query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
How do aquatic animals know how far they should go down in the water? ex. Blue Whales can only go so far down, what prevents them from going further? | [
"Probably \"similar\" to the feeling you get when holding your breath past what's good for you. Your body just knows what it needs and will tell you when you are taking risks."
] | [
"Three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. Applying pressure to a solid or liquid has no effect on the matter. Only gases (and, in some cases, plasmas) are affected by pressure. Simply put, these little fish at the bottom of the ocean have no gases in them. No air pockets inside their bodies means no effects ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
The current white supremacist and neo nazi situation in the United States | [
"Neo Nazis and white supremacists still occupy the extreme minority in the United States that they have for as long as they've been a concept. To date, they hold no positions of power and have accomplished none of their stated goals. Recently, the left has been both labeling everyone that they disagree with polit... | [
"Nothing. Robert E. Lee was a US confederate general, the military leader of the Civil War faction that advocated the continuance of black slavery. The connection between this and the anti-Semitic element of the Nazis it tenuous at best."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does the shower curtain 'blow' towards my body when I'm showering? | [
"Showers create hot water. This lowers air pressure. The air away from the shower is colder and has higher pressure. Air moves from high to low pressure moving your shower curtain with it."
] | [
"Hahaha. It's because it starts to clog the drain at some point. They probably unclog it while they are showering because the water stops draining properly and forget to throw it in the trash afterwards. My trash can is on the other side of the bathroom and I usually wait until I finish showering to throw it away b... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
I read Amazon isn't profitable, and yet, i just learned it's CEO is the third richest man in the world! Can someone explain what is going on at Amazon? | [
"Amazon could become profitable at any moment it chooses; instead, it's sacrificing short term profits to keep prices low and continue attracting more and more reliable customers, establishing itself as **the** go-to online retailer. This will result in significantly greater long-term profits."
] | [
"There are a lot of ways to make money (or lose money) by investing in stocks. What he is talking about is called a 'short,' and he is almost definitely making it up. To make money on an equity like a company stock that falls in value, you pay a small fee to 'borrow,' someone else's stock and you sell it. Then, whe... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage about Finance:"
} |
Why is there so many programming languages that do the same thing, and not one that does it easier ? | [
"because it's not that simple. a big role of a developer is to interpret the needs of a human and convert that into code. yes, you want a picture of a circle with a 10cm radius. great! what color? how thick should the line be? what color should the inner fill be? where do you want it? how should it interact with it... | [
"That's because Operating systems allow making complex software programs easily; they have tons of low level commands and flags that make high-level programming easy. When you're making an operating system though, you need to write just a TON of stuff to make it worthwhile. And no matter what you do, there's probab... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Technology:"
} |
Why don't (most) animals care when you watch them mating? | [
"the only reason we have shame towards it is because we are told from an early age that this is shameful. That is all there is to it"
] | [
"Its not just humans. Lots of animals torture each other and other animals for fun."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
; If an insanely loud sound lasted 1 billionth of a second, would we be able to hear it? | [
"No, you wouldn't be able to hear it. Sound is fast change in air pressure from positive to negative. Most humans can hear in a range of 20 to 20,000 Hz, or changes in air pressure per second. So if you were to hear a loud sound that lasted only 1 billionth of a second that wouldn't be long enough for the air pres... | [
"Light, or what you see when the volcano erupts, travels at 186,000 *miles per second*, while sound travels exponentially slower at about 767 *miles per hour*. It takes just a fraction of a millisecond for the light from the volcano to reach your eyes, as opposed tot he 15 seconds it takes the sound to reach your e... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Who Glenn Beck is and why he is so controversial. | [
"I'm sure there are some YouTube videos of him available. You really should watch one if you want to truly understand. He spouts very, very politically conservative propaganda. He distorts facts past the point of recognition to fit his conclusions, and paints anyone who is not as nutty as him as an evil person w... | [
"Because why he was killed depends on who killed him."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What are private prisons and how do they make a profit? | [
"They're private corporations that buy contracts from the state to house prisoners. The state figures its cost to house the prisoner. If the private can do it for less, that's profit."
] | [
"> ... should we worry about the future of privately owned prisons? I don't think you need to worry about the future, privately owned prisons are a concern **today**. Instead of working solely to rehabilitate inmates, the prison industrial complex is very involved in lobbying government to influence laws to the ben... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
What were to happen if NK shelled Seoul and killed a few thousand people, but threatened to use nukes on the US if they intervened. | [
"South Korea would wipe North off the map. South Korea spends more on its military than North Korea's government spends, total."
] | [
"Because it would cause issues..say we go to war: What happens when we win? Who gets the north? China or SK? China would NEVER let the United States be so close to the border. What do you do with all the refugees? We could utterly massacre the North Korean military in days. The United States invaded Iraq and was i... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What good is a social security number? What things can I get that I couldn't get without one? | [
"A job, tax refunds, a bank account, enlistment in the Military, Social Security benefits, student loans, and many other things. Granted, there are some other ways you can get things done, like paying your taxes, without a SSN, but the process of convincing the powers that be that you don't have and don't want a So... | [
"If you don't have car insurance you have to have car insurance to drive a car or you could face serious trouble. If you want to eat cheaply/healthily then learning to cook is useful, or you could get involved with someone else who can do that. Your taxes will be taken out of your income automatically, or sent to y... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What Is Ethical Egoism? | [
"Ethical egoism is the idea that you only ever act in your own self interest. For example if i give to charity, its because it makes me feel like a good person. People will also think better of me. There was a famous ethical egoist (whom i forget) who was once riding in his carriage and sees a pig stuck in a hole. ... | [
"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 query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why are conservatives considered "the right" and liberals considered "the left"? | [
"[It all goes back to seating arrangements during the French Revolution](_URL_0_). The National Assembly took sides, with the royalists on the right and the revolutionaries on the left. Newspapers just referred to them as the left or right occasionally, and it caught on."
] | [
"Dave Rubin, a self-proclaimed liberal, does a great job explaining it in [this](_URL_13_) video. People often think that a progressive is just a more extreme liberal, but that's not the case at all. Progressivism is essentially the exact opposite of what \"liberal\" has meant throughout history. Liberalism is abou... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Why is the water level higher inside a straw? | [
"Here are some ideas: 1. The atmospheric air pressure is pushing down on the drink. 2. Capillary action is the result of the adhesive forces between the straw and the drink. Since there is comparatively a lot of drink touching the straw inside of it as opposed to not touching the straw, the adhesive forces have the... | [
"Your pee stream is getting air into the toilet water. Have you seen the bottom of a waterfall?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Science:"
} |
Here on Reddit, we see a lot of "Scientists have discovered..." posts. Why do I never see any instant results from something like this? | [
"I guess because of exaggerations, and title clickbaits. Let's say some laboratory made some small discovery which helps them understand a disease more, but there's still a lot of uncertainty and problems on the way to curing it. But it somewhat helps and they are one step closer now. Now they make an article, art... | [
"Interestingly enough, if you google \"ELI5 why not use google\" you'll find multiple answers to this basic question."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do humans tend to zone out after staring at a certain area after awhile , reluctant to break their field of vision? | [
"daydream: “spontaneous, subjective experiences in a no-task, no stimulus, no-response situation…[and] includes unintended thoughts that intrude inadvertently into the execution of intended mental tasks… and undirected ideas in thought sampling during wakefulness” Staring at a certain area means lower novel visual... | [
"You won't be experiencing physical fatigue, as you stated you have just sat there for 2 hours. It will be a combination of mental exhaustion and straining your eyes for extended periods of time. The mental exhaustion is down to the fact that you are concentrating on one thing for a very long period of time and stu... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
In hindsight, with everything going on since the early 21st century, what is the difference between the world's military affairs versus World War III? | [
"One of the major differences between now and WW2 is that WW2 was total war - much of our (other countries) industry was devoted to producing materiel for the war."
] | [
"To be a little less specific, what did people think the future in general would be like before the Industrial Revolution?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does post-partum depression happen? | [
"Pregnancy involves a whole bunch of hormonal changes. When pregnancy ends, sometimes the hormones take a while to rebalance. This can lead to many side effects - most minor and temporary. PPD is one of those side effects."
] | [
"Because depression is a mental illness caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. How affluent you are doesn't affect it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why do people get sick more often in the winter months? | [
"Less sunlight and less warmth makes people to spend more time inside. Being inside together makes it easier for microbes to spread by contact or air. When they do happen to be out, the cold weather makes their nose run... these microbes can get on a sleeve or hand and travel far."
] | [
"Why is election on weekdays instead of weekends?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does my cat lick things uncontrollably when I pet him? | [
"I reckon it's an instinct. You draw your hand over it's fur and making it smooth, just like it would do while licking itself. Dogs that move their foot while being scratched, I think do the same thing-they are scratched so they start doing the move. Could be entirely wrong."
] | [
"- They're not licking the air, they're licking their nose. - Your blowing air into their face dries up their highly sensitive nose, which is kept moist at all times. - Their reflex is to lick their nose and reapply the moisture. They can't avoid that reflex any more than you can avoid blinking when I blow air into... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How can people reasonably say Jay-Z is in the Illuminati? | [
"No one \"reasonably\" says Jay-Z is in the Illuminati. That's about as unreasonable a thing to say as is possible sober."
] | [
"Can someone explain why hip-hop decided to run with it too?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why cant cats be trained? | [
"Cats can definitely be trained. My cat was trained to sit, lie down, beg, fetch, etc. I had a puppy at the same time the kitten arrives, and they just learnt together. I used the same techniques as I did on the dog. Using treats as an encouragement, never punishing or hitting."
] | [
"And more importantly how do I get one for myself?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about biology:"
} |
Why do schools always assign dystopian novels as required reading for English classes? | [
"Why not? It's a fairly expansive genre, and books like *1984*, *Brave New World*, and *Atlas Shrugged* are some of the most widely referenced works in today's culture. Not only that, but they are fairly encompassing when it comes to human nature and society. There are fairly grand statements being made by most dys... | [
"I'm a SS/ELL/ELA teacher, and as most of the answers here have been addressing the problems people have with the math standards, I'll take a shot at the ELA standards. The problem here, I believe, is the fact that CC emphasizes non-fiction reading. By 12th grade, CC says 80% of the reading students do for school s... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
why do my legs feel itchy after a long run or hike? | [
"It's your nerves responding to capillaries expanding because your blood flow is increasing, and you brain is interpreting it as itching."
] | [
"Why does it feel so much worse with the flu than a cold? Feels like I got hit by a fucking car when I got the flu a year ago."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
How is a Google search so quick? | [
"Also, though you may find it hard to believe, almost every search you can think of has already been searched for by someone somewhere. For vast numbers of these common searches, search providers like Google already have the answers stored in a cache. Obviously they updated it from time to time, more often if it's ... | [
"Making a great search engine is very hard."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Grand Final/Superbowl halftime... everyone seizes opportunity to use restroom. Does the local treatment plant receive a tsunami? | [
"Not a Tsunami, but they definitely use a lot more water. I think the best example of this was the USA vs Canada Gold Medal game back in 2010. Since there are less stoppages during a game of hockey than there are in football or other sports, the water usage was increased tremendously. Heres a graph. _URL_0_"
] | [
"* You must begin drinking beer at least 6 hours before kick off. * You must not piss until the halftime show starts. With your party's participation, we can finally get that world wide Super Bowl Flush. * No one in you house can speak when Tom Brady has the ball * No one in your house can speak when Eli Manning ha... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
How do optometrist know what dioptre toddlers need, if they can't give feedback on the glasses? | [
"There are tests that see how the eye focuses automatically. One of them uses an image [in my case it was a hot air balloon] and your eye will naturally try to focus on it. The machine bounces a laser off your eye and measures the defraction to see how the lens changes shape. This is used to get your correction fai... | [
"> Why can't a doctor just tell me what I need to get That's what a prescription is. It's a written document that outlines in what way your vision is impaired, so that a lens can be cut to compensate for these issues. You can't just buy them off the shelf because different people a range of different problems with... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What are those random sharp pains I get often on my skin almost like a big bite that catches my attention but immediately goes away? | [
"It could be a misfire of the nerves. It could be a hair stuck and being pulled on by something. Or it could be an insect, there are many microscopic insects that live in the pores and hair follicles of your skin."
] | [
"I get these too. Anyone saying that this could be some underlying condition just doesn't properly understand. For me, it's not like it's associated with anything in particular. I can't say that the pain is my muscle or my bone. It just hurts really bad for a couple of seconds and then it's gone, just like you des... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why a chef wears white, and why the tall hat stereotype exists. | [
"White is a clean color. Chefs will know if food has stained their clothing because they can see it against white fabric, which is really important to prevent food poisoning and cross contamination. White clothes can be bleached. White fabric also repels more heat as compared to other colors, and kitchens get very ... | [
"Men wear pants to work, women wear aprons in the kitchen. 20th century logic for ya."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How are fingerprints left behind when, according to the chemistry of molecular bonds, no two surfaces TRULY touch as the bonds repel one another? | [
"saying that the surfaces don't truly touch is an interesting philosophical observation about the meaning of \"touch\" but doesn't really impact your question. What we call \"touching\" at the macro level is an interaction between atoms that prevents them from occupying the same space at the same time. That this c... | [
"Mass can be converted into energy, but it is not energy when it is mass. As for why you can \"touch\" things, you actually aren't coming into physical contact with them in the most literal sense. The electrons in your finger and the electrons in whatever you touch are repelling each other before your molecules can... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
If the existence of Jesus can’t be proven/isn’t widely accepted in the scientific community, why do we still use BC (Before Christ) to measure time? | [
"Picking **any** year as the epoch for our calendar is completely arbitrary will be tied to the culture that chose it. Western European culture has been using *this* calendar system for over a thousand years because it was made popular by the Romans. Since they're the dominant force in world military, economic & cu... | [
"I don't know very much about the historiography of the dating of Christ's birth, but I'd be very skeptical of any such article. Partly because, from what little I know, Christ's life is not known exactly enough to say such things, but mostly because if any article thinks that there's a year 0 AD it shouldn't be co... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
How come if you have a glass of water with ice, when you turn the glass, the ice stays in its place? | [
"Inertia. A body at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. Not only the ice, but the water within the glass has mass and thus inertia. The only force being conducted to it is the torque applied through the low friction walls of the glass--very little."
] | [
"> Is it because the North Pole is seemingly much more contained and the effects are only see at its accompanying shorelines? The North Pole ice is floating in the water. Ice in water melting does not change sea levels, because it displaces as much water as ice as it will as more water. You can see this by making a... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How to blind people write? | [
"Braille typewriters. [Here](_URL_0_) is a video describing how they work. That guy answers lots of questions about the blind btw, worth watching."
] | [
"Would you like to share the criticism from Kant?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do bathrooms in restaurants, gas stations, hotels, etc., have the music on a higher volume than on the main room? | [
"The bathroom may be at the same volume as the rest of the place. It may be that less of the sound is absorbed by carpet and people and chairs and things. Bathrooms are generally smaller/have less volume as well, so a single speaker set to the same volume will seem louder in the smaller space. But really, it's prob... | [
"They take up too much space and are impractical for a house. The reason they have them in public toilets is they're more efficient when lots of people need to use them. It's not like you'll have more than one person using the toilet at the same time in your house."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
When can police get accurate speed readings on a moving vehicle? | [
"When they have radar on and it is within a certain degree of head/tail-on. I think it's within 15 degrees, but can't remember the exact number. The further off it is, the less accurate. And when the radar is properly calibrated, which should be done a minimum of twice per shift. When the are following the vehicle ... | [
"They use people's cell phones to track the speed of cars on the roads."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
The stages in a lawsuit. | [
"Civil (private person/company v. private person/company) or criminal?"
] | [
"All of the appeals that are allowed before the sentence is carried out. Court costs"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How come a doctor can't just cut out a cancerous tumour and be done with it? What is it that stops the patient from being cured? | [
"When tumors are just sitting in places that can be easily cut open, that's exactly what they do. But one of the dangers with cancers is that a few cancerous cells can 'brush off' from a tumor and hitch a ride in the blood or lymph, forming dozens of other small tumors all over the body. It's called metastasis, and... | [
"Go to the doctor right away. The appendix will grow and grow until it bursts, and you develop a severe immune response. There is not enough blood penetration to the appendix, and it is filled with so much crap that you would need to manually clean it out. That's a lot harder than just taking it out, and never havi... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why is the campaign to free Tibet so much more popular than the Tamil push for independence from the Buddhist majority in Sri Lanka that has claimed more than 100,000 lives? | [
"The kindly old man Dalai Lama is a much better PR face than Tamil Tiger suicide bombers. The fact that Tibet is fighting global economic power China instead of an island nation many people couldn't find on a map helps visibility too."
] | [
"The Yemeni civil war has been going on for about a year. So far several thousands of people have been killed and about 170,000 refugees fled the country. In comparison, the Syrian civil war has been going on for 5 years, *hundreds of thousands* of people have been killed, and over *four million* refugees have fled... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Difference between "Decriminalize" and "Legalize" | [
"In practice, \"legalizing\" something allowes the government to regulate it in a way that allows for some legalty. With marijuana, legalizing it is the process of getting the government to approve a legal amount to possess and tax the sale of it. Decriminalization is more straightforward- it simply means making i... | [
"Republican: Economic freedom, social control Democrat: Economic control, Social freedom Facism: Economic control, social control Libertarian: Economic freedom, social freedom"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Can a "New Color" unlike any colors on the normal spectrum be created or already exists? If so, how? | [
"For us humans, there are no new colors that we will be able to see. We cannot even imagine what a new color might look like. The colors that we see are determined by the number of color receptor cones we have in our eyes. I'm pretty sure we only have 3, and these 3 cones determine all of the wavelengths of light w... | [
"Well here's the problem. I want you to find me a color. Easy right? Now find me a color you've never seen before. Not a shade of blue, not a shade of red. A new color. NOW things get impossible, how do you even do that? How do you look for something you've never seen before, that you have no frame of reference on?... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about science:"
} |
How come we don't see new Football (or any sport) teams? Why can't Hawaii or Maryland (or any state lacking) form, recruit and join the nfl? | [
"You realize Maryland has a NFL team, right?"
] | [
"Saw your correction so I'll comment here. The college sports that are a big deal are important because they are essentially a de facto minor league for our professional sports. The most popular ones in question are college football and basketball which don't have a minor league option in the US."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why can animals walk the day theyre born, yet it takes humans about a year? | [
"Not every animal can walk the day they are born. The reason why human babies are so vulnerable after birth is because we are born at a very immature stage. If pregnancies would last longer, we would not be able to give birth to our babies. We are already pushing it in terms of getting their big heads through our n... | [
"That is what they are adapted to do. It is like asking how fish can swim all the time or how whales can hold their breath for so long. The stress of being used for what they do isn't something difficult for nipples to do."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Biology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Biology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do we feel the urge to stay in bed even though we've had more than enough sleep already? | [
"I will stay in bed hours past when I should be waking up, just to continue living through especially vivid dreams. It's like living an entirely new life every time I go to sleep. There's new locations, people I haven't seen in a while, random and exciting action that never follows only one plot. I always want to ... | [
"He means what is our body doing when we force ourselves to sleep longer than necessary, for example a rainy Sunday morning where we sleep until 10am even though we could have gotten up at 8 with enough rest. What does the body do with those two extra hours"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Sleep and its effects on the body:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Sleep and its effects on the body:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
When calling 911 from a cell phone, why can't they find the location you are calling from? | [
"On some systems, they can estimate your location by triangulating your signal against multiple cell towers. Maybe that's good enough to figure out which city block you're on, which building you're in, or which street you're near. Imagine you're looking up driving directions on Google Maps with [only a longitude an... | [
"Say you have an AT & T phone. It will only work through towers owned or leased by AT & T. But if you aren't within the coverage by them, but Verizon, for example, has a nearby tower, you can call 911 and it will route through that tower."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is a citizen's arrest? Under what circumstances can one be performed? | [
"It's an arrest made by someone who is not a law enforcement officer. The circumstances are going to depend on where you live but it's generally a power granted to the public to arrest someone if they see that personal committing a crime."
] | [
"State and Federal crimes are different systems. A State employed law officer (which includes city police) can only enforce State laws. Federal laws are enforced by Federal officers such as the FBI or Marshals service. If the State has chosen to not duplicate a Federal law (such as those that have legalized Marijua... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why can humans exhibit super-strength in times of crisis? | [
"Because at any moment, we are only using a certain percentage of our muscle mass, since using all of it at once could severely damage those muscles. When we are in extreme situations like the one you proposed, our instinct to survive or help our offspring survive overrides the need to keep your muscles intact. Our... | [
"Because humans are the only species with a complex enough social structure to allow for emotions such as embarrassment."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
The significance of Basque and Catalonia in Spain. | [
"~~Catalonian~~ Catalan here, you're correct. For catalonia, please take a look at this: _URL_0_ This is one of the main concerns here in Catalonia, Spain is taking lots of money from our taxes, and investing less in services. Also there are cultural differences, neither Catalonia nor Basque country identify wit... | [
"Because of their interpretation of some details in their practically same religion and historical, tribal diferences. Two reasons of most wars and conflicts."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
The Johnson & Johnson cancer case. They have lost three court cases this year & ordered to pay $72 million, $55m & $70m. Despite this, their website continues to deny all cancer links, opening them up for further lawsuits & their share price is steady. | [
"Couple things. 1) There is no definitive proof that talcum powder causes cancer. J & J, however, had received reliable reports suggesting that it *might* and neither investigated nor released this information to the public; that is the crime they are guilty of. ~~2) The loss of 197 million dollars is almost noth... | [
"Until that time, tobacco companies were claiming smoking didn't cause cancer and nicotine wasn't addictive. They bought congressmen, commissioned fake studies, slandered scientists, and did everything they could to confuse the issue so there was just enough doubt link tobacco with its ill effect. There is a lot of... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why does your car key remote reach further when you put it up to your head? | [
"Despite having visual line of site you probably don't have radio line of site. That is technically called the fresnel zone. The extra height is really what is helping you."
] | [
"Do you know how a fan works? If so just turn it around"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Would someone whose eyesight is not good enough to see something far away be able to see the same thing if there was a photo taken of it at the same distance? | [
"Yes, they would because the picture is much closer than the actual thing. However, if the old person took the photo they might have a hard time focusing, since they can't see what they are focusing on."
] | [
"Just like with a camera's aperture, the smaller the opening, the more in focus everything is. If you can read something from 20ft away, squinting will allow you to still read it even at further distances."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Science:"
} |
What happens when my car windshield keeps getting foggy? | [
"There is a drastic difference in air temperature between the inside of your car and the outside air. This temperature difference meets at your windshield. This causes moisture in the hot air to condense into dew or fog on your windshield. To counteract this you turn on your defroster to blow hot air on the windshi... | [
"Rear Defroster: It's a strip of metal that gets electric current ran through it which then heats up your window. Use it if you have ice or condensation on it Front Defroster: It cycles on your A/C compressor which dehumidifies the air. Use it if you have condensation on your windshield"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do flies keep landing on the same spot, even when repeatedly being put in danger at that exact spot? | [
"They don't think like humans, that's for certain. The fly isn't aware that it was just hit the last time it landed on your leg. It doesn't even know what a leg is. It lands on a place it's attracted to. So if it keeps coming to your leg, it's attracted to the scent or the sight of it. They don't learn your respons... | [
"It's warm and sweaty. But that's not much of a reason for lots of bugs. Confirmation bias may also play a part in this. There might just be bugs *all over the place*, but you only notice the ones that land on your face."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why when you get sunburned you get sleepy/tired? | [
"Sunburns usually come with dehydration as well. Mix dehydration and your body trying to repair a sizable chunk of skin, its quite draining."
] | [
"Because you push out a lot of air in your lungs and ypu limit the blood flow coming to your brain. This makes you feel really tired / think you're gonna pass out ( you actually can)"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is it called inflation and not deflation when the value of money goes down? | [
"Inflation is or can be a symptom of an increase in the money supply. Hence inflation. You can also think of the number of dollars it takes to buy something \"inflating\"."
] | [
"Short Answer- Supply and Demand There is a finite amount of US Dollars in the world. If there are suddenly fewer (because someone is buying them up) then the price goes up. If there are suddenly more (say the Fed is printing more) then the price will go down. The \"price\" in this case is the value of the currency... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is it so difficult to make a new violin sound like a Stradivarius in this day and age? | [
"While the legendary sound of Stradivarius instruments is well known, it turns out the idea that their sound is completely unique and not reproducible may not be all that true. While they are very high quality instruments, many blind listening tests have shown that most people, even those with trained ears, can't t... | [
"How do you know you are perfectly recreating a sound in your head? Your head tells you it is."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Language and cognition:"
} |
How does the USA have the highest health expenditure per capita and no universal healthcare? | [
"Unlike single payer systems (like most of Europe), the U.S. has a fractured health system that's grown up from the various different schools of thought and regions where health care began. A hospital in Boston will operate differently and have different standards of care than another hospital owned by a different ... | [
"Because it's over-confidence. If America was #1, then it would be annoying (nobody likes a braggart), but acceptable. The problem is, the belief that America is #1 prevents Americans from seeing how badly off they are in a number of areas... and not understanding these problems means they don't get fixed. Because ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Heating a liquid usually turns it into a gas. So why do my eggs 'solidify' when I cook em in a pan? | [
"Heating a liquid *that isn't changing chemically* will eventually evaporate it, yes. But many liquids do change chemically well below their boiling points, and what's happening in your eggs is precisely that. The heat is changing the structure of the proteins that make up much of the material of an egg. Normally,... | [
"It's all based on the temperature of boiling water. See, when you heat water, it doesn't really go over 100C (212F) - it just turns to steam and evaporates. Once most of the liquid water has evaporated, the temperature quickly shoots up. There's a thermostat inside the rice cooker that tells it to cut heat when th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
What is cognitive behavioral therapy? | [
"It's a therapist providing strategies to cope with your difficulties. My ex wife had OCD and would worry constantly about things. Sometimes big things, often little things. To the point she couldn't do anything practical because she was too busy worrying. She'd literally sit on the sofa the whole day, worrying. No... | [
"DBT was specifically devloped to fit the symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder. CBT is a more general type of therapy. BPD is not as common of a diagnosed issue as anxiety, depression, etc. However, most therapy programs considered \"intense,\" or programs for people who are severely struggling, use a combi... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why does reddit "archive" old posts and comments? Why can't they be voted on anymore? | [
"For every post and comment, Reddit doesn't just store the number of upvotes and downvotes - it stores every single individual vote so it can know who voted on it (so that you can't vote twice). This of course is a lot of data. By archiving it and removing this data (just keeping the final up and downvote count) th... | [
"...Why do they *have* default subreddits? Do they ever remove them? What makes a subreddit default-worthy? I'm five years old, please explain... Thanks in advance! Also, before they add a new subreddit to the default list, do they ask the owners' permission first?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
When did straight white teeth become a status symbol? | [
"I'm guessing this is a thing in the States? As with so many things, it probably started to become a status symbol as soon as famous people started doing it. This being said, the super white teeth American TV stars and politicians tend to have is not really a thing here in Europe (is this changing?). So it's not a ... | [
"Attractiveness has a lot to do with exclusivity, independent of the actual trait. In world where it is hard to fat, fat is attractive. If skinny is hard, skinny is attractive."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
What happens if a computer or server receives two messeges at exactly the same time? | [
"On a hardware level, a computer can tell the difference between two signals down to the millionths of a second or so, generally. It's almost impossible for two signals to arrive at the exact same millionth of a second. I'm frankly not even sure that they would bother to put in a failsafe for if it does happen, bec... | [
"Usually it's so they can control the flow of traffic to and from their server so the site doesn't crash from too many connections at the same time."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
How does a bird start a nest? Wouldn’t the first stick just blow away in the wind? | [
"Some use mud or saliva to create a sticky base. Some begin with heavier sticks that won't blow away, and then weave stuff into them. Some begin with natural crevices or holes that are not exposed to wind."
] | [
"They don't want to drown in the water that fills the soil where they are. So...they move topside. It's not a foolproof strategy, needless to say."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is it when you eat hot/spicy food your chest gets "cleared up"? | [
"A chemical travels up your nose and causes a bunch mucus to be produced and that causes your airway to irrigate."
] | [
"That's interesting. My butthole isn't too fussy about spicy foods, but it really puckers from lots of lime juice and cotton candy gets it squawking like no tomorrow."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why can't we just cover all rooftops with solar panels to provide the world with energy? | [
"Several reasons: 1) It would cost a huge amount of money. 2) The Sun only shines 1/2 the time, at best. 3) Sunlight is very low energy per unit area. This is good or we'd be roasted. Some processes take high energy density, and that's very difficult to achieve with rooftop solar. There are better solar solutions f... | [
"Sure, you could use it to make bio-diesel and then use diesel generators to make electricity. It's more than possible, it could be engineered. However, there are less expensive ways to make electricity, like solar panels or wind generators. We have no shortage of energy, economic factors balance which sources are ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What makes a human a human? | [
"I was always under the impression it was to do with genome composition, but i may be mistaken"
] | [
"What do you mean by downfall? This is still a dominant part of current culture."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why does my hearing diminish when I stretch my body? | [
"Your hearing diminishes because you are flexing your tensor tympani. This muscle serves to dampen sound. _URL_0_"
] | [
"Why do the glands in my neck burn like high hell when I'm holding back tears?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
If downloading songs off the internet is illegal, how is it legal for there to be free apps that let you download songs? | [
"I can buy a pipe, and I can smoke tobacco, marijuana, or crack in it. Until that choice is made, it's just a pipe, and you can't say what I'm going to do with it."
] | [
"It is illegal to stream the same movies and music files, except from places where the copyright holder has explicitly said you can. ProjectFreeTV is illegal; most artists choose to make their music available on Youtube, but if they don't that's also illegal."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why do we find it difficult to get past somebody if you are walking straight at each other? | [
"Because you're making eye contact with them and you're both looking at each other's eyes to see where the other is going. When you feel that starting to happen, break eye contact and focus on the path you want to walk. As if by magic, you and the other person will cease doing \"the dance\" and continue on your way... | [
"It's you, not everyone. You've probably conditioned yourself to be more comfortable in motion."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
What it's the "tink tink tink" sound cars make after being turned off? | [
"So you have a marshmallow and you put it in the microwave to warm it up. Then it gets big! You shut off the microwave before you make a mess, but then you notice the marshmallow gets smaller as it cools. The car engine does the same thing! It gets hot therefore it gets bigger! And when it cools down, it shrinks! B... | [
"The noise isn't from the wheels, it is from the engine. It releases steam with each cycle of expansion and that makes noise. Automobiles don't go \"vroom\" because of the texture of the road either."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Automotive:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment about Automotive:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why is Islam the fastest growing religion in UK ? | [
"Immigration. It also explains the large increase in practitioners of Hinduism. [See Figure 2.3 about halfway down](_URL_0_)"
] | [
"People do not like being forced to give up their jobs and move house. If Alaska became part of Canada would all the people living there move to the US or would some apply for Canadian visas or citizenship? Islam is also the fastest growing religion in the World. It is therefore likely some Indian people have conve... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
What would happen if an aircraft carrier like the Nimitz encountered huge waves (link inside), it certainly does not look that stable. | [
"The same reason you can push over an anorexic teen easily, but would have trouble with a wwe wrestler. Because they are gigantic. The USS Ronald Reagan, a Nimitz class Aircraft Carrier, may look unstable, but remember that it is displacing 100'000 tons of water."
] | [
"Just dropping it in requires very little engineering, lets gravity do the hard job of moving the ship, and totally works. Why go to the trouble of doing it any other way? Ships this big are built to withstand the violence of the open sea, so this sort of thing is no problem, even though it looks spectacular."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
why can't we come up with an efficient solution for cleaning up orbital space junk? | [
"You have a flatbed tow truck, clean up every car on the highway, while they are moving. But it's in 3 dimensions, not one. You must be in an orbit, you must be in a certain orbit to intersect something, and you must intersect it at the same speed exact otherwise you will crash into it. The act of accelerating or d... | [
"if we have a limited supply of oil what do we have so many combustion engines running around the world?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why can't terrible teachers be fired? | [
"Teacher here. Teachers can be \"fired\". I think there is a big misconception with how evaluations and tenure work in a public school setting. Speaking from my own experience, there has been a huge shift towards data collection and goal setting in a number of areas for educators. This in part is to ensure that stu... | [
"In the real world why would anyone want to be a politician?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
What kind of engineering witchcraft goes into handheld consoles, so that they don't heat up? | [
"Your 3DS is a decent bit bigger than your phone (more surface area to dissipate heat), and also has the benefit of running on significantly weaker hardware. The original 3DS runs on a 2-core ARM11 CPU running at a \"blistering\" 286 MHz. More than likely, the total heat output on the CPU is considerably lower than... | [
"Consoles are just cheap computers without nearly enough cooling. Just cheaper parts and inferior design so the shelf life won't be as long if you constantly use it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
What makes the minor key "sad" and the major key "happy"? How is it that a song in C Major is "happy" and a song in A minor is "sad", despite these two scales containing exactly the same notes? | [
"We've taught ourselves to associate major keys with upbeat, happy emotions, and minor keys with sad or scary emotions. It's conditioning. For years, you've heard major keys played during happy moments, and minor keys played during sad. That repetition sinks in, and you associate each key with an emotion. [Here's a... | [
"Got some good explanations here already, but I'll give it my go. You know how the C major scale and the A minor (natural) scale are virtually the same thing? They have the same key signatures and everything but they sound so different. It's because the way you play those scales revolve around different notes. That... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why does plastic turn white when you bend/stretch it? | [
"The plastic cracks inside, even if just a bit. This causes the plastic to refract some light instead of letting it straight through. Basically bending the plastic turns it from glass into frosted glass."
] | [
"Usually, only certain kinds of clothes shrink in the dryer. Cotton shrinks in cold water because the fabric shriveles up and contracts, until heated. If you wash it in cold water then don't dry it in enough heat, it remains shrunk. Synthetic fabric like polyester shrink from heat in the dryer because the fibers sl... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why did avocados become so popular all of a sudden? | [
"Maybe my perception is skewed by living in California where they've been commonly available for a long time, but it looks like production has \"only\" tripled in the past 15 years, which isn't a big increase year on year, more of a slow burn. No doubt the growers are more powerful now, so you're seeing more market... | [
"Seems like Kids these days have life threatening allergies to Peanut Butter, Dairy, etc etc. I grew up in the late 70's early 80's and I don't recall 1 single kid ever having allergies like this, so why all of a sudden is it everywhere??"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
What is smell? If it's just small particles can something run out of "smell" particles? | [
"It is just particles coming off of something into the air. > Is the object technically losing mass? Yes, but the amount of mass involved is tiny. > What exactly are the particles. There are *lots* of compounds that are \"volatile\" which means they evaporate easily at normal temperatures. Our noses have evolved... | [
"You smell things by inhaling them. The odor of a thing is it vaporized. So, yeah, you're still inhaling second hand smoke."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
How is it we're always able to differentiate between a male and female voice? | [
"The male and female larynxes (voice boxes) have a slightly different anatomy. In turn, that gives the voices a different quality which we can tell apart."
] | [
"A follow-up question: Why do some people love that feeling while others detest it?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
How can websites like "Teefury" sell t-shirts with copyrighted characters on them? How do t-shirt copyrights work? | [
"T-shirts with copyrighted characters can legally be sold if the company making the shirts has purchased a license from the copyright holder to do so."
] | [
"Taking photos, images, etc. that are not yours and passing them as your own is plagiarism. Selling photos/images/etc that are not yours is copyright infringement. Technically, anything you produce is copywritten at the time of production, even if it is never published. Whoever took the photos has a pretty rock sol... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Why the Reddit search engine rarely works | [
"Reddit's main search problem is that the algorithm only pays attention to titles. This would work if titles were descriptive, like Reddiquette demands, but with many, many \"shit bricks\" and \"look where i found this little guy\" posts, it breaks. I think the best answer is some sort of tag system for content, o... | [
"This is a secret, Google keeps it a secret so people won't try to game the system just like Reddit keeps the process of counting karma a secret"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
How YouTube streaming works versus how Netflix streaming works. | [
"So, I've read a lot of the answers, most of them are saying similar things. Where does it save the vide on your computer? For example, if I have less than a GB of space left on my computer, why can I still watch a several-minute HD video on YouTube without running out of space?"
] | [
"YouTube has multiple servers that they can redirect traffic to while they are fixing a broken server. Reddit does have multiple servers, but not as many as any huge company such as Google, Apple, GoDaddy, etc. Edit: Clarity"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence about Technology:"
} |
Why do we have itches and why do we need to scratch them? | [
"Itches are a reaction from your nerves. Some things can stimulate these nerves (histamines, for example) in a specific way. Scratching is, put simply, temporarily deadening those nerves. Some stronger histamines, allergens, poisons (stings, bites) have a more pronounced effect, hence more scratching to \"deaden\" ... | [
"EIL5: Why can't I stop sitting with my legs crossed, even though it hurts my knees, and why does it hurt my knees?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
How do sugar, cane sugar, and invert sugar all differ as ingredients, and why do you occasionally see two or all three in one product? | [
"This way sugar doesn't have to be very high on the ingredients list. If sugar is the #1 ingredient (meaning they used a higher volume of sugar than anything else) it makes the product look bad. But if they use 50% cane sugar and 50% high fructose corn syrup, that means they can put those lower on the ingredients l... | [
"When looking at sugar, we can taste its sweetness by how refined it is. The more refined the sugar, the sweeter it tends to get. Different countries and producers tend to have different standards on the refinery process, and these standards also reflect the typical palate of the people in the region. This is why ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Food and beverage:"
} |
Am I taking water away from thirsty children in Africa??? | [
"No, but you should be aware even though water comes out of the tap whenever you want it to, it is a precious resource."
] | [
"If you think treatment of animals is bad in China, you have to seriously look at the treatment of people in The Republic Of China."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
If it takes ~1000 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef, why is beef so cheap? | [
"Because most of the water used in growing the beef falls from the sky for effectively free. Your water is expensive because it's purified and piped directly to your home, and the rancher or farmer has no ability to sell his free rain water to you."
] | [
"1) Vegetarianism is healthy but you usually have to be a little more aware of your diet. People need things like protein and iron which are extremely prevalent in meat but can substitute different fruits/vegetables or even vitamins to make sure they get what their bodies need. 2) This is more theoretical/difficult... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do people on bikes have to ride on the side of the road and not on the sidewalk? | [
"Bike traffic is too fast for sidewalks and given that a bicycle can be peddled 20-30 mph a sidewalk would not work. What works is actual bike lanes and drivers who watch were they're going as well as bicyclists that obey the rules."
] | [
"You will want to move as far to the right as possible. Emergency vehicles will always try and pass on the left."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How can software like Napster be held responsible for its software being used to illegally download music yet Tor isn't being held responsible for its software being used to download illegal software, child porn, purchase narcotics, plan illegal activities such as hacking, murder etc? | [
"TOR was invented by the US Naval Research Laboratory, and is largely funded by the US State Department. _URL_0_ Its original function was to obfuscate the origin of spies and contacts the CIA & State department had over-seas. Specifically places that have state run firewalls (China, Iran) The State department also... | [
"The police don't go after anyone for sharing copyrighted material like movies or music- that's taken care of in the civil court system. The copyright holder will track down whoever they want to track down and file a lawsuit against them. Torrents are not necessarily illegal. There are plenty of legal things you ca... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why is 24-Karat gold called "pure gold"? | [
"The karat is a measurement of the percentage of gold present in an object, with 24 karat being defined as 100% gold. 12 karat = 50% gold. So, 24 karat is pure gold because it's 100% gold, no other metals. Pure gold is a very soft metal, you can make dents in it with your fingertips. So, for jewelry, it needs to be... | [
"When referring to gems, it's a unit of weight, equivalent to 200 milligrams. When referring to precious metals, it's a measure of purity: 24 times the purity by mass. The equation used is: X = 24*Mg/Mm Where X is the purity, Mg is the mass of the precious metal in the item, and Mm is the total mass of the item. S... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
If I am poor, and get a life threatening disease, do I just die? | [
"In any civilised country, apart from America, you get treated, hopefully return to full health, then go home and forget about it. In America, generally, you get treated, hopefully return to full health, sell your home to pay for it."
] | [
"Because in this country people have the right to kill themselves by over-eating, smoking and drinking if they want to. Who is paying for it may be a grey area, but since most hospitals will not deny her the care she needs to stay alive, she will get it and continue to delude herself, because that is her right as a... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does beef turn brown when it's cooked, but chicken turns white? | [
"There is a certain molecule in meat which gives its red color, that molecule is called myoglobin. Since the molecule is found in all types of meat it is the number myoglobin molecules that differ between the meats, giving them their color variation. The white meat of chicken has under 0.05% myolglobin; pork has 0.... | [
"Certain flavors are enhanced or dulled by temperature. Cold makes it hard to taste sweet. This is why melted ice cream or warm soda taste too sweet. Heat makes bitter less noticeable. This is why cold coffee tastes bad. And why cold vegetables can taste bad. Also changes in temperatures can cause fats to solidify.... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
getting the wind knocked out of you. Bonus points for how to fix it. | [
"It's a spasm in the muscles of your diaphragm. When there's a strong enough impact, your muscles get temporarily shocked. Your diaphragm can't move, so you can't draw breath. To fix it: relax, and wait. It's gotta reset on its own, not much else you can do."
] | [
"Really great. But Being a little too high can be frightening until you learn how to control it and relax."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Regarding US education, the roles of the: state legislature, state board of education, and state department of education. | [
"They basically do the following: A) Minimum requirements of knowledge to move to next grade (through standardized testing, which is the a TERRIBLE thing, but thats another story) B) Approval of curriculum including texts to be used and what items are included in said texts. C) Funding, how much money do we give [... | [
"It's not a hierarchy like that. Each level of government has certain responsibilities and capabilities, but each level is not necessarily managed by another level of government. Take the mayor: he answers to the city's voters, and maybe the city council, but definitely not the state's senators, or even the state s... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Can someone explain to me how, when we look into the sky, we can see the Milky Way even though we're IN the Milky Way? | [
"same way you can see a forest when your in it. The thin streak you see is the rest of the disk relative to us."
] | [
"Judging from the answers, I don't think I am able to get my point across, so my apologies. I get that what we see happened millions of light years ago and that we might be able to see the forming process of stats and galaxies etc. What I mean is this : Consider that there is a star just outside the observable univ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about astronomy:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment about astronomy:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment about Physics:"
} |
Can someone explain the difference between a university and a technical school? | [
"In the US, technical schools focus mainly on job training and associates degrees in specific fields. They're great if you want to be a plumber, electrician, automotive tech, or some other sort of skilled trade. There may be a stigma against the sort of jobs you'll likely be training for. You wouldn't be able to tr... | [
"How much demand is there for a poet or painter, compared to a lawyer or doctor?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why do people still judge others for playing video games? | [
"Probably for why it was looked down on before. It's seen as \"nerdy\" or unhealthy in contrast to sport or a physical hobby. However I think it's becoming less and less looked down upon. It's definitely more acceptable than it was a decade ago. I can see within ten years video games will be perfectly normal like ... | [
"Better question: why is there censorship at all? Are we really supposed to be ashamed of the fun bits of life?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Biology:"
} |
How does the mainstream media get away with saying Hillary won the debate when virtually every poll days otherwise? Isn't this a blatant misrepresentation of facts? | [
"There are no \"facts\" when it comes to \"winning a debate\"; it's purely a matter of opinion. The news agencies report that, by their perception, Hillary won. Polls may report that the majority of those surveys felt that, by their personal perception, she lost."
] | [
"They were caught giving Clinton debate questions. They lie blatantly on air and selectively edit their videos. Most notably from this past election, they told viewers not to read wiki leaks bc it was illegal to do so. News has always been propaganda, but it was subtle and sophisticated, relying on syntax and photo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What's the evolutionary advantage of humans taking about 12 years before they start to sexual develop? | [
"The advantage is that we are able to be born. We are born severely under developed compared to most mammals so that we can pass through the birth canal of a bipedal animal and still have large brains. That means we have to spend more time developing outside of the womb."
] | [
"Because we're born earlier in the gestation process than some animals due to our larger brain/head size and bipedal body shape. If we stayed in long enough to be able to do things, we'd rip our mothers apart on the way out. And, as said below, even newborn infants 'know' to seek food and warmth."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Biology:"
} |
Is Feminism a struggle for equality with men, or a struggle for liberation from men? Or something else entirely? | [
"Well, feminism isn't one single unified movement, it's a bunch of different schools of thought that share a core interest in issues surrounding gender but may have different end goals or different beliefs about how to reach those goals. Some feminists will say it's more about equality and others will say it's more... | [
"There is none, the group is so diverse in terms of beliefs that this cannot be defined. They all fly the banner of \"equality for women\" but they each have their own definition of how this equality is achieved and what this equality is. There is no feminist orthodoxy. As a whole, no one has any idea what the move... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
How do "active noise cancelling" headphones work? | [
"Sound is wave through air, like ripples in water. When one wave meets another that is equal but opposite, they cancel each other out. ANC headphones have a tiny microphone built into them to detect ambient noise, and circuitry which produced a wave that's \"equal but opposite\" to that ambient noise, and injects ... | [
"The use active noise reduction. There are two microphones, one pointed towards the mouth and one pointed away. One picks up speech + noise and the other just picks up noise. Subtract the 2nd signal from the first and you are just left with the speech. Similar technology is used in telephones, noise cancelling hea... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.