Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
Why do most dish sets come with mugs instead of drinking glasses?	[ "Dishes are sold as a set so that the patterns all match. But they're mostly opaque while glasses are transparent or translucent. The glasses won't be able to match, so why bother selling them as a set? \n\nWhen you say mug, do you really mean cup? I haven't looked at dish sets recently, but I'd expect cups, not ...
What's happening, physically, when a computer starts overheating and becomes laggy?	[ "Usually the CPU underclocking itself. In rare cases functions might fail or bits could change because the material wasnt designed to operate at those temperatures. When the CPU cant reduce the heat enough it will simply shut itself down." ]
what exactly is a "resource based economy" and how would/could it work?	[ "A resource based economy is one that gets most of its wealth from natural resources, like oil, lumber, or mining.\n\nLet's say a small island nation with 100 people discovers a massive copper deposit. Up until that point, they had a few tourists per year, but generally had to sustain themselves. \n\nSuddenly, 90 p...
What are the beads in hand sanitizers, and why do they float?	[ "They're [microbeads:](_URL_0_)\n\n > Microbeads are plastic microspheres that are widely used in cosmetics as exfoliating agents and personal care products such as toothpaste, as well as biomedical and health science research, microscopy techniques, fluid visualization and fluid flow analysis, and process trouble...
Direct X	[ "DirectX is the way that your game communicates with your graphics card. Microsoft takes requests from game developers and makes a list of features that game developers want, but can't do right now.\n\nMicrosoft then goes to AMD and NVIDIA, and says, \"Hey, these are some things that game developers want to be able...
Why did our ancestors settle in areas with "uninhabitable" weather?	[ "Sure, if you're in a place with nice weather, there's going to be more food but there's also going to be more competition for that food and more predators. Going to a harsher environment gives you more space to expand without other people trying to take your shit or kill you.\n\nEven today, you can see that i...
Why does it feel so good to scratch an itch?	[ "Insects cause itch.\n\nInsects are sometimes bad for you.\n\nScratching removes said insects.\n\nIt's an evolutionary thing, scratching removes irritants.", "I gave that itch a scratch. Itches love scratches.", "I read somewhere that there's a tiny biological molecule released from an obscure place in the bra...
What is this G2A scandal everyone seems to be talking about?	[ "Basically it is a marketplace where G2A the company themselves sell 'non-pirated', 'stolen keys' or 'hacked credit card' Game Keys to activate downloads with a decent discount.\n\nBut as it is a marketplace other \"shops\" are allowed to sell CD keys. These CD keys can come from anywhere, hacked/stolen credit card...
Why does the body need carbon dioxide?	[ "CO2 plays a vital role in maintaining the acid-base balance of your blood. The more CO2 in your blood, the more acidic it is. When you hyperventilate, you expel much of the CO2 in your blood, making it more alkaline. This is known as [respiratory alkalosis](_URL_0_). Respiratory alkalosis leads to light-headed...
Why did the people of Toronto vote for Rob Ford?	[ "His base is primarily in the suburban areas which felt under-represented by past candidates. He has a man-of-the-people image that he has worked hard to cultivate, in truth he is from the wealthy elite. Ford would personally return his constituents calls, small town style. His buffoonery is genuine. Despite the me...
easing yourself into hot/cold water to acclimate your body	[ "Brains are cool and are able to adapt to any constant/repetitive stimulus such that you no longer realize you percieve it. (clocks ticking, your own footsteps). This might be why you stop feeling it, since your vrain is like \"okay i get it, its hot. lets move on\"", "I believe what your body is reacting to is t...
Where is all accepted scientific knowledge kept?	[ "There is no single gatekeeper, who decides what is and is not \"accepted scientific knowledge\". Nor is science like mathematics, where a proof can be self-evidently correct. It depends on evidence, which may be inaccurately or unreliably collected or interpreted. As such, scientific knowledge is provisional, base...
How do songs/albums/mix tapes get leaked?	[ "Usually they are leaked by someone who receives an advance copy, such as for review purposes. There have also been instances, although not as common, of leaks happening from the factory where they press the CDs. It could pretty much happen any time someone has advance access to the media in question. All they have...
EL5: Russian names	[ "First names: Given to the child by the parents, as in the West. Every first name has a whole bunch of nicknames traditionally associated with it. Sometimes these are pretty random (the way \"Dick\" doesn't actually sound very much like \"Richard\") but a lot of them are made by adding an ending like \"-enka\" o...
The Crop Circle Phenomenon	[ "I think this can be explained to a 5yr old without resorting to simple talk: \n\n-They are made by people. (there is nothing mysterious abut them). \n-You'll probably notice that crop circles are all based on curves & circles...even the really complicated ones. Ever used a drawing compass to draw a circle? wel...
SSH clients ? What are they used for ? And how can I get started ?	[ "SSH is a generic protocol used to securely communicate between 2 devices/computers. You can send whatever data you like over this encrypted channel, there are some built in tools, which is what 99% of people use it for.\n\n* \nSSH: Secure \"Shell\". Use a client like Putty if you're on a windows machine. This l...
Why does staring at white paper in bright sun light cause your eyes to see everything in a different shade of color immediately afterwards?	[ "In the simplest terms, when you stare at bright light, like the sun, or a flashbulb, the sensors in the back of your eyes (rods and cones) that receive the light are hyper-excited, and it takes a while for them to \"calm\" back down again. \n\nOr, you could be like me and you don't see anything after staring at a...
Checks and Balances	[ "The US Federal government is split into 3 different parts, the executive branch (lead by the President), the judicial branch (Supreme Court) & the legislative branch (Congress).\n\n\"Checks and Balances\" is the idea that if any one branch of the government steps out of line, they can be stopped by the other two...
Why do objects leaving the atmosphere not burn like they do when entering the atmosphere?	[ "Orbiting is all about going fast, less about going high.\n\nWhen going into orbit you usually start by climbing mostly straight to get out of the thick atmosphere--that just slows you down with drag. Once you're mostly to orbital altitudes there's essentially no friction so it's possible to accelerate horizontall...
How does a turning a faucet change the temperature of water	[ "There are two tubes running into your faucet. One straight from the mains, and the other from your water heater. When you open the faucet, the tap itself opens to allow water to flow out.\n\nWhen you turn the faucet, you are changing the amount of water coming through each of the pipes. All the way to the hot side...
if certain viruses need a living host to survive, why haven't they adapted to a point where they don't ultimately kill their host?	[ "Most viruses probably are benign or even beneficial to the host, but two things can happen:\n\n1) A virus can jump species and have new effects on the new species it didn't on the prior one\n\n2) As long as it stay alive long enough to spread again it won't die off. It's at an evolutionary disadvantage compared to...
how muscles get stronger.	[ "Imagine a village that has a very valuable treasure in it and the villagers build a big wall around it to protect the treasure! Well lets say someone comes along and tears down the wall to get to the treasure. The villagers are really upset by this and after the wall is torn down they decide to build it back up ...
Why did the Allies attack the most fortified place in Europe at Normandy rather than landing the bulk of their armies on a less dangerous coastline?	[ "It wasn't the most fortified place in France at the time. That would be the Pas de Calais, the most obvious place to invade (you can see England from there). The point of allied deception operations was to convince the OKW that the landings in Normandy were actually a feint, and that the real push would come with...
High school males get a boner in class for absolutely no reason, why is this?	[ "Use the search function.\n\n\nAll healthy males get erections for no reason, randomly throughout the day, sometimes beginning even before puberty. No sexual thoughts or stimulation are required.\n\nWe also randomly achieve erection during sleep, several times. No sexual thoughts, dreams, or fantasies are required....
What would the repercussions be IRL for someone who did what Jack Black did in "School of Rock"?	[ "Trespassing at school. And most likely a couple dozen counts of kid napping for taking them off campus." ]
What is a pocket veto? Why is it legal?	[ "It's a legal maneuver. If congress passes a bill, the president has 10 days to decide to sign or veto. If he does nothing, then the bill automatically passes.\n\nHowever, if, during that 10 day period, congress adjourns, then if the president takes no action, the bill is automatically vetoed. This is the pocket...
Why do banks offer interest? What’s in it for them?	[ "They get your money. Would you give money to a bank if you didn't get anything in return? The interest is a payment to you so you'll give them your money.", "When you give your money to banks, they don't just keep it in a vault, or on a hard drive. They're allowed to invest it, or loan it out to other people....
how does garbage always smell the same when it is composed of innumerable different smelly objects?	[ "Because it mostly only smells when there's rotting food waste in it and it is the same types of bacteria breaking it down and emitting the same types of by products that smell. You don't get that smell if it's just wood or paper or plastic or metal etc.", "It's not the garbage you're smelling - it's the decompos...
How does CAPTCHA work?	[ "CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart. They're also known as a type of Human Interaction Proof (HIP). \n\nYou've probably seen CAPTCHA tests on lots of websites. The most common form of CAPTCHA is an image of several distorted letters. They require you to typ...
Why don't women face criminal charges for making false rape allegations against men?	[ "This is not a complex technical question so this has been removed. Also:\n\n > Don't post just to express an opinion or argue a point of view.\n\nThis is your fourth post removed from this sub in as many months, you seem to not get that ELI5 is not a place for you to express your opinions in the form of a questi...
Am I hurting my chances at getting into college when I put Asian down for my race?	[ "ELI5 is for requests for easy-to-follow explanations of complex concepts and subjects. That means no questions that are just looking for straightforward answers, that are subjective, a request for a guide/walkthrough, or that are objective but not asking for an explanation of an answer. ELI5 is absolutely not a re...
Leukemia	[ "In a nutshell (not a doctor), leukemia is a cancer of the blood forming tissues in the body (both bone marrow and lymph nodes). The cancer cells don't function like regular cells leading to problems that are specific to the type of leukemia. If in the marrow, red blood cells are affected causing anemia. If in t...
Why does combination of smoking cigarette and drinking alcohol gives an overwhelming feeling of drunk-ness?	[ "Because the nicotine gives you a headrush while the alcohol also similarily gives you that light headed euphoric feeling also then you now have nicotine and alcohol in your blood. Nicotine causes nausea and so does alcohol so you probably have a combined worsening nausea. \n\nBut.. aww thats cute you still notice ...
What happens with the surplus energy of my bike dynamo?	[ "It is dissipated as heat. When an electric device fails to \"use\" more energy, generally it's because resistance is increasing -- often by design. Pumping more electricity through resistors causes them to turn it into heat, which then goes out into the atmosphere.", "It depends on the design. If you were to hoo...
Why do children like to draw so much?	[ "I think everyone likes to draw. We have a natural-born desire to create and to express ourselves through visual art. Unfortunately many of us lose that desire due to laziness, lack of time, distractions, and/or discouragement from adults.\n\nKids haven't experienced those pressures to the same degree yet.\n\nPerso...
Why do children's stomachs look bloated when they are malnourished?	[ "It's called kwashiorkor, and is caused by a protein deficiency. In normal conditions, we have proteins floating around in the blood, which causes fluid to be retained due to osmotic forces. However, this protein needs to be replenished. When it isn't, fluids will pool in the soft tissues of the body, and will caus...
Where does skin allergy come from?	[ "Allergy is a very complex proces even for specialist, but if explain it in general allergy is a defect of immune system when immune cells thinks that some safe substances are dangerous (like some food, pollen or animal fur) Immune cells are located almost everywhere in organism, also there a lot of them in skin, ...
How do pilots know ahead of time when turbulance is going to occur?	[ "Meteorological information can be used to predict turbulence with reasonable precision. Also, aircraft will report when encountering turbulence and air traffic control will relay that to other aircraft in the area.", "I think they can anticipate turbulence by looking at weather radar or radio messages from other...
Why medical establishments can charge outrageously high prices for their services, when the identical procedure can be done somewhere else for a fraction of the price? On the same note, how is it even legal for them to hide the price until they give you the bill?	[ "> Can someone please explain to me what in the hell is going on here?\n\nWhat is going on is that the American healthcare system is a sad joke.", "* Let me first say that I'm a nursing student who plans to go to med school or get a DNP someday, I love helping people and I think I want to run my own practice. I ...
Why do our arms tingle when we extend or reach them too far?	[ "Chiropractic student here. What it sounds like you're saying is simply a stretch of the nerve. When the nerve is stretched, it can stimulate it, causing it to fire. The brain interprets that signal as a tingle along the nerve and the area of the arm it supplies. A similar case is when you hit your \"funny bone\". ...
Why do Lithium Ion batteries lose their ability to maintain charge after many cycles of charging?	[ "It is due to several things.\n\nThe most important is physical. During charging/discharging lithium atoms move from one electrode to the other. The lithium goes into tiny pores in a sponge like electrode, but when this happens the sponge swells up. Repeated swelling and shrinking eventually causes cracking and fra...
Why is the burden of proof on the defendant instead of the accuser in the case of patent trolls?	[ "I'm not sure I follow. The burden of proof is still on the claimant (whoever is claiming that you are infringing on their patent).\n\nHere is a relevant excerpt from [FindLaw](_URL_0_) pertaining to US patent law:\n\n > The patent holder bears the burden of proof to show that the defendant infringed the patent. Th...
Why do unplugging things and plugging them back in cause them to start working again?	[ "Basically software can have small errors in it. Or hardware can occasionally error. One common problem is memory leaks. \n\nBut basically the longer something runs the more likely it will have minor errors. The longer it runs the more those errors accumulate. So turning it off, and turning it back on resets the sy...
What's going on in Philadelphia? Why are they shutting down so many schools and rail lines and so on?	[ "The school system is broke. That's a gigantic mess unto itself.\n\nSEPTA isn't broke yet. The planned reduction in services would only happen in a worst-case scenario where the state doesn't give it enough future funding. It's problem is that more and more people are using it, but the state hasn't increased its...
Why do some people say, 'on accident,' and others say, 'by accident'?	[ "Someone said \"on accident\" by accident, never owned up to the mistake and it caught on", "I think some people say it because the opposite is \"on purpose\", so maybe some people think that \"on accident\" just makes sense.", "Because \"by accident\" is correct and because other people are dumb.", "As it tu...
Static vs dynamic IP address, and how an IP address differs from a Mac address	[ "Mac address is an identifying number hard coded onto the hardware by the manufacturer.\n\nDynamic addresses are IP addresses automatically assigned and re-assigned by a DHCP server.\n\nStatic addresses are IP addresses assigned by the person installing the system in the IP configuration options and do not change u...
if diseases like hiv are blood/vector borne, why don't humans and animals in western society contract it, via mosquitoes from one person to the next?	[ "Mosquitos (and other insects) have two tubes they pierce you with - one for injecting saliva, and another for withdrawing blood. It's basically a one-way system - fluid goes out of the insect through the saliva tube, and in through the blood tube. \n\nThis means that any viruses sucked up through the blood tube wo...
Is Valves Steam a trusted system?	[ "Yes. There is so much money coming in from Steam that it won't go down. It's got so many big companies selling through it. If Valve can no longer keep it up, they have said that they will release a key or software to unlock all your games from steam and remove the DRM. But they probably won't have to, since there ...
Can someone explain why Jesus is often one in the same as God, and why do people pray to both?	[ "Christian doctrine describes [The Trinity](_URL_0_):\n\n- The Father\n\n- The Son \n\n- The Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost)\n\nThey are separate but one. While Jesus was distinct Jesus was, in their theology, literally God on Earth.\n\nSo, praying to Jesus is the same as praying to God. They are the same entity.\n\n...
Why does your stomach 'drop' when your in an elevator?	[ "Because that's literally what happens. Your stomach has inertia, it wants to stay where it is. Your body suddenly starts moving up, it has to exert a force on your insides to get them to also move up. Same thing coming back down." ]
VAT Calculation	[ "You're not taking 20% off of the total cost. You're adding 20% to the subtotal to get your total after value-added tax. They are two very different operations.\n\n\nLet's say something costs $20. If I take 10% off of that, that's $2 off of $20 for a total of $18. That's what you're doing in your second operation.\...
The feeling that your being watched. Like if you don't know someone is in the room but feeling like someone else is there	[ "One theory is that your brain can be very sensitive to slight changes in how sound bounces around the room. If someone enters the room, it will slightly change the dynamics of how the room reflects sound now that there is a person in the way. You brain may be able to pick up on that slight change of noise signatur...
What is ETH Ethereum cryptocurrency, why it has value and what are "smart contracts"?	[ "Ether (ETH) is a cryptocurrency, similar to bitcoin.\nEther has value as it is used to propel exchange of information on the Ethereum blockchain. As Ethereum is finding its way in to every single sector worldwide (finance, healthcare, government, humanitarianism, supplychain...). Adoption of the technology is at a...
How does someone deal with professional degrees and other resume info when in the witness protection program?	[ "Many of them cannot. They have to take menial jobs in somewhat related fields, or start from scratch. Licences and degrees for practicing in those fields are attached to a name. If you want to change your name and keep your licence you have to notify the licencing board of the switch. Protected witnesses cannot do...
A couple days ago, a 300 year old Stradivarius violin was stolen (and later found.) What would be the point of stealing something so famous that anyone who can afford the million-dollar price tag would recognize as a stolen item?	[ "Theft by contract. \n\nA millionaire decides that he wants something his money can't buy in a conventional way, so he pays someone to steal it for him. \n\nHe doesn't care if people know that he has it or not; the satisfaction of possession alone is worth the price he pays to have it stolen.", "There's several g...
The Senkaku islands - Japan/China tension.	[ "The Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Islands in China or Tiaoyutai Islands in Taiwan) are claimed by Japan, China, and Taiwan. Officially, Japan annexed the islands in 1895 with the US taking them back in 1945 (because of World War 2) and giving them back to Japan in 1972. However, this same year is when China and Taiwan b...
Is drinking only carbonated water (no added sodium or anything in it) just as good as drinking regular water?	[ "it's marginally worse. your body has to spend other resources like calcium to fight he acidity." ]
If home electronics in USA is working at 110V, why do we use 220V electric current in Europe. Isn't 110V more energy efficient?	[ "Higher voltages are generally more efficient because they reduce the current needed to deliver a required number of watts, and lower current means less power lost to heat in the wires. That's why pylons carry thousands of volts rather than 110V or 220V. On the other hand, lower voltages are safer because a smaller...
Thomas Aquinas Five Proofs	[ "1. If an object is moving, something must have put it in motion (here motion stands for transformation).\n2. There must be a primary \"thing\" that started motion. An object cannot put itself in motion. So this primary thing must be God.\n3. There are things that are not useful (everything), but since they exi...
why do people say that we are violating the constitutional rights of illegal immigrants? Don't the constitutional rights only apply to U.S. citizens??	[ "Often described as a \"living document,\" the Constitution has repeatedly been interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, federal appeals courts and Congress in order to address the ever-changing needs and demands of the people. While many argue that \"We the People of the United States,\" refers only to legal citizen...
Can someone explain the physical pain I experience when I accompany my wife on a long shopping day? It's different from normal headaches but I wonder why. And IT'S REAL! (Does anyone get this?)	[ "I wonder of its exposure to certain fluorescent lights. I get that, too. Not every florescent light does it. I'm not really willing to do the trial and error to figure it out. :) \nI would have never realized it was the lights if I hadn't known others with the same problem. \n\nAnecdotal story time: I was taki...
Nasa want to send a wind-powered robot to Jupiter. How does this work when there's no wind in space?	[ "There's no wind in space, but there's wind in Jupiter's atmosphere, just like there's wind here on Earth. The probe will reach Jupiter the same way that other probes have been sent to planets before.", "The idea is the bots would get to Jupiter on a conventional rocket and then be wind-powered once they entered ...
The feeling in my throat when im holding back tears	[ "When you're about to cry, your brain detects that your body is under stress. It automatically sends signals out into your nervous system, including one to increase air intake.\n\nThe opening in your throat that leads down to your lungs gets wider, to accommodate deeper breathing and so on. The shaking feeling ...
how can animated shows, like the simpsons, be cranked out episode after episode so fast?	[ "They're all being worked on simultaneously. This way, every episode is in the same stage of production at the same time which greatly cuts down the amount of chaos and time spent in total. How do you think shows that are Netflix originals can release all the episodes at once? It's kind of the same thing but on TV,...
Why is there such a huge gender gap among Wikipedia editors?	[ "I had no idea this was true. \n\nIt suggests a problematic bias in Wikipedia.", "> Why is there a huge gender gap in \\ < profession/interest/field/...\\ > ?\n\nBecause people of different genders have different interests, goals, capabilities, desires, etc. As long as everyone has equal opportunity to do whatev...
We have 4G on phones and tablets that allows us to access the internet anywhere, so why can't we have the same for laptops?	[ "You can. You can get 4g dongles for them. You have to sign up to a data plan for it and away you go.\n\nPresumably they are not usually built into laptops because most people use laptops where WiFi is available." ]
The proper technique for caring for your teeth.	[ "I work in a dental office.\n\nYou should brush at least twice a day. \nA soft bristled tooth brush is recommended because the bristles can flex more than a hard bristled brush.\nThe \"proper\" brushing technique they taught us in school is the \"modified bass technique\" when I'm sure you can find videos of.\n...
What is happening inside the brain during lucid dreaming?	[ "Dreaming is kind of like an altered state of consciousness. You're still conscious, but you're dreaming, and there's different areas of the brain that are activated and other parts that are shut down.\n\nBeing drunk is a good example: when you're drunk you fall a few levels down the consciousness scale, physiologi...
Why Don't I Have Nightmares Anymore?	[ "More recent research shows that dreams and nightmares are a playground for your mind to play out scenarios so you can \"learn\" to react. Basically, your mind is having a dream or nightmare based on your awake moments. This \"database\" for a lack of a better word is used to build the dreams and nightmares. If you...
Chemically, how does water stop fire from burning?	[ "Two ways\n\nFirstly, fire needs heat, water absorbs and disperses heat really well.\n\nSecondly, fire needs oxygen, waters oxygen is really hard for fire to get ahold of, amf it stops free oxygen in the air from reaching the fire." ]
The legality of marijuana in US states.	[ "The federal constitution clearly states that states cannot override federal law. States can be more restrictive, but cannot allow something the federal government says is illegal.\n\nThe decriminalization of marijuana by the states is illegal. The federal government has marched their forces in to arrest and shut d...
when someone has a higher alcohol tolerance than someone else, what’s the difference on a molecular level?	[ "There's these tiny little molecules in your body that break alcohol down into not-alcohol (alcohol dehydrogenase). some people have more of these little worker buddies than others. A lot of it is genetic. Old people have less.", "It’s more of a cognitive thing than it is molecular. The easiest way to think of it...
How is it possible for Cam Newton to pay a 198.8% tax rate, as claimed by Forbes?	[ "He's not paying all of those taxes on his Super Bowl winnings. He's paying taxes on his normal salary too. And his normal salary is about $20 million a year, so even a small fraction of that is more than what winning the Super Bowl pays.\n\nThe article's point is that, if he weren't playing in the Super Bowl in ...
The difference between the processor and memory of a computer?	[ "Like you're 5:\n\nProcessor - does the sums.\n\nMemory - is the paper on which the sums are written.", "The processor is basically a very powerful calculator. It takes data out of the computer's memory (the RAM), does a bunch of math to it, an then writes the data back to the computer's memory. \n\nOne easy ...
[META] Concerning Explanations.	[ "can you give me example? because everything i see here is simplified as far it can be." ]
why are gas prices going down so quickly?	[ "They always do this time of year...\n\nColder weather climates require a different fuel octane ratio or a car wouldn't be able to start. The increase in regular gas lowers the demand and therefore the price." ]
Climate change, how is the earth warming, and making some parts colder at the same time?	[ "Climate change can, among other things, alter prevailing trends in global wind currents. For instance, some studies in Europe have suggested that the loss of sea ice could contribute to a phenomenon where artic air currents predominate more steadfastly over Northern Europe than they do now.\n\nSo even though the E...
How come the British colonization of Ireland was able to spread the English language but not religion?	[ "It did spread religion. England was originally Catholic, and they spread that Catholicism to Ireland. Then, during the rule of Henry the 8th, England split from the Catholic church, so that Henry could get divorced and remarried. That's how you get the Church of England.", "A couple of the answers here aren't co...
why does a coke machine sometimes give me 2 cans instead of one?	[ "It's just a basic cost-risk trade-off. A more accurate machine costs more money than a less accurate machine. Soda is cheap, so giving one out for free every once in a while is less costly than buying the expensive machine.\n\nThat being said, If you are regularly getting 20 cokes from the machine it is likely i...
How do UV lamps dry nail polish?	[ "There are groups of materials that react in a specific way to certain circumstances. Sometimes it's water, sometimes it's air, sometimes its light etc.\nIt's mostly related to the way the material is built, internal structure, how particles are arranged and connected.\n\nIn this case, there is a substance called p...
Why if our body temperature is 98.6* do we sweat and feel hot if it is 90* outside?	[ "There are lots of chemical reactions going on inside your body at any given time, and most of them generate heat. In fact, since your body is thick and solid (as these things go), and made mostly of water (which holds heat very well), you generate enough heat raise your body temperature above 98.6 easily.\n\nMuch ...
do vegetables, or meats take longer to digest, and why?	[ "Digestion is the process of breaking up food into a form that can be absorbed by your body. There are 3 major groups that we distinguish in the type of the food we digest. Sugars, proteins and fats. Both meats and vegetables can contain all 3 of them and depending on the type of the meat or vegetable in different ...
The difference between 4WD HI and 4WD LO.	[ "4 Low is a lower gear set, for when you need more power. You're using a gear set that moves more pulling power to the tires, in exchange for extremely limited speed.\n\n4 high is a higher gear set, for when you want power to all 4 tires, but don't want to be as limited in your speed.\n\nIt's the 4WD equivalent of ...
If there isn't such thing as a sugar high, then what causes you to act hyper after eating candy or drinking a can of coke?	[ "[Peer pressure and placebo, mostly.](_URL_0_) Similar experiment involving non-alcoholic beer produced \"tipsy\" people even though the drinks contained absolutely no alcohol.\n\n\n\nLook at people who drink vitamin water/fruit juices which contain almost as much sugar yet don't act hyper since they believe they a...
Why do computers, as they get older, slow down even if there are no viruses/spyware on them?	[ "Computers don't get slower. Badly written OSs get slower. This is particularly a problem with Windows OSs but it is not confined to them. Its just more prevalent in them because of the architecture of the constantly updated shared libraries and registry. There are a couple of things that slow down windows machines...
Why do movie studios disclose everything about their movies' budgets and revenue but game studios don't do the same for their games?	[ "Movie studios generally don't disclose everything about their budgets. The stuff you see is just a publicly releasable number regarding an approximation of the production cost of the movie. Thats just one aspect of the overall process, and its a fundamental part of the movie processes, so its often a pretty well ...
How does Hand Sanitizer work, and how effective is it?	[ "The active ingredient in most hand sanitizers is is isopropyl alcohol, which works by disrupting the lipid structure in cell membranes. It's also quite effective against common viruses since they are usually enveloped in a phospholipid shell as well.\n\nIt's [quite effective](_URL_0_) with some caveats." ]
Why do phones need SIM cards? Do they actually allow connection or are they just data storages?	[ "Well 'need' is a strong word. Technically they don't need one, and they can make a 911/999/112 call just fine without one if they're in range of a tower.\n\nYour carrier requires it because it's a means of authentication. It's reasonably secure for use as an identification. The SIM is how the network knows your ph...
why planets rotate on a flat plain?	[ "The solar system was developed from a cloud of gas. That cloud of gas condensed and started to spin for whatever reason (gravimetrics are very interesting.)\n\nThe condensing and spinning flattened out the cloud. The center became the sun, and the remainder of the cloud that wasn't taken into the sun became the ...
Why is Indonesia's lung cancer rate so low (58th) despite the incredibly high smoking rate there (80.2% of males)	[ "The average life expectancy in Indonesia is about 70 to 71 years, according to Google.\nAlso, according to google, the average age of diagnosing Cancer is about 70. Also, 2 out of 3 People that are diagnosed with lung cancer are above 65 years old, according to google.\n\nPeople in Indonesia just die earlier, befo...
How come skin cancer stays in your body?	[ "Sun damage hits various parts of the skin and predisposes you to skin cancer (of various kinds). The most common are basal cell carcinomas that don't often invade to become malignant. But can come back. There are also genetic factors and past history factors that can make them more likely to recur (like having a h...
Why are electric cars and hybrids, which have more powerful motors, quieter than power drills and blenders?	[ "The power tools and such might be using brushed motors which are notoriously louder than the brushless design I would imagine a serious car would use.", "They have space for more sound dampening. Your car is quieter than a lawn mower for similar reasons." ]
For this year's U.S. election, why are some states considered "battleground" states?	[ "Others have talked about how many states are either strongly republican or strongly democratic, making the few that could go either way more important. \n\nBut what's alluded to but understated is the significance of the \"winner take all\" approach that applies to all but two states. If a state is likely to be 6...
Why do classic arcade machines have players look at the screen through a mirror rather than looking directly at the monitor?	[ "Those monitors were HUGE. If they had put them facing you, the back of the machine would have poked out really far, so they put them in the bottom, reversed the image (so everything wouldn't be backwards), aimed them up and have you look at the reflection. Basically, they did it to save space." ]
How come prisoners in supermax prisons where they're not allowed to talk to anybody don't all go crazy?	[ "They do. It's a real issue, solitary confinement causes massive mental trauma on those inflicted by it.", "They don't? I'd love to see recidivism rates on people released from those places.\n\nTreating prisoners well (in certain, empirically supported ways) may piss most people off, and be political suicide, but...
What is adrenaline and why does it do what it does?	[ "I'll defer to Wikipedia for a good explanation of all the hormonal goodness of epinephrine/adrenaline: _URL_0_\n\nBut in terms of the average human not being able to flip cars for fun, think of your body just like any other machine, a car for instance. You can get great performance out of your car by driving it un...
Why do accents exist, and how did they develop	[ "Going back hundreds of years a lot of people would never go more than a few miles from home. Communities tended to keep to themselves.\n\nSo throw in a language to two communities that are a distance apart, fast forward the clock through decades and centuries, wouldn't it be even stranger if - after all that time ...
How and why inflation works the way it does	[ "I did explain in another thread quite recently how it works. Inflation is what follows when the money market and the goods market isn't in its balance. That happens when more money is printed, than new goods are created. By printing massive amounts of money, while all goods together stay on the same level your mon...
Why does putting salt on a slug kill it?	[ "> I'm comfortable with the idea of diffusion (by which I understand that, due to the continued random movement of particles, a given substance will spread out in a fluid until there is no concentration gradient in the container).\n\nThis is the key to understanding osmosis, along with the idea that **water is no ...
Why do stars twinkle if the light we're seeing is from thousands of years ago and most things aren't big enough to block its light?	[ "Stars twinkle due to atmospheric interference. If you've ever seen \"heat waves\" shimmering above a road, you're seeing a similar principle at work. Gasses can cause interference with light passing through them. In the case of a twinkling star, you're seeing the atmosphere scattering the light as it passes thr...

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