Space & Astronomy
Exploring "Why" questions about Space & Astronomy
480 articles
why do musicals play a medley of the music in the musical at the beginning before things start?
Traditionally the Overture (from French for "Opening") introduces the musical themes used later in a piece like an opera. The Finale will recap them at the end. It's a little like the essay structure
Why do modern cars’ rev counter and speedometer do a complete sweep of the dial when starting up?
First, it verifies it's working. The extra bump helps to ensure it won't get stuck by applying a big burst of pressure at the very beginning to sweep the entire length of its arc. If you're just crawl
Why is it when a skunk is killed or run over everything for miles is saturated with the stench. How can it cling to so much air in so much space?
It's s powerful chemical called thiols, sulfur based. Extremely concentrated, even bears run from it. It's like the stuff put in natural gas so you know a leak.
Why does it seem like nobody knows what’s going on in North Korea when we have satellite imagery that can everything on the ground?
"We believe Burns still has the trillion dollar bill hidden somewhere in his house. But all we've ascertained from satellite photos is that it's not on the roof." Trouble with trillions, _URL_0_
Why do communist nations usually start with “Democratic People’s Republic” when in reality they have no democracy?
The original idea of Communism was that there would be a stateless, classless group of people all living and working together for the common good. A utopia, if you would. As everyone works together, y
why did the universe “start”?
We do not know. We cannot even say with complete confidence that it *has* a start, although the leading theories of the day suggest it. Current science is not capable of getting all the way back to "t
Why is it a social norm for us to tip wait staff and when/where did the practice start?
As an Australian where tipping is NOT a social norm (it happens but only in truely exception situations where the staff member has gone above and beyond for whatever reason) I am really looking forwar
Why is it so hard to stop peeing after I’ve started?
the muscle responsible for stopping your pee is weak basically, your penis doesn't even lift. do you even kegel?
Why the asteroid in this .gif take the path that it does [particularly the parts where it speeds up and then suddenly leaves]
The initial change in direction occurs because the object passes into a region of space where Earth's gravity outweighs that of the Sun. It's not a sudden change, which is why the path is curved rathe
Why does the space shuttle roll after launch?
To keep the astronauts under positive g while headed up to orbit. The shuttle doesn't go just straight up, it curves out over the Atlantic. When they make the transition from up to over, they roll the