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Why does athlete's foot only happen to your feet? | > If it's a fungus, why couldn't it grow in, say, the webbing between your fingers, or behind your ears? It could if those areas were damp and warm enough. Athlete's foot only happens to the feet because if for example it is around the genitals it is "Jock itch". Conceptually you could have it in other areas of the bod... |
Over the last four years where has the bank bailout money trickled to? | The majority of the money has trickled back to the US government, as most of the larger companies that received the money have [paid it all back, with interest] Many smaller companies that received bailout money are [still struggling, however]. In general, the money that was paid to the companies in the various bailout... |
The rise and fall of AOL. What'd the do right, and what went wrong? | AOL entered when the internet was just starting to blow up. They offered an easy to use interface that gave people easy access to email, chat rooms, and other things. They also offered a free trial, where people could easily try it out for a few hours. Once people tried it, they usually loved it and stuck with it. The ... |
The origin of college spring break? | Back when the US was more religious, Easter was a pretty big holiday & people would get time off to travel & see family. For schools on a quarter system instead of a semester system, spring break is the period between winter & spring terms. |
What are some of the different factors that make a cloud server through someplace like AWS so cheap? | /u/FrancescoRizzi hit a few good points, but the huge one I'd add is the utilization model. Most server workloads have significant peaks and valleys in their resource utilization -- for the fraction of a second an instance spends processing a request, it may completely occupy a CPU core or two or use a lot of storage b... |
What is index notation in mathematics? | In algebra, you use letters to stand for numbers with values either that you don't know and want to find out, or that you want to allow to have any value. You then play around with these letters to find out the answers you are looking for. Typically, you might use x, y and z for three values, or a, b, c, d for four. So... |
What happens when you have a seizure? | Medically speaking a seizure is when the electrochemical circuits of your brain misfire this triggers other portions of your brain to have similar things go wrong. The most close association I can give is a computer program which causes the computer to lock up and need to be restarted. Sometimes this can affect breathi... |
Why do (most) Americans reject cars with a manual shift stick? | There used to be good reasons to drive a manual shift car , but that's really not an issue these days. The margin is so small that people would rather not have to deal with it. So if you are given a choice of manual or automatic, it becomes "why not automatic?" And the only legit answer to that question is price . Most... |
Why are many english words used in asian culture? | Speaking from the Chinese language, its because Chinese is a very old language, and new things are being invented in the West. So when something becomes new to them, and they learn the English name, most of the time they try and make it sound similar in their language. |
How do my card numbers keep getting stolen? | This is just one possibility, but it could be a business you shop at that you trust. When the security of a company is breached, they aren't required to tell you. They let the banks know to look out, but you'll never be told "This company is the reason your card info is getting stolen." I had this happen with two cards... |
What is the difference between a solar and lunar eclipse? | [A solar eclipse is when the moon passes directly in front of the sun, and casts a large shadow on the earth. A lunar eclipse is when the earth passes directly in front of the moon.]the solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the earth and the sun the moon eclipse happens when the earth is between the moon and th... |
how does drinking alcohol make a person even more depressed/sad? | Alcohol is a depressant drug. Despite the name, this doesn't mean it makes you depressed although it can have that effect. Instead, what it means is that it depresses parts of your nervous system - that is, it shuts down parts of your brain. At first, these parts tend to be ones that deal with anxiety and understanding... |
what is Marxism and the general principles? | To condense a very broad and complex topic into a very small nutshell: Marx believed that all of human history is a struggle between the working class and the wealthy class. He believed that the rich- no matter how fair or generous any individual wealthy person may be- inherently exploited the poor because they became ... |
Why do Stinging Nettles sting? | Stinging nettles have small hallow hairs called trichromes on their leaves and stems. These act as needles injecting histamine and other chemicals to produce the stinging sensation to humans and other animals. |
Why do I get mildly electrocuted if I touch some metallic part (screws or ports) of my laptop while its charging? | Err if this is happening something is possibly wrong with the wiring inside the laptop. This shouldn't be happening. I would suggest turning off your laptop, and getting it serviced ASAP. |
How do gift cards keep track of leftover money? | The value is stored elsewhere; the data on the card is basically just an ID number. The reader scans the card, reads the ID information, and then asks the remote server what the value is for that particular ID. Makes sense when you think about it. If the value was just stored on the card it would be child's play to cha... |
Could someone explain the Dalai Lama? Wouldn't a guy that claims to be a "chosen one" have a huge ego? I'm not being sarcastic. | The Dalai Lama is an important religious figure for a particular sect within Buddhism. The DL doesn't run around claiming they're the "chosen one" after the previous one died. A group of other religious leaders search for about 2-4 years to find the next one, using whatever religious tests they have to see if the kid h... |
To stop the poaching of elephants, why can't we synthetically produce ivory? | That's actually happening right now, scientists are synthetically producing ivory and flooding the market with it, therefore cheapening the price of actual ivory.We can. The problem is a lot of people still conflate, "worth" with price. Look at the synthetic diamond industry. Synthetic diamonds are far superior to orga... |
Why do major brands like Gucci, Versace or Louis Vuitton (and others) do not advertise their products on tv (except some perfumes)? | To add to the other replies: for these top luxury brands, their own products are their own advertisement. For example, an Armani suit will never bear any noticeable logo, because it doesn't need one. The quality of the materials, the cut, and the fit of the suit is advertisement enough. Any actual visible logo would ac... |
Why can you hit lower notes louder singing when you've just woken up as opposed to the rest of the day? | Your vocal cords are the most relaxed while you sleep. Like a guitar the less tension the lower the note. When you wake up they are more relaxed so lower notes become easier as your natural range is now lower. After speaking a bit tension will naturally be added through your muscles and your voice goes to what it norma... |
How are Asynchronous Calls Used? | Synchronous call - I'll drop you off at the store and wait her until you come back Asynchronous call - I'll drop you off at the store and periodically check to see if you are done Most calls are synchronous because the caller usually wants something right now and can't really proceed without it. But if what the call is... |
Why would flying animals such as birds remain active in the rain? | Birds gotta eat, and gotta eat frequently. They're not like reptiles that can go weeks without a meal. Some places it rains 30% of days or more, can't sit all of those out.The term "water off a duck's back" is a good one that doesn't go without meaning. A bird's outer feathers are hydrophobic. Water will bead up and ro... |
how can Cepheid variables be used to determine astrological distance? | * there are Cepheids close enough to earth to measure their distance with more direct methods, like stellar parallax* different Cepheids that appear in the same cluster or galaxies give the same distances* Cepheid distances agree with other measures, such as redshift, novae, and other variable stars > as a reliable ast... |
Culturally speaking, why is the Mayor of New York City, as a position, such a *big deal* to Americans who don't even live in New York? | NYC is the most important city, culturally and economically in the US. It is probably the most important city in the whole world, especially the western world. It is the city every other big city wants to be. Obviously the person in charge of the most important city on the planet is a pretty important and influential p... |
Why do animal spines allow for sleeping in awkward positions, without causing as much damage as it would to a human spine? | No other animal spends all their time standing on their spine. Our spines are almost totally vertical much of the day, our upper bodies are large, and since we only have two legs, there's a lot of balancing stress. Basically, our spines are very good at handling compression, because that's what we do with them. We don'... |
What is the genuine cause of the shrinkage of schizophrenic brain? | I'd imagine if you could find the actual cause your name would be written in every medical journal for a year straight. At the moment we don't really understand it, but we're gaining more and more information. |
Why are there no stars in the background of moonlanding/static planet pictures?(like the current front page pic of Pluto) | It's because planets from that distance are very bright compared to the distant stars. The camera only captures a bit of light so the stars are so dim you can't see them. |
Why we only see one face of the moon | It's actually very common for a moon to show only one face to its planet, thanks to [tidal locking]. The force of gravity causes the moon to bulge slightly on the axis pointing at its planet. Over time, this changes the speed of rotation so that the bulge remains in the same place on the moon, with the end result that ... |
Why can't the NSA just be ruled unconstitutional and nullified through the courts, for violating the fourth amendment? | They did not break the law because they were under direct court/governmental order to conduct their surveillance. While there are some cases within what they have done that very likely are violations of the 4th Amendment their existence is not a violation, the primary purpose is not a violation, and most of what they d... |
You're listening to a song and you get chills. What causes that ? | Ahoy, fellow redditor. Yer not alone in askin\', and kind strangers have explained: 1. [ELI5: Why does certain music give us chills? ] ^1. [ELI5:Why does certain songs/music give you the chills and strong pulses of energy? ] ^1. [ELI5: Why don't I get chills/goosebumps while listening to music? ] ^1. [Why do we get chi... |
Why do airplanes go missing in the bermuda triangle? | There's nothing to explain, as there's nothing mysterious going on. The Bermuda Triangle is a concept invented largely to sell books in the 1970s , and is mystery mongering at its finest. There isn't any larger than expected rate of disappearances in that area , and that's about all there is to say about it.[Neil deGra... |
How does Apple own the trademarks to a generic word? | It doesn't. It owns the trademark "Apple" when it relates to "computers, computer software, computer peripherals, etc.", according to [its own website]. It also owns the trademark on the Apple logo. That means you can't, legally, create a computer and call it an "Apple". But it doesn't stop you from selling apples and ... |
Why do toxicology reports for drugs take such a long time after death whereas if you're tested in the ER for drugs the results come within minutes/hours? | It depends on what they are looking for and concentrations. Drug tests are exclusive, meaning you run a test and look if a specific compound is there. The how much of it. In the ER the are most likely only looking for a few things. If you come in looking like a heroin addict they'll test you for it and prob some other ... |
Difference between single phase and three phase electricity | AC electricity has waves of voltage. Essentially the electricity arrives at the destination alternating in peaks of high voltage and peaks of low voltage. [Here] is what it looks like. Now normally there is one peak and one trough in your flow. In three phase power you actually have three different waveforms in one str... |
How does a watch/phone/whatever know how long a second is? | In a quartz time keeping device , there is a little piece of quartz that vibrates with the addition of electricity . When electricity is sent through the quartz, it vibrates at an exact frequency which can be counted. Once it hits the limit of vibrations, it indicates a second has passed on a digital screen or by movin... |
why Reddit is not worth more than Facebook, Twitter etc | Teach your Grandma to use Facebook, then teach her to use Reddit and see which one goes better. Facebook Imo is currently much more appealing to the average joe. Not to mention Reddit is anonymous and it in no way helps you connect with friends and family. If I post a picture of myself here, a bunch of people would tea... |
How are the ears, nose, and throat related? | There's a lot of empty space in your head. Your nose leads to a large space in your head called the nasal cavity, which connects to your mouth & throat behind the roof of your mouth. The purpose of this space is to give air a place to match body temperature, & humidify the air. It also allows for dust & stuff caught by... |
If your head gets separated from your body do you die instantly? If not, could you still feel pain in your body or do your nerves not work the same? | As far as deaths go, beheading is rather fast. Your head probably wouldn't die instantly, but would lose consciousness rather fast due to blood loss. |
How do we fix currency inflation? | There's nothing to fix, really. It's a feature of the economic system, not a bug. Inflation is a great thing if you're a government, because it reduces your debt over time and forces the populace to invest their money rather than stuff it in mattresses. |
How is the observable universe (approximately) 93 billion lightyears in diameter if the big bang occured 13.7 billion years ago? | Space itself is expanding. We know this because the light from distant galaxies is redshifted , and the farther away they are the more redshifted they are. So while it is natural to think of the time since the Big Bang as a bunch of galaxies expanding out into empty space - in which case the universe would, as you say,... |
Why do retail stores push financing plans? | It's a way of making extra money for almost no work. When you pay lots of interest on your financing plan, you end up paying more money in total. Since they get the financing cheaply from a bank, they make a profit on the difference. |
Why do we have to swallow to drink liquid, instead of being able to just pour it directly down the esophagus like pouring water down a tube? | The human esophagus and trachea are connected. There's a muscle response for closing one and opening the other. Usually the air tube is open, and the food tube is closed. To open the food tube, the air tube must close . This protects you from accidentally inhaling food/drink and damaging your lungs, and enables us to t... |
Why are we only able to keep our balance on bicycles, scooters etc when we are moving? | when you're not moving you have no mechanism to correct. assume you're balanced on the bike and making no headway. if you start to go over to the left, there isn't much you can do to shift your center of gravity back to the right. if you're moving and you start to go over to the left, you can use the momentum of the bi... |
Can we ever REALLY run out of water? | It takes energy to clean, purify, and pump water to your house. There is also a finite amount of water that can be stored in the water table, and man made reservoirs. If the rate at which people use water is greater than the rate a city, town, or other population center can supply water, you'll run out of water. You co... |
How do text short codes work on cell phones? | You know how 911 works on your phone, even though its not the right number of digits? Its the same thing. The phone system can be programmed to detect sequences that are shorter than normal, and do something 'special' with them. For 911, that special is to call the police. For the text codes, its to send the text infor... |
Why does it take so long for a movie to come out on DVD after leaving theaters? | There is a big commercial reason. Take The Dark Knight Rises. It was released on July 20th. Why that date? Easy, because it's summer, schools out, people are on vacation, and have more free time. Most big-blockbuster films come out around the summertime. So, the movie is released, makes a ton of money, and eventually l... |
Why do cell phone signals deteriorate in mountainous areas? | Firstly, there is a misconception that our phone's signals go to a tower and are transferred to a satellite which are then collected by another tower and then back to the receiver's phone. Nope. The towers are connected by fibre optic cables which allow really fast transmission. The satellite connection only happens in... |
The legality of The Pirate Bay | The basic moral/legal question is if a technology that makes committing a crime easy can be held liable for that crime. TPB doesn't commit any crimes, but they enable others to do so. An offline allegory would be an inventor of perfect lockpicks that could open any lock. Would he be at least partially responsible for t... |
How can an exoplanet that isn't orbiting any star have a temperature like 700K/~800F? | Very large planets are mostly just collections of gas, hence the term 'gas giants.' Rocky planets cannot form nearly so large. It may help to understand a little about stars, first. Stars are large balls of gas. Large enough that the weight of their outer layers compresses the center until it becomes hot enough to begi... |
Why do animals prefer running water to standing water | They naturally know that still water is more dangerous than running water. It is more likely to have bacteria, molds, algae, or other things that can kill or make them sick. |
If a presidential candidate dies, what happens? | Then that party would have to very quickly select another candidate. There are deadlines that are supposed to be met for a person's name to appear on the ballot. However, election officials and courts have shown lenience on these in the past in the interest of having the two major parties both on the ballot. Ballotpedi... |
Can one live off distilled water? Will there be any side effects? | No. There are no nutrients in water and you will die a lingering death of starvation. Now eat your dinnerHi Again, I understand your question to be: "Would it be a bad thing if all my drinking water was distilled water?" The quick answer is yes, possibly and it depends. & nbsp; **Warning: some links may not be suitable... |
Why isn't Mitt Romney releasing his tax returns? | Simple: He's calculated that the political damage of not releasing his tax returns is less than the political damage of releasing them. |
If humans are omnivores, why do we have to cook food? | The two of them have nothing to do with one another. An omnivore is just something that eats plants and animals. We cook our food due to generational adaptations from evolution. When humans were first starting they used sharp rocks to scavenge, as technology advanced, so did fire. Fire was just a way for the humans to ... |
Why does coffee (with milk) curdle when i add Port? | The port contains acid . That's what curdles the milk. The coffee doesn't have much impact. |
Why can't I listen to music while reading, but doing math seems to be easier with some tunes playing? | Yes, but they require you to use different parts of your brain. Without going too much into different lobal regions of the brain and their functions, you process reading and music in the same brain regions, because they're both "verbal" processing. Obviously, reading isn't verbal processing, but it is still language pr... |
Why does it feel less cold when snow is coming down? | You may be forgetting about the wind chill factor. If the air is calm, it will only feel as cold as it actually is. If, however, the wind is kicking up a storm, it will feel several degrees colder, because the cold air is rushing over youWarmer air can hold more moisture before saturation point is reached and the water... |
What's the deal with the Greece, Macedonia and FYROM name dispute? | The ancient region of Macedonia covers both the modern day country of Macedonia and part of Greece. The modern day Greek part is a region also called Macedonia. Both Greece and FYROM claim the history and cultural heritage of ancient Macedonia. Macedonia was the kingdom of Alexander the Great, so it has a lot of signif... |
What's the deal with those spiky logs that people punch in martial arts movies? | [Muk Yan Jong] are basically training dummies used to practice striking forms, most famously in Wing Chun, but also in many other martial arts. There are various types, but Wing Chun's is most famous. Your best bet would be to look at /r/wingchun and /r/kungfu, heck even /r/martialarts may help. It is essentially for t... |
How is it possible to colorize old black and white photos? | It really is just guesswork and filling in the blanks. To colourise photos, people will guess at what colours would be there, and paint those colours in over the black and white image. All the guesses are based on what would make sense -- we know that lighter-looking hair is usually yellowish, we know that grass is gre... |
Why did standardized lithium battery sizes never become prevalent in consumer devices unlike AA , AAA, etc? NiCd batteries became prevalent, why not the same for lithium ion? | Probably cost. There's plenty of consumer devices that use standard sized lithium batteries though. 18650 is a very popular standard size for lithium batteries.NiCd cells have roughly the same voltage as the original AA, AAA, C, D cells which were carbon-zinc. Lithium cells usually have 2.5 to 3 times the voltage so th... |
Why do some helicopters need tail rotors and others do not? | The main rotor on top creates lift, but the drag from the blades as the go around rotates the helicopter so it will tend to turns in one direction . When the helicopter is moving forward quickly the tail stops the helicopter from turning. However at low speeds the tail rotor is used to stop the helicopter from turning.... |
Why do they grade some final exams on a curve. How do they figure out the curve? | Imagine a test is 100 points. Usually, a 90/100 would be a 90%. If the exam is graded, the curve could be maybe the top score of the class or some other number. Say its the top score and the best score in the class is 96/100, all the tests are adjusted. A 96 becomes 96/96 an 85 would become 87% etc. It improves everyon... |
How the US Education System Works (16+) | 16-18 is your sophomore to senior year of high school. After that you can: end your schooling, go to a technical college, 2 year college, or 4 year program. After a 4 year program you can get your masters After a masters you can get a Ph. D. |
Is eating late really harmful? Why/why not? | It was believed that eating late promoted weight gain because you would be asleep and not burning off the calories. In reality as long as you keep your calorie count below your recommended daily intake, and don't eat anything that will disrupt your sleep you'll be fine. . Now, the bad part of eating before bed is that ... |
how XL ink cartridges are the same size but have twice as much ink? | This is an easy one. Normal cartridges are a lot of dead space. XL ones are also a lot of dead space. Just less of itThe simple explanation is that the regular are not full. You could likely add more in to the XL one too. A quick look at a cartridge that was my first hit was HP 953XL that give 2000 pages and have 42.5 ... |
How does salt used for melting ice/snow work? Also, is there a temperature at which it is no longer effective? | Salt raises the boiling point of water and lowers the freezing point. The normal freezing point of water is 0C/32F, and adding salt lowers the freezing point by a few degrees, which usually is enough to melt ice and snow back into water. |
Why are murderers and serial-killers so notoriously famous in America? | They aren't glorified, people just remember what they did because it was that messed up. It's part of our history to be messed up in the head!", 'Same reason people like horror movies, tragic stories, and Liveleak. Its entertaining. |
How is this glass paperweight made? | Glass can be twisted, tweezed and knotted just like Play-Doh when it's red hot. Glassblowing is the art and tradesman craft of being able to do this either by moving around the glass attached to a long metal stick, or with thick-gloved hands. |
Sometimes my phone's change with go from say 3% to 7% if I leave it alone for a long time. Is it actually regaining charge? | Your battery app calculates the remaining battery based on the battery power currently being used and your usage since it was fully charged. That's why you can generally do calibration to correctly measure the current battery status and range of it. Usually, if we ignore very little variations in the battery power, it ... |
if NFL coaches are instructed to challenge a play from people upstairs with video playback how is it possible to ever lose a challenge? | Well they only get until the next play begins. That usually gives the coach roughly 15 seconds to challenge a play. That is generally just enough time for the booth upstairs to watch the play once maybe twice. So they get a good idea of the play's outcome, but they don't have enough time to be certain |
why is it that the Chernobyl exclusion zone won't be inhabitable for 20,000 years but Fukushima won't be for another 20-30 years? | The Fukishima wasnt nearly as bad as Chernobyl,Chernobyl had almost no safety stuff in place, and the plant literally exploded. Fukishima was operating with full safety protocol, and had ro be shutdown, it dodmt explode', "Chernobyl will not be uninhabitable for 20,000 years. Actually, there is a significant effort bei... |
what's wrong with cloning? | There are two sides to this story. Some researchers see problems: "Researchers have observed some adverse health effects in sheep and other mammals that have been cloned. These include an increase in birth size and a variety of defects in vital organs, such as the liver, brain and heart. Other consequences include prem... |
How the hell do Seals swim on top of the water? (Picture) | In a word: buoyancy. Their body must be, on the whole, less dense than water, which causes them to floatIt is buoyancy mixed with thrust. They already gravitate towards the top of the water due to their blubber, but when pushing through the water they angle their bodies slightly as air produces less drag then water. By... |
Low-level programming and hardware interaction. | A microprocessor has a bunch of circuits in them that can carry out operations like adding two numbers held in registers, setting the contents of a register to some value, fetching a value from some memory location, or writing to a memory location. Each such operation is triggered by a specific "instruction" fed the to... |
How come I can grow alot of hair on places like my calfs, arm pits and so on, but I can barley get anything on my face? | Hair growth is based entirely on your genetics and genes are never perfect. Your body is literally programmed to give you lots of body hair but no prominent facial hair. |
how wells work, and why well water is safe to drink | In a lot of places, the soil is saturated with water up to a certain level . If you dig a hole through this layer, that water will drain into the hole in a way that looks something like this: _URL_0_ You can't just sink a hole anywhere. It depends on the depth to the water level in a particular area, which depends on a... |
Why am I more motivated to do stuff when I try to fall asleep? | This was asked on this thread recently, and I believe the answer was basically, When you're in bed it's easy to decide things because at that exact moment, you're not going to start/do whatever it is because you're going to bed. Even your mind knows that it will feel good to plan things, but that you will at least be p... |
Although there are countless diseases that kill many humans each year, Why particular ones like Breast Cancer and AIDS have been put at such a higher awareness level? | HIV/AIDS because it's sexual transmitted, very serious and is/was a relatively new illness. The whole easy-going sex with everybody 60's was brought down a lot by the sexual diseases it promoted and HIV/AIDS was the top of the list of things you didn't want. Breast cancer? Good marketing I suppose. Not the only one but... |
How exactly is the westboro baptist church Still able to go and blatantly slander and picket Funerals without legal prosecution. | Because it's not illegal to picket funerals. They're not slandering anyone; they're not publicly claiming false things about them. |
Why is putting your feet up more comfortable than sitting with feet flat on the ground? | < guessing > Blood flow and/or pressure to the legs and feet relieve any build up of lactic acid, eases tension, or muscle cramping |
The culture of unions and the pros and cons of working under them. | Pros: * you have a powerful organization protecting your job and fighting to improve your wages, benefits, and working conditions Cons: * you have to pay union dues* everything is based on seniority, not merit the choice jobs go to more senior people, and the less senior get laid off first* there is often an adversaria... |
Why does a black jacket appear purple indirect sunlight? | Most black dyes are really deep blue mixed with deep red and a little yellow. The combination absorbs most colors, making your eyes see it as black. Indoor light is almost always weaker than sunlight. More light means more of your cones activate, so you are able to notice the colors more outside. |
how seeing eye dogs know where to go. | Seeing eye dogs are guided by the blind person. They are trained to do what the human wants unless it would be unsafe. They keep humans from walking into holes or in front of cars, they are not GPS devices. |
How can one country sue another. Who represents a whole country? Who adjudicates? | When a country gets sued, it is represented by the government of that country. The authority which judges the case is the one which both parties agree on. For example, various cigarette companies sued the Australian government over their plain packaging laws. They did it from their offices in a country was a member of ... |
Why are men bigger than women? | Sexual dimorphism reduces mating resistance. Yes, that means what you thinkBecause our species evolved reproducing by rape quite a lot', "How about the gender division of labour into hunting/tending to young? I'm not sure if this is still accepted but modern day tribes still reflect this division.. Presumably successfu... |
Why do women basically HAVE to buy their wedding dress while men can just rent their wedding tux? | Becsuse all tux's basically look the same, just different sizes and are a basic loose fit. Easy for many men to wear the same thing. But theres a bajillion styles of wedding dresses and different styles for different shapes and they're usually fitted. Odds of finding a generic sized dress in a style you like that fits ... |
How does radiation work? | Radiation can refer to many things, from sunlight to radio waves. You most likely mean ionizing radiation, as comes from things like nuclear reactors and atomic bombs. Contrary to popular belief, once such radiation hits you, it doesn't stay forever; it's gone, much like sunlight, but it can leave behind a much worse "... |
The Conan/Jay Leno Tonight Show Fiasco | About 5 years before everything hit the fan, Conan's contract with NBC was coming to its end. They didn't want to lose him to another network, so they told him basically that Jay Leno will retire in 5 years and he will be given the Tonight Show and he agreed to give up immediate career advancement in favor of the delay... |
Is it (theoretically) possible to create a 'reverse microwave' that could cool down food/drinks? virtually a 'stop the molecules from dancing'-machine.. if not: why can't we reverse the process? | It's much easier to set particles in motion than to slow them down . But you can use electro-magnetic radiation to cool things, like this: _URL_0_, and even this: _URL_1_ |
Why does it feel cold when I blow on my hands but warm when I breathe on them? | When you blow with pursed lips, you're creating a pressure build up in your mouth. When the pressure escapes it is at a high enough speed to draw the room air into the stream of air that you're blowing. Since room air is cooler than body temp it feels cold. If you blow directly into your closed hands, it still feels wa... |
How are large billboards made? | It's actually split into sections and rolled onto the billboard the way a sticker is placed on a car window. When they are done, they peel it off. |
"It went down the wrong tube" | You have 2 "tubes" that split off from your throat. One goes to your lungs, and one goes to your stomach. When you are eating, and swallow, you close off the tube that goes to your lungs, so that the food/drink goes to your stomach. Sometimes, if you are eating and talking at the same time, some food/drink will make it... |
Why isn't all the armor, weapons, clothing, etc from medieval times still around? Why isn't there a large quantity of, say, Roman armor piled up somewhere? | Metal is valuable and expensive. Most of it would have been melted down and used as something else once its useful life as armor or a weapon or whatever was overIs a common misconception that everyone on a medieval battlefield was a night in shining armor. The vast majority were dirt poor conscripts that were lucky to ... |
How does engine cleaning fuel work? | Gasoline with no additives will rapidly carbon up an engine leading to poor economy and hard starting. Additives are added in small quantities to wear away the carbon faster than it builds up. The best known is Chevron's [Techron], polyetheramine. Other companies either license Techron or have developed additives with ... |
On a frosty morning, when I defrost my car windshield with a spray, why does the inside fog up in the meantime, when it was clear on the inside to start with? | Melting is an endothermic process - meaning that when you spray de-icer onto the window and the frost melts, the window actually gets _colder_. If the temperature of the window drops below the dew point of the air, then condensation will occurIf you are in the car, the vapor from your breath, coupled with the increase ... |
When it rains, why are there no issues with the electrified and exposed third rail on subway systems? | We don't have subways where I live. Can you name a subway of the "third rail" variety that is exposed to the elements? I thought they didn't have this problem because all the trains like that were subterranean. Systems where the electric line is up above the cars are easy to explain. It's just like a power line, really... |
How do people pitch ideas to companies and not get them stolen? | Companies do this all the time. You need to thoroughly document your idea, preferably with a lawyer witnessing, before you go and pitch it to a major company. Write everything down and date it, and make sure everything is a legally recognized document. Always cover your own ass. |
how do sleep aids work? | The specifics depend on the sleep aid, but the most common types contain diphenhydramine, which works by suppressing a specific type of signal in the brain, in turn resulting in sleepiness. Diphenhydramine can cause psychological dependence if it is abused. As far as drinking 5 hour energy and then Zzzquil, the outcome... |
How do international voting observers work? I hear them being in Russia and other politically unstable / dictatorial areas but haven't been interested until I heard the US will host them this election. | > Do they just go to a couple sites and see if people are doing something wrong? or do they go behind the scenes during the vote counting to count with officials? Both. Accredited observers, including international observers, *can* proceed to mill around the site throughout the day, looking incredibly bored, up to and ... |
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