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|---|---|---|
how does something like radar, lidar, or RF communications in general make sure that they're not receiving reflected signals and mistaking them as real? | [
"The entire thing operates on reflected signals... In the case of LiDAR, there is no such thing as mistaken signals. A signal is a signal and indicates that there's something there. The resultant point cloud is then analyzed to pull different elevation products from the cloud and turned into DEMs"
] | [
"As /u/Arpikarhu says, it's a mirage. /u/LondonPilot used this explanation in a previous answer: When it's very hot, the ground gets heated by the sun. The ground then heats the layer of air closest to it, by conduction. Given time, the hot air will rise - but initially, the air near the ground is hotter. Light fro... |
Have the poles of Earth always been extremely cold? Regardless of climate changes over time, have the poles remained perennially cold? | [
"The poles will always be colder than the rest of the planet, because the solar power per square metre of surface is lower there. On top of that, snow is a good reflector of solar energy, so less of the light that gets there gets absorbed. There's a good basic explanation [here](_URL_0_)."
] | [
"Most cultures have a word for the directions: north and south. English gets it's version from proto-germanic and old-norse. When the compass was introduced to Europe, they noticed one end pointed north and one end pointed south. So they named that end pointing north the north pole and the one pointing south the s... |
I often hear that in its entire history, India has never invaded another country, how much truth is there to this? | [
"that's a bit like saying Africa has never invaded another country. True, but not a really meaningful statement."
] | [
"Alrighty guys, because apparently maturity and self-control are in short supply tonight, I'll go ahead and make this thread-level post. * **Your jokes are not funny.** Needless to say, they do not belong here. If your comment has no substance, do not post it. If any further jokes occur here, you will be warned, wi... |
Why do almost all life forms have to eat another form of life to survive? Why can't we survive off of non-living organisms? | [
"I'm not sure I know what a non-living organism is. But to answer the question, most life on Earth needs pretty much the same stuff to survive. Certain chemical compounds, namely fats, proteins, and carbs, are used to create the energy we need to power our cells and stay alive. So where would one animal find somet... | [
"Part of the presence of pain is its *purpose*. Your nervous system continues to remind your brain the pain you've experienced so you know to protect it. For us, that means going to a doctor for a broken finger. But in nature, that means \"I need to guard this finger until it heals, or else I may die. If I try to ... |
If trigonometry is the study of the unique properties of triangles (2 dimensions), is there another branch that is the study of the unique properties of tetrahedra (3 dimensions)? | [
"You can apply two dimensional trigonometry to three dimensional structures; it just requires applying it to two dimensions at a time and then combining the results you get to define the three dimensional shape."
] | [
"I'd like to add this. In WWII they retrofitted some Spitfire airplanes with up to 5 cameras that used this exact same principal to take 3D areal recon photos of Europe. The cameras were aligned just right (and pilots trained just right) take take photos that could be put under a special viewing device bringing the... |
Why scientists still couldn't figure out how trees turn co2 to oxygen? | [
"Knowing how something works and being able to recreate it are not the same thing. See: Leonardo da Vinci."
] | [
"Because companies like TurboTax have lobbied against filling directly or the IRS filling for you for years and years. They say it's too complicated. The IRS has all the information in hand to just send you a bill for what you owe. Makes me so upset."
] |
If you focused sunlight onto a point on the eyelid, how much energy would be needed before there was pain/damage? I'm writing a paper in school and I can't find information about it. | [
"I'm not going to answer your homework question, but look up information from laser safety talks. They will explicitly go into the how much mW/mm will cause damage at what wavelengths (the wavelengths matter because IR passes through the eye better than UV... and only visible light causes blink responses). The numb... | [
"The planets do indeed exert a tidal force on the Sun. Similarly, the planets exert tidal forces on the Earth as well. The magnitude of this force is inversely proportional to the *cube of the distance* between the two objects. The farther away a planet is, the less intense the effect due to tidal forces. That's wh... |
How does an acute HIV infection compare to a chronic HIV infection? | [
"'Acute' and 'chronic' are medical terms referring to how long something has been going on; an injury is acute for about 72 hours, subacute for a few days to a few weeks, then chronic after that. (Roughly speaking; it depends on the type of injury.) So an acute HIV infection is very recent, while a chronic infecti... | [
"Can someone explain the difference between Dementia and Alzheimer's, please?"
] |
How does wireless charging work? | [
"There's a coil in the charger and one in the back of the phone/thing-to-charge. When you put an AC current through the charger's coil it creates a changing magnetic field which induces a current in the phone's coil. It's the same idea as a transformer, but with a piece of plastic between the coils rather than wrap... | [
"Quoting [Wikipedia](_URL_0_) (a bit naughty, but it's a nice way to express what I think): > The proposed theory is inconsistent with quantum mechanics and critics have ruled it out on those grounds. Which is essentially saying what you pointed out, yes. If what they're doing is as easy as it sounds - just runnin... |
Is there a scientific explanation for the phenomenon of humor? | [
"I want to point out the oddest (in my humble opinion) thing about humor and laughter: that the modern idea of them (laughter as a good emotion, sense of humor as a positive quality) apparently emerged entirely during the past few of centuries, before that laughter was considered to be pretty much entirely a thing ... | [
"To everyone currently commenting: This is not AskReddit. Anecdotes and speculation are not acceptable replies to a question in AskScience. Please read the guidelines on the sidebar -------- >"
] |
What is the difference between a state and a commonwealth? (LI5) | [
"I assume you mean in the US? There is no difference today. It dates back to when the colonies first declared independence. Some of them called themselves \"commonwealths\" to show how they were free from the king and able to be ruled by the people (for the \"common wealth\" or \"common wellbeing\" of all). Three o... | [
"hi everyone! just a reminder to respondents to be mindful of this sub's [\"20-year rule\": no discussion of events/conditions post-1994 please](_URL_0_)! thanks! OP, if you'd like to carry on this discussion for more recent years, consider x-posting this question to /r/AskSocialScience."
] |
How did the liberal nature of the 1789 French Revolution transform into the Terror? | [
"The short answer is that France was in a state of civil war by 1793. Large areas of the country were in [armed rebellion](_URL_0_) and most of the European powers had declared war on France and stated their intent to restore the monarchy. This desperate situation contributed to an environment of panic and paranoia... | [
"Hi there -- while we've approved this question, we would like to remind potential respondents of our [current events](_URL_0_) (AKA \"20-year\") rule -- it's fine to discuss events through 1997 (inclusive) and their effects, but not events after 1997. Thanks!"
] |
How prevalent was homosexuality amongst sailors and/or pirates in the past? | [
"There was [an excellent post about this exact topic](_URL_0_) about a month ago that I'm sure you'll find helpful."
] | [
"[This map](_URL_0_) is a plot of all ocean voyages contained in millions of entries contained in the Maury collection, a collection of ship logbook entries chronicling global shipping (and weather data) from 1792 to 1910, currently in the possession of NOAA National Climatic Data Center. The entire collection was ... |
How are large buildings containing asbestos demolished? | [
"Carefully. Asbestos is generally only in specific parts of the building (bathrooms etc) so when they're demolishing they'd keep an eye out for asbestos as they go, if any gets spotted then they stop works and bring in specialists. These guys would effectively seal off the room, and I think the most common removal ... | [
"I have gone over all documents I have found regarding targeting decisions and philosophy for the atomic bombs (there are fewer than one might think), and I have never seen those cities mentioned. [This post goes into detail on what little there is regarding Allied plans to use the bomb on Germany](_URL_0_) — basic... |
questions about pyramid schemes | [
"Penn & Teller: Bullshit! did a show on this, its very worth a watch, they break it down quite well and understandable. [Link to the full episode](_URL_0_) on youtube. Warning, NSFW language and boobies in like the first 2 seconds, because its Penn & Teller and thats what they do"
] | [
"The [Federal Trade Commission](_URL_0_) explains how several of these scams work."
] |
Why is it not racist to have all black organizations? | [
"Almost any photo I see of an organization that is mostly black has some white folk in it. I think that what you refer to as black organizations are open to everyone."
] | [
"The structure of spacetime outside a rotating black hole is different - compare the [Schwarzschild](_URL_2_) and [Kerr](_URL_0_) metrics. As a consequence stuff orbiting around the black hole with the same spin orientation as the black hole will be closer, while stuff orbiting opposite to the black hole will be fu... |
How did civilizations that don't share a common language start to communicate? | [
"The majority of people in the world are actually multilingual (bilingual at the least). Humans are good at picking up languages when they have a lot of contact with them, especially as children. (Chomskyan linguistics would argue this is an innate ability.) Given enough contact, it wouldn't be that hard to learn t... | [
"Most have a [relay phone](_URL_0_) in their homes - they use an interpreter. [TTY](_URL_1_) is also available on mobile phones, landlines, and in 911 centers."
] |
How are sudokus created and how do the creators know how many numbers can be removed so that its solvable? | [
"Having done this for a programming assignment, my solution was to vary the solving algorithms I used. To create my puzzles, I would randomly fill in boxes until the solving algorithms said it was a solvable valid puzzle, and then I'd store the solution. From there I would randomly erase boxes until my algorithms ... | [
"There was a great short YouTube documentary about the company that does this for the Premier League posted in r/soccer a while back but I can't find it right now. Basically there are a bunch of guys who sit around and watch certain games on computers with special software that lets them keep track of all this stuf... |
Does working out help protect bone structure's? | [
"When your bones experience stress they will build themselves up so that they are stronger. This happens for all bones and is why exercise helps prevent osteoporosis as well! Osteocytes are the main sensors of mechanical forces and orchestrate the activity of osteoblasts (responsible for bone formation) and osteocl... | [
"eskimobrother, In my undergraduate studies I do recall one of my professors talking about some recent (recent as in 2007-ish) studies indicating that subjects who exercised on a treadmill while listening to music felt that time passed by more quickly than subjects who ran with no stimulus at all. Let me try and ... |
Why all the hate for Babylon? | [
"I think (and I say this because this isn't so much history as it is literary interpratation) that this depiction of Babylon is actually one more in a long line of depictions of the archetypical \"big city\". Big cities are usually seen as centers of \"vice and excess\" (like they said in other comments), and threa... | [
"\"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 that whenever I listen to a musician with an accent sing, they sound like they lose their accent? | [
"They're intentionally singing with what's called a 'neutral accent' (aka the [General American](_URL_0_) accent). Singing with the most neutral accent possible makes their music accessible to more people, which means more potential record sales."
] | [
"I'll try an ELI5. Sound goes into the mic, sound gets amplified, sound comes out of the loudspeaker, the mic pics up that sound again from the speaker, and amplifies it again-in a loop. There is a slight delay in the electronics, and then a longer delay (speed of sound) in the time the sound goes from the speaker ... |
Why has public distributed computing for medical research been greatly reduced? | [
"Usually, lack of interest over time. These kind of projects don't have many funds (even not at all) to promote themselves. People who join don't compensate for the people who left. However most of these projects are still active due to a dedicated community with a lot of computing power - and a good part of them ... | [
"Not my field, but the most plausible candidate I've heard of is Paul Otlet in the early 20th century: _URL_1_ _URL_0_ I disagree that his idea of \"electric telescopes\" maps clearly onto our idea of \"computers,\" as the second article claims, but Otlet definitely had the idea of a global information network (as ... |
Can someone explain the difference between squatting and home invasion and help me understand why a hypothetical homeowner can't just forcibly remove a trespasser. | [
"When you forcibly or unlawfully enter an occupied, private dwelling, it's home invasion. When you occupy an abandoned or otherwise unoccupied dwelling or plot of land, you're a squatter. The difference is whether the land or building is currently being used, or not. \"Squatter's rights\" is actually a legal thing ... | [
"One thing to point out is the terrain. Iraq is in the populous parts of the country pretty flat, with a semi good road network across the country making it easy to move people around, and larger cities and towns to organize around. Afghanistan is some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth. With little nation... |
If the answer to my connectivity problem is always "Unplug and plug in your router", why don't manufacturers put in an easy-to-use on/off switch? | [
"Serious answer: It's one more moving part that could break, and it costs maybe 1 cent extra. Slightly-less-serious answer: I work in phone support, and you would be shocked by how many people can't find and press a power button, even it it's *the only button on the device*. Most people can at least manage to unplu... | [
"A CRT has an electron beam that is scanned across the screen in a raster pattern left-to-right, then down a row, left-to-right, etc. It covers the whole screen 60 times per second. The scanning is controlled by magnetic fields. When you turn off the TV, the magnetic fields go away slightly before the electron beam... |
Why is plastic so hard to break down and why is it so hard to reuse? | [
"There are a myriad of variety of plastics, literally thousands of different molecule chains that all form plastics. Almost all of these will have unique chemical reactions. Recycling each plastic could mean a different thing, a different process, and a different set of intermediate molecules. Sometimes the reactio... | [
"They don't look at the total amount of carbon, but at the ratio between different kinds (isotopes) of carbon. One isotope has two more neutrons in its nucleus, so it's called C-14, but the nucleus isn't stable, so over time it goes back to C-12 (the \"normal\" isotope). The amount of C-14 in the atmosphere is repl... |
Is antimatter matter that travel backwards in time? | [
"I think people come to that interpretation due to Feynman diagrams since, in them, an antiparticle is pictorially represented as a line with an arrow going in the negative direction on the time axis. However, Feynman diagrams are in part just pictures to help one understand processes occurring and don't necessari... | [
"Negative *inertial* mass. The actual mass is still normal. All it really does is behave in the opposite way you'd expect when you push on it."
] |
Why the sudden disparity in chromosome number despite difference in complexity and intelligence? | [
"Just because a book has more pages doesn’t mean it’s a better book. Chromosomes in different species do a lot of different things, and some are more or less efficient, some specialized and some not. The number of individual chromosomes (out of context of a species) is unrelated to pretty much anything"
] | [
"The graph cites a broken link to the US Census Bureau. A few minutes of digging led me to [this table](_URL_0_). As you can see, the only number for 400 BCE is from Biraben, whose numbers are higher than the McEvedy and Jones numbers the table depended on before. Biraben numbers often are the upper limit, but acco... |
Is it better for a bullet to pass through-and-through or to remain in the body, after being shot? | [
"If it passes through that means that it didn't expend all of its energy on your body. The more energy imparted to the body, the more damage. So an impact that leaves the bullet in the body is much harder. On the other hand, if it went through because the energy in the bullet was already particularly large, you... | [
"Many years ago they coated tiny starch balls with the drug by rolling them in a cement mixer and spraying the drug onto the balls. They spray a coat, let it dry, and then spray on a coat of shellac. They let that coat dry, and then spray on another coat of the drug; let it dry; then another coat of shellac. They p... |
Has a supernova ever been recorded AS it is happening, or are there any stars that are known to be on their way to supernova and are being watched? | [
"Supernovas are an important observable in cosmology, and several surveys have already, are now, and are planned to observe supernovas as they happen. Something more than a thousand have been already been seen. They are used not only to study cosmology, but also to understand stellar processes in more detail. Proje... | [
"You seem to be describing a variant of the [ladder paradox](_URL_0_), just using a train and tunnel instead of a ladder and a garage, he he. > What does the outside observer see? The outside observer sees the front guillotine make a cut, then later after the train has passed further through the tunnel, the back g... |
Why are so many people in the recent generations being diagnosed with clinical mental illnesses? Were past generations tougher? Did they just not know about depression? | [
"Past generations just called you a simpleton or a tweaker and left you in the basement. There's not very good data on the occurrence rates of mental illness before the last few decades, so it's hard to say with much certainty if real rates are increasing or not."
] | [
"Hi OP, this is a cultural question, so it would greatly assist anyone considering answering if you could specify which culture you're asking about. For example, the name of a cultural group / country / geographic region, plus a rough time period. Otherwise, this question is simply too broad, as it encompasses almo... |
If a sneeze comes out at over 100 miles an hour, why doesn't my head go back the same speed? | [
"First, sneezes don't travel at 100 mph; Mythbusters found speeds of 35-39 mph when [they measured this](_URL_0_). Secondly, you wouldn't expect the head to go back at equal speed; the recoil depends on momentum, which is mass times velocity. The speed of the sneeze may be relatively fast, but the mass is quite sma... | [
"Your car acts as a [Helmhotz resonator](_URL_1_), just like when you blow in a bottle, but the frequency is obviously much lower because a car is much larger than a wine bottle. You can also look [here](_URL_0_) for more comments."
] |
Why do fluorescent things glow under UV light? | [
"Fluorescence is the ability of an object, or rather the material it's made of, to absorb light and then re-emit them. They way this works is usually via the absorption of photons by the material to promote electrons into higher energy levels. Then, these electrons relax back to ground state, emitting photons in th... | [
"> If not, does it have a half-life at all, or does this - somehow - make the uranium completely stable? Generally speaking, the nucleus doesn't care *much* about what's going on at the atomic/molecular level. Putting a radioactive nucleus into some compound isn't going to change much (except for decay modes that i... |
"30% chance of rain" | [
"From The Weather Channel: > The 'Chance of Precip' describes the likelihood of precipitation (maybe not even measurable) in your forecast area. The chance is based upon a series of 100 instances of identical weather conditions. > For example, a 40% Chance of Precip means that precipitation occurred 40 out of 100... | [
"Apparently its called a \"Semantic pleonasm\". Wikipedia gives examples like \"Down South, Hot Water Heater and Free Gift. People say Cheddar Cheese also. I dont know, I guess in many instances we often like to be redundant again and again a lot."
] |
why I still have to pee when I'm dehydrated. | [
"Peeing is not only about getting rid of excess water, it's about flushing your system of toxins. You've got to run fluid through your kidneys to get that stuff out. The reason you need water isn't to be less thirsty :) It's to use it. You keep using it even when you haven't taken any in. Of course, you will stop p... | [
"Think of your brain like a billion streams of water that flow over the surface of a rock. The more you use a certain stream, the more \"powerful\" that stream becomes by digging away that rock. Now even if you have a nice dug place for a stream, sometimes randomly that stream won't have needed to flow for a while ... |
Why do old glass bottles which have been underground for a long period of time go rainbow? | [
"The effect is called iridescence. It's caused by a chemical reaction on the surface of the glass by the compounds in certain soils similar to how rust develops from the oxidization of iron. It can be removed through buffing if desired."
] | [
"Speculative, as I know of no scientific study on the subject, but I am an electronics technician and electronic warfare specialist who works with various radio and radar equipment. It's possible that the angle of your radio station relative to the freeway (and thus overpasses) is such that just as you go through t... |
How do sim cards work and why do we need them? | [
"Sure it's possible, and that's how things were before SIM cards. But for the phone companies, it's really about the service they are selling -- minutes and data. And really, they don't give a shit what phone is used as long as you pay your bill. A SIM card separates the account from the phone and makes the account... | [
"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 does high frequency sonar waves yield better resolution? | [
"The resolution of any image is dependent on the wavelength of light observed. The [Raleigh Criterion](_URL_0_) to determine the maximum angular resolution of an optical system yields a formula which is proportional to the wavelength being observed. That means longer wavelengths give worse resolution than shorter w... | [
"Yes. Speaking as an Occupational Therapy student who has studied the effects of using ultrasound as a modality I have seen the positive results. The settings of the ultrasound should be on continuous to penetrate the tissue and create a deep heat. This promotes tissue healing by increasing the blood flow to the ar... |
Is it possible to estimate the humidity based on clarity of the visible constellations? | [
"Interestingly, the ancient Greeks and Romans considered Praesepe (the Beehive cluster in Cancer) to be a weather indicator. If the sky was clear but the star cluster could not be seen clearly, it indicated approaching rain. From Pliny the Elder: \"If Praesaepe is not visible in a clear sky it is a presage of a vio... | [
"Randall Munroe, the artist behind _URL_0_, completed an epic and award-winning project called 'Time'. At one point in the story, he [depicted a night scene](_URL_1_). Well, his audience was geeks, so within a hour or so we had determined, by the proper motion of the stars, the location of the planets in the starfi... |
if China had a one-child policy between 1980 and 2015, how did the population increase by 400 million in those 35 years? | [
"So first, many Chinese citizens were allowed a second child if the first one was a girl. Secondly, improvements in medical care and nutrition meant that the death rate decreased dramatically as well."
] | [
"[Women who use oral contraception \\(or those with multiple pregnancies\\)](_URL_0_) do tend to have slightly d[elayed onset of menopause](_URL_1_) - however, this is [not the direct 1:1, dose response relationship you might expect](_URL_2_). This is because onset of menopause is due to more factors than just the ... |
The Large Hadron Collider, what it does, and the most exciting/recent/important discoveries. | [
"It uses huge magnets to accelerate single atoms to near-light speed, and measures what happens when those atoms collide. The energy of the collision can cause undiscovered and exotic particles to briefly blink into existence."
] | [
"If you have a spare afternoon or two I'd check out these two Khan Academy playlists on the [Credit Crisis](_URL_2_) and the [Paulson Bailout](_URL_0_), and if you want to learn more about how banks work check out this [Banking and Money](_URL_1_) playlist as well; there's a few others on finance and credit as well... |
how international calling works from the US to foreign countries. | [
"International calling occurs via the international network of telephone lines, some of which run underseas. Although there are telephone satellite networks, they're quite inconvenient to use (poor reception, significant latency), and are primarily designed to provide coverage to areas that would otherwise have non... | [
"It's relative. If the rates for pounds are more than dollars, one might sell dollars to buy pounds to get higher interest. This makes the cost of dollars go down (many sellers) and the cost of pounds of up (many buyers)."
] |
Were the Supermassive Black Holes at the centre of our Galaxy (and others) Stars at some point? | [
"When the universe originally formed, the abundance of hydrogen was much greater than that of today, resulting in massive stars that exhausted their fuel supplies over millions of years; collapsing violently in hyper novae explosions and the first black holes. These black holes eventually accumulated and merged, fo... | [
"Any physically straigth line will always appear arc shaped if it covers long enough area of your vision. Its just our brains can make us realise they are really straigth if there is enough context. For the case of milkiway center there isnt. Cameras can cause further confusion. Its like inverse version of the prob... |
Why are some commercials clearly voicedubbed even though the language is English. | [
"They are ads that are shown in multiple countries. The voices are dubbed over with the native accent so the viewers relate more with the people in the ad."
] | [
"I'm pretty sure each country has its own laws regarding intellectual property and trademarks, there's no international collaboration. So if an American company that trades under the name \"super duper burgers\" wants to expand to the UK and finds that there is already another company trading under that name they ... |
How they create synthetic tastes? | [
"Chemists are able to take a real american cheesecake apart into its individual composition. They can then take out the substances that we know do not taste anything like fat, sugar and proteins. They can also take out substances that have too low concentration. The result is a recopy for what a real american chees... | [
"They do sampling. They'll have a smaller sampling population, track their television viewing habits and project those numbers to the entire population. The most popular and widely used on is [Nielsen ratings](_URL_0_)."
] |
i was told that wider tires don't equate to more area of contact with the road. Then why are all high performance tires wider than everyday tires? | [
"What you were told was in fact correct. The people speculating here that a wider tire = larger area of tire touching the road are incorrect. See: _URL_1_"
] | [
"If you assume the light wavelength is shorter inside the medium, you can understand the direction change through Huygen's Principle. [picture](_URL_1_) Every point where a wave crest hits the boundary can be considered as its own point source. The wave fronts inside the medium result from adding all the point sour... |
In cables, how are additional pins used if the two ends do not have the same amount of pins? | [
"I don't know what Samsung cable you have but [a micro USB 3.0 like this](_URL_0_) only has 10 pins. It's basically a rewiring of the 9 USB 3.0 pins with an additional grounded pin for connector identification. This is most often the case for cables with a different number of pins on each side: some of the signals ... | [
"Because the law required them to be back-ward compatible with anything and everything ever invented. And people expect them to look a certain way, so they keep it up. And because it's a lot of time from Very Important Useless People (congressmen) to change the law for something that's really not that important. Am... |
The lack of a strong socialist party in the US linked to the absence of feudalism? | [
"I think the contention that feudalism was a heavy contributor to socialism is a pretty weak one. What is Lipset's evidence for that assertion? I think the rise of socialism is a heck of a lot more complex than \"the struggle against feudalism and the ravages of industrialization took on a class conscious character... | [
"The general idea is that the free market isn't perfect because the economy doesn't operate in a vacuum. When the market fails, the government needs to step in to correct incentives. As an example, spewing carcinogenic chemicals from a manufacturing plant may be good for the business (cheaper for them) and the peo... |
Why do some girls have rape fantasies? | [
"In some cases it's about submission. Less about violent acts and more about being sexually used by a dominant person. Majority of women wouldn't actually want to get raped, but some with this fetish just want to be taken control of once in a while. That's how my ex gf (who had a fantasy about being forced into sex... | [
"This doesn't apply en mass to the apocalyptic genre but I have noticed, looking at certain anarchist or libertarian examples, there is a specific desire for a world in which their skills are more valuable than those rewarded in the current economy. For example if I'm skilled at hunting, fishing, gardening, etc, th... |
Why is it that Racecar tires wear out with a few laps while the tires on a regular car can last years? | [
"Race car tires are usually softer in order to increase grip, but this makes them less resistant to wear. Also, race cars tend to accelerate, brake, and turn *much* harder than normal driving, which increases friction against the road, which increases wear."
] | [
"If you push evenly on the cart then you will do the same work on both sides. Some of this energy will go to rotating the wheels allowing the cart to move. All wheels have friction as they spin around the axle. If there is more friction in the left wheel then it will lose its energy faster and it will spin slower. ... |
Do animals have emotion? | [
"For an interesting academic read on the subject, see Painter and Lotz's book *Phenomenology and the Non-Human Animal*, which is the most oft cited resource on the subject of animal interiors. [You can read the fulltext here and download as a PDF.](_URL_2_) People who study this, Phenomenologists (in the realm of p... | [
"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_"
] |
Are there planets outside of galaxies? | [
"Are there extragalactic exoplanets? Probably. Have we ever found one? No. The image in [this](_URL_0_) _URL_2_ article shows that we have really only found exoplanets in a very small region of our local galactic neighborhood. As for planets not bound to stars, we do know those exist. They very likely formed aroun... | [
"A long time ago in places like Greece, Rome and even before that in really, really long ago places like Sumeria, and Egypt people made up stories about the stars/planets and the pictures they thought groups of stars made. These stories were usually about beings they considered to be gods or demigods (the word demi... |
Why there weren't general elections in Britain between 1935 and 1945? | [
"Because of the war. As simple as that. Normal parliamentary procedures were halted as the war raged on as it was deemed to 'risky' for want of a better term to hold elections and potentially change governments at a time of such national crisis."
] | [
"Hi, I've approved the post, but just a note to you and potential respondents: this subreddit has a 20-year rule against discussing current events, so any answers will have to cut off at 1997. If you're looking for answers that can include 1998-2012, do consider x-posting elsewhere, eg. a foreign affairs sub like /... |
Why do we get a runny nose when we tear up? | [
"> Why do we get a runny nose when we tear up? Because our tear ducts drain into our nose. There are a whole network of sinus tunnels in our face which are connected."
] | [
"Looking at something exercises the rod and cone cells in the back of your eyeballs which then send the signal down your optic nerves to allow your brain to process the information. If the subject is very bright, then your rod and cone cells get overworked and start to become less sensitive to whatever type of ligh... |
How much does a nebula exert drag during space travel? | [
"Technically, yes, there is more gas and dust within a nebula than in the interstellar medium, but it's incredibly diffuse. An average nebula may only be [a trillionth as dense](_URL_0_) as the air you're breathing right now. But this is still important for future interstellar vessels, though. At relativistic speed... | [
"The Atlas V and Delta IV rockets aren't man-rated. There's a certain failure rate and operational/vibrational loading that is acceptable for human cargo that those two rockets haven't shown their capable of, and which they were never designed for. NASA would have either needed a new rocket, or dusted off an old on... |
What was the reality of the Irish slaves in the 18th century in America? | [
"The short version is that there are no Irish American slaves, but it's a popular myth that we've dealt with before. /u/sowser has [rundown of why the story is popular](_URL_2_) and [what the real situation was](_URL_1_). In addition, Liam Hogan has been all over this myth for a few years now and has [a compilation... | [
"hi! Could you clarify the scope of this question? Are you mainly asking about practices in Scotland / the British Isles roughly around the Civil Wars, or landowners anytime anywhere? [hint: [say the former](_URL_0_) ]"
] |
Do high energy electrons interact chemically with conpounds? | [
"They do produce chemical changes in substrates, particularly insulators. The beam damage takes different forms, but typically begins when the primary beam initiates ionization in the substrate. For example, imagine the structural damage that results from unbalanced forces when a Na+ ion in NaCl suddenly turns into... | [
"The end has what is known as dangling bonds. These are very reactive and either they react with whatever gas they come into contact with (so in diamond the surface is some horrible mess of C-O and C-H bonds) or they undergo [surface reconstruction](_URL_0_) where the surface adopts a different arrangement that doe... |
How does an atheist promise under oath? | [
"You can choose to \"solemnly affirm\" rather than swear on anything."
] | [
"One interesting factoid. Someone once asked the architect of the NHS how he secured the doctor's support for the plan. His response: \"I stuffed their mouths with gold.\" _URL_1_"
] |
Economics, Accounting, Finance and how do they relate to eachother. | [
"Economist: my job is to study how money works in economies. This could be how money works in a family, in a company, in a country, in the world. Accountant: my job is to make sure that the money inside this one household/company/government is going to the right places in the right amounts, and that those movements... | [
"Say you had a brother who sells yu-gi-oh cards locally for a living. Over the years, he gives you (in reality SA buys) thousands of the rare cards he is selling. $750,000 worth. One day, you and your brother get into a fight and as \"payback\" you dump your $750,000 card collection at the street corner for $100,0... |
why is it that if I boil my pet crab, it's totally legal, yet if I boil my pet dog, I would be arrested? What's the difference? | [
"In the US The Animal Welfare Act excludes a number of animals: birds, rats and mice bred for research, and animals raised for food or fiber as well as all cold-blooded animals. Animal cruelty laws do not apply to crabs."
] | [
"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... |
The world is in recession and gas prices are still relatively high. Does this mean that gas prices will skyrocket once a strong economic recovery occurs? | [
"If people really knew the answer to this question, they would be playing the gas futures market, not posting on Reddit. There are too many variables to know for sure. It is not just about supply and demand in the US, but also about supply and demand in other petroleum consuming countries. Oil is priced in dollars... | [
"Your title seems to imply that in two rocket engines that are identical in every way except for the ability to throttle the one with the ability to throttle would always produce a lower Isp. This isn't the case. At the same throttle level these two engines would have the same Isp, but as the throttleable engine re... |
Is it true that re-heating meat (or any food) more than once is dangerous? | [
"I could answer this for you, but since I found it so wonderfully explained in detail [elsewhere](_URL_0_), I will instead point you there instead of typing the full explanation here. A very brief explanation of what is there though is to say that each time the food is cooled from hot to cold and passes through tha... | [
"There's nothing wrong with reposting a question, if it's gone a long while without an answer. I posted a question several months ago, and it got zero response, so after a month or so went by, I cut and pasted the post into a new post, and that one got several quality answers. As long as you wait a good long while ... |
How does earthquake prediction work? | [
"To generalize - at present, it doesn't. We do not have a way to accurately measure the stresses in rocks deep below the surface, or to calculate exactly how much stress it will take to break the rock that will allow the fault to move, causing an earthquake. That's not to say that we are not trying. Seismologists c... | [
"Their services are classified under entertainment. They don't have to be true, just like a movie doesn't have to be true, just as long as they entertain you. If customer want to believe it is true, the authorities don't get involved just as they won't get involved if you think *Titanic* was a factual documentary. ... |
How come when someone tries to open a car door at the same time that someone unlocks the door, it won't open/unlock? | [
"Does not happen in modern cars. There's a latchkey in older cars that, if you tension the door lock wire at the wrong time, will cause it to go flaccid - which will result in the door lock not opening. So you press the lock button, it tenses an actual wire, and if the door handle is opened at that exact moment it ... | [
"No, there isn't really a practical limit to the total number of devices that can use the GPS system simultaneously. The reason is that GPS devices are inherently passive in the sense that they only receive information from the a set of satellites without having to transmit any information back. Basically, the way... |
Why do candles flicker even if there is no moving air in the room they are standing in? | [
"because there is moving air. the candle flame itself creates heat that heats up the air immediately touching the flame and moves it."
] | [
"They use extremely fast camera shutters to capture a very short moment so you can see the light beam. However they can not reset the camera in time for the next frame so they cheat a bit by sending a new beam of light for the next frame. They make sure to synchronize the short beams of light with the camera shutte... |
In many languages around the world, the sounds 'Ma' and 'Pa' form a part of the words for Mother and Father. Why is this so? | [
"You might consider reposting this question to [Ask Linguistics](_URL_0_) if you don't get a good answer here."
] | [
"In the studio or broadcast where music is mixed some instruments are panned left or right. Following the l/r on you headphones preserves the intended left and right balance. Movies as well will sometimes pan things from side to side as you see things move across the screen. It would not seem correct to see somethi... |
Why does alcohol burn when it touches your fresh wound? And why does it not burn anymore when you apply it again after the burning stops? | [
"Alcohol destroys cells by breaking apart the cell wall, which is the hard^^ish surrounding of the cell that keeps everything in one package. When the alcohol breaks apart your nerve cells, you feel pain. If you put it on again after a short period of time, the cells are already broken and dead, so you no longer fe... | [
"Like many mammals, people have instincts to groom themselves to maintain health and attract mates. Part of our grooming instinct is to remove parasites, like ticks or lice. These bugs are not a common problem for many modern people (unless you live below the poverty line, or enjoy the outdoors in certain places). ... |
Why does the decimal point symbol vary from the United States (3.14), Continental Europe (3,14), and Britain (3·14)? | [
"I'm from the UK, I have never seen the decimal point in any different way other than: '3.14'? Edit: I've never even seen the floating . on a keyboard either...."
] | [
"[15th-century Italy saw the formation of the two main variants that are known today. These variants, the Italic and Roman forms, were derived from the Caroline Script version. The Italic form, also called script a, is used in most current handwriting and consists of a circle and vertical stroke. This slowly develo... |
What is wrong with the cable companies and data carriers | [
"There are a host of reasons, but they all point to one simple explanation: pretty much everyone needs to use their services, but the lack of any meaningful competition means that the companies have zero incentive to offer reasonable prices or provide even a modicum of customer service. People are okay paying a lo... | [
"Netflix has to pay for licenses for each show/movie, for each country it might be viewed in. Some shows might not be acceptable in a certain country, or the holder of the rights wants more for the license than Netflix will pay. I’m sure there are other reasons as well."
] |
Could a really skilled knight or swordsman really take on and kill 5 or so other opponents at a time? Or is that just movie bs? | [
"Can you please clarify what specific historical time or times and locations you are interested in? I may be able to answer your question, but as posed it isn't a historical one."
] | [
"The problem with this question is that what monks *did* and what they *wrote that they did* are not exactly similar. We know that monasteries usually relied on the protection of a local lord as well as the inviolate nature of the church. My field is European monastic history and I've never seen any textual mentio... |
How are nanoparticles used as drug delivery systems? | [
"Nanoparticles in an of themselves usually do not localize in tissues unless the tissue contains a large amount of abnormal in vasculature, as is seen in tumors (See EPR effect _URL_3_ _permeability_and_retention_effect). In this case, localization is mediated by the size regime of the nanoparticles and the nature ... | [
"For now, there aren't any. This is basic research, the purpose of which is to learn more about the universe we live in, not to develop new technologies. That said, much like going to the moon, the search for the Higgs boson has lead to many technological advances in areas such as materials science (and superconduc... |
What makes the erasers on mechanical pencils work so much better than the erasers on regular yellow #2 pencils? | [
"Mechanical pencil erasers are made of softer rubber. They don't last as long, but they work better. Regular pencils have a hard eraser because they're not easily replaceable, unlike the eraser on a mechanical pencil."
] | [
"Your brain is what tells you something hurts. Your body has millions of little feelers (nerve endings) all over that talk to the brain, and can tell it if something hurts. When something does hurt, the feelers will tell the brain where the hurt is coming from. What painkillers do is stop the feelers from being abl... |
In WW2-era movies, I notice there is masking(?) tape on the windows of some houses in an asterisk pattern. Why is this? | [
"in Europe during the bombings, windows would sometimes shatter/be blasted in spraying the interior with glass shards. the tape was an attempt to reduce this effect. in the US during hurricane season you will see people doing the same thing for the same reason....(never commented here before, hope i did ok)"
] | [
"Well, one reason is that it's a lot cheaper that way. Having two minutes to fill in your show's time-slot doesn't seem like a lot but it equates to several man-hours of work (with respect to actual time spent filming and editing). Also, it was just sort of the accepted style at the time, so other shows tended to c... |
Why does my nose get really runny when I eat spicy food? | [
"Its your body reacting to the burn trying to stop it getting into your breathing system."
] | [
"It is supposed to be a natural reaction that our ancestors used to survive. It would keep them away from the nests of dangerous insects such as termites. It was the body's way of trying to avoid the danger and keep alive. If you believe in evolution you could say that it is part of evolution."
] |
why is it easier to remove stains from kitchenware with really hot water as oppose to cold water? | [
"Most substances have increased solubility in hot water compared to cold water. For example, you can dissolve more salt in hot water than cold water."
] | [
"It's mostly driven by changes in entropy. The entropy change (ΔS) for dissolving a gas is usually negative. So for dissolving a gas the Gibbs free energy change, which determines the favourability of a process, becomes: ΔG = ΔH + TΔS. This is less favourable with increasing temperature (ΔG increases). On the other... |
How did people come up with images of people from the Bible nobody even saw them, and there’ not even a physical description written? For example, why is God depicted as an old man? And Mary who doesn’t even have a hint of Middle Eastern feature in her. | [
"> How did people come up with images of people from the Bible nobody even saw them, and there’ not even a physical description written? Let's say you just read a book and there's a character in it that doesn't have a physical description. Okay, now draw it! You could still draw it, doesn't mean it's accurate/accur... | [
"You just associate the hair and clothing style with older women. Back in the 50's the straight hair popular today would have been considered a very plain style. perhaps outdated and backwoods-ish in some places as it was more popular in the Victorian era it might have had a similar effect."
] |
Why some pimples feel like whiteheads but never are, they just have an infinite amount of oily clear liquid. | [
"Are you talking about the kind of zit that's deep enough under your skin that when you try to pop it, you can't reach where the pus is, and you only get blood plasma for irritating it?"
] | [
"The pressure doesn't keep increasing. It's pressurized to a certain level and stays there. Just as a balloon can *hold* pressure for days without the pressure increasing and bursting it. *Edit:* Or how a heavy book on a shelf doesn't press harder and harder until it breaks the shelf. The pressure has stabilized."
... |
What the Mayan's said would happen in 2012 and why people believe it | [
"_URL_0_ 'December 2012 marks the conclusion of a b'ak'tun—a time period in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar which was used in Central America prior to the arrival of Europeans.' ELI5 translation: End of the mayan calander, about as much significance as reaching the end of your calender. Everything to do with i... | [
"Back then people still needed jobs, now they dont and can practice harder for longer. And science helps by showing then methods on improving motions. You cam find cool videos on youtube"
] |
Why were slaves mainly from Africa? What separated Africa from other colonies? | [
"I read a great post concerning this on here a while ago, unfortunately i can't find it. To sum it up it said gold prices dropped since influx from the Americas, so Africans increasingly relied on selling slaves for trade. The New world climate proved excellent for cash crops as sugar and tobacco, however these req... | [
"Ebola is endemic to these regions. As [Sunmann](_URL_0_) has linked, the virus has its own cycles in the animals that populate these countries. It's always around. It doesn't really \"stay away\" so much as humans either properly handle, or don't have the chance to come in contact with, infected animals."
] |
What makes carbon so perfect for life? | [
"The Carbon atom has four valence electrons allowing it to be very versatile for chemical bonding. Plus, it's just very abundant in the universe."
] | [
"It's called spectroscopy. Simply put, when light go through an element like hydrogen, the atoms will absorb different wavelength of the light. When you analyse the spectrum of light that when through hydrogen you will see a couple of black line where the wavelength were absorbed. It's a bit like the fingerprint of... |
Does elevation change affect birds the same way it affects humans? (Or any other land animal for that matter) | [
"Birds and animals native to high altitudes are just better evolutionarily adapted to those environments. The primary cause of altitude sickness in humans is hypoxia. High altitude animals overcome this mainly by [changes in hemoglobin – oxygen affinity](_URL_0_) (usually changes to the quaternary structure of the ... | [
"I don't so much think of it as an evolutionary thing. There's really no benefit to being confused. It comes down to computing power. Your brain just takes a minute to recall old information/piece together new information to develop an idea of where you are and how you got there. I'm currently in flight school and... |
What exactly is the singularity? | [
"Singularity can mean multiple things depending on context. In astrophysics, the singularity can refer to the point in time immediately prior to the Big Bang where there was just one *thing*. If you believe that the universe is expanding, it makes sense that as some point everything came from somewhere. It can also... | [
"This video from Sagan will help. I couldn't explain it in a better way. _URL_0_"
] |
How did we eradicate Smallpox? | [
"Smallpox basically only exists in humans, and doesn't change that quickly. So one of the largest vaccination campaigns ever was started in an effort to eradicate the disease. As no real anti vaccine movement had started at the time, and smallpox was a horrible disease that everyone knew, and no one wanted to risk.... | [
"This submission has been removed because it is [soapboxing](_URL_1_.), [promoting a political agenda, or moralizing](_URL_0_). We don't allow content that does these things because they are detrimental to unbiased and academic discussion of history."
] |
Why does it take so long for inmates on death row to be executed? | [
"Are you talking about why they sit for years and years? If so it's because they and their lawyers are exercising every appeals process available, continuing to dig for new information in regards to the case, and basically making sure that every I is dotted and every t crossed before a person is executed. It doesn'... | [
"They have to make sure it's in stock (add some time to get it, if not), check with your doctor, check for interactions, and check with however many insurance companies, then count, double, and triple-count the pills, all while doing this with other customers."
] |
If it was wrong for the US/the West NOT TO intervene in the war in Rwanda, why are so many people saying it's wrong TO intervene in Syria? | [
"A little event happened just prior to the Rwanda genocide, in a place called Mogadishu. After that complete cluster fuck America had its tail between its legs and had absolutely no motivation to hop into another conflict. The UN themselves declined to intervene, and they had boots on the ground in Rwanda. But thei... | [
"For the cathedral, they wouldn't just be building a new roof, it will be a restoration process which takes time. It is also a cultural heritage site which means it's important to history and protected by many rules and laws. Any plan to rebuild should be reviewed and approved by the pertinent authorities and the p... |
How does the crossplatform gaming works and why is it so rare to see a game with crossplatform support? | [
"ahh, you mean multiplayer? they tried that with some fps game, pc with mouse and keyboard just slaughtered console players. forget what game that was.. google is not helping much. _URL_0_ > According to Sood's sources, \"many many months ago,\" Microsoft set out on a Xbox Live project that would let PC and conso... | [
"Potentially. Different neurotransmitters occur in different concentrations in different parts of the brain and the receptors that they interact with occur as different subtypes and in different densities in different regions. So a drug, either agonist or antagonist, may preferentially act upon on anatomical region... |
Why to we move an object up and down with our hands when we try to measure how heavy it is? | [
"because we are trying to see how much force it requires to overcome the effect of gravity. we are better at judging weights by lifting then than holding them steady."
] | [
"It's relative. If the rates for pounds are more than dollars, one might sell dollars to buy pounds to get higher interest. This makes the cost of dollars go down (many sellers) and the cost of pounds of up (many buyers)."
] |
Why cant we take alot of the trash in the world thats filling up our landfills and launch it into space towards the sun? | [
"It costs $10000 to launch a pound of payload into space. You do the math."
] | [
"Because it's seafood. Seafood does not last for long, and if you want to eat some tuna in Nebraska, you'll have to accept the current systems that we have for keeping it fresh enough to eat."
] |
Why do you sometimes feel sick when extremely tired or from lack of sleep? | [
"Bodies need sleep to repair and regenerate. Little sleep means little repair, so your body is breaking apart and it can't put itself back together quickly. This feels shitty. Also, if you never get enough sleep, your immune system is lowered, so probably will get sick for real."
] | [
"Basically your brain is receiving conflicting signals from your eyes and ears. If you are looking at the floor when in a car or on a bus or a book your eyes are telling you that you are not moving. But your ear is telling your brain that you are indeed moving. So instead of your body realising you are reading a bo... |
What books should I buy about Roman history? | [
"Ammianus Marcellinus’ “The Later Roman Empire” is an excellent source for the years 353-378 (unfortunately those are the only books of his work that we still have)"
] | [
"Hi - we as mods have approved this thread, because while this is a homework question, it is asking for clarification or resources, rather than the answer itself, which is fine according to [our rules](_URL_1_). This policy is further explained in this [Rules Roundtable thread](_URL_3_) and this [META Thread](_URL_... |
Does the act of audibly grunting during a strenuous physical activity (eg. lifting, bowel movement) provide any mechanical assistance/boost? | [
"Your torso, also called your \"core\", has a bunch of muscles which allow you to move it about rather than just flopping like a wet noodle. When you perform physical exertion the act of tensing these muscles will make your torso more or less rigid and allow the actions of the muscles to be transferred efficiently.... | [
"Think of nutrients as lego sculptures. Some are simple and easy for you to take apart, but sometimes they're really complicated and you have to ask your brother to help you take them apart. Beans have nutrients called complex oligosaccharides that are like really complicated lego sculptures. They're really hard to... |
Why do candles only make smoke after I blow them out? | [
"That's not smoke. Its vaporized parrafin wax. It is to wax as steam is to water. You see, when a candle burns its not the string that is burning, but rather the wax of the candle. Candle wax is quite flammable, but only when vaporized. The melted wax is absorbed by the candle wick, and then burned. When you blow t... | [
"Let's take plan old white glue for an example. It is a bunch of sticky stuff in water. When the water evaporates, the stuff that's left behind is frozen into place. When it's in the bottle, there's nowhere for the water vapor to evaporate to, so it stays wet and sticky."
] |
Why are recorders still taught in music classes in school if they all sound so terrible? | [
"They're cheap, small, simple, don't require any real maintenance and don't require any skill to get a somewhat-acceptable tone out of or get correct pitch. They also don't have to sound terrible - breath control for proper tone production isn't typically taught to the kind of students who are playing recorder to b... | [
"One explanation of possibly many: Some artists, rather than choosing to have the video taken down, will instead offer the option of keeping the video up on youtube for two reasons. Youtube has a system of revenue share where once the copyright has been determined to belong to an artist, the artist can actually cla... |
Had an MRI, they let me use headphones to listen to music | [
"How they work is that the speaker park (with the magnet) is outside the machine where it isn't affected and the headphones are basically just hollow tubes that allow the sound to travel along them. It's kind of like an advanced version of two cups tied together with string"
] | [
"The main reason, other than it possibly interfering with the plane, is safety. Take off and landing are especially dangerous times and they need to make sure you are paying attention to safety information and are able to get out if something does happen."
] |
What is jealousy, biologically? | [
"Jealousy is a mate-guarding behaviour. Our ancestors who got jealous more often took action to eliminate the threat/distraction. The action might involve a huge piece of rock to the head. Our inheritance of this trait speaks for its success."
] | [
"Recent studies show a link to [dopamine](_URL_1_) which is a brain chemical."
] |
Is there any correlation between LTR and RTL languages and the dominate handedness of that language's creator or culture? | [
"First, let's separate out language and it's writing system. Writing isn't language as much as a representation thereof. There are \"right-handed\" and \"left-handed\" languages in the way you suggest. Second, considering that the Pheonician scribe was the origin of both the Latin and Cyrillic systems (left to rig... | [
"Extra History actually did a video [on the origins of writing](_URL_0_). The short version is that early writing was done in wet clay tablets. Since clay takes forever to dry, writing vertically risked the writer accidentally setting their hand on the tablet and obliterating part of their document. To solve this t... |
Can anyone shed some light on why talking can be so taxing for some introverts? | [
"Learned this in my psych class. Introverts' brains are often more sensitive to stimuli than extroverts'. It's almost like their brains are processing everything a little more. To illustrate this... _URL_0_ Like you may have seen before, this cube can be seen in two ways: with it tilting up and to the left or down ... | [
"There are several. [Here's a link](_URL_0_) to a meta-analysis. The conclusion is: Overall, TM [transcendental meditation] practice is more effective than treatment as usual and most alternative treatments, with greatest effects observed in individuals with high anxiety."
] |
why can ants drop so many feet and walk off unharmed, but if humans drop the same height proportionally, they're dead? | [
"It's because they don't weigh enough. If I crumple up this newspaper and toss it onto my kitchen floor, it doesn't get damaged. But if I throw this coffee cup on the Gotta go."
] | [
"Physically developing we are close to a bobcat or other animals in terms of lifespan. We have a much, much more complex world than any other animal does though. We have to eat that play-doh and stick that key in the electric socket to learn that we want to be a philosophy major or an architect. Bobcats can't build... |
In the later years of the American Civil War, did the average Confederate soldier still believe victory was possible? | [
"I enjoyed **Turning Points of the Civil War** from **James A. Rawley** One thing that was important for the Confederates was that Anti-War sentiment was existent and there actually was alot of sympathy for the Confederate cause in many northern Citys. While most of the Population stayed loyal things such as the N... | [
"I don't understand. A bunch of cities defected after Cannae. Livy gave a list: * Apuliani * Atellani * Bruttii * Calatini * Campanians * Crotoniates * all the Greeks on the coast * Hirpini * Locri * Lucanii * Metapontines * Tarentines * Uzentini Are you asking why the Latins didn't defect?"
] |
How did patients survive infections after amputations before the discovery of anti-biotics? | [
"Luck. Things got less dicey when doctors figured out that not hacking off limbs in the dirt, on a battlefield, and washing their hands and cleaning their instruments cut down on infection, but before that it was pretty much luck. Edited because words."
] | [
"Hello! This has been covered before on this sub.[ Here](_URL_0_) is the relevant section from the FAQ. [This post](_URL_1_) in particular from /u/idjet covers the topic quite well. To sum it up, the idea that clean water wasn't available in the Middle Ages and that people used beer or ale as a\"substitute\" for wa... |
Why do people hate Michael Bay's Transformers? | [
"They have no plot, no characters that even count as 2-dimensional, no substance, and are basically just big confused CGI spectacles. Things smash into one another amidst large explosions just because, and people paid huge sums of money to watch it. Hell, they throw out any pretence of even trying when they introdu... | [
"\"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..."
] |
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