# Factual Questions **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=404 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 405 --- ## [How do colorblind people view rainbows?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-colorblind-people-view-rainbows/844896)
**Author:** [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [December 16, 2019, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-colorblind-people-view-rainbows/844896 "2019-12-16T05:24:26Z")
Would a person who is severely colorblind see different shades of grey, or nothing, or something else? --- ## [How does the United Nations process and route outgoing mail?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-united-nations-process-and-route-outgoing-mail/844801)
**Author:** [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [December 15, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-united-nations-process-and-route-outgoing-mail/844801 "2019-12-15T15:56:15Z")
The United Nations has its own international postal service, the United Nations Postal Administration. To outward appearances, at least for the post-sending public, it functions like any other national postal service. T… --- ## [To what extent is a company responsible for the information given by it's sales people?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-is-a-company-responsible-for-the-information-given-by-its-sales-people/844763)
**Author:** [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [December 15, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-is-a-company-responsible-for-the-information-given-by-its-sales-people/844763 "2019-12-15T13:58:50Z")
An issue has cropped up recently and it made me wonder how much a company is responsible for the information it’s sales people give their customers. Situation: During the Black Friday Sale at the Google Store, I called… --- ## [Large temperature shifts and high wind](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-temperature-shifts-and-high-wind/844838)
**Author:** [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [December 15, 2019, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-temperature-shifts-and-high-wind/844838 "2019-12-15T09:18:14Z")
At the risk of asking a dumb question… I’ve observed that frequently (though not always) a big shift in temperature is preceded by relatively high winds. A 20 or 30 degree Fahrenheit swing from one day to the next might … --- ## [Antique valuation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antique-valuation/844865)
**Author:** [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [December 15, 2019, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antique-valuation/844865 "2019-12-15T04:48:37Z")
I’ve been watching episodes of Antiques Roadshow and I’ve noticed that it’s fairly common for the appraiser to say something like “This item does have some condition issues. In its current condition it’s worth X. But if … --- ## [How much can you write with a quill pen on a single ink-dip?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-you-write-with-a-quill-pen-on-a-single-ink-dip/749494)
**Author:** [@jepflast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jepflast)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [December 15, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-you-write-with-a-quill-pen-on-a-single-ink-dip/749494 "2019-12-15T01:27:28Z")
A real quill pen made from a feather. No metal nib. Typical handwriting size. Load as much ink as you can. Could you get through, say, the alphabet? Twice? Would all such quills be roughly equal in this regard, or … --- ## [How many countries have age requirements for their head of state / head of government?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-age-requirements-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-government/844629)
**Author:** [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Replies:** 56\ **Last updated:** [December 14, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-countries-have-age-requirements-for-their-head-of-state-head-of-government/844629 "2019-12-14T17:28:45Z")
Inspired by the new Finnish Prime Minister, age 34. Britain and Canada don’t have age requirements. The US does (age 35). Others? --- ## [Is this light-based ticket-redemption game beatable/rigged?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-light-based-ticket-redemption-game-beatable-rigged/208468)
**Author:** [@Church\_Key\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Church_Key_Kid)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [December 14, 2019, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-light-based-ticket-redemption-game-beatable-rigged/208468 "2019-12-14T11:25:23Z")
If you’ve ever been to any arcade where they have ticket-redemption games (like skee-ball), then you have most likely seen the game where the light spins around in a circle (or moves up and down), and you have to push a … --- ## [Does an Air Force One aircraft use a different route than commercial airliners use for travel?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-an-air-force-one-aircraft-use-a-different-route-than-commercial-airliners-use-for-travel/844429)
**Author:** [@Dunmurry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunmurry)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [December 14, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-an-air-force-one-aircraft-use-a-different-route-than-commercial-airliners-use-for-travel/844429 "2019-12-14T03:45:07Z")
Well a few years ago when an Air Force One aircraft flew a few years ago from Brussels to London Stansted Airport prior to a visit by Donald Trump in July 2018 I read that it flew in about half the time it normally takes… --- ## [Is this normal cat behavior?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-cat-behavior/844602)
**Author:** [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-cat-behavior/844602 "2019-12-13T21:06:47Z")
My Moki is going on 2 years old, and she loves to play fetch. She’ll put something next to me on the recliner, then sit on the floor waiting for me to throw it. Rarely one of her many toys- usually something like a wadde… --- ## [Cyber security for smartphones](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cyber-security-for-smartphones/844813)
**Author:** [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2019, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cyber-security-for-smartphones/844813 "2019-12-13T19:42:55Z")
Is this even possible? You read in the news about companies that sell exploits to governments and state actors on hacking the phones of dissidents and human rights activists. The Israeli company NSO is being sued after… --- ## [Pro photographers using huge long lenses for well-lit indoor shoots](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-photographers-using-huge-long-lenses-for-well-lit-indoor-shoots/844727)
**Author:** [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2019, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-photographers-using-huge-long-lenses-for-well-lit-indoor-shoots/844727 "2019-12-13T04:51:07Z")
\[Apologies for not stating my question better; for some reason the title bar is letting me type in only about 60 characters\] Watching the Senate and Congressional committee hearings, you see photojournalists with their… --- ## [What exactly happened ~10,000 years ago that converted the nomadic existence to the farming?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happened-10-000-years-ago-that-converted-the-nomadic-existence-to-the-farming/844177)
**Author:** [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Replies:** 115\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2019, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happened-10-000-years-ago-that-converted-the-nomadic-existence-to-the-farming/844177 "2019-12-13T04:23:50Z")
Development of city-states etc. Accumulation and strorage of all sorts of things. Then comes the need for military to protect said things. --- ## [Are penguins considered dinosaurs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-penguins-considered-dinosaurs/844688)
**Author:** [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [December 12, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-penguins-considered-dinosaurs/844688 "2019-12-12T22:57:29Z")
It’s commonly stated that modern birds are living dinosaurs and penguins are birds. So it would seem so. But based on recent penguin “missing link” find articles, they claim that penguins evolved after the dinosaurs were… --- ## [Jug mobs, shovers, and wires: Argot of the underworld](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jug-mobs-shovers-and-wires-argot-of-the-underworld/641247)
**Author:** [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [December 12, 2019, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jug-mobs-shovers-and-wires-argot-of-the-underworld/641247 "2019-12-12T07:04:41Z")
Recently I listened to an episode of the old time Dragnet radio program, and the crime du jour for this episode was picking pockets. From the show, picking pockets isn’t–or wasn’t–a solo enterprise as citizens typically… --- ## [How can I insert card suit symbols (clubs, spades, etc) in Powerpoint text?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-insert-card-suit-symbols-clubs-spades-etc-in-powerpoint-text/844732)
**Author:** [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 12, 2019, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-insert-card-suit-symbols-clubs-spades-etc-in-powerpoint-text/844732 "2019-12-12T06:43:43Z")
I need to include the suit symbols as text characters in a Powerpoint I’m working on. They’re not in the symbols/icons that come with my version of PP. (Or at least I didn’t find them) Can anyone help me? --- ## [Entropy - Why can't it decrease](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entropy-why-cant-it-decrease/844320)
**Author:** [@pigtwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pigtwo)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [December 12, 2019, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entropy-why-cant-it-decrease/844320 "2019-12-12T05:40:17Z")
I’ve been reading a pop-sci book and it’s gotten me thinking about entropy and the second law of thermodynamics. One thing I’ve never fully understood why it is said that entropy can never decrease for a closed system. … --- ## [Our Japanese maple](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-japanese-maple/843912)
**Author:** [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [December 12, 2019, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-japanese-maple/843912 "2019-12-12T02:01:32Z")
We have a small Japanese maple tree that I planted back in 2006. Every fall the leaves turn bright red and fall off, just like they’re supposed to. But this year the leaves simply turned brown and are not falling. What c… --- ## [English language skills for Puerto Rico college grad](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-skills-for-puerto-rico-college-grad/844671)
**Author:** [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 11, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-skills-for-puerto-rico-college-grad/844671 "2019-12-11T22:32:54Z")
Wondering if anyone had any experience as to the English language skills that could be expected of someone who graduated from college and subsequently worked in a bank in PR. For example, are PR schools bilingual above … --- ## [How do I get on Obamacare?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-on-obamacare/840531)
**Author:** [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [December 11, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-on-obamacare/840531 "2019-12-11T20:52:40Z")
This may not stay in GQ, but please don’t turn this into a debate over Obamacare. I got laid off and I only have my previous company’s healthcare plan for two months. They gave me a severance package which includes a he… --- ## [Southerners and the Baptist Religion.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southerners-and-the-baptist-religion/844552)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [December 11, 2019, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southerners-and-the-baptist-religion/844552 "2019-12-11T18:57:48Z")
Why is it when you go to the South of the USA almost everyone is a Baptist? Sometimes you’ll find an Italian or Greek person, and even they will be of the Baptist religion? How did so many people get converted apparentl… --- ## [Was John Adams at risk of arrest for treason when he went to Great Britain as ambassador?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-john-adams-at-risk-of-arrest-for-treason-when-he-went-to-great-britain-as-ambassador/844540)
**Author:** [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [December 11, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-john-adams-at-risk-of-arrest-for-treason-when-he-went-to-great-britain-as-ambassador/844540 "2019-12-11T14:21:03Z")
Were the signers of the US Declaration of Independence ever formally pardoned by the King? Did they need to be? I ask because I wonder whether after the Revolutionary War there was any concern that US statesmen entering… --- ## [Is a 10+ year lifetime of a car battery typical these days?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-10-year-lifetime-of-a-car-battery-typical-these-days/844481)
**Author:** [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [December 10, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-10-year-lifetime-of-a-car-battery-typical-these-days/844481 "2019-12-10T17:17:51Z")
I’ve been driving a Skoda Fabia (3 cylinders, 1,2 l, 92k km mileage) for ten and a half years now, and still the battery works like a charm. It never failed, though we have winters with sometimes temperatures of -15-20° … --- ## [Amazon Search Frustration](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273)
**Author:** [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Replies:** 43\ **Last updated:** [December 11, 2019, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273 "2019-12-11T07:11:04Z")
I’m looking for advice / help with my Amazon searches: Is there some way to refine an Amazon search so it only shows me what I want and excludes non-hits, or alternatively tells me “no matching items”. Specifically, I’… --- ## [Dogs with pink noses and green eyes, and genetics.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-with-pink-noses-and-green-eyes-and-genetics/844601)
**Author:** [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [December 11, 2019, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-with-pink-noses-and-green-eyes-and-genetics/844601 "2019-12-11T04:21:21Z")
One of the small daughters is learning about a Punnett square, and is especially curious about eye and hair coloring. (My siblings and I are all redheads, with two blond parents. And my son is a total unicorn, with red h… --- ## [Structural analysis of wood in tree limbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/structural-analysis-of-wood-in-tree-limbs/844566)
**Author:** [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [December 11, 2019, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/structural-analysis-of-wood-in-tree-limbs/844566 "2019-12-11T01:43:37Z")
A thought that occurred to me the other day: Sometimes you’ll see a tree with a very long limb, growing nearly horizontally. A cantilevered structure like that must have the top portion under considerable tension. Doe… --- ## [how risky was it for FDR to travel to Tehran and Yalta during the war?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-risky-was-it-for-fdr-to-travel-to-tehran-and-yalta-during-the-war/844600)
**Author:** [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [December 11, 2019, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-risky-was-it-for-fdr-to-travel-to-tehran-and-yalta-during-the-war/844600 "2019-12-11T00:52:03Z")
Were there serious concerns that FDR (or Churchill for that matter) could have become targets if enemy intelligence got wind of their travels? --- ## [What kind of rock is this? Why is it so round?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-rock-is-this-why-is-it-so-round/844386)
**Author:** [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Replies:** 65\ **Last updated:** [December 10, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-rock-is-this-why-is-it-so-round/844386 "2019-12-10T21:20:41Z")
Sorry - another rock question. I’m sure thousands of years ago, this rock was in the water and that’s how it ended up so round. But I found it deep in the forest, away from water sources. How did it get so round? How di… --- ## [Podcast stopped dowloading](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podcast-stopped-dowloading/844482)
**Author:** [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 10, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podcast-stopped-dowloading/844482 "2019-12-10T17:11:19Z")
I’m still using an iPod because, when running, it’s a whole lot more comfortable to have this cigarette lighter-sized device clipped to my belt than my significantly-larger phone, attached uncomfortably. I mostly liste… --- ## [Macro evolution creates so much variety. Why does it seem like life originated from a single pond?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macro-evolution-creates-so-much-variety-why-does-it-seem-like-life-originated-from-a-single-pond/844412)
**Author:** [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Replies:** 76\ **Last updated:** [December 10, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macro-evolution-creates-so-much-variety-why-does-it-seem-like-life-originated-from-a-single-pond/844412 "2019-12-10T16:00:50Z")
Even though we see a vast array of different forms of life, the basic DNA building blocks are the same in all life. Many different kinds of life share the same genes, like plants and animals. We know the variety happen… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=403) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=405)