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Why do I get painful bumps on the front of my tounge if I eat something sour or bitter? | [
"The taste buds have become irritated by the acids in the sour food."
] |
why do animals seem so scared by humans but not by other animals | [
"Humans are pretty big, powerful animals. In many areas humans are the largest species in the ecosystem.\n\nOf course there are hyperspecialized death-dealing apex predators that have us beat easily, but most animals are right to be afraid of humans.\n\nWe're huge and loud, if they're not accustomed to human prese... |
What exactly are smelling salts are, and how do they work? | [
"Smelling salts release ammonia (NH3) gas, which irritates the mucous membranes of the nose and lungs, and thereby triggers an inhalation reflex. \n\nSauce: _URL_0_"
] |
Why are bonds with negative yields considered a sign of "investor confidence", and why would anyone buy them? | [
"For the most part, this explanation will ignore the time value of money. \n\nThere is an inverse relationship between price and yield. When people demand bonds, the price on these bonds increases (supply and demand). The price increases and the payments these bonds make stays the same. So, for instance, there were... |
Why do HDDs have multiple disks in a stack when the needle only writes to the top one? | [
"Actually the 'needle' (read write heads to be precise) exists for all the disks in the stack. [Example1](_URL_0_), and [Example2](_URL_1_)",
"A HDD has more then one needle. The needle is actually called a read/write head.\n\nit looks like [this](_URL_2_)\n\nin the picture you can see that it has multiple ends. ... |
What is "austerity" or "austerity measures" as economic policy? When is it effective? When is it ineffective or detrimental? | [
"Governments give stuff to people. This can be anything from a nicely maintained road network, to educational establishments, to healthcare facilities, to free swimming lessons for kids.\n\nAll this has to be paid for out of a budget, and if you don't balance your books - like you and me - you run out of money. If ... |
How can someone be "Over-qualified" for a job? and why do "Over-qualified" people get fired? | [
"If you have a PHD in astrophysics... you're probably not going to be happy flipping burgers or cold calling to sell software.... so why on earth would a company pay tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of dollars to train you for a job you are almost certainly going to leave as soon as you can.",
"Ov... |
how do you Know if someone is a bad Actor or if its the director who is bad? | [
"If a good actor does a bad performance in one movie, he's a good actor with bad direction.\n\nIf an actor does a bad performance in every movie he is in, he's a bad actor.\n\nPersonally I think the best actors are the ones who actually play different characters, instead of themselves in different scenarios, so I p... |
How is depression and anxiety able to alter your appearance and looks exactly? | [
"Speaking from personal experience here, those conditions can have severe damage on having a routine, and they also change how you feel about yourself. \n\n\n\nAnxiety can make you overthink things, lose sleep, and just make it hard in general. Just as an example, imagine me with anxiety, I feel so overwhelmed I fe... |
how is chewing bones good for dogs teeth, and can it benefit humans? | [
"Their teeth are specifically designed to crush softer bones like ribs and vertebrae unlike our teeth. When dogs eat lots of softer foods like commercial dog food their teeth can't get tartar build up on it just like our teeth; gnawing on bones will help scrape the build up off."
] |
How can there be no natural predators for rabbits in Australia? | [
"Rabbits have simply outbred the one major native predator--the dingo and there are few minor predators--the introduced fox also cannot breed fast enough to beat the rabbit--and is also hunted very hard itself by humans because of their preference for lambs rather than rabbits.\n\nAustralian is very sparsely popula... |
The Edison-Tesla Argument | [
"Edison's quite a bit smarter than people give him credit for here, you're right. A lot of the inventions credited to him were products of his research lab, but it's not like he was able to open a lab at the beginning of his career (he didn't come from money) - he had already made a number of inventions by himself ... |
what is dust? How does it get everywhere? | [
"About [1/3](_URL_0_) of dust comes from inorganic stuff in your house breaking down, like carpet fibers. The rest comes from dirt and air particulates you bring in from the outside. There's also a small contribution from organic matter like your skin cells and pet dander."
] |
What is the purpose of the blue tint/film at the top of windshields? | [
"It helps to shade the sun from blinding you as you drive. Think about how sunglasses work except only for certain angles.",
"The sky is brighter than ground, and the difference in brightness causes eyestrain. so some manufacturers tint that portion of the windshield to balance the brightness between the sky and ... |
Why in the u.s. they call some places and restaurants "hole in the wall"? | [
"This phrase has been used since the early 1800s. A 'hole' is an empty space, and a 'wall' is part of a building. So a 'hole in the wall' is a simple, undecorated space in a building.",
"It usually means a small restaurant that you would overlook if you didn't know it was there. Small businesses often can't affor... |
Why do TV stations use "photographer" when referring to their videographer job postings? | [
"TV stations are going to be shooting motion, not stills. Why are you looking at TV station jobs if you want to work at a newspaper?\n\nAnyways, photography doesn't just refer to stills. The head of the camera department on a film production is called the Director of Photography. The period of shooting in a film... |
Why do we feel fear when watching a horror movie even though we know we're not in any kind of danger? | [
"Rational thought is expressed at the prefrontal cortex in the brain, but fear is expressed in the amygdala in the limbic system, a more primal part of the brain. The limbic system is not under conscious control and will automatically activate upon contact with terrifying stimuli, the prefrontal cortex is not able ... |
Why is salary credited in a Bank Statement? | [
"The name comes from double entry accounting's terms for increasing and decreasing an account, and because from the bank's perspective your account is a liability not an asset (which means the debit and credit are reversed from their usual sense--credits increase liabilities while debits decrease them).",
"It's t... |
Why has internet speed increased over the years if the medium of delivery has always been the same? | [
"Mainly because of new methods of compressing data to fit into the limited bandwidth of those copper wires. Also by expanding and bringing high bandwidth fiber networks closer to the home. \n\nI'm getting 100mbps over the same cable I used to watch scrambled porn on when I was a teenager.",
"The medium of deliv... |
Why do most countries have extremely different dialects that cannot be understood by people in the same country while the United States basically has one? | [
"We're freakin' *young*. Those dialects grew up over centuries of isolation. The average person wouldn't go from Edinburgh to London, ever. So you have a long time of relative linguistic isolation.\n\nCompare to the US, where it's been common for a century or so to move from one end of the continent to the other, a... |
Why is "I have nothing to hide" a bad argument against mass surveillance? | [
"Because you shouldn't only be entitled to privacy if you have something to hide.",
"\"I have nothing to hide.\" is an ignorant justification *for* mass surveillance, not an argument against it.\n\nThe U.S. Bill of Rights promise of, \"no unreasonable search or seizures.\" would be an argument *against* mass surv... |
How can a human stomach realistically hold 74 hot dogs and buns? | [
"The stomach is not a stiff organ. Its due to it's elasticity, the material / tissue of the stomach is pretty elastic, allowing it to hold a lot of solids/liquids without \"exploding\" or breaking up. It pretty much acts as a bag.\n\nWithout counting the digestion that \"liquidifies\" aliments and reduces their vol... |
Is it the actual tobacco that is bad for you in cigarettes, or all of the chemicals that are put into the cigarette? | [
"Both; but it is more complicated that.\n\nThe chemicals added are bad.\n\nThe act of breathing smoke into lungs is bad.\n\nNicotine is highly addictive and carcinogenic.",
"Okay first of all, *everything* is a chemical--not just the 'additives'. Yes, chemicals are added to cigarettes, but cigarettes already cont... |
Why do clothes get darker when they're wet? | [
"Your clothes are made out of irregular surfaces, such as tiny fibres. They scatter light easily. Some of the fibres are also translucent, and thus retro-reflect white light. The combination of these factors can make your clothes appear brighter. When your clothes get wet, the water surrounding the fibres acts as o... |
How can every auto-maker say they are "the number one car/truck/suv" in their commercials? | [
"\"Number one\" is vague. Of course they're using some specific category. The F150, for example, is the number one selling truck in the US. Others may use towing capacity or safety ratings or something else.",
"A lot of what they're number one in are qualified statements, suck as \"number one in JD Power and Asso... |
How are scratch cards made? | [
"Do you mean like lottery scratch-off cards?\n\nThe technique is pretty simple. The card is printed and covered with a wax coating. Then a thin layer of latex rubber paint is applied over the scratchable areas. The latex sticks to the wax, but comes off with a fingernail."
] |
Why can't an electric car charge itself while driving? | [
"You can't generate more power than you put into the system. If you take power from the wheels to charge the battery, then you are increasing the resistance in the wheels, you can't simply \"borrow power\" without impacting them. This means you slow them. This means you need to apply more power to make the same tri... |
How do music recognition apps like Shazam work? | [
"The ELI5 answer is that it listens for patterns in volume changes, and then checks those against the volume change patterns in its database of songs. This is why it still works when there's background noise and such. (That's the gist of it; the actual math is crazy complicated and I barely get it msyelf.)",
"F... |
What is an allegory? | [
"It's a story that has a hidden meaning and symbolism that applies to something that happens in the real world.\n\nGeorge Orwell's Animal Farm is about a bunch of abused farm animals who revolt and take over the farm from the humans, and try to run it in a fair way for all animals' benefit. But the administrators (... |
Why, even if I'm dehydrated (not dangerously so), do I still pee a ton when drinking water? Doesn't my body need that? | [
"Part of the reason you need water is to rinse your filters (kidneys) so that stuff doesn't build up in your system. Once that's done, your body will fill up the blood supply.",
"are you aware of that milk and soda are basically water with some fat and/or sugar in it?",
"The body is constantly undergoing multip... |
What happens to your sense of smell after being hit in the nose? | [
"Blood smells metallic to a lot of people. Depending on how hard you've been booped, you'll get a metallic smell, if not a coppery taste too, particularly if you've had a particularly deep conversation with someone else's knuckles.\n\nAlso being schmacked in the schnozz can loosen up the crusties up in your air hol... |
Why have we gotten rid of the $500 bill? | [
"To make smuggling cash 5 times harder. It takes a bigger box to export ill-gotten drug gains, which makes it easier for law enforcement to catch evildoers.\n\nIn 1969 the US government purged all the big bills, $500, $1000, $5000, and $10,000 to fight fraud, drugs, and money laundering.",
"When the decision to ... |
Why is livelihood more expensive in Italy and Spain than in Germany although they have a weaker economy? | [
"You can't just look at a \"strong\" or \"weak\" value system for rating an economy.\n\nWhat might be more useful is looking at the idea of \"uncompetitive\" or \"inefficient\" economies. These sorts of economies could both be weak overall, and have higher consumer prices.\n\nAn economy that is competitive and effi... |
What makes blood types different from one another? How can there be a "universal" type? | [
"So, you've heard all the letters... O, A, B... and you've heard of the plus or minus, the Rh factor.\n\nEveryone's blood can have A or B or both. Or neither. Some people's blood has the Rh factor. Others don't.\n\nSo we start with type \"O\". That simply means there's no A or B. And then, if there's A in the blood... |
How do they create the lines/arrows on football fields for live NFL games? | [
"Well, obviously you already know how you can overlay graphics on top of a still image. Creating an arrow or label on top of a photo isn't so hard, from that perspective. It's the movement and real-time camera sync that's hard. So how do you do it when the image moves and changes constantly?\n\nWell, the cameras po... |
Why is it that the amount of inertia and the strength of gravity are both based on mass? | [
"You have stumbled upon one of the great mystery in physics! There is no known reason why all object with inertia interacts with gravity at the same proportion! Yet all observations demonstrate this.",
"Things with mass inherently have inertia, and that inertia scales directly with changes in mass. Similarly, thi... |
Can someone explain what a "functional" programming language like Objective Caml and F# are? What separates them from other languages? Also: why are they used a lot by financial firms? | [
"There are two core features that pretty much every functional language has: \"referential transparency\" and \"functions as first class citizens\". Here's an explanation of what these two features mean.\n\n##Referential transparency##\n\nThe \"function\" in \"FP\" -- also known as \"functional programming\" -- ref... |
What happens to Debt and other stuff you owe to people when you die? | [
"It generally gets taken out of your estate, if there isn't enough in your estate then the rest will get written off. A family member may only have to keep paying off the debt if they're still mortgage left on the house that's been left to them and they decide to keep it."
] |
What is the piece of equipment that's always suspended from the crane at an inactive construction site (ie, during nighttime)? Why does it have to be suspended? | [
"Thinking this might be a portable generator or welding unit. Usually moved from a tow hitch, would be pretty easy to drive up pop the lock and drive off with it.",
"They suspend anything they think may be stolen. Ladders, generators, small vehicles or other equipment that they not only don't want to transport to... |
Why does the Panama Canal has different gates? What would happen if they just let the water flow? | [
"The Panama canal is not flat. A large section of the canal is an artificial lake that is about 85 ft above sea level. If you were to remove the gates (locks), the water would flood out of the lake and into the oceans",
"The pacific ocean is at a different height than the atlantic. If they just let the water flow... |
How did basic medicine come about? | [
"People died. Before antibiotics, you got an infection and died.\n\nIn ancient Greece, if you stepped on a sharp rock, it got infected and you died.\n\nIn the Civil War, you got your limb amputated, then almost certainly got an infection and died.\n\nWithout modern antibiotics, everything was fatal."
] |
How does the GPA system in US schools work? | [
"Some schools do it differently, but most are on a 4.0 scale (5.0 being the highest you can get on a 4.0 scale). In your classes, you get a letter grade: A, B, C, D, & F, those grades equal a GPA number. Now, many high schools, like mine, did away with the +/- system. \n \nThe GPA:Letter Grade goes like this (u... |
why are people trying to ban e-cigs? | [
"Well, tobacco companies don't want people thinking e-cigs are healthier because it'll cut in to their profits. (Note, I'm using \"healthier\" in a very loose way). If everyone is using e-cigs; then no one will want to buy regular cigarettes. They're just trying to protect thier profits.\n\nAs far as other people; ... |
How can transgendered people have cisgendered identical twins? | [
"When a baby grows inside its mother, it grows according to a recipe (DNA). Depending on how well the recipe is followed, and under what conditions, the results can be everything from the same every time to completely different every time.\n\nTwins have the same DNA, but because they get different treatment in the ... |
Is Adblocker legal? And if so, how? | [
"It's not illegal. They still sent me all the data they intended to - ads included - I just had a script remove advertisements out of that data.\n\nIt's much the same as throwing your junk mail out without looking at it.",
"> isn't cheating someone out of their money like that\n\nHow is it cheating anyone out of ... |
- Subatomic Physics and String Theory | [
"> \"The theory of quantum electrodynamics describes Nature as absurd from the point of view of common sense. And it agrees fully with experiment. So I hope you accept Nature as She is — absurd.\" \n\n-Richard Feynman",
"We're not *sure*, no. But nobody's presented a more elegant theory that's consistent with obs... |
Why do we procrastinate if we know that will usually lead to bad consequences? | [
"Your brain is stupid. Like, really, incredibly, back of the bus type stupid. Not you personally, of course, but the subconscious part of your brain? The one that controls your base instincts and desires? Complete fucking Moron.\n\nHow stupid, you might ask? [It might not realize that Future-You is You.](_URL_... |
I weighed 169.8 lbs before I went to bed. I weighed 168.6 lbs when I woke up. Where did the 1.2 lbs go? | [
"Your metabolism converts sugars + oxygen into carbon dioxide + water + energy. You then breathe out the CO*_2_*, along with some of the H*_2_*O in the form of water vapor, while you sleep.",
"Most of it is probably due to breathing. You lose a surprisingly large amount of water vapour through that route over 7-... |
How would a lemon battery behave/perform if it remained attached to its tree? | [
"The lemon doesn't actually provide the power, rather, it provides an electrolyte for ions to travel through. The power, or rather, the voltage, is determined by the electronegativity of the cathode and anode metals stuck into the lemon - the \"power\" by how much metal there is available to react with. Therefore, ... |
In regards to hills and valleys, what determines whether a roadway will be a tunnel, a cutout, a bridge, or just go with the curve of the land? | [
"Civil Engineer here.\n\nThe biggest factor in determining a tunnel, a cutout, a bridge or following the natural curve of the land has to do with....Geometrics.\n\nRoadway geometrics deals with how a road can handle a vehicle as it speeds along pavement. Ever notice how it feels like you are being shoved to the ri... |
What is being done in the world of science to offset the imposing "antibiotic apocalypse?" | [
"[Here is an article you may want to read](_URL_0_) I'll post a little of the article so my comment doesn't get deleted. \nScientists have come across a potential game-changer in the fight against drug-resistant superbugs - a new class of antibiotic that is resistant to resistance. Not only does the new compound ... |
How do "Reality Shows" like Pawn Stars and Duck Dynasty work? | [
"Never seen Duck Dynasty, but Pawn Stars is definitely scripted.\n\nThey close the pawn shop, and producers find people with cool things. Those people bring their things into the shop, and they talk about them on camera. Sometimes they're really purchased, sometimes they're not.\n\nIt's 99% scripted and planned out... |
Anita Sarkeesian controversy | [
"Anita Sarkeesian is a feminist cultural critic, most well-known for her YouTube channel \"Feminist Frequency.\" Coincidentally, around the time the whole #GamerGate thing was happening, she made a video about women's representation in videogames which brought her into the fray. \n\nLater, when she was going to giv... |
Why is the CIA allowed to black out parts of declassified documents? | [
"The easiest, non-conspiracy way to explain it is simply that the act of removing the information is what allows the documents to become declassified.\n\nFor example, in the sentence:\n\n\"Mr. Ahmed Jones informed us of the super secret password to the al-qaeda clubhouse: pepperoni.\"\n\nThe sentence could be \"dec... |
What is hacking actually, and why are movies still always getting it wrong? | [
"Hacking is basically just getting a piece of software (or hardware) to do something it wasn't meant to do. \n\nWhy movies get it wrong? Because it's not entertaining to show some guys sitting around, trying hours upon hours to find some weakness they can exploit. There's no thrilling \"who can type commands faster... |
Why is my car built to go faster than I can ever legally drive it? | [
"Because a car being pushed to the absolute limits is going to break a hell of a lot faster then one cruising along serenely and well within tolerances.",
"If I build a bar that can support 10 pounds, if you ever go to 11 pounds, or even if you keep 10 pounds on it for too long, that bar's going to bend.\n\nIf I ... |
Why Amazon doesn't care if my friend sends a stone in return instead of actual product? Wouldn't this cost financial loss from their side? | [
"Amazon can drop his account.\n\nOr Amazon can sue him for fraud.\n\nOf, if your friend is returning it through the USPS, that's a federal offense and he can land in the pokey.",
"If he use a single account/adress, amazon probably write it up until there is enough cases to go after a single individual.",
"Amazo... |
Is it true that honey never goes bad? | [
"Honey has so much sugar that osmosis would dehydrate and kill any bacterial cell that found it's way into the jar.\n\nIt also has direct antibacterial properties - _URL_0_",
"I have a jar of bad honey in my house at this very moment. It went bad by fermenting, it would seem, because it smells a little bit like r... |
What are computer specs? What is CPU, GPU, RAM and all that other computer talk and how does it computer? | [
"The important components of a personal computer are the hard drive sometimes called the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or Solid State Drive (SSD), important for storing large volumes of information in a compact manner. The Random Access Memory (RAM), important for taking data from the hard drive and holding it for use by t... |
You are on a game show with a prize behind one of three doors. You choose a door, and the host opens one of the other two doors showing you there isn’t a prize there. You should now change your decision. WHY?! (the most infuriating statistics problem that I still don’t understand) | [
"I'll make the problem really simple for you:\n\nThe door that gets revealed as the \"wrong door\" is always a \"wrong door\".\n\nIf you had originally picked either of the two wrong doors, then switching now would always result in the winning door.\n\nIf you originally picked the winning door, switching will cause... |
How is RAM different from SSD/HDD hard drives? | [
"> The responses got me wondering on how SSD/HDD hard drives are different from RAM.\n\nRAM uses a different technology from a HDD, more similar to an SSD but still very different in operation. The main difference to the end user is that access both reading and writing to RAM is *extremely fast* in comparison to e... |
Does running a shaving razor across a pair of jeans in the opposite direction actually sharpen it? If so, how does it work? | [
"For the edge of knife, imagine a saw with little teeth of metal, but they're not all sticking out in the same direction.\n\n\nRubbing it the right way gradually nudges them all to point along the same line of cutting.\n\n\"Real\" sharpening would be grinding the sides of the saw to make the whole thing thinner.",
... |
Why aren't more bullets pointed instead of rounded? | [
"Virtually all rifle rounds are pointed. This is for high-velocity aerodynamics.\n\nThe only type of bullets that are typically round are handgun bullets, which are generally not as fast as rifle rounds, aren't feasibly accurate to nearly the same ranges, and depend more on squashing and deforming in order to wound... |
how do people know when to put the expiry date on their products? | [
"They perform [stability studies](_URL_0_) to see how temperature, humidity, UV, impacts, abrasions, and other environmental effects degrade their product, and they establish an expiration date based on that. In certain cases there are government regulations that tell them that their expiration dates cannot be lon... |
If oxygen is necessary for combustion, what would happen if you tried to burn a piece of paper, with a laser, while it was inside something like a vacuum chamber with no oxygen present? | [
"It would not burn properly. This is similar to how charcoal is made, actually -- some chemical reactions still happen, but not the main oxygen combustion."
] |
Why do some cheeses taste different depending on how it is served | [
"Pretty much all complex food tastes different in different conditions. Since much of our 'taste' is actually smell, I suspect that a huge amount of it depends on the proportion and composition of the volatile components. (this is certainly true for wines - consider how big of a difference temperature and glass sha... |
Isn't the speed limit of the universe a little bit *below* the speed of light? | [
"> Isn't the speed limit of the universe a little bit *below* the speed of light?\n\nNo. The speed of causality is exactly c. The maximum speed at which information can be transmitted is equal to the speed of light. That's what we mean when we talk about a speed limit in the universe. \n\n > We often think of C a... |
What is happening when I have a deja vu? | [
"Its usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something."
] |
Why does a computer only last at most 4 or 5 years? Why can't a computer last forever? | [
"Computers can last as long as you want them to provided you take care of them. The issue is that computers become obsolete very quickly. Technology advances at a significant pace and computers are built to take advantage of these advances.",
"A PC could last for longer than they generally do, but as I noted in m... |
Why is Adolf Hitler talked more about for his responsibility for the deaths of about 17 million instead of Mao Zedong, who is responsible for about 3 times as many deaths? | [
"Two things: specificity and deliberateness. When the Final Solution was put into action at the height of WWII, it was with a view to wiping out entire classes of people - Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and the disabled, to name a few. The Nazis undertook this work with a level of planning that was unprecedented in hu... |
how does police jurisdiction work? | [
"Police generally cannot enter another jurisdiction with approval from that jurisdiction and perform any police actions.\n\nThis means that if you stab someone in New York City and flee to Miami, New York Police can't just chase you down the East Coast and arrest you. They can put out a warrant for your arrest that... |
Reddit's obsession with John Cena | [
"The majority of the internet has an obsession with John Cena. All of it spawned when a radio show did a prank call or \"phone scam\" telling the person being pranked that they could see the WWE Superslam(Not a real event) and watch John Cena wrestle. There's a video from where it all started, just by looking up \"... |
How do engineers decide what the speed limit should be on any given road/street? | [
"State route speed limits are set by lawmakers, not engineers. Engineers however do set the speed limits for ramps and transition roadways, curvy bits where G forces matter more than speed. When traveling through a curve there's a max G force your vehicle is allowed to take before it becomes unsafe; this is why pos... |
What is an Amplituhedron? | [
"There was a thread [here](_URL_1_) that got some semi-decent answers, OP, if you're still looking.\n\nedit: gonna try to explain it, things seemed to be at too high a level still.\n\nThe math that it's trying to simplify is the math that we use to solve Feynman diagrams, which model particle interactions at a real... |
The difference between exposure, brightness, contrast, ISO & White Balance | [
"I'm seeing lots of good answers but I want to try too.\n\n**Exposure**: This is how affected the sensor/film has been by light. The amount of exposure controls what you'll be able to see in any given shot. \nFor instance, if I take a photo of a building at night I have to choose between a high exposure so that I c... |
how can a woman sue a company for Toxic Shock Syndrome if the warnings are placed on the box as a warning? | [
"You can't just put a warning label on a box and make yourself immune from a lawsuit. \n\nLike, Chevy couldn't design cars that explode randomly and it be fine because they put a sticker on the cars. Hormel can't sell poisonous cans of Spam and have it be fine if they put some words on the can. Walmart can't stock ... |
Why can't we fire Congress and start over? | [
"1) We don't have a proceedure outlined in either the Constitution or other Federal law to enact such a recall election. Only Congress could enact such a law and (big suprise) they aren't keen to do so.\n\n2) Even if we did, given the way that districts have been drawn over the last few decades, it is HIGHLY lik... |
How nuclear weapons could have been dropped and tested in Nevada, without the nuclear fallout or radiation harming civilian populations in the surrounding communities. | [
"they tested them in super remote areas, and before long, they stopped testing them above ground or under water (or space), they would detonate them underground, so the radiation would be contained.\n\nthere is a low level of radiation across the globe that didnt exist before nuclear testing. generally inconsequen... |
This reddit vault thing?! | [
"Originally a redditors Dad bought an old casino (Bill's Casino - there's a Wikipedia article about it too), they found a safe behind a secret wall. He posted to Reddit saying he'd film and take pictures when they opened it and share what was inside. \n\nEveryone got excited, tried guessing what was in the safe - w... |
Howl's Moving Castle | [
"Two countries are in the middle of a war during a steampunk type era. In this same world Wizards and Witches exist and are a part of mainstream society. The evil witch was given powers in the same way that Howl was, via these demons/pixies who appeared once. Howl, among other wizards and witches chose to help ou... |
What is a four wheel drive and how is it different to normal cars? | [
"Most cars are two wheel drive, which means that power from the engine only goes to two of the wheels, either front or back. Four wheel drive means power goes to all four wheels. Think of a car that is suspended above the ground, and when you push the gas, only the powered wheels will spin.\n\n* Front wheel drive: ... |
What are things an average person can do to help fight the global warming? | [
"When you buy appliances, buy energy star. \nUse less heat and air conditioning. \nBike more, drive less. \nPut solar panels on your house (many companies will work a deal with you that involves little money up front). \nIf you get a car, get a hybrid or electric one. \nTurn down your water heater. \nCheck wh... |
Why does rushing water appear white instead of clear? | [
"It's for the same reason that Egg whites are clear until they're beaten, when they become white - it's the addition of air very rapidly being incorporated into the egg whites. Water moving at speed traps air in much the same way as air gets beaten into eggs, causing the water to froth and appear white."
] |
What benefits has space exploration brought to humans? | [
"Memory foam mattresses. Many technologies developed for space exploration have since made it into our daily lives.",
"Your typing on it, dude... (semiconductors were developed to give the lunar program the computational horsepower necessary within the minimal weight and power limits of an interplanetary vehicle)... |
How is there a slow lane and a fast lane on the highway if the speed limit never changes? | [
"Legally, in theory the idea is that not everyone is going to go *exactly* the speed limit. It's the limit-- you can't go over it, but you can go varying degrees under it. So some people will go 65, some will go 60, and the people going 65 need to pass the ones going 60 to avoid congestion.\n\nPractically, everyone... |
How every new movie that comes out can say they are the "Number one" Movie in America | [
"Because of Statistics! Depending on how you want to spin the numbers, or what cohort you're looking for, then you can manipulate the numbers to say anything you want.\n\nAre they the \"Number One Movie\" based on total tickets sold, or tickets solded based on an age demographic, or base on a timeframe, or based o... |
Why do people consider Police to be the problem when camera statistics would seem to point to citizens causing most of the problems? | [
"It could go either way. It could mean that police are less likely to engage in misconduct because everything they do is being monitored. Without the cameras, the police are more likely to be supported because they are seen as doing their job. There are also times when the police initiate the misconduct by intentio... |
why a show like The Flash looks much better on Netflix than it does watching it live on CW with Comcast/Xfinity? | [
"Cable streams are highly compressed and a lot of the quality is lost. When you are streaming from Netflix you are getting a better video feed."
] |
What's the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist? Living in the UK, how does one become either of these? | [
"A psychiatrist has gone through medical school and can prescribe drugs. A psychologist has not gone through medical school, and can not prescribe controlled drugs.",
"In the US, a psychiatrist is a medical doctor who prescribes medication and treats mental illness. A psychologist is not an MD, can't prescribe ... |
Why do ants die when soap is sprayed on them? | [
"I am not an entomologist, but I will give it a shot. Ants are insects and \"breath\" through little holes in their thorax. When they are in rain, it has a high surface tension, so the ant is able to \"separate\" from the water by pushing off the surface of the water droplet (plus the water can't flow as easily t... |
Why do people without a chance of winning, like Donald Trump, run for US President? | [
"Dat publicity.\n\nRunning for president gets your name out there and gets people buying your product, reading your books, and remembering your brand.",
"It's pretty much just an act of self promotion. It gets his name out there, and gives him a platform to publicly talk about his political views. His end goal co... |
Why couldn't Iran's $400M that was returned be sent by bank transfer? | [
"The simple answer to your question is that sending a wire transfer would require the countries involved to have a banking relationship, which the US and Iran do not.\n\nThe Guantanamo checks are sent as a legal formality and have not been cashed by the Cuban government in over fifty years. The checks themselves ar... |
why does streaming something take less bandwidth/data than downloading that same thing? | [
"It doesn't assuming you really are getting the same thing. YouTube and many other video players can reduce quality on the video before transmission, and some may use more compact encoding than some video files, but really streaming is just downloading something in such a way that something can start playing it bef... |
How do copper iuds work? | [
"It's my understanding that they change the ph of the environment making it hostile to sperm and equally unlikely that if a super sperm was able to fertilize, the embryo would be unable to implant and grow due to the changed environment.",
"we don't 100% know. it's well documented that copper is *profoundly* an... |
Is it possible, with enough of a budget surplus, for the US government to "live on the interest" of that surplus? | [
"There are some issues of scale here. Government spending accounts for a huge part of the US GDP (about a third, if memory serves me right). To get enough interest to cover that, you need a huge capital (lets say 7 times the US GDP to get that third at roughly 5% interest). With about 46 trillion in marketable fina... |
Differences between Liquors | [
"Alright, I'm gonna take a shot at this. First of all, alcohol is alcohol. The difference between the different types of drinks has to do with a number of differences that are apparent throughout the process. They include:\n\n* what plant materials are used. I outline the different plants usually used by alcohol be... |
seriously, why in movies are the voices so quiet and the sound effects so loud? | [
"most movies are meant to be played on a 5.1 or 7.1 surround system with a center channel speaker reserved for voice. Most of the voice is channled through that speaker. So if you listen to it with a set of 2 speakers or somtimes headpones the balance is off because all the voice is not seperated.",
"I believe th... |
How long would it take to use 1 GB of data on a cell plan? | [
"That depends on what you view on Reddit.\n\nIf you end up loading threads with a lot of images/videos that you view/watch, it's going to consume more data than just reading text. Also the frequency of how often you navigate to other pages/threads will affect data usage as well (sitting on one page for 10 minutes i... |
Can V8 engines rev higher than V10/V12s? Or is it the other way around? | [
"Decreasing the mass [displacement] of each cylinder allows the crankshaft to move with less inertia.\n\nAs a general rule, \"muscle cars\" tend to have high displacement engines (4 to greater than 6 liters of displacement) which involves bigger and heavier pistons/rods. This reciprocal mass/weight creates more res... |
What makes one photo better than another? | [
"I think this is a very subjective question. What one person may think is an incredible photo others may deem mediocre. It is all in the eye of the beholder."
] |
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