Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2015 July 13

= July 13 =

Is Ethiopia the most effective electric energy user?
When it comes to GDP per electric energy consumption, Ethiopia wins hands down, at $18.50/kWh, according to Electric energy consumption. Why would that be? It's not that they have other resources that could replace electricity easily. (Geothermal energy is abundant in a region, but I don't think that compares with the replacement potential of fossil fuels in Canada, which trails the field at $2.10/kWh. See also Energy in Ethiopia) &mdash; Sebastian 11:27, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * That doesn't seem like a very useful metric, to me. Both GDP and electricity usage go up as an economy becomes more developed, so it's measuring which happens to go up faster in a given economy.  You might as well compare radio wattage with gas millage in cars.


 * Also, realize that "electricity" isn't a source of energy, but rather a way to deliver it. Either geothermal or other energy sources may be converted to electricity and thus counted in the chart.   StuRat (talk) 13:46, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your reply. I see what you mean with your comparison: electricity is only one way to consume energy. But the comparison falls short on two points: The GDP/kW numbers are in an actual article; they have been there since 2011, and nobody complained about that. (At least not on the talk page.) Imagine what would have happened if someone had added radio wattage per gas mileage to an article! Also, I am asking because I want to understand the world. I would have thought that creation of wealth in our high-tech age should be closer correlated to electricity consumption than to other energy deliveries. The statistics show me that my hunch was wrong, but I'd like to understand what was wrong about it. &mdash; Sebastian 16:54, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Electricity usage is rather complex.


 * For example, let's just look at air conditioning. That can be a major user of electricity, in a country which is both hot and rich.  But, if it's cold, it's not needed, and if it's a poor nation, it gets by without much A/C.


 * Now let's look at electrical heating. Obviously heating is more needed in cold climates, but a rich nation that needs major heating is likely to develop a more efficient way to deliver that energy, such as natural gas.  So, you might find mid-level income nations and nations with only a marginal need for heating actually using more electricity for heating, since they lack other ways to heat their homes.  The poorest nations, however, may not have electrical heating as an option.


 * Now let's look at industrial uses of electricity. Obviously a more developed economy will have more industry, and hence more industrial use of electricity.


 * Also note that Canada has a lot of hydro power, and one feature of hydro is that it's a "use it or lose it" energy source. That is, you can't just "leave it in the ground until needed" like with fossil fuels.  So, rather than lose it, they create more electricity than they actually need, selling a lot of it to the US (East Coast).  I'm not sure how exported electricity is handled on the chart.


 * So, it's utterly confusing to try to divine some overall trend from your chart. At the very least, I'd look at total energy consumption versus GDP, to remove the confounding factor of some energy being transmitted in the form of electricity, and some not. StuRat (talk) 17:04, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Per economy of Ethiopia:


 * Waterpower and forests are Ethiopia's main energy sources. The country derives about 90 percent of its electricity needs from hydropower, which means that electricity generation, as with agriculture, is dependent on abundant rainfall. Present installed capacity is rated at about 2000 megawatts, with planned expansion to 10,000 megawatts. In general, Ethiopians rely on forests for nearly all of their energy and construction needs; the result has been deforestation of much of the highlands during the last three decades. Less than one-half of Ethiopia’s towns and cities are connected to the national grid.


 * The country is largely agricultural - unlike many African nations, it doesn't have electricity-hungry primary industries like mining or refining, nor does it have much manufacturing. There's just not much in Ethiopia that uses electricity (the first electric railway in the country only just opened, and although it has a huge airline, aeroplanes need oil, not grid electricity) and since dams are expensive in terms of money, land and construction time, the country has little opportunity to expand its generation capabilities. It's not so much that it uses electricity efficiently - it barely uses electricity at all. Smurrayinchester 09:57, 14 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Thank you, that answers my question completely. &mdash; Sebastian 21:02, 15 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Yes, if you take that 2000 MW and divide by the population of over 90 million, you get 22 watts per person. That's maybe enough for home lighting, but not much else. StuRat (talk) 21:20, 15 July 2015 (UTC)

Periods
Do womens periods really hurt as much as they say they do? My girlfriend has repeatedly told me that it literally feels like a monster clawing its way our of her uterus. I cannot fathom that it is that painful

i am mainly wondering if that is true or is my girlfriend just bitching unnecessarily. I appreciate the response — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.255.184.236 (talk) 14:05, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * See menstrual cramps. StuRat (talk) 14:07, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * I would suggest that she likely does have that much pain, and in that case the most compassionate thing to do would be to advise her to get medical advice. As the article says, the severity of the pain varies from woman to woman and sometimes there are underlying medical reasons that can be treated.  Robert McClenon (talk) 15:27, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Robert's suggestion is a good one. In the meantime, for your own edification, consider that there is no way to directly compare sensations between people; see qualia. μηδείς (talk) 18:02, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * "The nurse, in an attempt to ensure that everyone was using the same 1-10 scale when describing pain, first gave me a zap with the taser set at 10, then gave me a zap set at one, as soon as I was able to regain control of my bowels." :-) StuRat (talk) 18:40, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Yes. Think of it as like being repeatedly kicked between the legs and having to function normally all the time that is happening. (I have to say to your girlfriend, get checked out and make sure there is nothing going wrong down there. We don't have to suffer in silence.) --TammyMoet (talk) 14:52, 14 July 2015 (UTC)

Military hardware ID


Can anyone identify the types of helicopter and tank that appear here? Bonus points if you can do the same for the anchor, if they even come in standard types (I don't know). This is from a small town in the US; presumably they're US military hardware. Nyttend (talk) 16:45, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * http://www.touring-ohio.com/northwest/lima/harrods.html -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 16:49, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * http://www.auglaizetownshiphistoricalsociety.com/harrod-veterans-memorial-park/ -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 16:50, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Although it doesn't say explicitly which USS Texas the anchor is from, I think it would be USS Texas (BB-35). A small about of info the anchor system on the Texas is here. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 17:14, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * I just had "a small about of info" myself, but am now recovering, thankfully. :-) StuRat (talk) 18:37, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * The tank is an M47 Patton and the helicopter is a Bell UH-1 Iroquois or "Huey" (of Apocalypse Now fame). Curiously, the US seems not to have used the M47 tank in any wars - is this a record? Alansplodge (talk) 19:55, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * I stand corrected; it's actually an M60 Patton (an M60 A3 to be precise). I Googled "Harrod veterans park" and the first result was HARROD VETERAN'S MEMORIAL PARK which has a detailed description of all the exhibits, except the USS Texas anchor which only has a photograph but no text. Alansplodge (talk) 20:06, 13 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Huh; most smalltown parks don't have their own webpages, so I didn't even bother looking online. Thanks for the unambiguous pointers.  Nyttend (talk) 02:51, 14 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Most welcome (I hope I didn't sound too sarcastic). Alansplodge (talk) 08:35, 14 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Sarcasm wouldn't have come to mind if you'd not mentioned it :-) No, I'm quite literally thankful.  Nyttend (talk) 13:00, 14 July 2015 (UTC)
 * No worries. English people can be very subtle in their criticisms and I misread "unambiguous" as "statement of the bleeding obvious". Alansplodge (talk) 14:10, 15 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Sorry for being ambiguous when referring to unambiguity :-) It's just that I'd counted on someone saying "I'm pretty sure they're X, Y, and Z", which would have been sufficient (I just needed to put the image in the right Commons categories), so I was thankful that you and Finlay McWalter had found an authoritative source instead.  Nyttend (talk) 18:55, 15 July 2015 (UTC)

Medical criteria for a doctor labeling a patient as "disheveled"
What does a doctor look for in a patients appearance and behavior to determine if they are "disheveled" or not? — Preceding unsigned comment added by KisslessRoastie (talk • contribs) 23:13, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * I am not aware of any medical definition of that term. There are perfectly good normal dictionaries, such as Meriam-Webster and Oxford English Dictionary which probably would do fine for any doctor (and anyone else), should the doctor not know that term.  But it's a common enough English language term, and I would suspect that any doctor who spoke English fluently and natively would recognize the word and not need special medical training to be able to define it.  -- Jayron 32 00:10, 14 July 2015 (UTC)


 * The problem with a lack of a consistent definition is that what counts as "disheveled" for one patient may be normal for another. So, it's not terribly useful for comparing patients, but could be useful when looking at changes in one patient's behavior.  That is, if a patient who normally has an impeccable appearance starts coming in with uncombed hair, shirt tails out, dirty clothes, etc., this could indicate a problem, whether physical or psychological (I know one elderly woman who can no longer raise her arm high enough to comb her hair).   The reverse would be an interesting case.  I wouldn't think it would be as likely to indicate a problem, although multiple personality disorder might present like that. In any case, any major change in appearance would warrant asking the patient why they changed, as this might reveal a medical or mental health issue. StuRat (talk) 00:55, 14 July 2015 (UTC)


 * There are not "medical criteria" for this. This is a matter of judgement of a non-medical nature. Almost anyone would have a degree of expertise in evaluating another person for whether they were "disheveled" or not. Unkempt clothing would lead one to say that the person is disheveled. Bus stop (talk) 01:21, 14 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Yes, any lay person is qualified to decide who is heveled and who not. --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  07:37, 14 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Poor hygiene is considered a symptom of various diseases and disorders. μηδείς (talk) 03:11, 14 July 2015 (UTC)


 * "Disheveled" comes from French des ("apart") and chevel ("hair"), i.e. it meant unkempt hair. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 02:08, 16 July 2015 (UTC)


 * See etymological fallacy. Now it just means untidy or disordered. See .  As noted above by myself and others, it does not take any special medical training to adjudge whether someone is tidy or not.  -- Jayron 32 22:17, 16 July 2015 (UTC)


 * I once heard a comedy routine as follows: "But Sire, he is unkempt!" "Well, then, comb him." "But he is also uncouth!" "Then couth him." Edison (talk) 03:28, 16 July 2015 (UTC)

Do unread Facebook messages expire?
Despite having had a Facebook page for years, I have never once checked my messages. I didn't know I had them. So recently, when I found out, I wanted to read some old things just to see who and why people were writing someone who never went on Facebook. Well, I got one message from 2013 to load, but nothing older than that.

These messages are mostly from 2011, with a few from 2012. Are they not loading because of how long they've sat unread? --Ye Olde Luke (talk) 23:20, 13 July 2015 (UTC)
 * WP:RDC may be the better desk to ask this. -- Jayron 32 00:08, 14 July 2015 (UTC)
 * And it has now been asked there, so let's consider this copy of the question closed. --174.88.133.35 (talk) 04:38, 14 July 2015 (UTC)