query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
What does it mean to "play devil's advocate"? | [
"It means to take a position you don't necessarily hold, for the sake of argument, that opposes the majority or more popular position. The term comes from the Catholic Church's canonization process. When someone argued that an individual should be made a saint, someone else would play \"devil's advocate,\" arguing ... | [
"How do you know that you don't sneeze in your sleep?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
How does the USA have a military base in Cuba? | [
"Basically, 100 years ago we took it, and Cuba let us keep it. \"The United States seized Guantanamo Bay and established a naval base there in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. Five years later, the U.S. and Cuba signed a lease giving Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. as a \"coaling and Naval station.\" The lease was ... | [
"How would the president conduct a hostile takeover without the military? Also a takeover of what?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do things sound louder at night than during the day? | [
"I'll try to take this a step further. Yes, less ambient noise might make things seem louder because they're not \"covered up\" street noise, neighbors dogs or roommate TV's but what's actually happens is our ears are listening harder. Most of out sensory functions work on a logarithmic scale (opposed to a linear.... | [
"You can't fall asleep at night because you nap in the afternoon. Stop napping, as hard as it may be."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment about Sleep and boredom:"
} |
Why spanking your children is becoming less accepted by society. | [
"It's illegal to beat anyone, why would it be legal to beat your child? Also it's a bad tool to actually instruct your child with. Think about it like this, 2 children join their parents for a birthday party. Both kids misbehave, so the parents of kid A spanks him, but parents of kid B explains to him why what he d... | [
"Scientology isn't as popular as they want you to think it is."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment about Religion and Crime:"
} |
Why do soldiers bother taking POWs? | [
"In addition to laws and conventions, it's also a tactical decision. If you're a soldier, and you know the enemy are about to overwhelm you, you have two options. Surrender, or go down fighting and take a few more of the enemy with you. If you know the enemy is likely to accept your surrender and take you prisoner... | [
"Did the troops in Vietnam have reliable access to news?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
How does an Anti-Virus program work? | [
"some antivirus programs simply use file hash matching which can be problematic especially if they use MD5 which can be subject to hash collisions. Some antivirus applications use \"Heuristics\" which is a fancy way of saying behavioral fingerprints. They look at registry keys that are changed, files that are acces... | [
"The Tor Project is Awesome. If you can afford a VPN-That's better!"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
TIL that Snickers have egg whites in them; why don't snickers go bad when left at room temperature? | [
"Probably because there is so much sugar in it. You can leave meringue oit for a while and it won't change. Same thing."
] | [
"Because it's been contaminated as soon as you open the lid. Refrigerating it will lengthen its shelf life. You could leave it out but it won't stay good as long. The fridge slows the growth of bacteria because of cool temperature. Mayo has eggs and oils in it that go bad."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Food Science:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Food Science:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Does pain increase linearly? | [
"No pain doesn't work that way. Your brain can only process so much information from the nerves. To simplify your brain will tell you to feel the part that is experiencing the most intense pain. If you have a paper cut and you suddenly hit your funny bone. The brain will likely ignore the impulse from the paper cut... | [
"Do they both have side effects that include increased heart rate?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What are the advantages of gifting a gift card instead of cash? | [
"Stores want you to have this feeling that it is more thoughtful than just giving cash. But really it’s a scam. The amount of dollars lost in unused cards is staggering. Don’t be a sucker. Give cash."
] | [
"There are sites that will pay you cash (a fraction of the face value, mind you) for gift cards and gift card codes. Take the ill gotten card codes, launder them for cash."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does laying down help with nausea? | [
"This isn't universal. When I'm nauseous laying down makes it worse. Sitting up straight helps me. I have heard that to help with most tummy troubles, being on your left side is better."
] | [
"Why do the glands in my neck burn like high hell when I'm holding back tears?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Are real life measurable values infinitely precise? | [
"We are limited by nature in our precision. Many high-precision measurements are done by using light in some way, which means the precision is limited by the wavelength of the light being used."
] | [
"I think you will have to define your question a bit more. Are you generally asking us to explain correlation and translation of pressure and forces?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
If a person were larger than average, wouldn’t they be able to take a higher dosage than the recommended suggested? Shouldn’t they have to? IE 3 ibuprofens instead of recommend 2. Or 2 glasses of red wine instead of 1. | [
"Yes. Specific medicine dosages are by body mass. 2 pills is for average people. Andre the Giant would not be taking the same amount of Tylenol as Verne Troyer"
] | [
"So I do not work for a big manufacturing company but I do work for a compounding pharmacy. Part of the reason is particle size/dosage amount being too much for one pill, and you are right to say that there is a lot of filler in the pill itself - however that filler is usually required for the pill to well for a si... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
to what extent do our recycling habits affect climate change? | [
"Very little, sometimes. Some things are actually cheaper to be made than recycled (uses less energy and resources), like glass and paper, so recycling them is actually worse for the environment. Other things are better for the environment to be recycled, like aluminum cans. Litter, and pollution, is a more importa... | [
"Money. It will decrease the net profit of many companies due to new regulations, and federal funding dollars will go to environmental causes and cut from others. The people complaining the most are the ones most affected."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Science:"
} |
What is the real reason and truth behind why China is cancelling all debts to the poor countries that owe money to them? | [
"You would have to ask the Chinese leadership for a definitive answer but my suspicion is that they've calculating the value of the goodwill is greater than the likely return on the loan. The value of a loan isn't just the face value of the loan, but the value of the loan discounted by time and risk. So it's entire... | [
"Their GDP dropped to the point that investors did not believe the government would be able to pay its debts on time. Thus the rating on their government bonds plummetted. To prevent a government default, they received bailout money from other countries."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Why have I never seen an adult with Autism ? | [
"Because you're not looking in the right places? Most of them end up needing long term care and end up in homes for the mentally disabled, but those places end up taking them out frequently in group outings, you do see the groups walking around malls and such sometimes (but I suppose this is probably all in the mid... | [
"Think this is just you, to be honest. I never heard of this before."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why does a finger or a stylus work on a touch screen but other items (like a glove) do not? | [
"So most modern touchscreens work by something called capacitance. Capacitance relates to how well an object can hold an electric charge. There's this thing (which I believe is called a matrix, and there's actually two of them, but that's not important for this) behind the screen on your phone (or tablet or laptop ... | [
"There are many types of touch screen sensors, but the most common ones are capacitive touch screen, and resistive. **Capacitive**: This is the type of screen on your iPhone/iPad. The human body is a conductor, and so the body (your finger in this case) can distort an electrostatic field. When you move your finger ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Technology:"
} |
Why does getting an air bubble in your bloodstream kill you? | [
"It doesn't. At least not like you see on TV. I got a good friend who is a nurse and he explained the bubble in the bloodstream thing to me. First, it's called an embolism. Most of the times, small bubbles in a vein won't hurt you. Veins are flowing back to the heart, and a small bubble is going to pop when it flow... | [
"So you don't die. Water doesn't go there, and when it does, you can be at risk of drowning. Having a severe reaction to even a little water up your nose it a good way to keep you out of trouble."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is information entropy? | [
"Consider the data: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa It's low information and high length. Why low information? Because I could more easily represent this same data as: New data: a20"
] | [
"> Is there anything more to it? Turn left."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Where do "bad words" come from and when were they first recognized as rude? | [
"I remember an earlier ELI5/Askreddit comment that said we get a couple of our swear words from Roman Empire-era \"barbarian\" languages. The only example I can remember is that the \"more refined\" latin word for a female's genitals was \"vagina\" but the Germanics called it a \"cunt\". Therefore it's a bad word b... | [
"Curse words are censored in order to make the show more appealing to a wider audience, which in turn makes these shows more appealing for advertising. Some people find curse words to be upsetting or they don’t want their kids hearing them. As for how curse words came about I’m not sure how they originated."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Linguistics:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Linguistics:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Linguistics:"
} |
If certain animals like the lobster can live forever, What is currently stopping scientists from genetically engineering humans to do the same? | [
"You've got to find a creature with a complex brain structure that live forever. We can keep the body going but eventually the mind just doesn't work anymore and you can get a plethora of degenerative brain diseases"
] | [
"There are two ways that immortal animals have come to exist. The first one is that their telomeres don't decay. This leaves them for high risk of cancer and other genetic issues but they technically don't age. This is how lobsters do it. The second big one is that whenever they die they revert back to a infantile... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
How does a company (say, Edward Jones) benefit from having a charitable foundation arm (like Edward Jones Charitable Foundation)? | [
"It's called Corporate Social Responsibility. Basically means that a company returns what it received from society. Just look at how many charities McDonalds have. It neutralises all the debate about how unhealthy they are. Also boosts the company's reputation, and thus becomes a good marketing source as well. Rem... | [
"The Scholarship are funded by a lot of different things. Some of them are Federal like the \"Presidential Merit Scholars\", some are State funded, some are funded by the school, and some are funded by private trusts or private individuals."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is it so infuriating/pleasing to feel judged (negatively or positively) by another human? | [
"We're herd animals. We're happiest when we forget our ego/self and feel as if we belong. Being judged positively affirms your belonging, while being judged negatively does the opposite, and makes you conscious of your ego. All we ever really want is either to be another face in the crowd, or to be leading that s... | [
"Did someone make it? Did it evoke an emotional response in you (pleasure, reminded you of something painful, made you angry because you think it's shit, or anything else)? If the answer to both those questions is yes, then it's art."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
How does my seatbelt know to lock on jerky motions, but not when pulled out slowly? | [
"A centrifugal clutch (I think that's the term). When the belt is pulled, it unroll from a spool. If the spool spins too fast (because jerky motion), a mechanism is pushed outwards and locks it."
] | [
"Airplanes just need lap belts that can be easily removed in an emergency. They're only there to keep you from going up if the plane goes down. Nothing's gonna help much during impact. Cars have a three point belt to relatively stop you from going forward when the car stops going forward abruptly."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why is information easier to retain when presented as a story versus esoteric fact? | [
"There are 2 big factors: 1. People remember information in chunks. When a person hears a group of connected pieces of information, they only have to remember one part and then that reminds them of the rest of it. For example, f you see a game winning score from a sports game, you are more likely to remember the ev... | [
"Have you thought about exactly *how* you want this to happen? Facts and dates are difficult for a lot of people, and younger children like yours tend to benefit more from stories and activities. Were you thinking this would be mostly a political narrative or a social one?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Education:"
} |
Why are external hard drives so much more expensive than relgular hard drives? | [
"That's just a terrible deal. I bought my mom a 1tb external drive for 80 bucks over a year ago. One thing that changes the price is the rpm speed of the disk. A 10k rpm drive will be more expensive than a 5k rpm one. Just do some searching. You should be able to easily find drives well over 2tb if you are spending... | [
"A SSD is a solid state drive and are must faster. they can read write at a much faster rate and never need to be de-fragmented. The down side of this is that they are very expensive in relation to storage size so its most computers only run a small one. HDDs are slower and Need to be De-fragmented every now and th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does inflation "end"? | [
"It will continue forever, or as long as governments attempt to foster a modest amount of inflation to keep economies moving. Currency revaluation [as happened in Turkey in 2005](_URL_0_) will make sure we have a manageable number of zeros."
] | [
"The more money printed the less it's worth. Why QE is so controversial. But that is what happens constantly."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why would stocks drop after something like the Boston Bombings? | [
"Anything that causes fear of economic disturbance of any type will cause people to reduce risk by removing money from volatile sources of wealth (like stocks) to something more stable (like cash). There is also a bit of self fulfilling prophecy involved, because people are fearful that the price might go down beca... | [
"It's still going on but isn't getting the same level of attention is was a few years back. According to the news, they've moved on to Iranian vessels."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
What are land surveys, how are they conducted, and why are they needed? | [
"Land surveys are precise measurements of land. They can involve such measurements as exact area, precise location of boundary points, elevations, mineral content, water locations....all sorts of things. There are many ways they are conducted. The basic measurements are usually taken with GPS receivers, calibrated ... | [
"Property lines are drawn when the area is first developed. If the area was first developed in modern times, it would have been split up into individual parcels and each parcel's lines would have been drawn quite precisely. If it was first developed a long time ago, there may be some uncertainty in the lines and re... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Is there a maximum pain that can be felt? | [
"There are all sorts of limits. Neurons can only fire so fast, leading to a maximum input from a single source, then there is pain gating where some pain can block other pain. However, pain is entirely relative. Someone who has never really been injured will be in agony over a broken arm. UFC fighters who experien... | [
"There would be urine in the ocean. What kind of information are you looking to have explained?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Math game I saw on Brain Games | [
"[That's the Monty Hall Problem.](_URL_0_) The easiest way to think about it is to think of the same situation, except there are now 100 doors. You pick one door at first. What are the chances that you picked the wrong door (a penguin door)? 99/100. Same logic applies here. There are 3 doors. You pick one door at ... | [
"Out of curiosity, was this post prompted by the \"Amazing Story\" video on the front page?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
What is the difference between "grey" and "gray" and when are we supposed to use them? | [
"They both mean the same thing. Which version you use depends on where you live - gray is generally the version used in the USA, grey the one generally used in British English. See the [n-grams](_URL_0_) (taken from google books). Try changing to different versions of English in the dropdown. Edit: minor edit to cl... | [
"They're different dialects of the same language. Some words are different, and some spellings are different. For instance, an American would say \"What color are your pants?\" whereas a person from the UK would say \"What colour are your trousers?\""
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do cigarettes, cigars, etc not burn up right away? | [
"Fresh tobacco, like any plant, had a lot of water in it, and will not burn readily. So the tobacco leaves are dried to just the right point where they will burn, but slowly enough to smoke."
] | [
"Forget the nicotine, that is not what is bad about smoking. smoking is bad for you because of the chemistry that happens when you burn stuff. It's why people die from smoke inhalation during house fires. Smoking causes you to ingest all sorts of toxic chemicals. Not because they are put into cigarettes, but becaus... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do people get electrocuted in the shower during a storm? | [
"Lightning + water pipes = electrified water pipes. Electrified water pipes + water = electrified water. Electrified water + shower = electrified shower. Electrified shower + wet person = electrified wet person. Electrified wet person + ground = complete circuit. (Always complete your circuit.) This is very un... | [
"How do you even take a picture of the center of a tornado?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is the jugular so exposed? | [
"well the most important jugular vein that runs to your brain actually has some pretty good coverage, the SCM lies right over it. as for the other jugular veins, they drain blood from places like your superficial face, head, etc. so they're really taking blood right from the surface of your body, which makes them ... | [
"And why does my beard stop at a certain length?!"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
When dogs have so much better ears than us, why isnt their barking hurt them? Isnt it extremly loudly for them? | [
"Dogs have better ears means they can pick up sounds too quiet for us to hear or frequencies, it doesn't mean that all sounds they hear are amplified. A dog will hear sounds just as loud as us, but they will also pick up sounds we can't hear, that's what them having better hearing means."
] | [
"I believe it's because not only are they big scary loud machines coming at them, but dogs hear frequencies that we can't. It's very possible that there are frequencies above 20,000Hz the vacuum produces that we simply can't hear that bother the dogs ears. Dogs also have much more sensitive hearing than we do, and ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Animal hearing:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Animal hearing:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What impact has/will the detonation of the 1000+ nuclear bombs detonated during the Cold War, and all those since, have/had on the environment. | [
"Imagine you are in a big ball pit just like the one in this picture _URL_0_. Then you do a wee wee in the ball pit. Imagine that the wee wee is nuclear fallout. Now imagine that some other kids get in the ball pit. Do they even notice that you did a wee wee in there? Probably not. That is what all the nuclear bomb... | [
"Yeah for the most part Radiation only travels so far before it becomes negligible. For the most part nuclear test sites are in the middle of no where. Russia tested in the middle of siberia which is thousands of miles from civilization. The U.S tested in the Nevada desert fairly far from any civilization. After a ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
why flying from america to new zealand you lose a day but flying from new zealand to america you dont gain a day back? | [
"You do, but you don't gain the full effect of it because of how the airline schedules flights. They schedule to fly overnight, so when going US to NZ you leave Friday night US time, arrive Saturday morning US time, dateline changes this to Sunday Morning NZ time. Coming back, you leave Friday night NZ time, arrive... | [
"Its something thats hard to know. A small change usually has little to no effect, but sometimes it can make all the difference even though it shouldnt. Maybe by talking to a pretty woman/man on the street youve saved them from absentmindedly walking out in front of traffic 10minutes later, you'll never know."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why are male divorcees expected to give half of all possessions to the wife after a divorce? Where did that come from and why is it still happening? | [
"That is not something unique to men. Marriage is a partnership that pools all your resources and assets together. If that partnership is dissolved, we have decided that a 50-50 spit of the assets is the best way to move forward as it can be pretty much impossible to tell who contributed what. This holds true regar... | [
"The system is simply biased in most cases. Women tend to be given custody of kids more often too. Men are usually the ones prosecuted if a man and a women get in a fight. All of it has a slight sexism too it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why can't snow tires be used year round? | [
"From [this link](_URL_0_) > Q: Can I leave my snow tires on all year? > A: You can, but it's not a good idea. Snow tires tend to be noisier, plus the softer compounds from which they are made means they will wear out faster, especially in warm weather. Wear is critical, because winter tires rely on their deep tre... | [
"So I live in the Upper Peninsula, where snow is rampant just about 6 to 8 months of the year. I currently have a set of all season tires on my all wheel drive car, and have a set of snow tires for when the snow starts to fall. I can't speak for the people who don't have space to store the extra set of tires, howev... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why isn't telemarketing illegal? Or if it is, why is it still so frequent? | [
"In the United States you have \"freedom of expression\" which means you can say what you wish, when you wish to say it. There are muddy areas in \"how you say it.\" I can offer to sell you a product or service on the street, I can offer to sell you a product or service through television or radio or even with a pr... | [
"It isn't. There are a lot of companies that don't do it as a matter of policy (mostly to avoid potential lawsuits), but it's not illegal in Canada or the US. Perhaps it is illegal somewhere, but not here."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why was Euro Disney (Disneyland Paris) such a financial disaster when it opened ? | [
"What i understand from my hospitality and culture classes, is that Disney tried to copy and paste Disney World into Disney Europe. Like everything was the same, company culture, work ethics whatsoever. Since Europeans and Americans are most definitely not the same type of people that completely backlashed and mad... | [
"Because they are likely to be successful. A movie is successful if it earns more money than it cost to make. A movie that few people saw might earn $20 million. If it was an unpromoted indie film that cost $5 million to make, it is a big success If it was a summer blockbuster, it is a historic bomb."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How does night vision work, and why is it green? | [
"Different models work in different ways. A typical 1980s-2000s night vision monacle will amplify all of the light that goes into it. It's essentially just a camera and a screen. They're green for various reasons. The human eye is slightly better at differentiating between different shades of green than it is wit... | [
"You mean as red dot sight and laser sight? Red stands out in broad daylight, since dominant colors in most environments are brown, yellow, blue and green. You can also use brighter red light without reducing your low light vision, which has to do with the sensitivity of the rods and cones in the eye. Edit: Red las... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why does black/dark clothing make one look slimmer? | [
"Dark clothing is better at masking bulges and curves. It also hides folds and wrinkles in clothing that can give the illusion of weight."
] | [
"People tell me that this happens to mine as well. Green eyes if I'm wearing green, brown otherwise."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Can your sense of hearing be hurt by high-frequency sounds you can't hear? | [
"Absolutely. Sound is simply longitudinal air waves cause by the vibration of an object at a particular frequency. When we say that humans can only hear a certain range of sounds, it means that the little hairs that are connected to nerves that connect to the brain can only vibrate (and therefore interpret) those s... | [
"Cats and dogs can hear a wider range of sound frequencies. That does not necessarily mean that they will experience noice to be any louder then what we experience it to be. Also, dogs tend to not give a f*ck."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are there two sets of "door open" and "door close" buttons in some elevators | [
"Because there is a back door as well. Many elevators that go to a loading dock have two sets of doors, so you need two sets of buttons."
] | [
"So they don't fit through the mechanism that routes the other balls to the \"got it in!\" spot?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do camera operators in golf games track golf balls? They seem impossible to track in real life | [
"You've been thinking about this after listening to the Rooster Teeth podcast right?"
] | [
"> Can't they use the same high frame rate that people doing high speed motion capture use? No. Those special cameras require special high intensity lights that would blind any athlete on the field. Also, they can only record like 1 second of footage, so you can't have them going the entire time. I think the slow m... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
How can something with as much sugar as Coke not be overwhelmingly sweet? | [
"You're used to it. Try cutting sugar out of your diet for a few weeks. Soft drink becomes disgusting."
] | [
"Mostly, they're full of sugar, caffeine and some vitamins that help give you a bit of pep. They're not *that* much different than drinking coffee."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why do stores like Walmart or Meijer have 25 registers yet only keep 2 open? | [
"It doesn't cost much to install registers. It does cost a lot to pay people to stand next to them. Most stores have software that predicts how many customers they'll have that day & thus the absolute minimum number of employees they need. Sometimes they'll underestimate (and often managers are encouraged to staff ... | [
"They are there for really really packed days. Doesn't make sense to have them open on regular or even normal busy days because it takes extra staff to run them. But weekends with 3 or 4 major openings you'll see those stations open. Source: former Movie Theatre employee."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
FCC Rules on Racial Slurs | [
"As far as words, the US Supreme Court has ruled that broadcasters have a right to broadcast *indecent* material between the hours of 10PM and 6AM but never *obscene* material. Neither of the instances you describe (I think) could be considered legally indecent. Far more content revision/censorship is done by the b... | [
"High Crime + Dwindling Population + Crumbling Infrastructure + Diminishing Jobs = Perceived Shithole."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How would the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act decrease healthcare costs? What are alternatives? | [
"It won't. The ACA was designed in part by the insurance industry to make it easier to purchase health insurance. It does nothing to address skyrocketing medical costs. Essentially the Affordable Care Act is a misnomer. It does nothing to make healthcare affordable, it makes insurance \"affordable\". While there ar... | [
"Pros: * Everyone has health care coverage. * Catastrophic illnesses or accidents no longer bankrupt families. * Theoretically, the state could drive preventative care programs as a way to reduce costs. Cons: * It costs money. Someone has to pay for this with taxes. * The state gets even more involved in your priva... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
- [physics?] firing a gun from a moving train. | [
"In relation to the train, bullet would go at the speed of a bullet. In relation to someone standing near the tracks, it would go at the speed of a bullet + speed of a train. If you were to shoot opposite to the direction of a train, your bullet would go at bullet speed - train speed. If you were to shoot at an a... | [
"Try this game out, [link](_URL_0_) fire the cannon (from a tower) using different velocities to see what impact gravity has. ~7100ms is the orbital option."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post about Science and Technology:"
} |
Why is every FM radio signal an odd decimal? | [
"In the US, FM radio is divided into 101 channels which are each 0.2 MHz wide. The FM band extends from 87.8 MHz to 108 MHz. So, the lowest channel is 0.2 MHz wide and its assigned band is 87.8 to 88 MHz. That makes its center frequency 87.9 MHz. The next channel is 0.2 MHz higher, centered at 90.1 MHz and so on. ... | [
"Modulation became more efficient, which opened up space in the guard bands to transmit digital information on a sub carrier. Edit : okay imagine that while recording the song the radio station was tapping out a special code in the background of the song that only your car radio could hear. That code is the meta da... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why is it offensive to dress up as an Indian? | [
"It's usually only seen as offensive if you get stuff really wrong or are copying old stereotypes. For example, the big feather headdresses were a plains Indian thing, so wearing that plus Seneca face paint and a Mohawk hairstyle would be pretty offensive because you obviously don't know/care about native people. O... | [
"It's not illegal to make fun of someone."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does alcohol sting when you put it on cuts? | [
"Alcohol kills bacteria cells, which is why we put it on cuts (preventing infection). Alcohol also kills cells composing your flesh, which is why it hurts."
] | [
"Sometimes, it burns a lot after eating spicy foods. That is the same reason it burns going down. LPT: After eating spicy foods and when you're anticipating a painful poop, put some petroleum jelly on your anus first. It helps coat it and soothes the pain"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why hasn't one of the world's billionaires simply bought one of the poorest countries of the world and made himself king? | [
"People become billionaires by making smart business decisions. Buying a broke, starving country, ignoring any legal or moral issues, would be a bad business move that would be bound to lose them more money than they ever spent. ...and it's better to be billionaire in a developed country than a king in some third w... | [
"Because our country is so wealthy even the poor are pretty well off compared to the middle class in most other countries."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
In computers, what's the difference between worms, viruses, Trojan horses, and the like? | [
"* virus - attaches itself to normal programs, and run when those programs are run, doing various bad things, including copying itself to other programs * trojan horse - a program you are tricked into running, that proceeds to to bad things, often sending sensitive information to someone outside the computer, or gr... | [
"A computer virus isn't just any malicious software. It's a program or a piece of code that when executed, finds other files on your computer and writes itself inside them, so that when they are executed the virus is executed again. This is similar to how a biological virus works - a piece of genetic material that ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
When waves interfere, what happens to the energy that they are carrying? | [
"There is a lot less magic and mystery to this than the thread would have you believe. Energy is conserved. If you have a condition with destructive interference, there **is** consequently constructive interference elsewhere to balance the energy. > But wait a minute, dude, can't I set up two waves to be perfectly... | [
"Many frequencies all sum to one wave through constructive and destructive interference. Think about the wave in air; the air can only be one pressure at a time, so no matter how complex the sound it results in just one waveform."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
How is that cars can decelerate fast, but accelerate slowly? | [
"Oh we can make a car that accelerates that fast, it all just depends on how the car is setup. If you want to look at the opposite end of this spectrum. Look at a top fuel dragster. They go from 0-100 mph in less than a second. With that absurdly short time comes an absurd short amount of distance. They take thousa... | [
"ELI5: bulldozers can lift tons of weight but can't go fast. They are built for one thing and they do other things not as well. Race cars can go fast but can't lift tons."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How comes that England even 500 years ago didn't have problems having a female ruler? | [
"Saying they \"didn't have problems\" is overstating things somewhat. There were several plots against her during her reign, but she had the support of others in government. Even though England hadn't yet become a constitutional monarchy, Elizabeth made a point of seeking and heeding advice from advisers throughout... | [
"Educated guess that Worldwide colonization by uk caused many parts of the world to speak the language."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How can a smartphone camera, with such a small lens, detect different levels of depth to apply a portrait effect? | [
"1 - The device identifies what is in the first plane (using the parallax effect of dual lenses/sensors, similar effect with dual pixel sensors, or AI with single lens/single sensor) 2 - Whatever is not in the \"first plane mask\" is blurred by software after the actual image is taken - the background is captured ... | [
"The human eye is far more sensitive to light than almost any commercial camera sensor (and even those that get close have huge amounts of image noise at high sensitivity). Also, camera sensor can only have the same sensitivity setting for the entire sensor (possibly barring some expensive prototypes), while each i... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Science:"
} |
How is it, that sometimes letting something ferment makes it more edible, but usually leaving food to decay is a sure fire way for food poisoning? | [
"There's two ways in which food that has gone bad can harm you. The first is when it's become infected with an organism that can also infect you and overwhelms you. So that organism gets into your gut or your bloodstream and starts reproducing like mad. E coli is an example of this. The second is when byproducts o... | [
"It does kill a lot of bacteria if you heat the food up enough, but a lot of the ill feeling from food poisoning is based on the chemicals the bacteria release instead of just the actual living bacteria. If the world ends and you need to eat a bunch of rotten old meat microwaving it will make it so it won't give y... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Food Science:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence about Food Science:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
How did the US go from a budget surplus under Clinton to a massive deficit now? | [
"THE most expensive thing (by far) in the world is war."
] | [
"(I'm a Democrat) A good thing he has done is taking the state from a $3.6 billion debt to $150 million surplus in a little over a year."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why are wheels on carts, office chairs and some other moveable stuff off center? | [
"Being off center of the mounting pin forces the wheel to trail behind the direction of movement. That allows them to always be aimed in the direction of travel."
] | [
"Most of them are hard plastic, especially in cheaper luggage, and usually in wheels that swivel. That hard plastic rolling along hard tiles and cement makes a lot of noise. Look for ones with the rollerblade wheels and non swiveling wheels for a much quieter ride, the wheels are softer and that makes them quieter.... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why must a country "declare war" before attacking? | [
"It's part of an agreed treaty from the Hauge convention > The Contracting Powers recognize that hostilities between themselves must not commence without previous and explicit warning, in the form either of a reasoned declaration of war or of an ultimatum with conditional declaration of war. And was adopted by the... | [
"IIRC, only signatory nations can be held to the Geneva conventions. Additionally, no government recognizes ISIS as a legitimate nation, to do so would legitimize their illegal operation. If we don't recognize them as a nation, we can't truly declare war on them. Also, no one wants another ground war against an ins... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why are some people technologically challenged, even though most modern products have become extremely user-friendly? | [
"There are those who just want to use technology and those who want to understand how things work. This applies just as much to old technology as to modern technology. It's not a new problem. There have always been those who want to repair something and those who want someone else to do it for them."
] | [
"Macs tend to \"just work\", without a lot of hassles. But you have to do things the Mac way. PC are cheaper, have more software written for them and a greater variety of peripherals. They let you do anything you want, including shooting yourself in the foot. Put another way: Macs make easy things easy and hard thi... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why runway (for aeroplane) has 2 lanes? | [
"The dashes aren't meant to separate a runway into two lanes, but rather they're used as a visual indicator to line up the airplane into the center of the runway as it lands or takes off."
] | [
"This might be a technical issue, Shannon has a ~3200m runway while the longest one at Dublin is ~2600m. Glancing at [this list of runway requirements](_URL_0_) it seems many longer ranged aircraft (such as those that cross the Atlantic) require at least 2700-2800m or so runway lengths."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why does a nose bleed way more than a cut or scrape? | [
"Look at how many blood vessels are [around your nose](_URL_1_) as to compared to the ones [around your limbs](_URL_0_). (Images courtesy of the The Body exhibit, go see if if it's near you; it's worth it). So you have more vessels = more blood in your nose and head area as compared to other locations on your body.... | [
"Take it from a guy that has had countless nosebleeds throughout his life-- Dry sinuses can easily cause a nosebleed at any time."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
In the beginning of time, after the Big Bang, how did the first organisms come into being? How did the first organic matter come in to existence? | [
"Organic matter technically means carbon compounds. Carbon and other atoms were formed in stars and blown out by supernovas. Then on Earth the first organic molecules formed through noon-living chemical processes, driven by things like lightning."
] | [
"We don't know that life started only once, but we do know that all living things on the Earth are extremely similar in their biochemistry, so they are all descended from a common ancestor. This also includes viruses, which aren't usually considered living, but it depends on the definition. No one clearly understan... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How does banning software patents in New Zealand work? How will this affect the rest of the world? | [
"Each country has their own patent office. In order to protect your product in a particular country, you need a patent from that country's patent office (generally speaking). For example, you cannot enforce your U.S. patent in Germany. New Zealand banning software patents means you cannot get a patent on software ... | [
"Many US companies do business in Europe, so they will have to comply with those laws. If they are going business in any place where a court ruling against them would adversely affect their business, then they will want to comply with those laws. And even if a company isn't doing business in Europe now, they might ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
How do we as humans with no air filters, have no problem with dusty air while most air conditioners get dirty? | [
"Snot, boogers, nose hair, ear hair, earwax, tears, ect all defenses against things from getting inside of us."
] | [
"SMS is some kind of genetic defect and fortunately affects hardly anyone, the condition in the genes being so very rare. Asthma is caused by breathing in a number of bad things like dust, fumes, contaminants, fungi, etc. We all have to breathe and part of the problem now is not just cars everywhere, but air condit... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
If it's possible to build up a sleep debt, is it possible to build up a "sleep credit"? If not, why not? | [
"We aren't really sure why, but it doesn't seem that something like that can be done. Think about it like your bladder; you can build up a need to urinate, but you cannot urinate so much that your bladder is more than empty."
] | [
"I'm going to bet that you're still pretty young (early 20s or so at the latest). In that case, the younger you are, the quicker your body is able to bounce back from a lack of sleep. That's why you can pull an all-nighter, and still feel good the next day. The older you get the harder this becomes."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text about Sleep and its effects on the body:"
} |
What's the difference between a unit that is divided by a second (like velocity m/s) and a unit multiplied by a second (like Coulombs A*s)? | [
"When it's divided by seconds then it like saying \"per second\" - it's a rate. When it's multiplied by seconds then it's dependent on how long it has been going on for - it's an amount of force."
] | [
"Voltage is not a force. A force is kg m s^(-2) or mass x length / time^2 think of the force of gravity on a object is the mass times the acceleration due to gravity, voltage is kg m^2 Q^(-1) s^(-2) or mass x length^2 / charge x seconds^2. There's a charge component and an extra length component. It could be writt... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
The implications and applications of quantum computing | [
"Your topic and your description are two different things. Quantum computing is unlikely to make the computers used by consumers faster. It is a new kind of computation being explored with the hopes that it may lead to techniques that will allow us to easily solve problems that are traditionally very solve to hard ... | [
"Considering all of our technology is built on physics and math and that the laws of physics and math are universal, yes."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
How do energy drinks like Red Bull affect the body? | [
"A red bull is the same as a cold cup of coffee (with sugar in it). Your body processes the caffeine slower. Otherwise there are no benefits in the drink. There is a very well detailed breakdown of what it does (trying to find the link). _URL_0_ And this. _URL_1_"
] | [
"What source says that alcohol is bad for your teeth?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do you hear a rumbling when yawning? | [
"When you yawn you tighten your canal muscles, which move the blood vessels to a position where the noise inside those blood vessels can be conducted into the inner ear producing that particular sound."
] | [
"It's probably a combination of reasons. Humans like to be awake all day and sleep all night. And we take our cues from the sun. If it's raining it's darker, so our bodies think, hey almost time for bed! Let's get sleepy! The other reason is ( I'm not to sure about this one so other redditors feel free to debunk me... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How can the NFL own the phrase "Super Bowl" and restrict others from saying it? | [
"The phrase \"Superbowl\" is \"trademarked\". When you create a name or term for something unique you can trademark it. Then anyone who wishes to use that name or term in a commercial context must pay the owner of the trademark. This happens all of the time. \"Big mac\" burgers for example by McDonald's. Same with ... | [
"No. Trademarks are tricky. Just showing them is fine. What you can't do is use a trademark to earn money without the permission of the owner. Since Pepsi is specifically saying, our soda is NOT Coke, I think that's what makes it ok. I could be off on this, so stand by for a better explanation."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are all baby boomers being encouraged to be tested for hepatitis c? How could an entire generation be infected? | [
"[Here](_URL_0_) is a good source if you want to read through it. But basically, baby boomers have a rate of Hep C infection five times higher than any other generation, and no one knows why. Since a person can have Hep C for many years before they show any symptoms, it's hard to pinpoint exactly where most people... | [
"People can live with HIV if properly medicated with antiviral drugs. In some cases a person might never develop AIDS despite being HIV positive. In short he's been fortunate enough to have been able to manage his illness."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why members of the military wear their uniforms while off duty and in public | [
"There are rules for enlisted and officers, about wearing uniforms on and off duty. The rules specify what type of uniform maybe worn, and where. For example the US Navy has dress uniform, service uniforms, working uniforms and coveralls I won't try to recite the rules, as a civilian, I'm sure I'd make a mess tryin... | [
"They might be ROTC cadets wearing their uniforms. Is there a military installation nearby? I wore my uniform when I went to class on my lunch break. I went back to work afterwards."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
What is evangelical Christianity? | [
"One of the two (three, if \"charismatic\" is separated from evangelical) primary belief systems of Christianity. Evangelicals have a personal religion. Jesus isn't just the Messiah, he's their *friend.* Prayers to God aren't a reaffirmation of faith, they're personal conversations with a deity. It's about **feelin... | [
"What do you mean by downfall? This is still a dominant part of current culture."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
How do these Twitter accounts (and not very good content) with less than 200 tweets get over 10K followers. | [
"It's a combination of both. Buying followers is easy and not that expensive. And a lot of them just follow everyone they can, wait for the follow backs and then unfollow either everyone or anyone that doesnt follow back."
] | [
"I'm almost certain Instagram, Twitter and the likes don't send individual notifications for each \"like\" or follow, that is, if the rate is incredibly high. If you get 10 likes per photo in a week, sure you'll get a few notifications. But if you get 700 likes in 20 minutes the app should only alert you once."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why is the background really dark in extreme high fps slowmo videos? And how does zooming in help make the video slower? | [
"If using a high-speed camera to create slow motion, since the frames are taking much faster than standard cameras, each frame receives less light due to the short shutter speed. The nicer high-speed cameras have large sensor arrays to compensate, but the fundamental problem is still there. To my knowledge, zooming... | [
"A few things. 1) Most cameras record at 30fps, where as most films are 24fps. This leads to weird things happening due to the timing of the frames such as flashing and flickering. 2) Cameras, especially cheap ones, struggle in low light. Also, movies are constantly changing between bright and dark meaning that c... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
During the Great Depression, 70% of the country was employed. Who kept their jobs, exactly? | [
"Those with skills that were still demanded by the economy at that time kept their jobs (as is the case today during the present Great Recession). Agriculture was one: no matter how bad things got, food was still in demand."
] | [
"Because a good deal of them are on fixed incomes. Many seniors in the US would be homeless without social security benefits. I'm not sure about your claim of seniors being the wealthiest members in society."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
what is the point of having various computer languages and how are they different from each other? | [
"This explanation can get very technical very fast, so I'll use the analogy of a [cars]( _URL_0_). Yes, for simple tasks any car will do, but certain cars come with certain features that make them more desirable. Sometimes code needs to be robust (handles well under stress and is resistant to breaking on updates). ... | [
"The problem is that this is a hard question to answer, as it is way too broad and a bit too vague. Do you want to know about how software works, or the operating system? The whole collection of memory, microprocessor, storage devices and other stuff that make up the hardware? Or do you want to know how a digital d... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post about Computer Science:"
} |
If a plane is forced to land on ocean, are there good chances for survivors? | [
"If a plane is forced to land, then yes things are already quite good considering the circumstances. Passenger Planes can glide for a long time, and they have plenty of communication abilities to reach out for help before they even touch water. The entire plane will have plenty of time to get there needed equipment... | [
"First. It would scare the passengers. Second. Not everyone knows how to free fall, deploy a parachute in the right position, then land on the ground safely, it would be a nightmare explaining this on every commercial flight. Third. It could be a liability in the case someone needs to use it and the parachute doesn... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How is your stomach able to make noise, and why does it do so? | [
"That's air and digestive gases, like methane, moving through your intestines."
] | [
"When you hold a fart in, the gas that would normally come out moves around your bowels. This happens because your bowels keep pushing fecal matter towards the exit, so the gas has to move further in. That's the rumbling you feel and/or hear. It's not healthy to keep farts in for prolonged periods of time. So when ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Election system in Britain | [
"Each of 650 constituencies elects one Member of Parliament, and the seat goes to the candidate who gets most votes. You don't get anything for coming second, even if a party gets 49% of the vote everywhere. This year, the Greens and UKIP won one seat each despite getting 3.8% and 12.6% of the votes nationally. The... | [
"There is but it's for males vs females Title IX"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
What's the difference between advertised Internet speed and actual bandwidth? | [
"The advertised speed is 16 mega*bits* per second. Eight bits = one byte, so your 1.7 mega*byte* download speed is close enough to the advertised one (2 MB would be the theoretical maximum). By convention, capitalised MB/KB/GB refers to bytes, whereas lowercase (Mb/Kb/Gb) refers to bits."
] | [
"I've never seen an ISP that advertises minimum speeds. The all advertise maximum speeds with the caveat that you might not actually achieve that maximum speed based on congestion. Does your ISP not say \"up to 50mbps\"?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Internet speed and service:"
} |
How do spacecraft that travel great distances in space keep from being destroyed by debris? | [
"Two things. 1. Space is really big. Like, so very big that all those billions of little meteors and asteroids are still thousands of miles apart. Space ships just don't encounter them. 2. In Earth orbit, we have many little things mapped and know where they are and where they are going. If one is at risk of hitti... | [
"They do collide with space junk. That's why they have to be built to withstand collisions with small objects flying at very high speeds. When explosions happen in space, there's no air resistance to slow down objects after they are thrown at such high velocities. So there are things orbiting earth at hundreds of m... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Science and Technology:"
} |
Why do some websites lock you in when you enter them? | [
"A lot of times they don't mean to do this, it's a consequence of poor design. Basically, when you hit _URL_0_ it might direct you to _URL_0_/welcome.html. So, the first page you hit is simply a redirect to the page you actually see. When you hit back it just loads up the first page which immediately directs you ba... | [
"Some websites redirect you to the actual website. When you press the back button once you get to the page that redirects you to the actual page (this is why you can keep pressing it and you will be loading the same page constantly). If you press twice rapidly you go to the first page before that happens."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph about Technology:"
} |
If energy cannot be created or destroyed, then what is potential energy? | [
"You had to use energy to get the ball to the top of the hill in the first place."
] | [
"Because entropy is not the destruction of energy, rather a measure of the destruction of USEFUL energy, Exergy. The energy still exists somehow, but is no longer present/available in any meaningful way. By the second law, entropy may me generated, but never destroyed. Edit: so in short, energy isn’t destroyed but ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence about science:"
} |
Why did America fight the Viet Cong, why were they considered bad? | [
"The Viet Cong were communist. This is during the cold war where both Russia and the US were battling for world power using other countries as chess pieces. There was a belief in the US that if countries started becoming communist there would be a domino affect that more and more would do so. Letting 1 country turn... | [
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why can't the pancreas be trained like a muscle? | [
"hgih sugar intake damages it, sort of like how training your liver to process 2 bottles of vodka a day ends up wrecking it."
] | [
"That's what they do sometimes. However if you lose too much of your liver it might not survive the \"regeneration\". There's only so much one part of a liver can do."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about medicine:",
"pos": "Represent the document about medicine:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What caused the water to disappear (and in what manner will it return) from the Bahamas coast? | [
"[Hurricane Irma is literally sucking the water away from shorelines ](_URL_0_) > > Basically, Hurricane Irma is so strong and its pressure is so low, it’s sucking water from its surroundings into the core of the storm. > > ... > > > In any case, this isn’t the sign of a tsunami. The water will return to Long I... | [
"> Wouldn't it just all flow out of the city There is water over there too. It is a flood because there is too much water between high areas of the ground, not because it just decided to all clump up in town."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What causes baseball pitchers speed to be capped at approximately 105 mph? | [
"I recall reading a popular mechanics article about this. One interesting aspect was that the amount of torque needed to throw the ball in excess of 105 mph corresponded roughly to the point where a certain ligament in the elbow would tear. For reference: _URL_0_"
] | [
"What's harder: to throw 10 balls at 20 mph or 1 ball at 200 mph?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does my breath stink in the morning even though I brushed/flossed/mouth washed before i went to bed? | [
"At night your mouth doesn't produce saliva. Saliva helps to reduce the amount of bacteria in your mouth. But when your mouth is dry at night, bacteria multiplies because there isn't much saliva to control it. When you brush your teeth before going to sleep it doesn't get rid of all the bacteria. Bacteria is everyw... | [
"I've never heard the latter, but yellow teeth can come from not brushing enough, not seeing the dentist regularly, and/or smoking (not to mention tea or coffee drinking). Worrying about the color of your teeth isn't going to do you any good. Brush and floss regularly. Limit your sugar. Don't do stupid shit like tr... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about Health:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Health:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
It's 40°F/4.4°C and snowing right now. How is it not raining instead since it's well above freezing? | [
"This can occur when there is a colder layer of air just above the warm one. As the snow falls through the thin warm layer it doesn't have time to melt."
] | [
"For the exact reason that you might expect. You've been cold all winter, and gotten used to zero degree weather. Oh look, it's now 65? Holy shit that's warm! Likewise, it's been 110 all summer. Holy shit, it's 65?? That's so cold!"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
How .999 repeating = 1? | [
".999 repeating to infinity is equivalent to 1. Decimals are not an approximation, they are another way to state a number. 1/3 = .333 repeating to infinity. That is a logically and mathematically true statement. 1/3*3 =1 1/3*3 = .333 repeating * 3 = .999 repeating = 1 Infinity isn't an easy concept to grasp, but ho... | [
"1 -- > 2 -- > 4 -- > 8 -- > 16 -- > 32 -- > 64 -- > 128 Repeat 60 times and you get 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 cells."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
How do actors appear dead in movies and films so that their chest isn't moving from breathing and their heart beating | [
"Sometimes they don't. I love catching someone breathing during a tv show. Law and Order and Criminal Minds is a gold mind. Spotting moving corpses while watching is a running competition I have with my husband. I think the camera crew tries not to linger on them too long to reduce the amount of breathing on film.... | [
"It irritates people because they can hear their own bodily noises reflected so clearly. Your heartbeat, the blood pumping through your skin on your face, your eyelids blinking and eyes rotating in their sockets, breathing, muscles contracting as you swallow. Deaf people can't hear those things."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How exactly does one become the leader of a major drug cartel? | [
"Get born into the right social set, which is to say, you have a shot at being a trusted member. Then do good and make friends on your way up. Have enough of your friends survive and acknowledge you as the leader of your little clique that, when you make a try, you don't get instantly killed by the people who try y... | [
"Regardless of the rhetoric, we are NOT the police of the planet."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why aren't police procedures / policy voted on by the people? | [
"In the US, we have a *representative democracy*. This means that we vote for people and those people make the laws. We don't directly vote on most laws that affect us, why would we treat police procedures any differently? Get off the internet. Go outside & walk around. How many people do you know that actually get... | [
"Because they are elected. Their \"boss\" is the constituency, not the government. The idea is that people are vetting the candidates directly during the campaign."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
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