# Factual Questions **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=615 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 616 --- ## [Of American women under thirty-five, what percentage use only their maiden name ...?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-american-women-under-thirty-five-what-percentage-use-only-their-maiden-name/809180)
**Author:** [@Steven\_Estes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Estes)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [February 24, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-american-women-under-thirty-five-what-percentage-use-only-their-maiden-name/809180 "2018-02-24T20:07:46Z")
Of American women under thirty-five, what percentage use only their maiden name and what percentage use their maiden name professionally and what percentage maiden name professionally and married name socially. --- ## [Longevity in seventeenth-century U.S. and primitive societies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longevity-in-seventeenth-century-u-s-and-primitive-societies/809178)
**Author:** [@Steven\_Estes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Estes)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [February 24, 2018, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longevity-in-seventeenth-century-u-s-and-primitive-societies/809178 "2018-02-24T16:16:32Z")
It is often stated that, in the U.S. a century ago or in many primitive societies, the life expectancy was thirty or forty years. But such claims never say whether this includes infant mortality and death of mothers g… --- ## [Non-GMO crackers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-gmo-crackers/809462)
**Author:** [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 24, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-gmo-crackers/809462 "2018-02-24T16:14:25Z")
(Note: I put this here instead of Cafe Society because it’s more about Non-GMO wheat than crackers) I just saw an ad for Triscuit crackers. Their claim is that they now only use genetically unmodified wheat. Discussions… --- ## [FACTUAL Question about the Powers of the FBI when they get a tip about possible shooter](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-the-powers-of-the-fbi-when-they-get-a-tip-about-possible-shooter/809444)
**Author:** [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [February 24, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-the-powers-of-the-fbi-when-they-get-a-tip-about-possible-shooter/809444 "2018-02-24T15:25:48Z")
I have a question about the powers of the FBI , in relation to the Florida school shooting. Apparently they got a tip about the student, that he might pose a risk to the school. Some have criticised the FBI for dropping… --- ## [Itchy bump on my tongue](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itchy-bump-on-my-tongue/513015)
**Author:** [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [May 25, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itchy-bump-on-my-tongue/513015 "2012-05-25T18:38:26Z")
Every once in a while, maybe once a year, I get a small bump on the tip or edge of my tongue that itches and bothers the hell out of me. I’m urged to scratch it on my teeth, but that hurts like hell. They go away in a fe… --- ## [Aside from coding, what prevents American fighters from firing foreign missiles (and vice versa?)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-coding-what-prevents-american-fighters-from-firing-foreign-missiles-and-vice-versa/809188)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [February 24, 2018, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-coding-what-prevents-american-fighters-from-firing-foreign-missiles-and-vice-versa/809188 "2018-02-24T06:21:55Z")
AIUI, the reason that fighters of a certain nationality (i.e., American) typically cannot carry or fire foreign missiles (i.e., Russian, French or Israeli) is because of 1) the coding or programming is incompatible and 2… --- ## [Kosher Eating: Eggs and Chickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-eating-eggs-and-chickens/808936)
**Author:** [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [February 24, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-eating-eggs-and-chickens/808936 "2018-02-24T03:05:11Z")
I’m breaking a bit with tradition by asking this before sunset on Friday, but here goes: The reason for not mixing meat and dairy in kosher food is a prohibition on cooking a calf in the milk of its mother (more or less… --- ## [Passing through an embryonic stage is a/the(?) sine qua non of being an animal?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-through-an-embryonic-stage-is-a-the-sine-qua-non-of-being-an-animal/809424)
**Author:** [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [February 24, 2018, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passing-through-an-embryonic-stage-is-a-the-sine-qua-non-of-being-an-animal/809424 "2018-02-24T00:19:12Z")
Suggested by current thread First organism large enough to be seen by human eye (if there were humans then), in which Colibri cites “the first macroscopic fossils of single organisms \[which\] seem to date from about 2.1 b… --- ## [The Edge of the Universe](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-edge-of-the-universe/808637)
**Author:** [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Replies:** 101\ **Last updated:** [February 24, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-edge-of-the-universe/808637 "2018-02-24T00:14:12Z")
Assuming the Big Bang, that the Universe popped out like a rapidly expanding bubble in all directions, what would the edge of the Universe look like? I’m thinking that even as mass coalesced from the primorial quantum o… --- ## [How closely related is Religion and marriage?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-closely-related-is-religion-and-marriage/809294)
**Author:** [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Replies:** 46\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-closely-related-is-religion-and-marriage/809294 "2018-02-23T23:59:57Z")
I know Christanty and marriage are closely linked. Marriage legitimizes the sexual relationship between a man and woman. Marriage legitimizes the children from that relationship. What about other major religions? Musli… --- ## [Dog nose question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-nose-question/809403)
**Author:** [@JakeRS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JakeRS)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-nose-question/809403 "2018-02-23T22:59:32Z")
Everyone knows that dog’s noses are way, way more sensitive than human ones, some say 10, some 100, some 10.000 and even a million times, they are used to discover explosives, drugs, so there’s no arguing that they are w… --- ## [Could their offspring be black](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-their-offspring-be-black/809115)
**Author:** [@Steven\_Estes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Estes)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-their-offspring-be-black/809115 "2018-02-23T21:06:17Z")
Many years ago there was a book and a movie, Island in The Sun. If memory serves, which it may well not, the plot revolved around the possibility that a white woman and a white-looking man who had some black ancestry wo… --- ## [Any Country Never Taken Over?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-country-never-taken-over/809389)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-country-never-taken-over/809389 "2018-02-23T20:52:04Z")
The United States is not the only country where a more powerful power came in, and took it away from the original inhabitants. It holds true for almost every country! Take Great Britain. First the Celts were there. Then… --- ## [Churchill's Epaulet Insignia at Yalta?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/churchills-epaulet-insignia-at-yalta/809346)
**Author:** [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/churchills-epaulet-insignia-at-yalta/809346 "2018-02-23T20:14:24Z")
I have examined the poor quality photo images available on the Internet and have been unable to determine what military insignia Winston Churchill wore on his overcoat in the famous photos of him, Roosevelt, and Stalin a… --- ## [Is it safe to swim in the open ocean 1000 miles from the nearest land?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-swim-in-the-open-ocean-1000-miles-from-the-nearest-land/371728 "2018-02-23T20:07:45Z")
Let’s say you’re on a big yacht and are 1000 miles from the nearest land, and decide it might be nice to swim in the ocean. Out on the high seas are there (normally) any sea creatures about that would be a danger to hum… --- ## [Problems transitioning to a cashless society](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-transitioning-to-a-cashless-society/809272)
**Author:** [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Replies:** 56\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-transitioning-to-a-cashless-society/809272 "2018-02-23T19:09:03Z")
This article caught my eye. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/‘no-cash’-signs-everywhere-has-sweden-worried-it’s-gone-too-far/ar-BBJogIJ?li=BBnb7Kz Evidently the Swedish government is concerned that they may be t… --- ## [First organism large enough to be seen by human eye (if there were humans then)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-organism-large-enough-to-be-seen-by-human-eye-if-there-were-humans-then/808956)
**Author:** [@Steven\_Estes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Estes)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-organism-large-enough-to-be-seen-by-human-eye-if-there-were-humans-then/808956 "2018-02-23T19:08:56Z")
In the four billion years of the evolution of life, what was the first organism large enough to be seen by the naked human eye (if there had been human beings then,) If the answer is something like coral, what is the fi… --- ## [necrosis in thinner body parts (i.e., ears, fingers) vs. thicker parts (i.e., arms/legs)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necrosis-in-thinner-body-parts-i-e-ears-fingers-vs-thicker-parts-i-e-arms-legs/809367)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necrosis-in-thinner-body-parts-i-e-ears-fingers-vs-thicker-parts-i-e-arms-legs/809367 "2018-02-23T17:48:46Z")
Wondering if gangrene develops more quickly in thin body parts (such as the ears, using ears as the example) when bloodflow is totally cut off, than in thicker parts such as the arms and legs. The thinner ears would see… --- ## [Rifle Bullet Proof Armor into a shield a dumb idea?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rifle-bullet-proof-armor-into-a-shield-a-dumb-idea/809303)
**Author:** [@curious11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious11)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rifle-bullet-proof-armor-into-a-shield-a-dumb-idea/809303 "2018-02-23T15:31:05Z")
Hey All, I found this on line… A chest protection plate of level IV body armor. https://www.ar500armor.com/ar500-armor-body-armor/ar500-armor-level-iv-composite-body-armor-10x12.html If I fashion that into a shield, p… --- ## [Technical adjective/term for "you need all" vs. "you only need one"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technical-adjective-term-for-you-need-all-vs-you-only-need-one/809297)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technical-adjective-term-for-you-need-all-vs-you-only-need-one/809297 "2018-02-23T07:37:41Z")
Hi, could use some help: I am hunting for a particular technical term, if the term exists: Basically, an adjective or jargon that describes the following two things: Situations or things in which you need \*\*everythin… --- ## [Breech loading rifles and the American Civil War](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breech-loading-rifles-and-the-american-civil-war/806690)
**Author:** [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Replies:** 48\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breech-loading-rifles-and-the-american-civil-war/806690 "2018-02-23T07:22:20Z")
Why didn’t the US Army and War Department pursue procurement of breech loading rifles as the primary infantry weapon, as opposed to muzzle loading rifles? The advantages of breech loading firearms were already well under… --- ## [Is drinking a fifth of alcohol in one day dangerous?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-drinking-a-fifth-of-alcohol-in-one-day-dangerous/235430)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 95\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-drinking-a-fifth-of-alcohol-in-one-day-dangerous/235430 "2018-02-23T03:05:10Z")
Per this note in Modern Drunkard re accomplishment number 3. Other than the obvious dangers of drinking and driving etc., would it be physically hazardous (ie just the physical effects of alcohol consumption by itsel… --- ## [Full body orgasm with oral sex](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/full-body-orgasm-with-oral-sex/808829)
**Author:** [@MaverocK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaverocK)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/full-body-orgasm-with-oral-sex/808829 "2018-02-23T02:36:41Z")
I gave several women oral sex and they came like it was a vaginal orgasm (full body shaking, twitching etc). I suspect that they were faking it because I read that in the clitoral orgasm the orgasm is limited to vaginal … --- ## [How do they do magic tricks involving random audience members?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-do-magic-tricks-involving-random-audience-members/264972)
**Author:** [@Carnick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnick)\ **Replies:** 117\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-do-magic-tricks-involving-random-audience-members/264972 "2018-02-23T02:16:12Z")
I was just at a David Copperfield show tonight, and most of his tricks involved the use of seemingly randomly chosen audience members. He would drag people up on stage and have them write down a number, card, secret, etc… --- ## [Differential Supercharger](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differential-supercharger/809356)
**Author:** [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differential-supercharger/809356 "2018-02-23T01:00:07Z")
Superchargers are mechanical air pumps allowing an internal combustion engine to be more powerful by force-feeding said engine more air than it can inhale on its own. Upside is instant boost…downside is fixed boost:no … --- ## [How are evangelicals distinct from other Christians?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-evangelicals-distinct-from-other-christians/807747)
**Author:** [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Replies:** 101\ **Last updated:** [February 23, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-evangelicals-distinct-from-other-christians/807747 "2018-02-23T00:13:33Z")
In the last couple of years, I have heard an awful lot about evangelicals and their political leanings. I looked it up and to me the definition sounds like “Christian.” How are evangelicals different than other Christian… --- ## [Explain this bird behavior](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-bird-behavior/808592)
**Author:** [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [February 22, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-bird-behavior/808592 "2018-02-22T23:36:57Z")
I put out peanuts for the scrub jays that nest nearby. It’s a daily amusement as the squirrels and jays compete for the food, with the occasional crow flying in to terrorize them both. A behavior I’ve noticed with the ja… --- ## [Average street length](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-street-length/809087)
**Author:** [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [February 22, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-street-length/809087 "2018-02-22T23:07:15Z")
Consider cities around the world, from small to mega. What is the distribution of street lengths, as a function of population and density? How long is a typical street? --- ## [Stalling Internet. Can ping 8.8.8.8 but not www.google.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalling-internet-can-ping-8-8-8-8-but-not-www-google-com/809344)
**Author:** [@Yask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yask)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [February 22, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalling-internet-can-ping-8-8-8-8-but-not-www-google-com/809344 "2018-02-22T23:05:55Z")
The Internet on my Win 7 PC keeps stalling, as if it’s waiting for something to time out before loading a site. Once sites start to load, it’s ok for a little while, then it’s back to stalling again. It’s not a whole-ho… --- ## [Does anyone check to see whether weather predictions were correct?s](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-check-to-see-whether-weather-predictions-were-correct-s/809177)
**Author:** [@Steven\_Estes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Estes)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [February 22, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-check-to-see-whether-weather-predictions-were-correct-s/809177 "2018-02-22T22:11:32Z")
The weather report often says, say, there’s a fifty percent chance of precipitation tooday. Does anyone ever check to see whether it had, in fact, rained on half the days in the past five years for which the weather rep… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=614) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=616)