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How do we know US. Armed forced are protecting us instead of putting us in more danger when fighting terrorism? | You've don't sound like you'd believe that terrorist are evil, but they are. The most deplorable, vile, hate filled, scum of the Earth. They look like people, but they aren't anymore. I've seen it first hand. They do not wish to co-exist with people who have different beliefs, they blow up scores of people in public pl... |
How is physical money converted to digital money ? | To oversimplify the explanation: existing physical money is EXCHANGED for digital money. It isn't converted.I use a scanner, but I think copiers and fax machines could do it alsoThat usually happens at a bank. For example, you have a 50 dollar bill in your pocket. You go to the bank and you tell them you want to deposi... |
How do game designers "balance" games? | It can vary a lot depending on the type of game but usually problems in balance are identified through extensive playtesting and/or collecting and analysing statistics, etc. Once balance issues are identified here needs to be serious thought about different balancing measures and the consequences of each option. Some g... |
why does Asparagus leave urine smelling like a swamp wasteland? | Like many stinky stinks it has to do with sulphur, the exact cause is unknown. Interestingly not everyone gets stinky wee from asparagus and not everyone can smell stinky asparagus wee.Here's an ELI15 from out comrade Dr Karl_URL_0_ |
If the boiling point of water is 100C, how can there still be water vapor in the air when the temperature is much lower than that? | Boiling and evaporation are not the same thing. Temperature is an *average* measure of the energy of all the particles in whatever you're taking the temperature of. In a pot of room-temperature water, some of the water molecules will have much more energy than the average, some will have much less energy. The higher-en... |
How is Russia, despite us knowing it is them, able to continually launch cyber attacks on the US, and there is seemingly nothing that can be done about it? | I don't really know about the topic that much, but I'm Russian and in our news they're feeding us the same bullshit about the US |
Why can I touch tin foil the moment it's removed from the oven? | The aluminum foil will be just as hot as the oven, but it won't feel hot because of how thin it is , and its low specific heat of aluminum. A 4 cm^2 area of aluminum foil can be heated from 37 C too 200 C with only 0.01 Joules. When touching the foil with your fingers, this heat will be transferred to them. This amount... |
if our solar system is inside the Milky Way, how come we can view and take pictures of the whole thing? | The photographs you see, are just assumptions of what the universe could look like. Our telescopes have a certain range and can see beyond our solar system. The fact that we know that our universe looks the same no matter where you point of view is, allows us to create these images! Hope I helped! If there is any astro... |
Why does the color black attract heat | It doesn't attract heat. It just isn't reflective. We see black as black because it absorbs the full spectrum of visible light. So, sunlight doesn't bounce off, and most of the UV rays are absorbed. |
Why are asian language scripts much more complex than european scripts? | To add what's been said here - Asian scripts may indeed look more complex, but that's because they deal with a language situation that is completely alien to ours I don't know about Chinese or Korean, but Japanese has a whooping what, 100 sounds* to work with ? 100 sounds completely set in stone. Meanwhile the English ... |
Why is Grand Budapest Hotel considered a great film? | Well, there's no accounting for taste and the academy awards still are subjective but what I think makes that movie so great is it's fantastic script, expert performances, and wonderful thematic score. The cinematography, sets, and general aesthetic sensibilities are in many ways indistinguishable from previous Anderso... |
Do jobs actually call references? | Speaking as someone who has hired people and is hiring more, yes. Yes, we call references. I don't have to call too many because I only call references for people I am strongly considering hiring. If you come in and bomb the interview I'm never calling anyone about you. I just don't care enough. If you do well, I want ... |
Why does the UK Government want to abolish the Human Rights Act? | Isn't it that we see now a break down from central Europe and what national governments want? I'm Dutch, we have currently quite some issues with mainly Africans seeking refugee often for economical reasons. They will be denied and are asked to go back, of course this doesn't happen and because of that they now end up ... |
Why are cars from the 80s and early 90s really boxy, while current cars have a rounded profile? | I have a '77 AMC Gremlin. It's a pure steel car. The hood feels 3x heavier than my Altima hood. Now cars are made more of plastic and lighter/stronger steel. Plus there is a huge space efficiency between cars then and no when it comes to under the hood. I can easily work on my Gremlin , but have to take my Altima to th... |
How do you get into medical school in the United States? | There are certain required courses which you must complete in college. If you haven't done them, you can't get into med school. After that, the most important factors are your grades and your score on a standardized test known as the MCAT. Medical-related volunteering is also important, but it's difficult to really sta... |
Why are power points (sockets, outlets) different around the world? | Electrical Engineer here. [This article explains it better than I likely can]. Essentially, the electrical systems of the world are like languages; they all evolved differently and adopted their own rules. It would surely make a hell of a lot more sense if we all just spoke Chinese, but that's simply not going to happe... |
Why can we get used to strong smells, bright lights, and other abnormal stimuli but not cold temperatures? | If your core body temp goes low enough you die. It's advantageous to not filter out potentially deadly stimuli. |
Why are front-loading washing machines more water efficient than top-loaders? | Take a jar & fill it 3/4 full of marbles. How much water does it take to get all the marbles wet if it's standing upright? enough water to fill the jar. If you turn that jar on its side and turn it, you only need enough water to fill it to the halfway point. |
Why is there an inherent desire for attention within humans? | Basically it's survival. People want to be included in the group because it makes them feel safe. It's your subconscious telling you that the chances of being eaten by a wolf are now lower. |
If an electronic device or machine is hit by an EMP powerful enough to knock it out, what will you have to do to get it running again? | I think the theory is high altitude burst from a nuclear device that causes a EMP is a huge problem as the fast pulse will cover a huge radius, computer cables and power transmission lines would have a spike of current go through before a beaker could isolate and thus frying all the electrical control circuits. Conside... |
Why can't you download a program and/or game with its updates/patches already included? | You can, but most don't, as it would involve changing the download every time a patch is released. |
how does LAN/(ethernet) through power work? | On a standard copper Ethernet cable, there are 8 wires. Two are used for transmitting data and two for receiving data. These are on pins 1,2,3 and 6. In a non-POE use case, there are 4 spare wires that show up on pins 4,5,7 and 8 of that fancy little RJ45 plug. POE uses those extra wires to transmit low voltage DC powe... |
If insects and arachnids don't have feelings, than what would trigger them to act if in danger? | Insects and arachnids do have at least some feelings such as fear and pain. What they don't have is the self awareness and intelligence needed to contemplate what those feelings mean. |
How does zero calories sugar work ? | Artificial sweeteners actually DO have calories. The reason each packet of, say Sweet N Low, doesn't have calories on it is because it is so sweet. Aspartame, one of the most popular sweeteners, is multiple times more sweet than sugar. So you need less of the artificial sweetener to make it 1:1 as sweet as sugar. So sa... |
Why can babies survive for so long on just breast milk and/or formula? Why can't adults from surviving off an 'adult formula'? | They totally could. And do. There are numerous liquid based nutritionally complete meal substitutes and not just for elderly etc. like Nutrifast or Ensure. Soylent is one I've tried for breakfast These meal substitutes aren't the most palatable and you get tired of drinking the same thing 3 meals day but they're the cl... |
The distinction between Sunni and Shite Muslims. | [Difference between Sunni & Shia] in 6 minutes, via Timothy Winters . Best brief recap I've seen. |
Why is hard drive capacity always made in powers of two (8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and so on)? | Hard drives aren't. Flash memory is. Its because there are two digits in binary, the number base that computers use. Power of two are 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and so forth. |
Why do people say an atheist can't be a republican? | Polarization. Once someone affiliates themselves with a party, we see this trend where they have a negative opinion of the other party. None of it has to be based in truth but this division between people is reffered to as polarization. If you are a polarized individial often instead of considering any argument present... |
Why do employers ask "where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?" How do personal goals matter at all? | I would think they want to see if your goals align with the job you are seeking. If you were applying for a network admin job and you said you would like to be a software engineer creating video games in 5years. They may see that as a disconnect. The job would not furthering you career goals and they might see you as n... |
Why aren't there any pictures/videos of the center of a tornado? | There was a TV show called Storm Chasers that ran on Discovery for like five years that centered around a crew trying to do just this. The long and short of it is, it's hard to predict when a tornado will form, they don't last that long once they do, and they don't always go where you can follow them. I don't think the... |
How do fibre optic cables actually work? | Think about it like this: The cables don't have any electricity in them, but instead the insides of the cables are made out of mirrors. At the start of the cable, there is a light. It flicks on and off and on and off in different patterns that represent binary code: each time the light is on there's a 1 and when it's o... |
Why do we keep having power issues such as "lines are down" or "rolling blackouts" or "rolling brownouts". | Burying powerlines would solve the problem but it's quite expensive . It's far less expensive to cut trees regularly and repair problems as they occur .They have done just that in much of Germany. Their power lines are usually below ground, so they are protected from storms and nosy squirrels. Most new construction in ... |
Why is learning history in school important? | The idea of a basic education is to make you a well rounded person and also a functioning member of a democratic republic . You learn history so, as the saying goes, you don't repeat it. For example, it has been suggested by some that muslims in the U.S. should be placed in internment camps. Well, if you learned in his... |
What is tree sap and why is it near impossible to clean off of anything? | It's basically tree-blood. It is used to transport nutrients throughout the tree. Not all sap is sticky. Different trees have different sap, and some of it is sticky when it interacts with air . Some of it isn't sticky till you boil a whole bunch of it in a pot.Oil breaks down sap. Sap on your hands/legs? Make a paste ... |
Why is Hillary the focus of her e-mail server issues, and not IT staff? | When you are given clearance to sensitive information, it's drilled into you that it's your ass on the line for what you're given. By deliberately putting that shit on a non-secure server, she was putting her personal interests over national interests .Hillary was in charge, and knowingly employed an IT staff to create... |
why do so many people have problems with their mechanics? | If you understand enough about cars you fix it yourself and rarely go to a mechanic. If you don't know much about cars whatever price you're quoted seems a lot. It's really easy for something seemingly small to turn out to be a huge job. E.g a faulty light could be related to the alternator or the whole electrical syst... |
Why does the letter 'x' sometimes make the sound of a 'z'? Why not just use the letter 'z' when we needed that? | special" and, embarrassingly, "Spain". This is why Spanish-speakers add an E to these words: the Spanish translations of those words are, respectively, "estudiar |
What is happening when my laptop stalls/freezes? | Generally speaking it's because your computer is trying to do something else. What else it's trying to do can vary. It could, for example, be trying to access a file on your hard disk. Alternatively, it could be stuck finding the solution to a very difficult problem. Or, it could have been poorly programmed, and is usi... |
Why is a sample size of 30 the suggested minimum required to perform statistical analysis? | I remember 30 being the magic number in behavioral statistics to infer the results of a sample on a larger population. I do want to know if there is some actual mathematical reasoning for this, or if it's just the number they deemed to be the cutoff ", 'Statisticians usually claim that a data becomes approximately norm... |
How did prehistoric humans find potable water | One thing that helps is probiotics, like yogurt and the pills. My wife's public health professor had a course study in Mexico. He only told 1 class to prep by having two yogurts a day leading up to the trip. The second class got no such warning. 100% of class 2 got the bad shits at least once. Class 1 only had a couple... |
Why the Dalai Lama is so controversial in global politics | The Dalai Lama is the leader of Tibet. Tibet was annexed by China in 1951, but the Dalai Lama fled, and still asserts that Tibet should be independent. So when the Dalai Lama is recognized by another government, China see it is a challenge to their right to control Tibet, and it hurts that country's relations with Chin... |
How are Passenger Jet exterior lights configured? | I don't know about the flashing white, probably just to indicate the plane was descending, but the lights on each wingtip are to indicate which wing is which to outside observers. This sounds weird but if you look at a plane in the distance, you can tell if it's coming towards you or going away based on if the red ligh... |
what it really means to be a republican and democrat | My honest opinion? Democrats believe we are responsible for everyone else in this world. Republicans believe be we are responsable for ourselves. Neither is incorrect, but this base assumption forms all further policy ideas. It's obviously more complicated than that, but that's the absolute fundamental difference as I ... |
Why can we eat a whole onion if it's fried with bread crumbs but not raw? | Both Vidalia onions and scallions are commonly eaten raw without the need for breading - perhaps a bit of salt, but that's it. However, classic red onions simply have too intense of a flavor for people to enjoy them alone so they're generally used to augment other food rather than as a food themselves. |
Most human body parts can heal/restore themselves when damaged, but why does the body not fix myopia? | myopia isn't damage. it's growing wrong. the genetics of someone with a vision problem are telling the body to build eyes wrong. |
Why do TV shows use different directors for different episodes instead of just 1 director for the entire series? | In TV, directing is more of a craft than a creative process, it is the writers and producers hold the creative control. Not to trivialize it, but a director's job is mostly to make sure the actors say their lines right while the camera is running. There is a *lot* of skill in getting the job done, but so long as they h... |
Why are fountain pens so expensive? | fountain pens are a kind of men's jewelry, which sort of makes sense when you remember that for a long time, corrosive ink meant that pen nibs were often made of gold. There is no upper limit to how much jewelry can cost; just think of the situation with watches. |
How does the meat industry worsen climate change? | A simple model: * Plants are producers - they create food for themselves with energy from the sun * Animals are consumers - they eat other things for food * The trouble is that when plants create food, and when animals eat things, they can only absorb ~10% of the available energy. Quick math: Start with 100 sun points ... |
fix: What is actually happening when an aquatic animal is said to be able to "hold its breath" for x hours. | It means exactly what it says. A turtle can hold it's breath for 2 hours. Can you clarify what it is you're asking? |
When going inside after being in the sunlight, why does everything look like a very slight tint of green? | It has to do with the [Fraunhofer lines]. The sun is 6000°C hot. Means it has a yellow color. 3000°C is more red. 10.000°C is white. 25.000°C is blue. *But where is green?* The reason that you can't see green stars is because the spectrum is lengthened. If you have a maximum in the green color spectrum you get almost t... |
Why is alcohol so fundamentally ingrained in our culture, especially when it comes to socializing? And why it over other equally dangerous drugs? | 1) Alcohol is ridiculously easy to make, and would be very easy to discover by accident. You just need sugar, yeast and time. 2) In the middle ages, and beyond alcohol was the method of choice to ensure water was safe to drink. Families would brew beer almost constantly - known as small beer. It was often less than 3% ... |
How does NASA's EmDrive work and why is it controversial? | It doesn't work. It is one of the most overly sensationalised pieces of crap in recent times. Every time the measurement apparatus has got more accurate the estimate of thrust has gone down and the error bars still encompass Zero thrust which is what everyone expects it to be. The design contradicts several incredibly ... |
How does one go from a single sperm cell to a full grown human. Where does this matter come from? | This may be wrong, being that I am only a second year college student barely taking my first science class, but from what I've learned, I'm pretty sure two gametes come together and form one cell, then keep replicating in the uterus. The DNA from both parents are in the very first cell, and then the cell goes through m... |
How can people passionately hate entire races? | It boils down to ignorance, but a lot of people are taught that there's something wrong with other races. They're told that black people are violent, angry, and lazy. They're told that Mexicans are violent, lazy, and also somehow taking all the jobs. They're told that people who follow other religions are wrong, hatefu... |
Its 2018 and we still haven't developed a 100% working medicine against nail fungus, WHY? | The nail is not vascular - it doesn't have a blood supply. There are cells that make and excrete the keratin at the base of the nail. Getting medication to body parts is either though inhalation, ingestion/digestion, injection, or topically. Fungi are notoriously stubborn and hearty life forms. Remember, we got penicil... |
Will putting your hand first in cold water and then in **almost** scalding water result in burn symptoms on your hand? | No it'll just hurt a lot. If the hot water isn't hot enough to damage the skin, it'll merely be a sensation shock. |
In the USA, how are presidential travel and security budgeted? Where does the money come from, and where does it go? | Typically the main costs are for staff wages, if the president has 15 cars in a motorcade that's 15 drivers and upwards of 70 staff members such as guards and paramedics. As well maintenance and fuel all fall into the travel and transport budget. Jet fuel can cost a lot especially for more demanding planes like Air For... |
When something claims to be water resistant up to 50 meters, what happens after 50 meters? | Pressure increases with increase in depth, at 50 meters the pressure of fresh water is 71.14 psi so something that's water resistant at 50 meters won't be able to withstand pressure any higher than that, the seal will break and water will get in. |
What made Communism work in China, but crash and burn in Soviet Union? | Communism never happened in either country. Socialism sort of happened, if you believe Chinese and Soviet Government faithfully represented the will of the people, which I don't maybe at some point, sort of. They were autocracies that incorporated some ideas from the radical left. At the start they did a lot to moderni... |
If exercise makes us healthier, why does it suck so much? | Actually exercise does have some ways in which your body encourages it. After exercising, the body releases endorphins which lift one's mood. I know that after exercise I feel great, whether it is because of endorphins or that I am improving myself. Also, Humans may have not needed exercise long enough to create this a... |
Why is tuna very expensive but canned tuna very cheap? | Since this is ELI5 I'll try to break this down Barney Style. The canned tuna is a different species that is easier to catch and process in large quantities, hence the phrase [Chicken Of The Sea.] Since the canned tuna can be stored without refrigeration for a long time it can be shipped much cheaper than fresh tuna and... |
Why is it that current pop songs' lyrics are repetitive verses repeated over and over, compared to the pas,t when lyrics were very diverse with different verses? | Have you listened to The Beatles? Quite a few of their hits have repetitive lines: Love Me Do, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, All You Need is Love, Hey Jude, Yesterday. This applies to many of the hits from the 60s and 70s. It's not something new. |
Why humans enjoy spicy food? | Here's a hypothesis -Whatever makes the food spicy may also protect it from spoiling, and/or trigger higher production of stomach acid which makes it safer to eat longer. Here's a question- is there a correlation between hot climates where food might spoil faster and spicier food? |
Why does reddit only let me post one comment every ten minutes. And why can i not post on certain subreddits at all? | Have you registered your email address? I've never had a time delay since registering. As for your second question, some subreddits only allow subscribed users to post and others are set to allow nobody but moderators to post, such as /r/thingsjonsnowknows |
Global Warming - what's the worst case scenario? | Well the last runaway greenhouse effect killed a lot of sealife but it helped modern mammals including primates appear. The first one we think occurred killed about 90% of the sea life and 70% of land animals and also killed insects which isn't common with extinctions. I think the worst thing would be if the runaway gr... |
Why do some people think it's beneficial to "alkalize" the body? | The whole alkaline diet or alkaline water thing is pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo. Your diet has exactly zero effect on the pH of your body, and you wouldn't want it to. Anything you eat must go through the blood stream before it can get to any other part of your body, so we need look no further than the pH of your bloo... |
How are standardized tests so expensive? | USMLE Step 1 for medical students is $580. It's a multiple choice exam that is graded by computer. They charge as much as they can get away with. If the price goes high enough, the students will rebel. |
How do BBQ restaurants work? | Many BBQ joints now employ gas or electric smokers that can be set at the end of the night and then left running overnight. Some just start super early and that's why many are only open for lunch they may get in at 3am to smoke the meat, serve from 11-1 and that's end of day . Restaurants often have to hold food that t... |
Can someone explain to me what the average "adult" is responsible for? | Essentially, you are responsible for your needs, including whatever you need to live and for your dependents to live if you have any. This include: * Shelter* Food* Water* Sanitation * Health care* Comfort The last is a very big area. Life insurance, for some, is a necessity; others don't see it as important. Air condi... |
Why do dogs go crazy over human food? | Most dog food probably tastes relatively the same, dont even get me started on kibble. Also it's the same flavor day in and day out so when they do get human food that's been cooked with different types of spices and herbs it's probably a refreshing change for them. |
Why do I hate the sound of my own voice? | I have an identical twin brother. In my line of work we often have our calls recorded and randomly 'quality checked'. We can access these recordings during appraisals, one-to-one meetings and training. Most people absolutely hate listening to themselves. I can't get over the fact that, when I hear myself speak, I'm lis... |
The difference between watch, see, and look? | Watch - Pay close attention to See - to witness something with your eyes Look - the act of seeing They are all slightly different and it become clear when to use each one but as to why they originated I can't help you.English vocabulary is a melting pot of many other languages. Most languages use grammar as a way to co... |
Why do some people resort to their "native tongue" when stressed or under the influence | I learned about this in a linguistics dialects class in college back in the day. When people are feeling strong emotions or are less inhibited, they'll revert back to the language or dialect they grew up with. The brain almost stops processing the language/dialect we've been conditioned to speak with and goes back to t... |
Why is solitary confinement so dreadful? | We don't know why, but humans simply cannot handle long periods of isolation. If you can't communicate with other people for long periods of time, you literally start to go insane. |
What happens to a memory when it's forgotten? | Well judging from every other thread involving the human brain it seems like science hasn't progressed far enough yet to answer questions like these. |
Why does it take so much longer to install than it does to delete? | Write an essay on paper. Now crumble it up and throw it away. It's the same mentality behind both my analogy and your question |
the new algorithm keeping posts on the front page and how it could be "better?" | There's no way they went back to the old system. My front page is still very very stagnant. Def spending a lot less time on reddit lately. |
How does a deep space probe like Rosetta maintain contact and transmit data back to earth? | Yes, via radio. Rosetta and other deep space probes talk to [NASA's Deep Space Network]. The antennas in the DSN are approximately 120 degrees apart on Earth so that at least one is in the right position of receiving a signal. |
Can someone explain this to me? The same thing happens with flashing lights. | The surface the metronomes are on is not fixed: it can move as well. Each metronome transfers a tiny tiny bit of its momentum into that surface, and the surface can transfer a tiny bit back. If the metronome is oscillating faster than the surface, it loses energy, and if it's oscillating slower it will gain some. Event... |
if China had a one-child policy between 1980 and 2015, how did the population increase by 400 million in those 35 years? | There are lots of unregistered children in China. My two sisters and I were unregistered children in China before we came to the United States. I have 3 other sisters who were born before 1980. My parents needed to hide from the government in order to give birth to us. Everytime my parents was able to get away and give... |
Why does sleeping feel like it's only a few minutes but in reality it's hours? | Because you aren't consciously aware of your surroundings, and your brain is not storing anything into long-term memory anyway. You're kind of like a computer that's been switched off. |
Why humidity at 100% doesn't basically mean breathing water? | It's just a reference to how much moisture is in the air for a given temperature. Basically 100% means no more water can evaporate into the air. |
How Adblock determines what images are ads, and why websites haven't circumvented it yet? | Some websites have circumvented it, in the sense it can detect when someone is using an ad blocker while viewing their page. Some websites will use this to block access to their main site unless the users white lists their page or turns off their adblocker. However, most sites don't even bother with that because at the... |
What, biologically, happens to make some insects, like cicadas, have such short lifespans? Can they be kept alive longer in lab settings? | Octopus die after breeding. The male dies after intercourse, and once the female lays the eggs, she stops eating and starves to death guarding the eggs. If given good, she will only move it away fom the eggs, and dies shortly after the eggs hatch. If they are kept segregated in aquariums and not allowed to breed, they'... |
Why and/or how is our legislature allowed to rush bills through Congress without them being able to be fully read and comprehended? | In addition to the other answers, keep in mind the existence of committees in both houses of the legislature. Committees are small sub-groups that are supposed to be experts in a particular field. Usually, when a bill us submitted for consideration, it goes to that expert committee **first**. They're supposed to dissec... |
Where Final Fantasy starts in America or whatever this game does | Don't try to think of Final Fantasy as a series of connected stories, but more like a brand or an anthology - sort of like The Twilight Zone. The games share some stylistic & thematic things but there's no real continuity . With that out of the way, the numbers & sequence of the game shouldn't really bother you. They j... |
Why does most recycling now just have you dump everything together when before you used to have to wash and separate all the different types of materials? | The technique is called single stream recycling, and it is designed to make recycling as easy as possible so that people will do it. The recycling industry spent a lot of time developing techniques to allow them to sort it all out at the end. [Here's a good video] that shows how a modern MRF works. Unfortunately, a lot... |
For those of us confused about US primary: Where do Delegates come from? | How exactly they are chosen varies with state and party. I'm in Washington where the democrats vote in caucuses. I attended the caucuses and one of the steps is for each precinct to calculate which candidates get how many delegates, followed by another step where the supporters of those candidates run to be delegates. ... |
How come we only pop corn? Can we pop other foods? | You could pop an egg technically, I don't know how tasty it would be though. You just need something that has moisture enclosed in it. when the moisture heats up it expands until the pressure gets too high and causes an explosion. Pop corn kernals pop just right because of the right combination of internal moisture, sh... |
Why does America continue to hold a grudge against Cuba? | A couple of reasons as I understand it: 1. Castro has had a fairly anti-American policy. He's said a lot of mean things about past American presidents but this varies from president to president depending on events and the current state of travel restrictions on Cubans wanting to visit family in Cuba. To be fair, we ha... |
What determines how long we sleep, and how are people able to sleep for 20+ hours? | I know a few wheat farmers on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. They do 18-20 hour days when harvesting as their window is short and they have quite a bit of land. There's also the ever present threat that foul weather will ruin their crops at any time. One of their workers, Jimbo , told me that after the six weeks ... |
What do real spies do? How are they recruited? Do they actually have the kind of gadgets we see in Bond films? | While you won't get anything about modern spies, if you check out some spy history, you'll find that there are some really interesting things. I while ago, I visited a spy museum, and man that was the most worthwhile money I spent in a long time. |
What will actually happen to Greece if/when the country goes bankrupt? | Just some counterpoint since the conventional wisdom seems to be that everything will go to hell. Every country is unique obviously, but we can look to the past to get an idea what could happen. In 2001, Argentina defaulted on over $100 billion in debt, at the time the largest default in history. They then preceded to ... |
Chaos theory, and whether it had any real life examples. | Chaos theory looks at a system that is highly dependent on a set of starting conditions. It looks at the massive changes that arise in the system when the starting conditions only change a little bit. Real life examples can be somewhat difficult, [but here's a nice and simple one from wikipedia.] If that pendulum start... |
Why don't Americans say "thrice"? | I live in LA and thrice isn't all that weird. At least i don't think so. I use it occasionally, and hear it now and then. I don't think people wouldn't/don't know what i mean. But i agree, it's just fallen out of use.I say thrice any time someone's sneezes 3 times in a row. *Sneeze* - "Bless you." - *Sneeze* - " Twice"... |
How is "saving water" beneficial to the environment? | You're saving *clean* water. All the water goes into the same sewage system, whether you're running it down the drain when brushing your teeth or shitting in it. There's a lot of energy & chemicals involved in processing the water before it can safely be released back into the environment. By minimizing water usage, yo... |
Who was Karl Marx? | In addition to his history brief, there's /r/socialism, and if you dig around, they have some nice summaries of what socialism, communism, and the works of Marx are all about. The majority of his work was basically identifying there is a problem, and he didn't necessarily propose a solution. As a consequence, we've see... |
Why criminals are covered up, blurred, or not shown while the victims are always shown on news ? | Where I live, the accusers are treated in a variety of ways. Sometimes they are fully visible, sometimes blurred, and sometimes almost nothing is known about them other than someone accused someone of this or that crime. In cases where the identity of the accused could identify the victim, the accused is treated the sa... |
Can a person stand on a gas giant? | Pluto looks solid because it is solid. As for Jupiter, it's surface is composed of gasses and likely a liquid hydrogen. I doubt someone would be able to stand on it, but I don't know for sure or not. |
Why does someone like Bonnie McKee only ghost-write songs when she's obviously got the talent? | No one can really know besides her. I'd imagine not wanting to be a celebrity is part of it as well as the money from ghost writing being pretty good. Basically she could perform and have a PR firm control everything she does and be tailed by paparazzi or she could write, sell her song then either write some more or ju... |
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