query stringlengths 8 249 | answer stringlengths 45 7.8k |
|---|---|
Why aren't birds electrocuted when they stand on power lines? | Electricity wants to take the easiest way to the ground the wires that are used for the power lines have low resistance, meaning it is easy for the electricity to travel through it. whereas a bird has a high resistance so it is hard for the electricity to travel through it. therefore almost all the electricity will tra... |
Why chickens are not protective of their eggs like other birds? | I grew up on a small farm. We always had laying hens. So I can tell you from experience that you are mistaken completely. It varies between chicken breeds. Some breeds of chickens are "broody." Meaning they do a good job of laying eggs and taking care of them until they hatch. Broody hens will peck and claw you to the ... |
Why is it that each month, our country adds "250,000 jobs", but unemployment seems to remain the same? | The real answer is that the official unemployment rate has long been deflated because it doesn't include people who have looked for a job for so long and not had any success that they have given up. Those people are considered to be "not in the work force" and are therefore not "unemployed and looking for a job", which... |
What really happens when you get a blown motor? | That could mean a lot of different things. The timing belt could have snapped, causing the pistons to hit the valves. A connecting rod may have broken due to a spun bearing, punching a hole into the block as a result. Blown really just means irreparable damage, but it doesn't tell you what broke. And if it's an older c... |
Why is it in their nature for some animals to be so loyal and friendly towards humans while other animals despise us and are not friendly or loyal? | Generally the animals that are loyal and friendly have been bred and conditioned to be exactly that. Take dogs. We have spend thousands of years breeding them. We have selected certain traits that we enjoyed and bred them for that reason. Loyalty and friendliness were some of those reasons. And it is in the dog's best ... |
How do people become right handed or left handed? | I think it's still unknown. Scientists had a theory that it had to do with left or right brain dominance. But now it's pointing more towards genes.It is weird though. I'm right handed with writing, but left handed in sports .I started school ambidextrous, meaning I could write equally well with both hands. I was forced... |
Why and how does sex appeal change over time? | It's a combination of cultural and biological factors. Obviously its typical and instinctual to be attracted to the opposite sex and certain features that indicate health/child-rearing ability and the like. However, if you particularly like something or especially associate it with sex, either accidentally or because s... |
Why does (fire) cooked food taste better than raw food (mostly)? | > Is it an evolutionary thing so that we cook our food more? Evolution works in a kind of after the fact way. Those who cooked more survived better and thus reproduced moreThe [Maillard Reaction] occurs when the ~~enzymes~~ amino acids and sugars are "caramelized" which produces that yummy brown goodness. *just found o... |
Why do we only have Black Friday sales once a year? Why can't we have the deals all year long? | Some stores tried this. They found that they sell more if they have higher prices then drop them shortly for a sale than if they keep the sale-low prices all year. People just really like sales. |
how to birds fly so in sync in a flock? | I don't have sources, but I have heard a few explanations. First, they make the decision to move in any one direction based on a sort of democratic system. One bird might tilt its tail or wings a certain way, and that is its 'vote'. When a majority of the birds in the vicinity agree on which direction to move, they all... |
why do some cans get cold when shaken. | Its not actually getting colder, it just feels like its getting colder. When the can isn't shaken, heat is transferring between the liquid content of the can and your hand by conduction. When you shake the can, the liquid starts moving, and introduces heat transfer by convection. Convection has a much higher rate of he... |
Why do pregnant women with Ebola have a 95% chance of dying, (rather than the 40% chance of dying)? | During pregnancy, the immune system is suppressed to prevent the woman from rejecting the fetus. This makes fighting virulent infections a bit difficult. This is also why many women with autoimmune conditions experience remission during pregnancy. |
What will realistically happen in 20-30 years when the babyboom generation dies and their wealth is inherited/re-distributed? | You're making a lot of assumptions not necessarily tied to facts. You're assuming that a decent portion of that 4-10 trillion dollars are liquid assets just sitting in an account somewhere not being spent. A gigantic portion of that is guaranteed to be real estate and property that will simply be passed on as is. In ad... |
Why does warm air rise? | Density. Warm air has more energy in each particle which means it expands in volume. Equal mass but a higher volume means lower density. Hence,, they rise. Similarly, cold air has less energy per particle and tend to stick closer to each another. Equal mass with lower volume means high density. |
Why do I wake up tired after I've slept in? | If you wake up during the wrong stage of sleep you can feel extremely tired. This is why if you get up after your body wakes up normally you usually don't feel too exhasted, but getting woken up from an alarm can leave you devastatingly tired. This is just one possibility though, there are many others. |
How will planting a wall of trees across Africa stop the spread of the Sahara desert? | One thing that can lead to desertification is the loss of plant roots that hold soil in place and make it better at retaining moisture. Part of the hope is that the trees will help hold and enrich the soil while also providing some measure of wind break to decrease the extent to which to soil is stripped away. |
Do insects get hot from the sun? If so how do they cool down? | insects are cold blooded, so they generally prefer hot environments to colder ones. This is why there's suddenly millions of them around as spring turns into summer, and why most die off or 'hibernate' through the winter. In extreme heat conditions lots of insects have tricks they can use to survive; lots of them becom... |
Why do tennis balls come in a sealed container? | The rubber that tennis balls are made of tends to dry out, stiffen, become brittle and less bouncy if they are left out too long. "Fresh" tennis balls bounce better, and are thus preferred for actual tennis play. If you're just buying them to play fetch with your dog it doesn't matter too muchTennis balls are made out ... |
Why does breathing stop being a natural thing after we think about it | There is a part of our brain that controls heart beat, digestion muscles, everything we can't stop, is controlled by that part of our brain. He also controls blinking, breathing, and all things you don't have to control, but can choose to. Those functions have an override 'switch' that you can pull by thinking about it... |
The Bohemian Grove club? | Rich and powerful people drink a special juice that makes them happy then they dance in front of a giant owl statue in the forest. |
Why do most people sleep better when it rains / thunderstorms ? | I can't say I know for certain, but I'm guessing it has something to do with it being a calming noise to some. Eg. Waves on the ocean, raindrops, piano. I definitely sleep better when it's raining, so there's that.Instinctively we realize that the likelihood of an attack from predators is greatly diminished due to them... |
How did Mexico defeat France when they were clearly outnumbered? | At the battle of Puebla? The French weren't ready for a fight, and the Mexicans were. They had made much better defensive preparations than the French forces expected, so the French attacked expecting an easy victory and weren't able to react when they met stiff resistance. |
The speed of light and relativity | I think you are missing a key part of the theorem of relativity here. That is: **the speed of light is the same for ALL observers**. So, no matter how fast you are moving the velocity of light is still *c* . So lets consider your example: > if you had a flashlight and a rock, and the flashlight was moving at 200k kps r... |
How are these new chipped credit/debit cards offering more security when cashiers do not prompt us to enter a PIN, signature, or show ID? | While that is the case, most identity theft doesn't happen with your actual card. It happens when they get the card numbers. If you had your actual card stolen, you'd report that as soon as it happened. People using your card numbers isn't noticed until you see it on your bill.The goal of the chip is not to defend agai... |
Why/when did tea begin to lose its popularity in America? | Have you never stepped foot in the South? We drink gallons of sweet tea a dayTea is incredibly popular in the US. The standard beverage in the south during lunch or dinner is iced tea and most tend to drink 16-48 oz of it when they have it at a meal. You are correct that hot tea is less popular than coffee is as a hot ... |
Why doesn't water burn? | So, "burning" is combining something with oxygen , such that the final result is more chemically stable than what you started with. Now, I used a lot of potentially confusing terminology there. An oxidizing agent is simply a chemical or element that becomes more stable if it has extra electrons. Think of it as kind of ... |
Why do women enjoy sex even if they don't climax yet men are left relatively unsatisfied when they don't "finish the job"? | just think about what's actually necessary in order to reproduce.Armchair evolutionary psychology would suggest for the most part men cannot reproduce unless they climax, while women can, which leads to a greater need to climax in order to feel satisfiedFirst, it's worth mentioning that women find great satisfaction in... |
Why are there no (or few?) green mammals? | [From this], it would seem that the reason that there are no naturally green mammals -- I'm not counting sloths, whose green pigmentation comes about from algae in their fur -- is because hair colour is determined by melanin. Melanin doesn't have a green form. In birds and lizards, the skin is capable of [scattering bl... |
Why doesn't lightning kill all the fish in the ocean when it strikes? | Lightning like all electricity takes the easiest path to a ground. If it directly struck a fish it would kill it. Otherwise it follows the path of least resistance to the earth. |
How do gameshows get the money to just give away day after day? | A top network show like *NCIS* is paying about $2 million in episode in actors' salaries alone. A premium cable show like *Game of Thrones* runs $6 million an episode. Games shows are cheap by comparison no actors, no writers, no car chases, just a single set, a washed up actor and a few bimbos. They do it all in one t... |
Why does the body store unnecessary amounts of fat, to the point where humans can become morbidly obese? | You have to keep in mind that access to enough food to eat yourself to death is a fairly modern thing to have. Of the billions of years of life evolving that led to us, it's only in the last few thousand or so that this has been possible. If you don't have access to this much food, "storing unnecessary amounts of fat" ... |
Why doesn't the military/police use full body, completely enclosed, bullet proof armor? | It's called a tank. They put wheels on it. It would be more expensive than you're worth. stupid heavy, slow. Every shooter is taught to shoot center mass. |
Why are so many lists on the internet slideshow format? | Because websites get paid for ads per impression, and every new page is a new set of impressions. So instead of having one page where there's one impression for each ad, having 20 pages gives more impressions, and more money for the website operator. |
How is possible to watch a video file whilst downloading it at the same time? | Let's compare this to an highway in a building-process:On the start you've got the informations about the highway like the name and the length .Now the construction workers are getting the plans and the material from somewhere . With this information they build the street kilometer per kilometer . Once one more kilomet... |
Why sand/salt melts ice? | The sand is for traction, not so much to assist in melting. It helps cars grip the ice better. Ice is used because it lowers the freezing point of water. Water normally freezes at 32f, while salted water can stay liquid at 0fSand doesn't *melt* ice, it just provides traction. Salt "melts" ice because it essentially low... |
Beep sound used for censorship | It's normally 1k tone, which is a standard for testing audio in broadcast. Basically it's used because broadcasters have always had it available. Many times silence is used, but you notice it less. There may be rules in place that I am not aware of, but generally tone is used when the person's mouth is visible. 'Audio ... |
How are dental records used to identify bodies? | Teeth are one of the toughest parts of the body and everybody's history is different. In cases where the body is badly damaged/disfigured teeth may be the only recognizable remains. |
Magnetic door locks. How do they work? | The magnet is a simple electromagnet. There is an iron block welded or bolted to the door on one side, and there's a mounted system with more iron bars on the frame of the door. When it's active, there is electricity going through the part mounted on the frame, which holds that part and the part on the door together. W... |
In the event of mankind being wiped out (nuclear, asteroid, virus, zombies etc) what do the people aboard the ISS (and any manned spacecraft in orbit) do? | Die. Nothing else for it, it'll come sooner or later when they run out of the relevant resources needed to live. There wouldn't be any specific plans for the crew to follow, and even if there were everybody on board would know it doesn't matter anymore if there's nothing else to do but choose how they die. There's a fi... |
The aftermath of a sneeze. | Everyone gets the feeling, I don't know what causes it, probably something to do with blood pressure and heart rate stimulation |
Why do the Oscars award movies from the previous year? | They're held around the end of February. If they held Oscar's 2017, awarding only movies from 2017, they would only have two months of movies to award. Then, when February 2018 came around, they would miss the other 10 months of films of 2017 because they could only focus on films released in 2018 ", 'Oscars should be ... |
When a car is moving on TV or a movie the wheels look like they're moving backwards... | If you take a picture of a clock every minute, then show the pictures in rapid succession, it will go from 12:00 to 12:01 to 12:02 and it'll look like it's going forward. If you take a picture of a clock every 23 hours and 59 minutes, then show the pictures in rapid succession, it will go from 12:00 to 11:59 to 11:58 a... |
How did people originally translate languages? | By pointing at shit and saying what you called it. It's not a great technique fit explaining ennui, but for something like pig, it works just fine, and to be honest, in the days of 'first' most French people didn't know what ennui was. Once you have the verbal language written is just teaching the person to right like ... |
What is the concept of a nation-state, and how is it different from pre-WW1 concepts of soveirgnty? | Before nation states, countries were mostly owned by dynasties and/or aristocrats . Once countries converted into “war machines”, it became a sort of social contract between the state and the people, where the men would be conscripted into the war machine in exchange for a stake in the country’s management in the form ... |
Why do people hold their hand on a bible when making an oath? What if the person isn't Christian? | The "hand on the bible" gesture is purely symbolic. Meant to express that your words are all honest. If you are not Christian, you can ask for another religious text or governmentally binding, secular text where you will be asked to perform the same gestureThis country has a basis in Christianity, as do many of our law... |
Why and how does flour/dust explode? | It doesn't really explode, it burns. Explosives turn to gas almost entirely and this *new* gas causes a shockwave as it makes space for itself and pushes air away. Flour/dust burns, because it's dispersed fine particles it causes a huge fireball where entire volume is on fire, heating up the atmosphere air already ther... |
What do websites have to gain by making their visitors annoyed (from excessive popups/poor formatting/etc) to the point that they leave and never come back? | I think you may be talking about a specific type of site. They're not actually trying to provide value and they know you'll never come back. I'll simplify the numbers here but the obtrusive ads and sheer volume of them mean they get paid 2 cents in total for the page view where you saw the ads. They paid 1 cent to get ... |
what's actually happening to us when we "burnout"? | Will power is finite. It's not an unending well like some people would like you to think. For those that willpower comes easy to, they can by very dismissive of those for whom it comes very difficult. Might take you 5 will powers to not eat that cookie. Might take someone else 50 will powers. There are things that can ... |
the rise and fall of KODAK, and why won't it ever be a 'giant' again | They put all of their eggs in the film basket. They even invented digital cameras , but because they made the money when you bought the cameras, the flash cubes, the film, AND the processing, Kodak had it very good. They saw the digital camera as their enemy . Because they didn't move their business model to go with th... |
How does the website _URL_0_ make money? | They basically sell you to advertisers. Either they are selling your info to them , or they are selling access to your eyeballs to credit card companies. > Does this jeopardize the truthfulness of your credit report since it can be a conflict of interest? Not really. If your credit score is inaccurately high, then you ... |
How are companies going to make money from Automation when their customers are all unemployed? | Companies don't know and generally don't care: as long as automation can increase profits in the short term -- the current and next quarter -- it's a good decision and usually provides a competitive advantage. The long term problem of having no middle class buyers is beyond the planning horizon of most companies and go... |
Since a country can print its own currency indefinitely, why can't the US for example just arbitrarily pay off all its debt that way? | Yes. The more money in circulation, the less it's really worth, period.Let's imagine "Purchasing Power" as a cake. Lets imagine "Dollars" as tickets. The tickets serve as coupons to get a cake. > 1 Cake = 1 Ticket. If I simply print more tickets, but don't produce more cakes, the value of the tickets decreases. For exa... |
What are gimmicks, and why are they often considered bad? | A gimmick is something that makes something appeal better, without adding anything in generalThe broad term "gimmick" just means something that is used by advertisements and other companies to make their product stand out and seem unique. It is usually like a cool trick or another unusual aspect about their product. |
Why does cooked fish irritate an allergy but sushi/sashimi does not? | There was a study done with raw vs cooked pea allergies, that found there were cases where those allergic to the raw pea were not the cooked version. It was found that cooking the pea altered the allergen enough that the patients no longer caused a reaction. My hypothesis from this is the cooked allergen in fish is wha... |
The eurozone crisis. Whats going on? | Greece accumulated a shit load of debt. They can't cover that debt. They need the rest of the eurozone to bail them out. Other countries don't want to, but they share the same currency as Greece, so Greece failing would also hurt them. |
Why are my muscles feeling sore after a poor night's sleep? | I can think of a few things that cause this. Most importantly, your body makes a large chunk of repairs to your muscles during sleep. If your muscles are damaged , then not sleeping well will mean your body isn't able to repair as much as it otherwise would have. Especially if you're done an intensive workout, this mea... |
Why are so many retail stores uniforms a blue shirt and khaki pants? | The khaki's represent a laid-back atmosphere to make customers feel welcome and comfortable. The color blue is meant to represent loyalty, trust and intelligence. |
How Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and other oil export depending countries are dealing so differently with low oil prices. | Imagine you have several households, and all of them have one family member with a pretty decent income as salesmen . However, some of them have to commute further than others, and have other expenses that mean they get to keep less of their total pay. If sales drop low enough, it actually costs them more to sell their... |
Why is it easier for non-native English speakers to sing, than to speak, with good pronunciation? | That's because we repeat the sounds we hear, instead of processing the sound from scratch. Imagine speaking like drawing a horse, isn't it easier to copy one from your drawing book than drawing one from a blank piece of paper? |
How did presenters create slides with text and graphics in the 80's? | As a college student in the 1990's I had to do a lot of these for my courses. There was a way to use a copier - certain brands of transparencies could be fed to a copier and the grapics printed on them. Our library sold the brand that worked for the Xerox copiers, back then the wrong brand would melt and jam the machin... |
When installing updates on my computer, why am I required to close applications completely unrelated to the update? | Hard to give a more concrete explanation without an example, but it's pretty much because applications can use common resources, and you have to make sure everything stays consistent. For instance, if you're updating some video plugin, Chrome may use it. You have to close Chrome and restart it with the new version of t... |
Considering the amount of crap we cram into our bodies, why is urine commonly shades of yellow to brown and not purple or green? | There's a few reasons. 1) artificial dies and food colorings can't always survive the digestive tract intact, so they break down into their constituent parts, which aren't always as vibrantly colored. 2) The digestive tract may not pass the dyes into the bloodstream, so the kidneys may never have the opportunity to fil... |
Why does some cheese have holes? | The answer to your question is "a big-eyed bacteria named Sherman". First, a bit about process. If you want to make cheese - any cheese - you need the help of bacteria. When you add bacteria to milk, it makes lactic acid and gives the cheese a lot of its taste. Once that's done, a milk-clotting enzyme called rennet is ... |
Why do websites like Facebook and Youtube feel a constant need to change format? | Well that's internal information, so people who don't work at one of the companies in question can only guess. I'll take a shot at it, though. First, just because a certain design works doesn't mean it's perfect. Everything can be improved, and Facebook and Google probably think they're doing exactly that. Second, chan... |
What is this cosmetic product really? Where does it come from? | the complex names really just come from the molecules themselves. If you're trained in organic chemistry, you can read the name and know exactly what elements and how many are in the compound. It goes a little like this deca - 10 methyl - A carbon atom bonded to 3 Hydrogens, so 10 of these. cyclo - arranged in a circle... |
Why aren't the oceans getting saltier? | They are getting saltier. The reason we do not notice is that there is a very small percentage change even over millions of years. The dead sea is a very small body of water compared to the rest of the ocean and its relatively isolated compared to the most oceans/seas. the dead see also would not of gotten that much sa... |
I'm aware of optical and auditory illusions...are there illusions for the other senses i.e. smell and taste? | There are but there probably are not as many because sight and hearing can be replicated easily , while smell and taste require actual physical particles. For taste, there is a fruit called the miracle fruit or miracle berry that after eating them, it causes sour foods to taste sweet. This is due to a chemical in the f... |
When it comes to movies/tv shows, what is the difference between directors and producers? | This can vary a lot from production to production. However, generally directors tend to be the one with the vision, on the set telling how the actors should act and how to present the story. Producers tend to be the ones making sure the tv show/film is on a reasonable budget on time, and the channel/studio/sponsors/pro... |
Does Listening to An Audiobook Affect the Brain the Same Way Reading a Book Would? | No. Reading text and processing auditory language involve separate brain structures, although many people [sub-vocalize] while reading, involving both brain structures. Another major difference is speed and comprehension. Some people comprehend text better than audio, and some the other way around. If your brain prefer... |
Two objets at certanly distence. Can we put them closer each other by the half distance indefinitely? . I mean the half of the distance, then the half of that distance ......thx | Theoretically, in abstract terms yes. There will mathematically always be another half distance you can divide by. But real world physics don't permit for this. There is a phenomenon called the Planck Unit, which I suppose you could think of as the "resolution of the universe". Much like a screen cannot show something ... |
What is the point of putting a video consisting of only a still image onto a Facebook page? | Hey there! Facebook's algorithms place more 'value' on a video, and will place it higher in the feed, and is more likely to deliver it to more of the people following your page. You get more 'bang for your buck' by placing ad money in a video instead of a static image. Movement also catches people's eye, and they're mo... |
How does Netflix make money/earn a profit off of Netflix Original TV and Films? | The same way any channel makes money by producing shows. They produce something because they want you to subscribe to their channel. They license stuff out based on the show. They make a dvd and blu ray of the season. They sell it to syndication on cable channels. If it's not fantasy stuff like Game of Thrones they can... |
Why do some games run on a mac but not on linux if both are unix based os. | They're not UNIX-*based*, they're UNIX-*like*. MacOS is based on FreeBSD, which i a very different operating system than Linux. Furthermore, MacOS has it's own *completely* custom GUI and graphics APIs than Linux does. Only the very, very basic components of a game would be easy to port over.In short, because they are ... |
When copying files from one device to another, why does the transfer speed slowly decrease over time? | Your computer can only create and allocate files on a device just *so* fast, so if you have lots of little files there will be a lot of overhead of creating the files themselves on the destination drive. You will see a speed increase if you're copying larger files as your computer doesn't have to worry about naming etc... |
Why do humans find eyeless or pitch black eyes scary/unsettling? | It's called The [Uncanny Valley], and it's not limited to eyes. Basically, the closer something gets to looking human, the more we can sympathise with it - until it gets to be about 95%-99% human. Then it *freaks us the hell out*. Basically if something is just a bit off. Eyes may have the additional trigger of us bein... |
Why do lakes freeze but rivers don't, in the same temperature? | Water in lakes is still, so it has time to freeze. Rivers are flowing, so water is constantly moving, making freezing much more difficultThe water particles of a river are vibrating more than that of a still lake. Heat is the name for the amount of kinetic energy of the movement of particles. |
Why can’t we capitalize numbers like how we capitalize letters? | We do; we just stopped mostly using the “lowercase” numerals. [This] is what numerals used to look like. Some typefaces still provide such “old-style numerals” or “text figures” instead of or in addition to the newer “lining figures”There is no point or meaning to do so.Numbers are exactly what they are.Letters are to ... |
How/ can people be sentenced to multiple 'life-sentences' in prison? | People are given a sentence for each charge they are guilty of. If you commit 4 murders you can be sentenced to 4 separate life sentences. It's largely redundant but allows prosecutors to stack charges against people and allow justice in each of the cases of the criminals victim.Because if you commit 48 crimes, and the... |
What's the biological purpose of males getting sleepy after ejaculation? | It's about pair bonding. If you fall asleep next to your partner you are likely to wake up next to them. It's to promote bonding. |
How did Dubai become so rich and prosperous so "quickly" | First they discovered oil, then they started selling oil. Then they formed the UAE and aligned with the western world rather than the lunatic dictators in the middle east. they also arranged their city in such a way that made it very attractive for foreigners to do business/live there. tldr: oil |
How/why did SDCC become so big? | Big things have been happening there over the last few years so it draws more and more attention. Kind of along the lines of Black Friday. More hype every year makes it bigger and draws more people. |
How can people be allergic to lobster but not other shell fish? | There is more than one type of shellfish allergy. Some people can eat lobster, but not any of the others. |
Why have they not started issuing social security cards in plastic form like the DMV does with drivers licenses? | Oh god somebody please answer this. I never understood using that damn piece of paper as an item for your I-9 verification. It looks like something a half baked forger can copy.The reason I've always heard is so that it will deteriorate more quickly if you ever lose it.The reason for this is if you lose it outside it w... |
How do some people sleep with their eyes open? | You do not want to learn. I have this, and it's a disease. I have no control over it. I don't even have it severely and have to put a jelly paste in my eyes multiple times a night which is also a pain in the ass in the morning. If I don't put the paste in my eyes I wake up with a horrible burning sensation from my eyes... |
Who is a bigger drag on healthcare premiums: The uninsured or the insured sick? | both? neither? In the US you're going to struggle to find someone who actually turns away a person in need of healthcare, even if they're uninsured. They will go the the ER, the ER will process them, and try to bill them for whatever they can. In light of the fact that this uninsured person can't afford insurance, they... |
how does muscle contraction and the sliding and Calcium thing work? | Thats not eli 5 material I think but anyway. Muscles are bound od something like 2 kinds in planks laid in rows: row of planks a, row of planks b, row of planks a etc etc. Planks b have one head at a 90 degrees angle at each ens, towards either the row above or below. When muscles contract those heads bind to planks a,... |
What's the legitimate purpose of a water tower? | It regulates water pressure for an entire area with a single control, by using gravity to create water pressure. You fill up the water tower, and the water coming out of the tower is under pressure from the weight of the water above it. Otherwise you would need to have a pump that keeps the pressure up, and it would ha... |
What gives a person their own unique tone or pitch in their voice, and why are men and women voices so vastly different? | There are actually quite a few factors. The larynx is the primary organ in vocalizing. It's where the vocal chords are located, and different shapes will result in different tones. Men tend to have a larger larynx with longer vocal chords, giving them a deeper voice than women. In addition to the larynx, the shape of t... |
How did someone decide where all the keys went on the common keyboard? Was it random or is there actually a scientific reason behind their placement? | The reason for the QWERTY keyboard we use today goes back to the first mechanical typewriters in the 1860's. At first, typewriter keyboards were arranged in alphabetical order, but there were problems--specifically, when quickly typing two letters that were next to each other on the keyboard, the mechanical arms that d... |
what is the difference between body wash and shampoo? If im hairy cant i just use shampoo for my body? | Body wash can be excessive harsh on your hair, stripping it and turning it into straw , Shampoo is gentler, generally, washing out any hair products and environmental buildup without stripping it completely. You can use shampoo on your body, but, personally, I've never used a shampoo whose scent I'd like to have spread... |
How is it legal for a Greyhound bus to allow people to stand up in the middle of the aisle going 65 on the highway when seatbelt laws are so enforced? | [The answer to your question], and [a story from a kid inside a flipping bus].The reason people get thrown through windshields when they are not wearing seatbelts is that their bodies keep moving even though the car has slowed down or stopped. This is because of inertia, the tendency of objects that are already in moti... |
If Ant Man just shrinks but stays the same mass, how come when he runs on a bad guys weapon it doesn't tilt forward with 150lbs pressing down? | OH SHIT! YOU SIR, youuuuuuuuuuuuu should not say such things if I were you that is uhhh .very observant of you does he stay the same mass? So he's just more dense .I feel like that opens a HUGE can of worms for this scientifically oh well comics, super heroes, what you gonna do", 'Seriously? It's because "comic book". ... |
Why was the "Great Potato Famine" so devastating? | There was actually plenty of food there, but England was claiming most of it and having it shipped across the channel. On top of that because of the potato the population was well above what natural sources could provide. Even if you fished the waters till nothing lived it wouldn't be enough food and still problem one ... |
What's the difference between someone who has a learning disability and someone who's just stupid/slow/dumb? | I would think of it in terms of a computer. Stupid or dumb would just be someone with a slow processor. Everything works fine, it just doesn't work that fast. A learning disability would be a hardware defect. Maybe there is a problem in ram causing a corruption of data the computer is working perfectly fast enough, it ... |
Why did adding laugh tracks to comedy shows become the norm? | Originally, the shows were filmed before a live audience, or just aired live with an audience, so people got used to the laughter and producers thought that they wouldn't like the silence. A fair number of modern shows still have the audience, actually. I'm not sure how many actually add a laugh track. |
What makes something Machiavellian and what are some examples? | Machiavelli wrote the Prince, which is a guidebook for political advancement through social climbing, manipulation and what we would now think of as branding or PR, and then instructions on how to consolidate and maintain power once you acquire it. In short, it's a how-to book for scheming your way to individual succes... |
What is inflation and deflation and why is it bad? | Inflation is when prices over time increase and deflation is when they decrease. Another way to say it is that inflation is currency becoming worth less and deflation is when it becomes worth more. Neither is inherently good or bad. But you can have a stable value of currency too, it's just rare. Say you have a loan fo... |
Why don't people run out of air in a submarine? | Modern subs have machines called Electrolysers. Basically, these machines take seawater, and split up the hydrogen and oxygen molecules and the oxygen is then stored in tanks for use. Subs also have scrubbers that remove CO2 and recirculate the oxygen from when we exhale.Depends on the submarine. Old submarines had to ... |
why my helium balloon stops floating after a few days | Helium is an extremely small molecule, it will squeeze out through even the best the seals and through the tiny gaps in the balloon material itself. Eventually enough has escaped that the balloon is no longer buoyant.The seal isn't perfect, so regular air gets in and helium gets out over time. |
Why does the body wake up starving when it consumes a lot of food before bed, but wakes up fine if it doesn't? | Hunger isn't always regulated by whether you have enough total energy. Other factors such as whether your body thinks its using up a lot of energy affect hunger as well. When you eat late at night, especially something sugary or filled with simple carbs, you get a boost of glucose in your blood before bed. Your body re... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.