query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
What's the difference between bacteria, viruses, fungi and pathogens? | [
"Pathogen - any microbe that can cause sickness Bacteria - single-celled lifeforms without a nucleus, some are pathogens Virus - non-living biological entities that can inject DNA or RNA into cells, almost all are pathogens Fungi - single and multicellular lifeforms with cell walls but without chloroplasts, includi... | [
"No. Antibiotics are a chemical that is designed to kill bacteria on its own by breaking down their cell walls. Antivirals do the same for viruses, and antifungals do the same for fungi. They do not pump your body with antibodies."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why is there so much oil in the Middle East? | [
"There isn't more oil in the middle east, it's just that it's the most convenient place to extract it. Oil come from dead organism, but not just that. You need : 1) Have enough organism concentrated together. 2) Have them slowly heat up over time. 3) Have them trapped so that the oil/gas doesn't escape. The best pl... | [
"Why do some parts of the world call gasoline petrol?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why Ginger Ale is good at relieving stomach issues and other sodas aren't. | [
"Ginger Ale contains Ginger. More specifically, ginger root, which is a natural anti-nausea remedy. The anti-nausea drug Gravol is made with Ginger Root as well. And Ginger pills are often administered to help with sea-sickness. And contrary to what some people believe, the carbonation does not help, in fact it wor... | [
"Alcohol is a diuretic: it makes you pee. You've probably noticed that. Even drinking something like beer, you pee out more than the water that was in the beer. So, you pee a lot, you get dehydration. Common symptoms of dehydration? Headache, nausea, muscle pain, exhaustion. Also known as a hangover. How do you tre... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Health and Wellness:",
"pos": "Represent the passage about Health and Wellness:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why is soda not considered food (at least by the government) and why can be purchased with food stamps? | [
"[The US government does define soda and candy as food that can be bought with SNAP (food stamps).](_URL_0_) > Soft drinks, candy, cookies, snack crackers, and ice cream are food items and are therefore eligible items Your state (and others) are defining food as a consumable substance which is essential, so: sod... | [
"Likely because buying food at a store is basically a necessity of life, especially if you can't afford to eat out every meal. Eating at a restaurant is basically a privilege, not a necessity, so it makes more sense to tax that, than to tax basic food. Up here in Canada, our national tax (GST) applies at all store... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
How do tiny phone cameras take such good pictures? | [
"Sensor technology has progressed greatly in the last three or so years, allowing small CMOS sensors to capture images with really nice clarity. In addition, most cell phones in the higher price range have very nice optics...usually at an f2 or similar to allow a large amount of light to enter the lens and strike t... | [
"Have you tried using your phone's camera to take a picture of the moon? Now imagine taking a photo of something a billion times farther. It isn't that hard, but needs some very potent equipment, like the Hubble telescope."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment about astronomy:"
} |
Growing up my mother would tell me to take off my band-aids to let my cuts "air out." Is there any medical reason for this? I still do it till this day! | [
"Scabs can't form if there is too much moisture on the wound, so the band-aid pad getting wet, say when washing hands or showering, or even just from perspiration can slow the scabbing process, and airing it out can help. The slowing down of scabbing and healing can can also happen form putting on something like Ne... | [
"I'm not a doctor, but I believe it's air that gets trapped in the joints, and when you \"crack\" your knuckles it releases that air. I crack my knuckles multiple times a day and people have told me, my whole life, that it's bad for me, but I don't really care."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How does the Scottish central banking system work and how is it connected to the British central bank? | [
"There is no Scottish central bank. Its central bank is the Bank of England, which despite the name is the central bank of the entire UK. Some commercial banks have the right to issue banknotes in Scotland, but these are still British pounds, the same currency used in the rest of the UK."
] | [
"I worry about the potential impact on the banking sector in the U.K. Love them or hate them, they are an enormous part of the economy. Not being a member of the single market could force banks to move to Frankfurt and reduce the UK's importance in world business. I'm certainly no expert, just an observation so som... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why are African-Americans incarcerated at such a higher rate than whites. Do they really commit more crimes or is it the system? | [
"People seem to be answering the \"do they commit more crimes\" bit and skipping the \"or is it the system\" bit. It can be both. Prejudice in the court system/juries/judges and the general under-resourcing of social services in inner-city areas means that, for a given crime, a black person is more likely to be i... | [
"Most crime is committed by the poor. Statistically minorities have more poor, so they tend to have more criminals."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Can the language I speak affect how I think? In some languages adjectives are before nouns, in others, after -- does this, or other differences, change how we think or perceive things? | [
"If you thought this up yourself, then I'm impressed. The answer very well may be yes. [Here is an article about some findings that support the idea](_URL_1_). It simplifies it all quite well in ELI5 terms for the most part."
] | [
"It's called code switching. It's very common among people raised speaking multiple languages. It comes from the fact that languages learned before the age of 12 (or so) are much more deeply ingrained than those learned later in life and your brain can seamlessly switch between them mid-sentence or even mid-phrase.... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Is it possible for the USA to fall like Rome etc did and another 'super power' to take over? | [
"Yes. Every world power in human history has collapsed in upon itself or fell to conquerors. There's no reason to believe the US is unique in that regard."
] | [
"The \"universal language\" of the world is the language that the most powerful country/countries in the world uses as a trade language. During the Roman era that was Latin and that is why it has so many descendant languages (French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian). For English it came into uses as the glob... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why does it take so long to carry out the death penalty? Can't they carry it out more quickly? | [
"Because you can't undo it, so they want to make sure to give the convicted plenty of time to appeal in case the original decision was wrong."
] | [
"Why would there be a trial? The man's already guilty, just throw him in prison or execute him."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Law and Justice:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph about Law and Justice:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why do a lot of gay people dress and act more like the opposite sex? Wouldn't that be a turnoff to gays of the same sex? | [
"It was explained to me like this: I prefer brunettes, with beautiful eyes, a pretty smile and a rocking ass. You may however like blondes. Some people like big girls, others dont. Just because a girl dresses more boyish doesn't embody that of a man. A woman may be attracted to that look, but still enjoy the comfor... | [
"It's when a person has a mismatch between the gender of their personality (the gender that they identify themselves with) and their physical gender. It is not defined by their gender role (ie, a stay-at-home dad is not a transgender just by virtue of his daily activities), but by their emotional identity. I'd be i... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
why does slow loading images load line by line, top to bottom? | [
"Because that is the order the data in the image is stored. An image is made up of a lot of small pixels, each having it's own color. So to store an image we simply write down the color of the first pixel, then the second pixel and so on. left to right, row by row, top to bottom. And when you load a picture of the ... | [
"it doesn't, it freezes at the bottom and works its way up."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How is Pepsi allowed to negatively feature Coke in pretty much all of their TV ads? | [
"Its fairly difficult to prove slander or libel in American courts. Unless Pepsi says something blatantly or easily-provably false about Coke, then it's not worth the hassle of taking them to court."
] | [
"To increase sales. Yes, they're big companies but a company can always expand on their sales. People who know about Coke don't necessarily buy it. They might buy lemonade. The aim of the commercials is to get people to buy coke, whether they know it or not. Plus, they have nothing to lose. Advertising probably doe... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
why do we feel the need to itch, even when there is no visible irritant? | [
"We have a few layers of dead and dying skin cells all the time on us. Most of these cells slew off from clothing friction. Ones in other areas can promote itching when the layers have built up. This usually is on our back's for most of us. Residual soap particles can reside here in these layers of dead skin and st... | [
"An itch is your bodies way of letting you know there is an irritant present on your skin. When a bug crawls across your hair, it itches right? Your body wants you to get this bug off just on the off chance it will harm you. Your also feel the tingle when anything brushes against a hair, or sweat runs down you back... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why didn't USA sign Kyoto Protocol which would have helped the entire world on an environment friendly path? | [
"Because the Kyoto Protocol's goals isn't to put the entire world on an environment friendly path. It's to put all the blame for Greenhouse gas emission on developed countries and force a cap on them while telling the developing countries that they would be paid to cut their Greenhouse gas emission. Developing coun... | [
"196 countries signed an agreement. I would say that is a historical first. They actually agree that there is climate change occurring due to human activity and that activity should be modified. It better make a difference. There is a good chance we can destroy civilization if nothing is done. On the other hand I d... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
In the NFL, why doesn't the RB throw a forward pass past the line of scrimmage when he knows he's going to get tackled for a loss? | [
"Too dangerous. RBs can't be counted on to make smart decisions. Also, there may be linemen blocking down field and you'd just end up getting a penalty for it."
] | [
"Well, the point of the defense in football is to: 1. Deny the offense any forward movement of the ball. 2. Push the offense further back towards the offensive side of the field (known as sacking the quaterback) 3. Steal or \"intercept\" the ball The plays they execute are driven more by the amount of attempts (i.... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why is the hair that grows out of moles often darker than the hair around it? | [
"Moles contain more natural pigments, called melanin, which is what causes the mole to be a darker color than the rest of the skin. This pigment also affects the color of the hair in the same way if affects the color of the skin."
] | [
"It's not staining, it's pigmentation. It isn't always brown either. It's the same sort of thing that causes the skin around nipples to be a different color than the rest of the skin."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are private parts "bad"? | [
"Different societies accept it to different degrees. Parts of Europe have nude beaches and nudity in movies and TV isn't considered odd. Even the UK, considered fairly stogy, has topless girls on page 3 of a major publication. Many early settlers of the US were very religious and for them anything that takes away f... | [
"What makes you think they are \"more common than ever before\"?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Health:"
} |
How were audio cassettes and VHS tapes mass produced? Did the audio/sound have to be recorded in real time? | [
"No, you can record faster than the playback speed. Many consumer dual cassette decks actually had this feature, called high speed copying or dubbing. You can also record many target cassettes from one source, so you'd have one master recording to many slaves."
] | [
"AM/FM radio is still broadcast live, and is analog. There is no relationship between the ability to broadcast live and being digital. They used analog equipment to broadcast from the moon. Analog was in common use for recording and broadcast of audio (cassette tapes, vinyl records) and video (VCR, camcorders) for ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
In many high-tech firms, executives must sign non-compete agreements, preventing them from working for a competitor after they stop working for their current firm. These agreements are much less common in mature manufacturing firms. Why? | [
"Non-competes prevent people from being able to leave and either bolster the strength of a competitor, or start a competing business on the off hand that you seperate your employement from an employer. It's basically a legal way of preventing someone from taking loads of trade secrets and using them against your p... | [
"The new owners take control of the company and run it as they see fit. Often, this will involve some restructuring - perhaps laying off employees, hiring new ones, selling assets, or buying new ones. In the case of a merger, assets and employees deemed to be redundant may be let go (for example, the newly merged c... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is 75+ degrees Fahrenheit considered to be warm/hot when our bodies are naturally 98.6 or close to it? | [
"Your body creates energy. If you don't get rid of the heat eventually your body will stop working. We want to be in cool environments so that the heat can easily leave."
] | [
"I don't think they are colder than the room, it just feels that way. Unless you keep the room at 96.5degrees F, most room temperatures are much colder than normal body temps"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
how did ravens/ pigeons know where to go when released with a message!? | [
"they only know how to fly home. thus they're called homing pigeons. it's one directional communications. raise a homing pigeon from birth at a location and it always goes back there."
] | [
"This whole thing was very much news to me and i had no idea it was even happening. How did they track the comet and know where it was going to be?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
How does leverage work? | [
"Leverage has to do with a tradeoff between distance and force. In physics, work = force * distance (W = Fd). Crushing a can (in your example) takes some set amount of work to accomplish. If you just crush the can with your hands, the distance is the height of the can. If you know the work involved to crush a can, ... | [
"Are you asking how a wheel works ?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
What differs between music that is made to keep you focused (e.g: Videogames music) and other type of music? | [
"Video game music wasn't made so you can stay focused, they should underline the current situation (Is it a small town or a giant cave filled with fire and demons) without distracting you too much (Mostly no singers) while being easy to repeat (They are pretty \"boring\" compared to normal songs, so you don't reall... | [
"I made a quick check on wiki (sorry) and its explanation did make sense. The definitions are different depending on where you are. In the US Electronica isn't a separate genre but an unbrella term that encompasses all other genres that are based around electronic music such as Dance, Techno, Trance, etc. In the re... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
runner's high, what does it do in, and to the body? | [
"According to the book Spark, you are actually experiencing endocannabinoids. Elevated endorphin levels found in the blood after exercise could not be the culprit since the molecule is too large to cross the blood brain barrier."
] | [
"It's your hormones triggering your \"fight or flight\" the weight loss is a side effect or at least that's the way it works in animals"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post about Health and Wellness:"
} |
How do cartoon animators figure out when to make characters blink? Do they keep constant track of it? | [
"Animator here. There are a few reasons to use a blink. But there's no set rules, just when it feels right. Usually when a character turns his or her head, or just moves it a good amount, I will add a blink just because it's a natural thing that most people do. If the character is moving their mouth up, you want ... | [
"The software and facilities is a big cost, but not the largest. The largest cost is for the people who make the movie. When you want a live actor to walk across the screen you hire one person to walk across the screen. It takes a few seconds. When you want to show an animated person walk across the screen a pers... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
The concept of the trinity: where it comes from and how it makes sense | [
"It's normally used to refer to the three-parts but one being god in Chrisitianity. Essentially it arose through interpretation of various passages of the bible. The Trinity is God+Jesus+The Holy Spirit. In the bible these three names are used to describe distinct things (Jesus talks to god, the holy spirit descend... | [
"Christian doctrine describes [The Trinity](_URL_0_): - The Father - The Son - The Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost) They are separate but one. While Jesus was distinct Jesus was, in their theology, literally God on Earth. So, praying to Jesus is the same as praying to God. They are the same entity. If this leads you to... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why does salt melt ice? | [
"I don't think it melts ice, it the raises the freezing temperature of water... or thereabouts."
] | [
"The cracks are thermal shock (similar to how alternating hot and cold on things can make them break) Ice sticks to your wet hands because it freezes the water on your hand. This is the same thing as when you lick a cold flagpole."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How can someone move into my vacant house without my permission and not be trespassing? | [
"IANAL, but I believe that in the case of squatting, moving into a vacant house without permission IS still trespassing. However, if you don't do anything about it for a prolonged period of time, and the squatter take care of the property, cleans up after themselves, doesn't get involved in crime, and especially, i... | [
"Because it can be difficult to determine if they have a legal right to live there. Especially if they've been paying electric and water bills for a while. That's not something the police can just roll up and determine quickly. So they have to go argue it in court, but in the meantime they're allowed to remain on t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
If later school start times are found to improve sleep and daytime functioning in adolescents, why aren't school start times changed? | [
"A lot of schools I've worked for have taken the parents into consideration. For instance, most jobs start at 9:00am so starting school at 8:00am gives the parents the time to get their kids off to school. The same went for snow days. In Rockford IL the school was blasted for having school on some of the worst days... | [
"Melatonin, puberty, and maybe artificial light or sex! Children generally respond to light exposure (sundown), but will also produce melatonin after being awake for 12-14 hours. The pubescent body is transitioning from 10-12 hours of sleep to 8 hours of sleep and from dependence on external controls (light) to dep... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
If everyone in a burning apartment block turned on their taps and flooded their apartments, would it make any difference to the spread of the fire? If not, why not? | [
"Interesting question. I think a big reason why people die in fires is they often underestimate how incredibly fast a fire can spread. If there's a raging blaze, there is no way enough water can be dispersed before the building is engulfed."
] | [
"It means that fan pumps air into the stairwell. This is a fire evacuation safety measure, so that if you open the door from your burning corridor into the stairwell, the positive air pressure will push the smoke back allowing you to escape and close the door. It means that holding the door open will cause people's... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
How is it possible for panic attacks to manifest similar symptoms to a heart attack if there aren't any other underlying health factors present? | [
"That is essentially due to stress. When you are normally stressed, your body create stress hormones which make you more receptive to danger, more reactive, make you feel fear, and prepare your muscles to an intensr activity (if you need to run away). It's totally chemical. About panick attack: It happened to me a... | [
"Unless you mean cardiomyopathy or heart attack, not technically. That being said, depression and anxiety, especially when severe, can cause a plethora of negative effects on your physical health, including contribution to heart disease and high blood pressure, which may result in a heart attack or stroke. So in a... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
What does it mean when a government controls interest rates? | [
"The government can control interest rate through the central bank: In simplified terms, banks can get loans from the central bank, which they in turn can use to hand out loans to people or corporations. The interest rate of these loans is the official interest rate of the country, and it affects the interest rates... | [
"I am not an expert, but my answer would be three words: high interest rates."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
What steps I, as a Canadian, need to take to move permanently to the USA. | [
"the way things are going here....you are probably better off staying in Canada..... but if you really want to come here, visit your local American Embassy and they should be able to get you going."
] | [
"Depending on what you mean by enter legally, I don't think it is all that difficult. For example, all I need to do to to enter legally as a tourist is fill out an ESTA form online, that takes maybe 10 minutes. Or are you asking about permanent residency?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Islam, The Authority of The Qur'an and The Prophet Muhammad | [
"Islam is an abrahamic religon, like judaism and christianity. they believe muhammed was the last prophet, and jesus the second to last. the quran is based on what muhammed says god told him, just like christians think the bible is god's word muslims think the quran is."
] | [
"Huh, literally *just* was involved in a discussion about this topic with a history professor. Here's a list of some of the books he recommended: Ahmad, Anis. Global Ethics, Environmentally Applied: An Islamic View. 2009. Dien, Izzi. The Environmental Dimensions of Islam. The Lutterworth Press, 2000. Murad, Munjed ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do we kiss? What is so significant in (romantic) kissing? | [
"Adding to the wisdom of Q-gonzalez (although I disagree about the suckling bit): The lips have tons of nerve endings. Same with the tongue. The degree of trust you require to kiss is significant. Some speculate that kissing hearkens back to cavepeople days, chewing up food and depositing it in the mouth of a loved... | [
"With some exceptions sex is a healthy and integral part of any relationship. It’s kinda the whole point of seeking a mate, biologically speaking."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
When you die, does your brain still contain all the information it once had? Even if preserved? | [
"Remember when your Pokemon game (r/b/y) lost all of your Pokemon after a while? That's because the place the information was saved in the cartridge needs electricity from a battery to keep the information saved. The battery inside the cartridge dies after a while and the Pokemon are gone forever. It is thought tha... | [
"There is no such thing. No one has ever successfully transplanted a human brain into another body. If they could, the brain would carry the personality and memories, as you suspect."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do we often feel more sad when viewing or hearing about animal suffering/death, than we do about the equivalent in humans? | [
"There's a thing called the [Just-World Hypothesis](_URL_0_). Humans want to think that the world is a fair place; so when we hear about something bad happening to someone, there's a tendency to think of a reason they *deserved* it. The most common moral frameworks don't hold animals accountable for their actions, ... | [
"I think this is more of an ethics and philosophy question, rather than a concept. What right does man have to interfere with nature? How can we be sure that our actions will not cause more harm than good? How do you define animal suffering? Where do we draw the line? Should all wild animals be kept in zoos? What a... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
why car manufacturers come out with their cars a year early? For example it's 2016 but the 2017 model is already for sale. | [
"Better to look a early to market than late to market... if the sales year isn't going to match with the calendar year, consumers would rather buy something from \"next year\" (a 2017 model in mid-'16) today vs. consumers buying \"last year's\" model if they were to buy the same model year next summer, when it woul... | [
"They reduce the price, and keep selling them until they're gone. There's always going to be somebody willing to buy last year's model car at a discount of a couple thousand dollars. Each new year's car model is not like each new iphone model, the differences are pretty negligible, you're not missing out by buying ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Where did our time keeping system come from? How did it become so popular? | [
"The Egyptians divided the day in 24 parts, allegedly because they used a numerical system that used 12 as a base (Egyptians used to count joints on each finger with their thumb, so they could count to twelve using one hand). Also, they used a set of 36 stars, 12 which were only visible in complete darkness. Greek ... | [
"So when and where did playing cards as we know them come into being anyways?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How did the Greek economy get so messed up? | [
"Basically, they tried to pull off socialism, but they had no funds to support the system they promised."
] | [
"So when and where did playing cards as we know them come into being anyways?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
What stops lottery ticket sellers from just scratching the unsold tickets themselves? | [
"Each scratch ticket has a number on the bottom corner. They are responsible to your state for each ticket. So when the person comes to deliver tickets (usually they aren't sent, they are generally delivered) they check the numbers sold against the numbers left on tickets. If anything is missing the store is respon... | [
"It's simply a matter of how many people are playing. When the jackpot is at 40 million, not nearly as many people play. Thus, most of the number combinations aren't bought and the prize carries over. When the jackpot is at 500 million, people that normally wouldn't play the lottery play. Most of the number combina... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do waves freeze in place? | [
"It's not a frozen wave, it's the beginning of a cornice. By how the wind works it can create overhangs on snow/ice that can look like a wave. Antarctica is cold enough that it'll continue building up for a long time. Snow cornice _URL_0_"
] | [
"Crashing in the ocean > crashing in populated areas."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
FedEx from Indy to LA in under 1.5 hours? | [
"Indianapolis is Eastern Time; LA is Pacific. More than likely, that elapsed time is 4.5 hours once you take the time zone changes into account. 5:01 AM in LA is 8:01 AM in Indianapolis. Indy to LA is more than 1800 flying miles. To cover that in 1.5 hours would mean flying at more than 1.5 times the speed of sound... | [
"I just sent and E-transfer and they accepted it in less than 15 minutes and it's 1PM on a Sunday. Switch banks??"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
How do scam companies have seemingly endless phone numbers? | [
"Most phone systems allow the administrator to set the outgoing caller ID. In an Avaya system, it's administered in the trunk-group form, and it can say anything you want, a name, phone number, or gibberish."
] | [
"The easiest thing to do is sell that information to scammers. Having a large list of active phone #'s and email addresses is quite valuable to marketing companies and people running phone scams and phishing attacks. In foreign nations the laws aren't as strict about who you can buy this kind of information from an... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment about cybersecurity:"
} |
when it snows why isn't lightning and thunder produced? | [
"You need to have a mass of cool air and a mass of warm air collide in order to get a thunderstorm, typically in winter. you don't have those, you've just got cold air, and precipitation."
] | [
"nothing, water gets in your ear and it is nothing wrong with it, sound can travel throught water thats why you can hear."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
The meaning of intuition. | [
"Intuition is a feeling you get when you've come to an answer for something, without any clear justification for it. It probably comes from our brain's ability to perform pattern recognition to draw conclusions."
] | [
"Bodily Kinaesthetic intelligence combined with Spatial intelligence. Sorry for the bland answer."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why does a common house fly insist on repeatedly landing on a person despite having an entire property to fly around in? | [
"To lick off your sweat. At least some species anyway. Human sweat is full of salt and protein (more so than other animals because of our high salt intake). Basically they're using you as a salt lick."
] | [
"They are looking for food/water/someone to reproduce with. There is nothing more to it. They are not smart enough to know that they are flying around the middle of the room, they are just flying around mostly aimlessly until they stumble upon (usually by smell via their antennae) something delicious or sexy."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Entomology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Entomology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
EIL5: What is Apache Subversion and how can I start using it? | [
"Subversion (svn for short) is one of many available version control systems. A version control system is a repository for your code that you can update incrementally as your code changes (this is called 'committing'). You can go back to previous versions of your repository, or of just specific files. You can also ... | [
"Like any software development, there are various version control systems (VCS) applications that help keep track of source code an resource files, allowing different members of the team to access the latest and merge changes. A lot of open source projects use Git, hosting on Github while private companies may use ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
The Primary voting systems connection to Federal polling places | [
"You have been misinformed. The USA does not provide federal polling places. Elections are conducted separately by each state, under the state budget."
] | [
"Very briefly it sums to about this Accounting - management of money and numbers / finance - analysis of market for investment"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why has there been a rise in anti-Semitic crimes in the US? | [
"There isn't a rise, you're just noticing it now because the media is actually mentioning it as noteworthy. Anti-semitic crime in the US has always been the supermajority in religious hate crimes."
] | [
"What do you want to hear more about? The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? The Israel vs. Palestine situation? The Arab Spring? The recent attacks on US embassies?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are some toilets so noisy for so long after you flush? What is happening? | [
"The tank is filling up with water so it will be ready for the next flush. If you take the lid off the back, you can watch it."
] | [
"They take up too much space and are impractical for a house. The reason they have them in public toilets is they're more efficient when lots of people need to use them. It's not like you'll have more than one person using the toilet at the same time in your house."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why do websites ask if you are over 18 which you can just hit yes or enter a date for when obviously people under will lie? | [
"It limits legal liability for the website owner. Without an 18+ warning or age gate, the owners potentially put themselves at risk of a lawsuit for being negligent and providing children with easy access to adult content. Having a warning / age gate is used as a form of legal protection to avoid such lawsuits, wit... | [
"They are fully legal. Just as you can post your own videos on YouTube to watch, only different content. The age verification pop up, they asked. That's all the site needs to do and even that's not required. If you say yes you're old enough, you are at fault, not them, if any legal business goes down. Donors and pa... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Could I essentially live off of vitamins and basic food for fuel? | [
"It's not even all that hard. Go buy Soylent. Its a brand of meal replacement product."
] | [
"Basically they're an all natural way to get vital vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, & fiber in a low calorie, unprocessed way. With the proper consumption of vegetables and fruit an average adult can forego a daily multi vitamin."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Linux over Windows | [
"Linux is open source, usually free, and allows the user a high level of customization. The way the file system is organized is more secure than what Window's uses, and malware is very rare. Windows is much more common, more user-friendly, and has a more robust support system in place. Users are never required to u... | [
"Because they are completely different technologies with completely different functions and underlying technologies and methods of function."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What determines if it is called a road, street, drive, lane, boulevard, highway, avenue, parkway, etc.? | [
"Generally the developer chooses whatever they want. Although some of them are usually more specific. Highway is usually a much higher speed road with fewer turn offs. It usually gets named by the state. Boulevards usually denote a street where traffic is separated by [some sort of island in the middle](_URL_0_). T... | [
"* highway - generic term for a road you can drive fast on and that has few stop signs or lights * freeway - a highway without tolls * expressway - a highway with at least 2 lanes in each direction, a divider between each direction of traffic, maintains high speeds even through towns, and has interchanges rather th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why are most, if not all toilets white on the inside when they are made for you to poo in? | [
"It's the fashion. Not too many years ago they were all sorts of colours. I guess it's so that a clean toilet can look clean."
] | [
"They take up too much space and are impractical for a house. The reason they have them in public toilets is they're more efficient when lots of people need to use them. It's not like you'll have more than one person using the toilet at the same time in your house."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
What makes one world event more important than another for society? | [
"Priorities. For instance, you may care what happens to your neighbors more than someone in another country. This set of priorities may have come from ancient humanity. Some call it tribalism or tribal mentality. The idea is that we support those in our tribe, at the sacrifice of those outside it. So a tragedy is w... | [
"This is a very broad question about an enormous international event. Can you narrow it down at all? Is there a particular kind of thing that you're hoping to hear about?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why do Hollywood movies have a budget of tens to hundreds of millions of dollars. The budget for Avatar was $200 million even though most of it was done with CGI. | [
"CGI is very labor intensive. It can take hundreds or thousands of man-hours for one scene. And those people ain't workin' cheap."
] | [
"Because animation is a time-consuming, laborious process. Unlike live-action movies where camera crews can easily capture short clips which can be edited together, animators have to manually create each frame. For 2D animation, this means drawing 24-60 pictures for every second of footage. It's easy to see how tha... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why is it that when we are struck, we are compelled to hold the struck body part, as if that will make the pain go away? | [
"The neurological transmission of pain isn't fully understood, but the reason we grab a painful spot may be for two reasons: 1. To protect the part that was hit and 2. In an attempt to make the pain less by sending non-painful stimuli to the brain instead. Check out the \"gate control theory\" of pain transmission ... | [
"The opposite is true, a living person can actively hold on to you and situate themselves to make it easier for you to carry. A dead person offers you no aid. I suppose if the living person didn't WISH to be carried then a struggling alive person would be more difficult than a dead person."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Biology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Biology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why did Typhus disease seem to be most rampant and severe in German concentration camps in WW2 and not reportedly as bad elsewhere? | [
"Because the crowding and poor sanitary conditions in concentration camps were an ideal breeding ground for the lice that cause typhus. It wasn't as bad elsewhere because no one else was packing people together like the German concentration camps. You see the same discrepancy today. Typhus is effectively non-existe... | [
"1: It was more deliberate. Had the Jewish holocaust only been mass graves in Eastern European city centers, it would not have gotten the same attention. The holocaust was uniquely industrial. 2: Germany was not fighting a war against a Jewish State. It's pretty common historically for atrocities to committed agai... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
How come big cats like lions are more affectionate towards their humans than housecats? | [
"The reason that lions can afford to be sociable is that they have the ability to hunt very large animals that will feed several lions for a day or two. Domestic cats likely never evolved cooperative hunting because of their small size — even in groups they couldn't compete with larger predators, so they stuck with... | [
"Because the naming of different species and their young are arbitrary. When people named lion and tiger babies, they called them cubs, along with the young of bears, wolves, and other large predatory animals, to differentiate them from the young of domesticated animals, like dogs and cats."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why are people in Congress allowed to lie to the public? | [
"Who could possibly enforce such an idea, the \"Ministry of Truth\" who decides who is being accurate and jails or deposes whoever they want at their whim? It can't be done without destroying the entire basis of governance."
] | [
"More or less a way for corporations to literally be above the law and do whatever they want, among other things. Cross your fingers it doesn't go through."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why is prostitution Illegal, yet an an Escort service legal? | [
"It's a loophole. You are officially paying escorts for their time and companionship, the sex part is free with the purchase of companionship. Back when Chicago banned foie gras, there's a restaurant called Hot Doug that has always serves foie gras hot dogs. The owner said he's just selling the hot dog bun, the sa... | [
"It's not everywhere, but in the states where it is illegal, it's because gambling is not allowed in that state. It's as simple as that. EDIT: Online gambling"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do models predict the path(s) of hurricanes? | [
"The modelers take a massive amount of data gleaned from weather stations, satellites, weather balloons, planes, ships, etc. These data points are plugged in to a large set of mathematical equations known as a forecast model. There are many different weather models, and different variations of each one. Different m... | [
"A hurricane is a tropical cyclone and specifically one that develops in the Atlantic or the north east Pacific. Once it leaves the tropics it becomes a post-tropical cyclone. Cyclones that generate outside the tropics are extratropical cyclones and do not count as hurricanes. They form over cooler regions and won'... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
The purpose of twitter. | [
"It's an online broadcast platform that lets people curate news, conversation, and link-sharing based on their interests. For instance, a sports fan can follow professional athletes, fantasy sports analysis, ESPN breaking news, (etc.) and basically create a real-time sports newsfeed filled with information they car... | [
"This video by grey goes over the creation as well as other things concerning the us Canada border _URL_0_"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
If I get blackout drunk and do heroin without remembering it in the morning, would I still be addicted to heroin? How would my mind handle being addicted to something unknown? | [
"Your body can get addicted but you won't pick up the mental habits of you don't know what you did. They are two different things."
] | [
"If you drink coffee every day to wake yourself up in the morning, you will eventually become addicted. How would this contribute to you becoming addicted to alcohol, tobacco or methamphetamines? They're completely different drugs with different effects, different feelings and, most importantly, different chemistry... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
ELI5: Why is it called "World Series Baseball" when it's only played by teams in the USA? | [
"On a technical point, it's possible for non-American teams to play (e.g. Toronto Blue Jays). But, the World Series pits the champions from the two nation-wide leagues of the \"American League\" and \"National League.\" Each of teams could be considered National or American champions, so the winner between them sho... | [
"Realistically, there isn't any other league of consequence playing American football outside the US. So the winner of the NFL has a valid claim to being the best in the world."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
If animal rights groups are against animal testing then how do they expect people to find cures for animal diseases? | [
"I think the point is that we test shampoos and make-up and things of that nature on animals. A lot of animal testing is not for the betterment of the animals themselves; just humans."
] | [
"Animal exploitation, animal cruelty and many animals are killed as 'by-products' to support these industries ie. male chicks for eggs. Vegans also don't eat honey, many don't wear leather or use make-up etc. that is tested on animals. Imagine giving animals the same rights as a human and you essentially have the v... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do squared natural numbers increase at odd numbered intervals? Is this a coincidence, or does it continue infinitely? | [
"(X+1)^2 - x^2 = (x^2 + 2x + 1) - x^2 = 2x + 1 Which is also the definition of an odd number number when x is a natural number."
] | [
"No, because a ratio and a sequence are two different things. The two are connected because if you take a term of the Fibonacci sequence and divide it by the previous term, the result will be approximately the golden ratio. It gets closer and closer as you get further in the sequence. This isn't unique to the Fibon... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Can someone explain the "No True Scotsman" fallacy? | [
"A: All Scotsmen enjoy haggis. B: But my Brother is Scottish and he hates haggis! A: All *true* Scotsmen enjoy haggis. Simply put its changing definition of what you're discussing (scotsmen) to deliberately exclude any couter-examples."
] | [
"Can someone explain the difference between Dementia and Alzheimer's, please?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How is it that the human brain, with all its incredible complexity, is encoded within our DNA? | [
"The same way a hard drive can store all the information needed too make another hard drive. The instructions on how to make something dont take up as much space as said device is capable of storing"
] | [
"We forget almost everything. Most of what you learn is school you forget. Where you have been. What you did yesterday. Dreams are no exception. We remember things specifically useful for survival. Everyone recalls the details of an escape, or a close encounter with danger. Now is the time of my brain exultation. P... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How do so many different languages have the same basic phonetic for "mom"? | [
"If you think about all the muscles/parts involved in generating speech (lips, tongue, glottis, vocal chords, etc.), the consonant 'm' and the vowel 'a' are far less complex to produce relative to other sounds. The 'ah' sound is close to the default resting position of the speech-producing muscles/parts in the mout... | [
"Such languages do not exist. Perhaps you are thinking of a language like Chinese that has thousands of symbols? There is no alphabet in this language in the same way English has phonetic building blocjs. Basically....you learn the sybols that represent what is an analogous more or less to words themselves or word... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are humans so remarkable? - have not seen a good answer yet. | [
"Or C: We are remarkable because we got the RANDOM mutation that gave us our intelligence, and have gotten to where we are, not because nature needed us to, but because nature didn't need us not to."
] | [
"Its really hard to believe nothing existed. Even with all these theories."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
If corporate earnings remain high but average wages stay the same doesn't that mean that the middle class and the poor are just getting poorer? | [
"Corporate earnings, by themselves, don't tell you anything about wages. Earnings are what's left after wages are paid (among other things). However, if wages are flat and inflation is positive (which it currently is) then, yes, people's purchasing power is dropping. This isn't exactly the same as getting poorer b... | [
"Assuming you're talking about the USA, I would place the blame on the major reduction in capital gains tax. This allows rich people to invest their money and pay quite a bit less tax on the profits from investing than they would from \"earned income\". The fact that the \"investor class\" no longer needs to produc... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How is the ecosystem of a river or lake not destroyed if it freezes over during winter? | [
"Only the top of the water freezes. Fish are notable in that they don't need to breath air so they don't really need access to the surface in order to survive."
] | [
"The sky would have been darkened extremely by the exploding meteor. The oceans and waterways still need light and specific temperatures for the food supply to be available. Take one thing like plankton out of the loop and you can collapse it all"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why do tennis players use stationary cycle right after a match? | [
"It's to help them warm down from a match so they can recover faster and all their muscles don't cramp up. It helps remove lactic acid that's built up. They have about 10 minutes on a bike then eat a lot of carbohydrates and protein based food. Iirc Andy Murray normally eats loads of sushi after a match."
] | [
"The drug in question boosts endurance. Brooming is more taxing than it looks. More endurance means better brooming later in the match."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
How do my finger prints come back after a cut? | [
"Because the friction ridges of your fingerprints originate from below your epidermis - in fact it is made from the papillae in between your dermis and epidermis. Shallow cuts only damage the upper layers of skin. Deep cuts - deep enough to cause scars, _do_ affect your finger prints."
] | [
"No, there is no real reason for a vegetarian to not leave fingerprints. Law & Order often throws in these dramatized points to their show. Fingerprints are primarily damaged by smudging or other environmental causes, such as being a rotting corpse, or burning. Source: attending university for criminal justice, cov... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does the sun make our skin darker, but makes things like grass lighter? | [
"Skin becomes darker in response to the sun because it creates extra melanin, which absorbs UV rays."
] | [
"Because there isn't much sunlight that far north, so they need to produce less melanin to allow the UV light to create Vitamin D in their skin. Melanin is also what makes hair and eyes dark too, so they end up with pale skin, pale eyes, and pale hair."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
If a women gets a virus during pregnancy, and recovers from the virus, will the baby be immune to that virus? | [
"No, I believe the mother may produce immunity to the virus, including a type of antibody called IgG. IgG may pass through the placenta and provide the baby with transient immunity while in utero. After the baby is born however, it will no longer be provided with this passive immunity, and will need to complete dev... | [
"Cytomegalovirus negative. It's a very common viral infection that normally doesn't produce any symptoms. However, it can be dangerous towards immunocompromised patients and can cause liver failure. By not having it you can't expose it to the premature babies, which have weakened immune systems. This reduces their ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
If the US was tricked (or willingly) elected a psychopath as the president, what checks and balances are in place to stop him/her from launching a nuclear weapon? | [
"We have a 2 man rule, the Secretary of Defense must confirm the order before we will launch. If the President has apparently lost his freaking mind then there is a process to have him removed."
] | [
"Essentially, it's problematic because nuclear powers are harder to bully, and a Nuclear Iran would make it harder for the established powers to continue containing Iran's influence. Plus, there's the \"they just might be crazy enough to do it\" concern. If the situation in Iran gets bad enough (attempted coup, pub... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
What would be the effects if the US paid off all of its debt. | [
"Depends on how it accomplished this. If it just printed 15 trillion dollars to pay off the debt (and there are a whole lot of reasons that wouldn't work) it would cause some inflation. Though in a liquidity trap as the US is in, not as much inflation as people expect. The monetary base has quadrupoled and inflatio... | [
"US debt is made out to be a larger problem than it is. In reality, most of our debt is owed to entities in America."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
When institutions like the Cancer Society spend money on cancer 'research', what are they actually doing? | [
"Generally it's for researchers working in universities. They put forward proposals for research they'd like to undertake. If the proposal is sound, aligns with said society/organisation's goals and has good prospects, they provide funding, usually in the firm of a grant, to the researcher."
] | [
"How much money do you suppose gets spent on curing diseases that aren't widely known? What is the advantage to a politician for allocating budget money for grants to pay for research on a disease that nobody knows about?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Definite and Indefinite articles | [
"The definite article is \"the\", and the indefinite articles are \"a\" and \"an\" (which are essentially the same thing, and the usage depends only on the sound of the subsequent word). The definite article is used when you care about a *specific* thing. \"What time is **the** movie?\" is asking about a specific m... | [
"MR is Memory Recall MC is Memory Clear M+ is Memory add M- is Memory subtract Think of them like the Copy and Paste for the Calculator."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Can a group of people influence the production rate of an economy by consuming less? How big does the group need to be? What factors need to be considered? | [
"Every consumer influences the economy in some way. If you eat one less chocolate bar it reduces the chocolate bar market by one. So the question of how many people you would need to convince in order to \"have an impact\" is just one. Now if your question is how much it would take to influence a particular company... | [
"If there is a higher chance that something will increase in value at a later time, then the demand for that thing will increase. An increase in price usually comes with an increase in demand."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
If your heart instantly and inexplicably stopped beating altogether, how long would you continue to live? | [
"Reversible brain damage after a min or two. Permanent brain damage after 4 minutes without oxygen. You would be completely dead by 6"
] | [
"No one dies instantly - death is a process that takes time, for all living things. Usually when people say that someone “died instantly” they mean that they lost consciousness instantly, while the body began the dying process. It is very quick and easy to lose consciousness instantly, generally if something hits y... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why is it that the United States and Russia have produced a nuclear bomb ~70 years ago, but Iran has yet to produce one in the 30+ years since the revolution? | [
"Producing nuclear bombs are incredibly complex. Which is why only 9 countries in the world have them. (I am not including the nuclear weapons sharing countries from Europe) Also Iran has signed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which prohibits them from building these weapons. Also world politics."
] | [
"A similar deal was given to North Korea in the 1990s with regard to their nuclear program. Now they have multiple nuclear weapons and have spread the technology to other countries like Pakistan, which have since built some nuclear weapons of their own."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why do I wake up with a stuffy nose when I stay the night at somebody else's place? | [
"It is the bodys natural reaction to a new/unfamiliar enviroment. Their different detergents, soaps, air pollutants, pet dander, and even human dander all cause your body to have a mild allergic reaction and up the defenses. In this case, primarily the nasal entrance. Some people are more susceptible to allergies t... | [
"Sounds like dehydration. It can do a lot of fucked up stuff to you. Headaches for sure. Do you breathe from your mouth when you sleep? The combination of both could probably dry out your throat quite a bit overnight overnight. Maybe look into a humidifier as well."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why, when I scroll back 10 seconds on Netflix / Youtube, does the whole freaking film have to reload? | [
"It's because the video is only loaded into temporary memory. As soon as its been read, it is discarded to make way for the following segment."
] | [
"You mean when you start a new video? It's becomes HD every time I enter full screen."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
What the discovery of the Proof of connection between Prime Numbers means? | [
"As far as I know, RSA Encryption is based on the sequence of prime numbers. It can be decrypted, but it takes a very long time, and so far, no one has been able to find an automated way to do it. The occurrence of prime numbers is irregular and so far there has been no pattern, so it is an easy way to encrypt info... | [
"Because then we would also have to add * Communism/socialism/Marxism * The speed of light * Black holes * How computers work * Monty Hall problem"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Mathematics:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence about Mathematics:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
why in history does Christianity seem to spread faster then other religions? | [
"Christianity took over a thousand years to spread to all of Europe. It was four hundred before the Romans converted, and quite a while after that before it was really the main religion. They never did spread it to some of the farthest corners of the empire. After the Roman Empire fell most of Europe went back to o... | [
"> Why does Islam attract many more radicals and extremists than with other religions? Socioeconomic factors. A thousand years ago, it was pretty much the reverse."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
How do Epsom salts speed up recovery times for injuries? | [
"> Its does not speed up healing per say. What happens is the high concentration of salt helps draw liquid from the throat, the edema, that naturally occurs due to an infection, out of the tissue reducing the swelling and making you feel better. The salt may kill some bacteria but most are resistant to the levels o... | [
"Your body delivers extra resources to the damaged area to help with the healing process."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
If we become dissatisfied with the way the Internet is run, what stops us from creating a new worldwide computer network? | [
"The biggest thing stopping you (or *anyone*) from creating a new computer network is simple: where do you put the wires? You can't just start digging up streets and burying them; you have to get permission from your local municipality to do that, and they won't grant it because they already have a deal with whoeve... | [
"Many countries, especially smaller ones, have only a very small number of telecom companies. If they (under government orders) turn off their network router devices, almost no one in the country has Internet service."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How does the HOA (Home Owners Association) have so much power? | [
"Because you signed a piece of paper giving them that power. And all the current residence signed the piece of paper that forces you to have to abide by the rules if you want to live there."
] | [
"HOAs are voluntary. When you buy a house it will tell you if the property is a part of an HOA or not and purchasing the house is agreeing to the terms of the HOA. As it is a voluntary contract they are allowed to put just about any fee they want on being a member. If you do not want to pay an HOA fee do not buy a ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why is the jaw so sensitive to knockouts when fighting ? | [
"You knock someone out by making their head shake violently. Easiest way to do this from the front is to hit it in the jaw, which protrudes a bit and can cause the head to rotate a bit as it snaps back, or in the temple which shakes the head side to side very rapidly. The chin isn't the weak spot, just sticks out ... | [
"Why do the glands in my neck burn like high hell when I'm holding back tears?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
If the U.S. decided to say "Screw You" to the other countries they owe money to and not pay them back, what would happen? | [
"It's called defaulting on their debt. Not only will that deal a pretty severe blow to the world's economy (America is considered the safest place to invest in, and suddenly you're gonna pull that rug out from underneath everyone) but also in the long term, nobody is going to want to lend money to the USA. Or if th... | [
"You are treating national debt the same as personal debt. Its not. Most of the debt China holds is in the form of Treasury Bills (Commonly called T-Bills) which have a fixed repayment schedule. China simply doesn't have the power to call those debts in. Additionally, China lends us money so we will buy their produ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
What causes burning wood to have such a distinctive smell and why is it such a good smell when most things smell terrible while burning? | [
"Many people have different tastes when it comes to smell. Certain people, like you and I for example, really enjoy the smell of burning wood like on a campfire for instance. Others, however, may find the smell of burning wood quite repulsive. Some may link the smell of burning wood to a past experience, maybe a go... | [
"The smell is volatile organic chemicals (VOC) that is emitted from the plastics after being formed from injection molding. It's kinda like how some people think gasoline has a good smell, it's a chemical that is not necessarily good for you."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does artificial intelligence work? | [
"It *doesn't* work. Or more accurately, we don't have any kind of general AI and likely won't for a long time (possibly forever). What we *can* do, however, is write a program that is very good at finding correlations between sets of data, then training it on a *ton* of similar data until it can make decisions for ... | [
"Are you asking how a wheel works ?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why do people have an issue swallowing pills ? | [
"The pill triggers your gag reflex, it's basically thinking that the pill is an unchewed piece of food or something and makes you gag so you won't choke, some people's gag reflexes are more sensitive especially if they haven't had a lot of experience swallowing pills."
] | [
"What do you mean by “swallow them wrong”? Like, choke on it?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
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