query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1 value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Why is incest such a common trope in porn? | [
"It's taboo (which makes it exciting), it's something that could arise out of a real life situation (theoretically it could happen to anyone, even you!), and it strikes the chord of \"when sex was still new and exciting\" (even if the actors aren't pretending to be underage, there's usually a younger inexperienced ... | [
"Because for whatever reason, western society has become more accepting of depictions of violence than it has of depictions of sex. You see the same thing in films, TV, book, and other entertainment media."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why do some salon style shampoos and conditioners have a warning that products purchased from anywhere other than salons could be counterfeited? | [
"The salons get to put a large markup on those products and dont want you buying them elsewhere"
] | [
"Different brands have different preservatives in them. You can be sensitive or have an allergic response to certain preservatives and not others."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How did punch cards work? Specifically, what is the reading mechanism? | [
"There are eighty columns on a card. Each column can be punched with a single hole, in a location that designates a number 0 through 9. Each column can also be punched with two holes whose locations designate a letter of the alphabet. Modern punch machines (70's modern) both read and punch. They read by shining lig... | [
"Programs were often hard wired, literally wired, in a plug board, on early machines. So the input data and program were part of the machine. Before the advances in the ABC (Atanasoff–Berry Computer) became common, the results were analog voltages that had to be read out, or actual decimal memory they had to be re... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
why other sects of Christianity generally do not like Catholics. | [
"At one point in time, the Catholic Church was the *only* church...in fact, the word catholic means \"universal\". Every major branch of Christianity at some point in time broke away from the Catholics. Not only did they disagree on religion, but it lead to centuries of war in Europe, with one king trying to change... | [
"- Islamic teaching tolerates other religion - Muslim assholes don't"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is "Shepard's Tone" | [
"_URL_0_ Explains it better than I ever could."
] | [
"Sleep - Shake Unconscious - Splash Coma - Wait and Hope Vegetative State - Wait and Bury"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why are dogs affraid of vacuums? | [
"Like people, all dogs personalities are not the same. I have three dogs of varying size (55, 75 & 100 lbs). My bulldog is not scared of thunder or guns, but is afraid of the vacuum & fireworks. My mutt is afraid of absolutely everything (he will stop breathing when it is thundering outside.. he's a weirdo). And my... | [
"* Dogs crying are usually quieter than babies. * Dogs problems are easier to solve than babies. * Dogs are cuter than babies. * Babies cry over the stupidest shit."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
[NSFW maybe] how come when you tickle yourself you don't feel anything but when you masturbate its pleasurable? | [
"When you are tickled your body thinks it's being attacked, thats why you can't tickle yourself (cause what person attacks his/herself?)"
] | [
"I'm the same way. Even when I masturbate- when I finish, I don't want anything to do with me."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why can public schools, funded by the government, limit the rights of its students? | [
"It's a legal concept called [in loco parentis](_URL_0_). The school is legally acting in place of your parent while you're a student, and as such are allowed to act in your best interest as they see fit. There are some legal restrictions on this in the interest of upholding civil rights with regard to discriminati... | [
"It IS legal to have an all white or black school, or a gender segregated school as long as the school is private and does not accept funds from the government."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
This whole idea of "we make the car, then ship it to independent dealers to charge whatever they want" seems kind of silly. Make the car, ship it to your brand's retail stores, and sell it. Done. What's the deal? | [
"I think it has something to do with preventing monopolies. A lot of laws in business regarding antitrust and monopolies come from Standard Oil? and John D/ Rockefeller's practices back in the early 1900's, where he practiced Vertical Integration, owning each facet of a process, i.e., owning the company that produc... | [
"They don't make them, just buy them at a distributor for a lower price and put their name on it. They can afford to do so because they don't have to advertise or spend money on packaging or placement. They already have a place on their shelf to sell the product for lower than the competition. At least that's my 5 ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is happening inside my console when a game is loading? | [
"Loading from the hard drive to the RAM. In a computer (including consoles), the processors, the GPU and CPU, need to have quick access to the data, and hard drives are far too slow to provide this, even new SSDs are still too slow. So what was the solution to this? RAM, or Random Access Memory. RAM is very very fa... | [
"They're often loading from a different server than the rest of the website."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Is it possible for new types of sailor's knots to be "discovered"? Or have the common ones been around for hundreds of years? | [
"The common ones have been around for ages. They are the most efficient and easiest to tie. There're four main types of knots: Bend - ties two lines together; Hitch - ties a line to another object; Loop - creates a loop in the rope; and stopper knots, which basically just make the line thicker. The most efficient f... | [
"Patents don't last forever. In the US they last for 20 years, after which anyone is free to make their own version of the product. Hatchets have been around about as long as modern humans have, so that patent would have run out thousands of years ago, and any future attempts to patent it would be blocked by someth... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
While digital video is stored as separate frames, how is sound stored digitally? | [
"An analog audio signal is represented as a wave, looking like [this](_URL_0_). If you want to represent this in digital, you just go along this wave and mark the amplitude (the height) of the wave at regular intervals. The result is a long list of numbers, each of them called a \"sample\". If these intervals are s... | [
"Because GIF was not designed for video. It was designed primarily for still images. But it also included a feature for simple sequences of images, but they are still fundamentally stored as separate distinct images rather than a video. The difference is proper video formats do things like storing the differences f... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why didn't Gandalf use his powerful Eagle friends to transport the fellowship to mordor? Or even use them to take thorin oakenshield's group to the misty mountain? It would have saved many lives including Boromir. | [
"They would have been seen and killed before they got there. Hobbits on foot were the better choice because they could sneak in unnoticed past hordes of orcs."
] | [
"Remember in the movies when frodo gets caught in that mini landslide and two evil men check out the area? Notice that those guys are heavily armored: they are not the same people that ride the elephants during the siege of minas tirith. Heavy Armor = Men of Rhun (north of mordor) Elephant Dudes = Men of Harad (sou... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is happening when we are "emotionally exhausted"? | [
"Get married and you will find out. Jokes aside. Emotions are thoughts and feelings that require your body to provide energy to do. if you're having a lot of those, they drain energy and make a person tired. Example might be a wife with a sick husband, she has to look after the kids, go to hospital everyday, co... | [
"When you're no longer in danger, and you're still \"defending yourself\"."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How do presidents get up to speed on issues? | [
"The President has not just a staff of secretaries but they have appoint a group called the \"Cabinet\" whose job it is to be an expert on various things. If he wanted more information about small business he could go to Penny Pritzker (Department of Commerce) and ask her to compile a report."
] | [
"It's really a good idea to brief someone who has a substantial chance of being the commander-in-chief about what's going on. The last thing you want is a new president who needs weeks worth of briefings before having enough information to act on a crisis."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why FTL implies backward time travel | [
"it is a sci-fi show cliche for one thing... in theory, the faster you go, the slower time goes for you and it approaches zero as you get closer to the speed of light. So, based on that logic, if you go faster than the speed of light, you go into negative time. Supposedly, matter can't go faster than the speed of l... | [
"The same way it speeds up, except with opposite sign: the magnetic fields push on it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
If underage sex is illegal and murder is illegal then why is viewing underage sex illegal but viewing murder is not? | [
"People don't murder other people in order to create videos and profit from people watching them. But some adults do sexual things to children in order to create videos and make money. So when someone watches that underage sex video, they're creating an industry that hurts underage people, who by definition can't... | [
"For porn to be legal, it has to be a producer paying a guy and a girl to have sex with each other, that's the big difference. Porn is considered to be freedom of expression."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
why aren't faucet pipes straight? | [
"Well, for THAT pipe I would imagine the bend helps slow the waterfall so it doesn't splash too much. But for the ones with the S-bend, like in the USA and other places, it traps water so smells and gas doesn't come back up the pipes."
] | [
"Your faucet has a screen on it sometimes referred to as a diffuser. If you unscrew the diffuser from the end of the faucet, that probably won't happen anymore."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Newton's Second Law? | [
"Slap a ball and it'll move in the direction you slapped it. Slap it harder and it'll move faster."
] | [
"Sleep - Shake Unconscious - Splash Coma - Wait and Hope Vegetative State - Wait and Bury"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
How can fluids be incompressible? | [
"Fluids aren't completely incompressible; they're generally more compressible than solids, for sure. It's just that, under the kind of conditions normally studied in fluid dynamics, they will only compress a little tiny bit. So we can simplify a *lot* of things if we just say \"okay, pretend they can't be compresse... | [
"Pressure helps keep the carbonation in soda. If you shake it, all of the fluid speeds up. As speed increases in a fluid, pressure decreases. As pressure decreases, the gas can escape the liquid it is dissolved in. Eli25: Bernoulli's principle combines with reduced solubility of gasses in a liquid at lower pressur... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
When a casino brings in a cooler, what exactly is the cooler doing? | [
"Nothing because it's superstitious nonsense. If someone is counting cards at a blackjack table and the casino doesn't want to/can't kick them out for some reason, a new dealer will burn a card before they start, which makes it closer to time to shuffle and adds an additional unknown card which makes the count less... | [
"Because casinos can refuse service for any reason that's not a protected class -- that is, they can't kick you out because you're black or a woman or a Jew or any of several other criteria. However, \"playing strategically\" isn't a protected class. And when someone turns the odds in their favor, they are no longe... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why is it so difficult for Iran to build nuclear weapons today, if the US could build them in the 40's? | [
"[The Manhattan Project](_URL_2_) was a tremendous project. It [ grew to employ more than 130,000 people and cost nearly US$2 billion (about $26 billion in 2015[1] dollars). Over 90% of the cost was for building factories and producing the fissile materials, with less than 10% for development and production of the ... | [
"Both sides have sufficient nukes to destroy the other within 90 minutes max."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
What exactly is happening when we taste food? | [
"Its your taste buds that pick up certain chemicals in your food. Your taste buds then send electric pulses to your brain and tells it this is what this thing tastes like, and this is the sensation you should release. That's why the natural human reaction is to pull away from spicy food."
] | [
"This would be easier to answer if we had any clue what happens inside our brain when we understand something."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Would "station spinning" (the "rotating wheel") really create a sensation of gravity in a space station? | [
"It works, and the best part is that you don't have to rotate the station to see the effect. If you move around a stationary circular station the result is pretty similar; NASA played around with this during Skylab: _URL_0_"
] | [
"* it isn't very big, and would have to spin really, really fast to simulate 1g * spinning makes it hard to dock with * part of the point is to do experiments in a weightless environment."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
If everything in the universe disappeared except Earth, our moon, and the Sun, would it be self-sufficient? | [
"In the short term, probably. The loss of the other planets would have a small but non-negligible effect on the orbits of the three remaining bodies, so eventually something would likely start to go wrong there. That aside, the Earth-Moon system is pretty much self-sufficient. There isn't really anything that the ... | [
"If you were observing the earth from 65 million light years away right now then, in theory, yes. Practically speaking, the size of telescope required to observe something as small as a dinosaur from that far away would make it completely impossible."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text about astronomy:"
} |
What's so great about Chicago Cubs winning the world series? | [
"It's been 108 years since they last won the World Series. Sliced bread had yet to be invented yet."
] | [
"It's not about winning. It's about sending a message."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Humans have a limited audio and visual range. Do we also have a limited range of taste? | [
"Taste is basically the ability to detect the chemical makeup of a substance. So yeah, pretty much any chemical we can't taste counts."
] | [
"Long story short, some animals recognize each other in different ways than vision and other animals simply don't have the brain capacity."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why do so many countries simply have 3 vertical or horizontal stripes as a flag? | [
"For most of history, flags were considerably more complex. Back then, a noble house would make a flag that symbolized their wealth and power, so they would go all out, spending on it like a modern wealthy family spends on cars or gardens. The tricolor comes from the needs of the French Revolution. Before that, nob... | [
"A few reasons: Basic, primary colors are good for flags because those are easier to make and to see from a distance. There aren't that many basic primary colors (think of the 8-Crayola box). So by random chance \"most countries\" are going to use at least one of any three of those colors. Also, a great many countr... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
If all dogs are the same species, how can there be so many different and diverse breeds? | [
"We've spent thousands of years breeding dogs for specific purposes, leading to a wide diversity of shapes suited to those purposes. Then in the last hundred years or so we've started \"ultra typing\" these dogs, picking those traits that we think define a breed and selecting them to the extreme. They are all the ... | [
"Humans are all the same species. Races are used to distinguish between genetic variations within this species. A similar concept is how all dogs are the same species, but we refer to different \"kinds\" of dogs as different breeds. You could say that our different races are akin to different \"breeds\" of humans."... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence about biology:"
} |
Why is it that most people write in blue, but we print all books etc. in black? | [
"As a lawyer, I always want my clients to sign documents in blue. It is a carry over from photocopying - photocopy is black & white, so a blue signature is \"original\". Of course this doesn't really apply as much now that everyone has color copiers but we still maintain the practice. But, because of this practice... | [
"Yellow is not very visible on white paper, Red is traditionally used for grading paperwork, the other colors are traditionally used for different things in different classes but normally restricted to revision and editing sections of writing so using them makes it seem like you are submitting incomplete work. Usi... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do trains stay on their tracks? | [
"Basically because the wheels aren't perfectly cylindrical, they are cone shaped, the outer side is a smaller diameter than the inner side. This means that the weight of the train and the difference in rotation speeds between matched wheels forces continuous position adjustments that keep the train centered between... | [
"Do you know how a fan works? If so just turn it around"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do medicine commercials list all the bad/crazy side effects on TV? | [
"They have to. They are required by law (how much they have to say depends on where you live though)."
] | [
"It affects brain chemistry. Some peoples brain react to chemicals differently than others. This is like asking why only some people suffer the 10 million side affects listed after drug commercials."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why my computer speakers go spastic every time i get a call on my phone | [
"Your mobile phone communicates with the phone network using electromagnetic radio waves. One feature of electromagnetic waves is that when they pass through a wire, they create an electric current in the wire. This is what's happening. The phone is generating electromagnetic waves so it can communicate with the ph... | [
"What kind of tv do you have? Just off the top of my head do you have auto motion plus turned on?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
where does the expression "you only use 10% of your brain" come from? | [
"I learned just yesterday that this myth comes from a misunderstanding of a William James quote. Here's a pretty interesting [TedTalk] (_URL_0_) that explains!"
] | [
"Because you are not paying attention to what time it is. Your focus is on the task at hand. (Space filler because autobot will delete answer) Because you are not paying attention to what time it is. Your focus is on the task at hand. Because you are not paying attention to what time it is. Your focus is on the t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post about Sleep and boredom:"
} |
I know penny auctions are a rip but why are they a rip off? | [
"They're a rip-off because most bidders pay money for nothing - they don't even get proof that the item actually exists. [From wikipedia:](_URL_0_) > For example, if an item worth 1,000 currency units (dollars, euros, etc.) sells at a final price of 60, and a bid costing 1 raises the price of the item by 0.01, the... | [
"They absolutely don't work at all. But wait, there's more! Ok sadly there isn't, it's just basically a scam, there's no evidence this stuff does anything."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why haven't animals learnt to stay the fuck away from humans considering how often we kill them? | [
"Those animal populations that are actively hunted do. You can tell this easily by observing deer. Deer who live in an area long enough learn when hunting season is and are much more skittish during that season. Deer also seem know when they are on land that is safe. I have often seen deer run like maniac to get aw... | [
"Raising them from birth helps. If you feed something and give it enough food and space and entertainment, it won't be as inclined to kill you. Although they're tame, not domesticated, so they could snap at any moment."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Animal behavior:"
} |
What is the difference between crystal and glass? | [
"Crystal is a structure where atoms / molecules are ordered in a self-similar repeating structure. Glass is a solid substance when atoms/molecules don't form any ordered repeating structure, and the substance can be heated so it becomes more runny/~~elastic~~ less viscous, and then cooled back into a solid form. Th... | [
"More importantly, what's the difference between hot and best?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Explain LI5 what is beyond Internet Service Providers | [
"It's all about *peering agreements.* Basically, two ISPs have an agreement along the lines of \"I'll carry your traffic if you carry mine\" and connect themselves to each other. Of course, there are two many ISPs for every ISP to have an agreement with every other ISP, but if you just have connections to a few maj... | [
"> secure digital medium > phone app Pick one"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why does the Fukushima plant still leak so much contaminated water into the sea? | [
"The more important questions are what is your concept of \"so much\"? And does it matter? How much does it matter? [Beta radiation has the weakest penetration power](_URL_0_)."
] | [
"1. No 2. See #1 3. Yes. Pacific fish is fine too. There is no serious contamination of fish stocks from the Fukushima incident. 4. Not a threat at all. 5. Much, much less. 6. Worst case scenario now? If they manage to absolutely massively fuck up remediation efforts we might see another restriction on fishing dire... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How can the DEA make the decision to ban Kratom in 30 days with no legislation passed by the US government? | [
"> With no legislation passed by the US government But there was - **in 1970** when Nixon declared his \"War on Drugs\" and Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act _URL_0_ 3 years later the DEA was established with an amazing amount of unregulated power to decide what people are and are not legally allowed to... | [
"1. Marijuana is not actually legal in Texas yet. The bill has not passed, only the people who decide what lawmakers are allowed to vote on said that they could vote on it. 2. Four states have legalized Marijuana. 3. The move is driven by small-government conservatives who believe that it's not up to the state to d... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
If a movie does well in the box office, who gets all of the money/profit? | [
"The company that produced it (Paramount, Warner Bros., etc). The people involved with making the film are generally paid by this company, and the company gets the profit from the actual output (the movie). I'm sure some actors and such have contracts that state that they'll get part of the profits from the film th... | [
"Because nobody in the film business cares about how many people watched their movie now versus some movie they put out 50 years ago, because it in no way shape or form affects their business. It all comes down to how much money they put in, and how much money they make."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
why do Muslims take issue with depictions of Prophet Muhammad, but seem okay with movies such as the Passion of the Christ which depict other major prophets of Islam? | [
"We are not okay with movies such as the passion of Christ. As Muslims, we shouldn't depict any prophets, but we shouldn't get violent over it."
] | [
"In addition to what ske105 said, Muslims believe that they worship the same god as the Jews and the Christians, but that these other people of the book aren't caught up on the latest chapters. Like many Christians, Muslims believe that Jesus will return for the second coming. But he is still a man, like the other ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why is 0% brightness on smartphones still so bright? | [
"I think the real reason is so that you can't turn the brightness down so low that you can't see the screen to turn it back up."
] | [
"They don't produce it. They simply turn off all pixels in the area. They can't go any darker. But it seems darker because adjacent pixels are lit."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How is a piece of software like "Scan/Check Disk" able to fix a piece of hardware being your "Hard Drive"? What is going on behind the scenes here and why can't the OS just fix these errors on-the-fly? | [
"Your hard drive uses an organization system. Think of it like the index of a book, it's page numbers and table of contents too. There's way too much data to ever keep track of otherwise. As it's working, it's constantly updating and editing this index to reflect the drive's contents. Pulling the plug before it can... | [
"Computer programs ALWAYS have bugs, it's the nature of programming as software is usually so complicated with thousands upon thousands of lines of code, some situations weren't thought about or someone just made a mistake when making it. Little bugs often exist that cause programs to become unstable over time, and... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why are American cities so 'Manhattanised'? | [
"In addition to the other answers, I'd also add that the UK has the [\"right to light\"](_URL_0_) law that can prevent skyscrapers from going up if they'd illegally block someone's light. America doesn't have a similar law in place (so far as I know), or at least, if we do, it would likely have to be on a more loca... | [
"hi! not discouraging NYC historians from contributing here, but fyi there have been a few threads on this topic that you might find interesting * [Why did New York City deteriorate in the late 1960s and 70s only to recover in the late 70's and 80's](_URL_3_) - featuring NYC flair /u/Yearsnowlost * [Was New York of... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How did North Korea become the dictatorship it is today? | [
"After the fall of Nazi Germany the USSR began a military campaign against Japan (the last remaining Axis power). Soviet military forces seized Pyongyang and Kim Il-sung was installed as the leader of the Communist party. North Korea declared itself a sovereign entity in 1948 and has been a dictatorship ever since.... | [
"If the things North Korea did made sense, they wouldn't be North Korea."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Are sweatshop workers better off if their factories close down? | [
"If you're in a third world country, your other options might include: * Farm work: You vs. the elements, back breaking work * Mining: Sometimes in dangerous, unregulated, illegal conditions * Waste management: Possibly dealing with dangerous waste from first-world nations such as electronics which can contain high... | [
"Part of the problem is that a growing economy means that the workers demand a higher salary, which makes production more expensive. Many companies produce in China because labour is so cheap there. But if it becomes more expensive, companies will start moving to countries that are still as cheap as China used to b... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Why do most people's faces swell up after crying for a long time or crying hard? | [
"Your body is flooding your system with histamines causing inflamation, congestion, etc. in response to stress."
] | [
"I don't want to alarm you but this was one of the symptoms I had before getting severely ill. Do you get quickly tired ? For example, after running for a bit ? Does your face seem a little fatter than before ? Do you cough without any apparent reason ?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
How do trees know how long a year is? | [
"Every plant has a time of year when they do the most growing. It's unimaginatively known as the \"growing season\". We can measure time using tree rings because for each species of tree there's a time of year when they start growing, and their growth is very fast, compared to a time of year when their growth is ve... | [
"Someone told them what the answer is supposed to be."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Botany:",
"pos": "Represent the post about Botany:",
"neg": "Represent the post about Technology:"
} |
Why is it that in animated series, objects that can move around are drawn differently than static objects? | [
"Drawn differently? Like the classic Wile E Coyote where you can tell that THAT rock right there is going to squish him because it's a different color? That's because when those were done animation was still printed on cels and those cels were [layered on top of each other](_URL_0_). So you'd have a background stat... | [
"They're 2D images which means they look the same no matter what your viewing angle. This contrasts with your usual everyday experiences in a world that has 3 spacial dimensions. Because of this photos can give the impression that the eyes are tracking the person looking at the picture."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do people stop and look when there is a traffic accident ? | [
"When we do the same mundane task over and over and over, our brain basically shuts off. We just continue doing the mundane task as a brain \"sub routine\" and we drift out. Car accidents are exciting and different, it wakes your brain up. Something is happening so now you're active in your involvement in driving. ... | [
"They're to stop you when there is an incident up ahead so you don't become part of the incident."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does swarm intelligence work? How are ants or bees smarter as a group than an individual? | [
"Imagine that you have a number of (bees/participants/sources), each of which has 1% accurate, useful information and 99% random noise. Individually, the noise drowns out the information. However, if you add together all of your (bees/participants/sources) in the right way, the information accumulates while the noi... | [
"Almost certainly not. In fact, it's kind of up for debate whether bees \"know\" anything at all. Their neurological systems are so simplistic, it's been argued that they aren't even really sentient in the way humans are. They're basically robots following the incredibly simple programming they're born with. It's b... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
What do people in big corporate legal departments do all day? | [
"It totally depends on the corporation and the lawyer, but activities might include: * Writing or reviewing contracts between one corporation and another * Responding to subpoenas or information requests from the government or law enforcement - for example if the FBI is tracking a criminal, they may ask Google and ... | [
"Who's gonna do it? And who's gonna feed those who do it? Some organizations do plant trees to better the ecosystem, but they need to get money one way or the other."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Is it true that America does not negotiate with terrorists? Why not? | [
"If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to want a glass of milk. If you negotiate with terrorists, it feeds the cycle that people can manipulate you by being terrorists. Hence you get more terrorists."
] | [
"Who says they don't just call the other country and threaten them? What do you think diplomats do behind closed doors?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Why do all SUVs have a rear windshield wiper while almost every sedan doesn't? | [
"I think it has to do with the rear window of SUV's/minivans being more vertical compared to a car which usually has a more angled back window. Passing air wont blow the water off the suv back window the same way it would in a car."
] | [
"Some do have an actual oil level indicator. I am not sure 100%, but I think it comes with more luxury cars. I know for a fact some Audi's made in the last 4 years have them."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why are aboriginal boobies not blurred on TV when other boobs in the USA are blurred? | [
"In the United States, the government isn't normally allowed to restrict speech, including what people put on television. There are a number of ways to get around this, but the biggest one is that free speech doesn't cover \"obscenity.\" What this means, though, is that the ability to block someone from, say, putti... | [
"Sex is taboo. Penises and vaginas are actual sex organs. Just like butts, which aren't censored either, nipples/boobs are only sexual objects according to circumstance and culture."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How can companies not have nutritional information on their food? | [
"There are a few exceptions to the rules about labeling. If you're buying it from the company that makes it, then it probably falls under the \"Delicatessen-type food, bakery products and confections that are sold directly to consumers from the location where prepared\" exclusion. There are a few other exclusions,... | [
"The point of the label is that required legal statements (like nutrition and ingredients) aren't on the individually wrapped servings but rather on the box they came in. These warnings protect the manufacturer from charges that they made items without the required labeling."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why has Iran so quickly reversed its footing on its nuclear program? | [
"The latest sanctions on the Iranians have effectively crippled the countries economy to a point that is essentially unsustainable and will only get worse if they continue on their current course. The Iranians have come to the table and accepted very large concessions about their nuclear program in order to ease th... | [
"The nuclear deal calls for international monitors to regularly conduct inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities and military facilities, so as to ensure nuclear weapons are not being produced. If Iran produces nuclear weapons in violation of the agreement, then numerous economic sanctions will be reimposed with t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Our body fight diseases by increasing the temperature, why betraying it by cooling ourselves down? | [
"Your body is a house, pathogens are a thousand and thousand of cockroaches ramping on the floor. Fever is basically the house habitant (immune system) being like \"Oh fuck it, let's burn the fucking house down\". It's super effective but it can be very damaging, when a fever isn't really high, doctors usually advi... | [
"Ofcorse it helps, a part of your body is no longer under the cover which is warming it up, which is obviously making your body cooler."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
How does too much salt increase blood pressure? | [
"[It's not entirely clear that it does.](_URL_0_) High levels of sodium consumption (sodium being the half of the table salt molecule, NaCl, that's relevant here) have traditionally been associated with hypertension (i.e., high blood pressure). But recent research indicates that the relationship between sodium inta... | [
"Your teacher is an idiot. Talk to a doctor about the best way to beat a type of cancer. That being said, a diet high in vegetables and low in red meat would lower your chances of getting cancer in the first place."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Why do people in movies automatically bleed through the mouth when they are injured in the belly area? It's something that happens in real life? | [
"It's possible but not too common. If someone is stabbed or shot in the stomach, most of the blood would drain down, not be coughed up. However, if someone is stabbed in the lungs, it's definitely more possible. There's a lot of blood vessels in your lungs and you could definitely see people coughing up blood in th... | [
"That doesn't really happen much in real life. That's mostly for dramatic effect in movies and TV shows. In real life, cars don't really surge forward and fall back that way."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
When and why did humans begin to wear clothing? | [
"When is tricky. Clothing is unlikely to survive as long as other tools, so we can't say with certainty that the earliest tool-users (Australopithecus) didn't wear furs or other clothing. As to why? That's also tricky. There's no historical or archaeological record of early clothing, so your guess is as good as any... | [
"Because our ancestors used to have claws there."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why is it rude to ask people how old they are? | [
"Society seems to have an ideal age to look like (somewhere around 21-25), and everyone is always trying to look as close to that age as possible. Asking someone their age destroys any and all effort they've put into that attempt to appear closer to that ideal age."
] | [
"If it's OK for me to do it, it has to be OK for everybody to do it. If it's not OK for everybody to do it, then it's not OK for me to do it either."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
why to we have a divot beneath our noses and above our mouths. | [
"It is a seam left over from when you were formed in your mothers womb."
] | [
"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 Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
ELI5: What are the best explanations of how to visualize an atom? | [
"How about:- A small fuzzy ball that you can't quite see surrounded by a larger fuzzy cloud of stuff that you also can't quite get a fix on."
] | [
"Before I write stuff for this, can you maybe give a bit of background on how much you know about atomic orbitals themselves?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Science:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post about Science:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
- Why do my teeth get a funny feeling when I have to pee really badly? | [
"I definately have experienced this and ive talked to many other people who have as well. Ive even heard it refferred to in a book, i cant remember the book at all unfortunately. I remember character used the phrase \"i have to pee so bad my teeth are floating\" or something to that effect. Ur def not alone dude"
] | [
"Normally this happens in the gums, not the actual tooth. Nerve endings can be exposed in the gums from brushing too hard or other things. So when you eat something hot or cold, your tooth seems to hurt. You can use a toothpaste like sensodyne. This paste forms a protective layering over the gum and lets the nerves... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why the US and many other western countries were not on Bashar al-Assads side, but rather wanted to take him down, when his enemies are apparently ISIS. Shouldn't the west support the enemies of ISIS?! | [
"The Syrian Civil War isn't simply Assad vs. ISIS. There are many other factions involved, including Hezbollah, Kurdish forces, many (small, disorganized) various anti-Assad rebels, and Israel. [This map](_URL_0_) might help. That's why the west struggled with how to handle Syria - none of the opposition groups wer... | [
"Russia is attacking and plans to attack various forces hostile to the Assad's Syrian Government, who is an ally of Russia, and Russia wants to protect."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about current affairs:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about current affairs:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
What does "Depraved Heart Murder" mean? | [
"You may be interested in the following thread. There are some bad answers in there, but a few comprehensive ones and discussion following. _URL_0_"
] | [
"\"Local Man Asked For Hit Advice On Reddit Before Murdering His Wife, Police Say\" - I can see it now..."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
what is going on in your body when you get paranoid/anxiety attacks/vomitting when you smoke too much weed? | [
"If you were 21 instead of 5, and happened to be visiting a state like mine with legal recreational cannabis, I might recommend you try an indica instead of a sativa."
] | [
"If I sit around I tend to not drink as much water as normal, and when I'm dehydrated I have these exact symptoms. Maybe it's that."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why do children instinctively like cartoons ? | [
"I think it's less that kids 'instinctively' like cartoons, but rather that producers understand what kids will like and cater to that. Cartoons are a big part of that, obviously, but also live action shows like teletubbies, yo gabba gabba, and sesame street, for example."
] | [
"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 passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
What is happening in C# when I call a method? | [
"I'm a little confused by your question, BUT: If you're having problems copy-pasting code from one place to another it's probably a **scope** issue. The \"scope\" of a variable is the portion of a program in which that variable can be legally referenced. Usually, this leads to compile errors, but if you are using t... | [
"These explains the versions of C# in relation to the .NET frameworks. _URL_0_ _URL_1_ You'll want Express for Windows Desktop. The \"Windows\" one is misleading and only for lesser \"Windows Store Apps\" ie not proper full blown programs. Also, because there's no direct equivalent of this in Java it's worth mentio... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
what exactly is vibrational and chassis tuning when automakers are testing vehicles and concepts? | [
"Everything has a resonant frequency, the pitch where the whole structure will vibrate and generally cause problems for people in or near the thing. Bridges sometimes collapse (for example) because the wind or the people walking across it match the resonant frequency and amplify it until the structure fails. In car... | [
"because emissions on cars are a lot more strict and mostly for cars, manufacturers want noise suppression. for motorcycles like harley's their selling point is the noise."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do most drones have four spinning instead of three? | [
"I'm assuming you are talking about the rotors here and not the wheels or anything else, since you haven't stated it. With rotor aircraft the ideal set up is to have an even number of rotors, be that 2 or 4 or 8. The reason for this is gyroscopic torque, the same reason a helicopter (1 rotor, odd number) needs a ta... | [
"Drone implies an onboard computer is helping the vehicle hover in place. The more expensive drones use gps to stay in place and adjusts the motors to keep wind from blowing it around. Quad copter is the term used for a vehicle that uses four rotors. Usually, these rely on the pilot to make numerous adjustments to ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does someone end up owing thousands in back taxes? | [
"Easy. Your W-2 was't filled out right and didn't automatically withdraw enough taxes. Then come tax time you owe thousands of dollars because you didnt pay enough during the year. However you didnt realize this was happening and don't have the money to pay right away. Boom back taxes."
] | [
"If they cannot pay it all now their wages will be garnished from now until the point that the debt is paid. Not all debts can garnish your wages, but governmental debts and legal fines can. These types of debts cannot be discharged via bankruptcy either. Odds are they will be paying for this crime for the rest of... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
why is there a calm before the storm? | [
"There isn't always, but when there is it is because when the warm, dry, stable air rolls in it 'calms down' the rest of the air. Source:[how stuff works](_URL_0_)"
] | [
"I guess its because of that everything is more silent at night, if that makes any sense..."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How does our brain create a mind? | [
"This is a question no one knows the answer to, there are plenty of theories about what it could be though."
] | [
"Your brain has no idea what death feels like."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Psychology:"
} |
Where does deleted data go? | [
"It ceases to exist. Actually, when you first delete something from a hard drive, it remains right where it was. The delete command is the computer telling the drive to disregard that information, and that it's okay to use that data's space for future writing. Then the next time you save something, it might go in ... | [
"> Is there anything more to it? Turn left."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How are random product/reward codes generated? | [
"Lets assume for a moment the key is comprised of just uppercase letters. This allows for 26 options for each character of the key, giving a total of 26^25 possible combinations. 26^25 is about 2.3\\*10^(35) total, or about 3.2\\*10^(25) (that's 32,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) possible combinations *for every l... | [
"What do you mean? Your question needs to be a bit more specific. Are you asking what it is? Or how it's set? Or how the payments are made?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Can you get a computer virus if you go to a site but don't click anything? Or stream a video but don't download it? | [
"Yes. A site could have javascript that downloads or installs things, or if it uses flash, you could have an out of date version that's susceptible to an exploit in what you're watching. To stream something, you have to download it. Think of a download like going and buying a book to take home, and a stream as gett... | [
"When you download the app, it asks permission. If you give it permission, it's generally not considered malicious software. When you get malware on your computer, you generally didn't want it in the first place and you probably didn't give it permission."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
If my allergy to dust has evolved to make me sneeze/cough/runny nose why should I take drugs to counter that? Does it not serve a similar function of pain or smell in letting me know of something that is harmful? | [
"Allergies occur when the immune system responds to a stimulus which does not require an immune response. It's essentially an error, or, maybe more accurately, an overreaction to something that is not actually harmful. You take the medicine to alleviate the symptoms you are suffering from something that shouldn't o... | [
"1. Injury, however minor, may cause an immune response. 2. The introduction of foreign anything to the body typically results in an immune response, usually whatever you've been injected with (with some exceptions). The potential immune responses from these combined causes often results in swelling. This swelling ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Health:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument about Health:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
How is it someone can do 100 squats but can't run but a few miles? | [
"ELI5: bulldozers can lift tons of weight but can't go fast. They are built for one thing and they do other things not as well. Race cars can go fast but can't lift tons."
] | [
"Practice and experience. They know exactly how far they can run before their body gives out. If they don't crash at the end of the race, they could have run a little faster. In additional, many runners finish with an unsustainable burst of speed, knowing they can collapse after."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
What laws prevent the majority stockholder of a corporation from just giving away the corporation's assets? | [
"They're not her property. You can't give away property belonging to someone else. Even if that person is a legal fiction you have majority control over. The majority stockholder *could* push the board to give away assets, but that would likely be a breach of the board's [fiduciary duty](_URL_0_) to the minority s... | [
"It allows you to vote on any issue that the company bylaws require be approved by shareholders (usually approving directors on the board, auditers, issuance of new stock, compensation plans for executives). It allows you to be paid your share in the event the company ceases operations (although you may get nothing... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
where does that style of writing that graffiti artists always use come from, and why do so many of them use it? | [
"Grab a can of spray paint and start trying to write. With very thick lines created by the wide spray you are limited in the legibility if you don't write like that."
] | [
"What they mean is that they are so good at making hip hop, that they don't have to write their lyrics down, they just rap from the top of thier head. however, none if it is true"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
What are undeclinable requests like, 'Could you get the door for me?' called and how do they work from a linguistic or sociological standpoint? | [
"The request was phrased in a polite way. That is why you cannot decline it with a simple “no”. To decline without being rude, you must match the tone of the request. Something like “I’m terribly sorry, but dead lizards make me uncomfortable as well” would work."
] | [
"There's not really a defined difference between them but it's much more of a question of conventionality. There's the joke answer linguists typically give: \"A language is a dialect with an army and navy\""
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
How can dogs smell cancer? | [
"The current theory is that cancer cells produce characteristic organic compounds which get into the bloodstream and are then also present in the patient's breath - only in tiny amounts, but enough to be detected by a dog's amazingly keen sense of smell. Which compounds those are exactly is still being researched, ... | [
"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:"
} |
Why does a multitool spin this funny way in zero gravity? | [
"It's because the rotation about that axis is unstable, and small deviations quickly build until the pliers flip round. You can see the same effect if you throw a tennis racket in the air. _URL_0_"
] | [
"I want to know that too. Maybe i can add a question to that ELI5 topic: Why do i see lightning like things when closing my eyes and pushing/rolling them with my finger?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What does "force start" while using a torrent client actually accomplish? | [
"In μTorrent at least, it means \"Ignore download queue settings and start right now\". For instance, if you have it set so no more than X torrents will be downloading at one time, the normal Start will respect that and put lower-priority torrents on hold. Force Start lets you override that setting temporarily for ... | [
"Adding to this if allowed; does it make a difference whether you restart a phone or turn it off and then on again"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
If radiation kills cells, and cancer is uncontrolled cell growth, then why does high-volume radiation cause cancer? | [
"Radiation causes damage to the DNA. At a low enough dose, it will simply damage the DNA but allow the cell to live. In this case, the cell could then develop cancerous properties due to the damaged DNA, and before you know it you have cancer."
] | [
"It would kill the fast-replicating cells in your body like hair cells and intestinal epithelium, just like in cancer patients. You could probably do it, but considering the intense, life-quality reducing side effects, why would you?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph about Medicine:"
} |
How are serving sizes on nutritional labels determined, and why are they often so much lower than a realistic amount that most people would consume? | [
"They are arbitrary. They are just used so you have a reference for the nutrition label. The smaller the serving, the healthier you food looks to unobservant consumers."
] | [
"Salt, sugar, and fat content. Higher amounts than what is present in something you cook at home. Look at the calorie content of food at restaurants. It's almost always double or more than the \"normal\" version of that food."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Goosebumps, what the heck are they? | [
"Goosebumps is a series of children's horror fiction novellas by American author R. L. Stine, published by Scholastic Publishing. The stories follow child characters, who find themselves in scary situations; usually involving monsters and other supernatural elements. From 1992 to 1997, 62 books were published under... | [
"Surrealness for the sake of surrealness. What are you confused about?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Is there a reason why various social networks (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Linked In, etc.) use blue as their theme color? | [
"You may want to take this answer with a pinch of salt because I'm not 100% sure, But I would imagine the reason why is because certain colours can physiologically change your view on things. The colour blue is known to give a more calming, trust worthy view. I recommend reading up on [this](_URL_0_) it goes deeper... | [
"It is a competitor to Facebook. It works in essentially the same way as Facebook, and you do the same things with it that you do with Facebook. Its primary distinguishing feature is the heavy emphasis on 'circles', which are groups of friends. You could have a Co-workers circle, a Family circle, a Close Friends c... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Would there be any way to "improve" the internet if we could start it all over? | [
"Checksums at the end of the packet. Ethernet got it right. 25 years later, IPv6 gets it wrong again."
] | [
"It would be nice if there was someway to block these signals."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Technology:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Technology:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
when you have x^3, you can "explode" this out into x * x * x. What is happening when you take a root? Is there any way to "explode" that? | [
"Ish. You can view x*x*x as x^1 * x^1 * x^1. Since sqrt(x) is x^0.5, you can do the same thing, as long as all the powers sum to 0.5, like so: x^0.5 = x^0.25 * x^0.25, or x^0.5 = x^1 * x^-0.5"
] | [
"I suggest you check out [this link](_URL_0_). Basically, you should consider the two things you are multiplying as polynomials. Remember that roman numerals are expressed in a form such as CXI, which is C+X+I. Think about the foil method. You should multiply each term in the first number by each team in the second... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why does ice stick to an empty cup when you're trying to get it in your mouth? | [
"When the ice cube melts, some water will stay surrounding the cube, \"connecting\" it to the cup, sorta like a vaccum."
] | [
"your mind expects coffee to be hot so when it's room temperature, it feels much colder because it's colder than you expect it to me. one day, brew coffee in a mug and let it get to room temperature. also put water in a mug and have someone mix up the mugs and blindly feel them. you won't feel a difference."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence about Language and culture:"
} |
Why do DVD menus loop so poorly? | [
"In the DVD menus the DVD players have to move back to the starting point to re-read the video, and so there is a gap where it is moving the disk. sorry about my last comment i didn't quite understand what you were asking."
] | [
"Why do threads about planes disappearing keep disappearing?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do we make fun of France so much? | [
"We make fun of them because we can't really control them. Britain will do whatever we say so they're our besties. France is like that cool kid who generally hangs out with you but sometimes makes you look like a complete dick by calling you out just when you think you've got the gang worshipping you."
] | [
"It's not illegal to make fun of someone."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
What would the US have to do to revert back to a no political party system? | [
"There is no way. Political parties are not part of the government. They are a group of like-minded people who decided the best way to get what they want is to unite behind a single nominee. Political parties are a natural result of our freedom to assemble. Dissolving them would be a violation of the First Amendmen... | [
"Because Canada does not benefit from that. Why do you think Canada *should* have the same size military as the US?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why haven't the USA and Russia ever gone to war? | [
"Generally, a country will only choose to go to war if they believe that the benefits of winning are worth the losses they will take getting that victory. The thing about the Cold War is that there were very few upsides to any potential conflict and a mountain of downsides."
] | [
"Because the US, Russia, and Israel are powerful enough to get away with it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
how life was created, how seemingly inert atoms formed what we are today, these weird organic creatures with sentience | [
"Those atoms aren't inert. They react with other atoms, attaching and detaching from each other, requiring energy, releasing energy, etc. All life depends on chemical actions to function. Life is a natural extension of a chemically reactive environment."
] | [
"It's not about vibrations, or even that everything is made of the same stuff. It's about the idea that everything in the universe shares the same origin, and since that point the universe has been expanding and changing and creating. One of the things that has come out of this process is humans able to consciously... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
In this 2012 satellite photo of Berlin, you can distinguish West and East Berlin by the tone of the street lights. Why? | [
"The East and West used different types of lights, and there's no reason to tear down perfectly good lights that are only a few decades old."
] | [
"Berlin was in the middle of East Germany. The wall went all the way around West Berlin."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
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