query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Differences in AM & FM programming. | [
"Mainly, it's because AM has much poorer sound quality. If you want to broadcast music, FM is better. There are other reasons too. For example, AM signals travel much further, so that's good if you want to broadcast to an audience over a large geographical area."
] | [
"Advertising, selling info, and premium versions of the free stuff."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Technology:"
} |
Can we fill space with air? | [
"With an infinite amount of oxygen and an infinite amount of time, no. Alas space is expanding faster than your could fill it with a constant flow."
] | [
"How are you going to change the filter?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why U.S. inmates are provided health care paid for by taxpayers but it's not expanded to the public? | [
"The average U.S. inmate costs around $35,000 per year to house in prison. Their health care is provided because, without it, if an inmate gets sick, they'd die a slow, painful death in most cases or suffer from extremely horrifying mental disorders such as schizophrenia without any treatment because they wouldn't ... | [
"No we don't. There are programs like Medicaid and Medicare for certain groups (seniors over 65 are eligible for Medicare, and Medicaid is usually used by Americans who are medically unable to work), and children are covered under their parents' insurance until age 26, but Americans not in one of those groups have ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why do some people believe they don't need to pay income tax? | [
"Because they don't want to pay income tax. Confirmation Bias takes them the rest of the way. [Check out this wikipedia page for a list of the silly arguments that are used](_URL_0_)."
] | [
"The taxpayer doesn't like to actually pay money for services provided."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
If an oven and bulb are connected in parallel, why is that the oven get more current? | [
"If it had higher resistance it would get less current. It has *lower* resistance so it gets more current."
] | [
"The current is the same everywhere in a series circuit. The purpose of the resistor in that circuit is to limit the current which flows through the LED. For this purpose, it doesn't matter if the resistor comes before or after the LED, since the current drawn from the battery depends on the equivalent impedance of... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What are diabetic socks and why are they needed? | [
"Diabetic socks tend to not have much of an elastic around the top, so they do not constrict blood flow. Diabetics are more susceptible to foot ulcers, which is partially caused by pooling of blood in the foot. The lack of elastic allows blood to move more freely and reduces the chance of foot ulcers."
] | [
"You might be breathing through your mouth leading to it being dry. A humidifier might help by keeping the air more moist while you breathe. Have you spoken to your doctor or dentist about your perpetual dry mouth? If OTC treatments aren't helping, it's time to see one of your medical practitioners."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Bobby Fischer's "Game of the Century" | [
"[An excellent explaination](_URL_2_). The same channel also has similar videos on many other famous chess matches."
] | [
"Next Week's Theme: 'Royalty, Nobility, and the Exercise of Power' To be followed by: \"Eastern Europe\""
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do I/we dream after waking up and going back to sleep? | [
"You only remember dreams when you're waking up or not yet fully asleep. So, when you're disturbed you're just not sleeping as well and therefore frequently teeter on the edge of sleep - the times when you remember your dreams."
] | [
"Depends. What kind of waking up are you talking about? The one where you have no chance to go to sleep again (insomnia style) or more like waking up, realizing it’s still bed time, rolling to the side and going back to sleep?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Psychology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Psychology:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Biology:"
} |
Why do people's ears still pop on a plane even though the cabin is pressurized? | [
"It's not fully pressurized. More pressure takes more power which costs money. Less pressure makes people sleepy, which also has advantages to the airlines. Airliners are typically pressurized to about the equivalent of being on an 8000-foot mountain."
] | [
"At high altitudes the atmospheric pressure is very low - there's less air than there is down at the surface. If the plane wasn't pressurized there wouldn't be enough air to breathe."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
What is actually going on when I can hear myself think or see mental images? | [
"It's disappointing to see some bad answers to such a good question. Your brain has many different functions. Two of these are seeing and language processing. When you see, you use a part of your brain devoted to that function. Same thing happens with language. Here's the good part: you can use these parts of you... | [
"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 query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Language and Communication:"
} |
Why is Pi used so much in mathematical formulas? | [
"As noted, pi is the transcendental component of the radius:circumference ratio. This is important because the circle is a model for *all* periodicity. Phenomenon can be roughly divided as repeating or non-repeating. Another way of saying this is \"involves Pi somehow\" and \"doesn't involve Pi somehow\"."
] | [
"e is important in many applications as it is one of the most simple mathematical ways to express something where the rate at which it changes is proportional to its current size. There are a multitude of systems where this is the case, from physics to chemistry to economics to statistics, so e appears pretty regul... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why couldn't Bill Gates or any billionaire fix endangered species by buying land in Africa? | [
"1) The land probably isn't for sale, even corrupt African dictators don't like foreign powers buying up vast tracts of their land. 2) The endangered animals won't stay on the land. Most large mammals roam huge territories, eventually they'll wander off of your preserve. 3) Poachers. The local governments in many o... | [
"Who would take them? What about the people living on them already? Why would someone or some country want to lease an island when they could buy property on the market anyway? It's an interesting thought, though."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why do popular reddit posts tend to cap out around 4k up votes when there is such a big amount of people using reddit? | [
"It's because that's not the actual amount. Reddit employs something called \"fuzzing\" to it's vote count. This is from the FAQ page at _URL_1_ > How is a comment's score determined? > > According to the same principles as a submission's score. > > A comment's score is simply the number of upvotes minus the n... | [
"It's time-weighted. A new post that's getting a lot of upvotes quickly will be ranked above a post that's been on the front page for a while. And if you're referring to the Reddit front page, as opposed to a specific subreddit's top page, I believe it's also weighted based on the size of the subreddit, so that pos... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why have split screen multiplier video games disappeared for the most part? | [
"Online multiplayer. It's not worth development resources to put in a feature that will get very little use."
] | [
"Is taking that was originally played on a platform ie PlayStation or PC and making a version that can be played on on another like Xbox or on arcades especially older games."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why lotteries pay you over time instead of immediately, and what happens to the money if you die | [
"Lotteries pay in annuities, or investments designed to hold onto your money and give you regular payments (like a paycheck). These are good for retirement accounts (so you'll have a steady income until death) or large payouts like the lottery. It is good for the lottery because you get a steady flow of money (up t... | [
"Daily doubles are often hidden in the larger amounts, they are not useful when you only have $500 to bet on. Also some categories want answers that aren't quite straight forward (like \"before and after\"), so contestants want to get the hang of it before forfeiting larger amount questions."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do password managers make us more secure? Don't they just make it easier for thieves to access our data since they'll only need to guess one master password instead of several different ones? | [
"They allow you to have only one very good master password to remember while having a different very good password everywhere. You're not going to remember 50 good passwords, so you'll tend to use worse passwords (easier to guess), use the same good password everywhere (if one site is compromised then all your othe... | [
"The concern isn't hackers trying your password in a website's log-in form. It's hackers stealing the entire password database off of a website and trying to reverse the passwords on their own computers, with no attempt limits. If you have an insecure password that's been re-used, they can figure out what password ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
after criminals "flee to Mexico" to avoid US officials how do they make money to live? | [
"Haha, just like any other place....odd jobs and what not. When Mexicans flee mexico how do they make money here (in the us). The answer to that question is the answer to your question"
] | [
"there are extradition treaties in place that say if a person commits a crime in Country A and flees to Country B, then Country B will send him back to Country A for a trial. but not all countries do this, which is why if you kill someone one the US, you should get yourself to Venezuela as fast as you can."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How can the distance of a light year be consistent? | [
"This is actually a good question. And the problem isn't with just \"light years\". You can apply that argument to any distance. The answer is that part of the relativistic effects along with time dilation is length contraction. That is, the closer you are to the speed of light, the more distances are contracted fo... | [
"Due to cosmic coincidence, the ratio of the size and distance to the sun and Moon are nearly identical."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
How exactly do Compasses work? | [
"The compass has a magnet in it that will orient itself to align with the Earth's magnetic field. The Earth's magnetic poles are near (but not on!) the north and south poles, so compasses will point north-ish from most locations on Earth"
] | [
"What do you want to know about them exactly?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
The Public Domain. How was Ray Comfort allowed to add a creationist introduction to Charles Darwin's existing work, "The Origin Of Species" (1859)? | [
"Authors have exclusive copyright of their original works for a certain period of time. After that, the work enters the public domain and becomes free to use and reproduce. Because *On the Origin of Species* is in the public domain, anyone is free to publish it; you can even read the entire thing on the internet. R... | [
"I studied Machiavelli and \"The Prince\" in a Social and Political Thought class this year. Five years after Machiavelli's death, \"The Prince\" was published and was received negatively pretty much everywhere. As a result, the Medicis (who \"The Prince\" was directed to) labelled Machiavelli and his work as immo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How did Sheep (Especially lambs) become the most common animal to be found or themed at nurseries, baby products, and commonly associated with early childhood? | [
"Sheep are famously docile and helpless, requiring help (from humans or dogs etc.) to keep them safe. Lambs, even more so. This remind us of helpless babies."
] | [
"Pineapples and acorns are traditionally associated with the home and welcoming. It stems from colonial times in America and became fashionable to carve and have around the house."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why do most rear car windows roll down only partially? | [
"In most sedans the shape of the door prevents the window from going down. The rear wheels take up that space."
] | [
"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 document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Where did the Avogadro's number idea come from? And how come a 18th centruy scientist came up with this precise number? | [
"First off: It's named after Avogadro, but Avogadro didn't actually provide an number. He just proposed the idea that the volume and number of atoms in a gas are proportional, all other things (namely, temperature and pressure) are constant. It was first calculated in 1910 when Robert Millikan, and American Physici... | [
"Because the number that defines what a mole (Avogadro's Constant) is just the ratio between an AMU and a gram. Mathematically, the multiplier that is used to go from a molecule to a mole of molecules is the same divisor that is used to go from an AMU to a gram. So you end up right back where you started."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does body hair stop growing after a certain length, yet head hair doesn't? | [
"Hair all over your body doesn't \"know\" how long it is. All your hair just goes through cycles where it falls out randomly. The cycles vary but all body hair just falls out. The average length is what's left (on average) when the cycle is at mostly a certain stage for most of the hair there. Your head-hair almost... | [
"Your eyebrows don't \"stop\" growing. The hairs fall out after reaching approximately a certain age, and therefore a certain length. There is some condition that causes them to not do this and you can find pictures of people online with really long eyebrows. This also applies to all the hair on your body except fo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence about Science:"
} |
Why are printers always f***ing up? | [
"Yeah it's the worst. I see it as the most major part of a PC setup that has multiple large moving parts and consumables (ink and paper). They are typically infrequently used too which means ink dries etc. I know that doesn't answer the technical side of it, but that's what I think makes them unique and problematic... | [
"3 comments all say different things.. are people just guessing?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
If a petition's requirements are fulfilled can it be overruled? | [
"A petition isn't a law. A petition is an idea for a change that is presented to whoever is in charge, and the signatures are essentially upvotes which indicate agreement with the idea. A single voter writing to a politician or city official saying, \"stoplights should be changed to 15 seconds of red light and gree... | [
"In this case the issue is that the lawmakers had passed a law which contradicted a previously adopted voter initiative, something the court ruled it could not do. They were given a period of time to redefine the law to comply with the voter initiative and if they do not comply the law will be struck down in its en... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
If you go to sleep hungry, why do you wake up significantly less hungry than you were before? | [
"The amount of sugar in your blood stream has a big impact on how hungry you are. When you eat something with sugar your blood sugar immediately rises. As time passes your body uses that sugar for energy and your blood sugar levels get low. This causes you to feel hungry, however if you wait long enough your liver ... | [
"You only choose to take a nap during the day if you're already tired. But you always go to bed at night, even when you aren't tired."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query 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 you jump in a plane why do you stay in the same spot inside the plane and not the same spot in the air? | [
"Because you have the same forward momentum, as does all the air in the enclosed space you are in. Even if you were outside holding on to the plane and then let go and jumped you would still not stay \"in the same spot in the air\". You would still have forward momentum, except the plane would rush ahead of you as ... | [
"The same reason you can walk through an airplane isle even though you are unable to move at hundreds of miles an hour (or fly). The same reason you are able to survive walking around outside even though the earth is spinning around at thousands of miles per hour. Ir more precisely, why you can swim in a pool even... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is there so much mercury in certain types of fish, and why doesn't this high volume of mercury in them hurt them at all/as much as it hurts us? | [
"Mercury is a substance that does not easily leave living creatures, but instead accumulates. All fish absorb mercury from the environment around them. Larger fish, however, eat a whole lot of smaller fish that have absorbed mercury and thus the larger fish absorbs the mercury from those smaller fish. Also, larger ... | [
"These other people have good answers, but always remember that rats and other test animals metabolize food differently than we do. Dogs, for instance, can be poisoned to death by eating a few grapes, sugarless gum, or some chocolate. So while it is useful to test things on rats first, it doesn't tell us the whole ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
The difference between charged as a "pedophile" and a "predator", and why these are separate charges. | [
"A pedophile is technically someone who like prepubescent kids. A 17 year old girl is physically fully a woman and having sexual desires for her is no different than having sexual desires for an 18 year old. However, we have laws to protect her from older men because emotionally she is not fully developed and we do... | [
"There has to be a difference when charging someone. You can not be found guilty of a crime you didn't comment like murder, murder requires a body... Also you might be mis informed that attempted murder have different sentencing guidelines. A first degree attempted murder, one where you have been proven to have a p... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why do a lot of pirated movies only come with hardcoded subtitles (e.g., Korean)? | [
"Those are usually very early releases. They're sourced from korean hotels that have a deal with the studios to show the movies early on their pay per view. The people who get them record the movie while it plays, with some kind of dvr or appropriate hardware and software on their computer. Its hardcoded as you sa... | [
"It's a naming standard for the servers that the uploaders use. The full standard is: Title.Of.The.Movie.YEAR.Source.Codec-GROUP For example, BDRip is a file ripped from a blu-ray disc. x264 is the coded used to compress the video. Sujaidr is the name of the group/person responsible for the upload."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is the difference between Apathy and Stoicism? | [
"Apathy is not caring about anything. Stoicism is accepting what has happened and not letting it affect you emotionally."
] | [
"Can someone explain the difference between Dementia and Alzheimer's, please?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why does one nostril get more stuffed than the other when you're sick? | [
"Its actually like that all the time. Its simply more noticeable when you are sick. (normally both are open, one slightly less than the other. when sick one is usually closed) If you plug each nostril individually and breathe you will notice one is more closed. This is done to aid with smelling. Some scents are qui... | [
"Your body continues to function while you are asleep. Then, you add on the fact that you are not actively suppressing the symptoms (i.e, node stuffy? blow it. Throat kinda scratchy, go grab a drink. etc) and you wake up feeling worse than you went to bed"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Health:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence about Health:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
What are the short and long term effects of the re-hyped 8.0-9.2 earthquake that will likely hit the Pacific Northwest the next 50 years? | [
"I'm no expert so if someone more qualified would like to add to this, by all means. One of the short term effects of this earthquake is very shaky ground."
] | [
"Giant earthquakes are very rare, even in Japan. The west coast of the [US experiences quite a few quakes, especially in Alaska,](_URL_0_) many of which are well over 4.5, very comparable to the magnitude of most of Japan's quakes (except, of course, for the huge one). Of course, Alaska is massive and mostly unpop... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How to make money when the stock market goes down like it did today? | [
"I'm not an expert, but I believe that people get jobs."
] | [
"Sell when it's high, stockholders may start selling too which can bring down stock price, buy it all back again. Profit."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why do I find hair in my ass? | [
"That's where a lot of your loose hairs end up when you shower."
] | [
"Why do the glands in my neck burn like high hell when I'm holding back tears?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Biology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Biology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How can the USS Fitzgerald hit another huge vessel? | [
"There will no doubt be an investigation to figure out what exactly happened. Like most similar incidents it will probably end up with blame for many people to go around and with the knowledge that lots of different things went wrong at once. Keep in mind that while these ships especially the container ship are rea... | [
"Specifically salvage operations that occur in US Waters are protected by the Jones Act meaning they have to be US crewed and US flagged vessels. While the incident occurred outside of US waters, its being brought back to Mobile, AL and thus is covered. Emergencies can change the Jones Act only is the President all... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How is a wind turbine able to spin with minimal wind given its enormous size/weight? | [
"Due to the marvels of engineering. The wind tourbine simply has the ideal proportions in order for it to spin, even in gentle breeze. It simply covers the maximum area based on it's size. Now it might look like it spins slowly, but in reality it generates enourmous ammounts of electricity, simply because of it's s... | [
"There are a lot of factors at play but I'll try to summarize. Firstly is efficiency. The more number of blades means that the system is less efficient. This is because the blade operates in the wake of the blade in front of it. The blade moves air out of the way and therefore the following blade cannot lift as wel... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do I yawn when I have motion sickness? | [
"your brain thinks something is wrong and tries to flood your bloodstream with oxygen to relieve itself."
] | [
"Why do the glands in my neck burn like high hell when I'm holding back tears?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why our bodies will reject foreign objects like new organs or splinters, but breast implants are seemingly unaffected? | [
"Medical implants, like pacemakers or breast implants, are made of specially selected materials that are not biologically active -- silicone and titanium are two common materials, as the body barely acknowledges their existence, showing little chemical or biological reaction compared to other materials [in most ind... | [
"The donors DNA is permanently a part of the recipient. In fact, the recipients body will treat the organ as a foreign agent, and will try to get rid of it. Organ recipients have to take immuno-suppressants for as long as they have the organ, and even still their body may reject the organ."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage about Health and Medicine:"
} |
why did the beanie babies market crash? Why did it happen so suddenly? | [
"Same as most bubbles. The majority of people awoke from their collectives delusions, and realised that children's toys will no practical function weren't worth the raw materials they were made of. Same as tulip mania in Holland. EDIT: Oddly, as a child in the 90's, I was completely ignorant of the existence of Bea... | [
"Someone told them what the answer is supposed to be."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Technology:"
} |
Why does hot water come out white/cloudy from the tap but when I boil cold water it is transparent? | [
"The cloudy appearance is small bubbles of gas. Sometimes this is air that gets into the water system. It becomes dissolved in the water, and evolves into small bubbles of gas. Other times it is caused by chemical reactions within your piping, again creating gas within the pipes. This can be a sign of corrosion wit... | [
"Hot water heaters hold water for long periods of time, and as such they often have buildup of various sediments and other contaminants that you really don't want to be ingesting on a regular basis. Also, it fouls the flavor of the water. Especially if you have scale issues. Take two cups. Fill one with hot water, ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
what are "butterflies in my stomach?" | [
"When you are nervous, you body goes into 'fight or flight' mode, and basically prepares the body to either do a runner or smack someone. It does this by diverting the blood in your system to your arms and legs. The butterflies you feel is just the blood being diverted away from the stomach, together with the high ... | [
"Because you had gas in your stomach, which you don't have anymore in your stomach?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why does a candle produces so much more smoke after it is blown out? | [
"A candle burns with enough heat that the wax gets completely combusted into CO2 and other gas-only products. Wax-vapour that hasn't combusted is still hot enough to spread out by natural convection. When we blow out a candle, the temperature drops. Wax still on the candle can no longer combust. The smoke we see is... | [
"They are coated with a petroleum or tar substance which is what burns. Here is a fun experiment: get a metal tray and some cotton balls. Try burning a cotton ball. Now dip one is rubbing alcohol and light it. Burns hot and fast, eh? Now smear some Vaseline on one and light it. Now it burns a long time. Kind of soo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the argument about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the argument about Science:"
} |
When I watch something on TV while Facetime-ing with someone who is watching the same thing, why am I a couple of seconds ahead of them? | [
"A video stream over the Internet is broken up into millions of packets which are routed to you. Sometimes a packet gets dropped along the way. Each packet is such a small part of the stream that you won't notice a few missing. If enough packets get dropped then you will notice, the video will hang for a bit while ... | [
"Many times, they're just distracted. There's plenty of videos of people narrowly avoiding it and you'll notice one thing almost all of them have in common - either a cell phone or headphones. There was a woman who walked off a pier because she was too absorbed in what she was doing on her phone."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Question about energy and space. | [
"We do not orbit around the center of the universe. The universe has no center. I think you might have meant the galaxy? If thats the case than it goes like this. The galaxy formed out of a giant cloud of gas. Gravity slowly started pulling it together. It started speeding up until all of the gas in the cloud was f... | [
"Could you clarify your question? What do you mean by work?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
- How do notes/scales/chords/octaves/harmonizing work? | [
"It gets pretty complex, notes are just frequencies A is 440hz. Scales are a series of notes played in a different order thus giving different feels, different cultures have different scales. The notes in the scales pertain to a Key which are just notes that in basic terms sound well together. A chord is parts of t... | [
"There isn't a finite number. As long as you can divide by 2, you can always make another note. Western culture chose to standardize musical notation with 12 semi-tones. Do a search on microtones or microtonal fretboards. Wild stuff."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why do humans assume that extraterrestial life will be carbon based? | [
"We don't. We simply don't have any clue what we would be looking for if it was not Carbon based, so we stick to what we know."
] | [
"Silicon. Not silicone. Silicon is a metalloid element; silicone is what they make breast implants out of. So-called \"silicon-based life\" is a popular science fiction trope because silicon has similar chemical properties to carbon, which is what all known Earth life is based on. In reality, you can't just replace... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Is PTSD a relatively new thing, or was it relatively common in ancient societies? | [
"> The Odyssey invites us to ask: can soldiers ever, truly, return home? ... The Odyssey says: you thought it was tough getting through the war. Now, see if you can get through the *nostos* – the homecoming. [The Odyssey: a soldier's road home](_URL_0_)"
] | [
"Part of the reason that cancer is so seemingly epidemic these days is because people are living longer, and being older puts you at much greater risk of developing a cancer. But yes, cancer has been around forever. The ancient Egyptians were writing about it 4000 years ago."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Are our cravings for certain foods random, or does our brain know that the desired food contains specific nutrients that we are in need of? | [
"the memory areas of your brain is actually responsible for your cravings! these memory areas will associate a certain type of food with a \"reward\" (i.e., feeling good). BUT, on the whole flip side of things...back when humans were first beginning to be humans, we learned to eat a lot and our bodies learned to s... | [
"It depends on exactly what food you crave. For a very long time, foods with high fat, salt, and sugar content were not the most common thing in the world and in many cases could make the difference between starvation and not. On a different level it is possible that you crave them now due to a psychological depend... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Health and Wellness:"
} |
Why is it important not to fall unconscious after you suffer a concussion? | [
"It has nothing to do with consciousness affecting your recovery. It's all about them being able to ask you questions and observe your responses. If you're awake with your eyes open they can tell if your pupils dilate properly or if your speech is slurred or if you're even aware of your surroundings. These are all ... | [
"A concussion. & #x200B; A concussion occurs when the brain is rapidly slammed into the sides of skull. This can cause a black-out due to the initial trauma the brain has. If a concussion is severe enough to cause a loss of consciousness, it's actually quite a serious medical condition."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text about Biology/Medicine:"
} |
Why I should have more than one credit card (assuming I intend to meet all my payments) | [
"My card is American Express. Some places don't take American Express and in those cases I cooly exclaim that is no problem and whip out my Visa!"
] | [
"Get one from the bank you have an account with. Use it only to pay for things you can afford (like your gas) and only if you have the money in your bank account to pay it off. Go pay it off now (once you use the credit card). Only use it online on sites you trust. This will help you build credit without spending a... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why do scientists believe wormholes exist? What evidence is there of it? | [
"For the most part, they don't. There are no mainstream scientific theories that purport the existence of wormholes. There are a lot of people, including some scientists, who *want* wormholes to exist, because they would give us the possibility of travelling interstellar distances, and some have come up with specul... | [
"So in physics there are four fundamental forces; gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. All the fifth force hypothesis is saying is that there might be another one that we are having trouble detecting that could explain the things in physics and cosmology we're having trouble with at th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do you see different companies locomotives on a particular companies track? Ex. A BNSF loco on a CSX track? | [
"The companies all pay each other for use of tracks. It's much more effective financially for all parties than having a balkanized track network. It's also probably legally required, but I'm not 100% sure of that."
] | [
"What do you mean by \"trackless\"? You could mean: * Not needing tracks like an Australian road train vs a CN train. * Not having a dedicated guideway like an articulated bus vs a subway train. or maybe you mean something else?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
If I died on an alien planet that was possibly habitable but was void of life, would my corpse spark life? | [
"Highly unlikely. We didn't just spontaneously appear here as people, monkeys, fish, or any type of multicellular organism at all. We grew out of this mess that's around us now and every germ that lives here on Earth did too. Our defense mechanisms know of those threats and those threats survive by avoiding our de... | [
"Because you then realize how insignificant we are compared to the Universe and there are other civilizations probably out there that we don't know about and the fact that our solar system harbored the right conditions for us to exist in a safe area of the galaxy is a miracle. Also we could be ended at any moment w... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
When a US judge rules something as unconstitutional, why is it not automatically the same ruling for all other states? All states have the same constitution right? | [
"Often those rulings will be used as legal precedent to help overturn the law in other states, but it can't automatically apply everywhere for two reasons. First, it's often a state law being overturned. Second, the state court only has jurisdiction over that state. Plus, it may be unconstitutional in terms of the ... | [
"They do not have a local law against it. The Federal law applies there, along with the rest of the United States, but that law isn't currently being enforced."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Law and Politics:"
} |
In a room full of Wi-Fi enabled devices how does the data know to find it's way to your device so that not everybody can see for example your emails? | [
"The other devices in the room didn't request the information, so they ignore the information. If it's not encrypted, other devices in the room/on the network can absolutely see things being sent to/from your device. Even if it is encrypted, people can see the jumbled characters being sent."
] | [
"It means that you are connected to your home router, but your home router doesn't have any Internet connectivity. So, you can reach other things on your home network, just nothing outside of it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
why does a horse have to be put down when they break a leg? Do they not heal well? | [
"horses are built kind of terribly on the front end. they not only have very little muscle on them, they also carry 70 percent of their body weight on just the front two alone. when they break a leg it’s incredibly difficult to keep them suspended or in a position to keep weight off until it heals, (and it’s expens... | [
"Maybe you had a slight fracture at the knuckle so it has healed over leaving an extra bit of bone at the base of the knuckle and it rubs against it when you go to crack your knuckles, I have broken many bones at or near joints and when I try to crack some of them it gives me pain, The worst one is i my ankle from ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
what pushes our wisdom teeth to come out so late? | [
"The wisdom teeth were useful when people chewed on hard food and lost their teeth. They don't come out too soon or else they would disrupt the other teeth (which is what happens now, now that our teeth hygiene is very high) from growing correctly. And they don't come out too late, because you might be dead. Or you... | [
"Pliers. To be fair, a lot of people just kept their teeth in if it wasn’t causing them pain. Wisdom teeth usually crowd the mouth in those who need them removed, but it would only be pulled if it was painful. Whiskey, pliers, and a few minutes will get that pain right out of your mouth."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
EIL5: How submarines function | [
"When you want to lower the sub tanks are filled with the surrounding water causing it to sink to raise it you empty those tanks. I'm not sure how deep they can go but below a certain point the sub would be crushed but as long as the hull is intact the crew should be okay. If I have made any errors corrections wou... | [
"Evolutionary adaption for better grip while under water. _URL_0_"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Military technology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer about Military technology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why does the English language take the auxiliary verb "to do" for almost every question or negation while no other language does? | [
"One theory put forth in *Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue* by Josh McWhorter is that it came from the Celts, namely the Cornish and Welsh. He claims that after the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded the British Isles, there were enough Celts left to adapt and slowly change the new local language. He claims that the \... | [
"If you study any language in high school (preferably foreign- grammar rules of English in the US has gone by the wayside), then you'll learn about the way we use verbs. If you notice, we often conjugate verbs, which means we tailor them to the context in which we are using them. I am, you are, he is, and others. T... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do new age technologies (e.g. Xbox and PS3) break so easily when my Nintendo Game Boy from 1992 still works? | [
"You know those things that break on your Xbox and Playstation? Your Gameboy didn't have any. Specifically, reading data from a cartridge requires no moving parts, only electrical signals. Reading from a CD and writing to a hard drive means many many very tiny moving parts that break a lot."
] | [
"Because they weren't written for it. Though they appear similar, computers can be as different as consoles as time moves on. What you're asking is akin to \"Why can't I play Playstation 1 games on my PS4?\""
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
When you buy stock in a company, what happens to your money? | [
"no no no ... good question though, but not at all like that. when a company 'goes public', this means lists its self on a stock exchange (there are various exchanges) - people buy the initial stocks offered (called an IPO, initial public offering) from the company listing. this only happens the once - so the c... | [
"They are essentially the price. The share price is how much it costs for one share of the company. Owning a share in the company means that you share ownership. You can technically then vote for major decisions that they let stockholders vote on. However, there aren't many companies where owning a single share wil... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why does Human Resources try to prevent employees from jumping grade levels / pay scales internally? | [
"HR exists to help the company, not the employees. Preventing people from getting promotions and raises helps keep payroll costs down, increasing company profits."
] | [
"Do you mean within the same industry, or switching between industries? Going from a job in marketing to a job in editing to a job in coal mining probably isn't the best way to advance a career, in general. Within different industries, it depends. Some industries tend to reward those who stay in a position and rise... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why does chicken and pork have dark and white meat but not beef? | [
"Pork only has one type of meat. It is only birds that have the two types of meat and it is the different types of muscle that they have for walking and for flying."
] | [
"It doesn't really have to do with cook time it has to do what makes either meet healthy. Bacterias/microbes in red meat, like beef, only exist on the out layer of the meat. Salmonella can be found through the the meat in chicken"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
How can an animal eat its own kind with no side effects but human cannibalism causes brain damage? | [
"It isn't the human flesh that causes brain damage, it is the risk of parasites/prions in the human flesh. Thoroughly cooked human flesh won't hurt you, but if it is under cooked or you eat infected brain matter (as with the cows who got mad-cow disease) then you are at risk. Generally you only find cannibalism in ... | [
"it is not 100% known why. But it is part of the evolution, some believe it was intended to remove toxins, or poisons. protecting the fetus from food-borne illnesses be potentially harmful. something strange to note, most other mammals do not have morning sickness, more singular to human evolution"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about biology:",
"pos": "Represent the comment about biology:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Aside from the obvious social stigma of eating another person, is there any biological/chemical reason that we can't? | [
"Yes! There are some types of diseases called “prion diseases” that are a bit weird because their germs don't reproduce using DNA or RNA, they're all protein. A lot of them are easy to catch from cannibalism, including [kuru](_URL_1_) which was discovered that way, and [variant CJD](_URL_0_), which you can also get... | [
"Apart from what the others said (poison), consider this: because of the psilocybin, we take these mushrooms, and we cultivate them. What more of an evolutionary advantage do you need?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does "to ralph" mean vomit? | [
"It's an [onomatopoeia](_URL_0_). The nickname imitates the sound you make when vomiting."
] | [
"You take a key word, find a word that rhymes with it, find a word that traditionally \"goes with\" the rhymed word, and replace. > \"I punched him in the mouth.\" What rhymes with \"mouth?\" > South. What is said with \"south?\" > North (north and south). So now replace: > \"I punched him in the north.\" I bel... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Please explain to me what is going on with youtube and why everyone is so angry | [
"This is probably more in line with /r/outoftheloop. But basically, YouTube is using bots/scripts/and manually reviewing videos regarding terms of agreement and censoring and/or not paying content creators ad revenue on videos that are deemed to be out of compliance or not friendly towards their advertisers. Somet... | [
"It seems to be the norm on cyber space. Not sure as to why you're surprised at such topics."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
How do we know that the speed of light is "universal speed limit"? | [
"According to Einstein, an object's inertia increases as it's speed increases. So the faster something goes, the more energy is required to accelerate it. Turns out, no matter how close you get to c, you end up needing an infinite amount of energy to accelerate the final bit to c. [Veritasium](_URL_0_) has a wonde... | [
"Photons of light are mass less particles, and according to our current theories anything without mass must always be travelling at the speed of light. The basis of special relativity is that light always moves at the speed of light relative to any observer"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the comment about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the comment about Physics:"
} |
WhatsApp announced end-to-end encryption on all of their services, so that no 3rd parties or WhatsApp themselves can access any information transferred. How does this work? How does WhatsApp prevent themselves from being able to see the data? | [
"The data is encrypted, and it is not decrypted until the other device gets it. To visualize it, say I sent a safe to a friend via FedEx, now FedEx can't see what's in the safe because they don't have the key, only me and my friend do."
] | [
"It depends on the specific app. For some apps, it's not private at all. For others, it's possible for them to see who you're texting but not the contents of the text. Others are completely private. In some cases, the answer is \"it depends\". WhatsApp, for example, didn't used to be private until recently - and it... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What does "3rd cousin, twice removed" means? What's a 3rd cousin? How was he removed twice? | [
"Your first cousin has the same grandparents as you, but not the same parents, right? Go back another generation, with your great-grandparents. Someone who also has the same great-grandparents, but not the same grandparents, is your second cousin. Go back another step to your great-great-grandparents, and you get y... | [
"A sister, half-sister, step-sister are all still siblings and all have the same generational levels in relation to the family. So the grandchildren of half-siblings would be 2nd cousins to each other just like the grandchildren of full siblings are 2nd cousins to each other. The grandchild of one sister is a 1st ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
why does the mint sell "$20" silver coins for such large sums? | [
"Non-circulating legal tender (NCLT) coins are never intended to circulate as cash money but they include a denomination as a fail-safe of sorts so that should the world economy collapse and silver becomes worth less than $5.00 per ounce (for example) then at least this item's value is backed by a treasury for $20.... | [
"The commercial is VERY deceptive but they aren't lying. They are selling a coin plated in 31 mg of gold. That is why they can advertise. I think they actually sell them b/c people don't do their research into gold. They are taking advantage of all the news reports of the increased price of gold. The face value of... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Do other creatures have a different perception of time to humans | [
"Scientists can measure how fast light has to flicker in order for an animal to perceive it as continuous. They have found smaller animals continue to perceive the flicker at speeds that larger animals can't. Further info [here.](_URL_0_) If you think about it, the nerves from the eye to the brain of a larger anima... | [
"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 Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
the link between magnetism and electricity. | [
"They're different manifestations of the same force. You can generate a magnetic field using electricity, and you can induce an electric current using magnets."
] | [
"There is no difference in chemistry. There is a difference in electric charge (static electricity) inside the device. Empty memory has no charge."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why does one person singing out of tune sound like ass, but 50,000 people singing out of tune sounds amazing? | [
"Because they all are randomly out of tune, but just slightly, so they add up around the proper notes. On average you get a sound that is more intense around the right notes and their harmonics (which makes it sound non-dissonant), and the out of tune sounds just becomes a bunch of overtones making the sound a rich... | [
"The melody is the main part of the song, and what most people sing. Think of your basic happy birthday song: there is one accepted way to sing that, and that one way is the melody. The harmony are all the little extra side portions to the melody that make it sound that much better. Going back to the happy birthday... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How do they make 3D movies? Why do we have to wear glasses? What's their role? | [
"Its kind of like 2 films in one when you see it with no glasses it looks blurry because there are 2 images shown slightly off from one another, each lens block one of the images so together it plays a trick on your mind having perceived depth in the image"
] | [
"People don't want to wear those dumb ass glasses just to watch TV."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about technology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about technology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What people mean when they say a car has lb-ft of torque. | [
"Torque is a measure of twisting force. If I have a wrench that's a foot long and use 10 lbs of force at the end, I'm applying 10 ft lbs of torque. If the wrench is 3 feet long I'm applying 30 ft lbs of torque. It's the measure of the peak twisting force that can be applied by the engine. This is different from... | [
"ELI5: Torque: acceleration Horsepower: Top speed. For older than 5, It's a bit more complicated than that, there's a \"torque curve\" meaning how much torque you have at any given RPM. If you have torque at low RPM, you can feel the push coming off of a redlight. If you have good torque at high RPM, you can get a ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
When I take a drink of water and it "goes down the wrong tube" and I choke, where did it go? What really happened? | [
"After your mouth there are two routes particles can go, down your throat and into your stomach, or into your lungs. Which path is taken is controlled by the epiglottis When you swallow your epiglottis opens which allows for the food to go down your throat. In your case, you probably drank water so fast that it ... | [
"You have 2 \"tubes\" that split off from your throat. One goes to your lungs, and one goes to your stomach. When you are eating, and swallow, you close off the tube that goes to your lungs, so that the food/drink goes to your stomach. Sometimes, if you are eating and talking at the same time, some food/drink will ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why is reddit so pro-bicycle? What about the types of people who bike attract them to reddit? | [
"It probably has more to do with the fact that people who are into cycling will talk about it, but people who aren't don't care enough to comment, so you end up seeing lots of positive discussion about bikes, but no negative because nobody cares."
] | [
"/r/shitredditsays Because people see them as manipulating votes on subs they link to, acting aggressive and confrontational, and constantly railing against reddit despite being (obviously) part of it. Also, because, frankly, most redditors don't care one bit about what they have to say."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why TV-series often have a different director every episode. | [
"Guest directors don't have the kind of power that a movie director may have. While a movie may be mostly the director's vision, many television shows are more the writers vision. A guest director can't really mess with the canonical structure of the show."
] | [
"They work on one season at once, not episode by episode. It's the same as The Simpsons."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
911 planes. If the two planes that hit the twin towers did not go through either buildings. How come the plane that hit the pentagon went through 3 structures (6 concrete walls? | [
"Steel is stronger than concrete. And the plane had more velocity due to flying at a downwards angle. Extra line Extra line Extraline"
] | [
"At least a couple of reasons off the top of my head: 1: It wasn't as tall as the WTC and therefore did not have as much stress weighing the whole structure down. 2: It wasn't slammed into by a fully laden airliner, destroying the structural integrity of the architectural engineering."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Since essentially everything nowadays causes cancer, should we just assume that we still don't really know what causes it? | [
"Here's the thing with cancer: at its most basic level, whether or not you get cancer comes down to statistics and randomness. Cancer happens when you get a combination of mutations that cause a cell to reproduce continuously, avoid cell-suicide, infiltrate other tissues, etc. All a carcinogen is is a substance bel... | [
"We don't have ironclad evidence one way or another. If you have a sensitivity or allergy to anything in it, obviously it's probably good to avoid it. Barring that, though, a few cups a day probably won't kill you until long after you would have died anyway from much more dangerous things. Everything in moderation.... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do shady companies not work on making their company less shady? | [
"It is cheap and it works on exactly the kind of people they want as customers. If you will fall for that, they can sell you anything as a follow-up."
] | [
"Because they don't need to care about their customer's satisfaction when they have monopolies."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why do fat people seem to feel the cold more than lean people? | [
"I've actually seen the reverse occur. Fat keeps you warm."
] | [
"Because fat people are fat for a reason. They don't tend to walk around or do a lot of physical activity. That's why they gain weight."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why USA hasn't ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child? The only 3 UN member countries that haven't are Somalia, South Sudan and USA. | [
"Mostly because the US isn't big on being told what to do by other countries. Some sticking points to the convention are agreeing to not use the death penalty or life in prison on someone under 18, and the US isn't prepared to make that promise."
] | [
"The nuclear nonproliferation treaty recognized the then-nuclear states as legit, and called on them to disarm to some degree (which they haven't) and tried to prevent nuclear capability from further spreading. It's called, creatively, The Treaty for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) of 1970. Edit: In... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why if our core body temperatures are the same, do some people typically feel more hot and some more cold in the same room? | [
"The first thing I'd note is that our core body temperatures aren't exactly the same. They vary from individual to individual, and even for the same individual throughout the day, although they tend to be in the vicinity of 37 C."
] | [
"There's an optimum temperature the human body functions at and it takes energy to try to cool or heat the body to keep it in this range. For this reason, your brain rewards you when you do things that make it easier for your body to heat itself up when it's cold or cool itself down when it's hot (like moving from ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment about Physics:"
} |
Why do we find some faces immediately attractive, and others "acquired taste" faces - seemingly average at first, but very attractive after a while? | [
"Personality might play a role in this... A semi attractive person with an amazing personality is more appealing to me than a supermodel with no personality whatsoever."
] | [
"Well, when you have more time to consider all the qualities of something, you have time to pick out the things you do like. And if you are mostly focused on the things you dislike about something, eventually you will learn to grow accustomed to these qualities and even reason them into being able to deal with the... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
What's going on when your leg, arm, foot, etc. is "asleep" | [
"Nerves are tissue fibers inside your body. Electrochemical reactions propagate along these fibers like dominos falling over, from one cell to the next to the next. This is how sensations get from your limbs to your brain. When you put pressure on these nerves, the propagation of electrochemical reactions is hinder... | [
"Because of the way toilet seats are designed (a large ring with a huge hole in the middle), a large amount of your weight is focused on the back of your upper thighs. All that extra weight where it isn't intended puts extraordinary pressure on nerves and blood vessels that supply your legs, causing them to go numb... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
What's the big deal about Elizabeth Warren? Why does Reddit like her so much? | [
"Because despite being a politician, she's not a sellout and is actually a decent human being."
] | [
"What's a Tory, and why do so many people seem to hate them?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why don't most supermarket checkouts use a single line feeding into all the registers? | [
"Because imagine how long that one line would be. Imagine trying to navigate shipping carts in a confined space like that. It works in banks because it's only a person standing there, so you can queue up 20 people in a small area by doing that snake-style lineup."
] | [
"The floor indicator adds to cost, so they just put it at the most heavily used location -- the lobby."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do you have to fill out a ridiculous amount of paperwork to rehome a cat or dog from a shelter to check if you're 'suitable', but almost none when you have a baby? | [
"You do have to jump through a ton of hoops if you want to *adopt* a child. However, having your own children is considered to essentially be a basic human right, and any attempts to change that would be treated as essentially being a eugenics program, and would quickly get you compared to Nazi Germany. Plus, how w... | [
"They hold the opinion that domestication is itself unethical. Since you can't 'un-domesticate' a dog or cat, they consider destroying the animal the most humane thing to do. This is why PETA shelters have 80%+ kill rates, which are significantly higher than other animal shelters. If you find a stray dog or cat, a... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Are tonsil stones the result of infections that targets the tonsils or something else? | [
"TL;DR the stones are just calcified junk the pockets of your tonsil caught. GROSS. Oh man. I hate these things! They're actually a result of your tonsils catching debris. The little pockets on the surface of your tonsils catch this debris. While it's stuck there, it begins to harden and calcify. And BOOM, a tonsi... | [
"Basically the role of tonsils is mostly to be among the first lines of defense against pathogens. They identify compounds produced by pathogens and alert the immune system. It is ok to remove them when they get swollen because the alternative is to allow them to block the airway and potentially suffocate the perso... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do gas prices change daily but other goods remain almost constant? | [
"Because gas is sold at a much closer state to the raw material. That's rare, most consumer goods have enormous value added before they're retail goods. [Oil prices](_URL_1_) and [wheat prices](_URL_0_) have very similar volatility, but bread prices don't move nearly as much as gasoline prices. That's because whea... | [
"When we say the dollar is stronger, that means in comparison to other currencies like the yen and the euro, not in comparison to consumer items. To see how the dollar has changed compared to consumer items, you should look at the inflation rate, which is about 2% right now. That means an item that cost $100 last y... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
What's the point in signing the credit card receipt after a purchase? | [
"In some places they do actually take your card and match the signature on the back to the signature you write on the receipt. It also gives you a vehicle to dispute a charge you didn't make - if someone writes a completely different or obviously fake signature it can be proof that it wasn't you who signed it. Som... | [
"They have your card number on file. You're not charged until the end of the night."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How can rocket boosters push things foreward and navigate in space when there is no atmosphere to use? | [
"You would need an atmosphere for things like paddles and propellers. Because they have to push air to work. Rocket thrust is different. Equal and opposite reaction, right? The rocket fuel or exhaust goes out the back *and pushes the rocket forward*. The force only has to act on the rocket, not against another medi... | [
"The key is that momentum doesn't get used up. There is no friction. Satellites, spacecraft, and the moon all use this same concept, they are simply moving so fast that they 'miss' the earth as they fall towards it. If they were going too fast, they would fly further away. Too slow and they'd eventually crash. It m... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage about Physics:"
} |
Why do our eyes tear up when we yawn? | [
"I asked my science teacher this like 10+years ago, basically your facial muscles squeeze your tear ducts"
] | [
"There are a lot of nerves in our faces. Stimulating these nerves helps to keep you awake. This is why you see babies doing this a lot when they are tired and don't want to go to sleep yet."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Biology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Biology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do airlines overbook flights if there is a set number of seats? | [
"Former airline employee here. Basically as others have alluded, on virtually every flight there's always a few people who don't turn up. 'No shows' as they're known. Either because they changed their plans, or just got stuck in traffic and missed the flight. Tickets are almost never refundable, so people who chang... | [
"Having passengers check in before boarding allows the airline to confirm which passengers have actually shown up for the flight. This can be important if a flight is overbooked (too many passengers), or if a flight has open seats that could be filled by standby passengers. If they waited until boarding to check al... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why is sexual abuse so destructive ? | [
"Everything anonymouse278 said. Also, these things. 1. The sexual abuser is frequently someone the child knows and trusts. It's extremely difficult for a child, or anyone, to process the fact that someone who \"loves them\" could do something wrong. This leads to extreme trust issues, which affect every aspect of a... | [
"They don't, that's just a myth. Many people compare child abuse to pedophilia. Victims of child abuse ARE likely to become child abusers, but victims of sexual abuse is not the cause of pedophilia."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Why can't the United States just bombard Syria with cruise missiles from afar and not put boots on the ground? | [
"\"Hey look, that country is having issues we care about, but why directly get involved? Just push some buttons, throw some million dollar armament at them and show them who's boss\" Any country whose crisis plan actually reflects that deserves hatred. Regardless of global opinion we are not that country."
] | [
"There are numerous reasons: * The biggest is that China considers North Korea to be in its domain of influence. Invading North Korea would supremely piss off China. * Any invasion would risk the lives of soldiers from the invading countries and no country will lightly risk their own soldier's lives. * North Korea ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
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