Random Articles (Page 184)
Have a deep view into what people are curious about.
๐ List of languages by time of extinction
This is a list of extinct languages sorted by their time of extinction. A language is determined to be an extinct when its last native or fluent speaker dies. When the exact time of death of the last remaining speaker is not known, either an approximate time or the date when the language was last being recorded is given.
Discussed on
- "List of languages by time of extinction" | 2016-08-20 | 98 Upvotes 68 Comments
๐ Gรถdel's Completeness Theorem
Gรถdel's completeness theorem is a fundamental theorem in mathematical logic that establishes a correspondence between semantic truth and syntactic provability in first-order logic. It makes a close link between model theory that deals with what is true in different models, and proof theory that studies what can be formally proven in particular formal systems.
It was first proved by Kurt Gรถdel in 1929. It was then simplified in 1947, when Leon Henkin observed in his Ph.D. thesis that the hard part of the proof can be presented as the Model Existence Theorem (published in 1949). Henkin's proof was simplified by Gisbert Hasenjaeger in 1953.
Discussed on
- "Gรถdel's Completeness Theorem" | 2019-09-04 | 55 Upvotes 71 Comments
๐ Hwasong Concentration Camp
Hwasong concentration camp (Chosลn'gลญl: ํ์ฑ ์ 16ํธ ๊ด๋ฆฌ์, also spelled Hwasลng or Hwaseong) is a labor camp in North Korea for political prisoners. The official name is Kwan-li-so (Penal-labor colony) No. 16.
๐ Grapefruitโdrug interactions
Some fruit juices and fruits can interact with numerous drugs, in many cases causing adverse effects. The effect was first discovered accidentally, when a test of drug interactions with alcohol used grapefruit juice to hide the taste of the ethanol.
The effect is most studied with grapefruit and grapefruit juice, but similar effects have been observed with certain other citrus fruits. One medical review advises patients to avoid all citrus juices until further research clarifies the risks. Effects have been observed with apple juice, but their clinical significance is not yet known.
One whole grapefruit, or a small glass (200ย mL (6.8ย USย flย oz)) of grapefruit juice, can cause drug overdose toxicity. Fruit consumed three days before the medicine can still have an effect. The relative risks of different types of citrus fruit have not been systematically studied. Affected drugs typically have an auxiliary label saying โDo not take with grapefruitโ on the container, and the interaction is elaborated upon in the package insert. People are also advised to ask their physician or pharmacist about drug interactions.
The effects are caused by furanocoumarins (and, to a lesser extent, flavonoids). These chemicals inhibit key drug metabolizing enzymes, such as cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4). CYP3A4 is a metabolizing enzyme for almost 50% of drugs, and is found in the liver and small intestinal epithelial cells. As a result, many drugs are affected. Inhibition of enzymes can have two different effects, depending on whether the drug is either
- metabolized by the enzyme to an inactive metabolite, or
- activated by the enzyme to an active metabolite.
In the first instance, inhibition of drug-metabolizing enzymes results in elevated concentrations of an active drug in the body, which may cause adverse effects. Conversely, if the medication is a prodrug, it needs to be metabolised to be converted to the active drug. Compromising its metabolism lowers concentrations of the active drug, reducing its therapeutic effect, and risking therapeutic failure.
Low drug concentrations can also be caused when the fruit suppresses drug absorption from the intestine.
Discussed on
- "Grapefruitโdrug interactions" | 2016-01-13 | 19 Upvotes 1 Comments
๐ Imperial Airship Scheme
The British Imperial Airship Scheme was a 1920s project to improve communication between Britain and the distant countries of the British Empire by establishing air routes using airships. This led to the construction of two large and technically advanced airships, the R100 and the R101. The scheme was terminated in 1931 following the crash of R101 in October 1930 while attempting its first flight to India.
Discussed on
- "Imperial Airship Scheme" | 2017-03-13 | 40 Upvotes 19 Comments
๐ Lucid programming language
Lucid is a dataflow programming language designed to experiment with non-von Neumann programming models. It was designed by Bill Wadge and Ed Ashcroft and described in the 1985 book Lucid, the Dataflow Programming Language.
pLucid was the first interpreter for Lucid.
Discussed on
- "Lucid programming language" | 2009-10-25 | 33 Upvotes 8 Comments
๐ Gay Bomb
The "gay bomb" and "halitosis bomb" are formal names for two non-lethal psychochemical weapons that a United States Air Force research laboratory speculated about producing. The theories involve discharging female sex pheromones over enemy forces in order to make them sexually attracted to each other.
In 1994 the Wright Laboratory in Ohio, a predecessor to today's United States Air Force Research Laboratory, produced a three-page proposal on a variety of possible nonlethal chemical weapons, which was later obtained by the Sunshine Project through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Discussed on
- "Gay Bomb" | 2024-04-15 | 28 Upvotes 22 Comments
- "Gay Bomb" | 2017-01-09 | 16 Upvotes 10 Comments
๐ Zero-Rupee Note
A zero-rupee note is a banknote imitation issued in India as a means of helping to fight systemic political corruption. The notes are "paid" in protest by angry citizens to government functionaries who solicit bribes in return for services which are supposed to be free. Zero-rupee notes, which are made to resemble the old 50-rupee banknote of India, are the creation of a non-governmental organization known as 5th Pillar which has, since their inception in 2007, distributed over 2.5 million notes as of August 2014. The notes remain in current use and thousands of notes are distributed every month.
Discussed on
- "Zero-Rupee Note" | 2024-02-25 | 160 Upvotes 76 Comments
๐ GNU Guix
GNU Guix () is a functional cross-platform package manager and a tool to instantiate and manage Unix-like operating systems, based on the Nix package manager. Configuration and package recipes are written in Guile Scheme. GNU Guix is the default package manager of the GNU Guix System distribution.
Differing from traditional package managers, Guix (like Nix) utilizes a purely functional deployment model where software is installed into unique directories generated through cryptographic hashes. All dependencies for each software are included within each hash. This solves the problem of dependency hell, allows multiple versions of the same software to coexist and makes packages portable and reproducible. Performing scientific computations in a Guix setup has been proposed as a promising response to the replication crisis.
The development of GNU Guix is intertwined with the GNU Guix System, an installable operating system distribution using the Linux-libre kernel and GNU Shepherd init system.
๐ Tza'ar Ba'alei Chayim
Tza'ar ba'alei chayim (Hebrew: ืฆืขืจ ืืขืื ืืืืโ), literally "suffering of living creatures", is a Jewish commandment which bans causing animals unnecessary suffering. This concept is not clearly enunciated in the written Torah, but was accepted by the Talmud as being a biblical mandate. It is linked in the Talmud from the biblical law requiring people to assist in unloading burdens from animals (Exodus 23:5).
Discussed on
- "Tza'ar Ba'alei Chayim" | 2019-09-13 | 54 Upvotes 27 Comments