Oceania The answers to life's mysteries... and other unanswered questions.

Welcome to the thread that will contain answers.

At work this week, several left feild questions camp up and, disturbingly, I was actually able to answer all of them with the correct response.

So I had an idea, why not create a thread where you can ask a question that you never knew the answer to and you can finially get an answer.

The only rules are as follow:
1. No asking about the meaning of life. This will just get you a rather silly Monty Python quote from the film.
2. The question must be TOS friendly.
3. Please don't ask questions about religeon. No matter what answer I could give on these questions, I would offend somebody.
4. Don't ask me about the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow. (from memory, it was around 14.3 mph)

So, what question would you like answered?

Note: answers will have refernces to any material that aided the response.

 

Ok - Why is lint always (and i mean always) blue??

 

I remember Dr. Karl coming up with an answer to that one once. Can't remember it myself.

Another question: Is chocolate good for you in any particular way?

 

Why do rude French knights fart in our general direction?

 

Why is it, that when you are waiting for a bus, if you decide not to light up a ciagrette, the bus will take 45 mins to turn up. BUT if you do light a ciggie, your bus will be there as soon as you've had a couple of drags??

Why??

 

Because smoking is disgusting crap and it's the world's way of telling you to stop.

Oh and as for the chocolate question. Well it increases sexual stimulation dosn't it?
That and you can use it as "get out of jail" free card with the women when you **** up.

 

1. Why is lint always (and i mean always) blue??

Dr Karl did actually answer this one, but the fact is that lint isn't always blue. Anyone from the army is likely to discover that their bellybutton lint is a grren colour. Pulling the lint filter out of the clothes dryer at home, turns up a very grey color lint.

But back to the question. The most current beleif about why lint is usually blue is that all clothes have small particles breaking off them all the time, everyday. These particles collect themselves into plaes where they can stick together (eg. pockets). But the blue colour is the result of a similar reaction to acidity tests on litmus paper. The theory is that the alkalis in your skin absorb into the lint, which causes them to turn blue (why lint has this property, I don't know).

The other popular beleif is that lint is most commonly noticed in the pockets of Jeans (you may know where this one is going). The majority of denim out there is blue in colour. So, the small particles are blue and when they collect... LINT!

2. Is chocolate good for you in any particular way?

Yes it is, but I'm answering this one very tentativly. Chocolate is made from cocoa and by the time a standard milk chocolate reaches you, it's only about 60-70% cocoa solids. This product contains essential nutrients (in trace amounts, mind you) which include iron, calcium, potassium, and vitamins A. B1, C, D, and E. Chocolate is also the highest natural source of magnesium (funny isn't it?).

Now you're probraly wondering why having enough magnesium is important. Well, magnesium deficiency has been linked with hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, joint problems and pre-menstrual tension (PMT or PMS).

3. Why do rude French knights fart in our general direction?

I knew I was going to get at least one person with a Monty Python crack after I mentioned the swallow.

The original intent of the sketch from Monty Python and the Holy Grail was that the french tuanter was using expressions that aren't that offensive.

Historically, there were people used in armies to tuant the other side, which supposedly was to dishearten the opposing force. However, there isn't any documented evidence to suggest that taunters actually turned the tide of battles.

4. Why is it, that when you are waiting for a bus, if you decide not to light up a ciagrette, the bus will take 45 mins to turn up. BUT if you do light a ciggie, your bus will be there as soon as you've had a couple of drags??

Ok, there are two things I need to make references to. The first is that it's Murphy's law, which when applied to this situation, states that the bus comes at the most in-opportune moment. (Murphy's law is written in several different ways, but usually has to be specifically applied to situations)

The second is simply that you probrably haven't spent as long as you think smoking the ciggy. I cannot speak personally, but I can say that some of my friends take longer to smoke one ciggy than they think.

In all likelyhood though, the bus was running late and you decided to light up. Due to the pleasure that you recieve from the nicotine, you didn't notice the passage of time.

---

[b][u]References:[/u]
Lint:[/b] http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/lint/
[b]Chocolate:[/b] http://www.aphrodite-chocolates.co.uk/chocolate_health_benefits.htm
[b]Taunts in battle:[/b] review Psalms in your bible. Also, anyone familiar with the story of David and Goliath should remember the taunting in there
[b]Smoking and the bus:[/b] I have to apologise on this one. I can't provide any references to any sites with factual findings. The closest one's all are heavy anti-smoking ones, so I don't want to post links to them.
[hr]

So, who's next?

 

How many fingers am I holding up?

 

How many fingers am I holding up?

I was kinda wanting serious questions but I'll do my best with this one.

Having met you and seeing that you hve the normal number of digits of your hands, you could be holding up between 0 and 10 fingers or digits (note the clarifier that includes a thumb as a digit).

 

Thought I'd direct this one towards comments in your sig, because it's bothered me just about forever.

Monks in third ed D&D: when they reach about 6th level or so, they obtain what I always thought was a pretty funky special rule for their saving throw against fireballs or other physical effects. Now, does that rule mean that if they make their saving throw vs. fire, they take no damage as opposed to the standard half damage that everyone else does?

(In case you're wondering, it's because I believe I got screwed by an ex-GM who seemed to think monks take half damage rather than no damage...I think he got annoyed when his specialty was firetraps and my monk just kept on truckin' through one after the next without a scratch on him)

 

1. No asking about the meaning of life. This will just get you a rather silly Monty Python quote from the film

or the oh-so-hilarious 42, which isn't overly used to death and beyond.

QUESTION: Why is it if you got in a spaceship and travelled at 0.9 x the speed of light away from Earth for 10years, and then came back from that point to the Earth at the exact same speed (0.9c) for another 10years, Earth will have aged closer to 50 years in your 20years?

E_S

 

While it is overused, 42 is the property of HitchHiker's guide to the Galaxy, and not Monty Python...

EDIT: ok, just spotted the word "or", gimme a break, it's late

 

Please explain the mechanical differences between a pushrod v8 engine, and a DOHC v8.

 

Hope milney doesn't mind me fielding a couple of these...

Why is it if you got in a spaceship and travelled at 0.9 x the speed of light away from Earth for 10years, and then came back from that point to the Earth at the exact same speed (0.9c) for another 10years, Earth will have aged closer to 50 years in your 20years?

The short answer is time dilaton. I'll post the long answer during my lunch break, it's a little bit complicated and far too early right now.

Please explain the mechanical differences between a pushrod v8 engine, and a DOHC v8.

The primary difference is the location and number of camshafts. A standard "pushrod" engine will have one camshaft located in the engine block, which operates the valves through a series of linkages. Overhead camshafts are located directly above the valves, reducing the linkages and thus making it more efficient but also more expensive to manufacture. Double overhead cams (DOHC) have one camshaft for the intake valve and one for the exhaust valve. Hence, you will get an efficiency boost from DOHC, but a DOHC engine will cost more to buy because it costs more to make.

 

re: chocolate

Apparently one thing people who live past 100 have in common is that they LOVE chocolate - particularly dark chocolate (mmmmmmmmmm), which doesn't have the calories of normal "western" chocolate. So maybe there's something in that.


Chocolate contains

anandamide: a natural analogue of cannabis found in the brain - although you apparently need to eat a LOT of chocolate to get even a remote effect.

Phenylethylamine: the "love chemical" most people associated with chocolate; it occurs naturally in the brain in small amounts, and releases dopamine into the "pleasure areas" of the brain - with the highest levels during orgasm. But ... most of the phenylethylamine in chocolate is digested long before it gets near your brain, so only people who are super-sensitive to it typically have any reaction to it in chocolate. On the other hand, in high doses phenylethylamine can also have the same effect as amphetamines. Something in that for all of us, I think.

theobromine: which has been found to have toxic effects on the testes (as well as other reproductive problems) in rats - although pure theobromine is apparently a good cough medicine. Go figure. (Cough please)

tryptophan: one the one hand, its an essential amino acid needed for normal growth; on the other, it limits production of serotonin, involved in regulation of sleep, depression, and memory.

tetrahydro-beta-carbolines: also found in alcohol, and is possibly linked to alcoholism. The jury is still out on its effects in chocolate.

Bottom line: chocolate is essentially a psychoactive drug, but it has such small amounts of these chemicals that its basically harmless unless eaten in HUGE amounts.


It's also low GI.

 

Alright, as promised, an answer to Ender's question.

This site taught me about it, and explains the maths of it fairly well, but I'll summarise it briefly. Time dilation is a result of the Lorenz transformation theory, which essentially says that an object changes size when moving in relation to an observer, i.e. a ruler gets smaller when moving away from a person looking at it. Similarly, time slows as an object gets faster relative to an observer. This all sounds kind of crazy, as it's not something we ever see, but the effects of it at anything below about half the speed of light is negligible and only measurable with atomic clocks. If we accept this to be true, and also accept that the only universally constant speed is that of light, then it stands to reason that time dilation will become more noticeable as we get closer to the speed of light. This graph shows the time dilation factor as the speed of light is approached, and the formula used for it:

[image=http://www.fourmilab.ch/cship/figures/gr_timedial.gif] [image=http://www.fourmilab.ch/cship/equations/timedial.gif]

So at 0.9c (0.9 times the speed of light), the time dilation factor t' is about 2.5, which means that travelling for 20 years at that speed will return you to earth in 50 years time.

In essence, the explanation isn't complicated: time gets slower as an object gets faster. It's just a concept that is fundamentally different than what we have been taught about time. There are plenty of sites which discuss the phenomenon in much greater detail than what I've written here, I'd suggest researching it if you're interested in special relativity and, to a lesser extent, quantum mechanics.

 

Monks in third ed D&D: when they reach about 6th level or so, they obtain what I always thought was a pretty funky special rule for their saving throw against fireballs or other physical effects. Now, does that rule mean that if they make their saving throw vs. fire, they take no damage as opposed to the standard half damage that everyone else does?

I'm not as well burst in D&D as I once was, but one of my friends assures me that if you make your saving throw against fire, you will not incur damage.

I can't speak for that though.

Hope milney doesn't mind me fielding a couple of these...

Fine by me, but I can answer the special relativity question because I actually enjoyed physics.

T = To / rout(1 - v^2/c^2)

Seeing as v has been specified as .9c, then you have this:

T = 20 / rout(1 - 0.81)

which solves in this way

T = 45.88 years

EDIT: Hawk, that was an excellent explaination. Damn you for beating me to it.

 

Why are there always carrots in your vomit even when you have not eaten carrots?

 

What is stopping the Solar Tower being built in Western NSW? In your opinion, is it a viable source of electricity over coal?






And another thing: how come I can't get no Tang 'round here?

 

1. Why are there always carrots in your vomit even when you have not eaten carrots?

I'm so tempted to quote my father here "because there's a pervert who chases drunks with carots".

The real reason is much more mundane. Vomit, contrary to popular beleif, doesn't always have chunks of carrots in it. After speaking to serveral staff from hospitals and nursing homes, they have all confirmed that vomit is usually a thick form of fluid, sometimes with chunks and sometimes not.

Usually the chunks are seen just after food has been ingested. The reason for the appearance of carrots is that the acids in your stomach have partially broken down the food into those lump sized peices (chewing of the food during ingestion and passage to the stomach also account for some of this. The orange appearance is caused by the liquid that is the major component of vomit itself.

I have to say though, that I personally didn't want to answer this question (but I have seen vomit with and without 'carrots')

2. What is stopping the Solar Tower being built in Western NSW? In your opinion, is it a viable source of electricity over coal?

According to the website which you yourself have quoted, the opposition to the project comes from environmental impact studies and planning that are yet to be conducted. The state government is very interested in the project itself, but I will point out that it took almost two years after the idea for the harbour tunnel before it began construction (from my recollection). The project itself could take years before it reaches the construction phase.

As for the second half of your statement, I will first compare it to the average coal electricity station. The proposed solar tower would produce 200MegaWatts of electricity. This amount of energy could supply around 200,000 households. According to this website there are gas-fired power stations that can produce 500MW of energy. I am unsure about the rating of coal-fired stations, but you asked for my personal opinion.

It could certainly be a viable source as opposed to coal. However, this design does take years to build. I will say that as much as I believe that this kind of technology will be very beneficial for us, I also think that it will probrably be 2025 before we rely on this kind of thing.

3. And another thing: how come I can't get no Tang 'round here?

Quite simply because I can't find it in the product lists from Woolworths, Coles, Bi-lo (yes, I know the last two are from the same parent company) or Franklins.

I am not sure if there are any retailers in Australia who stock it. However, you can click here to see a bunch of sites that describe how to make it.

From looking at some of those sites, I see that it contains some alcohol. I'm not sure if pubs have it on their menu.

 

Question, how does a LZW compression algorithm work, and to follow that up, when is .j2k finally going ot make it as a file type?

This is merely a general measuring type question to you, if you get it right, i recommend researching digital tv and frame compression.

 

Question, how does a LZW compression algorithm work,

Quite well.

 

It's just a concept that is fundamentally different than what we have been taught about time.

Damn you Sir Isaac Newton!!!

Cheers milney and Hawk, you uber-man-nerds you...

(Hey, I did ask and did want to know...)


E_S

 

Monks in third ed D&D: when they reach about 6th level or so, they obtain what I always thought was a pretty funky special rule for their saving throw against fireballs or other physical effects. Now, does that rule mean that if they make their saving throw vs. fire, they take no damage as opposed to the standard half damage that everyone else does?

I believe this to be the case; that is, there's no point having a special ability you earn at high levels that allows you to take the same DR as everyone else.

Having said that, Star Wars RPG was full of stupid redundancies so let me check my PHb when and if I find it, or the 3.5 e-Tools.

E_S

 

Re monks--especially given the almost-insane prohibitions they have on monks wearing anything bar a birthday suit when charging into battle...

As for SW RPG, well, I always rather liked the old "Force Point" rule for abnormalities. A friend of mine had a smuggler who pumped just about all his skill dice into Blaster skill. Combine 8d6 with Force point = 16d6 on any shot within that round = a guy you don't want to have around when your group confronts the main bad guy.