Answers

Why Are Gun Silencers Not Used Extensively Among Criminals?

November 18, 2021

They don’t “silence” weapons that effectively – Despite what you see in films, the best quality firearms suppressors shave only 20-40 dB off of the sound of a firearm discharging. It’s often not worth the time,nor the effort to obtain one since it doesn’t suppress the sound that well.
They are expensive – Sound suppressors purchased legally aren’t cheap; those bought on the street are sold for very high amounts of money. Most criminals steal the weapons they use or they purchase them stolen from street sources. A weapon is a high dollar acquisition, leaving little for accessories.

Why Does Time Slow Down At High Speeds?

November 15, 2021

why does time slow down at high speeds

Space and time are linked and nothing can travel faster than light, think of it as a universal speed limit.

Having a max speed can put us into strange situations, because speed is also relative.

If I’m sitting in a car watching houses go by, it seems to me like I’m staying still and the houses are going 30 mph backwards. And cars on the other side of the road seem to be going 60 mph backwards, yet they won’t get pulled over, because from the police’s point of view they are only going 30!

So what happens when two space ships going the speed of light pass by each other, as cars on different sides of the road pass by each other? Does it seem to those space ships that the other one is going twice the speed of light?

Picture of the Day

November 10, 2021

This is what the toilet on the International Space Station looks like

In 2018, NASA spent $23 million on a new and improved toilet for astronauts on the International Space Station. To get around the problems of zero-gravity bathroom breaks, the new toilet is a specially designed vacuum toilet. There are two parts: a hose with a funnel at the end for peeing and a small raised toilet seat for pooping.

The bathroom is full of handholds and footholds so that astronauts don’t drift off in the middle of their business. To pee, they can sit or stand and then hold the funnel and hose tightly against their skin so that nothing leaks out.

[Read more…] about Picture of the Day

How Does Law Enforcement Tell If Someone Jumped or Was Pushed From a Building?

November 4, 2021

I’m a death investigator in NYC. Jumping from a tall building is actually very common here.

There are many things we do during a death investigations that gives us a good idea of whether a descent was a suicide or not.

First, we check for history of suicidal attempts or ideation. We speak ‘to friends and family to get a sense of what was going on in a person’s life. Also, we look for notes.

Most often, people jump from a window in their apartment or from the roof. If someone jumps from a roof, many times, there are cameras that overlook the roof or the hallway outside of the door leading to the roof. So we can see who was going up there.

How Did Prohibition Ever Gain Enough Support To Become Law?

October 28, 2021

1) Because of the Second Great Awakening (1790-1840) and the Third Great Awakening (1850-1900), the American people became increasingly religious (yes, that’s possible), and the religious fervor translated into a zeal to improve the society, and one of the greatest scourge these religionists see is drunkenness (and people back then drank A LOT considering how cheap hard liquor was back then). These people just eradicated slavery, and they were moving down the list of societal ills.

What Is The Difference Between ‘Good Debt’ And ‘Bad Debt’?

October 26, 2021

Good debt: you buy a house. You now own the bank $300,000 and after your loan term you end up paying the bank $400,000 after interest. It took 30 years to pay that debt but since houses went up in price your initial $400k spent is now worth $500k.

Bad debt: you see this nice new TV at best buy. It costs $3k, but its top of the line. Now, you don’t have $3k to drop on a TV, so you put it on the credit card. It takes you ~3 years to pay it off @ 20% interest. In the end you will pay about $4k for the TV, and in 3 years time that TV will most likely be worth 1/10 of what was paid.

What Was The Most Formidable Military The U.S. Has Ever Faced?

October 19, 2021

There are a couple of ways to answer this. I’d argue that, in order of formidability, the most determined enemies the United States has faced in battle are:

Themselves (the combined military forces of the Confederacy and Union).
The military forces of the Empire of Japan (the Imperial Japanese Army, Navy, and Army Air Forces).
The military forces of Nazi Germany (the German armed forces, or the Wehrmacht, consisted of the Heer (Army), the Kriegsmarine (Navy) and the Luftwaffe (Air Force).

How Long Does It Take To Die From Strangulation

October 13, 2021

Gabrielle Petito, the Florida woman whose disappearance led to a wide-ranging investigation into her fiancé, who returned home without her from a cross-country trip before disappearing himself, died from strangulation, the authorities said on Tuesday.

In a fight if I were to hold you down and begin choking you it would take about a full minute for you to lose consciousness assuming your heart is pounding and breathing rapidly.

To kill the person you would have to continue to apply pressure sufficient to strangulate for about 3–4 min in order to ensure death…probably longer in some cases.

Why Did Egyptian Hieroglyphics Become A Lost Language?

October 11, 2021

People didn’t read back then like we do today.

The average person never, ever learned to read. The average person worked in a field, or in a workshop, produced what they needed to, and paid their taxes (which was whatever the tax collector told them to pay).

Reading was reserved for officials, Priests, and Royals.

So, what. Happens when that land gets conquered and those officials, priests, and royals are no longer in charge?

This is what happened in Egypt.

In Baseball, Are They Simply Trying To Hit A Home Run Every Time?

September 23, 2021

(Photo by Daiji Umemot)

The most exciting thing in a baseball game to me is not necessarily the outcome, but the process of watching a pitcher duel with a hitter.

There’s so much more going on at the plate that a casual fan may not be aware of. All of the three main players in an at bat – the pitcher, catcher, and batter – have all studied each other. This leads to an intricate mind game that enhances the pure physical battle of trying to make bat meet ball.

Answers

This is what the toilet on the International Space Station looks like

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