Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 3]

[Shakermaker]

All that jazz said:

Fun Bus said:

All that jazz said:

Why has there been a big freight train stuck on the bridge over the A1 at Tuxford for weeks?

Something to do with the Network Rail development centre perhaps?

I don't follow train stuff so no idea. Bound to be some train spotter types on here though.

I'm sure someone in the Boats, Planes and Trains area will be able to help.

[Rich_W]

Why, when I go into the toilets at work (or indeed any public toilet) is there always a random pube on the side of the urinal or pan. But at home, there just isn't any strays

Who is standing there pulling them out?!?!

[Smeeeeeg]

Skyrat said:

Smeeeeeg said:

daveco said:

How is it that chemotherapy uses a radioactive process to kill cancer when that same process or using those same substances (polonium??) can often create cancer in the first place?

Worth pointing out that if you have any significant exposure to something as intensely radioactive as polonium (and in the case of polonium by significant I mean a few 10s of nanograms) then you're going to be dying very shortly of acute radiation poisoning, not cancer at some point down the line.

Radiation therapy itself does carry a small but definite risk of causing secondary cancers which usually show up many years after treatment (up to 10-15 years or more in the case of solid tumours). This is due to mutations in previously healthy cells which have received a dose high enough to damage their DNA, but not enough to kill them.

The second paragraph is the correct answer. Also, to be precise, chemotherapy involves poisons, radiotherapy involves radiation.

It might be overstating it to say any exposure to Polonium will be fatal. If you ingest it at all, sure, you're almost certainly going to die in a pretty unpleasant way, but since Polonium-210 decays by emitting Alpha particles (Helium nuclei which can be stopped by a sheet of paper or skin) it's not as dangerous as stated. That being said, I'd not be handling it without proper PPE.

True. I guess I was assuming inhalation, ingestion or absorption of some kind when saying that. You certainly aren't going to be wanting to leave any lying around the place, or, I don't know, having someone put it in your tea, for example...

[SpeckledJim]

Why does bacon flavouring on junk food repeat so persistently?

[Rich_W]

With all this talk of how we sells weapons to Saudi and every other terrible person in the world


Where exactly are our arms manufacturers in the UK? And what do they make? Cause I'm guessing it's not guns and knives

[CB2152]

Rich_W said:

With all this talk of how we sells weapons to Saudi and every other terrible person in the world


Where exactly are our arms manufacturers in the UK? And what do they make? Cause I'm guessing it's not guns and knives

Happy to be corrected on any of this:

I would guess we make mostly big stuff rather than small arms. The only UK companies I can think of that make rifles/shotguns and stuff are all small companies that do "sporting" firearms, those that you might see folded over the arm of a man whose dog has just retrieved a pheasant.

Pretty much all of the firearms used on larger scales are companies like H&K, Sig Sauer, Glock, Colt, S&W etc.
None of those UK.

I presume we make a lot of componentry and technical stuff for vehicle based weapons like missiles (a friend used to work for MBDA) and ship mounted guns.

Finishing typing this and I remember there's a company called Accuracy International which I believe is UK(?) that makes high accuracy sniper rifles.

[Hugo a Gogo]

BAe is pretty big

[glazbagun]

Rich_W said:

With all this talk of how we sells weapons to Saudi and every other terrible person in the world


Where exactly are our arms manufacturers in the UK? And what do they make? Cause I'm guessing it's not guns and knives

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companies_by_arms_sales

BAe- ships, planes,tanks, missiles, bombs, drones. No small arms to my knowledge, but plenty of state-level stuff.

In that list there's BAE (UK & a US division), rolls-royce, babcock, serco, cobham, meggitt, GKN and chemring.

Which cover everything from engines to surveillance equipment, armour and teargas.

[Jonboy_t]

Why do nails grow? I know how they grow, but what's the point of them growing? Is there a point to them growing?

[Willy Nilly]

Jonboy_t said:

Why do nails grow? I know how they grow, but what's the point of them growing? Is there a point to them growing?

They would have probably worn down for our ancestors.

[FlyingMeeces]

All our cells keep replacing themselves, we'd have red raw fingertips otherwise.

[steveo3002]

does a extremly hairy man use more energy vs a man with no body hair ?

[Ayahuasca]

Apparently semen is costly for the body to make, being protein an all. Each er, event, consume quite a few calories.

Forget diet and exercise, fap yourself thin!

So how many wks would it take to lose a stone in body weight?

[FlyingMeeces]

steveo3002 said:

does a extremly hairy man use more energy vs a man with no body hair ?

Are we talking aerodynamics here or biomass or what?

[steveo3002]

FlyingMeeces said:

steveo3002 said:

does a extremly hairy man use more energy vs a man with no body hair ?

Are we talking aerodynamics here or biomass or what?

i was getting at does it use more energy to grow the hair

Edited by steveo3002 on Saturday 10th December 20:06

[FlyingMeeces]

steveo3002 said:

i was getting it does it use more energy to grow the hair

Marginally, yep, you're right. But everyone grows hair there, the only variation is in colour, length and thickness - can't imagine it's more than a handful of calories a year extra.

[popeyewhite]

steveo3002 said:

does a extremly hairy man use more energy vs a man with no body hair ?

I should think that shaving everyday will easily burn more calories than letting your hair grow (all over or wherever).

[kowalski655]

Ayahuasca said:

Apparently semen is costly for the body to make, being protein an all. Each er, event, consume quite a few calories.

Forget diet and exercise, fap yourself thin!

So how many wks would it take to lose a stone in body weight?

500 calories burnt per day will lose a pound in a week, so 3500 cal/lb,x14=49000 calories.
wking uses 6 cals per minute, so just over 136 hours!
So stock up

[Rich_W]

kowalski655 said:

Ayahuasca said:

Apparently semen is costly for the body to make, being protein an all. Each er, event, consume quite a few calories.

Forget diet and exercise, fap yourself thin!

So how many wks would it take to lose a stone in body weight?

500 calories burnt per day will lose a pound in a week, so 3500 cal/lb,x14=49000 calories.
wking uses 6 cals per minute, so just over 136 hours!
So stock up

No wonder the street walkers in South London are so thin

[dfen5]

Now there's billions of people, is the earth heavier than it was before it was populated?