query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Why don't we pronounce the name of a country like the natives do? | [
"We don't speak the same language they do! The English name is often simply different from the native name. The idea that things should be rendered precisely as in the language of origin is very modern. When people were more internationally oriented and less particular about the country they were from, it used to b... | [
"The first is pronounced \"eh\" as in the word \"met\". The second is pronounced \"aiy\" as in the word \"ate\". EDIT: Apologies, for some reason I assumed we were talking about French! As mentioned by others, it does vary between languages."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why are we so worried about a plane that has gone missing? Couldn't it be assumed that it's in the ocean as no one on that flight has spoken out? | [
"It's a fairly new plane and they have no idea why it went down. If it was a design flaw it could happen again. If they don't know what the design flaw is, how can we be sure that in the next planes we start building the same flaw isn't there? Or if it was the pilot's fault for whatever reason, knowing why and inve... | [
"The vast majority of hijackings in history aren't about crashing the plane, 9/11 was a fairly rare event. Most hijackers just end up pulling a DB Cooper or something similar - using the people on board more or less as hostages to try and secure passage to somewhere, money or something. The hostage ploy works just ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
The recent changes to US healthcare and the changes happening in the near future | [
"**What happens under the Affordable Care Act:** *if you already get health insurance through your job*: Your children can stay on your health plan until they turn 26. Other than that, nothing else changes. *if you don't get insurance through your job*: You are required to have health insurance one way or another. ... | [
"Because health care in the United States is mostly privately provided, there isn't too much role for the federal government in it. There are discussions of health care and health insurance, which implicitly cover the private provision of mental health care. Whereas in the UK, with its National Health Service, the ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does rain make the internet slow? | [
"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... | [
"Why do some parts of the world call gasoline petrol?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why are "normal" bodily functions we all do such taboo topics or exceedingly gross when it's someone else's? | [
"It happened through evolution. A lot of germs or viruses can be transmitted through poop or blood or snot and many other things. If they are your own, you do not run much risk since you already have those germs/viruses within you. But from someone else's: that's like playing the lottery. I say it happened through ... | [
"Obscenities pretty much have two sources. Religion, and bodily functions. We aren't actually very imaginative in that regard. Bad words are usually used for shock value, and the two easiest ways historically were treating religion lightly, and discussing how your body worked."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
The DNA being patented case in the USA. | [
"Basically they discover what a certain part of a gene does, and so they \"patent\" that part of the gene so anyone who wants to work on a cure or research has to pay that company royalties."
] | [
"Which events? He describes many events in the film."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
The controversy with Gabby Douglas' hair. | [
"It's not pulled back tight enough, it looks like it was haphazardly thrown together. It's not really a controversy so much as people just paying too much attention to a women's looks yet again. :\\ It's something people with more experience with black hair (read: black people, esp. black women and mothers) and are... | [
"Should point out that it is only a fan theory that SA is about prostitution."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
why does the show "Power Rangers" still have monsters that look like rubber costumes? | [
"Young children are not especially critical of shitty special effects."
] | [
"it's strictly just another thing that gets advertised, and basically tells kids to buy a thing because they're supposed to want them. it's just like any other dumb toy from your past that all the kids went nuts over, but then quickly fell to obscurity. They're also colorful, collectable, and easily identifiable. ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why are certain types of plastic non-recyclable? | [
"In addition to economics, there are two main types of polymers. [Thermosets](_URL_1_) are irreversibly cured: once they are formed they can't be re-formed. While these can't be recycled into new plastics, they may be re-purposed for other uses once their primary useful lifespan ends. What makes these materials una... | [
"It also depends on what country you live in. Something being recycleable doesn't necessarily mean it gets recycled, it just doesn't go into the landfill. Case in point: k-cups are now recyclable, but they're recycled right into an incinerator."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
why is water able to evaporated below the boiling point? I was always taught 212F (100C) was when water could turn into a gas. | [
"From your answers, it seems like you're looking for [vapor pressure](_URL_2_). When a liquid and gas phase exist together they will form an equilibrium where part of the liquid evaporates until it makes up a certain amount of partial pressure. [For water](_URL_2_) you see at 30°C its vapor pressure is 0.0419 atm.... | [
"If you add water to a zero degree environ, it will stay water. To freeze it you have to remove the latent heat of fusion. You have to continue to remove heat energy to get it to freeze into ice at zero degrees. Similar thing happens at the saturation point when water becomes steam, to it takes 1BTU/Lb of heat ener... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer about Geography:"
} |
Why do we get headaches? | [
"There are many things that factor into headaches, and there are different types of them. Dehydration can be a contributing factor. The most common type of headache is a \"tension\" headache. These are muscular in nature,( yes we have muscles in our faces/scalp) several muscles also attach to the back of our head (... | [
"Why do you have so many lips and chins?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence about Biology:"
} |
How does patient zero get a sexually transmitted disease? | [
"Check out the Radiolab podcast \"Patient Zero\". It is a history of HIV and is one of my favorite podcasts by them. _URL_1_"
] | [
"If the person contracted HIV/AIDs through another source, say sharing dirty needles. While HIV can be spread sexually that is not the only way it can spread."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Considering they are related to Wolves. When a Dog is playing fetch, what does it think it is doing? | [
"It simulates hunting prey. That's why dogs like squeaky toys, they sound like injured animals."
] | [
"Because it's not just a string or cord. It's obviously a tail. A tail attached to prey. Prey that I want to eat. If I hang off the tail, it won't escape. I want the prey. I need the prey. Basically hunters instinct, or practice. Cat's are hunters. 99% of what they do while they're awake is practicing to murder som... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
If I have to poo but hold it, when the sensation goes away (and it doesn't come back) what happens to my poo!? Does my body absorb some waste? | [
"It's sits in your intestine, being compressed by the new shit piling up. If you hold it too long you'll get constipated."
] | [
"I know the answer for males. The testicles are designed to hold a certain amount of sperm. As the testicles make sperm they expand a little bit. When the testicles get too full it starts to press on something, I can't remember the name of it, but that thing sends a signal to your brain saying it wants to orgasm. B... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do we instinctively seem to hit machines / devices that aren't functioning properly? Where did this come from? | [
"It's called \"Percussive maintenance\" and it's related to the old mechanical and analogue systems that used to drive machines where if they got stuck sometimes a sharp jolt to the machine could cause the stuck pieces to jump into their proper places."
] | [
"You don't. Your senses are wrong all the time."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage about Physics:"
} |
why is there not an app or website for voting? | [
"It's a horrible idea. A virus, a hack or a DDOS attack could destroy the integrity of the whole system. Many people are against even using electronic voting machines because they leave no paper trail, doing it online is a no go. ...and it would be nearly impossible to keep it anonymous which is a *critical* part o... | [
"I think you want askreddit or some other sub, no concept to really explain here."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are campaign funds correlated with winning an election? Why don't people just vote for who is the best person for the country? | [
"Because marketing is everything. If you don't know somebody exists, how do you vote for them?"
] | [
"Your first practical problem would be passing such a law. Congress is full of people who won their seats by raising lots of money for their campaign, so having to raise a lot of money isn't a problem for them. They don't want to vote to take away their advantage and give all candidates the same amount of money. As... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why do those "pan-tilt" photos make things look like models? | [
"I'll try and actually explain this as easily as possible. The quickest reason for this miniature illusion is depth-of-field, which is the blurry background or foreground effect you see in photography when an object is in sharp focus. Depth-of-field is usually not achieved in photographs that are taken in landscape... | [
"That picture made them appear literally thousands of times bigger than they actually are. The picture makes it seem like cars on the highway, it's more like throwing a ball in the air and hitting an eagle. It is extremely unlikely, and we know where they all are."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Science and Technology:"
} |
Why is chloroform not used as a sleeping medication? | [
"Because chloroformed sleep is a sedated, unnatural state of unconsciousness. The compound depresses the central nervous system and too much can easily kill a person."
] | [
"Opium is refined to morphine which is a better painkiller. Morphine is refined to heroin which is a better painkiller again. Therefore there is no need for opium as a painkiller"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
who decided that vulgar language was vulgar? | [
"This is a bit like asking who decided what is polite and what is kind and what is mean - they are bound to culture, context and they ebb and flow with social norms. While we can talk about how and why words get put on lists that the MPAA uses in ratings, or that are OK or not OK on broadcast televition, it's nearl... | [
"There are seven words in the english language that do this: Potatoes Tomatoes Embargoes Echoes Heroes Torpedoes Vetoes That is just how they were originally spelt. As for photos, it's short for photographs making it an adopted \"slang\" word."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why are modern day toys and electronics so flimsy compared to, say 15 years ago? | [
"Consumers would rather pay less and buy devices more often. If there was more profit to be found by charging more and being durable, that's what you would see. The obsolescence curve for many technologies is also getting faster, so manufacturers can more safely assume their product will have a shorter life anyway... | [
"But people of all ages like toys too! Cars, electronics, handbags... It's just that we only call them toys when kids like them."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Imagine we wanted to nuke Russia at midnight tonight. What military movements would need to be made, how many people would have to sign off on it, etc? | [
"The exact processes are kept pretty secret, but you'd be surprised how simple the process would be. The President can order the strike. The Secretary of Defense confirms the identity of the President and passes the order down the chain to the leg of the triad that will be conducting the attack. We have three meth... | [
"All of it. They do not have to get the permission of anyone to launch a nuke as they are the commander in of the military and are the singular authority over them. It is possible for someone in the chain under him to disobey orders, but that is not likely. During military activities there is not time to call a s... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why does time move at the speed it does? | [
"How would you know the difference if it ran at any other speed? It would still be \"normal\" to you."
] | [
"From the laws governing how electricity works, you can figure out what the speed of light is. So if the laws of physics are the same in every reference frame, the speed of light is the same in every reference frame."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence about Physics:"
} |
Why are objects in the mirror closer than they appear? | [
"Because the mirror is convex, it collects light from a larger field of view than a flat mirror would. This is good at letting you see more road, at the expense of depth perception."
] | [
"Mirrors don't flip images, the mirror is displaying exactly what is in front of it. For example when you stand in front of the mirror you see your right arm on the right. That is because it is directly in front of that portion of the mirror. So...when you are standing in front of the mirror your head is at the top... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is the difference between Computer Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering and Electrical Engineering? | [
"Computer engineering- Computer hardware Computer Science- Computer programming Electrical engineering- Everything having to do with electrical current (a little overlap with computer engineering)"
] | [
"Associate: 2 year degree Bachelor: 4 year degree Master: 6 year degree"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why are most television shows made to censor curse words and other possible offensive vocabulary, but are allowed to show the visual representation of things along the same lines as the omitted/edited speech? | [
"because children who don't always necessarily understand whats going on under the covers it could go over their heads and they wont realize it was a rude scene but if its swearing or talking about sexual subjects it the kids will definitely realize what the shows trying to convey."
] | [
"Something thats \"nsfw\" isn't necessarily going to be content that should only be viewed by adults. So affixing an age barrier to the content is less descriptive. It could be as simple as vulgar language, partial nudity, or simulated violence, and any of those could be problematic in a professional environment, b... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Linguistics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Linguistics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is it assumed to be liquid water on Mars as opposed to some other liquid. | [
"It's not assumed, it's known. They used a spectrometer to analyse the chemical composition of the liquid in the channels."
] | [
"Well I imagine now they would be more interested in searching for signs of life, as they now know that is a distinct possibility with liquid water."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Who are the Oath Keepers and what do they do? | [
"The Oathkeepers are a group that is supposed to consist of people who take an oath to defend the Constitution as part of their work---so soldiers, some other government workers, police, and the like. The organization asks its members to swear that they will never follow an unconstitutional order, meant as insuran... | [
"What's a Tory, and why do so many people seem to hate them?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why does pee foam when it hits the ground outside. | [
"Foamy urine can be caused by rapid urination. At times, when you delay going to the washroom, large amounts of urine gets collected in the bladder. Also, proteinuria or presence of significant amounts of protein in the urine, is one of the most common cause of foamy urine."
] | [
"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 query about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence about Science:"
} |
How do 501c4 non-profits work and how do they threaten democracy? | [
"They don't in and of themselves. A 501c4 is a tax exempt organization that is allowed to use their money to influence public opinion which includes influencing elections. So people can donate money to the 501c4 and that organization can then spend money to influence the election via TV ads, etc. Some people feel t... | [
"Non-profits are tax exempt, because most churches are run as non-profits, they don't pay taxes. It has nothing to do with the fact that they are religious institutions."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Non-profit organizations and democracy:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about Non-profit organizations and democracy:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
base 10 numbering system | [
"Base 10 is what we mostly use. We count individual things until there are ten of them, then we start counting how many sets of ten. Number 11 means (1) Set of ten with (1) individuals. Number 42 means (4) sets of ten with (2) individuals. Number 236 means (2) sets of hundred, (3) sets of ten, and (6) individuals.... | [
"for: all the data against: fossil fuel interests"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Mathematics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Mathematics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why was a country as small as Germany so effective in WW2? | [
"It was a combination of good strategy, good industrialization, and that they embraced new technology early on, so they could build up a strong force of tanks and combat aircraft even before they went to war."
] | [
"After WWII, Germany was completely destroyed and remade as the Allies saw fit, it was almost a completely different country than pre-war Germany. Plus, Germany was an essential ally during the Cold War, which made it easier to forgive them."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why do the desktop computers (Dell Optiplex 9010) that I get on at my university run so fast and smooth while the 6-month-old netbook laptop I use runs so slowly? | [
"A base model (which is what I assume your school has) Optiplex 9010 has much better specs than your average netbook. It's actually a very good computer for school/office work, I'm surprised your school has computers that nice. The processor that it has (i3-3220) was only released about six months ago and is very m... | [
"A cable box, a car computer, or something like a gaming console have a different operating system, and they're designed to do one thing. Run GPS, or receive a cable signal. An OS like Windows has to do a lot of things and so it's more complex and is a lot heavier as to how much data needs to load with it. That sai... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How do they determine which song hits number 1? | [
"It's the song with the most revenue in that week. They look at sales online, downloads and in stores."
] | [
"There are multiple lists -- fiction, non fiction, childrens, etc. It's like music. What's the #1 song right now? Well, that's going to depend on whether you're talking about pop, country, rock, R & B, and so on."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How are portable powerbanks able to stuff 30,000mAh worth of energy into such a small body as compared to a 28A portable car battery? | [
"You can't compare Lithium-polymere accumulators and the Lead-ones currently used in cars. In your car you need a battery that has no problems with pumping out high currents (your starter can require up to 100A for a start.) but you seldom need a long lasting battery since most of the time your engine should be run... | [
"If you shove that much power into a battery that fast, it gets really really hot. If the battery gets really really hot, it releases all of its energy at once. Since most of us prefer not to have exploding batteries, the phones carefully monitor the temperature of the battery and slow down the charging as it start... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
how can the Hollywood studios acquire so many cars from the 20s - 70s period? | [
"Car clubs. They baby their cars and would like nothing more than to have them on a movie set."
] | [
"They don't need it. Those are the kinds of cars where if you have to ask how much they cost, you can't afford them. Besides they get plenty of press in car magazines and shows like Top Gear. Also every 12 year old boy's bed room wall. (In the 80s)"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do pain killers like tylenol or paracetamol make flu shots less effective? | [
"Paracetamol works by stopping your body from making chemicals that naturally increase blood flow by dilating blood vessels. When you get a big bruise that's swollen, these drugs reduce the blood flow in that area, which helps reduce swelling. If you've gotten a flu shot after taking a bunch of drugs like this, the... | [
"Drugs don't just work on the one thing they are prescribed for but the main effect they have is helping with the issue you have. Antibiotics might kill the bacteria in the infection but they also damage bacteria in your digestive system which can make you feel worse and introduce symptoms like say diarrhea. I rai... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
What is the purpose of a five-star military rank? | [
"Those ranks exist so that during wartime a single supreme commander can be appointed in a given operational area. This simplifies the chain of command by making it totally clear who is the senior officer. Remember that in a large operational setting (like a theater of war) there may be a large number of very senio... | [
"How is this different from a standard mutual fund?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
What Is Visual Snow, Why Does It Exist & Does Every Human Have It? | [
"It’s considered as a disease, or at least as a symptom of a disease (Lyme disease, for example), so no, everyone does not have it. It happens when a part of you cerebral cortex goes into overdrive, causing your ocular nerves to misinterpret information. As for what it is, you can picture it as the visual noise on ... | [
"Being Black Does Actually Have (Relatively Minor) Health Consequences, It's Just That They're Obviated By Modern Life. There's An Energy Cost To Have Extra Melanin, Even A Small One, So If You Don't Need It It Won't Be Selected For. Melanin Reduces Vitamin-D Uptake From The Sun If Sunlight Is Lower Than You're Ada... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why insulin is so important. | [
"Insulin is a hormone which regulates sugar (glucose) levels in the bloodstream. With another hormone called glucagon, it keeps sugar levels in the bloodstream at a nearly constant level by breaking down or building up glycogen stored in the liver or sometimes fat or protein stored elsewhere. Having glucose in the ... | [
"Aspirin is not a placebo, it's a medicine."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
How does phantom limb syndrome work? | [
"Your nervous system has been sending singles to your brain about how your limbs feel since before your were born. Right now, reach down and touch your pinky toe without looking at it. You can do this because your pinky toe is constantly sending signals to your brain with \"status updates\". Now if your pinky toe ... | [
"> How is the charge of ions in the air supposed to affect someone’s mood, specifically in the case of Seasonal Affective Disorder or Major Depressive Disorder? They don't have any effect."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
What happens to ants that a separated from their colony? | [
"If the distance is close enough, they will be able to find their way by scattering to scout and tracking each other via the pheromones they lay on their path. However, 5km might be a little long for them; I think after first scrambling away for a little while, some of them will get lost in their own trail and go a... | [
"> Will the ant just eventually die? Will it go off and live on its own? Typically, it will wander until it finds the trail to its home colony, or dies of starvation. > Will it join a nearby colony? Would a new colony of ants allow an outsider to join? This depends on the species. There are some types of ants whic... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why is every planet spherical? | [
"Planets form spheres because of the gravity emitted by their own mass. In space, any mass in space that exceeds about 6x10^20kg, or about 1/10,000 the mass of Earth, will compress itself into a sphere because its gravity pulls all of the mass in. Ideally, this leads to a shape where all the mass is equally distant... | [
"Are you asking what caused the Big bang? No one knows."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is plastic surgery for hands so ineffectve? We see many ageing celebrities with young-looking faces, but their hands always give away their true age. There's surely a market for it, so what's holding it back? | [
"You ever notice how people with a lot of work done on their faces can't be very expressive because their faces don't move as much? Now imagine the mobility in your hands is that limited. People are willing to sacrifice some ability to move their faces (which everyone will see and notice) more than dexterity in the... | [
"It's likely you're not actually giving them the amount of exposure you think you are and the areas that do get more exposure look more tanned by comparison. Not a medical pro -- there may well be a \"condition\" that explains it that I've not heard of before."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is Cop Baiting? | [
"It's when you do something in order to provoke a cop into doing something. The most common topical example would be to harass a cop with insults while filming them until they respond inappropriately. You then share the last half of the video where the cop acted inappropriately."
] | [
"Next Week's Theme: 'Royalty, Nobility, and the Exercise of Power' To be followed by: \"Eastern Europe\""
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How fast is the fastest computer? | [
"The fastest computer in the world is the Sunway TaihuLight, which can do over 93,000,000,000,000,000 floating point calculations per second. This means that you'd need around 71,000 Xbox Ones working together to match it. > Like say I wanted to download a movie, what kind of wait time am I looking at? Downloading... | [
"Is it possible to get a better picture with a little more light?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why do most people enjoy potatoes but don't like other vegetables? | [
"Though botanically classified as vegetables, potatoes are nutritionally classified as starchy foods that differ greatly in taste and texture from the traditional leafy green vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, and kayle."
] | [
"~~Do you have a source that says we can't digest raw potatoes? I've tried googling it but all results are contradictory to the claim~~ I've found a source that says why you shouldn't eat raw potatoes, we can digest raw potatoes, but raw potatoes have toxins to our body that get broken up by cooking"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
From where does Earth get energy to rotate around itself and revolve around the Sun? | [
"Earth is falling towards the sun, for the same reason that you'd fall to the ground if you jumped - gravity! Why doesn't it hit the sun though? Well, orbits are just when you move sideways fast enough to miss the object you're falling towards. That's we use the term free fall... in space, you're always falling, yo... | [
"One solar day is the time it takes the planet to perform 1 full revolution on its axis. The real question should be why do planets revolve on their axis at different rates."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
What is RAID (Computer Terms) and how would I use it? | [
"You can have multiple hard disks act as a special type of single hard disk. There are different ways this can be utilized which have different benefits. One of the benefits is redundancy (e.g. if one or sometimes even more than one disk breaks there are others with the information still). The other is increased sp... | [
"Sure! * Monitor - Let's you see stuff the computer wants to show you * Keyboard/Mouse - Let's you put information into the computer, control things * Harddrive - Stores information in the medium/long term (SLOW) * RAM - Stores information in the short term (FAST) * Optical Drive - Let's you read from disks using l... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer about Computer Science:"
} |
Why do some people choose not to be organ donors? | [
"Some are too lazy to register or check the box. Some find it unacceptable due to their religion. Some don't like contemplating the thought of their mortality. Some don't like the thought of their body being separated and used for spare parts."
] | [
"Because they promise not to use your answer to determine whether or not to hire you."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is desertion a serious crime? | [
"I would say that it is a *bit* obsolete, but originally, this is due to morale and discipline. When your army is charged, you don't want them to flee. When you are losing, you don't want them to run, or turn on you. If someone is allowed to just disagree, and leave, discipline breaks down in the ranks as everyone ... | [
"There is no such thing as guilt by association in the USA."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Law and Entertainment:"
} |
How do lips still sync up in slow motion music videos? | [
"One way to do this is to film people moving at normal speed, but the music they're lip syncing to is sped up. That way when they slow the video down and play the song at normal speed, the song is playing normally, the lips still match as long as they sped it up the right amount in the original recording."
] | [
"A good portion of songs (especially pop songs) are within a certain range of tempos. Try choosing a slower song or faster song. I just chose Mad World by Gary Jules and it doesn't quite sync up, maybe try a much faster tempo found in classical music. One thing you have to remember is the fact that your perception ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How exactly does Morse Code work and how was it developed? | [
"It was developed at a time where we could not transmit speech yet. A simple \"current on or off\" is easier to transmit. But how do you convert messages into \"on/off\" patterns? You invent a pattern for every letter. The sender sends them via pressing a key, and the receiver has a speaker making a sound when the ... | [
"So when and where did playing cards as we know them come into being anyways?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
If energy cannot be created or destroyed, what happens to the energy and matter that gets sucked into black holes? | [
"Black holes do not violate these conservation laws. Think of a penny that you drop into an ocean. For any practical purposes, that penny is gone, but that doesn't mean it just disappeared, it's still somewhere deep in that ocean. Black holes don't destroy energy, they just \"trap\" it, if that makes sense."
] | [
"Some of it turns into heat, some of it turns into light, some of it turns into sound and some of it is lost in inefficiencies."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why does resetting a router sometimes increase connection? | [
"A router is a small single purpose computer, with a CPU, and memory. It runs a simple operating system, called \"firmware\". This little computer only helps you talk to the internet. It gets information from the internet, and passes it to your PC, laptop, or Playstation. Then it takes information from your PC or P... | [
"Doing a reset wipes the cache files. These can cause random software issue. In the case of signal, resetting the phone forces it to restart searching for signal."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
On a cold day after baking, will leaving the oven door open warm my house any more than leaving it closed? | [
"At the end of the day, the same amount of energy would be released into your household. Opening or closing the door will just allow the release of heat to happen faster or slower. With the door closed, the only effective way for the oven to lose the heat is to just radiate it out. There is a small vent that will ... | [
"Because using a cold oven is a bad way to make food (as I found out when I turned the oven to \"Light\" instead of \"Heat\" while trying to make lasagna). And it's easier to know how long to give something if you put it in the oven when it's hot, rather than put it in while it's cold and let it heat up at the same... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why were the passengers on 9/11 hijacked flights able to call their loved ones on cell phones in the air before the crashes, but my modern cell phone loses all service pretty much instantly after takeoff. | [
"I believe the passengers were using those clunky old airplane phones in the seat backs. You'd just slide your credit card through and get a few minutes of not-especially-great service."
] | [
"What was the number... 90% of accidents occur during take-off and landing? It's literally the most critical time of the entire flight, and I think you can afford to give them some leeway. Your cell phone is constantly trying to connect to cell towers, other devices, etc, and you do NOT want to be interfering on th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Technology:"
} |
Why do we make the sound "Ow!" when we get hurt as opposed to any other noise? | [
"Because that's what we observed our surroundings do when we were babies. It's culture. Like how many cultures have different ways to articulate animal sounds."
] | [
"When I make that gesture there is no sound associated with it. Are you referring to the people who click their tongue when they make this gesture? Or something else?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Biology:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence about Biology:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why do we spend so much money on capital punishment rather than just shooting those on death row? | [
"The expense doesn't really come from the method of execution. It's the overhead of all the appeals."
] | [
"Exactly. When you give someone the death penalty, they will draw out every legal process as long as possible, in order to stay alive for longer. And we make sure to provide lots of chances for appeal and such, because we know innocent people get executed every once in a while."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
How do we know we aren't in a simulation? What is the science behind the studies and how do we know that science isn't just programming? | [
"This isn't a theory that is currently testable by science; it's more a philosophical issue than a scientific one. As humans, all our perceptions are filtered through our senses as nerves. Per the [Brain in a Vat](_URL_0_) scenario, we have no objective way of proving that our sensory input is 'real'. As such, sci... | [
"Bank of America is embezzling money. Their plan is to say that it was a glitch in the reality simulator that put all those funny numbers in their books, and not fraud. This investor letter is just laying the groundwork for an elaborate legal defense. The philosophy behind it is sound, however. If some future civi... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the post about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why does the sounds made by kid's toys slow down when the batteries start getting low? | [
"In simple terms, most circuits that make sound or play back digitally recorded sounds use a timing circuit (like an oscillator) to send out the sound waves at a constant rate. More expensive toys will use crystal-based oscillators and low-battery cutoff circuits to keep things from getting funky as the power level... | [
"Because when the device is on it creates heat and it expands and when you turn it off it starts to contracts. Just like the ticking when you turn your car off from driving"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why do fans always have controls that go: off, 3, 2, 1 instead of off, 1, 2, 3? | [
"because when you turn on a electric motor, you want it on it's max setting as having it on it's lowest setting may not be enough power to start the fan so then it will burnout."
] | [
"You take the numbers, and add the last two, and get the third. Simple. 1 is given, and since there's nothing before it, the next one is also 1. Then 1+1= 2, so 2 is next. 1 1 2 1+2 = 3, so 3 is next 1 1 2 3 2+3= 5 so 5 is next 1 1 2 3 5 3+5=8 so 8 is next 1 1 2 3 5 8 And on you go."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument about mathematics:"
} |
Why do mobile phone companies cap data on a monthly basis, but I have unlimited Internet access through my cable provider? | [
"To prevent complete saturation of the cellular bandwidth, and to persuade you to pay them ridiculous quantities of money for more bandwidth allocation."
] | [
"Depending on what your doing or how much data you have used a service provider will drop your bandwidth to a significantly slower speed. So the big open internet problem is that if you wanted to watch Netflix but if the internet wasn't open an ISP could essentially severely limit your speed to Netflix, either bec... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
What is a realistic way to get rid of the drug cartels in Mexico? | [
"I am sure I won't be the first person to suggest this, but legalization seems like the only answer to me. Legalization would make drug prices plummet, and create of flood of legitimate businesses into the market. This cuts off their money, and thus their power."
] | [
"In the real world why would anyone want to be a politician?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
How are presidential polls considered to be representative of public opinion when I've never met someone who has actually sat through a phone interview for one? | [
"Your typical professionally-conducted presidential poll talks to around 1000 people; in the presidential election season, there might be two dozen major polls conducted in a month for two years. That's roughly ~576,000 (=24 x 24 x 1000) people polled per presidential election, or about 1 person in 600. And by the... | [
"It's based on exit polling, not the actual results. Exit polling means polling voters just after they have voted, so they get a pretty accurate idea well before votes are officially counted."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why are people so against wind farms? | [
"Apart from the wildlife issues (which I think get over-stated a bit) and the fact that a lot of people don't like looking at them, the real problem is the pay-off time (when they've generated enough power to cover their cost) is often longer than the service life of the hardware and the energy cost to produce them... | [
"Context? What is a \"smart meter\", and where is this controversy based out of? Who is involved? Thanks!"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do we feel the weird banging in our body when listening to loud live music | [
"Sound is pressure waves moving through the air that vibrate your eardrums. Your ribcage doesn't have much that is solid behind it to stop it vibrating to large, low frquency pressure waves."
] | [
"It's because the ambient noise (the background noise) is much lesser at night unless you're living in a busy place 24/7. Having a lesser ambient noise makes your hearing concentrate to lesser sound source and that includes the TV audio. With less ambient noise, you can hear the smallest sounds like the buzzing of ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why a humidifier doesn't use as much energy as an electric kettle? | [
"A kettle's job is to boil a whole lot of water very fast. A humidifer's job is basically boil a small amounts of water slowly. The amount of energy used to boil 1L of water in a kettle dry is the same as the amount used by a humidifer to use up 1L, however a kettle will use all that energy in like a minute, wherea... | [
"How much water is in the bath? How much is in the kettle? How hot is the bath water?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
How do bare-knuckle boxers not/rarely break their own fists? | [
"Bare knuckles boxers don't hit as hard as ones with gloves. It may seem counter-intuitive, but a fighter with gloves is actually far more dangerous than a fighter without them. The fighter with gloves can launch full-force attacks that create a huge impact wave in their target. In contrast, the fighter without glo... | [
"I don’t know about leg wraps, but hand wraps are pretty important in boxing. You bind your hand tightly with the wraps, and it stops the bones in your hand shifting as you throw really hard punches. Using hand wraps, you can hit really hard things, really hard, and there is less chance of seriously breaking your ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do old broken bones and injuries hurt when there are extreme highs or lows in the weather. | [
"Weather is caused by pressure differences. Like when you see on the weather channel the (H) and (L) converging. [here](_URL_0_) you can see a great visualization of that. All our joints have fluid in them (Like oiling your gears) and we're used to the fluid expanding and contracting normally under different atmosp... | [
"Joints are actually an enclosed capsule filled with something called synovial fluid. As you may know, the weather changes mainly because of pressure changes in the atmosphere. When the barometric pressure changes, it affects things like.... closed capsules that happen to contain joints. At least, that’s the preva... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Health and Weather:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Health and Weather:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Health and Weather:"
} |
How come people who are crossing Europe illegally are considered migrants and not illegal immigrants? | [
"Well a migrant is just somebody who travels, could be an immigrant or an emigrant. As for the North African and Middle Eastern immigrants, they're refugees of a war zone so referring to them as \"illegal immigrants\" creates a certain stereotype which they don't deserve."
] | [
"Some people are saying Asylum Seekers. If you want to leave/enter countries, but won't get in being who you are, you'll need to pretend to be someone else."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
With so much advancement in communications. Why are we still not able to find the missing flight Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370? | [
"It appears to have crashed in the ocean. We know where it was at the last ATC contact but a plane can move a pretty significant distance between contacts and, after it hits the water, all bets are off. Planes are big but the ocean is much much bigger. There are a huge number of technologies available but it's sti... | [
"What about the 5 Americans who were on the jet? Or all of the American resources (satellites, Navy, Merchant Marines) that are in use to find it? Or the American company that makes a lot of jets that can't find one now? What about the sheer interesting factor that a jet up and disappeared with 239 people on it? Th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about aviation:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment about aviation:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why do tickets dispensed by arcade machines always seem to arrange themselves into neat piles? | [
"One of the ways tickets can come from the factory is in accordion-folded stacks. (The other is on spools.) After they're fed out of the machine, the tend to fold back the way they were."
] | [
"The edge is canted upwards so lots of quarters collect there. They're made to look like a big pile is about to fall over but they rarely ever do and you'll hardly ever get a positive return"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why don't we, instead of filling tires with air, just make them out of solid rubber? | [
"Solid rubber weighs way too much. Edit: they are experimenting with airless tires though. Imagine a hollow honeycomb in a circle. I think they're plastic. I've looked into this, and will post a link as soon as I find it. Edit edit: [Link]( _URL_0_) this is some pretty cool stuff. I last looked into it a few years ... | [
"Even though you can't see it, there are tiny tiny holes in the balloon that allow the air to escape over time."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Automotive technology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text about Automotive technology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
What would happen to a plane that was flying within the Earths atmosphere but suddenly began to experience no force of gravity? | [
"well let's suppose that can happen. who would happen. plane's going at some 500 mph relative to ground at altitude of 30,000ft. God turns off gravity in the entire universe. first thing that'd happen. all the passengers would freak out. next thing that'd happen, the plane would start gaining altitude fast. ... | [
"Yes you can think of it that astronauts experience weightlessness in orbit because they are in a freefall, and their sideways speed is so large that they are falling sideways which keeps them from entering the atmosphere (and slowing down). Astronauts travelling to Mars would be in orbit around the sun, so the sam... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
how does circumcision not count as illegal genital mutilation? | [
"Simply because it's a socially accepted act that is rooted in religion with Western cultures. If the act were not Westernized, it would be considered mutilation."
] | [
"* both are done without consent of the person it is being done to * both are done for antiquated ideas of tradition, health or religion * both can be done poorly, causing physical problems * both reduce sexual sensation But usually Female circumcision takes far more tissue. Depending on what the local traditions a... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
How is Stephen Colbert a character? What is different between Stephen Colbert and "Stephen Colbert"? | [
"Stephen Colbert played a character by the same name on his Comedy Central show \"The Colbert Report\". The fictional Colbert was a parody of the kind of personality-driven opinion shows common on nighttime cable news networks. While that was a very popular character that was appropriate for his cable show, it woul... | [
"I think comedians are the modern philosophers. How many people learned how to think differently and see things from an alternate perspective from comedians like George Carlin, Robin Williams, etc?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why do black tattoos turn blue eventually? | [
"Cheap ink and Sun Exposure. Not all black inks fade to blue. My grandfather's 35yr old tattoo is still black, mind you it's blurry due to 30 years of aging."
] | [
"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:"
} |
How can the Department of Homeland Security actually run out of money? (since the House just failed to extend funding) A | [
"Congress doesn't budget for departments to build reserves like that, so when they stop cutting checks that's all she wrote"
] | [
"Government doesn't approve a budget so money cannot be allocated to the various departments. Without money they cant function. So they close down until a bill is passed and money is provided. Many agencies essential to the survival of the country still function, such as the military and emergency services, but the... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why do we feel like time has passed after sleeping but not after being given general anesthetic? | [
"I had my first experience with general anesthesia this year and felt the same. Waking from a nap or a night's sleep, there a sense of time having passed. After general anesthesia there's just a blank with no sense of duration."
] | [
"It's a stress event. It's like asking why are you tired after a road trip, but not after sitting around the house all day. Driving may not be the worst thing ever, but it's certainly more taxing than watching Netflix on your couch."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Health and Wellness:",
"pos": "Represent the passage about Health and Wellness:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
I I work in the medical field one of my jobs is to encapsulate exposed wires with epoxy and then hit it with ultraviolate rays to cure it. I am curious, How does light cause the substance to go from liquid to solid, and why is it conductive when it is liquid, and nonconductive when it is solid? | [
"The UV light causes a polymerization within the epoxy. The epoxy is composed of a bunch of small single molecules, called monomers, that are floating around more or less freely. However, when exposed to UV light, they are given energy that gets used in bonding the monomers together into big molecules of repeating ... | [
"It's because liquid glue doesn't stick to anything. It isn't until the water (in white glue) evaporates that it actually adheres to anything. In a bottle, The water cannot evaporate, so the glue can't stick to the bottle. If you leave the lid off, it can evaporate and the glue will get stuck inside the bottle. Edi... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the text about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
How does Grooveshark play whatever song you want for free while Pandora requires you to listen to radio stations with mandatory commercials? | [
"Pandora operates completely legitimately, while Grooveshark technically does not. Grooveshark has been involved in the occasional lawsuit, and more will likely come. Its more a matter of the fact that Grooveshark has remained more under the radar, and with so many different sources of what may be called copyright ... | [
"Eventually users pay spotify for premium just so they don't have to hear those ads again."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text about Technology:"
} |
The purpose of the painted spiral on the front of an aircraft engine. | [
"It visualizes the speed at which the turbine spins, since the turbine blades move so fast that you can't distinguish between a slowly idling engine and one which has full power. The spiral can be distinguished even at high speed, since it changes only a little bit each revolution. This is mainly useful for reasons... | [
"How about through that opening on the side of your head?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does pouring beer into a glass of ice make it go flat? | [
"CO2 bubbles usually don't form just at random in the middle of a fluid. Instead, they need to form in cavitation points, which are basically tiny nicks in the surface of something which change the properties of the carbonic acid form of CO2 enough that it turns back into a gas. This is why you usually see a stream... | [
"Because the slurpee now has alcohol in it, which has a freezing point much lower than water. But since it is still below the freezing point of water, ice forms on the outside of the cup, since the liquid inside is cooling the cup itself. It's the same reason that if you stick a bottle of rum or southern comfort in... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
What are CETA and TTIP, and why are some countries so opposed to it? | [
"[This](_URL_0_) is actually a really good article about why people are scared of it. Add on top of that. all the negotiations have been behind closed doors, so our fearless leaders are going to push things that a lot of people are dead against down over their heads. Thus the pushback. Some of us consider ISDS a cr... | [
"Russia does not have a good track record when it comes to telling the truth. Why start believing them now?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
the numbers in the periodic table of elements | [
"It depends on which numbers you are referring to. They all deal with the chemical and physical properties of the element. The most common are: Atomic Number (the number of protons): which essentially defines the element. For example, an oxygen atom is only oxygen if it has 8 protons. Atomic Mass (the average weigh... | [
"Smaller numbers go in to bigger number more times. So the answers are bigger."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why do governments not put extra taxes on sugar, salt and fat to make the population healthier? | [
"Take a look at how New York City's ban on large sodas went. Soda lobbies fought it. People didn't like it, they felt that the government was impeding on their freedom to consume how they deem fit."
] | [
"Taxation can very easily be used to cause people to take some action, or to discourage another. We want people to buy solar panels or health insurance, so we provide tax credits to those that buy the things we want. We don't want people to buy tobacco, so we put high taxes on it. If those taxes were ever set high ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
What is the significance of prime numbers in encryption? Why are we trying to find bigger ones? | [
"Mainly because we have no good method of prime factorization with computers, and the complexity of the problem scales exponentially in trying to find bigger primes. RSA for example mainly relies on multiplying two relatively large primes together. You could theoretically decrypt it if you could find the prime fact... | [
"They're not really different in any fundamental way. Cryptography is more or less based on functions that are easy to calculate in one direction, but hard in the other. So given x it is easy to find f(x)= y, but given y it is supposed to be hard to find x. The problem with some of the of the functions we use is th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Mathematics:",
"pos": "Represent the post about Mathematics:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
how does sexual attraction mature with age? | [
"There's a few factors. One, you associate your own age with familiarity, and people tend to be attracted to people they have things in common with. That's why many couples tend to look somewhat similar in at least a few aspects (weight, age, skin color, clothing, height, etc). Sometimes personal preference will ov... | [
"Natural aversion to sexual contact with our family for genetic reasons, taken one step further. Post audio or it didn't happen."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How is it that the Monty Hall problem and the gambler's fallacy don't contradict each other? | [
"The key to the Monty Hall problem is that the door that's removed from play is *never* the door with the prize and *never* the door you initially chose. So if you choose a door at random, you initially have a 1/3 chance of being right and a 2/3 chance of being wrong. One of the doors you didn't choose is then remo... | [
"When people say \"technically not a paradox\" it usually means it is a veridical paradox, which basically means you only think it is a paradox because you do not really understand what is happening. A couple of famous ones are the Twin Paradox of General Relativity, the Birthday Paradox of probability, and the Mon... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why are there 360 degrees? | [
"360 is a really great number that can be divided by 2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,12,15,18,20,24,30,36,40,45,60,72,90,120 & 180. 400 is only evenly divisible by 2,4,5,8,10,16,20,25,40,50,80,100 & 200."
] | [
"Bear in mind that there are 150 British accents."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do animals become domesticated and why are some not able to be domesticated? | [
"Nobody has mentioned the difference between animals that pretty much domesticate themselves (cats) and animals which are purposely domesticated by us humans for specific tasks and reasons. Most people that have studied it have come to the conclusion that cats weren't really \"domesticated\" but rather they domesti... | [
"Dogs were really the first animal that man domesticated. Before cattle and other animals for food and work, we domesticated the wolf to be hunting partners! Since we've been selecting which wolves we like best for their depositions for such an extended period of time (maybe 80,000 years? (check)) they are by far m... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do European forests seem to have less underbrush than forests in the Eastern U.S.? | [
"Im no expert but I believe its because they've been left alone to grow longer, when trees get bigger it cuts off sunlight to the floor, over time you get a lot less smaller plants in the underbrush due to that and maybe the bigger trees using up more nutrients. I recall reading that in USA it used to be possible t... | [
"Temperature is influenced by air and ocean currents. In general, the eastern and central parts of North America are significantly colder than Western and southern European countries that are about the same latitude. Then if you go east of western Europe, into Russia and Siberia, the temperature gets colder again. ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
what consequences if any are there from streaming tv shows on your computer? | [
"Hardware like your monitor and the CPU have to be working, and those can only work for very roughly 50 000 hours. Your ISP might bill you if you go over your cap if you go over your cap... and have a cap to go over to begin with. Were you thinking there was something special going on here?"
] | [
"They tend to not get as much profit as movies. so broadcasting on tv or the web is usually enough. Same goes with collections of short films."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
If/Once the Cuban Embargo is lifted, what will change? | [
"It will be easier people in the US to visit Cuba, acquire Cuban goods and do business in Cuba. Vice-versa for people in Cuba dealing with the US."
] | [
"For 50 years now, US and Cuba had no official relations at all. There was no real way for the US government to talk to the Cuban government. Building an embassy means that formal relations are reopening, which is a huge step in the right direction. This means that the US might be willing to end the embargo, and Cu... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
After a recent deed, someone told "that was mighty white of ya". What does that phrase mean? | [
"Their intended meaning: that you did something nice that they appreciate. The actual meaning: black people are incapable of goodness or decency."
] | [
"You keep forgetting his name. That's it that's what happens."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why do the majority of living things, like animals, insects, and bugs, require oxygen to survive? | [
"Living cells need Oxygen to react with the food we eat to get energy - It's basically the same thing as burning, but much less ''violent'', and produces the same waste (Co2). Oxygen is used for this due to how easily it reacts, but it's possible to use other gasses as well. There are lots of bacteria that do not n... | [
"Life means you can get energy from eating something (plants, animals, sunlight, minerals, and so on), you can have babies of your own that grow up and have more babies, and you can adapt to your surroundings to survive. A virus on the other hand does not eat anything else to make energy to live. There is still a l... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Explain 4k vs 1080p and other TV display resolutions to me | [
"There are two things to consider (well, more, but two that I will go into): resolution, and pixel size. All \"1080p\" screens will be 1,920 pixels wide and 1,080 pixels tall. However, you can have a 1080p screen that is pretty small (I think that smartphones are approaching this) or you can have a 1080p screen tha... | [
"Computer monitors use a higher resolution than televisions, until you get to a true 4K television display, and of course those televisions cost more than computer monitors. Edit: There are 4K computer monitors, but I don't believe there are any 4K televisions that currently share the same size to give a fair price... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Who/what is the "Chair" of the Senate, and who tells him/her what to do? | [
"The [president pro tempore of the senate](_URL_0_), meaning president for a time, is the second highest ranking Senator and a senator who serves as something like acting senate president in absence of the Vice President. The position was created in the Constitution (Article I Section 3): > The Senate shall choose... | [
"Committee membership is appointed. Normally for a 5 member committee there are 3 appointments from the majority party and 2 from the other. Obviously one of the 3 from the majority will become the committee chairman. There are ZERO roadblocks to appointing someone to a committee. There are no hearings healed or vo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do the sounds of letters in the alphabet differ from the sounds of these letters in words? | [
"English has a huge variety of sounds, but we are representing them with a fairly limited alphabet. So many letters end up representing multiple sounds. For instance, most accents have 24 consonant sounds and somewhere around 20 vowel sounds, but the alphabet only has 21 consonant letters and 5 vowel letters. Sinc... | [
"We're just making a close approximation of the pronounced syllables. Even though the letters are different, the sounds are mostly the same, so we can just write what the sounds are. If everyone knows what the letters are supposed to represent in another language, and how to pronounce those letters, it becomes easy... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
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