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WHY did Texas flood so badly? | Not sure about Texas, but I'm in Oklahoma and we got over a foot of rain in about 4 hours one day. That was a couple of weeks ago and we've had rain showers nearly every day since then, some of them just as heavy. The ground can't absorb anything close to that much water that fast, so the excess runs off and collects i... |
What's the difference between Coke, Coca-Cola and Pepsi and what is the point in producing all these near-identical drinks? | It's purely a monetary thing. Every year in Commerce class here, they did a blind taste test of Coca-Cola and Pepsi and 9/10 times nobody could tell the difference . |
Why has post-colonial Africa become such a horrifically violent place? | This is an extremely delicate and difficult question to answer. But, drawing on some of the excellent points earlier redditors have made, I'll try to narrow it down to a few bullet points, all of which are related to [European colonialism]. * Ethnicity . Countries in Africa are basically just lines drawn with a ruler o... |
Why don't more people in countries outside North America use cars with automatic gear boxes? | Something no one else has mentioned is that many American roads are long and straight, whereas in Europe we have little twisty winding roads that necessitate many gear changes. Perhaps that's something to do with it.More fuel efficient, more fun if ur a hoon, can jump start if battery goes flat and you can use gear bra... |
What is happening to my nervous system when doctors numb an area of my body? | Your sense of touch and pain is carried to your brain through nerves. Nerves are basically strings of long nerve cells which send tiny electrical pulses down their length. This is done in a way that is a bit different than a typical electrical circuit in a say a radio. Salt is an 'ionic compound' meaning it is made of ... |
The circle of fives and the seven(?) major scales | You have two different questions there. You have 12 notes, including sharps and flats, not 7, so there will be 12 major scales, one with the root on each note. But scales aren't all *that* interesting on their own, in my opinion, the musicality comes from how you use the modes musically. Have a look at [this video] , f... |
If the imperative for all living organisms is to live and spread, then what is the logic behind fast-moving viruses (like Spanish Flu) that kill their hosts so quickly? | Viruses aren't, strictly speaking, living. They're bundles of DNA designed to replicate endlessly. They have no logic at all. They usually have host species, if they mutate or cross with similar viruses with different host speces you see transmission across species occuring. As was mentioned in other comments, Ebola st... |
Why is it safer to turn off the engine/remove keys from the ignition when fueling a car? | My thoughts is so people don't drive off with the gas nozzle still in their car.. The idiots of the world, I wouldn't put it past them. |
Why is it okay to call a British person a Brit but it's not okay to call a Japanese person a Jap? Also is it offensive to call a Communist a commie? | I agree with everything said here but, as an Englishman, I can guarantee that calling someone here a 'Brit' will get you at the very least an odd look, if not a 'piss off' for some Scottish/Northern Irish individuals. A lot of people here do not like being generalized as British instead of their actual country. From wh... |
Why do we die in old age? What makes the body/mind stop working when we're old? Why could we not live eternally with pacemakers implemented? | We never really die of old age, we just succumb to a disease or something that our body has become less resistant against. Becuase our bodies are weaker we die from small things easier. So overall we really don't die of old age. The older you get from like fifty the weaker you get. |
Why do toilets reverberate? | Toilets reflect sound because they are hard and smooth. You could make a silent stealthy toilet by making the inside of it a bumpy texture. Take a second to picture that. Now take a second to imagine how much of a BITCH it would be to clean all the shit out of the tiny little spaces. I'll take the noisy bowl any day ra... |
What stops someone from copying my check that they received from me and writing a new one? | Well, there's jail. What you're describing is a crime. You'd detect it right away, when there were two check numbers that were identical -- one of them for the amount in your check register, and one forged check. Also, if you purchase checks from any vendor, people can just cash it -- assuming you've written it out to ... |
How does the sun make it's energy? | No problem with this on the rules front. We're just trying to discourage dumbing it down unnecessarily. If people ask specifically for that sort of answer, that's perfectly fine :). Hopefully you get a good answer, but definitely ask commenters some follow ups if your son asks some! |
why do dogs tilt their head when confused, and why do we automatically take it as confusion | Something I find interesting is that the facial expressions we use are more alike to those of animals we have domesticated as companions & co-evolved with than those to which we are more closely related . When a dog is happy, it looks like it's smiling; a chimp with a comparable expression is making an unequivocal thre... |
How do planets generate sound in Space if sound cannot travel in space? | They don't. They can give off various forms of electromagnetic radiation we can choose to interpret as sound. |
Why do we ignore the, "in a regulated militia," part of the 2nd Amendment? | It's 'well-regulated', and we don't. It has a different meaning than what you're trying to insinuate. Edit: full explanation [here]", 'It does not say "the right of the militia", it says "the right of the people". The people is us. |
Why can we "develop a taste" for things we originally dislike, such as beer or certain foods? | I've heard that as children your taste buds are hyper sensitive. My mother would always cringe at my sugar drinks saying they were too sweet, which I didn't understand for a long time. Now I drink a lot of flavored seltzer and if I have real soda, I cringe. Same goes for bitter foods like spinach and brussel sprouts. |
. How do countries that are poor and isolated obtain the resources to own and operate nuclear weapons? | Nuclear weapons are expensive, but they aren't advanced technology. The physics has been solid for 100 years, and the engineering for nearly 75. You can find a diagram of a nuclear weapon in any decent high school science text. Any country willing to throw a few billion dollars at the problem can develop nuclear weapon... |
If people mod video games to have super realistic graphics so easily, why doesn't the company who made the game do this in the first place? | Because they create the game so it can run on the majority of systems. Let's take Skyrim for example. There are hundreds of lighting, foliage and other graphical mods that make the game look beautiful and beat the uncanny valley. But they require incredibly powerful systems, which only incredibly powerful PCs have. But... |
Why aren't MLB ballpark dimensions standardized? | Major League Baseball has been around since 1869. Some of the older stadiums cannot be expanded to fit certain dimensions due to other works in the area, so even if new rules were implemented, many older ballparks would need to be grandfathered in. That actually happened, too! From [the official rules]: > NOTE Any Play... |
Why do car alarms have that one sound? | That sequence is actually from the ability to customize to just one of the available sounds. There were/are connections that can be cut inside to eliminate the unwanted sounds, playing only the connected sound. The installation instructions told the dealers how to configure this option, but most dealers didn't explain ... |
how is it legal for a private security company to enter private property to dispose of marijuana? | for some background, from cornell univ.: > The Fourth Amendment originally enforced the notion that “each man’s home is his castle”, secure from unreasonable searches and seizures of property by the government. It protects against arbitrary arrests, and is the basis of the law regarding search warrants, stop-and-frisk,... |
Why are Europeans viewed by many as more artistic and classy and Americans as brash and uneducated? | Stereotypical reinforcement. A lot of our entertainment media enhances this portrayal so we come to follow it. A perfect example is [this American clown] of a sheriff from the James Bond movies when [Roger Moore] played the classy spy. You saw enough of stuff like this and it just kept the perception up in the culture.... |
Why is waking up in the mornings so difficult/dreadful? | Is it hard for you to wake up on Christmas, or your birthday, or the first day of your vacation? It could be that you aren't doing things worth getting up for? |
Vaccinated people's fear of unvaccinated people | Something like the flu vaccine which comes out every year isn't necessarily a 100% preventative measure..scientists predict which strain of the flu virus will be most prevalent from year to year and make a vaccine to that strain. So if someone's sick with the flu there's still a chance they're infected with a virus tha... |
what exactly is ISIS? | You need to read the wiki, not ELI5. ISIS declared themselves the government of the Dawlah, or the community of Islam and it's historical lands, and seek to govern in accordance with their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. They have conquered parts of Iraq and Syria. They are fighting literally every government... |
The "popping" noise my bones make | I don't think it's gas: I can crack my thumbs repeatedly, and they won't stop after the first time. I do it by having them press towards the wrist while bending them forward. If it was gas being released, I guess it'd take some time to regenerate or something, no? EDIT: [Shitty drawing] that tries to explain. |
Why do employers with online job applications have answers on the assessment that no person would ever choose? | just because no person would ever choose the answer, doesn't mean robots wouldn't. that's why |
Why is the U.S. against high taxes and more social programs if this model seems to work so well elsewhere in the world? (e.g in Canada and in many European countries) | Americans have always been against taxes and government, this is precisely what fueled the revolution against the British. It's in our culture to distrust the government, to be very individualistic, and want to earn money for ourselves and use it to better ourselves because we think only we can spend it wisely, not the... |
Why do some languages translate into English better than others? | I'm not good at explaining this, but this video from tom scott is a good video to understand it _URL_1_ |
Why North Korea broke the ceasefire with South Korea and the effect this will have on the US | Hope Seoul doesn't get hit, but that seems like the most likely target. Not to mention the North Koreans who might suffer, they have it hard enough already. |
why are we so sensitive underneath our fingernails? | There are obviously nerve endings all along your body, but as these nerve endings are constantly being stimulated for a variety of reasons, they begin to react less and less to minimal stimulation and requiring a stronger stimulation to react. The skin under your nails have the nails to protect them so that they aren't... |
Why does meat to stick to cooking surfaces? | The same reason you can't easily wash cum off your hands with warm water. The proteins break down with the heat into a sticky substance that glues itself to the surface.The interactions of proteins and heat can introduce the Maillard reaction which denatures the proteins into basic sugars that caramelize. If your pan i... |
why am I exhausted after a long road trip? | I have a friend who is a long haul trucker, going back and forth between Colorado and New Jersey regularly. He is very in tune with how tired he gets from different activity while he's driving. Mental alertness plays a big part in making you tired. He said he no longer drives over the speed limit because constantly bei... |
How Do Courts Keep a Victim's Identity Private? | In a criminal trial, it's the responsibility of prosecutors to take evidence that has been collected and convince the court/jury that the accused is guilty. The victim are not forced to testify or provide a victim impact statement, however since the evidence in many rape and sexual assault cases comes from victim testi... |
Why were African, Australian and Native American civilisations so technologically inferior compared to European and East Asian civilisations? | Several reasons. Mainly: * Africa and the Americas are longer north-south, while Eurasia stretches east-west. This makes it easier for cultural innovation to spread in Eurasia, because climate differences are less drastic. Agricultural techniques that work in Canada aren't likely to work in Mexico, but techniques that ... |
Why hasn't anyone actually attempted assassinations of the North Korean leadership? | A full out assault or bombing run would cause and international incident, the DPRK has some rather powerful backers and we'd rather not piss them off with a show of force in their backyard. To make things harder, for the most part, no one really knows where the leaders are most of the time. The Kim family generally sta... |
Why are Masters and Doctoral students called "candidates"? It makes it sound that there is a chance they won't earn the degree | An Associates or Bachelors degree is earned when you have enough credit hours in relevant subjects. After you have enough, you apply for the degree and you get it, end of story. Masters and PhD degrees are earned once you have enough credit hours **and** have a dissertation/thesis project that contributes to the field ... |
If the Middle East is seemingly so rich with oil, why is there so much poverty and civil unrest? | Money from natural ressources are rarely split evenly across everybody and when the country or region is unstable there is a fair chance of some people exploiting the riches of the country to hold on to this money for themself. You can also see that in many african countries, a single source of wealth that isn't in nee... |
Why don't bridges have higher jersey walls to prevent cars from driving off the bridge? | It's probably - in the case of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge - due to its age. Nobody considered higher jersey walls to be that critical, plus as already suggested it would have added to the weight of the bridge, thereby ramping up construction costs to absorb it. By contrast, the 2nd Severn Crossing between England and So... |
Why do people sometimes have momentary confusion on how to do simple everyday tasks? | I think it's because most of the time, we don't think about these simple tasks very much. We're on 'autopilot'. Sometimes though, something happens to jolt us out of that well established routine, and we have to actively remember how to perform that task. Much like you normally breathe without thinking about it, but if... |
Why do musicians need sheet music during public performances? | Once you learn a recipe, do you throw out the cookbook? No, just because you have memorized it doesn't mean that you can't lose your place. It's just insurance to make sure that they don't all mess up.When you karaoke a song you know, it still helps to see the lyrics', "Also consider how many versions of a song there c... |
What exactly happens when you delete a file from your computer? | Imagine your harddisk is a book with a table of contents and many pages. A page is like a sector on the hard disk, the table of contents is like the file system table. The only thing we really know about a harddisk is, that the file system table starts at the beginning. There may additional entries in the middle, but t... |
What would happen to a naked human body in space with only a hermetically sealed and pressurised mask and underwear? | I mean, assuming your mask is hooked up to a supply of oxygen so you don't suffocate: You won't lose heat very quickly since there's nothing to lose heat *to*. You'd probably die from being cooked by all the high energy radiation out there or maybe thirst. I'm not sure which would get you first. |
What is this whole RES thing | [Reddit Enhancement Suite] It's a browser plugin which greatly improves the Reddit browsing experience on desktops. |
Is catnip like drugs for cats? | Not necessarily. The trait that makes cats react to catnip is genetic. Some cats don't get the trait and it doesn't effect them at all. Also, it doesn't effect a cat until they reach sexual maturity . The effect only lasts five to ten minutes and can take thirty minutes before it effects them again. It effects them to ... |
Why is there a stigma associated with being ginger? | It's so ingrained in western humour that even Tesco got in on the joke. _URL_0_ yes they did get slated for it and withdrew the card. |
"Brain eating" parasite in lakes? | It's an amoeba, *Naegleria fowleri*, that usually eats other bacteria but when it gets in the human body, it attacks and eats the brain. You get it from 1. swimming in water with the amoeba present , and 2. getting water forced up into your nose, say through diving or skiing. You can also get it from using a neti pot w... |
; DC measures in at 68.3 mi² (176.9 km²), however.... | When DC was originally laid out, it was a 10 mile by 10 mile square crossing the Potomac river and taking part of what had been Maryland and Virginia. A 10 mile by 10 mile square is 100 square miles. In 1846, the Virginia portion was returned to Virginia, becoming Arlington County and Alexandria City . Here's a nice ch... |
What is the point of unmarked police cars if they are still very easily spotted? | I did a community patrolling class a couple of years ago, and here is how the chief explained it. The cops have three types of cars. Undercover, unmarked, and marked cars. The marked cars have wrap and light bars put on them so you can clearly see they are cops. It makes the public feel better when the public calls for... |
How can I get viruses from web sites when I am not downloading anything? | Malicious or infected websites can take advantage of bugs in your web browser, or more commonly, in content plugins that are loaded by your web browser and cause them to unintentionally execute program code that they shouldn't. This malicious program code can then do things like access your file system, install malware... |
How is it possible to withdraw money from any ATM using any Bank Card? | The ATM sends every money request to its bank. If it's a card from that bank, it tells the ATM whether or not the transaction is approved. If the card is from another bank, it sends that request to the other bank for approval. This all happens in a matter of seconds. |
why don't we just call other countries what they refer to themselves as in their own language? | I don't care if people translate, but can you foreigners please stop calling The Netherlands Holland ? Thank you |
Is it reasonable suspicion of illegal drug abuse when rappers/ hip hop artists mention the use of drugs in their music? | Yeah, it's an artistic statement. Rappers and all stage artists are projecting an alter ego that might be similar to their real lives, but their lyrics are not an admission of guilt. Think about how few rappers go by their real names. I as an author can write about characters using drugs in vivid detail, but it doesn't... |
Why do we demolish nuclear power plants instead of maintaining them? | Nuclear facilites have two major advantages to them: 1) very low operating costs, and 2) no air pollution. This is balanced out by three major disadvantages: 1) HUGE initial costs, 2) Radioactive waste, and 3) a very tight regulatory environment. Overall, no new nuclear plants have been built in a long time. There are ... |
Why isn't gasoline pricing uniform like Coca-Cola and other goods? | Well actually I think you'd find that Coca-Cola prices are not consistent across a couple of blocks. If you go to four different supermarkets you'll likely find four different prices for a two liter. At McDonalds in New England you can get a large sweet tea for a dollar but large sodas cost almost three dollars. In Sou... |
What law(s) is preventing me from using physical force to evict a squatter from my residence? | I wonder if it's legal to give them notice of fumigation then 24 hours later flood the property with tear gas? |
Why are nuclear bombs tested at sea? | The main environmental hazard from nukes comes from radioactive fallout forming in the air from the blast. Detonating underwater doesn't produce fallout because of the compounds that make up water . There would still be harmful effects on the environment, but they would be contained more in the ocean than if detonating... |
Why are new CPUs not getting faster, but instead come in dual, quad, and oct core? | CPUs are getting faster. Their clock speed isn't increasing though. Partially because they're being made dual/quad but also because clock speed isn't the only factor that determines how fast a processor gets, and manufacturers of CPUs have learned they could make them much better without increasing the clock speed. Tha... |
Why is our bodies reacting like it is to drugs like heroin. | The other comments are correct, much of it is to do with a drop in personal care, hygiene etc. which comes with a major addiction. But you also need to remember that the opioid systems in your body aren't just involved in pleasure. There's various receptors in various parts of your nervous system, and they're directly ... |
How did the Spanish language spread around South America with such prominence? | It's due in part to heavy mixing between cultures between the native peoples and the Spanish cultures. This lead to an entirely new group of people, the Mestizos. These people possessed combined European and native american heritage. Being a contiguous landmass also helped the spread of their language and culture Also ... |
Trying to understand Brexit. What are the main reasons citizens wanted out of the EU? Is it likely France will follow? | You know the american *thanks Obama* ? in Europe we have the *Thanks Brussels*. Among the arguments against the E.U. - The lack of sovereignity/democraty. Most of the people cannot name the person at the head of the union. - The rule on the service. Why would you hire a British/French/German plumber when you can ask a ... |
Why does Mongolia have such a low population despite playing such a big role in history? | To add to the points that people have previously made, the mongols obviously had a huge impact on history, but that wasn't due to huge hordes of Mongolian armies, Ghengis Khan could field a large army, but they were mostly nomadic horse archers that joined the mongols, usually from central Asia, as well as conquered Ch... |
Why does it take days for the funds to be transferred to my visa but instantly withdrawn for purchases? | Because fuck you. The law allows them to take a certain period of time to credit accounts. Nowhere does it prohibit them from moving faster. If they instantly deduct it from your account, it prevents you from spending it twice. They can then hold it for 48 hours before actually crediting to whoever you purchased someth... |
How does homelessness occur in First World countries? What are the best solutions for reducing homelessness that have worked in the past? | The most effective method studied so far has been 'Housing First', an initiative which has conducted tests in a number of small towns across the United States and Canada. Communities that have implemented Housing First have seen their overall costs go down, saving more money on police and unpayable hospital bills than ... |
In terms of conservation of mass, how does a baby form? | The egg is the largest human cell by a large margin already, the initial development isn't really a problem. Once the newly formed person descends into the uterus, the embryo gets attached to the mother. Nutrients and oxygen are exchanged through the umbilical chord which is a physical living connection. |
How is Magic Johnson alive? | HIV can be controlled before progression to AIDS, and treatments have been very successful. From the [Wikipedia] entry. The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs in an attempt to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different s... |
Why are non-medical professions allowed to gain the title "doctor"? | It's actually the other way around, with 'docere' in Latin meaning 'to teach'. It's probably more correct to say that PhD holders are the 'real' doctors as they have a doctorate. It's just through a quirk of history that medical professionals got the title doctor as well in many countries. |
how do energy efficient blubs work? why are they shaped like that | There are many different types of energy efficient bulbs. I take it you're talking about the curly florescent bulbs. These work by sending an electrical current through a gas, typically mercury-vapour gas. the current 'excites' the gas and that causes an ultra violet wave to shoot out. The phosphor coating on the insid... |
How does one develop a phobia, and how does your brain chemically react when faced against that phobia? | Here's a little bit of information about the neurological side of associative learning. Phobias are thought to be attained and stored by changes in the strength of particular neural connections in a region of the brain known as the 'Amgydala', a highly connected point of the brain particularly important for emotional p... |
Why can't cars go reverse full speed ? | Because they have a separate gear for reverse. In terms of speed it's usually between first and second gear. If reverse gear was set to allow a high top speed it would be very difficult to reverse at low speed without stalling the engine, and reversing is mostly done at low speed. A secondary factor is that the steerin... |
How did Australian government polls show 28% of the population planning to vote for Wikileaks party, but Wikileaks only ends up with 1-2% of the vote? | Kids on the internet who aren't even old enough to vote and non-australians saying they would vote for him. |
How do transgender people deal with the fact that the chromosomes they are born with dictate their actual gender? | > Don't post just to express an opinion or argue a point of view. If you want to survey redditors try /r/askreddit."Don't post just to express an opinion or argue a point of view." |
Why amount of transgender people is increasing so much | There likely aren't many more in terms of a percentage of the population, you're just hearing more about them now because it's more socially acceptable and so they feel safer being open about it. Either way, the overall numbers could be increasing just due to population size. The world population has more than tripled ... |
How to dougie (actually) | Basically, you take your left arm, and pretend it is a big block of cheese. Then, take your other hand, and pretend it is a cheese grater. Simultaneously, wiggle your entire body as though you were a particularly lazy snake. BOOM: DOUGIE'D", 'I would show this video to a 5-year-old to teach him or her how to Dougie: _U... |
How do we know that a number is irrational? For example Pi = 3,1415.... and it lasts forever, how do we know that it's forever? | How about an ELI1: A circle cannot be composed of straight lines, or it is not a true circle. If you had a circle composed of a million tiny straight lines, if you zoomed in close enough you'd still see that there are corners. A circle has no corners; you could say it's made of infinite straight lines that are infinite... |
why, especially with the rising cost of beef, goat products are not used more, and more readily available in grocery stores, in the US and Canada? | Goat is an acquired taste; to me it resembles lamb. Americans don't eat much lamb; not sure about Canadians. It's hard to introduce a new meat, especially if it has an unfamiliar taste. If you go to Middle Eastern or Central American markets in the US, you will almost certainly find goat, though. |
Corruption, how it starts and how to end it | Corruption is possible when people believe they have no alternative but to accept it. When a cop threatens to arrest you on false charges unless you pay him a bribe, and you believe the police chief and the mayor are in on it, you don't have a lot of choices. There are three factors that reduce corruption: * an effecti... |
Why is it that people have a hard time getting out of stressful situations in dreams (including doing simple things like dialing 911, running away, etc.)? | It may be that the dreams that stick with you in waking memory are the ones that you could not resolve in the dream. I would imagine there are countless dreams where problems are presented and your brain fluidly solves them like it's nothing, but those don't stick with you in the same way. |
Why is it when the hot water knob in the shower is turned, even a fraction of an inch, does the temperature change so drastically? | Everyone's faucets are very different, some open more faster, some have hotter water pumping through or warmer cold water . But mostly it's your faucets sensitivity. Buy a more expensive faucet and you'll get more even mixing. |
How can an Economy crash? | Well money isn't just an item, it can also be just a number. For example there is a principle for banks to multiply their money. If Person A brings Bank A 100'000$ Person A owns them and Bank A can use them, because Bank A thinks, that Person A won't take it all back. So they keep 20% and with the other 80% they do bus... |
Conspiracy theorists love to claim the government is trying to kill us slowly. My question is why? The government is so powerful, why wouldn't they simply kill us as quickly as possible? | Every conspiracist will give you a different totally ridiculous answer to this question. Maybe it's because aliens, or the Illuminati, or Skynet! Conspiracy theories lack any real logic.Because the government would have no power-- would you rather have power over a pile of bones or a dying population? |
How the House always wins. | Let's look at roulette for example:suppose you can only bet on red.the numbers on the roulette are 1,2,3, ,36, half of which are colored black and the other half - red. but don't forget the color neutral 0 and 00.you think you have a 50-50 chance of winning, but in fact the 0 and 00 tip the chance and instead you only ... |
Why do dogs wag their tails when they're happy? | It is indeed a form of communication. Coupled with other signs it can mean a variety of things. My dog will often wag its tail coupled with ears folding back along the head, when I come home. She is thoroughly exited that I am back. Coupled with a bark it could mean exitement or aggresion. Dogs getting ready to pounce ... |
Why does tapping the lid of a soda can before opening it prevent it from fizzing over? | I've never heard of tapping the lid of the can, but I do the bottom of it if I suspect it might need it. The way I believe it works is that the CO2 in the drink will form bubbles and stick to the inside of the can, and by tapping on it, you provide a way to detach them and have them float to the top. Thus, when you cra... |
Where did "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" come from and how did it become so universally known among children? | I personally heard it in the early '70s -- I was born in '63 and I know I heard it in grade school.The joker sings it in an episode of the animated series. So maybe the right people just heard itI wondered this about a week ago. This question gets asked every year and the answer is always the same: no one knows. There ... |
Anti-French sentiment in the United States. | Because in most of the recent conflicts that France has been in, it hasn't done so hot. People tend to forget that they basically took over Europe back in the 19th century, though.There's a fantastic Wikipedia write up on this topic: _URL_0_. Summary: * Most Franco-Americans do not identify themselves as French, be it ... |
Why can't we terraform Mars and Venus? | Because we don't have the technology to terraform anything yet, it's all theoretical at this point. |
Why does Hawaii and parts of Arizona not observe daylight savings like the rest of the United States? | Daylight savings was invented in world war 1, as a way to save fuel during the winter, but it doesn't really work very well in the modern age because of widespread electrical grids making it so easy to light up your house at night. That means that observing dst for the purpose of energy savings is totally useless. Also... |
Why are recordings of significant Broadway productions not publicly released for sale? | Because if they were, less people would need to go see the show. They tend to make sure a show is completely dead before releasing a recording of it - after they are sure it has run it's course. Would you spend however many dollars on a show ticket, or just a handful for a DVD to watch the same thing? The only thing yo... |
How do CD's (Certificate of Deposits) and stocks work? And can't they be used to easily scam someone? | [It's been tried many times], most recently by [Bernie Madoff]. Intentionally lying to investors is securities fraud. |
how could cities like New York build extensive subway lines in the early 20th century, but these days it seems like a simple extension of a current line costs an arm and a leg? | It costs an arm and a leg, so it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Safety.One thing you have to take into consideration is the methods of building. When the subway was originally built a century ago they used a method called "cut and cover". They cut open the ground, built the tunnels, THEN covered them up. This is probab... |
HTTP and HTTPS? Whats the big deal and why should I care? | When you send data over HTTP it is sent in plain text. Because, depending on the type of request, this can contain sensitive info , the data being plaintext The HTTPS protocol uses a certificate/key pair to encode the requests so that the data is sent securely, and even if you're victim to a man in the middle attack an... |
Is there a biological explanation for spacing out? | I remember someone asking this before in the past. The answer was something along the lines that it gives our brains a moment to relax since they're constantly working. |
How do movie editors duplicate the same person in a shot at the same time? | Depending on the editing program, you could for instance leave the camera in the exact position it was in and reshoot the scene with the actor in a different position. Then, in the editor, you overlap the takes and cut one portion from each scene to make a full image but with the actor in different positions. This meth... |
why we think the "bloop" sound is from an animal and not a natural occurrence. | Huh.. sped up like that it sounds like an air bubble. People think it's an animal sound because we know animals can make sounds kind of like it. There's also reason to believe it's something else because it was so loud and because we've never heard it before. |
What is/was the point of shower caps? | Your hair doesn't need to be washed every day,and it's bad for it to be dryed pretty much any way other than drip drying or patting with a tshirt. Add to this how long drying can take with long hair the idea of keeping it dry is an appealing option |
At what point did being called a martyr become an insult and why? | It's a pop-culture definition change caused by people who would purposefully put themselves in a position to be the victim, or manipulate a story to make themselves the victim, doing so repeatedly to attempt to garner sympathy from listeners, though usually just causing annoyance after repeat issues. I don't know if yo... |
Is it possible to catch a bullet, safely? | Simply put, no; furthermore, the reaction time needed is insane. Humans can't do it because we can't react that fast. But the major problem is the pressure created on the surface of your hand when caught. It's like crashing a car going 90 mph/144Kmh on a divider. You know for a fact the divider is going to stop that ca... |
Why did my hair change from blonde as a child to brunette in my teens? | So to start out there are two forms of melanin, pheomelanin and eumelanin. Pheomelanin is reddish-yellow and eumelanin is brownish-black; the combination of these compounds results in your hair color, with eumelanin being dominant over peomelanin. So a redhead would have a very large ratio of pheomelanin to eumelanin, ... |
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