Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
How do I raise my credit score when I don't have anything but negative to start from?(USA)	[ "First, you probably don't have that horrible of a credit score. The majority of your credit score is determined by the percentage of credit used. So, if you had a credit card with $10,000 and you had a $5,000 balance, you would be at 50%. Since you have no lines of credit the credit bureau is going to have to wor...
If the Unverse is constantly expanding, what is it expanding into?	[ "When scientist say \"the universe\" they are actually quite sloppy since they should clearly say either \"the observable universe\" or \"the entire universe\". Those two are two different things which all to often are simply called the universe without distinction. Lets look at both cases.\n\nThe observable univer...
Why metal makes the tinktink noise when cooling down.	[ "Using the example of roll-formed roof sheets (eg, colourbond corrugated iron), in the heat of the day the sheets expand. They contract when it cools down. The expansion and contraction from the change in temperature causes a friction/static buildup and at a certain point it will release which is what causes the no...
What is a saturated market?	[ "Meaning that that specific market has reached maximum capacity, or is approaching it... i.e. there is no more room to expand in that market." ]
How are spies from foreign countries tried in courts in the United States?	[ "Most likely they get charged with espionage in accordance with the Espionage Act of 1917. \n\nThe crime is against the US as a whole so the defendants will be tried in Federal Court. Any lawyer they can afford can defend them and if they can not afford an attorney, an attorney will be provided.\n\nWhy would the U...
Why are they telling us Californians to stay alert until Tuesday. Does the EQ threat end after that or...?	[ "In California there is always an earthquake threat. There is always a chance of an earthquake anywhere. But the chance is much greater in California. I was only in California for eight weeks and felt a building shaker. Californians care so much about earthquakes they have built a robust detection system for measu...
will they ever go after the actual person(s) who wrote and built the code for Volkswagen to cheat the emissions testing?	[ "When a company does something wrong, you sue the company, not the CEO, or the manager, or the engineer. This is what's called corporate personhood. So no, they won't go after the person who wrote the code.", "While you're at it, give me the name of the guys who designed the touch pad on the piece of shit Lenovo ...
Does night mode have a practical function, or is it purely cosmetic?	[ "It is easier on your eyes.\n\nBright light is especially bad at night since it can trick your body into disrupting your circadian (day-night) rhythm, leading to insomnia or other sleep issues.", "Most people have a hard time looking at bright screens when the room is dark. So night mode makes the screen darker s...
Why does the Thompson SMG have a higher muzzle velocity than M1911?	[ "barrel length. once a round exits the barrel it's no longer being pushed by the pressure of the explosion of powder. If you increase the time (read: length) that the bullet is pushed the more velocity is imparted onto it by that force.", "The Thompson has a longer barrel which gives the exhaust gasses from the c...
Why do diabetes 2 patients sometimes need amputations??	[ "They are generally also at high risk to develop peripheral artery disease, where plaque deposition in the arteries of the limbs starts restricting blood flow.\n\nEventually flow is too restricted to properly support the tissue, and it can die or become severely infected.", "When you have too much sugar in your b...
If you were to only drink 3,500 calories, and not eat any calories, will you still experience gain in weight? What's the different between calories you consume eating versus drinking (like soda, a starbuck caramel frapuchino, etc)	[ "calories are calories. but some calories come with vitamins and minerals and fiber whatnot etc that your body needs. \n\nif you eat 3500 calories vs drink 3500 calories and get the same vitamins and minerals and fiber whatnot etc it's exactly the same.", "By the time you absorb the nutrients in your meal, it ...
Why are my visual memories sometimes in third person?	[ "It's pretty common. After some time, episodic memories become semantic memories. That is, memories you can visualize become facts you can recall. So sometimes when we try to recall those memories visually, it's in third person because you are wanting to see yourself. You may be able to find that with a little effo...
What is it exactly that makes noise when you hear sizzles while standing under a high voltage electric line?	[ "These are [corona discharges](_URL_1_). The electric field becomes sharp enough immediately surrounding the wires that any randomly-generated free electrons in the air will crash into other molecules and produce more free electrons and ions.\n\nAn AC corona alternates between positive (electrons inward) and negat...
How are acids made?	[ "Some are made by dissolving solids in water. Many natural substances create acids when dissolved.\n\nSome are made by bacteria. If you let juice ferment, it will turn to alcohol, then vinegar (an acid)." ]
What data does Windows 10 actually send to Microsoft? Is it really anything bad?	[ "It actually sends every keystroke you type.\n\nNow Microsoft says this is to help improve it's spelling corrections, but with a warrant the FBI could use it for other things. It's not stored for a long time, by default, but that doesn't mean they couldn't be ordered to keep records for longer.\n\nCortana sends ev...
If games can render near photo-realistic graphics in real-time, why does 3D animation software (e.g Blender) take hours or even days to render simple animations?	[ "Games use a lot of tricks to fake the photorealism at less cost than doing it for real (compressing textures, popins, etc.). The most important one is the lighting. You may notice that shadows don't always look right in games. You know how when you hold something colored under a light, it starts to glow that color...
- Wireless Internet and why it is often slower.	[ "As wireless already implies, there is no wire to transport your signal. So without a wire, the signal has to travel through the air. The wire had the advantage, that it is only your propagation path and it guides the signal to its destination without anything in between. This is like having a highway just for you ...
Why do multi-vitamins contain more than 100% of certain nutrients?	[ "Something people haven't patronized yet on here is bioavailability & bioaccessibility; even if it says 100%, you don't really get a 1:1 ratio of access/usage from it, same as when you eat food. Also, the daily recommended requirements are often really low, more like a \"this is good enough so you don't outright...
Why car manufacturers sometimes have different names for the same car model in different markets?	[ "Sometimes it's a marketing reason, and sometimes it's copyright or trademark law. For example, back in the 1960s, Ford wanted to export the Mustang to Germany. However, a German company, Krupp, was already using the name \"Mustang\" on a line of delivery trucks. Because Krupp already had the rights to use the n...
Why do some people not remember anything when they get drunk?	[ "To expand on tstorm1986's comment, I believe ethanol specifically inhibits the short-term-to-long-term memory transfer process, thus making those people unable to remember even the smallest action more than 5 minutes afterwards, or as soon as they start thinking of something else.\n\nELI5 version: A tiny amount of...
Why is it considered grammatically incorrect to use 'ain't'?	[ "I ain't saying that you're wrong, but I ain't saying you're right either.\n\nIt's not grammatically incorrect to use ain't, it's just informal. In any formal writing, \"am not\" is much preferred.\n\nFunnily enough the word \"amn't\" which actually makes my spell check say it isn't a word is also defined, and is a...
Viscosity	[ "You can think of \"viscosity\" as how thick a liquid is. If you fill up a cup with water, and then pour it out, it flows out of the cup very, very quickly.\n\nTry the same thing with honey, or maple syrup. It takes a much longer time to flow, doesn't it? This is \"viscosity.\" Honey and syrup are more **visc...
What is the actual structure of the Chinese government? How is it organized?	[ "The crucial difference between western democracies and China is that in China the Constitution explicitly gives the Communist Party certain very important powers. In particular there is no difference between the leader of the Chinese Communist Party and the President of China. They are separate positions but alway...
how could depression affect us physically?	[ "It often makes your sleep and appetite wonky, which makes you feel physically bad in other ways-- if you've been asleep all day and haven't really eaten, you'll probably feel like shit.", "Okay. Depression in the medical sense is often associated with brain chemical imbalances. Your brain controls your body. If ...
If Colds are passed on by an infected creature, how did the first creature get it?	[ "We're not really sure how viruses started. A virus is basically a chunk of DNA (or RNA) on it's own that can break into living cells and take over those cells to make it produce more viruses. Nobody's sure if viruses evolved as an offshoot of cellular life or if they're just a random corruption of broken-down ce...
Why don't televisions and other screen resolutions use "rounded" aspect ratios, e.g. 2000 by 1000 instead of 1920 by 1080?	[ "Read up about [aspect ratios](_URL_1_). Turns out that the first widespread standard ratio was 4:3, based upon the size of the physical film commonly in use. That particular ratio means that if you want both dimensions to be integers rather than including fractions thereof, there are only a few plausible ratios th...
Why are we using a loud, obnoxious BEEP to censor curse words?	[ "I was thinking the beeps are used for a humorous effect. If we can't have curse words out in the open in case there's children watching, we can at least have a laugh at the obnoxious beeping.", "I'm curious also, although I have heard the loud BEEP a lot less the past few years. Nowadays it seems to be mostly a ...
Why is my voice so much deeper in the morning?	[ "When you sleep, your vocal cords get looser, (vocal cords are muscles) so the vibrations are more bass-like. It takes a couple of seconds to tighten them up though", "I heard alcohol also loosens the vocal chords if you have been drinking" ]
What is the history behind Earth Day?	[ "There was a giant oil spill near Santa Barbara in 1969 which - as you might imagine - was an even more gigantic catalyst for environmental protection. That movement picked up pace pretty quickly, aided by the “Summer of Love”, after a fashion. \n\nIt wasn’t too long before John McConnell, a noted peace activist, w...
Why do electric cars have such a low top speed for their horsepower?	[ "Perhaps they are more concerned with efficient power consumption than going faster than a Lambo?", "Electric motors deliver their maximum amount of Torque at low speeds, and their maximum amount of power at middle speeds. Gas engines deliver maximum torque at middle speeds and maximum power at high speeds. This ...
If just a couple "specks" of fentanyl is enough to kill a person, and one can overdose merely by touching it, how is it that people are able to ingest it without dying?	[ "As always, the dose makes the poison, and your mileage may vary. Fentanyl patches are meant for patients receiving large chronic doses, as in cancer pain, where tolerance is already high. If a child, weighing a third of what the intended patient does and never having received opioids, sticks the patch on, there's ...
Do birds re-use nests that were previously used by other birds?	[ "Doves/pidgins use other birds nests for sure. I watched a robin build a beautiful nest on my property, she spent ages on this nest, laid her eggs and then one day a pidgin comes along, kicks the robins eggs to the ground and lays her own. Then she sat there, like a proud mama, defending her eggs against the angr...
Why do dogs grab their toys when really excited?	[ "They associate smells with objects too, which can draw them to things like owner's shoes. Showing off toys is less of a natural dog instinct, and more something we condition into them by praising them when they do cute stuff like pick up toys to play with", "I'm pretty sure you're on the right track. They get ex...
Why do most animals have tails but humans do not?	[ "We did have a tail at some point in our evolution. But now we only have tails during part of the time we are embryos but it reduces to the tailbone or 'coccyx' before we are born. The functions that tails serve can all be accomplished by us through other means such as hands for manipulating objects, language for c...
The location methods used by explorers like Columbus to record their findings and navigate home	[ "[Columbus was the first sailor who kept a detailed log of his voyages. We therefore know how Columbus navigated, and that he was a dead reckoning navigator. On the first voyage westbound, Columbus sticks to his (magnetic) westward course for weeks at a time. Only three times does Columbus depart from this course: ...
The Lacanian idea of the Other and the 'objet a'	[ "I'd crosspost to /r/philosophy. Zizek has written exhaustive words on Lacan. As I understand Other, it is how we frame ourselves, language, relationships, etc... against the world we perceive. \"Objet a\" deals with objectifying desire, glory, drive, libido...all are unattainable but we compelled by them. He never...
what do doctors/forensic specialists mean when they say a bullet "bounces around"?	[ "Because the body isn't a piece of homogenous mass. You've got bones inside you, and bones are pretty damn solid, especially compared to soft lead bullets. And as the bullet travels through you, all that mass begins to slow it down, making it more susceptible to ricochetting off something.", "Your body isn't a so...
Why are operating systems written in C?	[ "Your OS needs to care about all the low-level details like interfacing with your hardware or managing memory. Languages running in VMs (Java, C#) or interpreters (Python) do not offer such functionality and adding them does not make any sense from a language point of view (because you actually do not _want_ them)....
Why is running on a treadmill so much easier and less tiring than running outside?	[ "As far as I understand, the belt turnover of the treadmill contributes greatly to helping you run. The belt is guiding you towards running and as a result, most \"serious\" runners don't equate their time on a treadmill to be the same as what they would do when running outside.\n\nAside from the ground not being a...
Why would a company like Mars modify one flavor of a candy like Skittles and then refuse to go back to the old flavor in the face of monumental backlash?	[ "\"Monumental backlash\" often is nothing more than a vocal minority complaining loudly and often about something they don't like. Those people are also likely to continue buying the product in spite of their vocal distaste.\n\nMars knows that these people will fade away soon, and they probably haven't seen any app...
Does Earth appear as a bright planet?	[ "A few million light years away? That is an insane distance. Our entire galaxy is only ~100,000 light years in diameter. Even one lightyear away would be too far, not only is our planet not that bright, it is minuscule in comparison to the sun so anyone trying to look for us would just see our big, bright sun. This...
Why betting the same amount on two boxers to win will not always give a payout due to differing odds.	[ "Any real-world bookie is going to adjust the odds and payouts so that they get a cut for themselves (the vig). They're not working for charity.", "Even if not using a bookie that takes a vig (cut of the money), you're still taking a risk. Let's say you bet $1 a piece on two boxers facing each other. One has 1:1...
Why does PBS get the rights to BBC content where other networks do not?	[ "Downton Abbey is not a BBC production; it is created by ITV, a commercial television company. So whatever is the reason that PBS gets British shows, it's unlikely to be a specific agreement between them and the BBC.", "British entertainment, while popular, is still considered a niche interest amongst the larger ...
How do coaxial cables transmit so much data with only one pin?	[ "Coax can carry more bandwidth (as in frequency spectrum). RG-6 coax can carry somewhere 1-3Ghz while Cat 6 Ethernet (8 wires) can only carry about 500 Mhz. The reason is the shielding is so good and the impedance of the RG-6 coax cable is guaranteed over a long distance. \n\nHD TV channels only need 6Mhz so a sing...
Why TV's/Monitors are rectangle and not square.	[ "We have two eyes, next to each other. So our area of vision is wider than it is tall. Screens reflect that fact.", "Because of aspect ratios. It used to be that the monitors were square(ish) because the normal, common aspect ratio was 4:3. Now, with the widescreen format being most common (16:9) most TV's and mo...
What is convection?	[ "The transfer of heat by the circulation of air or gas.\n\nExample: hot air rises. As it does so it cools, which then causes it fall back down. If there's a heat source at the bottom (a fire, a warm ocean), it'll start warming up again and so the process starts again.", "It's a heat transfer between a solid and...
The difference between Gray and Grey	[ "Same difference between color and colour. Continent-based spelling differences.", "In British English, \"grey\" is the preferred spelling. I believe \"gray\" is US English. Not certain about Canada or Australia." ]
Why do accents seem to disappear when singing? i.e. why do Aussies, Brits and Kiwis all seem to have american accents when they're singing?	[ "This old ELI5 had some real answers in it: _URL_0_\n\nWhat I understand is that accents are largely derived from how long you hold certain sounds when speaking, but when singing regional differences go away because we all try to hold the same sounds the same length to sing \"correctly.\"", "Lots of singers star...
Why do wet wipes clog up the sewage / plumbing system?	[ "Because toilet paper dissolves and wet wipes don't. Most things you flush down the toilet can break down into smaller and smaller bits except for wet wipes, female hygiene products, and similar products. If these get caught on something inside the pipe it can completely clog the pipe up and no clog remover is goin...
Why is it wrong to discriminate against people for their political beliefs but there is public outcry when someone is anti-gay marriage etc.	[ "This post is not asking for a layman-friendly explanation to something complicated or technical, so it doesn't belong here and it's been removed. Entirely subjective questions generally belong in /r/askreddit.\n\nAsking \"why is this wrong\" or \"why is this ok\" is inherently subjective and so it doesn't belong h...
Why are Saudi Arabia and Iran are having a war in Yemen?	[ "Yemen has only been a single country for 25 years and fought a civil war in the 1980's. The central government is weak, the economy weak, an active al-Qaeda branch causes problems, and the various tribes follow different religions. The current unrest is a new civil war supported in part by outside parties. \n\nSau...
Why are tobacco companies allowed to continue selling products guaranteed to kill or do serious harm?	[ "Because it is worth a lot of money to the government!", "Because it's not illegal for people to harm themselves.", "They have great lobbyists. \n\nThey also spent a lot of money obfuscating the true damage that cigarettes do, by hiring scientists to study the subject of cigarette smoking and blow smoke (couldn...
Tipped employees/tipped wages/etc/	[ "Even with a tip credit, it is illegal for you to earn less than minimum wage.\n\nYour tips + wage must add up to minimum wage.\n\nIt's a way to pass part of the cost on to the consumer for employee wages. Not sure what the original reason for it was though." ]
How do CEOs use their money if its all in stocks?	[ "It varies. \n\n1. A CEO only takes the \"$1 salary\" with lots of stock if they can afford to do so. So...in many cases, the money is indeed locked up, they just live off the rest of their money.\n\n2. You can sell some shares, assuming your stock is in a company that is reasonably liquid. This could be company...
The definition of Liberalism	[ "Although amarkov is correct, I think a bit more can be said on this issue. Liberalism is broadly divided into two main schools: American Liberalism and Everywhere Else Liberalism (not it's actual name).\n\nIn the US, 'Liberal' is used as an opposite to conservative and essentially means anything on the left of t...
What determines if I bleed a little or a lot?	[ "The size/depth of the cut and where it is.\n\nYour blood flow and pressure.\n\nWether or not you have haemophilia." ]
How does counting cards work?	[ "In blackjack, you are much more likely to beat the dealer using a deck that has more \"big\" cards (aces, face cards and 10's) and less \"small\" cards (2's, 3's, and 4's). One of the reasons for this is that the dealer must take another card when he has a hand of 16 or less, so the more high cards there are lef...
If feminist truly believe in equality then do feminist believe that men should have paternity leave as well in the work place?	[ "Depends which feminist you ask. \"Femnism\" is not a unified, codeified set of beliefs, there are so many movements and groups and waves within feminism that there's no single answer to your question, and different feminist groups could argue for days over it..", "I believe they do. \n\nMost enlightened countrie...
The Stock Market: How does it work and how do people make money off it?	[ "I'm going to start up a lemonade stand but I need 100$. So what I do is I say is that I'm going to sell stock in my store to make that money. It is worth 100 stock. Each is 1$ and each says that you invested into my start up costs and therefore you are part owner of my store. So you buy 10$, I put in 55$, the othe...
What are the beliefs of the Church of Scientology, and why are they hated?	[ "It's a brainwash scheme that takes desperate people, isolates them socially, brainwashes them with some bad scifi, and then has them give up all their possessions, house, car, anything they own, as donations to the church.\n\nThey also take in celebrities, who get different kind of treatment. They get paid good di...
Why do most of us forget our dreams? And some remember every minute of it?	[ "You remember your dreams vividly as soon as you wake up, but you begin forgetting immediately. Keep a journal next to your bed and the second you wake up, start writing down what you just dreamt about. Eventually you will remember your dreams in full detail and even begin to dream lucidly...which is pretty damn aw...
Why can't dogs and cats be tickled?	[ "They can. Many animals can be tickled. They just can't laugh, so perhaps you're not aware of it, but they can be tickled." ]
How can adware companies run business operations that are based on such ideas as reinstalling malware?	[ "Legally, they can't. But when you're operating out of a small Eastern European country that won't extradite you and you make sure not to attract any attention in your own country, there really isn't anything anyone can do." ]
Why are there only 12 notes in music?	[ "It is all about the chords.\n\nTwo notes played together sound pleasing when their waveforms line up nicely. Frequency ratios of 2:1 and 3:2 sound better than 13:9 or 23:17. 12, being divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6, gives a lot of ways to hit these good ratios, in a way that 10 or 13 would not.\n\nAlso, there are ...
What is the difference between a "culture" and a "subculture"	[ "A subculture resides within a dominant culture. \n\nThe simplest example is probably the African-American subculture existing within the larger North American culture.\n\nSo you can see both are characterized by larger patterns: both eat at McDonald's, shop at Walmart, and watch the NFL on Sundays.\n\nBut then th...
Why are sports contracts so outrageously high compared to avg worker wages?	[ "Professional sports make a lot of money. LOTS of money. The players feel that they should get a reasonable part of the money being made because they are the major reasons why people pay money for season tickets, buy jerseys and hats, or watch on TV. If your boss made millions of dollars off of your work, you'd wan...
is drug resistant bacteria evolution?	[ "Yes, it is. It's a perfect example of it. There's a bacterial population infecting someone, they take the antibiotics till they feel better, but not until they clear the infection. There's a few of the bacteria that aren't immune but slightly better at surviving. Once the person stops the antibiotics because they ...
Why are there no heated snow shovels? I feel like this product is a no brainer.	[ "My experience with shoveling has taught me that wet snow sticks to the shovel, making it harder to move or throw the snow. A heated shovel would take normally cold, \"dry\" snow and turn it into heavy wet slush that sticks to the shovel.", "Surely it's easier to shovel snow than water. Seems like the last thing ...
Why are cats terrified of cucumbers?	[ "Possibly the same reason as why many pet birds are afraid of arms/hands reaching towards them - because they vaguely resemble snakes which are a predator. And because it's unexpected." ]
Why can we make synthetic oil but not synthetic gasoline?	[ "we can. it's just not cost effective energy wise or money wise.", "Nazi Germany had [Brabag](_URL_0_) working on this. They had a fuel shortage but enough coal that they didn't care about the energy cost of the process. Generally it's more efficient to sell what you have and buy someone else's gasoline (distille...
Why don't we have the $3, 60-year LED lightbulb yet? Why aren't LED bulbs getting cheaper as promised?	[ "From what I understand, basic LED technology has been rather difficult to scale up to actual room-lighting. On a smaller, dimmer usages they're very efficient, but once you try to scale up to very bright outputs, you run into a few issues. As an LED bulb gets warmer, it will get dimmer, which is bad. Also, a br...
How come some pictures look better at than others, even though they have lower resolution?	[ "Lighting and visual 'noise' (or grain) are two major factors that affect the visual quality of an image in addition to the pixel resolution. Compression artifacts (when you save images in a lossy format like JPG) also affect the visual quality.\n\nAlthough lighting and noise do not affect the pixel resolution of t...
What is or what are Dividends? More so relating to the financial world.	[ "It's a stock thing. \n\nSo: Stock. Right. So let's say I own a hot dog stands. It's a pretty killer hotdog stand and I'd like to expand but I don't have enough money to buy more carts. There's a couple different ways I could get this money, but I'm gonna go with issuing stock: I call a bunch of friends, offer them...
Why more games aren't made for OS X?	[ "Historically, Windows PCs and Macs had different audiences: business and techie types for Windows, novice users and creatives for Mac (I'm oversimplifying here, but you're five, so don't complain). \n\nIncidentally, this disparity is the basis for the [Mac vs PC series of ads](_URL_0_) from a few years ago.\n\nBut...
what is the point in giving high ranking Nazi's like Eichmann or Himmler trials, when they are going to be found guilty no matter what?	[ "It's more about showing the world all their crimes, as well as giving formal closure to their victims and victims families. \n\nAlso, no matter how severe your crimes, the right to trial still applies", "Especially with Nazi war criminals it was showing the difference between a good group of Nations and abad...
For disc copies of games, why must we pay full price for a new disc if the original becomes scratched or broken? Why can't we buy a replacement version that's cheaper?	[ "Most game companies do let you do that. Let you send in damaged disks for replacements in some warranty agreement." ]
What is the point of inflation?	[ "Inflation and deflation reflect changes in the value of money. Like most everything in economics, these changes are governed by supply and demand. The supply that matters in this case is the money supply (which includes cash, checking accounts, and some other stuff), and the demand is (more or less) the size of th...
With Colorado now allowed to legally sell pot on a state level, can the Feds still shut down the dispensaries? If so, what are the punishments for the seller and/or user that are in the store?	[ "The feds can shut down the dispensaries, but have indicated they will not, for now.\n\nThe punishments would be drug trafficking and drug possession.\n\nThere is an outside chance those charges could be overturned, if a federal court to a narrower (and IMO saner) view of the interstate commerce clause." ]
Auction Hunters, are those guys really lucky? or are Americans just that forgetful?	[ "It's not really forgetfulness. Auction Hunters, at least at the beginning, bid on abandoned storage units. \n\nSay you lose your job and get one that pays worse. You can no longer afford your house, so you buy a smaller one. You declutter as much as you can, but you still have too much stuff that you can't sta...
Would I die if I drank the water found on Mars?	[ "Probably. Much of the dust on Mars' surface is composed of chemicals called [perchlorates](_URL_0_) which are highly toxic. If you were to drink water from Mars it would almost certainly have a lot of the stuff in there.", "To be totally fair, there's a good chance you'd die if you drank from most water sources ...
What will happen when Windows XP becomes unsupported? Why will it suddenly become vulnerable?	[ "It won't spontaneously become vulnerable. It was already vulnerable, but every time a vulnerability is discovered, a patch is released to fix the vulnerability. Now the vulnerability will not be fixed.", "An Explanation for 5-year olds: \nthink of a computer program like a game with rules. Everyone's playing by ...
Is there really any reason we still use the qwerty keyboard?	[ "The hassle to change to a new keyboard layout would be too great for them to justify any new keyboard layout. It works, well for that matter, so there just isn't enough incentive to switch.", "It would be too difficult to switch. I've spent my entire life using QWERTY, and have become reasonably proficient with ...
Why do we feel so groggy when we first wake up, but after doing some exercise so much better and alert?	[ "Waking up in the morning is a dormant stage. After doing something such as push-ups, this sends more blood flow to the brain, as well as taking in more oxygen to spread throughout the body", "Melatonin (your body produces it) signals your body that it's time to prepare for sleep, and it helps you feel drowsy. Tw...
Carried Interest	[ "A \"carried interest\" is a sort-of profit sharing compensation (traditionally) for managers of private equity (PE) firms and hedge funds. Before continuing, it helps to know what these two things are and what they do.\n\n* PE firms pull together a large fund of money from various investors in order to make a lim...
Why do zodiac signs and horoscopes exist?	[ "Historically, the stars were very important. Before we had GPS, or maps or clocks or calendars, or even numbers, they helped you navigate and told you what time of the year it was. \n\nBut at the same time, humans had no idea what stars were and why they behaved they way they did. All the knew is when a certa...
Why does ice in a plastic bag end up making the skin wet?	[ "There's water in the air, it's called water vapor. Water vapor can't stay vapor after it cools down. It turns into water through a process called condensation." ]
If evolution is driven by natural selection, will the future of human race be affected by modern medicine since more people that should have been phased out can now live and reproduce?	[ "Absolutly. The fact, that a lot of women today are not capable of giving natural birth is an outcome of this. \n\nIn earlier times, if a womens pelvis was too small to give birth, she and her child would (probably) have died. Today, she can get a C-section and she and her kid will live happily ever after.\n\nSome ...
With water shortages increasing, why don't we use sewage water to water and fertilize our crops? Wouldn't the plants benefit?	[ "Our sewage treatment plant is state of the art and produces fertilizer/sludge that local farmers use on their land. One of the big issues with sewage treatment is the increased amount of drugs, mostly prescription, that come through the system. Some, I think are treatable, but not all of them." ]
Why does the 1st pancake you cook on a pan always turn out bad?	[ "Because I'm terrible at making pancakes. For the record, the rest are no better." ]
Why is it easy to spin something around your index finger one way and harder to spin it around the opposite way?	[ "It's just muscle memory. I can spin things both directions pretty easily. I just do it a lot." ]
In music why are B# and E# notes skipped in a scale	[ "B sharp and E sharp aren't skipped. It's a lot easier to visualize on a piano. \"Sharp\" is up one key and flat is down one key. That is why say A sharp and B flat are the same note. One note up from B is C. C and B# are the same note, as are B and Cb, E# and F, and E and Fb. \nAs for your other question, it's a b...
What's happening in the video of the guy directing a bug with a pen?	[ "We did this one in my high school science class. It's just something in the ink. It's color-dependent though. My teacher showed us the bug avoiding a blue pen but being unaffected by a red one of the same brand." ]
the sensation of spicy. Do people who like spicy food have fewer or more taste buds that react to spice?	[ "A fraction of the population are [supertasters](_URL_0_) which means they are more sensitive to certain tastes.\n\nSupertasters sometimes [avoid spicy foods](_URL_1_) but taste is pretty malleable (acquired taste).\n\nI've also noticed that the people who enjoy very spicy foods somehow manage to break down the cap...
How does catwalk fashion turn into high-street fashion?	[ "High street retailers will look at what the capital-F fashion designers are doing--in addition to often employing a trend forecasting service to do it for them--and design their own takes on the trends they see. There's an economic advantage to going in the same direction as everyone else, because consumers will b...
How hard is it to create a software that zooms in on pictures without loosing to much information?	[ "Imagine you made a painting out of little colored plastic squares (a mosaic). To zoom in on the picture would be just getting closer to it. Would you see more detail? No, the individual squares would just be bigger and easier to distinguish from each other. There is no more information to gain by looking closer.",...
Why does ice that has melted taste different than regular tap water?	[ "First, when water freezes, some of the gases are released, so the unfrozen water is not as aerated. Second, when water is frozen in many refrigerates, the oders in the fridge are taken into the water.\n\nSome folks put an open box of sodium bicarbonate (often Arm & Hammer baking soda) to absorb odors, but this m...
Why do some sporting events start at odd times like 7:05 or like the Final Four games at 5:09, 7:54, etc rather than simply 7:00 or 5:00?	[ "It works better for TV. \n\nPractically all TV is run on schedules of starting at the top of the hour or the bottom. \n\nFor a sporting event, they want to have an introduction before the event starts. Sometimes they broadcast the singing of the anthems etc. they surely want to get some advertising in. \n\nThe...
Can bacteria (and other microorganisms) be too fat or too thin?	[ "I'm sure a biologist can weigh in here and inform you on this subject much better than myself but the process of an organism becoming overweight, at least as defined in mammals, involves the deposit of excess adipose tissue, or fat. From some quick research, this capability also exists in many lower organisms, par...
why don't we have a picture of our face on credit card?	[ "I used to have a debit card back in the late 90s that had my picture on it. I don't know why they stopped doing it but they did do it at one time. It could be people didn't want their picture on the card or maybe the banks didn't want the extra expense.", "Because all credit cards are premade with half the num...
Why does the US Government keep on raising the debt ceiling incrementally and passing stop gap funding bills? Why don't they just make the ceiling higher by a huge number so government shutdowns happen less often?	[ "Because politicians are douche bags. The idea is that if they regularly bring the debt ceiling up, they have a wedge issue to use to fund raise, to bicker over and the use as a bargaining chip for other legislation. They friggin' passed the budget that is causing the debt to increase and then fight over raising ...

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.