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It's an excellent idea for a Stackexchange site. I just wonder what Discovery, Inc. will think about us stomping on their trademark site, HowStuffWorks.com. Suggest changing the name to "How does that work?" or "What Makes it Go?" – Robert Harvey Jul 26 '10 at 3:47

Good point. I like your suggestion "What Makes it Go?". I would like to add some names to the suggestion list "How Things Work?", "What makes it tick?" and "How Everyday Things Work?". Lets see if the site gets some significant following, then we can give it a new name. – ianjorgensen Jul 26 '10 at 6:48

Could this happen to be similar to Popular Natural Sciences? IMHO all current questions would be on topic there, too. – Tobias Kienzler Jul 26 '10 at 8:46

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94 Example Questions (16 closed)

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up vote 1 down vote

added by gkrogers Nov 27 '10 at 12:51

The kidneys are bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist. They are located near the middle of the back, just below the rib cage, one on each side of the spine. The kidneys are sophisticated reprocessing machines. Every day, a person’s kidneys process about 200 quarts of blood to sift out about 2 quarts of waste products and extra water. The wastes and extra water become urine, which flows to the bladder through tubes called ureters. The bladder stores urine until releasing it through urination. – Sam Portillo Dec 10 '10 at 16:38

@Sam: that's very interesting, but do you think is a good example question? – gkrogers Dec 10 '10 at 23:07

up vote 1 down vote

added by NatFan9 Nov 27 '10 at 22:58

Sound waves hit a medium which can generate or modulate an electric current. This modulated current is converted to radio waves which are transmitted.. It takes mechanical energy and converts it to electrical energy, in the case of sound the mechanical energy modulates, varies, the electrical energy. In some devices, a crystal is used which is distorted and when distorted it will generate an electrical signal which is used to modulate another electrical current. – Sam Portillo Dec 10 '10 at 16:39

I never asked for an answer but, ok. – NatFan9 Dec 10 '10 at 21:23

up vote 1 down vote

added by Denis Otkidach, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 15:27

There is wrong statement in the question (Coriolis effect is not dominant here), but it's quite common anyway. – Denis Otkidach Dec 10 '10 at 13:24

up vote 1 down vote

added by Linuxmint Dec 18 '10 at 16:37

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added by John Dec 19 '10 at 20:21

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added by Pavel Radzivilovsky Aug 31 '10 at 10:48

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added by gkrogers Oct 28 '10 at 13:00

closed as off topic by HoLyVieR, Nathan Osman, Greg, Kaji, lindes Dec 11 '10 at 20:58

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

	This is a good example of off-topic example since it's too localized. – HoLyVieR Nov 9 '10 at 4:03
	It would be a useless question if it were not localised, though – johnc Dec 12 '10 at 22:32
	Which of Stack Echange sites is this question suitable? – Tshepang Dec 13 '10 at 0:40

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added by gkrogers Nov 16 '10 at 6:45

Too general. Need to specify: How does flash memory work, how headphones work, how do micro-controllers work, etc. – SurDin Nov 22 '10 at 7:30

I disagree. It's a perfectly acceptable to want (or provide) an overview of how a device works without wanting a detailed explanation of how each of the components work. For this question, as long the basics are covered (i.e. sound digitised, downloaded via USB and stored in memory or on disk, and played back using custom software running on a small computer through headphones or speakers), it's useful, answerable and, I think on topic. – gkrogers Nov 22 '10 at 9:32

up vote 0 down vote

added by Chris Taylor Nov 20 '10 at 15:49

closed as off topic by Greg, NatFan9, Tshepang, PearsonArtPhoto, gingerbreadboy Dec 22 '10 at 15:41

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

This would be more fitting for a financial Q/A. – Greg Nov 22 '10 at 1:27

up vote 0 down vote

added by NatFan9 Nov 26 '10 at 19:32

closed as off topic by gkrogers, Dean, Kaji, ianjorgensen, Marek Grzenkowicz Dec 22 '10 at 7:25

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

up vote 0 down vote

added by Denis Otkidach, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 14:26

up vote 0 down vote

added by Tshepang, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 14:23

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added by Tshepang, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 14:02

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added by Tshepang, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 14:02

care to leave a Comment why this is offtopic? – Tshepang Dec 14 '10 at 1:38

This question is way too broad - what exactly in Linux? Kernel? Device drivers? Software in general? Computer in general? GUI? Specific tools and applications? – StasM Dec 14 '10 at 17:43

I'd say that this is more suited at programmers.stackexchange.com – DarkLightA Dec 22 '10 at 10:20

up vote 0 down vote

added by johnc Dec 12 '10 at 22:35

	should maybe be "how does the brain work"? – Tshepang Dec 13 '10 at 0:38
	possibly, but I was pitching for an off topic, and felt the 'mind' was a tenuous concept to be sure to be off topic – johnc Dec 21 '10 at 1:10

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added by johnc, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 15:25

up vote 0 down vote

added by Jumhyn Dec 13 '10 at 9:12

closed as off topic by Lukas, PearsonArtPhoto, Doc Walker, nocley, cbrandolino Dec 22 '10 at 21:39

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

up vote 0 down vote

added by Jumhyn Dec 13 '10 at 9:16

This would be more suited in a physics site. – DarkLightA Dec 22 '10 at 10:04

up vote 0 down vote

added by NatFan9 Dec 14 '10 at 2:24

This would be best suited to the Cooking SE. (How to flip pancakes (with spatulas)) – Christopher Woods Dec 20 '10 at 23:33

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added by Fergus Dec 19 '10 at 7:17

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added by Christopher Woods Dec 20 '10 at 23:23

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added by DarkLightA Dec 22 '10 at 10:03

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added by KronoS, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 11:27

This was actually a Super User question found here thought it might be good here. – KronoS Dec 23 '10 at 6:28

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added by KronoS Dec 23 '10 at 6:30

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added by KronoS, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 9:57

Would be too vague in my opinion too many processes going on at the same time to be able to define correctly – KronoS Dec 23 '10 at 6:31

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added by Hoàng Long Dec 23 '10 at 7:54

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added by Hoàng Long Dec 23 '10 at 8:00

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added by Hoàng Long Dec 23 '10 at 8:21

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added by Hoàng Long, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 9:56

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added by Hoàng Long, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 9:44

up vote -1 down vote

added by Nathan Osman Jul 26 '10 at 4:47

Not to be confused with the question "How do I pick a lock?" – Conroy Whitney Aug 24 '10 at 5:27

i see two ways of looking at this question. One is really obvious (it moves the pins), the other is too vague (there are different types of locks) – Randomman159 Nov 13 '10 at 14:41

up vote -1 down vote

added by Conroy Whitney Aug 24 '10 at 5:36

closed as off topic by In the Booley House, deceze, Barthelemy, Stewbob, johnc Oct 24 '10 at 21:18

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

Too general. Different organisms reproduce is different ways. Also some non-organisms (like viruses, and prions) reproduce, in even more different ways. – Refael Ackermann Aug 31 '10 at 13:01

up vote -1 down vote

added by Pavel Radzivilovsky Aug 31 '10 at 10:55

closed as off topic by Refael Ackermann, Tim H, Lacek, HoLyVieR, Ryan Berger Oct 20 '10 at 16:32

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

There's another question about how the sun produces light, which is more specific than this... what's the question here, exactly? How do they create light? How are they formed? What causes their apparent movement in the sky? I think this needs more detail to be an example, either up or down. – lindes Dec 11 '10 at 20:57

up vote -1 down vote

added by e.James Oct 14 '10 at 4:04

closed as off topic by Christian, milesmeow, Ryan Berger, Stewbob, RavenM Oct 26 '10 at 14:39

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

Too speculative. – Greg Nov 22 '10 at 1:26

Too ridiculous. – Nathan Osman Nov 25 '10 at 23:25

up vote -1 down vote

added by e.James Oct 14 '10 at 4:04

closed as off topic by Christian, Ryan Berger, Stewbob, deemar, johnc Oct 24 '10 at 21:18

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

I agree this should be off-topic. But the site description must be changed to make this known to users. "the principles of how things work" is too general and one can argue that this question is on topic based on this description. – Louis Rhys Dec 21 '10 at 9:51

up vote -1 down vote

added by Stewbob Oct 22 '10 at 19:26

closed as off topic by RavenM, The Josenator, Nathan Osman, Brent Warner, woodchips Nov 24 '10 at 23:14

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

	Not only that, but its too localized. – Nathan Osman Nov 16 '10 at 1:17
	And can be answered with one word, "Poorly!" – Greg Nov 22 '10 at 1:30

up vote -1 down vote

added by Tshepang, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Dec 23 '10 at 14:21

I don't think any one knows the answer to that. ;) – Dan Dec 12 '10 at 6:02

up vote -1 down vote

added by Ahmad Kayyali Dec 22 '10 at 7:13

up vote -1 down vote

added by DarkLightA Dec 22 '10 at 10:04

assumes the asker already know about how the cellular radio network works: if he does, it's unlikely he does not know how cell phone pick up signals. – cbrandolino Dec 22 '10 at 21:37