# Factual Questions **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=660 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 661 --- ## [Why "Antartida" in Spanish?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-antartida-in-spanish/20806)
**Author:** [@cmoreno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmoreno)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2017, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-antartida-in-spanish/20806 "2017-10-27T06:19:50Z")
Why do the Spanish (and the Portuguese) call “Antartida” that part of the Earth we all (the rest of Western World)call “Antarctica”? Does it has something to do with “Atlantida” ? --- ## [How did governments pay for stuff before income tax was introduced?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-governments-pay-for-stuff-before-income-tax-was-introduced/799622)
**Author:** [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2017, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-governments-pay-for-stuff-before-income-tax-was-introduced/799622 "2017-10-27T02:56:15Z")
Apparently the first modern income tax was imposed by Pitt the Younger in England in 1799. Astonishing the US did without income tax until 1861 . My question is how did governments manage to pay for stuff before emptying… --- ## [EMV compliance bill: Scam Scam Scam](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emv-compliance-bill-scam-scam-scam/799817)
**Author:** [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2017, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emv-compliance-bill-scam-scam-scam/799817 "2017-10-27T02:18:18Z")
I just got this in the snail mail, a very official looking bill from EMV compliance PO Box 340380 Dept. 95197 Columbus, OH 43234-0380 It is addressed to me in my professional capacity, at my place of work. It’s us… --- ## [Looking for cheap hotel/motel search site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-cheap-hotel-motel-search-site/799432)
**Author:** [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-cheap-hotel-motel-search-site/799432 "2017-10-26T21:02:22Z")
If I am just going to be somewhere for a couple of days, all I need is a bed, a tv and a lockable door. Are there any sites that include cheap hotels and motels? --- ## [Neutron star collision - gold formation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517)
**Author:** [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2017, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517 "2017-10-26T20:37:46Z")
So as I understand it (very simply put) when two neutron stars collide they create and throw out lots of gold: https://www.google.com/amp/abcnews.go.com/amp/Technology/wireStory/scientists-witness-huge-cosmic-crash-find… --- ## [Why does Utah have different concrete mixing trucks than everywhere else?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-utah-have-different-concrete-mixing-trucks-than-everywhere-else/668277)
**Author:** [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-utah-have-different-concrete-mixing-trucks-than-everywhere-else/668277 "2017-10-26T20:31:25Z")
I spent the summer in Park City and couldn’t help but notice that all the concrete mixing trucks deliver the cement at the front of the truck rather than the back. This is different than all the ones in California and ev… --- ## [Cell phone charging/data connectors](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-charging-data-connectors/799915)
**Author:** [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-charging-data-connectors/799915 "2017-10-26T20:26:10Z")
My wife lost the wall charger for her basic Samsung flip phone. No problem, just run down to Walmart and pick one up. or even a USB charging cable. After a lot of searching I finally found a single charger with multiple… --- ## [Very large objects and dark energy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-large-objects-and-dark-energy/799903)
**Author:** [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-large-objects-and-dark-energy/799903 "2017-10-26T19:59:45Z")
If there were a very large but very dispersed collection of matter, such that it would turn into a black hole in the absence of dark energy, but the space between the far points of the object are moving away from each ot… --- ## [If malnutrtion stunts height, does it also stunt intelligence?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-malnutrtion-stunts-height-does-it-also-stunt-intelligence/799910)
**Author:** [@Contemplation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contemplation)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-malnutrtion-stunts-height-does-it-also-stunt-intelligence/799910 "2017-10-26T19:59:07Z")
Your adult height depends on your childhood nutrition, so if childhood nutrition can affect your height does that mean it also affects your brain development? So would shorter/smaller people have brains that are less we… --- ## [Where are all the rich people fleeing from?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-rich-people-fleeing-from/799340)
**Author:** [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-rich-people-fleeing-from/799340 "2017-10-26T19:43:05Z")
Many cities have been experiencing a lot of gentrification recently. In order for rich people to be flocking to these cities, they must also be leaving somewhere else. What are the places that the well-off are leaving … --- ## [What Are the REAL Effects of Inhaling Chloroform?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-real-effects-of-inhaling-chloroform/149571)
**Author:** [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Replies:** 43\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-real-effects-of-inhaling-chloroform/149571 "2017-10-26T17:04:58Z")
I’ve seen this device used in movies from time to time: somebody soaks a cloth in chloroform, holds it over a person’s mouth and nose, and the person is instantly unconscious. This technique was generally used to facilit… --- ## [Question regarding Chuikov's 62nd Army](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-chuikovs-62nd-army/799520)
**Author:** [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2017, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-chuikovs-62nd-army/799520 "2017-10-26T11:24:54Z")
Hi I’ve been searching high and low for the exact number of troops in Chuikov’s 62nd Army. No luck. How many troops were thrown against Paulus’s 6th Army. I look forward to your feedback --- ## [Homosexuals and the Limp Hand.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexuals-and-the-limp-hand/799820)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2017, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexuals-and-the-limp-hand/799820 "2017-10-26T09:59:40Z")
How did the Limp hand come to signify male homosexuality? I know it has meant that all my life, and likely predates me. And if that seems too simple, then how about this: when and where and how did it come to signify th… --- ## [Copyright and plagiarism, yet again.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-and-plagiarism-yet-again/797840)
**Author:** [@zuer-coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuer-coli)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2017, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-and-plagiarism-yet-again/797840 "2017-10-25T21:05:01Z")
All, Some years ago I did some writing for the municipal government I worked for. (past tense) It was and is a project that I continue to have interest in and would like to publish. Just so no one is unclear; the mater… --- ## [Caracas Generale](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caracas-generale/799769)
**Author:** [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caracas-generale/799769 "2017-10-25T20:34:02Z")
I watch CNBC regularly and every day they list the world markets and how each world market is doing. The Caracas Generale is consistently up (it was up 8+% just today). The 1-yr return on it is just over 20,000%, while t… --- ## [Spousal privilege--hypo for you law talking folks](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spousal-privilege-hypo-for-you-law-talking-folks/799724)
**Author:** [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spousal-privilege-hypo-for-you-law-talking-folks/799724 "2017-10-25T16:47:12Z")
This is a real case, but the facts have been changed to protect the guilty. Here it is: A man comes home at midnight. His wife asks him where he has been. He tells her that he just murdered someone and that she is to… --- ## [Translating Italian into English: what does "il crac" mean?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translating-italian-into-english-what-does-il-crac-mean/799627)
**Author:** [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translating-italian-into-english-what-does-il-crac-mean/799627 "2017-10-25T16:18:45Z")
Trying to translate the headline of this article: Nfl, il crac dei quarterback, ma Brady è una sicurezza “Crac” looks like it is borrowed into Italian. I am assuming it comes from English “crack” or maybe something sim… --- ## [Desperate text message help; have Internet but minimal cell service. Need answer fast.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desperate-text-message-help-have-internet-but-minimal-cell-service-need-answer-fast/799569)
**Author:** [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desperate-text-message-help-have-internet-but-minimal-cell-service-need-answer-fast/799569 "2017-10-25T16:04:42Z")
Mrs. Devil is in the hospital in dire circumstances. I am two hours away with the Devilling; her folks are an hour away. They are putting a tube down her throat so she won’t be able to talk — text only. Our house has sp… --- ## [Do Amber and Pearls "Rot" With Time?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-amber-and-pearls-rot-with-time/799583)
**Author:** [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-amber-and-pearls-rot-with-time/799583 "2017-10-25T15:40:43Z")
If I put a bunch of amber and pearls in a treasure chest…what happens over a very long time? Let’s say there’s air circulation, but no temperature extremes. The treasure is in the deeps of a cavern. The chest they’re … --- ## [Kinetic energy of an air rifle pellet](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kinetic-energy-of-an-air-rifle-pellet/799802)
**Author:** [@icuppu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icuppu)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2017, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kinetic-energy-of-an-air-rifle-pellet/799802 "2017-10-25T14:40:50Z")
What is the formula, or best combination of gas pressure, pellet weight, barrel length to get the maximum power? I calculate that the potential energy of the gas that is converted to kinetic energy of the pellet is aroun… --- ## [Small plastic BB's or? for measuring displacement of odd shaped objects](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plastic-bbs-or-for-measuring-displacement-of-odd-shaped-objects/799537)
**Author:** [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-plastic-bbs-or-for-measuring-displacement-of-odd-shaped-objects/799537 "2017-10-24T23:50:09Z")
Looking for something besides water that is easy to handle, clean, and will fairly accurately represent the volume of objects when displaced. Small plastic BB’s is the first thing that comes to mind anything else that mi… --- ## [Is Kertatin Stretchable?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kertatin-stretchable/799754)
**Author:** [@Contemplation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contemplation)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kertatin-stretchable/799754 "2017-10-24T18:53:30Z")
Some people have super stretchy skin that they can stretch painlessly. Collagen and Elastin make up the underlayers of the skin and are elastic protiens. Keratin makes up the outter layer of the skin, but I thought Kera… --- ## [What is causing interference to my digital TV signal?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-causing-interference-to-my-digital-tv-signal/620715)
**Author:** [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-causing-interference-to-my-digital-tv-signal/620715 "2017-10-24T18:29:33Z")
Hello, I have a digital TV (Panasonic Viera), the antenna cable is plugged in to the wall (connected to the antenna on the roof). The reception is great most of the time, except when: The bathroom light is switched on… --- ## [Why no push for propane powered vehicles?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-push-for-propane-powered-vehicles/799637)
**Author:** [@Mrdeals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrdeals)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-push-for-propane-powered-vehicles/799637 "2017-10-24T18:27:42Z")
Surely Hank Hill isn’t the only one who thinks propane is the greatest thing ever made? I know that propane and CNG vehicles exist. Is there a reason why propane personal cars haven’t been pursued? --- ## [Factual cold sore questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-cold-sore-questions/799634)
**Author:** [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-cold-sore-questions/799634 "2017-10-24T17:48:28Z")
Is it possible to transmit the virus when you have no outbreak at the time? I guess this means – is it in saliva or other cells that would be transmitted? When cold sores are triggered by exposure to the sun, does … --- ## [Tiangong-1 \[Potential landing sites for Chinese Space Station\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiangong-1-potential-landing-sites-for-chinese-space-station/799586)
**Author:** [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiangong-1-potential-landing-sites-for-chinese-space-station/799586 "2017-10-24T12:43:06Z")
I read that the Chinese Space Station is out of control and will land somewhere between 42.8 degrees north and south. This includes a lot of land and I wondered what the odds are of it hitting somewhere important like Ro… --- ## [Scotland and the British Empire](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotland-and-the-british-empire/799260)
**Author:** [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Replies:** 55\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2017, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotland-and-the-british-empire/799260 "2017-10-24T10:10:36Z")
I watched the western TV program Riverboat. The guys on the riverboat fire a cannon at Indians attacking a fort. Grapeshot knocks over a tree and one Indian off his horse. The Captain says to a Scotsman. “Good aim!” … --- ## [Why does this animated LED POS display look like its leaning?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-animated-led-pos-display-look-like-its-leaning/565774)
**Author:** [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2017, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-animated-led-pos-display-look-like-its-leaning/565774 "2017-10-24T05:35:16Z")
I don’t know what to call this point of sale LED display unit, although it is similar to an older, single-color gadget called “silent radio.” It is a matrix of 7-high LEDS by about 100 wide, and each LED/dot can take on… --- ## [Is it illegal to rent sex toys?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-rent-sex-toys/251275)
**Author:** [@Logitech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Logitech)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2017, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-rent-sex-toys/251275 "2017-10-24T01:22:00Z")
If so what would the charge be? Prostitution? Suppose you bought a realdoll or something and wanted to rent it to people what legal hurdles would you have to overcome to do this? --- ## [Lionel O Gauge Trucks](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lionel-o-gauge-trucks/799649)
**Author:** [@musicnme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicnme)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [October 23, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lionel-o-gauge-trucks/799649 "2017-10-23T18:42:46Z")
How do you change trucks on a Lionel O Gauge tank car? Looks like the screw holding the truck is on the inside of the tank car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=659) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=661)