Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
Why are some apples crisp and some mushy, even within the same variety?	[ "Because all apples are inferior to honey crisp! But probably age picked. They all just get jumbled up together so you could have apples picked one time, and apples from two months earlier in the same bag or batch" ]
Are animals less prone to mental disabilities due to evolution and the 'survival of the fittest' mechanism?	[ "Survival of the fittest is something of an old term, and not terribly accurate. Closer to reality is 'survival of the good enough.' If a species has evolved a heritable high likelihood of mental instability to the point that it can't function, then it is going to be hard for that species to survive. So you'd expec...
. Why does white text/black background on a monitor make my vision wonky? But on tv or a movie screen it doesn't really bother me...	[ "Most text on your monitor is very small compared to the size typically used on movies or TV shows. The clarity of small fonts is much more affected by the slight \"smearing\" effect of white on black. An extra 1mm of white doesn't hurt the clarity much when a character is 25mm wide." ]
Why can't we just throw all of our trash into an oceanic trench? Wouldn't it be recycled back into the earth?	[ "Trash is all sorts of crazy stuff, including oils that float, plastic bits that float, paper bits that float, wood bits that float and even cans with a little air in them that float. It's also filled with air. And air floats.\n\nSo you'd need to seal it and get all the air out of it to keep it down there. So you ...
Is eating too fast that bad for your body ?	[ "Yes. Eating too fast increases the likelihood of choking, and vastly increases the incidence of stomach upset and gastric reflux.", "It's not bad for your body in anyway but you may experience not feeling as full when you have had an good meal and in turn makes it easier to eat more.", "No, not really. The rea...
How exactly does the French Foreign Legion work?	[ "It works pretty similar to that of any other countries military service; although the enlistment criteria is different. Usually a specific countries military will only taken citizens of that respective country. The FFL differs in that it will take recruits from pretty much any country, with a criminal history. The...
Why is horizontal head-shaking an expression of saying 'No' while the vertical head-shaking is for 'Yes'?	[ "It's arbitrary. Most of the world uses this system, but there are actually a few countries and cultures that do the opposite, as well as some that have neither system." ]
Did the holocaust have any lasting effects in the make-up of non Jewish people in Germany and elsewhere?	[ "Before we say anything else here, it's important to note that there are many Jewish people who are blonde with blue eyes, and many Germans who do not!\n\nThat said, here's the thing. Tens of millions of people died during WWII - 3% of the total population of the entire world, at the time. The holocaust is a ...
How will the newly imposed China tarrifs affect the average consumer?	[ "China's tariffs shouldn't directly affect US consumers, it only affect the people who produce those goods (soybean farmers, car manufacturers, etc), who will find it harder to export their goods. Trump's tariffs will affect US consumers though. Everything Trump puts a tariff on will become more expensive for y...
How is it possible for babies to cry so loudly for so long?	[ "Babie's throats aren't fully developed yet. When a baby cries, it's vocal chords don't touch, much like the false chord gruttal screaming technique you hear in a lot of metal songs (look up \"the black dahliah murderer\" or \"whitechapel\" for example\"), where the sound is not profuced by vibration of the vocal c...
What did people do to for snake bites and staph infections and such before modern medicine? Did they just die?	[ "Did you ever play Oregon trail? Friggen snake bites killed my family constantly. \n\nYes, many more people died from diseases and wounds that today are easily treatable. Aside from antibiotics and the like, sanitation also played a large role.", "> Is that why the mortality rate was so much higher back then and...
what is happening to this ingot of tin to cause the ringing sound?	[ "Like every material the metal changes its size due to the temperature change. Because the temperature does not change evenly parts of the metal ingot change more than others tension builds up.\n\nIt seems that this tensions leads to a point where internal cracks form, and and this motion lets parts of the metal vi...
What is that deep, almost primal feeling of wonder, longing, and even sense of place we get when we see pictures of open landscapes or the natural vastness and beauty of earth?	[ "It's probable that it's a remnant from our evolution. Ancient humans who felt the same wonder and attraction to lush, fruitful landscapes simply were more fit to survive, and passed that 'instinct' to further generations who also were more fit because of it. \n\nCompare it to an attraction to barren, dead landscap...
What is happening when you mentally picture (for lack of a better term) a person or scene from your memory?	[ "The only comment here was removed, disappointing.\n\nThe best explanation I can give is that we simply don't fully understand how the brain works yet to provide a solid answer.\n\nIt's common that we can not only remember faces and places in this way, but we can play a song in our head and hear it even though we a...
How do people shave in prison?	[ "And before disposable razors were invented, prisoners used locking safety razors like [this](_URL_0_). The guards would put in the blade and use the cylinder on the right to tighten the razor together.", "Inmates are given disposable razors for shaving. The blades are tiny but sometimes can be fashioned into wea...
What is stopping commercial planes from being drone-piloted?	[ "There are two main reasons:\n\n1) For emergencies. Automatics can handle every routine task on an aeroplane. They can even handle a selection of emergencies that the designer thought to take into account. But when things go off-script, automatics don't know what to do.\n\nThink about the double engine failure in N...
Why does climbing a tree, or a ladder, or any steep height seem fine going up, but much more scary coming down?	[ "* you can see where you are going and what you are doing better going up that down\n* if you run into a problem going up, all you have to is let gravity bring you back to where you just were...going down, you have to overcome gravity if you change your mind and want to go back to a safe spot" ]
why do some products in stores have a "if found at another retailer, please call...." sticker on them?	[ "Generally, they are to discourage you from buying something from Retailer A and then turning around and reselling it through Retailer B for more money. For example, buying some stuff from Walmart during a crazy sale and re-selling it on Amazon later for a profit.\n\n\nThis has some info:\n\n_URL_0_" ]
How illegal immigrants can be appointed to government positions, get driver's licenses, etc.	[ "Legitimately they can't and it is against the laws. However, currently, immigration laws in this country mean nothing.", "Your own system (American) is the weakness. \nSource: I was an \"illegal alien\" in the US. \n\nI visited when there was still the visa waiver program. \nI had 3 months, without need for a...
If I have an understanding of law, why can't I practice it without having a law degree (US)?	[ "If someone hires you to be their lawyer, they're hiring you because they don't know or understand the law. Since they don't know or understand the law, they don't really have any way of evaluating whether or not you know the law. They just have to take your word for it. This would make it very easy to fool anyone ...
Are their more Android vulnerabilities nowadays or are we just hearing about them more?	[ "There will always be vulnerabilities in software, but like Windows, Android is the biggest target, so it will probably get the most publicity. However, like Windows, there are some cut corners in order to get that install base IMO, and it's a bit worse now with the tie-ins with carriers and OEMs. \n\nI'm a bit con...
How do bookies at an event keep track of wagers when everyone's shouting at them and handing them money?	[ "It's overly dramatized in movies. You can't actually just shout at a bookie and throw them money and expect your bet to be recorded.", "I'm more interestsd in the stock exchange scene in Trading Places" ]
What's the difference between 2$ HDMI cables and 50$ HDMI cables?	[ "You being ripped off.\n\nIf an HDMI cable works it works. There is no difference in quality from a $2 one to a $50 one. At best the price difference may mean they used a higher quality material to make them and they will last longer under heavy use.", "Absolutely nothing. Buying those 'branded', 'gold plated', (...
Why are half of the square pockets in waffle makers smaller than the other half?	[ "Your experience isn't typical. Do you have a picture of these waffle irons?" ]
Why so many police officers accused of crimes either get light sentences or have their charges dropped entirely, and how this relates to police unions.	[ "Often times its the jury that deals with this situation (I have been on the jury of a case with a police officer.) Once the evidence is presented it's usually not the officers fault. \n\nA shaky video comes out of a police officer shooting a subject. Then during court you learn that the subject was on hallucinogen...
How do we determine how "large" (in bytes) a genome is?	[ "In genetics, Mb doesn't mean megabytes, it means megabases. DNA is formed as a sequence of bases (usually A, C, T, or G), and that's the unit of size that they use, so the sunfish has a genome that's about 730 million bases long." ]
Why does Tea and Coffee taste bad when it's watered down, even though they're mostly water?	[ "Coffee and tea are a specific ratio of water to \"stuff;\" the stuff is the oils and other chemicals from the coffee beans or tea leaves.\n\nSo when you brew a cup of tea, the box of tea will tell you \"Steep this tea bag in X water for Y minutes.\" That's like a recipe - it makes sure there's the right amount of...
The link between allergy medicine and dementia.	[ "It probably is a true link, however this study looked at older populations, who are at higher risk of Alzheimer's than younger patients. Alzheimer's disease is associated with degeneration of the basal nucleus of meynert in the brain, which provides cholinergic input to a certain part of the basal nuclei that are ...
What happens when a company buys a competitor but keeps the name?	[ "Branding is important, and time will tell if those two brands have more value separately or together. A smart acquisition keeps its options open and gathers market intelligence over time to inform such decisions. \n\nYes, they've eliminated a competitor. They've also expanded their business, now with two distin...
Why am I tired all day long, every day of my life, but as soon as 8pm roles around I feel like a frat boy with an eight-ball and a keg of Naty Ice.	[ "It could be something simple as your daily routine. What time do you wake up? What do you do for a living? Are you active and do you work out? How many hours of sleep do you get a night?\n\nOr it could be an actually disorder: _URL_0_\n\nBasically, it could be a number of things. If you're really concerned however...
Why do aquatic mammals swim with their fins moving up and down, but fishes swim with their fins moving side to side?	[ "The most basic reasoning would be bone structure. An aquatic mammal still has bones in the same general shape as ours, meaning that their shoulders work a lot like ours do. Up and down and using them as rudders works well with the bone structure. Its the same with penguins. Fish also share a common bone structure ...
What is the clear fluid that fills a bilster (from heat or pressure) and what is it's purpose?	[ "It's usually plasma, which is the liquid part of blood that the red and white cells are suspended in. It helps the healing process of the underlying damaged skin.", "It's either blood serum or blood plasma. Serum being blood without any blood cells or clotting factors, plasma being serum but witth clotting facto...
What is Black Body radiation and how does it work?	[ "Everything that has a temperature will self-radiate by the emission of electromagnetic waves, e.g. light. The name \"black body\" radiation comes from the idea that if you have a perfect absorber, a body that absorbs 100% of all light in the entire spectrum that hits it (hence, \"black body\"), the said body will ...
Why does it take so long for finger/toenail fungus to be cured and go away?	[ "Nail beds are moist, warm, and dark. Fungi must like this. It's a very good growing medium for fungi?" ]
What is SegWit? What are its advantages and disadvantages?	[ "Segregated Witness (or Segwit for short) was an update deployed recently on Bitcoin and a few other cryptocurrencies. Without getting into the nitty gritty details, it fixes a bug known as transaction malleability, which prevented doing some things with bitcoin such as payment channels. Along the way, it also some...
Why do movies about modern times often include outdated technology (e.g., paper & pen, dedicated camera, typewriter, etc.)?	[ "Paper and pen is not outdated as of yet. Many if not most still use them daily.", "To most adults that go to movies, neither pen and paper nor dedicated camera is \"out of date\". A huge number of people still use both every day.\n\nTypewriters are a fair example, but a large chunk of the movie-going audience do...
How do wet dreams cause one to cum if there is no sexual pleasure in reality?	[ "Sexual pleasure is mostly in the mind. Your dreams are fully capable of providing that. What little contact is needed for wet dreams is provided by your underwear/other clothing, sheets, or actually masturbating in your sleep." ]
Is looking through someone else's glasses on similar to their vision with their glasses off?	[ "I would think it could but in the inverse direction, as long as you have perfect vision. In other words, say you have 20/20 vision. You put on your friend's -3.25 glasses, meaning they are myopic. Wearing glasses with -3.25 brings them to zero but since you're already there, your vision will correct to +3.25 *edit...
How do criminals get away when being interviewed in documentaries on National Geographic and such?	[ "The police cannot assume what is on \"TV\" is true. Neither should you. It could easily be staged or scripted. In order to become evidence, a man or woman would have to testify in court that everything on the video is true. That would make the film makers job very difficult in the future, so you can imagine they ...
How is medical marijuana legally distributed?	[ "Marijuana is prohibited under federal law, but state law is an entirely different matter. If a state allows the prescribed use and regulated sale of marijuana, then it is not a crime in the eyes of any state official. Federal law enforcement agencies, however, are able to enforce federal anti-drug laws, but they m...
Whats the differences between 'Lieutenant' and 'Leftenant'?	[ "No difference; the former is the American/Canadian pronunciation while the other is found more in Britain and its former colonies. They're both spelled \"Lieutenant.\"" ]
What all this Amy's Bakery drama is about?	[ "Amy's Baking Company was featured on Kitchen Nightmares, a show in which Chef Gordon Ramsay visits failing restaurants and whips them into shape with his culinary and business acumen to rescue them from closing.\n\nHe visited Amy's Baking Company, a spot in Arizona owned by a husband and wife duo who were convince...
How does glass become sea-glass?	[ "It becomes smooth after 20-50 years of being tumbled by waves and tides, in contact with abrasive saltwater and rough sand. It's possible because sand is of similar hardness to glass (being made from similar materials), the sand is able to wear away the glass. \n\n\"Fake\" sea glass is fairly easy to make in much...
How does something go from nothing to a brain?	[ "If you want to make a brain from scratch, you must first invent the universe.", "Well, start with nothing. Mathematically we represent nothing with the number zero.\n\n0\n\nNow, in mathematics we can also represent this as something combined with its negation.\n\n1 - 1 = 0.\n\nThis happens in physics as well, an...
Quantum physics grad student Ben Ames, wins Alan Alda's 'The Flame Challenge' by most effectively communicating the complexity of a flame to children in his animated video.	[ "> First, we need something big and black like\n\noh no\n\n > this pitchfork\n\nOh.", "I have been asking every science, chemistry, and physics teacher and or professor this same question for 22 years. Now I have an answer.", "I loved this! Very informative.\n\nThough Beard-Torso kinda weirded me out.", "H...
Daylight Savings Time. I get why we set the clocks forward.. but why, in Autumn, do we set them back an hour? Is there something gained by having an extra hour of darkness in the Winter? Why don't we just keep time at "Daylight Savings Time" year-round?	[ "Historically, people like to think of Noon as being when the sun is at its highest point in the sky. Under DST, you're an hour off from that." ]
What exactly am I paying domain registrars for?	[ "There are some administrative that need to be paid for (staff, office costs, hosting their own website).\n\nBut mainly there needs to be some fee involved otherwise there's nothing stopping people from registering millions of domains, just for fun.", "the machines of other people go to them to find out where you...
What does it look like when a hacker gains remote access to a computer? Is it literally just a mirror of the victim's desktop?	[ "It depends. \nComputers can only do one thing - run programs. And \"program\" is just data and some calculations applied to it. So when someone says \"hacker gained access to a computer\" it means that hacker is either able to access data on that computer or is able to run programs there. Or both.\n\nIn many cases...
Will a people with lighter skin tones gradually darken after generations (1k+years) of living in places like the middle east or Africa? Would a people with a darker skintone gradually "Lighten" after generations living up north in Europe or Siberia?	[ "If everyone with the unfavorable skin tone for their region died before reproducing, then yes. In the modern world, no. We have technology that exists to shield ourselves from the harmful effects of the sun for lighter skinned people, and we have ways to replace nutrients lost from lack of sunlight exposure for da...
Why is it so hard to clean up radioactive waste like Chernobyl? Why hasn't it disappeared on it's own after such a long time?	[ "Cockroaches can withstand higher levels of radiation because they lack soft tissues, which are the most vulnerable to radiation poisoning.", "The radioactive material used to fuel reactors decays at a half life rate that is close to 20,000 years. So after 20k years half of the material that was there will be lef...
How does the 'Skylanders' Video game work?	[ "I would assume RFID chips in the figurines so the game knows which ones are being used." ]
Why does no one like Internet Explorer?	[ "Internet explorer must be loved in some circumstances. It is the world's most popular browser for downloading Firefox and Chrome.\n\nSo remember, everything has its uses." ]
Why do people use terms like right-wingers, left-wingers, liberals, and conservatives instead of republican/democrat?	[ "Theyre not the same thing. \n\nRight wing and left wing are pretty similar to democrat / republican, left wing being democrat, right wing being republican.\n\nLiberal tends to mean you take a liberal understanding of the constitution. You treat it more like a living document that can be changed and have an open en...
Regarding the 2020 Olympics, how will Olympic Karate look different from Olympic TKD?	[ "It's like boxing vs. kickboxing. They are similar, but one allows kicks and the other doesn't. It's a small change, but it completely changes the strategy. Muhammed Ali was one of the best boxers of all time, but I don't think he would have been a very good kickboxer. The same applies to Taekwondo and Karate. Taek...
What is the feeling of grogginess and why do we experience it?	[ "Hi !\n\nBefore I explain this, you need to understand that there is a lot that we do not understand about the brain and all the molecules involved yet.\nThe molecule involved here is Adenosine. You can find it in all the body, but the part that answers your question is its work in the brain. \n\nSo Ade...
Why do we put so much effort in keeping certain species from going extinct and invasive species out of foreign areas when the more "natural" thing to do is let it happen? (read description for clarification)	[ "Endangered is one thing. And more so humans trying to take responsibility for their actions. Most animals that are really endangered, it's partially our fault. \n\nAs for invasives, the thing is, naturally it wouldn't have happened in the first place. How is a Python from Burma going to relocate to the Florida Eve...
Syndication of TV shows	[ "Syndication is when the company that owns the rights to a show sells it to other networks to show. For example, Seinfeld originally aired on NBC and the cast got money from that. But, they later sold the syndication rights to TBS so that TBS could show old episodes of the show. TBS is still paying and some of that...
If you had a stick one lightyear long, would the kinetic energy transfer faster than the speed of light if you poked something?	[ "No. The stick would not move all at once; your push would propagate down the stick at the speed of sound in whatever the stick is made out of." ]
Nashville Mayor’s affair proven by reading deleted chat logs from her cell phone. How are these deleted files accessed? Are there ways one can securely delete private data from cell phones and computers?	[ "Most computer file systems operate like the planning department of a city rather than a demolition firm. When a file is deleted, they mark the space as available and ignore the existing data, which will be overwritten if/when a new file wants to use the space. Until a new file actually uses the space, the old da...
Why can't we use Micro SD cards (or the technology it uses) to create ultra small - high capacity hard drives?	[ "We essentially already do. They're called solid state disks. They can be a number of form factors but 2.5\" is the standard because that's what size laptop hard drives are.", "Micro SD cards are already those ultra-small, high-capacity drives you're talking about. the reason SSD drives are still so expensive is ...
Turning on/off double vision?	[ "I found out I have double vision because I have a retinal tear behind my one eye. It causes it to lag and I have slightly a dropped eyelid as well due to it. I really would go to your optometrist as soon as you can. Anything to do with vision is VERY important and will not go away by itself!", "What does your op...
If we're in the first world, and places like rural African countries are the third world, what and where is the second world?	[ "It's an archaic system because the Cold War is over. It used to be:\n\nFirst World: Capitalist powers\n\nSecond World: Communist powers\n\nThird World: Everybody else\n\nSo, back in the day, the USSR (and, to an extent, China) was the \"second world.\" I guess you could still say that China is \"second world,\" bu...
What do we benefit from keep near extinction animals around? Should we just let them go extinct? (not a popular opinion I know, more of a description in comments)	[ "There are two basic arguments. First, the moral one. We are morally obligated to protect animals that we had a hand in taking to the brink of extinction.\n\nSecond, the utilitarian one. We can possibly learn something from ecosystems with intact species that could help us later. If we alter the ecosystem to much i...
Why does every car have a different type of battery when every car takes a 12-Volt battery?	[ "different sizes.\n\nthe bigger the engine, the bigger the amperage is needed for the electric starter motor to turn the engine. the bigger the amp requirement, the bigger battery you need.\n\nbigger batteries also happen to be more expensive and more heavy. so you use the size battery that most appropriately ma...
Nash Equilibrium	[ "Nash Equilibrium is a concept in Game Theory. Basically, when a few people are participating in a \"game\" (which can be any real or imaginary situation), and each player has his/her own strategy, a Nash Equilibrium is when no player can benefit by changing their own strategy, assuming the rest of the players don'...
Why are people still so obsessed with being racist ?	[ "There has always been a huge push to separate people into groups, as opposed to looking at people individually. Race is a very obvious/visual difference among people, so it is often used to divide. Many people are susceptible to falling into the trap of pigeonholing others based on one characteristic. However, lea...
Why do universities make tests too hard and then curve the grades?	[ "So they know where everyone is. If someone gets a 100 then you know they're good on the subject, but not how good. The tests are used to check progress, so they make the upper end redicleously high so they can track everyone's improvement.", "It's hard to tell the difference on an easy test between a student th...
Who has the most power in the U.S political system?	[ "No group is suppose to have \"the most power\". Every branch is suppose to have counters and checks on the other two. \n\nPresident: Appoints Supreme Court Judges, Has Veto power over potential laws. \n\nCongress: Approves Supreme Court Nominees, Has Impeachment power over the President. \n\nSupreme Court: Has the...
Why are there different styles of wall plugs around the world?	[ "For the same reason there isn't an international language, we've just not been culturally connected for long enough to develop a standard.\n\n\nSlightly off-topic: The Danish one is my favourite, because its so happy ●‿●", "I think mostly this is just cultural differences emerging in an area that has not been in...
Why is it that (historically) Christians have largely persecuted Jewish people despite Jesus being Jewish?	[ "1) Primarily because they are outsiders to the local social structure. They are not native to the region and so are suspect. It is the same reason Gypsies are persecuted. \n\n2) Religiously Jews rejected Christ and killed him. As such they are evil to the mind of many Medieval Christians. \n\nEdit 3) Christians we...
Why jailbreaking an iPhone 5 is different than on an iPhone 5s.	[ "But the hardware is different. Different exploits use the hardware and software in different ways." ]
Why does the U.S not have massive military parades like Russia and China?	[ "Im a former US Marine ... all I can say is Thank you to my battalion commander/regiment/division/etc. for never having me do any bullshit like that. Fuck drill.", "Taking a look at [this](_URL_0_) askhistory thread on the topic, it seems like we did have military parades, but we tended to have them during wars...
Why do movies and shows have to blur out or block out company names on products?	[ "In addition to product placement fees, there's also the reverse that if it isn't blocked out and the product is featured and doesnt like it, then they could always sue.", "It's not a case of the company censoring the movie, it's the fact that intentional product placement can be sold for quite a high price, espe...
Why is it that when people bald, they bald on the top of their head?	[ "This is called pattern hair loss (commonly known as male-pattern baldness). Different hair follicles have different structure, and react differently to a chemical the body produces called DHT. The hair follicles at the top of the head will gradually go dormant due to the effects of DHT, but the hair at the side of...
What are prions? Can animals die from prion disease?	[ "Yes, non-human animals can have prions. Basically, a prion is a protein that has been folded in such a way that it not only doesn't perform its function, but reacts with versions of the same protein that are folded correctly, in such a way that they fold in the same way as the prion and so obtain the prion's prope...
Why isn't museum art featuring cherubs/naked babies classified as child pornography?	[ "For the same reason that [this google search](_URL_0_) is not classified as CP: there is no sexual innuendo involved. Also asked before so please search next time.", "For the same reason that museum pieces involving naked adults aren't classified as pornography. They're just depictions of the naked body, not int...
What happens if the president won the election due to foreign intervention?	[ "Russia parties down and said president gets closer to his claimed level of wealth. Meanwhile the other two branches of our government being controlled by republicans means everyone gets away scott free.", "The USA does not have a good mechanism in place for handling the case where the Presidential election's out...
What exactly is work ethic?	[ "When someone shows up to work on time and does their job as expected without complaining or causing problems or slacking off and being lazy they are considered to have good work ethic. Also if they are willing to go beyond their job duties and help other workers out or are willing to do other jobs that their boss ...
Why did Myspace fail?	[ "A huge factor was customization: myspace was of the opinion that people want to be able to customize their space----music, flashing animation, their favorite teams, etc. And they were right, people DO want to customize their space.\n\n\nBut most people are tasteless, tacky fucks, and myspace quickly grew to resemb...
How does a company like SpaceX remain a functional and profitable company?	[ "They have large private investors which allow them to operate. Google and Fidelity Investments have invested about $1b, for example\n\nThey have multiple contracts with NASA which run into multiple billions of dollars. They also do business deploying satellites. \n\nThey are also in negotiations with the US milita...
If we can teach chimpanzees to use sign language, why can't we teach them to use fire?	[ "Well, I imagine it wouldn't be strictly impossible to teach a chimpanzee rudimentary fire starting skills. But why would you do this? Now you have a chimpanzee fire starter. They certainly don't have the experience or wherewithal to deal with fire as well as humans, and humans themselves screw it up often enough. ...
Why/how do our stomachs "grumble"?	[ "Your intestines grumble. The reason is because when you are hungry, there's less solid/semi-solid material in there, more gas and fluid. \n\nThe muscles lining them move, both to stir up the mixture of food and goop moving through you, and to move it along the 'path' to the back door. When it's mostly gas and liqu...
What are the connections between The Theory of Relativity and The String Theory?	[ "This is not really something that we can ELY5 because it's the million dollar question that the scientific community has been unable to figure out. \n\nNot specifically String Theory, instead more broadly: Quantum Theory. The scientific community knows they both work, but how they fit together is still unknown. \n...
What limits how quickly a battery can charge? Why can't you provide it with an excessive current to charge a phone battery faster?	[ "Batteries are chemical storage device. The transition between electrical energy and chemical state takes time. Extra energy is dissipated as heat. Too much heat and you compromise the cell container and/or the electrolyte. With lithium interacting with atmosphere, it catches fire and goes boom. You don't ...
how come we usually blur out license plates in photos but not when they're vanity plates?	[ "Because they're often the subject of the photo. There's no point to a picture of a vanity plate that blurred out." ]
why do we mow lawns?	[ "Well the concept of a lawn was to improve visibility so enemies couldn't sneak up close. Then it was used for grazing. Then we decided that it was a status symbol to have a large well manicured lawn." ]
Why do some institutions know my new address, while others don't?	[ "Organizations can subscribe to the National Change of Address registry and be notified of address changes for people on their lists. There is a cost involved with this service. Some organizations are willing to pay to ensure they have an accurate mailing list, and others rely on the people on the list to update th...
Where are all the baby pigeons?	[ "Our city pigeons are actually a form of [Rock Dove](_URL_1_) and they build their nests on places on our buildings which are most like cliffs and rock ledges. And the chicks stay in the nests until they're ready to fly but before that they're really [ugly buggers](_URL_0_).", "They stay in well concealed nests u...
Why do our eyes adjust to bright light quickly but take a while to adjust to the dark?	[ "Your cones (the vision receptors designed for bright light and color sensitivity) can fully adjust in only a few minutes. Your rods (the dark-adapted receptors) take much longer, 30+ minutes for just 80% adaptation. Your cones play some part in looking in the dark, so it doesn't take 30 minutes to start adjustin...
Why does hair grow strangely in Moles?	[ "Moles are a type of tumour. Tumours are formed when cells cannot regulate their growth and split much too often, and grow too large. In tumours like moles, this usually doesn't cause problems, like cancerous tumours do. But to get back to your question, the hairs growing out of the tumour are subject to the same f...
Why are eastbound flights faster than westbound flights?	[ "As you suspected, it is because of the winds, specifically the [jet stream](_URL_0_), which mostly flows from west to east.\n\nThe rotation of the earth makes no difference, because the atmosphere in which aircraft fly rotates with the earth. If the rotation of the earth did make a difference, logically you'd expe...
All of our muscles get tired and we have to let them rest. Why doesn't our heart have to rest?	[ "_URL_0_\n\nOne answer is that the “cardiac” muscle that comprises the heart is of a different kind than the “skeletal” muscle comprising the hand. Skeletal muscles are attached to bone structures and cannot stay long in a flexed position without depleting their energy reserves. Those energy reserves come from mito...
There are estimates that 46% of the labor force is at risk for being automated in the next 10-25 years. Why is no one talking about this? Why do we need "jobs" when there are about to be less and less for more and more people?	[ "This is actually quite a prominent area in leftist theory that goes back to Marx. One of Marx's biggest points wasn't just workers controlling the means of production, but also the advancement of technology to increase everybody's leisure time. \n \nFully Automated Luxury Communism is a bit buzzwordy but encapsu...
Why do youtubers tend to ask for "likes" on their videos, when they get paid per view, and having an uninfluenced like counter could help them produce better content?	[ "More likes - > higher ratings - > more traffic.", "Agree with what has been said so far here, but another thing is that a lot of accounts have it to when they like or comment on a video then all of that channels' subscribers will see it on their homepage and might click on it.", "Also, Youtube looks at these...
Why do movies use stunt doubles in simple situations like a car pulling into a spot or jogging?	[ "The first thing to remember, is that movies are rarely shot in order and such.\n\nAnytime you can use someone that is not a main actor to fulfill their role (often called a \"stand in\") means that main actor can be shooting a different scene, even on the other side of the world. These helps the timeline and cos...
Why do songs that we haven't heard in a long time randomly start playing in our heads?	[ "Our thoughts and memories are in a semantic node network. Meaning, each memory/thought/concept has it's own node (theoretical node, not physical), and they're all connected. If one node gets activated, then the activation threshold for connected nodes lowers, meaning it's easier for them to be activated and thus c...
When you pick up your luggage after landing from a flight, how do airports make sure that the right person is taking the right luggage, and not stealing someone else's?	[ "Airports don't check this -- they assume that it's been done correctly until they're told otherwise, until someone reports that their bag isn't there. That's the big reason why it's important to pick up your bag promptly after landing.", "There was a time when airports stationed people around the baggage pickup...
Is drinking 8 cups of any liquid (i.e. pop, juice, coffee, beer, etc) pretty much the same as drinking 8 cups of water in terms of hydrating your body since the primary ingredient in any drink is water?	[ "There's some difference. First these beverages are high on water, but it's not all water. Cola has like 88% water in it. Black coffee like 98%. Also, the amount of minerals make it either easier to absorb and keep the water, or harder. If you'd drink something high on salt (like sea water), you'd actually get real...
Why do large, established companies like Coca-Cola outsource their branding to boutique firms?	[ "Advertising is something that is generally outsourced to companies who specialize in it. It is very specialized, they are the experts at it, and they are the ones who do it. Sometimes they will keep some of the analytics in house, but generally at a minimum the creative and such is outsourced to the \"experts\" (...
Why aren't baseball players afraid of being hit in the face by a stray ball?	[ "Because they are wearing special gloves, the express purpose of which is to apprehend said baseball.", "The field is pretty large compared to the size of player's heads.. so no, logic doesn't mean it is likely. \n\nThe mechanics of the game make it rare. \nWhen a pitcher is throwing, only two players are in rang...

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.