Split (2)

train · 226k rows

question stringlengths 3 301	answer stringlengths 9 26.1k	context list
how come when someone dies, a lot of people become possessive of that person?	I think a couple of reasons are that it's a lot easier to romanticize who someone was once they're dead and lots of people make things about themselves without even realizing that's what they're doing. Have you seen world's greatest dad, starring Robin Williams? It's a good movie and quite relevant.	[ "With average, everyday (normal) discussion of death, all this is concealed. The \"they-self\" talks about it in a fugitive manner, passes it off as something that occurs at some time but is not yet \"present-at-hand\" as an \"actuality\", and hides its character as one's ownmost possibility, presenting it as belon...
(NSFW 18+) How far back in history do BDSM and other forms of kink go?	Transgressive sexual behaviour can of course be studied in any cultural context, and to that extent, "kink" in the broad sense is as old as humanity. Moreover, fetishism as a psychopathology is not a culturally contingent phenomenon (or even a phenomenon unique to humans, among animal species), and so it likewise nece...	[ "BDSM ideas and imagery have existed on the fringes of Western culture throughout the twentieth century. Robert Bienvenu attributes the origins of modern BDSM to three sources, which he names as \"European Fetish\" (from 1928), \"American Fetish\" (from 1934), and \"Gay Leather\" (from 1950). Another source are the...
Why do genetically inherited diseases still exist?	Not all genetic diseases are fatal, or symptoms are not shown until after childbearing. Medical treatment has improved, so people who would have died go on to pass their genes. Since eugenics didn't exactly go well in history, genetic diseases are here to stay.	[ "Some diseases are hereditary and run in families; others, such as infectious diseases, are caused by the environment. Other diseases come from a combination of genes and the environment. Genetic disorders are diseases that are caused by a single allele of a gene and are inherited in families. These include Hunting...
If I'm at the absolute center of the North Pole, will I always be looking South?	You can think of North being the direction which moves you to a higher latitude, south being the direction which moves you to a lower latitude, and similar for East/West- higher/lower longitude. So, when you are right at the North Pole, any direction you move will entirely move you in a direction of decreasing latitu...	[ "The analemma is oriented with the smaller loop appearing north of the larger loop. At the North Pole, the analemma would be completely upright (an 8 with the small loop at the top), and only the top half of it would be visible. Heading south, once south of the Arctic Circle, the entire analemma would become visibl...
Is there a site that gives you an overview of all the state of the art sciences?	The two biggest interdisciplinary journals are Science and Nature. Lesser journals that still cover broad topics include Proceedings of the National Academy of Science and PLoS ONE.	[ "The New York University Institute of Fine Arts is dedicated to graduate teaching and advanced research in the history of art, archaeology and the conservation and technology of works of art. It offers Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Art History and Archeology, the Advanced Certificate in Conserv...
Who were the Blues and the Greens (and Reds and Whites) in Byzantium and what was their significance beyond sporting?	See this discussion: _URL_0_	[ "BULLET::::- In the Byzantine Empire, the Blues and the Greens were the most prominent political factions in the capital. They took their names from the colours of the two most popular chariot racing teams at the Hippodrome of Constantinople.\n", "The choice of black and green Theatines date back to 1919, the yea...
why can't two phones just automatically connect when they're calling each other at the same time?	The short ELI5 answer is because that's not how they work. When calling it looks to ring and can't be rung. If they're both calling they're both looking to ring, and can't be rung, so it doesn't work. The system could be different, but isn't, and the odds of a major change to the underlying infrastructure like would ...	[ "The reason that several cell phones can be used at the same time in the same location is due to the use of frequency hopping. When the user wishes to place a call, the cell phone uses a negotiation process to find unused frequencies among the many that are available within its operational area. This allows users t...
what happens to an uninsured patient with catastrophic injuries in the u.s.?	Everyone receives emergency care, regardless of their insurance. If you can't pay it, eventually the hospital will write it off. So ultimately the taxpayers pay for it, indirectly. Once you're stable, don't expect stellar care, but hospitals don't typically kick people to the curb to die.	[ "In the United States, 2.55% of hospitalized catastrophic injury patients enroll in Medicaid to cover their medical bills. In \"Catastrophic Injuries in Sports and Recreation: Causes and Prevention : A Canadian Study\", Charles Tator states that the average case of non-fatal catastrophic injury costs about $7.5 mil...
why is calling someone "retarded" unacceptable, but calling someone "autistic" totally fine?	Both are equally offensive when used as to describe something in a negative way. I think retarded is used more frequently and that is why it seems less acceptable.	[ "End the \"R\" word advocates believe the use of the word “retard” in colloquial and everyday speech is hurtful and dehumanizing to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. According to R-word.org, \"The R-word hurts because it is exclusive. It's offensive. It's derogatory.\" They advocate for ...
Could you lovely historians please recommend me a book about the history or the English monarchy?	Haha, this is a fun and difficult question. There are thousands to choose from. Let me ask a few follow up questions: What time period (medieval, modern, etc.)? What type of history? Do you simply want a political history that discusses how the structure of the kingdom changed form monarch to monarch, or do you want ...	[ "Monarchy is a Channel 4 British TV series, 2004-2006, by British academic David Starkey of Sandbach, Cheshire, charting the political and ideological history of the English monarchy from the Saxon period to modern times. The show also aired on PBS stations throughout the United States, courtesy of PBS-member stati...
why do some tv shows block out manufacturer logos on cars when it's obvious the car is a volkswagen, toyota, ford, etc. same goes for drinks like budweiser or coca-cola, the name is either blocked or the logo facing away from the camera.	Because the networks are in the business of selling advertising. It's harder to sell ads to Pepsi if the program shows Coke cans for free.	[ "The Volkswagen brand name, logo or shield does not feature anywhere in the film, as the automaker did not permit Disney to use the name. The only logos can be briefly seen in at least two places, however. The first instance is on the brake pedals during the first scene where Herbie takes control with Jim inside (o...
Could geneticists create a hybrid of a human and another mammal, such as a big cat?	Someone just watched [Splice](_URL_0_). If possible at all, the technology is currently beyond us, AFAIK.	[ "Hybrids should not be confused with genetic chimeras, such as that between sheep and goat known as the geep. Wider interspecific hybrids can be made via in vitro fertilization or somatic hybridization, however the resulting cells are not able to develop into a full organism.\n", "Chimpanzees and humans are close...
Why didn't America adopt a parliamentary form of government like England?	TL:DR the framers of the US constitution set out to correct what they saw as weaknesses in the British parliamentary system, and in doing so they created, perhaps somewhat inadvertently, a different kind of system that is now known as "Presidential". It's worth unpacking what we mean when we say that the US has a "pre...	[ "An early example of parliamentary government developed in today's Netherlands and Belgium during the Dutch revolt (1581), when the sovereign, legislative and executive powers were taken over by the States General of the Netherlands from the then-monarch, King Philip II of Spain. The modern concept of parliamentary...
why do baby deer lose their spots as they grow older when the spots help with camoflage? why give up that advantage?	A baby deer's defense mechanism is to lay low to blend with the ground. When looking down on the baby deer, the spots look like sunlight spots on the ground. When a deer gets older and larger, it loses its spots to help blend in with the background of dirt, bark, and tall grass when viewed from the side. an adult deer...	[ "The calves' spots begin to fade after around six weeks, and they attain the full adult colour by the end of their first year. They become sexually mature during their second or third year, although males are rarely successful in the rut until they are at least five years old. Thorold's deer have been reported to l...
Besides humans, is there any species that turned from prey to predator?	Any lineage of carnivorous animals that has increased significantly in body size has, at some point, become larger than a previous predator. A good example is the dinosaurs, who started as fairly small reptilians being hunted by larger synapsids, then grew and came to prey on the synapsids' descendants, the mammals. Th...	[ "In social predation, a group of predators cooperates to kill prey. This makes it possible to kill creatures larger than those they could overpower singly; for example, hyenas, and wolves collaborate to catch and kill herbivores as large as buffalo, and lions even hunt elephants. It can also make prey more readily ...
what's the difference between coding for sony and coding for microsoft?	Now adays, not much. Xbox 360 and PS3 both run on C++, so really all you need to change is the engine you built for a different CPU and GPU. Correct me if I'm wrong about this. I don't know much about development because I just started.	[ "Creative coding is a type of computer programming in which the goal is to create something expressive instead of something functional. It is used to create live visuals and for VJing, as well as creating visual art and design, entertainment, art installations, projections and projection mapping, sound art, adverti...
why are some diseases more likely to happen to someone depending on their race/gender?	The combinations of genetics that dictate your race or gender can also play a role on your immune system. Not to mention, certain diseases are only applicable to a specific sex (ovarian cancer, testicular cancer, etc). Combine that with the fact that they various combinations of genetics can result in differing amoun...	[ "Some diseases are more prevalent in some populations identified as races due to their common ancestry. Thus, people of African and Mediterranean descent are found to be more susceptible to sickle-cell disease while cystic fibrosis and hemochromatosis are more common among European populations. Some physicians clai...
why doesn't one petrol station just make their price really low to get all the other stations' business?	Because gasoline/petrol is sold on razor thin margins. If they dropped the price significantly, they'd lose money for every sale (they'd effectively be paying for you to buy their product), so they'd quickly go out of business.	[ "Individual gas stations in the United States have little if any control over gasoline prices. The wholesale price of gasoline is determined according to area by oil companies which supply the gasoline, and their prices are largely determined by the world markets for oil. Individual gas stations are unlikely to sel...
why arent there any dark matter stars, planets or black holes?	There could very well be Dark Matter Stars and Black Holes, perhaps much more massive than the "regular ones", but we wouldn't be able to know that at this point, since we can't really observe dark matter in any meaningful way, or even be sure it really exists at all.	[ "If dark matter is composed of weakly-interacting particles, an obvious question is whether it can form objects equivalent to planets, stars, or black holes. Historically, the answer has been it cannot,ref name=\"siegel\"\n", "Cosmologists doubt they make up a majority of dark matter because the black holes are a...
why is spam mail never realistic and always have weird fonts and spelling if they are trying to get people to click on them/do the service?	It's to get around the spam filters that email servers have built in.	[ "One way to prevent spambots from creating automated posts is to require the poster to confirm their intention to post via e-mail. Since most spambot scripts use a fake e-mail address when posting, any email confirmation request is unlikely to be successfully routed to them. Some spambots will pass this step by pro...
Why do artificially flavored foods almost always taste worse than their natural counterparts?	Natural flavors are staggeringly complex; anywhere from dozens to thousands of individual chemical compounds combine to make up what we sense as a 'flavor', both taste and aroma. By contrast, artificial flavors are usually between one and five compounds, representing the major constituents of the natural flavor. It's...	[ "The compounds used to produce artificial flavors are almost identical to those that occur naturally. It has been suggested that artificial flavors may be safer to consume than natural flavors due to the standards of purity and mixture consistency that are enforced either by the company or by law. Natural flavors, ...
how does shaking a liquid mix its contents, while spinning a liquid (with a machine) separates?	Shaking the liquid applies forces to its various components in an (essentially) random way, with forces acting in many directions. Spinning it applies the force in, as far as the liquid is concerned, one direction: outward. It's like subjecting it to a high gravitational field; the faster you spin it, the more force, t...	[ "Invented by Jack A. Kraft and Harold D. Kraft in 1962, a vortex shaker is a usually small device used to shake or mix small vials of liquid substance. Its most standout characteristic is that it works by the user putting a vial on the shaking platform and turning it on; thus, the vial is shaken along with the plat...
If given the chance, would our planet spin indefinitely?	Strictly speaking, no. First of all, let's clarify "given the chance": we'll imagine the Earth to be in an empty space devoid of other planets, planetoids, asteroids, stars, galaxies, interstellar dust and so on. Basically, there's nothing the planet can possibly interact with. In this scenario, conservation of angul...	[ "The rotation of a planet can be induced by several factors during formation. A net angular momentum can be induced by the individual angular momentum contributions of accreted objects. The accretion of gas by the giant planets can also contribute to the angular momentum. Finally, during the last stages of planet b...
why do hotels provide little bottles of shampoo and shower gel or soap, but no toothpaste?	I work in a hotel. We literally have an entire room full of amenities you wouldn't even think of asking for. Shaving cream, razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, mini sewing packs, hairspray, deodorant, combs, shower caps, q-tips, shoe polish, slippers, mouthwash, body wash, mini packs of aspirin, the list goes on. ...	[ "BULLET::::- July 30 – The InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), owner of Holiday Inn and other hotels, announces it will stop using small soap and shampoo containers in order to cut down on plastic waste. Marriott International and Hilton Hotels & Resorts have made similar announcements.\n", "Hotel Wrap! is Rock ...
aspergers.	It's a form of autism. A person with Aspergers would be socially awkward and would likely devote an unusually large amount of their attention to one thing. My nephew has it, he's 16 and he's like an encyclopedia for bass players from the 70's until now.	[ "Asperger syndrome (AS) is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is a relatively new diagnosis in the field of autism. It was named in honor of Hans Asperger (1906–80), who was an Austrian psychiatrist and pediatrician. An English psychiatrist, Lorna Wing, popularized the term \"Asperger's syndrome\" in a 1981 publ...
Can animals lie?	It depends on how much you mean by "lying." Lots of animals use deception in communication within their own species, or with other species. My favorite example of this comes from watching Riki-Tiki-Tavi as a kid, when a mother bird pretends to be injured to lure a cobra away from her nest (presenting herself as an ea...	[ "Deception in animals is the transmission of misinformation by one animal to another, of the same or different species, in a way that propagates beliefs that are not true. Deception in animals does not automatically imply a conscious act, but can occur at different levels of cognitive ability.\n", "This notion is...
What is the difference between dehydration and thirst?	[Thirst is regulated by hypothalamus in response to high low plasma volume, or high plasma concentration.](_URL_0_) Dehydration means water intake that doesn't match water output. Whether that means low plasma volume or low intracellular volume or both is complicated, as both of those are potentially dangerous, and yo...	[ "When the human body becomes dehydrated, it experiences thirst. This craving of fluids results in an instinctive need to drink. Thirst is regulated by the hypothalamus in response to subtle changes in the body's electrolyte levels, and also as a result of changes in the volume of blood circulating. The complete eli...
if dogs and cats are carnivores, why do we advertise putting vegetables in their food?	Because people are morons and think that what's good for them must be good for their pets as well. Canines are carnivores that can have some vegetation in their diet, but it should be mostly meat. Felines are obligate carnivores that only eat vegetation to help with expelling indigestible matter in their GI tract.	[ "Most dogs prefer a meal that is rich in protein normally from animal sources. However, with vegetarian and vegan diets in the United States, this appealing taste is mimicked using plant-based ingredients.\n", "As obligate carnivores, cats require nutrients (including arginine, taurine, arachidonic acid, vitamin ...
why do some cities in the us have sherrifs department instead of police departments	Sheriffs are usually for counties. It's a different type of jurisdiction...city cops only have jurisdiction in the city...but county cops (sheriff) have jurisdiction throughout the county, including all the cities. Usually sheriffs won't bother patrolling cities for city specific laws. Of course the above is a broad...	[ "The New York City Department of Homeless Services Police (NYC DHS Police) is a law enforcement agency in New York City who provide onsite security services to the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS), and to enforce state and city laws at all facilities operated by the New York City Department of Ho...
the difference between a racecar and a sports car	in the strictest of terms race cars are special built for a track or one type of event, their modifications make it to where they are no longer street legal, a sports car is just a sporty car. you can make a car a race car but you can't make a race car a normal car	[ "Definitions of sports cars often relate to how the car design is optimised for dynamic performance (car handling), without any specific minimum requirements; both a Triumph Spitfire and Ferrari 488 Pista can be considered sports cars, despite vastly different levels of performance. Broader definitions of sports ca...
why do curse words/expletives change so much compared to other words?	Curse words are generally related closely to a time's taboos. For instance, words like "fuck" and "shit" were not taboo in the Middle Ages because among the common folk there was little to do to hide your sex and pooping (thus making it difficult to be taboo). In that time, God and Jesus' physical bodies (and later, bo...	[ "Curse words, or cursing, have been recognized by religious organizations as being able to cause actual mental and physical harm. More recently such words have separated themselves from their religious meanings, and it is doubtful that those who use curse words imagine the words will bring actual mental or physical...
why some bones in the body hurt more than the others?	It's a function of the internal biology of the different parts of the body. For example, hitting your "funny bone" is actually you hitting your ulnar nerve, which runs down your forearm. In the spot that people associate with pain, the nerve is relatively unprotected, which is why pain is more intense there The other...	[ "The bones become soft (\"osteomalacia\"), lose bone mineral density (\"osteoporosis\") and become weaker. This causes pain in the joints and the back, and also increases the risk of fractures. In extreme cases of cadmium poisoning, mere body weight causes a fracture.\n", "This disease may also cause bones to bec...
differences between p/e ratio, eps, div/yield, and mktcap	P/E ratio is price/earning ratio, per share. So if a stock trades at $100/sh and has earnings of $5/sh then it's P/E is 20. EPS is earnings per share, so that $5 in the above example. It is calculated by taking the total earnings and dividing by number of shares, so $5 million in earnings and 1 million shares outstand...	[ "As the ratio of a stock (share price) to a flow (earnings per share), the P/E ratio has the units of time. It can be interpreted as the amount of time over which the company would need to sustain its current earnings in order to make enough money to pay back the current share price. While the P/E ratio can in prin...
It's often said a great plague decimated North America's population before Europeans arrived. What was the plague? How bad was it?	hi! the "plague" was several previously-unknown infectious diseases - most notoriously smallpox, but also others - carried by the Europeans and introduced into the native population. Knowing this usually raises a few follow-on questions: (1) Did a similar epidemic also occur when the Norse arrived in Greenland/Newfound...	[ "Epidemics of smallpox (1518, 1521, 1525, 1558, 1589), typhus (1546), influenza (1558), diphtheria (1614) and measles (1618) swept the Americas subsequent to European contact, killing between 10 million and 100 million people, up to 95% of the indigenous population of the Americas. The cultural and political instab...
Chemicals that can break down marshmallows?	Concentrated sulfuric acid might lead to an interesting reaction. Basically any strong oxidizing agent, e.g. potassium permanganate.	[ "Cubé resin, the root extract from Barbasco and from cubé (\"Lonchocarpus utilis\"), is used as a commercial insecticide and piscicide (fish poison). The major active ingredients are rotenone and deguelin. Although \"organic\" (produced by nature) rotenone is no longer considered an environmentally safe chemical.\n...
Are there actual chemical differences between various cooking oils other than their origins (peanuts, olives, rapeseeds)?	Yes, it's the reason they're different and have different characteristics and tastes. If chemically they were identical then they would behave the same provided they were in the same concentrations and circumstances. They're mainly made of fatty acids, examples being palmitic acid, oleic acid (mainly), linoleic acid an...	[ "Cooking oils are composed of various fractions of fatty acids. For the purpose of frying food, oils high in monounsaturated or saturated fats are generally popular, while oils high in polyunsaturated fats are less desirable. High oleic acid oils include almond, macadamia, olive, pecan, pistachio, and high-oleic cu...
Was an invasion from anyone other than Britain feared in the United States in its first few decades? If so, what powers seemed most likely to attack?	Other answers here are discussing the possibility of direct invasion or territorial intervention in the US by the major European powers, but there is another important dynamic here to consider. During the first few decades of its existence the US was not a major power in the Atlantic, and it existed in a volatile "bal...	[ "Until the early 20th century, the greatest potential threat to attack the United States was seen as the British Empire. To that end, military strategy was developed to not only forestall a British attack, but also attack and occupy Canada. \"War Plan Red\" was specifically designed to deal with a British attack on...
What would be the composition and characteristics of a black dwarf star?	A black dwarf is simply a white dwarf that has cooled down from its initial very high temperature and no longer is radiating visible light. We think that none actually exist yet in our universe, because that cooling process takes much longer than the current age of the universe. So, a black dwarf would be made out of ...	[ "A white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to that of the Sun, while its volume is comparable to that of Earth. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored thermal...
how can buzzfeed take pictures from instagram without asking permission?	Buzzfeed largely operates on an "ask for forgiveness, not permission" standpoint. Basically, all you can do is demand they take it down. And then they do. But since Buzzfeed articles have a lifespan of about 2 minutes, they don't care if they have to take it down after 99% of the people who will ever read the articl...	[ "In December 2013, Instagram announced Instagram Direct, a feature that lets users interact through private messaging. Users who follow each other can send private messages with photos and videos, in contrast to the public-only requirement that was previously in place. When users receive a private message from some...
if a gay couple marry in u.s.a what happens when they travel to places (such middle eastern states) are they not allowed to travel there and such?	In countries that don't recognize same-sex marriage, they will simply be treated as two unrelated people traveling together, with no special rights or privileges of a married couple. But since they are of the same sex, they can get a shared hotel room even in a very conservative country that doesn't acknowledge homose...	[ "In June and July 2015, the Rowan county clerk refused several residents their right to marry, a right guaranteed by the ruling of the Supreme Court on June 26, 2015 that same-sex marriages are legal across the entirety of the United States. Privately held religious belief was given as the reason for non-compliance...
why do humans have such great height/weight disparities compared to other animals?	Weight disparities have everything to do with diet. You can see such weight disparities in loads of species when changing their diet. So because weight differences are primarily due to diet in humans, let's focus on height. Height disparity has a ton to do with mating behavior. You might have to bear with me for this o...	[ "Intelligence in animals is hard to establish, but the larger the brain is relative to the body, the more brain weight might be available for more complex cognitive tasks. The EQ formula, as opposed to the method of simply measuring raw brain weight or brain weight to body weight, makes for a ranking of animals tha...
Why was Zeus worshiped in Greek society when he is portrayed as a patricidal tyrant and Prometheus was not when he was the man who gave man all their gifts and suffered for it?	/u/XenophonTheAthenian has an [excellent answer](_URL_0_)	[ "In the Greek version, the god Prometheus confronts is in fact the main head of the patriarchal pantheon, Zeus, who is almost always viewed in a positive light, as the loving All-Father, as the wise ruler of all, etc. The tale of Prometheus is one of the few instances where he is viewed negatively. Zeus guards the ...
Are today's Jews truly the ethnical successors of the ancient people of Judea, or are they rather the inheritors of the Jewish culture and religion, with only loose ethnical ties?	First, we have to look at who today's Jews are. Some will be converts. Conversion has happened historically, even in Nazi occupied countries^1 (!) and some descendants with Jewish heritage may therefore have one or multiple convert ancestors. The majority of these historic converts probably ended up marrying a non c...	[ "Jews came here 3,000 years ago and this is the cradle of Jewish civilization. Jews are the only people in history who kept their loyalty to their identity and their land throughout the 2,000 years of exile, and no doubt that they have the right to have their place among nations—not only historically but also geogr...
what prevents people from making an exact copy of their game disc ?	Game system makers come up with clever schemes that appear to be errors on the disc, which copiers either ignore, "fix", or fail when they read them. The game system looks for these "errors" to authenticate the disc.	[ "In order to copy the CD, the user may have to copy the disc on another computer (real or virtual), uninstall the blacklisted software or wait for an update of the blacklisted software, which will have a countermeasure to the game or music disc's own blacklisting countermeasure.\n", "Some packet-writing applicati...
why does our brain paralyze the body when we fall asleep? aren’t we already relaxed when we’re snoozing?	Your brains are going crazy while you sleep, so if your body wasnt paralyzed your body would be going crazy too	[ "BULLET::::- Researchers have shown that a fundamental reason for sleep is to clean the brain of toxins. This is achieved by brain cells shrinking to create gaps between neurons, allowing fluid to wash through.\n", "Unconsciousness may occur as the result of traumatic brain injury, brain hypoxia (e.g., due to a b...
how does a banana get more sugary after it over-ripens, even after it is cut off of its tree?	All the sugar is already in the banana but it is woven in long threads that don't taste sweet in mouth. When it ripens the threads break down and we can taste the sugar again.	[ "Bananas are green when they are picked because of the chlorophyll their skin contains. Once picked, they begin to ripen; hormones in the bananas convert amino acids into ethylene gas, which stimulates the production of several enzymes. These enzymes start to change the color, texture and flavor of the banana. The ...
In what ways, if any, did life in the ancient Near East change after Alexander's conquests?	It changed enormously. The era called the Hellenistic Period began with Alexander, and lasted for about three hundred years (I'm counting the conquest of the Lagids as the end of the era - you could arguably count until the fall of the last Indo-Greek kingdoms). It transformed the culture of a huge area in almost eve...	[ "Alexander did not live long enough to consolidate his realm; after his death in 323 BC the greater share of the east eventually went to the descendants of Seleucus I Nicator. This period saw great innovations in mathematics, science, architecture, and the like, and Greeks founded cities throughout the east, some o...
why does cracking lake ice make that ghostly sound?	I think I know exactly what sound you mean. At a high level it's a weak crystalline material that is vibrating when those cracks appear. It's like a big drum head and makes the sound.	[ "As a piece of iceberg ice melts, it produces a fizzing sound called the \"Bergie Seltzer\". This sound results when the water-ice interface reaches compressed air bubbles trapped in the ice. As this happens, each bubble bursts, making a \"popping\" sound. The bubbles contain air trapped in snow layers very early i...
other than show everyone my internet history what is the worst the nsa could do to me?	I'm making an assumption about your age, but give this (_URL_0_ podcast)[http://www._URL_0_/podcast/why-people-born-after-1995-cant-understand-book-1984/] an hour of your time. I like it and its fair to the younger people they are talking about. Basically, If you are a redditor older than early twenties, the answer i...	[ "The NSA's actions have been a matter of political controversy on several occasions, including its spying on anti-Vietnam-war leaders and the agency's participation in economic espionage. In 2013, the NSA had many of its secret surveillance programs revealed to the public by Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor....
why don’t muscles show up on x-rays, but do on mris?	X-rays are effected by dense substances like bone so they are clearly defined on X-rays. MRI or Magnetic Resonance Imagers work by vibrating molecules under a powerful magnetic force show entirely different views of the body - _URL_0_	[ "Magnetic resonance imaging is the preferred modality for the evaluation of back pain and visualize bone, soft tissue, nerves, and ligaments. X-rays are a less costly initial option offered to patients with a low clinical suspicion of infection or malignancy and is combined with laboratory studies for interpretatio...
voyager's fuel?	For electrical power, it's "fueled" by plutonium-238. See _URL_0_ For maneuvering fuel, it's hydrazine. This is the only fuel the Voyagers have for both changing the spacecrafts' attitude and trajectory.	[ "\"Voyager 1\" has three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) mounted on a boom. Each MHW-RTG contains 24 pressed plutonium-238 oxide spheres. The RTGs generated about 470 W of electric power at the time of launch, with the remainder being dissipated as waste heat. The power output of the RTGs declines ove...
Have historians officially switched to the BCE/CE notation for years?	This is a highly particular question to where you were taught, and what environment your academic experience has been in. There are likely some professors and indeed departments who would much rather their students utilised BCE/CE. On the other hand, many continue to use BC/AD. My department was totally ambivalent abo...	[ "In the United States, the usage of the BCE/CE notation in textbooks is growing. Some publications have moved over to using it exclusively. For example, the 2007 World Almanac was the first edition to switch over to the BCE/CE usage, ending a 138-year usage of the traditional BC/AD dating notation. It is used by th...
How did the Luftwaffe aces rack up such astonishing scores?	Because the Allies and the Luftwaffe/Japanese had different systems for their pilots. When an US ace serves up his tour of duty, he is rotated back stateside to train new pilots and test new airplanes being designed and such. German aces on the other hand are kept on the front lines until they die, so what you have are...	[ "A number of factors probably contributed to the very high totals of the top German aces. For a limited period (especially during Operation Barbarossa), many Axis victories were over obsolescent aircraft and either poorly trained or inexperienced Allied pilots. In addition, Luftwaffe pilots generally flew many more...
In the Middle Ages when horses were so important to the warrior identity, what was the relationship between knight/lord and horse?	This is a lovingly broad question, and the sources for how knights felt about their horses varied not only between periods and geographic regions, but also within classes and even from person to person. A knight in Chinon might see his horses as nothing but a tool, while his neighbour might view them as his companions ...	[ "An Equestrian (Latin, from \"eques\" \"horseman\", from \"equus\" \"horse\") was a member of the second highest social class in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. This class is often translated as \"knight\"; the medieval knight, however, was called \"miles\" in Latin (which in classical Latin meant \"sold...
in a country where suicide is illegal, how is the lawbreaker punished?	They aren't. A successful suicide isn't something where the offender can be punished. Attempted suicide is a crime in some places, though.	[ "Suicide is illegal in Singapore. Section 309 of the Penal Code states that \"\"Whoever attempts to commit suicide, and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.\"\" The section is rarely enforced, be...
why does boxing have judges and points? why dont they just fight until a ko or until someone gives up?	So the fight is focussed on skill and technique as opposed to a pair of guys beating eachother to death.	[ "Up to three judges are typically present at ringside to score the bout and assign points to the boxers, based on punches and elbows that connect, defense, knockdowns, hugging and other, more subjective, measures. Because of the open-ended style of boxing judging, many fights have controversial results, in which on...
Why was Sulla so set on finding a legal basis for his dictatorship?	I haven't read Duncan, so I don't quite know what he's talking about. It sounds like something got jumbled somewhere. Sulla didn't sit outside the city; he entered the city after the Battle of the Colline Gate, herded his prisoners into the Circus, and while they were being executed he addressed the senate in the tem...	[ "In the decades before Sulla had become dictator, a series of political developments occurred which severely weakened aristocratic control over the Roman Constitution. Sulla's dictatorship constituted one of the most significant developments in the History of the Constitution of the Roman Republic, and it served as...
i'm taking calculus class on college, and having some problems with limits, can someone eli5?	Lucky for you I am taking it as well and feel I have a good grasp on it. All a limit is is trying to figure out what a graph tends to do when we approach a point. If we have the graph f(x) = x/x we get a graph that is a straight line with a missing point in the middle at x=0 (since x =/= 0 otherwise it is undefined)...	[ "BULLET::::- Undergraduate students who have completed at least the equivalent of two semesters of calculus and two additional courses in mathematics, at or above the calculus level, all of which lead to the fulfillment of the requirements for a major in the mathematical sciences. In addition, such students must ha...
Did Attila the Hun really die of a bloody nose?	User u/atmdk7 asked this before. Here is a link to the discussion. _URL_0_	[ "The conventional account from Priscus says that Attila was at a feast celebrating his latest marriage, this time to the beautiful young Ildico (the name suggests Gothic or Ostrogoth origins). In the midst of the revels, however, he suffered a severe nosebleed and choked to death in a stupor. An alternative theory ...
Is it possible to induce Unihemispheric slow-wave sleep in humans using drugs, electricity, ranscranial magnetic stimulation, etc?	Well one way that sort of counts is the Wada test, aka the Intracarotid amobarbital procedure. In preparation for brain surgery to remove one of the temporal lobes, the ability of a patient to rely on the language and memory functions of the other temporal lobe is tested. The patient is brought into an angiography ...	[ "Compared to slow-wave sleep, both waking and paradoxical sleep involve higher use of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which may cause the faster brainwaves. The monoamine neurotransmitters norepinephrine, serotonin and histamine are completely unavailable. Injections of acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, which eff...
Were there special armored units between the knight and the tank?	Assuming you're talking about vehicles, not really. The tank was a melding of two already existing concepts-- the armored car and the caterpillar tractor. Early armored cars, such as the [Austro-Daimler Armored Car](_URL_0_) could effectively shrug off small-arms fire but had extremely poor cross-country mobility bec...	[ "The 4th Armored Division () was a short-lived armoured unit of the French Army. Formed on 10 May 1940 on the battlefield, it comprised mainly tank battalions. It fought without interruption for forty days and was initially commanded by Charles de Gaulle.\n", "The 2nd Armored was organized as a \"heavy\" armored ...
If the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution was never passed, could any presidents have pulled off a third term?	There is a historical "what if" subreddit that might be better for this.	[ "Several days later, the House agreed to the Senate's revisions, and on March 24, 1947, the constitutional amendment imposing term limitations on future Presidents was submitted to the states for ratification. The ratification process for the 22nd Amendment was completed on February 27, 1951, after it was sent to t...
theoretically, could a human baby be trained basic manners & bathroom skills as quickly as a puppy can be, if trained in the same manner? if not, how come?	I'd assume not. Babies are born with very underdeveloped brains - notice how most animals can stand within minutes and it takes us a year or so. This is because humans have huge heads compared with their bodies and so the brain needs to be underdeveloped to fit out of the mother's pelvis. Because of this underdevelopm...	[ "For a behavior to be considered cultural it must be shared extragenetically; that is, it must be taught. If a trained dog is introduced to a puppy that doesn't know not to urinate in a house, it cannot teach it not to do so. A particularly intelligent puppy might eventually get used to not eliminate in people's ho...
Were there any opponents to Hitler during his rise to power and by and large what happened to those that spoke out after the Nazi party was in full power?	There was a variety of opposition to Hitler and the Nazi Party during their rise. I assume you know of the Nazi's Sturmabteilung, or SA, a paramilitary organization that worked as the militant wing of the party. The Nazis were not alone in having such forceful wings. Many other paramilitary groups existed in the Weimar...	[ "The National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazis) came to power in Germany as a minority party when its leader, Adolf Hitler, was named chancellor following the elections of 1933. Hitler moved swiftly to consolidate power, first through passage of the Enabling Act of 1933. After the death of President Paul von H...
If defibrillators have a very specific purpose, why do most buildings have one?	Long story short, the sooner the response time to a cardiac event, the better. If a person has a cardiac event and another person around is able to administer the AED then the treatment begins and the paramedics take over upon arrival.	[ "Automated external defibrillators are generally either kept where health professionals and first responders can use them (health facilities and ambulances) as well as public access units which can be found in public places including corporate and government offices, shopping centres, restaurants, public transport,...
In stem cell therapies, how do doctors get stem cells to the tissue or organ they are attempting to repair? Are stems cells too large to be delivered through an injection?	Stem cells can be delivered via injection; however, that does not guarantee they’ll stay where you put them. For example, a relatively recently study in horses showed that the majority of stem cells they injected intra-articularly (into joints) ended up migrating to the lungs.	[ "According to stem cell biologists, it might be possible to harness this ability to turn stem cells into a super \"repair kit\" for the body, theoretically to use stem cells to generate healthy tissue to replace that either damaged by trauma or compromised by disease.\n", "Most stem cells intended for regenerativ...
how does cold stuff pull heat away from warmer stuff	Heat is just how "jiggly" or excited atoms within a system are (ie your hand) Cold is an absence of that energy When you touch the cold glass you're transferring that energy to the glass.	[ "In all cases, the air has to be cooler than the object or surface from which it is expected to remove heat. This is due to the second law of thermodynamics, which states that heat will only move spontaneously from a hot reservoir (the heat sink) to a cold reservoir (the air).\n", "Heat cannot spontaneously flow ...
what do trigonometry graphs show us?	It's probably not useful to graph that specific function outside of math class. But being able to graph similar complicated functions is useful, because a lot of very complicated functions show up in engineering and science, and drawing graphs is sometimes the quickest way to solve a problem. (Of course, you'll rare...	[ "The graphs can be drawn using cartesian (rectangular) coordinates or a polar plot. This last one is useful to measure the beamwidth, which is, by convention, the angle at the -3dB points around the max gain. The shape of curves can be very different in cartesian or polar coordinates and with the choice of the limi...
What are the hypothetical limitations of 'transcranial magnetic stimulation?' Is the whole thing bunk?	[Transcranial magnetic stimulation](_URL_2_) or TMS is a fairly common tool used in psychology research (searching for transcranial magnetic stimulation on google scholar returns 100,000+ articles). Here is a short description of TMS: "TMS is based on the principle of electromagnetic induction. Michael Faraday showed ...	[ "Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) or deep transcranial magnetic stimulation is a noninvasive method used to stimulate small regions of the brain. TMS was approved by the FDA for treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (trMDD) in 2008 and as of 2014 evidence supports that it is probably effective. The A...
what exactly is the kaaba and what is its importance in islam?	The Kaaba is the first Mosque that was built by Abraham and Ishmael. It contains the Black Stone, which was supposed to be a gift from the archangel Gabriel to Abraham Its supposedly the only piece of the existing structure that was placed by Abraham himself.	[ "The Kaaba ( \"\" , \"The Cube\"), also referred to as \"al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah\" (, the Holy Ka'bah), is a building at the center of Islam's most important mosque, Great Mosque of Mecca (, The Sacred Mosque), in the Hejazi city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is the most sacred site in Islam. It is considered by Musl...
how do we simulate zero gravity?	What we commonly call zero gravity is actually, generally speaking, "Free fall." You can picture being in a box, that is dropped out of a plane. Both you and the box accelerate downwards due to gravity. Why don't you slam into the roof of the box? Well you're accelerating downwards as fast as it is, so you are fallin...	[ "In the video game \"Dead Space\", artificial gravity plates are used to simulate an Earth-like environment in outer space. In several levels, gravity plating is off and the player has to navigate in weightlessness using 'Zero-Gravity Boots', similar to magnetic boots. Defective gravity plates are also encountered ...
how do graffitis sprayed on the street tend to come out very sharp and detailed when the spray can itself sprays a random dot pattern?	They have different nozzles they put on the cans to create different effects. The paint cans professionals buy are quite different (and more expensive) than the stuff you get at a hard ware store. It's meant to stay vibrant on stone, and resist weathering. You can check out [this site] (_URL_0_) to see the kind of stuf...	[ "BULLET::::- Agitation – When graffiti removal products are applied by means of hard bristled brushes or scourers, it assists in breaking the bond between the graffiti and the surface. NOTE: be careful on sensitive surfaces, otherwise the underlying surface may be damaged.\n", "BULLET::::- Catastroffiti, a form o...
obtaining a separate identity legally and without getting diagnosed with dissociative personality disorder.	No, you aren't allowed to claim you have no identity and get a new one. The country you would be moving to would want to be able to conduct a background check on you or know more about you before admitting you and the country you're leaving would want to be able to find you again if they need to in case it turns out yo...	[ "Identity disorder in the DSM, was first listed as a separate diagnosis in version III (1980). In version IV (1994), it was replaced by \"Identity problem\", which was not defined as a mental disorder per se, but was listed in a chapter containing problems that might be a focus of clinical attention. Identity disor...
the new farm bill that the u.s. recently approved	Congress has given billions in welfare payments to massive agribusiness (and themselves) while cutting welfare to children and the elderly.	[ "The Agricultural Act of 2014 (; , also known as the 2014 U.S. Farm Bill), formerly the \"Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013\", is an act of Congress that authorizes nutrition and agriculture programs in the United States for the years of 2014-2018. The bill authorizes $956 billion in spendi...
Is there a maximum/minimum cloud cover for the planet at any given moment?	First we need to look at how and why clouds form. Air cools as it rises (adiabatic lapse rate). The dew point also drops as a function of altitude. When the dew point and the air temperature are equal, then clouds form. This is called the lifted condensation level. _URL_1_ _URL_2_ Now to get more clouds you need ...	[ "Cloud cover values only vary by 0.03 from year to year, whereas the local, day to day variability in cloud amount typically rises to 0.3 over the globe. Most data sets agree on the fact that the land is covered by 0.10-0.15 less cloud than the oceans.\n", "The cloud cover is such that typical surface light level...
We often hear about the great battles the Allies won during WW2, and how victory in Europe was in some part because of Hitler's poor decision making. But what were some of the largest tactical fuck ups the Allies made during WW2?	The Battle of the Hürtgen Forest was a serious prolonged fuck up (the extent of the true scale of the disaster remained classified until the 1950's and it is still poorly understood today) on the part of the Americans during WWII. It lasted six months from September 1944 until February 1945 and cost about 33,000 Americ...	[ "Once the Second World War had begun with France and Britain as allies, German strategy aimed to win a short war in France and to force Britain to the negotiating table. After the conquest of France in May-June 1940, Churchill's refusal to surrender or to negotiate on terms favorable for Germany put the German gamb...
why do apples make water "taste dry" in your mouth after you eat them?	It's partly tannins and partly it's astringent, or known to make the tongue pucker a little which leads to that feeling of dryness you're talking about. It's also what causes red wine to have a similar sensation as the grape must sits much longer allowing the tannins to leak out. Not all apples have the same tannin l...	[ "The process of decantation of the water and the juice therefore happens within the fruit rather than in the juice. The apples are then pressed, frozen more and the resulting nectar is harvested and fermented at a low temperature for around 8 months. This method is more delicate and greatly increases the costs of p...
where does the strength from a hydraulic press come from?	Explaining like you're 5: It's basically the fluid version of a lever or gears. You exchange speed for force. An example: You turn on your kitchen sink faucet, and stick a glass under it. In a second or two, your glass is full of water, but it's not very heavy. However, if you stuck a bucket under the faucet and l...	[ "The hydraulic press depends on Pascal's principle-the pressure throughout a closed system is constant. One part of the system is a piston acting as a pump, with a modest mechanical force acting on a small cross-sectional area; the other part is a piston with a larger area which generates a correspondingly large me...
Why isn't Ethiopia considered part of the "known world" given how much contact they had with Europe/Middle East?	The campaigns of Alexander happened about 400 years before the Periplus was written. So, that map depicts the known world circa the year 50 AD, but doesn't necessarily depict what trade was going on or Greek/Macedonian knowledge of the world in 330 BC. In the Horn of Africa, there is an ongoing debate among archaeolog...	[ "During the reign of Emperor Yeshaq, Ethiopia made its first successful diplomatic contact with a European country since Aksumite times, sending two emissaries to Alfons V of Aragon, who sent return emissaries that failed to complete the trip to Ethiopia. The first continuous relations with a European country began...
it's snowing here finally, so i'm wondering...how does anti-lock braking actually work? how does the car know when it's "slipping?"	There's a speed sensor on every wheel connected to a simple computer. when you apply the brakes the computer compares the different wheel speeds. If it senses one or two wheels suddenly slowing, it activates a solenoid that pulses the pressure in the break lines. Allowing the wheel(s) to begin rolling for a split secon...	[ "A car on a slippery surface can slide a long way if the driver \"locks\" the wheels in stationary positions by pressing hard on the brakes. Anti-lock braking systems use wheel speed sensors and vehicle speed sensors to determine if any of the wheels have stopped turning. The ABS Module then briefly releases pressu...
how will an increased lifespan lead to a fitter life overall	We will not live until we are 150 unless we invent a new medicine that prolongs life. Some new medicine that prolongs life is being tested on rats. Some older rats that take this medicine also become healthier and stronger and can run for long distances. If we can make this medicines work on us too, then maybe we will ...	[ "Life expectancy increases slightly every year as treatment strategies and technologies improve. At present, more than one year of research is required for each additional year of expected life. Longevity escape velocity occurs when this ratio reverses, so that life expectancy increases faster than one year per one...
how are banks different and what makes them better than others?	Without going into specifics, different banks offer different benefits. Some banks will give you more interest on your deposited money. The higher the interest rate, the more money you get back. Some banks charge less interest for loans and mortgages. This is important if you want money to start a business or if yo...	[ "In general banks play an intermediary role in the economy; because of this the possibility for banks to contribute to sustainable development is extensive. Banks have efficient and tested credit approval systems, which gives them a comparative advantage in knowledge (regarding sector-specific information, legislat...
MLK and the Black Panther Party	The debate between how the fight against discrimination of African Americans has existed far before the days of MLK and the Black Panthers. The earliest example I can recall of this division would probably be Booker T. Washington, a moderate, and W.E.B. Dubois, a more radical pan-Africanist, back in the latter years of...	[ "The Black Panther Party (or BPP) was an African- American revolutionary organization active in the United States from 1966-1982. Founded in Oakland, California on October 15, 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the party originally identified as the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, and called for the protect...
why does chinese food not seem to keep you full whereas other food does?	The bulk of the food volume is normally rice or noodles, which are starches. Starches are Carbs that are broken down fairly quickly in the digestive system and so the food does not keep you full as long as things that have more protein or fats which take longer to digest.	[ "One reason that Chinese fast-food companies have not been successful in China is that Chinese food in general is already fast and convenient by nature. Chinese people are already used to fast, cheap food, but the exotic nature of American food makes it somewhat more desirable. The second major reason is that China...
Yoga: Are the benefits of yoga scientifically proven? If yes, how did the inventors of yoga make up the asanas and know their benefits?	Penn and Teller did an episode of Bullshit on yoga. They claim that all of what is modernly known today as 'yoga' in America was invented very recently (I think the 60's) and just artificially tied to ancient stuff to give it credence. Is stretching, strength training using your own body weight, and regular exercise ...	[ "In 1994 Garfinkel was the lead author of a study that showed that yoga could be used for treatment of osteoarthritis of the hands, and in 1998, Garfinkel was lead author of a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrating the yoga could be used to relieve the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndr...
Why does the Asian portion of the Ring of Fire seem to get more earthquakes than the North American part?	It a question of magnitude, since you won't often hear about small earthquakes in the news. The western side of the Ring of Fire is dominated by subduction zones, which produce strong earthquakes (and tsunamis). Subduction zone earthquakes are generally the largest earthquakes (magnitude 7+). The eastern side along N...	[ "The Ring of Fire makes California and southern Alaska particularly vulnerable to earthquakes. Earthquakes can cause extensive damage, such as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake or the 1964 Good Friday earthquake near Anchorage, Alaska. California is well known for seismic activity, and requires large structures to ...
the end of the world according to the book of revelations	John of Patmos (who may or may not be the same as John the Apostle) is shown a vision by God where there is a throne room of heaven, and a scroll sealed with seven seals. Jesus is there in the form of a lamb with seven horns and is proclaimed to be the one with the power to open the seals. (And does so) [The Four Hor...	[ "The Book of Revelation, the final book of the Christian New Testament, contains a prophetic vision of the end of the present world, the Last Judgement, and the coming of the New Jerusalem. The Book with Seven Seals is opened by the enthroned Lamb of God in the presence of the twenty-four elders. The number seven c...
how do we stop ourselves from just peeing whenever we have to go?	There is a muscle which holds closed the output of the bladder, and you can consciously make it stay closed.	[ "When not urinating into a toilet, squatting is the easiest way for a female to direct the urine stream (although many women find that they can do so standing up). If done this way, the urine will go forward. Some females use one or both hands to focus the direction of the urine stream, which is more easily achieve...
what makes sex such a strong motivator / tool?	Pretty sure it's our basic need to survive and pass on our genes. If sex wasn't a strong urge, why would anyone do it? We'd all die off.	[ "Sex drive, also known as libido, is the physiological need for sexual activity. Sex drive has been found to be a significant predictor of higher sexual jealousy in both men and women; those who had a higher sex drive showed greater distress at the idea of their partner committing sexual infidelity. This is consist...
why is the homosexual lisp a thing?	It's a way to immediately identify other homosexuals via self imposed body ticks that eliminate the confusion caused by the guessing of ones sexual orientation. It's also simply an accent from various places around the world, like from Barcelona.	[ "The gay lisp is one manner of speech stereotypically associated with gay speakers of American English, and perhaps other dialects or languages. It involves a marked pronunciation of sibilant consonants (particularly and ). Speech scientist Benjamin Munson and his colleagues have argued that this is not a mis-artic...
is there an actual difference between various brands of cigarettes?	Yes. Tobacco has varieties just like any other crop, and different manufacturers use different blends, methods of preparation, additives, and flavorings.	[ "As a result of tight advertising and marketing prohibitions, tobacco companies look at the pack differently: they view it as a strong component in displaying brand imagery and a creating significant in-store presence at the point of purchase. Market testing shows the influence of this dimension in shifting the con...
how are these "people trees" grown?	It's called Tree Shaping. Wikipedia has a huge article on it, but it boils down to a few things: 1) You can put it in some sort of a "cast" and keep it that way until it retains its shape naturally (you can't do this with thick trees) 2) You can suspend the tree (roots and all) above the ground and spray it with a nu...	[ "Trees for Life has had projects in India, Guatemala, Haiti, Brazil, Nepal, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Nicaragua and Cambodia. According to the organization, more than two million people have participated in its programs and tens of millions of fruit trees have been planted.\n", "\"The Trees They Grow So High\" is a ...
What are the "remnants" of Halley's Comet?	To start off with, I'll briefly touch on what you're actually seeing when you see a meteor. During a meteor shower, the average particle size that causes the bright streak you see in the sky is only around the size of a grain of sand. Now, as for comets, when we see those, what makes them look so impressive are their ...	[ "Halley's returns to the inner Solar System have been observed and recorded by astronomers since at least 240 BC. Clear records of the comet's appearances were made by Chinese, Babylonian, and medieval European chroniclers, but, at those times, were not recognized as reappearances of the same object. The comet's pe...
what would happen to the earth, and humans, if our sun went supernova?	It would destroy the earth utterly. However, that can't ever happen. The sun is too small to ever go supernova.	[ "A near-Earth supernova is a supernova close enough to the Earth to have noticeable effects on its biosphere. Depending upon the type and energy of the supernova, it could be as far as 3000 light-years away. Gamma rays from a supernova would induce a chemical reaction in the upper atmosphere converting molecular ni...
- why do we just not globally exterminate mosquitoes? since this insect is a major cause of disease-spread and has no solo-purpose that can't be replaced by another existing insect?	Two main reasons off the top of my head: 1. We don't know how to extermine only mosquitoes. 2. At best we can guesstimate what will happen to other animals due to mosquitoes dying off, but not much more. Historically, surgical attempts to mess with ecosystems haven't gone too well. Pesticides kill lots of pests, the...	[ "According to an article in \"Nature\" discussing the idea of totally eradicating mosquitoes, \"Ultimately, there seem to be few things that mosquitoes do that other organisms can’t do just as well — except perhaps for one. They are lethally efficient at sucking blood from one individual and mainlining it into anot...
Why was Singapore so poorly defended in 1942?	Hi, I answered a similar question to this quite a while back [here](_URL_1_) and [here](_URL_0_). I can go into greater detail if you have specific follow up questions. The crux of the matter was that Britain had neither the economic strength nor political will to defend their possessions in the event of a simultaneou...	[ "In early 1942, Singapore was critically unprepared for the assault that came. It had been neglected during the famine years for defence of the 1930s. It had then suffered during the war as British efforts were focused on defeating Germany and Italy. The colony was run by a Governor who did not want to \"upset\" th...
how does street numbering work?	It works different in every city. Literally, down to the difference of "street vs. avenue vs. boulevard etc.". Different cities have totally different layouts and different rules for the naming conventions. It generally is all decided by the city government, with a little influence from county and state. In Chicago, ...	[ "Street numbers can be written as orientation numbers (related to street) or descriptive numbers (unique within the town) or as a combination separated by a slash (descriptive/orientation). Descriptive numbers are also used within small villages that do not have named streets.\n", "A numbered street is a street w...
why is it that discrimination against a majority race isn't considered discrimination?	There's a difference between the act and the effect. Racism and discrimination can exist against white people. What doesn't happen, at least not in the US, is any adverse effect from that. White people as a group are not adversely affected by discrimination because to a large extent we still control the levers of pow...	[ "Discrimination on the grounds of race, color, ethnic origin, tribe, or birth is technically unconstitutional, but is practiced by government bodies and society at large against whites and mixed-race persons, who experience difficulty securing official documents, from passports to building permits.\n", "Education...
why was russia's ban on adoptions to us such an important response to the magnitsky act?	I don't think the Russians are seeing "evil" and "influence US public opinion" as mutually exclusive. The SMA hurts a couple dozen people most Americans have never heard of. Many people know someone who has wanted to adopt, I even know someone who adopted a Russian orphan. They are hoping to impact (==hurt) more peo...	[ "In response to the adoption of the Magnitsky Act, the Russian government denied Americans adoption of Russian children, issued a list of US officials prohibited from entering Russia, and posthumously convicted Magnitsky as guilty. In addition, the Russian government reportedly lobbied against the legislation actin...
why is "fuck" a bad word?	Vsauce actually did a great video on the subject of swear words and why they're taboo just a couple of days ago. You can watch it [here](_URL_0_).	[ "Fuck is a profane English-language word which often refers to the act of sexual intercourse but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to denote disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested to around 1475. In modern usage, the term \"fuck\" and its derivatives (such as \"...

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