Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
How come my belly expands right after eating food, even though the food I've eaten won't have reached all the way down there yet?	[ "Well your stomach when empty is fairly small and sits just below your rib cage. When you eat it fills with food and stretches out. It will displace some of your intestines to make room. That could be causing your stomach to stick out. \n\nAlso when you eat food it opens up the floodgates downstream, if you kno...
Why Do Reddit Points Fluctuate Over Time?	[ "The fluctuations are a bot prevention mechanism. Shadow bans were created in order to get rid of malicious bots, but that could be easily tested if their upvote did not count toward a thread if the page was refreshed a minute later. Thus, Reddit came up with the idea that they should create vote fluctuations. The ...
A recent YSN post said that cell phone companies can't prevent me from unlocking my phone. What does that mean?	[ "You're mixing up unlocking and rooting.\n\nUnlocking is taking off a restriction that prevents you from putting a SIM Card (which is a little card that says who you are) into your GSM (t-mobile and at & t in the US) phone. When the phone is unlocked, it will let you just take your phone to the other network and ha...
how does a mere bit of suncream/sunblock protect the skin from the suns rays?	[ "Sunblock and sun cream contain very small particles of silver (in sun cream) and zinc oxide (in sunblock) which reflects the rays of light off rather than letting them hit your skin, the particles are fine and plenty enough so as long as you have a layer covering your skin, they will reflect most of the rays off, ...
Why can't I hear myself snoring, or anything else for that matter, when I'm half-awake/half-asleep?	[ "As you move from a waking state to a sleeping state, your senses get (mostly) turned off. This last summer, I was running a box fan in my bedroom to stay cool. In addition to providing airflow, it also make a pleasant low drone. One night, I noticed my hearing turn off because I was listening to the fan's noise. I...
What is Obama Care?	[ "Obama care refers to the Affordable care act, which changed a few things about American healthcare. The whole act was extremely long, and covered many aspects, which is why it took a long time to draft and pass and take effect, and is beyond the scope for a single Eli5 thread.\n\n\nOf significance (from my perspe...
Why is riding an elephant deemed inhumane while riding a horse is not?	[ "Horses are domesticated by humans for the purpose of cohabitation with humans. They have been selectively bred over thousands of years to be suited to a type of work, such as pulling a cart, carrying a rider, etc. Moreover the equipment used, and the veterinary knowledge of their body mechanics have been extensive...
Why does air feel cooler when it's moving when energy/movement creates heat?	[ "Our bodies are constantly radiating heat. Air, being a good insulator, forms a hot-bubble around us, like a blanket. When the wind blows, it brings cooler air against our skin and removes the air we've already heated. Also, you have to know that our skin doesn't sense temperature, but the relative flow of heat in ...
Boxsprings. Is there an actual purpose to them?	[ "Just asked this at the mattress store!\n\nTheir only function is to keep the mattress flat so it wears more evenly. If you don't have a bed frame and leave your mattress on the floor you don't need one. If you have frame with a solid bottom that keeps your mattress flat, you don't need one. You only need them if y...
Why do different alcoholic drinks have different effects on a person?	[ "There is a theory that this purely psychological. Sort of like the placebo effect (you feel better bc you expect to feel better). For example, we associate whisky with sadness (or, just listen to country for 5 minutes and you will) so we expect it to make us sad/mournful drunk. Usually, that's what happens.\n\nEDI...
How can Pi never repeat if it never ends?	[ "What they mean with never repeating is that it won't act like normal fractions like 1/7 = 0.142857142857142857142857142857... which repeats the sequence 142857 forever over and over again.\n\nThe same sequence \"142857\" occurs in pi too. Apparently it occurs 210 time in the first 2 million digits of pi.\n\nSo you...
What is the difference between pirating a game/movie and buying a used copy? Why are "re-sales" legal but pirating isn't?	[ "> why publishers and developers aren't pushing to end used sales.\n\nThey are, but it's a delicate issue, just ask Microsoft's PR department. The concept of the first-sale doctrine in copyright law dictates that once the holder of a copyright has sold on a good to a consumer, that consumer has the right to pass o...
How come I can focus my eyes on the floaters on my cornea, but not my finger when it's almost touching it?	[ "Your eye isn't really focusing on the floater, as it's behind the cornea. It's more like having dust on the film, it gets sent directly to the brain as is.\n\nYour finger you actually do need to focus on." ]
How does Global Blue make money?	[ "> Global Blue operates a wide and trusted Tax Free Shopping network, allowing travellers to save money on purchases they make in any one of our 270,000 partner stores around the world\n\nAbove description if from their website. You only get tax refunded if you shop in one of their partner stores. Think of it as a...
In the course of history, why have people exiled others as opposed to killing them?	[ "If Napoleon was killed, it would have made a great deal of french people angry that their leader was killed, and turn him into a symbol another french army could rally around. \"Our leader was killed, let's avenge him!\"\n\nInstead, by exiling him, no one is angry that he's killed, and it's hard to rally around a ...
Why was prohibition less successful than the war on drugs?	[ "The war on drugs was a failure in the exact same way that prohibition of alcohol was. We just keep doing it anyway.", "The percentage of people who use alcohol is higher than the amount that use drugs. The more people that flaunt the law, the harder it is to enforce.", "It depends on how you define success. Co...
Who was actually (not philosophically) affected by the NSA spying.	[ "Closest I could think of would be Lavabit, if we're talking about provable damage and effects.\n\nLavabit was an encrypted email service located in the US, they offered high-end email security. That was their market, their gimmick, Email that is very hard to crack into.\n\nThe NSA needed the emails of a few indivi...
Chicken used in KFC zinger?	[ "KFC claims it is a chicken breast filet, double breaded and deep fried. There's really no reason to doubt the claim, either." ]
The practical everyday uses we gain from the American high school courses English, Math, Science, and history.	[ "Adding a quick note to the good material already here: One major problem for many students in school is they firmly believe they already know enough of these subjects to function well in society. And if they do not they think they can get the info quickly via google or other means. We all believe we know enough at...
Why do we bite our teeths together when we doing something exhausting? (Like when you're in the gym and doing a hard workout)	[ "I'm not sure there is an exact known answer but the theory is: to make it easier on your brain.\n\nTensing muscles together takes less effort for your brain than trying to keep multiple muscles doing different things. Kind of like the old trick of patting your head and rubbing your stomach, your mind will eventual...
Why do radio stations announce the next songs and then play them in the reverse order?	[ "They announce the most popular songs first so that it grabs your attention and more people keep listening for that song to play, then go to commercial (it's called a teaser so you wait through commercials) then play them in reverse order so you wait for your song to come up.\n\nThe radio world is all about getting...
What real power does the American president have?	[ "The power to veto (or shoot down, if you will) any bill or law that Congress passes. Once a piece of legislation is vetoed, it takes two-thirds vote for congress to pass it, instead of the normal majority vote." ]
What are the most noticeable differences between genuine American-made Fender Stratocasters and Gibson Les Pauls, compared to cheaper counterparts like Epiphone or Squier made in Indonesia, Mexico, etc.?	[ "For current guitars, the Made In USA badge adds a lot to the cost, but it's hard to generalise beyond the obvious factors: differences in quality of wood and parts. \n\nHistorically, it's been a moving target: for example, I heard only good things about first Squiers made in Japan, some arguing that the quality ex...
What makes someone professionally good at fishing?	[ "Probably experience and perception. I'm sure a good fisherman can tell where the fish will likely be in the lake, or how deep to go to get certain fish and what patterns they follow", "A big portion of professional fishing is simply dedicating plenty of time to the sport and attending events. Nobody can make the...
How can many cultures have so many similar myths?	[ "Angels are not very similar across cultures, except those that came into contact with one another.\n\nGhosts are just a discussion of \"what happens after you die,\" a universal human concern. \n\nDragons differ hugely across cultures; it's a stretch that we call them all one thing.\n\nMonsters aren't similar at a...
What makes lithium ion batteries so combustible?	[ "Lots of chemical energy separated by super thin insulators made of an easy to melt plastic. The fire produced in a tiny spot heats the insulator enough to melt it in the adjacent area, which generates more heat, ... . It's a chain reaction.", "Chemical batteries rely on a chemical process called a redox reacti...
After a terror attack, why do certain groups claim responsibility?	[ "So, a lot of terrorist groups have some kind of agenda, normally they think that there is something wrong with a group of people, and they are the enlightened few who will \"purge the world\". If we look at them like ransomers, they have a set of demands (which are in line with their agenda) so all they need is a ...
How exactly is money transferred to athletes and celebrities when they sign those 1+ million dollar deals? Do they write cheques? Or email transfer 6 million dollars?	[ "Pretty sure they just get checks like anyone else would. Last year Thomas Vanek got investigated by the NHL because he was gambling and signed over one of his paychecks to cover a bet to his bookie. He ended up being clear of any wrong doing but how stupid do you have to be to sign over a paycheck to a bookie.",...
Why does it seem like there are way more conspiracy theorists in the USA now than 20 years ago?	[ "Probably has a lot to do with the fact far more people have gotten on the internet in the past 10 years. Sure, internet wasn't rare in 2004 but more people than you might imagine weren't really using it until the last ~5 years. Additionally people tend to group up so that you'll get concentrations of people likely...
Unsupervised Learning/Machine Learning and how data is relevant	[ "Unsupervised learning isn't generally used to make predictions - for that task a supervised learner is typically used. You hinted at why in your question - if we do have a way to evaluate whether our predictions are accurate, then we should be able to frame the task as a classification problem and train a superv...
Why should you not stir long-grained rice (such as basmati) when cooking, but should stir short-grain rice (like sushi or risotto rice)?	[ "Simply put:\n\n1 - Some types of grain break more easily than others, keep overcooking after the fire is off and/or are covered in the gran flour that makes it sticky and even a paste sometimes. Which takes me to point 2;\n\n2 - That's the way that specific receipt is cooked, whether is because make more sense fo...
Why do we sometimes get fleeting pains at random parts of our body?	[ "The phenomenon is called \"referred pain\". It occurs when sensory information comes to the spinal cord as coming from one location, but is interpreted by the brain as coming from another location. \n\nSource: Gray's Anatomy for Students, 2nd edition. Page 76 under \"In the clinic\". \n\nEdit: Btw I'm disappointed...
What causes the involuntary scowl when we eat something unexpectedly bitter?	[ "I think it was Steven Pinker who said that it's probably an evolutionary defense mechanism. When you taste something unexpectedly bitter you tend to make a face and stick your tongue out (children start doing this very early). This is probably a mechanism to eject any of the substance still in your mouth. Not real...
If I, for example, pop a zit on my left shoulder, why do I sometimes feel a sharp sting in my lower back?	[ "I would guess nerve endings. My SO at the time poked me in my belly button one time and I felt a sharp pain in my anus area. No joke.", "I thought I was the only one! when I scratch a part of my body sometimes I feel a sharp sting on another random part of my body too." ]
What's the story behind the Enron scandal?	[ "It's a very complicated situation - I've only watched the documentary Smartest Guys in the Room. Long story short, the leading executives made a lot of moves that put a lot of money in their pockets at the expense of their company, and the livelihood of thousands of employees", "They were caught using fraudule...
how hard would it be for someone to go off the grid	[ "If nobody is looking for you, its not hard. The hard part is staying off the grid. You need to be able to sustain yourself long-term, and needing a trip to a hospital if you start vomiting blood could mean an end to the whole thing.\n\nBut if you are wanted by the police in any serious way, the odds of managing to...
Why are some TV shows recorded in front of a live studio audience?	[ "First off those type of shows are called Multi Camera Setups. And they play out more or less live like any other performance, they don't have to record one actor, then the other, then back and forth like single camera shows. Those are done on closed sets and are considered higher production value because there is ...
What is that grainy stuff around resized low resolution pictures?	[ "It's impossible to truly scale up an image. You can't just stretch things; the computer needs to know what pixels are going where. There's typically an interpolation algorithm that tries to guess where the pixels should be when scaling, but there are limits to how accurate it is. Mistakes are made and you can get ...
What happens when one of the wings of an airplane break off?	[ "The plane is faced with an option: either generate lift with the remaining wing and face a massive rolling force, or don't generate lift and fall out of the sky. In either case the plane likely crashes. \n\nOne thing the pilot could attempt is to roll the plane 90 degrees to have the remaining wing pointing up or ...
Why would Assad’s regime use chemical weapons, as opposed to conventional ones, which don't generate anywhere near the same international uproar and are presumably equally lethal, albeit less horrifically so?	[ "Every town exists for a reason. Some enterprise is producing something of value to someone outside the borders of the community, bringing in cash to support the town's local economy. \n\nIf you flatten the town, your country loses it's largest producer of widgets. Generations of experience, tools and machinery e...
why am i, and other men, attracted to breasts?	[ "One theory is that larger breasts can indicate the female will be better able to feed her young, so men have evolved to prefer larger breasts because those genes have a better chance of being passed on to later generations.\n\nThere are some arguments against this theory, though. First is that it's generally the f...
What is an IPO and at what point do you have one?	[ "An IPO is an Initial Public Offering for a company's stock. It's when a company starts selling their stock on a stock exchange like the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ.\n\nThe reason for one is to take on more investment capital, and also to allow the initial investors and company founders take (some of) their i...
Why am I able to tilt my head back and pour a drink down my mouth without it immediately traveling down into my body? Shouldn't it automatically slide down my esophagus?	[ "You have a set of sphincter muscles in your throat which manually pushes food down, this is what allows you to eat and drink when upside down, or in a zero gravity environment, It's also why you have to swallow food, instead of letting it slide down your throat. You'd end up choking every time you tried to eat or ...
Why do humans live to be so old, but animals like dogs only live a few decades at most?	[ "The short answer is that no one knows for certain. The most probable reason is the evolutionary strategy our species has, while some other animals focus on having lots and lots of offspring with the hope that at least some will survive humans have comparatively few but we spend more time nurturing and protecting ...
Why do so many gaming web sites demand to know your date of birth (with annoying drop-down menus), but porn sites never do?	[ "Porn websites can't be blamed for school shootings, so gaming websites have more reason to cover their asses.", "Porn sites are doing the minimum it takes for legal compliance.\n\nThe game industry, OTOH, holds themselves to higher standards. The ESRB (the people that rate games) requires more stringent restric...
The theory of parallel worlds/universes	[ "You know how some people say \"anything is possible\"? Well, they're right. Every single decision you make in your day can have an effect on the next or later ones. And every decision the people around you make can affect your choices as well, and the people around them affects their choices, and so on. When y...
How come the adverse effects on the leaflet of every drug include almost any possible effect you might think of?	[ "If you tracked all of your high school classmates for 5 years, would some of them get into car accidents? get killed? get cancer? Odds are pretty good of that. Did that occur because of life happens? Or was that because they all attended the same high school? \n\nIn a large scale drug study, same thing occurs, pe...
What is a Neoliberal?	[ "Neoliberals are open border capitalist, which breaks from traditional positions liberals held as this favors corporations over labor. Labor used to be the bread and butter of liberal policy.", "Neoliberal means that you are generally in favor of their being minimal government interference within the economy. Par...
Why does reinstalling a program fix problems that it had Before?	[ "Because reinstalling overwrites certain parts of a program.\n\nIt fixes problems cause by file/registry corruption, and update errors.\n\nWhen you reinstall a program, registry entries are (re)made for the new install, and new versions of the program's files are installed into the program directory. Finally, if t...
How does eviction work?	[ "varies from place to place, in NY it takes a court order from a judge before the police can evict you. It is a long, expensive and tedious process.", "That should all be formally laid out in your lease. That's why everyone should read leases very carefully before signing. It varies from state to state and land...
How dose bacteria stay alive in places like my shower curtain or in my wash rag, where dose it get its nutrition from?	[ "The bacteria ( and more likely fungus like mildew) in your shower curtain is actually living on the soap scum which includes oils for its nourishment. The wash rag offers even more diverse fare-- some soap as well as skin particles or food particles if a dish rag and the fiber material of the rag itself. Single ce...
I have a hard time making my customers understand device subsidies in America and I believe 90% of them have the mind of a child so someone please help me put the american device subsidy in words I can use to tell my customers.	[ "I work in a call center for a carrier in Canada and I explain device subsidies to customers every day. The best way to explain it to them is that they're financing a device. Let them know that they pay a portion of the phone upfront and the rest is charged to them through their bill. Compare it to putting a down p...
Why does England have so many different dialects of English but America doesn't have as much even though its a much bigger country	[ "According to [this Wikipedia article](_URL_0_), England has 27 accents, and the United States has 40 accents (I'm only counting \"leaf nodes\" on the hierarchy, so if an accent lists sub-accents, I only count the subs). So it looks like your assumption is mistake, and the US has more accents than England. Howeve...
What's the deal with the Trayvon Martin case?	[ "The Incident: A month ago in Florida, 17-year-old Martin went to a convenience store. Afterward, as he was walking back he was seen by Zimmerman, the head of the neighborhood watch program for the community. Zimmerman had a history of being relatively strict, as evidenced by his total of 46 calls to report i...
What exactly happens when a music producer "masters" a song/album?	[ "When most people hear the term 'mastering', they are think of the mixing process, aka balancing volumes and adding effects, etc. Mastering is actually a specialized subset of mixing that is a form of audio quality control or quality assurance. Only a relative handful of people and studios are capable of mastering,...
What is the idea behind being able to post bail for short term freedom before a trial?	[ "Getting arrested with a crime is just an accusation. You are not a criminal until you're actually convinced in court.\n\nSince you're not a criminal, there's not reason to hold you in jail as punishment. The only logical argument for keeping somebody in jail is to ensure that they don't try to escape justice...
why do condoms expire	[ "Rubber oxidized and can become more brittle, and the lubricant can slowly evaporate over time, both of these lead to a higher rate of failure which is generally considered bad.\n\nThe expiration date is just a date before which the manufacturers are confidant that their product will perform as advertised. After i...
How come after you hurt a body part touching it/applying pressure makes it feel better?	[ "Irritate nerves → blood rushes in → push blood/water out from irritated nerves → hurts less." ]
How can a football team take a knee and end the game with a minute left (like in the Panthers v. Falcons game that just ended)?	[ "He took two knees. The team with the ball is given 30 seconds to start a play, otherwise they face a \"delay of game\" penalty. Taking a knee is the same outcome as a running play or pass play that ends in a tackle without getting out of bounds. The play is over but the game clock keeps going and the play clock re...
Why isn't it light out when it's night time? With all the trillions of stars blanketing the night sky, where does all that light hitting earth go?	[ "There are large dust clouds within the milky way galaxy which block light from many of the stars. Apart from that, though there are many stars, they are also very far away.\n\nIt used to be considered a paradox that, if there were an infinite number of stars, why wasn't the sky bright due to being filled with the...
why the ratings on Netflix are so different from imbd or rotten tomatoes.	[ "As I understand it, the ratings on Netflix aren't so much ratings as a guess of how much you would like it based on your viewing history." ]
Why can we feel when someone is looking at us?	[ "1) Confirmation bias.\n\n2) Sensing subconciously through odor, sound, vision." ]
What's the difference between different types of liquor?	[ "There are what are known as fusel oils in the various types of booze. They're thought, at least by some, to affect how you feel afterwards.\n\n _URL_0_\n\n\nThere's also psychosomatic effects. Where people just /think/ it.", "Some have 40%, some have 35%, some have 70%, etc.\n\nThat being said, it's an issue of ...
The significance of Fast Fourier Transforms in smartphones	[ "Think of an orchestra piece. The violins make their own unique sound, the trombones make their own unique sound, and every other instrument produces its own unique sound. Adding all these instrumental sounds together, you end up with a song, a single sound made up of many other sounds. \n\n\nOne way of representin...
If a 5 year old were to fall into a coma and wake up 20 years later, how would they act?	[ "Probably like a two year old.\n\nYou don't spend 15 years in a coma and come back without some severe mental deficits." ]
How is it that when you blow air out of your nose, you can still smell the scent you are trying to avoid by blowing air out of your nose?	[ "Because the same air is coming out of your lungs and back out of your nose. \n\nLike asking why you taste food when throwing up.", "When you smell something, it's actually just tiny particles of whatever it is in your nose. So blowing air out wouldn't necessarily get these particles out." ]
Does wind effect soundwaves?	[ "Sound waves are vibrations in air like ripples on water\n\nWind is the bulk movement of air like currents in water.\n\nIf you were trying to signal to someone across a river you could drop a stone in the water by the bank you stand on, and hope they see or feel the ripples that reach the other side.\n\nIf there is...
Why are video games still sold as CDs while USB drives can be so much smaller, more durable and hold so much more.	[ "A disc costs considerably less to make than a USB drive. Digital media will usurp discs, not USB drives.", "Manufacturers have moved to using DVDs, since they hold more, but not to USB, because it costs much more.\n\nFor example, you can buy 10x 4GB USB sticks for $24.69 ($2.47/stick) on [Amazon](_URL_0_).\n\nY...
Why do firefighters "make it rain" on a fire instead of pointing the hose at the ground or directly into the fire?	[ "What they are trying to do is prevent the area immediately next to where the fire is from catching fire. By doing this (in theory) the fire will have nowhere to go and eventually use up the fuel that is currently on fire and extinguish itself.\n\nThe \"make it rain\" approach is common because it starves the fire ...
why does Arkansas, a very culturally southern state, elect so many Democrats?	[ "There are a large amount of black people still in the south, and they tend to vote democrat on everything except abortion and gay rights. Rural latinos tend to vote republican on everything except immigration. White people in rural areas tend to vote republican on all issues.", "They don't, anymore. Currently a...
What is exposure in photography?	[ "Exposure is the chosen combination of iso, aperture and shutter speed to take a picture. This means that there's no such thing as an objectively good exposure.\n\nThese variables have more effects than only lighting though, but we'll ignore that for now.\n\nFor snapshots of general shots of city skylines, panorama...
What makes our lungs absorb Oxygen and not Nitrogen when we breath? I think our blood cells bind to the oxygen molecules and that is why we take in oxygen, but what makes it so nitrogen can't bind to our blood cells too?	[ "Our blood DOES absorb nitrogen. It just has no biological function so it just goes for a ride in our blood not doing a whole lot. \n\nIt matters a ton when you go diving though because under pressure our blood absorbs different amounts of nitrogen and it is real unfun to absorb a bunch of nitrogen then have it all...
Why do humans have hair on the interior of their posterior?	[ "[There are a whole lot of issues in play here, but let’s focus on just a pair: the difference between trends or preferences and actual selection pressures, and the ability of animals and us to cheat those pressures.](_URL_0_)\n\nBecause hairy butts are pretty pervasive throughout the seven billion-strong pool of h...
why does the radar on big boats spin?	[ "A radar not omni-directional. Just like a satellite TV dish it must be pointed in the direction of the signal in order to receive it. So in order for the ship to know what's going on around it it has to point in all directions. It spins 360° and scans all the signals around it.", "You'll see them at airports too...
Hashing -	[ "Lets say that you have this number: '1274891476127846129461892469182649124689124'.\n\nYou have to tell this number to a friend over the phone. You say each digit of the number and your friend writes them down. Now how can you be sure he didn't mishear you and get one wrong?\n\nIf you add all the digits together yo...
How can the oscars preview something that will be on after a commercial when it is a live show?	[ "Just because it is a live show doesn't mean each segment isn't meticulously planned weeks in advance.\n\nThe show's producers know well in advance which segments are coming up and what is scheduled to happen in those segments, so they can create previews to highlight those segments.", "There is always a delay of...
why do younger people start off enjoying very sweet food, but as we age, very bitter, tangy foods become more preferable?	[ "Your tastebuds naturally change over time, along with a bunch of other things which determine what's better or worse. When you're growing you need more vitamins, minerals, and more importantly glucose to power your body and it's growth. So things like sugar are more attractive. \n\nAs well, kids don't go \"sugar m...
What is Fibromyalgia and why can it hurt so bad?	[ "\" Fibromyalgia is a common syndrome in which a person has long-term, body-wide pain and tenderness in the joints, muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues. Fibromyalgia has also been linked to fatigue, sleep problems, headaches, depression, and anxiety. \" Yes I know a copy/paste. \n\n\nBasically your nerves ar...
Are honeybees in danger? If so, how much danger are they in, and why should I care?	[ "Yes. A lot, they're dying off at a rate of around 33% per year and we can't figure out how to stop it or even fully what's causing it. You should care because bees don't just make delicious honey, they also act as pollinators for pretty much every fruit and vegetable you enjoy eating. If they disappear out of...
Why nails grow faster at summer when you are at sea	[ "An explanation that was once given to me is that your nails are just being cleaned more often. Any dirt that may be accumulated under your nails is removed by being in the water so often, giving the whites of the nails a longer appearance.", "They don't.\n\nYou are experiencing [confirmation bias](_URL_0_).\n\nY...
Why doesn't the US Constitution grant rights to everyone in the country instead of just Citizens?	[ "Because they didn't want to give those rights to non-citizens, because then people could just walk across the border and demand things without having to be born here or go through a process to make them american.\n\n > Also why can the NSA spy on non-citizens outside the US?\n\nBecause everyone does it, and no on...
Why do humans sleep and why does the stuff that happens during sleep not happen when awake?	[ "Sleep is about shutting down and then using that time to repair your body and reorganize the stuff in your head. \n\n\nImagine you're a librarian and you have to organize a bunch of books back onto the shelf. If you had a hundred people constantly taking out books and delivering new books which pile up on your des...
What are the differences between Advil, Aleve, Aspirin, and Tylenol, and what problems does each one treat best?	[ "Advil is Ibuprofen. Aleve is Naproxen Sodium. Tylenol is acetaminophen. Aspirin is... Aspirin.\n\nAcetaminophen is used for mild pain and fever, and is easily mixed with cold medication (by the manufacturer). It does not work for inflammation and overdose or abuse can lead to liver failure.\n\nNaproxen is a non-st...
PSA: stop posting politically charged questions about CISPA.	[ "/r/circlejerk\n\nBy talking about it you're playing into it. Down vote and move on." ]
Why is it when the police lose a lawsuit it comes from tax payer money instead of something like the police pension fund?	[ "When a person sues because a police officer violated their civil rights, the lawsuit is almost always against the officer. Sometimes you can sue the local government if it has an unconstitutional policy (like a secret racial profiling policy you could somehow prove existed), but if there's no specific policy then ...
- Why do boxers and other top sports stars have, and listen intently to, trainers and coaches that NEVER reached their level?	[ "There are multiple things that go into being a superstar in any field. The superstar is someone who can combine all these things. Their trainers will often have specific skills in one particular area but not the whole package. Moreover they will have skills that make them a good trainer that is not necessary for b...
Plot/Lore from The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (spoilers)	[ "1) The Necromancer, in this movie's tweaked lore, is an avatar of Sauron. So obviously one of the Maiar of Valinor going against one of the most powerful evils in the universe isn't going to be an easy fight. Gandalf's escapades in the movie (starting where he leaves the group to head for Dol Guldur) were mentio...
How can our relatively tiny eyeballs simultaneously absorb all the photons bouncing off something as large as the moon so that we can see it as a whole?	[ "They're not. If your eyes were absorbing all the photons bouncing off the moon, nobody else would be able to see it... plus your eyes would probably boil. Your eyes detect the minuscule proportion of photons that reach your pupils, and no more than that. \n\nVisible things scatter reflected and retracted light...
The difference between my voice and my recorded voice.	[ "Your own voice resonates in your skull, which makes it sound a little lower and deeper. Think of it like singing in a big concert hall, where your voice echoes off the walls and creates a fuller sound. The sound of your voice literally echoes through your skull, but the echoes are so fast your brain doesn't sort t...
Why cruise ships don't tip over when being knocked around in the ocean?	[ "The height of the ship above the waterline doesn't matter very much. More windage (large profile acts like a sail) contributes to listing (leaning over) but not a great deal in a ship that size.\n\nAs boats get bigger, they get more stable exponentially. I'd have to look it up but istr in general displacement incr...
Why is it illegal in Kentucky to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket?	[ "_URL_0_\n\nApparently people used to stuff food into their back pockets to get horses to follow them. That way if they were caught they'd have an excuse that looked like they weren't actively trying to lead the horse away.", "It is illegal in many states to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket.\n\nThe exp...
Why is DNA evidence always stored in paper bags instead of plastic?	[ "I had to look it up, but the answer is apparently moisture. Paper bags are permeable to moisture where as plastic holds in moisture. Anything that is wet goes into paper; anything dry goes into plastic. More specifically, moisture promotes bacterial and fungal growth as well as promotes enzymatic activity. Any one...
Jury duty	[ "You are summoned to appear before the court to potentially serve on a jury to determine whether or not your fellow citizen is guilty of the crime that the State accuses them of, or to potentially serve on a jury to settle a dispute between two private citizens, or a private citizen and the government(lawsuit)" ]
How can deaf people who've been given Cochlear implants understand speech?	[ "> the woman has been deaf since birth and therefore has obviously never heard sound before \n\nNot true. \"Deaf\" doesn't mean \"completely unable to hear anything\". Deafness is a range, and not a binary on/off description. Her hearing was just really, really, really poor. But she had heard before (...
why do LED torches have multiple small LED's instead of one big one?	[ "Some of them (the nice, expensive ones) do have a single LED, such as Mag-Lite. Low-output LEDs are much less expensive to produce, so cheap flashlights often will have 25-50 of them (a dead giveaway is their very bluish tint); their overall light output is typically less than those with a single LED. When purch...
Why does America send so much aid around the world when it’s own people have a massive homelessness, drug, healthcare, infrastructure problem?	[ "Foreign Aid is to a large part a geopolitical tool. It also has a humanitarian aspect, but mostly it is political. This is not only about America (USA), but an answer in general. \n\nYou are making sure countries are pro-you and stabilised (edit: regarding the government), people from there do not move (for exam...
Why are spiders unable to crawl on another spider's web?	[ "We're not entirely sure. There is some evidence that spiders make special sticky proteins with a particular anti-stick protein that only they know how to make, which they coat their feet and legs with. That way, they won't stick to their own web. There's also a lot of evidence that spiders build mental maps, or ...
A note from your friendly, ELI5 mods: Please, no more meta, "what ELI5 is/isn't" posts or arguments. We'll be removing them.	[ "Thank you, those posts honestly get in the way of my enjoyment of the subreddit.", "> A word about the whole \"five-year-old\" thing: Yes, I named this place \"Explain Like I'm Five\", but really, it's more of a title to be catchy. Please, please stop arguing about what a five-year-old would understand...or woul...
Why I see slightly different colours out of my left and my right eye	[ "When you're observing the world, your brain is doing a white balance, that is changing the balance of perceived light so that whites are really white.\n\nThink of it like this: take a white sheet of paper and go outside during the day. The sun shines its yellow light on the paper, making it a bit yellow. However, ...
why does crying and being sad make you so tired? [Psychology]	[ "Emotional stress and trauma is both physically and mentally draining. Being overwhelmed in some cases can lead to blackouts. Tears, for example, obviously use water and potassium-so excessive crying can lead to dehydration." ]

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

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