# Factual Questions **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=367 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 368 --- ## [Sign language(s)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sign-language-s/846329)
**Author:** [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Replies:** 53\ **Last updated:** [April 30, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sign-language-s/846329 "2020-04-30T01:40:57Z")
Somewhere I read that ASL (American Sign Language) is the third most used “language” in the US (behind English and Spanish). A great trivia question if it’s true. I was surprised to find that there are so many sign lan… --- ## [Audiophiles: HELP!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audiophiles-help/852454)
**Author:** [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [April 30, 2020, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/audiophiles-help/852454 "2020-04-30T01:36:58Z")
As age has crept upon me (65yrs) I have some dead spots in my perception of audio on my devices, predominantly at high frequencies. Is there an app., program, or call it what you will… that will “push” specific frequenc… --- ## [It says "Perishable. Keep refrigerated" but what could possibly be perishable in this coffee bottle?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-says-perishable-keep-refrigerated-but-what-could-possibly-be-perishable-in-this-coffee-bottle/852675)
**Author:** [@greenpurple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greenpurple)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [April 30, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-says-perishable-keep-refrigerated-but-what-could-possibly-be-perishable-in-this-coffee-bottle/852675 "2020-04-30T00:50:33Z")
It’s just coffee and water! --- ## [Very old food , still good?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-old-food-still-good/852718)
**Author:** [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [April 30, 2020, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-old-food-still-good/852718 "2020-04-30T00:04:33Z")
I found some food I had for camping and it’s still in the original sealed pouch. The date stamp is 2014 so I assume you are not supposed to eat it past that date. I am not going to eat it but could I? It’s hot … --- ## [Do animals generally prefer salty and sweet tastes, like humans?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-animals-generally-prefer-salty-and-sweet-tastes-like-humans/852703)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 43\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-animals-generally-prefer-salty-and-sweet-tastes-like-humans/852703 "2020-04-29T21:43:36Z")
The answer will be, of course, “it depends on the animal.” But do most animals like sweet and salty (and dislike sour and bitter) like most people? (Cows, for instance, seem to just like plain old grass, although that m… --- ## [Where does "Black people don't eat mayo/Mayonnaise is a white people food" come from?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-black-people-dont-eat-mayo-mayonnaise-is-a-white-people-food-come-from/852662)
**Author:** [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-black-people-dont-eat-mayo-mayonnaise-is-a-white-people-food-come-from/852662 "2020-04-29T21:10:22Z")
It wasn’t something I’ve ever heard at all well until the last decade, and I literally can’t find anything about it before the 2002 film “Undercover Brother” uses it extensively as a joke where a black man refuses to eat… --- ## [How does a surplus of housing supply affect prices](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-surplus-of-housing-supply-affect-prices/852568)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-surplus-of-housing-supply-affect-prices/852568 "2020-04-29T21:07:56Z")
Obviously prices deflate when there is more supply. But if this economic crisis leads to a lot of foreclosures and people abandoning their own homes and apartments to live with other people to save money (parents, siblin… --- ## [Has the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive had any measurable positive effect \[on lead\]?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-restriction-of-hazardous-substances-directive-had-any-measurable-positive-effect-on-lead/852827)
**Author:** [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-restriction-of-hazardous-substances-directive-had-any-measurable-positive-effect-on-lead/852827 "2020-04-29T20:07:24Z")
I’m all for making products safer, but the ROHS directives, especially those prohibiting solder containing Lead, seem to be not only pointless (nobody ever comes in contact with the lead in the product), but expensive an… --- ## [What is "hoarding"? (& FTM, "price gouging"?)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hoarding-ftm-price-gouging/852668)
**Author:** [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hoarding-ftm-price-gouging/852668 "2020-04-29T20:03:55Z")
There have been people raided and in at least one case arrested for “hoarding” of necessary medical supplies, most notably PPE. What exactly does this mean? Suppose a guy has a business dealing in medical supplies. As pa… --- ## [Best Buy "Purchase" - Is this a scam?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-purchase-is-this-a-scam/849487)
**Author:** [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Replies:** 43\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-purchase-is-this-a-scam/849487 "2020-04-29T19:38:58Z")
I received an email entitled “Your Best Buy receipt,” containing what looks like a receipt for the purchase of an Iphone for $1100, from a Best Buy in nearby New Hampshire. Only, I never made any such purchase. I checke… --- ## [How Many Unregistered Guns Circulate in Europe?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-unregistered-guns-circulate-in-europe/852719)
**Author:** [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-unregistered-guns-circulate-in-europe/852719 "2020-04-29T16:22:07Z")
Does anyone know? What’s got me wondering about this is a comment from a friend in Dresden that, during the fall of communism, the lax oversight and crumbling structures meant a lot of weapons quietly melted away and ar… --- ## [Redistributing a residuary estate — need help with math](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-a-residuary-estate-need-help-with-math/852582)
**Author:** [@ASanders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASanders)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redistributing-a-residuary-estate-need-help-with-math/852582 "2020-04-29T15:58:32Z")
This is a straightforward math problem but I need help. I know this will take someone here 30 seconds to arrive at the correct answer and, more importantly, explain the process. As executor of the estate in question, I n… --- ## [Price of oil goes \*negative\*. How does this even make sense??](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-oil-goes-negative-how-does-this-even-make-sense/852207)
**Author:** [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Replies:** 65\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-oil-goes-negative-how-does-this-even-make-sense/852207 "2020-04-29T13:34:50Z")
Here’s your link. Oil at -$0.22/barrel for May futures. The price of oil has been in free fall all day, and this is where it’s at right now. So producers will pay you 22¢/barrel to take it off their hands? Cool! So … --- ## [How many people have died this year(US or world), and not just from the corona virus](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-died-this-year-us-or-world-and-not-just-from-the-corona-virus/852736)
**Author:** [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-died-this-year-us-or-world-and-not-just-from-the-corona-virus/852736 "2020-04-29T12:39:14Z")
Is there a website that has this answer? I’d like to see actual numbers - every site I find has projected numbers. (ETA - or just corona virus deaths) --- ## [Why Do They 'Enrich' Wheat Flour (to Such a Pitifully Small Degree)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-enrich-wheat-flour-to-such-a-pitifully-small-degree/852661)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-enrich-wheat-flour-to-such-a-pitifully-small-degree/852661 "2020-04-29T12:36:56Z")
AFAIK they only do it in the U.S. Anyway I will tell you first how I found out about it. I often read ingredients. And nutritional labels. I am after all very conscious of the nutrition value of the food I eat. Especial… --- ## [What is behind the USA's 14% illiteracy rate?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-behind-the-usas-14-illiteracy-rate/852519)
**Author:** [@The\_Maple\_Leaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Maple_Leaf)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-behind-the-usas-14-illiteracy-rate/852519 "2020-04-29T06:41:13Z")
A few years ago, the US Department of Education released a statistic claiming that the illiteracy rate 14%. This seems like an absolutely staggering number for a modern Western country. AFAIK in most developed countries … --- ## [Stars Celestial Coordinates always the same...?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-celestial-coordinates-always-the-same/852727)
**Author:** [@Sdowiat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sdowiat)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-celestial-coordinates-always-the-same/852727 "2020-04-29T04:53:35Z")
Since we recently had an Astronomy topic… and I’m learning too… Help me understand why a stars Celestial Coordinates are always the same… I don’t understand why as the earth spins ( and moves around the Sun ) the c… --- ## [SARS Outbreak 2002-2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sars-outbreak-2002-2004/852739)
**Author:** [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sars-outbreak-2002-2004/852739 "2020-04-29T04:17:57Z")
Why didn’t SARS spread around the world and cause a pandemic like COVID-19 has? China got hit the worst, but there were only 27 cases in the US and no deaths, and after a two-year run it died out. Did it have a differen… --- ## [water pump design](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-pump-design/852745)
**Author:** [@PennyNichols](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PennyNichols)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-pump-design/852745 "2020-04-29T01:28:58Z")
Hi, long time lurker, first time poster. Am curious as to the design of these two pumps, am hoping that someone here can answer and explain. This peripheral pump has intake centered to the impeller vortex. This one … --- ## [Goldfish food, present and 1800](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-food-present-and-1800/852650)
**Author:** [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [April 28, 2020, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-food-present-and-1800/852650 "2020-04-28T22:51:19Z")
This evening, Mrs R and I watched the first third of the 2008 version of Sense & Sensibility. As the Dashwoods are in a coach travelling to Barton Cottage, Margaret is balancing a goldfish bowl on her lap. Which got me… --- ## [One more- Astronomy - Black sky areas?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-more-astronomy-black-sky-areas/852762)
**Author:** [@Sdowiat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sdowiat)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 28, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-more-astronomy-black-sky-areas/852762 "2020-04-28T21:59:40Z")
Ok, while were on an Astronomy roll, help me understand why this is: As far as we know space and the stars keep on going, right? I mean, we haven’t found and end to them yet. So why is there “black areas between star… --- ## [E-readers and grouping books](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-readers-and-grouping-books/852256)
**Author:** [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [April 28, 2020, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-readers-and-grouping-books/852256 "2020-04-28T20:31:02Z")
I’ve had Kindle e-readers, and recently I tried using Moonreader on a Kindle Fire (I don’t much like reading on that screen). I’ve been a bit frustrated by grouping books in the past. For example, when making a group w… --- ## [Has anyone actually printed an envelope correctly from an HP Printer?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-actually-printed-an-envelope-correctly-from-an-hp-printer/852616)
**Author:** [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [April 28, 2020, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-actually-printed-an-envelope-correctly-from-an-hp-printer/852616 "2020-04-28T20:25:51Z")
I have an HP Officejet 7510 printer. When I go to print an envelope, the return address is shifted to the right about a half of an inch. Occasionally the return address prints in the correct location, but it is chopped… --- ## [Neti Pot Flow](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neti-pot-flow/852753)
**Author:** [@rohit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rohit)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [April 28, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neti-pot-flow/852753 "2020-04-28T20:13:38Z")
Hello All, I’ve been using the neti pot for a month. The water flows from left to right with ease but trickles or does not flow from right to flow. I do not have a blocked nose. I can breathe from both nostrils. In fact… --- ## [Why does marijuana smell different than it did in the '80s?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-marijuana-smell-different-than-it-did-in-the-80s/831815)
**Author:** [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [April 14, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-marijuana-smell-different-than-it-did-in-the-80s/831815 "2019-04-14T14:59:50Z")
Back in the '80s, marijuana had a unique, pleasant odor. Nowadays, it smells like a skunk. Why does it smell different nowadays? --- ## [How is the accuracy of a medical test determined?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-accuracy-of-a-medical-test-determined/852641)
**Author:** [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [April 28, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-accuracy-of-a-medical-test-determined/852641 "2020-04-28T16:25:54Z")
When we read that a medical test is, say, 95% accurate, I take that to mean that 95% of the test results or either true positive or true negative, and 5% of the results are false positive or false negative. How do we kn… --- ## [Bar soap vs. liquid soap](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bar-soap-vs-liquid-soap/851657)
**Author:** [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [April 28, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bar-soap-vs-liquid-soap/851657 "2020-04-28T16:14:48Z")
Is there any evidence that one is better than the other at washing away germs? --- ## [How many people died in the third wave of the Spanish flu](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-died-in-the-third-wave-of-the-spanish-flu/852624)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [April 28, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-died-in-the-third-wave-of-the-spanish-flu/852624 "2020-04-28T16:03:36Z")
This is my understanding of the Spanish flu First wave - not too deadly Second wave - extremely deadly mutated strain but it was so deadly because the war effort helped it spread. Troop movement and people going to wor… --- ## [IT question re: Connecting router to wifi](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-question-re-connecting-router-to-wifi/851939)
**Author:** [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [April 28, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-question-re-connecting-router-to-wifi/851939 "2020-04-28T15:58:12Z")
I have an older Belkin router. It’s the one pictured here. I’m trying to hook up a Tivo that requires a wired ethernet connection in a different room from my modem. Is it possible to use this router to receive my home … --- ## [Using 25 Year Old Cotton Balls and Swabs.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-25-year-old-cotton-balls-and-swabs/852716)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [April 28, 2020, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-25-year-old-cotton-balls-and-swabs/852716 "2020-04-28T15:37:26Z")
I just recently found an old box of cotton balls and swabs in my basement. They were obviously put there by my mother. My mother died in January 1996, so they must be at least 25 years old, maybe even 30. Anyway they ap… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=366) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=368)