Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 4]

[paua]

popeyewhite said:

glazbagun said:

popeyewhite said:

Very nearly, but no, it's contraction.

That still requires energy. You can't contract your bicep to lift 15kgs x 30 times without an energy source. That source is ATP and breaking it down releases heat as a byproduct.

I've not said otherwise. However the heat generated during exercise (as per the OP) is from muscle contraction.

Quite like the contraction of some muscles - can necessitate the removal of blankets to allow heat dissipation.

[227bhp]

FredClogs said:

Eh?

Bigger the bang the faster the movement of the Piston.

glazbagun said:

Heavy car being pushed through a gearbox by a piston. Add more fuel/air to the explosion behind the piston and the explosion will have a greater force.

Force= Mass x Acceleration. Increase the force, cars mass/gearing stays the same= greater acceleration/piston speed= higher rpm.

Not quite, there are no bangs or explosions in the combustion chamber of a correctly running engine, when or if there is and depending on the severity of it the engine won't last long.
Fuel and air are burned in a controlled manner.

[captain_cynic]

FerdiZ28 said:

Can you obtain DNA from dust?

Wondered if it had ever been used as a way of seeing if a particular person was in a room (or after a murder/millinery theft). Dust being mainly dead skin cells is all.

Yes and no.

According to Locard's exchang principal, we will always leave and pick up something from a crime scene and both can be used as forensic evidence.

We do leave our DNA everywhere like the dirty buggers we are, however the question is how usable is it. Given our current methods of testing DNA evidence, trace amounts from skin cells would be too contaminated and insignificant to get a confident match to a suspects DNA.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

captain_cynic said:

We do leave our DNA everywhere like the dirty buggers we are, however the question is how usable is it. Given our current methods of testing DNA evidence, trace amounts from skin cells would be too contaminated and insignificant to get a confident match to a suspects DNA.

There was something on QI a while back where the DNA of an unknown person was found at multiple crime scenes and had the police thinking they were dealing with a serial killer, until it was traced back to a contaminated batch of DNA testing kits that had all been contaminated with the same person's DNA at the factory.

[Flibble]

popeyewhite said:

I've not said otherwise. However the heat generated during exercise (as per the OP) is from muscle contraction.

And contraction generates heat how?

[glazbagun]

When was the last time the British moranch refused Royal Assent?

[kowalski655]

glazbagun said:

When was the last time the British moranch refused Royal Assent?

1963: Phil was feeling frisky but Liz had a headache

[Halmyre]

kowalski655 said:

glazbagun said:

When was the last time the British moranch refused Royal Assent?

1963: Phil was feeling frisky but Liz had a headache

Bet she wishes she'd had a headache c. May 1959.

[Flibble]

glazbagun said:

When was the last time the British moranch refused Royal Assent?

1708 apparently.

[Initforthemoney]

Spiders.

As we are now the time of year, our little crawly friends start to make an appearance, why do some people have an immense fear of spiders?

I can't think many would have suffered from an 'altercation' with one at a young age to set this off?

Just coming downstairs and there was a considerably sized one on the hall wall and the wife demanded it be dealt with, (which i duly did).

So, what is it??

[LimaDelta]

Initforthemoney said:

Spiders.

As we are now the time of year, our little crawly friends start to make an appearance, why do some people have an immense fear of spiders?

I can't think many would have suffered from an 'altercation' with one at a young age to set this off?

Just coming downstairs and there was a considerably sized one on the hall wall and the wife demanded it be dealt with, (which i duly did).

So, what is it??

I think it is probably a more deep-seated primeval fear. There were probably a lot of nasty bitey types around back then. Kids who feared spiders lived longer and bred. The curious ones who went around poking them with sticks didn't.

That or it's just the way they randomly spawn in a room. Suddenly there it is, right in the middle of the wall. How the fk did it get there without me or any of the cats and mice on patrol noticing? That freaks me out.

[67Dino]

Initforthemoney said:

Spiders.

As we are now the time of year, our little crawly friends start to make an appearance, why do some people have an immense fear of spiders?

I can't think many would have suffered from an 'altercation' with one at a young age to set this off?

Just coming downstairs and there was a considerably sized one on the hall wall and the wife demanded it be dealt with, (which i duly did).

So, what is it??

It’s not rational, it’s hard wired in the brain from when we evolved tens/hundreds of thousands of years ago, when most spiders probably were dangerous.

Look at the first animals that people in Western Europe teach their babies about: lions and tigers, crocodiles and snakes. We don’t even have them here, but we did where we evolved, so we still make sure they know about them. Weird, really.

[james_TW]

Initforthemoney said:

Spiders.

As we are now the time of year, our little crawly friends start to make an appearance, why do some people have an immense fear of spiders?

I can't think many would have suffered from an 'altercation' with one at a young age to set this off?

Just coming downstairs and there was a considerably sized one on the hall wall and the wife demanded it be dealt with, (which i duly did).

So, what is it??

Because they're freaky and scary. Obviously.

[GSalt]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

There was something on QI a while back where the DNA of an unknown person was found at multiple crime scenes and had the police thinking they were dealing with a serial killer, until it was traced back to a contaminated batch of DNA testing kits that had all been contaminated with the same person's DNA at the factory.

The "Phantom of Heilbronn". The same female DNA traces found on samples from over 40 crime scenes including at least six murders.

It was the basis for the CSI: New York episode "Dead Reckoning".

http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,...

[RizzoTheRat]

Initforthemoney said:

Spiders.

As we are now the time of year, our little crawly friends start to make an appearance, why do some people have an immense fear of spiders?

I can't think many would have suffered from an 'altercation' with one at a young age to set this off?

Just coming downstairs and there was a considerably sized one on the hall wall and the wife demanded it be dealt with, (which i duly did).

So, what is it??

I think part of it is we're good at noticing sudden movement, presumably evolved from avoiding predators, so things that move suddenly tend to startle people more. Interesting fact about spiders, their legs are hydraulic, which apparently causes them to move in a much more jerky fashion than if they had muscles.

[popeyewhite]

RizzoTheRat said:

Initforthemoney said:

Spiders.

As we are now the time of year, our little crawly friends start to make an appearance, why do some people have an immense fear of spiders?

I can't think many would have suffered from an 'altercation' with one at a young age to set this off?

Just coming downstairs and there was a considerably sized one on the hall wall and the wife demanded it be dealt with, (which i duly did).

So, what is it??

I think part of it is we're good at noticing sudden movement, presumably evolved from avoiding predators, so things that move suddenly tend to startle people more. Interesting fact about spiders, their legs are hydraulic, which apparently causes them to move in a much more jerky fashion than if they had muscles.

Evolutionary psychology suggests we have an innate fear/suspicion of anything that is small-ish that can seriously injure with venom. Venomous snakes/spiders/scorrpions must have been a real fear when you share your living quarters, ie a dark cave, with them. Also, as above, the movement of spiders is about as far from anything mammalian as you can get.

[hurstg01]

popeyewhite said:

RizzoTheRat said:

Initforthemoney said:

Spiders.

As we are now the time of year, our little crawly friends start to make an appearance, why do some people have an immense fear of spiders?

I can't think many would have suffered from an 'altercation' with one at a young age to set this off?

Just coming downstairs and there was a considerably sized one on the hall wall and the wife demanded it be dealt with, (which i duly did).

So, what is it??

I think part of it is we're good at noticing sudden movement, presumably evolved from avoiding predators, so things that move suddenly tend to startle people more. Interesting fact about spiders, their legs are hydraulic, which apparently causes them to move in a much more jerky fashion than if they had muscles.

Evolutionary psychology suggests we have an innate fear/suspicion of anything that is small-ish

And that is why I cant stand John Bercow

[Halmyre]

Initforthemoney said:

Spiders.

As we are now the time of year, our little crawly friends start to make an appearance, why do some people have an immense fear of spiders?

I can't think many would have suffered from an 'altercation' with one at a young age to set this off?

Just coming downstairs and there was a considerably sized one on the hall wall and the wife demanded it be dealt with, (which i duly did).

So, what is it??

And why are spiders (and other creepy-crawlies) from Australia so highly venomous? I think it was Bill Bryson who pointed this out in one of his books - the whole continent is full of, or surrounded by seas full of, things that are disproportionately lethal to their size.

[glazbagun]

Halmyre said:

And why are spiders (and other creepy-crawlies) from Australia so highly venomous? I think it was Bill Bryson who pointed this out in one of his books - the whole continent is full of, or surrounded by seas full of, things that are disproportionately lethal to their size.

Don't know about spiders, but I think the first snakes to make it to Oz just happened to be venomous, so many of their descendants are too, just an unhappy accident rather than a darwinian war.

[Mothersruin]

hurstg01 said:

popeyewhite said:

RizzoTheRat said:

Initforthemoney said:

Spiders.

As we are now the time of year, our little crawly friends start to make an appearance, why do some people have an immense fear of spiders?

I can't think many would have suffered from an 'altercation' with one at a young age to set this off?

Just coming downstairs and there was a considerably sized one on the hall wall and the wife demanded it be dealt with, (which i duly did).

So, what is it??

I think part of it is we're good at noticing sudden movement, presumably evolved from avoiding predators, so things that move suddenly tend to startle people more. Interesting fact about spiders, their legs are hydraulic, which apparently causes them to move in a much more jerky fashion than if they had muscles.

Evolutionary psychology suggests we have an innate fear/suspicion of anything that is small-ish

And that is why I cant stand John Bercow

It seems given the latest Brexit developments, he's not happy, I'm not sure which of the other six he may be...