query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
What makes some words start with a 'ph' but other words start with 'f' | [
"Because the Greek people had a phi and when the Greek was transcribed into Latin, they used a ph instead of an f for the letter \"phi\"."
] | [
"The \"th\" in \"thanks\" and the \"th\" in \"that\" are different sounds. The \"th\" in \"thanks\" is voiceless (you don't vibrate your vocal cords while making the sound), whereas the \"th\" in ~~\"thanks\"~~ \"that\" is voiced (you *do* vibrate your vocal cords while making the sound). Other voiceless \"th\" ins... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why do we refer to some countries with articles such as 'the' while with others we do not? | [
"Ukraine translates more or less to \"borderland.\" Long before it was a country, it was a region called \"the ukraine.\" That's where the \"the\" comes from in Ukraine's case. Other countries whose names are preceded by \"the\" usually have a similar reason."
] | [
"It's not the same thing. England is a country. The United Kingdom is a country made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Britain and Great Britain is the island on which England, Scotland and Wales is on. You've basically asked the equivalent of asking an American why the US has so many different n... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Geography:"
} |
What does the rebel flag really mean? | [
"The rebel flag was flown by the Confederacy, which was founded to continue slavery. The flag later got brought back in the 1960s by white people countering black civil rights protests, using it as a symbol for \"We're against black equality.\" Since then, a generation of Southerns were raised on the idea that the ... | [
"What do you want to know about them exactly?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why does blinking take me almost no effort at all, but winking forces multiple muscles/areas in my face to move oddly that aren't even near my eye (i.e. side of my mouth being raised/lowered)? | [
"The sequence of movements and the muscles involved are the same group of muscles that are active when something's in your eyes. You are not winking but using those muscle groups separately (one side only) to express yourself. It has to do with what nerves are supplying those areas and the nuclei of those nerves. C... | [
"Well, you actually *can* move the jaw by external force. If you've ever been hit in the chin, or bumped your chin against something, and it made your teeth collide with each other, that's what happened. The reason it doesn't happen much is that the muscles that move your jaw (the masseter is the one that closes it... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How could Russian "hacking" of the 2016 election actually impact the results? | [
"The general idea is that Russian hacking of the DNC servers resulted in leaks that led to Hillary Clinton's email scandal that dominated much airtime in late 2016, which led some electoral voters to vote for other candidates instead of voting for her, which they may have done before."
] | [
"No one ever proved the Russians did it. Also what can the international community do?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Do animals know when they are being helped? | [
"It depends on the circumstance. Any animal (humans included) can only judge the actions of others based on their experiences. For the most part, if a large primate lunges at them, particularly if they can't get away easily, they will expect an attack. That said, I've seen animals climb willingly into the arms of a... | [
"Some animals have been domesticated. They have been bred for years and years to live in harmony with humans. If I let this dog out to run through the streets of Chicago, he is going to die within hours. I am not keeping him here to punish him or to entertain myself, I am keeping him here so he does not die."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why are Spare ribs called "Spare" Rib and not just Ribs? | [
"by folk etymology from Low German ribbesper pickled pork ribs roasted on a spit, from Middle Low German, from ribbe (rib) + sper (spear), spit First Known Use: 1596"
] | [
"It is called both Canadian Bacon and to a far lesser degree Irish Bacon or Back Bacon in the US. This is because they are the cuts that the Canadians and Irish (as well as the UK) call bacon. They are from the pork loin which is the back muscles toward the rear of the pig. But what we Americans call bacon is from... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
What is the half-circle at the base of your fingernail and why do people have different sizes of them? | [
"The \"little moon\" (lunula) is the visible part of the root of your nail - where your nail grows from. If you damage this, your nail will grow permanently deformed. In some people, their bit of skin (nail fold) cover it a bit more. Or they may be anemic or malnourished."
] | [
"Follow up question, why do I have like three times as many hairs around my left nipple than my right one?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why do retail and restaurant businesses make a weekly ever changing schedule? Wouldn't it be easier to give everyone consistent hours? | [
"Higher end stores and restaurants give their workers consistent hours, typically, but lower end stores are staffed by high school and college students and other people with multiple jobs or otherwise unpredictable schedules. Most stores have a few workers that typically work certain shifts, but there has to be a l... | [
"When order volumes are high enough, and when they have staff for it, they can run both windows, which makes the drive-thru a little more efficient. But it doesn't make sense to run it that way when order volumes are lower."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How do grass whistles work? | [
"Blowing across the blade of grass causes it to vibrate rapidly, which causes pressure fluctuations in the airflow that we hear as sound. Larger blades of grass can make a bigger impact on the airflow."
] | [
"Do you know how a fan works? If so just turn it around"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why are we supposed to pay 3 billion to "secure the border" but we never hold Mexico accountable? | [
"Do you think the Mexican government cares? Do you think that, even if they did, they could do something about it? The US government, even when it cares and tries to do something, has been unable to really do much and for a simple reason: It's a really long border, and the sort of poverty or danger that makes peopl... | [
"Because the ruling party won't allow any foreign aid. They already blocked it from Mexico, they certainly wouldn'the allow it from the US, the US is the enemy after all."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why can a baby learn any language from scratch, while it's almost impossible for an adult to learn it without some help? | [
"Even as an adult, you can learn a language by immersion. But, you'll note, it takes kids *years* to actually pick up a language completely. As adults, we don't have that kind of time. It's not so much that we *need* help, it's that we're smart enough to know there are short-cuts."
] | [
"Who says they didn't? Human beings are capable of learning multiple languages. It is harder when the new language is completely unknown to you and there are no existing translations/resources to draw on, but not impossible."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
I studied in high school that the distance between the object and a plain mirror is same as the distance between the mirror and the reflection. Then why do automobiles have a sticker saying, objects in the mirror are closer than they appear? Don't or shouldn't they use plain mirrors? | [
"Passenger side mirrors are slightly convex, which gives you a slightly wider view of the road. The driver side mirror is pretty close to you, so it's okay to be flat, but the passenger side is at least twice as far away. If the passenger side mirror were also equally flat, you wouldn't be able to see as much, and ... | [
"Imagine that the mirror was a pane of glass instead of a mirror. Now put yourself on the other side of the pane of glass at the same distance you were to the mirror. Looking through the pane of glass you'll see things from the same distance as they would have appeared in the mirror. It's just that now the light is... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is wearing American flag clothing on the Cinco de Mayo wrong/controversial? | [
"You are thinking about one high school in California. It has not been banned publicly anywhere else. It was banned at this high school because there was a history of racist violent outbursts at the school between whites and Mexicans."
] | [
"A few reasons 1. We have a large population of Mexicans and people of Mexican ancestry 2. We love tacos and cinco is a great excuse to eat tacos 3. We love beer and cinco is a great excuse to drink beer For additional context we also celebrate Oktoberfest, st paddys day, Bastille day, and loads of other days tho... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Why do children wet their bed? | [
"This really depends on the age. If we are talking like 0-7 it is because the muscles to control urine flow are not fully developed yet. small children have very poor control of their bladders. Think of it like this, if you want to improve your biceps, you lift weights, practicing and using your biceps helps you b... | [
"Question 1: Do you have a cat? Question 2: Do you floss? That might help. Question 3: Do you sleep with your mouth open? This can dry out your mouth which leads to bad breath."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Health:"
} |
What is the evolutionary benefit of certain plants such as tobacco or marijuana containing chemicals that can affect the animal mind? | [
"Nicotine at least is a fairly potent insecticide. The fact that it also gives people a bit of a buzz is just a happy accident."
] | [
"Different animals have different sets of receptors for all sorts of various chemicals. Most animals don't have a receptor that responds to the active chemical in catnip thus don't show any response as a cat does. Same with a lot of other chemicals which affect some species but not others. Similarly, different spec... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about biology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about biology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What exactly are GMO's, and are they really that bad for us? | [
"It's a generic term for \"genetically modified organism\". It means that changes are being made to the genes of plants. They aren't inherently dangerous. We've been doing this in a rudimentary way for hundreds of years with selective breeding and cross pollination."
] | [
"There are studies that grilled meats are bad, that cured meats are bad. That sugar is bad. That salt is bad. Fat, carbs, some fish, pork... on and on and on and on. Milk provides Vitamin D, potassium, B12, Calcium... in a convenient package. We've been eating dairy from cows for thousands of years, in the form of ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about science:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence about science:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
why do some find human euthanasia so objectionable while they seem to have no problem with it for their pets? | [
"There is some sense that animal well-being is entirely physical, while human well-being is existential. This might be derived somewhat from our rather desperate attempts to stay alive at all costs, something that animals can't communicate. But yes, the view itself is absurd. I understand trying to prevent suicide,... | [
"The key letter in PETA isn't A, for animals, it's E, for ethical. By this, I mean that their primary motivation isn't a love of animals in particular, it's adherence to a particular set of ideas that say it's wrong to act in a certain way toward creatures that can feel pain, or to treat some creatures worse than ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why does the road look like it's watery from a distance on a hot day? | [
"It's a mirage. The layer of hot air over the pavement is warmer than the surrounding air, and the difference in density refracts light. Specifically, you see a distorted version of the sky - which is the same thing you see in the reflections on a lake, so you interpret it as \"watery\"."
] | [
"Because while it's 34 degrees on the ground, it's colder a few thousand feet up, and that's where the snow forms."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why do modern livestreams have a fairly long delay while way older technologies like cable television are almost live? | [
"Cable television has dedicated bandwidth, all the way from the broadcaster to your television. It doesn't have to share that bandwidth with other stations or websites or anything else. So, you get a constant and predictable signal. Internet streaming doesn't have that dedicated bandwidth. It has to compete with o... | [
"It doesn't assuming you really are getting the same thing. YouTube and many other video players can reduce quality on the video before transmission, and some may use more compact encoding than some video files, but really streaming is just downloading something in such a way that something can start playing it bef... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
How is it possible that UK police don't carry guns? | [
"Because of the United Kingdom's strict restrictions on firearms, and the relative lack of their popularity even when they were less restricted, most criminals don't carry firearms. It's not a common worry for UK police officers, so ordinary beat cops don't need a weapon to match. Bladed weapons are a serious conce... | [
"It might not be necessary in certain countries, but with the number of firearms and violence in the U.S., it would be pure anarchy if our police forces did not have firearms. Don't bring a knife to a gun fight."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
how do sites that's give you money for 'just growing, checking emails and shopping' work | [
"\"If you can't figure out what the product is, then you are the product\". All of those survey sites and everything gather up all of your information from the surveys and sell them to marketing companies."
] | [
"To give you a baseline, if your videos get around 2-4k views you're looking at 1-2$ a piece. It all depends on views, and ads, and your ads being clicked. (Figure .50 per 1K views?) In order to make that much considerable money, your videos must be viewed pretty frequently. However, if you do get to the 16k view p... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
How are International War Laws Reinforced | [
"For the winners, the honor system. For the losers, get judged by the winners. Each country is a separate sovereign entity and is not required to follow any other law of any other country. Abiding by some other rules is voluntary by signing a treaty."
] | [
"The President can Veto Legislation Passed by Congress. Congress can Impeach the President. The President Appoints Judges to the Supreme Court who must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court can Overturn Legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President. No one Branch has all the Power. There is a Bal... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
How do you play Magic: The Gathering? | [
"I will just mention there is a Magic subreddit here - /r/magicTCG Also for learning, the Duels of the Planeswalkers game(s) that are available on Steam/PS Store/Xbox Marketplace are awesome for learning some of the basics."
] | [
"You really need to sit down and watch Schoolhouse Rock."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why Puerto Rico is still an unincorporated territory of the United States? | [
"The simple answer is because their government has not requested a change in their status. There was a referendum on the issue which suggested statehood was the most popular option. But so far their government has not acted on it. If they do formally request to become a state, it will then be up to Congress and the... | [
"England is a country. Great Britain is the island that contains the countries of England, Scotland, and Wales. The United Kingdom is a sovereign state comprised of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Geography:"
} |
Whats the difference between stemcells and normal cells | [
"A normal cell has a predetermined cell type assigned to it from the start. A stem cell has no such assignment yet, and therefore it can be pushed to become heart tissue, lung tissue, kidney tissue, etc. Stem cells are vital to our research into growing new organs, limbs, etc. for people who need them. However, the... | [
"The stem cells in the bone marrow, differentiate into the cells that make up blood. If you google hematopoiesis there should be charts on the differentiation pathway."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
In the religion of Christianity, how come the Old Testament Laws "aren't applicable" anymore? | [
"The actual theology varies across different denominations of Christianity, but most teach that Jesus \"fulfilled\" the law (ie. the covenant in the old testament in which the laws applies), establishing a new covenant that supersedes the old. In the new covenant, Christians aren't required to follow the old testam... | [
"Jesus was born and raised a Jew, and advocated religious reform of Judaism. His original followers, the Jewish Christians (Judeo-Christians) still believed in the same theology on a basic level but also the teachings of Jesus Christ. Meaning there were several differences but ultimately they had the same religion.... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
How does the male 'nod' work? | [
"The nod is not meant to talked about in open terms."
] | [
"Can add butt hair to this? What purpose does it serve?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Biology:"
} |
When drinking water, what is the mechanism that decides if the water will go to the bladder or be absorbed? | [
"The water is absorbed. The water that goes to your bladder is excreted by the kidneys as it filters your blood."
] | [
"Messages increase blood flow. The acid that was stuck in the muscle gets into your blood and are picked up by kidneys which in turn gets the acids into your urine."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does my less then 200MB iOS update require 1.9 Gigs of available storage to update? | [
"Compression and redundancy. To reduce bandwidth (Apple's and yours), apps and iOS updates are delivered as compressed files. iOS Apps have an IPA extension. This is just a zip file encrypted with Apple's FairPlay DRM. When developing apps (prior to distribution), I just throw the app binary in a folder called \"Pa... | [
"So, I've read a lot of the answers, most of them are saying similar things. Where does it save the vide on your computer? For example, if I have less than a GB of space left on my computer, why can I still watch a several-minute HD video on YouTube without running out of space?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
How can light diffuse in all directions from a single point? | [
"> If there is one point of light it seems like it would need to generate energy or something to be able to make a sphere of light waves around it. Light **is** energy. It's always produced by something else releasing energy. So you can't have \"a point of light\". Instead, you have \"a small object that's radiatin... | [
"Light changes direction when entering a different material. Paper makes light go in lots of directions. Adding oil which changes the direction at the same angle as paper reduces the scattering caused by the air/paper interface allowing more light to pass in the same direction."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How a Rubix Cube can be solved in under 10 seconds? | [
"Four reasons: A. They get fifteen seconds to look at the cube for 15 seconds before solving, which is usually enough to solve the first layer efficiently. B. They have special cubes designed and lubricated for speed. C. They memorize many, many, many algorithms (sequences of moves) that are basically the most opti... | [
"What's 5 + 5? Okay now what's 5.105 + 5.079? Which took longer?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why do high fashion labels debut crazy, outlandish clothing in fashion shows? Clearly, barely anyone will wear them. How do they expect to make money from these? | [
"those shows feature new colors or patterns, materials / fabrics, or silhouettes. the outrageous garments used in the shows are designed to get attention from the media - if the show gets good press, then the mass production elements (colors, materials) get highlighted and the designer gets an ego stroke. you'll f... | [
"The red carpet is basically a celebrity fashion show. The designers loan the celebrities clothing for free, in exchange for having their name mentioned. Reporters are interested because when someone wears a good-looking new design, they want to know who was the clever designer who made it. It is like appreciating ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How can NASA have an observatory that monitors the sun? Wouldn't the immense amounts of heat make that impossible? | [
"The SOHO satellite orbits the sun around Earth's Lagrange 1 (or L1) point. [Here's a diagram.](_URL_0_) It's about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, or around 1% of the distance to the sun. As far as heat is concerned, the difference is negligible. An \"observatory\" is really just a fancy term for \"telescope.\"... | [
"Why go to Mars when you can just take a picture from orbit? The Hubble telescope avoids light pollution and atmospheric interference, while being in a much more convenient place to get it, and then communicate with. If it were on Mars it would have to contend with poor communications, atmospheric interference and... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do air fresheners like Glade and Febreeze exterminate odors? Do they kill the things causing the smell in mid-air? Febreeze claims to not just mask. I'm so confused [7]. | [
"The active ingredient in Febreze is hydroxypropyl beta-cyclodextrin (HPβCD). This (HPβCD) chemical forms a doughnut with a hole which traps odours, this reduces the amount of \"smelly\" particles in the air. You then wipe the surface off with a towel or vacuum the floor to remove the trapped odours."
] | [
"Well, the best answer I can give you is this: Some smells are caused by Thiols, very very tiny odor causing compounds. They emit odor long after washing. Thiols' odor gets \"stronger\" if you wash with just water (that's why you don't just wash with water). The only way (that I know of) to get rid of the smell is ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
What are Qatar believed to have done to be considered corrupted in winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup bid. | [
"It is thought that they bribed officials for votes either with money or paying for holidays etc."
] | [
"1. There are a lot of allegations of bribery. The report on it has not yet been made public. 2. Mistreatment of imported workers by the various contractors building the stadium. 3. In the middle of summer the temperature in the mid-day sun is over 120F, European players and fans won't enjoy that. So to compromise ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Batteries and rechargeable batteries. | [
"> why can't they recharge instantly? Inside the battery there are chemicals. They are undergoing a chemical reaction. When the battery is discharging, one kind of chemical reaction is happening. This reaction which supplies electrons, and makes your gadget work. When you charge the battery, you're shoving electron... | [
"Those sockets are running Direct Current, what the entire power system uses in automobiles. Our Alternating Current devices would not run without converter$."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why newly discovered stars or planets or any celestial bodies were given "code-like" name? For example WISE 1828+2650 | [
"They're systematic names and indeed encode information. For example, WISE indicates that the object was found by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, a space telescope. The numbers specify coordinates in the sky relative to Earth's equator: the right ascension is 18h 28m and the declination is 26° 50'. It's mo... | [
"One thing to note in all of this is that most asteroids and other things (such as Pluto) do not have orbits in the same plane as the other planets. There is an eccentricity to their orbits in both shape (non-circular) and angle. This [photo](_URL_2_) shows how out-of-plane Pluto's orbit is. While these objects ten... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph about Physics:"
} |
Why we have megabits and megabytes and why they haven't/can't be consolidated | [
"Because different things are important in different places. Networks don't care about bytes. You could invent a completely new type of computer that had 10 bits to a byte, and your network would (mostly) be fine with it. All the network cares about is how many ones and zeros go by, so it is much more meaningful to... | [
"Your computer is reporting the transmission speed in Mbps (megabits per second). Steam, or whatever you're using to download your game is reporting the transmission speed in MBps (megabytes per second). One megabyte is eight megabits. That doesn't account for it exactly, but I'd wager you've done some rounding."
... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why did GM kill the EV1? | [
"Here's a great documentary on it, called [Who Killed the Electric Car?](_URL_0_) The main thing to keep in mind is that they never wanted to provide them in the first place. Basically, they a court ruling in California demanded they provide them, under howls of protest from car companies. They did, but did everyth... | [
"The Fisker Karma and Chevy Volt use this design."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post about Energy and transportation:"
} |
What is a quantum event? | [
"A quantum event is when something \"quantum\" happens. All that means is that it's something that could not have happened according to the laws of classical (non-quantum) physics. For example, an electron tunneling through a barrier is a \"quantum event\" because the laws of classical physics don't allow it. So, w... | [
"Maybe let's start with: what is ring tone rap?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are people opposed to Amnesty International's proposal to legalize sex work? | [
"Here's the real fact we're missing: prostitution has always happened and will always happens whether someone is grossed out by it or not. Those in the government like to believe that if they ignore something, it might go away. Why is it such an unreasonable idea to make this a safer industry, for all parties invol... | [
"Why is the US so upset over the labeling of US treatment of Native Americans as a genocide?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why is an America C grade not average? | [
"\"C\" is average. Source: went to school in America my whole life, 2 kids in it currently. \"C\" can be earned by remembering to breathe while present, which is what most average jobs require anyway so it works out. Source: (half) Korean husband"
] | [
"No, that's why it's called American Sign Language."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why no one appears to be talking about Lockheed Martin's recent claims to have a breakthrough in nuclear fusion technology. | [
"Because they haven't made a breakthrough yet. They have a design that isn't even complete, let alone a working prototype."
] | [
"We have already built nuclear weapons that harness the power of fusion energy. What remains is to figure out how to control it. See: hydrogen bomb"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How is it that most foods consumed today have high fructose corn syrup in them? Also has it been linked to health problems such as cancer? | [
"High fructose corn syrup is a cheap alternative to sugar because - in the US at least - corn is heavily subsidized. It's found in so many foods in part because of the trend towards lower-fat foods, which often have sweetener added to improve the flavour. There is no solid evidence to suggest that high fructose cor... | [
"The general consensus is that neither is actually good for you and you'd be better off drinking water. But that's not what you asked, so which one would be less damaging? The biggest distinction is that regular soda has high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and diet soda has aspartame. HFCS is pretty much just regular s... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do whales surface to exhale, and when do they inhale? | [
"Exhaling under water decreases buoyancy. Try it next time you're at a pool - humans generally float with full lungs but sink after fully exhaling. Exhaling *before* surfacing makes it more difficult to surface."
] | [
"Geese are not sea creatures. Their nests are located on land, and they stay there during storms. Dolphins spend most of their time below the surface, where storms have little effect. They need to come to the surface to get air for just a few seconds every few minutes."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
If I attempt something with 1% probability 100 times, I don't get a 100% proability. What probability DO I get and how do I calculate that? | [
"This kind of thing is called a [Bernoulli Process](_URL_0_), which is complicated and hard to ELI5. But in this specific case, if you're asking “what's the probability that I win *at least once* in 100 attempts” the easiest way to answer it is to reverse the question: “what's the probability that you don't win at ... | [
"One of the bigger things is that we can never be sure of our observations 100%. If I flip a coin 4 times and it lands on heads all of those times, I would be wrong to say that it's always going to land on heads. I may have just been very lucky! If you think about this, there's no reason this doesn't apply to 10 co... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Inadmissible evidence in court | [
"In the USA, evidence obtained illegally cannot be used in court, ever, even if it proves you did it. So there's no chance the photos could be used in court. There is a concept known as \"fruit of the poisonous tree\", where evidence obtained as a result of illegally obtained evidence also cannot be used. But there... | [
"All of the appeals that are allowed before the sentence is carried out. Court costs"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does the show “planet earth” get their shots without scaring the animals | [
"The telescoping lenses they use are INSANE basically, a large part of it is zooming in really really really close from really really really far away. other parts of it is remote infrared sensing cameras that record when something near it moves (after they are left on a tree or something). finally they can use dron... | [
"There are people out there who just take animal footage and photos for the sole purpose of selling them, like to national geographic or discovery or some production company. There are others who set out to make a documentary on a certain animal or area of the world, so they will follow the animal or camp in an are... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
The current Saudi-Yemen conflict | [
"I expect someone else will have a better explanation, but until then: The president of Yemen has been forced to flee the country by Houthi rebels, who are Shea and are backed by Iran (also Shia). Saudi Arabia is Sunni and doesn't want another Shia run government on the Arabian Peninsula. (Iraq is majority Shia and... | [
"On invitation from the government, to protect them from being violently overthrown by islamist militants, _URL_0_"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How could an additional source of light make the light from my phone or TV easier on my eyes? | [
"If the room is overwhelmingly dark, except for the TV, then your pupils will be wide open to let lots of light in. If the room is relatively bright, your pupils will be smaller and thus let less light in. The idea is that this lets less \"harmful\" TV light in, although TVs themselves shouldn't give off too much h... | [
"It may be the lighting! Try to see how you feel with natural light versus the light from your lamps. It can make a big difference."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
how come lobsters became so expensive? They used to be poor man's food. | [
"Say there are 100 school kids and they all enjoy cheap cheap jello. When 4 of the kids decide they want all the jello (for whatever reason) - It's tasty - It's sexy - It makes them feel rich(er) - religious reasons. Supply and demand kicks in. They buy up all the jello and that drives up the price. Fun fact... | [
"See tuna are giant fish, they are one of the top predators of the ocean in fact, so these boys get huge. Some get 300+ lbs. what they do is turn it into sushi, and I’m guessing it must’ve been a giant tuna the dude bought. But you can usually get between 3,500 -8,000 dollars per lb of tuna when you sell it as sush... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
What makes the Venezuelan national debt of 60 billion so much worse than the US national debt of 20 trillion? | [
"The inability of the Venezuelan government to pay interest on that debt, and keep their own government functional. In the same way that $1M in debt by Microsoft wouldn't really impact anything, but $1M in debt by me would be crippling."
] | [
"That's because you're misinformed. A quick google search shows US debt is over $16 trillion. US GDP in 2011 was $15.09 trillion."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why did people build cities along earthquake fault lines? | [
"Most of the fault lines are near or run along the coastlines. People liked building cities on the coastlines because of the water access was necessary for transport and travel. All of New Zealand pretty much sits on a fault line so they're hooped regardless. But people didn't know this two, three hundred years ago... | [
"There is a fault line that runs along I35 between Dallas and San Antonio. If you stop at Wonder World you can tour the fault line and they do a good job showing the different topography on each side of the fault. So the answer is that the hills were formed due to seismic activity that formed the hills and Balcones... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
What would happen if a person stood at the collision point in a particle accelerator? | [
"[Anatoli Bugorski](_URL_1_) managed to get his head into the path of a proton beam: > The left half of Bugorski's face swelled up beyond recognition, and over the next several days, started peeling off, revealing the path that the proton beam (moving near the speed of light) had burned through parts of his face, ... | [
"If you traveled at 10,000 times the speed of light, in a straight line towards the nearest galaxy. Your great-grandchildren would die before you got there."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument about Physics:"
} |
Why does the copper IUD cause heavier bleeding during periods? | [
"I've been looking everywhere, and I can't find an answer. The closest I found is something in regards to the ions in copper disrupting the signals sent between the ovaries, eggs, uterus, etc. Maybe a case of \"Are we having a baby? Aren't we? IDFK SHIT JUST FLUSH THE SYSTEM FLUSH IT ALL\""
] | [
"Some birth control methods are hormonal, they sort of \"trick\" the body into thinking it's already pregnant. As a result, the hormones can cause bloating, acne breakouts and/or depression. For long-term birth control, consider a copper IUD. An IUD is a small device that can be easily inserted into (and removed fr... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do advertisements on YouTube play instantly and never 'buffer', but when the main video plays it takes longer to load? | [
"The advertisement is paid for so they load the whole thing at once. The video though tends to be much longer and people do not watch the whole thing every time so it saves bandwidth to have it buffer only slightly ahead of where you are watching it so if you close the video it didn't waste the bandwidth loading vi... | [
"> Do you have to watch every single second of the video for YouTube to count it? This is a bit of a trade secret, because YouTube doesn't want to release any information that would help people cheat the system. But after 301 views, YouTube starts checking every single new view that comes in (which is why counters ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the argument about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why aren’t we frantically planting seagrass everywhere since it stores more CO2 than an equivalent area of rainforest? Seems easier than haggling with locals to replant rainforest. | [
"Biodiversity. There's alot of that in a rainforest, the cure for cancer could be in some tree beetle we've never discovered, but then went extinct when we cut down all the trees it lived in. Also a rainforest is much more resilient. One disease or pest can wipe out a whole system of seagrass, since they're all... | [
"The wood used for paper tends to be from sustainable forests that are primarily soft-wood. These trees tend to grow to their final height in 10-25 years. Deforestation in the Amazon and Borneo (just two examples) are of old-forest and hard-wood trees that take much longer to grow and sustain a much higher amount o... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why can you only tune FM radios to odd numbers? | [
"In America, FM radio stations are given 200 kilohertz of spectrum on which to broadcast. So, the frequencies were always going to end in either an odd or even number. It was completely arbitrary that they decided to end them on odd numbers instead of even."
] | [
"My Dad had an old 9\" TV in the garage with a manual tuner that did not click. You could do some interesting things between channels. When you're off the main frequency range for a channel, there's a huge amount of distortion. UHF and VHF (old TV channel bands) are on an entirely different frequency than AM/FM. Th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
When people hunt animals using poisoned arrows/darts why doesn't the meat make them sick despite it being imbued with potentially lethal poison? | [
"A lot of animal poisons are destroyed by heat so you just have to make sure the food is properly cooked for it to be safe."
] | [
"Typically the animal wouldn't be eaten whole and it would be killed first. The animal would avoid eating the majority of a crabs shell or the bones and claws etc of other things unless it was sufficiently bigger. For instance a human can safely eat a sardine whole but you would want your tuna to be deboned. Venomo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Would it be possible to make a sandbox style game using Google Streetview as a template for a real city? | [
"Google images are flat (2D). You would need to have 3D models for everything in the game, so you could theoretically pay programmers to model everything in google street, but you can't just paste google street into a game and be done with it if that's what you're asking."
] | [
"Everything needed to render and animate the next room. Its bringing the art, sound, and code from the hard drive to RAM."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why does no one have bizarre colors for their natural hair color? | [
"Because humans can only make \"paint\" that is a shade of brown or red. Lots of brown is black, while very little brown is blonde. It is actually really hard for animals to make other colors of \"paint\" like blue or green. (In fact, the reason that there is a color called \"royal purple\" is because it was so har... | [
"Im guessing you are new to the internet, otherwise you would have seen the vast array of different colors and shapes of cats too."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about biology:"
} |
What's the difference between the media coverage of the Boston incident and Reddit's coverage? Why is the media considered 'exploitation' but Reddit isn't? | [
"Because Karma doesn't equate to money, but ratings often do. In a sense, the news profits from tragedies, which I think is what bothers some people. I think most people's objection to news media is how they intentionally make things more sensationalist to drive up ratings. For example, when that cruise drift was a... | [
"From a casual observer (who is mildly disgusted with the overall response but hey this is the internet). Ellen Pao put in motion a series of bans to ban sub reddits that were overly hateful/perpetrated harassment. This included the subreddit fatpeoplehate. Now an entire sect of the reddit community is doing the in... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does the soil layers tell us about different eras. Does the land keep getting higher? | [
"Not everywhere. Dust blows in the wind. Plant growth builds up debris. Rockslides come down forming mountains. Rivers move silt downstream. Lots of erosive forces move earth from one place to another. These can bury locations under the ground. An exposed hilltop, on the other hand, may lose surface to erosion."
] | [
"The Earth is getting slightly larger because of meteorites hitting the surface, however the volume that the meteorites add is minuscule. The reason we have to dig for artifacts is more to do with the shifting of the Earths surface through natural erosion, human intervention, weather etc."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why does the middle finger mean what it means? | [
"There are many stories associated with it. The one story I heard comes back during the ancient or medieval era. In battle, when soldiers captured an archer, they would cut off their middle fingers. Without their middle fingers, they couldn't properly fire their bows. So, as a taunt, archers would wave their middle... | [
"It's not the word, it's the picture that they object to."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why does gargling saltwater help with sore throats? | [
"Yarr! Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained: 1. [ELI5: Why is gargling salt water known to help with sore throats, but eating chips doesn't? ](_URL_1_) 1. [ELI5: How exactly does gargling salt water help a sore throat? ](_URL_5_) 1. [ELI5:Why does gargling with salt water help a sore throat? ]... | [
"It's an inflammatory response that your body generates against the invading virus. Inflammation is the first step in mounting an immune response against viruses and bacteria, and since the common cold infects the cells in the back of your throat (your upper respiratory tract), this is where the inflammation occurs... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
how does Alt+f4 work when closing down a program and is it any different from closing it from the task manager? | [
"Alt+f4 is the same as clicking the little x button at the corner of the window. What it does is send a message to the program saying \"please close\". Depending on the program's code, it can comply and shut down, it can show a message box to the user asking if they're sure, and it could even ignore the message alt... | [
"Because you're doing it wrong. You're clicking \"End Task\" which is a middle ground that lies somewhere in between gracefully closing the program, and actually forcing it to close immediately. Instead, you want to Right-Click on the application that you want to end, then click 'Go To Process' and click the 'End P... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
When did Three Parallel Lines become to mean "Menu" On Websites/Apps | [
"[Xerox Star](_URL_1_) used the 'hamburger' icon since 1980s, then [Facebook, Apple & Path popularized it](_URL_0_)"
] | [
"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 sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Power lines... just in general. | [
"Power stations output .5 to 1 million volts, that travels on the big lines into cities, and goes to distribution centers that drop it to lower voltages(40k to 15k volts) for shorter runs. At the pole near your house it drops from 15k to 220 volts. Transformers are used to drop the voltages, transformers are basica... | [
"Crashing in the ocean > crashing in populated areas."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
why are there so many names for Germany? (Germany, Deutschland, Niemcy, Allemagne, Saksa, etc)? | [
"Germany spent quite a long period of its history as a confederation of tribes, rather than as a singular nation. Thus, there wasn't really a single name to call the entire region until more recently. Deutschland is the Germanic word for it, and countries with Germanic languages tend to use a variation of this. Ger... | [
"Bayern is English for Beieren. Beieren is a province located in the south of Germany. Munich is English for München. München is a city located in the province of Beieren."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Linguistics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Linguistics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What does auto-tune actually do? | [
"Auto-tune uses digital processing to shift the pitch of a voice to the closest note. That way even if someone sings a bit off-key the audience won't notice[1]. It's something that runs in a digital signal processor, so it doesn't really use any more power than a tiny computer does. I have no idea what T-Paine's ap... | [
"Can someone also explain what's \"love\" got to do with it?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How come raw eggs are bad to eat now? 20 years ago, I'd put a raw egg in a milkshake and eat the hell out of cookie/cake/brownie batter. Now if I do it, I get sick. What happened? | [
"If you are a healthy person with normal immune system, then raw eggs are just edible as they were before. However people with compromised immune system are more at risk of contracting serious salmonella infection (which is rare, but if it happens it can be life threatening, even on otherwise healthy people). Resta... | [
"You should... it has dairy, fruit, other breakfast foods have sugar in them. Go for it. I was about to have some apple pie for breakfast, maybe I'll add some ice cream to it, too."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do certain animals reach sexual maturity based off of their weight rather than their age? | [
"Reproduction is a high risk/high reward function for many organisms. It requires extra energy to gestate offspring, which can be hard to come by. If a potential mother does not have the energy reserves (fat) necessary to fully gestate the next generation, she could die in the endeavor. Without knowing what animals... | [
"Human biologist here. This phenomenon was first discovered in the late 1800s where scientists measures the lengths of human appendages over a period of 10 years. The data revealed that noses and ears (as well as eye lids to a lesser extent) possess a growth rate that deteriorates much slower than other parts of th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about biology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about biology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why can't phone spammers be caught/prosecuted? | [
"It's not illegal to call someone phone. And the Do-not-Call list is PER company...its not like ONE list that every company follows and go.. YEP.. Verizon already called him..so we cant..You have to tell EVERY COMPANY not to call you again."
] | [
"Can they? Sure. Will they be disbarred and imprisoned if found out? Absolutely."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why do blue and green white-board markers erase cleanly while black and red ones leave residue? | [
"Different color dyes have different pigments and ingredients, and it is the dye that's going to stain. The stain is dependent on the quality of the white board material and how long the marker is up on the surface. Just as an anecdote, I can never get blue to erase cleanly. Black is generally not a problem."
] | [
"I'm not 100% sure, but I believe temporary markers have an additional chemical in them that keeps the ink from holding on to the surface, while permanent markers do not. The reason I think this is because if you draw a line permanent marker, then draw over it with an erasable one, it will allow both marks to be er... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do I feel nauseated when I'm super hungry? | [
"Does anyone else get the nausea in 5min bursts? Like I'll be totally fine, then debilitatingly nauseous, then a few min later I'm totally fine again."
] | [
"I am on board with you mate. I experience the same thing. You would think that since you ate more recently (and supposedly your metabolism slows down when you are sleeping) that you should be less hungry than if you went to bed on an empty stomach. * I would add as a followup question: Why am I NOT hungry when I w... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Health and Wellness:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Health and Wellness:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
If we can't filter microbeads, why aren't they in our drinking water? | [
"They're not filtered by the equipment used for treating sewage before releasing it back into lakes/rivers, but they are filtered by the equipment used for cleaning drinking water."
] | [
"The largest offender is microplastics in beauty products. There are tiny, tiny little balls of plastic in most exfoliating products, many hair care products, and many skin care products, all of which are applied in the shower/bath. Because of this, they wash into the sewer systems, which eventually wash into the o... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why do patterns of three feel so 'right' to us? does this differ in different parts of the world? | [
"My theory is this: Imagine somebody on stage, speaking. He starts a list. The first item is just a thing: nothing special. The second item is like the first, but this now sets up a pattern: we've just had two very similar items, so we expect the third item to conform to it. If the third item does conform to the pa... | [
"some people take in things better when they read, others when they hear it, yet others when they participate in it actively somehow. it's different for everyone. most people are a combination of all of the above. interest in the subject makes a big difference as well."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do celebrities get away with buying drugs? | [
"I think that one of the main reasons why so many celebrities get into drugs, is how easy it is for them to get it. They are young & rich, they hang out at parties & clubs etc. They are a perfect target for drug dealers. We don't always remember it, but celebrities are people too. They are susceptible to peer pre... | [
"Is the United States the only country in the world allowed to advertise prescription drugs on TV?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
do the people on "to catch a predator" have a choice whether its shown on tv or not? | [
"Worked in TV here. Not that I've ever worked on a TV show that was \"news oriented\" or whatever TCAP is but I used to be in charge of securing \"appearance releases\" from people that we caught on camera. If we didn't get a release they couldn't be filmed. That's my experience. I'm sure producers don't always hon... | [
"i think they already took away his medical license. his career is over. what else would you do to him? the people who listened to him should take responsibility for being reckless."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What exactly IS postmodernism? | [
"not something you can 'pin down' through an ELI5 subreddit. PoMo is notoriously difficult to fix into a soundbite. Foucault, who is considered to be a post-modern philosopher, had huge problems with that label. Maybe you can start with PoMo being a rejection of such labels. Think of it as a really broad discussion... | [
"Surrealness for the sake of surrealness. What are you confused about?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why does a phobia for blood makes people faint sometimes when they see it? | [
"I'm pretty sure it's not just a phobia of blood that does this, but it really happens a lot. On my phone right now, so I can't post references, but I think this happens when said sufferer of phobia gets overwhelmed with what they're seeing. They get some sort of panic attack and end up fainting"
] | [
"I think fainting is caused more by fear than pain. (I have fainted several times myself.) Whenever you feel pain, there is always some reason to feel fear as well: fear that the pain will get worse, fear that the pain is a symptom of an illness that will kill you, fear that you will need some kind of painful treat... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why the hell does it hurt so bad to get hurt in the shins? | [
"Two possible reasons. 1) When you hit your shin it's moving with a good bit of force behind it because you're moving your entire body. 2) There is no flesh to cushion the blow when you hit your shin. It goes right to the bone."
] | [
"EIL5: Why can't I stop sitting with my legs crossed, even though it hurts my knees, and why does it hurt my knees?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Is there a genetic explanation for why some people can have a ton of energy throughout the day while after a 8 to 5 shift I just want to crawl in bed and sleep? | [
"Everything plays a factor, exercise, proper diet, enjoying your job, getting up and moving throughout the day, proper nights sleep, everything possible can affect your body. Everyone is different, if I don't work out in the morning I feel tired throughout the day, but my friends are the opposite and can only work... | [
"Because you will only take a nap when you want to take a nap. You always go to sleep for the night whether you really want to or not based on having to get up and do things at a certain time the next day. If you tried to take a nap everyday at 2pm, sometimes you will fall asleep easily, sometimes you won't."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Health:",
"pos": "Represent the passage about Health:",
"neg": "Represent the passage about Sleep and fatigue:"
} |
- How does my body decide on what food it likes and what it doesn't like? | [
"Your preferences in food is a combination of: * Innate taste: we're genetically wired to prefer sweet, salty, and savory taste, and instinctively reject bitter and sour. * Yo momma: flavors pass into amniotic fluid, and what your mom tastes (and smells!) while she's pregnant with you influences your preferences la... | [
"The body saves fat in case it needs the calories later and it doesn't have a cap on how much it saves"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
In nutritional science, why are things that are considered healthy one day suddenly seen as unhealthy the next day, and vice versa? | [
"They are not though. If by nutritional science you mean health gurus and vloggers, then it's because they don't know shit and all they do is perpetuate each other's bullshit. That's why you see the fads you described. If you mean the actual scientists and official healthcare regulations/guidelines those tend to b... | [
"We don't really know that much about nutrition. What we do know is that foods in their natural state are healthier for us than processed things. Supplements will help prevent certain diseases caused by vitamin deficiencies, but eating fruits and vegetables is healthier in general."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
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Why can the smell of marijuana smoke dissipate from a room within 3 days while cigarette smoke seems to stink up the room forever? | [
"Someone special, please correct me. The molecules responsible for the smell of cannabis smoke are non-polar and are soluble in oils, while the active smell components of tobacco smoke are polar and soluble in water. Water is prevalent around your house. Your carpet, drapes, furniture, food, etc. are all moist to ... | [
"All of the posts so far talk about a very literal definition, which is not useful if you're worried about your health. The medical use of the term talks about exposure to smoke in an enclosed space like a house, car, or restaurant. Smoke cannot be dispersed indoors. It becomes concentrated to the point where it's ... | eli5_question_answer | {
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How do insects bite humans and other large animals? Wouldn't the size of an insect's mouth biting a human arm, be comparable to a human biting a flat surface such as a table? | [
"Insect mouthparts that are specifically designed to bite large animals (like mosquitoes and horseflies) are usually more like needles than jaws. Some insects that you might think of as biting insects, like fire ants, are actually stinging insects (again, with a needle-type design)."
] | [
"They are too small to be crushed by flat objects. Flat objects still have imperfections. However, it may push some of them aside. It's similar to taking a huge poster board and shoving it across a colony of ants, but bacteria are much more resilient and cannot be destroyed by a small press or push"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
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If only one cylinder in any given size motor fires at once, why do motors with more cylinders have more power? | [
"The easiest answer is this: If you have only one piston firing, the engine axis gets force only once per revolution. If you have 8 pistons, it gets force 8 times per revolution and so on ... the more cylinders, the closer together the force can be transferred to the axis, thus making it stronger and more powerful.... | [
"very simple reason actually the typical heavy duty diesel engine has rev limit of around 2400 rpm give or take a couple hundred. Your average car has a rev limit of around 6000 rpm. There are lots of of reasons why it is like that most of which are a result of rotating mass. A diesel engine on average is much much... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
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Why does UK and Portugal have the same time? | [
"> If timezones are determined by your position on the globe Time zones are purely man-made things, and don't always line up the way you might expect. Your position on the globe is just a *guideline* for determining time zones. And if you look at an actual [timezone map](_URL_0_), you'll see that France and Spain... | [
"The main reason is because of the religious background of the United States."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
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Why do we misspell words when we write/type but not when we speak? | [
"Well, the idea of misspelling words when you speak is kind of nonsensical on its face, isn't it. But that doesn't rule out other kinds of linguistic errors. > Or maybe it is happening when I speak and I've just never noticed before? Basically, I think you're misunderestimating the number of mistakes people make i... | [
"People mostly just don't care. It seems to me that people that learn English as a second language learn more of the correct way to spell things, where (at least in my schools) we were taught more about the structure of sentences and such. Also, unless you're part of this Internet generation or particularly literat... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
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Why are there GSM and CDMA phone lines? Is it more beneficial to have one then the other? Why isn't there just one kind of phone line? | [
"GSM and CDMA are mobile phone standards. GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communications (it originally stood for Groupe Spécial Mobile but they changed it). GSM uses Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) as a way of allowing multiple devices to share frequencies. CDMA is Code Division Multiple Access. The e... | [
"It depends on your carrier. You are most likely using a CDMA carrier such as Sprint and this type of infrastructure does not support being on a call and using data at the same time. CDMA is older technology and basically limits the amount of information that can be sent at any given time. In practice this means yo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Telecommunications:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Telecommunications:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are engineers paid far lesser than management/sales/human resources? | [
"We're not...at my company engineers make vastly more money than sales/HR."
] | [
"Its a mix of getting the attention of those few people that may actually be interested in buying their products, as well as advertising to those who would consider working for their companies (engineers, scientists, sometimes business majors or economists)."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is motivation? I mean what is going on in the brain when somebody gets motivation or has motivation? | [
"A popular model of motivation requires two things: an incentive (something of value), and the belief that you will get that thing. So, what is going on in your brain is an appraisal of value (I want that thing) and an assessment of your ability to do what is needed to get that thing. Goal-setting plays a large rol... | [
"Motivation is basically just 'a crack of the whip' or more accurately, an emotional reasoning to do something we may or may not want to do. An easy exxample may be taking out the trash. It may suck, but we know if it doesn't go out, it attracts flies, smells bad,starts to look bad and will spill over all those are... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do people tend get irritable when they're tired? | [
"Lack of sleep can cause increased stress hormones, and depending on how that person handles stress, they may be more likely to have less patience."
] | [
"A better question might be: why is your grammar worsens when you're drunk?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
The Zeitgeist Movement | [
"In our current economy, the price of goods is determined by how much people are willing to pay, and how easy it is to get it. Sometimes, there are things that aren't worth much on their own, like gold, but people will pay a lot for them. Also, there are some things that should be expensive that are cheap, like bee... | [
"The Art of War in the Western World - Archer Jones"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Education:"
} |
Why is Greece in such an economic hardship currently? | [
"Corruption has played a very important role. Between 2002 (the first year of the euro) and 2008, banks were lending money very easily as credit was very cheap. Greece went on a huge construction spree, even building for the 2004 Summer Olympics. In 2008 the easy credit stopped and so did the Greek economy. Much ... | [
"The IMF was originally created to serve as an international institution to prevent another Great Depression and World War from happening. Much of the discussion that went into creating the IMF also serves as the global financial backbone of the world economy. I wouldn't say that they have complete control over Gre... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Is Al Jazeera biased? A lot of people have said its reliable, but it's run by the Qatari monarchy, so should I trust it? | [
"What I suggest doing is having a mix of outlets to get your news from - Al Jazeera, New York Times, BBC, Russia Today, Bloomberg and probably something Chinese. Combining their biased or slightly skewed percpectives and averaging it out might help alleviate some of the subjective messaging. While not all sources ... | [
"I'm having trouble figuring out why every one of my comments in this thread that simply offers links to instances of the KSA supporting terrorism is being downvoted. I understand why the U.S. doesn't designate them as terrorists. They're strategic allies. But you guys are doing some interesting mental gymnastics t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
why can skateboarders land massive drops without knee damage/broken legs? | [
"The skateboard is made of wood, a flexible material. While the board may seem stiff if you try to bend it with your arms, it actually flexes a lot during a drop with a person on it. This flexing and unflexing during these landings has a dampening effect. Another thing to consider when landing big drops is the ang... | [
"The world record high dive jump is about 200'. Thats with training... the average mortal would probably be risking their health higher than 50'. Most bridges are 200-250' high. you COULD survive it, and some do. but if you dont go in just right, you'll die for sure. edit: maybe not immedietly, but if you break you... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
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} |
Doesn't the existence of loans just make things more expensive? | [
"Not necessarily - Some things just cost a lot; without loans to finance them, they wouldn't cost *less*, they simply wouldn't exist except for the fabulously wealthy. And even if you can pay cash, you still need to weight the opportunity cost of spending that money against the benefit you will obtain by alternativ... | [
"I'm not an expert but I believe it's because the government is so willing to toss out student loans. It's becoming a broken system."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
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"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
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