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July 24

Hidden pregnancy

I've heard of women who suddenly go into labour without realizing they were pregnant. Is it really possible for a woman to have no idea a baby is on the way?

See Cryptic pregnancy for our article. It's rather basic, but it does have a couple of references. Tevildo (talk) 14:52, 24 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It happens (and gets reported) all the time, most recently in May of this year. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:12, 24 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

There's a Brazilian case of a 10-year old published on the 18th of this month which I won't link to due to BLP reasons. But it seems the mother may have been intimidated or the family in denial about the obvious, given the current criminal charges. μηδείς (talk) 00:19, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I found How can a woman not know she’s pregnant? Surprise births rare, but do happen and Woman gives birth to a surprise baby. Alansplodge (talk) 14:04, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

July 26

Governor Huey Pierce Long Jr actually the grandson of William Rochelle Horton per DNA.

Hello.

Is there any DNA proof that Governor & Senator Huey Pierce Long Jr is actually a grandson of William Rochelle Horton?

Thank you for any assistance.

Goodbye. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.98.61.88 (talk • contribs) 02:55, 26 July 2015‎

I assume that you are referring to the Governor Huey Pierce Long Jr who was assassinated in 1935: if there is DNA evidence, there doesn't seem to be anything that Google finds to show it. If you are referring to this William Rochelle Horton [1] (the dates seem about right), it might theoretically be possible to compare DNA of living descendants (assuming there are any) but I think they might want to know why the relationship was being claimed - where did the suggestion come from? AndyTheGrump (talk) 05:10, 26 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Battery Back-up on traffic signals

Can Battery-Backup be done on traffic lights if there is incandescent on any of yellow lamp. Because when I went to meet the traffic engineers at Mission Viejo the guy said to have battery backup all three colors will have the LEDs, the way it works is for the first two hours the traffic light will still go through red, green, yellow phase cycle, then the next two hours green lights stop working, what I will see is red lights will flash, after that is full black outs. When I called City of Irvine on the phone the guy told me battery backup can be done if yellow lamps are still incadescents, it is just better when all red, yellow, green is LEDs. I have seen it happen alot when green lights stop working and red lights flash, when that case scenario does it have to do with Battery Backup. I remember ten years ago in my Metropolitan Area there wasn't even LEDs on the Yellow lamps, the LED for most of South Orange County Area were only Red and Green since they were considerably more frequently illuminated than the Yellow ones, because I remember at that time I saw Red lights flash and Green lights stop working I was wondering if it has to do with Battery-Backup.--107.202.105.233 (talk) 04:12, 26 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Green lights stay on when there is no vehicle in demand

I thought is weird when Green lights stay on when there is no traffic in demand, because I know the rule is when there is no traffic movement in demand, the green signal demands suppose to skip completely, but sometimes during weekday rush-hours I have seen that case when green light turns on even when there is no traffic movement in demand. Could this be programming error, when the data is not reading information properly or the computer programming are done on purpose and there is a reason why the traffic engineer done it that way. And also since I tend to obsess traffic lights and want to know all the details as possible, if I want to know left turn vs. straight turns, which corners (side A or B) are more likely to skip the green signal demand, is it better to watch the signals when traffic are greater (Weekday during high volume traffic), or is it a better idea to do it when the traffic volumes are lighter (Like on Weekends or early morning or later at night), because as I noticed when left turn pockets have smaller cars, what happens is the green signals timing are shorter on side A and green signals timing are longer on B. Because sometimes I tend to do it and ignore the fact I may not get the accurate readings I hoped when during that time green lights just goes through full demand phasings.--107.202.105.233 (talk) 04:21, 26 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Assuming these are questions about the US, when there is no signal it is normally dealt with as if there were a red signal. You'll want to look at the relevant state laws for your local jurisdiction. μηδείς (talk) 04:30, 26 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

(Your question is very hard to understand. Please repost in your native language, and we will translate it to English.)

Most traffic lights are still timed, not using sensors to detect when traffic is present, at least where I live. And even where they do use sensors, in the absence of any input from the sensors they might still go back to timing, in case the sensors are broken. StuRat (talk) 04:27, 26 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I am asking about battery backup does all of the colors have to be LEDs, or you can do it a battery back when the Yellow lights is incadescent or all three colors are incadescents, because I have seen it when red lights flash and the green lights shuts down. I know on that intersection the Yellow light are incadescent, I have seen it when red lights flash and green lights stops working, and all red, yellow and green lamps are incadescent, does the red lights flash and green lights stop have anything to do with battery backup, or there is some other reasons like there is something wrong with the lights traffic engineers have to go through the system and fix it. (Oops I talked too fast on the battery backup part, I do have trouble controlling myself when I discuss traffic lights topic)--107.202.105.233 (talk) 04:38, 26 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

(You really need to read and fix your posts, to make them clearer, before submitting.)

I always assumed the reason why traffic lights go to flashing red and yellow during a power outage was that they become unable to coordinate the timing with adjacent intersections, and it's safer to slow people down with flashing yellow and red lights than to have them continue as if nothing was wrong, even though the traffic patterns will be all messed up. A related thought is that if they get the timing signal from AC current, and lose that when they go on DC backup current, then they may have to rely on less accurate timing methods, again making coordination of timing with adjacent intersections impossible. (I've noticed that my clock radio keeps abysmal time when on the battery backup.) Another twist might be if regulations regarding how the lights behave were made when different technology was used, and the rules have never been changed. StuRat (talk) 04:44, 26 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

In NJ at least, there are two reasons. Flashing red and yellow is common at rural intersections where most of the traffic is along the route with the yellow light, which need only be cautious and not stop. Flashing red and yellow seems also to be the default with outages, which would match with the speculation above. I have never seen this in NYC, and most roads in Jersey that would really need a four way stop have four stop signs or a cloverleaf (traffic) or a traffic circle. For a permanent red/yellow, see the intersection of Mathistown Road and US Route 9 {just north of Penny Lane) in Little Egg Harbor Township, NJ. μηδείς (talk) 21:37, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

My uncle lives in Little Egg Harbor. :-) StuRat (talk) 22:35, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It's a very nice area, my parents had a house on Great Bay, which they sold, luckily, a few months before Sandy. My dad keeps a boat in Tuckerton. An update on the light at Rte 9: it has been changed to a normal timed light. Used to the light remaining red, he ran it, not realizing he had to wait for the green until after he made the left on red. μηδείς (talk) 17:43, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Three Newport Mansions

I'm trying to confirm the identity of three of the mansions along lower Bellevue Ave. in Newport, Rhode Island.

570 Bellevue Ave, at 41°27′48″N 71°18′18″W / 41.4634°N 71.3051°W / 41.4634; -71.3051. According to this article, this is the address of Beechwood. Vast construction activity can be seen in the current Google Earth / Google Maps imagery, tending to confirm this hypothesis.
614-618 (approx.) Bellevue Ave., at 41°27′39″N 71°18′16″W / 41.4609°N 71.3045°W / 41.4609; -71.3045. According to Wikipedia, this is Beechwood, although I'm inclined to doubt it. This map (from the Cliff Walk website) suggests it might be Clarendon Court.
624 (approx.) Bellevue Ave, at 41°27′35″N 71°18′20″W / 41.4598°N 71.3056°W / 41.4598; -71.3056. This article suggests that this is Clarendon Court. I'm not sure how reliable this article is; I wouldn't normally look to Variety as a font of architectural or georeferential knowledge, although the article does happen to include some floor plans which are clearly much closer to the building at 624 than either of the ones at 614-618. We don't have an article on Clarendon Court, although of course it's mentioned in our articles on Claus and Sunny von Bülow.

I've also got a query open at Talk:Beechwood (Astor mansion). I've very close to changing the coordinates on our Beechwood (Astor mansion) article to match the 570 Bellevue address, but I'd like to double check by confirming what's actually at the 614-618 address if not Beechwood.

If anyone happens to be in Newport, there's a historical marker across the street from Marble House that would probably resolve this. (I was there yesterday, but it wasn't until I got back that I discovered this mystery, and I didn't think to take notes.) —Steve Summit (talk) 23:29, 26 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Resolved

Never mind on most of that; someone at Talk:Beechwood (Astor mansion) has answered already. Steve Summit (talk) 23:48, 26 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

July 27

What is this heroic trope?

Guys what is this heroic trope? Let's say Bob is our hero and wants to kill King Charlie who rules as a tyrant in the Kingdom of Alice. Bob wants to kill Charlie for revenge and doesn't care about what happens to the Kingdom. Still, the kingdom is saved when he finished his task. The citizens of Alice wants to congratulate him but Bob simply moves on. Thanks in advance. --Lenticel ^(talk) 01:37, 27 July 2015 (UTC) --Lenticel ^(talk) 01:37, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Possibly either The Drifter or Mysterious Stranger. Dismas|^(talk) 01:43, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds very much like the plot to The Postman (film). KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (もしもし！) 02:03, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Dismas for the links. I've looked them I think the "Mysterious Protector" variety of the Mysterious Stranger trope is the closest if we're looking at the citizens of Alice's perspective. --Lenticel ^(talk) 02:25, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

In the context of Lit Hist, Knight Errant may be the medieval source model. Compare the Knights of the Round Table to Samurai and Clint-Eastwoodesque laconic heroes who travel the deserts of some autistic loneliness. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 09:57, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

service personnel killed during the different wars

I am the commander of a VFW from Minnesota and we are looking to build a memorial for service personnel killed during the different wars that are from Minnesota. Once we find the list we will break it down to our local community. Can you help us find this list, any help will be greatly appreciated. Commander — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rickgwynn (talk • contribs)

Here's a list of Vietnam War dead from Minnesota, with their Official Homes of Record. That's an easy one. The Civil War and the world wars are going to be much tougher. Clarityfiend (talk) 09:32, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Notable people dying at Hiroshima and/or Nagasaki

I am very surprised that not even one notable person was among those killed by the atomic bomb. I mean, didn′t these cities have mayors or governors? If someone dropped an atomic bomb today on Somerville, which has now less population than Hiroshima did in 1945, certainly there would be many people with Wikipedia articles among the dead. Maybe we have missed some from Hiroshima? 2A02:582:C55:2A00:E58C:3FFC:F108:2131 (talk) 14:29, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Yi Wu. Senkichi Awaya. --Viennese Waltz 14:34, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Category:Hibakusha may help. It includes survivors as well as non-survivors. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:11, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I would assume that a large fraction of the problem here boils down to two things:

Since the city was mostly reduced to ashes, many of the records that would enable us to establish notability may well have been annihilated.
English Wikipedia is dependent on it's contributing authors to write about such things. Only a very small percentage of us speak and read Japanese well enough to find and understand the source material, and only a tiny fraction of that faction will be interested in writing biographies and an even smaller fraction of that fraction will be interested in people from that time and place. So the pool of people who are working on such matters is likely to be exceedingly small.

Because of the way Wikipedia is written, it's inevitable that our coverage will be patchy, suffering from "recentism" and a bias towards articles about people from English-speaking countries. Please don't interpret this as people being biassed one way or the other - it's just in the nature of a set of disorganized volunteer contributors.

SteveBaker (talk) 04:14, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Ronald Shaw is one notable, a British prisoner of war in Nagasaki. Adam Bishop (talk) 12:19, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

He seems to only be notable for being British and killed by the bomb at Nagasaki. StuRat (talk) 18:56, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, yet another yankee friendly fire event. I wish your guys would f**king choose their targets carefully. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (もしもし！) 01:37, 29 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

July 28

Favoured drinks in the American Old West

Comics such as Lucky Luke and Punaniska have shown that men in the American Old West generally drunk whisky in saloons in the west. I imagine they may also have drunk beer. In fact, one Punaniska comic shows Calamity Jane offering Punaniska some wine, which he immediately refuses, thinking it would challenge his masculinity. What was the situation in real life? Did they really almost always drink whisky? And what sort of whisky? American instead of Scottish or Irish, I should presume? Did they have any preferences or did they just want to get drunk quickly? Did they also drink beer and wine? What about non-alcoholic beverages? JIP | Talk 20:35, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Absinthe might be included in the list of alcoholic drinks, until banned in the US by 1915.

As for non-alcoholic beverages, there were many variations on root beer, such as ginger ale and sarsparilla. Note that while Coca-Cola has roots going back to the 19th century, it was sold as a patent medicine then, in drug stores, not saloons, as it contained cocaine. StuRat (talk) 21:01, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

July 29

Chance of being born?

So, at one stage you consisted of spermatozoa in your dads testicles. I read that a mans testicles make 1000 sperm a second. So that's 60,000 sperm a minute. I'll let you do the math, but on a particular day your parents decided to have sex and fertilised your mommas egg.

Have I got the premise wrong or what, but did you I and everyone else have an astronomically minute chance of even existing in the first place. I mean, if another sperm got inside the egg or you didn't survive the ride through your dads epidermis and into your moms vagina you wouldn't have existed? Would the baby born be a difference person altogether. Or are are all sperm the same.

Woody Allen in 1972 made a hilarious film about this fascinating question. Akseli9 (talk) 11:34, 29 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

There must be theories that approve, and others that disapprove, that the principle of natural selection, applies also among spermatozoa. Akseli9 (talk) 11:37, 29 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Akseli9: I think you mean prove and disprove. Theories are not a kind of thing that can approve or disapprove things. --ColinFine (talk) 11:54, 29 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

No, they're all genetically different. See Meiosis. --ColinFine (talk) 11:54, 29 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Depending on what your Mom was getting up to, our article Sperm competition may be relevant. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 12:55, 29 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]