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Why do we find nature beautiful? | There are many things in nature that we view as ugly or even terrifying. For example: _URL_1_ And _URL_0_ When confronted with such things, our fight or flight instinct kicks in and we survive by escaping terrifying and poisonous things that can kill us. To balance out our emotional states so that we do not live in con... |
Why are things like sex and drugs difficult for some parents to explain to their kids? | The US has this sexual repressive society.I noticed it on the internet too despite all the porn. People just fear talking about sexual things mainly due to the way our current society is, it's not just parents. |
PSA: This isn't the only subreddit to ask questions in. | > Search first. Use the handy search bar to see if your question has already been answered satisfactorily. If the question has been asked but you don't understand any answers, feel free to ask again. Your question has been posted several times: [ELI5 is not the only place to get answers.] [PSA: ELI5 is NOT AskReddit] [... |
What's the difference between a city and town? Why is a place considered a city and another a town? | In Canada it depends on the population. I don't know the numbers but city > town > village ect |
Why do famous and influential people have so much dirty laundry? | A lot of it has to do with what's required to become famous and influential. In general you don't make it big in politics or business by being honest. You do it by making backroom deals and backstabbing. There's so much competition that people may be forced to walk a thin line between what's legal or not and finding ev... |
How do wealthy people manage finances? | Most of the 1% are married couples living in an expensive area who both work a professional job. Most descriptions of the 1% are based on income, not wealth, because the IRS produces very detailed statistics about national incomes. It only takes a household income of around $400,000 to be in the 1%, that may sound like... |
After many laws and Amendments being broken by the NSA and EU equivalent, why should we be reassured by any new laws passed regarding net neutrality and privacy? | Are there all that many laws and amendments being broken? I thought the blow-up over the NSA was that it was entirely legal. Besides, you can't follow laws that you don't make. Even if new laws/commitments are put forward and then broken, you can have an investigation and hold someone accountable. That's doesn't even b... |
Why U.S. considers Russia to be the 'top geopolitical foe' despite Cold War ending? | Thats really not the case, we play rather nice with Russia now a days; though they do tend to ruffle our feathers by selling weapons to people who are fighting people we vicariously support. To some, it SEEMS like Russia is an enemy; because they are one of about 4 or 5 nations that can simply stare us in the face and ... |
gasoline costs about $8.20 a gallon in the UK. It is also expensive elsewhere in Europe. Why aren't electric cars more popular from an economic standpoint there? | I'm in the UK. The cars we drive can typically deliver around 40-50 miles per gallon. Some highly efficient cars can offer around 65+ miles to the gallon. If you take a typical commute into London it is far cheaper and quicker to go by train for most people and we tend to live near stations for this reason. For people ... |
Why do microwaves cook food to a lower quality than other methods? | Usually crispy is good and soggy is bad, and microwaves make things a lot soggier than normal ovens. This is because in normal ovens, hot air cooks the food, and dry hot air sucks up water like nobody's business, while in the microwave, the food is heated directly, so all the moisture stays in the food. This leads to s... |
Why are US republicans against free universal healthcare in the the USA? | These answers have been very good thank you. It is just strange growing up in a country where health care has always kind of been free and there if it was needed. It's a very strange concept to even imagine someone going bankrupt over an illness. I respect both sides of the argument and realize that it is not just repu... |
Why does everything in space spin? (please read the additional text before answering) | If the universe was made of perfect round and perfect weighted balls. Town to the quantum level. Where everything was perfectly symmetrical.. Then maybe.. With the smallest likelihood imaginable Two objects flying through space would collide in a way they their force would be perfectly centered and there would be zero ... |
Why does the healed skin on my wounds have the same patterns, wrinkles and creases as before? | When you have a wound, it's usually only the top layer of the skin that gets damaged. The wrinkles and creases however come from the deepest layers of the skin. So the skin that grows back grows onto the same creases - they haven't gone anywhere. If you were to have a wound so bad that your skin is gone completely, the... |
If clouds are water in a gaseous state (aren't they?), why aren't they at a greater than boiling temperature, and is evaporating water boiling? | water is always evaporating evaporating just means that a water molecule had enough energy to escape from a glass of water. The reason why clouds exist has to do with air pressure and dirt. water evaporates into the sky, due to the fact that water is always evaporating , then as the water molecules rise and condense in... |
How does a gymnast begin to practice parts of a routine which could potentially break their neck I'd things go wrong? | Most gymnasts get injured at some point. My big injury was breaking two ribs while attempting an aerial cartwheel on the balance beam. I also knocked myself out and gave myself a concussion when I did a 1-1/2 back flip by accident. You try to learn to fall so you don't kill yourself, but it's tough. I knew someone who ... |
Why do people ice injuries to reduce swelling when swelling is your bodies natural defense against sprains and what not? | Swelling is your body's natural defence and an important part of healing. However, it can also damage cells around it and be quite painful. Putting ice on swollen areas will reduce the painful swelling but not stop the important inflammation.We have artifical methods to support the affected area such as splints and cas... |
Why we don't see light beaming out of the optical fibers? | It depends on the type of fibre. If you're thinking the fibre that you get in you kits etc, the power output is so low that, even if in a pitch dark room, the refraction mechanics mentioned erstwhile prevent light leaving the fibre by any notable degree. If you're talking about the fibre used by an Internet Service Pro... |
What is the significance of the new pictures of Pluto and why are scientists so excited? | It's because Pluto is just so far away that we cannot get even decent pictures with current technology even from Earth' orbit. It wasn't until ten something years ago that we found our Pluto was brown on the surface, I'm not kidding. These photos are exciting because, finally, we have a now perfect idea of what Pluto l... |
what exactly are 'Daddy issues' and their cause | All the answers I read are great but daddy issues could also mean a girl never learned how a man should properly treat her and so can at times allow herself to settle for less than she deserves because she has no example in her life to use as a guide same can be said of boys that grow up without a dad, they don't have ... |
Why are under cooked burger patties are safe to eat? | It's not safe. We take a calculated risk when we eat undercooked burgers. You have to cook a burger to a higher temperature than steak in order for it to be safe. _URL_0_ |
Why was the Virgin Mary a virgin even though she was married? | If you want strange questions, here are a few: Why were they traveling for the census? Why not just be counted where they actually lived? That's not how the Romans did censuses, nor is there any record of a roman census at that time and place. Why did king Herod try to have Jesus killed, when Herod had died years befor... |
why do alcoholic drinks taste better aged? | it's not just aged. A sealed glass bottle of alcohol directly from the still won't improve with age. It will pretty much remain almost pure alcohol forever. Wine is grape juice and yeasts, as it ages in either a wooden barrel or glass bottle, the sugars in the juice are being eaten by the yeasts and turned into alcohol... |
Why doesn't our weight change at different times of day? | See, the neat thing about a question like this, is we can calculate it directly, using Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation: F = Gmm/r^2 So, let's say you weigh 70kg, that's probably around average for adults. The sun weighs 1.989x10^30 kg. The average distance between the Earth and Sun is 149,597,871,000 m. The diame... |
the difference between a green screen and a blue screen in video production. | It's the same. Green screens are only more common because lime green is less common than blue. |
how does electromagnetic radiation (like radiowaves) travel through space without a medium to travel through? | - Light and radiowaves are both the same phenomena: they are both electromagnetic waves. EM waves also include gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet rays, infrared waves, and microwaves. The difference between all these are their frequencies. - Space is permeated with different kind of fields. These fields normally have a va... |
Why is NATO obsolete? | NATO was originally formed to oppose the Russians. The Russia have changed a bit since then and really would like NATO to stop opposing them from for example annexing some errant Baltic republic so they tell everyone that there is no more need for NATO. Russia telling you that NATO is obsolete is like thief telling you... |
If I set up a "Twitch plays Windows 8" and the hive mind did something illegal, who would be at fault? | Let's be honest, they would delete system32 before anyone of them got the chance to do anything illegal. :P |
How did Tesla increase the battery capacity of its Model S by 5 kilowatt-hours without adding battery cells? | Wasn't it when they came out with AWD they got more range because of more efficient electric engines and or better power distribution? Which is weird considering most gasoline powered cars, AWD is the least efficient version. |
How can we control planes with a controller but irl we need heaps of buttons | Generally speaking, we care more about keeping planes with people working than planes without people. The extra buttons help keep track of all the things that keep the plane working right, and keep it on better track than you can do with just a few control sticks. If you're looking for specifics: things like fuel readi... |
if a physically fit man and an unhealthy man do the same exact workout, do they both burn the same amount of calories? | no, not if you're talking about an overweight person. it requires more energy to move a large body than a small one. That said, the energy expended by each party- relative to their available total energy is *much* greater for an unhealthy person. A Skinny guy on the other hand burns less calories running 100 feet than ... |
Why is there so much stigma in the US for welfare benefits to the poor but little to no stigma for the benefits given in the US to those who are middle class and rich? | I believe that throughout history the poor have always been looked down upon by the 'higher' classes. It's just the way things are unfortunately. *My opinion, could very well be wrong. |
why is having your neck broken so often fatal? | If you break your neck up high enough and sever the spinal cord, your spinal cord will no longer be able to send signals to your lungs to breathe, and to your ribs to expand and contract with your lungs. Notice that Christopher Reeve used a machine to aid his breathing for the rest of his life after his accident . If y... |
The little white sunrise/sunset thing on the bottom of your thumbnail? | In Indian traditional medicine, it's believed that having the half moons on your fingers is a sign that you are really healthy. |
If adrenaline increases my strength, amplifies perception, increases pain tolerance and makes me react faster, why can't I use meds to always have an adrenaline high and be Superman? | The general idea for things like this is that your body adapts and the effect will wear off even though you'll have more adrenaline going through your system, similar to drugs like painkillers. Also it would likely be bad for vital organs like the heart to have a constant supply of adrenaline. Edit: clarification |
How does climate control work in subway stations? | These days, not brilliantly in older systems. The 'deep-level' lines of the London Underground are reliant on trains pushing cooler air along with them, but over a century of heat build-up down there has meant it's less effective than it was. In 1975, a train crashed into the end of a tunnel at Moorgate station on what... |
Do plants have typical lifespans the same way animals do? | Some but not all. Many plants live until they get too big to sustain themselves, and several more that spread along the ground and add more roots along the way live until something externally kills them. California Carnivores for example still grows a tropical pitcher plant that won medals at a flower show a hundred an... |
why in some cases when you are really tired, you fall asleep, but moment later your body twitches badly and wakes you up? | This is called a myogenic jerk. The exact cause of it is unknown. The leading hypothesis is that it's an evolutionary mechanism. Disturbances in the brain during the initial stage of sleep cause a reflexive reawakening, which was thought to develop in the more primal years of primate evolution as a safeguard against sl... |
Why do we capitalise the letter 'I' when we talk about ourselves? | Why did Bob come here? Why did bob come here? It's a stand in for your name. Because talking in the third person about yourself is weird. Edit: I feel like I'm being trolled here . |
Why do you see the world in a blue hue after closing your eyes and facing the sun for a while? | Exactly as the previous poster said. Sunlight through your eyelids gives red light. When the light hits the cones in the retina, it drives a chemical reaction. This reaction has to reverse in order for the cone to detect more red light. That takes a little time. So when swamped with red light, there is little of the re... |
How cigarette filters work, and what they filter. | In two words: very little. They're to improve public image about health, and all the carcinogens and tar pass straight through them, with perhaps a tiny percentage less tar. |
Why Doesn't The Japanese Government Shut Down the Yakuza? | Most governments have things like this. The mafia runs pretty openly through many parts of america, and the US government isnt actively trying to stop them. There can be many reasons for this. One, the organized crime runs just legally enough to generally fly under the rader. Two, they have ins with the police and gove... |
How can Walter White (from Breaking Bad) be considered poor with 45.000$ a year? | at one point, Walter White is the only one working. So the whole family of 3 survive on an income of $45k/yr which is an okay salary in Albuquerque, New Mexico. However, when you factor in a disable son & cancer, it's not that much. also, you've to consider the fact that Walter White has a Phd from Caltech working as a... |
How is the course of a tv show planned out ahead of time? | It's like a book. Sometimes the author knows the ending and has it planned out, other times the ending is unknown and they just see where it goes. |
How can a minor sign a legally binding letter of intent to play college football at a school when minors can't be bound by contracts? | The letter of intent is less a contract than it is an NCAA regulation. Once you sign a letter of intent, no other school can use you for its NCAA sports teams. So if you sign a letter of intent to play football at Florida State, in all likelihood you could change your mind and decide to attend UCLA. But you couldn't pl... |
why when I don't have my glasses on, squinting helps me see things a little better | When you look at an image, or something in the distance, your brain uses everything that your eyes detect to make sense of what it is seeing. Humans are very good at pattern matching and if what you see doesn't match something from your memory, you won't know what you are looking at. When looking at still objects, your... |
If lie detectors (polygraph) are a pseudo science the why are they still used in court cases and by law enforcement? | They are used in the hiring process as a final screen for applicants that check all the right boxes but maybe the employer just doesn't want to hire them. Candidate A and candidate B both have the same application but the employer likes candidate A more. So candidate B's polygraph has some odd readings so they go with ... |
Is it possible to disapear with millions? | It depends what exactly you're getting a million of. Presumably you mean money, say a million dollars? Safe guess I think, but there are a bunch of ways that could end up in your hands. If it's a million deposited in your bank account, it's not going to escape the notice of the authorities for very long at all. But if ... |
Why did Le Chiffre try to bomb the Skyfleet airliner in the movie "Casino Royale"? | He was going to short sell the aircraft manufacturer stock after the prototype was destroyed. Of course unless you understand short selling, this doesn't help. Short selling is a short-term speculative transaction where you make money if a specific stock decreases in value. Here's how it works. I think stock XYZ is goi... |
insect farming as a replacement for meat | It's pretty easy to [do this in your kitchen]. The most reasonable insect is the meal worm, it's been used for chicken and pet food for ages and lots of folks have grown tons of the things. It doesn't fly, so it can't get away like a cricket could. |
Why is it that men are more inclined to fall asleep after sex whereas women tend to be more.awake? | Theoretical evidence would suggest that maybe the female wasn't ready to be finished yet, and is therefore still in a heightened state of arousal. If the female is still aroused it would make it harder to sleep. Experimental proof would be to pleasure the man almost to the point of climax, while the female achieves org... |
If 10% of the population has asthma and about 3.8% of the population identify as gay, does that mean the general population has a 13.8% chance of being one of these things? | No your probability of being neither is 90 /100*96.2/100=86.58% Your probability that you have one trait is 100-86.58=13.42% Edit: the above calculation assumes that being gay and having asthma are not related in a positive or negative way. The maths changes if there's a relationship |
If space is infinite, does that mean that everything that can possibly exist without violating the laws of the universe, do indeed exist? | Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: It depends. If the universe is infinite *and* homogeneous, then yes, we would expect everything that can exist would exist. Our current observations make the universe seem quite homogeneous, but that does not prove it, it's just our best guess at the moment. If it is not homogeneous, w... |
If Hitler was such a terrible strategist, how come he never passed on or got input by more seasoned generals? | He did, a lot of the early strategies that overran France and other parts of Europe were not devised by Hitler. The problem wasn't that he was a terrible strategist, its that he was a terrible strategist that got increasingly more stubborn. |
Why has gold been the universal store of wealth across most civilizations/cultures? | Because it can't be faked. For most of human history, gold has been the heaviest substance known. Anything you would mix in with it makes it lighter, so an adulterated coin can be found simply by weighing and measuring it. |
Why is the music in movies 1000% times louder than anything else in the movie? | The surround sound settings on your television, sound system, or video player may be set incorrectly. In a surround sound setup, the dialogue is normally only sent through the center speakers, and the rest use all of the speakers. If your television is receiving surround sound audio when it thinks it isn't, it can outp... |
Why do chefs wear white when in the kitchen where foods can spill and stain them? | During the 16th century, artisans of all types were often imprisoned, or even executed, because of their freethinking. To alleviate persecution, some chefs sought refuge in the Orthodox Church and hid amongst the priests of the monasteries. There they wore the same clothes as the priests-including their tall hats and l... |
How can an i7 processor, clocked at the same speed, get a higher single core benchmark score than an i5 or i3? | Clock speed matters, but it's not the only factor. Some CPUs are pipelined to execute multiple instructions in parallel. Some have branch prediction to avoid wasted cycles during program execution. Some have improved memory bus or data cache to reduce time spent waiting for RAM -- and some are hyperthreaded so that the... |
Why do our teeth fall out so often during dreams? | It's actually a dream meaning. Not a proven scientific one but look it up on a few dream sites. It means you're depressed or something. I had two of them while I was feeling down for a year. Dream meaning are subjective but I feel some of them come up for the same reason. |
Why is it that we prosecute old war criminals for crimes against humanity and killing innocent civilians but America is allowed to Nuke 2 cities of innocent people and get away with it ? | If ur talking about Japan. America dropped millions of pamphlets with warnings to vacate those cities immediate and within 3 days. 3 days later Japan still didn't surrender, so those bombs were dropped. It's not like Japan didn't know it was coming, they just failed to take the USA seriously.The Japanese government was... |
Why are countries like India and China so highly populated yet others, even close neighbors, are not? | India, as a country, is not that highly densely populated. Same for China. It's the cities that are superdense. |
how can cloud services have zero risk of losing data? Don't they use hard disks which can fail like the ones normal people use, even if they're surely of higher quality | They don't have zero risk, just significantly less risk than you do. The key is that data is stored redundantly, never in just one place. They literally have two hard drives sitting next to each other than have the exact same data on them in case one fail. On top of that, they do regular backups between data centers, s... |
How can Japan have such a huge entertainment industry, if so many of them work over-hours and have short vacations? | ELIFreshmanInCollege: Work hard, play hard. It does get a lot more in-depth than that, but from my experience this is what it boils down to. It's also a huge tourism attraction. Whenever I go to Japan it seems Akihabara has the greatest concentration of foreigners. |
What's so great about Oculus Rift? | It's as close as we can currently get to fully immersive VR, which makes it at least sort of cool. It'll be great for certain types of games, like driving games. Maybe not so much for RTS enthusiasts. |
if my blood's temperature is 98.6, why does 80 degrees feel hot and 60 degrees feel cold? | Your blood is 90+ degrees? That's near boiling unless you live on the farenheit using subcontinent of the United States in answer specify what variant of degree is being used |
Why is pedophilia punished as a crime? | You seem to be connecting this to an insanity defense. This defense is applicable when the individual doesn't understand the consequences of their actions and can't judge right from wrong. This quite simply does not apply to the pedophile. A better analogy would be to the alcoholic who crashes their car - they have a d... |
Why can you only fold a piece of paper in half so many times? | Because each time you fold it, it gets twice as thick and half as long. After a certain number of folds , it's as thick as it is long . You can't fold a cube. _URL_1_", 'Each time you fold it you double up. Would you rather have $200k or start with a penny doubled every day for a month? |
Why is Minecraft So successful? | It's digital Lego where you have to earn what you build, plus an adventure/survival game that takes place inside the Lego set you're playing with. Online multiplayer digital Lego adventures. What's not to love about the concept? |
Why is Yoko Ono hated so strongly? | I thought of another reason she is hated so strongly. She is the reason why John Lennon's first son Julian had to BUY some of the Beatles memorabilia and stuff from John he was entitled to after his death. |
Pythagorean theorem, like I'm actually five. | The Pythagorean theorem states that the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the square of one leg plus the square of the other leg. So, let's get some definitions in place. Right triangle = A triangle with a right angle , just like the corner of a square. Hypotenuse = The longest side of the triang... |
Why do people from, say, the 70's, look significantly different than people from the 60's? | You're probably underestimating the effect of hair and makeup on a person. Check out [this picture] from the old silent film *Orphans of the Storm*. The movie is set during the French Revolution, but you can probably still tell that these women are from the 1920s in real life. Why? Because they're wearing 1920s makeup. |
From newborn onesies to blouses, shirts and pants... why do men's and women's clothing fasten in opposite directions? | Back in the day wealthy women had numerous cumbersome layers to put on, so they had maids to help them get dressed. As 90% of people are right handed they put the buttons/zippers/whatever on the side easiest for them to work with. Mens clothing wasn't as complicated so their stuff got put on the other side. That has ju... |
Why is staph so rampant in hospitals compared to elsewhere? | Staph is everywhere. 'Right now on your skin you have staph. It is there in large numbers. It does nothing because when it is on your skin it is mostly harmless. Give an injury. Give it a warm, dark place with weakened blood supply and it can do a lot of damage. My wife just almost lost her lower leg to a staph infecti... |
Why is martial law in a country such a big deal and important news all over the world? | It is the military taking control, usually temporarily, but in some cases they don't relinquish control because it's easy to rule with force |
How does condensation work on a molecular level? | Condensation of water on a cold glass isn't water passing through the glass, it's humidity in the air becoming a liquid when touching the cold surface of the glass. |
Why do rats get cancer very often? | Rats are genetically predisposed to the development of tumors. In the wild rats don't tend to live long before predators get them, and they produce lots and lots of babies, so the fact that they're super likely to get cancer barely played a factor. Domesticated rats, however, are protected from predators and disease an... |
Why is it so Hard for HBO to prevent Game of Thrones episodes from leaking ? | Probably because as far as nerds and tech savvy people go this is the show that they want, therefore this is the show they go after. No hacker is going to go out of his way to leak the big bang theory. Edit: stupid phone thinks I don't know what I'm trying to say. |
Why do so many people get rashes or hives from metal belt buckles and chain necklaces? | My sister in law has developed an allergy to metal of any sort. It's very dangerous as on a few occasions her arm as become so infected it could've killed her. |
Why were Homo sapiens the only species of its kind to prosper, against the Neanderthals and other species. | Neanderthals used a method of hunting that required them to get up on the think of it when trying to get their food. A lot of hunters died from the animals they were hunting injuring them. Homo sapiens developed a more ranged style of hunting that protected them from this threat. Of course that's not the only reason. A... |
why humans are the only species who, regardless of background, age, education (even era in time) find it 'socially appropriate' to wear clothes and cover their bodies. | Because humans are the only species to make clothes. If raccoons could make pants they'd probably wear them. |
'There Will Be Blood' | After watching this film many times, I think I kind of get why I love it. A lot of the beauty in There Will Be Blood comes from the fact that PT Anderson was able to make such a simple and clean point of issues that are nearly beyond comprehensible in America today; capitalism and religion. In going directly to the roo... |
Why are boxing matches PPV when the Olympics, NBA Finals, NFL Super Bowl, World Series, etc. all free to watch? | It's very easy to insert ad breaks into the other sports your mentioned. It's not very easy to insert ad breaks into a boxing match. Also the audience for those other events is much higher than for boxing, even a special event like the one that happened tonight. For that reason the producers need to charge a bunch of m... |
How can I shift the focus of a reflection with my eye if there is no depth to the object it is being reflected in? | Reflections aren't flat, they're 3D images. The surface that is doing the reflecting is flat, but the image itself is 3D. |
How does Steam have such good sales at times? Who is making profit off of 50+% discounts? 75%? 90%? | Price discrimination at its finest. Price discrimination means, people who can't afford higher price or don't want the product that much pay whatever they can or are willing to, while enthusiastic fans and generally not-poor people with interest in the game pay extra. Usually most devout fans are given extra expensive ... |
How can 3 CPU's made by 3 separate companies have the exact same security flaws? | Because they all use similar techniques to accomplish their tasks and even between different architectures many of the same principles are used . The flaws discovered are not the result of there being a 'bug' in the implimentation of a specific instruction. These flaws are mainly taking advantage of the fact that the i... |
Why don't they make white tattoo ink so tattoos show up better on black skin? | Well, they do make white tattoo ink, but it's mainly used as an accent or highlight for other colors. I have white ink in various spots on both of my sleeves . However, most artists won't use it as a primary color unless the client specifically requests it that way since white ink will fade away quickly on pale skin. O... |
How to "dry wipe" and why it's preferred in your country than using a bidet. | > I also seem to use a lot of toilet paper in the process. You are not alone. I grew up in a place with only toilet paper and I know I use way too much, but any less just doesn't feel right and I feel dirty, for lack of another term. I would love to use a bidet just twice in my life. I know the first time will be awkwa... |
what is happening when I don't receive text messages all day then receive them all at once later? | No time to answer properly but: The SMS travels trough the network and several components. If something goes wrong, the message is not delivered and usually those components are aware. The reason why you receive it later is a certain retry mechanism, which would be triggered and work as it is previously set up by the p... |
As adults, why are we sometimes afraid of the dark when we go to bed even though we know there is nothing to be afraid of? | It's not the dark that we are afraid of, but it's the unknown that may or may not be hidden in the shadows . In time we train ourselves to be more cautious in order to preserve our life. That's why babies typically do not have fears. They have not trained yet. For example a baby would not be afraid of heights because h... |
The original books that comprise the bible were written many centuries ago. How did the original copies survive so long? Wouldn’t the originals be destroyed by natural disaster or deteriorate over time? | Most of the books were written well after the events in questions, mostly from word of mouth from the elders. Then those were stored in only a manner they knew how to preserve things at their technological time. Then those scripts were found and transcribed into a language of the finder most times, which is why a lot o... |
What's the functional difference between a gasoline and a diesel motor, and why is diesel preferable for heavy hauling? | Functionally, diesel engines have a higher compression ratio than gasoline engines, mostly because diesel has a higher flash point . Diesel engines also do not have spark plugs. . Part of the reason diesels are so much louder than gasoline engines is because of the greater energy produced for each stroke. I'm no expert... |
How can stores like Target close hundreds of stores and lay off thousands of employees, yet still have stores "opening soon" for which they are "now hiring?" | A lot of it depends on location. Aside from the CEO's ridiculous paycheck, most of it is about a specific store's profitability. If a store doesn't make money, it's pointless to keep it open. It's possible they're leaving Canada because of new policies or laws going into effect, or they just don't have a big enough mar... |
Why do you need to make two holes in a can for liquid to pour properly? | The can has two things in it: liquid and air. The air inside the can is pushing against the liquid from inside while the air outside is pushing against the liquid from the outside. If there's only one hole, and the liquid is coming out fast enough to block it, then the amount of air inside starts to get thinner and so ... |
If I was in a plane whilst nukes exploded below me | If you were mid flight in the middle of the Atlantic, you likely wouldn't notice anything during flight. 1,500 miles on either side would give you plenty of space. The largest nuke ever set off made a fireball about 6 miles across, that's nothing compared to 1,500 miles. The damage would obviously extend much farther t... |
Why do investors value higher margins over higher overall profits? | Its more about efficiently using your investment money. Let's say that the return on the S & P 500 index is 5% a year. I can put money in an index fund and get that return. Instead, I invest in ABC corp, who makes a 7% return - better for me. Now, as I look at ABC corp's books, I see they have a division that is only m... |
When there is a fly in my room and it is continuously flying around in the same pattern, what is it trying to achieve? | I've found flies often move directly away from your hand if it follows 2 feet behind them so you can with precision direct them out a window. |
Why is Al Jazeera quickly becoming a trusted American news source? | AJA is usually my go-to American/international news source if I can't find an associated article on the Beeb. I mostly just prefer their format and the fact that *generally* there's a lot less sensationalism. As for their bias, I can read and ignore a bias, but not when it devolves into sensationalism or fear-mongering... |
Why do you hear a big bang when you break the sound barrier? | When a jet zooms past going near the speed of sound, all the noise generated by the jet engine shows up at once. The jet doesn't hear the bang because it is just speeding ahead of the built up sound. |
What's the difference between the various cuts of steak? | > Why would someone order a porterhouse instead of a filet, for example? I got this. First off, let me give the easy answer. The best cut is ribeye. Bone-in, boneless, roast, prime. It makes no nevermind. That's the best. Now why do people prefer different cuts? There are three factors that make a beef cut what it is: ... |
If we can slow down light why can't we speed it up? Say it's coming out of a car going 60 mph. Is it not speed of light plus 60 mph? | In general you can only slow down light, when it travels through a medium, which is the basic principle for everything. Now the famous 299 792 458 m/s is the speed of light in vacuum, which is per definition an empty medium. But why you ask?Well, this is where special relativity comes in place. Very simplified, instead... |
If 1 and 0 (data) are voltage values, how is voltage stored in a Flash drive after you plug it out of the computer and stop the electricity flow? | Voltage is just one of many ways to represent a 1 and a 0. Flash drives use another representation. Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained: 1. [ELI5: How does flash memory work ? ]1. [ELI5: How does flash memory work? ]1. [ELI5: What happens inside of a USB flash drive that allows it to retain the n... |
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