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When sucking a piece of candy (hard or soft) why do you have the urge to crunch and swallow it instead of savoring the flavor longer?
Because your whole life youve been crushing things with your teeth and swallowing them immediately as they enter your mouth. It becomes a reflex.
If someone poored the equivalent in mass as our sun, of water on to our sun, what would happen?
Well the sun wouldn't go out. It would actually burn brighter. Water molecules are two parts hydrogen and and one part oxygen. The sun uses hydrogen to burn (hydrogen makes up most of the sun's mass) so by adding water you'd be adding more fuel.
Why is a 2 degree Celsius increase in temperature on earth considered dramatically dangerous.
Try to imagine all the matter that makes up the surface of the Earth. All that air water, earth, rock, etc. To increase the average temperature of all that involves an immense amount of energy. It's the air in particular that's a cause for concern. Air that's 2C hotter is more energetic and can hold more water vapour, which means that storms will be stronger and rain will be heavier - or both at the same time, in the form of more and stronger tropical storms and cyclones. There are millions of people in situations that are highly vulnerable to this, such as just about the whole of Bangladesh and its > 160 million people. [It's happened before] (_URL_0_).
Why is it so much harder to hold your breath after breathing out then it is before breathing out?
When you take a breath and exhale it, your lungs will absorb about 20% of the oxygen in that breath. So if you instead hold your breath, you've actually got several full breaths worth of oxygen that are still available to your lungs, even though you haven't breathed in any new air. When you exhale and then hold your breath, there's very little oxygen available to your lungs, so you start feeling the effects a lot faster.
When to use a hyphen in between two words (global-scale, first-class, etc.)
If the words are working separately, they aren't hyphenated. For example, "itsy-bitsy teenie-weenie yellow polkadot bikini." It's not itsy *and* bitsy, it's itsy-bitsy. Same with teenie-weenie. At the same time it's not bitsy-teenie, so those aren't hyphenated together. Now the part where it gets more flexible. It could be a yellow polkadot bikini or it could be a yellow-polkadot bikini. In the first example yellow is being applied to the bikini -- it's a yellow bikini with polka dots -- in the second it's being applied to the polka dots -- it's a bikini with yellow polkadots. It distinguishes whether yellow is an adjective being applied to the noun bikini, or a adverb being applied to the adjective polka dot, which is being applied to the noun bikini. TL;DR if the words work without the other one, don't hyphenate, if it needs both of them to make sense, hyphenate.
How come whenever I draw a face having a certain expression I end up making the same expression?
A fun little part of the brain known as mirror neurons. They're the reason that you empathize with actors on screen or in this case, your doodles. Mirror neurons believe that whatever your eyes are looking at, is actually you. So when you see someone hurt, you cringe. Or when you see an angry face you believe it's your face that's angry and these neurons trick your facial muscles into reacting to match. Remember this next time someone tells you that "A smile is contagious"
If calories are a measure of energy, does the same food have more or less calories/energy whether it is eaten hot or cold?
Food gets broken down to glucose sugar, and various vitamins and minerals. The vitamins and minerals are used by cells for their internal bio-chemistry, and the glucose is burned (with oxygen from breathing) for energy. "Calories" are a measure of the amount of glucose that can be extracted and burned, and this is a chemical energy. How hot the food is doesn't really affect the amount of nutrients and glucose in it, just affects the taste, and possibly how long the stomach takes to warm it up to body temperature. It only takes a few calories to warm up the contents of your stomach, much less than the thousands of calories that a stomach full of ice cream would deliver.
during embryo growth, how do cells physically "arrange themselves" into complex structures like organs, appendages, etc?
I'm a bit rusty on my developmental biology, but the basics is that cell division is not symetrical, and at each division in the early stages, some material goes with one of the cell, and the rest with the other. This translates into different protein being produced by the cells, or at least different concentration of said protein (For exemples of protein, look up Wnt or Notch). This creates a gradient of proteins in the organism being formed, and because the cell reacts differently depending on the concentration of these proteins, they will develop into something different. There are also pathways in development that are linked to the status of the neighbouring cells. Say, if i'm a developing cell, and the cell beside me is a pre-nose cell, i'm going to develop into a pre-nose cell too. However, there are very very complex interactions going on, and the simulation of everything at once is not yet feasible, and we rely on models, which do not account for everything yet, but better models will come !
Why do you see people advertise themselves as "pre-op transgender" in dating sites (and other dating mediums) but you never see "post-op transgender" written?
I think generally people who're fully done with transitioning are ready to set it behind them. The point isn't to be transgender, the point is to be male/female. > is it unethical or immoral to not make potential partners aware of your history? This topic comes up from time to time. Even within the trans community it's a pretty highly debated topic. You can cross-post this over at /r/asktransgender if you want an entertaining flamewar.
if someone was to melt down pre 1982 pennies for copper?
You would have to melt pennies at a large scale to make it worthwhile for the government to spend time investigating and arresting you. To melt pennies at that scale, you would have to industrialize the process (large amounts of pennies, big smelter, and a reliable customer who will pay cash for the copper). Somewhere along the line, you're likely to attract notice. If you try to just melt pennies by the handful among a large network, then yes, you are likely to avoid detection, but you still run into the problem of finding a seller to make a profit, and you'd have to pay those melting your pennies. No one is going to bother going after you if you melt $5 worth of pennies and use the copper to make jewelry to sell on Esty for a tiny profit. If you melt $50,000 face-value worth of pennies though.....
is there a chemical reaction in the brain that responds to cancelling appointments and social activities? I often feel good after lightening the social load!
You had to do a task you were dreading and nervous about, and by canceling it, your brain considers it accomplished. You are then rewarded for it chemically. It's alot easier than spearing a mammoth anyway.
Why are bar codes relatively large when usually you only need one thin scan line to identify an item?
You May have expierienced how long it takes from time to time for the employees to find the Barcode, now imagine its only half a cm thick.
Why is it that diesel gas prices are now getting much lower to the point of being close to or even lower than the price of unleaded?
Did you know originally diesel was always cheaper per litre than petrol it was only when the government realised the extra miles people where getting out of a diesel car so they jacked up the price, and agricultural, and fishing boats, etc still get diesel at cheap prices for diesel (it's red diesel and I can't remember exactly how much cheaper as I haven't worked on a fishing boat for a few years).
Why does the thread count of sheets make them softer?
Think of sandpaper... the kind with large grit is rougher than the sandpaper with fine grit. Not imagine the same thing with threads. Fewer, larger threads will be rougher than more fine threads.
When taking a hot shower with cold feet, why does the hot water make your feet feel "icy hot" for a while?
Your cold receptors are firing because your feet are cold. When you dip your feet in the warm water, the nerves responsible for detecting heat are then activated. So for a moment, your brain receives signals for both hot and cold, leading to the sensation you describe. Source:medical school
I feel like a dog can sense if a person is unhappy. How?
I am by no way at all a scientist or veterinarian but I have been working with dogs for over a decade. I spent a lot of time as a dog handler is a large off leash facility and the first thing I taught myself was to leave everything at the door before I went in. If something was happening in my personal life or my boss was pissing me off to put me in a bad mood the dogs would sense it right away. If I was sad or upset the dogs would he sympathetic and try to cheer me up by showing off or trying to get my attention. If I was angry the less dominant dogs would keep their dostance and the stronger willed dogs would push back or act up. I have always loved how intuitive dogs are and how much they can connect with us as humans.
why lawyers and judges have to wear wigs in court?
It's just a tradition, dating back to when "court" meant an audience before the local sovereign ruler. Back then it was part of the protocol for appearing before someone superior to you, and a token of respect for the sovereign. We keep the tradition today as a token of respect for the gravity of the circumstances. Justice, as the kids might say, is "serious business." Different cultures have different standards for court dress. In commonwealth countries court dress includes robes of various kinds and *sometimes* wigs, but most wearing of wigs was dispensed with about four years ago. In the United States, we still expect judges to wear judicial robes, but everyone else is generally expected to present themselves in business daywear — though the standards for *that* have slipped considerably in the past half-century as well — and we don't do wigs.
Why do we feel so dehydrated after sleeping, even for short periods?
Aside from simply not being able to ingest fluids while asleep; 1. Hormonal release/changes that occur predominantly during sleep. 2. Increased sweating due to different temperature regulation when asleep. 3. Increased fluid consumption by your body during sleep. 4. Dryness of mouth. 5. Possible desire for the body to purge refluxed digestive fluids with water.
Why do not Mexico's military forces just eradicate the cartels?
Because the Cartels are extremely (and I mean EXTREMELY) well coordinated and armed and not just a bunch of thugs high on their stuff who whack anyone they don't like. They are practically a paramilitary group in how they are organized and have made usage of even computers as an art form in how they perform their criminal actions. They fight unconventionally, have no regard for military/civilian targets and are only looking to protect their business empire. The cartel Los Zetas, alone, are notorious for wiping out entire villages (men, women, children...even animals) and stringing the bodies up from local bridges if they think a region is getting too uppity. Basically, reword your question as "Why is it the American military has so many problems with Afghan insurgents? Why don't they just eradicate them.". It's the same dilemma the Mexican military/police are having with the cartels. They are fighting what is effectively an unconventional army.
What exactly do a president and vice president do all day?
All sorts of stuff. Policy meetings, meeting with various heads of departments, briefings, public appearance stuff, meeting/calling foreign leaders,
How does mass have no effect on acceleration due to gravity?
The key you're missing is that the more mass there is, the harder it is to move it. The pull of gravity is stronger, but that is balanced out because it's harder to move. For instance, consider how much effort it takes to push a shopping cart with one hundred feathers compared to pushing a cart with a hundred bricks. The same applies to the force of gravity. If not for the air slowing the feather, you could see for yourself that it falls at the same rate as a brick. Actually you can see a video of an experiment involving feathers and a bowling ball in a chamber with the air pumped out right here: _URL_0_
Why is baldness much more common in men than it is in women?
Most of the baldness you see is caused by a gene on the X chromosome. If a man has the gene for baldness in his X chromosome then he will be bald. If a woman has the gene for baldness on an X chromosome, she has a second X chromosome that most likely will not have that gene so it is suppressed and she will not be bald. Edit - Remember Women have two X chromosomes and men have an X and a Y Chromosome.
Why was windows '98 so good?
You probably don't remember windows 3.1.. when windows 95 came out shit was forever changed. When win98 came out, everything wrong with win95 was fixed (for the most part). Better question- why was windows 95 so good? Edit: just to wrap this question up in three simple words.. the start menu.
Are we all capable of being indoctrinated into believing anything no matter how immoral it seems now?
You might roll your eyes at the cliche I'm going to give you here (assuming you know what it is), but check out the Milgram Experiment. People can be conditioned under the right circumstances to do immoral things. Very few people are outliers that take serious effort to condition like that. In short, yes. People can be made to do almost anything in the right conditions.
Why are the subreddits /r/news and /r/worldnews so widely hated amongst redditors?
Because they are typically either a) wrong b) misleading or c) some combination of the two. There is no incentive to be truthful or analytic in those forums. The only incentive is karma. The truth may set you free, but it sure as hell doesn't get you reddit gold....
- Why do we eat cows and pigs abd not horses and dogs in the Western World?
Horse meat isn't rare at all. You can get it in many parts of europe. Tastes ok too. Anyway, that's culture. The same reason we think that bacon and eggs is a breakfast food, and don't eat grasshoppers.
If you're not supposed to flush wipes, why are they explicitly stated to be flushable?
There is no law that defines "flushable." That it fits down the toilet means it meets the common definition. If you ask a sanitary worker they will tell you they've never seen a wipe that breaks up like toilet paper. At the treatment plant there is a scrubber that pulls out all of the condoms, tampons, wipes, etc that people carelessly flush down the toilet. Someone has the job of cleaning that scrubber and the more things people flush, the more times that person has to do that job.
The light dependent and the light independent stages of photosynthesis.
The light dependent stage is where the leaf take in the energy from the sun and turns it into energy it can use (ATP and NADPH) for the next step (the light independent stage). The light independent stage is where the leaf takes that energy (the ATP and NADPH) and uses it to break apart CO2 molecules and put them back together again into glucose molecules (which is a very convenient way to store energy for later use, since ATP and NADPH don't last very long on their own and can't really be transported around the plant's body to be used by other cells) For a much more in-depth explanation of all the steps (more appropriate for A-level biology than my ELY5 attempt) I highly recommend you watch [this](_URL_0_) video.
How do they get animals to act?
They same way you teach animals anything. Treats. Lots of treats!
the medical explanation for why in Saving Private Ryan, the medic's hands were all curled up after he go shot.
tendons in the hand, it takes effort from your muscles to straighten your fingers. Try it your self stretch them straight then relax and watch as they curl back towards your palms...
me: why do skunks and marijuana smell similar?
The chemicals that "give off" the smell you are noticing belong to a group called "terpenes". Various terpenes are found all throughout nature and are the reason you are reminded of one item's scent by the other. I would venture a guess that a skunk and "Skunk" share a common or similar terpene. Limonene, for example, is common to both Cannabis and the ordinary orange peel. Source: my reddit handle is...
why does a natural gas furnace have to be vented out of the house while the gas oven/gas cooktop does not. What happens to the exhaust gases created from the oven/cooktop?
* A gas furnace burns waaaaay more fuel than a small oven or cook top. That's the reason its gasses have to be vented while for the oven the natural air exchange is good enough. * You use the oven only while cooking so you would be aware of problems, while a gas furnace operates automatically. * Ovens need to be in a room where you can ventilate (i.e. has windows that can be opened), local building regulations have all the details
What are stretch marks?
You have two layers of skin: the epidermis, which is the outer most layer, and the dermis that sits below that. Both of these layers can be broken down into even smaller layers. In the lower layer of the dermis lies collagen. Collagen is rubber band like strands of proteins that essentially holds up all the shit above it. Whenever the skin stretches, such as in pregnancy, weight gain, rapid growth in puberty, and the body fails to keep up with this process by not producing enough collagen to hold everything up, the existing collagen tears, and you now have a stretch mark.
The British were able to extend much control over the Chinese during the 1700s and 1800s by selling them opium. Why would the legalization of drugs in the U.S. not result in the same dire consequences for the U.S.?
Because Opium was officially illegal in china for most of that period and didn't become legal until after the Second Opium War in 1858. When China started to grow their own, the British lost much of their influence. In otherwords, the British had influence BECAUSE it was illegal.
public key cryptography.
Imagine you can only decode my message by counting to some big *secret* number. But you have no idea how big that number is. However, I tell you that in order to code the message to me, you use my public coding number of 27. Now all anyone needs to do is count the rest of the way to the really big *secret* number to read the message, but only I know how far that is so no one can decode the message but me.
Cloud Storage and how it's different from storing stuff on servers like we always have
"Cloud" is just a marketing buzzword. It means servers.
Why do smaller dogs generally live longer than large dogs?
Larger dogs have larger bodies, which require larger organs and larger bone structures. Larger organs and bone structures have to work harder and don't typically last as long. On top of that, we have traditionally used larger dogs for work, which adds "extra mileage."
When we jump into very cold water, what occurs in the human body that makes us feel acclimated when we're actually getting colder?
your body has a process of adjusting to things as they happen so you dont become a husk of a person from sensory overload - ie putting on cologne in the morning that you wear regularly you will smell for a few minutes then it goes away, you still smell it, but your brain purposely ignores it so you can pay attention to necessary items. similarly, when you jump in to ice cold water, at first you feel your skin and muscles tighten, your stress as the coldness lowers your body temperature, but then your brain decides you are not in danger and goes back to normal functioning.
Why do the Bloods and the Crips hate each other so much?
It wasn't always that bad until drugs got involved. With the advent of cocaine and crack, the gangs needed to have places to sell it because it was an extremely profitable revenue stream. Eventually, those territories began to overlap and what was once minor disagreements turned into outright violence. In short, C.R.E.A.M.
How do people get addicted to prescription drugs, such as painkillers?
Imagine a pie factory. This pie factory makes ten pies a day. It is a shitty pie factory. One day the pie manager hires an additional pie maker who is awesome at making pies. He makes twenty pies a day. After a while The other pie makers in the factory Realise they can start slacking off and being idiots and don't really make pies anymore because they only need so many pies a day. They are in a union so the pie manager can't fire them. The new hire pie maker eventually gets fed up and quits. The original pie makers have been slacking off so long they barely remember how to make pies, and so it takes time to get back to ten pies a day, and during that time the pie manager feels like shit has trouble sleeping and gets night sweats amongst other things. This makes him want the new hire back. And he is willing to steal his moms tv to do it, because customers became used to purchasing 20 pies a day and that extra revenue felt SOOO good.
Why is my muscle memory so much better than my memory for other things?
How much effort did you make in learning that instrument? Months, years? How much effort did you make in remember those names? Probably not much.
How do companies continue for years without ever making a profit?
The value of a company and whether investors want to be involved is not based on current earnings or profitability, but instead on what they think it will eventually be worth. Companies called Venture Capitalist specialize in providing seed money to these companies while they are just starting out. This money keeps the company going during the early years when there is little or no income. Usually in return they get a piece of the company and make out like bandits if the company become the next big thing. Most of the time, the bet fails, but when they hit, they hit big.
If an AC unit says it is 900w, what is the time frame in which it uses that much energy?
A Watt is a complex unit, like a Newton. A Watt is actually a measure that includes time. One Watt is equal to one joule per second. So 900 watts means 900 joules per second.
Why does it seem that there are always massive breakthroughs in finding a cure for cancer, then we never hear about it again or It seems we never actually get any closer?
Because the media is very very very very bad at properly reporting scientific breakthroughs. Meaning they hype up something gigantically, taking it out of context, presenting it as if it is already ready to be used, but in reality that is never how it goes. Usually what happens is 1. someone does research, realises that cell X is present in nearly all early stages of cancer Y, and that maybe if we find a way to detect cell X, we can find cancer Y when it is still easy to treat. 2. a paper is written about this, indicating that caution is still needed, tests are still in progress etc etc. 3. Media reports it as AMAZING NEW CANCER BREAKTHROUGH, WE CAN NOW DETECT CANCER EARLY. 4. Scientist cries and drinks.
Why don't we wake ourselves up when sleeping in an uncomfortable position?
When your brain falls asleep your body is flooded with chemicals that both numb and paralyze muscles, so yeah, you dont actually feel it until you wake up.
Why when I get sick does only a single nostril get clogged?
contrary to popular belief, your nose doesn't get clogged with snot, it gets clogged by the blood vessels expanding...so blowing your nose a lot does not clear it. I always thought laying on one side relived pressure on the other allowing me to have at least one working nostril. Failing that, lying on my back but in a slight sitting up position and breathing through my mouth in a controlled fashion brings my heart rate down and usually relieves some of the blocking....but I agree it's a pain when trying to sleep
Why do people go to see Operas in languages they aren't fluent in?
Why do a lot of russians enjoy AC/DC even though they can't speak english? Because music is universal. Anyone can listen to music, and vocals are an instrument. All part of the piece.
What causes the heartache you feel in your stomach/chest when you love someone and miss them?
subtle physical changes you get, but don't notice. changes in breathing, digestion, muscle tension, etc. The odd sensation is a result of a bit of confusion. All the symptoms you get are features of the sympathetic nervous system. So the activity of the sympathetic nervous system ends up triggering the.. sympathetic nervous system. This all happens because it does not recognize a difference between physical and emotional pain. But anyway. the largest part of this system is the vagus nerve. That is what's transmitting the 'heartache' feeling. You'll notice you're not just feeling it in those couple areas. You'll feel it in your throat, in your jaw.. _URL_0_ everywhere along this path, and specifically along that path and nowhere else. Why does all this happen? We don't know. But we do know whats physically happening.
How will people feed and clothe themselves after all minimum-wage jobs are automated?
This doesn't answer your question but this is the premise of Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano which you might enjoy. It is satire and written in the 50s so it's not in any way realistic but it is entertaining.
What happens to the 3 minutes and 55.9 seconds in a day?
23 hours and 56 minutes is the amount of time it takes the Earth to make one rotation around its axis. However, during that time, Earth also makes about 1/365 of a revolution around the Sun. This means that Earth needs to rotate around its axis for 4 more minutes in order to orient itself relative to the Sun. [This image explains it](_URL_0_). It takes 23 hours and 56 minutes for Earth to get from #1 to #2, but a person standing where the red arrow is pointing will no longer be directly under the Sun. It takes 4 more minutes for Earth to get from #2 to #3, where the point where the red arrow is pointing will again be directly under the Sun.
Since different animals on different islands and continents evolve different traits, why is it that fish such as a bass in a lake that is not near a river have not evolved differently in Georgia versus Minnesota
The Georgian fish likely has only been isolated from the population in Minnesota for a short time (geologically speaking). If you were to leave one population of bass in a lake in Georgia and another in Minnesota and leave them isolated for a very long time, they will, indeed, diverge into different species.
What exactly happens in the eye of a storm?
in the eve of the storm it is very calm, not much wind is present due to wind rotating around the eye not past it. if you are able to stay in the eye you will be completely safe. the wind spirals upwards due to convection(pressure difference) around the eye.
If illegal drugs were made legal, what would happen to drug cartels and other criminal gangs?
They would probably diminish since the law would protect those doing things legally. They would probably get involved in other criminal things like blackmail and extortion.
why 4G doesn't cover as much area as 3G
4G typically runs at a higher frequency than 3G. This means that it can pack in more data, but it also means that it travels less distance before the signal degrades. This is why you hear low-end bass coming from the car driving down the street, but you can't always hear the lyrics. The lower frequencies travel through material (the car, air, your door) better than higher frequencies.
Why are some plants like spinach edible but plants like grass are not?
you can eat grass...you probably just wouldn't like it and wouldn't get many nutrients out of it!
Gravity proportional to mass and volume
The total gravity created by an object is proportion to its mass. No other variables (such as volume) are needed. The *effect* of that gravity on a second object (such as you, or a satellite) depends also on the second object's mass, and of course the distance.
Why after a perfect nights sleep why do some people find it so hard to get out of bed and are still tired while other people would be full of energy and find it easier to get up
Circadian rhythm could be part of it. Some people fall asleep and wake naturally at different times than our jobs / commitments make us wake up. Naturally, i'll fall asleep about 4am, wake about 11/12. That's my body clock. Any sleep that doesn't mesh with those times is always less productive. How long are you actually asleep for? Do you have any other medical issues? Either way, speaking to a doc isn't a bad idea, as there could be many reasons, and sleep is very important. You could be sleep walking, having trouble getting into deep sleep, or have sleep apnea.
Why do we lose our memories of what we got up to when highly drunk?
Someone actually told me the answer to this but I was highly drunk at the time and don't remember
How do headphones make noise sound like it's in the middle of my brain?
Your ears and brain are confused. Your brain gets the location of sound from the delay of the audio and volume difference between each ear due to (amongst other factors), your head being between them (see: _URL_1_ and _URL_0_). Since sound coming from headphones is fed directly into your ears, this delay is not present so your brain gets confused on the actual location of sound. Note some recordings (or post processing done on the receiver) take these cues into account to provide the information your brain requires for locating where the sound is supposed to come from (example: _URL_2_) This is usually not done as it's assumed audio is coming from speakers not that close to your head.
if we say an atomic clock is wrong 1 second for every 1 000 000 years, have we actually a better way of measuring time?
Yes, two atom clocks. You do not know which one is right but it gives you an indication of how accurate they are.
Legality of using real life people in fictional stories
Famous people can and often do copyright their own image and likeness in order to prevent this from happening, and for people who have done so you must go through their estate even after death. Lincoln never did this, and neither did most of the long dead famous people you see on TV.
Why is it that when its dark, stationary things look like they're moving?
The center of your retina is missing the cones that process low-light, giving you a nighttime blind spot, directly ahead. Since you cannot actually see an object when you focus on it in the dark, you have to look at something near it. Then your natural response is to attempt to focus on it directly, and so it disappears again. The back-and-forth process of seeing it and then losing it makes it seem like the object is moving.
How Does A Computer Virus Actually Get Onto Your Computer?
You get computer viruses from another infected computer on your network, or by getting tricked into installing it yourself. Viruses are only one part of the malware family, though. There's also trojans, worms, rootkits, spyware, and adware.
V from V for Vendetta's philosophy
FASCISM BAD. ANARCHY GOOD. That's about the thrust of it.
How do major airlines pay for new aircraft? Is it one lump sum or are they constantly paying Boeing/Airbus for old and new aircraft simultaneously?
A lot of these aircraft's you'll find are leased to airlines from various investment companies. Doric is a good example they buy Airbuses then rent to several different major airline companies: _URL_0_
How do Native American nations function within the US?
The US government basically lets them have their own pseudo nations with their own police, land (no taxes on it), casinos among other things.
Why are there no drugs to help fight the common cold, only drugs to block the symptoms?
The common cold is really hundreds of different things, so you'd need hundreds of different drugs and have to match the right drug to the right cold.
Why do countries dispute uninhabited, useless territory?
Islands are great to own, because they give you ownership of all the water around them for many kilometers, including all the fish, oil, or whatever else might be down there. Mountains are great to own, because they provide military defenses, and because they often contain minerals you can mine. I don't know what cural banks are.
peak oil and fossil fuels. Why are we supposedly running out of oil when the earth can create fossil fuels?
Because it takes millions and millions of years to make fossil fuels and hundreds of years to deplete them.
What's P < 0.05 mean and why does it make everybody feel so confident?
A P-value is a way of quantifing statistical significance. It's the probability that you would have got the same result by chance. For example, if you're trying to tell whether a coin is biased, you could flip it 10 times and get heads 8 times. If the coin was fair, the probability that you would see more than 8 heads or more than 8 tails by chance is about 0.02148, so you would say this result is significant at the p < 0.05 level. The choice of significance level is arbitrary but 0.05 is a common choice. Decreasing this threshold means you are less likely to falsely conclude that a result is significant but you're also more likely to miss an effect that is in fact real. If your significance level is 0.05, then you would expect 1 in 20 experiments to [falsely detect a correlation where there is none](_URL_0_).
How much "power" does the president of the United States have?
The president's power is kept in check by the Legislative and Judicial Branch of the government. The president can create executive orders to implement things rapidly, though these can be struck down by the Legislative or Judicial Branch. The president cannot author laws, but his position as the leader of his party lets him use the "bully pulpit" to pressure congress to pass law in his agenda. The president can also nominate supreme court judges. So in theory, the most power president would be a president elected along with his party having majorities in both the house and senate while there was a vacancy on the supreme court. As long as he had his party in tow, he could pretty much pursue his agenda.
Why does water cause electronic devices (I.e. cellphones) to malfunction even after said devices have completely dried?
Unless it's distilled water, water is actually pretty dirty. It's full of little particles and sediment. Take a really close look at a glass of unfiltered drinking water and you might probably see some. Anyway, when a device gets wet those particles settle on the microchips shorting out some of the connections (creating paths for electricity to go where it shouldn't). That's why people say to soak a phone in distilled water then leave it on rice. The distilled water washes away the sediment and the dryness of the rice pulls the water out of the phone, like a tissue dipped into a cup of water. I hope this is all accurate and simple enough, feel free to tell me if any of that is wrong or if there are better analogies. :)
How does air humidity percentage work and how are we still able to breathe when it's 100%?
100% relative humidity means the air has as much moisture as its temperature allows (since the amount of water vapor that can be in the air depends on the temperature - warmer air can hold more moisture). This means if you sweat, it won't be able to evaporate since the air is fully saturated with water vapor. So you will feel much warmer, since you're not able to easily lose body heat. It doesn't mean that the air is 100% water.
Can someone explain to me what exactly constitutes an illegal hit in rugby?
Anything above the shoulder or where a player is lifted off the ground and not brought down 'safely' as deemed by the ref. Basically don't drop people on their heads.
Please explain to me the relationship between Reddit and Imgur.
Imgur was created specifically for Reddit, by a redditor. [Here's the post he made when it was released.](_URL_0_) Here is [his follow-up AMA.](_URL_1_)
Why do countries want to take people in for asylum?
I could be wrong but I think it's a matter of humanitarian motivation. They take them in because they support their cause/protection for whatever reason and feel it's the right thing to do. Again, there may be many examples where this is not the case.
Why did most of the mammals from the Ice Age go extinct?
The Pleistocene overkill hypothesis suggests that the time frame of the extinction of Pleistocene vertebrates matches the spread of humans through North America. Although this theory is mostly based on North American human expansion it could possibly be correlated to the rest of the worlds situation as well.
What does an Apple computer do better then a (Windows) PC?
Mac owner here: Nothing, really. That being said, I like the fact that I don't need to deal with drivers, have a nice GUI on top of UNIX (BSD), and I can still boot into windows to play those "Windows Only" games.
What is the difference between men's and women's razors?
Good question! The biggest difference is the angle of the blades themselves. Men's razors tend to have a greater angle, which aids in cutting down thick beard hair, but can also mean a stronger shave with leg hair. The downside to a more aggressive angle, though, is a higher tendency for razor burn and cuts if you've not done the appropriate prep-work on the area being shaved. I strongly suggest checking out /r/wicked_edge, the subreddit dedicated to the art of shaving. It's mostly about beards, but the lessons about how to shave undoubtedly apply to shaving other parts of the body, including armpits and pegs.
What is wire fraud in the US?
Any crime in which the defendant voluntarily and intentionally devised or participated in a scheme to defraud another out of money; the defendant did so with the intent to defraud; it was reasonably foreseeable that interstate wire communications would be used; and interstate wire communications were in fact used.
When film earnings are being calculated, especially big releases that break all sorts of "biggest opening weekend" and such, is inflation taken into account when comparing these numbers to older films?
The only reason that films keep breaking records all the time is because ticket prices have been going up over the last few decades. If you look at how many people went to see 'Gone With The Wind', you'll see newer films won't come close to selling that many tickets, even though they make more money. BoxOfficeMojo estimates that Gone With the Wind sold 202 million tickets domestically, while Avatar sold 97 million. Best-selling movies in America adjusted for inflation: _URL_0_ Sadly couldn't find a worldwide version.
Why is size of an animal such a good estimate of its strength, but size of a brain is not a good estimate of intelligence?
Intelligence doesn't increase linearly with brain mass or volume, but instead seems to have a lot to do with surface area and neural connectivity. Simply put, the wrinkles in our brain (sulci and gyri) are why we have more intelligence than an animal that might have an equally large brain, or a similar brain/body ratio. That, and the number of synaptic connections between different parts of the brain.
Why can't telescopes work like magnifying glasses?
Microscopes and magnifying glasses take light from a small area and spread it out. Telescopes take light from a wide area and bring it together.
Why is that even though I've been waking up early for school for years at pretty much the exact same time, my body is always tired and never seems to get used to it.
how much sleep are you getting per night? it could be you're getting too little, maybe go to bed earlier when it's possible. or it could even be too much sleep. I'm kinda with you though, it seems like no matter how little or much I sleep or how good the sleep is, I'm just slow waking up, especially the earlier it gets. when I have to work at 7am I'm brain dead until about 830. anyway I'm hanging around this thread for some more educated answers.
What is a Workers Union and what do they do?
A union is an organization of workers. Normally in the workplace, the boss has all the power, the boss decides pay, hours, conditions, and can fire you for any reason. When you have a union, you can negotiate with your boss. If the boss is unfair or unreasonable, then the union goes on strike, which is where all the workers refuse to work until their demands are met.
Why do military ship names begin with USS, HMS, etc.?
They signify what country's military they represent. USS = United States Ship HMS = Her/His Magesty's Ship, meaning UK. HMCS = Her Majesty's Canadian Ship
why are people with autism/asperger's sensitive to various environments.
Because autism is a processing disorder. It means we process things, everything, differently from other people. Either more, or less, but usually more. You see a bright like and your brain processes it as a bright light. We see a bright light and our brain doesn't know how to process it, so it processes it as thid huge, intense scary orb of blinding light instead. It's overwhelming to be surrounded by those. You know how when you squint your eyes at a light, you can see little rays of light coming off of it? Well, we have those all the time. They get in the way of driving, of walking, etc- we can't always see through them. Imagine the descriptions of light, but for everything. Every sense. Our brains try to makeup for the disordered processing by shutting down (where we lose our senses) or melting down, where our bodies move beyond our control in an effort to get our processing going where it has stopped.
Black holes suck in light, so why are they black?
We call them black because we believe that they suck in light and don't let it out. It's outgoing light we can see, you can't see light that's being absorbed only light that is being sent out or reflected.
How to radio stations know how many listeners listen at a certain time of the day?
Here's one way. I wore one of these for about two years: _URL_0_
Why does it seem that no one "drops dead" from cancer?
Cancer doesn't grow that suddenly. You have time to be sick from it before the day it kills you — typically for months.
If something were to break the sound barrier in space, how would it differ from here on earth?
The speed of sound depends on several variables even here on earth - humidity, air pressure, etc. Thus there is no "speed of sound" anywhere sound can't travel, such as in space.
why do we find blood so.... disturbing?
Not everybody does. But in short, a lot of people do simply because its an easy way to tell that somebody is injured and possibly dying.
why is there a lag after putting my hands in scalding water before the pain registers?
I'm not really sure what you mean by that -- I feel both in what seems to be the same time. But I'll see if I can do an explanation: A cut severs part of the nerves, causing an immediate chemical reaction that triggers the electrical impulses which inform the brain. Heat has to transfer through the layers of skin (which requires lots of high-energy particles to bump into each other), getting hotter and hotter until it triggers proteins around the nerve to open channels which allow ions to move, generating a signal.
What makes pee burn when you're dehydrated?
Uh, that's not normal. You might want to go talk to a doctor if it burns when you pee. Good luck with that and remember, "No glove, no love."
How do they release HD movies that were out decades ago?
Because the film originally used had higher resolution than the standard HD formats anyway. Quality 35mm film has a horizontal resolution of approximately [4096 pixels](_URL_1_), which is about twice the resolution (and four times the pixel count) of the [1080i/1080p](_URL_0_) HD format.
Where are the colors that a human can't see? Is my wall secretly another color?
I am not color blind but I am not very color sensitive either. Women tend to see more colors or be able to recognize more subtle differences. So it is probable that your wall is painted from two different cans of paint that are "different" but not enough for you to notice. It would also be possible to intentionally mix the paint so that they are sufficiently different that my sister would notice but I would be oblivious and say they are the same. Here is a good article on the subject. _URL_0_
Why are added sugars so much worse than natural sugars?
> Wouldn't it be just as bad to eat an excess amount of natural sugars? Yes. Eating an excess amount of anything can be bad for you. There is nothing inherently "worse" about eating something that has added sugar instead of natural sugar. So long as you are eating the right amount for your body, it will be good for you. Similar goes for fat or other nutrients. Don't ever let the word "Natural" fool you. "Natural" does not equal "healthy" and Artificial does not equal "Unhealthy".
Difference between 32bit and 64bit
Think a 4 lane highway (x32) vs an 8 lane highway (x64). The cars are the information. The amount of lanes does not effect the speed of the cars. Picture 8 cars going down each highway. 8 cars on a 4 lane highway, the car will have to go in two rows of 4. The second row will get there after the first row. 8 cars on an 8 lane highway, all car can get there at the same time. Now picture 1000 cars on either highway. By the time the last car sent gets there on the 8 lane highway, the 4 lane highway would have only been able to deliver less cars. Edit: it's also kind of like a garden hose (32) vs a fire truck hose (64). Both can have the pressure increased, but the actual output at the same pressure, would be much higher on the fire hose. Increasing the water pressure is like getting a faster CPU. but the 32 or 64 bit motherboard can only transfer so much at one (thickness of hose).
; hardbacks and paperbacks
In general, hardcovers tend to be more expensive, as They cost more to produce. Hard cover books are more durable than paperbacks. The hard cover allows for fancier cover work in the form of engravery, reliefs, stiching, ect. as well as a jacket, that provides additional art. I think hard covers are more satisfying to hold, and look better in your library.
If binary is a deterministic process how are computers able to so randomized operations/calculations?
Usually they're *pseudo-*random number generators. They're actually deterministic, but they're random enough for most purposes. Typically the process is seeded with something like the current time so that the deterministic process starts from a different place each time and you don't get exactly the same results every time. True random number generators have to use an external source of randomness, like the decay of a radioactive sample or the timing of your keypresses and mouse movements.