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How does air turbulence on an airplane work? | It's air streams moving up and down. Think of it like a several threadmills next to each other, side by side, running at different speeds and different directions. Now, drive over them . Your car will go mostly in the right direction, but will jerk in different directions as the wheels pass the different threadmills. N... |
Everyone is up in arms about the Republicans in Wisconsin limiting the incoming Democrats power. But can’t they just reverse what the Republicans did once they are in office? | It's still going to be a Republican legislature, so they're quite unlikely to reverse anything that they're currently doing. In order to restore things, the state senate and house of delegates would need to be a Democrat majority. In a state like Wisconsin, where the vast majority of districts are rural and conservativ... |
What happens when we get itchy and why does scratching the area relieve it? | I've heard it's how we cleaned ourselves before we had showers. You get itchy because you're dirty, and scratching loosens or removes whatever is making you itch. That's just hearsay, though. |
Why are emotions tied to certain facial expressions? Like, why do people smile when they're happy? | It's important for the group. If you're afraid, there may be something to fear for the entire group. If you're disgusted, there may be something toxic or harmful nearby. If you're sad, you may need help. & #x200B; A group functions better when these warnings/feelings can be picked up quickly. That is why, as a species,... |
Why are dots and dashes the only acceptable non-alphabetical/numerical characters in usernames on social media sites and message boards? | Some even restrict it to ASCII. The issue is especially when you allow unicode characters because with unicode characters you can do a lot of trickery such as reversing text direction or using symbols that look the same but are different characters according to unicode at which point you wouldn't be able to tell two us... |
How is google search so ridiculously fast? | Search engines are made possible by storing an index in a data structure called a hash table. The basic idea is that you make a whole bunch of buckets, and then you have a way to figure out exactly which bucket to go to. Unlike the index in a book, you don't have to fumble through it to find the right entry. Instead, y... |
The differences between freezing rain, sleet, and hail | Meteorologist here, freezing rain is liquid until it strikes a surface such as a tree or the ground. This occurs usually when there is a very cold layer at the surface but above the surface is relatively warm. Sleet is water that freezes on the way to the ground, so the cold layer at the surface is bigger than for the ... |
Why are radio stations identified by their exact frequency, such as 103.1Mhz, whereas TV stations were traditionally identified by a generalized channel number, such as 7? | They weren't until digital tuners became common in the 1980's. Everyone just rounded up or down because on the old tuners with a dial, the decimals weren't there. You just kind of scrolled around until you got the best signal.Both TV and Radio waves but radio was earlier. Radio dials helped "tune" the antennae to the r... |
Why do people put their money in a trust? Do you not pay tax from it (if not why)? Can you take it out at any moment? | Some trusts receive tax benefits, and this can be a motivation. Some trusts allow you to take out money, many do not. It depends on the terms of the trust, and terms can be wildly different. However, protection of one's money/assets is usually the biggest motivation. Money in a charitable trust must be used for charity... |
What makes a force Fundamental? | Fundamental means that it's not made of our a product of something else. i.e. any force that anything experiences is one of those four. |
How do you discover what «umami» tastes like? | MSG supposedly has that quality. It's a seasoning that comes in a shaker. Buy some MSG , taste some food, add MSG and taste again. |
How do buttons on electronic devices have more than one function based on how long you press them for? | Electronics aren't only able to tell when buttons have been pressed, they receive events when buttons are released as well. The software can just look at the difference between the pressed and released time to decide what action to take. |
How does water get from the stomach to the kidneys? | Digestive tract - > intestines - > blood - > kidneys. Your kidneys filter blood. Think about it - fluids are transported throughout your body by your blood stream. Spit? Comes from blood. Snot? Comes from blood. Breast milk? Comes from blood. So much of your body's fluids are from filtered blood. |
Why do diesel locomotives use their Diesel engines to produce electric to drive electric motors rather than just use the power from the diesel engine to move the train? | That big diesel engine makes lots of power. It would need a big transmission and big gear boxes to handle the power. That's more maintenance and more moving parts to break, and more weight which takes more power to move. Also, electricity is routed through wires, which can go anywhere easily. Mechanical drive needs roo... |
is the sugar content of any food item dictated by the amount of carbs present in it? | Sugar is a type of carb. A food item can be high in carbs with little to no sugar. Sugar content means carb content, but carb content doesn't necessarily mean sugar content. |
When planes/jets fly level, are they ACTUALLY? | To elaborate a bit on what others have said, the plane is curving with the Earth, but the pilot doesn't have to make any real adjustments to account for this . Imagine the plane did fly straight, and eventually left the Earth as the Earth curved away underneath them. That would mean that the distance between the Earth ... |
Why does applying lotion to very dry skin hurt? | The things in the lotion, when applied to raw or cracked skin from drying, irritate and cause the stinging sensation. Skin damaged from drying out can be thought of similarly to a scrape. There's a bunch of small abrasions from the dried layers of skins losing flexibility and cracking slightly with movement.I may or no... |
How do tax deductions and tax credits work? | Tax deductions: They reduce the taxable income amount that is applied against the tax rates before coming up with a person's actual annual tax. Tax credits: They actually reduce a person's actual annual tax itself. So tax credits > tax deductions |
With how many satellites we have in space with different orbits, how do they avoid crashing into each other while in orbit? | collisions occur between satellites and space debris in orbit quite often. it's at the expense of the party responsible for the debris or collision, however the laws are quite different for outer space, and evidence of fault can be nearly impossible. it's hard to prove a chunk of broken off equitment that damaged somet... |
Why do months in the calendar have different amount of days? | I don't know all the dates or exact details but the main gist of it is that the Pope of his time was fed up with the religious days moving forward in the then calendar that he got together his best mathematicians and astronomers to build a perfect calendar that wouldn't move Lent. It also relates to some Roman traditio... |
Why is stepping on certain material makes more sound than others? | Its really about the acoustic properties of whatever you're walking on. Metal is hard and smooth, and so it reflects and directs the sound to your ear much better than rock, which is rough and irregular diffusing the sound. Its like how walking across powdered snow is so much quieter, because it absorbs the sound. Meta... |
Why do humans move while listening to music (headbobs, dancing and foot tapping)? | What's crazy also, is a baby/toddler will dance to music without ever seeing anyone else dance before. |
How Life Insurance policies work? | Its because term is designed for healthy people to guard against the possibility of early death. Its usually recommended for people to give to their family to replace a lifetime of earnings. And as you get older the premiums rise and eventually it gets too expensive to pay for. BTW I'm a licensed insurance agent.Thanks... |
Why is it harder to cycle uphill? Is it just the effects of gravity? | Yes. The ground pushes back against you as gravity accelerates you downwards. When you're on an incline, the ground pushes you perpendicular to the surface, which is mostly down but has a backwards component. The extra effort you feel is that backwards force. |
How are firefighters able to identify the cause of a fire after its end? | Fire Investigator here. There's a lot that goes into it, but basically you have to figure out where it started first. Then identify all possible ignition sources in that area and start eliminating them one by one until you are left with a single ignition source. Obviously the longer the fire burns, the harder it is to ... |
How does the color of a red velvet batter get so vibrant? | Traditional red velvet cake uses non-dutched cocoa in the batter, which has a more naturally red color than the standard cocoa you'll find in the grocery store today. In addition, the use of buttermilk and vinegar react together to help amplify the color. Most modern recipes are more likely to use standard dutched coco... |
Why do small animals such as squirrels have such 'jerky' movements? | Birds are the kings of this. Part of what makes them so creepy in films like bugs life. Might be something to do with how there eyes and brains work. My guess would be the reason the dart between looking different directions rather than scanning like we do I'd the might have a bigger focus meaning they can see everythi... |
Why does a door shut/slam easier if a window in the room is open? | Because when a room is completely closed, there is a certain amount of air pressure in the room. When a door is opened and closed, that air pressure will cause the door to close more slowly because that's the only way for the air/pressure to escape. If a window is open, there is another way for the air/pressure to esca... |
It seems like we’ve had telephones for decades, but the sound quality of phone calls has remained the same. Why is this? | Some of these technical answers were technically right but the correct answer is The phone company has determined the lowest possible call quality you're willing to accept and provides its customers with nothing but the lowest quality possible. & #x200B; |
if you stand near the edge of earth's gravitation pull would you age slower than if you stood on the ground, or do you have to be traveling? | Earth's gravity is far too slight to have any noticeable effect on your aging. You will age a few billionths of a second slower on Earth than if you were floating in empty space. |
why can you sometimes feel cold drinks in your lungs or going down to your stomach when you drink an ice cold beverage? | Same as why you feel hot or cold from the external environment. If you have a hot drink and let it sit there it will eventually match the surrounding temperature. What's happening is the drink is cooling the body for a sec but because we are the external environment for that liquid and maintain a curtain temperature we... |
How did we count the years before we knew that the earth went around the sun? | A mix between seasons and the length of days. It's a year between Winter's and a year between the longest day of the year and shortest day of the year. Then people came up with Calendars based off knowing that. |
Why are cartoon movies colored differently than their TV counterparts? | they have more money, for one thing. also I think it would be good to distinguish from the shoe so it's more dazzling, cause it is a movie. why make a movie, another form of entertainment, the same thing? you wanna drive to the theater to watch the exact same thing you can get on tv?", 'The Digimon movie did this! The ... |
Why does picture quality on Netflix appear to be of much higher quality than Cable TV even when both sources are outputting 1080p? | The resolution of a video stream says nothing about its quality. What matters is compression algorithm and bitrate. Broadcast TV uses a pretty basic and generic constant bitrate compression algorithm because broadcast TV works that way. Netflix uses a highly specific variable bitrate compression. Disclaimer, the inform... |
Signs on the freeway that say "Speed enforced by aircraft" | It used to be light engine planes or helicopters, but now I would assume that it's drones hovering over the treeline. Either way, they're mainly going after racers, as it's still a time and traffic drag to pull you over and give you a ticket. |
How do people believe in ghosts? | My guess is ppl see a ghost or had family that saw a ghost. Doesnt make them real, just that they have something close and personal that tells them they're real. |
Why are humans generally afraid of smaller creatures (mice, for example), even though we know that they are afraid of us, too? | Same reason bears run away from cats, horses get spooked by humans ect. Big strong animals aren't invincible so even small animals can pose a danger to them. I know I can take a mouse in a fight but it still isn't good if it bites me. |
how does it work when you are awarded a large amount in a lawsuit against an individual who isn't "high asset"? | You don't get the money. In general legal debts are dischargeable in bankruptcy, so they declare bankruptcy. You get whatever they have, but that's nothing like the award amount. |
why is it so much easier to fall asleep on the sofa unintentionally than to fall asleep in bed intentionally? | If you spend more time on the couch it may seem more familiar or safer? Since people can spend hours on the couching watching something while the bed is usually only meant for sleep? I'm just guessing. |
How the casino know where we put our bets on the roulette and how do they avoid us lying that we won the bet? | The really ELI5 answer is: They watch you. The dealer is watching first and foremost, it's their responsibility. Most of them have also been doing it long enough that even if they don't see you place extra chips on a winning bet they will often notice if they look away and look back and more chips were there than they ... |
How does cellphone reception work? | To add, other phones will ignore things not addressed to them but you can buy or make a signal sniffer to capture all that traffic. That's why modern cell phone data is encrypted. ", 'Radio waves and light are the same thing, electromagnetic waves, the only difference is how scrunched together the waves are . Turning o... |
What chemical interactions happen inside humans to cause depression? | We don't know what causes depression. thats the only correct answer. we have some theories but little proof for them, the proof only gives evidence that that specific interaction plays an role in depression, we just don't know if its at the start or at the end or anywhere in between. |
What causes the Aurora Lights in the North Pole? | Radiation from the sun is reacting with the Earth's magnetic field. The sun is spitting out lots and lots of particles and they glow when they hit at the right angles. |
if my dad is an identical twin, does this make me and my cousin (his twin’s daughter) genetically half-siblings? | Correct, to a small degree. Even if your dad his brother are identical twins, their DNA doesn't match exactly. For instance, by brother-in-law is an identical twin with cerebral palsy but his twin does not carry this trait. Due to an uneven distribution of growth, their DNA does not match exactly. There are also enviro... |
How do you order complex numbers? | There's no total order for complex numbers, at least not one that is consistent with the arithmetic operations on the complex numbers.I suppose if you want order, the magnitude would help not only with purely imaginary numbers following the real numbers But also with complex numbers with real and imaginary parts. |
If our brains are more advanced and faster than computers, then why are computer so much better at so many things? | It's not that computers are **better** than the human brain. Instead, it would be more accurate that a computer can perform calculations **faster** than a human brain. |
What is the difference of mouth odour of people who stay up all night compared to when they sleep at nights? | Morning breath is mostly caused by lack of saliva. People who suffer from dry mouth also get this. Decreased saliva in your mouth allows bacteria to grow, which then produces volelatile sulfur compounds. Health and sleeping habits can also affect this. That's just a quick explanation. Sleeping people don't drink as oft... |
I found this post and I have absolutely no idea what it says. Can someone please explain? | The poster is pitching an idea called quantum immortality where essentially for every event that would cause you to die, there is a nonzero chance that you wouldn't die and your consciousness follows that path, never actually dying. The universe splits into each scenario possible and your consciousness follows the one ... |
Why does talking on a mobile phone while driving distract us so much more than talking to someone else in the car? | There are studies and [videos] showing that people can't multitask very well. Holding and manipulating the phone is a big distraction, but even with a hands-free headset, phone conversations usually force you to concentrate on what's being said more than in-car conversations, because often the topic conversation is a l... |
Why does banging the lid on an impossible to open jar with a butter knife make opening said lid so much easier? | The jar's lid has a seal made from a thin layer of soft rubber. When you strike that seal, you create a dent in the metal over that seal, creating a couple of creases. The rubber of the seal can't press those creases hard against the stiff glass lip of the jar, so you get a couple of small holes where air can get in. T... |
Why aren't caves hotter in temperature? | Some caves do get hotter the deeper you go. But thats just it, you have to get seriously deep into the cave before it starts feeling like you're in hell. |
How does Ibuporfen "thin" your blood? | Say you cut your finger. Blood is pouring out. The platelets in your blood sense that there is a cut, so they clot up aka make the blood more sticky aka thicken the blood. Ibuprofen weakens your platelets ability to thicken your blood. That's why it's called a blood thinner. But it doesn't actually thin your blood. It ... |
Why is it when you stay up late, you get aches in your joints that don’t go away? | I have never experienced this. Are you sure it's not just you? Do these aches ever show up at other times? |
Why is that when my feet are cold, all of me is cold? | Your body also does something called the 'shell to core shunt' . The core refers to your torso and most important organs, the shell is your limbs, feet, etc. Your body knows that keeping the core warm is more important than keeping the shell warm. It will work to keep the core warm in any way it can, even if that comes... |
Why are women usually more sensitive to cold? | Women and men generally have different fat distribution. Men tend to have more evenly distributed fat while women have a concentration around their organs and, er, curves. Fat doesn't conduct heat very well so it insulates us. So men are evenly protected while women are not. Interestingly, while a woman's uneven fat me... |
Why can't we feel the earth's rotation? | Earth rotates too slowly. Earth rotates around its axis once every 24 hours or so. To do this rotation, around equator you're feeling like 0.01m/s^2 acceleration towards the sky because of the centrifugal force. Earth's gravity pulls you down 9.81m/s^2 so you are almost guaranteed to not notice it unless you use quite ... |
Why isn't the whole night sky brightly lit? | Stars only emit so many actual physical photons. Once you're sufficiently far away, those one hundred million bazillion gajillion quazillion little particles of light have spread out so much that there's no longer a steady stream of light for your eye to even detect. Nearby stars are still close enough to register a co... |
How is the new Ocean Cleanup Machine supposed to clean up trash without hurting wildlife? | It's not possible, it won't ever be possible, to drag a net through the ocean and not hurt a species. It's a matter of statistics. Do the benefits outweigh the cons? |
Why are cars created that can go 200 mph+, when the maximum they’ll ever face is maybe 80 mph? | In addition to what the other comments say, you *really* don't want a car to drive at it's absolute maximum, that will completely wreck the engine, so you have to design it so the car will usually drive in a range where you do the least damage to the engine. And because you have to do that, you're also increasing the t... |
What do banks do with US coins that people exchange for money in their account? | When I was a teller I handled coin deposits like any other cash deposits. I'd put it in my drawer and if I needed to take money out of my working safe into the main one then I handled it the same as if someone came in with a fat stack of 20s or 100s. |
How do we keep in contact with spacecrafts like Voyager 1 which is millions of miles away from Earth? | Radio waves. Voyager has a radio transmitter and receiver onboard which are always pointing in the direction of Earth. They allow us to send remote commands to it's onboard computer, and for Voyager to send the data from it's instruments back to earth. Now obviously Voyager is very, very far away now, and it's transmit... |
If each atom has its own center-of-gravity, why would an object have one center-of-gravity instead of spread out gravity for each atom? | A center of gravity isn't specifically the focal point of an object's gravitational force. It's more correctly thought of as a 'center of mass' for the purposes of assessing an object's balance point. The location within an object towards which a force can be applied that will not incur a rotational effect and such. |
How do people end up with tens of thousands of dollars worth of credit card debt? | Interest. Someone gets approved for 3 $500 credit cards. They max them out. 1500 in debt. They're too broke to make the minimum monthly payments. $50 a month in late fees. 12*50 = $600. Thats 2100 in debt. Assuming an easy 25% APR: tack on another 525. Thata 2625 in credit card debt. Now my CC compounds monthly, so tha... |
Where did the political terms “The Left” and “The Right” originate? | Here is France I've always been told that it was because the right was sitting on the ride side of the Assembly from the PoV of the speaker of the house and the left on the other side. Your post just made me realise that it's internationally the same and now I'm confused |
why do pills need to be taken with water? | So you don't choke, or spit them out with your gag reflex. It doesn't have to be water, any beverage will work. |
Why are adults always absolutely exhausted at 6pm but wide awake and struggling to fall asleep by 9pm? | I'm not sure what adults you've been observing but this doesn't describe a single adult I have ever met. |
Why is crying a natural response to both extreme sadness and extreme happiness, but not so much for anything in between? | It's also a response to extreme pain and extreme anger and extreme fear. I think it's just a response to extreme *emotion*.tears are a stress dump. they are full of stress hormones, so when you build up a lot tears are an easy way to dump them', "Your body has evolved to stay at an equilibrium. Any strong emotions caus... |
How are Rats and other smaller Mammals with tiny limbs capable of moving so fast? | They may be low to the ground, but their legs aren't as short as their ground clearance. Their range of motion for their legs start at about the height of their spine, which is on the upper surface of their body, which makes their legs much longer than they appear and allows them a longer gait than you might expect. |
Why can’t hockey teams just use a morbidly obese person— someone whose body blocks most of the net— as goalie? | A NHL hockey goal is 6 feet wide and 4 feet tall. That's bigger than a person.Goals are enormous relative to people, even obese people. There are huge goalies that cannot cover a whole net. Ben Bishop is 6\'7" and 225, and give up goals. There were some international goalies for South Africa that were close to 300 lbs,... |
How did scientists identify humanity's common ancestor? | Scientifically, there is no such thing as a 'common ancestor' in the sense that 'every human alive is descended from one single person'. The closest we can get is the 'Most Recent Common Matrilineal Ancestor' , or the putative 'Mitochondrial Eve' , which you can read about [here] . Mitochondria are genetic 'energy fact... |
// How do airbags deploy? | With explosives. A chemical burns extremely fast and produces hot gases which fill the bag. The airbag will probably cause some minor burns, but that's better than the alternative. You could probably use that same chemical to fire a bullet. . |
what does shutting down the government achieve? | they can't agree on hire to spend money, the government cannot operate without money, so no government |
what’s the difference between a police officer and a sheriff/deputy? | It depends somewhat on the state and how they have things laid out, but typically a police department is a group of salaried employees whose job it is to enforce the law, and if you follow the chain of command up you end up with the police commissioner and the city's mayor. A sheriff is typically elected, and deputies ... |
Why do keys on a piano adjacent to each other make a 'vibrating' sound when played together? | The answers to this question here are obviously written by people who understand a bit of physics but not much pianoforte construction. Their answers would make perfect sense if it were not for the fact that in a piano, keys which are not depressed have a felt damper pad pressed against them. When you press a key on a ... |
What started and ended the great depression? | Think about it like this: There is a huge bowl of candy and a group of people surrounding the candy. The bowl is continued to be filled, with bags upon bags of candy being piled on top. You don't think it is going to stop, the bowl is overflowing. But after a while, a bag of candy doesn't produce as much candy as the p... |
Why does water make extremely hot/spicy/burning in the mouth worsen, and why does milk seem to instantly make it go away? | Capsaicin is an oil so water doesn't mix with it well and it'll relatively stay coated on your tongue. Coincidentally, if you take a shot of oil and rinse it in your mouth making sure not to swallow it, it'll actually relieve the spice pretty well. |
why do bugs walk into fire | Maybe their ancestors didn't have regular enough contact with open flames. No constant selection pressure = no opportunity to evolve a defensive response", 'They don’t. They used to followed the sun. Now they don’t have sun. They will follow the fire. |
What are the random characters you see when you open an MP3 file in Notepad? | They're the results of the program attempting to interpret the file's binary data as ASCII encoded text. Depending on how data is read it is possible for something that is completely harmless when loaded with the proper software to create unforseen complications when loaded with the wrong software so you might want to ... |
What is the protocol in congressional hearings regarding behaviour towards Congressmen? | Technically, you could theoretically get in trouble if you mouthed off to Congress, they could hold you in contempt, the same way a judge can hold you in contempt of court, Congress can hold you in contempt of Congress. But in practice this doesn't happen just for rudeness, it's only for breaking more serious rules, li... |
Why did Russia decide in the late 1500's to attempt to conquer Siberia - an unimaginably large & frigid territory - which would increase the size of its kingdom by ~17x? | Russian eastward expansion has many similarities to US westward expansion. Resources, control or benefit from natives, more tax revenue, etc. The railroads are what really made the expansion worthwhile. And Jefferson didn't send Lewis and Clark to find and control Wyoming, Idaho, etc. It was about getting to the coast,... |
How does wind work? where does it come from? | Imagine two barrels. One full with water, second almost empty. If you connect these barrels with some sort of pipe the water will flow from that one with higher pressure until the pressure in both barrels will equalize. And the same happens with air and our 'barrel' is atmosphere. If somewhere the air pressure is highe... |
Why do car windshields not shatter like regular glass? | Because they're not regular glass. Windshields are made from laminated glass which is made by taking two sheets of glass, sticking something between them and pressing them together into one sheet. When the glass breaks, the vinyl keeps it stuck together as a single sheet. The tiny pieces you're thinking of may be the s... |
Why is it that, when depicted, our fingers are the first to twitch when regaining consciousness? | Because it's difficult to depict unconsciousness with conscious actors.The subtle signs would probably not be visible and you need something that an actor, could do voluntarily, simulate and replicate. Twitching fingers are probably easier to simulate compared to say, twitching eyes, or worse, a difference in breathing... |
How do suicidal bridge jumpers die when olympic high divers usually make it out okay? Does the fall kill them or the water? | A bridge is a lot higher than a typical diving board, so they're hitting the water much faster. Water can only get out of the way so fast, and if you're moving faster than that it might as well be concrete. Minimizing the contact profile with a correct Olympic-style vertical entry would lessen the impact considerably, ... |
why do things look so much further away in pictures? | Unfortunately you're trying to get a third dimension on a 2D medium, which can be a struggle to capture the depth. I don't know much about photography, but I would say maybe upgrade your camera? Resolution may be the problem here and my initial reaction is you're using your phone camera. The other solution is you need ... |
How can casinos tell if you're counting cards playing blackjack? | Generally, they look for people who bet the table minimum , then all of a sudden switch to betting the table maximum and then winning big. The big trick the famous MIT team had was that they had multiple people doing this. So one person would simply sit there and always bet the table minimum, and signal to somebody els... |
Why can’t we point a telescope at the moon to prove we were there? | Even the super high powered telescopes don't come close to the resolving power needed to see the lander. You would need a telescope with a mirror at least 75 meters in diameter to see the landing vehicle. The largest optical telescope in the world only has a 10m mirror, so it's far to small to see anything we left on t... |
How is the price of gold determined when in a gold standard? | There **isn't** more paper in circulation than gold. That's the whole point. Every scrap of gold is accounted for, and there's only so much of it. The money supply is then strictly controlled by how much gold there is, and the only reason people would carry paper is because gold is heavy. Back in the old days each bank... |
Why can humans throw objects with certain accuracy without having to know about physics nor mathematics? | So autobot erased my first answer. We use trial and error. We throw something then we miss then we adjust and throw again. ELI5 bot doesn't know ELI5 explanations should be simple and sometimes that also means short. ELI5 bot needs to get laid. |
Why do people perceive different colours when looking at certain objects. For example the dress from a few years ago that some saw as white and gold, and some saw black and blue? | The eye has cells that see color called 'cones'. In the human eye there are three types of cones that specialize in three colors; red, blue and green. But each cone doesn't just see one light frequency, it sees a range. It is most sensitive at the center of each range. There is some overlap in the ranges between cone t... |
Why do things bend easily, but have difficulty unbending them? | I can't speak for what happens when you bend paper, but I can explain why it's hard to unbend metals. Every time a metal is bent, defects in the crystal structure called dislocations are created in the bent area. These dislocations make the metal harder, so if you try to bend it again in other direction the softer, unb... |
How is boat speed measured? | It's measured in knots, which historically was literally a piece of rope with knots tied in it. You'd let it out into the water and count how fast the rope was pulled out. Airplanes take airspeed measurements through something called a pitot tube , boats now use a similar thing called a pitometer.In times past, a log l... |
Why are pillows considered good for sleeping when they bend your neck so that it's not parallel to your spine? | Most people sleep on their sides. I actually recently bought a bigger sturdier pillow with one blunt side since I'm rather tall and wide, and been sleeping way better since. My neck is now alligned with my spine when I'm sideways. Fetal position ftw |
if looking up personal information on public WiFi is considered dangerous, why does no one seem to warn about doing the same on cell phone networks shared by way more people? | Wifi routers are are consumer-grade gear made down to a price, often set up by amateurs and are not always properly secured. Also, public wifi is a prime soft target for hackers so attracts more hacking attempts. Cellular networks are **not** perfectly secure but as their business is built on charging money for access ... |
Why should larger things appear to move more slowly? | Probably the aspect of his speed rendered most indefensible in spite of *he's freaking Godzilla, mate* is that of gravity. Every step of his gait brings his weight up, and then he ought to fall. Yet he seems to come back down on his feet as fast as he likes. Gravitational acceleration is uniform for all bodies: roughly... |
(ELI3 would be better) What is a CFD (Contract For Differences) ? | You might think that a stock might go up in price. A contract for difference is where I make a deal with you: if the price goes up, then i'll give you some money, if it goes down then you lose money. It can go both ways. You might predict a price to go down, so you can enter a different CFD, where instead it would be m... |
Why was Johnny Cash considered the grandfather of punk rock? | I saw your post and remembered this video i saw! Punk definitely comes from a folk place, i think there was a lot of music bouncing around like Cash and it'd be hard to attribute that to him. Anyways here: _URL_0_ |
Why are game updates so big when the code is probably just a few hundered MB? | The initial patches for Fallout 76 were so big because they were rushing them out, so basically redeployed the entire game. Subsequent patches have been dramatically smaller, although it does leave an interesting discrepancy still, where the console version of the patch before last was 3GB and the PC version of the pat... |
Why do so many animals, large or small, cold or warm blooded, seem to enjoy human affection? | I think it's because humans are generally incredibly affectionate towards these creatures, and we're also very good at displaying emotion and affection. Like, humans will adopt and care for other animals at their own cost. We take care of them, we feed them, we love them. Animals are usually smart enough to understand ... |
How does outside influences (i.e. prescriptions, turmeric, etc.), effect how the body fights infections? | It seems like most of antibiotics were first originally based on some natural plant/spice/dye/fungus/bacteria/bug. Prescription antibacterials typically are an extra concentrated or fine tuned version of a natural compound. For example, GhostCheese mentions penicillin from the mold, but there's a whole class of 'cilin'... |
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