Split (3)

train · 273k rows

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why don't tank guns use gas blowback systems like assault rifles?	[ "From: _URL_0_\n\nAutoloaders represent tradeoffs. I do think it is possible to design a compartmentalized autoloader that might be able to be as fast as a human and perhaps ammo change-out of ammo as needed. But it would be bulky, heavy and likely quite expensive. If you break the autoloader or take a hard hit,...
Why do the Scottish want independence?	[ "In addition, I would point out that it's not the Scottish people themselves pushing for independence, but the ruling SNP party - Nearly all public surveys on the subject show the Scottish people are generally in favour of the union:\n\nsource: _URL_0_" ]
Interest savings account	[ "The reason is to encourage you to put money in the bank. They then use that money to loan out to other people at a higher rate, thus making them money.\n\nIf you take a loan out from the bank, interest starts immediately, and it would be pro-rated whenever you paid it back. Therefore, you would lose money if y...
Why haven't avocados been bred to have tiny pits?	[ "You can't just \"breed\" things arbitrarily to have whatver quality you want. You have to find one that naturally mutated that feature, then breed that plant. For example, no one bred seeds out of grapes. They found a grape vine that mutated to grow no seeds, then they grafted that vine over and over until seedles...
Who/what is Anonymous?	[ "Anonymous is/was a small group of highly skilled hackers, that were loosley organized together and somewhat activist or \"hacktivist\". They did some notorious hacks and denial of service attacks, and other cyber attacks. As well as being given hacked info that others did to help them and to distribute the hacked...
If speakers are just magnets, what happens when you blow a speaker from playing audio too loud?	[ "You tear the membrane that the magnet is attached to, a thin surface that is meant to vibrate the air to make sound. [Here are some pics.](_URL_0_)", "Usually you've torn the speaker cone, like the other answers say.\n\nSometimes you can damage a speaker by giving it too much power over a period of time, which I...
When I eat a bunch of sour fruits, for example sour apples or a lemon, why are my cheeks and forehead sweating so much?	[ "I never experienced this myself but was intrigued as to why, so I did some research and found this answer.\n\n > In general, sweating is caused by too much heat, even if you're not aware of the heat. This can happen if the bowel moves and so raises the core temperature. Such movement is often accompanied with swea...
Are the leaders of Islamic State actually religious, or do they just use Islam as a way to recruit followers?	[ "Let's take just one example from the scripture they say they follow:\n\nAnd whoever kills a believer intentionally,\n\nhis punishment is hell; he shall abide in it,\n\nand Allah will send His wrath on him\n \nand curse him and prepare for him a painful chastisement.\n\nThis is from the Qur'an. Chap...
Can someone ELI5 what credit rating agencies are, what they do and why they have so much power?	[ "What they are and what they do\n\nCredit Rating Agencies try to score corporations and governments (\"bond issuers\") on the likelihood those bond issuers will pay back their debts (this debt takes the form of bonds, which are IOUs with interest). Three are three big credit rating agencies (and many more s...
Why do we jump our clocks forward on the 13th? Why not on the vernal equinox instead?	[ "Hour changes are generally planned for the early hours of a Sunday morning, so that not many people are up and getting confused when the clocks change. You go to bed in one time zone, and when you wake up it's another, rather than having to skip an hour completely or, worse still, have extreme confusion at two con...
What happens to dust particles that get in to the eyes and lungs?	[ "If they truly get deep into your lungs, they may become trapped there, but that's a relatively hard place to reach. Most are caught before then in mucus lining your airways. Tiny moving cilia work in concert to gradually move this mucus towards your throat, where you either swallow it or cough it out. \n\nDust in ...
The Tim Tebow Controversy	[ "Say there's a kid at another elementary school near yours. He's the best player in your Little League, he has the most badges in Cub Scouts, he doesn't get into trouble with his parents, his teachers and coaches only have the best things to say about him and all the other little girls in your neighborhood think he...
How do insurance companies deal with huge disasters, like hurricane Harvey or Katrina?	[ "\"Reinsurance\". Basically insurance for insurance companies to insure against getting hit with too many claims.", "You have a bunch of people who pay a premium and never or rarely have a claim that you hope balances out those who do. If you set the premiums right, you cover the claims you have to pay out, make...
Why do so few smartphone companies use stock Android?	[ "Custom UI means the users get used to that one experience. Companies hope that users will keep buying their products for that experience (e.g. what Samsung is doing with TouchWiz).\n\nDifferences are mostly selection of default apps (branded apps by phone manufacturer) and UI when we are talking about traditional ...
why is everything Windows (or at least not Mac) referred to as PC when PC is a general term for Personal Computers?	[ "It isn't a general term. Pc is a platform. It was originally an IBM trademark. Computers nowadays are PC clones." ]
How come we see large bodies of Water as blue?	[ "Well, this is the thing. Large amounts of water appear blue right? Oceans, lakes, icebergs, swimming pools, even a white bath full of water will look slightly blue-ish. \n\nOf course it's because water is slightly blue. You just need a decent amount of it before that can be seen. A glass of water doesn't have ne...
How do you become ambidextrous as a child?	[ "I just am. No training or trying whatsoever. I do most fine motor skills with the left and most strength based stuff on the right. I can easily switch if needed but it can also make me very klutzy because I do not automatically hold anything the way it is intended. Can't play golf at all for example." ]
Calories - Weight gain	[ "If you ate 2200 calories worth of chocolate, and you burnt 2200 calories a day, you would not gain weight. If you ate 2100 calories worth of chocolate a day and nothing else and you burnt 2200 calories a day, you would actually lose weight.\n\nThat said, there is a massive difference between weight loss and health...
Why does water increase grip for fingers on pages etc?	[ "Okay, imagine you just spilled some coffee on a book. You know how it sort of spreads out from where it originally hit the page and winds up being like twice the size of the original stain? This is because of how water interacts with paper--it's called \"hydrogen bonding\", but all you need to know about that is t...
Is it possible to make any made up chemical if you know it's exact composition from basic elements/chemicals (Such as making Au2 C6 CL K3 O from gold, carbon, chlorine, potassium and oxygen)?	[ "Perhaps. Just picking a random set of elements is no guarantee of a stable molecule. You need to make sure it doesn't break down instantly. For a given set of atoms, there might be several arrangements that are stable. Some molecules are \"handed\", they have a mirror image molecule made of the same components...
What is the best way this Ukraine/Russia hullabaloo can end? What is the worst? What is most likely at this point?	[ "Putin will get what he wants in exchange for some token concessions and everybody will relax. Soon after that, he'll do it again with another area. Same thing will follow. Then he'll get over confident and really step in it and a real conflict will erupt." ]
ELI15: what is the difference between quantum mechanics and classical physics?	[ "> seems to me like they are all the same, just on different levels \n\nWell, they're both core areas of physics, but they are different because it turns out classical physics is plain wrong on the atomic scale. I guess you're currently doing stuff like springs, and accelerations, with equations like F=ma? Well, i...
How does sucking in your gut work?	[ "Your organs mainly go up. \n\nBetween your tummy and your chest, there's a muscle called the diaphragm. It is normally used to breathe (by pushing down to make room for air in your chest) but you can also use it to suck your gut in (by pushing up, so that there's more room in your tummy).\n\nYou may also notice ...
Do fish die going over large waterfalls like Niagara?	[ "Actually most fish tend to avoid waterfalls.\n\nThat said, because of their small size they fall with less force than a human, meaning their terminal velocity is generally quite low. Most fish will survive a long drop into the water, and the smallest ones will even survive hitting the rocks." ]
Why defaults have less mods than subreddits with fewer subscribers.	[ "It depends on what the mods want and how strictly the subreddit is regulated. In some cases, it's just a matter of the mods having their own opinions on how much work they need to do and how much work each of them is able to put in. Often, it's a matter of how tightly regulated the subreddit is. For example, in...
What causes the brown parts of a banana and should I eat it?	[ "It's fine to eat, it's just because of a natural process caused by ethylene which is a natural compound released by almost all fruit during the ripening process.\n\nHigh amounts of ethylene cause the yellow pigments in bananas to decay into those characteristic brown spots in a process called enzymatic browning." ...
Why do we get bags under our eyes?	[ "There are multiple reasons - \n \nAging\n \nWith the aging process, the ligaments underneath your eyes that hold back fatty tissue begin to weaken, and the tissue can fall forward to form under eye bags.\n \nTiredness or Sleepy Eyes \n \nFluid accumulates into the skin under the eyes as gravity drags i...
Despite living in famine stricken countries where food and medicine is in such short supply, why do people still have children when there's such high risk of child mortality?	[ "In many countries children are your retirement plan. If a country lacks the social safety net to protect the elderly then people tend to have large families so that their children can support them later in life. They invest time and resources into their children with the assumption that they will be paid back late...
Why, when writing formal (letters), are (married) women sometimes referred to as Mr. (female's full name)?	[ "If you know it's a woman, Mr. would be an error.\n\nSome women see this mistake, I have a friend called Gene Smith, her real name is Genevieve. She pronounces Gene like gene (the bit of DNA). She gets a lot of mail to Mr. Gene Smith, because if you google \"gene smith\" you get images of a bunch of guys.\n\nIn w...
Rather than have two separate sexes, why are not all species hermaphroditic?	[ "Organisms that exchange genes change more per generation than organisms that don't. \n\nAs such, sexual organisms tend to evolve a lot faster relative to generation length than asexual ones.\n\nNot only does this allow them to more rapidly exploit ecological niches and adapt to change (thus standing a better chanc...
Why is it that when I'm not hungry but I eat something anyways, I instantly become hungry?	[ "The human body has a mechanism to ignore hunger if it goes on without food for a certain period of time (To stop the feeling of hunger so you can focus on finding food) so now that you got food it says, \"Oi mate, that's my part, you need more food.\" \n\nOn a more technical side the brain [stops releasing the lep...
What is a subsidy?	[ "Very simply, a subsidy is when the government offers money to a group, usually corporations, to achieve various results. This can range from lower prices for the consumer, to help researching new technologies, to an effort to stabilize prices. \n\nA great example in the US is farming. As we all know, farming is la...
Apache (The software)	[ "Apache is a web server.\n\nWhen you make a website it is a collection of files on a computer somewhere. When somebody wants to see your web page, they type in your address and a request goes to your computer. The web server software gets that request and sends you the correct files, including any needed processing...
Why is it so hard to make realistic water/liquids in video games?	[ "Water is made of lots of tiny particles, and these particles are constantly moving, colliding, and changing velocity. \n\nSolids have lots of particles, but they don't move, and you don't have to calculate their speed, or how they change position. \n\nIt's harder for a CPU to calculate how to display water since t...
Why is way harder to find species where females have to impress males for matting?	[ "Because growing a baby intrinsically requires more resources than providing sperm, therefore more care must be taken in selecting a mate. Waste a bit of sperm on a bad genetic partner? No big deal. Waste a pregnancy on one? Big deal.", "1 male can impregnate many females.\n\n1 female can only be impregnated by 1...
Why do some flavor combinations taste so well together (Peanut butter & Jelly, pork chops & apples, Lamb & mint, etc)?	[ "Contrasting flavors are often a successful combination because they balance each other; this prevents you from feeling that a given flavor becomes excessive. So considering the 3 examples you give, we have salty/savoury flavors of peanut butter, pork chops, and lamb, which are combined with tart/fruity flavors of...
Why is japanese porn censored? NSFW	[ "Porn was first seriously restricted in Japan in the Meiji Era, when materials deemed “injurious to public morals” were banned [thanks to the introduction of Victorian morals from the West]. After Japan’s defeat in WW2, American occupation authorities changed many of Japan’s laws to guarantee freedom of speech and ...
How long will ball bounce in vacuum	[ "All other things being equal, the one in the vacuum would bounce longer as no air resistance is slowing it down." ]
Weakly dominant vs Strictly dominant in game theory.	[ "Weakly dominant theory means that a player will get at least as much positive value as any other player regardless of their choice. Strictly dominant means they must get the most positive value of any other player with their choice.\n\nWeakly Dominant: Choose A and everyone gets $0, Choose B and you get $100,...
Why does bread get tough when left outside a bag/box for some time, but crackers get soft in the same situation?	[ "Bread has a lot of moisture (google says 40%). So, leaving it out leads to the liquid evaporating out and drying out the bread. Crackers have very little moisture, that's why they can last much longer than bread. So, when you leave them out, they absorb the moisture from the surrounding environment." ]
What did Obama do to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?	[ "He didn't deserve it. Even Obama acknowledges that.\n\nIt's been said that it's sometimes given as a form of \"pro-active shame\" on somebody who might be a war monger. As a way to encourage them to be peaceful.", "The Nobel Peace Prize 2009 was awarded to Barack H. Obama \"for his extraordinary efforts to stren...
why do they always the need to change up the UI of a big social media app?	[ "It’s so they can tell their shareholders/stockholders that they are adding value and keeping their product “relevant”" ]
Campaign financing - Pros and Cons	[ "The question is a bit incomplete - the current campaign financing system? Public financing? Campaign finance reform? This answer, by the way, isn't really at a 5-year-old level (first time I'm doing this...) but is hopefully helpful.\n\nUnder the current system at the federal level, the following rules (incompl...
Why is it that normal pencils will rub off with an eraser, but color pencils won't?	[ "Color pencil pigment is carried by wax, which only smears around when it's written on something and then erased. You're essentially writing with a form of grease that carries a coloring agent, and like rubbing your finger across a greasy frying pan, doesn't remove it that well without some other form of chemical h...
What is happening when the internet stops working, and then somehow working after i replug/restart it?	[ "I assume you mean the router/wifi.\n\nA router takes internet traffic from all the devices in your house with internet and funnels it out to your provider. Then all the returning traffic (websites, videos, etc. your devices asked for) has to be sent out to the right device. It's sort of like working in a mailroo...
Why do TV shows and movies look "different"?	[ "Most films are filmed in 24 frames per second. Where as most TV is filmed using higher FPS, like above 30FPS.", "Movies tend to be shot on film, which means that the device being used to record the movie is one of those movie cameras with reels spinning around inside to capture the scene. Movies are expensive be...
Why light travels at that precise speed in vaccuum (and not higher)?	[ "_URL_0_ \n\nCheck out the top comment. Doesn't exactly answer your question ( I don't think anyone has an explanation for why the speed of light is exactly what it is ) but should help wrap your mind around why that speed is significant.", "Typically the speed of light is thought of as simply THE maximum speed. ...
Why does your body's immunity tank with sleep deprivation?	[ "When you don't get enough sleep there is a decrease in the number of T cells (major player in the immune system) and an increase in the factors that cause inflammation. Inflammation without reason can lead to tissue damage, which also makes it easier for pathogens to start an infection because part of your immune ...
On most microphones there is a metal grate that you sing or speak into, why does this not distort or muffle the voice?	[ "The short answer is that the openings in the grate are wide enough to as to avoid any major impact. It probably does make a tiny difference, but it's an acceptable trade-off for the sake of the microphone element's protection.", "The metal grill's purpose on microphone models like the most common live vocal mi...
ELI5: Please explain how nuclear fussion works in a hydrogen bomb?	[ "Fusion or fission? They are two separate mechanics." ]
Why do people lose weight during sleep?	[ "You body is taking in oxygen, and breathing out oxygen plus hydrogen (water) and oxygen + carbon (carbon dioxide). \n\nThat is basically how all long term weight is lost, and over the course of 8 hours, it adds up. Also, you perspire while you sleep, and that contributes too.\n\nIn addition, bathroom scales ar...
How important a consistent sleep schedule is? Why?	[ "For starters you title your ELI5 wrong when sleepy. The real issue is that your body has a natural sleep rhythem an as a result you will feel sleepy at certain times more than others. This sleep rhythm is slow to change, and sleeping at times when you are normally awake will cause your sleep to be lighter and shor...
Cable Modems	[ "In theory yes, the cable company sends the same signal down the wire to everyone and the modem knows which bits to grab and turn into ethernet bits to send out the modem port.\n\nIn reality, the cable company breaks up neighborhoods and streets so that a few people playing Warcraft while torrenting and watching Ne...
Why do most men get a feeling of regret right after finishing jerking off?	[ "Woah, that can't be right. Masturbation is one of mankind's best tools. When I was single and thought I liked a girl I would spank it before calling her. If I still wanted to talk after getting off that was a good sign. I have never felt guilty about masturbation btw.", "Here are you getting this assumption?...
Why do our bodies feel so cold when we're sick?	[ "It's going to blow your mind, but you're not actually cold when that happens. Chances are you actually have a high fever. This most commonly occurs as a fever \"breaks:, or reaches it's maximum. The chills are not actually the result of you feeling cold, they're the result of muscle contractions your body is doing...
What is actually happening in a person's body when they build up a tolerance to a drug or alcohol?	[ "\"Reward\" or \"pleasure\" comes from your Nucleus Accumbens in the brain, which is partly mediated by the Ventral Tegmental Area. Along with other structures, the VTA stimulates the Nucleus Accumbens with neurotransmitters, most commonly dopamine. Drugs alter the effectiveness of this stimulation. After awhile, y...
Why not go for the backboard?	[ "I am no expert here, by far, but, it seems like the backboard is another unnecessary step in getting the ball in the hoop. If you can get the ball to go directly into the hoop why would you try and make it bounce off something before going into the hoop. The fewer steps the better right?\nI also know it's kind of ...
LD50 or LC50	[ "I've never had to calculate them, but I can try to explain. \n\nLD50: Lethal Dose 50%. An amount of medication/chemical/whatever that kills 50% of the people that take it. Usually this is used to determine how bad something is to the body. Example: Scientists give 5 grams of tylenol to 100 people and 50 of those p...
Why do some people move a lot in their sleep whilst others stay still?	[ "I've always kind of wondered this. One time when I was little I had a dream that I fell off a cliff. I woke up the next morning on the floor and couldn't remember how I got there." ]
How is currency/money in banks and other financial institutions safe-guarded from computer-based attacks?	[ "Insane amounts of backups. The record keeping is highly regulated and by law the banks/financial institutions must follow the rules of having the information secured, AND backed up in a number of ways. Worst case scenario, they would have to stop all transactions and fix their databases. \n\nSource: I build these ...
When a live sports replay is "brought to you by Home Depot" and other oddities, how is this effective marketing?	[ "It's known as brand building. They are trying to make you remember their brand name on a deep, visceral level. Their name just becomes part of the language. So, the next time you think about needing a tool or building material the first name that springs to mind is Home Depot. They're hoping that this association ...
With almost everything having a generic version these days, and all of the competition in the furniture business, why isn't there a Sleep Number clone on the market?	[ "If there's no competition for a product, it could mean a few things:\n\n* The company making them holds a bunch of patents which prevent a competitor from legally making clones\n* The start-up cost is really high to start producing clones\n* The inventing company has so much name-recognition that it's impossible t...
How does karma, reincarnation and all that work in Hinduism?	[ "An incarnation is like a character that the soul plays in a play or a game. Each character has a \"right way of doing things\" (Dharma).\n\nIn the case of humans, each caste has its own right way of doing things. Behaving according to this way improves your karma, and behaving against it degrades it (Karma r...
why do computers use exponents of 2? ie 32, 64, 128, 256 etc	[ "Because computers are all based around binary (base 2) math. Computers use binary, as oppose to base 10 or any other style, because the simplest form of data transport and storage is a system that only knows 2 states. Computers are really all about taking very big hard problems and breaking them up into massive ...
Can somebody tell me how Tobin Taxes work?	[ "When you think of buying something, what you are usually doing is trading your dollars for candy, or movie tickets, or whatever you're buying.\n\nIf lots of people want to buy candy, the candy salesmen can raise the prices and make more money. This is called demand.\n\nOf course, if you're buying candy in, say, Ge...
Why have a European Union and not just massive country?	[ "Forming a big \"country\" comparable to the United States would mean the creation of something like the USA's federal government. This means that the individual states would have to give up some power and control over their own rules/people to this government. This is a tough sell.\n\nThe European Union grants the...
Why are electrical lines slack between poles?	[ "Because if they were pulled taut, then a strong wind could bend the poles away from each other and snap the lines, loosing high energy power lines onto the ground below which can be extremely dangerous.\n\nA little bit of slack is just fine.", "There are a few reasons. First, they're metal. Metals expand and con...
What happens to a text message when the receiving phone is turned off?	[ "> And also, once the receiving phone is turned on, how does the text message service detect that?\n\nWhen your phone connects to the network, it performs what's evocatively known as a \"handshake.\" This process of establishing the connection informs the network where to direct a call that will terminate on your ...
Why is Android Insecure if Linux is Generally Very Secure?	[ "Who told you that Linux is secure ? vulnerabilities keep popping up everyone and then, some of them are huge !!\n\n\n\n\nIn fact, vulnerabilities in things like bash mess up everything based on that bash, so vendors have to change their proprietary firmware to address the vulnerabilities. \n\n\n\n\nAndroid seems t...
Whats so bad about the Koch Brothers	[ "Specific political agendas and corporate greed aside...\n\nThey symbolize the dying of democracy. Basically, we vote based on the familiarity and likability of our candidates. When someone gives millions of dollars to a candidate then they have an advantage over other candidates that increases their ability to g...
Whatever happened to all those 1-900 psychic / astrology lines from the 1990's and early 2000's? Why isn't that a thing anymore?	[ "They moved online, hotline number s like that just changed with the time as More people got intratnet.", "I had a couple of friends who worked as phone psychics in the '90s. It was a rather slow decline; they went from working in offices at large cubicles for a few years to working at home with a company-install...
What's with getting goosebumps when you have the craps?	[ "Probably the diarrhea is due to your body detecting some poison or pathogen attacking your body. One way to help fight it off is to increase the temperature in your body, and the hypothalamus turns up the normal temperature your body tries to maintain. Your body then recognizes that it is colder than it thinks it ...
Why are western countries not investing more heavily in renewable energy when they're spending £Billions on foreign oil	[ "Because they honestly. Don't want to.\n\nThe places that are trying, are doing relatively well with it, but honestly it all ties into capitalism and the lack of want to try new things. Until we actually run 100% out of any source of petroleum product, be it cornmade biodiesel, used vegetable oil, etc, only then wi...
Why are firearm designs so old, specifically handguns?	[ "Because they are reliable. And there is a small reason for making a new design when the old one is still making money. Hope that helps :)", "Simplicity and reliability. Firearms use very basic mechanics. An explosion of gasses pushes out a projectile. When dealing with basic mechanics the simplest designs usu...
Why is turning it off and on again so effective?	[ "Think of it as priming a pump. If there are bubbles in the piping, a pump won't be able to push through. But drain and then refill the water, which will most likely have no bubbles and the pump will work fine.\n\nThere are problems like this in electronics as well - where they can reach a problem that is stable (f...
Why does very famous and well-known companies like Coca-Cola keep spending millions on advertisements?	[ "Simply put, new buyers are being born every minute, and they have to be marketed to or they will go to whoever is marketing to them instead of you.\n\nDoes Coca-Cola or other huge names benefit from a massive momentum due to market share? Yes. But this would drift down steadily if they did not keep marketing to ...
What does it mean when a drug addict has "collapsed veins"? Why do they have to keep looking for different veins over their bodies?	[ "Because when a vein is injured, as it is normal with the rest of our body, it starts an acute inflamatory response. \nThe idea of an inflamatory response is to repair the tissue to what it was before. \n\nWhen a tissue is repeatedly injured in the same place over and over again, the inflamatory response turns to a...
What the proposed Tory social care reforms are, and why some people are calling it the "dementia tax".	[ "There's multiple components to it.\n\nDavid Cameron worked to put into legislation a cap of 72,000 pounds sterling on social care bills to be introduced in 2020. The idea was that middle class retirees with long-term care conditions such as dementia wouldn't have to sacrifice everything they owned to pay for that ...
Does the ban on news outlets from the White House press briefing violate freedom of the press?	[ "No.\n\nThose outlets remain free to report whatever they want to report. The 1st Amendment does not guarantee anyone access to White House press conferences.", "Can someone explain honestly why they got banned?" ]
Why is it when it rains in a baseball game the game gets postponed til further notice but in American football the players play through any weather?	[ "I was a house league umpire for a few years. For us, we would play in the rain until we had puddles forming. Most baseball diamonds are made with very rough dirt that can not only get extremely muddy, but can cause some nasty infections if you end up slipping in/on a puddle and cutting yourself on the rough dirt (...
If circles and spheres are actual physical things in the universe, and Pi helps define circles and spheres, doesn't the fact that Pi is an infinite non-repeating decimal say something important about the physical structure of the universe? If it does, what is it?	[ "I have read every comment here, and I have no idea what you're asking. \n\nPi is a number. It is irrational, but it's just a ratio between two things. There are many irrational numbers, and it doesn't mean anything.", "The fact that pi is irrational(can't be represented as ratio of integers or a terminating/repe...
Why isn't it good to have a lot of vitamins at once?	[ "The difference between a thing being healthy, and a thing being unhealthy, is quantity. Vitamins are necessary for human survival, but you can also overdose on them. Overdosing on vitamins can have various dangerous effects, depending on the particular vitamin.\n\n That being said, even if you don't eat enough to ...
Announcers always say that downhill skiers should be "in the air" as little as possible because it slows them down. It is faster when skis remain on the ground. How could that be?	[ "Consider a uniform 45 degree slope. The shortest way down is along the plane of the slope. The curved path through the air that results from a jump is a longer distance.", "It depends on the exact incline of the jump, but for the majority of jumps the decreased friction isn't worth the loss in forward momentum...
What would happen if you took off your helmet in space ?	[ "You definitely wouldn't explode or anything dramatic like that. There have been a few astronauts who were exposed to vacuum or near vacuum and were successfully revived. IIRC less than 45s or a minute is survivable.", "You would suffocate. If you had a lungful of air it is also possible it would evacuate from yo...
How do car parks know how many spaces are available?	[ "Is there a barrier on the entrance and exit? Barrier on the entrance goes up, -1 parking space. Barrier goes up at the exit, +1 parking spaces. Start with a known quantity, cos we can count the number of bays, deduct 1% to allow for dicks parking in two or more bays, and away you go.\n\nWhen the number reaches ...
Why does Soda become flat(uncarbonated) when you shake it?	[ "Left alone, CO2 dissolved in the soda will come out of solution and go into the air. Shaking it provides way more opportunities for an individual CO2 molecule to be exposed to the air and in a position to leave the solution, so the rate of CO2 leaving the solution increases." ]
What causes differences in the appearance of ice (ex. see-through vs. white)?	[ "It's the purity of your water. I saw it on Nat geo on a show called \"going deep with David Reese\" the purer the water the clearer it is", "I believe that it's mostly the air in the ice. Supposedly if you boil water and freeze it after, it should be clear.", "The short answer is: impurities and defects in the...
What exactly happens when you look at an eclipse without eye protection? Is it the same as looking directly at the sun on a normal day?	[ "You really should do a search before posting, but since you're here, and since I know the answer, I'll respond. Looking at a solar eclipse without eye protection is just as dangerous as looking at the sun on a normal day, and possibly even more so. You see, on a normal day, with the sun shining brightly, you may...
During a divorce why isn't custody entirely up to the child? If they're old enough to properly understand and make decisions?	[ "Until a child is 18, they aren't considered developed enough to be making legal decisions. They can testify and favor a parent, but it doesn't make a definitive choice. Once that child hits 18, they're allowed to live with whoever they want.", "As a society we like to pretend we care about \"the children\" but w...
Different denominations of Islam	[ "The two main denominations of Islam are Sunni and Shia. Essentially the differences between them boil down to the choice of who was to lead the Muslim community after Muhammad died. The faction that became the Sunnis supported Muhammad's close friends and advisers while the faction that became the Shias supported ...
What exactly are dogs trying to find when they sniff around looking for a place to go to the bathroom?	[ "I think they're looking to see if other dogs/animals have left their scents around. Once they've figured that out, they leave their own mark signifying their claim on this territory: \"I know you peed here earlier but this is my land now.\"", "Looks like science has an answer: Dogs use Earth’s magnetic field to ...
Top people on Instagram likes	[ "It's a formula that is, as you've stated, based on your interaction. You like their stuff, they like your stuff, Instagram realises this and makes you see more of each other.\n\nFacebook does this too and so will almost every social media site." ]
What are cycles in a log-log paper? Why do the scales from one to ten keep on repeating? How does plotting on it is done?	[ "Now that I see your slide rule picture, I will tell you how to multiply with it.\n\nSlide the 1 on the C scale over the 2 on the D scale. Now read off under the 3 on the C scale, and you should see a 6 on the D scale, because 2X3=6\n\nFeel free to ask questions if you don't understand anything I posted.", "As f...
What is China planning with docking their aircraft carrier in Syria?	[ "The middle east is in a real state of flux at the moment and the Syrian situation means that there is currently a struggle for power. Both the Russians and China are now moving in so that when the time comes, they will have a hand in dictating who comes to power, as it's in their interests to have influence in the...
Why is personal space so exorbitantly big in Nordic countries?	[ "My guess would be that because of the very sparse population most of the inhabitants in the past never had to face city conditions with compact space and large crowds. Personal space gets smaller only with urbanization and Nordic countries haven't had that large urban settlements to really change the perception of...
If principle photography is done AND a teaser trailer is out, why wont the new Star Wars be in theaters until next December?	[ "Post Production. This is when all of the CGI, sound mixing, editing, scoring and much much more is done.\n\nAdditionally, they're will probably be reshoots. Therefore, the one year gap gives them plenty of cushion time.", "The majority of the man hours will be done in post production. They have a lot of green...
ELI11: Historically, why bladed weapons produced in the Middle-East/South Asia tended to be curved (like a scimitar), while in the West, straight (like a broadsword)?	[ "There's a lot of factors, and there are definitely examples of Western curved swords (cavalry sabers, for example) and Eastern straight swords (the Chinese jian, for example).\n\nOne factor is the types of armor in common use. Some types of armor protect better against slashes, others against stabbing. Straight ...
The Call of the Void	[ "When you approach a cliff it obviously crosses your mind that you don't want to fall off of it. This is an actual threat to your survival, and it's killed plenty of us in the past, so it's built into the basic routines of your brain to be wary of edges.\n\nThe basic awareness of danger, even if you're not really i...
If you don't eat meat, you're a vegetarian. But what are you called if you don't eat fish.	[ "No meat, but still fish = pescatarian \n\nNo meat, but still able to eat eggs and such = vegatarian\n\nNo meat at all, not even anything that comes from an animal (eggs, caviar, etc...) = vegan" ]
Why is Justin Trudeaus approval rating so low?	[ "He's made some blunders with the Native communities with breaking a few promises. Major promises, even. Adopting the UN policy nited Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, going back on giving them the ability to beta development that affects natural resources, lifting a cap on funding for First ...

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