question
stringlengths 19
300
| answer
stringlengths 28
1.02k
|
|---|---|
why does eating certain foods after a heavy night of drinking help prevent a hangover? | Fatty foods especially will help because fat, a complex molecule that takes longer to digest than carbs or protein, keeps your duodenal sphincter closed off for longer, which keeps the alcohol in your stomach longer. This helps because the enzymes that help your body neutralize alcohol are pretty much exclusively located in your stomach, so that's where the alcohol needs to be to be worked on by these enzymes. Hangovers are caused in large part by the presence of a mid-product of alcohol metabolism, acetaldehyde (a poison, basically) which is alcohol that has been partially catalyzed and then left the stomach before the process could be completed and the alcohol could be processed into vinegar and water. Vitamin C will also help, because the liver requires it to metabolize the alcohol (Krebs cycle) |
What's the difference between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam, and why is there so much hostility between them? | The Shiite group believes that only descendants of Muhammed should be leaders in/of the religion. The Sunni group believes that "good" ("good" meaning following the Quran and doing their religious duties well, etc.) should be the elected leaders in/of the religion. That's the main difference between the two, historically. A few differences in religious practices and and beliefs have fed fuel to that fire, probably leading to the relationship the groups currently have with each other after centuries of being at odds with each other. Edit/Note: This was an extremely general, broad answer, which I am aware of. Also, there were a few mistakes in the statement, and I apologize for that. The knowledge I have on Islam is not extensive by any means, so this was just me trying to offer an answer without being entirely incorrect. Thanks guys! |
Oracle v. Google Law Suit | Oracle bought a company called Sun. Sun had developed a programming language called Java. Google had introduced an operating system for mobile phones called Andorid. Android is built on top of a variant of Java. Android started to become very valuable and Oracle wanted to get some of that money. Oracle claimed that Android used some things from Java that Oracle didn't explicitly license them to use. Google disagreed. A court decided, largely in favor of Google. |
Why is the air blown from a fan cooler then the air in the room it occupies? | It isn't. You *feel* cooler, for two reasons: (a) it blows away the thin layer of air around your body that has been warmed by your body heat and (b) it increases evaporation from your skin, which cools you off. |
In quantum physics, how does witnessing (or observing) something cause you interfere with it? | "Observed" in science doesn't necessarily mean "seen," but it can also mean measured. Often times, trying to take a measurement of something means that you have to interact with it. On a larger scale, it's like putting a temperature probe in a glass of water. Unless the probe was the exact temperature as the water, then there will be heat exchange between the two and thus measuring that temperature had an effect on it. When you're on the quantum scale, there's now way for us to see what we're trying to observe what we want to see, so we have to use energy or other particles and see how those are affected by the one we're observing. But, for example, if you're firing an electron at a particle to see where it's at or what it's doing, then you're also making the particles to interact which will affect the one you're trying to observe. |
Why don't dogs have a belly button? | They do - but they are usually much smaller than human navels, and usually hidden by fur. |
Can someone explain Post-Modernism like I'm 5, please? | What does it even matter? Nothing has any meaning anyhow. Even the meaning we project on things is a construct of the mind and the only thing that is worthy of attention is the richness of the individual experience, each of which differs from every other. |
Why is deep frying so much faster than baking? | Heat transfers faster through liquids then through gasses. You can be in a sauna without any harm to your body, but if you get covered with boiling water for a few minuites you at best will be covered in scar tissue and in pain for the rest of your life. |
the positive and negative effects of the privatization of Medicare. | It's hard to imagine something that would impact today's seniors. Future seniors (today's young people) might have an option (or get forced) to get their Medicare benefits from a private insurance company. That company would get a cut of the taxes that fund Medicare in exchange for providing coverage for a chunk of Medicare beneficiaries. All the real pros and cons depend on the details. If the insurance lobby gets to write the law, then they will be guaranteed profits and beneficiaries will bear all the risks. If the doctors lobby gets to write the law, then patients will get whatever they want and we'll see a trend toward fewer and fewer providers in the program (like we see with ObamaCare today). |
why does the outlier exist in many languages that the number 11-19 follow a different pattern of construction that doesn't fall in line with 21-29, 31-39 and etc? | Groups of twelve were common in commercial transactions back in the day because it is divisible by more numbers than ten. As such, we had unique words up to twelve. Thirteen is just three and ten and the numbers follow like that until the twenties, which use a slightly different, groups of ten and single system. |
What does the 'plastic' mean in "plastic surgery"? | "Rhino*plasty*" from the greek rhis: nose & plassein: to shape |
How can Obama unilaterally change a law | The law actually allows insurers to continue offering some plans as long as they aren't changed. And those that are changed can be kept for another year (til 2015). But most insurers are just cancelling plans instead of extending them for another year to simplify their own process. But he can't "change a law" unilaterally. A change to law requires congressional action. But implementation of the law is up to the executive (the president) and where there isn't clear process for something, the president can decide how to handle it. |
What exactly is buying debt, and how did Occupy Wall Street just do it? | When banks or whoever else might have a bunch of people owing them money decide that they're never going to see enough money from the debtees for it to be worth it - so basically when someone isn't paying any of the debt off for months and they can't seem to get it by force - they offer to sell the debt off to others. Collection agencies adept at squeezing the money will buy this debt for cents on the dollar so that the bank or whoever gets some of their money when they otherwise would get none, and they're happy, and the collection agency makes a profit if they collect even a portion of the debt from the debtees. Nothing forces the buyer of debt to be a collection agency though, so OWS just offered up enough money to get the sale, bought the debt and as the new owners of it were allowed to simply forgive it. |
Why aren't there ever any windows at bowling alleys or casinos? | Bowling alley: the ones windowless I know are underground, plus I think it reduces noise. Casinos, that's actually funny and sad. Imagine yourself immerse in a game, you won't be looking at your watch or phone. So, how do you know it's already night? If you have a window you'll see the light contrast. However, inside a casino, light doesn't change. You don't know if it's still day or not. You'll keep playing until you quit or you lose all your money (in a 24 hours one). It's a trick to keep you inside. |
safe to eat raw chicken. | Most meat is fairly sterile immediately after slaughter, but the slaughter environment quickly taints the meat. Beef slaughter is not quite as dirty because you get so much off a single animal that you can afford some overhead. Chickens are *notoriously* dirty animals ( I own 20). And worse they are omnivores. Which means their bowels may contain dangerous bacteria, whereas cattle are herbivores and their bowels are basically just compost piles. All this basically means that the sheer disgusting nature of commercial chicken slaughter means you should never attempt to eat raw chicken, because the meat passed through an environment that was teeming with dangerous bacteria. The type that breed on rotting meat. |
Negative effects of raising the U.S. minimum wage? | When labor costs go up costs for everything goes up. This is called inflation. You can raise minimum wage all you want, at the end of the day there are only so many resources on earth. A maximum wage would be more effective. It would also be un-American. Our society is based on capitalism. If you want to make more than minimum wage you have to have a skill that is in demand and that there is a relatively lower supply of. A chimpanzee can be trained to flip burgers. I wouldn't let a chimp fly my plane or perform brain surgery. |
Please explain to me the mythos created by HP Lovecraft | The point of Cthulhu and the rest of Love craft works is about the fear of the unknown. Nothing is ever fully explained which is kind of the point. I would suggest getting a hold of the penguin publication "Call of Cthulu and other weird stories". Because the stories were written at the turn of the century it can be difficult to follow l. This version has lots of notes with it that give a lot of further insight. |
Why can't shows like NCIS, Law and Order SVU, and Criminal Minds reference real world things? | Either to avoid it looking like a paid product placement, or to avoid the owner of the trademark complaining or even suing. For example, if a show revolves around a terrorist attack which was organized by the terrorists using, say, WhatsApp, then the makers of WhatsApp might not be too happy about their trademark being linked to criminal activities in this way. |
Why does a cat seemingly "turn off" when the back of their neck is pinched? | It's instinct. Mother cats will use the skin on the back of a kitten's neck to carry it (in her teeth) if she needs to move it. Cats instinctually go limp when this happens (which prevents it from potentially hurting one cat or the other), and you're triggering that same instinctual response when you grab a cat there. |
Why do dogs, with their amazing sense of smell, choose butts, old socks, and urine to smell? | It's not just a unique smell or marking territory. Specifically for butts, in other dogs there is a little gland there right near the anus that secretes the unique odors they use to identify each other. That is why they specifically smell in that area on other dogs. As for humans, they do it because that's how they are used to identifying beings, even if the human doesn't have an anal gland |
How does constantly mixing cement keep it from turning into stone? | As pointed out before, it doesn't, however it does prolong the process. Cement solidifies by basically turning itself (a paste of very specific particles and water) into a crystal. The particles pretty much combine with the water to form nice hard crystals (so saying you're waiting for the cement to "dry-out" is technically incorrect). By forcing the paste to tumble around, you constantly break the connections before they grow into stable forms. |
Can any one explain r-value of insulation, like what I'd lose if I used R-19 instead of R21? | The R-value describes how good the isolation is. The formula is (T1-T2)/R*surface area = amount of heat lost per hour. From that, we can conclude that R-21 let's through about 10% less heat than R-19. |
How is the brain able to create images while reading that make it feel like I'm watching a movie? | I'm no expert, but I would say it is because the writer uses words to describe things you've already seen in real life. For example, when I say mountain you start to think about a mountain in pictures, because you've seen a mountain and knows what it looks like. But if I were to say mountain to a person whom never seen one, the person wouldn't create that image because the person never saw a mountain. The philosopf David Hume actually adressed this issue by using the example "the golden mountain" - you can imagine that only because you've seen something golden or gold and you can combine that with the previous image of a mountain. He also stated that if a person never saw either of those objects, the person would be unable to imagine such images. TL;DR: you can imagine things in pictures but only because you've seen the things you are going to imagine in real life. PS. I must excuse for errors. English is not my native tongue. Edit: changed "sat" to "say" - I'm on my phone with a Danish dictionary |
what is the difference between Porter, Lager, Ale, Pale Ale, and what does the darkness of the color signify? | Beer is made of a few things: Water, Yeast, a Grain (such as wheat or oats), and Hops. Generally speaking, there's two kinds of beer: Ales and Lagers. Ales are brewed warm (ish) and their type of yeast floats to the top of the brew tanks. Lagers are brewed cold (ish) and their type of yeast sinks to the bottom. Basically all beers are variations within the "ale" and "lager" umbrellas. The amount of yeast, hops, grain, and type of grain impacts the final type, among other factors. Porters, Stouts, Pale Ales, Bitters, and others are all Ales, which tend to be very complex and flavorful. Lagers tend to be more mellow; the most popular kind of beer in America is a kind of lager called a Pilsner. Light/Dark isn't 100% across the board, but generally, light beers literally taste lighter while dark beers are heavier, rich. |
Why and how do fungus grow on your body? | It grows like it would any other place, with a dark and damp environment generally. Make sure to fully dry your ass and toes ladies and gents. As for why it is simple, you have what it craves. |
Why does Aloa Vera sting when you apply it to skin? | As with many moisturizers, the probable answer is to look at all the ingredients of your lotion. Alcohol, acid, or sodium may be cause of stinging? Find a more pure formula if possible. For minor burns & minor skin irritations, I just snip a portion of stem from an aloe vera plant and rub the inner juice right on the area. |
Why don't bands tour and have 3+ hour shows where they play all their music? | Because that would be absolutely exhausting and some of these bands are playing almost nightly during their tours. |
Why did the Vietnam war happen? | The US didn't want communism spreading through that area of Asia and thought if they could stop it in Vietnam the rest of the area wouldn't go communist. Also the US had a policy of "If a nation asks for help against communist aggression will will always render aid." |
Why so many prescription drugs lower your risk to fight infections | Some diseases are caused by your immune system attacking your own body. The pills to treat these diseases weaken your immune system so it will cause less damage to your own body. |
In terms of computer science, what exactly happens when malware is quarantined? | It's moved out of its original directory structure and renamed, so attempts by external software to call/access that file result in failure. Also, software checks are put in place to specifically prevent that file from being executed or loaded into memory. |
Why do U.S. Supreme Court Justices keep such long appointments, often until they die? | They purposely have appointment till death/choosing to step down so that they are less corrupted by politics. They do not have to worry about running for re-election thus needing the approval of the people, and they do not need to seek the approval of the President or Congress to keep their appointment. That means they are free to simply interpret the law as it pertains to the constitution. It is one of the many levels of safeguards and checks and balances that we have built into the structure of our government. As to why some die rather than step down, that would be a personal decision. Some will be scared of who the new President or Congress would put in their place, others die suddenly and had no reason to think they should step down. |
Is it realistically possible to save endangered species or is the planet definitely going to lose turtles, whales, sharks, elephants and many other endangered animals? What's stopping efforts to save them? | It depends a great deal on the species. As a few examples of highly recognizable success stories: The American alligator was nearly extinct before it was listed as endangered. Now there are more than 5 million. The bald eagle was reduced to around 450 mating pairs. Now it's around 10,000. Wolves, paregrine falcons, and a lot of others have been brought back from the brink of extinction. |
Why are the Beatles now treated like legends, when back then, they were seen as just some boy-band fad, soon to dissappear? | That is not a fair likeness. While they might be considered such a phenomenon, what they are great by is that they took music and made something entirely new with it. It was simply new and scary and exciting as they released their albums. Douglas Adams, an outspoken fan of Beatles as he was, once said that when they came out with a new album, he would run to the store, buy the record, and run back, break into the school room where the record player was, and for the first few times he listen to it, it just left him cold. "It was simply unlike anything I've ever heard before" I suspect that this is the true greatness of the band. |
We've just flown past Pluto and we're entering the age of the driverless car. Why hasn't air travel changed since the 1960's? | Air travel has changed quite a bit in the last 50 years. We have much bigger jets than the 737 of the 60s, not to mention advances in avionics and, speaking of the driveless car, autopilot. |
How does squinting eyes change this image? | High and lo pass filtered images superimposed on each other. When you squint you lose the ability to see fine detail so the lo-pass filtered image stands out as the details (high pass filter) disappear. When you are not squinting you see the detail parts stand out because the brain likes to see fine detail more than the 'background' (lo-pass filtered) blur. /edit/ gadamnit, I was about to reply saying wat? I dont get it? 'Lose' ?? and then.. Doh. :) |
how does someone create a coding language like C++, python, or the protocols that govern Internet traffic out of essentially nothing? | assembler, or machine code. simplified, you might have a 40 lines of code in assembler that only job is to [put a letter on the screen](_URL_0_). now that you have it, you can make an alias for that program, call it **print** for example. **print "hello world"** this uses the assembler program you called print and puts out hello world as input to your screen. and you never need to touch the assembler again if you want to put something on the screen. As you have code that puts out text when you use print command. now do that for everything you want your language to do, and you have a programming language. this is vastly simplified, i tried to keep it short, feel free to mock me for choise of words or tiny mistakes i made. |
Why is it that I don't have to pee, but then suddenly my bladder is about to explode? | The bladder wall is made out of muscle which has waves of contractions just like your gut. These waves appear and disappear which may give you the feeling of urgency (feeling of wanting to let go). This should not normally happen unless you are holding your urine on purpose. The usual feeling of bladder fullness is a slight one which makes you want to go to the toilet. If you feel severe urgency out of the blue then that's something you should probably get checked. As for what /u/Deeyzenuttz said, if you have symptoms like increased frequency with urgency (with or without episodes of incontinence) or problems while urinating then that might be a prostate problem. |
Since purple does not exist - When something is purple, what color is it? | Purple does exist, but only in your eye. Purple is what your brain tells you you're seeing when the eye receives both blue and red light at the same time. |
Why does getting hit in the head knock you out? I understand the force causing damage but why does the system shut down for non critical damage. Seems a design flaw when you're in a tight spot. Do all other mammals as well? Lizards? Insects? | In many cases it's a consequence of the processes triggered by the trauma, a contusion will start a sweeping process which will increase intracranial pressure which in turn will compress blood vessels and reduce blood supply to the brain. The poor oxygen delivery in this case leads to dizziness, disorientation and black out until the blood supply is normalised once the swelling subsides. |
Why do most bipedal robots always keep their knees bent a bit when standing? | I'm still an industrial electronics student but if I had to guess I would say that it is because when engineers program robots they are given a "home position" that the robot stays in. In this case the home position is the one that best allows the robot to react to varying conditions. Like if the robot were to step into a hole and the knees were locked straight it would have trouble being able to step down into the hole because that joint can't rotate any further. But if the knee is in the middle of its rotation then it can straighten to step down into the hole or rotate further to step up onto something. Basically it's the position that allows a robot to do as much as possible and as far efficiency goes we are still just getting the kinks worked out of getting a robot walking. So it's not the most efficient way to stand but it's the easiest. |
What is Marxism and how much does it differ from America's current system | In very simple terms, it means that the means of production is owned by the workers. So for example a factory producing cars would be owned and controlled by the workers in the factory. America's current system is a capitalist one, where the means of production are owned privately, and not necessarily by the workers. In the factory example, the factory is privately owned and the private owners employ the workforce. |
How exactly does computer hacking work? | The aim of a lot of hacking is to exploit a weakness in a system, such as buffer overflow. Another example: ever heard of the heartbleed bug in programming? Here's a good comic that explains it: _URL_0_ |
Why bands perform with heaps of amps/speakers on stage instead of connecting to the venues PA system. | My band uses both our own towers *and* the venue PA system: The speakers (or rather, monitors) that are in front of us are used to hear ourselves play, in case our in-ear monitoring system fails. Optically and audibly, this constellation is a win/win situation, (but of course only if our system and the venue are aligned correctly.) Edit: 'Optically', meaning that the stage and the entire show simply looks 'better' for the audience when stacks of Marshall amps frame the stage. |
Why do tires on a car have air in them? Why not have them made out of solid rubber? | Rubber compresses yes, but not as much as air. Very early cars had solid rubber tyres and the ride was very bumpy (albeit combined with very primative suspension). Also the solid rubber tires would "bounce" like a rubber ball, not ideal. Air inside tires however acts like a shock absorber... then once the tire has returned to its original shape, the air doesn't spring back the other way like solid rubber would. |
Is water pressure from depth a "directional" force and therefore a downward force? Can it be alleviated? (illustrations included) | Water pressure, just like air pressure, pushes in from all around, not just from above. Neither of those diagrams will alleviate the water pressure felt. |
LI5: Could you explain to me what linux is and why it's so different from Windows or Mac OS | There are more than those 3 operating systems: examples are the three you listed, Unix and BSD. Unix is the grandfather of operating systems. BSD, Linux and Mac OS are all Unix-like OS'. Linux is an operating system (like Windows), but the main difference between Linux and Windows or Mac OS is that most Linux systems are open source, which means that any person can access the basic building blocks of the software free of charge. The benefit of this is that anybody can make their own version (or "distribution") of a Linux operating system and publish it for others to use. Overall, Linux is more customizable that Windows or Mac OS, not necessarily by looks but also how it works. |
Why does our stomach and or intestines dont eat itself? | Our intestines have muscosals on the inside. That's a kind of slime between the stomach and the acid. *Side-fact: When you die, the muscosals can't be regenerated, and then you "eat" yourself. (The acid dissolves you)* |
Why do girls tend to have good handwriting and guys tend to have bad handwriting? | Girls develop their fine motor skills earlier than boys, and it happens to coincide with the typical age around which children learn to write. |
Why the sudden excitement after the Star Wars teaser? | I do believe that people are incredibly hyped due to both nostalgia and hope. This is our new hope after the prequel disaster. |
Why are rest stops built with one on each side of a highway/interstate rather than one build in the middle? | They are in the median in some places. The left exit and entry is problematic for slower vehicles/drivers. Speaking of slow drivers, if you circle around looking for an open parking spot, eat, pee, and get gas, your internal compass may get confused and you could enter the highway going in the opposite direction I almost did it once and I have a good sense of direction. |
why can't 32 bit or 64 bit Windows run 16 but apps? | The difference isn't so much in the "number of bits", but rather in the fact that 16 bit apps are old and are designed for an entirely different runtime and file format and they require a completely different set of dependencies. They're now known as "16 bit", but the reality is the operating system's kernel was completely different at the time, and the apps were designed for that particular kernel. |
The sound barrier, and how you "break it" | We're used to air behaving a certain way as we move through it. It flows out of the way as we move. However, it can only flow so quickly, and at a certain speed its ability to flow basically stops, and that's the speed of sound. As you get closer to that speed, the air can't get out of your way quickly enough, and builds up in front of you as a shock wave. This wave can have horrible effects on a plane's handling, making it uncontrollable, and it can suffer catastrophic damage and crash. Hence the idea of a "sound barrier" - it was like hitting a virtual wall, and many pilots died that way. Breaking it required a rethink of plane design and a lot of testing in wind tunnels, before they actually built a plane to do it. One key design breakthrough was the [stabilator] (_URL_0_) a.k.a. all-moving tail, which kept working as you approached the speed of sound, instead of the conventional split stabiliser that was the cause of control problems. |
Does putting a chair under a round door handle really stop it from being opened? | Yes it works. The objective of putting the change under a round door handle is not to prevent the handle from being able to be turned it its to prevent the door from being opened by way of 'wedging' the door closed. See [here](_URL_0_) |
Why do things sound deeper when in slow motion? | Pitch is determined by frequency. So higher pitch equals higher frequency and lower pitch equals lower frequency. Basically, if you capture sound at regular speed and slow it down, you are also slowing down the frequency of the tone. |
what speed do nerve signals travel at? And do giant whales have a delay since they are huge? | The speed is affected by a lot of factors such as age and gender. The impulse has to travel along the axons. Some axons can vary in diameter and can be more or less myelinated (think of it as rubber around an electric wire). There are a lot of types of fibers. The nerve signal can travel from 0.5 to 120 m/s (more than 400 km/h) depending on the type. Now, the impulse has to travel through your body from your brain to your toes. The impulse will arrive faster to your eyes than to your toes. However, the difference is non significant, because of the speed of the impulse and your body size. But for a bigger animal, the size matters. So yes, there is delay for them. There is delay between sensing and reacting. |
Since the first quantum computer has already been built... what exactly does it do and why is it considered a paradigm shift? I understand that it uses quantum mechanics but I don't get it at all.. | It's not really a "paradigm shift". Quantum computers are able to solve specific classes of problems that are hard for conventional computers. It's certainly not going to be a huge revolution or anything, but we should see an improvement in areas like cryptography and image recognition. |
why do you become sexually attracted to someone once you develop feelings for them? | Part of developing feelings for someone is caring about their needs and wants. If they want to have sex with you then fulfilling that need is making them happy. Of course you are allowed to enjoy it too. When you really want to have sex with them and they really want to have sex with you then you are providing your two favorite people with one of their favorite things. Also, if your 5 wait a little while. Edit: I'm glad to see this resonated with so many people. There are a lot of possible answers to this one since OP is essentially asking about what makes people love each other. For those 5 year olds who have already learned they're air commas, keep up the good work. |
Why do so many white, western liberals and progressives defend Islam? | They tend to support freedom of religion. They tend to support civil rights for minorities. Seems strange to think of them as a minority but in the US and Western countries they are. |
What's going on with Russia and Syria right now and how does it affect the rest of the world? | Russia is allies with Syrian leader, Assad, due to a navy base there. Russia claims to enter Syria to fight ISIS but it appears they may have attacked Syrian Rebels that oppose both ISIS and Assad, Rebels that America is backing financially and with training, risking a proxy war with USA. Edit - to further clarify... USA wants to oust Assad and REALLY dislikes ISIS. Therefore we back the Syrian Rebels. Syrian Rebels fight both ISIS and Assad. Unfortunately a lot of Syrian rebels defect to ISIS since they have a common enemy. Assad and Syrian army are fighting both ISIS and the Syrian Rebels. Russian allies with Assad, so is essentially ok with fighting both the Rebels and ISIS. USA is ok with Russia entering Syria to fight ISIS, it's our common enemy, but not OK with them attacking the Rebels. The situation could get out of hand. |
Why is it considered immoral to outsource labor to workers in countries willing to work for very little money? | Usually it's the working conditions that people are protesting. Factories in developing countries with little regulation and workers' rights can be downright abysmal to work in. They're not called "sweatshops" for nothing. In addition to poor working conditions is also worker safety. A man might lose an arm operating a press or similar machinery because the safety regulations aren't written into law or enforced. So a man without the factory might not have gotten that pay, but they might still have both arms and have been able to farm or some other small-time employment, whereas the man in the factory might have earned a year or two's worth of wages before becoming a cripple. It's a value judgement, nothing more. |
In simple terms, what does the mathematical constant "e" mean? | e is special because of what happens when you take it to some exponent. Namely, if you graph y=e^x . [Here is a reference](_URL_0_). It's special because, at every point on that line, the slope of the graph is exactly equal to the y value of the graph. At y=1, y'=1. At y=2, y'=2. Turns out, that symmetry is very useful and helps to solve a lot of problems. |
How do people become addicted to smoking cigarettes when it is so awful the first few times? | For many people, smoking isn't about cigarettes, but rather about a little social club you get to hang out with outside every few hours. It's not always bad the first time. I liked the cigarettes the first time I smoked one. It just felt right, and the feeling of hot smoke in my lungs was pleasant. I only didn't pick the habit up because I know it would kill me. |
Why do some games have huge modding communities (Minecraft, Skyrim), whereas others have none at all? | Some games are easier to mod than others. Most have no official modding tools, unlike games like Skyrim or Valve games. |
Can someone please explain LI5 what redshift is? | Everything that astronomers see in the sky is because of a wave that came from that object. Most of these waves are light, but astronomers also have infrared telescopes that can see waves that aren't visible to our eyes. Of the waves of light that we can see, the "weakest" are the ones that carry the color red, while the "strongest" ones are the ones that carry the color violet. Anything stronger than violet is ultra-violet and anything weaker than red is infrared. When a wave comes from an object moving AWAY from us, that wave appears to us to be weaker than it actually is. Since we think of red as weaker, we call this weakening of the wave "redshifting". It's very useful because it lets us know if an object is moving or not just by how its light looks. Similarly, is an object is moving towards us its light will appear to be stronger. |
The concept of 'squatting' in a home that isn't yours and why it's so difficult to remove squatters from the premises in certain places. What stops people from kicking in the door to residence they own and throwing squatters out? | Actually, I "squatted" on and off for about 4 years 14-18 in the US. In my experience, alot of the time, It's a civil issue not a criminal one. Civil suits take time. Also, for instance; when the housing market crashed and a lot of banks went under or had been absorbed by other banks, some properties went into a grey area where no one owned them / or lost knowlege of them. Legally, allowing "squatters" to file the right paper work and own the property due to failure from banks to respond etc.. You can kind of see how this works. For an example; you let someone live on your property without a lease or legal arrangement; then they refuse to leave. You would have to sue them and them violate a court order for the police to have legitimate legal standing to remove them. There are alot of avenues. EDIT: Sorry about the awful grammar. |
Why do some people scream when they sneeze? | Could be cultural ties. Even the way people sneeze is influenced. Culturally and ethnically. That's not the be all, end all reasoning... But it definitely influences it. |
Why do i always feel a bigger need to smoke when i drink alcohol? Is it purely the social part of smoking, or are there in fact other factors which are to blame? | I think it's just being intoxicated in general. Why are you more hungry/horny/outgoing etc... when you're drunk? It's just easier to give in to your desires, whatever they may be. |
if muscles can work anaerobically, why do we need to breathe oxygen, on a biological level? | Without oxygen we would lose about 94% of our capacity to convert glucose to energy usable for our body. It generally doesn't take too long for this to become a problem. |
Why do we get to decide if Iran is allowed to make nuclear weapons? | Iran is a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and has therefore agreed to not build nuclear weapons. Source: _URL_0_ |
Why did Canada get rid of the penny? | Canada got rid of the penny because the penny costs more to make than it's worth. A good video: [Canada gets rid of the penny](_URL_0_) Edit: put in the right link |
Is there a mechanical reason fan switches often go from off to full power, and then down? (Ordered "0,3,2,1" on the switch) | Although the other answers may have some truth to them, one of the big reasons for this is that any electric motor will have a "startup current" that's much higher than the normal operating current. When the motor is physically rotating at a different speed than its electricity makes it "want" to rotate, it soaks up excess energy that all goes into heat and mechanical stress inside the motor. [Figure 7-3 in this book](_URL_0_) shows how the starting current can be 5 times as much as the normal current. All the stress is bad for the motor and wears it out over time; so, they make the switches so that the most powerful setting is the one that's used during the first, most important, part of the turning-on process. That accelerates the fan quickly through its most vulnerable time. |
Why does glue not harden when it's in the container, but harden when it is poured out? | Glue only hardens when it is exposed to air, and the water inside it (which is what makes it fluid) evaporates. |
If memories are so susceptible to change over time, how can I be sure an event that I remember actually happened? | supporting evidence. Other people agree it happened, there are photos, diaries, souvenirs. There are lots of reasons to be trust your memories. |
Why does it feel better to have feet elevated when you sit? | Your feet take a lot of wear and tear, and are often in tight shoes and socks. Elevating them on a footstool repositions them so they're off the ground and not at the very bottom of your entire bloodstream's contents. It takes a little bit of the pressure off of them, meanwhile flexing the knees a bit so they're not rigid either. |
Does having a larger penis increase the likelihood of conception? | No, just like a longer needle doesn't increase the effectiveness of a vaccine. As long as it's sufficient for injecting the genetic material in the correct hole, that's all that matters. |
Why are Computer Malware so obvious to detect for the victim? | Some malware is obviously visible, like changing your browser's homepage to some ad-riddled horror show. Many casual computer users won't know what to do, so they'll just let it slide, and use the bloated crapshoot as their homepage, making the malware people advertisement money. However, just because you can see some of it doesn't mean you can see all of it. One example is the (until recently) popular torrent program utorrent, which decided to bundle hidden malware in one of its updates, which would use your computer's processor(s) and internet connection to mine bitcoins for them. Had it not been for dedicated savyy people sending out warnings, most people would never have found the reason and would just have cursed the gods for their computer's newfound slowness. Just because you can see one tiger prowling in the jungle doens't mean there isn't one just behind you in the bushes about to murder you. |
Is there an evolutionary benefit for men having beards other than helping with the ladies? | They actually have a surprising benefit if you spend a lot of time outdoors in the cold. At least for me, I shaved off about six months of beard growth in the middle of this winter, and my face felt much, much colder. It's not a huge benefit, but it was the difference between having to wear a scarf or not. |
Difference Between Heat and Temperature | You can think of temperature as being similar to the level of water in a bucket, and heat as being the actual amount of water in a bucket. If you have two buckets, they might both be filled five inches deep with water. But if one bucket is much wider, that five inches represents a lot more water in the big bucket than the small one. Adding more water will raise the total amount of water in both by the same amount, but will raise the level more in the small bucket than the large one. |
Before college became a requirement for many jobs, how did employers screen and filter out candidates? | Basically before the late 90s you got a job by 'knowing a guy' Most older people (over 50) you meet, if you ask them how they got into their career the story will start "I knew this guy..." |
How does a phone's (specifically an IPhone) cooling system work? Since it's a smaller computer, is it essentially the same? | Phones are designed to utilize passive cooling only. That being, they do not generate enough heat through standard operation to require a fan. This is due to the size, power, and space required for fans and various failure points introduced by them - and also any CPU that generated enough heat to require active cooling would not be usable as a mobile device as it would drain the battery very quickly. Since you mentioned the iPhone in particular, the most powerful iPhone's (iPhone X) CPU is the A11, I can't find exact specs on this but the power usage of the CPU is likely in the 5-10 watt range. For comparison, processors in laptops are usually in the 25-45W range (on the low end, these may not need active cooling to cool) and desktop processors tend to range anywhere from 65W to 85W+. |
How does a plunger work? | The plunger is bell shaped....so when you put it into the toilet, you are pushing a pocket of air down with it. When you compress the plunger, the air is pushed against the clog, and with enough pressure it can dislodge the clog and get it moving. Try blowing out your mouth with your lips pressed together...it's the same concept. |
Why does American use a Presidential system, rather than a Parliamentary one? | Because we divide our government into separate branches and use them to limit the other branches. In a parliamentary system the legislative and executive branches are fused into one, which gives it more power, and in most parliamentary systems the judicial branch is partially fused as with it as well giving it even more power. In the US they are all separate and have powers to counter the other two. We also prefer to have a bit more of a democratic process by voting on who we want our States to vote for as President (electoral college). In a parliamentary system you do not actually get to choose your leader at all, it is chosen by the majority party in your parliament. |
Why is Polygamy Illegal? | It makes taxes, inheritance, divorce, and lots of other things very complicated. |
I've learned today that some bugs and flies sees the world in slow motion. How does that work? | What we see isn't produced by our eyes but by how our brain interprets what our eyes see. For insects to see in slow motion just means that their brains process information from their eyes much faster than ours do. Also calling it "slow" motion is completely arbitrary as that is just a comparison to what we are used to. To the insect that is just normal vision |
How is Microsoft making money from Windows 10 if they are giving it away for free? | 1. They collect data on you by default for targeted advertising. 2. They have a lot of services that default or redirect to Bing, which they get ad revenue from. 3. Much of their business comes from corporations using their products, not individual users. Indeed, Enterprise builds are not covered by the same upgrade deal as Win 7/8.1 Home and Professional. |
The different types of alcohol (chemistry, not beverages) | Ethyl alcohol is ethanol. It has the chemical formula H₃C-CH₂OH (two carbons). This is what you find in alcoholic beverages. Methanol has one carbon instead, with the formula H₃COH. This is what's dangerous in moonshine - methanol is much more toxic than ethanol because its metabolic products are formaldehyde and formic acid, the latter inhibits cellular respiration - so even though you have oxygen in the body, your cells can't use them because one of the enzymes in the pathway is blocked. Ethanol, on the other than, is metabolized into acetaldehyde (which is still bad, but neither aldehydes stick around for too long) and acetic acid (what's found in vinegar), which is far less toxic. |
why does a bathtub of water eventually get colder than the room | It doesn't. Our sensation of heat is not the same thing as temperature. Easy example: tile floors feel colder than rugs. In reality they're the same temperature. Our sensation of heat is because tile floor more readily absorbs our body heat than does a rug. The sensation of losing our body heat quickly is what we interpret as cold, despite the floors being the same temperature. Grab a piece of metal vs fabric and the same thing happens. Metal conducts heat better, and we notice that as metal feeling cold as it steals our heat. |
Why is everyone so obsessed over Nikola Tesla? What could he have really done? | What do you mean by "could"? He did plenty things, like inventing AC power and the induction motor, among a [long list of other things](_URL_0_). People generally like him because they view him as an underdog who wasn't given all the recognition he deserved, especially given his battle with Edison, in which Edison acted like a complete dick. Some people also like his more oddball ideas that weren't realized, such as large scale wireless power transmission. This wouldn't have worked anyway, because it's enormously inefficient and would pretty much fry all the electronics around it. Such experiments were a lot more practical back when the main concerns were light bulbs and motors. |
If matter can’t be destroyed, what happens to an object when it is vaporized? | A vapor is still matter. So are the people who were "vaporized" in the atomic blasts in Japan; they were simply broken down into much smaller component parts, probably gas, ashes and dust. However, before they were vaporized, some of those poor people blocked the initial gamma ray burst and some part of the heat and debris of the blast, leaving a "shadow" of slightly less damage to the walls and sidewalks where they were at the time of the blast. Again, not very much matter conversion and no matter destruction. The atomic bombs themselves, of course, very much do work on the principle of converting matter into energy, which is about as close to the "destruction" of matter as we can get. About 700 miligrams of the Hiroshima bomb was converted into energy. That may not sound like much but the tragic results speak for themselves. |
How can it be that every lock in the world is different and there are not two of the same? Or isn't this the case? | It isn't the case. It would be theoretical possible to have every lock in the world be different by making them all a different size and shape but it would be highly impractical. Most locks operate with a series of different pins and lengths \- your standard household lock would have somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 different possible combinations, which means that once they have cycled through their possible combinations they will start to repeat. But this number is still high enough that it makes the chances of somebody being able to randomly find another lock that matches a key they already have to be small enough to be essentially negligible. A lot of lock manufacturers will further extend the odds by separating batches into different distribution areas \- so they will sell unique locks only in each individual city. |
How come Germany get to keep the 3 world cups from when they were West Germany? Surely when East and West united it became a brand new country? | Officially the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) ceased to exist, and it's territory was ceded to the Federal Republic of Germany. The current German state is technically the same one as west Germany, just with more territory than it used to have. Same as how the USA did not become a new country when Texas joined. |
...the immigration crisis. How can people be protesting kids? Why can't these children be adopted? | These kids have parents. If someone adopted a child with parents that want them it's called kidnapping... |
How did European's become light skinned? | Your skin has something called melanin which gives the skin its dark or light colour. More melanin means darker colour and less means lighter colour. The goal of melanin is to protect from UV radiation. Since there's less UV exposure up north, skin needs to produce less melanin and the people from there are thus lighter skinned. |
Why do small private colleges without large staff, facilities or research departments have such high tuition? Where does that money go? | Because small private schools lack state-funding, lack large, research oriented programs that draw in grant money, and lack major athletic programs to draw in revenue. These reasons (and others, I'm sure) make it so that if small schools want to keep the lights on, they have to charge more in tuition. It is not, in fact, done to line the pockets of administrators. Source: I've attended both types of schools. |
The "internet" to someone from the 1950s | It's like a telephone that can call anyone, anywhere, and you can see through it like a television. You can choose what you want to see, like visiting a library, but you never have to leave your house. There are classifieds like in a newspaper, business listings like the yellow pages, movies like in a theater, and a seemingly endless library of magazines, journals, and bulletin boards. You can use it to buy things like you would from a catalog, and you can even see what other people who bought that item think about it. And you can write to other people looking at the internet, like a letter, but it's delivered almost in an instant. |
Why does the USA have CIA,NSA,FBI? | FBI is internal, CIA is external, and NSA is oriented more toward signals intelligence than spies. Each has their own role but conceptually there is a lot of overlap and sharing of resources. |
Why does the Nintendo Zapper not work with modern televisions? | The Zapper was very precisely timed to the screens (the refresh rate, specifically). It looked for the screen to be drawn at a certain exact moment, and used that data to tell if you had, for example, hit the duck or not. Today's plasma and LCD televisions have different refresh rates/timing, and are in fact less responsive (they have greater "latency") than the CRT TVs of the past. Since the timing isn't the same, the Zapper can't detect successful shots. |
What are the curving lines that appear in digital photos of computer screens? | [Moiré pattern](_URL_0_). It's what happens when the grid of pixels that create image on the screen and the grid of pixels that capture the image in the camera don't perfectly align, which is almost always because they only align at four angles (0°, 90°, 180°, 270°) and are not aligned at every angle in-between. |
In grade school we are taught that we can either use 3.14 or 22/7 as pi. But 22 divided by 7 is actually 3.1428(etc), not 3.1415(etc). Why are these used interchangeably? | 22/7 is the closest rational estimate of pi that we have which uses simple numbers in fractional form. This makes it useful to young students who have trouble with decimal representation or with multiplying numbers with several digits. For the purposes of grade school calculations, it's a close enough approximation that it usually won't make a difference - a few tenths at most - and is useful until students are more comfortable multiplying longer decimal numbers. |
how actors who only work in bit parts, make a living | How they make a living? Working in restaurants |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.