query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Why do our bodies store excess fat, sugar, cholesterol etc but not water or vitamins? | [
"We do store vitamins. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat soluble so can be stored in fat tissue. People who eat a lot of carrots every day are sometimes known to start turning orange because of all the beta carotene (vitamin A precursor) they start storing in their fat tissue. The liver is also a rich reserve of vita... | [
"They're all just water with different cells and proteins in them. Why? Because they serve different purposes. Blood carries stuff, bile helps break down fat you ingest, CSF cushions your brain, etc."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do humans not regularly roll over and fall out of bed while sleeping? | [
"Human here, I used to roll out of bed as a kid. I vividly remember waking up under the bed and thinking “this is not right.” Eventually grew out of it."
] | [
"As far as I'm aware it's fairly simple, falling out of trees sucks. You're a monkey! You love being in trees, swinging from branches and all that jazz, in fact you love trees so much you even sleep in them. But, if you are sleeping you can't see what's going on, you can't move about when you don't have a full pic... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why isn't gravity free energy? | [
"> What is used up to create gravity potential energy? Whatever energy is used to lift the mass in question. Everything with gravitational potential energy has a distance between itself and the source of gravity, usually height above the ground. It takes energy to lift that thing up."
] | [
"> What is currently stopping humanity from making a loop or machine that is self sustaining for infinite energy production? Physics."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why does the responsibility of paying a restaurant's waiters fall on me? | [
"Welcome to capitalism, where employers will do whatever they can to avoid paying their employees fair wages, including guilt-tripping customers into doing it for them or fearmongering that prices will skyrocket if they treated their employees humanely."
] | [
"Even with a tip credit, it is illegal for you to earn less than minimum wage. Your tips + wage must add up to minimum wage. It's a way to pass part of the cost on to the consumer for employee wages. Not sure what the original reason for it was though."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why do cows make milk even when they're not having calves? | [
"They dont, they need to be repeatedly impregnated to make milk. They carry the calf then when its born it's taken away. If its male it goes to veal if its female she meets same fate as her mother. Cows can live until 20-25 but are often spent by age 5-7 from the stress on their bodies from the repeated cycle. They... | [
"Human females can't produce the same quantities of milk that female cows can. It wouldn't be very profitable. Plus, notice that we mostly drink milk that comes from animals that like to graze on grass, like cows, goat, and sheep. Humans eat a lot of junk food and other stuff that doesn't make for very good tasting... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
How do we continually observe background radiation that was created very soon after the big bang. I would assume that the light from that period would be limited in quantity and it would eventually have all passed us so it would stop being visible. | [
"The idea that light from the big bang could have \"passed\" us implies that the Big Bang happened somewhere else and came towards us. In fact, the Big Bang happened everywhere that existed, ie the tiny point at the start. That everywhere has got bigger but it is still all the universe that has ever existed and eve... | [
"We know the big bang happened because the Hubble can still see light at the edge of the universe from the initial explosion. Another key piece of evidence for the big bang is red shift, red shift states that if an object is travelling away from us the red wave lengths stretch out so we see the object but tinted sl... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do video games swatters figure out the location of their victims? | [
"Not an expert, but Ill try to ELI5 this: So the U.S. Government makes many records public, including things like who lives where. You can search up much of the information in the whitepages. Many people have also, at some point, used their real name on the same account as they used their username. From there you c... | [
"Because they can't control who connects to your wireless router."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why are Christianity, Islam, Judaism etc. considered "real religions" while ancient Egyptian, Roman, and Greek polytheism considered mythology? | [
"Because it still has active believers. If Christianity had died out a thousand years ago we’d see it the same way we see the Norse gods. Jesus could have been a member of The Avengers if history had played out a little differently."
] | [
"Mythology is part of religion. Zeus himself is not considered a myth, but a God. He still referred as a Greek God. However, the rituals (like animal sacrifice and festivals) are not considered part of the mythology, but part of the ancient Greek religion. Mythology is pretty much just the story parts. For example:... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
How are wildlife documentaries shot? How long does it take? Example: BBC Earth | [
"You’re obviously not watching any good documentaries. All the David Attenborough ones have a 10 minute segment at the end. Generally an insane amount of work, time and technology goes into it. But watch them."
] | [
"Dolphins and several species of Whales have been known to work together. They even recognize each other individually. Blue Planet narrated by David Attenborough had that one of the episodes, Open Oceans I think."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
In the old days when motor cars started to become more affordable in the US,how did people do long drives without the option of many gas stations and their cars going through gas? | [
"They carried extra gas cans with them. The first cars were also prone to overheating and gas stations actually started out as water stations so car owners could cool down their cars and then the network expanded from there. But it was a while before people used cars for long trips."
] | [
"Buses. Buses are as close as you'll get. It's because the cost in fuel alone would rival that of a plane ticket, but then there is the added cost of maintenance, the fact that you would need to stop for hours a day in order to keep driving straight because the cabbie would need to sleep. Not to mention the fact th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
How is striped toothpaste made? | [
"It's injected into the tube by different nozzles. When you squeeze the tube, the different stripes come out. You can mash the tube around and mix up the colors."
] | [
"Are you asking how a wheel works ?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do debt reduction agencies turn a profit? | [
"Im not sure, but they buy debt for a fraction of the price and then usually earn significant amounts on there purchase before writing the rest off."
] | [
"Because the original creditors have written it off as a complete loss and sell a contract to the collectors for a fraction of the original debt. This lets them recoup *some* losses and allows the 3rd party collectors to reasonably expect to make some cash."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
why can’t my phone just automatically block incoming calls from UNKNOWN numbers? | [
"The majority of mobile phones on the market for the past 4 years have this function. It's almost always under the 'call settings' menu."
] | [
"Because no real phone number start with that prefix. This means shows can use a number without accidentally giving out a real person's number - 8675309."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why is it that so many U.S states have bans on cell phone use while driving, yet you see tons of text-heavy billboards and flashy signs along roadways that are sometimes as distracting as reading a text on your phone? | [
"Field of vision. When you look down or at something close to you, you lose perception and scope of the world around you. You can prove this by looking at your phone to read this on reddit while holding the phone in front of, say, your TV. It's nearly impossible to focus on both (this is also how cameras get field ... | [
"Talking on the phone is only illegal if it involves taking your hands off the wheel. Having a car phone and talking on the phone through that is not against the law. But in many places it is against the law to be holding your phone and talking. Because then you're not only not giving your full attention to the roa... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Number of wires in Data cables. | [
"Bandwidth for one. Cat6 can reliably push 10Gbps. Over similar distances (100 yards), you're looking at a best case scenario of 1Gbps and probably far less in reality over **4 wire** phone. Over coax, you're looking at theoretical maxes closer to 4Gbps. Also, that's just not how the protocol's defined, and the pro... | [
"For very long distances, DC is more efficient. _URL_0_"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Physics:"
} |
Why does cold brew coffee taste so much milder than a hot long black? | [
"The tannic acid isn’t as prevalent in coffee extracted through cold processes. Hot coffee beans express way more of those bitter tannins. It’s the same with hot versus cold brewed tea. Tannic acid is what makes coffee and tea brown, and is used in the process of tanning leather, among other things."
] | [
"Probably because they like the taste, but don't like the effects of caffeine. Btw, an espresso contains less caffeine than a normal cup of coffee. Imo it tastes way better as well, much sweeter and earthier than bitter drip coffee."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How come lobsters are semi-immortal, while shrimp have short lives? | [
"Humans and chimp have a common ancestor and very much look alike. Yet chimp are immune to Alzheimer and we are not. Why ? We don't really know, but two different species even if they look very similar can have a completely different physiology."
] | [
"Lots of other animals can reproduce more quickly, but they also tend to die a lot younger. Some animals take longer to reach sexual maturity than we do, and tend to live longer. I seem to remember there's even a species of insect that's born pregnant! Like tribbles. Crazy, huh? But they don't live very long."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument about biology:"
} |
Why are game crashes usually accompanied by a high-pitched sound that never stops | [
"The game takes control of a piece of sound hardware and keeps sending it data on what noise it should be making. If your game crashes, it stops being able to push new data to the sound hardware and therefore the hardware just keeps replaying the same fragment of noise it was sent before the game crashes. Some game... | [
"I know what OP is talking about and absolutely no one in the comments is addressing what he's talking about. It's definitely not tinnitus and it is not electrical appliances. It is a loud, distinctive high pitched noise, sounds exactly like the sound effect they use for a flashbang in video games. It lasts for a f... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Health:"
} |
Why can humans survive much longer without food than without water? | [
"We have fat reserves which can last for weeks and our bodies can adapt it's metabolizing to be more efficient. We've never needed to evolve water storage as it's usually a plentiful resource. Quite the opposite were really good at expelling it."
] | [
"They'd die from lack of nutrients long before they died of lack of calories, so the extreme weight makes little difference."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
WHY do magnets exist in the first place? | [
"So there are a set of concepts in physics called the 'fundamental forces' (between three and five of them, because some of them can arguably be combined). These are, as the name suggests, fundamental properties of the universe whose existence doesn't really have a \"why\", they are just the way the universe works.... | [
"If magnets are magic, is gravity magic too? Fundamental forces, yo. They run the universe."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How do we know the universe is expanding ? | [
"The Big Bang is usually described as an explosion, because that's the easiest way to convey what happened. But it wasn't really an explosion, what happened during it is that the universe just popped into existence. When things pop into existence they shouldn't moving, and so all other things being equal, things li... | [
"No. Sadly if the light hasn't reached us yet, it never will. This is because the universe is expanding faster than light can travel."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer about astronomy:"
} |
Why can you not remember anything before a certain age? | [
"Because the language your brain uses to create and store information as a toddler changes as your brain develops. Thus, you lose the ability to read and understand those memories. Like trying to get a spanish-to-English translation program to process and translate a wall of Egyptian hieroglyphics."
] | [
"If you were two dimensional, how would I explain the third dimension to you?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does the world appear faster at night? | [
"Next time you're in a fast moving vehicle (and not driving) look as far off into the distance as you can, then look right beside the vehicle. Things really far away barely seem to be moving while things really close to you appear to be zipping by. At night, the distance you can see is greatly reduced so all you ca... | [
"Why would the attraction of a black hole make anything travel faster than light?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Physics:"
} |
What is a weir and what is it for? How is it different from a dam? Why/how does it work? | [
"A weir is a wall in the water, and is for controlling the water level of the river behind it. A Dam is for power generation or to redirect water to other places. [Here is a video](_URL_0_) from Practical Engineering, explaining them in more detail."
] | [
"They divert the flow of the river during construction then redirect it back to the dam once it's finished."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
what is that tingly almost painful feeling in a part of your body that fell asleep and is "waking up"? why does it feel like static on a tv? | [
"It’s the blood returning to the nerves. When the nerves are overwhelmed with this amount of blood, they fire and cause a tingly pain."
] | [
"Don't listen to anyone who says you cut off the circulation. What's really happening is that you've compressed a nerve, usually where it passes close to a bone (elbows, knees, and shoulders are great at doing this.) What happens is that the brain stops receiving a signal from that nerve, so starts to ignore it. Wh... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Health and Wellness:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Health and Wellness:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
what is free bleeding actually? Wouldn’t you just ruin your cloths and everything you sit on? | [
"Last I heard a large portion of \"free bleeding\" is a troll campaign to laugh at women. Apparently there are some real instances of political campaigns or marathon runners committing to the race in a bad situation, but it's pretty rare. More importantly though, the fact that some people are deliberately poisoning... | [
"Because it has alcohol and your skin down there is sensitive Also don't do that, especially if you're going on a date. You may get very lucky and she may not appreciate the taste as much as she does the smell."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Whats the difference between shaving your face and shaving your head? | [
"The head is hard and bumpy. The face is not very flat, but the fat and muscle underneath allow it to conform to the razor better. The razor probably works for both, but by marketing for separate parts they can sell more razors."
] | [
"You have a lot more leg than face. Shaving your legs once is like shaving your face 10 times."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
How does the population increase while birthrates are below replacement level? | [
"A population can increase without making babies from increased immigration, and depending on what counts in the current population tourism and other travelers can boost population temporarily. Additionally, medical access, treatment, and retirement conditions plays a significantrole. The longer people live, the lo... | [
"Yes, there is a minimum population below which it is impossible to recover without external aid. On a related note, there is a minimum birth rate for a country. Below that rate the country's population will collapse."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
What happens when you descend into a gas giant? | [
"> is it possible to eventually reach a point where whatever you are displacing weighs more than you meaning you will float there and not fall any deeper? Yes. You could in concept make a balloon that would float in the atmosphere. The problem is extremely powerful winds would likely destroy it. As for ships most o... | [
"In a related question, what are the odds of surviving being stabbed in the belly and falling into the river which runs through a major city in the same time period?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
how to increase muscle mass | [
"Muscle mass is gained through protein synthesis following a tearing-down of the muscle. In other words, you gain muscle mass by consuming an adequate amount of protein and putting enough stress on your muscles to trigger growth. This is called hypertrophy."
] | [
"Myostatin caps how much muscle you have. Some cows for example, are completely ripped and bred to be so, on a herbivorous diet. Anabolic steroids signal hormonal changes that tell your body to build more muscle, and increase the natural limits imposed by myostatin. It's not necessarily protein better utilized, but... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
How does a country officially declare war on another country? | [
"It depends on the country and their system of government. In the United States, a resolution has to be passed by Congress. The President is allowed to authorize specific military action without approval from Congress in order to respond to a specific incident or threat (such as recently when we launched the missil... | [
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why do hotel rooms not have central lighting? | [
"Light fixtures in the room which are lamps or other fixtures less integrated into the structure make it so they can be replaced by people other than electricians if damaged. A light fixture ripped out of the ceiling requires a much more difficult repair than a lamp which is smashed; a cleaning lady can plug in a n... | [
"You have a dimmer switch in your room? I don't know the science behind it, but they are notorious for messing with radio reception."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
The head of the chicken is synchronized with the movement of its feet when walking. Why? | [
"The reason a chicken, or a pigeon, bobs its head when it walks is something called the *cervico-ocular reflex.* It (and the related *vestibulo-ocular reflex*) is there to stabilize images on the retina, so the world doesn't turn into a horrible blurry mess when we walk. When the head moves in one direction, a copy... | [
"Our head is not the antenna. The antenna is packed into the body of the phone now."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why is it that when we get hit or injured pretty bad we faint? What is it that makes our brain kinda shut down in that moment? | [
"One reason is that basically the brain is floating in water inside our skulls and if the the blow is strong enough to push the brain with enough momentum to bounce on part of the skull to another and the brain gets short circuited. Another reason is that a certain amount of pain and/stress is too much to handle an... | [
"So stress is a catch all term for all things that impact ones life, good and bad. These things make you brain go into over drive and produce more chemicals than it normally would. Sometimes the brain produces more chemicals than it needs or can use. These chemicals and this brain power is also part of what regulat... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Biology/Medicine:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence about Biology/Medicine:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence about Health and Wellness:"
} |
How does radiation both treat and cause cancer? | [
"Radiation can cause damage to the DNA in your cells. When the radiation causes a mutation in the area of your cell responsible for reproduction, the cell can just keep replicating itself over and over, and not know when to stop, thus creating a cancerous tumor. Stronger doses of radiation can straight up kill cell... | [
"The chemotherapy agents used to treat cancer can, themselves, give rise to other cancers. So... yes."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why is it difficult to lift your ring finger by itself, while all other fingers require little effort to lift/move by themselves? | [
"Happy cake day! The ring finger does not have it's own muscle. It moves together with the other fingers, which do have their own muscle pairs"
] | [
"This is caused by lack muscle control, which could mean complete relaxation or over-use of muscles. A neutral/relaxed hand position has the fingers slightly curled (you can test this yourself). So if your muscles can’t get signals from the brain, curling would be the result of them being relaxed. Also, if the mus... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does running improve cardio? | [
"Your body is always adapting. If you start running regularly , your body will start to strengthen its energy storage , think of your energy storage as a health bar from a video game, the more you run the longer the bar gets. On top of that , your leg muscles are going to develop and strengthen which will make you... | [
"What source says that alcohol is bad for your teeth?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How can a material keep you cool in warm temperatures and warm in cold temperatures? | [
"An insulating material slows down heat transfer. For example, a house should be at room temperature. When it's hot outside, the insulation prevents the heat from leaking in, keeping the house cold. When it's cold outside, the insulation prevents the heat inside the house from leaking out, keeping the house warm."
... | [
"Water is a much better conductor of heat than air. As a result you lose body heat much quicker in cold water than in cold air."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Textile technology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence about Textile technology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How can scientists detect that they have synthesised a new element if they only last for a few milliseconds? | [
"You detect the radiation that they emit when they decay. the specific energy and type radiation they emit is unique for each element. What new element they becom can be determine from the radiation they emit and you can detect the presence of that. So when you put all that together you can show that a new element ... | [
"It's possible, but unlikely. Elements are defined by their number of protons. So there's an element five (Boron) and an element six (Carbon) but no element five-and-a-half. As a result, we know there are no new elements in between the elements we already know - the only new elements that might exist would exist at... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
why does the magic of imagination deteriorate as we age? | [
"I think your last sentence says it all. Most people just grow up, get jobs, have to worry about paying rent or a mortgage. Yet there are plenty of people I know who still live action role play, play D & D, etc 20 years on from leaving university. I'd be one of them to be honest if I could find a local group. I mea... | [
"why do we yawn when we read about yawning?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
How are standing waves possible when the reflected waves have less amplitude than the incident waves? | [
"A standing wave only requires that the component waves be the same frequency. Reflectiom of a wave doesn't change its frequency but will affect its phase. The resultant standing wave may not be the same shape as the incident wave but it will still be a standing wave."
] | [
"An accelerating charged particle is just a charged particle which has a changing velocity. An example would be a particle oscillating along one axis, which travels back and forth and thus has changing velocity - acceleration. Electromagnetic waves are *self-propagating* and does not require a medium to travel thro... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How did people accurately (air pressue changes due to weather) determine mountain hights before the use of GPS? | [
"Mathematics. Primarily it involves measuring the angles and then complex math. It's more complicated than that but basically a tripod mounted telescope called a theodolite. It wasn't perfect, but if you can figure out some angles,then comparing to other spots on,the mountain. As for air pressure, you used basicall... | [
"In 1803 you have marine chronometer ie good clock that work on ships and Sextant so measure the height in the sky of stars and the sun. The marine chronometer emerged in the 1760s. The sextant was earlier that century but before that you had the Mariner's astrolabe what had a worse accuracy but worked, they and ot... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
What makes fertilizer so dangerous? Over the past several years I have seen multiple fertilizer plant fires and it appears they just let them burn out and play defense instead of offensively attacking them. | [
"Some fertilizers prpduce methane, which is flammable. There's no real way to combat a burning gas other than to deny it oxygen entirely... Which is hard to do when the fire is the size of a building. Some fertilizers, if mixed incorrectly, can be explosive and you don't wish to put anyone in danger by having them ... | [
"California is a large area. Lots of it is not easily traveled. It takes a lot of manpower and resources to control a forest fire. Its hard enough to control a building fire once it starts. Forest fires are much bigger, the wood is dry and not covered in fireproof or fire retarding material. It is great fuel."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How come when you're in a coma you're body decides to use up or burn the muscle away first instead of fat? | [
"I'm sure someone else will have a more detailed way to explain it... But you won't eat into fat reserves unless you're running a calorie deficit. Whilst the hospital probably weren't overloading you with calories, you weren't doing much to burn any either. Muscle however wastes very fast when not used. It's not t... | [
"Once your body has used up the easily burned food in your stomach, it starts to consume fat cells and mucle mass. Once your body has run out of energy in either fat or consumable muscle cells, you body will start to consume your vital organs. Some organs will start to swell, which is why so many images of \"starvi... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
how do software based random number generators produce truly random numbers? | [
"They don't, usually. They use what's called a pseudo random number generator (PNRG). The idea is to use an algorithm so close to randomness you can consider it random. The trick is that PRNGs are \"seeded\" with a value that is likely to be unique, like the number of milliseconds since 1970. Or you can use a meas... | [
"The Mersenne Twister does not generate random numbers. In fact, the sequence generated repeats every 4.3x10^6001 numbers. The numbers generated are *pseudorandom*, which is to say they are deterministic but have the appearance of being random to the casual observer. For most practical purposes, pseudorandom is con... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
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Why are giants always shown as being so slow in movies? I know they would be heavier and need to move a lot more weight, but don’t they have the proportions of a normal person? Their muscles would be bigger allowing them to move at a normal speed. | [
"In movies, it is because it looks right. But it is also realistic, due to the 'square-cube law' - that strength increases by the square of length, but mass increases by the cube. So you'd expect animal 3 times bigger to be 9 times stronger, but 27 times heavier - proportional to it's mass, the bigger animal is 1/3... | [
"Consider how quickly you move your legs. You move them at normal speed right? Now consider how quickly an ant moves its legs. It moves its legs super fast. Now imagine if you were the ant. The ant's legs would move at a normal speed and the human's legs would seem to be moving very slow in comparison. Now think of... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
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Why are GMOs "bad for you"/disliked? If we can make a fruit last longer, be resistant to a disease, or taste better, isn't that a good thing? | [
"Yes, it is a good thing. People are afraid of words they don't understand. \"Genetically modified\" sounds scary, so it must be bad lol. Humans have been modifying genes through selective breeding of plants and animals for thousands of years. Now we have people who actually know what they're doing and what genes t... | [
"Organic food is basically food that's grown using outdated farming methods because people have been scared into thinking pesticides and GMOs are bad. The reality is though that Organic food still uses pesticides (if you've ever tried growing food, you'll know it's impossible to keep bugs off without spraying it.) ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about science:",
"pos": "Represent the passage about science:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
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how do spacecraft and satellites not get struck by meteors and other debris? | [
"Little bit of math (for known objects) and a whole lot of luck (for everything else). Also, space is VERY big. For example, we tend to think of the asteroid belt as this great big collection of rocks that are just kind of swarming between Mars and Jupiter, constantly bumping into each other. The reality is that if... | [
"The manmade satelites that aren't in a graveyard orbit will eventually reenter the atmosphere and burn up. Eventually the ones in the graveyard orbit will too but that will be quite a while. There isn't enough matter currently orbiting the earth to form rings comparable to our solar neighbours, save for the moon. ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Science and Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Science and Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How come doors inside the house slam shut when one to outisde is open, but I don’t feel the slightest breeze of wind myself? | [
"It's because of pressure. The higher pressure on one side of that door causes it to shut, it doesn't necessarily need wind to cause it to shut."
] | [
"It creates a kind of wall of hot air. If the window in open it obviously doesn't work as well but any air that hits the window and is cooled, when it comes back it gets warmed by the air in front of the window. It also prevents the imbalance if temperature u can get sometimes. Ever been able to feel the temperatu... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
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why do car batteries lose their ability to be charged after sitting unused for a while? | [
"I believe it’s because of sulphation in the battery plates. Sulphur crystals form in some of the plates, and this damages/degrades the plates. The sulphation occurs as the battery discharges normally. When you leave a lead-acid battery to sit unused/uncharged it starts to slowly discharge and undergo this process.... | [
"Car batteries actually don't last long at all. Leave your lights running with the engine off and see how long it takes it to go dead. The reason it seems like they last a long time is because whenever the engine is running, the battery is being constantly recharged. The alternator in the car is what does this. Thi... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
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Ancient people wore animal skins, right? What kept such clothing from just rotting away? | [
"The garments were tanned in much the same way we tan leather and furs today. The principle ingredient in tanning is urine, probably their own in those times. The skins had all fat and sinue removed and then were stretched to dry. They were then soaked in a mixture of urine and water that would make the skins suppl... | [
"Its the same reason that fur on the animal is on the outside. The fur can catch moisture and snow and hold it away from us, so that it doesn't melt and then freeze like it would on cotton or wool clothing."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
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How are music files so small when the state of the waveform is saved 48000 times per second? | [
"MP3s are compressed lossy files. This means that when the files are generated from the original, there is a setting in the algorithm that allows one to set the 'quality' or size of the resulting file. The files don't contain the original data, but details of what the original data was. Wikipedia does a good job de... | [
"Yes, it takes a lot of ones and zeroes. That's why movies can be tens of gigabytes in file size, despite the fact that a single number takes up very little space. Basically every color has a number assigned to it, and this number can be expressed in binary. Then the file for the video tells the player \"Pixel one... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
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Why would AirPower have created so much heat? | [
"Running electricity through anything creates heat. All chargers create heat. Because wireless power is mysterious people like to play up the death ray idea and pretend it was like bursting into flame or something, but phones have a ton of very delicate requirements and things like thermal cycling of a few degrees ... | [
"It's the only way they could say there was something new about the iphone. The average user will have no idea."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is tickling usually uncomfortable, and why does it cause you to go into a laughing-seizure? | [
"We used to be monkeys, (well we didn't but you're 5 so it doesn't matter) As monkeys we needed to learn to fight (in order to get food, find partners, and generally survive). But if all the monkeys started hitting each other and fighting, they would all get hurt and have less chance of survive. So instead of actua... | [
"It's a reaction, that scientist theorize, as a means of emotional self-regulation; a means of compensating when one emotion starts to get out of hand. We experience this when something is unbearably adorable, and you feel like you have to squish it; or when you get so happy, that you start to cry, or so mad that ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
How do our eyes/mind decide on the luminance and the colour tempurature of the world around us? | [
"Our minds use a ton of contextual sense data subconsciously to create and project a consistent view of reality to our conscious mind. This dumbed-down version is very very fast, though sometimes not accurate. _URL_0_ In this famous image, the orange/brown center tiles are all the same color as the tile on the tabl... | [
"One possible explanation is that your brain uses a lot of information from your peripheral vision to inform the image it produces (a lot of the time what you are seeing is not actually what you are seeing, your brain inserts or removes things all the time). If the two sides of your room have noticeably different l... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Physics:"
} |
How do people get carsick and why does it increase when you read? | [
"Car sickness in the easiest terms is a disagreement between your senses. Your eyes don't see yourself moving but your senses are also trying to convince your brain that you are. So this back and forth disagreement is what can get you really sick. So when you read for example, you are focusing completely off of the... | [
"Some people get motion sickness when they aren't facing the direction of travel. It's not even close to \"most\" people. \"Most people\" don't suffer motion sickness at all."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
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How do memories stay in the brain? | [
"They are processed in the hippocampus (short term memory, recovery of memories) and sent in the long run to the brain cortex. That's why in Alzheimer's disease, it's (usually) short term memory that is affected at first and the ability to learn new information is compromised : Your hippocampus is damaged and the s... | [
"Smells trigger memories the best. The two parts are right next to each other in the brain and for some reason that enough to be potent."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
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As irrational numbers cannot be expressed as ration of two numbers, then how is pi an irrational number if it is by definition ratio of a circle's circumference over its diameter? | [
"There is a slight mistake in your definition: irrational numbers cannot be expressed as ration of two WHOLE numbers a.k.a. integers Thus, a circle's circumference and its diameter cannot both be whole number for the same circle."
] | [
"All transcendental numbers are irrational, but not the other way around. Irrational numbers are simply numbers that cannot be represented as ratios of two integers. Transcendental numbers are numbers which are not algebraic. All rational numbers are algebraic, but also many irrational numbers are algebraic. Algebr... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
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"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
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Why do video games strain the GPU but high quality movies that literally look like real-life, do not? | [
"When playing a game your computer has to literally draw every frame. Like an actual person with a pen drawing the picture. When playing a movie it's just flipping through a picture book that's already been drawn."
] | [
"Because they use it in the advertisement, and a certain percent of consumers are too dumb to enable it. Because it’s more likely people who care will seek out disabling it, and people who don’t know any better will get mad if they don’t know how to use it. Just like how my last phone came defaulted to a super vivi... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
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Why the gothic architecture have so high and sharp spires? Is there any architectural advantages to it like wind resistance, lightening rod etc? | [
"As far as steep roofs go in general it is significantly harder for a steep roof to leak even if it is in poor condition. The water rolls off too quick and it can’t get inside. So this is definitely one advantage to the steep roofs all around but certainly not the only reason."
] | [
"Ancient civilizations often used older existing structures as foundations to the structures they were building. Fast forward a couple thousand years of this and the oldest structures have been repeatedly collapsed, filled in, and used as foundations for the next generation of building. This was a way to save time,... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Architecture:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Architecture:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why is Teflon so little reactive? | [
"Teflon is a chain of CF2 groups. The carbon-fluorine bond is exceptionally strong with the fluorines shielding the carbon-carbon bonds. That combination makes it very resistant to reaction or chemical attack."
] | [
"Different substances react differently. Same reason why damp atmosphere causes iron to rust, but your skin is fine. Plastics in particular are pretty unreactive in nature."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why does our hearing degrade over time and can it be restored? | [
"We hear by sensing when sound waves bending little hairs in our ears. The more they bend, the more we detect the loudness of a sound. Repeated bending of these hairs can wear them out, or even bend them so far they dont bend back. This especially happens when you are exposed to very loud noises or fairly loud nois... | [
"It's called tinnitus. It's a sign of damage to the equipment in your inner ear. If you regularly experience it, that is something you see a specialist about, and it may be indicate the potential for permanent hearing loss down the road."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Health:"
} |
A year has 365 days because it's the approximate amount of time it takes for the Earth to make a full turn around the sun. So how did people in medieval times count the months/years given that they thought the Earth was still? | [
"They could look up at the stars and see that they seemed to gradually rotate through a long cycle, regardless of how they thought it happened. When Earth is on one side of the sun the stars seen at night are different from those seen on the other side, so from that one can calculate the length of a year."
] | [
"Leap days have nothing to do with the time of day. That actually sorts itself out, because we define 1 day as exactly the time to make one complete rotation. Leap days are about revolutions around the sun. The earth goes around the sun in approximately 365.24 days, so while we call a year 365 days, that isn't exac... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
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Why is a “cure for the common cold” such a far-fetched thought? Is it something we are actively researching? | [
"The \"common cold\" isn't one thing. It is a viral upper respiratory infection caused by at least 200 different viruses which in turn are mutating constantly themselves. \"Curing the common cold\" would likely involve some cure for viral infection in general and be one of the holy grails of medicine."
] | [
"It's not really understood. It's one of those things science is still scratching its head over even trying to offer the smallest answer."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Sleep and its effects on the body:"
} |
How did NASA calculate that you only need 40 digits of Pi to calculate the circumference of the observable universe? | [
"The circumference of the observable universe is on the order of 10^27 m. The diameter of a hydrogen atom is on the order of 10^-10 m. If you take the ratio of the two, you end up with 10^37. What that means is that (with some error since I've rounded a lot here) it takes approximately 10^37, or 10,000,000,000,000,... | [
"If the Sun was the size of a pinhead, then the nearest star would be 18 miles away. If the Sun was the size of a marble, it would be 270 miles away. If the Sun was the size of a golf ball, it would be 775 miles away. Further information: If the Sun was the size of a golf ball, the speed of light would be .02 mph, ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
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If someone can do a single push-up, why can’t they bench press their own body weight? | [
"When you push up, some of the weight is held by your feet touching the ground. Bench pressing your weight us your whole weight."
] | [
"As you get older, you get taller. As you get taller, more of your body gets farther away from the ground. As they get farther from the ground, they have farther to fall. Knock a three year old over. Then hold that same three year old up to where his head is level with yours and drop him. Don't actually do that un... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
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Why do random parts of our head get itchy out of the blue? What's happening to the scalp? | [
"Hair grows then pauses then falls out at random. This is how the length of hair is maintained. It’s often loose hair irritating the scalp that causes itchiness."
] | [
"You have a ton of nerve endings in there. It’s similar to scratching an itch in that regard."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Health and wellness:"
} |
how does the heat from something distort your vision? | [
"Heat does not distort your vision, rather it's changes the path light takes to you. The density of air is changed by the temperature of the air. As a translucent medium light is bent or refracted whenever it passes from air of one density to air of another density. When a surface is radiating heat that heat is une... | [
"they have a material in them that changes color based on temperature simple as that. The actual mood aspect us bullshit, they just changed based on the temperature of your skin."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
The difference between banks and credit unions? | [
"A bank is a for-profit entity. It's goal is to make money off it's customers. A credit union is a non profit entity. It's goal is to provide the service to it's customers at minimal overhead. They do the same thing except the bank adds extra margin on top to make profit."
] | [
"It's a big system. It also carries a bit from state to state. Are you interested in the application process? Policy? Logistics?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
What exactly IS free speech? | [
"In the United States, per the first amendment, the government can not prosecute you for any words you say, print, publish, broadcast, or otherwise disseminate to another individual, group, or the public at large. However, if you use speech with the intent of causing harm, by inciting a riot, threatening another i... | [
"What about the US election do you want explained, specifically?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do you feel so tired after crying? | [
"Probably because it consumes a lot of energy. Same reason you feel tired after yelling or a panic attack or an adrenaline rush. Any intense emotional or chemical reaction in your body will consume a lot of energy very quickly."
] | [
"You can't fall asleep at night because you nap in the afternoon. Stop napping, as hard as it may be."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Biology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument about Biology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument about Sleep and boredom:"
} |
Why is it after I hear a song I like I continuously replay it untill I am sick of the song? | [
"It’s probably because it makes you happy, and since you crave that happiness you’ll do what makes you happy (playing the song over and over) until it’s not giving you happiness anymore :)"
] | [
"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 question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does Dairy Queen ice cream stay in the cone when they turn it upside down before giving it to you? | [
"The inside of the cone has ridges which allow the ice cream to stick. The ice cream is also pretty thick and there's a vacuum created when the space between the cone and the ice cream expands. It's like having a cup sealed over your mouth and sucking the air in and trying to pull it away. If that makes sense."
] | [
"When they make ice cream they constantly churn it to break up ice crystals, or they freeze it fast enough that crystals do not have time to form. When you take ice cream home, and not in time, it melts. You stick it in your freezer, and it refreezes, and forms crystals. To prevent this just take your ice cream hom... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does adrenalin/epinephrine counter anaphylaxis? | [
"Anaphylaxis is your body’s normal immune response to foreign objects going way out of control. It encompasses your entire body rather than remaining localized to the thing you were exposed to. The two big things that will kill is is 1) shock (blood vessels enlarge causing your blood pressure to plummet) and 2) air... | [
"Cortisol is a hormone released when you are stressed. It’s produced in the adrenal cortex in response to stress (physical or emotional) and to natural cycles that tend to correlate to circadian rhythms. Cortisol makes the body respond more to normal levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine, and can therefore cause... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment about Biology:"
} |
cooking an egg in a dishwasher | [
"Yeah I saw that video. My assumption is that the proteins of the whites and the yolks have different temperatures where they denature. Since the dishwasher can only reach a certain temperature the proteins in the whites didn't fully cook/denature but the yolk did."
] | [
"The thc start to vaporize at 315°f (157°c), not a pro cookie baker but i bet the temps of the cookies doesnt get that hot in the oven."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why is it that when using the shower head underwater it pushes against my leg until it's a few millimetres away and then sucks it towards it? | [
"[Bernoulli's Principle](_URL_0_). When the shower head is close, the water is obstructed by your body and forced to move sideways at a higher flow rate / through a narrower path, and that creates a lower pressure. Same reason why two ships that move forward in close together formation will be \"sucked\" together."... | [
"There is an aerator on the end of the tap that only works when there is good enough water pressure. It looks like a little mesh screen and the water will just flow around it and become a constant stream again at lower water pressures"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How calorie density changes depending on how many portions I make at once | [
"It doesn't. There is nothing to explain. Double a recipe and you've doubled everything about it -- calories, nutritional information, etc."
] | [
"Each ingredient in a recipe has known calorie counts. It's just a matter of determining how much of each is in each plate."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
how do wireless chargers work? | [
"The charger unit contains a coil of wire that basically forms one half of an electrical transformer. The other coil is in the phone. Varying current in the first coil creates an alternating magnetic field through the coil centre. The phone's coil sits on top, and the varying magnetic field through it induces an al... | [
"What kind of tv do you have? Just off the top of my head do you have auto motion plus turned on?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why does chicken get recalled for salmonella when I’ve always been told to cook it entirely so as to not get salmonella poisoning? | [
"My guess is most meat that’s safe to sell and cook at home doesn’t have salmonella at all. However, the ones that get recalled may have it in them. While cooking the chicken thoroughly would destroy it, that doesn’t mean every single person who buys that chicken is going to properly cook it, thus making it a much ... | [
"All meats can have e coli on them, but e coli can only live on the surfaces, it can't penetrate into the meat. Cooking on the outside kills e coli. You can also cut away surfaces to get a clean part, hence why people can eat raw beef like steak tartar. Chicken can have salmonella, which can exists anywhere in the ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How and why was America chosen as the name of the original uniting colonies? | [
"The name, \"The United States of America\" was chosen because the colonies were conceived of as being separate countries (state is another word for country) coming together for a common purpose (hence united). All of the colonies were situated on the continent of North America, which is why it's \"of America\". [T... | [
"They were made in chronological order from when the state became part of the US."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
This part of the wiki about π(Pi) | [
"That property is that each one-digit sequence is equally likely if you were to peek at random spots on the number. Each two digit sequence is equally likely. Each three digit sequence... etc. That means for example, if you looked at some random spot, you would not have any reason to expect to find sequence 123456 ... | [
"CCP Grey has a video that explains this. _URL_0_"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What’s actually happening when you miss someone so much you can physically feel it? | [
"The part of your brain that regulate pain and emotion are very close together. Change in hormones / signals often leads to physical \"bumping\" of some of the pain areas too. There a nerve that runs down and supplies your heart and gut called the Vagus nerve that's particularly easily affected."
] | [
"Pain is just your body’s way of saying “stop! You’re damaging yourself.” If you don’t feel pain, it’s because those signals aren’t firing. So in that sense, no, the pain doesn’t exist In terms of low pain tolerance, it depends. Some people are accustomed to pain so they can tolerate more of it, like tolerances to ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why does ice melt faster when placed in diet Coke compared to regular Coke | [
"Higher entropy I think. Same reason salt speeds up melting process, by introducing more stuff to bump around at the molecular level, it lowers the melting point of ice. Diet Coke has other solute (dissolved stuff) in it, and that reacts on a physical level with ice, making the heat transfer faster."
] | [
"Most substances have increased solubility in hot water compared to cold water. For example, you can dissolve more salt in hot water than cold water."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer about Chemistry:"
} |
How do records & record players actually work? | [
"The [grooves in a record](_URL_0_) are basically the [audio waveform](_URL_1_) that needs to be played. A needle runs along the grooves, being wiggled by the grooves, and the needle then uses that wiggling to wiggle air, which is sound."
] | [
"What do you mean? Your question needs to be a bit more specific. Are you asking what it is? Or how it's set? Or how the payments are made?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How does brushing your teeth work? | [
"You are removing bacteria and bacteria attracting substances so that they dont settle and form plaque and carries. Its a physical process, which is why 2 minutes is recommended. Toothpastes also have fluoride which may help preserve enamel"
] | [
"Bacteria on your tongue. Go brush your teeth."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why haven't we returned to the Moon? | [
"As mentioned every other time someone posts this question, it really doesn't get much cheaper. Nothing really changes the fact it requires an enormous amount of fuel to put a manned spacecraft into space, and there is no reason why another manned moon mission would make sense besides to say we've done it.. for a ... | [
"Why would you think there are any? Have you been to them?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
How are we able to distinguish real-life sounds from sounds we hear on a speaker? | [
"Your subconscious mind is really good at telling the difference between different types of sounds. In the case of speakers, there are lots of characteristics that clue your mind in that it isn't real life. The size of the speaker, the type of material it's housed in, the way it's pointing, etc all function to make... | [
"The concept of \"Sound\" is actually created by our brains in a response to the stimulus it receives from the vibrating ear drum. This vibrating is known as \"Frequency.\" It would be possible to simulate the illusion of sound in the brain; however, the brain wouldn't be able to make sense of a stimulus that was \... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Psychology:"
} |
why does alcohol like beer dehydrate your body when it's actually made up of 90% water ? | [
"I mean, it isn't 90% water, but that being said, alcohol causes your kidneys to produce more urine. That urine has to be made of of what's in your body, so more water is drawn from your body than you put in."
] | [
"because the spices contain capsaicin. Capsaicin binds to your receptors, and literally makes your brain think youre on fire, which sets of all of these alarms, so your nose starts running, you start sweating alot more, you crave something to drink. Just remember, water doesnt work as its polar, while capsaicin is ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why does freezing food reduce the “quality” of it when talking to chefs or purists? | [
"Water expands when you freeze it and since everything you eat contains water, the freezing water ruptures the tissue it's contained in. For meat it alters the consistency and texture. For fruits and vegetables, it makes them mushy."
] | [
"There is no hard and fast rule about this. As for soup broth, it is a temperature activated chemical change, not some sort of separation of nutrient and food. Most experts agree that boiled or steamed veggies are the best way to go. Other cooking methods can increase the bio-availability of nutrients, but maybe DE... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does a Casino get its house advantage in blackjack | [
"The biggest factor is the fact that the player goes first. Lets say you bust. The casino takes your money. If it also bust, the casino still wins. That is a huge advantage for the casino."
] | [
"The games aren't rigged in the sense that the house odds have to be within reasonable limits. However, they aren't required to be the same as the player's odds and they aren't in virtually all casino games."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How are some IG accounts selling "verification badge" like the celebrities own? | [
"From what I've been reading, Instagram is almost giving those things away for the asking, so most likely they are just applying for them for you the legit way knowing that they will almost certain be fulfilled for you. In other words, you could do it for yourself for free, but most people don't know that, so they ... | [
"They are only client sided as in you are the only one who can see it. You can buy followers though in which it will have a ton of bots follow you for a set price."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does government begin? Does someone just go: "I'm gonna start a regime here." and pick people with similar goals? | [
"\"Grug have big stick. Do what grug say or you no eat\" Then it all goes downhill from there."
] | [
"First, The Declaration of Independence is not a legally binding document. It was effectively a letter to the world saying \"Yo, this King George is fuckin' whack, we're revolting, here's why. Support us or don't *we don't give a fuck*.\" Anyways, the rights it mentions are *natural* rights, not legal rights. These... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
What is the purpose of Netflix's "are you still watching?" feature? | [
"Presumably, to save bandwidth on their and to keep you from passing too many episodes that you haven't actually watched."
] | [
"Why are empty threads showing up on the front page? This makes no sense."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How does a gravitational force in/around a black hole work. I understand all that mass squeezed in a small space creates gravity but how can gravity radiate from black holes when even light can't? | [
"Gravity doesn't radiate. That is a misunderstanding of what gravity is. Gravity isn't created by a black hole, it is the effect of a black hole. Gravity doesn't escape a black hole, the black hole distorts space-time so much that it effects the area for a long ways around it."
] | [
"It would not. While a black hole the same mass as the sun and the sun would have equal gravity for anything outside the radius of the sun, the black hole would have a lot smaller radius. This allows it to have an event horizon, a distance where gravity is so strong that not even light can escape. If you were that ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
What's the science behind stains "setting" on to clothing? | [
"In my experience professionally working with wood finishes, dyes and stains- so not exactly the same but i believe it works similarly- In dying wood your pigment is in a carrier fluid, like water or alcohol. In order to impart the color into the wood and not have it just sitting on top of the wood, the carrier flu... | [
"Rinse, yes. Wash, no. For the detergent to work properly it needs residues to stick on to and wash off."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
how the heck does an insurance deductible work? (Pet insurance) | [
"If it's like people insurance (which my dog's insurance is) and it's an annual deductible, I think it means that you pay the first $700 of whatever vet visits there are and after that amount is hit, the insurance kicks in. This will reset every year."
] | [
"There would be no real benefit. The money you pay for your car and home insurance premiums doesn't go in some account with your name on it. \"This is Yolo20152016's unused insurance money\" It goes towards the profit and operating costs of the insurance company. Most importantly It pays the claims of other people... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How can the majority of my body feel cold except for my legs? | [
"A big part of it is muscles. 90% of body heat is \"waste\" from burning fuel operating the muscles. That's why if you stop your work and do 100 squats, even in a freezer, you will start to sweat. Legs have the largest muscles in the body. You don't really use your torso much, and your arms are smaller, so get rela... | [
"The feeling can and does occur in other parts of your body. I get the feeling in my upper back normally."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does calling 911 work in terms of connecting you to your closest 911 center? | [
"The emergency 911 call is routed to the local call center based on the origin location of the calling party. If it was from a landline then there is obviously a registered address where that phone is calling from, but if it is a cell phone then it is determined by the location of the cell tower. Since such towers ... | [
"Historically, this was done by using a [teletypewriter (TTY)](_URL_0_), which is a specialized telephone attachment that allows deaf people to communicate, via typing, with an operator trained in acting as a pass-through for communicating over the phone with hearing people. So the deaf person would call the operat... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Telecommunications:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph about Telecommunications:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Do modern fax machines make that screechy dial up noise out of necessity or is it something it is programmed to do for consistency/familiarity? | [
"No, they do it because it is still the protocol for talking over the telephone line to the other fax machine. The tones are actually what is being transmitted over the line and being able to hear them might help with diagnosing a problem with the fax."
] | [
"It's an inside joke among the audio mixing people in the business. They put it in every movie, tv show, cartoon, and commercial where it's even remotely appropriate just for laughs."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why is it that, in cinematography, the color green is used for special effects? | [
"The idea is to pick a color which isn't going to be shared by anything else in the scene. Bright neon green isn't going to be part of any of the actors or the sky so it is a good color to isolate those parts of the video. Other times a vivid blue can be used, but in concept any color would work as long as it is un... | [
"It was around this time we started getting into digital film making, and the price of the digital process had come down dramatically. As a result, playing with colours, or more dramatic changes, became possible very easily. The prime example from the era which took full advantage of the colour control was Pleasant... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
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