Gyvon
Gyvon t1_j9z6fjm wrote
Reply to ELI5: How did association football become the most popular sport in the world, more popular than any other sport that was spread around the world? by astarisaslave
One thing is that it's dirt cheap to play. All you need is a ball and something to mark out goals, which can be just a few sticks.
Even then, it's not the most popular in every nation. America, Canada, and Australian football are more popular in their respective countries, and I believe Cricket's more popular in India.
Gyvon t1_iyfbho0 wrote
When an onion's cells are damaged they release a small amount of sulfurous gas (I don't know the exact compound off the top of my head).
When this gas hits your eyes, it reacts with the moisture there to create a little bit of sulfuric acid. This, obviously, would be quite painful.
Gyvon t1_iy3a8zw wrote
Reply to comment by HintOfMalice in ELI5:How did people start calling police officer using a ''nickname''? by PokeBattle_Fan
He wasn't a constable, he was Prime Minister
Gyvon t1_iufrxfb wrote
Reply to ELI5 How did knights participate in tournaments like jousting without killing themselves? by QuantumHamster
Jousting required specialized equipment.
Primarily, heavier armor. A full suit of normal plate weighed about sixty pounds. Hefty, but that's similar to what a modern soldier carries into battle, and knights were surprisingly mobile. Jousting armor was much heavier and thicker, especially in the torso, by comparison.
Also, the lances were designed to limit penetration, either by blunting it or other methods to spread out the point of impact.
However, fact is that jousting was very dangerous and there were several fatalities over the centuries.
Gyvon t1_jdtd0ri wrote
Reply to Eli5: If we had steam powered trains back in the day, why didn’t steam become a common “clean” energy source? Why did it die out? by melatonin1212
Steam power is still around. Coal power plants make power by burning coal to boil water into steam, which spins a turbine that generates electricity.
It's the same with natural gas and oil power plants. Even nuclear power plants use steam to generate power, only instead of burning fuel they use nuclear decay to heat the water.