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1500 questions
103
votes
6 answers
Does America not lead the world in mass shootings?
According to an OpEd in the NY Post by John Lott and Michael Weisser that cites a report by the Crime Prevention Research Center, America doesn't lead the world in mass shootings.
"Of the 86 countries where we have identified mass public…
James G.
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103
votes
3 answers
Are there more open jobs than available developers?
A recent Stack Overflow blog post claims that:
With nearly five open jobs for every available software developer, the need for qualified technical talent is higher than ever.
I have seen this claim repeated many times, with different numbers…
psr
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103
votes
1 answer
Was this 4th grader's creationist quiz on "Dinosaurs: Genesis and the Gospel" real?
Is this 4th grader's creationist quiz real or a hoax?
Text:
100 A+
Date: 3/28/13
4th grade Science Quiz: Dinosaurs: Genesis and the Gospel
True or False: The earth is billions of years old.
True or False: Dinosaurs lived millions of years ago.
On…
TomOnTime
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102
votes
4 answers
Does every species get around a billion heartbeats on average?
I read this webcomic today:
From: abominable.cc
I have no idea where the author got his factoid about the billion heartbeats. But it sounds interesting. The examples I can think of (rabbits, humans, elephants, said hummingbird) seem to support the…
rumtscho
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101
votes
3 answers
Did the UK homicide rate go up after handgun ownership was banned?
During debates about gun control, I have seen gun advocates quote a statistic that the UK homicide rate increased in 1996 following a ban on handguns. Furthermore, the claim usually goes on to suggest that what bought violent crime back down to…
Bob Tway
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100
votes
2 answers
"One year without beef saves 3432 trees"
This statement is doing the rounds on Facebook:
Going one year without paper saves 8.5 trees
Going one year without beef saves 3,432 trees
Alas, as with so many of these 'claims' on FB, actual data is missing.
And in this case, the lack of units…
user22865
98
votes
4 answers
Can bullets fired into the air kill a person when they fall?
Lately, I've been watching the Libyan civil war in the media, and both sides in the conflict often celebrate success by firing their AK-47s into the air. Not to say that firing guns into the air is restricted to any particular group, I'm just using…
Mark Rogers
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98
votes
2 answers
Did eight Jesuit priests survive the nuking of Hiroshima without serious injury?
It is being frequently claimed by Catholic sources (e.g. Catholic News Agency, Catholic Herald) and even Wikipedia that eight Jesuit priests survived the nuking of Hiroshima with very minor physical damages in spite of them being located very close…
gaazkam
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98
votes
3 answers
Are Americans more likely to be killed by vending machines than terrorist refugees?
The Financial Times did some analysis of Donald Trump's controversial immigration restrictions (which were claimed to be about protecting Americans from terrorism).
They focus on analysing risk from refugees since (my emphasis):
President Donald…
matt_black
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98
votes
2 answers
Are refugees in the UK holidaying in the countries they fled from?
According to UK Conservative MP Adam Holloway, quoted in the Daily Express:
“Likewise, we have people in this country who have come here, claimed asylum and then go back on holiday in the places where they’ve claimed asylum from."
Is there any…
gerrit
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98
votes
4 answers
Did Einstein say this about his marriage?
I found a picture with a quote on facebook today quoting Einstein.
The quote states:
When we first got married, we made a pact. It was this:In our life together, it was decided I would make all of the big decisions and my wife would make all of…
TheChetan
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97
votes
2 answers
Did al-Ghazali lead to decline of science in Islam as Neil Tyson claims?
The astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has said that during the Islamic Golden Age, especially in Baghdad, science and discovery flourished for a few centuries. Then an Islamic scholar named al-Ghazali became prominent, whose ideas took root. Among…
Zebrafish
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97
votes
2 answers
Did Karl Marx write that slavery had good sides and abolishing it would indirectly destroy modern civilization?
The WikiQuote page for Karl Marx claims he wrote this in a letter to Pavel Annenkov, 28 December 1846:
Freedom and slavery constitute an antagonism. There is no need for me to speak either of the good or of the bad aspects of freedom. As for…
user41826
97
votes
3 answers
Are there any perceptible differences between the sound quality of 192 versus 320 kbps MP3 files?
I have friends that are very picky when it comes to MP3 bitrate, and will always look for the 320 kbps version of a file. However, I have never noticed any differences, they sound the same to me. I remember reading somewhere, can't remember where,…
Mihai Rotaru
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97
votes
3 answers
Did most sex workers experience abuse as a child?
Dr. Drew Pinsky, a medical doctor who hosts several television and radio programs, claims quite frequently that most people who engage in sex-related industries, such as prostitution or pornography, have experienced sexual abuse as a child.
Is there…
Patches
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