Wikipedia:Reference Desk archive 1

Reference Desk -- Archive

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2001-11-07: If you look at a chart of the International Phonetic Alphabet (see http://www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/IPA/fullchart), under pulmonary consonants, there are several combinations of features not given IPA symbols, but not marked as impossible either. Why? Could a language use those consonants? e.g. bilabial tap and approximant, labiodental plosive, trill and tap, retroflex trill and lateral fricative, etc... -- SJK

• 2002-03-17: As I Understand It™, these were omitted from the chart because at the time of publishing, they had not been documented as phonemes in human languages, or at least are extremely rare. However, some of this is now out of date - for example, there are some documented Adamawan and Ubangan languages that have a phonemeic labiodental flap, as well as several Sudanic languages that have a nonphonemic labiodental flap. (Check out the SIL International's (http://www.sil.org) web page for more information on this, and other research in the area of linguistics.) pgdudda

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What is the best way to view the upcoming Leonids meteor shower? Will everyone be able to see it? Might it be a dud? (Posted Nov. 16.)

It's too late now, but the best way to view it was simply go somewhere outdoors, not cloudy, and dark, at the right time, and bring a MOTAS :) I had the first four, but not the last, and it was still pretty spectacular. --Robert Merkel

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What is the cause of halos around the moon? I found an answer here: [1] (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000515). This is a NASA page. So a follow-up question: can we use that content here on Wikipedia, or not? (Anyone want to do the research?) (Posted Nov. 2, 2001.) -- NASA photos are PD unless listed as copyrighted. This one of the halo is listed as c. by Juan Carlos Casado (jccasado@skylook.net). http://www.nasa.gov/qanda/nasa_internet allows informational and educational use of photos, links to NASA, & screenshots of pages but it says nothing about the actual text of the pages. The best person to contact appears to be Brian Dunbar, Internet Services Manager, NASA Office of Public Affairs. Sorry, no e-mail address but you can snail mail via NASA Headquarters - Washington, DC 20546

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What are the chances of human colonization of the moon and Mars? Are there any active plans for this? What are some of the prerequisites? (Posted October 24, 2001.) -- There are no plans for this by any current spacefaring organizations, but see Mars Direct for a feasable near-term idea. In the extreme long-term, see Terraforming. I can't find any good entries for medium-term colonization methods offhand (space habitats, etc.). At the moment, colonization plans are really just speculation. Read "Entering Space" by Robert Zubrin for an accessible, and plausible, view of this kind of thing.

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What does the scroll lock do? Eean (Oct 8 2001) -- not much in today's software; see scroll lock.

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I heard on the news shortly after 9/11 that they may have secret military tribunals in the US. Did anything come of this? (Oct 6 2001) -- (i don't think so, but maybe you are thinking of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court).

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Who was Thomas Reid and what did he have to do with the Scottish School of Common Sense[?]? (Posted June 26.) -- See Thomas Reid and common sense.

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In "A Study in Scarlet" by Arthur Conan Doyle, an account is given of the early history of the Mormons, in which they are made out to be grossly intolerant, extremely brutal to dissenters, and in which leaders are portrayed as all being polygamists. In what details is Doyle's story correct, and in what details is it exaggerated? (Posted June 26.) (SEE Mormons -- I added what I know)

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What is the history of Finno-Ugric people and language (I'm not sure what to call the relevant article)? How did it come to be that people who speak closely-related languages live in such relatively far-flung places as Finland, Hungary, and the middle of Russia (Udmurtia[?])? (Posted June 26.)

• 2002-03-17: (pgdudda again...) For an indirect answer, see the article on Uralic languages, to which Finnish and Hungarian belong. The short answer is that the two languages mentioned are the endpoints of a backwards-C-shaped archipelago of related languages, with the "spine" of the "C" running along the Ural mountains.

Presumably, at some point in history, the days on which the weekend or Sabbath is held were made consistent around the world. Presumably, they weren't always the same day. So when did that happen, and was there any resistance? For example, when did Japan start observing weekends at the same time as Europe? (Posted June 26.) Hmm. for a book-length answer, see Eviatar Zerubavel, The Seven Day Circle: The History and Meaning of the Week.

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Why do joints pop? Why do knuckles and backs crack? Is it dangerous to constantly crack knuckles or backs? (Not sure what article this would be answered in...one called "joint"? Maybe not?) (Posted June 26.) -- I'd put it under cracking knuckles, since that seems to be the most common joint-cracking habit as far as I can see. Have created a stubby article answering why the sound is generated under cracking knuckles, looking for info on the consequences of doing this...

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What are the main practical applications of mathematics? (Not sure what article would have this answer...) (Posted June 26.) Well, poker of course! More seriously, I can't think of any major practical field offhand that isn't dependant on mathematics. physics, engineering, telecommunications, architecture, aeronautics, computer science, accounting all come to mind as biggies.

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What is the deepest lake in the world? What lake has the greatest volume of water? What lake has the greatest surface area? How do geologists define the word "lake"? (Posted June 26.) (first and third questions answered - July 16)

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How do the different parts of a computer (processor, memory, etc.) work together with software to create a functioning desktop computer? I imagine this should be answered on computer, which now has a paltry line, "programmable machine that processes data," and a link to computing, which page consists just of a list of links. Even computer hardware consists of a list of links. All I wanna know is how a computer works. :-)

Have a look at the computer article now. (Posted June 29.)

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Is interstellar space travel possible? (Posted July 13.) See interstellar travel.

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Why isn't there powdered alcohol? (Wouldn't that be great? "Just add water...") (Posted July 16.)

Answer, 16 July: Such powders only work with things that are actually suspensions of very fine-grained solids in water, such as milk. Alcohol is a fluid on its own, and does not contain water, thus you cannot 'take the water out'. Still, pure alcohol comes quite close to what you describe (actually, it's rarely pure, more like 95-98%) - however, it's a fluid, not a powder.

You'd divide the contents of this answer into such articles as alcohol, suspension, and even powdered drink[?].

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Playing with a magnifying glass and a piece of paper on a sunny day, I had the brilliant idea of making a really, really big magnifying glass, in Arizona, and using it to make electricity? C'mon, tell me why this isn't the next big thing in alternative energy circles!! (July 16.)

Answer, 16 July: You would still need some apparatus to turn the energy that is focused by your magnifying glass into a usable form of energy, like electricity. Once you have found a way to do that, you will probably realise that you get at least as much energy, with less difficulties and less space use, with an array of solar collectors the size of your original magnifying glass.

This one you would put in a (probably very long) article about alternative energy, or about magnifying glasses[?], or power generation[?] (or should that be electrical generation[?]).

note - you should see what they have in barstow[?], ca, it is a tower with a lot of mirrors pointing at a central mass that gets very hot to produce steam and electricity. --mike dill

this would fit under solar power. Using mirrors to concentrate sunlight has hte same effect as using lenses, but it's much easier and cheaper to build.

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Why is arsenic poisonous? -- Partial answer at arsenic.