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1500 questions
29
votes
5 answers
Is some level of radiation "good for you"?
"With the terrible earthquake and
resulting tsunami that have devastated
Japan, the only good news is that
anyone exposed to excess radiation
from the nuclear power plants is now
probably much less likely to get
cancer."
This is a…
Monkey Tuesday
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29
votes
2 answers
Were Kinsey's studies debunked?
To quote from a comment on my recent answer (emphasis mine):
Your quoting of Kinsey's bogus studies on homosexuality -- criticized heavily by famed statistician John Tukey -- makes me severely doubt the rest of your answer.
Leaving aside the point…
user5341
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29
votes
2 answers
Does technology have a negative effect on attention span?
Is it true that today's "information age" with the internet, TV, cell phones, movies, iPhones, etc can decrease your attention span?
Society's impatience and short attention span is becoming a greater
problem and is unleashing a chain reaction…
GBa
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29
votes
2 answers
Is there an autism epidemic?
The number of diagnosed cases of autism has increased substantially in the last decades as seen in the following graph.
Bar chart of the number (per 1,000 U.S. resident children aged 6–17) of children aged 6–17 who were served under the Individuals…
Mad Scientist
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29
votes
1 answer
Does drinking alcohol dehydrate you?
I've often thought that it doesn't and that this was just a myth, and this BBC article backs me up:
but [water] can be contained in food, alcohol or caffeinated beverages.
Yes, beer and coffee do not dehydrate you to any noticeable extent (there's…
SilverlightFox
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29
votes
2 answers
Do headless chickens run around?
It's a clichè that is constantly repeated by the likes of Gordon Ramsey:
You are running around like headless chickens!
source
Also, for example, they do in South Park animations
Do headless chicken run around? After all, why wouldn't they…
Sklivvz
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29
votes
1 answer
Does blood type affect what type of food is best for you?
I remember that, a few years ago, my parents were told that different blood types need to eat differently. From a quick look online, it seems to be called "Eat Right For Your Type."
It claimed that, depending on what your blood type is, some food…
Borror0
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29
votes
1 answer
Did violent gun crime rates rise in Australia after the 1996 gun control laws?
In 1996 Australia passed the National Firearms Agreement (NFA) which greatly restricted the option to legally own some types of guns by private citizens.
The activist site, World Public Union claims that crime is on the rise in Australia since…
SIMEL
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29
votes
2 answers
Was Nelson Mandela a killer?
There are many claims that Nelson Mandela was a killer; for example:
Obama holds surprise press conference to praise genocidal killer Nelson Mandela
He signed off on the deaths of innocent people, lots of them
Mandela was a Marxist, a terrorist and…
ChrisW
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29
votes
0 answers
Can scaring a person cure hiccups?
There is a popular belief that scaring a hiccuping person would cure the hiccups:
This Straw Is Designed to Instantly Cure Hiccups
Lots of folks will try to scare hiccups away with a shock or surprise.
Can a Scare Cure the Hiccups?
The recent…
Quassnoi
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29
votes
1 answer
Does the carrot on a stick method work on a mule?
Some idioms ("chase the carrot" / "carrot and stick") and a popular image (as shown below) suggest that you can make a mule move forward (and pull a cart), by placing a carrot or some other food hanging from a stick, in front of its face.
For…
Gordon
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29
votes
3 answers
Has yoga been shown to have a healing effect?
In a comment to one of the answers of Is there any scientific evidence that prayer can help to heal? Konerak wrote:
That's for intercessory prayer. Praying for yourself has been correlated to increased healing, but no more than meditation or…
Kit Sunde
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29
votes
1 answer
Did this building cause carpet to burn and cars to melt?
The BBC reports that a building with curved glass in London appears to have caused damage nearby as a result of the architecture focusing the sun's rays.
Seems plausible enough to me, but is this true?
An aside: this made me think of Charles…
Ben Collins
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29
votes
2 answers
Is margarine healthier for you than butter?
An article at MayoClinic by an R.D. says:
Margarine usually tops butter when it comes to heart health. [...] So skip the stick and opt for soft or liquid margarine instead.
The American Heart Association says:
Recent studies on the potential…
user5582
29
votes
2 answers
Airplane software crash caused by zero/negative altitude at Dead Sea
I've been told anecdotes like this several times on the interviews. Interviewers used this story as an argument in favor of defensive software development.
Here is an explanation from one of the numerous occurrences on the web:
This story was told…
default locale
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