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If copper is self sterilizing, why doesn't every hospital make door handles, and other frequently touched objects, with it? | actually, some do, it is being deployed in several operating rooms right now. It turns out, the bigger benefit is not in the sterile surface, but also that copper keeps the air cleaner as well. For this reason, it is worth installing in rooms where the air should also be clean A oxidation resistant tempering is availab... |
why is math (statistics, calculus, etc) so important for a strong programmer? | Programs use math, a lot. Sure, there is logic, if's and loop's, but most of the work in a program is math. Want to calculate the path of the first-person shooter - that's kinematics = matrix math. Want to recognize that product on the assembly line - that's machine vision = Hough matrices. Want to understand why it's ... |
Why did humans develop in Africa when there's so much more water/food in the Northern Hemisphere? | A couple answers: 1. Humans developed in Africa because that's where our ancestors lived. It's kind of tautological, but basically Africa is the place where a group of formerly-arboreal apes turned to living on the open ground in response to a former ecological niche dwindling, and we evolved from them. 2. There's plen... |
American Curfew Laws, What Are They? | It depends in where you live, there is a legal curfew for minors in a lot of places, but unless you're super young I don't think cops would bother if you aren't being suspicious |
How is NASA 100% sure microbes aren't attached to the rovers and similar probes? When 99.99% sure means we're possibly spreading our alien microbes to other worlds. | One feature of biology atleast here on earth, is evolutionary lineage, so part of the assumption made with sending scrubbed machines to other planets, is that if any of our bacteria are along for the ride, we will be able to ID them later. Deinococcus is one type of bacteria we're pretty sure is on the rover, but we kn... |
Why are metals with low melting points (eg mercury and lead) more poisons or harmful? | The other commentors are correct, but there is something to be said for the ability of gases and liquids to infiltrate fabrics, skin, and orifices. This probably contributes to the toxicity of mercury . |
Why do a lot of companies develop apps for iOS first, when Android holds 70% of the 'Smart' Market? (inspired by the new Reddit iOS app) | 70% market isn't 70% profit. There are more Android device because around the world there is only a small population that can afford $700 phones. Android's growth in market share is directly the result of all three different segment of the market. However, in terms of profit, and the segment that spend additional money... |
Why do the pupils in our eyes dilate when we see someone that we are attracted to? | Mydriasis or pupil dilation occurs in response to many things, such as a dimly lit environment to attempt to capture more light to create an image with, but so does activation of the sympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is colloquially referred to as the 'fight or flight' system that is activated ... |
Why do viruses kill living things, if they need a living host to continue to exist? | Also your body can identify the virus as something foreign to be eliminated. So when your body starts attacking it in order to survive the virus has to be aggressive enough to fight back. So the more aggressive viruses survived to replicate. Now the problem is that viruses can't think so don't stop attacking your body ... |
cars like VW Beetle proved that a motor can be refrigerated by air. Why this kind of design never succeeded to be the most popular and water/liquid refrigerated won? | What works in a cheap, low powered vehicle doesn't necessarily scale to more powerful vehicles that generate a lot more heat and have more complex engines.Aircraft engines have been almost exclusively air cooled for decades.The thing with a car is designers want to have a handy source of heat for doing different things... |
Why do so many people in america have peanut allergies where as in here in the uk barely anyone does? | Overprotective moms who don't introduce their kids to foods.Americans couples must eat extra chunky peanut butter sandwiches constantly for 2 days before they procreate to eradicate this weakness in the gene pool.Erm, don't know where you got this fact from but it's utter bollocks. Shitloads of people in the UK have nu... |
Why cars like Toyotas cant look like Lamborghinis | There's a huge market in [body kits for the Pontiac Fiero] that make it 'look like' a Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc. They're not very popular. |
Why is it that even when I'm close to my router, i never have wifi speeds close to what I'm paying for on my internet plan? | Is the router wireless G or N? What about your pc's wireless card? What speeds are you expecting, and what are you getting? Wireless G is max 54mbps, so obviously you wouldn't get a full 100mbps if that's what you were expecting.Do you have a dual band router? There is a large difference in 2.5 and 5Ghz bands. Or servi... |
Why is there a risk of a deformed child when brother and sister perfom incest? | Everyone carries defective genes, recessive genes that do not work properly. They are generally few and far between, and are made up for by a complementary dominant gene. The recessive useless one will be inherited from one of your parent, and the useful dominant from the other. Very rarely will both of your parents ca... |
How can water/liquids in pipes and hoses go straight up and defy gravity. | It gets pushed from the liquid behind it. I'm not sure what the mystery is here. Fluid pressure can push against gravity just like any other force. Do you question why you can lift objects up with your arms too? |
Why do humans like white noise like rain so much? | White noise is essentially just a combination of all audible frequencies played at the same time. The random and even distribution of those frequencies make isolating any individual sound impossible, thereby ensuring your focus doesn't attach to one particular sound and heightening your awareness/alertness, while the n... |
When you visit a fancy restaurant, why are the pepper shakers so large? What does the length add? | They're actually pepper grinders. They have the whole peppercorn in them and it is used to grind fresh pepper, which tastes better and isn't as stale as pepper already ground. _URL_1_ |
what's the fascination that people have watching videos of maggot removal, zit popping, ear dirt extraction, etc. ? | Pretty sure it's just a morbid curiosity or as you said, a fascination. These are the sorts of things people link to their friends, who watch between fingers but can't look away. It's probably the same reason some people watch bad movies. |
how did we as humans collectively decide on the location of the international date line? | The decision to put the Prime Meridian through Greenwich, England was made at at the International Meridian Conference, held in Washington DC in October, 1884. But each country has traditionally decided what time zones to use and where it sits relative to the date line. Note that the day doesn't begin in Japan, it begi... |
How do self-driving cars reduce accidents | They can keep track of pedestrians and computers can't get distracted while driving.> Can a self-driving car keep tabs of all the pedestrians around it too? Yes. Some cars already have this feature, with sensors that basically detect the proximity and speed of objects, and react to them appropriately, either by warning... |
If a woman became president of the US, and got pregnant, would she get a maternity leave? | I imagine she'd only need to take a couple days off for the birth and then I'm sure if she were married her husband could take care of the baby while she were at work or hire a nanny. Men in big positions have kids often and it doesn't usually affect their professional careers too much. |
How does the army work? How does one get a promotion and such? | 'How does the army work' is a little too big to fit into this, and I'm a little wary of trying to make contrasts of real world military against sci-fi anime, but I'll try to sum up how military hierarchies work. In the US army, and in many organized armies around the world, you have two separate 'lines' of ranks - enli... |
Why can non-American actors so commonly mimic a perfect American accent, but rarely can an American actor accurately mimic a foreign accent? | Exposure. American media is seen and heard all over the world more than any other country's media. Especially back in the day. Most people wanted to see those Hollywood hits and popular shows over what their own countries had to offer because there was more and arguably better quality . Flip to Americans and they are a... |
Why can't the prison system agree on a "painless" execution method, when any veterinarian in the country can painlessly put down a dog? | Because the death penalty is all about bloodlust. It's not an effective deterrent in the least. It's clearly not a rehabilitative effort. The only real reason for it is retribution. So it makes sense that people *want* the death penalty to not be painless. They want people on death row to suffer. Myself? I think the de... |
Why aren't electrical outlets universal? | Different power grids. You don't want to plug in your cord meant for a 60Hz 120V power supply into a 50Hz 240 V power supply . So they have different plugs to prevent you from doing so and potentially ruining your device. |
How does smell transmit? Does it radiate like sound or 'float' like gas? | Smells float like a gas, because, in essence, that's what they are. A smell is nothing more than tiny particles of the smelled item, interpreted by your nose. |
Why is there so much backlash against Iggy Azalea in the hip-hop community, but not against other white rappers? | What's wrong with iggy azalea? I don't like rap but i don't Particularly hate iggy azalea |
How can a corporation like Activision-Blizzard think King Digital (maker of Candy Crush) is worth 5.9 BILLION dollars? | As others have pointed out, valuations of companies like these are usually an estimation of the profit they will earn over the next 10 years or so. I always feel the same way when I hear about valuations like this though, because Candy Crush will not be generating $600M a year in a couple years, and there is no guarant... |
If gay marriage is made legal (which is a good thing) what arguments would one use to keep polygamy illegal? | The only real argument I heard against polygamy is the financial burden it could put on companies that employ people in this type of relationship. If employee X has three spouses not working, a company who is obligated to provide health coverage for them would be facing a greater financial burden than with a standard c... |
Why did the Japanese "let the emperor still be emperor" ? | Can't watch whatever that is right now, but it's more like the *Americans* let the emperor still be the emperor. If they were going to be permitted to write up Japan's post-war constitution, effectively outlining how the country would function despite having no reason to be accepted by the Japanese people, it was a shr... |
What does alcohol consumption feels like? | Kinda makes you feel dizzy. Depending on your personality type it can bring out the worst in you. When I'm drunk I get in peoples faces and start fights lol. |
Why do teeth occasionally hurt when you eat something sweet? | This happens to me, but with sour and salty things. Cold things too, but that's more normal |
What are the cons of electric cars? | There are two main problems with electric cars. First, battery technology. The limitations of batteries drive up the prices on cars that will never be able to drive as fast or as far as a gasoline-powered vehicle. Until better batteries can be developed , this will always be the most limiting factor. Second, electricit... |
What does contemporary military jet fighting look like? | Check out the documentary 'Speed and Angels.' I dont know how relevant is is today but they do seem to still teach 'classic' dogfighting. [Link] |
If you went back 10 years with an iphone 6 and handed it to a high-tech corporation to dissect. Could they use it to increase the rate of technology? | There's not a lot of useful stuff you can learn by dissecting a phone. Well, not in the sense of making a copy. Most of the stuff that they could actually learn by dissection would already be understood by them. Now, talking about what matters - the SoC and its fabrication process - you can't do anything on that regard... |
Isn't the CBC reporting on Jian Ghomeshi a conflict of interest? | I'm not familiar with this particular story, but one might argue that the CBC has a responsibility to report news that is important, regardless of their own stake in it. Of course, the 24-hour news cycle isn't exactly known for presenting what people need to hear instead of what they want to hear.Are they expected to r... |
Why does everyone hate comic sans? | Not only is it greatly misused, it's also just a [badly designed font].It was meant specifically for a certain young-ish age group, but for no apparent reason it caught on everywhere and became ubiquitous. And then our "too cool for anything mainstream" hipster society denounces it and it becomes a "I can hate it more ... |
When someone is given the death penalty, why are they on death row for so long? | There's a line for appeals, they have the right to challenge the ruling and exhaust their options.Then it comes down to the state and its resources; timing the executions.It can take a very long time to do all of this, years and years.The death penalty is not something you can undo, so the legal system ensures that eve... |
Why is quantum physics so often mentioned in philosophy and so-called "enlightenment" texts? | Quantum physics has the dubious distinction of being very real and important science *and* very hard to understand. This makes it both prone to misunderstandings and great to spin into woo-woo mythology bullcrap while sounding like you have legitimate science to back you up. Now, that's not to say that quantum physics ... |
Why do delivery truck drivers wear high visibility jackets? | I work at a shipping and receiving warehouse and it's company policy that anybody entering the facility needs high visibility clothing on, due to the towmotors driving around and such. This rule also extends to outside our dock area where there's other semi trucks driving around. It's just because as a truck driver you... |
Is there a biological reason why men don't appear as frightened as woman during dangerous situations? | I think the difference is that women tend to admit to being frightened after the fact and will discuss it, while men tend to pretend it didn't happen. I'm not sure if this is a social thing, a brain thing, or a combination. It could have something to do with women's more advanced socialization. |
why do we need coin currency? Why not set prices to a flat dollar amount? | Coins last much longer, and so are more cost effective than low denomination paper bills. If everything gets rounded to the nearest dollar in the US, I'll just about guarantee that $1 and $2 coins will shortly follow, and probably $5 as well. Here in Canada, the entire reason we have $1 and $2 denominations as coins in... |
Why can't everyone be nice to each other? | Not everyone deserves to be treated nicely. Everyone knows this. The issue is we can't agree on who those undeserving individuals are. This causes injustice. Consider the opposite question: why can't everyone be mean to each other? Same answer: not everyone deserves to be treated meanly. TL;DR: we know and understand t... |
How does diplomatic immunity work and why do we have it? | Well, think about how it works the other way. Let's say we have a guy who represents the USA to the United Arab Emirates. He kisses his wife at a restaurant. This is against the law there. It would greatly strain relations if the UAE kept him there in jail, so instead they send him back to the USA and he's punished how... |
Why are dogs not intimidated when a human snarls and shows their teeth? | all these answer are wrong. they do. I used to work at a kennel, dogs will react to that if they don't know you. I've had dogs get mad at me for doing that to them, some dont care, some do.The dogs understand perfectly well that your son is not serious and does not mean business. Humans can and do intimidate dogs.They ... |
How the street names of New York are organised e.g. 30 & 5th. | It's a grid system. The streets and avenues are all numbered. So to go from 4th and 17th to 5th and 19th you go one block up and 2 over. |
What are the pros and cons of upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10? | I switched to 10 and had to switch back to 7. The only thing Windows 10 has going for it is a new direct x that nothing uses yet, besides that the changes are too much of a headache for me. Windows 10 doesn't do much that Windows 7 can't, and there's no need for an update unless you're bored of the user interface and w... |
Why are simple antibiotics not available without a prescription? | Excessive and unregulated use of antibiotics is a danger to both individual and public health. For you, long-term use can be dangerous, since you rely on bacteria in the intestines for proper digestion. For the public, poor use of antibiotics encourages the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. For these reason... |
Why can't we just throw satellites or sensors into a black hole to see what happens? | The nearest black holes to us that we've observed are several thousand light years away. So far, the farthest object that we've sent from Earth has traveled a few thousandths of a single light year. So we have a ways to go still until anything that we send could ever hit a black hole. |
My friend's mom died this morning after a 3 year battle with cancer. ELI5 why it's so hard to cure, and why we haven't done it yet. | Sorry for your loss. Cancer is a generic word, it actually encompasses quite a range of diseases that can be quite different in their nastiness. They can go from the harmless tumor to the extremely deadly ones. They share some things between them, mostly the gene that triggers death in a normal cell doesn't work in can... |
What is roko's basilik and what does it mean? | Wikipedia says that if we develop an AI, it will potentially punish those who did not facilitate its existence, or at the very least, not reward them with its benefits. The thought experiment states that not knowing of the machine's imminent activation is better than knowing about it, for having learned of the AI devel... |
why do snipers (in movies anyway) work with another guy with binoculars? Do they do this in actual combat? | There's a reason why the roles are split up. A sniper's telescope is very good at seeing things close up from far away. The problem is that particular kind of scope has a very narrow field of view. So it's not very good for looking for things, it's very difficult to find something with it. Especially if the zoom functi... |
How is it possible that police in other countries can fire their weapons so few times a year? | A couple of reasons. First, civilian gun ownership tends to be much lower in those countries. Police are supposed to only draw their sidearms when a life is in danger and the only way to defuse the situation is by using deadly force. More often than not, this situation happens when the suspect has a gun and is threaten... |
If someone needs a kidney transplant, does the donated kidney have to be from the same side? Like, can you replace a left kidney with a right kidney? | Currently have 3 kidneys. Can confirm it doesn't matter what side it goes to , and as has been mentioned it's not replaced where the originals are, but rather at the front. Also it can be visible, as in it shows as a bit of a bulge. I am slimmer when viewed from the left! |
why is it that elderly people tend to wake up earlier the older they get? | i don't know the science behind it but, what i know is they require very less sleep as they grow older. i don't know why. my grandpa is around 90 and he rarely sleeps. |
Where did the tradition of having bedrooms on the second floor come from? | When you have guests it's more comfortable to have them in just the ground floor. The guests will possibly need to use your living room, bathroom and maybe kitchen. So you put the bedroom out of sight, it's not a room you'd use regulary or expect others to use. So you kinda hide it away. |
How do Americans afford/pay for their extortionate healthcare fees and why is the government so unwilling to help? | I don't have a good answer on the government side of it but personally, before aca, I was fucked. I'm still paying for a gallbladder surgery I had in 2010. I never went to the doctor and only sought care when it was an emergency. In the event of an emergency, they have to see you. So when the bill came, I just didn't p... |
Why are aliens portrayed as stronger and superior? | I don't know about you, but I think I could take ET, that little waddling M & M eater, in a fight. Unless he pulled out a ray gun, or zapped me with his glowing finger. |
What's the Difference Between the Shia and Sunni aspects of Islam? As both groups are following the Koran, whats the major differences? | Most of the times this question is asked the focus of the answers lies mostly on the political aspect.Ideologically, the main difference between the two sects is that Sunnis give higher importance to the practical aspect of Islam i.e., imitating the actions and life of the prophet, while Shias consider theology and lov... |
If the size of a Vagina is only 3 to 5 inches long, why does size matter? | Length is irrelevant as long as you can reach the back; it's girth that matters. But if you're REALLY big, it will just hurt.Long and thin goes right in but short and thick does the trick', "1. Size matters but it's not the only thing that matters and it doesn't matter as much as guys think it does.2. Friction.So, whil... |
Are dogs really happy when It's owner comes back home? | One reason dogs are happy when we return is because we confuse them when we leave. Because we often say goodbye when we leave, we are unwittingly telling the dog we want it to come along with us. A dog which is just leaving alone doesn't make eye contact or bark at the other dogs in the pack. So the dogs think we want ... |
How exactly can a medication cause "suicidal thoughts or actions" in a person with an otherwise normal mental state? | Mind-altering drugs are dangerous. We barely understand them, all we really know is that they tend to have a certain set of positive benefits, and they tend to have a certain set of negatives. One of the possible positive benefits is being less depressed and suicidal. One of the possible negatives is being more depress... |
the idea of intelligent design and how it determines the existence of a creator. | I think some of the responses here have missed part of the question. Without getting lost in the semantics of the words: Consider a person. Skin on the outside, organs on the inside. Two eyes, for seeing color and depth. Able to speak a collection of noises that is understood by other people in a meaningful way. On a g... |
I've seen this more and more, but why do people put their cell phones on speaker and then hold the phone an inch from their mouth? | As far as I'm aware, they are using the speaker so they can hear it without putting it up to their ear, but want to make sure they are heard. Kind of pointless imo.I feel like reality TV has something to do with it. The actors are always taking their calls like this, so that the TV audience can hear both sides of the c... |
Why do many businesses, especially those with long term aspirations lease vs buy their buildings? | Lots of reasons, some of them very similar to why an individual would rent vs buying. - Don't have enough capital/credit- Not sure where they'll be in 10-30 years- Leasing usually requires less of your cash flow And a biggie, is that they may just feel that putting the capital to use by reinvesting in their company wou... |
Why are there so many different species of animals, yet we as humans are all one species? | The human race's intelligence far surpasses any other animal. This gives us the ability to alter our environment rather than our environment altering us. We see an animal with a nice warm coat, and we say we will have it off them. This is how we spread as a species rather than going through speciation. Edit: spelling",... |
If English is a Germanic language, why is it so difficult to read texts/understand speech in other Germanic languages? | If you knew old english, you'd understand german better. Old English and modern english are structured differently. A good example of a different English structure is the way YODA talks in star wars. |
Why do cigarettes have so many chemicals in them, why not just tobacco? | I've seen some comments about the chemicals used to keep them burning and others about the chemicals added to keep them from burning too long . But not one about the chemicals added to make them more addictive. The nicotine content has risen, at least in the US dramatically since the 1980's. Also when I travel say to m... |
Why are AK47s and other Kalashnikov weapons so renowned? How do you make your weapons simpler and hardier than the other guy? | They are renowned because they are top notch weapons. The AK47 can take a beating in water, mud, fall from an airplane, and still shoot just fine. It was engineered with much open space. It was 40 years ahead of it's time for sure. MY AK47 is my second most trusted weapon, behind my durable glock 17. |
Do caterpillars know that they are going to become a butterfly? If so, how? | Hormones. In fact, parasitic wasps exploits those hormones to stop the caterpillar from pupating and makes it keep on eating none stop as if the caterpillar still under going it's growth stage. Similar hormones controlling life stages also exist in humans, for example, timing of the first menstrual cycle. |
Why is Africa the least developed continent if humanity started there? | When French left Algeria they took everything, telephones, generators, everything you needed to run a society. Also, Africa was created in 1884 in Berlin with no Africans present. Nations were designed to have different tribes stuck together. Imagine a nation 10% Hatfeild and 90% McCoy. The Europeans would educate the ... |
how do companies like Amazon buy consumer products to resell and still make profit? | Big factory machines are really expensive and take time to set up and configure. So while the cost of your resources can be extremely low, your machine is works optimal if it can just produce thousands of T-shirts with the same design. All you have to do is feed it more resources. If you let everyone order single T-shi... |
In chess, why do players resign when it seems like there is alot more of the game to play? Why not play to the end in case the opponent makes a mistake? | It's become the etiquette. If you play on in a position where the other player would have to be a fool to lose, well you're basically calling the other player a fool. A secondary factor is that chess is mentally exhausting and tournaments and matches involve multiple games and are not a knock-out structure. Put all you... |
EL5 What exactly is meditation, how does it work, and what are the benefits of it? | To control your mind, thoughts, and discipline. I think it's different for everyone. For me it clears my mind and puts things into perspective, you realize the little things aren't important. I do it twice, daily for 15 minutes. Try it =) |
When a woman gets pregnant, the present "physiological status" of the parents affect the baby? [read the text] | > The fact that a parent doesn't have a leg anymore somehow affects the information on the sperm? No. The father still has all the DNA necessary to create two legs. Physical injuries like that don't mutate your DNA. > Does anything that the human body suffers before the pregnancy affects somehow the future development ... |
How do Democrats and Republicans rationalize billions of dollars in tax breaks every year to oil companies? | If they didn't support corporate welfare, the corporations would stop handing them campaign contributions, and they'd be out of a job. Sounds pretty clear-cut to me. |
What is the evolutionary benefit or reason for the Tyrannosaurus' small arms? How did it succeed as a predator with this shortcoming? | There are a few theories for the Tyrannosaurus' small arms and the functions that they served. But first it must be asked, why did they get so small in the first place? Evolution doesn't have a goal in mind. Its completely random. However some mutations might benefit an animal to the point that those traits become domi... |
Why is deafness and blindness fairly common, yet we never hear of people with impaired smelling or taste? | They both exist, it's just that it's not a huge impairment, nor is it visible, so it's just not commonly discussed or noticed |
don't drivers' weights mess with the overall stability / weight distribution of those expensive, high performance cars? how is this solved? | when doing a wheel alignment on a race car, either the driver or a equiv deadweight is put into the driver's seat to load the suspension to the right amount. it DOES matter. but your average consumer wouldn't care about it. just like it does matter when your front brake pad wears different rate than your rear. but most... |
Why do planes crash into each other when they have so much open sky and space to fly in? When I look up at the sky, it seems almost entirely clear of planes. | Planes almost never crash into each other -- and when they do, it's almost always at an airport where things get much, much more crowded. Go look up the things you've seen about two airplanes colliding. You'll find they were near the airport -- possibly on the runway. |
The bitcoin crash going on right now. | Bitcoin is an unregulated pump-and-dump scheme that has taken in a lot of people who like the idea of an anonymous digital currency. The most recent crash came due to Chinese authorities announcing that they were barring Chinese banks from making bitcoin transactions. The same day, the Bank of France issued its own war... |
Why is it okay for Girls to Wear Guys' Clothes, but When Guys Wear Girls' Clothes, Its Weird? | It's 2014 dude, it's not weird for anyone to wear anything ", 'Depends on what sub-culture you fit in with, here in Portland OR wearing girls pants is in!Because female clothes are usually fitted, tight and guys clothes are loose and baggyI actually used to be really skinny, so much so I would wear xtra large womens ja... |
Why do companies release update products at least every year? even when they don't change much from last year'd models. | Money and image: - People want to have the latest things so they can show off to their friends. - Companies make a new one every year knowing that people will want to buy it . |
Why is it that a part of your body getting hurt enough (like getting kicked in the shin) will sometimes give you a taste of blood in your mouth? | For me its different happens all the time. When cut myself i get the taste of blood in my mouth. Even if i hadn't noticed that I've cut myself. Weird.It has happened to me as well where I'll "taste" metal after getting knocked in the head or something like that |
How did the jews seem to recover so well from the Holocaust while blacks didnt recover from slavery? | It's probably worth noting that most Jews are not descended from people sent to Death Camps. The definition of what constitutes a survivor is kind of murky. For instance, is Hannah Arendt, who fled Germany for France in 1933 and France for America in 1941 a survivor? **Holocaust**: About 60-75% of Jews who lived in are... |
How are bombs (especially the atomic bomb during the Manhattan project) built safely without worrying about it going off? | I feel like most of the responses here are missing the point of the question. Lot's of people saying nuclear explosions need to be perfectly timed or else they won't reach criticality etc etc. That's all fine, but the point of the question, and one I'd love to hear the answer to, is assume the bomb is built correctly a... |
Why do most smartphones not have built-in FM receivers? (When they have many other technologies like WiFi, GPS, 4G, etc.) | They don't? I guess I've been lucky with my smartphone then.Interestingly, there was an [effort] by lobbying groups to convince congress to mandate inclusion of FM receivers in portable electronic devices. The effort was opposed by a [different group] of lobbyists. |
how do serrated blades work? What about the serration makes them better than flat edge blades? | They're used for sawing things like breads that would be smooshed with a sharp, non-serrated blade. They work the same way a saw works on wood. |
Are content updates in videogames a bad business strategy? | It really depends on how you look at it. If the game on initial release was a somewhat complete game, then the additional content serves to enhance the experience . However, if the initial game was release and was missing features which will get included in a later update, then that is poor practice. . What could make ... |
the little pi thing on the bottom of every page on reddit | Never saw it before and now I'll always see it.TIL i am oblivious to the small details of my everyday routineThe real explanation would probably be the processor and computer the particular webpage is running off of so developers/ reddit can tell what went wrong and where. But that is just a guessI never make all the w... |
Why don't car companies like Ford and GM make technologically advanced replicas of some of the classics instead of ugly modern cars? | Due to heavy regulations this simply isn't possible. The cars will not be able to meet the needed safety standards due to their shapes. [This care for example] could not be recreated without making the roof much thicker and adding a lot of extra supports. The result would only slightly like the original and likely very... |
Why do people swap languages while talking? | Language isn't just words and speech, it's a process of thought for a culture. There are concepts, theories, and relationships that are very difficult to explain in other languages, especially for topics of human interaction. |
Why does it seem like there are way more conspiracy theorists in the USA now than 20 years ago? | Because information is so widespread now that people who live out in the middle of nowhere can now make public their thoughts. I don't have the numbers on number of conspiracy theorists. However, the fact that the internet is so widespread this allows people to spread information to more people and also allows you to b... |
Why would Assad’s regime use chemical weapons, as opposed to conventional ones, which don't generate anywhere near the same international uproar and are presumably equally lethal, albeit less horrifically so? | That's the thing, they wouldn't. Assad has the whole situation essentially where he wants it. The rebels, Al Qaeda, and ISIS are all on the run, he has Russia's support, and the US and the west are starting to step back. He has zero incentive to use chemical weapons, as it would do what it's doing now, earn internation... |
What exactly happens when a music producer "masters" a song/album? | This will explain the LIMITING aspect of Mastering , it also clears up the difference between this compression and limiting people are talking about. Hey little Jimmy! Ok, compression and limiting are two different things buddy. They are done using the same tool but there is a difference! Compression - is like the limb... |
What is the idea behind being able to post bail for short term freedom before a trial? | because you're innocent until proven guilty. putting you in jail costs the government money. it ensures you are around to be subject to the trial. putting bail money as a security deposit means if you don't show up for trial, they can send bail bondsmen to find you and force you to come to trial.Posting money doesn't m... |
What's the difference between different types of liquor? | Differences between what was used to make the liquor , how the liquor was fermented, the filtration process, and what other ingredients are present. Generally, liquors like rum and whiskey are much sweeter because they contain more sugar than say vodka or gin. More often than not, more sugar in the drink means a worse ... |
Why doesn't the US Constitution grant rights to everyone in the country instead of just Citizens? | Most non-citizens inside the US enjoy most of the same constitutional rights as the average US citizen. So far, most of the answers in this post have been fairly dim-witted, even for a five year old. Also, the NSA is lying. They're recording pretty much everything non-discriminately on citizens and in-country foreigner... |
- Why do boxers and other top sports stars have, and listen intently to, trainers and coaches that NEVER reached their level? | Because the ability to coach is different than the ability to perform at a high athletic level. Being a top athlete, first and foremost, requires you to win the genetic lottery and have natural athletic talent. There are plenty of people who were just as good as top stars and worked just as hard, but they were a few in... |
Why does America send so much aid around the world when it’s own people have a massive homelessness, drug, healthcare, infrastructure problem? | Your first assumption is that money will solve the homeless, drug, or any problem. That has not been proven and there is a mountain of evidence to the contrary. Your second assumption is that 'lesser' problems shouldn't be addressed until 'greater' problems are fully solved. By this logic, police shouldn't investigate ... |
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