Why isn't the guitar as important or popular as the sax or trumpet in jazz? Answer by Alex Johnston: "This has puzzled me for, literally, decades. Because, for a start, I agree with the premise in the question..." https://t.co/TPvJ7zgctI

What makes changing a satellite's orbit such a massive fuel challenge, and why can't we just easily adjust it? Answer by Bill Otto: "Because you have to change the momentum of the whole craft without anything to push on except your own exhaust..." https://t.co/DyVY0Q1Luq

Is it true that Lake Erie might eventually drain due to the movement of Niagara Falls, and how long could that actually take? Answer by Steven Haddock: "The hard dolomite cap of the Niagara Escarpment pretty much acts as a natural dam to contain Lake Erie."

Did Medieval Europeans or Medieval Japanese build better castles? Answer by Carl Hamilton: "The Europeans built far more impressive and difficult to attack fortifications. Japanese forts were very primitive, and were centered around improving hill tops with fairly rudimentary

Why was Flash deprecated in favour of HTML5? Is it because of Flash technology or for business reasons? Answer by Charles Kendrick: "Flash was ridiculously poorly suited to this job - it was an animation engine full of security holes, being repurposed preposterously as an

Is there a way to measure light speed at home, with everyday objects? Answer by Steve Baker: "USE A MICROWAVE OVEN AND SOMETHING THAT'LL MELT." https://t.co/G8yb0ht3Fg

Why didn't sharks develop bones? Answer by Ken Saladin: "It's more to the point to ask why the shark lineage lost their bones over the course of their evolution. The cartilage skeleton was not an evolutionary forerunner of a bony one." https://t.co/n6DdiURnms

Why was the MD11 that crashed in Louisville unable to take off on 2 engines? Are they not designed to do that? Answer by KP Schroer, Former Captain: "Engine failure on takeoff is one of our most practiced maneuvers. It should have been something the crew could have handled well.

Is it possible to design a self-consistent computational universe with a small Forth-like meta-model? Answer by Alan Kay: "You basically have to redefine 'computation' and implement it as part of your virtual machine to have a decent chance with the scalings we now have to deal

How did humans cope with poor eyesight in the Middle Ages? Did all hunters and knights thus have 20/20 vision? Answer by Eric Lowe: "Poor eyesight is just way too common to make it disqualifying for fighting..." https://t.co/fUZ2Sis1Gl

Is asteroid mining legal? Answer by T. Barczuk: "Since 1967, it has not been legal to own real estate on worlds outside Earth, but some countries like Luxembourg exploit a loophole..." https://t.co/HXuBOzgvBJ

What will happen to a Texas mom who admitted to running over and killing her husband with her SUV, but claimed she only meant to "hit" him? Answer by Ty Doyle: "When you use your car as a weapon, saying 'I wanted to hit him but not kill him' is meaningless, as serious injury or

Were the enemies in old video games like Pac-Man really using AI, or was it just clever programming tricks that made them seem smart? Answer by Williamguttn: "Pac-Man is especially interesting. It was one of the first games to introduce a more complicated system for enemies..."

Why is learning to tread water and float considered more important than being a strong swimmer when it comes to surviving in the ocean? Answer by Kevin Coryell: "As a recipient of loads of water survival training and an avid fisherman who has sunk a boat and tread water..."

If cancer needs carbs (glucose) to grow, why don't doctors change people's diets when the cancer is first diagnosed? Answer by Pawel Landigi, Medical Doctor: "...even when individuals are on extremely low-carb diets, their body still continues to produce glucose..."

Why don't shows like Family Guy or South Park get sued for defamation considering the jokes they make? Answer by Ty Doyle: "In the US, defamation requires making an objectively false statement that damages someone's reputation as a result..."

If aliens could travel at a fraction of the speed of light, why haven't they colonized our galaxy by now? Corey S. Powell answers: "We've all been brainwashed for years... to think that space should be teeming with intelligent civilizations."

How do individual power plants in the energy grid get synchronized with the rest of the grid in terms of frequency and phase shift? Answer by Harold Stansfield: "When I worked in power plants, I had the opportunity, a few times, to observe the synchronization process..."

How did Apple convince tech-savvy users to give up their specialized devices for a first-gen iPhone that wasn't as feature-rich? Answer by Dave Haynie: "When Apple introduced the iPhone, there were already a wide range of phones..."

What was the reasoning behind Brutalist architecture? Why so boxy, gray, and imposing? Why so much concrete? Answer by Jim Allen: "Brutalism grew out of the International movement and modernism which was about changes in society..."