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Can smoking cause you to lose weight? Not directly. It is a stimulant and appetite suppressant however (many diet pils contain a lot of caffeine). Any significant or sudden losses of weight my signify a health problem and should be discussed with a doctor.

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Where does the term "X-ray" come from? Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923), professor of physics and the director of the Physical Institute of the University of Wurburg was experimenting with cathode ray tubing when he accidentally discovered x-rays, so named by him because he was unsure of their nature (in math, x is often an unknown variable). In other words, it's similar to naming them "I don't know...

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In the movie Cast Away, what is in the package? Director Robert Zemeckis was asked at a Q&A session at USC what was in the unopened packaged. He replied that it was a waterproof, solar-powered, satellite phone. To hear him say it for yourself on the DVD, do this: Start at the Special Features Main Menu and enter the Video & Stills Galleries. When you see "Raft Escape" press left on your remote to highlight the "World...

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Is sugar really detrimental to your health? What would eating too much of it do to you? Too much of anything is bad for you. People trying to pass urine tests have even been known to get water poisoning. Too much sugar, regularly, causes weight gain, diabetes, and speeds up tooth decay. Diabetes occurs when the body can't regulate its sugar and insulin levels. Muscles, heart, nerves and brain can be adversly effected by diabetes. Sugar can, in time, make you stupid....

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Is it true that the Moon is slowly moving away from the Earth? Yes. You can blame tidal friction for this, the slowing of the earth's rotation, the tides, why we only ever see one side of the moon and the slightly squashed appearance of the planet (a few centimeters wider around the equator). Each year the moon's orbit grows by 3.8 centimeters. It will not fly away, however; it is assumed that in 15 billion it will stabilize at 1.6 times...

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What is the difference between geostationary and geosynchronous satellites? Geostationary is for a satellite to appear to remain perfectly stationary in the sky as seen from earth. In order for this to happen, it's orbital period must perfectly match the earth's 23 hour 56 minute day. As an added qualifier it must also be exactly above the equator (inclination of 0). Since to keep a satellite perfectly geostationary for a long amount of time would require...

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Can cold temperatures diminish your singing range? Yes, it can cause your voice to sound "tight" making you sharper and unable to hit your lower range. And then you get laryngitis, which is the singer's worst nightmare. Cold temperature has negative effects on any part of the body. Some maintain that overworking the voice in the cold can cause temporary to permanent damage, as I'm sure any cheerleader can attest to. ...

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When I drink alcohol, I get itchy, red marks all over my body, I vomit, get chills, and my hands get bloated. Am I allergic? If it is with all liquors, most likely. If it is with only certain types (wine or beer or certain mixed drinks) a component therein would probably be the culprit. Drunk and having a bad reaction is not a good combination, however and I urge you to be safe, abstain if possible and at the very least go have a doctor give you an allergy test.

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If a polygraph test measures stress response, would taking drugs or other relaxants change the results? Anti-depressant medication (i.e., Lithium, Prozac) are known to have effects, and any drug that effects mood or psychological arousal is certain to alter results. However, these drugs do not, in themselves, allow someone to beat the test, as all results in prescreening would also be skewed and would tip off a good polygraph administrator. For the record, however, there is good reason why the...

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Why do we have 10 toes and fingers? Why not 11? Genetically speaking, it is much more efficient to encode DNA for symetrical structures. It is partly a matter of simplicity.

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What is the purpose of spats? The little shoe covers are entirely cosmetic, covering up unsightly laces and bows and protecting the shoe from scuffs. They lend a cleaner, more streamlined, albiet more gangster, look and are normally only worn with tuxedoes and at swing dancing clubs these days.

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How do you breed mice? A fertile male and female of appropriate age (older than six weeks). Gender can be determined by comparing distance from anus to genitals, which is shorter in females. Also, only adult females have nipples. Once together breeding should be automatic and, in fact, pregnancy can be determined when the female refuses to breed. You may wish to separate them at this point. Care and feeding is...

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How is one selected for jury service? What are the requirements, duties and pay? Specifics vary from state to state I believe. The basics: You are selected either by being a registered voter or having some other form of government identification (Driver's License). It is normally the former. Requirements are: United States citizenship, residence in district court is in, age of 18, conversant in English, physically and mentally able to carry out the functions...

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Why is space travel important? From my friend Mike's inciteful (sic) blog: What do we use today that is a result of the space program? Everything. GPS, Thermal Blankets, Cellphones, lightweight composites found in camping gear and vehicles, robotics that assemble our vehicles and handle hazardous materials, metal alloys, efficient automobiles resulting from NASA wind-tunnel exercises, hi-bandwidth optical...

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My boyfriend still talks to his ex-girlfriend, even though he knows it hurts my feelings. He says they're just friends. What should I do? I am in a similar situation, both from your point of view and his. Some relationships end well enough to leave both people friends, and often better for the experience. While jealousy is natural and expected, you must measure your love and trust for him. If you cannot trust him he is not worth loving. And while, if you want to be a good partner, should not choose his friends for him, you are...

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Why do gays consider same sex marriage to be important? Wow. Get ready for heated debate, I'm sure. It is important to those against it because to them it threatens religious beliefs, political and moral definitions of the very act of marriage itself, and, most importantly perhaps, the status quo. Those who support it see it as another step for equal rights, the ability to be recognized legally and personally as a couple with the same...

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Does Jones Turkey & Gravy Soda really taste like turkey and gravy? From XE Entertainment's taste test of the holiday pack: "Though honestly not as bad as we were anticipating and not even the worst of the Holiday Pack, just knowing that some mad soda scientist spent weeks concocting a beverage flavored like dead cooked turkey meat created an ambiance of "last day on the planet" amongst us. Some of us confessed our darkest secrets, others...

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What are the names of vitamins that function as coenzymes in metabolic activities? Vitamin B2 (riboflavin, the funniest name in vitamins) is the precursor to flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD). Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) is required for synthesis of coenzyme A. I think other B complexes are involved as well, and the lot has been rumored to aid in hangovers, though I think drinking in moderation with water and a stomach's worth of food...

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What does the term violence distraction mean? Violence distraction is a term describing the poor memory recall of witnesses of a violent scene. The violence and stress cause them to focus on the exciting bits and forget or ignore all the others. It's related to "weapons focus," wherein witnesses get so enthralled by the weapon a suspect is holding (like a gun or atomic bomb) that they forget details about the person waving...

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We spend a lot of time together, we eat lunch, meet after work and spend the whole weekend together. There is no one else I would rather be with. How do I know if our relationship is out of balance? One way would be to ask your partner and your friends in a straightforward manner, weighing in their various biases. If you feel a frightening sense of loss of independence, or if your other private and professional life suffers, that would be a hint. There really isn't enough information here to give you advice, but I'd say if you're worried about it it may be a problem, though...

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What is criminal profiling, and what characteristic of an offender would be included in a criminal profile? Criminal profiling is a way of building a kind of personality sketch of a suspect by compiling known and infered data. Criminal profiles include (but aren't limited to and are at the profiler's descrecion): Physical build, gender, work status and habits, remorse or lack therein, vehicle type (if applicable), criminal history, skill level, aggressiveness, offender residence in relation...

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I want to get pregnant. How can I know when I ovulate? I may, anatomically, seem unqualified, but I learned about this when a friend's girlfriend claimed she could actually FEEL herself ovulating (which does, apparently happen, though very rarely). Ovulation occurs only once in every menstrual cycle, usually around 12 - 16 days before your next period. The few days surrounding ovulation, (typically 2-5 days) are the only days in the cycle...

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How do you get rid of "tickles" in your ears? If you're talking about persistant itching or some such, it may be water in the ear. If you don't think it's this you could go to any beauty salon and get your ears candled (about $25USD), a hilarious but effective process wherin paper cones are inserted in your ears and set aflame. The heat and lowered relative pressure loosen up and draw out years worth of earwax in a way that...

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What was the significance of Normandy in the Hundred Years War? Normandy was kind of key to the whole debacle. The war (series of wars actually) started when William of Normandy's conquest of England left a state laying on both sides of the English Channel. In the 14th century the English kings held the duchy of Guienne in France; and hated paying France homage. Normandy was conquered back and forth betwixt the two. More info can be found at...

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Why is the Hundred Years War called this way, though it lasted 116 years? Not to be a smartalec, but I think it's because "The Hundred and Sixteen Years War" lacks a certain ring to it. Why is something as unfriendly as shooting members of your own army called "friendly fire?" Seriously, I think it's just for brevity's sake. Besides, it wasn't even one, continuous war, but a series of small ones.

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If Earth is moving on its axis, why do we not see or feel it? Also has to do with momentum. Just as you cannot feel motion or speed after a while in a car or plane, except on a larger scale. Unless outside matter is stationary while you travel (wind in your face, not applicable on a planetary scale save for meteors), you can only percieve accelleration and deceleration. The earth's rotation is pretty constant, slowing ever so slightly over millenia.

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Why can you sometimes see the moon during the day? Doesn't it only come out at night? You can see the moon during the day for the same reason which gives the moon it's phases. While the earth rotates from day to night and back again in 24 hours, the moon takes 27 days to completely orbit the earth. Even though the moon has one of the lowest reflectivities of any body in the solar system, there are only two days when the moon is invisible or nearly so during the day, when...

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Where does the saying "there's more than one way to skin a cat" come from? Perhaps unrelated: "to skin the cat" is a gymnastic move defined: "to perform a gymnastic exercise involving passing the feet and legs between the arms while hanging by the hands from a horizontal bar and so drawing the body up and over the bar." (1845) This expression, originally comes from England. The first published use was either in John Ray’s collection of English...

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What is the origin of the term "round robin"? It started off as slang term for communion hosts in the 16th century (blasphemous). Later it was a way of signing a petition in a circle so that the leader or originator of the petition (usually the first to sign) could not be deduced by the signatures (18th century, used by royal navy grievance petitions) Now it is a form of competing where everyone plays, versus an elimination-style...

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Where can I listen to Bob Dylan's songs online for free? Illegally? Any peer to peer program (search for it on google). Legally? Samples can probably be found on any number of websites that sell the music. http://www.amazon.com for instance.

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Why does Indian music (from India) seem to sound off-key? Western music is based on a 12-note, repeating and mathematic scale. Eastern music is based on a different palette (to mix metaphors) made up of different collections of notes organized not by ordered blocks but by meticulous melodies and rules (in the middle east "maqams"). If you're used to one or the other the new music sounds as alien and exotic as speech from a different...

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What authorization does an author have to obtain before truthfully claiming a biography is "authorized"? I'm pretty sure it has to be authorized by the subject hi/her/themselves or by the estate which hand;es that person's rights. Of course, if someone dies and leaves no caring heirs, I suppose anyone could claim authorization.

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The poet, Sylvia Plath, in her one and only novel, The Bell Jar, refers to books on abnormal psychology that she claims detail the very condition from which she suffers. What are these books and how did they describe her mental condition? I don't know what book_S_ she refers to in her mostly autobiographical Bell Jar, but I heard in an interview that she read Freud's Abnormal Psychology. I would say she was bipolar, possibly dealt with body disorder and obsessive tendacies and was, obviously, suicidal. For more info I suggest Rothenberg's "Creativity and madness: New findings and old stereoptypes"

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Is the story Robin Hood a myth or is some of it fact? Two possible candidates: Robert Hood of Yorkshire, known in 1228 and 1230 as an outlaw and Robert Hood of Wakefield, also in Yorkshire of the 1300's. While both have histories speckled with coincidence, it seems to be just that. Most likely it is the idea of a man exaggerated to have very little semblance to the truth. For details go here: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_143.html

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Where does the phrase "point blank" come from? Point blank, or "so close as to be impossible to miss," originally had to do with artillery targets so close that one didn't have to factor in the fall of the shot (1591). "Point" is from pointing at the target. "Blank" is the old term for the center of a target, from the French "blanc" for white, the color of the old bullseye, which is now normally...