Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
How do Micro SD cards store information, and what are the advances that make new ones able to store more information than older ones?	[ "All sorts of solid state memory store data in super tiny capacitors. New ones can store more because manufacturing improvements have allowed more storage to be affordable. Companies only make things that people buy.", "It's mostly the improvements in manufacturing methods that leads to capacity increase. Most ...
In "older" shows and movies, why are the shots used for cross fades, of lower quality than the rest of the shots.	[ "The short answer is loss of information.\n\nEDIT: still same short answer, but I think the 'optical printed dissolves' as the correct answer. Leaving the rest for reference.\n\n--\n\nHistorically, most video is/was compressed using YUV planes, where the Y plane is the luminance (black and white) and the UV planes...
Why does nausea seem to come in waves?	[ "It can come in waves as the natural movement (muscle contractions of the digestive system known as peristalses) is reversed, and involuntary contractions in the walls of the stomach and esophagus force the stomach contents out", "To throw up is generally an unhealthy action. It's normally best to keep whats in ...
What does it mean to be an American?	[ "Where you are free to have your own thoughts and live your life the way you desire within the limitations of the law.", "To be an American you must either be born on American territory, born to an American parent or go through the process to be an American citizen." ]
Why do Americans make so much money compared to mainland Europeans?	[ "Who's more likely to tell you their salary: a rich person, or a poor person?", "A six-figure (US dollar) salary in the US is actually a very high wage. Around 20% of households make that annually, and that number includes families who, combined, make that amount. $50k a year (for each partner in a househol...
Why does polishing a white object to a high sheen not turn it into a mirror?	[ "There are two kinds of reflection: specular reflection and diffuse reflection.\n\nSpecular reflection is when a beam of light hits an object, and is reflected back in one specific direction. If you shot a laser at a specular reflective surface, it would bounce right back and look pretty much the same as it did g...
How do game developers secure their code for their game in that way that it simply won't be copied by any other game company/game developer?	[ "Most games are written in C++. When you program something in C++ you run the code through a program called a compiler, which turns it into a form that the computer can run. You can't get back to the code that was originally written from that, too much information is thrown away.\n\nIt is possible to inspect this c...
When a town or a city elects a dog or a cat for mayor, how does that end up working?	[ "It is never official.\n\nTypically it only occurs in unincorporated towns where they don't have government at anything lower than the county level. Such communities will often elect an unofficial mayor as sort of a spokesman. Since there are no real laws covering this, there is nothing stopping them from getting...
Why is an excess of (salty) saliva produced when about to vomit?	[ "The belief is that it's to protect your teeth. Stomach acid is very destructive to tooth enamel. Saliva helps dilute and neutralize the acid." ]
Why have Christianity and Islam been so successful?	[ "They are both religions that place a heavy emphasis on evangelizing and spreading the word, and were both adopted by peoples who were highly mobile, both as traders and invaders.", "Christanity was a slave/servant religion with many of the early converts filling this role in addition to former Jews filling the r...
How E. Coli bacteria contaminates vegetables.	[ "Poop from cows, chickens, etc., is used to fertilize vegetables. Sometimes, that poop contains bacteria like e. coli which gets on the outside of the vegetables. If the vegetables aren't cleaned before people eat it, then people can get sick. The easiest way to keep yourself safe is to always wash your vegetables ...
How did they get the carriages into the Glasgow underground?	[ "There is an above ground depot at govan with tracks leading between the depot and the main lines.\n\nThe depot was built in the 70s, prior to that the cars were craned in through a hole" ]
Why do most countries limit work/travel visas to 30 years age or less?	[ "I think the type of working holiday visas that allow people to stay for a year and work a while doing so, is usually restricted to age 18-30, because it is primarily intended for students who take a year abroad.\n\nThere tend to be plenty of other visa types that don't limit the age of the applicant like this.", ...
how can a tv remote sit around all day not wasting it’s batteries and immediately be picked up and used (without having to be turned on), while something like a game controller must be turned on first before use, and if you left it on all day it would drain the batteries even while not in use?	[ "a tv remote is a usually one way communication and uses IR. the remote emits a signal when a button is pushed and the tv receives it. it's like using smoke signals. \n\na game controller communicates through bluetooth which is active two way communication. just by keeping it on and idle, it'll consume power. ...
Why are tech and thought leaders so worried about A.I.?	[ "The problem is so large that I’m not sure I could boil it down to something digestible by a 5 year old. But here’s the simplest I can really put it:\n\nThe growth of intelligence in AI is happening on an exponential scale, not a linear scale, so by the time we get close to human level machine intelligence and stop...
how does the tab on the rear-view mirror work? Dimming bright lights but still letting you see out the back window	[ "There is a piece of glass in front of the mirror that is angled away from you when the tab is in its normal position. In the normal position you are looking at the reflection from the mirror and not the glass. When you flip the tab the mirror becomes tilted so it no longer reflects the light toward your eyes, but ...
how does urinating after sex prevent a UTI if the urethra and vagina are not connected?	[ "Penis goes in and out. Penis rubs vagina juice against urethra at every stroke. Pee to cleanse out Vagina juice from Urethra. \n\nThe end.", "The urinary tract is the tube that connects the bladder to the exterior and where the urine flows. Peeing flushes away anything that may have entered the urinary tract.",...
What happens when you pass the redline in a manual transmission?	[ "Redlines are arbitrary figures worked out by engineers and possibly tweaked at times by the marketing people. (A higher redline might seem sexier to a young male customer)\n\nYou can throw a rod (catastrophically break a connecting rod) at any RPM, but the statistical likelihood that it will occur increases with R...
Why does the United States still choose to retain Imperial units?	[ "It's a legacy system thats been in place for hundreds of years and covers over 300 million people across 3.8 million square miles (6.1 million square kilometers). \nIt's not something you just flip a switch on. It would be like suggesting that countries switch what side of the road they are driving on. Logistical...
When I'm sick, why do my nostrils take turns in being blocked/stuffy?	[ "Even when you aren't sick your nostrils go through a cycle (called the [Nasal Cycle](_URL_0_)) where one becomes partially blocked and the other does all the work. You just notice it more when you are sick." ]
What is holding us back from making a space elevator right now?	[ "we don't have a material strong enough to make the elevator shaft. all materials we have today would simply snap from its own weight if we make it 250 miles long and tried to dangle it like a string.", "No material currently exists with the required properties for the elevator. \n\nFirst we need to invent some...
When driving and getting tired to the point where falling asleep is a real concern, why does simply pulling over and getting out of the car for a minute re-energize you so much?	[ "Like the other comment said, you're getting your blood flowing. In addition, switching up the task you are performing keeps your brain engaged. \n\nIf you're driving in a downtown area where you have to watch other drivers, check for pedestrians, switch lanes often, etc. you are probably not falling asleep becau...
What are the heights of mountains measured against on planets without seas?	[ "The Datum. Simply put, imagine running a bulldozer over the surface, smoothing down everything that sticks up, and using that stuff to fill in all the troughs and holes. The resulting surface is the reference.", "It is based off of a specific atmospheric pressure.\n\nThe earth has 29.92 inches of HG at \"sea lev...
why is sleeping on my stomach bad?	[ "Well, if you're a baby it's been linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome." ]
if rain falls down when clouds are fully condensed, why does it sometimes drizzle, and other times it rains heavily?	[ "Drizzle happens when there isn't a strong updraft to keep the water in the clouds. When there is a stronger upward air current, the water can keep combining with other water droplets and grow larger. The stronger the upward current, the bigger the drops.\n\nOh, I forgot to add that drizzle comes from lower Stratus...
Why don’t airports and air travel companies update from the staticky ATC systems to something that is able to be more clearly heard and understood.	[ "Your cellphone also loses signal if it goes into a tunnel.\n\nYour cellphone is fm radio, pretty, nice, but weak signal. Plans are on lower frequencies, AM radio. Shittier quality but a much stronger signal strength.", "The static is a result of the Amplitude Modulation used in the ATC system. AM varies the radi...
why would an international football team have a goalie that's never saved a penalty in his career?	[ "Firstly, he's young for an international keeper so will have faced less penalties skewing the statistic. Secondly, saving penalties is a tiny fraction of what a goalie has to do.", "In football it's considered normal to not save a penalty and considered amazing to actually save one.", "saving a penalty is 90% ...
Why is it so annoying to touch something fuzzy right after I clip my fingernails?	[ "Because your nails snag the fuzzy thing.\n\nI can't stand it, so I file my nails after clipping them." ]
How do the big YouTube channels (pewdiepie, Yogscast, etc) avoid getting three strikes from frivolous/bogus copyright claims?	[ "They aggressively pursue their rights. Every-time they get a strike they reach out to YouTube and let them know what happened. \n\nGiven their size and value to YouTube they likely get handled very quickly.", "I'm in no shape or form an expert on this but I believe I have a good understanding of it.\n\nFrom wh...
Why can't we just rinse out our glasses instead of scrubbing with soap?	[ "When you're washing glasses, you're trying to get rid of more than just old liquids. There could be bacteria or other invisible substances stuck to the glass, for example.", "Soap is a \"surfactant\". One end of the soap molecule likes water and the other side hates it. It makes the water want to have more surfa...
What's the difference between SSRIs and SARIs?	[ "SSRIs bind to transporters that clear serotonin out of the synaptic cleft. Depending on how selective the specific SSRI in question is, it may or may not have some effect on dopamine and norepinephrine transporters.\n\n & nbsp;\n\nSARIs have similar action on transporters as SSRIs, with the additional effect of \"...
Why does orange soda sometimes taste like soap?	[ "Not all flavors are discernible by all people. For example there are many folks who cannot taste cilantro the way others do, but (I'm told) it tastes like soap. Now not all orange sodas use the same (artificial) flavors to flavor their drinks. So, if the flavor used to flavor some orange soda is not detectable by ...
What makes a safe space different than a dorm room for these college protestors?	[ "There's actually a lot that goes into a safe space that people don't realize. A good example is what they did at my high school. There were certain classrooms designated as safe spaces for LGBT students (that was all, actually, I know what I'm about, son). It was a public school, and part of the requirement sai...
Plants Growing Strength Puncturing Buildings	[ "Just my theory: Concrete expands when heated, concrete that is expanding is easier to be pushed through by a growing plant. When the concrete finally cracks, it expands upwards, away from the ground.\n\nOnce the plant has broken through, the roots grow and expand the soil and then the soil also tries to push throu...
Why do you feel like eating after consuming cannabis/alcohol?	[ "'Twas oft asked here. Ye may enjoy these:\n\n\n1. [ELI5: Why do I get hungry when I smoke pot? ](_URL_0_)\n1. [ELI5: Why do people get munchies after smoking weed? ](_URL_3_)\n1. [ELI5: Why do you feel hungry after smoking marijuana? ](_URL_2_)\n1. [Why do people feel hungry after smoking pot? ](_URL_5_)\n1. [ELI5...
Why do the lead vocalists get most of the spotlight in music videos?	[ "They typically assume the role as 'front man.' It isn't always the singer, it's whomever you will remember the easiest. The singers voice is usually the most identifiable part of music, so they usually get the spotlight. Aesthetics play into this heavily too, put the prettiest face out there and people will be mor...
Why are manual transmissions still so prevalent in cars in Europe?	[ "I think the main reason it that we're just used to it, and it's a vicious circle.\n\nIf you want to get a driver's licence, you need to choose whether you learn it for a manual or an automatic car. The latter option doesn't allow you to drive a manual one, so everyone picks the former one and learns to drive a...
After being breached, how do Corporations/governments determine exactly what data was compromised and what wasn't?	[ "They can retrospectively study the event logs for activity - altering logs across a broad spectrum of devices to mask a specific activity would probably be harder than stealing all the black ops projects the US is doing. So hackers usually don't bother with this part, they just want the treasure. Plus the more th...
Why do some types of music make us feel happy or sad, regardless of lyrics?	[ "it has to do with the resonant frequency of the individual chords. Some are extremely pure and propagate linearly while others are really \"shaky\" and propagate with different types of noise. Think about the difference between someone singing well and someone screeching. The difference has to do with how pure the...
How woman's periods sync if they spend enough time together.	[ "They don't really \"sync up\" as in their bodies are somehow talking to each other.\n\nA woman's cycle isn't exactly a month long, so it's going to have some variance about when in the month in shows up. If two women have cycles that are close, but not the same in timing, and are trending towards moving towards ea...
How do temporary usage rights work products? (e.g. Sonic the Hedgehog in Wreck-it-Ralph)	[ "I'm not sure what you're asking here, can you clarify?\n\nIf you're asking how they can get rights to use characters that belong to other companies, the answer is that they simply ask. A contract is signed, money changes hands, or doesn't, and the movie gets made.\n\nOften part of the deal with characters like th...
Why can Bicyclists ride on the road well under the speed limit but walking on the road is illegal when sidewalks are present?	[ "The posted speed limit is a maximum, not a minimum. There sometimes is a minimum, for example freeways usually have a minimum of 45 mph, and bicycles aren't allowed there. They ride on the road because bicycles are vehicles.", "Lobbying by auto manufacturers at the birth of the automobile made it illegal to wa...
Why do babies fall asleep faster if rocked to sleep?	[ "It's a natural response that reminds them of being in the womb. Same goes for swaddling. Babies like to be warm and held tight." ]
Is there a difference in meaning when people say "Radical Islam" and "Islamic Extremism" and what differentiates them from just standard Islamic beliefs?	[ "The terms don't have strict definitions. What one person would consider a radical, another would consider an apostate.\n\nI think that when most people hear \"radical Islam\" or \"Islamic extremism\", they think \"someone who would kill another human being for not being a Muslim (or the \"right kind\" of Muslim)\"...
Why does my voice sound better after drinking black coffee?	[ "Warms up the old sound box and throat ya little five year old!! Goo goo gaga", "Generally the warmth lets the voice box expand and become more versatile. For years people thought that caffeine was dehydrating (because it acts as a diuretic) but more recent reports say it's a very nominal effect. Sugar, on the ot...
How do mood rings work?	[ "The chemical that makes up a mood ring is a thermotropic liquid crystal, just like in liquid crystal thermometers. The molecules that make up the liquid crystal, when heat or cold is applied to the ring, start to kind of twist, and therefore refract or absorb different wavelengths of light, which is what accounts ...
Why do white shirts become transparent when water gets on it?	[ "The opaqueness of white shirts is due to the thin material having a few millimeters of space from the skin and light diffusing in that short distance. When a white shirt is wet it sticks to the skin. Since there is no space to diffuse, you see the skin." ]
Whys there always a line for women's restroom?	[ "fewer spots since they dont have urinals and stalls take more space.\n\nand they take longer to go, with the pant dropping, retucking shirts, wiping, ect." ]
How Does a Camera/Phone make a Panorama image?	[ "The camera takes multiple individual still pictures. The phone analyses these pictures looking for simple things, like the edges of items in the picture, that it can use to tell how much the camera has moved. It also takes measurements from the compass and accelerometer to tell how the camera has been moved. In th...
Difference between GPU and CPU	[ "CPUs (Central Processing Units) are microchips that are designed to be good for general processing tasks. Kind of a \"jack of all trades\" type thing. That makes them ideal as the central core for a computer, since you'll be executing all kinds of different tasks.\n\nGPUs (Graphics Processing Units), on the othe...
Why is there no motion blur on satellite images?	[ "There is plenty of blur and it is a major concern and has two main components; (1) there is a lack of focus mainly due to the optics but may also include the jitter of the platform (vibration) and then (2) there is smear due sensor motion (slewing) and target motion." ]
Why has "squirting" had a rise in porn in the last few years, surely girls could always do it, what suddenly made it popular?	[ "I think, and this is of course only what *I* think, is that a large part of the phonographic industry is based on the reaffirmation of gender roles in regards to sexuality. There is a fairly common notion that stereotypically-speaking, women are supposed to be sexually desirable and men are supposed to be sexu...
The American tipping culture	[ "I don't know all the details but alot of it involves you working to get a tip based on your service to the customer. If you don't do a good job you'll get a small/no tip, whereas if you go above and beyond to be helpful, fast and friendly, then you get rewarded for it.", "As an Australian, I find tipping so stra...
Why is primer needed for a paint job? Why not just use paint?	[ "1.Better paint adhesion\n2. Protects the painted material \n3. Prolongs life of paint\n4. Hides imperfections or former paint color that can bleed through\n\nIt is a pain in the butt step but if you have ever tried to turn an olive green room to canary yellow you will get it. Also if there are any oily/greasy spo...
If it takes 8-12 hours to digest food, how do some foods make my stomach upset almost instantly?	[ "Because you're not digesting it. Your stomach has sent the \"Purge\" message to your brain. Your brain then sends the message to your digestive tract to open all gates and let the express train through. It will also flush a bunch of fluid into the system to help is pass more quickly.", "You might have to clar...
Why do we laugh? Specifically why do we have a physical reaction, such as chest heaving, when we laugh rather than just "feeling" happy?	[ "Most humor is the juxtaposition between what we _expect_ to happen and what actually happens. Take the (lame) joke:\n\n > Three men walk into a bar; none of them ducked\n\nThe humor there is that you expect it to be a drinking establishment, not a physical barrier\n\nNow, the idea is that this humor reaction evol...
When Waking up from a vivid dream, why does it seem to disappear from memory a few minutes after waking up.	[ "Dreams don't typically form long-term memories like real experiences can. They are in your short term memory, and unless you make an effort to remember them, you'll forget them very quickly. Some people keep a dream journal near their bed and get in the practice of writing down their dreams as soon as they awake."...
Does the butterfly has memories of being a caterpillar?	[ "Yes, some memories can be retained. Caterpillars trained to avoid certain odors retained the aversion to those odors when they metamorphosed into butterflies." ]
How do content-creators make money from streaming services such as Netflix or Apple music	[ "Your 15 dollars a month(or whatever it is) > netflix/apple/spotify etc takes a share > rest goes to the content creator.\nYes you can make a notable profit from these services as many people were illegally downloading their content on a large scale before these services popped up (and still are). Since most pe...
How do gigantic heavy ships not sink in the ocean? What exactly keeps them afloat?	[ "I did an interesting experiment for a science class one day. Take a pan of water, fill it up to the very brim. Put a larger pan under it.\n\nNow, put an object into the top pan which will float. Some water will fall over the edges of the pan into the container below.\n\nYou should find that the amount of water run...
What is Grooveshark and why is it being sued?	[ "It's similar to pandora, though I don't know what kind of arrangements they have in terms of paying licensing fees. They allow for a more specific selection of music, and allow you to create playlists as if their entire library was your own. Think of it as a cloud-based napster. They have a desktop app as well as ...
Why do the subway stations in New York City look much more bare or run-down compared to those in systems of similar age, like London's?	[ "The London Underground services ~1.2 billion passengers per year. The New York City Subway services more - 1.65 billion in 2012, and that number's been shooting up steadily over the past 5 or 6 years.\n\nThe New York City subway services 8.2 million people in a relatively small area, with around 450 different sta...
- is there a line between giving advice and victim blaming? If so, where is it?	[ "I agree, it gets a little out of hand when people see even basic advice as victim blaming. On reddit, this kind of backlash seems most prevalent in areas of violence against women and in childhood bullying.\n\nI think the line is blurry, but the way the sentiment is expressed is important. If there's a thread wh...
Why can't we dispose of solid waste by tectonic subduction zones.	[ "The United States MARPOL act would prevent this. Subduction zones are also constantly moving, meaning trash would spew out and damage the Eco system surrounding it. This might all ready be happening. I saw a redditor say something about the gulf of Mexico being filled with trash which is sad.", "It's difficult t...
Why does the door close so loud when I have a window open?	[ "When you close the door, a bunch of air is displaced, and it has to go somewhere. If you don't have a window open, the only place the air can go is to rush out the door gap as you're closing it. This is difficult to do, and so the air forms a higher pressure \"cushion\" which prevents the door from closing as ha...
How does low sodium salt work?	[ "Some of the salt is replaced with potassium chloride which has a similar taste and the benefit of potassium which can be difficult to get in your diet. There might be other substitutions that I'm not aware of.", "\"Salts\" are really just a broad term for any ionic compound. Sodium chloride is more accurately te...
Why do some pharmaceuticals cause anorexia/eating disorders/body dysmorphia in those who have never struggled with these issues?	[ "Many drugs, especially ones taken for attention problems, cause people to lose their appetite. Many children, especially ones that struggled with self confidence issues due to their weight prior to starting medication, get pulled in by the positive response or attention from sudden weight loss. Although the eating...
How does autotune work?	[ "Any sound can be thought of as a mix of many different 'pure notes', or what we call 'sine waves'. If you mix enough different sine waves of different strengths together, you can make any sound. There is a mathematical algorithm, a way of calculating something, called a Fourier Transform. It is used to take any so...
the difference between an LLC and S Corporation.	[ "The short short answer is that an S Corp is more complex and has stricter rules on how it's governed, but gives tax benefits.", "S-Corp: Ownership divided into shares of stock. Shares of stock have voting rights. Has a board of directors, a President and usually required to have a Treasurer. Liability for th...
Why does fear seem much more intense during sleep paralysis than typical nightmares?	[ "Another reason is that you continue breathing as if you're asleep (aka slower and shallower than if you were awake). This causes a perceived lack of oxygen (you're used to breathing more deeply when awake) and is one reason for that \"suffocating\" or \"weight on the chest\" feeling as well as the terror." ]
Soap kills 99.9% of germs, why doesn't it work when ingested to kill the germs inside you?	[ "Soap doesn't kill germs at all. Soap is what's called a surfactant, which is a chemical that makes it easier for things to dissolve in water. When you wash your hands with soap, it's actually the action of rubbing your hands together and running water over them that removes stuff, including bacteria and viruses....
Why do some EU countries still have their own currency instead of adopting the Euro?	[ "1) They are not a part of the EU. \n\n2) They do not want to give up control of their currency and be at the mercy of other countries. One of the primary ways that a government deals with economic hardships is by shrinking or growing its money supply. They do this by destroying bills and printing new ones as neede...
If everyone is required to have health insurance (USA), why does anyone need insurance?	[ "We all want to get sick people to get treatment. Let's look at some of the options to fix that:\n\n1. No insurance For most people it's impossible to save enough to pay for a serious health issue. This would leave people to die because they're too poor, financially irresponsible, unlucky or because they're too...
Does a stronger sound wave eliminate weaker sound waves?	[ "It can't really eliminate sound, but it can drown it. Our hearing has a very high dynamic range, meaning that there is a huge difference between quiet and loud sounds. The speaker in this case could easily have 1000 times as much sound pressure (30 dB more), and your ears would adjust to that. The voice would sudd...
How does muscle relaxers not stop muscles needed to live. IE: your heart	[ "Imagine any drug you take is like a key and that key can only fit into certain keyholes (receptors) on certain doors (target organ/tissue/nerve etc). There are different types of muscle relaxers (keys) that open certain doors and causes a reaction to occur behind that door (this is the drug action). This is how ...
Why do we humans have a 'cooldown' after swallowing?	[ "Because you active a lot of muscles in a specific sequence to swallow. Before you can swallow again all these muscles need to be propely relaxed after the previous swallow. This takes some time. In other words: you can't start on your next swallow before the one you're doing is completely done + a tiny time for re...
Why electric cars are not regular thing?	[ "The biggest reasons are probably that they still cost more than regular cars, they rarely have as much range as a gas or diesel powered car (usually less than half) and it takes a lot longer to recharge a car than it does to fill up your tank, there are also very few good places to do it unless you live in certain...
What is the difference between 'affect' and 'effect'? I am 21, but desperately need it explained to me like I'm 5.	[ "Effect: the result of an action. NOUN \n\nAffect: to influence something. VERB\n\n\n\"How did it affect you?\" (How did it \"influence\" your response?)\n\n\"What caused that effect?\" (What caused that result or reaction?)", "Effect is a noun, affect is a verb.\n\nIn even simpler terms, \"effect\" is an event ...
What kind of prison would a transsexual go to?	[ "In Texas you are sent to the prison of your birth gender and usually put into a special cell block where you don't have a roommate. \n\nI was a guard in the early nineties, and one person came in with male anatomy and breast implants. He identified himself as a woman but still had a penis, so there was no way he...
Why does my laptop slow down over the years? what is happening to the processor?	[ "It can be a lot of things.\n\nOlder laptops tend to have a lot of junk data installed, lots of background processes users aren't even aware of. Sometimes small errors have snuck in the operating system. All of this can be solved by formatting it and reinstalling your laptop.\n\nAnother thing is that programs and w...
Why are there first and third world countries, but no second world?	[ "There used to be. \"Third world\" these days is kind of code for \"poor,\" but that wasn't the case.\n\nFirst world was the US, the UK, most of Europe... the not-communist countries.\n\nSecond world was the USSR and their allies, those evil scary commies.\n\nThen third world was everyone else who didn't have their...
What's the difference between LoL and DOTA?	[ "TL;DR version: Both games are based on a Warcraft III custom map, but DOTA 2 is a direct port whereas LoL has been heavily modified. Both are free to play but LoL makes you pay/grind for things which affect gameplay while DOTA 2 does not. In terms of gameplay, LoL has been simplified for greater mass appeal, while...
Why reddit has so many 503 (busy server) errors so often?	[ "There are times when we're coming online in droves...6,292 are on (ELI5) now. For me, that says time to go...somebody else needs a turn. I'm not sure of peak use times, but it's Saturday morning here ...we're just getting up and before we go out, gotta check Reddit. Same thing on workdays...early check-ins, checki...
What's the difference between firearm calibers ?	[ "Caliber just refers to how large the diameter of a round is - it doesn't reflect the length/shape/mass of the bullet or how large the casing is. A [.50 BMG](_URL_2_) sniper round is incredibly long compared to the much smaller [.40 S & W](_URL_0_) handgun round. [Here's an image of them side by side](_URL_1_). ...
Why do the United States have such a big problem with internet providers ?	[ "You hit things right on the head in your first paragraph. In many areas there are no options about your provider. This is usually in areas with lower population density where it wouldn't be very profitable for a second company to come in. Satellite internet is always an option but if you want to stream anything or...
Why does spit/saliva get stickier at times?	[ "It is mostly to do with hydration, or in this case dehydration. For example when you exercise, the water loss in your body causes less available water for making spit. \n\nSame reason why if you don't hydrate yourself enough during/before sex, your semen is chunky or your vaginal lubrication is less" ]
Why do we rub our face when we get tired?	[ "Do you mean rubbing your eyes? I haven't heard of people rubbing their faces.\n\nHowever, we rub our eyes when tired because it stimulates the [oculocaridac reflex](_URL_1_) which slows your heartbeat. This is relaxing if you feel very tired, and also \"prepares you for sleep\".\n\nTired eyes also get dry very qui...
What happens in the US when federal laws clash with state laws?	[ "Yes, when they clash federal law wins.\n\nBut the constitution didn't give the federal government the right to make laws about whatever they want. It gave the feds the right to make laws about certain types of things and then the 10th amendment said \"anything we didn't say was the Fed's business the states fet to...
Why does water stain silk?	[ "Two reasons:\n\n* Many dyes that are used on silk are water soluble, which means that the dyes can run if you get water on it.\n* Silk fibers become more delicate when wet, and, especially if you're rubbing the fabric, can slightly damage the fibers in a way that causes the fabric to look stained.", "If you're w...
Why does the skin on male genitals darken?	[ "You might want to hold off on the explanation.\n\nYour nipples and penis get darker when you go through puberty. The sex hormones cause a surge in Melanin (which is the pigmentation in your hair and skin).", "I remember a guy was trying to sext me and sent me a picture of his member and instead of oohing over it...
What is a coma?	[ "Medically, a coma is defined as a state of unarousability and unresponsiveness. The person does not respond to pain and there are no sleep-wake cycles as present in a normal brain(viewed by EEG, which measures brain waves). However the neural reflexes are still intact (like hitting a hammer on the knee, or touchin...
What would happen if the world started spinning in "the other" direction.	[ "I'll humor you by adding that the earth's water and air components would similarly change, but the moon's spin would not. \n\nYou'd completely screw up a number of fish, birds and mammals who migrate based on steering by the sun and moon. They'd get confused and go in the wrong direction.\n\nDitto those that rely ...
How do Dyson Air Multiplier fans work?	[ "Calling the Dyson Air Multiplier a fan with no blades is perhaps a touch misleading. There are blades in the fan -- you just can't see them. The pedestal hides the blades. A motor rotates nine asymmetrically aligned blades to pull air into the device. According to Dyson, these blades can pull in up to 5.28 gallons...
Why do we dream?	[ "Nobody knows for sure. There's a theory that it's our brains way of sorting information. Others think it may be our way of sorting problems that we have.", "I like to think when you go to sleep at night the thinking part of your brain turns off and what's left are random images, feelings, events and other things...
How does combustion cause carcinogens to form?	[ "So carcinogens aren't a single, defined thing; they're just stuff that causes cancer, and the list of overall carcinogens is immense. Combustion only causes certain carcinogens to form.\n\nWhen you burn things, you're releasing a relatively large amount of energy, and that energy breaks down whatever molecules...
What does 6.2 Litre V10 engine mean and how does it affect the performance of the car?	[ "I'm probably not going to explain this very well due to lack of energy/caffeine, but here goes!\n\nIn very basic terms, try to think of an engine as an air pump. The engine sucks in air, combines it with gasoline, blows up the mixture, then pumps out the exhaust.\n\nOne of the biggest concepts in performance/engi...
How is the timing of self-dissolving sutures controlled?	[ "So when your doctor was considering what kind of sutures to give you she had to keep 3 things in mind: the thickness of the suture, the elasticity required by the suture, and the decomposition rate of the suture.\n\nNaturally dissolving sutures will only be dissolved by enzymes in the body because they are made fr...
Is regularly "waking up right before the alarm goes off" done by the body's internal clock? If so, how can it be so accurate?	[ "Iirc most alarms make a quiet click before going off. Your brain registers this as part of the actual alarm sounding, waking you up to deal with it. Cellphone alarms don't make this sound which is why you don't get fully awake just before your alarm goes off. Instead your brain tends to pop you out of deep sleep w...
Why do we have to put air in tires? Why cant we just have completely rubber tires that do not get flat?	[ "I'm only 17 and soon hoping to go to university to do Mechanical Engineering, however i'll take a stab at what i guess is along the right lines : My guess is that with air inside the tire, it allows for a greater dispersion of the force from the ground, due to the particles being free to move about. Also, the air...
Does eye color affect vision?	[ "I have heard that people with blue eyes are more sensitive to sunlight (more likely to squint and/or need sunglasses outdoors). Someone please tell me if I'm wrong.", "Ordinarily no. The color of your eyes is the color of the iris, which is a muscle that determines the size of your pupil. You only see light tha...

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