query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1 value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Why are high frequency sounds more directional than lower frequencies | [
"It's due to *diffraction* Diffraction: the bending of waves around small* obstacles and the spreading out of waves beyond small* openings. Low frequency sounds have longer wave lengths and can wrap around things/go through openings. In general, sound will bend around something smaller than its wavelength. When ... | [
"Absolutely. Sound is simply longitudinal air waves cause by the vibration of an object at a particular frequency. When we say that humans can only hear a certain range of sounds, it means that the little hairs that are connected to nerves that connect to the brain can only vibrate (and therefore interpret) those s... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why does our blood pressure stay lower for a good while after a hot bath? | [
"Hot water causes vasodilatation which feed into two systems while in hot water - it helps to disappate heat but also, water warms up the blood in our body, raising core body temperature. After you get out of the hot water your body is not giving away all the heat you have accumulated at once, but body is disappati... | [
"It's not heart rate, per se, that matters. It's the other physiological changes that accompany chronic exercise and stress that are beneficial and harmful, respectively. It's like saying why do I feel great when my body temperature is up after a warm bath, but terrible when my body temp is up during a fever. Other... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why do water balloons pop if they are left out in the sun? | [
"Ultraviolet light is really hard on latex. It rapidly breaks down the polymers. Under tension, it acts even faster."
] | [
"The air in your nose. For the water to go in your nose the air has to go out first. It is like putting a glass in water upside down, as long as the glass stays upside down the air stays in the glass. Once you turn the glass the water comes out. Your nose is the same way, as long as you keep your head up water won'... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why do you get a burning sensation when drinking something cold after chewing mint gum? | [
"Mint tricks your tongues receptors that detect temperature. It activates them and makes it think its actually cold when the temperature hasn't necessarily changed. Add cold water, and even more of those receptors are activated, your mouth thinks its freezing as if there was ice sitting there"
] | [
"Sometimes, it burns a lot after eating spicy foods. That is the same reason it burns going down. LPT: After eating spicy foods and when you're anticipating a painful poop, put some petroleum jelly on your anus first. It helps coat it and soothes the pain"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Dentistry:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post about Dentistry:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
What happens when food goes “down the wrong pipe”? | [
"This is basically inhaling a piece of food. Albeit it has to be very small and it’s mostly simple to get it out. Just cough it up."
] | [
"Its exactly what it sounds like. Your throat has a flap that directions incoming materials (either air for breathing or food / water for the stomach). That flap switches when you eat food. However sometimes you are faster then it and the water or food \"goes down the wrong pipe\" heading to your lungs. This would ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
how do eusocial insects work? | [
"In ants, workers are more closely related to their siblings than they are to their offspring. Therefore, they pass on their genes at a higher rate by helping their mother produce offspring than they would by producing their own offspring. This is because males are haploid (have only one copy of each gene), and fe... | [
"There are a couple. I know that there are ants who do a few of those these things. For example, the leaf cutter ant cuts up pieces of leaves and they cultivate a type of fungus that the colony eats. Other types of ants raise aphids and collect their dew. Like cattle I guess haha. _URL_1_ _URL_0_ Also to answer O... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
why do you need to bring your temperature down? | [
"A normal fever doesn't need to be brought down and has some value because the elevated temperature causes immune responses to function quicker and causes some germs to function worse. However, a very high fever is not a normal response and means that something is going seriously wrong in the body. Excessively high... | [
"you might want to get that checked. like with a doctor"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How documentary series like 'Dope' get cartel members to agree to filming | [
"Some high level criminals are also narcissistic and love the attention. They also probably \"recreate\" a lot of the crimes they commit rather than have the film crew follow them around as they commit crimes. For example, in the episode with the guys smuggling drugs. Very doubtful they let a camera crew follow t... | [
"A lot of criminals are egomaniacs. They think what they're doing is right and they're fighting the good fight. They want to tell everyone. Plus they like the attention. If you talk to enough gang bangers, someone is going to put on a mask and tell you about how he killed a bunch of people. The journalists doing th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why when falling asleep or very tired certain people have a full body shudder and wake up? | [
"It's actually you're brain testing to see if you're asleep yet and ready to dream. As an ELI5, I'll skip the terminology. Your brain paralyzes itself when you dream to ensure you don't act out what you're dreaming. When you flinch like that, then your brain knows it isn't ready to switch into full REM yet."
] | [
"You might get nightmares, apparently going to bed drunk removes a lot of blood sugar, and water from your body, and you get nightmares from that, and sometimes wake up. Most fucked up thing that happened to me was the \"yelling nightmare\" where you dream voices are screaming at you from the dark, you don't even k... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about Psychology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Psychology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is an algorithm? What makes it difficult to define? | [
"It's not really that difficult. It's a series of steps needed to do something. Long division could be called an algorithm."
] | [
"An algorithm is a way of doing something (for example, a way to sort a list of names into alphabetical order) Logic is the study of making decisions Logic is very important for algorithms because they have to make decisions as they go (should that name go before or after this one?)"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
How does rubbing our temples or forehead help alleviate a headache? | [
"Depends on the headache, but many are tension related so massaging the scalp, temples and neck relaxes the muscles around the head the same way that massaging a stiff and aching leg would help alleviate some tension. Some headaches are caused by pressure differences in the blood vessels around the skull too, so ru... | [
"A change in blood flow to the head area. Whether it is muscle inflammation or chemicals, the change in blood flow isn't regarded as a good thing to your brain. The sensors on your veins and arteries will send a signal to your brain saying something changed and a pain signal is created. The more the change, the wor... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
How does air conditioning work? | [
"Expanding gas cools its surrounding. Condensing gas to a liquid heats up the surroundings. A/C exploits this property by condensing gas outside your home (in a condenser) using a pump to carry heat from the inside. Heat is collected inside your home in an evaporator. The evaporator is where the liquid turns int... | [
"How much do they cost vs how much will they generate."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
- Do things hurt even when they don’t seem to? For example, if I hit myself but it doesn’t necessarily hurt, does my body still register it as painful? Do people with a high pain tolerance still register the pain but just don’t feel it? | [
"Pain is just your body’s way of saying “stop! You’re damaging yourself.” If you don’t feel pain, it’s because those signals aren’t firing. So in that sense, no, the pain doesn’t exist In terms of low pain tolerance, it depends. Some people are accustomed to pain so they can tolerate more of it, like tolerances to ... | [
"A newborn cries A LOT. All the uncomfortable experiences/pain they will feel will be the worst pain they have ever felt. They don't have anything to relate it to. As the child grows up, things that previously made them cry don't make them cry because they've experienced it before and are increasing their threshold... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How can you determine the height of a mountain | [
"You'd be interested in a concept called [topographic prominence](_URL_0_). It's a measure of how much higher a peak is than the lowest contour line that *doesn't* contain a higher peak. (And these heights are calculated against a theoretical level surface of the earth, which you might as well think of as sea level... | [
"One example that comes to mind is if a large object like a hill or mountain got between you and the transmitter."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
we raise our one eyebrow when we get suspicious, why? | [
"cultural norms. It sticks out because it breaks facial symmetry. The ability to raise your eyebrows or arc one at a time is genetic but it's not necessarily attributable to a thought of suspicion"
] | [
"Because it makes it harder for them to see, so an easy way to discourage you was to tell you it's illegal."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
What are the advantages of blinking in a nontraditional orientation? | [
"TIL ducks aren't birds. But from what I've read, most birds blink sideways because their range of motion includes much more vertical movement than ours. We basically stay on the flat-ish plane of the surface of the earth, so while the eye is opening and closing, we can still see most of that plane except when the ... | [
"Is it possible to get a better picture with a little more light?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Where do commercial, patented seeds come from? | [
"> I've heard that most commercial seeds are patented products genetically modified to only yield one crop, forcing the farmers to buy them again next season. That's not really true. So-called \"terminator genes\" do exist that can be used to make seeds only good for one generation, but they aren't commonly used i... | [
"So when and where did playing cards as we know them come into being anyways?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
. It’s 40C outside, it’s 4pm, the sun is shining. Why do most of the cars I see have their headlights on? | [
"Most cars these days come equipped with \"Daytime Running Lights\" (DRL), which means at least one part of the headlight system is turned on at all times even if it's the middle of the day and there's no ta cloud in the sky. It's a safety feature that helps make your car more visible. It might not be as useful on ... | [
"Syrian living in Australia here. In Syria (northern hemisphere), in summer it is consistently 30-40°C outside and in winter it snows daily. In Australia (Victoria) there is absolutely no consistency. Half of our summer days can be rainy or even stormy, while half our winter days can be sunny. The inconsistency of... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How the heck does 3D printing actually work? Can you print using different materials (metal, wood, etc)? | [
"Little pieces of material are fused together. It only works for fusable materials like plastic or metal. Wood is cellular life, a completely different sort of thing."
] | [
"It might seem easy when you see the final product, but machining parts is hard! So to produce an odd shaped object, we have to use injection molding. However, this is cost prohibitive if you need to make less than 100k replicated parts. That's where 3d printing is so amazing. We can take a CAD model and turn aroun... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why do different knots have varying strengths? | [
"It comes down to the friction it can cause. However there is no one knot that can prevent movement from all directions so we make more than one for different uses."
] | [
"Because they are completely different technologies with completely different functions and underlying technologies and methods of function."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
If Earth is moving at 110000km/hr in space, how do astronauts return back to Earth without crashing? | [
"Its because the Astronauts are moving with to the earth when they leave the atmosphere, its like how you can throw a tennis ball straight up and down in a moving car without it zooming off behind you at 100kph"
] | [
"Relative to the ground yes, provided you throw it in the direction you are moving. Relative to you no, it is traveling at 100mph. Relative to the sun it's probably closer to 67000mph"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why do people look “scarier” when they are illuminated from below? | [
"I think any time portions of the face are hard to see, your brain doesn’t know how to react, causing fear. There are all sorts of studies about looking at smiling faces vs frowning faces and what it does to your heartrate. Also, sometimes that lighting makes the eyes the only thing that shows. Lastly, it’s been us... | [
"Likely the light in the room that falls on you when you look in the mirror. The direction and quality of light have an enormous impact on how you look, as different lighting can make you look thin, fat, smooth, lumpy, healthy, sickly, etc. It's also possible that the distance you stand from the mirror will have a... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is the “God Particle”, and how does it work? | [
"The \"God Particle\" is a sensationalized name attached to a particle called the \"Higgs boson,\" named for the physicist who first theorized its existence. The Higgs boson is a consequence of something called the Higgs *field,* and the Higgs field solves a problem that particle physics had been grappling with for... | [
"We don't know, but physicists are working hard to try to find out. Seriously, it's one of the Big Questions."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
how exactly do one way glass work, and how can you see from a tilted glass in a car but can't see from the outside? | [
"It's just a matter of refraction and reflection. \"One-way glass\" is just normal glass, but usually a little thicker to provide more chance for light to bounce. But basically one side is in dark and the other room is in light. Just like it's hard to see into a house during day, verse the ease during night. The br... | [
"The light on your side had to be darker than the light inside the tank because otherwise it would be very difficult to see in. when it's dark outside you can see in through people's windows, but they can't see you outside."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why are the tines on corn cob holders asymmetrical? | [
"It takes a lot more force to first pierce the cob than it does to slide the tine in further once it's in. If the tines were the same length, it would take a lot more force to push them both in at the same time."
] | [
"This is so that it can easily be hung from a hook on the wall. Unless you mean the chef knives that have holes or dimples all the way down - these are so food doesn't stick to the knife."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
What is the legality around a TV film crew filming illegal activities? Like filming heroin production and smuggling across country borders. Or addicts buying and using meth? | [
"22 years in TV news (US). When seriously working on a journalism assignment, this not necessarily illegal. But, as a journalist, one cannot actively assist or enable the illegal activity. It’s important to act as an observer only. Also, if someone’s life may be in danger, ethics may require you to notify authori... | [
"It's made illegal so that law enforcement officers can make effort to prevent it if they see a person attempting suicide."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Law and Entertainment:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument about Law and Entertainment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Do artificial sweeteners work on insects? Could I use diet soda to kill off an ants’ nest? | [
"I mix up about a teaspoon each bicarbonate of soda and icing sugar with a little water and leave it near where I see ants most. They can't separate the sugar from the bicarb so take it back to the queen anyway, which kills them all. Apparently, ants can't fart and bicarb causes gasses inside the stomach. So the an... | [
"The pungent odor you smell is most likely formic acid, which is produced naturally by ants (hence its name) but is also used in place of mineral acids in certain household cleaning products. Please don't smash ants on purpose though -- they are our friends!"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do movies have deleted scenes? | [
"Editors have to ask questions like whether a scene properly moves the story along, whether it's necessary, or whether it adds too much length to the movie. A children's movie generally needs to have a shorter length than a movie for adults, because children, especially small ones, have little attention span and ti... | [
"You play too many video games or watch too many movies."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why don’t you have to split white and coloured clothing in laundry anymore? | [
"You do. Coloured fabrics can bleed the first times you wash them, and discolour whites. If everything in the machine is old and washed several times, no worries, mix them. Bit with new clothes, always separate, even one new sock can really ruin your day."
] | [
"Try comparing the lint colour from different washes, the colour does vary. At laundromats, other people's lint looks different from mine."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
How does sustainable forestry work? | [
"Tree farms tend to work pretty well. Where I live in the Southern US (Georgia) there is a large lumber industry. Everywhere you go there are free farms. Mostly long needle lines. A vast majority are planted pines. Basically a lumber company can buy out 20 tracts of land and cut one per year. Each time they cut dow... | [
"Become a scientist or engineer and focus on developing renewable energy technologies. Find a job in an organization that is dedicated to decreasing the negative impact of climate change."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is ASMR exactly and how is it supposedly pleasant to the ears? | [
"This is the best answer I've ever found. _URL_0_ Plus it comes from a great comic to read."
] | [
"A lot of nerves in your ear canal link to most of your body. Tickling them makes your blood pressure drop and thus leads to pleasure. At least that's what I read. Correct me if I'm wrong."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage about Health and wellness:"
} |
What actually happens when you "lose your voice"? | [
"Our ability to speak and make other sounds comes from our vocal chords, which are [flaps of tissue located in the larynx](_URL_0_) vibrating. Hoarseness or \"losing your voice\", also called dysphonia, happens when the vocal folds can't vibrate properly due to inflammation from an infection or overuse. There are o... | [
"While we're here. ELI5: Why DO you get tunnel vision and loss of hearing?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument about Health and Wellness:"
} |
why helmets have an expiration date and how their effectiveness is reduced | [
"helmets protect you by absorbing the kinetic energy (vibrations) of an impact. They do this using specially designed styrofoams. Styrofoam breaks down over time due to the oxygen in our atmosphere. Eventually, it breaks down enough to stop safely protecting your head."
] | [
"They have experimented with it and made chemical analysis to find out when and how a product goes bad. There is also a lot of marketing and logistics decisions that goes into picking an expire date. The time is not that important but it allows for the individual batch to be identified. If anything wrong is detecte... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How does alternating current work? | [
"So let's think of a circuit as a a bunch of people holding hands in a circle, each holding a baseball. Direct current is each person constantly passing the baseball to the person on their left. Alternating current is giving your ball to the person on your left, then them giving that ball back you, then you give it... | [
"By using that mechanical energy to rotate a magnet in a wire coil. A rotating magnetic field inside a coil of wire induces an electric current in the wire. Basically all of our energy sources are converted to electricity in this way."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
how do calculators actually work? | [
"Calculators are complicated circuits operating in binary. Binary is a way of counting using only two numbers, 1/0: 0000,0001,0010,0011... For simple operations the calculator utilizes a so called full adder: a circuit that compares 3 inputs to two outputs. You can imagine it like written addition. There are 3 inp... | [
"ELI5: All you need to know is the sound you want to hear, and how to get the musicians to play that sound. You don't need to know how to make it yourself. It's similar to how you can get a computer to solve complicated math for you, but can't write it out in binary yourself. Express what you want in a common langu... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why aren't species that have huge populations, like humans or bugs, having a commensurate number of mutations and thus branching off new species? | [
"2 reasons. First is that simply, not enough time has passed. Modern humans have existed for about 200,000 years. That's simply not enough time for speciation to occur. The second is that we don't exist in isolated populations, which is how speciation occurs. Humans from all over the world are constantly exchanging... | [
"It doesn't stabilize, it is always evolving. It just happens that genes which lead to eye like wing designs have provided butterflies with an advantage in their environment for a sufficient period of time to allow the feature to spread widely through the population."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why are there bacteria that can break down Styrofoam? | [
"Nutritional value as we know it is measured for humans. We need sugars and proteins and the like. In theory, if it can be burned, it can be food for an organism. Pretty much all of the life that you can think of consumes oxygen, reacts that oxygen with hydrogen and carbon, and releases water and co2. The hydrogen ... | [
"Acids can't dissolve everything, they can only react with chemicals susceptible to chemical attack by that acid. So while they'd have no trouble disintegrating a container made of steel or cheap polyethylene, highly chemically resistant materials like glass or polytetrafluoroethylene (teflon) can shrug off most ac... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
What causes sleep talking and sleepwalking? | [
"As I understand it (and this is not my area), your body is supposed to release hormones/chemicals of some kind when you sleep that essentially paralyse you and stop you from acting out your dreams. Sleep walking/talking are the result of this process failing, so you're just acting out what your brain is processing... | [
"It's called a Hypnic Jerk. There are a wide range of potential causes, including anxiety, caffeine, stress and strenuous activities in the evening. However, most hypnic jerks occur essentially randomly in healthy people"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument about Health and Wellness:"
} |
What’s the difference between infant formula for 0-6 month olds and formula for 6-12 months old? | [
"It's essentially a marketing ploy and therefore depends on the manufacturer. There is a single set of FDA (or equivalent) requirements for infant formula, but the age-specific formulas may have differing amounts of vitamins, corn syrup, etc. It's perfectly fine to use newborn formula until 12 months (at which poin... | [
"Breast milk contains many important nutrients designed especially for needs of an infant, like immune factors, fatty acids, and digestive enzymes. Breast milk is otherwise not particularly nutritious though... it doesn't contain many of the vitamins and minerals a growing body needs for development of bones and m... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
what am I doing and why does it work? | [
"“Hi I’m Chris Hanson. Have a seat.” But fr I used to design a pair of sneakers in my head done to every little detail. A pair of Air Force ones to be exact. Something about the little details got me"
] | [
"I am just glad to know I'm not the only one this happens to."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
What is the difference between normal steel and galvanized steel? | [
"Galvanizing is a process of adding a zinc coat to the steel. It should make the nuts last longer and prevents rust. The actual process is slightly more complicated but this is essentially it."
] | [
"My last comment got kicked back to me. I have no idea why, it's a legitimate answer. When a material like this is used for melting other items, it's usually lined with another material, like a ceramic, a brick, etc. Source: I used to work for a steel mill."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do TV shows and movies have opening credits if the credits are shown at the end? | [
"Opening credits are advertising, both for the major companies producing it and for the movie or show itself. It's part of the 'star system' where big names are promoted, and used to promote future works. End credits are more about documenting the rest of the cast and crew."
] | [
"They're not really for you, the viewer. Studios know that nobody ever sits through the credits and actually watches them. The different artists and technical people who worked on the movie would like to put it on their resume for later jobs though, the credits are mostly for their benefit."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why does cold water intakes more CO2 than warmer water and it holds it better? | [
"It's true of most gases and most solvents.One of the best ways when it is necessary to degas liquids for lab use is to agitate while heating to a little below boiling point. > Increased temperature causes an increase in kinetic energy. The higher kinetic energy causes more motion in molecules which break [bonds h... | [
"The dissolved oxygen out gasses. It is the same reason why a fish tank has an air pump as the fish need oxygenated water to breathe, we just notice a change in water taste. Also the dissolved CO2 content increases making the water more acidic."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Chemistry:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Chemistry:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Science:"
} |
How do cows get their nutrients if all they eat is grass? | [
"So someone asked this earlier and then deleted their account so here we go again. The grass. We don't get any because our digestive system can't break it down into a useful form but because cows have 4 stomachs they can"
] | [
"Hervibores have a specialized digestive system that helps them acquire much more nutrients from those food sources that would just pass through our own digestive tract untouched. Also, all they do while they're awake is either eat or look for stuff to eat."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
How and why does milk help soothe the burning sensation after eating spicy food? Why does water make it worse? | [
"It actually has more to do with the chemical that makes food spicy, capsaicin, being soluble in fat. It dissolves into it and gets pulled away from your pain receptors in your mouth. There are many other fatty and oily foods that work too. _URL_0_"
] | [
"Sometimes, it burns a lot after eating spicy foods. That is the same reason it burns going down. LPT: After eating spicy foods and when you're anticipating a painful poop, put some petroleum jelly on your anus first. It helps coat it and soothes the pain"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why, despite all milk producing mammals did human chose cow's milk? | [
"Domesicatability. Humans consume several different species milk including goat and sheep, but cow milk is particularly popular because of cows predilection for domestication. Cows are easy to farm, therefore they are cheap to farm, therefore cow milk is cheap source of protein and nutrients, therefore we consume l... | [
"They are all undesirable. In general cow's milk is not a perfect food for human adults, though the dairy industry would like you to think it is."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do they say not to use your phone while gas is being filled in the car? | [
"Static charge and electromagnetic radiation (radio waves) *can* cause fuel to ignite. But your phone is not putting out a very high amount of energy at all, and the fuel pump systems these days are very well protected, so the chances of that happening are probably worse than the chances of winning the lottery. Thi... | [
"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 query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does soap clean your body and yet make the shower filthy with grime at the same time? | [
"Soap dissolves fat, making it easier to wash of. However soap dosent magically teleport away fat. The fat is still there. It's instead dissolved in a mixture of dead skin cells, soap and water. Which gets stuck to the ceramic"
] | [
"The soap is gone. You can wash for 20 minutes to be sure, and the \"slimy\" feeling won't go away. With hard water (what lots of people are used to) there is magnesium and calcium in the water. This creates a thick layer - think a ring in a bathtub - of grime after you wash yourself with it (it only gets worse whe... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How does flicking a switch on a bicycle's handlebars cause it to change gear? What mechanism moves the chain to a larger/ smaller gear? | [
"If you take a look at your bike, you'll see cables snaking from the switches on the handlebars down to each set of gears -- specifically, to a little thing attached to each set called a *derailleur.* Assuming a mechanical derailleur (there are some that use motors to achieve the same effect), pushing the button ca... | [
"Have you ever ridden a bicycle with multiple front and rear gears? The difference between the size of the gears, or ratio, helps balance how much work you do with how fast you go. On a 10-speed bike, you have only 2 gears in the front and 5 in the back with a chain connecting them. With a CVT, you have two cones w... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
We can tell the age of trees by the rings in the trunk and fish by the rings on their scales. What's a scientific way to tell the age of humans? | [
"Generally teeth are a rough indicator of age, and things such as skull and pelvis size are used postmortem to determine age. None of these are 100% accurate though. Sorry that's a bit of a non answer but I tried."
] | [
"They take a core sample and count the rings. Also, another tree of the same species could be cut down and counted. The growth in the rings of that tree in comparison to its diamiter would offer a close estimate to the tree in question. The rings will vary in size depending on the growth each year so the estimate w... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Astronomy:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Astronomy:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Astronomy:"
} |
Why does fog only appear in certain areas and not others; e.g. fog appears every night at one end of a local street but not the other? | [
"Fog means you can see water droplets = condensed moisture in the air, as fine droplets It implies there's no wind (it would blow away) ; And the temperature is low enough for the moisture to condense into water droplets At one end of the street it may be too windy (fog cannot accumulate fast enough to see it) ; o... | [
"It is raining all the time, just in different parts of the world and not the whole thing all at once."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why can't surgeons just pull out huge chunks of body fat at a time with a glove or a modified vacuum hose? | [
"The fat isn't just floating inside you. Its attached to your organs and blood vessels. Tearing at it is gonna cause issues."
] | [
"Ever try sewing something thick like denim & have your fingers slip? Same thing happens with human flesh and they're wearing rubber gloves, making their fingers slipperier. They use locking clamps to push the needle, virtually eliminating slippage."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Why do they say it roses are red violets are blue when violets are not blue? | [
"For most of history there was an English word dedicated to violet, it was just called royal blue. I don't remember why we got the word violet, but the rhyme didn't use violet because violet didn't exist as a word. It's like how dinosaurs weren't called dinosaurs before we invented the word dinosaurs."
] | [
"People tell me that this happens to mine as well. Green eyes if I'm wearing green, brown otherwise."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
How could single payer public healthcare, and the increased taxes incurred, ultimately cost less for individuals than private insurance in the US? | [
"The insurance companies sit between people and medical services. Single payer reduced the number of middle men who process claims and all that. Let’s middle men = less money being paid to them = cheaper overall cost Also the idea is to get more people and corporations to pay in (taxes) thus spreading the cost. La... | [
"They have another proposal that they like more. Their proposal says that low income people should get government subsidies to buy insurance and the market should be regulated. They think that single-payer systems lead to an undersupply of doctors, nurses, etc., lead to long waiting periods, and a lack of patient c... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does limiting withdrawals to $10,000 help prevent money laundering? | [
"As far as I understand, the law doesn't *prevent* you from withdrawing more than $10,000 in cash. It just obligates banks to report to the government that you did. Also, the same \"anti-money-laundering\" law established reporting standards for both deposits and withdrawals. It's more obvious why mandatory reporti... | [
"To make smuggling cash 5 times harder. It takes a bigger box to export ill-gotten drug gains, which makes it easier for law enforcement to catch evildoers. In 1969 the US government purged all the big bills, $500, $1000, $5000, and $10,000 to fight fraud, drugs, and money laundering."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why are honeycombs hexagonal? Why not triangular, circular, etc.? | [
"All cells start out circular when the bee draws it out with her wax. Once it has been joined with an adjacent circular cell, the wax is heated and it melts into a flattened shape, becoming hexagonal. [Study done on this subject](_URL_0_) The cells on the open edges of honeycomb are rounded. I'm a beekeeper and a... | [
"Take a shape like a triangle and double the sides it has. It is now a hexagon and looks very different from the original. Double it again. Now it is a dodecagon (12 sided shape) and still looks quite a bit different, though not as much difference as the first doubling. Double it again. Now it is starting to resemb... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
if e.coli is already present in ones colon, why does it make you sick to ingest? | [
"There's harmless e. coli and there's harmful e. coli. The ones chilling in your intestines is harmless. The ones that make you sick are harmful."
] | [
"People who have chronically been on antibiotics for one reason or another lack the gut flora needed to properly digest food. Someone poops in a bag doctors mix it with water to turn it to diarrhea then inject it into the recipient's colon"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do the manufacturing companies ensure that the insides of the food packaging packets are thoroughly cleaned ? | [
"Depends on the package, but there is usually some sort of cleansing step right before filling and sealing. Take bottles for instance. On the bottling line I worked at a brewery, empty bottles first entered a sanitizing machine that flipped them upside down and blasted them out with peroxide and water, then were fi... | [
"These are assumed to be moved to another container. Also flour, sugar and other dry commodities need to \"breathe\" to stay fresh. At the same time, they also need to remain hygienically safe. Paper does both, keeping their product as fresh in your customers' homes as it was when it left them."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why do us humans eat less during a hot summer day? | [
"Digestion requires your body to some work, which generates heat. Carbohydrates (starches and sugars) are easy to digest and don't produce much heat, proteins are harder and produce more heat, fats are in between."
] | [
"So what is it about human physiology that makes this work differently for us?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Food and Beverage:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment about Food and Beverage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why are bleach bottle caps so loose? | [
"Are you talking about the child-safety feature, where there is an inner cap and an outer cap and you have to squeeze or push down on the outer cap in order to make the inner cap turn (in the loosening direction)? If so, that is a child safety feature."
] | [
"The plastic lids *used* to be not recyclable but that's no longer the case. The reason was the plastic lids were a different type of plastic from the bottles."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What happens the the white/clear puss that fills a pimple if you refrain from popping it? | [
"it either bursts on its own at some point, often when you are asleep. Or it gets slowly broken down by your immune system at a rate it can handle safely, at which point the extra material making up the pimple slowly shrinks, dries up and falls off."
] | [
"Once they get to the \"solid goo\" phase I've never had any issues with popping them. I've been doing it for over a decade with no infections or scarring. That's not to say it won't happen to you, but there are safer ways of doing it. Start with a clean, washed face and a clean, washed needle. Gently puncture the ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Health and Wellness:"
} |
why can a high speed 4g signal reach me anywhere but wifi has trouble reaching me in the next room? | [
"There are 2 factors to consider. First is your surroundings. Radio waves, like a 4g signal or wifi are just electromagnetic radiation, like light. They pass through some things well, but are blocked by others. Having multiple walls, or a big HVAC unit, or a metal building between you and the transmitter can block ... | [
"Depends on type of connection the wifi uses, if it is through cable to wifi then the signal will be okay, if the wifi is connected through antenna the connection will get worse because the rain is blocking the signal from travelling from the signal emmiter which causes data loss along the way, so the data needs to... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
why do magnets lose their magnetism over time? | [
"Keep in mind that perfect magnets do not lose magnetism over time or use (for the same reason Earth does not \"lose gravity\" if you jump). It is not an intrinsic property of permanent magnets. Magnets losing magnetism instead has to do with imperfections in their construction, and mechanical and thermal wear-n-te... | [
"Permanent magnets are made from many types of metal all melted and molded together using a furnace until it is a molten liquid. The molten liquid is then poured into molds for the magnet shape. After it has cooled, it is heated up again (not hot enough to melt it bust still VERY hot) and an electrical current is r... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
During the Apollo missions, what is the purpose of the "beep" you hear regularly in the background? | [
"They are called Quindar tones and they served to turn the transmitter on and off such as with push-to-talk. The issue is that to keep track of the astronauts from a rotating Earth required a worldwide network and frequent switching between transmitters and receivers. The tones mediated all that, so they should in ... | [
"For Apollo 11 it was sent by radio signal back to Earth which was picked up by receivers in Australia and then broadcast worldwide. A camera was attached to the lander to film it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How can we determine about dinosaurs' looks just by their skeletal remains? For example, one cannot imagine humans having boneless parts like ears just by looking at their skeleton. | [
"Very possible. For example, it took quite a while before we realized many dinosaurs were feathered precisely because there wasn't a ton of fossil evidence for that being the case for quite a while. Nobody really knows for sure what dinosaurs looked like. What we have now are educated guesses. The guesses get more ... | [
"No, dinosaurs aren't just extinct animals. In fact, not all dinosaurs are even extinct. For instance, modern birds are technically classified as therapod dinosaurs. But you are correct in saying that they are all different species. The word dinosaur includes a wide variety of species that all have some characteris... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do pigeons not get dizzy when shaking their head. | [
"They're actually keeping their heads still while they're bobbing! If you focus on their heads, between the bobs, their head and thus eyes are fixed in the same position while their body moves. When they move too far, they have to bob their heads to the next fixed position.This is to keep their vision still to dete... | [
"Most birds do this to face into the wind, otherwise their feathers would be ruffled and no one likes ruffled feathers."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer about Bird behavior:"
} |
If you were able to shoot a bullet perfectly straight in the air , would it come down at the same spot or would the earth's rotation effect it? | [
"There are a couple of factors at play here. First off, the Earth's rotation would affect it. The bullet is traveling sideways at exactly the same speed you are, but the bullet is farther from the center of the Earth, so it does not rotate as far as you do even though it is moving at the same speed. This would make... | [
"Think about the path a ball follows when you throw it. It curves down and eventually hits the ground right? If you throw it faster, it still curves down, but it goes farther before it lands. Now what would happen if you threw it so fast and it flew so far that when it started to curve downwards the the ground had ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Science and Technology:"
} |
Why do ceiling fans that are used more often collect dust quicker than ceiling fans that aren’t used much? | [
"Air flowing over a surface builds up static charge. The static buildup attracts dust to stick to the moving fan blade. Also, a spinning blade will pick up any oil or grease residue launched into the air from cooking. The dust will stick to the sticky residue and can build up over time. Same thing for tar residue f... | [
"If it has mechanical parts, it will break. Applies to anything. Shopping carts get used and abused everyday for extended periods of time and am guessing only get replaced every so often, if at all."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why does pouring hydrogen peroxide on wounds sterilize them and sting? | [
"The hydrogen peroxide kills germs and living cells. It can delay healing and leave scars, so it isn't recommended for cleaning wounds. It is a powerful oxidizer and if undiluted, it would cause severe burns."
] | [
"Soaking a wound in salt water can kill bacteria because it essentially draws the water out of the bacterial cells. However it's important to note that for wound care soaking in salt water is generally not recommended. This is because while salt kills bacteria it also kills healthy cells that are necessary for woun... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
how exactly do some antibiotics and other drugs make you more sensitive to sunlight | [
"These drugs have certain structures that absorb radiant energy (UVA or UVB from sunlight) so when photo-activation of this drug occur there will be excitation of electrons in your body (from stable to excited state), after returning back of electrons from the excited state to the original stable state they transfe... | [
"Essentially bacteria don't grow a resistance to bleach for the same reason humans don't grow a resistance to intense heat -- it's too destructive."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage about Microbiology:"
} |
if identical twins are genetically the same, how do they get different fingerprints? | [
"Fingerprints are not generated genetically. Fingerprints are generated when we are in the womb from pressures present on the fingers. 2 people can have similar to even nearly identical fingerprints as well, in fact the chance of 2 people having the same fingerprints is about 1 in 64 million but when you have bill... | [
"yes and or no. So twins are born at the same time and can be identical or fraternal. fraternal twins are genetically siblings, while identical twins have identical DNA. Fraternal twins happen when two separate eggs are released and fertilized very close in time to each other so they both attach to the womb and ar... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Could you angle series of lasers and fire them into an object, mirrors, prisms, or something to focus and then combine them into one powerful beam? | [
"No, because the reflection of light is by its nature reversible. If you shine a beam into a prism and measure its output angle, shining a different beam back into that same path will come out the same direction as the original input beam. If you COULD convert multiple beams into a single coherent beam, it wouldn't... | [
"Light comes in little packets called photons. These packets can't exactly spread out on their own. They travel in the direction they are emitted in until something like a lense or mirror makes them go a different direction. A laser is set up so that light bounces in a particular direction inside, and this stimulat... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment about Physics:"
} |
What’re the good and bad things that came from the Affordable Care Act and why is it such a landmark of politics? | [
"Hers the thing its a big deal, it helped alot of people, but screwed a few too. Insurance in the USA is a horrible for profit system that doesn't give a krap about the people they insure. This made it possible for people to get insurance, the companies wouldn't insure them before because it wasn't profitable. It a... | [
"Because believe it or not it affects what goes on around you. The amount of tax you pay, the amount of social assistance, whether or not wars both foreign and domestic occur. Look at what just happened with net neutrality. Had that not passed your Internet could be slowed down considerably while giving corporation... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
why do goats have horizontal pupils? | [
"Wider field of view, I believe. It's like how predators have vertical pupils, it narrows the light coming in so they don't get distracted as bad since their periphery vision is so small. Goats are the opposite, and having wide set, wide pupil eyes means they have a maximized horizontal field of vision, which mean... | [
"Addition: why are black people's upper lips black while their lower lips are pink?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do some birds mimic the songs of different birds? Wouldn't that make it harder to find a compatible mate? | [
"Some highly intelligent birds will mimic any sound they hear. I used to work in animal care and we had an African Gray that used to be next to a pool, it started mimicking the lifeguards whistles and calls and had to be moved because it was causing false emergencies. It was moved to a merchandise location and was ... | [
"What I believe is happening is your birds are essentially having a territorial dispute. Birds communicate to warn of predators, mark territory, and find each other, as well as many other reasons. There might also be a cat in the area and they're telling the other birds to watch out."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How chemical sunscreen absorbs UV ?light? | [
"Instead of physically deflecting UV light, these molecules absorb UV radiation through their chemical bonds. As the bonds absorb UV radiation, the components of thesunscreen slowly break down and release heat. ~_URL_0_~"
] | [
"Skin becomes darker in response to the sun because it creates extra melanin, which absorbs UV rays."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
What's the hissing sounds made by semi trucks when they stop? | [
"The brakes are air assisted. The hissing sound is when the driver lets go of the brake pedal"
] | [
"I believe a lot of times the car is being pulled by another car and the \"driver\" has no control of the car. Other times the car isn't moving and they use a green for the scenery."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do you know how much cash it will take to fill up your car and what will happen if you give the clerk too much cash? | [
"They refund the overage amount. So if you give them 20 but your car holds 10. Go back inside and they'll give you the other 10 back."
] | [
"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 Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Is strength reliant on volume of muscle within the body? If not, how does the strength to volume ratio work? | [
"Also how that volume of muscle is distributed along the skeletal frame is important. The physics of leverage and hinge points is definitely a consideration when it’s comes to applicable strength."
] | [
"If something feels like it is heavy, and you then train your body, it will indeed feel lighter. But at the same time, because your body has more muscle to work with, it can divide the load over a larger amount of muscle mass. So the applied exertion is lower as well. The answer to your question is: Both are true. ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why does brake fluid need to be changed even though it never really "runs out"? | [
"Brake fluid absorbs water. When water gets in to it and the brake line pressurizes, the brake brake fluid can get hot enough to turn the water to steam. Steam can compress more than the brake fluid, it can cause your brakes to fail when water is in the brake fluid. It usually happens when you brake really hard."
] | [
"> So since that oil is new, why would I have to get my oil changed? Oil can be burned off but it also wears out. Old oil with bits of metal dust, burt oil leavings, etc. can build up within the oil still within your car. That needs to be cleaned out and the way to do that is drain out all the old oil then add new ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Does recycling plastic really make much of a difference? | [
"My interpretation of this is that though the costs of sorting, melting, and recasting the plastic are roughly equivalent to (if not greater than) making it fresh, the real green effect is from the waste plastic not being tossed willy nilly and damaging the oceans and whatnot. However, when the oil starts getting r... | [
"It depends on what you think the alternative is. Yes, recycling can use a lot of energy and will create nasty wastes and people shouldn't think that recycling just makes everything perfect. On the other hand, most things which can be recycled require less energy, waste, and environmental impact than making the sam... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why do cargo planes such as the C130 and the A400M use propellers instead of jet engines? Wouldn't jet engines be more powerful and allow more weight to be carried over a larger distance? | [
"They do use turboprop engines which are turbine engines that turn a propeller. The turboprop is more efficient at lower speeds and altitudes than the turbojet."
] | [
"An afterburner dumps fuel into the hot exhaust from a jet engine. This results in significantly more power from the same size engine, but isn't fuel efficient. This makes it useful for fighter jets that want small super powerful engines but don't care about fuel costs, but terrible for commercial jets that want to... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
If mammal brains all have roughly the same structure and systems, why do drugs work so differently between families and species? | [
"When it comes to the brain, effects come down to the receptor physiology (aka the exact shape and function) of the neurotransmitter receptors on neurons. Even slight differences in receptor physiology can have huge effects. For example, if one person has a dopamine receptor that lets dopamine bind slightly better ... | [
"The short answer is yes. Animals eat different things, live different lifestyles and have had different evolutionary paths. This makes their muscles and fat content different from eachother."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
What are the differences between different types of toothpaste (eg whitening vs enamel strength vs gum repair) and why doesn’t one toothpaste just do everything? | [
"Most toothpastes all have same ingredients, just some more than others. Mainly a marketing ploy."
] | [
"Exposed dentin causes sensitivity. If you don't take care of your teeth, the enamel erodes and decays. I'd recommend switching to a toothpaste and mouthwash designed for sensitive teeth. They have been shown to repair enamel."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Physiologically, what is strength and where does it come from? For example, there are two men who are the same height and weight with almost identical builds. Why can one of the men bench 250 Lbs. and the other can bench 300 Lbs? | [
"Strength is a measure of how many muscle fibers you have. Muscles are built from little repeating units and stronger muscles have more of them and can generate more force"
] | [
"Body building is about having symmetrical, large appearing muscles. Strength is a big part of it, but so is having very low body fat. It becomes a difficult balancing act, as your body only wants to add muscle when you have surplus food. Power lifters, on the other hand, don't care about how much fat they have. Th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
If the clitoris' only function is giving pleasure, was its development a mere biological accident? | [
"Not necessarily, by making sex and therefore reproduction more pleasurable it could help incentives early humans to reproduce more which would then pass on the genes etc. etc. etc."
] | [
"I don't know but I do know that not everything our bodies do is because there is an evolutionary benefit. Some things are just a side effect of other biological functions."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why have supersonic flights such as the Concorde been abolished completely? | [
"Supersonic flight atill happens regularly. The concorde was the only commercial supersonic aircraft in use, and it was not a moneymaker. That huge accident made them retire the plane, and commercial supersonic service went with it."
] | [
"A supersonic passenger jet that can hold enough passengers, quiet enough to operate in most American airports, and can be fuel efficient enough to be cost feasible would take years of development and prototyping along with billions of dollars. I'm sure airplane manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing are researching ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why a car’s usage is measured in distance (mi/km) but boats are measured in hours? | [
"Boats encounter a different kind of resistance in travel. It can not be measured the same way as something with wheels."
] | [
"The parallel word is kilometrage, which can be used to state either the total distance travelled in the car, or the car's fuel usage (which can be expressed as either kilometres per litre of fuel, or as litres per 100km)."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
How does the 5th amendment work and why is it not taken as an automatic admission of guilt? | [
"You are innocent until **proven** guilty. Thats pretty important. They have to prove that you're guilty. You can't be forced to implicate yourself, the government needs to actually prove their case. It also prevents a situation where you may be forced or compelled by some reason to confess to a crime you did not c... | [
"It means that the government can't put you on trial twice for the same crime. If you're acquitted (not guilty) the first time then they don't get another chance. This prevents the government from repeatedly prosecuting the same person over and over until they get the outcome they want. It's one of the rights (US) ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why do cucumbers taste so mild while you're eating them, but taste so strongly when you burp afterward? | [
"It's the cucurbitacin in them. It's a chemical that they have to help prevent certain animals from eating them (too much and there wouldn't be any to make more-hey nature!) It's mostly in the stem end so if you don't eat that part it will cut down on it too. Also can deseed them and they will help prevent excess g... | [
"Very likely our tastes change for the same reason everything else about us changes: We grow, we have new experiences, we learn new things. Most of the cells in our bodies are less than seven years old, and our brains rewire pathways every time you learn something new or have an emotional experience. So there is ev... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
why are women not prone to baldness? | [
"Actually baldness is carried on the X chromosome by the female, but she is usually protected from baldness, whereas guy do not have another X to counteract it's effect. On the aetiology side of things, it's to do with too high testosterone levels that again girls don't have."
] | [
"Your teacher is an idiot. Talk to a doctor about the best way to beat a type of cancer. That being said, a diet high in vegetables and low in red meat would lower your chances of getting cancer in the first place."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does the taste of something change with the temperature? | [
"Taste is its own sense, but a good portion of how we taste food is by the way it smells. So think of heat as movement. Something hot has molecules that are moving all over the place (think steam). Something cold has slower moving molecules (think ice). The faster moving molecule means there’s more of them free flo... | [
"Cold suppresses the sensitivity of tastebuds. Try drinking a soda on ice and then letting it come up to room temperature. It would taste much sweeter and more acidic. The same applies to water. The less we taste, the more refreshing it feels. Also, the data aren’t exactly clear but it’s possible that a preference... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph about Science:"
} |
Are you taking in fresh oxygen when you breathe in near a tree? | [
"You are taking in oxygen wherever you breathe. There is no such thing as 'fresh oxygen'. Oxygen we breathe is simply a molecule that is produced via many natural occurrences. The tree will produce oxygen as a result of photosynthesis, but it's a very small amount compared with what aready exists in the air you're... | [
"Oxygen is very tiny. On the scale of oxygen, your house might as well be made out of Swiss cheese. The gap between the door or window and wall is gigantic. Meanwhile, you use very little oxygen compared to the size of your house. Every time you open the door to come inside, you refresh the place with more than eno... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why do people catch diseases like the flu or strep throat multiple times when diseases like measles are very difficult to catch after you have already gotten it once? | [
"The flu and strep are very broad categories. Many diseases are called \"the flu\" and new ones form every day, so your body can fend off any you've already had but there are so many out there that you still end up catching a different strain later."
] | [
"There are too many other factors to give a definite yes or no to this question. An important distinction would be what you're getting sick from. A normal person (ie not immunodeficient) is very unlikely to get the same illness again immediately since the body has antibodies ready to fight that illness. However, if... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Medical:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Medical:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
why do some stars look brighter when you are looking away from them than when looking directly at them? | [
"you eye has two different kinds of sensors. One senses light (on or off, called a rod) and the other senses colors, called cones. The cones are concentrated around the center of the back of your eye so the main focus of your sight has good colors, and the \"edges\" have better black and white sensitivity. So when ... | [
"The earth is a sphere and the moon orbits roughly along the equator. So those in the north the moon is in the southern sky so it waxes from left to right. In the south the moon is in the northern sky so the moon waxes right to left. Imagine a train on a track moving west. If you're standing north of the track faci... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Astronomy:"
} |
why did light skin appear in Europeans and not in native North Americans? And how long did the process take? | [
"There is evidence that humans expanded to Europe as much as 150,000 years ago. Being so far north they would have less sunlight to worry about and would have adapted with lighter skin pigmentation. Whereas humans expanded to north America only 20000 years ago by crossing the land bridge from Russia to Alaska. So t... | [
"Quite possibly. History has several examples of this happening. For example, Australian Aborigines look *very* different from most other people. For another example, Europeans (and their descendants) with their pale coloring look *very* different from nearly all other people (with their brown coloring)."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why can some plants grow roots from a cutting, yet Florist flowers cannot? | [
"Florist flowers do not grow roots after being bought because of two things. First, and most commonly, they are not fresh. They have probably sat for weeks in fertilizer infused water, which makes them look and smell fresh, but kills the buds of the roots IIRC. If you bought them specifically fresh, and they don't ... | [
"Naturally Roses do reproduce with seeds, but many plants also reproduce vegetatively, this means they can spread through the soil with roots, or over the ground rather than spread through the air. If you take a cutting, many plants can detect that they could grow roots by having contact with soil and not light on ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do drops of liquid still stick to a container if the liquid is poured out? | [
"It's not surface tension, it's adhesion. Water has the quality of adhesion that causes it to stick to things other than itself, as well as cohesion which causes it to stick to itself as seen in surface tension. Simply put, water is sticky."
] | [
"It is called capillary effect. Hydrodynamics, would tell us that ideally, the water level should remain the same. However, it doesn't take adhesive properties into account. Water adheres to glass (it can make it wet). On the thinner side, there is more surface area in contact, per unit mass of water. So, it can r... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why do candles slowly disappear on a candle warmer? They aren't burning. | [
"Candles burn by first melting wax, sucking it up the wick, then boiling it and burning the vapor. Candle warmers only do the melting part, and the wax slowly evaporates just like liquid water would when left out."
] | [
"Burn a candle all day in your house, the smell isn't as strong because you become used to it. Walk into a house with a candle burning and you smell it right away. Works the same with body odor."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do paintings get their value? For instance a Picasso painting may be worth 1M. How is artwork value measured? | [
"It’s demand. If enough of the right people want it, it’s priceless. If no one wants it, it’s worthless"
] | [
"That seems very high, but it is a beautiful painting and a piece of history. Rothko is one of the most famous contemporary painters. He is very well known for works like this which are simple combinations of color. Some of them are extraordinarily beautiful. I doubt they generally sell for anywhere near this much,... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
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