Subset (10)

eli5 · 25k rows

Split (1)

train · 25k rows

query stringlengths 20 300	positive listlengths 1 1	negative listlengths 1 1
How does the government "create" jobs?	[ "The government can create jobs either directly, for example by hiring employees and/or contractors, or it can create jobs indirectly by stimulating the economy. If, for example, the state budget allocates enough money to hire 10,000 new teachers that year (that'll be the day), that is an example of the government ...	[ "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." ]
Is it possible to stop/restart sound?	[ "Sound is a pressure wave in air (or some other medium). The only way to stop it is by absorbing it, at which point the wave ceases to exist - there's nothing to \"restart\". In that article, light isn't technically stopped, just slowed down quite a bit. The same can be done to a sound wave by transmitting it thr...	[ "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." ]
how is advertising for things like a Big Mac legal when there's so much disparity between the advertised and real product?	[ "If I recall correctly from an advertising class I had at university, the Big Mac that gets shown in those advertisements is ingredient for ingredient exactly the same as the ones you get when you order it at your local restaurant. HOWEVER, for the advertisement, they spend hours meticulously preparing it as one ...	[ "Burgers and bacon both contain fat and water which is rendered out of the meat when cooked. Bacon especially loses most of its weight in fat (grease) when cooked." ]
The difference between a CPU, microprocessor, and a integrated circuit.	[ "An IC (integrated circuit) is just one physical 'chip'. The IC is the physical piece of the puzzle. The CPU is an IC (or a part of an IC) that does the actual computing stuff. It's basically the part that runs your operating system and all of your programs. Microprocessor basically means that your CPU is on a sing...	[ "In pharmacology the figures of [EC50](_URL_3_) and [IC50](_URL_2_) are measures of how much of a substance is required to induce a desired effect or to inhibit function. These numbers vary a lot depending on the site of action, nature of the pharmacological compound, type of interaction, etc. It is all covered und...
How do foreign nationals get visas to work in the US for low paying/unskilled jobs?	[ "They waited in line for 10+ years, or fled political oppression and were granted refugee status." ]	[ "One search isn't going to do much. They have hugely complicated algorithms in place to find what they are looking for. It might raise a flag, but a single flag isn't going to do much. By the way, just because you don't live here doesn't mean we aren't watching Creepy Smile." ]
Did eating my vegetables as a kid really have any effect on my height or body type as an adult, or is it purely genetics?	[ "Vitamin/mineral deficiencies can certainly stunt your growth. But given how much of our food supply is \"fortified\" these days I think it's unlikely you'll develop ~~shingles~~ scurvy or anything even if you don't pay attention to what you're eating. The main problem you'll run into not eating vegetables is that ...	[ "[There are ](_URL_0_) [a few](_URL_2_)[ things that can cause compression](_URL_3_) in the spine which will make you shorter. Basically what happens is the disks between your vertebra can get compressed thus making you shorter. [You also will get shorter as you age] (_URL_1_) for similar reasons." ]
Do caterpillars know that they are going to become a butterfly? If so, how?	[ "It's a common mistake that people sometimes make to try to apply human levels of intelligence to insects. Insects are not self-aware. A caterpillar does not even know that it is a caterpillar. It is aware of the general shape of the surface it's on, and it feels hungry around things it can eat. That's really the ...	[ "You might be interested in my answer [here](_URL_0_), which argued that educated individuals were very aware and in awe of the Roman empire, especially because at that point the empire still existed! I only covered events up to 700, but I don't see any reason why this would change over the next century. I mean, th...
How did the people of Byzantium view the "less civilized" Franks and other Crusaders during the early Crusades?	[ "Anna Komnena called Bohemond a Gaul several times in the Alexiad. I have to think the term is pejorative. However, I only read the English translation, never the Greek so there's always the possibility of translator bias or nuance. That said - the Alexiad is an interesting source from the viewpoint of the dau...	[ "I would hazard you're being down voted because you're unflaired and taking 1 course doesn't really qualify someone to give a full answer. E.g. I studied I and while I may feel qualified to answer basic questions I would never presume to give a detailed nuanced answer on a controversial topic. This is especially ...
Why do wood and metal shavings curl up?	[ "Because of the shape of your tool. [You cause deformation in that direction](_URL_0_) depending on the angle alpha. A sharp point (alpha < 30°) will produce long, straight shavings. A big alpha (you can go > 90°) will produce short and curly shavings. The sharp tip will cut smoothly and with low cutting force, b...	[ "There's a classic little kid's experiment you can do where you put a magnet into a box of breakfast cereal, shake it up and pull the magnet out with iron filings on it. Iron filings are added to cereals as an iron supplement. It's not quite the same as rust, but it goes to show that a little iron in your diet isn'...
Greco-Persian War Suggested Reading.	[ "The best book on this is and will always be Herodotus' Histories. It is our only surviving narrative account, written just two generations after the events, and while Herodotus can be accused of many things, dry he is not. Good translations are widely available; you can pick up De Sélincourt's Penguin Classics...	[ "If you can give more specific dates or a more specific subject I can refer you to more specialized books. Otherwise, if you're looking for general primers on a specific time period, that is good too. Respond whenever!" ]
Wondering what sort of swear words were used in Ancient Egypt? NSFW?	[ "The only one I am aware of is one I learned from my professors: nk in transliteration, so probably pronounced something like neck. They said it was a vulgar term for sex, so essentially the Egyptian f-bomb. They only told me of one attestation, a tomb curse which reads in part: _URL_0_ aA (nek tchew a-a), May a do...	[ "I've posted a bit on erotic Moche pottery before [here](_URL_0_) and [here](_URL_1_). Those two should answer some of your question- let me know if you have any more specific inquiries they don't cover!" ]
Did one nation ever have to give their ships to another as part of a peacy treaty?	[ "Following the end of the Second World War, the Imperial Japanese Navy gave up a number of ships as a part of reparations. The destroyer Hibiki, for instance, went to the USSR, and the destroyer Yukikaze was handed over to the Republic of China. The British took over a number of IJN ships moored in Singapore, most ...	[ "It might be useful if you could specify the time period you're looking for. From Elizabethan times to now, for example, or from Nelson's time to the Victorian Navy, then the question will be easier to answer." ]
In computer science, how do packets get lost in the first place?	[ "Many ways including: 1. Packet filtering due to policy rules 2. Routing errors causing loops resulting in the time to live TTL expiring 3. Link errors causing corrupt frames that can not be self repaired 4. Queue buffers getting full on routers 5. Software errors on routers such as the bloody VSS issue with have o...	[ "Honestly, It's cause cods trash nowadays. They don't put in the time to fix all these isues cause they're too concerned with trying to push the next money grab of a game out. There's that, and the fact that on top of it there's so many noobs from all over the world trying to play at once that the servers just say ...
How do we have pictures of a wide view of the galaxy when we are somewhere inside of it?	[ "We don't. Those are either the work of artists, or pictures of other similar galaxies. We've never sent any camera even remotely near another star yet, much less outside the Milky Way." ]	[ "Radio waves, just like we still do today. If you want an example, think about how television worked in the 1940's and 1950's. Take an image and transmit it via radio to a receiver." ]
Why does squinting make it easier to see things?	[ "The lens in your eye takes light that is coming in from all directions and focuses it into one spot on the back of your eye. The reason your eyesight is poor is because the lens isn't focusing the light correctly. When you squint, you're limiting the angles that light can come into your eye. With only a tiny slit ...	[ "Quilted paper towels have more surface area than non-quilted. Our intestines work the same way, to absorb more nutrients." ]
I've heard that some of th writings of Karl Marx were actually banned in the USSR. Is this true? Which ones and why?	[ "Where did you hear this? Did it have any reference to specific works? I'm not aware of this at all, but Marx and Engels wrote a great deal, and had extensive preserved correspondences as well. If something lesser had been suppressed I would be surprised. That said, even if Marx was categorically available, *interp...	[ "Roald Dahl did an autobiography going into detail on his childhood in those types of schools. Early versions of the text can be seen in 1970's copies of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. An advance preview of his bio, it contained more brutality than the final version of his autobiography did, I'm g...
Why are arctic regions blurred/pixelated on google map?	[ "Close up images on google maps (minus streetview) come from pictures from aerial photography not satellites. Since those places don't have that many aerial photography missions and satellites pass over them less frequently, you end up with worse imaging." ]	[ "I don't know about topography, but the way the game is styled is fairly accurate. Pripyat has been abandoned since the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster, so everything has been left for mother nature to control. But the ferris wheel is actually real and is still in Pripyat and some of the more famous building are a...
How are projections of metrics like population growth, birth rate, and morality rate calculated?	[ "Internet companies calculate how much time is spent on porn sites. They take those hours per month & divide by total number of internet hours. The resulting percentage is the morality rate for that area. Some municipalities take into account extra marital affairs as a % of population, & add that to the above...	[ "No one knows, though there is never a shortage of people who think they do. Thomas Malthus is arguably the most well known of that group; the scenario which you are describing was named after him: [Malthusian Catastrophe.](_URL_5_)" ]
How do bird lungs work?	[ "Here, try [this](_URL_0_) diagram instead of the one on the wikipedia page. The bird breathes in air, which goes to the farthest air sacs. It breathes out, and air travels through the lungs. It breathes in again, filling that rear set of air sacs once more while the first breath enters the air sacs nearest the mou...	[ "Sort of. As you can see in Jurassic park 3, they can find out the shape of the voice box and get an idea of the nature of their vocals. They probably couldn't work it out exactly, and a lot of Jurassic Park is sort of filled in gaps." ]
Why hasn't Arabic split into different languages like Latin has split into the different Romance languages?	[ "Follow up to /u/suddenly_mozzarella 's excellent post: The Roman Empire is much, much older than the Islamic empire. The main bulk of Islamic conquest occurred some 1200 years ago, while the Roman Empire was at its peak 2000 odd years ago. There has been much more time for the former Roman provinces to develop the...	[ "For centuries, the area that we know today as the Middle East was controlled by the Ottoman Empire, which was based in Turkey. During WWI, the Ottoman Empire fought on the side of the Germans. To hurt the Ottomans, the Allies, especially Britain, encouraged the Arabs to revolt and gain their independence. When WWI...
How much money am I robbing content creators per click if I enable adblock? Am I still robbing them if I click to skip after 5 seconds?	[ "It varies, but not much individually. The problem is when everyone does it. It's kind of like why you're taught not to pick a flower from a garden when growing up. You alone, picking one flower, is not going to be noticed, it's not going to affect the plant or garden overall, but if everyone picks just 1, very s...	[ "To show a moving picture you needs a bunch of individual pictures all shown after another. A short clip might be 30 pictures total. A gif is pretty much just that, 30 pictures with some extra information like how long to wait before showing the next one. A modern video file like you see on youtube is a lot more co...
What happened in the period around 400 b.c.?	[ "The graph cites a broken link to the US Census Bureau. A few minutes of digging led me to [this table](_URL_0_). As you can see, the only number for 400 BCE is from Biraben, whose numbers are higher than the McEvedy and Jones numbers the table depended on before. Biraben numbers often are the upper limit, but acco...	[ "BTW, for those that are downvoting this question, I would appreciate it if you could take a moment to explain the motivation. On reddit in general I could care less if something I write gets downvoted, but here in askHistorians it decreases the chances something I ask will get answered so if I am breaking some sor...
If a black hole is infinitely condensed matter compressed to a singularity, why are there different sized black holes?	[ "The different sizes you're referring to are the sizes of the event horizon. The singularity is only the very center of the black hole, not the entire thing. The pull of the singularity, however, is enough to make the enshrouding matter dense enough such that the escape velocity exceeds that of light. So when you s...	[ "The greyscale or chromatic coloring of the Mandelbrot set is from the \"convergence\" of these values. The darkest part, the most recognizable shape, is the actual set of convergent values. They \"converge\" because when a point is subject to the recursive Mandelbrot operator z(n+1)=z(n)^2+1 and that value is repe...
Who is Ajit Pai and why is he such a threat to net neutrality?	[ "So it's like this: Many of the federal agencies or departments in question do good for the citizens. Many of the cabinet heads being nominated to be the leaders these agencies are people that either are on the opposite side of the citizens or want to either do away with that agency or department. In this case, ma...	[ "If you put enough traffic on a freeway, no mater how wide the freeway is, no one can get anywhere. the same thing applies to networks, where if you flood them with enough traffic, with fake cars that don't actually want to get anywhere, nothing can get where it wants to go." ]
Was suicide among "commoners" normal during time periods like the renaissance? Or is it something that became more prevalent recently?	[ "As a follow up question: why was the punishment for suicide so harsh and why did it get harsher over time? Why did it extend to living relatives? Wasn't eternity in purgatory punishment enough? Was it just about money - i.e. seizing the property of the suicidee?" ]	[ "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 do people with Down Syndrome have such similar faces?	[ "The 3rd gene that they have on the 21st chromosome suppresses many genes that allow for faces to be varied, and end up looking mostly the same as a result." ]	[ "It's stylistic. Exaggeration of features is very common in art around the world, even in the modern day. This kind of topic gets into an area that is rather vilified in the archaeological community. Links from one cultural group to another (i.e. \"Semitic features\" being present in some South African native popul...
Does practicing throwing a ball accurately with your right hand increase your accuracy with your left hand and vice-versa?	[ "There is research in the treatment of paralysis/weakness (primarily in spinal cord injury) that with strength training, training the \"good\" side can have 20% increases in strength on the \"bad\" side without performing any reps. I don't have the paper on this computer but I can probably dig out some of the resea...	[ "Because weather (and most other systems) evolve forward temporally from some starting conditions, we can't go from now and model the past weather because what the weather is now has emerged from past conditions and not the other way around. However, weather models are tested using what is called \"hindcasting,\" w...
Why did the Japanese side with Nazi Germany when the “perfect utopia” Hitler was going for didn’t even include Japanese people?	[ "The biggest obstacle to Japanese expansion in the Pacific was the United States, with colonial powers Britain and France also being a problem. If these countries were pinned down in Europe fighting the Germans, Japan would have a chance to build and strengthen a much bigger Pacific empire, and thought the Allies ...	[ "Because the Kyoto Protocol's goals isn't to put the entire world on an environment friendly path. It's to put all the blame for Greenhouse gas emission on developed countries and force a cap on them while telling the developing countries that they would be paid to cut their Greenhouse gas emission. Developing coun...
Who determines the value for vintage coins?	[ "The monetary value of something is literally determined when someone buys it. When it comes to vintage items and collectibles, the \"experts\" make their best educated guess at what someone might pay for it. In this way they can certainly influence the price, but ultimately it's the buyer who determines the valu...	[ "Adding to other comments on weather modelling and data, it depends on where the raw data comes from. In Australia, the government weather bureau is not used by most popular weather apps - e.g. Apple weather, Yahoo weather and Android's default weather app. They use a service called Weather Underground, which crowd...
Someone throws a pot of boiling water at your torso. You have two choices: normal 100% cotton t- shirt or no shirt. Which is better?	[ "I'd rather be sans shirt considering this is water and 100% cotton, it's going to make the cotton stick and thus make it more difficult to remove, increasing the time you're in contact with high thermal energy. I don't know if anyone can provide sources that prove this is accurate however." ]	[ "Air, or to be more general, the substance with the lower thermal conductivity would be the better insulator. Capacity is the amount of energy needed to increase the heat of a substance by a set amount. Conductivity is the rate at which that energy is transferred." ]
What's the difference between semiotics and structuralism?	[ "Easy version: Semiotics is the study of signs and signifiers. Structuralism is a critical framework built on a particular theory of semiotics." ]	[ "as a follow-on question: I've heard of \"ritualized\" battles in some of the less developed parts of the world--remote pacific islands, rural africa, and the like. Is that true? What was the purpouse of such a ritual? what kinds of casualties were there? edit: as an aside, I'm pretty sure the WW1 \"live and let ...
How does my body keep stomach acid in my stomach, but let food and water through?	[ "The answer is essentially that it doesn't. The gastric acid moves through the pyloric sphincter into the duodenum with the foodstuffs (now broken down into chyme). In the duodenum, bicarbonate is released which neutralizes the acid so that the low pH doesn't go through and destroy the rest of your GI tract. The st...	[ "It may look like a big ball of rope on TV, because it probably is a big ball of rope being filmed, but there is actually a structure to the intestines and connective structures hold it in mostly the same place. There are mutations with everything, no two humans are the same if you get detailed enough, but the conc...
State vs Federal Prison	[ "Well, there's a difference between state and federal law in the US. If you break a state law and get sentenced to jail time - > state prison If you break a federal law and get sentenced to jail time - > federal prison" ]	[ "Are you asking Mafia exclusively or organized crime in general?" ]
Why doesn't the US recognize the Armenian genocide as a "genocide"?	[ "Because the U.S. is allied with Turkey and doesn't want to piss Turkey off." ]	[ "I think it's less about arrogance and more about Americans being more comfortable with the imperial system. Pick up a random object near you, how many inches long is it? How many centimeters? If you've used the imperial system your whole life you will be much better at estimating the length in inches than in centi...
why we can't divide by zero?	[ "Cut an apple into 2 pieces. That's 1 divided by 2. Cut 3 apples into 9 pieces. That's 3 divided by 9. Now cut an apple into zero pieces. How're you going to do that, huh? Huh?" ]	[ "This is one of the most asked questions in this subreddit. Please search your question before posting. _URL_0_" ]
Malaria and sickle cell anemia and why natural selection hasn't eliminated sickle cell disease.	[ "If you are a carrier of sickle cell, malaria has difficulty properly infecting you, and even when infected you recover quicker and with less symptoms. You survive a malaria outbreak with others, you all do what survivors do, 9 months later babies born with a pair of the carrier gene express sickle cell and are sic...	[ "No. Slavery was based on the understood racial inferiority of blacks. Even those who were against slavery were likely to agree that black people were inherently less mentally capable than white people and abolitionists even used the inferiority argument to further their cause. This was based on scientific racism, ...
Why do little kids like sweet flavors so much more than adults do?	[ "There's a few factors. Firstly, children don't have an upper limit on how sweet a food they'll eat. Finding sweet food sickly isn't something developed until adulthood. Apparently this has something to do with bone growth. Secondly, children have a lot more taste buds than adults. We lose taste buds as we age. Thi...	[ "Our ancestors when in the wild would enjoy a fresh kill, body still warm. If you came across a dead animal that had been there a while, well you wouldn't want that would you. Evolution has taught us warm is preferable to cold. Unless of course you are eating mint chocolate chip ice cream." ]
What should be long: the distance for taking off or the distance for landing a plane.	[ "Also depends a lot on the aircraft that will use it. A low powered aircraft may be able to land on a runway it can't subsequently take off from. A high powered aircraft may be able to take off from a runway it can't come back and land on. The trick is to build a runway the best length for the class of aircraft tha...	[ "Can you please define for the court when a crime is \"obvious\"? When is the evidence \"clear\"? Why do you point out a first degree murder and claim that this is something more 'obvious' and 'clear' than say, fraud or kidnapping? It takes a long time because it is a very serious accusation and in order to ensure ...
If I wanted to try and get an unbiased history of the Isreal/Palestine situation, how would I best go about it?	[ "Objectivity is an ideal. /u/Snapshot52 wrote a 'Monday Methods' post about [the pitfalls of historical objectivity](_URL_1_). /u/commiespaceinvader wrote a different 'Monday Methods' about [empathy as a tool of historical practice](_URL_0_) that may also be of interest. & #x200B; All that said, I would check out ...	[ "Way too quiet in here! Everyone seems to be watching the World Cup... A technical question: How does everyone search for book reviews? Is jstor's search usually comprehensive enough when it comes to history/humanities journals?" ]
Since violet and red aren't connected by frequencies, how do color wheel harmonies work?	[ "Your eye cannot measure the frequency of light; [it only measures the amount of red, green and blue it receives.](_URL_0_) A color wheel is contructed by modifying the amount of red, green, and blue emitted: you start with 100% red, 0 green, 0 blue; you add some green until you reach 100% (and you see yellow); you...	[ "Quoting [Wikipedia](_URL_0_) (a bit naughty, but it's a nice way to express what I think): > The proposed theory is inconsistent with quantum mechanics and critics have ruled it out on those grounds. Which is essentially saying what you pointed out, yes. If what they're doing is as easy as it sounds - just runnin...
Computers use 11111111 to represent -1. Doesn't that also represent 255 in decimal?	[ "To represent negative numbers, you use the first bit to represent the sign (and also [two's complement](_URL_0_) to solve the addition problem you mentioned, but that's not so important here). For example, in an 8-bit byte, you can use the first bit as the sign and the remaining seven bits as the number. However, ...	[ "CPA here. I hate Trump, and there are tons of great reasons to hate the guy, but this is just one cherry picked data point that doesn't really tell us anything. The article you read is one big facepalm. That huge loss is called a Net Operating Loss, NOL. The rules for an NOL are pretty clear, and let you deduct t...
Are nucleii at thermal equilibrium with the macroscopic world?	[ "In general the energies associated with eletronic and nucleus excitation are so large that unless you are dealing with extremely high temperatures they are effectively in the ground state. We actually take advantage of that in chemistry since it allows us to ignore the nuclear and electronic contributions to thing...	[ "[Neutrinoless double beta decay](_URL_0_) would be a fun topic to cover. You could bring up CP violation, matter/antimatter imbalance, etc. by way of context. And it remains an open question in nuclear and elementary particle theory. Alternatively, if your instructor is a string theorist, it's good fun to work up...
Why does pouring beer into a glass on an angle produce less head?	[ "Turbulence causes the dissolved Carbon dioxide gas to emerge from the beer faster. Pouring the beer straight down into the glass causes much more tubulence as the beer swirls around rapidly. Pouring the beer down the side of the glass when the glass is held at an angle allows the beer to flow into the glass more s...	[ "I looked this up in the 1959 edition of Brewers (reprinted from 1870) and they state that British pink and white complexions remind one of the pomegranate. This is the only explanation given - no mention of POHM or anything like that." ]
Is it "correct" in movies when people get stabbed in the torso they throw up blood?	[ "Stomach wounds can make you vomit blood, but most of the time if you see blood on the mouth that not from lip wounds it's a lung injury. Frothy blood with bubbles is the worst , means victim can't oxygenate and lungs may be collapsing. Bullet, arrow, and sword wounds to the upper torso means a high chance of lung ...	[ "It happens when the TV screen is out of sync with the camera. Remember, the TV displays several images per second, and the camera records several images per second. So if the TV is showing 30 frames per second, and the camera is recording 50 frames per second, there's going to be a lot of times when the camera tak...
If a man like Bradley Manning wants to have sex with men but also thinks he's a woman does that make him a gay man, a straight woman, or what exactly?	[ "Manning identifies as a woman. That means that her sexual orientation is the same as if she was biologically female. So, if she likes dudes, she's straight, if she likes ladies, she's a lesbian, and if she likes both, she's bi. If you don't accept that she is truly a woman, I guess she'd be a gay man if she likes ...	[ "Many international flights have layovers in countries not in the intended destination. Instead of forcing all of these passengers to first be cleared with the government of the layover country, which is time consuming and costs money, they simply designate an area for these people to board their separate flights w...
When did it become clear to Germany they were going to lose WWII?	[ "Clear to who? A minority of Germans were against operation Barbarossa, which was probably the point at which the war really did become unwinnable. [Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg](_URL_0_) knew in 1942/3. Maybe before. Some Nazis were trying to surrender to the Americans before the Russians even entered Germ...	[ "You may be interested in this similar earlier thread. _URL_0_ See responses by Blanglegorph, jonewer and myself. The short answer is that any positions of relative advance (e.g. Rocketry) tended to be out of desperation, whilst Allied advances (e.g. Computers) tended to be more a case of doing things they could af...
In a rotating black hole, what is rotating?	[ "The black hole has angular momentum, it may not make sense to speak of anything rotating (at least in a model where you have a 0d point or 1d ring singularity), just like you don't think of electrons as rotating because they have spin." ]	[ "The [radial velocity method](_URL_0_) has been most productive. We measure a periodic oscillation in the Doppler shift of the light from a star, which tells us that there are other bodies which orbit it. There are lots of other ways that haven't been quite as useful, but are still cool. The page I linked to gives ...
Why does sound changes pitch when moving away?	[ "Doppler effect. Think of sound as being invisible waves emitting from the source. Imagine an engine sitting still 100 yards away. It emits 1 wave per second. This is the \"normal\" sound. When the engine is traveling towards you, it is still emitting 1 wave per second, but between each emitted wave it is getting c...	[ "I don't know of any, and I would be surprised if there were any, since it would require really high frequencies. Consider an organism that is 0.1mm in every dimension (a spere, for example). A sine wave at 1 MHz would have a peak-to-peak displacement of 0.1mm, the length of the organism's body! Since that's not ve...
Why is N. Korea considered a communist state and not a totalitarian state?	[ "North Korea is a democracy...but there is only ever one name on the ballot. North Korea is totalitarian no one really denies that. Its an absolute, hereditary, military dictatorship." ]	[ "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...
Why don't electrons just stick to protons?	[ "It's due to one of Niels Bohr's postulates, that states that angular momentum is quantised. This is one of the most basic principles of Quantum Mechanics, and when you solve the Schrödinger equation for an electron orbiting a nucleus its lowest energy (therefore smallest orbital radius) state is non-zero. This is ...	[ "If it were not accelerating, then it would travel in a straight line (at a constant speed) - so it would not be in orbit, but would fly off in a straight line! Here's an easy way to think about it: Suppose you have a ball on a string, and you swing it over your head in circles. The tension in the string means i...
Do gamma rays continue on down in size of wavelength to the Planck length or do they stop at some point, and if so, why?	[ "As far as we know, the wavelength of a photon can be arbitrarily small." ]	[ "While your assumptions and other things that are being said here may be correct, it is important to remember that the Standard Model is only an effective theory that cannot be assumed to be correct in energy regions that are well outside the what has been explored experimentally so far. Anything involving the plan...
Why is poop watery when you have diarrhea?	[ "one of the most important jobs of your large intestine is to absorb water. if your large intestine is disrupted somehow (by sickness or injury) you won't be able to absorb enough water, so you'll just poop it out as diarrhea." ]	[ "I don't know, but I suggest you stop eating at White Castle." ]
When you turn a cup/bowl of water in your hand, why does the liquid inside seem to remain still while to cup turns?	[ "Think of the cup and water as two different objects. You are providing forces for the cup(object 1) to move, buy you are not directly involved in the moving of the water(object 2). The water is moved by a coefficient of friction from the cup. As cups are usually quick smooth, the effect of friction is very low res...	[ "objects don't like to change direction/speed quickly without a fair amount of force. Especially heavy objects. The friction between the moving table cloth and the bottoms of the objects isn't enough to move the objects, as long as they're heavy enough and the tablecloth is moving fast enough. tips for doing it: ma...
What is white noise?	[ "Radios have an \"automatic gain control\" (AGC). When the reception is weak, the circuit that deals with the radio frequencies turns up it's amplification to try and get the best signal it can so it can then extract what actual audio it can. When the gain goes up to maximum, all it ends up amplifying is noise, rad...	[ "Never heard of this before, googled, and now see it is a thing. Newsprint is very rough, meaning it is not smooth, but has tons of imperfections. Imperfections means debris can get trapped in it. Much like a shamwow or magic eraser, it is all about having a bunch of imperfections that can grab debris. News print ...
Why is the incubation time of an HIV infection until the development of AIDS so long?	[ "Your body does a pretty good job at fending off the virus for a long time, but eventually it gets overwhelmed and your CD4 count drops as your viral load skyrockets. This is assuming no treatment. A person on treatment could be positive and have a very low viral load and normal CD4 count for their entire lives. [T...	[ "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 many different ethnic variations of Neanderthal existed?	[ "It seems there were at least three genetically distinct groups of Neanderthals: *\"The conclusions of this study are consistent with existing paleoanthropological research and show that Neanderthals can be divided into at least three groups: one in western Europe, a second in the Southern area and a third in weste...	[ "Why are noses different in size, why are people different heights, why do we have different hair colors?" ]
Why are standard "homemade" water filters made of gravel, soil, and charcoal as opposed to just charcoal. What does the gravel and soil do that the charcoal doesn't?	[ "Even municipal water treatment facilities frequently use sand or gravel as part of their filtration process. Sand/gravel is used to filter suspended stuff in the water, like mud, leaves, etc. Charcoal filters are used to filter smaller particles that may change the taste of the water. Think of the sand as a pre-f...	[ "Pi-Hole is a dns sinkhole that is commonly used to block ad and tracker domains. DNS (Domain Name System) is the system that translates a url (www._URL_0_) into an IP address (150.140.208.53), since computers can only establish a connection to an IP address, not an URL. Pi-Hole works by acting like a DNS server. W...
How Accurate is The Seven Samurai? Spoilers...	[ "Can I piggyback on this question to ask how accurate James Clavell's novel Shogun was? I get it was fiction, but it seemed like he tried to convey a great deal of historical accuracy. I read it all of the time, and would be interested to learn what kind of misinformation I am picking up:)" ]	[ "Follow up / expansion on the question: Regardless of understandings of Genetics, this opens a larger question about the concept of identity and lineage that the writer of the epic held. If my father is \"Smith\" and my mother was \"Baker\", would I have been considered half Smith and half Baker, or would I have be...
Is reading webpages on the internet any less beneficial than reading books?	[ "I actually remember a study i read earlier this year concerning reading on paper vs. reading on screen. The study showed that the screen-readers showed lower comprehension and in general scored lower than the group reading on paper. Here is the link to the research paper: _URL_2_ Edit: For a tldr of the paper (WAR...	[ "> and was always impressed by people who could tell the functionality of a computer simply by looking through its specifications. I don't really know how else you'd determine how good a computer is without touching it. And in response to your question, what do you plan on doing with it? If you just check email and...
Why is it that in most economic theories a state is considered status quo and not anarchy?	[ "Because the state is clearly the default. Historically speaking anarchy is only a transitional stage, not a system. We're a social animal that creates groups, and those groups develop rules. Once you have rules, you develop a system to enforce those rules, and pretty soon you end up with a government." ]	[ "Current law: Amount of current entering a junction (the place where two or more wires meet) is the same as the amount of current leaving the junction. Analogy: Think of a busy traffic intersection where many roads meet. On any given day, the total number of cars that have arrived at the intersection will ...
Why do we get dizzy / lightheaded after breathing fast?	[ "Your body is making CO2 at a certain rate. We transport CO2 in our blood in the form of HCO3-, which is an acid. Our body regulates our breathing to keep the CO2 within a certain range. So if we don't breathe enough, the HCO3- builds up, and our blood pH goes down (Respiratory Acidosis). On the other hand, if you ...	[ "Because there are basically three main components that affect your balance: sensing where your body is in space(called propioception), sensing the position of your head(vestibular function) and finally your vision. When you close your eyes you're removing one of these and you're left with two systems controling yo...
How fast will the temperature of an egg sized stone of 100° Celsius drop in space?	[ "It's pretty straightforward to estimate the initial rate of temperature decrease due to radiation. Assume a sphere or radius 2 cm, 1 kJ/(kg\\*K) heat capacity, 3 g/cm^3 density and an emissivity of 1. The [Stefan–Boltzmann law](_URL_0_) gives about 1 kW/m^2 or 5 W total for the sphere. With the assumed density the...	[ "> I'm not asking if this is even close to a favorable reaction, but could it in theory be possible on a small scale? What do you mean by \"possible\"? If you want to talk about \"possible\" but not \"favourable\" reactions, you must understand that the stability and reactivity of every chemical bond is a statistic...
Why does it sometimes take so long to remember something and what is actually happening when we try to remember?	[ "Check out a previous post _URL_0_ for a bit of background to your question and post back if you need further clarification." ]	[ "You are currently processing crystal clear images of your surroundings, focusing on this post, reading squiggles and translating them into sounds, connecting those sounds into words forming sentences with meaning while simultaneously feeling your hand on your mouse, smelling the air, hearing and interpreting sound...
Can one really see the milky way at night in certain areas?	[ "Yes, you can! [This photo](_URL_0_) was taken by a colleague during an observing trip last summer to La Palma, which is a very good dark site - it is quite close to what we could see with our own eyes. The main difference between most photos and what you can see yourself is the lack of colour - human night vision ...	[ "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." ]
Did Phoenicians use human blood to consecrate newly built ships by rolling them over slaves while alive?	[ "No ancient source mentions this practice, as far as I know! Human sacrifice among the Phoenicians seems to have been limited to ritual infanticide, which is actually attested more in the colonies of the Western Mediterranean than in the Phoenician mainland. I welcome any corrections or new evidence. And Merry Chri...	[ "As a reminder, [top-level answers](_URL_0_) in this community need to be \"comprehensive and imformative.\" Single-links to Wikipedia and unsourced opinions do not clear that bar. This question already rests on a part of history hamstrung by the fuzzy diagnostics of diseases in the past and an almost unavoidable b...
I have been consuming about 12 cans of diet cola per day, for roughly 9 years now. Are there any negative health effects to this?	[ "Cancer claims are bogus. Rotten teeth are a thing, due to diet soda's higher acidity and carbonation compared to regular soda. Diet soda does not inherently lead to obesity, but in some people can lead to increased cravings for sweets, which can lead to overeating and in turn obesity." ]	[ "Basic anatomy: Your mouth is connected to your esophagus, which is a muscular tube that connects your mouth to your stomach. At the junction of the esophagus and stomach is a sphincter - called the cardiac sphincter - which acts as a valve between the esophagus and stomach. The cardiac sphincter is normally closed...
why does/did Island giganticism occur?	[ "It’s one factor of “island effect” which is basically where small species grow larger (like the examples you mentioned) and large species grow smaller (Key deer, Homo florensiensis, etc). Island gigantism can happen because despite there being less resources, there’s also less predators. Species are often small b...	[ "From the exact same XKCD article that you linked: > (Climates can be hard to predict—for example, in our world, Somalia and French Guiana both sit on the equator, at the eastern coast of a continent, and seem like they should both receive a tropical sea breeze. But coastal French Guiana is dense rain forest while...
how do painkillers know where the pain is when the pill is ingested? Or are they evenly spread throughout the body?	[ "The majority of pain medications are opium based. These bind to the opioid receptors influencing how they exchange guanosine triphosphate and guanosine diphosphate. These are responsible for the regulations of neuron signals in your brain. One being pain. What makes these types of medications dangerous is these re...	[ "There are a bunch of ways but one way is for each client to predict the future movement of other players. For example if they are moving forward assume they do until the next updated location. The server then tries to resolve different ideas of the state of the world various ways. Blizzard's Overwatch tends toward...
Why is it that when a bowl of soup is microwaved, the soup comes out warm but the bowl scorching hot?	[ "Deduction: It has to do with the glazing process. I have many different types of stoneware cups and only one does this; it is different than all the rest. My bowls are all fine. This one cup gets insanely hot. It has to be something in the paint. See a fruiltess discussion [here](_URL_0_)" ]	[ "In short: Rapid thermal expansion of the lightning channel. A lightning discharge is a very large current running through a thin channel in the atmosphere. Even though this channel is highly conductive thanks to the preceding leader-phase (where a different electrical discharge phenomenon called a \"leader\" effec...
What are mirror neurons?	[ "Mirror neurons are a special type of neuron family that fire both when the organisms behavior is performed and when behavior is observed. The simplest to understand type is the motor mirror neuron. These neurons will fire similarly when performing an action (i.e. grasping something) and when observing that same ac...	[ "I found this article about it: _URL_0_ Here's the tl;dr of it: Atoms emit photons occasionally. Our retinas occasionally pick these photons up, even if the source is inside your own body. Plus, photons can sometimes stimulate other nerves directly." ]
Why is chocolate deadly to dogs?	[ "The other answers are specific, I'll be more general: Our ancestors spent a long time in a jungle environment eating lots of interesting plants, so we're able to tolerate the substances they produce to kill insect predators better-- so well they've become desirables to us instead of poisons. Mostly. Examples: nico...	[ "Here is a link to help. They basically have a tube that is separate from their throat, so they do not choke [click here](_URL_0_)" ]
If visible light and FM Radio are the same particle (photons), why does light stop at walls while FM Radio goes through them?	[ "The walls reflect the light but not radio waves due to their respective wavelengths." ]	[ "No, something being FTL would not be invisible. However, it would only be seen at a location when it arrived, or by a nearby observer after it had passed. At that point, the observer would see two images of the object, the arriving image playing out backwards, and the passing image playing out normally. It would a...
How do they do vitamin level checks to check for deficiencies?	[ "B12 is stored in the liver, and the body as a whole contains about 2-5 mg (2000-5000 ng) normally, but there is still a normal range for what should be in your blood — between about 200 and 1200 ng. Part of my job is B12 testing, and we do it by immunoassay, or in other words, measuring how much of a substance the...	[ "They have an investment bank do it for them! But there are a couple of methods they can use: 1) The value today of all future cash flows that the business is expected to generate 2) The value of all of the businesses assets, if you sold them. 3) The market capitalization of their stock" ]
If the sun suddenly disappeared, would the earth spin around nothing for 8 minutes?	[ "We would spin for 8 minutes. Everything is on that delay. And of course we would not know that we were spinning around nothing because the light of the sun would still be coming to us." ]	[ "I don't so much think of it as an evolutionary thing. There's really no benefit to being confused. It comes down to computing power. Your brain just takes a minute to recall old information/piece together new information to develop an idea of where you are and how you got there. I'm currently in flight school and...
What's the differences between linux distributions?	[ "Linux refers to [the Linux kernel](_URL_1_), and it's a relatively small part of what you might usually think of as an OS. It does not include your desktop environment, window manager, configuration tools, or many other things that people often include in the term \"OS\". So any OS that uses the Linux kernel can b...	[ "Holy cow batman, this has so many answers. I'm an amateur cheese maker myself, but I know for starters you have different kinds of milk, different techniques to make the cheese, whether it have more or less water, then there are different aging times, different temperatures used, different molds added to the chees...
This crazy science comment was posted earlier on Reddit. Can you guys tell me if what he said can actually happen? If so, could you elaborate?	[ "Sounds like he's talking about quantum tunneling. It's not because the atoms line up (that wouldn't work anyway because the electrons repel each other), but rather because trapped quantum particles have a non-zero chance of escaping their trap. With a person in a room, it would never happen." ]	[ "[Supercooling](_URL_0_). It's possible to get water or a beverage cooled slowly and gradually BELOW the freezing point of water. And it doesn't freeze, because the ice crystals need a starting point, an impurity or a sharp tip in the glass, to start forming. As soon as you shake, or tap it, or move it, though, the...
How does the outer barrier of our atmosphere work?	[ "it's mainly gravity that keeps our atmosphere \"down\". you could also say that it's our magnetic field, which prevents solar wind from blowing our atmosphere away. but the atmosphere is dissipating anyway, only very slowly. it is continually replenished by various gaseous sources (stored in the earth's crust, und...	[ "The answer is we can't... yet. Don't think others haven't thought about these things decades ago. What you're thinking of is a version of Von Neumann probe. The lack of any detectable \"alien\" Von Neumann probes is one of the stronger arguments the Fermi paradox poses, as these probes could spread through the g...
Why have washers and driers not changed much in the past decade?	[ "They do make smaller washers and dryers--[typically a combo appliance with the dryer above the washer.](_URL_0_)" ]	[ "The buttons are mass produced, it doesn't make any sense to produce a different mold, different production runs, and a different product line just to save material from some bumps. They just use the same buttons that would be in a pedestrian ATM and don't worry about it." ]
What technology do big companies use to make shopping carts lock after a certain distance from the store, and how does it work?	[ "it's very low tech. there's a battery operated latching brake on the wheel that receives a radio signal from either a broadcast beacon or strip on the ground. once the receiver stops getting a signal, it locks the brakes." ]	[ "In order for the videogame to know whether or not to show the object on camera, the game needs to know where the object is - whether it is front of the camera or behind, for example. Any object in a level - even those off screen, behind walls, or in hidden areas - has a location and the videogame knows what that l...
What’s happening when cloths are bleached by the Sun?	[ "Energized photons from the sun (likely in the UV spectrum) are spontaneously hitting the pigment molecules in the clothing, causing them to break apart. By breaking apart, they lose their color properties. Over time, enough pigment molecules are destroyed to cause the garment overall to lose its color." ]	[ "[Striped shirts](_URL_0_) tend to cause problems with video recording and, if the pattern is fine enough, photos. It is due to the creation of a [moire](_URL_1_) pattern where 2 sets of parallel lines that are not quite parallel (the lines on the shirt and the pixels on the sensor) create a illusion of density wav...
What does it mean by "sanctions" that the US is putting on Russia?	[ "Economic and trade sanctions are administered by a US treasury department named OFAC. That department publishes names of individuals on lists and then every financial services firm in the world (and especially those that have any presence in the US) will undertake searches across their systems and freeze any asset...	[ "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...
Why do you sound differently in your head as opposed to hearing a recording of yourself?	[ "The sound you hear when you talk is a combination of the air vibrating (which everyone else hears, too) and the bones in your head vibrating (which only you can hear)." ]	[ "My inner narrative is usually pretty coherent, but I have a lot of trouble speaking. I mumble, I mix up words. It is strange and a little annoying." ]
Why is it that there are plenty of tropical small islands throughout the Pacific (Guam, US virgin islands, etc) but there are hardly such islands in the Atlantic ocean?	[ "The pacific ocean is a hotbed for volcanic activity. Under water volcano explodes, creates an island, plants and animals move in. Pretty neat" ]	[ "For ELI5, I would compare an airplane experiencing turbulence to a boat caught in a storm. Speaking in terms of dynamics, both air and water act \"fluid\", so if you can have \"waves\" in the water, you can have areas of more or less pressure and turbulence in the air as well. In the air this can be triggered by w...
Have all civilizations come up with the concept of a "last name" at some point in their history?	[ "This depends on your definition of civilization. Also, in a given population, surnames could be restricted to a certain part of the population, for example the nobility. Surnames aren't ubiquitous even now. Most Icelanders don't have surnames, and a lot of ethnic minorities all over the globe don't, either." ]	[ "Part of what you're referring to is called the [Cocktail Party Effect](_URL_0_). Essentially, our attention is selective and while we take in many stimuli at once, our brain works out the most relevant ones and let's us know if it thinks that somethinng is important. I would think that if your name is uncommon, yo...
How does fever work as a self-regulatory mechanism of the body?	[ "At high temperatures the DNA and proteins of many Bacteria and Viruses that are affecting your body and making you sick will denature, preventing them from being able to reproduce. Now a fever becomes dangerously high at 39°C so you should probably contact a Doctor." ]	[ "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 is it that I find infections more sickening than gore? Is this common?	[ "Maybe because you can't catch a gore, but you can catch an infection." ]	[ "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...
Why do some employers not advertise salary along with the job spec? How can it be advantageous to them?	[ "Some people, while well qualified for a position are horrible at negotiating salary. If a company can get a quality candidate and save money, it's a win-win situation for them." ]	[ "Stations charge by the second to run a commercial. Shaving down to the most recognizable parts after the long version has run saves money." ]
How do nutrition labels work for items like bacon? The more you cook it, the more fat is left in the pan so wouldn't it change the values on the label?	[ "For items whose nutritional content changes via the cooking process, the nutrition label can only show the nutrition before you cook it. Sometimes they'll show both (\"as prepared\") but if there is only one, you can only assume that it's pre-cooking. Compare with pasta nutritional labels where the issue isn't s...	[ "So r3dl3g gave a pretty good scientific explanation. An eli5 of why it isn't close to 100% is that if you consider that panel sitting out in the sun. It will get hot. That heat is lost energy. You can also see your reflection in it, which is a result of light bouncing off. Also lost energy. There are many more suc...
How can water evaporate before reaching its boiling point?	[ "Some molecules are moving fast enough so that, given the random collisions between the water molecules, the fast ones will escape. This is what evaporation is. The higher the temperature, the greater percentage of \"fast\" molecules, and thus the greater chance of such molecules escaping. Greater surface area also...	[ "Hot air carries more moisture than cold air. When hot air full of moisture approaches a window (or any cold surface), the air cools and the water in the air condenses onto the surface. To counter this, buildings either have air vents next to the windows (similar to a windshield in a car) or have double/triple pane...
Why is there a second tidal bulge on Earth opposite of the Moon?	[ "The moon is also pulling the earth away from the water on the opposite side." ]	[ "Because we are smart and choose not to screw with people's sleep and work schedules twice a year." ]
Why does our tongue 'get burnt' by very sour food	[ "chemical burns. the stuff that makes those foods sour is typically a high concentration of a weak acid, like citric acid." ]	[ "You used muscles you do not normally use to a degree you do not normally use them and you stressed those muscles. It is the exact same thing as happens when you work out and are sore afterwards." ]
Why do insect bites itch?	[ "When a mosquito bites you, its saliva acts to keep the blood from coagulating so it can drink more. Our bodies detect this saliva and send a compound called histamine in response to the foreign substance. Histamine acts as an inflammatory agent to fight infections, which is why the bug bite swells. It also makes ...	[ "It might just be your perception: you notice them buzzing around your face (the part of you with all the sensory organs) more than you notice them buzzing around your leg." ]
Why do strongmen have more body fat & smaller muscles than bodybuilders but can lift heavier?	[ "Power lifters focus on functional movements- the actual motions used to lift, push, and pull heavy items- to maximize the performance of the relevant muscles. Body builders focus on maximizing the size/appearance of many muscles that are superficially visible, but may not be relevant to the functional motion of li...	[ "Each builder is going to do what they want. Google pictures of Beijing some time, they have entire large blocks of buildings the same style and height. They also are far more regulated about how they build. I imagine in a more free market economy, each builder wants their building to be \"their building\" and not ...
Can someone try to explain to me the concept of the "beginning" of our universe? My brain fights the concept of the existence of the universe having always just been, without some sort of beginning.	[ "This question is asked often. You'll find a lot of information by using search. The same question was already asked here: [What Existed Before the Big Bang.](_URL_1_) And here: [..][There is no \"before\" the Big Bang, because the concept of \"before\" does not apply to the Big Bang. This has been stated here a th...	[ "Observation and calculation. Astrophysicists noticed that space is expanding, and that the expansion is accelerating. They did a bunch of math and figured out how much it's accelerating and how different things would effect this acceleration. They did more math and were reasonably sure that it was correct. So the...
what is the difference between hand cream, body cream and face cream?	[ "It's basically a question of skin sensitivity, same reason why you shouldn't use certain shaving products (you know, this ones that like chemically burn them hairs) in certain parts of your body (like face or scrotum). Edit: I meant depilatory gels" ]	[ "Because the BATFE, the agency responsible for regulating alcoholic beverages (as well as tobacco, firearms, and explosives) doesn't want to give the impression that alcohol is food. E: firearms, not forearms. But seriously, why aren't forearms regulated? Won't someone think of the children?" ]
Why are wall outlets so low to the ground for?	[ "The real reason why is that when I , the electrician , wires your home .the wires are usually coming from under the house. Now when I priced the job I went by the square foot of the home. Wire is expensive .The further I go up the wall to place the receptacle the more wire I have to use. Meaning less money I _URL_...	[ "I would imagine so if it gets caught it won't break your neck. Like cat's collars being elasticated so they don't strangle themselves in trees." ]
Why are fires a major problem in the western United States but not so much in the forests of the east or midwest?	[ "It is incorrect to say that the entire Pacific Northwest is wet. If you go to _URL_0_ you can see a map of the US for total annual average precipitation. Areas East of the Cascade ranges are fairly dry. Furthermore these areas might not see any rain June through September." ]	[ "One thing to point out is the terrain. Iraq is in the populous parts of the country pretty flat, with a semi good road network across the country making it easy to move people around, and larger cities and towns to organize around. Afghanistan is some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth. With little nation...
Is reflected sunlight "different" than direct sunlight?	[ "_URL_0_ Reflection can polarize light, and it's possible for different wavelengths to be reflected with differing efficiencies, but photosynthesis uses visible wavelengths, so a normal mirror should be fine, and I don't think the polarization shouldn't matter either. Is this for flowers, bushes or grass?" ]	[ "Do you have a fly screen over the window? If so what you are observing is a [Moiré pattern](_URL_0_) being projected onto the window. Essentially the light is passing through the screen and the light waves get split up and then interact with each other causing spots of superposition where some regions are darker a...
Could the U.S. carry out a surprise attack like the Japanese did to Pearl Harbor without breaking any constitutional rules?	[ "Actually, Congressional votes do not necessarily have to be public. The Constitution only specifies that \"Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy\" - meaning they can close the actual sessions off fro...	[ "The IRS has admitted to unfairly targeting groups during the 2012 election, based solely on the fact that their requests for tax-exemption contained the words \"Tea Party\" or \"Patriot\" in the name. The initial revelation on Thursday claimed that this was solely an activity of \"lower-level\" employees in Cincin...
How do scales measure body fat + hydration + bone + muscle? Is this just bullshit or is there some truth to it?	[ "The type of scale you're describing generally measures the electrical resistance or conductivity of your body, which combined with your weight and some preprogrammed models lets it make an educated guess at what your body consists of. If your body was made of only two tissue types and all human bodies had the exa...	[ "Atoms bonding together to make compounds fundamentally changes how those atoms as a combined entity behaves as opposed to how they behave separately. It all comes down to the strength of the interactions between atoms and molecules, and how many different ways these molecules can absorb heat energy. When oxygen a...

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