# Factual Questions **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=294 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 295 --- ## [How often do ground-based turbines and turbine engines shed a blade?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-ground-based-turbines-and-turbine-engines-shed-a-blade/937633)
**Author:** [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [March 16, 2021, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-ground-based-turbines-and-turbine-engines-shed-a-blade/937633 "2021-03-16T22:14:25Z")
There have been several passenger aircraft in recent years that have experienced fan blade separation events during flight, and so I wondered about ground-based steam turbines and gas-turbine engines. AIUI, these don’t … --- ## [Legality of purloining sample return canisters from Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-purloining-sample-return-canisters-from-mars/937854)
**Author:** [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [March 16, 2021, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-purloining-sample-return-canisters-from-mars/937854 "2021-03-16T21:27:24Z")
Money is no object (I have received emails from many rich, dying widows wanting to write me into their wills for many millions of dollars each and I will soon be the richest human on the planet, I am sure of it). I am g… --- ## [Light fixture question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-fixture-question/937291)
**Author:** [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [March 16, 2021, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-fixture-question/937291 "2021-03-16T20:18:12Z")
Okay, I feel a bit stupid asking this question since I was trained as an electrician way back in the day, but here goes. A couple of years ago we bought a bathroom vanity light fixture. It was interesting to me because … --- ## [Self cleaning ovens](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-cleaning-ovens/687477)
**Author:** [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 2, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-cleaning-ovens/687477 "2014-05-02T21:25:31Z")
So I can get it all built up and looking like a mess, and then run the self clean cycle. I would rather be able to just keep it looking nice all the time. And yet you hear that you cannot use oven cleaner in a self cle… --- ## [Cost of shipping by water versus by land?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-shipping-by-water-versus-by-land/435755)
**Author:** [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [March 16, 2021, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-shipping-by-water-versus-by-land/435755 "2021-03-16T12:00:56Z")
I was preparing to mention in my geography lecture about how much cheaper it generally is to transport bulk cargo by water instead of by land, when I realized I have exactly zero hard data to back this up. My Internet s… --- ## [Circadian rhythms: how much light are we supposed to get?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circadian-rhythms-how-much-light-are-we-supposed-to-get/937975)
**Author:** [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [March 16, 2021, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circadian-rhythms-how-much-light-are-we-supposed-to-get/937975 "2021-03-16T01:14:39Z")
The visual perception of light is an important input for managing one’s circadian rhythm. While most of us in the developed world seem to get more light than we should later in the evening than we should, people with co… --- ## [Will animals (like chipmunks?) eat crocus bulbs?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-animals-like-chipmunks-eat-crocus-bulbs/937904)
**Author:** [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [March 16, 2021, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-animals-like-chipmunks-eat-crocus-bulbs/937904 "2021-03-16T00:55:22Z")
When the snow melted from our flower gardens this year I noticed an area that had what sort of looked like a maze carved into the surface of the ground. It looked for all the world as if someone had taken an ice cream s… --- ## [Bagram airfield crash question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bagram-airfield-crash-question/657631)
**Author:** [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Replies:** 69\ **Last updated:** [March 15, 2021, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bagram-airfield-crash-question/657631 "2021-03-15T23:46:11Z")
A 747 cargo plane crashed at Bagram airfield last week. The crash was captured by the dasboard camera of a ground vehicle. The video is here. I’m two-clicking it because it shows seven people dying, and some people mi… --- ## [Is there a place where someone (I) can talk to a real person regarding LibreOffice problems?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-where-someone-i-can-talk-to-a-real-person-regarding-libreoffice-problems/937896)
**Author:** [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [March 15, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-where-someone-i-can-talk-to-a-real-person-regarding-libreoffice-problems/937896 "2021-03-15T18:15:09Z")
A lot of the “help” provided for free from LibreOffice is either directed toward more tech savvy people or meant for people doing office-type projects and deals with all sorts of arcane tools, etc. I’m just a guy wantin… --- ## [Least Chipmunk (Neotamias minimus) or Colorado Chipmunk (Neotamias quadrivittatus)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-chipmunk-neotamias-minimus-or-colorado-chipmunk-neotamias-quadrivittatus/937941)
**Author:** [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 15, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-chipmunk-neotamias-minimus-or-colorado-chipmunk-neotamias-quadrivittatus/937941 "2021-03-15T16:30:10Z")
Are there any chipmunk experts here on the SDMB? How do you tell the difference between the Least Chipmunk (Neotamias minimus) and the Colorado Chipmunk (Neotamias quadrivittatus) in the field? Their ranges overlap her… --- ## [Simple question regarding electricity](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-question-regarding-electricity/937743)
**Author:** [@Muddibog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muddibog)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [March 15, 2021, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-question-regarding-electricity/937743 "2021-03-15T03:27:50Z")
I was watching The Fox and the Hound, and I was wondering why in this scene the bird gets electrocuted when he taps the insulator? I know that current needs a complete circuit in order to flow, and that it… --- ## [How do you do a clean OS install without a CD/DVD player?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-do-a-clean-os-install-without-a-cd-dvd-player/937792)
**Author:** [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [March 14, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-do-a-clean-os-install-without-a-cd-dvd-player/937792 "2021-03-14T23:10:31Z")
I’m looking to buy a new laptop soon and I see that the majority no longer come with an optical drive. I’ll probably buy an external because I still have a number of games and things on CD that i’d like to use. But for … --- ## [Bewildering Amazon charge on my debit card](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewildering-amazon-charge-on-my-debit-card/937128)
**Author:** [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [March 14, 2021, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bewildering-amazon-charge-on-my-debit-card/937128 "2021-03-14T23:03:27Z")
What is a WEB AMAZON MARKETPLACE RETURN FEE? --- ## [What causes blood to be unusable for a blood-glucose meter within mere seconds?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-blood-to-be-unusable-for-a-blood-glucose-meter-within-mere-seconds/851199)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [March 14, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-blood-to-be-unusable-for-a-blood-glucose-meter-within-mere-seconds/851199 "2021-03-14T18:20:09Z")
If I draw a pinprick of blood and promptly load it onto a test strip in a blood-glucose meter, it gives a valid reading. But a mere 10 seconds later, that same drop of blood on my finger would give an error message when… --- ## [Trophic levels of pet feeding](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trophic-levels-of-pet-feeding/937776)
**Author:** [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [March 14, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trophic-levels-of-pet-feeding/937776 "2021-03-14T18:07:53Z")
Lots of people raise feeder animals for various pets. The feeders eat plants or algae, the primary pets eat the feeders. Are there any pet (or zoo) circumstances that involve additional levels? Meaning herbivore feeders … --- ## [Giving head \[preserving my skull after death\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-head-preserving-my-skull-after-death/937503)
**Author:** [@ALOHA\_HATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ALOHA_HATER)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [March 14, 2021, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-head-preserving-my-skull-after-death/937503 "2021-03-14T09:42:44Z")
Say I wanted my loved ones to have my skull after my death. So that I could play Yorick or for whatever reason. Could I legally have my head removed, defleshed, and polished up nice to keep on the mantle? --- ## [USPS mail arrival time?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-mail-arrival-time/937631)
**Author:** [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [March 14, 2021, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usps-mail-arrival-time/937631 "2021-03-14T01:01:51Z")
Sometimes I get US mail at 10 am , sometimes at 6 pm. Is there any reason for such a wide variation? Maybe they are doing the route backwards when it comes at 10 am? Never seen this before in decades. We ar… --- ## [Un-acclimatized person helicoptered to top of Everest, how long can they stay there?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-acclimatized-person-helicoptered-to-top-of-everest-how-long-can-they-stay-there/937727)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-acclimatized-person-helicoptered-to-top-of-everest-how-long-can-they-stay-there/937727 "2021-03-13T18:20:57Z")
Say an average person, in average health, was helicoptered to the top of Everest in warm clothing (in the death zone) and got to walk around on the summit for a while. How long could they last before the low pressure, la… --- ## [Help me create a simple spreadsheet (Excel)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-create-a-simple-spreadsheet-excel/937825)
**Author:** [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-create-a-simple-spreadsheet-excel/937825 "2021-03-13T17:02:46Z")
I know I could figure this out myself, but I’d like to be schooled in order to learn the best method of accomplishing my modest goal. I am in the market for a new vehicle. I want a method of comparing vehicle rankings f… --- ## [What happens when a will has someone unexpectedly becoming a child's legal guardian?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-will-has-someone-unexpectedly-becoming-a-childs-legal-guardian/937357)
**Author:** [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-will-has-someone-unexpectedly-becoming-a-childs-legal-guardian/937357 "2021-03-13T15:50:18Z")
This question is for a story I’m writing, so I don’t need answers fast :slight\_smile: In a nutshell: my story the protagonist is a woman in her thirties who hasn’t seen her father since her parents got divorced when she… --- ## [Brit-speak translation, please?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-translation-please/937652)
**Author:** [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Replies:** 46\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2021, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-translation-please/937652 "2021-03-13T13:50:58Z")
After Piers Morgan’s departure from “Good Morning Britain”, the temporary anchor commented: "“We don’t call him Marmite for nothing.” Little help, here, O Brit posters? PS - this is purely a dialect question, not mean… --- ## [Gunpowder, firearms and China](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunpowder-firearms-and-china/937736)
**Author:** [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2021, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gunpowder-firearms-and-china/937736 "2021-03-13T03:48:27Z")
The Chinese invented gunpowder and began using it for warfare over 1,000 years ago. How is it the people who were clever enough to invent it fell so far behind European firearms technology from the period of roughly the … --- ## [Electrical Q : Lightbulb Socket Fan?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-q-lightbulb-socket-fan/937490)
**Author:** [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2021, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-q-lightbulb-socket-fan/937490 "2021-03-13T02:32:22Z")
Is there a mini ceiling fan that I could screw into a ceiling light fixture socket? Maybe with a bulb, too? Links help. --- ## [Question about Pi](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-pi/937728)
**Author:** [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [March 12, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-pi/937728 "2021-03-12T22:51:12Z")
(Sorry if this has been asked before - Pi is too short of a search term) If Pi’s decimal representation never ends, it never settles into a permanently repeating pattern and it is infinite, does that mean that every po… --- ## [Linux disk partitioning](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-disk-partitioning/932657)
**Author:** [@Overly\_Sentimental](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Overly_Sentimental)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [March 12, 2021, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-disk-partitioning/932657 "2021-03-12T21:56:25Z")
Is anybody here clever with Linux? I’m not so clever and I’m having trouble with disk partitioning. Any help would be appreciated. --- ## [Killing Popups on an Android Phone](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-popups-on-an-android-phone/937755)
**Author:** [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [March 12, 2021, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-popups-on-an-android-phone/937755 "2021-03-12T18:49:35Z")
To be filed under “Yeah AHunter3 is too dense to learn how to use a freaking smartphone” :frowning: I needed a few things installed to okay some connections and authentications for desktop software that now requires two… --- ## [Looking at Polaris](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-at-polaris/937741)
**Author:** [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [March 12, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-at-polaris/937741 "2021-03-12T17:16:35Z")
Why does the North Star appear to be stationary if I’m not seeing it from the North Pole? I ask because from the Northern Hemisphere I see it at about 60 degrees rather than directly overhead. How does that work? Is it a… --- ## [Looking for digital photo software](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-digital-photo-software/937724)
**Author:** [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [March 12, 2021, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-digital-photo-software/937724 "2021-03-12T16:47:18Z")
that I don’t even know exists. Every year I need to take about 300 pictures and put them into IDs. The person who takes the pictures is very inconsistent so I have to spend days cropping and resizing. What would help … --- ## [USB Camera with TWAIN drivers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usb-camera-with-twain-drivers/937783)
**Author:** [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 12, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usb-camera-with-twain-drivers/937783 "2021-03-12T15:58:02Z")
As a followup to my “Looking for software …” thread I just found out that I can do exactly what I need to do if I have a USB camera with TWAIN/WIA or DirectShow drivers for Win10. I don’t think the cheap webcam I was pr… --- ## [Fair Market Value of inherited house for tax purposes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fair-market-value-of-inherited-house-for-tax-purposes/937637)
**Author:** [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [March 12, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fair-market-value-of-inherited-house-for-tax-purposes/937637 "2021-03-12T14:42:49Z")
I’m planning to get my taxes done by a professional in a few weeks (after I’m fully vaccinated) but I want to make sure I have all the information I need beforehand. My mother died last February. The title to her house… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=293) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=295)