Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
Why do guys get hard in the morning? (NSFW)	[ "During REM sleep, the deepest part of the sleep cycle, during which dreams occur, a lot of the body's functions effectively run on autopilot. One hypothesized consequence of this is that the chemical signals made by the body to prevent erections are not made during REM sleep. As a result, men will get erections ...
why diffrent alcohols effect me.	[ "Because they're different alcohols made of different things. \n > One reason for the different effects of vodka and bourbon, Rohsenow says, could be that bourbon contains 37 times more toxic compounds than vodka does, including nasty organic molecules such as acetone, acetaldehyde, tannins and furfural. A good rul...
How does 'zipping' a file make it smaller? Why does it need to be unzipped? What is actually happening?	[ "File compression usually looks for patterns within the file on your disk and replaces them with something smaller.\n\nLet's compress ``banana``. \nWe'll replace the pattern ``na`` with the character ``%`` \nWhich reduces the word down to ``ba%%`` \nThen we build a table of things that were replaced so we know `...
Why do I always need to go to the toilet at the same times every single day? How is there no variation?	[ "You must have a fairly regular diet and fiber intake. Most people would kill for that kind of regularity.", "A word of advice for those suffering irregularity problems. Morning coffee." ]
How does a computer antivirus work? Hoes does it find, erase and prevent viruses from computers?	[ "They have a library of known viruses and what they look like. So when they scan, they are looking for those signatures in the types of files each virus targets. If it finds one, it usually gives options to the user depending on the type of virus with the most typical option being to simply delete the infected file...
Why do people seem more saddened by the abuse & death of animals than the death or abuse of other human beings?	[ "generally speaking animals are viewed as innocent almost child like. humans on the other hand are viewed based off what they do and how they act. depending on how cynical of a person you are you will view people as less than innocent." ]
Currently, what are the two sides of the Net Neutrality debates?	[ "This is a bit complex and hard to put in ELI5 terms.\n\n(a) many people who consume content online believe that all the content they consume should be treated the same by the ISP, whose role is limited to just transporting things that the consumer are asking for from the source to the consumer.\n\n(b) a lot of I...
What is ActiveX?	[ "ActiveX was a way of allowing programs to run as embedded objects in Microsoft Internet Explorer.\n\nThe problem is, that's a massive horrible security risk and only works on Microsoft Windows.\n\nIf your on a Mac, your SOL. If your using Chrome, Firefox, Opera, or any other browser under the sun that isn't Intern...
The California Energy Crisis of 2000 and the Enron Scandal	[ "As for the energy crisis, basically Enron would cut off the power supply so that the cost of electricity would skyrocket, and then turn it back on in order to make more money. Enron in general, that was mostly down to a type of accounting they used that let them declare potential earnings, so that it always looke...
Why does McDonald's only sell the McRib for part of the year?	[ "To give a bit of evidence for what everybody else is already saying: \n\n > Aside from weak sales, other theories for the limited availability of the McRib include the higher prices and unreliable supply of pork, the limited-time allure making it a better loss leader for McDonald's, and the scarcity adding to the...
Why doesn't North and South Dakota concatenate to just form a single Dakota state?	[ "Because they'll go from 4 senators to 2, that's a reduction of political power. And then you'd have to harmonize the taxes, and that's going to be annoying." ]
How does wind make it colder outside?	[ "Our bodies give off heat which heats the air around us. If that air stays around us longer then we feel warmer, but if it is quickly pushed away by wind, we'll feel as if it's colder.", "For a human being, your body puts out x amount of BTU. You maintain 98.6 degrees faranheight body heat. If its 50 degrees outs...
No, we aren't actually 5.	[ "Keep your answers simple! We're shooting for elementary-school age answers. But -- please, no arguments about what an \"actual five year old\" would know or ask! We're all about simple answers to complicated questions. Use your best judgment and stay within the spirit of the subreddit.\n\n- as per the Subreddit's ...
Can someone please explain the six-day war to me?	[ "Okay. I'm going to write this as if presuming that you know how modern Israel was created. If not, go [here](_URL_0_) first.\n\nSo, following the first Arab Israeli war/War of Israeli Independence, the status quo is this: \n\nYou got \n\n1. Israel, who are really really excited to be their own country (esp. after ...
How does a defibrillator help with a physical blockage of the heart, such as myocardial infarction?	[ "AED are only useful for ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia. That is when the heart beat in a way that is out of sync so it doe not pump any blood. It does it by stoppning the heart so it come back in sync by it self. It can't help if the hear does not beat at all.\n\nSo if the myocardi...
Couldn't one just buy hundreds of wine bottles as a long term investment?	[ "Because only some wines are likely to bring any real profit; and in most cases buying more than a few is going to be insanely expensive for a 10+ year investment.\n\nDon't get me wrong, there is an entire industry concerned with fine wine investment, this is a real thing. But since you have to keep the product i...
why do clouds look like they have flat bottoms and fluffy tops, why not fluffy bottoms too?	[ "Environmental science major here!! I paid $600 to learn about this for a semester so listen up.\n\nFirst off, think about what a cloud is: It's water particles suspended in the atmosphere correct. How does that water get there? The water cycle. A continuous cycle of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation...
Why the word I is always capitalized but he and she aren't?	[ "Nobody knows, but you can read about some theories here: _URL_0_" ]
Why does running water increase the sensation of having to urinate?	[ "When you urinate, you produce the sound of running water. The sound and the sensation of urinating then become linked, much as Pavlov's dogs linked the sound of a bell with food. The dogs involuntarily salivated when hearing the bell, you feel like you're going to pee your pants when you hear running water." ]
Hand signals given from the dugout/sidelines in baseball/football	[ "The team is taught the various signals. In the case of football today, the Quarterback is informing the players of something HE sees on the defense, so the players (Wide Recievers, Tight Ends, Running Backs) will know he's going to try to exploit that. He may also be changing to a pre arraigned \"check down\" pl...
How does the ocean go through two tide cycles in a day, where the moon only passes 'overhead' once every 24 hours?	[ "The moon has a stronger pull on objects close to it and a weaker pull on objects farther from it.\n\n* The water between the earth and moon is closest to the moon\n* The Earth's body is at a moderate distance from the moon\n* And the water on the opposite side is farthest from the moon.\n\nThe moon pulls these thr...
The difference between "internal" resolution and "monitor" resolution in video games	[ "Slycone is speaking out of his or her ass. Resolution is the dimensions of the number pixels you're talking about (e.g. 1024x720). Framerate is framerate (e.g. 60FPS = 60 Frames Per Second)\n\nBasically, the game is being rendered (produced) at 1024x720. It is then \"upscaled\" to the chosen resolution, which mean...
What causes that unique smell of snow?	[ "Cold air dampens your sense of smell because it numbs the scent receptors in your nose.\n\nAlso, similar to rainfall the water has been cycled from source to cloud to destination so it is fresh and not stagnant like a pond could be. Static water goes off due to external chemicals leeching into the water and contam...
Why do I get goosebumps when I hear really good music?	[ "There is a flight or fight, adrenalin release which explains that. When very high emotions are felt, dopamine and other neurochemicals can be released. This causes a thrill thru the body, occ. tingling sensation, increased heart rate, goose bumps & so forth. \n\nThis is often seen with the \"1812 Overture\" by T...
What is a Kernel in computing?	[ "The [kernel](_URL_0_) is the the core of the operating system. It's what actually handles multitasking when multiple programs are running, managing system resources and all of the low-level things going on.\n\nIt's normally talked about in contrast to \"user-land\", where user interfaces, programs and all of that...
Why can a person doing an illegal action (burglary, trespassing) sue the property or owner?	[ "Often these cases are thrown out almost immediately.\n\nThey are not thrown out, however, if there is a case of disproportionate or illegal actions taken by the homeowner (what is considered disproportionate and illegal is obviously defined by the laws of that place).\n\nBasically, just because the robber is break...
V-Sync in video games.	[ "tl;dr - Enabling vsync ensures that your monitor's displaying of images stays in sync with your video card's drawing of the in-game world. Disabling it can lead to lesser image quality. Enabling it can lead to slightly more control lag, but probably not enough for anyone who's not a pro gamer to notice. If you wan...
What is the purpose of the "Insert" button on a keyboard?	[ "Depending on the program, it lets you toggle insert mode between \"insert as I type and shift characters to the right\" and \"insert as I type, but delete characters to the right\".\n\nIn simpler text widgets like in your browser here it does nothing. Standard behaviour is to shift characters to the right as you i...
Can animals become feral?	[ "Pigs revert. When domesticated pink pigs escape barnyards and get into the woods, their hair grows thick and bristly and they grow tusks. It doesn't take them generations to do this, the actual pig who escaped gets wild again.", "The word \"feral\" originally refers to domestic breeds of animals that live in t...
What's the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?	[ "in North America, we call a particular variety of sweet potato, Ipomoea batata, \"yams\". This variety of sweet potato is very sweet even for a sweet potato and with markedly orange flesh. Most other sweet potato varieties are more white and less sweet and more starchy. It is a staple crop, after all. \n\nThis al...
Why do we have nerves in our teeth? Wouldn't a tooth ache that hinders our ability to eat end up being a disadvantage for survival?	[ "If you have a tooth ache caused by an infection, how would you know if you didn't feel it? that infection would go untreated and become more dangerous.", "Nature doesn't care if a member of a species survives as long as they live long enough to reproduce. Historically, without so much sugar in our diets, tooth d...
Why do people look visibly different when they wake up in the mornings?	[ "It has a lot to do with the horizontal vs vertical body position. The body has a high water content and throughout the day gravity plays it's part moving fluids around the body, and even compressing the spine so that we are very slightly shorter at night than we were in the mornings. Laying in a horizontal positio...
How do civil engineers ensure the on-ramps and overpasses supported by manmade dirt slopes never collapse?	[ "A pile of granular materials has a property known as \"angle of repose\" which is the angle the side slopes of a pile of that material spills to when left alone. Embankment sideslopes are designed at an angle less than this angle of repose to keep the sideslopes stable.\n\n\nSecondly, the material is compressed, ...
how do rockets move	[ "The rocket moves by propulsion. In a nutshell, when you push burning fuel out the back of the rocket, you are exerting a force backward.\n\nThe laws of physics dictate that every force must have an equal and opposite reaction, so the rocket is propelled forward in the opposite direction that the force is applied. ...
Why do TV shows use fake bills with small amounts of money?	[ "On the Breaking Bad Insider Podcast they talk about how showing real money on TV is illegal. The reasons for this are complicated and strange but basically they'd be showing real serial numbers which can be used by counterfeiters.", "If they have to destroy it in the show that is illegal to do to actual legitima...
Help me understand the 'exposure triangle'	[ "First off, a CCD sensor in a digital camera has a certain range of light intensities where the full range of tones in the subject map onto different signal strengths. It's equivalent for film darkening but I'll stick with digital for simplicity. If you have too little light all the dark areas merge into one black...
Why should I give money to PBS when they have ads for Ralph Lauren, Goldman Sachs, Viking Cruises and more?	[ "Your local affiliate doesn't get funding from those entities, the production companies do.\n\nYour local affiliates need to pay bills and pay fees and are non-profits.", "If their only funding comes from corporations this will likely be reflected in their programming. They need the widest base of support in ord...
Why do we get lightheaded when standing up quickly after sitting/laying down?	[ "It's called orthostatic hypotension.\n\nWhen you are sitting your blood vessels contract or bend depending on how you're positioned, restricting the blood flow. When you stand up too quick, your blood vessels open up all the way and give the blood a lot more space to move which lowers the pressure. \n\nAll of a su...
[NSFW] ELIama5yearoldwhofoundhisdad'shiddenpornfolder: Why does so much porn end with the man coming on the woman's face?	[ "Explain it like you're five?\n\nYou know better than to go playing around on daddy's computer, you're only allowed to use these games over here. Now, I'm not mad at you, but what you saw is for daddy and mommy to watch. Starting tomorrow, you're not allowed to use the computer until we can get you your own. Now ...
(explainlikeimfive) : Stocks and the Stock Market Explained!	[ "now someone needs to explain futures, options and derivatives\n\nedit: Also one thing I am not sure about is what someone with a controlling interest can decide versus the board and CEO. I know the board is appointed ?by who? and the CEO is elected by the owners who can pick themselves? like Rupert Murdoch, right?...
Why should I not eat too much sugar?	[ "The short answer: Health concerns that increase risk of diabetes. Note that I did not say diabetes directly. Read on\n\nThe reason why: Your body produces two hormones, insulin and glucagon. Insulin is the guy that helps to lower your blood sugar level when it's too high, like after you just ate that bag of M ...
The main differences between Catholic, Protestant,and Presbyterian versions of Christianity	[ "Wow there are some bad answers near the top of this page.\n\nI'm a child of a Baptist-Catholic home and I'm pretty comfortable explaining the differences.\n\nThe Catholic (Latin for \"universal\") Church believes strongly in something called the Apostolic Succession, which is the idea that Jesus endowed his discip...
Why is it that when in warm water we gain the urge to pee?	[ "Warm water relaxes you - when this happens, the parasympathetic nervous system (also known as the \"rest & digest\" system) takes over. It basically lets your body know \"Hey, you're in a safe place where you won't be attacked, this is a good time to pee\"" ]
Why does skin peel after a sunburn?	[ "You skin is made of several layers of cells. \nWhen the DNA in a skin cell get whacked by the sun's ray hard enough, the cell self-destructs and dies (if it doesn't you might get skin cancer). \nWhen you get badly sunburned a whole bunch of skin cells in the layer might self-destruct.\nOther cells in charge of ...
Why is Brazil still hosting the Olympics?	[ "They are the ones that won the bid. There is not really a system in place for the Olympic committee to withdraw who won once it has been decided, and even if there were there is not time for an alternate to prepare.", "It's too late to have somebody else host. Hosting takes years off planning and building new in...
Why did brown sugar get so popular instead of recipes calling for sugar and molasses separately?	[ "It's because brown sugar is actually an intermediate step in the refining of sugar, it's not just literally white sugar + molasses. (Or at least it used to be - today it probably is white sugar and molasses in the United States.) So brown sugar was an ingredient on its own.", "Because using one prepared ingredie...
Why when we want to smell something do we take multiple short sniffs instead of one giant one? Dogs seem to do it too.	[ "First off I'm not sure on this answer but I would say its because it does you no good to take a big sniff. You end up just inhaling the air and you don'[t smell with your lungs. By taking a bunch of short sniffs you are getting particles just to your smell receptors and then rapidly bringing in more. With one snif...
Why some states aren't eligible for participation in sweepstakes, promotions, etc..	[ "Some states have passed specific laws banning these types of promotions.\n\nThere was a time when there were a lot of scammy, fraudulent \"sweepstakes\" that harmed a lot of people. The states took action to restrict the ability of companies or individuals to run those kinds of promotions.\n\nSince Amazon is so b...
Why do Zambonis need to be so big?	[ "To hold more warm water so they can clean/smooth ice more effectually. \n\nHow whole internal parts works I am not 100% on. But playing hokey for 10 years you tend to notice things. I know it picks up the ice it scrubs off and melts it for more water to use. As well as it needs weight so the tires/treads can actua...
The process of an american traveling to Cuba	[ "First you have to get a visa. There are no tourist visas right now, so you have to apply under the following categories:\n\nFamily visits;\n\nOfficial business of the U.S. government, foreign governments, and certain intergovernmental organizations;\n\nJournalistic activity;\n\nProfessional research and profession...
The Raven paradox	[ "It's not a true paradox, so let's start with that. Maybe let's call it the Raven Quandary, because it's just a weird thing.\n\nTake the statement \"All ravens are black.\" This statement necessarily also mean \"If something is not black, it is not a raven.\"\n\nNow let's imagine we're trying to prove that all rave...
the difference between "Innocent" and "Not Guilty" in the legal system	[ "\"Innocent\" is not typically a term used in the legal system.\n\n\"Not Guilty\" means there isn't compelling evidence to find a person Guilty of a crime. The law only cares if you're found Guilty. If there isn't enough evidence, it doesn't automatically assign you as \"Innocent\" (because you might not be innoc...
How can the "deep Web" allegedly be so much larger than the surface Web if only a minority of people use the deep Web or hidden Internet.	[ "It's a bit of a buzzword, and sounds more mysterious than it really is. The deep web is essentially anywhere you can access with an Internet connection but is not publicly visible without an account or some form of access control. \n\nForum that requires registration, even free, to see content? Deep web. Passworde...
How did people back in the day not realize that cigarettes were very unhealthy?	[ "There was a time when brands were endorsed by the medical profession. \n\"More doctors smoke camels...\"\n\n_URL_0_", "Consider that today we are having a debate about \"big is beautiful\". \"Love your body\" is the new mantra, yet the average american is at least 30 lbs. overweight. 1 in 4 medicare dollars i...
Why can you use a negative adverb to make an adjective more positive? Ex: Awfully good	[ "The adjectives which spring to mind - awfully, terribly, dreadfully, frightfully, fearfully, scarily - all come from words related to fright. And this, I think, is because for many things we fear, that fear is mixed with respect - we both fear and respect the mighty power of nature; we both fear and respect a larg...
Why are all of the bees dying?	[ "You like honey, don't you? Who doesn't like honey? Honey comes from bees. Certain types of honey bees are better at making the kind of honey that you like (they make more of it, and it's tastier, yay!), so people keep breeding more of these honey bees and less of other types of honey bees. This is all well and...
Why isn't the immune systeme able to handle cancer, although I might now what the cancer is made of and therefore what parts had to be destroyed to kill the cancer?	[ "Immune system will react to anything that doesn't have the marker chemicals that identify it as part of the body. Unfortunately, cancer is when the cells in some organ in your body start multiplying out of control, due to a mutation. Thus the immune system isn't detecting anything because it just sees cells from...
Differences between summer seasons on the North and South hemispheres	[ "you seem to be confused - the days do not get longer at just one end of the day. both sunrise and sunset get earlier and later at roughly an equal rate. the closer you are to the poles, the more drastically they change, and the closer you are to the equator the less they change. \n\nthe graphs below help demonstra...
why you can set .gifs as background in windows 95 but not in Windows 7	[ "The reason behind this is called 'Active Desktop'. It's basically a function in the default internet browser called 'Internet Explorer' also made by Microsoft, just like Windows itself. It was basically a browser window without borders that would be layed over the wallpaper but under other stuff like desktop icons...
- Can someone explain the negative associations I'm seeing about the Red Cross and the recommendations for donations to be directed to other charities besides the Red Cross?	[ "Iirc, there has been multiple scandals coming up, originating from Red Cross. Charging people money for care (not recent but still applicable), and a lot of donor money missing, and not being spent on relief, as they were supposed to be.\n\nI believe during hurricane Katrina, only 4 permanent houses were built, an...
Why do humans seek familiarity like staying in the same house or bed but get bored of performing the same task over and over?	[ "As just stated, Safety is first, so comfort and familiar environment can last a long time until the person feels they can attain that same safety elsewhere. When it comes to tasks however, purpose and passion come in. To be useful or valuable, the brain wants to do something meaningful, creative, successful, et...
When making security questions for password recovery, why don't they let you write your own question? Wouldn't that be significantly safer?	[ "Not really.\n\nImagine your average user - their password is probably \"12345\" or \"password,\" and they probably have the same password everywhere.\n\nNow, imagine if that guy could write his own question. \"What is 123?\" Or \"MY PASSWORD IS PASSWORD?\"\n\nThere is very little the site could do to protect peopl...
What's the difference between ethanol that's in hand sanitizer and ethanol that's in different types of drinkable alcohol?	[ "Chemically, ethanol is ethanol.\n\nThe difference is that ethanol that's \"not for human consumption\" is denatured so that it's unpleasant or poisonous to drink. Since it can't be consumed, it doesn't have the high taxes associated with liquor ($22/gal in my state).", "Moat hand sanitizer contains isopropyl ...
Why does holding a glass against a wall make you hear better what is being said in the other room?	[ "It does work, often not very well.\n\nWhat's happening without the glass is the sound vibrations are transmitted from the air on the other side, into the solid material of the wall, into the air on the other side, and finally to your eardrum.\n\nPut a glass against the wall and stick your ear up next to it, and n...
A coma	[ "Coma is indeed a prolonged state of deep unconsciousness. Coma typically lasts a maximum of 4 to 6 weeks, after that people die or go into a vegetative state. (or they have already gone to a more conscious state)\n\nIn a vegetative state patients will open their eyes and breathe spontaneously, however there is no ...
How does the immune system store information about infections that it has defeated? How is it able to "remember" diseases to produce antibodies?	[ "Imagine your immune cells all start with a set of different patterns. 50 cartoon heads, 10 bodies, and 6 legs. These are written in your DNA.\n\nWhen the immune cell matures, it randomly cuts out and chooses a head, body and leg from it's DNA, and throws away the rest of the DNA. That immune cell then goes around ...
Whats the nearest distance for an aeroplane to land after take off?	[ "Before using any runway for a take-off, the pilot of a commercial jet will do some calculations to ensure the runway is long enough, and also to calculate the important speeds for the take-off.\n\nOne of those speeds is the \"decision speed\", better known to pilots as \"V1\".\n\nBefore reaching a certain speed, u...
What's the deal with these Obama Phones?	[ "There is a program to give poor folks phones. It is meant to make sure everyone has access to services like 911. It started a long time ago before Obama and applied to regular telephones. Later it started working on cell phones. This also happened before Obama. Now people call them Obama phones because of som...
how microwave presets like "popcorn" or "plate of food" know how long to cook the food?	[ "I think it's just a set time/power setting that has been determined by hardworking people wearing lab coats and a table with many bags of burnt-up or undercooked popcorn. \n\n/dream job.", "My microwave supposedly has a sensor that measures the steam coming off of whatever is getting heated up and knows when to ...
Dominance Theory	[ "Post your answer and we will provide feedback. We will not, however, get you off the hook on your assignment without some of your own original thoughts." ]
What relieving the US 7th Fleet commander accomplishes in light of the recent accidents.	[ "After an incident with one ship you can blame the captain (and they did, as well I'm sure as a whole host of other people). If the captain is not implementing the proper discipline and attention to details (as well as keeping morale high) it's his fault.\n\nAfter a second incident, you have to think the problem g...
Why do we lose our sense of "play" as we age?	[ "Just a guess, but maybe it's a learning vehicle wherein we practice life skills. Once we've mastered them we no longer need to \"play\"." ]
What is 3D printing and how does it work?	[ "3d printing is a way to turn a 3d model on your computer into a 3d model made of plastic. \n\nYou use your computer to either draw an object in 3d (the model) or borrow a model someone else has created. Then you use a special program to turn the model into a language your printer can understand. \n\nOnce you trans...
why is the ol sailor saying "pink sky at night sailors delight, pink sky in the morning sailors warning" so accurate?	[ "Pink or Red sky comes from sunlight going through clouds on the horizion. The saying works where weather mostly moves east to west so clouds on the horizon are likely to be over the viewer if they're to the east (ie in the morning) because they're likely to be moving west, rather than on the horizon to the west (...
What is the nature of the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico?	[ "Puerto Rico is an unincorporated organized territory of the US.\n\nUnincorporated means that rights granted by the US Constitution are not fully extended to citizens of Puerto Rico." ]
How does slowing down time in a game work?	[ "You can stop time in a game by simply not updating the state of the world. Objects don't move unless your code calculates their next position and updates them so if you don't do that then nothing will move or change.\n\nYou can run a physics simulation at normal speed by taking the time that's passed since the la...
How do avalanches really work?	[ "There are two main types of avalanches.\n\nIn very steep terrain, you can get loose snow avalanches, which are kinda like the classic image of a snowball rolling down a hill and becoming larger and larger. The snow doesn't actually gather like that, but [you will get an inverted V-shaped path](_URL_2_), and they ...
Most mammals with bald areas have them around the crotch and stomach. Why are we the opposite?	[ "According to this \n\n_URL_0_\n\nIt's because when we split from primates having a bush was sexy. The bigger the better.", "Humans, standing upright, need protection for vulnerable areas such as the chest, stomach and genitals. In addition, the hair serves to draw attention to those areas and provide for sexual ...
Why does being hit in the face hurt more that being hit in the rest of your body?	[ "One reason for it is the increased amount of nerve endings in your face. You know how you can feel it if there's a hair touching your lip, or any subtle touch for that matter? Now compare that to a body area like your back. Nerves there are less dense and more spread out, so you might not feel a touch if it is lig...
how did Chromecast become so huge and popular? It is pretty much the go to standard I see in most apps no matter if it is android or iOS.	[ "It costs 35 dollars and have basically zero setup or learning curve.", "/u/Hodldown is correct; also, everyone knows who Google is. However, I know way more people who own an Apple TV than Chromecast." ]
Why does eating too much candy make you sick?	[ "it's as simple as too much sugar. your body can't process it." ]
What part of the brain interprets humor?	[ "According to a quick google, '2 cm x 2 cm was identified on the left superior frontal gyrus' .... so a bit of the front left lobe of your brain :)" ]
What is the Swiss Bank and why is it so important?	[ "The Swiss used to have a law that made it illegal for a Swiss Bank to disclose the name or any identifying information about the owner of an account.\n\nThat meant that if you put money into an anonymous Swiss Bank account, no country's police could subpoena that bank to force them to disclose who's money that was...
Is it technically possible for countries to 'build' a nuclear bomb, even if not given the technology by another nuclear country?	[ "All the theory is well known, you can search it online right now. Nations are usually limited by the availability of weapons grade fissile material for the bomb itself and the elaborate detonators required, which are much harder to obtain or construct.\n\nTo make the bomb useful they also need a delivery system, ...
Can you file a sexual harassment complaint against the “kiss cam” at sports stadiums?	[ "No. There’s no “harassment”. They may be putting you on the spot but they can’t force you to kiss and they’ll move on if you don’t.", "Nothing is forced, many people kiss on the cheek on those cams, which even in today's world wouldn't get much traction as a sexual harassment case." ]
the new qualifications for student loan forgiveness after 20 years.	[ "You have to pay a percent of your paycheck to your loans for a certain number of years (10 for government work and 20 years for private industry) to be eligible for forgiveness. The time starts when you sign up for the program not when you started paying your loans personally. For all we know you could be paying o...
Why do we celebrate the birth of Jesus on a set date every year but we celebrate his death on different days depending on full moons and the spring equinox?	[ "We don't know what date Jesus was born on. By the time people started using Dec 25th as the date, they were using a modern-ish calendar. \n\nJesus is recorded in the Bible as having died on the Friday near the Jewish Passover feast. The Jews at the time had their own calendar, which was based on the lunar cycle. S...
Why do console games not use 16x Anisotropic Filtering?	[ "> When I turn it up to 16x vs 4x on my PC, there is literally no performance difference.\n\nConsoles are built on the budget hardware of the time and are expected to age for 6-8 years. \"Good enough\" rules console development decisions.\n\nConsole players are expected to sit farther back from the screen too so n...
During WWII when Jews were being killed overtime, why didn't the remaining Jews pretended not be Jews to save themselves?	[ "Because everyone already knew they were Jews and there was frequently government documentation demonstrating they were Jews.", "Many did, but almost all of the Jews had to register with the government well before the camps and killing began so they were already known to be Jews.", "There were a large number of...
How is the "1 in 35 million chance of a shark bite" statistic calculated?	[ "It is based on beach attendance. [The university of Florida has some statistics that get you to a 1 in 11.5 million chance of being attacked by a shark](_URL_0_). \n\nEstimated attendance at US beaches is ~264 million. The number of shark attacks is 23. 264 million divided by 23 give you 11.5 million. That is, for...
I would like to know the name of and discuss the concept in which excellence starts becoming undetectable except to experts.	[ "Perhaps not exactly what you're asking about, but has close parallels, I recommend you take a look at the Wikipedia article for [Dunning-Kruger effect.](_URL_0_) \n\nYou have to have a certain amount of knowledge first to even appreciate how much you don't know!\n\n\n > Dunning and Kruger proposed that, for a give...
How is it that at night I can sleep continuously for eight hours, but if I take a daytime nap I wake after 20 minutes?	[ "Humans have evolved to be diurnal creatures. Our sleep cycles, for the most part, are tied to the sun cycle. When the sun is up, we're up and at 'em -- hunting, foraging, farming, what-have-you. When the sun goes down, we're huddled around our fires and in our caves for warm and safety. It's a legacy of our an...
why, 25 years later, is there a new inquiry into the Hillsborough disaster?	[ "Documents that were not released at the time of the original inquiry were made public, which have evidence to malpractice and cause the formation of another inquiry." ]
Why does coke taste better in glass than in plastic ?	[ "It's likely that the coke in glass is \"mexican coke\" or similarly foreign. Different cokes in different countries have different recipes, so its entirely possible that the coke you had in the glass bottle had real sugar cane while the coke in the plastic had fructose corn syrup", "Temperature is one of the fac...
; How do ghostwriters get reputation? How do they prove their ownership on works when getting employed?	[ "they build their reputation through networking, it isn’t uncommon for artists/labels to pass around a GW. \n\nalso — they prove ownership through credits. if it’s a commercial project, it’s illegal to withhold the credit of the GW." ]
What would happen if the whole world switched to one universal currency?	[ "The issue is someone has to be in charge of monetary policy. Someone has to set interest rates and decide when to print more money.\n\nThe monetary policy that benefits a country in recession is different than one in a growth period. What is good for an oil exporter might not be good for a manufacturing country....
What do astrophysicists understand with certainty?	[ "Basically the only thing astrophysicists know for sure is the stuff they can directly observe and the stuff they can prove with observations or calculations. \n\nFor example we know for sure the universe is expanding because we can actually see everything moving away from us. What we don't know is exactly how, bec...
Why does hearing a song you like on the radio or in a club feel more enjoyable than simply playing the song yourself?	[ "Simple answer would be the element of surprise" ]
Why does the software I download always try and change my browser preferences to Yahoo?	[ "Capitalism.\n\nYahoo pays that software installer company money to add \"_URL_0_ Homepage\" as an installer feature. Yes, we all know you don't really need it. But for little companies who are likely to not make a dollar off you downloading their Freeware, it's a way for them to make a few bucks on the side." ]
What would happen if you wore metal jewelry while lying down in an MRI?	[ "The machine is a superconducting magnet of 3-ish Tesla strength, 30,000 Gauss. The Earth's magnetic field is 0.5 Gauss. The machine can accelerate a paperclip at 3-4 Gs, fast enough to injure you. They have pulled belly-button ornaments out of young lady's bodies.\n\nDepending on the metal, this could be very ba...

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