:
What are flames?
It may sound like a silly question but what are they made of?
Some people go around falsely claiming that all flames are plasma. They are infact just incandescent gas and the gas depends what is burning. If you get a REALLY hot fire/flame you can get plasma as the gases deionise, though.


marshalla

15,902 posts

202 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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lankybob said:
What are flames?
It may sound like a silly question but what are they made of?
A mixture of gases small particles of solid and/or liquid which are undergoing an exothermic reaction, resulting in the radiation of visible light and IR.

sleep envy

62,260 posts

250 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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Why is the word lieutenant pronounced leftenant?

schmalex

13,616 posts

207 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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When we pump oil out of the ground, what fills the void left, or are there just huge caverns left?

AdeTuono

7,272 posts

228 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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schmalex said:
When we pump oil out of the ground, what fills the void left, or are there just huge caverns left?
No. Oil is held in permeable rock, much like a sponge. When you wring a sponge out, it's still takes up the same area; so it is with rock. (V. simplistic answer....)

Bobby_Mac

410 posts

206 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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How many average nicotine cigarretes would you need to soak in water before it would kill you if you drank that water?

V8mate

45,899 posts

190 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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Bobby_Mac said:
How many average nicotine cigarretes would you need to soak in water before it would kill you if you drank that water?
How much water?

Hugo a Gogo

23,378 posts

234 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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there's enough nicotine in 40-60 fags to kill the average person

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine_poisoning

kids can die from eating one or two fags

slip a couple of patches on someone without them noticing, offer them some nicotine gum without telling them, and make some tea with Skoal Bandits, that'd see them off

Bobby_Mac

410 posts

206 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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V8mate said:
How much water?
Just your average glass of water so around 300ml. I was told you would die if you soaked just one cigarette but that sounded rubbish to me. So around 2 packs sounds a bit more plausible.

anonymous-user

55 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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Whether or not this statistic is accurate:


Vipers

32,926 posts

229 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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The washing powder compartment in my washing machine gets covered with black gunge, including the inlet to the fabric conditioner thingy, bearing in mind this inlet comes from the water inlet from the mains supply to the house where does the black stuff, which finally blocked the inlet, came from?




smile

Hugo a Gogo

23,378 posts

234 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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it grows

it's mould

torqueofthedevil

2,083 posts

178 months

Tuesday 28th February 2012
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What was the format of old wars / battles - you see these huge fortified castles that were heavily guarded sat out by themselves or even on islands just out to sea. Why didn't invaders just march straight past them? Why engage the enemy at such a difficult position?!?


JonnyFive

29,403 posts

190 months

Thursday 1st March 2012
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How do they crack walnuts to get the nut out from the inside, without breaking them? (Hopefully this makes sense.. It does to me..)

marshalla

15,902 posts

202 months

Thursday 1st March 2012
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torqueofthedevil said:
What was the format of old wars / battles - you see these huge fortified castles that were heavily guarded sat out by themselves or even on islands just out to sea. Why didn't invaders just march straight past them? Why engage the enemy at such a difficult position?!?
Castles are places to live in and designed to make it difficult for attackers to get into. They aren't designed as launch pads for systems to repel invaders. Since they were effectively seats of power and administrative centres, invaders would need to get in to deal with the incumbent management at some stage, but not until the defenders outside had been dealt with.

Proper old battles involved one side lining up opposite the other on the field of battle and charging. Assuming the invaders could win that game, prolonged sieges were not uncommon, relying on breaking the supply lines and starving those inside the castle into submission.

GhostDriver

878 posts

193 months

Thursday 1st March 2012
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marshalla said:
torqueofthedevil said:
What was the format of old wars / battles - you see these huge fortified castles that were heavily guarded sat out by themselves or even on islands just out to sea. Why didn't invaders just march straight past them? Why engage the enemy at such a difficult position?!?
Castles are places to live in and designed to make it difficult for attackers to get into. They aren't designed as launch pads for systems to repel invaders. Since they were effectively seats of power and administrative centres, invaders would need to get in to deal with the incumbent management at some stage, but not until the defenders outside had been dealt with.

Proper old battles involved one side lining up opposite the other on the field of battle and charging. Assuming the invaders could win that game, prolonged sieges were not uncommon, relying on breaking the supply lines and starving those inside the castle into submission.
Also many castles were garrisons, you wouldn't want to march your army past one and then be taken up the rear.
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