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2agpvl | Why are there 'LATEST Snowden leaks'? | From the sources I've seen it's being released in chunks to keep it on people's minds and in the media longer. | b88576cc-f5a5-49f4-b5ec-760c070229e0 |
rmgi6 | Buckingham's pi theorem | The Buckingham Pi Theorem is important in dimensional analysis, which is the key to understanding fluid and heat dynamics. Using the theorem gives us *dimensionless groups* - variables that have no units associated with them. You are already familiar with these through the concept of percentages.
This is important because it allows us to account for many variables at the same time, which makes the concepts easier to understand and write. It also allows us to *scale our experiments*, i.e., we can change several variables at once and leave the physics unchanged.
For example, the first Buckingham Pi group you're going to talk about is called the *Reynolds number*, which appears in anything having to do with fluid flow. This quantity is:
Re = rho * v * D / eta
where rho = fluid density ( kg/m^3 ), v = stream velocity ( m/s ), D = characteristic length ( m ), and eta = viscosity (kg/m*s). Notice that all the units cancel out.
Using the Reynold's number makes finding equations and correlations much easier. Instead of a whole mess of letters and superscripts, we can just say, "skin friction is proportional to the Reynold's number". If I want to study the flow of air over an airplane wing, say, I can also use the scalability of Buckingham Pi groups to design a valid experiment - for example, testing a small model of the wing in an air tunnel. So long as I choose an air velocity such that the Reynold's number is the same, my experiment can use the same equations as the real thing.
If you're asked to construct Buckingham Pi groups from a group of variables, you just have to use logic and arrange them such that the units cancel out. It's easiest to just use generic terms mass, length, time, and temperature: velocity = L * T^-1 , density = M * L^-3, energy = M * L^2 * T^-2 , etc. If a configuration isn't immediately apparent, set up a system of equations and solve so that M = L = T = 0.
You didn't ask about it, but I think it helps to remember all the different dimensionless numbers as ratios of two quantities. For instance, the Reynold's number is the ratio of "momentum forces" (rho * v * D) to "viscous forces" (eta). In other words, it's the ratio of how much the fluid particles want to "tumble along" versus how much they want to stick together. | 1705246f-bff9-4e5f-980f-98ff8ec31812 |
89zw3o | If you have a pile of mulch/woodchips/etc and leave it long enough it can start to smoke. How? | A large enough pile will be generating heat all through it, and the stuff in the middle has nowhere for the heat to go, so it builds up. Eventually, you'll hit the smoke point for something in the pile (the wood, the resins in the sap, small children, you know) and voila! Smoke! | 2684dcf2-9c3c-4eda-a86c-8f2a616c14c2 |
3ap8al | How scientists determine the composition of each planet/ Star? | Different elements have different light emissions, so by analyzing the light coming from a star or reflecting off a planet, you can tell what it is mostly composed of.
Edit: the light spectrum analysis looks like this: _URL_0_ | 374ed092-134d-41b6-9743-f79efffc3d81 |
2fy2we | What's going on in Scotland and the U.K. with regards to potential Scottish Independence? | On the 18th of September 2014, people living in Scotland, and who are registered to vote, will be given the opportunity to answer a very simple question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
50% +1 of those who have voted must have voted Yes for it to pass. On September 19th, the result will be announced.
If it is a Yes campaign win:
- Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland, will then have the democratic mandate to compose a team of negotiators, and enter into formal negotiations with the rest of the UK. This will be cross party, and include prominent politicians from all areas of the political spectrum.
- The SNP White Paper hopes that discussions will reach a point that independence is possible by 24th March 2016.
- Discussions with both the UK government and the European Union would continue beyond the date of Scottish Independence, as many, many issues will require attention, not least EU membership, NATO membership, treaties etc.
If it is a Better Together campaign win:
- The UK government's three main parties have agreed, in principle, that the Scottish Parliament should receive further devolution of powers, including tax raising powers.
- Which specific powers are devolved to the Scottish Parliament by the UK government is largely dependent on what UK party wins the 2015 General Election.
- The timeline of further devolution is unclear, as Better Together's three central parties disagree as to the best course to implement these further powers.
Hopefully this is a fairly non-biased summary, I am a Yes voter after all ;) | 38362504-98b8-41c4-9bd3-3abe7b7c0b6b |
2chfo4 | Why haven't foreign Armies gone to stop the ISIS? | I can't answer for either different countries or the United States government, since I'm not apart of either; but from the American people there is a huge sense of "war-weariness". The people are tired of fighting long, bloody, expensive, and often unnecessary wars on the other side of the globe. There is already a huge resentment of the Bush administration for lying to goad the United States into war; and a sense of disillusionment as Obama continues the war in Afghanistan (along with a large scale campaign of drone strikes across the Middle East).
We know what is happening is awful, but honestly, would another 7,000 American dead be worth fighting another "War on Terror"; which would just bring more bloodshed to the region after we left? | 32b85860-ce16-4a7c-99bb-39983ea7a709 |
8j8cmn | How can wood be "Fire-Hardened" without burning to ash? | Fire-hardening involves removing moisture from the wood, then burning off an outer layer. The fibers are burned away from this section but much of the lignin, which is a complex repeating molecule (or polymer) is left behind. These tightly interlock to form a smooth, waterproof surface that can be deep enough to protect the wood even when scratched.
This was used in early weapon production, and a method of Japanese wood preservation known as Shou Sugi Ban. Often other plant oils are added before or after burning to enhance the effect of the coating. | c1c4dfe2-6728-4448-9842-920189af5a34 |
2dhiyo | How do colors work in space? Are the photos we see the true colors of planets, nebulae, etc. or is everything actually gray scale to the human eye? | A little of both.
Things in space really do have colors - Mars is red, Saturn is yellow-y, etc. Mostly depending on their dominant chemical makeup. (Mars, for example, is literally rusted, thus the red color.)
However, many images from space telescopes and such are... well, not fake, but deliberately colored towards some effect. This can range from something relatively minor, like exaggerating the saturation so that finer details are easier to see, to something pretty major, like assigning visible colors to different non-visible exposures (radio, x-ray, infrared, ultraviolet). In all those cases, the caption usually explains how the image was processed, and the processing is done to aid scientific study of the image. But it still means, it wouldn't quite look that way "in person". | 920b40d0-f2ff-4af1-8dba-18fb89328655 |
4kbahu | How does the Wayback Machine work? Do deactivated accounts and deleted posts still get stored even if you don't archive them in the _URL_0_ website? | They have maaaaaaassive servers in the petabyte range. (It's a major source of funding stress for them I think – getting more and more storage) edit: [9 PB + 20 TB/mo](_URL_0_) i was wrong
They regularly crawl through the web (so your personal webserver won't be accessed unless you host a semi-popular forum or something) and store each of the results given. Given most pages are less than 1 MB and most are less than 300-500 kB, they can store many snapshots of a lot of pages almost indefinitely. They rarely delete anything i think, at least very rarely.
They only take the snapshots of un-logged websites (ie if they took a snapshot of reddit, they would only take a snapshot of what everyone sees before logging in) so any personal information stored is kind of your problem. | 60016ef4-0b34-4d78-8a62-53be328b1d44 |
21ry0e | How do builders/electricians lay overhead wires from distant buildings. | They don't. 500m is rather long to not use a pole.
They don't use common wire either, they use wire rated for aerial exposure, plus contains a steel wire to take the weight of the cable without having to stress the conductors.
Now, with that, they install an insulator to the structure, so as tension of the wire does not pull out. That steel wire is attached through the insulator and around itself, or a tension adapter is used to grip the wire and loop through the insulator. The non steel part of the cable is ran where it needs to be, to connect to the building services it is for.
It is just ran on the ground, and pulled up by rope usually. | 8ace7f14-fba0-4189-9867-b7b346d175c3 |
48txsf | Why is battery still required for the car's engine to keep running? | During the operation, the battery just serves as energy storage in case electrical demands exceed the output of the alternator at any given time, which is rare.
But in most cars, the alternator (which converts mechanical energy to electrical energy) is connected to the belt. If the belt snaps, no electricity is being generated, and all electrical demands will be sourced from the battery.
But in most situations, if the belt snaps, you have worse things to worry about depending on what else is connected to the belt. | bd01581a-1d7e-45cb-99ea-e5e552fb48df |
1ml1rc | If Spider-Man is a mutant, why isn't he considered part of the X-Men? Does Magneto consider him on the mutant side? | Spider-Man is not a mutant. He falls into the "Altered Human" category of Marvel Supers, along with other characters of similar age, like the Hulk, the members of the Fantastic Four, and the Silver Surfer. | f6c3476e-337b-43aa-b27e-a45befa4f5ed |
6ku4m9 | How knowing mathematics is important for learning how to code a computer | As a web developer, I wouldn't say I use much mathematics, what I do use is logic. Maybe math is heavily suggested because it forces you to think logically?
On a side note, I know certain programming like motion (for games) and such does deal with math. | 5f3ac5be-4ef5-4966-9d3e-691cdc7fec60 |
2d1ht0 | If the average human body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, why does 98 degree weather feel so hot & have the potential to cause a heat stroke? | because our bodies generate heat and need cooling. at 98 degrees it wouldn't be able to cool very well. | 92e77047-f8a6-44f3-8073-579987900eef |
u3emp | Why is burnt food a carcinogen? | First, you have to understand what cancer is. Cancer is when some of the cells (tiny pieces) in your body start growing and making new cells much faster than they're supposed to. The part of the cell that tells it how to grow is called the DNA, and it looks like a long, curled up chain. The shape of the chain is like writing that tells the cell how to grow.
Burning food and digesting burnt food creates a bunch of different chemicals. Some of the chemicals are called epoxides. These chemicals stick to DNA and change its shape. Most of the time that just makes the cell die (which isn't a problem because we have a lot of cells). But if they change the shape in the right (wrong!) place, it could mess up the way the cell grows and cause cancer. | ff6099ef-d187-4eb3-b536-965ee3c34bfb |
3ub4hr | Why does my cat want to cuddle then suddenly attack me viciously? | He doesn't want to cuddle, he wants warmth, just let him do his thing, then, pat his head, don't over stimulate him.
You'll want to know your cat well, after the Facebook thing... | 6a64506b-d1b1-402e-8202-ffc2aed7c8cc |
jmw4b | Explain like I am five the real life historical undertones of LOTR. Please. | Tolkein himself was adamant that his work was about individual people standing up for what is right, not a veiled reference to any particular war. The most important chapter, according to the author and many readers, is the next to last- "The Scouring of the Shire", which was left out of the movie.
As to Potter, he's just an entitled twat, born with abilities instead of having to work for them. The whole story is a fantasy about how his family didn't realize how special he was, but then some super special people found him and eventually recognized him as the most super duper special of them all. | 6fe965fd-27e3-4a7b-97ee-8ae3d25db911 |
6fq7hy | how does bone marrow actually manufacture blood? | Pharmacist -
Bone marrow contain a special type of stem cell. These divide and multiply. Under the influence of various hormones, some of them mature into the various cellular components of blood. While there are many types of such cells they are generally referred to as white or red blood cells.
One of the treatments they use for kidney dialysis patients is the hormone that tells the body to make "red blood cells". One of the treatments they use for chemotherapy patients it the hormone that says make "white blood cells"
Other parts of the blood are made and regulated elsewhere. Your digestive and kidney systems handle the salt and water balance. Your Liver makes all the proteins you need to make blood clot and keep the water from leaking out of your veins. | 50ff4a36-c981-4f2c-9934-87014c3cbb17 |
78wpsy | How did English surpass French as the "lingua franca" of the world? | The UK's international influence from trade and colonization had eclipsed that of France by the mid 19th Century. At about the same time, US influence was on the rise, especially in the New World and the Asian Pacific.
Then in the early 20th Century, multimedia took off with the US in the center of it. Music and movies, and eventually radio and television started to export American English speaking culture throughout the world in an era where France has been devastated by two world wars. | 44fef839-4409-4523-8747-aac4c215a4b8 |
2rnmas | how the Hawking Radiation was proved to be true and why it is so widely accepted, and how it actually works. | If something is inside the event horizon of a black hole then it can never escape.
If something is just outside the event horizon then it can either move towards the blackhole and cross the event horizon, or it can be moving fast enough and escape.
Quantum mechanics allows for the spontaneous creation of pairs of particles (a particle and its anti-particle).
Normally this pair of particles soon interacts with the universe - the antiparticle annihilates a particle - and balance is restored.
If the pair is produced near a blackhole and they are moving in directions such that the particle is moving away from the blackhole and the antiparticle is moving towards the blackhole, then the anti-particle can cross the event horizon and annihilate a particle inside blackhole.
In this way the blackhole gets fractionally smaller and there is a new particle in the universe - the net effect is that the blackhole emitted a particle.
The effect is too small to have been observed. | e49b94e9-a6d1-4dbb-950e-b407c7a18fc0 |
6kpmcc | In America, how do multimillionaires and billionaires store their money if they are only insured up to $250,000 according to the FDIC? | Investments. And their cash assets are just spread over several banks...or just over the insured limit.
Most people with net worth over $5 million have most of their wealth in growth or income-generating investments like stocks, companies or real estate. | 915400af-20f6-4cc8-9fd5-b52d008eadda |
1xkimc | How do passports work? | There is a big database. Most countries share information about their citizens who hold passports with each other via that database, and some countries enhance the database for their border control agents with additional information. For example when you are entering the United States, your passport is verified with your home country, checked against various international criminal databases, and checked against various internal databases maintained by the US government (which may not be shared with other countries, or may only be shared in part).
This database thing is relatively new. Today virtually every nation has signed up to a set of standards for passports that enable this database to be nearly universal, and many countries won't accept a non-conforming passport so the nations that are hold outs are under a lot of pressure to conform to the international norm.
Passports as a system have a very long lineage. Over time the passport system has become more relaxed and easy for common people to use but it began as a tool for high level diplomats or merchants with specific needs to engage in international travel.
In the past, getting a passport was not trivial. You had to request one from your government and provide a reason that you needed it, where you intended to go, how long you would be gone, etc. The issuance of a passport represented your government's agreement that your travel plans were acceptable (to your government). Not all requests for a passport were accommodated - you might have to bribe or play politics to get one.
Countries by treaty would honor passports with or without additional endorsements and visas. For a very long time, in order to enter a country not your own you had to arrange in advance for a visa to be issued, which usually required you to submit your passport to the embassy of the country you wished to visit, who would keep it until your visa was either issued or denied. This could take some time because the embassy staff might transmit your application back to the home country for review and approval, and before the age of telegraphy, that meant waiting for the physical mail to make the trip there and back again. Of course some nations still require such visas today - if the country that issues your passport doesn't have a treaty in place with the nation you want to visit that waives the requirement, you'll need to get a visa in advance.
When you entered a foreign country you presented your passport. The border control would verify that the passport appeared valid, and had the necessary stamps, endorsements and visas attached to permit entry. Your name might be checked against lists maintained at the border to block unwanted individuals from entry.
By treaty nations within the passport system extended certain courtesies to valid passport holders. If such people were detained by the police their embassies should be notified. If hostilities commenced between the countries, they would be permitted to evacuate unless their detention was a military necessary.
Like much of international law these systems gained value over time as more and more states agreed to participate in the system. A nation didn't have to honor other passports or issue its own passports, but doing so made it easier for its citizens to travel to other countries, and for foreigners to visit its territory.
The use of a forged passport was a significant crime. Forging a passport was a little bit like forging currency - you were "stealing" the power of the state, and states don't like that. Likewise getting multiple passports was also problematic since it broke the connection that one person == one state and therefore problems would be more easily resolved. If one person == multiple states, adjudicating problems could become vastly more complex. | 8986e62b-bc99-402e-a1b5-c5a1dcd4be7e |
7f0dzx | how do shopping cart anti-theft wheel locks work? | There is a braking device inside the wheels which contains a radio receiver. Around the boundary of the store grounds is a transmitter loop, much like an invisible dog fence, putting out a signal.
When the cart crosses the invisible fence, it receives the signal from the transmitter and triggers the brakes inside the wheel, locking it up. | 100a155a-2309-4388-b027-f79a9ff9f8f4 |
6p5zwb | How do doctors, nurses, etc. tend to sick people constantly without getting sick all the time themselves? | Hello! This is a great question, and something healthcare staff should always keep in mind when working around patients. Depending on what the patient's diagnosis is, different precautions are taken. Staff wear disposable **personal protective equipment (PPE)** based on protocol.
& nbsp;
A **standard or universal precaution** is applied to every patient, even if they do not have an infectious diagnosis. This involves basics like hand washing/sanitizing before and after contact, as well as gloves. You never know what someone has, so it is best to play it safe when coming in contact with potential disease vectors like blood and vomit.
Patients with a **contact**-spread disease, e.g. norovirus, are designated as such and given adequate isolation to prevent transmitting the disease to another patient. This can be a private room or sharing a room with a patient diagnosed with the same infection. Staff wear disposable gowns as well as the aforementioned gloves. All equipment brought into the room is cleaned, or the room will preferably have its own set of equipment.
Diseases spread through droplets up to 3 feet, whether by coughing or sneezing, such as influenza, require **droplet precautions**. A surgical mask prevents inhalation of these droplets, and often staff will also wear contact PPE if getting close to the patient
Varicella (chicken pox) and measles, etc. are spread similarly, but form small particles that can travel further and penetrate surgical masks. In preparation for **airborne precautions**, staff are fit-tested with N95 respirators early on.
Sometimes, things go wrong, even with the most skilled professionals. Hospitals have policies and procedures to dictate how to handle things like accidental needle-sticks to prevent transmission of disease.
& nbsp;
I hope this helps! | 05e2a4bd-8413-4073-8049-31237db8e4d9 |
67570g | Why would anyone willingly take Fentanyl if it’s going to kill them outright, and why would a drug pusher would willingly kill his clients with it? | The first reason is that people often think "It will never happen to me." They take hard drugs believing they will be immune to the negative effects. They think they are stronger, smarter, less susceptible, whatever. Consider [the redditor who tried heroin](_URL_0_) "just to see what it's like" and ended up ODing so badly it temporarily stopped their heart. He didn't think "heroin will kill **me**", he thought "heroin kills *other people* but I'll be fine." So some people think they can get away with dangerous drugs because they think it won't hurt them. Maybe they've been doing MDMA recreationally and it never got them hooked or hurt them, so they think "MDMA was fun, I've heard fentanyl is way stronger, I'm sure it'll be fun [and I'll be fine]."
The alternative is people who are so hooked they just don't care anymore. They've been doing heroin or morphine for years and have become used to it, it doesn't give them the high they crave so they turn to something like fentanyl. They *know* it will kill them, but it doesn't matter. They need the fix. You could pull a gun on them and say "I will literally shoot you if you touch that heroin needle" and they'll still reach for it and hope that they can at least die in the euphoria of the high. At that point, your rational thinking is completely subservient to the need for the drug. You're chemically dependent on it, you're psychologically dependent on it, and when you hear about the promise of a drug that's way better, the possibility of dying is there, but it's shoved into the back because the alternative (not getting high) is no longer acceptable. | 115c0139-4a8f-447d-a756-60e8800c8f0a |
2ywlfd | why doesn't rain always have the rain smell | You're smelling chemicals and oils produced in dry soils being released into the air. These chemicals and oils are produced by certain bacteria and plants. So if you don't have dry soil or those certain plants/bacteria in abundance, you won't get the smell or it might not be strong enough to notice. | 3c01ad67-8f0b-491a-8c2c-accb053fb9cc |
25sxlm | What are the results of the Indian Elections, and what does it mean? | The Bharitya Janta Party (BJP; rough meaning Indian People's Party) recorded a solid landslide, gaining a clear majority in their own right in the Lok Sabha (People's house, analogous to the House of Reps), and with their coalition partners control a solid majority of the 543 member lower house. The Congress party that previously held government has been reduced to a fairly tiny 50 or so seats, and their leadership is in somewhat disarray. Most of the remaining seats are taken up by minor regional and small issue parties.
The BJP is the conservative party, right of Congress. In American terms, it is a thumping win for Republicans. Note however the Indian political realities puts the BJP somewhere around the Democrats, while the previous government could have been described as borderline socialist.
India hasn't seen a party with a clear majority for 30 years, so while the BJP are so far indicating they'll retain their coalition partners (mainly because they'll need them in the upper house, which isn't yet clear), they could push through their agenda without the compromises and delays that have dragged down politics in recent history.
PM designate Modi specifically: as a former chief minister (governor) for Gujarat state, Modi achieved significant economic growth, attracting business from overseas and other parts of the country to an area that hadn't had such development for years. As a result, he has been seen to bring a pragmatic and business focused reform agenda. India's middle class has been complaining of rising inflation with (relatively) low growth, so the hope is that he'll control the former while encouraging the latter. Modi is the _first_ prime minister of India born after Independence, though at 63 he is no spring chicken.
Modi has his critics. He is seen as being passive in the face of sectarian violence against Muslims in his state 12 years ago, and he hasn't quite shaken it. The BJP's association with the religious movements (like any Conservative party) is troubling to minorities, particularly Muslims, but with 150 million Muslims in India and two neighbouring Muslim countries in Pakistan and Bangladesh, the BJP would be suicidal to actually do anything that would be anti-Muslim. Other minorities are considered small enough or inconsequential enough as to not be worth ruffling (no perceived threat from Sikhs, Jains or Buddhists.)
Any more and you really start delving into history. | ecf5e07d-7541-4051-80fc-2f2f8d4f419b |
18fow1 | Why are so many people on /r/politics and /r/worldnews rooting for Chris Dorner? | Because Reddit generally hates cops and the united states. It is the cool thing to do. | 8c6152e9-63dd-4c5b-a143-38dec2871a0a |
2kk15i | What exactly is meant when a company posts a quarterly loss or gain? | It means that Amazon actually did not make a profit this quarter. To ELI5, publicly-traded companies add up their income and expenses, and the bottom line is a profit or loss statement for the month, quarter, or year. | 87a45605-b3cc-4c85-b915-7a6e2b175691 |
1sp3cs | What is the difference between a "good" quality watch and a "poor" quality watch? | It's all style. High-end watches are [Veblen goods](_URL_0_): They're in demand *because* they're so expensive.
A fancy mechanical Rolex will keep much less accurate time than any $10 Timex with a quartz crystal. | a0f841e8-ef9b-4046-9d2d-f44b935eee0e |
49nyau | What's the logic behind the majority of dishes being round? | This is likely due to durability and history of being made on a potters wheel.
To the first point, corners and points are the easiest pieces of a piece to snap off. Being round eleminates corners and makes all edges equally strong.
To the second point, a very common method of production of ceramic dishes is on a potters wheel. As it spins uniform pressure is applied to create a shape. This would most easily form uniform round shapes. | 4acf8031-ae39-4ab1-bac0-94e615966486 |
5b04og | What can one do to help the environment? | Don't have children. Reducing the number of humans is a sure fire way to reduce humans impact on the planet. | 6aae8e87-a488-4367-bec6-94f7328bfdda |
4nvp43 | What molecular attribute governs bouncy-ness | Elasticity and electromagnetism. Basically, when the ball hits the floor, it deforms elastically. Atoms and molecules are pushed together, against their own repulsive forces. This stores energy. Once there is no more energy to store (the ball has stopped), the molecules use that stored energy to return the ball to its original form, which pushes it up. | 0bdc8011-1ed6-44ce-a6b1-d8a6ca5913c9 |
jyt8l | United States "territories and possessions" | A territory is a part of the United States that is not a state or the District of Columbia. People living there are US citizens, but typically do not have all the rights of people living in states, nor do they have all the obligations. Basically, they can't vote for president, they can't elect representatives, and they don't have to pay many federal taxes.
The remaining US territories are islands in the Carribean and Pacific. Most are too small to have state level governments...some are completely uninhabited. Puetro Rico is the only territory large enough to consider statehood, but its citizens have decided against it in multiple referenda.
There are a lot of ways these islands became territories. Puerto Rico and Guam were ceded by the Spanish after the Spanish-American War. The US Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark. The North Marianas Islands asked to be a territory rather than seeking independence. | 8f5f3362-4cad-4f41-ac9a-43f9c0ae0de4 |
7q5nos | Why does 60° water feel way colder than 60° air? | So you're standing in your birthday suit in a 60 degree room. You're a little chilly, but there's a tiny pocket of air immediately around you that has been warmed up by your body, so you're comfortable. Unless a fan is turned on, which disturbs your warm air pocket.
That pocket is gone when you're in 60 degree water, and it's harder for your body to create a warm pocket. | 15aa70ec-cbd5-4433-bccc-597f445e5ae8 |
163po1 | How did Michael Jackson change skin color? | He had vitiligo, as confirmed from his autopsy, dozens of sources, pictures of his hands and legs, and by himself. He used make-up to even it out and some people claim he bleached his skin to speed up the process. In the end, his skin looked very pale and was very sensitive to the sun, that's why he wore clothes that covered most of his body and held an umbrella in the summer. | 99f8c8ec-5891-402b-a586-de72679090a3 |
75atlb | Why not construct concrete homes in the tornado alley instead of rebuilding every time? | Cost, odds, and aesthetics. The odds of being hit by a tornado are very small - they aren't that wide and only touch down for a few miles, usually. So odds are a house isn't going to get a direct hit by a tornado.
Then it is a question of cost and aesthetics. Since home builders and buyers know their house is very likely not going to be hit, they'll go with the house that is much cheaper - it means they can afford a bigger and nicer house (or just save on money). Also, while there are plenty of good looking, modern, high end concrete homes, if you don't have skilled concrete tradesmen, a concrete home can look ugly, or you'll just need more materials as a facade. | a0525b55-bfe4-4c3b-a9b0-ff369dcb2fa4 |
64o2eu | What exactly is pain tolerance? | It's exactly as you explained it. You have nerve signals that tell your brain when something isn't right (something is really hot or cold, or you've just had a sharp piece of glass cut through your skin) and if they are constantly sending signals to your brain saying things are painful, your brain starts ignoring the signal so things that are equally as painful are felt as weaker by your body. | 09cc830f-6465-423e-a766-21cfd36dafbf |
6y3ud3 | In regards to alcohol, what does proof and percent by volume really mean? Is one more important than the other? | The term "Proof" is a holdover from less scientific days, where unscrupulous people might try to sell you watered down booze. You'd mix a bit of the liquid with some gun powder and drop a match. If it burned, that was "proof" that the beverage was not watered down.
In modern times "proof" is quantified properly, and 2 "proof" points equals 1% ABV (so 100 proof whiskey would be 50% ABV). So ultimately we're talking about 2 terms with slightly different scales measuring the exact same thing. | 0fece528-66f6-4a44-8469-2b7cbc4387e4 |
36bpec | the appeals process in the American court system. | There are a *ton* of court cases, and everyone has to wait their turn in line, this just takes up a lot of time waiting for a court to hear your case. In addition, lawyers and prosecutors need time to build their cases, gather evidence and do a variety of administrative procedures to ensure everything is going right.
So add this all up, and well, its just really really time-consuming. There are also a variety of tactics for both sides based on extending the amount of time before trial, but these are quite complicated and more case-specific issues. | 3ec040ae-ac35-45c6-8713-bf0c94e0e6c4 |
379e5q | why do airport security take sharp objects off you (safety razors, safety pins, nail scissors) and then allow you to buy them at the pharmacy in departures? | The TSA exists mostly as a show of force to dissuade people from trying things in airport security zones. If a clever person really wanted to get something nefarious in, they probably could, but most people simply aren't that dedicated. By making everyone subtly hate the TSA, the mythos that they are unbeatable permeates the society and fewer people try anything.
This isn't to say they are ineffective, of course, it's just that their effectiveness has little to do with their actual security precautions, and more to do with the sociological consequences of them. | 6d25a429-e7cb-46bc-81e2-5bd9ba58cfba |
1bs2iw | The difference between rar files and zip files | One reminds you every time you use it that it hasn't been purchased; the other doesn't. | 998ea802-3282-49dc-b612-796815013546 |
6ti55u | Why do we use the color red for stop, yellow for caution/slow, and green for go? | I know the answer to this, I just cant explain it that well because its been a while since I have heard the reason.
Basically the red light that travels from the light can travel the farthest due to its longer wavelength. This means it is easier to see from farther away, even if its shady/cloudy/foggy, etc. Green is the complimentary color to red so it makes the most sense.
Also, another reason would be because red indicates danger, and demands attention, like blood. Where green is a cooler color. Both of these combined make lights what they are today
^^^Please ^^^don't ^^^hurt ^^^me ^^^this ^^^is ^^^my ^^^first ^^^ELI5 ^^^explanation | 8de7b964-1f62-4f49-ae19-9972b68aa69c |
43iitd | How do you "count" cards and why is it considered bad by casinos? | As u/LordDivo said.
It's best to work in a team so you can kind of see what tables have the best odds for the players.
If you're going solo, the basic strategy is you sit down and start with 0 in your head.
You then have to watch every card. Lower cards are +1 (2,3,4,5,6). Higher cards are -1 (A,K,Q,J,10). I believe the middle 3 cards (7,8,9) are 0.
The higher the score that you are counting, the better your odds are. This is when you place your larger bets.
What makes this difficult isn't the math, as its just plus or minus 1, but counting every single card. Doing this while trying to not be obvious as it is against casino policy.
Side note: you know those little charts that you can find online for blackjack? The ones that say when you should hit, fold, double down, etc... casinos generally don't care if you bring these to the table. | 956cc852-0852-476c-90ef-670e73a5ec80 |
5qn7cc | Why do car batteries have a positive and negative side which need jumper cables to charge, rather than a simple plug system like most other batteries? | Batteries all have a positive and a negative side. I am not quite sure what plug you are talking about that most other batteries use. The terminals are often standard but the location of the terminals is determined by the layout of the battery and can not be standardized across different types of batteries. Military vehicles, buses and trucks often do have a standard plug for charging the battery and jump starting the vehicle. However this have not catched on with normal cars yet. | a7a0cb60-5eb1-4f5b-8541-71b555d3dcfb |
5qa6i9 | What is gas lighting? | Maybe you're looking for a practical example? A good way to begin is by moving everyday objects into new places and pretending they have always been there. Move a lamp from one corner of a room to another. When they notice or comment say, "What? No, that lamp has always been there." Act casual. | 7706bd3e-dfc9-4243-86b6-abe219386f64 |
2ck71y | Does time pass at the same rate for 2 stationary objects 500 million light years apart? | It depends on where in the universe you are. Time dilation occurs when spacetime is warped, and while relative motion is one way to cause this, perhaps the more common way is simply having mass. Everything that has mass distorts spacetime and causes time dilation, and the more mass the larger the distortion.
Assuming you and the alien were at locations with exactly the same gravity wells, then yes, time would pass for both of you at the same rate. | ae5772ea-0492-4ab3-8501-236c0a1392b2 |
22sg53 | Why do militaries paint missiles? Aren't they just going to explode and get destroyed anyway? | Missiles spend most of their operational lifetime not exploding.
The paint is for those times. | fcb03b0f-6cfb-4c46-98cd-90f84bf0773a |
2sf9df | What is the case for keeping the electoral college versus just using the popular vote? | The Electoral College is a check on the electorate. The people could vote for a charismatic populist despot (like Hitler) and the supposedly well-informed and impartial Electors could cast faithless votes to either elect someone else, or send the Presidential Election to Congress.
This reflects the fear of pure democracy that was common in the 18th and 19th centuries. However today there is greater distrust in political elites and experts (who are subject to corruption) than in the electorate (who are fickle and generally poorly informed).
Regardless, the Electoral College is a constitutional institution. The US Congress and 38 states must agree on a constitutional amendment to replace it OR states equaling 270 electoral votes must sign and approve the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, effectively creating a popular vote regime that would dictate the votes of the Electoral College. Currently states totaling 161 electoral votes have signed the Compact. | 45333e8f-7e39-4930-b120-3f7eff73ee68 |
3wq9bm | If the FDA allows rounding in food labels, which allows food labels to say something has 0g of trans fat when it actually has > 0g, why don't we measure trans fat in milligrams like with sodium? | Per a Prevention article from 3/NOV/2011, there isn't (wasn't) an ability to detect trans fast below 0.5g.
Direct quote from the article:
"Barbara Schneeman, director of the Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling and Dietary Supplements for the FDA said the reason the FDA is allowing foods under 0.5 grams of trans fats to be rounded down to zero is that current detection methods for trans fats aren't very reliable below 0.5 grams."
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That said: I was just in Europe for the first time in 10 years and noticed something else interesting... I'm a diet soda drinker... and her Diet Coke and Coke Zero both say zero calories. In Spain and Italy, I first noticed that "Diet Coke" (and Diet Pepsi) are "Coke Light" and "Pepsi Light".... Secondly, Coke Zero has 0.3 kcal per 100ml (1 cal per US 12oz can), and Coke Light has 0.2 kcal per 100ml (0.67 cal per US 12oz can). Another example of rounding that benefits the manufacturer's marketing needs (most likely also why Pepsi's response to Coke Zero was first call Pepsi One... an more accurate representation of the calorie content). | a617a659-2e0f-455e-8177-01c5486ea1c6 |
3yrb5a | Why is it when a body part falls asleep, we perceive it as a static-y feeling? | The very short version is that you've restrictied the blood flow to a particular extremity.
Nerves being the nessicary sensitive bitches they are rely on lots of blood to function properly. If that's cut down, you get the "jerking off hand of death" for 5 - 20 minutes as the blood flow restores normal function.
In the mean time, your nerves are sending a "I'M DYING!!1!" to your brain.
I find this is a really good time to try "the stranger". | c1bebedf-0238-451f-819b-d56d54f10703 |
u61jw | How a Turing Machine works and how it is important to computers | A Turing machine is a very simple computer. It's just a long strip of "paper", combined with a machine that can write on the strip, read from the strip, and move the strip around.
It's important to computers because it's believed that Turing machines are *equivalent* to computers. So if you prove that something is impossible to do on a Turing machine, it's impossible to do on a computer. If you prove that something is impossible to do *quickly* on a Turing machine, it's impossible to do quickly on a computer. That's very helpful when you're trying to study the theory of computers, because as I said the Turing machine is a *lot* simpler than any real computer. | d983633d-6f91-4165-b22d-7d334dbf1418 |
4u7cyr | What happened to Mongolia? | Genghis Khan's empire was huge but unstable. It broke apart almost immediately after his death. As time passed on the last remnants of the empire simply faded away. Most simply assimilated into local culture (like the mughals of India) and others were just conquered by more powerful and stable empires like in China. | 3fa5bcff-edfb-4453-b290-fd8d710649e3 |
30pej7 | Why does the word closet have two different meanings ? | what are the two meanings you think it has? | a42ff91a-6a6d-494d-89a4-b0892e9f3057 |
6x32i5 | What happens to your body when it has a seizure? | A seizure occurs when there is out-of-control electrical activity in your brain. A seizure can take many forms, ranging anywhere from an involuntary muscle twitch, to "blanking out," to losing consciousness and convulsing on ground uncontrollably (which most people think of when they hear the word "seizure"). Seizures can take many forms because they have many causes. They can be focal (i.e. propagating from one area of the brain, such as with a brain tumor or a brain bleed), or can be global (seizure activity everywhere in the brain at once, such as with metabolic disturbances).
If you suspect somebody has a seizure, the first diagnostic test to get is an EEG (electroencephalogram), which is essentially an EKG for the brain. It graphs the electrical activity of the brain. A trained neurologist can interpret normal brain wave activity and differentiate it from possible seizure activity. If you are certain that there is seizure activity, you get an MRI to look for any structural abnormalities that can cause seizures (trauma, tumors, AV malformations, etc).
Seizures are treated in many different ways. Ideally, you treat the underlying cause (get rid of the tumor, correct the metabolic abnormality, etc), but sometimes this isn't possible. You can also treat them with medications called anti-epileptic drugs. There are many AED's, with different mechanisms of action and different side effects (agitation, suicidal ideations, dizziness, risk of taking when pregnant). Choosing the right AED can be tricky, because you have to know what type of seizure you're treating, and weigh the risk of side effects with the benefit of hopefully stopping the seizures.
Almost everyone will have a seizure at some point in their life, and most of us don't remember having one. Needless to say, not everybody is on an AED. We reserve treatment for people who have had multiple seizures (epilepsy), or are at risk of having multiple seizures.
Identifying triggers and avoiding them is a must (avoiding sleep deprivation, bright/flashing lights, etc). Ketogenic diets have also been found to be beneficial in reducing seizure activity in some patients. Also, patients with epilepsy must know how to avoid certain activities in case they have a seizure while doing them (driving, climbing ladders, cooking with gas, stepping into bath tubs).
If you see somebody that you suspect is actively seizing, the best thing to do is give them room, keep others back, and call 911. Do NOT try and hold them down, and do NOT stick anything in their mouth. It is a common misconception that people with seizures will swallow their tongue. This is physically impossible.
Epilepsy is a very common neurologic disorder. Fortunately, we live in a time where we have so many different ways to treat seizures. New medicines are being invented all the time. Vimpat, for example, was just approved by the FDA 8 years ago, and is now used in hospitals all around the United States. We still have a long ways to go, but we're making great progress in treating epilepsy. | 7d11f304-15d9-4097-a147-dc5939dbeca1 |
41gjt8 | How do indoor shooting range backstops work? | I was going to write out a long post on this, but it turns out someone has done it before me and even has pretty pictures.
[Here is a good rundown of indoor range backstop options in a PDF.](_URL_0_)
The two basic approaches are angled barriers that deflect bullets into a catchment area, or soft materials like sand or rubber that decelerate bullets safely. Often these approaches are combined, and each has its own pros and cons. | 95306545-c420-478e-9763-5c1614704607 |
52eag2 | how massive public companies go private. For example, Dell going private a few years ago and Michael Dell apparently banking off the transition. Follow-up: the Dell and EMC merger. | so, in the specific instance of the Dell privatization, Michael Dell took out a giant loan from several financial institutions and made a deal with the major stockholders to purchase the stocks. He also used that money to buy a significant number of public stocks and use his newfound majority to 'purchase' the remainder of the stock.
His bet was that he could re-work the company as a private investor to make it worth more money than the value of his loans. | ed21f066-c758-4cfc-af58-d017a0e2d83f |
yoeas | How do gas masks work? | There are 2 types. One type is a air purifying, the other is air supplying.
An air purifying would use filters of different types to "clean" the air you breath. For instance, a P100 air filter would clean out dust and debris, as well as some organic material.
Air supplying is obviously, as it sounds, providing you with fresh air from a hose, usually attached to a bottle, with compressed air. | 94900f90-68da-4aa1-ab3c-bd62d3d7ee1f |
6rtamh | How are those metal soaps able to take off the smell of food from our hands? Like that of fish and other quite pungent food? | It doesn't work. Here is a site that talks about it: _URL_0_ or you can do some more research online. There isn't much else to say. | 531d9757-3243-4985-9e58-e30383f5d341 |
7skgum | The movement of long string-like things through the air/water | It’s a ripple in the air-filled material propagating through the arms, a traveling wave of vibration. These waves originate from the movement of the larger body, which all the arms (which are all about the same) are connected to. So they all move in about the same way.
The light weight in air and the bulkiness—and sheer size—of the kite is what makes this movement look so trippy. Beautiful kite. | 10230e33-36cf-47b1-88dc-2a81c49cd25f |
3pt2md | I´ve been reading that Iceland didn´t bail out their banks but bailed out the people. What does that mean, and how did they do it? | They basically said "we will bail out domestic depositors, but not international investors". Most of these international investors had already been bailed out through their own banks who expected Iceland to make good on its promises. When Iceland reneged on the deal, there was a lot of pressure on Iceland to make good on it, both in courts and through international diplomacy. It's still not fully resolved.
The line that "they bailed out the people, not the banks" looks good on a Facebook meme. But the reality is they bailed out their own people by screwing over British and Dutch banks and investors, because Iceland's banking fund for such things was not properly capitalized. | 67c74cfa-63e9-47cb-8d07-24cc84210638 |
29op4v | Who uses Webmail and who uses things like POP and IMAP? | Web mail is great of you always have an internet connection and hence can access your mail providers servers. You get to take advantage of things like mail folders and smart anti-spam filters as part of this.
If you find yourself without internet access (for example, someone with a laptop and travelling) but needing to get into your (historical) mails, you will need to have a mail client installed, and it would have had to pull down a local copy of the mails in question (via pop3/IMAP). This then allows you to work on these mails and pen responses, ready to send when you have internet access.
I won't go into the advantages of pop3 vs IMAP, but can if needed :) | 5b6bb091-67e0-4862-a894-d657f315cfe2 |
5ksyef | Why do we forget most of our dreams after waking up? | Recalling dreams has a lot to do with mindfulness of one's conscience, your inner dialogue, imagination, etc. So I think we often forget our dreams because we just aren't trained to recall them. But then you might remember a dream that was intense or had an emotional response. I feel like the same thing is true for your conscience while you're awake. I mean just think for a minute - how much of your inner dialogue do you remember from today, specifically? Or how much of your imagination wanderings do you remember from today while you were awake? If you're like me, not that many. Recalling your dreams is similar in my mind.
You have to train your brain in mindfulness of your conscience while awake and eventually you'll start doing so while you're dreaming too. Keeping a dream journal or mindfulness meditation can aide in this - and you can eventually get to the point where you can lucid dream which is a real treat! | ba512970-1c41-4b82-95ac-fe6d6985d9f4 |
4f30p6 | Why does eating uncooked dough make your stomach sick? | Most doughs have eggs in the ingredients. You can get sick from uncooked eggs / bacteria. regardless of eggs, bacteria tends to only go dormant when it's cold. Bacteria can pop right back to life at room temperature and even in your gut. It takes about 160 F to kill bacteria. Cook your food throughly first. Except good steaks. | b88ce82b-373d-4a6b-ab36-434301c2bc85 |
2wi539 | What's the difference between Spotify Radio and Pandora? | The difference is mostly in their aim. Say you like the music of pink floyd, and go to pandora. Pandora will create a playlist of progressive rock, psychedelic stuff, and some pink floyd, with aims of showing you the varied musical world revolving around pink floyd, opening the proverbial pandora's box.
Now say you went on spotify and told it you liked pink floyd, you would get a nice Pink floyd playlist.
Different sites, with different aims, that is all. | 785aaf98-a59f-4151-974c-4dd20bd299a4 |
4c2zl7 | Why is it that you can *feel* like you're forgetting something? | Simply put: Because you're remembering that you had to remember something, but you're not remembering *what*.
Hence, you feel like you're forgetting... something. | af954c7f-d074-4024-aabe-e397ca894a2f |
2oqy1p | E: How come intangible assets (e.g. patents) do not depreciate even though they have an estimated useful life (i.e. they expire)? | Accounting student here, about to graduate. They do depreciate but they give it a different name. Its called amortization. | 9c732c9a-07c8-4606-b780-da510eacdc3e |
5fxev2 | depression among young people who are half asian and half white | /r/hapas generally believes a significant portion, if not the majority, of Asian women who bear children with White men do not have a positive view of the Asian race. Sort of the opposite of Black pride. The sub calls these people "White Worshippers." These women wish to erase or minimize their own Asian identity so they throw themselves to White men. Obviously, self-loathing parents make bad parents. Meanwhile, White men who have trouble courting women will pick the low-hanging fruit that are these "White Worshippers." Obviously, men who have difficulty in attracting women are probably flawed in some way or another. Both of these factors increase the chances of an unhealthy family.
This is an overgeneralization by /r/hapas. Obviously, there are many Asian women who are proud of their race and White men who have no trouble with women.
There was a study that concluded Asian men who bear children with White women significantly outearn (4x? I forgot) White men who bear children with Asian women, so their families are generally more stable. This mitigates the depression in their children.
However, a bigger source of depression is arguably not the family, but society in general. Despite the ideals of equality, ethnicity is still a very important part of identity in America. A mixed-ethnicity child will face more ostracization, even in the most tolerant communities, because he or she will have trouble fitting in with pure-ethnicity peers. This is common to all ethnicities, Black-White, Latino-White, etc.
source: lurked on /r/hapas for many months | a28c850a-7248-4077-9c01-b29608fe511a |
1w7dlm | Economically, what would happen to the world if all of the Walmarts were to shut down? | Their business would move to other companies. In time, another company (probably Target) would move into the space left by Walmart, and would become the new Walmart.
So, in essence, nothing substantive would happen, other than a name change. | 4b1a865c-d7c0-4c4e-b3a4-5a77873896ee |
1g7pk6 | How is it possible for female ducks to have evolved with protective vaginas? | The female duck isn't abstinent; it wants to *select* the best drake (male duck) to mate with. Ducks only mate once a year, and often form monogamous pairs, so it may be "beneficial" for drakes to rape female ducks to increase the chance that the brood that is hatched that year contains the drake's DNA. However, this means that the female duck loses its selectivity. Since it is getting raped, it can't really chose the best drake to mate with. So it began to evolve a defensive mechanism to prevent the rapes, while still allowing mating with the chosen drake. | 23b5299f-9cf5-4e7b-b140-ddfb209ac175 |
4pdk2x | how does the sit in that is going on in the House of Representatives work? | The House is in recess right now (could be wrong though) so the representatives there are basically sitting in protest and to draw attention to their cause. The House can go ahead and try to put a bill to vote or they could convene in another location if the Speak of the House decides to. That is in the procedural rules I believe | 1c8d42ba-176d-42c5-889e-9e66632b2624 |
25d6o3 | Why modern cars have more of a whine/hum and older cars have roar/rumble. | Older cars tend to have a larger and slower engine, while newer ones usually have small, fast running engines. Also, there wasn't really any insulation around the engine or in the actual muffler to stop sound. If you were to chop the muffler off basically any new car with a decent sized engine, you'd see it sounds almost exactly like an older one | d6bfb42e-31e3-4965-bb73-6e69aae53049 |
6lxwk0 | Why next-generation consoles require massive (sometimes almost 100GB) downloads for games, both disc and virtual, while old consoles could survive with just 4GB of internal storage and could hold dozens of games | Its mostly for high definition or UltraHD textures for all the surfaces, and cutscenes if they are video clips.
Sound and music also use up a significant amount of space, but that reached peak quality many years ago.
And with the storage and bandwidth becoming less limited, the developers dont bother with compressing the files much, if at all. They dont see the need for optimization, though their customers would probably welcome it for most kinds of software. | 5bc2deb2-e10e-4828-a51b-f40c9ec6049e |
75z8po | What keeps fungal infections like athlete’s foot, angular cheilitis or scalp seborrhea from spreading to other parts of the body? | These are local infections of fungi. The fungi are able to grow and reproduce in a specific microclimate. Outside of that area this ability does not help them enough.
The fungi for athlete's foot flourish inside shoes inside toes. The humidity is high.
They do not penetrate the skin or grow large. They survive in a vary narrow ecological niche. Outside that niche they do not make it. | c9aad0c4-0c32-465c-863f-0b08822cff36 |
3okwb4 | So are mass shooters mentally ill or not? | Not all of them.
And mental illness is a subjective thing, a spectrum based partially on behaviour. One of the main things that'll get you a mental health diagnosis is going out and shooting a bunch of people, which is a kinda crazy thing to do.
But 26% of American adults are diagnosed with a mental illness in a given year. But only 5% of people charged with gun crimes are diagnosed with a mental illness at time of crime.
But *clearly* mental health isn't the thing causing the US problem with mass shooters, because all countries have about the same amount of mental illness, but the US has a hugely disproportionate number of mass shooters.
Mental health by country graphic
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Same with the media and celebrity; all Western countries have similar media cultures and celebrity worship.
Whatever it is causing the US's incredibly disproportionate rate of mass shooters, its *definitely not* mental health, the media, or attitudes about celebrity, because all are similar in the US to those in Canada, Australia, UK, France, Germany, etc. So it must be something that is *very different* in the US, compared to those other countries... | 22630435-56b1-488c-b76c-bf270b5b5df6 |
3rxmby | Why do we "dance" when we have to pee really bad? | Anything to take your mind off of the urgency. Alternately, you could slam a car door on your hand to take away the pee urge. | 0ea017b6-1e3e-446d-8ed4-fb32349a9123 |
43ruu1 | How does a infant's heart work in a transplant to a four year old? | The heart is a very versatile organ! It can handle much more work than a normal heart would in a normal body.
The gap is a little short of 2 years so the development of the 18 mnth old heart and 4 yr old body isnt that much yet so the 18 mnth old heart can easily pump blood to the 4 yr old body.
A normal adult heart still works and pumps blood on a morbidly obese person.
That is how versatile a heart is!
2. Yes but the heart can handle it, as the body grows, the heart also grows and reach maturation in which the 2 year gap between the heart and body wont even matter anymore
3. No, an adults heart is just too big to be transplanted to a toddler | 37e2c8d8-46fb-4a00-9801-5c66905a3f8f |
8vfxb4 | What is that sensation where you hear something inside your own head when falling asleep sometimes? | _URL_0_
I experience this on a regular basis. Just wait until you are able to interact with the noise... Not a good time. | bdebd34e-eb2b-419d-ac1f-9df4874c8cfa |
3t8fg3 | Why do we grunt when standing/bending? | Breath in and then tense up your abs--while holding your breath in. You should feel the air pushing up against your closed throat.
Now relax (you can start breathing again now, too.)
Tense up your abs again, this time without holding your breath. The air can escape now! When you grunt, you're simply using this air to vocalize--that is, make sounds with your throat.
Here's a tip: the next time you do a sit-up, breathe out on your way up and breathe in on your way down. This will keep your core nice and focused when it needs to be. | b27d458a-60cc-47f6-9d2d-bcd39a091c65 |
52824l | How did the court come up with the punishments for crimes. eg. 15 years maximum for GBH. | They make it up!
With the war on drugs came a big dick measuring contest with who's going to be "tough on crime". The 24 hour news cycle solidified this.
Let's say youre a politician trying to make their mark and you hear about this new drug that the kids are using. Well marijuana carries a one year sentence(misdemeanor) and cocaine 5 (felony), and this drug is "bad" so let's make it a felony since felonies are bad.. 5 years. If we make the sentence one year or rehab the media will blast me for being soft on crime, better make it 5.
That's why things that were considered relatively minor years ago are now felonies. Also no one usually gets the max. They stack multiple felonies against you and you plea guilty. That is another issue though | 43a83869-b41e-462d-870a-8cc4a6324527 |
35ixp3 | When I have a bad cold and lose my voice, why can I still whisper and it sound like a normal whisper? | Because whispering is half of speaking.
Your vocal chords generate a tone, which your mouth then shapes and filters into various sounds. But you can replace the tone with "loud breathing" - i.e. noise - and get a very similar effect to speech. This is what we call whispering.
So when you're sick, the part of you that sounds different is the tone-generating part. Your mouth doesn't stop being able to filter sounds, you just have a problem with the input part. But when you whisper, no tone is involved, so you sound the same as when you're healthy.
Source: former sound engineer | 9715cd44-89ff-4519-a0f0-ec3c39a1cd74 |
5ody2x | What long term damage does weed have on your body? (Assuming that you smoke 5-6 times per week) | While many drugs have symptoms that appear rapidly weed has a longer span of time needed to produce effects. Some people can smoke weed for their entire life and have no issue similar to some people being able to handle other drugs. Only recently have scientists found results that weed (THC) has ill effects. The main reactions that happen are symptoms of withdrawal e.g. mood swings, that do tend to clear up over time. THC has been linked to mental health issues by worsening the effects of depression or interfering with medication.
Now here comes the less supported parts. Many people in the business environment feel that people who smoke weed are less ambitious as time goes on. Since it is hard to measure ambition it is just stated and hard to support.
It has been found that 1 in 10 users become addicted to weed. From what I have looked into I am unsure as to if this is an effect of THC or the act of smoking but those who smoke weed over time also have a higher risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular issues.
Edit: THC, the compound responsible for the "high" of weed affects people differently. It is also hard to separate the difference between THC's and smoking's effects. If you want to read some of the sources I have found there is a mixture of government, organizations, and educational pages. I encourage you to read them but there will be bias as many government sources are against the use of weed.
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The most helpful one I found was a Peer-Reviewed paper on the effects on the brain of weed but is not always easy to follow. _URL_3_
Also some sources have suggested that the medicinal use of "Cannabis" has damaged the liver and kidneys less than medical drugs treating similar problems. _URL_0_ | 9ca8af53-3640-437b-b2ca-cbaad6026542 |
6gvang | Can animals develop a taste for music such as humans do? | My cat will tap her tail to the beat of music playing on the stereo, I can't confirm if shes enjoying it or not though.
My grandmother has an African Grey parrot, he has the capacity to learn anything, but there are specific sounds he picks up immediately and uses often while other things it takes a lot of repeating to get him to learn. He will also dance (bob his head and step back and forth on his branch), but only to some music. Also unknown if he's "enjoying" it or just finds it more interesting. | 74ec15a4-e716-47b5-8192-14fdd7bdac6e |
369v7d | If there is no such thing as "zero gravity" but only things constantly falling, is the entirety of the Universe constantly falling towards somewhere or are things only constantly falling towards each other due to gravity? | Yes they are, which is why you get spiral galaxies. However the falling towards each other is offset by the original expansion of the universe from the big bang. | 9e72826d-ac14-43f6-a951-af22b4381ae2 |
3yzz63 | How do our bodies create a vacuum to inhale air? | Your diaphragm relaxes. Naturally your body wants to be full and your diaphragm contracts to push air out. Then it relaxes to pull it back in. | 60cf15e4-626f-4c78-b04f-b356355e9789 |
7t2aex | Why do sounds early in the morning appear much louder than they are during the day? | Less ambient backround noise. The world is still asleep, so the normal noise of life (traffic, kids, electricity humming in lines etc) is not as loud as it would be during the day when the world is awake. | 39950f31-c864-434f-ad9f-8c4a130e4d0d |
3x2y57 | Why don't phone batteries limit charging after reaching some threshold charge percent? | They do. Any device powered by a rechargeable lithium ion battery has a charge controller. Batteries are charged by applying a voltage greater than the cell voltage of the battery. If lithium ion batteries are left with a higher voltage applied after they are finished, they could catch fire. | 3b7af992-bd26-4fd3-877a-082e761cafc9 |
6hqc5n | Why exposing a company with factual information can end up getting you sued? | They can sue you if they feel like it. They have the right to sue you. It might get thrown out in court by a judge, but it doesn't mean they can't sue you, make you rack up legal bills in your defense or whatever until a judge sees the case and makes a decision.
Simply suing someone is generally a bigger threat than the merits of a case, because a powerful side can complicate things so much that it bleeds you dry on money and time, while being mundane for the big boy. Completely normal business/legal practices | cbb13c79-fa79-46c5-a29b-efddb160a8b9 |
2cjtc2 | Why are models usually stoic? Won't we find a smiling person more engaging, therefor attracting us more to the product? | If the model is physically beautiful but the shot is moody, serious, and appears aloof and unrelateable to the viewer it creates a kind of mystique and unattainable vibe (cold, aka "cool"), which gives the product its own appeal. You don't want to be friends with the model, but you want to be them.
Runway models are acting as living mannequins and too much expression would distract from the garments they are showcasing. | abf739bb-736b-4b91-8390-448e6fe62566 |
6lr09p | Why is it that most singers close their eyes when singing? | Why do I stick my tongue out when learning new song on my guitar? No doubt the act of closing their eyes can be part of the performance, for show, but it is also part of getting into the moment, concentrating, and settling nerves. I don't know of any studies on the topic and a quick search didn't turn up anything too specific (I didn't look super hard). When concentrating on one thing intently most people have "autonomic" responses that are not consciously done. Even when a skill is mastered closing ones eyes can increase hearing or touch.
I don't know if there is one answer to your question, because it would depend. That is the most common answer to psychological questions: it depends. | 70168f95-005b-461f-b828-f8b772b66596 |
41y1l8 | What is dabbing? | Marijuana's active ingredient is delta-9 THC. This chemical is most concentrated in the flowers of the plant, and in turn in resin glads within the flowers. By using various chemical means, this resin can be extracted and concentrated into a thick substance called 'dabs.'
Dabbing is simply smoking this concentrated resin in a specially designed pipe. It allows the user to intake more active ingredient than other forms of marijuana use because it is so concentrated and there is so little plant matter along with it. | de62bad8-8519-4f6a-8584-f97e9bb71591 |
7j0jhj | Where does having a soul and spirituality fall on the religious spectrum? | You're at least mildly spiritual and not likely very religious.
Generally I spiritual as a view that there is more to existence than first meets the eye. There is a deeper meaning or at least perspective going on that is hard to pinpoint.
Religious is more often a set of beliefs or practices. Going to church. Attending religious holidays. Reading holy books on the regular. Faith in a particular God or way of life.
Often times you'll have religious people that may not even be spiritual. Religion is more a culture than a part of their worldview or understanding of life. There are nice traditions that they enjoy participating in.
If you're spiritual you may not believe there is any particular answer to life, or way to view it, other than to be aware that you've got a spirit and it needs to be taken care of like your body.
A religious spiritual person will generally believe most or all of what they faith system preaches as reality. Possibly as only metaphorical explanations, but rooted in truth nonetheless and faultless. They'll feel some degree of having answers.
There are plenty of places and mixes between these though. This is the most thorough I can be in my phone, hope it's at least something to ponder. | eec413f5-6f4a-4a38-85ad-5ff6365a30d5 |
40eb0g | "Who are you wearing?" | The red carpet is basically a celebrity fashion show. The designers loan the celebrities clothing for free, in exchange for having their name mentioned. Reporters are interested because when someone wears a good-looking new design, they want to know who was the clever designer who made it. It is like appreciating art. | a855d659-163e-4cf7-b1db-5bd943c8b189 |
x398x | Why car manufacturers name their cars after the year after they are first released | Marketing.
Would you buy a 2010 Toyota when you could have the 2011 Ford? | 6ea83507-7298-4bab-b401-23dc5fd51d97 |
40t66w | How/why did Los Angeles, the second-largest US city, not have a home NFL team for 20+ years? | 3 primary reasons. 1 - The NFL has TV blackouts in the area if the local team doesn't sell out their home game. LA had two teams in two different divisions, so games would be blacked out all the time when one of the teams wasn't great and didn't sell out. So when the two teams left, and LA could watch all the football it wanted, it was kind of nice.
2 - La refused to build a stadium. If someone wanted to move a team, the owner had to pay for it themselves. Smaller cities felt it was more important for civic reasons to keep a team, so they would help build a new stadium. When teams threatened to move to LA, the current city would offer help in building a brand new stadium and LA would not, so the teams would stay. And LA did not in part because...
3 - There's a ton to do in LA; lots of other professional teams, multiple high-level college teams, the beaches, hollywood, etc. So LA didn't care as much about having a team as a city that is more defined by its sporting program to get on the map. So in general, the attitude from LA was "sure, we'd like another team, but we're not going to make a huge effort over it because we're kind of too cool to show we care" | 6cc190ec-5381-4a25-a019-51ae457f9e46 |
1bsss8 | A question from r/adviceanimals: Why do gifs load slower than HD video? | A gif is a series of images played in succession, like a flipbook.
Videos are encoded. Very smart people do fancy things to make it so that the file is smaller. For example, a lot of the time, most of the stuff on-screen isn't moving, so the computer doesn't bother drawing it again: the software just says "yeah, leave that stuff there, it's good where it is." For a GIF, the computer has to draw it again even if there was no change, because it doesn't know any better.
You may notice that videos often get more blurry and choppy when there's movement, and that's a large part of the reason. | eb94f651-f0de-431f-947d-43943541e836 |
2v0ct7 | Why do some wires, such as phone chargers, eventually become fussy and work only when placed into a very specific position? | Cables like that are made up of a bunch of very thin wires inside. If you abuse your cables, such as by coiling them up very tightly, you can break the internal wires or the connections between the wire & the connector.
Treat your cables well - don't coil them up tighter than they were when you bought them. Pull out by the connector, not the cable. Don't try to make tight bends with the cable at the point where it meets the connector. | d3db1b44-6821-4eec-a1f0-dff26f78892a |
5pe1h1 | Why is it nearly impossible to move your eyes individually? | You can move them separately as an infant, and lose the ability to do so around 4 months. The reason is because our eyesight is only in focus when we track with both eyes, and as an infant, there is no benefit to not seeing in focus. Infants' only goal is to develop as quick as possible, which means your brain essentially removes any functions that make it harder to develop or survive. This includes removing your ability to move your eyes separately by essentially connecting them in your brain. You tell one eye to look at a thing, and the signal is sent to both eyes.
Another random fact: if a baby has one eye that doesn't work as well as the other, the brain will cut the connection to that eye at one year of age if corrective actions are not taken, for the same reasons mentioned above. | 2e6ee9a2-fa7e-43b7-a84a-985dfd10a562 |
68edgg | Why is all life on earth based on RNA/DNA ? | The simple answer is that it works so well. A system which works well has advantages of anything else. So there are more descendents using it than any other.
One interesting variant is mad cow disease and its relatives. This is not life as we know it but the proteins are copied. So the disease is propagated without using nucleic acid. | 7e928c2a-c493-443c-bd92-d2f4fb4f6a7f |
7tbz7e | How can movies show little kids smoking cigarettes? | The cigarettes are most likely vaporisers, with fake cigarettes so that it looks real.
Most movies I've seen of kids smoking were from decades ago though, when smoking was thought of as normal. I actually haven't seen many recent films where children.are smoking. | c8bc30db-91c7-4556-b1ae-939c9064c793 |
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