query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
With so many intelligent people in the U.S., why are the runners up for president not very smart? | [
"Doesn't matter, decision making and ability to convey policy and diplomacy is what matters. That's why there are cabinet positions and functional areas of the government that cover those areas, with people who are experts in the field to advise the President on these matters when a decision has to be made."
] | [
"Because, believe it or not, people in general are even more stupid than the morons in Congress."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Do any good chefs/restaurants freeze or microwave food? | [
"Gordon's not against using a freezer for it's intended purpose, he's against making ready-to-serve meals en masse and freezing them, then thawing in a microwave to serve to the customer. Even worse are people who order factory made ready to eat frozen meals and tell the customer it's fresh."
] | [
"More butter, more salt, better equipment. There isn't much more to say, restaurant food is intense, also lots of prepared ingredients that home cooks don't take the time to do (like sauces)"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
If the 10 yr. treasury goes "up" to 3%, does that mean the price on outstanding treasuries has gone down, or does it mean new issues will have a higher rate, or both? | [
"It means both. New ones will have a 3% interest rate. Ones that have, say 2.5%, would drop in price on secondary market such that the effective rate is 3%. So let's say that the bond sold for $10,000 with 2.5% rate. Now, in order to match the 3% effective rate it would only sell for $8333 if the original buyer wan... | [
"A bond costs $1000 and pays 5% of that $1000 Par Value Now say the interests rates rise, and new bonds pay 6% and also cost $1000 par value. But those 5% bonds still exist, if you want me to buy your 5% bond, i'm not going to pay $1000 for it anymore, because i can buy a 6% one for that...so you need to give me a ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why do some links to websites move the "dot" further in the URL (i.e. _URL_0_, etc.)? | [
"_URL_10_ is a URL shortener, so you enter _URL_11_ instead of a full _URL_12_. _URL_8_ is a URL shortener specifivally for _URL_9_ ."
] | [
"It is an address. It does not go there without it, most browsers translate (or will add _URL_2_ to the request without showing it to you) this before sending the request. **EDIT: Also www. is a place holder for subdomains as well. ex: _URL_1_ is not the same as _URL_2_.example.com Understanding a URL for you who ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why isnt CGI just used in video games to make them look extremely real? | [
"CGI is used in video games. Everything in video games is done in CGI. The difference between video games and movies is that the CGI in video games has to finish in real time (so if your game is running at 60fps, it needs to finish in 1/60th of a second), while movies can spend hours building the CGI for each secon... | [
"Because one is an AAA game with lots of unique full motion video (which your computer couldn't render on it's own) and the other is made by an almost-indie company with hordes of repeatable low-poly models that all use the same hundred textures. It really doesn't take much CPU or hard disk space to render a giant ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do mannequins have hard nipples? | [
"To show consumers how the clothes on the mannequins will look. The nipples allow the purchaser to better judge the thickness of the material."
] | [
"The best things come in pairs, breasts, testicles, sandwiches, butt cheeks, you get the gist."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is going on in Buffalo that is causing them to get so much snow?? | [
"Air currents traveling across the Great Lakes pick up moisture, which condenses, freezes, and becomes snow. It happens with all bodies of water, but a breeze passing over a small pond isn't there long enough to get as much moisture so the effects aren't as noticeable."
] | [
"It's still going on but isn't getting the same level of attention is was a few years back. According to the news, they've moved on to Iranian vessels."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
what is the reason for those few extra blank white pages in the back of a book? | [
"Large books are often printed using sheets of paper arranged into \"signatures\" of a few sheets, and folding those in half, and binding those signatures together and a cover. Not every book's text can be arranged into a perfect multiple of 4/6/8whatever pages, so some pages will be left blank."
] | [
"> I wanted to know if anyone knows why there's a black box at the bottom of the pdf file. Your .pdf reader is messing up, there is no black box."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Books:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Books:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Even if TSA has implemented higher security policy, What is stopped terrorist from buying 'Private jets' and doing something evil like 9/11? | [
"Nothing really. However, an aircraft must file a flight plan, and if an unknown craft heads toward US airspace it will be detected and tracked. It will be contacted, if possible, and ordered to land for inspection. Failure to do so will result in the plane being shot down, likely before it reaches a city. 9/11 w... | [
"Hijacking was very common in the 60s and 70s. There were 130 hijackings in the US between '68 and '72, around 1 a week. Airport security became a thing after that. After 9/11, hijacking became seen a very dangerous instead of just annoying, so security got stepped up again. Train hijacking in the USA isn't a thing... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why is the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck so famous? | [
"It's FAMOUS because many teachers use it, which means that many people have read it. They do that because it's superbly well written, has depth that makes it interesting to discuss, and uses themes that are important to a very broad audience. Also, because it's relatively short and easy, which makes it readable by... | [
"The Things They Carried by Tim O'brien is a great read that talks about what it was like to be a young man being drafted and sent to Vietnam from his own perspective. He continues the story in 2 more books called Going After Cacciato and If I Die In A Combat Zone."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does Freedom of Information Act force agencies to release *the* requested information that can possibly incriminate them. What is stopping them from releasing selective information that doesn't show the complete picture? | [
"Nothing except the risk of getting caught. Elaborate conspiracies are extremely difficult to pull off because all it takes is one individual to blow it open. Also, what makes you think this isn't just happening? I know there's a wife of a former president that's under investigation"
] | [
"This is the function of Wikileaks and journalists. It is possible to confirm a selection of the leakage by asking the organization direct questions concerning that content. Or they can find other sources that are not willing to be full whistle blowers but might take the lesser risk of confirming documents. Since t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
If King Jong Un was educated in Switzerland, how comes noone explained him that terrorising a nation is inhumane and that he didn't pick up any humanity? | [
"He spent most of his life in North Korea, learning that his grandfather and father were practically living gods with unlimited power over peasants. He was richly rewarded and reinforced for believing the same things. Any enlightenment and democratic ideals he learned in Switzerland he didn't find as appealing as t... | [
"The same way players with bad hands at poker battle against Big hands. By bluffing. The problem is that in this game of poker, N.Korea already showed the cards. So bluffing + lying + courage. Also it's not \"a small country\" it's more like a small person named Kim Jong-Un. 99% of the population there think that N... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why are American Christians against allowing refugees into the country, even though it is in direct opposition of what the Bible teaches? | [
"It's not just Christians though, it's a lot of different people of all religions too. A lot of Christians want to welcome them as do other people of other religions too. It seems like your saying a few people speak for everyone."
] | [
"Christianity says you should give to the poor too. Hell many religious say to give to the poor. Are you asking why are there poor people? Or why do people not follow some the teachings of their own religions"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do websites always tell me they're using cookies? | [
"A law was passed in Europe a couple of years back stating that any website that stores your information in cookies has to tell you it's doing so. This means any website accessible in Europe (ie almost all of them) has to have this disclaimer or silly legal issues could possibly ensue. It was one of those cases of ... | [
"There's a EU law that says the website have to notify you. If you don't agree, don't visit the site."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
why aren't snow storms and earthquakes assigned names the way tropical storms are? | [
"Winter storms are named now. The names for the 2016-2017 winter are available [here](_URL_0_) (autoplaying video warning). As for earthquakes, they don't develop over a long period of time so they don't need a common name to track them over the course of several days."
] | [
"A hurricane is a tropical cyclone and specifically one that develops in the Atlantic or the north east Pacific. Once it leaves the tropics it becomes a post-tropical cyclone. Cyclones that generate outside the tropics are extratropical cyclones and do not count as hurricanes. They form over cooler regions and won'... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How does Mazda new HCCI gasoline engine work ? | [
"It's a gasoline engine, but it uses a supercharger to attain very high pressures in the cylinder, causing spontaneous ignition without the use of a spark plug. Together with a uniform blend of fuel and air, the result is more efficient combustion than the hot, explosive combustion caused by a spark. Detailed video... | [
"Expense of a CVT drive combined with the weight and cost of maintenance. Modern large vessels already have variable pitch props, which fill the same role in a way."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do modern bombs like MOAB actually work? | [
"The MOAB uses a chemical Pentaerythritol tetranitrate or PETN. It is pretty much the same as any dumb bomb. It has a nose trigger, or elevation trigger. Usually activated by contact. Or by altimeter. It's dropped out of a lifting type aircraft due to its size. Generally out of a back door. It has a parachute atta... | [
"That is Hollywood science and has little application to real life. Real bombs are not designed like that."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How can MVNO's offer a cheaper price for mobile service than the carrier who's network they use. | [
"Mvnos have lower priority on the network, lower speeds, and no roaming agreements with other networks. Mvnos buy airtime and data in bulk and just resell it"
] | [
"They purchase network time in bulk from AT & T. It's pretty common, all of the big carriers sell time in bulk to companies that don't have their own network. Specifically, providers like Straight Talk are very consumer oriented, and often don't have as much network overlap with the business-targeted customers that... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is the purpose behind a restaurant selling a dish "for a limited time only"? | [
"Common reasons: 1) Some dishes are seasonal - e.g., the McRib is available when pork prices are low. 2) Market testing a new item - the restaurant genuinely doesn't know how well it will be received so doesn't want to add it to a permanent menu yet 3) Adding variety to keep regular customers from getting bored wi... | [
"By compensating with expensive popcorn and extra services. Just like when you go to a restaurant whose drinks cost around half the price of a dish."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What causes us to forget what we were just about to say? | [
"probably the biological version of temporary data corruption in the information stream bouncing around in our somewhat hodgepodge spaghetti monster designed brains."
] | [
"We do remember plenty. We just don't remember it *as events*. You don't, for example, forget how to walk or the language you're raised with."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Memory and communication:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence about Memory and communication:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Time Crystals (yeah, they are apparently now an actual thing) | [
"If you have a quartz clock, it tells the time because when you push electricity through a quartz crystal, it vibrates. Count 32,768 vibrations and one second has gone past. The important thing is that this vibration requires energy (in this case from electricity). These scientists found a way to make a specific ma... | [
"There's these things called quantum particles, which are really really small and are very difficult to see. If you try and look at these quantum particles, then you disrupt whatever they're doing. Observing them causes them to change their behavior and their state, because they act differently when they interact w... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do hackers get caught? | [
"From what I've read, it's often not hacking mistakes that reveal the person's identity. People often overshare information about themselves. For example, the owner of Silk Road (an illegal drug market) was identified because he discussed on some public forum creating the market, when he'd already shared informatio... | [
"And more importantly how do I get one for myself?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about biology:"
} |
If taxes are taken out of each of my paychecks, how come I need to pay taxes again every April? | [
"Because it's an *estimation*. If you look on a tax form 1040, there are a ton of other issues that will reduce or increase your liability. Did you get married? What is your filing status? Do you have itemized deduction (mortgage interest, medical expense). Did you get interest income, dividend, etc. Did your busin... | [
"It's mostly the same here in the USA as in NZ. For the vast, vast majority of workers, it's a tax return, not taxes. Our taxes get taken out (well, the estimated amount at least) with each paycheck. Only contractors have to pay their own taxes at the end of the year, usually. It is required to do it yearly, though... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
What does the historic landing of Falcon 9 First Stage mean/symbolize? | [
"Stage 1's cost a TON of money. Basically, the Stage 1 in all previous missions was destroyed and landed in a random position in the ocean, and that means things were VERY expensive and unorganized. It's like, if you were going to buy flights to another country, someone would have to rebuild the entire plane from s... | [
"Only 1 of SpaceX's 22 Falcon 9 launches has actually failed to reach orbit. The only thing they're having trouble doing is landing the booster rockets under their own power, which NASA has not tried to do."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why do the words knee and knuckle start with K? | [
"The K used to be pronounced in old english. [See this wiki article](_URL_0_)."
] | [
"Silent letters show up because English has a lot of influences. A lot of times, when there is a silent H at the begging of a word, it comes from a rule in French language pronunciation. That’s why hour sounds like our. Silent Ks come from Old English, which was spoken in England before 1100 CE. They actually used ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How come we have not found dino dna in a mosquito that was trapped in amber. As per Jurassic Park. | [
"It's like finding a needle in a haystack. More specifically, a mosquito in some random place on earth. Also, DNA degrades over time. We've had problems with wooly mammoth DNA and that's far \"younger\" than dinosaur DNA."
] | [
"It doesn't (ish) most fossil fuels are from the decomposition of ancient algae/plant matter. Some tiny percentage is probably from non-plant biomatter but... Yeah... Not sure why people associate it with being \"dinosaurs\"."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
How do Plagerism tools for college work ? Is it complex code? | [
"It's mostly a hashing problem. They look at little chunks of your work, 2-5 words each, and look into a database of previous work that they have hashed to see if that pattern appears. Then for the hits, they scan the next few dozen words of the hit and your work to see if the match continues. If enough words match... | [
"It's a big system. It also carries a bit from state to state. Are you interested in the application process? Policy? Logistics?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why do we wake up a minute or two before our alarm clock? Do humans have some sort of internal clock that makes us wake up at that time? | [
"Speak for yourself. Alarm clock goes off. I hear it for a few seconds, then am out like a light again for hours. I've been late many times to work. Can't seem to break the cycle of extreme blissful, tranquil sleep right about the time I'm supposed to get up. Edit: removed minor rant"
] | [
"Your sleeping/waking patterns aren't linear. It's not a tank of gas that's being drained until it finally runs out and you fall asleep. Tiredness has a 2.5-3 hour cycle that it goes through, just like your sleep. If you find it hard to wake up in the morning, setting your alarm half an hour earlier may make it an ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Biology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Biology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Sleep and fatigue:"
} |
If laws over marijuana use is such a concern-how can people (Willie Nelson, Woody Harrelson, Seth Rogen, etc) flaunt such a lifestyle seemingly without consequence? | [
"They have enough money that any punishment the court could possibly levy against them can be bargained away. With money, either given directly to the court system or donated to law enforcement."
] | [
"Well NORML (National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws) has been around since the 70's. We are considered one of the oldest organizations. Really, people have always opposed the prohibition of cannabis. Only recently has it become more popular and acceptable. People are beginning to realize that c... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Entertainment:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Entertainment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Quantum Computers Vs. Normal Computers | [
"Imagine you have a valley filled with hills and trees and houses and telephone poles and someone says \"find the highest point in the valley\" One way to solve the problem would be to run around with a ruler and measure how tall everything is. Another would be to take an ENORMOUS piece of saran wrap and drape it o... | [
"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 post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do people push non-voters so hard to vote? | [
"There are tons of people out there who vote with little information and/or tons of misinformation already. I feel like the people who claim they don't vote because they don't really know enough about politics are at least self aware enough to realize that the very act of going out to vote means they should be doin... | [
"Why does it feel like people are asking questions so they don't have to do their homework lately?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why are there no permanent residents in Antarctica? | [
"It's really fucking cold and there's nothing to eat there except penguins."
] | [
"Why do some parts of the world call gasoline petrol?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why does my iPhone get super hot when I charge it? | [
"Batteries get hot because the act of charging drags the battery molecules through the electrolyte. This friction turns into heat. If you've looked at the iPhone's insides it's mostly battery. Heat generation depends on how hard you charge your battery too. Your iPhone's battery capacity is probably more than your... | [
"Try turning your iPad off. See how many charges you can get while the iPad isn't using any power."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
how is glue working with nearly every materials ? | [
"It really depends on what kind of glue it is, but it looks like you're referring to superglue. Superglue is made of a type of molecule that polymerizes when exposed to water (humidity, from air, for instance), meaning the molecules bond together end-to-end and form long chains that then can't move with respect to ... | [
"You use piece of the surrounding background, an additional photo of similar appearance or your paint it back like a painter would."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph about technology:"
} |
What does Internet companies gain from throttling Internet speed beside charging more for less throttled speed? | [
"Bandwidth, mostly. The more users they can connect on the same cable, the more costs they can cut. Especially with fiber lines, it costs huge amounts to run new ones underground."
] | [
"Net neutrality was the concept that said that every website, regardless of the content or bandwidth requirements would allow the same amount of bandwidth and speed for every other site. It's good because it's a \"free internet\". In a system without it, ISPs can artificially limit the speed to said websites, or ch... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How is glass "clear"? | [
"Glass isn't completely clear. You can still see your reflection in it, so it must reflect some light. Also, most glass is soda lime glass and has a very slight green tinge. This is more noticeable of you bounce two mirrors off of each other to make an infinite reflection, you will see it becomes quite green very... | [
"What do you mean by the 'earliest breeds'?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
What is intelligence, and what does it mean to call someone stupid? | [
"This question is difficult to answer because what do you mean by intelligence? Do you mean possession of knowledge? Do you mean justified true beliefs that are actually false? Do you mean intelligence in the sense of being able to take care of yourself? Intelligence you may have acquired in school? Street smarts? ... | [
"Maybe because we know so little about it and even less about how to deal with those with mental illness."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why do we perceive "off-key" notes? | [
"_URL_0_ Magic happens at :42 to show how it's programmed in our heads. And then it just gets fun."
] | [
"There's no physical involvement with high frequencies. Whereas you can *feel* low frequencies."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment about Science:"
} |
why do babies get medication based on weight, but adults don't? | [
"This isn't necessarily true. Doctors prescribing more 'serious' medications will factor in the weight of the patient when determining the dosages administered. You might be referring to Over-The-Counter medications like Advil or Robitussin. In these cases, the weight of the person taking them does also matter, but... | [
"Asthma medication for people that don't have asthma supposedly gives them better cardiovascular performance and lets their lungs breathe better. Doesn't make a difference in my experience though."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How could water be potentially extracted from atomic energy? | [
"What you're most likely thinking of is *desalination*, which involves extracting fresh drinking water from sea water. The process requires massive amounts of electricity and a large portion of energy in countries like Australia is dedicated to desalination plants. Using an energy source like nuclear or solar can a... | [
"If I understand correctly, water, albeit frozen water, is surprisingly common throughout the universe."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do mobile / cell phones make that buzzing sound when close to speakers? | [
"The signal your cellphone is sending out is a form of electro magnetic radiation. An antenna that receives this information uses a similar design to what we put inside speakers to filter the highs from the lows (called a crossover). Sometimes these crossovers and the speaker itself will pick up the signal your cel... | [
"Because you can act like an antenna for the radio. Try holding the antenna and moving your arms around. Or you could be blocking a source of noise that is interfering with the radio signal."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is CBD oil and how does it work? | [
"It's not too good to be true. It does have many of the beneficial properties of cannabis, without the THC. CBD is hemp oil, from the non-psycoactive plant cannabis sativa. It comes in three different forms, green (unfiltered, straight help oil), blue (filtered, but not \"cooked down\", and gold (filtered, carboxil... | [
"Hemp and Marijuana are cousins. Hemp contains more oil and very little THC. MJ the opposite. There for hemp oil is less expensive. That's about it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
When someone with long hair brushes their hair, a good amount of it always ends up on the brush. How does the person maintain a full head of hair without ever appearing to be balding or having short hairs growing awkwardly among the long ones? | [
"I asked my hairdresser that once. She answered with something unscientific, but good enough for a 5 year old, I guess: \"Oh, you have billions of hairs\"."
] | [
"While it can be thicker, just about any hair on your body feels really nasty when it's just poking out of the skin. Once you let it grow past a few millimeters it starts to feel softer."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why would Apple agree to allow Siri to feature in Microsoft 'Cortana' advertising? | [
"They don't need permission to just feature them in advertisements if the advertisements are fair and not misleading. If you use a video of someone holding an iPad for your ad about ePads, that would be called misleading because you're trying to ride the iPad's reputation and mislead customers into confusing the tw... | [
"Because Skype is owned by Microsoft and Bing is Microsoft's search engine. Microsoft wants you to use their products."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
How do colors appear on calculator screen when pressing them? | [
"I don't know the process, but it almost certainly has to do with the polarizing effect of the liquid crystal. My hypothesis is that the molecules (which reorient and stretch when current is applied) are being compressed in such a way that they filter certain wavelengths due to their shape. I'm going to use some go... | [
"They actually don't change color, they are actually 3 small LED's, one red, one green, and one blue; so just like pixels on a computer monitor, they mix together to form a bunch of colors."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Who are the people that deny the Holocaust happened and Why do they do so? | [
"Most of them are white supremacists. It is hard to be taken seriously when your ideas lead to the death of millions. So instead, you invent a conspiracy theory that makes you out to be the victim."
] | [
"Scientology isn't as popular as they want you to think it is."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Religion and Crime:"
} |
Why can some people walk with their head up when the sun is shining, but others have to keep their head down due to the sunlight? | [
"Light intake can depend on a lot of things. There's some evidence that different color eyes take in more or less light. Lighter colors means more light. Our eyes also dilate to let in more or less light. Coming out a dark area will overwhelm people very easily. Likewise going into a dark area can mean not seeing... | [
"It reduces glare from light reflected under your eye and then into the eye. It's like standing in the sand, the glare from the sand makes it harder to see."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
When a cat or a dog smiles it frowns, are they actually happy and sad, respectively? | [
"That mistype has amusing practical consequences. In short, people suspect the possibility enough to continue researching the subject, but there is yet no definitive conclusion. [googled \"do animals smile\"](_URL_0_)"
] | [
"There was a thread on here about a guys dog who smiled when he got in trouble. Someone came in to say that the dog learns that if he contorts his face in this way, he will avoid punishment, or get a positive response from people (laughing instead of yelling) so that reinforces the behavior and he replicates it whe... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Animal behavior:"
} |
How can i, a number with no real world context (you can't have i cows), have real world implications? | [
"Basically, it needs to exist to make some equations work. It's just a placeholder, the negative square root always ends up as a real number by the end. Think of how your bank account logs negative numbers if you overdraw. You can't literally have less than zero dollars, but they need a place holder for when you p... | [
"It is metaphor, because nothing can get to infinity they do not meet."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Mathematics:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Mathematics:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do you dream less as you get older? | [
"You dream often, every night. Most often a recalled dream is the result of being interrupted in the middle of your sleep cycle. That's why, if you are somewhere unusual, if you are awoken unexpectedly, or if you are ill, you remember your dreams. It's not that you dream more, you just remember them. As we age, we ... | [
"Your body is telling you to quit smoking. Listen to it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Please explain how Comcast and A T & T can block or degrade services such as YouTube or Netflix to promote their own offerings without being subject to Monopoly laws | [
"Because they frame the downgrade of network traffic from those providers in terms of bandwidth management for the whole of their network - rather than as doing so for the purpose of making their own offerings seem more attractive."
] | [
"Net Neutrality basically means ISPs should be Neutral about what's going over their Nets. Specifically, that they can't charge different rates or provide a different level of service for traffic coming from specific sources. For example, without Net Neutrality, it would be possible for an ISP to charge you extra ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why hasn't the hydrogen engine taken over the combustible engine market? | [
"Hydrogen engines don't run on water, they run on hydrogen gas. Hydrogen can be sourced from water, but it's extremely energy intensive to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen is also difficult and dangerous to store in significant quantities (see: the Hindenburg disaster)"
] | [
"Fueling stations was a big hindrance for hydrogen vehicles We already have a nationwide system of gasoline stations, and a nationwide electrical grid so everyone can always find gas for their car near home or charge their electric car at home. Tesla ran into the issue of range and charging stations as well, but th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post about Energy and transportation:"
} |
You see so many statistics showing chances like "one in a million", "one in a thousand", etc. Shouldn't all of these odds add up to a certainty whereby at least one would happen to you? | [
"That isn't really how odds work. For example, if you roll a dice there is a 1/6 chance you will roll a six. So lets say you gather 6 people all rolling a dice each. Does that mean one of you will roll a six for certain? Obviously not, each roll is independent. Each have a 1/6 chance, but it could be that none of y... | [
"Statistics tells us that it is most likely to be a somewhat even distribution. Statistics also tells us that there's a *very small chance* that it will be heavily weighted toward one result. And there's an infinitesimally small chance that you could have 100 of the same result in a row. All of those results are po... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
That feeling you get when falling asleep where it feels like you're sinking and momentarily jolts you back awake. | [
"That's called a [hypnic jerk](_URL_0_). They're thought to be mostly random and not really associated with a health issue or problem. It's just an involuntary muscle spasm. They occur more at younger ages, and steadily decline as you get older. Some studies say that it's related to anxiety, sometimes caffeine."
] | [
"I get sleep paralysis every once in a while. Nothing works except waiting a minute or two. Unfortunately those few minutes are a nightmare because you start wondering if you're actually paralyzed."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
How frightening were the first nuclear weapons? | [
"They were frighting because they did it in one instant. The firebombs on Japan were a result of several months of bombing raids, whereas with a nuclear weapon you could destroy an entire city in just one instant meaning you could do so on a grander scale. The second we developed the nuke it became impossible for t... | [
"Its really hard to believe nothing existed. Even with all these theories."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why do flies fly in curvy patterns all over the place? Why don't they fly in straight lines from point A to point B? | [
"I imagine that flying in a straight line makes them easier targets for predators so by constantly flying in curvy ways they avoid a chance that a predator can catch them easily."
] | [
"They don't fly directly towards the light. They circle around it, going round and round, spiraling closer and closer, until they end up being very close to it. Why do they do that? Well, bugs use the sun and moon for orientation. They try to keep the light source above their heads in the same place, that way they ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Science:"
} |
what is causing the sea level to rise? | [
"It's really two factors. A lot of ice isn't floating in the ocean, it is sitting on land. Antarctica is a rocky continent largely covered in glaciers. Greenland is rocky as well, but a lot of ice sits on top of it. The weight of this ice sitting on rock ends up displacing very little water compared to the water it... | [
"higher CO2 will lead to increased temperatures, among other problems. This will lead to may issues including melting of ice caps and ocean levels rising. This is the whole basis behind concerns about climate change, if you're unaware of the current terminology."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Could someone explain how the whole reddit protest/shutdown seemingly ended in a matter of hours? | [
"Mods: > We're sick and tired of the administrators not helping us run reddit efficiently Admins: > Bro, just give us some time and we'll fix *these* issues in due time Mods: > Ok, but if you don't meet the time table, we're taking the site down again."
] | [
"From a casual observer (who is mildly disgusted with the overall response but hey this is the internet). Ellen Pao put in motion a series of bans to ban sub reddits that were overly hateful/perpetrated harassment. This included the subreddit fatpeoplehate. Now an entire sect of the reddit community is doing the in... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does a mobile phone connection work | [
"There are some different frequencies, but not enough to all mobile phones. The data is digitalised and encoded. Your phone sends out a connection request. The mobile station picks it up and assigns your phone a digital 'slot'. The details are all very mathematical, but knowing your digital address and slot allows ... | [
"The system is designed to allow you to do it. Service providers have an agreement for anyone to use their network for emergency calls."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why is power-cycling such an effective solution for most common problems with electronics? | [
"Suppose you are in a very complex maze, but you have a detailed list of instructions: Go forward, take the third right, then a left .... etc. Now, suppose you make a mistake. You are distracted by a random event and miss your turning. Eventually you meet a dead end. You can no longer follow the instructions, you p... | [
"IT support specialist here. Are your WiFi connected computers the ones having a problem? What is the make and model of your router? What are you trying to do on the affected computers?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How can the universe be infinitely big? | [
"I’d like to say that no one really knows what lies outside our universe. It can’t really be anything can it? It has to be absolutely nothing; something that cannot be defined (except as the absence of anything) otherwise it would be... something. You’re asking for an answer that people don’t yet know"
] | [
"Please watch Stephen Hawking's Grand Design on Netflix! The short answer is, no one knows. What we do theorize is that all matter in the known universe occupied a single point smaller than an Atom. That's as far as we got!"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Mathematics:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Mathematics:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why is it that despite how much CGI has improved in the last 20 years it is always possible to tell when human faces are digitally rendered? | [
"The term is “uncanny valley.” And yes it is much harder to make something real look realistic. Our brain is much better at finding something strange about things that we are used to."
] | [
"JP used a combination of CGI and \"practical\" effects, meaning real effects. A LOT of what you see is puppets. Most of its CGI is just the combination of the two shots or enhancements to them. Modern CGI doesn't quite have the same effect. One of the major problems is lighting. Animators never seem to get it quit... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Art and History:",
"pos": "Represent the comment about Art and History:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
What really happens in an addicts mind when they decide to give something up to continue using? | [
"I gave up music to continue using percosets. Sold my turntables, drum machines, speakers, laptop, etc for money to buy few enough 30s to hold in one hand. I'm off now for over 3 years, but I never did get enough cash to sink into getting new stuff. I'm thinking back now trying to remember what was going through my... | [
"If you drink coffee every day to wake yourself up in the morning, you will eventually become addicted. How would this contribute to you becoming addicted to alcohol, tobacco or methamphetamines? They're completely different drugs with different effects, different feelings and, most importantly, different chemistry... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
the Syrian civil war | [
"I have a further question: Why are a lot of people angry about Trump's bombing of Syria? Even my pro-Trump friends says this is crossing the line. What is so bad about this? Didn't we drone the shit out of the middle east under Obama? I am not trying to provoke a pro-trump/anti-trump shitshow, i just want a neutr... | [
"it does, we call the other side the international dateline."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
If Facebook is free, how did Mark Zuckerberg become so rich (before ads came to Facebook)? | [
"he got investors that bought x% of the company for y amount of money. and based off that you got a valuation of how much the company was worth. but all of that is on paper. mark was never officially rich until Facebook went public when he could actually exchange shares for cold hard cash."
] | [
"So this is a post I used the other day... > Facebook stocks are plummeting because Facebook is failing to live up to expectations. > Their IPO (Initial Public Offering) was greatly hyped up because Facebook is a uniquely situated platform which doesn't really have a lot of legitimate competition. The competition... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How many generations into selective breeding for domestication is the average dog? | [
"About 10,000 since it was started ~16k years ago in China. Evolution is natural selection, selective breeding by humans is *unnatural* selection."
] | [
"The domestication process takes many hundreds if not thousands of generations. If a breeding program decided they wanted to breed a small version of a polar bear, as you suggested, it would require a very large breeding population, which would be almost impossible to manage. Think about how many polar bears you se... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
I don't understand the sellers fee for eBay. | [
"eBay has to make money, to do so they charge a commission on anything you sell and sometimes a listing fee. You receive a bill every month for these fees."
] | [
"The fee pays to provide the service for free calls without paid service. Edit: More of an explanation."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer about Telecommunications:"
} |
Why is the 1982 film Blade Runner considered a legendary and coveted masterpiece? | [
"Well for one, scifi-noir was a rather inventive hybrid, & it is so well done on both fronts. I love PKD & find it to be possibly an improvement of his original story, which I would never say of Total Recall or Minority Report."
] | [
"They are opposites: A parody makes fun of the original source by exaggerating elements and flipping certain conventions. A pastiche aims to replicate or imitate a previous artwork or style, sometimes in a cliched way, but doing so to celebrate rather than denigrate the source material. In other words, a parody is ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
How does NVIDIA manages to bring driver updates to such a large and old lineup of GPUs ? | [
"It's their core business to do this. If they would only support the latest video cards the customers would get very upset and all move to other brands. Also, the nvidia cards all have a fairly similar architecture. Making a change to the new 10xx series or to the older 4xx series is (probably, i don't know exactl... | [
"It's basically an entirely different computer in your computer wholly dedicated to making images. It has its own processor, power management, and ram. The updates are not unlike all the other updates that happen in your computer, the developers continue working on and supporting that system to ensure that it runs ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What's the difference between Bulls, Bison, Buffalos, and Oxen? Are they all related to "normal" black and white cows? | [
"A bull is a male cow. A bison is a species related to cows that is native to North America. A buffalo is one of many species related to cows native to Africa or Asia. And unlike *every other post here, get it together people,* an ox is a job description, not a species. They are the same species as the \"normal\" c... | [
"1) Knickers is not a cow. Knickers is a steer. Cows are female, Bulls are males, and Steers are males that have been castrated. Male cattle grow larger than female cattle of a given breed. 2) Knickers is a different breed of cattle that grows to a larger size than the others that are in that field."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
When something passes the sound barrier, a sonic boom is created. What would happen if, theoretically, someone broke the light barrier? | [
"While nothing can go faster than the speed of light *in a vacuum* (such a speed doesn't really make sense), something can go faster than the speed of light in other things. Light slows down as it passes through things, which is why refraction works (e.g. for lenses). What you see is a sort of \"light boom\" which ... | [
"The sound of a sonic boom comes solely from the object breaking through the sound barrier. A bullet does the same thing, which is why a silencer doesn’t actually silence the whole thing. The bullet is still going to break through the sound barrier, and make a cracking sound. Any object that accelerates through the... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do I find myself 'falling in love' as soon as any woman shows me attention? | [
"**ELI21**: Essentially there is a strong release of neurotransmitter chemicals when you first meet someone. That's what causes the \"love at first sight.\" Not everyone has it, but many people like you and I do. It's more of an attraction at first sight, not love, where we are attracted to either their physical at... | [
"You're disregarding the emotional side of sex that has to do with acceptance and affection. I'll answer the question with a question: Why does a hug feel better than just wrapping your own arms around yourself?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
When you're sick (e.g. with a cold) and you sleep, you feel quite a bit better than if you'd simply stayed awake for that long. What happens in say, that 1-2h of napping that makes you feel better? | [
"So you know how when you start off the day sick you feel ok and then by the end of the day you feel like shit. Well, that's because you body is not only getting more tired, but it's having to fight the infection harder through out the day as the virus/bacteria multiply. When you sleep your body doesn't have to dev... | [
"I am not knowledgeable in medicine or human anatomy and sleep that much, but I can speak from experience. Your body is very adaptive. If you have not slept for, let's say, 24 hours, at some point it figures out there is some reason you are not going to bed and it turns of the feeling of tiredness that is actually ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Health and Wellness:",
"pos": "Represent the post about Health and Wellness:",
"neg": "Represent the post about Sleep and fatigue:"
} |
How can a password take hundreds of years to crack if it's secure enough? | [
"When you hear about how long it would take to crack a password, it's probably based on using a brute-force method to crack it. In other words, to guess your password (\"hellothere\"), a computer would first try \"a\", then \"b\", proceeding through the rest of the alphabet, then \"aa\", \"ab\", etc., then \"aaa\",... | [
"They pretty much all do, either by design or due to latency (delay) between your computer and the server. Passwords are stored as encrypted text called a hash. You can take something you think is the proper password, run a formula on it, get a hash, and compare it to the actual password hash to see if you were ri... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is Linux commonly used by hackers/for hacking? | [
"Linux and any other Unix based OS is what's commonly referred to as Open-Source, meaning that the user has direct access to the system's kernel, and can make modifications that they deem fit, unlike an OS that's proprietary, like OSX or Windows. In reality, you'll find that Linux is often used not just by hackers,... | [
"It's the same as any hacking, it's just done with the express permission of the system's owner. You can hack your own computers, for example, all you want. EDIT: Typically white-hat resolves to reporting problems to the owner, helping them harden their systems against those attacks, and reporting flaws exploited t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why won't a movie like Star Wars: The Force Awakens ever be nominated for Best Picture? | [
"Children's movies are never nominated and although it can be argued that it was not a children's movie in the eyes of the Academy it is. They snubbed Harry Potter for the longest and only nominated them for best makeup(Voldemort) in the final film and lost to Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady. They also retuinely thin... | [
"It means he's bitter that he sold it off and now they won't listen to him and do things the way he wants. Considering Episodes I-III aka the Prequels, this is probably a good thing. I haven't seen the new movie yet, based on what I'm hearing Disney didn't go wrong when they decided to ignore George Lucas and go th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do the glasses in this video allow a blind person to see? | [
"It would only work for somebody who is legally blind, not totally blind. If somebody is legally blind, they may be able to see things right in front of them. You could hand them a 20 dollar bill, and if they hold it right in front of their face, they could tell you its a 20. So, they could watch a TV from a few ... | [
"They don't; you're thinking of a different kind of battery."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why is "nonchalant" a word, but "chalant" is not? Are there other English words like this? | [
"See the other answers for nonchalant/chalant. There are other English words like this; they're called *unpaired words*. They include: * debunk * defenestrate * dejected * disconsolate * disdain * disgruntled * dishevelled * dismayed * disrupt * feckless * gormless * impetuous * impromptu * inane * incessant * inch... | [
"\"Underwear\" is an example of a type of noun called a *\"plurale tantum\"*, which is Latin for \"plural only\". In English, these nouns generally can only work in pairs or sets, or are made up of two parts. They also, usually, need \"measure words\", like \" a pair of\". \" A few more examples are: \"glasses\", \... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do people laugh after seeing a scary scene in a horror movie? | [
"You k ow that sense of relief when it clicks on your head that you survived? Your brain is flooding with dopamine and your getting a rush of the combination of adrenaline from your \"fight or flight\" response and the happiness of knowing your continued existence. This overwhelming rush of intense emotion leads t... | [
"You play too many video games or watch too many movies."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do Asians have different shaped eyes to non-Asians? | [
"Inheritance. The epicanthic fold is inherited. A lot of inherited traits do not affect the number of children produced. If they did they would be survival factors. This one does not really affect survival. But Genghis Khan has more descendants than many other men due to the behavior of his descendents."
] | [
"Hispanic is not a race. It's an ethnicity. There are white Hispanics, black Hispanics, Native American Hispanics, and even Asian Hispanics."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
why does your tongue rest at the roof of your mouth instead of the bottom? | [
"Because you probably speak English or one of a few other languages as your primary language. Studies show people keep their tounges at different positions in their mouths based on what their first/primary language is. EDIT: people were (rightly) asking for sources. [Here's a peer reviewed one from Yale/The univers... | [
"The coldness causes your blood vessels going to the brain to constrict, resulting in the brain getting less blood and oxygen. Protip: press your tongue against the soft part of the top of your mouth to make it go away quicker."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What mechanism in the brain allows a child to absorb a language to be able to speak it without being formally taught? Why and how do we lose this ability? | [
"So, it's been hypothesized and theorized by many linguists that there is the \"critical period\" of speech development. Basically, from about six months to 1.5 years (or so) the brain doesn't really distinguish between language sounds in the sense that to the person at the age, ALL language sounds are valid sounds... | [
"Consider this: what language did you speak when you were born? Unless you were a very special baby, you eventually learned to understand and speak a language that was totally foreign to you, without the aid of translations or grammar laws. Humans don't need translations to learn a language. It makes things faster,... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Language and cognition:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Language and cognition:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What's the difference between switching off an electrical appliance from its own power button as opposed to from mains? | [
"If you shut down the mains, the UPS will think there is a power failure and start generating power using the batteries. If you shut it down with the power button, it will not drain the batteries."
] | [
"The change largely happened with the change from the AT to ATX standard. On an AT power supply, the power switch on the front was connected directly to the power supply and switched the input AC off. It was straightforward to have the switch also control an output power socket, so your monitor was on only when you... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why can't we live off of stored fat? | [
"The longest [therapeutic fast](_URL_0_) was 382 days, and the guy lost 272 lbs. For over a year, he had nothing but water, vitamins, yeast (for protein), and a drug to counter vitamin deficiencies. So, in short, you *sorta* can."
] | [
"Isn't it just another way to take your mind off it?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the argument about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the argument about Health:"
} |
Why some pills need to be put under the tongue? | [
"There are plenty of blood vessels near the surface of the mucous membranes of the mouth, especially under the tongue. For some substances (ones that can cross mucous membranes), therefore, dissolving them under the tongue is a fast and reliable way to get them into the bloodstream without injections. The tongue al... | [
"It's nice for pills to be pill sized. If your daily medication was the size of grains of sand, you might lose them. They might get stuck in your teeth. They might not make it into your stomach on time. You might have a hard time making sure you took the right quantity."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why do regions have different languages but numbers are universal? | [
"Numbers are not actually fully universal. There are some notation differences between English and continental Europe for example (,) and (.) are switched and some like the French use a space rather than a comma or period to denote the thousands, millions, billions, etc places. Some places still use long form cou... | [
"Each country has its own name in its own language. The phonemes (the sounds which make up a language) of every language are unique to that language, so to speak the true name of a country would require someone to learn part of the phonemes of their native language. The result is that someone wanting to learn the n... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is "white-knighting" exactly? Why is it considered bad? | [
"A person representing themselves as male shows up in a thread where women or a woman are being disrespected. Male poster attempts to shame those who are doing the disparaging. Some see this as an attempt to become attractive to females by \"taking their side\". There are hints that the White Knight is actually mis... | [
"ELI5: Why have so many people recently started spelling masturbate as masterbate on reddit? Am I missing out on an in-joke somewhere? Is it some semantic shift underway?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How Do University Rankings Work? And Why Are So Many US Universities Highly Ranked? | [
"College Ranking typically takes some numerical data about admissions rate, class size, post degree income, and other things and then combines it with a bunch of BS and poor fact checking and then pretends that the whole system is really accurate. I worked at a univ and a college ranking came out which had highly ... | [
"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 answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
I recently had a math professor say that pretty much everything in the world can explained through mathematical equations. | [
"It doesn't have to be complicated. S/he means mathematical equation can predict a lot of phenomenon and we use them every day, sometimes without knowing it. Take the laws of physics, for instance. Mathematical equations allow us to figure out how much force an accelerating object can exert. It gets even more comp... | [
"That is a tough question for an ELI5. It's both really. The masters had an intuitive grasp of the beauty of the mathematics that goes into great compositions."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
What is the difference between Casualty and Property Insurance? | [
"Casualty is for people and property is for items?"
] | [
"What do you mean by bankers - employees of a bank? That can mean anything. Investment bank? Corporate? Retail? Private?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
How is a 12oz can of coca-cola and a 20oz bottle of coca-cola both one serving size of coke? | [
"Because most people will drink the entire can or bottle in a single sitting, and not save some of it for later."
] | [
"Cause the artificial sweeteners have less volume than sugar and so the drink is a little less \"thinned out\". Here in germany regular coke has 10mg/100ml and diet coke has 11mg/100ml. So it has 10% more caffeine, regular coke is also around 10% sugar so it adds up"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How come rubbing your muscles when they hurt heals them faster? | [
"Stimulates blood flow to carry nutrients to muscle fibers to help them regrow. E: Changed red blood cells to just blood. i was wrong when i said red blood cells transport nutrients."
] | [
"Why does stretching my hamstrings feel so unpleasant, while stretching my calves feels good?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do most train stations have no barrier between the platform and train? Isn't this a massive liability? | [
"There's also no barrier between the vast majority of roads and sidewalks, just a little strip of something that's a different color. Sometimes not even that."
] | [
"I know that this type of thing is used in other places (like on a subway, they have rough paving like that so it can be felt) as a way of warning blind people that they are near a street or something else dangerous. I'm not sure if that is the purpose at grocery stores, though."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Difference between AFC and NFC? | [
"As far as I know, there is no functional difference between the two. It is just two halves of a league. (There *is* a historical note about why NFL contains two conferences, if you are inclined to look.) With that said, intra- and inter-conference games have slight different raminifcations on how ties are broken ... | [
"The things that are touching get tangled. ELI25 Version: Pursue a Ph.D. in Material Science...we still don't have all of the answers."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
The level of vitriol toward The Twilight Series | [
"There are a lot of constituencies - particularly on reddit - that have different problems with the books and/or movies: * **Writers.** Objectively speaking, Twilight is poorly written. All writers hate seeing bad writers get rich off of dross. * **Men's righters.** Many found the fanfare surrounding Twilight to be... | [
"The amount of American hate / bashing on Reddit is amazing."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
What can be done on an individual level about climate change and what difference would it make? | [
"These problems are all social and political. You can donate your time to organize the masses, and money to fund these efforts to apply political pressure and educate the public and change their opinion. If you're too poor to donate, you likely know people richer than you who can, and you can convince them. That's ... | [
"The issue is that people & industries would have to change their behaviors in ways that cost them money if the government accepted it and passed laws protecting the environment."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why doesn't President Obama pardon Edward Snowden? | [
"Because your president supports the NSA and the \"stricter control\" speeches are only to please people like you, who decide to overlook the fact that he prolonged the Patriot Act and that the NSA was built under his watch, as long as he keeps talking about le hope and change? What kind of mental gymnastics does y... | [
"Because he became President and his name wasn't George W. Bush."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why are the worms used for fishing bait usually kept in a fridge? | [
"Cold slows their metabolism like it's winter. So they stay alive and don't become rotten worms."
] | [
"The animals undergo [Crytobiosis](_URL_0_), it is when an animal, usually and invertebrate, can shut down all functions in order to survive a harsh environment and wait for better conditions. Usually occurs when there is no water, too cold or not enough air. In the case of the sea monkey, or brine shrimp, the egg ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why Do Courts Allow People To Get Out of Jail On Bail? | [
"The judge makes a personal assessment about the risk of the individual and sets bail accordingly. If he believes that they will continue to cause harm, or there is a strong likelihood that the accused will flee and not come to trail, the judge will not allow bail to be posted."
] | [
"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 post about Law and Criminal Justice:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post about Law and Criminal Justice:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
What is "sentience", and why are humans said to be the only sentient beings on Earth? | [
"One measure of self-awareness is the [mirror test](_URL_0_). Many animals can pass it."
] | [
"This might be a philosophical question but doesn't self-awareness infer that the animal in question is conscious? In other words, would \"i think therefore i am\" apply to these self aware animal? If so, would these animals have souls from a religious standpoint?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
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