Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
don't drivers' weights mess with the overall stability / weight distribution of those expensive, high performance cars? how is this solved?	[ "The Mazda Mx5, as far as I'm aware (friend had one, was a car nerd too) is designed to be \"perfectly balanced\" on half tank of fuel, and a driver of a specific mass (I can't remember exact number, but it's about average). No passengers either. \n\nI have no idea how this is achieved, but the design does take int...
Explain to me why people would think Sandy Hook is a hoax.	[ "There are a few conspiracy theories regarding the Sandy Hook shootings. These are the most prevalent ones:\n\n* The US government staged them in order to pass gun control laws/persecute gun activists. _URL_0_\n\n* Adam Lanza was simply a patsy; the shootings were really conducted by Israeli special forces as reven...
What is Glencore and why is it a threat to the control of mankind's resources?	[ "It is a mining company.\n\nIt controls 60% of the World market for zinc, 50% of copper, 9% of grain, and 3% of the oil market.\n\nThis would be all well and good if they were a nice friendly little outfit committed to sustainable development. However their history \"reads like a spy novel\", and they have been inv...
Do you lose apps/data when unlocking a phone through your carrier and switching carriers?	[ "You could always download an app such as Helium to make sure any data that an app has created on your phone isn't lost, such as game saves etc." ]
The circumstances surrounding Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl?	[ "The people we released were dangerous, the conditions of his desertion are cloudy.\n\nThis biggest question is what takes precedence: No man left behind or we don't negotiate with terrorists? Both are mantras we live by.\n\nIt is also important to note that he was on the brink of death and his health was very poor...
why does a cold bed feel awful but a cold pillow feel amazing?	[ "IMO a cold bet feels amazing... sliding into cool sheets is wonderful. I wouldn't want it to stay cool, but neither would I want my pillow to stay cool all night.", "Probably depends on the time of year and we're you're located, in the summer when it's hot out, I love cool sheets, but in the winter, I love warm ...
Why are bidets and other water integrated toilet seats common in Europe and other countries but almost non-existent in the US?	[ "I come from a country in Europe where bidets are normal. The main use is to ~~earth~~ wash your feet and to place the dirty clothes while you shower. Babies use them as washbasin.", "Adam ruins everything did a piece on it in his flushable wipes video (_URL_0_)\n\nPretty much they became synonymous with hookers ...
the physiology of that "butterflies in your stomach" feeling.	[ "From what I've heard before, that feeling comes from our Fight or Flight instinct. Your body senses that you're nervous (that's fear) for something coming up, and as a natural response from the fear, your body begins preparing itself for the potential of fighting/flight. It sends more blood to the more important a...
How the hell does a 3D printer work?	[ "It works like a plotter, only it is oriented with the \"pen\" facing downward instead of parallel to the ground like on a traditional plotter. The robotics are controlled by computer software, and typical 3d printers use a plasticy resin. The resin is melted and pushed thru the \"pen\" to go down onto the base, dr...
why do modern rockets blast off with zero initial velocity (standing straight up)?	[ "The biggest difficulty in getting enough speed to get to orbital velocity is how the earth's atmosphere slows you down.\n\nIt is most effective to blast straight up until the atnosphere becomes thinner and the drag caused by the air becomes very low, then level out and accelerate sideways towards an orbital speed....
how does thought work without language? When I think, I formulate ideas in words. How did this work either prior to language or for people who have no concept of language?	[ "Most thought does not use language. When you see a scary spider you don't feel the scariness because of the word \"spider.\" When you are hungry and know you want to eat, that didn't come from language. When you see a beautiful nature scene, it's not beautiful to you because of language. When you decide to put on ...
Why does the letter H exist in Spanish if its silent?	[ "For historical reasons.\n\nLanguages change and evolve over time, and the way sounds are pronounced change according to some definite rules. One of those is called Grimm's Law, after the person who first discovered it, Jacob Grimm of Brothers Grimm fame (they didn't just write fairytales, they were arguably the fi...
how does dust settle on vertical surfaces like glass panes? Shouldn't it just fall off?	[ "It may be due to the irregularities in the surface, but it is more likely caused because the dust particle is statically charged, and it attracted to the vertical surface. Glass panes can be charged relatively easily.", "Things only look flat to us because of our size. Zoom in on your tabletop enough and it woul...
Are there actual modern-day hitmen? How do people find them? How do they not get caught?	[ "\"Local Man Asked For Hit Advice On Reddit Before Murdering His Wife, Police Say\" - I can see it now...", "yes there are hitmen.\n\nmost can be found through gangs or other organized crime rings. \n\nnot getting caught is relatively simple. most murders are committed by people who knew the victim. hitmen lack a...
How do towing companies tow away cars when the car has its parking brake engaged?	[ "On most cars the parking break only locks the back tires. The towing company lifts the car by the rear end, because the front tires turn freely. Some models of cars only lock the front tires though, and they'll just reverse the procedure. When those aren't viable options the towing company will place a set of tire...
Why do people buy the turbo tax software sold in stores when you can just use their website?	[ "Tax information is pretty personal stuff, I'd pay more not to have them hosted by someone else. I can encrypt and store my tax records offline (on a CD or Tape drive). Also one can create any number of printed returns for no additional cost with the software.", "Local software works better on computers with sl...
So I wanted to understand how do authorities verify when a mountaineer has actually reached the peak of a mountain.	[ "They don't and there are no authorities. Historically there were so few people climbing mountains for fun that they all pretty much knew each other and climbing a major mountain ( one worth talking about ) usually involved a large team of climbers and an even larger team of support staff that you really couldn't l...
Car related terms such as...	[ "Liter is a unit of volume, like a gallon. The more liters an engine has the bigger it is, which means it has more power, but uses more gas.\n\nTorque is a unit of force. You can think of it as like the strength of car. A high torque vehicle, like a strong person, can carry a lot of weight without straining.\n\nHor...
Arab Spring	[ "On December 18th 2010, a man called Mohamed Bouazizi, who was selling some sort of merchandise at a market in Tunisia, was humiliated and beaten by police because he did not have a permit to sell. In protest, Bouazizi set himself on fire and from there, a sequence of events began. This proved to be a catalyst, as ...
why does the American Military measure distance in meters? But the rest of America uses feet and yards?	[ "The last thing you want in the middle of a firefight where multiple countries might be involved is to have two different measurement systems being used. Example being Brits come under contact and U.S. is in the area to provide assistance and everyone is giving different measurements to pass information on enemy po...
What are cooperatives?	[ "So a lot of the specifics will depend on the legal jurisdiction(s) the company is involved in, as well as how the coop specifically is organized. Generally, coops are a special kind of corporation. As such, they're limited liability entities and usually have legal \"personhood\" (this is just what a corporation is...
- Why is, what seems like rape so prevalent in the animal kingdom?	[ "Because most animals don't have morals. Humanity has gotten to a point of intelligence and society that we don't need to allow ourselves to just procreate willy-nilly. \n\nCats, dogs, and other animals rape as part of procreation because they don't have the morals, the intelligence, the sense of caring for others,...
What are the differences between ego and self respect?	[ "Well, they are both related to how we view ourselves but I would say the difference is self-respect is healthy, and ego isn't.\n\nEgo leads to thinking someone is superior to others, prevents one from admitting mistakes, or leads to not taking the experiences and feelings of others into account and only considerin...
Why exactly is it that when siblings (or closely related people) reproduce, there are problems?	[ "It's because lots of defective alleles (versions of genes) are recessive (you need two copies for them to cause a problem) and rare. So they almost never cause problems because it's very unlikely that both parents have the same defective allele. Even if you have a defective allele and pass it to your child, your m...
Why does the UN or the Hague not charge the Saudi royal family with humans rights violations for executing apostates?	[ "Saudi arabia is a rather stable country in the middle east with large oil reserves - the UN would like to keep it that way", "The UN is not a government. It doesn't have soldiers or police.\n\nThe UN is a forum where governments meet to discuss world relations. Anyone could suggest sanctions against Saudi, and i...
Why do some people have a myocardial infarction after losing a loved one? What chemical processes are taking place?	[ "In advanced I'm on my mobile so I apologize. I'm also going to bring it to layman s terms so I'm not concerned if it's not exactly correct\n\nThis condition is called Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy aka \"Broken Heart Syndrome.\" It does not need to be a sad event it can also be a joyous occasion. In every way it's s...
That feeling when your on a Roller Coaster and you go over a hill.	[ "you're*\n\nThe feeling is you feeling lighter because some of forced caused by your momentum is still going in the upwards direction for a short period, cancelling some of the force caused by your weight." ]
the difference between Ethnicity and Race (i.e. hispanic)	[ "Because Hispanic isn't a race. There are Asian Hispanics, there are South American Hispanics, there are black Hispanics, and there are Spanish Hispanics. If you/your ancestors spoke Spanish, you put down Hispanic. For race, you put down what your race is. This could be white, black, southeast Asian, or any other t...
Why do we have the earth positioned as is in illustration, and how did we come up with it?	[ "Can you clarify this? I really am not sure what you're asking?" ]
How do pinhole cameras work?	[ "If you can imagine the camera in the shape of an hourglass, with the pinhole being the center of the hourglass, it's a lot easier to visualize. You can think of light rays traveling in a straight line, and every light ray that passes through the pinhole gets projected onto a surface, only it's in the opposite posi...
How did Russia breach international laws?	[ "Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter prohibits states from engaging in any threats or uses of force against other states, of which Russia and Ukraine have signed and are members of. _URL_0_\n\nThe problem with international law is that it is nearly impossible to enforce or pass judgement on. It is purely a basis for a...
When a surface is sticking to another surface (like tape) what is actually happening?	[ "So there are a lot of [intermolecular forces](_URL_0_)\n\nadhesives like those found on tape are very good at forming interactions with themselves (so the glue on the tape sticks to itself) and other surfaces. They are technically highly viscous liquids just like sugary things like syrup you might spill on your ta...
Why does selling college handwritten notes qualify as copyright infringement? (Why or why not)	[ "This [University of Maryland](_URL_0_) site does a good job of explaining why.\n\nOn a related note, back in the late 1990s, my university was pressuring professors to convert their courses into web-based versions. Many professors were against this saying, \"If I do that, then the university can get rid of me and...
Why does whipping cream make it fluffy?	[ "The whipping action forces air into the cream, where it gets trapped. The trapped air is what makes the cream light and fluffy.", "The protein molecules in cream have formed formed a gel matrix, or foam, by being repeatedly beaten and whipped, which allows it to denature slightly. This denaturation allows tiny p...
Why do planes crash into each other when they have so much open sky and space to fly in? When I look up at the sky, it seems almost entirely clear of planes.	[ "Almost all air accidents happen near takeoff/landing where all those planes are in a tight area. There is a very narrow path to use a runway.\n\nThat said, air accidents are EXTREMELY UNCOMMON. You're safer on a plane than you are in your own car, by a huge margin.", "It's pretty unusual, and when it happens it ...
Why do people have different voices?	[ "Vocal chords vary in shape and size which vibrate with air to produce sound. Think of these like a guitar string. Changing the string changes the sound.\n\nHead and facial shapes are different. The cavities in the head affect the way sound reverberates. Imagine taking the same strings from an instrument and attach...
Black holes. Ive watched lots of videos but still cant rap my head around them. Explain like I am dumb 5 year old.	[ "The traditional method of black hole creation is in supernovae. A supernova is when a massive star dies. When a massive, well, massive star goes supernova the forces acting upon its core crushes it until it becomes really small. This means there's a lot of matter in a really small volume. \n\nNow, gravity is c...
Why isn't Russia considered a part of Europe. Geographically, most of their citizens, and even their capital, are on the European side of the country.	[ "Russia is a part of Europe. It's also a part of Asia.\n\nOr are you asking why Russia isn't in the EU? That's a whole separate question.", "Russia is obviously Europe. FFS it was part of the holy alliance _URL_0_. Anglophone countries seem to know nothing about Europe. The Slavic ethnic group is European. The Ru...
Why are standardized tests considered to be racially biased?	[ "Heres a real Texas TAKS test question that is a good example of bias on a test. \nSome students wanted to make a model to\nshow how the size of the moon compares with\nthe size of Earth. They used an orange to\nrepresent the moon. Which of the following\nwould best represent Earth?\n\nAnswers: cantaloupe, grape, l...
What is your "gut feeling" and why is it usually right?	[ "Confirmation bias tricks you into believing your gut instinct is usually right. You often forget the times your first choice was wrong, but remember the times your gut was right all along because it is seemingly more noteworthy.", "Unfortunately, I can't answer your exact question, but the book [Blink](_URL_0_) ...
Can someone ELI5 why this water simulation works very well in a web browser, but is hardly used in video games?	[ "(I think this is the problem)\n\nAlthough this water simulation works awesome you have to be careful when using it on a larger project. The first thing to notice is the number of polygons or shapes used in this project.\n\nThis whole project is simply a cube and ball. This makes the program use so little cpu becau...
What is the deal with Dubai?	[ "Oil money. Then they leveraged that oil money for credit to build up Dubai, initiating a huge slew of construction projects (islands, manmade reefs, tallest building, giant indoor skiing mountain). Some of these building projects are so ostentatious and excessive that people took notice. They have been building a ...
why units of time are universal across modern cultures and languages	[ "Probably because once the first working system was developed it was adopted and spread all over.....\n\nMost cultures will probably have time units that are derived from periodic events, like the rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon, and the movement of the planets. (I realize this is speculation,...
How were photographs edited prior to advances in editing software? i.e. those old photographs of Stalin where people were phased out	[ "For that kind of thing, they literally used an actual airbrush -- which is why photo editing software has \"airbrush\" tools, and why we use the word \"airbrushing\" to mean both retouching of photos and the practice of excluding people or events from the history books.\n\nA skilled artist using a small airbrush w...
Why are realistic CGI movies so expensive to produce?	[ "As with most things expensive; it's difficult, it takes time and it requires a lot of resources.\n\nFor one scene of CGI it might be months of work behind it, with everything from motion capture actors (so you need to do everything you would need to actually film the scene but with even more things needed than nor...
Why Germany decided to go Nuclear-free	[ "Well, although Germany is not as seismically active as say Japan, there is seismic activity there which can be a cause for concern.\n\nOverall, I would say Germany made the decision because there is a strong environmental movement in Germany. Germany has already started building wind farms and is big on solar tech...
Do I come in contact with any radiation from the microwave if I put my hand in it to take something out as soon as the timer sounds (as opposed to waiting a few more seconds)?	[ "Short Answer: No. \n\nLong Answer: \"Microwaves generated in microwave ovens cease to exist once the electrical power is turned off. They do not remain in the food when the power is turned off. They do not make the food or the oven radioactive.\"\n\nThe [microwave oven](_URL_1_) acts like a [Faraday Cage](_URL...
Why is there muscle strength loss after surgery?	[ "Fun fact muscles are always in decline. Muscle cells are always dying off, body is always consuming mcules for energy. But the body replaces that if you use them, if not, body doesn't have a need to replace \"damaged\" muscles. Hence the loss of strength. As soon as you start using them, the strenght returns.", ...
Why we sleep at night instead of during the daytime?	[ "While many mammals turned nocturnal during the age of dinosaurs, modern primates have turned diurnal for probably a lot of reasons. \n- Most importantly we don't have very dominant diurnal predators anymore. \n- Early primates learned to live out the night in the trees which offered some protection from noc...
Why do we lose our voices when we yell or scream a lot?	[ "Just an anatomy clarification, your whole voice box isn't actually a muscle. It's a fold of tissue. There are the false vocal cords, and then the true ones. What happens is air passes through these folds and the true ones vibrate to make sound. Now when you scream you actually make the surrounding tissue swell up ...
Why is polygamy illegal and considered bad form?	[ "Polygamy is bad news for a few reasons. It isn't illegal all over the world. And there are parts of the US where it is underground. In the US, those areas have an alarming number of teenage boys who are cast out of their homes and communities. The older males see them as competition for the younger women. There ar...
When the BBC show Sharks says that Tiger Sharks return to the same place on the same day every year, how would a shark know how long a year is? Do they perceive time like we do?	[ "How do you know a year has passed without looking at a calendar? I imagine they sense the temperature/climate changes like anything else." ]
What is the difference between copyright and all rights reserved?	[ "Copyright is a legal concept. When something says \"copyright\" or has the (C) designation on it, the creator is claiming the work to be origingal and that they hold exclusive rights to its use.\n\nA claim of copyright is usually followed by a statement of what the copyright holder will or will not allow others to...
Why is an indirect election system in the US President elections a good idea?	[ "The electoral system was put in place as a sort of check against a truly unqualified candidate being elected. The founding fathers feared that the government and country could be undermined by such a president, and so allowed electors to switch their vote if necessary.\n\nIt made sense when the laws were first bei...
What is the most likely way the universe will end?	[ "We don't know for sure, but the prevailing theory is [heat death](_URL_0_).\n\nBasically, every single particle of matter will eventually decay into thermal energy. Since thermal energy is only useful when there are differences in temperature, eventually the temperature will even out across the universe and it wi...
What is a brainfreeze and how does it happen?	[ "It occurs when the roof of your mouth gets cold. It cools a nerve in that area which constricts blood vessels." ]
How do cows and buffalos build muscles while eating mostly grass?	[ "Grass actually does have a surprising amount of protein in it. But humans can't digest grass, it takes far longer to digest than it stays in our systems for. Enter ruminants, animals, like cows, that are able to digest grass due to their unique multi-stomach structure that allows them to get the nutritional cont...
Before someone invented scissors (no, it wasn't Leonardo DaVinci), how did people cut their hair and fingernails?	[ "With long nails, you can pare off slivers of nail with the edge of the knife (try to cut away from the finger.) When your nails are shorter, you can shave the nail by holding the blade perpendicular to the edge of the nail and dragging it along the length of the nail. This leaves fairly sharp edges that you can...
Would it be possible to create liquid wood in a vacuum?	[ "Not everything can melt. Many materials being to break down from heat before it ever reaches liquid phase; this process is called [pyrolysis](_URL_0_). Wood is one such example.", "Short answer no.\n\nTo create a liquid you need high temperatures and/or low pressures. For wood and many other substances and room ...
how does counting cards in blackjack work? What steps do casinos take to render card counting hard to do?	[ "At its simplest, card counting is just keeping track of how many 10's and face cards (all worth 10) are left in the deck, vs. how many lower cards. This lets you gauge the odds on each particular bet a little better, and if done perfectly, can give you a slight edge over the casino.\n\nCasinos have a lot of ways ...
How do massive cold fronts, like the one being experienced in America right now, occur?	[ "The cold front that is being experienced by the United States and Canada right now is known as a polar vortex. Polar vortexes are strong winds found in the upper level of the atmosphere that normally stay over the north pole. On occasion the vortex can be distorted, causing cold air to spill to the south. \n\n[Sou...
How is it possible for someone to survive riding in the wheel well of a jet at 36,000 feet for several hours?	[ "Like most of the stories going, he entered a staye of hibernation. This is possible. Ive heard stories of people being trapped underwater in subfreezing temps but what happens is the body keeps only the vitals alive. Ive heard of this with infants who fall into pools occasionally they survive with no damage. I...
What's a neckbeard? The person, not the beard. (I know what a beard on the neck looks like.)	[ "The general implication is that the person acts superior or overly-critical towards others, yet their poor personal hygiene shows that they don't apply the same standards for themselves. \n\nThey may act like their STEM degree qualifies them as an authority on every subject under the sun, yet just by looking at ...
What causes the itchy irritation on your butt from feces?	[ "You see, when poop gets a bit old, it becomes crusty. So if you don’t clean your ass after you shat, the poop that remains on your butt remains there and becomes crusty, kind of like blood. \n\nThe reason it’s itchy would be because of friction. When. You walk the crust moves as well, tickling your butt as you mov...
Why is practically everything made in China?	[ "China has lower average wages, no unions, and much lower environmental standards so it's significantly cheaper to manufacture goods there." ]
Why aren't Discover/American Express accepted every where cards are? Don't they all work in the same way?	[ "Every time a credit card is used, the business has to pay the credit card company for the convenience of the service. For the merchants, it's a complex matter; they ideally don't want to accept credit cards at all, but many customers wouldn't shop there because the customer's card isn't accepted.\n\nEach merchant ...
Why is the word "no" so similar across languages around the world, but "yes" so different?	[ "Well, two answers for you.\n\n1. A solid third of the world has the same root language, what we call Proto-Indo-European or PIE. The people spread out into Europe, much of the Middle East and the Indus River Valley and China. Though these became linguistically distinct regions over time they began many thousands o...
Can I identify a body's sex by examining its bare skeleton?	[ "The key areas to look on skeletons to determine sex is (1) the pelvis and (2) the skull. The pelvis is by far the best area of the body to determine sex. If the pelvis leaves you with questions, the skull can help further determine sex. (Note: prior to puberty, male and female pelvises have more male characteristi...
What are the limits of contracts? What can I sneak into a contract or a terms of service?	[ "I assume there's no question here about whether the person meant to click or sign themselves up for Facebook. Rather, someone read the terms of service and said \"okay\" and clicked.\"\n\nYou can't contract to do anything illegal. That's never enforceable in court. Other than that, it's pretty context specific. C...
Fuels? What does it take to create gasoline, diesel, kerosene, etc and how do they differ?	[ "Basically they all start from the oil we pump out of the ground.All of these things are inside that oil. We then heat the oil in a large tube that has many different levels. As the oil heats up all the different parts become a gas at different temperatures and they settle in the level where the temperature is cool...
The top used Internet Browsers and how they're different.	[ "As you may know, internet pages are written with HTML and various other languages. A nice analogy is to consider a web page as a museum. Let me explain.\n\nThe HTML is the architecture of the building itself. It's the building blocks of the page that tell you what things are and what they do. Using HTML, you give ...
Why does marijuana make you paranoid?	[ "It has to do with the way THC interacts with your amygdala. Which is the part of your brain responsible for fear feelings." ]
What is it that prevents Xbox games from being played on a PlayStation but yet allows people to play music CDs on either?	[ "Xbox and PlayStation are very different animals, just like a dog and a cat are very different animals. They have some similarities - 4 legs, 2 eyes, good pets - but internally they are different beasts. Their internal plumbing is different, even when you pull them apart and you notice strong similarities, you also...
Why do creators keep their upcoming projects/products secret until release?	[ "One of the aspects that you may not have considered is that a huge number of projects that people work on never get released. They turn out not to be as interesting as the creator hoped, or there's no enough of a budget, or there are creative differences with other people involved, etc. And it's not good pract...
The bitcoin crash going on right now.	[ "The Bitcoin is only worth as much as people think it's worth. The Chinese shut down Bitcoin trade in their country, which makes the Bitcoin inherently less valuable (why would you use a currency that can't be traded everywhere?)\n\nThe crash happened because Bitcoin is a volatile currency. There isn't a lot of i...
Why are Xeon processors better suited for server applications than mainstream CPUs?	[ "Xeon processors allow you to use ECC (Error-correcting code) memory. This is crucial in servers because it allows the memory to self correct data corruption in most instances.\n\nIt also provides more virtualization functionality which is common in servers today. \n\nOn top of these two major differences they al...
Why is it okay for Girls to Wear Guys' Clothes, but When Guys Wear Girls' Clothes, Its Weird?	[ "It's just a social thing. There's not really logic behind it - there was a time when women wearing men's clothes was just as odd as a man wearing woman's is today.", "there are practical reasons for women to wear pants which helped to move society toward accepting it.", "Girls wearing men's clothes is seen as ...
What causes the noises that come from the walls and ceiling in my house?	[ "Heat makes things expand, and cooling down makes them contract.\n\nSo it is parts of your house rubbing against other parts and settling.. \n\nYou are most likely to hear it at night when you are usually lying quietly in bed. Perhaps also since things fall back into position, giving a thump.\n\nOr you have pests o...
Why do companies release update products at least every year? even when they don't change much from last year'd models.	[ "Because people generally think newer things are better. So even if they aren't, you've got to release new things, or your competitors can get your market share by selling a new model.", "Depends on the product in question. Sometimes, as others have pointed out, it's a question of just wanting to appear new. So...
Monkeys reacting to Magic tricks, are they really understanding what is happening? Or does it only look that way?	[ "If they see ball \"go inside\" a palm and then disappear I bet they understand it well. But have them pick a card, memorize it, put it back into the deck and shuffle thoroughly and then find the same card inside their wallet and I bet they didn't understand what had happened.", "Is there any place where I can fi...
What would happen in the minutes, hours, and days following a nuclear attack?	[ "That depends on so many factors. It would take over 20 minutes before the first warnings to the first bomb lands. In addition it would require some checking and double checking to make sure this was a real attack. There would be no time to evacuate but citizens would be asked to take cover as best they could. Ther...
What is the reason for tasting pennies when you become winded?	[ "It could be that the exertion results in some minor amount of blood leakage (which is not likely to be harmful), say through tissues dried in your upper respiratory tract by the extra hard inhaling you're doing. \n\nBlood can result in a metallic taste because it contains iron. This can be similar to the taste you...
if it was 1926...loan question	[ "When Pretty Boy Floyd use to rob banks one of the things he took was peoples mortgages so the banks would have no record of them.", "You have a legally binding agreement with the bank by virtue of making an agreement. All the paperwork is just evidence of that agreement.\n\nBetween witness accounts and gov't re...
Adverse possesion or, squatters rights.	[ "Depending on the jurisdiction, if you occupy land in an obvious and overt fashion for an extended period of time (like, forty years) without being challenged by the owner, you BECOME the owner." ]
Reformatting a Hard Drive?	[ "So, your hard drive stores data as a series of 1's and 0's. So, what does it mean to delete something? Well, you could just set all of the bits to 0. That would effectively delete it. But, as you noted, that would take a long time for the entire hard drive because you'd have to touch every single bit on the disk a...
How are weather balloons deployed so that they do not pose a risk to commercial air traffic?	[ "There is a suggestion that the local air traffic controllers be notified of the intended launch of a high altitude balloon so its presence is known, but the more relevant regulations regard the content of the payload. There are limits on the total weight and density of the payload, as well as the separation force ...
what are spectral lines and how do we use them to determine what light has passed?	[ "If you direct light through a prism, you can spread it out and look at all the different frequencies it's composed of.\n\nIf you look very closely, you'll notice that certain frequencies are [\"missing\"](_URL_0_) (or at least severely reduced in intensity).\n\nThat means that somewhere between when this light was...
How do fish survive long periods of time out of the water without suffocating?	[ "Fish die on land not because they cannot get oxygen out of air, but because their gills are designed to work in water. This means that they dry out relatively quickly and when that happens their gills start to tear and bleed and stop working. At this point they stop being able to breath and suffocate. \n\nThere ar...
Why is glass clear?	[ "First let's look at a simplified view on what makes something to appear to have colour. Visible light hits some object, one of two things can happen (disregarding scattering, etc.): the light gets absorbed or it passes without being hassled.\n\nWhy would light of certain wavelengths (i.e., colours) be absorbed? El...
Why do we clench our teeth or yell etc when we are lifting something heavy or pushing our bodies to the limit?	[ "Clenching your teeth helps stabilise your head, neck and upper back by tightening them all up" ]
Should i put wet hand-washed dishes straight to the cupboard without drying them?	[ "your question should probably be flaired as biology.\n\nIf you stack wet plates, the moisture will never get a chance to dry out. In the ideal world, your clean plates have no bacteria, food residue or stuff in the water. \n\nBut in the real world, your plates will still have small bits of food residue, maybe some...
Why do police officers not always wear kevlar as an occupational precaution?	[ "> Seems like there would be no downside\n\nSpoken like someone who's never worn kevlar.\n\nVests suck. They are uncomfortable, stiff, and sweaty. While most departments require them for patrol officers, officers who can get away with not wearing them sometimes don't. Simply because they judge the inconvenience of...
why are all planets except pluto in the same plane	[ "Do you ever question what you have been given as facts on the Internet?" ]
How is ambient music in video games being looped seamlessly?	[ "it's designed to do so. the end fades into the beginning, either directly, or with a small bit of silence" ]
Why isn't internet content offered "pay as you go"? Why is everything either ad-supported or subscription-based?	[ "Imagine how click-baity everything would be, and how irritated you would be to click on a headline and be charged a few cents just to get a story which is nothing like what the headline promised? Or, the body of the story is nothing but the headline repeated in smaller type with punctuation and without having the...
why are some very cheap items on Amazon are priced as thousands of pounds?	[ "There is no way of knowing for sure, especially with specific instances, but the culprit is probably an errant or misconfigured bot. [For example](_URL_0_) competing bots once drove the price of some book up to 23.6 million dollars." ]
How do MRI's work?	[ "The machine uses a very powerful spinning magnet that aligns the nuclei of water (H20) atoms inside your body (Since most of it is water), it creates a magnetic field that causes the atoms to resonate, a phenomenon called nuclear magnetic resonance. The nuclei produce their own rotating magnetic fields which align...
What happens in our body, that causes the dark colour under the eyes after not enough sleep?	[ "Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained:\n\n1. [ELI5: Why when you are lacking sleep do you get black marks under your eyes, then when you catch up they disappear? ](_URL_0_)\n1. [ELI5: Why do we get 'bags' under our eyes when we're tired? ](_URL_1_)\n1. [ELI5: Why do people get bags under their...
Why are oats "Steel Cut" Why not aluminum or titanium cut? Or hand cut?	[ "\"Steel-cut\" is more about result than the process. \n\nWhen you cut oats with steel blades rather than crushing them (i.e. \"rolled oats\", or when crushed really flat, \"instant oats\"), you're separating them into specific sharp-edged chunks rather than smashing them into flour. \n\nThe result is a different t...
Why does Facebook keep thinking I know strangers from countries I have never been to and have 0 friends in common?	[ "This happens to me too so I would like to know. \n\nI've definitely had people from other countries (not sure if fake or not) and fake people from the US friend me and we had \"mutual friends.\" I think what happened is a fake profile friends one person and then just friends everyone in that person's network becau...

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

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