query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Why might a market never reach an equilibrium point? | [
"In terms of classical economics, the equilibrium is achieved by assuming that prices can move freely to achieve a balance between demand and supply. The free movement of prices is the signal that affects producer's decision to supply and consumer's decision to demand. In this perfect market, prices change instanta... | [
"Start by looking at them as two separate diagrams, a supply diagram and a demand diagram. The supply diagram shows how many units would be supplied at each price point. Like, if the market rate was $10, then 100 units would be produced. The demand diagram is how many units would be wanted at each given price point... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does modern orchestral music sound so different from the classics? | [
"Is it weird that the beatles and led zepplin have different sounds? They play on many of the same instruments. Or would you think it strange that an opera singer and beyonce have different sounds? They also use the same instrument (vocal chirds). The experience you have when you listen to music, the sound, is dete... | [
"You listen to a lot more of it compared to older eras. That familiarity lets you get into the subtleties of everything. It's the same way when people who listen to metal can tell the difference between black metal, death metal, doom, thrash, even though a layman just hears \"metal\". Also, listen to some really o... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Was the nuking of Japan in WWII a war crime? | [
"It's only a war crime if you lose. The winners are the ones who get to decide what behavior was out of bounds during the war."
] | [
"Could the rebuilding of Japan after WWII be considered a partial colonization by the United States?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
is there any truth to you experiencing slow motion in times of extreme events (ie. car accidents)? | [
"This has been studied and there are interesting results. Our brains don’t speed up but the intensity of fear causes us to remember more and in more detail. But there’s a lot more to it than that. “... fear does not actually speed up our rate of perception or mental processing. Instead, it allows us to remember wha... | [
"A lot of factors affect human sleeping patterns, of which animals don't experience. * stress * smart phone / computer screen affecting the brain * caffein consumption near sleep time things like that, you can even include existential crisis episodes while in bed, and the embarrassing shit your brain won't let you ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How is the “feels like” temperature determined on the weather channel app ? | [
"There are several different formulas depending on what information is used. But generally it's some combination of temperature, humidity, air pressure and wind velocity."
] | [
"From The Weather Channel: > The 'Chance of Precip' describes the likelihood of precipitation (maybe not even measurable) in your forecast area. The chance is based upon a series of 100 instances of identical weather conditions. > For example, a 40% Chance of Precip means that precipitation occurred 40 out of 100... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment about weather:"
} |
I have an allergy prescription that is $40 with my high deductible plan but the prescription company gives anyone that searches for a card 1 per month free. How do they make money on this? | [
"They make their money off the insurance companies and people who pay for it. The discounts are there to keep them from getting it too much trouble and everybody rebelling against them"
] | [
"It's how your plan is structured. Even if the cash price of the drug were the same (which is unlikely) your plan will pay less of that cost for going to your neighborhood pharmacy. Many insurance companies own their own mail order, basically paying themselves to dispense to you. TL;DR: the insurance coverage ch... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why does glass “crackle” after a new cut/score? | [
"Glass tempers, or sets, in a crystalline fashion that almost gives it a \"grain\" if magnified. So the structure of the glass is fragmenting. Add to that the fact that glass has no plasticity (once cooled/hardened, it cannot be reshaped without fracturing), and you get tiny pieces of glass fragments and a crackle"... | [
"Those bubbles are produced on dirt and imperfections on the glass, allowing bubbles to form. Sorry I don't recall the name of the effect that causes it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How do pregnancy test kits work. | [
"They test for one particular hormone in the urine that the body produces in large amounts during pregnancy: HCG."
] | [
"Perhaps it is a preservative in bottled juice. Check ingredient list."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do people dry age beef? Also why doesn’t it just go rotten? Or does it and people like that? | [
"They age it by keeping it in carefully controlled environments with the right temperature and humidity... wanting the 'right' kind of bacteria to grow. Think how they age cheeses. Yeah it definitely gets funky on the outside but they cut that part off."
] | [
"Humans can eat raw meat too, you know. Ever had a steak tartare? Basically, it depends on the freshness and quality of the meat. Most animals can smell if meat has gone bad, and will avoid it, just like we will."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why does welding work when the welding “liquid” is a different material to the metal being welded? Does it work like glue in that it gets into crevices and solidifies or is there a chemical reaction between the 2 different metals? | [
"You seem to be referring to \"brazing\" where a melted metal attaches two other metal surfaces together. As you suspect it is weaker than welding. With welding the \"welding liquid\" actually includes melting the two metal surfaces such that they mix and join, something which traditional gluing doesn't involve."
] | [
"There are a few issues. Firstly aluminium oxidizes very fast. It only takes a few seconds. And this layer of aluminium oxide will not flake off like many other oxides but form a hard shell around the aluminium. Secondly aluminium conducts heat very well so if you apply heat to one part of it the energy will just d... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How has the cost of living/schooling and economy in general inflated to such a degree? Is there a way that we can fix it or will it simply become worse? | [
"Instead of charging a reasonable amount for services, employees, etc., universities compare costs with other universities. Thus what should a math teacher be paid? Well what do math teachers at other universities get paid? Using an untethered closed loop can only make prices go higher, because everyone gives their... | [
"Well obviously there would be less of a gap in income, because we'd chop off the top of it. That being said, why would you invest your money if you couldn't earn more than what you were already earning? You'd probably just hoard it. that would likely completely cripple the economy, and everyone would likely just g... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why do you have to pretend to be asleep in order to actually fall asleep? | [
"Short answer: we don't actually know HOW we fall asleep. Longer answer: Disengaging from being awake is a gradual process. Turning off the lights, closing your eyes, and cozying up allows you to relax and starts the process. As we all know \"sleep\" has many stages, but your brain isn't going to start the process ... | [
"You lay a greasy head on them and never really get the chance to wash them. What did you expect would happen?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
What exactly is happening when there is a mirror in front of you and a mirror behind you.? | [
"The light bounces relatively infinitely from one mirror to another and to your eyes. That's why you see a seemingly endless tunnel in both mirrors."
] | [
"1: where is the visual representation? 2: Are you talking about when the water pours backwards out of the glass and dribbles down it?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
What are genomes and phenotypes? | [
"The genome is the complete collection of DNA of a cell, meaning the genome essentially controls how the cell develops, what it can do etc. The phenotype describes the observable characteristics of an organism and how they relate back to the genome."
] | [
"Genotyping is the process of determining differences in the genetic make-up (genotype) of an individual by examining the individual's DNA sequence using biological assays and comparing it to another individual's sequence or a reference sequence Gene expression is the series of steps used to take information from a... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about biology:",
"pos": "Represent the post about biology:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
What exactly is the ‘human condition’? | [
"The human condition is the awareness of our own mortality and diminuitiveness in the universe. The poignancy that we always want what we can't have, will never have everything we wanted in life, and will always have regrets about things we cannot change. > *In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will di... | [
"What do you mean by downfall? This is still a dominant part of current culture."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
What would actually happen if you didn't put your phone on aeroplane mode during a flight? | [
"The battery would drain very quickly. When the cell radio can't reach a tower, it \"shouts\" in order to try to find one - this takes a lot more power. Nothing would happen to the airplane. If these things were truly dangerous, they wouldn't let you bring them on board."
] | [
"Planes are thoroughly inspected before every flight to ensure everything is ok. Do you inspect your car every day before your commute to work?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the text about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Deep Blue shark weight | [
"Square the girth of the shark, multiply by the length then divide by 800. Measurements in inches. This is the formula used and is accurate to +/- 3%."
] | [
"There is its called florescent lighting. Edit: typo"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Technology:"
} |
How does the pornography industry still make money when there is so much free porn out there? | [
"Like other television entertainment services, there is a general move towards subscription services rather than purchasing outright, but obviously free+ads is also a common model too. Increasingly, popular performers have their own personal subscription services e.g. specialist/premium content, personalised live c... | [
"I believe they found pop-culture programming to be more profitable. And there's no going back now that there's YouTube, Vimeo, etc."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Since cold symptoms are mostly caused by our immune system trying to fight the virus, isn't cold medicine supposed to make our bodies take longer to heal? | [
"The actual \"work\" that is being done by the immune system is identifying and killing the virus itself. The medicine stops your runny nose and lowers your fever, but doesn't inhibit the active \"search and destroy\" process. The symptoms are a crude way of getting rid of viruses and bacteria, and also prevent oth... | [
"HIV is a virus. We can't really cure any virus, like we can with bacteria. All we can do is help the body's own immune system fight it off on its own. For example, when you have a cold, all you can do is rest and stay hydrated so your immune system doesn't have to work as hard, but there isn't a pill you can take ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Medical:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about Medical:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
why do humans pick scabs? Do other animals? | [
"I don't know why we do it, but I know that other animals do it. That's why we put those big cones around the necks of cats and dogs after they've had surgery."
] | [
"do they squirm when you squeeze them? if so yes."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
why does putting on two coats of spf 30 not make it spf60? | [
"SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. To start, all sunscreen from 15-100 protects you from more than 90% of the suns harmful UVB rays. SPF 15 blocks 93% of UVB rays SPF 30 blocks 97% of UVB rays SPF 50 blocks 98% of UVB rays SPF unfortunately isn’t like a plaster where you can apply layers for better thickness.... | [
"SPF is supposed to work like this: You take the time your skin usually takes to burn, multiply it by the SPF, and that is the new amount of time it will take you to burn. So if you usually take 15 minutes to burn and you wear SPF 10, then it should protect you for 150 minutes (2.5 hours.). Whereas if you usually t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does phone memory actually work? | [
"The OS itself usually takes up a sizeable portion. The big thing is as you said, apps and media. But apps also usually cache data, like how a browser will store images as temporary files to make loading the webpage quicker. Facebook cache I've seen build up to 300 MB or more. These temporary files can build up qui... | [
"Memory in a computer does not get deleted. Memory refers to the physical hardware that stores data, there are several different types of memory, RAM, HDD, cache, SSD. I assume that you didn't mean what you asked, could you please elaborate."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do passengers have to stay boarded on a plane for 12+ hours when there is a issue? | [
"Generally speaking, when in a vehicle flying over a country, passengers can't disembark from such vehicle outside of emergencies without technically entering that country. However, that airport did not have staff to handle immigration/customs entry at the time, so passengers could not legally leave the aircraft.... | [
"They might be able to use a different plane. Until the actual delay is known and other avenues of delay-reduction are applied, it would be a waste to tell customers there has been a delay because in the end, there might not be. Plus, people should be at the airport early for their flight, which often means by the ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does fire burn faster vertically? | [
"Heat rises. The hot gas that makes up the flame is much less dense (and therefore much more buoyant) than the air around it, causing it to “float” upwards (hence why flames flicker vertically). As a result, fuel directly above the fire will heat up and ignite more quickly than fuel that is adjacent or below."
] | [
"1: where is the visual representation? 2: Are you talking about when the water pours backwards out of the glass and dribbles down it?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why can you sense people staring at you? | [
"Our eyes have pretty wide visual field, much bigger than we can think. In the process of evolution it became really important to detect if anyone staring at you, so now we can have the feeling of someone's stare even if their eyes are on the edge of the visual field."
] | [
"The same reason you use your fancy phone in public but get upset when homeless people stare at your phone for too long."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How do antidepressants cure depression? | [
"To say that they cure depression may be the wrong way of phrasing it, I think they play a part in hormone regulation. They are one piece of a bigger picture when it comes to treatment."
] | [
"To put it simply, they are self medicating. Nicotine can have effects similar to some drugs prescribed for psychiatric disorders."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
How do they decide what the “best by…” date is on a product? | [
"\"Best by\" usually determine a threshold for quality/taste rather than exact spoiled contents. There's storage tests done where different factors (heat/cold/humidity/light) affect the item. Some perishables, like milk, have microorganisms in them, and that makes it easier to determine."
] | [
"Sell by date- this is when the store should remove the product. This is often erring on the side of caution. Best by date- when a product's freshness begins to drop. Your food should still be good for a period of time afterwards. Expiration date- your product is inedible once this date has been reached."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How can eating food sometimes cure headaches? | [
"Low blood sugar can sometimes present itself as a mild headache before the liver adjusts it (or a severe and potentially fatal headache if diabetic). Eating something rapidly digestible is a quick way to increase blood sugar."
] | [
"It means that the food contains chemicals that can help to reduce inflammation. It will not make you harder to set on fire."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
why and when did some things become breakfast food and some things become foods you only eat at lunch or dinner? ex: eggs | [
"Breakfast foods tend to be things that can be cooked very quickly without much preparation, since it’s the first meal. Eggs are a perfect example since they cook so fast."
] | [
"Coffee cake? Apple strudel is kinda like pie... Danishes are another sweet pastry. Muffins are pretty much cake without icing. . . There are loads of sweets that are considered socially acceptable to eat for breakfast even though they have little nutritional value other than providing you calories."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
why you can see the moon for so long during the day when the sun is fully in the sky? | [
"The full moon is 180 degrees opposite the sun and will only be in the sky directly across from the sun for brief periods at dawn and dusk. The other phases of the moon are closer to the sun, until you get to the barely visible new moon phase where they're together but the moon is dark. As the moon approaches the s... | [
"No. They end up getting the same amount of light. Each part of the moon spends half an orbit in sunlight and half an orbit in dark. The moon is actually almost never in our shadow, that is a lunar eclipse and they happen rarely. The dm physically night side of the moon at any moment is in its own shadow. Just like... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage about Astronomy:"
} |
Why we find nature much more beautiful than manmade objects | [
"We do not necessarily. A rotting, maggot-filled carcass next to a big pile of shit is nature, but most people would not describe that as more beautiful than the Mona Lisa. Those aspects of nature that we do find beautiful tend to be very large and all inspiring though, while things that we make that we find beauti... | [
"As is often the case with these sorts of things, it is a mix of nature and nurture that creates interests in people."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why do people feel so uncomfortable with the sound of balloons squeaking together, nails on a chalkboard, etc.? | [
"The shape of the inside of our ears makes some sounds “sharper” than others. These sounds are at the top of our hearing range (2000-4000Hz). No one is sure why we evolved this way. It might be because screams are a universal way of communicating danger, and it would be helpful to hear signs of danger better. Anywa... | [
"One of the most practical benefits of white noise is it can \"cover up\" potentially disturbing sounds without sounding like anything noticeable by itself. So you can go to bed and won't hear ice tumbling in the fridge, the dog's claws going clickclick on hard floors, cars outside etc."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
What is text readability & is having a low score good or bad? | [
"the [Flesch-Kincaid formula](_URL_0_) tests bodies of text so as to determine how difficult they are to read. A higher score indicates easier texts. There are many more complicated methods of assessing readability. This one just penalizes longer words and longer sentences."
] | [
"We do it in the same way that you capture the writing style of a writer when reading a book in your own language. How easy this is depends on the nature of the source text. I'm a professional translator, but I avoid reading translated literature for pleasure, maybe that tells you something."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How do sports scientists collect data about what a player does in a game? | [
"The overwhelming majority of it is people simply watching the game and writing all the stuff down. Of course, nowadays computers make it much, much easier to actually sort through all that data and come up with all these weird statistics."
] | [
"Those who can't do, teach. In a lot of cases, elite level athletes won the genetic lottery. The coach is someone that comes up with the training plan, keeps the athlete focused on the right things, and is knowledgeable in the sport to pick up the minute details that can be chanted to improve the athletes technique... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
What is the difference between mp3 and wav when it comes to sounds and beats? | [
"Wav files aren't compressed at all, they're digital representations 1:1 of the sound MP3 are compressed to save space, losing some quality along the way"
] | [
"Just like with an image, higher resolution = bigger file size. The bit rate of an audio file (ie 320 Kbps) is essentially the resolution of the song. Higher bit rates = more bits of data per second of music. It has absolutely nothing to do with musical notes like one of the previous answers suggests."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How can steroids make someone fat? | [
"You may be thinking about corticosteroids, not anabolic. Corticosteroids changes how your body metabolizes food and shifts it so there is a greater deposit of fat. It can also cause increased appetite which also leads to weight gain."
] | [
"Testosterone can be used for cheating in athletes, and has high potential for unsafe abuse. You might as well ask why steroids are illegal, its just as good a question."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
if dinosaurs are reptiles, why is the chicken their closest living relatives??? | [
"Dinosaurs were not reptiles. Birds are a subcategory of Dinosaurs, they are the descendent of the survivors of the Dinosaurs."
] | [
"No, dinosaurs aren't just extinct animals. In fact, not all dinosaurs are even extinct. For instance, modern birds are technically classified as therapod dinosaurs. But you are correct in saying that they are all different species. The word dinosaur includes a wide variety of species that all have some characteris... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
How do conjoined twins that once shared organs live? | [
"Those organs will have to be split into two and then fashioned into separate organs. The stomach and bladder are basically just balloons. They can take half of each and make them into two separate stomachs and bladders. The liver isn't a hollow organ like that, but can still be split. In normal liver donation, up ... | [
"It is a scar. Fun fact! You can use belly buttons to tell identical twins apart since they aren't genetic!"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why are children allowed to star in TV and movies but are not allowed to work “normal” jobs? | [
"The laws and regulations around children acting are *very* strict and they are under constant supervision. They also only get about 4 hours of actually working (depending on age) per day. For babies, it's why they go for twins so often, like the Olson sisters when they were doing Full House. One works, and when th... | [
"For the same reason they're socially acceptable in movies, television, advertising, video games and literature - because they sell."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage about Entertainment:"
} |
How do soccer channels add those editing effects on players and on the ball so fast (between the halves) ? Isn't it a complicated process that takes time and rendering? | [
"These days rendering is pretty much real-time for those, so it's not an issue. It is complicated, but a modern software is so advanced, that is doesn't have a problem to track 1 ball and 25 (including referees) people on the field."
] | [
"It uses camera images. The exact location and specifications of the camera, tennis balls, field lines are known. Then by analyzing the size and location of the ball on the different camera images, they can determine its actual location. Why hasn't it replaced linesmen? First of all it's extremely expensive to set... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Is there anything the US government can do about companies moving their wealth offshore to avoid taxes? | [
"Yes, but exactly what to do about it has been a consistent debate for very very long time in business and in government, and in the end, not that much has happened to be too impactfull. There's even a debate about whether these companies really want to bring some or all of their cash back to the US or if they may ... | [
"Probably because he ships his income overseas to swiss banks to avoid income tax here."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does a TV series use different directors for different episodes? | [
"So they can work on multiple episodes at the same time. The show has a show runner who is in charge of the show as a whole and makes sure there's a cohesive plot."
] | [
"By the time you see the first episode, multiple episodes have been shot. Or they shoot specific scenes for the opening."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does antibiotics resistance in bacteria is consider dangerous ? | [
"I think you're underestimating the gravity of the situation, the list of antibiotics is much shorter than 1000, and they don't all work the same way or treat the same infections. Not to mention people have allergeys to certain antibiotics shortening the list of treatment options. But a big reason that would be dan... | [
"> what does this mean? Well, the basic idea is that some bacteria just doesn't seem to die from antibiotics anymore. The general theory is that since we have been dumping antibiotics into the environment, eventually one cell mutated and became immune, which was an evolutionary advantage which allowed it to spread.... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
How it would be cheaper for socialized Medicare in america vs paying for health insurance. | [
"That's a very complicated topic, but there are a couple of reasons: - The insurance companies have a profit motive, so they will need to pay out less than a government would in order to stay in the black. - A government is a monopsony (one buyer) market, so they can dictate prices to drug and other medical supply ... | [
"Inefficiencies. Who gets the money in the long run. Are we paying extra just because private practices cost more or the stupidity that is insurance?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do companies need to make more every year? | [
"Companies are competing with each other for investment dollars, which they need in order to continue existing. Investors, like any consumer, are largely motivated by the best return on their investment, i.e., the company that can given them the most in return for their investment. People who buy stock in companies... | [
"Because their stores still function with what limited resources they use. Contrary to popular belief, they don't care about being the best. They care about making the most money."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
If energy is never consumed but rather converted, where does magnets drow the energy to be in motion ? | [
"Magnets don't require energy to have magnetic fields. Magnetic fields are static. If you're imagining the similar poles of two magnets \"repelling\" each other, remember that you had to manually put energy into that system to bring them close to each other to begin with, so that is where the energy comes from that... | [
"Because of Conservation of energy, you are losing energy when you convert motion to electricity for the car, in other words you do not get the same amount of energy back, you are losing it every time the cycle repeats."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why do laptops/pc's get hot? And will we ever have technology that stays cool under load? | [
"Every conductor has resistance, which means that electrical energy passing through it loses efficiency and is converted to heat. When computers are under load, more electricity is passing through its conductors, leading to more heat. There are compounds called superconductors, which have no resistance and produce... | [
"This is assuming that your PC is properly maintained and cooled. Leaving it on at all times will wear out some parts faster, but in most PC's it's not fast enough to really matter. You'll probably end up upgrading parts or buying a new PC before it really matters. Some people leave their computers on all the time ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is some ice slipperly while some isn't? | [
"propably depends on the surface of the ice, if it managed to be rough and rippled to give some traction while other froze to practically a mirror finish. But Idunno, I'm just some idiot"
] | [
"Humidity. When it's a higher humidity. The air contains more moisture. Our bodies sweat to combat heat. Sweat evaporates. It's easier to evaporate in low humidity because the air is willing to take in more water. When water in the air is high. Sweating no longer helps us because the air can't talk in as much moist... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
What is different about a good student instrument and a pro level instrument? | [
"A Professional quality instrument will have better quality materials and be finished/constructed to a higher standard. That's about it."
] | [
"How much demand is there for a poet or painter, compared to a lawyer or doctor?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why on gas stations they have signs that cellphones aren't allowed while refueling and can it cause an explosion because of it? | [
"Because somewhere along the way there might be a tiny tiny tiny chance that someone might be using a cell phone at the same time there's a spark from something and immediately the lawyers will jump at the chance to blame the gas station and cell phone makers and look to cash in. So a $1 sign saying \"Hey, don't do... | [
"Every time I've had gas turned on (only been when moving) they've had to have the person come out to make sure things like the oven and water heater weren't leaking gas , and made sure I had all my pilot lights lit before leaving. Turning the gas on remotely could cause a gas leak in your house because none of you... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do images "drawn" on fogged up mirrors show up again the next time the glass is steamed up? | [
"Grease! The grease on your fingers makes it harder for water vapor to condense on the mirror in the spot where you touched it. Try drawing images with a dry cloth or something and see the difference."
] | [
"One side of the glass is a very very thin layer of aluminum. If you keep the non-aluminum side dark, and the aluminum side lit bright, the light will reflect off the aluminum and make it really hard to see through to the dark side."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why the passenger seat in a car is called shotgun? | [
"It's related to travel by coach (pulled by horses). The driver is controlling the horses. The person next to them is holding a shotgun to protect the coach from robbers."
] | [
"Because you want you to sit on the side closer to the middle of the street and oncoming traffic. Just because you have a better view of traffic from there."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
how zipping a file can reduce its size. | [
"Kinda like vacuum sealing food or clothing. It's compressing data or squishing it. Lossless compression removes redundant stuff. So aaaaaaaaaabbbbb would become a10b5 Lossy compression means reducing quality so imagine a .png file becoming a .gif, you're actually losing data here"
] | [
"They typically are, although not as .zip format. The download is compressed as much as possible - have you not noticed that the installer is much smaller than the installed game?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
If education is so important for kids, why do teachers--especially charter ones--have crappy pay and salary caps? | [
"The short answer (in the US) is that there is no shortage of teachers. Labor is a commodity like anything else, and it gets cheaper in capitalist countries with large supply. There are other contributing factors as well, like reduce education budgets, increasingly expensive school supplies, and the breakdown of un... | [
"Teachers, at the K-12 level and at the university level are usually all union workers, and union workers strongly lean Democratic over Republican, because Democratic politicians tend to be pro-union and Republican politicians tend to be anti-union. That's one reason. Another reason is that the vast majority of tea... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
How come that you sometimes just get a song stuck in your head, even if you hadn't heard that song for years? | [
"Usually it's triggered by a memorable lyric of the song showing up somewhere in your life. Like the title of the song or a couple of words or a phrase that you saw somewhere and your subconscious puts them together making you start thinking about the song or singing it or whatever. This happens to me all the time.... | [
"I think it might be different for everyone. At least for me, there are some songs that I instantly love and simply listen the hell out of them, most of the time until it bores me. There are other songs, however, that I'll listen to them the first time and think, meh...and the more I listen to it the more I like i... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
How can something as small as a buggy website/script cause the rest of the computer to totally freeze? | [
"A computer's job is to perform many small calculations. That's all it ever really does. When one of those calculations has priority over the others, and there is an error that causes the computer to constantly rerun/recheck/problem solve in a loop without an ending statement, your computer will freeze up as it all... | [
"It depends on what the problem is, sometimes computers just have a hiccup where it isn't an actual issue and a restart will make the machine forget there was a problem."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage about Technology:"
} |
How do those bank tube things work at the drive thru | [
"The tube is connected to a large fan that collects air from the tube. The capsule creates a reasonably air tight seal within the tube. When that happens, air pressure outside the tube pushes the capsule through the tube. This step is very similar to air pressure pushing your drink through your straw when you suck ... | [
"So they can just hook up cars to the other end and go in either direction without the hassle of turning the locomotive."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Transportation:"
} |
If my furnace has an exhaust but no air intake from the outside air.. doesnt that suffocate? | [
"There should be some sort of fresh air supply to the room if it is what’s considered a “confined space”. Your heater needs 50 cubic feet of air per 1000 BTUs. This is a significant amount of space. If it doesn’t meet that guideline then your basement is a confined space. As an example, an average Natural gas fired... | [
"When you turn a fan like this, you can definitely feel a pressure change in the house. It sucks fresh air through the ventilation aka windows into the house. Without proper ventilation, your fan will not work efficiently. I googled a specific danger example: Turning on a fan without proper ventilation can cause th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
How do fish feel pain? | [
"We feel pain when something excites our nociceptors - which is a sensory neuron that when it recieves stimuli, sends a message to the brain that makes the place hurt. In five year old terms, I would say that we are full of buttons that when pressed hard enough, makes us feel pain. Fish seem to have neurons like th... | [
"What on Earth are you talking about? 1. Humans can taste water. 2. How do you know that dogs can taste water?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Science:"
} |
What do music compressors do? | [
"Automatically lowers the volume of the loudest parts of audio, which allows you to raise the volume of all of it, making a more consistent level. Edit: [This video](_URL_0_) explains it pretty simply."
] | [
"They mean a bunch of different things. A DJ usually refers to someone who plays music at parties, nightclubs, bars, etc. Or it can refer to the guy on the radio who plays music. It has nothing to do with *making music*. With the popularity of electronic music, DJ can also refer to. An electronic artist. This ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do somethings taste better depending on whether they're hot or cold? | [
"Taste buds are chemical receptors. They work better when they and the foods are warm, as heat increases the rate of chemical reactions between the taste buds and the food. Also, most of what you think you are tasting you are really smelling. Heating the food releases more aromas, enhancing the flavor."
] | [
"Well, it's a matter of expectations. And it's not a matter of liquid vs solid. If you drink a room temperature Pepsi, it will seem warm, because you're used to it being served cold. If you have a coffee at room temperature it will seem cold because you're used to it being served hot. I am sure you've eaten potato ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Language and culture:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text about Language and culture:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
sometimes when the radio is staticy but when you put your hand against it, it starts working normaly again. same with antenas why does that happen? | [
"You are basically using your body as an extended antenna. The bigger the antenna, the better the reception. An antenna is just a conductor that transmits radio waves. Bodies are not great conductors, but they're better than nothing, and your body is much bigger than the tiny metal antenna on most radios."
] | [
"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 post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence about Health and Physiology:"
} |
What is and what is not META ? | [
"\"Meta\" is a Greek term that means \"Self-referential.\" Something that talks about itself. For example, a play in which the characters are talking about how they are just characters in a play is called \"Metatextual\" because the text of the play talks about being a play. Meta is used when posting online to re... | [
"_URL_0_ Sorry, but this is WAY beyond ELI5."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What happens in the brain when you at first can't remember something, but then suddenly you can? | [
"at an abstract level your brain is searching for information. You know that you know the information. But the your brain needs to do work to find where that information is. for information that you access frequently, the brain can easily retrieve this information. It remembers where the information is because it u... | [
"I have a sense of the passage of time asleep. But maybe a more accurate answer is because your brain is not entering what you experience into short-term memory, so you experienced things, you just don't remember experiencing anything. If you leave a note next to your bed telling you to try and remember what you dr... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Sleep and its effects on the body:"
} |
Why does liquified gas burn our skin | [
"What we call a \"Burn\" reflects tissue damage from a variety of sources. Including cold, heat, electricity, acids, bases, and so on. Heat is a common (if not *the most common*) source."
] | [
"Why do I feel as though my bottles of water don't do this but instead just freeze normally in the freezer?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
In US presidential elections, how do news channels "call" which state goes to which candidate so quickly? Do they have people in each county counting the votes? | [
"No, they are not counting votes. Usually they are doing exit polls, where a person with a clipboard asks every 20^th person \"Who did you vote for\" for a couple of hours. Those results, which might be lies after all, are an input into a model of how people have voted historically. When the uncounted votes are les... | [
"It has to do with the TV coverage on election night in 2000. Usually the networks would randomly assign red or blue to each of the two parties, and color the states according to which party won which state. But that night all of the networks assigned blue to Democrats and red to Republicans. The subsequent controv... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does rock salt break down ice? | [
"Saltwater has to get colder than regular water to freeze. They're adding salt to the ice to make it melt. It's big crunchy rock salt because then it doubles as gravel."
] | [
"The cracks are thermal shock (similar to how alternating hot and cold on things can make them break) Ice sticks to your wet hands because it freezes the water on your hand. This is the same thing as when you lick a cold flagpole."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Currency exchange rate | [
"It's not arbitrary. There is a concept called triangular arbitrage that says that you can take any 3 currencies and exchange from one, to the second and back to the first one and you should (barring fees) end up with the same amount. Every currency has it's own defined rate against all other currencies, so let's a... | [
"for: all the data against: fossil fuel interests"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why is there an L in LGBTQ when there already is a G? | [
"Because \"gay\" used to only refer to gay men. And gay women were and still mostly are referred to as lesbians."
] | [
"Q can stand for queer or questioning. Queer in this context is more than just gay or lesbian, it's a term that includes all of the L, G, B, and T, or anyone who doesn't identify as straight or part of the gender dichotomy of male/female. Basically, \"out of the sexual norm\"."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
How does water pressure affect you when you're INSIDE a Submarine? | [
"It doesn't unless you're suffering flooding or approaching crush-depth. The interior of submarines is maintained reasonably close to 1 atmosphere (usually slightly less, IIRC). Source: I was in the navy for 5 years, 4 of which were stationed on a submarine."
] | [
"Your pee stream is getting air into the toilet water. Have you seen the bottom of a waterfall?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Science:"
} |
Why is polygamy (plural marriage) illegal? | [
"From a long term policy viewpoint, polygamy creates unstable societies by creating a larger population of unattached males. The way polygamy really tends to work is that well established men of middle class or higher status tend to marry 2+ wives, leaving fewer women for lower status, younger males. Young males wi... | [
"1) Not all religions ban polygamy and so they can have religious ceremonies to be married even if the country does not grant them a secular marriage license. 2) Not all countries ban polygamy so they can get official marriage licenses to marry in these countries. 3) Not all polygamists are officially married. So... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How does a pyramid scheme work? | [
"I can tell you, but you will have to pay me $30. Don't worry about the money, you can explain it to 5 of your friends for $30 each. This way you end up with $120 more than you started with. FREE MONEY"
] | [
"Related question: What if I want to become a mercenary? What do I do?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Finance:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Finance:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are many electronics survivable in water only to certain depths? | [
"The deeper you go, the higher the water pressure. If you have ever been swimming in a deep pool, you probably felt the pain of water pressure against your ears when you tried to touch the bottom. More water pressure means that the water is literally pushing harder to get into ever nook and cranny of the electronic... | [
"It's largely a tendency for them to overheat when too much current passes through them; this can be managed to a degree, but it's still hard to quickly charge batteries without risking damage or a reduction in its usable life."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
White men brought disease to Native Americans, but Native Americans did not cause new diseases in the Europeans? | [
"Syphilis was one of the diseases taken back to Europe. The Americas had fewer trade routes among the peoples on the Continents, and they had fewer domesticated animals so they had an environment that was less likely to develop dangerous diseases, and in turn had less robust immune systems. This means they were mo... | [
"America engaged in an active program to kill most of the native people here. Either through forced relocation, wars and intentional distribution of blankets, linens and other textiles that had been previously used by people infected with small pox. But this is really a good question for r/askhistorians"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why didn't humans develop the ability to store protein? | [
"Muscle mass doesn't help you hunt. Look at any hunter gatherers around the world and they're all very slight and built for long range endurance not raw strength. Cleverness makes you a good hunter and our brains require a tremendous amount of energy to function properly, and the most efficient form of stored biolo... | [
"If the earths atmosphere has another's couple hundred metres of breathable air why didn't we evolve to fly? Why didn't we evolve to be able to eat grass? A: millions of factors go into dictating an evolutionary path and I guess drinking salt water wasn't high on our priority list given all the fresh water on earth... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Is sign language the same in all countries? Can a German speak to a Franc without a translator? | [
"No, it is not the same. Sign language has its own grammatical structure and signs depending on the country you live in. There are even differences between sign languages of countries with the same language (like American Sign Language and British Sign Language) and it is possible to talk in dialects in some sign l... | [
"British Sign and American Sign Language are actually two of the most linguistically distinct Sign languages with only 20% mutual intelligibility and entirely different manual alphabet systems which makes it extra hard to puzzle through. ASL is in the French Sign Language family, not the British sign family. Tl;dr... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do flies and other insects have a bond to feces? | [
"There's a lot of nutrients still in feces. Either in the form of bacteria, fungus or bits of undigested food. House flies, dung beetles or worms eat it, or feed it to their larva. For example, if you look at horse or cow poop, there's still a lot of bits of grass in it, the bacteria that was in the animal's stoma... | [
"Flies lay their eggs on rotting things. It is how they reproduce. When the maggots hatch they need decaying flesh for food."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Does all light work for photosynthesis? | [
"Depends on the plant. Plants use more than visible light and some wavelengths within all light work better than other wavelengths. This can even change depending on the plants life cycle."
] | [
"The energy from the solar radiation (usually referred to as UV spectrum) energizes and changed or breaks down the molecules that either absorb /reflect different parts of the spectrum. Thereby changing what is reflected back at us and we sense as color. Oh damn it’s Explain it like I’m 5. Um, okay... It's becaus... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What happens to a mutual fund from market open to close? | [
"If you are asking about a typical actively managed mutual fund, the fund manager may or may not sell some securities and buy some others based on the fund's focus. Index funds only buy and sell based on fund inflows / outflows."
] | [
"It's the following month. The quarter closes out March 31 at close of business, and payment must be postmarked or in the inbox by the last business day in April. Same deal for July, October, and January."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
How do animals "breathe" under water? | [
"They inhale water through their mouth, their gills filter out the oxygen, and release the de-oxygenated water back out."
] | [
"Fish are no more allergic to air then you are to water. We have lungs, these take the Oxygen (O^2) out of the air and use it in our bodies. Fish have gills, these take the O^2 out of water. We are unable to take the O^2 out of water because we don't live in it and likewise fish can't take the O^2 out of air becau... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why does it feel freezing every time you eat something minty and you drink water? | [
"You know how your mouth burns when you eat chili peppers? That's because the spicy stuff fools the brain into thinking the mouth is actually on fire. With mint and similar, instead of hot it's faking cold."
] | [
"This is not an informed response but I get a burst of energy about an hour after drinking too much orange juice."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about Dentistry:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer about Dentistry:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
what’s the difference between being trans gendered and having gender dysphoria? | [
"Having gender dysphoria and being trans are the same thing really."
] | [
"It's when a person has a mismatch between the gender of their personality (the gender that they identify themselves with) and their physical gender. It is not defined by their gender role (ie, a stay-at-home dad is not a transgender just by virtue of his daily activities), but by their emotional identity. I'd be i... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How do Olympic athletes make money? | [
"Endorsement deals. These make top athletes serious amounts of money. They also frequently do advertising work for various products. Its also worth noting that a lot of athletes come from money, or otherwise do not need to worry about their own finances before starting training, in order to commit enough time to it... | [
"They win gold medals at the summer Olympics. Kenya knows what I'm talking about."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
why did 3d printing take so long to get were it is now? The hardwear and softwear seem simpler than some in consumer tech from the 2010's | [
"For basic printers, both hardware and software are basically straight out of the 80s (at least on the printer side). That's because some critical idea was patented back in the 80s, and the owner never did much with it. The patent recently expired, allowing multiple people to take it and make it commercially viable... | [
"Well the touch screen is kind of a bad example here. While it was invented in the 70s, there was nothing for it to be controlled with. Computers were mostly text based until 1992 when windows 3.1 was published. And even then the computers were mostly to slow to have a real benefit from touchscreens. Even today apa... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why are there always extremely pronounced potholes in an otherwise normal stretches of roads just days after snow and salting? | [
"Freeze/thaw cycles crack the pavement, and then a plow comes along, catches the crack, and rips out a chunk."
] | [
"Highways and freeways are often much thicker than side roads, and made from different materials. Typically, it's about 11 inches of concrete over 20 inches of compacted aggregate. Side roads and surface streets are typically 1.5-3\" thick of asphalt over about 6-10 inches of compacted aggregate. At the end of the ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What about alcohol makes it a good cleaning agent? | [
"It's a solvent. Solvents lack a particle that they want to \"grab\" from another particle, to put it as ridiculoisly simply as possible. Not all solvents are created equal, though. Water is the \"universal\" solvent because it allows most organic matter like skin cells to dissolve in it. I.e. washing your hands. A... | [
"What source says that alcohol is bad for your teeth?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Microbiology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Microbiology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
If an atom is so profoundly tiny that only recently we could actually "see" them, with even SEM's being nowhere near powerful enough, how were we able to confirm sub-elementary particles such as Quarks existed, aside from inferring their existence via mathematics? Can we "see" them now, too? | [
"Quarks pop out of the math. They are far, far too small to be probed (\"seen\"). In fact, quarks exist only in the sense that the Standard Model requires them, but if the SM is supplanted by another, more complete theory that didn't include quarks (or, put more directly, supplanted by a theory that made better pre... | [
"String theory is a hypothesis (scientists will argue until they're blue in face on whether it's a theory or not) that says that the smallest unit in the universe are strings. How they vibrate determines what particle they create. Vibrate one way and it's an electron. Vibrate another and it's a quark. However, they... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Do all members of Congress fly home every weekend, even those from Alaska and Hawaii? | [
"Some do, some don't. It's not compulsory and before cheap flights it was not always doable. Some keep working during the weekend while others do other things."
] | [
"In theory they are meeting with their constituents, staying in touch with the people they are representing."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What are pressure altitude and density altitude in relation to aviation? | [
"Pressure altitude is compensated for non standard pressure. (Above or below average) Density altitude is PRESSURE altitude adjusted for non standard temperature. You cannot calculate density altitude without pressure altitude. High altitude is low pressure altitude. Low altitude is high pressure altitude. Low t... | [
"There are two types of altimeters in use today: 1) Pressure Altimeters measure the air pressure outside the plane. In order for this to be accurate, you need to know the ground pressure of the airport you are landing at. This led to airports having accurate weather stations and recording the pressure change regula... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How is Youtube who can demand more money from advertisers not profitable, but Pornhub is? | [
"Who said YT is not profitable? Most analysts suggest it is profitable, however Google has not released any specifics on YT profitability in their official financial statements for many years. The last statement they released YT was not profitable, but nearly everyone thinks they are quite profitable now and pulli... | [
"Google has a well established program that is reasonably efficient and profitable unlike apple. It's called adsense and that's how youtubers and viners(?) make money. Edit: a lot"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
How do states like Texas, Florida and Nevada have no state income taxes and survive ? | [
"Lots of property taxes and business taxes. There are many ways for state government to get money, it doesn't have to be income tax."
] | [
"The reason is that the voters of those states want it that way. Why there's such a big difference between the voters' thoughts in those two different states has no one simple answer. In general, though of course not always, places with higher taxes tend to have better social services. New Jersey, which has the sec... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
How exactly does a trade deficit between two countries work? | [
"Country A produces pineapples. Country B produces milk. If country A sells more pineapples than they buy milk from country B (in dollar terms), then country B has a trade deficit. This is not a problem for people in country B, since they get access to pineapples. If their dairy Farmers tried to grow pineapples, it... | [
"I think a better question for this topic might be what is national debt and how does it translate into a monetary amount."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
What's the difference/distinction (if any) between post-moderism and classical and/or contemporary solipsism? | [
"Both sides subscribe to the Cartesian dualism method of analysis, but are concerned with opposite sides of the spectrum. Post modernists believe that there is is no objective whereas Solupists believe all that exists is the subjective. Which is a crucial distinction to make in philosophy."
] | [
"Could you explain your question a little more? I am having trouble deciding what it means. Do you want to talk about how academics have theorised the concept \"the working class\" from structural understandings through modernism, then into the Linguistic Turn?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Network TV Censor Bleeps | [
"No one is fining those late night shows. They are just playing it up for marketing and PR ratings to get excitement around the show. Don't be misled by their marketing tactics and such. Thats all this is, they know exactly what they are doing, and how to market it. There are no fines, PURE marketing. In fact, for ... | [
"Funny you should ask. Roni Jacobson wrote an article that covers a lot of what you ask in this Tuesday's *New York Times*: [\"60: Behind Every Second, Millenniums of History\"] (_URL_0_)."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
The difference between 66 and 72 degrees outside isn't entirely noticeable, but the difference between these temperatures inside during winter seem gigantic. Why is this? | [
"Inside there aren't variables like wind, shade, humidity, etc. so you feel the temperature more directly. If you had a big fan pointed at you it'd be hard to tell the difference between 66 and 72."
] | [
"Simply having the sun shine on you even if it's cold out makes a big difference."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What exactly is concentrate, and why is it a selling point for things like orange juice? | [
"Concentrate is when they take the water component from fruit juice which allows you to store it until you want to use it and then you just add water. The issue is that concentrate often has preservatives and added sugar."
] | [
"They often will. Damaged fruits are what are sold to companies that make sauces, ketchup, and the like."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why does foreign television look so much different than US broadcasts? | [
"That and many other factors. Lighting, color grading etc. Also, i remember back in the day when TV was still analog, there’s a certain kind of feel to each channel."
] | [
"Yes, we have lots of channels. However, the BBC puts out a lot of original programming, and is also unique in that it is non-commercial (we pay a yearly TV license fee which pays for the BBC). This means it's easier to negotiate licensing issues without sponsors involved etc. Also, I believe that a lot of programm... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does warm/hot air feel thick and colder air feel thin and breezy? | [
"Warm air can hold a lot more moisture that cold air. The excess humidity can impede the evaporation of sweat and thus result in stuffy, claustrophobic feeling. I'm always shocked at the feel of getting off a cool, air conditioned plane, and into the hot, sticky air of a tropical climate."
] | [
"The viscosity and density of water changes with temperature. As water gets colder, it gets heavier and more syrup-like. As water gets hotter, it becomes lighter and less syrup-like. So it's almost like your faucet is throwing bowling balls into your sink at cold temperatures, and ping pong balls at warm temperatur... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer about Physics:"
} |
why does stormy weather affect power/internet for only a couple of moments instead of completely cutting it? | [
"Most modern power grids have backups, redundancies, and protections to prevent the total loss of power. As long as a power line isn't knocked out completely, or the power station or transformers don't blow, any interruption in power cause by a nearby lightning strike or a shaky pole.will be temporary."
] | [
"I assume you mean the router/wifi. A router takes internet traffic from all the devices in your house with internet and funnels it out to your provider. Then all the returning traffic (websites, videos, etc. your devices asked for) has to be sent out to the right device. It's sort of like working in a mailroom, bu... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Technology:"
} |
How does switching to electronic alternatives (for example E-cars) help environment? | [
"Simply put, studies have shown that so long as an EV is driven for a certain amount of time, (\\~10 years IIRC) the emissions related to its manufacturing and continued use are less than that of a vehicle with an ICE even when electricity is produced by coal. When the energy is produced in a more sustainable manne... | [
"The system is designed to allow you to do it. Service providers have an agreement for anyone to use their network for emergency calls."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
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