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AskHistorians/cj8efml
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2bqyo2
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How did the Protestant Reformation in 1500's Europe spread?
|
First, the church didn't control governments; that's false, and there was a great deal of church-state tension throughout all Christian Europe. The only areas directly administered by the church were the Romagna, Avignon, and some cathedral towns, but even in the cathedral towns, control over the bishops who ruled from the cathedral was contested between ecclesiastical and secular powers. As a result there were always rulers for whom the reformation of the church was irrelevant, or something they actively supported. The Elector of Saxony was (I believe) the earliest secular ruler to shelter Luther; by the time the Holy Roman Empire cared enough to bring military power to bear, the reformation had spread enough that there were a number of Protestant princes in Germany, who formed the Schmalkaldic league. Also remember that the reformation was a struggle within the church, not from outside it. The leaders of the reformation were mostly ordained priests and monks. In many senses the reformers were more fervently religious than the secular, not to say libertine, papal court. There had always been factions within the church, on questions of practice, theology, and international politics; and in this case whole institutions went over to the Reformation, and supported it. Where both the local government and the church were unfavorable, the reformation spread by lay preaching. Lay preaching was unusually effective in part because, at the beginning of the reformation, authorities loyal to the pope would banish lay preachers for a first offense, rather than imprisoning or executing them. This created a sort of contagion, as it forced protestants activists to keep moving, bringing their message to new cities. This answers part of your question about literacy - as with any religious movement, oratory was very important. But also remember that it was possible to print tracts or even gospels illegally, or to smuggle them from pro-protestant cities. Literacy was high enough that there was an audience for vernacular scriptures. Of course, this audience was larger in literate urban areas. Indulgences were unpopular for exactly the reason you cite. Devout Christians, especially in Germany, felt that they were making a mockery of biblical teachings about sin.
| 2 |
AskReddit/czhocjz
|
43et5a
|
How did sanctions on russia hit everyday russian people?
|
The main impact was to collapse the ruble, which hit import goods badly, but Russian consumer-driven retail was still relatively new enough that it was less devastating to the average Russian than to upperwardly-mobile Muscovites.
| 2 |
AskReddit/c1gife0
|
fk2wk
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How close does Superman have to be to kryptonite in order to be affected by it?
|
Actually, all of the kryptonite in the universe does affect Superman to some extent, no matter how far away it is. Without its effects Superman would go supercritical and blow up half the galaxy. So no more of your harebrained schemes to eliminate all the kryptonite in the universe!
| 2 |
askscience/cp65976
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2y34uo
|
How do scientists create constants for an equation and why are they needed?
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They aren't really created, they're measured. Many scientific laws are statements of proportionality. For example, Newton's law of gravitation could be expresses as "The gravitational force between two bodies is proportional to each of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers of mass," which would be symbolically written F∝m1*m2/r^(2). The definition of proportionality is that if two quantities are proportional, say a∝b, then in all cases their ratio is equal. So given two values for a, a1 and a2, and two corresponding values for b, b1 and b2, this means a1/b1 = a2/b2. As this is true in all cases, this ratio must be some constant, which we call the "proportionality constant", a/b=k. We can then rewrite the original statement of proportionality as an an equation a=k*b. Going back to Newton's law of gravitation, the law is so important that we give the proportionality constant its own symbol, G, and write the equation as F=G*m1*m2/r^(2). Now, there's another part of this, which is "Why make a proportionality statement in the first place, instead of a statement of equality?" In that you're correct that it comes down to units. The statement "F=m1*m2/r^(2)" doesn't make sense (in SI units), because one side is a force, with units of kg-m/s^(2), and the other side has units kg^(2)/m^(2), so a statement of proportionality is the next best thing. On the other hand, there are other systems that physicists often use, in which important physical constants like G and c are defined to be 1. In those systems, the above equality is actually correct.
| 6 |
AskReddit/d3sj3bj
|
4m4jah
|
What tv show from previous generations had the same level of popularity/discussion as Game of Thrones?
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It's tough to compare, really, because a variety of changes in television (production, distribution, and display) have transformed what how we interact with television. Shows in the past were far more popular in the sense that more people and a higher percentage of viewers would tune in, since options were much more limited. This season's premiere set a series record of almost 11 million viewers, including streamers. In it's lowest-rated season after its first, MASH averaged almost 16 million, and that didn't even put it in the top 10 shows. Up until the mid-90s, an average of 11 million viewers wouldn't even put a series in the top 30. So in a sense the popularity of the show doesn't compare. But, on the other hand, the structure of shows has changed significantly, with audiences expecting more complicated plot lines and more complicated and long-formed narrative arcs within and between seasons. This facilitates discussion. And, of course, our contemporary media environment facilitates such discussions in ways that previous generations didn't have access to. So shows are, overall, less popular but more discussed. That said, there were a lot of highly-rated shows that also inspired cultural discussion among them Seinfeld, Cheers, MASH, LA Law, Thirty-Something, and All in the Family. (This is overly-sitcom heavy, but these are the first that come to mind.) The Sopranos--that changed just about everything.
| 2 |
AskReddit/d6b3rl5
|
4wy7sc
|
Which celebrity's death will most affect/upset you when it happens?
|
Brian Wilson. He and his music have had such an incredible impact on me. The last celebrity who's death really affected me was Dave Brubeck. I heard the news on the radio on my way to class. I ended up aimlessly driving around the parking lot just listening to his music and crying. Completely missed class and had no idea.
| 2 |
AskReddit/ey4x0ky
|
cvlrqv
|
What is something that you're really good at but people who don't know you don't even dream it?
|
I've lived in Japan for almost 10 years. My Japanese is pretty decent, but people always assume I can only speak English. I'm also pretty good at English, specifically writing. But people back home used to think I was 'acting White' when really, I just understood the language better than they did.
| 3 |
AskReddit/d3bnj9c
|
4k2s71
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What are you professional in?
|
There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe. Even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment. It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet. I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat. There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn't match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him. The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace. We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot asked Center for a readout of his ground speed. Center replied: "November Charlie 175, I'm showing you at ninety knots on the ground." Now the thing to understand about Center controllers, was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna, or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional, tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the " Houston Center voice." I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country's space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the Houston controllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that, and that they basically did. And it didn't matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios. Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed. "I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed." Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. "Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check". Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a readout? Then I got it, ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: "Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground." And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done - in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet. Then, I heard it. The click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: "Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?" There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request. "Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground." I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: "Ah, Center, much thanks, we're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money." For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A.came back with, "Roger that Aspen, Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one." It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.
| 7 |
explainlikeimfive/cf560aj
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1wtaw8
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What is the resolution of the human eye and how do we know?
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Here is some (largely uncited) info from wikipedia >Although there are more than 130 million retinal receptors, there are only approximately 1.2 million fibres (axons) in the optic nerve; a large amount of pre-processing is performed within the retina. The fovea produces the most accurate information. Despite occupying about 0.01% of the visual field (less than 2° of visual angle), about 10% of axons in the optic nerve are devoted to the fovea. The resolution limit of the fovea has been determined at around 10,000 points.[clarification needed] See visual acuity. The information capacity is estimated at 500,000 bits per second (for more information on bits, see information theory) without colour or around 600,000 bits per second including colour.[citation needed] To make it a bit more ELI5 friendly: Our eyes do not have a resolution in the same terms as displays. We have 130 million receptors in our eye that can detect light. This information is compressed to fit in to our optic nerve the data cable to our brain, which has in part 1.2 million nerve fibres. So on average 100 cells share 1 nerve fibre. One tiny spot of our retina, the fovea has far less compression, not as many light receptors share the same nerve fibre. The "resolution" in this spot is far higher then in the rest of the eye. How do we know this? I imagine people cut open an eye and looked with a really powerful microscope at different bits of the eye and started counting samples. Then they multiplied those samples according to how many of those similar pieces would fit in an eye to get a good guess. You an imagine different parts of the eye need different samples to get a more accurate guess.
| 8 |
AskReddit/dql54q2
|
7gqlv3
|
What is one thing you're always telling people you don't want that you secretly want very badly?
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Flowers. I am a female and have told people (hubby) not to get me flowers when I really want them. However, we have cats and have to put the flowers where they can't get them/I can't see them. Also, I hate seeing them die. So, I we don't get flowers anymore.
| 3 |
AskReddit/cu9frzu
|
3hpt10
|
What does intimacy mean to you?
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There's a huge amount of personal issues I rarely talk about. Basically because I'm ashamed of them but if I feel that I can talk about them, that's intimacy for me. In other words, intimacy is a high level of trust.
| 3 |
AskReddit/c488ve0
|
rsaw9
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Should I get married to keep my relationship together?
|
My girlfriend broke up with me for the same reason recently. If you are feeling this way now, getting married won't make it go away. You need to tell him. It is going to break his heart, and yours, but you can't just pretend. Otherwise your marriage is doomed to failure. If you don't break it off now, you will later. If you truly do love him, then maybe things will work out after you get whatever it is out of your system. EDIT: And you say 'only 28'.Not that you're old by any means, but do you really think 28 is young to be getting married?
| 3 |
AskReddit/e0bmzoh
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8pjdkj
|
What celebrity death had an impact on you?
|
I don't know if I just lack empathy, but honestly none of them have really affected me. I don't know if I am a freak or if other people just pretend to care because it seems like the right thing to do, but I just don't get it. I've never felt genuine sorrow at the death of a celebrity; sure there are some I wish hadn't died, but that's it. I guess my point is it sucks that someone's child, parent, or loved one died, but it's the same as if any stranger died to me.
| 12 |
AskReddit/cnkoldi
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2rzd3l
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What's the worst thing that happened to you on one of your birthdays?
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I never had a birthday party bash,it was just cake and a gift which I had to earn by doing chores on that day which naturally lead to chaotic and argument filled birthdays growing up.
| 3 |
AskHistorians/cuw5uoj
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3k5jvk
|
How was the Fach system of vocal classification developed?
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So the origins of the Fach, as you might guess from the name, are in Germany, predominantly in German repertory opera in the 19th century. Repertory opera, as you probably know, is a troupe of players that performs a wide array of operas, wherein a single cast will learn a number of operas, and alternate performing them throughout the year. To the best of my knowledge and research, it was simply developed by these companies as a means of pigeon-holing singers' voices, so that they could be cast in a group of roles that were suited to them, and thereby you could make an entire cast that could handle a full Rossini/Mozart/Donizetti schedule, and another cast that could do Verdi/Wagner and group it together that way. As far as it developing with vocal pedagogy, certainly a ludicrous amount of pedagogy has grown up with it, and alongside it, but it doesn't seem to have pedagogical origins. As a "perfect" definition, Fach would be directly related to the size and weight of the vocal folds. The lighter the folds, the lighter and more flexible the voice, and the heavier the folds, the stronger, louder and less agile the voice. However, in reality, it never works out this cleanly. As a basic list of Fachs you have: Coloratura: very light, fast, flexible Lyric: less flexible, more weight, better stamina and lyric passages Dramatic: Very loud, tons of stamina and weight (often literally), and less flexibility And then you have the in-betweens: Leggero: In between coloratura and lyric Spinto: In between lyric and dramatic And then to confuse matters more, you have Fachs that, while technically are real Fachs, they are more of a description of the type of character being played than of the style of voice required. These include the Soubrette Soprano, the Comic Tenor and the Heroic Baritone. While, yes, these are a valid Fach, it's pretty rare for someone's voice to be so specialized that someone would be ONLY a Soubrette Soprano, and not be able to sing the majority of the coloratura, or even lyric repertoire. Then you get the Dramatic Coloratura. By all accounts, if the Fach system was simply a matter of thickness of vocal folds, this Fach shouldn't exist, and yet it does, and there are plenty of examples of actual, real Dramatic Coloraturas. While most of these roles are performed by Dramatics who have some good fast notes, or Coloraturas who can sing loud, there do exist a few of the real deal. Mozart's Queen of the Night is a notorious example of a Dramatic Coloratura role, and one that is almost exclusively performed by coloraturas, because almost no one else can hit those damned F6s. And then you have people like me; the Zwischenfach (meaning literally "between Fachs") who can easily and comfortably sing the Mezzo Soprano and Soprano repertoire. If truth be told, I can comfortably to the entire contralto rep too, but since it's like 2 songs, I don't mention it. Again, that shouldn't exist. People like Maria Callas shoudn't exist, and she happily trod from Coloratura to Dramatic with little difficulty, and great acclaim. And there a plenty of roles with ridiculous ranges like Vitellia from Mozart's Clemenza di Tito which requires a G3 and a D6 from the singer. The former being out of range for any soprano, and the latter being beyond the expected range of all mezzos, and even many sopranos. So then you get the vocal pedagogy, which, while it still uses the Fach system, rarely pigeon holes any singer into exclusively singing one set of repertoire the way Kloiber and the German Repertory Theatre would have done. While there are singers who specialize in a single style, or even a single composer, it's more common for a singer to identify with a certain Fach, but sing roles outside of it, but that still fit the colour and the timbre of the voice. Sometimes the classifications were set by the composer, and sometimes later by the opera community. Sometimes roles don't fit nicely into one fach, and many times you'll find roles listed as a different fach in different documents. There's also the matter of how voices have changed. Verdi Baritones, for example, are a very new thing. Verdi has baritones singing much higher than they normally would, typically in the top third of their range. So the baritones that are comfy with this will specialize, or the bari-tenors will take it on because they're happy in that range, or the Dramatics with great stamina will just go for it. So who is the role for? And, more importantly, what do audiences want to hear? And what did audiences want to hear 100 years ago, vs. now? Now you expect Queen of the Night to be a top coloratura, even though that's not what the role called for. Carmen is a Dramatic and so is Don Jose, but they're normally performed by lyric singers in many companies, because that's what audiences want. Does it change the role, or the singer, or neither? .so I realize this answer is a whole lot of speculation, other than the origins bit, but it's hard to nail down someone that is so contentious, and inexact, with so many exceptions and so many people that disagree with the system entirely.
| 3 |
AskReddit/ca9gzka
|
1fejha
|
If a mafia thug beats up a friend or family of yours, would you call the police?
|
I'd ask the person who got beat up first. If they double-crossed someone in a drug deal or some financial scam and that's what got the mafia involved I may end up doing them more harm than good by going to the police.
| 2 |
explainlikeimfive/dkkdsxk
|
6ouyvw
|
Why does our voice sound different to us compared to how others hear it?
|
You hear your voice differently because you aren't just hearing the sound waves that go in your ear. You're also hearing the vibrations that travel through your skull. Since bone is denser than air the vibrations travel at a different speed and are therefore heard differently by you than other people hear them.
| 4 |
AskReddit/eh0cyqi
|
atcn3f
|
What is the shittiest way/reason someone broke up with you?
|
I was the one doing the breaking up here. But, one hot summers day my buddy was eating a Klondike bar and I asked him for some. This boy looked me in my face and told me he would give me some if i broke up with my girlfriend. Well, I got me some of that klondike bar but the best part of all this he didnt stop eating the klondike bar. So what i ended up with was a sticky melted corner.
| 3 |
AskReddit/dhukbae
|
6ch3jz
|
What's an assumption that people make about time?
|
People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly. time-y wimey. stuff.
| 2 |
explainlikeimfive/cmt8787
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2p4aun
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How do animals that are born from an egg survive and grow in the egg without oxygen for so long?
|
Eggs are porous - they have teeny tiny holes in the shell, which allows oxygen to travel between the outside air & the inside of the egg. This is why you shouldn't store eggs in a smelly environment - the smell can permeate through the shell and change the taste of the egg.
| 10 |
AskReddit/e7ienqt
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9mzcv4
|
In the spirit of Spooktober, what's the scariest thing that happened to you on a Halloween night?
|
I'd bought enough candy for the neighborhood (small farming community) children, plus some extra in case any neighboring farming towns' kids wandered over. Then I saw the buses coming in. Multiple huge buses jam-packed with kids being shipped out from New York City, traveling from town to town. That doesn't sound scary, but when nearly out of candy (and the night's barely begun) and about 40 kids are jostling right at my door (with more coming)? I felt my heart freezing and my stomach plummeting. Lol. I don't mind kids being brought out from NYC to NY's countryside for trick-or-treating, but they'd swept through all the tiny towns and hamlets. I heard almost everyone was wiped out of candy, and a lot of the local kids didn't get any. It's a yearly thing now, but most of the locals don't buy candy any more (or just save it for family / friends' kids, and don't participate in trick-or-treating) because most people can't afford getting so much candy to hand out.
| 3 |
askscience/ej4k6bi
|
b45rb3
|
Is it possible to navigate without GPS and satellites using the earth's geomagnetic field instead (like birds do)?
|
No matter how accurately you measure the magnetic field of the earth, that's still all the information you have: magnetic field. This can only be used to tell relative directions. Even if you knew how the field strength and direction varied all over the Earth's surface, you could only narrow your position down to an isomagnetic line, not a unique point. If you had no idea what your latitude and longitude were at your starting point, you couldn't determine it. If you knew your starting point a sufficiently accurate compass would allow you to know your position as you move, as long as you keep track of your heading and distance travelled. Map and compass navigation can be very accurate.
| 3 |
AskReddit/d12qc0h
|
4aqsyr
|
Who would you not buy a used car from?
|
Anyone who isn't a dealer. Dealers are held to strict regulations for selling used cars where I live, and they are fined if they do not hold up those regulations. I don't know enough about cars to buy one from some random person.
| 3 |
explainlikeimfive/corkjs2
|
2wjkob
|
Would it be possible to turn a pool into an aquarium one could swim in?
|
Not sure if it would work, but what if you converted the pool into a salt-water pool, and then did a salt-water aquarium? I know that salt water pools are really awesome (not harsh on your skin and such like chlorine pools), and not much harder to maintain.
| 2 |
explainlikeimfive/d2f4hqv
|
4g73ek
|
What is the difference between representation and promotion?
|
Representation is aimed at the industry -- a representative tries to sell their client to producers, directors, etc., i.e. the people who create the media -- film, TV, music, theatre, etc. Promotion is aimed at the public -- a PR agency tries to sell their client to the public -- the people who buy the media made by the producers, etc.
| 2 |
askscience/cb867q8
|
1itayw
|
Will a bottle of isopropyl alcohol explode in my car?
|
Worst Case Scenario Heat rises, pressure of alchohol rises as it heats up vapor is released, or the vessel ruptures car gets mixture of isopropyl alcohol (you would need a acceptable ignition mix for this to light if you held a lighter to it, explosion wont just occur) Car smells like alcohol Nothing happens you roll down the window because of the smell.
| 3 |
explainlikeimfive/dh5irei
|
69chm1
|
How does it work getting Wi-Fi on planes?
|
You connect to the Wi-Fi once you reach acceptable altitude. Open your browser and it will redirect you to a payment portal. You can pay by the hour, day, or have a monthly subscription. After that, you are connected. If you're asking how they get their internet, it is beamed down from satellite, so expect high latency.
| 2 |
explainlikeimfive/cdnjxpl
|
1ri5pk
|
What is the purpose of punishing a company/corporation with new laws/regulations/fines if the company is going to find new ways around them?
|
A regulation - let's say, to tie max wages to wages of lowest paid employee - has various effects. Some companies might pay lower wage workers more, others pay higher wage workers less, others try to have their lower paid employees not technically be 'employees', etc. If this regulation is enforced, then changes will happen. However, if the regulation is poorly written, it might be easy to get around so that its intended effect fails to happen, or there are unintended negative effects. This can happen often with hastily written or politically motivated legislation. While there may always be some incentive to get around the rules, sometimes compliance is easier. Maximum work hours, child labor laws, minimum wage laws, etc. are generally complied with. In fact, large powerful corporations are generally better at complying with those laws than small businesses, because they are a bigger target for enforcement, class action lawsuits, etc. Often the regulations themselves are not the only thing that results in compliance, but a shift in cultural standards and norms can also help (e.g. non-discrimination laws). Overall, though, it's false that in all cases "very little actually happens or comes about".
| 2 |
explainlikeimfive/dbpcgq1
|
5ko2a3
|
Why are oceans salty?
|
Rain does not dilute the oceans because evaporation removes water while leaving the salt behind. Salinity varies both geographically and by depth. Currents and temperature changes also make the oceans from from uniform.
| 4 |
AskHistorians/c8if88g
|
18v179
|
Are there any instances in history when a once-disdained conspiracy theory was later revealed to be correct?
|
Would the The Tuskegee Syphilis Study fall under conspiracy theory? I know there were families of the victims of these tests who thought something was amiss but by no means was it a 'grassy knoll' type conspiracy. Nonetheless the government certainly kept the lid closed on these experiments until they were finally exposed in the early 70's.
| 17 |
AskReddit/cmaq8yd
|
2n6eg7
|
What is the worst thing you have mistaken for a tube of toothpaste and used?
|
There's a shaving cream that comes in a similar tube. It was early one morning and I hadn't gotten my usual sleep. Needless to say it took about 30 seconds to realize my mistake. YUCK.
| 2 |
askscience/coje47j
|
2vnt2o
|
Can rats beat professional stock brokers on Wall Street?
|
Kind of interesting, though the description on there is very sparse. It's also hard to make much from his results. It's a nice art piece, but there's a lot of questions left open. I'm assuming that the four rats he was able to train to discern the patterns accurately came from the initial 80 he started with. That's a rather low rate of learning. I think it suggests that rats can't beat professional stock brokers, possibly in the same way that your average Joe wouldn't be able to learn these same patterns. Or I'm reading the Vice article incorrectly. Again, hard to say because the methods are so limited. At first blush it comes off as amazing that a rat could learn to do this complex and amazing thing that is stock trading. But, the author never addresses the question of whether this is what the top humans do as well. Is it just that they've learn the same implicit pattern detection that the rats have? A lot of animals are very good at pattern training, humans included. This is not really new. The last issue I have is that there is no direct comparison to humans. If you get 80 undergraduates and had them do the same training task, what would you end up with? It could be that out of 80 undergrads you get 12, trumping the rats. Or you get less. Again, hard to say.
| 10 |
AskReddit/d1akumc
|
4bmraf
|
What's the weirdest experience you've had with a random stranger?
|
On a flight to Vegas, the woman sitting next to me was a Jehovah's Witness. I happened to be two years into studying the Bible, my Catholic faith, and generally figuring out what "truth" sits the best with me (I was 40 years old at the time). I explored a lot of religions and was pretty familiar with the Bible and actually had it on my iPad. So, I told her, "We've got 3 hours on this plane together. You try to get me to be a Jehovah and I get to question everything with due respect to one another and let's see where we end up." She was this cool older black lady and she said she was up for the challenge. So we went back and forth checking addresses in the Bible for what she claimed and what I counter-claimed. It was all kind of a fun way to pass the time while learning. Then, she contradicted herself. I told her, "Wait. Go back to this other one. " She confirmed. Then I said, "Now go back to this one." Her jaw dropped open as she read it. She said, "I have to check with my (whoever her pastor? is?) and may I email you my response to that?" And I said, "You know, it's weird that I'm one of the first people to own an iPad, but I don't email. Sorry." She smiled, and that conversation was over. So I stumped a Jehovah. That was weird.
| 9 |
explainlikeimfive/eydr6x2
|
cwnz4n
|
How is energy released during chemical reactions?
|
You know how opposites attract? Electrons are attracted to protons. If you pull an electron away from a proton, and then release it, it will snap back to the proton, like a rubber band. After it snaps back, it has kinetic energy (energy from motion, because it is moving having snapped back). Before it snapped back, we say it had potential energy, because all you had to do was "let it go" and it would snap back and gain kinetic energy. Some atoms have a higher attraction for electrons (this is called electronegativity). So, when those atoms are brought near other atoms, they might grab some of those electrons. And as the electron falls toward the new atom, it gains kinetic energy. Typically, this kinetic energy becomes heat. which is just due to the motion (or kinetic energy) of particles. So to sum up. think of atoms as little magnets, you bring some near each other and they snap together, and release energy in the process.
| 2 |
AskReddit/e6f5a88
|
9hwwby
|
Why do some movies based on books not go by the book?
|
Most of the best like YA series that become movies have about 80% of the actual book as the main character's internal monologue. Having a movie that's mostly a person talking to themselves in a serious tone sounds horrible.
| 3 |
explainlikeimfive/do7cogt
|
75mm7i
|
Why are the oceans salty, when salt deposits don’t seem abundant on dry land?
|
It rains and salt dissolves into the runoff. That water goes down through rivers and lakes, eventually making its way to the ocean. When water evaporates into clouds it doesn't take the salt with it, and fresh water again rains down on rocks which contain small amounts of salt. It has been raining on Earth for a very long time.
| 3 |
askscience/cgbxdsz
|
21cfnd
|
What is the source of the energy in the Earth's mantle and core and could it eventually dissipate?
|
Well, the core started hot from the materials condensing into a planet and rock insulates pretty well but that's only part of it. Radioactive decay is the rest. This continually releases energy within the earth, keeping it hot. On the upshot, this is also where the helium comes from. Yes, it can eventually run out and solidfy. This is what happened to Mars. Mars, being a little smaller, has a greater surface area to volume than the Earth and cooled faster.
| 3 |
AskReddit/dsdi67d
|
7ozvs6
|
What is something “impressive” you did while drunk?
|
A few years ago I was drinking heavily and jerking it to a photo on Facebook of someone I knew. Accidentally liked the photo. Drunkenly freaked out, since it was a more risqué photo of her. So I unliked it. Which of course drunk me figured she’d see all this and think I was a creepy weirdo, and know that I was jerking it to her photo. So long story short, I asked her, through Facebook, to go on a date. I figured it would make sense and explain why I was on her photos, and accidentally liked her photo. She agreed, and now I don’t have to imagine what she looks like naked.
| 13 |
askscience/dp67gk6
|
79x91l
|
How are tiny birds like sparrows able to fly headlong into strong winds without being blown away?
|
As an ornithologist I have to say that they do get blown away. Even pigeons and doves get blown by strong winds. Birds have hollow bones and frail bodies adapted to the sky, but the small ones can't do much about winds. They often hide.
| 6 |
askscience/ceakp5l
|
1tq6t6
|
If bacteria prosper in warm environments, why does our body raising its temperature kill off most harmful pathogens?
|
Remember that proteins all have an optimal temperature range to maintain their proper shape. The raising of your body temperature is not what actually kills the bacteria; that is done by your white blood cells. Raising the body temperature makes the bacterial proteins (enzymes in particular) less efficient - or that's the goal anyways - slowing their replication and allowing your white blood cells to attack them with more ease.
| 9 |
AskReddit/do6btbp
|
75hwtc
|
What would be the best possible ending to SpongeBob?
|
St Elsewhere ending: Bob and Patrick talk about their own adventures and how everything is so cool, wishing they could be like this forever. Then the camera slowly pans out and it shows Bob and Patrick as toys in a fish bowl, while a boy stares at them. Then the boy's parents talk among themselves that all the boy does is staring at his fish bowl all day, lost in an imaginary world.
| 6 |
askscience/c5oilyh
|
xpsmk
|
Why is the Curiosity rover landing with a "sky crane"?
|
Mars is an especially tricky landing environment. The atmosphere is too diffuse to land with wings/parachutes/aero brakes alone for most purposes, and the gravity is too high to land with rockets alone for most purposes. Neither is impossible, just impractical for various reasons. The reason a sky crane is being used is to get around these restrictions and prevent dust from landing on the rover as it lands. If the rockets were beneath the rover, dust would kick up and potentially interfere with the function of the rover. Is it complex? Yes. Is it unnecessarily complex? Only if you can find a simpler way to land it that prevents damage to the rover.
| 10 |
AskReddit/cimg51i
|
29mq2g
|
What are some unconventional punishments your parents had for you growing up?
|
My mom was pretty creative. She told my sister to stop putting dirty laundry inside-out (make it easier to fold). My sister didn't. My mom made her wear her underwear on her head for the afternoon. My sister and I were fighting. She made us hug each other and rub noses. Not a punishment really, but my sister wanted a car for her birthday. On the morning of her 16th birthday my parents toss her some keys and say "your present's in the driveway". She ran out there only to find that there was a toy car in the driveway.
| 4 |
AskReddit/czt67wr
|
44v9ak
|
How did you find out that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny weren't real?
|
My dad sat me down and told me santa wasn't real, and the tooth fairy, and basically every single good thing I believed in up until that point. I found out a lot about my dad that day, and I think we're better for it.
| 2 |
AskReddit/ckbmxy5
|
2fq595
|
Why do you want to quit your job?
|
I just started a new job. Three days in and I want to quit. After my job interview and first day, I thought the job would be awesome. Two days later, after getting info from actual employees, I feel like the company just plainly lies to people. It would've been my job to make sure (read: lie to) people like their jobs. This is the feeling I get, that I have to try and convince people that their job is fun, which it isn't at all and I don't like to do that to other people.
| 2 |
AskReddit/czkbyd5
|
43r5yo
|
Can you name a movie that you have watched over 5 times that your still entertained by ?
|
Ground Hog Day. I've watched many movies tons of times, but in honor of tomorrow I'll say Ground Hog Day because multiple watching over years of time make your perception of the movie evolve as you've grown and changed. You see every iteration differently and you feel like you become a weird sort of character in the film. You've experienced it so many times and gone through all sorts of feelings and experiences. It starts to become more rewarding after years of watching. You hit times when you can't do it and stop, much like Phil as he just starts committing suicide. Then you start watching to see if you can get something new out of it and after a while you are watching just to go through the experience and story, not to really get anything out of it. It's a great movie to watch again and again. I've been watching it at least once a year since it came out.
| 2 |
askscience/cifu7br
|
28xtnx
|
How exactly does a nuclear detonation turn sand into glass?
|
glass is made mostly from sand (silicon dioxide). If you melt a bunch of silicon dioxide and cool it faster than it can order itself into a crystal, then you have a "silicon dioxide glass" which is usually what we mean by the word "glass." Any material that is cooled too quickly to form a crystal is technically a glass (like the various "metal glass" substances being researched). Most glass also has other substances added to it to modify how it melts or cools, how it appears (coloring, etc.) If the glass is just silicon dioxide, then it's usually called "fused quartz" or "fused silica." If it is just silicon dioxide and it's cooled slowly enough to crystalize, then it's quartz crystal. (or rather, quartz crystal is a kind of silica crystal, to be specific)
| 2 |
explainlikeimfive/cgk3nv1
|
227kw3
|
Why don't clothing stores use a universal clothes-sizing system?
|
Some stores measure on a smaller scale because they only want smaller people to use their clothes. Like Abercombie&Finch. Other's want to boost your self-esteem in order to get the sale, so a regular Wal-Mart XL might only be a L at another store, where they want to make people feel as if they aren't as noticeable and closer to the norm. There are also different ways of measuring size. Some companies as they increase in size, only increase width-wise, whereas others increase length-wise, etc. All in all, it's because they don't like to use universal measurements like show companies do.
| 3 |
AskReddit/ehco9ml
|
av55q6
|
What is the scariest thing that ever happened to you when you were alone?
|
A homeless man abruptly jumped in front of me, blocking my path, to ask for money. When I tried getting around him he kept blocking me. I finally shouted “No!” at him and he let me pass. I technically wasn’t alone because it was during the day downtown. People just walked by without noticing, so I felt on my own. Maybe someone would have stepped in if things escalated, but I also understand not getting involved. Probably not the scariest, but you never know what someone is capable of and he could have easily overpowered me. It was near my work and it made me think of my dad asking if I felt safe working around there since it’s gotten a bit more “rough”.
| 2 |
explainlikeimfive/czxqwz0
|
45gdmo
|
How would tuition "free" Universities benefit the school?
|
If you're discussing issues like Bernie Sander's proposals, the answer is: it's hard to know. His vagueness about policy details doesn't only stop at the difficult question of "who is going to pay for all this?" but also extends to questions like "How much federal oversight will universities have to accept to be eligible?" The basic policy question is: do you want free tuition as a giveaway to the best and brightest (broadly speaking, people currently attending college), or is the goal to get people who currently aren't attending college to attend? If the former, it's probably good for universities, with serious risks. If the latter, then it's probably bad, because the limiting factor in American higher education right now isn't really funds, but poor pre-university education. Either way, free tuition creates a serious free-rider problem for the education system. Currently, while university students can be shockingly lazy and hedonistic, they at the very least have to face the fact that if they don't learn anything and/or don't make acceptable grades, they have wasted a huge amount of money for nothing. Free tuition lowers the cost of laziness, and unless everyone's incentives are aligned so that both the university and the government are willing and eager to expel the student and cut him off from further funding, over time the pressure will be for professors to lower academic standards so that universities can continue to rake in tuition money for "students" who aren't learning anything.
| 5 |
AskHistorians/c4nohf0
|
tlio6
|
When the barbarians began their occupation of the Roman Empire, was there any strong unofficial resistance (or any at all)?
|
Towards the end of the Empire there were groups called the bacaudae. Unfortunately, it isn't well understood what they were. Were they local militias formed to fight the barbarians? Were they bandits exploiting the chaos? Were they local elites taking advantage of the central government's chaos? Were they leveler peasant groups? All have been proposed. More certain is that local communities hired "barbarian" groups as a local defense. For example, Saxon materials start appearing in British villas around the middle of the fifth century, and Saxons burials appear outside the towns around then too. The "barbarians" were far from a monolithic group.
| 15 |
AskReddit/ehambwm
|
auu37j
|
Why people in the U.S get excited when someone in the English Royal family has a child or gets married?
|
I don’t think we do. We really do not care about the English royal family. I think we only are mildly interested because now there is an American married into the family. Really it is just like the Kardashians where they are shoved in your face by the media when you really don’t care and you have silly people that feed into whatever is in the media. I don’t think anyone would miss the reports.
| 2 |
AskReddit/e111f3u
|
8soen9
|
What small thing made you happy today?
|
Picked up my 15 month old son from daycare. The look of sheer, unadulterated joy on his face made me very happy. This happens every time I pick him up!
| 30 |
explainlikeimfive/edwk7wy
|
af9bqj
|
Why can some species cross breed (e.g., horse and donkey) and others can’t?
|
There cannot be a cat dog because cats and dogs do not have enough similarity in their chromosomes. A lot of interspecies cross breeding has to do with how similar the DNA. For example a gold fish has 96 chromosomes where as we only have 46. Gold fish and humans are not similar enough to produce offspring in general. But a horse has 64 and a donkey has 62.
| 3 |
AskReddit/d7ax01y
|
51cg3x
|
Why did your last relationship end?
|
He started ignoring me and I was no longer happy. I stupidly slept with a good friend of mine who actually cared about me. When I told him the next day he said he forgave me because he had cheated on me 4 years prior, and I believe multiple times over our relationship. So we ended our engagement, he took back the ring and I moved out the next day.
| 3 |
explainlikeimfive/dm0ct7b
|
6vhlk3
|
Why does drinking hot liquids on a hot day regulate body temp?
|
It does not cool if that is what you think. It will raise your corp body temp which can cause you to sweat and sweating will eventually cool you, but drinking the hot liquids will not and the sensation that it does is a myth based on you feeling the effects of your sweat evaporating. You are always better to drink cold or cool liquids when it is hot out.
| 3 |
AskHistorians/cfz1xi5
|
1zzfod
|
How did regular Americans view atomic warfare scientists during the Cold War?
|
I would periodize it roughly like this, using very crude categories like "liberal/conservative" and "hawkish/dovish" to reflect both the roughness of this characterization and the kinds of categories that these nuances were boiled down to at the time: In the 1940s, the "atomic scientists" were mostly glorified and held up as people who needed to be listened to and respected. Generally speaking the reaction was pretty positive no matter what one's politics were. In the 1950s, the situation gets more polarized. You get a split between the hawkish scientists like Teller, and the more dovish scientists of the Oppenheimer stripe. For Cold War liberals, the dovish ones are seen as the ones to listen to and the hawkish ones are seen as maniacs. For Cold War conservatives, the dovish ones are seen as potential spies, the hawkish ones are the ones to listen to. In the early to mid 1960s, the tensions cool a bit but are still more or less present. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, you get a strong rejection from the New Left and by youth in general of all of the atomic scientists. They're all warmongers, weapons makers, etc. in this view. This approach makes no distinction between the hawkish and the dovish ones of the earlier period (much to the confusion and anger of the dovish scientists like I.I. Rabi who get lumped in with people like Teller). By the 1980s you get further polarization again, with the dovish, non-governmental scientists criticizing those who worked in the weapons laboratories and promoted controversial things like the Strategic Defense Initiative. By the 1990s, most of this cools down considerably with the end of the Cold War.
| 3 |
AskReddit/e256pjw
|
8xs3fy
|
What’s the good and bad things about being politically correct?
|
I believe it's a misnomer to call something politically correct. Either you are being a decent human being or you aren't. It should not be about a political party. Being decent, respectful, considerate, should simply be popular, period.
| 6 |
AskReddit/c3uqoch
|
q4nzb
|
What is the procedure if a passenger passes away mid flight on an airline?
|
I'm in the air force (uk) and work on the C-17. Every couple of months I fly to the middle east and theatre with the jet as a traveling ground engineer. When chatting with the pilots I found out what we do if this situation arises. If some one dies mid-flight and there is not a medical officer on-board then that person is technically alive until we touch down and a doctor or medical personnel declare the person dead. Also we land asap to sort it all out. Oh and the pilots decide if we try and resuscitate them depending on if they have died recently or not. Now if someone dies mid-flight and there is a medical officer on the jet, (like when we do aero med flights) then they can declare the person dead officially or can attempt to resuscitate them. If the person is declared dead then we carry on with the flight plan as normal.
| 29 |
AskReddit/c86r6pc
|
17m4q7
|
Why do our bodies not have a natural way to clean our teeth?
|
Eat a diet high in meat, vegetables and natural fruit (not domesticated fruit which contains too much fructose) and you'll have no problem with your teeth. It's all the wheat and simple carbohydrates that causes the problems.
| 6 |
AskReddit/cosj6ot
|
2wnvti
|
What sort of drunk are you, Reddit?
|
Well, it depends what I drank. Beer gets me 'friendly' drunk as in, everyone becomes my friend and I am the most talkative person ever. Lemon jenever makes me try to seduce cashiers but I haven't had any success yet. Vodka makes me 'hospital' drunk, as in I wake up the next day in a hospital bed with a catheter in my urethra.
| 3 |
AskReddit/cff7yv0
|
1xwh4w
|
Why can I open a jar easier with my non-dominant hand as opposed to my dominant hand?
|
I've been a powerlifter for 20+ years and I'm right handed, but my left side is stronger. My theory is I reserve my dominant side, right side, for fine motor skill while using my left side for heavy lifting. For instance, I hold grocery bags in my left hand while I use keys in my right hand to open a door. My left side is about 20% stronger in all areas, arms, legs, traps, etc., and this is even after years of working out my right side more than my left, like five years actually, and the right side still hasn't caught up.
| 3 |
AskReddit/d9abgi5
|
59og5h
|
What person can ruin a movie for you once you find out they're involved?
|
Depends on the day, but I tend to avoid watching movies in theaters that have the renowned "pretty" actors. What I mean by this is people who seem to have gotten into Hollywood without acting talent and by looks alone. I mean, good on them, they have a pretty face and it's making them millions. I just tend not to want to waste my money watching their film in theaters. I would prefer to just watch it on Netflix or Hulu if I'm interested in the plot in any way, but generally I'm not because it tends to be a cookie cutter plot. Again, no problem with this, it's really just not for me. I'll never look down on anyone else for wanting to watch it or liking it. I just prefer movies that have actors in them that have amazing skills. I love it when people can draw you in, make you really feel something. It's no longer just a scene where an actor plays a character, it feels real, like you're living and breathing that moment with them. Actors who can really make you feel emotion create my favorite kinds of films.
| 2 |
AskReddit/cqtqsa0
|
34e1xa
|
What is something you miss doing, but can't anymore because you're a mature adult?
|
Not seeing color/gender/sexuality. When I was a kid, people were just people - they weren't all these subsets of people that create this us vs them mentality. We were just kids. My best friends were black, hispanic and I'm white. And we never once thought there was anything different about us. I'd be hard pressed to find an adult version of that.
| 76 |
AskReddit/cezatm4
|
1w76hp
|
What popular phrases don't make any sense to you?
|
"The exception that proves the rule." No, it doesn't. If it's an exception, then you have just disproven it. I'm told that this particular one is because of linguistic drift. 'to prove' used to mean more like 'to test,' as in 'proving ground.' It makes perfect sense when you say: "The exception that tests the rule."
| 2 |
AskReddit/d2kv1go
|
4gugae
|
If you could go back in time and stop your younger self from doing one thing, what would it be and how would it completely change your life?
|
I would stop my younger self from stopping to care. Things happen, baby me, but you gotta just look for the end of them and keep moving. I spent a lot of time simply doing the motions as a teenager, but accomplishing nothing.
| 2 |
AskReddit/euvq6sg
|
chkqcf
|
How did archers not hit their own troops back in medieval wars?
|
I know this is just from a movie, but this dialog immediately came to mind when I saw this: >Longshanks: Archers. > >General: I beg your pardon, sire. Won't we hit our own troops? > >Longshanks: Yes, but we'll hit theirs as well. We have reserves. Attack. Braveheart
| 3 |
AskReddit/edn4npa
|
ae8914
|
What was happening the first time you had to dial 911?
|
When I was in kindergarten, my cousin gave me her coloring book. I lied to my mom and said that I colored a section of a lobster, perfect coloring with no out of bound coloring. She didn't believe me, so I ran to my grandmother and asked her for the number to the police station. she said, "911." I dialed and got scared when a lady picked up and I hung up. 3 minutes later, a policeman showed up at my house and knocked on the door. My mom opened and he said someone called. After he left, I got in trouble.
| 89 |
AskReddit/eri2ebp
|
c23y2n
|
What's the best way to meet people as an adult?
|
Everyone is going to tell you to find hobbies, go join some clubs etc. if it was that easy, we’d all have huge groups of friends and this wouldn’t even be a question. As someone who has trouble meeting new people and developing relationships (especially since I’ve moved so often in my life due to situations out of my control), I have found that complimenting people can go a long way. Society can be very harsh and we as people tend to allow our emotions and insecurities drive us. If you see someone wearing a shirt for a band or movie etc that you really enjoy, it will be no problem doing the hardest part which is beginning and continuing conversation. From there you can go into other topics about some local places you enjoy and before you know it you’ll have a new friend to go to events and bars with. We’re all looking for some form of companionship in life. Some are just easier to admit and accept it.
| 7,188 |
AskReddit/dzhx189
|
8lq0s1
|
What theory do you believe but have no way of proving?
|
I think that some cases of autism simply stem from a case of learned helplessness. When parents coddle their kids too much, they eventually stunt the child's ability to be emotionally, mentally, and physically self-sufficient. The autism-awareness movement makes this worse by encouraging autistic behavior and enabling parents to coddle their autistic children, rather than wean them off of their bad habits like arm flapping, sensitivity to stimuli, and the emotional and mental immaturity that comes along with it. I have no real way of proving this outside of the two autistic roommates I've lived with.
| 2 |
AskReddit/cytr1tv
|
40ethk
|
What song written for a human applies platonically to our best 4-legged friends?
|
"Hi, I'm former pop musician Sarah McLachlin and I'm here to make you feel bad about neglected animals with this song I wrote about heroin addiction."
| 2 |
askscience/c3k3v02
|
oucy3
|
How hard would it be to "solve" Scrabble, relative to Go and Chess?
|
The element of luck and not knowing the other players letters make it impossible to calculate the next X turns and thus producing a perfect play. Optimal strategies could be developed as it would be quite easy to calculate the highest scoring move by running through a dictionary. You could also implement a certain "cost" for a move which opens up a a "triple word" or similar, thus reducing the effective cost of a move. Then it is just a matter of picking the move "worth" the most. Thanks to the fact you only have to calculate one move, there is no exponential factor involved and the solution for a given "optimal" move is much easier than solving chess or go. If you want to go into solving scarbble in the senso of mapping the optimal move for every possible combination of distribution of letters, the problem gets much more complicated. However, the usefulness of such a solution is very doubtful, because you would not know at which position in your solution tree you are because the branching does not only depend on your moves and the moves of your opponents, but also on the tiles your opponents draw (and which you cannot see).
| 9 |
AskReddit/dvkrple
|
83vf4x
|
What is worse in your opinion, that a guilty person does not serve a sentence or that a person serves a sentence while being innocent?
|
An innocent person serving an undeserved sentence is the worst thing. Criminals get away free every day, one more is just 'luck' and they will likely be caught next time. An innocent convicted and sentenced is an actual miscarriage of justice and is itself a crime perpetrated by the system.
| 4 |
AskReddit/c0ii8ae
|
anp6t
|
Does anyone else remember those plastic things that pizza places would put in the middle of your pizza?
|
I wish that more places would continue to use those things. I've gotten a few pizzas delivered to me where the middle of the box top is covered with cheesy goodness that I then have to try to scrape off and eat.
| 7 |
AskReddit/e6wcvgu
|
9k4jpv
|
What TV series have you watched at a public screening (i.e. GoT at a pub) and how was the atmosphere and experience like?
|
My friends and I watched Six Feet Under at the local British-themed pub. It was very congenial and we met regularly while the series ran and it was like a social club of sorts. I miss it.
| 2 |
askscience/cctk1up
|
1omrjy
|
How would the earth be different if the moon didn't exist?
|
The moon also does a lot to stabilize the earth's rotation. Since the earth is not homogenous throughout, and in fact has a significant mass that is not solid (magma), the planet would tend to wobble in its orbit. The north pole would shift and point around to different parts of the sky. Find a medium size rock and spin it on the table, and see how much it wobbles. This effect would take hundreds of years to be apparent, but time is cheap on astronomical scales. This wobble would cause the seasons and environment to change considerably over time. Imagine the impact on the enivronment if the earth's north pole was to shift to near 90 degrees, so the north pole pointed directly at the sun for part of the year, and directly away for part of the year, so the sun didn't rise or set for months at a time. The moon has a stabilizing effect on the earth, so now the north pole only precesses a few degrees every few 20,000 years. The moon IS drifting further from the earth by a few inches in a lifetime (see another recent Astronomy post about this) so over the course of the next few million years this stabilization effect will diminish, and the earth will begin to wobble around a lot more.
| 16 |
AskReddit/cfqd3nw
|
1z45xn
|
What advice do you have to give?
|
Learn to listen. This is especially true when someone is grieving or venting about something bad in their life. Sometimes people just need to talk and all you have to do is shut up and hear what they're saying. Don't relate their problem to something you've experienced. Don't say something to fill the silence. Don't give advice unless asked. If you have to say anything, ask them how they feel about whatever the problem is. Maybe you already know this, but I find a lot of people never learn to.
| 2 |
AskReddit/cdjqhdr
|
1r5d2j
|
What is the darkest moment you remember in a video game?
|
I commented on the saddest moment in a video game but i guess it is also the darkest in my mind. Halo: Reach That ending. I remember the first time I played it. I remember thinking "this can't be the end, I'm the hero, the hero always makes a daring escape." But that word, "Survive." So final, I fought as hard and as long as I could. I used weapon after weapon. Till the only weapon to be found is low ammo'd plasma pistol. Vision blurred and movement stifled. Enemies on all sides, stronger with each growing second. I fought and fought and fought. Shoot, melee, run, hide, repeat. I hoped if I fought hard enough someone would save me. However, relief and peace only came in the form of death.
| 2 |
AskReddit/eyfyu4c
|
cwwos5
|
How has drunk driving impacted your life?
|
When I was 16 I almost crashed into a police car . I was falling asleep on the wheel and all of a sudden I saw a cop car driving on top of the curb to avoid me hitting the car . I didn’t get caught . I immediately pulled up to a driveway and turned off my car and jumped in the back and laid down . All I heard was a police siren and lights flashing by . I stayed on that drive til the sun came up It’s a story I hate telling because i got so lucky .
| 3 |
AskReddit/ctj2rru
|
3ewo1m
|
Is a man ever justified in hitting a woman?
|
I think a man is justified in hitting a woman in the same way a woman is justified in hitting a man. I can't help but feel slightly uncomfortable when people bring this up in an example for gender equality and criticising certain types of feminists - sure, force may be necessary for certain situations (such as in self-defense) and I can understand why people may argue against the whole "never hit a woman" principle for this reason, but I don't like the whole eye-for-an-eye focus. Equal rights, sure, but I think we should instead focus on not abusing people rather than men/women.
| 4 |
AskReddit/eimykwr
|
b1no40
|
Who is that weird person in your neighborhood?
|
Want to answer it myself aswell. ​ There is a grandma that is weirdly nice. You would see her plucking long grass on the side of highways in between the exit and the highways. You would see her on huge roads just plucking grass. She would go around and sweep random places, like on a random sidewalk. I saw her with a shovel cleaning ice on the sidewalks aswell. It's just the places she is doing all of these things is weird, it's not her house, it's just random places. I never asked her why she does that, she might have nothing to do but what a strange person she is.
| 2 |
AskReddit/cg0kbgn
|
207nb5
|
Why did everyone get upset when Katy Perry dressed up as an Asian geisha but no one batted an eye when she dressed up like an Egyptian in the Dark Horse video?
|
Some things wrong with this post - 1 - Katy Perry did not dress as a Geisha. What Katy Perry wore at the AMAs and the VMAs is a jumbled hybrid of Asian styles. It was labeled a "Geisha" getup by ignorant journalists. 2 - The Egyptians as depicted in the Dark Horse video have been gone for thousands of years. Muslims are accusing Katy Perry of blasphemy because her Pharaoh character burns a symbol of Allah. In the first case, Asians got upset with Katy Perry because she thoughtlessly appropriated Asian culture and used it to sell her crappy music. The Muslims are upset for the same reason, and also because blasphemy. Muslims are more gung ho about their god, and their is a strong tradition of disrespect bigotry toward Muslims in the mainstream media. TL;DR angry brown people are angry because their culture is being reduced to a tacky Halloween costume.
| 8 |
AskReddit/e1bb6wh
|
8tyzt6
|
What’s something that’s done in movies that drives you crazy?
|
Very often when a plane goes down in movies you get to hear a strange high-pitched shrieking sound as it is diving. Problem is that often times it is really the sound of ww2 era german ju 87 dive bombers with sirens specifically designed to make that sound at high speeds. Planes don't just do that on their own when diving
| 2 |
explainlikeimfive/ca0kkjs
|
1eil0g
|
How is it I can wake up with my arm completely numb (from sleeping on it), and not die from a blood clot?
|
The feeling of your arm "falling asleep" has nothing to do with blood clots, or even blood flow at all. The sensation is caused by the pressure being put on your nerve pathways that interfere with the signals your brain is sending to and from your arm. The nerve signals start to go crazy as your brain can't tell what your arm is doing anymore and that's what causes the "pins and needles" feeling and/or numbness.
| 30 |
explainlikeimfive/cqcob6f
|
32mv66
|
Why is it that blasting the A.C. in your face helps prevent you from vomiting while nauseated?
|
Its a medical fact. Changing the temperature of your body has other affects depending on what you are attempting to accomplish. By blasting cold air into your face, you are relaxing and relieving stress from your face and throat, allowing your body to more easily relax and focus on controlling its autonomic functions more readily and less prone to loosing control of its systems. Say you are trying to prevent yourself from throwing up by placing cooler air crossing along your face, it will allow you to slowly become more relaxed, instead by distracting you and taking away excess heat. There are other things such as introducing fresh air, circulating away other odors that can be causing nausea and some other actors as well.
| 2 |
askscience/cfq36xf
|
1z2ui4
|
Why do some stars in the night sky rapidly change colour from red to blue to white and yellow?
|
As suggested already, if the color changes are very intense, it might actually be some kind of flying vehicle, such as an airplane or helicopter. Otherwise, you're probably looking at a bright star (Sirius) or planet through a very turbulent atmosphere. Due to the uneven conditions, light gets refracted and dispersed. The colors appear through the same mechanism that splits sunlight in a prism and generates colors out of white light.
| 28 |
explainlikeimfive/eel93s3
|
ai5dc0
|
Why do single taxpayers in the US have to pay more federal taxes than married taxpayers?
|
The total income of the couple is treated approximately as if it was split between the two members of the married couple rather than by one person, which results in a lower tax burden. It would still be slightly better if it was actually split between the two people, so if both members of a married couple make the same amount, it may actually be disadvantageous to file jointly, but in cases where one spouse is primarily supporting the other, the government treats it as two people each earning a smaller income, rather than the larger income that is supporting a single person.
| 5 |
explainlikeimfive/crl13mp
|
37ad5i
|
Why is it that when I'm in the drivers or the passengers seat and one of the back windows are open it makes this really annoying ringing feeling in my eardrums?
|
It is a harmonic vibration caused by the inability of the air entering the open windows to find an easy way to escape. My 2004 Jetta Wagon vibrated and hummed very loudly if you rolled down all the windows at high speed. Your ears are very sensitive to vibration (and oscillating air pressure).
| 2 |
AskReddit/ce97737
|
1tlrmy
|
What was the first song or album you illegally downloaded?
|
I downloaded a bunch of Japanese rock stuff because 60$ for an import CD is bullshit. Also, Dragon Ash's "Drugs Can't Kill Teens" is still an awesome song.
| 2 |
AskReddit/eetemp9
|
aj7frr
|
What is your zombie apocalypse survival plan?
|
Day 1. kill off my family, they will only waste resources and then grab as much dirt as i can from outside and board up my house Day 2. collect all my supplies, with gun, and try to find my dictator friend Day 3. start to collect survivors in the local schools. Day 4. start teaching the survivors how to kill the zombies and other basic survival traits. Day 5. start getting rid of the zombies in the area. Day 6. continue with getting rid of zombies Day 7. start looting the houses Day 8. Start to destroy all tech like cell phones and computers. Day 9. teach some adults how to farm. Day 30. We have established "The Republic of The New World", A self sustaining community with communistic laws Day 100. Other small refuges have popped up and we have either annexed them or showed them that we are dominant Day 365. we have collected the zombies that we do not kill on sight and use them as a execution method or a way to scare other city states into submision Day 3650 the entirety of north america is now under the rule of The Republic of The New World Day 7300 The entire world is now undercontrol of The Republic of The New World ​ Me and my friend have talked about this before
| 5 |
AskReddit/c3tskxb
|
q0wh3
|
What is the absolute best way to get rid of the mice in my apartment?
|
Quick DIY trap for mass murdering mice: Get a bucket half-filled with water, set up a sheet of newspaper over it and tighten it around the rim with a string, cut a cross on the center of the paper with a knife and set small morsels of cheese in the center. The mice will try to get to the cheese, fall through the cut paper and drown. We had mice in our summer place and used this, I think our record was something like 20 mice in one bucket over a week. Edit: Oh and set a stick or something for them to climb on the bucket.
| 2 |
AskReddit/e3o5y4x
|
94vy0l
|
What does yourself from 10 years ago think of your current music taste?
|
He'd think it's awesome. I discovered a lot of my favourite music within the last three years (bar some 90s nostalgia stuff). Before then a lot of my tastes were basically as close as I could get to the music I truly wanted to hear within the genres I knew about.
| 2 |
AskReddit/cz9f0b0
|
42co1k
|
What's your favorite opening line to a book/movie/show etc?
|
Book: In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. Movie: The following is based off a true story. Only the time, places, people, and events have been changed. Also, Game: War. War never changes.
| 31 |
AskReddit/e63fa7z
|
9gdw4g
|
What do you do when you feel you’re not good enough for anything?
|
I’m guessing you’re very young. You’ll eventually realise that you’re actually way above average at most things. It’s often the ones who really are not good at anything who think that they’re really good, and who act like they’re something special. You sound like you lack confidence, but have a lot of (yet unknown to you) talent. That’s OK, in fact it’s pretty normal for a lot of people to think like that. You’d be surprised how many. Sit it out. Wait for it. It’ll come. You’ll shine. Just wait. You’ll grow into what you were always meant to be.
| 3 |
AskReddit/c5dm0rl
|
wi9kc
|
How many of you have passed a drug test that you should of failed?
|
I learned that the tests look for metabolites, since I smoke MJ these metabolites get stuck in your fat cells. Instead of detox teas, or drinks and such, I just load up on fatty food. Ribs, burgers, you know animal fats. Never work out before a drug test, it burns the fat and releases the metabolites into your blood stream. Never failed in 8 years (knock on wood).
| 2 |
AskReddit/clo78at
|
2ks22o
|
What are you wearing right now and why did you choose that outfit?
|
Grey dress pants, a pink/black/grey dressy shirt, and my husband's hoodie. I chose this for work because it's about the only pair of dress pants I have and it's chilly outside today. Also the shirt is comfy. I don't normally wear hoodies inside but I'm about to go check the mail for work.
| 2 |
AskReddit/co7jszw
|
2ue07t
|
If you could commit one crime and get off with no repercussions, what would you do?
|
Wait, is this one BIG heist, or one type of crime that i can commit forever with no repercussions? If it is the latter, theft. Just walk into every store, grab stuff, walk out and the clerks just have to be like "God dammit not this guy again"
| 3 |
AskReddit/etkjt4w
|
cc4sfg
|
What time do you eat dinner?
|
It's ridiculous. I make dinner around 4pm because my husband doesn't eat all day until dinner, and i can't tolerate the crankiness, so the minute he's done working I want him to eat.
| 2 |
explainlikeimfive/df3sqix
|
605jh2
|
Where did the asian yellow skin thing come from?
|
I myself am asian, and I used to think the same thing, however, if you actually compare skin tones side by side, the difference can be seen. Most of the time, I can spot a slight yellow tint, but from a distance, it's hard to tell. This doesn't apply to all asians, but it definitely exists.
| 38 |
askscience/dfgdy0v
|
61ijn7
|
Do animals have any dental conditions?
|
Dental hygienist for 10 years here. It takes time to get cavities even when you try to get them. Most animals don't live long enough or have a bad enough diet for long enough to get tooth decay. Carbohydrates fuel the decay causing bacteria to release acids that weaken teeth. Luckily a dog fed carbs will have ph buffers, enzymes, solvents and some other factors that protect their teeth. It is possible for any animal to get decay if the conditions are ideal. Gum disease is far more likely and common in many animals and especially people.
| 2 |
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