Subset (10)

eli5 · 25k rows

Split (1)

train · 25k rows

query stringlengths 20 300	positive listlengths 1 1	negative listlengths 1 1
Why can I tap my fingers from pinky to index faster and more fluid than index to pinky?	[ "The muscles pulling your thumb from pinky to forefinger are relaxing. Your not exerting effort to move the thumb, so your energy goes into the fine movements along the way. Going the other way, you have contract the muscles to move it away from its resting place, and that makes it harder to do the fine motor movem...	[ "Say you have a hammer and nail. If the hammer head is bigger than the nail, then the force of the hammer is distributed evenly against the head of the nail. The nail will go straight into the wood. Now say you have a hammer and a nail, but the nail head is bigger than the hammer. When you hit the hammer against t...
When did nodding and shaking one's head become a universal gesture for yes/no?	[ "It's not. Nodding for yes is a Western custom. Other parts of the world shake for yes and nod for no." ]	[ "Many of these differences are simply stylistic. Different countries and different time periods have different traditions/norms for newspaper article writing. Certain phrases fall out of style while others become more accepted. There's [a journal article from 1983](_URL_1_) which presents a study of readability whi...
how do tiny non island countries exist?	[ "It's mostly tradition and face saving. It varies, of course. Vatican City will have differing reasons for still existing than Andorra, but generally, it's about preserving the status of a family or organization while removing most of their real estate holdings and actual power." ]	[ "They have a lot of oil money, so they don't need the financial support some need from the EU, and they don't want to surrender control over fishing and game hunting regulations, apparently." ]
Is going from 40-0 km/h(or mph, whatever) and going from 100-60 the same in terms of force/energy/braking distance?	[ "The time and force are the same, but braking distance is greater going from 100-60 than from 40-0. Mathematically, the braking distance is the integral of velocity with respect to time. In plain english, it is also pretty obvious: if the car starts at 100 km/h and ends up at 60 km/h 10 seconds later, it was goin...	[ "Not really. Friction on a microscopic scale comes from groves and valleys fitting into eachother and the repulsive effect generated by moving two atoms closer to one another than they want to be. The bigger these grooves and valleys get, the more atoms are being pressed together versus sliding parallel to one anot...
Why does the urge to use the bathroom grow exponentially the closer I get to the toilet?	[ "In addition to the passage of time, your body may be prepping itself in anticipation due to your decision. The human body is [a lot more sensitive](_URL_0_) to external cues than we realize, and seeing the men's room (or ladies room) sign should definitely get a reaction out of you." ]	[ "A laptop has circuitry that allows it to be powered directly from the charger. But, cell phones are always powered by the battery, even when they're plugged in. So, the battery has to get to a base level of charge before it can safely power the phone." ]
is it possible to overdose on melatonin?	[ "According to the drug reference guide that I use (it's subscription based and commonly used in hospitals): acute overdose of melatonin is not expected to result in significant clinical toxicity. Adverse effects are expected to be related to cns depression related (lethargy, confusion, headache. hallucinations are ...	[ "The opposite of that is more likely to be true. What you're asking is roughly analogous to suggesting that melting all the crayons together would give you more colors." ]
what does the pancreas do exactly?	[ "It helps digest food and also regulates the concentration of key molecules in the body - for example, blood glucose. That's why when the pancreas stops working properly, you can get diseases like diabetes." ]	[ "This CGP Grey video does a really good job of explaining it all. _URL_3_" ]
Announcement: Irish History Week chock full of Irish History AMA's begins over at /r/IrishHistory today!	[ "Some of the best irish women historians come out of Maynooth . Ann Matthews speciality is Women in Irish History and the Irish independence era. She is a remarkable woman herself . Take a peek [here](_URL_0_) . Cormac O Comhrai will be doing WWI . If he is familiar, here is why. _URL_1_ It's a real privilege to ...	[ "It is not the case that the submission was removed simply because of the sources used, and the comments you reference are from users, not moderators. The topic in question is a highly controversial one, and in our original estimation, we felt that the response, while pushing a narrow, and contentious viewpoint, sh...
Why do some things dissolve in water and some things don't?	[ "Imagine a solid object is a group of girls holding each others' hands in a circle dancing. Now a group of guys rush over and each of them wanting to take a girl from the group as their partner for a waltz. If the girls hold each others' hands tightly, they stay in the circle and can't be pulled away individually t...	[ "You're basically asking about all of chemistry here, so there isn't going to be a single concise answer. It's kind of like asking \"how machines work?\" - it will depend on what machine is. You'd need to be more specific about what you're proposing to get a solid answer." ]
Why are different human "races" called "races"?	[ "We started using the word \"race\" long before we knew enough about biology to understand that a race and a breed are sort of the same thing. You have to remember that it was fairly recent that \"humans are just a type of animal\" was an accepted fact. In the Bible/Torah especially, the creation mythology makes a ...	[ "Scientists have to fix definitions. Time intervals, unit distances and the kg were all defined by physical objects or other concepts that can change which would change the physical constant we define from it too... in the case of distance we redefined it as the distance light travels in a certain time in a vaccuum...
Does anyone here know a lot about the walled city of Kowloon?	[ "My undergraduate adviser was an expert in this! He wrote this while still in school: _URL_0_ If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask. I also wrote quite a bit on the subject, but mostly as an example of indigenous communities within the colonial context and ad hoc systems of administration working in ...	[ "> If you could provide multiple sources that would be great! Are you looking for help with a school paper? I've written about this on AskHistorians before; I just need to know how to help you best. :)" ]
What is the evolutionary advantage of stress?	[ "What the Other commenter said has value. A second perspective comes from studying stress in individual cells, and that is that moderate low levels of stress actually help organisms by up regulating responses and genes that improve overall health because of their protective effects. Antioxidant proteins are an exam...	[ "No expert, but I would think that it keeps us from eating things that are bad for us more often than it keeps us from eating things we need." ]
what happens to a candles wax when it burns and “disappears” I realize that smell molecules disperse into the air, and we smell them but what of the wax? What does it turn into and does it also disperse and leave a invisible residue?	[ "The wax turned to liquid \"near\" the flame, then turns to \"vapor\" once the temperature gets high enough. A chemical reaction takes place while the wax is in the vapor state. The result of the chemical reaction is heat (the flame), light (again, the flame), and the rest of the reaction turns to carbon monoxide, ...	[ "You mean like our poop? It's an evolutionary drive. Because animals often track other animals by scent, when we smelled our own poop we could gauge how strong the smell is and therefore gauge the level of danger we would be in after having defecated. The stronger the smell is, the further and faster it would trave...
How are some animals able to sit and run across power lines, but sometimes they are electrocuted and killed by them?	[ "The power lines never cause electrocution unless the animal is able to connect it to the ground. Which isn't really possible unless the line is damaged. The place that would probably be most likely to electrocute an animal would be somewhere on the telephone pole near the transformer (that silver garbage can looki...	[ "I think it's more related to the context. If we saw a person get blindsided by a thug, like in those 'Knock-out' videos, most of us would think that was horrible. On the flip side, if someone was acting reckless or comical on purpose and racks himself on a fence, we laugh. Its the buildup - \"Wow he is acting dum...
Why does setting the thermostat to 70 when the air is on make it chilly, but setting it to 70 when the heat is on makes it much warmer?	[ "Well, if the air or heat is coming on, it would seem to indicate that the temperature is above or below that point respectively. Your body senses heat transfer, more than it senses 'ambient temperature.' Thus, setting the air on (and having it come on) would imply your ambient is above 70, which means your exterio...	[ "Modern computers use variable speeds that require a variable amount of power. When a computer needs to process information quickly it will increase its \"clock speed\" and that requires more power. That power is not used at 100% efficiency and therefor more power = more heat as the excess energy is converted to he...
why the enigma machine used in WW2 was so hard to crack?	[ "By modern standards, it really wasn't. The computer they used to crack it ran at something like 25kHz, less than 1% of 1% of the phone or computer you're reading this on. Without an electronic computer, though, running through the millions of calculations required to crack the day's code for the enigma machines ...	[ "Bottom line: you reduce it to number-crunching, which is what computers are pretty much designed to do. There are a lot of shortcuts and algorithms and checksums, but that's outside of ELI5." ]
Why didn't sub-sahara Africa evolve the same way as America?	[ "That's not quite right about the Americas. The Inca state, for one, was as much \"a lot of tribes scattered around the land living uncivilized\" as Rome or China or the Ottomans. It was a larger unified state than any in Europe at the time, with stable, expansionist, beaucratic policies. And if you compare modern ...	[ "Setting aside the terminology of \"race\", it's entirely down to selective pressures of the different environments. In equatorial regions where the sun is plentiful, having a lot of melanin is useful in protecting against cancer. The further north/south you go from there, the less sun there is, so having less mela...
What's the difference between training for strength, endurance or hypertrophy?	[ "There's actually a very fresh post on /r/bodyweightfitness going on right now that addresses this: _URL_0_" ]	[ "You should read [this](_URL_0_) from PBS/Nova. One of the interesting scenarios is the Hagedorn temperature that appears in string theory. As you approach this temperature, as you put a given amount of heat into the system, it increases the temperature less and less. As a result, there is a limiting temperature th...
How come coffee feels like the opposite effect to me?	[ "It would be a combined effect of acquired tolerance (assuming \"usual cup\" means you have been getting it every morning for some time now) and all the sugar you put in the coffee. Tolerance to caffeine develops extremely quickly, often within one or two weeks of daily drinking. As a tolerance develops, your brain...	[ "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...
The purpose of the turbines you see in the top areas of road tunnels	[ "It's likely an exhaust or intake for ventilation. Road tunnels are full of cars that give off toxic fumes, this can prevent build ups. But without knowing specifically what you're talking about that's my best answer." ]	[ "Have you ever those reCaptcha tests that ask you to select the squares with street signs in them? They are used to help teach self driving cars how to identify what is and isn't a street sign. Edit: CPG Grey does a video about it - _URL_0_" ]
Wouldn't the world have global cooling if everyone began driving hydrogen cars that pollute the atmosphere with water?	[ "Two problems with that: 1) Water vapour is a very powerful greenhouse gas, so more water vapour would lead to (more) global warming, not global cooling. This is one of the reasons that climate change is self accelerating (more heat = > more water evaporating = > more heat). 2) Hydrogen cars produce next to no wate...	[ "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." ]
What happens inside the digestive system when a lactose intolerant person consumes dairy?	[ "Your gut just lacks the enzymes to process the lactose, the bacteria that then meet the undigested lactose produce a bunch of nasty byproducts as they make efforts to devour the sugar. They produce lots of gas and the bacteria for the most part can't really handle it so the material just kinda gets shoved along th...	[ "You mean what happens afterward or what causes it? The cause is sometimes the local station or cable channel can sell local commercials (AKA spots), but their spot may not start exactly on schedule. You will see whatever spot is running on the network during that time slot. Some networks don't run spots in local s...
When I encrypt my drive, then send or upload files, why can people view them and open them if they were originally encrypted? Does sending/uploading unencrypted them?	[ "You're asking how disk encryption works. Go read about that. The short answer is that generally, a pre-boot environment authenticates you and decrypts the OS and whatever else it loads, as well as the software needed that will then run alongside the OS, all into memory. Once the disk encryption application/driver/...	[ "Zalgo text takes advantage of tricks built into unicode. Unicode is a standard for how text in all the world's major languages should be handled. It includes support not just for the latin alphabet but quite a few writing systems, including ones where text goes in other directions than left-to-right. On modern co...
Why is red ink such a no-no?	[ "Um... a little further explanation on your part would have helped, but I'm assuming that you're referring to the concept that it's bad for a business to \"be in the red\" or use red ink. Traditionally, accountants used black ink to enter positive amounts and red ink to enter negatives. If your totals were all comi...	[ "Horse meat isn't rare at all. You can get it in many parts of europe. Tastes ok too. Anyway, that's culture. The same reason we think that bacon and eggs is a breakfast food, and don't eat grasshoppers." ]
If two people are stranded without food, one skinny and one overweight, would they die of starvation at the same time?	[ "Ignoring the possibility one eats the other, no. The purpose of fat is to have energy reserves for when food is scarce. Depending on how long they had to survive without sustenance, an extremely overweight person might die of complications due to malnutrition long before actually starving to death." ]	[ "The starting player has what we call a trivial advantage (meaning, it is trivially clear that there is one), which is created by the rule that when a winning position (checkmate) is reached, play stops immediately. This has the result that every time a white player wins, he or she has been allowed to play one tu...
Does somebody who's lost all of their senses know they are alive?	[ "Humans have more than five senses. Although definitions vary, the actual number ranges from 9 to more than 20. In addition to sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing, which were the senses identified by Aristotle, humans can sense balance and acceleration (equilibrioception), pain (nociception), body and limb posi...	[ "They don't directly connect, but they have pads with sensors that are pressed up against the skin of whatever is left of the limb. With training, the amputee can learn how to trigger the sensors to get the desired movement out of the limb." ]
Would a planet that becomes tidally locked be able to sustain a geomagnetic field?	[ "You're good on the \"molten innards rotating\". It's called [dynamo theory](_URL_0_). If the planet becomes tidally locked to its star, it wouldn't matter much since the molten innards are rotating with respect to the planet's surface." ]	[ "Would depend on what the weather is like and how big the methane lakes are. Not sure but interesting question." ]
Why do I cringe at the sound of styrofoam rubbing together?	[ "Well the effect is kind of like fingernails on the chalkboard... one explanation is that it is an evolutionary aversion since the sound is actuually similar to primate warning calls. Another explanation is that the sound resonates in the ear canal, making it \"sound loud\" Source: _URL_0_" ]	[ "Do you ever repetitively click a pen? Or jingle the change in your pocket? Or chew your nails? Or throw a baseball with a friend or your kid? Or play with a stress ball? Or... Or... or... or... Why do people do those things? I think you're right that you're probably over thinking it and it's just a toy." ]
If the Universe contains everything in exist but is constantly expanding, what exactly is it expanding into and can we exit the Universe?	[ "The Universe expands into itself. Basically, it's like if the stars and planets and humans were getting smaller and smaller each second. The empty space between objects grows, yet the total volume doesn't. It's hard to wrap your head around because our brains were made to hunt prey on plains of Africa. We have no ...	[ "There's no line of demarcation. Think of it as cities. As you're leaving town, you hit the suburbs. Things are more spread out and not as dense. By the end, you're passing houses every couple of miles. Then, you're out on the road by yourself with nothing but various gasses and dust. When you start to come up to t...
Is there any evidence that the Soviet Union had the atomic bomb before America did?	[ "The Soviet Union did not explode their first atomic bomb until 1949. There were a small number of Russian scientists that worked on the theory of nuclear fission before 1941, but it wasn't until after Germany collapsed, that Stalin ordered the Soviet atomic bomb program to be put into high gear. Stalin also put Be...	[ "Is this what Doctor Strangelove was based on?" ]
I've heard that we can't see the atom and will never be able to. Is that true? If so, why?	[ "It really depends on what you mean by \"see.\" If you mean see with the unaided eye, then no we cannot. If you mean unambiguously detect and visualize, then we can. _URL_0_" ]	[ "It is. It's just not blocked much. It's like running: running through the air is pretty easy: not much getting in your way. Running through the water is harder; and running through a solid object is even harder. Light works the same way, only it moves differently, so some things (like smoke) allows your movement t...
Have any armies ever used their own feces as a type of biological weapon against their enemies?	[ "It's a time-honored technique. The Viet Cong, for just one example, often used feces to contaminate their booby traps. In a related scatological note, the U.S. military experimented with [scent sensors](_URL_0_) which would pick up humans (avoiding false positives from animals on seismic sensors or tripwires) tra...	[ "If you're new to the thread, please don't post the Mythbusters episode again. Mythbusters is entertaining but it's not history (or more specifically, it's not historical proof of anything.) The short answer is no, not that we know of. /u/davidaop, our pirate expert, and I have both answered [questions about th...
Why do we round 0.500 up to 1?	[ "Because you have to round in one direction or the other, and we decided to pick up. Note this is not universal. In some financial accounting, you \"round towards even\". 3.5 would round to 4, but 2.5 would round to 2. The idea is to try to make the rounding errors cancel out." ]	[ "Its a historical comparison. The weather man says \"50% chance of rain\" he means \"half the time the conditions (temp, humidity, etc) are like this, it rains\"." ]
Back in the old west, were people actually tied to train tracks, or is this concept just created by Hollywood?	[ "I have never seen any evidence that this really happened. I have to conclude that it is a Hollywood fabrication (unless it appears in some dime novels - anyone out there know?). It really is a dumb way to kill someone - filled with drama no doubt but it always failed in the movies. That's a pretty good sign that w...	[ "How did they do it (back then?) or how do they do it now? By using experiments and logical reasoning. You can't put a cell under a microscope and watch its metabolic functions. Instead you have to extrapolate out based on the inputs/outputs of the cell. In fact, the citric acid cycle was first postulated from expe...
Does all soap kill germs and bacteria, or does it just help rinse them off of your body?	[ "Soap molecules are polar i.e. they have a hydrophobic (water-fearing) end and a hydrophillic (water-loving) end. The molecules 'coat' the bacteria, with the hydrophobic ends facing the bacteria and the hydrophillic ends facing outward. This bacteria/soap complex (aka micelle) is washed away when you rinse with wat...	[ "Bases do this through saponification. Saponification is the hydrolosis of the fatty acid esters that make up our cell membranes. This reaction goes much slower than that of the acid, but when completed, the \"flesh\" or whatever organ it used to be should be dissolved into the solution." ]
why do we feel sick to our stomachs when we get nervous/see something disturbing/get scared/upset?	[ "It activates your autonomic nervous system - specifically the sympathetic branch, and activates your \"fight or flight\" response. Voiding and puking are potential outcomes." ]	[ "Steps: 1. Flight or flight, adrenaline, sympathetic kicks in. 2. Blood leaves GI tract because who needs to digest when a bear is clawing my ass. 3.blood leaving GI = heart sank. EDIT: I was corrected it is indeed sympathetic." ]
How do engineers and construction workers ensure that all the cables are under the same tension on a suspension bridge?	[ "First, there is no absolute need for all cables to be under the exact same tension. If you look at this image _URL_0_ for the nomenclature. The bridge is designed so that the static load is distributed more or less equally along the main cables, by placing the suspenders (the cables that drop from the main cables...	[ "Satellites are on a set orbit. The scientists put the satellite into that orbit to begin with, so they know when and where in space the satellite is going to be. When they launch a new satellite, they just calculate the appropriate trajectory and launch time to get the new satellite into space without hitting the ...
Can Radiation (Nuclear or Otherwise) melt skin?	[ "All kinds of radiation produce heat, but I guess you're asking about ionizing radiation like that coming from nuclear sources, X rays or UV. In this case heat is the least of your concerns as the ionizing effect damages your DNA. It won't really melt, but a high radiation dose it can cause severe burns. Subseque...	[ "A similar design was at least mentioned for Project Plowshare, and it considered detonating nukes inside the earth's crust to heat up underground water. It does not seem to have a code name, only known as \"Geothermal Power Plant\" as far as I know, so it would seem there no detailed plan was even created. Just be...
Why did nurse uniforms change so drastically to become the scrub outfit it is today?	[ "The work place became less sexist, and both doctors and nurses switched to more practical attire. Doctors use to wear full suits when the nurses wore those uniforms. Both have switched to scrubs as they are much better for working in a hospital environment where you can be splattered with various bodily emission."...	[ "Money and politics pretty much, NASA's budget is nothing compared to what is used to be and back then US was completing with Russia to be the first to the moon" ]
Why do batteries take minutes/hours to recharge? What is in the way for them to recharge instantly?	[ "There is a chemical process behind battery charging. When charging your standard lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) cell phone battery lithium ions move from the graphite anode (where they form LiC6) through an electrolyte (a fluid or gel which allows lithium ions to pass through) to the cobalt oxide cathode. This elec...	[ "Imagine a bathtub full of water, the water represents electricity. The bathtub has a faucet, which represents the generation of electricity. Imagine now that there are little holes in the bottom of the bathtub, all plugged up. When ever a home needs power, unplug the drain and let the water flow out. Now imagine ...
Why indigenous women in Canada have been murdered or gone missing at such a high rate?	[ "The Highway of Tears dissapearances have gotten a lot of publicity, and the public perception is that Native Women are being killed by a serial killer or something similar. Several advocacy groups are claiming that the police aren't doing anything about the problem, and draw comparisons to the Pickton murders, whi...	[ "the government is controlled by the Russians,most of the people are sick of it and want real representation within their own country,of course those in power want to keep it that way." ]
Question about substance dependence	[ "That would likely cause craving of the substance. It's called [cue induced craving](_URL_0_). When a cocaine addict or a heroin addict sees drug associated cues (i.e. needles, mirror) often they experience increased drug craving." ]	[ "Sure. It happened to cigarette smokers for decades." ]
Why doesn't a motorcycle slide when turning?	[ "that will happen when the tires lose grip. motorcycles tires are on average much better than car tires so they can handle it. also unlike a car, motorcycle turning physics are somewhat different. if you notice, the tires are curved (for most sport bikes), not flat, like on car tires. so they are also built to turn...	[ "For starters the extra costs to the manufacturer and the customer are not worth it. And second saftey, they could be dangerous closing down on little children & even adults." ]
If two fermions with the same spin can't occupy the same position, how 'close' can they be?	[ "Two identical fermions can have the exact same spatial wavefunction, as long as they have different spin projections (or some other quantum number different). If they have all other quantum numbers the same, in principle their spatial wavefunctions can be arbitrary unless they're exactly the same. So they can be a...	[ "Nice work, you've discovered Olbers' Paradox :) This was a much-discussed problem in antiquity. _URL_0_ Take a read of the wiki page, it's very good at explaining. And ask away if there is more you want to know." ]
How does water boarding feel like drowning?	[ "The cloth allows the water into your mouth but makes it hard to expel, plus the wetness of the cloth restricts your ability to inhale and exhale. So mouth, face, nose full of water, can't breathe, inhaling small quantities of water but enough to cause your throat to reflexively constrict to prevent taking water in...	[ "My money is on suffocation assuming the suit kept your temperature up well enough. Or CO2 poisoning if you want to be more specific." ]
What impact has the US interstate road system had on wildlife?	[ "No, they haven't. Keep in mind that biomes are broad categories--a rainforest in Africa and a rainforest in South America are the same biomes, but have totally different plant and animal species. What biome an area is has to do with animal and plant species, yes, but is more affected by rainfall and temperature. S...	[ "First, easy access to information is effecting traditional campaign methods. Second, the candidates don't just visit these States just to \"be there\" - unless they're very lazy they go to small events and answer questions from potential constituents about personal situations, and the answers relate to those peopl...
What colour would water on Mars be- red or blue?	[ "On reading this article: _URL_0_ it seems that water is intrinsically blue the deeper it goes - shallower parts might appear brownish red due to the dirt beneath and the sky above, but the water would still be blue (although it would reflect the sky somewhat, I'm not sure how much. - \" Clean water appears blue i...	[ "Radiation doesn't just blast the surface with cancer rays, it also whisks away the atmosphere. Mar's atmosphere is very thin and complex life that we have on Earth cannot survive (it is called the Armstrong Limit)." ]
If blood is screened for blood-based diseases prior to transfusion, why is it that men who have sex with men (and other groups) are barred from donating blood in Canada?	[ "Added Q from the outside: I am not allowed to donate blood here in the states because I lived in England in 1987 and ate meat, so they are concerned I could be a carrier of mad cow disease. How is there no test for this? Also, can I donate platelets, organs or tissues?" ]	[ "Likely the store was not able to sell it for a high enough price, compared to the price the distributor was willing to give for the return. It literally would cost them money to sell you the product, making it \"toxic\" As for the later call, they probably were denied the return, meaning they had to get rid of the...
What to do/how to act at a casino	[ "One major rule that I always follow: Set a minimum and maximum limit. STOP when you cross those limits. ex: I'll have a lower limit of $500 and an upper limit of $2000. Once I'm $500 in the hole or up $2000 I'm done gambling for the night. That way you don't go broke, and you don't waste your winnings by getting g...	[ "> If I know I'm going to be taxed, why go out and spend more money to be taxed less? Wouldn't it just be redundant? If you spend money, you get something for it. If you get taxed, the money is gone. If the government was gonna tax my $1 unless I spent it, I could spend it on a hot dog, and now I'm down one dollar ...
Dimensions of an electromagnetic wave?	[ "Not sure if this is what you have in mind, but try it on for size. When a sinusoidal electric field is incident (transversely) on a conductor, the free electrons migrate toward the positive end of the field, leaving a deficit of electrons near the negative end. This separation of charge (electron rich vs electron ...	[ "Yes, if you try to measure x-rays from very distant sources, for example, they only arrive one at a time." ]
Why isn't telemarketing illegal? Or if it is, why is it still so frequent?	[ "In the United States you have \"freedom of expression\" which means you can say what you wish, when you wish to say it. There are muddy areas in \"how you say it.\" I can offer to sell you a product or service on the street, I can offer to sell you a product or service through television or radio or even with a pr...	[ "To get you to spend $29.95 on their \"work from home\" information package." ]
Do we know about the physical ways ancient armies commanded their troops in the field?	[ "Hi! You may be interested in my [earlier answer](_URL_0_) to this question. The main point is that Greek phalanxes, contrary to popular belief, were not capable of carrying out manoeuvres like this, in part because their methods of conveying orders were not up to the task. Decisions to increase the depth of the ...	[ "The masks weren't just a long flute for air to flow through. They were filled with potpourri and other scented stuff. Before germs and bacteria were known, it was believed that disease was spread by foul odours, which can be counteracted or blocked with good odours. They did also believe that disease was spread by...
Why do many lesbians date other lesbians who take on a male appearance (short hair, loose jeans, macho behavior)?	[ "The best answer I can give is a question: If you were to date a straight butch-looking, masculine-acting woman would that make you a little bit gay?" ]	[ "The general consensus is [attention and approval seeking](_URL_4_) or [medical issues](_URL_1_). In [domesticated animals](_URL_2_), the approval seeking is generally from the owner. Because we see this in wild animals as well, it can't just be a human-approval mechanism. The attention seeking can be extended to t...
Where does a HDD store its "table of contents"?	[ "At the first part of the disk (where ever that is, first track, first cylinder, first head, first platter) there is an index of partitions. At each partition, there is an index which explains what file system is used. And each file system has it's own way of storing the directory structure. So to be short: You don...	[ "Unless you're talking about games with big resource requirements or heavy duty processing tools (like Adobe Premiere), they should keep up with software for quite a long time. A lot of desktop/laptop machines get bogged down over time with stuff that has been installed on them which add to their slowness by puttin...
How did Americans move away from speaking in a "British" accent to various accents they have now: Southern drawl, Boston accent, etc	[ "AFAIK, the Southern \"aristocratic\" accent is heavily influenced by the black women who raised the children. In general, you have the different waves of immigration also greatly influencing the melting pot. Irish, German, Italian, and of course various latin countries. Then the French Canadians came down to Lousi...	[ "The Gulf Stream and North Atlantic drift are major ocean currents that drive warm water from the Carribbean to Western Europe. This results in much warmer temperatures than one normally encounters at these latitudes. Also worth noting is that the winter in the NE US ongoing is exceptionally cold and snowy, analogo...
Why do boxers get injured more often than Muay Thai/Kickboxers who fought more often?	[ "Boxing has a smaller target zone, so more hits to the same area. Especially the head. Boxing uses big fat gloves to protect your hands so you can hit full force, even when punching the head which would ordinarily break your hand. Without those gloves, they have to hit lighter. They can also hit other areas like le...	[ "Our brains didn't evolve with cars in mind. They evolved with, like, being hunted by a jaguar (or whatever) in mind. So your brain doesn't know what to do with a car. It thinks hey, we're sitting, our body's not really doing anything physical, there's very little activity or stimulus... this seems like a good time...
Why can't the US Federal Government put marijuana legalization to a majority vote like states do?	[ "There's actually no mechanism in the constitution for a federal ballot initiative. Individual voters are allowed to vote for Representatives and Senators for the US Congress and that's it. Technically you don't even vote for president. Electors of the Electoral College are the ones who actually vote for president,...	[ "The word is that the Denver Colorado dispensary was funded by money received from Mexican drug cartels. The DEA got word through an informant and shut it down. Tldr: local$$= ok Cartel $$= fed jail" ]
How do birds that migrate in a "V" formation decide who the leader is?	[ "They take turns. Flying in a V reduces wind drag and makes it easier. The birds in the back honk and make noises to encourage the first bird who remains silent as it has the most difficult flight." ]	[ "You mean the Animal Planet one? Hype and marketing. Then it became a euphemism for menstruation (I'll fill you in if you want, but it's gross sex stuff...) and took on a life of its own." ]
Why do I feel fear in my scrotum when I look over a high ledge and imagine falling, when all other types of fear seem to take place in my chest?	[ "It is an adrenaline explosion where your body tenses up and prepares for what could happen. It goes along with the phrase \"puckered up\"" ]	[ "Testicles need to be on a lower temperature than our body to produce \"better quality\" spermatozoa. And the function of the crotch is to adjust the distance that the testicles are, related to our body, so they can be at the right temperature to work." ]
Are there any studies that compare the levels of "death acceptance" between terminal patients with and without descendants?	[ "The closest thing scientifically to what you're describing is terror management theory, in which death anxiety leads people to bolster culture and self esteem. [This study](_URL_0_) suggests that death anxiety increases the amount of children people want, and that being reminded of their descendants decreases thei...	[ "As a follow up, would the impact be lower in close-knit tribes of hunter gatherers with better social support than would be found in agriculturally-based civilizations with greater social stratification and more physical/socio-cultural barriers to group intimacy? And what role do certain beliefs regarding babies/s...
If someone's net worth is 5 million, do they have 5 million? Is that how it works?	[ "You have 6 cookies but you owe me 2 cookies. Your net worth is 4 cookies. However, you have a milk that any given person would trade ~1 cookie for. Therefore your true networth is ~5 cookies." ]	[ "I want a bunch of lollipops, but I can't afford them. I tell you and 2 other friends that I have this great idea where we can all get a bunch of lollipops; you just have to give me one now and then get 3 people to give you one. Sounds like a great idea that we all get 3 lollipops for the price of one! The problem ...
Why does soda that is bottled taste different than the same soda out of a fountain?	[ "Because fountain soda and bottled soda often have different formulations. Diet Coke for instance is sweetened with aspartame in cans and bottles, but the fountain syrup also has saccharin because it has a longer shelf life than aspartame." ]	[ "The shower or bath tap simply lets out more water than the sink. An easy way to test this is to fill up a container with each to see how fast it fills up. This allows the shower or bath to flush out all the cold water in the pipes between the faucet and the hot water boiler faster than the sink." ]
what exactly is it that Windows can do that my Mac (OSX) can't?	[ "For most people, there just isn't that much difference. Both have browsers, spread-sheets, word processors, photo editors. Both have thousands and thousands of apps. There certainly are some apps or games that can run only on one or the other, and if that's true for you, it might be enough to make the difference. ...	[ "If you are interested in pursuing a PhD, then I suggest that you first think through what it takes to gain admission to a PhD program that meets your ambition, and then think about what kind of MS program you can pursue that meet your constraints. As /u/EyeStache pointed out, there are obvious advantages to attend...
"Why is Napoleon Bonaparte the most important person in western civilization?"	[ "Arguably one of the most important things Napoleon did was create the [Napoleonic Code](_URL_0_). Here are a few things to talk about: this code granted freedom of religion and had government jobs go to the skilled, rather than privileged. When is this essay due? If not tomorrow, check out *The Napoleonic Revolut...	[ "It's generally considered to be Orlando Anderson. [Here's a previous /r/AskHistorians thread about it](_URL_0_). Edit: To follow the AutoModerator's suggestion, /u/TaftintheTub had a fantastic reply, but the entire thread is filled with great discussion." ]
Why are most small cars front-wheel drive in favor of rear-wheel?	[ "Additionally, building a rear-wheel drive vehicle is actually far more complex that building a front-wheel drive vehicle. This is for a number of reasons that would take a while to explain, but essentially involve torque, driveshafts, and space to accommodate the driveshaft" ]	[ "From Quora > Because the Earth is a three-dimensional sphere and not merely a two-dimensional flat, East-West surface. Because of this spherical shape, often times the shortest distance is flying more north and south, up over the Northern latitudes and the North Pole, rather than flying east/west over the Pacific...
How often do new species come into existence?	[ "That depends on the definition of species you are working with, but in the end? Something is a new species when it's convenient to call it a new species. We define and classify things when it's useful to have a division. In some cases, that means ability to produce offspring. Other times geographic isolation is be...	[ "Here's an [article at livescience](_URL_1_) that says essentially what others in this thread are saying. * We don't know how much oil reserves are in the Earth. * There's no defined length of time that is required for organic material to be converted into petroleum. * The rate at which oil is created is ~~likely~~...
Why is it that, despite the fact that I haven't slept in over 30 hours, I am completely unable to fall asleep?	[ "Overtiredness. \"Once overtired, stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline flood your bloodstream. These are often referred to as ‘fight or flight’ hormones because they increase your state of awareness, speed up your heart rate, raise your blood pressure and cause tension to build up in your muscles. Despi...	[ "There are a few factors at work here : Moſt chairs are deſigned to ſit at about knee height ; they generally ſupport your back, and more importantly, your butt and legs. Toilets are uſually lower, and they are made with a large hole in the middle, into which you ſink a little. This lower height, lack of ſupport,...
How much "friendly fire" occurred during massive Roman-era and Medieval-era battles?	[ "Hoplites fighting in phalanx formation would inevitably suffer \"friendly fire\" casualties as both sides of the spear had a spike on them. Once two opposing phalanxes met on the battlefield the men with leveled spears in the first few ranks would tend to only focus on the enemy to their front and forget that the ...	[ "I responded to a similar question a few months ago, if you're interested: * [How did people in the Middle Ages deal with Down’s Syndrome and autism?](_URL_0_) You might also be interested in Irina Metzler's new book, Fools and Idiots? Intellectual Disability in the Middle Ages. She's absolutely one of the, if no...
Why can baby horses, cows and other animals walk within a short period after birth, yet for human babies it seems to take an age?	[ "Baby heads. If they were any larger at birth neither mother nor child would survive. Simultaneously, because of the relative size of the head to the body (and the weakness of key muscle groups) it would be physiologically impossible for newborns to walk even if they had the coordination. Also, as demonstrated by t...	[ "I'm sure there are more knowledgeable folks here who can provide a more comprehensive answer, but [there is evidence](_URL_1_) birds navigate over such long distances in part by being biologically sensitive to the Earth's magnetic field. In other words, they have a built in compass. As for where to go, in at leas...
How feasible is the 'Aclubierre drive'?	[ "It isn't. Almost completely impossible. General Relativity is a set of equations on the one side, the arrangement of energy and mass, on the other side, the curvature of space. To do physics, we usually start on the energy and mass side, put in some known energy configuration, like a spherically symmetric mass, an...	[ "There's an experimental plant called [ITER](_URL_0_), still under construction. The trouble with fusion is that you're basically putting the sun in a bottle, but we're still figuring out how to make the bottle." ]
What are Planck units (mostly Planck time, but also the others) actually used for?	[ "> more Planck time units in one second than there were seconds that had elapsed since the beginning of the universe Planck time units in one second: ~2×10^43. Seconds since the beginning of the universe: ~4×10^17. There are actually 50 times more Planck time units in a picosecond (one billionth of a millisec...	[ "Tradition and discipline, it helps indirectly in the field. Being able to execute precise maneuvers on short notice with a small margin of error comes very much in handy. Being able to understand something shouted in shorthand and act on it inside a fraction of a second as the grenade is still in the air or whate...
If I step on a scale during a high tide, will I weigh less than if there was a low tide?	[ "Yes, although the scale isn't precise enough to detect the difference. The difference is extremely small." ]	[ "Planes do get a boost from the Earth's rotation. The problem is, so do airports. And cities. And pretty much everywhere you'd want to go. And the air. You can get in a helicopter and fly up a little bit and just hover, and the Earth's rotation will push you eastwards for free. But you'll still be over the airpor...
Biologically speaking, what are insticts?	[ "Imagine it to be part of the biological systems you can't control. F.i you never learned how to make your heart beat, but beat it still does. Your body knows how to use its muscles even if you never taught it to (albeit you do learn how to move your muscles well). Nobody taught you how to digest food but you hav...	[ "> Insects lack muscle I assume, What? Of course they have muscles, how would they move otherwise?" ]
I saw the most incredible rainbow on Saturday evening. It was a sextuple rainbow- like a double rainbow, but the brighter, inside rainbow had 4 more fainter rainbows nested inside of it. Does anyone know what those fainter, center rainbows are called and what causes them?	[ "It sounds like you're describing a [supernumerary rainbow](_URL_0_)." ]	[ "First, a minor terminology nitpick/pedantry: a \"decibel\" is just a type of ratio - an increase by 1 dB basically means a 12% increase. When we talk about a 40 dB sound, we mean a sound that's 100 times louder than the quietest sound a person can hear. But you're asking about sound intensity. Sound is a wave, and...
When you mix water, oil, and flour, do the water and oil chemically combine or do they only mix into the flour as separate particles?	[ "I believe this would be similar to the question of what happens when you wash oil with soap and water. On a molecular level, there are no chemical bonds being broken or formed; thus it is not a chemical reaction, however due to the composition of flour, it may allow for the hydrophobic oil to associate with hydro...	[ "When there is water on the road your tyre has to shove it out of the way if it's to stay in contact with the road. The tyre has grooves in it to make this easier, but there's a limit to how fast they can move water. Exceed this and the water builds up like a wedge under the tyre, lifting it off the road. You are n...
Is there a clear barrier between stars and space?	[ "At least regarding the earth's atmosphere, it does slowly transition to space, but there's also an altitude that is generally considered the boundary of space: the Kármán line. The definition of the Kármán line is based on airplanes. As you go up in altitude, the air gets thinner and you have to fly faster to gene...	[ "There's no line of demarcation. Think of it as cities. As you're leaving town, you hit the suburbs. Things are more spread out and not as dense. By the end, you're passing houses every couple of miles. Then, you're out on the road by yourself with nothing but various gasses and dust. When you start to come up to t...
if a region wants to become independent, why do countries resist so strongly?	[ "It varies on a case by case basis but a commonality is that land and resources are valuable. Spain doesn't want Catalonia to secede because Barcelona brings in a lot of money. Bosnia didn't let Republika Srpska leave because that area had been part of Bosnia for hundreds of years. Also usually not everyone in a di...	[ "Greetings everyone. In the few minutes this sub has been up, it's attracting sub-standard responses. Just a reminder of a few of the rules: * no responses covering events/conditions post-1994, per this sub's \"20-year rule\" prohibiting discussion of current events * no anecdotes * no speculation OP: your question...
What does an EMG test do?	[ "In Carpal Tunnel syndrome a nerve is compressed so that the electrical messages from your brain to your hand don't all get there, or get there weaker. An EMG is a test which measures the electrical activity in muscles, if there's enough of it, and your doctor wants to do that test so that they'll be able to see if...	[ "It is your hair follicles that are flexing, resulting in goose bumps and a tingly feeling. It is associated with an emotional response, like when you listen to nice music." ]
Why are specific emotional sentiments (fear, guilt, joy) separated into distinct compartments in our brains?	[ "Emotions, like all complex brain activities, are primarily distributed activities with certain areas highly involved in processing. The amygdala is classically considered the \"center\" of fear processing, but reciprocal connections exists throughout the brain. \"Joy\" - or more properly \"reward\" - is classicall...	[ "People are tribal, by instinct that comes from our DNA. We naturally want to identify who us \"us\" and who is \"not us\". Any group of more than about 200 people will tend to break into smaller groups. This instinct is so strong that we look for reasons to form these different groups, even if the reasons are sill...
Why are bunnies and eggs associated with Easter?	[ "Bunnies and Eggs are symbols for fertility and procreation. In Europe Easter is in spring and probably the Easter fest was “pulled over” existing spring festivals of older cultures and the symbols were mixed up." ]	[ "[The Straight Dope covered this](_URL_0_). Basically, they started out as being made by two different production teams, but after a certain point, they became essentially interchangeable, but they kept both names going." ]
Why is the orbital rotation of a moon around a planet not considered perpetual motion?	[ "While in any real world scenario, the other answers here are correct (orbits are not perfectly stable, eventually crashing or spiraling out) you may be shocked to learn that perpetual motion is not, in fact, prohibited by the laws of physics. For instance- go into deep space and throw a ball. That ball will contin...	[ "[Here's a java demo of a double mass-spring system](_URL_3_). The motion of these types of systems can often be described as a sum of [normal modes](_URL_4_). In the geometry you described, a common normal mode is for the masses to sort of [pass the oscillation back and forth](_URL_0_). There are plenty of other s...
Explain 'Affect' and 'Effect' in a way I'll always remember - this is the one I always have trouble with. Go!	[ "Affect is a verb. Effect is a noun. The side-effect of this medication is that it affects my abiltiy to think clearly." ]	[ "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" ]
How do scam organizations work? Who decides to work in a contact centre for phone/email scammers?	[ "> Who decides to work in a contact centre for phone/email scammers? People who are at the point where any work is better than no work. They are probably promised some sort of incentive to pull in people." ]	[ "I don't think that the notion of capitalism failing is as big as you think it is. Most probably think capitalism as it is currently implimented in their country has shortcomings that nobody is willing to address, and thus they would want a candidate that promises to fix those. Some people vote for Nigel Farage be...
Why is "whistleblowing" such a heavily punishable offense?	[ "Whistleblowing is not a punishable offence in and of itself, but the desemination of classified information is, especially if you agreed in your employment not to do so. Someone reporting the find, like Wikileaks, has done nothing wrong. But snowden violated a number of conditions in his contract that are designed...	[ "It goes back to the old idea of morality that really became popular in the United States, and the fact that many people grew up with religious parents who didn't like to discuss sex and so when they grow up they don't like to discuss sex and so on . Its a cultural thing, in some countries it is taboo to discuss vi...
how do cameramen and women in films hide the cameras whilst filming so well when there is a scene with reflections?	[ "Scenes are carefully choreographed in advance, including the camera angle. That's the behind the scenes you see of the cinematographer walking around holding a lens to their eye. Sometimes, particularly with mirrors, they shoot with a non-plano camera that has a distortion opposite the the effect of shooting at an...	[ "If you're referring to the effect you see on hot days, that's a mirage. The sun heats up the road, so air down low is hotter than air above. The speed light waves travel through air depends on temperature, so this gradual difference means the light curves as one side of the wave gets ahead of the other. So light f...
If a cougar is a woman that pursues younger men, then what is the term for a man who pursues younger women?	[ "Older men pursuing younger women is basically standard sexual reproductive strategy. Age of the mother is a pretty important factor in the success of a pregnancy. For example over 40, the odds of various birth defects start going up. Age of the father is a much smaller factor. On the other hand, to the extent that...	[ "Uranium is a [lithophile](_URL_0_) element, which means it tends to associate with the light elements that make up the crust. This is a result of the chemistry of uranium, and doesn't really have anything to do with its mass. Silver, cadmium, and mercury in contrast are chalcophile elements, meaning they tend to o...
Why our nipples get hard	[ "Serious follow up question. My nipples get hard while eating spicy food. Is there a logical reason for this? Edit: Well, 4 years into this Reddit thing, and this is my top comment 😅" ]	[ "The nerves in your skin that detect temperature only measure the change in temperature and not whether it is cold or hot. Context and other variables tell your brain if it is cold or not but sometimes the brain still gets confused and sends you the wrong signal." ]
Facial recognition, how could it possibly work?	[ "There are plenty of things that software can do which the human brain cannot - Facebook for example can 'remember' the names of millions of individuals. Your issue with the smoker was likely due to two factors - this person had changed appearance to some extent during the decade apart, and your memory being imperf...	[ "There's a database which has a big list of what malicious code looks like. It goes through that to see if there's any malicious code in the file." ]
Do electron orbitals overlap?	[ "All s orbitals are spherically symmetric. The difference between s orbitals of different n is the number of nodes in the wavefunction. A node is just a point where the wavefunction equals zero. In general, different orbitals will overlap with each other in space. However if you integrate the product of the two (o...	[ "The key thing here is [Noether's theorem](_URL_0_), one of the most beautiful results in all of physics. Noether's theorem connects symmetries of nature to conserved quantities. For example, when physics is independent of spatial position, momentum is conserved. Or when physics is unchanged by rotating your view, ...
Are there differences between species on the neurotransmitter levels?	[ "Yes, there are. The example that comes to mind is the use of Octopamine in Drosophila neuro systems vs mammalian neuro systems. Octopamine is very important for Drosophila/invertebrate learning + memory, but not for mammalian learning + memory systems. _URL_0_" ]	[ "That's possibly a bit of a myth. The fifty-fifty legend seems to have started years before the first complete banana genome, and most articles reference back one or two old claims. I'm not saying it's exactly like the persistence anti-vaxx research, but there are similarities. So. Probably, a lot of that overlap...
Why are upload speeds always so much slower than download speeds?	[ "The expectation is that as a consumer you'll be downloading a lot more than uploading. This is true for most people, and it's why ISPs set a ratio of about 1:10 or thereabouts (because even when you're downloading stuff, your computer still has to send data back up the line - requests for the data, confirmation th...	[ "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 didn't the US intervene in the Chinese Civil War?	[ "Short answer: we did. The US government supplied a massive amount of armaments to the Nationalist government (which SecState Marshall pointed out that they promptly lost to the Communists.... on the order of 30-40 percent... his commentary was that if it rose to 50 percent, it would be a very bad idea to continue ...	[ "If your next door neighbor is trampling flowers in your backyard, and your much larger, much bigger neighbor from across the street decides to try and stop him, it's in your interest to just let him do that, whether with implicit or explicit approval. ... especially when you can't get to that corner of the backyar...
What is it about a gene that makes it dominant or recessive?	[ "First of all, genes aren't dominant or recessive, alleles are. Second, It's nothing about the allele, it's about proteins associated with the allele — either those involved in its expression, or those the allele codes for. For example, if you can't hear at all without protein X then the X allele will be recessive...	[ "Think about your own body. How does everything move? All of your joints rotate, they do not slide in a linear motion. The size of your muscle determines the amount of linear force it can generate. But this alone doesn't dictate how much strength you will have for the motion. The other factor is the lever arm: wher...
why do rainy days make people sleepy?	[ "When sunlight hits the optic nerve, melatonin secretion decreases, and you feel more awake as a result. On rainy days, there is less sunshine, so this stimulation is reduced, and you feel sleepier as a result. You can think of melatonin as a sleep hormone. It helps let your body know it's time to sleep. Without it...	[ "Two social psychological concepts come to mind here. State dependent memory encoding and Erickson Arousal theory of learning. State dependent learning states that what ever state of mind you are in during encoding is the state of mind where recall would be optimal. Erickson arousal theory states that learning is m...
Why, with the thousands and thousands of possible number/letter combos, would 2 license plates in the same area be even remotely similar?	[ "The numbers aren't random, there are patterns that relay certain informaiton about location, time registered, etc. Though its not universal, and I couldn't tell you what those patterns in canada mean, its likely there is a non-random code used to determine them." ]	[ "Those weird characters are the ID of whatever it is you are looking for. Let's say we have all of your toys in bins in your room and each bin is labelled with a letter of the alphabet. I tell you to go get toy B and you know right where to go and get it for me. If you have a lot of toys, maybe we'll label some of ...
What was the diopter of leeuwenhoek`s microscope?	[ "I found an article [here](_URL_0_) that estimated the focal length of one of Leeuwenhoek's single lens microscopes at 4/100\", or 1.02 mm. 1/1.02E-3 = 980 diopter" ]	[ "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 do pain killers help some types of pain, but not others?	[ "Your joint pain probably comes from some sort of inflammation within them. One type of pain killer, NSAIDs, block the production of a molecule (Prostaglandin H2) that is produced at inflamed sites and is important for pain signaling in inflammation. So when the production of that inflammatory molecule is blocked, ...	[ "different engines work better with the diverse fuel types. certain desired outcomes - like speed for example, are better achieved by the faster burning petrol, whereas a lorry using slower burning diesel fuel is more efficient for hauling over long distances." ]
Why does average life expectancy vary greatly among nations?	[ "There are a lot of factors. - Quality and availability of health care. This includes everything from preventive medicine (vaccines, routine dental check-ups) to getting treatment for a variety of illnesses (ranging from stuff like the flu up to cancer). - Diet. People need a variety of nutrients in a well balanced...	[ "It is exchange rates, different taxes, shipping costs, and import tariffs." ]
My roomate doesn't believe that humans have impacted global climate change. What evidence/proof is there that we have?	[ "The facts that [Weather Patterns follow a weekly schedule](_URL_0_) and humans are the only creatures that do are pretty damning." ]	[ "There's something called cognitive dissonance, which is a mental condition in which your brain is torn between two mutually exclusive ideas, thoughts, memories or concepts. It's an extremely uncomfortable state to be in, and the brain will jump through some pretty crazy hoops to resolve the situation. Most coping ...
What was a day in the life of a schoolboy in Nazi Germany? What was studied? Are there any translated text books on things like racial theory or history? How do they compare to reality?	[ "While not a scientific answer to your question at all, I want to suggest the excellent movie [Before the Fall](_URL_5_) (German Titel: Napola – Elite für den Führer) to anyone interested in this topic, which is a story about pupils in an elite high school in the German Reich." ]	[ "What do you define to be an average American citizen? What is their race? What is their socioeconomic status? Their religion? Political affiliation? It may be hard to generalize such an answer without being more specific." ]

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