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Why do we put people in prison who don't pay their taxes?
I'm sure someone will give more detail on tax codes, but I will say, you cannot go to prison if you do not have the money to pay taxes. You can go to jail if you choose not to pay them, which is tax evasion.
How do pro boxers and fighters avoid killing each other with 'one hit' punches that sometimes happens when people fight on the street?
The ring is covered in bungee cords and the floor is somewhat trampoline like. The two men are typically young and healthy. They don't get distracted. People who get killed by a single punch hit their head or neck on something hard. The fall kills them.
How do TV channels work in different countries?
To actually answer your questions, TV channels in the US depend on the service provider and the area. For example, I live in Georgia and Comedy Central is channel 40 for me, but at my parents' house in Florida its channel 61. As far as non-cable channels go, it depends on the area, but they're usually lower-numbered channels. TV Guides usually don't have channel numbers, just the name of the station, since most areas are serviced by multiple providers.
What would happen if we just copy-pasted the federal budget and tax code from the 90s when things were going a lot better?
What would happen if someone took their household budget from 15 years ago and tried to apply it today? The rent for the old apartment wouldn't cover the mortgage, the second car wouldn't be insured, they wouldn't be paying your internet or cell phone bill, and your kids would go hungry.
Since a fetus shares the same life supply as its mother, how can the child end up with a completely different blood type?
The fetus and the mother don't share the same blood supply, that's what the placenta is for.
If debt cant be inherited, can you take out a loan of 1million, give that to a friend as a gift and then die?
If you borrow the money to buy a fancy sports car, then the bank will have a lien against it. The ownership could not be transferred until the bank got all of their money. This is the case whether it's a $300,000 sports car or a used Hyundai.Hello friend. There are generally rules against fraudulent actions which can trip you up on this plan. Asking for a loan of a million is not the same as getting the loan. Generally lenders will not allow themselves to lose a million that way. But they will probably be happy to have a life insurance plan paid for assigned to them as the beneficiary. They might make that a condition of the loan.
What happens to the chewing gum people spit out everywhere?
Gum actually doesn't degrade that easily, if at all. There's probably a lot more gum on the roads than your eye can even notice, simply because the gum is covered in so much dust and other types of garbage that it just blends in with the asphalt over time. Least that's my simple take on it.
How do pharmacies always seem to have the exact medication I need on hand, in the building?
Normal people need normal things. If you ordered every known prescription by frequency of usage, and performed statistical analysis on it. You'd have a list of medication that have a high turnover and sell the most frequently. Since most people only need those, keep those in inventory. Maybe keep the medication that are less common in a local warehouse for same day delivery and the least common as special order or only available at hospital pharmacy.
Do shaken soda bottles reabsorb the bubbles...and how long does it take?
Related question: If you open a cola bottle for just five seconds and then put the cap back on, the cola will still be completely flat and undrinkable a couple of days later . Why is this? Has the cap really never been off before? If not, how did they fill the bottle in the factory?
Was suicide, depression or anxiety anywhere near as common before the construct of society, or is it a repercussion of society?
I'm totally just pulling this out of my ass, but it could be due to the lack of natural selection we experience as a species, now? As Chimpanzees, if you don't eat or socialize, you likely won't get a mate. Whereas, now there are plenty of people with these genetic disorders that do procreate, leaving the trait to be more apparent. Like I said, totally pulling this out of my ass, but it seems logical to me?", 'Depression has a heavy influence of genetic factors, so likely it has been around long before modern society. Same with schizophrenia. Anxiety probably is significantly higher today because it is a function of our fight or flight system, which used to be beneficial when we were dealing with primarily physical threats. However, nowadays most of what activates our fight or flight system nowadays is psychological, yet it still has the same effect on us.
Why can we transfer data wirelessly, but not energy/electricity?
We can transfer electrical power over the air, but don't expect it to replace all wires. Why? In a word: Efficiency. Wireless power transmission over long distances is horrible. You might get 1% efficiency. Over short distances it's better. They've gotten efficiencies of something like 90% across three feet. But that will drop off *fast* with distance. I wouldn't be surprised if they were at less than 20% at ten feet. And by 30 feet, forget it. Back to 1%. This is a killer, because if you only need to move electricity 3 feet why not use a cord? A 3 foot cord is not generally a problem. A 3 foot cord is also super-cheap, and 99%+ efficient. For things like cell-phone charging mats, it works fine. For things like beaming electricity to airplanes to run their engines, forget about it. It's good for short distances only.At first i was like "are you stupid"but then i was like "mind = blown" eli5 succeeds once again
Why do diuretics cause you to urinate so quickly, such as beer or coffee?
ouron" meaning "urine". "Forced urine". We wouldn't call these things diuretic if they *didn't* do this, so it's not some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy for a compound. There are different kinds of diuretics so you 'd probably want to ask about a specific one if you have any questions. _URL_0_A diuretic is something that makes you pee. Generally speaking, it does this by acting on the kidneys which draw fluid from the blood which is then lost as pee. Neither alcohol or caffeine are very good diuretics. The amount they make you pee is offset by the amount you drink.
Why do chewable vitamins get those little dark patches, and does that effect efficiency or mean they've gone bad?
mannitol", on the label. These materials absorb water so any water that is present causes these ingredients to clump together which means they can clump around the vitamins/artificial colors leading to the dark patches being more visible. Generally chewable vitamins are good up until the expiration date, even if there are patches. However, if you're still concerned about them I 'd switch to gummies, where dark patches aren't a problem as everything is dissolved in corn syrup/liquid sorbitol.
Why do video game companies price downloadable games at the same price of a physical game?
They need to make sure retail stores are happy. If they're not happy, they won't sell their consoles nor their retail games. They need to find the balance between physical and digital and it is not easy.Prices are set by supply and demand. You bought the download, you proved them rightA lot more resources go into developing and marketing a game than in shrink-wrapping a dvd. The latter can be done for under $2, while actually making the game that's in the box has cost many millions. Also, from what I 've heard, digital distribution platforms like Steam take a large cut of the sale price, so the "cost" of a download isn't negligible either. Many game studios are therefore happy to just "call it even," and save us the trouble of having to decide if the physical media is worth the extra dough.
If it costs more in legal fees to fight a ticket than to actually pay it, why don't cops pull everyone over?
Usually people don't get lawyers for fighting traffic tickets. It makes sense to fight because in my experience the cops don't always show up.
Wouldn't space ships traveling at the speed of light be destroyed by space debris?
Dust or asteroids would not be a big problem - there's too much space between individual particles when you get away from the dusty neighborhood of stars. But the individual atoms of gas would. Each one of them would become a cosmic ray particle, creating constant high-energy impacts, with energies approaching infinity as your craft approached light-speed.
Does the type of calorie you consume matter?
Calorie is just a measurement of energy. It's not a physical thing. Just like a mile just a measurement of distance. So when a food has X number of calories that means that the stuff in the food contains a certain amount of energy. The big difference is in how you body breaks the food down to release that energy. Some forms are much healthier than others.
Why do all-natural, minimally processed/unprocessed foods with few ingredients generally more expensive than those that are loaded with more artificial ingredients?
There's more processed food manufactured than there is all-natural. Generally in manufacturing, the higher the volume the lower the unit cost. Edit: an answer besides shelf life", 'Many of the ingredients are also subsidized by the government, which make them incredibly cheap to produce. Things like corn or soy.Yes, I think the fact that this is a niche market plays into the higher pricing, but I also think that cost of goods plays a certain factor. When a wheat grain is ground to its three separate components, you get the bran, the germ and the endosperm. If you grind off the three parts and use each one to make a new separate material then producers are increasing their revenew, versus using a whole grain to make a single loaf of bread. Another aspect would be that with fewer chemicals, whole unprocessed foods generally have a shorter shelf life. If we have more spoilage it only makes sense to try to increase prices to decrease lost profits from food gone bad. My last theory is that chemicals are super cheap to produce. If factory prepared food is filled with cheap chemicals that are easy to just create in a lab, than it's much easier to use that as a filler than use something that physically needs to be harvested.
What is cultural appropriation and why is it a bad thing?
This is an opinion based issue, not an objective one. Cultural appropriation is the idea that it's rude to take another culture's culture and use it. An example would be a Caucasian with minuscule native american lineage wearing a Native American headdress. Imo it's an unnecessary thing to complain about, with how connected our world is it's easier to just let people like the things that they want to like, instead of forcing them to be a part of a certain culture. Social stigma tends to do enough to prevent appropriation, and it's normally when a person is claiming that they are part of that culture without having any reason to be, especially when the culture they claim to be a part of holds a strong initiation system. Otherwise it's just people being interested and wanting to experience a culture, and nobody from any side of the aisle should be stopping someone from experiencing something new and different when it isn't hurting anybody. I havent seen cultural appropriation claims in a while because people complained about it, for many of the reasons I mentioned above and more, and called out the hypocrisy in the rising claims. This caused it to be stigmatized and no longer a popular problem, so I doubt you'll see very many others who complain about cultural appropriation.
why can some games graphics be changed in game while some require restarts?
Some graphics changes essentially require a restart, such as changing between directx/opengl, or sometimes anti aliasing changes. Most of the time however, it's just laziness or difficulty implementing without massive code changes.
Why do fans get to keep a baseball when it goes into the stands during a game, but not a basketball?
On top of the cost aspect that has been mentioned, it is also in how the games are structured. Basketball is played indoors, so no ball will go too far away to be worth it. Furthermore, it is rarely an exciting, celebratory moment for a basketball to end up in a fan's hands. Baseball, on the other hand, has players intentionally knock the ball as far away as they can. Having a fan throw the ball back, or having someone chase after a ball outside the stadium , will generally reduce the excitement of the moment of a home run, without much benefit. Keeping the ball augments that excitement instead!", 'As a bit of history, in the "dead ball era" fans were encouraged to give the balls back even for homeruns. Fans didn't have to return the balls, but it just wasn't cool to keep them. The balls were not as tightly wrapped and were a bit more durable. Also, the object of the game was more to get a runner on base and force him over rather than smack the crap out of the ball to bring baserunners around. Babe Ruth kind of changed that. Once he started beating the ball out of the park and managers found that newer balls went further, not a lot of batters wanted the ball to stay in play for long. Once pitchers found that they could get more movement on a new ball, they fell in line also, and balls began to be taken out of play after about 6-10 pitches on average.
how are english speaking kids taught to read?
Language education changes rapidly these days, depending on the research. I'm Australian, born in the 90s, so I can only speak for people like me. They taught us that A E I O U are vowels, saying it was 'the core of a word'. They taught us some of the common consonant-bridges like 'th' and the rest was mostly trial and error. As you may know, there are many exception rules in English with the most common example being Y. Sometimes Y is a vowel and sometimes it's a consonant We were taught that vowels are needed for a word. We were taught what sound each consonant made. We were taught what sound a vowel made, then we were taught all of the little exceptions and nuances. #TL;DR English is fucked
How people can get arrested for protesting when it's a constitutional right
All rights are absolute but rights only protect people from government not people from people. You have the right to freedom of expression, the government can't suppress that , but on private property that right only exists as long as the property owner is willing to have you. The police are moving people on for two primary reasons; Some are on private land and others are on state land rather then common land. State land is land owned by the state as private property rather then land maintained by the state for the common. Edit: If you would like to learn more about natural rights, where our right to freedom of expression originates from, I would suggest [this] or [this] .
Why do prices always go up but never go down? Will there be a point where a Hotdog will cost 500 bucks instead of 5?
Complicated question to answer in a short area. Mostly, it's inflation, but it could also be other uses for the ingredients commanding a better price . Deflation is possible, but most economists think about that as a worse case horror scenario. The classic example is the Japanese economy in the 90's, look it up if you're interested. Examples of prices of things that have gone down though: CD players, computing power. Prices of things that went down relative to purchasing power: video games
Why do people hate Steve Jobs so much?
No one here mentioned his closed-source policies which in many's opinions are a huge setback for human knowledge advancements.
Why did Zuckerberg go public with Facebook's stock and why are the shares tanking?
It's like selling a really good candy bar. People love the candy bar! It's so good! Everyone wants some of that candy bar! So, you start selling it for $5. Way too much money for a candy bar. People become uninterested and the worth of that candy bar has decreased. Similar situation with facebook.
How Einstein's theory of general relativity relates to the practical effects of gravity here on Earth.
The differences in the vicinity of Earth are really small. Under these circumstances you couldn't possibly notice. We synchronize clocks with Earth's rotation, anyway, so that's a stable base to return to no matter what you've done. GPS is an application where it turns out to be important. Without correction, the clocks on the satellites would run 38 microseconds per day too fast relative to ones on the ground. It's not a lot, but clocks need to be within a few nanoseconds to allow a receiver to locate itself as precisely as it does. Within a minute you'd be off by multiple meters. Within a day you'd be off by 10 km .
Why is it that NASA can take high resolution pictures of distant galaxies, stars and nebulae but can't take high resolution pictures of pluto without sending a spacecraft?
For much the same reason that you could go out at night with a camera and take a picture of a billion candles burning on a hilltop ten miles away , but you couldn't get a useful image of a grain of sand ten feet away in the light of a single candle that you're holding . The things that we can see at great distances are extremely large, and emit their own light.
If we can use the rectum for effectively absorbing suppositories, how come we don't get blood poisoning from all the bacteria and waste minerals in our faeces?
I know [I've mentioned this on ELI5 before], but the [epithelial cells lining of your colon] evolved to absorb water from your poop, in order to prevent dehydration. Things that are water soluble can be absorbed through that same lining. That includes suppositories [and alcohol]. Bacteria and waste are much bigger so they can't be absorbed this way. Just to give a simple example, imagine if you have a bunch of grapes in water. You can pour the grape/water mixture into a strainer, and the water flows through through while the grapes don't. Voila, they are seperated. Now, imagine trying to separate a mixture of apples and grapes using a strainer. It won't work because they're both too big to fit through the strainer holes.
How do flat earthers back up their belief?
Some people believe that how they think the world works is how it actually works. Floors are actually flat, and city roads seem flat, and the horizon seems flat so the world must be flat. Sometimes it's easier to keep believing the wrong thing than be willing to change your belief.
Why does soap kill bacteria?
Wasn't there a recent study that showed it's how rigorously you scrubbed that killed the bacteria, and not necessarily the soap?
Why do people in the west wipe instead of washing after doing their business?
It's entirely cultural preference. I tried a bidet once and it freaked me out. I didn't like feeling like I've just wet myself after I just went to the toilet .
Why is the guitar typically played with the dominant hand doing the easy bit (strumming/plucking the strings), while the less dexterous hand has to cope with all the more fiddly fretwork?
A lot of it is carryover from the basic techniques of playing stringed instruments like the violin and cello, which comes back to what /u/ChurchillianGrooves said. The fingering is actually rather mechanical and rote, even given stuff like vibrato, slides, and such. But all of your volume, tone, inflection, comes from how you apply the bow to the stings. That's where all of the soul comes from. That's where you need your precision and deftness. Source: Cellist for 24 years
Why do some people go to bed dry and as soon as they fall asleep they start sweating alot?
It's the built-in auto clean feature. Unfortunately, it doesn't work very well. The next model of human is supposed to have a better version of it, though.
Why is a life saving cancer drug sold for $7000 in USA, when it is available for $40 in India?
So technically wouldn't it be cheaper if we had cancer to fly to India and take the drug there?
How does anesthesia make us unconscious but doesn't harm or shut off unconscious functions?
The brain stem controls involuntary functions such as heartbeat and breathing. Those aren't even connected to consciousness, and the brain stem is unaffected by anesthesia. Too much of it would, of course, shut down the entire brain, so that would be bad.
People say that Apollo 11 could have been done with a normal calculator, so why is space flight nowadays still so hard?
math tells you how fast and what direction you should go. it's the engineer's job to make sure you actually go that direction and that fast in a controlled manner by strapping a couple of people on the the equivalent of a 6.5million pound slow burn bomb.
How, if at all, is the love/attachment humans feel different from the love a dog feels for its master?
We can't really answer this, since we lack the means to truly probe a dog's emotional feelings, and they lack the means to articulate them.
why is it legal for my school to monitor our text messages when using their WiFi, doesn't it violate a law?
Text messages are sent via cellular networks and it would indeed be illegal to for the school to monitor those messages. The school can monitor your WiFi traffic, but most of the time they're not going to look too closely because it can potentially incur significant liability. Institutions normally just block traffic entirely rather than reading it.
why do some antennas such as the kind for TV have such a rail-like design?
Because that's a cheap way to make an antenna that can hear better, but only in one direction. The way an antenna is shaped changes how it hears radio waves, and this way you only need a few wires instead of a big dish.The antennas that have that propagation pattern are directional. You have a reflector element, driven element and directors. These elements mak up the Yagi antenna.For best reception, point your antenna toward the TV transmitter.Literal ELI5: It's like a special net shape to catch the different waves that are out there, like butterflies. You need the right net to catch the best butterfly.
What is a conductor in an orchestra actually doing? How much control does (s)he have?
I used to think it didn't matter. But once you listen to classical music enough you can definitely tell a difference. Even though tempo and dynamics are written into the score, the conductor still has some leeway to influence the speed and volume of each section as they see fit. And while it probably doesn't make a huge difference in terms of the actual beats per minute and the actual decibels, it's surprising how different a piece can feel from one conductor to the next. tl;dr If you are familiar with any classical pieces, go listen to versions conducted by different conductors. Sometimes they have a pretty distinct feel.
How do credit card companies provide refunds for scams?
OP, what was the site and/or purchase you made? I'm legitimately curious as to what business could do that.
Water found in Martian soil. Does this mean desert plants like cacti could grow on Mars?
It's really hard to know which comments I can trust, I wish people would cite their statements.
What does it mean when Americans talk about their country as the land of freedom? In what way does it differ from for example European countries (and many other)?
I'm still trying to answer that question as an American, I'm white and native and this land hasn't ever been free.
How do planes flying on the same route avoid running into one another?
They may not even follow the same _route_. Sure, the origin and destinations may overlap, but the [jet streams] the flights utilize may bring them very far from each other. And if they do happen to be close to each other, the [air traffic controller]'s job is to ensure that the planes do not get too close. Also, check out [airborne collision avoidance systems], which alerts the pilot of other planes in its vicinity.
What is going on with China's stock market? What's causing it and what does it mean for the global economy?
I watched the Vice episode on the Chinese housing market. The Chinese have been literally building cities with no one to live in them in order to keep the manufacturing and construction sectors running. Big sky rise apartment buildings were left empty because the people of China either couldn't afford to live in them or they were built too far away from economical centers where people could find work.
Why do some people have crazy dreams all the time and others only have realistic dreams?
I've found medication and cheese play a BIG part.If I have a high dose of certain medicines I get completely mental and very vivid dreams. Sometimes to the point I actually want to stop sleeping.Cheese makes these worse!
If oil is near $40 a barrel why is gas still almost $3.00 a gallon in the US?
Gas and oil aren't necessarily linked as tightly as it might seem. For instance, we have a glut of oil, but if companies slow down refining, then suddenly there is less gas even though there is more oil.Because you're a powerless twat and the industry/government knows you won't do a thing about it. So they come up with the same set of excuses every time: Refinery shut down/repair, some kind of labor dispute, or "they're changing the blends!". But it's actually because fuck you.The drop in the price of oil is having an affect on the price of gas. Gas is cheaper this summer than at the same time last summer when oil was $100 a barrel. You can check out [_URL_2_] for a chart that plots the price of crude oil compared to gasoline. Gas prices don't always tack directly along with the price of oil. No on complains when the price of oil skyrockets yet the price of gas stays the same. There are basic market forces that explain why gasoline prices aren't falling with the price of oil. People are taking advantage of the cheaper gas this summer. AAA reports that this summer has seen a noticeable uptick in the number of vacation miles being driven than in past few years. The increase in demand has caused prices to bounce back up. Also, summer blends of gasoline are traditionally more expensive since they require more refining and reformulation to reduce what they call 'volatility'; or in other words the propensity for gasoline as a liquid to evaporate into a vapor. When September hits the refiners switch back over to the cheaper winter blends and people go back to work and school. So we should see a drop in fuel prices here here in the near future.
Why do episodes in the same series have different directors?
Hi there, worked on season 1 one of an hour long FX drama, a half hour sitcom, and others. Like others have said, it's a ton of work. To go into more detail: Each episode , will start with basic production meetings where they go over broad strokes things that need to happen in order to film the episode. The exec producer and showrunner, unit production manager, line producer, run them, attended by director, art dept, locations, casting, wardrobe, transportation, accounting, office heads, and sometimes people from the studio. Tasks will be assigned, everyone will get on the same page . Locations will find the places while art makes signs, props, decorates sets while writers write while casting casts and transpo gets them everywhere. More meetings. A lot more, but usually smaller subgroups will get together. As the week progresses, there will be a location scout with the director and the locations dept for final approval of the shooting locations they've chosen will happen. Then there will be a tech scout with the director, director of photography, gaffer, key grip, etc. where they discuss how to light, and execute all the shots they need to get at said locations. Then the episode gets shot. All of this happens in a week to ten days, while the previous episode is being shot. It's an insanely tight schedule. Episode 4 will be filming while everything mentioned above is going on for episode 5, etc. A 10-12 episode season can shoot for 3-4 months with roughly a month/month and a half of prep before that, and then months of post production.
Short selling (stocks) -- explained
I'm not sure if I understand. In this scenario: * Gary is out a PS3 and $100 * Rob has a PS3 and $20 * You earn $80 So you screwed Gary? That seems bad.
ELI 5 - What makes a $50,000 watch worth $50,000?
You have a luxury item that few people have, or can have. You're buying pedigree. There are some insanely exquisite mechanical watches that have features that make it more stable, longer running, and more accurate, for a mechanical watch, than was ever available when a mechanical watch was your only option. Mind you, you're buying an exquisite mechanical watch, probably an extremely accurate mechanical watch, but that's only compared to other mechanical watches. They can't compete a basic $5 digital quartz watch as far as accuracy goes, hell, today everyone has a cellphone and they're some of the most accurate time pieces most of us will ever own, but that's not why you buy an expensive watch. EDIT: Modern high end mechanical watches are more of a wearable piece of art and a symbol of wealth, status, and taste than they are a useful timepiece.
Why do we want to go to Mars so badly?
Its the human spirit of exploration. We are curious by nature. Plus we like to take ownership of things that don't necessarily belong to us.
How does a metal detector not detect itself?
A metal detector doesn't detect itself in the same way a scale doesn't weigh itself. It *does*, really, but it's calibrated in a way that makes that measurement the zero point.The detector coil is part of a tuned circuit that can induce an electrical current into any metal around the coil assembly. The amount of current induced is determined by the conductivity of the metal and it affects the tuning of the coil detector circuit. That change of frequency is converted into an audible signal such that the tone heard is changed by different metals, so an experienced detectorist can tell the difference between rusty iron and gold, for exampleThe metal detector creates a field and measures things that disrupt that field. Only metal that is moving relative to the detector and this field disrupts the field, which causes them to be detected. This is why the detectors are swung back and forth while detecting. Parts of the detector itself are moving with the field that it creates and have no motion from the detector’s perspective. Therefore they do not disrupt the field and are not detectedJaden? What have I told you about posting in ELI5?
How does Iran sending two ships to our borders project it's power?
Just moving around their warships isn't a projection of power, the fact that they moved their warship into missile range of US assets is. It's supposed to make us more cautious since they can possible strike at us directly in short time. Mostly it's pure posturing.
Why USA is the most popular country for immigrants?
Because it is a nation of immigrants and has a much more welcoming culture for immigrant families. Even when there are instances of racism and discrimination, if someone is born in America, they are automatically a citizen, and plenty of second and third generation immigrants rise up to significant positions of power. Plus, it has a very capitalist culture, so someone looking to leave and 'make it big' sees America as a place of opportunity, and because of the above mentioned traits, a person in a foreign country likely has heard many stories or knows of some relatives who did go to America and 'made it.'
The reason a significant amount of people think vaccines cause autism.
I work with kids with autism. Over the years, out of dozens of families, I've heard 3 families say that their child had a high fever and muscle pain after the MMR a d were never the same again. They later developed symptoms of autism. I've also heard other parents who say that their child tends to react negatively to vaccines- they run a fever and are irritable for a few days. This leads me to speculate- obviously the vaccines do not CAUSE the autism, but what if it is a SYMPTOM of autism to have bad reactions to vaccines? In some cases, parents may not have noticed other symptoms but they take notice of fever and pain after sticking a needle in the chold's arm. Hence they blame the vaccine. Rather than just call parents crazy, why not study the effect of vaccines on children on the autism spectrum so people can be informed?
Why are so many people against circumcision?
I can only speak for myself: it's causing a baby unnecessary pain in the name of an imaginary being and it can be harmful, I find that rather nasty. Although I have to say that as I find religion toxic for modern society, and this is a religious mark, I have a bias against it on top of the one above, so I am even more against it. If it were optional when you were 18, like smoking and drinking and other harmful stuff you are now entitled to do, then I would have much less of a problem with it, but it's still joining a generally toxic community.
What Happened to Google Search?
> And are there any alternative Search Engines, obscure or otherwise, that you guys would recommend? I've heard about [DuckDuckGo] a few times recently, and tried to start using it. 'Privacy first' is a nice thing to hear nowadays.
Why do school buses not have seat belts? Can people sue the school district when collisions happen?
It's in the *mass* and *area*. Sedans do not have much mass to absorb deceleration forces. In addition, they are compact so they have less area to distribute deceleration forces upon. So when a sudden stop happens, stopping force is transferred onto the occupants which sends them through windshields if they aren't wearing seat belts. Thus, the need for seat belts. In the case of the bus, the bus has more area and mass to spread the force around. If a bus collided with a sedan, the bus would spread the force across a greater area with more mass compared to a sedan. So basically a bus absorbs more of the crash and transfers less of the crash onto to the occupants. This is in addition to safety precautions provided by engineers, some of which have been mentioned in this thread. **tl;dr Buses have lots of area and mass to spread around the forces of an impact**
Someone, please explain the current world economic situation in a nutshell.
Essentially, there are some people who have money, and some people who need money. There are companies who give money to the people who need money, and tell them they need to pay it back with a bit extra. Currently it is failing because: 1. Lots of people think that they can borrow money and pay it back, but can't. 2. Some people think that they can borrow money, use the money to loan it to the needy and keep the difference. This is extremely simplified, and the actual process is much more complex and convoluted. However, when a lot of people cannot pay back the money, some things happen. 1. The people who borrowed money are stripped of their homes , and the people who have money get a crappy home that isn't worth much. 2. Interest rates go up, so its harder for them to pay back the money. It gets really complicated with Greece, 'entitled' finance workers, and people trying to fix the situation. Simply put? Investors lose money, the borrowers temporarily gained money but lost more in sentimental value, and every become afraid of spending money.I blame the Baby Boomers for be self-entitled, irresponsible asshats.
How could we land a rocket on the Moon in 1969 but now struggle with landing one on Earth (just recently achieved by SpaceX)?
Landing on the moon is relatively easy; there's no atmosphere to create compressive heating or provide winds, and there's much less gravity so the lander/rocket doesn't fall as fast. That means significantly less fuel is needed. The lander for the moon missions was also relatively short and squat, which makes it far more stable. It was also the load portion of a rocket launch; in the Space X example the first stage of the rocket has to not only get the load up to its target altitude, but then also have enough fuel left to manouvre itself back to the ground and halt the 9.8 m/s^2 of acceleration that Earth's gravity gives it on the way back down.
When a video game is in development for 4-5 years (like the Elder Scrolls series), how do they keep up with technological growth?
They don't. Case in point, Skyrim, which has a very outdated and inefficient engine. In addition look at CoD, which still uses a modified version of the engine used in Quake 3.
What's bad about Internet Explorer?
It's a direct line to the core of your operating system. This allows you to be easily hijacked by web browser attacks. Among the other reasons posted here this to me is the best reason not to use it.
Why do stores carry pre-paid cards.
1. Cash / Money in advance. It's a financial game.2. Residuals3. Fees Oh, they make money out of it, you betcha.
If we can tell someone's blood sugar levels from a finger prick test why can we not do the same for THC levels?
We can. There are blood tests for THC. These ones help detect the active levels of THC, help figuring out the persons level of impairment. But they are apparently invasive and are hard to administer. They are sometimes used for DUI's,, crime investigations/scenes, etc.Also, apparently THC levels will drop extremely quickly. They use 7ml tubes, which is quite a lot.
Why can some murderers plea insanity? Surely all murderers are on the insanity scale to be able to carryout such an act?
I think the defining characteristic of the insanity that reduces sentences is a lack of understanding of what they did. Yeah, all murder could be considered somewhere on the crazy scale, but they're looking for someone that truly believed they were protecting themselves from demons or something.
Why are electric cars so highly favored if lithium is not a renewable resource?
Lithium isn't a source of energy for electric cars. Lithium is used to *store* energy, but the energy is coming from other sources . That energy is used to perform a chemical reaction; the reverse reaction happens as the battery discharges. In contrast, oil is used for energy by burning the oil and breaking chemical bonds, with the resultant products exhausted through the tailpipe.
How is a continent so rich in natural resources like Africa so poor?
Possibly helpful post-colonial analogy: In South America, many of the countries that were richest in natural resources such as gold and silver are now some of the poorest. Countries like Chile, which had no profitable natural resources to export during the colonial era --before the discovery of copper-- are now much better off economically. This isn't the only explanation for the discrepancy, of course, but oftentimes the richer the country in natural resources, the more vulnerable it was to political corruption and mismanagement of wealth. This dynamic continues into the present. Perfect African example: Democratic Republic of Congo. Incredibly resource-rich country, horrendously exploited and mismanaged, today one of the most economically and politically troubled nations on the continent.A big part of it is due to corruption, cronyism, graft, bribery and all the other synonyms that go along with it. African governments frequently do generate large revenues from resources like oil, gold and diamonds. What happens is that instead of taking that money and spending it on civil services like health, education and infrastructure, it gets spent on things like mansions, exotic cars and other luxuries for politicians. Or the reverse might happen--politicians sell valuable plots of land that is full of resources for a pittance to their big-business allies as part of the kickback system. TL;DR Corruption', "Because of imperialism, basically. Europeans came, killed a lot, took resources, established a local oligarchy with european values. Kill some more. Took some more. Understood that empires had a bit of a bad name and started giving money to finance coup d'etats, revolutions, counter-revolutions, bribes, wars, etc. Made a whole lot of money from the spoils. Donated a very tiny part of it to Amnesty International, said a prayer and went to sleep feeling good about themselves.
Why is pi (π) considered to be irrational even if it can be represented as circumference divided by diameter (c/d)
Adding to the other remarks, pi is more than just irrational, it's transcendental. Irrational means you can't find an exact representation using fractions of whole numbers. The square root of 2 is irrational. Transcendental means you can't find an exact representation using the roots of polynomials of any order.
Does a suicidal person who has definitively decided to die still fear things that might normally feel scary/threatening (like heights, driving recklessly, walking alone at night in a high-crime area, etc)?
It sounds like what you are describing might be the flattening of emotions that sometimes comes with serious depression. Numbness could look like fearlessness. But I haven't heard that fearlessness or recklessness is a general factor for suicidal people. As a rule of thumb, suicidal people generally don't want to die, they just don't want to exist and dying is the only way to get there. Some people have a fierce desire to die right now, and they tend to go out in flames and with collateral damage. Some die cold and alone without a sound. I would expect some of both extremes to have lost all fear and others to be terrified of everything. Any time people are involved you will never find one answer that fits all.
Could there be any benevolent reason why the involved governments are being so secretive about the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership?
It's a negotiation. The last thing you want in a negotiation is to have other party know what you're thinking, as this can become leverage. If the text is released, the negotiators get to see the public reaction and can get a good read on what the other country is thinking, which may turn into leverage. Still, I would think if they released it to everyone at once, then no one country gets an advantage, so why not?", 'The contents of the treaty will have an effect on the prices of commodities on markets. Say, for example, it increases the tariffs on cotton imported in to the USA: a supplier with inside information could make a fortune by hoarding cotton at the lower priceThis Planet Money episode gives a pretty good explanation. _URL_1_
The thought process behind the numbering of US military units.
You may want some randomness in it. For example, Germany didn't have enough, which allowed the allies to figure out how many tanks they had from randomly sampled serial numbers and simple statistics, in what is now known as the [German tank problem].
What keeps a health insurance company from running their own clinics?
The insurers are trying to make a profit out of providing health insurance. Adding health care is a great complication that would be very expensive to implement, and it's not clear that this is better than the current system, whereby independent health care providers can sign agreements with insurers to become part of a network. The benefit you're proposing is simplicity, that the point of care will know more about your insurance plan. But that can be done just as well with the network system, and since most insurers offer many different plans, it will likely always remain a complicated affair. Having too few plans to choose from leads to people paying for coverage they don't need, so insurers avoid that as well.
Would modern warriors stronger because of better nutrition, training and evolution, or are ancient warriors stronger because of harsher living conditions and a greater emphasis on physical capability in the past?
Why does this need to be ELI5-ed? Shouldn't this be in ask history, or ask science? There are probably a group of specialists in one of those subs who could tell you.
Why does Euler's Number (e) have so many unique applications?
Think of Ae^x as the function that satisfies y=dy/dx. That's why it's special. It crops up in lots of places because the trig functions can be written as complex exponentials and it is involved in the solution to many linear differential equations ", 'Some info is available in [these previous posts.]
If the human body is run on electrical impulses, what is the mechanism by which these impulses are generated and maintained?
Don't forget that your electrical impulse velocity is much much slower than electricity. In the best senerio , your neuro electrical impulse travels at 120 m/s . Electricity in a copper wire travels at 70-90% of the speed of light in a vacuum or over 200,000,000 m/s!!! Also the switching frequency of a neuron is pretty slow at ~100hz compare to modern transistors that can do 5GHz. Neurons main advantage is the number of neurons, number of interconnects , and non-binary signaling .
Why do black people in the US believe that Cleopatra and Ancient Egyptians were black?
It probably has to do with the teachings of Nation of Islam. They taught that white people were created 6000 years ago by an evil scientist named Yakub. So the *real* Egyptians couldn't have been white, because that would contradict the teachings of Elijah Mohammad.
Why H2O is vital to life, but H2O2 is dangerous
the extra oxygen makes all the difference! peroxide is an oxidizing agent, which means that when the molecule breaks apart it will steal electrons from other ions and molecules. This in turn can de-stabilize bonds in other molecules, leading to a chain reaction. We need some reactive oxygen species in our bodies to help with cellular respiration, but too many can act like little bombs in your cells, running around breaking important bonds. When a cell sustains too much damage, it undergoes apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Therefore your body has a lot of ways to keep reactive species in check. exposure to large amounts of hydrogen peroxide can increase the amount of free radicals to dangerous levels and override the cell's control mechanisms, and can cause massive cell death. Hope that helps
Is it possible that cancer - of all kinds - will ever be completely cured?
That's like asking if we'll ever find a cure for car crashes. Sure, we've gotten better at lowering the chances and minimizing the damage, but unless we invent something really groundbreaking there's going to be car crashes.
What are these star like miniature white moving dots you see when looking at the sky?
I know exactly what you're talking about. It's like a sea of bright white maggots when you look at the sky, right? It's called the blue field entoptic phenomenon:_URL_0_", 'are you talking about the "floaters" in your eyes? the scientific name is muscae volitantes, or latin for "flying flies", they are not alive or anything, they are tiny cells that happens to cast shadows on your retina.
How are cigarettes still legal? If they were a medicine for a disease the FDA would have them banned for their lethal side effects
The same reason Big Macs are legal. The same reason you can buy 10 pallets of Coke and drink it for a year straight. The same reason you can just never exercise or get your prostate checked. The same reason you can fry yourself in a tanning booth. In principle at least, you can't make something illegal just because it is bad for the willing individual. If you can somehow make the argument that a 3rd party is being affected, then you can typically legislate against it. You might be familiar with this principle in terms of things like illegal drugs. Why is marijuana illegal? It'll hurt society/the children/promote crime .
Are audiobooks just as stimulating to the brain as physically reading the same books?
I can listen to an audiobook and run, cook, lift weights. I can't do the same things with a regular book. If I am sun bathing and listen to an audiobook then yes my retention is the same. I don't have photographic memory or anything though. If you do reading probably is better.To me it depends on the reader. A good reader can make a bad good worth listening to. A good reader with a good book is great. But a bad reader? Even a great book is unlistenable with a bad reader. I miss Frank Muller.With a novel, I don't suppose it really makes a difference. In fact, if you have a good actor doing the reading, it could be better. Non-fiction - **no way!** These books are not meant to be read front to back like a novel. You read non-fiction by previewing first - looking at table of contents, headings and sub-headings of a chapter and maybe first sentences of its paragraphs. You read non-fiction with a pen in your hand for underlining and margin notes. You decide what speed you want to read, depending on the text.Something I 've noticed about audiobooks that makes me personally prefer normal reading is that it's very easy to "tune out" or think of something else and lose track of the storyApparently reading out loud is better for your brain than reading in your head. Hence why I have my kid read out aloud to me', "I think so. When you hear a human voice screaming the dialogue during an intense scene or crying when sad, it's like a radio play.
The purpose and history of underwear, why aren't pants enough?
Just wait till you're not wearing underwear and get you private parts caught in the zipper. Then you will know.
Why does aluminum foil have 1 side shinier than the other?
Also, just a PSA, you shouldn't cook acidic foods in aluminum, it may or may not deposit aluminum in your brain and cause Alzheimer's. Use cast iron or parchment paper I guess._URL_3_
The humor/meaning of the aristocrats joke.
the punch line is that these things that you just described are disgusting, and aristocrats are nobility that say they are better than the common man. the funny part is telling the joke, and trying to come up with the foulest most horrible things that anyone has ever had to try to picture in their mind. Bob Saget's version was the funniest on the movie, and he didn't even get to the punch line, or the part where the humor should come from.
Why do some movies not fit the screen of my 1080p 16:9 TV, and still have black borders on the top and bottom?
Additionally to what others have explained, I'd check if the TV set actually has a true 16:9 ratio - there's no shortage of 16:10 monitors out there, i.e. a slight bit taller.What would happen when playing movies like The Dark Knight? Would it have black bars on the sides in the IMAX scenes?
Why do product prices end in .99?
Well I think it's a psychological thing, a quirk of our perception. By making product prices end in 99, 90, 95, etc, the price of the item seems a lot lower in comparison to a price that ends in 00. For example, if you see a drink that costs $1.99, you are more likely to buy it than if it costs $2.00, even though when rounded it is exactly the same. What happens is that your brain associates $1.99 with $1, while $2 seems a lot more than that. Once we see a $1, we automatically think that it's cheaper than if we see something start with $2. But now it's becoming so widespread that people aren't being tricked, I would much rather pay for something that's $16 than $15.99 because I feel that I am not being scammed or tricked.
Why is it that even though babies start crying almost immediately when they are born, we can't hear them cry inside the womb?
The don't cry in the womb, they aren't using their lungs at all because the mother is giving them oxygen.
Why are some allergies so common, like peanuts?
I live in Argentina . I have never seen anyone with peanuts alergy. May be we've followed [Lois CK advice].
Are the flakes in Goldschlager dangerous in any way?
No, they won't cut your intestines, they're gold leaf, which is incredibly thin and weak, so it's often used for inlays and such. As such, no it won't do much in such small amounts. Large amounts though can lead to heavy metal poisoning. Some people can spread out the gold so it's not noticeable in waste, but on the upside, if you can't, you can have golden poop.
Why is it ethically wrong to "de-extinct" ancient animals, specifically of Woolly Mammoths and Dodo Birds?
First thing; it is? And secondly; the world has VASTLY changed over the last time these animals were alive, so integrating them back into the wild could be a lot more troublesome than you'd expect. If anything, they'd probably do more harm than good to their once native environment
Why does the public not get to vote on things such as the development of nuclear weapons?
Because there's no profit in peace. This is America and no we do not have a representative democracy, we have a federal republic that severely restricts voter will by design. We find ways to start wars because America's political power structure has been warped into giving nearly unlimited sums to 'defense contractors' who are essentially arms trading warmongers.The US is not a direct democracy. We are a Republic. We vote on representatives who go, get briefings on things, and who are experts at making law to craft our laws and vote on things on our behalf. You voted on the issue when you picked who represented you in Congress and for the Presidency.First off- do you want your average joe handling foreign policy? We might hate politicians but it's an incredibly stressful and important job. Second- we keep out nukes mainly to deter other countries from using theirs.Well, the others summarised well. I suggest watching this video too. I would give it a new title: this is why representative democracy is necessary._URL_1_
Why do people bot reddit accounts? Is Karma really worth something?
People who make bots can have different intentions. Wikibot and such are helpful, and no doubt good practice for programmers, as others have mentioned. People who bot for the purpose of reaping karma aren't doing so because karma is *actually* worth something, or at least not anything tangible, but a good amount of people seem to think that karma is an indicator of how well people like you. Being that people like to be liked, you can see how this evolves into an obsession for some. While I won't make the inference that people who rely on karma for self-esteem and a feeling of self-worth are complete morons, self-deluded and fairly detached from reality, I will at least claim that it is certainly a possibility.
What makes physics engines for games more complicated than just applying the basic Newtonian laws of motion?
Newton's laws of motion are complicated! I mean, they're not individually complicated, if you're just trying to calculate the motion of an idealized object in a vacuum or something. But when you're talking about simulating the motion of many objects, with odd shapes, textures, and materials, it gets very complicated, very fast. So physics engines are a way to simplify. Not the underlying mathematics, but the universe of applications of those maths.
Why do massive arcade style coin operated machines suck so much in comparison to other video game consoles?
Because they're very expensive, so the owner doesn't want to buy a new one every few years. Plus there isn't really a huge demand for in depth arcade games: arcades are kind of dying out because of console/PC games
Why do banks need DAYS to process a transaction?
The law hasn't caught up. The law gives banks a certain number of days to process transactions based on how long it took 200 years ago, and it's never been changed since then. Banks like taking all that time to hold onto your money because they can invest it and earn interest on it during that time. Laws have been proposed to shorten it, but banks lobby against it.
What is insider trading and why is it bad?
It's using non-public material information to profit from stock trade. It's bad because free markets are predicated on free and fair flow of information, so having insider information affecting trades weakens confidence in the stock market being a fair market. Insider trading laws DON'T mean that executives, board members, etc. can't trade the stock. They just have to follow strict rules about when they can and cannot trade, ie. there are quiet periods prior to quarterly earnings calls when they cannot trade, and also when there are important deals, acquisitions, trial results, etc. in the works. Often, company CEOs or founders who want to diversity or pull money out for other uses will set up automated trading procedures, ie sell 1000 shares every quarter on X dates so that there's no way to be accused of insider trading.* Oftentimes individuals who work for a corporation are privy to non-public information. * For example, maybe the new drug the company is developing is found to have terrible side effects. So while investors have been investing and the stock price has been going up and up, once the bad news hits, the stock price will drop like a rock. * So before the bad news goes public, the insiders sell all of their stock before it tanks. * Obviously this is not fair to the other investors and is also quite illegal. * Whether insiders profit by buying stock to reap the profit before some good news hits or sell stock to avoid a loss, they are breaking the law. * *Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street*_URL_0_Super simplified: Watching the weather channel before creating a bet whether it is going to rain tonight. You already know the outcome and use that to your advantage to earn money.
why is it when during the winter I have my heater set to the same temperature as I have my AC during the summer, and yet I'm cold in winter and warm in summer?
Because your ac is technically a heat pump. People think ac creates cold air, but technically it's taking heat out of the air, not cooling it. So when you turn your thermostat to heat, it bypasses the compressor and runs air through the heating element
Why is there such a prevalent belief that inflation will always trend upwards?
We expect positive inflation because the Federal Reserve and its international equivalents try to keep it that way. A slight positive inflation rate encourages spending and investing over saving, which ensures that money cycles through the economy repeatedly instead of simply getting stashed away. Very high inflation rates disproportionately punish savers and lenders and negative rates reward cash hoarders. The world's central banks do what they can to avoid either of those situations.
How is America not totally collapsing because of debt and the dollar bill losing value?
Debt alone is not necessarily a bad thing. Think of it this way. Most people buy a house by taking out a loan from the bank for tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Their total 'debt' is now far greater than their annual income. But the bank doesn't make them pay it all back at once, it's broken down into a system of far lower mortgage payments over a period of decades. As such, while the total amount of debt can seem like a very large number, it is also very manageable to pay off with the average family's finances. Many people even refinance, take out second mortgages or otherwise take out additional loans against their house before paying off the original mortgage so that they have extra cash on hand while keeping their payments low enough to handle. The US Debt works on a similar, though much more complex basis. Our total debt might be greater than the annual value of all that our country produces, but we are not required to pay off all that debt at once. We continue to borrow, predominantly against ourselves via government bonds, and can repay the loans slowly over time even accounting for accumulated interest. America's national credit rating is one of the best in the world because we are so good at being able to repay our debts.