query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Why don't we have graduated brake lights? | [
"Tail lights have two modes, either off or dim (at night) and I AM STOPPING. People rear end each other now when there are only two options. Imagine a driver having to also think about what kind of brakes to apply, instead of simply preparing to stop outright? Driving is an enormously complicated task that people ... | [
"Well, that depends. We need more information. Which vehicle broke the traffic laws?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
how did we first assign money value to things and how does supply and demand change that? | [
"I don't know that I can answer this well but I'll try. To start off things didn't have a money value but instead people traded goods and services for other goods and services they deemed of equal worth. This worked relatively well but not everyone agreed of the worth of their goods and services. At some point (I a... | [
"inflation of prices happens due to a literal increase in the money. This is all up to the federal reserve. It doesn't have to occur."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How does a water bath of baking soda and aluminum foil work to remove the tarnish on silver? | [
"Silver tarnishes because it reacts with sulfur to form silver sulfide. Some metals have a greater affinity for sulfur than silver does though. Aluminum is one of those metals. When you place the silver in contact with aluminum in a warm electrolytic solution you get an electrochemical reaction. The sulfur in the s... | [
"The rice helps absorb/pull the residue moisture from the phone. Anything particularly absorbent will work, for example cat litter."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why are steroids banned in professional sports? | [
"Trickle-down into children's sports. Yes, these people are role models to children. Yes, children are using steroids to get an edge in school sports because that's what the pros do. Yes, it's incredibly unhealthy. Yes, someone has **thought of the children!**, and that's why they're banned. It also becomes a compe... | [
"What drugs were popular in 19th century Britain?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does the bank system work? Why can't a bank just give themself more money by change their numbers in the computersystem? | [
"Banks don't create money. The federal reserve does. Prison time stops them from creating fake money that doesn't exist, only the Fed can create fake money that doesn't exist haha"
] | [
"It depends on what you mean by print money. Many people use this as a metaphor for when the Federal Reserve has low interest rates to encourage people to borrow. All money is borrowed into existence. The money supply grows or contracts depending on how much money people borrow vs how much they pay back. Now Printi... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why is English considered a hard language to learn? | [
"It's considered hard because there really aren't any hard and fast rules for the language, especially when it comes to speaking and spelling. Sure, you have to learn a lot of forms to conjugate \"jugar.\" But that's one irregular verb - most of the -ar verbs follow a very regular pattern... and most any word follo... | [
"And which language would that be? Yours? Mine? How would you coerce every country in the world to teach this language?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why do babies have a distinct smell? | [
"I always acted appalled when someone said \"let me smell the baby, I love the smell of a baby\". I always said it was weird how many people wanted to smell my wife's womb. Thats some creepy shit to say to somebody you hardly know."
] | [
"* Dogs crying are usually quieter than babies. * Dogs problems are easier to solve than babies. * Dogs are cuter than babies. * Babies cry over the stupidest shit."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why do fast food chains (McDonalds,KFC) insist on paying first before receiving meals but fancy food chains like (Wagamama, Nandos) let you eat first and then you pay? | [
"It implies the service you won't get. Your in-person interaction with the brand pretty much starts and ends during the transaction at a fast food branch, whereas a restaurant would keep on providing you service and the interaction ends when you are done with spending time there. The space provided for you to eat y... | [
"The food is really really cheap and they dont have to pay as many waitstaff since you serve yourself"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why are houses so much less expensive in the Southern States as opposed to the North generally? | [
"Supply and demand. More people live in the north and more people WANT to live in the north for various reasons, so the cost of things reflects that. I live in SoCal close to the beach, one bedrooms around here cost about $1300 per month. A friend of mine lives in Texas, rents a 3 bedroom condo for $400 per month. ... | [
"Incomes tend to be significantly higher in coastal areas, particularly around large cities. Orange County is one of the wealthier areas of the United States. The wealth in Orange County is not representative of the wealth of citizens of the U.S. in general."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
By what means does a major key evoke a happy emotion in listeners, and conversely how does a minor key "sound sad"? | [
"A quick explanation of this: the harmonic series. Certain intervals (distances between notes) line up better than others. Since sounds are waves, lining up means that they synch up better. Notes that are 8ths, 5ths, and 4ths have sound waves that line up really well. 2nds and 7ths don't. The predominate use of ... | [
"If a musician plays a piece perfectly according to the sheet music he is good technically but not musically. A good musician play slight variations upon what the sheet music say to better fit the rhythm and emotions of the piece. It is hard to explain but there is just certain sounds and timings that resonate spec... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
How can a game like FFXV be in development for 10+ years and stay graphically up to date? | [
"In the modern age, code and code-based projects are incredibly modular. You can work on gameplay systems without touching graphics systems. In fact, gameplay systems that are affected by graphics systems would likely be poor design as a change to the graphical system could mess up code in other areas."
] | [
"You are correct, but what you know as modern is what people could do 4 years ago (or about 4 years). All of the games you see coming out that are big name titles have been in development for a long time and thus what we think of as \"modern\" graphics are in fact 4 years old. What is being done today with graphics... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment about videogame development:"
} |
Why does my inner shower curtain always insist on attacking me during my shower? | [
"It is caused by both the Bernoulli effect and driven cavity. Driven cavity seems to be the largest effect. The water droplets falling from the shower head (because of gravity) cause aerodynamic drag on the way down. That starts the air moving, which causes a low pressure area within the shower, drawing in the curt... | [
"You are going to tear up eventually and those eyelashes are going to take the express water slide out of your eyes every once in a while."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why do so few companies provide training these days? | [
"Because they don't need to. There is a large enough pool of qualified applicants to the point where they don't need to spend the time, money, or effort to train new individuals. That's why networking, internships, and experience are crucial, for college students."
] | [
"Others might be able to provide support for less, but are they going to be as good as the guys who wrote the software in the first place? Probably not."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
What can't you taste the sweetness in drinks after eating something sweet? | [
"Your taste like you other senses primary detect changes. You dont sense smells after a while. Like if you cook at home and burn the food, after a while you will not smell it but if you exit your home and spend a short while in clear air you will smell the burned food when you return. Touch work the same. You feet... | [
"So you feel the sour thing but the sweet stays in your mouth in the long term Most people prefer the shock of sour rather than having a sour taste in your mouth for an hour"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How come high-end plasma screen televisions make movies look like home videos? Am I going crazy or does it make films look terrible? | [
"It's because of [motion interpolation](_URL_0_). It's usually possible to turn it off. Since people are used to seeing crappy soap operas/home videos with a high FPS, you associate it with low quality, making it look bad."
] | [
"What you could be referring to is what some TVs call \"enhanced motion\". It is a technique that can make older TV shows look like they are filmed at a higher frame rate. The motion looks different and the way it looks is something we have most strongly associated with cheap consumer cameras and low-budget TV show... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How did bullying even become natural to human interaction? | [
"Why would it not be natural? Pecking order exists in almost all social mammalian groups. It's a competition and the weak get squashed. They don't get to breed and their genes die out making the next generation stronger."
] | [
"So what is it about human physiology that makes this work differently for us?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
How did the idea that "consciousness causes collapse" come to be, and why is it wrong? | [
"> is just a new age invention? It's not so much an invention as it is a misunderstanding. **Observation** causes the collapse of a wavefunction. But in physics, \"observation\" doesn't mean \"looked at by a conscious entity\". It means \"to measure something\". That is, to \"observe\" something simply means that y... | [
"Follow-up question: If it is purely a modern idea, where did this idea come from, and how much validity is there to it?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Can someone explain how a torrent works? | [
"There's a jigsaw puzzle we all want to see. I have a piece, you have a piece, and so do a bunch of other people. Some of these people have bigger pieces. Bitorrent allows me to share these pieces so everyone has a copy of these puzzle pieces, which then bitorrent will then assemble together for you and everyone el... | [
"I need an ELI5 for whatever this question means."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
When you buy a piece of clothing from a name brand such as Nike, Calvin Klein, or even Dolce and Gabbana, are the actual materials and product quality better than something from Walmart, or are you only paying for the branding? | [
"Hi, Italian here. A friend of mine has a small textile factory in a town near Bari, southern Italy. He manufactures shirts and sweaters, and those without flaws (bad seam, rougher texture, unaligned buttons) are sent to Valentino, where they get the brand patch attached and are sold for way more than they cost i... | [
"Supreme has a target audience of young, fashionable urbanites who are willing to throw down some money to look cool. Their quality is a step above something like Gap, and the price is too. Could you get higher quality stuff for cheaper? Yeah, probably. But you are paying for the design and branding. Nevertheless, ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why do they only play the newest movies at cinemas? | [
"There are only a handful of screens in any theater, thus the theater must choose to play what will bring in the most people. The majority of people only see a movie once in the theater with most of them around the film's opening. A few good movies will have people return for subsequent visits or draw in people who... | [
"What about when trailers say this is the number one movie in America before it even comes out?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
US congressional budget reconciliation. Why does it exist? Why is there a deadline? Why does it mean one party needs fewer votes? | [
"The budget reconciliation process was created by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. The idea behind it was that small changes could be made to the budget to cover things that were unforeseen when the budget was passed without having to go through the process of creating a new budget. The... | [
"For one, spending bills have to originate in the House. Also, the House Rules Committee recently amended the rules to only allow the majority leader, Eric Cantor, to put bills before the House. This rule is temporary, but it is the reason why moderate Republicans have not allied with Democrats to pass a clean cont... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why do some things need 4 AAA batteries instead of fewer number of a stronger battery? Example: Why use 4 AAA when one might be able to use 2AA. | [
"AA are not \"stronger\" than AAA, they just have more power reserve. They both put out the same voltage though AA can probably do so at a higher amperage if required. By arranging the batteries in different combinations of parallel and series you can get different combinations of \"power\" (voltage) or battery l... | [
"They don't fulfil the same function, they differ in 2 critical features 1. Size - A triple A battery is significantly smaller than a double A allowing for much thinner or smaller devices than a double A, if you only had double A batteries then nothing could ever be thinner than 14.5 mm 2. Capacity - A double A alk... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
What exactly IS antimatter/anti-matter, in layman's terms | [
"[This](_URL_0_) video explains it better than I ever could."
] | [
"If there was part of the universe that was antimatter-dominated, with anti-matter suns and planets, anti-matter water and air, everything, then it would be indistinguishable from the matter equivalent. And the people on this anti-matter planet would create matter in their high-energy particle colliders, and observ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why don't we have (many) cars driven only by electric engines with fuel generators instead of big batteries/standard hybrid systems? | [
"What you're describing is an \"extended-range electric vehicle\" (EREV), that is a car that gets all its motor force from electric motors but also has some generation capacity onboard to increase its range. EREVs exist, two examples being the Chevy Volt and BMW i3. The reason they don't do 4wd or use multiple moto... | [
"Solar panels aren't very efficient, yet. Batteries, too, are very inefficient, and very heavy. It would make much more sense to use solar power to produce a non-petroleum liquid/gas fuel that can power the commercial airplane."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
If an ant die inside the anthill, what the others ants do? Or what happens with its body? | [
"This will depend on the species of ant. Some will eat their dead, some will remove their dead (species known to be susceptible to parasitic fungi for example)."
] | [
"They have different chemical trails for different things. When they leave home they start their back to home trail when they find food they start leaving their food chemical trail back to their home and any ant can then follow the food chemical trail back to the food. I don't know the technical terms for any of th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
How does water travel up a piece of paper/tissue? | [
"Capillary action. \"It is defined as the movement of water within the spaces of a porous material due to the forces of adhesion, cohesion, and surface tension. Capillary action occurs because water is sticky, thanks to the forces of cohesion (water molecules like to stay close together) and adhesion (water molecu... | [
"The amount of water left over that won't roll down weighs too little for gravity to push on it enough. It's adhesive properties keep it \"stuck\" to the bottom of the cup."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are so many questions on here asked if most of them require just a quick google search? | [
"That's a very good question. But you hold the answer. A simple google/reddit search would have revealed that this question itself has been asked numerous, numerous times here. So why didn't *you* do that? I'm sure you have any number of reasons why you just decided to ask the question without researching it first.... | [
"Is this a trick? How can I answer this without giving my opinion"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why does Japan get to eat Coconut Curry Doritos and Strawberry KitKat bars, when we have the more diverse population. | [
"It's the result of market research. I'd like to try those too but as long as people choose Cool Ranch over more unusual choices we're never going to get them. Shelf space is not unlimited, and it's especially a problem in vending machines. They only want to stock the most popular items of each type."
] | [
"I can't explain it but thank God someone else noticed. Every time we go to the grocery store I get mocked by my gf because of my astonishment that there are probably 15 different kinds of freaking Cheez-its. Is this a great Country or what?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do they fake apps/operating systems in movies/TV | [
"Usually you would want to do it in post-production because screens don't film well due to different refresh rates. They may have prompts on the screen if the scene calls for it though."
] | [
"Most tv shows portray hacking very unrealistically, however, people have said that Mr. Robot shows it the most realistically out of most shows and movies."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
If something has its colour because light get deflected, does that mean that an object in a fully dark room has "no colour"? | [
"Depends on what you mean by \"has colour\". A blue scarf doesn't stop having the ability to reflect blue light just because there's no light on it right now."
] | [
"> But I still don't understand what you're actually looking at when you stare directly at a black hole You see an absence of light. Our brain interprets this as the colour black. The same reason that a completely unlit room is black."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How did Skyrim keep track of everyone's actions, movements, interactions with the environment etc. The computation seems mind boggling! | [
"Is it impressive? even in terms of an open world RPG, skyrim didnt do anything too special in that regard. If anything, it did a bad job. Most giant story elements barely change anything. You're the head of the mage college? people still tell you to go check the college out, etc"
] | [
"Well part of it is just there is really that much hard coded content in the game. It takes them years and years to make these games and bethesda the developers had actually been working on skyrim since oblivion which came out in 06. I mean they took some time with it on the back burner to make fallout 3 but afterw... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why didn't NASA astronauts (or anyone else for that matter) return to the Moon? | [
"It's uninteresting. They went there to beat Russia, not so much for space exploration in itself. Just wait until we know how to make power out of Helium-3 though. They'll be all over the moon again. Edit: _URL_0_"
] | [
"The Soviets landed an unmanned probe on the moon 10 years before we landed a human. So, we knew that we wouldn't sink in or burn up."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
If people with one eye have no depth perception, how come I still have it with one eye closed? | [
"Your memory and brain compensates for your closed eye. So, while you don't have depth perception, you still remember relative distance of things based off of the past, and can reason how far away they are. In reality, you don't actually have depth perception. If you go to an unfamiliar setting, and have a friend ... | [
"Sure. It depends on how big the blind spot is. I have a blind spot in my right eye. I never knew it was there until the eye doctor did this weird test with a machine that put spots all over the place and I had to say if I saw them or not. He thinks it was probably damaged by getting kicked in the head in karate c... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is it that whenever snow is stepped on it makes that muffled crunching sound? | [
"The snow is made up of small ice crystals that are lightly stacked on top of each other. These crystals compress down under your weight, and as they pass each other, they scrape together, making that crunching sound."
] | [
"You must have never had a dog that came in and scooted across your living room carpet leaving a Hershey trail the entire way. I would presume they do that because their buttholes are itchy."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument about Biology:"
} |
When I "google" passwords I use for various websites (usually porn) I get lots of hits for databases that include both my username and password - wtf? | [
"If you use GMail, you can take advantage of the + feature. When submitting your email to a site, do something like this johndoe+reddit@gmail.com All those emails will go to johndoe@gmail.com but you'll be able to see the +reddit in the TO email address in the email. From then on, any emails you receive trying to ... | [
"They figure out what the password is. That is all there is too it. nothing really magic about it. They may use phishing techniques for it, like emailing the guy who uses the account a fake twiiter login URL where he types in the password, allowing them to steal it. But in the case of the recent KKK \"hack\", they ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How does listening to loud music aid in hearing loss? | [
"Loud noises damages little hairs in the ear, the more they are damaged, the less you can hear and eventually lead to tinnitus (ringing in the ears)"
] | [
"Aside from it being a way of dealing with anxiety and stress, it also helps the blood flow on your legs."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why does 1080P video look better than 720P video on a 720p resolution? | [
"When a video is compressed, there are typically many settings that can be selected. Resolution is one of them, but there are others which are arguably more important, like bitrate, which is the average amount of data that will be used to encode each second of video. Typically they are increased together, so the 10... | [
"an Inch is a measuring unit. a Pixel is an object. It can be any size. A display's resolution describes how many pixels it has. 1080p means it has 1080 pixels on the short side. So, obviously, to fill a 42\" 1080p TV and a 5\" 1080p phone with the same number of pixels is going to require differently sized pixe... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What separates different types of cheese? | [
"Animal the milk it taken from, the fat content of the milk (if the cream has been separated or not), the kind of rennet used, the kind of bacteria cultures used, the amount of moisture squeezed out, the kind of fungal cultures used, the duration it is aged, the way it is aged (humidity, waxed or rapped in cloth, s... | [
"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:"
} |
What would the Big Bang have looked like if you were able to view it from a great, great distance? | [
"You could not have viewed the big bang from a distance, because it filled the entire universe, and occurred everywhere at the same time. It was an expansion *of* space, not an explosion *in* space."
] | [
"The only way we could see an image of the past earth would be if it were reflected back to us. If there was some gigantic mirror out in space then we could look at it to see what the Earth looked like in the distant past. But, for many reasons, this isn't practical. But, we can't directly catch up with the image o... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How do clouds of interstellar gas collapse and form stars and planets? | [
"Gravity. Over time, dense regions in interstellar clouds will begin to form little \"clumps\" of gas. As the clump gets heavier, more and more matter falls onto it, adding to the mass. The object will also spin faster and faster, forcing itself into a disc shape called a protostellar disc. As the mass of the disc ... | [
"Gravitational perturbations caused by Jupiter prevent the material in the asteroid belt from coalescing into planetesimals, which are the precursors to planets."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why is the book "Ready player one" allowed to reference pieces the Creator doesn't have a right to but the movie isn't? | [
"I think it's because of \"likeness.\" You can namedrop characters for free, but you can't show their likeness because their design, the way they look, is copyrighted. In the book this isn't an issue, because you just namedrop and the reader imagines the likeness in their head. But for a movie they would of course ... | [
"It is copyrighted. All material is inherently copyrighted by the person who created it. For Reddit, both the original user and Reddit (per the terms of service) own the copyright to material posted on reddit. However, you must enforce your copyright. Anyone can use the info if you sit there and do nothing, and don... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Critical Mach Number. | [
"When the air travels over the plane (let's think of the wing), there are places where it has to travel faster than other places because of the path of the airflow. So if the plane is moving at 100 mph, there are places on the wing it must go 120 mph because that's how it is pushed. As you approach the speed of sou... | [
"[Better Explained: Understanding Quake's Fast Inverse Square Root](_URL_1_)"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
What is the difference between sleep, being under anesthesia and being in a comatose state? | [
"Sleep is a natural state where your consciousness mostly shuts down, allowing your brain to process. No one really knows what all it is trying to do, but it is necessary for healthy brain function. Anesthesia is chemically induced sleep, usually for the purposes of medical treatment. Under anesthesia, a person wil... | [
"Normally a vegetative state is when the cognitive functions of your brain stop working, but your subconscious functions are still going (breathing, heart beating etc). That's controlled by your brain stem. You can be in a vegetative state and still appear to be conscious, however. Alternatively, you can be in a ve... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
why when you put a wooden spoon across a pot does the water not boil over? | [
"Any bubble that touches the spoon pops because it is so rough. That leaves a gap that the other bubbles fall into. Since no bubble can go higher than the spoon, the pot doesn't overflow."
] | [
"Think of straws. You know how you get the drops in a straw after u you've taken a drink? The ones that take up the entire space inside for a few millimeters? They stay there unless you blow them out, it's the same thing except the tube is open at one end only do you can't just blow in one end to push them out. Ne... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
the Bowling Green Massacre | [
"\"The Bowling Green massacre is a nonexistent incident referred to by U.S. Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway in an interview on the television news program Hardball with Chris Matthews on February 2, 2017. Conway cited the \"massacre\" as justification for a travel and immigration ban from seven Muslim-m... | [
"British Empire -- > Post-WW2 / Cold War America -- > British and American pop culture -- > Silicon Valley."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
How does social security work and why is it such a problem? | [
"The problem is only works due to the collective ignorance of the population. People believe that they have money in an account waiting for them when they retire. In reality they money that they are paying into the system right now goes to pay other people that are on the system. It is a ponzi scheme by definition ... | [
"They provide services that the public requires and their failure might mean bad things for society as a whole. That's the argument at least. Not sure if I agree with it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why are dimes smaller then nickels? | [
"I entered your query into a google search and got this: The coins retain their size due to tradition. At one point in time the size was based on the value of the metals. A nickel was made out of 5 cents worth of nickel. A dime was made out of 10 cents worth of silver. 10 cents worth of silver is smaller than 5 cen... | [
"The value of coins used to be based on the value of the metal they were made of. Nickels were made of nickel while dimes were made of silver, and the amount of silver in a dime was twice as valuable as the amount of nickel in a nickel."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are novel adaptations of movies so uncommon? | [
"In the old days before VCR's were common the only way to re-experience a movie that was no longer in the cinemas was to watch it on TV once a year, or, for a more regular experience, read the novelization (or sometimes the comic adaptation). For example, when I was a kid I read the Raiders of the Lost Ark novel ov... | [
"That quality you're noticing is called excellence. Movies these days are generally completely devoid of this- making it very easy to tell the difference."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Please explain the bill that republicans accuse of causing the housing/market crash | [
"I believe you're referring to the [Community Reinvestment Act](_URL_0_). The CRA was intended to help low-income people buy houses by encouraging (some might say \"demanding\") banks provide loans to them. These loans were backed by the feds; if/when a borrower defaulted, the government (i.e., the taxpayers) ate t... | [
"Because they are going to receive social security, created an economic fiasco with the babyboomers, and ruined the economy. We get a broken economy and debt."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
how come even after just wearing my glasses for an hour without touching them, they’ll still get smudged? | [
"Your eyelashes may hit the lenses, leaving behind oils. And airborne dust may also get caught in said oils, further adding to the smudges noticed."
] | [
"Bot removed my previous comment because it was too short. Albeit, it was kind of a smart ass answer, so I'll let it go. But it probably has to do with your eye's ph level or something. Tears have a lot of specific traits that make your eyes feel comfortable. So whether you are getting water in them or a little bit... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
What is the point of a number lock and scroll lock Button? | [
"Number lock allows you to toggle between using the number pad (on the right of a standard keyboard) to enter numbers or to navigate (notice on [this keyboard](_URL_0_) there are arrows on some of the numbers and other movement functions on others) Scroll lock switches the function of the arrow keys in many program... | [
"Some things don't have a direct path from plug to device. Only from battery to device."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why is it that supposedly "intelligent" people are less happy with their lives than a person of average intelligence? | [
"My guess would be that intelligent people understand the things that are wrong in their lives, where a not-so-intelligent guy just plodding along doesn't really know what's wrong. And if you can articulate those problems, the worse you feel. I think it even goes beyond just intelligent/non-intelligent people. I re... | [
"Think of all the people you know that are of average intelligence. Now understand that half the population are dumber than them."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Finance:"
} |
When we take medication, how does it know where to go to heal us or where we're hurt? Is there any possibility that goes to another place that it shouldn’t? | [
"In true ELI5 fashion: imagine that every molecule of a medication is a tiny key- and by taking the medication, you release millions of those keys into your bloodstream, where they can reach the cells of your body. On the surface of every cell are one or more tiny locks- billions of locks. And by design, the key... | [
"The nervous system isn't fully aware of the missing limb, and it tries to send impulses to the missing body part. The impulses can't get through, so your nervous system sends signals back to inform you that's something is wrong there. Because that's what all pain is designed to do. Inform you that you there is som... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are credit unions apparently better than banks? | [
"When banks generate profits, these profits are distributed to their shareholders. When credit unions generate profits, these profits are distributed back to their customers. Credit unions are run by the community, for the community. There are benefits to both sides. With major banks, you have greater \"accessibili... | [
"Banks are a business like any other, and want to make money. Why give all your profits to consumers?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
what is NATO article 5? | [
"I'm sure someone will provide a more in depth answer, but the overall summation of Article 5 is that if you attack (or declare war) on one member of NATO, you are thereby declaring war on all the nations that are in NATO, as well."
] | [
"Think of it as a world court essentially. If a conflict were to arise between multiple countries inside or outside of national territories. This was to help aid in reducing the chances of another future world war. The main goal being disarmament after WWI _URL_1_ The above is more detailed. *Edit* Wikipedia has so... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
why standup is so much funnier and music sounds so much clearer when I’m drunk? | [
"People mistake thinking getting drunk \"changes you\" what getting drunk actually does is depresses higher brain function and reaction time and such. This is because alcohol is a depressant, meaning it depresses your senses and processing speed. Because of the reduction of higher brain function you are left with m... | [
"I often drink, to get drunk, alone ,and don't care if it's stigmatized or celebrated. I would prefer to be drunk in my own home, with my own soundtrack, my own volume, and the comfort of my own couch. There's no risk of running into an asshole looking for trouble, there's no risk of getting bored of the people I'm... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
The ongoing lawsuits between Apple and Google. Why are they suing each other, and who is winning? | [
"As for who is winning, I think that'd be Gibson, Dunn and Morrison & Foerster (Apple's legal team) and Quinn Emanuel (Samsung's). Pretty sure those guys are all laughing their way to the bank, win or lose your legal team gets their fee. As for who is losing? I'd say the consumer in the short term but hopefully thi... | [
"When a company goes bankrupt, or is bought by another company, the promises they made to you often are no longer valid or honored. This is one of the concerns that people have about Facebook. What happens when something better comes along and Facebook becomes the next MySpace?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How does pressing on knots in your muscles make them go away? | [
"Muscle fibers run in all different directions in our body and muscles are layered on top of each other from our heads to our toes. This is a good thing and the reason why we can bend, twist, dance, and play sports. Our muscles are meant to be pliable, strong, and challenged. However, when we sit at a computer all ... | [
"You do it because when you're mad or stressed you usually tighten up the muscles in your face. Massaging it gives you a little relief. Women definitely do it too. Also stress/anger can give you a headache. Rubbing your head can relieve some of that pain."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
How do animals who were supposedly extinct for hundreds of years somehow reappear today? | [
"They don't exactly reappear; we just eventually stumble upon a group of them that had been there all along without us noticing."
] | [
"Deformed rejects are rare. Fossils are rare. The chances of getting both at once are practically zero. Also, dinosaurs didn't have humans to take care of them if they were deformed, so the deformed ones didn't tend to last long."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about biology:",
"pos": "Represent the passage about biology:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
why do people on the Internet generally prefer vehicle license plates to be blurred out when they are constantly on public display anyway? | [
"Being on public display is not the same as putting it out as a sitting duck in front of a bunch of anonymous Internet users."
] | [
"They are not designed to block all access, they are designed to give the park grounds for charging them with criminal trespassing if they cause trouble in the future. But some effort is put into blocking access such as posters of banned people being at the ticket booth or gate, and they use facial recognition pro... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why can't counterfeiters just make old currency? | [
"Counterfeiters don't just make one or two bills. They make hundreds or thousands at a time - the equipment is expensive & the risks are too high to bother with small numbers. So, sure, you could pay with a single 1988 $50 bill. When somebody's got a giant stack of them in uncirculated condition, it becomes harder ... | [
"In the real world why would anyone want to be a politician?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why doesn't the US just take out the North Korean regime? | [
"Because then who is going to feed, house, and look after another 25,000,000 people and transition them back into reality/society. No one wants to have that job or have that burden put on their economy."
] | [
"Probably the same reason the U.S. didn't want the Soviets to park their missiles in Cuba."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do artists pay taxes when they have world tours? | [
"They owe taxes to each country they perform in. Since it is pretty easy to figure out what they made form each individual performance (since the number of tickets sold and the artist's cut are both known amounts) it is fairly straight forward to calculate their income earned at any given venue."
] | [
"The music label makes most of the money off a sale of music, with the artist usually getting a percentage, which is negotiated based on how big the artist is. Top 40 musicians make money at concerts and doing endorsement deals in addition to sales of music."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about music industry:"
} |
Do chimpanzees respond to pheromones of period blood? and how do they? | [
"There are no pheromones in \"period blood\" as it's just blood. During the period, shredding of the uterine lining, copulation would make no sense, so what good would pheromones do? Pheromones are hormones, and there is no scientific evidence that pheromones are used by humans."
] | [
"Old people smell is absolutely a real thing. As our biochemistry changes as we age we smell different. One (and it is only one, but who studies this?) study demonstrated the existence of old people smell and postulated: > Like non-human animals, human body odors contain a rich array of chemical components that ca... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Addictive video games | [
"Food companys do advertise themselves as highly addictive, for example: \"Once you pop you just can't stop\" -Pringles And healthy food marketers will try to advertise their healthy food as addictive to convey a message that the product does not lose the flavor of unhealthy food. But to your actual point, the act... | [
"Rave you read from both to confirm that they work?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
has Utah really banned pornography? | [
"No. All they did was declare it a \"public health crisis.\" It doesn't actually do anything about it. It's a non-binding resolution."
] | [
"Because they're not allowed to use chewing tobacco in the dugouts anymore"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
In theory, what would happen if a woman consumed an entire 24-day pack of birth control pills at once? | [
"It would not work like a morning after pill/ emergency contraceptive pill. Someone more qualified can answer precisely what would happen but if that's where your line of thought is going please go to a pharmacy. The woman could get very ill. An overdose could result in large blood pressure changes, huge headaches,... | [
"Apart from stopping ovulation, it also inhibits implantation or can stop it all together by changing the way the eggs and sperm can travel. 72 hours is doctors being careful because with medicine the rule is better safe than sorry. The entire Plan B pill is just a large dose of the active chemical in standard birt... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Why is a grey and white checkered background used to symbolize transparency in image files? | [
"It's a very distinct combination that shows edges very well no matter what the color of the non-transparent part is. It's basically there to say \"look, I'm transparent here. Don't mistake me for anything else!\""
] | [
"What color is the skin of most of the people who make and utilize those drawings? Theres your answer"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
How does a life support system specifically exchange carbon dioxide into oxygen/hydrogen? (On a space station or shuttle, I.e. ISS) | [
"CO2 is removed using molecular filters. \"Dirty\" air is passed through silica gel to remove the moisture, then passed through a molecular filter (zeolite - an aluminum-silicon-oxygen mixture) that lets the smaller oxygen and nitrogen molecules pass, but blocks the CO2. The CO2 is then vented overboard. Oxygen is ... | [
"The main problem with that is that the moon is not massive enough to sustain an atmosphere. This leaves us in enclosures for air. From there, we might as well put the other parts of habitability (temperature, water, ecosystems) within those enclosures. TL;DR: the moon isn't worth terraforming. (I think I did the... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why our perception of time seems to speed up as we age. | [
"Mainly because you've lived longer, and everyday is now a shorter proportion of your total lifetime. When you are 5 years old, summer vacations seem like a really long time because they have lasted 5% of your entire lifetime. By age 30, they are only half a percent etc... You also experience less and less new stu... | [
"I think it has more to do with psychology than physiology: adventure is more important to children than comfort. Our priorities shift as we get older."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Psychology:",
"pos": "Represent the text about Psychology:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why didn't Seattle run it? | [
"There's no logical explanation for that call. You could argue that they were hoping to surprise NE with a pass, but that was the worst play call I can remember. There is no running back in the sport I would rather have in that situation than Marshawn Lynch."
] | [
"Another question: Would he even want to get rid of it?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why are airplane black boxes still needed? Why cant aircraft send information in realtime? | [
"Feasible but expensive. And any transmission can suffer from interference and other disruptions."
] | [
"There are two - a cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder. Both are very ruggedly built so that they can survive most plane crashes. If the plane crashes, locator beacons on the boxes activate, helping authorities recover them so they can use it to help figure out the cause of the crash."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about aviation:",
"pos": "Represent the document about aviation:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
how does fasting blood sugar work? | [
"You can drink water. Measuring FBS is a good way to assess your body's regulation of blood glucose via the hormone insulin. After eating, blood sugar will be elevated but insulin should be secreted in order to reduce it. People with diabetes have an insulin problem - either via inadequate production or ineffective... | [
"Taking bkood from your body lowers your blood pressure, and triggers your bone marrow to start making more. Its more complicated than that.. But.."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why are people getting arrested for peacefully protesting? | [
"To hold a rally near the White House, you need a permit. This is for safety of everyone involved and to let the city know how many police to have available to assists/control...close roads, keep it safe. Without a permit, you are in violation of city law and get arrested. This most recent event had no permit."
] | [
"They're assholes who are more concerned with publicity than anything to do with their faith."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
When you touch really hot water, why does it feel cold? | [
"Scientists aren't exactly sure. There are special nerves just under your skin called thermoreceptors which detect temperature. When activated, they send messages to the brain that say \"this is hot,\" or \"this is cold.\" For some reason, temperatures above 113 F sometimes fire off the \"this is cold\" response. I... | [
"They are, but if you put something that hot in your mouth, you will spit it out before your teeth react to it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Dentistry:"
} |
how do zits form, and why does popping certain zits hurt like a bitch (lip line) and others don't (forehead) | [
"There are different kinds of breakout. Whiteheads and blackheads are simply clogged pores; the oil in the pore is either blocked, trapping the bacteria in the pore, or it is exposed to air, where the bacteria oxidizes and forms a whitehead. A pimple, or zit, when the bacteria deeper down in the pore becomes infect... | [
"I think it’s because the acne is caused by bacteria- and the cut isn’t. So, it’s an infection whereas the cut isn’t infected and should just heal from being cut.(unless it gets infected). The acne lesions on our face also are in contact with sweat, dirt, oil and bacteria on our fingers, where on other parts of our... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Health and Wellness:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph about Health and Wellness:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why have we not been back to the Moon since 1972? | [
"To be honest, there is no real reason to go there. We have landed on the moon and confirmed what we already knew from moon rocks that landed on Earth. There are no resources to exploit. There are no scientific gains to be made from living on the moon. As to using the moon as a stepping stone to get to Mars, it wou... | [
"Wait. They sent out a boat to respond January 20th and it arrived June 18th? Is that correct?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does someone like the FBI recover info from a hard drive even after formatting or even more seriously using a tool such as DBAN to wipe the data? | [
"This depends a lot on the drive technology and the way the data was protected and/or erased in the first place. The recovery relies on the fact that although we talk about zeros and ones, the physical underlying medium may have certain ranges for representing 0 and 1. The methods for recovery may be software rel... | [
"E-mails are sent through servers that can retain copies of e-mails. Also when you delete any file, they're not gone they're just overwritten by new data and can be recovered unless you took measures to really erase them (low level format of your HD or using a special app)."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why is "civility" a big thing on Reddit now? Why do comment sections get locked if people say unpleasant things? | [
"It's likely due to the fact that the current political climate has led to extremely polarised views, and lots of pointless childish name-calling between them. It makes it all a bit useless when you want facts or real discussion, and instead get people being called cucks or racists all the times."
] | [
"Once you become more familiar with Reddit you'll understand. Reddit has what is called a \"hive mind\", which means a large portion of people on this site have the exact same opinions and are very vocal about them. For example, say anything negative about weed and you'll find yourself getting downvoted to hell alm... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
I get freckles seasonally. I'm wondering if it's similar to some birthmarks that are only visible when you are more tan, or if you get new freckles every year? | [
"My freckles are the same, and I'm no expert at all so please don't only take my word for it because I only studied it for a little bit, but you have melanin deposits in your dermis. These are your freckles. Sometimes they expand with exposure to the sun, but most of the time, they remain the same. Melanin in the i... | [
"They form when the pigment cells in your skin sort of cluster up rather than spreading out like they're suppose to. This happens mainly because of genetics, you just inherit them because mom and dad had them. Sometimes it happens because you were exposed to a lot of sunlight when you were younger."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why do some YouTube videos that show episodes of TV shows have unrelated borders in them that take up a third of the screen? | [
"There are 2 reasons, the first is the uploader is trying to avoid the video being automatically flagged as copyright, Youtube has an automated system that can detect copyrighted content, an easy way to trick this is to either frame the video or to use stabilization (you may see some tv shows that were recorded fro... | [
"The real answer is because most people don't watch a full video. It gets expensive and strains there servers when a video buffers all the way through if you aren't going to watch it all. To help with this problem the split the video into different sections. Once one section buffers it won't buffer the next till yo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Technology:"
} |
Why does basically no one speak Latin anymore even though it is used in many popular countries? | [
"It is a very slow language with very complex grammar that isn't very intuitive. The sheer amount of declensions, verb tenses, gender words, and verb forms are staggering, and makes for a very cumbersome, formal language. The trend for languages is to become less formal over time, which is probably one of the majo... | [
"In addition to everything here, the Romans were the first ones to begin writing *everything* down. I mean these guys recorded everything even some really obscure things. It's really easy to study Latin and compare it to other European languages because it influenced everything and it's conveniently written down."
... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do we sigh when we are sad? | [
"When you take a deep breath, it stimulates your central nervous system in your chest and releases calming hormones. This is also a reason why people feel relaxed when they smoke, they are doing deep breathing exercises."
] | [
"I still rub my eyes when I'm tired."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
When I stare at the carpet, the area around my focal point appears to move almost like a liquid ripple - what is happening? | [
"I get this too! Especially when looking at the sky. Would love to know why."
] | [
"It's an illusion your mind creates to make sense of an object in the horizon. If you look at the rising moon upside down you'll notice it's small again."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How exactly are modern wars profitable to a country? | [
"To a country? Usually they aren't in a monetary sense. Companies that make the parts that go boom make most of the money, along with military contractors. If you are talking about gaining something in return for the effort, it depends on who the war is against and where."
] | [
"Because for the last 30 years, Russia has dumped all their money on military supplies to compete with a much wealthier nation- The United States. They've always been a government first country, where they mostly neglect a majority of their population by not being fiscally responsible with their spending. Russia re... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why are we able to find planets in distant galaxies but we're not 100% sure if Planet X and Planet Y are right here in the solar system? | [
"Just want to make a clarification: we can detect planets in distant solar systems, but not in other galaxies."
] | [
"You mean to be hidden by the sun? It would, but it's gravitational influence on other celestial bodies would give it away. In other words, it's not necessary to actually *see* a planet to detect it's presence. Most of the outer planets were, in fact, *predicted* to exist long before they were actually detected wit... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about astronomy:",
"pos": "Represent the document about astronomy:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do voices 'merge', to make a group of people louder than a single entity? | [
"This is the result of addition: If you turn on 100 light bulbs you will get a brighter light, than if you were to turn on only one. Each one is still only emitting a small amount of lumen individually, but collectively they add up If you open a tiny hose of water, you get a small steam. If you open 100 tiny hoses,... | [
"Because when you speak you hear yourself + your skull vibrating to the sound of your voice. So this causes you to hear a deeper voice than when you listen to the recording."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Language and Communication:"
} |
the people on the internet who say that we should all adopt gold and silver backed currencies instead of "fiat money" | [
"There are people who don't believe in the validity of fiat currency. They say that it's not backed by anything real, that it's a collective illusion. To a point, they are correct, but it's an extremely functional collective illusion. Such people believe that instead of basing our monetary system on modern economic... | [
"if there's more money circulating each individual dollar is worth less people that we owe money to don't want shitty watered-down extra-few-trillions inflated money, because those don't buy nearly as many real goods as not inflated money is my take (i am not an economist)"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does Samsung Pay work without NFC? | [
"It's called Magnetic Secure Transmission. Samsung bought the technology from a company called LoopPay. When a credit card is swiped, the terminal reads information from a magnetic stripe on the back of the card. MST sends out a signal with the same-ish information that the terminal is looking for. It won't work ri... | [
"I think safety is the most important feature of Apple Pay. Aside from the virtual card number, the device generate a random unique number for each transaction. The merchant does not see your card information whatsoever. If you are also asking how it works physically the (very) short answer is near-field communica... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What will happen to Earth when the magnetic poles switch? | [
"No reversal in the past has been correlated with any kind of mass extinction. The overwhelming majority of high energy particles are deflected not by the magnetic field, but simply attenuated by our dense atmosphere. Perhaps the biggest threat is that to our satellite network; there's problems already in realation... | [
"Quite simply, you're looking at the names backwards The planet's poles were named because direction the magnet points, not the other way round :-) North on Earth is the direction the North end of a magnet points. The North pole is actually the \"south\" magnetic pole of the Earth's magnetic field."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
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This is just a reminder to please search before asking your question here. | [
"This reddit is just like a real five year old, then. They ask the same question over and over and over. source: I have a five year old kid."
] | [
"Is it against the rules to ask for book recommendations on this topic? if not I would like to do so."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
What are composers doing when they wave their hands around all over the place? | [
"You mean conductors? They are giving cues to to the various sections of the orchestra about the exact timing of when to play their pieces, how loudly, how softly, etc."
] | [
"They don't just fiddle with knobs and switches. Sometimes they adjust the angle of their laptop screens. And sometimes they wave one hand up and down, like they're patting the head of a camel. There's a lot going on up there. These are the hardest working men in show business."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why there is the number 3 in mp3 and the number 4 in mp4? | [
"MPEG stands for Moving Picture Experts Group, which is basically a committee of people who get together to try to produce standards for audio and video content in digital form. Their first published standard was called MPEG-1 and that was divided into several \"layers\", where each layer is concerned with a differ... | [
"Video codecs(how the video is stored) use compression. For example if you have two videos and one can be described using 50 different colors but the other needs 250 one of the files will be larger. Similar with audio. The more complex the audio the bigger the file."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
why can we see things with little light but my camera photos are either totally dark or too bright with a flash? What is the difference? | [
"The human eye has an incredible dynamic range that we are just not able to reproduce with a camera. Dynamic range is the visual perception of the difference between the dark and well-lit areas of a scene. Our eyes are able to distinguish both dark and light right next to each other. Cameras are typically better e... | [
"It helps the lighting of the scene. At night there is very little light which makes it a little more difficult to light a large area like a street. But if the street is wet, then increases the ambient light values for the scene which makes the overall image more pleasing. It also reduces the amount of noise on the... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why are there so many controls in a plane cockpit? | [
"so non-pilots dont go in there and try to fly away with it."
] | [
"Why do some parts of the world call gasoline petrol?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why do I get goosebumps when I hear a beautiful piece of music or watch an amazing bit of film? | [
"When you hear a beautiful piece of music your \"sympathetic nervous system\" gets stimulated. This causes your body to experience a rush of adrenaline, and also causes something called the piloerection reflex, which makes your hair stand up. It is akin to the same primal fight-or-flight reflex which causes a cat t... | [
"Your mind is a powerful super computer, capable of generating the most lifelike graphics and sounds. I can sing like a 500-pound opera singer in my mind . I can play back entire portions of songs or movies, if I've heard or seen them enough times. Your brain is just that powerful."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How are people able to be "good sports" and seemingly easily shrug off losses? | [
"Well I don't know how to describe this to you on an autism spectrum, but handling a loss is the definition of being a good sport. Whether you win or lose you need to respect the other team/player. Just tell yourself it's just a game and its not going to affect your life either way. A good example of a good sport i... | [
"If you're giving them an honest answer? They know they're overweight. They seek emotional comfort. The more mature among them hope to hear it's not crippling to their presentation. But people aren't always mature. Some need a second witness for the lies they tell themselves. Others want to hurt themselves, and ha... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Natural Harmonics on Guitar | [
"When you hit a note normally, the string has a lot of vibrations all working together. There's the *fundamental* and the *overtones*. [See this image](_URL_0_). The fundamental is the main vibration, the one on top in the picture. The overtones are all the various sine waves you see below. When you play a harmonic... | [
"Sleep - Shake Unconscious - Splash Coma - Wait and Hope Vegetative State - Wait and Bury"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How Does Water Ruin Electronics? | [
"Water by itself doesn't ruin electronics. The problem is that if you turn it on, and it's wet, the water causes electrical connections from parts to other parts that were never meant to connect (i.e. an electrical short). These shorts can fry things by giving them more electricity than they were ever meant to hand... | [
"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 query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Why is it that burps don't taste/smell like throw-up? | [
"Depending on when you burp (how far along the food has been digested). Some burps actually do smell like vomit."
] | [
"Not everyone can smell it. So, to them, their pee doesn't smell. But to those who can smell it, everyone's pee smells when they eat asparagus. (Don't ask how this was discovered.)"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
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