query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1 value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
How does a battery continue to support the exact same functionality as the charge decreases over time? As in with a phone battery, how does the screen not get slowly dimmer, sounds from the speakers quieter? | [
"Imagine a tank full of water, and you're draining the water from it. As the water level drops, so does the pressure, causing the flow of water to become slower. So what you can do to remedy this is to squeeze the tank to maintain a steady flow of water, to compensate for the loss of pressure. All modern electronic... | [
"The worst is that they are defective, either catching on fire, or sending way too much voltage into your device causing damage. More often, the voltage may be a bit off, causing your touch screen to misbehave while plugged in. Good ones work fine."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How do these computers work at a library where you put stacks of items on a shelf and it automatically checks them in or out without scanning barcodes? | [
"RFID. The books have a thick sticker, probably in the back cover, with an antenna programmed to that book. The shelf reads those tags. Source: worked in library that made the transition to those tags. Tagged several thousand books."
] | [
"The library buys a license to loan the book to one patron at a time. As with paper books, you have to return it so someone else can check it out. Instead of having you physically return the book, it expires so you can't open it again."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why do some bands re-record songs for music videos when they already have a album version? | [
"Very often they’re actually remixes or edits. One major factor is time. On the album versions they tend to be longer, because nobody minds. There are different edits and mixes, for radio and ones for video. While less of a factor today due to much better electronics, another problem was speakers. When watching a ... | [
"It's usually a cover they can't afford the rights to, or something that doesn't fit in well with the rest of the album. The same is usually true for unlisted tracks."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
How can fizzy drinks go flat if shaken before opening despite having probably been shipped in from overseas and/or jostled around in the back of a truck for days?? | [
"Shaking doesn't make go flat unless you open them in the shaken state. It you let them sit, all the bubbles of pressurized gas consolidate into the top of the can, and the pressure forces a larger amount of CO2 into solution with the liquid (making it \"not flat\")."
] | [
"The bags ate filled with nitrogen to keep the chips fresh and to cushion them from being smashed in transit to the store."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How do those top down, 360° car cameras work? | [
"My wife's car has a camera in the front bumper, camera under each mirror, and a rear camera. It basically takes the image from all 4 cameras and puts them together to simulate top down view. I assume it's similar with all cars with this feature"
] | [
"You might be surprised at how much little stuff is digital these days. You only spot the obvious or semi-obvious stuff. Search YouTube for behind the scenes green screen shots and you may be amazed at how much even modest budget and boring shows like a procedural use CGI for things like locations."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
if vehicles have the ability to go from 2WD to 4WD/AWD, why aren’t there cars that let you change from RWD to FWD? | [
"There are, so there's that. It's just not practical in pretty much any application so it's very rarely done. There's almost never a need for it except in very specific off road conditions."
] | [
"Generally, they're similar, as you could guess, but AWD is all-wheel, all the time. 4WD is typically \"changeable\" between 2WD and 4WD, and needs the driver to make the change when the vehicle is at a stop. The driver would usually use a lever to engage the other 2 wheels."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do full frame DSLRs deliver optimal performance at ISO 100 while many digital cinema cameras with smaller recording areas perform best at 800? | [
"ISO is roughly equivalent to digital gain, so lower ISO means lower noise, as the signal is less amplified, and so is the noise which comes from the scene because counting photons is a noisy process following a poisson distribution... It's possible though that the thermal noise might keep roughly constant or very ... | [
"4k describes the number of pixels the camera is capturing but there are other factors like color depth that describe how many shades of color the camera is capturing. The Hero 7 can record a bitrate of up to 78 Mb/s. Prosumer cameras can record up to 400 Mb/s. So the GoPro is sacrificing color and quality of the ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
What happens to the POTUS and other high value passengers in the event that Air Force One can no longer maintain flight? | [
"They land successfully or they all die. [There's no escape pod or parachutes like in the movies.](_URL_0_)"
] | [
"It seems crazy, but literally all of the commercial air traffic in the sky is being monitored. If an unmarked plane showed up in US airspace it would be blown out of the sky long before it got anywhere near a major city."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does the Hubble telescope, moving 8 km/s around the Earth, take clear and well exposed pictures of interstellar formations light years away? | [
"When you're driving down the highway, the bushes right on the side of the highway appear to be zooming by at incredible speed, while the mountains in the distance dont seem to be moving at all. This is an effect called parallax. Now imagine how incredibly little the interstellar formations would seem to be moving ... | [
"A galaxy emits its own light. A star is a hugely bright object that continuously sprays photons - light particles - in all directions. And a galaxy has billions of them. Take a picture of a far away galaxy and even if only the occasional photon per star hits your detector, you can register it optically. A planet i... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage about astronomy:"
} |
How does the gravel under train tracks stay level so the train doesn't make it slide? | [
"More than anything, the tracks themselves are made using strict guidelines. This helps to keep the weight distributed well across all the wood at the bottom and in turn the gravel/dirt underneath it. The gravel also does a very good job of holding the dirt underneath in its place keeping it from moving around."
] | [
"Not all are. A great deal are, but there are some areas where it's dirt, and other where it's cement. But it's because stone offer the most support. Dirt can get washed away as mud after a torrential downpour, stones don't do that as often. You even still see trains have trouble with areas that have a lot of dirt ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
How do we know what dinosaurs sounded like? | [
"We don't actually know what dinosaurs looked or sounded like. Basically every image or video of dinosaurs we have, besides skeletons, are an artist's best guess."
] | [
"Because it's the closest we can get to smell a dinosaur. Imagine how good they smelled millions of years ago when they were alive."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What makes parts of our body, such as the hand, feel temporarily paralyzed after hitting it against something? | [
"Signal overload to the brain; it temporarily can’t send signals back to the muscles. Essentially the same as loss of circulation causing a body part to “fall asleep”"
] | [
"Because of the way toilet seats are designed (a large ring with a huge hole in the middle), a large amount of your weight is focused on the back of your upper thighs. All that extra weight where it isn't intended puts extraordinary pressure on nerves and blood vessels that supply your legs, causing them to go numb... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How is a knot in your back formed, and why does massaging get rid of it? | [
"The typical cause for a “knot” is a build up of lactic acid (muscle exhaust fumes) in the muscle. If the lactic acid does not leave the muscle through some sort of stretching, manipulation, hydration, etc. the muscles start to pretty much stick together. This causes the muscles to be sore and form what feels like ... | [
"It's actually called paresthesia, it's when blood has been restricted and flows back through your veins when the block has been removed. I've had a difficult time trying to find out \"why\" you get pins and needles, but now that you know what it is you can see that it's mostly preventable. You can get the feeling ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why does spit/saliva work well as lube whereas water does not? | [
"Spit contains tons of little protein chains! It's just like egg white, ejaculate, or mucus (well, it is mucus, watered down). It's why the egg white or the snot can stretch so far before the strands snap. So, those chains have a sort of tensile strength, but they're slippery against one another, and that allows th... | [
"tl:dr You rub it on your chest. It does nothing. It's often a mix of alcohol, oil and something like peppermint or eucalyptus that helps with congestion. So the vapors it \"leaks\" helps with congestion but it has nothing to do with rubbing stuff on your chest. You could as well put some in your mustache and it's... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why is the sky pink in the east during sunset occasionally? | [
"That's called [the \"venus belt\"](_URL_0_) and what you're seeing is the redder light from the sunset lighting up the atmosphere."
] | [
"Why is election on weekdays instead of weekends?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are we able to feel when somebody is watching us sometimes? | [
"You aren’t able to. It is just a confirmation bias from the couple of times you were right about it."
] | [
"Mirror neurons? The same reason happy movies make us happy, and the same reason we are more likely to yawn when we see others yawn, or feel sad when we see others cry. We empathize with the characters in horror movies."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why do egg's come oval shaped, and not fully round? | [
"A oval egg will roll in a circle so it will not move far but a round egg can roll away. So there is a higher chase that a round egg roll away and hit something and get damages or just lost. So animals with rounder eggs will have more offspring sop the result of the evolution is that eggs are oval. Multiple oval e... | [
"I'm going to make a somewhat educated guess here. It's probably because they all grow outwards at the same rate. If a fruit were cube shaped, it wouldn't have made sense for the corners to grow more/faster than the faces. Also, bananas."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why is sunburned skin hot to the touch? | [
"The warmth of a sunburn generally stems from increased blood flow to the exposed site. I am unaware of any temperature measurements of sunburned skin, but I suspect that even though the burned skin seems much warmer, it would still be close to 98.6 degrees. Any slight elevation in temperature would be a result of ... | [
"If it's hot enough to burn other parts of the body, it'll burn your mouth, too. In fact it'll probably burn your mouth easier than other parts of the body."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do devices like weight scales and body fat measuring machines figure out the percentage of things like muscle, fat and water in your body? | [
"The scale detects water by putting a voltage across your feet. Because stuff dissolved in water conducts electricity, the more water you have, the more current makes it through. Fat requires the scale to know your height. The scale just compares your actual weight to the weight of a person as tall as you, but with... | [
"Talking about someone's overall weight isn't a good way to measure how healthy they are, or how much fat they're storing, because muscle mass, height, and genetics play a component in how much you're going to weigh. Body fat measurements are important to understanding how overweight someone is because someone who ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How can nuclear fusion produce more energy than nuclear fission? | [
"It depends which side of iron you're on Elements heavier than iron give off energy when they split, the heavier atoms like plutonium tend to give off more energy per splitting than lighter ones like Radon. Elements lighter than iron give off energy when they fuse but need energy to split them apart. Heavier forms ... | [
"Nuclear energy comes from the FISSION (or separating) of atoms of some element. (FUSION or putting the atoms back together also creates energy but we cant yet control it in such a way to generate net positive energy). When you split an atom, the energy that was binding the subatomic particles is released. Typicall... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do CO2 levels keep rising? | [
"Because we keep burning oil and coal. Oil, coal, and other fossil fuels are converted plant matter, which we burn to power our cars, our homes, our barbeques, and convert into plastics that we use for everything in life. The burning of fossil fuels and refining into plastics creates carbon dioxide, among other com... | [
"No, not every weather event will be considered to be caused by climate change. Weather events far above or far below the average will be considered to be caused by climate change. ***What proof is there?*** Ice caps are used to find out CO2 concentrations thousands of years in the past. CO2 is known to cause a gre... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument about Climate science:"
} |
Why can you still feel it after you manage to swallow something that was stuck in your throat? | [
"You’re not too far off! While I was a lifeguard I learned that. When something is caught in your throat it is pushing against the sides. As you attempt to force air in or out of your lungs to remove the object it causes a slight build in pressure further expanding your throat. (this is why whenever somone performs... | [
"It gives you the chance to hold something and breath without swallowing. Imagine if the substance was blood, poison, or saltwater: would you really want to swallow? By the same token, say your mouth is full of water and you try to breathe through your nose; do you want that water going into your lungs? It's all to... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why isn't there a bigger engine with more cylinders than a V12? Is it possible to build a V14 and so on? | [
"Just because you've never heard of it doesn't mean it doesn't exist"
] | [
"Inline engines are easier and cheaper to produce than V engines. But, larger inline engines such as 6's and 8' are too relatively large, so manufacturers opt for a V engine to save space. An inline 4 can easily fit in most automobile engine compartments, so they opt for the cheaper to produce inline 4 over a more ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
How can I access and stay connected to WiFi while inside an airplane thousands of feet in the sky? | [
"A satellite beams Internet to the plane which has routers and access points. It also acts as a mid-point for whatever information you send to the Internet. Ground based antennas work too, if they're available."
] | [
"I've been taught that the real actual reason is the period of time during takeoff and landing while the plane is below 10,000ft is the time when an accident is most likely to take place. Basically, they want you paying attention to what is happening rather than dicking around on your phone. Source: Studied aviatio... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment about Technology:"
} |
What is stoicism and what is the difference between ancient stoicism and modern stoicism? | [
"A stoic would suppress feelings, to the point of not overtly reacting to very difficult situations. I’m guessing an old school stoic just sets plans for the next adventure, a modern stoic finds the next brewery with better happy hour prices"
] | [
"Analytic philosophy focuses on science and logic, considering things like the philosophy of maths. Continental philosophy focuses on social and psychological philosophy, such as the meaning of life, existentialism, Marxism, etc. The former is most dominant in English-speaking countries, whereas the latter is more ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
IUDs... I understand what they’re used for, that there are two kinds, but I want to know how/why they work. What is the mechanism behind them and how do they act as a contraceptive? | [
"**Hormonal IUD:** These work by messing with your hormones just enough so that your ovaries don't release eggs when it's time to ovulate. Depending on IUD, it may not prevent the ovaries from ovulating. Another way, then, is that the hormonal IUD thickens the mucus in your uterus, thereby slowing down sperm. It's ... | [
"There are different type of oral contraceptive, but in general they are composed of hormones that inhibit ovulation and fertilization. The simplest possible view is: they tell your body to not produce an egg when it normally would. Without an egg, there is nothing for sperm to fertilize, hence no pregnancy. But if... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why are some places called "new < another place > " after other places? | [
"Historical context, some examples below.... Basically the name could be in honor of someone or something, or merely derived from specific events in history. & #x200B; & #x200B; Or the place may be named New \"Place\" due to historical context. Example below for New Orleans: \" Founded in 1718 and named for the... | [
"yup. most are tiny towns of few hundred people. but some are big ones that several neighborhoods decided to reorganize and make a new town. _URL_0_"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
The situations currently occurring in Sudan and Hong Kong | [
"Sudan: military stages coup to oust dictator who had been in power for 30+ years. Military said they want democracy, but the people felt like it was a lie and it was just a shift of power instead of introducing democracy. Huge protests since then, military isn't liking people questioning it's authority, resorted t... | [
"Relatively large populations of Muslims and Jews on top of a historical legacy of anti Semitism in France."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why do some mice put their babys in the running wheel, let them loose and then start running? | [
"I would assume it’s because they want their young nearby and in sight but have no concept that the ground around them will shift as they run Or maybe they just want the baby to learn healthy exercise habits early"
] | [
"It may be to protect them. They can get out of eachother's way if one can roll over the top of the other. Not to much if they're hanging side by side."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What would happen if all of the debt in the world was somehow permanently deleted? | [
"It does initially sound wonderful. Until you realize that there are a lot of people in debt to you. For example the money that is in your bank account would be gone as this is money that your bank owes you. Similarly any pension fund or college fund would be wiped out. You paycheck would also be gone as this is mo... | [
"That is like asking how do you operate as a person if you have a mortgage? You can operate if you are in debt. Banks from all over the world have lent the US money. Should we ever default the world wide economic system will be fucked beyond belief."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Is all land in world owned by someone? | [
"Not all land is owned by someone, but it's mostly deserts and disputed areas that nobody wants to own, or have been designated as Terra Nullius. However, all land within a country is either owned by a private person or the government. There is no area f.i in the US you can simply plop down a house and say \"Nobody... | [
"In which countries is it even done this way, except the US?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
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"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do passengers on an aircraft have to recline thier seats, pull the windows and stow away thier trays when taxiing, taking off and landing? | [
"If something's going to go wrong on a flight, it's more likely to be during takeoff or landing. The intention is to have your seat upright and tray table stowed for better protection of impact, and to leave more room so you can quickly exit your row. The window shades are supposed to be open so first responders ca... | [
"I've been told by a friend that is a pilot that the reason for the power down during take off and landing is that those are the most dangerous times when on an aircraft. Therefore, they are hoping that people won't be distracted by their electronics, or god-forbid, create numerous hard plastic and metal projectile... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
If water makes things slippery, why does licking my fingers make it easier to open plastic bags? | [
"Licking your fingers is taking away the natural oils present there, so there is a less slippery surface to grab the plastic bag with"
] | [
"If you lick your fingers or get them wet before touching the gum, it doesn't stick as much. It doesn't stick to the inside of your mouth because of the layer of saliva preventing it from coming in to direct contact with the surfaces."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Do insects have the same sort of internal organs as us? | [
"No, they do not. They have analogous systems, but they can vary wildly in function. For example, the respiratory system of most insects is trachea, not lungs; they do not have a pump that hauls air to and fro, they absorb oxygen by diffusion. Only vertebrates have truly the same organs as us, because they evolved ... | [
"They have nerves and pain receptors. They're living tissue just like the rest of you."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How and why does music sound good? | [
"Short answer: Because you have been programmed with expectations that you enjoy being either fulfilled or subverted. Long answer: the only universal element in music is the perfect fifth, which is a ratio of frequencies of 3:2. Different cultures have developed different systems of tuning and organization of tones... | [
"What's to explain? Why we have it? How it works?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the passage about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why do glasses of water with differing volumes emit different pitches when tapped with a spoon? | [
"The differing amount of water in each glass causes the glass to vibrate at different speeds when hit. Sounds are just vibrations, so different speed vibrations make different sounds"
] | [
"Sound is air vibrating. The air vibrates because it's being bumped into by a surface that's vibrating. Those surfaces have different characteristic amplitude and frequencies due to their materials, construction and size. So a large, flappy piece of paper is going to make very different vibrations than a big brick,... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Cats usually clean/groom their fur right after eating. How is it that they don't end up sticky and smelly from the food they just eat? | [
"Well sticky residue usually is the result of sugar, which there is none of in cat food. And cat breath usually isn’t that bad due to low levels of bacteria in their mouth, so there’s not a lot of smell."
] | [
"It's a counter-intuitive reason - it's *because* they lick themselves all day. Cats have very abrasive tongues covered with small spines pointing back toward the throat, which serve as a mini-comb when licking upwards (which you may notice your cat always does when licking itself.) Your average indoor cat won't h... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is the concept of the pecking duck in Chinese cuisine? How did they used to blow into it, before the advent of electric pump or just a pump in general? | [
"With a pump. Pumps have existed for ages before electricity. Leather Baffles or even just using your lungs"
] | [
"The biggest thing is that your home kitchen sucks. A commercial pizza oven will be running at 7-800 degrees while most home ovens top out at 550F. The wok burner in a Chinese restaurant is rated something like 100k BTU of heat while your home range puts out 5-10k. Fried chicken restaurants have specialized chicken... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do seatbelts sometimes lock and get really tight to the point where you cannot move forward | [
"The whole point of a seatbelt is so that you can move around enough while its in place but the event of a crash it locks you in place so you don't jolt forward and get injured more than you normal would"
] | [
"Safety. If a kiddo gets in the seat and rolls the window up, it could pinch some fingers pretty good if it went up automatically with one touch."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
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Why do toothpastes advertise being fluoride free (therefore better) when dentists prescribe fluoride toothpaste for teeth sensitivity? | [
"Fluoride is considered good for your teeth. Young children (say before 7 years old) that INGEST too much fluoride could develop a condition called fluorosis. In most cases mild fluorosis appears as discoloration on the teeth. There are many factors affecting a person's susceptibility to this. And once your adult... | [
"If you're using \"normal\" mouthwash, there's no reason. But if you're using mouthwash containing fluorine, eating or drinking too soon may remove the fluorine before it does anything useful. P.S. you should be using mouthwash with fluorine."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Gold as currency historically | [
"It is a combination of a few reasons. One of them is scarcity. Gold is a rare metal in Earth when compared to other metals such as iron and tin. Another reason is that chemicals speaking it is incredibly stable. Gold does not corrode when left exposed too air. That makes it great for coinage and jewellery especial... | [
"during recession - currency during extreme meltdown of society - precious metals"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
We figure out the chemical compositions of stars by looking at their wavelengths, but wouldn't this be influenced by red shift? | [
"Yes, absolutely! But the spectra of the elements within stars aren't just single peaks, they are a series of peaks at very specific wavelengths and spacing. If the star's spectra is shifted (as they usually are) the characteristic pattern can still be detected and the amount of shift then used to calculate the rel... | [
"All fire is just light coming from excited plasma molecules. Different color fire is at different wavelengths, energy, and temperature. It may be the result of burning off different things in the plasma or other controls. Fire is fire and there's nothing particularly special about the different kinds. The differen... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
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} |
Other than ownership, what are the differences between an apartment and a condo? | [
"Ownership is really the only real difference. That said, in a condo building, there’s usually some kind of owners’ association where the residents as a whole are members and pay dues and the association has the responsibility of taking care of the outside of the building and sometimes minor internal repairs."
] | [
"There's a level of subjectivity in that statement. But there are definitely a lot of downsides: - you only get a certain number of days / times of the year where you get to use the property, or it may be first come first serve depending on your contract. - you may have a degree of legal ownership, may be required ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Lighting strikes a body of water, like a lake or a swimming pool. Does everything in the water die instantly? Chances of survival? What's the size/diameter of the kill zone? Does the energy disperse in the water the further it gets from the strike point? | [
"I don't know if organisms in the water die instantly or whether they survive but this post is pretty similar [_URL_1_](_URL_0_)"
] | [
"This is a good one. I know that if you were to capture a landscape on film during a thunderstorm and in superslowmotion you'd be able to see tentacles of lightning coming out of the ground prior to the impact of the lightning. For all I know that could cause a static field. Im unsure about the ring if it's possibl... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
why computer networking cables (ie cat5e) need four pairs of wires when the dsl that feeds my home only uses a single pair? | [
"Your DSL is relatively slow, most DSL tops out at 10s of Mbps 100 Mbps ethernet uses two pairs of wires (one pair for talking, the other for receiving), while 1000 Mbps ethernet uses all four pairs (two talking and two receiving). Four twisted pairs in CAT5e supports up to 5 Gbps, about 50x more than the two wires... | [
"Ethernet is just the particular type of port and network protocol which is used in wired ports to your computer. You probably know what it looks like: a larger, wider telephone connector. This is generally only used in local networks, and once it leaves the building changes to cable or fiber of some sort. The Inte... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does the tilt-up and tilt-down dimming feature in a car's rearview mirror work? | [
"The way it works is that the mirror and the front glass are arranged at an angle to one another. \\| If you imagine the above represents the mirror side on, with the glass at an angle, and the mirror itself flat. This is the mode you'd be in driving normally. At night if you've got someone behind you dazzling... | [
"There is a sensor on the windshield, usually translucide so you don't see the wires. This sensor act like a phone touch screen, it changes capacitance when water is rolling down on the windshield. this changes inform the onboard computer and automatically engage the wipers. Some also provide how much water there i... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
How and why does the time of the day affect our emotions? | [
"At night, you're tired and ready to call it a day. You let your guard down which opens you up to those kinds of thoughts and feelings. You aren't required to be alert in bed like you are during the day at work or school."
] | [
"So what is it about human physiology that makes this work differently for us?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Does squinting actually help us see better or is it another brain trick? | [
"it does help. a smaller aperture on your eyes results in less light, but also in a sharper image as it reduces \"spherical abberations\". you don't need to squint, you can also make a small home with your fingers."
] | [
"Wearing glasses with the wrong prescription or wearing glasses when you don't need them does NOT in any way damage your eyes or make your eyesight worse. At most you'll get a headache. This is just one of many medical myths that won't go away."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do toilets keep a consistent water level? | [
"The bottom of the toilet is shaped like a “U”, so fills with water. If any more water is added, it overflows over the back into the drain."
] | [
"Your pee stream is getting air into the toilet water. Have you seen the bottom of a waterfall?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment about Science:"
} |
How does hand sanitizer kill bacteria cells but not our own skin cells? | [
"The epidermis layer of the skin is made of dead skin cells. So the sanitizer cannot kill what is already dead. It does not penetrate further down into live cells."
] | [
"It isn't. It is commonly believed that washing your hands with warm water will \"kill\" the bacteria on your hands. This is false. You would have to wash your hands with almost boiling water in order to reduce the bacteria on your skin. It's the anti-bacteria soap that will \"kill\" bacteria. EDIT: I should clarif... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is it that our internal temperature is 98.6 degrees, but if we touch something that is around that temperature we burn? | [
"I beleive you may be getting farenheit and celcius confused. A hot tub, for example, is around 105 degrees farenheit. While on the other hand 100 degrees celcius is boiling tempurature for water, which our body is mostly made up of, so it would burn you."
] | [
"Because your lungs are quite moist, as you breathe the cold air in it works like wind-chill, rapidly cooling the surfaces inside your lungs (and your lungs have a LOT of surface area). Your lungs, like most of your body, have nerve endings which detect this and send a pain signal to your brain Remember that cold a... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
How does a bootstrap paradox work? | [
"Suppose you travel back in time with the knowledge of some invention which exists in your time (transparent aluminum, perhaps). You visit the inventor of that technology and tell them what you know. They go on to \"invent\" it just as history told you they did. But you now realise that the inventor only ever knew ... | [
"Is there a revealed hash I don't know about to maintain integrity?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
how does the brain suppress the sound sleeping people make themselves. | [
"Because they are used to it. If you sleep with someone else who has a snoring problem, you will eventually get used to it because you hear it every night. Talking from experience"
] | [
"Dopaminergic mesolimbic pathway activation signaling _URL_0_ Or... You drink, feel pleasure, and brain signals salivation and desire for food, sex, sleep (primary functions). Your brain stem is tied in to this vagus nerve that controls feeling full or hungry. Im a lay person on this."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does food lose its taste when you're crying? | [
"Crying plugs up your sinuses so you can't really smell anything. Smell is a very large component to taste."
] | [
"Pour a bunch of sugar on a piece of paper. Put the sugar and paper in your mouth and chew it. Once you don't taste any more sugar, spit the paper out. Do you think you just consumed some calories even though you didn't eat any paper? The answer is yes. Same concept applies to gum."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
City skies appear fuzzy because of air pollution, but why do some rural skies appear black with stars while others appear bright blue during nighttime? | [
"Fine water droplets (thin clouds, mist or haze) also scatter and reflect light and can form in both rural and urban areas. Depending on altitude and local conditions they can scatter distant city lights or moonlight. A lot will depend on local topography, temperature and winds."
] | [
"For the most part, they do appear the same. Painters have a hard time differentiating between the two. We sense a difference because of other senses, like smell, temperature, etc. On the other hand, sunset/rise is colored because of particulates in the air. The light reflects off of the bits of dust and pollution,... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
How does inflation work? And how do business know when to adjust their prices to that? I guess banks don't shout out:"We just printed another 1b$ that will be in circulation soon, so make sure to increase your prices accordingly"? | [
"Businesses \"know\" to adjust their prices when their suppliers start charging them more, their employees start getting offers for more money from other companies, and they believe their customers will tolerate price increases without abandoning their products. These are all things that might be local to that busi... | [
"if there's inflation, the prices for things go up with time. This means whatever you want, you know it will be more expensive later, so you should buy now and get the cheaper price. if everyone does this, it means lots of buying, which means lots of selling -- the economy goes well. Think of the opposite, deflatio... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why there are only spherical planets and we don't see other shapes across space | [
"Because of gravity, which is what pulls mass together. Because gravity is roughly equal on all sides, said mass is smoothed into a sphere, making it the natural shape to get the most mass as close as possible to the center of its being."
] | [
"By definition a 'solar system' is a group of planets orbiting a star, you cannot have a solar system without a star in the middle. There may be planets orbiting planets in a solar system like scenario (I mean, theoretically why not?) but we would not be able to see it We can only see planets orbiting other stars w... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about astronomy:",
"pos": "Represent the document about astronomy:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is a bone marrow transplant? | [
"Not quite. Before the recipient gets the new marrow, their defective marrow is destroyed using radiation or chemotherapy. It used to be that some of the donor's bone marrow is extracted from the pelvis using a large needle, but now the more common method is something a called peripheral stem cell transplant, which... | [
"The recipient pays all costs for the donor in the US. One or two blood tests (pre-) and a doctor's visit (post) may not be covered by the recipient, depending on the exact methodology used by the specific transplant center. Source: Related to a donor and a recipient. The donor [or insurance] paid all costs except ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why are there no guns with more effective explosives than gunpowder? | [
"I think you are seriously mistaken. Firearms haven't used gunpowder since [cordite](_URL_0_) AKA smokeless powder was invented in the late 19th century. The only guns you'll find today that use actual black powder are antique and replica muzzle-loading rifles."
] | [
"A lot of differences between weapons are in areas that don't feature so much in games. For example the cost, the weight, the distribution of the weight, whether or not the ammo is the same as for other weapons, the weight of the ammo, how easy it is to take apart and clean, how often it requires cleaning, etc. Eve... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Horseshoes. What do they do? How do they work? What happens/happened to horses feet without them? | [
"Horse hooves are large pieces of keratin, same as your nails. Keratin is moderately tough and horses adapted it to suit the arid-steppe climate, but not suitable for hard, rocky or wet surfaces or continuous running like we used them for. Horseshoes are pieces of metal or some other hard material which is nailed i... | [
"So when and where did playing cards as we know them come into being anyways?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How can one small sound become super loud when more people make the same sound? | [
"Sounds are waves if you superimpose one waveform on top of another the amplitude of the wave increases as you add the two waves together. Increases in amplitude are an increase in the loudness of the noise."
] | [
"Because when you speak you hear yourself + your skull vibrating to the sound of your voice. So this causes you to hear a deeper voice than when you listen to the recording."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage about Language and Communication:"
} |
What happens when a cetacean, like a whale or dolphin, accidentally inhales water? | [
"If they inhale water they drown like any other mammal. But they have adaptations to avoid breathing in water in the first place. Their blowholes can be voluntarily controlled, so they close them underwater and only open them to breathe. They also breathe out strongly to expel water away from the blowhole before br... | [
"There are three main causes of death for beached mammals like whales and dolphins. 1. Collapsing under their own weight. This applies to very large species such as sperm whales, whose skeletons are not made to support their own weight. When floating in the water this is fine, but on land their bodies are so heavy ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Marine biology:"
} |
What is the difference in brain chemestry between being drunk and being high? | [
"Drunk and high are not scientific terms. Two categories that drugs can be classified as are stimulants and depressants. Stimulants increase nerve activity and depressants decrease nerve activity. Ethanol is a brain depressant, it activates receptors for the neurotransmitter GABA which inhibits brain activity. TH... | [
"If you drink coffee every day to wake yourself up in the morning, you will eventually become addicted. How would this contribute to you becoming addicted to alcohol, tobacco or methamphetamines? They're completely different drugs with different effects, different feelings and, most importantly, different chemistry... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why/How does the human body produce tears when seeing something that makes you sad (also happy)? | [
"The emotional centers of the brains have a connection to the superior salivatory nucleus, which is the area of the brainstem responsible for tear production. This nucleus outflows as cranial nerve 7 and triggers the lacrimal gland in your eyes to produce tears."
] | [
"It means they have an emotional reaction to it. Like, watching a sad video and it, the video, affects them. It'd be like saying they were moved emotionally in some way."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Is every individual sperm a potentially different child with different attributes? | [
"Yes Each cell in your body has 2 copies of 23 chromosomes, 23 from mom and 23 from dad. Sperm has a single set of 23 chromosomes, each one randomly picked from mom or dad. In addition, chromosome from mom and dad also exhange information. So even if you get a chromosom from your mom, it might have some Dad's gene... | [
"It's in every single cell in your body. It can not be changed, as every cell would have to be changed. Donated organs and blood have a different DNA but are accepted in your body. They can't change what \"your DNA\" is though. DNA can be altered in single cells through chemicals or radiation. This means we can mod... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Biology:"
} |
How is it that your nose can produce an almost endless amount of snot when you are sick, even after you blow your nose dry? | [
"We've got pretty big sinus cavities inside our cheeks and foreheads. It can seem like your blowing your nose *forever* when you're sick, but we underestimate the amount of snot our noggins can store. Plus, if you're fighting an infection, your body's gonna keep producing more mucous to try and flush it out."
] | [
"Could you imagine only having one nostril? What would happen when it clogs 30% of the day and you don't have the other to fall back on? What about when you have the sickness? Would you be down with it?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Health and Wellness:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Health and Wellness:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does dark colors tend to be much hotter in the sun compared to lighter ones? | [
"Dark colors absorb light and therefore heat with the sun while light colors reflect them and don't get as hot."
] | [
"To understand that, you need to know that there is more than temperature of an item that determines how hot/cold it feels. It is mostly about how quickly heat enters or leaves your body, which is dependent on a property called thermal conduction. Something very conductive, like metal or stone, will feel much colde... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence about Technology:"
} |
why fast food advertisements don’t need disclaimers saying the food you get won’t look anything like the food in the advertisement. | [
"There's is a law in the US requiring that the food being pictured is the actual food being served. But... I was on set for a cereal photo shoot once and saw a team of people shifting through dozens of boxes of the product looking for The. Perfect. Corn flakes. One by one they picked up each corn flake with tweeze... | [
"It depends on the essay. Usually a thesis follows the order of: claim, because, therefore. Claim: This is the argument you're trying to make. Like, \"Pizza is the healthiest food on the planet,...\" Because: Here you would list all the supporting information you'll talk about in the body paragraphs: \"...because y... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How do riots and protesting achieve anything? | [
"Well, the riots did function. They got the law makers to change their minds on the implementation of the proposed law. The trick is that law makers need the people to support them. In democracies, that's \"If all of these protesting and rioting people vote for my opposition, I'm screwed. I had better present pol... | [
"What do you mean? Do you want to know why we have these crises, how they affect us, what's actually happening, or what?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why does the brain forget things? What decides what gets forgotten and what doesn’t? | [
"From what I remember from psychology class your brain has a few different storage types, 2 of them being short term and long term. Everything gets stored in short term memory but its capacity is not infinite, and if you want something stored in long term there is more effort required by the brain. That's why traum... | [
"Your brain takes a little bit of time to turn experiences into memories. When you fall asleep, your brain stops doing that. Thus, all of the experiences that were currently being processed into memories are lost. The same reason you sometimes can't remember falling unconscious or fainting."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph about Sleep and boredom:"
} |
An article today said using your phone battery below 20% and charging it routinely above 80% reduces battery life...what causes this and is it the same process at both ends of the range? | [
"ELI5: Discharging a battery too deeply causes its structure too break down, increasing the potential for a short circuit. Overcharging has a similar effect, but can also result in the battery catching on fire. Discharging from 80-20 slows the breakdown. Full Answer: When discharged below its safe low voltage (exa... | [
"Lithium ion batteries don't need to be fully discharged, that's something carried over from old battery tech, nickel* batteries as you say. You can let your battery discharge, they work off of charge cycles. Don't let the battery completely die, this is bad. However charge your battery whenever you want. There are... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How do activity trackers know when I'm asleep? How they deduce REM sleep, deep sleep etc? | [
"They detect movement through either an accelerometer or by using a microphone to listen out for movements (as programmed by the software). Since each sleep cycle lasts roughly 30 mins, the tracker is really only guessing which stage of sleep you are in based on the time in bed and any movement detected throughout ... | [
"REM sleep is what rests your mind, so the more REM cycles you hit, the more rested you feel. REM only occurs during the last ~15 minutes or so of that hour and a half cycle through the different stages of sleep. Transitioning from REM sleep to waking consciousness is easier than transitioning from Stage 4 sleep to... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why do your eyes tear up really badly when you bump your nose, or when you pull out nose hairs? | [
"I'm not entirely sure, but am pretty confident that it has to do with the naso-ocular reflex path. Your eyes and nose are connected by certain nerves, which cause the other to react when one is irritated. When you pluck a nose hair, you irritate the nasal mucose membrane, and the body reacts by trying to \"flush o... | [
"It's basically snot. Your eyes are actually connected to your sinuses, so mucus from your nasal cavity can come through your test ducts. Also the reason you get a runny nose when you cry. The eye crust helps clear dirt from your eyes while you sleep. Just keep clearing it away like you do. It's not dissimilar to b... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Health and Physiology:"
} |
Why do some companies create multiple apps for the products they offer instead of using one app? Uber and Uber Eats, Google Home and Google Assistant are two examples. | [
"Marketing. You get more people to use your app/product if you have different versions targeted to specific groups. It's why there a separate varieties of cold medicine in spite of all of them having identical ingredients. If presents with a choice between something generic and something that seems tailored to thei... | [
"Most companies want you to pay streaming fees for services like Apple Music and google play."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why didn't we ever get immune to colds if it's so common? | [
"The rhinovirus (aka common cold) is always changing/mutating into new strands. One person’s virus could be exponentially different than another person’s, it’s quite amazing. Much like the flu, the common cold’s virus is always different every year. Although there is no vaccination for a cold, it’s soo important t... | [
"Same as immuno-compromised people do... death. That's why AIDS doesn't actually kill anybody. Not directly. It destroys your immune system, which means that even a common cold can infect your entire body and kill you. That's why the body sees a bit of a headache / sore throat / fever are a small price to pay, and ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Medical:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Medical:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Biology:"
} |
How do the pumps at gas stations know when to stop filling the tank? | [
"The next time you fill your tank, take a look in the gas nozzle, you will see an object, usually square, near the opening. This object is a mechanical switch that works off of the vacuum created by your tank. When its low the fuel flows free, but as it fills the pressure changes enough to cause a back flow that t... | [
"Water and gasoline don't mix. The water stays separate from the gasoline. When the water gets out of the fuel tank and into the car's fuel system, it will destroy key parts in fairly short order. So what stops them is that they cannot get away with it. If you put gas in your tank and then your fuel pump tears itse... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
I hate snot. I hate how I have to often blow my nose to keep my nostrils clear. Say there were some surgery that would remove my body's ability to produce snot. Explain to me the negative repercussions that would come with that. | [
"I believe mucus keeps the mucus membranes (nose, mouth, etc.) free of contaminate build-up. A toxin removal, so to speak, as well as keeping membranes lubricated. Downside — I’m allergic to dust mites, grasses and several tree pollen. A thing that should help, hurts. Swollen, stuffy yet still runny nose, sneezing.... | [
"Your nostrils are generally blocked on one side or the other. I forget the reason for this, but it's natural and normal. You can unblock both nostrils by pinching your nose and holding your breath until you're desperate to breathe. Essentially your body responds to the need to breathe by clearing the airways. If y... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Health and Wellness:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Health and Wellness:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does your body hold in pee when you’re asleep and when can a toddler do the same? | [
"There are two sphincters, or rings of muscles, around the tube coming out of your bladder. One is under unconscious control and the outer one is under conscious control. When you are holding it in, that is you contracting the outer one consciously. It takes time to learn how to control that. Also, it takes time to... | [
"Always making a habit of holding it when you really have to go pee helps the formation of kidney stones in the long run. I wouldn't recommend it. When you have to go, the best thing to do is go."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why does the skin get "saggy" when people grow old? | [
"As you age, DNA has more and more chances to get damaged by factors such as UV rays and random mutations. Telomeres protect your chromosomes, which are your coiled up DNA inside your cells, and they get damaged each time they replicate. Older age means that you've had more time for them to replicate. Other factors... | [
"when you get fat, your skin stretches, there's almost no limit on how much the skin can stretch and you will get stretch marks if it stretches too fast. when you lose fat, it's hard for your skin to unstretch. so they are left with loose skin. of course the more weight they lose the more significant an issue this ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Hypothetically, what stops California from seceding from the United States? | [
"The supreme court ruled that states cannot secede when Texas tried to in the 1800s. Additionally, the US constitution has no procedure in place for a state to secede. Finally, Calofornia's state constitution states that it is inseparable from the United States. So it would be very very difficult and time consuming... | [
"If the other country wants them, sure. The two countries would probably draw up some kind of treaty saying they will merge, or that one will become part of the other. Realistically it would be difficult for a government to do that without most of the people wanting it, but if they are onboard with the idea no reas... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does everyone's voice sound different? | [
"Everyone's vocal chords are different lengths and the cavities where the sounds bounce are also different sizes."
] | [
"I'm with KingRobotPrince here, I like how my voice sounds deeper when I have a cold. In fact, when I get that voice, I record the greeting on my voice mail."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Health and Wellness:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Health and Wellness:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why are clouds from above not flat and look „bubbly“? | [
"Clouds from below are not flat but bubbly as well. It may be harder to notice due to two things: Perspective, whereas when you’re in a plane you have a smaller slope from which you’re viewing (basically viewing the clouds from the side) so those dimensions are far more noticeable. Secondly, clouds scatter light, w... | [
"The atmosphere, or the air surrounding the earth, is made up of gasses. Do you know how when you look at a long distance, especially when it is hot, and the air looks like it is wavering or shimmering and objects are distorted? The same sort of thing is happening when the stars twinkle, the light is affected by at... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Meteorology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Meteorology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Where does all the liquid go when you get a drip through an IV? | [
"Into your blood veins where it gets blended with the normal blood liquids. After that it goes through the same things (kidney, liver, heart etc) as that the normal blood liquid goes."
] | [
"Adds extra stimulation to dull the senses, like rubbing your arm after getting punched and such. Why did you have an extremely hot bowl of milk?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post about Biology:"
} |
Why does our skin get injured more easily when we are sweating? | [
"This phenomena is likely due to you feeling less pain during physical exertion, so a \"light scratch\" when resting is far lighter than a \"light scratch\" when working out. In other words, when you're working out, it takes a lot more force (and damage) before you notice a scratch at all."
] | [
"They form when the pigment cells in your skin sort of cluster up rather than spreading out like they're suppose to. This happens mainly because of genetics, you just inherit them because mom and dad had them. Sometimes it happens because you were exposed to a lot of sunlight when you were younger."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
how do new barcodes get made? How do companies make sure their product doesn’t have the same code as a different company when it gets scanned in the shop? | [
"Barcodes are actually just a font what represent the numbers that are normally printed just below it. The most common type of barcode is the UPC (Universal Product Code) that is owned and managed by [GS1](_URL_0_). GS1 officially licenses barcodes for products for sale, using a system where the first N numbers of ... | [
"Barcodes are just a number that is easy to scan into a computer. The computer says weather or not the item corresponding to that number has been purchased."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What causes us to mishear what someone has said but then know a second later what it was? | [
"Our brains often work with incomplete information and then attempts to fill in the gaps with likely additional information until it makes sense. This can lead to errors in hearing something that can take a few second to rectify."
] | [
"When people hear themselves speak, the voice they hear is transmitted to their ears through the vibrations of their bones. This is a different sound than what is communicated by air. So one spends his/her entire life thinking they sound one way when the rest of the world hears them in a different manner. Realizing... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Language and Communication:"
} |
Why do levels of medications in your blood not increase to the point of overdose after taking them for an extended period. | [
"The same reason a drunk person can sober up after a few hours, the liver. The liver acts like a filter to ensure these things don’t stay there forever. It makes use of the things that are useful (nutrients, medicine) and neutralizes the things that aren’t (toxins, alcohol)"
] | [
"It affects the metabolism of certain drugs. You can end up with a higher than normal concentration of the medication in your body, and with continued use unaware of this, can lead to toxicity."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How/why do cars with a start-stop system not use more gas or harm the engine more than regular engines? | [
"The vehicles that have this have heavier duty components that are made for more frequent on/off cycles. Usually a larger capacity battery and more strict tolerances on moving parts. It takes much less fuel to restart a warm engine than a cold one. In my area, these things are nearly useless because they turn off t... | [
"Police cars run a huge array of electrical and electronic equipment which requires a lot of power to operate. Police cars typically need a special electrical system (like a more powerful alternator) for this reason. With the engine shut off and no way to charge, the battery will drain very very fast. Hybrids gener... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
If all the power that goes into the electric grid must be consumed and the sum must be 0, how the hell are they able to generate same amount of eletric energy that is consumed? | [
"If the load of the power grid increased the load on the generators will be higher and the will slow down and the voltage will drop a bit. Lower voltage result in less power use and the system is self regulating. The same way the voltage can increase i the load drops. What humans do is to add and remove power produ... | [
"Typically those turbines are out of commission due to routine maintenance or a failure. As far as selling electricity, there is a little bit of that, but not much; typically demand is more or less constant regionally, so if you're producing extra electricity then everyone around you is too. Since electricity decr... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do all known solar systems have planets that revolve along the same plane? | [
"Conservation of momentum. When a dust cloud is collapsing into a star/solar system, the stuff will be moving mostly randomly, but by chance enough of it will be moving in the same direction to impart a spin on the gas and dust. As it continue to collapse, more and more of it will start to move that direction. As m... | [
"Yes. There are plenty of binary star systems in the known universe. However, the planets orbiting them might not be habitable, as temperatures would likely vary greatly due to how the planet orbits the stars."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Astronomy:"
} |
How are amputees able to control the fingers in their bionic arm ? | [
"Depends on the exact type of bionic arm; but in general, the bionic limbs got sensors somewhere in the body (sometimes at the stump itself, sometimes elsewhere in the body) that measures either muscle contraction or nerve/neuron activity directly and interprets the different signals into limb position or movement ... | [
"Yes and no, mostly no. A paralyzed person can’t move their limbs because of a nerve injury, the limb itself is perfectly fine in most cases. Most prosthetics use nerve impulses or tiny muscle movements from the limb stump to control, so those would not work. Using a prosthetic controlled by the brain directly coul... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text about Medical Science:"
} |
What is turbulence and how do pilots see it coming? | [
"Turbulent air (in regards to weather) is just a region where two layers of air are exchanging places, ie. hot air moving up, and cold air moving down to take its place. & #x200B; Some areas may be continuously turbulent, like where the gulf stream meets colder northern air. And sometimes you can predict that an a... | [
"Air is not uniform. Different temperatures, different pressures. Imagine the plane is floating on a constant pressure cushion of air, and up ahead there is a area of air which is of a lower pressure. When the plane reaches this low pressure bubble, there is less pressure pushing the plane from below, and as a resu... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
what causes your ears to randomly start ringing? | [
"As another poster has said, tinnitus is partially your brain filling in a sensory gap. The nasty, long term tinnitus is damage of some sort, and your brain fills it in with static. The sudden onset limited ringing is usually sudden onset hearing loss from eustachian tube dysfunction. This is where the tube that c... | [
"Ear nose and throat are all connected. When I got my tonsils removed my throat hurt like hell. Then my ears began to hurt. Could not for the life of me understand why."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Health:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about Health:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How come acid can't dissolve ceramic or glass vials but it can go through metal? | [
"It's about how chemically reactive the materials are, not how strong they are. Metals are fairly reactive, in some cases they form oxide layers on top that block further reactions, but acids can strip away the oxide layer, making the base metal weaker to further reactions. Ceramic is much less chemically reactive ... | [
"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 title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
What is happening in Hong Kong? What is the protest about? | [
"This is a very brief explanation but HONG Kong was a formerly controlled by Britain until 1997 as a result of the opium wars. As such under this 99 year British rule, the people of Hong essentially enjoyed a very westernized style of government and were sovereign from China. This is no longer the case as the treat... | [
"What do you want to hear more about? The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? The Israel vs. Palestine situation? The Arab Spring? The recent attacks on US embassies?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
why is all this happening in hongkong right now | [
"A bad man from Taiwan fled to Hong Kong. Hong Kong said let's pass a law to send this man back to Taiwan to face justice! Then China said yes and don't stop there; also send back everyone who criticizes the communist party back to China to face justice as well! Hong Kong said no! But then the executive leader of H... | [
"i have no clue what's happening, all i'm hearing is a lotta angry people and bad press. Hoping there's 2 sides to every story. Also who's australia in debt to anyways?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why are there millions of protesters in Hong Kong? | [
"Extradition Law. China wants to be able to extradite \"criminals\" from Hong Kong. This is in quotes because everyone believes China would abuse this power to imprison political rivals and other social dissidents, who are not even on Chinese soil. Hong Kong has a long complicated history with Chinese control/inte... | [
"I'm not sure who is winning. But what I know is that everybody is losing. Hundreds of thousands are dead. Millions are refugees. The country is almost completely destroyed."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
What is happening in Hong Kong right now? | [
"I thank you as well! I've been trying to find a good explanation. So does this mean anyone could be extradited at any time or just people who have charges or accusations in Hong Kong?"
] | [
"Why? No one knows. How? No one knows. But it's well understood what the consequences are."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How do people crack databases of big comapnies? | [
"Often times they dont. If a smaller company has a breach and usernames / passwords get leaked they use bots to try them across many providers as most people use the same password everywhere. Google / bing / duckduckgo search your password from time to time to see if your password is posted on a list somewhere"
] | [
"> Do companies and governmental bodies not have more resistant anti-hacking measures? Yep. I think it was in one of Stephen Fry's documentaries, where he interviewed some facility (I think Nasa). And they said that their firewall catches dozen tousand hacking attempts in a day from China. > How are the Chinese ab... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
What kind of techniques are best for counting the number of protestors in Hong Kong? Or any crowd for that matter? | [
"Draw an imaginary square and count how many people fit inside, then count how many squares are in the crowd and you a pretty good guess"
] | [
"It has a few different meanings in different contexts. What setting are we talking about?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment about finance:"
} |
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