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1500 questions
31
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1 answer
Does putting salt into a wound make the wound worse?
It's commonly believed that the idiom "rubbing salt into the wound" is derived from a literal action of making things worse.
Wiktionary claims the literal act was done for torture:
Derived from the stingingly painful sensation of table salt
…
Andrew Grimm
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31
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3 answers
Does the United States throw wheat in the ocean to keep the prices high?
In Iran, there is a wide-spread belief that the USA throws extra wheat it produces into the ocean to keep the prices high.
The official website for the Iranian presidential office [Persian] quotes Mohammad Reza Rahimi, former First Vice President,…
Saman
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5 answers
Is wheat the cause of numerous, serious health problems?
This morning, I stumbled across a realfarmacy article which poses the question [Note: the linked page breaks in Chrome but worked in Firefox]:
Why is there such a strong emphasis on the development of wheat products all over the world when there…
zashu
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31
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2 answers
Does the Gravitational constant fluctuate?
Rupert Sheldrake recently had a TEDx presentation removed from the TEDx web-site, for making various controversial claims, basically calling all of science into doubt. I am highly skeptical about nearly all of them, most seem particularly cranky and…
naught101
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31
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Is it accurate to say that 97% of experts agree that global warming is anthropogenic?
A recent spate of newspaper headlines reported that 97% of scientists agreed with the theory of anthropogenic global warming (AGW). The UK's Daily telegraph reported:
A review of 12,000 scientific papers has found the consensus among scientists…
matt_black
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31
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3 answers
Does Queen Elizabeth II own 6,600 million acres of land?
According to WhoOwnsTheWorld.com, Queen Elizabeth II owns 6,600 million acres. They claim,
Largest five personal landowners on Earth
Queen Elizabeth II 6,600 million acres
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia 553 million acres
King…
Evan Carroll
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31
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2 answers
Did Pope Francis say that women are "unfit for political office", and merely the "helper of men"?
A popular image going around Facebook claims it to be true. The image was found on the Anti-Theists blog page, currently with 65,000+ followers.
The picture reads,
Women are naturally unfit for political office. Both the natural order and facts…
Evan Carroll
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31
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4 answers
Did Swedish tax rate ever exceed 100%?
In several places I've seen the claim that some people have at some point in history paid more than 100% taxes in Sweden.
The Economist on the Nordic Countries:
Astrid Lindgren, the inventor of Pippi Longstocking, was forced to pay more than 100%…
gerrit
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31
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1 answer
Were the Egyptian pyramids wireless power stations?
This video states many claims, among others:
the pyramids were built to create "wireless electricity"
electricity was created by "aquifers" - some mechanism based on water flowing underground
"negative ions" were transferred to the ionosphere,…
Marek
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31
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2 answers
How often are guns used by private citizens in self defense per year in the United States?
According to Wikipedia the numbers reported range from 65 thousand to 2.5 million. I am very skeptical of the 2.5 million figure and in fact I am even skeptical of the 65 thousand figure. This Wikipedia page lists documented cases where guns were…
FrankH
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31
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1 answer
Is the heart symbol based on female anatomy?
I recently read, and read before that the origin of the heart shape is based on the female anatomy. I have tried researching it and every source I find gives differing opinions on the matter.
On a Facebook page I follow they posted this but gave…
Cruril
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31
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4 answers
What is the commonly accepted mechanism that causes people to experience pareidolia?
I often see cases of pareidolia reported in the news, on blogs, and even here. I think remember reading in Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan that this had an evolutionary origin (i.e. if you see a familiar object and it isn't there, that doesn't…
Larian LeQuella
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31
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1 answer
Do 31 US states give rapist fathers visitation rights?
I saw an image on Facebook that claimed 31 US states allow the fathers of children conceived by rape to have visitation rights to the children.
The image linked to an alternet article that listed it in its "50 Facts About Rape". Following the link…
William Grobman
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3 answers
Are saturated fats unhealthy?
I've been taught since I was a kid that eating fat is bad for my health. Later on, I found out that unsaturated fats (especially ones containing Omega-3 and Omega-6) are actually good for your health.
Now I've heard that there's dispute among…
StackExchange saddens dancek
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2 answers
Is the use of parachutes supported by peer-reviewed papers?
While googling about Ben Goldacre, I came across the following reductio ad absurdum argument:
Nerd, can you point me to the data that shows that wearing a parachute increases your life expectancy when jumping out of a plane? You see, someone…
Andrew Grimm
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