Split (3)

train · 273k rows

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The quote "No good deed goes unpunished"...how does that make sense?	[ "It means that people often don't appreciate you for doing something good, or are even outright hostile. \n\nFor instance, you hold the door open for a women and she calls you a chauvinist pig who thinks she can't open the door herself. Or you pick up a wallet that someone dropped, and they accuse you of stealing...
; Semi-Colons.	[ "The Oatmeal did a comic on [how to use a semicolon.](_URL_0_)\n\nCan't get much more ELI5 than a cartoon explanation. :)", "Half period, half comma. Use them when you want to link (comma) two complete sentences (period).", "Essentially, you can know the semicolon as a \"weak period\". It's used to separate two...
What’s the difference between milk found in the cold section and milk found on the shelves?	[ "Unrefrigerated milk is likely UHT (Ultra High Temperature), milk that has been boiled in a high temperature to kill off all the bacteria in it. Doing so makes it possible to store the milk at room temperature.", "Milk on the shelves is UHT - Ultra High Temperature - milk. It's been pasteurised to a much higher t...
How does declaring bankruptcy actually work?	[ "You file for bankruptcy in court, and notify all of your creditors. Certain assets are forfeited to the court and your creditors get to fight over how they're liquidated and which creditors get how much money in the end. Certain assets are protected from forfeit (in many states, they can't take your primary reside...
I use regular old cheap peanut butter (Skippy) to bait a mousetrap and it works every time. I try Organic peanut butter, and they won't even touch it.	[ "Take a look at the label on the Skippy. It probably has sugar and salt in it, and possibly other ingredients as well. The organic stuff typically only has peanuts. Animals are programmed to seek sugar for energy and may also be attracted by the other stuff in Skippy." ]
Why does DNA begin acting/replicating differently when exposed to radioactivity?	[ "DNA is instructions and it's like a chain, when radiation hits that chain it breaks\n\nLet's say you've got a rainbow chain and the order of the colors is the order you put certain colored bricks down to built a sweet fort.\n\nWhen you're out of the room I sneak in and cut the chain and separate the two parts. Wit...
Why does it take refunds days to process back when the purchase took seconds.	[ "Processing the credit back to your account actually takes the same amount of time as debiting your account. What you generally see immediately are authorizations, basically the seller sends a quick note to the bank to hold money on your account which they will ask for later. In doing so they are ensuring that you ...
Why do abandoned places have security guards?	[ "There may not be any active businesses there, but the physical assets of the structure - copper wiring, fixtures, other metal elements, possibly furniture - has value and if not guarded, will be ripped out of the walls and sold as scrap metal. \n\nAlso, just to keep vagrants from moving in and causing damage or po...
Why is it that women tend to have gay men in their social cirles while it's unusual for men to have lesbians in theirs?	[ "because all you want to see is us making out,and you get pissed when you can't join\n\nwomen usually don't feel that way about gays", "Women with gay friends generally respect their sexual orientation and have no interest in actually dating those friends, because they know their chances are essentially 0%. Some ...
Why do eyes in pictures follow you?	[ "They're painted to appear to be looking directly at the viewer, since they're two dimensional, the viewing angle is irrelevant.", "Because pictures are not 3D. We know when a person is looking at us by whether the colored iris of their eyes is centered on us. If a picture is taken with the person's eyes pointed ...
Why do I perceive myself as having a "better" buzz from drinking one 24 ounce beer, than I do from drinking two 12 ounce beers?	[ "It's a matter of time travel. The time it takes for 24oz out of one can into your belly is less that the time is takes for 2 12oz cans. \nYou might think it takes the same amount of time, but the 24 always goes faster. Just think of the time you saved only opening one beer." ]
If two people with six fingers had babies, would those babies have six fingers?	[ "Most likely. A gene is an instruction for the body. \"Alleles\" are different versions of the gene. In this case, the two alleles we want to look at are five fingers and six fingers. We'll call these \"five\" and \"six\", respectively.\n\nPolydactyly, the condition of having more than the normal amount of digi...
Bandwidth for internet vs. tv	[ "The difference is cable is a broadcast. It's just the same information down the same wires at the same time, you're just reading it in multiple locations, you're not streaming. Streaming is an on-demand service, which is different. Each device you use for streaming requests its own lump of data to be sent. Even if...
Why did the U.S. send a rescue mission to Syria for James Foley and yet not sending a rescue mission for another American citizen named Kenneth Bae who is detained in North Korea?	[ "Foley was held by insurgents. Bae is held by the North Korean government.\n\nThere's a major difference. Going after Bae is an act of war.", "Well its probably because the Islamic state isn't as developed (yet) as North Korea, also, if we were to go into North Korea, they would retaliate and launch nukes at Sout...
Warts.	[ "You can have the virus (HPV) on your body without necessarily having any visible effects of the virus. Not only that, but there are many different types of HPV that only affect certain parts of the body, so it's possible that your finger wart may have come from a different surface of your skin, where it was relat...
How does GMail's undo a sent email feature work?	[ "they send the mail not instantly, they hold it back for a moment. if you decide not to send the mail it had never left your mailbox." ]
Please explain (like I'm 5) why marijuana is illegal?	[ "Hemp was made illegal because it competed far to strongly with cotton as a textile (easier to grow, cheaper, more useful) and the people who grew cotton were rich and powerful, (100 years of slave labour, go figure). They were able to concoct a public relations and gov't lobbying campaign by inventing \"marijuana...
Why do people reading a script or speech often completely alter their speaking patterns and seemingly forget how their speaking tone usually sounds?	[ "When you talk normally, you're generating the words, tone, and rhythm from your head before you open your mouth; when it's time to read, you have to look at the words manually and recite them one at a time, and you may not be able to anticipate how the entire sentence or line is supposed to sound. If you get a cha...
how atomic bombs leave shadows of things after the blast	[ "Same way that you currently see shadows of things from the sun. Sun or a light source shines light, light gets blocked by objects and shadows form representing that blocked light. \n\nAn atomic bomb can be viewed as a really really 'bright' light (though its really energy) that shines on things. Things that block ...
Why is /r/ShitRedditSays considered generally to be an unsavory place largely looked upon with disdain?	[ "> Am I wrong, and why is SRS hated so much?\n\nWell, there entire purpose is to criticize and point out the things that people on reddit say that they think are offense or generally horrible.\n\nIt's not hard to imagine why people might dislike a group who's sole focus is to criticize the things they say." ]
Why is lipstick slanted when bought, while lip balm is flat?	[ "ok, don't ask how I know this or why this makes sense to me as a hetero male, but having an angled tip allows the users hand to be placed beneath the lips for more visibility. If it weren't angled and it were applied flat, you'd have to peer around your fist.", "I'm actually an engineer for lipsticks and other ...
The difference between what incognito mode does for your privacy and what TOR does for your privacy?	[ "Tor uses a bunch of encryption and randomized relays to send your information to your destination, effectively obscuring your activities as well as the sources and destinations of your requests.\n\nIncognito mode connects to websites the same way that your regular browser does but it doesn't save your browser hist...
Why are there different land speed records for men and women?	[ "This is a great question. I understand the need for things where the human body is the vessel used for the record (Skating, running, etc) But when machines are used, this seems odd. I wonder if it just one of those things like \"Well the rest are divided, so why not this too?\" or \"Why not keep track of both the ...
Where does the smell of Autumn/fall come from? Is it actually the coldness of the air making that smell?	[ "I believe its from the changes in the soil and plants combined with the with heaviness of the air." ]
How do "Bird Rights" work in the NBA?	[ "The NBA has a 'soft' salary cap, meaning that teams can exceed the salary cap to retain their own players, and can pay their own players more than other teams can on the free agent market. \n\nIt's referred to as the 'Bird Rule' because the Celtics were the first to exercise the rule when it was implemented in th...
Why do some cities have their own fire/police department, sheriff department, while others has the county police/fire?	[ "It depends on the needs of the area. For example, in something like New York City, which spans several counties, it makes sense to have one unified police department rather than sheriff's departments trying to intercoordinate and duplicate costs. Then you have places like Las Vegas where (most) of the valley is...
Why isn't it unconstitutional for US currency to have the phrase "In God We Trust"?	[ "\"God\" is general and does not specifically reference any particular god, thus it is not preferring any particular religion over the other.\n\n\"In Jesus we Trust\", \"In Mohammed we Trust\", \"In Buddha we Trust\" or similar would be unconstitutional because it is referencing a specific religion.", "> Congress...
Why is there a statute of limitations?	[ "The difficulty of prosecuting a crime years after the event is absolute pain in the backside. \n\nDo you recall what you had for breakfast a week ago \nDo you recall what you had for breakfast a week and 21 years ago.\n\nHuman memory is fragile. that's the first point\n\nThen we get into the logistic of a trial 20...
How is it that Nazi war criminals have evaded prosecution for so long and/or why did prosecutors wait so long to take them to trial?	[ "It's pretty straightforward. \n\nA lot of the really bad ones, the men in charge, were able to amass personal fortunes either during the war or before.\n\nAs things started to collapse for the Reich, they made preparations to flee. Fake documents, hidden stores of cash. \n\nThey've been living under false names in...
Is it possible for the United States to have a 3 major party political system?	[ "No, not practically, without a radical changing of the electoral system. The issue with having more than two parties under the US electoral system is that two parties with similar interests will divide their base.\n\nConsider this example.\n\n- 60% of people are opposed to nuclear weapons.\n- Party A runs with \"L...
Why do WiFi, BlueTooth, and radio signals not all interfere with each other?	[ "WiFi and bluetooth is on a frequency band that is very crowded. They are both built to tolerate interference. If a signal does not get though just try again. Maybe using a different frequency. You might have experienced that these radio technologies have worse performance the more people around you are using it. I...
Why are we not allowed to host modern day gladiator tournaments?	[ "Government rules making it illegal. besides, we have mma, boxing, wrestling,Sumo, karate tournaments ,bull fighting and rodeo \n\nand gladiator movies", "You are essentially asking one guy to kill another guy. That's murder no matter how many contracts you sign.", "We do. They just don't kill each other at the...
How did people find cheat codes for video games back when they were a thing, did the developers release them or did people find out on they're own?	[ "The developers leak them and they spread. They were commonly found in gaming magazines or cheat books if you remember those." ]
How come we know all about our planet, from how it was made, to how the universe was basically credit. But we still don't know for sure, how the dinosaurs were wiped out?	[ "We're not sure about anything you mentioned, we just have good evidence and reasons to believe it. Same with dinosaurs. We don't exactly know what caused the K2 extinction but we have very good evidence." ]
Can a tech or software company just move out of the US so they don't have to deal with government demanded backdoors?	[ "Yes. Assuming the country they move to doesn't demand backdoors either. Also, they would have to move all their operations overseas.", "A small one might be able to do so. A larger one would have considerable difficulty because their employees probably wouldn't want to leave the country and they'd have cons...
Vavious works of Science Fiction mention a plan to turn Jupiter into a 2nd sun, if possible, would this have any benefits?	[ "No, the mass is too low to achieve the required temperature and preasure for self sustaining nuclear fusion. You need like 16 Jupiter masses for that. \n\nTerraforming Europa might work... But your asking for the effect of an impossible thing, so I'm not sure how you got around it, and the effects of the work arou...
Why did old movie, tv show, and radio actors and hosts use a distinct voice/tone while performing?	[ "It's called the trans-Atlantic accent. It doesn't actually have a home, the only ways you would pick it up is by traveling between the US and Britain a lot, go to boarding school where they teach it to you, or learn it yourself. A lot of actors adopted this accent because it sounds intelligent and sophisticated." ...
If protons make up light waves, what makes up audio waves?	[ "Photons, not protons, are the carrier of light. Sound waves are mechanical pressure waves through some medium. For instance, air, or metal. You are essentially registering a vibration through the material.", "Light waves are made up of photons not protons. Sound waves aren't made up of anything specific, they ...
How did Google managed to blur everyone's license plate numbers on google earth?	[ "They have some algorithm which can recognize license plates (not too hard as they share a general theme) and then blur them out. It is done automatically by their program." ]
What is a 'circlejerk answer' or a 'circlejerk comment'?	[ "Basically a circlejerk is where someone expresses an opinion and everybody else in the discussion affirms the rightness of that opinion while simultaneously shouting down any opposing opinions. \n\nYou could look up \"Positive feedback loop\" or \"echo chamber\" for more information.", "It's when people uncriti...
Is there a political advantage to proposing new infrastructure projects in the United States? Why have we see a decline in infrastructure in the US?	[ "> I though improved infrastructure would be a bipartisan initiative. I don't see the down side to political action on this issue\n\nInfrastructure costs money. If the government is already running in the red and wants to obtain even more money to fund projects which inevitably run over budget and behind schedule,...
why are so many people christian yet get so upset when people talk about helping the poor, giving people welfare, job assistance, health care etc?	[ "It is the largest inconsistency in American Christianity right now, and something that preventing the church from both growing and fulfilling its mission. As a Christian, it can be quite discouraging.\n\nMy thoughts on why: The Christian church has aligned itself with the Republican Party, and conservatism in ge...
Whats a Quantum Computer?	[ "A quantum computer uses quantum bits instead of binary bits.\n\nThis Quantum Bit is the computational equivalent of the computer saying \"I'm 60 percent sure the answer is yes\", instead of the current way computers operate which requires a concrete \"Yes\" or \"No\". There's no in-between with current computing, ...
Why do we hide the names of victims of rape, but not their alleged rapists?	[ "People accused of crimes are always publicly identified. Otherwise, the government could hold secret trials and deny that they were doing it.\n\nPublic and open courts are a key part of the protection of the accused.", "Historically, people who made rape accusations often were shamed and ostracized, and their se...
What exactly makes certain things feel satisfying? (Like popping zits, things geometrically arranged, etc) Is there a term for this?	[ "I think your question is \"Why are some random things still satisfying to us?\"\n\nThe answer is evolution. Lets deal with the 2 different topics you have here: OCD and Bodily Cleansing. The zit popping first.\n\nThis one is odd. Popping zits is almost fun. Often painful, its still satisfying when it finally pops....
Why Julia Louis-Dreyfus does Old Navy commercials even though her family is extremely rich and she was on a successful TV show?	[ "Money is a weird thing.\n\nIf you ask scientists, it doesn't take a lot of money to be happy: the money varies from place to place, but by the time you are earning $75K/year, there are very few areas in the US you can live and not have your income adversely effecting your happiness. And wherever you are, once you ...
the differences and relationships between "Liberal", "Progressive", "Neo-Liberalism" and "Classical Liberalism".	[ "These kinds of questions tend to be tricky because the terms accrue meaning over time, so that 'liberal' can mean totally different things in eg Australia and America (in Australia, the liberal party is conservative).\n\nThe simplest is 'progressive'. A progressive is a person who views the world and political dec...
Where did the stereotypical mentality of the New Yorker who believes that "if you can survive New York, you can survive anything" come from?	[ "New York is by far America's densest city. A very large number of people are crammed into a fairly small area, compared to the rest of the country. This has resulted in a somewhat ruder, harsher, more impatient culture there than in the rest of the country. You have to be a little bit pushy to get access to scarce...
Mike Huckabee says that the supreme court does not have the authority to legislate. is he wrong?	[ "The supreme court does not have the ability to legislate. It cannot create law. It does, however, have the ability to interpret whether or not laws are constitutional. If a law is found unconstitutional, then logically the opposite of that law must be applied. If you ban gay marriage, and that ban is found unconst...
Why is it that there are a lot of celebrity scientologists?	[ "I think there are a lot reasons why people to think that there are a lot of celebrity scienctologists. \n\nScientology is extremely successful because it makes a lot of money, which it gains from the people within the church. Unlike many religions today scientology has a sort of large hierarchy in which people can...
Why is it dangerous to fall asleep after recieving a concussion?	[ "In my experience as a medic in the US Army, it is not because of the possibility of worsening of symptoms but the inability to recognize them. If some one has suffered a head injury that resulted in a cereberal hemorrage, the altered mental status is easier to recognize in a conscious patient who is capable of ta...
How its legal to have female only gyms? Is it legal to ban certain groups of people from your business?	[ "Private clubs are generally exempt from non-discrimination laws. This is why the Boy Scouts are allowed to exclude atheists, which would otherwise be against federal non discrimination laws and gay adults, which would be against state law in several places. Also why there was only social and not legal pressure aga...
What makes Saudi Arabia friendly towards The West, while other conservative Islamic nations are hostile?	[ "The west buys their oil and provides them with financial and military support to keep the Totalitarian Sauds in power, keeping the country just stable enough that it can keep providing oil to the rest of the world.", "TL;DR: Saudi Arabia has been an American/Western ally since there's been a Saudi Arabia, albeit...
How does lower taxes result in higher revenues and vice versa.	[ "In addition to the other answers here, very high taxes can cause people to work less because they value free time more than extra after-tax income. If the state is going to take 80% of every extra dollar I earn, then maybe I'll spend more time walking in the park, going fishing etc. instead of working more. If the...
What does the 5 in a Gsus5 mean in music languae, and how do you play it on a guitar?	[ "Gsus5 isn't a real thing. So it looks like a band or someone's user name is using that as a sort of musical joke.\n\nBut there is such a thing as a Gsus2 or a Gsus4.\n\nHere's how it works:\n\n* A normal chord is 1-3-5. So, for example, a G chord would be G-B-D.\n\n* A \"sus\" chord suspends the 3rd for either...
How does Google provide traffic information on their maps?	[ "Along with using the usual traffic services that are established and that everyone else (like news/radio programs) use, they have the advantage of being able to track the location and speed of tons of Android/iOS devices. Mobile phones are actually very accurate when it comes to tracking not only your movements (d...
Why earth is so element rich compared to other planets?	[ "While the solar system was forming the different elements that make up the planets today were all mixed together in a giant gas cloud. Over a very long time the gravity of the sun began to pull the heavier denser elements together and toward itself leaving the lighter gases further away from itself. Over more ti...
Why don't U.S.-based websites have a two letter code like the rest of the countries?(like .it for Italia, .br for Brazil, etc)	[ "It used to be a reserved domain until \"recently,\" so companies turned to .com making it the unofficial domain of America. .us is available now and can be used (has been available for over a decade) but it's too late. .com already became the unofficial American domain.", "com does not mean its US based website....
Why are "bad habits" so addictive and hard to quit?	[ "I have kind of a theory about this.\n\nI think the real pleasure we get from a lot of bad habits is the pleasure of thinking about what your life will be like when you finally stop. \"When I finally stop overeating I'll look amazing and date all the hot people and wear great clothes and get that promotion...\" \"W...
What is the psychological reason for intentionally revisiting memories/photos/things/experiences that have hurt us?	[ "It's an attempt to heal wounds that still ache. What you are referring to is benign, but repetition compulsion drives people to get into therapy for harmful relationship patterns. \n \n_URL_0_" ]
Why did no one patent the car?	[ "Almost everything about a car has been patented -- the parts, the processes used to make them. For example, Oldsmobile patented the process of using conveyor belts to move the parts along the assembly line.\n\nBut patents don't last forever. You can patent something, and license others to do the same, but after 20...
What is the difference between VPN and SSH?	[ "A VPN is a way to extend a private network like your home network to other computers over the internet using encryption. You're still using your computer, but on a different network.\n\nSSH is a way to securely connect one computer to another. It's usually used to remotely log in to another computer. You're actual...
Why is formal titles (mr, ms, sir, officer, etc.) when addressing someone (e.g. a teacher, a parent of a friend, coach, or a cop) common in the U.S. but not in Scandinavian countries?	[ "Swede here as well. It's actually pretty much the other way around, we are the strange ones. We used titles for everyone up to the end of the sixties, when the \"Du\"-reform took place. \n\nIt happened most probably due to the fact that we are a pretty pragmatic people, and at that time there was a big movement to...
Why are premiums under Obamacare suddenly going way up?	[ "The projections for Obamacare were overly inflated from the start and everything that is happening now was predicted. The ACA has a ton of requirements that drive up costs. The only way the system would have worked was if they got a lot of young, healthy people to sign up since they would not need as much treatme...
What do diplomats do?	[ "They represent the government of the country they are from.\n\nThey attend meetings, work out agreements, and attend cultural events. Basically, if a foreign government needs to talk to the government of the other country, they can do it through the ambassador. Ambassadors can also conduct business on behalf of th...
how do global methane emissions get cut by 70 percent by adding dried seaweed to cattle feed?	[ "Disclaimer: I'm spitballing this answer based on my general (albeit significant) knowledge of biology because no one else has yet to give you a thorough explanation. However, I'm not an expert in this area so I could be wrong. \n\nHere goes. Methane is, I believe, produced as a waste product by the gut flora (i....
why do my clothes get darker if they get wet? can they ever be that dark without being wet?	[ "The layer of water on the clothing gives the light another substance to be absorbed into or refracted off of. This results in less of the light reaching your eyes, making it look darker.\n\n[This short video](_URL_0_) explains everything perfectly." ]
how Chris Brown can perform in Canada with an assault conviction?	[ "Permission to enter the country is at the discretion of the government. There is no law that says they must turn you away for an assault conviction, and these decisions are made on a case by case basis.\n\nThat said, if enough people got annoyed by it to make the media question it, there's a good chance he'd be r...
What the hell are independent & dependent clauses? Similarly, what's the grammatical use of a semicolon?	[ "An independent clause can stand on its own as a complete sentence; a dependent clause can't. Semicolons are used to link two independent clauses that are somehow related to one another, as I did in the previous sentence. \n\nThere are some other uses too, but that's the main one.", "Everyone else here is right ...
How come we can't send probes into planets and take pictures of their surfaces and such?	[ "> I can image the incredible landscape it could capture on Jupiter or Venus, or where ever.\n\nYes, I can too. It would look something like [this](_URL_0_)" ]
Why does your skin show your sun tan / burn so much more after you shower but not if you were to just jump in the pool?	[ "When you shower, you scrub your skin with soap and a wash cloth or loofah or something similar. This exfoliates the top layer of skin, leaving the tanned layer underneath. You don't do quite as much scrubbing in the pool." ]
Why are we muscle fatiqued and cant squeeze our fist when we wake up?	[ "During sleep the cerebellum shuts down the conscious motor functions of the body, IE it paralyzes you. This is what prevents you from running in a dream, and running out of bed while you dream it. \n\nWhen you wake up, it happens in stages and it can take a few moments for this block to completely clear. The nerve...
Why do we have dominant limbs (Right handed left handed)?	[ "Not sure \"why\" but other species do have dominant hands/paws. Dogs and cats express this, as well as apes and I think otters", "One common theory, as to how handedness affects the hemispheres, is the brain hemisphere division of labor. Since speaking and handiwork require fine motor skills, its presumption is ...
What are all those stickers that people put on traffic signs?	[ "Stickering is a form of tagging. Reasons are pretty broad, and vary. Here are some examples:\n \nMost of the time, you carry your stickers with you when you're out doing regular shit. If you don't have the time/inclination to come back to a good spot, you can slap on one of your stickers. \n\nAlso good if you'...
How are new elements discovered?	[ "They are manufactured. A heavy element such as Plutonium is bombarded by a lighter element from a particle accelerator, then whisked under a detector to catch sight of the decay products produced when the atoms of the new element fall apart." ]
What religion is being preached on Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps?	[ "It's a crazy blend of Christianity, Judaism & generic hippie-ized Eastern philosophies.\n\nDr. B was insane - he actually escaped from a mental institution. He just took everything he was exposed to & tried to build a single philosophy around it." ]
is it possible to change the atomic structure of something?	[ "Understand that it takes an incredible amount of energy to do it, but yes - it's the basis of how fission & fusion nuclear power work, but the materials we're using have little other practical function (no one's going to get uranium plated teeth or use it in place of steel).\n\nIn nature, stars are doing the maj...
why does it take so long after your flight has pulled into the gate to open the doors?	[ "The pilot needs to shut down engine and ground crew need to chock the plane. The cabin crew then need to unbuckle once they're told the plane is in position and make their way to the exit door. The doors are armed against unintentional opening and disarming them takes some time.\n\nThe largest part of the delay,...
Why the european debt crisis would inevitable lead to a break-up of the Euro zone.	[ "I would suggest you look back at a few concepts:\n\n* Arbitrage\n* The 2-of-3 concept of fiscal policy\n\nI don't know if I can ELY5 though.", "You are not really missing anything. The problem is thatthe politics are incredibly complex because the wealthy nations have to really go all in. What they want in excha...
how antivirus software works.	[ "They have a giant database of information about all known viruses/worms/etc.\n\nSecurity professionals analyze new threats and create 'signatures' which are specific things to look for in a file to indicate it has been infected. They are on top of this stuff as it breaks into the wild. It could be a particular s...
What is a respiratory therapist?	[ "From what my father(who is a respiratory therapist) says: all you really do is hook people up to ventilators(things that breath for you) and beat their heart for them(you know so they don't die).", "An RT department works all floors of the hospital. Anything from administering breathing treatments to manning/mon...
Why is it that I still say "Huh" even though when I think about it, I heard them the first time?	[ "There are two ways we use our ears in conversation. \"Hearing\" is simply the reception of the audible world. \"Listening\" is when we hear, and then process the information as its given. Many times when you may be otherwise distracted you hear the words, but aren't really listening. This prompts you to say \"huh?...
Why don't we hear New Kids On the Block on the Eighties radio stations?	[ "NKOTB was from that awkward chunk of time that straddled the 80's and the 90's. I think even most of the girls who were fans back then don't really see the appeal anymore.\n\nThat said, my local 80's station does play a New Kids song once in a blue moon, and I WOULD like to see more variety in obscure stuff that n...
Why can't humans communicate with other animals?	[ "Humans can't communicate on the conceptual level with animals, because animals lack the ability to have/make/use/understand concepts. Concepts are abstract ideas. For example the concept \"car\" represents every car in existence, past and present, real and imagined, of every variety and shape and colour. The *...
Why do large earthquakes always end up being downgraded? What is it about the initial measurement that's so inaccurate/misleading?	[ "The initial reports are often from only a few monitoring stations. A small sample size may result in inaccurate conclusions, but with more time, data from other monitoring stations can be added to get a more accurate picture of the quake." ]
when shrinking a picture on the computer, how does the computer know which pixels are important in keeping the thumbnail looking like the original picture?	[ "In general, downsampling an image doesn't keep pixels from the original image. It averages out multiple pixels to generate a new replacement. This is why hard edges can end up looking soft and worse defined after a downscale has occurred.\n\nIf you want to turn a 100x100 image to 50x50, a simple thing to do would ...
What is an Analog Computer (like the Antikythera Mechanism), and how does it work?	[ "Analog computers perform some (usually specialised) mathematical operations using wheels, cogs, levers, or slides.\n\nSome examples, in addition to the antikythera:\n[The Slide Rule](_URL_2_), used for finding approximations for certain mathematical operations;\n\n[The Curta Calculator](_URL_1_), capable of perfor...
Why do certain institutions get access to IPO shares ahead of the public and be allowed to make an instant 30% profit (in the case of Alibaba) before the shares are even available to all institutions and the general public?	[ "The company's underwriter can offer shares to whomever they want. Just because it's a initial public offering doesn't mean that the public can get a crack at them direct from the underwriter. The process is the underwriter approches investors, usually institutional investors, for the initial outlay of shares the...
How can global warming cause more extreme winters like those seen in North America this year? Isn't that kind of counter intiutive?	[ "Basically, we're not necessarily going to see just warmer weather- we're going to be seeing more extreme weather in general. Global warming is what it sounds like- but it's taken by the year, on an average, and the entire global climate is taken into perspective. \n\nAnd that average temperature is increasing an...
Why do our shoelaces come loose?	[ "A shoelace bow is a modified square knot. If you do it wrong, it's a granny knot, and it'll come loose.\n\nMake sure the crossing of the loops/ears is opposite the first crossing. A square knot is R over L, L over R (or vice versa). If you get the order wrong, it works itself loose.\n\nEdit with illustrations:\n\n...
What's so great about Linux?	[ "1.) It's free and will always be free.\n\n2.) Anybody can see the source code. This makes it difficult for the developer to fuck with your computer in a secret way, and it allows for bugs to be solved much more rapidly than in Windows.\n\n3.) The software is written by people who want useful software more than th...
Bilge Pumps	[ "It's probably ballast water, not bilge water. When the ship is empty they pump water into ballast tanks to lower the ship into the water deeper and keep the ship more stable. As they load the ship they pump that water out." ]
how does a computer delete a file. Where does all that information go?	[ "Your computer keeps a list of where all your files are located on the hard drive. When you make a new file, it checks this list to make sure you don't use space that other files are using.\n\nSo when you delete a file, your computer just deletes that file's entry from the list. Then, if you make a new file and t...
How do hackers earn money?	[ "It depends really on their nationality.\n\nMost hackers in america at least will moonlight as normal people for most of the day. Think of the opening of the Matrix. Neo works an average desk job as a computer programmer, yet he still hacks. This is more common then you think. A lot of hackers (see when Anti-sec wa...
Why, in Australia, are we subsidising the mining industry?	[ "Due to corporate influence in our political system and media.\n\nSince about 2011 or so, just after the Rudd years when the Mining Tax was proposed, high-level corporate figures - mining and otherwise - [colluded to manipulate public opinion](_URL_0_) around the mining industry and corporate regulation within Aust...
In Law, what criteria do they use to separate real threats and banter?	[ "It depends on your legal system, but most first world legal systems have a prosecutable charge for the threat called \"uttering death threats\", which is entirely different from the intent to actually go through with it. That's called \"~~planning~~ edit conspiracy to commit murder\" or \"attempted murder\" ...
I was told once that you wouldn't feel pain if your intestines were cut but would if they were stretched. Is this true? And if so, how is that possible?	[ "There are different receptors in different parts of your body passing on different information to your brain. Your internal organs have a lot of stretch receptors that help them know to move food along or tell you you’re full (in the stomach). You don’t have pain receptors in many of your internal organs. An examp...
Why America doesn't have Home Economics?	[ "So the big thing is that America USED to have it. But budget cuts have meant that most public schools have been forced to remove those sorts of programs because they have to focus on just the basics. Many schools can't even afford art classes or music. \n\nThat being said, most Americans I know would love it if Ho...
How different/similar is Android to other traditional GNU/Linux Distros (targeting desktop/other platforms) out there ?	[ "You're right that Android runs on the linux kernel. That's about the only similarity it has to traditional Linux distros. Everything else in Android differs completely because there are almost no GNU components in the rest of the system (the exception being the kernel itself)." ]
Why does our hearing muffle when we stretch?	[ "The ear has a Eustachian tube which is a pressure regulator in order to prevent your ears from popping out. When pressure changes in your ears the Eustachian tube which is normally closed opens. It also opens when you chew, yawn or stretch.\n\nSo the reason we don’t hear external sounds as well when we stretch/yaw...

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