Nature
Exploring "Why" questions about Nature
487 articles
Why didn’t Gandalf use his powerful Eagle friends to transport the fellowship to mordor? Or even use them to take thorin oakenshield’s group to the misty mountain? It would have saved many lives in…
They would have been seen and killed before they got there. Hobbits on foot were the better choice because they could sneak in unnoticed past hordes of orcs.
Why are springy doorstops made with maximum compression? Wouldn’t they be more effective if they could be compressed to cushion the door’s impact?
The coil is just for flexibility (as others have said). If the spring was not compressed though when the door was pushed into it the spring would compress, absorbing the impact (good), however it woul
Why does the wind always flow from the ocean to land at a beach and never the other way round?
Land normally heats up faster than water. During the day, the air above the land also gets warmer and rises, causing a slight low pressure to develop above the land. The air above the sea doesn't warm
Why do I seem to sleep so much better during rain/thunderstorms?
2 possible reasons - One, many people find it easier to sleep if it's colder in the room (you can search ELI5 for more explanation on why that is). So if it's a cold rainy night, it could just be the
Why does gum spontaneously fall apart after you’ve been chewing it for a while
Are talking about actual gum, like that from a tree or chewing gum? Chewing gum never breaks apart on me. It feels like chewing soft plastic that gets harder over time.
Why in so many parts of the world are salt and pepper the ultimate and preferred condiment and seasoning?
I don't know so much about why pepper is much of a basic condiment. BUT.. salt is a whooole different story.
Why do people say taking antidepressants long term use is bad for you? They don’t repair the imbalance in your brain, so when you stop won’t you be just as depressed again?
This may not be the case for all antidepressants... Serotonin receptors get up regulated in your brain as a result of increased serotonin caused by certain antidepressents. This would mean that once y
why is Staten island so rundown and underdeveloped when it is so close to Manhattan?
Well there are some apartment towers close to the ferry. But the reason it's not as developed (in the sense that it's not dense with taller buildings) as Manhattan, or even most of the rest of NYC, is
Why is there a squeaky popping noise when you skim stones on a frozen lake?
The speed of sound is different in different materials. In ice, the speed of sound is faster than in air. When the stone impacts the ice, the wavefront spreads out, and continually transfers to the ai
Why does my car window fog up when it’s really cold in the winter as well as when it rains in the summer? What’s the best way to clear up the windshield?
Turn on the air conditioner (to dehumidify) and make it as warm as you're comfortable with. (Most cars now automatically turn on the AC when you turn the selector to Defrost, even if the AC light does