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question stringlengths 3 301	answer stringlengths 9 26.1k	context list
why can prize competitions (like mcdonalds monopoly) say "no purchase necessary" when they clearly require you to purchase something?	If you read further into the fine print on most of these, you can send a self addressed stamped envelope to them and they will send you a game piece back.	[ "Items are commonly placed at a special site for auction (e.g. eBay.com or marketdojo.com or opt-source.com). Buyers can continuously bid for the items they are interested in. Eventually the highest bidder wins the item.\n", "Contest and give away prizes are effective practices marketers use to entice children an...
what sort of technical, broadcasting setup is needed to bring us these nfl championship game replays, from any angle, seconds after they happen?	While the technology can be advanced, the concept is simple. It works with one camera, or 50, the only difference being you obviously need more people to work with more equipment. So how does it work? Well there's a replay machine. It records whatever is fed into it. Like other video stuff, you can cut clips and out t...	[ "During instant replay reviews in the NFL, the referee confers with the NFL's replay center in New York, which makes the final ruling. In college football, the referee confers with a replay official, who is stationed in the press box above the field, on the play and then announces the final result over the wireless...
Do random quantum-level events play any role in the behavior and function of the brain?	Well, yes, in the sense that all chemistry and such occurs in quantum-mechanical regimes. I think what you're asking, however, is whether the brain in aggregate exhibits that sort of randomness. I don't think so, as the brain is very large and so quantum effects should reduce to classical ones. I think there are some p...	[ "Main critique of Quantum theory and its application in the fields of neuroscience and cognitive and behavioural psychology is generally ascribed to the physiology of the brain's bio-environment and the discrepancy in the speed of the classical versus quantum processes in the brain dynamic. It has been argued by Te...
how does my smart tv automatically know what device is running into the hdmi port?	HDMI is capable of sending a lot more information than just the images. There are separate control channels that can exchange other kinds of data too. If the devices on both ends are "smart" enough, they can identify themselves to each other (as yours apparently did).	[ "The Sony α230 has a standard USB 2.0 port along with its mini HDMI port. The camera sends a review image to HDMI output immediately after taking a photo. There is no need to switch to playback mode to review.\n", "The Sony α290 has a standard USB 2.0 port along with its mini HDMI port. The camera sends a review ...
When you cut a loaf of bread, what happens to the chemical bonds at the site of the cut?	I'm a physicist, not a food scientist, but I don't imagine that you're breaking chemical bonds. It's probably not correct to think of a loaf of bread as a single molecule. Rather, the diverse high-molecular mass molecules that make up the bread are held weakly together by forces like van der Waals interaction and dipol...	[ "BULLET::::- Bread and Butter Cutting four or five thinner slabs of wood (the \"Bread\") to be glued (the \"Butter\") later into a laminated block. In this case, the slabs will be oriented so that they sit one on top of the other.\n", "These enzymes have a catalytic mechanism involving a metal, often zinc. They f...
where do food coloring additives go in my body? i can drink red fruit juice all day, but still pee yellow.	They get digested or metabolized in the liver. Some are excreted via feces.	[ "Pigments responsible for the orange to red colors of the mature fruit bodies have been identified as carotenes, predominantly lycopene and \"beta\"-carotene—the same compounds responsible for the red and orange colors of tomatoes and carrots, respectively. Lycopene is also the main pigment in the closely related f...
the difference between active and passive pickups for guitars.	A passive pickup is a magnetic pickup directly sending the signal from your string, through the wood, into the pickup and into the amp which creates the most dynamic, organic sound you can produce. Many artists prefer a passive pickup to be able to have a "breathable" sound coupled with using their volume knob enables ...	[ "Pickups can be either active or passive. Pickups, apart from optical types, are inherently passive transducers. \"Passive\" pickups are usually wire wound around a magnet, and are the most common type used. They can generate electric potential without need for external power, though their output is relatively low,...
Can a piece of wood ignite from being exposed to heat, but without the presence of a flame?	Yes, in fact, most everything that can burn has an [autoignition temperature](_URL_0_), whereby heating the object to that temperature will cause it to combust with oxygen in the atmosphere. This is not necessarily spontaneous combustion; spontaneous combustion requires the object to self-heat itself to the autoignit...	[ "In testing however it was found to be extremely sensitive to combined friction and percussion, and could be readily ignited by a glancing blow with wood. Found also to be chemically unstable, it was known to ignite spontaneously both in the laboratory \n", "Wood combustion products can include toxic and carcinog...
What is the effective actual brightness in relation to the human eye of planetary objects in the distant solar system? What I mean is: are photos of Saturn the brightness they are due to long exposures or would they actually be relatively dim objects due to their distance from the sun?	You can see most of the planets with your bare eyes on a dark night, except Mercury (because of its small size and because it is usually only visible at twilight due to its proximity to the sun) and Uranus/Neptune (too far away, but you can see with a good pair of binoculars). Most pictures of outer planets are taken w...	[ "The brightness of the Saturn system depends on the orientation of its ring system. The rings contribute more to the overall brightness of the system when they are more inclined to the direction of illumination from the Sun and to the view of the observer. Wide open rings contribute about one magnitude of brightnes...
why do sharper knives cut better?	Sharpness is the thickness of the edge of the blade. The thinner you make the edge, the "sharper" it is. The thinner a blade is, the more force is applied per square inch of cutting area. That is to say that if you apply one pound of force on the blade, and it's cutting area is 1 square inch, you are giving 1 psi of p...	[ "Different knives are sharpened differently according to grind (edge geometry) and application. For example, surgical scalpels are extremely sharp but fragile, and are generally disposed of, rather than sharpened, after use. Straight razors used for shaving must cut with minimal pressure, and thus must be very shar...
Why did Olympus Mons form in the exact same way of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, but the Martian volcano is 5 times bigger?	The Hawaiian islands formed as a chain because the motion of continental plates carried them over a stationary hot spot, where magma wells up from Earth's interior. Mars does not have drifting plates, so Olympus Mons has remained over its hot spot.	[ "As a shield volcano, Olympus Mons resembles the shape of the large volcanoes making up the Hawaiian Islands. The edifice is about wide. Because the mountain is so large, with complex structure at its edges, allocating a height to it is difficult. Olympus Mons stands above the Mars global datum, and its local relie...
How accurate is the depiction of the japanese culture in the TV-miniseries Shōgun (1980)?	The general answer is: yes, it is historically accurate. It was based on James Clavell's novel Shogun and Clavell tried to be as historically accurate as possible. But according to my previous research, the Japanese didn't usually boil their prisoners alive, that was rather rare.	[ "Showa: A History of Japan, known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shigeru Mizuki. A semi autobiographical work, this manga describes the author's experiences growing up during the Shōwa period. The author is a veteran of the Japanese army, but his series is filled with critical v...
Was Liberia ever taken seriously by the US? And if so, how many former-slaves actually went back?	What exactly do you mean? As a country, Liberia was independent from the 1840s, long before many other places in Africa had seen the worst of colonial exploitation, and more than a century before most of the continent would see independence. During the peak of the 'back to Africa' movement between the late 1800s and...	[ "The United States had a long history of intervening in Liberia's internal affairs, occasionally sending naval vessels to help the Americo-Liberians, who comprised the ruling minority, put down insurrections by indigenous tribes (in 1821, 1843, 1876, 1910, and 1915). By 1909, Liberia faced serious external threats ...
What is Known of the Knights Templar?	We actually know quite a lot about the Templars, especially around the age of the Crusades and the few centuries after their founding. I'll address as many of your points as I can. Their Purpose: The initially stated purpose of the Knights Templar was to serve as an order of monastic knights that would protect pil...	[ "The Knights Templar, full name The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta, is a fraternal order affiliated with Freemasonry. Unlike the initial degrees conferred in a regular Masonic Lodge, which (in most Regular Masonic jurisdictions) o...
how does weight training improve heart health?	ELI5 Version: Depends on how you look at it. It is improving heart health by changing how your body uses various food stuff as fuel. As you train the muscle it gets better and better at mobilizing and using sugars and fats as fuel. This increased use means less bad stuff in the blood which can cause a range of cardiova...	[ "Benefits of weight training include increased strength, muscle mass, endurance, bone and bone mineral density, insulin sensitivity, GLUT 4 density, HDL cholesterol, improved cardiovascular health and appearance, and decreased body fat, blood pressure, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.\n", "Weight training has a...
what happens if evidence is obtained, illegally, that someone is a criminal?	Assuming you're in a US court, and the evidence was obtained by the police (as opposed to a third party, and then given to the police), it will typically not be admissible as evidence in a trial. Further, if that evidence leads to finding more evidence, that evidence will also not be allowed (known as the "fruit of the...	[ "FBI agents cannot legally store DNA of a person not convicted of a crime. DNA collected from a suspect not later convicted must be disposed of and not entered into the database. In 1998, a man residing in the UK was arrested on accusation of burglary. His DNA was taken and tested, and he was later released. Nine m...
protons and electrons	Excellent question. The math of two opposite charged particles is identical with the one for planets around the sun, at least on a classical level. Sun attracts the earth but we haven't crashed into yet, because we are on an orbit. But! an electron on an orbit loses energy constantly due to radiation. Accelerated...	[ "A proton is a subatomic particle, symbol or , with a positive electric charge of +1\"e\" elementary charge and a mass slightly less than that of a neutron. Protons and neutrons, each with masses of approximately one atomic mass unit, are collectively referred to as \"nucleons\".\n", "In chemistry, the term proto...
Why can green, red, and blue alone be used and combined to make every visible color, like on screens? Are there other combinations of colors that can do this?	It's down to the way human vision works. In your eye, you've got rods and cones. Rods are receptors that can judge intensity of light - how bright or dark something is. Cones are responsible for color, and they come in three varieties. Each type of cone is sensitive to a different range of frequencies of light, centere...	[ "In modern color theory, also known as the RGB color model, red, green and blue are additive primary colors. Red, green and blue light combined together makes white light, and these three colors, combined in different mixtures, can produce nearly any other color. This is the principle that is used to make all of th...
Why places like the Cayman Islands or the Turks and Caicos Islands remain under British control while others like St. Kitts and Nevis got their independence?	The independent Commonwealth Caribbean countries have been largely unsuccessful financially, regardless of how long they have been independent. For example, the country that has been independent for the longest time, Haiti, is the most impoverished nation in the region. British control, as you call it, provides a sol...	[ "The Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands were grouped under Jamaica out of convenience and sometimes for historical and/or geographical reasons. British Honduras (later Belize) was surrounded by hostile Spanish colonies and needed the protection afforded by the Jamaican Army and Navy. In addition, British H...
what does a logarithmic graph show you numerically?	On a regular linear graph an exponential trend will quickly run out of resolution and/or room. It will become so vertical so quickly that you will be unable to discern any larger trends because it will just look like a almost-vertical line forever and ever. So you would use a logarithmic graph in those kind of cases, ...	[ "In science and engineering, a log–log graph or log–log plot is a two-dimensional graph of numerical data that uses logarithmic scales on both the horizontal and vertical axes. Monomials – relationships of the form formula_1 – appear as straight lines in a log–log graph, with the power term corresponding to the slo...
what exactly do the meat/cheese drawers in refrigerators do?	They maintain different humidity, cooling, and air flow than the main compartment of the fridge. Most rely on the drawers vents and natural convection to circulate/restrict air flow while high-end models have sensors and ducting.	[ "Cabinets are box-shaped items of furniture which were usually designed with many cupboards and drawers, to store small objects. The Kimbolton Cabinet was designed as a display object in its own right, and as a mount for the \"pietra dura\" plaques. The front panels suggest doors, but they are false: the cabinet is...
Why does beryllium have a relatively high melting point?	One thing to note before I explain is that atoms with very low atomic numbers often have properties that aren't shared with the larger atoms of the same group. As this ion is so small it is highly polarising, to the extent that its compounds are rather covalent. When it forms a metal it means that the bonds are very h...	[ "Interestingly, lower borides of tungsten such as tungsten diboride are not superhard. Higher boron content leads to higher hardness because of the increased density of short, covalent boron-boron and boron-metal bonds. However, researchers have been able to push WB into the superhard regime through minority additi...
If having chicken pox puts a person at increased risk of developing shingles, why does it not also increase your risk of HSV? Aren't they all herpes strains?	Because they are caused by different viruses. The virus responsible for chicken pox and shingles (reactivation of the lytic cycle after being in the lysogenic (dormant, virus essentially hiding as DNA) cycle) is Varicella zoster, or HHV-3 (human herpes virus three). The others are caused by other HHV types.	[ "There is a short-term risk of developing herpes zoster (shingles) following vaccination. However, this risk is less than the risk due to a natural infection resulting in chickenpox. Most of the cases reported have been mild and have not been associated with serious complications.\n", "Shingles affects one in fiv...
how can such a huge company, like yahoo, afford to rebrand themselves after becoming so prominent under their current brand?	simple answer... they cant afford not to. yahoo is not a sustainable business, as proven by years of losses and failed remedies. they need cash, and if selling the yahoo brand to verizon provides that cash, so be it. Just as sears recently sold craftsman to black and decker. chances are yahoo is positioning to tu...	[ "Rebranding has become something of a fad at the turn of the millennium, with some companies rebranding several times. The rebranding of Philip Morris to Altria was done to help the company shed its negative image. Other rebrandings, such as the British Post Office's attempt to rebrand itself as Consignia, have pro...
If you are a scientist, what kind are you, and what do you do from day to day?	Mathematician. I mostly sit at my desk, whilst being fuelled by coffee, and shuffle symbols around on bits of paper. When I've shuffled the symbols sufficiently, I write the results up as a paper.	[ "In schools, the science technician is the person who prepares the practical equipment and makes up the solutions used in school science labs. The role also includes instructing and assisting teachers with practical skills, including class demonstrations, for advanced techniques across all disciplines. Many are ver...
What are some writers who were very popular in their time, but are obscure today?	Sinclair Lewis is not nearly as popular as other contemporary American writers like Hemingway and Fitzgerald, but many of his books, particularly Main Street, Babbitt, Arrowsmith, and Elmer Gantry were controversial smash hits during the 1920's. The same critical eye that Fitzgerald, for example, turned on the ...	[ "Some of the writers who are generally considered the most important in Western literature are Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio, Geoffrey Chaucer, François Rabelais, Michel de Montaigne, Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega, William Shakesp...
might it be possible to 'create'/generate energy from the earth's orbit (ala wind farms) one day?	Not really. Earth isn't moving through any sort of substance that would push against the turbine, the way wind pushes against a turbine. If fact if there were such a substance, it would be constantly dragging on our planet, slowing our orbit, until someday we'd crash into the Sun.	[ "The wind farm, an offshore wind energy project in United States coastal waters, was projected to generate 1,500 gigawatt hours of electricity per year derived from wind power. National Grid and Northeast Utilities eventually terminated their power purchase agreements in January 2015, making it difficult to obtain ...
why is it on clear nights it is much cooler then on cloudy ones?	Clouds act like insulation and trap heat, but it's not uncommon for temps to change day to day for other reasons...	[ "Because of its temperature, the atmosphere emits infrared radiation. For example, on clear nights Earth's surface cools down faster than on cloudy nights. This is because clouds (HO) are strong absorbers and emitters of infrared radiation. This is also why it becomes colder at night at higher elevations.\n", "Mu...
why do antibiotics have a "do not ingest" warning?	Topical ointments are typically a medication mixed with petroleum jelly - that is, Vaseline. Vaseline isn't particularly nasty, but you can't digest it. It can make you vomit or give you oily diarrhea. Ingestion of the active ingedient of an antibiotic ointment is probably not harmful in that kind of dosage. However...	[ "Although probiotics are generally safe, when they are used by oral administration there is a small risk of passage of viable bacteria from the gastrointestinal tract to the blood stream (bacteremia), which can cause adverse health consequences. Some people, such as those with a compromised immune system, short bow...
Since George Washington was elected in 1789, why is he considered the first American President?	One of the major differences between the government under the Articles of Confederation (pre-1789) and under the Constitution (1789 onward) was the lack of a unitary executive under the former. "President of the Congress," which John Hanson was for a period, sounds like it might be something akin to the Prime Minister ...	[ "George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was the 1st President of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797, and before this, served as the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783. The Electoral College elected Washington unanimously in 1789, and ag...
why are some rocks (like gems) transparent while others are not?	It has to do with the allotropes of the atoms. For example, graphite is arranged in a hexagonal lattice, whereas diamonds are arranged in a tetrahedral lattice. To break it down a hexagon is a two-dimensional shape, so if you could imagine sheets of connected hexagons laid over top of each other. This is actually wha...	[ "Some gemstones (like pearls, coral, and amber) are classified as organic, meaning that they are produced by living organisms. Others are inorganic, meaning that they are generally composed of and arise from minerals.\n", "In later times, Robert Boyle actually believed that gems (including a diamond) were formed ...
where does reddit get its money to suppory the website if it doesn't reach it's daily gold goal?	Simple, they set their daily gold goal way above what they actually need.	[ " Reddit Premium (formerly Reddit Gold) is a premium membership that allows users to view the site ad-free. Users may also be gifted coins if another user particularly valued the comment or post, generally due to humorous or high-quality content. Reddit Premium unlocks several features not accessible to regular use...
What was the average weaponry/armor of an Carthaginian soldier during the Punic Wars and did it match that of the Romans?	Unfortunately for you (and everyone with an interest in this area of history), we have no records from the Carthaginian perspective, and have to rely on outside sources. As such, saying much about the life of a Carthaginian soldier would largely be guesswork and estimation, which can be entertaining but is ultimately j...	[ "The Libyans, Carthaginian citizens and the Libyo-Phoenicians provided disciplined, well trained cavalry equipped with thrusting spears and round shields. Numidia provided superb light cavalry, highly skilled in skirmishing tactics, armed with bundles of javelins, a small round shield and riding without bridle or s...
I am the paleontologist who rehashed the science of Jurassic Park last week. A lot of you requested it, so here it is: Ask Me Anything!	I want to know what I should do if I am being chased by a velociraptor. So, 1. Would velociraptors chase something as large as a human? 2. What mechanism would they use to kill their prey? Biting vital places, like a modern cheetah? 3. How fast could they run? 4. How long would they run before getting tired?	[ "The Museum of Jurassic Technology at 9341 Venice Boulevard in the Palms district of Los Angeles, California, was founded by David Hildebrand Wilson and Diana Drake Wilson (husband and wife) in 1988. It calls itself \"an educational institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and the public appreciation o...
the career goals of a mathematician.	Well a 'pure' mathematician is usually a faculty member for a university and is paid for those duties. Possibly they claim some rewards for solving specific problems; famously there are the six outstanding millennium problems worth 1 million USD each. Most people that study math will do something more applied, though...	[ "Mathematicians involved with solving problems with applications in real life are called applied mathematicians. Applied mathematicians are mathematical scientists who, with their specialized knowledge and professional methodology, approach many of the imposing problems presented in related scientific fields. With ...
why do dancers count by 8?	My understanding is that most music is written if 4/4 time (Four beats per bar), so the music (And more specifically, the rhytm) is separated into these 4 pulse units. Since 4 beats are rarely enough to complete a given "step", dancers will instead spread each movement over 8 pulses, or two bars. You'll find when pra...	[ "Age Divisions: Dancers in competitions are split into different age categories. The categories are: 4 & under, 5-8 years old (mini), 9-11 years old (junior), 12-14 (teen), and 15-18 (senior). Dancers must bring proof of age to every competition in case their age is challenged. Dancers must stay within one age grou...
is there any good reason today to open a swiss bank account?	I believe there aren't many good reasons to hide your money there anymore. A lot of rich people put money into small caribbean islands now.	[ "However, this settlement set up a showdown between the U.S. and Swiss governments over the secrecy of Swiss bank accounts. It was not until June 2010 that Swiss lawmakers approved a deal to reveal client data and account details of U.S. clients who were suspected of tax evasion.\n", "Many banks in Switzerland of...
When the US was planning to send a man to the moon, did they ever consider bringing weapons in case of hostile extraterrestrial life?	If by "hostile extraterrestrial life" you mean little green men, they had no weapons, although I'd hate to get whacked in the head by one of those geologist's hammers. However if you mean microorganisms then they did take precautions. After they returned to earth the astronauts were put into quarantine. The practice w...	[ "BULLET::::- Marcus Allen – British publisher of \"Nexus\", who said photographs of the lander would not prove that the United States put men on the Moon, and \"Getting to the Moon really isn't much of a problem – the Russians did that in 1959. The big problem is getting people there.\" He suggests that NASA sent r...
Why does the asphalt look shiny in patches when its really hot out?	It's a [mirage](_URL_0_). The hot asphalt heats the layer of air directly on top of it, and the density gradient between the hot air and the cooler air above bends some of the incoming light from the sky so it's "reflected" instead of hitting the asphalt.	[ "This seepage has been happening for tens of thousands of years. From time to time, the asphalt formed a deposit thick enough to trap animals, and the surface would become covered with layers of water, dust, or leaves. Animals would wander in, become trapped, and eventually die. Predators would enter to eat the tra...
why do we see lights as on?	That's something called Persistence of Vision, and it's down to how the cells in our eyes take a non-zero time to respond to a change of input. It's that phenomenon that allow things like [this](_URL_0_) to work. All that is will be an arm with a single vertical row of LEDs and as it turns many times a second, ther...	[ "A second hypothesis is that the lights are the result of known geophysical phenomena, such as piezoelectrics or marsh gas. However, lights are often reported in areas without geological conditions favourable to these phenomena.\n", "In everyday life it is easy to see that light dims as it gets farther away. This...
what exactly is the google stadia?	Stadia isn't really a thing it's a service, some people describe it as Netflix for video games. You'll need to buy the controller from Google and pay a subscription fee and it will let you play video games without a console over the internet. Apparently you can play on any Chromecast enabled device, so a computer or TV...	[ "The Google Book is an illustrated book of children's verse by Vincent Cartwright Vickers. Originally published in 1913 by J. & E. Bumpus, Limited, London, at Vickers' expense in a limited edition of 100 copies, it was later issued in a trade edition by the Medici Society in London in 1931. It was republished by Ox...
How are Cowbirds and other birds that lay eggs in other’s nests able to maintain calls and behaviors despite having no learning from parents?	just like how baby turtles after hatching, run instinctively towards the sea, these traits r hardwired into their brain, n the information is passed through genes. the ones that learn quickly n adapt survive n the rest don't make it past the evolutionary roulette	[ "Brown-headed cowbirds do not raise their own young, instead laying their eggs in the nests of other bird species. As a result, young cowbirds are not exposed to species-typical visual and auditory information like other birds. Despite this, cowbirds are able to develop species-typical singing, social, and breeding...
Does speed of light change when not in a vacuum?	When light travels through most substances, it interacts with them in a way that causes it to travel somewhat slower than c. The ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed in a given material, c/v, is called the "index of refraction" of the material, because it governs how light refracts when entering/exiting...	[ "According to Einstein's theory of special relativity, as an electron's speed approaches the speed of light, from an observer's point of view its relativistic mass increases, thereby making it more and more difficult to accelerate it from within the observer's frame of reference. The speed of an electron can approa...
why does it hurt to touch your pupil, but not the white part of your eye?	Pain is your body saying that something bad is happening. If it hurts more it means you can damage something easier. Also- stop touching your eye...	[ "Conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, is inflammation of the outermost layer of the white part of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelid. It makes the eye appear pink or reddish. Pain, burning, scratchiness, or itchiness may occur. The affected eye may have increased tears or be \"stuck shut\" in the mornin...
if i never aged but was still susceptible to accidental death, how long would i be likely to live? (living in the us or europe)	Presumably rather than 'never aged', you mean 'stopped ageing in mid twenties to mid thirties'. In which case,a long long time - most people don't die of accidents in that, or any other time, so you could reasonably expect to live many many lifetimes. Possibly shorter or longer, depending on whether your increased expe...	[ "In preindustrial times, deaths at young and middle age were more common than they are today. This is not due to genetics, but because of environmental factors such as disease, accidents, and malnutrition, especially since the former were not generally treatable with pre-20th-century medicine. Deaths from childbirt...
I noticed that a strong disc magnet will refuse to flip over in my hand, always landing the same side up. Can anyone explain this behavior? Video inside.	Have you tried asking someone else to do this without telling them the purpose of the experiment (a blind test)? You may be inadvertently influencing the way you're tossing the magnet because of your expected outcome, though it's also possible that it's being influenced by magnetic fields that are keeping it oriented s...	[ "The disc is attached to an axle which also carries a small permanent magnet. Positioned close to the magnet is a solenoid. By pulsing the solenoid coil with the appropriate electrical polarity, the permanent magnet on the axle will align itself with the magnetic field, also turning the disc. Another style uses a m...
why is it illegal to sell body parts?	Because someone will inevitably create a business chopping up living people without their consent and lying. Or coerce you into "consenting". And the poor, especially single parents with literally starving kids, and drug addicts, will sell them even if they aren't healthy. It's a business that necessitates bodily harm ...	[ "The UAGA revision of 2006 makes it a felony punishable by a fine or prison to buy or sell body parts, as well as purposefully hiding, falsifying, defacing, or destroying organ donor documentation of another.\n", "United States law restricts possession of body armor for convicted violent felons. Many U.S. states ...
Why did SFR Yugoslavia let Macedonia secede without conflict in contrast with the wars in Slovenia and Croatia along with the later wars in Bosnia and Kosovo?	I am a Macedonian. While I'm not a historian, I think I can answer your question. Before I list the reasons, let me paint a picture about how Serbs and Macedonians view each other. In general, there is a very amicable relationship between most Serbs and Macedonians, with many intermarriages and friendships between t...	[ "A similar attempt in Bosnia and Herzegovina led to a war that lasted more than three years (see below). The results of all these conflicts are almost complete emigration of the Serbs from all three regions, massive displacement of the populations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and establishment of the three new indepe...
Given DNA samples, one belonging to a parent and the other to their child, is it possible to determine which is the parent and which is the child?	Epigenetics. Depending on multiple factors, only certain parts of the genome are active in a given cell. One immediate mechanism for how this happens is DNA methylation, which silences portions of an organism's DNA by directly attaching a methyl group to nucleotides in the DNA. The methylation "profile" can and does ch...	[ "DNA testing is currently the most advanced and accurate technology to determine parentage. In a DNA paternity test, the result (called the 'probability of parentage) is 0%, when the alleged parent is not biologically related to the child, and the probability of parentage is typically 99.99% when the alleged parent...
why is it common for bears to be hit by trains?	Oh there is a simple explanation for this. Bears are the king of their land. They grow up being able to fight and kill anything in there area. Think about. Ever try to fight a bear? You will lose. It is a matter of pride to defeat any foe before them. Eventually some mature veteran fighting bears will run out of victim...	[ "Moose are not usually aggressive towards humans, but can be provoked or frightened to behave with aggression. In terms of raw numbers, they attack more people than bears and wolves combined, but usually with only minor consequences. In the Americas, moose injure more people than any other wild mammal, and worldwid...
why do black men have a difficult time shaving?	They have very crinkly beard. The curlier a hair is the more likely you will have ingrown hair when it grows out. Many women have the same problem shaving bikini line.	[ "Both men and women sometimes shave their chest hair, abdominal hair, leg hair, underarm hair, pubic hair, or any other body hair. Head shaving is much more common among men. It is often associated with religious practice, the armed forces and some competitive sports such as swimming, running and extreme sports. Hi...
Between the years 1861 and 1914 in Russia, why were the peasants so afraid of giving rights to the Jews? [European History]	Well, this was the era in Russia of [anti-Jewish pogroms](_URL_2_), the [May Laws](_URL_1_) and antisemitic conspiracy theories such as the ["Protocols of the Elders of Zion"](_URL_0_). There was rabid antisemitism in Russia back then, even compared to general European antisemitism of the time. So that's clearly the ...	[ "In Russia, after a series of anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire following the assassination of Tsar Alexander II, towards that end in 1880 they were forbidden from purchasing land or taking mortgages (see the May Laws). Quotas limited Jewish access to educational institutions and from 1892 they were banned ...
if marrying blood relatives was common practice for centuries, but so bad for our genetics, why aren't we all deformed?	Not a suuuuper biological answer, but I think the issue is that genetic abnormalities are more likely to occur, which is why it's considered a bad practice. People who were born with those abnormalities weren't as likely to have children, and those who were more or less healthy were the ones reproducing.	[ "Societies have often placed restrictions on marriage to relatives, though the degree of prohibited relationship varies widely. Marriages between parents and children, or between full siblings, with few exceptions, have been considered incest and forbidden. However, marriages between more distant relatives have bee...
How does the human body turn food into bodyheat?	The oxidation of glucose and other carbon-containing foodstuffs is an exothermic reaction. Your body actually burns carbon-containing molecules like a fire, very slowly compared to a fire, but like a fire in that once it's started it won't go out until it runs out of fuel. Additionally it will go out if something imped...	[ "The human body has two methods of thermogenesis, which produces heat to raise the core body temperature. The first is shivering, which occurs in an unclothed person when the ambient air temperature is under 25 °C (77 °F). It is limited by the amount of glycogen available in the body. The second is non-shivering, w...
what is the speed radio waves travel through the deep space?	Radio Waves are really the same thing as light waves. They are both electromagnetic radiation Radio Wave frequencies are from 3Khz to 300Ghz Visible Light waves are in the frequency range of 430 to 790 Thz (TeraHz) If you took radio waves and frequency shifted them up about 10000 times, we would see them	[ "Radio waves propagate in vacuum at the speed of light \"c\", exactly 299,792,458 m/s. Propagation time to the Moon and back ranges from 2.4 to 2.7 seconds, with an average of 2.56 seconds (distance from Earth to the Moon is 384,400 km).\n", "Radio waves in vacuum travel at the speed of light. The Earth's atmosph...
There have been militarized Buddhists such as Shaolin Martial Artist Monks, Japanese Sōhei Warrior Monks, & Thai Soldier Monks. Since pacifism is paramount in Buddhism, how did Buddhist warriors morally justify their acts of violence?	Before I answer, as a quick aside, when one talks about pacifism is paramount in Buddhism its important to clarify that it very specifically speaking about people who take vows and become monks. These vows are only applicable to the monastics who take these vows. You are asking about monastics so the question is tota...	[ "Chinese Buddhist monks have been traditionally and stereotypically linked with the practice of the Chinese martial arts or \"Kung fu\", and monks are frequently important characters in martial arts films. This association is focused around the Shaolin Monastery. The Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, traditionally credite...
How do they calculate the very exact hour and minute when to launch rockets?	There are a lot of people who know a lot more about this than me and can explain in more detail, but I would guess they start with the time the rocket needs to be in a certain place in orbit (ie. to rendezvous with the ISS, to reach a planet at the right time, etc.) and work backwards from there. Usually there is a win...	[ "In the context of a rocket launch, the \"L minus Time\" is the physical time before launch, e.g. \"L minus 3 minutes and 40 seconds\". \"T minus Time\" is a system to mark points at which actions necessary for the launch are planned - this time stops and starts as various hold points are entered, and so doesn't sh...
What were British laws regarding cannons like in the 18th century? Could a ship captain sail into port, buy a bunch of cannons, and sail off on his merry way?	Follow up question who made cannons? Was there a cannon manufacturer similar to guns today?	[ "Her low freeboard allows for such heavy cannons because they're lower to the waterline. The crew also keep the lower gun ports closed unless going on the attack as would be found with most armed vessels of the 17th and 18th centuries. Being that the ship is called the flying \"Dutchman,\" and based on historical s...
Why does iodinated CT contrast cause patients to feel warm and flushed?	The leading hypothesis is that it due to contrast being hyperosmolar (a higher concentration of dissolved things) compared to blood. This results in increased blood flow to the area of injection and thus increased warmth around the site of injection. Generalized flushing is relatively rare ( < 5%) and may be associated...	[ "The contrast medium that is used usually produces a sensation of warmth lasting only a few seconds, but may be felt in a greater degree in the area of injection. If the patient is allergic to the contrast medium, much more serious side effects are inevitable; however, with new contrast agents the risk of a severe ...
why do we have to take some medicine 'before food' and some 'after food'?	There are a lot of considerations, like the medicine might irritate an empty stomach or cause nausea, or there might be problematic chemical reactions or degradation depending on how long it stays in the stomach or the chemical conditions therein. There's also dilution/rate of absorption, some medicines you might want ...	[ "In chapter 242 of the first book (verse 10 and 13) of the \"Great Gospel of John\", it is preached that certain food should be avoided for health reasons. Such foods includes unripe fruits, potatoes and coffee. But then what one eats or drinks for the necessary strengthening of the body, will not make him either b...
why is it that when one begins to actually think about a reflex like blinking, breathing, or swallowing, it seems to become less reflexive and require conscious effort to even continue?	Because a few of our body systems have dual connections to their muscles, with controls by both the voluntary and the autonomic nervous systems.	[ "A reflex blink occurs in response to an external stimulus, such as contact with the cornea or objects that appear rapidly in front of the eye. A reflex blink is not necessarily a conscious blink either; however it does happen faster than a spontaneous blink. Reflex blink may occur in response to tactile stimuli (e...
if caffeinated drinks like coffee are meant to give you boosts of energy then why is it recommended for kids with adhd to calm them down?	ADHD is caused by underactivity in the frontal lobe of the brain - the part responsible for organization and impulse control (think of it as “the brain’s secretary and the brain’s breaks). The reason kids with ADHD are hyperactive is because that front part of the brain is underactive - the hyperactivity is because t...	[ "Combined use of caffeine and alcohol may increase the rate of alcohol-related injury. Energy drinks can mask the influence of alcohol, and a person may misinterpret their actual level of intoxication. Since caffeine and alcohol are both diuretics, combined use increases the risk of dehydration, and the mixture of ...
how do we know air (nitrogen and oxygen) is odourless? what if we're so used to the smell we can't detect it?	Those are the same thing. Odour is defined as whatever our olfactory organs can detect and get the brain to interpret. If we don't smell it, it doesn't have a scent. Of course, a species that evolved in a different atmosphere might well find it has a specific scent. That doesn't invalidate what I said above though....	[ "These gases have no smell in pure form, instead gaining it when in contact with air. Ammonia has an infamous, intense odour resembling urine and/or fish, commonly the result of the decomposition of urea. Phosphine smells like fish or garlic, and stibine like rotten eggs, similar to hydrogen sulfide and selenide.\n...
what really are radio waves and do they travel at the speed of light?	They're a form of electromagnetic radiation, like xrays, infrared, microwaves, ultraviolet, and visible light. They do travel at the speed of light, as they are light. You can't see it, however, because it is not at a wavelength that stimulates the rods and cones in your eyes.	[ "Radio waves travel through a vacuum at the speed of light, and in air at very close to the speed of light, so the wavelength of a radio wave, the distance in meters between adjacent crests of the wave, is inversely proportional to its frequency. \n", "Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with wave...
During the Great Depression, would it be a good idea to do a small crime to go to jail and get a place to sleep, clothes, and food?	If you were looking "3 hots and cot" during the Great Depression, getting picked up for some "small crime" might be an option, but certainly not a good one. Take vagrancy, for example, during California's "Bum Blockade" in the early 1930s those arrested were given a choice of "[either leave California or serve a 180-da...	[ "Overcrowding soon became a big concern, as well as poor sanitation. The jails turned into breeding houses of illness. Furthermore, the jails were even unable to fulfill their basic purpose of containing offenders within its walls. Escapes were very frequent. The prisons held not only those who were awaiting trial ...
when planets orbit their star, what stops them from being sucked into the star from gravity?	The speed at which they're orbiting. In movies, you may hear about "slingshot effects" that orbits can take. It was a part of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Armageddon, and Apollo 13. This has to do with Kepler's second law of planetary motion, which states that "a line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas in ...	[ "Most stars will not have their planets lined up and orientated so that they eclipse over the center of the star and give the viewer on earth a perfect transit. It is for this reason that when we often are only able to extrapolate a minimum mass when viewing a star’s wobble because we do not know the inclination ...
Is it true that many American cities built highways as a way of dividing white and black neighborhoods? How was this done?	I have not ever found any evidence of this being done deliberately, though the story is a bit complicated because a lot of freeway construction coincided with the height of slum clearance and urban renewal programs. Initial plans for superhighways were drawn up in many big cities in the 1930s, long before the 90 per...	[ "The creation of highways in some cases divided and isolated black neighborhoods from goods and services, many times within industrial corridors. For example, Birmingham's interstate highway system attempted to maintain racial boundaries established by the city’s 1926 racially based zoning law. The construction of ...
Why do some ethnic groups, especially some dark/black skinned races have pink/reddish scleras instead of clear white?	_URL_0_ That's a thread about yellow eyes, but I think it's the same thing as what's going on in the dude's eyes whose picture you linked - higher amount of subconjuctival fat in the sclera.	[ "Other people who are not brown (and thus not ), but also their phenotypes by anything other than skin, hair and eye color do not match white ones but rather those of people of color may be just referred to as , without specification to skin color with an identitarian connotation (there are the distinctions, though...
The British Empire was referred to as an Empire as early as the 1700s, yet the monarchs never held the title of "Emperor" or "Empress". Why is this?	Firstly, after the passage of the Royal Titles Act of 1876, Queen Victoria and her successors held the title of Emperor or Empress of India while remaining King or Queen of their other realms. As for why this was the case only for India, you may be interested in the answer /u/WhenTheRvlutionComes gave here _URL_1_ or /...	[ "In 1801, George III rejected the title of Emperor when offered. The only period when British monarchs held the title of \"Emperor\" in a dynastic succession started when the title Empress of India was created for Queen Victoria. The government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, conferred the additional title...
Did the Byzantine Empire use the phrase SPQR after 476? If so, when did they stop using it?	The abbreviation had fallen out of favor well before the Sack of Rome in 476. As far as I know, the last appearance of SPQR was on coins minted by Constantine I in the 300's. The "S" in SPQR, Senatus, was greatly diminished in power and prestige by successive emperors after the fall of the Republic, and eventually ...	[ "In the east, the title continued to be used into the Byzantine period, though to a lesser, and much more ceremonial, extent. In most Byzantine writings, the Greek translation \"Autokrator\" is preferred, but \"Imperator\" makes an appearance in Constantine IV's mid 7th century mosaic in the Basilica of Sant'Apolli...
Why were French Canadians reluctant to fight for France in WWI?	I think that question should be differently formulated, as I don't think you can reduct the Quebec engagement as a question only between them and France. The relations they have with the United Kingdom at the moment are maybe more important to their non-engagement than the small ties they still keep up with France. F...	[ "The underlying tension between French and British Canada exploded in World War I. Prior to the war, the French Canadians did not see themselves obliged to serve the British interests. The issue reached its zenith when Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden introduced the Canadian Military Service Act of 1917. Altho...
What makes it possible for crustaceans to be larger than bugs?	Crustaceans use a modified gill as a lung, which allows for larger size than the trachea used by insects,probably since oxygen is actively circulated in the blood rather than passively diffused through a series of tubes.	[ "The 67,000 described species range in size from \"Stygotantulus stocki\" at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span of up to and a mass of . Like other arthropods, crustaceans have an exoskeleton, which they moult to grow. They are distinguished from other groups of arthropods, such as insects, myriapods and...
How did ancient Greek and Persians view each other's culture?	For the ways the Greeks viewed the Persians: Much of the content of Herodotus's Histories is full of insights on how the Greeks and Persians interacted, although you have to read between the lines sometimes. In general, the Greeks viewed the Persians as a sophisticated culture, but one inferior to their own. One inter...	[ "First broadcast 9 June 2006, it shows how Ancient Greeks and Persians were far from the Romans' view of them as effeminate and addicted to luxury. The Greeks valued science and mathematics, and the Persians had initially allowed multiculturalism among the different ethnic groups of its empire (until years of war w...
On a big bang in an infinite universe	Don't think of expansion as some physical (and infinite) thing called "space" expanding. It'll mess with your head too much, and isn't entirely accurate. What's really happening, on the purest, mathematical level, is that the way we measure distances changes. So if I have a grid with two stationary points, the Pythag...	[ "The Designer Universe theory of John Gribbin suggests that the universe could have been made deliberately by an advanced civilization in another part of the Multiverse, and that this civilization may have been responsible for causing the Big Bang.\n", "\"The Big Bang was \"small\"\": It is misleading to visualiz...
How different were accents of European languages 200 or more years ago?	You can find various different videos of people doing Shakespeare in "Original Pronunciation", so you can hear what English would have sounded like a few hundred years ago, before Napoleon, but it gives you an idea of how different accents can change. The side by side comparison begins at about 3 minutes. _URL_0_	[ "This phenomenon is not limited to English-speaking populations. In Western Europe, multiple languages were considered to be of high prestige at some time or another, including \"Italian as the Mediterranean \"lingua franca\" and as the language of the Renaissance; and the 17th-18th century French of the court cult...
military patents, how are they enforced and why bother to make a patent?	Military secrets aren't patented. You'll never find a patent for the firing mechanism of a nuclear weapon. Other things developed in the course of designing military equipment, however, are still patentable. If you, for example, develop a new type of glue to hold together parts of a nuclear weapon, you can probably ...	[ "A patent war is a \"battle\" between corporations or individuals to secure patents for litigation, whether offensively or defensively. There are ongoing patent wars between the world's largest technology and software corporations. Contemporary patent wars are a global phenomenon, fought by multinational corporatio...
do lobsters feel pain when boiled alive? if so, is it not cruel to boil them alive?	Yes and no. As far as we can tell, they sense "pain" but not in the way that you or I would describe pain. It is more of an instinctual reaction to move away from the object causing them damage; they don't have a brain capable of forming a thought like "pain" in even the rudimentary way more advanced mammals do. The...	[ "The LLF consider boiling lobsters alive (the traditional method for cooking them) unacceptable and use direct action to prevent it. As lobsters possess a rudimentary nervous system, the LLF believe they feel pain and thus boiling them is unnecessarily cruel. This was challenged by a Norwegian study released in 200...
When did embassies become standard between different countries? Did any particular incidents change the rules regarding embassies (eg. they are a part of the country the embassy belongs to, rather than the one they are in)?	Embassies are not "part of the country the embassy belongs to, rather than the one they are in)." As the US Dept of State indicates,["diplomatic spaces remain the territory of the host state"](_URL_1_). They do, however, have special status in line with the [1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations](_URL_0_), and...	[ "Furthermore, it needs to be highlighted that before World War II there was a division between embassies and legations based on the system of diplomatic ranks established by the Congress of Vienna of 1815. Until the mid-20th century, most diplomatic representations were still legations as embassies were reserved fo...
what is the scientific reason we wash our hands?	Soap is a surfactant. Surfactants function by breaking down the interface between water and oils and/or dirt. They also hold these oils and dirt in suspension, and so allow their removal. Using water only would get rid of a lot, maybe most of the dirt & germs, but because oil & water don't mix, the oil on your ha...	[ "Medical hand hygiene refers to hygiene practices related to medical procedures. Hand washing before administering medicine or medical care can prevent or minimize the spread of disease. The main medical purpose of washing hands is to cleanse the hands of pathogens (like bacteria or viruses) and chemicals which can...
heat inside your house	Which direction do your windows and doors face? It's possible that you aren't getting enough draft. Is your house older and possibly plaster? Plaster retains a lot of heat, much more than drywall; and isn't insulated as well either. Try sticking a big box fan at your doorway facing outwards; but remember that heat ri...	[ "The rooms on the southeastern side of the home, which were considered to be the hottest, did not have ceilings so hot air could rise into the roof space, therefore keeping the room as cool as possible. The kitchen, housed in a separate structure outside the home at the time of construction, was later installed in ...
Why aren’t/can’t non-recyclable plastics be processed and used as aggregate in construction applications?	That depends on the types of plastics in question. For some plastics I'm sure this would work fine. There are others however, that aren't going to meet compaction standards for fill, and further others that may leach chemicals into the ground as they slowly decompose.	[ "As a subset of plastic, FR plastics are liable to a number of the issues and concerns in plastic waste disposal and recycling. Plastics pose a particular challenge in recycling because they are derived from polymers and monomers that often cannot be separated and returned to their virgin states. For this reason no...
Why is Russia represented as a bear?	The heraldic arms of Novgorod include two bears - that is, they are not supporters, they are among the charges: "dexter and sinister two bears respectant sable". In fact the bear appears very common in the heraldry of northern Russia; apart from Novgorod, we have bears in: * The principality of Yaroslavl * The city (a...	[ "The Russian Bear is a widespread symbol (generally of a Eurasian brown bear) for Russia, used in cartoons, articles and dramatic plays since as early as the 16th century, and relating alike to the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the present-day Russian Federation. \n", "In Russia associations with the image...
how nasa's spacecrafts can travel approximately 38000 miles/hr to reach pluto in 9 years	Once you clear the atmosphere and you're no longer butting heads with a bunch of air particles slowing you down due to friction, it's pretty easy to reach crazy high speeds. Think about driving a car where, when you take your foot off the accelerator, you don't slow down, but every time you tap it even a little bit, yo...	[ "As proposed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in 1992, the Pluto Fast Flyby mission was to be two craft weighing 150 kg (330.7 lb) each. The voyage from Earth to Pluto was to take seven or eight years, with a launch as early as 1998. The two craft would be timed to view different sides of Pluto. The budget for th...
why the oldest things (like music, movies...) seems to be better than the new ones?	Because only the best of the oldest things are still remembered, and you are comparing that with all of the new things.	[ "Products often become more valuable with age. The term \"antique\" generally refers to manufactured items made over 100 years ago, although in some fields, such as antique cars, the time frame is less stringent. For antique furniture, the limit has traditionally been set in the 1830s. Collectors and dealers may us...
Is Prince Albert still trapped in a can?	When Prince Albert originally got stuck in what has come to be known colloquially as the 'can' there was a massive public effort to release him. It was highly humiliating for the United Kingdom to have a member of its royalty trapped inside of a small tin can, and dignitaries all around the world sent various tweezers ...	[ "On one occasion Prince Albert summoned him to look at his dogs who kept dying and Wombwell quickly noticed that their water was poisoning them. When the prince asked what he could do in return for this favour, Wombwell said, \"What can you give a man who has everything?\". However, Wombwell requested some oak timb...
why is the way the us government structured in such a way that all houses lack overriding power and make everything such as passing law extremely long and difficult?	They did that on purpose to make it difficult to pass laws. They didn't want any single body to have too much power to stop authorian systems like a Monarchy from passing laws without the consent of the people.	[ "Many states have responded to this by instituting or retaining multicameral legislatures, in which all houses must pass legislation in the same form. The responsible house is usually the most powerful and the only house with the actual power to terminate the government. Other houses, though, can often veto or at l...
why do teenage boys going through puberty get erections randomly?	Reasons that men (and teenage boys) will get an erection: They are aroused. Teenage boys have a lot of hormones pumping through them, just like teenage girls and both will become aroused often and easily. They have a blood pressure shift. This is part of why they get erections while they sleep (morning wood). Natura...	[ "Erections during sleep or when waking up are medically known as nocturnal penile tumescence and colloquially referred to as \"morning wood\". The penis can regularly get erect during sleep and men or boys often wake up with an erection. Once a boy reaches his teenage years, erections occur much more frequently due...
given the stalkerish level of technology, how come it took so long to find osama bin laden?	You can only be tracked by technology if you use it. Bin Laden stayed off the grid and communicated with written messages delivered by messengers and face-to-face.	[ "In 2003, during the Iraq War, Peshmerga were said to have played a key role in the mission to capture Saddam Hussein. In 2004, they captured key al Qaeda figure Hassan Ghul, who revealed the identity of Osama Bin Laden's messenger, which eventually led to Operation Neptune Spear and the death of Osama Bin Laden.\n...
what's the legality of towing a car? if i take it from the towing company's lot, am i stealing my car from them?	Towing cars is legal, subject to state and local statutes. Usually, for property regularly accessible to the public, the owner must post a clear warning that cars will be towed, or place one on the car for a specified amount of time. Then the tow truck company becomes custodian of the car and must keep it safe, until d...	[ "Many tow companies can store vehicles that have been wrecked or impounded by police agencies. In these circumstances, police agencies notify a contracted towing provider to secure the vehicle and tow it to a storage lot. The tow company will sometimes prevent access to the vehicle until the law states the owner ca...
why is it in northern states (us) it can snow several feet and daily life doesn't change, but in southern states ~1 inch of snow can shut everything down?	Infrastructure in place to deal with it, both people's stuff and city wide. If you live in an area that regularly gets snow, you have snowblowers. You have shovels. You have winter tires, and they're already on the car. The city has huge salt reserves, plows, you name it. if you live somewhere that doesn't get snow...	[ "During January and February winter storms become more likely than they are in December. While they do not affect the entire U.S., the Northeast and Midwest are particularly prone to them, along with most neighboring areas of Canada. This includes many major metropolitan areas, and movie markets, in both countries....
what actually physically happens when hard drive "fails"? does it just ''wear out''?	In a platter drive (the older, typically larger capacity ones), they have one or more thin discs of metal on a central spindle, and one or more arms with a sensor that act almost like a stylus on an old vinyl record player. When those drives fail, one of the following has typically happened: - Physical failure of the ...	[ "Failure of a hard disk drive can be catastrophic or gradual. The former typically presents as a drive that can no longer be detected by CMOS setup, or that fails to pass BIOS POST so that the operating system never sees it. Gradual hard-drive failure can be harder to diagnose, because its symptoms, such as corrupt...
why the woman has the right to "decide not to have a child," yet the man has no such right? is this gender equality?	From the way you are responding to the replies, it is clear that you understand the subject, and want to have a debate about it. ELI5 is not for debates, it is a place to come to get explanations of subjects you don't understand. Therefore, I've deleted your question. I'd suggest you re-post it in /r/changemyview	[ "Women do not have equal status and rights, particularly concerning divorce and inheritance. The law allows polygamy. Women are legally obligated to obey their husbands and are particularly vulnerable in cases of divorce, child custody, and inheritance. Even the limited rights that women have are often unenforced, ...
Can we gain control over the muscles in our eyes that determine myopia? I.e. exercise away nearsightedness?	No, there's no muscle involved with myopia. If the combined power of your cornea and lens are too great for the length of your eye, no amount of accommodation will fix that, as it will only increase the combined power further.	[ "Cycloplegia is necessary in cases of suspected latent hyperopia (or \"over-focusing\") so that an ophthalmologist or optometrist can accurately measure how much a person has to flex their focusing muscle (accommodation) in order to see in the distance and up-close. Correction of latent hyperopia in children can of...
what is the difference between self-esteem and self worth?	How you feel about yourself vs how valuable you see yourself?	[ "Self-esteem is an individual's subjective evaluation of their own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, \"I am competent\", \"I am worthy\") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) defined it by saying \"The self-concept is what ...
how the hell was a gnat able to survive 4 mins in the microwave when my food was fully cooked and steaming?	In addition to the other answers: the size of a gnat -- especially the moist part that would absorb the radio waves -- is actually too short to efficiently absorb these waves. Even a quarter of a wave is 3cm long. So nearly all the absorbing is going to be done by more efficient receivers, with the gnat being largely...	[ "BULLET::::- A red dinosaur-like fire virus. Flamelar was sent into Yuka's microwave to overheat its generator, turning it into a timebomb. With only three minutes left on the microwave's timer, Gridman made haste to stop Flamelar before Yuka can be killed in the explosion. Using the Plasma Sword, Gridman severed F...
Native Americans in Vietnam	I'd love to read this article, but by and large that stuff about "sixth sense" and their hair is nonsense. It's all white myth. John Luke Flyinghorse wrote: > My grandfathers told us that the white man has a myth about us—that we can see in the dark, hear movement miles away simply by putting our ears to the ground...	[ "In 2016 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the Vietnamese American population to be 2,067,527. They tend to live in metropolitan areas in the West, especially in California and Texas. Significant areas where they are well represented include Orange County, California, San Jose, California, Houston, Texas, and Seattl...
how exactly do companies acquire, store, and analyze the huge amounts of personal information and data	Realistically, much more data is collected than is ever analysed. Typically, a manager asks a question and an analyst will query databases available to answer it. Some companies have developed tools for finding patterns in the data (e.g. customers who bought X also bought Y). [There is an AMA here from a supermarket b...	[ "The data that is collected by companies is often information that does not seem immediately useful. Although the information is not used by the company right away, it can be stored for future use or sold to someone else who can use the information. The data can help with quality control, performance and revenue.\n...
why did we stop building beautiful and ornate buildings?	Cost. Beautiful and ornate are a big added expense. Also lots of old buildings were fugly, most of those get torn down. Beautiful ones get preserved.	[ "Just as new buildings are being built every day and older structures are constantly torn down, the story of most civil and urban architecture involves a process of constant renewal, renovation, and revolution. Only the most (subjectively, but popularly determined) beautiful, most useful, and most structurally soun...
due process	That's a huge question. Like, in one of my classes we've been studying a [really specific application](_URL_2_) of due process the Supreme Court addressed in 1990. The final answer for us (first year of law school answer) was "we really don't know which of these 2 interpretations of due process (for this really specifi...	[ "The term \"due process\" is unique to common law legal systems, and is not generally found in the text of international human rights and humanitarian law treaties. Due process is a powerful concept at common law, so it was important for the Lexington Principles to be phrased in those terms. All of the transnationa...
Why haven't we sent probes to Europa?	Jupiter is not only very far away, but also has a very powerful gravity. What does this imply? As soon as a spacecraft reaches the Jovian system and gravity starts pulling significantly, it will reach incredible speeds when it gets to the inner part of the system. This would cause it to swing by and escape, unless a ma...	[ "Because Europa lies well within the harsh radiation fields surrounding Jupiter, even a radiation-hardened spacecraft in near orbit would be functional for just a few months. Most instruments can gather data far faster than the communications system can transmit it to Earth because there are a limited number of ant...

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