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What is lighter than a feather, but cannot be held by any person for more than few minutes.
No person can Touch it.
The Human life is based on it.

Hint:

it is fast when you run and it is normal when don't run.

So what is the answer?

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8 Answers 8

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Famous riddle, the answer is:

Breath

Explanation:

What is lighter than a feather, but cannot be held by any person for more than few minutes.

Breath is lighter than a feather. And you can't hold your breath more than a few minutes or you die.

No person can Touch it.

A little debat here, you can't really touch it, you can feel it.

The Human life is based on it.

The human need to breath or he dies...

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    $\begingroup$ Technically speaking you can touch your breath, well the atoms and molecules do touch and doesn't at the same time, it's how you interpret it. Grammatically speaking we don't touch air/breath... we feel it. $\endgroup$ Jul 7, 2015 at 10:43
  • $\begingroup$ Touch and feel are synonymous in this case. $\endgroup$
    – Mark N
    Jul 8, 2015 at 14:20
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A possibly more suitable answer:

Nuclear fusion with Hydrogen

What is lighter than a feather, but cannot be held by any person for more than few minutes.

Hydrogen is lighter than a feather, and people (scientists) are still struggling to maintain nuclear fusion for more than a few minutes!

No person can Touch it.

I don't think it would be wise to try and touch something as hot as the sun! For any dare-devil that tried, their body part would just burn up before getting close enough.

The Human life is based on it.

Human life is all thanks to the Sun, which just so happens to be a huge hydrogen nuclear fusion reactor!

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    $\begingroup$ With the same objection you gave to the "classic" answer: You could touch it, even if that might be a terrible idea ;) $\endgroup$
    – Set Big O
    Jul 6, 2015 at 13:19
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    $\begingroup$ @Geobits, I think you would lose/destroy what ever you used to try and touch it, before it made it close enough... $\endgroup$
    – Mark N
    Jul 6, 2015 at 13:21
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    $\begingroup$ Probably... maybe it'd be more accurate to say it could touch you. Briefly. $\endgroup$
    – Set Big O
    Jul 6, 2015 at 13:22
  • $\begingroup$ I guess that depends on your definition of touch. I would say its heat melting you before you reach it does not count as touch - touch implies matter. If it emitted an odor, you could consider that as touching since it's actually matter that touches you. (Don't think about that at your next large family meal...) $\endgroup$
    – corsiKa
    Jul 6, 2015 at 21:10
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"Death is lighter than a feather; duty is heavier than a mountain."
- al'Lan Mandragoran, Wheel of Time

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    $\begingroup$ Not just him: it's an old Borderlands saying, and originates out-of-universe in the Japanese armed forces! +1 for being a fellow WoT fan (note my username) ;-) $\endgroup$ Jul 6, 2015 at 20:01
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Is it

Oxygen?

Required for the other answer. No one can touch it. And human life is based on it.

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Is it:

Fire?

What is lighter than a feather,

Fire has literally no weight

but cannot be held by any person for more than few minutes.

Seconds, not to mention minutes.

No person can Touch it.

Actually you could touch it but you got what I mean

The Human life is based on it.

Heat / fire for cooking

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Another alternate answer:

A Universal Solvent

What is lighter than a feather, but cannot be held by any person for more than few minutes.

If you were to hold a universal solvent, you would have to be holding it in some container, but after a few minutes, the container would be dissolved, and you would no longer be holding it.

No person can Touch it.

Anyone touching it would have that portion touching it dissolved as well.

The Human life is based on it.

Water is often called the Universal Solvent, even though in reality it isn't one, but human life is based on water.

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Nice :)

A snowflake. The human life based on water and a snowflake is frozen water. If I touch or take a snowflake they will melt.

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  • $\begingroup$ Nice - fits everything except the hint. $\endgroup$ Jul 7, 2015 at 16:46
  • $\begingroup$ !> it falls slow if I am not running :D $\endgroup$
    – alex_c137
    Jul 8, 2015 at 10:26
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I know that I'm late and that this one's already been answered, but I really just have to answer this.

Air.

Is lighter than a feather.

It's air. Do I really have to explain?

Cannot be held by any person for more than few minutes.

A few minutes is around the time that the average person can hold their breath, thus meaning that they are "holding" it in their lungs for a few minutes.

No person can touch it.

Technically, you're always touching it, but I think I know what the OP was going for.

The human life is based on it.

Air has oxygen in it, and without that humans can't survive.

Hint

It is fast when you run and it is normal when you aren't running: Wind rushing in your face.

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