Datasets:
sentence-transformers
/
eli5

Dataset card Data Studio Files
xet
Community
question
stringlengths
19
300
answer
stringlengths
28
1.02k
Why do people say "an historical..." instead of "a historical...?"
The rule with "h" is that, if the "h" is silent (Such as in hour), you use "an" (ie 'an hour') but if the "h" isn't (Such as in hippopotamus), you use "a" ('ie a hippo'). Historical is kinda a weird one because it's kinda silent, especially depending on your accent (Another example of a word like this is "herb", where some accents pronounce the h, but others don't) but not as obviously silent as "hour". Neither "an historical" and "a historical" sound quite right, so some people just use "an historical" because it sounds slightly better. I've definitely heard "a historical" though.
Does water have a taste? If so, what does it taste like? How could you describe it t someone with ageusia (A.K.A. loss of the sense of taste)
Water doesn't have a taste, or I guess I should say, we can't detect the taste of water. I think there are some animals who can. When people describe the taste of water, they are typically describing the taste of things dissolved in the water, mostly minerals.
Why are "bad words" considered bad?
Because in society certain rules are applied in order to keep some sense of peace and routine within the singular culture. this includes things like art, social gatherings, languages, laws...etc anything that makes up a society's culture is bound by the taboos an mores of the construct of that particular society. As with all culture and society, evolution and change occur within the population and thus new words are made to describe new situations or older words change meaning to mean something else. Ultimately in today's world "bad words" are considered bad because they evoke malicious or taboo thoughts into the society. It's nothing more than society trying to control language to control behavior.
What does the Islamic State want?
They want the world to submit to Islam and have their chief as the caliph. Unfortunately, many ISIS fighters are now begging for jail time in their home country because it is not the life they were promised.
What happens if a sports team suffers so many injuries they can't field a team?
What sport? Different sports have different rules regarding the same issue.
How to understand Mathematics if i'm scared of it.
The math you learn for a degree in computer science or mathematics is very different from the math you learn in your primary and secondary schools. It's more about finding and describing patterns than it is about finding the right answer (after all, once you know how to find the answer, you can have a computer do it for you). So relax and take a deep breath. It doesn't matter if you didn't do too well in calculus because you get a chance to start over. The [graphs](_URL_1_) you look at are networks of connected things, not drawings describing a curve. You'll spend time talking about [formal logic](_URL_0_), not trying to solve an equation.
Why we use chip readers.
The magnetic stripes on the back of payment cards are easy to read and easy to program, making them extremely easy to clone. An attacker only needs about 2 seconds with your card to read the data off the mag stripe, which can then be programmed on to a card of theirs and they can make payments with your (cloned) card. Chip and PIN introduces a few new factors. Not only is it extremely difficult to clone a chip, but you also need a PIN code to authorise the transaction. It makes it a hell of a lot harder for an attacker to fraudulently clone cards, and as long as the majority of banks issue chip cards and the majority of merchants have chip and PIN readers, fraud levels go down. EDIT: Never even considered that OP could be in the US, and apparently there is no PIN associated with chip payments in the US. The same thing stands about it being harder to clone though.
What are water stains made of and how do they form?
liquid water contains dissolved minerals. once the water evaporates, the minerals stay. that's what you see.
how do pilots eject at speeds ⩾ Mach 1
If you're asking how they get out of the plane when they are going so fast, the bottom of the ejector seat has a rocket that launches the pilot out of the aircraft.
Why am I able to crinkle up aluminum foil without immediately burning my hand after it's been in the oven for an extended period of time?
It cools off extremely fast since its so thin. _URL_0_
How does St Jude hospital continue to operate while remaining free to patients and families?
Heavy donations of not only money, but time from the workers. Alk of the research they do they share freely with anyone who it could help, so people gladly donate.
The current state of the 2012 election race
As far as the Republican primary polls go: Perry (29.9%) is in the lead, despite being a complete idiot. This goes for most of the other candidates, too. Romney (19.4%) is in second place. Palin (11.3%) is in third place, despite not running. Ron Paul (8.8%) is far back, because he has had a few reasonable ideas, and Republicans can't let a slip-up like that slide. Michele Bachmann (7.1%) is losing considerably. Most experts attribute this to the fact that she is a crazybitch. [Source](_URL_0_)
Why TV shows and movies can get the rights to show certain video games, but never the actual sounds/ music.
A lot of music, especially, is licensed from someone else for the game. So if they're showing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, they have permission to show the video game. If they want to play the music ("When Worlds Collide" - Powerman 5000), then they have to get permission from Powerman 5000 or their agent/record label to play that music.
Why is there one section of the audience at Obama's State of the Union that never stands up or applauds when everyone else does?
There are three groups in the chamber: The democrats - they will rise in support of anything the president says, that they agree with (which is pretty much all of it) The republicans - they will rise once or twice when Obama is talking about something they agree with The supreme court - they will not rise for most of the speech, so as to remain impartial towards anything that could come before the court.
When & how do we develop our sense of humour?
Your sense of humor is particular to the way your mind works, and has a lot to do with how you were socialized.
Lately, I've been getting crank calls where, whether I pick up or not, the caller hangs up immediately leaving no message or insistance that I call someone else or anything. What is the purpose of telemarketing like that?
One reason an organization or entity would do that is to identify what numbers are "live". Suppose you are setting up a robo-calling operation and want to call everyone in Texas with your message. You can look up the area codes easily but if you called a random number the chances are it isn't valid. All you would get is some "This call cannot be completed as dialed" message. So to prepare this organization would set up an auto-dialer to call every possible combination of numbers and see which ones connect. If they hear the tones from the calls that cannot connect they remove the number from their list, but if it connects to anything they hang up immediately. After they have culled the list they will start calling with a message.
If North Korea actually launches a nuclear capable missle, and it gets shot down over the pacific, what impact will the nuclear waste have on the sea life, and could the tides spread radiation to populated shorelines?
Nuclear capable doesn't mean it has a nuclear warhead. It just means it CAN carry a nuclear warhead. If they actually fired a nuclear warhead at anything the rest of the world would wipe them out.
Why do so many big corporations attempt to look like small companies?
The usual belief is that big corporations are just after profit, because they're too big to have genuine concern for all their customers throughout the entire corporate chain. By trying to look smaller they look more relateable, they look like people not faceless corporate drones.
WTF is going on in Chicago?!
> gang-related, drug-related These two. The city is highly de facto segregated by income (and often race as well) with poverty concentrated in particular parts of the city generally on the West and South sides. Gang violence has become endemic in these areas and others generally because gangs offer a way to make money and have social standing for young people bereft of other opportunities.
Why can pizza delivery drivers have light up signs on their cars, but my after market lights are considered a 'distraction'?
There are strict requirements around how the signs can be set up. Your lights don't meet the requirements set forth in the applicable laws regulating vehicle lighting.
Why is there a groove on the remote control?
Hold the remote, the groove is for your middle finger.
Can someone help my wrap my brain around a double and triple agent? Is there such thing as a quadruple agent?
An agent works for country A. A double agent claims to work for country A, but really works for country B stealing information from country A. A triple agent tells country B that they only pretend to work for country A when in fact they are actually working for country A and giving country B fake info "stolen" from country A. Anything more than this would be ridiculous, and while not impossible, would be pretty unlikely.
What is the point of filibustering?
In general, it's not a way to get your agenda across, it's a way to block a vote or speech from someone you disagree with. If the schedule says "You have until midnight tonight to vote on this, or it goes in the trash" you can stand up at 7pm and just start talking and refuse to give up the podium until 12:01am in which case it's too late to vote, and the measure is dismissed. (Over-simplified, but it's ELI5)
How does extreme couponing work?
a lot of time and patience. my wife coupons (although I wouldn't call her extreme) she spends about 4 hrs a week on it. she only does CVS and RiteAid, but we have walked out of both with 3-4 bags of shaving products, feminine products, medicines, and sometimes cokes/2liters for cents on the dollar. Southern Savers is the site she uses that breaks all of it down and tells you exactly what coupon and exactly what product you will need to buy to get the best deals. really you have to dedicate yourself to it. research stores coupon policies and be ready to argue and defend your coupons at register. you end up with a lot of stuff for cheap, and some of the stuff you may not even need but it completes the deal, we donate those things since we are paying 10-50 cents an item anyway
Why does .5 round up?
because 0,1,2,3,4 round down. 5,6,7,8,9 round up. what else you gonna do? it's 1/2 up 1/2 down. makes perfect sense.
Can somebody explain computer specs to me, and what to look for when purchasing a new machine?
> and was always impressed by people who could tell the functionality of a computer simply by looking through its specifications. I don't really know how else you'd determine how good a computer is without touching it. And in response to your question, what do you plan on doing with it? If you just check email and watch youtube/netflix, then you really don't need a high-end computer, but if you're gaming, video editing and other stuff like that you'll need a good computer.
What does Power of Attorney mean and what does it stand for?
A Power of Attorney is a document that a person signs giving another person the legal authority to make decisions for her. This is often done by elderly people who foresee that for health/dementia/alzheimers etc reasons won't be able to make decisions for themselves about, for example, healthcare, finances etc. The power of attorney can be as restrictive or as expansive as she chooses. For example: PoA over finances only, PoA over medical decisions only, Conditional PoA: "if I am brain dead then my son has PoA over medical decisions including pulling life support". THIS MUST BE DRAFTED BY AN EXPERIENCED LAWYER and the person who she gives the PoA to has to be someone she knows very well, with a proven track record of looking out after her and who she trusts with her finances, health, everything. source: lawyer (who is giving general information, NOT legal advice because I don't know what jurisdiction you are in and don't know your mother's circumstances)
Why does sleep does sleep depravation make you stupid?
> I lose the ability to write grammatically correct sentences. > Why does sleep does sleep... I see what you did there.
What's the logical theory behind lock down procedures in public buildings?
They want to control access to areas of the building because ti is easy to end the situation. If everyone is locked in classrooms, the shooter cannot get into them, and they are a lot less people running around so the police can find the person who is causing the issue.
Why do we only learn out multiplications up to 12?
I can't speak for the rest of the world, but in Britain multiplication tables up to 12 used to be taught because pre-decimalisation, our currency was divided into shillings each of which had twelve pennies. Being able to multiply in units of (up to) twelve was therefore an essential life skill -- you simply wouldn't have been able to properly know the cost of items in shops without that ability. Since the pound was decimalised in 1971 it's no longer been required, however I suspect British schools still teach multiplication tables up to twelve simply because they always have done.
Why are there 4 bases in DNA?
It just so happened that those particular 4 chemicals fit together in a way that strings of pairs of them can form a double helix that protects the information stored by their order.
What exactly happens when a voice cracks?
There are numerous muscles in one's voice box that control the pitch and tone of one's voice. While you can consciously alter the tone and pitch of your voice, you don't have conscious control over this musculature. Voice cracks occur when the brain hasn't learned to correctly modulate these muscles to produce a consistent tone. This mostly occurs to adolescent boys with rapidly changing vocal structures. Another case where the voice may crack is during extreme emotion, when there is extra tension due to a stressful reaction.
If the "we only use a certain percentage of our brain" myth has been debunked, how come we can't do things like autistic savants?
When I was a kid, I picked up some human calculator tricks, and got pretty good at it. It is about 25% talent, 25% knowing some tricks, and 50% practice, practice, practice. If you have a condition like autism with OCD tendencies, and those tendencies lead you to practice math tricks all the time, you are going to get pretty good at it. And if your condition leads to cognitive deficiencies in other areas that make you appear "stupid", your math ability is going to seem even more impressive.
why is passing out a concern for pilots and not climbers at high altitudes?
Pilots don't require oxygen unless they are flying at an altitude of at least 14000 ft. Most mountains are not 14000 ft above sea level. Climbers who climb the tallest mountains in the world do require supplemental oxygen once they reach a certain altitude.
Why does mint or peppermint flavour make water taste colder?
It activates the wrong neurons (the ones that detect a loss of heat, AKA cold) by lowering their activation threshold. When the cold water touches your tongue, it makes the oversensitive neurons react and flood your brain with incorrect cold signals.
Why do actors often have very dilated pupils while filming?
They're not looking into light, they're looking into a relatively dark area, while being lit. You can actually see that in the picture you posted.
Why don't humans produce the enzyme required to digest cellulose?
Because we instead produce the enzymes and have a digestive system capable of digesting meat. The critters that can eat cellulose generally are full herbivores and can't do that, because their digestive systems are entirely geared around digesting cellulose.
Why is it a social convention for females to have long hair and males short?
I heard women grow their hair long as a symbol of fertility. Long hair indicates a long period of good health. It's kinda like saying "look I've been healthy enough to keep up these glorious locks for the last 3 years. Im healthy enough to carry your babies"
Why is water 'harder than concrete' if you fall into it from a great height?
It is not harder, but at high enought speed the effect is the same. You die. Imagine for example what happens when you slowly soak your hand in water, there is no resistance. Slap the water and you will feel the impact. Slap it hard enought and you will feel pain. This happens because when you go slow the water mollecules have enought time to get out of your way. The faster you go the harder you will have to push to make them move faster. Go fast enought and they will really resist it so hard they will feel like a solid to you. Consider that what kills you is not the fall but the sudden stop at the end. Ig you go slow the water will resist you enought to gently stop you but if you go fast enought it will stop you suddently.
What is Raspberry Pi?
It's essentially just a very small computer running a version on linux, the reason its incredibly popular/amazing is mostly the size and what you can do with a full computer that can fit in the palm of your hand. It has all the ports that any desktop computer/laptop uses on a daily basis.
Is magic and wizardry theoretically possible?
I think what people are driving at is that "magic" is based on your perspective. Invisibilty was once considered magic but now through science we have created structures that are invisible to particular wavelengths of light. An iPhone would be considered magical to a culture of humans who do not know what electricity is. I would say that anything is possible with science given enough time and effort. Therefore things that you see in Harry Potter, like flying brooms, or pictures that move on their own, may be seen in one form or another enabled by science and technology.
Why do comedians repeat phrases of their jokes/stories every so often while performing on stage?
If the audience is busy laughing, a good comedian will repeat the sentence they were busy laughing at so the audience has a chance to refocus and not miss the end of that sentence or the beginning of the enxy. I've seen some bad comedians that just can't read their audience and they keep going through their routine firing off jokes and when everyone laughs, the next joke falls flat because half the people in the audience didn't even get a chance to hear the preamble. Additionally, repetition can be a rhetorical tool to drive a particular point or create interest or simply to entertain. Or they could be used to repeating themselves for any of the reasons already mentioned even if the specific instance of them repeating themselves actually doesn't fit the criteria but they are just used to doing it anyway.
For electric trains, why does the friction from the part on top of the train that contacts the power cables not cause the cables to wear out and need frequent replacement?
The friction does wear metal but contacts on the train's antennas are made of a softer metal and this is the one that wears out. The pads as easily replaceable.
Why do planes at major airports sometimes take off in the opposite direction than they usually do?
They take off into the wind. If the wind shifts, they take off the other direction.
Why does Valium act as a stimulant for some people instead of a tranquilizer?
Some are so crippled by anxiety that they can only "let loose" when their nerves have been suppressed and smoothed out by anxiolytics.
Why don't police officers have some type of malpractice insurance like healthcare practitioners do?
Most local governments do have insurance policies for this sort of thing, which is why they are the targets of lawsuits, not the individual officers. I suppose a few high profile lawsuits directed at the officers themselves might change this.
How could police be overruled by Scientologists once let alone 161 times as mentioned on TIL?
Scientology has a shitload of money and a shitload of lawyers and basically runs Clearwater, FL like a company town.
Why is it that after a night of drinking, I can't sleep past 7:30 usually, however the norm seems to be that others "sleep it off"?
Feels. I wake up super early then can't get back to sleep. Next time when you get up try to sit in the shower for a bit, make some food and take some multivitamins + fish oil then put some calming music on and go back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. Personally the music helps me take my mind off trying to go over every detail of the night before hoping I didn't do any stupid shit.
How is it normally cold at a higher elevation (on top of mountains), even though you are closer to the sun?
The sun is over 93 million miles away, going up a few hundred feet is pretty much no closer.
How can China copy so many products like cars , cellphones etc. without getting in trouble/infringing patents?
Its not "China" as in the government officially doing it. It is individuals doing it with the government turning a blind eye to it. Since a connection to the government can't be proved to a level that would allow any World Trade Commission action, about all people can do is demand action from the government & listen to their bullshit response.
Why is the camera recording quality noticeably worse when the same broadcast is reporting news outside of North America or Europe?
Not every country has the necessary electronic and technological infrastructure to transmit and receive the crisp video and audio that's most easily found in such countries as you named.
What exactly is management consulting?
In short you're correct: a management consultancy does spend a lot of time investigating a company, then makes a number of recommendations to senior staff on how to improve their business. Not all management consultants are equal. The senior consultants and partners spend a lot of time with senior members of the company with which they're working, discussing performance and strategies. Mid-level consultants tend to hold interviews with mid-level managers to understand the company and recognise problems. They may also supervise a team of junior consultants. The junior consultants spend a lot of time typing up notes, fiddling with PowerPoint slides and ordering dinner because they're having to work very late. Depending on ability, performance and luck it takes about 5 years and an MBA to move from junior to senior.
What is a prefecture?
In modern Japan a prefecture is an administrative district that is similar to a state or province in other countries.
Why do you rarely come across dollar bills with rips in them even though they are really easy to rip?
When banks come across damaged bills, of any denomination, they send them back to the federal reserve, which takes them out of circulation and replaces it with a new bill.
Why can US citizens be fined for having an untidy lawn?
The local government doesn't want people not taking care of their lawn and letting it get overgrown, likely lowering property values for the surrounding houses/community.
- From my 4 year-old: "Why don't numbers end?"
Think of the biggest number you can imagine. Now add 1 to it. You can do this forever. So, the numbers never end.
How does a bone regenerate when you break it?
It's not that it regenerates. But rather that the cells in your body builds new bones between the existing break and they all fuse together. The downfall is... this is enormously taxing on the body to do, and its extremely limited. It also can cause problems as well because its not always on point when growing new bone in the break. It could not make enough causing fragile bones, or it could make too much causing bone spurs. But back more to your question. The cells in your body are capable of identifying what part of your body is missing... this could be skin, muscle, and even bone. Given certain conditions, the cells in your body are able to rebuild or transform into those missing parts. The downfall again, is that it is incredibly taxing on the body. And if need be your body will at times decide its better not to rebuild or replace.
Thai food spice levels.
They generally add more Thai chilles to hotter dishes. Fun fact: you can ask for your dishes to be Thai hot at most Thai restaurants, and they will serve it to you as hot as if you were from Thailand. I always do this because spicy foods have little effect on me, but be warned ahead of time that this is *not* for the faint of heart. In Thai hot dishes, you can see the extra chilles floating in your curry.
5: Why in Britain do they use the metric system yet they use MPH for speed measurements?
We began moving to the metric system around 40-50 years ago. When I was a child, shops still used to show weights in imperial - but a European directive that shops need to sell in metric really sped up the transition. There are a couple of things which we still use imperial measurements for though. They are distances/speeds on roads (because it would be too difficult to change), and measuring the volume of our beer (because there would be a huge backlash if they tried to stop us selling and buying pints!)
How is a company able to force an employee to retire?
"Retire willingly, and we'll give you a generous severance package. Refuse, and we'll fire you and you'll get nothing."
Why do we often feel tired after low-energy activities such as sitting on a plane?
Well, that particular example inflicts quite a bit of stress, both emotional (lines and such, even assuming you aren't afraid of heights), and biological (altitude change, uncomfortable seats and restricted ability to move, persistent noise, and the like). Driving is another good example, again emotional stresses (if you're not occasionally getting mad while driving, you're probably not paying attention), and physical (restrained seat with limited ability to shift positions, sustained effort and concentration).
Why is there a physical pain in your chest when you experience emotional pain i.e. heartbreak?
Emotional stress induced things like muscle tightness, increased heart rate, abnormal stomach activity. There is also an empathy phenomenon that has been observed in mice where pain sensitivity increases when observing someone else who is in pain, so normal sensations of pain are amplified.
What makes CEO, CTO and CFO individuals so special? Why can't just any manager, tech lead, or accountant take on the roll? There are so many of them around, and yet companies have a hard time filling those roles?
This [book](_URL_0_) talks about the different skills you need to learn as you ascend from individual contributor to CEO. It is a very different skill to manage a group of people than to do the work of those people yourself. (*Managing* programmers is not like *being* a programmer.) And a different skill set again to manage a group of managers. Now you work is not to help individual contributors to their individual thing better. Your work is to help managers manage better, and that's a whole different skill. At the CEO level on of the challenges is to manage a bunch of people who specialize in things that you've probably never done. How do you assess their skills, and their ability to assess the skills of the people below them? Learning this stuff takes time. Most people aren't even interested in doing it.
If I open a regular site on my phone it takes me to the mobile version. If I open a mobile site on my computer it doesn't take me to the regular site automatically. Why?
Nearly everyone that has a website treats the desktop version as the standard version and the mobile version as the special version. This means there is no explicit need for a desktop prefix, since it's the default anyway, only a mobile prefix is needed. So when you go to _URL_2_, it checks if you have a phone and redirects you to _URL_0_. But if you go directly to _URL_0_ you tell the server that you specifically want the mobile version so you get that, even on a desktop. If there was a _URL_1_ for a specific desktop version, you would also not be redirected if you visit this from mobile.
What would happen if you dropped an ant from the top of the Empire State Building?
Due to gravity, the ant would fall. Depending on a couple of other weather factors, it would land more or less in front of or in the vicinity of the Empire State Building.
How is damage (in dollars) done by, for example a natural disaster, calculated?
You can literally sum the values of the stuff destroyed. For more advanced estimates (or bigger numbers) you can also add up the lost hours of labour and extra labour and materials required for restoration. You could also estimate into the future how much money a place would make if it were not destroyed. Usually averages or industry standards are used, but It's really down to each individual researcher.
how does being tonedeaf work?
> depending on the degree you're talking about, it's actually a literal brain defect called amusia. one of Oliver Sacks's books ("Musicophilia") is all about the brain and music, and he talks about tone-deafness. basically, the part of your brain that recognizes pitch (or tempo, rhythm, etc.) is missing or damaged. there are even people who can recognize pitch but not timbre, so things as gentle as a piano or oboe can seem harsh and stabbing to them. _URL_0_
Why does WIC not allow white potatoes?
"According to Food Politics' Marion Nestle, the white potatoes were excluded because the Institute of Medicine observed 'WIC mothers already buy plenty of them.'" [Source](_URL_0_) You don't subsidize and encourage something people are already readily buying.
Why are 'off brand' batteries so much cheaper than on brand? They seem to be about 1/10 the price.
Take a closer look at the cheaper batteries, they usually use a different chemistry. "Heavy Duty" batteries perform worse than Alkaline, and don't last as long, but they are cheaper to produce. Store brand Alkalines will be cheaper than Duracells/Energizers, but still competitively priced. Heavy Duty batteries are the ones that are significantly cheaper. Heavy Duty batteries are good for low use things like smoke detectors and TV remotes, but are a waste of money in higher drain applications like cameras, radios, etc.
Why/how do some TV series with such critical acclaim (e.g. Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones) and high production values have a different writer and/or director for almost every episode?
The head of a TV show is known as a "showrunner" and he/she acts as the creative lead of the entire show. Showrunners function as a combination producer/director/writer for the entire series. There are individual writers to help with specific episodes and individual directors to help with management of the stage directions, but the real creative drive -- *the person that the various writers and directors for the various episodes take their direction from* -- is the show runner. So basically, it doesn't really matter who the particular writer or director for an episode actually is listed in the credits, it is the showrunner that dictates the direction for everything. The showrunner for "Game of Thrones" is [David Benioff](_URL_0_) and the showrunner for "Breaking Bad" was [Vince Gilligan](_URL_1_).
How can so many countries be in so much national debt? To whom is all that money owed?
'Countries' aren't monolithic entities. Rather, they're comprised of many departments. Departments in the same country can owe money to one another. They can owe money to citizenry, then can owe money to private or public institutions in the same or other country. The majority of United States Debt, for instance, is owed within the United States, whether to private citizens in something like a Treasury Bond, or within the government, such as funds like Social Security.
What happens in our brains when we realize we've driven miles/minutes and don't even remember consciously driving them?
This happens when your subconscious mind starts handling processes that you normally control consciously. Normally, you're paying attention to the road and staying alert. When you're an experienced driver, you can pass the task of staying between the lines to your subconscious, and stop being alert for hazards. Because you're performing subconsciously, your mind doesn't bother to record these times to memory, so you won't remember more than a hazy idea of driving those minutes/miles. When something snaps you out of the subconscious routine, you realize you haven't been alert for hazards, which is a decidedly unsettling feeling.
Is it more profitable for a music artist to have a song in the number one spot for a short while, or to have a song in the charts for a lengthier amount of time?
It depends the number sold and length of time. You can sell 100,000 albums in a month then fall off the radar, or slow burn to 100,000 over a few months. Also, unless the artist is self publishing, they're not making all that much off album sales, at least initially.
Why does Seattle have such a large number of major US corporations?
Not just policies. Location too. Seattle's on the Pacific Ocean and so is an easy major seaport with access to major inexpensive manufactories in China and surrounding countries. It has a good quality of life and lots of recreational opportunities thanks to the State of Washington's parks, ski hills, and other location-based perks. It's very close to California and Silicon Valley, and thus has access to a lot of highly skilled IT staff, including imports from Asia. It's growing like mad, and such things are kind of self-fueling. People go there for high-paying jobs, which injects more money regionally, which attracts more highly-paid jobs, which... and so on. And since the types of jobs it mostly produces aren't based on exhaustible local resources, its business model is somewhat stable. Ooh ooh, and Bill Gates was born there. :)
Why does wind make such a strange noise when recorded on a device but not when we hear it with our own ears?
Have you ever had someone blow in your ears? Microphone are hyper-sensitive to anything and will accept sound from almost any direction. Your ears will block all the "simulated" sound waves of the force of the wind except when it's directly blown inside your eartube. That's basically the difference. This is the same reason why most good microphones have gigantic noise filters as they simply block wind, but still let soundwaves pass through.
Why do babies and small children fight sleep?
Because they think they'll miss out on something fun while asleep. They're minds are filled with curiosity and wonder
Why does time seem to slow down when I'm studying and passes by really quickly when I'm procrastinating?
You pay much more attention to the time when you're studying, probably something like "only 10 minutes left" or whatever, you probably don't do that when you procrastinate.
- Why don't we hear babies cry or make other sounds when they are inside the womb?
The baby's lungs are the last thing to form in a normal baby, once they are formed, they will send out a chemical that signals to the uterus that triggers the mother's body to go into labor.
Why is wearing a hat indoors considered rude?
It would be like wearing your coat inside, generally you don't do that. Hats have a very utilitarian function to either keep your head warm or dry and inside you don't need to do either. Eventually it morphed into a fashion statement but just like you are supposed to use the correct fork to be polite you are supposed to remove your hat.
why is it we can it people into a medical induced coma but not any medical use to get them out of coma?
Medically induced coma is done through drugs(barbiturates). Drugs wear off, patient wakes up. Comas cause by accident are a result of damage to the brain which is slow to repair/rewire if it ever does.
What is an enterprise architect?
SAP is a company that makes a suite of tools, generally around accounting and human resources. Just like Microsoft Office has Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc. SAP has something to process people's paychecks, the company's bank accounts and generating expense reports. The architect's job is to connect all these different systems together. So when someone personally get's paid that goes through SAP's paycheck program, however it also sends a note to SAP's expense report program saying "hey add $1,000 to the employee expense line" and another to the bank saying "hey withdraw $1,000 for John". In many ways the enterprise architect is more analogous to a city plumber (which is also a civil engineer). They make all the connections between different systems, the same way a city plumber has to connect people's houses to the main sewer system and then route that to a repository.
What exactly is that sinking feeling you feel when you're extremely sad?
What's that scared feeling called, when you don't even know what you scared about?
How did sites like Grooveshark, Spotify, and Google Play get all that music available for free streaming?
Grooveshark is currently in a number of lawsuits over copyright infringement. Spotify has licensing deals with music studios so that they are allowed to stream music on demand. On the free version, they pay for these license fees with ads. In the US, due to streaming music laws, anyone can use music for Internet Radio, assuming that they pay a set royalty fee. This is how Pandora and Spotify Radio work. Google Play All Access is similar to Spotify in that you need to pay $10/month and they use that money to pay for license fees to the recording companies. iTunes Radio is different in that it has worked out license fees with companies for streaming so they can operate in many more countries than something like Pandora. Pandora only works in the US, Australia, and New Zealand. While iTunes Radio is initially only available in the US, many people believe that because Apple's licensing deals span across many countries, it will be able to spread far easier than Pandora.
Why should I install anti-virus software and a firewall?
Do yourself a favor and download this and scan your computer: [link](_URL_1_) If it says you're free of viruses, then feel free to continue as you were.
Why do football fans give Tim Tebow so much attention?
He wasnt a great NFL player. Coming out he was one of the most hyped College Players in YEARS. 2 National Championships and a Heisman to his name during his time at Florida. Basically Johnny Manziel if Johnny had actually won more games in college. That and his strong social example made him easy to cover.
Can we pinpoint the angle of our trajectory from the source of the big bang?
The big bang wasn't what you seem to think it was. It wasn't an explosion *in* space that things are moving away from. It was an expansion **of** space, and it occurred at every location in the universe at the same time. Galaxies aren't moving away from some central point. Rather, space itself is expanding, which causes every point in the universe to see the rest of the universe as if everything else were moving away from that point. Every location looks exactly the same. There is no central point.
why don't checking accounts get interest?
It's the bank's way of charging you for the convenience of a checking account. Btw, many banks (and more often credit unions) do offer interest on checking accounts, especially when you maintain a certain balance.
Why does the US try to prevent places like Iran form getting a nuclear bomb while its own country has thousands and is the only country ever to use one?
"Deterrent. Mutually assured destruction." We only ever used the nuclear bomb because it was an extremely dire circumstance. During the Cold War turning into atomic dust was an extremely likely possibility. Now that Russia's government is slightly less absolutely insane and that most NATO states have access to nuclear weapons, this isn't a threat anymore. Iran, on the other hand, does have an insane government that may or may not question using a nuclear bomb for warfare. Plus, nuclear terrorism. The middle east is an especial hotspot for terrorism and what if some terrorist group just stole one?
what is the difference between butter and margarine?
Margarine is a non-dairy product created as a substitute for butter. While originally made from animal fat in the 1800s, today the primary ingredients include vegetable oil, water, salt, emulsifiers, and some also include milk.
From ancient times to the present day, why is it acceptable in most parts of the world for men to be bare-chested but not women?
Women's breast and men's breast are not the same. Treating them differently is not arbitrary, it's meaningful. Women's breast are sexual, they develop during puberty and have a functioning role to feed their kin. They are affected by estrogen (female sex hormones). It is sexual, and thus elicits a sexual reaction. To minimize this we cover them. If it feels unfair by women to cover them, then it is fair to have men not be allowed to walk around without a shirt, but vice versa is silly by all accounts. We have been covering them for tens of thousands of years. On a side note, not having nude women walk around is not "not equality", it's understanding there is a difference between men and women and embracing them. As if it's SUCH a luxury to walk around with no shirt. Wear a bikini on the hottest of days, the difference between that and no shirt is negligible, one can even check the skin temperature and see the difference. In fact, a white top keeps the body cooler.
Why do my feet get cold and sweaty when I don't wear socks and have them underneath the blanket?
When you first get under the blanket your body begins to heat up, as it no longer has to work as hard to stay warm. As a reaction, it expands blood vessels near the surface of your skin to shed extra heat. The only problem is most of that heat gets trapped under the blanket. When your body registers that it isn't cooling off it kicks on the sweat glands. This is why a lot of people sweat during sleep. As far as your feet go, it could be you're not used to noticing your feet sweat when you're walking around during the day, but at night it becomes noticable. If only your feet are under the blanket, it's probably because of the temperature difference. Your feet are trying to cool off while the rest of your body has to work to stay warm.
Why do many men's bathrooms have open stalls with no doors or doors that don't lock?
Many different possibilities, obviously, but if it was done by the establishment on purpose, it's in order to keep guys from doing hard drugs in there (ie heroin), or some other nefarious activity the place doesn't want occurring in their bathrooms. It can also deter men from using the stall at all, if the place doesn't want to deal with cleaning the thing repeatedly. It's also possible some guy just knocked the door off in a fight/drunken stupor, and the place just decided that they didn't want to replace it, as it would just happen again.
Why don't courts (U.S.) add perjury charges to criminals who lie in court and are found guilty on other charges?
except that situation would never happen. the defendant would rarely be put on the stand. if the prosecutor asked the defendant under oath if he did the crime, the defendant's attorney would tell the defendant to please the 5th and not answer.
How did they make a hex shaped hole on this lathe?
That was beautiful work with a CNC lathe. The CNC calculated how to spin both the parts to make the pattern required, similar to how it did the threads. I have not seen a good video of this particular pattern slowed down, but I'd assume it's very similar to _URL_0_ .
How does an app like OfferUp make money?
Tons of startups don't make money. They lose shit loads of it trying to get users, hoping to make the ninety back by selling the company or having an IPO.
Why does almost everyone who drives think it's ok to go up to 5 miles per hour OVER the speed limit?
The most likely reason is that 5 mph is within the speedometer's and radar gun's margin of error, so pulling people that are going 5mph over would result in a ton of legal headaches for everybody.
what happened to RSS? Why did it suddenly just stop being a thing?
RSS lets you get quick updates of websites you like. For example [qwantz](_URL_0_) updates every time a new comic goes up. The idea was that you could get updates and new information without having to go to each site and check.
How can a man be raped by a woman?
The human body will respond to physical stimulation even if you haven't consented and don't want it to happen. Mind over matter only goes so far, so sufficient stimulation will still have a predictable effect. The fact that your body responded in the way it is physiologically meant to respond has nothing to do with whether you gave consent for it to happen. In short: no means no, and what your body does when pushed doesn't mean a damn thing in the face of that.
Why do I like toasted bread, but not stale bread?
It is due to a reaction called the Maillard reaction, which is a non-enzymatic form of browning which is caused by heat. It is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars. Maillard reactions are why we like browned meat, roasted coffee and biscuits (most baking processes go through the maillard reaction). Caramelisation is a completely different reaction and is only the reaction of sugars. However, they may both occur in the same foods and cause the same browning and flavours in some cases. With toasted bread it is the Maillard reaction that is the main influence on preference. Staling is caused by starch granules losing their water content, which creates more linking between starch molecules causing recrystallisation. This causes the dryness and leathery feel to stale bread, which are deemed undesirable in most cases.
Why does the military have its own justice system?
In the military (21 years Army for me so far) we have different rules that don't exist in the civilian world. For instance, in order to maintain order and discipline required, we don't have the option to tell a commanding officer to go screw himself as we are turning in our two weeks notice. The members of an officer's command are legally bound to follow his lawful orders, otherwise face UCMJ punishment. The reason for that is that during combat operations, the commander's decisions must be obeyed and carried out without his subordinates rebelling, disobeying, or otherwise "going on strike" which are all things civilian workers are allowed to do. During combat, it's not the time for any of that. If a service member commits a crime in the civilian world, the military can take responsibility for trying and convicting that person, or they can allow the civilian authorities to proceed. Never both.