The 'Something I always wanted to know the answer to' thread

[sweetnsimple786]

<h1 class="newsTitle">Another article just for you!

</h1><h1 class="newsTitle">Gray Hair Caused by Stress (Cell Stress, That Is)</h1> Work or personal stress may make you want to pull your hair out, but it's cellular stress that actually turns it gray, a new study has found.

The research supports the idea that instability in genes may be a major factor in aging, the authors say. It also lends credence to the theory that damage to stem cells may be the main driver of aging.

The DNA damage observed in the study is mainly "unavoidable," the authors write.

Linzhao Cheng, a member of the Johns Hopkins Institute of Cell Engineering, agreed that it's tough to avoid stem cell damage—especially for people who spend a lot of time outdoors, which exposes them to ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

However, the study helps scientists understand graying, Cheng said by email, which may lead to new chemicals that can prevent the hair's stem cells from switching roles.

"We may soon have anti-graying creams for aging populations," he said.

The study appeared June 12 in the journal Cell.

Sorry in advance for any typos. No glasses/contacts at the moment.

Okay this is a bit scary! I mean I've heard of this, but if scientists can find a way to prevent stem cell damage, wonderful! Think of all the cures!

Then think of all the rich people paying for surgeries and medication/whatever-you'd-call-it. Ahhhhhhhhhhh

By the way, thanks for the site

[Tilia]

In a Test match, 5 days of play (in which the two teams have to play twice to catch one another, the team with the most runs wins). In a One Day International (ODI), 50 overs. If it's a day ODI match, once it gets dark play gets stopped. In a 20/20, after 20 overs. Each over has 6 balls.

Right... Maybe I should ask about the rules as well. Maybe I'll understand this then

How does the game work?

This would be the easiest way to explain it: http://www.cricket-rules.com/

What confusing and funny it seems to be

[sweetnsimple786]

How does the British undergrad honors [or 'honours' I should say ] thing work? With first class, upper & lower second class and so on honors?

Is each university different in how it decides how many students to award each title? And are the 2:1 and 2:2 things just like abbreviations for upper & lower 2nd classes? They're not actually ratios? hahaha

[Abu]

How does the British undergrad honors [or 'honours' I should say ] thing work? With first class, upper & lower second class and so on honors?

Is each university different in how it decides how many students to award each title? And are the 2:1 and 2:2 things just like abbreviations for upper & lower 2nd classes? They're not actually ratios? hahaha

The wiki explains all: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_undergraduate_degree_classification

FYI, and as far as I know, all British universities work the same system.

[Ruan Chun Xian]

How did curiosity kill the cat?

[sweetnsimple786]

How does the British undergrad honors [or 'honours' I should say ] thing work? With first class, upper & lower second class and so on honors?

Is each university different in how it decides how many students to award each title? And are the 2:1 and 2:2 things just like abbreviations for upper & lower 2nd classes? They're not actually ratios? hahaha

The wiki explains all: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_undergraduate_degree_classification

FYI, and as far as I know, all British universities work the same system.

I read that prior to asking the question I wanted some clarification.

How did curiosity kill the cat?

Aah but don't forget the rest... Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

Honestly though, the cat, Charlie, was just lazing around when two of its friends woke it up quite rudely, insisting that they all go to Candy Mountain. And the rest, as they say, is history. [

]

[Ruan Chun Xian]

Aah but don't forget the rest... Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

Honestly though, the cat, Charlie, was just lazing around when two of its friends woke it up quite rudely, insisting that they all go to Candy Mountain. And the rest, as they say, is history. [

]

My god that was an annoying video.

[Dreamer94]

When you cry, why does snot (or whatever it is) fill up in your nose?

This is more of a philosophical/religious question, but why do we exist? I know that there is no single answer, but I'd like to hear others opinions.

[Peachez]

Aah but don't forget the rest... Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

Honestly though, the cat, Charlie, was just lazing around when two of its friends woke it up quite rudely, insisting that they all go to Candy Mountain. And the rest, as they say, is history. [

]

My god that was an annoying video.

Oh my... this was annoying.

[Sandwich]

When you cry, why does snot (or whatever it is) fill up in your nose?

This is more of a philosophical/religious question, but why do we exist? I know that there is no single answer, but I'd like to hear others opinions.

Hrm, well, I can only assume it's because the two are inextricably linked. Tears are there to help remove unwanted rubbish from your eyes, and snot is there to help trap and remove unwanted rubbish from your nose. Although it doesn't work back the other way, presumably the fact the body wants all things flushed from the eyes makes the nose tag along too! Some kind of biological clean-up mechanism. At a guess!

As for the second question, the best answer is inevitably another question: does it matter? Do we have to have a reason to exist? We all automatically make the assumption that we have some sort of purpose, and that for every fact there has to be a why, including "why" we are here. However, why do we make the assumption? Why should there even be a "why"? Does it really need a why beyond "because your parents made you"?

In my opinion, "why are we here" is a question all about the human condition. We feel that we have to be caused or pre-determined somehow in order for our lives to have meaning. In my opinion, the assumption is a false one. To quote the existentialists* "existance precedes essence". To explain this very roughly, imagine a pair of scissors. The guy who invented them, Mr Scissor or whatever he was called, must have come across a problem: how do you neatly and accurately cut continuously through paper? In an attempt to solve it, he thought about what he could invent to fulfill the purpose of cutting the paper. Eventually he came up with two blades joined at a hinge with a handle, making it easy to hold and efficient for its purpose. Possibly he drew out the design to see how it would work, and only at the very end did he get together the metal, the screw etc. and actually make the scissors. In other words, the "essence", or purpose of the scissors existed before the scissors themselves existed. The essence of the scissors preceded the existance of the scissors.

The existentialist argument is that the default position for people is existance. We can't imagine ourselves out of existance. It's the one thing we can't do, and therefore the very first thing about us must be existance. In this sense it's rather opposite to the Cartesian "cogito ergo sum" argument of "I think, therefore I am". So unlike scissors which have an essence, we have existance first. We're not made or designed for a purpose. Any actions you take are, consequently, entirely of your own doing. You define and take responsibility for your own "essence". The "Why" is irrelevant; at best you make it for yourself, at worst you ignore it entirely.

*Jean-Paul Sartre, to be exact.

[Peachez]

If people have such short shorts that they need extra shorts underneath to cover their backsides, why not just get a longer pair of shorts instead? I get the point of Spandex under cheerleading skirts, but not shorts.

Is this really something you always wanted to know the answer to?

Well, I am pretty sure that they don't wear shorts under shorts, it is shorts/spandex under the skirt, so that is completely fine, huh? I do not understand your concern, its all clear..

Where did you hear about spandex under shorts?

[Vvi]

If people have such short shorts that they need extra shorts underneath to cover their backsides, why not just get a longer pair of shorts instead? I get the point of Spandex under cheerleading skirts, but not shorts.

Is this really something you always wanted to know the answer to?

Well, I am pretty sure that they don't wear shorts under shorts, it is shorts/spandex under the skirt, so that is completely fine, huh? I do not understand your concern, its all clear..

Where did you hear about spandex under shorts?

What I wrote was in reply to Irene's post here . She said that some girls wear spandex under their shorts because their shorts are too short without the Spandex. And what I said in reply was "Why don't the girls with short shorts buy longer ones, instead of wearing double layers?" Maybe they want to show off their butts? The point of clothes is to cover up.

[Peachez]

Oh right.

Well, it is not healthy to wear two layers of shorts during practices when you sweat.

Although, I suppose 'they know better.'

[Austin Glau]

Why does the "4 is the universal number" game always work?

[sweetnsimple786]

Is this what you're asking?

http://www.teampedia.net/wiki/index.php?title=Universal_Number

1 is 3 is 5 is 4

2 is 3 is [see above]

3 is [see above]

4 is 4

5 is 4

6 is 3 is [see above]

7 is 5 is [see above]

8 is is 5 is [see above]

9 is 4

10 is 3 is [see above]

It's just kinda a dumb thing from what I understand. And I guess it works for all numbers simply because the number of letters that a number stands for can always be reduced unless the number is 3, 2, or 1, which we see work. Does that make sense? There's not some grand "wow" factor, if I'm understanding it correctly. It's just that 12,303 is "twleve thousand three hundred and three" around 30 letters [i got bored counting] and 30 is "thirty"which is six letters which is 3 which is "see above" lol

[stacy_tron]

why do i always study my butt off for huge tests, and end up getting worse grades than people who barley cracked the textbook!? not fair!

[Austin Glau]

sweetnsimple786

There's not some grand "wow" factor, if I'm understanding it correctly

Okay, thanks. I thought it was some outcome of a math thing or something.

[abbylizard]

How does the English/American school system work?

Never got that...

The English system consists of Nursery, Primary, Secondary and then Sixth Form (comes under secondary really). In Secondary, students do the Key Stage 3s when they come into Year 10 (i.e. High School Grade 9 in American lingo) and then do a 2 year program called GCSEs. Once they finish that, they go on to do A-Levels in sixth form, or IB.

Th US system incorporates Elementary, Middle and High school. They follow a school based or state based syllabus for the entirety of their school career. In High school, some schools opt to do the MYP, until grade 10. In grade 11, schools either do the IB, the APs or a school/state based curriculum. All students get a high school diploma if they pass the high school system. With the school/state based curriculum, students only get a high school diploma (HSD) and they can only go to university in the States. The HSD is worthless in Europe.

In America, public schools rarely have the IB program, and the biggest public schools that have it usually have 20-30 students per grade doing full IB diploma for 2000+ kids (believe me, I'M ONE OF THEM). Anywho, hardly ANYBODY knows what IB is in America and usually people think the "smart" kids take AP, because that's all they have. Most American students don't want to go to college outside of America or know anything about other colleges or have enough foreign language fluency to be able to learn abroad. And I don't know what the "MYP" thing is. And it's not hard at all to get a regular diploma. The IB kids would die if they were in what we call "MAINSTREAM" classes. They require minimal knowledge and lots of crossword puzzles. The IB students who successfully test get their high school diplomas in late May/early June and then get IB diplomas in Decemberish.

And we don't say "grade 11". or "go to university".

And we have "pre-school" for 2-4 year olds where they learn simple things like counting and abc's and stuff. So I guess what you call "nursery". Anywho, you must be at least 5 years old as of September 1 to attend Kindergarten. Which is at elementary school but you take naps. And it's a joke, you don't learn much.

And each state can have state mandated tests, which are also jokes. For me, it's the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Basically, the 11th grade test can be passed by a 5th grader. It's so easy.

This is all based on my knowledge base from TEXAS from a first hand source.

As for European universities, is there the standard four years for the first degree? We call it bachelors here, but what is a common track that post graduate (post-secondary, I guess?) students take?

In europe there is an ongoing standardizing process for the universities, it is callled the bologna process.

Universities in Europe start with a 3-year bachelor programe, and after that there is most often an option of a 1 or 2 year long Master.

Also if you study 100% you get 60 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) each year, so a bachelor degreem normally is 180 ECTS in total.

This is done so that it is easier to compare between universities and courses.

There are different kinds of bachelor degrees, but most common are the Bachelor of science (for example, Bachlor of science in International Business Administration, which is what i'll be studying)

and Bachelor of Arts.

From Wikipedia:

"The basic framework adopted is of three cycles of higher education qualification. As outlined in the Bergen Declaration[3] of 2005, the cycles are defined in terms of qualifications and ECTS credits:

* 1st cycle: typically 180−240 ECTS credits, usually awarding a Bachelor's degree.

* 2nd cycle: typically 90−120 ECTS credits (a minimum of 60 on 2nd-cycle level). Usually awarding a Master's degree.

* 3rd cycle: Doctoral degree. No ECTS range given.

In most cases, these will take 3, 2, and 3 years respectively to complete. The actual naming of the degrees may vary from country to country."

bologna?? that's so funny!! lunchmeat:)

Forgive me for sounding dumb, but I never understood the point of spandex in sports. Why do people (actually I guess it's just girls) where spandex under their regular shorts in sports like soccer? It seems to me that it would just be more uncomfortable.

okay, i am a girl who plays soccer.

So, whenever you're slide tackling someone and you do it correctly, you look really cool, right?

What if you stood up, proudly, only to realize your shorts had slid over your butt for everyone to see?

SOLUTION:

"SPANDEX"."UNDERARMOR"

we call them sliders.

regardless, they don't move. no matter how much you're running around falling in sports, your sliders remain in one place. if your pants fall down, you're covered! and they're not uncomfortable, they feel like underwear but longer.

in basketball/track/cross country, if you're sprinting, and your shorts fly up in the front, you don't want anybody to see that. instead, they'll see your sliders:)

[The Cheshire Cat]

Would anyone outline the rules of snooker for me? I mean, I don't need a link to Wikipedia or whatever with entire strategies blah blah my ass, just keep it simple please.

I often watch snooker on Eurosport and it's still quite entertaning, even though it's pretty annoying that I seem to be the only person not knowing why is it so important that the pink ball touches the brown one, etc.

[Bandev]

On the spandex thing, some people wear it to prevent chafing.

With the snot thing perhaps it is because when you cry your defenses are enacted. Tears have amylases which help to prevent inflections. And snot is for the purpose of protection against infection.

On the heart question of a while back there are some doctors that have found (questionable) evidence that some emotional memories are stored in the tangle of neurons at the top of the heart.

@abbeylizard Bologna is a city in the north of Italy.