query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1 value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Why do undercooked potatoes taste disgusting, even though other root vegetables like carrots and parsnips are fine to eat raw? | [
"Because of the starch content; potatoes basically store their energy as starch, whereas carrots store energy as sugar."
] | [
"1. This is a stereotype and not at all true for everyone. Lots of kids like at least some vegetables. 2. Kids' palates aren't very developed, so they tend to prefer simple, straightfoward flavors. Their tastes simply aren't sophisticated enough to enjoy a subtle bitter overtone, it just tastes gross to them. 3. I'... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why is jupiter considered a planet when it is basically just a big ball of gas without surface? | [
"Because \"solid surface\" isn't a requirement to be considered a planet. The current classification is as follows: (1) A \"planet\"1 is a celestial body that: (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (n... | [
"The same thing that keeps the earth and its atmosphere together. Gravity. Gases produce gravity too, every atom does. Gas Giants are planets that are a collection of gases so large that they have coalesced and their gravity has collected more. They DO have a surface despite what you have been told. That surface i... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What's the difference between androids and robots? | [
"A robot is at it's simplest: an automated mechanical/electrical device that is made to operate with minimal or no human control and preform specific tasks. An Android is a robot, a robot made to be specifically human looking or human like. A Cyborg is a combination of mechanical/electronic parts with biologic pa... | [
"It has a few different meanings in different contexts. What setting are we talking about?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about finance:"
} |
Why is it that when ice cream melts and refreezes it gets icy and its texture isn't how it's supposed to be | [
"Part of the magic of making ice cream is that little tiny air bubbles get whipped into it, and tiny globules of fat are mixed throughout the ice crystals. When it melts and re-freezes, all those bubbles get released and the fats can separate a bit, so you're left with something closer to greasy ice."
] | [
"Certain flavors are enhanced or dulled by temperature. Cold makes it hard to taste sweet. This is why melted ice cream or warm soda taste too sweet. Heat makes bitter less noticeable. This is why cold coffee tastes bad. And why cold vegetables can taste bad. Also changes in temperatures can cause fats to solidify.... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
What object physically mediates the push and pull of magnets? What causes the tension between all objects we call gravity? | [
"> In reality, only physical things have affects on other physical things. Ideas like \"forces\" and \"fields\" do not. No. That's where you're wrong."
] | [
"Fuckin' miracles But seriously, as far as I know, it's the flow of electrons-- electricity-- through the bit of metal, causing it to attract opposite charges or electricity, and repel similar. The poles, then, just indicate which way the electrons flow"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How do we survive the Earth spinning at an incredible speed and rushing around the sun at the same time? Wouldn't the g-force kill us all instantly? | [
"Because you started with the same momentum as the object you were born on."
] | [
"Yes, you would feel different. At the equator you'd weigh slightly more since the rotation of the earth was no longer counteracting the pull of gravity. However, this effect would be largely negligible, and you may not feel different from it. However, you would be immediately flung at 1000 miles per hour in the di... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why do we say "huh?" or "what?" when a person says something, even though we already heard it and answer the question before a person repeats themselves? | [
"for me personally often times is because I was really suprised to hear the person talk. It came out of nowhere and I was kinda \"unprepared\" to listen, so I intuitively interrupt them with \"huh what?\" to give my brain some time to prepare. But most of the time I understood them anyways."
] | [
"I do this thing where i say \"what\" as if i can't hear what someone had said but then a few seconds after i realise what they've said and laugh. One day someone asked me why i always did that and i explained truthfully. The person then responded saying \"ohhhh you're just slow\" i guess you can be physically slo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why is there so much backlash against Iggy Azalea in the hip-hop community, but not against other white rappers? | [
"Because she doesn't make good music, and she's made it to the mainstream music's Eye."
] | [
"Macklemore is a rising white rapper whose hits \"Thrift Shop,\" \"Can't Hold Us,\" and \"Same Love\" have propelled him into mainstream stardom. Your second question is a bit misguided. The \"hate\" that he gets from Tumblr isn't necessarily directed at him but at the system that favors his position and voice in t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do people have pairs of chromosomes? What does that do? | [
"You get one chromosome from each parent. It increases genetic diversity by giving you one from each parent, rather than just one chromosome from one parent."
] | [
"That's not what Down syndrome is. Down syndrome is when chromosome 21 has an extra copy. It has nothing to do with sex chromosomes. To answer your question as stated, humans only have two possible sex chromosomes, so there are only two biological sexes."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
What exactly is a game engine? | [
"A game engine is a program that provides many of the basic features of a game, such as graphics, realistic physics, sound, etc. Using a game engine saves game developers time, because they don't have to rewrite that code every time they make a game. Instead, they can focus on writing code that is unique to the gam... | [
"Are you asking how a wheel works ?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why cant you see stars in pictures taken from the moon, but you can see stars in pictures taken from earth. | [
"Because the Moon is too bright. If you just try to take a normal picture of the sky from Earth, you probably wouldn't see any stars either. The picture from Earth where you see stars are usually long exposure photos, captured in a very dark location. If you try to take a similar picture from the Moon, you'll also ... | [
"We don't have any pictures of the Milky Way from the outside. If you see an image it is either an artistic interpretation or a picture of a different spiral galaxy. That said just because we are stuck in it doesn't mean we don't know what it looks like. We had very accurate maps of the earth before we ever went t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer about astronomy:"
} |
If it is true that male humans have better sense of smell, how is this possible? | [
"Do you have a source? Every resource I have ever read says the opposite - that women have a much better sense of smell than men. It is even suggested that during ovulation that women's sense of smell increases significantly. _URL_0_"
] | [
"No, but you wouldn't know it. Human sense of smell and taste are not heightened enough to know the difference."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
How can a corporation like Activision-Blizzard think King Digital (maker of Candy Crush) is worth 5.9 BILLION dollars? | [
"King Digital has about 315 million (common) shares outstanding, and earned a little north of $1.75 per share these past 12 months that puts a very rough estimate of their annual earnings at $550 million. When one company buys another, the price can usually be ballparked as some multiple of the company's proven ear... | [
"Netflix has over 60 million subscribers. Multiply those by the $8 per month and you're looking at revenues of nearly half a billion dollars. Every month. Given that, perhaps your question should be rephrased as \"how on earth is Netflix **not** profitable\"?!"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
If gay marriage is made legal (which is a good thing) what arguments would one use to keep polygamy illegal? | [
"It makes an absolute mess of family law. Right now, a marriage is between two people & a child has, at most, two parents. What happens to the children in a 3-marriage if A divorces B & C because B is abusive? Obviously, we would want to minimize B's custody rights but that would unfairly penalize C. What about a 4... | [
"Two reasons: 1. You're making a false comparison by comparing the *criminalization* of adultery against the *subsidization* of marriage. Gay marriage being illegal doesn't mean you go to jail for it - it just means that you can't file paperwork with the government. In contrast, adultery being illegal means they pu... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why did the Japanese "let the emperor still be emperor" ? | [
"I think it's kind of like how the Queen is still the Queen, but Parliament actually runs the country."
] | [
"An invasion would have been even more costly in both American and Japanese lives, because culturally, they could *not* surrender without losing face. Did you know that they haven't made new Purple Heart medals since 1945? We're *still* drawing from the enormous supply of medals that were struck in anticipation of ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What does alcohol consumption feels like? | [
"It burns against your throat and down into your belly. Then it kinda fizzles into a warm happy feeling that spreads through your body. The effects on your brain can be completely unnoticed initially, but continued drinking exacerbates them. For me I smile more, talk more, and become more relaxed. If I get drunk I ... | [
"Same ingredients, same results. Placebo effect might lead you to believe otherwise."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why do people shit themselves with fear? | [
"Most animals have a natural aversion to fecal matter. As such, it can be an effective escape/survival strategy to shit yourself and hope that a predator smells/sees it and leaves you alone. It can be hardwired into the \"flight\" part of fight/flight as it's a pretty good deterant/distraction."
] | [
"Why do you stare at your dog when it's taking a shit?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Animal behavior:"
} |
Why is it easier to "see" things in your mind, rather than "touch" or "smell"? | [
"Note: I'm not a neuroscientist. It is possible that the modern human brain has more dedicated visual processing over the other senses which my allow for \"visual thought\" to be predominant. I've also heard it said that the sense of smell is a better trigger for memories than any of the other senses. Also, I may ... | [
"Does anybody else feel like they don't think in a language or have an internal dialog? I don't. If I reflect upon my thoughts or try to describe them I might put them into words but I don't actually \"think\" in a language the same way I don't think in pictures or in smells. Thoughts are more nebulous."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument about Science:"
} |
What is the advantage of spending more money to buy an unlocked phone? | [
"The only advantages are that you can choose any provider and you can get a prepaid plan. If you text/ring a lot, it's better to not get an unlocked phone and just get a contract."
] | [
"It is basically a luxury feature with a higher profit margin. This is the same concept when you order a phone and have to pay extra $100 for 16gb of more storage."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment about Technology:"
} |
How is it that you can have some or all of a brain hemisphere removed and maintain motor function on that side, yet a stroke can cause lifelong paralysis? | [
"The short answer is that the brain is fucking weird. The long answer is that the muscles are controlled in clumps spread through the brain. But those clumps are mostly together. That's why a stroke will often hit only certain muscles, if it's a small one, the blood to certain bits of the brain was cut off long eno... | [
"The risks are loss of air and blood circulation to the brain. If at any moment air and blood are cut off long enough, it could inflict massive brain damage and leave the victim dead, or worse, brain damaged which could affect anything from speech, motor skills and ability to think."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about Medical Science:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph about Medical Science:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
What's the dark spot you see when you poke your eye in certain ways? It's almost like a movie cue mark. | [
"I think that's from messing with eye pressure. You probably shouldn't do that."
] | [
"Your eyelids may be closed, but your eyes are still on. You're looking at the back of your eyelids and whatever light that is seeping in. Skin is made up of tiny patterns. Also, when there is a lack of light, our brains try to fill in the gaps. If you've ever tried a psychedelic, closing your eyes will produce the... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument about Science:"
} |
Why do teeth occasionally hurt when you eat something sweet? | [
"I get the same thing. Dentist didn't really have an explanation, but said it wasn't cavities."
] | [
"Teeth aren't indestructible. Having nerves helps you sense how hard you're biting, so if you say, hit a bone or something hard, you would crack a tooth and prevent yourself from being able to eat."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Waking up suddenly at 4:30AM feeling full of energy vs falling back asleep for another 30mins and waking up feeling like you could use another 6Hrs. | [
"One possible reason is that we have sleep cycles (~90 mins) that dictate how we feel when we wake up. If you wake up at the end of one, you feel good. Too early or too late while you’re in deep sleep, and you feel horrible. Going back to sleep after waking can slip you back into your cycle, and you end up in the m... | [
"Your easiest path is to go to bed at 5 as normal, set an alarm for 7, get up, have a horrible day where everything looks gray and you have a killer headache, and go to bed at 9 or 10 PM."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Health:",
"pos": "Represent the post about Health:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
What are the cons of electric cars? | [
"The electricity has to come from somewhere. The grid is built to handle a certain amount of people using electronics. Charging electric cars uses a massive amount of power. If enough people start using electric cars (~3-5%) the power grid will be overloaded and fail. Furthermore, batteries are hugely inefficient. ... | [
"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 question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
How difficult would it be to intentionally build an immunity to a lethal poison, a la The Princess Bride? | [
"There isn't a blanket answer to this. Some poisons you simply cannot develop an immunity to, and they will end you no matter how hard you try. If you were curious, the practice itself is named Mithridatism."
] | [
"Unfortunately it has many strains. He's immune to one strain of ebola... kind of like how you may be immune to some forms of the flu."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
How do non-partisan entities maintain nonpartisanship? Don't presidents, chairs, board members, justices have internal biases? | [
"Level headed people are able to see when they have a bias about something and view the opposing side and their own without their bias and determine a course of action based on that. It is similar to a woman saying she would not have an abortion but at the same time not wanting to make that choice for another woman... | [
"\"Typically\" is a difficult word. If you look at the large number of people flowing through, there isn't much of a pattern. One term congress people have little to offer from their experience and just go back to whatever. But senators, high level staffers, multi-term congress people and such frequently become lob... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How does a vending machine recognize a dollar as opposed to a dollar sized piece of paper? | [
"They take a picture. Your piece of paper doesn't look like a dollar bill. They read the fine patterns. Your piece of paper that you tried to commit counterfeitting does have the fine patterns that a real dollar bill has, because your printer isn't capable of printing the fine lines. Take a magnifying glass to r... | [
"Probably not. Modern vending machines identify your coin by its size, edge shape and the faces. There is a laser that reads the coin as it goes by and determines if it is real and either accepts it or gives it back. I recently had a quarter that the machine wouldn't take. The Pepsi guy was stocking the machine nex... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is happening to someone physiologically when we get our "second wind" of energy? | [
"Our bodied realize they are under undo stress so they release adrenalin. The release of adrenalin makes us feel better and more energetic."
] | [
"Adrenalin, basically your body kicks in the fight or flight response when you get really passionate about something."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why are boobs attractive? | [
"This is more of a shower thought that I had a few months ago, but everyone loves boobs. Gay, straight, male, female, so there has to be some basis in biology. My hypothesis is that everyone loves titties because they're babies primary biological food source and therefore breasts are associated with feeding time, c... | [
"Why do you have so many lips and chins?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Biology:"
} |
How did "ZZzZZzzz" come to represent sleep and how did it become so common? | [
"Someone thought it was a good onomatopoeia for the sound of snoring and it stuck."
] | [
"My guess is because the meaning of the word is no longer what's coming to mind when you hear it instead it's the actual sounds put together that make it which you don't normally think about."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Language and cognition:"
} |
how does the military keep on getting hacked? | [
"The kind of hacking that is being done is not the ordinary wire fraud hacking. The US military is being hacked by professionals in other countries who have a similar budget, both for cyberdefense and cyberwarfare. We hack into their systems as much as they do ours (like all of the projects that Snowden so helpful... | [
"Sadly it's not. It's the same as stealing from a thief. It's still illegal despite who they are. Plus the military has hackers doing that everyday, so I wouldn't worry. Edit: if you're good at hacking apply for the DoD. God knows they could use them."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why do videos from the 80's-90's always look like someone smudged grease on the camera lens? | [
"Video quality has improved since then. And so has playback quality. With an older video there is less information there. The older video has information for a smaller number of lines of pixels. So when you play it on a new screen, the screen can display many more pixels than it is getting information for. So your ... | [
"Because our eyelids are thin. Pull your t-shirt over your head and stare at a light bulb. Now drop a phone book on your face and look at the same light bulb. Phone book thicker than t-shirt, hand thicker than eyelid. If my 5 year old ever asks me this I'll send him back."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Science:"
} |
SETI is the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, but is anyone searching for "dumb" life? | [
"There are people looking for life on Mars. It's one of the things that the rovers are doing, and the next one [has it as one of the main goals](_URL_0_) (though they don't expect to find current life, just past). The problem is that we can't exactly put rovers on a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri, due to the distan... | [
"The way we're looking for alien communication is through radio-telescopes. They search the skies for radio signals that are not natural. We've been sending out radio signals at the speed of light for about a hundred years now. So if we find evidence of alien communication we will have already answered with re-runs... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why has there been a vinyl resurgence in the music industry? | [
"You can get them cheap. They have a slightly different sound quality, and many people enjoy that difference. Album art is pretty great in and of itself. You can roll a joint on an album cover, but you can't on digital music. People like actually having physical items. They have a cool factor that dates back more t... | [
"In the UK there has been a massive drop in new content, recycling is much more common than even 10yrs ago."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Why do we make that "hurr-durr" voice when mockingly impersonating someone? Why does that voice signify stupidity? | [
"It sounds like someone with a mental disability, like Down's syndrome. They are seen as stupid, so its a natural voice to use to convey stupidness"
] | [
"That's got to be social influence. I don't think I've ever made an \"Ahh\" sound irl. I thought that was something that only happens in commercials. Do people actually do that?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Language and culture:"
} |
How is this man able to hold on to this chopper for that long? | [
"That's very little acceleration on top of 9.8 m/s^2 of Earth gravity. Downwash probably adds a little more effort. Still, it isn't much more physically demanding than holding on to a stationary bar. Mind that it's pretty easy to hang even from a single hand. With two hands it's a piece of cake. You don't have to p... | [
"He's warming up for the eventual possibility that you are going to drop him in water. Why else are you holding him over the water anyways."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is the difference between a republic and a democracy? Which one is the U.S.? | [
"A republic means a small group of people are chosen so that they can make the governing decisions of a country. A democracy means that the people vote on the governing decisions of the country. The United States is a democratic republic. The people vote to choose the small group that will make the governing decisi... | [
"Socialism and communism are very closely linked -- in fact, socialism is a stepping-stone on the road to communism. The party that ran the USSR was the Communist Party. You shouldn't pay too much attention to names, though. The official title of North Korea is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and \"democ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What does contemporary military jet fighting look like? | [
"[Simulation games seem fairly close to the real thing.](_URL_0_)"
] | [
"To be a little less specific, what did people think the future in general would be like before the Industrial Revolution?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does calling an african-american "black" make you a racist? | [
"I don't think it does at all. People call me 'white' and not an American. So why would it be racist to call someone 'black' instead of African American?"
] | [
"Saying something purposefully inflamatory or offensive to a specific race in order to incite argument. Specifically, an argument designed to expose assumed flaws in the target demographic. Its typically used by ignorant folks to incite an emotional response and then point a finger at whatever racial group they dee... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why Obama is criticized for going golfing? | [
"It's part of the partisan bickering that comes with a two party system. If the President is a member of your party and takes a break, he's been working really hard and deserves it. If he's a member of the opposition, he's a lazy bum."
] | [
"The left is disappointed in him because he hasn't been as liberal as he claimed to be during his campaigning. The right dislikes him because they think he's too liberal."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why does anyone attend for-profit colleges like ITT Tech when anyone can attend community college? | [
"People just plain get duped. The see the ads, and it all looks legit enough. You go into the sales meeting, and the representatives are trained to do literally whatever it takes to convince people to sign on for attending the schools. It's not until it's too late that they realize how worthless the degree is after... | [
"For-profit universities in general are seen by employers as inferior to state and private non-profit universities. They are known for admitting anyone who is willing to pay their higher price tags, and many students are allowed to graduate with very little mastery of skills they were supposed to learn. Many school... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why is it that in the USA you will most likely always have a criminal record if you have been accused of a crime, even if you were never convicted or were later found to be wrongfully convicted? | [
"Having something on your record isn't the same as being guilty. The record would simply say you were charged but found not guilty, in the same way an officer would still make a note that he gave you a verbal warning even if he didn't write you an actual ticket. It's just a record of your interaction with the justi... | [
"The accused is tried and sentenced to each crime individually. This means if they do six crimes that deserve a life sentence they get six life sentences. It also means if they are later found to be innocent from one of the charges they don't need to be re-sentenced, they stay in prison."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does "RNG"/Random work in Video games? | [
"Pseudo-random number generators use an algorithm to generate a number. The algorithm starts with a \"seed\" value to create the number. Then it crunches through the algorithm (essentially a formula). Since it is an algorithm, if the seed is the same, the result is the same. So systems will try to pick a seed va... | [
"> Is there anything more to it? Turn left."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Bandwidth. What exactly is it and how does it work? | [
"Bandwidth originally is from transmission techniques that use bands of frequencies (eg: radio waves). Each station gets a range of frequencies to use (called a band) and is allowed to fill up that band with their broadcast transmission. With clever technologies, you can send multiple different broadcasts within th... | [
"It's cheap and convenient. That's really all there is to it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
how come the rings of Saturn orbit on a flat plane around the planet, as opposed to evenly spread out? | [
"Same reason why the planets are in a relatively horizontal plane around the sun. Angular momentum is conserved, so as orbiting materials collide, they eventually settle into a disk. What conservation of angular momentum means, is that the total sum of each particles momentum, must but equal to their ending momentu... | [
"You can't have a sphere of dust circling the centre of gravity in every which direction. A disc tends to form because the disc has its own gravity as well, pulling anything not going in the same axis into the axis. Imagine the earth orbits at 90 degrees and we are for whatever reason a lot closer to jupiter than w... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
How do people who went through transsexual procedures change their voice? | [
"Basically it's hormones. Women who transition to men will notice a bigger change in their voice when they start taking male hormones. But, men who transition after they've gone through puberty won't be able to change as much because the physical changes the voice box goes through at that time are hard to undo."
] | [
"I think they refer to themselves as \"trans\" to help visualize that it can be done, to make a LGTB statement, when referring to their past or to the transition itself. On a daily basis, they refer to themselves as woman or man (depending on what they are, regardless of their genitalia)."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Why are college textbooks so expensive when other non-fiction authors - ie Noam Chomsky - release books on similar topics for substantially less? | [
"The simple answer is, of course, because they can. Students are required to buy their books, so they can charge whatever they want for them. To elaborate on some other points: * Noam Chomsky's books probably don't have massive problem sets and accompanying solutions -- those take a *lot* of time to come up with. *... | [
"The Libraries often do have the textbook, just not enough for everyone in the class. If I understand it correctly, UK university is more focused on lectures and what we would call in the US independent research. US university is more like high school on steroids, textbooks included. Also, many of the prices you're... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
When cloning an animal (let's say a dog), how much of that cloned animal is exactly the same as the original animal? | [
"Essentially, a clone of an animal is the same thing as an identical twin. 100% match genetically, but everything else is a wildcard. Anything that is directly genetically controlled will be the same, such eye or fur color. Anything that is affected by environment, habits, temperament, coat quality, size, health,... | [
"No, we have not cloned a person yet. We probably could, but nobody has tried due to ethical considerations, and the more we learn of cloning the more ethically dubious it becomes. The general procedure of cloning would very closely resembles in-vitro fertilization, where an egg is fertilized and then implanted int... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Please explain this joke, I'm having a hard time | [
"It sounds like an anti-joke. The standard setup is inverted and that is the cause of the humor. The bartender sees the joke coming and want's nooo trouble in his place. I don't think it's funny, but we've all got different tastes in that regard."
] | [
"I feel like a 5 year old right now, every answer in here is way over my head..."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Why do extremely big things seem to move slower and extremely small things seem to move faster?(Realtive to human hight etc.) | [
"If something extremely big moved without it looking slow it'd have to have close to supernatural strength. Take a human that has 3 times our height, and everything in proportions. That'd mean it has about 27 times our mass. Not if he moves on the same rate as we do, it'd take 27 time as much energy as is, but to a... | [
"To answer your hypothetical question, yes, if you had the impossible video chat, one person would appear to be moving very fast and the other very slow. But as many explained here, it defies physics. But you already knew that. \"What is time\"? Time is how quickly physics is allowed to occur. Literally it effects ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why do we need discipline? | [
"First, you (and I'd say a lot of other people too) need to look up the definition. Second, self-discipline allows you to make the right decisions in your life using critical thinking and to make yourself better (in every aspect) even though you may not necessarily want to. Literally means: \"the ability to control... | [
"Because children also have access to the internet."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
If you went back 10 years with an iphone 6 and handed it to a high-tech corporation to dissect. Could they use it to increase the rate of technology? | [
"There might be a few neat ideas that they could learn from it, like the placement of the fingerprint sensor. But they wouldn't be able to re-create the processors because they wouldn't know how to make processors that are etched with features so small and looking at the device wouldn't tell them how to do it. Ten ... | [
"The R & D of taking largely off the shelf parts and putting a software layer on it is orders of magnitudes less than reinventing the wheel with actual hardware updates. Especially when the majority of your customers won't care about the small differences."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about videogame development:"
} |
How come some phones/cars can supercharge like 40% of the battery in minutes, but the remaining of the battery takes hours to fully charge? | [
"Think of it like a balloon you are trying to blow up. You can start huffing and puffing with great abandon as the balloon isn't going to pop. but when it gets to certain size you start to worry, You want the balloon bigger but you worry it might go bang. So you have to slow your puffing down."
] | [
"this is bs. doesn’t mean something like SOT will increase, as there is simply less charge in the battery than if it were charged to 100% however, very marginal decreases in battery wear (ie. the amount of charge it can store) might occur - but these are too small to notice (it’s to do with overcharging and most mo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
What is the "revolving door" in politics? | [
"When you work in government agencies, you build up contacts within those agencies. Then, when you leave, you get hired - for fairly substantial salaries - to lobby your former colleagues on behalf of people who have business with that agency. The questionable part about this arises because you *know* that's your c... | [
"How would you define \"winning\" a presidential debate?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
I have seen some of the recent North Korean propaganda about the USA. How much of what we know about the terrible things going on in NK can be confirmed, and are we subject to lies/propaganda about what it's like there? | [
"There is a book called Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick which was written with input from six people who defected from North Korea. The are very candid about what living conditions were like there and what they were told about China, Russia and the US."
] | [
"Kim Jong Un holds more bluffs than a casino, and because their entire country is held under such strict security measures, as such it becomes harder for the outsiders (the rest of the world) to determine whether or not they are doing what they say they are. It's difficult for us to know whether or not they really... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Why does lemon juice "cook" fish when making ceviche? | [
"It doesn't actually cook the fish. The acid just denatures the proteins in fish meat in a similar process to cooking. It won't, for instance, kill pathogens in the fish."
] | [
"When they are cut you introduce oxygen into the cells which combines with an enzyme that oxidizes. You can counter this with acid like lemon juice. LPT: when you cut an apple in half rub some lemon juice on it to stop this from happening"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How do they match a single fingerprint against all the millions of fingerprints in the fingerprint database? | [
"There's different ways a computer can do image comparison. One way is basically break down a fingerprint onto something like [grid paper](_URL_1_) with x,y positions. Then my fingerprint will say something like: Black at (4,5), Black at (4,6), White at (4,7), Black at (4,8) etc. hundreds or thousands of times. Lik... | [
"It depends, if you mean will someone else's fingerprint ever register as someone else's, then there is a possibility due to how accurate the fingerprint scanner and software is. If you mean whether two different people will have at least one 100% identical fingerprint, I don't think so."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why were popular songs of the 50's so short (2 min) in comparison to popular songs of today (4-5 min)? | [
"Up until the early 60s the most singles were distributed on 10\" 78rpm records which could, at most, hold about 3 minutes of audio per side."
] | [
"\"Pop\" is short for \"Popular\". That should pretty much answer the question right there. Note that what was \"Pop\" 10, 20, 30 and 40 years ago is *not* what would be considered Pop now! You're not going to hear Disco on top-40 stations, for example."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Could quantum entanglement be used for long distant instant communications/High bandwidth data transfer? | [
"> From what I understand, once you entangle two (or more?) quantum bits a change in one bit's state will immediately affect the state of the other. This is the main reason most people misunderstand the entanglement. Changes to one particle does not affect the other once they are split up. Entangled particles are m... | [
"The speed of light in the fiber optic cables, or the speed of the transfer rate of electrons in the electrical wire. Most long distance communications (such as between servers or overseas are over fiber optics, because it’s faster and cheaper. Short distance communications, such as through HDMI cables, are via ele... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why are most batteries 1.5v or multiples of 1.5v? | [
"The reason for this is chemistry. A single cell of a alkaline battery (i.e. your \"normal\" battery) has a voltage of about 1.5V (when full). This voltage does not change if the battery becomes bigger or smaller. If you want to have a higher voltage, a battery is made by connecting more than one cell in series (yo... | [
"They contain different amounts of power; i.e. the bigger the battery, the bigger the item it can power and the longer it can power it for (Depending of course on how much power it draws) AAA: 250 – 1200 mAh AA: 1800-2600 mAh C: 8,000 mAh D:12000-18000 mAh"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How do we know so much about the different stages of a star's life if they last for such a long time? | [
"We can examine the life stages of a human without having to watch one in particular for its entire life. Similarly with stars, we see them at all different stages of their lives. We see the transitional states so we know in what order they occur."
] | [
"I'm not sure, but one thing is certain: life would never develop around such a star. First, extremely massive stars emit most of their radiation in the form of high-energy X-rays, which are extremely destructive to organic molecules and life. Secondly, even *if* life could get around this problem, the star would h... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Astronomy:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Astronomy:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Difference between "buffering" and "loading" | [
"Just technicalities. Buffering is partially loading something for streaming. Loading is loading the entire thing"
] | [
"> my hypothesis is the game's graphics are already preloaded Graphics are rendered on the fly *by the user's computer* and all that the server handles is the coordinates of the characters."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Since the US president is the commander in chief of the armed forced, how does the US constitution prevent him from planning a coup and ordering the military to do something potentially unconstitutional? | [
"The Oath taken by all military personnel is to support and defend the Constitution. Training is given reminding servicemembers (especially commissioned officers) that they should not obey an unlawful or unconstitutional order."
] | [
"A few reasons: The extrajudicial killing of a foreign head of state is a defacto declaration of war. Executive order 11905 prohibits the government from engaging in political assassinations. (Leaders of organizations, rather than states however, are somewhat of a gray area). Speaking on maintaining diplomatic rela... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
The universe is expanding, but where is the center of the expansion? is that the point in which the big bang happened? And where are we relatively to it? | [
"Every point is expanding away from every other point. There's no \"center of the expansion\". Imagine an infinitely large rubber sheet, with a 1\" grid drawn on it. Now stretch out the rubber sheet so that the grid lines are 2\" apart instead, everywhere. Is there a \"center\" to this stretching? Every point is mo... | [
"The very very simple explanation is that we know the Universe is expanding due a phenomenon called \"redshift.\" As objects (stars/galaxies) move away from us, the wavelength of its light becomes larger and the color of the object gets redder and redder. This was first observed in the 1930s by an astronomer named ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Isn't the CBC reporting on Jian Ghomeshi a conflict of interest? | [
"It is a conflict of interest. News organizations have conflicts of interest all the time, but that doesn't mean they stop reporting news. Journalism ethics says so long as you disclose the conflict, so people can judge if you are being biased, you are covered."
] | [
"You are citing newsone. That's a biased joke of a website. Don't be surprised if you come from there confused. He's suing for wrongful termination. Making these accusations is either a revelation of some terrible actions by the government, or a way to try and get the public on his side for his wrongful termination... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Where do files go once they're deleted? I just don't accept that they disappear... | [
"Imagine your hard drive as a giant wall, like the Great Wall of China. Now imagine that your files are painted on this wall (Images, text, music notes). When you delete a file, your computer finds the spot on the wall where that file was painted, and marks that section of the wall as \"free\". It doesn't scrub o... | [
"Because it's a waste time of usage of the hard drive. And it also gives your the option to recover files if you accidentally delete them. Only way to really delete a file is if the computer write something new on top of it. So it would take a lot longer to delete a file if done that way. Edit: also on the secondha... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How we can say the earth is tilted on it's axis, when it's a sphere? | [
"The tilt is the angle between earths rotational axis and the orbital axis (the plane of the orbit around the sun). [Like this](_URL_0_)"
] | [
"do you mean the earth's rotation? or revolution? If rotation, the sun would rise from west to east, instead of east to west. Besides that, I don't think much would change."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
how the hell did line dancing to "aches breaky heart" become a Mexican party tradition? | [
"I have no idea but you should repost this to /r/TIL as > TIL line dancing to \"achey breaky heart\" is a Mexican party tradition."
] | [
"In Nelly's song Country Grammar, \"Street Sweeper\" was censored. In cheryl crow's \"soak up the sun\" - she clearly says \"I've got my 45 on so I can rock on\". 45 is presumably a reference to a vinyl record, but it just as easily could mean gun. Another interesting reddit post you could make (if you want to be... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
The hullabaloo over The Hobbit being filmed at 48 FPS, and why a lot of people consider that a bad thing? | [
"soap operas are filmed in higher FPS. This means it DOES have the \"look\" of a soap opera. But it also means it has a better, smoother picture. It's perception and tradition at play here, that's all. I don't know why it would make people sick, besides it being more action then most people are used to seeing at th... | [
"Normal movies are shot to be viewed in both 2D and 3D, this results in some compromises and relatively limited usage of 3D Disney knows that the movie will only be shown in 3D in that specific venue so they can specifically cater it to 3D and where the audience will be located which lets them achieve much more str... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Why does everyone hate comic sans? | [
"This should explain it both entertainingly and fiveyearoldishly. _URL_0_"
] | [
"What do you want to know about them exactly?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
How a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) works. | [
"Have you ever ridden a bicycle with multiple front and rear gears? The difference between the size of the gears, or ratio, helps balance how much work you do with how fast you go. On a 10-speed bike, you have only 2 gears in the front and 5 in the back with a chain connecting them. With a CVT, you have two cones w... | [
"Turbo Charger: Take exhaust from Engine, sent it to a turbine and use it to send more air to Engine Super Charger: Take power from the Engine and directly use it to send more air to the Engine More air + More Fuel = More Power (in case you are wondering.) Source: I'm a Mechanical Engineer"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
What causes "asparagus pee" and how does it happen so fast after eating it? | [
"Short answer is that asparagus contains a natural chemical aptly named asparagusic acid. This acid is broken down by the body into sulfur-containing compounds. Those sulfur compounds smell. This is the same reason rotten eggs smell. And once made, the breakdown products end up in your urine. Because they are highl... | [
"It can be a sign of diabetes but it can also be a sign of dehydration. Drink more water for a few days and see if it goes away. Or it could just mean you've eaten too much sugar, even if you're not diabetic."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
When someone is given the death penalty, why are they on death row for so long? | [
"There's an appeals process that has to be followed, and that can take years because the courts are really very busy. Then there's the fact that issuing stays of execution is a very easy, low-cost way for governors to earn brownie points with more liberal constituencies who understand how many innocent men have dan... | [
"People are innocent until proven guilty. A long time can pass between arrest and trial date, it is kind of unfair to keep people locked up for all that time."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Law and Justice:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post about Law and Justice:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post about Law and Criminal Justice:"
} |
Why do some injuries hurt when partially submerged and then feel better fully submerged in water? | [
"If the injury is to a weight-bearing part of your body, the extra weightlessness of being in water can relieve it. It’s also why older people do a lot of exercise in pools, it’s less impact on your body"
] | [
"When you're hot outside, your body is having trouble regulating it's body temperature. It's not comfortable to be like that because... that's how your body tells you it's having trouble. When you take a hot shower, you're cleaning yourself off, and more importantly, you get out afterwards, and it's cooling and ref... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Physics:"
} |
how many more satellites can we launch into space before we run out of room and are there any viable methods for clearing out space to fit more? | [
"Others here are right, space is infinite. Except that there's only one geostationary orbit, and there's only room for ~3600 active satellites there (the current closest two satellites there are 1/10th of a degree apart), otherwise their radios might interfere with each other."
] | [
"Nope The US Space Surveillance Network is tasked with tracking satellites(active or inactive), spent rockets, debris, and anything else orbiting Earth. There are public ones that exist as well that track most satellites in orbit. If a missile comes from space it'd be pretty easy to track it back to which satellite... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why is 1 meter 1 meter? | [
"There have been a few basis for the definition of the meter. One of the earlier methods was tying the definition as a fraction of the lenght of the line between the north pole, passing through Paris, to the equator. Another method that came about was the lenght of a \"prototype meter\", a physical artifact that... | [
"What's 5 + 5? Okay now what's 5.105 + 5.079? Which took longer?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
how the University of Phoenix works. | [
"My friend's cousin who I met a couple times was doing an MBA at the University of Phoenix. She didn't think her grades were reflective of her effort; she would work hard and be surprised by how low the mark was, and sometimes hand in crap and be surprised by how high the mark was. Then she handed in a blank paper ... | [
"Advertising, selling info, and premium versions of the free stuff."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Technology:"
} |
Force Touch on the new iPhone and other phones that have it. What are the real benefits or features? | [
"Force Touch on the MacBooks acts like a right click. 3D Touch on the new iPhones adds a 3^rd option, users can now tap, tap+hold, and deep press. So for app icons, a deep press will bring up shortcuts; so for camera, instead of opening the app and switching to video, you just deep press the icon and slide your fin... | [
"It's a typical Apple release. Incremental improvement in the specifications, interesting new capabilities. In 2014, all phones are powerful, and specs are interesting only when then enable new capabilities. Here's the interesting new stuff in the iPhone 6: * Apple Pay Payment system. Scan your credit cards and pay... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
how do Dan Aykroyd and Eddy Murphy make Mortimer and Randolph go broke at the end of Trading Places.. how did they get rich? | [
"Short selling. At the beginning of the trading day, the Dukes have a fake, unreleased forecast report saying that there will be a shortage of oranges, and therefore the price of frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) will go up. The Dukes' goal is to buy as much FCOJ as they can before the report is released and ... | [
"if yer thinking like Adam Sandler's Mr Deeds movie, it'd pretty much work like that."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Why is quantum physics so often mentioned in philosophy and so-called "enlightenment" texts? | [
"One of the main points of overlap between philosophy and quantum physics concerns whether or not there is true randomness-not just events that are beyond our current predictive ability but things that just truly cannot be pinned down or explained beyond \"random.\" If those truly random events exist, that's (pote... | [
"Analytic philosophy focuses on science and logic, considering things like the philosophy of maths. Continental philosophy focuses on social and psychological philosophy, such as the meaning of life, existentialism, Marxism, etc. The former is most dominant in English-speaking countries, whereas the latter is more ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why are we taller than our ancestors? | [
"Better nutrition is a good start. Compare the average height in South Korea (5'8 1/2\") with the average height in North Korea (5'5\"). And that's after just half a century of malnutrition. Not sure about the rest, but the importance if better nutrition cannot be overstated here. I can imagine there's been some ev... | [
"We learned about germs... Hygiene keeps us healthy, We now live way longer than our ancestors."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
What gives the federal government the right to ban marijuana? And why can states violate that? [Serious] | [
"The Commerce Clause of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to regulate items that have a high probability of being trafficked across state borders. States that have chosen to legalize marijuana are simply choosing not to enforce federal marijuana laws and have gotten rid of most of their own criminal & ... | [
"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 post about Law and Politics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Law and Politics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why did Britain and France declared war on Germany over the invasion of Poland, but not the USSR? | [
"They were already at war with Germany when Germany invaded the USSR. If you were asking why the USSR didn't declare war on Germany, then it's because of the [Molotov-Ribbentrop pact](_URL_0_). The Germans violated that pact when they invaded the USSR in 1941."
] | [
"WWI was caused by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by a member of the Serbian terrorist group known as \"The Black Hand\". His assassination caused Austria to go to war with Serbia, which in turn triggered a network of treaties all across Europe like dominoes that eventually resulted in WWI... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How hard is it for a horse to carry a human? And what would be the equivalent for a human? | [
"From what I've found (this site: _URL_0_) it looks like an average horse can easily carry about 240 pounds. It can carry up to around 360 pounds with some effort, and over that only with considerable strain. So a horse carrying an average-sized person would be within that easy weight. Another quick search shows th... | [
"If you had the thighs of gods and can jump at unhuman speeds, maybe. For the rest of us, no. The momentum change from jumping won't make a difference."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Physics:"
} |
what is a kardashev civilization? | [
"Kardashev created a (very) loose scale to describe hypothetical civilizations based on how much energy they could harness, as energy harnessed roughly translates to work that can be achieved and people that can be supported. A Kardashev-1 (K1) civilization is capuring the full energy potential of their planet. A K... | [
"Is this explain like i'm five or explain like i'm a theoretical physicist?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How supplements are not drugs and drugs are not supplements | [
"It entirely depends upon whether that particular substance has been put through the rigorous multi-year testing required by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prove that said substance does actually help or cure the condition the company claims it does (and won't kill anybody in the process). That proces... | [
"Pharmaceutical prescription medicines are generally derived from plant sources, but they are vigorously tested before being distributed to the general population and monitored for content quality. Herbal \"medicines\" are only required to show that they will not kill you. Basically it's summed up this quote: \"Wha... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Why was the Irish potato famine such a big deal? Didn't they have other foods they could eat? | [
"Ireland produced enough food during the famine, but it was seized by/owed to the English. The potato famine was less of a natural famine, and more of a genocide. Similar things happened to the Ukrainians at the hands of the Soviets during the Holodomor."
] | [
"A handful of centuries is an extremely long time. I wouldn't be surprised if the foods you mention almost completely supplanted traditional foods in Asia and Europe. Many New World crops offered vastly superior yields and nutritional value -- the introduction of potatoes to northern Europe caused an increase in av... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
If many states have no laws regarding age of tattoo with parental constant. How is it not considered child endangerment/neglect to allow your 6 year old to get a tattoo? | [
"The same way it is not considered child endangerment/neglect to allow your 6 year old to see a rated R movie. Just because something has an age range does not make its particularly dangerous for people under that age..."
] | [
"18 yo is the designated age in the USA for viewing mature content, as it is the age of majority. It help keeps websites from getting in trouble if minors see the image and content, cuz there was a warning and stuff. 18 is also the age of majority, which means in the US that someone can decide what to do and what n... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
How is it possible to completely shut down a country's internet? | [
"It is a web of interconnected servers, but they have to be connected. If you control the points where your internet crosses the border to connect to other internet infrastructures, and/or you control all the ISPs within your country you can take your country down."
] | [
"The same way it does in America, except instead of your company blocking facebook at work your government blocks political material at home."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
why do muscles get better the more you use them | [
"It's efficient. A pound of muscle burns a dozen or so calories a day, just to sustain itself. By only building the muscles needed for your particular lifestyle, you save a lot of calories that can then be put toward reproduction or not starving. A fisher needs mostly upper body strength, a [persistence hunter](_UR... | [
"You mean like after a workout? In ELI5 terms, working out causes your muscles to break down a bit. So when you sleep, your body uses protein to repair your muscles. But each time they repair your muscles, they get larger and stronger to accommodate the physical task. If our body didn't do this, repeatedly doing th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why were the the bodies of those who died of a fatal dose of radiation at the Chernobyl disaster still considered toxic and buried in Zinc lined coffins? | [
"Two things. First, they probably got radioactive material from the accident site all over themselves. It's not just radiation that's escaping, it's also actual physical radioactive material that can contaminate body and clothes. This what they mean by nuclear fallout. So it's not like a bullet-riddled body, but mo... | [
"It doesn't. If it functions properly, and all of the radioactive material explodes, the area could be inhabited as soon as the dust settled. For example, Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. The bombs dropped a little over 60 years ago and today both cities have people living in them. On the other hand, Tchernobyl, w... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How are planes able to fly vertically. | [
"Most planes can't fly straight vertically for any length of time without stalling (losing their forward momentum and plummeting). The ones that can have *extremely* powerful engines relative to their size, like in fighter jets, which provide so much thrust on their own that they don't need the lift from their win... | [
"My immediate thoughts lead me to say it's an efficient way to stay airborn for extended lengths of time. Much more efficient than a plane or helicopter, at least. And it can hover too. Helicopters use a lot of fuel to stay afloat. Blimps provide high lengths pf airtime."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why do you get startled/feel a rush of a adrenaline if you catch yourself falling asleep? | [
"Are you talking about hypnic jerk (sometimes called hypnagogic jerk)? That feeling where you jerk suddenly back awake sometimes when you're falling asleep? The prevailing theory is this is an evolutionary holdover from our earlier primate days, and is a danger response so our ancestors didn't accidentally fall out... | [
"Nausia is just your stomach telling your brain that something is wrong, same as you feeling pain when you stub your toe. Its your stomach/intestines way of telling your brain \"Hey, something is wrong please be careful and give me a bit to sort thing back out\" if you stub your toe youll jump around, not trying to... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Sleep and boredom:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Sleep and boredom:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why do delivery truck drivers wear high visibility jackets? | [
"I would assume it has to do with Health & Safety regulations and legislation, I'm not sure about South Africa but in the UK, Health & Safety dictates that employees working in certain professions need to take certain precautions in their job, one of which could be the need for protective or high visibility clothin... | [
"Construction areas can be confusing, especially at night. People have a habit of following dump trucks off the pavement into the work area because the truck is well lit, visible, and moves like he knows where he needs to be. Source: I drive gravel trucks for a road crew in the summers"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How can a sample of 2200 people represent the opinions of 315 million. | [
"Imagine you have a massive jar of M & Ms filled with thousands of pieces. Now if I were to ask you what percentage of them were blue, yellow, brown, and red how do you do it most efficiently? You can dump all of it out and count them one by one but it would take forever. Or you can shake the jar until everything i... | [
"about $224,000 per person. That's assuming theres $70.3 trillion in wealth, and a population of 313.9 million"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How does cutting tinfoil with scissors sharpen them? | [
"This works by cutting several pieces of folded foil. As you cut the top layer of foil that layer is \"pushed\" sideways by the angle of the blade and rubs along the blade. As you cut more layers the combined pressure of the sheets means the blade is not able to \"push\" the next layer as sideways, so the next lay... | [
"Paper is really just wood. Wood is hard. Cutting wood with scissors quickly dulls the blades. Dull blades to not cut fabric well."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Is there a biological reason why men don't appear as frightened as woman during dangerous situations? | [
"I don't think men appear less frightened. Have you ever seen pictures taken at haunted houses? The men react just as badly as the women in most cases. If they do react less strongly, it would be because they were socialized to believe that equates to strength and attractiveness. Nothing to do with evolution."
] | [
"Mirror neurons? The same reason happy movies make us happy, and the same reason we are more likely to yawn when we see others yawn, or feel sad when we see others cry. We empathize with the characters in horror movies."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
how does vaping vegtable glycerine, propylene glycol, and flavor concentrates (electronic cigarette juice) effect cilia trying to restore itself from cigarette smoke? | [
"We don't know for sure yet because vaping is so new there aren't any long term studies. There have been studies about fog machines, however, which use similar glycol or glycerine based fluids. _URL_0_ It's a long section, but tl;dr exposure to glycol fog has been associated with negative respiratory effects by a... | [
"1) to burn off the equivalent amount of suagr of 5 pops, your workout would take so long, you better quit your day job 2) the acids in the pop degenerate bones and other calcium/minereal dopsoits 3) Even if you do burn the equivalent amount of calories your still spiking your insuline and the health problems with ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How does Moore's law work. | [
"They don't. It's not a law. He basically observed that: > the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years. *([Source] (_URL_0_))* Not that it **has** to, but that it **seems** to do this when he made the statement, and is likely to continue ... | [
"Because now we have the technology to do so."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
why will the sun burn something through a magnifying glass but if the sun hits eye glasses it wont burn your eyes? | [
"Because glasses don't so much magnify as distort the light going through them to focus it where the eye needs it. You can create a heat spot with some lenses but you have to aim them directly at the sun and angle them just right so generally it's not an issue."
] | [
"I'm a welder...I'll give this a try ....the blue light that you are seeing is an electrical arc not a flame....it puts off rays kind of like a tanning bed but alot and I mean alot stronger ,now let's say you weld for 2 min with no shirt on you will be arc burnt (sunburnt in a way) to hell and back.....now here is ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Physics:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence about Physics:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
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