Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
Why is the number two pencil number two when it's the most widely used pencil in the world?	[ "cil makers manufacture No. 1, 2, 2½, 3, and 4 pencils—and sometimes other intermediate numbers. The higher the number, the harder the lead and lighter the markings. (No. 1 pencils produce darker markings, which are sometimes preferred by people working in publishing.)\n\nThe current style of production is profiled...
Why is there a separate World Chess Championship for women?	[ "to determine who's the female champion of chess", "Why did they create two different divisions many years ago? Sexism. \n\nWhy do they exist separately today? Neither men nor women want to compete in a wider field in which they'd likely have a tougher time moving up in rank, and more people to defend their ti...
why do people kiss mouth to mouth to express their love to each other, and has this method always been the way (if we don't count sex)?	[ "_URL_0_\nThis video captures a lot of the reasons why we kiss, though kissing is hypothesized to be a learned behavior rather than an instinctual one. Mainly due to not all human tribes being documented as kissers, wherein it's thought that kissing may have originated from mothers kiss-feeding their babies. Anothe...
Why do we regrow flesh, but not bones	[ "We do regrow bone. When a bone breaks, bone cells regrow to bridge the break and heal the bone." ]
Why do most public toilet doors open inwards?	[ "Bathrooms can be crowded. Don't want doors flying open and hitting people, or just being in the way in general.", "My guess is that when someone tries to go in and push the door, the one that's using the stall can push back letting the person know that someone is already using the stall." ]
Why do robotic arms for amputees move so slowly? How can we make them faster/more responsive?	[ "We could, but the problem isn't the mechanical part, it's controlling the limb.\n\nThere are a lot of different ways a prosthesis can interface with humans. Most of them are not accurate enough to allow faster/more responsive movements without destroying accuracy.\n\nAlso, movements that require proprioception/som...
How does facial recognition work?	[ "Forget faces for a second and think about bar codes. A bar code scanner can scan along a line and identify when and where the pattern goes from black to white and vice versa, and derive information (the numerical code) from the bars.\n\nTake this and expand it to a facial scanner. A facial scanner will scan a face...
Why do we hear/learn so much about The Holocaust, but so little about other large genocides (Armenian, Cambodian, etc)?	[ "Mostly eurocentrism in history classes (and a bit of WWII-centrism, too). The Khmer Rouge and the Armenian genocide are less important to Europe's history and that happens to be where history classes tend to focus.", "I'm guessing you live in Europe or North America. The Holocaust, since it occurred entirely in ...
Why is the gold standard touted as being real money and fiat currency as fake?	[ "I think lack of understanding of economics, and being generally unfamiliar with world history contributes to this belief. People have been using various types of metals, stones, and even pebbles as currency. The reason currency backed by gold is touted as supreme currency, is due to its rarity, and a false perc...
Why does a radio get better reception when I touch it?	[ "Your body is acting as an extension of the antenna." ]
Why can't we have better umbrellas?	[ "What kind of crap umbrellas have you been using?", "Rain can come from varying degrees, depending on wind, making a complete water-shield difficult to make. The properties that allow an umbrella to repel water, such as making it out of hydrophic materials, may not be ideal for creating an umbrella that also rep...
Why don't video games load when minimized?	[ "This has to do with how memory is allocated right? \n\nImagine this, you only have two hands (i.e. 2gb of RAM). If one hand is holding a banana and another hand is holding a stuffed animal, the painting behind you won't paint itself.", "Really depends on the game and how it's programmed to handle being alt tabbe...
What is the Illuminati and what is the big deal surrounding them?	[ "The Illuminati, contrary to the current top comment, are not a fictional group of people. Whether they still exist today is debatable, but they were at one point a very real, and semi-secretive group of men (lead by Adam Weishaupt) who formed an order of sorts with the stated intent of bringing \"Illumination\" t...
Singing Voices, Etc?	[ "Your brain is simply interpreting sound waves, which are rapid changes in the air pressure in your ears.\n\nSound waves have a frequency, which is just the number of times the air moves each second. Babies can hear sounds that are made from as low as 20 movements every second to a sound as high as 20,000 movements...
Why do Racecars have a sequential gearbox and street cars don't? What's the difference?	[ "_URL_0_\n\nSequential gearboxes are very difficult to use on the street because they don't have synchromesh, or synchros. \n\nWhen a transmission shifts, all the gears are spinning at different speeds relative to one another. Synchros help this along, so you don't have to be a professional driver to drive a manu...
How diarrhea occurs.	[ "The large intestines/colon is the last processing step for food before it gets expelled by the body. It's duty is to recover the remaining water from the digested food that was not absorbed by the small intestines.\n\nWhen you have diarrhea, your large intestines are compromised in some way to stop recovering wate...
Why do only some plants make tea?	[ "If you want to be proper about it, you can only make \"tea\" from [Camellia sinensis](_URL_0_). All your other 'herbal teas' are called \"tisanes\".\n\nYou can take pretty much any plant, dry it & cut it up & then soak it in hot/boiling water. If you want, you could try drinking it. The problem is that not ...
When an ant bites me, is it because it's constantly biting every surface it walks on, or does it know that it's on a living thing?	[ "Ants bite because they feel intimidated or that the nest is in danger, even if it's not in danger in YOUR mind, the ant doesn't know that you're not a threat, and will bite and sting in defense. The ant does know that you're a living thing, but it doesn't know that you're not a threat.", "Ants bite anything eith...
How does the mothers stomach "deflate" back to normal after giving birth?	[ "Simple answer...over a number of weeks it will start to recede, but there is the risk (near 100% probability) of stretch-marks on the stomach where the skin has stretched to accommodate the baby and then is no longer as taut as it once was when it recedes back.\n\n\nSuffice to say that during labour (or at least t...
If someone touched our internal organs, would we be able to feel it like we do our skin?	[ "Not really. They tend to lack the nerves that we use on our skin to feel. For example, brain surgery can be performed on a conscious patient with little anesthesia because the brain doesn't register sensation on itself, if that makes sense. That being said I believe some of our internal organs do register pain, so...
Our planet is dominated by salt water, and we humans have not evolved to drink it. Why ?	[ "Evolution is not a guided process. Evolution doesn't think 'god there is a lot of salt water, it would be great to evolve the ability to drink that'. Random mutations just happen and if those happen to pay off (or at least not actively disadvantage the individual) they get passed on. Is it possible that during our...
Knots and nautical miles	[ "One knot is one nautical mile per hour. It is a measure of speed. It is approximate 1.151 mph. \n\nOne nautical mile is a geographically determined unit - one nautical mile is the linear distance corresponding to one arc minute along the equator (so the circumference of the world is exactly 21600 nautical miles...
Why do so many living rooms not come with overhead lights? Instead you have to have many (floor) lamps around the room and have to turn all of those on rather than just flicking a switch.	[ "> Why do so many living rooms not come with overhead lights? Instead you have to have many (floor) lamps around the room and have to turn all of those on rather than just flicking a switch.\n\nFirst there is a misconception that you can't turn on floor lamps just by flipping a switch on the wall. There is a handy...
Why is the first drive on the computer 'C:\' and not 'A:\'?	[ "Back in the day, computers had one (sometimes two) floppy disk drives. A: and B: were reserved for them and old habits die hard.", "First poster is absolutely right. A: and B: were reserved for the floppy drives that used to be the main drives of the computer. Maybe someday we'll reclaim those letters.\n\nOr m...
The A not B Error	[ "Not entirely sure what you're asking... the error _actually_ is the child picking the wrong box - namely the one it had learned before - instead of the one it saw the toy disappear under. It means that it doesn't understand that the object is hidden by the box; it works only from the previous experience \"picking ...
What do pharmacists actually do besides moving pills from one bottle to another bottle?	[ "I have a pharmacist friend and I wanted to know this once, too.\n\nTheir role is not of any particular service directly to you. Yes, they can give advice, and yes, they're educated in medicine interactions, but that's almost entirely not important. Most of the technical work is done by computers. There are too man...
Can needles and vials that have been discarded after medicinal uses (for example, immunizations) be recycled, and if not, why not, and what happens to them?	[ "You wouldn't want to directly reuse them because when you stick them into someone you might contaminate them with whatever diseases or infections the patient has. You might be able to reuse them if you sterilized them first but this usually isn't practical. The cost of a hypodermic needle simply isn't high enough ...
What is the difference between real time notifications and push notifications?	[ "with real time notifications, the device constantly checks the server to see if there is something new.\n\nWith push notifications, the server sends a notification to the device that there is something new, prompting it to download it.\n\npush notifications are usually preferred, as it doesn't constantly check the...
The difference in scale between the first flight and the moon landing compared to the difference between the moon landing and a manned mission to Alpha Centauri?	[ "The moon is about 238,900 miles away. If you were to drive there (it's a very special car), at, we'll say around highway speeds, 70mph, it'd take you about 142 days to get there, or almost 40% of one year. To get there today, you'd have had to have left around November 29th of last year. \n\nIf you were to drive...
How animals can evolve to copy colors around them into their own bodies?	[ "Say you have a species of some kind of wild predator. Let's say they're wolflike animals that live in a savannah like grassland. (This is a totally made up scenario, and I am no kind of scientist.) These wolves come mostly in dark browns and black. The dark brown ones are most likely to be able to feed themselves ...
How do filmmakers film close-up gunfire?	[ "You are right that it is just CGI. Sometimes they use gas blow back guns that will have a recoil similar to a normal gun but will be harmless. It might be enough to trigger the squibs to have blood splatter but not harm the actor. Blanks are dangerous and are generally not used on set unless for special scenes. Ac...
Can URL's be written in other alphabets?	[ "Yes, it is possible. You can make a URL in the persian alphabet if you want. All UTF-8 Characters are supported. If you don't have a persian keyboard you need a virtual keyboard to access it.\n\nHowever, you have to be clear about the definition of URL. The following line is a perfectly 'valid' URL.\n\n file://...
Aren't there any noise-cancelling headphones or earpieces Brian Johnson could wear and still perform?	[ "Not at our current technology levels.\n\nNoise-cancelling headphones work by analyzing the noise around you and then emitting the same noise but out of phase in order to cancel out the sound waves. This works when the noise is a constant, predictable pattern as the analyze-and-emit part of the headphones needs a f...
Why do we capitalize the beginning of sentences?	[ "TL;DR: It adds a lot of visibility to the hard-to-see period and double-space for sentences that are starting in the middle of a big paragraph.\n\nIn most fiction, standard English novels are divided into chapters/sections, and those into paragraphs, and those into sentences. (There are all sorts of exceptions...
Do Canadians have the same rights and freedoms as Americans?	[ "The US and Canada have different legal systems. While many rights and freedoms overlap between both countries you should never apply any legal advice regarding the US into the Canadian system.", "In general, your rights when dealing with the police here are similar to what exists in the US. There are significan...
Why does soda expand when frozen?	[ "When water is in liquid form, the molecules are free to move around, and thus can be packed closer together. As a liquid freezes, its molecules form a lattice structure, and stay in that rigid position. Since the molecules in the lattice are spaced farther apart than molecules which can move around close to one an...
What is a scientific explanation for "The Hum" phenomena that the low-frequency, unexplainable noise that is heard throughout the world?	[ "> What is a scientific explanation for \"The Hum\" phenomena that the low-frequency, unexplainable noise that is heard throughout the world?\n\nYou just answered your own question. There is currently no explanation." ]
How does Estonia have relatively low income inequality despite having a flat tax?	[ "Estonia, and a lot of former Soviet countries have a lot of foreign direct investment, so the insanely rich people benefitting from their economy are in Germany and Sweden. \n\nAlso as part of the conversion from Communism, many employees of those countries received shares or other forms of equity or profit sharin...
why do cheap restaurants often only have canned soda for sale instead of fountain soda, when the fountain soda has a much higher rate of return?	[ "There is only a higher rate of return if you have a lot of customers purchasing it. There is a lot of overhead cost that goes into fountains that isn't there with cans.\n\nI'm going to pull some numbers out of the air just for example purposes.\nSay it costs $1000 for that machine, $25 for the syrup (first bag) a...
When taking a bath, why doesn't the water feel as hot to my hands than it does to my legs/body?	[ "The palms of the hands have thicker skin than the rest of the body. Also the hands are always exposed to the elements and so desesitized to temperature. It probably also has to do with hot/cold receptors in the skin as well.", "If you wore gloves all the time this would not be the case. Your hands stay exposed m...
- Why does stepping on Lego hurt so bad?	[ "It's smaller, so the pressure doesn't get distributed across your skin. Smaller, sharper objects tend to hurt more. It doesn't help that LEGOs are almost completely edges.", "It's small and sharp.\n\nSpecifically, pressure is force divided by area.\n\nThe huge force of your entire body weight, divided by the tin...
Since there are foods proven to prevent cancer, why aren't they prescribed as part of the diet for cancer patients?	[ "Firstly, there are no foods that have been proven to prevent cancer. There are foods that have been associated with a lower risk of cancer.\n\nSecondly, there's no point in preventing something that's already happened. Something that reduces the risk of something isn't the same thing as a cure once you have it, in...
Why only some people get spontaneous nose bleeds?	[ "Humidity can affect the capillaries in your nose and if the air around you is too dry the mucus surrounding your capillaries can dry up exposing your capillaries more", "The nose contains many very very small blood vessels called capillaries. There are many of these all over your body, but the nose is a very sen...
Why does steel wool burn so quickly and easily?	[ "Steel wool burns relatively easily for steel because it has a lot of surface area so it heats easily and most importantly can be exposed to lots of oxygen. If you came here from the gif though it's a bit misleading. Either through editing or luck, that wool was a lot cleaner than most.\n\nThis is a more typical ...
is the world really having more instances of violence and terrorism or is the media just creating that illusion?	[ "More instances on what sort of timeline? The world is probably the least violent it has been since the beginning of written history. However, over the last year or so there has been a slight uptick in violent behavior. We're still nowhere near the levels we were at 100 years ago. \n\nWith regard to ww3. Personall...
How are big items loaded in to a submarine.	[ "The normal accesses to the boat are removable, making a much larger hole for loading items in or out. Anything larger than those openings require cutting and welding the hull.", "This is my favorite question I've seen all day... Reddit's curiosity never ceases to amaze me.\n\nThey plan those things before they f...
What is so special about mitochondria that allows respiration to be so efficient compared to the efficiency we can achieve when burning fossil fuels?	[ "Less energy is lost as heat because the process traps energy in chemicals, which are then used to energize processes on a molecular level, rather than using the heat as the energy of the system to move mechanical components. Most real-world engines lose energy due to friction and heat loss to the environment. Resp...
. What happens when rubbing alcohol expires?	[ "The alcohol itself will tend to evaporate past the cap, lowering the percentage of alcohol to water. Also, it can start to leach the plastic from the walls of the bottle.", "Things have expiration dates because everything in that category has an expiration date. Rubbing alcohol is considered a drug/medical...
Why does diarrhea happen?	[ "Basically it's like an overactive colon with decreased water absorption. The feces get moved along faster, and it retains more water than normal, resulting in an easier \"flow\" overall.\n\nIt can be caused by sickness, lactose intolerance, food poisoning, and even stress. Really anything that upsets your system e...
Why do old movies often have a single hair in the frame?	[ "This is likely a fault that is introduced either during the copying of a film, or during the telecine that converts a film onto tape or a digital format for television. Some of these telecines are done very cheaply, allowing faults like that to remain." ]
Superstring Theory.	[ "Superstring theory is the union of string theory and supersymmetry.\n\nSupersymmetry (which is a scientific theory) holds that the Standard Model of particle physics is only a partial model. The idea is that there is at least one more symmetry in the model that gives rise to a whole family tree of fundamental in...
Why do Walgreens and CVS, two nearly identical pharmacies, so often set up shop across the street from one another?	[ "It's often that those locations are areas that are convenient for shoppers to access, and thus the benefit they get from being near major roads or a commercial area outweighs being right next to their competition.", "How many times have you seen a major intersection with gas stations on all 4 corners? The answer...
How does YouTube determine when to play ads?	[ "They haunt the people without Adblock with ads until they decide to download it. It's all a big ploy", "Mainly, whether the YouTuber has allowed monetization (ads). However, YouTube only plays the ad like 90% of the time on these videos as being constantly bombarded with ads will lower user satisfaction, making ...
How does an emulator work?	[ "The trick here is that you have to emulate the original hardware, and that's why you usually need high specs in the computer were you're running the emulator. \nYou need to run the Switch OS on an enviroment that the Switch OS believes is the actual hardware, chip, memory, input/output devices. \nYou don't need ...
Does the use of numbers and special characters in passwords actually make them more effective than longer, simpler passwords?	[ "Cracking passwords is hard, theoretically (with the method you describe) it can take millions of years. So, if you want to guess a password, you'd start with e.g. english words, or already known passwords (a \"dictionary attack\"), just because that is what most people are using. If you have more time (or need les...
Karnaugh Maps. I don't get them.	[ "Well, it sounds like you understand how to construct one, and maybe even how to use it, but don't understand why it works? \n \nTo put it simply, when you draw circles around areas on the map that are the same, you are graphically doing algebraic simplification. For example, imagine a truth table where one colum...
Why is full time status treated as a job promotion?	[ "If the full time position comes with benefits, vacation, medical, sick days etc. this is definitely a “promotion “. Benefits cost your employer money, so it would be an upgrade.", "Full time is considered a promotion because the standard of not having benefits is the standard of living as an American", "Becaus...
When and How did the USA end up with poor worker rights while every other western country has things like mandatory lunch breaks, etc?	[ "“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”\n\n― John Steinbeck", "Workers rights laws in the US are a State level issue. Each State has their own laws. \n\nLunch Breaks: Every State requires lunch breaks. Mos...
Why do controversial events have "gate" names? IE watergate, gamergate, deflategate?	[ "It all came from Watergate, which is the name of a hotel. Since it was such a big scandal all the subsequent scandals use -gate to denote the scale of the scandal.", "Watergate was literally named after the Watergate office complex where it took place. It was such a huge political scandal that the \"gate\" suffi...
Why does the iPhone 7+ have 2 front cameras?	[ "It doesn't, it has 2 rear-facing cameras. One is the normal 28mm focal length and the other is 2x at 56mm (all are full frame/35mm equivalent of course). This simply means you have a lens that is more \"zoomed\" in without losing quality. [This should help](_URL_0_). So, you can see 2x as far without cropping. \n...
Why is Reddit composed mostly of male, middle class liberals?	[ "Reasonable conjecture:\n\nBecause young teenagers tend to be more liberal.\n\nAlso, reddit draws a lot of focus towards technology related issues, which men are on average more interested in.\n\nFinally, middle class americans have more free time to blow on reddit then lower class americans.\n\nAlso, upper class a...
Why isn't cold water cooling a "thing" for houses?	[ "One major problem is condensation on the radiators. You would need a drain pan beneath each one and drain tubes running to the outside or house sewer pipes. Central AC has a single drain. Window units drain the water outside. \n\nPlus you would need fans on the radiators to get effficient cooling.", "You can in ...
Why is it that Bolivia is almost always a N/A country in data maps.	[ "i have some theories\n1. like you said they are no interested in participating in SOME stadistics \n\n2. the company is not interested in studying bolivia\n\n3. the reseachers cancelled / could not finish the research" ]
Why are vehicles capable of going faster than the fastest speed limits if they're not intended for racing?	[ "It has to do with engine's optimal running temperature.\n\nIf an engine's top speed is limited to 55 miles per hour, that means it's usually running at 100% capacity just to meet the maximum highway speed limit. Over a long time, running at 100% capacity will result in a lot of wear-and-tear, overheating, and poss...
How does counting work in base systems higher than base 10? Or is base 10 the highest number system we have?	[ "We use base 16 when programming computers. In order for that to work, we need 16 different \"digits\" - so when we run out after 9 we use letters of the alphabet. So if you're counting in base 16, it goes 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, a, b, c, d, e, f, 10. \n\n\"10\" in base 16 really means the number 16, the same...
Why is it that people from different countries can play on the US national team?	[ "Dual citizenship individuals can play for either countrys national team.\n\nSometimes players from countries with strong leagues chooses to play for a slightly weaker national team because, hey, at least they get to play in the championships. For example, there's usually a bunch of Canadian-Italians in the Italian...
How do Geologists determine where a dig site should be?	[ "I'm a civil engineer, but I work with soil stratigraphy so I can answer this. \n\nThe history is important to determining what is in the ground, so yes, you are correct. \n\nGeologists also look at air photos to see if anything catches their eye. A lot of unique geographic features also mean there is a chance of s...
In Space, how can we measure how fast spacecraft is flying?	[ "Don't quote mee but if you are in a ship from earth you would send a signal towards earth and if you already know how fast that signal is, you can calculate how much time for the signal would hit a receiver on earth and get back to you. For example you could send 2 signals to earth one minute between each other, t...
How much info can a website glean from websites open in other browser tabs?	[ "Websites can't see what you're doing in other tabs, as that would be a major browser security issue. However, many websites contain Facebook \"Like\" buttons, or Facebook comments sections. If you're logged in to Facebook (even if you don't have a tab open to Facebook), the Facebook elements on those pages can see...
Why do people think that politicians, and the government, benefit from acts of war? Is there any truth to this?	[ "War is big business. It is the weapons manufacturers that benefit the most. Politicians are influenced by them. Watch the documentary Why We Fight for a better explanation. I believe the whole thing is on YouTube.", "I'll assume US or at least Western:\n\nThe arms industry is big, and makes lots of money making ...
Why is Wikipedia considered an "unreliable" source?	[ "Wikipedia is not a source.\n\nA source is where something is created. Wikipedia just collects information and presents in an easily usable format. None of the Wikipedia contributors create information just for Wikipedia. In fact, it's against the rules of Wikipedia to create information for the site.\n\nIf you'...
Why and how do sideways sails work?	[ "A sail is a lifting body, like a wing. As long as the sail is in the right position it will generate lift; or create lower air pressure on the outside of the sail than the inside. When this happens the sail will, like an airplane wing, move towards the low pressure side. This creates movement, just like it does in...
What would happen if mosquitoes went extinct?	[ "[Nature: 'Ecology: A world without mosquitos'](_URL_0_)\n\n\"Yet in many cases, scientists acknowledge that the ecological scar left by a missing mosquito would heal quickly as the niche was filled by other organisms. Life would continue as before — or even better.\"", "Overpopulation probably (over 50% of all d...
what are the little stars that appear on our vision sometimes?	[ "The retina lines the inside of your eye and is responsible for sensing light. The light sensing part are the photoreceptor cells that send signals through your optic nerve to your brain so you perceive that light.\n\nHowever, these photoreceptor cells can also fire from physical stimulus. The transparent gel-like ...
- why do the bubble in Guinness look like they’re going down?	[ "Actually they do go down. The bubbles in the center of the glass move up, creating a flow of the beer sort of like a hurricane. It’s shaped like a donut and the bubbles on the outside are pulled down and then into the center where they rise and form that awesome creamy beer head.", "To expand on other answers:\n...
How much of an impact does thin air (like in the Mexican Grand Prix) make on an F1 car’s downforce?	[ "The key element here is altitude. The higher you go up in the atmosphere, the less molecules of air you have. A lot of people may not realize this, but Mexico City is actually at a very, very high altitude, 7380 feet according to Wikipedia. So the air at the race track is less-dense than the air at another race tr...
why aren't films released at the same time worldwide?	[ "Part of it might be promotional - they want the actors at press events and on talk shows the week leading up to the release, and they can't be in two countries at once. Also, the films being released any given weekend probably differ in importance from country to country, and film studios take competition into acc...
What is fire and what gives it color?	[ "Fire is what we call the effect we see upon combustion.\n\nCombustion is the release of energy from a substance as heat. This is only one form of energy, and that's why it's possible to have varying intensity of temperature and brilliance, and reactions that give off energy more in, say, the IR spectrum (infrared ...
How did countries determine what voltage to use in their electricity systems?	[ "NA was the first to set up power grids large scale. Europe and everywhere else started later, starting later allowed them to have access to more efficient equipment so 220V was the standard. It's to expensive and a hassle to switch from 120V to 220V so thats what your household is stuck with." ]
- How pliable are our genes to simple short term activities?	[ "The short answer is some of them are very pliable but that the total number of such genes is still unknown.\n\nThis works because genes have a whole suite of elements which form part of the gene but are not directly related to coding for the protein or enzyme that most people think is the usual product of the ...
Why are so many people against the trans pacific partnership?	[ "1) Secrecy. Even though it's in its final draft. No one outside senate can see it.\n\n2) 500 people in 28 workgroups drafted it. 85% of them are corporate executives and lobbyists.\n\n3) It's reported to have a section that allow corporations to sue governments for damages and over turn regulations.\n\n4) Past exp...
if precipitation exists, how can the world run out of water? if rain falls, gets used by us and then flushed or poured out, does it not go somewhere and then dry and then fall as rain again? how is this not infinitely repeatable?	[ "There's a big difference between water and potable water. That's what most people are referring to.\n\nThat and some regions tend to see their moisture fly elsewhere during the water cycle and can be constantly or intermittently quite dry and droughty." ]
What extremists are trying to prove backing their actions with religion?	[ "They aren't backing their actions with religion, that is what the western media does. They clearly state the geopolitical reasons behind their actions (the invasion of Iraq, the assassination of leaders, the occupation of Afghanistan. The 10 year embargo on Iraq that caused at least a million civilian deaths in Ir...
If Israeli citizens cannot enter Saudi Arabia, what happens if an Israeli Muslim wants to visit Mecca?	[ "Jordan will issue temporary passports for Israeli Muslims going on the Hajj. I used to work with someone who did that.", "Know a few Israelis that needed to go to Malaysia for business.\n\nThey got special travel papers.\n\n$$$$$ > > > > religious persecution.", "When I went to Saudi Arabia I found out th...
Christmas music really just seems to be the same 20 or so songs covered by 100s of artists. Why does no one ever release new Christmas songs?	[ "Nostalgia is a big part. [Our buddies over at XKCD point out](_URL_0_) that the big chunk of christmas pop songs came out right then the baby boomers were born, making these tunes part of their childhood.", "Christmas music occupies this weird space in the musical industry. It's all about the songs and the tradi...
How is it that creatures like octopuses don't ever sleep, when humans and other animals can't seem to function without it?	[ "Octopuses do [sleep](_URL_1_) and in fact enter into REM sleep just like mammals.\n\nAlthough scientists haven't identified all the reasons why animals must sleep, we are closer to answers. We know now that part of the reason we sleep is to [clear out waste products](_URL_0_) in the brain." ]
A lifetime supply.	[ "Depending on the product and company a lifetime supply would mean a certain amount each year for so many years. In this case vans which would probably be one pair per year. If the t & c stated 30 years for example it would be a total of 30 pairs in way of a voucher per pair maybe,then that person would give over t...
Why does white bread crisp quicker compared to brown bread when toasted?	[ "It's made mostly from white bleached flour and is generally lighter in both appearance (so the toasted bits show up better) and density than most brown breads. \n\nThe latter are generally coarser and heavier, and have more of the doesn't-burn-so-easily parts of the wheat grain in them like the grain's skin, parti...
Why do Americans refer to the Republican Party as the Grand Old Party, when the Democratic Party is 16 years older?	[ "According to Wikipedia:\n\n > The term \"Grand Old Party\" is a traditional nickname for the Republican Party, and the abbreviation \"GOP\" is a commonly used designation. The term originated in 1875 in the Congressional Record, referring to the party associated with the successful military defense of the Union ...
Why did cell phones used to have external antennas? Why are they no longer needed?	[ "It has a lot to do with the carrier frequency between the towers and your phone. The antenna size is pretty much related to the frequency of the carrier wave that transmits the information. Old phones used stuff close to 900 mhz, systems now a'days use frequencies closer to 1900 mhz which allows for smaller antenn...
The psychology of fake martial arts	[ "It's essentially the same psychology behind a faith healer or any kind of communal magic. It's a low level mass hypnosis. They believe in his ability and thus when he strikes, they \"feel\" it. There will be different levels of belief, but as they see others take the magic punches, whatever belief they already had...
why do we hate rats so much but are indifferent to squirrels?	[ "squirrels aren't trying to get into my house", "Rats invade our space and offer direct competition. Squirrels, though just as much of carrier of pathogens and disease as rats, don't share our area, and don't compete for our food. We're much more likely to get diseases, or be attacked, or loose food to rats.", ...
Why doesn't beer (or any alcoholic beverage) have to have nutrition facts printed on it?	[ "Because Food is regulated by a different governmental agency than alcohol." ]
Why did we evolve to sleep? (or why haven't we evolved to stay awake 24/7)	[ "We don't know exactly why we need to sleep, but it DOES seem essential to brain function. It is not to \"save energy\", brains of almost all animals MUST sleep or do something sleep-like to continue to function.\n\nNote that sleeping is not optional. If an animal loses its home and is forced out, he may be cold,...
Why are we getting less rain as the oceans become hotter and not more?	[ "Who is \"we?\" Some places are getting less rain and some are getting more. Weather isn't one thing.", "Come and spend a week in the UK. If we get anymore rain they'll need to change its name to the Underwater Kingdom. It rains here waaay more than it used to. A month's worth in a day type of thing. I live in Gl...
do animals of the same species use different methods for bringing up their offsprings, just like humans do?	[ "Nearly every animal that raises its young will have its own take on the matter, even if the changes might be relatively small sometimes.\n\nTake cats, for example: One cat may decide the best hiding place to give birth is under the stairs, while another hides under the guest-room bed. One will let them fight it ou...
What is in gasoline that makes cars go and why can’t we make artificial gasoline?	[ "We can and do make artificial gasoline. For example it can be made from coal. But you have to start with some sort of fuel: a hydrocarbon molecule that will give off heat when it combines with oxygen (which we call burning).", "Gasoline is mostly basic light hydrocarbons, 6 to 8 carbons in a chain with a bunch o...
why do so many people dislike rain?	[ "I actually agree with you, OP. I live in NYC, and I really like the way the city looks in the rain. It might have something to do with my name being Storm lol" ]
Why is it painful to move your leg after it goes numb?	[ "I assume you're referring to the pins and needles feeling? \n\nYour foot \"falling asleep\" results in pressure being put on different nerves or blood vessels so electrical impulses/nutrients and oxygen can't be sent to the limb. So when you adjust your position and relieve that pressure, the nerves start to funct...
why does McDonalds coke taste different than all other Coke?	[ "McDonalds dispensed coke is made from a syrup that mixes with carbonated liquid when you activate the dispenser. Sometimes it tastes really off because they're getting to the end of the container of syrup and it's getting weak.", "Two things:\n\n1) Each place sets their own CO2 to syrup ratio, so all places are ...

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