Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
If marriage is a spiritual Union, why does the government offer benefits if there's separation of church/state?	[ "because not all marriages are a spiritual union. My first marriage, when i was more of an atheist, was to another more or less atheist done at city hall with no mention of god. \n\nand it was still a marriage.\n\nThe problem i have with the \"spiritual union\" claim about marriage is that that is just what SOME pe...
Why do your fingernails grow so much faster than your toenails?	[ "Partially, it's because of circulation. Your fingertips are generally warmer and get more nutrients than your toes." ]
Is there anywhere on the planet that naturally desalinates ocean water besides evaporation and formation of icebergs?	[ "Many living organisms are able to separate water from its solutes on the cellular level through osmosis.", "Sea ice is less salty than the water it formed from.", "Yes. Water evaporating from the ocean leaves its salt behind and produces fresh-water rain. This is the most important kind of natural desalinati...
How does "shadow banning" work?	[ "So it's kinda like I'm back in high school then?", "When a reddit account is targeted for shadowban, they lose their ability to post, vote, and comment on everything, but they are never informed as such. To the shadowbanned user, they continue using the website as normal. To everyone else, that user doesn't exis...
How do medically induced coma's work.	[ "The Doctor's essentially give you anesthesia to make you go to sleep and keep you asleep.\n\nThis is generally done for people who have suffered severe trauma; such as severe burns, several broken bones, head injuries, etc. In order to reduce pain, aid healing and just make everything more smooth.\n\nThere are man...
Why don't PGA professionals repair their divots?	[ "You do see caddies do it occasionally, but frankly it's a waste unless it's the right kind of grass. (You don't replace certain kinds of divots because it's more effective to use sand to level the surface and allow the surrounding grass to knit together.)\n\nThe proper repair, in any case, is done by the huge grou...
How did homo sapiens differ from the Homo species right before modern extant Human Species (i.e. homo sapiens)?	[ "> But which one was right before us in this chain and how did it differ from us i.e. sapiens.\n\nCurrently Homo heidelbergensis holds this position.\n\n > How did their body structure differ from us (any different organs)\n\nThe differences, relatively speaking are very slight. Nothing so drastic as having co...
Why is the rapist from the front page not waiting in jail for a trial?	[ "I treat 2x posts like that as victimization fanfiction. You could probably post a summary of a lifetime original movie there and get 1000 karma.\n\nNot saying this story in particular is fabricated, but it's unverifiable, and some have to be.\n\nEDIT: just read the update and I definitely don't believe OP.", "N...
why has California not legalized pot beyond medicinal use?	[ "Some of the most well funded anti-legalization lobbies in the state are sponsored by the legal dispensaries and co-ops. They would hate to have inexpensive, high-quality, locally and responsibly sourced cannabis flood the market and ruin their racket.", "It was on the ballot in 2010, a non-presidential election ...
how come animals dont know that the tail theyre after is theirs?	[ "I giggle like a child every time I fart and it makes a funny noise. There's no reason, really. Often times younger animals chase their tales, while older ones tend not to. I think it's a playfull quality" ]
Phil Spector's Wall of Sound Technique	[ "The purpose was to maximize the amount of sound per second. The effect, when done right, was startling compared to other kinds of music. For pop music, where you are competing for people's attention continuously, the technique proved to be very commercially successful.\n\nImagine that you are looking at a graph ...
Through the laws of probability, how are no one's fingerprints alike?	[ "It's 11pm and I'm on my second glass of wine, so I can't be bothered to do the math.\n\nThere are three types of fingerprints: whorl, loop and arch. Most people have 10 fingers, and can have any combination of those three fingerprints. There are also three different ways you can take a fingerprint: flat, slap or r...
how does adding a third polarizing filter allow more light to pass through, not less?	[ "The polarizing filter doesn't only block the wrong-polarized light, but it also forces all the light that passes through it to now be polarized in the direction of the filter.\n\nAlso as you've noticed, polarizing filters will let through some differently-polarized light depending on how different the polarizati...
Why is there an absolute zero, but not really an exact maximum temperature?	[ "At Absolute Zero, molecular motion comes to a complete stop. \nYou can't get lower than that. \n\nA maximum amount of molecular motion has yet to be established, so no maximum temperature has yet been determined..", "How many banana peels could you have in your front lawn?\n\nIt is pretty clear there is a minim...
How does a particle accelerator work?	[ "Despite what might be said elsewhere magnets have nothing to do with making particles speed up in a particle accelerator. Magnets are used to steer the particles (for instance if you want to have the particles go in a circle you use many magnets that each slightly bend the path of the particle) they also serve to ...
If alcohol is considered a drug why do people call it being drunk instead of being high?	[ "I am not sure but I do know that if you go back to at least the 50's calling someone high was synonymous with drunk. Same with \"Stoned\" but I think over time society takes broader terms for inebriation and stick them to a specific method.", "When I was a kid (70's), my parents called being drunk being high. I ...
why does it feel so warm when you sit where someone else has been sitting, versus sitting back in your own seat?	[ "It feels warm to sit where anyone else was sitting, including where you were sitting, if your butt is colder than the seat.\n\nBut if you were just sitting there, then your butt is the same temperature as the seat, so it won't feel warm. However, if you were standing, your butt gets a bit colder because you're no...
Why do men bald more than women?	[ "Levels of DHT. You can actually get a shampoo that contains DHT blockers that hang out on your scalp and in your hair folicles to make it so don't go as bald." ]
Some people say calories are all that matter so what would happen to someone if they ate a diet of only 2000 calories of refined sugar?	[ "The \"calories are all that matter\" is in reference to weight gain/loss. You still need vitamins and minerals in your diet. And fiber is good for keeping your GI track healthy. If you only ate empty calories for an extended amount of time, you would star to suffer various vitamin deficiencies.", "1. They would ...
Why do we yawn when others yawn near us?	[ "A few people think differently about why this happens.\n\nOne idea is that when we see another person yawn, our brain tells our body that the area we are in has a low oxygen level.\n\nAnother is the relationship of being tired, we see another person yawn and then become tired as a result.\n\nLastly, there is an id...
When I get zapped/electrocuted for a fraction of a second, but feel the tingle for much longer, what is happening?	[ "Shock can result in muscular spasms and tissue death from overheating, both of which can result in physical sensation. \n\nSomewhat unrelated, but 'electrocution' is actually a portmanteau of electric and execution, and refers explicitly to a fatal scenario, a non-lethal experience would be more properly called an...
Why do people hate to agree with people they don't like?	[ "Because agreeing with someone you don't like might imply that you've incorrectly evaluated the person. This can feel threatening to some people who will then choose to stick to their previous opinion; that removes the feeling of threat, it keeps things \"consistent\". \n\nPeople sometimes prefer to invalidate what...
What's with all the hype with Raspberry Pi?	[ "it's a charitable organization that makes a barebones computer that is the size of a deck of cards, yet has the power and capabilities or processing and outputting 1080p video all for $35. What's not to like?", "In terms of education, tiny and cheap computers that work well would do wonders in schools. Students...
The oil-drop experiment by Robert Millikan.	[ "I actually did this experiment last year, and it was a lot more complex than I had thought, but the underlying principles are mostly straightforward:\n\nOil is sprayed into a chamber in a fine mist. The particles (droplets) are pretty small, but you can see them. Then, the droplets are exposed to radiation which w...
Why is NASA using the Delta IV Heavy instead of building more Saturn V's?	[ "Actually, NASA is redeveloping the Saturn V AS WE SPEAK. [Dynetics has a contract](_URL_0_) to redevelop the Saturn's F1 rocket engine, now reclassified the F1-A, into the new F1-B. They've taken the original schematics, and even disassembled and 3D scanned a few remaining engines from storage. The original F1-A h...
How does the FCC choose which words/phrases to censor?	[ "> Comedy Central\n\nThe FCC has zero control over content on Comedy Central. They only have control of content for over the air broadcasts (such has CBS,NBC, etc.) NOT cable.\n\nThe network's own censors aka \"standard's and practices\" decide what they want to censor, generally to appease their sponsors/advertise...
Does the velocity of light compound on top of the velocity of of our galaxy's movement?	[ "Your mistake is that you are thinking of a light as a particle, while in reality, it acts more like a wave. The ball in your example needs to be accelerated up to a speed relative to your car before it is shot out of your theoretical bowling ball cannon. Light, on the other hand, leaves a flashlight beginning at...
Why is the common cold worse in the morning and at night but usually milder during the day?	[ "There are a couple reasons:\n\n1. Gravity- When you're standing during the day gravity is pulling the mucus down and it gets cleared away by things like coughing. At night, you're lying down more and gravity causes mucus to pool towards the back of our throats and it's harder to get rid of that way. We then wake u...
What is the difference between Drive, D2, and D3 in a car and how should they each be used?	[ "Gears on a car are tricky. The power of the engine is the same regardless of what gear you are in, the difference is power vs speed. Think of a bicycle. At one far end of the spectrum there's low gear where you peddle and peddle but never really go anywhere. It's mostly used for going up hills. Then there's h...
What is the Hillary email scandal and what is taking the investigation so long?	[ "The Secretary of State is an employee of the US Government. All US Government employees must follow specific records retention rules, for historians and to keep their official actions \"on the record\". The training for employees is clear, but Ms. Clinton, a lawyer, decided not to follow it. She knew that folks...
In American football the ball is held in a players' hand for most of the game, then why is it called football?	[ "All the codes of football - American, association (soccer), Australian, rugby, Gaelic - descend from the same sport (called football). Well, it wasn't really a single sport, it was a game that'd have slightly different rules from town to town, some which allowed people to carry the ball and others that didn't, but...
When rock climbers use the hardware to climb and they nail them into the side of the mountain, are they retrievable or lost after use?	[ "There are three main types of hardware used.\n\nPitons are hammered in, and left there. You can't re-use old pitons that you find, because they suck, and may have started to work their way out from freeze-thaw. In any case, almost nobody uses them anymore.\n\nBolts (with hangers) are permanent fixtures. ...
A Women's Studies degree. (Seriously replies only)	[ "As far as I'm aware it's essentially a specialized history (possibly also political science) degree.\n\nLike many degrees (history in general, political science, art, theater, sociology) there isn't a huge market looking explicitly for it, but simply completing a degree that requires research and writing (like thi...
Why do some viruses look like robots?	[ "Are you talking about the ones that look like spiders? The \"claws\" attach them to the cell and the \"head\" contains the infectious nucleic acids. The \"mouth\" injects the infectious material into the cell.", "Viruses are very small...so small that their shells are made up of a reasonably small number of prot...
How does water get from its source to coming out of my taps?	[ "Here is how it is done where I'm from.\n\nPumps pull water from wells around the region, we have about 10 to serve a population of about 18k.\n\nAs the water comes out of the wells it is mixed with chlorine to help clean it.\n\nThe pressure from these pumps feeds the water to what's called a Lift Station. These li...
What is the difference between Stalinism, and Trotsky-ism?	[ "Okay, So this is the story of communism.\n\nMarxism\nIn the beginning there was Carl Marx and Friedrich Engels. They were German philosophers who were concerned about the plight of the working class man. The wrote books called The Communist Manifesto and Capital where they explained how a few rich people, the ...
How did white men come to be dominant on earth?	[ "It helps to start by asking, \"Why did Eurasians become so dominant on Earth?\" Because the history of civilizations in Europe, Mesopotamia, South Asia, and China are very, very similar; even if you were looking at the facts about these four regions in 1700, you might not be certain that the Europeans were going t...
How do peepholes work?	[ "So basically the peephole is fitted with a special type of convex lens, some call it a fish hook lens that takes a wide view on one side and condenses it. By nature a lens takes light rays and creates a fake image or real image depending on distance and other factors. The reason you are able to see clearly is beca...
On some electronic devices, it will say something like "16GB of internal, expandable to 32GB" with a microSD card. Why the cap?	[ "It's likely because they didn't bother writing the software to index to that much memory.\n\n\nMeaning, on any given operating system it takes some thought as to how to store things in memory and get them back our again. It's a bit more complicated than just putting someone in a bin and getting it back out. \n\n...
Why is CNN perceived as a bad network?	[ "CNN has a 24-hour news channel, and in order to get the ratings necessary to justify its existence, it has to do more than just repeat major headlines every ten minutes. So they try to find whatever they can to fill time and entice people to tune in multiple times a day for more than just a few minutes. What this ...
Why do voices and some instruments vibrato?	[ "Why?\n\nVibrato adds a lot of warmth to a musical note. By very slightly fluctuating your pitch, you are able to include more audio frequencies than just the single note's frequency by itself. So, the note you're projecting sounds a lot louder, warmer, fuller, etc.\n\nAlso, vibrato is a clever way for many singers...
The Legend Of Zelda	[ "So basically, three goddesses. Din, the Goddess of Power, Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom, and Farore, the Goddess of Courage. These are the three sacred goddesses who created the land known as Hyrule (and Lorule, technically.) So these goddesses, after creating Hyrule, the Godesses left behind a physical manifestati...
Why does a cold feel worse in the morning when you wake up?	[ "Mucus pooling in your head. Once you're upright it will start to drain out and your symptoms will diminish. Try sleeping on an incline (e.g. using a husband pillow) and it may mitigate some of the morning effect.", "Maybe because you are lying down and the mucus is just sitting in your nose and throat instead of...
Why does mail polish dry quicker on false nails as opposed to natural nails?	[ "Nail polish (as well as many paints) dry by the solvent evaporating. The surface should not affect this drying time. I bet if you did a test where you painted a fake and real nail simultaneously you'd find they dried at the same time." ]
how is "Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo." A correct sentence?	[ "First, it's \"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.\" The capitals are important.\n\nBuffalo has three meanings in American English; the adjunct noun \"Buffalo\" is the city in New York, the noun \"buffalo\" is the plural and singular name of the American bison, and the verb \"buffalo\" ...
How to calculate how high will the sea level rise because of global warming...	[ "The Earth is a geoid, not a sphere. Bringing this up means I am telling you that the math is really beyond ELI5. Another way to say it is that the Earth is an oblate spheroid, fat at the middle.\n\nThe calculation will involve the expansion of the sea water in the oceans as the temperature rises. This is part of t...
The Sects of Different Religions	[ "There are people who think god is the sun in the morning. They don't play with people who think god is the moon at night.", "Not for all different religions but for the religions of Abraham it is best explained [here](_URL_0_):\n\n > Think of it like a movie. The Torah is the first one, and the New Testament t...
How do Nyquil and other sleep aids work?	[ "NyQuil is not a sleep aid. ZzzQuil is a sleep aid, while Nyquil is intended to reduce pain, fever, cough, and histamine response.\n\nNyQuil does have a side effect of drowsiness due to the action of diphenhydramine that binds to the histamine H1 receptor in the brain and acts as an inverse agonist. This means it b...
Why is the 2 party system so dominant in US politics? Will it change in the foreseeable future?	[ "The two party outcome is pretty much unavoidable in a \"first past the post\" system, and pretty much unavoidable when you have a small number of seats being contested (in this case, 1).\n\nCGP Grey to the rescue:\n\n_URL_0_", "[This Video](_URL_1_) should help explain it.\n\nTldw: The candidate with the most vo...
How exactly does a capacitor work?	[ "A capacitor is very simple. It is 2 conductive plates, with an insulator between them. If you push electrons onto one plate, they will repel electrons from the other. But as electrons have moved on to one plate, that plate will have a negative charge. As electrons have been removed from the other, that will have a...
Why is gamma radiation (or, all type of radiation) so dangerous to living things?	[ "This might be a bit long-winded but bear with me, the first part is just to provide some background: \n\nThere are basically 3 types of radiation that people are commonly exposed to, they are called alpha, beta and gamma/XRay (these technically aren't the same, they consist of the same particles but are spit out f...
Why do all bubbles eventually burst?	[ "All other potential reasons aside:\n\nEvaporation and surface tension will get any bubble that survives the other effects. A bubble is a very thin layer of liquid, and holds its shape with surface tension. \n\nWhen you blow a bubble and it pops off the stick, all the bubble molecules are bound to each other. Each ...
Why/when did we start calling Emoticons Emojis?	[ "They're actually different! \n\nEmoticons are ~technically~ just these: :) :( < 3 etc. Made just with punctuation symbols. Some software may convert those symbols into pictures...but there is no defined standard. < 3 might become a heart, it might stay a less than three. \n\nEmojis have a defined stand...
Why can't I run fast in my dreams?	[ "It's a very common thing for people to experience in their dreams, and we don't really know why (dreams are not very well understood at all).\n\nOne possible explanation I've read before, however, is that your sense of how fast you are moving is dependent upon sensory input which your brain is not receiving (for e...
Why do car batteries last a long time, but go flat if you leave the lights on over night?	[ "It's a rechargeable battery. When the engine is running, the alternator is able to use the power from the gasoline engine to recharge the battery. If the engine if off, the alternator is off, and the battery drains without being recharged.", "During normal use, they are recharged as you drive by a device called ...
Why do professional fighters "hug"? Is that any kind of defense? Does that have something to do with any rule?	[ "I think you're referring to the clinch. In most forms of karate, the clinch is a position from which you perform a lot of throws or strikes (such as knees to the head, or elbows to the head). In boxing, it is a defensive move to make sure that you do not get an uppercut or hook to the face.", "Because they're ...
Why do we blink in response to loud sounds we anticipate?	[ "A loud, sudden noise would indicate something has fallen, exploded, or occurred that could possibly cause you harm, many of times from shards or debris. Your eyes are delicate, and that's your body's response to keeping your eyesight functioning as well as possible - which was even more essential to surviving and...
How do physicists know that time exists?	[ "Thought experiment: if suddenly everything in the universe stopped moving, no atoms smashing into each other, no synaptic exchange in our minds -- would time still be moving? \n\nProbably not. Time is just a way to measure change. A label for motion." ]
What make heart muscles different from leg muscles, et al. so that they never get fatigued?	[ "Practice. Repetition. The heart muscles are accustomed to their regular activity -- they've been doing that all their life, and although it doesn't seem like much of a rest to us, they get a bit of rest between each and every beat.\n\nHeart muscles do fatigue when they're asked to do more than normal. When your he...
Why is a repetitive motion, such as drumming a finger on the table, annoying for others but not for ourselves?	[ "Those type of actions are about soothing or entertaining yourself. You get positive feedback from the noise or motion. Other people just get an annoying click, tap, or track suit rustling as you bounce your leg up and down in 3rd period noise. Great for you as it works out your nerves, not for others because it's ...
Why do people like to lean backwards in a chair to just before the point of tipping over?	[ "When you lean back in your chair you change your center of gravity. At the point just before falling forwards or backwards you are perfectly balanced over the central part of your body. This makes us feel centered, balanced, and grounded. So ultimately we are chasing the feeling of being stable when we'll most lik...
Why is the new World Central Airport Dubai expected to be the world's busiest airport? How and why does Emirates need 150 Airbus A380s? How and why are these Middle Eastern airlines so much more massive than Chinese airlines?	[ "Location, location, location.\n\nDubai is more or less between the most populous parts of Europe and Asia. It's also located in a good spot on the Persian Gulf, a tremendously busy area for shipping. In addition, it's considered to be one of the more stable countries in the region, and the government is *extremely...
According to my understanding, at some point in the future (because of the rate of expansion of the universe), the earth and many other planets will lose the ability to "detect" the big bang....	[ "I think what you may be referring to is the continual red shifting of the cosmic microwave background radiation.\n\nBefore I go any further an honest question. Should I explain this? or explain it like you're five, because this isn't really the kind of question a five year old asks.", "What exactly do you mea...
Why did US Congress pass a law to ensure all helium in the US National Helium Reserve is sold by 2015? What benefit does this have?	[ "In 1995 We had gathered a stockpile of over 1 billion cubic meters but had also racked up a debt of $1.4 billion doing so. The law was not to sell off all stockpiles, it was to start selling off the stockpile until that debt was covered. It was all part of a plan to privatize the harvesting of helium and get the c...
How does hacking work?	[ "There are countless different techniques used for hacking, so there's no way to explain everything, but I can try one. One of the most common techniques used in hacking is called a buffer overflow, which exploits a poorly-written piece of software by telling it to alter parts of the computer's memory in ways that ...
the concept of the dark web. I understand that you need certain software etc, but is it like the regular net? Do you just type in wed adresses, and is there a dark google or something? [Other]	[ "The dark web refers to anything that can not be gotten to by any common web search engine. This includes a lot of networks that is not connected to the regular Internet such as banking networks, government networks, medical networks, military networks, private home networks, etc. There is also a lot of big sites w...
If U.S. Currency isn't backed by anything, how does it hold any value?	[ "because we all agree it has value. \n\nat this point, no currency is backed by anything. not a single currency still in use that is backed by gold or anything tangible. They exist on the credibility of their govt and society. Its convenient to have an intangible unit of trade, and as long as you have critical...
why do my eyes appear to 'change color' depending on my mood?	[ "Eye color does not change based on mood. The way the eye reflects light off of the iris does though. Although it is somewhat possible over time based on light activating pigments in your eye, short and quick changes in color (like mood) is usually just an illusion." ]
Why do objects, like my couch or a coin, feel bigger than they look if my eyes are closed?	[ "Your hands are not 'tricked' by distance, like your eyes.\nOn top of that, your field of view tricks your mind into processing an object within an entire scene - a couch is viewed in the living room - which is larger.", "I have my own answer, lets see if you agree or not. \n\nI'll answer your question with anot...
Why is medical knowledge not part of the standard educational curriculum?	[ "Next you will want to teach them about budgets, savings, diets, exercise and sex. It is hard enough to get them to learn the basics like greek gods, cursive and algebra I am not sure we can squeeze in your pet projects. Sorry.", "What, you mean slip in something that's actually useful. Good God bee_hawk, how dar...
The Mormon religion	[ "Basically, the Mormon (or LDS faith) believes that God is our Heavenly Father and he sent us to earth to receive physical bodies and gain experiences. Throughout history, God has sent prophets to his children to teach them his will (people like Abraham, Moses, and Noah) and that sometimes people are willfully diso...
Orcs, goblins and Uruk-Hai. What are the differences?	[ "An interesting question with a complex, if not interesting answer. \n\nOrcs were created by Melkor who was himself a sort of god. It is thought that they were created through the capture, torture, and eventual breaking of Elves which resulted in the Orc. Another theory is that Melkor decided to create a race hi...
Why do porn sites/tubes have to only have 18+ girls, when in many US states and Europe the age of consent is 16 or 17?	[ "Pornography or prostitution is usually considered a more radical life choice than simply having sex and they want people to be more mature before making such a choice. Therefore it's usually 18 for both regardless of age of consent." ]
How were the pigeons that carried messages in the old days trained? How did they know where to go to deliver the message?	[ "You raise the birds at the destination. You have a roost for them, let them fly for exercise, etc. Then you carry them to the place you want to send messages from. When you let them go, they fly back to their roost.", "Homing pigeons only know how to fly back home. If you want someone to be able to send you mes...
I just got checked by a nurse practitioner and I looked up their schooling. Most of their programs are only 2 years online degree, how are they allowed to practice independently with so little schooling?	[ "You must be looking up the wrong info. A nurse practitioner must first earn their registered nursing (RN) license and have a 4-year bachelor's degree in Nursing. Then they must earn a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). Then they have to pass their certification exam. It's possible that there are accelerated 2-yea...
Our knowledge about atoms	[ "Tons of complex experiments. It started of with Rutherfords gold-foil experiment that revealed that atoms are largely empty space, by shooting helium nuclei to a gold foil and measuring how they bounce of. Then Bohr was able to show how it comes that each element has specific spectral lines when heated up enough. ...
Why is the theory of relativity so famous in pop culture? Why do so many people (of nearly all ages) know about it?	[ "General relativity, special relativity, and mass-energy equivalency are truly revolutionary ideas. We're talking more revolutionary to our understanding of what the universe is than saying \"what if we pre-sliced the bread?\" was to consumerism. Essentially, Einstein took all of classical physics with time, matt...
Blackjack. No seriously, as if you were teaching your five year old child to play, from scratch.	[ "You already have the basic rule: Closest to 21 without going over wins.\n\nCards are worth their value, face cards are worth 10, the Ace is worth 11 or 1, whichever gets the player closer to 21 without going over.\n\nBecause there are a lot of cards valued at 10 in the deck, a lot of the betting and hitting is bas...
In bright light, why is it easier to shut off one eye and have the other wide open?	[ "I'm not sure. Used to work in visual neuroscience, and this is my best guess. I'd love if someone has a definite answer though!\n\nI think the main culprit is visual glare. Light travels in straight lines, but you get glare when light is scattered in a disorganised pattern \\(usually strong light, like car headlig...
why al qaeda chose to target the united states?	[ "I'm by no means an expert on this topic, but I'll see if I can shed a bit of light on the topic.\n\nIn Al Qaeda's early years still part of the mujahideen they were actually funded by the U.S. (funneled through pakistan's equivalent of a CIA agency of course) to fight the soviets who were helping the afghani gover...
When does a negative personality trait become a mental problem?	[ "There is indeed a lot of subjectivity and discretion when it comes to diagnosing mental illnesses and it's very much done on a case-by-case basis.\n\nUnfortunately, there isn't a simple test to definitively determine whether someone is suffering from a mental illness or personality disorder; it's mostly based on t...
Why can we recognize so many celebrities and fictional characters if the human mind is only supposed to be able to know about 200-250 people?	[ "So the first thing you have to understand is that it's not about 'knowing who they are'. It's about maintaining a certain level of relationship with people. \n\nThe numbers were actually 100-250 initially (150 on average) and were called Dunbar numbers named after the psychologist who studied the phenomenon later ...
Why are mixed blacks in the US considered black no matter how much they are mixed while this does not apply to other races?	[ "The answer is all political. \n\nFor some though, it depends on how they grow up. I had a friend who was half black but grew up with this mothers side of the family who is white. He didn't really identify as black. \n\nCurrently its very political. Black community don't like when half black people identify with a ...
Where did the stereotype that Canadians are always saying "sorry" come from?	[ "From Canadians saying sorry in places where it isn't needed.\n\nThe Prime Minister just spent a week apologizing for accidentally brushing up against some member of Parliament. It dominated their news for the whole friggin' week. That is some serious 'Sorry' energy.\n\nEdit: typos.", "I strongly suspect it comes...
If child molesters or killer of children have a tougher time once in prison, why can't they lie about what they when asked by inmates?	[ "Word gets around. Criminal convictions are public records in most places, and it's not hard to get a friend outside to look up what a guy is in for if you're suspicious of him. A lot of people do try to lie about it, but if anyone really gets suspicious, it won't work well.", "The correctional officers might ma...
How can eating half a pound of chocolate make you gain 2 pounds of fat?	[ "> How can eating x weight in food produce a greater number of weight gained in fat.\n\nFat is made up of cells, and those cells are filled with water in order for their bits to move around and function. The chocolate bar isn't going to be stored as a raw chocolate deposit in your flesh.\n\nChocolate is pretty com...
What is a company valuation?	[ "It doesn't mean the company has $4 billion in the bank. It means the estimated price of the whole company is $4B. \n\nAnother way of putting it is, the valuation is the sum of:\n\n* all the things the company currently owns: money in the bank, computers, office stuff, inventory, etc. This is fairly easy to cal...
Why the cost of manufacturing products (namely electronics), go down so quickly.	[ "Keep in mind that a lower manufacturing cost is not the same thing as a lower retail price.\n\n1. Economics. Things are priced high when they're new because people are often willing to pay more for the \"hot new thing.\" This is because newness has some intrinsic value and some social value. A PS3 gets its price c...
Why is it that when you speed a video up, it gets higher pitched?	[ "Sound is vibration of the air interpreted by your eardrum.\n\nFast frequencies are interpreted as being high pitched. Low frequencies are interpreted as low pitch. Speeding up a video increases the frequency of vibration relative to unsped up and raises the pitch." ]
Why do they have to shut the subway down when there's a snowstorm, shouldn't the underground portions still be able to keep going?	[ "For one, you need people to drive the trains. You can't keep the subways running if you tell the drivers they can have the day off. \n\nFor two, if you shut down the mass transit, you tend to keep people home. Keep people home, and you have less of a need to have cops, ambulance drivers, taxis, etc on the street."...
What is happening to our bodies when we see something that makes us "cringe"?	[ "Cringing is a form of empathy. If you see a child crying on the street because he lost his parents you feel bad, sometimes even physically, because you can imagine how it feels for the child. Empathy is our instinct to put ourself in somebody else's position. Watching a movie where something incredibly sad can mak...
...I saw a news story tonight where a child had a double hand transplant; as a Biochemistry major in college I struggle to understand how is this possible?	[ "Arm transplants have happened as well, in general we haven't done a lot of limb transplants but conceptually it's just the same technology that lets us do any organ transplant plus the technique we use to reattach severed limbs in accidents. \n\nIt's unlikely we will do any foot transplants any time soon, because ...
4K quality (what seems to be the next step up from 1080p from what I have seen)	[ "It's the next-gen HD resolution. You had it right. Its not particularly important yet though as there is almost no 4K content being made, and very few things are capable of displaying 4K currently. In 5-10 years it'll probably be much more relevant." ]
What happens when we generate more electricity than the grid is using?	[ "When too much electricity is being produced one of the first things done is reducing the amount of electricity used by scaling back \"quick reacting\" plants. Imagine angling the blades of a windmill so they aren't catching the wind anymore and supply is reduced. There aren't traditional batteries big enough to ho...
How do different languages share the internet? Is there a Russian language internet, Chinese language internet, or is everything translated from one page?	[ "No, a website will be the same no matter where you load it (usually, and not talking about region specific sites like Google.ra or even _URL_0_ (Canada)). If you search through Reddit, you will find many subreddits where people communicate in their own languages, like Russian Cyrillic or Kanji. \n \nHowever, som...
How do people who fast/don't eat or drink for longer than usual people not die?	[ "> Eg: like that indian bloke that didn't eat for 70 years.\n\nSpoiler alert: He eats just like anyone else. He claims not to eat, but that claim is ridiculous. There were two \"tests\" performed, but the first showed that he lost weight during the 10 days that he was being monitored, and the second test allow...
how does someone like bill gates keep all of his money?	[ "His net worth is largely tied to his investment holdings with Microsoft, although he more than likely has investments elsewhere. As the share price of Microsoft fluctuates daily on the market, his net worth fluctuates with it. If Microsoft has a particularly bad quarter, he publicly lost a lot of money.", "Most ...
How are special effects (CGI) in movies created?	[ "What kind of effects, specifically?\n\nThe eli5 version is that you use computers to animate something. There are very sophisticated programs that can help calculate exactly how those animations move to make them appear realistic. They don't draw it in frame by frame, they essentially animate all the parts and the...
what is the process of going into shock?	[ "Paramedic student here. When we speak of “shock” we are talking about inadequate tissue perfusion- basically, for whatever reason, oxygenated blood is not reaching the patients tissues. There are 5 major types of shock- \n\nhypovolemic (loss of blood volume, ie, the patient is bleeding out)\n\ncardiogenic (there i...
Why do some brands prefer "price upon request" in magazines/advertisements instead of just telling the current price?	[ "There are various reasons. One of the most common is that the manufacturer prohibits wholesalers and retailers from advertising prices openly to avoid price-fixing and price wars." ]

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