Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
How is the idea that "all white people are racist" not itself racist?	[ "It is racist, which is why anyone who knows anything about actual racism would never say that.", "From a quick google definition of \"racism:\"\n\n > the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race\n\nSo let's look at\n > all white people are\n\nJust about any...
Why don't videos at 1080p look anywhere near as clear as a photograph at 1080p?	[ "The first thing is that virtually all (amateur) video is compressed, before it gets anywhere near YouTube. You could use a lossless codec if your camera has that ability (on some cameras you can set the quality), but the resulting file sizes would be massive.\n\nBut before it even gets to that stage, the quality o...
Why do our eyes move back and forth in our sleep?	[ "[It's called REM sleep](_URL_0_)\n\nRapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is just a side effect of dreaming, which is the important process. Our eyes move around quickly while we dream because our real eyes actually follow what we're looking at in our dreams. As for why dreaming is important, there are many theories as t...
Why do military websites all have certificate issues that require you to add a security exception to access on civilian computers?	[ "\"How do you trust that someone is who they say they are\" is a very tricky question. The approach that most of the modern Internet uses works well enough, but still has plenty of problems.\n\nYour computer keeps a list of trusted organizations. It also has a key to verify if something came from that trusted organ...
What is the difference between real Zippos and fake 'Zippos', and does it matter?	[ "Don't know why a 5 year-old would inquire about the differences between real and fake zippo's, but as the owner of a real zippo (and having been handed a few fake ones), I can provide a quick answer.\n\nIt's in the quality of the materials used, and the way you can easily disassemble the entire thing and put it ba...
When companies have massive payouts like Wells Fargo, where does the money come from? Do they have rainy day funds?	[ "Most larger companies know that at some point they will be sued. So what they do is they put a certain amount of money away every year in case something like this happens.\n\nSometimes things get way out of control and they don't have enough cash for it, thats when they get in trouble.", "Some companies invest ...
Why do you get chills when you pee sometimes	[ "I read in an Uncle John's bathroom reader (Gold edition I think) that this is still a mystery. \nAlso I'm sorry to see the downvotes; I think it's a good question." ]
Why does England still have / keep royalty?	[ "George III, the guy who was in power when the US revolted, made a deal with parliament where all the land owned by the royal family would be administered by parliament, with parliament reaping the profits, in exchange for the royal family getting to keep their fancy house in addition to an annual stipend. The roya...
The different types of fats, trans fats, saturated/unsaturated, etc, and which ones are "good" or "bad"	[ "The other answers in this thread are right from an organic chemistry perspective, but you are asking about it from a medical/health perspective. Saturated and trans fats are bad, and unsaturated ones are good.\n\nImagine you eat a burger. it goes in your mouth, then to your stomach, then your pancreas releases a b...
- Olympic 'professional' rules	[ "Up until the 1970s, the Olympics strictly enforced amateur status for athletes. For example, Jim Thorpe was stripped for medals for playing baseball.\n\nDuring the Cold War, the Soviet Bloc got an edge using de facto professional athletes...technically soldiers or students whose training and upkeep was furnished ...
Why food burns my mouth and leaves damage, but doesn't do anything to my insides (throat, stomach, etc.)	[ "Compared to your body the amount you can stuff in your mouth is very small, meaning it cools quickly. Basically, when something burns your mouth it transfers heat to your mouth and cools down. You rarely swallow food that hot immediately when you burnt your tungue", "I think it does - just harder to feel. This i...
Why can I use bootcamp to run Windows on a Mac, but not OSX on a PC?	[ "Because Apple is a hardware company. They make software to support the sale of their hardware devices. That's how they work financially.\n\nOf course, a big part of the reason OSX is arguably a more stable and smoother experience is because it runs on a small set of known hardware certified by apple. Particular...
Why can we eat runny egg yolks without the threat of salmonella but not the whites?	[ "Other people have already stated that risk of salmonella is actually very very low. However if an egg IS infected it is likely the yolk that is the problem, not the white. Heating to 165 F is the only* way to make it safe which would also cook the yolk. This is why you will see many menus in the US saying that eat...
Lightning and static electricity	[ "Think about it like pipes. \n\nIf we start piping water from location a to location b, then we need to start moving water from b to make room. One way to do this is to pump the water from b back to a. \n\nThis is like a circuit. If we care about keeping a flow going from a to b for a long time, it is convenient to...
How effective is China's internet censorship if everybody just uses a proxy to get to blocked websites?	[ "You would be surprised, I see a lot of people here suggesting that virtually nobody in China uses a proxy and that these websites are not used by people in China, or that the Chinese government has some kind of magical way to block all proxies.\n\nI will give you an anecdotal story. There was a \"space community /...
what is a 5040 plan?	[ "At my school it's called a 504, it's not a big deal at my school at least. I go to a special testing room, which is more quite and private so I can do better on my test/not make noise to bother others. Your 5040 plan is basically whatever you asked for. This year in school I haven't been going to the testing room ...
The purpose of bars/restaurants having an elevated step leading into them	[ "Doors level with the street can cause flooding, since if the street gets rained on or otherwise gains a lot of precipitation, there would be nothing stopping it from entering the building.\n\nIn addition, buildings are heavy and sink into the ground as time goes on. Rather than trying to press flat the ground as ...
How is my water, gas and electricity usage counted?	[ "Depends on where in the world you are. There are thousands of people who have been employed as meter readers around the world. Some physically read the meter, others connect a device to the meter and electronically download the usage. \n\nYou have a water meter as the water main enters the house, and records the f...
why does a lunar eclipse appear red while a Cresent moon appears black when the earth blocks light?	[ "A normal crescent moon is not crescent because of Earth's shadow.\n\nImagine this: You're standing in a room with no windows and one lamp at the far end of the room. Suppose there's a basketball in the room with you. The half of the basketball facing toward the lamp is lit up by the lamp. The half facing away is d...
Why is the Donetsk Airport still of any strategic significance?	[ "Modern aircraft are simply not designed for landing in fields. Even rugged military aircraft need even a basic level of preparation, such as putting down metal grates, and leveling the area. There is also the concern over debris, pieces of which, and even wild animals, can destroy an engine. \n\nBetter to take the...
Why do "nice guys" finish last?	[ "Mainly because they lack confidence. There's a huge bunch of social pressure preventing a woman from approaching you or escalating an existing friendship in to a relationship.\n\nIf you lack the knowledge and confidence to communicate to a woman that you are sexually attracted to her, then you have next to no chan...
How did they film the bear attack scene in the Revenant? It definitely didn't look like special effects, but I'm pretty sure they didn't set an actual bear onto Leonardo either!?	[ "The famous effects studio ILM did the CGI for the bear.\n\nThey are already working on the Warcraft movie and used some techniques there for the fur effects. \n\nWhat makes it realistic is that they studied real bear attack films and the main reference was a mauling that happened at a German Zoo when a man wandere...
How can I choose a gas/electric/water supplier but it all comes from one source into the house?	[ "Think of it like this. Instead of water pipes in your house, you have to go to the town square and use a 5 gallon bucket to scoop water from the town reservoir. The reservoir has to be manually filled. \n\nI charge .50 cents a gallon for the water I contribute to the reservoir. Tom charges .40 cents a gallon. ...
The Nvidia Maxwell architecture and why the Geforce 980 is so cheap	[ "First of all, this got a bit technical, but I hope this helps to answer! Please ask, and I will answer to the best of my ability!\n\nOne of the reasons it's cheap is that the physical core of the GPU is smaller than the one in 780ti. Those chips are very expensive to design, and cost is per mm^2. \n\nTo help you u...
The current Israeli election process, what the parties stand for and why nobody likes Netanyahu.	[ "In the upcoming election, Israeli citizens will vote for the parties which will become the Knesset, Israel's legislative branch. The Knesset has 120 seats. Each citizen casts a vote for one party, and then the parties get seats in the Knesset proportional to the percentage of votes they received - for example if a...
How are the numbers/letters on my calculator capable of casting shadows?	[ "They are made of a substance called liquid crystal that becomes opaque (more accurately, it becomes polarized, but a second polarizing layer makes that opaque) when a bit of electricity runs through it. \n\nSince it's opaque, it casts shadows. In fact that's why you can see the numbers at all: they block light t...
If it takes one minute to microwave six pizza rolls, why does it take twice as long to microwave 12? Shouldn't it take the same one minute, regardless of size, if all the pizza rolls are exposed to the same heat source?	[ "There is no \"heat source\" in a microwave; rather it's an electromagnetic field which agitates the food in a particular way. If there's more food absorbing the microwave energy, there's less overall being delivered to each piece of food. \n\nIt's the difference between having a heat source, and inducing heat in a...
how did communism work on paper but not IRL	[ "A big part of the problem was that, in order to get away from capitalism and toward toward a utopia, communism required a totalitarian phase where the state would be run on behalf of the people while it transitioned through socialism.\n\nThe problem is that if you put a small cabal of people in charge, they dont w...
What happens to a person when their house becomes a crime scene?	[ "99.9% of the time this isn't even an issue because the police are in and out before it even becomes an issue. It's only really serious crimes that this would come up.\n\nAs a general rule they will offer to call a friend or family member to see if you can stay with them. They will allow you to get clothes and stuf...
why does the new pope get such good PR?	[ "The new pope has a much better feel for politics and is just generally a lot more progressive than the past pope. He's focusing a lot more on poverty and oppression, which is what Jesus was all about, instead of dogma and rules. He's also toned down the homophobia, though his opinion and the position of the church...
How is it that one of my chickens consistently lays eggs with two yolks	[ "Is she young? If so, she will likely grow out of it. Some chickens have a genetic predisposition to double yolking, but most of the time it's just a mistake. Biological processes have non-zero error rates and in the long run it's just a yield question. Lay more eggs and the problem goes away, you'll still have...
how do I know the gas station isn't screwing me as I'm filling up my car and the total amount I have to pay is rising on the display?	[ "You just have to trust your state's Weights and Measures agency. There should be a sticker somewhere on the pump showing when the last inspection was.", "If you know the capacity of your tank, how far you've driven and your gas mileage, you should be able to verify that you got very close to the right amount whe...
If a conductor started doing completely random moves with it's staff, would the orchestra be confused and stop playing, or would it just carry on?	[ "Depends on how the conductor moves, what level the band is (high school, college, professional), and how the conductor generally conducts. \n\nMany high school conductors, for example, need to continuously keep time, especially if it's outside of a typical time signature (I'm blanking on the word, sorry if it's wr...
How do people get video game soundtracks to youtube?	[ "There's a few ways to get the music from a video game. After that, it's like creating any other video with music.\n\nReleased files. Sometimes developers will release the files as a soundtrack, either for sale or as a bonus download. \n\nDigging around. Like edman007 mentioned, some games store music as straightfo...
What’s the difference between good sugars (ie. fruit) and bad for you sugars (candy, soda, etc.)?	[ "Nothing. Sugar is sugar. The difference is an apple has 19g of sugar and is also full of plant fiber and healthy vitamins. A 20 oz mountain dew has 77g of sugar, and it's a drink that won't fill you up at all.", "Fruit has nutritional value in the form of vitamins and minerals, and in the case of fresh fruit, fi...
Americans vs Canadians?	[ "Canadian culture and American culture is largely the same, with some obvious exceptions in places like Quebec. The major differences are political. Canadians are more open to big government (we love our Crown corporations, and government programs) than Americans. We are also open for more government regulations on...
If Ferdinand Porsche had already designed the first hybrid electric vehicle in 1901, why was that hybrid technology never used until 1997?	[ "Electric cars did have some early success around the turn of the century, but the technology ultimately wasn't good enough to compete with the gasoline internal combustion engine once the electric starter was perfected.\n\nEarly gasoline cars were loud, fickle things that had to be crank started and this was a tri...
Why are so many Americans against speed cameras?	[ "Because there are so many Americans that speed and also don't want speeding tickets. \n\nSource: I'm an American that speeds.", "First you have to understand the purpose behind enforcing speed limits. While you can make a good argument that reducing speed does in fact reduce accidents, the states do not impleme...
How is it Antidepressants can increase the risk of depression/suicide?	[ "When some people are depressed and suicidal, they are completely unwilling to do anything. They want to kill themselves, but can't muster up the energy to do so. After taking the meds, they start to come out of the slump. However, they might still have the desire to die; taking drugs won't bring back your wife ...
How do people think the holocaust was made up and never happened?	[ "Most \"holocaust deniers\" don't believe it was made up. They believe it wasn't as extensive as claimed. There are a variety of reasons..some more reasonable than others. I'd recomend a google search, it would take pages to type.", "Just like with any conspiracy theory the thinking goes like this: \n\n\"We found...
How do the subway sub toasters work	[ "They are convection/radiation ovens that hit with both a blast of superheated air and heat from radiant elements. 700 to 1000 degrees will toast the shit out of some bread.", "Dry heat toasts the bread? It's just a giant toaster oven." ]
Why is Zimmerman called white, but Obama called black?	[ "My father is white, my mother is Vietnamese.\n\nI get called Asian. My little brother gets called white.\n\nThe reason is that I look Asian, and my little brother looks white.\n\nThis is not hard to figure out.", "Black and white are races; Hispanic is ethnicity. There are black Hispanics and white Hispanics.", ...
How do hackers from China find my new server immediately after I point a domain to it?	[ "Honestly, I find that hard to believe. The entire ip address space gets scanned perpetually. Whether or not it resolves. \n\nPort scans, attempted logins on ssh, telnet and ftp and various web app exploits are constantly being run." ]
How do 40+ yr olds understand and perceive the world differently than let's say people in their early 20s?	[ "I'm 42. As I inch closer to mid-life-crisis, here are some things that really hit me:\n\n* In my head, I'm still 22. I don't feel any different than I was when I was a young adult. This is probably the WORST part of getting older. Your body is older, but you don't feel like a different person in your head. I ...
how is a serving size determined?	[ "It's all made up. \n\nAt least in the US, there's no standard. All they're required to do is show the amount of servings in the product and what each serving represents. i.e. the company arbitrarily decides how many grams/ounces/any random measurement equals 1 serving.", "The manufacturer gets to pick the servin...
Why are Latinos and Hispanics separated?	[ "For two reasons. First off Latino and Hispanic aren't the same thing. Hispanic relates to Spanish speaking cultures, while Latino relates to people from central and South America, as well as Mexico. So, for example, someone from Spain could be considered Hispanic but not Latino, while someone from Brazil is Latin...
Why don't console gaming systems just share?	[ "This [same question](_URL_0_) was posted less than a day ago. \n\nMy response to it:\n\n1) Technical reasons. Different architectures/languages across consoles and PCs make it difficult for compatibility. Also, gotta get muh dollars.\n\n2) It already has. Off the top of my head I can think of Shadowrun, which was ...
Why aren't all power lines buried underground?	[ "The simple answer is that to put above-ground lines underground is time consuming and expensive. You have to dig up a whole lot of trenches for the lines, which would mean tearing up sidewalks, driveways, gardens, etc. Private individuals may find it to be too expensive, and it's too low of a priority for cities t...
How does bug spray work?	[ "DEET is an obscuring agent to insects that interferes with their ability to track animals, like humans, and don't let them see carbon dioxide or lactic acid through their antennae. Mosquitoes just don't see you. This applies to other bugs like horseflies, gnats and chiggers.\n\nIf applied correctly, it creates a l...
Rutherford's nuclear atom	[ "The atomic model prior to Rutherford was that of J.J. Thomson. Thomson's atom was made entirely out of electrons (the first sub-atomic particle identified) and held together by a diffuse positive force. \n\nRutherford's students Geiger and Marsden did an experiment where they shot alpha particles (a \"heavy\" form...
Why does a dead alkaline battery bounce?	[ "The insides of a fresh cell is soft and fluid. This means that when it hits something solid, the fluid inside moves, absorbing the energy. The insides of a used battery dry out, so it doesn't move, doesn't absorb the energy, so the energy makes the battery bounce.", "So when the battery runs out, the particles c...
Why are car windshield's slanted, but bus and train windshields straight up-and-down usually?	[ "For cars, it's important to reduce drag. For busses & trains, the priority is volume and getting as many people on as possible.\nEfficiency is the name of the game", "Cars are trying to be aerodynamic so they can go faster and get better gas mileage. Buses don't really care much about speed. Trains are so larg...
Why does android suffer from Audio latency?	[ "For your second question,there is more money in iOS development,that's why." ]
What is the difference between a jacobian and a gradient?	[ "Basically they are the same. When you have a function from R^n to R^m, and you think of it as mapping n real numbers to m real numbers (rather than thinking in terms of higher-dimensional spaces), then the Jacobian is the derivative of all of the outputs with respect to all of the inputs. That's n·m deriva...
What do they actually teach you in business school?	[ "Accounting, Finance, Operations Management, Financial Reporting, Marketing, Business Strategy, and most importantly, how to get drunk at a nightclub and call it a business expense.\n\n_URL_0_", "If it is a good school, they teach you how to think and how to network. Curriculum wise, Harvard Business School teach...
How online stores can afford to offer free shipping on heavy items	[ "In short the answer is volume. They do so much business with the shipper that they are given steep discounts for doing all of their shopping through their company." ]
Black Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter- White Privilege and How these movements contribute or perhaps distract from the debate.	[ "Two essential components to the BLM engine is\n\n- disenfranchisement from society (e.g. underfunded schools, lower social standing, etc...)\n\n- mistreatment by the justice system (abuse, harsher sentencing, etc...).\n\nThe reality is a lot more gray than they let on. Yes, poor counties tend to have lower fundin...
How was the first language translated when no one knew any language but their own?	[ "It's like, you are around someone and you can pick up simple words like yes, no. As you say, you point to Rock, and identify that. So now you have their letters r o c k, and y e s and n o. So you can start to find those letters in other words, and based on their context and what you know of the document, you start...
The "Saw" film series plots, twists, and everything else	[ "You're 5 years old. You shouldn't be watching that shit.", "There's a guy. (He's the guy in control of the puppet. I forget his name.) He thinks that people haven't truly lived until they've been in a life or death situation. He also wants to turn really bad criminals into good people. \n\nHe will find people wh...
Why do some people tend to perform certain actions better/worse depending on what time it is?	[ "Everyone has different circadian rhythms, aka sleep cycles - some have advanced cycles where they go to sleep early and wake up early, others have delayed cycles where they go to sleep late and wake up later, and others in between. It's been shown that our brain performs better at different times of the day, depen...
Who takes care of the animals driven over on the roads?	[ "In the US, if it’s not inside city limits the county road department does it. They come out with a truck and shovel and clean it up. If it’s large game that’s been struck by a vehicle and there’s still useable meat, the game warden will take it to be processed and donated. If it’s in the city, the city sanitation/...
Is there any physiological difference between a natural nose & nose that has gone through rhinoplasty?	[ "A nose job essentially rearranges the bones inside your nose. If you hurt your nose, whether or not you've had a nose job, it could heal incorrectly and bones would heal in the wrong spots or scar tissue would push out things that aren't where they're supposed to be. They're essentially the same thing, except the ...
How does sunblock work?	[ "UV rays are very small waves that can harm your skin. Sun block works by scattering the rays away or absorbing it so it doesn't harm your skin.\n\nI don't know why people are being assholes in the comments.", "Chemical sunblock consists of particles that mostly absorb high-energy radiation such as UV-A and UV-B ...
what is philosophy and what does it do?	[ "As a philosophy minor in college I can say that philosophy is more of a directed wisdom. But that still doesn't capture it very well.\n\nAs is taught, philosophy is historic and political in context. The great philosophers were thinking about something. A lot of those things are political related and relevant i...
why did the book in the latest Hydraulic Press Channel video explode?	[ "It's similar to the principles behind a volcano. Pressure keeps building up and building up in one specific point. However, there is some strong material resisting that pressure, in the volcano case it is the dirt, rock, and metal sitting above it, and in the book case it's the pages sitting under the press. Howev...
Why do the majority of Americans drive automatic cars but in Britain most people drive manual cars?	[ "It's primarily because of the car manufacturers following the demands of the consumer. In the US it's more common to take cars on long, uneventful highway journeys, where an automatic is beneficial; in the UK it's more common to do shorter, slower journeys, where a manual is preferred." ]
How is it decided if a road will be a street, avenue, or something else?	[ "A street is made through an urban environment, mainly to connect buildings and freely let people interact. \n\nA road is just a simple path from one place to another.\n\nAn avenue is defined as a straight road with trees on each side.\n\nA boulevard is a big street.", "It varies from place to place, and there is...
Why is it easier for people to fall asleep when watching something?	[ "When watching something it acts as white noise before sleeping. It's used to mask out background sounds and keeps you asleep by drowning out sounds that'll wake you up.", "Some people need to get their mind to stop thinking so much. Others just need some kind of background noise." ]
The obstacles in establishing a standard global currency?	[ "It's really difficult to have a currency that spans more than one state/government. The problem arises when you don't have an effective international system of enforcing the laws and regulations that go along with maintaining a currency. The US, for example, is composed of 50 states, but the dollar system works ...
Why do objects stick to each other after a while? I.e. a textbook and a desk.	[ "Weak chemical bonding, air pressure, and other explanations, found here:\n\n_URL_0_" ]
How much authority do campus police and security guards really have?	[ "It depends on where you are. In many cases, campus police are real police & have the same authority & powers as any other policeman. Security guards, OTOH, can't do much more than escort you from the campus.", "Security Officer here. We don't have any more power than a regular citizen. The only authority w...
How is the haute couture fashion business sustainable.	[ "It exists for the same reason car companies build halo cars: it adds prestige to the brand. Although they may be breaking even or even losing money on each piece, they get so much attention that it boosts the more profitable product lines.\n\nWhat is the first thing actresses are asked when they're on the red carp...
How did the NES Zapper work?	[ "The NES Zapper is the coolest thing ever because it appears to work like magic as most wireless controllers we see today (like the wii-mote) have a IR ~~sender~~ receiver (the little black box at the end of the remote) and an IR ~~receiver~~ sender (thing attached to the wii and sits on top of the tv) and the Zapp...
How come animals that are smaller and lighter than humans,like wolves,be stronger than us ?	[ "Because you are afraid to be hurt.\n\nIf you are not afraid to be hurt, in a life and death situation you can kill the wolf. You just have to face it that you will be hurt severely.\n\nNext thing is experience. The wolf has killed many things before you have met it. You probably haven't. If you have spent your who...
Why do men go bald but most women don’t?	[ "Dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It's a more potent cousin of normal testosterone. It's a super hormone of sorts! And it has profound impact on the men. From the development of genitals to pubic/body hair to maintenance of prostate, etc. Sadly, as a side effect, it also causes pattern hair loss typically associated ...
How can I weigh myself right before I go to sleep, and right after I wake up in the morning, and weigh more in the morning?	[ "If it is a subtle difference, your scale might not be properly zeroed or is just slightly inaccurate. Or you are cooking yourself a nice breakfast while you sleepwalk." ]
What do they use as cocaine in movies that have scenes of people snorting ?	[ "_URL_0_\n\nAs the article says...it depends. But it's (obviously) not real cocaine and it has to be something that is digestable, like the powdered lactose that is mentioned.", "It's typically powdered lactose, which can only affect the actors if they happen to be lactose intolerant. \n\nSource: Read it somewhe...
How does a bee actually have the strength to sting me?	[ "It is not a matter of strength. It behaves like a needle, you can sting yourself just having it touch you because its diamter is smaller than for example your skin's pores." ]
Why haven't us wealthier nations helped out third world nations enough to become 2nd world nation or even 1st world nations?	[ "We are constantly trying. But its not a problem you can throw money at, and unfortunately a lot of Third World nations have corrupt governments that direct aid from First World nations into their own pockets or toward their militaries. \n\nTheres not much more we can do if a Third World government doesn't cooperat...
Why can't we consume the daily required nutrients we need in pill or drip form rather than having to eat a variety of foods and having to and expel it out of our bodies?	[ "You can, but it's boring. People in a coma live on nutrient paste and IV drip.\n\nYou need to expel some waste because damaged cells and useless metabolic products need to go somewhere." ]
Why do phones have a limit of how much expandable storage they have?	[ "Different standards. \n\nThere are three different types of SD formats, these also apply to MicroSD. \n\nSD: Up to 2 GB\n\nSDHC: Up to 32 GB\n\nSDXC: Up to 2 TB, although cards of that size don't exist yet. People have only been able to make 256 GB MicroSD cards, and those are still very expensive. \n\nSo when a p...
how does cement work?	[ "The \"load of powder\" is really the kicker of cement. It's actually a carefully selected mixture of compounds that react with the water added in a series of exothermic reactions that interlock their crystal structures, providing a very useful building material.\n\nUsually the sand and other materials are added to...
Why is the human heart associated with love?	[ "Likely it's because of the physical human reactions to love. I mean, think back to some time when you've had a crush on someone. You've probably felt a swelling in your chest or an increased heartbeat. That feeling in that region probably led to the origins of the heart being associated with love.", "There are s...
why do we make kids believe in Santa?	[ "The same reason we teach adults about God. Trying to give them a reason they can't dodge to behave well. If you threaten your child with violence to get them to behave, you are a child abuser. But if you teach your kid that there is an metaphysical old man in the sky who can see them masturbate and will burn yo...
If each president can overturn the laws passed by the previous administration easily, is there no way to make the laws permanent? If yes, how?	[ "Presidents in the US do not make laws or overturn them. Laws are changed through the legislative bodies of the Senate and Congress. The President is the head of the Executive branch which enforces the laws.\n\nLaws can be made more permanent than normal if made into Amendments to the Constitution. These are very d...
Why are the first episodes of a lot of shows called pilot?	[ "A “pilot” is a term for a test run of something. The term “pilot project” refers to tentative model or solution that if it proves successful will become standardized or official.\n\nMany tv shows create “pilot” episodes that are then reviewed and later a decision is made to give a show a longer run.\n\nAmazon is ...
Why was it so important that we made it to the moon before the Soviets?	[ "The Soviets beat us to space, both unmanned (Sputnik) and manned (Yuriy Gagarin). It is difficult to understate how much of a shock that was. The space race began in earnest and we were already losing. \n\nBear in mind also that John Kennedy, in his [rice speech](_URL_0_), vowed that we would get to the moon withi...
Why do all American radio stations names start with a K?	[ "> New broadcasting stations are assigned call signs beginning with K if they are west of the Mississippi River, and beginning with W if they are east of the river.\n\nsource: _URL_0_\n\nGoogle is difficult, nowadays.", "I think that's only the west coast. When I went to New York, all the stations started with ...
Why aren't torrenting or pirating sites taken down for illegal downloads?	[ "They are. The Pirate Bay bounces from country to country every time it gets shut down, until it finds a home in a country that doesn't care.", "Torrent sites don't actually host the files in question, merely a small file that points you to peers who do have the file. Because the tracker sites don't actually ever...
Why were/are the Irish hated so much?	[ "no more prejudice than any other immigrant group in the US. Bit more complicated in the UK due to the Troubles (e.g. vicious urban sectarian civil war in Northern Irelandthat ran from late 60s to early 90s)\n_URL_0_\n\nWhile the violence was mainly confined to the North, the IRA did carry out bombing campaigns in ...
My tea is red but the condensation under the lid is clear. Why isn't it also red?	[ "Condensation comes from water vapor in the air which changes from a gas back into a liquid. Whatever substance is making the liquid red apparently does not vaporize in the same way the water does and so the condensation will not contain it.", "The condensation under the lid is from evaporated water which is pure...
Military question, not sure how to phrase it.	[ "As they're the last in the horizontal line, they have to keep eyes front to avoid drifting and keep the unit's formation intact. It's one of many ways we try to idiot-proof marching in the military (though some are better idiots than others and still manage to fuck it up)", "In drivers ed,i was told that you dri...
Why handmade products are more valuable than automatically made products?	[ "There is supply and demand, with hand-made stuff taking longer per unit, they are more rare. They also tend to have a level of uniqueness since they aren't churned out with the exact same process. And some people simply value things knowing someone put a lot of time and effort into it.\n\nStill, it does depend on ...
Why are scientific papers sometimes released behind a paywall?	[ "Journals have to pay the bills. You can either make money through subscriptions, or advertising. Advertising would compromise the integrity of the journal, so unless they generate a lot of subscription income (i.e. NEJM or Chest), they need the money.", "they gotta keep the lights on somehow. the other way to do...
How does Steam and other digital game distribution business's make money.	[ "Steam: Steam is the middle man. Valve charges publishers and indie developers a fee to sell a game through Steam, and takes a percentage of each sale. Steam was one of the first digital game distribution platforms.\n\nOrigin: Origin is owned and operated by Electronic Arts. Since EA is both a developer and...
The European Union (EU), Free Trade Association (EFTA), Economic Community (EEC), and Economic Area (EEA) - What are their objectives?	[ "European Union - Free Trade and build a powerful international bloc and everything the EEC stood for\n\nEFTA - Free trade for european nations that didn't want to join the union. Prevent nations not joining the EU from being left out.\n\nEEC - Prevent war between members by having the profits from international tr...
Why do elevators have two separate call buttons?	[ "If you press up, and the car is going down, it won't stop for you. This saves the other passengers time, since they don't have to stop on the way down. The car will stop for you on the next upward pass. If there's more than one car, you save time as well because you don't have to deadhead down - you can just get w...
What do people without permanent addresses do during elections?	[ "The only people without a permanent address are the homeless or the tiny number of people caught between homes staying with a friend or at a hotel. \n\nBoth groups are basically ignored. If you are talking about college students, their permanent address is with their parent/guardian legally." ]
Why do some electronics have a 'maximum operating altitude'	[ "10 seconds on google\n\nCapacators (Breakdown voltage) is also affected by pressure, humidity and temperature", "Put a computer in a vacuum chamber. It dies quickly. It's worse than turning off all the cooling fans.\n\nSo short answer: low-density air has very little conductive/convective cooling capability. ...
Why do our ears "perk" up when we hear certain noises?	[ "Most other mammals have ears that swivel to turn towards sounds so that they can hear them better (like cats). Great Apes (which humans are descended from) have lost that ability. However, the muscles (as tiny as they now are) are still there and still instinctively respond.\n\n[Here are some other things we've lo...

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