# Factual Questions **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=229 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 230 --- ## [How are fireworks' colors and distinctive shapes attained?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-fireworks-colors-and-distinctive-shapes-attained/958535)
**Author:** [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2022, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-fireworks-colors-and-distinctive-shapes-attained/958535 "2022-01-29T05:28:19Z")
I’m referring to the large fireworks that are launched into the sky at fireworks displays. How do the manufacturers make each firework a particular color, and in some instances, cause it to explode in a particular patte… --- ## [business and math](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-and-math/1864)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2022, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-and-math/1864 "2022-01-29T05:14:51Z")
Why the heck do students need to take so much stinken math to get a business degree? When do business people ever use Calculus these days? --- ## [Do Officer Visitors on a Sub really Bunk with Enlisted? (JAG Episode)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-officer-visitors-on-a-sub-really-bunk-with-enlisted-jag-episode/957569)
**Author:** [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2022, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-officer-visitors-on-a-sub-really-bunk-with-enlisted-jag-episode/957569 "2022-01-29T02:55:11Z")
Watching an episode of JAG where the two Navy Officers investigate strange occurrences on a Los Angeles Class Submarine as it’s underway. The weird thing being both Naval Officers (Female Marine Corps Major and Male Nav… --- ## [USPS sent back package undelivered but I need to know who sent it](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-sent-back-package-undelivered-but-i-need-to-know-who-sent-it/958552)
**Author:** [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2022, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-sent-back-package-undelivered-but-i-need-to-know-who-sent-it/958552 "2022-01-29T00:58:34Z")
TLDR version: USPS website/customer service sent back a package to the original sender but cannot tell me where it came from. I need to know. Longer version: So the post office tried to deliver something that required … --- ## ["Even the Italian Mafia didn't target women and children" - That's not true at all right?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-the-italian-mafia-didnt-target-women-and-children-thats-not-true-at-all-right/958537)
**Author:** [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/even-the-italian-mafia-didnt-target-women-and-children-thats-not-true-at-all-right/958537 "2022-01-28T23:03:41Z")
Listening to a politics podcast about angry people sending threats to election officials and their families, and one of the hosts made the long winded claim that “This really shows how sick these people are, not even the… --- ## [Money laundering question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-laundering-question/957854)
**Author:** [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Replies:** 57\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2022, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-laundering-question/957854 "2022-01-28T22:19:09Z")
I’ve been watching “Dirty Money” on Netflix. In the episode “Dirty Gold”, the FBI guy says that it works like this: Drugs are made in Colombia, smuggled into the US via Mexico and sold on the streets for cash. The cash… --- ## [State vs. Commonwealth](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-vs-commonwealth/958061)
**Author:** [@StraightTalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StraightTalk)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2022, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-vs-commonwealth/958061 "2022-01-28T20:42:48Z")
What is the difference and why are there 2 different things? --- ## [Characters that defeat Windows file search window?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-defeat-windows-file-search-window/958182)
**Author:** [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-defeat-windows-file-search-window/958182 "2022-01-28T20:39:00Z")
My work involves locating a file within a folder, from a list in Excel. I copy the filename then paste it into the search field at upper right on a Windows 10 box that I’m remoted into. Works fine most of the time, but… --- ## [Need to move furniture attached (caulked?) to the wall](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-move-furniture-attached-caulked-to-the-wall/958446)
**Author:** [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-move-furniture-attached-caulked-to-the-wall/958446 "2022-01-28T20:27:03Z")
I need help moving furniture … what are you doing Saturday? :slight\_smile: I have a bookcase in a bedroom – it was there when we moved into this house – that needs to move so we can install new carpet. It was apparent… --- ## [Will all possible Bitcoin ever actually be mined?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-all-possible-bitcoin-ever-actually-be-mined/958563)
**Author:** [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-all-possible-bitcoin-ever-actually-be-mined/958563 "2022-01-28T18:42:41Z")
Is the rate of Bitcoin creation linear, or is it more of an exponential decay? I am not familiar with the technical details of the algorithm, but it seems to be me that the more Bitcoin that is mined, the longer it takes… --- ## [The Rod of Authority](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rod-of-authority/958530)
**Author:** [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rod-of-authority/958530 "2022-01-28T18:01:14Z")
In medieval and renaissance portraits, important men are often depicted holding a plain rod as a symbol of their authority. Now I know that the rod as a symbol of legitimate authority goes back to Aaron in the bible, wh… --- ## [Business Owners being Drafted by Selective Service](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-owners-being-drafted-by-selective-service/658764)
**Author:** [@trmptgn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trmptgn)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2013, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-owners-being-drafted-by-selective-service/658764 "2013-05-21T05:58:40Z")
I have a friend who has a firm belief that the military draft is coming back in the next few years due to a WW2 scale war and all men 18-55 are going to be drafted for military service. Much of this is not worth arguing… --- ## [What actually happened to medieval lords who ran out of money?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actually-happened-to-medieval-lords-who-ran-out-of-money/958087)
**Author:** [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2022, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actually-happened-to-medieval-lords-who-ran-out-of-money/958087 "2022-01-28T09:16:14Z")
I was watching The Last Duel the other night, and a major plot point is how Matt Damon’s character, Sir Jean de Carrouges was having financial difficulties. Indeed, a major plot point in a lot of medieval stories (both … --- ## ["Whose coat is this jacket?" - Stereotypical Welsh phrase origins](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-coat-is-this-jacket-stereotypical-welsh-phrase-origins/200957)
**Author:** [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2022, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-coat-is-this-jacket-stereotypical-welsh-phrase-origins/200957 "2022-01-28T03:56:24Z")
One for the UK (and more specifically Welsh) contingent. Anyone else familiar with this phrase, usually used by English people, in a bad Welsh accent, as a stereotypically Welsh thing to say? The variant “Whose boots ar… --- ## [What's wrong with our kitchen faucet?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-our-kitchen-faucet/958498)
**Author:** [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2022, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-our-kitchen-faucet/958498 "2022-01-28T03:12:14Z")
We have a kitchen faucet that’s not too old-- maybe a year, maybe two. It’s the kind that has one handle mounted on the side that you pull out to turn the water on, then forward or backward for cold / hot. About a week … --- ## [TV remote changes 2 tv's. Is there any solution?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-remote-changes-2-tvs-is-there-any-solution/958366)
**Author:** [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2022, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-remote-changes-2-tvs-is-there-any-solution/958366 "2022-01-28T01:28:23Z")
My mom got a 2nd TV. The remotes are conflicting. Power off either remote shuts off both tv’s. Even worse, the new fancy TV remote freezes the screen on the 2nd TV. Have to press enter to unfreeze. The new tv’s channe… --- ## [How to taxes work on spontaneously created/minedcrypto currency?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-taxes-work-on-spontaneously-created-minedcrypto-currency/958538)
**Author:** [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2022, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-taxes-work-on-spontaneously-created-minedcrypto-currency/958538 "2022-01-27T23:50:12Z")
In this thread I there was a discussion of the Lets Go Biden Token (LGBT) scam crypto currency. In which a group created 300 trillion Crypto tokens which they started up a market for, the going price is about 5 million … --- ## [Extraditing someone who sets foot on a US embassy on foreign soil (a non-extraditing nation)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraditing-someone-who-sets-foot-on-a-us-embassy-on-foreign-soil-a-non-extraditing-nation/958531)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2022, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraditing-someone-who-sets-foot-on-a-us-embassy-on-foreign-soil-a-non-extraditing-nation/958531 "2022-01-27T23:25:12Z")
Say a wanted US fugitive goes into the US embassy in Moscow and gets arrested because he is setting foot on “US soil”. Could the US extradite him back to the US against the wishes of Russia? (they’d have to cross Russia… --- ## [Teeny little upstairs dormers on new homes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teeny-little-upstairs-dormers-on-new-homes/958231)
**Author:** [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teeny-little-upstairs-dormers-on-new-homes/958231 "2022-01-27T21:24:15Z")
Our town sees a ton of teardowns and new home builds. Many of the new builds are 2-stories, with steep rooflines. Some are brick, others frame - what we call farmhouses on steroids. (I wonder how soon they will appear… --- ## [Why couldn't blood banks also do routine draws for lab work?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-couldnt-blood-banks-also-do-routine-draws-for-lab-work/958495)
**Author:** [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-couldnt-blood-banks-also-do-routine-draws-for-lab-work/958495 "2022-01-27T20:09:39Z")
I have to get a draw for lab work twice a year as part of routine physicals. And I also go to the blood bank four times per year to donate double red cells (this is the fastest cycle they permit for double reds). Is ther… --- ## [Understanding a molecular biology paper on kidney development](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-a-molecular-biology-paper-on-kidney-development/958500)
**Author:** [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2022, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-a-molecular-biology-paper-on-kidney-development/958500 "2022-01-27T19:20:52Z")
Continuing the discussion from Why do we have two of some things but only one of others?: So I have like a high school education in biology (but not chemistry), and for the heck of it, I’m trying to read and understand … --- ## [Anyone familiar with Orompotoniyun, the 'legendary first female king of Oyo Alaafin'](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-familiar-with-orompotoniyun-the-legendary-first-female-king-of-oyo-alaafin/958505)
**Author:** [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2022, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-familiar-with-orompotoniyun-the-legendary-first-female-king-of-oyo-alaafin/958505 "2022-01-27T18:51:53Z")
There are several articles online talking about her, mostly repeating the same story (often verbatim). Here’s one example: https://ng.opera.news/ng/en/politics/0204918ed030e22cfadfad6bf429ddb0 Long story short—she was… --- ## [Train travel - "track" vs "platform"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358)
**Author:** [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358 "2022-01-27T16:51:32Z")
I have seen these terms (“track” and “platform”) used interchangeably when referring to a train’s departure point. Is “platform” more a non-North American term? In a major station, I think of a “platform” as a piece o… --- ## [Fluoride Toothpaste vs. Mouthwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluoride-toothpaste-vs-mouthwash/958341)
**Author:** [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fluoride-toothpaste-vs-mouthwash/958341 "2022-01-27T16:46:11Z")
So there is a topic dealing with this from 10 years ago, but I don’t think I want to resurrect that. My question relates to fluoride toothpaste versus fluoride mouthwash for cavity prevention. Not really concerned abou… --- ## [Do a web search from any Windows application](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-a-web-search-from-any-windows-application/957732)
**Author:** [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2022, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-a-web-search-from-any-windows-application/957732 "2022-01-27T13:30:00Z")
This seems like such a fundamental thing that would have been in place 20 years ago what with all the frenzy to integrate to the Internet, but does not seem to be there. If I am on a web page, I can select some text, an… --- ## [Need help reading some 1860s penmanship](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-reading-some-1860s-penmanship/958327)
**Author:** [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2022, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-reading-some-1860s-penmanship/958327 "2022-01-27T13:13:33Z")
Anyone experienced reading poorly written 19th century documents? I’m trying to make sense of the cause of death on this 1866 death certficate–I can make out the word ‘apoplexy’, but there’s more to it: url=https://ibb.… --- ## [Why do we have two of some things but only one of others?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-two-of-some-things-but-only-one-of-others/958333)
**Author:** [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2022, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-two-of-some-things-but-only-one-of-others/958333 "2022-01-27T05:45:23Z")
Barring injury or some odd birth defect, a person has two kidneys, two lungs, two testicles or ovaries. However, we only have one liver, one heart, one set of intestines, one pancreas. Why? --- ## [Limestone cladding on the great pyramid](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limestone-cladding-on-the-great-pyramid/958268)
**Author:** [@PozhanPop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PozhanPop)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2022, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limestone-cladding-on-the-great-pyramid/958268 "2022-01-27T05:09:18Z")
The pyramids look like they have smooth sides from a distance. From the remaining white limestone cap it is understood that the whole pyramid at one time was covered with a dazzling white limestone . My question is how … --- ## [In countries that drive on the left, do the trains also run on the left, assuming that the line is double tracked?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-countries-that-drive-on-the-left-do-the-trains-also-run-on-the-left-assuming-that-the-line-is-double-tracked/957121)
**Author:** [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Replies:** 48\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2022, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-countries-that-drive-on-the-left-do-the-trains-also-run-on-the-left-assuming-that-the-line-is-double-tracked/957121 "2022-01-27T05:01:17Z")
Picture yourself standing on the platform at a metro station. It’s an island platform, and you are facing down the tracks. I’ve only ridden rail transit in San Diego, L.A., and San Francisco, but in all those places, … --- ## [Does “5 \< ∞“ make any sense?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-5-make-any-sense/958250)
**Author:** [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [January 26, 2022, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-5-make-any-sense/958250 "2022-01-26T23:02:19Z")
Or is that like saying “5 \< orange” since infinity is not a number? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=228) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=230)