Category: Anthropology

The First Person to Theorize How Stars are Situated Within the Universe

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Prior to the 16th century, it was believed that the Earth was the center of the universe with a belt of stars which rotated around it, exactly the same way in which planets orbit the central star of any solar system. These stars were believed to be fixed in their position as the constellations observed upon Earth do not alter greatly in their position or intensity in terms of what the human eye can perceive. Thomas Digges was the first person to propose that the stars are placed at different distances and in different positions, not in a ring of stars which stayed fixated, but rather in an infinite universe as distant points of light. Digges built upon the work of Nicolaus Copernicus by changing Copernicus’ original visual sketch of the planets and their orbital paths in that he removed the stellarum fixarum meaning “fixed stars” in Latin, and built a model in which stars were completely different in their distance relative to the Earth, with brightness controlled by how far or close a particular star was in proximity

The Minimum Standard Required for a Marital Divorce Within Saudi Arabia

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In Saudi Arabia, until 2019, husbands could legally divorce their wives without telling them. As of 2019, Saudi Arabian legislation dictates that men must inform their spouse by text message at a minimum. This legislation was designed to protect Saudi Arabian women from being divorced without being aware of their husbands departure. What constitutes informing a spouse is unclear, so in theory, a man could send a series of emojis to explain his choice to enact divorce with said text remaining legally binding. Unfortunately, this legislation solely applies to men as Saudi Arabian women do not have the same capability

The Artificial Black Hole Created by U.S. Scientists

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In Menlo Park, United States of America, in May of 2017, scientists working at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center National Accelerator Laboratory (often abbreviated as “SLAC”) fired the world’s most powerful X-ray laser at individual molecules. The reason for this experiment was to observe what would occur when an atom with a lot of electrons is hit by high energy X-ray radiation to observe whether or not those electrons could be knocked out of orbit producing an atom which instead of having many electrons has very few electrons. This system behaved highly unusual and very differently than what scientists expected as it created a miniature black hole like object for 1/1,000,000,000,000,000 (1 quadrillionth) of a second, sucking all remaining electrons into it and exploding the molecule in a dramatic paroxysm

The Original Medical Term for an Intellectually Disabled Person and the Evolution of This Term

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The original medical term within psychology for a developmentally disabled person was “simpleton” during the 19th century which eventually became the wider used “moron”, from the Ancient Greek “moros” which means “dull”, a term originally considered neutral and non-pejorative. Because the term “moron” became used pejoratively within society by the 1960’s, the term was altered to become “retard”, from the Latin “retardare” which means “to make slow, delay, keep back, or hinder”. Because this term also became used pejoratively, the term was changed again in 2010 under the Barack Obama administration to become “intellectually disabled”. Other variants have become common place synonyms, often used interchangeably, either correctly or incorrectly, within society (eg. “developmentally delayed”, “specialized needs”, developmentally disabled” etc.)

The Naga Baba Holy Sadhus of India

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Naga babas who are naked holy men, reject the physical world including clothing to be closer to Lord Shiva, one of the most powerful gods in Hinduism. Naga babas live in the Himalayan mountains and smoke incredibly large amounts of cannabis regularly. Naga babas often hand out blessings for a small sum, carrying out the blessing by hitting the person requesting it on the head with a peacock feather wand

The Threats Facing the State of Israel

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Israel is under constant threat from Hamas in Gaza, Israel, by Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon, by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in both Iraq and Syria, by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, by Iran, and by Saudi Arabia, with even Türkiye becoming an unstable ally as the Türkish state rescinds upon its secular legacy as the 21st century proceeds onward, embracing Islam and neo-Ottoman foreign policy

The 21st Century Conflict in Israel

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Since the 2006 Israeli democratic election, Gaza, Israel has been controlled by Hamas, a militant Islamic group considered terrorists by Israel and allied western governments. Since 2006, Gaza has experienced and endured a Palestinian civil war referred to as the “Fatah Hamas Conflict”, 3 conflicts between Hamas and Israel, 10 years of strict Hamas rule, and blockade by Israel and Egypt. Israelis and Palestinians have endured endless cycles of violence and political ideological change, with the latest large conflict lasting 7 weeks in 2014 killing 2000 people, 500 of them children, and decimating 18,000 homes

The Country Which Executes the Most Convicted Persons and the Method of Execution Used

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It is believed that China executes thousands of convicted persons each year, more than all other countries combined, as claimed by Amnesty International, due to the true value being closely guarded by the Chinese government. Typically Chinese executions are carried out with a single bullet to the back of the head/neck but intravenous poisons have also been used in recent decades

The Reason Icebergs Sink Ships

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The reason that an iceberg is able to cut into the side hull of a ship (e.g. Titanic etc.) or any other marine vessel is dual fold. The first reason is because steel becomes more brittle, the colder it gets. Steel created during the early 20th century was not tempered as steel is during the modern day. The second reason is because of inertia, weight, and force. An iceberg can slash through steel the same way a tree can rip through a vehicle that has hit it. An iceberg is a large, immovable object, so whether the hull is comprised of wood or titanium, the ice will always win out as it has more inertia and mass. To provide a frame of reference, bone is incredibly strong and tensile, however if a brick which is harmless while at rest, slams down from a height above the arm, the force it imparts is enough to break said bone

How Breath Alcohol Analysis Works

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Alcohol shows up in the breath because it gets absorbed from the mouth, throat, stomach and intestines into the bloodstream. Alcohol­ is not digested upon absorption, nor chemically changed in the bloodstream. As blood circulates through the lungs, some of the alcohol moves across the membranes of the lung’s alveoli, into the air stored within the lungs. Because the alcohol concentration in the breath is related to the concentration in the blood, an approximate measurement can be identified when using a simple ratio formula of breath alcohol to blood alcohol which is 2100:1. This means that 2100 milliliters of alveolar air will contain the same amount of alcohol as 1 milliliter of blood