Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous
See the Wikipedia:FAQ, Wikipedia:Help and Wikipedia:Village pump for questions about Wikipedia itself. This page is for general info requests.
The help desk page will, we hope, serve much the same function as a library's help desk. Do you have a question that you want answered by Wikipedia? Then ask below!
If you know an answer, give only a very limited answer on this page. Just post a link to the Wikipedia article that contains the answer (although you might have to supply a few missing details, relevant to the specific question, here on this page).
To request that an article be written, go to requested articles.
Here's a question that any encyclopedia worth its salt must answer: why do dogs eat other dogs' poop? This has been bothering me for a long time. As an exercise to the reader (writer!): you must find an appropriate place to answer this question in the encyclopedia. Cuisine? Most people don't consider dog poop cuisine, though some dogs might. Dog? Too general. Dog cuisine? Too easily confused with certain East Asian dishes. Perhaps canine ethology, but I don't even know if that is regarded as a field. So! Creativity and research are needed! (Posted Jan. 11, 2001.) Because dogs are morons. Next question? (Indeed! :-) But what explains this moronic behavior?) The real answer is apparently "several possible reasons, including copying their mother, copying their owner, or just because they like the taste". Full study of the issue at Coprophagia in the Canine Wasn't Coprophagia an album by The Who? I found the study, now someone else can write the damned article! :) (Grand, so now we know where to put the article: coprophagia!) Because some dog owners like to let their dogs lick their face!
11/23/2001: How many different methods of producing non-alcoholic beer are there (I have heard 3), and do the different methods typically produce different alcohol contents? Are there any non-alc beers which contain 0% alcohol? In Germany there are some marketed as such. Is it legal for minors to buy non-alc beer in the U.S.? Is this state or federally regulated?
2001-11-07: If you look at a chart of the International Phonetic Alphabet (see http://www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/IPA/fullchart.html), 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 web page for more information on this, and other research in the area of linguistics.) pgdudda
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
What is the cause of halos around the moon? I found an answer here: [1]. 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.html 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
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.
What does the scroll lock do? Eean (Oct 8 2001) -- not much in today's software; see scroll lock.
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).
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.
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)
What aspects of the topic of probability are studied by philosophy? What are some of the leading philosophical theories of probability? (Posted June 26.)
What is the early history of the violin? What instrument did the violin come from? When did it enter into use in various folk musics (as the fiddle)? (Posted June 26.)
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.
Surely, sociologists and / or anthropologists have studied the leading characteristics of small towns. What are their main conclusions? (Posted June 26.)
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...
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.
What grains are eaten throughout the world, and how are they eaten? (Posted June 26.)
What exactly is a parade, why do people insist on holding them on an annual basis, and what is their history? (Posted June 26.)
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)
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.)
Is interstellar space travel possible? (Posted July 13.) See interstellar travel.
Why isn't there powdered alcohol? (Wouldn't that be great? "Just add water...") (Posted July 16.) I have an answer, but no good article to put it in - see Talk
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.) I have an answer, but no good article to put it in - see Talk -- put it in solar power.
Why is arsenic poisonous? -- Partial answer at arsenic.
I have a question about NP-complete problems. (There are a couple of small articles on this, but their names seem to be rapidly mobile lately, try searching.) OK, so 3-SAT is NP-complete. That's where you have to satisfy clauses that are the OR of three different variables, each possibly negated. How about if the clauses are the XOR of three variables. How about if the clauses are Majority function of three variables, each possibly negated. (That is 2 or 3 out of 3 must be true). How about if exactly one must be true, etc. added August 20. This problem is left as an exercise by the reader :) Seriously, most of them are probably NP-complete, some aren't. To prove a particular problem as NP-complete, you need to prove it's in NP (which should be trivial as they are restricted instances of SAT and thus in NP), and then transform another NP-complete problem into that problem (so, for instance, show that you can transform any instance of OR 3-SAT into XOR 3-SAT). --Robert Merkel
What determines when close-packed crystals will be face-centered cubic and when they will be hexagonal? What about related structures, like ZnS, diamond, and silicon? (Sep 2)
What are the largest moons in the solar system? A few are larger than Mercury, no? (Posted Sept. 4.) -- See moon for a list of those bigger than Pluto.
What exactly is going on on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange? Stock exchange and New York Stock Exchange do not yet contain an answer. (Posted Sept. 17.) (Today, a lot of moaning, gnashing of teeth, and beating of breasts.) (Doesn't that happen every day?)
We don't yet have a page on Yin and Yang. Would the correct page name be Yin and Yang or Yin Yang (as requested by Chinese medicine)? How does Yin and Yang relate to Qi?
This page seems to be full of questions (most of which would be rather unexpected at a library help desk, I imagine) and rather few answers. Just where is the right place for people new to Wikipedia to ask questions? There is no secion in the Newcomer's page, and nothing in the FAQ, as to what to do if you have a question that isn't answered by those resources. If the answer is that there is no forum for asking questions, that is (perhaps) fine, too, but it should be stated.... (Oh, and I should add, if this is the intended place to ask questions, it doesn't seem to be obviously linked from either of the two above-mentioned resources)
- If you go to Wikipedia:Help (the Help link on every page), you'll find links to Wikipedia:Village pump and Wikipedia:Chat, both of which are fairly similar and fit your needs.AxelBoldt
Many thanks (and I realize this probably wasn't really the right place to ask the question). I don't know how I missed the getting in touch section. I did spend some considerable time browsing the help section and not really finding anything -- I think this information needs to be linked from the obvious top links on the Help page, particularly the newcomers page (and probably the FAQ). Oh well, I suppose if I found the help unhelpful the right thing for me to do is to go and fix it...
Ok, maybe not from the newcomers' page -- I can't see it fits. But I've linked it from the FAQ, I hope no one minds (hey, I was being bold -- you can always change it back if you don't want it there :)
What is potential difference? All I remember from school is something about electricity being compared to the height of rivers & speed of water flow, which (as I recall) left everyone more confused than ever. -- Tarquin 01:36 Aug 27, 2002 (PDT)
Potential difference is a pedantic term for what normal people call a voltage. Since a voltage can only be measured across two points, the statement that "the voltage of point X is Y volts" is meaningless unless you know what point the measurement was relative to. As an engineer I was taught that it is better to say "the potential difference between point X and point Z is Y volts".
In normal parlance, people say things like "the mains voltage in the UK is (nominally) 240 volts", which everybody understands to mean that, if you put an ac voltmeter across the live and neutral wires, the meter will read (nominally) 240 volts. The context makes it clear that points X and Z are the live and neutral wires.
Another reason to distinguish "potential difference" from "voltage" is that the latter term implies that we are using the SI unit of volts. If somebody one day replaced the SI system with another, then the volt would become obsolete, and "potential difference" would be measured in fnuts or whatever.
A similar contrast exists between "current" and "amperage". Physicists and pedants prefer the term "current" because it's general, but engineers and real people sometimes talk about "amperage" because amperes are what appear on most current-measuring instruments. If amperes were one day replaced by gzorts then ammeters would have to be renamed gzortmeters, but the word "current" could still be used.
If this isn't clear then please complain, and I'll have another go.
-- user:Heron
I agree, with you, Heron. I prefer the Sino-Japanese term for voltage, which, I believe literally means "electricity pressure".
- Thank you :-) I'd better rephrase the question: why is voltage / PD or fnuttage ;-) measured across two points? What does voltage actually measure, in real terms?
- It's the energy per electron. If you have a battery which gives you a higher voltage, then every electron moving between the poles of the battery will be able to do more work (like giving you a brighter lamp). If you multiply the number of electrons per second that flow (that is the current = amperage) with the voltage (= energy per electron), you get the energy per second, which we call power or wattage.
- If you think of electric circuits as flowing water, then voltage is akin to the pressure difference between two points. In the case of a water circuit, you could measure it by connecting the two points with a pipe which has an elastic membrane in its middle, so that no water can actually flow through. The extend to which the membrane is stretched by the water is a measure for the "voltage". AxelBoldt 11:53 Sep 2, 2002 (PDT)
- Thank you Axel. I didn't know the amount of work per electron could change. -- Tarquin
What is the volume of a barrel of crude oil? -- Tarquin
42 US gallons (note not the same as an Imperial gallon) - source [2], [3] Mintguy
I would like to know what kind of work the prisonsers in Auschwitz II Birkenau (those that were not gassed on arrival) had to do on a daily basis. AxelBoldt 11:54 Sep 2, 2002 (PDT)
If anybody knows how and why West Nile virus causes disease, please add it to the article. What cells does it typically infect? AxelBoldt 19:26 Sep 2, 2002 (PDT)
20020912 I would like the history behind the Canadian expression "Canuck". I'm also interesed in the etymology behind the word itself, Cheers, Lars.