query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1
value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
What does 'cdn' in a url mean? | [
"CDN stands for Content Delivery Network. If a web site have a lot of images and videos they might go to a provider that have better infrastructure to deliver the content to the client. As they often have some dynamic elements and some static elements they need a separate domain so the clients know where to get the... | [
"They're often loading from a different server than the rest of the website."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Would I gain the same amount of weight if I ate 5,000 calories one day and 1,000 the next compared to 3,000 calories both days? | [
"Not necessarily. How many calories you can metabolize in a day is not unlimited. I assume it varies person to person but 5000 might not be enough that some goes to waste (plenty of people can metabolize a lot more than that in a day). I'm not sure how you would find out at what point your metabolism starts losing... | [
"Because they don't eat like that all the time. They binge, and eat a lot all at once, but then eat less afterwards and it balances out. It's not particularly healthy, but as long as your average calories consumed is at the right level, you won't gain weight in the long term. Let's say the average person needs to e... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How do traffic jams start? What is the science behind them? | [
"I don't know how to post links from my phone but there is a mythbusters episode about that exact thing. The gist of there findings was that traffic needs to be a little congested first and then one person brakes slightly from something causing the person behind them to break longer and so on and so on until people... | [
"How does a drivered car? Humans regularly get into car accidents every single time there is snow."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
How do we know that cats can not taste "sweet" | [
"People have observed that cats don't seem to have a preference for sweet foods. In a genetic study, they sequenced the cats' DNA and looked at the genes that make the proteins that are required for the particular taste buds that detect sweetness. They compared it with the same genes in other animals and found that... | [
"What on Earth are you talking about? 1. Humans can taste water. 2. How do you know that dogs can taste water?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Science:"
} |
How do high school grades in the USA (or other countries for that matter) work? | [
"A = 90-100% B = 80-89% C = 70-79% D = 60-69% F = 0-59% Generally, C and above is considered passing with C being seen as \"average\", B as \"above average\" and A as \"excellent\". D, being rated as \"below-average\" is sometimes given a pass, I think that depends on the school though. So on a 10 question quiz, yo... | [
"Depends on the school. Some schools add .33 for a + and subtract .33 for a -. So a B+ is 3.33 and a A- is 3.66 I think if you tried to break it down any further, it would make GPA calculation unnecessarily complicated. Your GPA only really matters for staying out of academic probation, scholarships and perhaps you... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
if our body has immune system, why do we still get sick? | [
"Because it isn't perfect. Because a lot of different things have evolved to try to get us sick and sometimes they work. Because oru dumb asses don't wash our hands after we take a shit so we end up eating our own poo and get sick that way. Or because we don't eat well or sleep or take care of ourselves as much as ... | [
"When you were younger you would still get sick but i presume your parents limited you in some form. If you mean why does it affect us harder at a greater age, our bodies slow down, it takes a bit longer for everything to be processed, in turn it makes it easier to get \"too much\"."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about Medical:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment about Medical:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why does a bag of potato chips "poof up" when you go to a higher altitude? | [
"When the chips were produced and bagged, it sealed in some air that was at normal atmospheric pressure. When you went to Flag, you also went up in altitude, where the pressure is lower. That causes the bag to poof up."
] | [
"It has to do with how much moisture is in the food compared to how much moisture is in the air. Oreo? Drier than air, they gain moisture and turn soft. Loaf of bread? More moist than air, it loses moisture and dries up. Kitchen hack: put a slice of bread in with cookies to keep the cookies fresher a little longer.... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text about Food Science:"
} |
Why was the system successful yet the French Revolutionary time was not? | [
"1. The devices for measuring length & weight are relatively simple; you can establish any arbitrary length as the standard. But clocks are complex devices. Any attempt to re-invent to standard would involve scrapping all existing time keeping devices, and by 1799 there were many. 2. Once again, the standard units ... | [
"Do you mean a contemporary society to themselves, or can they include past societies?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does beer foam out violently when you hit the top of a bottle? | [
"When you hit the top in the right way, you essentially cause the bottle to move downwards faster than the liquid does, forming a tiny empty spot between the bottom of the liquid and the bottom of the glass. This causes the liquid to fall back down onto the glass bottom, which results in it foaming up a lot like if... | [
"Well it has to do with pressure. Wine is put into the bottle and sealed so that no air goes in or out. Now if the wine is sparkling wine then that means none of the bubbles can come out so there is a slightly higher pressure inside the sealed bottle. That pressure is enough to slightly change the freezing point of... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
When I transfer money from my account to a different account, does any physical money *ever* move? | [
"> So no physical money ever leaves place A and goes to place B when I do money transfer? This is correct. When i worked at Manufacturer's Hanover trust (which became chemical bank, then Chase) in the 90's, transfers between banks were just a batch job run everynight night on a system 3x (i think it was a 38, then ... | [
"A wire transfer is when a bank transfers money to another bank on behalf of an account holder, for the other bank to then credit one of its account holders. And it is always done exclusively, so a payment is made to the other bank only for the amount in the wire transfer. On the other hand, ordinary ACH bank trans... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why am ok with up to 8 hours of sleep, but tired if I sleep over 10 hours straight? | [
"It's to do with sleep cycles, if you wake up in the middle of one you wake up more tired but if you wake up towards the start or end you are more refreshed."
] | [
"Yes. All you need to have are fixed times for sleeping. Get up every day, even weekends and holidays, at the same time. If you are still tired the first week that shouldn't be surprising. If you still are overly tired after a month, improve your overall sleep quality. For example get better pillows or sleep in a r... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Health:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Health:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why the roof of my mouth feels destroyed after eating some foods a lot? | [
"There are various ways of preserving food: salt (meat jerky), sugar (candied fruits), acid (pickles), heat (sundried tomatoes, smoked foods), and cold (frozen and refrigerated foods). Preservation of food prevents the original food items from living and prevents bad things from living off of it. The roof of your m... | [
"Why do the glands in my neck burn like high hell when I'm holding back tears?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do those "super mathmetican" seemingly know everything even though they're in their teen ages? | [
"Those are not super mathematicians, but people who are good with multiplying numbers. Math is about so much more than being able to do that and the more complex it gets the less numbers you see."
] | [
"I don't think this can be answered for a 5 year old because, as far as I know, the smartest people in the world can't even explain it to each other."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Why does FM radio sound relatively crisp, but AM radio sounds like someone broke the tone knob? | [
"AM works by changing the amplitude of a carrier wave. But there is always background noise on all radio frequencies, and when background noise is added to a signal, it affects the amplitude of that signal. FM works by changing the frequency of a carrier wave. The amplitude of the wave is not important, so long as ... | [
"It does. You ever get out of pool and try to listen to a conversation with water in your ear? Ever put your ear to drywall and listen to neighbors? The sound is not just reduced amplitude, it's frequency balance is changed."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
in huge city’s(like Miami), how do cartographers decide where to put the dot? | [
"In Chicago, the map has historically been centered on the 0,0 address - the intersection of State Street and Madison Avenue. However, a quick check on Mapquest (centered on Lasalle & Washington) and Google Maps (centered on Clark & Jackson) suggests that the placement is somewhat randomly clustered around the cent... | [
"They don't know where to find them, they just check the most obvious locations, you may notice that the signs are at natural level in a natural location and not hidden."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why do videos skip frames when rewinding? | [
"Because the DVD stores \"key\" frames every time the scene changes \"enough\", then only store the changes from the last frame displayed. In order to rewind and show every frame, it would need to look up the previous keyframe and then play the movie forward to the current-frame-minus-1, for *every* frame shown. In... | [
"It's a combination of a good implementation and lots of tricks to make it seem faster than it is. I guarantee that every wifi streaming solution does buffering. The trick is to make it so that you don't notice the buffering. The question is, why do you think there's no delay? Do you mean that your TV is in sync wi... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why did it become a tradition for the brides family to pay for the whole wedding? | [
"In the olden days the husbands family was responsible for sectioning off a portion of their land for him and helping them build a house to live in. Also, Men arent generally as concerned with the frills and fancy of the wedding itself. Typically its the woman who wants to play princess for the day.... The main r... | [
"Nothing, the wife's family owes you a dowry for supporting their daughter for the rest of her life."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do hackers get thousands of computers for a botnet? | [
"When you make your Trojan, you use a program to encrypt it. That way it won't be detectable by the anti-virus until they add the encryption algorithm to the AV. When they add it, you encrypt it with something else. Making programs for hackers to encrypt viruses can actually be really profitable. If you sell it at... | [
"Programmers do, and for a variety of reasons. You can sell peoples personal information for a decent amount, or steal their bank account number, or turn their computer into a proxy for attacking something else."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Technology:"
} |
Why do batteries have + and - sides | [
"Electricity is the flow of charged particles (usually electrons). One side of the battery “attracts” electrons and the other side “releases electrons”, so you mark off which side is which with +/-. This is important because some devices only accept electrons in one direction (diodes commonly used in electronics). ... | [
"When using multiple batteries, you're generally going to use them in series (with the positive terminal of one battery connected to the negative terminal of the next battery), rather than in parallel. Having batteries in series adds their voltages together, whereas having them in parallel allows for more current d... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are so many people angry about the Kaepernick pledge protest? | [
"He's free to protest by not standing. Thus we aren't fascist. And we're free to disagree with him. Thus we aren't fascist. Nobody is being arrested by the state over this."
] | [
"The US public has the attention span of a grapefruit. They've moved on to Bill \"the rapist\" Cosby, Kimye, the Sony hack and the price of gas."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage about News and current events:"
} |
How do we know so much about our planet if we could only dig a few kilometers deep? | [
"Luckily digging holes isn't our only way of obtaining information, we have many many different ways of studying the earth. Using technology such as seismographs, satellite, and modeling we are able to study the earth without going beneath the crust. Think of it like your senses. Sight isn't the only way to disting... | [
"Space is easier. It is easier to see further, it is easier to move in (you only have to deal with 1 atmospheric pressure) and the goals are clearly defined (get to object X, determine the structure of object Y). It is strange that we know the surface of the moon better than the bottom of the ocean, on the other ha... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Science:"
} |
In videogames, why are some games defined as Role Playing Games (RPG's) and why are others not? I mean, aren't almost all videogames RPG's? | [
"Because not all games include role playing. None of Age of Empires, XCOM, Sims etc. have you role playing. Some games have very minor role playing elements, such as Dark Souls, but it's very small."
] | [
"There is a group of heroes who have to save the world. That's basically it. Each game in the series is its own story with its own world and characters. Some names are recurring, some spells are recurring, some equipment is recurring, but the way specifics of fighting or how magic works is different in every game. ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why do we wake up at a specific time everyday no matter what time we go to sleep? | [
"Circadian rhythms, your internal clock, are linked to light/dark cycles. Melatonin is a hormone produced that makes you feel drowsy. This hormone is released more at night, when it is dark. Even artificial light will mess with these cycles and extend your hours of being awake. How long you spend asleep is also inf... | [
"Habit. I've woken up at around 6AM for the past 6 years. Except for the weekends when I stay up late, I generally go to sleep around the same time during the week and usually wake around 5:55AM. I still set an alarm though in case I happen to not wake up by myself."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Biology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment about Biology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Do traffic lights get free power? | [
"The government, usually the local city or county maintains street lights and local roads including stop signs and other signage. They are typically responsible for the maintenance of all said items. Unless the county also sells power, it likely is paying for the power. Even if the county is selling the power and m... | [
"They don't get rid of traffic. They get rid of the need of traffic lights."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does an artificial heart react when you get startled, or nervous or have sex? | [
"> how does the machine know to pump harder? It doesn't. There are a lot of things you can't do when you're depending on mechanical assistance to keep your blood flowing. One of them is use too much oxygen. Because your new \"heart\" has one speed, and if you overdo it you're going to pass out."
] | [
"Adrenalin, basically your body kicks in the fight or flight response when you get really passionate about something."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
... Why does the winner of the election haft to wait till January to become president? | [
"~~haft to~~ have to Most countries have a delay after the election because once you find out you've won, you have to get some rest from the campaign and then organize your move and organize your new staff. It's actually a very short amount of time to do all that."
] | [
"stay strong, and one day a white person may actually become a member of Congress or even President of the US."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Top Gear presenters travel to many different countries to film their antics. ELI5 how they obtain permissions to work in all the different countries they travel. | [
"They just get work visas. A Visa is essentially a little piece of paperwork that gives you the ability to work in an area for a specific amount of time. And are relatively easy to get if you have any sort of sway (which Top Gear does) It's no different than the survival shows, cooking shows or travel shows that go... | [
"Well, most of the time, they are on closed tracks. The times that they aren't, most of the time, they have made prior arrangements with the local authorities to close off those parts of public roads to allow those very high speeds for the purposes of filming. The same thing is done with movies or TV shows."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
when and why did military camouflage take place ? | [
"The change happened around the time that guns became more powerful and accurate. Before this, battles in the west were fought in close range and in organized formations. It was important to see who was who and over the smoke of the guns, so that ranks could be held and friendly fire avoided. Later, when battles w... | [
"So when and where did playing cards as we know them come into being anyways?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How Hexidecimal can be converted to text | [
"Please don't convert me to text. I am a human being."
] | [
"Download RES. It allows you to. The link is at the bottom under tools."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What about gum makes us not want to swallow or keep chewing it? | [
"Gum contains flavorings and sugar, in addition to the 'gum base', which is the somewhat rubbery stuff that makes the gum. The chewing action, along with your saliva, helps release and dissolve the stuff that flavors the gum, but eventually, that stuff is all gone - you've 'sucked out' all the flavor. At that poin... | [
"Yeah, I think you may just be strange. No one chews pudding. Now, people might move it around their mouth a bit so they can actually taste it before swallowing, but chew? Nope."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Is it possible to have two Y chromosomes? | [
"A \"YY\" pair could not provide a viable fetus, as the X chromosome does contain some pretty important genetic material. \"XYY\" is possible, and with only relatively minor symptoms."
] | [
"Most of the baldness you see is caused by a gene on the X chromosome. If a man has the gene for baldness in his X chromosome then he will be bald. If a woman has the gene for baldness on an X chromosome, she has a second X chromosome that most likely will not have that gene so it is suppressed and she will not be... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why are movies released on different dates in different countries? | [
"Sometimes the producers are worried about competition. If a particular movie is opening on some weekend that's projected to do very well in some country they may want to open the week before or after to maximize sales."
] | [
"Critics get to see review showings of movies before they're released to general audiences in the theaters."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Media:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument about Media:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
how do medicine tablets work soon after swallowing them, when it takes 2-3 hours for digestion | [
"Digestion is different than absorption. If you do a shot of hard liquor, you'll be feeling its effects in minutes, not hours, because chemicals start getting absorbed by the blood relatively quickly. The entire process of digestion--involving the break-down of the food itself on a larger scale--takes hours, but du... | [
"the medicine can irritate the inning of your stomach based on how concentrated it is in the cavity. i f you take it with food or water this will dilute the medicine as it dissolves and reacts with the acid in your tummy."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
what was the scientific theory behind shock therapy when it was an accepted form of treatment for mental illness? | [
"Because the brain works on electrical signals and at the time they didn't know a hell of a lot more about it, electroshock therapy was thought to sort of overload the brain and shock it back into working properly in a similar way that a defibrillator does with the heart. A bit like pressing a reset button or turn... | [
"Lobotomy is the surgical removal of a section of the brain done to control a certain behavior. This was done in the past before modern behavioral and surgical developments as a quick fix to a range of neurological problems from something as simple as paranoia and depression to frequent seizures and chronic illnes... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
What happens to my body when I drink alcohol whilst on antibiotics? | [
"Some antibiotics shouldn't be mixed with alcohol because the alcohol impairs a step in the breakdown of the alcohol leading to a build up of acetaldehyde which gives you horrible side effects. Not all antibiotics, only some. The alcohol doesn't make the antibiotics not work - they will still work if you drink alco... | [
"•People taking sedative drugs (like diazepam/Valium) or antidepressants (like fluoxetine/Prozac) should avoid alcohol altogether •People taking long-term medications should be careful about drinking, as alcohol can make some drugs less effective, meaning long term conditions get worse. Examples include, people tak... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does hunger temporarily go away after a few hours? | [
"When you first sense hunger, your body is telling you \"hey, running out of food for energy down here. need more.\". If you ignore the signals and don't eat, your body will start breaking down its own fat for energy. When it does that, it's no longer in need of more energy, because it found some. The hunger signal... | [
"It depends on how much you eat. But typically, after eating high calorie foods high in carbs at once, a large amount of blood has to go down into the stomach area causing less blood to be in the head, promoting exhaustion. That's another reason why they recommend small frequent meals over eating a lot at once."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why salt kills slugs. | [
"You know how eating salt on it's own makes you thirsty? Well when you put salt on the slug it gets so thirsty it dies because it gets too dry on the inside to live. Getting dry on the inside is called dehydration and we drink water, juice and other drinks so the same thing doen't happen to us."
] | [
"Bacteria on your tongue. Go brush your teeth."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Does declaring a State of Emergency actually do anything? Or is it simply a symbolic gesture? | [
"A State of Emergency usually means that certain regulations are suspended, or certain rights granted, for the duration of the emergency. For example, it might allow the government to deploy the army, or divert resources to affected areas. There may also be provisions to convene some sort of government, if the usua... | [
"It's nothing they actually think will go through. It's a symbolic action & political grandstanding."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do tinted windows almost look like a grid when you wear sunglasses? | [
"Polarization. Simply put: Sunglasses with polarized lenses align the light in one direction. The tint is an imperfect film that has certain polarizing effects on light as well. When you have the shades on, you’re able to see the alignment of the tinted application. Try this with cheap shades. You won’t see anythi... | [
"Late to the party. If you don't wear glasses already, anti glare lenses will actually add a tiny amount of glare in. The anti glare coating only cuts down on the glare caused by spectacle lenses. So if you have no significant glasses prescription and therefore no need to wear glasses, a pair of glasses with anti g... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
why are there diet sodas with 0 calorie sweeteners, but no diet candy bars with them? | [
"There are actually a fair amount of sugar-free candies. The problem is, you can't make a candy *calorie*-free. Soda is mostly water. Candy bars have a whole lot of other stuff - chocolate (which contains a lot of fat in the form of cocoa butter), peanuts or puffed rice or corn flakes (seriously, in Butterfinger), ... | [
"OK. So if the sugar is bad, what about the 0 calorie drinks? Like zero calorie amp, or the monster teas with 10calories per 16oz can? Those can't have a lot of sugar if they're so low calorie, right? So then you're left with the b12, taurine, guarine, and caffeine... I personally feel awesome when I drink those. ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
What is a positron and how come it's positively charged but does not weigh like a proton and is more like an electron? | [
"A positron (also called an anti-electron) is the antimatter version of the electron. So its exactly the same as an electron witb opposite charge. The amount of charge something has is nothing to do with how big it is. The antimatter equivalent of the proton is the anti-proton."
] | [
"Scientists don't predict antimatter to be present in any significant quantity in the Universe. This is actually a very important problem in physics. We expect that at the Big Bang, matter and antimatter should be created in equal parts, and therefore annihilate with each other leaving nothing. The problem is, ther... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph about Physics:"
} |
Why aren't stealth bombers painted in sky blue? | [
"I was in Air Force ROTC a year ago. Most of their missions are flown at night. That's literally it."
] | [
"Sometimes is just \"branch pride\" - Air Forces and Navies do it to stand out. Other times it's because of night and low light conditions in urban areas blue and light blue do blend in. Navies do use blue camo for smaller ships, big ships tend to go grey to blend with the horizon."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Does lowering your fever using pills make your body fight less against a virus? | [
"Fever can help fight infections by making body less hospitable to infectious bugs but at the same time, too high temperature can disrupt function of our organs. When we get infection, increase in temperature is one of by product of body's response to infection. Our immune system tries to fight infectious viruses o... | [
"You catch a cold by getting a virus. Cold can suppress your immune system and make you more susceptible to getting sick, but cold by itself cannot directly make you sick. You have to be exposed to the cold virus to get a cold."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why is political extreme leftism/Marxism associated with irreligion? Why do religious views influence political views at all? | [
"The Marxist movement in the 19th century and the counter-culture movement in the 1960s essentially said that everything was wrong. The economic system was wrong, the political system was wrong, the international relations system was wrong, the social system was wrong, and the religious system was wrong. Marx and t... | [
"The far right express views that general society has come to consider unacceptable, such as advocating racial discrimination against minorities. The views on the far left may be unpopular but they are not taboo to the same extent. So the few places in society where 'anything goes' attract the far right."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
how do you calculate how much an object gets smaller, the further is is away? | [
"it has to do with a thing called \"arc distance\" you don't see heights and lengths, you see how much of your cone of vision an object takes up. a 1 meter long object 1 meter away from you will take up ~53 degrees of your vision. another meter stick 1 meter beyond that would take up ~28 degrees of your vision. th... | [
"imagine you're on the surface of a balloon and you put dots all on it with a marker when the balloon inflates the distance between each dot gets bigger, if you measure the rate at which the dots move away from each other, you know how fast the balloon is inflating. So if the balloon is getting bigger that means it... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Astronomy:"
} |
Why are there different blood types? Have they always been around? Could a new blood type surface? | [
"In your body you have things known as antigens - imagine they're like a radar. When something bad enters its vicinity, it will alert the army to go and destroy it. There are lots of different radars in the world, as there is with blood. Blood types haven't always been around, but evolution happened so it is entir... | [
"Imagine that you took one sterile person in a family and you repeatedly cloned them. You could do the same with a different person in their family. It's kind of like that with bananas. That's how you get different varieties."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
why do people clutch their chest when scared? | [
"I am not sure, but most probably it is an instinct and an attempt to protect your internal and most vital organs. After all, fear is a derivative of danger."
] | [
"do they squirm when you squeeze them? if so yes."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Biology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Biology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is the "reptilian" part of the brain and why is it labeled as such? | [
"A better way to say it would be \"This is the part of your brain that has changed very little and still has much of the same function as the equivalent area in other amniote tetrapods (everything that shares a common ancestor with both reptiles and us).\" These are the areas of your brain that accomplish every dee... | [
"If you look it up, it has something to do with the part of your brain that controls primal fear is being activated."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does a stronger yen hurt japanese exporters like Nintendo or Honda? | [
"It means it takes more dollars for you or me to buy a Japanese export. This means Japanese companies sell fewer exports."
] | [
"It increases demand for USD, which increases the value of USD. That means that imports are (relatively) cheaper and exports are (relatively) more expensive, so it hurts farmers, forces manufacturers to expand internationally, and benefits purchasers of imports."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
If I were encased in a large steel box with ample padding and cushioning and then thrown off of a tall building, would I die? Why or why not? | [
"You will die if you decelerate too quickly, as your body hits stationary objects and as your brain hits the inside of your skull. From terminal velocity at around 200km/h to zero, you would want to decelerate over a period of several seconds in order to survive. You need to make the box big enough so when it hits... | [
"For one, you'd have a lot of time to catch yourself and avoid landing on your face in the first place - gravity would be accelerating you towards the ground roughly six times slower than on earth. Even if that failed, your faceplant would hurt a lot less simply because you'd be falling slower. It might still hurt,... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why is standard compliance important with regards to HTML and CSS? | [
"You want your website to look the same on all browsers. Using non-standard styles in your CSS or using HTML tags in \"creative\" ways may only work on one browser but not others. Sometimes non-standard code will even make your website completely unreadable on certain browsers."
] | [
"It's a big system. It also carries a bit from state to state. Are you interested in the application process? Policy? Logistics?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What's the crystalline powdery stuff that they put on top of sour candy to make it sour, and where does it come from? | [
"It's malic and/or citric acid. Citric acid comes from certain species of fungi that are grown on an industrial scale. Malic acid is produced on an industrial scale through chemical processes."
] | [
"The taste of sour is basically formed by your taste buds reacting to a low PH. But because Low PH means what's in your mouth is a form of acid, it can also eat away at the soft, delicate bits of your tongue, making your mouth feel raw or sore. It also depends on your personal sensitivity level and how long the sou... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Please explain to a nonmerican why 9/11 changed everything. | [
"Americans had always felt insulated from international terrorism. This brought it into our homes for the first time."
] | [
"Because contrary to what you may believe the usa does NOT own the internet."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How does Boston Dynamics stay in business? They're cool, but they haven't made products that are in use. | [
"They probably get research grants through DARPA and about a dozen other govt. agencies nobody's ever heard of. I kinda think they did something for the space program too (not sure why or what though)."
] | [
"DARPA is, for all practical purposes, the Evil Genius wing of the American government. They pour tons of time and money into some pretty insane projects, because sometimes they pay off. It keeps the US on the cutting edge of military development. As for why humanoid robots specifically, having a robot with human f... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
- How do card companies, like Cards Against Humanity, operate? | [
"Hi there, I owned a factory selling automatic production machines in China. One of our models is an automatically card box filling machine. But in short, your version is not far off except with this alternation: *Company A makes the box building machine *Company B makes the card printing machine *Company C makes a... | [
"Because they promise not to use your answer to determine whether or not to hire you."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do when people make a witty statement they always use the name Johnny or Jimmy? | [
"I'm not certain I'm getting your drift. What I think you are talking about, is a reference to PSAs (public service announcements) and educational videos. You see Timmy, these videos were extremely hokey and have become the butt of many pop culture jokes. Often the narrator or an authority figure would appear in th... | [
"I could be totally wrong but I've always thought of it as a shortened version of \"How did this come to be?\""
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
If the moon's orbit around Earth is 27 days, what does that means for how often the moon is visible to me, a person on earth? | [
"Save for when it is full lunar eclipse it will be \"visible\" every single day due to the earth spinning on its axis. It will just sometimes be overhead during the daytime making it hard to see."
] | [
"Because the moon is on our side of the Earth and Sun is on our side of the Earth at the same time. The Moon orbits the Earth (mostly) independently from the Sun. There is nothing preventing it from it being above us during the day."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
How do websites know I'm using an ad blocker? | [
"Basically, using a script (in this case, javascript) to detect if some assets that are used to load ads, were loaded into the page. For example, when you enter a website, a lot of files are loaded for the page to work properly, images and javascript files are some of them. Ads are usually loaded from third party s... | [
"Well, you kinda explained it in your question. Ads. Ad revenue, redirects, etc. It's simple to install an ad blocker on a PC, not so much on a phone."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How can black holes emit Hawking Radiation, when it is said that not even light can escape from the singularity? | [
"This radiation is not stuff escaping the hole. What approximately (ELI5) happens is that there are pairs of particles being produced out of \"seemingly nothing\", and then they annihilate each other back to \"seemingly nothing\" almost instantaneously. This is a quantum effect and it happens throughout space. Howe... | [
"Generally, I think people would describe a black hole's size as it's event horizon. In the middle of a black hole is a singularity that is very massive/dense. So massive and dense that nothing can escape it's gravity, including light. There is a point where you get close enough to the singularity where you will be... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do gaming consoles use A B X & Y on their remote controls. | [
"Very early consoles usually had a direction pad (D-Pad) or a joystick and two buttons, which they labeled A and B. Later, some added a third button (C). When they wanted to go to four buttons, it would have made sense to use ABCD, but D was already sort of taken (since everyone calls it a D-Pad), so they went to t... | [
"Its basically 2 separate controllers put together. Your right hand stays where it is, and your left hand has the option of using either a d-pad or a joystick, depending on the game you're playing. _URL_0_ Edit: I suppose as a 3rd option you could have put your left hand on the left, and right hand in the middle, ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why are most socks fluffy on the inside and meant to be worn one particular way? | [
"The texture on the inside wicks away moisture. The texture on the outside prevents the fabric from coming apart, harder to have a smooth texture catch on something."
] | [
"Some black socks are those thin dress socks, which aren't made of absorbent cotton like white socks are, so those would stink more. Maybe she was talking about those."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why is it that a "slice" motion is often more effective to penetrate than just a forceful "chop?" | [
"Blades are never perfectly sharp but instead always have different degrees of micro-serrations. And \"stuff\" like hair, skin, tomatoes, etc, is inherently more resistant to direct pressure, even from a \"sharp\" blade than we expect. But when you bring those serrations into play by slicing it's a different story ... | [
"You hand displaces more air than a fly swatter. You tend to push the fly away before making contact. The fly swatters have a spread of holes to minimise the air displacement."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
The psychology behind ruining public restrooms. (potentially NSFW). | [
"It's an example of what is known as 'the tragedy of the commons'. In Anglo society it pretty much describes the end state of anything that is collectively owned. Nobody gives a shit about it because it's not theirs. Or to be more accurate, not enough people care and those that do not, have an overwhelming effect."... | [
"Penn & Teller: Bullshit! did a show on this, its very worth a watch, they break it down quite well and understandable. [Link to the full episode](_URL_0_) on youtube. Warning, NSFW language and boobies in like the first 2 seconds, because its Penn & Teller and thats what they do"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Finance:"
} |
What caused the downfall of WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) culture? | [
"What do you mean by downfall? This is still a dominant part of current culture."
] | [
"When you refer to the pluralism of the British Empire, are you referring to: Religious pluralism (ie Anglicans, the Scottish Kirk, and in the 19th century Empire Quakers, Baptists, and perhaps Catholics in the later periods, etc) British national pluralism (English, Scottish, Welsh) Or racial pluralism? (Whites, B... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why do so many people refuse to get vaccinated? | [
"Because there is a lot of misinformation and scaremongering about it. And people aren't smart enough or willing to spend the time in finding out the actual facts. For some, hearing some celebrity say it's bad on tv is worth more than what the entire scientific and medical community has to say."
] | [
"They're mostly a threat to babies and those who cannot be vaccinated"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why the NFL commissioner is booed each year at the draft | [
"Thankless positions (the commissioner's job is to announce the decisions the owners don't wish to be directly associated with them). But in particular the commissioner has been particularly tone deaf with several decisions (wikipedia has a [short list](_URL_0_) of several of the most well known controversies) tha... | [
"Denver is number one team out of the AFC, Seattle is the top out of the NFC. These two teams own the two best records in football this year. Denver boasts the number one offense (single season records galore) while Seattle boasts the number one defense. Peyton Manning, QB for Denver will be the biggest name in the... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Putting the tinfoil hat down: How does my Phone know I was watching Black Panther yesterday night? | [
"If you really didn't enter the title in any computer you use, it could just be coincidence. It has been advertised a lot and you are probably in the target demographic"
] | [
"Is it me, or has this never happened to anyone else?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
how do you go about negotiating price with a car salesman? | [
"Do your homework. There tons of sites where you can find out what others have paid and what the going price is for your area. There's more mark up on a used car vs a new one. Don't finance through the dealership they're not the best deal. Check with local banks for rates if you must finance. Don't say you can only... | [
"Its all marketing. I used to sell cars and hate their business model so Ill tell you this. The best way to get the best deal is to contact a big dealership that you are confident sells a high volume and get their best number, check it against true car and then go to the dealership you want to buy with the numbers.... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How come pretty much at all times I can make phone calls on my cell phone, but any data programs seem to suffer if not inside of a 4g friendly zone? Wouldn't transmission of voice be more delicate than other forms of data transmission? | [
"Because 4G is not necessary for voice calls. Not even 3G is necessary. Remember, cell phones used to exist long before we used them to surf with."
] | [
"Strong signal means you are close to the cell tower - so there's one/some in the subway. Slow data means either lots of people are all trying to use the data at once or the cell tower(s) have a slow connection to the providers Internet. It's likely that lots of people are using the data as most smart phones keep ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about technology:",
"pos": "Represent the post about technology:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Can someone explain the Die Hard 3 Water Jug Bomb puzzle for me? | [
"1. Fill the 5 gallon bucket. 2. Pour water from the 5 gallon bucket into the 3 gallon bucket. You should now have 2 gallons in the 5g bucket. 3. Empty the 3g bucket and pour the 2g in the 5g bucket into the 3g bucket. 4. Fill the 5g bucket. 5. Pour water from the 5g bucket into the 3g bucket. Since the 3g bucket a... | [
"Can someone explain the question to me like I'm five?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
In countries where self defense with a weapon is illegal, how are people expected to protect themselves against criminals? | [
"British person here. I don't know anyone who feels the need to carry a weapon. The situation you describe is, for the vast majority of British people, one which just doesn't arise. That's not to say that knife crime doesn't occur, but where it does it's usually amongst youths who are themselves (illegally) armed. ... | [
"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 Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why doesn’t the human race lose traits like baldness or color blindness if they’re unnecessary? | [
"Because traits like baldness and being colorblind don’t have a very late impact on people’s ability to pass on their genes. A man that goes bald at 50 hasn’t had his ability to reproduce lessened in anyway. Likewise, colorblind people don’t have any more difficulty reproducing or living long enough to reproduce th... | [
"I've posted this on other questions about body hair before, but here goes. There's a pretty common misconception that everything that evolves has to have evolved for a reason. That's not really how it works. Giraffes didn't evolve long necks because they needed to reach higher in the trees for food. Evolution does... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
why are bigger engines better? | [
"In simple terms, an engine works by filling an empty space with a fuel/air mixture, compressing it it with a piston & then lighting it on fire. The resulting explosion drives the piston back down creating power. A 1L (1000cc) engine has more *displacement* than a 250cc engine. The displacement is simply how big th... | [
"why are their tax rates so much higher?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph about Education:"
} |
How do river kayakers launch off high waterfalls without sustaining massive back injuries at the bottom? | [
"They usually hit the bottom at an angle (point first) rather than flat-bottomed, so their kayak doesn't decelerate too suddenly. They may get very wet -- may even submerge entirely, but just for a moment."
] | [
"Typically it is the impact that kills them. The surface tension on the water from a very high fall would feel just as hard as if landing on concrete. That's why divers must use their fingertips to enter the water first to break the surface tension and allow for a smooth entrance. If high divers did a belly flop it... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why do car dealership always seem to exist in pairs or even groups of three? | [
"Imagine a town with three dealerships. Two of them are located right next to each other and the third one is across town. If you are in the market for a car where would you go first? If you go to one of the two and don't like any of their offers then you can just walk over to the other dealership to see what they ... | [
"There just are not that many people to fill the space. That being said, many people like to be located near useful utilities like schools, shopping centers, jobs, etc. So while cities seems just overly crammed with people, there is good reason they don't just go build a house on a few acres in the country."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Automotive industry:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument about Automotive industry:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
does Enhance ever work in real life like it does in the movies? | [
"No, in real life 'enhance' is usually adding adjustments like: * If expanding the image, sharpening edges and smoothing to avoid loss of details * Adjusting brightness for ease of view This is because you can't actually add detail to an image that wasn't previously there. What *is* possible, however is to run patt... | [
"And more importantly how do I get one for myself?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage about biology:"
} |
why do modems and routers require to be turned off and on again and how does this (usually) repair slowing speeds? | [
"There are a bunch of tables in the router that describe which computer gets what data, depending on how the data is labeled, but the tables have a limited size, and there are only so many ways the data can be labeled. When a table is full, or all the ways of labeling the data are used, the router becomes unable to... | [
"Routers do NOT need to be reset periodically. If you set it up correctly and installed its firmware then you shouldn’t even be touching it for months or years. If you have an older modem then it could possibly be set on DoD and you’ll need to figure out how to make it a permanent connection."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the comment about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the comment about Technology:"
} |
Why do we feel the need to pet/scratch other animals? | [
"mutual grooming is a pretty common social activity in the animal kingdom. Basically, if you're cool enough with an animal to groom them/be groomed by them, it means you're good buds. Edit: this dude said it better _URL_0_"
] | [
"A follow-up question: Why do some people love that feeling while others detest it?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
How does call audio to the other side of the world take 0-5 seconds, when it would take sound about 18 hours to get their? | [
"Because you're not sending audio. You're converting audio to electricity which travels at the speed of light. It gets converted back to audio at the other end."
] | [
"The speed of light is the limitation. From where I sit to Sydney, Australia is 50ms each direction if we are transmitting at light speed. There's nothing we can really do to speed that up. If you know of any servers in Sydney, I can ping it to let you know the actual time, but I would expect it to be in the 150-2... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is actually happening when we turn up the volume on a stereo, TV, or computer? | [
"Think of it the opposite way. A dimed volume knob is allowing the entire signal to pass through whatever amplification device. By turning it down you bleed some of that signal to ground before it is amplified, resulting in less volume. It's why fancy stereos list volume as -X. The lower the volume, the greater the... | [
"The amplifier in the speakers is picking up a part of the signal output by your phone, amplifying them and sending it to the speakers."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How it comes that such common words as "candy" and "saga" are allowed to be trademarked, just like _URL_0_ did? | [
"Trade marks can only be enforced when there is a reasonable chance of confusion. \"Candy saga\" as a name doesn't really refer to anything but their games. Them trademarking them allows them to sue companies that try to profit off their name through confusing customers, like a game called \"Saga of Candy\" which i... | [
"These are called \"collocations.\" Words that always go together in a certain order. Sometimes the order is decided by word length (ladies and gentlemen), sometimes by prominence of product (bread and butter), sometimes by cultural significance (man and wife) sometimes's based on some marketing departments choice ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How cars converted into Limousines can be legal by UK law if they are technically "Cut and shut". | [
"In most cases a limousine company is considered an auto manufacturer in the sense that the limo is a new car when they finish it. The car may start out as a Ford, Bentley, or whatever the base vehicle is but after the custom frame and body panels are all in place it isn't the same as gutting a car in your garage a... | [
"Because it is a huge profit maker for Ford. The van is built in Turkey as a passenger van and then shipped to the US. The passenger parts are stripped out and then sent out to dealers as a professional van. The reason for this is bypass a US tariff on professional vans which is not on passenger vans. Originally th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does the US have 5113 nuclear warheads if a fraction of those could annihilate life? | [
"Because they estimate that some won't fire, and that some will be destroyed. With the shear number of warheads it is almost guaranteed to destroy the targets"
] | [
"All the cities are targeted. To hit almost the same time. The basic tenets of MAD (mutually assured destruction) are still in place as the US and Russia have not stood down their nuclear stance since the end of the cold war. Any nuclear war would mean massive first strike and retaliatory strikes in minutes of each... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why do different translators for Japanese to English give different results for the same phrase? | [
"Languages are not just the same word written differently. Languages convey ideas differently, have different tones and meanings to certain phrases. If you say \"thank you\" to someone in spanish they respond \"de nada.\" Literally \"of nothing.\" So the one exchange \"gracias\" \"de nada\" depending on the inflect... | [
"To remove ambiguity (particularly if you have two words that are written using the same mora, but have different meanings and/or different pronunciations). Also, using Kanji will typically shorten the amount of space a given word or concept will take up on the page."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why aren't more western commercials as crazy as japanese commercials? Is it considered false advertising? | [
"I am not so sure it is considered false advertising. But it is more likely to annoy the customer rather than promote the sale of the item."
] | [
"It's based on the societal standards of the country... in America violence is fine while nudity and swearing is not. In England it's the opposite where swearing and nudity is fine on TV but it's censored for violence"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How come I can focus where I look with only one eye open? | [
"> I thought the focus of the eyes had something to with the point where the line if sight of both your eyes cross is your point of focus. Nope. Your eyes focus by using tiny muscles to change the shape of the lens."
] | [
"Do you have corrected vision? And if not can you focus on other small things near your face without getting a headache?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why can't scientists find a way to gather enough spider silk from the spiders themselves and harvest it for material since it is supposedly stronger than steel when compared to it. | [
"Because how many spiders would THAT take? And who wants to be around *that many spiders*? Unlike spiders, [genetically engineered goats won't eat each other. Also, they're so much cuter!](_URL_0_) :)"
] | [
"A simple answer is it is just a set of compounds woven together tightly into proteins. These compounds are generated biologically rather than in a factory. They are mostly composed of Alanine and Glycine which are major amino acids. This is called Fibron. Creating this on a large scale would be major expensive and... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do gun control opponents in the US state that "gun control doesn't work", when it has been shown to work incredibly well in places like Australia and the UK? | [
"Simply because they don't want stricter gun laws. The fear is that stricter gun laws will, over time, escalate into even more strict laws until guns are eventually outright banned. Having guns is a major piece of southern identity and way of life. Being in the southern US, I can literally only think of one househ... | [
"Chicago heavily restricted the legal purchasing and ownership of firearms, to the point that it is basically impossible for a standard civilian to get a gun. As such only law enforcement, and criminals have ready access to guns and so the criminals have taken advantage of that fact and act accordingly with an unar... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How come when you make a “hooo” sound out of your mouth, the airs cold. But when you make a “haaa” sound, it’s hot air? | [
"The velocity of the air. When you go \"haaa\" your mouth is wider and when you go \"hooo\" it's narrower, so if your lungs are compressing air at the same rate for each mouth shape the speed of the breath will be slower on your \"haaa\". Why does speed matter? Your breath is the same temperature regardless of spee... | [
"Because the same air is coming out of your lungs and back out of your nose. Like asking why you taste food when throwing up."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the comment about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the comment about Health:"
} |
Why does it feel like you're punching under water when you're fighting in your dreams? | [
"From one of the last time this was asked _URL_0_"
] | [
"Why do the glands in my neck burn like high hell when I'm holding back tears?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why aren't we all putting our savings in tax shelters? | [
"Beyond the obvious \"What savings?\" issue, most people don't make enough money that the tax rates on interest are that big of an issue. I can't afford to visit the Caribbean, let alone put money in banks there."
] | [
"Smart rich people don't put their money in losing investments. It's really as simple as that."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Animals getting saved from extinction. | [
"I believe the smallest population size to prevent inbreeding is ~4000 individuals. If the species is limited to < 1000 individuals then inbreeding will be a serious problem which might cause the species to die out completely. There are methods to slow inbreeding such as planned mating with less-related members, c... | [
"Animals suicide too due to depression it just doesnt make the news often."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer about Psychology:"
} |
Why does water make grease fires worse? | [
"Three facts: water is heavier than oil, burning oil is hotter than the boiling point of water, and when water boils, it expands- by a lot. So when water falls onto a pool of burning oil, it sinks, then boils, then it blows oil- burning oil- all over your kitchen."
] | [
"Salt doesn't make water boil faster, it increases the boiling temperature, making it take MORE time to boil. It also does the opposite to ice, decreasing the freezing point, making it colder. Add salt to water to cook food faster, not to get it to a boil faster."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
How do they know the Chechens being hunted down are, in fact, the bombers? | [
"For one there's photographic evidence that shows them at the race with backpacks in some photos and without them in others, implying they were left somewhere. For another, they gave chase, returned fire, killed a police officer, which is beyond suspicious."
] | [
"Pretty much only the civilians caught in the crossfire now. Assad has killed most of the rebels that you would support, leaving only groups like those that are favorable to Al-Qaeda left."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why is it that having a mint taste in your mouth causes water to feel like its ice. | [
"Menthol, which is what you mean by mint flavor, binds to the temperature receptors on your tongue and tricks your brain into thinking that you're eating something cold."
] | [
"Nothing is touching the back of your throat or tongue so there is nothing to trigger it. Why do you think sound would trigger it?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Dentistry:",
"pos": "Represent the post about Dentistry:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Why does smartphone screenes show micro abrasions when most metals cannot scratch it? | [
"Although metals are tough, they are not quite as hard as you think. You can get a tough metal by quench hardening carbon steel, but even those are scratched by things like sand and rocks. What I’m getting at here, is that sand and rocks are harder then metals at the molecular scale, so they scratch things metals c... | [
"You leave finger oil. This could in theory cause the plastic on the screen to dissolve, slowly and insubstantially, and in theory pressure on the LCD panel itself might cause damage with enough force. But generally, no, they aren't that delicate."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why does athlete's foot only happen to your feet? | [
"> If it's a fungus, why couldn't it grow in, say, the webbing between your fingers, or behind your ears? It could if those areas were damp and warm enough. Athlete's foot only happens to the feet because if for example it is around the genitals it is \"Jock itch\". Conceptually you could have it in other areas of ... | [
"Why do the glands in my neck burn like high hell when I'm holding back tears?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
The origin of college spring break? | [
"Back when the US was more religious, Easter was a pretty big holiday & people would get time off to travel & see family. For schools on a quarter system instead of a semester system, spring break is the period between winter & spring terms."
] | [
"One is the British term, the other the American. They are the same thing."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Education:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Education:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is index notation in mathematics? | [
"In algebra, you use letters to stand for numbers with values either that you don't know and want to find out, or that you want to allow to have any value. You then play around with these letters to find out the answers you are looking for. Typically, you might use x, y and z for three values, or a, b, c, d for fou... | [
"There are two different values that you derive using the formula. One by adding, one by subtracting."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do (most) Americans reject cars with a manual shift stick? | [
"There used to be good reasons to drive a manual shift car (regarding getting good gas mileage), but that's really not an issue these days. The margin is so small that people would rather not have to deal with it. So if you are given a choice of manual or automatic, it becomes \"why not automatic?\" And the only le... | [
"Most cars are front wheel drive, not rear wheel drive"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.