Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
Why does water have no smell?	[ "Smell (aside from taste) is the best sense for determining the toxicity of something. Because water does not have any toxicity or nutrients, and it is everywhere, humans did not need to evolve the ability to smell water, and so we didn't.\n\nEdit: the nose is just a chemical detector. There are certain chemicals t...
Suppose I'm a vampire. How much blood should I drink until I kill a person?	[ "I think you'd need to drain more than 40% of the person's blood (2.4L). Still, as a vampire, if you bit into a major artery, there's a good chance it will continue bleeding even after you're done unless you get immediate medical attention. So you could probably kill someone by draining much less, if you just left ...
How do completely different strands of species all share similar qualities? (Ex: Mammals and Amphibians both developing Eyes in a similar fashion)	[ "There are two factors at work here:\n\nOne is common ancestry. All living things share a fairly small set of common ancestors. Living things that are more closely related to one another share a more recent common ancestor than things that are less closely related to one another. For example, chimpanzees and...
how crispers work	[ "If you put a head of lettuce in the fridge, it gains moisture and gets soggy. The additional moisture allows moss to grow as well, making it go very bad. \n\nIf you put it in the crisper, the moisture level remains the same and it stays crispy and fresh." ]
What exactly do people mean when they say a game runs on an engine?	[ "> Is an engine just the basis of a game's physics?\n\nThat's pretty close, but there is more to it than that. \n\nThe engine is what takes the data...physical description of the buildings, the vehicles, the people, the weapons, the lights and the shadows and the reflections...basically everything in the univer...
Why does heating the house to 70 degrees feel so different from cooling the house to 70 degrees?	[ "Because it's impossible to maintain the room's temperature at exactly 70°F (for a system that switches on and off periodically). In reality, when heating you heat the room to around 73°F, and when cooling you cool the room to 67°F. When the temperature cools or heats past a certain point the system turns on agai...
If China is a communist state, why are there so many multi billion dollar companies and free markets?	[ "Modern China was founded with communist principles in mind. But after Deng Xiaoping took power, he decided to move China toward a more capitalistic economy. But the Communist Party still rules China and therefore they still are labelled \"communist\". Similarly, the US isn't completely capitalistic because there a...
The militia thing going on in Oregon	[ "Some ranchers were convicted of arson (they lit a fire to cover up that they poached an elk on federal land). Others ranchers, the ones who had an armed standoff with the feds some time ago over unpaid fees they were supposed to pay for grazing cattle on public land, have come in with a bunch of militia buddies fr...
why are gun sights always, or typically, red?	[ "There not. Modern pistol sights often include color dots on the iron sights for easier contrast in lower light conditions, [but can be many different colors, and even combinations of colors](_URL_0_). Even most modern military rifle iron sights are still gun metal black. Red Dot Sights are not as used by the milit...
What is the mechanism by which daily exercise lowers blood pressure?	[ "So basically this concept revolves around the fact that your heart as a continuous pump. Your arteries contain muscles that work the same as any other in your body: the more that you exert the muscles the stronger they become. When exercising the heart and arteries are forced to pump blood at levels higher than th...
Given all the technological information we have in the world, why does YouTube just tell me "An Error" Occurred?	[ "YouTube knows exactly what went wrong. They just have no interest in sharing that with you.", "Because what specific error occurred and why is not useful information to the end user if there is nothing they can do about it. 99.9% of users would not understand a detailed description of the error anyway." ]
Stradivari violins and why they are better than others	[ "I read about this a very long time ago, but what I recall is:\n\nAs I recall, it was a dentist, of all people, who also happened to be an avid violinist and self-taught luthier, who managed to get ahold of some Stradivari fragments (as some of the violins have been destroyed over the years) and studied them unde...
What do ISP Call Center Tech's actually do when I call them with connection issues?	[ "Ex-BT tech here, can't speak for the call centre monkeys directly but I can sort of give you a guide to what might be doable.\n\nEvery single physical line connected to a BT exchange can be temporarily routed to automated test equipment (ATE) commonly known as RAT (Remote Automated Test) for PSTN (voice phone line...
What happens to children if they don't get adopted?	[ "They become wards of the state. Bouncing around foster homes and so forth. More often than not brothers and sisters get separated. Unfortunately it is difficult and expensive for Americans to adopt inside the US." ]
Despite having similar vocal cords, why do humans have a far versatile vocal ability than other mammals?	[ "our vocal cords aren't actually that similar. They're built the same way but developed farther than other animals. if you gave a chimpanzee super intelligence, they still wouldn't be able to vocalize like we can.\n\na lot of our nuance, like writing, speaking, art, comes down to our concentration of fast-twitch mu...
Why is a constitution important? Why were efforts made to create a EU constitution?	[ "A constitution helps set basic laws that then can later be adapted with ammendments. It is the basis for a lot of countries because it is the most basic form of written law really. Im no expert though." ]
does all sound travel at the speed of sound?	[ "So I asked my personal genius; he said the speed of sound isn't constant; it varies with temperature. And it's speed is due to the way sound moves through the gases in our atmosphere.\n\n\nNo gases in the air— no sound", "No.\n\nThe density of the atmosphere affects the speed of sound as well as the general mate...
What does refubished mean when looking at electronics? Is it worth buying?	[ "Refurbished means it has been checked and possibly fixed by somebody who is certified, usually by the manufacture, to do such work on the product.", "It didn't work when originally built or was returned as defective. The manufacture or reseller had someone look at it and 'fixed' it so it worked and could be sold...
In court when one lawyer is doing something questionable why does the opposite lawyer have to object before the judge will take action. why doesn't the judge just stop questionable practices untill one party disagrees with it.	[ "Because that's the point of an adversarial system (both sides are supposed to have a zealous advocate for their position). The judge can't favor either side, and perhaps occasionally the side that isn't objecting may be running a xantos gambit." ]
What does "brought to you by ..." mean on television shows for the company?	[ "It means that they are a sponsor of the show. They pay for ad time and product mentions.", "It means they paid for the show to actually exist, so they get advertising in return." ]
How can solid materials like glass be transparent?	[ "First of all: Glas isn't transparent for all types/colors of light (wavelengths). As you may know, light can consist of different colors, each corresponding to a certain wavelength or a certain energy. On the other hand, molecules have discrete, so-called energy levels. There are distinct amounts of energy they ca...
How does someone like the Long Island Medium perform her, seemingly, precise readings? Any actual insight - not just speculation - would be appreciated.	[ "Former semi-pro magician and mentalist here, I've done some of this this stuff myself.\n\nThere are several techniques successful \"psychics\" use.\n\nOne of the most common techniques is cold reading. That's where you make educated guesses about a person based on things like their dress, speech, body language, et...
If we need two eyes to perceive depth, how come I can close one eye and still see depth?	[ "You can determine depth with what are known as monocular vision cues. (basically, hints you see with one eye). Your brain has learned a lot of tricks to help decide what might be closer or far away. \n\n\nTexture: Things you know have lots of texture, like grass or carpet...if you know that you see a ca...
Why do some medications cause different kinds of dreams? Night terrors, hyper sexualized dreams, vivid deams etc.	[ "Some medications, such as pain killers or anti-depressants, change your brains chemical makeup. It makes some parts of your brain, brain chemicals and/or hormone levels change, increase and decrease. These things are all responsible for the way you think and feel. If a medication rises certain levels in your brain...
The Birthday Problem	[ "Did you read down to where it says \"Understanding the problem\"? It is a pretty clear explanation. 23 people have 253 different possible pairings. Person #1 could be paired with #2, #3, #4, etc. Likewise, #2 could be paired with #3, #4, ... Since there are so many possible pairs, the chances that at least one p...
What is a fiscal year and why do we need it.	[ "Fiscal years are used by government and some businesses (usually mid-to-large businesses) concerning money. As to why they don't use a traditional calendar year, [here is one reason](_URL_0_):\n\n > December is a really bad month to try to close out an entire year's accounting books. Accountants and execs are on v...
How do the Star Wars' (et. al.) Expanded Universes work?	[ "Most of your questions are answered on the [Wikipedia page](_URL_1_) for the Star Wars Expanded Universe.\n\nBut to paraphrase some of it, and to answer a few of your questions:\n\n1. They do have a hierarchy. If Lucas says it, it is considered G level, and therefore canon. If it was on TV it is T level, w...
How a nuclear power plant works.	[ "Nuclear power works by the fissioning (splitting) of uranium-235 atoms with neutrons. Every atom that fissions releases a little bit of heat and, on average, 2.5 new neutrons. This means it can be an exponential process, rapidly generating a lot of energy.\n\nThe nuclear core in most power plants (i.e. Pressurized...
What is happening with the Ebola patients "rising from the dead"?	[ "They aren't. The people either weren't actually dead, or the stories are complete fabrications. No zombie apocalypse for you.", "Considering death is usually pretty final and that we're dealing with a second-hand accounts from a 3rd-world country, I'm going to err on the side of 'they're probably wrong'.", "Ma...
Why can't we transfer scents the same way we transfer images?	[ "Scents are actual physical particles moving in the air. Transferring a scent then requires that you actually move physical things, or that the receiver have the necessary components to manufacture scents when sent instructions.\n\nSmell-o-vision is certainly possible. It would just require scent compounds that wou...
how a crackws touchscreen can work in some areas but not others on the screen	[ "The glass part of the screen isn't what makes it \"touchable\", there is something under the glass called a digitizer that accepts your skin as an input through the glass. If this digitizer isn't broken due to dropping, or physical damage than the area will still accept input" ]
How do shows like Masterchef conduct so many interviews of the cooks before something is about to happen?	[ "Just from watching, it definitely seems that the interviews are conducted afterwards. Possibly long after, when the producers develop a storyline from the footage they shot. \n\nYou can watch closely for hair, makeup, & clothing changes to see that it is definitely not \"in the moment\".\n\nOf course, that means...
When to use "myself" in a sentence and when NOT to.	[ "Unfortunately, it is grammatically correct. Myself is a reflexive pronoun, but can be used as an intensive pronoun (adds emphasis to a sentence.) People hate it for the same reason they hate exclamation points. While technically okay, they're unnecessary and are only used to make your sentence seem more dramatic...
How an Action Replay works	[ "The code you enter translates into instructions, these could range from \"only do the next instruction if a certain button is pressed\" to \"update the figure for health and set it to 9001\".\n\nThese instructions are then inserted into the instructions sent to the games console at regular intervals to make your c...
how complex mechanisms like the eye evolved.	[ "Well the eye first started off as just a patch of light-sensitive cells, which would be beneficial to organisms that needed to know where light and dark was (either to stay warm or to avoid drying out).\n\nOver time, this patch of light sensitive cells began to pit. The indentation meant that the cells could now d...
where bitcoins come from and why everyone doesn't just mine bitcoins for profit	[ "Basics first. \n\n* For each block (set of transactions) there is a set bitcoin reward. \n* Each block is a race to see who can solve it first. \n* Only one person/group can claim the reward. \n\nNow, knowing that, we can also add the following:\n\n* Mining is difficult\n* It takes electricity (sometimes a lot) \n...
Why do some manufacturers print their own prices on items?	[ "to prevent strors from over inflating prices. They know how much thier product costs. if someone is selling it for more, the customer knows its not Arizona and does not have those hostle feelings. keeps everyone in check.", "Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP): what the manufacturer would like a reta...
Why are posts on Reddit archived and cant be voted on?	[ "Reddit posts are meant to be contextual - they are interacted with by users in real-time through comments, replies, and up votes. These interactions reflect the situation at the time of the post - comments on the Greek referendum, for example, are based on the relevant information users have now, in June/July 2015...
Why is fighting allowed in North American professional fighting? Is it just for show, is it planned? What benefit does a player get out of fighting when they could easily be injured as a result?	[ "I don't understand your question. Professional fighting is a legitimate sport and the necessary precautions are taken so the fighters don't get seriously injured. Sometimes they do, but that's no different from other sports.\n\nIn fact, fighting is a relatively safe sport. Basketball, soccer, ice hockey and footba...
Why is my internet worse at nighttime? When its day time, multiple people are using it (family) but when its nighttime and its just me, it's painfully slow.	[ "Not a lot of details offered to give a clear explanation, but likely your internet is limited by the hub in your street (so the number of other people in your street also using the internet at night) and the connection your provider has with the world.\n\nWhen it is nighttime in the US, Asia and Europe are active....
We attribute pollution to death tolls. Why can't we sue or press criminal charges against the united states government for being complicit in these deaths?	[ "> We attribute pollution to death tolls.\n\nFirst of all, you have that backwards. \"To attribute A to B\" means that B causes A, and I'm pretty sure you don't mean that death tolls cause pollution.\n\nSecond, expecting the government to be responsible for deaths caused by pollution would be like expecting the go...
Why churches and banks almost always include the word "first" to their names.	[ "To establish that they are the first church or bank of that type in a given location. It indicates to people who want to use them they are an older, more established organization.", "The \"first\" this is motivated by being the first in a region; eg, the \"First Baptist Church of Hartford\" is literally the fir...
The science behind two mirrors facing each other, and the amount of images or frames of reference of real life created?	[ "be careful bro... you never know. you might like pull a Doom-esque scenerio, and accidentially open a portal to hell if you witness what is at the end of the endless mirror chain." ]
Why does water feel colder after chewing a minty gum or mints?	[ "Menthol (a compound in mint) activates your temperature receptors (which normally only get turned on when exposed to low or high temperatures), which creates the feeling of coldness." ]
How come Trix stopped making the shape cereal? why is it only circles???	[ "Well, young 'un, back in the day, way back in the day, in the dark ages before the 1990s, Trix were round. So, really, what they are now is what they should look like, not your hippity hop fruit shapes. Now get off my damn lawn, you punk kids, or I'll turn the hose on ya ag'in.", "I would speculate that it i...
General Government Net Debt Infographic - What does it mean?	[ "If you worked hard last year and earned $80,000, but you owe $60,000 on your credit cards, how secure in your finances would you feel? \n\nThat would be 75% on this chart.\n\nWhy isn't Japan also in trouble? Because there's more than just this one figure that decides when a crisis is happening. (For example, ch...
These week to week worldwide protests against goverments.	[ "Protests are common in many countries nearly all the time. Which ones are you referring to?" ]
Why can't we remember memories when we were a infant?	[ "our brains are still developing the ability to interpret and store information gathered from the sense, so the structures required to store long term memories don't exist yet." ]
What does a president do in his free time?	[ "Many read or play golf. Some spend time with their families. GWB liked to go to his ranch in Texas. \n\nMany presidents (avoiding politics) are fairly intelligent individuals who enjoy any number of activities. The problem is that the job of president offers very little in terms of true free time and due to securi...
Why isn't dodgeball a popular professional sport?	[ "There was an NES video game in the 80s that was an international tournament. Of course Russia was one of the final bosses, cause cold war.\n\nIt was amazing in the ways pro Dodge Ball could be.\n\nIt would need sponsers, eventually.\n\nStart up some local tournaments. Heck, check for a subreddit. There was a pap...
Why is abortion a religious issue?	[ "The Bible doesn't take a position, but modern religious leaders do, and they're vocal about it. Many folks take their cues about political positions from the teachings of their religious leaders.\n\nPlease note: I'm not saying that all people take political cues from religious leaders. Just that of the ones whos...
Surely someone must know: How do blind people use those bird chirping noises to cross the street? How do they know it's not for the kitty-corner side of the street?	[ "Bob is walking north when he approaches an intersection that he knows has an auditory signal. He wants to continue north. He presses the button and listens for the next auditory signal. There is one particular sound that's used for north-south intersections and a different sound that's used for east-west inters...
How does the Leuxs hoverboard actually hover?	[ "The board itself is a superconductor, kept super-cold through liquid nitrogen. This causes it to magnetically repel ferric metals.\n\nThen they stick it on a steel platform so it repels the floor and hovers." ]
Why is .3^.3 larger than .4^.4?	[ "The answer is 0.367879441171442321595523770161460867445811131031767834507\n\nDisclaimer: IANAM\n\nWhy is an interesting question to answer! I'm assuming you want an intuitive answer as the mathematics is self-evident. I'll try to do this without using [logarithms](_URL_0_), though that's probably a mathematici...
How do soccer players curve the parabolic trajectory of the soccer sphere?	[ "A ball only follows a parabolic trajectory in the absence of air resistance.\n\nA spinning ball deflects airflow around the ball, which creates a force on the ball. This is called the [Magnus effect](_URL_0_).", "spin on a ball causes a slight difference in pressure which will create a lift force. its the same p...
Why are dreams so crazy & random?	[ "While you are awake, your brain constructs an understanding of what's going on around you with continuous correction and revision based on information from your senses. \n\nWhile you are asleep, your brain constructs an understanding of what's going on around you with almost no correction or revision based on your...
Why does vanilla extract taste amazing when paired with some foods , but tastes horrible alone?	[ "Pure vanilla extract is made from soaking vanilla beans in vodka or other strong clear alcohol, which is why it doesn't taste as good without any sweet flavoring to go with it.", "Some vanilla flavoring is made from a beaver's anal glands, check it out.\n\n_URL_0_", "Vanilla extract is a concentrate of sorts, ...
Why do male orgasms get more intense in relatively short amounts of succession?	[ "Well everyone is different. Wildly so, in fact. Some people are capable of sustaining multiple, repeating orgasms of increasing intensity. This is more common in women, but certainly possible in men. Others can only have one orgasm of great intensity, after which they lose sexual stimulation for a long refract...
What were the Roaring Twenties and why did it happen?	[ "OH! I'm studying this in my history class right now! But I have a \"B\" average thus far, so pardon me if I get some things wrong. \n \ntldr: Affluent young men and women were partying because it was a period after wartime. They just wanted to live life, ya know. They bucked societal norms such as dressing c...
Why is there no standard for which side the gas tank is on on a car?	[ "For the most part, the gas tank is centered on the frame. What you're probably thinking of is where the gas cap is, which generally will depend on the manufacturer. U/aykprod [answered that one](_URL_0_).", "Don't know the answer to that, but want to add a little life tip regarding finding which side it is on.\n...
How do airport scans actually work?	[ "Congratulations on making it onto a watch list! Without saying anything too classified, density. Density of materials is almost like a finger print.", "The new full-body scanners use millimeter-wave radiation to detect items based on their density. Anything that is more dense than the surrounding matter will sh...
Why are Rolex watches considered to be so valuable?	[ "For starters, they're made with expensive and valuable materials like jeweled movements, sapphire glass, and gold. Second, the movements are mostly mechanical, requiring great skill, engineering time, and delicate manufacture.\n\nThird and most importantly, Rolexes are valuable because people think they are. I...
How can you be sure that it is safe to give your credit card number to customer service online or over the phone?	[ "As someone who used to do this for a living - you can never be 100% sure, but that doesn't mean the companies don't have a load of policies in place to minimize the danger. Company I used to work for, we weren't allowed to read back the number (so nobody that is passing can copy it), everything got recorded, we ha...
Why do I find things funnier when I'm tired?	[ "Same reason you find everything funnier when you're drunk- impaired judgement.", "We call that \"slap happy\" in my family. I distinctly remember when I was about 7, my grandmother and I staying up far too late and someone made a rhyme on accident and it just spiralled out of control until we were giggling hyste...
Why is Tony Abbott (Prime Minister of Australia) so hated?	[ "Where to start?\n\nHe attacked the previous Prime Minister for being too controlling of his MPs. One of the first things Abbott did when he became PM was to order his MPs to not speak to the media without running it past him first.\n\nHe attacked the previous government for not being transparent enough. One of t...
How and Why does the DEA keep marijuana as a schedule 1 drug?	[ "A little personal view, perhaps not the most informed:\n\nWhat I know is that marijuana has been legally considered that way because it's considered to be a \"gateway drug\" toward more damaging ones.\n\nHowever, in my opinion, the very reason why it's a gateway drug is because it's prosecuted the same way the oth...
How does Imodium work?	[ "They decrease the water absorption in the (mostly small) intestine. A lot of water and nutrients are absorbed by the intestines, and Imodium (in laxatives) basically reduces the absorption of the water. That's also why they're so dangerous if taken in a large dosis." ]
why there seems to be no patent war in the car industry.	[ "General Motors [patented electric car batteries and never used them](_URL_0_), so their competition couldn't either.\n\nI think this is even worse than patent warring." ]
If the U.S. president is commander of the military, why isn't his/her experience in military tactics and strategy ever a talking point?	[ "Because we don't expect the President to be an expert in military tactics any more than we expect him to be an expert in medicine or prison construction or chemistry or meteorology or agricultural science or any of the other things that the President is ultimately responsible for,\n\nWhat we need out of our leader...
Why aren't beers required by law to have nutritional info on their label?	[ "Foods are regulated by the FDA. The FDA requires nutritional labeling on foods.\n\nBeer is regulated by the BATFE. The BATFE does not require nutritional labeling on beer - in fact, doesn't want it, because it would give the impression that beer is food.", "In part because the ingredients that went into it aren'...
November day light savings time	[ "You definitely gain the extra hour. Give him an example. Say you forget to change your clock the previous night. You wake up at 6, realize it's daylight savings, set the clock back to 5, then sleep until 6... again.", "We set the clocks back an hour to gain an hour, saving an hour of daylight because the sun beg...
How Momentum is Conserved when Light Refracts	[ "When light refracts at the boundary, it also reflects. This reflected light carries momentum which then satisfies momentum conservation." ]
Why does it make sense for an internet company to charge more money for a faster connection speed?	[ "The more traffic you want to be able to carry, the more that network will cost to build and to maintain. The equipment capital expenditure is a lot of it, but service contracts and transit opex is also more.\n\nAs an example, you can get an old switch with 1 gbps interfaces for next to nothing. Getting a new one w...
How do investors who invest into apps like snapchat make their money back?	[ "This is a bit long to explain, but I'll try to keep it as simple as possible.\n\nImagine Snapchat as a bigass pie. An investor will buy up a percentage of that pie. As Snapchat grows, each piece of its pie will grow and become more valuable. However, the investor still owns the same percentage of the pie.\n\nSo, b...
Why is ice cream soft when it's first opened but harden after you put in back in the freezer?	[ "When ice cream is made it's constantly churned while being frozen, the churning process breaks up the ice crystals into small pieces making the ice cream soft, when you put partially melted ice cream in the freezer there is no churning so large ice crystals develop leaving you with hard ice cream." ]
Why does my barber hand me a warm wet towel when he finishes cutting my hair?	[ "I would assume so you can wipe the stray hairs off your face and neck? My barber just blasts me in the face with a hair dryer." ]
why is the square root of -100 an odd equasion?	[ "The square root of 100 is 10.\n\nThere is no \"real\" square root of a negative number, because ~~no two numbers multiplied together~~ no number multiplied by itself can make a negative number. So we invented an \"imaginary\" number called i to represent the square root of -1. So the square root of -100 is 10 * ...
How does Youtube channels like "WatchMojo" earn money when all their videos contain copyrighted materials?	[ "Youtuber here. Watchmojo is their own youtube Network. When you join a network, you are assigned a custom id under your youtube network. The ID number is what youtube references. As long as your content falls under the approved media for that ID number, you can monetize.\n\nIf Watchmojo has these various forms of ...
Why are bitter citrus fruit harder to peel?	[ "The bitter ones we humans haven't cultivated into tasty fruits that are easy to eat.\n\nThe closer to natural you go, the less sweet and harder to peel citrus get.", "Genetic patterns suggest the four original parents of the citrus varieties we have today are citron, pummelo, mandarin, and papeda. Generally the...
How do lottery ticket companies make sure their workers don't track down the winning tickets that they print?	[ "A computer prints the numbers on the scratchoff tickets as they roll through the printing presses at a thousand tickets a minute and the machine also coats the tickets with the scratch off coating in the same process. So when they come out of the press all the employee sees is the completed tickets in a giant st...
Why do astronomers look for planets that could possibly support life when it is technically impossible to transfer the population into it? And even traveling would take many, many years.	[ "Many years ago going to the moon seemed Imposible, Negativity ain't gonna bring ya nowhere bruh", "If it can sustain life, perhaps it has life. It's a planetary life roulette of sorts in hopes of finding others to share/learn with/from.", "People in general, not just astronomers, always want to explore the une...
why do some animals like cats give birth to multiple offspring but humans usually only have one baby per pregnancy?	[ "Place on the food chain. Prey animals will have more offspring to account for losses from predators. Imagine a grizzly bear having 10 cubs a few times a year." ]
How can youtubers post videos of them singing popular songs without getting their videos taken down, but I can't upload a school video that has "Eat it" (which was published in 1984)?	[ "> I thought that the copyright laws protected people from singing songs from within the last 20 years?\n\nThat's patent law (which only applies to inventions, product designs and manufacturing processes).\n\nCopyright typically lasts for the entirety of the author's life plus an additional 50-75 years depending o...
Why do sounds go deeper when slowed down & higher pitched when sped up?	[ "Sound is a wave and pitch is caused by distance between the compressions (crests) of the wave. A shorter distance means a higher pitch. It's not so much causation as definition. Simple sound editing software only compresses the waveform when speeding up, pushing compressions together, resulting in higher pitch. Th...
Are facial expressions natural or a construct of our society?	[ "[Studies show](_URL_0_) certain facial expressions are universal.\n\nA study of blind people has shown that \"anger, contempt, disgust, sadness, surprise and multiple types of smiles\" were consistent across the seeing and non-seeing.", "Most facial expressions (the ones for basic emotions like joy, anger, sadne...
How does difference in air pressure affect cloud formation?	[ "What exactly do you mean by \"differences in pressure\"?\n\nDifferences in pressure cause wind... and the wind can indirectly affect cloud formation.\n\nHowever, the main factors in cloud formation are differences in temperature at different altitudes, terrain (such as mountains), and weather fronts (where differe...
- how do engineer come up with names for different parts?	[ "Engineering names for parts are usually descriptive of the design or function of a part. Thus an \"oil filter\" filters the oil in a car.\n\nPerhaps if you had an interesting example you could get an interesting explanation." ]
What it takes for a Third World city to achieve good governance and a high quality of life for its residents ?	[ "There is an entire academic discipline devoted to this question. If anyone had a definitive, ELI5-able answer for it, they'd probably have a Nobel prize coming." ]
Why does it make a difference in taste, if the water I brew tea with has boiled or not?	[ "It's about temperature and solubility. Coffee is the same way, you're toeing a fine line with certain flavor compounds that come out at certain temps.\n\nFor instance, if you boil the water, once it's all mixed in with the tea leaves it'll sit at say 204F (95C), this is hot enough to get all of the good flavors ou...
How is betting different to buying shares?	[ "It's HUGELY different.\n\nBetting is almost always an all-or-nothing proposition that is known on a specific date and time. Either you win, or you lose at that specific time. If you win, you immediately gain currency. If you lose, you lose your currency.\n\nBuying stock is based on the hope that a specific share w...
How were cartoon sound effects produced such as those from Hannah-Barbera and 80's-90's anime?	[ "They had people called \"foley artists\" who would record unique sounds. Some of these sounds would be kept in a library of sounds that could be reused, other sounds would be recorded specifically for individual purposes.\n\nThey'd use anything and everything imaginable. People still do it today, and it's not just...
Why do i sometimes hear voices in my head when trying to sleep?	[ "Very few schizophrenics hear voices the way you describe them despite common misconceptions. So please ignore those fears.\n\nInstead you are engaging in a very common phenomena know as a pre-sleep dream or Hypnagogia. During the onset of sleep the brain fires impulses despite relaxation occurring and produces sma...
Fight Club	[ "There's this guy, we'll call him Jack. Jack isn't the happiest of men. Jack is quiet, Jack is weak, and Jack feels as though he isn't a real man. Jack feels like his life is empty and has these dark clouds over him. This depression goes so deep that it affects his mind and just when things are getting out of contr...
Why are white rats mainly used for studies instead of other rodent species?	[ "Lab rats are often of a particular strain, or a family that mice are taken from that are as genetically identical as possible. This is to be able to conduct effective studies on the effect of individual genes, and partly to limit the effect of genetic diversity in influencing the results of trials.\n\nSeveral of ...
Why is the Magna Carter so famous ?	[ "It is the \"Magna Carta\" and it was a document signed by the Nobles of England and was the first document to start to limit the powers of Monarchy in \"modern\" European history. It is the touchstone base for what became the British Parliamentary system and was at least in part one of the influential documents fo...
Why is time considered an Illusion?	[ "Time isn't an illusion, it's a fundamental parameter of the universe. It's not a construct of human imagination it's an inherent property of the universe.", "When people say time is an illusion, I think they mean more toward the human perception of it being constantly changing.\n\nEspecially from the perspective...
The differences between rocks, minerals, gemstones, and crystals?	[ "Rock is a more generic term for any kind of hard, brittle mineral composite. Usually they're mostly silicate with some impurities and their structure varies significantly between types. Rocks have classifications and types, but usually not a specific chemical formula.\n\nA mineral is more specific, they ...
Why do investors buy collapsing companies debts?	[ "There are quite a few reasons they do this, and a lot depends on what the bankrupt company does and why it is bankrupt. Possible scenarios include but are not limited to: \n\n\n* A company is bankrupt but still has assets that can be of value to the purchaser such as a built-in customer base, a valuable brand nam...
Why is there controversy over the seasonal starbucks cup?	[ "Because there are no snowflakes on it and it is plain and christians think they are denouncing christmas..... Im not joking", "Some more conservative-leaning people (particularly in the United States) feel that there's been a tendency for government, media, advertising, etc in recent decades to kind of kind of t...
Why do movies from the 60s and 70s (Dollars Trilogy, Spartacus, Lawrence of Arabia, Bond films) appear to be both visually sharper/textured, more saturated, yet less deep/dimensional than films from the 80s up to the present?	[ "I don't think I agree with your premise, but there are several things that could be going on.\n\nFor one thing, movie prints can fade and need restoration. The older movies you speak of are all classics and you've probably seen carefully restored versions of them. Whereas most movies from the 80s may be too new to...

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