Everyday Life
Exploring "Why" questions about Everyday Life
479 articles
Why two signals at different frequencies can coexist?
It's just like sound. If you press two keys on a piano, you hear a sound that is different from the sound either key makes by itself. The combined waveform has components of each note's frequency.
Why are Arizona Iced Tea drinks allowed to place a price on its product?
Why *wouldn't* they be allowed? There's no law forbidding the printing of a suggested price on a product. In fact, lots of companies do it, including many different brands of potato chips, [like these
Why does it seem normal and natural for older siblings to pick on their younger siblings when the parents aren’t around? (Ages 1-8)
As the eldest sibling it is our duty to assert our dominance of course. We are unofficially charged with keeping the baby siblings in line when our adults aren't around.
Why is there not an anonymous bit-torrent protocol?
There is, sort of. It's called [Freenet](_URL_0_), but it can only be accessed using their client software (not your regular torrent client), and it is extremely, extremely slow. Proper anonymity is e
Why does water taste different after sitting for a few days?
Bacteria and other microbes are everywhere all the time, and they need water to grow. So what you're tasting is a melange of those microbes and the waste they produce as they grow. They've been floati
Why do Magic the Gathering cards have different prices and why do they change so often?
I don't play Magic so I could be completely wrong, but from what I understand there are new sets of cards/rules released every 3 months or so. With each release the strength and value of all the exist
why does spicy food stay spicy when it comes out the other end?
Spiciness isn't a flavor, it's a reaction to the chemical capsaicin, which irritates any tissue it contacts, not just your tongue. This is also why the area around your lips gets sore while eating win
Why we chose the word “water” to symbolize water
For that specific word: _URL_0_ Thousands of years ago, people said wódr̥ to refer to the stuff. Then over time, the word passed on to new languages and in English it changed to water.
Why our voices sound so different than what we think they sound like
When something 'makes' a sound (a tree falling, or lightning striking), it does so by causing particles to bump into each other, then those particles bump into more particles, etc etc outward in all d
why do car rental companies give you both sets of car keys attached to one keyring, where they can’t be removed and used separately?
I feel like this is specific to the rental company you are using; cars I've rented have always given me two separate keychains :/