askscience

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Coming from a 3rd year electrical engineering students perspective, I know how static electricity works but what I don't know is why it works essentially. What I'm asking is; why do some materials hold a better charge than others and while one material likes to gain a negative charge, Visa versa?	3221
When I put my face close enough to a fire of any kind that burns relatively clean like an acetylene torch or a really hot fire I smell something that I am not able to describe in terms of other smells. What am I smelling?	1
Given the right circumstances can a kite fly forever?	1
If I placed a nail in a tree would the tree grow and raise the nail or would the nail just sit there?	1
If only the core of the Earth is magnetic and we can detect the significant effect of this magnet all the way at the surface, how many Tesla or gause is the core of the Earth near its center?	1
How do drugs chemically induce the production of dopamine when used as an additive substance?	1
Since printing money causes inflation, would buying back lower/higher denominations and burning them or ceasing production cause deflation?	1
How come a laser, which is supposed to be a perfect column of light particles/waves that run parallel to each other, still follows the inverse square law?	1
What does it mean for a black hole to completely evaporate? Also if hawking radiation is how they evaporate then couldn't that radiation eventually turn back into matter if it is red shifted enough?	1
It is 21 degrees outside and when I just cleaned my car off for the night I noticed that I couldn't see my breath no matter how hard I tried. Why couldn't I see it given there being ample lighting?	1

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