Split (3)

train · 273k rows

title stringlengths 0 299	text list
Sumerians	[ "Once upon a time, a very long time ago, there were people called who lived in the part of the world that we now call Iraq. We call them the \"Sumerians\". They're important partly because they were one of the first people to live in a country that had multiple cities, and partly because they invented writing abo...
What is happening when our nipples get hard?	[ "Body parts which can be become erect - nipples, penis, etc can do so because they contain erectile tissue, which is like a sponge. There are arteries which carry blood from the heart to the body, and veins which carry blood from the body to the heart. When at rest, the arteries carry the same amount of blood to th...
What exactly is "bailing out big banks on Wall Street" and what caused them to need bailing out? How did this result in the 2008 recession? What exactly is "the establishment"	[ "You have the order of events a little bit wrong. The bailout was caused by the crash, not the other way around.\n\nBack in the 1990s, there were some changes to regulations surrounding mortgages that allowed people to buy and sell ownership of debt. Let's say I lent you half a million dollars to buy a house and in...
Why is it that macro photos tend to only have a small portion of the entire photo in focus?	[ "Not limited to macro photography, but it is due the aperture of the objective, which basically means the \"hole\" the sensor sees through. The larger the hole is, the smaller the focused range is. The smaller the hole, the larger the focused range is.", "As you get into the macro end of focusing, depth of field ...
Where are we with gene replacement and what are the challenges that need to be overcome for it to work in humans?	[ "I'd say that 10 years is too soon, but I'm not going to speculate on whether it's 20 or 50.\n\nWe have some techniques, like a relatively new one called CRISPR, which allow us to edit DNA more easily than before. In cases where we know that a single gene is the problem, we can use this technology to fix that gene...
The grammar in "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds"	[ "It's a valid, but archaic form of the [present perfect](_URL_0_) tense, which is used to refer to a past event that has present consequences.\n\nThe archaic tone is fitting for a translation of the [Bhagavad Gita](_URL_1_), an ancient text. It's similar to how many people prefer the King James Bible over more accu...
We're having elections here in Catalonia and we can tracks the results in real time using mobile apps. Why does it take a few minutes to count from 0 to 2% of all the votes, but it take the same time to count from just 98,10 to 98,24% of all votes?	[ "A bit of a guess because I don't know exactly how that count is organised, but at first you'll have all the counting locations counting results and reporting in as they go. Towards the end, many will have counted all their votes and you're left with the last few who had most votes cast. With only a few locations l...
Why does my nose run when I poop in the morning	[ "Because this is asking about a condition you suffer it qualifies as a personal problem according to the sidebar rules.\n\nIf this really is a complex conceptual question about the human body and not a question about you specifically, you can rephrase and resubmit without reference to yourself and try again. (Body ...
Why is zero multiplied by infinity not defined as zero?	[ "Infinity isn't a number (you can't point to it on a number line), and since both things that you're multiplying have to be actual numbers, you can't multiply anything by infinity. In general, infinity is not a valid term to use in any \"normal\" math.\n\nWhat you can do is take the limit of \"0 * x\" as x a...
How Does Instant Messaging Work? & Online Videogames?	[ "There is a delay, this is called ping. With broadband internet connections it is not uncommon to have pings around 10-50 ms. That's milliseconds, a nearly imperceptible amount of time, so it is effectively live from your perspective. Electricity travels at nearly the speed of light and computers work very fast....
How do pulleys make things lighter?	[ "Pulleys do not make things lighter \r\nEnergy is expended in lifting a mass by a distance \r\nBy using a system of pullies you reduce the movement distance that is travelled with each pull of the rope or chain or whatever \r\nThe same mass is moved a smaller distance in each pull so less energy is expanded \r\n...
Why was Miami considered so cool in the 80's, and what happened to cause it to lose that status?	[ "There was an insane amount of money flooding Miami due to cocaine. Many drug busts later and it is what it is today. Check out the movie Cocaine Cowboys." ]
why are men required to register for the draft if it's mandatory and the government already has all of our information?	[ "Modern draft laws have their origins in World War I, back when the government didn't have everyone's information. It was entirely possible to be born on some farm, go to a rural school that didn't keep records, and grow up to be an 18 year old man the gov't had no idea existed." ]
How do they deliver liquid water to (and take sewage away from) homes and businesses in places that get really cold in the winter, without it freezing? native of Phoenix here, I don't get	[ "Water and sewer pipes in cold places are buried deeper, usually below the freeze line if the installers have half a clue. My hometown in Oregon freezes regularly but our mains are 8-15' below ground level and keep flowing." ]
Why rent a house when you can buy one and pay for it every month, when you move out just sell it and get profits?	[ "Buying a house requires one of two things: enough capital to buy it outright, or sufficient credit to get a mortgage. Not everyone has either of these things, especially when one considers that in the latter case it's only worthwhile if the interest rate is sufficiently low to make it a better option than renti...
Why does my vision become slightly blurred after laying on my back while viewing a computer placed on my stomach?	[ "I'm no expert on this but having to, what I'm assuming you're doing, tilt your head on an angle to see the screen, means the blood isnt properly circulating to your head" ]
Why do planes fly both east and west if the Earth rotates at 1000 miles per hour? Wouldn't a plane need to fly over 1000 miles per hour to make any progress in one direction?	[ "We measure speed relative to the ground. So an object that appears stationary wouldn't be measured at 1000 mph just because it was on Earth.\n\nThe air moves along with the Earth and everything along with it. If a plane had to fly over 1000 mph to make any progress, when you jumped, the ground would have move si...
Why don't we use microwave waves for water heaters instead of natural gas?	[ "The speed at which a microwave works depends on the mass of the materials. That's actually a FAQ here (as in \"Why does my microwave take longer to cook twice as much food when my oven doesn't?\"). \n\nI timed this and discovered for my own stove and microwave, the break even point is just about one cup. The mi...
Why do birds not get electrocuted when resting on a power line?	[ "Electricity will take the path of least resistance.\n\nThe electricity could go through the wire, or from the wire to the bird and back to the wire.\n\nPeople get electrocuted because they are touching the ground. The ground is low voltage and large, thus a very good receptacle for electricity. Even though a human...
What are the "voices" Schizophrenic people can hear ?	[ "Not all schizophrenics hear actual voices. More commonly, they simply have aberrant thoughts that seem like they are originating from someone else. This is probably why \"mind control rays\" and the like are such common delusions for schizophrenics. After all, if you are sane but start having thoughts that you ...
Why does Frozen Fish have a reputation of resulting in higher quality than with other Frozen Food?	[ "First of all.\n\nFish is a VERY perishable product, their flesh tends to rott a lot faster then meat from ground animals and also cooks at a much lower temperature, Some shellfish such a shrimp can actually \"cook\" in room temperature if its summertime. \n\nIn the last few years all major industrial fishing vesse...
How does washing my hands protect me from viruses?	[ "You got it when you guessed it is removing them from the surface of your skin. In great part this is to help others as well since you have perhaps coughed into your hand or rubbed your nose/face and picked some up. The mechanical action of washing your hands causes many of these to be sloughed off and sent down th...
Why are tabloids allowed to report seemingly libelous stories?	[ "For one, the requirements for libel for celebrities require the celebrity to show that the tabloid intended malice, and was not simply confused/negligent. Furthermore, cases against these tabloids can become costly as these companies are extremely powerful. The celebrity has a slim chance of proving libel, and the...
What's itching?	[ "It's a sensation from the nerves in the skin near the itch that causes you to scratch. It's probably an adaptation against insect/arachnid bites.", "Not exactly ELI5, but this article is one of the best pieces of writing I have come across on this topic.\n_URL_0_\n( It also covers the working of the brain too..)...
Why I see twice when I push my eye (from the bottom upwards)?	[ "Because when you push on your eye from the bottom like that, you are actually making that eye point upward, while your other eye is still looking forward. If your eyes are pointing in two different directions on the up/down axis, you can't put the two images from each eye together into one picture, so you see two ...
Please explain (like I'm 5) the Republican party.	[ "The Republican Party caters best to those that both fiscally and socially conservative. \n\nThe Democratic Party caters best to those that are both fiscally and socially liberal.\n\nThis is different from the Libertarian party who are socially liberal, yet fiscally conservative. \n\nFiscal conservatism means you w...
can someone please explain the NCAA div 1 football league?	[ "Division 1 is actually about 300 schools split in 2, the FBS and the FCS. The FBS is a little over 100 schools and is considered the top division. The 100+ schools are grouped into conferences, each without about 8-14 schools (Notre Dame, Army, and Navy are all independent, meaning they don't belong to any confere...
What is income inequality and why does it matter?	[ "Those are two different questions.\n\nThe first, \"what is income inequality\": When the people with the lowest incomes have substantially less income than the people with the highest incomes a condition of \"inequality\" exists.\n\nThe second, \"why does it matter\" is complex.\n\nLet's imagine that 90% of the p...
Google Translate's forming its own language	[ "An article about it from Google: _URL_0_\nLittle bit about training neural networks: _URL_1_\n\nAn artificial neural network was trained for different language pairs. To much surprise, they found the same (or somehow similar) neurons activate for phrases with the same meaning for different language pairs. It's tho...
Why does a wet trampoline feel like it makes you jump higher? Does it actually do that?	[ "I recon it doesn't...the only think I can think of is if it is cold water, the trampoline fabric/springs might get tighter as the materials contract.", "that sounds like a euphemism from a galaxy far away.", "I always thought that the water acted as a lubricant, enabling the fabric to move more freely. Therefo...
Why don't Mac's get viruses?	[ "They do, its just that there are a lot more Windows PCs out there. The entire purpose of a Virus on a computer is to cause as much trouble as you can before anti-virus updates and eliminates it. Ergo, if you want to cause as much trouble as you can, you write it for windows, not OSX or Linux.\n\nThere are plenty o...
There seems to be a ton of contradictory information on what causes diabetes... how much of a role does excess sugar consumption play in getting it?	[ "I am not a doctor.\n\nDiabetes is caused mostly by the pancreas, which is the organ in your body that produces insulin, which is a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels.\n\nThere are two types of diabetes. Type I is caused when the pancreas is damaged and can't produce insulin. Type II is caused when yo...
in the NFL what does it mean when a team picks up a players fifth year option?	[ "Normally players' contracts are for X amount of years. Occasionally, most notably rookie quarterbacks, will have the same X amount of years plus the option for an extra year. So if the player played well for the first couple years the team can pick them up for the extra year to have time for another contract." ]
Why does bending material such as metal, plastic, i.e. eventually wear it down so much that it snaps off?	[ "Bending stuff actually breaks the inside of the material, but hopefully not enough to break the surface. Some materials like metal and plastic are secretly buzzing and jiggling around on the inside, and might even fix some of those breaks over time, when warm enough.\n\nSadly materials like wood or bread don't jig...
why don't truck and car companies (like Ford) make new trucks with new technology that look like the older models everyone loves?	[ "Paraphrasing here, \"if I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse\" -Henry Ford", "Safety regulations play a big part in it - new regulations are released annually that major manufacturers must conform to. Things like heights of bumpers/hoods, A/B/C pillar stiffness requirem...
Why is it that almost all black guys I have met IRL and seen on TV always have their heads shaved?	[ "Because it's not the 90's anymore. \n\nAlso Black hair on men longer then a half inch looks \"savage\" to many potential employers and clients, so professionally we have to keep it short. I had a luscious footlong Afro until I was looking for an internship this summer and one of my interviewers, a Black dude, su...
When checking out a library eBook via OverDrive, why is there a limit as to how many copies the library has when it's a digital format?	[ "I work at a library and do AP for bills like overdrive & similar. Each time the ebook is \"checked out\" we get charged. What we do is prepay the account for the year for the fees accrued from what's borrowed and also prepay a contract for the content on over drive and another for the use of the database. Basica...
Why can't Greenland just play their home matches in another country, if the only thing stopping them from joining FIFA is lack of suitable playing surfaces.	[ "Because then their own fans wouldn't easily be able to watch the games. What's the point of having a national team if your own nation has to book a flight just to watch them?" ]
Why is water, when in mass quantities appear blue or green, but when in a small glass it is clear?	[ "First of all, think of light as a stream of tiny little particles called \"photons\". Each photon has a certain amount of energy that it carries - like a ball that you throw: a fast ball has a lot of energy and hurts if it hits you, a slow ball doesn't have much energy and doesn't hurt. The amount of energy the ph...
What is "gold plating" when we're talking about rent control?	[ "Most rent control laws have exceptions for when a property is improved, proportionate to the degree of improvement. So if a landlord wants to force lower income, rent controlled tenants out of his property, he can over improve the property with features they don't really want, and make it too expensive for them t...
Ball-bearing sound	[ "It's in your ears right? If so, that's your ear muscles. Muscles make a little noise when they do work because they vibrate. So, you're the muscles in your ear area work." ]
Why can't we process ocean water so it's drinkable, instead of relying on rivers/lakes for our drinking water?	[ "We can. And in some areas we even do. It is incredibly expensive though. And seeing as that people like their water cheap, it is more advantageous to get it from lakes or underground sources than desalinate ocean water.", "We can, and we do. One reason we don't do this in California right now because of the drou...
What happens to things that go in our eyes? Like where do all of the eyelashes go that we blink into oblivion?	[ "They fall out. Your eyes produce more tears to make the process of getting foreign particles out of your eyes easier. They just eventually fall out.", "Larger objects like eyelashes and bugs are usually removed by yourself from scratching your eye or removing it with your fingers. Small objects like dust and mak...
what is your body trying to accomplish when having food poisoning?	[ "All your body is trying to do is purge itself of whatever it is that's you've eaten that went off. Even once your stomach et al are empty, it's still feeling the effects of that food/drink and the only way it knows how to fix that is to keep trying to get rid of it." ]
why don't they put nutritional information or ingredients on alcoholic beverages?	[ "Alcohol is regulated by a different federal agency than food and non-alcoholic drink and said agency has not set those regulations in place.", "Alcoholic beverages are regulated differently than the rest of food - it's regulated by the [Alcoholic Beverages Regulation Administration](_URL_0_), rather than the FDA...
Why can one judge's ruling set a precedent? Isn't that too much power in the hands of one man?	[ "If one judge is making the decision, it's likely to be a trial court decision. Trial court rulings can be appealed, and appeals courts have more judges. At least in the US, trial court rulings also don't set binding precedents; other judges may be persuaded by the ruling, but they can ignore it if they are uncon...
In those videos where they play opposing tones through a stream of water and they cause the water to take on an odd, often gravity defying shape that can only be seen through a camera, is that shape actually occurring or is it an illusion?	[ "It's an illusion sorta. It's tied to the pitch of the note and the aperture speed being exactly the same or relative to indicate the water freezing or flowing backwards. There are plenty of videos on this. If you have trouble finding one I think I have one in mind.", "I guess you mean something like [this](_...
Why is GMO considered bad?	[ "Basic answer : there are little (if any) reasons to think that GMOs are bad in general. The biggest problem IMO with GMOs is the way they are used. And now the problem can get big.\n\n[Some facts (wikipedia)](_URL_0_): \n\n * Monsanto provides 90% of the GMO's in the US, and a big part in the whole world. So, when...
When i accellerate my car, why do i hear high-pitched noise through the aux input when nothing is plugged in?	[ "Its noise off the generator or alternator.\n\nCords like that aren't shielded like other people have said. Its basically RF interference coming from that because its often not shielded.\n\nIts usually not something noticed, and the stereo itself has filtering to block it. But when you plug something unshielded i...
How do (usually paid for) fake social media likes, favorites, and followers actually happen?	[ "It's actually generally not controlled by a computer program, but sadly but people in countries with low wages, typically like Indonesia or sometimes the Philippines. Companies hire people and pay them very little to click \"like\" or \"follow\" or whatever on thousands of people's page/groups/companies/etc. that ...
How painful would it be to get beheaded? At what point would you feel no more pain? Would you have moments of consciousness after your head was removed?	[ "There's this. Not sure how much credence it should be given but here FWIW:\n\n > Read this report from 1905. The report is written by Dr Beaurieux, who under perfect circumstances experimented with the head of Languille, guillotined at 5.30 a.m. on June 28th, 1905:\n\n > > Here, then, is what I was able to note ...
Why does some clothes shrink when it dries when heat is usually for expanding things.	[ "Cotton (and some other fabrics) are woven together while under tension for ease of weaving (a group of wires pulled and ziptied tight is easier to manage than a group of loose wires.)\n\nWhen washed in warm water, these threads expand, allowing for the tension to temporarily relax. While relaxed the fabric is move...
How is North Korea so well hidden from our view when the US has such high tech satellite imaging?	[ "A couple reasons: \n\n1. You and I don't have access to military satellite images.\n\n2. Satellite images don't tell you anything about living conditions, secret facilities, or politics. \n\nIt's easy to estimate population numbers, and how big the military is, how many planes and tanks they have, and those number...
How do professionals know if a wound happened before death or post-mortem?	[ "Wounds are classified as post-mortum, peri-mortum, and pre-mortum.\n\nPre-mortum wounds will have clear signs of healing, an indication that the victim was alive and well before being killed.\n\nPeri-mortum wounds occur during the death, and may have minor signs of healing but are mostly unhealed. They will have m...
why water tastes so cold after chewing gum or brushing your teeth.	[ "[Sugar alcohols](_URL_0_). According to Wikipedia:\n\n > The cooling sensation is due to the dissolution of the sugar alcohol being an endothermic (heat-absorbing) reaction, one with a strong heat of solution.\n\nELI5: What this basically means is that when certain chemicals in your gum dissolve into the spit in y...
What is happening to our teeth so we have to brush them when we wake up?	[ "Our mouth isn't sterile, and overnight you aren't doing enough to stop bacteria from growing back. \n\nWe brush in the morning to clean it off again, even if you already brushed it clean the night before", "Bacteria are growing and dying, and your own cells are growing and dying over the course of the night. Al...
Tuna. How can one tuna fish be worth over a £million? What stops you from simply catching a tuna and becoming very rich?	[ "It's worth what it is because someone is willing to pay that much. They really want it.\n\nNothing stops you except the difficulty of catching such a valuable fish. (If it were easy to catch them nobody would pay that much for them.)" ]
The difference between ale and lager yeast	[ "The top and bottom fermenting is somewhat of a misnomer - they both ferment throughout the body of the beer. Ale yeast tends to form \"crops\" on top, though.\n\nAle and lager yeast are different species and prefer different temperature ranges for fermentation. Ale yeast usually ferments at a cool room temperature...
How is Horsepower and Torque actually beneficial or descriptive of a car's merit?	[ "We'll start with torque. Torque, as the link provided above states, is a measure of twisting force, or force at a distance. Just look at it's units:footpound (or newtonmeter). Try this: say your arm is 2 feet long from your shoulder to your hand. Grab a 10pound object and hold it straight out in front of you. Yo...
If individual federal campaign donations are capped at $2,700, how do billionaires donate hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to individual candidates?	[ "correct, it does not count if it goes to a super-pac. but super-pac money cannot pay for things like campaign staff salaries. they need both.", "The difference is between \"hard money\" and \"soft money\". Hard money is given directly to a candidate and is limited.\n\nSoft money is given to a PAC and used where...
Why do so many famous or successful people seem to be from South Africa?	[ "Care to name a few? I don't see that trend", "Cognitive bias. This is basically seeing what your looking for.\n\nA good example is when you buy a new car and suddenly start seeing your make and model everywhere, when before you hardly saw any.\n\nYou may have seen the Oscar Pistorius hoohar or some other factor ...
Free wifi	[ "The bandwidth gets doled out across the hundreds of people connected to it. Some places do better than others, but building a wifi network that will handle 1000+ connections with any decent speed is expensive." ]
absolute zero temperature.	[ "Temperature is molecules moving around like balls on a billiard table. The higher the temperature, the more moving around.\n\nAbsolute zero is when they stop moving entirely.", "When things get cold, motions of the atoms in them move slower. Absolute zero is the point where something is so cold, the atoms have ...
Why do animals never seem to roll an ankle or pull a hammy?	[ "Most animals walk on all fours, which is a very balanced way of walking. If something goes under one of their feet, they have 3 others on the ground that they can stand and balance on. Humans, on the other hand, have just about the most reckless method of transportation since we only walk on two legs. \"Walking\" ...
Why do countries with small armies send their troops overseas to support countries with armies hundreds of times their size?	[ "Small army doesn't mean bad army. And when you add numbers from more countries it's pretty substantial number of soldiers.", "Supporting a country like America during there conflicts then required then to return the support if we are in trouble.", "Sending people overseas to do things can help justify their bu...
the difference in sorting comments between "best" and "top"	[ "'Top' is purely 'highest voted', after the up/down delta. 'Best' takes into consideration much more, like how quickly a comment amasses upvotes, down/up ratio (not just the delta) and some other stuff." ]
How does cell know which genes to read (transcribe) at this moment and which genes should be sleeping.	[ "Nothing controls all of it at once. This is a massive interlocking system of various elements.\n\nThere are some genes that are expressed all the time in any given cell. Those are typically those that are needed all the time, e.g. those that control the process of protein synthesis in general.\n\nThe rest... som...
Did communism during USSR ever do any good, if not, why didn't it end sooner?	[ "It's not really true, early on in the USSR's history communism did a great deal. Most notably, it bridged the gap between the urban middle class and the rural population, who had only recently been emancipated from serfdom. It allowed Russia to rapidly industrialize and turned it into a superpower. Although the co...
Why is it that sometimes when you look at an analog clock, it seems to freeze briefly before continuing?	[ "When you move your eyes you should see a blur as they turn in their sockets. However, you don't. Why? Because your brain focuses on the image your eyes settle on, and retroactively fills in the blurred space with that new image. Normally, that's fine, the effects aren't really noticeable. However, on something wit...
How is the southwestern part of the U.S. still hospitable after all the atomic devices tested there?	[ "There are a few factors:\n\n1. Most of the tests you saw in that video (almost everything post-1962) were underground test. That means there was very little contamination except the ground immediately around the test.\n\n2. Almost all of the atmospheric tests there were of relatively low yields that would not spre...
What causes that distortion in the air near hot surfaces?	[ "There are two things working together to make that happen.\n\nFirst, when air gets hot, it means the molecules are bouncing around faster. Because they're bouncing faster, they push each other away, and the gas expands and gets thinner (that is, there are fewer molecules in the same amount of space; we call this \...
The difference between beer, ale, lager, stout, draught etc....	[ "In the most basic sense, there are two main types of beers: ales and lagers.\n\nAles are top fermented whiles lagers are bottom fermented. A stout is a type of ale made with roasted malts. A draught beer is just beer from a keg.\n\nIf you're looking for more information look at [this thread](_URL_0_)." ]
Google drops Chinese Security Certificates	[ "Ok, this won't be retard friendly, but I'll try:\n\nCertificate work with a so called assymmetric cryptography, this means, you have two \"passwords\":\n\n* public key: can be used to _encrypt_ stuff and - as the name implies - can be public without any problems\n\n* private key: can be used to _decrypt_ e...
What's the physical advantage of sweating more (excessively) during exercise?	[ "The physical advantage of sweating more is that it provides more capacity to cool the body down through the evaporation of sweat. The transition from liquid to vapor reqruires energy, which is pulled from the body in the form of heat. When core body temperature increases less rapid than normal, it enables you to r...
Why do certain foods taste bad when they are actually beneficial for us?	[ "What is 'good' or 'bad' for us is often not determined by what it is but rather by how much. \nFrom an evolutionary perspective, we crave sugar and fats because this was the most difficult (and thus rare) thing to have, and at the same time, its the thing that contains most energy. Our bodies still 'believe' that ...
When dating, why is age difference a big deal for teens/kids, but not for adults?	[ "Children and young adults are on a [diminishing returns](_URL_0_) scale of maturity.\n\nThat means that there's a lot more difference in maturity between a 14 and 16 year old than there is between a 32 and 33 year old. Ideally, by the time you're in your mid-20's your both mature and smart enough to recognize whe...
how can so many different kinds of cheese be made starting from the same few ingredients and similar techniques?	[ "In many cases, the same few ingredients can be changed in quantity or be substituted for other similar ingredients.\n\nFurthermore, preparation methods, aging methods, and storage and packaging methods can drastically change the character, flavor and texture of the cheese, leading to different varieties.\n\nOther ...
Euclidean vs non-Euclidean geometry with examples	[ "Euclidean geometry is the normal geometry you probably learned in school. It's all based on squares and takes place within a plane.\n\nNon-Euclidean geometry is literally anything else. One of the simpler non-Euclidean geometries is spherical geometry. Spherical geometry takes place on the surface of a sphere (duh...
Why does an electric kettle make a lot of sound at first, which eventually dies off once the water starts to boil?	[ "Cavitation.\n\nBasically, the heating element heats the water just above it. This causes that water to boil, forming a little bubble of gas. This bubble immediately rises, encounters colder water, shrinks and collapses.\n\nThe repeated forming and collapsing of the bubbles creates the noise. Once the liquid starts...
If we can feel the sun so hot down here on Earth, why is it so cold in space?	[ "Space isn't cold, space just has nothing to stop radiant heat so temperature can change quickly. If there's no heat source, say you're in a show, you'll cool down very quickly in space. If you're not in a shadow though, the sun will make things get stupidly hot. The illuminated side of the moon is 121 degrees Cels...
Why, after looking into a bright light, are there those blochy things in your vision?	[ "The photoreceptors (the rods and cones of the eye) contain light sensitive molecules called photopigments. When a light particle hits one of the photopigment molecules, it breaks the molecule apart, and this causes a change in the electrical potential of the photoreceptor cell (which is how you see things). If y...
Why when you look sideways at a moniter it looks like a picture negative?	[ "Nope, it's just LCD monitors. LCD stands for \"liquid crystal display\", because there is a layer of an electrically reactive liquid, enclosed in tiny little cells, over the top of the screen. When the liquid is activated, it turns dark, blocking out a pixel of color. As you move to the side, instead of looking...
What happens to the roof of your mouth when you eat hot food?	[ "The tissue lining the roof of your mouth is not skin, it's more sensitive tissue. \nWhat might be equivalent to putting a hot iron on your arm, could be compared with hot melted cheese on the soft tissue in your mouth. \nIt isn't as tough as skin...thus, causing it to blister like skin would." ]
Steroid use	[ "[Here](_URL_0_) is a great documentary on the subject/", "In a nutshell, steroids are a classification of hormones in your body. Probably the best known example is testosterone, which is higher naturally in men, and is responsible for controlling things like muscle development, sexual maturation, and a number of...
Why are females generally shorter than males?	[ "Evolution. Male humans had to fight other male humans to survive so they grew stronger and taller and bigger through natural selection. Females did the nurturing and child rearing and did not need height since they weren't out hunting food and killing rivals.", "Long bones grow via the growth plate (epiphyseal...
What would happen (legally or otherwise) if you just up and left your wife/family with no notice?	[ "This really depends on state law...however, the only really thing the left behind wife can do is file for divorce or legal separation and request support. Then a judge has to grant such support either as a temporary basis until the divorce is final or on a schedule with finalization of paperwork. \n\nHowever, if...
From all the US backed dictatorial coups, why was Pinochet's coup the one that gained notoriety around the world?	[ "I'm no expert in the politics or history of the region. But I would surmise that the reason for the notoriety of Pinochet's regime was the egregious human rights violations. As an example, reportedly there were camps solely dedicated to sexually abusing prisoners. From Wikipedia: \"One woman testified that she had...
How is the global economy not a zero sum game?	[ "If global trade were a zero sum game, the only way any country could gain wealth would be to take it from another country. That's what a zero sum game is - no-one can win without someone else proportionally losing.\n\nRelevant principles here are 'division of labour' and 'comparative advantage'.\n\nSuppose a simpl...
Why do we only say "an" before the number 8 but for any other number, we say "a". For example, "an 18-year-old", "a 17-year-old", "a 91-year-old"	[ "Because eight/eighteen/eighty-eight begin with a vowel-sound, and therefore get an 'an'. While seventeen, ninety-one or five do not and therefore get an 'a'.", "You do know when to use \"an\" instead of \"a\", right? If not, you use it before vowel sounds, \"eight\" begins with an \"e\" and is pronounced \"āt\",...
If people are not satisfied with the U.S. government, why don't they vote for a third party?	[ "It's gamesmanship, essentially.\n\nLet's use an example; say there are 101 people, almost evenly split between voting for two parties. 50 voters apiece, with one guy making the difference between the two parties (the swing vote). Let's say this guy votes randomly.\n\nIf you, as a Democrat, vote Democrat, then both...
What is the purpose of the sewn on loop on a seat belt?	[ "It has a few purposes:\n\n* It stops the buckle seat-belt from rattling against the side pillar. _If you take a closer look, you'll find that the driver's-side seat-belt does not have one, because they should always be buckled in._\n\n* It stops the [buckle](_URL_0_) from sliding all the way down.", "I always th...
What does a software engineer acutally do	[ "I work with some. From what I understand, they write computer code for an engineering project. Often they are part of a team, in which parts of the project are broken up into sections for each person to work on.\n\nFor example, say you work for a company that makes a video entertainment system like Roku or Apple T...
What’s up cold sores? Why do they blister without a burn? Why do they then morph into a scab that takes weeks to heal opposed to any other scab that might heal in days?	[ "Cold sores are the herpes virus ‘erupting’ from nerve endings. Unlike a cut that forms a scab, a cold sore blister is quite deep as it comes from deep in the layer of the skin. This is why it takes a while to heal.", "\"Cold sore\" is a polite term for a herpes infection around the mouth. The blister is just wh...
Why do we wake up with morning face?	[ "When you're up and about and walking around, your heart has to work against gravity to pump blood up into your face. But when you have been laying horizontal in a bed for 8 or so hours it gives blood the opportunity to \"pool\" or \"settle\" in your face, resulting in puffiness. You'll get a more extreme example ...
Why do we breathe differently when we sleep? It goes from a mostly silent process to an audible and pronounced inhalation.	[ "Your throat and palate relax when you're asleep, and can restrict airflow. In more severe cases, it causes snoring and apnea." ]
Why on maps and globes do they show Antarctica with ice caps but not the arctic?	[ "Basically, under ice cap of Antarctica there is land, and thus it is counted as a continent. Arctic consists of pure ice, without any land.", "Because Antarctica has land underneath the ice. The Arctic is floating sea ice." ]
If undocumented immigrants in the US aren't citizens but they still pay federal/state/local taxes, what keeps them from being deported?	[ "There are millions of illegals in this country and deporting them all would take a huge amount of time and resources. Plus, they would just be replaced by more illegals coming in. Governments are not infinitely powerful, and sometimes have to pick their battles.\n\n > Why can't a UI just \"apply\" for citizenship...
I spend a lot of time looking at computer and phone screens. What exactly is it doing to my eyes?	[ "Looking at a computer or phone requires concentration and attention. Your eyes need to focus on small print and details. This can fatigue the muscles in the eyes which makes them ache if you spend extended periods of time doing so. Also, you blink less often when focused which can cause dry eyes as well.\n\nAnd...
The technical difference between LCD screens and Plasma screen.	[ "Plasma screens are more prone to burn-in, but that is largely a problem of the past if you are looking for a screen to view TV programs on. (I still would not use one for a computer monitor.) \n \nThe two different screens use very different mechanisms to display information. LCDs use a \"liquid crystal\" that can...
Why are there so many distinct accents within England?	[ "Same goes for the rest of Europe, lots of very distinct accents and dialects on a very small scale (EDIT: eg. from one mountain valley to the next). I think that in the former colonies the language just didn't have time to diversify that much, and now that we have nation-wide broadcasts of \"standardized\" languag...

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