Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
Why do Energy Drinks only come in cans while water only comes in bottles, yet pop/soda can go either way?	[ "Having worked in the Soda industry, I remember asking once why Soda bottles expired a lot quicker than soda in cans, and it's due to the plastic deteriorating due to the acid in the beverages. There are a few Energy drinks that come in the plastic bottles, NOS comes to mind, however I'm willing to wager that the g...
Explain to me the fourth dimension	[ "You might enjoy these previous posts on the topic:\n\n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_1_" ]
Why does it seem that anywhere you go these days , there is background music playing (gas stations , malls , airplanes) ?	[ "It's mostly a subconscious thing. There is some evidence to suggest that the tempo of the music playing will affect customers behavior.\n\nSlow music in a store might cause some customers to slow down and look around, and possibly even buy more.\n\nFast music in a restaurant might cause diners to eat faster so th...
How are sanctuary cities a thing. Why is it not aganist the law to harbour an illegal	[ "It is the federal government's job to enforce immigration law. The states don't need to help out in any way legally speaking. A \"sanctuary city\" is a city which has an official policy of not helping the federal government, but not obstructing them.\n\nIf it was illegal to let an illegal alien exist within your c...
Why are front yard fences generally shorter than back yard fences?	[ "Fences are built for many reasons. Back yard fences are often for privacy and/or protection. Front yard fences are often for decoration and property delineation. Also, many communities have restrictions on the height of front yard fences." ]
How does washing your hands kill germs?	[ "Generally it doesn't, it just moves the germs away. Kinda like washing mud off your hands doesn't destroy the mud, just moves it elsewere.\n\nThat's with regular soap. Do not use antibacterial soap. Or antibacterial anything for that matter. Getting rid of germs seems logical (after all, that's what causes disease...
What is exactly social security?	[ "You work, you pay SS. The taxes you pay go to someone else who is receiving SS. When you retire you will be paid by others who currently work. The amount you get paid receiving SS is influenced by the amount of taxes you contributed.\n\nSS is facing issues but the worst case scenario (ignoring total economic colla...
When humans die our bodies rot. When insects die they just dry up. Why?	[ "Their insides rot. But their 'skeleton' is on the outside, and just like humans, it's the hardest part and resists breaking down the longest." ]
Why is there so much Leprosy in India?	[ "First we must consider that India seems to be the origin point of the evolution of leprosy about 2500 years ago. The amount of cases is always highest I around a disease's point of origin. In general, infectious diseases tend to do very well in the warm climate of the tropics. See how malaria remains largely conf...
Why is it that our body doesn't prevent us from biting our own tongue?	[ "It tries to. Haven't you ever, mid-bite, had that sudden \"Uh oh, danger!\" feeling - but then it's too late, the deed is done before you could stop it?", "It does. Think about how many times you have bitten your tongue and how many times you haven't." ]
Why do my feet feel sweaty when they get cold?	[ "The feeling of cold and the feeling of pressure, combined, confuses your nerves with the feeling of wet. If you were to step onto a coin in after stumbling awake in the middle of the night, you would at first mistake it for stepping in a wet spot." ]
Why do containers that had egg in them bubble and froth so much, even when just rinsed?	[ "Egg whites contain a lot of liquid protein, which forms a thin and strong layer, a temporary membrane that fills with air to make a bubble." ]
If someone is using a computer to launch DDoS attacks or do other things on the internet, is it possible to see this activity with a program like Fiddler?	[ "So I assume you have a computer which you think is participating in a DDoS, and want to load something on that computer to confirm or not. You have the right idea, but I don't think Fiddler is the best tool. For Fiddler to see traffic, the originating application, or attack program has to be configured to flow t...
Why is it so difficult to swallow when you look up, or tilt your head backwards?	[ "Because tilting your head back opens your airway and they can't both be open at the same time." ]
Why are there so many seagulls in the local shopping center parking lot even though I'm nowhere near close to the ocean or a large body of water.	[ "Seagull is a common or informal name for many different types birds that are located pretty much everywhere across the planet. The gulls you are seeing are probably ring-billed gulls. They do like to nest near water, but since they can eat pretty much anything, they are commonly found near easy to find food sour...
How do Governments pay back trillions worth of debts?	[ "We are perpetually paying off old debt while creating new debt.\n\nDebt is basically the total money the US government owes to people who hold government bonds. These government bonds set out a repayment schedule, and the US has never missed a payment since the revolution making it one of the safest investments on...
Why do people from SA Asia and Singapore use "LA" in nearly every sentence? What does it means?	[ "Singlish (and Manglish) is a mixture of local languages with English and used in informal situations. It's most likely from the Malay suffix -lah which makes a verb into a command so it's the imperative.\n\nSo, if you go out with people and get your food but the waiter has to get the food of the other people you...
How come back in the 50s and 60s it was safe for parents to let their kids go off and play all day, but as the years progressed that changed?	[ "It's always just as safe. The difference is that parents now are more paranoid.", "It wasn't more safe back then, it was just that most parents (except the very rich) didn't have time to look after their kids all the time, so they were sent out to play. Fatal accidents for kids were more common back then. I'd be...
How do zero calorie energy drinks work?	[ "> Is is just that there are chemicals in it that inhibit the neurotransmitters that make you feel tired, or something else along those lines?\n\nYeah, pretty much. Stimulants like Caffeine work by basically telling your brain \"you are awake\" or blocking the signals that say \"you are tired\" (the exact mechanis...
A lot of history books talk about the banning of atmospheric tests of thermonuclear weapons in the 60's. Where do they test them now and how is it safer?	[ "When they are tested underground there is very little dust kicked up into the atmosphere. When the Soviet Union tested the largest thermonuclear device ever the physicist in charge deliberately did not make it as powerful as possible because the effects would be too wide spread and long lasting.", "We don't test...
why do some bottles of alcohol have flow regulators/fun stoppers/plastic thingy at the tip of the bottle? And some don't?	[ "ITT: People who think the OP is asking about those add-on pour spouts that bartenders use. We are talking about the plastic filter/screen thingy that is inside the top of the bottle, underneath the original cap, already installed when you buy the bottle from the store.\n\nTo answer the question, they are usual...
If a heart is stopped (cardiac arrest), how can a shot of adrenaline sometimes work?	[ "If the heart is stopped, you're not going to start it again. A lot of people think that drugs or a defibrillator will start a stopped heart, it won't happen. \n\nEpinephrine will cause a slowed heart to speed up as well as increase your breathing rate. It does this by blocking the pancreas' ability to produce insu...
Why Most Rappers Have the Urge to Say Their Name in Their Music?	[ "Educated guess here but in hip-hop it's very common to feature other artists on a track so it helps the artist gain exposure and let's the listener know who's verse or was when they like it. Also worth mentioning that alot of artists (Kanye and travis scott particularly) don't put the feature artists name on the t...
what technology exists to help us shoot down and protect ourselves from nuclear missiles, and how effective is it?	[ "There are three (known) systems in place by the US. One ship based, that sits near a potential launch site, trying to knock it down as it boosts up, and two land based ones that attempt to intercept the missile later in its flight.\n\nNone are considered reliable. If anything actually shoots down a missile in a re...
Why can't a network host a debate including third party candidates?	[ "Cant get the big guys to play unless forced. I'm sorry but I dont see any of the third party candidates with the type of organizational skills I expect to see from a presidential hopeful. And they've known for nearly a year that this could be a big year for a third party candidate." ]
What does it mean when the ingredients of a food product say “natural flavors” ?	[ "If you grow fungis and other microbilogic stuff in a lab you can get all kinds of flavours. Its a missleading term. Technically it is all natural but it doesnt mean the flavour in your orange juice is from oranges..." ]
Why are circuit lines sometimes squiggly?	[ "It is so that every lane takes the same time as the others. They are squiggly because those memory components have a shorter distance than others and to have them all run at the same speed, so to get them to run at the same speed as one thats farther away it has to run a larger distance that is equal to the others...
From an actual 5 year old; what makes water stick to surfaces?	[ "Polarity. The water molecule is unbalanced, and has an attractive field on the molecular level. This very weak magnetism allows it to cling to things. The reason it clings is the same reason why surface tension exists: water likes to cling to other polar molecules. This means that it likes to cling to itself, as w...
Why are There So Many Lost Episodes of KaBlam?	[ "Most of the last season, 4, was un-aired when the show was cancelled. Some episodes were televised as parts of specials and some were not shown due to copy write or standards issues. \n\nMy unreliable source is the wikipedia article (I didn't know about the topic personally): _URL_0_!" ]
Do copper sleeves and braces for your body really work? If so, how?	[ "They absolutely don't work at all. But wait, there's more! Ok sadly there isn't, it's just basically a scam, there's no evidence this stuff does anything.", "No. Those are just scams. The only people who have experienced anything with them experienced it through placebo, in which case they could've been magic fa...
theres so many types of toothpaste that supposedly do different things, but they all have the same one active ingredient.	[ "There are indeed inactive ingredients that have different benefits, but almost none are significant. The best toothpastes have fluoride, xylitol, no sodium lauryl sulfate. Tom's clean & gentle is a good one, so is Biotene (expensive), or Spry/Squigle with fluoride. -dental hygienist.", "A toothpaste used to re...
What the difference(s) between a pub, a bar, and tavern?	[ "Bars are typically geared toward alcohol, a pub is geared towards food and alcohol, and a tavern normally is a pub with rooms to rent for nights. I could be wrong, but that's what I grew up thinking :)", "Liquor licenses are the real dividing lines. The following applies to my state, Washington: \n\nA Pub (Publi...
why do we gag when we smell or see something gross?	[ "A wise man once told me, \"You know what the difference is between smelling shit and eating shit? Parts per million.\"" ]
Why is my cat obsessed with me after taking a shower?	[ "This is an educated guess, but most likely because you have a different smell. Cats have a great sense of smell and identifies other by it, they \"know\" you because they know your smell and after a shower you are a new \"human\" that they need to befriend.\n\nThis is also a reason why if you have two cats and one...
In these sanctuary cities, Why are the Mayor and city council not being charged with aiding and abetting a criminal, and harboring a fugitive?	[ "They aren't actually breaking any laws or (legally speaking) aiding and abetting anyone.\n\nThey're just refusing to do the Federal Government's job for them. It's not up to individual local governments to enforce federal law and they can't be forced to if they don't want to. \n\nIf they were actively preventing f...
Before gunpowder weaponry, how were any naval battles fought?	[ "A few diffrent ways. I'd recommend /r/askhistorians for a more complete explanation.\n\nThere's a few things that were done:\n\n1. ramming other boats, either to breach their hull and to sink them, or to send over troops for boarding actions.\n\n2. Archers stationed on deck firing arrows, either regular ones of fi...
The differences and pros/cons between leasing a car and buying it (with monthly payments).	[ "You should do some math when you're deciding between the two (along with what anyone4apint said).\n\nDetermine how much money you will have paid out at the end of the loan (finance option). Let's say it was a $23k car and you paid out $26k after interest.\n\nFind out what value your vehicle should have after 5 ye...
Internet infrastructure.	[ "Inside your computer is something called a NIC (Network Interface Card). It has two main jobs - send data, and receive data.\n\nHook it up to another computer via an Ethernet cable and you have a simple network. Your computer's send is hooked up to the other's receive and vice-versa.\n\nWhat if you want another co...
How that tugboat from the front page could pull the ship 10 times it's own size	[ "Tug Boats are basically motors with a ship built around them. One big floating motor designed to move ships.", "Tugboats are slower and aren't very practical in the open ocean, but they can team up, aim better and even pull a larger boat sideways. They sometimes have a lot of power for their little size, but un...
How does muscle enable us to lift heavier things?	[ "Muscles are made of fibres which contract to make a certain action. For example, a bicep curl. The more muscle, the more fibres. The more fibres you have contracting together, the more force you create. More force allows you to lift more." ]
Looking beyond energy independence. How do we (practically) replace the other crude oil derivatives? e.g. asphalt, lubricants, and other hydrocarbon-derived chemicals.	[ "Algae are a candidate for creating hydrocarbons, as well as yeast. With genetic-modification of small organisms being developed and used, it's possible to create microorganisms that can turn sugars into hydrocarbons.\n\n_URL_0_" ]
Relationship between India and Pakistan	[ "India and Pakistan used to be a part of the British empire.\nWhen Pakistan and India got independence in 47, The British messed up the division of Kashmir, just like the messed up the middle east after World War 1(thus the current mess there). During the partition, Kashmir's ruler wanted his own state, but his peo...
Why do school buses have to always stop before railroads on open up to doors to listen? If the gates are up, it should be clear.	[ "Because the gates do not always work, not all rail crossings have gates, and the gates do not always deploy long enough before a train passes for larger slower vehicles to get across should they have some kind of mechanical trouble. \n\nThis requirement is also for more than school buses. It is required of all bus...
Why is there a country called Turkey and an animal called turkey when the two have nothing to do with each other? Is there any relationship between the two, or is it just coincidence?	[ "The bird was named after the region. In the 15th century or so traders started to bring Guinea Fowl from eastern Africa to Turkey where they were then exported to Europe. The birds became known as Turkey-hens. When colonists went to North America they thought the Turkey looked similar and so it too was called Turk...
Why do most Christian groups/people align themselves with the Republican party in the USA when the core beliefs of the religion seem to contradict those of the party?	[ "While gay marriage and abortion are the wedge issues of today, this alliance predates both being big deals. I mean, gay marriage wasn't even on the table two decades ago. \n\nFor a long time during the Cold War, Republicans liked to cast Democrats as near-communists, and themselves as the bulwark against those a...
Do certain characters take up more digital memory space?	[ "A set of rules for representing characters as data is called a character encoding, and there exist a number of different ones, so there isn't one unique answer to this question. Some examples:\n\n* The oldest encoding in common use is called ASCII, which takes 7 bits per character. One byte = 8 bits, so ASCI...
Why do people chop wood?	[ "It is so that the wood fits into fireplaces, cooking stoves, and so that it is easier to stack in a controlled manner. You do not want a burning log to roll out of a fire so you want to give it at least one flat side." ]
Why do they remake classic/awesome movies and ruin them? Why don't they take lousy movies and remake them into something good?	[ "It's considered too risky. If a production company has a choice between remaking a classic movie that did well or remaking a crappy movie that did poorly, they're going to go with the classic movie because it comes with guaranteed brand recognition. They don't care whether or not the movie turns out to be good, th...
Why do we make simple noises / repetitions automatically when talking to babies or small animals, such as cooing/saying hello?	[ "Baby talk is easier for a baby to understand because it is slow, exaggerated, and uses high tones. Even before the infant can actually understand words, baby talk can teach things like turn-taking in conversation, rhythm and tones in sentences (like how your voice raises in pitch when you're asking a question), an...
It seems that whenever there's a mass shooting, a SWAT team arrives at the scene almost immediately. What are SWAT teams doing when there's no situation for them to be at?	[ "Looks like it varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but it seems that they patrol like normal officers, but their gear may be kept in a special truck so they can travel directly to the scene at the same time as their equipment.\n\n_URL_0_", "It depends on each individual agency's SWAT team. I work for an age...
Why it is metres per second per second instead of metres per second?	[ "10 m/s^2 is an acceleration, not a movement, it means that for every second, it moves 10 meters per second faster.\n\n10 m = length\n\n10 m/s = speed\n\n10 m/s^2 = acceleration", "You're confusing speed (change in distance over time, i.e., meters per second, or miles per hour, or kilometers per hour) with accele...
What is the advantage for China to buy up other countries debts? Also, how does it work?	[ "Everyone here is missing it. China is buying loads of US debt for a very important reason: exchange rate. \n\nCompare the exchange rates of the reminbi (often referred to as RMB, but the official abbreviation is CNY) to the dollar and the Euro:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nYou can see clearly that China has controlled the exchan...
how the stock market and investing works.	[ "Okay. Say you have lemonade stand. You built it, you buy the lemons and the sugar and the cups, and any profit left after doing those things is all yours. You're the sole owner. \n\nNow, your lemonade is fucking delicious and the stand is doing really well. You'd like to open another one and hire some helpers to r...
Do the flags on the presidential limo or other state cars serve a purpose?	[ "It means the passenger carries rank in person rather than rank in position for the country whose flag the car flies.\n\nIn practice, that usually means the head of state, chief of government, secretary of state/foreign minister, and some ambassadors. \n\nImmunity is subject to a bunch of different agreements betwe...
Why do we instinctively breathe using the top half of our torso when using the abdomen is apparently healthier?	[ "It's not actually 'wrong'. You 'use' the top half of your torso because it makes space for your lungs to expand. \n\n'Using' your abdomen means that you are consciously focusing your breathing movements on your diaphragm, which is what actually draws your lungs in and out for you to breathe. This can be healthier ...
How do holocaust deniers back up their views when there is so much physical evidence, including eyewitnesses still alive, that it occurred?	[ "Keep in mind; this is coming from a jew\n\nThere are very few people who deny the holocaust completely. The thing that people doubt is the scale at which it happened, and that it was specifically targeted towards jews. They don't trust the official reports, because there's no reason they couldn't have been collect...
the difference between a scientist and an engineer	[ "In general, a scientist tries to push the boundaries of our understanding of things. The engineer puts our understanding of things into practice.\n\nAs an example, a chemist might try to figure out why two substances react the way they do, while a chemical engineer will try to figure out a way to make a given subs...
Why are prostate examinations done by digital penetration of the anus? Doesn't it seem archaic in the 21st century?	[ "Believe it or not, the index finger is an extremely sensitive tool in ascertaining the size, shape, nodularity, and \"sponginess\" of a prostate. Physicians are specifically trained to do this.\n\nPlus, it is fairly harmless (other than the trepidation of the patient) to insert a finger into the rectum to examine/...
Why do we listen to songs that depress us when we're upset? Even though we KNOW it only makes things worse?	[ "Does it make things worse? It's genuine psychiatric advice that sometimes you just need to feel shitty. Recognizing you're down and experience it is part of being mentally healthy, if you're always running away from unhappiness you're like to become mentally unwell." ]
Why don't McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, etc. do deliveries in the US?	[ "No one would tip the driver.\n\nYou work for McDonalds, you pay for your own gas/car maintenance. You walk up with a few kids meals and fries which are guaranteed to taste kinda old and soggy, this isn't a whole pizza with special delivery bag that keeps it warm, it isn't a whole meal from a Chinese restaurant, it...
Why does staring at the sun make me sneeze?	[ "Because you have a photic sneeze reflex, which about 20-30% of people have. The mechanism of action is not well understood. It's possible that wires get crossed in your brain, and that the stimulus of bright light makes your brain think there's something in your nose." ]
Why do grownups throw up less than children?	[ "Children are dirty. They don't wash their hands, they're constantly around a bunch of other children that don't wash their hands, they put things in their mouths and generally do everything you're not supposed to do if you want to avoid sickness.\n\nThey also have developing immune systems that haven't developed ...
What are brackets, with reference to basketball?	[ "bracket is used to describe certain types of tournaments, not just basketball. It is the chart that lists who is playing whom, and who the winners will play. It can be filled out with predictions of who will beat whom in advance (for entertainment purposes only) or it may be filled out as the tournament progresses...
What happens to someone's money if they get put into an asylum or diagnosed with a serious mental illness?	[ "If someone is found to be legally incomponent, a guardian, usually a family member, is appointed to look after their affairs." ]
Why certain checks expire.	[ "All checks expire. It forces people to be prompt about cashing checks. Otherwise, every company could have thousands of dollars of uncashed checks floating around, meaning they have to keep tons of extra money in their checking account just in case.\n\nTrue, most wage workers aren't going to forget to cash a check...
Why phones can have 8 cores and sometimes more but even most high end computers half only 4 cores.	[ "Even sub $200 processors like the i5-8400 now have 6 cores while AMD offers desktop chips with 16 cores/32 threads (on the server side you have Intel offering 28 cores with 56 threads) so part of the answer is that you simply don't know what is in desktop computers these days.\n\nThen there is the fact that while ...
Why does mixing lights result in a different color than mixing paint?	[ "Mixing light together is simple addition. Adding red light to green light gives you yellow light, add in blue and get white light.\n\nPaint, on the other hand, is about absorption and reflection. Yellow paint absorbs blue light, and reflects red and green. Red paint absorbs green and blue light, and reflects red. ...
Why is it quieter to pee on the side of the toilet bowl than it is to pee directly on the toilet water	[ "Sound waves are literally just movements of the particles that make up a medium (usually air for humans).\n\nSituation 1: Your liquid stream hits the solid porcelain side of the bowl. There is nowhere for the force of it to go except to spread out in roughly all directions, and it barely \"slices\" through the air...
Why do people still fall for pyramid schemes or MLM's?	[ "the true answer is that they are blinded by greed. look for example at all the people who gave money to bernie madoff. Years before he was 'outed' by his son, a reporter at Barron's, a major financial paper, wrote an article questioning madoffs returns (\"Those returns have been so consistent that some on the Stre...
Please explain the current situation in the Middle East simply.	[ "Various peoples have been fighting in that area for thousands of years. After WW2 the area was partitioned up without regard to the local's heritage and things got worse. Add lots of oil money to the equation and it's explosive." ]
The calculation which dictates the universe is 73% dark energy 23% dark matter 4% ordinary matter.	[ "We can see galaxies and (with the Hubble telescope) see the speed at which they rotate. We can also calculate how much the stars in those galaxies mass. The problem is, that much matter, spinning at those speeds, would fly apart. Even adding in planets, dust, and black holes, there still isn't enough matter in ...
Why does it matter how much water is needed to produce a kg of meat? Doesn't it all go back into the water cycle again?	[ "Sure, it does, but 'the water cycle' doesn't just revolve around Bob's Cattle farm. The fact that Bob's water eventually makes its way back to the sea doesn't mean Bob's neighbor is going to get an equivalent amount of rain, or that the people downstream from Bob are going to drink cattle pee. \n\nWe may not be re...
The whole "registered Republican, Democrat or Independent" thing.	[ "When you register to vote, you can choose which political party you want to be affiliated with. Those lists are sent to the party organizations so they can contact you, and in some states they qualify you to vote in the primary elections for those parties. It's mostly just a convenient time to sign up for party ...
why is it when you get stabbed by a pencil it leaves a blue mark forever?	[ "You might wanna check it, because if it is there after more than a couple of weeks it means that there is probably something stuck beneath your skin. \n\nIt isnt dangerous by itself most of the time, but after some time it will be really hard to get out if you have to.", "mos likely, i remember getting stabbed b...
How breast and bra sizes work	[ "Heed my warning friend! I currently have 5 bras in my bureau. 1 is a 42B, 1 is a 36C, 1 is a 40D, 1 is a 42C, and for shits and giggles 1 is a 38DD. All of these fit me, all are comfortable, and all are different brands. Bra sizing is fucked. I can't just go to a store, find my 'allegedly' correct size, buy it, a...
What would happen if the bombing of the Afghan hospital is in fact a war crime? Who would be punished, and how?	[ "I'm thinking a lot of speeches, angry rants, and strongly worded emails and memos....and not much else, sadly." ]
Why are some insects like cockroaches and ants afraid of humans while others like flies and moths are not?	[ "Because you're anthropomorphising them? It's not bravery, you're just thinking about their behaviour in human terms :)\n\nCockroach: I'm nocturnal and only come out of my burrow at night. If I can see light it means someone's dug my burrow up so I better escape and hide. Human interpretation: Coward!\n\n**...
Why do tea bags say ‘Do Not Microwave’?	[ "Because you are doing it wrong!\n\nYou are supposed to put tea into boiling water all at once, not slowly heat it up with the water. It does taste different that way.\n\nEDIT: To be clear, you don't put tea in water while it is still boiling, you bring the water to a boil, let it cool a bit, then put it in.", ...
Does the Surface Tension of Water change (increase/decrease), as the surface area changes?	[ "No but the ratio of the effects of surface area can change as the volume increases. \n\nTemperature does affect surface tension. Surface tension is a result of molecules of water forming stronger bonds with other water molecules than with air. Therefore, breaking the surface of the water requires breaking some of ...
How are tracking numbers created and how long will it be until UPS, FedEx and USPS run out?	[ "Tracking numbers are randomized numbers and letters, typically in a HexDec system that allows for 16 character numbers, and are typically like in UPS's case, 18 characters long following the 2 character preamble.. This equates to a combination that is as follows:\n\n18^18 = DAMN! or 39,346,408,075,296,537,575,424....
Does Space Smell Like Anything?	[ "apparently space does have a distinctive smell, it has been described as being similar to seared steak, hot metal, and welding fumes.\n\n > It is hard to describe this smell; it is definitely not the olfactory equivalent to describing the palette sensations of some new food as \"tastes like chicken.\" The best d...
Why does a candle make smoke when blown out but not when it's lit?	[ "The smoke you see is the vaporized wax that is the actual fuel of the candle's flame.", "The \"smoke\" is actually fuel, so when the flame is going it is consumed. You can even reignite a candle by touching a flame to the smoke and it will burn back down to the wick.", "That's not smoke, it's vapourised wax. T...
How does magnetic shielding work?	[ "A property of magnetism is that it can bend electric fields. So, magnetic shield is used to bend electric fields in such a way that they are largely contained, instead of allowed to propagate freely and potentially cause interference.", "Think of it more as a magnetic field conductor. What it does is redirect t...
the shower water is sometimes too hot and sometimes never hot enough. I don't share a hot water heater. Why is the temperature inconsistent?	[ "if you're only using one handle to dial in the temp you may just have variations due to pressure. in my experience, the higher the water pressure, the more the cold water. since both cold water and hot water are combining in the shower head, the cold might be displacing the hot. if you reduce the pressure (don'...
What happens to your body when you get winded?	[ "You know how walking uphill is harder than walking downhill? Or, how it's more difficult to stretch a spring, and it snaps back to place on its own? For the same reasons, inhaling is more difficult than exhaling. Not so difficult that it requires a lot of effort, but a part of the equation is that empty lungs is y...
Why couldn't I rob a bank, serve my jail time, then just have all the money to spend?	[ "Judges always file a restitution order. Which means you are required to pay back what you stole.", "It's illegal to profit from your crimes. You won't get to keep the money, even if you claim it after you've served your time. \n\nThis law has interesting consequences, such as when a [famous criminal writes an au...
Why do we shelter kids from what the real world is like instead of teaching them the reality of it?	[ "Because life in reality is extremely complicated. Children's ability to comprehend the world around them is something that develops gradually as they age. So we simplify things greatly at first and gradually expose the child to the real world more and more as they become more capable of understanding it.", "Show...
What's the difference between semiotics and structuralism?	[ "Easy version: Semiotics is the study of signs and signifiers. Structuralism is a critical framework built on a particular theory of semiotics.", "Follow up: ELI5, what is the meaning of life?" ]
Why isn't a dimensionless number negligible in a calculation if it theoretically has no physical properties	[ "The numbers don't have to have a physical correspondence to nevertheless reflect physical reality. \n\nPi is not negligible, it's a derived ratio. It's required to make the math work. It represents a relationship between certain quantities. That's the whole point of these constants - they were determined based on ...
Why is it sometimes easier to remember a word in one's second language?	[ "As someone bilingual, I'd say that sometimes some words more accurately represent what you're trying to say in one language than the other. More accurate!", "For me it is linked to what I am thinking about. I use English a lot for college and I tend to think in English for all the work related stuff. \n\nAlso: W...
Why does a video on YouTube take so much longer to load than a porn video that's 4 times as long?	[ "The porn company knows you're not gonna last the extra 5 seconds it takes a video to load.", "It's the other way for me! What site do you use? Asking for a friend..", "If a video has a lot of Internet traffic is centered around said video, it will take longer to load.\n\nMaybe people just don't like the same p...
What's causing the global markets to drop so rapidly?	[ "directly? people wanting to sell their assets\n\nand reasons for that are plenty: economical situation, evaluation of different assets, wars, trust and many other different things" ]
Why dogs thump their feet when they enjoy getting scratched.	[ "it's an involuntary reaction. Kinda like your own patellar reflex (as in when you get tapped on the knee and your leg kicks. \n\nIt's called the scratch reflex, when something irritates the skin in that area the dog just tries to scratch it. The thought is that it developed as a way to help counter insects and oth...
When a scammer gives me the account number to transfer funds, why can't we just notify the police and have them arrested?	[ "Aside from the fact that you have no proof (unless you record all your phone calls, which is a whole set of legal rules in and of itself), they are often in other countries. You're asking for international law enforcement cooperation (often between countries with little framework for such cooperation) on no solid ...
Why are there so many sub genres of music that are never heard of or talked about?	[ "Everything ever has way more depth than you would expect. There's enthusiasts for everything that can talk for hours about a small aspect that you never gave a second thought to. Like favorite text editor, wine vintage, or metallurgic composition of a knife.", "A lot of it is very culturally based. Deep house, ...
According to people who blame the Jews for killing Jesus--why do they even think that Jesus' death was a bad thing?	[ "Because it's an easy justification for being mean to the Jews, which was \"in vogue\" for about two millennia.\n\nAnyway, it isn't really that they killed Jesus, it's that they rejected his teachings. As you may or may not know, Jesus was targeted by a group of Jewish religious leaders for spreading what they co...
If Girl Scout Cookies were created as a fundraising tool why are they only sold in a really small window of time each year?	[ "If its only available in short supply/period of time, you get to jack up the price, making it very cost effective.", "Farts (Forced ARTificial Scarcity), if they make their product seem rare more people will want it when it is available. See the diamond industry for a larger scale example.", "also not all girl...
How often has obesity genetical factors, and how easy it it to battle it?	[ "Genetics determine where you store fat and have some say in how prone you are to compulsive eating, but ultimately the base metabolic rates are about the same for each person.\n\nIf you eat less than you burn, you'll lose weight. Genetics cannot defy basic thermodynamics.\n\nConsider that the obesity rates have s...
How does the "one country, two systems" method of goverance work between Hong Kong and China? Are citizens of Hong Kong also technically citizens of China?	[ "People from Hong Kong are not just \"technically\" citizens of China--Hong Kong is now considered an integral part of the territory of China. However, the Chinese government has committed to granting Hong Kong autonomy for at least fifty years, meaning that the local government has more power than other local gove...
Why airline tickets in the US are so damn expensive?	[ "That's funny. Here in Canada we think of the US as a cheap country for flying. One member of parliament once pointed out that it was cheaper sometimes for him to fly from his home in BC to Singapore than to fly to his workplace in Ottawa.", "Most of the airlines have struggled to make money as of late, and as a...

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