Split (3)

train · 3.46k rows

id stringlengths 10 10	question stringlengths 18 294	comment stringlengths 28 6.89k	passages list	presuppositions list	corrections list	labels list	raw_presuppositions list	raw_labels list	raw_corrections list
2018-07756	Why is it that we find sodium chloride tastes good, but bicarbonate of soda does not?	Because sodium and chloride are both vital to our survival, so our taste receptors have evolved to like the taste of salt. Bicarbonate of soda has one component of salt, the sodium cation, so it does taste a bit salty. But the anion is bicarbonate (HCO3-) which is a base and tastes bitter and unpleasant. No, the sodium per gram is based on the total molecular weight of the salt. NaHCO3 is about 28% sodium by weight, NaCl is about 39% sodium by weight.	[ "Sodium bicarbonate, as \"bicarbonate of soda\", was a frequent source of punch lines for Groucho Marx in Marx brothers movies. In \"Duck Soup\", Marx plays the leader of a nation at war. In one scene, he receives a message from the battlefield that his general is reporting a gas attack, and Groucho tells his aide:...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-03894	How do birthmarks on skin become formed and what determines where they are located?	Generally, these are formed from overgrowth of blood vessels or associated skin tissue cells. The localization is based on how skin cells migrate during development and any imbalances can lead to concentrated areas of cells. The localization of birthmarks is not thought to be hereditary.	[ "Section::::Vascular types.\n\nSection::::Vascular types.:Stork bite.\n\nColloquially called a \"stork bite\", \"angel's kiss\" or \"salmon patch\", telangiectatic nevus appears as a pink or tanned, flat, irregularly shaped mark on the knee, back of the neck, and/or the forehead, eyelids and, sometimes, the top lip...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-15015	Why do snowflakes form symmetrically?	They typically don't. Snowflakes are a crystalline formation, and they crystallise along hexagonal patterns. They are roughly symmetrical because at each point when more ice crystals are forming at the edges, they are experiencing approximately the same conditions as at corresponding points of rotational symmetry. Because of the hexagonal structure there are limited ways the ice can crystallise at the edges, this limitation forces the shapes into more regular patterns. The smaller snowflakes are the more uniform and closer to symmetrical they are.	[ "As Nakaya discovered, shape is also a function of whether the prevalent moisture is above or below saturation. Forms below the saturation line trend more towards solid and compact. Crystals formed in supersaturated air trend more towards lacy, delicate and ornate. Many more complex growth patterns also form such a...	[ "Snowflakes form symmetrically", "Snowstorms form symmetrically, but can roughly form symmetrically depending on how small they are. " ]	[ "While snowflakes crystallize along hexagonal patterns, they are not typically symmetrical.", "Snowstorms do not form symmetrically, " ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Snowflakes form symmetrically", "Snowstorms form symmetrically, but can roughly form symmetrically depending on how small they are. " ]	[ "false presupposition", "false presupposition" ]	[ "While snowflakes crystallize along hexagonal patterns, they are not typically symmetrical.", "Snowstorms do not form symmetrically, " ]
2018-17341	How can humans know they found a new species of animal and not an already discovered one?	Imagine that you have a bunch of photos of cars. Thousands of them. They're all the same type of car - say a four door sedan - and none of them have visible brand and model names. Your job is to find each and every unique model of car. Obviously you wouldn't compare each car to every other car to find out which one is a duplicate. Instead, you'd sort them into different categories - blocky or round shape, long or short hood, features distinctive to certain brands like the BMW grill, thin or thick columns, etc. Now when you get a new car, you just identify its distinct features and find the right category. Then you just compare it to the different models which are already there and look whether or not it's already on your list. It's not much different with plants or animals. All those different species of termites can be ordered into smaller subgroups of more closely related species. So for example, if you find a termite with stubby legs and large eyes in South America, you can rule out all species of termites living in Africa or having long legs or having small eyes. You might only need to compare it to 20 other species of termite which share those features.	[ "In a 2015 study it was found that over 94% of observations submitted to iSpot are identified to some level, (80% at species level), and that 92% of a representative sample of the identifications could be externally verified. Most observations were given an initial identification within an hour of posting. Identifi...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[ "It is not probable for humans to know if an animal is a new species or not due to the possibility of it already being discovered." ]	[ "false presupposition", "normal" ]	[ "By looking for distinct features within the discovered animal and comparing it to all other discovered animals within the same category, one can determine if an animal has been discovered or not." ]
2018-15315	Why do adhesives weaken as temperature increases?	Adhesives start out in the liquid state, and then once they're applied, they dry out and become a solid. On a chemical level, this means that the molecules that make up the adhesive are disordered (i.e. not fixed in any particular pattern) and can move around relative to each other fairly easily. Once they become dry (how this happens depends on the type of adhesive), the molecules become "stuck" to each other and can't move around anymore. When you increase their temperature, you're adding heat energy to those molecules, which allows some of them to break free from the forces holding them still, and thus weakening their ability to hold things together.	[ "Surface factors such as smoothness, surface energy, removal of contaminants, etc. are also important to proper bonding.\n\nPSAs are usually designed to form a bond and hold properly at room temperatures. PSAs typically reduce or lose their tack at low temperatures and reduce their shear holding ability at high tem...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-03824	How is the ozone repairing itslef when not much about our lifestyles seems to have changed?	Not every spray can deplete the ozone layer, only those which contain [CFC]( URL_0 ) do. Once we realized the bad effects of CFC (and other similar chemicals) we stopped using them.	[ "On August 2, 2003, scientists announced that the global depletion of the ozone layer may be slowing down because of the international regulation of ozone-depleting substances. In a study organized by the American Geophysical Union, three satellites and three ground stations confirmed that the upper-atmosphere ozon...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-03867	Why do steam downloads on my windows laptop take days when the same game on my MacBook takes 30 minutes?	> What factors affect the download speed relating to the OS? None. Whatever you're experiencing is likely a hardware, network, or bandwidth availability issue. All other things equal, you will see zero difference in download/upload speeds between different OSs. For example, if your Mac has a SSD (as most apple computers by default have higher end hardware) but the PCs you're used to using don't, your DOWNLOAD speed isn't being limited but a mechanical hard drive can only write so fast, so the computer will only download the file as fast as it can write it to disk.	[ "Section::::Platforms.:macOS.\n", "In South America, smartphones alone took majority from desktops on Christmas Day, but for a full-week-average, desktop is still at least at 58%.\n\nThe UK desktop-minority dropped down to 44.02% on Christmas Day and the for the eight days around to the end of the year. Ireland j...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[ "Downloads on windows laptop are different than on macbook." ]	[ "false presupposition", "normal" ]	[ "They should not be different given the same hardware. If they are different then the hardware may be faulty. " ]
2018-21162	Why are they called "Soup & Oyster Crackers" when no one eats them with oysters?	They are eaten with oyster stew. My parents used to make oyster stew to eat with good family friends. It was always a special occasion and oyster crackers were always a standard addition.	[ "Roast beef was New Orleans' most popular po'boy filler up to the 1970s and fried oyster po'boys are popular enough that they are sometimes called an oyster loaf, but the fillings can be almost anything, according to Sarah Rohan who in her book \"Gumbo Tales\" mentions fried shrimp, catfish, crawfish, Louisiana hot...	[ "No one eats Soup & Oyster Crackers with oysters.", "Noone eats \"Soup & Oyster Crackers\" with oysters." ]	[ "Soup & Oyster Crackers are eaten with oyster stew.", "\"Soup & Oyster Crackers\" are eaten with oyster stew." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "No one eats Soup & Oyster Crackers with oysters.", "Noone eats \"Soup & Oyster Crackers\" with oysters." ]	[ "false presupposition", "false presupposition" ]	[ "Soup & Oyster Crackers are eaten with oyster stew.", "\"Soup & Oyster Crackers\" are eaten with oyster stew." ]
2018-21847	Why does swallowing a piece of watermelon whole not relieve my thirst like chewing it before swallowing would?	Because you're essentially just swallowing a block of food without chewing it, rather than piercing it with your teeth to release the juices which wet and hydrate your mouth	[ "BULLET::::- SET: \"for we have heard how HASHEM dried up the waters of the Sea of Reeds for you when you went forth from Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were across the Jordan - to Sihon and to Og - whom you utterly destroyed.\"\n\nJoshua’s speech to the troops shortly before the conque...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-03331	Is it safe to swim in a lake of a old mine that still contains Wolfram/tungsten?	French soldiers were getting poisoned after drinking Tungsten contaminated drings (they poured it through their gun barrels). So drinking that water can certainly be dangerous depending on concentration, as for swimming, same thing I guess, depending on concentration and exposure time, it may not be too good. Maybe the local wildlife around can give you a better hint..	[ "Some near-surface brines in the western United States contain anomalously high concentrations of dissolved tungsten. Should recovery ever prove economic, some brines could be significant sources of tungsten. For instance, brines beneath Searles Lake, California, with concentrations of about 56 mg/l tungsten (70 mg...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-02992	What makes succulents' roots more predisposed to rotting if waterlogged than other plants?	During a normal day in most plant's lives the sun evaporates water from the soil. At the same time, the plant draws water through it's roots, transports it up to its leaves, and proceeds with photosynthesis. Most plants breathe through little holes in their leaves, called stomata. When these holes are open, they can get more CO2, but also lose a bunch of water to the surrounding air. So when the sun goes down, and photosynthesis virtually stops (for these plants), they close their stomata, and thus conserve water during the night. In very arid environments, a different type of photosynthesis evolved, where the plants keep their stomata closed during the day. This means that less photosynthesis is occurring, but also means that they are losing less water. Because of this (and other factors) they are not able to take much water up from the soil, as plants are limited in their water uptake based on transpiration (moving water from roots to leaves and air). They instead open their stomata during the night, and that's when they exchange gases like O2 and CO2, and also when they lose more of their water. Because their transpiration rate is so low during the day, they are able to live in much drier areas, but they don't pull as much moisture from the soil. Now, everything that lives on earth requires at least some moisture, and fungus/mold, bacteria, viruses, etc, are not different. The more water you have, the more likely it is that some sort of life is going to flourish. In the soil, it's mostly fungi and bacteria. If you have a plant that has soggy toes, it's creating a good environment for fungi and bacteria. These organisms actually eat parts of the plant, and cause it to die. Some of them eat the root hairs (organs that are responsible for increasing the surface area and absorption rates of roots), and some of them actually infect the plant as a parasite. So, if you are a plant living in a nice moist area, you spend your days pulling water from the ground, and if the ground stays dry enough, you make the soil an inhospitable home for the unwanted pathogens. If you live in a dry environment, you care more about staying hydrated, since the environment already does a decent job of keeping those pathogens out. To make a long story more understandable, succulents are one of those plants that has adapted to very dry environments, and doesn't like having soggy soil for too long. When that happens, bacteria and fungi grow, and eventually eat the root hairs and roots of the plant.	[ "The desert habitat of this species receives its sparse rainfall mainly in Spring and early Summer, with very little rainfall in the winter. The plants may receive water from dew or condensation in the winter, because in cultivation \"Conophytum burgeri\" can be treated as a winter-rainfall species, like most other...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-20620	How do fiber optic cables carry the internet?	The cables are like tubes for light. Shine light in one end and it illuminates the other. Using this, you can turn a light on and off on one end and have a sensor on the other to read it. By using pre-determined binary sequences of ons and offs, it can transmit data in the same way that computers and electronics do.	[ "Section::::Research areas.\n\nSection::::Research areas.:Transmission technology and fiber optics.\n", "Section::::Technology.\n\nModern fiber-optic communication systems generally include an optical transmitter to convert an electrical signal into an optical signal to send through the optical fiber, a cable con...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-04634	Why are movies available for purchase much faster to the public now vs recent years?	Piracy. The longer people have to wait for a movie the more chance illegal downloads will happen...	[ "The video industry underwent some of the same changes as the music industry. The video industry gained their revenues with selling DVDs to customers and the sell of rights to cinemas and television channels. In 1997, the first ‘online distributors’ emerged in the market, which has slowly risen and was still small ...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-00736	why do some foods need to be refrigerated after opening?	Before it was opened the food/condiment was sealed off. Now that you’ve opened it it becomes exposed to air/germs. A restaurant goes through a ketchup bottle way faster than you do so it’s not really a problem.	[ "Once opened for consumption, the product is immediately exposed to atmospheric oxygen and floating dust particles containing bacteria and mold spores, and all protections from the preservation process are immediately lost. At room temperature, mold and bacteria growth resumes almost immediately, and warmer tempera...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-17089	Why does blood taste like copper?	It's more a metallic taste than copper specifically. Blood contains iron in the hemoglobin. Fun fact. Some animals use hemocyanin, which does use copper instead of iron as the oxygen transport.	[ "Like chevaliers and chiroptera, the Schiff have enhanced speed and strength, and must drink blood to survive. However they are different in two key ways: sunlight will burn them to death, and they form a condition they call \"Thorn\" that causes them to slowly crystallize. It initially manifests itself as red crac...	[ "Blood tastes like copper.", "Blood taste like copper." ]	[ "It's more a metallic taste than copper specifically.", "Blood has a more metallic taste than copper." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Blood tastes like copper.", "Blood taste like copper." ]	[ "false presupposition", "false presupposition" ]	[ "It's more a metallic taste than copper specifically.", "Blood has a more metallic taste than copper." ]
2018-03279	Why does stretching when you wake up feel so good?	Your joints’ metabolism works through the liquid in the joints. When they are not moving and the fluid stays still, the process makes the liquid have the metabolites, which makes the cartilages somewhat sore. So when you stretch and the fluid gets stirred around, you feel the refreshment. A similar thing happens during pregnancy when the child’s metabolites gather in the woman’s body overnight causing morning sickness	[ "In its most basic form, stretching is a natural and instinctive activity; it is performed by humans and many other animals. It can be accompanied by yawning. Stretching often occurs instinctively after waking from sleep, after long periods of inactivity, or after exiting confined spaces and areas.\n\nIncreasing fl...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-03149	How do our bodies separate solids from liquids during digestion? Especially when you drink while eating. What prevents us from urinating out solids or vice versa?	> How do our bodies separate solids from liquids during digestion? Everything is absorbed through the intestines into the bloodstream. The kidneys then filter liquids and wastes out of the blood and produce urine. There is no direct connection between the digestive system and the kidneys/bladder so there is no way for solid wastes to make their way there (except by deposition of dissolved solids into kidney stones). And of course there is no way for urine to make its way into the digestive system either.	[ "Section::::Formation of urine.:Reabsorption.\n\nTubular reabsorption is the process by which solutes and water are removed from the tubular fluid and transported into the blood. It is called \"reabsorption\" (and not \"absorption\") both because these substances have already been absorbed once (particularly in the...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-09349	why does alcohol burn small cuts	Normally your skin protects you from corrosive substances like alcohol, but when you have a cut, obviously that defense is gone. Alcohol kills cells, your body doesn't like that, so it sends a type of pain signal to your brain, which your brain interprets as an unpleasant burning sensation.	[ "A study by a team of researchers at the University of Idaho, Washington State University, and the US Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Data Laboratory calculated the percentage of alcohol remaining in a dish based on various cooking methods. The results are as follows:\n\nBULLET::::- alcohol added to boiling li...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-03199	When it is said that matter and anti matter annihilate each other into pure energy, what is meant by pure energy?	It means they're broken down into massless particles: the photon. Pure energy is a meaningless term. Energy only exists in the context of stuff, particles. When an electron and positron interact, the result is two (iirc) photons which collectively have the energy of the two interacting particles. So when they annihilate, the energy contained within them is released as light.	[ "Many problems in physics involve matter in motion about some certain point in space, be it in actual rotation about it, or simply moving past it, where it is desired to know what effect the moving matter has on the point—can it exert energy upon it or perform work about it? Energy, the ability to do work, can be s...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-22919	why is 7up or similar sodas used to help settle upset stomachs?	I can think of two possible reasons. The first is that the CO2 in these sodas help to alleviate gas buildup in your stomach by causing you to burp. The second is that the citrus part of these citrus sodas like 7UP, Sprite, etc. produce alkaline byproducts that neutralize the pH in your upset stomach. Although considering that artificial flavoring is probably used, the first explanation is more reasonable.	[ "The Caesar is popular as a hangover \"cure\", though its effectiveness has been questioned. A study by the University of Toronto released in 1985 showed that drinking a Caesar when taking aspirin could help protect a person's stomach from the damage aspirin causes, as compared with drinking plain tomato juice.\n\n...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-02513	Why are currencies around the world producing smaller increment bank notes? ex. US used to have 1000$ bills and no longer do, UK's 100£ is gone in favor of a 50£. Even the Euro which is relatively new has phased out it's 500€, what gives? THX	Others have already mentioned the criminal/counterfeiting risk, but the other important reason is that people generally don’t want those notes. In the days of debit/credit cards, online purchases, ATMs, and direct deposits there simply isn’t a need for high denomination bills. I mean when was the last time you actually used a hundred dollar or five hundred euro bill?	[ "The American $100 bill has competition from the €500 note, which facilitates the transport of larger amounts of money. One million dollars in $100 bills weighs 22 pounds, and is difficult to carry this much money without a briefcase and physical security. The same amount in €500 notes would weigh less than three p...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-15057	why does the west coast burn while the east coast seems relatively unaffected?	water currents always spin in the same direction. warm water is dragged up from the equator towards the Arctic on the East sides of continents, while cool water is dragged down from the Arctic toward the equator along the west side of continents. the water current along the west coast drags cool water along the coast; moderating temperatures, and keeping it relatively dry. The current on the east coast drags warm water along the coast; giving us varied seasons. this is also why the east coast gets hurricanes, but the west coast doesn't. this is true for all continents. The west coast of Afro-Eurasia has weather like the west coast of America. so Europe is much warmer than the equivalent latitude on the east coast of America; despite being much further North. Europe also never really gets Hurricanes. Compare this to east Asia and their typhoons. Japan is famous for it strong hurricanes, because it and china are affected by the same process as the east coast.	[ "The West Coast of the continental United States makes up part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of heavy tectonic and volcanic activity that is the source of 90% of the world's earthquakes. The American Northwest sees the highest concentration of active volcanoes in the United States, in Washington, Oregon and ...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-11496	Why real flashbangs don't effect in the way we see in video-games?	The difference is one is real life, one is a video game. The video game exaggerates the effect so that it has tactical use. A "virtual flashbang" isn't going to impair a player if it completely mimics a real life one (unless it delivers an actual loud noise that would cause real ringing in one's ears, but then that'd make the game harmful)	[ "In the year 2001, Flash Film works worked on the Eddie Murphy science fiction film \"The Adventures of Pluto Nash\", creating computer generated Moonscapes for the actors to walk through.\n\nFor the Arnold Schwarzenegger action film \"Collateral Damage\", Flash Film works was responsible for over 200 visual effect...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-05237	Why is the thought of spitting in to a cup and swallowing it disgusting when we swallow own saliva all the time?	My psychology teacher once said (if Is remember correctly) that when something that is a part of your body (like saliva, blood, nasal mucus,...) but you seperate it from your body, you will recognize this as not part of your body anymore (subconciously). Thus you won't lick, swallow of whatever that. Some people have this to a more pronounced effect than others, but generally speaking: seperated from the body is not yours anymore, and therefore dirty.	[ "Chew and Spit is often associated with and may be a potential gateway to more severe dieting behaviors. Individuals who use CS as a compensatory behavior are more likely to be diagnosed or develop eating disorders. The likelihood is dependent upon the severity of food obsession present. Treatments to eliminate the...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-03193	Why do most foods, drinks etc have to be refrigerated AFTER ONE use? What happens to the contents after just one use?	In many cases, the contents have been pasteurized. So they're "clean" and "free" of bacteria sealed as they are. The second you open it, they become exposed to bacteria. Refrigeration slows the growth of bacteria.	[ "Just as temperature increases speed up reactions, temperature decreases reduce them. Therefore, to make explosives stable for longer periods, or to keep rubber bands springy, or to force bacteria to slow down their growth, they can be cooled. That is why shelf life is generally extended by temperature control: (re...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-01072	How will the many tiny amounts of cryptocurrencies left in users wallets after transactions affect the respective currencies over time?	This is a problem, because each wallet with funds in (even 1 satoshi or similar minimum multiple) has to be indexed. In general, this index has to be held in RAM on every computer running the cryptocurrency software. For bitcoin, this is a big problem, as the list of wallets with funds (the UTXO set) needs hundreds of MB of RAM. In the case of bitcoin, many of these funds are "trapped" due to high transaction fees, and there is no way to spend them or merge them into more compact wallets. The result has been that the size of this UTXO set has been growing rapidly. In contrast, for cryptocurrencies with much lower fees like bitcoin cash, the UTXO set is much smaller and hasn't been growing, because it is cost effective to use these small wallets. We are still in early days, but one of the ways that this is being dealt with in bitcoin is to charge users a "small payment fee", to make sure that a newly received payment is always big enough to spend. For example, if a shop wants to sell a $20 item with bitcoin, they would add a $10 "small payment fee" to take the value up to $30. That extra $10 would cover the bitcoin transaction fees needed to merge that payment into a more compact wallet. Effectively, it is a way of getting the buyer to pay 2 transaction fees - 1 fee to pay the seller, and 1 fee to allow the seller to spend the payment.	[ "Transaction fees for cryptocurrency depend mainly on the supply of network capacity at the time, versus the demand from the currency holder for a faster transaction. The currency holder can choose a specific transaction fee, while network entities process transactions in order of highest offered fee to lowest. Cry...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-19405	If there were just one insurance company for a category like cars, home, health, etc, wouldn't rates for everyone be lower, since there would be a much larger pool of participants, and it wouldn't have to spend on marketing?	If there was only one insurance company, and it wasn't the government, then wouldn't they increase everyone's rates because no one has a choice to go somewhere else? More money for the company at no risk.	[ "Insurers would be able to bring their products to market more quickly because they would only have to obtain approval from a single regulatory body, rather than in multiple states as they do now under the patchwork quilt of state regulation. And consumers, who often move from state to state in today's economy, wou...	[ "Insurance rates would go down if all people used the same company. ", " If there were just one insurance company, everyone's rates might be lower." ]	[ "Insurance rates would go up if there was only one insurance company for people to use. ", " If there was only one insurance company, they may increase everyone's rates." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Insurance rates would go down if all people used the same company. ", " If there were just one insurance company, everyone's rates might be lower." ]	[ "false presupposition", "false presupposition" ]	[ "Insurance rates would go up if there was only one insurance company for people to use. ", " If there was only one insurance company, they may increase everyone's rates." ]
2018-09458	How do Psychics fool people so convincingly?	Many tend to do cold reading, and convince people they are real through that manner.(Cold reading is the practice of 'predicting' things that can/have happened to anyone. I.E. "I sense you have lost an older male relative. He is here, watching over you.) People will also give away tiny details that the 'psychics' can use to be even more convincing, to the point people will eventually believe anything they say. And of course now there's Google so if they know who they appointments with beforehand...	[ "Section::::Belief in psychic detectives.\n", "The evidence presented for psychic phenomena is not sufficiently verified for scientific acceptance, and there exist many non-paranormal alternative explanations for claimed instances of psychic events. Parapsychologists, who generally believe that there is some evid...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-23217	Can people who aren’t super tech savvy see what I’m looking at if I’m connected to their WiFi?	There is a way to see history by device if you log into the router. But not sure if all routers have this. Just play it safe, don't watch porn at your grandparents house.	[ "The OIF has held many interoperability demonstrations over the years, typically at the OFC and/or ECOC trade shows. Recent demonstrations have included multi-vendor interoperation for several of the CEI-56G reaches, CEI-112G VSR links, the CFP2-ACO interface, and FlexE.\n\nSection::::Compliance Testing.\n\nA compl...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-15226	Why do some pipes make strange noises or vibrate violently when the water is turned on?	water can't be compressed very much. In old pipes, when you shut off the water, all the water that's currently in the pipe is still moving and slams into the valve at the end of the pipe, making a loud sound. Newer pipes add a little air filled bit above the pipe that the water can flow into instead.	[ "Section::::Cause and effect.:Related phenomena.\n\nSteam distribution systems may also be vulnerable to a situation similar to water hammer, known as \"steam hammer\". In a steam system, a water hammer most often occurs when some of the steam condenses into water in a horizontal section of the piping. Steam picks ...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-05594	What is the difference between a Bomb Cyclone and a Superstorm?	“Superstorm” is not a technical term. Informally, it means a storm that is particularly powerful or significant. A “cyclone” is an area of low-pressure air surrounded by rotating wind. A hurricane or tropical storm is one type of cyclone. A cyclone that forms outside the tropics is called an “extratropical” cyclone. There tend to be some distinct differences in structure and behavior between tropical and extratropical cyclones. A “bomb cyclone” is an extratropical cyclone that strengthens very quickly in a short period of time. The specific criterion is a calculation involving a drop in air pressure over a 24-hour period, with the minimum pressure drop depending on the latitude. “Superstorm” has been used for decades as a term to spice up weather reports. Hurricanes have names assigned by NOAA; this makes is much easier for a news station to offer a compelling narrative for people to watch over time. But the U.S. doesn't get hurricanes in the winter. Calling a bad piece of winter weather a “superstorm” (sometimes with an unofficial name) makes for good television, although it's easy to overdo it and wear out the term “superstorm”. Recently, media outlets have been referring to some winter storms using the evocative-but-technically-accurate term “bomb cyclone”. Unlike the subjective “superstorm”, there is a scientific basis for calling a storm a “bomb cyclone”. Presumably, these media outlets are hoping to re-engage viewers who are tired of “superstorms”.	[ "The term \"weather bomb\" is popularly used in New Zealand to describe dramatic or destructive weather events. Rarely are the events actual instances of explosive cyclogenesis, as the rapid deepening of low pressure areas is rare around New Zealand. This use of \"bomb\" may lead to confusion with the more strictly...	[ "A Bomb Cyclone and a Superstorm are two distinct phenomena.", "A superstrom is a technical term." ]	[ "Superstorm is an informalt term denoting any storm that is powerful or significant, thus a Bomb Cyclone could also be a Superstorm.", "Superstorm is not a technical term, it just means any powerful storm." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "A Bomb Cyclone and a Superstorm are two distinct phenomena.", "A superstrom is a technical term." ]	[ "false presupposition", "false presupposition" ]	[ "Superstorm is an informalt term denoting any storm that is powerful or significant, thus a Bomb Cyclone could also be a Superstorm.", "Superstorm is not a technical term, it just means any powerful storm." ]
2018-13571	How are dams built? It seems to me like the issue of all the water they must hold back would make it extremely difficult.	Sometimes the river is temporarily redirected during construction, but remember that the massive wall of water only exists after the dam is finished. Before that it's just a river at the bottom of a valley. If the dam has a bypass at the bottom, it can remain open until the dam is completed so the water level doesn't rise. Once the dam is closed, the reservoir will fill.	[ "Without a reservoir, flooding of the upper part of the river does not take place. As a result, people remain living at or near the river and existing habitats are not flooded. Any pre-existing pattern of flooding will continue unaltered, presenting a flood risk to the facility and downstream areas.\n\nSection::::D...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[ "When dams are constructed it is difficult to do that considering the huge amounts of water the dam holds back." ]	[ "false presupposition", "normal" ]	[ "The massive amounts of water only exist after the dam is finished." ]
2018-00753	When does a cult become an accepted religion?	Christianity was considered a cult until it was adopted as the state religion in Rome by Constantine in the early 300s. Mormonism Is still looked at by many as a cult and not a real Christian sect.	[ "The organisation has attempted to define the term cult by analysing dictionary definitions, and psychological, religious, and secular definitions, however it has found that they are all deficient in some manner. Its current definition of the term cult includes three main points: the group's identity was derived fr...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-24220	How do people develop stage 4 cancer without noticing until it’s too late?	A lot of the symptoms can be masked by other things. One guy I knew didn't find out he had lung cancer until it had metastasized to his ribs. He coughed and ached all the time for years, but he just wrote it off as a result of his constant smoking and age. It wasn't until he went to the ER to get an xray of a 'cracked rib' that 'just wasn't getting better' that he found out at all.	[ "The aims of follow-up are to diagnose, in the earliest possible stage, any metastasis or tumors that develop later, but did not originate from the original cancer (metachronous lesions).\n", "Most people with cancer of unknown primary origin have widely disseminated and incurable disease, although a few can be c...	[ "It seems impossible that someone with a stage 4 cancer would not notice it until it's too late." ]	[ "Cancer symptoms can be masked by other things." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "It seems impossible that someone with a stage 4 cancer would not notice it until it's too late." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Cancer symptoms can be masked by other things." ]
2018-12871	Why do humans not have a "mating season"?	This is essentially the question of why human females have _concealed ovulation_. They are only fertile at certain times, but unlike many other animals they don't overtly advertise those fertile times. We don't know for _sure_ why this is so. The hypothesis I think has the most weight is that it developed as a way for females to maintain persistent male investment. In species that advertise when they are fertile, males can seek mating opportunities at that time, and otherwise ignore the female. Assuring paternity in a female's offspring requires little to no investment by the males. In a species like us, with concealed ovulation, males can only be assured of their paternity by constant vigilance. They don't know when a sexual encounter could lead to pregnancy, and therefore have "hang around", and court the female to maintain her interest. This courting would have involved primarily offers of food. This may have even been the precursor to male parental investment. After females developed concealed ovulation to maintain male investment in _them_, it probably became evolutionarily advantageous to simply extend that investment to the resulting offspring. In most of the animal kingdom, fathers don't care about their children. Feelings of paternal love may have ultimately developed because of this change in parental investment in males.	[ "Section::::Seasonality.:Mammals.\n\nMating seasons are often associated with changes to herd or group structure, and behavioural changes, including territorialism amongst individuals. These may be annual (e.g. wolves), biannual (e.g. dogs) or more frequently (e.g. horses). During these periods, females of most mam...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-02800	How much energy can wind power stations produce?	Kilowatts is a measure of power (that is, energy over time), so it's already time-based. If it can produce 600 kW, that means it can produce 600 kilojoules per second. The "average" home (the kind where they say "this is enough to power X homes") uses 1 kW, so a 600 kW power station could power around 600 homes.	[ "The total capacity for the state as of 2014 was around 1,080 MW, more than double the output of the Anglesea Coal Fired Power Station. Several wind farms are under construction while several more have been proposed and approved. The total potential capacity of wind turbines in Victoria including those currently op...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-00308	How does stainless steel naturally kill bacteria?	In general, stainless steel [doesn’t exhibit antibacterial propertie]( URL_0 )s. It is frequently used in healthcare because it is easily cleaned, and holds up well to powerful cleaners/disinfectants.	[ "Studies have found prolonged viability of bacteria on stainless-steel surfaces at room temperature. In a specific study, stainless steel was inoculated with 10 CFU/cm \"E. coli\" and \"K. pneumonia\", containing bla and bla (antibiotic-resistant genes) respectively. Thirty days later (at room temperature, 22˚ C), ...	[ "Stainless steel kills bacteria." ]	[ "It doesn't kill bacteria, it is just easy to clean bacteria off, and cleaners do not damage it. " ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Stainless steel kills bacteria." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "It doesn't kill bacteria, it is just easy to clean bacteria off, and cleaners do not damage it. " ]
2018-00754	Is it actually possible for Korea to 'reunite'?	Yes, it is possible. Just as it was possible for East and West Germany to go back to being Germany. That doesn't mean it would be easy, however. There are a lot of practical problems with merging the two states. Even if you assume that the North collapses and the South just takes control (rather than trying to create a new government from scratch) what happens to, say the political prisoners in the north? the regular prisoners? people who get money from the NK government to live on? Do the poorer people in the North automatically qualify for assistance programs from the south? can they join the military? and so on, and so on.	[ "A unified Korea could have great implications for the balance of power in the region, with South Korea already considered by many a regional power. Reunification would give access to cheap labor and abundant natural resources in the North, which, combined with existing technology and capital in the South, would cr...	[ "It might not be possible for Korea to reunite." ]	[ "It is possible for Korea to reunite." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "It might not be possible for Korea to reunite.", "It might not be possible for Korea to reunite." ]	[ "normal", "false presupposition" ]	[ "It is possible for Korea to reunite.", "It is possible for Korea to reunite." ]
2018-18759	How do lasers work, especially the ones that can cut metal?	The laser source dumps energy into a cavity oscillator. That oscillator produces light that's all the same frequency and aligned in a coherent beam. By putting lots of energy into a very narrow beam, you can make the small spot where the beam hits a piece of metal hot enough to melt the metal. Metals are opaque, aso they have to absorb the energy in light that shines on them.	[ "Depending on the power of the laser, its influence on a working piece differs: lower power values are used for laser engraving and laser ablation, where material is partially removed by the laser. With higher powers the material becomes fluid and laser welding can be realized, or if the power is high enough to rem...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-08401	Why do hotplates get red when they are hot?	All matter gives off radiation at various wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum. When the steel in your hotplate heats up due to electrical friction from the electrons running through it, the wavelength of the radiation it emits gets shorter and more energetic. It just so happens the steel gets so energetic it starts to emit visible light at the red part of the spectrum. If you were able to heat it up more it would radiate even shorter wavelengths.	[ "BULLET::::- Airdate — 2 September 2015\n\nSection::::Ratings.\n\nBULLET::::- Colour key:\n\n Highest rating during the series br\n\nSection::::Stolen concept.\n", "Some high-powered vacuum tubes (e.g. large transmitter or induction heating tubes) have silica envelopes and/or graphite or zirconium coated tantalu...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-09270	What is the difference between the different grades of gasoline?	The higher the number, the more you can compress the gasoline before it ignites. So if your engine is tuned for 93 but you put 87 in, it is possible that the gas/air mix will pre-ignite which is bad for the engine	[ "BULLET::::- the crude oil feed used by the refinery;\n\nBULLET::::- the grade of gasoline (in particular, the octane rating).\n\nThe various refinery streams blended to make gasoline have different characteristics. Some important streams include:\n", "Section::::Measurement methods.:Aviation gasoline octane rati...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-05006	When I’m looking out the window in a moving car or train, why do the things close to me appear to move quickly while things far away move slower?	This has to do with your field of vision. If drawn our, your field of vision in front of you is basically a triangle, with one tip right between your eyes (it's more accurate to say it's two overlapping triangles, one for each eye, but the overlap is so much in order to provide depth perception that it's almost one triangle instead of two). Now if you take a water bottle or a finger and move it from left to right, the closer that finger is to you, the less it has to move to get out of your field of vision (because it's closer to the tip of the triangle that is your field of vision) The same idea applies to objects outside the moving car or train. That lamp post 3 feet away only needs to move 3 feet to get out of your field of vision, while that mountain will need to move several miles (assuming you are traveling in a straight line and not around the mountain) just to get out of your field of vision.	[ "Suchow and Alvarez explain the role that velocity has on motion silencing in that local retinotopic (of the retina) detectors fixate on specific points in the visual field, and when they are only permitted a short amount of time to process the changes occurring they do not have enough time to detect changes. The e...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[ "Everything should move at a constant speed in my vision." ]	[ "false presupposition", "normal" ]	[ "The way your vision works means things that are closer appear to move by faster. " ]
2018-19237	Why did Pilgrims wear buckles on their hats?	Contrary to popular myth, capotains never included buckles on the front of them; this image was created in the 19th century.	[ "The word \"buckle\" enters Middle English via Old French and the Latin \"buccula\" or \"cheek-strap,\" as for a helmet. Some of the earliest buckles known are those used by Roman soldiers to strap their body armor together and prominently on the balteus and cingulum. Made out of bronze and expensive, these buckles...	[ "The hats Pilgrims wore had buckles on them.", "Pilgrims wore buckles on their hats. " ]	[ "This is a myth - Pilgrims' hats never included buckles.", "Pilgrim captains never wore buckles on their hats. " ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "The hats Pilgrims wore had buckles on them.", "Pilgrims wore buckles on their hats. " ]	[ "false presupposition", "false presupposition" ]	[ "This is a myth - Pilgrims' hats never included buckles.", "Pilgrim captains never wore buckles on their hats. " ]
2018-19902	Why are cicadas so loud?	Mating and eating are their only reason for existence, Cicaidas sound off to each other to swarm, a swarm forms and the constant buzzing begins	[ "Section::::Predator satiation survival strategy.:Impact on other populations.\n", "Giant cicadas produce a remarkably distinct and loud sound, singing primarily at dusk, and less often at dawn in central Texas. It has been known to sing all day and occasionally through the night further south. Its loud, shrill s...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-00936	why do beets retain their purple colour after passing through a body, but red wine doesn't?	Red wine doesn’t have the same biochemical reaction as beets. When you drink red wine, your body processes it differently than beets. Red beets contain a chemical called betacyanin that gives them deep purple color. Although most foods are chemically altered by the digestive process in such a way that they lose their coloration, betacyanin breakdown is variable. Factors that influence whether betacyanin passes through your digestive system intact include the acid content of your stomach and the nutrients in other foods eaten along with red beets. -90% of my reply was copied from the inter-webs	[ "Red wine contains between 0.2 and 5.8 mg/l, depending on the grape variety. White wine has much less because red wine is fermented with the skins, allowing the wine to extract the resveratrol, whereas white wine is fermented after the skin has been removed. The composition of wine is different from that of grapes ...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-08721	How does a hose work with an attachment? How does it not explode off? Does the water pressure stop?	> Does the water pressure stop? Pressure is static, it doesn't change. When allowed the escape the water will constantly flow out but when stopped it doesn't continually build up. Normal water pressure is about 40-45 psi.	[ "A standard APW extinguisher in the United States contains of water in a stainless steel tank. The water is discharged by means of a ½-inch hose, with a smooth-bore nozzle attached to the tip. They will initially produce a 40–50 foot stream of water, with a discharge time of about 50 seconds.\n", "BULLET::::- Sta...	[ "A hose with an attachment should explode off. " ]	[ "Due to pressure being static, the water inside of the hose will constantly flow and when stopped it won't continue to build up, meaning it the attachment won't blow off. " ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "A hose with an attachment should explode off. ", "A hose with an attachment should explode off. " ]	[ "normal", "false presupposition" ]	[ "Due to pressure being static, the water inside of the hose will constantly flow and when stopped it won't continue to build up, meaning it the attachment won't blow off. ", "Due to pressure being static, the water inside of the hose will constantly flow and when stopped it won't continue to build up, meaning it ...
2018-19893	Why do computers get slower over time?	A few people have explained some ways computers can actually become slower. The other side of this though is that computers often only appear to be slower because the applications they're running become bigger. Part of this is due to natural progression of software. But a lot of it is down to software consuming a lot more processing power and memory space to do the same thing. Go back 30-40 years, programmers had to come up with a lot of clever tricks to make a program that not only worked, but worked within the much narrower confines of the available hardware. Even a very basic word processing application, you have to use a lot of tricks to make that work with a 3MHz CPU and 64KB of memory. When you have 3GHz CPU and 64GB of memory, your code doesn't have to be nearly as efficient... and in reality, a lot of programs aren't as efficient as they used to be, because they simply don't need to be. You can really see this happening with games in particular. PC games in the early 90s only a few dozen MB worth of hard drive space, and required maybe a couple MB of RAM. And yet a lot of retro style games on Steam, with the same level of graphics and sound, and similar levels of content, might take several hundred MB, or even GB of hard drive space, and require at least a GB of RAM. EDIT: Just to clarify one thing, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Its not like the current generation of software developers are bunch of lazy good for nothing kids or something. 30-40 years ago, making your code efficient as possible was a high priority because the hardware demanded it. Nowadays, it doesn't. Time spent trimming a bunch of fat from your code is generally better spent working to add new functionality or extending an application to new platforms. You could make your code super efficient, but it's not going to make a noticeable difference for users compared to code that is simply adequately efficient. The application having new functionality or working on a new platform is noticeable to users though.	[ "Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, writing for ZDNet, believes that the slow-down over time is due to loading too much software, loading duplicate software, installing too much free/trial/beta software, using old, outdated or incorrect drivers, installing new drivers without uninstalling the old ones and may also be due to m...	[ "Computers get slower over time.", "Computers get slower over time." ]	[ "They do not get slower over time, they just appear slower do to new technology needed to run on them or badly made software.", "They do not get slower over time, they just appear slower do to new technology needed to run on them or badly made software." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Computers get slower over time.", "Computers get slower over time.", "Computers get slower over time." ]	[ "normal", "false presupposition" ]	[ "They do not get slower over time, they just appear slower do to new technology needed to run on them or badly made software.", "They do not get slower over time, they just appear slower do to new technology needed to run on them or badly made software.", "They do not get slower over time, they just appear slow...
2018-16370	Why do computers have a shutdown process instead of just cutting it's own power?	For the same reason that people generally lie down before going to sleep instead of just falling over: To avoid damage. At any given time, a computer is running a lot of programs in the background, and they need to be safely closed before the computer shuts down. Many of them also save their state during their shutdown procedures, so they can resume where they were when the computer comes back on. These programs can be extremely important to the operation of the computer, and if things don't add up when it comes back on, the operating system itself won't run anymore.	[ "Shutdown (computing)\n\nTo shut down or power off a computer is to remove power from a computer's main components in a controlled way. After a computer is shut down, main components such as CPUs, RAM modules and hard disk drives are powered down, although some internal components, such as an internal clock, may re...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-04281	why do popcorn companies put the nutrition information for both popped and unpopped bags?	Two factors here, size and absorption. In the US, the FDA ensures that you are accounting for all the food in your package. This matters because when you pop in the bag, you are changing the product in manner that is going to make the useful food you get out of it different than what they have to account for. Say what???? So in an unpopped bag, they have X amount of popcorn, and Y amount of fat. Then unpopped info is going to add up all the stuff and tell you what's in it. But when you pop it, you're changing the structure of the popcorn and removing it from the bag. When you do that, you're going to leave a lot of stuff behind. The oil/fat the popcorn pops in gets absorbed into the bag, in a measurable way. They then provide you with the average nutrition information of the popped popcorn after accounting for the stuff that gets left behind.	[ "Furthermore, if a variety X exceeds 50%, the label must conspicuously state \"contains up to 60% X\", and so on in 10% increments up to 80%. (The first example given by the FDA is \"contains up to 60% pecans\".) When testing mixed nuts for compliance, the FDA samples at least 24 pounds to reduce sampling error.\n"...	[ "It is unnecessary to provide nutritional information for both popped and unpopped bags of popcorn when most don't consume unpopped popcorn. " ]	[ "The FDA ensures that consumers see all information for the contents of the product, and when popcorn is popped the nutritional value of it changes, making it necessary to be included." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "It is unnecessary to provide nutritional information for both popped and unpopped bags of popcorn when most don't consume unpopped popcorn. ", "It is unnecessary to provide nutritional information for both popped and unpopped bags of popcorn when most don't consume unpopped popcorn. " ]	[ "normal", "false presupposition" ]	[ "The FDA ensures that consumers see all information for the contents of the product, and when popcorn is popped the nutritional value of it changes, making it necessary to be included.", "The FDA ensures that consumers see all information for the contents of the product, and when popcorn is popped the nutritional...
2018-24292	Why is music played so loudly at concerts?	To get over the ambient noise. People don't shut up, and hundreds to thousands of people all yammering away that's a lot of noise to get over top of. Go to a busy restaurant, and then sit for a few minutes and listen to how loud it actually gets with so many people talking.	[ "BULLET::::- Jim Walker (2007): “At The Manor we wanted a live drum sound, and so we had to use the old billiard room. It was set up so it was just me and Rotten eye to eye, as I drummed and he sang.”\"\n\n“Public Image”: \n", "Noise created by mobile phones has become a particular concern in live performances, p...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-01130	If I have $100k in available credit from credit card companies and/or banks and find out I'm about to die, what stops me from blowing the $100k before I'm dying and how would they recover their losses?	> If I have $100k in available credit from credit card companies and/or banks and find out I'm about to die, what stops me from blowing the $100k before I'm dying Nothing stops you from using your credit. That's what the credit is there for. For you to use. Now, if you use it in a suspicious manner it might get flagged and temporarily blocked, but a quick call should sort that out. > and how would they recover their losses? So your real question is how to creditors get money from deceased debtors. The answer is: they file a claim against the estate, the executor of the state has to sort it out and make sure that all creditors get paid. If there isn't enough money to go around, then there are priorities and such that dictate who gets what and how much. Usually this is determined by the local laws and precedents.	[ "Credit life insurance is a type of credit insurance sold by a lender to pay off an outstanding loan balance if the borrower dies. Once the loan is paid off with the credit life insurance, there would be no claim on the borrower’s estate. Credit life insurance is charged upfront, rather than spread over the life of...	[ "Something could possibly stop one from accessing available credit within their credit card." ]	[ "There is nothing actually stopping one from using available credit normally, however it is possible to experience an issue if one is displaying suspicious activity." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Something could possibly stop one from accessing available credit within their credit card.", "Something could possibly stop one from accessing available credit within their credit card." ]	[ "normal", "false presupposition" ]	[ "There is nothing actually stopping one from using available credit normally, however it is possible to experience an issue if one is displaying suspicious activity.", "There is nothing actually stopping one from using available credit normally, however it is possible to experience an issue if one is displaying s...
2018-00907	What makes an MR layout car more likely to oversteer?	Think less about the weight transfer, and more about where the weight is in relation to the tires. On rear-engined cars the engine weight is out past the rear tires, and so when the cornering car decelerates, the side force of the engine weight is applied to the rear tires alone, which increases their slip angle, too (this decreases available traction.) When you decelerate, think of that as a backwards force acting on the center of gravity. But the car is also rotating, and that rotation is carrying the mass of the engine outside of the line the center of gravity is tracing, and trying to rotate the car further. And the further it steps out, the greater the force it creates trying to rotate the car, which increases slip angle, which decreases available traction, and I think you can see that viscous circle. Rotation increasing, traction decreasing, rotation force increasing. That is your snap oversteer. A good practical way to visual this is to put a pencil on the desk in front of you, pointed directly away from you. If you flick the pencil on the eraser, it moves straight away from you. If you turn the pencil slightly to one side, but still flick directly away from you, the more the pencil is angled, the more of your flick that goes into rotating the pencil and less into moving it away from you. The force of that rear engine is your flick. If it's inline with the direction of travel, no big deal. That's not so true when the car has rotated to a tail-out attitude. If you apply the flick further up the pencil, the initial rotation decreases the further forward you apply the force.	[ "Under hard acceleration, the decreased weight over the front wheels means less traction, sometimes producing a tendency for rear-engined cars to understeer out of a corner.\n\nIn these respects, an RR can be considered to be an exaggeration of MR - harder braking, faster and earlier acceleration, and increased ove...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-00573	Why are police lights sometimes only visible from behind the vehicle?	This configuration is used to warn cars that the police car is on the shoulder, without distracting the cars driving the other direction. Police cars can be very disruptive to traffic flow, and that causes accidents which make more work for the police officers (and ruin someone's day).	[ "Police cars, fire trucks, ambulances or other emergency vehicles have sirens and red lights. On the other hand, private vehicles operated by volunteer fire and rescue squad members (with emergency vehicle identification) responding to an emergency call use blue lights. If an officer pulls a vehicle over for using ...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-03272	Why can we see the xenon atoms in the IBM logo but not the atoms of the surface they're on?	For the same reason that you can't clearly see objects far behind the subject of a photograph. The background is not in focus. That is a simplified explanation, but basically still true.	[ "In November 1989, IBM scientists demonstrated a technology capable of manipulating individual atoms. The program, called IBM in atoms, used a scanning tunneling microscope to arrange 35 individual xenon atoms on a substrate of chilled crystal of nickel to spell out the three letter company initialism. It was the f...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-00938	Why do people get seasick?	Humans tell if they're stable by two systems: seeing and some organ in the head that has gunk in it and can tell how that gunk is moving around. On a boat, your eyes can't tell you're moving, but the gunk organ knows. Seasickness is that disagreement screwing with your brain.	[ "Seasickness is a form of terrestrial motion sickness characterized by a feeling of nausea and, in extreme cases, vertigo experienced after spending time on a watercraft such as a boat or ship. It is essentially the same as carsickness, though the motion of a watercraft tends to be more regular. It is typically bro...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-22957	Why we get sweaty palms in situations that you may need exactly the opposite?	The fight-flight response your body makes when it is under stress makes you sweat so that you can keep your body temperature from rising too much.	[ "Antonio Damasio suggests that somatic markers, certain memories that can cause a strong bodily reaction, act as a way to guide decision making as well. For example, when you are remembering a scary movie and once again become tense and your palms might begin to sweat. Damasio argues that when making a decision we ...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-04363	Why do tablets sometimes feel like they are stuck in our throat after swallowing?	Sometimes your throat gets scratched and swells up a little bit so you feel like the pill is still there. Source: took a tablet. Was convinced it was stuck in my throat. Called NHS direct they told me I had to get it looked at or it could cause a serious infection that could travel to my voice box. Went to hospital. Waited 5 hours. Saw doctor. The doctor I needed wasn’t there. Told to report at 10am the next day. Had to take a day off sick. Turned up to hospital. ENT didn’t start til 11am. Waited til then. Went in. Had tube stuck down nose. No pill in throat. Doctors says it probs just scratched it. £11 spent in hospital parking. Lots of time wasted. 1/7 would not do again.	[ "Some drugs may be unsuitable for administration by the oral route. For example, protein drugs such as insulin may be denatured by stomach acids. Such drugs cannot be made into tablets. Some drugs may be deactivated by the liver when they are carried there from the gastrointestinal tract by the hepatic portal vein ...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-05240	Why does hot water steam up when you're in the shower even though it's not actually 100C?	there are molecules in water at various energy levels within the whole. while the average might be at 40C, there are a few molecules that are at 100C. the ones that are 100C will evaporate. though the reason you SEE the steam is because those molecules are quickly cooled below the boiling point and condense into tiny drops of water suspended in the air.	[ "For example, if the vapor's partial pressure is 2% of atmospheric pressure and the air is cooled from 25 °C, starting at about 22 °C water will start to condense, defining the dew point, and creating fog or dew. The reverse process accounts for the fog burning off in the morning. If the humidity is increased at ro...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-02195	How does friction exist if atoms/molecules never touch each other?	It's not that atoms & molecules don't touch each other, but rather atoms & molecules repelling each other over short distances is how "touching" works. Atoms aren't really little billiard balls with well-defined spherical surfaces. They're fuzzy blobs with electromagnetic fields that get stronger the closer you get. Bring them close enough, and the electrons in their outer shells will repel each other and resist bringing them closer. The only reason we don't notice this is that the distance is infinitesimally tiny compared to the size of everyday objects.	[ "Determining the forces required to move atoms past each other is a challenge in designing nanomachines. In 2008 scientists for the first time were able to move a single atom across a surface, and measure the forces required. Using ultrahigh vacuum and nearly zero temperature (5º K), a modified atomic force microsc...	[ "Friction can not exist because atoms and molecules never touch." ]	[ "Atoms and molecules do touch and when brought close enough try to repel each other." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Friction can not exist because atoms and molecules never touch.", "Friction can not exist because atoms and molecules never touch." ]	[ "normal", "false presupposition" ]	[ "Atoms and molecules do touch and when brought close enough try to repel each other.", "Atoms and molecules do touch and when brought close enough try to repel each other." ]
2018-12285	What the weather may of been like during the time of Pangaea and why?	The far inland is thought to have been very hot and dry. Being too far inland reduces the chance for all that moist air from the ocean to get there. The large ocean would have been a good place for large hurricanes and monsoons to form. You probably wouldn't see anything as drastic as what you seem to be thinking as far as landscape. Like it wouldn't be swamp into sudden desert like in a video game. You'd have more natural borders between the two like we have today most likely. As for continents moving, they're kind of slow. Only a few centimeters every year. Though large earthquakes are known to suddenly shift continents. There was a large earthquake in Japan a while back that moved it something like 8 feet if I remember right.	[ "During the beginning of the Triassic Era, the earth consisted of a giant landmass known as Pangea, which covered about a quarter of earth's surface. Towards the end of the era, continental drift occurred which separated Pangea. At this time, polar ice was not present because of the large differences between the eq...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-02926	Why are we able to better distinguish between individuals of our own species than of others?	Because there's no evolutionary advantage to being able to do that. Way back when, all we needed to know was whether an animal was something that could eat us or something that we could eat. Any information beyond. that wasn't useful enough to retain, whereas identifying individuals of our own species is super important. We're not prey anymore, and with domesticated animals, it is useful to tell individuals apart, but we do that as an individual learned experience. Animal handlers, zookeepers and other people who deal with animals on a regular basis just learn how to recognize individuals of the same species that they deal with regularly. You could show me a picture of a bunch of hippos and they'd all look the same to me, but I can tell my nearly identical cats apart in a split second.	[ "Among human beings, the sense of sight is usually in charge of recognizing other members of the same species, with maybe the subconscious help of smell. In particular, the human brain has a disproportionate amount of processing power dedicated to finely analyze the features of a human face. This is why we are able...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-22910	How do we know as much as we do about space, when it's so far away from us?	Since space is mostly empty and clear, telescopes work incredibly well, including optical ones and ones that focus on radio waves.	[ "Section::::Observational astronomy.\n\nThe main source of information about celestial bodies and other objects is visible light, or more generally electromagnetic radiation. Observational astronomy may be categorized according to the corresponding region of the electromagnetic spectrum on which the observations ar...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-04119	Why do ice cream trucks have really unique and cool ice cream treats, while the grocery store has almost none?	For the same reason as if you went to a Mexican restaurant, you'd find far better variety of Mexican foods than if you went to a diner that happened to serve tacos - It's a specialized endeavor, bringing people in with only one thing in mind - Ice cream and related frozen treats. It's not feasible for a grocery store to stock 40 different types of ice cream bars - tons of stuff is going to remain unsold and eventually wasted. They stick to the highest-volume sellers which for grocery stores, aren't Ninja Turtle Freeze Pops.	[ "BULLET::::- Amy's Ice Creams\n\nBULLET::::- Andy's Frozen Custard\n\nBULLET::::- Angelo Brocato's\n\nBULLET::::- Australian Homemade\n\nBULLET::::- Bakdash\n\nBULLET::::- Baskin-Robbins\n\nBULLET::::- Beacon Drive In\n\nBULLET::::- Ben & Jerry's\n\nBULLET::::- Berthillon\n\nBULLET::::- Big Gay Ice Cream\n\nBULLET:...	[ "Selling the same ice cream treats is as feasible for grocery stores as it is for ice cream trucks. " ]	[ "Grocery stores stocking 40 different types of ice cream bars is not feasible. " ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Selling the same ice cream treats is as feasible for grocery stores as it is for ice cream trucks. ", "Selling the same ice cream treats is as feasible for grocery stores as it is for ice cream trucks. " ]	[ "normal", "false presupposition" ]	[ "Grocery stores stocking 40 different types of ice cream bars is not feasible. ", "Grocery stores stocking 40 different types of ice cream bars is not feasible. " ]
2018-08435	If you're not supposed to mix conventional and synthetic motor oil, how do they separate it when you recycle it?	The only reason you don't mix them is because then you're not really getting the benefits from the synthetic (and so you're wasting money). URL_0 URL_2 URL_1 There's nothing dangerous about mixing the two. That's a myth. Many synthetic oils are a mix of conventional oils anyway	[ "The diesel is then passed through the Cracking Unit. The Cracking Unit is a device that breaks up the hydrocarbons, that make up the diesel, into smaller sizes. Companies break up the hydrocarbons so that they make the most petroleum-based products, with the amount of supply they have.\n\nSection::::Process.:Mixin...	[ "Conventional and synthetic motor oil should be separated when it is recycled." ]	[ "There's nothing dangerous about mixing conventional and synthetic motor oils as many synthetic oils are a mix of conventional oils." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Conventional and synthetic motor oil should be separated when it is recycled." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "There's nothing dangerous about mixing conventional and synthetic motor oils as many synthetic oils are a mix of conventional oils." ]
2018-00369	When we have an open wound, it gets infected. Our mouth is usually open, why doesn’t that hurt or get infected too?	Because your mouth isn’t a wound. The inside of your mouth still has a protective layer of skin and mucus membrane and stuff over it. It’s thin skin, some of the thinnest anywhere on your body, and there are a LOT of nerve endings on it so it’s sensitive (which is why any cut or sore in your mouth feels huge, even when it’s not) but the skin is complete and unbroken. A wound by definition = broken or damaged skin. If that membrane breaks, then that can get infected - this is actually how HIV is transmitted through oral sex, the virus gets in through a cut or sore in your mouth. But the whole point of HAVING the mucus membrane there is so you won’t.	[ "Primary spaces are the result of direct spread from the infected tooth, while secondary spaces are the result of spread from primary spaces. In the oral cavity, mouth infections from primary spaces can spread to fascial planes between the muscles of mastication (masseter, medial pterygoid, and temporalis) or withi...	[ "The mouth has features of an open wound.", "Mouths don't get infected." ]	[ "The mouth has protective layers of skin and mucus membranes.", "Mouths can get infected." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "The mouth has features of an open wound.", "Mouths don't get infected." ]	[ "false presupposition", "false presupposition" ]	[ "The mouth has protective layers of skin and mucus membranes.", "Mouths can get infected." ]
2018-16926	How can planes offer wireless internet when they are 30,000ft high	Satellites. Planes track their own location and communicate with airports using satellites. From there they can use a router to provide local WiFi across the plane.	[ "On October 20, 2009, Apple unveiled an updated AirPort Extreme base station with antenna improvements.\n\nOn June 21, 2011, Apple unveiled an updated AirPort Extreme base station, referred to as \"AirPort Extreme 802.11n (5th Generation)\".\n\nSection::::AirPort routers.:AirPort Express.\n", "On October 20, 2009...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-22890	Why do the "normal" smoke of the cigarette cause me to cough instantly?	the yellow part of a cigarette is a filter. the smoke coming out of the burning end is the smoke that is straight up from all of the chemicals. this is why second hand smoking is considered more dangerous than regular smoking, it would make sense as to why you cough from the smoke on the burning end because of this reason.	[ "BULLET::::- The abdominal muscles contract to accentuate the action of the relaxing diaphragm; simultaneously, the other expiratory muscles contract. These actions increase the pressure of air within the lungs.\n\nBULLET::::- The vocal cords relax and the glottis opens, releasing air at over 100 mph.\n\nBULLET::::...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-04703	Why Blood turns brown after it dries?	When the liquid from the blood is seeped into the bandaid, the only thing left outside are the dead red blood cells. That is what you are seeing. Also: the brown colour of poo is caused by the dead red blood cells filtered out by your liver. The contents of your guts before this is added is grey.	[ "Section::::Forensic procedure.:Finding and documenting blood residue.\n\nFreshly dried bloodstains are a glossy reddish-brown in color. Under the influence of sunlight, the weather or removal attempts, the color eventually disappears and the stain turns gray. The surface on which it is found may also influence the...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-21833	Why does the flesh of an apple go brown fairly quick out in the open?	It's exposed to oxygen which activates enzymes (Things that break down parts of other things saliva for example contains a lot of enzymes and it breaks down food in your mouth) that turn it brown in the process. It mainly happens when the skin is not protecting the flesh as oxygen starts the reaction.	[ "As a teenager in the 1870s, the horticulturist Liberty Hyde Bailey grafted Surprise onto a tree in his father's orchard in South Haven, Michigan, using scion wood that had come from Charles Downing. Years later, in his 1928 book \"The Garden Lover\", he wrote: \n\nI set those scions, and for many a year made pilgr...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-04103	Why do some children very closely resemble their parents while other children do not resemble their parents at all?	Genetics are complicated. When you are older than five, you will learn about some basic genetic trait probabilities in high school biology. One way to think of it is that there is a certain amount of randomness associated with each conception. Source: am a mailman.	[ "Section::::Examples.\n\nThe genotype-environment model states that as siblings and fraternal twins age, their phenotypes grow apart. This is due to their respective mastery of the passive, evocative, and active interactions. When the siblings are infants, the environments their parents provide are similar. But as ...	[ "All children should look like their parents." ]	[ "Genetics are more complicated than that and allow for a lot of variation. " ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "All children should look like their parents." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Genetics are more complicated than that and allow for a lot of variation. " ]
2018-02635	What does the CDC mean when it says 'effectively no risk of transmission'?	It means that in couples where one partner is HIV-positive but is getting the medication to suppress the virus, for every 100 years they are together there is an estimate of 0.0 of the partner getting infected. In addition, the error margin is 0.25, so it's 95% certain that no more than 0.25 infections will happen in every 100 years such a couple is together.	[ "Travelers to or residents of areas where \"N. meningitidis\" is highly endemic or epidemic are at risk of exposure should receive primary immunization against meningococcal disease.\n", "The World Health Organisation accordingly issued a global alert. The WHO update on 28 September 2012 said that the virus did n...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-04664	Are the Federalist Papers considered in constitutional law court cases?	They have, sorta. Even Scalia, who was not Mr warm and fuzzy, said 2nd doesn't guarantee ANY weapon. URL_0	[ "The amount of deference that should be given to \"The Federalist Papers\" in constitutional interpretation has always been somewhat controversial. As early as 1819, Chief Justice John Marshall noted in the famous case \"McCulloch v. Maryland\", that \"the opinions expressed by the authors of that work have been ju...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-17282	Why are the segments of a primary telescope mirror hexagonal in shape?	Only 3 regular polygons can be used to tile a surface... Squares, triangles and hexagons. Hexagons probably are just the easiest to manage in terms an manufacturing and fragility.	[ "Section::::Primary Mirror.\n\nBoth SALT and HET have an unusual design for an optical telescope. Similar to the Keck Telescopes, the primary mirror is composed of an array of mirrors designed to act as a single larger mirror; however, the SALT mirrors produce a spherical primary, rather than the paraboloid shape a...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-12332	what physically happens in the first few seconds after the detonation of a nuclear bomb? Both in the bomb core and the physics of the blast?	Let's consider a simple example, the explosion of a 20 kt implosion device. In such a device, the actual nuclear explosion is typically over in less than 600 nanoseconds, by which time the energy produced from all the fissions will have caused the core the expand to the point where a chain reaction can no longer be sustained. Everything after this is an effect of dumping 84 terajoules of energy in a spherical volume roughly 10 cm in diameter. At the end of the chain reaction, the temperature of the core will be around 60 million Kelvin. In a vacuum, particles at the core surface would fly off unimpeded. In a bomb however, the expanding core is surrounded by other material: bomb components, the bomb casing, and of course air. Thus, the expanding core creates a shock wave: it is expanding so fast that surrounding materials cannot get out of the way in time and instead pile up in front of it. This results in a thin shell of high density surrounding an inner, roughly spherical volume of very low density. This, however, is not what we see in photos of very early fireballs. At the temperatures found in a nuclear fireball, most (roughly 80 & #37;) of the energy is present as low- to mid-energy X-rays.\[note 1\] Air is largely opaque to X-rays, so most of the energy radiated from the surface of the fireball is absorbed by a thin layer of air around it, heating it up and eventually ionising it. Ionised air is relatively transparent to X-rays (and being very hot, will itself emit X-rays), so the radiation can penetrate and heat up the air beyond it. Consequently, much of the early fireball expansion is due to radiative transport. Since it takes time to heat up air, radiative transport occurs much slower than the speed of light, but it is still very rapid: much faster than the expansion of the bomb core discussed earlier, and also faster than the expansion of the newly heated plasma itself. The temperature within the fireball at this point is more or less uniform as the energy is distributed quite evenly, showing a slow drop until the edge, whereupon it drops very rapidly to near ambient temperatures. As such, this sphere of plasma created by radiative transport is known as the isothermal sphere. As the fireball expands via radiative transport, it cools. Intuitively this happens because the same amount of energy is being distributed over a larger and larger volume, so the temperature has to drop. As it cools, it emits radiation of longer wavelengths, to which air is more transparent. Growth by radiative transport slows as a result, and eventually expansion of hot plasma takes over as the primary mechanism by which the fireball grows. Since the plasma is expanding faster than the speed of sound in air, a shock wave forms. This is known as hydrodynamic separation, and it occurs roughly 100 microseconds after the initial explosion. We now turn our attention back to the expanding bomb core. Up to this point, what we've seen so far is a product of the bomb core radiating energy into the air around it. However, slowing expansion by radiative transport means that the expanding shell of bomb material has now had time to catch up with the surface of the fireball, and it joins with the hydrodynamic shockwave around the time separation occurs. The surface of the isothermal sphere at this point is still incredibly hot, around 300,000 K. However, the expanding shock wave compresses and heats up the air as it passes, reaching temperatures of around 30,000 K. At these temperatures, air is ionised and incandescent, but since it is much cooler than the isothermal sphere, it appears dimmer. Ionised air is also opaque to visible light, so it obscures the much brighter isothermal sphere behind it. As the fireball expands, the shocked, incandescent air cools and becomes dimmer. This produces the first dip in brightness that you were wondering about, and in our example it happens at around 11 milliseconds. Eventually the air becomes cool enough that it is no longer opaque to visible light, and the isothermal sphere once again becomes visible. Since it is still very hot and emitting a lot of light, the fireball brightens significantly, producing the second, much longer pulse of light. The shock wave, of course, continues travelling outwards and destroying things in its wake. Everything from this point can more or less be treated as a very large conventional explosion however, so I won't explain it here as I don't think it's what you're asking about. The specific timings of events described depends on the yield and construction details of the bomb itself, but the essential features remain unchanged. \[note 1\]: This is a consequence of Planck’s law, from which the internal energy of a photon gas can be derived. This is found to be proportional to the fourth power of temperature, which means that the amount of energy present as photons climbs very rapidly as temperature increases. The rest of the energy is distributed among other degrees of freedom (e.g. translational and electronic).	[ "Section::::Direct effects.\n\nSection::::Direct effects.:Blast damage.\n", "Two distinct, simultaneous phenomena are associated with the blast wave in air:\n\nBULLET::::- Static overpressure, i.e., the sharp increase in pressure exerted by the shock wave. The overpressure at any given point is directly proportio...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-18279	Why is there a need for a stenographer in court? Cant they just audiorecord the whole process? Plus stenographer is prone to error.	Whatcha gonna do with that audio? You need written recordings of what went down in court. Even if you had the audio, someone still has to sit down and type that out. Plus, a stenographer can sit by and see if something happens.	[ "Section::::Types.\n\nTranscripts may be produced digitally. Transcripts produced by a digital reporter are often less accurate than those produced by a court stenographer. Only a court stenographer has the ability to control the record and get clarification in real time. \n\nA transcript is also any written record...	[ "There isn't a need for a stenographer in court because it can be audio recorded.", "Courts don't actually need stenographers, and it would be more beneficial to use an audio recording." ]	[ "Even with audio someone still has to sit down and type it out.", "Written responses are required in court, the audio recording would be useless." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "There isn't a need for a stenographer in court because it can be audio recorded.", "Courts don't actually need stenographers, and it would be more beneficial to use an audio recording." ]	[ "false presupposition", "false presupposition" ]	[ "Even with audio someone still has to sit down and type it out.", "Written responses are required in court, the audio recording would be useless." ]
2018-00652	what is the advantage of the multi-rotor design used for drones over that of the conventional helicopter rotor setup?	With two of four rotors spinning opposite directions, it eliminates the need for variable pitch blades and a rotor positioned vertically in order to counter the effects of rotation. That’s where a tail rotor on a helicopter comes in, as it keeps the body of the helicopter from rotating in the *opposite direction as the main rotor by “pushing” against that force. Quad rotors have equal rotors spinning opposite directions, cancelling out rotation.	[ "In the last few decades, small-scale unmanned aerial vehicles have been used for many applications. The need for aircraft with greater maneuverability and hovering ability has led to a rise in quadcopter research. The four-rotor design allows quadcopters to be relatively simple in design yet highly reliable and ma...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-24142	Why is morning sun less harsh (for plants at least) than afternoon sun?	Im assuming that when the rays enter the atmosphere early in the morning, they enter at an angle where they scatter in the atmosphere. Although, around 12 o’clock the suns rays hit straight at the earths surface, if that makes sense to you.	[ "In humans, body temperature is typically highest during the mid to late afternoon. However, human athletes being tested for physical vigor on exercise machines showed no statistically significant difference after lunch. Owners of factory farms are advised to use buildings with an east–west (as opposed to north–sou...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-01544	How does our body know when to stop reproducing blood after it has been drawn?	There are many receptors and signalling molecules involved in the process. When you lose blood, the amount of oxygen that travels around the body is reduced (as there is a lower amount of red blood cells). Receptors in your kidneys detect this reduction of oxygen levels and release a hormone known as erythropoieten which stimulates the production of red blood cells. As the red blood cells mature, blood oxygen levels increase, resulting in a reduction of erythropoieten produced, in turn reducing the rate at which red blood cells are produced. The pathway is more complicated than that and involved other things such as blood plasma levels and concentrations of salts.	[ "Section::::Physiology.:Regulators.\n\nFive mechanisms keep platelet activation and the coagulation cascade in check. Abnormalities can lead to an increased tendency toward thrombosis:\n\nSection::::Physiology.:Regulators.:Protein C.\n", "C-reactive protein levels in the blood need to be measured every few days i...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-01608	Why can you feel a heartbeat/pulse in places on your body when you hurt them?	I would assume that the injury causes increased blood flow to the area which the nerves pick up on Edit: I googled it and this appears to be correct	[ "Today it is still not understood precisely how these receptors convert touch into the electrical signals that the nerve fibres transmit to the brain. Interesting are the properties of touch, e.g. frequency and force, to which the receptors respond and how their responsiveness changes with prolonged stimulation. Th...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-20000	Why do most companies not pay employees weekly?	Running a payroll cycle costs money. It counts money and time to go thru the list of employees and make checks, cash, or bank payments. Biweekly makes it cost 1/2 as much as weekly.	[ "In Botswana, salaries are almost entirely paid on a monthly basis with pay dates falling on different dates of the second half of the month. Pay day usually ranges from the 15th of the month to the last day. The date of disbursement of the salary is usually determined by the company and in some cases in conjunctio...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-20803	the propellers on an airplane (especially the tips of them) travel faster than the speed of sound but how does the sound barrier not break constantly?	Actually, they don't. Supersonic props were tried at the dawn of the jet age and they were stupid loud from the sonic booms.	[ "Section::::Limitations and solutions.\n\nSection::::Limitations and solutions.:Blade design.\n\nTurboprops have an optimum speed below about , because all propellers lose efficiency at high speed, due to an effect known as wave drag that occurs just below supersonic speeds. This powerful form of drag has a sudden ...	[ "Airplane propellers travel faster than the speed of sound." ]	[ "Actually, propellers do not travel faster than the speed of sound." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Airplane propellers travel faster than the speed of sound." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Actually, propellers do not travel faster than the speed of sound." ]
2018-02840	So many new design of firearms every year. What exactly are the improvements or goals of those new guns?	Weight, viable composite materials, also projectiles are moving forward quite a lot believe it or not.	[ "BULLET::::- Hypersonic materiel development: the Strategic long range cannon (SLRC), for a hypersonic projectile (\"See Identification friend or foe\" (IFF))\n\nBULLET::::- Targeting with thousand-mile missiles, \"streamlining the sensor-shooter link at every echelon\"—Col (Promotable) John Rafferty, in Integrated...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-02141	Why can we see the moon but not more than 30 miles?	30 miles? You can go out on a clear night and see the Andromeda galaxy 2.5 million light years away. How far you can see depends on the size and brightness of the thing you're looking at. And on the line of sight. The earth's curvature is the limiting factor for terrestrial objects but there are a few carefully chosen places where you can see over 200 miles in ideal conditions, from one mountain top to another. The longest lines of sight on earth rely on atmospheric refraction to make distant objects appear higher than they would if light moved a straight line.	[ "At a major lunar standstill, the Moon's range of declination, and consequently its range of azimuth at moonrise and moonset, reaches a maximum. As a result, viewed from the middle latitudes, the Moon's altitude at upper culmination (the daily moment when the object appears to contact the observer's meridian) chang...	[ "Can't seem more than 30 miles.", "Humans are unable to see objects that are further than 30 miles away. " ]	[ "The distance you can see is not limited to 30 miles, it is limited by the size and brightness of the object you are trying to view.", "Humans can see plenty of objects further than 30 miles away, it just depends on the brightness of the area in the distance." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Can't seem more than 30 miles.", "Humans are unable to see objects that are further than 30 miles away. " ]	[ "false presupposition", "false presupposition" ]	[ "The distance you can see is not limited to 30 miles, it is limited by the size and brightness of the object you are trying to view.", "Humans can see plenty of objects further than 30 miles away, it just depends on the brightness of the area in the distance." ]
2018-18210	Has anyone thought to send a drone to scout North Sentinel Island? What are the ongoing studies conducted on the Sentinelese if there are any?	The Indian Government recognizes the Sentinelese's desire to be left alone. They don't even try to prosecute them on the occasions they have killed trespassers to the island.	[ "In 2014, an aerial expedition followed by a circumnavigation investigated the effects of a forest fire. Important data was gathered and the expedition recorded that the fire did not seem to have affected the populace. They exhibited a balance of ages and sexes, with a number of young children. Friendly hand gestur...	[ "The Indian government should find out what is happening on North Sentinel Island.", "There are ongoing studies conducted on the Sentinelese." ]	[ "The Indian government recognizes the Sentinelese's desire to be left alone.", "India respects their desire to be left alone and does not attempt to contact them in any way." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "The Indian government should find out what is happening on North Sentinel Island.", "There are ongoing studies conducted on the Sentinelese." ]	[ "false presupposition", "false presupposition" ]	[ "The Indian government recognizes the Sentinelese's desire to be left alone.", "India respects their desire to be left alone and does not attempt to contact them in any way." ]
2018-05702	Why are sports injuries allowed to be reported in detail	> How does that not violate HIPAA law? HIPAA would prevent a doctor from just handing out detailed information on the injury of a patient, sports icon or otherwise. What HIPAA doesn't prevent is the sports organization which employs that patient releasing details on their injury as per their prior agreement in their employment contract.	[ "\"Accident\" includes assaults on employees and suicides on transport systems (reg.2). The report must be made by the \"quickest practicable means\" and confirmed by a written report within ten days (reg.3(2)). When an accident at work results in a reportable injury that, within a year of the accident, causes the ...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-05455	Is the probability of flipping a coin and getting the same result as last time 1/4?	The flips are independent. 1/4 is your chance of getting heads or tails two times in a row, not the chance of getting heads or tails any particular time.	[ "Suppose we were to conduct an experiment where the coin is tossed repeatedly, with outcomes formula_18, and it is assumed each flip's outcome is independent of all the others. That is, they are \"i.i.d.\". Define the sequence of random variables on the coin toss space, formula_19 where formula_20. \"i.e.\" each fo...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-01029	Why are meats like bratwurst and Italian sausages curved, and why isn't it the same case for hot dogs?	Hot dogs are not put in a "natural casing," that is, a piece of intestine material. They are artificially shaped, and straight is a handy shape.	[ "BULLET::::- Urasuki is a common feature of Japanese kitchen knives. While Japanese kitchen knives initially appear as a simple chisel grind (flat on the side facing the food, angled on the other), the apparently flat side is subtly concave, to reduce adhesion, and, further, the apparent chisel cut of the edge is a...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-03382	Why do pictures on a wall curl inward/ outward?	This is a best guess based on the information you provided. It might be the humidity not the temperature, wafting steam from hot water near it for a few minutes and see if this results in a change. If it doesn't work try it again when the corner are curled in the opposite direction.	[ "Section::::Matching angles.\n", "Stanton (p. 24) also notes that Jane Frank worked out a method - unspecified - of stiffening the apertures' often jagged edges so that they held their shape and flatness. These creations are a type of \"shaped canvas\", though obviously very different from the shaped canvases of ...	[ "Pictures on the wall curl inward or outward." ]	[ "Pictures don't do this normally. It is porbably something specific happening here." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Pictures on the wall curl inward or outward." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Pictures don't do this normally. It is porbably something specific happening here." ]
2018-00725	What does it mean that the British coastline's fractal dimension is 1.26?	Fractional dimension of 1.26 basically tells you that coastline has dimension slightly more than 1. So if we use that as our guide, let's say you zoomed into a 1-dimensional line. It would appear longer because you're zoomed in, right? Zoom into a coastline, and it will appear longer than what you'd expect from a line. Like, zoom into a line 2x. It seems 2x longer. Zoom into British coastline 2x? It will appear about 2.4x longer. You notice all sorts of uneven shapes in it which you had ignored while zoomed out, but which now stand out. Zoom in again 2x, and again there are uneven rough details which you had glossed over, and taking those tiny uneven bits into account, again you measure the coastline as 2.4x longer than before. Basically, fractal dimension is a measure of how "rough" the object is. If you have spiky enough surface, it starts to resemble 3d object instead of 2d one. Have squiqqly enough line, and it starts looking like surface instead. Actually, "the squiqqliest line" is so called "space filling curve", which actually totally fills a surface. It's a 2d line because of how squiqqly it is. British coastline is still pretty close to a line, it's not that squiqqly, so its fractal dimension is pretty close to 1.	[ "How Long Is the Coast of Britain? Statistical Self-Similarity and Fractional Dimension\n\n\"How Long Is the Coast of Britain? Statistical Self-Similarity and Fractional Dimension\" is a paper by mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot, first published in \"Science\" in 5 May 1967. In this paper, Mandelbrot discusses self-...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-21776	how the PS4 can run games like RDR2 Spider-Man and God of war despite being 5 years old. How can it run it so smoothly?	It all boils down to software optimization. Consoles run games at relatively low framerates (and resolution), optimised for viewing on average living room televisions. These lower performance goals, make it easier for games to look good, even on oldish hardware.	[ "Section::::Power usage.\n", "Games marketed by Sony as \"PS4 Pro Enhanced\" have specific optimizations when played on this model, such as 4K resolution graphics and/or higher performance. For games not specifically optimized, an option known as \"Boost Mode\" was added on system software 4.5, which can be enabl...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-00173	Out of Africa - How does that explain the diverse cultures, body types, eyes, and skin colors present today?	Large amounts of melanin help prevent UV damage to the skin. Wearing more clothes and/or moving to colder/darker areas means loss of melanin makes little difference. Skin gets lighter. People in colder areas have higher body fat content and fattier diets, in order to insulate themselves against the cold. Babies lose the lactase protein as they grow older, causing them to become lactose intolerant. People who domesticated cattle were more likely to retain the lactase gene into adulthood. In all of these situations, you have to take into account that the people that are better attuned to the environment are more likely to have children that survive into adulthood and make up the next generation. Other factors play a part as well. A few survivors of a plague may repopulate, causing the entire population to overwhelmingly share from a smaller pool of different genes. Viking raids may in part explain why Scandinavian countries have a high percentage of blond(e)s. That's only talking about features we can observe. As far as actual genetic comparisons, 2/3 of human history has been spent in Africa. There are groups in Africa that are genetically closer to everyone outside Africa than they are to other groups on the continent.	[ "Sub-Saharan Africa is characterized by a high density of cultures. Notable are the, Dogon people from Mali; Edo, Yoruba, Igbo people and the Nok civilization from Nigeria; Kuba and Luba people from Central Africa; Ashanti people from Ghana; Zulu people from Southern Africa; and Fang people from Equatorial Guinea (...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-03998	Why is Texas so Conservative Compared to Some Other Southern States?	Texas isn't that red any more, largely due to the demographic shift. For national level elections like president and senators, the state is only weakly right-leaning. Most of the county and state level reps are Republicans because the demographic shift is concentrated in a few cities, leaving the other counties dominated by older, whiter, more conservative voters. This is a problem the Democratic party faces in almost every state, not just Texas.	[ "In the post-Reconstruction era, by the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Republican Party became non-competitive in the South, due to Democrat-dominated legislatures' disenfranchisement of blacks and many poor whites and Latinos. In Texas, the Democrat-dominated legislature excluded them through passage of a...	[ "Texas is more conservative than other southern states.", "Texas is more a republican state than other republican states. " ]	[ "Texas faces the same problems as other states with a minority of republicans controlling the state due to the way elections work.", "Texas is not that much of a red state anymore. " ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Texas is more conservative than other southern states.", "Texas is more a republican state than other republican states. " ]	[ "false presupposition", "false presupposition" ]	[ "Texas faces the same problems as other states with a minority of republicans controlling the state due to the way elections work.", "Texas is not that much of a red state anymore. " ]
2018-02368	How can the scientists who photographed a single atom be sure it is only one, and how did they get it?	[In the center of the picture, a small bright dot is visible – a single positively-charged strontium atom. It is held nearly motionless by electric fields emanating from the metal electrodes surrounding it. […] When illuminated by a laser of the right blue-violet color, the atom absorbs and re-emits light particles sufficiently quickly for an ordinary camera to capture it in a long exposure photograph.]( URL_0 ) I think they kept repeating the experiment while reducing the number of atoms trapped. When the number got small enough they could match the level of light. It would step down as the number was reduced. When no more light was visible all the atoms were gone. So they could show a stepping down in light. The last step down before extinguishment must have been one atom. The level above, twice as much light, was two atoms.	[ "\"A Boy And His Atom\" was created by a team of IBM scientists – together with Ogilvy & Mather, IBM's longstanding advertising agency – at the company's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California. Using a scanning tunneling microscope, Carbon monoxide molecules were manipulated into place on a copper substrat...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-00074	Why aren't humans born nocturnal?	Why would we be? Humans don’t have senses particularly well-suited to functioning in the dark. We also have adaptations (like sweating and a lack of hair) that make us perform well during the day. All signs point to us working best as diurnal animals.	[ "While it is difficult to say which came first, nocturnality or diurnality, there is a leading hypothesis out in the evolutionary biology community. Known as the \"bottleneck theory\", it postulates that millions of years ago in the Mesozoic era, many ancestors of modern-day mammals evolved nocturnal characteristic...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-01512	How do movies, TV Series etc get to torrents? Who actually pirates them, upload and how?	People who think others should be able to see them without paying "rip" them, generally either from streaming sites or from DVD/bluray releases (though there are other options, like using a TV-capture card on a live broadcast). Generally they'll transcode them into more manageable formats next, and then they use their own torrent client (usually) to generate a .torrent file from the files they have . This file is very small, so they upload that to one or other of the torrent-indexing sites (or just hand it out to friends) and run their torrent client until there are enough other copies out there that the torrent has become self-sustaining. Sometimes people who do this band together into whole communities, and sometimes they just do it for one thing that they want to make available. That's all.	[ "Section::::Adoption.:Film, video, and music.\n\nBULLET::::- BitTorrent Inc. has obtained a number of licenses from Hollywood studios for distributing popular content from their websites.\n\nBULLET::::- Sub Pop Records releases tracks and videos via BitTorrent Inc. to distribute its 1000+ albums. Babyshambles and T...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-07039	How do we know how many of a given ocean species are left in the world?	Its basically impossible to capture every individual in a species and record them to get the value for population size. So to get around this, scientists and staticians take a bunch of samples of individuals from different areas and make stastical inferences about the size of the whole population. A really common method of sampling used is the capture and mark method, where a fish for example will get tagged after being captured and recorded, so that way we can get a more accurate sample without recaptures. Through stastical analysis with softwares like R, combining data from a bunch of areas where the species is know to be present, and through a whole bunch of math, an inference about the whole population size is made. We can never know the true population size, but the goal is to use what we do know to get the closest possible answer.	[ "In a retrospective review in 2011, David Penman and co-authors wrote:\n", "As summarizing remarks, Penman \"et al.\", writing in 2011, stated:\n", "Section::::Modules of Ecosystem Condition.:Fish and Fisheries.\n\nBottom-trawl surveys and pelagic-species acoustic surveys are used to assess changes in fish biod...	[ "Scientist know how many of a species is left in the world." ]	[ "The true population size is never known, but scientist use information to get the closest answer." ]	[ "false presupposition" ]	[ "Scientist know how many of a species is left in the world.", "Scientist know how many of a species is left in the world. " ]	[ "normal", "false presupposition" ]	[ "The true population size is never known, but scientist use information to get the closest answer.", "The true population size is never known, but scientist use information to get the closest answer." ]
2018-00110	How do they get the softer chocolate inside Lindor truffles?	They make soft chocolate. It's called ganache. In kitchens, you melt chocolate with heavy cream and whip air into it to make it lighter. In general, this melts faster than the solid chocolate on the outside. Edit: Whoops, didn't explain how it gets inside. They use a split mold in order to make a hollow core which is then filled with ganache. You can see when you buy them, they have a very faint line going all the way around. This is left over from the mold. Edit 2: [A lindor truffle pic!]( URL_0 ) I've added a picture for clarity because some people don't see it. Look at the truffle in the back and you'll see the line.	[ "Originally, Lindor was introduced as a bar in 1949 and later in 1967 in form of a ball. Lindor is a type of chocolate produced by Lindt, which is now characterized by a hard chocolate shell and a smooth chocolate filling. It comes in both a ball and a bar variety, as well as in a variety of flavours. Each flavour ...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-22839	How come our bodies don’t immediately catch a cold/take a awhile to catch a cold again after we’ve gotten over a cold? Why can’t our built up immunity last forever?	Our built up immunity can last a really long time... against viruses that don't change / evolve very much (like polio, chickenpox, etc.). But the cold and flu are constantly changing, they're like viruses on crack cocaine just constantly on the move and lookin' for that next high (in this case, the high would be infecting the host). edit: Sorry I forgot this was ELI5... I suppose it would be inappropriate to reference crackheads in an explanation to a 5 year old > _ >	[ "Some infections, for example those from the common cold and influenza, do not confer any long lasting immunity. Such infections do not give immunization upon recovery from infection, and individuals become susceptible again.\n\nWe have the model:\n\nNote that denoting with N the total population it holds that:\n\n...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal", "normal" ]	[]
2018-03608	Why does the adhesive inside my nasal strip packaging light up purple in the dark?	This is called triboluminescence. Light is generated through the breaking of chemical bonds in a material when it is pulled apart, crushed, or rubbed. As i'm understanding it, when you're pulling the packaging apart you are exciting the electrons in the adhesive. These excited electrons want to get back to their normal state so they release the extra energy as light.	[ "A thin film of a phosphor, europium thenoyl-trifluoroacetonate, is applied on the surface (e.g. an integrated circuit die) and illuminated by ultraviolet light at 340–380 nm, stimulating fluorescence at mainly 612 nm line. The quantum efficiency of fluorescence decreases exponentially with temperature, differences...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[]
2018-03843	Why are those cows mesmerized by the girl playing the accordion?	First, cattle aren't nearly as stupid as people think (in fact, most mammals are pretty smart). They are curious about interesting new phenomena in their environment. If you came home and there was a new sculpture in the living room you would probably be curious too. You'd figure it out quickly enough, but the cattle are more just entranced by the novelty of it. Curiosity about the environment tends to serve both predators and prey well. Second, remember cattle are herd animals. They will tend to follow one another. So it really only takes a few to perk up and start checking out something new, for the rest to join in.	[ "In a study at the University of Leicester, Liam MacKenzie and Adrian North found that playing music for dairy cows had an effect on the amount of milk that they produced. Over a nine-week period, dairy cows were exposed to fast ( 120 BPM), slow (< 100 BPM), and no music. Music was played for the cows 12 hours a da...	[]	[]	[ "normal" ]	[ "Cows are mesmerized by girl" ]	[ "false presupposition", "normal" ]	[ "Cows are just curious and decided to check it out. Furthermore, their herd nature will tend to make them all behave similarly. " ]

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