id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
b4wnyh | why do fruits taste so much better when in season | [
{
"answer": "Because the phrase \"in season\" is used by humans to describe the time of year when we most prefer the taste of different fruits.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "26969289",
"title": "Annona crassiflora",
"se... | null |
7735gf | How do computers get an exact value for integration and derivatives? | [
{
"answer": "Differentiation is relatively straightforward and can be done by applying a few simple rules. Integration is the tricky thing. One way that computers integrate is by using the [Risch Algorithm](_URL_0_). ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Taylor series is what comes to mind first for... | null |
12xnh5 | Did Vikings or pirates ever develop moral codes limiting what they could do to their victims? | [
{
"answer": "A very curious bit of Viking morals: it's wrong to steal, but it's right to take by force. One of the Icelandic sagas tells of a Viking raid in the Baltic, where the Viking party manages to steal stuff from a farm under the cover of darkness without the occupants realizing what's going on. Halfway ... | null |
5t5d9b | my father says he can taste the difference between whether i boil the water for his tea over the stove, or, in the microwave (our kettle is bust). is it possible that the water could taste different due to different boiling methods? | [
{
"answer": "It could actually! When water is boiled on a stovetop, the impurities (metal ions) that generally settle at the bottom (fall out of colloid/solution) get pushed up with the bubbles of water vapor that form at the bottom of the kettle. \n\nThat causes a remixing of the impurities and is what gives ... | null |
3j813c | why when common people debate abortion it turns into "every sperm is sacred" vs "legalized infanticide" when there is an obvious gray area? | [
{
"answer": "Because hard set, black and white arguments are easier. They're not more right. They're just easier. It's hard to paint someone as an inhuman monster when you're forced to admit they may be right on some points...or that the issue at hand may be more gray than a lot of folks would like you to kn... | null |
csyhve | how did doctors ever think that cigarettes were good for you? | [
{
"answer": "Back then the regulation on corruption and advertising were much looser. Big tobacco companies would pay their own doctors to conducts their own studies and publish false claims. Any studies that exposed the risks of smoking were silenced with money or buried under the flood of false reports.\n\nEd... | null |
7gdv9o | Is there a limit to the number of songs that can be composed? | [
{
"answer": "Composed? No. The space of time limited [continuous signals](_URL_2_) is of course uncountably infinite. \n\nDifferentiated? Yes. To explain this, we have to make two assumptions, \n\n * each song can be reproduced with some maximum amount of power, \n * there will be noise added to the signal (whi... | null |
15alod | Is there an estimate for what percentage of the population is completely free from mental illness ? | [
{
"answer": "I can't answer that question, but it's a difficult one to answer in the first place because \"mental illness\" is not a quantized or definite term. Mental health is a spectrum and what some people might call mentally ill other people call relatively healthy. Saying that somebody is definitely menta... | null |
aastni | if space is constantly expanding, are we expanding too due to all of the empty space there is in atoms? | [
{
"answer": "Short answer: no.\n\nLong answer: Yes, empty space inside of us is expanding. However, its expanding so slowly that all the forces that normally keep us together are able to counteract that expansion, meaning everything stays together at the same distance",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answ... | null |
23y3me | Why is it that we are just now beginning to find so many new planets? | [
{
"answer": "It mostly arises from the Kepler mission, which was specifically designed to systematically find exoplanets. Before, it was basically astronomers booking time on a telescope and hoping for the best.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You have to remember the first exoplanets were only... | null |
3e66i9 | how does the scientists confirm that a planet has water or is possibly habitable? | [
{
"answer": "When light passes through a gas like the atmosphere of a planet or star, the molecules that make up the gas absorb light of very specific colors. If you take this light and split it up into a rainbow, you can see dark lines where this light was absorbed.\n\nMany molecules have had their absorption ... | null |
2lupzd | what's the difference between someone getting arrested, indicted, charged, and subpoenaed? | [
{
"answer": "Arrest is done by a police officer based on either probable cause to believe that you are or have committed a crime, or on a warrant issued by a judge. You are detained and subjected to bail and/or other conditions of release (or held) while awaiting trial. Within a few days of arrest, a defendant ... | null |
3ltota | Can someone explain this phenomenon? The coffee in my mug is independent to the motion of myself and the mug. (GIF included with description) | [
{
"answer": "Inertia: the resistance of any physical object to any change in its state of motion including changes to its speed and direction or the state of rest. \n\nPlus, low friction coefficient between the side of the mug and the liquid. \n\nEquals, the coffee tends to remain in the same place while the m... | null |
rav43 | What is the difference between an ordinary headache and a migraine | [
{
"answer": "To start, migraines are more of a disorder that will happen to a select few sufferers, while headaches are something that can affect everybody. Physiologically, migraines most often include nausea, sensitivity to light, sound, and temperature, and a sensory aura (like tunnel vision) to signal an in... | null |
14qsyx | What time is it on a space station? | [
{
"answer": "The time aboard the ISS is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) -- which is a time zone roughly halfway between Houston and Moscow, where the two main control centers are located. So when astronauts wake up (at around 7:00 GMT), it is 2 in the morning in Houston and 11 in the morning in Moscow.",
"provena... | null |
scz6g | Since the brain is a plastic malleable organ, how does one properly manipulate it to become smarter? | [
{
"answer": "Things that can help improve synaptic plasticity (and consequently memory performance):\n\n* [Repetition, spaced trials](_URL_1_)\n* Concentration\n* [Sleep](_URL_2_)\n* Some cognitive enhancers like [caffeine](_URL_3_)\n* [Diet and exercise](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer":... | null |
3i8zyn | how can incredibly complex software programs be so tiny in size, yet simple files like movies or audio can be several gb? | [
{
"answer": "Software programs are nothing but text in a file (really binary) with some graphics.\n\nA movie is millions of pictures. Its immensely more data.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Good question. software programs aren't too big because they are mostly made of text. Text is easy to s... | null |
8rcz38 | how do pirates crack game? | [
{
"answer": "It depends on the game, or rather what type of DRM (anti-piracy software) the game is using. \n\nIn the old days, all you had to do to crack a game was figure out how CD keys were created for it and then make you own the same way. \n\nLater on, companies started connecting their singleplayer offlin... | null |
2r5b55 | why don't food products contain braille? why aren't they blind friendly? | [
{
"answer": "Used to work at Wal-Mart. You can ask the customer service desk for shopping assistance. Past that I have no idea.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Not a bad question. In terms of reading nutritional information I can see the benefit.\n\nIn terms of picking out food, it would still ... | null |
5qi3gq | if each parent gives half the chromosomes needed for a baby, how do they keep from overlapping some and missing others? | [
{
"answer": "When working properly, the sex cells (sperm and egg) simply have one example of each pair.\n\nWhen the sex-cells are generated, there can be problems where the gamete does not recieve exactly 1 of each chromosome. If this flawed gamete combines to form a fertilized egg, it frequently triggers the f... | null |
1q1cy4 | Do you favour the "Dark Matter" hypothesis, or do you feel that the statement "Perhaps we simply don't understand gravity well enough" is a more plausible solution? | [
{
"answer": "So we haven't ruled out alternate gravity theories, but the majority of astronomers are definitely in the WIMP dark matter camp. There are alternate gravity people, but it hasn't really caught on at all. But yet, in the general public people seem to think of dark matter as some sort of weird phlogi... | null |
17k0dh | Does headbanging, dancing, and rapid velocity shifting movements (sports and such), aerobic neck workouts, etc cause brain damage? | [
{
"answer": "[Some evidence points to yes,](_URL_0_) but it's hardly a comprehensive study.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You're basically asking two different questions (even though you didn't necessarily know you were... how exciting). \n\n1.)The first is, \"Can [the activities you listed]... | null |
8g2oua | what would happen to us/nature if we planted enough oxygen producing plants to increase the oxygen content of earth's atmosphere by 1%? 5%? 10%? | [
{
"answer": "Higher oxygen content would do two things I can think of off the top of my head.\n\nInsects size is constrained mainly by oxygen content because of how their breathing systems work. If you increased the oxygen content of the Earth, bugs would get bigger. Like, doubling their normal size.\n\nSecond,... | null |
1pmpd2 | why are the pi digits so special? | [
{
"answer": "They are not. Thats the point, Pi is a natural number where it may or may not be possible to find every finite number string.\n\nBy itself Pi is nothing special, the square root of 2 or log(2), or... have digits just as \"special\".",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Pi (The number), ... | null |
loc5p | Do you think with current science and technology, that we could start a colony on another planet? | [
{
"answer": "Mars is pretty different to Earth. The atmosphere is about 1% of the thickness of Earth's - it would basically feel like a vacuum to any Earth organism. It also gets less than half the heat the Earth does. So you would need to pump in a lot of gas to make the air breathable, and to trap the heat in... | null |
cvh80l | Why did the IWW decline so much by the early 1920s? | [
{
"answer": "The 1907 trial of Big Bill Haywood in Idaho for the murder of former Governor Frank Steunenburg was a first ordeal for the upstart union, and also the most amazing event in US labor history. Read *Big Trouble* by J Anthony Lucas for the incredible story, a tapestry of American society of the time. ... | null |
2bfce1 | why is iraq considered an arab state rather than a persian(iranian) one? | [
{
"answer": "Iraq is a (mostly) Arabic speaking country, full of people who consider themselves Arabs. Iran is not - it is neither Arabic speaking nor do the people consider themselves Arabs (though there's a minority of Arabs living there). \n\nNone of the countries whose names end with -stan contain a majorit... | null |
qlakg | Is there a 'fantastic planet' out there? Could there be a terrestrial planet thousands of times the size of Earth, orbiting a Sun thousands of times as big as ours, inhabited by giant humanoids? | [
{
"answer": "I'm thinking that, because of gravity, no. A planet several thousand times larger than Earth would have many thousand times the gravitational pull as Earth, and so any lifeform would be \"sucked\" inward, in a manner of speaking. \n\nSomeone will hopefully be able to go into greater depth, but basi... | null |
20eqqa | why, on the news, is there a large delay for live feeds across oceans but we can play xbox live with people around the world with seemingly instantaneous response? | [
{
"answer": "Live TV broadcasts use geostationary satellites which orbit 22 thousand miles up. So a satellite feed has to go 22,000 miles from the broadcast truck to the satellite (actually it will be more as the satellite will not be directly overhead), then 22,000 miles back to the broadcast center. If the br... | null |
3e48jh | why were so many renowned scientists in the 19th-20th centuries from germany and austria? | [
{
"answer": "We still do! My friend went to Germany recently. The majority of texts in Chemistry are all German. The US has Tech but I can't begin to list the developments in Europe. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Germany was a rising industrial ... | null |
3hovx6 | What other dating systems were widely used other than B.C. and A.D.? When were those systems replaced? | [
{
"answer": "The Japanese used *nengo* (年号), eras declared by the imperial court. They didn't have a set length and a new era could be declared for any of a number of reasons: a new Emperor taking the throne, a natural disaster, astrology, etc. The longest *nengo* lasted for thirty-five years, but the majority ... | null |
o5nwe | Do the laws of physics predict that the universe was spontaneously created from nothing? | [
{
"answer": "it's a little simplified. saying \"created out of nothing\" sort of implies that there was nothingness beforehand, which is incorrect. Time itself was created then, so there was no 'beforehand.'\n\nI don't think I helped. This is a difficult concept.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer... | null |
42ujob | By the 15th century, was the army of the Holy Roman Empire, an army of the empire, or of the emperor's own vassals and land? | [
{
"answer": "Not to be a pedant, but I believe you mean the 16th century (1500-1600) as the two rulers in question ruled then.\n\nIt's a little tricky to answer but my interpretation, is that the only army in continental Europe at the time which could truly be considered an 'imperial army' or an army directly l... | null |
15f7oo | Did epicanthic folds evolve separately in different parts of the planet or were they spread from a certain focal point? | [
{
"answer": "It pains me that I can't remember the source (a book tracing human migration through separate studies of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA), but I do remember reading that originally all homo sapiens had epicanthic folds, and a mutation in the population that eventually migrated to western Europe resul... | null |
9ev3rd | how do states like monaco and singapore make so much money and have low taxes? | [
{
"answer": "Singaporean here. We are rich because we have low corporate taxes. When it comes to high-skilled, high-salaried industries like banking, petroleum and medicine, the operating costs (skilled labour, input materials, energy costs) are the same worldwide. Even though land is expensive here, over the L... | null |
5un7d5 | Did nations/national identity exist before the modern age? | [
{
"answer": "It really depends on what you mean by national identity. National identity definitely did exist to a degree but was not expressed in exactly the same ways as we do in the modern era. Pre modern national identity is not the same as modern nationalism and the reason why this is the case but I recomme... | null |
46ije2 | Would an object falling in a vacuum with unlimited space to fall eventually reach the speed of light? | [
{
"answer": "Just working with Newtonian gravity, the maximum speed reached by falling towards the surface of an object is the same speed as escape velocity at that surface (both are calculated by equating gravitational potential to kinetic energy, just in different order). So, what kind of object has an escape... | null |
18uplt | Are there any musical instruments that need gravity to function? What instrument can you not play while in orbit? | [
{
"answer": "Do pianos require gravity? I always thought the hammers \"fell\" back into place after hitting their strings.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "This is all I can think of, although I wouldn't consider it an instrument:\n_URL_0_\n\nPercussion techniques would be quite difficult withou... | null |
410dsu | Do ducks get cold feet in water? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, and that's part of why the entire duck doesn't freeze. Ducks, other birds, and even some mammals like deer have evolved so that the arteries and veins leading to their feet/hooves/ect. pass very close to each other for quite a long ways. As warm blood travels towards the feet, it passes heat... | null |
2fxi31 | if we can smell an item, the item must lose some particles. does that mean it gets lighter constantly? | [
{
"answer": "Yes. Things also get heavier from dust particles. You get lighter every time you breathe, because you take in O2 and expel CO2.\n\nBut the amount is so ridiculously small that it's irrelevant.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Ablation, erosion. Additionally, every solid and liquid h... | null |
np9v2 | Assuming one full rotation of the Earth yearly, would there still be zones on the planet with seasons, or that are mild/temperate year round? | [
{
"answer": "The seasons are caused by the Earth's axial tilt, so yes there would still be seasonal temperature changes on the side of the planet receiving sunlight despite the tidal lock.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The seasons are caused by the Earth's axial tilt, so yes there would still... | null |
5075tm | -what makes a beer "good?" | [
{
"answer": "The short version is, it's subjective, and so what is \"good\" is whatever you like the flavor of. However, you can still discuss beer quality by breaking those qualities down into categories.\n\nThings that affect this: \n\n* How strong the beer's flavor is. In general, cheaper beers have less fla... | null |
64tfkj | Why do electrons come in pairs? | [
{
"answer": "Any given quantum state can hold at most 2 electrons, because [degeneracy](_URL_0_) of a state is 2s+1, and electrons have spin s = 1/2.\n\n \n > Also I have read about electron spin, but I'm still rather unsure about what that actually means. \n \nIt's an intrinsic property of particles, like ... | null |
3t9n5z | what is the theological basis for the westboro baptist church "warning" people about stuff? | [
{
"answer": "Referring not to westboro specifically, this problem arises in a lot of religious organizations as a consequence of human free will and gods plan often seemingly being at odds. Basically even though god has already selected these people only god knows who they are and for those people to know god a... | null |
2t36il | How did the USSR tackle the issue of employment during the decade following WWII? | [
{
"answer": "The USSR went through an extensive demobilisation process following the war. This was part of the vast, and generally quite successful, programme of reconstruction that retooled and rebuilt the economy. By 1950 the Soviet economic production had surpassed its pre-war levels. But on to the soldiers.... | null |
fzlt6w | how does the hi-lo card counting trick work? | [
{
"answer": "The casino advantage in Blackjack is about going last. To simplify a bit, the dealer will win every hand where the player goes bust - but the player loses hands where they go bust and the dealer also goes bust (because the game stops before the dealer gets a chance to go bust).\n\nWhat this means i... | null |
7q26cj | Is it true that Vikings let women handle their finances because they thought it was witchcraft? | [
{
"answer": "We think women controlled the material wealth of Viking-Age households because many wealthy women were buried with a [key](_URL_1_). We assume that within the longhouse, there would have been a locked pantry, and only the matriarch of the household had access to it. Presumably this included food, p... | null |
2p8byg | Are certain areas more prone to see meteors/shooting stars? | [
{
"answer": "In general, no, no area is more prone to observing meteorite events than any other.\n\nHowever, viewing patterns and environmental effects can make a large difference in observed rates at the individual level. Meteors are most likely to be observed pre-dawn, when the movement of the Earth is aligne... | null |
26ujg0 | how are sites capable of showing fancy "too busy to load" pages? | [
{
"answer": "Not really.\n\nReddit is stored on a series of servers, and you probably know how that works for the most part.\n\nWhat happens though, is that when you can't access the specific server needed, they often have one set up for \"overflow\" which is for when the site is really busy, which is dedicated... | null |
5ii0mf | Why is anti matter so rare today? | [
{
"answer": "Essentially there are two main theories:\n\n1) CP (charge parity) violations. If reversing charge and parity (flipping in the sign of one spatial coordinate) does not produce exactly the same physics, then the weak force can cause anti-matter to decay faster than ordinary matter.\n\n2) We are in a... | null |
19n1ek | If I am traveling through space at the speed of light then how fast is the light from my spaceships headlights moving? | [
{
"answer": "The light from your headlights will propagate at exactly the speed of light, as for you and for any outside observer. The Problem with your argumentation is the same with which any relativity discussion starts, that time is a fixed thing. According to Einsteins theory however, this is not true. The... | null |
3nby8v | what is the difference between regular 3d and other types like imax 3d ? | [
{
"answer": "The IMAX 3D projector delivers 3D images of unsurpassed brightness and clarity, unlike any other 3D technology available today. IMAX 3D takes advantage of the fact that we see the world through two eyes. An IMAX 3D movie actually consists of two separate images projected onto a special silver-coate... | null |
24tla8 | why don't birds lie down when the sleep? | [
{
"answer": "Because they don't need to. They're limbs are mainly tendons that lock in place and many birds hang from trees, it's kinda like how horses sleep standing up (their knees lock)\n\nAlso if they lay down they'd just fall out of trees all the time. Some birds do lay down of course, bigger ones mainly, ... | null |
1rea1r | Why is the "Water Erosion on the Sphinx Theory" Not Correct or More Popular? | [
{
"answer": "I had a professor by the name of Peter Lacovara who explained this theory in class and why it is wrong. The body of the sphinx is made up of limestone from a former quarry. Everything around it was cut up and taken away to build the nearby pyramids. Not wanting to leave this hunk of rock sticking a... | null |
9tmftj | what exactly are "poppers" and how do they work? people who are using, why are you? why should/shouldn't i try? | [
{
"answer": "Poppers are a type of chemical known as alkyl nitrates. They typically come in the form of a liquid contained in a small bottle; by inhaling the vapors coming off this liquid, a brief high is produced.\n\n*This is not the same as huffing*. When you huff (inhale the vapors of gasoline, glue, solve... | null |
42icnn | Why has the south of Germany been richer than the north? | [
{
"answer": "South Germany being the richer half of the country is actually a very recent phenomenon. Over the course of history, the distribution of wealth has changed a lot, depending on political factors as well as the importance of various technologies and industries. The north used to be very rich due to t... | null |
343yc8 | Have there been riots in history that sparked the change they asked for? | [
{
"answer": "I recently read a great overview of US riots-- Paul gilje's \"rioting in America\". He identifies many, many riots that achieved their goals, from the 17th c to the present.\n\nAmerican rioting, he argues, has strong roots in the medieval English system of collective violence by the plebeians, whic... | null |
384p4l | what makes a doctors office smell like a "doctor's office?" | [
{
"answer": "Most types of disinfectants that you can purchase for your home are scented in some way.\n\nThe standard cleaning chemicals for hospitals are generally unscented. What you are smelling are the unscented cleaning agents that are applied often because hospitals have to remain clean due to the number ... | null |
1ge3zx | How could a country like Afghanistan change from being a fairly liberal country to very strict religious? | [
{
"answer": "Rodric Braithwaite points out in Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89, that the 'liberalness' of Afghanistan was only ever really confined the urban middle and upper classes, who were very much a minority, the majority of the rural population were pretty conservative add the ruthless bruta... | null |
1o5chw | why should i not drink from my plastic water bottle if it has been sitting in my car for a couple weeks? does it matter if the cap is opened or not? | [
{
"answer": "The inside of your car gets hot. Even in the winter, the sun is coming in through the windows. Over time, the heat and sunlight can cause chemicals in the plastic to leech out into your water. It's nothing super bad, but nothing you want to be doing often either.\n\nIf you refill your water bott... | null |
n6eu6 | Caffeinated Soap Bar, could this even work? How effective is the skin at absorbing chemicals? | [
{
"answer": "That might have interesting effects on kids who swear in front of their mothers.\nThat said, to cross the skin barrier usually requires some sort of solvent to carry the molecule, DMSO is a good one. I wonder if the mint scent does more to wake you up than the caffeine. \nPlus, I've never heard of ... | null |
1xp2h8 | what's the point of having and operating cctv if you can rarely actually identify anyone using it? | [
{
"answer": "people are less likely to commit crimes if they know they are being recorded imho",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Insurance is cheaper with a CCTV network.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Detterent. Cheaper insurance. And even though you may not be able to identify... | null |
1ixlp0 | how can words people use all the time "not be words." who decides when something is a word? | [
{
"answer": "when enough people think it is a word, it is a word. The fact people understand it without explanation just helps it along to becoming a word. You have to realize, no word ever existed until people started using it.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "My guess as to why 'conversate' (a... | null |
3g3ja3 | Why don't Japanies swords have crossguards? | [
{
"answer": "Swords are designed for specific styles of fencing and combat. Also, while a crossguard protects your hand, it also hinders your movements, determining how you attack and defend. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "While there were some (elaborately decorated) cross-guards invented in... | null |
27ah4j | Was oral hygiene, or lack thereof, ever a deterrent for people to kiss before contemporary methods became available? | [
{
"answer": "I am not knowledgeable enough on historical oral hygiene practices to answer the first part of your question.\n\nHowever, I can answer your second question:\n\n > Has kissing always been a part of people's love lives?\n\nWell, prior to written history, we have a hard time concluding whether or not ... | null |
6rdm3p | the u.s. president is accused of a violent crime; what happens next? | [
{
"answer": "The House of Representatives impeaches him and the Senate holds a trial with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding. He can't pardon himself in this case.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It's an open question about whether a sitting president can be put on trial through t... | null |
26e82d | Did people in British colonies (eg. Canada, Australia, New Zealand) consider themselves British or did they moreover identify with the colony? | [
{
"answer": "You may be interested in my answers in these previous threads:\n\n* [At what point did Australians and New Zealanders begin to consider themselves as distinct from the British?](_URL_1_)\n\n* [Why did Great Britain grant independence/autonomy to Australia and Canada? Was it political necessity or w... | null |
35i3tt | why is that that wires can be bundled together without interfering with each others signals? | [
{
"answer": "They can, it's called crosstalk and it's a big design problem. Normally the signals are small enough that the interference is minimal, and can be fixed by spacing the wires apart. When that doesn't work, foil shielding is used. And if that doesn't work, you can use balanced connections. \n\nA balan... | null |
39xjh9 | How widespread was anarchism as a political movement? | [
{
"answer": "Here's the start of an answer: \"Anarchism\" was not a widely used keyword until 1880 or so, around the time of the establishment of the The International Working People's Association or \"Black International.\" Prior to that, anarchist ideas played a role in organizations like the International As... | null |
601a4c | Why is the Bering Strait never mentioned in the Cold War? | [
{
"answer": "It's something like 4000 miles from there to Moscow, and 2000 miles to California. In both cases most of the trip would be across wilderness terrain with no major roads or infrastructure to speak of. In the age of nuclear weapons, the war would be over long before an army crossing the Bering Strait... | null |
g2uthz | In Ancient Rome, who would act as the police detectives? Who would try to figure out who’s guilty for murders so they could have a trial? What methods for investigation would they use? | [
{
"answer": "There have been a few previous answers that might be helpful here:\n\n[How easy was it for fugitives to evade capture in the Roman Empire?](_URL_3_) by [u/mpixieg](_URL_2_)\n\n[How were crimes investigated in Roman times?](_URL_1_) by [u/AwesomeDog59](_URL_4_)\n\nAnd a couple by me:\n\n[Prior to DN... | null |
fc7lne | what information can i get from a barometer and how can it be useful for me? | [
{
"answer": "Barometers can be used to predict the weather or estimate your altitude. If you put your phone in a bag and submerge it underwater, you can use a bit of math to measure its depth.\n\nMost useful stuff the barometer can do, apps already do.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Air pressu... | null |
3wh2yx | how can people argue for mandatory drug testing to receive government benefits? doesnt this violate the constitution through self incrimination? doesnt testing for bac when pulled over also do this? | [
{
"answer": "You are not legally entitled to most government benefits; you must be eligible. If not using illegal drugs is a condition for eligibility, then you can be required to prove that to obtain the benefits. That's not unconstitutional, because you're not being compelled to do anything--it is your choice... | null |
4zqe1r | How common was interfaith marriage on the medieval ages? | [
{
"answer": "Great question!\n\nIn the twelfth century Latin Christian attitudes to this question were rather conflicted. On the one hand you have categorical prohibitions against miscegenation and on the other you have early depictions in chronicles and popular literature where such relationships are romantic ... | null |
1m5tb1 | If the universe is supposedly infinite, if we traveled in a straight line, given enough time, would be end up at the initial departure point? | [
{
"answer": " > would it be cylindrical and would bend back in on itself at the edges if we ever found the theoretical \"edge\". Think of it as going to the top edge of a map in a video game and ending up at the bottom edge.\n\nNo, that would be roughly what happens in a *finite* universe (well, provided it's e... | null |
4jvibr | How did commonly found specialized organs such as the liver originally develop? | [
{
"answer": "The first multi-cellular organisms appeared because of evolutionary advantages of having specialised cells. Some seaweeds, for example, give us a look at what the most primitive multicellular organisms were like - they only have a few specialised cells, such as those that grip rock and those that a... | null |
5vc22s | How much did the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front know about the German atrocities and the holocaust? For those that were aware of these events (or even participants), how did they rationalize these actions? | [
{
"answer": "**Part 1**\n\nI have previously wrote answers to similar questions [here](_URL_0_), [here](_URL_2_), and [here](_URL_3_) and it is not really possible to gauge the number of how many members of the Wehrmacht were directly involved in war crimes, not at least because the difficulty of establishing w... | null |
15qie7 | How often did people trade in money for gold? | [
{
"answer": "Under a \"classical\" gold standard, money is not convertible into gold; money IS gold. The monetary unit is defined in terms of a weight of gold, and the law defines a right of any individual to go to a mint and turn that weight of gold into an official coin.\n\nThe circulating media of exchange c... | null |
4iuabl | who is it exactly that make money every time i use visa or mastercard? | [
{
"answer": "The issuing bank gets a cut and so does the network operator (visa/mastercard/etc).\n\nThat's why banks want you to use *their* cards. Well that and since they're the ones financing your credit they get the interest on the transactions.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There are a ... | null |
8ds7yr | umbral moonshine | [
{
"answer": "Perhaps while you're at it you'd like an ELI5 of the proof of Fermat's last theorem, and a simple explanation of the Hodge conjecture?\n\nSome concepts are suitable for simplified explanations. This is not one of them.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
... | null |
9g9jtj | why when you learn a new word you suddenly see it used all the time? | [
{
"answer": "It may be a form of confirmation bias. Before learning about the term, you subconsciously disregarded every instance of its expression, but now you aknowledge it at every corner because it is fresh in your memory.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It's called the Baader-Meinhof pheno... | null |
52hz36 | why are there creases in our palm and why are they permanently there throughout our lifetime? | [
{
"answer": "Creases form on our hands in the womb. They allow our hand skin to squeeze and stretch without bunching up. These creases are called Palmar Flexion creases.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "11995021",
"title": "Skin f... | null |
epzwgf | Literary Works on European Attire/Fashion | [
{
"answer": "This is such a very broad topic that there are no scholarly works that deal with the whole thing. On the one hand, you can try Phyllis Tortora's *Survey of Historic Costume*, which is a textbook that can give a broad overview; like all textbooks, though, you lose the nuances and sometimes it's inco... | null |
87cw4b | how do we define when the earth formed? | [
{
"answer": " > how do we define when it stopped being a clump of rock?\n\nBut it still is a big clump of rock. That's not mutually exclusive with being categorized as a planet, and the actual definition of a planet is rather arbitrary. Pluto is a good example, as it was classified as a planet initially, but t... | null |
3zxuwm | why is february the shortest month? | [
{
"answer": "Because it was the last month of the year.\n\nThe old Roman calendar had ten months -- which is why we see prefixes like Oct- and Dec- -- eight and ten -- for what was at the time the eighth and tenth months. In Rome, the year started with March.\n\nSo, what about the time between December and Marc... | null |
2j5nw8 | why i can't explain to others things like they're five? | [
{
"answer": "There is a little bit of truth in the idea that if you can't explain it simply, then you don't really understand it. But that's not always the case, sometimes what you explain might just be really complicated. I mean, you can explain nuclear fission pretty simply, but the simple explanation is usel... | null |
7is61w | what’s the difference between dolby, dts, and pcm sound options for surround sound. | [
{
"answer": "Strictly speaking, PCM is a codec for sound to digital data,while Dolby and DTS are companies that create other codecs (although I think the consumer codec made by DTS may also be called, simply, DTS).\n\nPCM is the most basic codec and basically involve converting the actual audio waves directly t... | null |
rkh6j | What would happen if we were to point the Hubble Space telescope at the Earth? | [
{
"answer": "From [_URL_1_](_URL_0_)\n\n > The surface of the Earth is whizzing by as Hubble orbits, and the pointing system, designed to track the distant stars, cannot track an object on the Earth. The shortest exposure time on any of the Hubble instruments is 0.1 seconds, and in this time Hubble moves about... | null |
xqt2p | explain this comic to me. | [
{
"answer": "[There's a website for that](_URL_0_)\n\n\n > This is a reference to the phrase context-free grammar, which is a technical term used in formal language theory. The play on words is that Cueball does not provide any context for his statement.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "[zincake... | null |
296kur | Can stable elements be induced to undergo nuclear fission? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, we can make lighter stable elements split into even lighter elements, but below iron, it requires more energy to split them than you get back. Light elements require more energy to split, and give more energy when fused; heavy elements as opposite -- they require more energy to fuse, and give... | null |
9oicni | how does a serving of something like beef jerky have 10g of protein in it, when the serving size is 1g of meat? | [
{
"answer": "1 gram of food is about the size a jelly bean. I don’t think there are any beef jerkies with 1 gram servings. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You've misread something maybe you should upload the packet so we can understand where you've got it wrong. Beef jerky has approximately 33... | null |
joklp | how does a processor thread work? | [
{
"answer": "A thread is a fancy way to say a task. Let's say you want to send shipments of Egyptian cotton from Sicily to Malta. If you have a single plane that can fly 500 mph, you have to wait until it flies there and back (a single clock cycle) before you can load it up and send it out again. In that sense ... | null |
4n98w5 | how can 100% orange juice have calories but something like flavored sparkling water containing fruit juice have no calories? | [
{
"answer": "It has a few but the law allows them to round down. So it's approximately zero. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There is sugar in an orange so there are calories in an orange.\n\nThe sparkling water might have an sweetener that our bodies cannot digest (= 0 calories), or one that ... | null |
fxl3ih | Are supernovae radially symmetric? | [
{
"answer": "The star can spin which can make the poles behave differently. The balance of gravity pulling in and fusion pushing out will tend to smooth out differences, so it's about as homogenous as a well stirred soup, it might not exactly be equal and there might be some bubbles but on the scale that matter... | null |
9139io | why does muscle stop growing stronger at some point? | [
{
"answer": "It takes a constant caloric energy feed to support every gram of muscle. You're evolved to face the danger of imminent starvation at any time. \n\nSo the muscles grow in proportion to the exercise they get. Which is proportional to your daily activity. They generally stop growing when they are ... | null |
216kqw | Following implantation of a Cochlear Implant, can adult formerly-deaf patients understand language? | [
{
"answer": "Neuroimaging of sign language is a bit thin on the ground; there's only a handful of studies, but they suggest that signed language uses many of the same areas but isn't as lateralized or localized as spoken language processing (e.g., Corina, et al., 2003; Soderfeldt, Ronnberg, & Risberg, 1994; f... | null |
f98yar | why does water go through your system so quickly? | [
{
"answer": "Coffee makes you urinate more. But you did take in less water all around(foods drinks etc) do you did not urinate much. Your body takes in enough water and secrates the useless amount via urination and other thinks. Try getting the same amount of water 2L only water and 1.8Lwater 200cc coffee you w... | null |
496gjq | How did outsiders view the relationship between the emperor and shogun of Japan? | [
{
"answer": "You don't really specify an era, so I'm just gonna talk about the 19th century and the Perry expedition as an example.\n\nWhile planning for the expedition, the US understood Japan as having two emperors, a religious emperor and a military emperor. They addressed the letter it was the mission of th... | null |
4xnea1 | Does Einstein's theory of relativity connect electric and magnetic fields? | [
{
"answer": "Yes; namely under changes of inertial frames in relativity (Lorentz transformations) E and B fields mix into eachother.\n\nSuper minimal example to show this: static charge, there's only an E field. You change reference frame, it gets moving and therefore part of the E has turned into a B. \n\nSaid... | null |
u1nof | Why No American Aristocracy? | [
{
"answer": "There were attempts. In some ways that's what the proprietary colonies were, and their owners were the Lords Proprietors \n\n*spelling",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "William Penn's father lent the King of England so much money during the three Anglo Dutch wars in ... | null |
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