General facts Flashcards

Question

What is the alcohol flush reaction?

Answer 1

Also: Asian flush syndrome, Asian glow. Condition where a person's face flushes or blotches as a result of the accumulation of acetaldehyde, a metabolic byproduct of the metabolism of alcohol. It was thought it's caused by an inability to metabolize alcohol, but this not so; in fact, a high % of Asians have a variant gene for alcohol dehydrogenase that actually makes them better at metabolizing alcohol. About 50% however have a gene variant that inhibits acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, so it accumulates more.

Answer 2

Was watching a documentary video "Fearless Planet: Great Barrier Reef". The fact that Australia was part of Antarctica is verified by a string of volcanoes along the coast. Apparently they are formed when the continental plate slides over a hotspot in the earth (in the mantel? crust? missed that part).

Answer 3

In a study in 2008 Dutch researchers found compounds in human saliva that hasten healing. While the simple proteins called histatins are well known for their ability to ward off infections, biochemist Menno Oudhoff of the University of Amsterdam discovered a subset of histatins that also prompt cells from the skin’s surface, called the epithelium, to close over a wound.

Answer 4

Elizabethan Collar

Answer 5

Robert Metcalfe is an electrical engineer who co-invented Ethernet, founded 3com. He identifies the day Ethernet was born as May 22, 1973. Also known for making a lot of incorrect predictions, such as the death of open source and that wireless networking would die out in 1990s.

Answer 6

what we call natural gas is refined to contain almost entirely methane (CH4) plus methyl or ethyl mercaptan, the odorant. It does not contain carbon monoxide. People confuse it with "town gas" (aka coal gas), the major gaseous fuel until middle of the last century. Town gas = unrefined mix of hydrocarbons plus carbon monoxide, oxygen and carbon dioxide made by distilling coal. Sylvia Plath committed suicide by sticking her head in the oven with the pilot light out, it was the carbon monoxide in the town gas that killed her

Answer 7

when natural gas is burned in an oxygen-poor environment, like a malfunctioning water heater or furnace, or a heater in a closed room, some of the product is carbon monoxide (one carbon atom and one oxygen atom) instead of carbon dioxide (one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms), because there isn't enough oxygen to make 100% carbon dioxide. This is why we have carbon monoxide detectors.

Answer 8

\* 1 : a person who sells quack medicines from a platform \* 2 : a boastful unscrupulous pretender : charlatan

Answer 9

The Japanese spider crab has the greatest leg span of any arthropod, reaching 3.8 metres (12 ft) from claw to claw. The body may grow to a size of 40 cm or 16 in (carapace width) and the whole crab can weigh up to 41 pounds (19 kg)

Answer 10

Japanese and Mandarin both making extensive use of counters because most nouns cannot be counted. For example, in Japanese, you cannot say "two cars" but have to say "two dai of cars". It is the equivalent of "two cups of water" for mass nouns in English. The counting words vary for objects. "Hon" for cylindrical things, "hiki" for many animals, "ken" for houses, and so on. More about that topic here . And, the numbers change depending on what is being counting and how much. Although one is "ichi", you cannot say "ichi hon" for "a bottle" but "ippon".

Answer 11

Apparently it's very unclear because the man's family was Belgian French but he went to Germany, and unfortunately the difference in the "ch" between the 2 is significant. French would say "shlay" while Germans would say "klay".

Answer 12

The Antonov An-225 Mriya. It has 6 engines. One has been built so far. First flew on 21 December 1988. The main landing gears have 14 wheels each (7 on each side in a row).

Answer 13

Boeing 747-8, at 250 feet long.

Answer 14

No, it was almost entirely made of birch.

Answer 15

computer chips generate heat and have to be cooled," he explains. "Cooling capacity depends on the density of the air. The higher you go, the thinner the air, and the less effective the air is at cooling.

Answer 16

Brazil. Then Vietnan, then Columbia

Answer 17

"birds of a feather flock together" the tendency of individuals to associate and bondwith similar others

Answer 18

tuberculosis. Millions of people get sick from it per year, but not in the wealthiest nations.

Answer 19

In the Snake Range of eastern Nevada Donald R. Currey, a student of the University of North Carolina, was taking core samples of bristlecones in 1964. It is thought that his coring tool broke, so the U.S. Forest service granted permission to cut down "Prometheus". There are many different versions of this story, and nobody can say for sure whether or not Currey knew the age of the tree before cutting it down. 4,844 rings were counted on a cross-section of the tree, making "Prometheus" at least 4,844 years old, the oldest known non-clonal living thing.

Answer 20

The bristlecone pines are the oldest single living organisms known (though some plants form clonal colonies which may be many times older).

Answer 21

The oldest (non-clonal, acknowledged) living organism known is a bristlecone pine tree nicknamed "Methuselah". It is located in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of eastern California; however, its precise location is undisclosed by the U.S. Forest Service to protect the tree from vandalism.[9] The age of Methuselah was measured by core samples in 1957 to be 4,789 years old.

Answer 22

A clonal colony or genet is a group of genetically identical individuals, such as plants , fungi , or bacteria , that have grown in a given location, all originating vegetatively , not sexually, from a single ancestor.

Answer 23

an individual from a genet.

Answer 24

The only known plant of King's Lomatia ( Lomatia tasmanica ) in Tasmania is a clonal colony estimated to be 43,600 years old.

Answer 25

A possible candidate for oldest organism on earth is a stand of the marine plant Posidonia oceanica in the Mediterranean Sea , which could be up to 100,000 years of age.

Answer 26

Prior to WWII, most cats lived indoor/outdoor lives and their toileting areas were neighborhood backyards and gardens. For indoor needs, some families kept boxes of sand or ashes from the furnace for their cat’s use in the cellar. Housewives of the 1940s were none too enamored with cats tracking ashes or sand through their homes. So an ex-sailor named Ed Lowe suggested that his neighbor try absorbent clay, which was a popular product for cleaning up industrial spills in wartime factories and happened to be made by his father’s firm.

Answer 27

Chlorophyll absorbs deep-blue and red light, and reflects the rest of the spectrum, which in turn cause it to look green.

Answer 28

The queens can live for up to 30 years, and workers live from 1 to 3 years. Males, however, are more transitory, being quite short-lived and surviving for only a few weeks.

Answer 29

10,800 deg F

Answer 30

A parasitic protozoa. Malaria is caused by six Plasmodium species: Plasmodium falciparum , Plasmodium vivax , Plasmodium ovale curtisi , " Plasmodium ovale wallikeri ", Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium knowlesi. Falciparum and Vivax are te most dangerous.

Answer 31

The female Anopheles mosquito, but many different species have been shown to transmit the parasite at least experimentally.

Answer 32

About 8 min 20 sec

Answer 33

About 70% hydrogen, 28% helium, 2% remaining elements incl oxygen, carbon, neon, iron, others.

Answer 34

Smaller people have more surface area compared to the total volume of their bodies, therefore they lose heat more quickly

Answer 35

Warm ocean water heats the air above it, which responds by rising. Cooler air from around it flows in, heats, and rises too. When it gets high enough the water vapor condenses, giving up the water’s heat to the air around it, further powering the convection. When the system gets big enough it starts to rotate due to the Coriolis effect . What’s created is a heat engine: the redistribution of heat in the water and air on a huge scale, and the warmth from the ocean water underneath is what fuels it.

Answer 36

Happens because of Earth's spin. Deflection to the right in Northern hemisphere, left in Southern hemisphere. I ncreases with distance from the equator. There is none at the equator.

Answer 37

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Answer 38

Dark adapted: approx. 380 nm to 650 nm. Light adapted: 400 nm to 700 nm.

Answer 39

Perchloroethylene (also known as tetrachloroethylene). Clear colorless cleaning solvent.

Answer 40

in the mid-19th century by French dye-works owner Jean Baptiste Jolly , who noticed that his tablecloth became cleaner after his maid spilled kerosene on it. He subsequently developed a service cleaning people's clothes in this manner, which became known as "nettoyage à sec"

Answer 41

In some Europe countries, chickens are vaccinated against salmonela; in the US they're not. In the US, we wash eggs immediately after they're hatched. This removes dirt and other matter, but also removes a natural coating (the cuticle) that normally prevents bacteria from entering. So then we spray the eggs with an oil to prevent bacteria, and refrigerate. Both approaches work, but if you refrigerate, you have to do it consistently all the way through the food chain. This is expensive and not all countries can afford it.

Answer 42

The Y chromosome. The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or absence of Y that determines male or female sex.

Answer 43

... 3H 2H H F HB B 2B 3B ...

Answer 44

An article in Edmund's from December 2012 ("Is Cheap Gas Bad for Your Car?") found that there is no measurable difference in emissions or built-up inside a car. Quote: "... *the driving public has outdated notions about gas. Twenty years ago, only premium fuelhad detergents in it. Back then, it was beneficial to occasionally buy a tank of high-test gas to clean the engine. Then, he says, "regulations were very lax and there was little enforcement. But all that has changed."*

Answer 45

Contains Monte Carlo 2nd smallest independent nation (after Vatican City) Size: about 2 square kilometers Population: ~32,000 (2006) Boasts more millionaires than per capita than any other country Official language: French France is responsible for its national defense Current ruler (as of 2005-11) is Prince Albert II, sone of Grace Kelly

Answer 46

The Inuit (formerly called Eskimo, although this term is now considered offensive by most) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada (Northwest Territories, Nunatsiavut, Nunavik, Nunavut, Nunatukavut), Denmark (Greenland), Russia (Siberia) and the United States (Alaska).

Answer 47

Norway's Laerdal Tunnel, completed in 2000. It is 15 miles long.

Answer 48

Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language. An Inuk is singular for Inuit person, whereas Inuit is Plural. The Inuit language is grouped under Eskimo–Aleut languages.

Answer 49

New Mexican people known for Pueblo Bonito. Houses were made with adobe, sun-dried brick, and stone to make pueblos, or multistoried structures of the Anasazi that could house up to 250 people. They survived by turning parts of the desert into fertile gardens using canals and dams.

Answer 50

A level of administrative division in the Freanch Republic . Roughly equivalent to townships or incorporated municipalities in the USA or Gemeinden in Germany . French communes have no exact equivalent in the UK , but are closest to parishes , towns or cities. A French commune may be a city of 2 million inhabitants like Paris , a town of 10,000, or just a 10-person hamlet . As a rule the whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes, even uninhabited mountains or rain forests .

Answer 51

Demarcation line among four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania,Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (then, part of Virginia). In popular usage, especially since theMissouri Compromise of 1820 (apparently the first official use of the term "Mason's and Dixon's Line"), the Mason–Dixon Line symbolizes a cultural boundary between the Northeastern United States and the Southern United States (Dixie) and legality of slavery as a result

Answer 52

Russian millionaire Dmitry Itskov.

Answer 53

In his classic The Theory of the Leisure Class, published in 1899, he argued that once the basis of social status became wealth itself – rather than, say, wisdom, knowledge, moral integrity, or skill in battle – the rich needed to find ways of spending money that had no other objective than the display of wealth itself. He termed this “conspicuous consumption.”

Answer 54

The deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history occurred in the port of Texas City, Texas, in 1947. A carelessly tossed cigarette started a fire aboard a ship carrying about 2,300 tons (2,086,000 kilograms) of ammonium nitrate packed in paper packs. When the chemical exploded, it caused a blast powerful enough to knock people to the ground in Galveston, Texas, 10 miles (16 kilometers) away. The detonation also caused a chain reaction when a nearby ship, also carrying ammonium nitrate, exploded, setting fires at chemical tanks and oil refineries near the port. An estimated 581 people were killed in the disaster.

Answer 55

Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols to kill 168 people in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Answer 56

An april 2012 paper said: Here we show that micromorphological and Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (mFTIR) analyses of intact sediments at the site of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa, provide unambiguous evidence—in the form of burned bone and ashed plant remains—that burning took place in the cave during the early Acheulean occupation, approximately 1.0 Ma.

Answer 57

In fact, the question of what makes the horizontal axis so special in the context of mirrors is itself flawed. That's because a mirror does not reverse images left-to-right or top-to-bottom, but from front-to-back . In other words, your mirror image hasn't been swapped, but inverted along a third dimension, like a glove being turned inside out.

Answer 58

Depending on the type, it can be 184, 550, 650, 700, 790, or 870 MB, subtracting the space for error correction data.

Answer 59

For the filming of Le Mans Steve was committed to creating the most realistic car racing movie ever. He insisted on doing his own driving and also driving the cars at true speed (no fake camera tricks to make them look faster). On the speeds at which he was driving the 917, Steve told John Skow from Playboy Magazine: It's capable of 240 - but I don't take it up to full chat. Most times I'm hitting 225 or so.

Answer 60

Regardless of your feelings on the Affordable Care Act and whether it’s a law that should stay on the books, as a program, it provides access to health care to some people who would otherwise be unable to acquire or afford it.

Answer 61

38 million.

Answer 62

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Answer 63

NYT was calling it that as early as Sep. 13.