Split (3)

train · 273k rows

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When archeologists dig deeper into the ground to uncover buildings and objects from the past, what is burring/building on top of them to put them so deep? Where is all of this earth coming from?	[ "It depends on the location and environment.\n\nIf the site was an ancient village or town that was abandoned and left to the environment, then over time nature would reclaim it. Anything that wasn't quickly degradable would be covered up by dirt, plants, grass, trees.\n\nWind and water can easily build up dirt an...
Why do humans have to chew their food so thoroughly when many other animals can just gulp down their dinner?	[ "Carnivores vs omnivores/herbivores.\n\nCows not only chew more than we do, they regurgitate and chew their food again.\n\nVegetable matter requires mastication to increase surface area and release nutrients.\n\nProtein and fat, cartilage, tendon, etc. don't have cell walls so they basically dissolve in the acidi...
Do Islamic women also believe in the notion of having 72 virgins in heaven?	[ "The whole \"72 virgins\" thing is not necessarily a mainstream Muslim belief. It comes from something that Muhammad allegedly said but the evidence that he said it isn't always judged to be strong, and some believe that it is a mistranslation (and, as far as I can tell, all the actual hadiths say \"wives,\" not vi...
Is Antarctica stuck at the south pole?	[ "The antartic tectonic plate is generally rotating slightly towards the east and moving towards the Atlantic Ocean.\n\nI don't know the answer to your mantle convection question. However it is possible that eventually (geologically speaking so we're talking potentially billions of years) antartica could move betwe...
How come solid butter is white, and melted butter is yellow?	[ "Most solid butters I've seen have been yellow. But I believe that is because they add yellow colouring to it", "Most solid butter is yellow. \n\nWhat determines how yellow is the breed of cow used, and the feed that they have. If they are grass fed they will tend to have darker yellow butter (and cheese)." ]
What was so controversial about the Reagan administration?	[ "He backed governments in Central America that did some bad things. They killed men, women, and children and buried them in mass graves. Reagan denied that such graves existed. Later it turned out they did exist.", "I'm no expert on the topic, but Reagan was a proponent of what he called \"Trickle down economics\...
The logic behind the phrase "I'll give you 3 guesses and the first two dont count?"	[ "It's just an expression. It's meant to imply that the answer is so obvious that you'll only need one guess to get it right." ]
What exactly causes animals to sometimes go berserk on humans they have bonded with their whole life?	[ "One of the big differences between \"domesticated\" and \"wild\" animals that we've bred into them is acceptance of the social order and relationships. For example dogs accept that you are the top dog when they are small, and you stay the top dog. Wolves don't have that bred into/out of them, so they will occasion...
Why is keeping a cell phone in your pocket potentially harmful you?	[ "Short Version: It's not \n \nLong Version: It's nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot. \n \nELI5 Version: Your cellphone isn't harmful in the same way the skin doesn't melt off your face every time you microwave a burrito. The radiation isn't strong enough to be harmful. Your average ejaculate contains MILLIONS of...
Why can't water catch on fire?	[ "the same reason carbon dioxide can't catch on fire: it's already fully burned. the oxygen in water is already joined to the two hydrogen atoms, and this is a very stable situation for the oxygen. so there's no free oxygen, which is one of the things you have to have to have a fire.", "Water does not burn becau...
Why do skunks and cannabis seem to have a similar smell?	[ "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, fo...
Why is it illegal to sell someone a counterfeit version of a controlled substance, or to sell someone what they think is illegal, but isn't?	[ "Absolutely illegal, in fact it's treated as if they were real. Extasy for example does not even mean pure mdma, it can and regularly is pure meth, or caffeine, in either situation you can get the same punishment.", "[Here](_URL_0_)'s a site that explanes it pretty well" ]
Besides being catchy, why do songs get stuck in our heads?	[ "I've been told that songs we can relate to are ones we tend to favor. If we can think of ourselves as the subject in a song, we have a tendency to like it more." ]
How does Wi-Fi on an airplane work?	[ "Satellite network engineer here.\n\nThe wi-fi portion of the link is just like in your home. 2.4ghz / 5ghz antenna /repeaters provide signal to your phone or device.\n\nThe satellite side is actually pretty exotic. Obviously because you are in motion the hardware on the plane needs to track the satellite in orbit....
What would happen if all the members of the British Royal Family were killed and there was no heir to the throne	[ "The line of succession is pretty fucking long. If they were all wiped out, we'd have far bigger things to worry about than who gets to rule Britain, we'd be dealing with a huge cataclysm.", "The British Royal family has the line of succession calculated out several hundred spots. For something to happen to kill...
why does pouring a beer or soda into a tilted glass produce less bubbles (or head) than pouring straight into a glass?	[ "Ahem. Avast ye! Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained:\n\n1. [ELI5: Why does tilting a glass while pouring beer reduce the foam at the top? ](_URL_0_) ^(_6 comments_)\n1. [ELI5: Why does beer foam when you pour it directly into a glass from a pitcher/fraught/can but when you pour it into a til...
How do drilling companies drill 7000+ feet below the surface? And when it comes to fracking, how do they begin drilling horizontally that deep underground?	[ "Basically when the drillers get to the depth where they want to start deviating from vertical there are directional parts of the drill bit they start pointing in a direction other than straight down to increase the angle of inclination. The angle is usually measured in degrees per 100ft. So the transition of verti...
How do CD players read CDs?	[ "With a narrow laser beam pointed at the cd. If the light reflects back to the sensor, it's a 1, if the light gets reflected at a different angle away from the sensor, it's a 0.", "CDs have tiny microscopic pits in them that correspond to either a 0 or 1 in binary code. The CD player shoots a narrowly focused las...
No Child Left Behind	[ "You dislike it for the wrong reasons.\nNo Child Left Behind means that teachers' salaries depend on how their students preform on standardized tests. Obviously, this means that all good teachers migrate away from poor schools where their pay will be docked.", "My old psychology teacher told me this- \"If no one ...
Can someone give me a basic intro to cars and what parts make up a car?	[ "This is by no means a complete list, and not even ten percent of what you should know. I am not a mechanic, nor am I even that good of a shadetree mechanic, but I'm bored at work, so I'm going to give you a quick rundown of terms. As far as modding or racing goes, simply owning a car and keeping it running will co...
Why do America and the UK not use the same "main" painkiller? Aspirin vs Paracetamol	[ "In the US (and Canada) Paracetamol is called Acetaminophen, which goes by the brand name Tylenol. Tylenol is in fact one of the top pain killers used. In addition to Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen (Advil), and Acetilsalicylic Acid (Aspirin) are probably the most common painkillers in North America.", "When people say...
Why is it that controlling your breathing helps to moderate pain?	[ "It isn't the breathing, exactly. \n\nIt's the focus. Focus on your breathing, it helps distract from focusing on your pain. \n\nI think it also helps keep you from hyperventilating and going into shock.", "A large percentage of pain is mental -- how your brain is responding to the urgent signals from your senso...
when it's hot out, why doesn't corn start turning into popcorn?	[ "Popcorn pops because corn kernels contain a small amount of water. When the water is heated enough to boil, steam is produced, which increases the pressure within the kernel. When the pressure difference (between the corn kernel and the atmosphere) is high enough to rupture the kernel, it pops.\n\nWater boils at 1...
why does time seem to pass faster as I get older?	[ "I've heard in the past that it's because it's relative. When you're ten, a year seems like forever because it's a tenth of your entire life. When you're fifty, a year seems like hardly any time at all because it's literally just a 50th of your entire life, etc", "The older you get, the fewer truly \"new\" experi...
What causes bad morning breath?	[ "Bacteria have had all night to multiply in your mouth without any water or food to wash away/dislodge them. Your mouth also dries out, especially if you breathe through your mouth, which further worsens it." ]
Why do toenails grow much slower than fingernails?	[ "Two theories:\n\nMost of it has to do with blood supply. Your fingertips get more blood than your toes (this is why frostbite affects toes more easily than fingers). More blood means that the portion that produces the nail gets more nutrients so that it can produce more nail. This is also why in the summer, the hi...
How does pain radiate from one part of the body to another?	[ "Not every organ we have is innervated directly though the central nervous system, meaning it can't send pain signals to the brain. For example, your diaphragm doesn't have a way to make your brain realize there's something wrong, so it sends the the pain signal through the next branch it's connected to so the bra...
What causes a cowlick?	[ "It more so depends on your hair follicle. This is what determines which way the hair grows out of the scalp. So essentially cowlicks are tufts of hair where their follicles cause them to grow in such a fashion. \n\nAlso, considering this is an internal thing, we can't change our follicles, so you can't really \"fi...
How does digital clock work?	[ "There is a special elements called a quartz. It is the same thing that beach sand is made of. It has a special property of converting different Energies. With pressure it turns into heat, with light it splits light, and with electricity it creates a vibration.\n\nSome quartz crystals make a very stable vibration. ...
Why is it substantially easier for me to drum my fingers from pinkie to thumb than thumb to pinkie?	[ "Probably just because you haven't practised doing it one way but do practice the other way because you do it out of habit. I've never really thought can do it both ways without a problem, and if you tried for about a week you probably would be able to as well.\n\nI think this because I remember what it was like le...
How do they justify using government money to help build new sports stadiums?	[ "decisions about money are often determined by whether or not the people making the decision think that decision will make other people spend more money on things they profit from. if enough people in city planning / government think a new stadium will bring more people to the city to spend money there, then they d...
LI5: Why do we enjoy music?	[ "[This Ted talk](_URL_0_) has some info on that.\n\nI would say it has to do on harmonics, how notes relate to each other. \n\nIn regards to pitch, they're all vibrations. An A4 would be around 440 Hz, when you go up an octave it doubles, so an A5 would be 880. This means that for every 2 cycles of A5, there is exa...
"Peter's Map"	[ "You mean the Gall-Peters projection map.\n\nIt is a map that correctly represents the size of continents. Meaning that Greenland doesn't look as big as Africa on it.\n\nWhile it gets the area right it gets shape, direction and distance wrong, meaning it is useful to compare the size of places but a bad tool to nav...
Why is queen Elizabeth also the queen of many independent sovereign nations (former colonies) ?	[ "Because those countries have so far not decided to become republics. They are known as the Commonwealth Realms (note that is different from simply being a member of the Commonwealth of Nations).\n\nMany of Britain's colonies did not violently break away from the British Empire. It was a gradual transfer of power u...
How are dams built? What kind of environmental effect do they have on the surrounding areas?	[ "Building a dam is quite simple. You have done it a billion times in that stream in the forest. You simply build a wall where the water wants to flow. This stops the water and the water starts to fill up and expand over more and more area until it can find an exit or there is enough water to flow over the wall. Sin...
Why does listening to people with certain types of accents sound pleasing (similar to an ASMR effect)?	[ "Accents are produced by the vocal pallet being worked in different ways. Some accents fall onto deeper more bassey areas of the vocal pallet cresting a deeper resonant sound which can be quite nice and soothing. Other accents come up through the pallet and have a real tenor quality (think Canadians)\n\nYou can thi...
I pay a monthly fee for cable TV. Why are there commercial advertisements, and, more importantly, why are movies censored for language?	[ "You may a monthly fee for the cable company to hook you up to their data-distribution network. Ads exist to pay for individual programs. And movies are censored because the channel that broadcasts them want to censor them. If it's not being broadcast over the air, they aren't required to censor them, but may ...
Why does melted cheese taste different than plain cheese?	[ "I believe it has something to do with the enzymes and proteins that are reorganized once introduced to a higher temperature.", "The matrix of milk proteins that provide cheese its structure break down, and the cheese takes on a creamy texture. Our nervous system is stimulated by creamy textures. The sensations a...
How do global rules of war work? How does one enforce the rules while at war with another country? What would stop an opposing power from breaking these rules?	[ "If you break the rules, you will be sanctioned. This makes it a lot harder to access the global market, making you poorer and less able to fight the war. If you lose the war then you may be tried in a court for war crimes and imprisoned.\n\nAlternatively, the enemy may start to commit war crimes against you and yo...
Why does the ISS not spin to create artificial gravity?	[ "One of the points of the ISS is being able to do experiments in zero gravity. A spinning station would defeat that purpose.\n\nBut also, complexity. More complexity equals higher costs, and AFAIK the ISS already went over its budget as it is.", "Spinning doesn't just create uniform gravity everywhere like they s...
Why does the glass at the top of my car windscreen/windshield appear blue?	[ "It appears blue because it is specifically tinted blue to keep the sun out of your eyes without significantly impacting visibility." ]
How does eating food stop one from feeling the effects of Cannabis?	[ "It doesn't. It just gives a burst of energy, but it in NO WAY sobers you." ]
How does one body hair (like arm hair) grow so much longer than all the others?	[ "I have the same issue, sometimes I get one hair on my arm or stomach that grows to be 4 inches or more. Always on my left side, too. I always assumed that it was a mutation. Hair goes through growth and resting cycles and I always assumed that the mutant hair wasn't getting the message to rest or fall out.", "Mo...
If your mouth has more germs than your anus, why is it easier for you to get sick from putting your mouth on someone's anus rather than kissing them?	[ "Because \"number of germs\" is not in any way a good indicator of how likely you are to get sick. Your body contains many many billions of bacteria, most of which are actually beneficial to your body. In this specific case, E. coli (a gut bacteria) is responsible for the sickness. Early in your life, one strain of...
is there a way to conceptually describe a 4th dimension in terms of our 3 dimensional world?	[ "The way that made it sort of click to me is like this:\n\nImagine that you, a 3D person, get transported into a 2D world. You can still perceive depth, but nobody around you can. They only have up and down, and forward and back, but no Z axis.\n\nNow imagine someone stuck you in a 2d jail and you didn't particular...
How does the fuel gauge work in a car?	[ "Go to your toilet and lift the lid off of the water holder. Flush the toilet. See that little floaty thingy? Thats what in your fuel tank. The car takes a measurement of how high that float it floating (by using electronics it can measure how far on a stick that floater has floated up). Take a volume measurement w...
How does the calculator count?	[ "This is not really ELI5 but maybe it helps:: _URL_0_" ]
Why are there so many Martial Arts in Asia?	[ "Asian cultures did not necessarily produce more martial arts. They just preserved them better. \n\nHowever, it's true that in China's case, education in militarized martial arts was more prolific than in other cultures. Folk fighting styles were commonly practiced by all people everywhere, but a high proportion of...
What exactly is sleep? And why do we do it?	[ "Sleep is the brain's \"clean\" cycle.\n\nYour brain cells aren't connected directly to the bloodstream. There's a barrier in the way, the blood-brain barrier, that prevents random chemicals in the blood from affecting brain function. You wouldn't want your personality to change based on what you had for lunch,...
When Animals interact with each other why do they not look at one another in the eyes like humans do?	[ "A lot of animals see eye contact as intimidating. Looking an animal in the eyes can be a way to assert dominance. Dogs will usually try to avoid eye contact with a dominant individual, and they'll look down in submission. \nOther animals always try to maintain eye contact. Domestic sheep will usually only graze...
Is the number of open gays increasing or is the ratio because of the change in times?	[ "Both. Population increase and the fact that people are not as afraid to come out and say they are because ridicule is less than it once was.", "Very hard to say. Homophobia means we can't have very good stats because not everyone could tell the truth." ]
Why don't we simply desalinate/clean ocean water for situations like droughts?	[ "It's very expensive currently, and you have the problem of brine left over. The process is not perfect so you don't end up with pure water on one side and salt on the other, you get about half salt-free water and the other half is doubly-salty water, or brine. Disposing of brine is a problem. It is usually put ...
When something hits me in the nose but doesn't make me bleed, I smell something that I never smell in other situations. What is this smell?	[ "Iron from blood vessels bursting inside your nose. Your smelling the iron in your blood most likely.", "Could be micro capillary bursts that means you bleed but not in any way that's going to be noticeable unless you use a fiber-optic scope and look.\n\nYou could be smelling that.\n\nCould be that after getting ...
How is aborting a pregnancy because the child would be special needs not eugenics?	[ "It is in a sense. But Eugenics usually refers to a political commitment or government policy designed to \"purify\" the gene pool by removing certain people from it. Deciding not to have a child because of the emotional or economic costs---or the belief that the child's life will be painful---of expected health ...
How does a queen bee/ant spawn and create their own colony?	[ "When a hive gets too large they will raise a generation of new queens. These queens then leave the hive at maturity along with a few males and a bunch of workers effectively splitting the hive. This is what is happening when you see a bee swarm (most of the time). They go and look for a new place to start a hive l...
Why the Fibonacci Sequence is important	[ "Most people say the fibonacci sequence is important, because phi pops up and that's in nature everywhere. That doesn't really make it important(also, most of the places people \"find\" phi are pretty forced and not actually there.) Anywhere, I'm just saying that the fibonacci sequence isn't really important. I mea...
Can a cat/dog comprehend what's on the tv screen?	[ "I'm going to remove this, as it's not really an ELI5 question. \n\n > ELI5 is for requests for easy-to-follow explanations of complex concepts and subjects. That means no questions that are just looking for straightforward answers, that are subjective, a request for a guide/walkthrough, or that are objective but...
Why when you donate blood or get blood work done, do they take it from your veins rather than arteries or muscle?	[ "Taking blood from an artery is possible, but much more risky as you bleed much faster from an artery. You don't get blood from a muscle. In order to get enough blood, you must be in a vessel big enough to draw from. That rules out capillaries (with the exception of finger sticks for blood glucose testing). Your on...
What do other languages call the planet we live on?	[ "_URL_0_\n\nActually a lot of European languages call Earth some variation of Terra, which is the Latin name for Earth. Scandinavian languages use a variation of the word Jord. All in all, the word for Earth in each of these languages usually has the same literal meaning - ground/soil, land, or both." ]
Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard	[ "It's a complex book, and you're going to be hard pressed to narrow it down to a single argument... Long story short? It's largely about arguing that things which we perceive to be \"fake,\" or \"copies,\" of reality are in fact completely separate from reality to begin with, and that the thing we assume it to be c...
What is hypothyroidism and how does it pertain to obesity?	[ "Hypothyroidism is the term meaning \"extremely low thyroid-ism\". This basically means due to something, your thyroid gland does not produce the amount of specific hormones it needs too(not just the hormone thyroid but a lot of other ones in conjunction, remember just how many of these endocrines rely on eachother...
Why do most people prefer sleeping in a colder room under covers/blankets than being warm without blankets?	[ "It was explained to me this way, (not sure if it's true) the body goes into a Simi state of hibernation when it's colder. Therefore you sleep better. At least I do." ]
Why do some hand lotions burn my hands?	[ "You are allergic to one or more ingredients in them. Start comparing ingredient list from ones that dint to ones that do to figure out what it is.\n\nFor example, I can't use products that have tree extracts. It will give me a rash." ]
If electronic voting machines are so easy to hack, why hasn't a group exposed the loop hole publicly so that the problem can be solved?	[ "It's like saying \"If a PC is so easy to hack, why hasn't it been solved yet?\" They're so easy to hack because they're based on PC's and there are uncountably many ways to do it if you're serious enough", "In order to take something apart to figure out how it works, you have to get your hands on it. Voting mac...
Why do some LED displays seem to "jiggle" if I make a low growling noise with my throat or chew crunchy food?	[ "You're causing your eyes to vibrate, which leads to the illusion that the LED display is actually vibrating.", "LED displays blink very quickly because they use multiplexing. Take a typical 7 segment display like one that can be found in clocks or calculators. It's composed of 7 (or often 8, when it includes a d...
When going to bed after a day at the waterpark, doing rollercoaster or at sea, I can feel the "movements" of the day. Why is that?	[ "Your inner ear detects your movements and send signals to your brain so you can respond to the situation and balance. Your eyes are also sending similar information. Eventually your brain gets used to the same signals being sent at regular intervals (waves being regular at the beach). Your brain starts to expect t...
Why is the number pad on my keyboard opposite of the number pad on my phone?	[ "> There isn't a definitive answer, but the most cited theory seems to be that the telephone keypad has letters associated with numbers, so 1 2 3 across the top made more sense. Otherwise, the end of the alphabet would be at the top.\nCalculators, and therefore computer keypads had 1 2 3 at the bottom because it is...
Why was there no space or time before the big bang?	[ "No one knows. We can speculate. We know because of Einstein and other cosmologists that the universe is expanding. Because of this it can be tracked back to a time when it was a single point with infinite density. But we don't understand why or how it happened yet." ]
What's the big deal with pi?	[ "Pi the number is the circumference of half a circle in relation to the radius." ]
How do comas work?	[ "There are a lot of reasons for a person to be in a coma, with varying gravity and reversibility, so take whatever I say next with a grain of salt, since it may not apply to a particular situation in your mind. \nSome comas are caused by damage in nervous structures responsible for keeping the person awake (Google ...
Why isn't anyone(as in a country) doing anything to help Syria? What is going on?	[ "Who said nobody was doing anything?\n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_1_\n\n_URL_2_\nIf you're referring to sending in the troops, that's a much different and much more complicated issue." ]
If a plane were to be flying as normal and then gradually on a steeper and steeper slope away from earth, what would happen?	[ "Airplanes have a ceiling above which they cannot fly. It depends on their engine power and the amount of lift generated by their wings. Yes they could overshoot this ceiling but would falter, stall, and descend. The pilot could regain control and fly at the highest possible altitude.\n\nAirplanes use the air to bu...
Why are the lakes Michigan and Huron not considered the same body of water?	[ "I live less than 2 hours from the Mackinaw Bridge. They are usually considered to be individual lakes because of their currents around the straights of Mackinaw, making some very rough waters. Lake Huron's current runs counterclockwise along Canada and Michigan while Lake Michigan's runs clockwise along the Lower ...
The solution the Zeno's paradox.	[ "Here's the fancy math version.\n\nLet's imagine that you're trying to go one foot. Zeno's paradox says that in order to do so, you have to go half the distance, then half that distance (a quarter), then half that distance (an eighth), and so on, so you'll never get there.\n\nSo, the distance you have to travel is\...
How does a caller to 911 from California able to give an address from Kansas during the swatting incident? Are 911 operators not local?	[ "It is very, very easy in this day and age to use software to make a phone call from either an anonymous number or spoofing a number. Even an anonymous call would have to be taken seriously by a 911 operator since obviously they can't risk the chance of not acting on a reported hostage situation.\n\n911 operators a...
Why does a ship captain face prosecution for abandoning his or her sinking ship?	[ "I thought he faced manslaughter charges for running the ship aground, which is different than abandoning the ship. I could be wrong though.", "it's Italian maritime code of conduct that the captain of a ship that is in distress be the last to leave after the passengers and the crew. the Italian code isn't partic...
why can I not wake myself up from dreams even when I'm conscious of the fact I'm dreaming?	[ "Are you sure you are actually conscious of being in a dream rather than merely dreaming that you are conscious within a dream?", "TIL being able to wake myself up from a dream is not normal.\n\nI couldn't tell you how I do it -- when I decide I don't like a dream, I just wake myself up somehow and dream somethin...
I'm salaried weekly to make the same amount as what a 40 hour hourly wage employee would make. Does the min wage increase (which increases hourly wage) affect my salary?	[ "I'm not sure what 'salaried weekly' means. I presume it means you have an annual salary, which you are paid an equal portion of 52 times a year.\n\nIf that's the case, then no, minimum wage increase means absolutely nothing to your pay. It only affects people who punch a clock and are paid hourly.", "Unless yo...
Why is the trade deficit with China so bad?	[ "China makes most of what it needs, and sells most of what other countries want.\n\nThey have little incentive to buy things from countries like the UK, and we have lots of reasons to buy stuff from them.", "China has cheaper cost of labor which is vital for an economy with such a huge amount of manufacturing. Ma...
Why does alcohol enhance one's taste and appetite?	[ "I wouldn't say all alcohol enhances taste. Wine of various types can add an interesting and compatible side note to various foods. Cheeses, for example.", "More than moderate alcohol consumption lowers your blood sugar therefore increasing your desire for food." ]
Why can i be injected with radioactive liquid for a bone scan and not get sick?	[ "It's a very small amount of radioactive material. You are constantly receiving radiation all the time so while this is a larger amount than normal it's not at all enough to make you sick. Your cells can handle it easily.\n\nAccording to this, the amount of radiation you receive from a bone scan is 6.3 mSv\n\n_UR...
Why does repeating a word or phrase over and over make it lose meaning in your brain?	[ "It’s a phenomenon known as Semantic Satiation. It’s just as you describe; one will say a phrase or word so many times that it eventually temporarily loses its meaning. \n\nInterestingly enough, there’s also a phenomenon where if you engage in Semantic Satiation, doing the task at hand will become slightly more dif...
Why do planes often pass the destination airport and land from the other direction?	[ "As a rule, planes take off and land into the wind. This means the speed over the ground is lower. Air is very much like a river. If you are swimming up the current, you are traveling slower in relation to the shore. Going with the current, you travel much faster. In both cases you are swimming at the same speed th...
why is it totally ok and expected to haggle some items (like cars and apparently mattresses), while others have a fixed price? Why can't we haggle the price of chips or an iPhone?	[ "You're more than welcome to try, but for pretty much anything from a chain or franchise store, the prices aren't set by the guy behind the register. He has no authority to change the prices of the items being sold and he risks his job doing so. Now if you went to a local mom & pop corner store where the owner's ...
How does a democracy work if the majority of individuals don't understand most of the basic concepts involved within their government?	[ "Well technically speaking, the US, alongside practically all other modern countries around the globe, isn't a 'democracy' - it's a 'representative democracy'. Effectively, this means the electorate don't need to be knowledgable in politics and the economy to make the political scene 'work', as they elect people ...
Why can I not just walk up to a drive-thru window & order food?	[ "It would be a liability to have pedestrians in a lane built for cars to travel through. If they allowed people to do it they would be responsible when someone got run over.", "* there is a safety issue, having pedestrians in a lane intended for cars\n* there is a pranking issue, as it is pretty easy to order the...
The recent addition of 80 million years to the age of the universe.	[ "I think it is unfair to claim that scientists found an extra 80 million years, what they did was refine predictions based on more sensitive data. Using the previous set of measurements of the background radiation the prediction for the age of the Universe was 13.6 billion - 13.8 billion years, the newer, more sens...
What's the big deal about /r/ShitRedditSays?	[ "There's a common perception that the members of SRS go around downvoting posts they disagree with en masse (the \"downvote brigade\"). Their official rules do discourage their members from doing just that so I don't know how true it is, but I think a lot of the hatred stems from that generalization.\n\nThey've a...
The new iPhone 6 and if it's better than current phones	[ "It's a typical Apple release. Incremental improvement in the specifications, interesting new capabilities. In 2014, all phones are powerful, and specs are interesting only when then enable new capabilities.\n\nHere's the interesting new stuff in the iPhone 6:\n\n* Apple Pay Payment system. Scan your credit cards a...
How do pressurized cabins work?	[ "I assume you mean pressurized aircraft cabins.\n\nOn most turboprop and jet aircraft, the engines produce a large amount of hot compressed air. This air is ducted into the aircraft body, cooled to a comfortable temperature, and released into the cabin.\n\nSome aircraft, such as the 787, do not draw pressurized...
Why is posting your own content considered bad?	[ "What's frowned on is spamming all of the content from your website to Reddit & trying to use it as a free advertising platform. If you're actually participating in the community & posting interesting stuff (and commenting on links other than your own), it's not a problem.\n\nImagine you're throwing a party &...
How is the length of a radioactive isotopes half life determined?	[ "The halflife of a substance is the amount of time it takes for _half_ of it to decay. So, in the case of Carbon 14, if you start with 1kg of it, you'll have .5kg in 5715 years.\n\nNow, you don't actually have to wait 5715 years to figure that out. By observing and measuring it, you can determine the rate of deca...
If we could make giant ants, would they be just as strong as small ants?	[ "No, in fact they would quickly die. \nIn many engineering/biological topics there is something called the Square-Cube Law: If you grow/shrink something some properties vary by the square of the amount you are shrinking, others by the cube of the amount your shrinking. \nThe thing is weight is a property of vol...
Why is "bloody" a bad word?	[ "\"Bloody\" is the modern form of of either \"God's Blood\" or \"By Our Lady\". It's part of a family of curses called 'Minced Oaths'. \n\n\"Gadzooks!\" = \"God's Hooks\" = The cross/nails of Christ.\n\n\"Blimey!\" = \"God Blind me\"\n\n\"Zounds!\" = \"'S Wounds\" = \"God's Wounds\"\n\nAnd one you will not have hea...
What makes a bad joke bad and why is it viewed in distaste when there is a clear humor?	[ "Jokes, at their core, are about subversion. The set up is mundane, common, understood. The punchline, a surprise, unexpected. \n\n\nTheres a reason they're called dad jokes. \n\n\nKids haven't heard them before, puns and play on words that they've only recently gotten comfortable with are novel and fun. \n\n\nAs w...
How a phone vibrates?	[ "it has a tiny little motor that spins a weight around. the weight is off-balance, so it makes the phone shake.", "A tiny motor with a off-set mass (cam) on the motor's output shaft. When the phone gets a call, the motor spins and the mass wobbles, creating the vibration.", "Inside your phone there's a [litt...
Why are meals at American schools so expensive?	[ "Have you ever been to a baseball game? That same food would probably cost you $10.\n\nSchool lunches are run by a business who is (ultimately) a profit seeking entity. That being said, school lunches are generally pretty cheap unless you're going for the \"premium\" food such as pizza which is often brought in f...
how dangerous are my uncovered florescent lights regarding UV rays	[ "Not dangerous. There is a coating in the lamp that absorbs UV rays", "Do you hug them for an hour or more a day? If not you are probably just fine." ]
What, exactly, led to the Holocaust?	[ "After ww1 Germany as a country became really broke and poor due to the sanctions the treaty of Versailles put on them. The government had to pay back money to all the other countries for all the damage that happened because of the war. \n\nHitler blamed this on the Jewish people saying that while the true blooded ...
If women on birth control don't menstruate, why do they have periods?	[ "I think I know what your asking but here is a correction to your question:\n\nPeriod = Menstruation\n\nYou mean to ask: \"If women on BC don't ovulate, why do they menstruate?\"\n\nThe answer is they don't. While on standard hormone replacement pills the signals they create will block both ovulation and menstr...

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