General Knowledge
Exploring "Why" questions about General Knowledge
481 articles
Why don’t politicians get charged with libel when many of them knowingly lie or misrepresent facts?
For a start, lying isn't necessarily libellous. You can say all sorts of untruths without defaming anyone. Second...if you sued a politician for lying, just thing of the exposure you'd be giving their
Why do engineers use I-beams when the triangle is the strongest shape.
I-beams are intended to span between columns, so they specifically need to be optimised to handle *bending*. When a beam (any beam) is loaded, it bends in the middle, and its internal stress varies be
Why is it such a big deal that Apple has so much cash?
So, one part is because it's just a huge sum of cash....but let's go deeper A public company's responsibility is to maximize shareholder value. The best way to measure that is growth in the stock pric
Why are cans for canned goods not square?
Cans are round because it maximizes the volume per amount of metal used and because being round makes them stronger than cubes.
Why does pee foam when it hits the ground outside.
Foamy urine can be caused by rapid urination. At times, when you delay going to the washroom, large amounts of urine gets collected in the bladder. Also, proteinuria or presence of significant amounts
Why are we restricted by airport customs in the amount of cash we carry?
There is no such limit. Above $10,000 you have to declare it to them and fill out a form. It is to fight money laundering; same as the reporting requirements for large cash transactions at banks.
Why iOS update is 75MB but requires 1.5GB to install?
Because that 75 MB contains 3kb of changes to make to this 1MB file, and 2kb of changes to make to this 2MB file, etc etc. when it installs, it has to load the original file, duplicate it, apply the c
Why is breathing in faster than breathing out?
I'd like to point out how awesome it is that complete strangers can come together and develop the best explanations for such a complex topic, and in a way that most anyone can understand. Lots of good
Why did the english language rename other countries? Ex german=duetsch
It's called endonym and exonym. Endonym is a name people use to describe themselves, exonym is what others describe them. Every language and every country has endonyms and exonyms.
Why is opening many restaurants in a short amount of time bad?
Most restaurants, and businesses generally, will fail within a couple years. You need to be prepared financially for the entire investment to disappear.