Subset (10)

eli5 · 25k rows

Split (1)

train · 25k rows

query stringlengths 20 300	positive listlengths 1 1	negative listlengths 1 1
The reason behind 2008 global financial crisis?	[ "Watch \"The Big Short\" they give a good explaination of how the housing market collapsed resulting a financial breakdown. Ofcourse there are more factors in play bit this is something that is to complicated to explain on the level of a 5 year old." ]	[ "This CGP Grey video does a really good job of explaining it all. _URL_3_" ]
If we had 8 digits instead of 10, would we use Base 8 math?	[ "There is no reason for using base ten over any other base, though being divisible by several different primes is a nice quality. This would not change math at all, except for a few little arithmetic tricks (checking for divisibility by three would no longer be as simple, etc.)." ]	[ "The problem is not the technical aspect of how can you store the date. The problem is the logistical aspect of how do you manage all the programs which will break when you change the size of time_t. There are millions of programs and systems written to expect a 32-bit time_t. You need to have migration plans, obso...
Why are some leaves edible (Like Lettuce, Cabbage and Vines) and others aren't (Like Grass, Apple-tree Leaves, and Oak Leaves)?	[ "Most plant cells have walls made up of the polysaccharide, cellulose. For most herbivores digesting cellulose into sugar is no problem, but for omnivores like humans it's pretty much impossible. Humans don't have the right enzymes, so to us it's just fiber. For plants rich in cellulose we'll end up spending more e...	[ "Water (which is what vinegar is mostly composed of) is denser than olive oil. Vinegar is about 95-98 percent water and 5-2 percent acetic acid. Olive oil is made of lipids, long chain hydrocarbons. When you mix the two the oil wants to float on the vinegar, but for a short period of time the surface tension of the...
How do experts determine a specie to be "extinct?" What is their basis of an animal to be one?	[ "Extinct in simple terms mean they don't exist anymore - as in nobody has seen any for long enough that it's considered unlikely anybody will ever see them again. Generally done via observation - scientists observe the animals habitat for a period of time and count how many they see - if the answer is consistently ...	[ "By tapping the wood. You quite clearly hear the difference when they find a good spot vs when they find nothing. And if they find nothing they just try another spot." ]
Why are so many rap/hiphop songs still about how good the rapper is?	[ "Well, don't forget that rap has evolved to something of an art form. The same idea from the early days applies: rapping about dominance IS dominance IF you do it well. It's really just a platform on which you can do cool shit with the rhymes and good wordplay. However, if the rapper can spit something really innov...	[ "After learning your memories have a direct influence in sound interpretation. What you know are the lyrics directly influence your interpretations of sound that \"should\" correspond to what you know. Otherwise, our brain keeps and open possibility of what those sounds can correspond to..." ]
Why are celebrities photographed even without consent but "normal people" have to be blurred out?	[ "You actually don't need a release to film people in public places. You have no more rights than an angry Alec Baldwin in public. Producers generally try and get releases for anyone who is somewhat prominent, but that is only because they may want to use the footage in ads at some point, and certain forms of commer...	[ "/u/deus_vult_a_cracker is probably correct. At my son's school they send home a blanket waiver for parents to sign allowing your child to be shown in media \"promoting the school, district or extra-curricular activity\"." ]
When I touch something, what force actually stops my hand from pushing through that object?	[ "Quantum mechanics, or more specific the Pauli exclusion principle. Electrons are fermions, which means you cannot have two of them in the same state. When your hand is far away from whatever you touch then you have electrons in states in your hand and the object to be touched has electrons in its states - no probl...	[ "Basically, you have to be weaker if you want the kind of fine muscle control we have. Chimps and gorillas physically could not do the kinds of things we can do with our hands - sculpture, art, writing, etc. - because of the way their muscles are attached to their bones. They have better leverage because their an...
A recent 'showerthought' pointed out that chess and checkers could be played on the same board, which made it the first-ever gaming platform. Is this true? Or were their earlier gaming 'platforms?' What are some other historical examples of multiple games played with the same pieces?	[ "Do you mean same board, but different everything else? & #x200B; Checkers and Chess do not use the same pieces. If you mean the same pieces dice and card games have been around for thousands of years, they are played using the same pieces with different rules. Dice games have been played since at least 2500 BC &...	[ "Creating a game using a PC isn't the same as creating a game for a PC. Its technically possible to use a PC to make a ps4 game without ever having a version that will actually run on a PC. The way it works is you have a ps4 devkit, which is a special ps4 for developers. That connects to a PC and allows the PC ...
Do animals such as wolves, lions, tigers, dogs, etc do they have a strictly protein diet? Because on the Discovery Channel it seems like that's all they eat.	[ "One slight correction, purely carnivorous isn't pure protein. They eat as much fat as they can as well, for example, grizzly bears (a true omnivore) may eat only the skin and heads of salmon when they are plentiful, because those are the most fatty." ]	[ "When you want a body builders physique, you train to build up muscle, then diet to lose fat (I think they call it \"cutting\") When you diet, you always lose muscle (can't help it, its what your body does.), so after the bodybuilder lost fat, he starts growing his muscle again, and in the process also gains some f...
Why do bubbles come from a specific point in the beer glass?	[ "Bubbles in liquid require contact with a rough surface to easily form. So the bubbles form in places where there is a micro scratch on the inside of the glass. I own some fancy champagne glasses that have a pre-built scratch in the bottom so you know where the bubbles are going to come from for a pretty effect." ]	[ "Inflatable beach balls are mostly empty space, too. The thing is, light bounces off the outside surface of the beach ball and back into our eyes, just like it bounces off the electrons around an atom's nucleus." ]
Why heavy water is toxic, while ordinary water isn't?	[ "It's because the processes in your body do not all work the same way with heavy water due to differences in molecular weight and the strength of bonds formed. You could drink a glass of heavy water without much, if any ill effect, but if you only drank heavy water for a longer period, it would displace the normal ...	[ "The Wikipedia article on Hypoxia has [an absolutley fantastic video](_URL_0_) (~7:00 long) that answers your question. Essentially a large part of the issue lies in being unable to run calcium pumps that reduce the concentration of calcium ions into the cell. The calcium ions can trigger various enzymes that caus...
how do we get high quality digital versions of real life paintings/art?	[ "They are photographed vertically in a booth. The booth has a high-res camera mounted facing down. You put the piece face up on the table and photograph it." ]	[ "I would like to add that, as far as the bank is concerned, an image of the check is the same as the physical check. The other replies have done a good job answering your other questions." ]
How long has veganism been possible?	[ "I can give a partial answer. Vitamin B12 is not available in a vegan diet and must be supplemented. It was first synthesized in 1972. It was not possible to be fully vegan until this time. Edit: this may be incorrect. While in a wild diet, animal products are required to acquire B12, there may have been bacteria- ...	[ "Follow-up question: If it is purely a modern idea, where did this idea come from, and how much validity is there to it?" ]
Why did Milan, Italy, manage to contain the Black Death so well?	[ "The duchy of Milan was ruled by the Visconti during the black death. In 1374 Bernabo Visconti gave some regulations regarding what to do in case of plague symptoms. Anybody with symptoms of the plague was forced to leave the city, and parish priest had to notify of any sick people, and their items became property ...	[ "So, I don't know if you know this, but Blackstone did just what you are suggesting. After the housing crash of 2009, they went out and bought up homes in different cities. They put them all under the umbrella of a REIT (real estate investment trust) called \"Invitation Homes\" and then spun it out in an IPO a few...
What did Winston Churchill's ideal post-war Europe look like?	[ "\"Killing Patton\" is hardly an academic source. For what it's worth, Churchill encouraged the continent to develop into a federated European Union, a literal United States of Europe, though sans the UK. This was at the Conference at The Hague in 1948." ]	[ "Harry Truman failed several times at businesses and acquired many debts as a result. He spent the rest of his life paying his debts back, and refused to file bankruptcy. When he left office at 69, he had no money and no income. He refused offers to sit on corporate boards because he felt it would demean the office...
Among animal species, why do humans have a need to be clothe, especially in public	[ "I'm pretty sure it's just a societal thing. If you look at pictures of indigenous tribes in Africa or South America some of them don't dress for modesty at all but for tradition and whatnot. Basically, our society and culture has decided that the naked human body is something that should be covered up when in publ...	[ "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...
Is gravitational bending of light wavelength-dependent?	[ "No, because gravity is curvature of space time, and anything moving along the same trajectory at the same velocity will take the same path, as long as we can assume that the object's own contribution to curvature is negligible." ]	[ "It's accidental in the SM given the field content---when you write down all allowed terms in the Lagrangian for the quark sector, you can get rid of all but one unitary matrix, the CKM matrix. You can put CKM in the mass matrix so gauge interactions are diagonal (this is the 'flavor basis') or in the gauge interac...
Why is it that you can tell when an object in a tv/movie is "empty" or isn't the right weight? (ex: coffee cups are never filled)	[ "It is similar to when you are at a restaurant and they give you your drink in a plastic cup that looks like glass, and you pick it up much faster than you mean too. You aren't aware, but you tend to have a very good sense of how much effort it takes to lift something. So in TV and movies it is really clear when th...	[ "Are you drinking the same coffee each time? Generally, coffee in mugs is either homemade or comes at a restaurant, while coffee in paper/styrofoam cups comes from fast-food chains or coffee shops. Different restaurants/chains may stock different grades or brands of coffee, which then affects the taste. The cup mat...
How can paparazzi stalk celebrities and harass them legally?	[ "If someone is in public, they are fair game. The Paparazzi could camp outside your house and follow you down to the mall shooting photos all the way. Photograph you through the window of the restaurant with your date. They don't do this, because they can make far more per photo by doing this to a celebrity instead...	[ "They don't. It's a marketing ~~lie~~ gimmick. I used to work for a company that did a similar thing by mail. New customers were supposed to sign up by a certain time for special rates but as a specific matter of policy we'd give those rates to anyone who mailed back the special offer." ]
If an object falls into a still body of water, can the water that is thrown into the air exceed the initial height of the object?	[ "Yes. Can we agree that a turd at the moment of release is lower than your balloon knot? I say yes. The fact that the water can still make a brown bullseye proves that it achieved a height higher than the turd. The object would probably have to be big enough to displace some water so the water claps back into place...	[ "It seems like it depends on the size of the room, how structurally stable it is, and how adherent the paint is to itself. As you added successive layers of paint, supposing they adhered perfectly to each other, you would be adding to the weight on the ceiling. This would prove a challenge to the structure upholdi...
Does sugar consumption actually suppress your immune system?	[ "From what I understand, sugar itself does not suppress the immune system. Our sugars become elevated when we are fighting an infection due to the release of stress hormones which increase the ammount of available glucose in our serum. This is because the sugar is necessary for WBCs to combat infection and for the ...	[ "Now I am by no means a biologist, so I know I’m not answering or explaining but I can share a little of my own experience. I work free lance in the film industry so I will work long days weeks and hours for a period of time and then be unemployed while I try to arrange the next project. At the end of every shoot, ...
When walking on a tightrope with a long bar, why does pushing down on the long bar on the side that you are leaning help balance in the other direction?	[ "Newton's third Law of Motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So when I push the bar, the bar pushes me in the opposite direction." ]	[ "The easiest way to answer your question is to buy a double hook scale like [THIS](_URL_0_) ($20) and tow the truck with it. Do the same with various masses on the sled and you will have your answer. The amount of force to get the sled moving will probably be higher than to get the truck moving because it will lik...
If scientists have created anti-matter on earth...where do they keep it to stop it colliding with matter.	[ "They use magnetic fields to keep it away from normal matter. _URL_0_" ]	[ "Have you ever wondered what's inside your bouncy ball? Imagine it was too small to cut but you really, really wanted to know. What you might want to try is throwing it into something so hard that it breaks and you can see the smaller parts. Of course, if you only have another bouncy ball because that's the only th...
Why does body hair stop growing at a certain length but head hair continues to grow non stop?	[ "Hairs don't stop growing like that. Hairs grow a set length and then fall off. This length is much longer for head hair, so many people never even consider letting it reach that point." ]	[ "Every time you make a copy of a cell, there is a chance for errors. For example when you photocopy a first print, it is pretty crisp and close to the original, but there are a few minor discrepencies. Now if you photocopy the copy, it gets more distorted, and so on until some letters get hard to read, it gets diff...
What is the "relaxed" state of my eyelids--open or closed?	[ "Both. Your eyelids have two different sets of muscles. When one is relaxed, the other is contracting, and vice versa." ]	[ "Interestingly, this phrase is commonly translated in a slightly wrong way. The correct translation of Platos phrase \"oîda ouk eidōs\" should be \"I know, that i don't know\" which is quite a difference. What it means can be understood in Socrates' concept of 'aporia' which includes the notion that nothing can be ...
How does cling wrap work?	[ "It uses electrostatic charge! Electrons get pulled back and forth between the wrap and whatever surface you're putting it on, causing it to stick." ]	[ "Here is a great video explaining it. _URL_0_" ]
Why do we give so much shit to Germany when Japan was so much worse?	[ "This submission has been removed because it is [soapboxing](_URL_1_.) or [moralizing:](_URL_0_) it has the effect of promoting an opinion on contemporary politics or social issues at the expense of historical integrity. There are certainly historical topics that relate to contemporary issues and it is possible for...	[ "This is more of an opinion or discussion question than a concept you're looking to have explained. Not really a topic for ELI5. Maybe /r/askreddit" ]
Is evolution in the human race evident? Are we slowly becoming more genetically superior than our ancestors from 3-400 years ago?	[ "It's not a question of superiority. It is a question of traits that provide superior reproductive success, in whatever form that might take. Most of it is far from obvious too: a minor mutation that makes you 0.001% more likely to become pregnant after having sex is a pretty big deal in terms of natural selection....	[ "Let's say you have a 7 lane interstate. At each end there is a toll booth. In the past payments were processed manually and there was a receipt that had to print, but the printers were slow. Only do much traffic could get through. Fast forward to the future where you pay with the touch of a button and get an insta...
How is lithium, a monoatomic element, such an effective treatment for Bipolar Disorder? How does it work and how was its function discovered?	[ "To address the simple \"monoatomic element\" part: Lithium as medicine is in the form of charged lithium ions rather than stable atoms. Swallowing a chunk of metallic lithium would not be an effective medicine. Usually lithium carbonate is the form of the medicine Lithium ions have the same charge as the other alk...	[ "I would assume that its based off a variety of factors starting off with the cost of research and the estimate rate of return expected. The companies will want a quick return on their investment balanced off what people/insurance would be willing to pay and the expected prescription rate. So a common illness would...
Is there a mathematical proof/justification for x^-1 = 1/x? Or is it just conjecture/nonclemature?	[ "You can define x^n on the positive integers with x^1 = x and x^(n+1) = x^(n)x. This results in the property x^(a)x^b = x^(a+b). You can extend the powers to keep this property. Just say x^1 = x and x^(a)x^b = x^(a+b) and it will let you calculate powers with all rational numbers, and won't lead to any contradictio...	[ "Think about things bouncing around. Imagine a box with a fan in it. Put 20 balls in ithe box. Now imagine a basket to one side just the right size for the balls. Turn on the fan. The balls jump around randomly. At some point a ball will fall into the basket. This will happen at a given rate which will depends on h...
How are copyrighted albums available for free on YouTube?	[ "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...	[ "Google does business in the EU, so they are required to comply with those laws. That's the main reason -- lots of companies do business in multiple countries." ]
Let's say I'm a pilot all my life. Does time dilation due to my time spent at great speed and altitude change my age significantly, compared to a twin?	[ "No, even if you spend your whole life going 1000 km/h, the difference will be about a millisecond over 70 years." ]	[ "It is much more complicated than that, and is a very active area of research. A professor at my school, David Eagleman, studies this stuff. He's a complete badass, check him out: _URL_0_ edit: one of his famous experiments involves using magnetic energy to slow the propagation of some signals in the brain, and i...
How do people in courtrooms, depositions, parliaments and what not type everything being typed up so quickly?	[ "my mum does this for australian state parliament - there's a button for every vowel and a button for most of the important consonants - stenographers create their own shorthand dictionary over time and there's shortcuts for every word they have to use. mum's been at it for about two - three years now and she's at ...	[ "Two reasons: 1. Product placement. Companies pay good money for movies and TV shows to show their products, so the shows' producers wouldn't want to \"give it away for free\". They would also wish to avoid any possible legal and business complications if by any chance the company doesn't like its products appearin...
Is there a name for the stars that change color or am I seeing geosynchronous satellites?	[ "The actual star is not changing colour, what you're seeing is scintillation; \"a generic term for variations in apparent brightness, position, or colour of a distant luminous object viewed through a medium.\" Specifically in this case the medium is our atmosphere and it's technically called \"terrestrial scintil...	[ "Since the question has already been answered, I'm just going to throw in a plug for my favourite app for answering these kinds of questions, [Google Sky Map](_URL_0_). Just point it at whatever is confusing you, and it tells you what and where everything is." ]
How does dopamine work in the brain on methamphetamine and other dopamine releasing chemicals?	[ "Methamphetamine is a dopamine agonist, so when you take it you overflow the dopamine receptors amd get the corresponding reactions, just more intense. With frequent use the receptors cannot tolerate the constant \"high\" so they either diminish in number or grow less sensitive to dopamine. This leads to the need o...	[ "Johnny loves math, he's very good at it. But every summer break in between grades, he doesn't practice his math. He does other things like skating, baseball, and playing spin the bottle. No math equations or learning takes place all summer long. When Johnny returns to school, his brain hasn't kept up on math what...
Why is first to file a good idea?	[ "I assume it simplifies things. It's easier to prove someone patented something first than to prove someone thought of something first." ]	[ "Would you rather learn how to fight before or after you're being mugged in an alley?" ]
Why do braces have to be made of sharp metal? Why can't they be smooth so they don't cut up the inside of a patient's mouth?	[ "As a former braces wearer, I can say that while mine were metal, there wasn't anything sharp in there. It might feel that way in the beginning, but she'll get used to the irritation. Your orthodontist can adjust some things or recommend products like was if there is a problem." ]	[ "Part of the enjoyment of steak is the texture, and how as you chew flavorful fats and oils are releases. Also, as a solid block, your steak retains its heat for longer. But ones you pulverize it, all the texture is broken down, all the fats and oils are released and diluted, and it cools much more quickly." ]
Do today's video games keep you playing like casinos do, throwing you wins once in a while to keep you playing longer?	[ "There have been news recently of a patent filed by Activision for a system designed to goad players into buying more microtransaction items by doing things like matching them up against better players with premium items that the manipulated player doesn't have, to make them believe that they would be more successf...	[ "When you write a computer program the compiler compiles the code into a machine readable executable code which is not human readable. For example a python program named _URL_0_ creates _URL_0_c similarly foo.java creates ~~foo.jar~~ foo.class .... (See correction below as pointed by /u/Schnutzel). Now you can ta...
the sun rises 1 hour earlier but sets 10 minutes later (local time) in Minneapolis than it does in Atlanta. Why isn't it 35 minutes earlier and 35 minutes later?	[ "Because we only adjust the clocks in 1 hour increments, not in 25 minute increments. There is a point in the central time zone where the sun rises 35 minutes earlier than Atlanta and sets 35 minutes later. That point happens to not be in Minneapolis." ]	[ "The balloon won't get you the height or the speed needed. Your balloon will get you at most 53km up and moving a hundred m/s or so When the first stage of an ICBM stops firing the missile is 150-400km up and moving at 4km/second. It'll peak around 1200 km(3x as high as the space station), then start dropping while...
Future practical uses for antimatter?	[ "We do use antimatter currently for practical uses, ever heard of a PET scan? It would be the ultimate energy storage medium because gathering meaningful amounts of antimatter from nature is impractical. The best place to find it now is in the van Allen radiation belts." ]	[ "This question is rather ambiguous. Could you clarify? Do you mean creation of new mass, splitting atoms into their composites, or making new elements? TL;DR more stuff, dissecting stuff, or new types of stuff?" ]
Where along the Milky Way is galactic central point?	[ "As others have said, look in Sagittarius, which looks like a teapot. Once you've identified the \"teapot\" the center of the galaxy is actually just where the tea would pour out of the pot, more or less. It's just not very bright in that direction to your naked eye because of the giant dust clouds that obscure our...	[ "You know the saying \"All roads lead to Rome?\" The equivalent for black holes is \"all paths lead to the center.\"" ]
matching the voices to the lip movement of cartoons	[ "You don't match the voices to the lips, you match the lips to the voice. Also, this is done at like 12fps so it doesn't have to be super precise." ]	[ "After learning your memories have a direct influence in sound interpretation. What you know are the lyrics directly influence your interpretations of sound that \"should\" correspond to what you know. Otherwise, our brain keeps and open possibility of what those sounds can correspond to..." ]
[Physics] Why are we so 100% sure that the speed of light is the fastest any object can travel?	[ "Three lines of arguments: * Experimental: Measuring the speed of light of a source that comes towards you gives the same result that measuring the speed of light of a source that goes away from you. That's why we're willing to accept that time slows and distance contract for the other frame of reference. * Math:...	[ "Depends what you mean by \"know\". We assume this to be true because we have no mechanism for it NOT to be true, and we have seen zero evidence to contradict it. It is like asking, do you KNOW there aren't dragons that we haven't detected?" ]
the differences between Whiskey, Bourbon, Scotch, and single malt / multiple malt (?)	[ "Whiskey is a general term for aged liquor made with grains (depending on where the term is used it can be spelled as whisky) and aged in oak barrels or casks. Bourbon is a legal term for whiskeys made in the US from a majority corn grain mix and there are other requirements. Scotch is whisky made in Scotland (and ...	[ "Different types of motorsports have different rules governing them. These rules dictate track type, engine size, type of car, etc. For instance, NASCAR dictates what kind of car can be raced. All of the cars in NASCAR are virtually the same, minus some tweaks here and there, like spoiler angle. Daytona is a race t...
What is the mathematical explanation for honeycombs being the shape they are?	[ "Maximum internal volume with minimum length of wall. EDIT: For example: If honeycombe was made up of lots of little square wells, the bee's would require more wax walls to hold the same volume as hexagonal honeycombe. The same is true for all other interlocking geometric shapes. Hexagonal honeycombes achieve opti...	[ "Pictures on TV screens and computer screens are made from a whole bunch of teeny-tiny dots of lots of different colours. More dots, all jammed really, really close together, means the picture looks better. 'Cause the dots are less noticeable. And there's way more details. That's hi-def. More dots." ]
Why do video game and DVD releases always occur on a Tuesday?	[ "Out of curiosity which country do you reside in? I only ask because (at least in Aus and from what I read online the UK and USA) it is normally Thursday to space purchases out a bit. Fans buy it day 1, most people buy it either Friday or early Saturday so they have the weekend to enjoy it at their leisure." ]	[ "It's just an obsolete tradition now, that few care about. It started back when summer clothes and winter or formal city clothes were different, often made out of different materials. Such as cotton vs wool. And often the families of the gentry class would relocate from their winter home in the city to their summer...
Why aren't video games released across multiple platforms more often?	[ "In your case of Halo 4, the \"Halo\" name and franchise is owned by Microsoft. And that's why you don't see a lot of awesome games ported more often - it's usually that they're owned by the company that also owns the platform. Other examples include Sony owning Ratchet and Clank, Killzone, and Crash Bandicoot. Nin...	[ "Crops are a lot less diverse than weeds. When we develop a crop, we plant the exact same plant over and over again. In extreme cases like the Cavendish banana (the one you probably eat), all the plants are genetically clones of each other. So if one disease works against one plant, it would like work against th...
When people with light skin live in high-sun environments, they suffer health problems. Do people with dark skin also suffer problems when they live in low-sun environments?	[ "Short answer that I think I remember. Fair-skinned (caucasians, white, you name it) can produce Vitamin D by exposing themselves to the sun. Darker hue in the skin (brown, basically) means more melanin, which protects from the UV rays, but they can't produce Vitamin D. Or produce less, at least. Sorry for language...	[ "Here's a [picture](_URL_0_) that might help explain. That figure is the \"analemma\". You can create such a thing by taking a picture of the same location in the sky (assuming the Sun is there) at the same time of day throughout the year. What you'll notice is that the Sun doesn't just trace a line back and forth,...
Was getting tied to a railway a real thing?	[ "Hi, you'll find additional responses in these threads * /u/leyebrow in [Do we know of anyone actually being tied up and left on the railroad tracks?](_URL_3_) * /u/AshkenazeeYankee in [Did criminals from the West in the 19th century actually tie women to train tracks or is this just a trope from tv shows and carto...	[ "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." ]
Why does cold water seem to quench your thirst better than warm water?	[ "I seem to recall this question popping up here not so long ago. Even without feeling really hot, a normal healthy amount of human warmth may still drive a little bit of sweat production. In its own small way, a chilled beverage may reduce this warmth and inhibit sweating. The end result is a sense of less need for...	[ "To enable a substance to expand out of a can (it had to be compressed to fit inside) the molecules must be allowed to \"re-expand\" and bump each other further apart, in an effort to match the outside air pressure. To do this, the molecules inside demand more energy to allow the expansion to occur. That means th...
What do police do with drugs and seized property once a suspect is arrested and convicted?	[ "Confiscated drugs are supposed to be destroyed (in a fire), but there have been cases of police nicking stuff and keeping it for personal use, and also cases of them keeping stuff to plant on suspects. Seized cash goes into the police's budget, expensive items will be sold and the proceeds will also go into the po...	[ "For the Consumer They get a new thing at a discounted price and don't have to worry about getting rid of the old thing. For the Company They can resell the old thing for more money than the discount they gave on the new thing, or they can otherwise use it for parts or raw materials to reduce costs on build...
why ears hurts so intense after wearing headphones that is even cotton soft for like 30mins?	[ "The ears are very soft and sensitive, so having anything rest on them will probably lead to discomfort. OF course well designed ear-phones can usually be worn for a while without many issues, and any good over-ear ones can be worn for hours without hassle." ]	[ "You could have [tinnitus](_URL_0_). You should see a doctor if you want any further information, since asking for medical advice is not allowed in this forum." ]
Do sound waves fall?	[ "The density of air decreases as you go up, so if the speed of sound was greater further up, the sound would bend downwards, which could be what was being simulated. Think of it like a light beam going from a higher to lower refractive index, it bends away from the normal, not towards it. In reality though, the s...	[ "Interesting that everyone is saying yes. Really, it depends on who is counting the seconds: If the person at the top of some tower is dropping them at one second intervals, the person at the bottom of the tower will definitely measure them as hitting the ground at less than one second apart. This is the simplest w...
Why do your hormones make your veins expand (and make you faint) when you see something like blood? How does that help?	[ "Blood (or other scary things) are signs that danger is around, and you may need to run away or fight whatever spilled that blood. So what the body is trying to do is open up more blood flow to the muscles and lungs to prepare your body to do something. But when your blood suddenly rushes into the muscles to prepar...	[ "Because we are social animals. Extremely social. Dogs and cats will often stay quiet when they are sick, because drawing attention to themselves when sick is the last thing they want to do in the wild, so evolutionary factors have driven them to hide signs of weakness. The obviously sick gazelle is the one tha...
How a person with an accent sings without the accent.	[ "Folk music perspective: British folk singers open their mouths far and have less \"twang\" and more \"warble\", most American folk singers go the okie/appalachia route and sing with a more closed mouth and more twang. This is why Joan Baez sounds more british than Joni Mitchel, even though both are Americans." ]	[ "The phone's electronics know what sound the speaker is putting out, so they electronically subtract this from what the microphone is receiving. _URL_0_" ]
What were airports like in the 1990s?	[ "You didn't have to get there two hours early, that's for sure! From what I can recall they did still scan your bags for guns, drugs and bombs, since hijackings and bombings were still going on... but pocket knives and such were allowed (knives longer than 4 inches were not). People were chosen randomly for enhanc...	[ "Very poorly. Assuming you ask about the time period after we found out they were possible, before that they obviously weren't a thing, but before we found out why people died left right and centre. However, we soon found out that some combination of blood clotted, others worked fine." ]
What is the difference between the WTO and NAFTA?	[ "The World Trade Organization is a membership based institution with 162 member states. The goal is to regulate international trade by setting standards, reducing trade barriers, and settling disputes between member nations. NAFTA is a regional agreement between three countries: Canada, Mexico, and the United Stat...	[ "Mate, you're going to need to come up with a better example. That JFK cover is from 2013, ahead of the 50th anniversary of his assassination, a time when folks were inclined to overlook JFK's flaws. The 1968 Nixon cover is an allusion to the popular belief that Nixon lost the 1960 presidential election because of...
what is it about lying down that makes being drunk so suddenly awful?	[ "An actual ELI5 Version (not ELIaPhD): There is a type jelly in your ears that helps tell your body whether you're right-side-up or upside-down. We're not completely sure how, but our best guess is that alcohol travels to the jelly in your ears and changes it's \"jelliness.\" This makes your brain confused, and it...	[ "The spine compressed over time, due mostly to fluid retention loss in between your discs. Don't worry though, your body replaces it as you sleep. Think of your spine as a slinky, now put sponges with water in between the links then compress. The slinky will lose height as the water diminishes. This is basically ...
Why aren’t older gaming consoles emulated on phones these days? New phones have powerful processors/displays and should be able to handle NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, etc. right?	[ "There are emulators out there, as well as emulators for early PC games. I'm not sure why you think there aren't. The reason the original companies don't make the games again is that it doesn't make much money. So you have to rely on community programmers instead." ]	[ "Many missions do use multiple slingshot encounters (aka \"Gravity Assist Maneuvers\"). If I recall correctly, the Rosetta mission performed two Earth GAMs and a Mars GAM. Cassini performed two GAMs past Venus, one past Earth, and another at Jupiter. However, this takes time. In order to pull off the double-earth s...
Why did Japan invade East Timor in WW2 if Portugal was neutral? They didn't invade Macau after all	[ "While you're correct in saying that the Japanese didn't invade Macau, that's not to say that they didn't have a rather overbearing presence there. In 1943, they crossed into Macau in an attempt to capture a British cargo ship. The Macau police force fired on them, and had 20 killed. A couple of months later, Japan...	[ "The video shows every step. The fish, crab, and eels, have millions of years of evolution where finding holes in the bank to hide in resulted in fewer deaths from predation. So they seek the holes. They seek dark holes with the scent of prey. Humans come along. They imitate the dark holes with bamboo. They put ou...
Practical Research Help: Looking for names of victims of the 1983 US embassy bombing in Kuwait	[ "Do you have access to a public library or somewhere where you can look at newspaper/newsweekly databases? That is probably going to be your best bet, but even then I don't think it's likely that you're going to get a full list of casualties from an English source, especially since none of the casualties were Ameri...	[ "Whilst working on Part III of my Opium War series (coming out on the Saturday Showcase tomorrow), I noticed something a little bit fishy about Extra Credits' description of the Battle of Chuanbi in November 1839. Namely, that it seems to be lifted more or less completely (albeit largely reworded) from the descript...
How did the idea develop that police offers were a part of "them" and not a part of "us" in the United States of America?	[ "Hi, this is just a reminder to posters to abide by our [subreddit rules](_URL_0_) and remember that unless you're posting an in-depth reply about the history of the issue, your post will be deleted. Pay particular attention to the rules about soapboxing and the 20-year-rule. We don't need discussion of present-d...	[ "Because to our primitive ancestors, different usually meant bad. That tuber smells different? Probably rotten, don't eat it. Your dog acting weird? Might have rabies, stay away. That stranger looks different than you? Probably from a rival tribe, and up to no good." ]
What is a nicotine buzz and why do we get it?	[ "Most of the effects of nicotine can be attributed to a release of a chemical called acetylcholine which binds to receptors in the brain increasing alertness and enhancing concentration. Positive feelings might be due to the drugs enhancement of dopamine action in the nucleus accumbens or reward center of the brain...	[ "You essentially create a battery in your mouth, the pain you feel is a small electric current. _URL_0_" ]
the hate for Mel Gibson	[ "Among some other things, the biggest issue was in 2006 when he was arrested for drunk driving and during the arrest got angry and went on an anti-Semitic tirade. [Source](_URL_0_)" ]	[ "The popularity of comic book characters and acceptance of the geek subculture, mainly. people aren't scared to show that they enjoy these things anymore." ]
What is the likelihood that the sci-fi-esque artificial food may be possible in the near future? Further, is there any out there now that we should know about?	[ "Something that could be \"close\" is Quorn. It's a fermented fungus that grows in huge tanks where you add vitamins, minerals, sugar and oxygen. The growing process of the fungus is controlled and not natural but it's not some edible rubber that is manufactured from crude oil." ]	[ "Using the biological species concept (which I assume, based on your question, is your framework), we have only created one to my knowledge: [Drosophila synthetica.](_URL_0_) If you use the morphological or phylogenetic species concepts, we have created buttloads." ]
Scientifically, what is the difference between color film and black/white film? What changed and allowed film to be in color?	[ "Black and white film consists of a single layer of material that changes opacity based on the amplitude of light that flows through it, regardless of the color of that light. This produces a film 'negative'. The negative is then processed so that it doesn't change color anymore and is then used to expose another l...	[ "I'm not a camera pro, but basically: A smartphone camera lense or even a Go pro doest have 1/10th of a cinema camera quality. There is much more than resolution and megapixels when it comes to cameras. Why does some 8mp phone camera does a better job than some 13mp ones? Same stuff. Lense, picture processing, etc....
Why is trisomy 21 (Down's syndrome) fairly common, but trisomy's of other chromosomes either non existent or non prevalent.	[ "Trisomy of other chromosomes happens but is usually lethal and leads to early miscarriage. edit: I shouldn't have said usually. It's something that a woman's body \"checks\" for and results in very early miscarriage, like sometimes before you know you are pregnant. Chromosome 21 isn't as important as other chromos...	[ "Netflix works with another company, Level3, to create a Content Distribution Network. The idea behind a CDN is to create multiple copies of the data and put it as close to the customer as possible. So, instead of everyone grabbing the videos from one centralized source, they distribute the content all over the wor...
Why are all car/truck tires black? Can't we get white, red, blue, or other colors?	[ "We absolutely could get those colors, but the tires would look incredibly dirty after a couple minutes on the road. Darker tires = appearance of being less dirty" ]	[ "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...
What is it about fragrance that can give people headaches?	[ "In addition to Kodack10's comments, a lot of perfumes contain various elements (Within the distilled 'Essential oils') that contain allergens. So, essentially, a decent proportion of people (about 16%) report allergies to various compounds in scented products. I, personally, detest all floral perfumes, but can tol...	[ "Because what's considered \"high amounts\" of things in air is actually quite a tiny amount. For example, pollen count is measured in grains of pollen per cubic meter of air, and the websites that I see to track it have \"very high\" pollen levels at around 10. That's 10 grains of pollen per cubic meter. Hardly so...
Is it possible for something to be more liquid/fluid than water?	[ "Depends how you define 'more fluid'. It seems like what you're thinking is 'less viscous'. In which case, yes, absolutely. The 'sludgy' fluids you're thinking of are non-Newtonian, like corn-starch and water, which gets thicker (more viscous) when you apply a force to it. There are also shear-thinning non-Newtonia...	[ "When all Helium atoms fall into their many-body–quantum-mechanical ground state, they can all move synchronously. So there is no friction between atoms, but there could still be friction between the superfluid and e.g. the walls of a tube. Friction implies the transformation of kinetic energy to heat. A superfluid...
History of Flat Earth Vs Globe Earth	[ "The concept of a spherical earth dates back to classical antiquity. While it’s impossible to quantify “how many” people knew this, we have plenty of evidence that common people in medieval Europe knew the earth was round. Here are some previous answers: _URL_1_ And _URL_0_" ]	[ "How is that any more \"ignorant of history\" than thinking Rome was founded by two brothers who were sucked by a wolf, or Thebes being founded by some dragon-slayer who followed a cow?" ]
Why does America get everything first and other countries get it later?	[ "Media created in the United States is always release in-country first. That just makes sense. Secondly, translating it into all major languages before releasing it would push the release date further back. Finally, if the product does not do well, it would not be wise to issue a worldwide release. A nations people...	[ "\"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, when dough is cut pre-baking, it doesn't stick back together, but rises through this cut during baking?	[ "When you cut/score the surface of the dough, you're cutting through some of the gluten strands that give the dough its shape. The rest of the uncut dough rises normally, while the cut portion \"peels away\"" ]	[ "When you copy the file to another drive, bits of information are being physically moved. Also if you are using USB 2.0 the data is delivered at a slower rate than it can be written. If you move or cut and paste the file to the same drive, the information stays in the same place and only the pointers to its locatio...
How does New Horizons have enough fuel to reach Pluto?	[ "It launched with a pretty high speed, and it was accelerated significantly in a Jupiter flyby. Since then, almost 7 years, it's been coasting. There is no friction in space, and it's speed remains constant." ]	[ "They plan the landing sites well in advanced. It is determined by terrain (will it be a safe landing), different features (what looks interesting to study), and by past landings (they want to spread out so they can study as much ground as possible)" ]
Why is centripetal force an inward force?	[ "I don't like the description of centrifugal force as \"not real\", because it seems to just muddy the waters. You can measure it, it does something, so that's real enough for me. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The centrifugal force is the ball pulling on the string trying to get away...	[ "Fed here. The Income Contingent Plan is going to adjust with your income from year to year. You'll need to re-certify. So if your plan is to never have an increase in pay, go for the Income Based Plan or ICR. However, if you start making more money in the next 20 years, your payment will go up and you'll most like...
How did Guan Yu become deified across multiple religions as a god of war? Is this only found within Chinese and Chinese-descended communities?	[ "Quick correction: he's not exactly the god of war, Chinese Buddhists worship him as a Bodhisattva, and Daoists worship him as a guardian spirit. Some modern day Chinese even worship him as some sort of a god of fortune, putting his shrine in shops and restaurants to bless them with good business." ]	[ "Sorry, we don't allow [throughout history questions](_URL_0_). These tend to produce threads which are collections of trivia, not the in-depth discussions about a particular topic we're looking for. If you have a specific question about a historical event or period or person, please feel free to re-compose your qu...
What happens after proton decay?	[ "Well as far as we know, protons don't decay. But if they do, they'd decay into a positron and a neutral pi meson." ]	[ "> > given the intensity of radiation is greater in the forward direction, will the source not be acting like a photon drive, and hence decelerate? No - the total force due to the photons emitted in the forward and backward directions will be equal in the reference frame of the moving object. Hence, no deceleration...
Why can you easily remove pieces of shell from cracked eggs with another piece of shell, but not with a fork, your fingers, etc?	[ "Wait. You can easily remove pieces of shell from cracked eggs by using another piece of shell??" ]	[ "There is a back door into every house. People put alarms all over their house. Have a key? You can get in the front door. When you need to break in you use the back door. Now only bad people use the back doors. So when someone comes in the back door, the alarm goes off. Your crack is a bad person, technically. He ...
Why do we "love" things/people?	[ "My interpretation is that loving people is essentially a biological or evolutionary trick that ensures we will take care of each other and that we will reproduce in order for our species to survive. When we think about or see people we love our brain releases certain chemicals that make us feel good. For instance ...	[ "Please use the search function. _URL_11_ _URL_12_ _URL_13_ _URL_11_ _URL_12_ _URL_11_ _URL_12_ _URL_13_ _URL_12_ _URL_13_ _URL_13_ TL;DR: Why is a bad question with no good answer. We can't tell entirely with other animals, because we can't directly communicate though anecdotally, many seem to." ]
In 1604 there was a supernova visible by the naked eye for several weeks. What did cultures around the world think about this phenomenon?	[ "[Researchers say star in Hamlet may be supernova of 1572](_URL_2_) [Hamlet's Supernova: The 1572 Explosion in Cassiopeia](_URL_2_)" ]	[ "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 /...
Do people who look similar actually have similar genes and are therefore more closely related than people who do not look alike, or is it merely our perception of what people look like that causes us to believe 2 people look similar?	[ "Technically we all have the same genes, just some are different or mutated in other people, these are called alleles. Alleles are segments or a locus on a specific chromosome. Why do people from lets say the Scandinavian region have \"nordic\" features, because they share similar alleles. And if some one look very...	[ "Imagine a spinning wheel getting faster and faster. At some point, it looks like it's suddenly reversed direction, spinning backwards, right? And then as it keeps on accelerating, it looks like the wheel is stopped. (Of course, the wheel is blurry, since it's going fast -- your brain interprets this as a spinning ...
Just how common were flaming arrows in medieval warfare? How were they used?	[ "they were quite uncommon, due to low effectiveness. The main problem with them was that the speed of the arrow would extingush the flame, unless tho bow/crossbow was intentionally strung lose, in which case it would be useless for actual combat. Among the known examples of use of such arrows is the Siege of Oran (...	[ "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...
Is a single atom/molecule considered to have a "state"?	[ "No. Phases are properties of bulk materials which are defined by how the molecules interact with their neighbors." ]	[ "The main way is by using x-ray crystallography. The x-rays scatter off of atoms and molecules and produce an image which is Fourier transform of the structure. Then through a lot of math and simulations they are able to recreate the structure which would produce the x-ray image. This is how the structure of DNA wa...
Why is it we are more inclined to apologize for not donating?	[ "Because we want to acknowledge the social benefit of a charity, without incurring the personal cost of being charitable." ]	[ "\"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..." ]
Can someone explain to me the significance of the Lucy fossil andwhy its a big deal?	[ "Lucy was significant because her skeleton was relatively intact, she was bipedal, and she had a small brain. Her fossil showed that human ancestors started walking around on two legs before they started developing larger brains, which is significant in the study of human evolution." ]	[ "In most cases, old art is highly valued because it was the first of its kind. It used a new technique, a unique style, ... and influenced how future artists paint. Only the unique, pioneering artists become famous and highly valuable. Reddit charcoal artists make very nice art, and a lot of people may be willing ...
Did the Xia Dynasty exist?	[ "My professor of Chinese history said that there is debate whether it did exist. He said that it has quite a lot of historical mentions, but all of them are from later periods so it is inconclusive whether it did or did not exist. Basically, no one here can give you a good answer because no one really knows if it ...	[ "Hi readers! Since questions like these often attract anecdotal answers, just a quick reminder: you are in /r/AskHistorians, so do ensure that answers are comprehensive and informative, and based on solid source material. Personal anecdotes or other casual chitchat/speculation/opinion are not accepted as answers he...
Is there a maximum/minimum possible wavelength of light?	[ "Because any wavelength can be transformed into any other wavelength in the appropriate reference frame (e.g. by moving towards or away from the source really fast), there is no maximum or minimum wavelength." ]	[ "> What part of my reasoning is wrong? The reasoning is not wrong, however you are assuming that each level has a 100% precise energy. In reality, each state has a [nonzero energy width](_URL_0_) to it. The width of the state is inversely proportional to the lifetime, so only states which never decay have infinit...
Why do tickets dispensed by arcade machines always seem to arrange themselves into neat piles?	[ "One of the ways tickets can come from the factory is in accordion-folded stacks. (The other is on spools.) After they're fed out of the machine, the tend to fold back the way they were." ]	[ "They're either on a timer or on a sensor. Ever approach an intersection and see vertical and horizontal cuts in the pavement? That's where workers buried the sensors. Those work by detecting metal, not the weight of the vehicle." ]
Which of Plato's contemporaries was most critical of him?	[ "We have precious little in the way of writings by Plato's contemporaries at all -- and none of that is devoted to commenting directly on him. It sounds like you have something reasonably specific that's prompted this question, so perhaps it would help if you gave some context." ]	[ "hi! you may be interested in these recent posts * [In the Netflix series \"Marco Polo,\" Marco Polo, a Venetian, has a relatively easy time communicating with people in the Mongol court. Would actual western traders be able to communicate effectively without translators? If so, how?](_URL_0_) * [In Netflix's Marco...
Now that weed is legal in some states, how will police be able to determine what levels of THC warrant a dui?	[ "That's a big open question right now. We don't currently have a simple, cost-effective test that accurately determines how intoxicated a person is that's equivalent to an alcohol breathalyzer. For now, they're just playing it by ear & the existing legal standards all suck." ]	[ "There are marks along the highway at measured intervals. A plane flies overhead, timing cars as they pass these marks. They radio to the cruiser on the ground a description of the car, who then stops them and writes the ticket." ]
How do intestinal worms find their way inside (and more)?	[ "Are you talking about pinworms specifically? I've heard that they are annoying little things. I assume that they use clues from the inside of the body to know when its nighttime like internal temperature and digestive activity. The females come out at night to lay their eggs around the skin of the anus, which is s...	[ "Math. After we were able to accurately monitor and figure out the body's course it was simply (not that simple) math and physics that told us where it would go. (EX: at day 12 month 5 yr 1981 it was here, on day 27 3rd month yr 1984 it was here, insert big math problem, and we now know that on day 1 month 1 yr 198...
how can a tv remote sit around all day not wasting it’s batteries and immediately be picked up and used (without having to be turned on), while something like a game controller must be turned on first before use, and if you left it on all day it would drain the batteries even while not in use?	[ "a tv remote is a usually one way communication and uses IR. the remote emits a signal when a button is pushed and the tv receives it. it's like using smoke signals. a game controller communicates through bluetooth which is active two way communication. just by keeping it on and idle, it'll consume power. and cont...	[ "There are three losses in a fridge: the skin of the fridge, the warm food inside, and the air exchange when you open the door. Once the food reaches the same temperature as the inside of the fridge, it is no longer a loss, but now thermal storage. Adding more food or opening the door will suck cold energy from the...
Why do I need to look at text directly to read it?	[ "Your retinas are arranged with fine resolution and lots of cones in the center and low resolution with lots of rods on the outside. The center is good at seeing detail, the outside is good at seeing motion. You can train yourself to read and work with peripheral vision (some diseases cause you to lose central visi...	[ "Hold your arm out in front of you. If you're strong, maybe put a bit of weight in your hand. Got it out there? Not too difficult, right? Just keep it held out there, nice and level. Is it getting more difficult? Might even hurt a bit. Now put your arm in a different position. Much more comfortable, right? You use ...
How to tell if a semiconductor is n-type, p-type or pure through testing?	[ "Look at the sign of the [Hall conductivity](_URL_0_). For the experimental setup, it's easiest to look at the picture in the \"theory\" section of that wiki page. The voltage that you measure will have opposite sign for n versus p type doping." ]	[ "Diagnosing psychopathy/sociopathy is more about observation and behavioral history than asking the (possible) psychopath questions directly, I believe, in order to avoid allowing them to manipulate the diagnosis. The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) is used to diagnose psychopathy/sociopathy. _URL_3_" ]
Why do some web pages don't go back to the previous page unless you continuously click the "previous page" button.	[ "Because what you think is the \"previous page\" isn't. In many cases, when you click on a link to a page, it redirects you to another page. Often this happens so fast you don't even realize it. Let's take three web pages: * Page A - Contains a link to Page B * Page B - automatically redirects to page C * Page C - ...	[ "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. ...
How do video game engines work and how do they last so long?	[ "When they say the same engine has been used for that length of time, they don't mean it has literally stayed the same all those years. It will have been continuously updated throughout that time. I work on a game engine that has been in use by company for over 15 years, but there are only a few core bits of code t...	[ "Okay. So let's say that you want to bake a cookie just like the ones that grandma makes. You could try to eat her cookie, and then using your knowledge of baking sort of reverse engineer it, but it would be an incredible hassle and very hard to do. But if you had the recipe she used, it would be very easy to figur...
The AskHistorians Podcast - Episode 10 Discussion Thread - AskHistorians at the Pub!	[ "Anyone who makes it to the end of this podcast probably deserves a prize. :P" ]	[ "There was no distillation in the pre-columbian Americas. Distillation itself was relatively new in Europe at the time, having only been introduced a few centuries early and really only having spread through Europe in the about the century prior to Cortes' expedition, and then primarily as an alchemical/medicinal i...
Before glasses, people just delt with having crappy vision right? How was it that this wasn't something that was more heavily selected for over our evolution? Or was it, and average human vision has just slowly been getting better?	[ "[This question was asked yesterday in ELI5 and there are several good answers in that thread](_URL_3_)." ]	[ "Humans and dogs have a working relationship formed through evolution. They are better trackers, we are better killers and thus the integration grew. [NPR - How Dogs Evolved Into 'Our Best Friends'](_URL_0_)" ]
Can some one explain the different forms of ice?	[ "Ken Jordan's group at Pitt does a ton with different ice forms. Here's a link to his group page: _URL_0_ The publications there go into a lot of detail, but here's a bit of a TL;DR: The ice that you and I typically find every day has the oxygens arranged in a hexagonal lattice, but many of the hydrogens are diso...	[ "Meth - methamphetamine - a powerful stimulant that is cooked up in a laboratory. Popular for its low cost and easy manufacturing process. Cocaine - powerful stimulant derived from the cocoa plant in south america. Very expensive, and often seen in a white powdered form. Crack - crystalized cocaine that has been cu...
where do all the cats come from?	[ "Most pet cats aren't spayed and neutered and strays that have kittens do survive. Additionally, even fewer people had their pets fixed in the past, and cat populations increased. There have been way too many cats for a while, and even if everyone gets their cats fixed for years, there will still be too many ca...	[ "All of the heavier elements were fused together from lighter elements inside dying stars. Those stars exploded, and that material eventually became us. We are star-stuff, as Carl Sagan liked to say." ]

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