Unanswered Questions in Life

Empoleon_master

Empoleon_master

I can stop watching Anime any time I don't want to
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This is a thread that has the sole purpose of having people ask questions about weird things in life and if anyone knows the answer to them, like how did we get the modern sewer system which spans basically under every road etc in the US especially when they're bigger than the size of the average person? And other questions like that. *note I know the answer to this and it's in a VERY awesome documentary on the history of sanitation that's on Netflix that I can't look up right now

Just so this thread doesn't become clogged with people asking why is the sky blue, why is the sun so hot and other easy to answer scientific questions I am going to require that people type the question into google first + "mental floss" as mental floss is an awesome website that answers many of these questions and as long as the answers/articles are not "sponsored by conagra/insert company name here" it's actually very interesting and accurate and cites scientific articles etc.

Here are a few of mine:
How exactly are basements made? Like I know you dig a square/other shape into the ground etc, but HOW do you get the square shape when you know, if you dig with conventional means it's going to form a rim shape of some kind?

If I were to go into my basement right now, take a jack hammer or something to the lower wall of it when would I reach the dirt beneath our drive way and what did the builders of the house use to keep all that dirt etc from pouring into their oddly shaped square hole in the ground? And how ARE basements connected the the house exactly? I know that there's probably concrete covering the dirt etc in my basement, but how exactly do you connect the core of the house to a hole in the ground with concrete, outside of just putting the structure of the house on top of it until it becomes heavy enough that it's basically part of the basement?
 
I've had to dig a few holes in my life, and I've had that problem where you can't make much progress because every shovelful of dirt you remove from the bottom of the hole is replaced by the dirt on the sides of the hole that fall in. I think I've wondered that exact question at some point in my life eerily enough. Of course my holes were only a few feet deep at most. I think the further down you go, the more solid the ground becomes and the easier it is to dig straight down. I think the type of ground the house is built on is important too. Obviously it's not a good idea to build on ground that's not firm anyways, so maybe that's the answer. I'm not sure how they'd the put the house on top of the basement, but I'd imagine they couldn't just put it there haphazardly. I have no qualifications as a contractor or anything, so this is the best that I'm going to be able to answer.
 
Update the name of the awesome documentary on how we built the sewer system is called. "How we got to now with Steven Johnson" The Episode is called "Clean" Trigger warning it does show some gross bugs that are in the Sewer system and rats. It's 55 minutes long and my Glob it is WORTH IT, it just blows my mind what they did! Could you imagine a construction crew going and creating a series of tunnels that are just big, water proof hallways under the roads in your entire city right now? That's what it would take to build another modern sewer system and that's basically what they did back then.
 
Empoleon_master said:
How exactly are basements made? Like I know you dig a square/other shape into the ground etc, but HOW do you get the square shape when you know, if you dig with conventional means it's going to form a rim shape of some kind?

If I were to go into my basement right now, take a jack hammer or something to the lower wall of it when would I reach the dirt beneath our drive way and what did the builders of the house use to keep all that dirt etc from pouring into their oddly shaped square hole in the ground? And how ARE basements connected the the house exactly? I know that there's probably concrete covering the dirt etc in my basement, but how exactly do you connect the core of the house to a hole in the ground with concrete, outside of just putting the structure of the house on top of it until it becomes heavy enough that it's basically part of the basement?
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I'm not completely sure what is your question. Or, well, the question is clear, but I'm not sure how it relates to your example.

If you're asking about the excavation, the walls of the "hole" where the basement sits are made at a 45 degree angle (the sloping is what Mora is talking about; in most soils, it will be of about 45 degrees), so the natural slope of the terrain doesn't enter the area where you lie down the platform/isolations, perimeter walls and base structure, and after the isolation work is done, they're refilled.
The walls on a basement are usually thicker than regular walls, in order to withstand the horizontal load of the (now filled) slope. So if you were to take a jackhammer to it, you would end up with a small mountain of dirt forcefully entering your basement, if the soil is loose.

Mora said:
I've had to dig a few holes in my life, and I've had that problem where you can't make much progress because every shovelful of dirt you remove from the bottom of the hole is replaced by the dirt on the sides of the hole that fall in. I think I've wondered that exact question at some point in my life eerily enough. Of course my holes were only a few feet deep at most. I think the further down you go, the more solid the ground becomes and the easier it is to dig straight down. I think the type of ground the house is built on is important too. Obviously it's not a good idea to build on ground that's not firm anyways, so maybe that's the answer. I'm not sure how they'd the put the house on top of the basement, but I'd imagine they couldn't just put it there haphazardly. I have no qualifications as a contractor or anything, so this is the best that I'm going to be able to answer.
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The soil you're building in is indeed important; my knowledge of platform framing isn't the best at all (I studied brick and concrete structures instead), but I believe that it consists of setting up a main platform to attach the rest of the building to afterwards; this kind of foundation is excellent to use in loose soils, and normally expensive, but the rest of the structure is often wood or steel framing.
For your holes, you want to dig a truncated, inverted cone at 45º (more or less), with its smaller base being the final diameter of the hole you need; that way, you make the slopes instead of letting the hole crumble onto itself.
 
New question, how are springs springy? Could they be made out of any material that's remotely flexible like any metal, or is there a specific process in which metal wire/cord is pressed in a way to make it into a spring?
 
It's because it carries a tension. When you push down, it stores energy according to the Law of Motion about reactive forces (the 3rd one?). Basically, on pushing down, energy wants to react back (i.e. spring back), hence the springing mechanism. At least, I think that's the simple way of explaining.
 
If creatures apparently evolved to escape the water and grow limbs, why do people think that whales evolved from cows? The "vestigial pelvis" that whales have supports their reproductive systems, or so I've heard.
 
Empoleon_master said:
New question, how are springs springy? Could they be made out of any material that's remotely flexible like any metal, or is there a specific process in which metal wire/cord is pressed in a way to make it into a spring?
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Hypothetically, springs could be made out of any material, but some metals would be less "springy" than others.
 
If you've ever wondered what happens to metal things inside an MRI, asides from FOR THE LOVE OF GLOB DO NOT PUT METAL THINGS INSIDE THE ROOM OF AN MRI, here's your answer. This is pretty awesome.

 
Question about a societal norm I will NEVER understand.

Why is it weird and "socially unacceptable" to not ask for a gift but instead ask for the money that the person would spend on the gift instead? My dad told me that "it's impersonal" or something. Well I have a question to that that he couldn't answer, if they want it to be more personal why not have the money attatched to some fancy looking card or something addressed to you? It makes it "personal" and you still get money. I believe that this is likely due to corporations trying to make money off of gift cards or something to get you to spend your money to them and thus prevent the money from going to someone else.

What do you guys think of this?
 
Empoleon_master said:
Question about a societal norm I will NEVER understand.
Why is it weird and "socially unacceptable" to not ask for a gift but instead ask for the money that the person would spend on the gift instead? My dad told me that "it's impersonal" or something. Well I have a question to that that he couldn't answer, if they want it to be more personal why not have the money attatched to some fancy looking card or something addressed to you? It makes it "personal" and you still get money. I believe that this is likely due to corporations trying to make money off of gift cards or something to get you to spend your money to them and thus prevent the money from going to someone else.
What do you guys think of this?
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Maybe it has something to do with how apparently a long time ago, most people made gifts instead of buying them?
More likely, giving someone money basically appears to say, "I don't know what you're into, so take this and buy yourself something nice."

Now, my question:
Why do people buy cellphones for three-year-olds??!!!
 
Will answer the phone question later, for now one of the most annoying problems in life that you only think about when you are dealing with it and 2 seconds afterwards.... Why is trying to put on socks after bathing so freaking hard? It's like trying to unlock an airplane door but for your feet? (Note according to Supernatural it takes around 3k pounds of pressure to open an airplane door mid air)

I'm SURE it has something to do with suction and water or something, but it takes me 5 minutes of blowdrying each foot on the "cold" setting to get my socks on after bathing.
 
Empoleon_master said:
Will answer the phone question later, for now one of the most annoying problems in life that you only think about when you are dealing with it and 2 seconds afterwards.... Why is trying to put on socks after bathing so freaking hard? It's like trying to unlock an airplane door but for your feet? (Note according to Supernatural it takes around 3k pounds of pressure to open an airplane door mid air)

I'm SURE it has something to do with suction and water or something, but it takes me 5 minutes of blowdrying each foot on the "cold" setting to get my socks on after bathing.
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I'm not really sure, but my theory is that since after a shower your feet get like wrinkly (which increases the grip of the foot) said increased grip makes it harder for you to put on the sock.

As for the phone, @Skyleaf2000 you mean a toy phone or an actual phone?

P.S: I've watched that episode too but I never remembered that detail until you mentioned it :p
 
I mean an actual cellphone, @Vom . I've seen kids young as three-year-olds with smartphones and it's driving me mad.
 
Skyleaf2000 said:
I mean an actual cellphone, @Vom . I've seen kids young as three-year-olds with smartphones and it's driving me mad.
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o_O
I've never seen a kid that young with a smartphone...only with tablets/iPads. However my guess is that parents give their kids that kind of electronics so they'll be quiet and won't bother them. It may sound a bit harsh, but frankly that's what I think.
 
Are there smaller, home use versions of dentist vaccums that don't cost $600+ for a full dentist vaccum according to google? I believe they help with sore throats and could help me with something in my throat I'm dealing with now. Note I will NOT TRY using something like a medicine dropper in my mouth as those won't provide the needed constant suction, would be pretty big and would feel super uncomfortable as the problem is in my throat.
 
What is the Purpose of meaning?

Why do buns come in 8 but hotdogs come in 10?

Why did Homer get dumber as the Simpsons kept going?
 
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