Science
Exploring "Why" questions about Science
484 articles
Why do the veins on my arms become less apparent when it is cold? But more apparent when it is hotter or I am doing physical labor?
This is part of your thermoregulation system. When it's hot, your body pumps more blood to veins near the surface in order to radiate heat from it. Likewise, when it's cold, blood is withdrawn from th
Why do online newspaper use a paragraph for each sentence?
This is what they teach in journalism schools. A paragraph should only contain one idea as readers would get bored with a wall of ink.
Why is it that the amount of inertia and the strength of gravity are both based on mass?
You have stumbled upon one of the great mystery in physics! There is no known reason why all object with inertia interacts with gravity at the same proportion! Yet all observations demonstrate this.
Why is, no matter the colour of the shampoo, the foam always white?
Because the bubbles that make up the foam are so thin that the pigments that make up he color are too thinly spread to matter much. Instead the light is fractured everywhere by every bubble making it
Why hasn’t NSA’s “Prism” database been hacked?
A common feature of secure cross network scenarios is a 'data diode' which literally only allows data to pass on one direction. So even if some hacky malware does manage to get through to the secure s
Why can’t car tires be solid rubber?
The "springiness" of an air filled tire helps delivery a smoother ride, and the ability to deal with minor imperfections in a road surface. A solid (using readily available rubber technology) wouldn't
why can’t we have something to measure chemical levels and then make them what they should be in cases of mental illness?
Because mental illness is quite subjective and differences in chemical levels of one person may not/May do more to another person
Why do we often feel tired after low-energy activities such as sitting on a plane?
Well, that particular example inflicts quite a bit of stress, both emotional (lines and such, even assuming you aren't afraid of heights), and biological (altitude change, uncomfortable seats and rest
Why can’t electric cars charge themselves like combustion engines can charge it’s own battery?
Because the combustion engine uses the combustion to charge the battery via a generator (alternator in a car). The electric car uses the battery to run the car. So using a battery to charge a battery
Why do things physically hurt more when we are cold?
Your body is filed with thermoreceptors to detect the temperature. You have 2 main thermoreceptors for cold: regular cold thermoreceptors and extreme cold thermoreceptors. The second one, extreme cold