Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2016 May 14

= May 14 =

Concentration camps
In German concentration camps in WW2, did all women get their heads shaved upon arrival, or only when they were to be sent to the gas chambers? 2601:646:8E01:515D:7CCA:927E:A4BD:BA87 (talk) 04:21, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * There are photos from Theresienstadt concentration camp showing women who had not had their heads shaved - which is enough to show that not ALL women in concentration camps had their heads shaved. Admittedly, that was a special camp used for publicity purposes, so is not typical of most camps. 81.132.106.10 (talk) 07:54, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * I thought Theresienstadt was primarily a transit camp? 2601:646:8E01:515D:1C57:236D:EEEA:1910 (talk) 11:48, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * There were no gas chambers at Theresienstadt.  This place was in Germany, not in the east, out of the way of the Jewish communities who were sent there for "work resettlement", although many guessed the truth, and when one person escaped and came back to warn them of what was  happening many didn't believe him.   They had them at Auschwitz, and possibly Belsen and some other places. 5.150.93.133 (talk) 09:51, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * I don't know but shaving the head is a remedy for lice and nits. Sleigh (talk) 00:04, 15 May 2016 (UTC)


 * The Nazis wouldn't want the prisoners to suffer while they're waiting to be exterminated. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:49, 15 May 2016 (UTC)


 * I assume that was satire. They shaved the heads of those to be exterminated to use the hair, as stuffing for something like pillows, presumably.  Apparently they found it easier to shave heads while they were still alive, probably because they wanted to immediately destroy bodies in the incinerators. StuRat (talk) 01:18, 15 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Ref Desk regulars: why are you feeding this troll?--Shirt58 (talk) 11:07, 15 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Just waiting for the Nazi troll to make himself known more explicitly. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 18:11, 15 May 2016 (UTC)
 * I didn't think of that. Thanks Bugs, very good point.--Shirt58 (talk) 11:54, 16 May 2016 (UTC)
 * The reason this question stands is that this is not the same guy. We know him quite well.  Not every question about the Nazis is the same troll... -- Jayron 32 21:31, 17 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Pictures of something.--178.106.99.31 (talk) 21:22, 17 May 2016 (UTC)

In the kitchen
Why are can openers still a kitchen necessity, one store I shop in a lot stocks cans with rings on the top so you can open the can without a tin openers, yet the other one does not. Considering the shop that sells cans with the pull ring is a thrift store, surely price isn't an issue?, — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.32.51.253 (talk) 09:03, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * In my experience, soft drink cans have ring pulls because typically you don't open them in the kitchen but maybe in the street where you wouldn't have access to a can opener.  Ordinary food cans you keep in the kitchen don't have ring pulls - I don't know the economics of it, i.e. whether it's cheaper to manufacture a can without a ring pull.   I would guess it is. 5.150.93.133 (talk) 11:42, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Note that some people can't open those pull-top cans without a device, either. If you have short fingernails or find using them painful, you need a knife blade to slide under it.  Another downside from the pull-tops is that a bit of food on the lid is often flung across the room.  That can be a potential stain issue with something like beets or tomato sauce.  (There is a technique to avoid this, where instead of pulling the top clear off, you pull it most of the way, then bend it back and forth several times until it breaks off with little force.)  Another thing I wonder about is if pull-top cans last as long.  That is, does the thinner metal, required for a pull-top, corrode sooner ? StuRat (talk) 13:20, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * I think it would be right that if the can were properly stored (e.g. in a watertight kitchen cabinet) it would not corrode at all. 5.150.93.133 (talk) 13:33, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * The contents are often corrosive, such as acidic tomato sauce. The inside of the can does have a coating to prevent this, but in my experience it sometimes has imperfections.  Not sure if pull-top cans are more or less likely to have such imperfections.  And you might well argue that it would take years to corrode, so it's not a problem, but I've had old cans in the back of the cabinet corrode through and leak, creating a real mess.  This is particularly a problem for "emergency supplies", which need to be rotated frequently to avoid such problems.   StuRat (talk) 13:40, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * In Britain, all canned foods have a "best before" date, so if you employ an arrangement by date, and take care to update your supply as necessary, you should not have a problem with liquids leaking from old cans damaging your storage unit. 5.150.93.133 (talk) 16:36, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * We have those dates, too, but it's a lot of work to remove all the cans in front to check the dates on those in back. I wish there was a home product like they have in stores, where they add cans to the top and they roll down to the opening at the bottom, ensuring that nothing gets "pushed to the back" and forgotten. StuRat (talk) 16:41, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * You don't need to open soft drink cans that don't have ring pulls in the kitchen. In the 1970s and before, you could buy a bottle opener that had a bottle opener at one end and a can opener at the other end. You make a triangle shaped hole that you drink from on one side of the soft drink can and a smaller air hole on the opposite side of the can. Sleigh (talk) 00:00, 15 May 2016 (UTC)


 * As far as I know, those are still made. And they come in handy for large cans of liquids, such as pineapple juice. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:48, 15 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Some food cans have rings, some do not. Until such time as every can manufactured comes with a ring, can openers will remain a necessity. In fact, they still will be. If the tab is defective and breaks off, what do you do then? Answer: Use a can opener. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:47, 15 May 2016 (UTC)


 * There seem to be two types of can opener - those that drill down through the lid and those that drill through the rim.  Canning factories sell their output all over the world, and it seems to be standard to print (using a dot matrix printer) the expiry date on the top.   I have no difficulty, when viewing my collection, seeing these dates and arranging the cans accordingly.   I don't know if canning factories ever used coded dates as grocery manufacturers used to do until the practice was outlawed.   The reasoning behind that was, of course, that they knew how old the goods were but the public didn't.   So the modern practice is simply to stack the newer goods behind the older ones on the shelf (which of course was always done with stock rotation). 5.150.93.133 (talk) 10:52, 15 May 2016 (UTC)


 * The only place they can do this easily in grocery stores by me is in the dairy department, where milk and eggs can be stocked from the rear. Every other shelf would require that the old cans be removed from the shelf, so new cans can be placed in the back, then the old cans placed in the front.  I doubt if they bother, considering the additional time and expense involved.  I've often wondered why they don't do more stocking from the rear.  At the very least I would think 3 of the 4 exterior walls could be set up this way, with the remaining wall in front used for entrances and windows.  And with a more extensive renovation, they could make just about every shelf stockable from the rear. StuRat (talk) 22:19, 15 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Hole - in - the - wall is certainly an idea, but given how easy it is for thieves to rob cash machines, would supermarkets consider it?  For many years I lived next door to a man who became night shelf - stacking manager at Sainsbury's.   As competition has intensified and grocery prices have fallen supermarkets can't afford to throw any food away.   All displays are monitored (there are forms the shelf - stackers have to fill in and hand - held electronic aids).   On the last day before expiry staff will be round with price reduction labels and corresponding barcodes.   Standard procedure for shelf stacking is for the fillers to bring the old stock to the front and put the replenishment stock behind it. 5.150.93.133 (talk) 10:05, 16 May 2016 (UTC)


 * How do they put the new stock behind the old stock ? In many cases that would block their access, unless they completely remove the old stock from the shelf first.  Also, there's the problem of customers reaching in back "for the fresh stuff".  That can backfire, though, where they stock the new products in front.  I found a bottle of grapefruit juice at a Target in Woodland Hills, CA that was in the back of the shelf, several years past it's expiration date, and dark brown. StuRat (talk) 16:52, 16 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Are American grocers less efficient than European ones?  The market share of the indigenous supermarkets and the German ones (the discounters) is going up, but Asda (which is owned by Wal - Mart) is seeing a precipitous decline.   The shelves get filled when they're near empty, so it's a simple matter to move what's remaining to the front and slot in the replacements behind.   Now that customers can see what is fresh and what is not a good grocer will not put out the new stock until the old stock has been cleared. 80.44.167.65 (talk) 17:38, 16 May 2016 (UTC)


 * American shops tend to refill the shelves every night, no matter how little was sold the previous day. Why ?  Perhaps to avoid possibly selling out (demand isn't always constant, such as more snack foods selling before big football games).  Perhaps because psychologically full shelves impress customers more. StuRat (talk) 17:43, 16 May 2016 (UTC)


 * There's a lot of psychology goes into supermarket retailing - for example the sweets kept by the checkout which children will pester their parents to buy while they're waiting in the queue, the way the aisles are arranged so that after entering you have to walk right to the back of the shop, and placing stuff they want you to notice at eye level.  Then there are the store cards which allow them to build up a picture of the things you buy and target advertising accordingly.   There are also apps which allow them to send offers to your mobile phone as you walk around the store.   With other kinds of retailers there are also the "closing down sales" which seem to go on for ever.  80.44.167.65 (talk) 17:55, 16 May 2016 (UTC)

Bottle with a Stopper
Some beer makers use a bottle with a stopper hold in place by a steel wire leverage mechanism. The IKEA version of it is called "KORKEN, Bottle with stopper" on their catalog.

In the article beer bottle, it is said,


 * Some beers (for example Grolsch) are sold in "beugel" style bottles, known as "flip-top" or "swing top" in some English speaking countries.

Are there other names for this kind of bottle? Is there an article for it? -- Toytoy (talk) 13:54, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * You said it - Flip-top -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 13:55, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * It's nice to see someone invented this gem in 1874! -- Toytoy (talk) 13:57, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Agreed, this was a better closure than we had before (corks which are damaged when they are removed and never seal again quite properly) and the closure mechanisms we have now, which are either not reusable or leak or retain odors or get moldy when reused. I might add silicone rubber seals to the flip-top, though, so it could withstand temperature extremes better. StuRat (talk) 17:36, 14 May 2016 (UTC)

What is meant by the following: % for ratification, on the page: Paris Agreement
Hello,

I'm confused by what is meant by the table column % for ratification on the following page: Paris Agreement What does this mean, and what do the percentages in that column stand for?


 * it's going to have something to do with how much weight each country's vote for ratification is going to count toward ratification...68.48.241.158 (talk) 14:25, 14 May 2016 (UTC)


 * I checked the cited source. This column of numbers appears in the source's table starting on p. 30. The info at the top of the table says this column is the percent of greenhouse gas emissions (presumably this country's emissions as a percentage of worldwide emissions). I have no idea why this column of the Wikipedia table is called % for ratification--I'll change it. Loraof (talk) 15:49, 14 May 2016 (UTC)
 * it shouldn't be changed because it's probably correct..the framework likely broke down how much weight a vote counted toward ratification by greenhouse gas emissions...68.48.241.158 (talk) 15:54, 14 May 2016 (UTC)
 * See the section above: "It will enter into force (and thus become fully effective) only if 55 countries that produce at least 55% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions (according to a list produced in 2015) ratify, accept, approve or accede to the agreement.". TDL (talk)

List of BSL-4 facilities
I am wondering, why in Latin America and South America is not even one BSL-4 facility. I can´t imagine that the countries Brazil, Argentina or Costa Rica would be to stupid to own an own facility of Level 4. What is the reason why there is no Biohazard facilities in any of this great countries of South America? --Ip80.123 (talk) 20:38, 14 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Our article Biosafety level lists one in Argentina and is not complete so there could be facilities in other countries which are not on there. Do you have a source saying that they do not? Nanonic (talk) 22:12, 14 May 2016 (UTC)

I haven´t seen it. But 1 in 1 latin america sounds poor if even germany or the USA has over 4. --Ip80.123 (talk) 22:35, 14 May 2016 (UTC)