id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
4xd7yz | How large was Charlemagne's army? (at the beginning of his reign and his height) | [
{
"answer": "Follow up: how well-trained and equipped was his army compared to others of the time?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I think this is an interesting question, certainly it is to me, and it's a shame you haven't gotten a good answer yet. So I decided to have a look into it for you i... | null |
arco0x | different types of exercises | [
{
"answer": "Different exercises help work different parts of all muscles. It's good to switch up the exercises to keep shocking and tearing up different parts of your muscles. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "2934568",
"title": ... | null |
22iv4a | the bible | [
{
"answer": "Way too broad a question. Nobody can explain the complexities of the bible to a five year old. \n\nAt best you can say the old testament is for the Jews and the new testament is for the Christians. The same way the book of Mormon was for the Mormons or the Qur'an was for the Muslims. ",
"proven... | null |
1iwvbj | If hair and fingernails are both made of keratin, why do I lose my hair but not my nails from chemo? | [
{
"answer": "It's less to do with the keratin and more that the follicles have rapidly dividing cells, which are targeted by chemotherapy. Nails are also affected by many chemotherapy drugs. Fingernails can become weak and brittle during chemotherapy. They may fall off after several rounds of treatment, but thi... | null |
4hww9w | Was Sun Yat-sen a successful revolutionary leader? | [
{
"answer": "First off, you have to define what makes a revolutionary leader \"successful.\" Did he contribute to the downfall of Qing? Absolutely. Did he unite the country? Far from it. Were his ideas for China revolutionary? Not quite.\n\nGiven that much of his \"revolutionary\" activities were actually done ... | null |
bu8j2h | Why did German high command find the 'Final Solution' to be a worthwhile endeavor? | [
{
"answer": "The first thing you have to do is understand the the goal to be Judenrein, clean of Jews, was a central part of Nazi policy. Racial purity was a central concern of the Party, and to be part of it was to believe in working towards the goal of a Germany cleansed of Jews, at least, on paper. It was al... | null |
2537xf | why does my automatic transmission car still have l, 2, and 3 on the gearshift, and when would i use them? | [
{
"answer": "Going down a steep or not quite steep grade to use the engine for braking.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I use them when I'm driving in snow or ice. It's safer to have control of when you shift.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "when towing a trailer, you're suppos... | null |
65qxz1 | if the dna of an organism contains all the building plans for the body, how does a single cell know its location and needed function if all the first cells start the same? | [
{
"answer": "The answer to this quite simply can't be put in a understandable way to a five year old, but I'll have a stab at an analogy.\n\nJust like all people could do *most* jobs with the right training and upbringing, from an early age we are steered in a direction (vocation, education, family, etc.) which... | null |
1nr6pf | why do we sometimes feel tickled when the tickler is just pointing at our bellies? | [
{
"answer": "I think it is in anticipation, or our brains remember the tickling (for me it only happens if I have been tickled recently)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "If it weren't for the nerves in your belly, you wouldn't feel anything when being tickled. When you're being pointed at your b... | null |
63ngj4 | engine efficiency in the future and the internal combustion engine | [
{
"answer": "You have a lot of things going on in this. A piston is Pushed down by the burning of the compressed Gas. That downward stroke is know as the \"power stroke\" while forcing it down and driving the car, it also pushes up the next piston.\n\nThere are lots of Engine designs out there that push the ... | null |
30yh0a | We've always been at war with Eastasia. Why did the conflict start in the first place? | [
{
"answer": "Friend, I think you've gotten things mixed up, we're at peace with Eastasia, we've always been at war with **Eurasia**. I suggest reporting to your nearest Ministry of Truth official to make sure you're remembering the correct account of history. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": nul... | null |
83vry1 | light-based computing | [
{
"answer": "Instead of sending an electrical signal down a wire, which is received by a device sensitive to electricity, you'd shine light through optical fiber or across open space, and the receiving device is sensitive to light.\n\nComputers use TINY \"switches\" (transistors, in a normal electrical computer... | null |
x3ixc | Does light refract in clouds as it does in water? | [
{
"answer": "Yes. The refraction of light in water drops creates a rainbow. This only happens if you, the water drops, and the light source are at just the right geometry.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "6752609",
"title": "Und... | null |
289hsu | Were there German spies that were found, captured, and executed in the United States during World War 2? | [
{
"answer": "I have not seen that documentary, but did it mention Operation Magpie: Gimpel and Colepaugh?\n\nWilliam Colepaugh was a disgruntled MIT grad who eventually fled to Germany and volunteered to come back to the US as a spy. Of course they problem with assets with that kind of motivation is that they ... | null |
j2mbt | can someone explain the wars in afghanistan and iraq like i'm a five year old? | [
{
"answer": "As simply as i know, without theory. Afghanistan-We invaded Afghanistan to catch Osama Bin Laden and remove the Taliban government that was supporting him. Iraq-We invaded because according to intelligence, Sadam Huessien (sp?) Had access to weaopons of mass destruction (WMD's) that threatened th... | null |
922ew9 | what is the difference between toilets where you press a button and it flushes automatically, and toilets that draw water only as long as you keep the button pressed? | [
{
"answer": "Usually, the flapper has a void area that traps air so that it stays afloat by buoyancy until the weight of the incoming water used to fill the tank overcomes the buoyancy of the flapper.\n\n[_URL_1_](_URL_1_)\n\nUsually, the \"non-automatic\" flappers do not have this feature.\n\n[_URL_0_](_URL_2_... | null |
1he9tv | AskScience, what part of Earth has the smallest average temperature range? What part has the most hospitable temperature range? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not going to try and answer the part about 'most hospitable' -- humans live all over the planet, and people express preferences for tropics, mid latitudes, or snowy climes. \n\nAverage temperature range, though, I can do. Using the NOAA land temp [data](_URL_0_), I made a map of the areas of t... | null |
pip5v | X and Y Chromosome-carrying sperm | [
{
"answer": "~~The Y chromosome is larger than the X chromosome~~. The X chromosome is larger than the Y chromosome. However, there's no evidence that \"Y sperm\" swim faster than \"X sperm\". It's just a single chromosome and there are many other factors involved. It's not affecting the overall size or shap... | null |
1n3ndx | How does fuel consumption and potential nuclear weapon enriching work in nuclear power plants? | [
{
"answer": "National soverignty is a big issue. Signers of the NPT have a right to nuclear power, including domestic production of all aspects. This is as long as they allow the IAEA to inspect. This includes the ability to not only enrich uranium, but make fuel and even reprocess. Japan does all of these ... | null |
1k9an4 | how does a linear induction motor work? | [
{
"answer": "Alright, the only word in there you gotta worry about is 'induction'. 'Motor' just means it moves stuff, and 'linear' just means it moves stuff in a straight line (or close to it). \nAs for 'induction': When you've got electricity moving, it can create a magnetic field (i.e. what magnets make). Th... | null |
68hsbe | How accurate is bill wurtz's "history of japan"? | [
{
"answer": "You might want to check out this previous post on this question.\n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "32027500",
"title": "A Glorious Way to Die",
"section": "Section::::Reception.\n",
"start_pa... | null |
65qw35 | Is there a clear neurological distinction between addiction and just really wanting something, or are they on the same spectrum? | [
{
"answer": "Drugs can \"hijack\" the hedonic system of the brain, or the \"reward\" system in such a way that drugs become a priority equal to or greater than basic survival like food and water.\n\nThis has been demonstrated on rats and mice using both drugs like cocaine and also by directly activating their r... | null |
1cb4ws | why is jackie robinson such a big deal in baseball, while we don't ever talk about the first black football, basketball , hockey, etc... players? | [
{
"answer": "It's less that he played baseball, and more that he was the first black athlete to play in a white team period. \n\nHe's up there with Rosa Parks for \"firsts for African Americans\" in the civil rights movement.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I'm not really an expert on the subje... | null |
23p99h | What kind of mutations would cause bacteria to be immune to antibiotics? | [
{
"answer": "There are a ton of ways bacteria combat antibiotics and they're all just a little bit different depending on the bacteria and the antibiotic used to kill them. However, it always boils down to the bacteria doing one of three things:\n\n1. **They can destroy the antibiotic.** This can be done either... | null |
k3ntw | why do we have telescopes that are able to see the far reaches of the galaxy, but we can't use this technology to zoom into the moon and see hq images of the apollo landing site? | [
{
"answer": "The hubble space telescope (which is one of the best) has a resolution of 70 yards (something like 65 meters), which is not enough to see the landing site (everything left on the moon is about 10 meters).\n\nIn the 2009 NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to study the moon surface,... | null |
zedog | Partially deflated helium balloon.
Why does it float where it floats? | [
{
"answer": "Also, as it deflates it has less lift upwards. Totally Made up numbers: (The helium initially can lift 1lbs, 1/2 deflated it can lift .5lbs) As it settles some of the string of the balloon settles on the ground reducing the weight of the balloon + string that must be lifted by the balloon. ... | null |
285ror | would what Plato spoke be at all recognisable/intelligible to a modern Greek (like how medieval English is confusing but still very recognisably English) or would it just sound like a totally foreign language at this point? | [
{
"answer": "Modern Greek speakers can read aloud from ancient texts easily and can recognize many of the words. Some words will require a dictionary or extensive previous study to understand. Modern Greek also has a much less inflected grammar (similar to \"church\" Latin vs. classical Latin) that sometimes ca... | null |
1lyl43 | How exactly does Naegleria fowleri attack the brain / nervous system and why is it so difficult to fight against? | [
{
"answer": "It's nearly always fatal, but it's very rarely contracted (~3 cases per year in the US). There are many other diseases that kill many more people, and would be better candidates to spend effort and money on finding treatments for.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenanc... | null |
1exhfs | Neglecting temperature and "space suits", could waves on Titan be surfed? | [
{
"answer": "One problem would be that the oceans consist of liquid hydrocarbons like ethane and methane and those have a much lower [viscosity](_URL_0_) than water (factor 10 orso). Density is also about 50% lower, which would make it hard to stay afloat. Furthermore I assume the surface tension would be sign... | null |
ab1ags | how was the iss assembled? and how are repairs and maintenance performed in the event of a collision with space debris? | [
{
"answer": "The ISS was assembled by flying it to space in pieces and assembling it later with robot arms. The solar Panels were just unfolded like a piece of paper by motors. Repairs are done by performing a spacewalk if necessary. Some maintenance can be done from the inside. In some cases the damage to part... | null |
8ukzan | if uv light is outside the visible spectrum, how come we see the light emitted off a black light? | [
{
"answer": "Blacklights work via a filter that specifically filters out visible light and allows UV radiation to pass through.\n\nBut they're not perfect, so some visible light gets through the filter and provides that purplish color you see (Because the filters are purple)",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
6f16xc | Do flamethrowers from WW2 explode when shot? | [
{
"answer": "ww2 era man-portable flame throwers like the German Flammenwerfer 35 and Flammenwerfer 41 (named after the years the specific versions came into use) were pretty simple and similar in construction and concept. A projector nozzle with a hydrogen torch was connected with a rubber hose to a metal con... | null |
1jstij | What was General Franco's policy towards ethnic minorities? | [
{
"answer": "Franco suppressed the use of Catalan, Basque and other minority languages. He definitely wanted to make all of Spain Spanish.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Franco's policy towards ethnic minorities was heavy suppression of regional identity in favor of national Castilian(\"Spanis... | null |
2pv37q | why do i transpose words while speaking? | [
{
"answer": "Language production is very complicated, and because the brain *evolved* rather than being designed by an engineer, there isn't a single \"language centre\" in the brain. Instead, different parts of the brain have to work together to produce speech, so one part might be retrieving the nouns you nee... | null |
4tm9fo | how/why does a show like futurama with such an avid and wide fan base get [repeatedly] canceled? what is the logic behind it from a network standpoint? | [
{
"answer": "There's two categories of shows, to be broad.\n\n\nYou either have shows with broad appeal and a wide audience, or a show with niche appeal, and a *guaranteed* audience. Unless you run a small cable channel or a youtube channel, you're usually aiming for broad appeal even if it typically stems from... | null |
ahp8lf | What would the ramifications have been had Tsar Bomba been an underground test? | [
{
"answer": "It would have heated some rock. If close to the surface it would have released some radioactive material, if buried deeper it would have stayed contained. Things don't \"penetrate[] all the way through the crust\"\n\n > What would life look like on the planet had they done this, whether with the 5... | null |
j4qu2 | can some please explain differentiation to me like
i'm 5? | [
{
"answer": "So you have a ball and you throw it at a tree. You might notice that instead of flying in a straight line it goes up some and then goes down some before hitting the tree, flying in a curve instead of a straight line.\n\nNow if you slow it down a whole lot you can see that for part of it the ball is... | null |
2x9zyz | Historians Travel | [
{
"answer": "I'm a medievalist, and travel is very important for my research because it's the only way I can access some of the things I study, and the only way I can talk with others in my field.\n\nMy project focuses on archaeology in sixth century England, and (as you can imagine) almost all the artifacts on... | null |
6c8de2 | why did all the spices of the old world come from far away? were there not spices native to western europe? | [
{
"answer": "There are plenty of native European seasonings; think of oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, sage, garlic, lavender, parsley, carroway, cumin, anise, bay laurel, dill, horseradish, juniper, mint, mustard, saffron, tarragon.\n\nAnyway, as to your plan, you can't make money selling something t... | null |
e90nlw | how does google photos recognize my baby pictures? | [
{
"answer": "The same way it can distinguish your friends from you. Or your dog from your baby. It scans the photo and compares it to a large large pool of already identified images and decided what its most likely to be. \n\nBig brother is watching and it’s very smart 👀",
"provenance": null
},
{
"... | null |
5p5ccj | what's the difference between neutron stars, pulsars, and quasars? | [
{
"answer": "So a neutron star is what happens when a large star sheds it's outer layer and the internal collapses in on itself after going supernova. These emit a lot of radiation including fast moving neutrons hence the name. \n\nNow if these supernovae happen while rotating fast it gets faster and faste... | null |
333uod | why do cats ears twitch after being slightly touched? | [
{
"answer": "Dog's ears do this too, and I think it's a reflex meant to protect the ears. In nature, if something touches your ears, it means one of two things:\n\n1. It's harmless. It doesn't matter what you do.\n\n2. The thing that just touched your ear is about to rip it off your skull.\n\nSince losing the e... | null |
ddik6f | Are there any good sources that an average person could use to learn about Celtic and Gallic religions prior to Christianization? | [
{
"answer": "\\- *The Celtic Gauls: Gods, Rites and Sanctuaries*; Jean-Louis Brunaux; 1988.\n\nThis a study of Gaulish religious features, in their public and ritual aspects, but also how they might have conceived their spiritual universe and their Gods; but also the relation religion had with society, particul... | null |
6kfip5 | life on earth has existed for millions of years, growing and adapting. so why do small amounts of exposure to the sun still harm its organisms? | [
{
"answer": "Because for most of the world, while it's harmful, it doesn't kill you before you reproduce. So there's little evolutionary pressure that favors a mutation that has a characteristic that makes sun less harmful.\n\nUnless you live near equator like Africa...where your skin tone is ...dark. some sa... | null |
1uvugp | Has there ever been controversy arize from the translation of Holy books into different Vernacular Languages? | [
{
"answer": "There are many, many disputes over this sort of thing, and that's why you find so many different translations of the Bible in English alone. Every version of the Bible pretty much exists because someone didn't like a translation which already existed. The act of translation is itself an act of inte... | null |
8z2z5m | why do capacitors in crt tvs from 50 years ago still work, but every lcd i've had blew a capacitor in less than 5 years? | [
{
"answer": "Probably not the answer you're looking for but I'd guess it was them intentionally installing cheaper/lower quality ones they know will fail so you upgrade sooner. Planned obsolescence... But that's just my opinion... No facts or anything to back this up. Lol",
"provenance": null
},
{
"... | null |
b5v8tq | how do dogs always manage to shed when it's getting warmer? | [
{
"answer": "They are responding to the change in the length of the day associated with the passing seasons. \n\nEDIT: Because climate change does not affect the length of the day, it will not affect this. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id":... | null |
26263c | When you fart, the gas released is lighter than the surrounding air, indicating bouancy. Does this mean that we weigh nominally more after farting since we no longer have a gas inside our body that is slightly lighter than air? | [
{
"answer": "It depends on how rigid our bodies are. A tank of nitrogen will weigh less when you let out gas because you lost mass. If flatulence was less dense than air and your body was flexible enough that your volume decreased by the amount of gas you released, then yes you will weigh more. Keep in mind tha... | null |
2o9pvt | just say.. we had the technology to lasso mars and bring it to same position earth is to the sun, would mars eventually be habitable like earth is today? | [
{
"answer": "No. In fact, it probably would make Mars *less* habitable. The lower gravity of Mars, combined with its lack of a magnetosphere means that any atmosphere is doomed to be blown away by solar winds. Bringing Mars closer to the Sun would simply subject it to higher intensity winds, stripping away the ... | null |
1odnu1 | Does alcohol affect insects the same as humans? | [
{
"answer": "Surprisingly, yes! Ethanol vapour tested on *Drosophila* showed that they behave in an [inebriated](_URL_0_) fashion, and they have noted the activity of a gene that codes for a neuropeptide that is involved in a cAMP pathway that has an effect on various brain functions. Whether this method of eth... | null |
fi4p0 | What causes pruney fingers? | [
{
"answer": "Two portions of your skin, the epidermis and dermis, are tied down to one another in certain areas. As you spend a lot of time in the pool, your skin absorbs water and expands. However, since the two layers are connected, your skin has nowhere to go, so it wrinkles. Once you're out of the pool, the... | null |
21it7j | how does a galaxy s4 cellphone cost $450 when a decent laptop costs $300? | [
{
"answer": "It's for the same reason a decent laptop costs $300 and a desktop with those same specs costs $200. Miniaturization is *expensive*. You not only have to figure out how to cram all of those same components in a smaller space, but you now also have to deal with heat dissipation. And in the case of a ... | null |
2skt81 | why isn't japan popular for esports? | [
{
"answer": "the gaming industry is consoles and hand helds only recently pc gaming started geting more popular in japan, before it was seen pc gamer = playing porn/eroge games.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I just did an essay on this exact topic actually.\n\nThere are a few reasons.\n\n1. A... | null |
vxuve | What happens to a mosquito when it sucks a diabetics blood? | [
{
"answer": "*Arbovirologist here.\n\nIt wouldn't matter very much at all. Both male and female mosquitoes eat sugar from any source they can find (eg: rotten fruit, nectar, etc...), but only the females take blood meals. The protein in the blood is required to produce eggs, and would still be present in large... | null |
1i35tr | Historical post-modernism/ post-structuralism? | [
{
"answer": "Postmodernism *is* kind of vague and unspecified unfortunately. Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism by Frederick Jameson is kind of long and disjointed, I came out of it with a pretty good understanding of postmodernism, but there is still no solid, easy definition.\n\nIt's imp... | null |
67amdw | why do people still believe in god? | [
{
"answer": " > Don't post to argue a point of view.\n\nThis post has been removed. You want /r/changemyview. Or you want to survey people in which case you want a sub that allows that.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "24742",
... | null |
gaw7k | Does the earth have other satellites other than the moon? | [
{
"answer": "aside from the artificial ones, no.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Maybe you are misreading something that is speaking in the past tense? As far as I know it's all speculative, but I have come across descriptions of the initial lunar formation that involved smaller pieces eventual... | null |
149lk5 | Can you point me towards some good introductory reading on Norman culture and history? | [
{
"answer": "Not really my field so I can't recommend more than this, but I thought David Crouch's *The Normans: The History of a Dynasty* was a very good political history.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "2903432",
"title": "Rom... | null |
3bs0gw | why do deli meats like turkey and roast beef taste so much different when thickly sliced vs. thinly sliced? | [
{
"answer": "Because they *are* different!\n\nIn essence, texture is a major part of taste (along with flavor, aroma, etc). Since the thinly-sliced turkey shifts differently when exposed to the forces of your tongue, you can sense a different texture. That makes your brain interpret them differently, so you get... | null |
5jc3z3 | why does us congress block the creation of a searchable gun registry? | [
{
"answer": "Many think they guard their freedom by having a secret weapons cache. If TSHTF they will have an arsenal to restore democracy, or set up their own little gang turf.\n\nIf their weapons cache was public knowledge they would be targeted by, (criminals looking for guns, the communist invaders, sort of... | null |
wo44n | Are we just as capable of eating raw meats today as we were thousands of years ago? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, as you mentioned, the main concern with eating raw meats is disease and infection.\n\nOur digestive system is perfectly able to digest raw meat, it just takes a bit longer to break it down. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id... | null |
2mnupu | why can't i feel the digestion? | [
{
"answer": "The primary purpose of perceiving stimuli is for you to respond to it in some way. There really is no point in \"feeling\" your digestive process, so there is no reason your brain would process that as at feeling for you to perceive. We do this for our other senses to. For example, right now your n... | null |
3n86mb | why bipartisanship has seemed to disappear in american politics | [
{
"answer": "The citizens have become more polarized due to the media becoming more politically biased on both sides, catering to elements of viewers that are either liberal or conservative, which caused each side to elect less moderate members to congress, culminating in what we have today. Each side is now le... | null |
433516 | What are the different characteristics and cultural differences in the usage of the bow and arrow? | [
{
"answer": "Here is an interesting article describing the concurrent use of the atlatl and the bow and arrow by Aleut peoples. Essentially, they were hunting sea mammals with atlatls and using bow and arrows for warfare/intergroup conflict. \n\nThe advantage of atlatls for hunting was that they could launch th... | null |
a92uns | Does early stage Prostate Cancer have any effect on one's sex drive? | [
{
"answer": "Not in early stages - it's asymptomatic. Obviously when it spreads it can have effects up to death.\n\nHowever, treatment often has large effects including impotence due to damage to the nerves attached to the exterior of the gland, and incontinence due to excision of a sphincter along with the gla... | null |
38futx | why is it when we are at school the majority of tests are memory based when in the real world we can look formulas and definitions up? | [
{
"answer": "You went to a bad school, or at least had bad teachers? I had plenty of those myself, but also had some great teachers with classes in which everything up to and including my final exams were entirely open-book. Just about anything short of the internet. I'm not saying they were easy, I'm saying so... | null |
15tslv | On average, how many times a year does a regular, healthy person get sick? | [
{
"answer": "You're asking a question that will become a statistical nightmare. Epidemiologists track a lot of things, but they do their best to track specifics rather than generalities, and you're asking about generalities. For example, they may track the incidence of doctor visits related to specific strain... | null |
528qxg | why do calories in food not translate to fullness from eating? | [
{
"answer": "Each food has a different amount of calories per volume. Your stomach volume defines when you feel full. You can fill your stomach with small high calorie food, or large low calorie food, and about 10 minutes after you fill your stomach(or get very close to full) is when you actually feel full. ",
... | null |
6wglu9 | Why do some metals glow red hot at their melting point (i.e. Iron, nickel, etc) while others (i.e. Aluminum) are silver when molten? | [
{
"answer": "Different melting points. \nAt roughly around 700°C (=1292°F) the human eye notices a faint dark red glow.\nAluminum is already molten at this temperature wheras iron needs a lot more heat and is already glowing bright yellow (around 1550°C (=2822°F))",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer... | null |
2l4q0k | Why didn't LBJ get sued for sexual harassment? | [
{
"answer": "Ironically, sexual harassment law in the United States might not exist in its present form without LBJ. Federal sexual harassment law grew out of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a law that LBJ was instrumental in passing. The actual reasons for sex discrimination being included within th... | null |
1gedlx | why does heat melt some things, but harden or cure others? | [
{
"answer": "Well, everything is made of tiny molecules and these molecules are always moving around, and go faster and faster as they get hotter. When they get really fast they turn into a liquid and when they get even faster they shoot off away from the rest of the molecules and turn into a gas. Solid, liquid... | null |
9ffk8q | Why doesn't neutron scattering cause fission/neutron capture? | [
{
"answer": "If a neutron scatters, then by definition, it’s not participating in a reaction channel.\n\nIf you bombard a target with neutrons, there will in general be many possible channels: elastic scattering, inelastic scattering, capture, fission, (n,2n), (n,p), etc.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"... | null |
70dxz7 | does led burn out faster similar to how light bulb burn out faster from 'strobe lighting' them? | [
{
"answer": "No. LEDs generate light differently from incandescent bulbs. They don't get nearly as hot and so they don't suffer from the damage that comes with rapid heat/cool cycles. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The answer is yes, depending upon the wattage of the LED and how rapidly it's ... | null |
bu69xx | for people that have been exposed to high level of radiation, after the initial bouts of symptoms why does it look like they seem to be in recovery but in reality are not. the next stage with the symptoms coming back worst and eventually dying? | [
{
"answer": "Many of the symptoms of illness are products of the body's attempts to fight off the problem. For example if someone gets a viral or bacterial infection they will develop a fever, an increase in body temperature which is uncomfortable and can even be life-threatening. This response though is evolve... | null |
2v7alt | Given the recent uptick in Jihad versus Crusade comparisons, i've seen this image a lot, what does it ACTUALLY show? | [
{
"answer": "There are many problems with this comparison. Just from the top of my head, the picture is flawed for these reasons:\n\n* The pictured compared two very different time-frames, the \"Muslim\" Conquest extended from 632 to the Ottoman conquests of the 17th Century, whilst the Crusades picture only co... | null |
99t9mw | why can't you reuse needles on yourself? | [
{
"answer": "Needles are sterile when you open them, if you use them at least ones, one way or another you will get some germs, re using them you will introduce them in your blood stream and if you got a serious health problem you may end up with a lot of problems.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer"... | null |
395b2u | What was the significance of the Big 3( Zeus, Posiden and Hades) in ancient Greece? | [
{
"answer": "Followup question: is the term \"Big Three\" actually used by ancient Greeks or modern historians, or is it simply popularized by fiction writers?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "4312304",
"title": "Stoa of Zeus",
... | null |
189adf | When we look exoplanets, aren't we missing the 99% of planets that don't pass directly between us and their star? | [
{
"answer": "Yes. The wobble implies the presence of a gravitational pull and gives us a hint as to where *something* might be. Iirc. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yes. Detecting exoplanets is very difficult. With the \"wobble\" technique they don't have to be passing directly in front of th... | null |
15yjoi | What was the Russian Empires response to the American Revolution? | [
{
"answer": "I will give a bit of a tangential answer to this because I don't have specific information regarding the topic. \n\nThe heart of the Enlightenment (which had a lot of influence on the American Revolution) was in France. Russian modernizers, like Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, hearkened to... | null |
1imbqe | Was thick, bulletproof metal armor, like Ned Kelly used in the Glenrowan shootout in 1880, ever produced or considered by anyone before then? Why didn't it catch on? | [
{
"answer": "I'm afraid I can't speak to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but I can speak to the eighteenth and nineteenth.\n\nBreastplates were worn through the eighteenth century by some nobles or leaders in situations where they could be exposed to gunfire. The famous American Revolutionary War naval... | null |
cgdjbw | how do animals in the wild know what’s safe to eat? | [
{
"answer": "Some level of smell/taste (bitter for humans, for example, tends to be toxic) is in play, and probably some instinct, however many, say, dogs do occasionally eat very toxic organisms that either kill them or seriously make them ill. How much that happens in the wild is difficult to measure, but the... | null |
bphpoz | What causes the darker and lighter portions of the moon that you can see when you look up at it? | [
{
"answer": "You're seeing rocks with different composition. The darker areas, often referred to as seas, contain rock that is less reflective than the brighter highlands.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There are 2 types of terrain on the Moon:\n\nthe lighter areas are \"highlands\"; they are ... | null |
yif8u | what is social security, how does it work in the u.s, and why is it deemed unsustainable? | [
{
"answer": "SS is a government program which collects money from working people and then passes it out to retired people.\n\nThis requires the working people to produce enough wealth to provide not only their own families, but also all the retired people. \n\nWhen the the economy is growing, this might not app... | null |
3b04lu | How do blind people conceptualize mathematics? (Not trying to be rude) | [
{
"answer": "It is an interesting question and I would imagine you are right in thinking about using touch instead of sight. The problem with asking this question on Reddit is that I would imagine there is a very small population of blind people using a website that they can't read. You would be better asking s... | null |
ucltr | Evolution of color vision | [
{
"answer": "Here is a pretty good paper on the evolution of vertebrate visual pigments\n_URL_0_\nThe wavelengths that each cone are sensitive to are determined by the photopigments they express. Mutations in the photopigment genes can alter the sensitivities, for example a single mutation that substitutes a ph... | null |
22cfog | if special relativity allows one observer to observe event a as occurring before event b and another to oberve event b as occurring before event a, how casuality can be preserved if event a caused event b? | [
{
"answer": "If A causes B, both observers will see A before B. These two events can only be observed differently if they are not related to each other.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because *if* A caused B, then A will occur before B in all reference frames.",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
3e2ymf | is there any way to reverse what humans have done to the earth since the industrial revolution? | [
{
"answer": "Carbon moves around between various reservoirs (e.g. CO2 in the atmosphere) in what is called [the carbon cycle](_URL_0_). Humans have increased the rate at which CO2 is going into the atmosphere and decreased the rate at which it leaves, causing more to build up in the atmosphere over time.\n\nIn ... | null |
5ctxhi | if a closed room has a 100w fan running inside, is the room being heated by 100w? | [
{
"answer": "Yes. \n\nNo other answer is correct. Yes. 100w fan or a 100w heater in an insulated room is the same. \n\nA heater adds thermal energy directly. A fan adds mechanical energy that becomes kinetic energy in the air that eventually dissipates to thermal energy. Yes, each step is inefficient, which jus... | null |
883dpk | how were medieval guilds different from labor unions? | [
{
"answer": "First off, a bit of nomenclature - the AFL is not an industrial or post-industrial union, it's a craft union. The CIO and the IWW were industrial unions. The difference? The AFL organized along trades, so (using an example of an auto factory), each step in the process would have a different union -... | null |
1n4sxn | What happens to impurities in drugs when they are injected intravenously? | [
{
"answer": "Any of these options could potentially happen. you could cause an immune reaction, throw a clot, etc. More likely, you could mess up your microcirculation, have local tissue infarctions, etc.\nIf it was a chunk or heroin or something similar, it wouldn't be so bad because I'm sure it would break do... | null |
gteqt | how long was a true solar day 200,000 years ago? | [
{
"answer": "The day is getting slightly slower as the Earth ages, mainly due to the dissipation of tides the moon raises in the Earth's oceans. The rate at which the Earth's rotation is slowing can be modeled through the following formula, which does a good job of fitting the results of lunar range finding ex... | null |
2x7djr | why do crabs have to be boiled alive? why can't they be killed before boiling? | [
{
"answer": "[The standard method for cooking crab is to kill them first](_URL_0_). You might be thinking of Lobster, which is another thing entirely. Lobsters aren't particularly clean, and they need to be cooked immediately after death, before bacteria colonies can grow. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
qdlau | How far would the moon have to be from the earth before it starts to rotate around the sun instead of the earth? | [
{
"answer": "The Earth's \"[hill sphere](_URL_0_)\" describes its sphere of influence -- if a gravitating body is outside of this sphere, then it would orbit the Sun instead. \n\nFor the Earth, this would be 0.01 AU from the Earth, or 1.5 million km.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"p... | null |
2vkgr0 | Are the mechanisms that cause cancer mutations the same mechanisms that cause the appearance of new traits that we've evolve into? | [
{
"answer": "Cancer is caused by defects in certain genes that produce tumor suppressing proteins. So when these proteins are not present, cells grow indefinitely, eventually you get cancer. Curing cancer will not have do anything to stop evolution.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yes, there is... | null |
fap0zb | in the lord of the rings, a series of large fires are used to communicate a call for urgent aid over a mountain range. is there any mention of anything like this being used throughout history? or would it have been too hard to man/ supply? | [
{
"answer": "Here's a [great answer](_URL_0_) from /u/BRIStoneman that addresses your question!",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "44753727",
"title": "Operation Mountain Storm (Republic of Macedonia)",
"section": "",
... | null |
2crtqd | When was the Roman title "princeps" replaced by "emperor"? | [
{
"answer": "Remember that 'emperor' is an English title, which is not directly analogous to the Latin *imperator*. When we say that Augustus became the first 'emperor', we are analysing a unique, and irreversible, combination of both political offices and personal status/influence that coalesced in a single fi... | null |
1iq3b7 | Why are some elements referred to as synthetic or artificial? | [
{
"answer": "It's not necessarily impossible for these elements to be created naturally, it's just we have no indication that it's happened. Odds are, some supernova somewhere did create elements heavier than Californium, but all the synthetic elements are unstable enough that we almost certainly wouldn't be ab... | null |
6he40y | Wehrmacht vs SS | [
{
"answer": "Always more to be said on this topic, but I would point you to /u/astrogator's post [here](_URL_0_) on the topic, as well as [this](_URL_1_) insightful comment from /u/commiespaceinvader.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "One thing that clouds the issue here is the “Myth of the Clean... | null |
2f6uo8 | how large should a cult be to be considered a religion? | [
{
"answer": "Those 2 terms aren't really mutually exclussive. \n\nOne man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. \n\nBeing a cult, isn't about size though. It's about how you behave: \n\n+ Messianic leader. \n\n+ Require members to cut off contact with \"outsiders\"\n\n+ Strict enforcing of morals\n\n+ e... | null |
21niin | why can we "develop a taste" for things we originally dislike, such as beer or certain foods? | [
{
"answer": "My first reddit contribution, here goes nothin! \n\nThe human brain changes the way it perceives certain flavors as a survival mechanism. For instance, we develop a tolerance for the spiciness of peppers after the brain becomes aware of the good nutrients they contain. \nAnother example is a dude l... | null |
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