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Body Parts falling asleep; lack of oxygen or blood pressure too high?
> lack of oxygen or blood pressure too high? Neither. It's caused by compression of nerves to/from the affected limb, effectively cutting off communication between the limb and the brain. The "pins and needles" feeling is caused by the sensory neurons restoring their electrochemical gradients once the pressure is removed.
I just had a full length dream about an insignificant person from school I talked to maybe once. Why is this? It's been 12 years
I'm not an expert in Psychology, but this can be answered with basic fundamentals. We believe dreams are your brains way of catagorizing and storing memories. This could be anything throughout your life. Think of your dreams as a collage of memories. Take someone you met 20 years ago, add that to a volcano documentary you watched last Christmas, finally sprinkle the Avengers saving New York. Your dream is now playing the floor is lava with that childhood friend while the Avengers are insulting your jumping skills. Just your brain going through these memories and throwing them in your subconscious. Our brains process hundreds or some believe thousands of memories everytime we sleep. What you remember dreaming when you wake up can be entirely random.
Why does the combination of cigarettes and coffee seem to be a natural laxative?
Coffee *is* both a laxative and a diuretic, it doesn't just 'seem to be'.
Why is it so hard to find a free toilet in most European cities?
I would guess probably to keep homeless people from sleeping inside or druggies from shooting up in the bathroom or trashing it. I'm not super knowledgable about this but to me it seems like they charge a small amount of money to ensure proper care for the facility because who would pay money to trash a bathroom.
In finance, what does it mean when an investment group "bets" on an outcome?
A source would help, but I think I can be fairly certain that "bet" in this sense was just a euphemism. That's all investing is, really. When you invest in something, you're taking a calculated risk that it will pay off. Nothing is certain. It isn't exactly gambling in the sense that the payouts are not up to random chance . Goldman Sachs probably made some investment or acquisition in Greece that will heavily depend on the outcome of the bailout because they strongly believe it will go one way or the otherThey 've invested money in such a way that a particular outcome will make them a lot of money, whereas another outcome could lose them that money.They're taking financial positions so they get paid off if that event happens. Read *The Big Short* by Michael Lewis to get a very good, clear explanation of how that sort of thing works. Credit default swaps are used to insure against a default, and if the default happens, the swap pays off.
How come when I sing along with a song I sound awesome but when you take away the vocal track I sound ridiculously horrible?
I think your ears are blending the two voices. It also might be that you feel more confident in singing it with the vocals. Two things I do to tell how well I'm really doing: first, gradually decrease the volume of the song, but keep your singing voice the same. Second, take a finger and plug one ear while singing. It helps drown out the outside sound, but still hear your own vocal vibrations. I have the same problem too, if you can't tell. XP
what does a military or terrorist organisation gain by shooting down a civilian plane and then denying it?
Because they didn't intend to shoot down a civilian airliner. They thought they were shooting down a Ukrainian military transport aircraft. No one has anything to gain from shooting down a bunch of civilians. That's why they are attempting to deny it.Imagine you are playing baseball in your backyard with your brother. At one point you get angry about something and begin fight with him. You throw the ball at him but miss and break a window. So you blame him.Far more likely is that it was an accident. Someone mistook MH17 for a military transport/command/refueling aircraft and is now trying to cover it up. Let's be clear: both the US and Russia have satellites monitoring the area and both know perfectly well when and where the missile was launched from. They both know pretty well who did it and are just playing out the politics at this point.
Whats the point in war?
You have something I want. I shoot you and take it. That's robbery. You and your 99 friends have something me and my 99 friends want. We shoot you and take it. That's war.To quote von Clausewitz, "War is the continuation of politics by other means." It's quite a broad stroke, but it does open the eyes to some aspects of "why" war isyou can call it expanding territories, gaining more natural resources - but in the end it comes always down to money
why is a lieutenant general Senior to a major general? It seems backwards because a major his senior to a lieutenant.
The rank of Major General is a shortened title. Historically it was Sergeant-Major General. Somewhere along the way in the 18th century, the sergeant part of the name was dropped. It could easily have been the major part that was dropped and that would have made more sense. Sergeant-Major means "sergeant-leader" or "greater sergeant" and is an enlisted rank, greater than a sergeant but junior to a Lieutenant. As the Major-General rank is named after the enlisted rank of Sergeant-Major and not the commissioned rank of Major, it is the most junior of General ranks. So next time, think "Sergeant General" instead and it will make more sense. Edit: a word as I can't grammar todayA major is higher than a Lieutenant, but Lieutenant in front of a rank indicates "second in command to" Lieutenant General falls just below General and follows the trend of Lt Colonel which falls just below Colonel and Lt Commander which falls just below commander and Lt Governor which falls just below Governor. In none of these scenarios do you shorten the rank to Lieutenant, its always General or Colonel or Commander or Lt Governor so you are never referring to this person of high rank by a term that denotes a lower rank, but instead by a potentially slightly higher rank
Why do people in war movies always not seem to notice their excessive sweating
Well I'd imagine there are greater worries than how much you are sweating such as surviving. And since many of these movies take place in hot climates they just got used to sweating heavily all the time.Also after living in 100+ degree heat and working in it for months at a time you get used to sweating. Hot AF + walking long distances+ lots of gear+ constant danger= constant sweating.As much as I WISH the battlefield was air-conditioned, we're not there yet. In the mean time, soldiers fighting in hot-as-balls places are going to be sweating their asses off. And it's not excessive, it keeping them from having heat strokes.
In US TV and film why do people always seems to chew tablets
It's cinema short hand for someone being a bad ass, or an addict depending on the situation. An addict may chew time release pills in order to get all of the high at once, and a bad ass might chew pills because they're too cool to suffer visibly but they're in severe pain and want the medicine to kick in now. Addicts chew pills a lot in real life, I've rarely if ever actually seen someone do it in person. I did it once with aspirin or something when I was younger after reading too many pulpy comic books, and all I got for the experience was a bitter, chalky powder in my mouth and a headache that went away in the same amount of time.
How does a paint roller hold so much paint?
It's literally a sponge, but for paint. The paint roller is full of tons of little holes that the paint goes into. This is why most sponges are very squishy, they're mostly air.
Why Does Plucking My Eyebrows Make Me Sneeze?
Plucking my eyebrows doesn't make me sneeze, but pulling out nose hairs does. I'm purely speculating, but I would imagine your body thinks there is a foreign object causing pain, and so your reflex is to get it out. A sneeze can be measured at 100mph/160kmh. So, a sneeze is pretty effective at removing what the body recognizes as a foreign object.
The current fracturing of the Republican Party.
The GOP currently has two main factions: the Tea Party and the Establishment. The Tea Party is a minority, but also represents a fairly large and well-funded faction. And they are large enough that the establishment Republicans can't simply ignore them. There's also a lot of Establishment Republicans who are sympathetic to the Tea Party , and there are a lot of Tea Party members whose constituents are starting to get weary of the more extreme positions. So it's not all black and white. Chances are, this is all bluster for their own constituents, and some compromise candidate who is generally moderate but has a few positions important to the Tea Party will win. Which is how it's supposed to work. For the record, this is hardly unusual. The Democrats had their own fracturing in the late-80s early 90s; a *lot* of Democrats weren't happy with Bill Clinton because he was too *moderate* . In fact, both parties tend to have their own fracturing every 20 years or so.The more moderate establishment Republican members in the House are being pulled right by a small minority of ultra-conservative, tea party-style members who feel that they aren't being given a voice. The.minority is also angry with the leadership who worked with the Democrats to make the government function.Part of this is that the Democratic Party, to win votes and claw back from Reagan's good PR, has pushed far to the right over recent years. The Democratic Party would be considered right-wing in many countries, with the Republicans being "insane nationalists". In terms of the Democratic Party getting power, it was a decent strategy - it forced Republicans to either go "yeah, we agree" and look bad or like they're not different enough, or go "no, we must go FURTHER" and look insane. This is what's happening right now.
When getting a tattoo, how come the ink from the stencil or pen doesn't contaminate the skin?
I have 6 tattoos from 4 different artists and have never seen anyone freehand with a sharpie on a person and tattoo on that.
Why does it seem like I have to change my deodorant brand every year or so to avoid body odor?
The smell that emanates from your armpits is largely caused by the bacteria that makes its home there. Deodorants, in addition to smelling pleasant, discourage bacterial growth. Over time bacteria may grow resistant to some extent if you always use the same type of deodorant. Occasionally switching can help combat that problem.Deodorant blocks different smells and masks them in a way that you don't notice, but after a year you get used to the deodorant smell and can start to smell your sweat in the mix again.
What is the technology and strategies involved in developing and marketing a triple A game?
Hop over to r/gamedev for a better answer. Almost everything can be found in their guides. On the development side, there are 3 types of developers, Artists, Programmers and Designers. There are more roles but lets focus on the main ones. Strategy wise: Artists develop what you see, from concept art to 3D models. Programmers develop what you don't see, from a simple score mechanic to A.I. Designers are basically the designers of the game, they come up with mechanics, level designs, etc. And they all get given a schedule and on what to do and needs to get done by the higher ups. Within that, ideally they work coherently and unproblematic. However that is mostly not going to happen. Technology wise; It depends on the game, for 3D models, software like, Maya or 3dsMax or ZBrush are industry standard. As well as Photoshop and illustrator for 2D images. Game engines will vary depending on the studio, big companies tend to use their own in house game engine, for example, UDK for Epic games. Then there's programming language, again industry standard is C++ or C#. But there are many more to choose from. The basic fact of the matter there are a lot of different technologies, different strategies and different studios, that there are too many to write on about in one sitting. Even great titles can be developed with cheap tools. However the basic rule is more money, the more people you can hire, the more can get done and the more overall development time can be done on the game. Also most of the time, big studios tend to keep their industry secrets to themselves. Marketing wise, I don't know much, but the idea is to get your game advertised on different social media, twitter, Facebook, YouTube, conventions etc.
Why can't I just eat gummy vitamins, protein supplements, iron supplements, etc. and survive?
Apart from the supplements lacking many vital components that are found in actual food, the rate at which you absorb the vitamins and the rate at which the actual solids pass through your body do not allow for adequate intake of the nutrients. Eating just supplements and not any solid food will just give you very nutrient rich urine and poop.You'd be lacking in essential fatty acids for one. Assuming you got those in supplement form also , and anything else required by the body, you could survive indefinitely. But it would likely cost several times more that what you pay for food.
How do boats like this stay afloat?
Pretty sure the have hydrofoils on the fins, wich work like an airplane wing only with water. Essentially creating lift and allowing them to glide above the waves. It probably helps that the entire boat is made of carbon fiber and other lightweight materialsIt's not witchcraft, but it's not really floating either. Essentially the whole craft acts as a combination of a sail and a wing . Once it starts moving forwards at a fast enough speed it basically "takes off" in the same way as a fixed-wing aircraft and literally flies over the water. Even the craft's name alludes to this: it's called a DynaWing. [Here's a model of the craft] where you can see clearly that what's visible in your video is pretty much the whole ship. This design is actually very unstable -- it's a fine balance between getting not enough lift so that the boat doesn't rise clear of the water, and too much lift so that it actually takes off. A little over a year ago it [did take off and capsize, causing extensive damage to the hull and sail].
Why in the United States, with the exception of soccer, are there not sponsors or advertisements on professional sports team's uniforms?
Soccer is played without any breaks during either half. Because the clock never stops running, there is rarely an opportunity for television broadcasters to play commercials. Jersey sponsors are a way to earn revenue in spite of this constraint. American Football, baseball, and basketball by contrast have many breaks and/or instances when the clock is stopped. Therefore, broadcasters are able to schedule commercials throughout the games rather than just during half time. Since these sports are already commercialized to such a great extent, the teams could be seen as overreaching by also introducing jersey sponsors. Fans are accustomed to jerseys with team names and logos, and could be upset at those insignias being replaced by jersey sponsors.Leagues have been afraid of backlash from fans, but some people predict that it will be changing soon. [Here's an interesting discussion of the topic]", 'The NBA has already voted on and approved advertisements on jerseys, although I believe the area allocated is very limited. Small steps.
How come when I punch in my dreams, it feels like I am punching underwater?
As answered [here], > It's because punching is a highly-coordinated activity that relies on proprioceptive feedback throughout the motion to work. Since the thalamus clamps down both on the transmission of the motor signals you'd need to effectively complete the motion and the perception of joint-motion data while you're asleep, everything feels bogged down and slow. > Compare that to 'flying', which is a), something we can't do normally, so we have no basis for comparison to see if it feels right or not, and b) superman-style flying about doesn't require significant body motion anyway.Tell me about it. I have the most frustrating time trying to run away from zombies.
As an Australian, what do the words "middle class" v. "working class" mean in America?
Kind of. There are really thee kinds of middle class: lower middle, middle, and upper middle. Lower middle is probably what you would call "the working class." The middle class is a household with bachelor's degrees and what not . They are the "American dream" families: the white-picket fence, 2 kids, steady jobs, etc. The upper middle class are the people pulling 6 figures or close to it. *They* are the ones that send their kids to private schools, and all the things you listed. Then there are the Upper class and the Super rich. I think those terms are the same in both countries.
Why are some instruments (presumably) harder to synthesize than others? Why do, say, MIDI pianos usually sound better than MIDI horns?
Pianos make noise one way- by hitting a string with a hammer. You can control how hard or soft you press the key, but you can't change anything besides that. Brass instruments derive their sound from the vibrations of your lips, which have far more minute detail and control which is extremely complicated for a computer to simulate.
If bruising is the body's way of protecting itself, why do we try to reduce swelling when treating an injured person?
Bruising is not the body's way of protecting itself. A bruise is the result of a trauma that ruptures capillaries/blood vessels. The resulting swelling is blood "leaking" into the surrounding tissue. The treatment for swelling is applying something cold to the bruised area. The cold causes blood vessels to constrict which reduces blood flow to the area. This allows the capillaries to heal more quicklySwelling is actually a good response that can aid in healing initially. After 24 hours you want to start trying to get rid of it. I know some medical professionals advise against taking NSAIDs in the first 24 hours.Swelling is evolution's way of getting humans to nurse their injuries. It literally inhibits the use of the joint The swelling may keep you from using it, but if you are resting it, swelling is really the best thing for healing. Before modern medicine, it kept us nursing our injuries long enough for them to sufficiently heal. However, with modern medicine, we know how long to nurse our injury regardless of the swelling. Because of this, it would be ideal to stay off if it AND reduce the swelling and pain to eliminate the negative effects they have on healing. Bruising, as others have mentioned is not the body's way of protecting itself. It is a injury. Just as a broken bone isn't a body's way of protecting itself, it is the actual injury.
What is the white foamy stuff when you put Hydrogen Peroxide on an infection and why does it become foamy?
There are enzymes in your blood that attack the peroxide and turn it into water and oxygen. The bubbles are what that looks like. As a sidenote, though, you should **not** put peroxide on wounds. It kills germs, but it kills everything else it touches, too, including healthy tissue. And since you have a cut you're letting the peroxide in pretty deep. It'll actually impede the healing. Same goes for alcohol, by the way. Warm water and soap are the best thing for a wound. After that, put some antibiotic lotion on it.
Why wind speed on land is measured in mph while wind speed on the ocean is measured in kn(ots)
Using knots as a measurement makes sense on the ocean. 1 knot is 1 nautical mile per hour. 1 nautical mile also represents one minute of longitude at the equator. When sailing was easier to use knots to determine distance traveled when using a chart. One degree of longitude is 60 nautical miles at the equator. The math gets a bit more complex away from the equator, but If I know my latitude, and know I have to travel 5 degrees east, I can calculate the distance required to go in knots much easier. Knots are not needed today with GPS and all the other technology, but due to tradition it is still used. Also, the way to determine speed originally was to throw a piece of wood or something overboard with a rope attached to it. You would have a knot tied at certain intervals, and you would count how many knots passed through your hand in 30 seconds.Pilots measure wind speed on land in knots. I don't think it's anything to do with land or sea, it's just to do with who is taking the measurement, and what units they normally use. Pilots and sailors use knots for measuring the speed of their craft, so they also use knots for measuring wind speed.
why isn't inflation in America based on bread/sugar (past) and why is it based on things like price of iPad (present)?
Well, it's based on all of those things. It's based on what the average consumer buys and then it's the percentage difference in price between each good. However each good has a weighting on how important they are, bread and sugar being more important than iPads. A rise in the price of bread and sugar leads to a greater increase in inflation percentages than the same rise in iPads. Atleast, that's what I learnt in school I believe Edit: also the goods that are measured change every year or so, items are removed if their popularity drops and are added if they become popular. This year they'll probably remove selfie sticks and add fidget spinners ", 'The Consumer Price Index uses a "[basket of good and services]" that factors in universal & everyday purchases like food, clothing, housing, new & used cars, utilities, medical care, etc. It does not look at iPads.
How do dogs smell/sense a persons they know without seeing them?
Dogs also have really good hearing it could be anything from the particular sound of their car to the rustling of keys. Dogs are very good at recognizing certain patterns.
the OJ Simpson trial and why it was a big deal
1. It involved a celebrity2. It involved a black man who was accused of murdering a white woman, lots of racial tension3. Despite overwhelming evidence, a team of very expensive lawyers were able manipulate a less competent prosecutor and judge, and allow their client to get away with murder4. Both before and after the trial, consensus about his guilt or innocence ran along racial lines', "OJ wasn't simply a celebrity, he was almost universally loved and respected, and accused of a heinous crime.
What does it mean to 'take the 5th'?
The American constitution codifies what rights the citizens of the country are entitled to. Written up in 1789, the Fifth Amendment of this constitution consists of the following: > No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. Pleading the fifth therefore means that a person does not have to be a 'witness against himself'. Even if they're just a witness in a trial, if they believe information they're being asked to tell a jury is self-incriminating in any way, they can 'plead the fifth' and legally avoid having to speak. However, prosecutors can argue against the contextual relevance of this move in court, so the presiding judge decides upon whether or not it's a valid usage of the fifth amendment. Other things this amendment prevents is 'double jeopardy' , and a grand jury must agree a charge is realistic before it even goes to trial.
How do I set the office thermostats to make the most number of people happy?
Set it cool to keep the men happy, hand out sweaters to the females.It's better to be too cold than too hot, since you can just put on another layer. Also, heat makes people sleepy.
What is the technical difference between home video, reality TV, TV drama, sitcoms and movie film?
Home video is made by people showing other people they know or their own activities , and is generally to be shown to only people they know. Reality TV shows are TV shows that show people who aren't paid actors and who are not told what to say. TV drama shows people who aren't real. They are actors pretending to be someone else that has a different name, saying words someone else wrote for them to say. Sitcoms are like a TV drama, except they are meant to be funny and the people in them say funny things. Sitcom comes from *situation comedy*. A movie film is a long drama made to be shown in a cinema first, not made to be shown on TV. All the above can be made using either video or film. Video is most common for home movies. Film most common for cinema movies.
Why power buttons on power strips say "off" and "reset" instead of "off" and "on"
That is a surge protector, not just a power strip. Reset means "reset the breaker", like if too much power goes through it it'll turn off but if you flip it on and off again after fixing the power issue it'll come back on, instead of being just a fuse that breaks once and is dead.
Why doesn't the world have a global currency?
This gets asked an awful lot - [please use the search function for a complete answer]. The short version is it would involve relinquishing sovereignty, and we can't really get the entire world to agree on *anything*.
Why do certain foods like pancakes or cake icing taste amazing at first but quickly become disgusting after I've had a certain amount?
Food scientists have found there is a "bliss point" at which food tastes the best. It's a particular amount of sugar and fat. If you consume it for a certain amount of time, then you'll become sated and not want any more. This is not good from the perspective of food companies, who want you to keep eating more and more. So they 've found that they can increase the amount you consume in several ways, one of which is that you can endure sweeter foods for longer at the bliss point if there is more fat in the food. So if you want to eat more pancakes, drink whole milk with it. Cake icing already has a lot of fat in it so that won't be a help. But a palate cleanser might help--something not sweet or fat.
ELI'veonlyexperienced1season: How does the 4 seasons feel like?
In New Jersey, our summers can get up to around 37C, and our winters can get to -17C. Spring and fall are basically the perfect temperatures but you're really only missing out on one season: winter. And you're not missing out.
What's the difference between singing and speaking and are you actually producing a note when you speak?
There is no difference. Singing is just speaking in a different pitch. If you look at languages where the pitch of the pronounciation affects the meaning , the music in these languages have lyrics written in a way so that the spoken lyrics follows the song's progression. If you read these lyrics out through normal speaking, it is almost like singing the song simply by following the correct pronounciation of the lyrics. A note is just a sound at a particular frequency, which is the same as a spoken syllable. Whether or not speech sounds like an instrument depends on how different the waveforms are that generate the sound. An easy way to see this is to listen to the sounds of a sine wave and a sawtooth wave of the same frequency and compare their difference. Of course, speaking and singing have far more complicated waveforms, but the general idea is the same.
Why do my balls (crotch area) have a distinct smell to them?
Bacteria multiplying with moisture retention, said bacteria creating odor as its trapped in hair follicles And friction from movement continuing to keep the conditions favorable for bacteria to thrive/ maintain comfortable existence. .
Is it possible to become physically addicted to weed?
No. Marijuana is not physically addictive, but it is possible to become psychologically addicted to it.Just to elaborate on /u/99999999999999999989 's answer, physical addiction means you will suffer noticeable physical symptoms when you withdraw, such as the tremors for alcohol addiction, or immense physical illness for opiate addiction. Marijuana withdrawal has no such side effects. The addiction is purely mental.
How can 0's and 1's tell different pieces of hardware in a computer to do certain things?
1 and 0 correspond to "voltage" and "no voltage" on a hardware level. So, for example, when "1001" is stored in RAM, it's put in a bank of four capacitors, which go The voltage can then be used to control transistors, which act like little switches. Lots of transistors together can be used to build logic circuits, which do the computing and stuff.1's and 0's are just 1's and 0's. Some kind of software will interpret what they mean. But, hardware wise, it is control by a digital circuit and 1 typically represents a high voltage and 0 represents a low voltage.
Does an ad blocker prevent your bandwidth from being wasted on the ads?
Normally, an ad blocker works by blacklisting certain domains, so that stuff embedded from them isn't even loaded. So yes, they do save bandwidth.
What is happening in California that is causing such a lack of water?
Basically: California gets its rainfall from the ocean. The ocean has been giving less, just as there is escalating demand for water from cities and agriculture. The ocean is providing less rain because of a persistent high pressure "bar" off the coast of California preventing rain clouds from forming. This high pressure is associated with a La Niña event, where the Pacific ocean is unusually warm on the Australasian sideSeveral very large cities were built in a desert at a time that said desert was getting historically above average rainfall. Rainfall in the area has somewhat returned to normal and the populations of LA, San Diego, etc. are way to high to be fully supplied by snowmelt from upstate. edit: phrasing, Lana!
Why were there so many big supporters of eugenics in the early 1900s (e.g., Tesla, Churchill), and what changed from then to now to shift views on the subject?
The main reason eugenics fell out of favor is that the people carrying it out were worse than the people they claimed were sub-human. The things the Nazis did ended up convincing just about everybody that eugenics was something only a crazy person would believe in. Eugenics doesnt purify anything, it only kills everybody else and leaves those who believe in it. When somebody does something that awful, its hard for people to accept anything related to it any moreGenetics wound up being more complicated than we thought, and the abuses that could occur under a totalitarian regime were not as clear in the early 1900s. There is nothing wrong with eugenics in theory. If we, say, gave everyone who carried the gene for hemophilia a millions dollars not to have children, we could eliminate the disease in a generation. The problem with eugenics are practical. When politics, not science, decides what traits are undesirable, that is a recipe for disaster. It is one thing to try to do away with a gene that make people less intelligent. But apparent intelligence can be influenced by education, which is tied to income, which is tied to race. Also, the level of governmental control needed to enforce an effective eugenics program would require us to rethink a lot of what we believe about reproductive freedoms.
How did Pakistan end up with nuclear weapons?
Pakistan got its ass handed to it in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. They ended up having to sign a humiliating surrender, much like Germany post WWI. Pakistan was livid over it, and wanted to put itself in a position where it never had to surrender again, so they invested **a lot** of money and manpower into making nuclear weapons. Also, Saudi Arabia donated a lot of money to the program as well, with the belief that they would be able to simply *buy* a Pakistani nuclear weapon if they ever needed itThey made them? They put money down, bought the materials and went at it. Now they have nuclear weapons.
Why does eating the same food everyday make it taste bad after a while?
Humans are omnivores. That doesn't just mean we *can* eat a wide variety of foods, it means we *must* eat a variety. Every evolutionary advance, it seems, is a compromise: in return for being able to eat many foods, our bodies don't produce everything we need - the missing ingredients are vitamins and amino acids. To make sure we eat enough of the right types of food, we've evolved also the need for variety in our diets. This may also be why we like so many spices.Amongst what others are saying, humans also have a tendency to get bored or tired of repetitive tasks. To some extent, we crave stimulation, and exposure to the same stimulus tends to cause the brain to ignore it or seek change. Also, try eating just the tuna and throw away the can. Could help.
Why does everyone have to die?
There's a timer in the cells that make up your body called [the Hayflick Limit]. They can only repair and replicate themselves a set number of times. After that they begin to break down, and the larger body parts and organs that your cells make up begin to break down, too: your joints wear away, your skin loses elasticity. Eventually something vital stops working and you die. Some people's timers are longer than others'.
Why Are The Winners of Running Competitions Like Marathons Almost Always From Africa?
The "Kenyans" train very hard. They also train at a very high altitude. When they come down to sea level and run with us puny Americans they have an easier time because of how much oxygen they need to accomplish the same thing. Kind of like how sherpas can jog all over Mt Everest.
what is the difference between fire and flame?
Fire is generally the state of being, or is the name giving to the entity at large. The tree is on fire. That fire is huge. Flame refers to the actual "tendrils" that combine to create what we see as the fire. Those flames are licking the bottom of the pot.
why are latitude lines parallel, but longitudinal lines converge at the polls?
Because it makes the most sense. If you walk east/west, you're only changing longitude, if you walk north/south, you're only changing latitude. If longitude were defined like latitude, only orthogonal, then you'd get really weird results that would be confusing. For example, there'd be some arbitrary line where things would work as they do now, but anywhere else, moving east/west would cause your longitude to change at different rates depending on your latitude, and also there'd be some latitudes at which certain longitudes aren't possible. And if you went north/south, you'd be changing both your latitude and longitude.Because the earth rotates about a line connecting the north and south pole, and there is no such east-west thingie equivalent to that. Because there is no east and west pole, there are no points at which it would make sense for latitude lines to converge toBecause this way, so long as your are walking north or south, longitudinal position does not change.
Why do men have an Adam's apple but women don't?
Women do in fact have them, it's just that they become much more pronounced in men after puberty.
What is the explanation behind the phrase 'peace is not profitable'?
Countries participating in a war have to free up a tremendous amount of capital to fund the war effort. They divert savings or borrow to build factories, create stockpiles of food and armament for soldiers, mass-produce vehicles, and so on. And funding a war takes a LOT of money, with all of it actually being spent and entering the economy. All this purchasing means the economies of all the merchants, suppliers and company owners who provide all that are given a massive boost, as are the economies of the merchants who supply them , and the merchants who supply them , and so on. For many businesses it creates demand that essentially removes the ceiling that peacetime businesses often hits once the market is saturated by itself and its competitors. Also also: In cultures such as the vikings, war came with pillaging, where you invaded another country and you sent the riches of their cities home to your own country. War could be highly profitable, but a soldier during peace-time either wasn't paid or was paid a pittance.Defense contractors are a big part. The government spends billions and billions directly on weapons, ammunition, and other materiel and supplies, including many big ticket items such as ships, planes, bombs, missiles. Indirectly, the government also pays for research and development of these things.
Why are some people "mouth breathers" and other people "nose breathers"?
It's more natural for people to breathe through their noses when they are at rest. In about 85% of cases, mouth breathing is caused by blockage in the nasal cavities that prevents people from getting enough air through their noses.
How is betting allowed on WrestleMania, when the outcome is predetermined?
The outcome might be predetermined but it is not publicly announced before it happens. The people that are betting for and against a certain wrestler are not people that know what the outcome will be, only a few people will actually know what the outcome will be, and they are most likely not allowed to bet on the outcome themselves.It's pretty much only available for gambling on offshore sports books. You're not going to find many legit sports books in Vegas, Atlantic City, or anywhere else in America that will take action on WWE or any other professional wrestling promotion.
What is a TV show's rating an how accurate is it?? ELI5 please
It's an estimate of how many people watched it. In the US they're done by a company called Nielsen which either gets people to keep diaries of what they watched or installs a device that connects to your TV and automatically reports back. It's about as accurate as you expect considering they survey 0.02% of families and then extrapolate it for the whole country.
Those "fundraisers" that have grade school kids running around selling a company's products door to door. Are they technically legal? If so, why?
Of course they're legal, though I believe your parents had to sign a consent form; I might be wrong. These fundraisers are often part of a sale of things like Girl Scout cookies, magazines, candy bars and other little stuff. The products are over priced intentionally because the customer knows a portion of the sale is going towards the fundraiser, which is usually used to bring money in to the club or team the child is a part of. That money can go towards things like field trips as well as incentives/rewards/points the kid can earn by selling certain quotas. Want a new pocket knife Johnny, go sell 40 subscriptions of Mens Health. It's a win for the kid, win for the club they're in, and a win for the customer .
What 'tracking' does on a VCR?
Such a retro question! VCRs use reel to reel technology. So tape goes from one wheel, through a reader head, and into another wheel. That reader head has to very carefully line up with the VCR tape in a particular way. In a VCR, the head actually reads diagonally. This diagonal innovation is what got VCR to exist. Otherwise, there just wasn't enough room on the tape. When you are adjust tracking, you are making tiny adjustments to the reader head to get it to line up more correctly.
How did the whole microchip credit card thing start?
For under $100, you can buy a device that will write a credit card number to the magstrip on a card. There is virtually *zero* security involved there. It was also becoming increasingly common for criminals to place "skimmers" - devices that would capture the number of cards run through it - on ATMs & gas pumps. Those chips, OTOH, are nearly impossible to copy with a single use.It shouldn't be any slower than swiping, but I believe your still working out some kinks in the US. You haven't had them for very long, have you?", '_URL_0_ Click. Listen. Get hooked. Thank me later.
Why does air cool when it's pressure decreases? (Conversely, why does air heat up when it's pressure increases?)
Temperature is caused by atoms and molecules whizzing around and hitting off each other. The more collisions, the higher the temperature. If you hold a finite volume of air in a container and change the size of the container, that effects whether the molecules bounce off each other and the sides of the container more or less. If it expands there's more space for the molecules to move around and they bounce off each other less. If it gets smaller they bounce off each other more.
Why do we all perceive time going in the same direction?
There is a concept in physics called the [Arrow of Time]. This is basically the fact that time seems to only flow in one direction, despite the fact that on the smallest scales physics should be independent of the direction in which time flows. However, the reason why this is the case is an outstanding unsolved problem.
What do people mean when they say a singular sperm contains 35MB of data and how did somebody figure this out?
Because a sperm cell contains data in the form of DNA. All cells contain DNA. DNA is a code of four base units in groups of 3 in various combinations. A section of a string of DNA might say GGGAAACCC which is GGG, AAA, and CCC, which would correspond to three different amino acids. So, all cells with a nucleus contain data. Sperm cells are a little special because they are small, and contain very little cellular organnelles except a nucleus, mitochondria, and a tail & motor. So proportionally, they contain more data per gram than say, a muscle cell.
What's the difference in meaning of the word "liberal" as in 1) Liberal Democracy and 2) Liberal political candidate?
\'Liberalism\' is basically broken down into two broad schools of thought. "Social liberalism" is basically what most people think of as "left-wing", whereas "classical liberalism" is something closer to libertarianism. This explains the difference. Some conservatives embrace aspects of classical liberalism, free market economics, etc. In Australia, the main conservative party is actually called the "Liberal Party", based on this broader definition of liberalism. But these people would not identify as social liberals or "left wing". The confusion in the US comes because this broader definition of liberalism seems to have been lost, and "liberal" seems to mean exclusively "social liberalism". Liberals tend to be more progressive and social. The main cause for confusion is that progressives in the US don't call themselves socials . Liberalism originally was opposed to conservatism and promoted the equality of all citizens and a small government that does not interfere with people's lives. Liberal democracy means that, a society where the state does interfere with your private life and does not tell you what to do, what to believe, who to love, etc.Modern conservatives are very liberal in the sense that they want a small government, low taxes, no affirmative action, etc. In the US however, the term "liberal" has been associated with the Democratic Party, opposed to the Republican's conservatism. The modern Democrats are also liberal in many aspects , but are social in most cases.Social in this sense means the belief that the government must actively interfere with its citizens to ensure a healthy society. For example gun regulation, social welfare, bank regulations, etc. This makes it rather confusing.
Why is music emotionally moving?
Many things in life can make you feel strong emotions. Your brain has been meticulously forged by evolution to emote to different events in order to keep you alive. Also, you have been exposed to music throughout your life, and like a dog who learned to salivate when a bell is ringed before the serving of a delicious beef, you learned to emote to different musical patterns differently, which is why this beautiful classical piece makes you feel moved. The building blocks of those emotional responses to different sounds are, however, embedded in all humans from birth. For instance, very low-pitched strong bass sounds make everyone feel edgy, curious and contemplative , which makes it appropriate to space exploration movies , [see this for an example.] The causes for this are related with evolution. Strong low-pitched bass sounds in the wild are generally associated with big predators, and feeling edgy and uneasy when exposed to those sounds probably helped early humans to survive and pass those genes on to you. High pitched, melodic and soft sounds are related to feminine maternal voices, which are associated with feelings of pleasure and safety. Screaming and horror sounds make you feel anxious and worried because those sounds in the wild, again, meant trouble. Source: [Musician.]good music IMO makes use of certain chords that build a certain amount of tension in the listeners ear/mind. I believe its called "dissonance" and then they follow that up with nice pleasant sounding chords that resolve the harmonic tension and make you feel all good again. It's the aural equivalent of falling off a building only to have Superman swoop in and save you at the last second.If you're further interested in learning about how music interacts with the human brain from a neurological perspective, I would highly recommend Oliver Sack's book Musicophilia. It's a great read and fascinating. Truly changes your perspective on what music is to us humans.
If USPS postman doesn't ask for my sign and drops off package, what's stopping someone from ordering expensive stuff from amazon and claiming it never arrived ?
The shipper decides if a signature is needed. I have delivered $5 items requiring a signature and also left $2000 items on a porch when the shipper did not require proof of delivery. Source: Ex FedEx driver', "Nothing. People have done this to amazon,specifically.they generally just budget for it as a price of doing business. They take a loss,but it's better than adding hassle to people's lives if they want to make sure you don't ever think about going to a competitor If it happens enough to get noticed,they will blacklist you and won't send you stuff anymore. edit:if it's supposed to be signed for,isnt ,and something happens,the postman is in deep shit.usps probably has insurance for it,but the delivery guy is going to face some penalty. It's hard to balance,because usually it's fine,and people get pissy if it isn't delivered even if they weren't there to sign.its a lose/lose", 'Most companies will file a claim with the delivery service which often has checks as to whether an item was delivered. Delivery people usually have to mark a specific time/detail when they make the delivery as proof that they physically put the package at the final location. They keep records of filed claims for each address. If you report a lot of missing items companies will stop delivering to you based on these claims. Insurance will cover the rest for the company until they cut you off.
Why do muscle injuries hurt a little on the day of the injury, but are unbearable the next day? Isn't sleep supposed to heal? (Graph Provided for Visual Aid)
I will attempt to give a loose description of what, I think, is most likely the case. When your body experiences trauma, whether blunt, sharp, increased or strenuous exercise not previously conditioned into by the body or any form of inflammation, whether caused by a bacteria, virus, parasite or fungi, the body will go through an inflammatory response that has an affect on many different systems within the body. These are a mechanism to protect the body to ensure homeostasis, or simply put, as close to "normal" function as possible. One of those cascades is associated with inflammatory cytokines. Or simply put, substances that get released from damaged tissue, nervous tissue, the blood etc to communicate with the rest of the body. In this instance, cells are telling the brain that there is damage that gets relayed to the brain, making you conscious of the problem. This is called nociception. Some of these communicative substances are Potassium, as its the predominate ion within cells, so naturally when a cell bursts from swelling, trauma etc it is released into the surrounding space, certain prostaglandins and Substance P. As the body is going through this inflammatory response and begins to heal, your body wants to keep your mind aware of the trauma. Substance P lowers your pain threshold. Or lessens the amount of stimulus that is needed to make you aware of it. This allows for less of a stimulus, repeated trauma, whatever it may be, to be noticed more easily by the brain. In doing so, this allows your body to protect that of which is going through the healing process. In the case of Substance P, in relation to trauma, is a protective mechanism for the body to heal itself. I hope this makes sense. Again, this is overly simplified and it is much more complicated. There are many intra/extra-relationships that drive all processes in the body and hard to simplify.
How do planets 'float' in space?
They don't. There is no up or down in space, so if you put something there it will just stay there, it doesn't need to float. However anything with mass is pulling everything else with mass towards it. This is the force of gravity, which is why we are pulled towards the center of the Earth. And also the Earth is pulled to the sun, but the Earth is also moving sideways. We are falling towards the sun, but we are moving so fast sideways that we are constantly missing it. This is what an orbit it, same reason why the moon, all our satellites and the space station don't crash in to the Earth.
What would happen realistically if North Korea invaded South Korea?
they would lose, after completely destroying the country. The first wave of rocket fire would be devastating. It would last as long as it takes for NATO to get in positionRegarding the comment that their military "is not big enough" to do that: they do have a sizable military. It's smaller than South Korea's, and considering the allies on each side, it would be a grave mistake to do so; they wouldn't win a military vs. military fight, however, they could certainly do extensive amounts of damage -- make no mistake about that. North Korea's military equipment is outdated compared to, say, South Korea's and the United States\' -- so just based on equipment alone, N. Korea would stand no chance as the conflict continued. Assuming that it was quick and calculated, make no mistake: in the early days of an invasion or conflict, they could do a great deal. Here are a couple of resources: * [How Strong Is North Korea's Military? A Look At The Country's Capabilities] * [North Korea vs. South Korea military power comparison]A whole lot of people would die, but the international community would definitely be forced to act. It would likely spell the end of the North Korean state, but they would be able to do a *lot* of damage to South Korea and potentially Japan in the process.
[meta] Can we put a note about the trillion-dollar coin in the sidebar?
Not specifically the trillion dollar coin, but a common question section would be good. There also needs to be much, much more moderation. If someone asks a repeat question that has been asked this often or if someone asks a question that isn't coherent enough to answer it should be deleted.
How and why did "I have to" come into existence in English as a substitute for "I need to?"
The earliest meaning of "to have" was "to grasp", way back, before English even existed. From there it took on many more functions. First, it started meaning "to own", which was not too far from it's original meaning. Then, it became an auxiliary verb: "I have seen him". This happened in Old English, during the Middle Ages. It then became a modal auxiliary, "to have to", also in Old English. *Why* this happened is unclear, as always in language. There have been similar developments in other languages with verbs like "to have", such as Latin and German.
Would our perception of time change if we were many times larger (100x, 150x) than we are today?
Yes, probably. Larger animals in general perceive time more slowly, as it takes longer for any impulse to cross their larger nervous systems. That's why it's so hard to catch or swat flies; to them, you're moving in slow-motion. _URL_0_
Why does getting hit/shot/stabbed/any other type of injury, in the arm hurt less or seems to hurt less than anywhere else on the body?
TV is not reality. It hurts like a motherfucker.I am assuming this trope is used in movies because it allows the main character to get shot etc in a place where there isn't too much of a risk for damage but he/she can still look badass while not being worthless the entire movie. Unless your talking real life. In real life bullets hurt everywhere. I'm told ;)", 'There are no vital organs in your arm, and those are the bits that are really sensitiveIt hurts less because you have less nerves there. But generally you cant really tell the difference, its gonna hurt anywhere
Why do we (usually) sleep better in hotels or other people's beds?
This is probably anecdotal and it varies from person to person. Personally I sleep much worse in any other bed than my own. You might want to check if your mattress/bed is of poor quality and look into investing into quality ones, sleeping well is important. Also it might be psychological, maybe you have some issues at home and when you're away you can relax and be carefree.
Why is it that over time reposted images become smaller and blurrier?
Many websites don't initially display the full image, but a downscaled version of it that you need to view in full resolution by clicking it or opening it in a new window. They do this to reduce unnecessary traffic, for example when people look at it on mobile devices that wouldn't be able to display the full picture anyways. If people don't know know that, they save the smaller version, and when they repost that one, the same thing can happen.
Why can't I do my taxes like I am a business?
The standard deduction, personal exemptions, and progressive tax brackets should accomplish the same goal, without the book keeping effort. That is, you don't pay federal income taxes until you are making above sustenance level of income, and taxes increase as you are more able to pay those taxes.
If there are so much garbage orbiting the earth such that they collide with each other, how come view of sky is not changed since 20 years?
There are a huge amount of space junk orbiting the earth. According to ESA 2013 > 29,000 - for sizes larger than 10 cm > 670,000 - for sizes larger than 1 cm > More than 170 million - for sizes larger than 1 mm. But the volume they are in are enormous. If you look at a graph at _URL_1_ there are less then on per 1000 km^2 where is is most concentrated. That includes all object > 1mm Satellites and large space junk like rocket tanks are visible but you have likely not looked close enough at the sky at night to see them Lock at _URL_0_ for your location and you will find which satellites are visible You will notice how faint the reflected light from a satellite or a rocket stage is. There is not chance that you can see a small object in orbit with your eyes. But the can also be quite bright. ISS is the third brights object in the sky if it passes over you. The only brighter things are the sun and the moon. Flares are even brighter but they only cover a small area of the earth. Look at Iridium Flares at _URL_0_ and go out an look at one. You have to use the exact location where you are going to spot them because they are only 10 km wide on the ground and the brightness varies inside them. They can even be seen during the dayThat garbage is really far away and for the most part really small. The ISS is fucking huge in comparison and you can barely see it if you know when and where to look.
Why isn't beer sold in plastic bottles, like soda?
_URL_0_ Also, plenty of sporting events and concerts sell beer in plastic bottles so drunk people don't throw glass bottles at each other.
Are the arguments for racial differences in intelligence, such as proposed by the 1994 book 'The Bell Curve', strong or weak?
Current theory is less about racial differences and more about socio-economic differences. Poorer groups with less focus on education tend to perform worse on IQ tests than wealthier groups with more focus on education . Of course, the current theory is largely biased away from connecting intelligence to race, as that is a very socially dangerous topic. It's the same reason we can't say that "blacks are better at sports in general", or "the Jews are better in school in general", even if it might be trueThe book tries to control for the effects of socio-economic status , and comes to a conclusion that IQ is somewhere between 40-60% heritable *after* making allowances for different SES levels. Low SES can have an effect on IQ, such as depriving children of educational stimuli during crucial formative years. But it also points out that SES is both a cause and an effect: why do people with low IQs tend to be less well-off in the first place? So differences in SES only partly explain differences in IQ.
How do planetary gears work?
[This is a good concise animation of the whole thing]. The orange on in the middle is the sun gear. the three greenish ones in the middle are the planet gears and the outer ring is the ring gear. The sun and ring gears are the inputs and outputs, it does not matter which one but only those two can be connected to anything. [There is a bit more though] There is also this thing called a planetary carrier, which is what allows them all to spin the way they do. In many cases the carrier or things attached to it are capable of locking which makes the output shaft spin at the same rate and direction as the input shaft . This creates a simple two speed gear set. Automatic transmissions typically use planetary gears . A 4 speed automatic has 2 sets of planetary gears where each set has the two speeds mentioned earlier. The ratios of the gears are different and this way there are a total of 4 unique ratios of input/output . If both gear sets are the same size you would only get 3 speeds . Automatic transmissions with more speeds like 6, 8, and even 10 can be achieved by concatenating multiple sets of planetary gears. reverse is usually achieved by having a separate ring set with [two sets of planets] so that the direction of the output becomes reversed.
Why do so many types of pills result in dry-mouth?
A lot of medications have anticholinergic effects, that is, they block the receptors for acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that induces salivation. Anything that stimulates adrenalin receptors might cause the same effect tooIs this similar to the effects marijuana has with the common "dry mouth"?
When can you carry something heavy why do you always only 'just make it'?
For the same reason you always have to pee more the closer you get to a bathroom when you really have to go. Your mind sets limits and your body reacts to those limits.
Why are movies rated PG-13, but TV shows rated TV-14 in the US? Why do they increase the age by 1 for TV shows?
The film ratings system is administered by the Motion Picture Association of America, while television content ratings are governed by the Federal Communications Committee. Other than that there really isn't a reason.
How does electricity get converted to movement in machines?
Magnets. If you coil wire around a piece of metal and apply electricity, you make an electromagnet. If you also have a regular magnet nearby, you can get them to pull together. If you also set this up in a cycle, you can keep applying electricity and pulling to the next magnet, and create a motor.
How do musicians sample older songs?
There are many ways to do this, but procuring original individual tracks is not one of them. I'm not going to type a novel here, but EQ, filters, and other effects are commonly used.
Why do companies price things at $4.99 instead of $5.00?
Psychologically 4 is less than 5. Since we read left to right, we see the 4 first and automatically associate it as being less than 5.
How come Americans have large portion sizes and relatively cheap prices for their food?
When you go to a restaurant, you pay for the service first, then for the actual food. As a rule of thumb, the ingredients usually make up only 1/4 to 1/3 of the costs. Additionally, the work of preparing a dish twice as large usually isn't twice as much for the chef. So it comes down to the customer's expectations. Americans expect large meals, so the restaurants deliver - without hurting their profits much.Capitalism. People want to get the most for their money and when it comes to food that means large sizes and cheap prices. If food costs go too high then people simply stop buying that food item and that costs a restaurant or grocery store more money by the food rotting than it costs them keeping a small profit margin for the dish.Besides farmers producing a surplus, tipping is a big factor. If you tip 15% on a $75 meal , that's the same as the food costing $86.25 in a non-tipping culture.
Why would the Eurozone collapsing be a bad thing. Can't they all just go back to their own currencies?
Depends on your timeframe. If you are talking about the long term consequences, like hundreds of years, then yes, of course, the countries can go back to their old currencies and they will adjust to whatver pros and cons that arrangement has. However if you are talking about time scales important to people alive, remember that many people don't like making adjustments. Furthermore many people will have arranged their lives in a way that will mean a change in currency will make them either rich or bankrupt, the former will lead parades in the streets in favour. The latter will lead riots in the streets against the former. Civil war is not an impossibility. So for example, if a country leaves the face many challenges:- if even a whisper of the plan leaks, their banking system will risk collapse as people try to withdraw cash to convert into something perceived as safer- once completed, many countries will want to instantly devalue their currnecy by printing tons of it. Their former EU partners to whom they owe billions, will end up getting less after a devaluation. Hence they are unlikely to make this easy.- after a devaluation, people who had kept their money out of the country will be rich, people who kept their money in the country will be poor. This will create strong tensions and resentment All these effects are well known and easily anticipated by everyone, so everyone will tend to make financial moves today based on their perceptions of the likelihood of a currency change happening, rather than sitting calmly until it's announced. In the end, in currency, careers, and dating, confidence is all that matters.
Rearranging formulas/equations while following BEDMAS
A common issue is when multiplying or dividing, people tend to forget to apply to *all* terms in the equation. An Algebra 1 example would be like this: > **3x + 5 = 24** You might think to do this: > x + 5 = 8 thinking that you "divided both sides by 3." But in that case, you forgot the 5. So you should have done this: > x + 5/3 = 8 OR, you could have done the subtraction first instead: > 3x = 19 The second approach is what's referred to as "reverse order of operations," meaning that when solving equations, it's usually easier to deal with addition/subtraction first, then multiplication/division, and so on. ===== Does this help, or is it way too basic for what you are talking about? An example problem might be a good idea.
When repaving a road, why do they skip the overpass?
I don't think they can pave continuously because of the expansion joints.Its also has to do with weight. The amount of load the road is guaranteed at. Over time additional layers of repave would significantly reduce clearance heights both above and below the bridge.I don't know how much is true about has been said so far, I do know however that they usually do an overpass seperately. The reason for this has to do with weather conditions. Ever noticed these rubber strips when driving over an overpass? Those are there for the movement of the pavement. When it gets warm it will expend and when it gets cold it will contract. The rubber inbetween gives the pavement the room to do so.
What is Matroid Theory?
It is like matrix on steroids. Matrices are studied in linear algebra and they are easy because they have a well understood structure with straightforward consequences. Matrices are are hard because such said rules are still much more abstract that what you see in high school or basic calculus. Matroids are like matrices except that they are even more general and will thus remain unaccessible until you master linear algebra. Matroids are useful in graph theory, combinatorics, and coding theory.
why can't blood from organ transplant patients be accepted for donation?
According to [this] you just have to wait a year to donate blood. I'm guessing it is because of anti-rejection medication. Also says no brain transplant stuff because of prions.
Why is gold worth so much?
For most of history, gold was the densest substance known. So when it came to making money, gold was the natural choice. Anything you might try to adulterate a gold coin with would make it lighter, so you could instantly know it was a fake just by weighing it. Gold provided a degree of security that no other metal could matchbecause our alien overlords need it for their spaceship computers.I'll just leave [this NPR article] right here. :)
Why do we lose balance when we're standing on something compared to just standing on the floor
Your balance can be affected by many senses. You do use your eyesight in part when trying to balance. Just seeing that you are on an object will have you subconsciously determine that you need to focus on balancing which can throw you off.
I'm sufffering, first world drama style, from the common cold. Please ELI5 the epic battle between the virus and my immune system.
First, the virus enters the cells in your body. Then it uses all the machinery in the cell to make more viruses. Then it pops the cell to release all the new viruses. This is not healthy. ~~Rinse and~~ repeat. At some point your body realizes this is happening. Its usual response is to raise your temperature, giving you a fever. This has two uses: * Makes your body a terrible place for viruses. They hate the heat . * Increases your body's production of the things that fight the virus, due to an explanation that goes beyond ELI5. Anyway, other signs of infection like muscle pain, vomiting, headaches, diarrhea etc. etc. are all caused by either the the virus destroying your cells or are a side result of your body destroying the virus.
I have $20 to spend this month of food, can I get the proper nutrition?
This has been deleted because it is not asking for a concept to be explained. I'd recommend /r/frugal for this question, but r/answers or /r/askreddit may be able to help too. Thanks.
Why does nearly everyone hate the sound of their own voice when they hear it?
Sorry mate but: _URL_0_ Don't want be a jerk but I kinda posted it earlier. And by the looks of it you reposted it. No offense though.
How to ophthalmic emulsifiers work?
If you leave a bowl of water on your kitchen counter for a few days it will dry up . Similarly, your eyes will dry up faster if you only had water on them. To prevent that, your eyes has a thin layer of lipids that reduces water evaporation. Certain eyedrops have emulsifiers that helps stabilise the fatty layer to reduce evaporation/dryness.
Why does the U.S. support a dictatorial government in Yemen (a country under sharia law), denouncing the rebels, but has the exact opposite stance in Syria?
Because every geopolitical move America makes is based on either money, or power. Ideals dont even factor. If your totalitarian dictator supports American hegemony, he will get weapons and support, if your democratically elected secular government challenges us or sides with a rival, all of a sudden rebel separatist forces will get mysterious influx of money and guns and will destabilize your region/overthrow your leaders, and everything in between.If you want a short, soundbite-y reason, it's because the Houthis led an armed uprising with the support of a former dictator while Assad cracked down brutally on peaceful protesters. Current internationally recognized president of Yemen Hadi was the former dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh's vice president. He was given the top spot in a deal in which Saleh stepped down but was allowed to stay in the country. This was suitable to Saleh because Hadi basically had no domestic support. He was Saleh's vice president simply because he was so non-threatening. The Houthis, who have been agitating for a role in government for some time, have basically struck a deal with Saleh that he would support them if they were to occupy Sanaa and lead a revolt. In Syria, the same type of massive protests that led to Saleh stepping down in Yemen caused Assad to unleash a brutal civil war.
Moore's Law - Does computing power really double every 18 months? Will this ever plateau out?
"Moore's Law" is actually just an observation of a historical trend - the *density of transistors* tends to grow exponentially, doubling every 18 months. This tends to translate to more transistors and, when coupled with improvements in clock speeds, lead to exponential increases in CPU power throughout the 80s, 90s & 2000s. Clock speeds, however, have largely plateaued. Intel was shipping 3.8GHz Pentium 4 CPUs back in 2005 - their fastest chip today is only clocked at 4.2GHz. This means that the last few generations of CPUs have not made significant improvements in processing power from one release to the next. When Intel released their most recent "Kaby Lake" processors, many people were *really* disappointed that it showed a minimal performance improvement over the previous "Sky Lake" release. For things like rendering CG for movies, the performance of CPUs isn't really such a limiting factor. With larger & larger budgets for CG and special effects, we just keep building larger render farms & throwing GPUs at the problem.I think it has already plateaued out - and it not likely to continue to increase at a ridiculous pace like it did in the 90/2000's a couple of reasons for this:1. Size/Heat - In order to continue to make their products faster and more powerful, they had to make the products either smaller and/or figure out a better way to distribute/reduce heat. 2. Cost/benefit analysis - at some point - the cost associated with designing/manufacturing products that will show a smaller speed increase does not outweigh the additional cost associated with said product. 3. Feasibility vs need - Even though the industry would be able to continue to make products faster/more powerful, at this time what we have is working pretty well and there really aren't that many products that need that increased speed/computing power enough to justify the associated costs.Intel actually actively strove to keep up the pace of Moores law after the observation was made. However, as of a few years ago, due to rising costs and technological limitations of getting so small with the fabrication process, they are no longer trying to keep that pace.
If a person was shrunk down to fit in the palm of one's hand, would their voice become high-pitched like in it does in movies?
I would imagine so. Itty bitty vocal folds and all that. To quote from [Wikipedia]: The perceived pitch of a person's voice is determined by a number of different factors, most importantly the fundamental frequency of the sound generated by the larynx. The fundamental frequency is influenced by the ***length, size, and tension of the vocal folds.*** This frequency averages about 125 Hz in an adult male, 210 Hz in adult females, and over 300 Hz in children.
What's the difference between a battery pack in series and a battery pack in parallel?( Please forgive my stupidity)
A cell has 2 properties, voltage and current. Having multiple cells in series increases the voltage provided by the battery but doesn't effect the current. Having multiple cells in parallel increases the current provided by the battery but doesn't change the voltage.
Why are personal aircraft so expensive? Is it parts/construction or is it because it's a luxury item?
A few reasons, the main one being FAA certification and relatively low volume. Similar to like how all cars must be crash tested on the road and how safety items on your car must have NHTSA certification all the expensive parts of an airplane who's failure could lead to a crash require FAA certification. This is one of the aviation industry's biggest complaints; FAA certification holds back technological advances. Most general aviation aircraft are flying with 50 year old engine designs and manual control. We can't get modern fuel injection or ignition systems because no one wants to spend time to develop a new system and pay hundreds of thousands for FAA certification. The other part is maintenance, it's like owning a Ferrari. There's lots of scheduled maintenance that needs to be done