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Why are people so politically charged?	Mostly because our lives are directly impacted by who our government officials are. In America we vote to have Laws passed, therefore everyone who votes whether they are for Or against this law they are all entitled their opinion. Some political views such as abortion are extremely heated, and both sides do have valid arguments that's why there hasn't been a final law written on this subject. Hope that helped a little I'm sure there will be better answers but that's my best shot at the moment. Edit: Also to hit the point on racial issues. Sometimes when people openly say racist things some people have the urge to give them their own opinion as well. If you are going to post something offensive and it happen to be taken racially. I feel like most people try to give that person a point of view that will perhaps make them not feel so hateful. The wrong way to handle this is to just let that person get you angry and fall in their trap.
Why do many languages have different letters from each other, but numbers are written is the same way everywhere?	Actually, numbers [aren't written the same everywhere](_URL_0_). There are other variants in use across the world, too.
How Do Fish, Dolphins, Sharks and other Aquatic Creatures sleep?	Disclaimer: I'm not 100% sure on this I read somewhere that they kind of switch between the right and left side of the brain, the alternation gives each side time to rest without actually sleeping.
What would happen if the US dug itself out of debt?	If we had no debt at all? We'd probably be worse off. Debt for governments is good. The US isn't in any "trouble" right now. We have no problem paying our bills, and will continue to do so.
If you were to put a person in a tub of room temperature water, and raised it a few degrees at a time, could you kill them without discomfort?	What comes to mind is the boiled frog experiment. The basic "idea" behind it is that if you put a frog in a pot of water and slowly raise the temperature, it'll die before jumping out. This is a widespread myth but it's untrue. It's likely based on experiments done in the mid 1800's, where scientists found out that a frog that had its brain removed wouldn't jump out of a slowly heated pot of water. Emphasis on the removed brain part. Regular, mentally intact frogs would jump out, of course. So, no. Eventually the heat would start damaging your cells and your nerves would tell you, "This is TOO HOT, you need to get out of here."
- what makes it possible to hoist 2 ton cannon up a cliff using a "block and tackle"?	A block and tackle multiplies your force because you pull a lot on the rope and the weight moves only a little bit. If you had one loop a the top and bottom then you would pull the rope 10 feet and the weight would move 5 feet but would only require half the force. If you had 10 loops on both end then you would move the rope 10 feet but the weight would only move 1 foot, but would feel 1/10th as heavy. If you use enough loops then you can reduce the force required to the point where a single person can lift it. They just have to pull a lot more than if there was no pulley.
Why do some beards have spots and is there a way to avoid them before growing out a beard for the first time?	Beards have spots because those are places you do not grow facial hair. This is determined by genetics and if you have them there is no way to avoid them or to make the beard grow more thickly. You simply will be unable to grow a beard that looks normal/proper.
How can the universe expand into something if the universe is considered everything?	> Why is it expanding? As far as we can tell it's always been expanding, and nothing is stopping it from continuing. In fact, our latest observations suggest it's picking up speed. Due to what? We have no idea: that's "dark energy". Figure that out, and there is almost certainly a Nobel Prize waiting for you. > What is there to expand into? If the universe is infinite, nothing. If the universe is finite, we can't know. The observable universe is definitely smaller than the universe, so if there is an edge out there, we have no way of observing or reaching it, ever. I know neither or these possibilities are very gratifying, but there it is.
Why does Pepsi lose it's fizz/carbonation so much faster than Coke?	Because the carbonation is different. Less CO2 dissolved in Pepsi than in Coke. The bottle size can play a role too, usually big bottles are less carbonated.
Why do certain vehicles like a Toyota Tacoma have unreal resell value, while others such as a Ranger are deemed useless at a comparable age?	It's believed that at 200k miles, the Toyota will still be going strong, while the Ford will be scrap. I don't have any statistics to back this up, but I've seen several Toyotas live through several generations of Fords and Chevys.
Why do you need to “come out”?	That's because most people are straight. It's not surprising if you are what 99 percent of people are.
Why do people go for coffee/tea/a drink as a way of meeting each other for a chat?	It's an open, public place, and it's something fairly non-committal. If you sit down for a full meal, you're there for probably the better part of an hour. If you grab a coffee, you can chat for as long or short as you like depending on what's going on. It's also pretty cheap, only spending a few bucks for a drink rather than maybe $20 or more for a full meal. Timing is also more flexible. You can grab a drink whenever, but going for a meal at something like 3:00 in the afternoon is a bit odd.
Why do only 5-10 people answer questions or provide discussion in a classroom?	Some people don't know the answer. Some people are shy. Some people are scared of being seen as a nerd.
Before there was cameras or forensic science, how was it possible to prove anything beyond a reasonable doubt?	The key word is "reasonable." You can always come up with increasingly unlikely scenarios for a situation but they have to reasonably fit the evidence. For example, if six separate people all say they saw me kill Billy Bob, my clothes were soaked in blood, and the knife that was used to kill him was engraved with my name then it is reasonable to assume that I did indeed kill Billy Bob. You can come up with alternate scenarios (the witnesses were bribed, the blood came from a pig I was butchering earlier, the knife was stolen at an earlier date) but unless those alternate scenarios are backed up by facts (all six witnesses were found with $10,000, I'm a butcher, I reported the knife stolen six months ago) they aren't considered to be "reasonable." The doubt has to be evidence based, not suppositional.
The accent from the 1940s/50s that no one seems to use anymore	It's the Transatlantic accent; an artificial accent used by broadcasters meant to sound equally acceptable to Americans and British: _URL_0_
How are daily fantasy leagues NOT considered a form of gambling?	Gambling or not is irrelevant. The law says fantasy games are allowed and poker isn't. The law also says that betting on horses is legal subject to a separate law, and betting on horses is certainly gambling. People can debate you on your comparison up there, but it really doesn't matter. the law says poker is illegal and fantasy is legal.
Why do words sometimes seem like they're spelled wrong when I think about it for too long?	Gestaltzerfall, which is basically a more pedantic way to explain when you stare at the particular character, or words in this case (as the term was originally referring only to this phenomenon occuring with japanese kanji characters), and a part of your brain whose job is to store the visual information wears out and does not function very effectively. Your brain is tired of seeing the same set of characters to the point where it refuses to recognize it anymore
Why do I have to close unrelated apps/programs when installing an app/program update on my Mac and/or PC?	Internet browsers can often use plugins from other software/suites e.g. Microsoft Word/office. If the browser is open during the update (i.e. the plug-in is busy) then this might cause a failure to update microsoft office completely, as it also needs to update the plugins.
the gender wage gap, and if it's a "Myth" or not.	It's real. Women get paid less than men for the same work (on average). The "myth" part that has caused recent attention is that the figure 0.77 $ for women per $1 for men has been used a lot and it turns out it's not accurate because it wasn't controlled properly for hours. Women also work (on average) fewer hours. When you adjust for hours the gap is smaller but still exists.
Why has the global temperature spiked so dramatically in the last 10-20 years even though that's the timespan we've become aware of global warming and started trying to combat it?	Guess what happened before 20 years ago? Rampant pollution while being oblivious. "Just exhaust it, planet Earth will pick up the slack and balance out" was the mentality back then.
Whenever there is a race, why do the cars sitting all the way in the back still have to finish first?	There's a qualifying round before the main race where the racers try to set the fastest time. They are lined up in order of their qualifying time.
The arguments against GMO's	Diet in America has been going through fads in the past decades. The argument against GMOs is as much social and emotional as it is scientific. Most people don't read scientific journals, so their understanding of the issue comes from less objective or reliable sources.
Why are most skyscrapers gray or blue and not other colors?	Well, skyscrapers are covered by glass on the outside. Glass is light, resistant and allows you to have great views. If the sky is blue, the building will look blue. If the sky is cloudy then it will look gray. Look at a skyscraper when the sunset is happening and it will reflect a different color. Also there are other color of glasses like golden, blue or smoked or tainted to filter the sun light. ;)
Why is debating another person so appealing?	Debating forces you to examine your own thoughts more closely. It challenges your mind. It's like sports, only better because it's your brain, not your muscle that wins or loses.
Where does Europe end?	Europe's Eastern border is usually drawn at the Ural River, the Ural Mountains, the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Turkey is in both Europe and Asia - the western bank of the Bosphorus is in Europe, and the eastern bank is in Asia. Western Russia is usually seen as being in Europe; again, the Ural Mountains in Russia generally mark the border with Asia.
How do our bodies acclimate to hot/cold temperatures?	Our brains have a "thermostat" (this is one of the jobs of the hypothalamus) to maintain a constant body temperature. It controls heating/cooling functions like sweating, shivering, and keeping blood circulation closer to our core to conserve heat or circulating it to our extremities to cool off by dissipating heat. As other posters have mentioned, humans can generate some heat by increasing metabolism in specialized fat cells (brown adipose tissue), but it is not the main way we adult humans regulate our body temperature (part of the reason the paper u/Salted_One linked to is a big deal is that we didn't know adult humans used that mechanism until recently – we thought it was just lots of non-human animals and human infants). This thermostat's set point can be changed. It's most obvious when you have a fever and shiver even though your temperature is high.
What's the difference between an LP, EP, single, etc. when talking about collections of music?	A single is generally one track. An EP (Extended Play) is longer than a single, but shorter than an album. Usually once the runtime exceeds about 25 minutes, or four tracks, it becomes, technically at least, an album or LP (Long Play). The difference between Album and LP generally is accepted to be that an Album means anything, CD, tape, vinyl, whereas LP usually means vinyl.
How was the first computer program made if there was no program to make it in?	It was hard coded into the computer. These computers were built to do one thing.
How can large companies like Costco, Nordstrom, Sephora, etc. afford to have such generous return policies?	The more generous the return policy, the more likely people are to impulse buy. While some take advantage of return policies often, most don't. Therefore you have net gain for the company.
Why I can't hear the American accents from movies and TV series, but can clearly hear it in real life.	Not sure what you mean, there are various American accents as well that are portrayed in movies. A guy from Texas isn't going to speak the same way as a guy from New York, and a guy from New York doesn't speak the same way as a guy from California. These accents are solidified in plenty of movies.
how do businesses get paid in China? Does the government take all the money they receive?	AFAIK their economy works like Capitalism but their government/laws run like Communism. Their system has evolved. I apologise if I am wrong.
Why do cigarettes need to contain so many dangerous chemicals if it is the nicotine that keeps you buying them?	Seems that a lot of people here have missed the main point. Cigarettes go out pretty easily. They add one chemical to keep it burning despite windy conditions, one to keep it from burning too quickly, another to keep it burning consistently and another to make sure that they don't burst into flames outright. To the best of my knowledge, anyway. Edit: terrible spelling
Why doesn't the surface of a pool of paint dry or crust up?	The solvent has to 'migrate' through the paint to escape into the air. The surface can't dry til the solvent is practically all gone. (Once it's mostly dry, the migration slows and the inside does take longer to get completely dry.)
why have some famous people of Jewish ancestry anglicized their last names ( john Stewart, bob Dylan, Natalie portman, etc.)?	Many performers are concerned that if they seem too ethnic, they run the risk of being discriminated against and not getting some parts. Particularly when you're trying to break into showbusiness, it's important to take any good part you can get. Nowadays, discrimination is probably less of an issue than it was in the past, but for some people, it's not worth taking any chances.
Why don't they give brain scans to detect mental illnesses?	If it was possible to diagnose mental problems that way, that would be a good idea. But most problems are caused by things too subtle to be seen on an MRI. Hormones, for instance, or other chemical imbalances.
Does the president or other heads of state have to clear customs the same way normal people do when visiting a country?	No, as high-ranking officials of another government, they're covered by special diplomatic rules that allow them to dispense with that sort of stuff.
When selling stock in the US, why is there such a capital gains taxation disparity between short-term and long-term holdings?	day trading is akin to income, you do it with a hope of actively earning money. long term holdings are considered passive investments. commissions are not the govts concern. Promoting safe and responsible investing is beneficial for investors and companies, which is the govts concern.
why humans can grow adult teeth, and knee caps, as well as repair broken/fractured bones, but can't regrow them if they get removed?	Both teeth and knee caps are things that we are born with. Specifically, if you didn't know, we are actually born with all our adult teeth. When they "grow" in they're actually just shifting out from their little storage zones in our skulls - there are plenty of kinda spooky pics on google showing both baby and adult teeth in xrays/skulls (RIP) of kids. Basically, the simple ELI5 answer is that the various parts of our bodies have the instructions for growing them stored in their genes. So our fingers know how to grow more finger-meat, our leg bones know how to grow more leg-bone, etc. But if the entire thing is removed, then the instructions are gone. So our body can't figure out how to grow it back.
Why do we get those weird wrinkles/lines on our faces or body after sleeping?	The skin was pressed against a fold or wrinkle of fabric which created a lump, which in turn caused a temporary indentation in your skin. This happens after sleeping because you don't move for a long time, but could just as easily occur while awake if you didn't move.
How did Western European countries end up colonizing the world, instead of some other civilization?	Short answer. Geography Long answer. Go watch guns, germs & steel The basic premise is that because of Europeans ability to grow a large variety of low effort high calorie foods in their temperate climate they gained an advantage over other civilizations
How do the balance sheet and income statement work together	Assets - Liabilities = Capital + Income - Expense. In your example above this would create a balanced entry.
Why do we grunt when we push/lift/pull heavy objects?	* Because our core instinctively tenses up to support our lower back, and air is squished out of us * Grunting actually tenses up your core more, forming a symbiotic grunt-squish relationship. * To assert our dominance over a heavy inanimate object to anyone within earshot.
What do internet service providers actually have to pay for when supplying you internet?	Their hardware needs to constantly be maintained and replaced. It's a good practice to swap out all of your switches and routers every 3 years when they're as heavily used as the ones they have are used. Then there's the cable infrastructure out to homes. It needs maintenance less often, but it does happen.
Whats stopping billionaires from starting up there own micro-nations to act as tax havens?	The fact that there is no land, anywhere on Earth, that isn't claimed by another country or reserved by international treaty. So, really, the only way to start a country is by force of arms.
Why does grease on my hands take so much more effect to take off compared to say getting some on my legs	Pure speculation, but I imagine it’s because the deep grooves and wrinkles in your palms trap and maintain grease more easily than your smoother, less tough skin in say your thigh or calf area.
What is a Solid State Drive (SSD), and why should I use it on my computer?	SSDs are getting cheaper per GB and getting larger. I use a 256GB SSD because I don't need to store all that much data at one time. I'm not a pack-rat like some. An SSD is a hard drive with no moving parts. This cuts out the slowest part of the read/write operations on conventional hard drives which is moving the read/write head to the correct part of the disk. It's effectively just a much faster, if currently lower-capacity, means of storing data in bulk. You can set up a small SSD to just hold the OS so it can boot much faster, or you can put everything on it as I do. There are also some setups in which a conventional hard disk is used for most storage but data accessed the most is cached in an SSD.
Why does grunting, groaning or generally making little noises when you are in pain help the pain level go down?	your brain can only take a certain amount of input, and can only focus on so much at a time. By vocalizing, you're focusing your brainpower on an output and a feeling other than the massive pain input that your brain wants to focus on. Another method that's been proven to work are things like virtual reality sims where someone can explore a complex area and focus on that experience.
How does the draft work in NASCAR? And how come they can sling shot around another car?	When a car goes very fast, the air in front of the car is compresed and the air behind the car get stretched out. The high pressure air in front of the car pushes the car back. The low pressure air behind the car also pulls the car back. My fancy diagram: ++ [ < --] -- When a second car is following the first car the air between the cars is "medium pressure" so it doesn't slow down either car as much as normal. Diagram: ++ [ < --] med [ < --] -- While both cars benefit, the second car does get more of a benefit than the first car. So with both cars going the same speed, if the first car is using 100% engine power, the rear car only has to use say 95% engine power. When the driver of the second car wants to, he can use the full engine power to go just a little bit faster than the lead car. Once the second car is going faster, he can dart out from behind the lead car, now all drafting advantages are lost and the second car is going a little faster and can "slingshot" around the lead car.
what will happen if a number of infants are isolated?	FWIW, the Nazis tried this to discover the "original" language of humans. Obviously no reasonable entity would try this for ethical reasons. The speed at which they would develop a language, if they did, is also very important. There have been several cases of feral, non-speaking children who could learn to function in society to various degrees, though could never master language since they didn't learn it at the appropriate stage of development. Another random point (none of which are answering the question, my apologies) is that the human brain is naturally equipped to understand and use speech, though there is no such innate skill in regards to reading. The ability for these children to understand writing systems (much less create their own) would be significantly harder than speech (beyond the use of pictograms, that is).
Why were most of the more well-known fighting styles (i.e Kung Fu, Karate, Judo, Aikido, Muay Thai, Sambo, Tae Kwon Do) all from Asia? Were there many styles of fighting that Europeans developed?	Boxing, wrestling, fencing, and jousting are examples of western martial arts that are very well known. In the 1800s, when Europe had increased trade with Asia, the Asian styles became popular in the West because they were more exotic. There are many more less well-known [Historic European Martial Arts](_URL_0_) that are currently going through a bit of a revival.
Confederate heritage	The Civil War is, without a doubt, the single most researched event in American history. There are more books and studies on it than everything else having to do with America combined. There is no question, none, zero, that slavery and its future in the United States was the central issue that led to secession and thus the war. It would be easier to argue that the world is flat than to argue that some other issue was the cause. The "tyranny of the central government" that Southerners feared was based on fear that the government would begin to pass laws hostile to slave ownership. It was all about slavery, period.
Why did the Greeks not just climb Mount Olympus to see what was up?	Imagine you are a Greek. You ignore the warnings from the priests telling you how the gods will strike you down, and decide to climb the 10,00 foot mountain anyways. Well, once you get to a certain point, the air thins out. It becomes cold, even downright freezing, and all of the trees have vanished. At that point, you would probably turn back, taking it as a sign that you shouldn't be there. Even if you didn't, with no climbing equipment, and no trails set up, you would likely fall to your death, get stuck and starve, or just succumb to the elements.
Without meaning to be disrespectful. What stops someone with social interaction conditions (such as Asperger's and other such ASD'S) from emulating what is considered normal human interaction, even though it may be foreign or unnatural to them? (Or alternatively is it possible, just unusual).	Conditions like Asperger's, or mental health issues like bi-polar disorder, or conditions like borderline personality disorder affect a person's perception of, understanding of, and interaction with, the reality around them. These conditions have biological bases which strongly affect how the person reacts to those around them. Asking someone who has any of these or other related conditions to emulate what is considered normal social action within their society is like asking a hearing-impaired person to emulate excellent hearing, or a person with very poor eyesight to emulate perfect sight. The penalties for acting outside the norm are very high. If these folks could "emulate" behaviors that would make them fit in, most of them would.
can you be tracked online if using prepaid cell phone sim cards? How? Is this a truly secure anonymous internet?	SIM cards on their own cannot be tracked but once inserted in a phone it can be tracked through the SIM's serial number and the phone's IMEI number. These details are automatically sent to the nearest network tower. GSM phones can be located using the signal information pretty accurately without even GPS. Each phone has a unique IMEI number so you'll have to use new phone for each SIM for complete anonymity. To answer the second part of your question- it is very hard to get complete anonymity online though using VPN's or the Tor browser help you in that to a large extent. Please ask if you need any further clarification
How were the 32bit Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Datacenter Server OSes able to support more than 4 GB RAM?	I don't know the innards of those survive Windows versions but I know how it's usually done, because I've designed and built hardware with 16 and 32 bit CPUs that support way more memory than their address bus allows. The problem is that the CPU needs a way to say which byte of memory to read, and on a 32 bit CPU that is limited to 2\^32 addresses which is 4GB. The answer to this is to use paging, which is where a chunk of the address space can be pointed at any one of a large number of other blobs (pages) of memory outside that 4GB range. The CPU specifies which of these extra chunks it should be pointed at by setting a specific page 'number' in a given register. As far as the programme is concerned it is reading the same address within its 4GB range as before, but what it actually sees will depend on the paging register. I assume the Windows versions you mention were built specifically to support a software paging technique.
what is actually happening to an app on my phone when I update it? Does the file get deleted and then the entire new app downloaded?	An app is made up of dozens of individual code files that each accomplish one part of the larger task. When the developer makes changes to the app, not all of those files will have changed. When it's packaged for an update, only those changed files included, so it's only them that are downloaded by your phone and merged back into the app. This is why the initial download of the app tends to be much larger than the size of each update.
Why is customer support always so bad?	A lot of the problem boils down to the fact that customer service reps are treated like shit by everyone they interact with. Customers only call is when they are already unhappy. Even before the menus and waiting, the customer is in a bad mood, and will take out all of their frustration on the first person that answers. A friend of mine was doing billing support for a company, and she took an hour long call where a customer constantly berated her for being a "racist bitch" because she couldn't refund him for something he bought. Hanging up or escalating the call to a supervisor would have lost her her job. Management tends to hate call centers. They are a huge cost to the bottom line, customers hate them, and no better system exists to help customers. Upper management does everything in their power to make call center work suck. Shitty pay, zero tolerance policies, outdated and worthless software, constant upsells, etc...
Why are heavier elements found together in the same location?	When the Earth was much hotter, and everything was much more liquid, things could flow a lot easier. Just like putting oil in water, these molten metals and minerals will tend to separate out due to their different densities. They then cool and solidify, and billions of years later humans find them in clusters. Elements/compounds with similar densities may be found close together for this reason. Other compounds might also be characteristically found together because one is a reaction product of the other, or they are both products of the same reaction, which occur naturally in nature. An example would be oil and natural gas. Geology and planetary science isn't my speciality though, so there are likely more complex factors at play than just these.
Why are 99% of ads which are supposed to be funny so unfunny? Surely multi-billion dollar companies could afford comedic ad writers?	They get group tested to hell and back, scrutinized backwards and forwards to eliminate any possible offense, to fit specific demographics, to fit in allotted time,etc. Small companies generally do better at this, as they just go with the initial idea (saw a Bigfoot themed ad for a mattress protector that was funnier than the video it was before)
How can rockstars like Keith Richards and Ozzy Osbourne do so many hard drugs and consume so much alcohol over their lifetimes, yet still live into old age?	You have picked two people who are MASSIVE statistical outliers. Even science is fairly confused by their survival. I believe they were studying Mr. Richards to understand how he's still breathing.
How are humans the only species to have a higher consciousness?	You are assuming a lot of things about consciousness . First by saying "higher" you assume that it's not binary. Secondly you assume that other animals isn't as conscious as you, even though I'm pretty sure a cat is more "present" than you, and I think a cat have a larger understanding of the "now" than people do. So to answer your question you have to define consciousness, and then you realize that the only way to define it is by using it .
How does Germany not have a crazy high rate of alcoholism and related crime when it has relaxed liquor laws?	People who are happy and secure generally don't drink to excess, or when they do, don't commit crimes. Germany has a strong economy, a strong social safety net, widely available substance abuse treatment, and a rather effective police and judiciary. As various attempts at alcohol prohibition worldwide have proved, people will always get alcohol if they want it. It's a simple chemical any idiot can make at home. The way to reduce alcohol-related crime and health problems is to attack the things that cause problem drinking. Namely insecurity, anxiety, and untreated mental/psychological disorders.
How can a third-party candy company sell the actual name brand candy under their own third-party name?	SwedishFishCompany has capacity to make 100,000 Swedish Fish per day. SwedishFishCompany only sells 90,000 SwedishFish per day. SwedishFishCompany has a choice. Slow down production by 10,000 per day, or sell the extra to another company at a reduced rate. SwedishfishComany chooses to keep it's workers employed and work at full capacity, so they sell the extra to Kelly for her to package as her own.
Why does America (or any country) have a fiscal deficit?	Actually it pretty much is simply to avoid inflation. Assuming you know how inflation works, look at what happened in Germany after WWI. They owed a lot of countries a lot of money, and instead of paying back that debt over many years, which most countries do, they decided to just print money in order pay back the other countries. Although they were able to pay of the other countries, neither side was better off: the Germans now had a currency that couldn't buy anything, and the other countries, who were counting on the money they got from Germany, were left with the same worthless money. This is an extreme case, but it still shows why you can't just print money to pay off debt.
I want to understand Image Macros	I need somebody to ELI5 that question for me.
How come westerners are lead to believe that it's very dangerous to eat raw or pink chicken, while raw and pink chicken breast meat is a common dish in Japan, and yet the Japanese doesn't seem to get sick by it?	You have to prepare the meat properly: _URL_0_ > You can prepare chicken in such a way that will kill off disease while leaving the flesh cold and uncooked. In Japan, this is called “toriwasa”. The idea is to cook all the of outward facing meat fibers to kill of disease that may have made contact. Since these diseases don’t penetrate into the flesh, deep frying or poaching for just a few minutes will kill off disease.
Why don't people seeking physician-assisted suicide just overdose on their regularly prescribed pain medication?	I think you're missing the point. Any one can kill themselves any number of ways. The only limit to the number of ways you can off yourself is your imagination. What is up for debate here is whether a person has the right to kill themselves by being assisted by a physician. A physician can give a cocktail of drugs that will make the suicide both quick and painless, while providing the oversight that makes sure both of those conditions happen.
What were the evolutionary benefits (if any) to humans enjoying certain "music" or having some sounds appeal to them.	You're assuming that the enjoyment of music is the purpose of an evolutionary advantageous skill, but it's actually probably just one (of many) applications of an evolutionary advantageous skill. The skill is pattern recognition. Early agriculture was made possible by our ability to recognize (seasonal) patterns. Our ability to hunt specific species is dependent upon our ability to recognize a pattern of behaviour. Our ability to learn to read and speak a language is dependent on our ability to recognize patterns. etc. Bear in mind evolution doesn't fine-tune organisms and traits for specific needs and purposes, and oftentimes certain evolutionary traits are favoured because they are advantageous in specific situations but can be useless or downright ridiculous in other situations.
Why the OJ Simpson case was such a big deal?	It was a big deal because it was obvious that he murdered his wife and his wife's friend. Anyone who followed the trial could see that fact clearly. The fact that he was acquitted does not assuage his guilt.
Why the population of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and China so high compared to other nataions in this world	Rice, rice, baby. Of grains available to the pre-industrial world, rice yields the most calories per acre of land. At the same time, it is labor intensive, and requires more people to farm it. You wind up with a staple that both supports and requires more people, and that leads to a higher population density.
Why do most people get nauseous when reading in the car?	It is generally caused by a discrepancy between the motion being reported by your inner ear and the motion observed by your eyes. As the car moves, your inner ear is constantly aware of the movement. Whilst reading, your eyes are mostly seeing a static image, the book. The fact that the two don't add up and give similar feedback causes the brain to assume there is a problem, potentially due to something you have eaten, which can lead to it deciding that emptying your stomach is the safest option overall so as to prevent possible poisoning
does plugging my ears with earplugs do any damage to my ears?	No, soft foam earplugs can cause no damage unless you leave them in for days at a time or somehow manage to stick them in far enough to hit your eardrum. This should be next to impossible though.
why is pointing at something considered rude?	Cultural norms vary, but as I understand it, pointing at "things" isn't rude and is often necessary to communicate clearly. However many people consider pointing at another person aggressive (accusatory) and therefore rude if the situation doesn't warrant an aggressive reaction. It may also be considered rude if you point in response to a question or statement (without any other responds) but in those cases it's the lack of verbal response that's actually the rude action. If someone asks you a question you are expected to verbally respond in kind so silence often offensive.
How does a heat seeking missile work?	First attempt at ELI5. an aircraft engine and fuselage all generate heat. This radiates away from the aircraft in the Infra Red spectrum of light. Humans obviously cannot see this mostly, but IR cameras can. By using some smart tech to determine shape and the front or rear of an aircraft by interpreting an infra red picture captured by the IR camera in the nose of the missile, the missile adjusts its path to hit the source of the IR energy. Thus flares counter these missiles by blinding and seducing the missile with a large heat signature, unfortunately smart people have begun programming missiles with some brains and they can tell the different between flares and the aircraft or tank
to someone who doesnt live in America BlackFriday? is it really that good?	Black Friday is the way the American population "kicks off" their Holiday shopping season. Lots of stores open at Midnight and stay open all day, most if not all stores have really good sales that make staying up that late tempting. It's good in some ways if you are looking for something specific, I have a friend who got an XBOX and Kinnect bundle cheap. But some people act like lunatics and will hurt you to get what they want;like it's a free for all. It's totally something everyone should experience once in their lifetime.
In 2008 oil was "running out" and the price of a barrel of oil sky rocketed. Fast-forward seven years and there's a surplus?	A couple things happened. First, fracking allowed access to oil that was previously economically unviable to extract. But with the high oil prices and refined techniques and equipment, it eventually became viable. With the increase in supply, the price started to drop. OPEC countries were expected to lower their supply to control the price, but they don't really trust each other to actually do so, so none of them have significantly changed their production. So with extra supply and not a similar amount of rising demand, the price has dropped significantly. It's already more expensive to use fracking now than the oil the process produces is worth, so it's expected to slow down in the future. But should the price of oil climb up again, the equipment and processes is already there to start it back up again.
Why do retailers purposely damage/break their unsold items before throw it to the garbage? Why don't they donate it instead?	Two part answer: 1. Retailers break things to discourage dumpster diving. If you knew that Best Buy was going to throw out all their electronics, you would see lines behind Best Buys to go through their trash. Obviously, people don't like it when other go through their trash. 2. Donating certain things is just counteractive. While some places like Panera do donate their unsold food, it's never to individuals, but to charities (in their case, Panera has their own foundation). Food is usually okay as it's a necessity and not a big ticket item. But if Best Buy were allowed to donate a $1500 TV to someone for no reason, that system can be abused to commit tax fraud.
Why does my mechanical watch say not to adjust it between 9pm and 4am?	On a lot of watches, the date pinions start engaging around 9pm and fully disengage around 4am. If you adjust the time or date during that time, you run the risk of damaging the mechanism (such as slipping a few gear teeth).
why does it take so many writers to write pop music?	Pop music is science not art. It requires architects, not artists. All the pieces have to come together to make it appeal to the most people. Typically, they piece together teams whose members each possess a different expertise, again much like a building is built, to make it "work."
How does space-time dilation work?	I forget what redditor explained it this way to me, but this is the best way I can describe it: Think of space and time being orthogonal. That is, they are set perpendicular to one another, like X and Y are on a graph. Taken together, they are space-time. You are always moving through space-time at speed c (the speed of light). If you are at rest in your movement through space, then you are moving forward through time normally. The faster you go through space, the slower you go through time. If you are moving through space at c, then you are not moving through time at all. A photon released from a light bulb or star does not experience any passage of time before arriving at its destination.
Why is it an "exclamation POINT" and a "question MARK?"	It is [exclamation mark](_URL_1_). Depending on where you live. And the question mark is also known as an [interrogation point](_URL_0_) although that is a less common thing to call it.
Why is the idea of a president "running it like a business" so controversial?	Because government is not a business. Business exists to make a profit for owners or investors, government exists (at least in the US) to protect the rights and interests of the people. These are fundamentally different aims. If the government were to run like a business, it would not be able to fulfill its duties under the Constitution or the most basic ethical framework.
Why do planes shake when going through clouds?	Usually it's cumuliform (puffy) clouds that do this. While enough moisture in the air will cause clouds to form, any source of lifting will cause these clouds to fluff up. That air movement will, obviously, also effect the airplane and push it around. It's basically the same as turbulence you get in clear air. The lifting can be thermals (heat rising from the ground), orographic lift (air pushing up rising terrain), or just convection as different air temperatures mix around (the kind of thing that drives a storm). Any movement of air will move the plane around the same way it moves the air. Pay attention next time you fly through a thin little cloud (stratiform), there will probably be very minimal, if any, turbulence (shaking).
Why do we find stuff "oddly satisfying?"	Great question. To my knowledge there is no science on oddly satisfying videos and why we find them so enjoyable. However, it probably stems from human's liking symmetry so much. There have been studies where humans find the face that is symmetrical more attractive than the one that is not. A lot of oddly satisfying videos feature some form of symmetry or neatness that is appealing to the human brain.
Why it takes so long for NASA to prepare one launch	cuz it's a machine going into fucking space
The different coloured circles on carton boxes or packaged snacks	Those are all the colors used to print the package. If the graphic don't come out right you can check which circle of color didn't print and replace that cartridge.
Why are DNS addresses "backwards"?	I don't think this answers your question but if you think about it, street addresses are written "right to left" as well. Take Google's HQ address for example: 1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States The top level domain in this case is the country, United States, which is at the end of the address. The state, city, street and street number all drill down towards the left.
Why do you get extremely hot right before freezing to death?	When you are cold, the blood vessels near the surface of your body constrict, reducing the amount of warm blood exposed to the cold and limiting heat loss. Your body can only keep that up for so long, and when it finally gives up, the warm blood comes rushing back to the skin, giving the illusion of being too hot.
When we really have to pee, why does walking or moving lessen the need "to go" in the moment?	Needing to urinate is something which can be suppressed by the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system activity, or becomes more obvious when parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system activity predominates. Exercising shifts the balance towards the sympathetic nervous system.
What exactly is Effective Demand?	There was no mention of a constrained market in Econ 101, because it's a complicated concept; this is why you should ignore everyone who tells you that they know what economic policies we should have because they took Econ 101. Anyway. Suppose that I want buy a smoothie every time I go to work out. My demand for smoothies then depends not just on the price of smoothies, but the price of the gym as well. If the gym is too expensive, I won't go, and therefore I won't want any smoothies at all. So my effective demand is then 0 (I don't want any smoothies), even if my notional demand is very high (I would pay a lot for a smoothie if I did go).
How does externally applied "fat burning" gels work?	This is just a hunch, but they just do not work. The only way to lose fat is to consume less calories than you burn through out the day. So you can eat the same but exercise more, consume less calories and don't exercise any more/less or a combination of eating less calories and exercising more. It really is that simple. Stay clear of these "miracle" creams and the like.
Why does fresh cut grass smell so potent?	Because it's traumatized! Grass (and many plants) release chemicals when they are cut or injured that do a few things. The compounds help speed the healing of the grass by causing them to form new cells and act kind of like an antibiotic to prevent infection. The chemicals (called green leaf volatiles) from some plants, when combined with caterpillar saliva can attract certain predators to the plant to eat the caterpillars. A rather handy evolutionary tool! It's interesting to note that while it smells so incredibly good, [that they contribute to ozone formation and air pollution.](_URL_0_)
Why do I see a shadow on the inside of my eye when I push my finger on the outside edge of my eye?	Your finger pushes against your eye and distorts the lens that focuses light on the back of your eye. A small indentation can create a black spot where light doesn't focus, or focuses very poorly. It's similar to how you can have dark spots on the bottom of a pool by distorting the surface.
Why does only one nostril clog up with mucus when I'm sick?	Surprisingly, about 80% of people breathe out of one nostril at a time, alternating about every 2.5 hours. Research the nasal cycle for specifics. The one you are not using clogs when you are sick. Some research indicates that this can throw off the nasal cycle, but it hasn't been proven to my knowledge.
What actually happens when a computer game crashes?	So, I'm not a game developer but I am a software engineer. When we write software, we build in certain traps for errors that we can handle, called exceptions. For example, if you try to load a file but it can't be found or accessed, the program might handle a FileNotFoundException. In this case, the programmer can anticipate this happening and keep the program running by asking the user for another file, try again, etc. Now, software just does what it is told to. If there is an uncaught exception, which may have been thrown by the OS, some dependency in the software, the GPU, etc., the program has no idea what to do to continue. All it can do is tell the process running it it doesn't know what to do and quit. As far as the running processes, these are sometimes handled gracefully by the software, sometimes handled by the OS, or sometimes are left as zombie processes, which keep running and take up your CPU and memory resources.
How do sharp angles on a vehicle affect a radars ability to detect it, such as the USS Zumwalt	Imagine each surface is a mirror. And you are a miles away with a really strong flashlight. The angled surfaces reflect your light off to the sides and you won't see your light reflected back at you.
Why do cameras have a maximum SD card capacity?	Digital cameras basically run an OS much like a computer. If the kernel, or BIOS, was limited to addressing a maximum size of 64 GB on a storage device, that's simply all it can see. I should note that it doesn't mean there's anything nefarious going on, necessarily, it's just a limit of the architecture they're using.
Since gender is considered fluid rather than binary, what is the point of sexual reassignment surgery and how is it considered more than cosmetic?	That's assuming that everyone holds the same beliefs about the fluidity of gender. Not everybody who wants sexual reassignment surgery believes that gender is completely fluid. Some feel more masculine than feminine or vice versa, and want their sex to represent that. Others are perfectly okay with living in the middle ground. Personally, I'd take this question to /r/asktransgender . You'll probably get some good answers there, as it's dedicated to this type of question.
How come airlines are able to stream live satellite TV to their entertainment systems, but have trouble providing stable on-board internet access/Wifi?	Beaming TV to the plane is a one way connection. WiFi and Internet require asking for data and waiting for the requested data to arrive, then asking for more. Satellite TV is just a constant stream of data, just show what you get. Missed a packet? Too bad, pick up from the next keyframe. Don't want the data? Turn off your receiver, it'll still come to you though, you just won't decode it
Why do TV actors earn residuals upon re-airing for their performances, but recording artists don't earn a dime when their music is played on the radio?	This answer is gonna be totally unsatisfying, but its the answer Because thats just how the business model those industries work. Yes I know, unsatisfying. Here's some details. For actors, they are members of unions, and these unions have negotiated rates and pay like this. The unions are VERY strong and active and have been able to get fairly good deals in stuff like this, they have been around a very long time, and are a huge part of the industry and giant player. In music, there are no such unions among the artists. It's very every man for themself. In music the artist doesn't even get paid for radio play. The songwriter and publisher get paid, not the artist. The music labels hold most of the power. In other words, actors, through their union, secured pretty good rights and pay for residuals. Musicians being a more disperse and non-union thing, have never been able to do it, and the power (and money) really resides with their label, so they have no reason to pay them anything.

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