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- Why is water footprint important? | Because we use freshwater and we only have limited supply of that. Most of the water on earth is salt water that we can't use and nature have a limited capability to replenish it's source of freshwater. If we use this water at a faster rate than what naturally replenish, then we end up emptying the source. You can see ... |
what factors determine a car’s fuel take being on the left or right side of the vehicle? | The current regulations require that the filler be outside of a crumple zone. This is why they're no longer allowed to be mounted on the rear of the car, as that was a massive fire hazard during rear-end collisions. Most manufacturers install them on the driver side for convenience. |
Why do horses start side by side while runners are spread at equal distance before the race? | The horses can collapse to the inside on the start, so there isn't officially any longer loop for them to take. When runners start something that they have to stay in their lanes for, there is a loop disparity and they need the distance evened out. Human races where you can immediately collapse to the inside will have ... |
- Why do so many people have such an intense fear of bugs and insects, most of which are completely harmless? | Two reasons. Fear, and disgust. Mosquitos are responsible for at least a quarter of ALL human deaths, and fleas started the black plague. And for disgust, people would associate bugs with rotten meat, which would also kill people. Fearing bugs are an evolutionary advantage, there's no GOOD reason to actually like bugs. |
Why do most governments use asphalt instead of concerts for paving roads? | Asphalt has some advantages, but the main advantage is up front cost. It's cheaper to lay down asphalt, and in many US localities officials like to be seen fixing things during election cycles. Nothing better than a smooth ride, to say look I'm listening to you and fixed it. Article on pros and cons of asphalt and conc... |
- What makes a band 'indie'? | You are correct. It came from independant. Now it's more used to describe a niche band, playing things that aren't deemed pop. More akin to alternative. But the indie/alternative sound/vibe has become pop. So it's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world Except for Lola offcourse. |
Why are all economies expected to "grow"? Why is an equilibrium bad? | If the economy is growth neutral, then as population grows, demand increases and there isn't enough to go around. Economic growth is necessary to support a growing population. |
what useful purpose does it serve to society, that we allow corporations the legal fiction of being a 'person'? | I'm not an expert, but I do have an LLC. The LLC owns some houses, but I'm there only decision maker. I have other participants but I'm a 99% owner and I pay taxes on my personal account. If it was a more complex setup with more than one person involved, then the LLC would pay it's own taxes, have it's own back account... |
What is tetanus and why do they say you get it from rusty metal? | Tetanus is a bacterial infection! It's mainly found in soil, dirt, earthy substances and can get into your system through exposed wounds. I believe that rusty metal can trap and hold onto soils which is why if you puncture or cut yourself on rusty metal, it is possible that tetanus spores may be present |
What happens when a tap is off? Does the water just wait, and how does keeping it there, constantly pressurised, not cause problems? | In most places in the US water pressure comes from gravity! That's why the water is stored in those tall towers rather than on the ground. The towers are placed at a certain height to produce a certain amount if pressure. That amount of pressure is not high enough to bust the plumbing in your house. Think of it like a ... |
What is a Bayesian average used for and how is it calculated? | It's kinda like calculating probability based on things that are related to an event like in bayes theorem. The only difference is you're calculating an average based on related information. Basically you take a previously established mean and multiply it by a constant c based on the size of the new data set you're usi... |
Why can't the body just excrete the excessive fat after absorbing the required amount ? | The body doesn't know the next time it will get food. It's only been relatively recently in the history of humanity that people have had a constant, sufficient supply of food. Before that, the best strategy for people or any living creature for that matter is to store the excess so that when there's a period of insuffi... |
If you can get gingivitis so easily, how did people survive before proper dental hygiene existed? | It's because of our diets, and in particular, sugar. Sugar used to be a luxury ingredient that only the wealthy could afford, and even then, they didn't eat much of it. Acidic foods could also contribute to it; But I'm not entirely sure on that one. Oranges were still fairly common before dental hygiene became common. |
Why does Google Chrome need so much RAM to operate? | It doesn't. It only seems to consume an inordinate amount of memory because it uses memory if it's available. If you have 2 computers with the exact same specs except for the RAM and loaded the same websites chrome will use more memory on the system with more memory to make it feel snappier. The other computer will max... |
Why is retrocompatibility so hard to achieve on modern consoles when a significantly different and rather cheap system like the Wii was able to do it ? | It's not all that hard tbh in a console situation but there are legal issues. EA will publish battlefield on the Xbox 360 and the license is only for that hardware. As a result Microsoft can't just make it work on an Xbox One. |
Why is Russia so huge? | Most of the Russian population lives in the western part between the Caucasus and Scandinavia. This was also the historic centre of the Russian Empire before Ivan the Terrible began the conquest of Siberia in the mid-16th century. By the turn of the 19th century Russia had conquered all of its modern-day territory plus... |
How does contact lens solution disinfect contacts while remaining safe for the eye? | Contact lens solution is typically a saline solution . It's actually quite similar to what your eyes naturally use as a disinfectant . Saline solution is not really harmful to the eyes. |
how is it decided where runaway lanes are placed on highways/interstates? | If there's a steep grade, anywhere down there is a possibility, but if they put one on a turn, then it doesn't require the truck to pull any sharp moves to use it. They can just keep going straight, down the runaway lane, while the road curves away to one side. That's why they often appear when the road changes directi... |
Why is the talking in some TV shows/movies quiet then the music at the Same level of volume as loud as a jumbo jet taking off? | 5 year old answer : someone who made the movie was probably unskilled and underpaid and didn't do a great job Adult extended answer : their mixing producer messed up in the audio levels and the editor either didn't notice or didn't care |
How does refrigeration and air conditioning work? Because in order to make something cold you need something colder. | When a compressed gas expands, it absorbs heat and cools down the the surrounding air. If you've ever used a can of compressed air, you might have noticed how the can gets real cold because the air pressure drops. So you are right, there is something colder, and that is the expanded gas. Refrigeration works by expandin... |
Why can the US Military charge and convict someone of adultery like a crime? | It has to do with maintaining discipline and order, and to a lesser extent the image/reputation of the military. So here's a couple relevant quotes from Article 134 of the UCMJ* . > To constitute an offense under the UCMJ, the adulterous conduct must either be directly prejudicial to good order and discipline or servic... |
Why do you have to buy a domain name? And who are you buying it from? | You have to buy a domain name if you want the internet in general to access a device on your network by its fully-qualified domain name . This is usually something like [_URL_3_]. It may also be something like [_URL_0_]. Who do you buy it from? Registrars who have contracted with the company who runs the top level doma... |
How come airplane passengers don't have shoulder harnesses like pilots do? | The main reason why passengers only have lap belts is due to laziness . The 'Fasten Seatbelt' sign will go off and on throughout the flight, mostly only during take off, landing and turbulence. If passengers have to struggle with complicated seatbelts, they will be less likely to put them on. This is especially importa... |
How do our lungs clean themselves from all the particles of dust, smoke etc that inevitably end up in them through decades? | The mucus that lines your lungs captures most of whatever makes it through to your lungs, and this mucus is coughed up or otherwise disposed of by the body. There are lots of things that the lungs can't get rid of effectively and these tend to accumulate in the lungs. Silica, asbestos fibers and other particulates are ... |
how do smartphones maintain their touchscreen capabilities with a glass/plastic screen protector? | They work by capacitance. A capacitor is, at its simplest, two parallel plates which can accumulate electric charge. No direct contact is required as long as the distance is small. If the gap is too high, it won't work. |
Why can't automakers sell direct to consumer? Wouldn't that be way cheaper? | Yes, it would be cheaper, but the manufacturers who started that way are now locked into the dealership model. Way back in the day, auto manufacturers wanted to sell cars all over the country. But setting up a large network of retail stores was a pain in the ass, besides that was not the way anything was sold back then... |
. Why do coffee brewers reccomend cold, purified water when it's just going to make the water hot and filtered through the beans anyway? | To not gunk up the coffee maker mostly, but also to avoid the extra stuff that's in hot water. Hot water, especially with old water heaters, can have a lot more minerals and junk in it. You want the taste of the coffee and not a ton of calcium and whatnot. |
how would pilots operating from carriers in ww2 navigate at sea when there are no reference points? | > at sea > > no reference points This is incorrect. To add on to u/phage0070's comment, pilots would know where their carrier was headed, and they used [celestial navigation] along with instruments and reference points such as islands to find their way back.Well first of all, you're incorrect in that there were no refe... |
What are babies seeing and thinking? How do we know this? | It'll be easier to answer if you can pick one specific topic i think. You basically ask to describe the function of the brain at a stage of age? |
Why are there crushed stones along the railroad tracks? | Along with what the other person said, it also helps prevent fires from starting when the train's wheels spark.Lots of reasons, but the main reason we use rocks is that trains vibrate a lot. We could use concrete or asphalt, but as the trains pass over them, it would just break up into rubble and the tracks could go of... |
how do bugs and insects keep coming back after the winter? | The three major insect tricks are: 1. Migration. It's cold here, lets migrate elsewhere. This is a fairly common strategy among Dragonflies, butterflies and moths 2. Diapause. Insects find a protected place and then go into a state of dormancy where they don't use much energy. Insects in very cold places, where even bu... |
Why are main disks in our computer called C: by default and not A:? | Wellllll .. Way, way back computers didn't come with a hard drive they came with a floppy drive which was a: then there were really lucky people who could afford 2 floppy drives a: and b:. Then the great c: drive came along . |
Why is fountain soda the norm in US restaurants, while restaurants in (much of) Europe serve it in individual bottles or cans? | Pretty much the only places in Europe where you'll see soda fountains is fast food chains like McDonalds, KFC, and Subway. So, they are strongly associated with fast foods. This association probably discourages restaurant owners from setting up soda fountains. If you're opening a family restaurant, an authentic pizzeri... |
Why does the media and people put importance or make a deal when talking about the royal family. | To me it's bit like popular sports like football, basketball or cricket. Politicians are corrupt and inept, poverty is rampant everywhere, the lack of education doesn't bode well for the long term, people are either unemployed or struggle to make ends meet working their arses off at jobs they hate, people are mean, rac... |
Why is it that I start coughing when using cotton buds to rinse my ears? | You really shouldn't use cotton buds in your ear canals though. I know it is enticing to get that big wad of wax out but the risks faaaaar outweigh the benefits. If you have a problem with earwax, consult a physician or use over-the-counter specific product. Don't shove stuff into your ear canal that doesn't belong the... |
Why does our brain occasionally fail at simple tasks that it usually does with ease, for example, forgetting a word or misspelling a simple word? | Similar question. Home come sometimes you can remember that a person's name started with a specific letter but you can't remember the rest of the name? |
What makes plastic recyclable? | Very little, unfortunately. Most plastics end up the same way as trash. Sadly, the more recyclable a plastic is the less attractive it is. And even if it is recyclable, it can only be recycled a few times. Thermoset plastics are sort of like hot melt glue guns, you can just make them warm and reset them to a different ... |
What stops software companies (ex: social media) facing monopoly/break up concerns from moving overseas and continuing to operate? | They can't bring their pool of talent with them. Software companies set up in high rent areas like Silicon Valley because that's where the best programmers and whatnot congregate. If they could get an equivalent level of talent in some different country, they would already be there. Also, a lot of other countries are e... |
What is the difference in paying more in taxes for universal health care than the amount we pay for insurance currently? | That's a misleading way to phrase the question. We already pay for a form of universal health care in that our tax dollars go into subsidizing the health and medical cost of safety net emergency medical care and basics for those living below the poverty level. I'd say it's not as simple as providing people with free he... |
Why is a person’s ancestry based on the father’s family? | It varies by culture. However, the culture you're probably referring to is based on the fact that the woman joined the man's family rather than the reverse. This was a byproduct of the fact that men tended not to get married until they were capable of supporting a family, so you couldn't uproot the man while uprooting ... |
If 1/3 = 0.3333333etc and 2/3 = 0.66666666etc, then how is 3/3 = 1 but not 0.99999999etc? | Sorry, mathematical proofs are what they are. They're as simple as they can be, but no simpler. In other words, there's no way to make it a true ELI5 response if none of the common proofs are accessible to a 5-year old . At that point, one has to accept that it's true or be willing to learn the mathematics. No shame in... |
When a phone charger is plugged in, why doesn’t it cause electrocution when touched? | If you mean the metal plug you would put into your phone, it's because a) the exposed metal is the ground, or the safe side of the circuit. The voltage bearing part is hidden inside, it's one of the little pieces of metal inside the plug. b) the voltage is fairly low, +-5v. That's not enough to feel, except maybe with ... |
What is the energy company doing when the power is out | Usually it is repairing downed lines. They have miles and miles and miles of lines. They need to find where the problem is, get a truck out there, probably remove debris such as tree limbs etc. Then they have to safely patch and re-string the broken line. Sometimes it can be more involved. On occasion, there will be a ... |
Why do people experience car sickness as a passenger but seldom do so as the driver? Myself included. | I think it may be because as a driver, you focus on driving and traffic etc. But as a passenger, you can drift off and look at the horizon and the car moving past things. That's what I've felt, at least. My body is also a bit tense when driving, so when it's relaxed as a passenger, I feel the movement of the vehicle mo... |
labor theory of value and its place in Marxist thought | I think the key thing here is that the labor theory of value explicitly rejects a theory of value based on price and considers value to be an abstract concept completely independent from the price something would get in an open market. The reason it needs a special name is because it doesn't accord with conventional or... |
How do “rules” work during a war? | feed/clothe/house them", and a convention for arranging/negotiation prisoner transfers. However, when you 've only got 1000 calories of food for your own citizens, nobody's fighting to give POW's a full meal. Russia was at least efficient about it and opted to take very few prisonersThere is no governing body that poli... |
Why dont phone companies use those paper kindle screens so people can see easier outside? | If you're referring to cell phone manufacturers, the biggest reason is that the refresh rate is simply far too low to be usable for much of anything aside from telling time or reading a book. In addition, color is only just now showing up in e-ink displays, so most units would be monochrome. Short version is that the m... |
Why do companies not like unions? | Basically, unions give employees a means to fight against the company for mistreatment without immediate termination. It's like having a company lawyer that fights for the employee instead of the company. |
Why is it easier to set a piece of paper on fire by it's corner than on it's center? | Most likely about surface area, heat distribution, and oxygen content. Fire needs fuel and oxygen to burn, and there's more oxygen on the side than the middle . Paper needs to be at 452 degrees farenheit to catch fire. It's easier to catch the corner on fire because you're focusing on a certain point, where in the midd... |
What is college accreditation? | So, accreditation is done by a governing body of some sort . What this means is that the college/university meets the standards set by that body. The accrediting organization adopts criteria intended to reflect the qualities of a sound educational program and have developed procedures for evaluating colleges to determi... |
Why does riding a car as a passenger feel more intense than driving it? | Lack of control. You're just sitting there, basically waiting, while your entire environment is changing. The view outside, the motion of the vehicle, the speed of movement, its all changing and you're just suppose to wait and have faith. Plus if you drive, you know how other people drive and take that into considerati... |
Why is that animals seem to be able to drink from any water source yet humans are so susceptible to contaminated water? | They're not really that much more able than humans, a bit, but not like they never get sick from anything. Most people just don't care as much if their dog's water is perfectly clean, and they tend not to complain as much when they have a stomach ache like humans or children. |
How is helium collected/made and put into tanks? | Helium is obtained through fractional distillation of natural gas. It occurs naturally in these deposits, so when the gas is extracted, the helium is separated out and stored. It's next to impossible to obtain it any other way. |
Why light changes color depending on wavelength? | Well, what you're asking about, I'm guessing, is a matter of how waves work. The speed of a wave is determined by the product of its wavelength and frequency. On top of that, frequency is directly proportional to the energy that a wave carries. So basically, higher frequencies have more energy, but they also have short... |
Why should you test GFCI outlets and breakers once a month? How can they fail in an unsafe way? Is there a reason they don't fail safe? | The problem comes when it doesn't open the circuit like it should. If it fails in the closed position it could create a situation where you could be electrocuted. |
How do topical parasite treatments for cats and dogs work and would a similar approach work on people to deal with bedbugs and the like? | Because it's terribly inefficient, there are much faster better ways to eradicate them. If you were to try and treat this way, everyone who comes to visit would need to do the same. |
How is the temperature measured and how can the temperature be so accurately predicted for future days? Is there some huge ass thermometer in every city? | Can't speak on how future weather is predicted. As for how they tell the temperature I'll speak to what temperature is. Temperature is the average kinetic energy of atoms/molecules within an area. Which generally translates to speed as velocity is squared. Liquid thermometers that you might have in a window use expansi... |
why do people use aluminium when cooking, for example, lasagna. | Aluminium, like most metals, is a good conductor of heat.It also has the bonuses of being fairly unreactive , light, cheap and can be turned into a foil. It's why aluminium is common in a lot of things, including cans. There are a couple of reasons that foil is used in cooking. Primarily it's to contain the food. This ... |
What happened to the Chernobyl's power plant nuclear reactor, and what caused the accident to be so fatal so instantaneously? | They were trying to see if they could cool the reactor with no power for a few seconds while the backup generators started. This didn't work because while doing so they also increased the reactor's power output which was against procedure. The cooling rods were inserted but due to their design they actually increased t... |
Why does it take longer for women to have an orgasm than for men? I do not understand the evolutive advantage of having women taking longer to have an orgasm | Not everything has an evolutionary advantage. But I'd like to point out when you finish having sex You often want to have sex again. Its like crack. It's great. It gets you really high. But while we know that humans cheat a lot we know that they pair up for life too. Sex is 2 people getting addicted and re addicted to ... |
How does a fall from heights kill a person immediately? | Several things happen. 1. Your brain pretty much stops. When you suddenly decelerate, your brain keeps going, and slams into the inside of your skull. It will probably rebound back and forth a couple times. If this doesn't kill you, you will at least lose consciousness. It's basically the mechanism of concussions, but ... |
How does the baby breath in the womb? | Our lungs are made up of tiny 'balloons' called alveoli. As we breath, exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide happens across the membrane lining those alveoli. Alveoli remains collapsed in utero. Fetus does not breath. Once born, cry and movements help expand those alveoli creating negative pressure. Air transport begin... |
How can matter outside of the Observable Universe travel faster than light? | Think of ants crawling around on the surface of a balloon. The ants can't move very fast but if you blow the balloon up faster than the ants can move, the ants still aren't moving around very fast even if the space between them is expanding faster than they ever can.Nothing with mass can accelerate to the speed of a ma... |
Why are film and video game sequels often titled as “(original title) 2” when novel sequels are almost never titled as such? | Maybe they don't feel the movie-going is that smart, or paying that much attention, and don't want them to think they've already seen the movie of a number is not involved. Personally I enjoyed the Bourne movie titles because they punctuate the character's arc.Pure guessing -- To gain traction and expand fan base throu... |
Why do all soda companies have the same size and shape of can/bottle? | But there are different kinds of soda bottles? Like for example the 0,5l bottles for Fanta, Coca-Cola and Sprite are all [shaped differently]. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding your question.The soda companies only really make the drink that goes inside the bottle. A different company creates and sells them the packaging f... |
Why doesn’t the sun heat up the surface of the moon? | The Earth maintains heat because of the atmosphere. The moon doesn't have a thick enough atmosphere to do the same thing |
Why is it that when a camera films confetti or snowflakes falling, the quality decreases hugely? | Camera usually films as is, and then when the video is compressed you get these compression artifacts, which are the video player's way of filling blank spots on the image |
How does a candle work? Where is the wax going ?? | It's fuel, it's burning up into CO2 and other gasses. Not all of it, some remains liquid or drips down depending on the design of the candle.Essentially the wax just below the flame melts and goes up the wick, then gets burned by the flame. |
why do baby teeth come out straight and even, but adult teeth come out crooked and crowded? | There's often not enough room in a person's jaw for all the adult teeth to come out straight because they are a lot bigger than baby teeth.. They often come out crooked to compensate for lack of space. This is why when someone has braces, they will either have some teeth extracted or made smaller, so that the other tee... |
why can't some animals be completely domesticated? | So first of all, you have to distinguish *taming* from *domestication*. It's not just a difference of degrees. Taming is the process of training an individual wild animal to be friendly and obedient to humans. Any animal can be tamed, although some much more easily than others. *Domestication* is not something that you... |
How does crucifixion kill you? | Actually you suffocate to death. Your diaphragm can't move well enough to inflate and deflate your lungs. _URL_0_", 'When you are in that position, it gets harder and harder to breath and your lungs slowly fill up with saliva until you stop breathing. They say this is why when Jesus was stabbed, the liquid that came ou... |
Why don’t we remember much from our first 5 years of life? | Half serious; but I've always wondered if memories from the first few years of life fade away because there is no happier person on the face of the Earth than a toddler who just did something for the first time all by themselves. Imagine going through life and nothing you do or accomplish or strive for or achieve ever ... |
Why is hot water more effective than cold when washing your hands, if the water isnt hot enough to kill bacteria? | Because you're more likely to wash your hands longer if the water is warm. Longer wash means more coverage and better germ killage.No but warmer water is enough to open pores and get some soap into there. That’s why a rule of thumb when dealing with bodily fluids on your hands , cold water is recommended because it doe... |
How are horses that effective when charging into a line of soldiers? (Such as in GoT) | Horse charges, like in GOT were almost never used unless they were heavy knights. Horses were often personal equipment, bought with a person's own money gonna buy a new horse after every fight? No. Horses were more often used to outmaneuver or intimidate an enemy. It was far more effective to ride around them than char... |
Why is prostate cancer so common when the prostate is a relatively small organ that is not directly exposed to carcinogens (e.g. UV light, cigarette smoke)? | There are different types of tissues in the body with different types of functions. Some tissues are better at absorbing nutrients, some are better at stretching and contracting, some regrow at a faster rate to replenish the cells we lose a lot . The size of the organ doesn't matter, its the frequency of cell replicati... |
Why do PC's need fans or water cooling, and cell phones only need heat sinks? | The main goal of a PC processor is to be fast. The primary goal of a phone processor is to be as absolutely power efficient as possible to provide a good enough speed. You could create a PC that could be fully ambiently cooled, but it would require much lower spec'd parts, and you would pay extra for the lower power co... |
Why is it when you hang clothes over a rack to dry or use the dryer, they dry soft, but if they're dried in a ball they become stiff? | My guess is movement while they're drying. Tumblr drying or hang drying where there is some breeze or air movement keeps the fabric moving and prevents whatever process causes the stiffening from happening. |
what causes thunder to have a sound? | Lightning is electricity, which is made out of plasma,which is hotter than the surface of the sun. In fact, it is about 5x hotter. The air that the lightning passes through heats up extremely fast, and because it is hot it starts moving. But then the hot air crashes into cold air and starts to shove it around. That is ... |
How does the US political power structure interact with itself during conflict? | The US system has a very extensive set of checks and balances, all arbitrated by the courts. These systems generally prevent bad action, even though inaction is occasionally a bad choice, e.g. climate change. What they don't prevent is pontificating, holding press conferences, and tweeting . This means that most of wha... |
Why are micro-plastics such a big deal in the seas and oceans? | They do build up, but also the little fish get eaten by the big fish, which get caught and eaten by us, or bears, or birds. They poop this plastic out. It gets everywhere, including back into the sea again and the cycle repeats. And it essentially doesn't go away. It just builds and builds. The problem keeps getting wo... |
Why can a 20 minute video take 5 minutes to upload onto YouTube and then the same video, take 40 minutes uploading to Google Drive? | Probably because in general they don't need to provide infrastructure to speed up the process of uploading a spreadsheet at the same level they need for their users to speed up the process of uploading videos of a size rounding the Gigabytes. People mostly won't complain about upload speeds on gdrive because the common... |
How do smartphones without hardware (home) buttons ensure that a swipe (or other appropriate gesture) actually works in an instance when an app is frozen or unresponsive? | TL;DR - because the OS handles input, not the app. Phones don't just run one thing at a time, and haven't done so for quite some time. On a phone or computer with multiple processors , each processor will run one task, so multiple bits of code are literally running at once . On a phone or computer with a single process... |
in interstellar, why did gravity have an effect on how time was experienced for the crew members and those back on earth? | Gravitational time dilation is consistent with Einstein's theory of ~~special~~ relativity. Put another way, the movie shows gravity affecting time because that's exactly what happens in real life: the more gravity you experience, the slower time will appear to pass for you.**Please read this entire message** --- Your ... |
How does immunity work? | You are sick while your body is trying to figure out how to fight the illness, and is overwhelmed. Once your body learns how to defeat it, the next time a few of the germs get into your body, they're wiped out right away before they can reproduce and take over which would cause you to have symptoms again. |
How do birds fly in clouds and other adverse weather conditions when they can't see the ground, won't they get disoriented? | Birds don't fly directly into the clouds. That's why when you see birds flying low, it means it's about to rain. |
With the discovery of a plastic bag near or at the bottom of the Marianna Trench - the challenger deep - How does something so lightweight get so deep against the immense pressures ? | Weight doesn't come into it. Same reason a needle or small rock would sink to the bottom. If something is denser than water it will sink till it reaches the bottom. |
Why does a full circle equal 360 degrees? | It's just how mathematicians of the past decided to divide it up. It's a convenient number as it has a large number of factors and thus can be easily divided into various sections of equal size. |
Why is that when we experience a blow to the head we “see stars”? | I'm pretty sure it's from your nerves and brain responding to physical stimulation causing them to incorrectly transmit or interpret a signal as a visual stimulus. If your visual center or optic nerve gets slammed against your skull or other tissue, it will react in the same way as if it were getting stimulus by normal... |
Why do video game console makers lose money from consoles regardless of success and popularity? | Because if you overprice the console, people don't buy it, and it won't matter how many great games and features are being developed if nobody's bought the console. It's way more profitable to sell it at a loss in order to ensure that more units are sold, and then to earn the profit over time through game sales, access... |
- If some company were to start selling EpiPens at $100 instead of $600 would they not make tons of money from the millions of people wanting to only buy from them? | Where does an epipen cost that much?! Here they cost £45 but the NHS charges £8.80. I'll mail you one.The British National Health Service pays Mylan £45 per unit for EpiPens, and passes them on to patients with prescription for £8.80 . There are also two competitor products available, called Jext and Emerade, at simila... |
Why is it easier to get off a push bike and walk up a hill, rather than riding up the hill? | If you had a gear ratio that was low enough, it wouldn't matter. When talking about differences of height, the total energy input will technically be the same either way. On the bike, it will be more rigorous but you will get there faster. With walking, each step will feel easier but there are many more of them. By the... |
How come the food we eat does not set off our gag reflex, even though it goes further and is bigger than something like a toothbrush that sets off the gag reflex? | It's something our body learns. There's some people who are born without the ability to eat, and if they get the ability back, they need to learn to eat without triggering the gag reflex", 'It just means you’ve gotta practice more. You’ll get it deeper in your throat in no time. |
What happens if Roe vs Wade is overturned? | If Roe v. Wade is overturned, then states will be free to pass whatever restrictions on abortions they prefer. In theory, pre-existing laws banning abortion would be re-asserted. However, it's nearly certainly most of these would be invalidated by the states themselves if it became an issue. In most cases, it won't con... |
where does candle wax go when it melts away? | The molten wax gets sucked up the wick, and catches on fire. As it's converted into hot glowing gas , more molten wax gets sucked up to replace it. As the candle burns, the heat from the flame melts the surrounding wax, which flows into the puddle around the wick, ready to get sucked up. |
How eating less red meat helps the environment | Per pound, there is a much larger climate change footprint for cattle than other animals. Their food and water require shipping, less of their body weight is usable meat, and they belch large amounts of methane . These animals are bred only because we eat them, so if humanity ate less beef and thereby more chicken or p... |
On how Irreducible Complexity would disprove Darwinism (aka Natural Selection)? | One of the core principles of evolution holds that all life today and all of the adaptations that life has are the product of beneficial variations accumulated over time. Irreducible Complexity claims that if some adaptation is too complex to have arisen from a sequence of adaptations that were each individually benefi... |
If viruses aren’t living organisms what are they? | Consider a stage coach, like you'd see in the old western movies. It has four wheels, a chassis, a cabin with doors and windows to protect the occupants from the elements, and seats for them to sit on. But is it a car? Well, it almost is. It has almost everything a basic car has. But without an engine, it can't propel ... |
How are there so many drugs in prisons? | People manage to sneak things in. There's serious money to be made dealing on the inside, and people can get really creative. Many prisons have programs that allow certain inmates more freedoms, or even jobs outside the walls. Those privileges can get used to smuggle things. There's also *a lot* of corruption in prison... |
How are individual states able to make abortion illegal after the US Supreme court rulled that banning abortions was unconstitutional back in 1973..? | There's nothing stopping a state from passing an unconstitutional law. It's just a matter of how time elapses before it gets overturned. Conservatives are hoping that Roe v Wade gets overturned and the new state laws hold up |
. Is it possible to hack into a self driving car and change its destination or even reck it ? | Anything with a computer can be hacked. Even normal 'non-self driving cars' can be hacked. Someone could hack the computer on your normal car, and tell it to shut off your engine or crank your steering wheel so you crash into something . So yes, a self driving car could also be hacked, but it really makes no difference... |
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