Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
Why were there so many big supporters of eugenics in the early 1900s (e.g., Tesla, Churchill), and what changed from then to now to shift views on the subject?	[ "The main reason eugenics fell out of favor is that the people carrying it out were worse than the people they claimed were sub-human. The things the Nazis did ended up convincing just about everybody that eugenics was something only a crazy person would believe in. \n\nEugenics doesnt purify anything, it only kill...
Why do ultra conservative Christians care so much about gay marriage but don't care about eating shrimp (forbidden in Leviticus 11:10)?	[ "Because Jesus fairly clearly said it was okay, according to the English standard version of the Bible. (Mark 7)\n\n > And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out...
What does the fourth dimension represent? The fifth? The Nth?	[ "They're the coordinates you need to locate an object in a given space.\n\nIf your \"space\" is a line, you only need one coordinate to locate an object in it. Think of a ruler. You can give one number, to locate any point on the ruler. The line is one dimensional.\n\nOne a piece of paper, essentially two dimensio...
How did Pakistan end up with nuclear weapons?	[ "Pakistan got its ass handed to it in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. They ended up having to sign a humiliating surrender, much like Germany post WWI. Pakistan was livid over it, and wanted to put itself in a position where it never had to surrender again, so they invested a lot of money and manpower into maki...
how do you cook them . step by step . ?? thank you i need the help .	[ "I was wondering the same thing just the other day. Hopefully we can find an expert on ." ]
What limits mobile data speed and why?	[ "Alright, this won't be ELI5, but maybe ELI20 or so, but you seem to understand the basics of how we move information through the air, so let's press on. The way that data is moved through the air is through waves, sin waves to be exact. Computers speak binary, so an \"up\" in the wave is a 1, and a \"down\" is a...
Will any wine get better with age?	[ "No most wines you buy are meant to e drank less than 3 years after bought." ]
Why does eating the same food everyday make it taste bad after a while?	[ "Humans are omnivores. That doesn't just mean we can eat a wide variety of foods, it means we must eat a variety. Every evolutionary advance, it seems, is a compromise: in return for being able to eat many foods, our bodies don't produce everything we need - the missing ingredients are vitamins and amino acids...
Why does everyone have to die?	[ "There's a timer in the cells that make up your body called [the Hayflick Limit](_URL_0_). They can only repair and replicate themselves a set number of times. After that they begin to break down, and the larger body parts and organs that your cells make up begin to break down, too: your joints wear away, your skin...
Why Are The Winners of Running Competitions Like Marathons Almost Always From Africa?	[ "The \"Kenyans\" train very hard. They also train at a very high altitude. When they come down to sea level and run with us puny Americans they have an easier time because of how much oxygen they need to accomplish the same thing. Kind of like how sherpas can jog all over Mt Everest." ]
what is the difference between fire and flame?	[ "Fire is generally the state of being, or is the name giving to the entity at large. The tree is on fire. That fire is huge.\n\nFlame refers to the actual \"tendrils\" (for lack of a better word) that combine to create what we see as the fire. Those flames are licking the bottom of the pot." ]
why are latitude lines parallel, but longitudinal lines converge at the polls?	[ "Because it makes the most sense. If you walk east/west, you're only changing longitude, if you walk north/south, you're only changing latitude. If longitude were defined like latitude, only orthogonal, then you'd get really weird results that would be confusing. For example, there'd be some arbitrary line (whereve...
Why do men have an Adam's apple but women don't?	[ "Women do in fact have them, it's just that they become much more pronounced in men after puberty." ]
What is the explanation behind the phrase 'peace is not profitable'?	[ "Countries participating in a war have to free up a tremendous amount of capital to fund the war effort. They divert savings or borrow to build factories, create stockpiles of food and armament for soldiers, mass-produce vehicles, and so on. And funding a war takes a LOT of money, with all of it actually being spen...
Why are some people "mouth breathers" and other people "nose breathers"?	[ "It's more natural for people to breathe through their noses when they are at rest. In about 85% of cases, mouth breathing is caused by blockage in the nasal cavities that prevents people from getting enough air through their noses." ]
How is betting allowed on WrestleMania, when the outcome is predetermined?	[ "The outcome might be predetermined but it is not publicly announced before it happens.\n\nThe people that are betting for and against a certain wrestler are not people that know what the outcome will be, only a few people (the production crew and the wrestlers in this case) will actually know what the outcome will...
What is a TV show's rating an how accurate is it?? ELI5 please	[ "It's an estimate of how many people watched it. In the US they're done by a company called Nielsen which either gets people to keep diaries of what they watched or installs a device that connects to your TV and automatically reports back.\n\nIt's about as accurate as you expect considering they survey 0.02% of fam...
Those "fundraisers" that have grade school kids running around selling a company's products door to door. Are they technically legal? If so, why?	[ "Of course they're legal, though I believe (if I remember from the days of being a kid) your parents had to sign a consent form; I might be wrong. These fundraisers are often part of a sale of things like Girl Scout cookies, magazines, candy bars and other little stuff. The products are over priced intentionally ...
What was so good about the 'good' old days?	[ "People tend to be nostalgic and look back on the past with rose tinted glasses; forgetting bad events or remembering them more fondly than at the time they took place. When something is in the past and not going to happen again or cause you any problems in the future it is much easier to look back on it with a hap...
What 'tracking' does on a VCR?	[ "Such a retro question!\n\nVCRs use reel to reel technology. So tape goes from one wheel, through a reader head, and into another wheel.\n\nThat reader head has to very carefully line up with the VCR tape in a particular way. In a VCR, the head actually reads diagonally. This diagonal innovation is what got VCR to ...
How did the whole microchip credit card thing start?	[ "For under $100, you can buy a device that will write a credit card number to the magstrip on a card. There is virtually zero security involved there. It was also becoming increasingly common for criminals to place \"skimmers\" - devices that would capture the number of cards run through it - on ATMs & gas pu...
Why does air cool when it's pressure decreases? (Conversely, why does air heat up when it's pressure increases?)	[ "Temperature is caused by atoms and molecules whizzing around and hitting off each other. The more collisions, the higher the temperature. If you hold a finite volume of air in a container (say 1 mole, a unit of measurement for atoms and molecules) and change the size of the container, that effects whether the mole...
Why do we all perceive time going in the same direction?	[ "There is a concept in physics called the [Arrow of Time](_URL_0_). This is basically the fact that time seems to only flow in one direction, despite the fact that on the smallest scales physics should be independent of the direction in which time flows. However, the reason why this is the case is an outstanding un...
What do people mean when they say a singular sperm contains 35MB of data and how did somebody figure this out?	[ "Because a sperm cell contains data in the form of DNA. All cells (except some weird ones like red blood cells) contain DNA. DNA is a code of four base units in groups of 3 in various combinations. A section of a string of DNA might say GGGAAACCC which is GGG, AAA, and CCC, which would correspond to three different...
What's the difference in meaning of the word "liberal" as in 1) Liberal Democracy and 2) Liberal political candidate?	[ "'Liberalism' is basically broken down into two broad schools of thought. \"Social liberalism\" is basically what most people think of as \"left-wing\", whereas \"classical liberalism\" is something closer to libertarianism. \n\nThis explains the difference. Some conservatives embrace aspects of classical liberalis...
Why is music emotionally moving?	[ "Many things in life can make you feel strong emotions. Your brain has been meticulously forged by evolution to emote to different events in order to keep you alive. \n\nAlso, you have been exposed to music throughout your life, and like a dog who learned to salivate when a bell is ringed before the serving of a de...
If USPS postman doesn't ask for my sign and drops off package, what's stopping someone from ordering expensive stuff from amazon and claiming it never arrived ?	[ "The shipper decides if a signature is needed. I have delivered $5 items requiring a signature and also left $2000 items on a porch when the shipper did not require proof of delivery. \n\nSource: Ex FedEx driver", "Nothing. People have done this to amazon,specifically.they generally just budget for it as a price ...
Why do muscle injuries hurt a little on the day of the injury, but are unbearable the next day? Isn't sleep supposed to heal? (Graph Provided for Visual Aid)	[ "I will attempt to give a loose description of what, I think, is most likely the case.\n\nWhen your body experiences trauma, whether blunt, sharp, increased or strenuous exercise not previously conditioned into by the body or any form of inflammation, whether caused by a bacteria, virus, parasite or fungi, the body...
What's the big deal with electric vehicles? Doesn't coal still have to burn somewhere to provide the electricity to charge the car, which means that they're still releasing CO2 into the air?	[ "The coal plant is more efficient and more cost effective than a car engine at producing power and scrubbing pollutants.", "Far more CO2 is emitted from your inefficient combustion engine in your car than from a coal plant in the process of producing enough electricity to power your neighbors electric car.\n\nCoa...
How do planets 'float' in space?	[ "They don't. There is no up or down in space, so if you put something there it will just stay there, it doesn't need to float.\n\nHowever anything with mass is pulling everything else with mass towards it. This is the force of gravity, which is why we are pulled towards the center of the Earth. And also the Earth i...
What would happen realistically if North Korea invaded South Korea?	[ "they would lose, after completely destroying the country. The first wave of rocket fire would be devastating. It would last as long as it takes for NATO to get in position.", "Regarding the comment that their military \"is not big enough\" to do that: they do have a sizable military. It's smaller than South Ko...
Fake torrents with thousands of seeds and leeches	[ "People can purchase seeds for their torrents, which leads to many leechers thinking it's real." ]
[meta] Can we put a note about the trillion-dollar coin in the sidebar?	[ "Not specifically the trillion dollar coin, but a common question section would be good. There also needs to be much, much more moderation. If someone asks a repeat question that has been asked this often or if someone asks a question that isn't coherent enough to answer it should be deleted.", "We're working on ...
How and why did "I have to" come into existence in English as a substitute for "I need to?"	[ "The earliest meaning of \"to have\" was \"to grasp\", way back, before English even existed. From there it took on many more functions. First, it started meaning \"to own\", which was not too far from it's original meaning. Then, it became an auxiliary (helping) verb: \"I have seen him\". This happened in Old Engl...
Would our perception of time change if we were many times larger (100x, 150x) than we are today?	[ "Yes, probably. Larger animals in general perceive time more slowly, as it takes longer for any impulse to cross their larger nervous systems. That's why it's so hard to catch or swat flies; to them, you're moving in slow-motion.\n\n_URL_0_" ]
Microeconomics.	[ "Say you have 20 people who like ice cream by a varying amount. Person #1 is willing to pay $1 for a cone, person #2 is willing to pay $2 a cone because he likes it a bit more, person #3 is willing to pay $3 a cone because he likes it even more, all the way up to person #10 is willing to pay $10 a cone because he ...
Why does getting hit/shot/stabbed/any other type of injury, in the arm hurt less or seems to hurt less than anywhere else on the body?	[ "TV is not reality. It hurts like a motherfucker.", "I am assuming this trope is used in movies because it allows the main character to get shot etc in a place where there isn't too much of a risk for damage ( relative to your guys anyways, any gunshot has the possibility of death or any number of nasty infectio...
Why do people create computer viruses?	[ "Short answer: they (usually) want to make money. Some of them have bigger fish to fry. Depends. Warning: The ELI5 explanation may not make sense at some points.\n\nQuick terminology guide: \n\nmalware = all-encompassing term for viruses, adware, scareware, rootkits, anything that wants to inconvenience you. I ...
Why do we (usually) sleep better in hotels or other people's beds?	[ "This is probably anecdotal and it varies from person to person. Personally I sleep much worse in any other bed than my own. You might want to check if your mattress/bed is of poor quality and look into investing into quality ones, sleeping well is important. Also it might be psychological, maybe you have some issu...
Why do they tell you to take birth control for a week to be protected, when at the end of the month you take plaecbos. Why don't you have to wait a week into the next month to be protected also?	[ "Found online:\n\nWhen you menstruate, it's because the egg released by the ovary either wasn't fertilized, or was fertilized but did not implant in the uterus, so your endometrium which has built up from all of those directives, to prepare for a fertilized egg implanting, then sloughs itself off. That's what your ...
Why is it that over time reposted images become smaller and blurrier?	[ "Many websites don't initially display the full image, but a downscaled version of it that you need to view in full resolution by clicking it or opening it in a new window. They do this to reduce unnecessary traffic, for example when people look at it on mobile devices that wouldn't be able to display the full pict...
What is the Internet of Things?	[ "It's where everything you own would be connected to the internet. For instance your fridge or your fruit bowl. Each device would behave differently and post data to the internet. For instance your fridge would relay its temperature and allow you to adjust it. Maybe your fruit bowl would send you a text when there'...
Is gravity's effects instantaneous, or does its influence take time to reach an object, like light does?	[ "Gravitons move at the speed of light. Gravity is not instant." ]
Why can't I do my taxes like I am a business?	[ "The standard deduction, personal exemptions, and progressive tax brackets should accomplish the same goal, without the book keeping effort. That is, you don't pay federal income taxes until you are making above sustenance level of income, and taxes increase as you are more able to pay those taxes." ]
If there are so much garbage orbiting the earth such that they collide with each other, how come view of sky is not changed since 20 years?	[ "There are a huge amount of space junk orbiting the earth. \nAccording to ESA 2013\n > 29,000 - for sizes larger than 10 cm\n\n > 670,000 - for sizes larger than 1 cm\n\n > More than 170 million - for sizes larger than 1 mm.\n\nBut the volume they are in are enormous. If you look at a graph at _URL_1_ there are les...
Why isn't beer sold in plastic bottles, like soda?	[ "_URL_0_\n\nAlso, plenty of sporting events and concerts sell beer in plastic bottles so drunk people don't throw glass bottles at each other." ]
Are the arguments for racial differences in intelligence, such as proposed by the 1994 book 'The Bell Curve', strong or weak?	[ "Current theory is less about racial differences and more about socio-economic differences. Poorer groups with less focus on education tend to perform worse on IQ tests than wealthier groups with more focus on education (over the past few generations). \n\nOf course, the current theory is largely biased away from c...
How do planetary gears work?	[ "[This is a good concise animation of the whole thing](_URL_1_). The orange on in the middle is the sun gear. the three greenish ones in the middle are the planet gears and the outer ring is the ring gear. The sun and ring gears are the inputs and outputs, it does not matter which one but only those two can be conn...
Why do so many types of pills result in dry-mouth?	[ "A lot of medications have anticholinergic effects, that is, they block the receptors for acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that induces salivation. Anything that stimulates adrenalin receptors might cause the same effect too", "Is this similar to the effects marijuana has with the common \"dry mouth\"?" ]
When can you carry something heavy why do you always only 'just make it'?	[ "For the same reason you always have to pee more the closer you get to a bathroom when you really have to go. Your mind sets limits and your body reacts to those limits." ]
Why are movies rated PG-13, but TV shows rated TV-14 in the US? Why do they increase the age by 1 for TV shows?	[ "The film ratings system is administered by the Motion Picture Association of America, while television content ratings are governed by the Federal Communications Committee. Other than that there really isn't a reason.", "The only thing I can assume is that it's because the ratings are by different companies, the...
How does electricity get converted to movement in machines?	[ "Magnets.\n\nIf you coil wire around a piece of metal and apply electricity, you make an electromagnet. If you also have a regular magnet nearby, you can get them to pull together.\n\nIf you also set this up in a cycle, you can keep applying electricity and pulling to the next magnet, and create a motor." ]
How do musicians sample older songs?	[ "There are many ways to do this, but procuring original individual tracks is not one of them. I'm not going to type a novel here, but EQ, filters, and other effects are commonly used.", "EQ and Filters to cut out as much of the non-voice frequencies if you're a hobbiest. DJs subscribe to certain organizations whi...
Why do companies price things at $4.99 instead of $5.00?	[ "Psychologically 4 is less than 5. Since we read left to right, we see the 4 first and automatically associate it as being less than 5." ]
How come Americans have large portion sizes and relatively cheap prices for their food?	[ "When you go to a restaurant, you pay for the service first, then for the actual food. As a rule of thumb, the ingredients usually make up only 1/4 to 1/3 of the costs. Additionally, the work of preparing a dish twice as large usually isn't twice as much for the chef.\n\nSo it comes down to the customer's expectati...
Why would the Eurozone collapsing be a bad thing. Can't they all just go back to their own currencies?	[ "Depends on your timeframe.\n\nIf you are talking about the long term consequences, like hundreds of years, then yes, of course, the countries can go back to their old currencies and they will adjust to whatver pros and cons that arrangement has.\n\nHowever if you are talking about time scales important to people a...
Rearranging formulas/equations while following BEDMAS	[ "A common issue is when multiplying or dividing, people tend to forget to apply to all terms in the equation.\n\nAn Algebra 1 example would be like this:\n\n > 3x + 5 = 24\n\nYou might think to do this:\n\n > x + 5 = 8\n\nthinking that you \"divided both sides by 3.\" But in that case, you forgot the 5.\n\nSo...
Does drinking water actually have a flavor?	[ "If they were all pure H2O, they would taste the same. However, water from different sources have different chemicals and minerals in them - it's not \"just\" water by a long shot. Different bottlers, different municipalities and other water sources all have different kinds and amounts of impurities that affect the...
When repaving a road, why do they skip the overpass?	[ "I don't think they can pave continuously because of the expansion joints.", "Its also has to do with weight. The amount of load the road is guaranteed at. Over time additional layers of repave would significantly reduce clearance heights both above and below the bridge.", "I don't know how much is true about ...
What is Matroid Theory?	[ "It is like matrix on steroids. Matrices are studied in linear algebra and they are easy because they have a well understood structure with straightforward consequences. Matrices are are hard because such said rules are still much more abstract that what you see in high school or basic calculus. Matroids are like m...
why can't blood from organ transplant patients be accepted for donation?	[ "According to [this](_URL_0_) you just have to wait a year to donate blood. I'm guessing it is because of anti-rejection medication. Also says no brain transplant stuff because of prions." ]
How do induction cooktops stay cool to the touch but still effectively heat pans?	[ "I can try to make it simpler. When you have a piece of metal moving through a magnetic field (or a moving magnetic field with a stationary piece of metal. it doesn't really matter honestly, something in the system just has to be moving), because the metal is moving through the magnetic field, and electrons have el...
Cantor's continuum Hypothesis	[ "This answer is pretty lengthy and slightly technical, but it does not assume much prior understanding of mathematics. There's an abundance of wrong or misleading answers to mathematics questions on /r/explainlikeimfive, and I want to instead provide one that does the question justice. Maybe this answer is worse th...
Why is gold worth so much?	[ "For most of history, gold was the densest substance known. So when it came to making money, gold was the natural choice. Anything you might try to adulterate a gold coin with would make it lighter, so you could instantly know it was a fake just by weighing it. Gold provided a degree of security that no other me...
Why do we lose balance when we're standing on something compared to just standing on the floor	[ "Your balance can be affected by many senses. You do use your eyesight in part when trying to balance. Just seeing that you are on an object will have you subconsciously determine that you need to focus on balancing which can throw you off." ]
Why are Swiss bank accounts always mentioned when pursuing (in movies and in real life) supposedly corrupt individuals? Why are they usually tied in with large amounts of money that has been illegally obtained? Why are they the rich, corrupt individuals bank of choice?	[ "Laws in Switzerland mean banks do not have to give personal information to police or government upon request. So a lot of criminals put their illegally made money into a Swiss bank account knowing the Police will never be able to find out who owns the account or how much money is in it or where the money came from...
I'm sufffering, first world drama style, from the common cold. Please ELI5 the epic battle between the virus and my immune system.	[ "First, the virus enters the cells in your body. Then it uses all the machinery in the cell to make more viruses. Then it pops the cell to release all the new viruses. This is not healthy. ~~Rinse and~~ repeat.\n\nAt some point your body realizes this is happening. Its usual response is to raise your temperature, g...
I have $20 to spend this month of food, can I get the proper nutrition?	[ "This has been deleted because it is not asking for a concept to be explained. I'd recommend /r/frugal for this question, but r/answers or /r/askreddit may be able to help too. Thanks." ]
Why does nearly everyone hate the sound of their own voice when they hear it?	[ "Sorry mate but:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nDon't want be a jerk but I kinda posted it earlier. And by the looks of it you reposted it. No offense though." ]
How to ophthalmic emulsifiers work?	[ "If you leave a bowl of water on your kitchen counter for a few days it will dry up (water evaporation). Similarly, your eyes will dry up faster if you only had water on them. To prevent that, your eyes has a thin layer of lipids (like oil) that reduces water evaporation. Certain eyedrops (refresh endura, systane b...
Why does the U.S. support a dictatorial government in Yemen (a country under sharia law), denouncing the rebels, but has the exact opposite stance in Syria?	[ "Because every geopolitical move America makes is based on either money, or power. Ideals dont even factor. If your totalitarian dictator supports American hegemony, he will get weapons and support, if your democratically elected secular government challenges us or sides with a rival, all of a sudden rebel separati...
Moore's Law - Does computing power really double every 18 months? Will this ever plateau out?	[ "\"Moore's Law\" is actually just an observation of a historical trend - the density of transistors tends to grow exponentially, doubling every 18 months. This tends to translate to more transistors and, when coupled with improvements in clock speeds, lead to exponential increases in CPU power throughout the 80s...
If a person was shrunk down to fit in the palm of one's hand, would their voice become high-pitched like in it does in movies?	[ "I would imagine so. Itty bitty vocal folds and all that.\n\nTo quote from [Wikipedia](_URL_0_):\n\n The perceived pitch of a person's voice is determined by a number of different factors, most importantly the fundamental frequency of the sound generated by the larynx. The fundamental frequency is influenced by the...
What's the difference between a battery pack in series and a battery pack in parallel?( Please forgive my stupidity)	[ "A cell has 2 properties, voltage and current. \n\nHaving multiple cells in series increases the voltage provided by the battery but doesn't effect the current. \n\nHaving multiple cells in parallel increases the current provided by the battery but doesn't change the voltage." ]
Why are personal aircraft so expensive? Is it parts/construction or is it because it's a luxury item?	[ "A few reasons, the main one being FAA certification and relatively low volume. Similar to like how all cars must be crash tested on the road and how safety items on your car must have NHTSA certification all the expensive parts of an airplane who's failure could lead to a crash require FAA certification. This is...
How is PewDiePie so widely popular, despite many people claiming to hate him?	[ "He appeals mostly to a younger demographic than you probably associate with. There are a fuckton of 13 year olds on Earth so Pewdiepie can have huge viewership while still being hated by everyone over 21 (which isn't even the case).", "He running the You Tube game-streaming equivalent of a kids show. Adults who...
Kidney stones and how to avoid them.	[ "Kidney stones can be caused from a variety of factors including genetic disorders, infections, electrolyte imbalance, medications, pregnancy etc.\n\nBut the most common kidney stone is created from calcium oxalate. This occurs when a high amount of calcium and oxalate are secreted by the kidneys into the urinary s...
Why do a lot of the elderly wear pastel/beige colours ?	[ "The elderly generally aren't clothes-horses like us when we are younger because they don't have to go to work or social events every day. So they generally have less selection in their clothes.\n\nPastels and beiges are a somewhat bright and cheery and clean-looking but not over-the-top way of comfortably dressing...
Why do we grab our heads when something goes wrong?	[ "It's body language. It's the same reason you may cross your arms when angry or scratch your chin when in deep thought. Humans move their bodies when communicating because it helps \"ease the mental effort when communication is difficult\", but I don't have a source for that. \n\nIn fact, there are even some that s...
How can Disney celebrate 100 years of magic if the company started in 1923?	[ "Fun answer: Because magic.\n \nReal answer: [Because they started celebrating in 2001.](_URL_0_)\n \nAin't no party like a Disney party, because a Disney party is contractually obligated to never end.", "Because Walt Disney was born in 1901 and there've been celebrating '100 Years of Magic' since 2001.", "The...
Why are humans completely dependent on their guardians for so long?	[ "If evolution could, it would have. However, nothing is free and when our ancestors evolved to have larger brains, sacrifices had to be made as life does not have unlimited resources to work with. \nHumans are born relatively under developed as our brains required more room, but our way of life meant that we walked...
Why do dogs use their back foot to scratch their ear instead of their front foot?	[ "Several reasons:\n\nTorque. Back legs on quadrupedal animals like dogs are very strong, as they're used to push off during a sprint. The back leg can scratch harder than front legs. \n\nAngle. Most dogs can barely get their front paws over their snout, making putting them places like behind their head out of the q...
what's the deal with the Holy trinity? Why is it still monotheistic?	[ "The Trinity distinguishes between persons and beings, or in layman terms one what and three who's.\n\nGod is one what (being) with three who's (persons). Each person is 100% God, co-equal (of equal power) and co-eternal (having existed forever). One person is not 1/3 of God because God is infinite and it is imposs...
Why is it that in the 1900s and up into the early 2000s there were a lot of bands that were "number one" for years at a time but now there are seemingly more one hit wonders.	[ "I love this question. It's common and is a great example of people asking the WRONG question. Bare with me while we \"tumble down the rabbit hole\"\n\nWhat if I told you most of the iconic singers and bands of the previous century never actually topped any charts.\n\nLet's use the beatles, as you brought them up. ...
Why is black and white considered as "no color"?	[ "Cameras were not filming in the black and white colors, they where basically filming the absence or presence of light.\n\nNo color could be said as no definable color, as in it shows all or none of the colors, but not a distinctive color from the light spectrum.", "In additive color, such as visible light, black...
Why does Universal Studios theme parks have "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" when Harry Potter is produced by Warner Brothers? What kind of deals had to happen here to deal with trademarks etc?	[ "WB owns the film rights. The IP belongs to JK Rowling. Rowling originally went to Disney to add the Harry Potter park to Disney's parks. But Disney didn't want to give Rowling as much say in the park creation as she wanted. Universal did, so they got the park.", "Universal has always negotiated with other compan...
Why is it so easy to fall asleep in upright position in a brightly lit lecture hall?	[ "Going because you have to as opposed to wanting to / Hungover / Sleep deprived / Droning voice going on and on and on / Uninteresting subject\n\npick and choose out of any of those. It's possible to sleep in an upright position in almost any circumstance. Just don't fall asleep resting on your raised arm/hand. Bad...
How is MERS spread, why should we be worried about it, and how can we prevent ourselves from contacting it?	[ "I'm coming bback to Korea in August and i've been hearing about the MERS thing. Made me a wee bit nervous" ]
What does it really mean when a famous person/public figure gets an "honorary doctorate?" Is it actually worth anything, or just a kind gesture?	[ "It's only meant to be a gesture. Universities generally note that the recipient can add the letters after their name, but should not use the title Dr. except in interactions with the school that granted the degree. Most honorary degrees are specially titled along the lines of LL.D (Doctor of Laws) or Sc.D. (Doctor...
Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if nobody voted this election?	[ "Then democracy would lose. If the public was able to send a message that strong to the government then I think they'd focus on reforming our political system.\n\nOr Donald Trump would just buy his way into office." ]
Why don't downloaded games, burnt to DVDs work on the Xbox 360 etc?	[ "Xbox games have a special key and protection mechanism burnt onto the discs that only the xbox disc drive can unlock.\n\nA random burnt dvd will not pass this test.\n\nELI5: Xbox does a handshake with the disc before it will load a game.", "I'm struggling to find the article, but I think I read that old play...
How do you Depressurize a compartment, say you're in space and you want to go outside without losing all your precious air.	[ "You suit up enter the air lock seal it, then you pump the air that's in the airlock into a tank so you're in vacuum, then you open the outer doors. Once you are back from spacewalk, seal outer door. Slowly empty holding tank to repressurize the air lock, the open inner door." ]
in regards to Pluto, what is an "active surface"?	[ "If you think about the moon, it has no geological activity. There aren't volcanoes that reshape the surface and there's no real atmosphere that is capable of depositing/moving materials around the surface. The moon doesn't really change or go through any sort of cycles like seasons. The moon is not dynamic. It doe...
Why is Ireland not united? And do most Irish want it to be?	[ "There has been about 100 years of fighting over this very question.\n\nVery simplified history here: \n\nNorthern Ireland was created in 1921 after an uprising of Irish Republicans lead to a peace treaty between Ireland and the UK which partitioned the country between the Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ir...
Why does the game show Jeopardy require the answer in the form of a question when the game show is clearly concerned about the factual knowledge?	[ "It dates back to the quiz show scandals that had rocked the game show world previously (the shows had been picking charismatic winners by feeding favorable candidates the answers). This was a big enough scandal that TV executives were subject to Congressional hearings and very embarrassing. Jeopardy was the fir...
how does pumping your legs on a swing help build momentum?	[ "The reason why you pump your legs delves very deep into several areas of physics, which makes it all the more amazing that little kids use this trick seemingly intuitive.\n\nTo preface, it's not _only_ the leg pumping that gets you higher on the swing. You pump your legs forward _and_ move your upper body backward...
Why people are so upset that Ford is switching the body material of the F-150 to aluminum from steel	[ "Ford is using high strength aluminum alloys and not just aluminum for their trucks. Competitors will muddy the waters by leaving it at \"aluminum\" to claim strength superiority over Ford in the consumers eyes. These alloys can be stronger and more durable than their steel counterparts in the automotive industry...
How can YouTube channels that post music, make money by posting someone else's song on their channel?	[ "Maybe : \n\n - they asked for permission.\n - they take down the video if the author ask.\n - they are sharing the money with the author.\n - the author doesn't care. Free advertisement.\n\nCould be any of those." ]
Why is Random Number Generation so important for IT security?	[ "I'm thinking of an ATM PIN. What number am I thinking of? \n\nIf you can guess it, you can access my checking account. It's like guessing a password. If I use a system to generate my ATM PIN that seems random, but can actually be reproduced (like taking my birthday and scrambling the order of the digits), someone ...
Leverage (in regards to finance)	[ "Leverage is borrowing money. Borrowed money in finance is normally used to put it to more productive uses (profit, in part, comes from the difference in returns between what you used the borrowed money to produce and the cost of borrowing it). \n\nMore leverage means more profits (but also more risk that a chang...

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