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Where does the term "the birds and the bees" to explain sex-talk came from?	Birds and bees are good animals to use to discuss sexual reproduction with children without the need to talk about sex itself, using processes that children are likely familiar with. Birds lay eggs, which is similar to female ovulation. Bees deposit pollen into flowers, which is similar to male fertilisation. Hence, the birds and the bees.
how do we know when our sun will go supernova?	Our sun will not go supernova, and when our sun begins to die, it will go big and red. We know this due to calculations that we do and observations.
Why do people give Al Gore credit for inventing the internet?	They really don't. Some people say it as a joke, but that's it. [The snopes article has more information.](_URL_0_) You only need to read the first three paragraphs.
What exactly is happening when a black hole 'burps'?	Around some black holes an accretion disk is formed. This is basically just a disk of gas orbiting the black hole, sometimes it comes from a companion star. As this gas orbits and moves towards the black hole, it is superheated, and this is what is causing the xrays. The xrays are not coming directly from the black hole since nothing can escape the event horizon (since all paths lead back to the center) but rather from the disk of gas surrounding the black hole. If a black hole does not have an accretion disk, then it will not give off any radiation (except for potentially Hawking Radiation)
How was the Apollo 11 landing different from say the current Space X landing.	If you are referring to it's return to earth, it deployed parachutes and splashed down in the ocean. Here is the video. _URL_0_ The difference between SpaceX and Apollo 11 is that only the crew re-entry vehicle was recovered. The rest of the ship separated during launch and burned up on reentry.
ELIA5 the "War Z" fiasco, please.	The game has been released and is in really early development. A lot of the features being advertised are not in the game [yet?]. People think it's false advertising and are unhappy with the end product.
Why is Carfax, a commercially owned company, allowed to collect all kinds of information on our cars, and sell it to others for money?	Every bit of information that is on Carfax is either: 1) Not information that qualifies for privacy protection 2) Information that is already public - this includes police records 3) Information that, somewhere down the line, you agreed to allow another company to sell, likely in a very long sale contract, online agreement, or other similar instrument. That's how they do it. Source: IP attorney.
Why do some belly pains only go away after using the toilet/restroom?	The pain in those cases are caused by pressure. Like a blocked pipe, enough pressure can cause issues(for us, intense pain, for pipes, expanding and potential rupture), and also like the pipe, if we unblock the way and get rid of the stuff causing the pressure, the pain goes away.
Who decided that we need exactly 12 years of grade school? Seems like kind of a random number to me.	It's not really arbitrary. First off, let's look at when children start school. About 5 or 6 years old. This isn't an age that was pulled out of a hat -- this is an age where almost all children have developed to the point where they can sit and learn and (more or less) behave for a few hours while doing it. OK, so we have our start point. Then we have our end point -- the age of 18. This isn't arbitrary either; 18 has been an age of adulthood for thousands of years. Why? Because it's the age at which most humans stop getting any taller. As a result, it's regarded as the age at which someone is no longer a child. So, we have our age when we can start learning, and our age at which we become adults. It just so happens that the distance between those ages is about 12 years.
Surviving a freefall into a body of water	Under best conditions, any, up to and including world record edge of space, because terminal velocity and "best conditions". A human being trained to skydive can assume a position that lowers their terminal velocity to somewhere around 150 mph. If they can properly time a flip into a feet-first dive like a water-slide, they'd survive with major trauma (broken bones, probably internal bleeding). The most important part about "best conditions" is that there would need to be a lifeguard and an ambulance waiting at the landing zone to pull the skydiver out of the water, administer first aid, and immediately rush him/her to a hospital. If you want an average person to swim away from the impact with the water, that's really a question of percentages - some people hit the water wrong from 40 ft, black out (even momentarily), and drown before they can be saved.
How are credit card numbers validated?	The first step in that the first few digits will be checked to correspond to a certain company. For example an Amex card will start with 34 or 37 and will be 15 digits long. Where as a Visa will start with a 4 then the next 3 digits describe the issuer and card type, it will also be 13, 16 or 19 digits long. If it then passes this then a Luhn algorithm will be checked. You take every second digit(except the very last one) and double them. Any double digit numbers are added together to get a single digit. You then sum these numbers up with the other digits and get one whole number. The modulus 10 of this number should be 0 if it isn't then one or more digits is wrong. So if you have 80 then the modulus 10 is 0 so it works whereas if you had 23 then the modulus 10 is 3 and you know there's an error. Now that you have an entry that you know is accurate the machine then contacts the bank to verify it with the CVV and expiry date to authorise the purchase.
How come when I'm driving and I stop at a light the road seems to keep moving?	Tunnel vision. Perhaps, while you are driving, you should take notice at your surroundings more frequently. Keeping your eyes on the road ahead is good, but it's equally important to be aware of everything else around your vehicle while on the road.
The U.S. President just said in his Weekly Address that the U.S. Air Force is the smallest it's been since 1947. How is that possible since the AF was established in 1947?	Because the US Army Air Force transferred all assets and personnel to the US Air force upon its creation and in 1947 they had a lot of assets having just finished fighting WW2. More pertinent should be just how stupid that talking point is in terms effectiveness. If you only measure the effectiveness of any branch of the military based on numbers you get the wrong answer. One F22 is equivalent to an entire fighter squadron or more from 1947, and if you were to pit it against a bomber fleet from 1947 then none of the bombers would ever return. More to the point who are the USAF supposed to be fighting? The US Air Force, 2017 version, is the largest air force in the world, the second largest is the US Navy.
What are crazy long math equations used for, and what do they solve?	Not everything that is worth doing can be described simply. For example, suppose you want to do something simple, like come up with a mathematical model to figure out how much snow will be on a road a few hours after it has snowed. To be able to decently capture this, at a minimum you will need to include: * temperature * wind speeds * humidity * precipitation * cloudiness * ambient light levels * latitude * time of year And the real kicker is, many of these factors interact with each other, so you also need to capture those interactions. And this is for something as simple as how quickly is the snow gonna melt! Imagine what you may need to describe something more complicated. I happen to know all of this because I am currently (procrastinating at) writing a paper on this topic...
How much executive power does the PotUS have to launch nuclear weapons?	All of it. They do not have to get the permission of anyone to launch a nuke as they are the commander in of the military and are the singular authority over them. It is possible for someone in the chain under him to disobey orders, but that is not likely. During military activities there is not time to call a session of Congress, wait for days for enough to gather to have a quorum, and wait more days for it to be discussed. In a situation where nukes are needed that decision has to be made in minutes.
Why do names tend to cycle in and out of popularity throughout different generations?	"That's an old person name, I know an old lady at my work who is named that it's so icky" or "Haha gross I can't name my kid after my dad" "Haha gross I can't name my daughter after my gramma" "Oh man, wouldn't it be great to name my child after a relative I barely know to honor who they are as a person?" At least, that's how it goes in my family. Everyone gets a first or middle name from someone dead in the family that the parent liked. My middle name is a great great great uncles, my first name is a great grampa. My sister is named after two aunts who were sisters. My brother is named after someone on my dad's side, a cousin or something of my grampa.
why are old jugs or bottles of liquor commonly shown labeled with three X's?	It's typically a numbering system for jugs of moonshine- the number of Xs is the number of times the mixture was runn through the still before being bottled- XXX indicates it was run through 3 times, which means the moonshine inside is pure alcohol.
What happened to time itself during the earliest stages of the big bang?	"So, isn't the universe older/younger depending on from where you view it? " Since by definition you are part of the universe, you cannot 'view it' from anywhere else. The idea that you can must therefore be a fiction. Likewise, the idea that there is a detached 'point of view' also has a non-empirical basis and contains a paradox, similar to the statement 'a circle whose centre is everywhere'.
Why is Nickelback so hated?	The main thing for me is how ridiculously similar their songs are. I mean, I understand having a signature "sound," and Chad Kroeger definitely has a distinctive voice, but for some reason they can't seem to come up with anything new. Oh yeah. One example I found is this clip of two of their songs, each playing on one speaker - listen in stereo: _URL_0_
Does Mary Kay really give their best employees pink Cadillacs, and if so, how can anyone possibly sell enough makeup to pay for a Cadillac and still make the company a profit?	Yes they do actually give you a pink Cadillac CTS ( I saw one just today) they are usually the women at the top of the local pyramid, who have recruited a large amount of members.
If Reddit is not paying sub-reddit moderators, why are they working on Reddit, unpaid?	You can look at it from the point of view of the mods giving a free service to Reddit, or you can look at it as Reddit giving a free service to the mods. It's totally possible to run your own message board. But you would have to pay for the webspace, you'd have to learn how to install and maintain the messageboard backend software (which includes registering users). You'd also have to pay for the bandwidth costs of having users access the message board. And even after you've done all that, you need to find users. Reddit does all of that for you, at no cost to you, and they have a massive user base. It's so much easier to promote a sub on reddit than a stand alone message board. Of course Reddit gets a benefit from this, or else they wouldn't give you access to all those resources for free. So it works out for both parties.
Why is it called a pair of jeans when there is only one?	Pair of pants (itself short for "pantaloons"). Back in the middle ages, the hoses were kind of put on separately. The phrase stuck for 500 years after it stopped making sense. Go figure.
why are scientists trying to clone a wooly mammoth using ancient DNA when they could be cloning endangered animal species, such as the white rhino, whose DNA we can still collect?	As has already been said, there are research efforts focused on both. However, tackling the technical challenges of piecing together a genome that hasn't existed for thousands of years would benefit the scientific community more than trying to keep a species alive that nature can no longer support. Sequencing the mammoth genome would represent a major achievement in our ability to study the genetic content of extinct species and could ultimately lead to greater insight into the origins of cellular life. This is the reason it gets more funding and media attention.
How does something like a drill speed up the harder you pull the trigger?	The trigger is attached to something called a variable resistor. As the trigger moves a metal contact plate slides along the resistor. There is a small power supply that sends a voltage through the resistor. The electricity flows through the metal contact into the resistor. As the metal contact moves, the electricity has to flow through more of the resistor. This cause the output voltage to drop. The circuit that controls the speed of the motor checks the output voltage from the trigger circuit and sets the motor speed based on it. So as the trigger moves in and the voltage drops, the motor circuit makes the motor spin faster.
Why do a lot of people love the smell of gasoline?	There are a couple reasons. 1. It gives you a tiny high. Just like huffing, it provides a mild anesthetic effect and gives a slight feeling of euphoria. 2. Associations. Smell is the sense tied closest to memory, so if we have positive connotations with the use of things with gasoline engines, we will get a positive feeling when smelling that again, as the ghost of the memory provides a little hit of dopamine.
Could someone explain to me who Rick Perry is and what he has done/is doing to make him so hated on Reddit?	Rick Perry is the current governor of Texas. He has demonstrated beliefs that are very conservative, though that by itself is not the problem. Rather, Perry is like the guy that always raises his hand in class and says "that's not what my momma said." When faced with scientific evidence he'll bulk claiming that science isnt accurate. However, he's willing to try and get texans to pray for rain during the current drought. He is also in the pocket so to speak of big business. I'm going to go out on a limb here, but reddit is fairly liberal and does not like big business. Many of the solutions he's offered to the state of Texas have involved gutting benefits and social welfare systems then appealing to the federal government to provide assistance. In short, he's a hypocrit that is willing to put money before people. Sarah palin 2.0
If the original patent for the fire hydrant was burned, then...can I patent the fire hydrant?	You run into the problem of prior art. In short, [if it's been done then you can't do it](_URL_0_).
If UBER violating antitrust laws, how come the WWE isn't if it's performers are independent contractors?	Because the antitrust issue with Uber is only indirectly related to the employment status of the drivers. Yes, both Uber drivers and entertainers are independent contractors. But the problem that Uber faces is that it sets the price for all of the rides, and not the drivers. So, that means that either the drivers are actually employees, or Uber is engaged in price-fixing, which is an antitrust violation. It's not a good situation for Uber. It's possible their entire business model has painted themselves into a legal corner. WWE isn't doing the same thing for its contractors, since each of the wrestlers can independently negotiate how much they get paid.
Ion water/alkaline water recent health fad ?	Water scams go back quite a ways. There are no really new ones, because just about anything you can think of has already been done a thousand times over, including all the various combinations thereof. And they are all pseudoscientific garbage. Finally I've found a place to link [to this site.](_URL_0_) I knew it would happen eventually:)
Why is network speed measured in bits but storage size in bytes?	Because when information is transmitted over the network, extra bits are added to tell routers where each packet needs to go, and to add coding that will help minimize transmission errors. So it isn't quite right to take the number of bits/second and divide by 8 to get the number of received bytes/second. Also, Marketing. You get bigger numbers when you talk about bits instead of bytes, so it sounds more impressive. TL;DR - Overhead.
What Mastering is, when music gets Remastered.	A master is the original finished copy of a piece of audio or video. Before the 1980s, all masters were analog. Copying it meant playing it, and each time you played, it would wear out a little. Masters were used a little as possible, you'd make 10 copies, then 10 copies of each of those copies, etc., until you had all that you needed. Between occasional copies and just the physical breakdown over time, the quality of the master would degrade. Remaster means two things. First, you convert the master to digital, which does not wear out. Then you carefully process the digital copy to remove and repair an imperfection, resulting in a better version that will never break down.
Why does breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth work so well during exercise? I know it works well it just seems strange to me that it does.	Am I the only person that can't breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth when I exercise? I go running, and I can do that for the first quarter of a mile, but then I get too out of breath and have to breathe through my mouth constantly. What am I doing wrong?
How far back in time can a modern English person go and still be able to converse with people before the English sounds foreign?	"About twenny-five years, innit, bruv, ya get me?" "I beg your pardon, I'm not sure I follow."
Adding halves of halves forever	No, you won't, not in that situation. You'll have something like, as time approaches infinity, ruler approaches 12 inches. At that point, you'll be increasing the length by infinitesimal - ly small increments. It's called Xeno's Paradox, and it's fun.
"The Theory of Life"	Essentially, the current theory is that life started off as simple molecules which found a way to replicate themselves, eventually becoming collections of molecules working together, and then evolving into cells, and then to collections of cells. This whole process was only really possible due to the unique atmospheric conditions on earth at the time (essentially the right mix of chemicals in the atmosphere). These simple molecules in the atmosphere created a "primordial soup" as it's known, and developed into more complex molecules. These then developed a "pattern" or "behaviour" (without being alive, a process known as self-organization). Over time, this then developed into collections of compounds working together as a cell, which is the beginning of what we would call life.
How did Helen Keller learn anything when she is missing the two most important senses involved with learning?	She got sick as an infant, IIRC. It was hard for her, she was eventually able to make the connection between the smooth sweet tasting thing and the hand movments people kept making in her hand. (In my very limited knowledge, I believe the first time she realized what words are was when she was getting water, and her teacher kept signing "w-a-t-e-r")
Why do things smell stronger when they get wet?	A - Because you reek of smoke all the time but have got used to it so you don't notice. And B - the water is evaporating taking the smell into the air with it, combined with the moisture in the air "traps the smell" better than "dry" air.
Who gets to decide what to name a newly forming Hurricane?	[The World Meteorological Organization creates lists of names in advance.](_URL_1_) The lists rotate every several years, and there's a process for retiring names of storms that caused particularly large damage (e.g. Katrina will not be assigned to a new hurricane).
How come surgeons can slice you up like a Christmas ham and there's minimal bleeding?	They can either use something called electrocauterisation, which is where they heat the tissue with electricity in order to burn and seal blood vessels, or they can 'tie off' blood vessels using ligation.
Why does Reddit care so much about privacy?	I think most people are ok with governments having the physical capability of tapping a phone, intercepting email, and other such suveillance. But they want that power to be safeguarded behind court orders for specific cases. > Am I naive for thinking the government doesn't really care about most of the illegal stuff I do (piracy, drug use, etc.)? Here in the UK we literally had local councils using anti-terrorism laws to snoop on people putting their wheelie bins out on the wrong day, and people who didn't put their dog's shit in a bag. You bet your bottom dollar that the government would just love to nail you for anything it possibly can.
If a person can't be put on trial twice for the same crime, what prevents people who committed a crime and did not get sentenced, openly talk or discuss the crime?	They can still be sued by the estate of the deceased. Like OJ - wasn't convicted of murder, but had to pay a shitload of money to Nicole and Goldman's family.
-How is life possible?	> Life itself contradicts this goal. In our bodies at every given moment chemical reactions are going on that send these atoms UP the stability gradient. HOW?! Because of constant energy input from the sun. You appear to be talking about the concept that entropy always increases. But that only applies to a "closed system", and the earth is not a closed system. The sun is essentially "running down" and it's transferring vast amounts of energy to the earth in the process. > It isn't until the life leaves our body that our atoms and molecules all stabilize (decomposition). Decomposing is not "stabilization". The molecules of our body are used as food for bacteria, mold, and fungus. Life continues.
Why cant we just create nerves?	We can grow nerves, just not in a way that's useful, due to the lack of organization. Say you have a big mass of copper. You could very easily melt it down and pour the molten copper into a rectangular shape to make a solid plate that would probably be a pretty effective barrier (skin). However, if you tried to make wires with it, you may succeed but the wires wouldn't actually do anything; it would just be a tangled mess. For them to be functional, you would need to take each wire individually and carefully lay them out in a systematic way to create a working system. Nerves are the same way; we can grow nerve cells in a lab, but we don't yet have the technology to tell them how to organize.
Why do company's sponsor the PGA when it seems like pro golf doesn't make much money?	Golfers and golf fans are rich, relatively speaking. The value of the eyeball of a golf watcher is more valuable than the eyeball of a nascar watcher or an NFL watcher. Advertising cost is about the value of the audience, not just the size of it. Even further, people _play_ golf much more than they play, for example, football. They do it, and they do it for year after year after year.
Why do cables like earplugs and chargers tangle up so badly and seemingly easily in your pockets?	Basically, there is one state for the wires to be organized but nearly infinite ways for them to be tangled. It's much more likely that they will be tangled with movement than remain organized. Another way of thinking about it, when you wind your wires into multiple loops, any time a loop or one of ends of the wires goes through one of those loops, a knot is formed. The more loops you have, the higher chance of knots. Certain types of thicker wire and different textured wires can prevent this from occurring.
Why babies/toddlers are more susceptible to ear infections?	It might have something to do with the Eustachian Tube. In children under the age of seven it is shorter and in a more horizontal position than adults. Because of this, mucus might not drain from it as efficiently as it drains from adult ears, thus upping the chance of an ear infection. Other people feel it has nothing to do with the Eustachian tube, but just has something do with the immune system which is still under developed and not as capable of fighting off these infections. AKA science ain't 100% sure yet.
Why in some places people in jail aren't allowed to vote?	There are many people who are affected by a government but can't vote. Including children, non-citizens and even people in other countries. We don't normally grant the right to vote based on who is impacted by government regardless of which country you're talking about.
Apparently moonquakes can be caused by tides, but the moon is tidally locked to earth. What tide causes these to occur?	Tidal forcing from the Earth's gravity keeps the moon tidally locked with the Earth, despite variations in its orbit. This means that the Moon is not allowed to freely rotate and has not "just happened" to sync up its rotation with its orbit around the Earth, but rather that the Earth's gravity has constant effects on the rotation of the Moon, in other words that it is actively exerting torque on the Moon.
Why do hot showers dry out your skin?	Your skin is kept moisturized by oils in and near the surface. A hot shower can strip these oils. That allows the moisture in your skin to dry out.
How do bullet proof vests work? How do they protect you from bullets?	They spread the force out on a larger area of your body, so you can handle it better. Think about when you go to the doctor to get a shot. When the nurse sticks the needle in you, she's not using a lot of force. But because the tip of the needle is tiny, it can break your skin easily. If she pressed against your arm with her palm with the same force, it's not going to make a hole. The vests work the same way. Instead of all that kinetic energy going into one small bullet-sized point in your body, the vest spreads it out over a much larger area. You will still get all of the kinetic force, just not all in one place. So instead of getting a hole, you get a bruise.
Why won't the Queen step down off her monarchy?	Assuming you are talking about Queen Elizabeth II, the simple answer is that there is no pressure for her to do so and she doesn't want to.
The differences between frozen yogurt, frozen custard, ice cream, and gelato	Ice cream is made with cream, milk, sugar, and flavoring (like vanilla or chocolate), sometimes with other ingredients such as eggs. It is churned while it freezes, which mixes air bubbles into it. Gelato is an Italian style of ice cream, made with more sugar and less cream. It has less air in it than most ice cream. Frozen yogurt is made with yogurt, which is milk that has been fermented by certain bacteria. It usually doesn't have cream, which makes it less fatty; so it is sometimes thought of as a healthier option (although it still has a lot of sugar). Frozen custard is like ice cream, but made with more egg. (For sanitation, any ice cream mix that is made with egg should be cooked before it is frozen.) Sorbet is made with water, sugar, and flavoring, usually fruit juice; it has no milk products in it. Sherbet (in the American use) is in-between sorbet and ice cream: it is made with some milk, but not a lot of cream, and is often made with fruit flavors.
What would actually happen if the Large Hadron Collider exploded?	There's nothing in the LHC to explode. The major electricity-using components are the giant magnets that circle the ring, while being cooled by liquid helium. In the event of a major failure, the magnets melt and the beam inside disperses into the concrete and dirt surrounding the LHC.
What is an algorithm and how do they work?	Typically an algorithm is basically a flowchart for equations/operations. If you've ever followed a flowchart then you know how an algorithm works. A terrible but simple example would be * 1: How to never divide by zero f(X)=A/B * 2: Input A, B * 3: Is B = 0? * 4: if yes, B+1, go to line 3 * 5: if no, go to line 6 * 6: Divide A/B That's an algorithm.
Why does eating under cooked chicken make us sick, but eating under cooked beef is completely normal	Beef has a higher density than chicken meat, and as such bacteria have a harder time penetrating the outer layers of the beef, compared to chicken meat. This means you just have to take care of the bacteria on the outside of the beef, and you can keep the inside red, if that's what you want. For the exact same reason, chicken meat has to be cooked all the way through, as it's not dense enough to prevent bacteria from penetrating the surface. There's also factors with slaughtering of the animal vs. how it's prepared but then we go into specifics.
Why do newspapers often have random sentences where a l l t h e w o r d s a r e w r i t t e n l i k e t h i s?	The composition software they use to format the columns figures out how many words will fit on a line without hyphenating anything, and then evens out the spacing between the letters to exactly fill up the whole line. Sometimes a line doesn't have a lot of characters in it, so the spacing ends up really big. Source: I used to be a typesetter
if it's electoral votes--not popular--that elect the president of the USA, then what would have to happen for a third-party president to win?	The same thing that a major party candidate has to do -- win a majority of the electoral votes. Since the voters in each state choose who the electors are, the third party candidate would have to have a lot of support in almost every state.
How does quantum entanglement not imply information traveling faster than light or how was the EPR paradox solved?	Say that we have two balls, a red one and a blue one. I am on earth, you are next to the sun (roughly 8 light minutes away). Before you left, you took one ball and placed it in a bag. You don't know which one however. I have the other ball, also in a bag. At a given time (we're both wearing synchronized watches), we take the balls out of our bags. I see that I have the red ball, you see that you have the blue ball. From simple deduction I know that you must have the blue since I have the red, and you deduce the same thing. Did any information travel in this experiment? No, it was simply reasoned based on the facts. This is a very, very simple explanation of entanglement but you get the idea.
If the US was founded based on the principle of the separation of church and state why is this issue and issues surrounding it (abortion, same sex marriage, etc) still contested and debated?	Because those are separate issues, the "Separation of Church and State" just means the government can't favor a religion. The topics of gay marriage and abortion are not directly related, people can be against abortion without believing in a higher power.
How do save states work? Why are they so small compared to save ram, yet recall so much information?	In game consoles? The amount of RAM in old consoles is absolutely tiny. The NES has 2K of RAM, 2K of video RAM, 256 bytes of OAM and 28 bytes of palette RAM. To save an arbitrary state you'd also need to store things like CPU registers which won't amount to much either. Saved games can be tiny on many games when the amount of stuff to know is just the position, HP and inventory. On some, even less.
Why do we always "cut" a globe down the Pacific Ocean to make a map instead of the Atlantic Ocean?	The Prime Meridian (0 degrees longitude) runs through the UK and is usually right in the center of a world map. To the right are the eastern longitudes, and to the left are the western longitudes. This matches real life because if you face north, east is to the right and west is to the left. It also goes back to when the world was Eurocentric, where Europe was the dominant power in the world and therefore in the centre of the map.
Why is it that girls hand writing is generally neater, small and prettier than boys and writing	There are tons of theories on this, from hormones to culture, to development stages of the female brain outpacing boys. The truth is nobody knows for sure, but it something that is documented and studied: _URL_0_
Why does it take a long time for human babies to stand up/crawl but other mammals can stand almost immediately after birth?	The scientific consensus is that humans are birthed early in development as compared to many other mammals as a consequence of our large heads (large brains). So a human baby is much less able to care for itself as compared to other mammalian babies.
Why isn't the earth's spin visible from a plane?	two different questions. you can see the earth spin from a plane. travel eastwards and the sun will rise earlier due to the earth spinning. travel westwards and sunset is delayed because the earth is spinning in the same direction you are going. if you want to convince your roommate the earth is not flat however, a better argument is this:- if the earth was flat, cats would have pushed everything off the edge by now.
Why have animals adapted so that members of certain species die upon procreation?	Plus in the case of animals that swarm around a single female, the swarm as a whole is a closer analogy to a single larger animal than are individual bees. The genetics that matter are those of the swarm as a whole. The males exist to service that single individual. So one male dies? It's done its job. There may even be a benefit in getting that particular male out of the way - it's carried out its sole function, and it's no longer using up resources. And until and unless there's an advantage to bees of having the males NOT die in copulation - which has probably been working as a solution for several million years - that's the way it will carry on. As an analogy, it's more like the individual spermatogenic cells in a human male dying when they've produced a sperm. I have no idea whether that happens, but if it did, so what? Every male has a host more of them. One cell simply doesn't matter.
If a starter motor turned the opposite way (from normal) would an engine start/run in said opposite direction?	Nope. If you look at a [4 stroke engine](_URL_0_) (there's an animation you should look at), the opening of the valves to let gas in & exhaust gas out is based on the engine turning in a particular direction. If you were going backwards, you'd be drawing air in through the exhaust & trying to blow it back through the intake valves.
Professional Wrestling	Professional wrestling is live scripted theater. A common comparison used is a "soap opera for men" and while it comes close, it misses the "live" part. Knowing that the performance takes place in real time makes pro wrestling captivating. Pro wrestling can be dumb and cheesy sometimes, but fans stick around because quality storylines hook audiences and the athleticism and charisma required to perform well is impressive.
Could someone explain to me the difference between socialism and liberalism?	This is a really loaded question because the usage of the terms 'liberal' and 'socialist' in the United States aren't representative of what the terms have meant historically. Further complicating this question is that both socialism and liberal theories have different component parts, i.e. economic liberalism, social liberalism, and philosphoical liberalism. To put it very very very very simply though: liberalism focuses on personal and private property and a laissez-fair approach to economics and society. Socialism on the other hand, is a rejection of this personal and private property and favours communal ownership of property. The reason that socialism and liberalism sometimes get confused in the United States is because social liberalism in the United States is connected to social progressivism and social progressivism (its more radical components) are associated with communist and anarchist movements.
Why is it that girls can fangirl over One Direction, 5SOS, Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, etc. ,but if guys fanboy over female singers or female-fronted bands they're considered girly, immature or even lecherous?	Perhaps it has something to do with the message. Almost all fabricated boybands appeal to young girls and tell them they're beautiful. Almost all current girl bands tell young girls they're great as they are, and ain't no man good enough for them. Neither party specifically appeals to Boys, and the Girl groups are designed to be sexy, but unattainable. TL;DR Boy Bands are telling girls they want the V, Girl Bands are telling boys they're not getting the V. Girls can want 'attainable' guys, Guys can't want Unattainable girls.
What does our (user) data actually look like when it is tracked, collected, analyzed and sold?	Former ad tech guy here. Your data (cookie or otherwise) is stored and parsed into segments (male, twenties, white) which are used by ad campaign managers to appropriately target you based off of needs and wants for each ad campaign. Campaigns have a target sheet which tells each campaign manager (or computer, now) which segments to associate with that campaign. Your data is sold to numerous vendors, and in the case of ads, typically to an RTB backend who can do something with it.
What is actually happening when we are experiencing a headache?	Not sure about headaches, but migraine is caused by spasms in your blood vessels in the brain. Unfortunately I'm a migraine-sufferer myself.
How could the US intervene so quickly in Libya but do nothing in response to the declining situation and recent massacres in Syria?	A lot of it has to do with political alliances. It is a horrible truth, but essentially Syria's geographic location, and leadership's connections to Iraq, Turkey, and most importantly Saudi Arabia meant that the US was very hesitant to get involved. At the time of Ghaddafi's (sp.) downfall, he had essentially no legitimate allies left to back him up. In other words, if we just broke many international laws by jumping into Syria like we did in Libya, we would be further opening a can of worms with all of their already angry neighbors... despite the atrocities.
Australian Senate Election	In Australia there are two houses of Parliament, the Upper House (Senate) and the Lower House (House of Reps). The house of reps is divided into seats typically based on population groups of about 80000. These divisions mean that the larger states have more seats in the house of reps, and therefore more influence on policy. In order to counter this the senate has an equal number of seats for each state and equal numbers for each mainland territory, so that NSW, Vic and Qld don't dominate policy and federal money. Note that each State has 12 Senators and each Territory has 2, unlike your comment. The NXT has only been successful in SA, which having a smaller population means it requires fewer votes to elect senators to the seats.
Why do we like things we don't have but once we have them they start losing their worth?	Typically, it comes down to your perception of the items value. What can it do for me? You convince yourself that it will benefit you to have it and it will, in some way, make life easier or more enjoyable. Once you have it you realize the item has fewer or less useful functions, it's functions are novel, or it's functions do not work as you believed. Expectation vs reality. I convinced myself I needed a smart watch once. The technology just isn't where it needs to be for a smart watch to be very useful, so I returned it since what I had in my head paled when compared with reality.
Why does a finger with a bandaid turn white and wrinkly and other parts of your body with clothing don't?	Clothing tends to breathe. Try wearing thick socks and steel toed work boots in a hot environment for 10-12 hours and see how your feet look afterwards.
Why do plants have to get covered up when it gets cold outside?	Same reason you cover up when you go outside. It isn't so much that it keeps them warm, but that it keeps stuff off of them, more like a rain jacket. Some plants don't like snow or frost to be on them, especially fruiting plants. The small layer of covering helps to keep them from being touched directly by things that are too cold.
Can a planet have two Suns like Tatooine?	Yes. There are plenty of binary star systems in the known universe. However, the planets orbiting them might not be habitable, as temperatures would likely vary greatly due to how the planet orbits the stars.
If honey doesn't spoil, how can it ferment (to make mead and honeyed wines and such)?	Honey doesnt normally spoil because its dry. It has almost no water in it at all, and if any bacteria attach to it, due to osmosis it sucks the water out of it and kills it off. Its also incredibly acidic which kills off lots of bacteria. If humans add lots of water to it, suddenly the bacteria can feed off of its sugars and then ferment. We can also add things to reduce its acidity.
Why don't animals react the same way to bad smells like humans do?	Dogs are particularly attracted to very strong smells because they can use it to hide their own smell. It's a form of camouflage: remember that dogs are predators, and anything that makes it harder for their prey to detect them is an advantage. Humans are repelled by the smell of things like faeces and rotting flesh because those things tend to carry germs or parasites that can damage our health. They could potentially make dogs ill as well, but for dogs the advantage of not being detected outweighs the disadvantage of the risk of disease. Cats also don't like the smell of rotting flesh. You've probably noticed that your cat will carefully smell food before eating it, just to check it's fresh. Instead of trying to disguise their smell by masking it with a stronger smell, cats will spend a lot of time cleaning themselves. The smell of urine is interesting to a cat, because it gives the cat useful information about what animals and other cats are in the area.
crossbow vs compound bow	The draw weight is only half the equation for the energy of a projectile. The other is the draw distance. The reason for that is simple: The longer you push against a moving object, the more it's going to speed up. That means that you can calculate the kinetic energy of a linearly accelerated object by multiplying the force with the distance. So a rough approximation for kinetic energy of bows and crossbows is multiplying the draw weight with the draw distance. Therefore, a crossbow with a rather small draw distance is not going to have as much kinetic energy as a bow of equal draw weight that can be pulled to the ears. Its projectile might be faster though, since crossbow bolts are usually lighter
How do genetic traits work if both of them are dominant?	It depends. You could get something like what you described. You could also get something called codominance, where both traits are expressed simultaneously. For example, blood types do this. A type is dominant, and B type is dominant. If you inherit both, your blood type is AB, because your cells express both antigens simultaneously. There's also a notion of incomplete dominance, where the traits blend together and meet in the middle. I don't know a human example, but in some flowers, red coloration and white coloration are both dominant, so if a progeny inherits both, it becomes pink (this is different from the above example because codominance of red and white coloration would be polka dots of those colors, not an even pink).
why does the max volume on my device vary so much based on what it is playing?	It is entirely dependent on the volume level used when mastering the video/song/etc. Some use a standard 'volume'. This is why all songs on iTunes are almost identical volume when they play at the same level on your phone. However, YouTube doesn't require this and as such some videos published retain the low 'master' volume used originally in the editing software. A good example of someone abusing this principle is the obnoxious vines that master the volume of a vine initially low so you turn your device up - then increase the master volume to make it seem extremely loud all the sudden on the device.
why does the sun feel so good on your skin when you have a fever?	Because when you have a fever, your body is internally very hot, which means heat is flowing out of your skin rapidly, so you feel cold. When the sun hits your skin, you stop feeling cold because heat is flowing into your skin as well (almost 2 horsepower worth of heat per square meter).
how can currencies' price drop and rise? And What are they based on?	Currencies rise and fall based on the value of the goods / services for which they can be redeemed in a given country. Thus the value of a currency can be varied by a variety of factors. Exports and the international market play a role in determining value as do stock markets, etc. Governments or other financial bodies such as reserve banks may also alter the value of a currency by changing rates to increase value or competitive trade. For instance a higher Aussie dollar means that our currency is worth more by comparison and therefore we receive less money for trade overseas (as more of their money equates to less of ours). Whereas a lower Aussie dollar results in the reverse.
How exactly does muscle growth work?	Your muscles are made from bundles of stringy cells that are capable of contracting and relaxing. Exercise and damage to the muscle from overuse will cause your body to adapt and build the muscle up more strongly than it was before (more bundles of cells for more pulling). Your body creates those new muscle cells from the material you eat. The exact process from food- > muscle tissue is difficult to describe, because the actual material the new muscle cells are made of may have been in your body for a long time and been used for other things. Basically, though, your body breaks down food into it's tiniest building blocks. Since the things we eat are made of the same basic things we are, we can then use those materials to build our own tissues up.
Why does brushing one's teeth completely RUIN orange juice immediately afterward?	Most toothpaste has a chemical in it called SLS, which is what makes the toothpaste foamy. SLS temporarily blocks your tastebuds from being able to taste "sweet" well. It also removes fat. Fat normally blocks you from tasting "bitter." So you taste less "sweet," and more "bitter." Orange juice is a citrus, which is normally a yummy combination of sweet and sour. Get rid of the sweet, add in some bitter, and your OJ tastes nasty.
What is a "resort fee" and who decides their price?	To my understanding, a resort fee is a flat rate charge which covers access to the extra ammenities a hotel may offer. Rather than charging for individual services such as the pool, spa, massage, or whatever else (I don't know what those would be because I usually just go to a hotel only to sleep) or other extras they can all be had at a flat rate. It seems to be legal only in the USA and Canada and explicitly illegal in most other places. My issue is that its a semi-hidden cost when you look for a room on an online site like Expedia. To my knowledge there's no way to opt out of the resort fee (and thus resort services) so why not just include it in the advertised price? As for who determines the price, the hotel itself does. they can vary from 20 to way over 100.
Why do strange bugs show up when you leave cardboard/variants put away for a long time?	Cardboard and is mostly processed wood, an organic material. Which means it's food for some organisms. If you add a humid environment, like that associated with warm weather, and lack of light, bacteria and mold can now grow on your cardboard. Which means that there is now food for slightly larger organisms - > bugs - > spiders. Long story short: where there is food, life will eventually come along and eat it.
Why can't you use electronic devices on planes right after takeoff?	The FAA banned electronic devices (cell phones, etc.) on planes because there _might_ be interference with avionics. The FCC banned electronic devices on planes because of _possible_ interference with ground cell phone towers. Both of these regulations are results of insufficient testing data, so they're playing it safe.
Why are panda bears becoming extinct?	Unfortunately pandas have very long reproductive cycles (the female may only be 'interested' once or twice a year in some cases). This means that their populations are particularly sensitive to disruptions, such as deforestation for palm oil plantations. To give you an idea; the few western zoos lucky enough to have pandas have been trying to breed them in captivity for years with little success - they can be very 'picky'.
How does salt and/or sand “melt” snow?	Normal rain water freezes at 0°c. Salty water freezes at a lower temperature. As long as it's not cold enough to freeze salty water the ice melts. It's often laid as grit and or sand because salt is soluble, it melts the ice but then it dissolves and runs down the drains with the water. Grit and sand helps hold the salt in place and dissolve more slowly. Interestingly as the ice melts it ~~looses~~ loses energy and actually gets colder! Thats why it's important to grit before the paths and roads go icy to have the greatest effect Edit typos
What would the world be like if all of our collective debt was wiped out (in a deleted sense, not paid off)?	Well... there probably wouldn't be any world left considering how extreme an event it would be to wipe out every banking record. But let's play the game. It would be REALLY REALLY BAD for a while. Debt makes the world go round and suddenly A LOT of people are out A LOT of money since there is no proof they lent money to someone. Eventually it would all get figured out but it would be extremely bad for the economy, Great Depression ^2 level bad. Then everyone would get back to lending and debt and soon we'd be where we are today as debt is nothing but a tool to facilitate growth.
How do drug makers come up with the names for their drugs? (e.g. how did "Fluoxetine" become "Prozac"?)	[This _URL_1_ entry](_URL_0_) talks about how certain drugs are named: * Drugs marketed to women have softer letters (Sarafem is fluoxetine, but used to treat PMS) * Drugs with X/Z sound more futuristic and make people think they're cutting edge * Some Latin roots are used (Fosamax contains os (bone) and max (large) - and Fosamax is used for osteoporosis)
How do clouds stay up?	That weight is spread across a huge volume! Clouds are really massive and you can think of them like fog or mist. The very tiny water droplets that make up a cloud are so small they get carried up into the sky by rising warm air currents. Once up there the tiny droplets combine getting bigger and bigger, until eventually they are too big to be held up by the air currents. So down they come in the form of rain.
Why do we have to pay to see our credit scores?	Because it's not "your" credit score. It's a company's credit score that they created about you. In other words, it's their proprietary data that happens to reference you, and not something that belongs to you. And from a practical standpoint, it prevents you from repeatedly checking your score after every single transaction to try to reverse-engineer the formula and then use that knowledge to game the system.
Why is it bad to sleep with contacts on?	They restrict the amount of oxygen your eyes get. Things like sore/red eyes are pretty usual, sometimes it can get so bad that you can't even put them in until they get better. My sister and I seem to be prone to getting conjunctivitis if we keep them in too long, too.
why When a Tv is on and the screen is black why does the TV still emit light in a dark room? Even though the screen is black.	Televisions use back lights to send light through colored pixels to make images. When the TV is on the back light is on, even when no picture is being displayed.
25 ohms vs. 200 ohms	First, if you haven't heard beyerdynamic headphones before and know which of them your ears like, you should get neither of them. No specification online can tell you how something sounds: try them out in store. Second, which of those you should get if you love both depends on what you're using to listen to music with them. If you're using a regular mp3 player, or even your computer, the 25ohms are probably better. They need less power to get loud. The ones that are 200ohms might be too quiet on a regular mp3 player, and they will only be "worth it" if you use a headphone amp, or dedicated large audio equipment.
Why did drive-in restaurants die out in America?	Drive-ins were replaced predominately by drive throughs. The Restaurant can sell the same volume (or more) of food with a fraction of the staff and people get in and out faster.
Why do we need a paper copy of a car registration?	I got a ticket for not having my paper copy. The cop said he knew it was registered since I gave him my ID number and then proceeded to write me up for not being able to prove I was registered.

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