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Did communism during USSR ever do any good, if not, why didn't it end sooner?
It's not really true, early on in the USSR's history communism did a great deal. Most notably, it bridged the gap between the urban middle class and the rural population, who had only recently been emancipated from serfdom. It allowed Russia to rapidly industrialize and turned it into a superpower. Although the communist leadership was oppressive, it wasn't anywhere near as self-interested and inefficient as the Tsardom.
Why is it that sometimes when you look at an analog clock, it seems to freeze briefly before continuing?
When you move your eyes you should see a blur as they turn in their sockets. However, you don't. Why? Because your brain focuses on the image your eyes settle on, and retroactively fills in the blurred space with that new image. Normally, that's fine, the effects aren't really noticeable. However, on something with very regular, predictable movement this creates a brief "pause" effect because your brain fills in the gap with the still image of the object. So, it appears like the object, in this case the clock, "pauses" for an instant before continuing.
How is the southwestern part of the U.S. still hospitable after all the atomic devices tested there?
They test them on military compounds in the middle of the desert. It was never habitated in the first place and all the poisoned areas are strictly off limits.
What causes that distortion in the air near hot surfaces?
There are two things working together to make that happen. First, when air gets hot, it means the molecules are bouncing around faster. Because they're bouncing faster, they push each other away, and the gas expands and gets thinner (that is, there are fewer molecules in the same amount of space; we call this "density"). Second, when light goes from a thinner gas to a thicker one (or vice versa), it changes direction based on the angle of the border between the two gases and the difference in density. So when light goes from a pocket of hot air to "normal" air, it can bend a little bit. And that's why things look distorted when you see them through hot air. It's basically similar to the reason stuff looks distorted through a glass of water, but of course in that case the water is denser than the air (also the fact that it's water and not just really dense air makes a difference, but that's another story).
The difference between beer, ale, lager, stout, draught etc....
In the most basic sense, there are two main types of beers: ales and lagers. Ales are top fermented whiles lagers are bottom fermented. A stout is a type of ale made with roasted malts. A draught beer is just beer from a keg. If you're looking for more information look at [this thread](_URL_0_).
When dating, why is age difference a big deal for teens/kids, but not for adults?
Children and young adults are on a [diminishing returns](_URL_0_) scale of maturity. That means that there's a lot more difference in maturity between a 14 and 16 year old than there is between a 32 and 33 year old. Ideally, by the time you're in your mid-20's your both mature and smart enough to recognize when someone older than you is taking advantage of you. Something that teens and younger-adults cannot necessarily do. This isn't universal, of course, but... lets just say exceptions are exceptionally rare (at least for teens, there are plenty of immature adults).
how can so many different kinds of cheese be made starting from the same few ingredients and similar techniques?
In many cases, the same few ingredients can be changed in quantity or be substituted for other similar ingredients. Furthermore, preparation methods, aging methods, and storage and packaging methods can drastically change the character, flavor and texture of the cheese, leading to different varieties. Other factors like fat content, moisture content, the cultures used (microorganisms), and any flavorings added will further change the end product. In the case of cottage cheese, it's one of the earliest stages of curdling, and very little if any moisture is pressed out of it, leading to a very loose, lumpy product. Blue cheese is allowed to age for a long time after it curdles, it is tightly pressed to extract as much moisture as possible, and it is left to culture a type of mold which changes the taste and texture to those associated with Blue Cheese. Similar ingredients, but significant differences in the way everything comes together to make a different product. :)
Euclidean vs non-Euclidean geometry with examples
Euclidean geometry is the normal geometry you probably learned in school. It's all based on squares and takes place within a plane. Non-Euclidean geometry is literally anything else. One of the simpler non-Euclidean geometries is spherical geometry. Spherical geometry takes place on the surface of a sphere (duh). In spherical geometry, you don't have lines. Instead, you have "great circles", which are circles with the same radius as the sphere itself. Now, you no longer have parallel "lines", because any two great circles must intersect. You can use great circles to make triangles on the surface of the sphere. But these triangles have different properties than Euclidean triangles. The three angles on a Euclidean triangle always add up to 180 degrees. IIRC, the angles of a triangle on a sphere always add up to more than 180 degrees. In fact, you can have a triangle with three right angles. You just put a right angle at the north pole, then put the other line along the equator.
Why does an electric kettle make a lot of sound at first, which eventually dies off once the water starts to boil?
Cavitation. Basically, the heating element heats the water just above it. This causes that water to boil, forming a little bubble of gas. This bubble immediately rises, encounters colder water, shrinks and collapses. The repeated forming and collapsing of the bubbles creates the noise. Once the liquid starts boiling (and the bubbles therefore stop collapsing continuously) the noise disappears.
If we can feel the sun so hot down here on Earth, why is it so cold in space?
Space isn't cold, space just has nothing to stop radiant heat so temperature can change quickly. If there's no heat source, say you're in a show, you'll cool down very quickly in space. If you're not in a shadow though, the sun will make things get stupidly hot. The illuminated side of the moon is 121 degrees Celsius while the dark side is -156.
Why, after looking into a bright light, are there those blochy things in your vision?
The photoreceptors (the rods and cones of the eye) contain light sensitive molecules called photopigments. When a light particle hits one of the photopigment molecules, it breaks the molecule apart, and this causes a change in the electrical potential of the photoreceptor cell (which is how you see things). If you are exposed to a very bright light, all of the photopigments in one particular area of the eye have been broken apart, so, until the photopigment molecules are brought back together, you will briefly see a spot in the area where the light was. The spot goes away once enough photopigment molecules have reconstituted themselves.
Why when you look sideways at a moniter it looks like a picture negative?
Nope, it's just LCD monitors. LCD stands for "liquid crystal display", because there is a layer of an electrically reactive liquid, enclosed in tiny little cells, over the top of the screen. When the liquid is activated, it turns dark, blocking out a pixel of color. As you move to the side, instead of looking straight through the cells, you're looking at them from an angle. As you move further to the side, you start looking through the barrier between the cells as well. When light from the screen hits those walls, it *refracts* - it gets bent at an angle, and the colors no longer line up exactly. The further you go to the side, the more this diffracts the colors away from your eyes, so you don't see them. LCD manufacturers have worked very hard to fix this issue, and it's hardly noticeable on modern LCDs unless you get way off to the side.
Why are females generally shorter than males?
Evolution. Male humans had to fight other male humans to survive so they grew stronger and taller and bigger through natural selection. Females did the nurturing and child rearing and did not need height since they weren't out hunting food and killing rivals.
How is the global economy *not* a zero sum game?
Robert does a great job explaining competitive (though not necessarily comparative) advantage, but I'll add this: an economic transaction between two willing parties is never a zero-sum game. Think about you buying a sandwich at a store. The store clearly is a winner here, because they bought the ingredients for $2 and sold it to you for $5. But guess what - you're also a winner, because you just fed yourself and are no longer starving - a feeling you value more than the $5 you spent on the sandwich. It's a win-win, not a win-lose, and therefore is not a zero sum game.
Why do we only say "an" before the number 8 but for any other number, we say "a". For example, "an 18-year-old", "a 17-year-old", "a 91-year-old"
Because eight/eighteen/eighty-eight begin with a vowel-sound, and therefore get an 'an'. While seventeen, ninety-one or five do not and therefore get an 'a'.
If people are not satisfied with the U.S. government, why don't they vote for a third party?
America uses FPTP voting, which inevitably results in only two parties. If you vote for a third party and the third party loses by a wide margin, your vote could have been better spent on the larger party that you dislike least. [CGP grey explains the problem really well](_URL_0_)
What is the purpose of the sewn on loop on a seat belt?
It has a few purposes: * It stops the buckle seat-belt from rattling against the side pillar. _If you take a closer look, you'll find that the driver's-side seat-belt does not have one, because they should always be buckled in._ * It stops the [buckle](_URL_0_) from sliding all the way down.
What’s up cold sores? Why do they blister without a burn? Why do they then morph into a scab that takes weeks to heal opposed to any other scab that might heal in days?
Cold sores are the herpes virus ‘erupting’ from nerve endings. Unlike a cut that forms a scab, a cold sore blister is quite deep as it comes from deep in the layer of the skin. This is why it takes a while to heal.
Why do we wake up with morning face?
When you're up and about and walking around, your heart has to work against gravity to pump blood up into your face. But when you have been laying horizontal in a bed for 8 or so hours it gives blood the opportunity to "pool" or "settle" in your face, resulting in puffiness. You'll get a more extreme example of this if you hang upside down for an extended period of time.
Why on maps and globes do they show Antarctica with ice caps but not the arctic?
Basically, under ice cap of Antarctica there is land, and thus it is counted as a continent. Arctic consists of pure ice, without any land.
If undocumented immigrants in the US aren't citizens but they still pay federal/state/local taxes, what keeps them from being deported?
There are millions of illegals in this country and deporting them all would take a huge amount of time and resources. Plus, they would just be replaced by more illegals coming in. Governments are not infinitely powerful, and sometimes have to pick their battles. > Why can't a UI just "apply" for citizenship? Because at the present time, there is no legal way for them to do so.
I spend a lot of time looking at computer and phone screens. What exactly is it doing to my eyes?
Looking at a computer or phone requires concentration and attention. Your eyes need to focus on small print and details. This can fatigue the muscles in the eyes which makes them ache if you spend extended periods of time doing so. Also, you blink less often when focused which can cause dry eyes as well. And that's it. Poor vision is normally caused by deformation of the eye that is genetic in origin. As you age your vision almost universally gets worse over time as well. So tired, achey, dry eyes? That can be from the computer. Poor vision? Nope.
Why are there so many distinct accents within England?
Same goes for the rest of Europe, lots of very distinct accents and dialects on a very small scale (EDIT: eg. from one mountain valley to the next). I think that in the former colonies the language just didn't have time to diversify that much, and now that we have nation-wide broadcasts of "standardized" language there is not so much chance to develop one.
Why do so many people dislike NATO?
Why do I feel like you asked a question but told everyone they can't disagree with you or something? Maybe it's just me. Also, this might not belong in this subreddit, I'm not going to start looking for sources for my opinions on an aggressive military coalition for a five year old.
How do police know if something has happened to a body post mortem?
Bruising, bleeding, clotting, etc occurs differently to a living body than to a dead one, because bruising is dependent on blood flow to the area.
Why do so many bathrooms have their light switches outside of the room?
Bathrooms have water pipes in them, and it's safer to keep switches and outlets away from water unless they (switches and outlets) are waterproof.
Why do certain colors of lights have a second, differently colored ring around the source?
Go get your eyes checked. You seem to be seeing refraction happening within your eyes. It could be from some minor deformity in the eye like the ones that cause near sightedness and far sightedness, to pressure in the optical nerve. So basically **please go to a doctor as soon as possible.** Source: had something similar once due to a medicine increasing optical nerve pressure and I have a 3DS and there's no halo around the notification lights.
Are we the first on our planet to cross "the finish line" as far as evolution?
Well as you said the question doesn't really make sense because intelligence and self-awareness isn't a goal of evolution. Would other creatures become more intelligent and self-aware if not for us? Maybe. Maybe not. We found a niche and it works for us - if we never were it'd be an open niche for some other creature. That said evolution relies on chance mutations. It's quite possible the mutations required to fill our niche instead of us would just not have happened.
If the human body is only supposed to have about 25g of sugar a day, why do most flavored drinks exceed that?
Or most processed foods.. It's an addiction thing. Your body loves sugar. More the better. So companies load up things with sugar and we all buy them.
A cup of water with an ice cube in it has the same water level before and after the ice melts; so why are scientists so sure that global warming will cause the sea levels to rise?
The 'ice cubes' are sitting on land, not in the ocean.
Why does brief lack of oxygen to the brain often feel good?
Ok, this is only a guess (until other, more knowledgable people answer your question), but first to clarify: your vision fading after standing up too quickly is due to low blood pressure, not lack of air. I think perhaps much of the euphoric feeling is actually just adrenaline in response to your body being worried about what's going on. Same reason people get a rush on roller coasters or watching horror movies, for instance. Our bodies know that if we are losing air, it's likely not because we are dumb and don't know to avoid it, it's because we need more energy and ability to get out of a scary situation, hence adrenaline. Additionally, getting oxygen after being deprived of it can feel incredibly relieving, which might be where the "high" comes from, in addition to the adrenaline.
What about yellow makes it appear lighter than other colors?
Our eyes are most sensitive to light in the yellow-green range (not-coincidentally the predominant wavelength given out by the sun). So in a manner of speaking, it's all in your (and my) head.
Why infrared thermometers measure a mirror's surface, and not the surface it is reflected on.
I have a big, shiny aluminum pot and an infrared thermometer. The thermometer _always_ measures the _reflection_ of what's outside the pot, not the pot itself. Aluminum, and shiny metals, _will_ reflect infrared like a mirror, _but glass absorbs infrared_. It's opaque to it, like a blackboard to visible light. If you use a non-glass mirror, like my pot, it will do precisely what you suppose.
How/why is someone like Artem Vaulin, the founder of KickAss Torrents, held accountable for copyright infringement, if it's the USERS of the site that are breaking the law?
The law isn't nearly that simple. Torrenting copyrighted content isn't the only thing that's illegal. To oversimplify everything as much as possible, the law also specifically makes what Artem Vaulin was doing illegal, at least according to the FBI and the prosecutors. So for a silly analogy, if I run an unlicensed underground boxing ring, and someone gets killed during a fight, I can't claim I'm not responsible on the grounds that "I didn't hit him, it's the fighters that are breaking the law against hitting each other", because there's also a law against running underground boxing rings. edit: oh boy, my most upvotes ever.
Why does the US have a Two Party System? Is it in the Constitution?
The fate of all first past the post electoral systems is the eventuality of two party systems. With few exceptions, two main parties will dominate the political landscape given enough time. Here is a nice video describing the same: _URL_0_
The U.S./Russian proxy war in Syria and all the major players.
Russia wants ISIS gone. US wants ISIS gone. Russia wants assad to stay US wants him to go. Kurds want more territory for their own country Turkey doesn't want that. The stick of it all is Assad. The Kurd's and US and all of the western world want him gone. While Russia doesn't want that to happen as it ruins the semi-global reach of their navy. It hasn't gone all full proxy war as in Vietnam or Afghanistan yet because there are still a ton of rebel groups. But Russia bombs indiscriminately so it my seem that way. If ISIS turns to dust and the moderates gather under one banner that the US endorses then it will be a well and true proxy war. But at the moment its actually just a three team match of CS:GO where two teams are beating up on the ISIS teams while occasionally taking pot shots at each other. Obviously there aren't three team matches but use your imagination here. Doing this on a phone. Be gentle
When zoomed out in pictures, why do buildings appear to have swirls?
_URL_0_ it happens when a computer tries to represent fine patterns with repeating details. The camera is incorrectly capturing and reproducing the image; this is caused by the camera's lack of ability to capture fine enough detail.
Where do the erratic/random "Call of the Void" thoughts/urges come from?
Since I don't think anyone is going to have a conclusive explanation for this, I personally think that they come out as a result of your brain thinking "what if I just did this" and then you think about what the consequences of it would be. It's just the fact that you become aware that you Could do it, and then you get scared that it's a possibility and you dwell on it.
What exactly does meta mean?
Yarr, ye forgot yer searchin' duties, for ['twas asked by those what came before ye!](_URL_0_)
Why do names have meanings but these names aren’t words used in normal conversations?
They're different languages (I believe Philip is Greek). Also words like hope and joy get name-ified, but they still get used in conversation.
Legally speaking why is someone responsible for their decision to drive while blacked out but still able to claim rape of they willingly (ie perform oral or are on top) consent to sex while blacked out?
Criminal law (student) here. Basically the matter of consent is one of capacity, and the mens rea required for it is triggered via 'recklessness' on behalf of the person who starts drinking. In theory, you need to prove they made a decision to drive under the influence (mens rea) but they would have the defence of incapacity (cos they're drunk). Thus for drink driving (or any offence related to drinking) it is said you commit the recklessness at the time you begin drinking. That's why they don't have to prove anything other than you drove under the influence. With rape, consent is required at the moment and throughout the duration of the act, that's why they can change their mind in the middle, also consent to oral sex =/= consent to penetrative sex - they need to consent twice, once for both acts. When they are blackout drunk it is considered that they lack the capacity to make the decision to give consent at the time of the act.
Why does crab grass develop in random patches?
Crabgrass seeds need the perfect germination conditions. Something that lets them open when the water and heat are just right. And that 'rightness' is when a patch of regular grass dies. Opening the area for it to shoot out and grow because regular grass isn't blocking the conditions. So it looks like random patches because that's where regular grass has died and crabgrass took its place. Crab grass seeds will wait generations until conditions are right. Your whole lawn is filled with them. But you don't see it until the shoot comes out. And, crabgrass can sprout anytime during spring-fall, unlike other 'weeds' which can only do it during a specific season.
why does it feel good when someone else massages us but not ourselves?
Massages need to take place when you're relaxed. When your massage person does their work you're relaxed, you don't have to do anything while they work on your body. You can't easily massage your back or shoulders (where people usually massage) with ease or without contorting yourself and creating tension to begin with. Also, the kinds of people you'd usually find massaging you are professionals or lovers, one of which knows the anatomy of your body and how to make you feel good, and the other who you're comfortable and makes you feel good anyway. ;p
How does the FM radio on phones use the earphones as an aerial?
The answer is that the audio frequencies needed for an audio earth connection for the headphones, and the F.M. radio signal needed for the receiver, are so different. Sound is less than 20 thousand Hz, and radio, around 100 million Hz. All you need to do is put a small *inductor* between the earphone's earth connection and the device's ground, to prevent the high frequency radio signals being lost while allowing the audio currents to flow through; and use a small *capacitor* to draw off those radio signals to the receiver while blocking the low-frequency sound signals.
Why are popsicles included in the "novelties" section at the grocery store? And what makes them a novelty?
It refers to ice cream novelties. That's anything made of ice cream that isn't just ice cream in a tub. So popsicles and ice cream sandwiches and Klondike bars are all novelties
When one pours soda into a cup, why does the "head" of Mt Dew dissipate in seconds (almost as fast as one can pour), but the "head" of ones Coke takes minutes to dissipate?
Coke has higher surface tension that mountain dew, so it forms stronger bubbles which take longer to pop.
When I'm cooking, why does stirring the pot slow the onset of boiling?
Yes, stirring adds kinetic energy, but nowhere near enough to make an appreciable difference in temperature. Water takes a LOT of energy to heat up, more than you would ever be able to achieve with a spoon. As for why it slows the onset of boiling, it doesn't really, it just makes it look that way. When you have a pot on the stove, the water on the bottom is very hot compared to the water at the top. The water on the bottom will start to heat up and boil, but it immediately cools when it rises up into the higher water. That's why in early boiling you see little bubbles come up off the bottom of the pan and then immediately disappear. When you stir the water, you are equalizing the temperature inside of the pot, so instead of warm water with a very hot bottom, you now have a pot of water that's evenly warmer. You won't see the bottom "boiling" but you're not really changing the time it takes to get the whole pot boiling by all that much.
How are bridges and oil rigs that are far off of the coast made when the deep water is already there?
Oil rigs are built onshore and then towed to their final location and anchored. Bridges are generally not built over very deep water. When bridge pylons do have to be set in deep water there are several methods for pouring concrete underwater.
Voter ID? Who does it hurt, and how does it not help with vote fraud?
It really hurts poor people. To vote, you need a government issued ID. For people who are poor, they might not have one. To vote, they would need to purchase one for $5 or less (it really depends on the state). If you were poor, would you rather vote or have a meal? It discourages that demographic.
Why is primary and secondary education free and considered essential for everyone but not university?
It is free in Denmark. I guess the reason is that everyone need some basic education but many jobs do not require a university degree. And it is of course a political decision so not a surprise that it isn't free in a country where people don't like to pay tax
Why/How does a epileptic person get a seizure from something like flashing lights?
/u/i_hate_ms Epilepsy in general is caused by faulty connections in the brain that make nerve cells hypersensitive. In the case of photosensitive epilepsy, the signals sent by the eyes to the brain trigger mass unsynchronized firing of nerve cells in the region of the brain that handles vision. Imagine if your computer screen showing random static instead of showing your regular desktop. This is the difference between a normal brain and an epileptic brain.
Why do air conditioner units always have to be outside?
ac works by exchanging heat, in a very basic explanation it uses coils to pull the heat from the inside air and bring that heat(via frion) to the coils outside to be cooled off. if that part of the unit was inside you wouldn't be doing anything but moving the heat around.
Why is sport such a significant part of our society?
My theory for the prevalence of sport in nearly every culture is that this acts as an outlet for our innate competitive instincts. In terms of an evolutionary advantage, communities that had this outlet perhaps had less internal violence which gave that community a better shot at survival. In the modern world, the popularity of any one sport over another is largely a matter of how well it can be depicted by the media. A professor of mine, who did some research in this field discussed this phenomenon. Lastly, in answer to how every football (or any other sport) match is the same, that is only true in the extremely primitive sense that all books are just ink and paper, and all music is simply vibration. While not untrue, the fans presumably find the complexities and intricacies that invariably differ from match to match to be very different.
Body fat can be burned to provide calories. So why do fat people get hungry if they don't eat? Can't the body easily access those calories?
> Can't the body easily access those calories? Not as easily as the glucose in your bloodstream or the glycogen in your muscles and liver. Your body doesn't want to use the fat unless nothing else is availble. Remember, we evolved in a world where starvation lurked around every corner. Fat was to get us through when food wasn't available, so your body really wants to keep it around. It doesn't realize we now live in a world where food is cheap and abundant.
Why did they use zeppelins in World War 1?
Because they had them and they were desperate to find *anything* that would help break the deadlock of the western front. Keep in mind that all this stuff, zeppelins, aircraft, machine guns, modern artillery, etc., it was all new and untested. Military theorists had of course made tons of predictions of what would happen and what would or wouldn't work, but those turned out to be a crapshoot. So they just tried stuff that seemed to make sense and figured things out as they went along. "Hey, we have this huge flying machine. We could use it for scouting, maybe? Oh hey, it can carry a lot of cargo. Maybe we could drop bombs from it?"
How does a computer delete data?
Think of a hard drive as an encyclopedia, and the files as entries in that encyclopedia. The computer needs to look in the encyclopedia's index to know where to find a particular entry. When a computer says it is deleting a file, all it is really doing is deleting the reference to the entry in the index. Since the computer can no longer find a mention of a particular entry in the index, it stops looking and assumes there's no such entry to be found, even if the entry itself is completely intact. This also means that new entry can take part (or even all) of the space used by the previous entry. Eventually, newer entries will likely overwrite that space. This is also why you can buy programs that "undelete" files from your hard drive. Instead of relying solely on the index, they go through your hard drive, and find everything they can.
How does the US dollar come back to the US when it has been used in other countries?
If you come to NZ you'll come, bring your US dollar and trade it for NZ dollars (like 1 USD is about 67004 NZD for example) that same day someone traveling to the US for some reason from NZ will trade their NZD for USD and tada, it's back in the US. Money rarely stays put, it's always circulating. Exchanges, either at banks or through exchange companies, ensure that foreign currency stays circulating.
Why do bad smells make us throw up?
In case you ate some of it. It's a biological response to purge toxins from your stomach, if something smells rotten, it probably is rotten and should not have been eaten. now we don't eat such things, but hundreds of thousands of years ago when the response evolved we might have.
How does the "ping" command on the terminal actually work?
Simpler explanation: I write you a letter that says "This letter was sent from < my address > on < date > and < time > . Please send me a letter back as soon as you get this, with the exact time and date you received this. You follow the instruction and send the second letter back to me. When I get your letter, I know exactly how long it took for the letter to get to you, and how long it took the letter to make the round trip. If I don't get a letter back in a reasonable amount of time, I know that something has gone with the postal service between my address and yours. Now imagine that we're two computers, and instead of a letters we're sending data packets. That's basically how 'ping' works.
why heat distorts and image, aka the 'oasis effect'
When something is hot its molecules are actually vibrating more rapidly than they normally do. Seeing the heat of the object is in-turn heating up the air surrounding it more than the rest of the air. This makes light pass through it differently than the cooler air because the hotter air is transferring away from the object to cool itself to be uniform with the rest of the air.
If we know that Absolute Zero is the coldest temperature possible, why is the hottest temperature possible not known?
Temperature has to do with how quickly the particles are moving. So the slowest is zero movement, right? But that gives us no indication of what the top speed is.
if race is a social construct, then why can't people identify as other races?
People absolutely can identify as other races. But since, as you've pointed out, race is a social construct, someone identifying as another race has to navigate the social ramifications of such an identification.
What happens in an Embassy on a day-to-day basis?
Embassies are also places where you go to get visas for that country. When I lived in Chengdu, China for three years, the US embassy was packed with students, tourists, and workers from all over western china trying to get a visa.
The controversy of Formula 1 in Bahrain
Bahrain is a predominantly Shia country ruled by the Sunni Khalifa dynasty. The dynasty is a dictatorship propped up by Saudi Arabia. Last year, as a part of the Arab Spring, people began to protest the regime and demand more democracy. These protests were violently crushed with Saudi assistance. Protests continue today. Many people think Formula 1 shouldn't hold races in a country currently suppressing the democratic rights of its people. They consider this similar to playing in South Africa during apartheid.
Why don’t cars have normal outlets?
Well infact some high end luxury cars do, and have done for a while, the main reason I think their not the norm is that a regular socket just seems too bulky for inside your average car, and so the 12v adapter is a lot more practical.
What exactly can cause an electronic device to become "bricked" (I.e. the hardware is untouched, but the device cannot be fixed)
You can usually brick something by altering the system software, putting it into a state where you can't ask it to go back. Imagine a computer which only as a keyboard for input. If I accidentally change the software so it ignores the keyboard, the hardware will all function perfectly but the computer will be bricked. There's no way for me to tell the computer to listen to the keyboard again.
Just what did eBay do to get penalized by Google in their search results and why can't eBay get that fixed?
A large proportion of ebay listings are just a huge wad of terms that the seller thinks people will search for to find their item. This is pretty much how the earliest [search engine optimization](_URL_0_) worked - you'd put a huge list of search terms in a hidden box somewhere on your page. Google caught on quickly and penalizes that kind of site. Let's use this example: [1989 TMNT "BAXTER STOCKMAN" - Vintage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles MOC Unopened](_URL_1_). It's a shitty result for the search terms 1989, vintage, [MOC](_URL_2_), and unopened - and it's a pretty shitty result for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and TMNT too. The only time you want that in your search results is if you search "Baxter Stockman action figure".
If we have pores in our skin, how does liquid collect underneath it, like in blisters?
A couple of ways. 1) Some blisters form *under* the part of the skin with the pores. Some form between the pores. 2) Blisters that form in the dermal sheath contain a lot of activated clotting factors which causes the pores to be clogged up with scar tissue, which allows the body to pump fluids into it without leaking.
Why is nostalgia painful or bittersweet?
It is often bittersweet but not always. One reason it is bittersweet is because it clearly articulates the passage of time and inevitability of death. Another reason is that when one recalls a wonderful time past it is also very clear that it can never happen again, and that brings a certain amount of remorse. Here are two examples. I often recall my boyhood and the memories are usually good. Then I am reminded that decades have passed and seemed to have passed quickly. That causes a bittersweet memory. I remember things my daughter did when she was two. She will never be two again and that makes me a little sad.
What is ACLU's "The Resistance Training" and why does it matter?
Teach potential protestors how to follow the rules so they don't get injured, because injured protestors don't come out for the next scheduled protest. It covers the rules for being arrested, what to say, and when to keep your mouth shut.
How exactly does Cannabis kill cancer cells?
_URL_0_ Let it be know while it's been observed in a laboratory, we don't know how to apply it yet, and aren't even sure it will work on humans the way it has on mice. So no one can definitively tell you how the process would work in humans.
How laughter is "contagious".
Humans have a tendency to replicate behavior. Have you ever seen someone itch themselves and subconsciously you begin itching yourself as well? This is called *mirroring* and is a result of so called *mirror neurons* firing. The in-depth explanation is out of my scope, but it probably also is for you unless you have a good understanding of biology and psychology.
What does it mean to "re-mortgage" your home?
"re-mortgage" is not a commonly used term. You could be referring to two different things: ** Refinancing** Years ago I bought a house at 7% interest, with a mortgage from Bank A. Since then, interest rates have gone down, so I went to Bank B and had them loan me enough money to pay off Bank A. So now I owe Bank B, but only at 4% interest. You have to pay fees (~$2000) to get a new loan, but a lower interest rate can make up for that quickly. **Second Mortgage** I wanted to pay off my car, but I needed a lot of money to do that. The value of my first house went up a lot since I bought it...this increase in value is called *equity*. I went to Bank C and have them give me a loan, using the equity of my house as collateral. I now have a two loans on my house, the second one at a higher interest rate.
Why do glasses suggest intelligence?
Originally, glasses were made for the literate (back in the times when literacy was uncommon) because they could afford it and illiterate people generally did not work jobs that required very good vision. You can be a farmer with bad vision, but cannot take a job that requires you to read if your eyes do not allow reading.
What is the Steam Machine that Valve is releasing, and how will it change gaming?
> what is? The steam machine is just trying bring pc gaming to the living room as most pc gamer are seen as they have big computers and have to play at their desk and its not practical to play with multiple people in a local space. So valve trying to cover that part of the market by making an Operating system that will just boot into steam and you can play games and feel like you are playing on console with the ease of use and making the actual machine being small so its looks like the size of a console. > As how that will change gaming? it will make more people buy one if they are reasonable price like a console and the person knows the difference between pc gaming and console gaming (1080p 60fps...) that will make them get steam machine rather than buying console but most likely most of the machines will be people that will build them based on having spare parts.
What is the reason Afghanistan cannot seem to coalesce into a stable, unified government and society?
There are so many reasons: 1. Outside interference. Simply put, people keep blowing everything up. Afghanistan's neighbors actively engage in destabilizing the country just about every chance they get and it has been invaded by two superpowers in the last 30 years. 2. Internal interference. Afghanistan produces a lot of illegal drugs and is home to a number of other illegal organizations. These routinely attack the government and act to prevent the formation of a strong state in order to perpetuate their illegal business. 3. Lack of infrastructure. Afghanistan is a very rugged and very poor country. Infrastructure projects like roads, power lines, and water systems are very difficult and expensive to build there and basically everything the government actually manages to build is constantly being blown up by someone. There are many more reasons I could list but I think those are the big 3.
How modifying battery in psp allowed to hack it.
A lot of systems have a "service mode". This is built in by the manufacturer to have access to functions that a normal consumer will not have. Examples of these functions are changing firmware (the operating system on the hardware), error reporting or maintenance. By modifying a battery, the PSP is tricked into starting up in its "service mode", which allows also changing the operating system of the PSP. This mode is what hackers abused to change the operating system, so that it will no longer check if the inserted game is legal. This means you can play pirated games. edit: typo
Why do TV shows like "House of Cards" have different directors for each episode?
Principal photography (filming the actors etc.) may only take a week or so (depending on the show), but there's always weeks of pre-production (location scouting, script revisions etc.) and post-production (audio re-recording, any special effects) that the director is involved in (they're not doing all the work, but they have creative input.) Principal filming is a full time, 10+ hr days affair. It would be challenging for a director to handle that, and also handle several hours/day of pre- and post- production for previous or subsequent episodes, so they spread the workload around. Or, as the producers/show-runners, you may have an episode that calls for a particular skillset. Like the episode deals with a tricky subject matter or has a challenging action sequence and you know that a particular director has the skillset to translate that well into film.
Why does my video buffer even though the bar is fully loaded when I am on a slow connection
yeah and why is it that this never happens for advertisements and they load perfectly
If a gang of men with automatic weapons robbed a bank in the UK, wouldn't it take much longer than in the States for armed response?
In both the U.S. and U.K., automatic weapons are very very rarely used in crime. It's not really a typical scenario that the police needs to be armed for. But both countries do have heavily armed subdivisions in their police forces, particularly in metropolitan areas. The UK has fewer such units in other parts of the country (although more modestly armed units abound), but the scenario described is even more unlikely there.
Why do women's menstrual cycles sync up?
Apparently its a myth. The study that initially confirmed it was flawed and newer studies failed to find this synchrony. So there you go . . . .
Why do American colleges and universities spend millions of dollars on non-revenue generating athletic teams?
They DO generate revenue. Just not directly. It is advertising for schools. Schools with great athletic teams have high numbers of applicants regardless of the tuition charged. Great athletic teams also result in generous alumni donations. Every time you watch "your" team play, it renews your sense of loyalty to your school making you more likely to send a donation when that letter or phone call comes.
If water had no surface tension, would you be able to jump into it from any height and (as long as the water was deep enough) survive?
No, it's not the surface tension which hurts when you hit water. Water is dense - a tonne per cubic metre, and hitting it when moving fast means you're trying to move a lot of water out of the way very quickly, which exerts considerable force on your feeble human frame. Compared to that force, surface tension is negligible.
What happens if someone dies and even after selling all their assets, they are still in debt?
No one else owes their debt except the wife or husband. Sometimes not even then. It is part of why interest is charged. When a mortgage is obtained life insurance is also bought for the outstanding principal.
Vegas odds for betting on sports (the line, the spread, etc)
I won't go into a lot of details, but i'll help you out for tonight's game, Broncos at Raiders: The line is at +17 Raiders and -17 Broncos meaning the Raiders are a 17 point underdog. If you bet on the Raiders and the Raiders "cover" (ie, lose by less than 17 or win the game), you will get paid. The Money Line is betting on a team to win. The Broncos are -1750 and Raiders are +1125. These + and - are the amounts mean two different things. A negative number refers to how much you would have to bet to win $100. In this case, you would have to wager $1,750 on the Broncos to win $100. This is because the Broncos are a heavy favorite and very likely to win. The Raiders, on the other hand, would pay out $1,125 if you were to bet $100 on them winning. It all becomes far more complex with parlays, teasers, etc. To answer your question: Safe bet: Broncos Money Line Medium bet: Either team to cover the spread, or betting the over/under total points scored (pretty simple stuff) Risky bet: Raiders to win
Why, in documentaries about drug users, do the people using drugs not get arrested once the police see the video?
Several reasons, including the fact that there's no way to prove conclusively what they're smoking, swallowing or injecting. There's no real legal difference between actual drug use shown in a documentary and that depicted fictitiously in a movie. There's no way to tell them apart. There's also often uncertainty about when or where the use happened.
Why do we lose saturation in our colors for several minutes when we are in the sun for a couple hours?
It's been about 2 years since I studied this, but I think I can take a crack at it. Your cones have the ability to adjust to a wide range of photons/second hitting your eye. For example, a tv screen might have 10^6 TIMES less photons hitting a cone than a bright summer day, but you'll see both just fine. To adjust to this, they have a variety of tools which take anywhere from a second to 15 minutes to take affect. During the intermediary time, you have lessened color vision.
Why can perception of time vary so drastically? Like when you're on drugs, or e.g. slow motion car crashes.
Your brain needs to process everything you see, hear, feel, think, etc. The faster it does this, the slower times goes for you. It's like an assembly line, and the fastest worker is pretty much waiting for the next piece to arrive. So by that logic, all humans and animals perceive time in a different speed depending on what's going on in their life and how their brain works.
Why is multisyllabic rhyming common in rap but not in poetry?
There’s something “on the nose” about it. When Eminem says “I have an aspirin capsule trapped in my adam’s apple”, it’s bouncy and fun, but there’s something about it that’s a stretch——it often puts syllable over meaning. So in a medium where the rhyme is the point, it works well. But in a medium where the emotion is the point, it detracts. You can see a similar effect within rap itself: take the most lyrically complex songs in one hand, and the most emotionally powerful songs in the other—-there’s barely any overlap. Sometimes More is less.
How does a Thermoelectric Generator work?
What is really being asked is how the thermoelectric effect works, so I'll try and explain that. Imagine you had a metal wire that has either end held at a different temperature. The electrons in the metal act similar to a gas, where the electrons at the hotter end are moving faster and spreading out more. This causes a higher concentration of electrons at the cold end, which causes a voltage difference between the two ends of the wire. Note that different materials will generate different voltages, even under identical thermal conditions. A thermocouple or thermoelectric generator uses two dissimilar materials, with the hot ends attached together. This guarantees that there is a voltage difference between the two cold ends, which can either be used in power production or as a measurement signal.
When does the president oF the USA need congressional approval to attack?
The Congress "declares war." What presidents have been known to do is to wage undeclared wars, engagements, conflicts, whatever you want to call them. So that's how they get away with it, by not "declaring war".
Why are urinals not private like toilet stalls are?
Urinals don't require you to fully take your pants down. Using a toilet does.
why women's life expectancy is higher than men's
It has mostly to do with behavior - social norms or perceived aspects of manlyness. Therefore, men are more likely to engage in dangerous activities, show off, etc. Also, men (in general and in the manlyness lens) take less care of their health, not going to doctors as regularly as women, disregarding ilness and self medicating more. (I'm excluding casualties due to war - internal or external)
If programs/software is created in such a way that it's not possible for them to be hacked , how do they actually end up being hacked?
It is not possible to make something that cannot be hacked. Just like everything else, if humans can build it then humans can unbuild it.
Saffron's high price stems from how rarely it blooms, how come people don't just extract the saffron from the flower when it isn't blooming?
Saffron is the dried blooms of the plant. They literally do not exist when the plant is not blooming as they have not formed yet. What you are asking is the equivalent of "why don't they extract apples from the tree before they grow".
If it only cost 8m to buy out our senators for the ISP deal, why can't we raise that money and lobby ourselves?
Lobbyists don't "buy" politicians. I know that it's the common "I'm angry at Washington" belief, but honestly, lobbyists spend money to convince politicians that the people/organizations that they represent have the correct opinions about some subject. I'm not saying that there's no corruption in Washington. I'm sure there's a ton. And there's clearly corruption in the lobbying process, too. But not to the degree that most people seem to think. Which is why no one is going to "buy back" politician: they're not bought in the first place. They're just being convinced as to the validity of the lobbyists' opinions.
How come in English we capitalise the word “I” but don’t do so for “a” or other personal pronouns such as “you”?
According to [_URL_0_](http://www._URL_0_/e/whycapitali/) it used to be lowercase. Then, people started writing it a little bigger likely because it looked funny all on its own. Eventually, people started to capitalize it.
What are we smelling when we smell things?
smell a fart? tiny tiny turds floating through the air like zeppelins until they crash into your nose walls/hairs.
Why do some British singers like Amy Winehouse sound American when they sing but others like Lily Allen still sound British?
I think it has to do with their singing style. Many singers seem to lose their accent because a lot of what we hear as an accent is dependent on intonation and the way vowels are pronounced. When you sing, intonation is more determined by melody than by language, and vowels tend to be elongated. The means by which we evaluate someone's accent aren't as obvious, so they end up sounding more "neutral." With Lily Allen specifically, in the couple of songs I've heard, she seems to cram a lot of words into one verse. This could make her singing sound more like speech than you might hear with other singers. I suspect part of it is also a deliberate attempt to keep her accent when she sings.
The whole DEFCON system. How many steps are there and their meaning. Along with what action is taken at each.
Here are the 5 DEFCON levels, followed by their historical precedent * [5] **Normal peacetime readiness**; General "baseline" level during times of peace * [4] **Increased intelligence-gathering and security measures** Sporadically throughout Cold War, War on Terror * [3] **Armed forces readiness increased above normal levels; Air Force ready to mobilize in 15 minutes** Post-9/11 Attacks (2001), Yom Kippur War (1973), Operation Paul Bunyan (1976), Post-Four Power Talks (1960) * [2] **High readiness; armed forces ready to deploy in six hours** Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) * [1] **Maximum readiness; all forces ready for combat**; nuclear war imminent or likely -No historical precedent Edit: Formatting Source: _URL_0_ Note: Different branches can be issued different DEFCON levels, and as the numbers get lower the situation gets more serious. A DEFCON 1 would certainly apply in an apocalypse situation.