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Why is it easier to lift living beings of say, 20kgs, than an object of 20kgs?
[ "I'm going to speculate that you're talking about the difference between lifting, say, a four year old child and a heavy box filled with books.\n\nWhere you can grasp the object has a lot to do with it. You get a better hold on a child under the arms for the initial lift than you typically do with a giant box. Your...
Dinosaurs and Paleontology: How much is actual science, how much pseudoscience and speculation? Is it all just theoretical or are there undeniable truths?
[ "First, they have found a lot of fossils:\n\n > In terms of the number of individual fossils there are probably countless billions. Most large Natural History Museums will have a collection of several million. However, as you probably know there will be multiple specimens for most species. For example we have lots ...
How effective was the Great Wall of China at keeping Mongolians out of China?
[ "The wall served two main purposes: stopping raids and providing warning of attacks. It wasn't really meant to hold back a large invading army.\n\nIt was pretty easy for nomads to raid Chinese farming villages in the north with just a few men. The wall was someone effective in deterring that because it's hard to de...
What is the difference to my body if I eat 5000 calories one day and zero the next vs 2500 for two days?
[ "It has been suggested that the human metabolism has evolved two modes of operation, activated by calorie intake. The first is *grow mode* where plentiful nutrients are flung about the body and as suggested the body replenishes itself. The second is *repair mode.* Activated by a lack of calories, the body scavenges...
How is NSA software undetectable?
[ "A properly designed root kit installs before the OS loads, so it controls everything the OS can see. It can perfectly disguise itself because it can block any information the OS might use to detect it." ]
Why aren't professional body builders who take steroids arrested?
[ "To be arrested on any kind of a drug charge requires possession or buying/selling. The fact of having taken an illegal drug is not something a person can be arrested for.", "Doubt this answers your question in the way you'd hoped, but... Imagine if EVERYONE who broke a law was arrested... We already stuff our ja...
The New Internet Laws
[ "I don't know it in detail enough to write an entire explanation but from what I know they laws were written REALLY badly(Which at this point should not be a surprise) and as so broad that under them if say user43985734 submitted a copyrighted video to youtube, youtube would be the ones responsible for it. aka copy...
How Do Hand Warmers Work?
[ "I'll try again. \n \nPure powdered iron when it is oxidized or \"rusts\" releases heat. Yup, rusting releases heat it's just we never notice because it's the surface area of things like a car bumper are relatively small and the rust occurs slowly over time. \n \nHand warmers are physically small but since the ...
Did NASA disprove or set back global warming?
[ "First of all, an article can link back to any trustworthy source it wants, but it doesn't mean that the article is using that source correctly. It seem to me that the article is trying to say that since CO2 is reflective, it must be cooling off the earth. Is CO2 reflective? Yes. Does it cool off the earth? Heck to...
What makes it so that people with epilepsy cant look at rapidly flashing colors on a screen?
[ "Rapidly flashing lights cause a sort of \"short circuit\" in the brain, this produces a seizure. Its usually much faster rates than a flashing screen, but neurologists do tests with flashing lights to measure your tolerance to them in a sleep study. I know this since I've had epilepsy since I was 15 (now 23) and a...
Why does meningitis always seem to kill people who are college aged and otherwise healthy?
[ "Bacterial meningitis is *extremely* deadly, able to kill in less than a day, often under 3 days. You often hear of it in college students simply because they are more exposed to the infection, as bacterial meningitis is usually transferred through saliva. Any age group can contract and die from it.", "Regarding ...
If I were to write the address of where I wanted to send a letter in the "from" area, and my address in the "to" area without a stamp, where would the letter go?
[ "Nowhere at all. The post man would pick it up, write \"No stamp\" on it, and put it back. Or, he might not even write anything. He would just leave it. If you did put a stamp on it, it would go to your local post office, be filed, and then sent right back with the next day's mail.", "It wouldn't go any further t...
Why are some of the things that the horoscope says about some signs so accurate?
[ "They're designed that way. I'll give you a horoscope right now, you ready?\n\nYou have a great need for other people to like and admire you. \nYou have a tendency to be critical of yourself. \nYou have a great deal of unused capacity which you have not turned to your advantage. \nWhile you have some personality...
Why is China still a developing country despite it's massive economy?
[ "Because most of its citizens are still poor, subsistence farmers or low skilled factory workers, etc. The economy is massive but their population is ALSO massive. Their per capita GDP is about 1/7 that of the U.S.", "Most of the wealth is dispersed on the coast. While it has a huge economy, there’s a lot of inte...
After big plane crashes, do all pilots in the world learn from them?
[ "Yes.\n\nIn the specific case of the Air France crash, many airlines and training organisations have included \"upset recovery\" training, either in their initial training, or in the regular training which pilots have to do.\n\nIn more general terms, crashes are investigated by the national accident investigation a...
How American Politics works.
[ "Large corporations send lobbyists to bribe people in Congress and the Senate to present and vote for bills that will be profitable to them. Politcians tell their base what they want to hear in order to get elected and then just continue to pander to corporate interests, because it's very profitable for them. All t...
how self driving Tesla cars navigate so well?
[ "A lot of expensive and advanced computing systems which include multiple cameras, ultra sonic scanners, radars and a butt load of processing power.\n\n_URL_0_ explains it best." ]
why is plastic a good insulator?
[ "In that specific case, it's because plastic film is non-porous. That is, it's a solid membrane that doesn't let air through. Fabric on the other hand has all these tiny holes in it between the threads (unless is is very thick, very dense, and very tightly woven) that can let air through." ]
What exactly do economists do to "Seasonally Adjust" unemployment figures
[ "It's pretty chill, iirc.\n\nStep 1: Data\n\nYou want the average unemployment each year for 10 years or so, and the average unemployment during the test season for each of those.\n\nStep 2: Ratios\n\nIn each year, figure out how much bigger or smaller it is than usual during the season. Like, if it's 1.1-1.3 times...
Why is there such a high concentration of religious conservatives in the South in the US?
[ "The northern states were mostly farm colonies, and the southern states were mostly exploitation colonies. Those kind of places in the world tend to be poorer, slave colonies that tend to not have had a strong secular system set up, so you get a larger amount of church control over things due to lack of qualified ...
What is Socialism? And why do people think America is coming to that?
[ "It's maybe worth saying in addition to the responses you've had, that *nobody* at all, outside the US, thinks that America is going socialist. \n\nThat some Americans think they are, is pretty funny and the result of what Europeans, in various languages, used to call propaganda. Of course there's no such thing as ...
Why couldn't Verizon's network handle simultaneous voice and data until relatively recently?
[ "That was a limitation of their non-LTE technology. CDMA is a different technology than GSM (the radios work different) and I think CDMA was more voice optimized. Their 3G technology was unable to handle things simultaneously - likely since data browsing wasn't as big of a priority - GSM has wider adoption and th...
What is the difference between the titles Great Britain, England and the United Kingdom and is it proper to refer to someone as English or British?
[ "England is, well, England; Great Britain includes England, Scotland and Wales; the United Kingdom includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.", "[this video should explain all that and more](_URL_0_)", "Here's a [simple Euler diagram](_URL_2_) and an [expanded one](_URL_2_) that adds the relationsh...
Hindu deities, how are there so many versions of the same gods?
[ "So, let's talk about you. You're a person, probably a student somewhere. No matter where you are or what you're doing, you're always you.\n\nBut! You're not always the same you. When you're at home with your parents you act one way. When you're at school in class, you act another way. When you're hanging out with ...
Why did Bill Clinton remain in office after being impeached?
[ "Impeachment just means that Clinton was officially accused of misconduct. It does not mean that he was actually found guilty of such misconduct. \n\nRemember, in the US, the House of Representatives determines if the President should be put on trial. If the House of Representatives determines that this is the c...
When I plug my headphones into the microphone port, why does it work?
[ "Headphones and microphones are remarkably similar in design. The headphone's speaker diaphragm moves in response to sound and this drives a current which moves through the cable. This is also how basic microphones are designed.", "Speakers and Microphones are essentially the same device working in opposite direc...
What exactly is Nihilism?
[ "In general it is the belief that there is no inherent purpose or value in existence.", "Nihilism is the idea that nothing has objective meaning. Often it has religious implications - when you think nothing really means anything the idea of a deity is hard to swallow.\n\nAlternatively some people believe that the...
I have to empty my 5 gallon dehumidifier in the basement every day. Where is all that water coming from? And if I didn't have a dehumidifier where would it all go?
[ "The water your dehumidifier produces is actually drawn from the air around it. The air contains water vapor that moves into the air from the earth around the walls and floor of your basement. Concrete absorbs water fairly easily. The water moves through it and eventually evaporates into the air on the other side.\...
What was/is so special about the Vitruvian Man?
[ "It connects the \"natural\" with an idea of \"math and science\". This is significant as it represents a key concept in the renaissance - we begin to see a connection between the fabricated world of math and science and its ability to describe and model the real world." ]
Why don't you wake up sleepwalker?
[ "A lot of people believe if you wake them up, they'll have a heart attack or something else horrible. These claims are overstated. A normal healthy person is very unlikely to have anything bad happen to them.\n\nIt will probably confuse or disorient them. Depending on how they react, they might try to defend the...
Upgrading PC and I don't understand what parts my motherboard can handle. I've never built a PC before and I don't understand a lot of the terms
[ "You need to shop for a socket AM2 Cpu and DDR 2 ram. I wouldn't spend too much on a video card because you are most likely going to be bottlenecked by whatever Cpu you use." ]
What can the military do if the president attempts a hostile takeover?
[ "How would the president conduct a hostile takeover without the military? Also a takeover of what?", "If by \"hostile takeover\" you mean \"military coup\", we can only hope that the military understands/remembers that they are beholden to the Constitution, and not to the President. If the President were to issue...
Why are jokes against women considered "sexism" or "misogyny" but jokes against men considered funny and "feminism"?
[ "Largely for the same reason that people think it's funny to ridicule the president or rich bankers but may get a bad taste in their mouth if your jokes mock homeless people. Or more generally, why *good* satire punches upwards, mocks those with power and privilege, rather than than going after those without.\n\nBu...
How does one get college scholarships and how do they work?
[ "There are multiple kinds of scholarships.\n\nMany scholarships are applied for. If you google \"scholarship search\" it will pop up several tools that will help you locate scholarships that you may qualify for. These require you to fill out applications and say why you deserve the scholarship, but they can be quit...
Why does checking your credit score lower it?
[ "Merely checking your score for personal reasons does **not** lower it. That's what's known as a \"soft\" check and it harmless.\n\nWhen your score is checked for *purposes of lending you money*, that's a \"hard\" check and counts against you. The logic is that if you're asking lots of people for loans in a short...
As a man, why does all sexual desire disappear after an orgasm? It's almost to the point where I think sex is disgusting for a while (NSFW)
[ "It's called a [refractory period](_URL_1_) and it can last anywhere from minutes to days, during which a man cannot achieve erection, arousal or orgasm. \n\nBiochemically, sexual arousal increases the hormones oxytocin and dopamine. Oxytocin is known as the \"love hormone\" in that it seems to promote prosocial fe...
what black heads are made of, and why some people get them more than others
[ "Your skin has millions of glands on its surface that secrete an oily wax known as sebum. This is completely natural, and serves a natural lubricant for your skin to prevent chafing and dryness. Many plants have a similar waxy coating on their leaves, which helps prevent dehydration as well.\n\nThese glands can som...
Why are train tracks covered in stones?
[ "Not all are. A great deal are, but there are some areas where it's dirt, and other where it's cement.\n\nBut it's because stone offer the most support.\n\nDirt can get washed away as mud after a torrential downpour, stones don't do that as often. You even still see trains have trouble with areas that have a lot of...
ISIS seems to be growing every passing day, but it seems like no nation is obviously taking them seriously, why is that?
[ "We are not in an era of televised war. There's nobody on the ground filming western nations deploying troops because that's not how ISIS is being engaged. \n\nThere's no warning for the press to get some great action shots of a drone strike, which is how the US primarily is fighting ISIS. Nobody wants a ground war...
How exactly do we know what human-based climate change is a major reason for heavier storm seasons, and not the planet heating up naturally?
[ "That is a pretty meaningless question. If you had to load up a shelf with 50 pounds of rocks and 50 pounds of jellybeans and then the shelf broke because it could only handle 75 pounds how can you be sure if it was the rocks or jellybeans that broke it? You can't, that doesn't mean anything.\n\nThere is natural he...
What would happen to the body if it is continually electrocuted, like the guy from "Taken?"
[ "The arc in that movie went through his legs. If the ground was wet and he didn't have rubber soled shoes on it would likely go through one leg into the ground and into the other leg to the ground wire or simply to the ground if it was a better path.\n\nIf he had rubber soled shoes on it would move up one leg throu...
The difference between glass and crystal
[ "[This](_URL_1_) is probably better than trying to explain it. From [here](_URL_0_)\n\n > The difference between crystalline silica and silica glass is shown in these simplified two-dimensional projections. It is readily apparent that much of the ordered arrangement of crystalline silica is lost in the glassy form....
Why is the tech market considered a bubble and what are the precursors to when it is likely to pop?
[ "Some people think the tech sector is a bubble because many companies are trading or being bought for a very large multiplier of what they are currently earnings. People are forecasting very large earnings in the future for these firms even if they aren't making much money right now.\n\nIf it really is a bubble who...
Why does cheese go hard when you melt it then let it go cold?
[ "When you heat the cheese up past a certain point, moisture is released, which when it cools down, makes it harder as it is more dense. Water in cheese makes it softer." ]
Why was Spelling a Core subject in Elementary school but no longer in Middle and High school?
[ "Spelling never really gets any harder. Vocabulary just expands. It would be like having addition class.", "Most would have had spelling wrapped into English.\n\nSpelling is a subject that is integrated into all the rest, the early focus on spelling is to give you the foundation moving forward where it will be ...
why some people are more susceptible to bug bites than others.
[ "IMO as someone who gets attacked by Mosquitos... It might have something to do with the way your body releases Carbon dioxide and your blood...\nMosquitos are drawn to Co2 so if your body breathes out a higher concentration of it, those monsters are more attracted to you. Even while walking next to someone I get b...
How does a toilet actually flush from water being added to the bowl?
[ "[Toilet Crossview](_URL_0_) for reference.\n\nAs water is added to the bowl, it rises up the pipe following that blue line. When enough water is added, it overflows the other side and gravity takes over. That water overflowing creates a chain of negative pressure and the remaining water/contents of the bowl are ba...
How can North Korea treat it's people in such horrible conditions without the UN or another country intervening?
[ "Credit /u/Ferredog:\n\n* **UN:** The UN only matters by way of the Security Council. One of the main members of the UNSC is China. China doesn't want America gaining a larger foothold in Asia, nor refugees at its doorstep. Individual members of the UN very rarely like it when one member is given free reign to ente...
Why hasn't David Miscavige (and the rest of Scientology for that matter) been investigated by the police yet?
[ "Scientology in the past have made it a point to go after people personally if they don't get what they want. (google how they got their tax exemption status). They even tried to infiltrate law enforcement (operation show white). This hasn't stopped the FBI though.\n\nHowever, since they are classed as a religious ...
What determines the color of the meat of a fish?
[ "This is covered in good extent in book called Modernist Cuisine. I recommend to read that.\n\nMeat and fish are red/dark usually for the same reason blood is red. Its the oxygen carrying molecules that make it red. Now this means that from the color of the meat you can see what is the purpose of those muscles in t...
Why can't you be born with dark skin colour if your parents are white (and vice versa)?
[ "Skin color is genetic, like hair or eye color. If your parents aren't coded for it they can't pass it on to you." ]
Timbre, or how I know the difference between the sound of a piano and the sound of a violin
[ "Ordinary musical sounds are actually quite complex. We think of a trumpet as playing one note at a time. But it really plays one \"fundamental tone\" (the lowest) with many \"overtones\" due to the way that it resonates. This gives a trumpet much of its distinctive sound...its \"timbre\". The overtones are multip...
Is it just a coincidence that 'Who', 'What', 'When', 'Where', and 'Why' all start with 'Wh' or is there a reason?
[ "There is a reason. Specifically the grammar of PIE (the earliest ancestor language of modern English that we have a fair working knowledge of) marked interrogatives (words like who, what, when etc) with a prefix that sounded like 'kw'. (I'm no linguist, but I suppose this is kind of like the way English marks ques...
Why can't the world have one currency?
[ "There is no reason we couldn't, it wouldn't even be hard to implement if we got 100% buy in from all countries.\n\nThe problem is that having your own currency is awesome. You can manipulate it to control inflation, interest rates, and other economic factors. You are somewhat detached from other countries, so th...
shaped charges. I read a little about it but I just don't understand them
[ "An explosion is basically a shockwave. For a uniform, round explosive, the wave is more or less spherical.\n\nHowever, you can change the shape of the shockwave by changing the shape and material of the explosive. Just like light, shockwaves move slower through some materials. By creating a lens shape using a d...
My nearest major city has a road grid that is *slightly* angled off East West. Is there a practical reason for this?
[ "From what I can tell of the [article on the \"Hoddle Grid\"](_URL_0_), it's not a continuation of the original infrastructure, which has a different angle meant to match with the Yarra River.\n\nThat same article implies that the *slightly* off angle of the rest of the city is aligned with what magnetic north used...
As a German with not much knowledge about the US, please explain why Florida is so often made fun of/spoken badly about
[ "There are laws in Florida that arrests are a matter of public record so they end up in the newspaper. Every state and country has idiots doing stupid things but in Florida if they get arrested it goes in the newspaper for everyone to see. This makes it seem like these things happen way more often in Florida when...
[NSFW] Is there a biological reason why every girl I see is way more attractive when I haven't masturbated in a long time?
[ "Quick, this 5 year old needs an explanation." ]
How are torrent-hosting sites simply not shut down for copyright violations?
[ "Generally because there is nothing hosted on a torrent site. The street equivalent is knowing a guy that can get access to anything. You walk up to him and say, I want some weed. He tells you to go into that red door. Someone else wants to buy booze. He tells them to go into that blue door. Cops come up and try to...
How can cord cutting not build a case for companies to fight net neutrality or raise prices in general?
[ "The cable cutting movement is a tiny portion of total customers. As long as the vast majority are maintaining their combination package, the small number that purchase only one or the other are no big deal.\n\nWhat I find funny is the number of so called \"cable cutters\" are using the same provider for internet ...
. How do news organizations benefit from being biased?
[ "Being partisan can build them a loyal following. People like having their preconceived notions affirmed. Going to a news source where they have their notions affirmed over and over can gain them very loyal watchers.\n\nPlus, it allows advertisers to to very specifically target their advertisements. Go to Fox Ne...
why cant NG (naso-gastric) or similar be used as a weight loss option?
[ "NG tubes come with complications. They are not meant to be long term solutions, and would also seriously impact quality of life (walking around with a tube out your nose isn't something most people would agree to). \n\nMore permanent options, such as tubes that go straight through the abdominal wall into the gut, ...
If a sizable spacecraft was hovering over earth, would we be able to see it?
[ "You can spot satellites and the ISS from the ground already.\n\nThey look like shooting stars, but you can see them.", "All the previous answers already confirmed that you can see spacecraft if they are large or close enough but saying a spacecraft was 'hovering' as in your question bothers me a bit. \n\nAll sat...
How come sometimes when I blow my nose, and there's a lot of snot, I can't get it out no matter how hard I blow?
[ "You have hairs in your nose that detect when dust and other particles enter and makes you sneeze , the mucas dryes and attaches to them like an anchor" ]
Why does a hearing a recording of my voice sound different to me then when I hear myself talk?
[ "We hear sounds as vibrations hitting our ear drums. When we hear most sounds, these vibrations travel through the air and into the ear canal. Our own voices also vibrate through our bodies, creating a slightly lower pitch.\n\nWhen you hear a recording of your voice you are missing this extra level of vibration tha...
How did the asterisk end up being used for correcting an incorrectly spelled word?
[ "I think that relates to their use as footnotes. An asterisk* after a word refers to a passage at the bottom of the page which has clarification or extra information regarding the word.\n\nI think that with the advent of instant messaging, the method gained popularity as a corrective footnote. The first asterisk of...
What methods of timekeeping were used before the hour became widely accepted?
[ "In the New Testament, the Roman \"watches\" were used for night time measurements. They were generally three of our hours long, so the first watch was from 6 PM, then 9 PM, Midnight, and 3 AM to 6 AM.\n\nEarly Jews divided the night into three watches of four of our hours each.\n\nBut the Romans also divided the d...
considering recent events, what gives the mayor of Baltimore the power to impose a curfew?
[ "The riots impose an immediate threat to civilians, and thus to ensure public safety a mandatory curfew can be set in motion. As long as it does not interfere with emergencies or work, there is 0 issues with it, and it doesn't. Think of it as a smaller scale version of night time curfews during WWII." ]
what the JPMorgan "London whale" did to lose 2 billion dollars
[ "This is pretty complicated, but the most basic ideas to understand here are **derivatives** and **leverage**. These are not too hard to understand, but they can't be explained in one paragraph.\n\nWe'll start with derivatives. The simplest kind of derivative is what's called a **futures contract**, which is a pr...
Why do most dogs seem to love beer?
[ "My dog isn't picky. She likes anything even vaguely edible, including paper. I've also known dogs that would eat dirt and rocks, so beer really isn't that weird in comparison.", "I shouldn't speculate, but I will: maybe it is because dogs have been bred to rely on and trust humans. They trust us to decide what i...
How does your brain change from when you are a kid to when you are an adult?
[ "Physically the brain is almost done growing by like age three or so. The brain only gets slightly bigger afterwards. However as you getting older, the brain develops. This means when learning the brain makes new electrical paths. For example, when a toddler is learning to fine tune their motor skills, the electric...
What makes Cuban cigars so sought after? Can they not be grown on another Caribbean country?
[ "It's partly that the soil and climate in Cuba are pretty well unique. Sure tobacco grows everywhere, but exactly where it grows affects it, just like any other crop.\n\nIt's partly the specific varieties and cultivars of tobacco we're talking about. The tobacco grown from Cuban seed is still among the most prized ...
How can you watch a video while you are still downloading it?
[ "Essentially a torrent is just downloading your file in lots of little fragments from other computers. If your torrenter is set up to request and download these fragments in order, assemble them, and then you play them almost immediately after that, then it does give the impression you're watching it as it's being ...
Why does IT not have apprenticeship programs?
[ "There are. Germany introduced IT apprenticeship in 1997." ]
Why is incest such a common trope in porn?
[ "It's taboo (which makes it exciting), it's something that could arise out of a real life situation (theoretically it could happen to anyone, even you!), and it strikes the chord of \"when sex was still new and exciting\" (even if the actors aren't pretending to be underage, there's usually a younger inexperienced ...
Why do some salon style shampoos and conditioners have a warning that products purchased from anywhere other than salons could be counterfeited?
[ "The salons get to put a large markup on those products and dont want you buying them elsewhere", "Apart from what is explained already, it was probably a problem at some point. Growing up in South East Asia, there's a few stores that sells 'pro' hair products but their authenticity is often debated." ]
How are game engines built?
[ "Game engines are more tools that make it easier for a person to put a game together without worrying about the bare basics of rendering or physics in order to get it to work.\n\n > why can't they be improved instead of having to build whole new ones?\n\nMost of the time they are improved instead of building new o...
How did punch cards work? Specifically, what is the reading mechanism?
[ "There are eighty columns on a card. Each column can be punched with a single hole, in a location that designates a number 0 through 9. Each column can also be punched with two holes whose locations designate a letter of the alphabet. Modern punch machines (70's modern) both read and punch. They read by shining...
Why are the Turks and Kurds currently in conflict?
[ "The Kurds are an ethnic minority that live in Kurdistan (parts of Turkey, Iran and Iraq). Turkey does not recognize this minority and does not grant them many rights. Also, there is a long history of massacres against the Kurds. \n\nThe Kurds have formed separatist groups with the goal to become independent from T...
why other sects of Christianity generally do not like Catholics.
[ "At one point in time, the Catholic Church was the *only* church...in fact, the word catholic means \"universal\".\n\nEvery major branch of Christianity at some point in time broke away from the Catholics. Not only did they disagree on religion, but it lead to centuries of war in Europe, with one king trying to ch...
What is "Shepard's Tone"
[ "There are two notes on top of one another. They're both the same note, such as both being a C note, but one is one octave above the other and has a much higher pitch. If you play a scale using notes like these, CDEFGABC with a much higher pitched CDEFGABC playing at the same time, the highest C of the first scal...
Why are dogs affraid of vacuums?
[ "Like people, all dogs personalities are not the same. I have three dogs of varying size (55, 75 & 100 lbs). My bulldog is not scared of thunder or guns, but is afraid of the vacuum & fireworks. My mutt is afraid of absolutely everything (he will stop breathing when it is thundering outside.. he's a weirdo)....
Why do we so often have music stuck in our heads?
[ "I don't know the actual science behind it but I know music is meant to get stuck in your head. It makes it more popular and catchy tunes and beats are often most popular. Plus, the human mind enjoys music it finds predictable and easy to listen to, which is exactly what gets stuck in your head." ]
[NSFW maybe] how come when you tickle yourself you don't feel anything but when you masturbate its pleasurable?
[ "When you are tickled your body thinks it's being attacked, thats why you can't tickle yourself (cause what person attacks his/herself?)", "To shorten it: tickling is a trait passed down from hundreds of millions of years, tickling was used for sort of training young to fight since your ticklish spots are your mo...
Why can public schools, funded by the government, limit the rights of its students?
[ "It's a legal concept called [in loco parentis](_URL_0_). The school is legally acting in place of your parent while you're a student, and as such are allowed to act in your best interest as they see fit. There are some legal restrictions on this in the interest of upholding civil rights with regard to discriminati...
This whole idea of "we make the car, then ship it to independent dealers to charge whatever they want" seems kind of silly. Make the car, ship it to your brand's retail stores, and sell it. Done. What's the deal?
[ "Rather than just legislative reasons there are many reasons why car manufacturers wouldn't want to own the dealerships. It's the same reasons why Apple is about the only laptop & smartphone manufacturer which sells direct and why very few manufacturers in general do it. I'm not very familiar with Tesla, but I ca...
what live streams are
[ "They play games live, they have webcam and or screen cam and play. Simple. its LIVE." ]
Javascript objects basics
[ "Objects are things which have properties and do stuff. They are described by a \"class\". You can think of a specific car as an object, and the diagram of the car as the car \"class\". From that diagram you can create many different \"instances\" or individual creations out of the car class.\n\nThe car, being a...
How Memory Is Stored In the Brain And Subsequently Retrieved
[ "Not an answer: But someone once told me a memory is only a memory of the last time you remembered it. So it may be very different from the main event. That's why it \"fades\"." ]
What is happening inside my console when a game is loading?
[ "Loading from the hard drive to the RAM.\n\nIn a computer (including consoles), the processors, the GPU and CPU, need to have quick access to the data, and hard drives are far too slow to provide this, even new SSDs are still too slow. So what was the solution to this? RAM, or Random Access Memory. RAM is very very...
Is it possible for new types of sailor's knots to be "discovered"? Or have the common ones been around for hundreds of years?
[ "The common ones have been around for ages. They are the most efficient and easiest to tie.\n\nThere're four main types of knots: Bend - ties two lines together; Hitch - ties a line to another object; Loop - creates a loop in the rope; and stopper knots, which basically just make the line thicker.\n\nThe most effic...
While digital video is stored as separate frames, how is sound stored digitally?
[ "An analog audio signal is represented as a wave, looking like [this](_URL_0_). If you want to represent this in digital, you just go along this wave and mark the amplitude (the height) of the wave at regular intervals. The result is a long list of numbers, each of them called a \"sample\". If these intervals are ...
Why didn't Gandalf use his powerful Eagle friends to transport the fellowship to mordor? Or even use them to take thorin oakenshield's group to the misty mountain? It would have saved many lives including Boromir.
[ "They would have been seen and killed before they got there. Hobbits on foot were the better choice because they could sneak in unnoticed past hordes of orcs.", "Eagles have lives, they had places to be and things to do.", "I'm pretty sure Sauron would have spotted a flock of massive eagles sailing towards Moun...
Whats the big deal about quantum computers. Whats the difference compared to normal computers?
[ "There are problems a full-fledged quantum computer could solve in a reasonable amount of time that we don't think a classical computer could solve in any reasonable amount of time. One such problem is integer factorization – the best known algorithms for classical computers would take absurd amounts of time to run...
What is happening when we are "emotionally exhausted"?
[ "Get married and you will find out. \n\nJokes aside. \n\nEmotions are thoughts and feelings that require your body to provide energy to do. \n\nif you're having a lot of those, they drain energy and make a person tired. \n\nExample might be a wife with a sick husband, she has to look after the kids, go to hospital ...
How do presidents get up to speed on issues?
[ "The President has not just a staff of secretaries but they have appoint a group called the \"Cabinet\" whose job it is to be an expert on various things. If he wanted more information about small business he could go to Penny Pritzker (Department of Commerce) and ask her to compile a report." ]
Why do people get 'the munchies'?
[ "[link to article](_URL_0_)\n\nTHC is a factor as someone else mentioned, but for different reason. According to the article, the effects of THC (what gets you high) enhances your senses, allowing you to taste and smell food more accurately. In rats, it was found that THC fits into the brain's olfactory bulb; the r...
Why FTL implies backward time travel
[ "it is a sci-fi show cliche for one thing... in theory, the faster you go, the slower time goes for you and it approaches zero as you get closer to the speed of light. So, based on that logic, if you go faster than the speed of light, you go into negative time. Supposedly, matter can't go faster than the speed of...
If underage sex is illegal and murder is illegal then why is viewing underage sex illegal but viewing murder is not?
[ "People don't murder other people in order to create videos and profit from people watching them. \n\nBut some adults do sexual things to children in order to create videos and make money. \n\nSo when someone watches that underage sex video, they're creating an industry that hurts underage people, who by definition...
why aren't faucet pipes straight?
[ "Well, for THAT pipe I would imagine the bend helps slow the waterfall so it doesn't splash too much. But for the ones with the S-bend, like in the USA and other places, it traps water so smells and gas doesn't come back up the pipes." ]