Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
Why do I get hiccups when I eat too quickly?	[ "I'm no doctor, but I would assume it's because you eat too quickly.", "The stomach, which is situated right below the diaphragm, becomes distended (swells) and irritates the diaphragm. This will cause the diaphragm to contract, as it does when we breathe in. \n\nYou can get rid of them by exhaling as much air fr...
Why is it that story lines, characters and outcomes from a book can differ so much from the movie based off that book?	[ "I have a feeling that the author of the book has very little influence on the movie, once they've sold the rights to it. \n\nAlso, I think movie patrons are different from readers and are seeking a different kind of resolution to the story. That is, book readers are more willing to see an open-ended resolution whe...
Why people can get "accumulated tiredness" but not "accumulated rest"?	[ "I assume you're talking about sleep debt?\n\nSleep debt is a little more complicated than \"accumulated tiredness.\" It generally refers to a chain of changes and harms in the body as a result of poor sleep or insufficient sleep: increased risk of obesity, heart problems, stroke, cognitive decline, high blood pres...
If the nucleus is held together by a strong force, then how do atoms gain or lose neutrons (and radioactive atoms lose protons)?	[ "Well, the Strong Force is only one of 4 fundamental forces of nature, the other three being Electromagnetism, Gravity, and the Weak Force.\n\nThat force is only about 137 times greater than the Electromagnetic Force, which attempts to push two positively charged protons away from each other. If the Strong Force we...
Why do protagonists in TV shows primarily go with pistols?	[ "On top of what /u/notbobby125 said; Outside of military or special circumstance (end of the world, or something) it's not common to just see someone walking around with a rifle. \n\nLaw and Order would be strange if the detectives were getting coffee with rifles.", "Pistols are easier for the actors to handle, a...
Why can't the human heart "get used to" having to work harder in an individual with restricted arteries, causing it to get stronger under the increased work load like normal muscles?	[ "You are really talking about two different things here, without realizing it.\n\nFirst of all, the heart does \"get used to\" having to work harder. If it is pumping against a higher blood pressure (because the patient has hypertension and it isn't being treated), then over time it was develop hypertrophy. This ...
When your car stalls, what causes it to shake so violently?	[ "In the case of killing the engine while shifting, you're releasing the clutch quicker than the engine is spinning.\n\nReleasing the clutch puts more friction on the flywheel and crankshaft, meaning it's going to be harder to spin. The cylinders firing are usually using the piston to push on the crankshaft. If the...
Why do established writers/poets get to break the rules? (So-called "creative license")	[ "Because they are more guidelines than rules. These rules exist for a reason. Because over time writers have figured out that certain things work and certain other things don't work. By copying this behavior, you can then be somewhat successful. But really good writers will go beyond this. They will understand...
how to constructively take criticism like an adult.	[ "It's a little unfortunate that most people seem to phrase criticism as a direct attack on someone. Maybe it's a limitation of the English language, but it can be difficult to take criticism as a non-offense.\n\nInstead, observe criticism as feedback on how to improve yourself. How to make yourself a better person....
Why do chickens Lay unfertalized eggs?	[ "Why do women keep ovulating even if they're not getting any sex?", "So their eggs are not a product of the male and female genetic mixes unless a chicken and rooster mate prior to the egg. Chickens laying eggs is more of a bodily function that comes with the age of the chicken. So chickens would lay eggs no mat...
What's wrong if the Placebo effect works?	[ "The problem is the fact that the Placebo effect only works sometimes, and usually less than the drugs that are offered. (If placebos outperform the drug, it's probably not going to be approved).\n\nYou take a homeopathic treatment for your cold, and you'll have a 25% chance of resolving the cold before your neig...
Is the energy used to run your body stored in cell themselves like water is? And how is the process of burning fat used to power your body?	[ "You know the meme that the \"mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell\". \n\nWell basically, the mitochondria produce a chemical called ATP. It uses the byproducts of the chemical reactions that break down carbohydrates, fats and proteins to make it. \n\nATP then leaves the mitochondria and goes into the cell. F...
How do those keychain lasers from the dollar store work?	[ "Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained:\n\n1. [ELI5: How do laser pointers work ](_URL_2_)\n1. [ELI5: how do laser pointers work? ](_URL_1_)\n1. [ELI5: How do laser pointers work? ](_URL_0_)" ]
What is being dyslexic like?	[ "I knew a guy that was dyslexic in my math class and when they would give us problem sheets that we had to work on as a group, I would notice that sometimes he would flip the numbers unknowingly until I called him out on it.\n\nFor example if the number was 123 he would write 213 without even noticing it or 3+5*8 w...
Why do people sleep better when it's cold but have an easier time waking up if it's warm?	[ "When it's cold, it's easier for your body and your brain to slow down which makes it easier for you to sleep. When it's warm, you have better blood circulation which means more oxygen getting to your brain so it can work better with less effort, which makes you feel more awake and alert sooner.\n\nETA: Both ends o...
why graphic effects in movies look 100% realistic, but people in video games still look like half-melted mannequins?	[ "The main difference is processing power.\n\nAn animated movie, a Pixar movie for example, is pre-rendered on massive arrays of computers called render farms. The calculations needed take large amounts of time to finish, and if I remember correctly, a ten-second scene of an animated movie takes somewhere close to h...
why New York is the biggest market for sports in America	[ "* it is the largest city in the US\n* it was the largest city in the US when both professional sports and broadcast media emerged, and has deep traditions in both\n* it has a well defined city identity that overwhelms the surrounding cities (as opposed to LA)\n* it is densely populated into a small area, which lot...
Why is it that emotional distress causes the loss of apatite?	[ "One way of thinking about it by looking at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: _URL_0_\n\nWhile there is some debate, the current thinking is that you first need a sound psychological mind before you start fulfilling other needs. Eating and drinking comes under the 'Safety' tier of hierarchy. As such, if you are disturbe...
What's the difference between a snail and a slug?	[ "different species but within the same category \"gastropods\"" ]
The Hutchison Effect	[ "The Hutchison effect is reported to cause objects to defy gravity, metals to spontaneously fracture. But this effect has not been reproducible even by Hutchison himself since its discovery. It was reportedly discovered while trying to reproduce one of Tesla’s experiments. \n\nHutchison's experiments often use Tesl...
Where does the internet physically exist?	[ "I'm a sr network engineer and I asked this same question 15yrs ago lol. The internet physically exists in data centers that are connected via tier 1 & 2 internet service providers like verizon, global crossing, time warner, savvis, century link, etc etc. Most isp's own dark or dim fiber interconnecred all over t...
Why are genitals darker than the rest of their owner?	[ "Your genitals have more melanin, which protects against UV radiation. A long time ago, humans and their ancestors didn't wear clothes, so such sensitive parts did need more protection against the sun.", "How common is this? Mine is as pale as the rest of me.", "As other comments have mentioned, melanin is sun ...
How can seedless watermelons continue to exist? Aren’t seeds needed for reproduction?	[ "It's the same thing g that happened with bananas! Bananas used to have a pit inside them that was the seed, but scientists genetically engineered the pit out of them decades ago. (Fun fact, the little brown/black specs you see in a bananas cross section is actually remnants of the seed) now, to grow any more banan...
Why did Italian develope as a separate language from Latin,even though Latin continued to be spoken?.	[ "In the book You Are What You Speak, the author explains that until the nation building trend of the 1800s, language was a continuum as you moved through Italy, France, then Spain, the common person spoke a language that was decreasingly similar to the Latin spoke in Rome. If you picked any point along the way, th...
How do people solve Rubik's cubes quickly?	[ "I'm just gonna explain the 'quickly' part of your question. I can go more in depth on the method and explain what they are doing specifically if you'd like but the basics are:\n\nDo the first 2 layers by intuition (a layer is just a row, there are 3 rows in a 3x3x3 cube). Intuition comes only through practice and ...
why is there no better/portable partition format than FAT32?	[ "The big proprietary OS makers reluctant to include file systems other than their own unless they have to.\n\nThe open source world can't really handle anything that requires royalties except as part of grey-market solutions.\n\nMakers of devices that accept removable media don't really like royalties much, but the...
How does the transmission of electricity work?	[ "First thing first, electrons flow through metal wires because metal atoms share electrons with their neighbors, which means they're not really locked on to a particular atom. As long as there are enough electrons around the atom, it doesn't care where they're from or where they're going. That means they can flow, ...
What short term and long term effects can a male experience when kicked in the groin?	[ "In the short term, a great deal of pain. The genitals possess the second most dense area of nerve endings associated with pain (the first being the solar plexus, if you were wondering), so getting hit in the groin is extraordinarily painful. If you are a female, you can imagine getting kicked dead-on the clitoris,...
How did Japan find its huge trove of rare earth metals on Minami-Torishima?	[ "Despite the name, rare earth metals aren't particularly rare. You can take some random dirt and test it, and it will probably have some rare earth metals in it. On the other hand, it's going to be in absolutely minuscule amounts. Even in areas with high concentrations, rare earth mining has to be done by harves...
What differentiates life from everything else if both are just atoms?	[ "The most truthful answer, and probably the most frustrating, is that life is simply active energy in the universe given self-awareness. The only reason we're different from a rock, cloud, or stream of water is that we're aware of what we are, and thereby are able to question why. Here's the long answer. The thing ...
How can light act as both a wave and a particle?	[ "Light has properties we usually attribute to particles and properties we usually attribute to waves. In fact, this is true of everything, not just light.\n\nLight interferes and diffracts like a wave, but it carries momentum and hits things like a particle." ]
Is the theory that we are inside some sort of simulation a plausible one? Are there any well worked-out views on the topic?	[ "It's plausible, I guess, in the sense that it could be true. If the simulation is good enough, we'd never notice. It's just as likely that I'm the only thing that actually exists in the universe and you are all just figments of my imagination or that entire universe is completely destroyed and recreated every othe...
How does our sense of smell work?	[ "When you smell something, you're really just smelling the molecules that object gives off. These molecules are very light, float around in the air and evaporate easily. It's why you can smell, say, a tray of freshly-baked cupcakes and how a hunk of metal.\n\nIn your nose, there are these things called cilia, whi...
How do video games (or video game content) get leaked?	[ "Yep to the last bit. Its somebody down the line that gives it to the press/somebody they know for a favour or a good old fashioned wad of green when it comes to bigger titles." ]
Are we at the battery capacity peak? Does the capacity only increase by volume?	[ "We are nowhere near peak battery capacity.\n\nThere are multiple battery chemistries we have yet to figure out how to reasonably manufacture a battery out of but we know that they will work better. \n\nThere are also new technologies in nanostructure manufacturing. The energy density of a battery is directly rela...
Why can't a US president just an Executive Order for everything they want done?	[ "An executive order is only capable of ordering something which the Executive Branch has the authority delegated by either the Constitution or act of Congress. This doesn't include just anything the President may want done. Any order must be supported by the relevant existing law.\n\nTechnically speaking there is n...
How can we "train" our bodies/tastebuds to handle spicy foods? Is it just getting used to the heat or are there actual chemical changes?	[ "You can train your body. More importantly your brain. Your body creates chemicals to battle the pain. It is why heat heads get a high from trying really hot foods. \n\nEndorphins and other brain goos in the brain are discharged more effectively if you eat spicy food more often. \n\nIf you have problems with s...
what does it mean to be in escrow?	[ "If you and I make a bet, we both give our money to a friend we can trust. It helps make sure neither one of us backs out. The friend can be said to be holding the money in escrow.\n\nEscrow shows up with a number of important deals. It's difficult to force someone to transfer a house back, so a seller usually want...
what's going on with the stock markets?	[ "China is an economic bubble and everyone knows it. The question is will burst or will it slowly deflate. A bubble is when the value of something is over inflated. China said they were doing great, look at all those modern flats they were building, it turns out that the flats are too expensive for people to live in...
Why is it okay for a business to discriminate based on age but not by race?	[ "Neither of your examples is age discrimination per the law. The [Age discrimination in Employment Act](_URL_0_) only protects people aged 40 and over from employment related age discrimination. Your theme park isn't discriminating against age so much as childless adults, which isn't a protected class. Restaurant...
Does the fact we can choose to believe that free will exists, prove that free will exists?	[ "Nope. It's a complex topic, but the idea is that choice is an illusion. You can \"choose\" to believe or not to believe. However, some would argue that your choice is a product of your life up to that point. You were basically destined to choose that way all along.\n\nI don't mean to say one side or the other is a...
I often hear people say the universe is young, but how do they know what's young in terms of universes?	[ "It means there's tons of negentropy left. That is, there's absurd quantities of usable energy left in the universe, and that much energy is going to take an astronomically long time to waste away even if nobody does anything to shepherd it. We have plenty of time.", "Young just means far from heat death in this ...
How does a cricket ball "swing" and to what degree does the environment/weather/pitch play a role?	[ "You're right about shining one side of the ball to get it to swing. The reason being that the smooth side of the ball will travel through the air with less resistance than the rough side. So if one side is quicker through the air than the other, the ball will swing. \n\nEnviroment\n\nThere's an old cricket a...
Why do spiders not get stuck to their own web?	[ "Basically, they tiptoe. They only come into contact with the webs a little bit at a time, use only the little hairs on each of their legs. Spiders can and do get stuck on their own web in gusts of wind or something huge disturbing the web." ]
Why is it you get dizzy and lose vision momentarily when you stand up too quickly sometimes?	[ "That is called orthostatic hypotension: _URL_0_\n\nWhen you stand up, the blood that was pooled in the lower parts of your body has to spread out farther in order to reach your extremities (like your head). Since there's less blood in your head, there's less oxygen, and you essentially start to lose consciousness....
Why haven't any open widely supported vector video formats taken the place of Flash on the web?	[ "The only reason to have a vector format is to display media that originates in a vector format. Moreover, if you want to display anything more complicated than wireframe pictures, you need a ton of raster data to paint onto your wireframe.\n\nWhen you're writing a 3d video game, it makes sense because the install...
Why did people first milk cows/goats?	[ "I'm not sure we know for certain, but I would surmise that knowing our children suckle on our teats, and their children suckle on their teats, we quickly worked out we might gain food by taking their milk, and that this food is renewable.", "Because they were able to recognize that a baby suckling at a woman's t...
How does audio get transmitted over a specific frequency or waves? (AKA Radio)	[ "Radio waves have two ways of being transmitted: AM (Amplitude Modulation) and FM (Frequency Modulation).\n\nThe way a radio wave is created is by electrons running up and down radio towers. This is what creates the electromagnetic wave. (Think of it like holding the end of a rope, and moving your hand up and down ...
Why does iced coffee taste so good, but cold hot coffee tastes terrible?	[ "When you prepare coffee to be iced, you prepare it stronger than normal. That way, you can brew it hot, and then when you dilute it with lots of ice it winds up the proper strength. If you drink that hot iced coffee preparation before adding ice, you'll find that it's overpoweringly strong.\n\nIf you ice a cup o...
How do monarchies begin?	[ "Conquest. Kings started out as warlords, or leaders of a warrior family who conquered a large area of land, put their friends and relatives in charge of parts of it, and passed it on to their heirs.\n\nTo make alliances, they often also married (or had their sons marry) the daughters of other nearby warlords. If o...
Do people with disabilities in US go to regular schools like movies make it seem? If so, why?	[ "In the US we call it \"inclusion\" or \"mainstreaming\" and the idea is that a student should be in the most \"mainstream\" environment in which they can be successful. \nThere are schools for the blind and deaf as well as schools for those with other major physical or mental handicaps but the goal (at least in my...
the difference between a Lawyer and a Solicitor (Australia)	[ "A lawyer is the general term. All solicitors are lawyers.\n\nIn Australia, a lawyer can loosely be one of two main types. A solicitor or a barrister.\n\nA barrister is the one in robes and wigs who stands up and talks in court. They're specialists at running a trial, convincing judges and juries, examining evidenc...
What is the lump in your throat feeling you get when you are sad or mad?	[ "The lump-like thing we feel when overcome by emotion has to do with how the nervous system deals with stress. The part of the nervous system that handles stress is called the autonomic nervous system. It controls bodily functions that we do not consciously control, such as digesting food and pumping blood through ...
If being homosexual is genetic then how has it lasted so many generations if homosexuals can't reproduce?	[ "Gay people can and do reproduce quite frequently. There are many homosexuals forced into heterosexual relationships due to religon, family, or societal pressure. They can also be sperm donors for heterosexual couples through fertility clinics.", "First of all, gay people can and do reproduce. I doubt there's any...
How can Luxembourg have an insane national debt and not crumble?	[ "Debt per capita doesn't matter very much--what matters is the debt as a percentage of GDP, the size of the economy. After all, wealthy countries can afford to pay more than poor countries even if they have a lower population. Nevertheless, Luxembourg's external debt as a percentage of GDP is also high. \n\nThis be...
Why do we skip a number when two (or more) things are tied for the same rank?	[ "We skip a number because it doesn't matter if there are 2 tied for first or there is a first and a second, the next one is the 3rd best -- because there are 2 ahead in the ranking. It's the number of people/cities, etc. ahead, not the number of unique scores that matter.", "> Say that two athletes tie for 1st pl...
Why does our taste in food change as we get older?	[ "One theory i heard is that children are far more sensitive to bitter flavors. Since young children can't handle natural toxins as well as adults, and since toxins have a bitter flavor, humans have evolved to avoid putting these things in their mouths at a young age. That means that a lot of things, like olives, wi...
How do successfully socialistic Scandinavian countries like Denmark keep people from taking advantage of their strong social safety net?	[ "Businesses there also pay enough that it is better to work than not. I was on general assistance in the US for a while. Between the rent help, the food stamps, the health insurance, and so on, I would have had to get a job netting over $40k a year just to continue living how I was (shitty apartment, no luxuries, b...
The surge of violence in Chicago	[ "A combination of reasons. High unemployment, A mass amount of organized crime due to drug running, a corrupt local government, an oblivious federal government, high population density and an extremely strict gun control policy. That's the extremely, extremely, short version." ]
Rural/Tribal people and their perfectly white teeth.	[ "They do not have the luxury of eating or drinking sweet things often. This prevents a lot of tooth decay.", "The reason most people in the industrialized world have teeth problems is because of sugar. We consume pounds and pounds of sugar a year which eats away at our enamel (outside coating of teeth) which make...
Why is it better to sometimes cover a wound and other times leave it exposed	[ "First Aid Instructor here: all wounds: wash then cover. leaving a wound open leaves it open to infection. covering not only stops infections but bleeding as well. direct pressure helps.", "With the exception of minor scrapes (no bleeding) and papercuts, wounds should always be covered initially. Covering the w...
4.4 billion year old crystal (+/- 6mil)?? What is this Atom-Probe Tomography thing and how accurate is it?	[ "This task is typically accomplished with radiometric dating. There are several different isotopes that are typically used for radiometric dating. One of them is Uranium. Zircon crystals may contain both Uranium-238 and Uranium-235 allowing the use of Uranium and Lead to determine the age when the Zircon crystal so...
Where does surplus electricity go?	[ "In a general sense, unused load is wasted.\n\nIn a practical sense, unused load is often stored in a number of ways, such as mechanically in a fly wheel or chemically through any number of processes, such as hydrogen production. Occasionally, this extra power is delivered to something like a distillation plant, to...
How fresh water fish populations spread from one river network to another without going through (presumably deadly) seawater?	[ "I wondered that about fresh water mussels. So I asked. They have a free living form which basically hitches a ride in the gills of fish. This means the same species can be in one river system even though they are mussels.\n\nSimilar events can occur for other species. Egrets and other fish eating birds will fly fr...
How do they determine the nutrition facts of a food product? (like total fat, protein, calories	[ "How many grams if protein are present? Etc. And calories are determined by measuring how much energy the serving will give off using a calorimeter." ]
what does it mean on a watch when it says Quartz?	[ "It means that it has a quartz crystal regulating the movement via the piezoelectric properties of the crystal.\n\nIf you pass an electric current through quartz, it changes shape; and when it changes shape, it generates a current. Using carefully tuned crystals, a very precise frequency can be assured. By counting...
How did penicillin change the world? Was Mr. Fleming deserving of a Nobel Prize?	[ "Before Penicillin, if you got any sort of infection, you died.\n\nJust.\n\nLike.\n\nThat.\n\nThere was nothing to be done. Diseases like plague and sepsis were forces of nature, to be avoided but never defeated. Implacable and all consuming, they could turn healthy men and women into starved husks writhing in agon...
Why do butter and margarine cook so differently despite tasting very similar?	[ "Leaving aside the fact that I don't agree with butter tasting similar to margarine:\n\nButter has milk solids in it, along with other organic compounds that undergo caramelization while also being a fat that allows for the heat transfer so that the food gets crispy. In your example, the butter AND the bread carmel...
How can any senator or mitt romney use their religious beliefs to argue anything if there's supposed to be a separation of church and state?	[ "\"Separation of church and state\" is a philosophical idea, not a legal one.\n\nA lot of people confuse the separation of church and state with the establishment clause of the Constitution. The Constitution says that Congress is not allowed to make any laws that establish an official church — in the way that the C...
What seperates oceans? Why do we have 5 of them and not one that contains all of them?	[ "Two things; 1) land masses and, 2) water currents. Since technically all oceans are connected (you can draw a continuous line on a globe connecting them all) it is ocean currents that really separate the oceans from each other. Other than that it's just imaginary lines drawn by people on a map a long time ago.", ...
Vacuums, not the machine, the actual process of a vacuum and is the vacuum of space a true vacuum?	[ "A vacuum is simply an area where no 'stuff' (matter) is present. Certain parts of space are vacuums because there is nothing there. No stuff. No matter. \n\nThings do not simply fly out into vacuums like a vacuum cleaner pulls things in. What is happening if you have seen things fly out into space (on a movie ...
How do inkjet laser printers, and other printers, work?	[ "Printers that use plain paper (or similar paper) as a medium tend to print in one of two ways:\n\n1. Ink is stored as a liquid. To print, the container uses an electric current to vaporize a tiny amount of ink, creating a pressure difference, causing it to eject from the print head. \n2. Ink is stored as a p...
why can I sometimes feel my pulse really strongly in a random part of my body?	[ "There are a lot of reasons for feeling your pulse or heartbeat. 1st of all you should get a basic checkup with your doctor.\nMany people can become more aware of their heartbeat at nighttime because it's quieter around them and they focus on it. Other causes are vast including high blood pressure, narrowing in you...
How come when traveling on roads with pay tolls, vehicles with more axels have to pay significantly more for the toll?	[ "Heavier vehicles, which have more axels, are harder on the roads. Tolls, which are used in part to keep the roads in good repair, reflect the additional wear and tear of multi-axeled vehicles.", "[Trucks are exponentially worse on the roads than cars.](_URL_0_)" ]
because my English teacher can't. What are the main differences between absurdism and existentialism?	[ "Simple version from a theatrical perspective:\n\nExistentialists: Life has no meaning, so we must create it ourselves.\n\nAbsurdists: Life has no meaning, and that's hilarious.", "They're closely related, so it's tough.\n\nThe difference is in their definitions of success. Existentialism suggests that there are...
What do people do with their money while serving life in prison?	[ "Someone on the outside with access to his accounts can give him a good bit to spend in the commissary, most likely... but I doubt he'll need millions for that kind of stuff. Pretty sure his assets will go to next-of-kin or something by default, but surely they sit and talk with a lawyer upon being put in jail to s...
What happens to a company when it's stock reaches zero?	[ "The company won't go bankrupt just because its stock price has collapsed, but the stock price probably collapsed because of other problems which are about to lead to the company going bankrupt.\n\nLet's assume that the company is in fact trading quite happily but the stock market has just lost all faith in it for ...
Why do actors & actresses in popular movies and tv shows seem like the perfect choices?	[ "You feel that way now, but when casting the role, the people were staring down the fact that this was the dad from Malcolm in the Middle.\n\nNow, as it happens, in that case the creator of the show had worked with him prior to that on an X-Files episode and new the range.\n\nIt's very easy to miscast a role, but t...
How do computers keep track of time?	[ "> Somehow, it knew the date and exact time without internet access. How is that possible?\n\nThere is a battery on the motherboard attached to a digital clock, just like in a digital watch. That keeps track of the time even when the computer is not powered.", "Besides the motherboard battery, all modern systems...
How do different types of exercise trigger different types of muscle growth? i.e Marathon runner vs. bodybuilder	[ "Muscles have three different types of cells or fibers (possibly more but we'll stick with three). One fiber type helps lift more weight but it fatigues easier. Another type cannot lift as much weight but it has a lot of mitochondria (energy makers) so it can sustain exercise for a lot longer. The third is an inter...
Why did the government bail out automakers instead of granting vouchers to people that could be redeemed for a car?	[ "France did this a few years ago.(yes yes France white flag jokes, haha reddit you so funny) In 2009, a new president steps in, gives great financial incentives for people to scrap their old car buy a new car. Everyone is happy. Except that a year or two later, everyone still has a new-ish car, and nobody is intere...
Why are characters on kids shows these days always "collecting" things along the way - like stars, doubloons, Super Letters?	[ "I wouldn't say teach, I'd say reenforce collecting and getting all the toys, products, etc involved. Adding in collecting coins also makes it more video game like (and ties into the the video game....). The core of many of these show is to be a giant ad for the merchandise. Its not as blatant as GIJoe and Transfor...
What does radiation do to organic beings, and is it possible to evolve resistance to radiation?	[ "It depends on the kind of radiation. What we call radioactive radiation basically consists of 3 kinds of radiation.\n\nAlpha rays: Relatively big charged particles with a positive electrical charge. The particles have a lot of mass and a lot of charge, so they do a lot of damage to our tissues and organs. But, as ...
Why did Adobe let Flash deteriorate, become hated, and die slowly? It was used everywhere and the primary player for online video, was there not enough value in that to be worth updating and maintaining it?	[ "A Flash applet is like a program. It can run it's own code and be used to write information to your computer. While modern up to date computers try and prevent this from happening, unknown bugs or design choices in either Flash, your internet browser, or operating system can lead to exploitation. It's just one mo...
Why do cats love boxes so much?	[ "I don't think there's going to be answer you can point to and say \"This is the scientifically proven reason cats like boxes.\"\n\nBut, my wild guess would be: It's a predatorial instinct. A box is a lot like a bush or tall grass in that they can crouch down and be hidden from all sides while monitoring what is ...
How can some terminally ill people just "hold off" death until they're ready?	[ "With a lot of diseases, your body become so weak that breathing is difficult, and can at teams require a conscious effort. You even have minor attacks, were you have to breath as hard as you can for a while just to stay alive. At some point, you might choose to not make that effort anymore.\n\nAlso, you can make...
How can my dry cleaner sweep my shirts into a huge pile of other peoples shirts and get them back to me?	[ "HA.. Something I can answer as i have working knowledge of the system(s) that have been used in different companies.\n\nSource: My parents work shoe repair and do a delivery route with dry cleaners. Going on 30 years now.\n\nIn the older mom-pop, if you watch quickly, what they will do is not so much dump them,...
What would happen if I was travelling close to the speed of light and I turned on a flashlight?	[ "No, to an outside observer the light will be coming out at the speed of light. To you, the light will also be coming out at the speed of light. To all observers, light in a vacuum will always be at c. This observation is one of the major components to relativity. It's needed to explain the 'apparent' discrepancy b...
Why do humans and animals get different diseases and why is some diseases impossible to be transmitted between humans and other animals?	[ "Diseases can be caused by a lot of different things. A disease is any sort of specific problem with the health of an organism.\n\nMany diseases involve aging - degenerative disc disease in humans, for example, is caused by wear and tear on the spine (our backs aren't that great for standing upright). You can see w...
How cryptocurrency is backed by actual currency and reasons for its recent popularity.	[ "The word \"backed\" gets thrown around a lot with currencies, usually incorrectly. You'll be hard pressed to find a currency that's actually backed these days. They exist, but as the exception, not the rule.\n\nWhen a currency is backed it means that the issuer promises to exchange a fixed amount of the currency...
What does it mean to eat unhealthy/healthy?	[ "> What type of impact does good/bad food have on me. Does it just mean I will feel shittier, or will it make me 50% statistically more likely to die 10 years earlier.\n\nBoth of these. Eating certain foods will make you feel better or worse, more tired or energetic. It also directly impacts your life expectancy...
evidence for other dimensions (beyond 3)	[ "At the simplest level, a dimension is a number you need to describe something fully. For instance, in our 3d space, you need 3 numbers to describe where something is...up/down, left/right, forwards/backwards (or any one of an infinity of equivalent systems).\n\nBut actually, it's immediately clear that 3 numbers i...
How come we can see things so vividly in our dreams but can't create such vivid images in our imaginations when we're awake?	[ "Because our dreams are not that vivid. They leave out tons of information, and when we wake and try to recall the dream, our brain fills in gaps with information that wasn't even there during the real dream." ]
What exactly happens when somebody is "knocked out"?	[ "It kind of is.\n\nBeing \"knocked out\" is essentially having so much trauma done that your brain shuts down all unnecessary actions/faculties in order to protect itself. Such as if you pass out due to pain, or get knocked out by a hit to the chin. You normally wake up a little bit later, dazed and confused.\n\nOt...
How was the computer invented?	[ "It started slowly. People noticed you could design an electric circuit to answer a simple question. I'm not even talking about things like addition or subtraction yet - just things like \"is one of these on\" or \"are both of these on\".\n\nThen people started combining these small steps into bigger ones to answ...
what in the audio jack’s design makes the iPhone more prone to water damage than the lightning port?	[ "> But there are other orifices on smartphones, too.\n\nWhenever you have a port in a container such as a smartphone the efforts to secure it against water intrusion are going to have a certain rate of failure. Whatever the rate is the fewer ports the lower the risk to the device as a whole. Obviously they can't g...
why planets are spherical AND why saturn has a ring	[ "Spherical planets: gravity is a radial force, which means that it pulls equally in all directions, and the strength only depends on how far away you are. We say that it is \"spherically symmetric\". Now, for a small object like an asteroid, it may be that the mass is small enough that the force of gravity can't mo...
In Mario64, what caused the glitches where if you leaned against certain walls in just the right way, you would fall through them to a strange abstract polygonal purgatory?	[ "Collision detection bugs. Most of these had to be done with machine-assists or 'wedging', as the angles required to cause the glitch were quite precise.\n\nThe strange polygon effects are the result of trying to render to an infinite distance.", "3D environments are just planes that intersect (collide). If you f...
why is desalination so expensive?	[ "For two reasons, energy and time. It can be quick (pump through a filter) but takes a lot of energy, and usually isn't worth it unless water is badly needed. Or it can consume very little energy, but takes a very long time to get the same amount of water (Like in a solar still, which just evaporates salt water and...
How can a Circle have an infinite amount of points, that together and individually, hold no space, yet they create a finite enclosure?	[ "Because you are thinking about a circle and a point as physical objects, rather than mathematical concepts. \n\nNaturally if you draw a circle and then draw a dot, a finite number of the dots you draw will fit in the circle you draw. \n\nBut the mathematical concept means the points have no size - they are m...

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