What have you always wanted to know?

[PurleaseSqueeze]

I was wondering today whether GPs see other GPs if they are ill? Can anyone tell me? I'm assuming yes as they wouldn't be allowed to prescribe medications for themselves?

What other random things have you always wondered/wanted to know?

For the dog / sick person question, I asked a paramedic friend

If the incident happens in public, they ring the police or a dog warden for the dog to be cared

If it’s in someone’s house, they make sure the dog has water etc & try to make arrangements for someone to care for it

I know no-one's specifically asked this, but I do know how glue was invented

@Gertie75

Why are countries names different in different languages?

For instance Germany calls itself Deutsch land so surely it should be that in every language.

We don't do it with peoples names.

Probably because it would be extremely difficult to pronounce them all correctly.

@MorrisZapp

Why do firemen sleep upstairs and slide down poles instead of just sleeping downstairs?

Because downstairs is where the offices and appliances are. The upstairs has the sleeping and socialising area (the fire station I looked round had a pool table). If they slept downstairs, they'd need to spread over a larger area and then theoretically would have further to run when the alarm went off.

Fab thread. I often wonder if, in a dream when we are upset/angry/happy etc does our body demonstrate the same physical reaction as it does when we're awake, eg change in heart rate etc?

@HauntedDishcloth Sodium Pentothal does not "make" anyone tell the truth about stuff reliably, do you really think we want to go down route of trying stuff that the gestapo and KGB were fans off?

@stclair

Why the contestants, Paul, Prue etc on GBBO wear the same clothes on both baking days. And they always look fresh and clean the next day.

They launder them after filming on day one ready for the next day as when putting together the show they use footage from both days when editing so keeps it consistent. That’s what I read or heard once and it makes sense

About vets treating humans - I read a few years ago about a vet attending an animal emergency on a remote farm in bad weather and ended up having to give an emergency caesarian to the farmer's wife who went into labour and an ambulance couldn't get there.

@SallyCinnamon3009

Do midwifes ever walk down the street, think they recognise someone then realise they do cos they delivered their baby?

Also, this has bugged me for years. In sex and the city Miranda calls the baby Brady after Steve's surname so he's Brady Hobbs. But what happened when she Marries Steve a couple of seasons later. Is he called Brady Brady? Or does he just have a different surname from the rest of the family?

But does Miranda change her surname to Brady? I never changed mine when I got married, and neither have some of my friends.

[quote Rosehip10]@HauntedDishcloth Sodium Pentothal does not "make" anyone tell the truth about stuff reliably, do you really think we want to go down route of trying stuff that the gestapo and KGB were fans off?[/quote]
Yes, I know that; it reduces inhibitions. If I had lost a loved one due to a crime I reckon I'd want them to try almost anything to find out what had happened. Even if "truth drugs" or hypnosis didn't work in many cases, it might for some suggestible people and then obviously the detectives would discern whether anything of use had been obtained. They could screen first to see if it was worth doing (thinking of Derren Brown screening for suggestible people before he uses them in his shows & programmes). It's well known the police have used (do still use?) psychics, which is arguably more woo than hypnosis or pharmaceuticals. Maybe it would even act as a deterent.

As for what we do, if you mean "we" as in the West, well, the most successful Western country still has the death penalty, & I'd be willing to bet certain "techniques" are indeed used in "special" circumstances.

@HauntedDishcloth

You do know that real life is not like an episode of 24 or a jack Reacher novel? You know just torture a terrorist and he reveals the location of a bomb . Extreme "techniques" generally just lead to people saying whatever they think the person torturing wants them to hear and is utterly unreliable.

As an aside, I would not be holding up policing and the penal/justice system in the USA as a "success" either.

I think I genuinely believed the world would be black and white for a colourblind person!

There are people who apparently can’t see any colours other than black, white and some shades of grey. Some of them live on the Micronesian atoll of Pingelap.

By contrast, a minority of people have a condition called Tetrachromacy, and can see more shades of colour than the average person. This condition is thought to be more common in women than men.

@HauntedDishcloth

Why aren't unco-operative serious criminals made to undergo hypnosis or given sodium pentathol to try to get them to reveal crucial details? I always think this about Keith Bennett's poor mother who died not knowing where Brady & Hindley left him

Myra Hindley agreed to have hypnosis to try and remember further details but it never happened - Keith's brother Alan persuaded her to but I think I'll health and bad timing meant it didn't go ahead.

Thank you to everyone who answered my questions about jury service.

I also have a question about astronomy. Are there any stars that can be seen in the night sky (with the naked eye or a modest telescope), that no longer exist? If so, I’d love to see them.

@TildaKauskumholm

Fab thread. I often wonder if, in a dream when we are upset/angry/happy etc does our body demonstrate the same physical reaction as it does when we're awake, eg change in heart rate etc?

When I and other people I know have dreamed someone is trying to kill me I have woken up trying to scream out loud with my heart pounding. It takes quite a while to calm down and realise it's not happening.

@mrshonda

The identity of Jack the Ripper. I've puzzled over that for years.

It's unlikely we will ever know but there have been some recent investigations using modern policing techniques applied to the suspects which are interesting and the most likely accordingly was Aaron Kominski.

@speakout

I have always wanted to know if a horse can get a parking ticket.

I don't know about parking tickets in particular, but when I was interested, I looked up the law about such things. Most vehicles are motor vehicles, and are (were?) subject to the Road Traffic Act. Horses (and I think cycles) are (were?) subject to the Highways Acts, which is (was?) different.

IIRC zebra crossings, and drink-drive, and one-way streets, applied to users of motor vehicles, but not horsemen. I hoped one day to be incorrectly stopped by the police, but never was.

@katmunchkin

Can't see that this has been asked already, but how do animals and babies think? I mean, they don't know words, so literally, what is in their head?

We don't just think in words though, do we? So, all that stuff.

@katiedidnt

Even though the US and UK both use English, BSL and ASL evolved separately so aren't closely related.

ASL comes from the same roots as French Sign Language, so they're more similar but I don't know if they're mutually intelligible.

BSL is related to Auslan (Australian Sign Language) and Kenyan Sign Language, among others.

There's an (incomplete) diagram here: www.reddit.com/r/asl/comments/ewtmnf/sign_language_family_tree/

I want to know where fashion and trends come from. Why did the majority of people in the 70s like a certain style of music, and the majority of people today like a different style (judging by which tracks get the most sales)? Same for trends in clothing, interior design, architecture, etc. Is it just advertising?

@Twenty2 I’m no authority but I think k people with advanced dementia do, I’ve had a few patients who are constantly mumbling or talking in a nonsensical sort narration that feels like it is an internal monologue made external. Seems to have a similar rhythm to mine if that makes sense!

If animals can understand each other and if they speak a different language depending on the country they live in like humans do??

@PurleaseSqueeze

Okay so we just need a GP, postman/woman and *@CuriousaboutSamphire* 's SILS DM to join the thread to answer our questions and we can rest easy 🤣

.... a GP, SILs DM and a postman meet at the pub....

@Blerg

Is there a height of tower above which you don’t get bugs / creature infestations - ants, cockroaches, mice etc?

Like you get ants attacking your bin on floor 12, but not above floor 42.

Yes! We live in Singapore on level 15 and our friends lived on level 13 - when the management fogged the bins/rubbish chutes they always put a sign up saying tape up your rubbish chute - I always forgot and no bugs ever came in through the cracks so I thought it was just a precaution but our friends on 13 said when they forgot their kitchen was filled with cockroaches which obviously tried to escape the fogging through their chute 🤢- but this never happened to us - so I figure they can climb 13 floors but not 15! This was not scientific obvs! But... we did used to get a lot of lizards on the 15th floor so they can climb crazy heights!

I always wanted to know the theory of relativity really well, strings theory and other laws of physics but I just find it so mind twisting... When it gets really detailed I loose it!