query
stringlengths
8
249
answer
stringlengths
45
7.8k
Why do some reddit users delete their top voted comments?
Like in a thread when the top rated comment got deleted? That's typically a mod stepping in and removing it for whatever reason.
Why is Paris the city of love?
Dammit, the etymology seems to unknown. Possibly a lot if it had to do with Napoleon's obsession with romance and celebrating it, but it also might come from a combination of it being "The city of lights" and it being a common destination for poets and artists.One of the reasons is that monuments in Paris are pretty old and we want to keep them that way. So you find yourself in the capital of a country that doesn't look like modern buildings, most of the hings you look at have an historical touch to them. Also, there is that big river running through the city, so you can get on boat and watch the city from the river. You've got buildings that are old, therefore not high enough to cover the sky, so you've always got a landscape view of the city. You could say that any picture will be a pretty picture. It's basically a kind of a Disneyland with rude people in it. What's not to like ?
How come games no longer have cheat codes?
There's a number of reasons for this. Cheat codes were implemented in games for various reasons, all of which fell away in recent years. 1. Cheat codes were often implemented for debugging purposes, with many games going as far as including a 'debug mode'. This stopped happening when development tools started improving and you could instead hook a test machine to a PC to see the debug info or set variables.2. They were often implemented for marketing. Cheat codes for popular games got kids talking about games, so more kids heard about the game from word of mouth. It also gave the game some publicity via cheatbooks. This stopped happening when the internet became big, as most people were using Google to get the codes, negating the marketing effect.3. They were used to make hard games easier. This is redundant today as modern games are much easier than 90s games
When I'm touching my skin with my finger, does my finger feel my skin or does the skin feel the finger? Or does it both?
Both! There are some areas of the body that are more sensitive than others though. Lightly rub your fingers across your lips. You'll feel a lot of sensation on your lips but little on your fingers. Then run your finger across the bottom of your foot near the heel. You'll feel the touch sensation much more on your finger than on your heel. Fun fact: There are two main types of touch receptors. The first is the type that lets you feel your finger drag across your arm, and these mostly do this by sensing the disturbance of the hairs on your skin. Remember, humans are still absolutely covered in hair but it's so small and fine that you don't really see it unless you look for it. The second type is much deeper in your skin and is responsible for sensing pressure.
Why is every show involving a demon use christianity to exorcise the demon? What if the demon was Jewish or Muslim? Or am I just missing something?
I feel like most of these answers miss the point. Most movies/shows you watch have Christian exorcism because Hollywood is a Western movie industry which makes movies mostly for the Western world. And the West is Christian, historically anyway. If you watch shows from Muslim countries that have exorcism than they will use Islam for the exorcism. I have watched such shows. In animes demons/spirits are often fought by Shinto or Buddhism.Christianity is a popular religion. If someone gets possessed in an anime, then they're probably a lot more likely to exorcised with shinto.
Why do I get really tired and sleepy after an argument or when I'm sad?
Getting sleepy is a defensive mechanism. If there's too much to deal with you can end up being sleepy. You are subconsciously trying to avoid what's troubling you.
How can different SD cards with same physical dimensions offer several different read/write speeds? Are they somehow wired differently or efficiently?
They do have a different wiring and newer chips. Imagine a 1Gb sd card as a single chip. You have to write each byte after previous byte. You can't write two bytes at the same quantum of time. Now, the easiest way to increase speed is to have two 500Mb chips combined through a controller that allows writing/reading from two chips at the same time. Having that setup you double your speed as now you can process two bytes at the same time. You can get a four chips setup and get even more speed. Real life is a bit more complicated but that's the idea
How do geysers work? Also why are some so predictable and other's are completely random?
Geysers happen when water is heated by a hot spot in the earth's crust. Water flows into a void, is heated, and steam and water rush out of the void rapidly. Predictable gysers are predictable because they have a low cycle time which allows many observations and the different variables can be estimated . Less predictable gysers have a long enough cycle time that it's hard to keep records of previous eruptions or there haven't been enough observations to judge how the length of eruption affects the next geyser's cycle. Some guysers are predictable after major eruptions but don't always fully empty the void .
What exactly does this new Student Loan Plan Obama signed do?
President Obama announced an expansion of a program that helps student loan borrowers manage their debt, a White House official said. The official said Obama will expand the criteria for an alternative repayment program, which caps monthly payments for certain federal student loans at 10% of a borrower's discretionary income. The alternative payment programs are designed to help borrowers struggling under the weight of student loans. They include forgiveness programs for on-time payments and public-sector employees. Teachers can have their balance canceled after ten years, for example. Low-income borrowers can have their balance canceled after 20 or 25 years of on-time payments. Borrowers who don't quality for forgiveness but use a repayment program find their monthly payments reduced but spread out over a longer period of time. That means they will pay more over the lifetime of the loan, as there is additional time for interest to accrue. [Read more at]
independent athletes in the Olympics
In the case of 2012, it's actually handy because there are two examples of the type of situation that can arise. Three athletes come from the Netherlands Antilles, which was dissolved as a country in 2010 and was removed from the Olympics books in 2011. However the athletes involved were already in process to compete. For the 4th competitor, he comes from the newly created South Sudan, which has yet to form it's own Olympic organisation within the nation. However as the man himself had qualified for the marathon event, he was still allowed to enter. To recap, 3 athletes had a country and lost it and the 4th had no country then found one, but not in time for the Olympics to recognise it.
Why does the sound of flowing water sound different as a bottle is being filled up?
Due to the bottle having a confined space. The air in the bottle being forced out by the water displacing it causes the difference in sound. Flowing water, like a river, does not displace air and therefore has a different soundAs the water level in the bottle rises, the flowing stream has to travel less distance to reach the water. The shorter the fall, the lower the tone of the sound emitted from impact
Why I should not be excited to invest in Cuba as an American?
Because the Canadians, Brazilians, British, Spanish and Chinese have been there for years already and have locked down many of the key development deals and important relationships.
Why we get the sudden urge to pee when our body comes in contact with water, eg swimming pools, shower.
When you come in contact with water, or even when you see some nice amount of water, your brain automatically thinks you are somehow going to ingest that water, and it cuts the supply of a certain hormone in your blood ). This cause your kidneys to increase the production of urine, a.k.a. pee. The function of that hormone is to maintain a minimunly healthy amount of water in your body, but when your brain thinks you are going to ingest some more liquid, it just process to release the "stored" water in the form of pee, wich will also carry some metabolism by-products that can be toxic to the blood if held in high quantity
Why don't all States do proportional representation instead of winner take all in the electoral college?
Since it goes state to state as far as rules my first inclination would be power. If you live in a state with a powerful majority party, it's in the interest of that states party to go for winner take all so that the party ,with it's deep reach in all districts, can try to coerce said districts to support the candidate that the party wants to win. Smoke filled back rooms and whatnot.
Is China still a communist country?
Not by the general definition of communism.The Government structure is very central to the one party and all laws and rules are based on communist philosophy, while the economic structure is not.Basically economy is driven by a very active trade system, while people living within the country are bound by the very restrictive rules and laws of the country. Also, China appears wealthy because it does not put as much money back into the infrastructure of the country. Also, you are comparing a country that focuses on production, has drastically lower wages and a bigger poverty problemMao and Stalin had a split over differing beliefs on how a country should be run. China is ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. They do not hold general elections. They hold elections from within the party. The country is ruled by a committee. Everything about this is fairly similar to your standard Communist type of party. The main difference is that Mao wanted parts of capitalism. He wanted the trade opportunities, he wanted investment capital, he wanted prosperity. So he opened the country into a mixed system that would allow for central government with a single ruling party while allowing for good relations with America. One would ask, is any country really communist. Communists have long argued that none of the communist countries of the 20th century were "true" communist countries because they were not a revolution from the proletariat but instead a revolution from peasants. This was in fact the charge of Karl Kautsky who believed revolution in Russia and China would not result in communism and it was this speaker that Lenin was specifically targeting when he began his own branch of socialist theory often referred to as Marxist-Leninist.
Why do we find certain animals cute and certain animals gross?
I think it has to do with certain features they have, like large round eyes, rounded faces, soft fur or skin and the sounds they make that are somewhat compatible with that of a human baby triggering a maternal or paternal instinct to love and protect the creature. "Gross" things probably have to do with things like scales or mucus which could activate am instinct to be fearful or repulsed by these things because many poisonous, venomous or dangerous animals have these traits.
How do TV Street Magicians work? If actors are used then why does nobody expose them online?
Any magician employing actors to fool people with would get non-disclosure agreements signed by the actors and could pursue civil action if they did speak out. So there is little to be gained from actors speaking out since people already know magic acts are trickery, and potentially a lot to lose like the actors job or future job prospects or paying for a lawsuit.I don't think they're all actors. Surely they have an assistant or two helping out, like when the card suddenly appears behind a store window, etc. Distraction techniques, sleight of hand and power of persuasion are serious forces. I've had my watch removed from my arm when I thought I was being alert for any trickery.Some tricks do not use actors, but some indeed do. One of the best examples, IMO, is in David Blaine's "Street Magic" special. The show teases viewers with shots of his "levitations" with what I believe are genuine reactions from people on the street. But in these circumstances the camera never shows his feet. In he one shot where his feet are shown, here actors are used. A different method was used for this levitation and then a shot was taken with actors being amazed. For more information on this sort of thing see Penn and Teller's :Off the Deep End." Source: I'm an amateur magician.99% of the people who witness these performances know there was a helper after they rethink the magic trick. Street magic is all about that moment where we see the trick, in hindsight it's pretty easy to say that someone helped out while the magician was distracting the audience.
do screws used in surgery truly turn to bone? If so, how?
There is a type of surgical screw that is made from polylactic acid and hydroxylapatite. The polylactic acid will slowly dissolve into your body and disappear leaving behind the hydroxylapatite which is a main component in your bones. In time your body will "fill in the gaps" left by the polylactic acid leaving you with essentially a bone plug instead of a hole where the screw was. This is quite an upgrade from previous technologies which generally required a second surgery to remove the screws after you had healed.Most medical screws and fixtures are just metal. It's cheap and easy to use. There ARE degradeable mineral-based screws available. These screws are made of *hydroxyapatite* which is the same mineral your body makes to make bone tissue, so on a molecular level it fuses with bone and as bone tissue in constantly being broken down and reassembled on a microscopic scale, the hydroxyapatite screws will eventually be gone.
Why does the "church of scienctology" still have tax exempt status in the usa?
There is no hard set definition of what a religion or "church" is in US law and each group that desires to gain tax exempt status under the religious clauses applies and then is either granted or denied that status. Once granted there is really no strong mechanism to remove the status as attempting to do so would be hindering a recognized religion and would be a violation of the First Amendment . Scientology obtained the status after years of petitioning for it, and finally effectively holding the IRS hostage by filing hundreds of individual lawsuits that bogged down the system and force them to divert resources from other issues and took up court time from more legitimate casesReal questions should be why any religion should get tax exemption at all?The IRS threatened to take it away, and they arranged for their members to file a huge number of simultaneous lawsuits about it. The government decided to give up.This is from Australia, but I'm sure the reasoning is the same. > The Church of Scientology requested a tax exemption from wages originating from a religious institution based on the Victoria Pay-roll Tax Act 1971. The High Court asked the question on whether Scientology was to be accepted as a religion, and decided that they were. Scientology met the two criteria that they stipulated for the determination of whether an organization is religious; first “belief in a supernatural Being, Thing or Principle” and second, “the acceptance of canons of conduct in order to give effect to that belief.” In other words, it meets the same standards as any major religion.It's the same reason why John Oliver's "Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption" was registered as a church. The definition of what constitutes a religion is very lax in the US.Why do you think Scientology exists? It's tax avoidance.
If no normal person can withstand water boarding can't it be used to get anyone to admit to doing anything just to make it stop?
confessions made under torture have been deemed unreliable because there are way too many false positives. people say whatever it takes to make the pain stop [CIA torturers themselves] admitted this, but continued to use it anyway, because torture is fun i guess', "Yes. That is the problem with torture in general. It isn't a way to discover actual truths.Specifically because it will get people to admit to doing anything to make it stop. The information gained from torture is not useful because it is not truthful. They just want the torture to stop so they will tell you what you want to know, not what you actually need to know.yeah that's pretty much one argument against torture. that it's ineffective and people will just say anything to get it to stop.That is why torture is not a good intelligence gathering tool. If you torture somebody, they will admit to anything in order to get you to stop. It all depends on what is being asked and what information a person is trying to obtain. For instance "Admit you killed Abraham Lincoln!" is going to get false confessions just to make it stop. A good example is "Admit your heresy and beg forgiveness" used in the inquisition under torture. The fallacy here is that you have no way to verify what the person is admitting to. Did they tell you what you wanted to hear in order to stop torture, or did they really admit to something? There is no way to tell. However an example of usable intelligence would be "Tell me where you planted the bomb" or "where are the machine gun placements on this map" or "Who are your accomplices" etc because those can be verified as true or false.
Why do the dirtier "Grimm version" of fairy tales serve as better teaching tools than the Disney or "Clean" versions of fairy tales?
An example would be useful. But if you mean what I think I mean then: Reality sucks. Things don't work out perfectly 99% of the time. "Happily ever after" is an extremely rare occurrence. So it's better to tell stories that are a little more grounded.Who are you teaching to specifically? The original versions where meant to be warnings to children back then. It was never meant to inspire hope or the like. If it were meant to be taught today to children, most of the ideas that come with it will either be misunderstood due to the fact that kids today live a sheltered life and not the kind of free life that kids had back then. So if you're talking about the effectiveness of the versions, it depends on the era. Kids back then will be disciplined with frightful stories, but kids today will never know true fear
Tumblr. What is it? How does it work? Why is it so popular?
Tumblr is a blogging platform. It's typically best for short-form post. Think of it as an in between Twitter and a traditional blog. Tumblr essentially allows you to post text, photos, videos, etc. It also makes it very easy to share content between blogs. For instance if you like a particular photo you can "reblog" the post, with credit, to your blog. The entire process is pretty easy to get a hang of if you are just starting out yet still offers the ability to professionally blog easily. Tumblr became popular with youth and this popularity gradually led the platform to be adopted by journalists, artists, and other companies as a way to spread their content easily.
The Geneva convention, who it applies to and when it may not apply to someone.
It applies to those countries that signed the treaty. IS didn't exist back then so they didn't sign it. It's a treaty, not a law. That means the signed countries put up their hands and agreed they would do the commonly agreed on part of treating civilians and POWs. A rogue military member of that country doesn't have to follow those rules, cause he never signed.
Why is it okay that I lose so much hair in the shower?
Hair grows in a cycle. Every single hair on your body goes throw three phases: 1. Growing. This phase can last weeks, months, or even years. Different hairs spend different amounts of time in this phase, which determines the maximum length of that particular hair. For instance, eyebrows generally spend a shorter amount of time in this phase than pubic hair, and a *much* shorter time than head hair. 2. Disconnecting from the root. This takes a few weeks, during which time the hair becomes "detached", and ends up just sitting loosely in the follicle. 3. Resting. During this phase, nothing much happens. The loose hair will easily come out of the follicle if disturbed , or will be pushed out when a new hair starts to grow. At any given time, some of your hairs are in that third phase, ready to fall out, which is exactly what you assist in happening when you wash or brush your hair.
What is dandruff and how does pyrithione zinc (head and shoulders) stop it?
Dandruff is typically caused by fungus that grows in the deep part of your hair follicles. When the fungus grows there, your immune system is activated and causes inflammation, which leads to extra skin cells being shed faster than usual. The fungus grows in the indented space that your hair sits in , which is normally filled with natural oil from your scalp. The fungus likes to eat this oil, which is why it lives there. The pyrithione zinc stops the fungus from functioning properly, and it is thought that the different chemicals in your shampoo help the pyrithione zinc to get into the tiny holes your hair sits in. Specifically how this process of getting the pyrithione zinc to the fungus and how it kills the fungus is still an area of active research . Sources: Wikipedia , [pyrithone zinc] articles), [ZPT Mechanism]'and also I worked in a lab that studies how shampoo assists the delivery of pyrithione zinc, among other similar problems [Garoff Lab]
What the hell is Homestuck and why is it so popular?
Homestuck is a comic story on the internet a lot of people like. [Here's the website.]", 'A better explanation is [this one by the author].
Why is a person whose name isn't known called a John or Jane Doe?
This is really interesting, but apparently.. > The John Doe custom was born out of a strange and long since vanished British legal process called an action of ejectment. Under old English common law, the actions landowners could take against squatters or defaulting tenants in court were often too technical and difficult to be of any use. So landlords would instead bring an action of ejectment on behalf of a fictitious tenant against another fictitious person who had allegedly evicted or ousted him. In order to figure out what rights to the property the made-up persons had, the courts first had to establish that the landlord really was the owner of the property, which settled his real reason for action without him having to jump through too many legal hoops.Frequently, landlords named the fictitious parties in their actions John Doe and Richard Roe , though no one has been able to find the case where these names were first used or figure out why they were picked. The names don’t appear to have any particular relevance, and it might be that the first names were chosen because they were among the most common at the time. [Source] Somehow, because of this practice identified remains became known as John or Jane Doe from this practice.
If I was in the vacuum of space and a small asteroid traveling at 10,000 MPH collided with me, would it go straight through me or would my body speed up and travel with it?
It would plow through you in a bloody spectacle of gore and transfer some of its force to your corpse, sending it speeding along the same path. There IS a force for the asteroid to push against. As it hits you, your body is going to push back against it with equal force, which will slow it somewhat. Unfortunately for you, a space rock is much denser than meat.Assuming you were not moving relative to the asteroid, it would go through you. Inertial laws work the same in space. That's why there are craters on asteroids.
Why do the majority of Americans drive automatic cars as opposed to manual (stick shift) cars?
European here. The question is, why does the majority of us still prefer manual cars? I had a manual car, because it's the norm. But actually, it only adds an unnecessary task. The only reason there are still manual cars is because people want it out of habit, but there's no real reason nor does it make any sense, actually. There's no disadvantage in driving an automatic car. We try to automate everything nowadays to make our lives less complicated everywhere else.
How did it work out that basically the entire world used Arabic numerals?
The reason is really its efficiency. Not just the idea of "0" , but the fact that we can do multiplications and divisions MUCH easier than with Roman numerals. Also, it just feels natural: we use base 10 system because we have 10 fingers, which we use to count. That's the "why". About the "how", all I know is that a persian mathematician, Muhammad ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi wrote a book on algebra using the arabic system. And that a Latin translation of this book really helped to accelerate the european transition from Roman to Arabic numerals.It is a very practical way of doing math. It started in India but during the Muslim Golden Age spread to basically everywhere. A lot of the math the Arabs discovered just simply can't work practically with any other kind of notation.
how the term "cracker" is supposed to be insulting to white people?
Cracker is derived from a white man who used a whip. These were commonly cattle men who lived in the south who use the sound of the whip to control the direction of the cattle herds. It is derived from Spanish herding practices. There is also a connection to the white enforcers employed by slave owners to keep the slaves in check.Readers are reminded that ELI5 is not a debate subreddit. Please don't post off-topic comments on whether racism is justified, etc.Also crackers are salty and brittle, so like a double whammy. Like i'm gonna crunch you up in some soup cracka. Scary stuff, being white if someone said that to me i 'd rip off my shirt and fight them asking something like, "Do you even lift brah?" Male dominance rituals are at a pinnacle of complexity.You don't see any BLACK crackers, do you?
how did a rocket with the computing power of a calculator get people to and from the moon?
Because almost none of the mission was controlled by that computer. It had fairly simple tasks to do. Most of the mission was pre-computed, and further computing was done on the ground at Mission Control.Same question will be asked in the future: how did people get to work when they didn't have self-driving cars? The answer is: the rocket had a [control panel] full of switches that allowed the astronauts to control every detail and performance of the rocket manually, and they piloted themselves to the moon and back. With the help of Houston Control, which basically had additional people monitor various aspects of the rocket, and provide brain power / calculations when necessary. It's all brain power, math done by hand, physics calculations done by hand, and training, lots of training. Astronauts were/are usually Air Force or Navy pilots, and they had / go through extra training for things like navigating by the sun / moon , or for the various controls that a space shuttle or rocket has, etc.Because the computing power of a calculator is all they needed. As a side note you would probably be surprised how "ancient" the computers in space and military vehicles are even compared to the old computer you threw out years ago. They are designed to do one thing well, and do it reliably for decades. The less complexities there are in the system, the less chances of something going wrongBecause you didn't need a lot of computer power to get to the moon. And most of what you needed could be precalculated, spending hours or even weeks to get the numbers you need. Also, it is disingenuous to say the "power of a calculator". They aren't talking about simple 4-function calculators, they mean programmable calculators, like the venerable [HP 15C], are sophisticated computers in their own right, and can perform a wide variety of advanced mathematical calculations. That's like saying a computer from the 1990s was less powerful than a telephone. Today's smartphones are advanced computers that just happen to have phones attached to them.
Why is it uncomfortable to walk slower (e.g., stuck behind a group on a sidewalk) even if I'm not in a hurry?
because it requires you to alter your natural gait and pace. You have a specific stride and when someone is walking slowly in front of you you have to shorten your stride, which disrupts the fluidity of the automatic coordination that allows you to walk without thinking.More than likely your casual walking speed has been consistant your whole life. As a result it feels 'different' to walk slower. It's kind of like going to the same bar as always for your favorite beer, but the bartender tells you they only have coke and rum for the night.
Why can't my front windshield have those defroster lines my rear window has that defrost the rear window really quickly?
It can, my 2003 Ford Focus has it. The wires are very thin and embedded inside the windscreen. It's a very common option in the UK. Edit. For those of little faith, Google 'Ford Quickclear Windscreen' and prepare for enlightenment.
When in a serious accident and/or near death, why does going to sleep lead to death?
Going to sleep doesn't lead to death, but the inability to wake someone or even get them to respond to pain indicates that something is very, very wrong and may lead to death. So when someone is injured you make sure they can still wake up or respond in some way.
How are China and India not huge powers in international soccer?
In India the most popular sport is cricket, and they are the current Cricket World Cup holders', "The sport is not big in these countries. Countries like Australlian and New Zealand are rugby country's, India is a cricket nation, USA plays Baseball and American ''Foot''ball . In the future when the population wants to play a lot of football they ofcourse have the chance to becomea huge power. IDK this for sure but i think that also they body types of the asian population is a factor. Sport like football also require a certain hight and physical prowess. Being tall and strong gives you a certain advantage, ofcourse this does not mean that it is impossible that people without these abilities can become football superstars but it makes it a little bit harder. The same can be seen by Marathon runner where the Ethopians have advantage because of there physical builds, Africans with 100m running and Europeans with cycling.
What is going on in Myanmar?
Since it's history, Myanmar has been ruled by either totalitarian dictators or, more recently, a military council. In 2007, there were large pro-Democracy protests which resulted in a violent government crackdown and the death of 13 people . For some reason or another, the government has decided to promote political freedoms. My theory is that they are doing this because Kim Jong-il is dead. The N. Koreans and the Burmese government have had a close relationship, and perhaps with the death of Kim Jong-il, the Burmese are seeking to better their relationship with western nations such as the US. Just a theory.
How can the surviving Boston Bomber be charged for WMDs by using pressure cookers whilst Iraq had far worst weapons than pressure cookers but was nonetheless cleared of WMD possession?
Because the military definition of WMD is different than the US criminal definition of WMD, which includes conventional bombs as wellThe legal definition of weapon of mass destruction is very different depending on the source of the weapon. The criminal charges for someoen in the US are not the same as the ones for another country. For instance, A bomb with a propellant charge of more than four ounces is considered a weapon of mass destruction in terrorism cases. But internationally, the definition mainly includes nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. So its best to think of the two terms as having nothing to do with each other, despite the similar names.civilians and militaries have different laws they have to follow in regards to weaponry. its like you can't drive around with a 50 caliber M2 mounted on your car, but the military can.
Why do some electical plugs have 2 prongs that are the same size, some have 2 different sizes and some have 3? (US plugs)
Okay, so: Two prongs are the minimum you need to make an electric circuit: the 'hot' blade and the 'neutral' blade. The 'hot' blade is connected to the house current, and the 'neutral' blade is connected to the return path. If the blades are two different sizes, the plug as a whole is said to be 'polarized;' you can only insert it one way. This prevents the hot and neutral from being swapped. The third, circular blade situated below and between the other two is 'ground.' This is distinct from 'neutral' in that the ground blade is connected to something that's not the electric circuit, so that if something happens and the electric current gets fouled, it dumps to ground rather than dumping through you or through other things, potentially causing a fire.
Where am I "allowed" to buy a Tesla?
You can and the showrooms will help you place an order. I think a few states are still preventing this direct model still.
What is radiocarbon dating?
Carbon-14 is a highly unstable element. The **half-life** determines how long it takes for an object's store of an element to naturally dissipate to half. Carbon-14 has a half-life of ~5750 years, so if you find an object with half of the expected C-14, it's 5750 years old. If you find one with 1/4 the expected C-14, then it is 11500 years old, etc. People reject carbon dating because *science is hard* and the world can't be more than 6000 years old, a date that C-14 dating regularly exceeds.
How do electric eels, and other animals that give off an electric shock create that shock?
It comes from specialized muscle cells. Every living cell has a small voltage between the inside and the outside. In muscle cells it's about 0.070 volts . In normal muscle cells, the nerve that controls it causes it to lose it's voltage for about 1/1000th of a second, which triggers a complex cascade of molecular events that cause the muscle to contract. In electric fish and eels, there are specially modified muscle cells that don't have the power to contract. These are stacked up in a very orderly way in the electric organ so that they are electrically in series. This analogous to the way that the individual cells of a battery are connected in series to make a larger voltage. The nerve fires all specialized cell at once, and together they make a large voltage pulse. Bonus points: In order for the voltages of the individual "muscle" cells to add together properly, the electric organ cells only have the machinery for generating current only on one side. This is different from a regular muscle, in which the machinery for changing the voltage is on all sides of the muscle cells. In regular muscles, then, the voltages don't add together so effectively. Also, in regular muscles, the cells don't all fire at once, but are staggered in time.
How can we see milky way in nightsky if we are in it??
The same way you can see your house if you are in it. It looks different from if you were looking at it from the outside, but you can still see the wallsThe same way you can see your arms with your eyes.
So we the UK are now bombing in Syria, where does the extra funding come from for this new front on the war on terror?
The funding comes from the budgets that are already set for your military budgets and are gathered by your taxes. This is why you have a military. Why do so many in the UK think this will be some unfunded thing? Do they not teach how taxes and government budgets work in the UK?', "People often struggle to understand government decisions because, for any amount over 10 million, it just sounds like 'a lot' to our brains. Britain is going to spend 742 billion pounds this year. So, let's compare that to the income of someone in the middle class in Britain who earns 74 thousand pounds a year. The equivalency would be that for every pound that normal person spent, the British government could spend 10 million pounds and have it count as equivalent. So if the British government spends a billion bounds bombing ISIS, that's only equivalent to a middle manager having to spend 100 pounds on bombing ISIS. It's an expense, yeah, but a pretty trivial one. By contrast, the British Government spends 230 billion pounds on general welfare, or the equivalent to a manager spending 23,000 pounds. It's not really a comparable expense - bombing ISIS is like buying two bottles of Vodka and hosting a small party compared to the price of renting out a decent flat.Technically those bombs were already bought. And the fuel for the planes and pay for the pilots already in the peacetime patrol budget. They probably just fudge budgets next quarter to pay for the resupply. In the US, our military-industrial monster is always resupplying, because not building bombs and helicopter gunships would put people out of work. War is a very lucrative business, and our busted political engine has no desire to change that.
Why laughing makes limbs weaker?
Really deep breath can cause weakness, or specifically a sudden change in how much oxygen is in the blood. Laughter also releases endorphins, which decreases pain and can relax the body. It could also be an example of [cataplexy ], the term given to sudden weakness caused my strong emotions. It's associated with narcolepsy, however not everyone who has narcolepsy experiences cataplexy, and not everyone who experiences cataplexy has narcolepsy. There's not a lot of research on this outside of narcolepsy, but I found a NYT article that you can read [**here.**]
How do we know where the borders that distinguish each ocean are, (i.e between Pacific and Atlantic) and how were they distinguished?
At the boundaries between the oceans, no, there's no sudden change. The technical borders of each ocean are dictated by the International Hydrographic Organization. For example, the boundary between the Atlantic and Indian oceans is defined by the 20E meridian from Africa to Antarctica. On a large scale, each ocean has its own properties that make them unique and worth referring to separately. They have their own currents, their own species, etc. Despite that, on a very fine scale, there's no exact point where one becomes the other. The border for the Atlantic/Indian above could just as well be 19E or 21E. 20E is a nice round number and just so happens to be very close to the southernmost point of Africa, and we had to make the distinction *somewhere*, so that was a good spot.
Why can I control my breathing, but I also just breathe automatically when not thinking about it? Usually it's one or the other.
Evolution doesn't just give you every ability that could ever help you survive - if it did that, no species would ever die out. Instead, our ancestors got lucky and developed the abilities that we have today. A few random mutations in a few million years gave us voluntary and involuntary breath control - voluntary ones like holding one's breath whenever we feel the need, and involuntary ones like how babies < 6 months old will instinctively hold their breath in water. It would probably be advantageous sometimes to be able to control one's heartbeat. Or one's digestion. Or to be able to consciously spike adrenalin. But since all of this evolutionary stuff depends on random chance in mutations . they just haven't happened yet.
If all the food we eat is broken down into sugar then why can't we just live off eating sugar?
False premise all the food isn't broken down into sugar. Sugar is used as the energy source however the body needs fats, minerals, amino acids and vitamins from the food for other essential body processes other than just for energy.Not all sugars are the same, the one you break down are usually much different than table sugar. Not to mention you also need proteins, vitamins, minerals, fats, etc. Now go brush your teeth.
How do people make computer generated art?
CG art in general is made with a wide variety of software packages. packages like Photoshop for 2D and packages like Autodesk Maya, 3DS Max, Zbrush etc for 3d images and the stuff in movies/ video games. I only listed a few, there are many more. If it is something that you're interested in i suggest youtubing something like "painting in photoshop" or "3d modelling" and there are plenty of examples/tutorials for all of the software used which should answer your question.
Why are AM radio frequencies still used for radio?
There was a previous post about this that made some good points. _URL_0_ Also, I work at an AM talk/news station. I agree AM makes no sense for music stations but they still survive as talk stations. Most are operations that have been around for decades, own the transmitter already, and continue for those historical reasons. I’m always surprised by how many younger people listen to my station because they feel we do provide a service they want. The thing we do better than anyone is report really local news as it happens. Little stuff that wouldn’t make much of a splash on social media or the internet but that people want to know right now in their daily lives: “why is the road blocked? what are all those cop cars doing in front of my local store? did teachers at my kid’s school vote to go on strike?” Or if it does show up online, it’s usually an news room like mine that’s put the info out there in the first place. Add into the mix people driving. Surfing the net for news or even listening to a radio station online may not be an option when behind the wheel. In that case having an AM signal to tune into still has some value. I could see a future where WiFi blankets city’s like radio signals used to – or everyone has data plans on smart phones or something – and people can stream audio instead of tuning into a radio signal. But I think the product a news radio station produces would still be relevant, just accessed through a different airwave. So what I guess I'm saying is -- AM is a dinosaur that exists because of history, but the product is still useful.
If I were to push my hand against a piece of glass for years, would my hand eventually start to go through it?
Glass as a liquid is a long-standing myth that was recently disproven pretty conclusively. You can read about it here [Using 20-million-year-old amber to test the super-Arrhenius behaviour of glass-forming systems] if you want all the technical details, but glass is definitely a solid. You might put enough stress on it to break it, but it's not going to flow over you unless there's enough heat to cause it to melt .
How can we see through paper when grease gets on it?
I don't know if I'm correct but I can give you my input on it. Paper isn't so much a solid object, but rather a bunch of fibers that have tiny little gaps of air in between the fibers. If you take 2 pieces of copy paper and draw with a sharpie on one piece and cover it with the other you will be able to see through it somewhat. Now when grease comes in contact with paper, it fills all those air gaps preventing the light from bouncing and scattering. This allows the light to just pass through it rather than hitting and reflecting off of the fibers. The reason it's clearer than, say, spilling water on paper is because grease actually has a refraction index close to that of paper. I only know that from doing 3D rendering and have a little cheat sheet of refraction indexes for common materials.
How does the stock market know the economy is bad?
Computers generally have people interfacing with them. The stock market is made up of people, computers just make it a lot easier. These people spend literally their entire day crunching through huge amounts of data trying to predict the future. Their computers are running the most advance software they can get trying to see into the future using past data. They are surprisingly good at it.
Screenshotting HD pics? (Extra in desc.)
A screenshot only records what is displayed on screen. And so lets say you are looking at a QHD picture on a phone with a resolution of 720p. If you take a screenshot you will notice that new image is only 720p. If you wanted to send the image at full quality you would want to save the original image itself and send that, not take a screenshotScreenshots are captured at or slightly below the resolution of the device, for which they are then stored locally. They are rarely upscaled without intervention from a piece of software/app. The easiest way to tell before sending it, is to check the size of the image that is saved.
Why does tons of company's have a mobile website but a company like Apple don't?
As mobile browsers become more advanced, dedicated mobile websites are becoming less and less necessary. A tech company is much more likely to build a single website with a fluid layout that functions properly across platforms to maintain the user experience across devices. Before long, mobile websites will be a quaint little antiquity, like guestbooks and counters.
It seems clear that subatomic particles aren't solid little spheres, what are they?
Bear with me, physicists, this is super ELI5 Subatomic particles are both an infinitely-small dot, and a spread-out fuzzy cloud representing the chances that this dot will be seen at any given location. But that gives the wrong idea that the dot is the real particle, and the cloud is just a description of it. But in every sense that matters, the "cloud of maybe" *is* the particle. Yes this is deeply weirdThe current physical model treats elementary particles as 0-dimensional points. We do not know if this is what they truly are, but the math works out. String Theory is a hypothesis that suggests they may be dimensional strings instead of points, but we lack the ability to test this experimentallyTo add to what others have said here, They’re not really anything. They’re points on their corresponding field. The particles themselves aren’t a thing. One way a professor explained it to me is that saying you have the same electron in your body that Einstein had in his brain when he discovered relativity is like saying you sign your name with the same J John Hancock used to sign the Declaration of IndependencePilot wave mechanics is probably the best intuitive model of subatomic particles. A particle is a pair of things. It is a 3D wave in the electromagnetic-weak field and a little solid sphere that bounces up and down in that wave getting led around by the wavefront. Here is a video that should make everything more intuitive: _URL_0_🎥 Is This What Quantum Mechanics Looks Like? - YouTubeWhat they really are doesn’t matter What matters is what model are we creating. And if that model fits our use to answer a specific set of questions Harder questions need better models But the real thing is left for philosophers
Is there a difference between Creative and Fiction writing?
There is creative non fiction eg. Bill Bryson and creative journalism, fiction is made up or loosely based on real events or people.
Why do kids sweat so much when they sleep, even if it's not particularly hot and they aren't under covers?
_URL_0_ According to the article kids sleep more deeply for longer, have immature temperature regulation ability and more sweat glands. If they aren't running a fever and there aren't any other reasons like too many blankets etc, there's not much to worry about. Most likely they'll outgrow it. Unless they are like my husband and drench the sheets every night - even in the winter
How can I blow and blow and blow my nose and still have snot in there?
Your face actually has a lot of holes inside of it called paranasal sinuses. They're useless; they used to serve a function, but we just don't need the extra space for scent receptors anymore. Now they're just cavities that get full of mucus and bacteria, and they're why you can blow your nose and still have so much mucus left.
What makes a pepper hot?
There is a chemical in hot peppers that can pass freely through the walls to the cells in your mouth. On the other side of nerves in your mouth, this chemical can trigger the same machinery that makes you feel a certain type of painChili peppers have a chemical called capsacium. It give the peppers their heat, and are fat soluble. So dairy will neutralize the heat better than water.
Why do most animals live less than human beings?
I'm sure a lot of things contribute to the difference; this is just one I've heard that animals that take care of their children past their reproductive period tend to live longer. Whether a jaguar lives for 1 or 50 years after it stops bearing children doesn't really matter from evolution's perspective, because both those jaguars pass on the same amount of genes. Meanwhile an old orca, elephant, or human will still care for their young adult children: adult humans who still have parents around benefit, and longevity genes get passed on in the long run. Naked mole rats have kids their whole lives and near as we can tell they don't age at all. but then you'd expect all social animals to live a bit longer, and lions live 10-15yrs turtles just lay eggs and leave em
what do the ratings water resistant devices have mean?
IP ratings are Dust and Water. The higher the rating, the better the protection. Dust is rated from 1 to 6, one being not dust tight, and 6 is completely airtight. Water is from 1-8. 1 being not waterproof at all. 8 being completely waterproof. Most newer cell phones will have a rating of IP at least 54 or above . The Samsung S8 has an IP rating of 68. My phone, protects against solid things larger than 1mm across, and can protect against a light spray from most directions. The S8 is completely dust proof, and water resistant up to 5 meters and for 30 minutesIP ratings have two numbers. The first is for solid objects such as dust or dirt. The second is for liquid. The higher the number the more protection. [Chart]
If we can control our thoughts and daydreams, why can't we control our dreams?
As other posters have said, you *can* control your dreams. You just need to get the skill. As to why you normally can't, is because the rational part of your brain shut down while you're dreaming. That's why you can dream about being attacked by a blue possum riding a unicycle while you're naked in front of your crush and completely believe it.With practice, some people can. Google "lucid dreaming".
Why sometimes does only one nostril get congested at a time?
The body does this on purpose. When you don't have congestion issues, your body will swell one side of your nose and not the other to cause a difference in the speed at which air is drawn in through each nostril. Some scents are better detected by quick airflow, others are better detected through slower air flow. By swelling one side and not the other, you can detect both types of scents equally as well. When you're congested, though, it magnifies this effect. Your nostrils are equally as congested, but one seems worse than the other.
Where does the air that causes an organ to produce sound come from and how is it carried to the pipes?
In the Olden Days, it was provided by a set of [bellows], that some [assistant] had to keep pumped to keep the organ supplied with air. Nowadays on most organs, it's done with an electric air compressor, though there are still organs with bellows that exist. There's an organ in a church near me that still has bellows, though there's a compressor too. You can use either to get it to start working, though obviously you can't play and pump at the same time. *edit* Just noticed I only answered half your question. Hold on and I'll finish up. *edit2* for some reason I've just noticed somehow the system didn't save the second half of my message. There's a [air reservoir] inside the organ which is basically a box which has a weighted top that can move up and down on a sort of accordion kind of arrangement. As the bellows assistant pumps, or the compressor compresses, the top of the reservoir lifts up, and the idea is that while the top of that is floating , the organ will be provided with a steady flow of air. This is necessary otherwise the organ will only sound each time the person gives a pump, which obviously will make playing anything decent difficult. Beyond that there are valves controlled by the keyboards, which allow air to the appropriate pipes. To modify the sounds, there are [stops] which are basically selections to adjust which set of pipes the air goes to . Volume is controlled using pedals which open or close mechanical shutters to limit how much sound can come out of the pipes. That's about it in basic terms. Obviously you could literally write books on the mechanics of pipe organs.
Why Adam Lanza's school and house were torn down?
It's not really unheard of for such structures to be torn down. Ariel Castro's house was torn down as a [stipulation to his plea bargain]. It's just a way for those involved or otherwise close to the incident to try and move on. Edit: Google also blocked out Ariel's house on their street view.. but I don't have a link to it and can't get one at the moment.
Why do people in old recordings from the 50's and 60's sound so different than today?
It's called the Transatlantic accent and it was specifically taught to people in the media - news announcers, actors, etc. Your average person back then wouldn't sound like that.They are using [Mid-Atlantic English], an accent developed to sound like a vague mix of upscale British and American English.It's called Mid-Atlantic English, it was usually an acquired version of talking, there are still people who do it when a show/movie wants someone to talk that way, like the announced in Legend of Korra.
What performance difference can we see between an athlete that warms up and one that doesnt before a race?
In short, warming up brings the body from its natural state of rest closer to its exercising state during training, performing etc. Essentially, it makes the transition from rest to exercise much more efficient as our heart rate is already substantially increased due to warming up. Our blood circulation is subsequently increased, leading to increased delivery of oxygen and removal of metabolic waste products from working muscles. Warming up allows athletes to jump straight into performance without having to worry about the stage known as oxygen deficit, where the body literally needs to take in a greater amount of oxygen to satisfy the increased demand for oxygen by the muscles. So to answer your question, a cyclist that has warmed up will be able to cycle harder and faster as their heart rate, blood circulation, respiratory rate and more are already substantially increased. A cyclist that has not warmed up will need an increased amount of oxygen delivered to working muscles to satisfy the sudden increase in demand.The most important reason for doing a warm up is to allow the body to prepare steadily and safely, thus preventing the possibility of an injury during the performance. In case an athlete didn't do the warm up exercise and an injury like a hamstring strain did occur that will obviously affect the performance, otherwise a considerable difference in performance is highly unlikely. Basically it's a matter of safety, gradually increasing the heart rate and circulation thus loosening the joints and increasing blood flow to the muscles. There is also a psychological factor that helps athlete when doing warm-up because it's an opportunity for the athlete to prepare mentally for the performance ahead.
Why do you hear a whoosh noise if you put a glass on your ear?
Blood flow in your year. I guess you can hear it because it is amplified in the enclosed space of the glass.
Solar EMP, what are they?
An EMP is an electromagnetic pulse. It's a burst of EM energy that disrupts electronics. The stars also have "weather" and storms. A strong solar storm can send a coronal mass ejection our way. Basically a big cloud of billion tons of plasma. If such a flare up was to hit earth it 'd be a massive EMP strike and take out electrical grid on a massive scale when it ionizes the atmosphere. The exitent of the damage an CME can do is based more on how fast it is going rather than the size. This is how the sun can cause an EMP on earth.
What's the difference between vaccines and antibiotics? Why do we worry about the overuse of antibiotics creating super bugs, but worry about the under use of vaccines leading to more disease?
Vaccines are composed of damaged or destroyed viruses. The idea is that your immune system will identify the harmless viruses as foreign invaders and add them to its antibody "library." When a fully functional version of that same virus attempts to attack, your immune system will rapidly identify it as hostile and destroy it. If you skip the vaccine, you're left vulnerable to some nasty viruses. Antibiotics are chemicals that injure or kill bacteria . However, there's always a chance that one badass and/or mutant germ survives the antibiotic assault. When that germ repopulates, the entire population is now genetically identical to the one that just shrugged off our medicines. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics accelerates the rate that bacteria evolve to defend against those antibiotics, making them harder to kill.
Why are there still radar dead spots over the oceans, despite all of the modern technology?
Radar needs a direct line of sight connecting the tower and the object. The earth is curved so if you go far enough away from a tower you can't see any radar towers. The ocean is just too big to have a line of sight to from a tower to every part of it.
What's the story behind the cops and donuts stereotype?
So 20-30 years ago pretty much the only places that were open late at night and really early in the morning were donut shops. Donut shops, which also sell coffee, became a common stop for police officers working late night/early morning shifts because there were few other options avaible. Adding to that - Donuts are cheap, tasty, packed with sugar and carbs for energy, and can sit in a patrol car for 6 hours and not spoil. In other words - the perfect snack for a cop! So that's where the stereotype started, sheer practicality and convenience for men and woman working a job with rough hours.
Why is child abuse such a huge problem among politicians in the UK, what's the backstory?
It has been said that high up politicians have been abusing children for 30 years, using their status as a way to get away with it. The children didn't go to the police out of fear, and when they did, the police didn't believe them. In fact, if the Jimmy Savile scandal didn't bring child abuse into the mainstream media, they may of gotten away with it for longer. tl;dr: The reason its a huge problem is because of how high ranking the MP's were and how long they went undiscovered.
Why are coding languages so hard to understand?
First off, because of your formatting. Proper white space and formatting makes code a lot easier to read and understand. Secondly, because you aren't that trained in it. German and Japanese sentences might seem unintuitive to you for a long time, even after you learn the basics, until you truely become fluent in it and understand its structure and why sentences are formatted the way they are, instead of just trying to say English words in German or Japanese.
How come we get all snotty when we cry?
It's a drainage thing. Tears mix with mucus in the sinuses, and this thins out the mucus and makes it run from your nose.
Why is it that Windows needs drivers and installations, but most accessories automatically work on Linux?
There could be 2 things going on here: A) linux has a way to know which webcam you are using just by plugging it, it will look around and find the driver for you. B) linux has a generic webcam driver already built in , so your webcam might not have all the functionality that you would expect , but just the primary functionsApparently you are using unusual equipment or obsolete Windows without proper updates. In most cases Windows Plug-and-Play system works flawlessly allowing to use popular hardware without any hesitation because MS has a huge amount of staff dedicated to usability and performance in exact these cases.Linux is an open source kernel, so there are tons of different people who make drivers, and they all make their way into the kernel. And most distributions create a generic kernel with every possible driver. So generally, if it's supported in linux , it will be supported out of the box. Basically if it's supported in linux that means some guy had to write the driver from scratch, usually with little help from the company, and once it's supported in the kernel, it will be there as part of the codebase forever. Windows actually does support a lot of stuff out of box, but for some stuff, it may not have the drivers, which is why there's a CD that's included with the hardware. I would suppose it's because Microsoft doesn't include every driver possible.Windows has gotten much better at this. Windows 10 picked up most things without needing to download drivers. But basically general drivers have been created but that may not mean the device will have full functionality. You can actually notice some of this in say Windows 7 safe modeI believe Linux has built-in standard drivers for peripherals, while you need to install specific drivers on Windows.
How does one go about spending millions of dollars if all of their money is invested in real estate/stocks?
You've hit on a major problem with holding assets instead of cash: *liquidity*. Liquidity refers to your ability to quickly turn your assets into cash. If you own a couple of shares of stock, no big deal - you just sell them for market price, and walk away with the money. But if you own, say 10% of a company, that's NOT a liquid investment, for the problem you point out - if you tried to sell that 10% on the open market, the price would tank, and you wouldn't get nearly the value of your shares. Those people holding large amounts of illiquid assets have to do quite a bit of planning to make sure that they can get ahold of large sums of money when they need to. However, one option they always have is taking on loans - someone may often loan you the money at a reasonable rate, using your illiquid assets as the collateral.
Why some movies and tv shows have real operating systems and software on computers and smartphones (like Mr. Robot) while others have fake ones?
It really depends what the show wants to focus on. In the case of Mr. Robot, the show is all about hacking, and appeals to a growing demographic of viewers who know enough about computers to detect fakery. Other shows, such as crime serials, are focusing on the detective work and the character interaction, rather than the technology. There's probably also issues with branding. You generally don't want to give away ad placement by using branded equipment in a show, so faked OS's and software can avoid that.
How do Windows users get a screenshot of the Blue Screen of Death, since the clipboard is cleared upon restart?
_URL_0_ > All BSODs are stored on your computer. The freeware BlueScreenView not only recreates the BSOD display as-it-was, but also tries to analyze the dumps and find the guilty program/driver for you:
Why are chess careers still viable when computers can beat us all at it now?
Why do people run track when cars can beat them? The point of professional chess never had anything to do with the game having a practical value - it's about watching the best players in the world play the game.
Why does crushed ice cool water faster than a block of ice that's the same size.
You've increased the surface area of ice/water interacting. In a block, water is only contacting the ice on the outside of the block. When you've crushed it, you've got far more contact.
Why does your mouth water right before you vomit?
The extra saliva protects your sensitive mouth and teeth from the acid in the vomit. It is a defensive reflex to mitigate damage from vomiting.
How come lots of metals have a grayish color?
Ooh, I know this one! It's because how the metal's electrons are placed, it causes their "resonant" frequency to be shifted in the direction of ultraviolet frequencies compared to most other atoms. The fact that they aren't particularly responsive to "normal" light frequencies means that they more or less reflect the same amount of light across the spectrum we can see, leading to a "grayish" hue we call silver. However the only exceptions are gold and copper, since their "most stable" electron configuration has a certain electron traveling at a significant fraction of the speed of light. This obviously means that they gain more energy , which means that they have more mass, since E = mc^2 and all that. So they "respond" to slightly lower frequencies , which means they absorb a bit of blue light along with the ultraviolet, and if they subtract only the blue light, then only red and yellow light are reflected, giving us the golden and copper hues. If you want to go deeper into the rabbithole, here is a link: _URL_0_', "All metals have a color, but it's usually so purple that you can't even see it, so the metal looks gray.
If the coil on a speaker cone can only vibrate at one frequency at a time, how come I can hear two notes simultaneously?
A speaker does not vibrate at a single frequency. You know this for sure because of the observation in your post - a musical "A" is a different frequency than a "C". It does produce a single waveform. Think of throwing a rock into water. Now throw another rock right after it. The waves you see represent the combination of both those rocks. You see a single wave patten the result of both, it is the result of the "frequency" of both waves. One waveform, multiple frequencies. The speaker is capable of creating the complex waveform that is made of multiple underlying frequencies.
The playing style of footballer Thomas Muller?
Sadly I haven't watched Bundesliga in a while, but what I know from internationals and world cups is that Müller is excellent in reading the game. Instinctively he just knows what to do in certain situations, such as when to make a run or when to cross instead of finish. He isn't spectacular on the ball like Messi, but he's a really intelligent player and makes up for his "lack" of ball skills when compared to other world class strikersBayern Munich fan here: It is so hard for the defenders to defend against Thomas Muller as they can't really predict what he is trying to do - mainly because he doesn't know what he's going to do either His youth trainers often said that even as a youth player he had the game intelligence of a 30 year old with several years of world class level experience which was another reason why he was so fast a world class player in big matches as he wasn't nervous or something like that, just look at his penalties. Plus his technique actually isn't that bad, it just doesn't look like the usual "Ronaldinhoesque" technique. I remember where he manages to reveice and control the ball even though he could barely touch it with his toes while being on full speed, many other would 've gotten some injury while doing it :D
The artificial nose technology used in food processing
Most foods give off some very specific chemicals when rotting. So the "artificial nose" is not very fancy -- it's just a gas chemical detector, and when too much of one indicator chemical is present, it marks that this item is rottingIt probably is not actually smelling the foods but for example certain fruits and vegetables will release ethylene gas upon ripening. So it would be detecting the presence, or lack thereof, of these molecules in proximity to the given produce item.
When do you award an indirect free kick in soccer?
A penalty is awarded when the attacking team loses out on a "goalscoring opportunity" because the defending team broke a rule in the penalty area. But if the defending team breaks a rule that doesn't cost a goalscoring opportunity then an indirect free kick - one where the ball must be played to another player before scoring - is more appropriate. These are either to do with the goalkeeper picking up the ball when he's not supposed to, or a player committing a non-contact foul such as using bad language or obstructing access to the ball in an illegal way.
What causes the "shuddering" sound when driving with only one rear window down in a car?
billows of air come in and leave by the same window. This causes turbulence through pressure changes. You hear the battle between inside and outside air. Open a second window and you create a flow.You've turned your whole car into a big whistle. Because it's so much bigger, the pitch of the sound produced is much lower.
During a commercial break, what happens to live-audience shows that are NOT broadcast live?
It's called an intermission. They go for a break to get drinks or food or stuff like that.
If our bodies are supposed to be able to run on fat reserves, why do we feel weak and are unable to think clearly when very hungry?
> It seems like it'd be a severe disadvantage in a survival situation to be cognitively impaired when you need to find food. You are not nearly as impaired as you think you are, it is mostly an issue of motivation. We have the luxury to allow ourselves to get distracted by mild hunger not finishing your TPS reports right away isn't going leave you dead, so we blow them off to get a snack. It is not that we can't think well when hungry, we don't want to put in the effort for something that can be easily fixed. But if you were a hunter who hasn't eaten in a day stalking prey out on the savannah, I guarantee that task would capture your full attention and leverage all of your cognitive abilities.
The relationship between Genes, DNA, and Chromosomes
*Chromosomes* are the physical units of genetic material. your chromosomes are made up of build blocks, *DNA*, that is in the form of a double helix or staircase that can wind and unwind, to allow for copying of itself and to allow it to be compact. *Genes* are found in your DNA, and there are several genes that are building instructions for proteins/enzymes that allow your body's cells to perform all the functions they need to.
Why there are so many types of dogs, cats, birds etc when there only a very few types of humans?
Dogs are bred to be different, people have selected specific traits to give us the wide spectrum that we see today, similarly cats have been bred in this way although to a lesser extent . Birds are a whole clade of animals, unlike cats and dogs they can't interbreed, a seagull can't breed with and ostrich for example, much like a cat can't breed with a dog . If you are talking about a broad definition of cats , like lions, pumas, cougars, lynxes , then I would say that for an outsiders perspective there is as much difference between a house cat and a lion as there is between a human and a spider monkey. Only in recent history has there been only one kind of hominid, in our distant past homo sapiens have shared the earth with a wide range of other human-like animals, homo erectus and homo heidelbergensis to name few. We out competed, killed and interbred with this other hominids to leave us where we are today. But we still have chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans which share between 95 and 98 percent of our DNA. EDIT: bread changed to bred
what is the difference between the new and old testaments?
The Old Testament is a collection of writings in the Jewish faith, which were ultimately canonized into what's known as the Tanakh. It probably wasn't _completely_ finalized until late in the first millennium B.C., but many of the books were written hundreds or thousands of years earlier, and have been preserved and studied by the Jewish people since. It's not known who wrote all the books, but many were written by very prominent Jewish leaders, such as Moses and David. The Tanakh is what the Jews still study today. The New Testament is the collection of writings about Jesus Christ and his teachings. Jesus was crucified in 33-ish A.D., and the books were all written in the decades that followed by people who lived during Jesus's life . Christians study both the Old and New testament. They're seen as different parts of the same text because Christians consider Christ's teachings to be a continuation of the Jewish faith. Notably, the Old Testament has a number of promises and prophesies that herald the coming of a messiah, and Christ claimed to be that messiah. So understandably, Christians study both.
What is the difference between a dwarf planet and a moon? Could a moon have its own smaller moon or moons orbiting it?
A moon is a moon cause it is revolving around a planet. That should answer both of your questions. Here is a good question, can a moon have its own satellite, and would it be called a moon too?
Why is orange such a holy color in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism?
As I understand it it's not orange per se, but *saffron* which is extremely expensive to cultivate and shows the dedication to the faith through that cost
How come programs never run out of Serial/CD/Activation keys?
Well let's see, how long is the average activation key? 30 characters? Each one can be either a letter or a number, so that's 36 possibilities for each character. That's 30^36, or 150094635296999121000000000000000000000000000000000000 combinations, which is over 21442090756714160142857142857142857142857 times the number of people on earth.The old school activation codes from the ninties worked by taking the number and do some math on it, if the result was the same as a number the program knew about then the serial was correct. For example a very common serial code method used with old windows applications was to take the registration name and turn it into numbers, then use that number with a secret number to create a serial code, then you can take the serial code and the registration name, and make sure they turn into the secret number and you knew it was valid. This is often the case when you need both the correct name and the correct code to unlock the application. i.e if this simple formula would generate a serial key serial = name * secret then you can test it with serial / name == secret This way makes the serial code a derivation of the given name, so there would as many serials as there is combinations of letter to make names. The new way of online registrations is often done with fat database tables of valid keys and then just cross them out when they are used, then generate more into the database when needed.You've never shopped Steam sales/extremely popular Humble Bundles that activate on Steam have you? Also, because the company can always generate more.
What are the benefits to REI of selling memberships?
Brand loyalty and growth. Members buy more. Plus, REI is a co-op. It's not about making more money. It's about serving its members. I joined REI decades ago. It's still my preferred place for buying winter clothes, hiking clothes, most cycling gear, sunglasses, day packs, etc. I recommend it to everyone with a clear conscious.
Why is the Sagrada Familia taking so long to complete?
Because the Sagrada Familia is only maintained with aims and donations, which makes it take much longer to build than if a private company or the state were to invest.
why don't tank guns use gas blowback systems like assault rifles?
From: _URL_0_ Autoloaders represent tradeoffs. I do think it is possible to design a compartmentalized autoloader that might be able to be as fast as a human and perhaps ammo change-out of ammo as needed. But it would be bulky, heavy and likely quite expensive. If you break the autoloader or take a hard hit, you could jam the autoloader even if the hull or turret isn't penetrated. Keep in mind the Russians went with autoloaders in the T-64, T-72, T-80 and T-90 designs as a way of keeping their tanks smaller. The lower profile and smaller internal volume made an autoloader desirable otherwise a human would be in a very cramped turret with the commander and gunner. Their tank design philosophy was simply different. Crew protection and survivability was not one of the driving factors.