query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Why do governments want a low inflation rate instead of no inflation at all? | [
"No inflation is an unstable point, and deflation is very bad. So a little inflation provides a buffer against measurement uncertainty and other possible miscalculations."
] | [
"The graph shows the inflation rate - how fast prices are rising - and not the actual price itself. The Euro has maintained low to normal inflation since it started, currently sitting at 2% and never above 3% in the last five years. That is thanks to deliberate policy by the European Central Bank. Many other centra... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do we use teabags but not coffeebags? | [
"Ground coffee loses its flavor when exposed to air, while tea does not. If you had a box of 'coffee bags' like you do tea bags, most of the box would taste terrible long before you reached the end. That's why the packaging for ground coffee is designed to seal the product away from air. It's also why coffee enthus... | [
"Don't microwave the teabag as it can burn the tea. It's also unnecessary. It's fine to microwave the water and then put the teabag in it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How do G-suits work? | [
"G-suits have pockets where air is pushed during high G manouvers so it compresses the body and restrains the blood from going to the extremities so the pilot won't black out from lack of blood to the brain."
] | [
"Can you not get an erection in space?!"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why doesn’t the water in lakes and rivers get absorbed into the ground? | [
"Some do lose water due to seepage. They lose more or less depending on what kind of rock and sediment lies beneath the lake. A rocky bottom holds water better than a sandy bottom. Lakes are also subject to evaporation from their surfaces – especially in a dry places – for example, the American West. So why don’t l... | [
"Rain is fresh water, so the salt is left behind in the ocean when water evaporates. The rain flows into rivers lakes and streams, so they are fresh water. When a river runs into the ocean, perhaps in a bay, it mixes and becomes salt water."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
why do objects get cold faster when they are wet? | [
"Evaporation. The liquid coati g the surface evaporates, and in doing so it takes some of the thermal energy of the body with it. This is why alcohols feel so cold, because they have a lot lower boiling temperature than water they alps evaporate faster and cool down an object faster"
] | [
"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 title about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the text about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
What is “international law” and who enforced it? | [
"\"International law\" is the set of treaties, compacts, and conventions to which various nations have all agreed. It is enforced through lawsuits and through international regulatory agencies, such as the World Trade Commission, the International Criminal Court, or the like. Sometimes, the suits can be filed in a ... | [
"Military, intelligence, and foreign policy: virtually all of the power. Law enforcement and social issues: some power. Economic issues: practically no power at all."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
what does humanity really hope to learn from the Hadron Collider? | [
"The hope is to learn more about some of the most fundamental particles in the universe. It's incredibly difficult to study them, the Hadron Collider provides a tool to do just that. Just like learning how to manipulate atoms revolutionized many areas of science, it could be that learning how to manipulate these su... | [
"Cultural and personal values. It's not actually important from the perspective of the universe. The universe couldn't care less about human freedom haha."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why can we not revive people who died? Not minutes later but hours later. | [
"Cells need oxygen to survive. Especially brain cells. They can survive a few minutes without fresh oxygen, but start to die soon after. And once they are dead, they can’t be used anymore. No brain, no heartbeat, breathing, or any other bodily functions."
] | [
"You ever hear about people donating their bodies to medical science when they die? Now you know why medical science wants people's bodies."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why do different injections go in different parts of the body? | [
"Different routes absorb at different rates is the primary reason. Where you want the medication to go is another. You can push a smaller amount of a medication through a vein and have it take affect quickly or you can push a large dose into a muscle and have it start working over time. Also, you might be injecting... | [
"You have a higher concentration of nerves in your hand than you have in most other places on your body."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How can humans not be immune to pollen | [
"By adapt, do you mean genetically? The thing about changing our genes through evolution is that it works better against stuff that kills us. Because if we are randomly mutating and something kills all of us who don't have a special mutation, the ones that are left pass on these genes, and the entire population is... | [
"Some actually can harm themselves. It depends on the animal. Others are immune to their own toxin, or super resilient to it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about biology:"
} |
What do percentages on weather forecast apps mean? | [
"This percentage is the product of two values: 1) The probability/certainty of a weather event occurring, and 2) The fraction of land affected in the forecast area. For example, 50% chance of rain over 50% of the forecast area results in a forecast of 25% rain, while a 100% chance of rain over 25% of the forecast a... | [
"The farmers almanac records the weather of each day every year. So lets just use the past ten years for example. So if on may 1st it rained 8/10 years they will assume its going to rain 80% of the time on may 1st. Now the almanac has been keeping records for a very long time so they can actually make pretty decent... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about weather:",
"pos": "Represent the document about weather:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
I’ve heard that if you were to fall from a really high place, you would lose consciousness on the way down. If this is true.. why does this happen? | [
"It isn't necessarily true. People have fallen from great heights, and miraculously survived, and been conscious all the way down. Fear may make some people pass out, and from a really, really great height lack of oxygen may also make you do so, but otherwise...."
] | [
"No one dies instantly - death is a process that takes time, for all living things. Usually when people say that someone “died instantly” they mean that they lost consciousness instantly, while the body began the dying process. It is very quick and easy to lose consciousness instantly, generally if something hits y... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
I heard ant eggs laid by a female (or queen?), if left unfertilized, will hatch into male ant offspring, but doesn’t that mean that the offspring should be clones of the mother and, therefore, should be female? | [
"Ant sex is determined by the sets of chromosomes. If they have pairs of chromosomes they are female. If they have a single set they are male. A fertilised egg has pairs of chromosomes, one set from the mother and and one from the father and thus develops into a female. An unfertilised egg has one set of chromosome... | [
"It depends on the animal. Most of the \"higher\" animals have some sort of aversion to their siblings and/or parents unless they are specifically inbred (such as in breeding programs). However, insects really don't, for two reasons. First, insects have a breeding pattern that basically assumes a high death rate fo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment about biology:"
} |
What is the 0 dB in digital Audio? | [
"dB is a logarithmic scale. Every time you add 10 dB, you make the sound ten times as loud. Every time you subtract 10 dB, you make the sound one tenth as loud. Zero dB is like multiplying the sound by 1: it's just the original, unchanged sound, at it's original volume."
] | [
"Is there any reason why you chose 1116 in particular?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why is looking at the sun during a solar eclipse worse than looking at the sun on a normal day? | [
"The amount of UV radiation doesnt decrease substantially during a solar eclipse. The amount of visual radiation does though causing your eyes to dilate. The net result is that your eyes let in a lot more UV radiation than it would normally receive."
] | [
"A lunar eclipse is when the moon passes through the Earth's shadow. Much like the sun temporarily being blotted out by the moon, the moon will temporarily be dimmed as Earth passes between it and the sun. You should expect it to turn red and darken, then brighten over the course of about four hours. It is differen... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why is latency and bandwith separated? If latency is delay of data, and bandwith is data over time, shouldn't one affect another? If it takes 5s for a car to start, and 10s to reach it's destination, then the average speed would be spread out across the whole 15s. Should this not be the same? | [
"Consider conventional mail (via a post office). This a high latency, high bandwidth type of communications. It takes a few days to get a shipment somewhere, but that shipment can contain almost unlimited amounts of data. Contrast this with SMS (text messaging). This is fairly low latency - your text message arrive... | [
"Think a 4 lane highway (x32) vs an 8 lane highway (x64). The cars are the information. The amount of lanes does not effect the speed of the cars. Picture 8 cars going down each highway. 8 cars on a 4 lane highway, the car will have to go in two rows of 4. The second row will get there after the first row. 8 cars o... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why do products that have an active ingredient need other ingredients? | [
"One good example is artificial sweetener. 99% of what's in those little packets is filler, because most artificial sweeteners are *super* sweet. So sweet you only need a tiny, tiny bit to make your coffee sweet. They have to bulk out the contents with filler because most people aren't going to deal with trying to ... | [
"You’d be surprised, water is heavy. Also, in the US they’re not required to list “inert” ingredients. Non-nutritional ingredients, etc. Not sure if that’s the case elsewhere."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why does it feel like your running faster in a small area, such as a hotel hallway? | [
"It's a phenomenon known as parallax. This is when two objects appear to move at different speeds because they are different distances away. When you run outside, the trees etc are far away, so they don't seem to move much. When you run inside, all your points of reference are much closer, so they seem to move quic... | [
"For the same reason you can easily step out of a parked car, but would have a less fun time stepping out of a car going full speed down a highway"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How come hard liquors don't freeze in your household freezer? | [
"Because hard liquors contain ethanol, the actual alcohol which has a freezing point of -114C or -173F. The ethanol dissolves in the rest of the solution, lowering its freezing temp."
] | [
"Your freezer is colder than the freezer at the store. The ice cream is able to get harder because of this. Don't adjust your freezer though."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why does an extra proton here or there make such a difference in the properties of an element? | [
"An extra proton changes two things: the amount of electrons and the space they occupy. Simply put, when you add a proton you must add an electron to match. This electron can't be where any other electrons already are. When other atoms are around a given element the electrons of the two atoms talk. Where the electr... | [
"Some of the properties *do not exist* at such a small scale. For example texture and malleability are all about the shape and strength of the connections between atoms. So it means nothing to ask what the texture or malleability of a single atom is: it has no texture and cannot be malleable. Some properties, such ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about Chemistry:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Chemistry:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do Wii games have such a larger hacker base than the Gamecube? And why are there so many GBA Pokémon rom hacks compared to the DS lineup? | [
"Ease of access in all cases. The wii has internal memory, and easily accessed (on a pc) external memory as well as exploits. The GameCube has only has memory cards you can’t plug into a pc, there are ways around it but you have to spend money. So wii just needs an sd card and specific game. GBA game’s at this poi... | [
"u wot m8? Emulators usually get done many years after the release of the console. There isn't an emulator for any of the current-gen consoles, and the previous gen ones are still in early stages of development."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Technology:"
} |
Why is it so necessary to leave a tip in the US? | [
"Waitstaff are specifically exempted from minimum wage laws in most states. Some are paid as little as $3.00 an hour, and are taxed on their tips as well."
] | [
"There is no requirement to tip, as long as you do not visit the same restaurant twice."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
How does breast milk not get sour in breasts? | [
"The ducts in the breast are an isolated environment where the bacteria that would cause it to \"sour\" are unable to survive and do so. Once outside the breast it is vulnerable to all the bacteria in the air and can sour fairly quickly as a result."
] | [
"They can drink water, but they don’t need to as they get enough water from breast milk or formula. Also if you fill their bellies up with water, they run the risk of being too full to drink milk and might not get enough nutrition."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do we breathe on commercial airplanes? If humans breathe out carbon dioxide then shouldn’t we run out of breathable oxygen at some point? | [
"It's a mixture of fresh air from outside, and recirculated air. Here's an interesting article that explains. _URL_0_"
] | [
"Because oxygen is the part of the air that is absorbed in the lungs and enters the bloodstream, to be used by our cells as fuel. The nitrogen you inhale just sits there in the lungs until you exhale. It doesn't do anything for your body. If you were to inhale 100% nitrogen, you would pass out and die of oxygen dep... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does audio translate into bits in a computer file? | [
"If you think of a digital picture, you essentially have a bunch of tiny, single-color pixels which, when put together, make a pretty good recreation of whatever you take a picture of. The same is true for a digital audio file, it's essentially a ton of tiny \"pictures\" of the audio signal and when you put them to... | [
"Because exporting it means converting it into a different format, rather than just playing it back in its current state. In ELI5 terms: it takes longer to translate a book than it does to read the book."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do dark bags form under your eyes from lack of sleep? | [
"I'm not a doctor, so here's the relevant except from an article I found after a 15-second Google search. > When the body is tired, production of the chemical cortisol is dramatically increased to help give you the energy you need to stay awake. Among many other things, cortisol actually increases the volume of th... | [
"It has various uses and benefits. - It can help to stabilize a loose knee joint. - It can reduce sagging if you have big boobs or are overweight. - It can prevent blood build-up in your legs if you are required to sit still for a long time or have circulatory problems."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is a bulletproof vest made of & how does that stop a massively fast bullet? | [
"To keep it as simple as possible, there are two main types of bulletproof vests; soft and hard. Soft vests are made of woven kevlar. These are tiny strands of extremely strong fabric. They're woven and layered up to create a relatively soft, flexible panel. This stops bullets by slowing them down as they impact th... | [
"From a movie sense, to show the audience that the vest stopped the bullet, and that the shootout is over. From a realistic perspective, bulletproof vests are really only designed to take one bullet. Once they take one bullet, their ability to stop more bullets drops off drastically. After the first one, you'd prob... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do ants go crazy when you blow on them? | [
"No science background, but I'll explain like I (the explainer) was 5: imagine if you had to balance your eyes on the top of a stick that sat on top of your head and then a large gust of wind kept smashing them around to the point where you couldn't focus on anything except hoping to keep your eye-sensor things int... | [
"They hide under plants when it's sunny. Otherwise they'd dry out. When it's rainy, they can move around without danger of drying."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
When tectonic plates shift, why is there only an earthquake in a single place and not all along the plates' boundaries? | [
"As plates try to shift, the plate becomes locked as rocks on one side catch on rocks on the other side. The plate bends as the forces build up and the catch point gives, and you get an earthquake. This shifts load to other catch points, that might then give - these are aftershocks. These quakes release the tensio... | [
"Earthquakes can happen anywhere, not just on fault lines. Fault lines are locations where the structure of the Earth's crust has a break. Smaller or partial breaks exist elsewhere, and even an unbroken section of crust can still break if sufficient stress is applied to it; after all, fault lines come from somewher... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How were computers “commanded” before computer languages existed? | [
"Computers always run on what is called \"machine code\", the actual values which make the computer components behave as desired. At this stage it is just like flipping electrical switches at the start of a long chain reaction. The secret is that computers *never changed from that.* Computers do not \"think\", they... | [
"Before operating systems, computers were programmed by switches on the front. Without an interface of some sort, you can't get data in to the computer at all. A \"clean\" PC has a simple operating system called the BIOS, a Basic Input/Output System in ROM (read-only memory), but that is designed to configure basic... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
aspirin lowers your nervous sensors that's why you feel less pain when you take one, but how does it actually work? | [
"Aspirin doesn't exactly \"lower your nervous sensors.\" Put simply, aspirin slows down the action of another chemical in your body (cyclooxygenase) by changing its shape, which ordinarily produces a particular *other* set of chemicals called *prostaglandins,* which attach to our nerves and cause us to feel pain. W... | [
"It causes the heart rate to slow down and thus relaxes you. as for the desire to not stop, i've no idea."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Health and Physiology:"
} |
How does adding 's' to end of 'http' make it protected against hackers? | [
"The S stands for \"secure\", specifically it means that the connection between your browser and the website is encrypted using the TLS protocol. The TLS protocol does two things: 1. When you connect to the server, the server sends you a digitally signed certificate. The certificate is used by your browser to valid... | [
"It works on improperly coded sites that just have a list of forbidden webpages. A question mark in a URL is a way to say \"more stuff comes after this\", for example some search variables. If you put nothing after it, nothing happens however if the security was poorly made and only redirected on an exact URL, you ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why do home LED lightbulbs have so much heat on heatsink yet devices like iPhone that use LED lighting seem to have very little | [
"Because a LED bulb with a heat sink will emit many time more light then the screen of a iPhone. A low power LED bulb do not need a heat sink. Just try to illuminate a wall in a dark room with the screen and compare that to a light bulb. There might be a difference in efficiency and the phone product less heat for... | [
"Passive heatsinking is a thing - you can dissipate heat by conducting it through the heatsink material, and most phones use special heat-dissipating stickers that conduct heat through the phone's casing. That's why your phone will warm up when playing high load games. In addition to that, mobile phones are very, v... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is harder to balance on a bike the slower it goes? | [
"Inertia. As you have momentum in a forward motion, the cycle has less of a tendency to want to fall sideways. If you spin an angle grinder disc, it gets harder to twist it sideways for exactly the same reason. Stationary, the bike wants to fall sideways since it has no stability that way. While moving, the mome... | [
"It feels good because you're not fighting gravity. It easier to lay in a bed than stand, right? Same concept."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why do military units carry the same formation through history such as the 450 year old 2nd dragoon regiment in France. | [
"History and tradition is a big thing in the military of many nations. It generates a sense of \"belonging\" that the current personnel are the inheritors of a line of battle honours dating back through the years. Maintaining that tradition is a big motivating factor for new recruits."
] | [
"This was a fun one to track down. They are referred to as chevrons and denote unit. Helps prevent friendly fire too Sometimed on Isreali Merkava tanks they might be followed or led by a letter denoting rank - battalion leader, etc"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
why do most suburban houses in USA are made of wood, despite all the strong winds and tornadoes they experience? | [
"Some time ago it was explained to me that the problem with tornados etc. are not the strong winds, but the stuff that is flying around because of that winds. A stone house may be better suited to withstand the wind, but when it is hit by a tree or similar large/heavy stuff it will be badly damaged or collapse the ... | [
"Because most 3rd world countries happen to be in tropical hot regions. Tropical regions have more energy which translates to more storms and hurricanes. The reality is everywhere seems to have the same amount it's just poor countries deal with the aftermath much longer. Look at the USA, tornados in the central reg... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does the jeans break always in the same manner, first the vertical fibers, then the horizontal? | [
"The vertical fibres are under more stress more often (eg - especially at the front bend of the knee) After the first vertical fibres fray and break, this adds more load onto the other ones, so they break more easily. And this finally exposes the horizontal threads. So they'll start breaking too, eventually."
] | [
"When you run the edge of the blade of the scissor over the ribbon, you break the ribbon's structure a little causing one side to be stronger than the other. The stronger side curls the weaker side inward creating the curls."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is barcode scanning so quick and accurare, but OCR even for digital text is kinda bad? | [
"Given the previous answers I have to add the following. & #x200B; Barcodes and QR-codes have been Designed for computers. They have features in place that help with alingnment. Barcodes have built in error checking numbers and QR codes can even have enogh redundancy in them that a computer can compute the correct... | [
"optical character recognition identifies the account and routing number as well as the handwritten amount. This is what usually causes it to fail when it does. the dollar amount being unclear can be an issue sometimes. But for the most part its pretty simple and effective."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text about banking:"
} |
in the 90s and early 00s, meth was America's biggest drug problem. Now it's heroin. What changed? | [
"Doctors were given perks for overprescribing opiates and this got tons of people’s addicted to OxyContin. Once you get cut off, and due to price of oxy skyrocketing to a dollar per mg if not more people turned to heroin because it’s cheaper and easier to get. The FDA also made it a lot harder to make meth when th... | [
"It wasn't resolved. It just stopped being something that drew in viewers on news programs. Over 60,000 Americans die from drug overdoses every year still. There are also some politics that come into play, which is part of the reason why it stopped being in the spotlight as much. But it's still very much an ongoing... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why do car seatbelts have one strap whereas airplane pilot seatbelts have two straps? | [
"Pilot harnesses are actually a 5-point harness; there's a strap that comes up between the legs, with a 4-part buckle assembly, and then a lap belt (L and R straps) and two shoulder straps (L and R) go into that. You find this same sort of harness in the seats of high-speed race cars. The use-case is the same: keep... | [
"The reason that there isn't any seatbelts on a bus (School bus or City Bus) is because seatbelts, lap or lap and shoulder belts, don't offer the same protection as in a car. For it to work, they'd have to have taller and stiffer seats and, in the case of a bus, would cause head and organ injuries."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How come USA came about using the metric system and why are they still using it? | [
"USA doesn't use the metric system, the rest of the world does. USA uses the imperial system."
] | [
"It makes about as much sense as an entire nation using the imperial measurement system while the rest of the world uses metric: someone decided it would be that way one day, made it a standard, and now people just use it. If it makes you feel any better, the US Military uses dd/mm/yyyy for all official forms."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
When you hurt your toe (for instance), why does holding the painful toe with your hands make the pain less? | [
"It’s due to what is called the “gate control theory.” Simply put, the “ouchie” signal and the “not-ouchie” signals meet in your spinal cord, and can only send one signal to the brain. The non-painful signal (holding or touching) always wins, dampening the pain signal."
] | [
"It's difficult to feel both pressure and pain from the same location. The good news about this is that the brain prioritises pressure over pain which is why we tend to instinctively apply pressure when we experience pain."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Is oxygen toxic/poisonous? | [
"2 things here: Is oxygen toxic, and what are antioxidants? Everything is toxic/poisonous to something at some amount. Oxygen is not toxic to mammals at our atmospheric amount. 100% is toxic to humans, but not immediately. Our lungs like the amount of oxygen in the air, but they can function with different amounts.... | [
"There is a caffeine-like chemical in chocolate called Theobromine that is poisonous to dogs and cats."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
If heat is a measure of the mean kinetic energy of the particles of a substance, then how does compressing it increase its temperature, since compression squishes the particles of a substance closer together, theoretically limiting movement? | [
"You're thinking temperature, not heat. These are related but different. The reason compression increases temperature is because the energy of the compressed gas is now more concentrated into a smaller volume, and thus the mean kinetic energy of the *volume* of the substance is higher because it occupies less volum... | [
"I believe it is called latent heat of evaporation. The vapour in the deodorant can is under pressure to the point that it is a liquid. When the pressure on the liquid decreases, by spraying the deodorant, the temperature at which the liquid vaporises decreases thanks to the combined gas law. In order for the liqu... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How do our toilet pipes that lead to sewers remain unclogged for years on end? | [
"Because most the stuff that you put down your toilet is a semi-solid or break down very easily under flowing water. that is why you're not supposed to put sani wipes or feminine products down the loo because they do not actually break down like paper or poo. in the same regard, you should not pour grease down you... | [
"The main problem with household water usage is not actually black water - the water that carries human waste from your toilet to the sewage system - but grey water. Grey water is the water that runs into the sewage system from your kitchen sink, your laundry machine, your shower, etcetera. This water is, albeit no... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
What exactly are robocalls? Why are they on a surge right now? And why isn’t anything being done to prevent them? | [
"Technology has made it inexpensive to build massive call centers in countries that made it difficult to stop with legal actions. The US telecoms are terrible. They have no incentive to provide a good customer experience, so they don't use technology that easily blocks numbers that are masked."
] | [
"More or less a way for corporations to literally be above the law and do whatever they want, among other things. Cross your fingers it doesn't go through."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do all these different fruit and plant seeds form? | [
"There wasn't an identifiable first apple or orange seed. They would have evolved from some preceding plant species slowly over time. So over thousands of generations the preceding plant becomes more and more like an apple or orange tree until eventually it matches what we would recognize as an apple or orange tree... | [
"Those things coming out are the sprouting roots and stem. So yes, that is how potatoes grow."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Botany:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about Botany:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
The London Whale Trading Incident | [
"\"The City\" is basically gambling. There are a few straightforward investments made, but also a lot of straight gambles on whether a share price will rise or dip, or all kind of other fancy indexes. No kidding, it's straight up gambling. These guys lost, and whilst chasing their losses there was nobody saying \"s... | [
"Star Wars Episode VII: The Jar Jar Binks Adventures"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
What causes diet sweets to give you diarrhea? what actually happens inside your body? | [
"It is the sweeteners found inside them. They are similar enough to glucose and other sugars our body uses for our taste receptors to think they are sweet, however ij our gut there are more specialist transporters that only work with specific sugars, mostly glucose. The sweeteners aren't compatible with them so the... | [
"The pills cause stomach irritation, and in some cases, has the ability to burn a hole in your stomach. Having food in your system slows down that process and eases the digestion and absorption. Similar to drinking alcohol on an empty stomach as oppose to one with food. *hope that helps"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How does a network connect to other networks over WAN? | [
"Intercontinental communications are typically done with undersea fiber optic cables. Satellites are used for this too, but have less bandwidth and reliability; So they're significantly less common, and mostly used for providing internet to remote locations that have no wired connections available. Undersea cables ... | [
"That would depend on the architecture of the router you are using. In any case the router will find it easier to communicate over wire."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
With the possible future of super resistant bacteria ahead, should people be getting surgery now in preparation? | [
"It is dramatically more dangerous to undergo surgeries that are not medically necessary than it is to undergo surgeries in a hypothetical future wherein our ability to combat bacteria is more limited."
] | [
"Because over use of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistant bacteria like MRSA. Doctors already prescribe them too much, imagine what a layperson with no medical knowledge whatsoever would do. By the way, the flu is a virus; antibiotics have absolutely no effect on them."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does a radio prioritize two identical frequencies from two different stations? | [
"Cloud cover won't have any impact of note. If it was an AM radio station then the ionosphere, active and reflecting radio waves, was the culprit. If it was an FM radio station most likely there was an unexpected transmitter problem, reducing its power for some period of time. In both cases the decision on which t... | [
"Fundamentally there is only the hardware available to talk on one frequency at a time. It can be adjusted to hop between channels but at any given time it needs to be on only one. Conceptually you could use two sets of antennas and associated hardware to communicate over two separate channels at the same time, but... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the post about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why are the majority of glass beer bottles brown. Does it protect the beer somehow? | [
"> Does [brown glass] protect the beer somehow? Yes. Brown glass blocks ultraviolet radiation from sunlight that would turn beer skunky. However, it doesn't block all the UV."
] | [
"Probably not what you're looking for, but I know that plastic bottles don't hold carbonation as well because of the way the molecules bond together compared to glass or aluminum cans."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why do Adblock softwares not work on streaming platforms (Hulu, Fox, TNT, etc.) | [
"the how: its a combination of adblock detecting scripts that then deny you the service, the ads built into the same content delivery system as the service - this makes it so you can't block the ads without blocking the service as well, and lastly unintentional coding errors that happen when you stop the ad from ru... | [
"The easiest way to get around using a cable provider for TV is to get a Roku and sub to subsrrib to some the streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. A couple of networks will also let watch recent episodes for free on their website. Also check out /r/cordcutters ."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How do plants, without musculature, move in such short periods of time to face the sunlight? | [
"Generally \"rapid\" plant motion involves a shift in [turgor pressure](_URL_1_) \\- the solute concentrations in the plant's vascular system change, causing individual cells to absorb more water and expand or release more water and shrink. Together, they can change the shape of the plant. This principle can be exp... | [
"Stimuli lead to certain responses which cause changes in the organism's behavior, kind of like how a complicated machine can react in different ways to different switches and levers because they cause a different cascade of actions in the internal mechanism. For example, plants can grow towards a light source beca... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
How does capillary action pulling a fluid up a narrow tube result in a more stable state than if the fluid stayed at the same level? | [
"Molecules are made of highly electrically charged particles and all interact with each other like little magnets. Some are attracted to each other, some strongly repel, and some are indifferent and neutral. When a liquid is climbing up the inside of a narrow tube, that's an indication that the liquid molecules are... | [
"Liquids have surface tension. As the liquid flows out of the container, the molecules have a strong attraction to the cup and a weak (negligible) attraction to the air which they are being poured into. If this difference in attraction is greater than the force of gravity acting on the liquid then its going to flow... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How can an 2D animated movies or shows have multiple animators whilst maintaining a consistent art style? | [
"Professional animators are a talented bunch - they can draw in just about any style they'd like. For their own work, they may choose a unique style, but when they are part of a team, they'll work within the parameters set by the lead animator. It's much the same way a good studio musician can play a vareity of gen... | [
"Game companies have a special artist role in place in order to ensure that. They are called \"Concept Artists\". A concept artist's role is to draw the material that will be used as a reference point by the other modelers, texture artists, animators, etc... Since the reference drawings all have the same style, the... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does using a chip credit card at the pump take so much less time than using one in the store? | [
"Transactions at self serve pumps are often offline, so the card will say this person is good for certain amount of money. After you've filled up, the transaction is sent to your bank and taken from your account. Transactions in the store are often online, so a request is sent over the internet to your bank to chec... | [
"They used to. Back in the long ago, some of the gas stations in remote locations would accept bills. Now that most people have credit cards, you can pay at the pump with that. If you only want to put in $10, you can walk in. The cash accepting machines aren't incredibly reliable, and would require more service tha... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Precious gems that go in jewelry have to be harder than a 7 on the Mohs scale due to quartz being the hardest airborne mineral and would scratch them, so does that mean we breathe in quartz on the daily and our lungs don't mind? | [
"Quartz is made of silica, and crystalline silica [is really bad for people to breathe](_URL_0_) _if breathed in high enough amounts_ (that means high concentrations and for a long time each shift, specifically) . You’re unlikely to encounter truly dangerous amounts of airborne crystalline silica outside of an indu... | [
"Remember the hardness scale back in Middle School Geology? You had diamonds at the top, rubies were up there and lead was at the bottom? Diamonds can scratch a ruby but a ruby (being less hard) cannot scratch a diamond. Well it's the same principal. The metal in dental tools is not as hard as your teeth. So it wo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
What is the physical discomfort in your chest, that accompanies severe anxiety, caused by? | [
"When you get anxious, your heart rate goes up. It is done by the primal parts of our brain which make your heart pump more blood and supply your brain and your muscle with blood (fight or flight). You are anxious, so fast heart rate change feels as discomfort. It could also manifest itself as a feeling of pressure... | [
"> Is it actually a real thing? Yup. > Is the mind and body having something happen to it during an \"anxiety attack\"? If you've seen someone having a panic attack, you would notice them sweating, shaking, out of breath, and they can feel their heart beating as well as struggling to breath and choking. Psycholog... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does tech keep time when shut off? | [
"Generally there will be a special little battery on your main board to do that, at least that's what a computer does. On your phone, if you unplug your main battery, and then turn it on (without WiFi or Cellular so it can't get the time from the internet) will it have the correct time? If so, it has a clock batter... | [
"Do you know how a fan works? If so just turn it around"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How are really tall buildings able to withstand high winds? | [
"Most skyscrapers are built with a series of counterweights in them to help from swaying too much. The buildings are also to designed to sway in the wind. It actually makes them safer. Imagine a stick that has been dried out. It’s very rigid, but it can be snapped easily. Then take a stick freshly cut from a tree.... | [
"The type of ground in the area is red clay, which is extremely hard to dig through. This makes it very very costly to dig basements, especially for large buildings like apartments and schools. Sad as it is, the cost is so high as to be prohibitive when it comes to tornado emergency shelters. Tornadoes are rare, sh... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Do we lose metal forever when it rusts? | [
"Most rusting is from the pure metal becoming oxidized, meaning oxygen from the atmosphere attaches to it and changes it's chemical properties. Rust can be melted back into metal easily enough, though if a piece of metal rusts into a powder, collecting it all back becomes a challenge. When melting it back, you'll h... | [
"It's like removing all rust from iron before you cover it with paint. If tiny piece of rust remains under paint - iron will continue to rust under it until it all destroyed."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
In the United States is every last digital dollar backed up by a paper noted currency? | [
"No, very little U.S. currency is actually backed by paper notes. Something like 10%. [According to this](_URL_0_), there is about $10 trillion in wealth held in cash or cash equivalents, but money supply is about $980B"
] | [
"People offer to buy it for more or less of another good or currency."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How do power lines work? | [
"Three or 4 wires power lines are 3 phase transmission lines. There is also a thick line that runs under the 3 ones that carry low voltage data like telephone or cable tv."
] | [
"Are you asking how a wheel works ?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is the source for gravity, or what causes it in things? I understand that way massive the object is, the force will be great (and depends on length between a second object too), then, the object creates it? How? | [
"TLDR: We aren't entirely sure yet Gravity is one of the fundamental forces of nature, but unlike the other forces like electromagnetism, the strong force, and the weak force, Gravity doesn't have an opposite (that we are aware of) that cancels it out. It is also the weakest of the forces by far but also seems to a... | [
"Because time and space can be twisted by huge masses (or high speed can change how they effect us). The gravity and blackholes are the proof ( also there are theories of scientists such as Einstein). If you wonder the gravity is not like how oppsite sides attract each other. The gravity is the space we are in itse... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do sun burns hurt when touched and not when they happend? | [
"The painful symptoms of sunburn - inflamed sensitive skin - aren't the product of the sun damage itself, but rather of your body's system immune system response to the sun damage. The initial damage is molecular damage to your DNA. It takes some time for your body to notice the damage and for your immune system to... | [
"The white part is dry nails because it's not touching the skin and getting the natural oils. This is also why the white part turns translucent when you submerge them in water for long enough but go back to being white when they dry. I googled this a while back cause I was curious too hahaha"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment about Biology:"
} |
Why does it take a few minutes for your eyes to adjust to darkness? | [
"[Rhodopsin](_URL_0_) is a protein photopigment used by the rod cells of the retina to detect gray-scale brightness and contrast, and is the key to adaptive night vision. Intense light causes the protein to decompose reducing its sensitivity in bright light (when we rely more heavily on our color-sensing cone cells... | [
"Shine a light at your eyes while they’re closed. What do you see? That’s your answer."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer about Science:"
} |
Why isn't our body fit and with muscled by default? | [
"The really short answer is that fat is more beneficial to have than muscle when you're a nomadic hunter/gatherer and your next meal could be days away. Fat stores calories for later, muscles require more calories to maintain. So your body very very reluctantly builds up more muscle tissue than you had before, and ... | [
"> Now, if I get nutrients in the most efficient way of digestion, does this mean that I save up energy? Yes, it is called \"getting fat\" and it is sort of a problem in our societies. It isn't going to make you smarter or more capable in many ways."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why can’t a type of plastic be invented that is biodegradable? | [
"They have actually. Using hemp and other plant based fibers they can make biodegradable plastics. They are much more expensive and time consuming to produce though."
] | [
"1) Plastic is cheaper than glass. Plastic is also much more durable. 2) The substances stored in plastic are known not to react with the plastic bottles."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does radiation cause AND kill cancer? | [
"Ionizing radiation can damage DNA in your body’s cells. This damage can cause the cells to malfunction and reproduce uncontrollably, which is cancer. Focused radiation can cause so much damage to the cancers cells that they not only malfunction, but it can dry them completely killing it."
] | [
"The chemotherapy agents used to treat cancer can, themselves, give rise to other cancers. So... yes."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why did Uber’s IPO fail so badly? | [
"In short, Uber has never shown a profit, and people (including money people) are well aware of that. Ad to that limp revenue growth, and Uber stock is less than appealing."
] | [
"If I can ask a follow-up: How did these companies respond to being targeted?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why aren't foreign radio channels region-locked like their tv counterparts? | [
"Just try to catch electromagnetic waves from crossing the border with a net. Technically with digital radio it could be possible, but overall it would be a huge, expensive hassle on both provider and consumer end (and likely easily bypassable anyway) just to block a 20-40km band along the border from listening to ... | [
"Essentially there are different licensing companies in different countries, it's the same reason you can't watch some shows on say Hulu or Netflix. It's also the same case with some videogames-- e.g you might not be able to play a PS3/4 game imported from America in the UK or EU. In some cases, companies will make... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
When birds fly together in large groups, how do they all know which direction to turn in unison? | [
"They don't. Birds' movement in large flocks is actually something talked about in a series of mathematical principles called Chaos Theory. The idea is that you can make things *appear* orderly even when they are in chaos (like having 20k birds all independently flying in a group.) Instead of one big piece of orga... | [
"I live near a long string of parks. Over decades I have watcher the behavior of Canadian geese in particular. Groups will do to the golf course or another pond on a regular schedule. They fly a direct route between these locations. They definitely know where they are going. I remember one terribly windy winter day... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Despite their similarities in size and population, why are Texas and California polar opposites in terms of economic prosperity? | [
"Clarifying question: What makes you think they're polar opposites in terms of economic prosperity? US News' ranking of the States' economies has California at #4 and Texas at #15. That's hardly polar opposites."
] | [
"Rural areas are a lot more homogenous in terms of religion, race, wealth, and culture."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What makes the Video Player applications different? What is the difference between VLC, QuickTimePlayer and others | [
"Different interface which gives you different looks/locations of buttons. Different tools (one may give you hotkeys to skip forward/back 1,5,10,30 seconds, slow down the speed, etc.) There are multiple formats for videos, one may not play all of them. Some are free, some aren't. Some have open source code (so you... | [
"Safari comes standard on Macs. IE comes standard on PCs. Choose Mozilla Firefox if you want customization Choose Chrome if you want speed IE and Safari should never be your default browsers."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer about Technology:"
} |
why do some electrical devices call themselves dust proof and what can dust do to non-dust proof devices? | [
"Dust proof usually means sealed and enough volume inside the case to release heat. Dust in non dust proof devices can jam up fans causing them to overheat or jam up any moving parts."
] | [
"The most common is detectors made with a small, tiny piece of radioactive compound and what is akin to a geiger counter. When you place smoke, mist or other debris in the path that deflects the small particles from reaching the detector correctly, it sets off an alarm. These are usually housed firmly inside the de... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What are the pros and cons of "semi-EU countries"? | [
"Norwegian economist here. We have free movement of workers and capital, but not on goods. Norway is not inside the single market. We have a hard border with Sweden and Finland, and EU implement tariffs on many of our products. Our solution is actually horrible, but companies have had many years to adapt, so they d... | [
"You might need to define what you mean by \"informal empire\"."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How do ticket sales work for sports playoffs with multiple games per round, when a game that is supposed to take place in two days may not happen? | [
"They are refundable. My stepdad gets season tickets every year and it includes playoffs tickets. So he gets a refund for any playoff games that don't happen."
] | [
"It won't? There are a few different weird things at play. MLB is planning to change the postseason for 2012. Five teams from each league would make the postseason, the three division winners and two wildcard teams. The two wildcard teams would play a one game play off. The winner would then be the 4th team in the... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why is it so difficult to suppress a cough? | [
"Because it’s your bodies way of clearing your air pipe, you kinda need that thing clear so you can breathe"
] | [
"Are you sure this is a real phenomenon? It was my understanding that people are simply trying to remove a distraction so they can pay better attention."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
What do people mean when they say a food isn’t a “complete” protein? I.e. quinoa | [
"ln order for a food to be a “complete” protein it has to have the 9 essential amino acids (lysine, leucine, etc.). Complete proteins are just types of proteins that contain the necessary levels. Quinoa would actually be considered a complete protein. You don’t have to necessarily eat meat to get complete proteins ... | [
"You eat too much refined grain and sugar. Eat more vegetables and lean meat and this won't happen."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
In tv shows and movies, why do really giant people/creatures always move so slow? | [
"I think it just appears as if they are moving slow, but are actually covering a lot of ground. We could use stride/steps as an example. Let's say that a stride is the distance between two planted feet after having stepped forward onto one foot while walking. Let's then assume that it would take six steps for a h... | [
"That doesn't really happen much in real life. That's mostly for dramatic effect in movies and TV shows. In real life, cars don't really surge forward and fall back that way."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
is it really ONLY calories in, calories out (caloric deficit/surplus) that determines weight gain/loss? Or hormones can overpower this? | [
"No amount of hormones can break the law of conservation of energy. If you are using more calories than you are eating you *will* lose weight. End of story. What hormones can do is mess with your appetite so you are abnormally hungry or it might slow down your metabolism. Or the opposite, as you mentioned."
] | [
"sure. to lose weight you have to be a caloric deficit. your friends are consuming less calories than they are expending, you are not. it's as simple as that. figure out your TDEE and then subtract 500 from that number. that's your daily caloric goal. you'll lose one pound per week at this rate. couple side factors... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
what exactly is being “improved” when we see games graphically improving with time? | [
"Generally speaking - increases in texture resolution, Instead of using a 100x100 pixel texture you use one thats 500x500 now your model is less blurry, has more detail - Increases in polygon count, more polygons allows more detailed features. go back to N64/PS1 and most characters didn't have distinct fingers due ... | [
"They don't, at least not to a non-reasonable amount. As the years go by, technology advances. Video game apps gets much better graphics, which takes more processing time. Newer phones are faster, so by comparison, the older phones are slower, even though they felt fast to begin with. Going from good to better is... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
how do tuning forks stay in tune, and can they ever go out of tune? | [
"Tuning forks are meant to be struck on a certain type of material which is like a hard rubber in the form of a small block or mallet. If you strike it on something else you risk deforming it and changing its pitch. that’s what I was told in choir."
] | [
"some people just can't sing on pitch because they can't tell that they're not singing on pitch. A 3 octave range isn't going to change that."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
How do cameras capture nuclear tests so vividly without succumbing to damage from the blast? | [
"The camera sits in a bunker and is aimed at a periscope type setup with mirrors to film the test. [Special high speed cameras](_URL_0_) use a fast moving mirror to capture incredibly high frame rate footage of the blasts."
] | [
"Early atomic bombs use a process called \"fission\", which splits atoms to release extremely large amounts of energy very quickly. Later, hydrogen bombs were developed using a similar process called \"fusion\", which instead combines atoms and releases even more energy. The physics involved are complicated, but th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
why do ancient battle result in so little casualties from losing side and they concede? | [
"Historically, armies would often break once they lost 5-10% of their fighting force. Nobody wanted to die and morale was fragile. All it took was the death of a leader or a perceived disadvantage and the entire army would disintegrate into a mob of fleeing men. Well-disciplined armies could withstand greater losse... | [
"Mainly, The germans early were prepared for war. Hell when It first kicked off the british didnt even expect anything to happen and treated it like a show of power for political prowess. So A well supplied motivated german force was more than a match to what opposed them. Also trench warfare heavily favored the de... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do songs with only instruments have song titles as if they had lyrics? | [
"A lot of it is the \"feel\" of a song. Music can evoke a lot of emotions without lyrics, in fact, most of the emotional impact from a song comes from the music. & #x200B; In fact, to that immediate song, Herbie wrote it while remembering a watermelon salesman that would roam his home streets of Chicago, and the b... | [
"There are things like: * Clever lyrics and humor * Rapping before or behind the beat * How smoothly the lyrics come out * The timbre of the guys voice * The quality of the beats and other instrumentation Rhythm is very important but there are simple melodies in the verses if you listen carefully."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why do some animals come out of the womb walking/swimming? | [
"They’re able to develop further in the womb. Humans brains growing (probably after discovering fire and being able to cook and eat meat) caused the head to grow as well which made child birth have to happen faster than it normally would. This is why human babies are so useless (aka can’t crawl or anything) for mo... | [
"We're the only primate to walk fully upright. Other primates walk with their arms as well as their legs. Plus other primates still live in jungles, forests, etc and spend time climbing."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Biology:",
"pos": "Represent the argument about Biology:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why does the skin on chapped and dry lips stick your lips together? (As in when you close your mouth) | [
"I always assumed that it was the saliva drying, acting as a kind of glue, but I may be wrong."
] | [
"Generally because you are sleeping with your mouth open which dries out the mucous membrane. If you don't believe me, try keeping your mouth wide open and breath in and out for an hour and tell me how your throat feels."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Could the world eventually become one race through the interbreeding of races over time? | [
"Yes. Technically we are already one race. The biological differences between what we refer to as \"races\" are so minor and negligible that there is no scientific basis for differentiating them. That's what people mean when they say that \"race\" is a cultural construct. But when it comes to those minor biological... | [
"From the standpoint of evolution, the more you can diversify DNA in reproduction, the better. The opposite of inbreds, so to speak."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why aren't condemned prisoners connected to an EEG machine during execution? | [
"The Excecutions are not performed by medical staff. Cause medical staff refuses to assist in such killings. I doubt a non-professional could properly work or read an EEG machine anyway."
] | [
"There's a lot of cost associated with all of the appeals before the prisoner can finally be put to death."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why do some emotions (sadness, heartbroken etc.) really cause chest pain? | [
"A brain region called the \"anterior cingulate cortex\" regulates emotional reactions. When you experience heightened stress, this part of the brain can increase the activity of the \"vagus nerve\". This is the longest nerve of the autonomic nervous sytem. It connects from the brain stem to the neck, chest, and ab... | [
"OP, do you actually feel like your heart is *literally* moving up or down? Because I've never felt anything like that. The times I've been terrified I felt my heart pounding like crazy, sure, and I've gotten stomachache sensations in moments of heartbreak - but that was the stomach, not the heart. The *heart itsel... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why do men get bald and women dont? | [
"ELI5: Baldness is caused by the male hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which females have in very small amounts"
] | [
"Hair gets brittle with age, short hair has fewer split ends. Curly hair covers up bald patches better than flat hair. They're mostly styling/coloring their hair anyway, may as well curl it. It's the fashion of their generation. Why do teens style their hair as they do? Because their friends are doing it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why is it that sometimes when you take caffeine that only your heart beats faster but your mind stays tired (or becomes even more tired)? | [
"I guess it’s only a temporary central nervous system stimulant and it can’t really replace lost sleep. It might temporarily give your body a boost but if you’ve only had two hours sleep then you’re probably gonna be tired no matter what. Plus, you’re probably gonna crash hard after the initial surge. It’s not a mi... | [
"It's a feeling of restlessness, usually in legs but you can get in your arms also, that is so strong you literally cannot keep those limbs still for more than a few seconds. So, you move said limbs. And it just starts over again, ad infinitum. I've tried so many times to over power it with my mind, but I've found ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Sleep and its effects on the body:",
"pos": "Represent the comment about Sleep and its effects on the body:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
What is the glymphatic system, and how does it work? | [
"Uses specialized fluid and neural paths in order to clear waste from brain; it's the brain's sanitation department. Wiki glymphatic system for further explanation."
] | [
"Sleep is for your brain; it's not needed for the rest of your body and has nothing to do with physical energy When you sleep, you brain clears itself out harmful toxins. The flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain increases dramatically, washing away harmful waste proteins that build up between brain cells during... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence about Health and Wellness:"
} |
What's the digital process of lowering the quality of a photo or video? Also is the opposite process a thing or just movie things? | [
"Lossy compression. The opposite is largely just a movie thing. Only in the last few years has machine learning-based image interpolation become a practical thing, but it's just *interpolation*, basically an educated guess. It's reasonably good at sharpening some contours on upscaled images or guessing a generic re... | [
"Because they were recorded on film, and film doesn't have a \"resolution\" like digital video is, so they can scan the film into whatever digital resolution they wish. Before the days of digital cameras, you could take your film negatives into a photo developing place and have them do prints at about any size with... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are the majority of space rockets made in white instead of other colors? | [
"I'm not sure for rockets, but I know planes are white mostly for two reasons : white paint is cheaper and it's easier to spot technical defects on a white surface."
] | [
"Both are popular colors that are are easily distinguished and have a good range of shades that are visible without being garish. A lot may have to do with the fact that they are on opposite ends of the visible spectrum."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
how does acute radiation poisoning induce vomiting, nausea within just tens of minutes of exposure, and in more serious cases, instant loss of consciousnesses? | [
"Radiation is especially damaging to soft tissues - skin, blood and blood vessels, GI tract, brain and nerves. If you get a full body dose, the GI tract (stomach and intestines) are damaged and thats where the vomiting and nausea come from Platelets are damaged and wounds and burns hemorrhage without an ability to ... | [
"Because having a high body temperature also has very negative effects on our body. For example, it causes the enzymes which help break down food in our intestines to denature and stop working. Another example would be that in young children a prolonged fever over 103F can cause brain damage and lead to deafness an... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why are the storage options for devices like phones or laptops multiples of 16GB? | [
"computers are based on a binary system so it goes up in powers of 2. The math starts at two not sixteen but its: 2^1=2 2^2=4 2^3=8 2^4=16 2^5=32 so on and so forth right up to 1024 when we move to 1 Terrabyte."
] | [
"For advertising purposes, a gigabyte is 1,000,000,000 bytes, which is a power of ten. However, your computer likes to work in powers of two, and so to it, a gigabyte is actually 1,073,741,824 bytes. The drive still has 4 billion bytes of storage on it, but as far as your computer is concerned, that's actually 3.73... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
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