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The idea is that when someone encounters a question that has been asked before, they place links to both those questions here, under a meaningful header (possibly with links to other related questions as well). Once that is done, people can start cleaning up both the answers and the questions, merging them into one set. No two questions are ever the same, but a common ground could be found and the answer could be polished to perfection over time (making it more article-like).

Of course, all this assuming there is no answer to that question yet in an article. In that case the question could still be placed here, but accompanied with just a link to that article instead of an answer. If that does not satisfy people, then that is an indication that the article needs to be adapted. In that sense the reference desk could be seen as an aid to improve articles.

How questions are categorised here does not necessarily reflect where they were originally asked.

Not all questions have all relevant reference desk links. Some have just one link because someone remembered a question being asked before, but not where.

Computing

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Hidden file

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Science

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Work (energy)

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Does everyone who sees colours see red the same way?

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What happens if the sun disappears or stops shining?

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The edge of the Universe

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Is marijuana bad for you?

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Mathematics

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Why is 1+1 = 2?

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Area of an irregular shape

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Finding Hamlet in π

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Positional number systems with non-integral bases

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Miscellaneous

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Sneezing at the Sun

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Volcanologist's wages

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Oldest airline still in business

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How do you check whether a company with a certain name exists?

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What kept Hitler from invading Switzerland and Sweden?

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Famous people on Wikipedia

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How many humans have ever lived?

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There is a discussion of this question in the article World population. The best estimates hover around 100 billion.

Wikipedia mirrors

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Asked very often.

Human resource management

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Why are voltages always a multitude of 11V?

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Humanities

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Trotsky vs Stalin

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Persia vs Greece

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Public Domain works that contain copyrighted characters?

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Why do men have nipples?

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Decomposition

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Why wet things are dark

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The Internet after a global catastrophe

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Watertight ship's propeller

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Cutting worms in half

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Most valuable substance

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This was also asked a few months earlier.

Why do men on 19th century portraits pose with one hand in the jacket?

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What are the dates for viewing the Siena Duomo's pavement?

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How can I get my novel published?

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Why did George Fox visit Barbados in 1671?

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Language

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See also Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language/FAQs

What language is this?

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(asked too often to list the occasions)

Wikipedia:Language recognition chart might help, as might the Xerox Language Identifier.

Name for the first decade of the 21st century

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Easiest/hardest language to learn

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See also Hardest language

Who was the greatest polyglot?

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"People" or "persons"?

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"Further" or "farther"?

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"Two weeks notice" or "two weeks' notice"?

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Entertainment

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See also

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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language/FAQs

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