Split (3)

train · 273k rows

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How does COPS choose individual officers to film with. It seems like they always have the most interesting situations to deal with.	[ "I'd be willing to bet they follow a lot of officers around and just cherry pick the best incidences to show on tv" ]
the stock market	[ "Publicly traded companies sell stock, which is little pieces of ownership, a 'share'. The various stock markets are exchanges where brokers buy and sell stock shares, on the behalf of individuals or organizations. Stock prices rise and fall based on various factors. Supply and demand is a big deal. If a stock ...
Anonymous sources the News Agencies always quote, High Level officer inside who gives info. Who are these guys? Are they paid by the News agencies? Isn't illegal to leak info?	[ "It's only illegal to leak classified information. It's rarely classified information being leaked.\n\nOften, these \"leaks\" are from the agency itself, when it wants to get information out there but not be tied to it. For example, someone might give a quote to a reporter and tell them that they can't use his na...
Can someone explain the difference between communism and socialism?	[ "Communism is essentially a subset of Socialism, which originated mostly from Marx's \"Communist Manifesto\".\n\nSocialism is the idea that the government should have a stake in the economy, in people's welfare and livelihood, etc. Communism takes it a step farther to attempt to create a classless society based on ...
What does does the polarity refer to in a molecule?	[ "Basically a molecule consists of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons have a positive charge, neutrons have no charge, and electrons have a negative charge. The electrons have some freedom in where they go. At any given moment, the electrons can be more on one side of the molecule than the other. This can...
Why do animals learn basic life skills (walking, eating real food, etc) really fast compared to humans?	[ "It was an evolutionary trade-off. Our large brains helped us survive, but they made child birth difficult. As skull sized increased, either babies had to be born earlier with fewer initial abilities or the mothers had to have larger hips. The larger hips made it more difficult to run upright and thus survive, so o...
Why do I wake up extremely tired, but go to bed wide awake?	[ "I've been asking this question ever since I was a child. It makes no sense that our society would run on a system that puts us to sleep when we are awake and forces us to wake up when we are still tired.", "You are waking up in the middle of your REM cycle and not winding down for sleep. Adjust your alarm in 15...
How did Singapore turned into a 1st world country from a 3rd so quickly given that it is smaller and has less resources compared to other 3rd world countries in the past	[ "Contrary to other answers here, when Singapore gained independence in 1965, it was indeed considered a \"third world\" country. It had no resources to speak of, and a population without a culture of modernization. In fact, its first Prime Minister wrote a book about its success called \"From Third World to First.\...
What it means when the PSI pressure of water gets too low that causes a water boil order?	[ "A property of any liquid is its vapor pressure, the tendency of it to jump to the vapor phase at its surface, to evaporate. Different liquids have different vapor pressures. We all have experience with this whether we know it or not.\n\nWipe a little room temperature water on the back of your hand and it will feel...
If the technology were to come about where you "insert your consciousness into a computer program" in order to live forever; it wouldn't actually be you right? Rather it would just be a copy?	[ "Basically what such a machine would do (hypothetically) is read what's in your brain and encode it in software. You're correct that it would not be the consciousness currently mediated by your human body.\n\nWhen you download something, you're not taking a physical object from somewhere and moving it to your hard ...
How did the character X become associated with "no" and closing windows, etc.?	[ "Since you put 'closing windows' - I'm going to move closer to the tech side of it. As for the origin of the check mark and cross... well that's a long story. \n\nIn MS-DOS, the original Disk Operating System for Microsoft, to get out of a program you always had to EXIT... whether it was type exit (or Quit, but mos...
How is Earth so advanced compared to anything else we've discovered in the universe?	[ "We haven't yet discovered other living worlds, let alone other worlds inhabited by technological species, so we have no basis of comparison to say whether Earth is \"advanced\". It's entirely possible that we're very backward, that all the life we see here pales in comparison to the complexity of life somewhere e...
The effects of Greece pulling out of the Eurozone for both Greece itself and the rest of us left within.	[ "The effect on the other Eurozone countries is the million dollar question everyone is worried about.\n\nMost likely what would happen is similar to the financial crisis of 2008 but much worse, where the exit of Greece would make people would panic and look to see if countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy (+ I...
Why does zodiac astrology work or not work?	[ "Because there is no scientific or medical theory that says everyone who is born the same time of the year over different years will display the same characteristics or have similar experiences. No theory even comes close to explaining why that would happen.", "Astrology works from time to time due to the predict...
Why would Greenpeace damage a World Heritage site like the Nazca lines?	[ "Because they are idiots with grand ideas.\n\nThe area is off-limits because it's easy to make permanent marks to the ground, and the group didn't realize that prancing all over the place could cause harm to the site.", "Because a good portion of Greenpeace 'activists' are merely Rent-A-Crowd idiots who crave att...
Do A-sexuals enjoy sex?	[ "It really depends on the individual. Asexual people present in many different likes/dislikes/tolerances. You may wish to take a look at the asexual reddit: \n/r/asexuality", "She might be. Some asexuals (it's not hyphenated) enjoy the feelings that come with sex, but just feel no sexual attraction, and have no r...
Can you 'cook' pasta in cold water? Otherwise why do you need hot water to cook pasta?	[ "Dried pasta out of a box, or fresh-made pasta?\n\nDried pasta is cooked already. So yes, you can just soak it in cold water and it'll be fine.\n\nFresh pasta is dough. It's raw, and you need to cook it. Eating it would be like eating raw bread dough." ]
The Federal Reserve and why some people think it will be better if it's eliminated.	[ "The Federal Reserve is basically the National Bank of the United States. We used to have an actual \"Bank of the United States\", until Andrew Jackson decided banks were evil and shut it down (Apparently, he was part of the hipster \"Occupy the 1820s\" movement).\n\nThe Federal Reserve works by loaning money to ot...
How do I start getting into the stock market?	[ "To do it, you need to open an account with a broker. There are quite a few: Schwab, Fidelity, E*Trade, etc. Just google \"stock broker\". You'll have to find a way to give them money, such as direct transfer from your bank account, sending them a check, etc. Keep in mind that they generally charge you for each...
Why are the recommended daily allowances for alcohol different for men and women?	[ "It is based on the difference in body mass.\n\nWomen tend to be smaller than men and thus the recommendation is no more than 2-3 units for women and 3-4 units for men.", "In addition to the first comment, women also typically have more fat vs. water in their bodies. Ethanol is water soluable, so a man has more w...
Why do muscles randomly twitch when you're not moving?	[ "I think it's something like your brain sending a \"ping\" to your body to check if you're still alive.\n\nIt's often happens just before you fell asleep (for me anyway)" ]
Why do particles become excited when matter changes states?	[ "The \"heat\" of an atom/molecule is pretty much just a measure of how fast it vibrates or moves, i.e how much energy it has. The hotter it is, the more energy it has ,the more faster it moves. \n\nSo take water as example. When its frozen, all the water molecules are arranged and bonded together in a nice crystall...
Why can RyanAir explicitly impose a 2% fee for paying with credit cards? Wasn't this prohibited by Visa and MasterCard policies?	[ "It used to be common for credit cards to specifically require that you not charge customers more to use them. If you did, it would not violate a law, but it would violate your contract with the credit card company. That is the question he is asking about, and most of the responders do not even seem to be aware o...
What would happen if someone got a credit card with no spending limit and paid of all the dept for all people in a small town? (or something like that)	[ "a small town called southpark? it could work, but you'd be in debt the rest of your life.", "You cannot use credit to pay off credit... in Canada anyways.\nExample: You can't use your Mastercard to pay off your Visa" ]
What's the reasoning behind the "pause" and "play" symbols as we know them?	[ "Their origin is not clear but I think the \"play\" symbol was supposed to be an arrow that indicates the direction tape was moving in old reel-to-reel tapes, which would explain why the fast forward symbol is a double arrow. \n\nThe pause symbol on the other hand, is even less clear. Some say it's a variation of t...
Why do colleges continue to raise tuition when they are sitting on billions of tax free endowments?	[ "The value of the asset that is the endowment is the money it produces. The money it produces _is_ spent on the university. Without this money tuitions would be higher, there would be less financial aid etc. \n\nFor an extreme example, the cost to run Yale university is estimated to be $95,549 per student _more ...
Why can't you cut all the wires in a bomb to prevent it from detonating?	[ "EOD Tech here. I wanted to chime in because the top replies are mostly wrong.\n\nFirst of all, to answer your question simply:\n\n - Some \"firing circuits\", that is, the circuit in an electrically initiated explosive device(i.e., it contains a battery and electric detonator) **can be interrupted in literally any...
How are Catholic priests chosen to become exorcists and how do they train for the job?	[ "> Since at least the third century, the Latin Church has formally ordained men to the minor order of exorcist.[1] Text previously attributed to a fourth Council of Carthage in 398, now identified as a collection called Statuta Ecclesiæ Antiqua, prescribes in its seventh canon the rite of ordination of such an exo...
How come when I pay for 30 mb/sec download speed I only download files at 3mb/sec?	[ "You need to be careful in reading what the actual measurement is. Your ISP will measure your service in Megbits per second (Mbps), while the file download may be measured in Megabytes per second (MBps). This would result in a difference by a factor of eight (8 bits per byte).\n\nAlternatively, if you...
How are underwater tunnel highways, like the Lincoln and Holland Tunnel, built?	[ "In a variety of ways, depending on the exact circumstances.\n\nIf the geology and cost permits it, they'll just tunnel through the rock under the water, and then seal the tunnel walls with concrete or something to prevent leaks.\n\nSometimes, prefabricated tunnel sections are built on land, then put on a barge, ta...
"black male disadvantage in dating" versus lots more black male-white female couples than reverse	[ "OKCupid itself actually has a good blog post on the subject.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nThe jist of it is that, male or female, white people are the most desirable. And while black men get fewer replies than white men, Black women get far fewer replies than white women.", "I heard a report on the radio a few years ago (I tr...
Why do you have to put your signature AND initials when signing a legal document?	[ "Your initials are just a short way of repeating your signature to show that (1) you specifically agree to key parts and (2) none of the middle pages were changed after you signed the last page.", "Contracts aren't magical papers that 100% binding at all times. Bits and pieces can frequently be thrown out in cou...
Why college tuition costs continue to increase at such a fast pace?	[ "Like most questions of the form \"why does X cost what it costs\" the answer is generally \"supply and demand\".\n\nBasically, schools can charge more without significantly lowering the amount of students who attend, so they will. The reason this is the cast is partially because they know the government will loan...
If there have been more deadly genocides in history than the holocaust, why is the holocaust the one we reference to the most?	[ "Generally speaking, I've not seen other genocides estimated to have a higher death toll, although you might get some equivalence if you compare a lowball for the Holocaust and a high estimate for one or two other genocides in history. \n\nAdditionally, the holocaust was relatively recent, involved direct history f...
How do we know stuff about Space?	[ "I'm no expert, so I can't answer them all. \n\n > How did scientists conclude that the moon pulls on the Earth and vice versa?\n\nWell, Newton is the one who figured out the formula. And really did most of the work. It's hard to say exactly how he discovered it, but I believe it was mostly just from being a geniou...
How do you teach a person who was born deaf to read?	[ "You don't have to talk to communicate. Deaf children will learn to use sign language first and then read and write. It might take longer because it takes longer for fine moter skills to develop but it will happen" ]
How fridges and freezers work.	[ "There's one simple principle that they operate on:\n\n* When a fluid expands, it cools down; and when a fluid is compressed, it warms up. \n\nYou can experience this for yourself at home - ever notice with an air duster the can itself feels cold when you use it? Same effect! Get a bike pump and stick your thumb o...
In Japan, why have a large number of people lost interest in sex?	[ "They have bad working conditions, up to 16 hrs/day, especially for young people\n\nThey have extremely poor pay for young people; their working economy is ridiculously top-heavy with pay and benefits for the aging and elderly.\n\nPolls indicate extremely high standards among young women. A majority refuse to date ...
Why are med schools and residencies so selective when there is a national shortage of doctors?	[ "Wow, I'm so lucky the dropped the standards for becoming a Doctor, otherwise I would never have made it. So anyway, I'll be preforming an epend... apetand.... a procedure an you. This might fix the problem, I hope. If not we'll try something else. Hell, the body has 2 of most things for a reason so I can probably...
- Why do employers decide not to hire unemployed people who have bad credit.	[ "People with bad credit can be stereotyped as being irresponsible. If you can't manage your credit then you may not be able to manage X.\n\nI'm a manager and I have never looked at credit history or numbers. In my industry (Finance), they look at credit histories to look for issues may exclude you from handling lar...
What's the difference between a program's source code and the actual program ?	[ "In general, the source code is human-readable (some languages more readable than other) instructions that the computer will follow in order to do something interesting or useful.\n\nWhen you're done writing a program's source code you'll send it to a compiler (a special program) which will turn it into something t...
Why does the radius seem to matter more than the diameter?	[ "Math doesn't like extra, it likes simple. If you've got the center and the radius you've got literally everything you need to know about a circle in 2d. The diameter gives you that too, but it has \"extra\". Math has a strong preference for not-extra-info.\n\nFurther, in practical use if you want to _draw_ a ci...
Why can't we scan our phone for our ID, credit/debit card, and email (for recipts)?	[ "You can scan your phone for payments. That's what Apple Pay and Android Pay do -- I. And you can scan your phone for tickets and some forms of ID, too, iOS even ships with an app to do this for you (Wallet). I've been doing this for 6-7 years (and before that, systems where you just tapped your wallet to the reade...
Can someone please explain the rise and fall of gas prices in relation to the price of crude oil?	[ "I could really totally go to town on this and unleash sarcasm on a scale unknown to mankind before this event. I won't though.\n\nWhen the price of crude goes up, the oil companies say \"hey! the price of our crude oil at the source just went up! We must raise prices at the pump!\"\n\nWhen the price of crude goes ...
Why does warm water taste so bad compared to cold water? Considering the water was filtered, purified bottled water that was in the sun.	[ "A lower temperature does a good job hiding smells and odors. Remember this the next time you want to hide some bbq sauce in chocolate ice cream and serve it to you friends.", "Your tastebuds are less sensitiv at lower temperatures. Thats why many cheaper alcoholic drinks are served chilled. If you want to taste ...
If the Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian & Swedish) are mutually intelligible, why are they considered distinct languages instead of different dialects of the same language?	[ "Its kind of a semantic argument, you could make the same point for Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. \n\nwhile it is a partially political distinction the many thing is that mutually intelligible is really hard to prove as a set concept. The main theory being that just because you can understand a few words doesn'...
what is the difference between a bush and a tree, and where is the line between them?	[ "Google answers this quite nicely and easily. The generally acknowledged definition of a tree, according to USU, is a \"woody plant having one erect perennial stem (trunk) at least three inches in diameter at a point 4-1/2 feet above the ground, a definitely formed crown of foliage, and a mature height of at least ...
Does there have to be a tradeoff between privacy and national security?	[ "Kind of.\n\nIn a pretend world with zero privacy, the authorities are able to peer inside your mind and discover if you're planning to do something bad. Zero privacy, total security.\n\nIn a pretend world with total privacy, an attack can never ever be prevented. Zero security, total privacy.\n\nThe issue stems fr...
Is there a reason the English alphabet is in the order it is in? Is there a specific reason for the sequence?	[ "\"There is no rhyme or reason — theorder of the letters seems to be arbitrary. From what historians understand, the order of the alphabetis the way it is because, well, it's always been that way. ... The Greeks used the Phoenician alphabet as a model for their alphabet, which saw the addition of vowels.\"", "The...
Why aren't naval ships sitting ducks?	[ "There hasn't been all out warfare between two nations on equal footing (navally) since WW2. \n\nModern military doctrine dictates that carrier groups would likely be lost within the first stage or so of an all out conflict between major powers, since they're extremely vulnerable to ballistic strikes. \n\nDifferent...
Why are my hands cold so frequently, and how can I help prevent this?	[ "You might want to provide a little more information otherwise the best anyone can do is take a wild guess.\n\nMy wild guess is that it is because it is cold outside, wear gloves to prevent it.", "This is a shot in the dark since we obviously can't diagnose you with so little information, but please look into [Ra...
Why is it a legal requirement to wear a seatbelt in a car but not on buses, trains etc.?	[ "Buses are larger and the passengers inside are much safer than they would be in a Sedan. A bus doesn't get thrown around in an accident much like a small car would - So the passengers wouldn't be thrown around much either.", "If a car hits a tree, the car stops moving in a few hundred milliseconds. It's rapid de...
The physics of guitar strings and why they make sound	[ "Guitar strings make noise because they vibrate, transferring their vibration to the air directly as well as to the material of the guitar itself which in turn vibrates large amounts of air. Since sound is vibrations in the air it is clear how they make sounds.\n\nNow what sounds they make is a bit trickier. By v...
Why do certain games (and perhaps other things) that have a year in the title, like Madden football, release the year before what's stated in the title?	[ "Because you've created your game (or car model, or whatever) for that upcoming year, which sounds new, and hopeful, and futuristic, instead of naming it after the previous year, which was lame, and frankly much more upsetting than we had all hoped.", "The games are created for the upcoming season, so the Fifa th...
Why has communism always failed?	[ "There hasn't ever been \"communism.\" Marx said there were stages of socio-economic development that would lead to communism, but we've never gotten there.\n\nThe first stage is \"primitive communism\", which is basically tribal cooperation. It works because tribes are small and there's no existing power system.\n...
Multiple life sentences.	[ "The murderer was charged with and convicted of two crimes each carrying a life imprisonment sentence. The sentencing judge ruled that the sentences not be served concurrently. \nThe two charges now exist independently of one another, and can be appealed and removed independently. This means that if the murderer c...
does time actually exist or is it just a unit of measurement like distance.	[ "I mean your question doesnt really make sense.\n\nDistance exists, its the space between objects. Distance is not a unit of measurement. Its a thing. Feet, yards, inches etc are units of measurement." ]
If suicide by subway train is prevalent, why don't the subway trains slow down enough to make a quick stop before they get to the platform?	[ "Trains have poor stopping distances. The value of a subway system is rapid mass transit. Slow travel times undermine its use as competition with driving/walking. \n\nSuicide by train is not that common in fact it's so rare that its often international news when it happens. Even if it were a problem, a much mor...
Why isn't there an app that combines the library of Amazon Prime, Hulu+. Netflix, HBO GO, etc into one easily searchable library?	[ "Those companies don't support APIs to make their catalogs accessible, probably for competitive reasons. So it would have to be done by hand, at great expense" ]
How are phones locked?	[ "I've worked with this. As in, actually implementing SIM-locking for GSM/3G/4G phones.\n\nI (and other HW vendors) call it \"SIM Locking\", as what we're telling the software is: \"only accept SIM-cards issued by the following carrier(s)\"\n\nWe're not actually locking the phone into a specific carrier network, as ...
Why are latches on airplane seat belts so much different than in automobiles?	[ "There's a few reasons: They're less expensive to produce, meaning that when it's time to replace them, it can be done more cheaply. They're also more reliable in that they have a very simple design.\n\nAirplane seatbelts are used far more frequently than automobile belts and the clasps must be able to handle being...
I noticed for some time now when waking up in the morning and looking at the white ceiling: with one eye, it has a warm, very light yellow tint and with the other eye the ceiling has a cold very light shade of blue. Why does this happen? Thanks.	[ "If I understand what you're asking, it's a very similar effect to \"Afterimage\".\n\nBasically, your the photoreceptor cells in your eyes, both rods and cones, adapt to overexposure by turning down their sensitivity.\n\nWhen you stare at an image for a long time, this is the reason you get shadows of that image if...
Why have some countries developed rapidly while other have not over the last century?	[ "It's easier for us to create heat than to remove it. Furnaces for heating have been around forever but air conditioners are expensive and still catching on. Therefore, for centuries the most productive places have been cold-but-not-too-cold places because they can get work done all day, year round, whereas in wa...
What exactly are the defining characteristics of modernism, postmodernism, and post-postmodernism?	[ "Modernism and Post-Modernism are extremely broad terms that describe mass cultural movements in Western art and philosophy. To understand them, one must also understand the general evolution of Western philosophy, especially the concepts of Rationalism and Romanticism.\n\nIn short:\n\n**Modernism is an extension o...
What causes laziness? Is it a physical condition?	[ "I guess everyone is too lazy to reply, OP. There are some good explanations for this, but my vague, non-scientific understanding is, it is indeed a physical condition, one that we inherited from our ancestors. I'm sure you can find a more technical/accurate/correct explanation of this, but here's the gist of it.\n...
How does scribbling on a thicker stack of paper make a pen work again when it stops?	[ "I assume you are talking about a ballpoint pen. The ink can dry around the ball after a while. If you try to write on a single sheet of paper on a hard surface, the ball has very little contact with the paper and not enough friction won’t turn it over in the dried in ink. \n\nUsing a larger stack of paper makes th...
Why do chickens lay eggs so quickly and efficiently?	[ "Chickens have an extremely sped up version of the reproduction cycle humans have, it was synced with the bamboo dispersing it's seeds season (dunno what that's called). \n\nTheir food supply was the largest when the bamboo plants released their seeds, so they evolved to reproduce rapidly and proliferate like crazy...
Why are foreign accents usually thought of as sexual and arousing?	[ "It's because my brain tells me that if you come from far away you cannot be my sister. So we will have beautiful non-retarded babies.", "It's because the human psyche is geared towards mating with other cultures for variety in evolution.", "Because foreigners think your accent is arousing and everybody has a h...
How does Silicone hold information. basically giving us computers	[ "It is silicon. [Measured by mass, silicon makes up 27.7% of the Earth's crust](_URL_0_) Silicon is next to aluminum It is a member of group 14 in the periodic table, along with carbon above it and germanium, tin, and lead below. \n\nIt is a semiconductor, neither a good conductor like aluminum or an insulator. As ...
Why do most household sprays easily kill spiders?	[ "I think it just shoots chemicals into their spiracles. Openings in the body. I have also found a foot effective. Also a tissue, awkward grab, quick toss in the toilet, and feminine scream work as well." ]
Why is depression so common in Grad school?	[ "You are expected to create new and original research, often with very little support from faculty. You are often paid below poverty wages. Take crap from senior faculty because it's part of the game until you earn your research wings. Then you have grade grubbing students or the rest are largely indifferent and th...
What causes the "pressing" feeling in your lungs that makes you want to cough when inhaling marijuana smoke?	[ "That is your lungs wanting to expel what is in them because they need something richer in oxygen content." ]
How did Israel developed from rand rock desert into OECD equivalent progressive nation.	[ "It was built by first world people, at first educated by first world institutions, until they created their own.\n\n\nAnd they get funded by first world jews all over the world. Jews have always prioritized education(as asians do).", "Israeli culture does (and always has) place a high value on knowledge and educ...
Why do we have to restart our PC after uninstalling an app?	[ "Depends on the OS, most times, a restart is unnecessary, but in some cases it may be required.\n\n###Windows:\n\nOn windows, applications are stored as files and registry keys. Registry keys are never cleaned properly, and an unnecessary large amount(talking a hundred uninstalled apps) may slow down your PC a bit ...
Can chameleons control their color changing? How do they even do it?	[ "Chameleons do not use chromatophores to change the color of their skin, sorry below comment.\n\nThey have a lattice of crystals in the skin which reflect and absorb light, and changing the spacing of the crystals changes what colors are reflected and absorbed. The normal green color is the blue of the relaxed cry...
Obamacare. What did it actually do?	[ "It hasn't done much yet. It's a 10-year plan to phase responsibility for health care into the hands of the federal government. It transfers rights to define medical salaries, hospital administration, decisions regarding procedures (the so-called \"death panel\"), and plenty more. It's over 1,000 pages long and ...
how do we choose/regulate hot or cold breath when we exhale?	[ "The air in your mouth is pretty much at the same temperature as your body.\n\nWhen you blow air by puckering your lips, you pass that air through a small opening, with the inside of your mouth being high pressure and outside being low pressure. As the air exits, it experiences a sudden pressure drop, causing tempe...
why is left-handedness seen as something to be "corrected" in some cultures	[ "Depends on the place, some cultures have certain etiquette for which hand is meant for doing what (shaking hands, eating, hygiene, etc). For lefties, all of these would feel backwards, but a lot of it comes from them being the minority and the superstition that comes along with being different than most people aro...
Why is Arnold Palmer Tea/Lemonade cheaper than water?	[ "because people are suckers and will pay $$$ for bottled water", "Goods like this are priced based on what people are willing to pay, not what they cost to produce.\n\nThe real question is, \"Why are people paying so much for water?\"" ]
Why are some people more creative than others? Is it an innate trait or can you teach yourself to be creative?	[ "You can definitely teach yourself to be creative. There are creative exercises they use to get the mind going, and they have tricks to get past writer's block. Creative people are also always looking for inspiration and are heavy consumers of media like film, books, music, art.", "The short answers are: its bo...
My friend called me in the USA from somewhere in South America, call dropped, then played a recording of his side of the call. Why?	[ "Interesting, from what i can gather from a quick Google foo it appears that some overseas companies write recording of calls into their tos. This only allows them to record their party, hence why you only heard your friend's side of the conversation. Why you heard it in the first place? Probably a software glitch,...
Why is Marijuana illegal in the majority of nations?	[ "The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 \n_URL_0_ \n\nThe United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime works with countries' legislatures to ensure compliance. As a result, most of the national drug statutes in the UNODC's legal library hare a high degree of conformity with the Single Convention and its supp...
From our single-cell origin, how do random and minuscule copying errors in DNA result in highly complex constructs such as sight, thought and self-awareness?	[ "luck. nothing more, nothing less.\n\nor do you want to explain process, step by step?" ]
How do natural notes in music sound okay?	[ "You'll have to elaborate a bit more, not quite clear what you mean.\n\nFor example, Let it Be by Beatles is in the key of C major, so every note is a natural one, and in the key?\n\nIf you mean what I think you do, I'd use natural notes in a chromatic approach in keys where they don't 'naturally' appear." ]
Why is Eric Cantor's defeat such a big deal?	[ "Generally, incumbents (those already-elected officials running for re-election) have an easy road to re-election. No one in their party really wants to oppose them in their primary because they're already elected, and doing so would rock the boat, and it's an uphill battle for the opposing party's candidate becaus...
How does Google know how fast traffic is going live on every street all over the country?	[ "This is what you get when you don't read all the service agreements and boilerplate text when you sign up for stuff. \n\nUnless you specifically say no, your phone is sending data back to Google or your phone manufacturer; where you are, how fast you're travelling. It uses this data in real time to update map dat...
Why are we attracted to symmetry so much?	[ "Probably because most living creatures are more or less symmetrical, bilaterally(line down the middle) or radially (like a starfish). Creatures that are not symmetrical overall are aberrant, and could be threatening. \n\nHere's the wiki on [symmetry](_URL_0_)", "Symmetry of features is an indication of overall...
If clogged pores are holding dirt & oil in your face, then how come squeezing them is bad & not beneficial ?	[ "Well, it's not that it's bad and not beneficial, there are actually tools that help you remove blackheads and whiteheads. The harm is in either compulsively picking, and also when you use your fingers you damage the tissue around the clogged pore.", "Most of the \"clogged\" pores you see on your skin are actual...
Organization of the U.S. military. The difference military branches and how they work together, their differences, etc.	[ "[Air Force:](_URL_9_) Handles most of the aircraft operated by the US military, ranging from transport and support aircraft to fighters and bombers. \n\nIn modern combat zones, the Air Force mostly handles logistics and surveillance (including [AWACS](_URL_20_) and recon drones), cargo lifting ([C-130s](_URL_1...
how did the Perseid Meteor shower not hit the International Space Station?	[ "The ISS is about the size of a football field. Compare that with the size of the Earth. The chances of something hitting it directly is similar to the chance something dropped from space will randomly land in a specific football field. \n\nMost of the Perseids are about the size of a grain of sand, with a few a...
Why should we not go back to the gold standard?	[ "The erratic nature of capitalism needs a flexible currency to protect consumers and maintain trust in the markets. \n\nThe amount of gold backing the dollar is a much less variable, and so inflexible, amount than the amount of money in circulation as directed by the federal reserve. If the Federal reserve can exer...
How do sports players for different countries communicate on the field?	[ "First, they're playing against each other, they don't really need to communicate. \n\nSecond, they're playing the same sport which means they have, if not a common language, at least a common frame of reference. \n\nThird, when you're yelling at someone you're mad at you don't really care if they understand every ...
How does the "US Debt Ceiling" crisis repeat every few years?	[ "Most other countries don't have a debt ceiling. You just pass budgets as needed and, if they're not in balance, the government borrows to cover the difference.\n\nThe US is a special case as Congress needs to approve extra borrowing. So if the US currently owes $16 trillion and needs another half trillion, the Con...
From a seven year old: "Why do people exist?"	[ "If we didn't, there would be no one to ask the question.", "At some point in life, everyone wonders about that question. Some people find an answer that satisfies them. Other people don't. Both are not right, and both are not wrong.\n\nAs an individual, you can do as you please. As a member of some sort of socie...
If I ate a dry packet of instant oatmeal and drank a half cup of water, would it be as filling as cooking the oatmeal normally?	[ "Oats expand as they're cooked in liquid. If you eat cooked oatmeal, a cup will have 166 calories, about 6 grams of protein, not quite 4 grams of fat and 28 grams of carbohydrates. This includes 4 grams of fiber, or 16 percent of the daily value. Eat a cup of uncooked oats, however, and you'll be getting 307 calori...
Why did slave owners/ traders feel it was necessary to convert slaves to Christianity? If slaves were considered nothing more than property why was their salvation important?	[ "All the answers here are correct for a certain historical period. However, it's important to remember that for the majority of the time the Atlantic slave trade was in operation, religious conversion was not a priority. There were a number of reasons for this:\n\n1. In many colonies the average slave lived only 5-...
Why do babies heal so fast? If they get a scab or cut, it is gone by the next day, but sometimes it takes months for me to experience the same result?	[ "Babies grow really fast. That's really all there is to it. Wound healing and growth are both powered by division of cells, and since babies grow so fast their wounds heal more quickly too.", "Babies make a ton of new skin cells all the time because they grow so fast. Most babies double their birth weight by ar...
When you freeze something, does it's shelf life remain the same after you defrost it?	[ "The short answer is no, freezing tends to damage foods a little. This damage breaks the food down slightly allowing it to spoil faster. However, you can keep food frozen for a long time, and just take it out when you are ready to use it.\n\nThat being said, I'd still use the thawed-out bread past the 'shelf life' ...
How do DJs, mash-up artists, and the like manage to get sample vocals from songs?	[ "A few ways\n\n1. Get a vocals only track from the artist or music publisher. But that only happens if you go through official channels.\n\n2. Get an instrumental version of the song, create an inversion of the track, use that to cancel out the instrumentals from the full song, so you're only left with vocals.\n\nL...
How does PayPal benefit from giving 1% cashback on their debit card?	[ "_URL_0_\n\nPaypal charges the seller 2.9% on sales. So giving you 1% cashback is losing a chunk of profit, but still making money for Paypal. Plus, it looks good to you; hey, I'm getting money back!\n\nCredit card companies do the same thing. All those benefits being offered to users generally total to less than w...

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