Nature
Exploring "Why" questions about Nature
487 articles
why does the outlier exist in many languages that the number 11-19 follow a different pattern of construction that doesn’t fall in line with 21-29, 31-39 and etc?
Groups of twelve were common in commercial transactions back in the day because it is divisible by more numbers than ten. As such, we had unique words up to twelve. Thirteen is just three and ten and
Why is it that in blooming season, bushes tend to grow their leaves and become green before the taller trees around them do?
There's two factors at play. First, it takes taller trees longer to leaf out. Plants that lose their leaves in winter store nutrients in their stems and roots, and then break them down and move them t
Why is drawing paper grainy ?
The surface texture of paper (especially drawing paper) is called *tooth*, and it heavily affects the mark that your drawing instrument leaves. A rougher (coldpress) tooth will more readily absorb wat
Why does Snowden need to seek political asylum in the first place?
He broke the law by displaying classified info, also he violated his freely taken oath that come with getting a top secret security clearance. He would be arrested and questions if he returns to the U
Why taxi drivers always want to be paid in cash
Cash they can keep off the books. Credit cards cost them money to process. Cash they get right now, today.
Why do “forgot my password” dialogs only allow you to change your password, not tell you what your current one is?
If they're doing things right, they don't know your current password. When you set a password they put it through a "hashing" function and store the result. When you try to log in again, they put the
Why do words seem so weird after writing or saying them very often in a brief time window?
It's called semantic satiation. Essentially you make the same sounds (or read the same letters) enough they become meaningless. From what little I have read, what is happening is that you essentially
Why do people get sick more often in the winter months?
Less sunlight and less warmth makes people to spend more time inside. Being inside together makes it easier for microbes to spread by contact or air. When they do happen to be out, the cold weather ma
Why do Snowflakes have a 6-based symmetry, and why is each one unique?
Caltech has an excellent primer [here](_URL_0_) but basically, the molecular structure of water itself leads to the 6-fold symmetry, and the fact that no two are exactly a like is a result of tiny imp
Why are we fine being hot in the winter but not in the summer?
In most cases "hot in winter" in far colder that "hot in summer" With the heater on and the fireplace on, the temperature will be between 25 and 30°C. In summer at 2AM, you're fine if it's only 25°C y