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How do massive sites like Google and Amazon keep close to 100% uptime? Aren't they a big target for things like DDoS attacks? | Multiple redundancies help in their uptime. Multiple storage locations. Servers. Communication lines. This way a DDOS aimed at a single carrier, doesn't hurt them. Nor will a single fire or other natural disaster like an earthquake.Think about how many people use google, especially in situations like say, michael jackson dieing, maybe the president gets shot, stuff like that multiplies the current users by quite an ammount as everyone is using google to search it up Thats pretty much it, most are too big and built to withstand it, as downtime for sites such as google and amazon cost them literally millions That and, while im sure there are people/groups out there that could ddos google, who is stupid enough to do that, look at lizard squad for example, stupid kids took down gaming services, and now there getting fucked for itThey also use monitoring solutions such as Catchpoint Systems to identify and resolve issues before customers are impacted', "Google operate over a million servers, spread around hundreds of data centres globally. Best of luck DDOSing that . Amazon are similarly massively distributed. EDIT: Million. Not 100Million :/", 'Lots of people already provided the answer of "Its just too hard to bring enough firepower to successfully DDoS someone like Google or Amazon" but here is a link to an article from 2010, when Anonymous attempted to DDoS amazon and failed _URL_0_ |
Why is it that some English adjectives (eg: fast) cannot be made into adverbs by adding "ly" to the end? | a cowardly man". Languages aren't designed, and nobody ever said, "We need a way to turn adjectives into adverbs." It just happened. In this case, the "-ly" suffix means "having the form of", and is actually related to an old word meaning "body" or "corpse". Thus a "cowardly man" is a man who has the form of a coward. It's also related to the word "like" when it means "similar to", so "cowardly" is the same as "coward-like", i.e. "like a coward". At some point, speakers of English extended the meaning, so it meant not just "having the form of", but also "in this manner" -- so, if you do something "quietly", you do "in a quiet manner". At first, it was mostly likely considered a terrible mistake, another example of how young people today just don't know how to speak proper Anglo-Saxon: "How can you 'talk like a quiet\'? What does that even mean? If we had schools, I 'd ask you if they don't teach you this any more." But it took hold and became the norm. More and more adverbs took this ending, with only a very small number still resisting to this dayRelated question: why is "timely" the adjective form and *also* the adverb form? I always want to say "timelyly" when I need the adverb but I know that's incorrect, but just "timely" winds up sounding wrong to me too. ex "That was timely" vs "He arrived timely"There is no need for "fastly" because "fast" is both an adjective and an adverb. So, "I ran fast" is completely correct. The existence of "fast" as an adjective does not preclude the future development of a word "fastly", but it does hinder it. |
How do companies like J.G. Wentworth work? | 1) You sign over the settlement payments to the company. The money that would be going in to your bank account now goes into theirs. 2) They give you a portion of what your overall settlement is worth. If you have a million dollar settlement that's paid out over 10 years, they'll give you half a million in cash and call it a day. |
Why 2 cars of equal mass crashing into each other at 50 mph each is the same as 1 car crashing into a stationary wall at 50 mph, not 100mph. | The misconception here is that the wall would not be applying force. Intuitively, you would say that only the car applies force, not the wall, meaning the car would have extra force applied to it when hitting another car. However, the wall must apply force the to car when it is hit; this is because if it doesn't the car will keep moving. It's strange to think of it this way, but physically, an object will *only* change its speed if a force is applied to it. So the wall stopping the car is literally the wall applying force to the car. How much force? The precise amount that will stop the car, which is exactly the amount that is applied to the car when it hits another car . Therefore the force applied to the car is the same whether it hits a wall or hits another car head on at the same speed. **TL;DR:** In either case the car has changed speed by the same amount, so the same amount of force must be applied to it in each case. |
If a bit of sand dissolves when you put it in some water why doesn’t the entire seabed of sand dissolve? | Sand doesn't dissolve in water. It may spread out in water, making it more difficult to see. |
The movie Lost Highway. | Oh this is so very not an explanation like you're five, but Zizek's take on it in The Pervert's Guide To Cinema is damn good. [Here's a bit.] There's more to it, though. I'd recommend you watch the whole movie. |
What triggers some food to go right through you and how does the GI track put your food on the express track? | Well, it depends what's wrong with it--whether you have a 'sensitivity' to something you ate, or if your body detects an actual toxin, etc. One way your body flushes it is by flooding the small and/or large bowel with water through the wall of the intestine. That's how many laxatives work. There are also cases where the mucus lining an otherwise normal colon can be 'released', taking the irritant with it. Like using drain opener in your pipes and running water through it. Allows water to drain, along with all of the built-up coating in the pipes. |
Why when we (humans) smile at each other do we interpret it as friendly and good, but when animals bare their teeth it communicates: threat, aggression, fear? | I'm not a professional but until one comes around I'll tell you what I know: Our brains pick up more than just a smile when interacting with another human, like body language and many more facial muscle movement that we don't conciously notice. Our brains also register the environment and other info in the background and basically tells us its alright this human is probably not a threat. Now we wait for someone to correct me or add up more to this explanation |
If British police don't carry guns, what do they do when facing a criminal with a gun? | Have you seen this video of two British police taken down a man with a knife using pepper spray? - [link] That man would have been shot and killed in America, I guess they're just trained 'better' instead of just told to murder people. |
Why are there more right handed people in the world? | [heres a cool ted ed video that explains why] Basically, left or right handedness is correlated with genetics. Being left or right handed can be either an advantage or disadvantage depending on the scenario In a competitive scenario, left handed people will have the advantage if they are in equal or lesser number than right handed people. In a cooperative situation having everyone use the same hand is ideal. So the current ratio of people's dominant hand is part chance and part of the effect of living with other humans. |
How does Closed Captioning work on live TV? | On most live broadcasts the CC comes from two sources. They can be typed in live by a person like a stenographer or the scripts that are being used can feed the CC. Often times there is a combination of the two. There are actually companies that specialize in doing live CC. They listen to the show over telephone/internet and the typed information is fed back to the TV station and inserted into their broadcast signal. I know that some TV stations in Utah use a service that is located in Colorado. By the way, most live TV is not on a delay with a kill switch. Its just too complicated to do things that way. If it's a call-in show or something with a lot of audience participation they might delay the signal, but it is rare. Usually we just take our chances. There is a delay that is caused by all the signal processing , but that builds up after the signal leaves the control room. so it doesn't help with censorship. |
Why do passenger aircraft's seats and windows not line up? | TL;DR: The plane maker doesn't decide seat arrangement. Here is a Manufacturer's suggestion of an [A-380] seating arrangement. And here is a major airline's [suggestion]", 'Here is the part that everyone is missing USA Airframe and powerplant technician here. The emergency exits are required to have certain sizing requirments according to federal regulations. Sec. 121.585 — Exit seating so once you have the set location for the two over wing exits or four over wing exits depending on design everything else is simply money pounding space savings. _URL_4_Fuselage and windows are standard. Cabin layout is customized. Lavatories, galleys, seats and space between seats create infinite combinationsThey originally did. One seat per two windows. Then they removed leg room and squeezed in more chairs.user at top of post is correct. if you're annoyed by this but fly on an airline that allows you to choose your seats ahead of time, just learn which seats have a desirable window situation. pro tip:seats 24A and 24F economy on a United 737-700/800/900 gives you approximately one and three quarters of window. I strongly recommend. |
What's the point of women's education programs in American while women outnumbering men in colleges? | Guys please. He's not really trying to ask a question, he's trying to make a point. Don't waste your time |
Why are there many programming languages instead of just one that is good for everything? | The more things that a programming language can do, the harder it is to work out what programs written in it do. If a programming language is very limited but a perfect fit for what you're doing, it will work better than a general-purpose language will, because it will be much harder to make mistakes. Even among languages designed to be general-purpose, different languages will have different strengths. A nice example is the languages used to program GPUs . A long time ago, they were designed only in terms of being able to place colored or textured triangles in 3D space, because that's how computer graphics mostly works, and being more complex than that would make the GPU much more expensive with the technology that existed at the time. After a while, it became important to be able to produce more complex graphics, so GPUs evolved into systems that could do lots of copies of the same sort calculation at once, which is the sort of computation needed for graphics programming. The GPUs took lots of shortcuts in the maths, though, producing only approximate answers, because doing that is faster and it is much harder to notice objects being in the wrong place by a pixel due to rounding errors than it is to notice your game running slowly because the GPU can't keep up. Nowadays, GPUs are used for scientific simulations as well as graphics, so more modern languages for GPU control are able to handle much more precise arithmetic; the scientists care about accurate results, and with modern technology the speed difference hardly matters. |
Why is radar stealth so important for planes that can easily be seen with the naked eye? | Radar is used to identify aircraft far beyond visual range. That's incredibly important for most weapons systems. Secondly, the B-2 uses fuel additives, engineered exhaust, and special flight profiles to suppress contrails to the best of their ability. |
Why is Bernie Sanders' candidacy such a big deal? | It's a big deal because there will be someone to call Hillary on her BS. She'll ultimately get the nomination but she'll have to answer some tricky questions first.Because he is a legitimately honest, trustworthy, intelligent, "people first" politician, and that's about as rare a thing you can find on God's green Earth. If he gets elected, it would signal a revolutionary shift in the American political landscape away from monied interests and toward integrity and prosperity for the common citizen.Because he's authentic and has a track record to *prove* he has already supported the promises he's making now, in Congress. Clinton on the other hand, quite the opposite. She's worse than Obama in that regard. She'll just say whatever people want to hear now and what polls well, so she can win.He's got a reputation for being much more of a straight shooter than any candidate you're going to see. He's an independent and that's seen as distancing him from partisan bullshit. He and Elizabeth Warren are the fighters of the liberal wing, as opposed to Hillary Clinton, who is seen as more than a bit disingenuous and pandering to centrists. I mean, his "announcement event" was a statement at a small lectern in the shade near his office and he only took a couple questions before heading straight back in. He's the type of candidate that gets liberals excited. He won't win, but it's still new and exciting.Registered Republican but I'd rather see this guy win over Hilary who very casually used politics to become a multimillionaire or whatever jabroni the GOP decides to run with. Guy at least votes for what he believes in. |
Why do sex dreams feel good? Do you stimulate yourself while dreaming? | Everything you feel is handled by the brain even when you have actual sex it feels good because of your brain. You don't actually stimulate yourself but if your having a dream your mind can basically be tricked into recreating some of the actual physical / mental changes that happen during real sex.Dreams are recreations made by our brains of moments of our lives, one day you had experienced an orgasm. So your brain simulates the same feeling in his dream, it is just a psychological trick done by you for you. |
What's the point of Non-Alcoholic Beer? | Some people like the taste of beer but don't like the alcohol. It's also similar enough to a beer to pass as one at a party. That way you don't have to worry as much about drunk guys giving you shit. It may not taste exactly like beer, but it's close enough. Like diet soda and regular soda. |
Why do babies stare at certain people for long periods of time? | I consider myself a people watcher. I love looking at people; we all do. You only notice that babies do because they don't look away when you notice they are looking at you. They haven't learned its rude to stare. |
Depth perception from people with one eye | You've lived your entire life with depth perception, so a few minutes without it isn't a big deal. You also have the ability to otherwise sense how big things are because you can touch them. You'll lose some of this if you go for an extended period of time using only one eye. |
Why isn't there a movement to abandon seafood? Would such a movement help suffering oceanic habitats? | > Why isn't there a movement to abandon seafood? Would such a movement help suffering oceanic habitats? There is, it's called veganism ;)", 'There is a massive sustainable seafood movement. It is called farm raised. As of 2015 over 50% of all fish eaten in the world are farm raised. That percentage is growing every year and by 2030 it is expected to be 66%. The world is already fixing this problem in a large way.Because there are a lot of countries where seafood is the bulk of their diet. They don't have access to other protein sources, as well as certain other minerals. Sustainable aquaculture would be more appropriate in most regions instead of an outright ban. |
Why are there so many abandoned cars in America? Or atleast thats how it seems on tv and in movies. | To add to the above point, cars last a lot longer now and steel is a lot more expensive than it used to be, so there's less reason to just abandon a car- even if it's totally wrecked you can get a hundred dollars for scrap and they'll even come pick it up, and cars are a lot more complicated so it's harder for a do-it-yourself to fix them, and thus have reason to leave a few junk ones in the back for parts. |
Why does NASA crash probes like Casini when they're done with them? | When they actually do have them destroyed, it's to prevent contamination of another body from earth viruses or bacteria. |
How do dollar stores manage to sell brand named products for such a low price? | As others have said, dollar stores buy overflow of stock from other companies, products from factories that can't ship because they are slightly irregular etc. Food nearing the expiry date and so on. Another reason is that a lot of the name brand products they sell are actually Chinese counterfeits. Especially beauty products and toiletries such as toothpaste and soaps. You can usually tell these by reading the labels though as there are frequently grammatical errors or spelling mistakes. |
How did inorganic matter combine to form the first life on earth, and have we been able to do it ourselves yet? | We definitely don't understand the beginning of life well enough simply to recreate it. I believe there are hypothesis that life began under the combination of certain elements under certain circumstances, but nothing has been proven. |
Why are so many buildings in the tornado zones of the USA build out of wood? Why not concrete / stone? | Cost is the reason. However, many homes have storm rooms built into them as well usually a walk in closet or something. I'm in Alabama, and the huge one that hit Tuscaloosa a couple years back started that practice around here. The room will be built to withstand a bit more damage than the rest of the house. Footings are poured under all 4 walls, walls are beefed up to either concrete or at least 2x6 wood, and all walls are interior. Joist framing is also beefed up and spans PAST those walls no break point on the wall itself. |
Why airplane races aren't as popular as car races? | Because you can't watch an airplane race. They go too fast. A car race can be done across city streets, or in a purpose-built track, with thousands of people watching the cars. But how would you watch an airplane race? |
If Hexagons are so efficient as a shape. Why are they not more commonly used? | I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the efficiency. Consider tiling many squares together. You can very easily end up with one large square. Tiling hexagons, however, doesn't make a large hexagon. You have a rough shape with protruding edges. Perhaps this is one reason it isn't used? |
How was the speed of light/sound determined? When did this occur and are we sure this is the actual speed? How? | When a plane goes fast enough to create a sonic boom, it's going faster than the speed of sound. Easy. The speed of light is the fastest anything can ever go. Light has no mass, so it isn't restricted by weight and literally cannot travel any slower.Thomas Edison threw a light bulb at Nikola Tesla. Tesla screamed "don't throw things at my face!" but, because he had an accent, Edison misunderstood and thought he 'd screamed "three times ten to the eight!" |
How could time travel be remotely possible. | Time is a property of the universe just like space is. If it wasn't, we wouldn't have to account for it in our gps satellites . Look up time dilation for more info. It's true that our labels for certain periods of time are arbitrary, but time most certainly exists whether we measured it or not. That said, backwards time travel is impossible with any foreseeable technology. |
What's so bad about being Speaker of the House that nobody wants the job? | Because right now, it is probably a bad career move for any Republican seeking the job. The House Republicans are deeply divided. You have the Tea Party Republicans who can't get what they want politically, so they want to shut down the gov't and hold it hostage. And you have traditional Republicans, who want to see what common ground they can find with Democrats, and find compromises both sides can live with. Unfortunately, Tea Partiers consider compromise to be treason. Many of them promised voters they would never compromise, and that is how the beat out a more traditional Republican. If they do compromise, there is another Tea Partier waiting in the wings to replace them. As it stands, there are about 40 hard core Tea Partiers who are refusing to vote for a non Tea Party candidate. That's a small minority within the Republican party, but it is enough to prevent them from getting a majority in the full house, effectively blocking anyone they don't like. Any new speaker would have to make promises to the Tea Party they couldn't keep, or cut a deal with the Democrats to get elected. Both would put them in the Tea Party crosshairs, and they might have a hard time getting reelected. |
what makes someone a consistent champion poker player? | > If the game is based on luck That's only one part of it and this gets blown out of proportion by people who don't play card games. In the long run, everyone gets bad hands and everyone gets good hands. It tends to cancel out over a large number of hands. So, what remains is what skill people have in knowing HOW and WHEN to bet. That part is very important. It's what separates poker from War. In War, each of you just flip over the top card and whoever has the higher card wins. No skill, all luck. The key here is that you need to determine how much to bet. If you are dealt two Aces, you might be tempted to bet really big since it's a really good hand and you're favored to win. But, if you bet too big, no one will call and your big bet doesn't win much, except the forced ante . If you bet too little, everyone will be temped to call and you're more likely to lose to someone who had a mediocre hand, but drew some really good cards. And you can't just always bet when you have good cards, or smart players will see this pattern and always fold when you bet and when you don't bet, they'll raise and force you to either call with bad cards or fold. So, you have to mix up your betting, too. It's this combination of knowing when to bet and whether to make it a big bet, a small bet, or something in between that determines the good players from the bad ones. |
what exactly is edited when movie company's 'format the movie to fit the screen' and why do they need to boldly make that point known? | There was a good video explaining this posted on r/movies recently, but I can't seem to link to the thread on my phone.Here's the YouTube link though: _URL_0_ |
why is it with all the technology that we have today that most security footage or CCTV still looks grainy and takes time to ID whoever the perp or vehicle is? | True high definition cameras and equipment are expensive and most places never actually use the footage. To reduce both camera and storage costs many places only install cameras that record at 720p. 720p is fine if the person is 5 feet or so but if it's a wide angle shot if the whole front of the store it's not. Usually the images that get released are zoomed in and cropped from these wide angle shots. |
When I'm driving and "zone out", how do I still arrive safely at my destination even though it feels like I wasn't concentrating at all? | If you're heading to a location you've been to many times, you've already memorized the route, so you don't need to actively focus on it. Like others have said, driving isn't a hard thing to do. |
Why are the buttons on mens shirts on the right and females on the left? | Men dressed themselves, women were dressed by servants. The direction of the buttons on women's clothing were arranged so that someone else could easily button them. |
What is the point of a fiscal year. Why can't a business year end December 31st like everyone else? | Because December 31st hasn't always been the last day of the year, and because tax / rent were often tied to the existing arrangements, there is inertia in the system. For example, in the UK, the church calendar had March 25th as the last day of the year for hundreds of years, and the government's fiscal year was tied to that. The same went for rent / leases, etc. However, with the change in calendar from Julian to Gregorian calendar in 1752, eleven calendar days were skipped. But the government didn't want to lose 11 days of taxes for the year, and landlords didn't want to lose 11 days of rent . So the government extended the existing financial year by eleven days [and added another day at a later date when another minor adjustment was made]. So now the financial year ends on April 5 in the UK for individuals. _URL_0_ |
Why do prices of goods so often end in a nine, rather than a multiple of ten? | Most of the times it's because of two reasons: 1. It's a psychological thing, people will buy something that is 99.99 instead of a 100 and 2. I know it sounds extremely stupid but people will often leave that 1 cent behind. Back in this place where i worked stuff went for ridiculous prices like 18.97. I know it sounds miniscule but over time that adds up, especially when there is a lot of sales happening. |
What are the reasons people say communism/socialism does not work with larger populations? | Because people even don't know what socialism is. they associate socialism with the ussr, just because they called themselves so. that's like saying north korea is democratic because it's in their countries name. |
In a glass of iced water, once the ice melts the level of liquid doesn't change. Then how come a melting iceberg can raise sea levels? | Melting icebergs aren't the problem. The problem is melting ice *sheets* that currently sit on land, melting and flowing *in to* the sea, and raising it's level. Specifically, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. |
The point of viruses. | What's the point of human beings? Or orangutans? Or fish? Life forms evolved varied survival strategies. Because a virus is a very different life form from you does not make it less significant.Okay, okay let's rephrase the question as something like "why do viruses infect other organisms rather than just going their own way in the world? What survival advantage does that give them that caused them to evolve the way they did?" I don't have a perfect answer for that but generally a parasitic organism is able to be more energy efficient by offloading some of its requirements onto *somebody else.* In other words a tape worm doesn't have to go around hunting or scavenging for food. It just sits there inside you and lets *you* do all that work, and then steals the results of your energy expenditure. I would guess that there's something kind of similar to that going with viruses at a more chemical level. If nothing else, existing inside a mammal or bird species means a relatively predictable and stable environment. That's not meant to be a complete answer by any means, but based on the answers so far, even a phrasing of the question that doesn't invite snark is a step forward.> What do they gain as a life form when they infect others? Why do they do it? Because things like them that didn't do it don't exist anymore. It's not a choice, or a goal. it's just inevitability. If thing A can duplicate itself and thing B can't, eventually all that will be left is thing A. |
What happened to cargo shorts? | Unless you are fit/trim, I still think cargo shorts look much more attractive than half of these tight khakis or god-awful rolled denim jeans I'm seeing. Young people, leave the old dads alone, you really DON'T want to see them in your clothing, their bodies are not always like yours anymore. Also it makes you sound like a pretentious prick. My feeling is maybe the fashion industry is pushing this because they're super-pissed off they haven't been able to tell men they have to buy all new clothes due to style changes the way they have us women. |
Why do people in the 1800's-1950's photography have such unnatural looking skin? | Men certainly would wear makeup for these kinds of professional photos and photo editing technology certainly did exist. The guy in the candid photo doesn't look like he has particularly flawless skin, but it could have been altered to blur it out more. Cameras also didn't pick up as much detail, so the original image was less likely to pick up as many imperfections as today's ultra HD lenses.Several of the people you posted were celebrities, so they were definitely wearing heaps of makeup. But it also has to do with the lighting and cameras they used. A softer focus will keep their skin looking like that. Less detail"It can't be makeup as it follows with the males too, and it can be alterations with the photos. As they obviously did not have that technology." Photographs have been fiddled with since day one. "Burning in" is one particular darkroom effect that I can think of that allows for small portions of a final photo to be "exposed" more so than the rest of it - sometimes it is done to enhance detail, and sometimes used to obscure detail. |
What exactly do people who call themselves Libertarians believe? | Here is the simplest way I can put it: Libertarians believe something is moral as long as it doesn't infringe upon my rights or the rights of others . Example: Drunk driving is bad because it has the potential to hurt me or others . There are a few popular misconceptions about libertarians though. First: Abortion. Some libertarians believe that it infringes upon the rights of the unborn while others believe the opposite. Most libertarians take a middle ground in that stance. Second: Marijuana. There are libertarian cases for and against it. If it impairs a drivers ability to drive and thus hurt someone in should be illegal to drive and smoke. But note this is a slippery slope. In order for something to be illegal it has to have consistent and OVERWHELMING evidence.Libertarians believe that government should have minimal to no impact on society or business. Libertarians are a small step away from anarchists. While most libertarians believe that governments should provide basic things like roads, they believe that the public markets should provide all other things that maintain demand. They also believe that the government should have no say over what a person can do with their own body> Most things in life have an inherent danger that we attempt to regulate and minimise with laws. No, minimizing it would be banning it outright. All that happens under government regulation is that the regulator imposes his personal preference for risk upon everyone else via criminal law. How that is an "improvement" I have no ideaEasiest way to think of it is socially liberal, fiscally conservative, beards optional but encouraged. |
Why do dogs eat grass? | Dogs eat grass when their stomach feels bad. Grass makes them throw up so the feeling goes away since they can't put a finger in their throat like we do |
How can the world be running out of water? Even drinkable water? | Purifying water on a large enough scale for the billions that need it costs a LOT of money and energy, something that the developing countries that need it by definition don't have. There are more people using it on large scales for irrigation, and they are often tapping into unsustainable sources such as aquifers that replenish themselves slower than we take water out. |
Why do we investigate Mars and hear so much about Mars, but hear so little about Venus? | Venus is incredibly hostile and is not considered to have potential for inhabitation.It is the hottest planet in the solar system. The winds are over 900 km/h.The atmospheric pressure is over 90 times Earth's.It rains sulphuric acid. |
what does it feel like to be elderly and over eighty years of age? | I'm almost 40 and have lived a pretty clean life and workout six days a week. I will honestly say that being 39 is nothing like being 25 was. I am much more tired now. I cannot do all nighters. I have one drink and I am fairly tipsy. I need eight hours of solid sleep to be coherent. I used to be able to get by with 4-5. I think all these people who say being 40 is the best thing ever are either lying or were miserable in their twenties. I'd take my 25 year-old body over this one any day, especially my boobs and butt from the nineties. Ladies, appreciate that twenty-five year-old body! :-) On the bright side, I really like the person I am emotionally and psychologically. I am very interesting. I am patient. I am kind. I am funny. I'm understanding. I am very assertive. I am a tough old broad who gets shit done and am self confident and fairly happy. |
Why aren't Bidets popular in the U.S.? | The thing I've never been able to figure out is why urinals aren't a thing in houses where the owners can afford the extra cost. They would sure as hell end the toilet seat wars.For all people that have not used one, Japanese toilets are DIVINE. Hot seat cover, soothing warm water on yer bum. For $50 and some light plumbing work, you can have it done and enjoy. The $500 models are luxuries, basic bidet starts at $50', "My parents got one in the remodeled upstairs bathroom that's been complete for almost a year I have shat in that toilet maybe a dozen times whilst visiting. I am terrified it will blast my balls with water in the most uncomfortable of ways. |
could a hacker theoretically breach a bank and erase all the debt the banks have on file? | I think you'd probably wipe out the bank before you were able to wipe out all traces of debt at that bank. As in the bank would go out of business due to the massive data loss it was experiencing and trying to recover from while the attack continued against all their backups, hard copies etc. Not sure what happens if a bank goes under though. Does maybe a bigger bank buy all the debt and then you're screwed anyway?", 'We keep the original loan agreements in the vault. It would be a pain in the ass, but it could all get sorted out. |
Why should I trust elevators? | Statistically, they're pretty much the safest form of travel. Safer than cars, planes, bicycles, etc. The cables never break because there are like 20 of them and they can hold far more than the capacity of the elevator. |
Why the movie 'Pi' (1998) is so critically acclaimed and loved by many. | > I've tried to watch it several times, but I just get confused about the non-linearity of the movie, the direction of the plot, and I get uncomfortable about the imagery Those are the reasons I love it. Pi is loved because it's so different yet it still works. The dialogues are intense, unsettling, and quick - you have to keep up. These are qualities appreciated in a movie like this. |
Can someone explain washing machine cycles? | A similar question was [asked twelve day ago] and got four replies. I'm amazed that this one got so many, though obviously the bike gears tangent is partially to blame. In any event, my previous comment can be summarized as: largely marketing, but helpful to prevent mistakes and assist the laundry-challenged. |
Why are movie theaters dying? | Because it cost so much. If you want to take the family out and buy snacks you're looking at spending $100. Seems people wait until they can stream it. |
Why don't cars have a backup battery just for the ignition? | Some do but what you describe is what the single battery is for. Plus, batteries are heavy, expensive, and dangerous, so having a second one you shouldn't need isn't usually worthwhile.Die Hard used to have a battery that would "jump" itself. If the battery died, a smaller battery could be switched to in order to give enough juice to the main battery. I don't know if they still have that.A second battery would be expensive, and a maintenance hassle. It's much simpler to have a system automatically cut power to the accessories before the battery is dead. Some cars do have this feature. |
why are there no conservative hosts on npr? | There are conservative commentators on NPR, but as for hosts, the hosts are meant to be neutral arbitors. However, keep in mind that NPR is all about meaningful and polite discussion, not Fox News-esque screaming and grandstanding, so you get conservative commentators like David Brooks rather than Bill O'Reilly. There are some commentators who do both , but it's simply a different format with different expectations. You quite simply will not see shows in the vein of Hannity, Limbaugh, or Chris Matthews on NPR, because that's not in keeping with NPR's news mission.I don't quite know how to ELI5 this question. My thought is that NPR selects its hosts based on the preferences of its listeners. While lots of conservatives listen to NPR, the demographics must be such that NPR does not feel a need to hire conservative hosts . Conservative talk radio might have some bearing on this, too. The "talk" parts of NPR are largely during the morning and evening commutes. There are many conservative talk radio shows on non-NPR stations during those times. NPR may have determined that adding conservative hosts wouldn't be enough to draw an audience away from, say, Hannity's evening program. If they can't pull additional listeners , what's the point? |
Why don't North Americans use water for cleaning after "number two"? Probably nsfw | I've got no clue why certain countries have adopted the bidet & others have not. What I can offer you is an excellent workaround - *flushable moist wipes*. They're like baby wipes for adults. They're relatively inexpensive & can be found in most supermarkets on the toilet paper aisle. |
why does pretty much the entire world use the same date number? how did this come to happen? | Its currently year 4711 of the Chinese Calendar. Its currently year 5773 of the Hebrew Calendar. Its currently year 1434 of the Islamic Calendar. all 3 of these calendars are used currently in the world, they are not just historical artifacts. the cultures that use them also use the Western Gregorian Calendar. these aren't the only examples either. its very common for a culture to simultaneously use its own calendar and the Gregorian Calendar, only in the west do we exclusively use the Gregorian Calendar. |
Why people don't get sick from using the same toothbrush everyday without disinfecting it? | We are not sterile people. You have many living communities of fungus and bacteria all over and inside of your body. We don't get sick because our immune systems prevent them from spreading out of control and forming an infection. Trust me, there are many bacteria and fungal spores growing in your mouth. As long as you are healthy this isn't usually a problem. lets say you took antibiotics for a week though. It kills off the bacteria in your mouth, which kept the fungus in check, and you wake up one morning with a thick carpet of thrush growing on your tongue. It's yucky, but in that case the combination of killing the only competition the fungus had, and usually taking steroids like methylprednisone results in the fungus being able to gain a foot hold in your mouth that's not normally present. So the simple answer to your question is the bacteria on your tooth brush usually pale in comparison to the active colonies already in your mouth. The different bacteria and fungus in and around your mouth are in constant battle with each other, and with your immune system, and it's a stalemate with none of them gaining a foot hold. So long as you don't get weak, or upset the balance with drugs. |
Why do humans have to "wipe" after defecating? Are we the only animals that do so? | No, we aren't the only animals doing that, but we wipe for different reasons, we wipe mostly for sanitation and social interaction now, but i think maybe we start to hide our smell from others predators like other especies do.I had a doc that told me once.. that our current system hasn't caught up to the fact that we are walking upright. That the pair of sphincter muscles down there actually has a space between that tends to retain a bit of poo which would be fine if we were still on all fours.. but since we are vertical, that tends to leak out even after wiping.. and that stuff is what causes itching and irritation and stains and "marker butt" . So he said.. after you wipe, get some more paper, get it wet, and try to get up in there and clean that out . This was some valuable advice from an old doctor that has helped make life less itchy & irritating and messy. FYI, then the doc leans in and says "If you don't have any water, spit on it".I don't have to wipe. I do because that's what I was taught. For years, even in spite of my terrible diet, I have had what I like to call a golden anus. Nearly every wipe I've ever had was clean. I've also always been quick. Unless I'm sick or ate something out of my normal routine I usually don't spend more than a couple minutes including the time to drop pants, sit, and wipe. I always thought everyone was like this until I got a roommate. That fucker runs through toilet paper like it's going out of style.We wipe because we are the only species on the planet that is aware of communicable disease and we are the only species on the planet that cares whether or not we smell like shit. I suspect that the latter is a direct result of having gained some understanding of the former.Isn't that why a lot of animals lick their buttholes, also most animals dont have ass-cheeks that cover the anus. |
How do "Song Identifying" Apps like SoundHound work? | It's not *quite* like you're five but here's a [really great explanation] of how it works. |
Why can't Android get updates like Windows does, bypassing the phone's manufacturer? | It's largely because Android is open source and can be changed by the manufacturer before they distribute an update. This includes the ability to change the update process, so only updates approved by the manufacturer and carrier are installed. Part of it also has to do with drivers and optimization, but it's largely the need for control over your phone. Windows is closed source, so the internal parts of it can't be changed easily by a manufacturer, and in some cases, it might be against Microsoft's OEM agreement. Microsoft decides when to update. The most a manufacturer usually does to Windows before shipping a computer is install tons of garbage that no one uses. |
Why does every reality show now appear to be scripted? Are there currently any that are truly unscripted? | Because it would require a lot more filming and money to piece together the interesting parts for many of these shows. It's easier and cheaper to fake it. |
How does an optometrist create prescription lenses for an infant? | [Autorefraction] is a machine that most adults and older children use. It is quick and can be done by a tech. For a younger child who won't sit still there is a method known as [Retinoscopy] that is more likely to be used. This method requires a optometrist or ophthalmologist with training on how to use a retinoscope. Edit: Added detail in addition to links. |
Is global warming real or not? | > What is the point behind not telling the truth straight up? If your company makes money extracting coal or oil and climate change is shown to be due to human activity then your company is going to lose money. You have a financial incentive to argue against global warming. It's probably worthwhile for you to offer financial incentives for others to argue against it too. A move from a fossil fuel economy to one based on renewable energy will cause massive and disruptive changes so conservatives are likely to argue against it just for that reason. TL;DR Self-interest and fear of change. If you check up on climate change deniers you can usually find where they have some self-interest driving their stance. Often this is well hidden since appearing unbiased and disinterested makes people more likely to value their opinions. |
why couldn't minimum wage be a flexible rate based on regional GDP and inflation? | It *could* work in theory . But like every other model, it has problems. For example, studies show that - on average - the *higher* your wage, the *fewer* hours you're asked to work. I know that sounds stupid, but think about it. From a company perspecitve, the more you work, the more I have to pay you. And at higher rates, you dent my profit margin more and more. The simple solution is to cut back your hours, which kind of defeats the point of increasing your wage. Similar problems appear in the inverse scenario, too. In other words: there will *always* be methods of gaming the system, and there will always be those who benefit, and those who suffer. There are heaps of other factors you'd have to weigh-up as well, such as: supply/demand; distribution of workforce; employment terms; productivity growth; business operating costs; bankruptcy trends; unemployment . Perhaps *most* importantly how do you adjust the salary of people who *aren't* on minimum wage? If the new rate becomes $21p/hour, then what about all the older, more experienced people who are *already* earning $21p/hour in their current job? Unless you hand out pay rises to everyone else, too, then you hurt the workforce overall. I may as well quit my job and work at McDonalds, because I'd earn the same amount of money for less effort. |
Why does it take me 30 minutes to transfer a 5.5GB game folder from C:\ to D:\ drive, but it only takes 5 minutes to download it from Steam? | It is probably due to the ATA/SATA/etc. buss controller in your computer. When you download from steam to your D drive, the data comes in on the network connection and flows through the buss controller out to the D drive. When you go from one drive to another, the buss controller has to handle two-way traffic to get it off the C drive and then port it over to the D drive. It has to get the data from C, put it in memory, do checksums to verify it got good data, send it out to D, do another verification, etc. If it doesn't have a very large memory buffer, that can make things flow very slowly. The two different drives also probably store data in different sized blocks, making things worse. |
How come I get free Wifi with a £2 cup of coffee, but not with a £100 hotel room? | There's a universal rule I've found. The cheaper the hotel, the better the wifi . It's when you stay at a Marriott or Novotel etc that you end up paying $20/day for wifi that doesn't work. I build hotspot systems as part of my job and my theory is that the expensive hotels jumped into WiFi in the early days, when it was very costly and the technology was crap - and now they're trying to recoup that investment. Most cheaper hotels just throw in a bunch of modern residential grade routers backended with a common captive portal system, which works great. To answer your question more directly, Starbucks needs one router to cover the store - a hotel needs many APs and a complex system tied into hotel bookings to prevent neighbours from sapping bandwidth. These systems used to be expensive, and business travelers often don't care if they need to pay so they don't change it. Ninja edit: oops, didn't realize this was eli5. Uhh, magic unicorns did it. |
Why are off brand products that are the same cheaper than name brand competitors? | For things like contact solution and antacid tablets, they're basically from the same factory as the name brand. The slightly lower price is because there is no cost added for marketing . Where this gets interesting is for components for more expensive items. For a Circuit board for a TV, a manafacturer may make the same design for many brands, but after production, the batches are tested for functionality and durability. Those with good ratings are sold to Samsung and Sony, while the lower quality ones are sold cheaper to Visio and Insignia. |
How the hell did/does natural selection allow for sloths to be so slow? | Sloths are slow because they have a slow metabolism. This allows them to eat infrequently and in very small amounts. Eating and mating are basically the only time a sloth has to move from his hanging perch at all. Due to this metabolism, the sloth moves very slowly, but he can also simply hang from a tree branch for hours and hours and not have to come down. Sloth predators can't climb down the small tree limbs the sloth hangs on, so they are out of reach. Predators need to eat much more, and are frequently near starvation. They can't afford to sit under a sloth and wait all day for it to come down. It has to go find some other prey. Sloths being slow comes with *a lot* of benefits. |
Why do we not see spiders on most of the spider webs we see? | If every human made their own home, and no one was there to demolish it after they died or left, there would be way more empty houses than occupied houses. The same idea can be applied to spider webs. You'll tend to see most unoccupied spiderwebs indoors because there is no demolition crew to knock down the old webs. |
Why is it that, as our gaming technology gets more advanced, the cost also increases? Shouldn't it be getting more streamlined and easier by this point? | The cost isn't really increasing. I bought my Xbox 360 for $350, which adjusted for inflation is around $415 today. Xbox one is what, $400? And not to mention other things are getting cheaper and the quality is getting better. Look at the graphics on the current gen gaming consoles and PCs, and the processing power available. The specs are much higher for the same cost, you get more bang for your buck. |
Why do search engines always display, next to the number of results, the amount of seconds it took to find the results? | I can't think of a reason why anyone other than the developers of that search engine would care about that information. |
Why do we go to work every day? | We go to work every day to pay for our cat that gets us to work, to pay for our houses that we spend no time in because we're at work. |
Why can't we swallow toothpaste? | I have mild fluorosis, probably because I never rinsed my mouth after brushing as a kid. It's those white specs you can see on some people's teeth |
Why are some people afraid of A.I. if there are already any kind of Machine Learning Algorithms? | We can barely tolerate people with different skin colors and belief systems, what makes you think we'd be okay with a completely different species developing sentience? |
Do people without Nielsen boxes affect viewership ratings? Does recording a show and watching it later increase viewership counts? | I worked for Nielsen installing the equipment to measure viewership in households, both in metered market and national. They send out written diary books but there is no way for them to measure what you watch if they don't come install the equipment and you have no effect on viewership, whether or not you record also does nothing.Ok so I was a part of the Nielsen rating system this past year and they have now moved on to small handheld devices that look like pagers called meters. They are completely portable and you have to keep your meter on your person 24/7. The meters pick up all media activity near you, so not just tv but videos you watch on your phone and the music you listen to in the car. I participated for 6 months then dropped out because it was a pain in the butt to keep the Meter on me at all times. So no box for my tv and no mail in surveys.With the tech we have now, Comcast, Verizon, etc should all be able to track exactly what you are watching, when you are watching, and how you re watching. I would be completely shocked to find out they don't know or track this information. They should be able to capture when I turn it on, change the channel, record, fast forward, delete, rewatch, etc. That data is invaluable to them and there is no way they don't capture it. |
Why does the United States sell things like Milk and Water in gallons, but Soda in liters? | They don't always. 12 ounce cans are sold. Liter and 2 liter bottles were a later invention and were made in metric sizes for simplicity and it really doesn't matter. |
For every nutrition/exercise tip there seems to be an exact opposite tip. Why is this and how can we tell what's true? | Could you give some examples? I've never seen anyone truly recommend eating an excess of calories and not move around very much, which would be the opposite of traditional recommendations. |
How we can clearly detect the use of UV light, despite our eyes not being able to perceive it | It's called fluorescence. When UV light strikes something fluorescent, some of that light is absorbed, but some is emitted at a lower frequency/energy, and this is what you see. |
what happens during a nuclear plant failure/explosion? | There are four different types of radiation. Alpha particles are basically Helium atoms, 2 protons and 2 neutrons. They are very heavy and produced during the natural decay of radioactive materials like Uranium, Thorium, and Plutonium. Because they are so large and heavy and possess a strong positive electromagnetic charge, they cannot penetrate very deeply. Alpha particles can be stopped by a sheet of paper. However, if you were to swallow or inhale an alpha-particle emitting substance, it would be very bad because the alpha particle does a lot of damage to internal organs. Beta particles are electrons, and are emitted by the material left over after a nuclear reaction. As electrons, they have far less mass than alpha particles, but because of their charge they can be stopped by as little as a sheet of aluminum foil. Beta-particle emitters, like iodine-131, are more likely to spread through the air or water than alpha emitters because they are much lighter. The other two types of radiation are gamma and neutron. Neutron radiation is very hazardous but generally not a significant contributor to personal harm in radioactive releases. Gamma radiation is very high energy light, similar to x-rays. Both of these are highly penetrative and there is not much in the way of practical defense for them. The suits you see people wear in footage of nuclear accidents is generally to prevent radioactive material, especially alpha and beta emitters, from getting on the person. When they're done working, the person removes the suit and has no risk of being contaminated . Keep in mind that everyone is exposed to some level of radiation constantly, from the sun, from space, and from naturally-radioactive elements all around you. Government agencies regulate the maximum amount of radiation a person is allowed to be exposed to in order to reduce the risk of disease caused by radiation exposure. Those people wear special devices that measure the amount of radiation their body is receiving to ensure that no person exceeds that limit. |
Outside the US, why is driving stick still so common in many places (especially in Europe)? | This is a pretty common question, but the best answer is still this one from 2014: _URL_0_ I'm dismayed by all the non-answers in this thread. |
How can a non-person - such as a city, state, or corporation - have a credit card? | To have a credit card, you just need to be a legal entity capable of entering into contracts. Governments and companies are capable of doing that, so they can be issued credit cards . It makes low-value purchases much more streamlined. For instance, if I need to order a replacement computer component, the easiest way is to get a purchase card from my boss and put that in the credit card field on a website. |
Why do large institutions like universities never run the latest verision of software on their computers dispite it being so easy with automatic updates. | Why risk fixing what isn't broken. Think of it from a business prospective. You don't want to lose money on a mistake because someone wanted windows 7 over xp. |
How do anti-fatigue mats work? (commonly found in service industry jobs) | I work in a pharmacy and I have one of these at my computer. If I stand at the counter where there isn't a floor mat for an extended period of time it feels like I just ran a 5k while carrying a toddler. Back, legs, ankles, hips and arches of my feet feel horrible. |
Why can steroids make a woman's clitoris larger but not make a man's penis larger? | Testosterone causes the clitoris to change to resemble a penis more closely. Since a penis already is a penis, it isn't affected the same way. |
How is it that we put salt in ice cream machines to make the ice colder, but we also put salt on our sidewalks and streets to melt the ice? | These are both the same reason! It's a really good question. Salt makes the freezing point of water lower. That means when you throw it on ice, it tends to melt the ice. Even in the Ice Cream machine. What happens is the solid = > liquid process requires a small amount of energy even if the temperature stays the same. In the sidewalk case, the large heat capacity of the sidewalk, driveway, Earth under the ice, gives up this heat without changing temperature. In the Ice Cream machine case, the ice is insulated from a large source of heat . This means there is no good source of heat and the heat of fusion much come from the ice and the ice cream inside the can. The ice melts faster, even though it is driving the temperature down from the melting poinf of plain ice to the melting point of ice in salt water.Salt lowers the freezing point of water. In the case of the streets, it means that the water will remain liquid at lower temperatures. In the case of the ice cream, it makes the ice slurry colder without freezing solid.Salt lowers the melting point of water. As a result of this, some of it melts. Something people don't often consider about the act of melting ice is that it takes energy. To change ice at 0C into water at 0C, you need to add about 333Kj/Kg of water, which is quite a bit. This energy has to come from somewhere, and since everywhere is cold, somewhere has to get colder. This means both the water that's formed and the remaining ice cool off to make up for the difference in energy, and because converting a kilo of ice to water takes about the same amount of energy as heating that water from 0C to 80C, the temperature drop is quite steep for a given amount of water formed. This is also why the salted ice cube challenge is stupid. You're pressing ~-20C water up against your skin, frostbite is fast at that temperature with that much thermal conductivity. |
Expansion of universe: is there an origin point? | Everything is expanding from everything I think, not a single point they're all moving away from. As far as a location for the big bang, it was sort of everywhere at once. Space itself expanded and still is. That's my understanding at least |
How is space cold when there is no transfer of energy between matter? | The thing is, space IS cold. Around three degrees kelvin, close to absolute zero. This has led a lot of sci-fi and speculative fiction to speak of space as cold, so often and pervasively that people often disbelieve you if you contradict this. However, despite this, you won't freeze. Despite the low temperature of space itself, space usually isn't empty. Particularly in our neighborhood, sunlight carries a lot of energy that will heat the things it meets. More importantly the mechanics of heat transfer, as you noticed, don't work well in space - there's no convection or conduction. If you were in a space suit and out of direct sunlight, you would still not be able to radiate enough heat away - eventually, you'd cook in your own body heat unless your suit had heat sinks and radiators to deal with the problem. TV Tropes has a very good analysis of this subject._URL_0_ |
If Greek and Latin served as the foundation for many languages, how were Greek and Latin words derived? | Where does Hungarian fall in that tree? I only ask because I heard something crazy that the Hungarian language doesn't have traceable roots or something ? |
Why do scammers often prefer Western Union? Additionally, has Western Union ever attempted to stop scammers from using their service? | Because once the money is transfered it's now safe and cannot be charge backed easily. Paypal on the other hand is extremely easy to issue a chargeback and is used in reversed scamming where they actually send you money, when they have gotten their product they issue a chargeback for a full refund. Most of the time you cannot do a thing. |
How does becoming vegetarian for the sake of animal rights truly help the animals? | It doesn't necessarily help the animals. But it also doesn't *hurt* the animals, which means that individual can eat with a clear conscience. |
Why don't celebrities constantly sue gossip magazines for libel? | Also, in the US there are laws regarding libel that take into consideration if a person is considered a 'public figure' or not. Mostly that is based on if they hold public office, or hold a job in which they put *themselves* in front of media already. Additionally, filming a police officer while they work is perfectly legal in the same way, which is why so many assholes like to ask if they're being detained on film. They're allowed to ask for a name and badge number, and the officer must give it. After which they seem to basically become a TMZ-level douchenozzle cum-sock. Additionally, in the US in some states, if you are in a public place, it's sort of a legal grey area. People can verbally accost you with non-threatening questions and film you no matter who you are. It's dumb, but the public considers your roommate's privacy more valid than that of Tom Cruise, because Tom Cruise can quit and move to Montana and start a running club if he wants. He chose the attention, and now he must deal with it. |
Why a well known and loved gaming company like THQ has become bankrupt | I think piracy gets a lot of the blame in recent years when in reality it's the economy. The target market of young people between say 18-30 for video games took a huge hit financially from the recession . Here's a quick chart from google showing the age to unemployment: _URL_1_ Video games happens to be one of those products that is considered a huge luxury item by pretty much everyone. If you don't have a spendable income, entertainment items are typically the first to go ! So the target audience stops buying video games and both retailers and developers suffer. There are exceptions, typically by retailers like Steam who offer seasonal sales for great prices and indie video game developers who sale high quality games for half the price of typical big-name brands. This produces the illusion that the game industry doesn't take as large of a hit from the recession . Where does piracy come into play? Well, this target audience 18-30 also happens to be very computer savy and familiar with concepts of torrents and ThePirateBay. They don't have the money to fund their entertainment, but for various reasons they decide to go out and pirate these games. The reasons can vary a lot . So the question becomes: Are these lost sales? This is where the argument for piracy can get pretty heated, because the real question becomes *can you prove that if piracy didn't exist, this person would have purchased the game*? If you can't, then piracy had no impact because regardless the developer wouldn't have made any money off this person. Again, that's a topic that gets pretty heated. I can give my opinion from my own experience and experience of my peers that the answer is typically no with rare exceptions, like games that we pirated going on sale on steam for 75% off. |
Why does San Andreas feel bigger than GTA4 and GTA5, when it's actually smaller. | I think it has more to do with current expectations. Back when SA was released, it was a HUGE game with lots to do. Nowadays, GTAV is a lot bigger than SA but in comparisons to other games out these days, it's really small.I remember first playing Ocarina of Time thinking that was the biggest game ever, but now when I cross Hyrule Field, its size is embarrassing compared to games these days.That's not to say that fog, render distances, perspective and the such don't all contribute to the effect of a larger game but also what the game is compared and how it's remembered, makes a big difference as well", 'You also tended to move more slowly in San Andreas, there were TONS of driving long long distances on 5 part missions..Primary reason is depth of content. There's a lot to do in SA per area, whereas GTAV is as others have mentioned, simply empty terrain. Hidden missions, items , challenges, properties, rare cars, dates, vehicle schools, gyms and so on reward exploration in San Andreas. Additionally, nearly everything noteworthy is marked on your map in GTAV, even rampages. As a result you don't actually explore the world, you just mindlessly go to the next map icon.It's one of the primary reasons I didn't like GTAV. The world is far bigger, but there's no reason to explore it. Another thing to note: as you lose your weapons in SA when you die/get nicked, this encourages exploration to get some guns back, at least before you're loaded and can just head straight to ammunation. |
Why don't people at concerts just sit and listen during songs, and cheer at the end? | ITT: people tell a guy who goes to live shows to hear music he doesn't understand what live shows are for.Watch a classical music concert; there will be no arm waving. |
What is holding us back from having batteries that charge significantly faster, hold significantly more charge, or even have an unlimited lifespan? | Physics, chemistry, politics, and economics all play a part in the best answer to your question. Batteries depend on chemistry, and power transfer is limited by laws of physics, so there's the science part of an answer. The economic perspective is that better batteries last longer, so consumers won't buy as many or as often. This goes for replaceable batteries as well as more integrated devices with non-removable batteries or batteries that can't easily be replaced. That also ties into politics, since many politicians receive a lot of money from the fossil fuel industry, and cleaner power like from batteries would screw up that gig. |
Why is everyone rushing out to throw Bill Cosby under the bus, but so many people rushed out to defend Michael Jackson? | One factor to consider is [Cosby's deposition] from the 2005 civil case. His statements were just recently unsealed. The DA in the criminal case used the judge's own words from the civil deposition while explaining the charges, which are almost 12 years old. He said that since Cosby has used his celebrity to speak out on social issues and be seen as a 'moral guide' to youth, it was that much more prudent that they prosecute. As to why people aren't rushing to his defense, what Cosby has said politically is not in lockstep with the liberal narrative. When blacks are accused of crimes - Michael Jackson in your example - the NAACP, Rainbow Coalition, etc. are the advocates that run to their aid. When Cosby ostracized and insulted them with his comments on black youth he lost much of what support he may have had. |
If heat is simply molecules moving faster, why does my breath moving air faster cool down soup? | It's the comparison of two concepts: Forced versus Natural Convection. Naturally, the air above the soup will rise and in turn the temperature of the soup will cool. When you blow on the top, you are forcing that convection, allowing more air molecules to flow away from the soup and cool it down. _URL_0URL_1_ |
Why are almost all products showcased on tv, cheaply made and usually not worth the money? | Adding to what others said. The channels don't care what type of commercial is run. They get paid buy those making the commercials anyway. And yeah there are plenty of good products being shown in commercials but those long lasting commercial shows where they just show one product after another and you can call them to immediately secure it with some bonus stuff. Well those actually don't want to sell expensive stuff. They want to make easy money with those products. 50-200 bucks is something people might spend on a whim . Would those things be real hi-end products you'd pay 1000 dollars instead and they'd have way less people buying them. |
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