# Factual Questions **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=991 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 992 --- ## [Equipment causing power outages](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equipment-causing-power-outages/739953)
**Author:** [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equipment-causing-power-outages/739953 "2015-12-09T22:28:49Z")
The electricity in our neighborhood went out about 2:30 yesterday afternoon. Power was not restored until 3:40 this morning. ( I had been asleep intermittently during the evening and early morning.) A neighbor said he s… --- ## [Why is a boiler furnace called a boiler furnace?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-boiler-furnace-called-a-boiler-furnace/739865)
**Author:** [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-boiler-furnace-called-a-boiler-furnace/739865 "2015-12-09T22:08:30Z")
I have a baseboard water heat system, and around here at least, that type of furnace is called a boiler furnace. This seems odd to me, since the name “boiler” seems to imply that it boils and makes steam, which it doesn’… --- ## [Advise finding leak in airbed with white felt top](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-finding-leak-in-airbed-with-white-felt-top/739579)
**Author:** [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-finding-leak-in-airbed-with-white-felt-top/739579 "2015-12-09T21:41:24Z")
Airbed in question http://airbeds4less.com/product/queen-size-air-mattress.html Used soapy water on the flat grey vinyl but that white felt top just absorbs the soapy water. Visual searching has not been successful, an… --- ## [Dead body smell from car trunk-removal](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-body-smell-from-car-trunk-removal/739912)
**Author:** [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-body-smell-from-car-trunk-removal/739912 "2015-12-09T21:37:17Z")
Need answer fast! … Ok, now that I have your attention, it’s actually smell from 2 pounds of ground beef accidentally left in the trunk for about 5 days. :smack: The beef was in a shopping bag \[del\] hiding\[/del\] lying f… --- ## [Is it a road accident ever the fault of the government that maintains the road?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-road-accident-ever-the-fault-of-the-government-that-maintains-the-road/739687)
**Author:** [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-road-accident-ever-the-fault-of-the-government-that-maintains-the-road/739687 "2015-12-09T20:26:56Z")
Way back when, in Driver’s Ed, I learned something that’s stuck with me: Every accident is preventable. By you. Got T-boned at an intersection? Should have looked more closely. Got rear-ended? Should’ve moved. Got run of… --- ## [Blu-ray players can't "resume"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-players-cant-resume/739739)
**Author:** [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-players-cant-resume/739739 "2015-12-09T17:58:42Z")
I just got a Blu-ray player. A Samsung BD-J7500. I have experience with several DVD players, but not a Blu-ray player. I purchased a Star Trek: Next Generation Blu-ray and while it plays fine. However, if you turn it of… --- ## [Why do so many American servicemen in WWII look so old?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-american-servicemen-in-wwii-look-so-old/736231)
**Author:** [@Kamakiri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamakiri)\ **Replies:** 73\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-american-servicemen-in-wwii-look-so-old/736231 "2015-12-09T16:50:39Z")
You keep reading/hearing about how young everyone was who fought in WWII (my dad did, in the 8th Air Force) but when you look at footage from war zones—I’m watching Ken Burns’s “War” now, but it goes for ALL documentari… --- ## [A/B Antenna switcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-b-antenna-switcher/739901)
**Author:** [@joe.russell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joe.russell)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-b-antenna-switcher/739901 "2015-12-09T16:00:53Z")
I recently installed a directional antenna in our attic that I got for free to pull in a UHF channel I was having trouble with. My old indoor antenna pulled in more stations, but not the UHF I was wanting. I’m know the m… --- ## [The Fetish Exchange----Peculiar Porn in the Pre-Internet Age](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fetish-exchange-peculiar-porn-in-the-pre-internet-age/739870)
**Author:** [@Mrdeals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrdeals)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fetish-exchange-peculiar-porn-in-the-pre-internet-age/739870 "2015-12-09T14:28:53Z")
I was reading the book “Lords of Chaos” which is a biography of sorts on the origins of black metal. During the part about the band Mayhem which was late 80s and early 90s, they had a short section about how band member… --- ## [How exactly does the Higgs Field give particles mass.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-the-higgs-field-give-particles-mass/729186)
**Author:** [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-the-higgs-field-give-particles-mass/729186 "2015-12-09T13:28:35Z")
The few times I’ve seen an answer to this question, it is through an analogy that reminds me of explaining what time is. So how does a Higgs Field give particles mass and why are some particles massless despite the Higg… --- ## [Marginal cost of college education](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marginal-cost-of-college-education/739402)
**Author:** [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marginal-cost-of-college-education/739402 "2015-12-09T12:16:17Z")
How much does it really cost a school to add one more student? I remember a debate about letting Maine National Guard members attend University of Maine Schools for free, and students were not happy about the possibilit… --- ## [Helicopter landing approach question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-landing-approach-question/739707)
**Author:** [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helicopter-landing-approach-question/739707 "2015-12-09T11:21:06Z")
I live under the flight path of a small airport that services business jets (FAB in the UK). Since I can just glance out the window to see them I’ve started using FlightRadar24 to see what is what. I’ve noticed that the … --- ## [Do They Still Make Macleans Toothpaste?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-make-macleans-toothpaste/240635)
**Author:** [@Marsie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marsie)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-make-macleans-toothpaste/240635 "2015-12-09T11:01:39Z")
My favorite toothpaste of all time was a brand called Macleans. It was so strong and minty that it made my eyes water. Do they still make it? If so, where can I buy it? I bought about 10 tubes when we went to Canada a… --- ## [Can we train ourselves to visualize 4D space?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-train-ourselves-to-visualize-4d-space/213770)
**Author:** [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Replies:** 73\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-train-ourselves-to-visualize-4d-space/213770 "2015-12-09T10:38:17Z")
This article discusses four-dimensional raytracing. It works like three-dimensional raytracing, except that the rays are drawn from the viewpoint through cells in a 3D cubical grid in 4-space, rather than through cells … --- ## [Optimal way to sell physical silver in the US?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-way-to-sell-physical-silver-in-the-us/738881)
**Author:** [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-way-to-sell-physical-silver-in-the-us/738881 "2015-12-09T10:20:44Z")
My stepdad has come into possession of silver. Not on paper-in bars. He inherited them from a brother who didn’t believe in banks. What is the best way to convert them into money? Is there any way to get market price f… --- ## [How Does Mold Thrive on...Nothing?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-mold-thrive-on-nothing/739899)
**Author:** [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-mold-thrive-on-nothing/739899 "2015-12-09T09:46:55Z")
We have a plastic jug of Crystal Lite, a sugar-free drink. Mold will form on the walls of the jug. How can mold survive off of nothing? Certainly, there is no sugar. Is the plastic better than we think? :wink: Any bio… --- ## [Tie-breaking votes in the Senate, no Vice-President](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tie-breaking-votes-in-the-senate-no-vice-president/739652)
**Author:** [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tie-breaking-votes-in-the-senate-no-vice-president/739652 "2015-12-09T03:35:13Z")
One of the few Constitutionally-assigned duties of the Vice-President of the USA is to cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate. What happens if a Senate vote ties and the Vice-Presidency is vacant? I understand this is unl… --- ## [Putting a GIF in gmail - maximum size](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-gif-in-gmail-maximum-size/739876)
**Author:** [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-gif-in-gmail-maximum-size/739876 "2015-12-09T02:39:58Z")
I can’t believe I’m having trouble getting this question answered. Most of the hits in my search come up from 2003 or 2008 or somesuch and the answers are useless. The tech is just different. I know how to embed a GIF in… --- ## [Credit card protector help needed](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-protector-help-needed/739650)
**Author:** [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-protector-help-needed/739650 "2015-12-09T01:35:56Z")
Because of my work I use my credit card quite a bit - several times a day. Between the swiping and the in and out of my wallet the strip wears down fast. I’m replacing it every 4 moths or so. The bank used to hand out l… --- ## [SDMB Experts: redesign a curling iron cable that doens't twist](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-experts-redesign-a-curling-iron-cable-that-doenst-twist/739843)
**Author:** [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [December 9, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-experts-redesign-a-curling-iron-cable-that-doenst-twist/739843 "2015-12-09T00:04:41Z")
I enjoyed reading the thread about toasters, so I want to throw this one at you smart people. I use a curling iron that has the power cable coming out of the end of the handle. The cord is on some sort of pivot so that… --- ## [Will a reset of Windows 10 remove the OEM stuff?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-reset-of-windows-10-remove-the-oem-stuff/739568)
**Author:** [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-reset-of-windows-10-remove-the-oem-stuff/739568 "2015-12-08T19:51:00Z")
I’ve got an HP laptop that is installed with Windows 10, but of course has all the HP crap, and crap from other companies that I have no desire to use. I like the hardware quality of an HP, so in the past I’ve just been … --- ## [Why atoms? All that binding energy--why is it bound up?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-atoms-all-that-binding-energy-why-is-it-bound-up/739264)
**Author:** [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-atoms-all-that-binding-energy-why-is-it-bound-up/739264 "2015-12-08T19:36:20Z")
This is one of those “Oh crap, I don’t have the faintest clue about anything” moments: particle “stuff,” as thead after thread reminds us, is either all energy (if you want to look at it that way), or huge amounts of dif… --- ## [How does it work when a building and the land have different owners?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-it-work-when-a-building-and-the-land-have-different-owners/739527)
**Author:** [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-it-work-when-a-building-and-the-land-have-different-owners/739527 "2015-12-08T17:20:30Z")
I was reading about Citifield today, and apparently the Mets ( through a subsidiary) own the stadium and lease the land from NYC. How does this sort of arrangement work if the lease ends? If I lease some land and put my … --- ## [Redrum, The Shining, and Real Life Murder](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redrum-the-shining-and-real-life-murder/738466)
**Author:** [@Jrubas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jrubas)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redrum-the-shining-and-real-life-murder/738466 "2015-12-08T16:49:00Z")
About ten years ago I read a bio of Lesley Eugene Warren, a serial killer who murdered several women in the 1980s and ‘90s. One of his victims was a former counselor who worked at a type of group home Warren was at as a … --- ## [Does this PC device exist?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-pc-device-exist/738123)
**Author:** [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-pc-device-exist/738123 "2015-12-08T16:45:27Z")
I’m a IT sysadmin. Our company has a bunch of locations with one or two servers at each location, and we usually manage them remotely, so it doesn’t really make sense to have a Keyboard/Mouse/Video unit at each branch. H… --- ## [What is this squishy sea creature?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-squishy-sea-creature/739701)
**Author:** [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-squishy-sea-creature/739701 "2015-12-08T16:40:31Z")
My husband says there were lots of them on the beach at some resort in Vietnam. Although they look hard, he says they were squishy to the touch. Despite having been on many beaches around the world, he’d never encountere… --- ## [What (if anything) set the Anglo Saxons apart from contemporary continental Europe?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-set-the-anglo-saxons-apart-from-contemporary-continental-europe/739656)
**Author:** [@dunkleosteus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dunkleosteus)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-set-the-anglo-saxons-apart-from-contemporary-continental-europe/739656 "2015-12-08T16:08:14Z")
The Anglo Saxons inhabited Britain (mostly England) from ~400-1000 AD before phasing culturally into a more modern England after the Norman conquest. What set the Old English apart though? I’ve heard a few different thin… --- ## [Varmint digging under my garage](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/varmint-digging-under-my-garage/739736)
**Author:** [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/varmint-digging-under-my-garage/739736 "2015-12-08T15:37:36Z")
I have something digging under my garage. I’m guessing a rabbit although it could certainly be a skunk or maybe even a rat. I’d like to think it’s not either of those; I don’t smell skunk in the backyard and it’s bigger… --- ## [What is this? (possibly from a drum kit)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-possibly-from-a-drum-kit/739566)
**Author:** [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-possibly-from-a-drum-kit/739566 "2015-12-08T15:28:42Z")
This photowas just posted by a friend on FB with this text: Figured someone here might know. --- ## [Strobe effect on Cadillac brake lights?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strobe-effect-on-cadillac-brake-lights/502937)
**Author:** [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strobe-effect-on-cadillac-brake-lights/502937 "2015-12-08T14:12:00Z")
In the past couple of years, I’ve noticed that the rear brake lights on Cadillacs (and no other makes of car) almost have a very rapid strobe-light effect. When I stare at the lights and then shift my eyes ever so sligh… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=990) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/factual-questions/9.md?page=992)