Split (2)

train · 226k rows

question stringlengths 3 301	answer stringlengths 9 26.1k	context list
what would happen if someone who hasn't lost any blood got a standard blood transfusion (450 ml)?	This is actually a popular way for some athletes to improve their performance. Im not familiar with all the details, but from what I understand it gives more energy and slightly enhanced physical abilities for a short time as the body works to break down the extra blood.	[ "Blood transfusion is required in such conditions if the body loses more than 20 percent of body blood volume. Severe loss makes it impossible for the heart to pump a sufficient amount of blood to the body. In such conditions unmaintained blood volume could lead to Hypovolemic Shock (hypovolemic shock could lead to...
why is steak better the lesser cooked it is?	It allows the steak to keep it's unique flavor. If you take $300 steak and a $10 steak and cook them both well done, they're going to taste pretty much the same.	[ "It is considered a more flavorful cut than other steaks, such as the fillet, due to the muscle being exercised by the animal during its life. Its marbling of fat makes this suitable for slow roasting or grilling cooked to different degrees of doneness. Marbling also increases tenderness, which plays a key role in ...
What is the estimated remaining lifespan of the universe?	I think evidence is leaning towards heat death, which means there's no real lifespan; the universe will just slowly progress towards a maximal entropy state where there is nothing left anymore except a diffuse gas of photons, and either hydrogen (if protons are stable) or just leptons (if protons aren't stable). Of cou...	[ "Stars like TRAPPIST-1 have the ability to live up to 4–5 trillion years, 400–500 times longer than the Sun will live (which the Sun only has about 5.5 billion years of lifespan left (which is almost a halftime of life)). Because of this ability to live for long periods of time, it is likely TRAPPIST-1 will be one ...
why can thumbnails on reddit still be seen if the photo is already deleted?	Instead of polling the Imgur servers for the thumbnail every time anyone on Reddit loads a page, Reddit fetches the thumbnail and stores it locally before serving it to Reddit users. That greatly reduces the demand on Imgur servers.	[ "BULLET::::- Photo manipulation software sometimes fails to update the embedded thumbnail after an editing operation, possibly causing the user to inadvertently publish compromising information. For example, someone might blank out a licence registration plate of a car (for privacy concerns), only to have the thumb...
why do electric motors overheat and get damaged when they are stalled but don't when they run?	Many electric motors have a small fan on their axis, which they need for cooling the copper coils. When the motor stalls, the fan won't do anything - but the motor still uses electricity, and therefore generates heat. Since there is no airflow to dissipate it, the motor can overheat. In addition to that, DC motors ess...	[ "Electric motors continue to provide torque when stalled. However, electric motors left in a stalled condition are prone to overheating and possible damage since the current flowing is maximum under these conditions.\n", "The electrical energy produced by the motors is dissipated as heat by a bank of onboard resi...
Is it possible to have nonzero acceleration and zero velocity in this example?	Your teacher is correct. In order to go from rest (v=0) to v > 0, acceleration must take place. And at the first instance acceleration takes place, the car is at v=0. It might be easier to see mathematically, by choosing some function that describes your velocity vs time. Suppose you are at rest at t=0 and then begin t...	[ "In the unidirectional case i.e. when the object's acceleration is parallel or anti-parallel to its velocity in the spacetime slice of the observer, the \"change in proper velocity is the integral of proper acceleration over map time\" i.e. for constant \"α\". At low speeds this reduces to the well-known relation b...
Why is monogamy more common in birds than in mammals?	It depends on what type of monogamy you mean. Birds tend to be socially monogamous, which means they find a mate, have children, and raise them with the same partner. However, birds typically aren't sexually monogamous. For example, the scissor tail flycatcher has a "cheating" rate as high as 70% some seasons. This is...	[ "Birds are one of the only major taxa where monogamy is the dominant mating system. Prior to the advent of genetic techniques, it was assumed that the majority of monogamous birds remained faithful to their partners. However, it is now known that extra-pair copulations (EPCs), extra-pair fertilizations (EPFs), and ...
how does a camera focus have a set lower limit but an infinite upper limit?	The camera lens has to bend the light to focus it on the sensor. The closer the object is, the more the lens has to bend the light to focus it on the sensor. The farther away, the less it has to bend it. Objects infinitely far away barely need any focusing at all.	[ "The 30-degree rule is a basic film editing guideline that states the camera should move at least 30 degrees relative to the subject between successive shots of the same subject. If the camera moves less than 30 degrees, the transition between shots can look like a jump cut—which could jar the audience and take the...
Why is rape so common? what's the psychological/biological science behind it?	For the Psychological effect, [AskSocialScience](_URL_1_) could probably give you the best answer. However, rape is pretty common in other species. [Here's](_URL_0_) a wikipedia on it.	[ "Rape, sometimes called sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or sexual penetration of another person without that person's consent. Rape is generally considered a serious sex crime as well as a civil assault. When part of a widespread and systematic practice, rape and sexual s...
why does it take state gov'ts several weeks to issue new driver's licenses?	What state do you live in? In Illinois it is just like you say it should be. Many things can be done online that used to require a trip to the Secretary of State office(DMV). It's up to your Secretary of State to enact these improvements to the system. If yours isn't doing that then you should vote for someone who w...	[ "In the United States, transportation laws are the responsibility of the state governments. The federal government does, however, try to encourage graduated driver licensing through its National Priority Safety Programs fund. The National Transportation Safety Board reported in 2017 that zero dollars were expended ...
when oil prices are down and there is a surplus of fuel; based on supply and demand why are prices at the pumps highest. should the price of gasoline not be relative to crude?	While they are tied, there is a lag between the time the crude is purchased, transported, refined, stored, distributed and eventually hits your local gas pump. Of course stations seem to raise prices immediately upon increase of crude prices while only lowering prices once lower cost crude has worked its way through th...	[ "Crude oil is the greatest contributing factor when it comes to the price of gasoline. This includes the resources it takes for exploration, to remove it from the ground, and transport it. Between 2004 and 2008, there was an increase in fuel costs due in large part to a worldwide increase in demand for crude oil. P...
why are there caps on passwords?	Their databases were set up with maximum character counts per cell. When configuring a DB, you set character limits.	[ "Password blacklists are lists of passwords that are always blocked from use. Blacklists contain passwords constructed of character combinations that otherwise meet company policy, but should no longer be used because they have been deemed insecure for one or more reasons, such as being easily guessed, following a ...
Here in the US "Communism" is often a byword for evil. What good things has Communism accomplished?	> "A grizzled NASA veteran once told me that the Apollo moon landings were communism’s greatest achievement." -[Neil Stephenson](_URL_0_)	[ "\"The Economist\" contends that the book is inspired by Soviet historiography in its treatment of the Cold War, as it claims that the Cold War was started by the United States, that the Soviet Union was acting in self-defense, and that the USSR did not lose the Cold War but rather voluntarily ended it. According t...
how do heat-seeking missiles pick their targets? how do flares change that? and why then do flares only work some of the time when deployed?	They have an infrared camera, which sees temperature instead of visible light. The exhaust of a jet engine is typically the hottest thing in the sky (other than the sun, which is off the scale entirely) and the missle will chase that hot spot. Flares burn hot enough to produce more heat signals in the missile's field...	[ "A flare or decoy flare is an aerial infrared countermeasure used by a plane or helicopter to counter an infrared homing (\"heat-seeking\") surface-to-air missile or air-to-air missile. Flares are commonly composed of a pyrotechnic composition based on magnesium or another hot-burning metal, with burning temperatur...
how are singers/vocalists able to use their voice for so long without getting sore?	It’s all about the right technique, warm-ups and exercise - just like any other sport, really. Still, it is bloody impressive.	[ "Voice teachers teach different techniques, but long-term use will still take its toll if done incorrectly – these techniques are designed to reduce rather than eliminate harm. However it has been shown by many vocalists (ex. Christian Älvestam) that long-term use of these techniques can occur without causing harm ...
Why do six circles with equal diameter fit perfectly around one circle of that same diameter?	As the coins are placed with three touching each other, their centers form an equilateral triangle, which has 60 degree angles. 6 of these angles equal 360 degrees, a full circle.	[ "The circles are each approximately in diameter, and less than five metres apart. Their centre points are aligned almost exactly north to south. The northern circle has 20 stones remaining, while the southern has 29 – all of a relatively consistent size, mostly between in height.\n", "Great circles are the larges...
Why does the water boil way faster when I push the uncooked block of Ramen noodles to the bottom of the pot?	I'm not entirely convinced it does, but it could be that you are providing more sites for bubbles to nucleate closer to the source of the heat, so you feel the water is boiling faster because you see more bubbles quicker. However, it is very doubtful that this changes the time to reach a full boil.	[ "Starch gelatinization is the most important feature in instant noodles that can enhance water retention during cooking. Two key steps in instant noodle processing serve the function to trigger starch gelatinization, which are steaming and oil-frying. Starch gelatinization occurs when starch granules swell in water...
why does the effect of caffeine kick in almost immediately but not food poisoning after ingesting something bad?	Caffeine is a chemical your body absorbs. Food poisoning on the other hand is not a chemical at all. It’s bacteria and/or viruses. They have an incubation period, meaning there is a time frame they need to reproduce to cause meaningful harm.	[ "Caffeine, alcohol, modafinil, over the counter medicine, and other drugs are all forms of neurohacking. Every one of these substances alters or \"tricks\" the brain into desirable conditions. When ingesting caffeine, the brain is fooled into thinking the body has energy and keeps the consumer awake. The brain's ne...
if i'm riding in an elevator and the cable suddenly snapped, what would happen?	The brakes would clamp down and the whole thing would lock up. You might feel a jolt but i doubt it would be even that rough. At that point you can try to open the doors and see if you're lined up with a floor. Otherwise you might want to sit tight till the fire dept comes.	[ "A man jumps from the thirty-fifth floor of a skyscraper, and an elevator within the building gets stuck shortly thereafter. Within the elevator are the temporary security guard Ben Larson, the mechanic and former soldier Tony Janekowski, the mattress salesman Vince McCormick, the young woman Sarah Caraway, and an ...
what is the difference between an atom, a molecule, and an element?	Think of it like Legos. An atom is one block. A molecule is 2 or more blocks stuck together. An element is the type of block (for example, hydrogen might be like a 1x1 block and oxygen could be a 4x4 block). A molecule of water, or H2O, is 2 hydrogen blocks connected to 1 oxygen block. Oxygen isn't a molecul...	[ "A chemical element is a species of atom having the same number of protons in their atomic nuclei (that is, the same atomic number, or \"Z\"). For example, the atomic number of oxygen is 8, so the element oxygen consists of all atoms which have 8 protons.\n", "A chemical element is a pure substance which is compo...
why do we no longer have to dial a one or zero before placing a long distance call?	Assuming you mean in North America. The _URL_0_ The +1 was a way to accept toll charges, most phone plans now include no long distance charges. so the 1 is no longer required. * 10-digit dialing: NPA NXX xxxx * 11-digit dialing: 1 NPA NXX xxxx (1 is the NANP trunk prefix for long distance circuits) Since most phone ...	[ "Because of the overlay of 703 and 571, 10-digit dialing is mandatory even for local calls; cellphone callers do the same on all direct-dialled calls. Long-distance calls are dialed as eleven digits, using the prefix \"1\", but for landline-based phones only.\n", "Because of loop disconnect dialing, attention was...
In 1792, Revolutionary France was at war with Austria and Prussia, and soon was fighting with Portugal, Spain, Britain and Italian states. With uprisings in the provinces, internal chaos and political upheaval, how the fuck was France able to emerge victorious?	Part of it was that Revolutionary France didn't (And couldn't) fight by established European tactics. The French Revolution purged the officer corps of both the army and navy, so you didn't have so many old, professional officers anymore. This, in turn, led to some pretty unconventional (For eighteenth century Euro...	[ "Europe was racked by two decades of war revolving around France's efforts to spread its revolutionary ideals, as well as to annex Belgium and the Rhine's Left Bank to France and establish puppet regimes in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. The French revolutionaries' open and strident republicanism led to the co...
Can your body absorb water from urine in your bladder if you become more dehydrated?	Anatomically, the urinary tract (ureters, bladder and urethra) is lined by what are called transitional epithelium. This is also sometimes known, with good reason, by the alternative name of "umbrella cells", which are impermeable, preventing the passage of urine (and its associated solutes) back into the body. There i...	[ "The urinary bladder is a hollow muscular organ in humans and some other animals that collects and stores urine from the kidneys before disposal by urination. In the human the bladder is a hollow muscular, and distensible (or elastic) organ, that sits on the pelvic floor. Urine enters the bladder via the ureters an...
what is a gamma function, and how does it work?	It's a way of extending the factorial function to non-integers in a "sensible" way, where "sensible" means in a certain technical sense.	[ "The gamma function is an important special function in mathematics. Its particular values can be expressed in closed form for integer and half-integer arguments, but no simple expressions are known for the values at rational points in general. Other fractional arguments can be approximated through efficient infini...
How exactly do we feel pain from hot things?	We have nocioreceptors (pain) in our skin. They are unmeylinated free nerve endings. When they sense a change in temperature they depolarize causing a action potential. This goes up our lateral spinothalamic tract, then up to the VPL nucleus of the thalamus. From there we are aware that we are in pain but not exactly w...	[ "Pain can either be relegated to a specific part of the body or spread to the entire body. It is typically constant, and may be moderate to severe in intensity. It is often made worse by touch, movement, emotions, barometric pressure and temperature changes, usually cold temperatures along with many other similar '...
Do we have images (photographs) of any art that was lost during WWII?	I just linked this in the other thread, but I will share it again. (Hopefully that is ok!) This is a database with photos of the lost works: _URL_0_ Click the thumbnails for nice, big photos that you can zoom in or out on.	[ "While in art school in the late 1940s, Andy Warhol painted a version of the photograph, the earliest of his many paintings based on photographs; the original artwork has not been located and may be lost. Warhol's Disaster Series in the 1960s was a return to that format, to interpretations of the highly visible wor...
Can we bounce a signal off something in deep space and see Earth`s past?	This is a great question, and it's actually exactly how science works. In science you ask questions that you don't know the answer to, and then you try to find out what the answer is. When you look at yourself in a mirror, you're actually seeing what you looked like in the past. This is because it takes light a finite...	[ "Deliberately bouncing signals off something to learn about it (e.g. radar, echolocation) is \"active sensing\"; sensing what is already available in the surrounding environment without changing the environment to do so (e.g. eyesight, hearing) is \"passive sensing\". GNSS reflectometry is passive sensing that take...
why do we feel the urge to chew/pick at/mess with sores in our mouth, even though we know doing so will make it worse?	Great question! Two important mechanisms: innervation and gate control theory. First, innervation. What's very different from the inside of the mouth and the tongue compared to skin elsewhere in the body (except the fingertips), is that its greatly sensorily innervated! This means it is much more sensitive to physical...	[ "Eating hard foods (e.g., crisps) can damage the lining of the mouth. Some people cause damage inside their mouths themselves, either through an absentminded habit or as a type of deliberate self-harm (factitious ulceration). Examples include biting the cheek, tongue, or lips, or rubbing a fingernail, pen, or tooth...
Did Jesus of Nazareth have any siblings?	This is an interesting question. The Catholics have a theological argument that Mary was a perpetual virgin. Most Protestants disagree, claiming that Jesus was conceived when Mary was a virgin, but that her virginity was not a concern after that. The perpetual virginity of Mary is not found in the Bible at all. Jesu...	[ "Jesus' childhood home is identified in the gospels of Luke and Matthew as the town of Nazareth in Galilee, where he lived with his family. Although Joseph appears in descriptions of Jesus' childhood, no mention is made of him thereafter. His other family members—his mother, Mary, his brothers James, Joses (or Jose...
in the age of the internet, how come thousands of great magic tricks remain secret? if they're not, where do i visit!?	Even in the age of the Internet, there's one additional secret magician are hiding: they're guarding an empty safe. The secrets to most tricks are either uninteresting in and of themselves, without the flair and presentation, or so technical that there's no point in studying it unless you're actually going to put the ...	[ "BULLET::::- Online magic tricks were designed to function on a computer screen. The computer essentially replaces the magician. Some online magic tricks recreate traditional card tricks and require user participation, while others, like Plato's Cursed Triangle, are based on mathematical, geometrical and/or optical...
From a quantum mechanics perspective, why is a lower energy state more stable?	Without going into the math - as it doesn't really help drive the intuition here... A higher energy state will always have a non zero probability of spontaneously shedding some energy to drop into a lower energy state (eg. an electron in an excited state can emit a photon). The reverse will only happen if you supply s...	[ "If there is a decrease in Gibbs free energy from one state to another, this transformation is spontaneous and the lower energy state is more stable. A highly strained, higher energy molecular conformation will spontaneously convert to the lower energy molecular conformation.\n", "Quantum mechanics further says t...
why can't you make emergency calls with communication apps like skype? having wlan access in areas with no cellphone reception or landline isn't exactly an unlikely scenario.	When you're on something connected to the Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), every entry point has a distinct 911 call center it is supposed to go to. Landline in your house? They know where to route it. Cell phone on a tower in a back road? They know which tower you're pinging off of, and so which call center to route...	[ "Without relaying by the supernodes, two clients with firewall or NAT difficulties would be unable to make or receive calls from one another. Skype tries to get the two ends to negotiate the connection details directly, but sometimes the sum of problems at both ends can prevent direct conversation being established...
how do buttons on electronic devices have more than one function based on how long you press them for?	When you depress the button, it allows electricity to flow through a gap, like turning on a faucet. Another circuit measures how long that electricity flows for. When you lift your finger, the flow of electricity turns off, and an action is performed depending on how long the electicity was flowing.. Sometimes there...	[ "A typical button is a rectangle or rounded rectangle, wider than it is tall, with a descriptive caption in its center. The most common method of pressing a button is clicking it with a pointer controlled by a mouse, but other input such as keystrokes can be used to execute the command of a button. A button is not ...
Why does the outlet spark when I plug my laptop's AC adapter in?	Lenz's Law deals with the direction of current flow. As the current from the wall socket into your adapter is AC, Lenz's Law isn't really that relevant here. Rather, this is likely due to the difference in the amount of current flow between when you plug in and when you unplug. When you plug in, the capacitance within...	[ "The plug is connected to the high voltage generated by an ignition coil or magneto. As current flows from the coil, a voltage develops between the central and side electrodes. Initially no current can flow because the fuel and air in the gap is an insulator, but as the voltage rises further it begins to change the...
Why is it supposed to be worse to get your tonsils out when you are older?	One issue is that children generally heal better. They've even done research where they take the blood of a new mouse and transfuse it into an old mouse and the old mouse will heal faster too. (Yes Monty Burns was right.) _URL_0_ A second issue is that pain is not taken as seriously in kids.	[ "The elderly usually develop a decrease in appetite, leading to a lower intake of vitamins and minerals. However, many nutrients are recommended at the same amounts as younger people. Another reason why inadequate nutrition levels are more prominent with elders is if their dental status is poor, with missing teeth ...
Why did the US ground based nuclear missiles rely on silos while the USSR used mobile launchers?	Because of the Nuclear Triad, precisely. Take a look at the sea component. You have US missile submarines that are nuclear powered and on patrols for months at a time. Each one carries many very long range SLBMs and each missile is MIRVed, capable of delivering a handful of thermonuclear warheads each to separate targ...	[ "The Soviets were aware of the missile's vulnerability, and from 1963 onward some R-16U missiles were based in silos, with around 69 silo launchers put into service. Each launch complex consisted of three silos clustered together for economic reasons to allow them to use a common refueling system, making them vulne...
why is it so hard to completely prevent clipping of 3d models in video games?	It comes down to hitboxes. These are imaginary cubes drawn around "things" in games. The more detailed the hitboxes are, the more computations need to be done to determine if things collide. Lets say you have a minecraft dude. His hitboxes are simple because he's already a few cubes. Its easy to do the math to determ...	[ "The reason for using pseudo-3D instead of \"real\" 3D computer graphics is that the system that has to simulate a 3D-looking graphic is not powerful enough to handle the calculation-intensive routines of 3D computer graphics, yet is capable of using tricks of modifying 2D graphics like bitmaps. One of these tricks...
Why do peaches have 'fur'?	[Searched](_URL_2_) Relevant [discussion](_URL_1_) Original question by [washer](_URL_0_) > Is there an evolutionary explanation for the fuzz on peaches? Relevant comment courtesy [nowonmai666](_URL_3_) > The fancy science word for fuzz is 'pubescence'. > Pubescence in plants is thought to serve multiple purpo...	[ "Chinchilla fur trade on an international level goes back to the 16th century. Their fur is popular in the due to its extremely soft feel, which is caused by the sprouting of 60 hairs (on average) from each hair follicle. The color is usually very even, which makes it ideal for small garments or the lining of large...
what does it mean to sing “in key”?	A key as we understand in the west (there are some non western cultures which dint follow this theory) is a set of 7 different notes. In the key of C Major its C D E F G A B. For a singer to sing in key the singer has to sing using those notes. Thats the basic explanation but of course, music goes deeper than that a...	[ "In Sacred Harp music, it is the custom to sing a song in a key chosen for the moment, rather than the one notated in the hymnbook. Pitching (also: keying) is the act of finding such a key. A person to whom this task has been entrusted is called a \"pitcher\" or \"keyer\".\n", "The term \"key note\" comes from th...
If you were hypothetically between galaxies, what could you see with the naked eye?	It would depend where you were...there are vast voids in intergalactic space where you would see nothing. From earth, there are 2 galaxies (not counting the MCs) that are "normal" naked eye objects, plus maybe 4 or 5 more that can be glimpsed under optimal conditions if you know just where to look. So that is a prett...	[ "The Local Group contains the largest number of visible galaxies with the naked eye. However, its galaxies are not visually grouped together in the sky, except for the two Magellanic Clouds. The IC342/Maffei Group, the nearest galaxy group, would be visible by the naked eye if it were not obscured by the stars and ...
Which ocean typically experiences rougher seas? Why?	The "roughness" of seas is pretty much directly correlated with the strength of the winds. In fact, before the advent of modern anemometers the wind speeds over the ocean were estimated by looking at the roughness of the seas using the [Beaufort Wind Force Scale](_URL_0_). So the question really is why are some parts ...	[ "The sea is largely affected by the inflow of numerous rivers, which bring sand, silt, and shells, which in turn form numerous bays, limans, and narrow spits. Because of these deposits, the sea bottom is relatively smooth and flat with the depth gradually increasing toward the middle. Also, due to the river inflow,...
Does filling a dishwasher with less dishes make them cleaner?	The fact is that soap is "used up" when it removes the various lipids from your dishes, so probably having less dishes will mean more soap to go around and therefore probably cleaner dishes. Probably cleaner, because the soap manufacturer may have already put enough to go around(although highly unlikely)	[ "The heat inside the dishwasher dries the contents after the final hot rinse; the final rinse adds a small amount of rinse-aid to the hot water, as this improves drying significantly by reducing the inherent surface tension of the water. Plastic and non-stick items form drops with smaller surface area and may not d...
how do my lungs know what to do with the oxygen i breath in? with side question	Your lungs are made up of tiny balloons, called alveoli, they're connected to your windpipe by branching smaller pipes. The alveoli are surrounded by small blood vessels and they provide a lot of surface area that lets the air you breath in interact with your blood chemically even though there's a physical barrier of ...	[ "Breathing (or ventilation) is the process of moving air into and out of the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly by bringing in oxygen and flushing out carbon dioxide.\n", "The primary purpose of breathing is to bring atmospheric air (in small doses) into the alveoli where gas e...
Our planet gets hits with hundreds if not thousands of space rocks every week. How do satellites or the space station avoid being destroyed from these rocks that are going tens of thousands of miles per hour? Are they playing on chance?	It really just boils down to space being very big and satellites being very small and spread out! The chances of being hit by something in space is very low, and earth gets pounded because of its gravity and large size. Also space debris is actually a danger that has caused problems for both satellites and astronauts i...	[ "The rock they stopped at was about 5 feet (1.5 m) across. The larger a rock is, the more likely it was formed in the area, instead of being thrown there by an impact. Firstly they took a soil sample at the base of the rock, then another from a small depression down the hill a bit. Scott announced that after this t...
What did the drummer boys in 17th and 18th century conflicts do when charging? Did they actually participate in the combat or did they just kinda awkwardly stand there and drum?	To clear up one big misconception, drummers in the 18th century were not always, or even usually, young boys. Musicians were paid better than private soldiers, and the head musician of a regiment, the drum major, was a non-commissioned officer. The drum major was also responsible for flogging offenders sentenced to rec...	[ "At the age of 14, Jordan Noble joined the 7th U.S. Army Regiment in 1812, as a drummer. Military drummers in early American warfare were used to convey orders, and in the fog of war, it was their drumbeats that informed soldiers what to do next.\n", "Before motorized transport became widespread, drummers played ...
Why can hot water do so many things that cold water can't?	Basically all of those things involve dissolving something in water. As the temperature of the water increases, solubility of the thing you are trying to dissolve (solute) also increases.	[ "Water is a convenient heat storage medium because it has a high specific heat capacity. This means, compared to other substances, it can store more heat per unit of weight. Water is non-toxic and low cost.\n", "Cold water is able to absorb higher amounts of carbon dioxide compared to warm water. The solubility o...
What speed is required to reach a star 10,000 light years away with a time dilation of only 5 years?	So you want 2000x time dilation? The equation is velocity/(speed of light) = sqrt(1-1/(time dilation)^2 ) so that gives 0.999999875 of the speed of light.	[ "According to its website, FAST could search out to 28 light-years, and would be able to reach 1400 stars. If the transmitter's radiated power is increased to 1000,000 MW, FAST would be able to reach one million stars. This is compared to the Arecibo 305 meter telescope detection distance of 18 light-years.\n", "...
Is the Oak Island treasure complete bullshit? There's a show on the "History" Channel about it, but my attempts to research it come up with the usual internet nonsense. Anyone serious about it?	I'm not an expert, but I grew up in Nova Scotia and my grandfather was actually a machine operator with the 1968 Triton expedition. So I've had an interest in Oak Island for a long time. Obviously there's no conclusive answer if it's bullshit because one could simply say "Just because they haven't found anything does...	[ "Oak Island has been a subject for treasure hunters ever since the late 1700s, with rumours that Captain Kidd's treasure was buried there. While there is little evidence to support what went on during the early excavations, stories began to be published and documented as early as 1856. Since that time there have be...
Is there an updated mass for the Higgs Boson? Did the LHC find new particles?	The LHC has not found any new particles, other than discovering the (apparent) Higgs boson. REcent mass values: From CMS, December 2014: _URL_0_ 125.02 (+0.26,−0.27 / stat)(+0.14,−0.15 / syst) GeV/c^2 From ATLAS, September 2014: _URL_1_ 125.36±0.37(stat)±0.18(syst) GeV/c^2	[ "On 4 July 2012, two of the experiments at the LHC (ATLAS and CMS) both reported independently that they found a new particle with a mass of about (about 133 proton masses, on the order of ), which is \"consistent with the Higgs boson\". It was later confirmed to be the searched-for Higgs boson.\n", "These findin...
Why do some clouds have well-defined edges, as opposed to forming an evenly distributed haze?	For the top and bottom edges, it is because of buoyancy. Hot warm air rises because it is more buoyant than its environment. As it rises, the air parcel cool and may be as buoyant as its environment. It then stop rising at that level.	[ "Tropospheric clouds exert numerous influences on Earth's troposphere and climate. First and foremost, they are the source of precipitation, thereby greatly influencing the distribution and amount of precipitation. Because of their differential buoyancy relative to surrounding cloud-free air, clouds can be associat...
does temperature affect if you can get tanned/sunburned?	It's the UV radiation that causes sunburn/tanning, not the heat. If you were on the ISS and jumped out an airlock naked on the sunny side, you'd get severe sunburns before you died.	[ "Skin type determines the ease of sunburn. In general, people with lighter skin tone and limited capacity to develop a tan after UV radiation exposure have a greater risk of sunburn. The Fitzpatrick's Skin phototypes classification describes the normal variations of skin responses to UV radiation. Persons with type...
what would happen if a pedestrian pulled out a rocket launcher and shot a rocket at the oval office when the president is inside?	Walking around with a rocket launcher is pretty conspicuous. You can't just "pull one out."	[ "As he is evacuated from the White House to be taken to Dover Air Force Base, the President is informed aboard Marine One that the second Soviet launch was directed at the Chinese, who had launched their own strike against the Soviets in accordance to a treaty with the United States. Seeing his hasty response will ...
why do cell phones always get super buggy/get slower when a newer version of the comes out?	The cell phone is built for the OS that was out when it was released. As a result, newer OS will not run as well as the one that the cell phone was built for. Also, the newer OS usually is more memory-intensive, so the phone naturally runs slower. Think of it like trying to run Windows 10 on a computer meant for Windo...	[ "Apple said in December 2017 that the reason their older phones run slower (one of the criticised changes) is because the battery in their phones wear out over time and that their older phones may shut down unexpectedly.\n", "Since these phones run Android 4.0, they are still supported by cloud, communications an...
Do lower rates of photosynthesis necessarily mean lower rates of carbon intake in trees?	Trees can't. Cacti can. Plants need CO2 and get it by opening little valves called stomata on their leaves. This lets CO2 in but also lets water out. If you are a cactus or a jade plant you open your stomata at night when water loss is slower and store CO2 as [crasullacean acid](_URL_0_). During the day when the sun ...	[ "Photosynthesis has a larger effect: photosynthetic efficiency turns up to 2% of the sunlight striking plants into biomass. 100 to 140 TW (or around 0.08%) of the initial energy gets captured by photosynthesis, giving energy to plants.\n", "Photosynthesis is the primary process by which carbon moves from the atmo...
some people say obama lowered the deficit, some say he raised it more than any other president. who is right and how can there be such a gap in analysis here?	He definitely lowered the deficit. The thing people say he raised more than any other president is the debt.	[ "On January 29, 2010, during President Barack Obama's meeting with House Republicans, Hensarling challenged Obama's position on the budget, asserting that the Obama White House was increasing the national deficit at the same rate per month that the previous President had increased it per year. President Obama respo...
Who were the Mediterranean pirates that Pompey got rid of?	Okay, so first off, lets get the base facts down. [From Plutarch](_URL_2_) (specifically chapters 24-27) we know these pirates are of [Cilician](_URL_0_) (moder day south-east Turkey) origin, or that is where they were based. Basically, from Plutarch we know that these pirates took advantage of the fact that Rome's rea...	[ "Finally, after heated debate, Pompey was granted extraordinary powers to eliminate the Cilician pirates. Pompey divided the Mediterranean into thirteen districts, to each of which he assigned a fleet and a commander. Pompey then swept through the western Mediterranean with his own powerful fleet, driving the pirat...
how does our mind perceive different melodies with different feelings?	If you are asking how different songs have different feelings / why some songs are "happy" and some are sad... it's apparently about social conditioning. _URL_0_ Besides this, there are some intervals that sound uncomfortable just because of how the sound frequencies react- if the sound waves overlap outside of very sp...	[ "Many aspects of language and musical melodies are processed by the same brain areas. In 2006, Brown, Martinez and Parsons found that listening to a melody or a sentence resulted in activation of many of the same areas including the primary motor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the Brocas area, anterior insul...
why are cultures so varied? is there anything that is universal among all cultures?	You might want to post in /r/askanthropology as well. > Is there anything that is universal among all cultures? Some sort of religion and marriage is observed in every culture we know of so far. Then there are behaviours that are thought to be universal because they are based on instinct, such as smiling, laughin...	[ "With increasing globalization and international trade, it is unavoidable that different cultures will meet, conflict, and blend together. People from different culture find it is difficult to communicate not only due to language barriers, but also are affected by culture styles. For instance, in individualistic cu...
how did the enigma machine use double stepping to encrypt and encode messages?	Think mechanically not electrically. It was all levers and ratchets that worked off a button being depressed. The one rotor moves one notch every time. The second rotor would normally move one notch for every full rotation of the first rotor. Same with the third rotor moving one spot for every full rotation of the s...	[ "Equipment designed for communications and the interception of those communications became critical. The Germans widely relied on the Enigma coding machine for encrypting communications. The British developed a new method for decoding Enigma benefiting from information given to Britain by the Polish Cipher Bureau, ...
How are we still making progress on GPUs?	Processors are made out of transistors. As we make transistors smaller, we can fit more into a given space. More transistors means the chip can process information faster. Where things get interesting is that we are beginning to reach the physical limit on how small we can make them. The smallest I have heard of is 2nm...	[ "The calculation methodology of GPI was first adapted to US data in the late-1990s. Results show that GDP has increased substantially. At the same time, the GPI has stagnated. Thus, according to GPI theory, economic growth in the US, i.e., the growth of GDP, has not increased the welfare of the people during last 3...
How do scavengers deal with all the diseases they can get from eating dead flesh?	This answer will be a little incomplete but most scavengers avoid infection because, through evolution, their gastrointestinal tracts have adapted to eating flesh infected with pathogens. Firstly, animals which eat rotting flesh typically have more acidic gastric juices than humans which will effectively destroy most...	[ "Scavengers play a fundamental role in the environment through the removal of decaying organisms, serving as a natural sanitation service. While microscopic and invertebrate decomposers break down dead organisms into simple organic matter which are used by nearby autotrophs, scavengers help conserve energy and nutr...
why is a "cup" of coffee actually 4oz-6oz?	Because coffee cups are traditional that size. So when it says cups it is referring to the number of traditionally sized cups not cup as in the unto of measure. In recent times coffee cups have gotten a lot larger though.	[ "A customary \"cup\" of coffee in the U.S. is usually 4 fluid ounces (118 mL), brewed using 5 fluid ounces (148 mL) of water. Coffee carafes used with drip coffee makers, e.g. Black and Decker models, have markings for both water and brewed coffee as the carafe is also used for measuring water prior to brewing. A 1...
how does a commercial “slushie machine” create such a perfect slurry of chewable ice?	There is a metal cylinder that the flavored liquid is dumped into, and on the outside of the cylinder is a bath of freon or other supercold liquid. Inside the cylinder is a set of paddles that constantly rotate and scrape any ice crystals that form off the cylinder walls. So the instant a tiny ice crystal gets form...	[ "Slurry ice is commonly used in a wide range of air conditioning, packaging, and industrial cooling processes, supermarkets, and cooling and storage of fish, produce, poultry and other perishable products.\n", "Machines to make frozen beverages were invented by Omar Knedlik in the late 1950s. The idea for a slush...
why is removing your hat is considered a sign of respect?	It all comes from knights. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, it was customary for knights to show their faces during formal events in which they wore their helmets. This meant that tournaments, appearances at court, etc would require the visor to be lifted or the whole helmet to be removed. It became customary to ...	[ "In the Western culture derived from Christian tradition, removing one's headgear is a sign of respect, making oneself more open, humble or vulnerable, much like bowing or kneeling. This is as if to say, \"I acknowledge that you are more powerful than I am, I make myself vulnerable to show I pose no threat to you a...
why windows would make you choose run as administrator and not just give you administrative privileges to begin with.	When you run as administrator, you can easily mess up your system, for example by deleting important files, or by changing settings necessary for your computer to work. Forcing you to run as administrator only when you need to makes sure you know what you're doing. It's also a good warning that something might be dan...	[ "A typical Windows user has administrative privileges, mostly for convenience. Because of this, any program the user runs has unrestricted access to the system. As with other operating systems, Windows users are able to follow the principle of least privilege and use non-administrator accounts. Alternatively, they ...
literally vs. figuratively	Holding a live grenade in my mouth, then pulling the pin, would literally make my head explode. This explanation figuratively made my head explode. Note, my head did not actually explode. Boom!	[ "Some languages have a verb to describe the fact of using either a \"T\" or a \"V\" form. Some also have a related noun or pronoun. The English words are used to refer only to English usage in the past, not to usage in other languages. The analogous distinction may be expressed as \"to use first names\" or \"to be ...
Which (useful) information do we still get from the voyager probes?	Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are currently studying the heliosheath (see [Heliosphere](_URL_0_)). Measuring the [solar wind](_URL_1_), plasma density and the density of energetic particles. This gives us information on how the heliosphere is built up, how big it is, where the termination shock is and what the interstellar m...	[ "It has been erroneously reported on the Internet that the Voyager space probes were controlled by a version of the RCA 1802 (RCA CDP1802 \"COSMAC\" microprocessor), but such claims are not supported by the primary design documents. The CDP1802 microprocessor was used later in the \"Galileo\" space probe, which was...
why do humans feel the need to identify so strongly with groups?	We are social creatures by nature, so we have a natural impulse to find commonality with other people. Then, as we associate with a group, we adopt the qualities and beliefs of the group as part of our identity. Therefore, people defend and adhere to the ideals of the group because an attack on the group is perceived...	[ "It is natural for human beings to want to identify with others. One way we do this is by categorizing individuals into specific social groups. While some groups may be readily noticeable (such as those defined by ethnicity or gender), other groups are less salient. Linguist Carmen Fought explains how an individual...
why do people live in disaster-prone places?	My family just went through Harvey. We were lucky to come out of the experience unscathed, but most of my family lost everything. My boyfriend and I have talked about relocating to a place where hurricanes aren't a threat. We just can't afford it. That is the same for a lot of people that I know. The cost of uprooting ...	[ "Disasters often expose pre-existing societal inequalities that lead to disproportionate loss of property, injury, and death (Wisner, Blaikie, Cannon, & Davis, 2004). Some disaster researchers argue that particular groups of people are placed disproportionately at-risk to hazards. Minorities, immigrants, women, chi...
why do we trim our nails?	Our ancestors used nails extensively as tools for prying open nuts, making tools and whatnot. Our current environment has barely any activities which would wear down our nails naturally, so we need to trim them occasionally.	[ "The best way to care for nails is to trim them regularly. Filing is also recommended, as to keep nails from becoming too rough and to remove any small bumps or ridges that may cause the nail to get tangled up in materials such as cloth.\n", "Nail art is a creative way to paint, decorate, enhance, and embellish t...
When I drink coffee what exactly is going on? Does the caffeine speed up all my cells on a cell by cell basis and then my brain becomes aware of it or does it just tell my brain to speed everything up first?	There is a well written and well cited wikipedia section on this: _URL_1_ You can read an abstract [here](_URL_0_)	[ "The caffeine content in coffee beans may be reduced via one of several decaffeination processes to produce decaffeinated coffee (sometimes known as \"decaf\" coffee), which may be drunk as regular, espresso or instant coffee.\n", "Caffeine and black coffee have been associated with increased energy expenditure a...
What percentage of the population is currently a carrier for one virus or another?	More or less 100 percent, I would imagine. I imagine it's unlikely that any of us are completely virus-free. Unless you mean infections, disease-causing viruses, in which case I have no idea.	[ "The basic reproduction number (the average number of other individuals whom each infected individual will infect, in a population which has no immunity to the disease) for the 2009 novel H1N1 is estimated to be 1.75. A December 2009 study found that the transmissibility of the H1N1 influenza virus in households is...
how can somebody be born the wrong gender? isn't it based on chromosones?	No. Sex, which is the physical side of things (whether someone has a penis or a vagina) is based on chromosomes, but even there, abnormalities can occur. Gender, which is the mental side of things, is strictly a brain thing, and not dictated by chromosomes as far as we know. We actually still have very little underst...	[ "This results in the person presenting a female phenotype (i.e., is born with female-like genitalia) even though that person possesses an XY karyotype. The lack of the second X results in infertility. In other words, viewed from the opposite direction, the person goes through defeminization but fails to complete ma...
If we can manually breathe, why cant we do that with other parts of our bodies?	Well, during breathing you create lower pressure inside your lungs by increasing the space in your lungs (e.g. when your diafragm moves down). While breathing can occur subconciously, we can influence it by increasing the space in our lungs conciously, e.g. by expanding our chest outwards, or by relaxing our stomach mu...	[ "People who are unable to breathe on their own will require positive pressure to move oxygen into their lungs for gaseous exchange to take place. Systems for delivering this vary in complexity (and cost), starting with a basic pocket mask adjunct which can be used by a basically trained first aider to manually deli...
why do we deflect compliments?	I know that I do it because if I accept the compliment, it feels like I am praising myself. For example "You have such nice hair", "ah, no, my hair is terrible" because I don't like my hair. It is rude because it signals to the person "I care about my opinion more than I care about your opinion", so it's best to just ...	[ "Compliments slips, which are informal, can sometimes substitute for more formal letters of reply. For example, the response to a request for a product catalogue or a price list may simply be the price list or catalogue, with a compliments slip attached, rather than with a formal letter of reply. The inclusion of c...
Did the U.S. ever seriously consider not returning Statehood to the newly-defeated Confederate States? For that matter, was it ever debated whether former Confederates should regain U.S. citizenship and voting rights?	Piggybacking off OP’s question, was there ever any debate over scrapping the states that had rebelled and admitting newer, different states containing the same areas?	[ "Moreover, the United States itself - while dissolving the Confederate government and declaring its firm intention never to let it rise again - refrains from any formal annexation and (re)admitting Southern states back into the Union (with the exception of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Houston, which once again split fr...
How did Times New Roman become the go-to, most accepted, and most well known font?	I don't necessarily agree that Times New Roman is the "most accepted" and "most well known" font, but it's gotten around plenty since 1991, and this has to do with the history of TrueType fonts. TrueType wasn't the first outline font (Type 1 fonts, made by Adobe and used in Postscript, I believe came first), but it be...	[ "Times New Roman is a serif typeface designed for use in body text. It was commissioned by the British newspaper \"The Times\" in 1931 and conceived by Stanley Morison, the artistic advisor to the British branch of the printing equipment company Monotype, in collaboration with Victor Lardent, a lettering artist in ...
How fast do smells travel?	What you're looking for basically is the mass diffusivity constant, and you're correct, it depends on a great deal of variables in non-linear ways. According to [this](_URL_0_), the factor in the diffusion equation depends on * T^3/2, so more temperature = more energy = more movement and diffusion * inversely on pre...	[ "The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. At , the speed of sound in air is about , or a kilometre in or a mile in . It depends strongly on temperature, but also varies by several metres per second, depending on which gases exist in the m...
When the American automobile industry was suffering in the 70’s and 80’s and the perceived cause was the success of the Japanese compact car, was there any discussion in the U.S about potential political/economic repercussions against the Japanese?	Yes, and in fact several actions were taken, though in practice these tactics largely backfired. I'll summarize Robert Feenstra's 1984 and 1988 papers on the subject below, with a couple additional comments: The initial attempt to suppress Japanese import competition came in the form of a petition filed by the UAW to...	[ "In the 1970s and 1980s, the waning fortunes of heavy industry in the United States prompted layoffs and hiring slowdowns just as counterpart businesses in Japan were making major inroads into U.S. markets. Nowhere was this more visible than in the automobile industry, where the then-lethargic Big Three automobile ...
When did conquering become frowned upon?	Related: When did empire and imperialism become dirty words?	[ "The right of conquest is the right of a conqueror to territory taken by force of arms. It was traditionally a principle of international law that has gradually given way in modern times until its proscription after World War II when the crime of war of aggression was first codified in the Nuremberg Principles. In ...
Is a person born with schizophrenia or do they gradually develop it?	Schizophrenia is caused by both genetics and environmental factors. You can't be born with schizophrenia because some of the areas of the brain involved with the establishment of the disease aren't matured yet. You can be born with a greater chance of developing it if for instance you carry some of the genes associat...	[ "Childhood schizophrenia onset is usually after a period of normal, or near normal, child development. Before the first psychosis there has been described in which strange interests, beliefs and social impairment occur, which could be confused with the deficits of the autism spectrum disorder. Hallucinations and de...
how does my bone marrow help someone with leukemia?	Leukaemia is the name of a range of different cancers which have in common the over production of a type of immature white blood cell called a 'blast' in a healthy person white blood cells are the soldiers of the immune system, but with leukaemia these 'blasts' are faulty and ineffective in fighting infection and their...	[ "Bone marrow transplants can be conducted to treat severe diseases of the bone marrow, including certain forms of cancer such as leukemia. Additionally, bone marrow stem cells have been successfully transformed into functional neural cells, and can also potentially be used to treat illnesses such as inflammatory bo...
It’s a point of pride for many Trekkies to say Star Trek was the driving force behind modern fandom. However, I’ve also read the same about Sherlock Holmes. What is the history of fandom, either modern or ur?	Without wanting to discourage further answers, you might be interested in [How did the concept of "fandom" emerge? Is it a 20th century phenomena or does it have a longer historical legacy?](_URL_0_) and [The first geek "fandom" arose around Hugo Gernsback's sci-fi pulp magazine, Amazing Stories. Fans would trade lette...	[ "The series cultural influence goes far beyond its longevity and profitability. An entire subculture grew up around the series and, anecdotally, there are indications that \"Star Trek\" has influenced many people's lives. Many scientists and engineers claim that their professional and life choices were influenced b...
can fish be depressed in their tanks?	Their brains are not large or complex enough to process higher level thinking, such as depression, or emotions in general. There is a point where organisms become more than biological machinery, but below that point, organisms pretty much operate on an "if...then" basis. Pain for example, in higher organisms, has a psy...	[ "Due to the artificially limited volume of water and high concentration of fish in most aquarium tanks, communicable diseases often affect most or all fish in a tank. An improper nitrogen cycle, inappropriate aquarium plants and potentially harmful freshwater invertebrates can directly harm or add to the stresses o...
why do i have to lift with my knees?	Lifting with your back is poor posture and puts you at risk of injury. Lifting with your legs keeps your spine in alignment and uses the much more powerful leg muscles to do all the work.	[ "\"Modified\" or \"knee\" push-ups are performed by supporting the lower body on the knees instead of the toes, which reduces the difficulty. This is useful for warm ups/downs, pyramids/drop sets, endurance training and rehab. It can also be used to train in a more explosive plyometric manner (like clapping push-up...
What is the history behind wide-brimmed hats that some Orthodox Jewish men wear?	I'm assuming you're referring to [this sort of hat](_URL_4_). These wide-brimmed black hats are actually a very modern interpretation of Ashkenazi Jewish dress, and they're characteristic of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement of Hasidic Judaism. The dress code of this sect has evolved over time, often mirroring the dress of...	[ "In the Middle Ages in Europe, the distinctive Jewish headgear was the Jewish hat, a full hat with a brim and a central point or stalk. Originally used by choice among Jews to distinguish themselves, it was later made compulsory in some places by Christian governments as a discriminatory measure. In the early 19th ...
In the current American political climate, Barry Goldwater is often presented as a Segregationist and/or racist. Is this a fair assessment of him and his actions?	As /u/MichaelPenn points out, the first real modern Republican use of racial "dogwhistles" (at least as far as I'm aware) come from this period. However, Goldwater himself denounced the Klan (who were very popular in some Southern States that the Republicans hoped to possibly put into play) even after they formally e...	[ "Although majorities in both parties voted for the bill, there were notable exceptions. Though he opposed forced segregation, Republican Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona voted against the bill, remarking, \"You can't legislate morality.\" Goldwater had supported previous attempts to pass civil rights legislation ...
why are unrealistic things, such as horror movies, much more scary than realistic things, such as a murderer?	The fear you experience from a good horror movie is a result of good film-making. The writing, camera work, acting, and music all are working together to make you identify with the person or people in danger, and experience what they feel. When done perfectly, you feel the fear just as much as if you were in that exa...	[ "Horror films often aim to evoke viewers' nightmares, fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage into the everyday world. Prevalent elements include ghosts, extraterrestrials, vampires, werewolves, demons, Satanism, ev...
why haven't animals adapted to the modern world to avoid being ran over by avoiding roads and cars?	Why do you assume they havent? Hell, bumans still get hit by cars! The real answer is cars have only existed since 1903, and evolution takes a lot longer than that.	[ "Both the safety of animals and humans can be achieved through the creation of corridors. For example, deer commonly cross roads in order to get to other grazing land. When they are faced with a car coming at them, they freeze; this puts both the deer and the human’s life in danger. In Alberta, Canada, an overpass ...
What exactly was a man-at-arms?	Here's the response I gave [last time this question came up](_URL_0_), which was slightly different but should prove useful. If you're interested in more tangential aspects there are a lot of questions to be found using the search function on the right. > It's one of the most difficult definitions to make, so I won'...	[ "A man-at-arms was a soldier of the High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of arms and served as a fully armoured heavy cavalryman. A man-at-arms could be a knight or nobleman, a member of a knight or nobleman's retinue or a mercenary in a company under a mercenary captain. Su...
Once WW1 ended, what happened to the extensive Trench networks and fortifications on the Western Front?	From what I have seen traveling along the maple leaf route of the Canadian forces for both WWI and WWII there are mixed outcomes of what happens to bunkers and trenches. Depending on the person who owns the land they will determine what actually happens to their ground. Vimy Ridge much of the shelling and tunnel ...	[ "Trench warfare has become archetypically associated with the World War I (1914–1918), when the Race to the Sea rapidly expanded trench use on the Western Front starting in September 1914. By the end of October 1914, the whole front in Belgium and France had solidified into lines of trenches, which lasted until the...
why would the cia torture if torture "doesn't work"? wouldn't they want the most effective tool to gather intelligence?	My answer does not take into account morality or ethics. Torture is not useless at getting intelligence. It can work to find out facts from those reluctant to divulge them. The problem is twofold: 1) You get a lot of false positives; innocent people who will tell you anything to stop the torture may just list some pe...	[ "After the revelation of CIA sponsored torture in the 1970s and the subsequent outcry, the CIA largely stopped its own interrogations under torture. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, it \"outsourced\" such interrogation through renditions of prisoners to third world allies, often called torture-by-proxy. But in the f...
Have humans always had tooth decay and cavities, or is it from modern day diets with processed sugars?	"Hundreds of years" is not very long. Dental caries have been found going back over 10,000 years. However, pre-farming dental cavities were much less frequent than in the Neolithic period after farming arose (call it 10,000 ish years ago). > The most ancient evidence of dentistry dates back to the Neolithic period...	[ "Tooth decay has been present throughout human history, from early hominids millions of years ago, to modern humans. The prevalence of caries increased dramatically in the 19th century, as the Industrial Revolution made certain items, such as refined sugar and flour, readily available. The diet of the “newly indust...
how does the phone carrier system work in the usa?	The US has many carriers, and two (incompatible) radio systems. Users can choose to own an unlocked phone, get a locked phone at a discount, or use prepaid programs with a spectrum of different offerings. Unlocked phones can be moved from carrier to carrier, within the radio system, but not to carriers that use the o...	[ "Telephone companies are common carriers, and in the United States are also called local exchange carriers. With the advent of mobile telephony, telephone companies now include wireless carriers, or mobile network as.\n", "In the United States, local carriers have been responsible for distributing telephone numbe...
Why does holding bread in your mouth while chopping onions prevent eyes from tearing up?	You tear up when cutting onions because sulfuric acid forms on the eye (_URL_0_), so my best guess is that holding the bread in your mouth absorbs the sulfenic acids coming off of the onion (no it isn't spelled wrong, different type of acid) thus preventing your eye from be attacked by acid.	[ "Freshly cut onions often cause a stinging sensation in the eyes of people nearby, and often uncontrollable tears. This is caused by the release of a volatile liquid, \"syn\"-propanethial-S-oxide and its aerosol, which stimulates nerves in the eye. This gas is produced by a chain of reactions which serve as a defen...
how did the western world became so developed while regions like the middle east and africa haven't industrialized?	What are you talking about? 7 of the 10 fastest growing economies. In the world are in Africa. It has massive resource extraftment and production. It is important to acknowledge that Africa and the Middle East aren't homogenous, and there are areas that are heavily developed whereas other are still developing.	[ "The Old World methods of agriculture and production could only sustain certain lifestyles. Industrialization dramatically changed the European economy and allowed it to attain much higher levels of wealth and productivity than the other Old World cores. Although Western technology later spread to the East, differe...
what happens when people are on "autopilot"?	I'm not sure if this helps but there is a theory that time expands and memories are created when you are having new experiences/are exposed to new stimuli. When you are doing the same thing over and over again time moves quickly and new memories aren't created in the same way. My take is that when you do something you...	[ "An autopilot is a system used to control the trajectory of an aircraft without constant 'hands-on' control by a human operator being required. Autopilots do not replace human operators, but instead they assist them in controlling the aircraft. This allows them to focus on broader aspects of operations such as moni...
in sports, why is playing defense considered more tiring than offense?	In the general sense, you are reacting to another's movement, which means your movement is less efficient. In some instances you exert extra effort to recover from your/your teammates mistakes as well. In many sports the difference may not be excessive, but they are there.	[ "Defensive strategy centers around staying close to the goal, and not allowing shots from close range. As a result of being a man down, the defense must be less aggressive against long-range shooters, so they may allow long range shots that have a low percentage of scoring. This is similar to allowing a player to s...
why is it that symptoms of anxiety differ so much from person to person?	Everyone has a fairly special mind that is there's and no one else's. So how it acts and how it observes the world are differnt for everyone.	[ "Anxiety disorders can arise in response to life stresses such as financial worries or chronic physical illness. Anxiety among adolescents and young adults is common due to the stresses of social interaction, evaluation, and body image. Anxiety is also common among older people who have dementia. On the other hand,...
what do the brackets [] mean in chemical formulas as opposed to the parentheses ()?	They mean the same thing, people alternate between () and [] so that it's easier to see what elements are in which bracket	[ "Conventionally for concentrations and activities, square brackets [ ] are used around the chemical molecular formula. For an arbitrary atom, generic letters in upright non-bold typeface such as A, B, R, X or Y etc. are often used.\n", "The chemical formula for a molecule uses one line of chemical element symbols...

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.