query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Why did TVs go from squares to rectangles? | [
"There's a video [here](_URL_0_) that goes through the whole history. To summarize: movies started using the 4:3 (not quite square) aspect ratio because a guy working in Thomas Edison's lab picked it seemingly arbitrarily. TVs picked the same ratio so they could show movies. Then TVs became popular and movie theat... | [
"Because way back when, that was the only way we knew how to make TVs. And even when we had the technology, most the of the broadcasts were in black and white, so it didn't make sense to switch right away. And even when most of the broadcasts were in color, black and white TVs were a lot cheaper. Color TV as it exi... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Where is the cash that I spend electronically? | [
"Only about 8% of the world's money is actually in physical cash. The rest of it, 92% exists as just numbers on some computer or ledger. It seems odd at first, but these numbers on computers are basically just IOU's. If anyone every came and asked to get their money out of the electronic form and into cash, they co... | [
"Who supplies the cash? The person who needs a kidney..."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
why is "bloody" a bad word for the Britisher types? NSFW ? (Not my work) | [
"It's not that bad of a word and I've never seen it censored on British television."
] | [
"You do realize these shows are fake, right? EDIT: word added"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
What things did Microsoft do to miss out on mobile so badly and drop so far from 1st? | [
"The internal structure of the company installed by Ballmer is toxic and pits MS employees against each other. They are given career incentives to destroy each other's projects. They were incapable of mounting multiple large projects like a mobile OS, parent apps, hardware designs, or a supply chain for the parts."... | [
".Nokia is bigger and earlier player of smartphones. Their biggest blunder is not moving forward beyond \"Symbian OS\". By the time they realize they are behind, they try to bargain with google to do exclusive of some sort. Google said \"forget it\". And Nokia went with Microsoft and fucked it all up. .RIM had thei... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why do we have such a strong urge to scream out when we're injured. It seems like the last thing we'd want to do from a survival standpoint is to alert others of our weakness. | [
"Humans are communal animals. Screaming alerts the rest of the tribe to the danger. It may or may not save the injured individual, but it definitely helps the group as a whole. Since genes are what matters, not individual survival, behavior that makes other close relatives more likely to survive is more likely to g... | [
"Not an answer to your question at all, but this has to be the most counterproductive thing the human body does. When I'm hungry enough to feel sick to my stomach moving to get food is the last thing I want to do, which makes things worse."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Biology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment about Biology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment about Health and Wellness:"
} |
When my laptop is on and I put my hand on the lid I don't feel anything as long as I don't move my hand. As soon as I move it along the lid I feel a buzzing. Why is this? | [
"I'm guessing this is a brushed silver macbook, because the same thing happens with mine. Turn it off, and you'll find it still happens, because the \"buzzing\" is from the friction of your hand rubbing across the surface, not from the computer itself. Basically it feels smooth, but you're causing a low vibration w... | [
"Its the pillow itself. put your ear as close to the pillow as you can without touching it, then touch it with your finger, you'll hear similar sounds."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text about Health and Physiology:"
} |
Why do I feel different types of pain? How do the reactions in my body differ? | [
"I have a related question as well ... Why does our body have such incredibly high ranges for pain, that often seem to exceed the level of danger?"
] | [
"Some reduce inflammation which helps relieve pain, and some block pain receptors in your cells, so you don’t feel the pain. Different drugs perform different chemical actions that help with pain in different ways."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Does rinsing a fruit or vegetable actually do anything to prevent disease? | [
"It's not about preventing disease so much as it is to wash off dirt and, more importantly, pesticides/herbicides."
] | [
"Poop from cows, chickens, etc., is used to fertilize vegetables. Sometimes, that poop contains bacteria like e. coli which gets on the outside of the vegetables. If the vegetables aren't cleaned before people eat it, then people can get sick. The easiest way to keep yourself safe is to always wash your vegetables ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How online advertising pays for the maintenance of a website like facebook or reddit. | [
"it pays like any advertising pays. company A wants product B to be seen by a certain demographic. A pays agency C to place those ads in that demographic's eyesite. search engine optomization (SEO) algorythmically determines which sites suit best. you click that site, you see the ad, website gets paid."
] | [
"ads or premium memberships. this goes for most of the other \"free\" websites around the web"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
What does "skinny fat" actually mean? | [
"\"Skinny Fat\" basically means that although you are skiny and have a low Body Mass Index, your body doesn't have a muscle in it to balance it out leaving you with more fat that is less visable. It's called being Thin on the Outside, Fat on the Inside. Skinny Fat is unhealthy and there are risks to being Skinny F... | [
"What does \"ashy\" mean in the context of body parts?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why aren't people attracted to family members? | [
"I mean they can be, incest is a thing. But if you want an evolutionary explanation, incest can often lead to severe birth defects in children and as a result, it is evolutionarily beneficial to have a hardwired response to avoid that. And that is likely what happened (I say likely because all current evidence seem... | [
"Also, why are some people not ticklish at all?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why can't I use certain characters (such as / \ : * ? etc.) when naming a file? | [
"Windows has a huge directory of all files on your machine and when it tries to find a file it goes to c:\\users\\tybre\\documents\\notporn\\seriouslydontlook\\nostop\\pleasestahp\\porn\\grandmadontlook.wmv. If you have grandma\\dontlook.wmv as the filename it might get confused and think that grandma is another fo... | [
"Some people use mobile clients that display formatting wrong. So unless the writer knows how it should show it is a bit hard to format properly. Especially subreddit specific things like spoiler tags are often broken. Also special characters like \"`\", \"\\\", \"\\^\", \" > \", \"[\" and \"]\" (all of which are ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why does rubbing your eyes feel so good when you're tired? | [
"The LI5 version is that the response serves three purposes: 1. You massage the muscles around your eyes, which can relieve tension that builds up after a long computer session or some such. 2. Your eyes can stop producing enough fluid, and rubbing them stimulates the production of that fluid (basi... | [
"Optometrist here! Your eyelids basically ooze really moisturizing oil whenever you blink. So the less you blink/the longer your eyes stay open, the tears on your eye are literally evaporating and exposing your eye to the air which causes that burning feeling! Super common these days the more you're on your phone o... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Biology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post about Biology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post about Biology:"
} |
Why self posts don't get karma | [
"It's a minor precaution against direct stroking of the hive-mind's collective cock in exchange for karma (figuratively jizz). Instead of posting \"Hey Reddit, those [members of a group] sure are [negative adjective for group]\" with no source they have to find an article from a semi-reputable source that may or ma... | [
"Subreddits can set where you can't see the number of upvotes or downvotes so you won't upvote because everyone else does."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
What exactly does the Electoral College do? | [
"In America you can think of the president being elected by the states, not the people directly. States have a varying number of votes which can give smaller, less populous states a magnified importance in the final vote. The electors in the various states are chosen by the popular vote of each state's citizens. Mo... | [
"What do you want to know about them exactly?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does the skin get sticky after contact with sugary substances? | [
"Hydrogen bonds! Pure sugar is a solid made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. When the crystals are intact, the atoms are fine staying where they are. When water is added those strong oxygen-hydrogen bonds in the sugar start to break, and those loose hydrogen atoms will look for something else to stick to."
] | [
"It helps protect your throat, mouth, and teeth from the acid involved in stomach digestion."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Health and Wellness:"
} |
How do services boost Facebook likes or Twitter/Instagram followers so quickly? | [
"They build fake accounts and have them vote/like. The account credentials (login and password) are added to a script that logs in and then votes using each account. You forgot to include reddit in your list."
] | [
"They get better rankings and are more likely to be suggested or put on the front page, which increases their viewer-ship further and helps them monetize more."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
If Mars' atmosphere is predominantly CO2, why has a greenhouse gas effect not significantly increased the Martian surface temperature? | [
"Because Mars' atmosphere is insignificant; the surface pressure is only 600 pascals. By comparison, Earth's surface pressure is 101,000 pascals."
] | [
"> What happened to the water on Mars Surface? Where did it go? Most of it evaporated into the atmosphere, and then got stripped off into interplanetary space by the solar wind. (The solar wind being a constant stream of charged particles, emitted by the Sun, that tend to interact with the upper atmospheres of plan... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why youth unemployment is so important (especially in the EU) | [
"To be blunt, it's usually the youth that has the stamina and political idealism to foment dissent. Having a lot of them out on their asses where they have the free time to get angry at the gov't can very well lead to a situation where they're angry enough to start organizing. Older and more affluent demographics t... | [
"US workers get less benefits & time off all across the board. It's a cultural thing."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does the General Lee (A Dodge Charger) on the Dukes of Hazzard have its doors welded shut? | [
"It's explained early on in the series that the car is meant to be used as a stock car. The doors are often wielded shut in those cars to increase to help maintain the integrity of the vehicle even after being hit a few times."
] | [
"Big trucks have Big engines. Big engines make lots of heat. All cars and trucks have a part called a Radiator. The Radiator is where all the heat from the Engine goes. The Radiator is put just inside the front of the Car or Truck so the air can take the heat away as the Car or Truck drives. Big Trucks have Big eng... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How did Japan completely change their culture from a militaristic, fanatical country (complete with suicide bombers), to a normal industrialized, peaceful country in less than a generation after WW2? | [
"The culture wasn't militaristic, the government was. The Japanese population was basically deceived by propaganda from the military. After the military lost all control over the government (with the help of the United States), the mentality aspect changed."
] | [
"Partly because Japan was already going in that direction before the war. In the mid 19th Century, US gunboats showed Japan how backward they were, which lead to a massive modernization and westernization movement. One of the things other world powers had that Japan did not were colonies, so Japan made some out of ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why can't we figure out the sex of a fetus at conception? | [
"Pregnancy tests are designed to tell if your urine or blood contains the hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) which is released right after the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine wall. The only way to check the gender of the fetus before an ultrasound can detect it is to extract the DNA from one o... | [
"With current technology, you cannot viably grow a healthy, working organ ready for transplant from stem cells. Maybe in the future though."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why are medical professionals so against being quarantined after possibly being exposed to Ebola? | [
"A quarantine is a good idea for diseases that can be spread by someone who is not showing symptoms. When you don't know whether someone may be contagious, it makes sense to keep them away from other people. But Ebola can only be spread by a person who is showing symptoms, and the symptoms are not subtle. Every sin... | [
"A contagious disease is one that is easy to be exposed to; if someone sneezes in the same room as you, you might get sick. An infectious disease is one that is easy to actually get once exposed. The example would be only a few drops of blood touching you causing you to get sick. You're not likely to be bled on in ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Who determines the speed in curves when people first make the roads? | [
"The drivers, mostly. A lot of people don't realize that speed limits in most areas are determined by checking the speed of cars on a roadway or curve and using the speed that approx 85% of drivers use. The theory is that 85% of drivers are going to go the speed roadway conditions allow. If the speed limit is too l... | [
"if you’re more to the middle of the road, you can see more of the traffic and make a better informed decision on what to do next."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why is gingrich's affair being downplayed, while Clinton was impeached for the same thing. | [
"Clinton was accused of *perjury* and *obstruction of justice*. You cannot legislate morality hence Gingrich walks on the affair charge."
] | [
"Murdoch and friends tried to pin Benghazi on her for months and repeated it until it became tired. It also wasn't her fault or even a very entertaining scandal relative to the amount of coverage it got. She's also guilty of not securing her email and her husband cheated on her decades ago. Christie might actually... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
How was Felix Baumgartner able to stop himself from spinning so violently? Shouldn't he have just continued to spin uncontrollably? | [
"The question is more of why he couldn't gain control when he was spinning violently. The reason for that was the low air density. The fact that there was less resistance in the air for his arms being spread out to slow his spinning. Once the air density increased his spinning decreased and he gained control."
] | [
"Think about the path a ball follows when you throw it. It curves down and eventually hits the ground right? If you throw it faster, it still curves down, but it goes farther before it lands. Now what would happen if you threw it so fast and it flew so far that when it started to curve downwards the the ground had ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post about Science and Technology:"
} |
How are suffixes for Nationalities decided? Why is it Japanese and Korean and not Japanean or Koreaese? | [
"The main reason is because those would be a pain in the ass to say."
] | [
"Due to the Latin influence on English. The Romans called the area Germania. Plus it's quite common for any language to call other countries different names to what the people from that country call themselves. For instance, the Germans don't call Australia Australia, they call it Australien."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How are some albums "Mastered for iTunes"? | [
"Mastered for iTunes is essentially a set of guidelines for peeps (primarily mastering engineers) to follow... it recommends a preferred format for submitting \"higher fidelity\" music to iTunes (currently 256k aac, v lossy but hey). It's a bit of a marketing tool IMO, but it'll pave the way for Apple to push full ... | [
"Best Seller... in what? If you break everything up into categories you can have dozens of \"Number One Best-Sellers\". Best Seller... this week Best Seller... this year Best Seller... in Romance Best Seller... in Historical Fiction... and so on."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Potentially Stupid Question - How do the immensely wealthy and billionaires of the world actually pay for things? Where is the "money" portion coming from? | [
"> Do they just sell stock as needed? Yes, basically that. They wouldn't sell it all from the same company to limit the impact though, as their wealth is distributed among many different things."
] | [
"Banks, stocks, bonds, real estate, other \"stuff\". Rich people store most of their money in investments, earning them more money so they can stay rich. Don't get me wrong, Mr. Baldwin probably has more than enough cash in his bank account for anything he could want, but for the most part you're not going to hit ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is it that the younger generation sets the standard for what is deemed "cool" by society? | [
"Because they're the only ones who think it's important."
] | [
"It's a way for them to be 'hip' and 'trendy'. A not-so-nice way of saying it, they're craving attention, trying to be unique and interesting by saying all these things. For the most I think it's all complete nonsense."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
If your boss makes you commit plagiarism who is liable? | [
"just save the emails where you pointed this out and he told you to carry on, then you can prove it later."
] | [
"Check your contract? If your paycheck has a smaller number on it than what your contract says you should be getting, alarm bells should go off. Sounds to me like your coworker is a bit of a conspiracy theorist. Do you have any evidence of this other than what she told you? Ask your boss about it, perhaps."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why are internet speeds measured in megabits or gigabits, but storage space (Hard Drive, Flash Drive, etc.) Measured in Megabytes or Gigabytes? | [
"There are at least two reasons: 1. It makes the number sound bigger, 2. History. Historically, data transfer was measured in bits per second because the data was being sent as individual bits. Memory tends to be indexed in bytes, so measuring that in bytes made sense, but data was sent bit by bit. And of course, ... | [
"1 byte = 8 bits. 1 kilobyte = 8 kilobits. 1 megabyte = 8 megabits. If someone is offering 18 Mb/s (megabits/second), it is equal to 2.25 MB/s(megabytes / second)."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How do dogs predict seizures? | [
"Dogs, being social animals, are very sensitive to subtle changes in a person's body language, as well as having more keen senses overall. Most people give off some sort of very subtle tell before having a seizure, and the dog can often pick up on that more easily than the person that's about to have the seizure."
... | [
"It's how dogs check each other's news feeds."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How did Adobe gain their monopoly on photo editing and digital art and design software? | [
"They didn't. There are plenty of alternatives such as GIMP or Coral Draw or a bunch of others. They just happen to produce the very best in the category so they're the most popular."
] | [
"Today, it's purely a legacy holdover from a time when Mac computers WERE superior art platforms. They had all the best software, software that was single platform, and on the occasion pushed the boundaries of display technology. Now days, the difference is almost non-existent. Apple computers run the exact same pr... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Would it be possible to clone a dinosaur? | [
"You can use frog DNA to fill in the gene sequence gaps! Edit: the Michio Kaku video that actually explains a real answer: _URL_0_"
] | [
"A better question would be: \"Why are birds so much smaller than their ancestors, the dinosaurs?\" ;-)"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post about biology:"
} |
How do disc brakes work? | [
"Not an engineer, but to break pads get push together with a viceclamp (lack of a better term) and they squeeze the rotating disk that turns your tire. Creating a bunch of friction until the car vehicle comes to a stop."
] | [
"That's exactly how car insurance works. Can you clarify your question?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why are people protesting the World Cup in Brazil? | [
"Because the Brazilian government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on an event that will bring in zero profit to the country when some of the largest slums on the planet exist within their borders. [John Oliver explains this pretty well.] (_URL_0_) Humorous, but still depressing."
] | [
"What do you want to hear more about? The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? The Israel vs. Palestine situation? The Arab Spring? The recent attacks on US embassies?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why does Steam/Valve insist that Linux is the future of gaming? | [
"There are a variety of reasons, I'm probably not the best person to try and answer this, but I'll give it a shot. Firstly Linux is highly optimized and can be dedicated to running just steam whereas with windows, you will have to run heaps of their applications. With Linux being so streamlined, a player can have c... | [
"Steam is a digital store where people can buy games online and download them via the internet People like it because: * They get their game right then and there, no need to drive and pick it up at a store * games on steam go on sale quite a bit, sometimes as much as 75% off. * Steam keeps track of everything you ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Where did curse words originate from? How did they start, and why are they considered "bad words"? | [
"The reason \"curse\" words are bad is they started out as actual curses, wishes of ill on people. \"Damn\" is a word that retains its meaning. To early societies spiritual things were a big deal. It was beleived you could actually affect someone with ill wishes. I beleive this is where curses initially got their b... | [
"Because that is what our culture teaches you. The kind of language you use depends a lot on the language other people around you use, the kind of language you heard growing up, and the things you were taught to say either by your parents or at school. And many expressions don't necessarily have to be in line with ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Linguistics:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence about Linguistics:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
What is the science behind a “second wind” at night? | [
"From an evolutionary perspective, your second wind was useful because if something was keeping you up for that long after your normal bedtime it must have been life-threatening and you need that second wind to keep from being eaten by the thing keeping you up."
] | [
"They need to exercise everyday to make sure their muscles don’t waste in the weightlessness of space. Take a look at Scott Kelly’s daily routine during his year in space."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Leechers and seeders | [
"Seeders have the entire file and are only uploading to others. Leechers are people downloading and uploading the file at the same time (though they tend to do more downloading than uploading)."
] | [
"Rave you read from both to confirm that they work?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
When a person is morbidly obese, why do doctors treat it by surgically shrinking the stomach instead of surgically removing the fat? | [
"They do that too. It's called [liposuction](_URL_0_). But the root cause of that fatness is the person's excessive appetite. Stomach stapling fixes the cause, liposuction just temporarily relieves the effect."
] | [
"We can and do remove and transplant cancerous organs when possible. The supply of suitable donor organs is limited though, and the operation is risky and carries lifelong problems. It's typically a last resort when other treatments have failed and the tumor is inextricably tangled into the organ. You need to spen... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why is is that the human brain can't comprehend anything over the third dimension? | [
"Imagine it like this, if a person on a playing card theoretically could see, and they saw a sphere, they would recognize it as a circle without its' 3D properties. So if we saw a 4D, or a higher dimensional object, we would see it as 3D, and nothing more. I apologize if that wasn't clear Edit: Grammar"
] | [
"They might be like bird in that they can't perceive speed, only distance."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text about Animals:"
} |
if the deepest depth drilled by man is about 8 miles, and the crust is nearly 20 miles deep, how were scientists able to discover that there is an upper and lower mantel and inner and outer core? | [
"The same way you are able to tell what's in the box your grandmother sent you at Christmas. When you shake it, a sweater sounds different from a PS4 controller. Obviously scientists can't shake the earth, but the earth shakes itself sometimes, and scientists in different places are always listening (or rather thei... | [
"Not much will really happen. It's slow process, and will likely take years. We may have up to three poles during that time! It will obviously cause problems with anything that relies on earth's magnetism. Some animals may have a few problems, but considering the flip has happened incredibly many times in the past... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Earth Science:",
"pos": "Represent the argument about Earth Science:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why would someone sell their service on Fiverr | [
"$5 is the base price though. People can charge more depending on the amount of time/work it takes them to do the task. Also the attractive thing is that you are earning money in time that maybe you wouldn't be earning anything at all. Weekends and free time or just plain unemployed. And $5 is attractive enough for... | [
"They sold it to you for 2/3 the original price."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Writing:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Writing:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
If I replace every part of my car when does it become a new car? | [
"To my knowledge the odometer never legally resets. What people do note though is if you put a new engine in they will tell you how many miles are on that engine. So you could have a car with 400,000 on the odometer but an engine that only has 100,000 on it. Only problem with this is there is no meter that shows en... | [
"The cynic in me says so that when it breaks you have to pay to have it replaced or buy a new model, thus more money for them."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Political Leaders Salaries | [
"In the U.S., Congress decides their own salaries, as well as the salary of the President, Vice President, etc. It's their job to decide how the government's money is spent, and salaries are a part of that. The most recent constitutional amendment, ratified in 1992, made it so that no salary increase that affects t... | [
"Next Week's Theme: 'Royalty, Nobility, and the Exercise of Power' To be followed by: \"Eastern Europe\""
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is the meaning of the phrase "you can kill yourself with good intentions?" | [
"I'm not sure what context you're coming from but there is such a thing as **compassion fatigue** and is a well known issue with anybody who tries to help anybody else on a regular basis. So people who deliver healthcare and who take care of sick family members are the usual ones we think about. It really is a form... | [
"There are people who think god is the sun in the morning. They don't play with people who think god is the moon at night."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
How can animals like amphibians or marine mammals see clearly in both air and water? | [
"Humans see poorly in water mainly due to our eyes not being used to a large quantity of water, hence the stinging and the want to keep eyes closed. If you open your eyes in fresh water (pH7) you find you can see fine. Amphibians have protective membranes on their eyes which allows a greater range of water purity a... | [
"Three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. Applying pressure to a solid or liquid has no effect on the matter. Only gases (and, in some cases, plasmas) are affected by pressure. Simply put, these little fish at the bottom of the ocean have no gases in them. No air pockets inside their bodies means no effects ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How can Madonna say "she's though a lot about blowing up the white house" and not be arrested on site? | [
"Thinking isn't a crime, especially in the US. In the US, freedom of speech allows you to say \"I think the country would be better off if someone blew up the White House.\" Even saying \"I plan to blow up the White House\" could be taken to mean \"on Twitter\", and you'd get questioned, not SWATed. Hollywood blows... | [
"If when you do it you get your passports revoked and have to hide in Russia to avoid being put into prison I am fairly certain you aren't just making stuff up."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Do 2 sound waves bounce off of each other? | [
"No, they [pass through each other](_URL_0_), just like waves in water."
] | [
"Atmospheric bounce. Simple the radio waves bounce off the clouds instead of going off into space."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why do scientists look for life on planets only similar to our own? Couldn't there be life not based on carbon? | [
"Well, you can't rule it out, but we've never seen non-carbon life before, so we wouldn't even know what to look for. Because we know what carbon-based life is, we know to look for things like Methane in the atmosphere, organic molecules, etc."
] | [
"Water is heavy but very necessary for life. If the planet already has water on it, it may make it easier for people to travel to the planet if they don't have to take quite as much water with them. This is especially true if we ever attempt to colonize the planet. Also, since it's essential for life as we know, di... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument about science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
How does video game anticheat like Vac detect external cheat software on their games? | [
"While they can check for things like modified game files or memory hacking, anti-cheat software often doesn't limit itself to monitoring the game. As a simple method many programs check what processes you are currently running against a list of known cheat software, for example. Depending on the game there may be ... | [
"Consoles are closed systems. Developers know EXACTLY what will be running beside their game. On a PC the user can have ANYTHING running on their computer alongside the game. This includes viruses, improperly installed drivers and bugged software."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
The controversy surrounding the term TERF | [
"> From a modern mainstream-feminist point of view, isn't it right to silence those who regard trans people as not being women? Well yeah, but TERFs *aren't* mainstream. They're a small and hateful side group, sort of the Westboro Baptist of feminism. The reason they call it \"misogynist\" is that they see includi... | [
"Because it was coined to work like the word gene."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
I already have the latest version of DirectX. Why does it have to be installed every time I install a game? | [
"Most DirectX installs that come bundled with games and are only a specific distribution tailored for that game. They will install only the specific packs or DLLs that game needs. Since each game is made differently these bundles vary widely. In general i like to grab what's called a \"redistributable package\" fro... | [
"OpenGL for Windows is included in the Graphic card drivers. You install/update it automatically everytime you install/update your GPU drivers"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do we raise/lower our voice at the end of a question? | [
"We do that in English. There are other languages that do things differently. Some languages are pretty flat, and do the voice raise at the beginning of the question."
] | [
"When I make that gesture there is no sound associated with it. Are you referring to the people who click their tongue when they make this gesture? Or something else?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
In movies, how do they achieve the effect of a camera looking directly in to a bathroom mirror without it being seen in the reflection? | [
"It's done with an axial adjustment inside the movie camera. If you shift the focal plane away from perpendicular to the axis of the lens, the scene is distorted in an effect called keystoning. It makes things like a rectangle look like a trapezoid. It turns out, this is the opposite of the effect you get by filmin... | [
"A mirror doesn't reflect only those things directly in front of it. You're seeing your shoes because of the angle you're looking into the mirror. Think like your eyes are taking a banking billiards shot against the mirror and your shoes are the corner pocket."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How can a company like "Snapchat" be valued at $3 billion USD (WSJ Figure) with no revenue? | [
"It's valued at that because of the potential of future monetization and ad revenue. It would be the same as investing in a gold mining operation. You're investing under the assumption there is gold in the mountain and that the team you invest in will reach it eventually."
] | [
"On an actuarial basis, companies are typically valued at 1.5-5x revenue. A billion dollar company likely makes a quarter to a half billion in revenues. Keep in mind, even small startups need $1-10million to get off the ground these days, and it's not uncommon for a connected entrepreneur to dump $50-100 million of... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why is it perfectly legal to make and sell knockoffs of foods and other household items, but highly illegal to do with technology? | [
"Several reasons. Sometimes the generic brands are actually produced by the name brand, but its just repackaged and sold under the generic one. More importantly, you need a legal standpoint to sue. What law is Dr. Publix? None. Dr. Pepper does not have an exclusive right to make that kind of a drink. In terms of t... | [
"China is large. They have tons of factories. China also doesn't have strict laws against copying items owned by other companies. On paper, yes, they aren't supposed to do it. In practice though, China is very lax on regulating businesses, so there's very little stopping companies from making rip-offs of establishe... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
If the person before me gets regular gas, and I need premium, how does the pump clear the gas that was in the hose? | [
"It doesn't. It isn't going to make a difference to your car for that small amount to end up in the tank"
] | [
"If you look down the nozzle of a gas pump, you'd find there is a smaller tube, about the size of a straw, within the main tube. Gasoline goes through the main tube, the smaller one allows air to escape from the tank as it's displaced by the gasoline being pumped in. When liquid reaches this tube, it triggers the s... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
How does the brain encode sounds and music such that you can "hear" an almost perfect recording in your head, from memory, as if it's digitally encoded | [
"Scientists have started to zero in on the way the brain stores and encodes information, called sparse distributed representation. This encoding mechanism is in fact digital. Large groupings of neuronal columns and micro-columns connected to sensory pathways are activated sparsely, and unique clusters of connected ... | [
"The best explanation I've heard is using a cassette tape as an metaphor for the human brain. The cassette player has a device called the head which either reads the information on the tape, or writes to it. But of course it's not supposed to do both at the same time. Likewise, your brain can either make new memori... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Cognitive Science:"
} |
How would tuition "free" Universities benefit the school? | [
"The underlying idea is not to benefit the school, but to benefit *society.* I know that's a radical notion in a country that still values the greed of individuals over the general good of society, but there we are. Eventually, schools and teachers DO benefit, because making university education universal creates a... | [
"If they can't afford a college education without loans, how are they going to afford studying abroad?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
If so many places and products claim to only use "100% Chicken Breast", where does the rest of the chicken go? | [
"Nuggets, Chicken-based sausage products, stuff like that. The meat is almost always ground up so it has a consistent texture. You can use ground chicken in a product and still call it 100% chicken, cause it is, but in order to say 100% chicken *breast* it better be breast meat."
] | [
"Chicken nuggets don't contain eyes are bones. At least in the USA. They have meat from the breast. Some also have meat from the ribs, thighs and legs. The heads are cut off and thrown out or shipped to other parts of the world where people aren't so squeamish about such things."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why can I socialize with individuals and enjoy public speaking, but get nervous in smaller groups? | [
"Small group dynamics. My guess is that you're afraid of standing out in a small group, for some reason or another. Be it fear of coming off as snobbish, offensive, weird, stupid, awkward, rude, elitist...etc. One on one you can read your target, and quickly adapt. As a presenter, you and your message is the focus ... | [
"Confirmation bias. The vast majority of users on Reddit are male, so you are going to see more posts about men having difficulty meeting women. In addition, our society places a greater emphasis on the role of a man to initiate conversation or dating between men and women. This can lead to more dating anxiety. So... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
; What's that throbbing on the side of our heads when we chew? | [
"That is your jaw muscles. _URL_0_ If the throbbing is painful you should see a doctor."
] | [
"Why do the glands in my neck burn like high hell when I'm holding back tears?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why Australians sound so much more like British people than Americans. | [
"I'm going to assume you're American. As an American you are very familiar with your own dialect and can detect differences to a foreign dialect very easily. However, with Australian and British dialects you aren't terribly familiar with either and so differences are harder to detect. As a British person, I would s... | [
"What's a Tory, and why do so many people seem to hate them?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why are alcohol bottles not required to have nutritional labels? (like calories, carbohydrates, sodium, etc...) | [
"Alcohol doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of the FDA, for whatever reason I do not know I am sure someone else could fill you in. The FDA is the one who requires all those things to be printed on labels."
] | [
"A lot of sugary foods that are high in calories are also high in fats/other carbs which is adds tremendously to the amount of calories in the food. Sugars are carbohydrates, so they have 4 calories per 1 gram. Fruits are mainly just water, fiber (both have no calories), sugar, and micronutrients (vitamins, mineral... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What are food stamps? | [
"Poor people get money from the government to buy food (this is also, in part, a subsidy to farmers). To make sure they spend the money on food, they used to get special slips of paper that they would use at the store. These days, it's all done electronically, just like a credit/debit card, using a system generical... | [
"Advertising, selling info, and premium versions of the free stuff."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Technology:"
} |
Why is it that when you lay down and lay as still as possible, you can hear a pillow compressing no matter how still you lay? | [
"I'm no scientist, but I would assume it's because there are hundreds of thousands of little fibers in a pillow and even though a human thinks they are laying perfectly still, they are still constantly moving (breathing, cardiovascular processes, etc.), which in return causes the fibers to constantly be moving in r... | [
"It's difficult for me to sleep without a fan or another type of constant, white noise. When it's \"completely silent\", it's really not because any sudden, quiet sound becomes audible when you normally might not notice it. So unless you're just about to fall asleep you're forced to focus on it and your brain stays... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Health and Physiology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Health and Physiology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
[Biology] what keeps or gut flora from drunkening us? | [
"You're mistaking \"air\" for \"oxygen\". We don't have many air pockets in our bodies. We do have a great deal of oxygen. We wouldn't survive without it."
] | [
"The bacteria fungus and all other manner if creatures eat you, your energy transfers to them."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Biology:",
"pos": "Represent the passage about Biology:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
What exactly are smelling salts are, and how do they work? | [
"Smelling salts release ammonia (NH3) gas, which irritates the mucous membranes of the nose and lungs, and thereby triggers an inhalation reflex. Sauce: _URL_0_"
] | [
"You can't cure the sickness, but you can treat the symptoms. That's all these medicines are doing. It provides some relief."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are bonds with negative yields considered a sign of "investor confidence", and why would anyone buy them? | [
"People buy them because they believe the negative yield bonds are the safest option. So safe, in fact, that they're willing to *pay* to have their money put in those bonds. That's why it's a sign of investor confidence."
] | [
"Because there is a persistent myth that the US owes most of their debt to China, and China can cut the US off at a whim. The buyers are people who might have bought bonds from the US directly, but will buy US bonds from China instead. This will increase the supply and may force the US to offer slightly better term... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do HDDs have multiple disks in a stack when the needle only writes to the top one? | [
"Actually the 'needle' (read write heads to be precise) exists for all the disks in the stack. [Example1](_URL_0_), and [Example2](_URL_1_)"
] | [
"Put simply - moving parts. A HDD needs to spin to the correct place, and the head needs to move to the correct part of the disk, before the data can be accessed. The only thing moving inside a SSD is electrons."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How can someone be "Over-qualified" for a job? and why do "Over-qualified" people get fired? | [
"If you have a PHD in astrophysics... you're probably not going to be happy flipping burgers or cold calling to sell software.... so why on earth would a company pay tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of dollars to train you for a job you are almost certainly going to leave as soon as you can."
] | [
"HR Manager: \"Hmm, between these two applicants, A has a job and B doesn't. Why doesn't B have a job? Maybe there's something wrong with him. I better not take the risk of hiring someone like that. I'm going to hire A.\" And that's why it's easier to get a new job if you're already employed."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
how do you Know if someone is a bad Actor or if its the director who is bad? | [
"If a good actor does a bad performance in one movie, he's a good actor with bad direction. If an actor does a bad performance in every movie he is in, he's a bad actor. Personally I think the best actors are the ones who actually play different characters, instead of themselves in different scenarios, so I persona... | [
"Are you trying to end the show? Cuz that's how you end the show."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How is depression and anxiety able to alter your appearance and looks exactly? | [
"Well anxiety releases a stress hormone called cortisol and it can make you gain weight. Anxiety and/or depression doesn’t exactly make people want to be active, so that can contribute to weight gain too. Making a certain face a lot could cause wrinkles. Depression doesn’t help you in regards to putting much effo... | [
"The short answer is that neuropathways in the brain are restricted so the chemicals that would normal pass through them freely are now not getting through at an acceptable rate. This leads to changes in moods, thought processes, and even physical behavior. Now to be clear not everyone who is depressed suffers from... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
how is chewing bones good for dogs teeth, and can it benefit humans? | [
"Their teeth are specifically designed to crush softer bones like ribs and vertebrae unlike our teeth. When dogs eat lots of softer foods like commercial dog food their teeth can't get tartar build up on it just like our teeth; gnawing on bones will help scrape the build up off."
] | [
"Because animals don't eat Twinkies, and wash that down with a vanilla milkshake. Quite simple. If you eat things that are bad for your teeth, you have to take better care of your teeth."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Dentistry:"
} |
How can there be no natural predators for rabbits in Australia? | [
"Rabbits have simply outbred the one major native predator--the dingo and there are few minor predators--the introduced fox also cannot breed fast enough to beat the rabbit--and is also hunted very hard itself by humans because of their preference for lambs rather than rabbits. Australian is very sparsely populated... | [
"Yes, it teaches you to stay the hell away from mosquitoes, the single deadliest animal on Earth for humans."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
The Edison-Tesla Argument | [
"Edison's quite a bit smarter than people give him credit for here, you're right. A lot of the inventions credited to him were products of his research lab, but it's not like he was able to open a lab at the beginning of his career (he didn't come from money) - he had already made a number of inventions by himself ... | [
"Relevant entertaining and informative youtube video Electrocution in Water: _URL_0_"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
what is dust? How does it get everywhere? | [
"About [1/3](_URL_0_) of dust comes from inorganic stuff in your house breaking down, like carpet fibers. The rest comes from dirt and air particulates you bring in from the outside. There's also a small contribution from organic matter like your skin cells and pet dander."
] | [
"Static, materials that get dusted with a tendency to retain a static charge will attract dust straight away, use a wet cloth instead. Doesn't generate any static. Fun facts with Aeron"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
What is the purpose of the blue tint/film at the top of windshields? | [
"It helps to shade the sun from blinding you as you drive. Think about how sunglasses work except only for certain angles."
] | [
"What do you mean? The condensation should be on the inside of the screen, not the outside."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why in the u.s. they call some places and restaurants "hole in the wall"? | [
"This phrase has been used since the early 1800s. A 'hole' is an empty space, and a 'wall' is part of a building. So a 'hole in the wall' is a simple, undecorated space in a building."
] | [
"I'm pretty sure it's not normal to \"eat out\" outside the US. It's for rich people and tourists."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why is salary credited in a Bank Statement? | [
"The name comes from double entry accounting's terms for increasing and decreasing an account, and because from the bank's perspective your account is a liability not an asset (which means the debit and credit are reversed from their usual sense--credits increase liabilities while debits decrease them)."
] | [
"In Australia they have a accounts at the Reserve Bank of Australia. You will sometimes receive cheques drawn on these accounts."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why has internet speed increased over the years if the medium of delivery has always been the same? | [
"Mainly because of new methods of compressing data to fit into the limited bandwidth of those copper wires. Also by expanding and bringing high bandwidth fiber networks closer to the home. I'm getting 100mbps over the same cable I used to watch scrambled porn on when I was a teenager."
] | [
"It's an ISP (internet service provider), which provides fiber to the home (fiber optics) internet, instead of the traditional ( in the US at least) telephone and cable based internet. Traditional cables like phone and cable operate by sending an electrical signal through the wire, which is how you receive your int... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why do most countries have extremely different dialects that cannot be understood by people in the same country while the United States basically has one? | [
"We're freakin' *young*. Those dialects grew up over centuries of isolation. The average person wouldn't go from Edinburgh to London, ever. So you have a long time of relative linguistic isolation. Compare to the US, where it's been common for a century or so to move from one end of the continent to the other, and ... | [
"Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a single Chines language. A guy in Beijing and a guy in Hong Kong may be able to read the same newspaper but they won't be able to communicate easily by just talking in their native langue. Some of these varieties of Chinese are not actually closer related than some rela... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why is "I have nothing to hide" a bad argument against mass surveillance? | [
"Because you shouldn't only be entitled to privacy if you have something to hide."
] | [
"License plate readers help the government monitor and track people. The story about catching gang members is supposed to make you feel good about losing your right to be free from this Orwellian surveillance."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Is it the actual tobacco that is bad for you in cigarettes, or all of the chemicals that are put into the cigarette? | [
"Both; but it is more complicated that. The chemicals added are bad. The act of breathing smoke into lungs is bad. Nicotine is highly addictive and carcinogenic."
] | [
"There are some ingredients that keep the cigarette lit. You'll notice if you smoke a cigar or cannabis that you have to keep lighting it on fire. Ammonia is usually part of the process that increases the amount of nicotine in the smoke. Several others change the way the smoke smells or looks like (it doesn't make ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do clothes get darker when they're wet? | [
"Your clothes are made out of irregular surfaces, such as tiny fibres. They scatter light easily. Some of the fibres are also translucent, and thus retro-reflect white light. The combination of these factors can make your clothes appear brighter. When your clothes get wet, the water surrounding the fibres acts as o... | [
"I think the general consensus is that things that get dirtier like undershirts, underwear, and towels get cleaner with hot water. But, colors can fade faster on heat so cold is recommended. If you get brand new white t's, they'll stay whiter if washed with other whites on heat. If you wash them with everything tog... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How can every auto-maker say they are "the number one car/truck/suv" in their commercials? | [
"\"Number one\" is vague. Of course they're using some specific category. The F150, for example, is the number one selling truck in the US. Others may use towing capacity or safety ratings or something else."
] | [
"> Tesla Motors, Why they are so great, They sell a unique product that is considered very trendy. > Why I've never heard about them before, You don't go outside much, read newspapers very often, or trade stocks. Seriously, the name Tesla is everywhere on reddit, even. They are a young company though, so that mig... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How are scratch cards made? | [
"Do you mean like lottery scratch-off cards? The technique is pretty simple. The card is printed and covered with a wax coating. Then a thin layer of latex rubber paint is applied over the scratchable areas. The latex sticks to the wax, but comes off with a fingernail."
] | [
"Are all of your electronic made by Apple?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why can't an electric car charge itself while driving? | [
"You can't generate more power than you put into the system. If you take power from the wheels to charge the battery, then you are increasing the resistance in the wheels, you can't simply \"borrow power\" without impacting them. This means you slow them. This means you need to apply more power to make the same tri... | [
"Electricity can be extremely fast, but in this case there is an electrochemical reaction going on, which is not that fast. Also, the faster they go, the more heat they produce, which can be dangerous. Incidentally, if you charge your phone using a wall charger, it will usually charge faster than plugging it into a... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
How do music recognition apps like Shazam work? | [
"The ELI5 answer is that it listens for patterns in volume changes, and then checks those against the volume change patterns in its database of songs. This is why it still works when there's background noise and such. (That's the gist of it; the actual math is crazy complicated and I barely get it msyelf.)"
] | [
"Most companies want you to pay streaming fees for services like Apple Music and google play."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is an allegory? | [
"It's a story that has a hidden meaning and symbolism that applies to something that happens in the real world. George Orwell's Animal Farm is about a bunch of abused farm animals who revolt and take over the farm from the humans, and try to run it in a fair way for all animals' benefit. But the administrators (pig... | [
"What do you want to know about them exactly?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why, even if I'm dehydrated (not dangerously so), do I still pee a ton when drinking water? Doesn't my body need that? | [
"Part of the reason you need water is to rinse your filters (kidneys) so that stuff doesn't build up in your system. Once that's done, your body will fill up the blood supply."
] | [
"It doesn't, it's just the beginning of a lot of urinating. Think of it like this. If you don't drink anything all day, you probably won't pee much all day. Then if you drink a liter of water every hour, you'll start peeing quite a bit. That first time you pee, you're not breaking any seals - you just didn't have m... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What happens to your sense of smell after being hit in the nose? | [
"Blood smells metallic to a lot of people. Depending on how hard you've been booped, you'll get a metallic smell, if not a coppery taste too, particularly if you've had a particularly deep conversation with someone else's knuckles. Also being schmacked in the schnozz can loosen up the crusties up in your air hole, ... | [
"Sense of smell is crucially important to the sense of taste. Congested nose = screwed up sense of smell = screwed up sense of taste. Pretty much all there is to it. Same reason things taste different if you plug your nose."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why have we gotten rid of the $500 bill? | [
"To make smuggling cash 5 times harder. It takes a bigger box to export ill-gotten drug gains, which makes it easier for law enforcement to catch evildoers. In 1969 the US government purged all the big bills, $500, $1000, $5000, and $10,000 to fight fraud, drugs, and money laundering."
] | [
"OP, how about a short explanation about how you know this?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
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What makes blood types different from one another? How can there be a "universal" type? | [
"There are different proteines that can be found on the outside of your red blood cells we call them A and B. Your body produces antibodies that can bind to the proteines that do not appear on your blood cells. So someone with type 0 (the red blood cells do not have either the A or B protein on the surface) can giv... | [
"No, blood can be used from anyone as long as it's the same type. The extra chromosome has no affect on that :)"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How do they create the lines/arrows on football fields for live NFL games? | [
"Well, obviously you already know how you can overlay graphics on top of a still image. Creating an arrow or label on top of a photo isn't so hard, from that perspective. It's the movement and real-time camera sync that's hard. So how do you do it when the image moves and changes constantly? Well, the cameras posit... | [
"Green screen. The same way meteorologists on the news do it when they're showing you the weather. That is all done live. Streamers use the same approach, having some software that removes the green behind them from the stream before adding their camera feed to the stream."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why is it that the amount of inertia and the strength of gravity are both based on mass? | [
"You have stumbled upon one of the great mystery in physics! There is no known reason why all object with inertia interacts with gravity at the same proportion! Yet all observations demonstrate this."
] | [
"Because it's all bound to the speed of light, so the product of wavelength and frequency equals the same constant"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage about Physics:"
} |
Can someone explain what a "functional" programming language like Objective Caml and F# are? What separates them from other languages? Also: why are they used a lot by financial firms? | [
"The canonical functional language is Haskell - probably the best place to start reading. Functional is the opposite of procedural: a functional program is a *description* of the output, not the steps needed to produce it. Basically, in functional languages, *there are no side effects*. The result of every operat... | [
"One computer language is equivalent to another in terms of what they *can* do, but AI has historically been associated with Lisp, Prolog, Java, C, and Python. There's no reason you can't do it in whatever language you want, of course."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
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