Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
How can mass change in the Mass Energy Equivalence in regards to the Universe?	[ "I think the problem here comes from lack of specificity in quoting Einstein's mass-energy equivalence. The equation that you have quoted tells us the REST energy, E, of a particle. I.e. The energy the particle has purely due to the fact it is matter, E = mc^2 , where m is the rest mass - not just 'mass'. Now 'at ...
the Austro-Prussian War	[ "Before the modern nation of Germany developed, Prussia and Austria were the two largest and most powerful German states. There was a certain amount of rivalry between them to lead the other German states, even though they would sometimes cooperate. In one episode of cooperation, they went to war together against...
Why do we see fruits growing in the wild but never any vegetables?	[ "You probably do, but you don't recognise them. Vegetables look like they do because they have been bred to have large edible parts and their wild equivalents look just like random weeds.\n\n[Comparison of a crop carrot and a wild carrot](_URL_1_)\n\n[Wild cabbage](_URL_0_)\n\nMeanwhile fruits evolved naturally to ...
Shadow Banking	[ "A regular bank is what your mom goes to after she picks you up from school; a shadow bank is that kid who lends you money on the playground if you promise to pay him back tomorrow and give him your juice box, too. It's dangerous because your mom's bank is regulated; the promise you make with that kid is not regula...
What happens when an Uber Driver gets T-Boned and the passenger dies?	[ "Exactly the same as any other circumstances.\n\nThe person who caused the collision will hopefully have insurance which would offer some form of compensation to the family.\n\nIf that person doesn't have insurance, then the Uber driver's insurance will offer compensation.\n\nAnd if the Uber driver doesn't have ins...
What dictates of the value of currency between countries?	[ "In most cases, supply and demand. No one decides what the dollar/Euro ratio is - it is much better understood as an auction where at 1.5, there is a roughly the same number of people buying as selling Euros.\n\nIn some other cases, for example the Hong Kong Dollar, the ratio is determined by the Hong Kong governme...
Has there ever been a person that has flown over Area 51 and got shot down?	[ "There aren't any credible reports of it ever happening.\n\nAircraft intruding into restricted airspace will be denied entry by controllers, and if they persist will be escorted down by military aircraft and the pilot arrested. The military is, for obvious reasons, pretty hesitant to actually shoot down civilian ai...
How do they install plumbing, internet and electricity in old structures and homes that are centuries or millennia old?	[ "I can only speak for plumbing on this issue. \n\nFirst, the contractor or plumber will go to the DPW and request a permit for the job. \n\nNext, you need to have your plan in order. A big job requires detailed plans including being up to code. This is the big problem with old houses. It can require lots of renovat...
Laughing	[ "I read once somewhere that its a... almost an irony radar. When we see something that we did not expect, we laugh. \n\nThis irony detector, for lack of a better name, is useful for group communication of threats. For instance, the year is 200,000 BCE, you and your 15 closest humans are sitting in a circle around t...
the differences between Chairman, Secretary General, President and CEO.	[ "The Chairman (of the board) is the head of the board of directors. The Board of directors generally doesn't run operations at a company but makes really big, long term decisions, such as choosing the executives that do run the company. The Chairman generally doesn't have any more power per se than any other voting...
Why is it recommended to drink lots of milk after swallowing bleach ?	[ "There is a protein in milk, one protein structure called lactase (kind of like a microscopic arm made of legos) is responsible for making bleach less harmful when swallowed.\n\n This protein \"lego arm\" binds onto the highly reactive chlorine atom and the highly reactive OH (hydroxide) molecule in the basic bleac...
Meteor showers	[ "It's basically the earth travling through a debris trail left by a comet, see [illustration](_URL_1_) and [this as well](_URL_0_).\n\nSo a particular meteor shower occurs at same time each year because the debris trail stays pretty much in the same place. And when the trail is the densest we can see more of the me...
Why do lights for your bicycle have an option to flash/blink?	[ "A Flashing light will get more notice than a solid on one, which is exactly the point of a light on your bike." ]
What is a multireddit exactly?	[ "I don't have Gold but let me explain what I understand from what I read from Admin announcement of this feature. \n\nYou have one front page and you see hot posts from all sub-reddits that you have subscribed to (that is if you are logged in, else you see posts from default sub-reddits).\n\nWith multi-reddit, you ...
What causes my hands to stick to ice when they are wet?	[ "The ice is causing the water on your hands to start freezing. You're actually being frozen to the ice when you touch ice with wet hands." ]
How can Kim Davis establish a defense fund when the Liberty Counsel is supplying her defense pro bono? What will happen to the 3+ million if it is not used?	[ "She'll keep it and be \"rich\" thanks to these mindless mofos that sunk $$$ into it. Maybe we make a o_shrub sspacemansspiff defense fund??" ]
Why are gas cans so expensive?	[ "Long story short, it seems to be caused by different types of plastic being used due to government regulations. \n \n_URL_0_ \n_URL_1_", "A few years ago I unexpectedly ran out of gas...I had to walk about a mile and a half to the nearest station for gas and a gas can....at that point I didn't care how much t...
Why do we intentionally seek out depressing music when we are sad?	[ "Misery loves company. When you're hurting, it helps to know that other people have gone through the same thing and know how you feel. Probably the person who wrote the music was sad or depressed when they wrote it and getting it out helped them feel better. Maybe listening to the music they produced has the sam...
If humans are natural predators, why don't most possess a natural desire to hunt? And why do some feel remorse after taking an animals life?	[ "Predators don't hunt because they can. They hunt because they must.\n\nFeed a lion every day and it won't go hunting just for the sake of it.", "If OP doesn't think humans are still a predatory species, he/she has obviously never gone Christmas shopping right before the holidays.", "Safari Club International i...
what specifically happens to your eyes when you stare at a light, or the sun for a long period of time?	[ "The way you detect light is that the photon comes in and is absorbed by a pigment, this breaks part of the pigment down in order for it to send an electrical signal back through the optic nerve to the brain. If you stare at an intense source of light like the sun, then the pigment and the complex arrangement that ...
how does the body regenerate blood after donating?	[ "After you donate blood, the number of red blood cells in your blood decreases. Red blood cells are responsible for carrying oxygen and this decreased oxygen in the blood is a stimulus for the kidney to secrete the hormone erythropoietin. This then travels to the bone marrow and stimulates the production of more re...
How do radios that tell you what song is on the radio work?	[ "There's a data channel that the station uses to send that info as well as the call letters of the station and whatever else they feel like broadcasting. If your radio is equipped to decode and display it, it pops up.\n\n_URL_0_" ]
What is really happening when I "jump" a dead car battery?	[ "The reason you are not supposed to attach the black connection to a ground* is that batteries sometimes leak hydrogren gas, which is highly flammable, and the last connection usually causes a spark as the circuit is formed. Spark + hydrogen gas = bad. A ground is simply any piece of unpainted, uncovered metal th...
When an artist releases a new album, one or two songs may become popular. How is it that in a couple of weeks or months, another song in the same album suddenly gets really popular?	[ "Let's take Taylor Swift's new album as an example. All the songs (except the version of Bad Blood with Kendrick) were available since the album was released. Radio stations don't know which song they should pick, so instead, songs the artists/record company likes are released as singles, and then the radio plays i...
If I got a head transplant and my immune system was not cool with it, would my immune system reject my head or my body?	[ "The body would reject the head. Immune cells are produced in the bone marrow, and would match the previous owner's immune phenotype. These cells would attack the cells in the new head, which would be perceived as foreign.", "Can you get a head transplant, or would it be a body transplant?", "Your head. The bul...
How the stock market affects someone who has no money in it	[ "Stock market is allocation of resources. People with money give their money to companies making money in return for ownership. When stock market is up that means people with money believe a lot of companies are making money. When a lot of companies are making money that mean they will need to expend, hiring more p...
why is a 4k or ultrawide monitor considerably more expensive than a much larger 4k tv?	[ "Monitors have low input lag. This is why you should always buy a monitor if you're a competitive gamer and play games where lag matters. A tv typically has 100ms-300ms of input lag (meaning it takes a tenth to a third of a second for the signal sent to the TV to produce the image on the screen), while computer m...
Why do things die?	[ "There are many ways you can die. Your body needs basic things for whats called homeostasis, which is the process of staying alive. For example you need oxygen and energy for your cells to function. Anything that prevents you from getting the materials needed for homeostasis will kill you. (IE: blood loss preventin...
Why do seemingly all of the pigeons I see have a foot injury of some sort?	[ "It's usually from those spikes that people put on things to stop birds from pooping everywhere, pigeons are pretty heavy and stupid, and there are a lot of them, so in urban areas you often see them with foot injuries from trying to land on the spikes.", "I've noticed they often get strings and stuff tangled in ...
Why is silicon used in computers?	[ "Silicon prevailed because it has superior physical and technological properties compared to the other semiconductor materials.\n-Silicon is abundant in the earth crest as an ore in the form of quartizite,\n-There are effective extraction and purification methods of silicon from its raw material.\n- there are effec...
Why do doctors not amputate the paralyzed limbs of paraplegics?	[ "I would think this mostly is the patients choice. I don't think I would like to chop off my legs even if they were useless.\n\nOne tends to get a little attached to them over the years... (:", "A doctor is unlikely to risk a complicated surgery if that doesn't actually improve the situation much.\n\nA few poun...
Why do companies like Intel and Lockheed Martin advertise on tv?	[ "Its a mix of getting the attention of those few people that may actually be interested in buying their products, as well as advertising to those who would consider working for their companies (engineers, scientists, sometimes business majors or economists).", "There is a business strategy called \"first in marke...
The difference between RAM, ROM, and System memory.	[ "Hello, five year old. Ok, so you're drawing a picture on your desk when you decide that you want to go pet your dog. You come back and continue drawing your picture.\n\nSo, the next day you decide to keep working on your picture, when mom comes in and says she wants to take you to the playground. You put your pict...
How do historians or linguists decode and translate an ancient language that hasn't been spoken in a long time?	[ "I suppose it depends on what the circumstances are. In cases like Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, there wasn't anything that could be done until we got our hands on the Rosetta Stone. \n\nBasically, we have two options depending on how ancient it is and if there is text surviving from it. \n\nIf we have some sorts o...
How do snails get their shells without being near the ocean?	[ "Shells don't simply come from the sea, they're grown by secreting their material. Snails grow their own shells.", "You realize that it's hermit crabs that use preexisting shells that they find as their own shells, right? Not snails?", "Snails grow their shells by a process similar to how you grow your fingerna...
The UEFA Champions League... The format, structure, and anything else I need to know.	[ "I'll try this one.\nChampions League brings the top teams from around Europe together.\nDepending on the UEFA co-efficient [here](_URL_1_) decides how many places in the competition a country gets.\n\nFor example, England gets 4 places in the Champions League. But somewhere like Hungary gets less.\n\nIn England th...
Why do we put apostrophes on possessive words like something's thing but we don't put one on "its thing"?	[ "He - > his\n\nShe - > hers\n\nThey - > theirs\n\nIt - > its\n\n\"Its\" is a possessive pronoun, and follows the rules of other possessive pronouns. You only use apostrophe S with nouns and proper nouns, not pronouns. With the others it's obvious because they are so different (\"his\" and \"hers\" look nothing ...
Why university fees trebled in the UK last year	[ "University fees have been increasing gradually from when they were first introduced in 1998 at £1000/year.\n\nHowever, in 2009/2010, there was a [review](_URL_0_) on the subject of higher education. The review was agreed when Labour objected to the previous round of increases in university fees, and the Tories sai...
Why are there seat belt laws?	[ "If you get into an accident and are paralyzed for life, how much will society have to contribute to your health, housing, food, rehabilitation for the rest of your life? Insurance won't pay for it all.", "We have a society where other people- first responders, ER doctors and nurses, and the like, in this case-...
How does lactic acid form and just disappear? Also how does it not harm any parts of our body?	[ "Lactic acid is produced in your muscles as a byproduct of prolonged anaerobic exercise. \n\nThe amounts produced are typically so small it can easily be removed through the bloodstream and processed in the kidneys, and do not present any danger.\n\nCertain disorders can cause lactic acid to build up faster than t...
Why do married couples, civil unions, etcetera get benefits that legally separate couples don't get?	[ "Because the government needs some way to determine who gets those benefits and who doesn't. Civil marriage is a legal status change, analogous in some ways to legally adopting a child; it creates a legally-recognized family bond that otherwise does not exist." ]
What creates that odd "burnt electronics"-smell?	[ "Depends on exactly what you mean. \n\nThe characteristic smell of an electric motor is ozone gas. It's produced by the motor making tiny sparks.\n\nThe smell (and smoke) produced by failing electronics comes from burning plastic.", "...new radio smells close to the smell?\n\nRight out of the box...that is probab...
If dealers sell a new car below invoice price, how are they making money?	[ "There are a few reasons that dealers can sell cars below invoice and still make money.\n\n* They usually get additional money from the manufacturer when they sell the car. It can vary, but is usually around 3% of MSRP. So for a $30,000 car, that's an extra $900.\n\n* There may be additional incentives that the man...
Why do we feel so exhausted after a long flight even though we basically did nothing.	[ "Our muscles are tired of sitting in one place, with no ability to stretch or move comfortably, for a very long period of time.\nOur bodies like to move! They like to lift things and stretch and sprawl out. Confining us to tight constrictions with little to do and less room to do it in is a recipe for soreness and ...
What really happens when parts of our body "falls asleep" ?	[ "Many people seem to think it stems from a loss of bloodflow which simply isn't true. When a part of your body \"falls asleep\" it is typically from a nerve being compressed for a period of time such as sitting on your foot or laying down on your arm in a strange fashion. Think of your nerve as a highway, one half ...
What is a spartan lifestyle?	[ "In modern usage, it refers to minimalist accommodations with little to no luxuries.\n\nWho needs a king-sized bed? This cot is good enough for me.\n\nWho needs to hire a profession chef for all their meals? Oatmeal and boiled greens will keep you healthy.\n\nThat sort of thing.\n\nNote: I am not trying to give die...
/r/popular	[ "What would you like to know about /r/popular? The [top post on the front page](_URL_0_) has a very thorough explanation. Is there something else about it you'd like to know?", "It's a special page meant to be something between /r/all and the front page. It replaces the front page for unregistered users. \n\n/r/a...
Skyrim/the elder scrolls' story	[ "Disclaimer: It's been awhile since I followed all this, so some information might be a bit off, but the gist of it is OK...\n\n\nSo, it's easier if you get this in 2 separate perspectives, so here's the Nord perspective of Skyrim:\n\nA long time ago the Nords of Skyrim worshipped pretty much everything around:...
Why do so many abandoned building photos feature mental hospitals? Why are there so many of these?	[ "We used to have a bunch of mental institutions - partially because we thought that locking up crazy people was the best way to help them, partially because we just didn't know how else to take care of them.\n\nBack in the 80s, the government cut funding for them. Unfortunately, we just ended up putting many of th...
Why are there so many celebrities involved in the Church of Scientology?	[ "Basically, Scientology tells you that being wealthy and famous is GOOD, in fact, it shows your spiritual development. Basically, it's a religion that fits most celebrities.", "CoS has a policy of specifically recruiting celebs in order to make it appear to be a more legitimate organisation. People who follow cel...
Why does your nose seem to get used to smells?	[ "Humans are meant to detect change. If you were noticing the scent of everything in the area, you would struggle to differentiate what is there and what individual things smell like. It is much more evolutionary prudent to be able to smell something new, like an animal approaching, than to smell everything all the ...
International law and the nationalization of Argentina's oil industry	[ "The WTO is not actually a \"legal\" entity at all. And, if you really want to get into it, anyone can make an argument against the existence of \"international law\" whatsoever as there is no uniform mechanism of enforcement. The WTO is more like a group of people that have agreed to try and be friendly with reg...
how can potting soil protect against both over and underwatering?	[ "Potting soil will have nodules in the soil that're made out of vermiculite, pumice stone or some sort of polymer. When you overwater, they absorb more water than the surrounding soil and thus preventing over-watering. Then as the moisture gets absorbed by roots or evaporates, the water slowly releases out of the n...
What excactly is autotune and how does it work?	[ "Auto-Tune users set a reference point – a scale or specific notes, for example – and a rate at which derivations from this point will be digitally corrected.\n\nThis rate can be carefully calibrated so a voice sounds \"natural,\" by tacking the voice smoothly back to the reference pitch. Or, artists can make the c...
Why is wearing a watch on the right hand considered religious?	[ "I have never heard of this before, I've only heard that men were to wear a watch on the left hand and women on the right.", "It's really not a religious thing so much as a cultural thing. In Arab countries, the left hand is considered to be \"unclean\", because it's the one that you wash yourself with after you...
Why does extremely short contact with a hot object burn your skin?	[ "Think of your skin as a force-field on a space ship. It can take hits from lasers and missiles and mitigate them pretty well. When a huge torpedo hits the shield (hot metal), it damages it to the extent that it needs time to repair. (The hot metal transfers a large amount of energy very quickly to the skin because...
What is Oracle's lawsuit against Google claiming is copyrightable about the Java API?	[ "Copyright does not protect function of a source code. Basically, if you write an algorithm to carry out task A, you can copyright it. However, that only prevents people from copying your code verbatim. If I write a code that runs the same algorithm, I do not infringe your copyright. \n\nIn the case, Google copi...
How does nature ensure that humans are born at a (roughly) 50/50 balance between male and female?	[ "This is due to the fact that it takes two parents, one male and one female, and explained by Fisher's Sex Ratio Theory, also called Fisher's Principle. Consider 3 generations. 1st generation has individuals which make more females than males. So the 2nd generation has lots of females, and few males. The second gen...
How does smoking during pregnancy cause birth defects?	[ "When a person smokes, the nasty chemicals in the cigarettes and cigars enter their lungs along with all the oxygen you breath in. Their lungs takes the nasty chemicals into their blood stream. For an adult, this isn't that big of a deal immediately (even though it will cause long term damage) as the nasty stuff is...
How do we feel a weightlessness in there bottom of our stomach when we see videos of people falling even though we don't experience any of it physically?	[ "This is due to a sympathetic nervous response, also known as a \"fight or flight\" response.\n\nSympathetic in this case doesn't mean a response that's sympathetic to the thing you are watching. Sympathetic is the name of a branch of the nervous system responsible for responding to stress. When a caveman needed to...
How come some artwork seems to be extremely simple, yet is highly touted?	[ "If a complex work of art invokes emotion or thoughtfulness in you it is a testament to the artists abilities and passion. If a simple work of art does the same thing, it shows that the artist is capable of making a statement in a much more subtle way. In some ways it can be more complicated to create a single line...
What is Blue Light and How does it affect our eyes?	[ "Blue light is just light with a wavelength that makes it appear blue. They way our bodies work out time is partle based on light, during daytime there is a lot more light especially blue light than at night. This means looking at blue light (say from a screen) at night can make it harder to get to sleep." ]
Is it entirely impossible to image natural colors with telescopes? If it is not, why wouldn't we use that capability to image potential Earth-likes in search of green?	[ "It is possible, but it's not effective for things that are TOO far away. I'm talking cosmic scale distances. You can see Mars or Venus well enough, but it won't work for planets orbiting starts on other systems. \n\nThe reason is because light gets somewhat distorted when passing through lenses. Some wavelengths ...
Why can't felons own guns if the right to bare arms cannot be infringed?	[ "None of the rights put forward in the constitution are absolute. All are conditional. You have a right to free speech, but the state is allowed to arrest you for speech that incites violence and court cases have repeatedly supported this exemption to free speech. You have a right to bear arms, but the state is all...
In regards tothe Deep Web, what is the sort of content that requires you to go through additional security layers?	[ "The really nasty porn. I know, you're like \"I've seen the nastiest shit you'll ever even imagine\". No you haven't. Deep. Web." ]
Why is it legal for gas stations to put huge holds on debit or credit cards? How is it legal to charge more money than you agreed to, even if it eventually gets charged for the right amount?	[ "Its not a charge. It's called a preauth. It's to make sure that the cards has enough funds to cover the purchase. Preauths are never charged.", "> How is it legal to charge more money than you agreed to, even if it eventually gets charged for the right amount?\n\nA hold is not a charge. They're two differ...
How are elephants able to swim?	[ "Elephants do not have stubby extremities, they have pretty long legs and their joint aren't inflexible. An aligator has stubby extremities and inflexible joints. \n\nElephants for one are fat, they're large and fat and round. They actually float pretty well, same kind of design old fashion ships used to have. Thei...
Could you rig a game of darts if you had a large enough magnet, or would a magnet that strong be too big to pull to the bulls-eye?	[ "It's virtually impossible.\n\nDart tips are small, and you'd need a large neodymium (Molecularly designed to be magnetic) to even have the proper range to attract a magnet far enough away to change it's path. Too close to the board, and the angle would be too sharp to stick in the board. \n\nIf you somehow got an...
What I can do to speed up my pc.	[ "There are probably a lot of programs installed and running on your computer that you don't use. These use up resources. \n\nIf you were five, you can think of it like bringing your toys in the sandbox. The things you need, like a shovel, pale, trucks, maybe a dinosaur or two are like antivirus and other programs y...
How do (would) radio communications in real time work in space and / or at high speeds.	[ "Radio waves move at the speed of light. Which is far faster then sound.", "Radiowaves travel at the speed of light.\n\n > I can't get how real-time radio chat is possible in, for example, a space vehicle or plane exceeding the speed of sound.\n\nThe speed of sound (1200 km/h) is tiny compared to the speed of li...
Why aren't sites like Kayak and Priceline cheaper than the original airliner's prices anymore? What's their point then?	[ "Airlines and travel agents used to rely on people not having direct access to fare information. They can't do that anymore, so their fares are usually going to match third party sites.\n\nKayak and sites like it are still useful, because it presents fairs from multiple airlines, and it has a better interface for ...
Why do cats knock things over?	[ "Cats are trying to 'interact' or play with everything. stuff we own tend to be on heights (tables,shelves), so they fall down as soon as cats touch them. \nThere are only a few things on the floor the cats can play with, so they've gotten bored. \nWhen the cats knock over things, we go to them running and scream...
Is their a psychological or neurological explanation for why fun times seem shorter to time spent doing things you don't want to do?	[ "In my experience, It isn't actually about the activity being fun or not. Its just about whether you bother to take a look at the time that you have spent while doing the activity. For example, while doing a fun activity, we tend to not look at the time too often as we are too involved. On the other hand, when we a...
What exactly are "Chemtrails" and on what grounds are the conspiracies based on?	[ "Nobody has responded to the question regarding 'what grounds are the conspiracies based on'.\n\nThe answer is: general stupidity and lack of education.", "Chemtrails are what the people who believe in the conspiracy call the contrails that airplanes leave behind. Contrails are just composed of water vapor, but ...
As a girl who loses TONS of hair in the shower and in brushes, how am I not bald?!	[ "You lose around 100 hairs a day naturally, and of course you start growing around 100 hairs a day. If your hair is long, the hair that falls out naturally probably just gets held in by your other hair until you shower or brush it out, so if you don't shower or brush your hair for a day or two, when you finally d...
What is the difference between limited liability and unlimited liability in business?	[ "Limited liability means if the company ends up owing an assload of money it can't pay, either because they company had bad luck, was mismanaged, or got sued, or whatever, the owners of the company can't be on the hook for personally paying out more than their share of the value of the company. If it's non limited,...
Why are MRI's so huge? why didn't they get smaller in size like computers did?.	[ "MRI's require a strong magnetic field around your body. Making a strong magnetic field requires a large magnet. In some cases, the technology has gotten better and there are \"open MRI\" machines where what can be made smaller has been, and you no longer travel through a tunnel to get scanned. At the very leas...
What happened in Iran since the 70's that caused radical Islam to take control.?	[ "In the 50s, the CIA infiltrated Iran, collapsed their government, and installed the Shah, who instituted some education reforms, but also was a brutal dictator. This isn't a wild conspiracy theory, this is something that our government actually did. Eventually, the Shah made his subjects so angry that a student re...
Why aren't subscription services like your ISP, Netflix, Xbox Live, etc. required to reimburse you for downtime?	[ "it's in their terms of service that service isn't guaranteed 100%. you don't have a SLA with them.", "Because in the contract you agreed to, it was never mentioned that they are required to have a 100% uptime.", "When I have had significant downtime from my ISP, they have credited me for the downtime. All I h...
How does the gravitational pull/hold in the solar system/space actually work?	[ "It's called \"uniform circular motion\" and might seem strange. \n\nTake a string and tie it to a heavy object. Now take the other end of the string and start spinning with a constant velocity. \nThe object should lift from the ground and end up at a constant distance from your body. This distance depends on...
Why are computer monitors, TV screens etc. generally in a landscape orientation whilst smartphones are generally in a portrait orientation?	[ "Is it hard to use one hand on landscape orientation? Yea." ]
Why are graves dug 6' deep?	[ "it is the approximate depth that prevents wildlife from digging it up. both as a matter of moving 6 feet of earth and because the gasses from the body will not filter up quickly enough to be detected by scavengers.\n\nit's also the approximate height of a human being. a digger could easily assess his depth and als...
What happens to a prisoner's possessions when they're serving their sentence?	[ "US Answer:\n\nYour property is still yours; you just can't physically be by its side. However, you can still give someone power of attorney (the right to act in your name) so they can manage your affairs, and you can hire a lawyer and sue in court. Aside from your physical presence, your legal standing remains the...
How do antidepressants like Celexa prevent orgasm?	[ "I don't remember the exact details now (and I'm on my phone so it's hard to look up) but we actually discussed this in my behavioral neuroscience class. Hopefully the details are enough, but do note this is a very simplistic account of what exactly is happening.\n\nEssentially, we've found out that SSRI's affect m...
How does one judge have the power to change a law, such as gay marriage, if it is against the will of the majority?	[ "Because a judge must uphold established law, not political opinion.", "Because that is not how democracy works. [Democracy is not about just majority rule](_URL_0_). In fact, democracy works best when the minorities are properly represented. \n \nHypothetically, what if the majority wanted to encamp any citizen ...
Why the U.S. government decided to throw Osama Bin Laden's body into the ocean	[ "They didn't want to bury him on land and create a \"shrine\" for radicalists.\n\nNot many nations would have even been willing to accept the remains.", "Technically it's a \"burial at sea,\" and it was done in accordance with Muslim law.\n\nThey didn't want to keep his body and put it on display somewhere since ...
What is the G8 and why could Russia be excluded from it?	[ "The G7 was created as a way for the finance ministers or equivalent from the top seven most industrialized and advanced countries to workshop and settle outstanding issues in economic (and sometimes foreign) policy. The G8 was created purely because it was felt that Russia should have a seat at the table, since i...
How do we have the technology to see nebulae and other features in our galaxy with some degree of clarity, but not enough to get a clear picture of Pluto?	[ "* most galaxies are brighter\n* most galaxies are bigger\n* galaxies don't move, so you can take very long exposures...Pluto rotates, so things get smeary after a few hours", "The average nebula is 100 light years (9.4605284 × 10^14 kilometers) across. Pluto is around 1161 km across.", "Pluto is really tiny, b...
How come some products made with dairy products (like milk in cookies) don't go bad like dairy products do?	[ "The majority of cookie recipes do not contain milk. But cakes do, and cakes do not need to be refrigerated. The baking along with the sugar are enough to preserve it for a few days without refrigeration provided you're storing it properly.", "We cook cookies. This is far different than just having milk out and e...
How come I can take control of my breathing just by thinking about it but can't do the same with my heartbeat or body temperature?	[ "You can consciously control your heart rate to some extent. As for temperature, it's not a single muscle or process, it's the sum of all your cell's metabolism", "You can control your heartbeat with a process of biofeedback.", "It's based on the type of nerves innervating the tissue. The diaphragm (primary bre...
How is it physically possible to get all the bowling pins except the center one?	[ "The 5 pin is a common leave because, usually, the 1,2,3(for righties),4(or 6 for right handers) 5 8(9 for right handers) pins are meant to be taken out by the ball. When the ball hits the pocket (the 1+2 or 1+3 pins) it can deflect because the pins are heavy. It diverts the ball to one side or the other, and the p...
Is being in possession of a hard drive full of torrented media illegal?	[ "Technically no. Distributing it, removing copy protection on it, and downloading it, or anything like that is though. Giving the drive to someone else is illegal, and the ways to fill it are illegal, someone giving it to you is illegal, but actually having it isn't.", "Torrents are necessarily copyrighted mate...
Why do humans laugh? and why does it sound like it does?	[ "If I remember correctly then laughing is meant as a way of signaling others that you're okay with what is happening and aren't getting hurt. Like a baby getting tickled or being playfully chased. This also happens with animals that playfully chase each other.\n\nSo if you feel schadenfreude (meaning someone else g...
Super PACs, Citizens United, etc.	[ "Under federal election law, only certain people are allowed to contribute to campaigns. [Here's a neat table that explains who can give what to whom.](_URL_0_) Corporations, foreign nationals, and a few other categories are not allowed to contribute directly to campaigns. What they are allowed to do is create orga...
Is the research definitive? Does cannabis abuse cause emphysema? Where is this decisive research located?	[ "Chronic smoke inhalation can lead to respiratory problems. We didn't evolve to breathe smoke. Cannabis isn't an exception.", "Here is a review of many different research papers \n_URL_0_\n\nIt appears that emphysema itself has only a small risk increase by smoking cannabis however it has a cumulative effect if...
Why is it legal for organizations like the MPAA to exist? Isn't that collusion?	[ "Businesses are allowed to work together, as long as it's not about defrauding consumers, price fixing & stuff like that. There's nothing wrong with forming a trade association to promote their collective interests, allow standards to form and stuff that isn't anticompetitive.\n\nThe MPAA was formed to help the ...
Why do suits have a bottom button which you are never supposed to button up?	[ "It is tradition attributed to King Edward VII, who was too fat to button the bottom button.\n\nIn order to not out-do or offend the kind, people in power started to do the same. Eventually it just became a thing that all people are expected to do.", "Around 1900 in Great Britain, King Edward VII always left the ...
What happens when someone who's taking antibiotics drinks alcohol and why is it a bad thing?	[ "It's not. \n\nThis is just a scare story that doctors used to tell servicemen who they were treating for gonorrhoea, in order to prevent them drinking and whoring until they were cured, thereby slowing the spread of the disease. \n\nIt's one of those ideas that have been repeated so much that they've stuck.", "T...
How do they take the caffeine out of tea and coffee to make decaffeinated versions?	[ "Most caffeine free teas are already caffeine free. Herbal teas are usually free from caffeine (like peppermint, green, and chamomile). Black teas usually have caffeine.\n\nCoffee on the other hand goes through a chemical treatment process called \"decaffeinating\" (and some teas do have this too). Usually a solven...
What is post-structuralism?	[ "Post-structuralism is not as much a unified movement, but rather it is pretty much anyone who rejects structuralism. Structuralism is the belief that humanity can be understood by studying anything that could be called \"structure,\" including stuff like politics, social order, villages, and abstract stuff like m...

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