Subset (10)

eli5 · 25k rows

Split (1)

train · 25k rows

query stringlengths 20 300	positive listlengths 1 1	negative listlengths 1 1
How do scientists measure things like size, weight or the age of planets?	[ "Size is fairly easy to measure. Take a point on either side and use the angle, distance to the planet, and simple geometry to get the diameter. From there you can get everything you need for size. Weight is a term that describes an objects mass times the gravitational acceleration working on it. So astronauts wei...	[ "the laser light beams out till it hits something, then the light bounces back to the meter. The time it takes the light to reach the object and get back to the meter tells you the distance because we know the speed of light." ]
In the middle ages, some people used to "clip" coins. What did they do with the bits they clipped off?	[ "Coins in medieval Europe were based on gold or silver. The purpose of clipping was to remove slivers of this material from the edge of the coin. Do this enough times and you have enough material that it can be melted down into either bullion or new coins. Medieval governments tended to take this debasement of curr...	[ "Let's say you wanted to gamble at the horse track. You think Three-Legged Limpet is the horse to win on (despite having only three legs). You decide to place a $100 bet, but you don't have $100 on you now (payday isn't until tomorrow). The bookie agrees to take only $20, with the understanding that you will pay up...
Why Do Devices With Dead Batteries Work After Taking The Batteries Out and Putting Them Back In?	[ "Sometimes a thin film of corrosion builds up on the battery terminals disrupting the flow of electricity. Taking the batteries out and then putting them back in scratches that film and allows the electricity to flow again." ]	[ "Think of a computer as a train station. The computer manages the programs (trains) as they move about the station. There are always more trains than there are platforms and tracks, but the computer manages the trains carefully so each train gets time on a platform to do it's business. Now imagine one of the train...
What happens when an atom of anti-matter hits a regular atom of a much heavier element?	[ "an atom of anti-hydrogen consists of an anti-proton and a positron, which will annihilate with one regular proton and an electron, respectively. So at the end the Gold particle would be left with one less proton and one less electron, turning it into platinum." ]	[ "Have you ever wondered what's inside your bouncy ball? Imagine it was too small to cut but you really, really wanted to know. What you might want to try is throwing it into something so hard that it breaks and you can see the smaller parts. Of course, if you only have another bouncy ball because that's the only th...
Has there been any introduction of arctic species to the antarctic or vice versa by research ships that visit both?	[ "I found [this article](_URL_1_) about plant seeds being brought to Antarctica on the clothes of visitors. Here's the [original paper](_URL_2_) it cites, which states that yes, the continent is at risk of invasion through this method, especially on the Antarctic peninsula. And predictably, many of the seeds they fo...	[ "Yes, everyday. ATA (American Tinnitus Assosciation) news hub tracks most of the advances. Auris Medical of Switzerland has a promising new solution in the form of medicine. Series C trials are underway with really good results. New devices are being created as well, focusing on the brain and not the ear as the sou...
A question to anyone who knows molecular symmetry and character tables.	[ "The final column of the table lists a number of functions that transform as the various irreps of the group. These are the Cartesian axes (x,y,z) the Cartesian products (z2, x2+y2, xy, xz, yz) and the rotations (Rx,Ry,Rz). So, these are possible basis functions for this point group. Source: _URL_0_" ]	[ "It can be represented by the Standard Model Lagrangian which can be shrunk to a (somewhat inaccurate, has too many h.c.'s) form that appears on [mugs and T-shirts](_URL_1_). However, those terms are all contracted forms of more complicated expressions, to write it out full you'd end up with something like [this mo...
why do people have a sort of 'stuttering inhalation' during and after a crying session?	[ "Crying throws off your respiratory system, which throws off your oxygen levels in your body. In order to balance the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels the diaphragm has to work a little differently than it normally does (steady breaths) and gives you the mild hyperventilation." ]	[ "As /u/SwedishBoatlover has said it causes the blood in your body to increase in pH. Everything in your body, including the CO2 that you produce, exists in an equilibrium. Our bodies were designed to have certain ratios of these things in our system and it relies on them to keep everything normal. In the case of yo...
Why are PDFs so hard to edit?	[ "PDFs aren't really designed for editing. On the contrary, the format is intended to accurately preserve document content and layout between computers while being space-efficient, and is ideal for sharing for that reason. Editing needs are primarily limited to filling out forms, signing and commenting, which are fe...	[ "You used to (as of 2011) be able to do that. Apple re-wrote their rules to prohibit it. Here is a [link](_URL_1_) that helps explain it: I also remember that pre-2011, you could buy books directly from the Kindle app - then in 2011 Apple changed it so that the \"buy\" button opened up Safari (which is what this a...
Is there any particular reason why the Founding Fathers chose the term "Congress" instead of "Parliament" or another term?	[ "Historically, a \"congress\" is a meeting of different states, nations, independent units, etc. It was used by the Continental Congress to emphasize the sovereignty of each state. It was carried over from there to as the legislature of the United States." ]	[ "Your question is like: > Why do people keep telling me to take a pill my doctor prescribes when in ye olden days people didn't have access to the same pills? Clean water is way easier to get now than it was then. Since you have access to clean water you should use it. In the same way, getting a doctor to prescri...
My professors often say that the modern concept of sovereignty comes from Westphalia's treaty. How did this treaty design our present concept of sovereignty?	[ "This question has come up a few times over the past couple of months. While there's always more to say, you might like to check out this detailed discussion of the issue led by u/sunagainstgold: [What ideas did \"Westphalian sovereignty\" replace?](_URL_2_) And I commented on the shortcomings of the portrayal of t...	[ "> And to what extent did American Western lore penetrate into European literature, common talk, and theatre? Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West show did [eight tours of Europe](_URL_2_), which were incredibly successful and played a large role in the European view of the American wild west. Wild West novels became very...
If lightning struck a pool of pure water with someone submerged in it would they survive?	[ "Water actually autoiionizes. Water dissociates into H+ and OH- spontaneously, albeit to a small extent: _URL_0_ This is enough to carry a current through the water." ]	[ "There's alot of good answers here, but most are missing a fundamental point: * Yes, the pressure difference (gauge pressure) is the primary mechanical mover for most pressure effects we see in our normal experience. * However, the absolute pressure in situations like this would cause the solids in your body ...
How does an app know that you're on data and not on wi fi?	[ "There is an API/system call that lets the app all the system what the network state is. It's not any different than asking for the time or anything else. Edit: If you want to get technical, it looks like: ConnectivityManager connMgr = (ConnectivityManager) getSystemService(Context.CONNECTIVITY_SERVICE); N...	[ "In cities and towns there are organizations whose job is to keep track of traffic on their roads and highways. These are usually radio or tv stations, but some larger cities (LA or NYC) have specially designated groups who just keep track of traffic. All of these places have databases that are constantly updated ...
Can anyone help ID this flag from a European castle in 1945?	[ "I am indebted to the kind folks of the SCA Heraldry Chat group in Facebook, to which I posted the image. Oddly enough, this is the back side of the flag. Oddly because charges with an orientation usually face the right side of the coat of arms, as in the picture. ~~SCA name~~ Marcel van Vlaanderen writes, \"The sh...	[ "Could you perhaps present us with your original source so we can see what the author writes about it? I think I know the answer, but I would like to know what exactly the author wrote. Also, could you remove the bonus question? We do not allow discussions of events after 1993." ]
Why don't FAFSA and other financial aid resources factor in cost of living differences when calculating need?	[ "I applied for financial aid from my county after I lost my job and found out they don't really care about anything extra you have to pay. Including things like child-support. You 'give' half your money to your wife for child support, and now you can't pay rent? TOO BAD, your gross income is over the limit." ]	[ "You're looking at it backwards. If they didn't include the disclaimers you mention, they would have to meet the FDA's standards, like real medications must. They hope to sell you something without having to go through the rigor and expense of FDA certification." ]
The difference between increasing your heartbeat with caffeine and increasing it with exercise.	[ "Ahoy, matey! Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained: 1. [ELI5: Why is cardio exercise good for your body, while using stimulant drugs is bad for it? They both increase your heart rate and make your body work so isn't taking the stimulants just a form of exercise for your heart/body? ](_URL_0_) ...	[ "I'm sorry that I'm no expert, but I remember reading about this the last time a similar question was asked: _URL_0_ Basically, you percieve time faster after your run because of endorphines released during the work out, which means that the music seems slower. This is apparently also why a lot of rock musicians pl...
Why do people curse when they have an orgasm?	[ "I’m guessing cause it’s a single syllable word that can have a lot of feeling behind it. Saying “fuck!” Is WAY more efficient than “Mmm, yes, Capital job, ol chap. Got me good this time hohoho!”" ]	[ "There are a few different answers because there are a few different psychological approaches. TheCanadianDoctor's answer is the biological approach. Using the behavioral/learning approach, I would say it was because when you learned that word, you learned it by forming a connection between the (echoic) sound and t...
How does a "Graphene Generator" not violate thermodynamics?	[ "Ambient heat is fed continuously from other energy sources, namely the sun. If you define your system to disclude the sun, it's no longer a closed system, but rather an open one, thus it does not violate thermodynamics. If you include the sun, the energy comes from the fusion reactions going on in the sun, and sti...	[ "Because it doesn't seem to work very well. Almost all of the sources for that article are news releases and news coverage, with very few peer-reviewed journals that actually document the results of their experiments. Unfortunately, this is the modus operandi for scammers, or those who just continue to believe in...
what is Eid, the Muslim holiday?	[ "Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, observant Muslims are required to abstain from food and drink during daylight hours, and the celebration of Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the month and is marked by both prayer and celebration to Allah." ]	[ "Side question: How many religious changes were actually made under Edward, considering that his father never really considered himself a protestant, making Edward the first protestant king. And were those all reverted under Mary?" ]
Why does certain skin get sunburned, yet other skin (i.e. your hands, toes) does not?	[ "I'm no expert, but my theory is that some skin is less exposed to sunlight. I've definitely gotten sunburned on the tops of my toes after spending a day barefoot at the beach, and I've gotten sunburns on the backs of my hands too. Generally, the soles of your feet and palms of your hands are shaded by the rest of ...	[ "The direction of heat transfer. When you're putting your cold feet in hot water, the hot water is transferring its heat to your feet and trying to reach equilibrium. There's a huge difference in temperature between your feet and the water so a lot of heat is transferred, so it feels extra hot. The opposite is true...
If an astronaut were to drift off structure and into the void, what would be their cause of death?	[ "My money is on suffocation assuming the suit kept your temperature up well enough. Or CO2 poisoning if you want to be more specific." ]	[ "Depends on the material and temperature. Sometimes the surface forms a reconstruction, as dreykevins explains. Other times the surface forms an oxide or some other surface layer, which can prevent recombination. Other times the pieces actually CAN be put back together, and this process is called \"cold welding\". ...
Why do so many secret society conspiracy theories share the idea that the members of the society have intentionally left signs of the conspiracy?	[ "So the \"logic\" goes something like... They leave symbols as a sign to other members of the conspiracy so that the conspirators now who is and isn't in on it. Non-conspirators have figured out some of the signs and point it out to others, hoping to bring the bad guys down. And it's got some basis in sort of commo...	[ "A developer buys a big piece of land, divides it up into lots, and builds a bunch of houses to sell to people. The developer sets up an HOA with some basic rules about how the neighborhood will work. In the contract the developer writes up to sell a house, the person buying the house must join the HOA. Also, the c...
Can you get STDs (STIs) from necrophilia?	[ "That would literally depend on how fresh the body is. HIV, for example, is not sensitive to cold, viable HIV have been known to remain viable in refrigerated cadavers for up to 16 days." ]	[ "You can't assume that they actually did any of it. Poe was never investigated for burying a man alive and the writers of the Halloween series were never investigated for being serial killers. How is a rapper any different?" ]
What were the conditions for the surrender of Breslau on the 6th of may 1945?	[ "The Allies demanded unconditional surrender of Germany, which Germany was forced to accept and formally signed on 8 May, although throughout Europe German forces unconditionally surrendered form 5 until 8 May. I do not know anything about Breslau in particular, but my guess is that this unconditional surrender by ...	[ "This post is confusing. The title is 'Pirenne Thesis' which is a reference to his thoery of transition from Roman to Frankish worlds up to 8^th CE (which is roughly summarized as 'Without Islam there is no Frankish empire; without Mohammed, no Charlemagne'). But your comment is about his theory of the 'resurgence'...
if black friday is all positive revenue why don't they do deals and stuff more often than once a year?	[ "It is a gimmick. If you overuse a gimmick, people stop falling for it." ]	[ "Your first question somewhat answers your second question. A neuron that is re-polarizing cannot fire another action potential. (This is known as the absolute refractory period.) Because it is unable to fire during this period the action potential traveling down the axon cannot go back the way it came. Note, when ...
Thursday Reading & Recommendations \| June 20, 2019	[ "Does anyone have any recommendations for books that are about the Korean War, particularly ones that focus on the North Korean/Soviet/Chinese side of it? It's not a topic that I know a ton about, and I'm interested to learn more about it. I'm not opposed to books that are more American/South Korean focused though,...	[ "I see several versions available online. [This](_URL_0_) one looks pretty comprehensive, though I haven't used it myself. That link is part of a [larger project](_URL_1_) that put Charles Keppler's Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties online." ]
How were people in the past able to create fountains shooting upward without the use of electricity?	[ "Simply gravity and water pressure. In Ancient Rome for example, all water to the city came from cisterns in the hills and was transported throughout the city through a series of aqueducts. Gravity pulled the water through aqueducts, and when it reaches the fountain, the water was funneled through a smaller pipe cr...	[ "it can start from multiple places. you can have a snow capped mountain range where water flows from the snow melt and as it flows down the mountain it gathers together at the lowest point, or you can have a well where it comes up from deep within the earth where the well is filled by rain water getting absorbed in...
aside from absentee ballots, why is voting on an election in the US limited to one day?	[ "The Constitution specifically states a singular \"day\". Article 2, Section 1, Clause 4: > The Congress may determine the Time of chusing [sic] the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States. We can't have an election week unless we amend th...	[ "Your employer takes money out of your paycheck throughout the year to pay your local, state, and federal taxes. The amount they take out, however, is just an estimate how much tax you will probably owe at the end of the year. There's no way for the state, local, and federal governments to know what you actually do...
how does waterboarding work	[ "I've had it done to me. Basically, they put a towel or rag over your face, invert you so that water can run up your nose and pour water over the towel. While water is being poured you can't breathe and it feels a lot like drowning. In the brief periods between when water is being poured you can kind of suck in air...	[ "Here is a great video explaining it. _URL_0_" ]
Why were Britain and France allies in WW1?	[ "In large part it's because they were both fighting Germany. France had an alliance with Russia and so had to declare war when Germany went to war with Russia, but England was not similarly obliged. The reason England entered the war was because it was obligated to enforce Belgian neutrality, which Germany violated...	[ "I looked this up in the 1959 edition of Brewers (reprinted from 1870) and they state that British pink and white complexions remind one of the pomegranate. This is the only explanation given - no mention of POHM or anything like that." ]
Orbits of the Planets and Sun relative to Earth being still?	[ "Here is an image of how planet orbits would look if the earth was seen as a stationary point. [image](_URL_0_)" ]	[ "This comes down to the fact that things that are spinning like to keep spinning in that same direction. When a solar system (or galaxy, for that matter) is forming, there is a whole bunch of particles going every which way. Assuming they are all bound (they can't escape the system) you can add up the spinning of e...
why does the main character in the movie "21", when given a choice between three doors, change his original pick when given the chance by Kevin Spacey's character?	[ "As others have said, you'll find plenty of in-depth explanations once you know the Monty Hall name, but I'll take a moment to highlight the bit that tends to help most. Suppose that there are 100 doors instead, you pick one and the host opens 98 others to leave you a choice between two. It's much clearer that in t...	[ "You assign values to cards and since you keep track of the \"count\" as cards are exposed you have an idea of the cards that are remaining in the deck. Because casinos always use complete decks if you deal it face up, you know that that card can no longer appear again. Example: 2,3,4,5,6 have a value of +1 A, T, J...
How much does the placebo effect influence human health?	[ "It all depends on the influence you're looking for. Its effect is most pronounced in cases where the patient's symptoms are more subjective perceptions, like chronic back pain, migraines, anxiety or depression. So the placebo effect can vary greatly, but appears to have most significant influence in the spectrum o...	[ "They were tremendously common. It's actually very amusing to go through old papers and see the kinds of nonsense claims they made. They look a bit like [this](_URL_1_). If you're interested, here's a bit of a homework exercise. Go to your library and look up your local newspaper from around 1880 to 1930. I was doi...
What is Rick Perry being indicted for?	[ "You know how a school bully might threaten to beat you up if you don't give him your lunch money? Governor Perry is accused of doing sort of the same thing by threatening to not give a woman's department money if she didn't resign from office. Since it was the governor doing it, he should know better. This would b...	[ "Nixon impounded spending passed by Congress at a high rate, and Congress removed Presidential authority to do so: _URL_0_ Nixon was weakened by Watergate and was unable to stop this. Most Presidents since have asked to get the authority back, Congress has never agreed." ]
How can a 'video format' be trademarked? What's stopping a news station from trademarking the standard 2 anchor shot, or the weather setup, or an over the shoulder graphic or a news crawl?	[ "The concept is called \"Trade Dress.\" If you have a distinctive, non-functional, visual presentation that customers can associate with your product, you can apply for a trademark for it. For instance, I can't sell soda in bottles with the the Coke bottle's distinct shape. Only Apple can sell computers in a store ...	[ "No you're misunderstanding a basic use of imagery to describe something. They show you all that food as what is part of a balanced breakfast. All those items are part of a balanced breakfast. Nobody is expecting you to eat all that and drink full pitchers of milk as part of a balanced breakfast. Its for visual pur...
Why "rock, paper, scissors" is such an international game and everyone from different countries understands it	[ "As far as I know there is also the exact same version of this game, which is named \"Janken\", played in Japan. According to several sources the game might originate in China (around 206 BC) and was then imported to Japan from where it came to Europe. The Chinese Version was a bit different then the rules today an...	[ "This is a very common question. You can use search to find [all the other really good answers](_URL_0_ ). This is instant, and faster than ust typing in your question every time. It's a way of cheating elections. Read the others, and then ask a more specific question." ]
Why do some people rapidly flutter their eyelids when talking?	[ "This is called a motor tic, and it most often affects the eyes and face. So eyelid fluttering is a common example of this. Also, tics are exacerbated by stress, so that might be why it gets worse when conversations get intense/they get angry etc. There are also vocal tics, where people make noises or say things. T...	[ "Many mating displays are a way of showing off how much extra energy you have to spend. Generally, having good genes means you hunt better and get sick less often; only creatures with strong genes can spend the time and energy doing a mating dance. Thus, by watching to see who does the best mating dance, potential ...
Why is it that most domesticated mammals and birds seem to have "personalities" and "emotions", but fish and reptiles do not?	[ "Facial disparity. You are around mammals more than birds, reptiles, and fish. They also share more common musculature in and around the face. So they make expressions you are familiar with. Reptiles and birds we commonly encounter have their eyes farther to the side, and differently defined mouths. Ask longtime f...	[ "We can, it is just it takes a lot of study and the language isn't in the same form as human language so it isn't just like learning German or Spanish and it comes with body language, scents and other non verbal cues _URL_0_" ]
How do air conditioners produce cold air?	[ "They do it by letting liquid evaporate. Liquid needs a lot of warmth to evaporate. The cold gas runs through a set of what's basically radiators along wich a fan blows the air that has to be cooled. Later on in the cycle a compressor is used to force the gas to condense back in to a liquid state which forced the h...	[ "This can happen with any electric motor. When the motor is spinning, it also functions as a generator, counteracting the incoming power and reducing overall power usage. When it is stopped this is not happening, so the motor draws a lot more power. So, when a motor is starting, it draws a lot more power before it ...
Why can't Obama simply executive order all the things he wants to do?	[ "A lot of it he can do. The problem is funding. Only Congress can allocate funding so if the President signs an Executive Order to give everyone a pony but Congress says, \"Fuck naw,\" then no one will get a pony. This is what happened with the closure of Gitmo. Obama signed the executive order to close the priso...	[ "Not enough energy to. It's like lighting a match in a snow storm and expecting it to melt everything. Sure, the match is hot, but theres a lot more cold than there is hot." ]
Why do our bodies get hot when we feel embarrassed or if we are doing something bad?	[ "You don't actually get hot. Blood will rush to your face/head as part of your fight/flight response, which makes your face/head feel hot (because blood is hot), but your body temperature doesn't actually change." ]	[ "Because the animal inside you activates and you engage in \"Predator\" mode, doing everything in order to secure food and guarantee the survival of your species." ]
Why is it that just before I sleep I think deeply about things but during the next day my level of thought decreases?	[ "The darkness allows your mind to focus inward - your eyes arent processing a bunch of different sights and colors, your ears are likely processing less information because you are in a quiet room - you're likely in a familiar, comfortable setting that isn't a shock to your sense of smell - you're also lying in a f...	[ "When we retrieve a memory, what we are actually doing is retrieving the last time we remembered it. So if you have thought of the same track 10 times since the last time you heard it, you have had 10 different opportunities to distort the song in your head. Then when you hear the original again and you compare it ...
The striking object or the object being struck?	[ "The damage would be identical. Assuming no acceleration. Say a marble is moving through empty space at 10m/s towards another marble sitting still. It is just as equal though to describe both marbles as moving towards each other at 5m/s. It then becomes obvious why they are equal. Acceleration, in general makes n...	[ "In prison, many, many people are unable to afford goods purchased through commissary. So, literally anything that you can get through it(snacks, paper, envelopes, writing utensils, hygiene products, etc) becomes a battering tool for those that have it." ]
Why are some rifles more inherently accurate than others?	[ "Bullet type, barrel length, type of rifling, quality of barrel, thickness/strength of barrel. All are variables to accuracy." ]	[ "I've deleted this post. \"Throughout history\" questions, as stated in our rules, [are too broad for this subreddit](/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_no_.22in_your_era.22_or_.22throughout_history.22_questions). Moreover you're obviously trying to make a point about the way this subreddit is run which makes me doub...
Did the Ancient and Classical Greeks have any knowledge of the Hittites?	[ "I am not sure what later Greeks understood abut the Hittites, so I will allow someone else with the requisite expertise to approach that, but it is absolutely certain that those who lived in Greece at the same time as the Hittites were in Anatolia certainly were aware of them. Hittite records detail the trade and ...	[ "Follow up: Did a Holy Roman Emperor ever meet a Byzantine Emperor in person? What happened?" ]
How did the Meso-american civilizations build their giant structures and carvings out of stone if they had no metal tools?	[ "Actually many stone structures throughout history have been made with stones of matching or greater hardness. Stones can be quarried out with other stones from that quarry; with enough time and patience a stone worker can separate the stone and give it shape. I know this isn't Mesoamerican, but [NOVA](_URL_0_) did...	[ "That would depend on who and when the determination was made, and the intelligence of the being to recognize the evidence. For example, lets assume all visible signs of human activity were non existent, would some future being recognize our existence because it found evidence of plastic in the genetic code of fish...
What do the true orbits of planets and around the Sun look like?	[ "It's pretty close to a flat plane for the planets _URL_0_ There's a lot more variation for dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets, though even then most orbit in more or less the same plane. What you probably don't have is a true sense of scale (because most people don't). Space is really big. _URL_1_ gives a grea...	[ "Stars fit nicely into a spectrum of classes based on their mass and composition. We can tell by looking at the light they produce what type they are, and we can simulate the life cycle of each type." ]
Is there any purpose for rocks around train tracks?	[ "Yes, Stops crap from growing, keeps drainage/erosion controlled so your tracks will not wash out and cause an incident. Pretty much alotta same reasons why you have gravel driveways." ]	[ "Edited: I have heard two things... * Rockets sent up to record various aspects of the test. * Vertical smoke flares which are used to observe the shockwave Edit 2: [Seems like it is a combination of the two](_URL_0_): > Sounding rockets or smoke flares may be launched just before a device explodes so that their v...
E: Why do LCD screens (e.g. laptops) change color when viewed at extreme angles?	[ "The relatively inexpensive twisted nematic (TN) display, or panel, is the most common, consumer, display type. TN displays suffer from limited viewing angles, especially in the vertical direction. Colors will shift when viewed off-perpendicular. In the vertical direction, colors will shift so much that they will i...	[ "It's not voodoo magic. It's kind of like brushing your hair. When you get up in the morning, your hair (assuming you have more hair on your head than I do) is all tangled from tossing and turning and all that other jazz. This is what regular light coming from, say, a light bulb looks like. It's all tangled and sca...
Do gravitational waves diffract?	[ "Yes, gravitational waves can be diffracted, but not nearly as \"easily\" as sound waves or light waves. Light, for example, moves at speed c in a vacuum, but slightly slower when moving through various materials, which leads to one form of diffraction. The same can be said of gravitational waves, however, because ...	[ "Hah, right across the hall from my office are people that study GRB's so I asked them. They said either if there is a characteristic spectrum, then the redshift of that, or if they can associate the GRB with a galaxy, then look at the photometric redshift of that galaxy." ]
When the entire world is driving electric cars, is the risk of batteries exploding greater due to larger capacity?	[ "Yes, basically. The risk of exploding batteries is obviously increased the more of them that are around, since it is a non-zero risk individually. edit: i should add that while this is pedantically correct, it is also true that the risk of 'exploding batteries' is infinitesimally small, and absolutely pales in c...	[ "We do, we just don't tend to think about it that way. For example, when people in the US don't vaccinate their kids against measles, and then the kids travel to another country and pick up measles and bring it back to the US — getting dozens of people ill — that's exactly what happens. But today, different popula...
Why do certain cookies like Oreos get softer instead of stale when you leave them out?	[ "Generally crunchy cookies and crackers will absorb moisture if left out because water molecules in the air will fill the empty spaces inside the cookie/cracker. Softer cookies already have a lot of moisture in them so the water molecules inside them escape and bond with the ones in the atmosphere. It's about the p...	[ "I'm not good at breaking things down to ELI5 levels but AFAIK sound is a wave that requires a medium to travel through in this case air is that medium. Sound will travel further in a more dense medium meaning the apparent volume will be higher. Air at night is colder than air during the day because the sun isn't d...
What exactly happens when you're anesthetized?	[ "I’ve been under general more than once. It’s not like sleep because it comes on very quickly and I didn’t dream. Once, I asked the anesthesiologist, “Is this when I count backward from 100?” He replied, “We don’t do that any more.” Last conscious experience until I came to in recovery." ]	[ "Not a neurologist here, but I had read certain articles way back that explain our learning process. It was sort of like: we learn a certain thing while we are conscious, but this certain thing we learned is only stored as short term memory while we are conscious. The brain processes this information during sleep t...
Why do so many men in paintings and pictures from the 19th century have their hands inside of their shirts?	[ "Not to discourage other answers, but you may be interested in /u/LadyVagrant's response in this thread: [Why was the 'hand tucked in the shirt' pose (think Napoleon) so popular in early photographs?](_URL_0_)" ]	[ "I recently read 1066 The Year of the Conquest by David Howarth, and he explains that people of that time did not think of geography in terms of maps, that is they didn't imagine a top down view, rather they thought of things from their point of view. They might have imagined things as \"beyond the forrest\" or \"o...
How do people in war zones have access to Internet?	[ "One of the design goals for what became the Internet was to be tolerant of failure. If some lines get cut, the Internet just routes around them. As long as there is still power and one intact line connecting that area to the rest of the world (whether it's a physical cable or a satellite link), the Internet will c...	[ "It all depends on what happened. Alot of times, it literally is because some construction crew dug where they weren't supposed to dig and cut the line. Other times it could be that some piece of equipment is misconfigured and they need to call in a 3rd party or the OEM vendor to fix it because none of the staff h...
How did the world clean up in the aftermath of World War II?	[ "With the help of the parts of the world that weren't hit all that badly, which really works out to be the US. America spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help Western Europe and Asia rebuild. Countries that could not afford it went through rougher times: The UK underwent significant decolonization in the afte...	[ "Polish radio (in London) did a news report coverage, due to fact that there was radio connection between Warsaw and London. There were Allied POWs in Warsaw who were given time in Warsaw contemporary \"radio studios\". There were German radios, and Soviet radio stations such as \"Radio Moscow in Polish Language\" ...
Why does swallowing saliva not stop thirst?	[ "Saliva came from your body in the first place. You're not adding any new water to your system." ]	[ "Toothpaste contains a detergent called sodium lauryl sulfphate. It both cleans your teeth and suppresses your ability to taste sweetness so you only taste the sour and bitter flavours." ]
Why do we think we look better in the mirror than photographs?	[ "Because the image you see in a mirror is inverted. You are more used to see yourself inverted because that's the \"you\" that you know. Photos show you the way others see you, the real version of yourself. But you don't naturally get to see that, so you don't like it as much." ]	[ "Well for starters you don't get more than one take, if you're performing live and you miss a note you can't just call redo. You are also standing on stage having the sound blasting from giant speakers, not ins a sound tight area with special equipment to pick up and fine tune every little bit of sound. And of cour...
How does one mass or "weigh" an object in a microgravity environment?	[ "To determine mass you can simply apply a known force to an object and look how it moves using the equation F=ma. If you know F and you can measure the acceleration, you can determine the mass." ]	[ "I want to hear more detail. The smaller forces would mean if you dip below your point of neutral buoyancy it would take longer for you to rise back up. And similarly if you gave a particularly powerful stroke while treading water and rose above the surface some you would sink back down much slower. So I can only i...
When you drive at higher speeds with the windows down and it feels like the air in the car, and against your ears, is pulsating - what exactly is happening?	[ "The air blowing across the windows is making the air in the car resonate just like blowing across the mouthpiece of a flute makes the air in it resonate. Both are generating a musical note, but the car is so large the musical note it creates is much much lower in pitch." ]	[ "First, see u/viscence's answer for a good explanation of reference frames, which is an important concept to understand. The short answer though is that the Earth and its atmosphere are traveling through a vacuum, so there's no sonic boom. A sonic boom occurs when objects (planes) propagate through a fluid (air) fa...
Why does the temperature number differ from the "feels like" number sometimes?	[ "The temperature is, to put it simply (the actual definition(s) can get quite in-depth!), the average amount of energy the molecules have - in this case, it would be the air. At 37C, the air molecules have more energy than at 31C. Wind chill and humidity come in because they affect how well your body can regulate i...	[ "A big part of it is where the sensors are. I'm in DC, but my understanding is that all of the weather reports are based on measurements being picked up at Dulles which is an airport a few miles into Virginia, away from the city." ]
Why are vehicles built with the ability to greatly exceed speed limits if you're not supposed to?	[ "Cars are engineered to accelerate quickly, which is legal in the United States and sells cars. In order to accelerate quickly, you need powerful engines and short gear ratios. Well, these characteristics aren't good for engine wear or fuel economy, so taller gear ratios keep you at top legal speeds at fuel efficie...	[ "There are a lot of people in the world who don't care about laws, or the laws of other countries, or the property rights of other people. For example if you stole a piece of art from someone in England that a wealthy member of the royal family in Saudi Arabia wanted they probably don't care at all that it was stol...
Why is the 1TB Hard Drive I bought only 930GB?	[ "Some systems report file sizes where they use 1024 as 'kilo', where others stick to the SI prefix 'kilo' for 1000. Having a 1 TB HD has the manufacturer use the '1000', because it ends up being the bigger number with less actual space. Some Operating Systems (like OSX) do use the '1000' one as well, which means t...	[ "Could be an issue with the packaging. Depending on the weight of the goods they might have calculated their shipping cost on a bundle to be more since they might have to use a larger box or a different shipping service." ]
Why is the climate of extreme South America so different from the corresponding North American latitudes?	[ "Tierra del Fuego is pretty much like the Aleutian Islands, so I'm not really sure what you mean here." ]	[ "Hau is a Lakota greeting from males to other males. Apparently it means [\"yes\"](_URL_1_), as well. One way that Northern Plains cultures became the quintessential Indian culture in Western minds is through the [Wild West Shows](_URL_0_) of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These traveling shows predated ...
The derivative of position is velocity. The derivative of velocity is acceleration. Can you keep going? If so, what do those derivatives mean?	[ "The derivative of acceleration is called the jerk. The derivative of the jerk is called the snap or jounce. In an homage to Rice Krispies, the next two derivatives have been termed the crackle and the pop. In terms of meaning, I'm not sure what to add other than the jerk is the rate at which an object's ...	[ "On a fundamental level, it's true that a 200 HP engine can deliver twice the power output of a 100 HP engine. But how that translates into real world performance depends on a large number of factors. The mass and shape of the vehicle are obviously important. A heavier car needs a more powerful engine to get the sa...
How does Steam earn profit from transaction fees on their user based market if the money is considered "steam dollars"?	[ "It's incorrect to think that Valve is making profit from the transaction fees. Valve makes 100% profit on all Steam dollars bought. Period. They have no real value so all that money goes directly to Valve. Valve destroys a percentage of Steam dollars with every transaction - this is the transaction fee. Destroyi...	[ "Marketing and tracking. I bought \"TRON: Evolution\" when it first came out, thinking it was a single player with the option of networking. Nope. You have to either have or create a Microsoft \"LIVE\" account and log on to that in order to play a game that is locally installed. They track everything, and sell it t...
What property do objects have that determines their color?	[ "Dyes and chromophores tend to have lots of conjugation (continuous pi systems). Depending on the level of conjugation, organic molecules will absorb light or reflect it. When light is absorbed by a molecule, one thing that can happen is the excitation of an electron. Having more conjugation makes the higher energy...	[ "Different elements and compounds emit different wavelengths of light. The study of this is called spectroscopy. By looking at the particular wavelengths, we know the particular compounds." ]
How do they make old(er) movies in 1080p/4k?	[ "Generally speaking, many of those older movies were shot on film rather than being captured digitally (in fact, most movies are still shot on film then transferred to digital mediums in post production). Film has a _very_ high resolution - much higher than 4k. All they need to do is go back and transfer the film t...	[ "My guess? When you're dealing with a lot of makeup, prosthesis, special effects its easier to hide flaws. You can see acne under makeup in high def, you couldn't really see that back in the day. Just a guess." ]
Water cycles from ocean, rain on land, back to ocean. What happens to the water we, animals, plants etc drink? Or even what we store in plastic bottles. Does the ocean lose water?	[ "It does. A little bit. Temporarily. Remember that when you consume water, it's not gone forever. The molecules don't disappear. You lose water through natural processes of urination, sweat, breathing, etc. All of that water is eventually returned to the ocean through various forms of reclamation. It's also importa...	[ "Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained: 1. [ELI5: Whistling ](_URL_6_) 1. [ELI5: How does whistling work? And how is it different from blowing? ](_URL_0_) 1. [ELI5: How does whistling work? (Wind/air pressure to sound with whistles, bottles, or lips.) ](_URL_4_) 1. [ELI5:How does whistling work...
Why do women wear high heels?	[ "Personally A) to be taller B)makes calf muscles look better C) makes me feel feminine" ]	[ "Nostalgia, too ~ a lot of older guys that now have lots of money are reliving their youth - they either had one when they were young & want another, or wanted one when they were young and can now afford to pay the big bucks to get one." ]
Why is it bad that the oil price per barrel is dropping?	[ "Good for some, bad for others. Good for the consumer (like said above) cheaper gas ect. Bad for people working in the oilfield, this usually means lay offs since the oil / gas companies are not making money like they used to - less drilling / frac / oilfield construction to spend the money on." ]	[ "Let's say toll roads are run by Wal Mart. They then offer a discount - you can drive to Wal Mart for free, but still have to pay a toll when you go anywhere else. Sounds good, right? But then next year they double or triple the toll. Soon you can't afford to shop anywhere EXCEPT WalMart. Every other store then go...
What is the difference between Euclidean and Non-Euclidean geometry?	[ "In Euclidean geometry, for a given line and point that's not on that line, there's exactly one line through that point so that the two lines don't intersect, i.e. are parallel, and all other lines through that point would intersect the original line. In Non-Euclidean geometry, there's either no parallel line throu...	[ "Normal weapons are localized. A machine gun can only fire in one direction, an artillery shell can only hit one spot, and even bombs have a smallish blast radius. You can avoid hitting things that you don't want to hit, and if you're not the USA people can call you out for hitting things you shouldn't. Chemical we...
What do people gain from uploading or seeding torrents?	[ "The torrents you see every day (EZTV, xViD, etc) are part of [The Scene](_URL_1_) and do it mostly for pride and nerd cred for being the first to release something. Most of the initial seeders are affiliated with those groups, many on zombie botnets. From there, it goes into general P2P distribution. Basically, th...	[ "The Taxes tanken from our checks are estimates. Sometime people pay too much or too little. When doing our taxes we figure out how much we really owed. Some payed too much and get a refund. Some paid too little and need to make up the difference" ]
The Student Loan bubble, the housing bubble, and what happens when they burst?	[ "The lenders stop lending, and then no one else can get a loan, and then people stop buying houses or going to school. Lenders playing a long term game, earning interest over time, decades sometimes. But they have bills to pay today. If suddenly a lot of people default on their loans, they suddenly have a cash flow...	[ "You can look at the current inflation rates, if one rate is much higher than the other your choice is pretty simple, for instance if you were going to school in Zimbabwe I'd say wait until the last minute to pay your tuition. But there's not much difference between the US and UK inflation rates, the US's is slight...
What is the difference between "hush money" and a Non-Disclosure Agreement	[ "Hush money is when you pay someone to sign a Non-Disclosure agreement. An NDA is a sort of legal contract that defines what one party can and can't say about what they know of the other party. Often times employers will have departing employees sign an NDA for any corporate internal information they may know." ]	[ "Neighbor across the street: \"Hey Tommy, will you mow my lawn?\" Tommy: \"Sure, I'll do it for $5/hr.\" Neighbor: \"How about $3?\" Tommy: \"I want $5.\" Neighbor: \"OK, well I'll just ask your brother.\" Tommy: \"My brother and I and all the neighborhood kids decided together that we weren't going to mow lawns fo...
How do astronomers know how far a star or galaxy is from us?	[ "A few different ways; - [Lasers](_URL_0_) for really close things like the moon. - [Parallax](_URL_2_) used for nearby planets and stars. - [Standard candles](_URL_1_), the brightness of a specific type of supernova which gives a good range. - [Red Shift](_URL_3_) for things very far away. For more detail on how a...	[ "Scientist would probably start sending radio waves in that direction. That is all that could be done as we have not hope to do anything else." ]
Can we guarantee the outcome of the World Cup?	[ "There are a lot more outcomes than you think. So with one match (say, Brazil's) you have the outcomes: Brazil win (BRA W) Brazil draw (BRA D) Brazil lose (BRA L) As you note, three outcomes. With two matches: Brazil's and Spain's: BRA W SPA W BRA W SPA D BRA W SPA L BRA D SPA W BRA D SPA D BRA D ...	[ "Well one way is by selected specific people for your study. The studied that showed evidence that vaccines caused autism actually dropped people from the study who had children not become autistic, found children who had family history of autism to include in the study, and kept the numbers small. Another way coul...
Why are people still so obsessed with being racist ?	[ "There has always been a huge push to separate people into groups, as opposed to looking at people individually. Race is a very obvious/visual difference among people, so it is often used to divide. Many people are susceptible to falling into the trap of pigeonholing others based on one characteristic. However, lea...	[ "\"Just about everyone here\" Where is \"here\" for you? It sounds like your question's premise is based on a small sample set based on personal observation. Before your question is addressed, you should be making sure the premise is valid..." ]
Why is it important to turn off your eletronical devices (especially computers) ?	[ "Electronics more frequently die during a power up or power down scenario, as power supplies often spike during these events. I turn my LCD displays off when not in use, since their vacuum fluorescent back-lights have a limited life (40,000 hours MTBF) but keep my computer powered on. I do clean out the dust twice ...	[ "Water we use to bathe, shower, drink, cook with, etc. is all water that has been filtered, processed, and otherwise tinkered with. Yes, it all goes back to the water cycle, but there are costs involved with getting the water to your home in a sanitary state. The less you use, the less water needs to be processed i...
Are mutations overrated?	[ "The standing (already existing) genetic variation in a population is usually what is selected upon in a natural population. However, all of that natural variation was originally created through mutation. So neither is more important than the other, because all genetic variation was initially created by mutation. D...	[ "Interesting; also, standing ovations at performances. Just as you said, they're somewhat expected now, despite the fact that they were probably once \"special\". I once heard this discussed on NPR (I think both topics were mentioned) & I hope someone has an answer!" ]
Why the colour of clothes become more intense after soaking in water?	[ "When an object is exposed to light, light rays bounce off of it and reflect a portion of the light within the visible spectrum. Many wavelengths of the light are instead absorbed. Therefore a red shirt absorbs every color within the visible light spectrum (Simplified as ROYGBIV, but scientifically speaking this is...	[ "Most likely your concentrated (then diluted) coffee would come out pretty similar to the twice through method. However, coffee is a very complex mixture of many different chemicals, and the solubility of those chemicals fall over quite a large range. Assume two different components that you get in a set amount whi...
Why does carbonation intensify the burn of spices?	[ "[Carbonated water](_URL_1_) is better known as a solution of carbonic acid and has a pH between 3-4 (read: fairly acidic). The [receptors](_URL_2_) that [register \"hot\" or \"spicy\"](_URL_0_) from things like [capsacin](_URL_3_) (the chemical that makes the hot spice of chilis) are actually cation channels in ad...	[ "What WtheCore said, plus drinks at restaurants are produced by mixing a syrup with carbonated water. Differences in the water used, errors in how much syrup is being used/maintenance and cleaning on the machine can all impact the end result." ]
How is it possible that the Tesla Roadster that is currently in space, is entirely intact? Wouldn't the vacuum and temperature in space damage some parts of the car, such as the tires?	[ "Remember that, temperature wise, while space is 'cold', it doesn't follow the rule-of-thumb rules that humans are used to. There's no air, or anything, to allow for convection or conduction. So the only way heat leaves is blackbody radiation--very slow, relative to things on Earth. So heat from the sun is more of ...	[ "Me and a buddy of mine at a NASA internship got a chance to get inside the JPL cleanroom the Curiosity was assembled in. He had to take 2 special showers before he went in, and wore a special anti-static robe, mask, and hairnet. Before they let us in they detailed the extraordinary precautions they take before let...
How did Yashua translate into Jesus.	[ "Adding on to Potterarchy's fine explanation, allow me to pointlessly add that Arabic has two words for Jesus. One, Yasu', is used solely by Arabic-speaking Christians of the Syriac, Maronite, Chaldean, and Coptic communities to refer to Jesus as Christian savior. This is clearly a version of the Greek Iesou. The ...	[ "_URL_0_ Of all places, this thread has the answer. Their names are long and foreign: they are shortened and localized for ease of use. Mark Antony is probably the single most Anglicized name." ]
When almost all of them have 16:9/18.5:9/21:9 screen ratios, why do smartphones still mostly have 4:3 camera sensors?	[ "It makes sense to capture essentially a near square image with as much information as possible (i.e. high pixel density) and then allow the devices/users to crop and render these images however they want." ]	[ "It kind of does. Picture and sound are actually recorded quiet separately. Usually they're literally recorded separately — using separate machines — but sometimes they're recorded in the camera but using separate recording mechanisms. What matters is just that picture and sound end up synchronized. The fundame...
Would a spinning space station in 'deep space' slow down significantly of its own accord?	[ "Assuming the entire station is rotating (ie there are no non-rotating sections), then the rotation would not diminish on its own. If there were non-rotating sections, then friction between them would cause them both to eventually sync up rotation with each other which would be ultimately slower than the original r...	[ "I don't know when but this is how: We know that the earth for instance isn't still while the moon revolves around it. The earth wobbles because it revolves around the [barycentric point](_URL_0_) which is the mass center between earth and moon. And it only wobbles because it has much more mass than the moon and is...
About Middle-Eastern Medieval Weapons	[ "It's an inaccurate stereotype (early Medieval Middle-Eastern and Indian swords were typically straight). It started to become accurate in the late Medieval era (when curved swords started to be used in those regions), and eventually became accurate (when the curved sword become the common sword in those regions (a...	[ "Slightly off-track, but why does it have to be a movie?My aunt teaches that age-group History, and sometimes will show them a sketch-show called \"Horrible Histories\". Its a BBC comedy sketch show that is aimed towards children, has high-level professional actors in it, its very educational and its hilarious aswe...
Why is the consumption of Alcohol so widespread(historically and geographically)?	[ "A few reasons. You see, alcohol is fairly easy to make, so it can be invented in many different areas all over the world, unlike complicated designs or techniques which did not leave their area of origin in the ancient world. In the ancient world there were very few effective water purification systems like we hav...	[ "Politics. It's an easy issue to use to paint your opponent as \"evil\" regardless of which side of the debate they are on." ]
What's the point of the braille on signs if blind people wouldn't know there was a sign in the first place?	[ "Some people are considered \"legally\" blind. While they can't make out numbers or letters, they can find the sign. They still have some vision. The term \"blind\" does not just mean someone who can't see anything at all. That's just one reason certain signs have braille." ]	[ "You know how authors write long stories using letters and words and the rules of grammar and writing? Its just like that. With enough knowledge of how to read (math), these kinds of explanations make sense. Dont feel bad that you cant read it. Its just like if you tried to read a story in a language you dont know....
Why does the size of holes in a Faraday Cage matter?	[ "It's not about individual photons, really. What we're talking about is classical electromagnetics, so many photons we have EM waves in the classical sense. And then what you find is that the metal material responds in such a way as to cancel out the waves, so long as it doesn't have a hole roughly larger than th...	[ "Quilted paper towels have more surface area than non-quilted. Our intestines work the same way, to absorb more nutrients." ]
Sleep deprivation - If you have a sleepless night and then proceed to get the recommended 7.5 hours of sleep the following days, for how long will you be in a sleep deprivation?	[ "We just talked about this in my psychology class today. There's a case study about this guy who, as a high school student, wanted to break the record of longest number of days without sleep (which was 11 days at the time). He made it 12 days, probably with some \"micro sleeps\" here and there. He suffered all kind...	[ "To sell water and sports drinks. That's it. Most hydration experts will tell you \"drink when you're thirsty\". The human body has millions of years of evolution built in to tell you you need to drink. What it's never told you is that you need exactly 8 glasses of water a day. It's all marketing, and the fact that...
Before satellites how were maps made accurately?	[ "Like thedrew said, triangulation from known points, but you can also see where they mark off known points. You may have seen one of these markers before and didn't realize what it was for. _URL_0_" ]	[ "Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd imagine they used what Chinese calligraphers used (brushes, ink stones, rice paper). Try [this](_URL_0_) link too. Hope that helps." ]
Why are cameras mounted on planes used for the various militaries around the world such poor quality?	[ "They're generally very high quality; they just have poor optics and low resolution because they're designed to always work under any circumstances. Poor optics is caused by glass tolerances required, and low resolution is due to the energy and emissions constraints they need to comply with (you don't want someone ...	[ "My guess? When you're dealing with a lot of makeup, prosthesis, special effects its easier to hide flaws. You can see acne under makeup in high def, you couldn't really see that back in the day. Just a guess." ]
why can you have warm milk from the microwave without it going off, but it goes off when it is unrefrigerated for a couple of hours and warms up?	[ "\"Going off\" means bacteria growing in it. That takes time. Heating the milk in the microwave is very quick, so the bacteria have no time to grow. Also, if you heat it enough, you kill them. Leaving it out for a few hours isn't hot enough to kill them and gives them time to start growing." ]	[ "The temperature sensors in your skin can only detect relative changes in temperature. Not absolute temperature. You can show this by doing a simple experiment with three cups of water. one cup of ice water, one cup of room temperature water, and one cup of hot water. Place a finger of your right hand in the ice w...
How dangerous are lead glazes, really?	[ "The factors that influence leaching are a combination of the relative solubility of lead in the glaze versus liquids in contact, and kinetics. Relative solubility tells you how lead would be distributed between the glaze and the liquid if the liquid were left in contact for a very long period of time. However, it ...	[ "Here in Korea, there are examples of Roman(style) glassware (bowls and cups), along with [glass and ceramic beads](_URL_0_). Some of the beads are incredible in that the material that made them up was layered in such a way to create images of animals and faces. Most of the glassware and all of the beads were excav...
How did lightning turn the house lights on	[ "I can think of two possibilities with the limited details provided. The first is that the power was out and it was forgotten that the light was turned on. Someone may have flipped the switch during the night after you went to sleep, which is why you didn't know about it. It was just coincidence it came back on the...	[ "Where I'm from it happens to a lot of older buildings made of Limestone. It's acid from rain slowly reacting with the Calcite in the Limestone. Here's a site that explains it: _URL_0_ If it's the same building materials there, then that would explain it. If not, then I have no idea." ]
How does polypeptide know how to shape into a protein	[ "A pretty big part of it is chemical bonding. Throughout the structure, there are different types of bonds with varying strengths and affinities (hydrogen, ionic, and covalent). There are different levels of structuring that also aid in shape, those being primary, secondary, tertiary, and sometimes quaternary. The...	[ "We know how far away every star is from us, and in what direction. Plug all these values into a big computer program and it will estimate the shape of the galaxy. Most of the pictures you've seen are an artist's imagining." ]
Why Aren't people in congress who took money from people not forced to abstain from a vote?	[ "Because then all I'd have to do to stop something from passing is donate small amounts of money to some people who supported a bill." ]	[ "If you ask for 1 pen, it costs you two dollars. If you ask for 100 000 pens, they will only cost you one dollar each. I prefer selling you 100 000 pens at half price, than selling you 1 at full price and have 99 999 sitting around doing nothing. In a similar way, if you ask for a small amount of money, you pay a b...
Why is ground beef currently $5-$7 per pound in the US?	[ "Dought in the cattle breeding/feeding area for a few years greatly reduced their produced numbers. Supply/Demand=raised beef prices." ]	[ "Because it's a scary disease where the majority of people infected die( 60 - 90% death rate ), they die really quickly and they is no known cure. (There's a small number of serums under test and used to treat some victims, however, the actual effectiveness of there are still unknown). EDIT: Most of what you see on...
why are Starbuckses at US airports so different from the other ones on the outside?	[ "I'm not sure if this is true for all airports but a majority of the Starbucks in airports, as well as most fast food and retailers, are operated by a third party company. I believe most are operated by HMS Host. Many things are overseen by the parent company representatives so that the product maintains consistenc...	[ "Different gasoline taxes. Different distances between the nearest refinery. Different blend requirements for the gasoline(California). Different requirements on who's allowed to pump gasoline into a car(Oregon/New Jersey). Different minimum wages. Different property values for a gas station sized plot of land. Dif...
Is Eugenics pseudo science?	[ "It's considered highly unethical, but the science of selective breeding is well established and would work just fine in humans too. So no, it's not pseudoscience, it just leads down a dark road sometimes." ]	[ "Because it was coined to work like the word gene." ]

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