id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
2acy00 | what causes historical change? | [
{
"answer": "Your question about alternative explanations for what causes historical change is a question of *historiography*, which can be roughly defined as the method or approach an historian takes to historical evidence. So, as you say, Marxist interpretations of history tend to emphasize economic and class... | null |
1rzwdb | why are my motor skills so bad for the first few minutes after i wake up? | [
{
"answer": "Your brain is still rebooting.\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "26685741",
"title": "Sleep and memory",
"section": "Section::::Alternative sleep schedules.:Visuals skills learning.\n",
"start_paragra... | null |
8aki83 | Why do inertia and gravitation cancel out? | [
{
"answer": "That's connected to the [equivalence principle](_URL_0_). Inertial mass and gravitational mass are found to be the same. Within Einstein's theory of general relativity it becomes clearer that they would cancel out: mass induces spacetime curvature and motion under gravity is a geometric effect (tha... | null |
2q3bti | is foam soap or regular soap better? | [
{
"answer": "Seems like the answer to that question will depend mainly on personal preference. Me, I like regular soap, and I deliberately don't use the kind with triclosan if I have an option.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Depends on your priorities, regular soap is more cost effective, foam... | null |
28guif | When were the first dinosaur bones discovered and what was public reaction to the news? | [
{
"answer": "You might want to check out the [this](_URL_0_) section of the [FAQ](_URL_2_). I'm sure it'll help and [this](_URL_1_) link in particular answers a question that is similar to yours.\n\nI hope this helps!",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The oldest certain find of dinosaur bones, no... | null |
3liloc | heart attacks, cardiac arrest, arrhythmia - when are cpr and defibrillators used and how? | [
{
"answer": "A heart attack is a blockage in an artery that feeds the heart and so the heart muscle is being starved of oxygen.\n\nCardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating. This is quite often wrongly referred to as a heart attack by the media. \n\nArrhythmia is when the heart beats incorrectly. Basica... | null |
759huj | Are Sociopaths aware of their lack of empathy and other human emotions due to environmental observation of other people? | [
{
"answer": "I've found one research project where researchers investigates self-insight amongst teens diagnosed as psychopaths and their parents opinions of them. Three was little agreement, teens weren't as aware of their callousness and unemotional traits as their parents were.\n\n > Our findings revealed lo... | null |
1s7vbr | How did they prevent counterfeiting of paper money before modern things like holograms, fluorescent ink, and microprinting? | [
{
"answer": "First of all counterfeiting was punishable by a death, a grave enough consequence for most. But when death did not deter [vignettes](_URL_2_) were used. Vignettes small illustration that fades into its background without a definite border were an extremely hard thing to counterfeit. The vignette ar... | null |
ofx6a | Could there be any material in the solar system older than 4.5 billion years? | [
{
"answer": "Sure, we even have some of them at my astronomy dept. _URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "49256",
"title": "Age of the Earth",
"section": "",
"start_paragraph_id": 3,
"start_character": 0,... | null |
1wp574 | When did the color red start meaning stop and the color green start meaning go? | [
{
"answer": "hi! there's always room for more input, but meanwhile, check out this post \n\n[How did we come to choose green, yellow and red as the standard colors for traffic lights?](_URL_0_)\n\nfrom the [Traffic](_URL_1_) section in the FAQ*\n\n*see the link on the sidebar or the wiki tab",
"provenance":... | null |
29to95 | what are tennis players looking for when they request 3-4 tennis balls and immediately toss 1-2 of them back? | [
{
"answer": "I believe it is to do with their wear i.e. some balls will be more worn/used than others which when they hit the ground or are hit with the racket, can produce very slight advantages.\n\nAlternatively, it could be the other way around!\n\nEvery so many games, there is a call for \"New balls please\... | null |
8mlc6u | how do the patterns on cows (or other animals with patterns on their skins) form? what determines their forms? | [
{
"answer": "Following question: What determine our finger printing?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "46526289",
"title": "Greenlandic sheep",
"section": "Section::::Color genetics.:Pattern.\n",
"start_paragraph_id... | null |
1exxa2 | why does water clean everything? | [
{
"answer": "Water is a fantastic solvent. It is often called the universal solvent. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I don't know the answer, but I just want to say I think the question is one of the best questions I've heard here in ages.\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Hmm... | null |
2cfc2o | Continental Saxons and Anglo-Saxons? | [
{
"answer": "I'll talk about questions 1, 2, and 3. \n\nAs for 4, well I think the answer's simply that the Anglo-Saxons no longer lived on the continent. They saw themselves as people who lived on *Englalond* and rightly so, because they'd been there for about 600 years at least. So even though they maintained... | null |
byjdjj | can a us state declare independence? | [
{
"answer": "It would require an act of Congress and the President to allow something like that, and they would never allow it. \n\nThe last time states tried this it started the Civil War, which was one of the bloodiest conflicts in US history.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "After the civil w... | null |
9wcoso | why does benadryl feel stronger sometimes than others? | [
{
"answer": "I’m not quite sure but I always take the same dose of melatonin and it definitely hits faster/better on an empty stomach. Could be related to absorption rate?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There's a few different potential reasons here. Let me break them down from simplest to mos... | null |
9d7jwq | why does coffee give me weird jittery anxiety, but other caffeinated drinks (such as tea or red bull) do not? | [
{
"answer": "Do you for example, put sugar and cream in your coffee but drink sugar-free energy drinks? Sugar would do that. Tea also generally doesn't have a ton of caffiene, and as 12oz red bull has about the same caffiene as a cup of coffee (maybe a little more). So if you're drinking a couple cups of coffee... | null |
2h6n27 | why are spicy things generally red? | [
{
"answer": "Capsaicin (the chemical usually responsible for 'spicyness') is produced by a specific group of peppers. The best known and most popular is the chili pepper, which is - you guessed it - red. But it's perfectly possible to make spicy foods that aren't. Immature peppers, for example, can be green or ... | null |
1se0yj | When did (working, busy) waking hours cease to be only light hours for humans? | [
{
"answer": "Not at all within my area of expertise, but I have read the works of Schivelbusch - while he doesn't specifically go into different countries and such, he does show how there is a very close interplay between the invention of other light sources than the torch and flame, and the development of a ni... | null |
1dyl9r | How much of the aeroplanes in WWII were fitted with cameras ? | [
{
"answer": "Are you referring to specifically reconnaissance aircraft or fighters with gun cameras? (not sure the latter existed at all in WWII) \n\nOften times footage, if it exists, is only in hard copy form so perhaps if you have a specific locale you are interested in someone can direct you to who you can... | null |
790oh3 | What do we know about post traumatic stress in tribal societies? | [
{
"answer": "According to a trauma class in grad school, some tribal societies had tribal grieving - when one person died, it wasn't just the problem of the immediate family, the entire tribe felt it and grieved as a group, which led to better results. Unfortunately I don't have the details on where this infor... | null |
54c2hx | why is oversleeping even possible? shouldn't your body wake itself up once it has gotten enough rest? | [
{
"answer": "Your definition of oversleeping may be different than that of your body's. If you go to sleep at midnight, knowing you have to get up at 6 a.m., but your body needs more than 6 hours of sleep, then without an alarm, you're likely to oversleep because your body needs more than the 6 hours that you'... | null |
2otrej | How does a body "digest" a tumor if it dies? | [
{
"answer": "There are two main ways that tissues are absorbed. One is where they die by apoptosis, programmed cell death. In that case the cells themselves take care of their own dismemberment into basic chemicals and cellular fragments. The other is by necrosis and this is a much dirtier process, attracting... | null |
ffsopa | why did "window duplication" happen on older pc systems when programs got frozen? | [
{
"answer": "The screen back then was a frame buffer so when a window was displayed it was stored as pixels in it. The result is that the hidden part of a window or desktop is not stored when not visible. This was done because of the low amount of memory you had in the system compared to the amount needed to st... | null |
wfzed | Technocracy: a form of government in which experts (such as economists, engineers, and scientists) would be in control of all decision making. What's the closest example of a technocracy in the real world, and what are/were the outcomes of this form of government? | [
{
"answer": "You're misunderstanding two crucial components of technocracy. The first is that \"experts\" is a misnomer. Technocracy eliminates election and instead uses promotion as a mechanism into power. Sociologically, the Peter Principle applies where people will be promoted to their level of ineffectivene... | null |
7dkxf4 | auditing the federal reserve | [
{
"answer": "The way we currently audit the Federal Reserve allows for several things to occur that aren't awesome. First, the annual audit has no deadline. This means that the audit from 2002 (random number) could still be in progress in 2017, or be sitting on someone's desk until they get around to filing it.... | null |
542pcg | How did colonial institutions reinforce social injustice in Latin America? | [
{
"answer": "I've written a bit on miscegenation in colonial Peru [here](_URL_0_). I'd welcome any further questions on that.\n\nThis is a huge topic though, so are there any particular regions or topics you were interested in?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
3dfijo | why is there much talk about building human colonies in space (i.e. moon, mars), but no talk about building in earth's oceans, which is seemingly easier? | [
{
"answer": "Building colonies in space or on other bodies in space would actually be easier in a lot of ways than building in the ocean. Pressure is the big one here; past a certain point and we just don't have the materials or science to manage it.\n\nFewer people have visited the bottom of the Challenger Dee... | null |
ho3t1 | "a little water just came out of my nose" Why does it hurt? Its just water! | [
{
"answer": "I'm not at all sure of what the responses might be, but I know that a similar pain occurs in users of Neti Pots if they use pure water instead of saline.\n\nSo speculatively, I'd theorize that it might be tied to cellular damage caused by hypotonic swelling and cytolysis. The interior (cytoplasm) o... | null |
5jq1rf | what does it take for a war to become a world war, and why isn't the current war against isis and other groups in syria a world war? there are so many countries involved. | [
{
"answer": "I would have to say it has to do with the fact that\nA) Isis isn't a country\nB) no one is aligned with isis",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "65307",
"title": "World War III",
"section": "Section::::Extended u... | null |
g3nlhp | currency invention | [
{
"answer": "they go beep boop and a currency is invented.\n\nseriously this is how it happens. I can invent noodles dollars and say 1 noodles bucks is worth 100 USD but unless everyone agrees 1 noodles dollar is worth 100 USD then it is worthless. Money and currency in general are only worth what everyone agre... | null |
bkad87 | is it possible to have a heavy element to have the same amount of neutrons as protons and would it be stable? | [
{
"answer": " > I've noticed the further up in the periodic table the more neutrons an element has.\n\nYes. [This plot](_URL_0_) shows the stability regions for stable isotopes. As the elements get heavier, there are more neutrons required.\n\nHunting and pecking I found an isotope of Xenon which had the sam... | null |
2ft6mq | Do we know the names of any ordinary people from Ancient Egypt? | [
{
"answer": "We do actually.\n\n_URL_1_\n\n\"The People\n\nSince the reigns of Ramesses II and his successors there comes a wealth of evidence in the form of ostraca, papyri, stelae and tomb inscriptions, which tell the names of the workmen and their wives and children, even the houses of individual families. A... | null |
6njqo8 | did the japanese ever portray nazis in manga? | [
{
"answer": "In what sense do you mean? If you mean has it ever been done at all? Then yes I can pick one off my shelf that does. Black Lagoon in this case has a story arc involving Nazi artifacts and flashes back to WW2 for it. I can remember several others off the top of my head and they all treat Nazis simil... | null |
42c24j | how to rubix cube world records work? | [
{
"answer": "They are scrambled randomly. There is a minimum number of turns (turning one way, and then back doesn't count. Turning one way once, and the same way again once more only counts for 1) that I don't remember. Once you get that many (I think it's 7 or some other surprisingly small number) it's con... | null |
1mfl94 | how can one drop of poison kill so many people | [
{
"answer": "The potency of the poison depends on how strongly it binds to its target, how large the molecule is and what the target is.\n\nFor instance, ricin prevents cells producing proteins. This process is essential for cellular function. Botulinum prevents a neurotransmitter, which is responsible for musc... | null |
4fgz6n | why is google (online search) such a great spell checker whereas my inbuilt spell checkers in ios, or even android is so rubbish in suggesting the right spelling? why can't they integrate both? | [
{
"answer": "I would assume Google is a much better spell checker because it draws on the almost limitless amount of words on the Internet and recognizes phrases and sentence structure better then petty android or ios spell checkers. \n\nThey most likely won't integrate because they don't want to release their ... | null |
bhxtca | why are the clips on all car seat belts different to clips on all airlines? | [
{
"answer": "While the red button is easier to push, there is less room for mechanical error with the lift the flap method, which means less maintenance.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "20702990",
"title": "Subaru Legacy (first g... | null |
7y4ua5 | what is bank fraud? | [
{
"answer": "Intentionally doing something to defraud a bank and get money you dont own.\n\nSimplest easy to execute example:\n\n If you have 3 bank accounts and you are broke. \nToday is the 12th. You know you get paid on the 15th and will have money but you need $100 to get by till payday. You go to bank one ... | null |
88q6ka | Why is it that alloying one metal (copper) with another metal that is softer (tin) creates a product (bronze) that is harder than copper, not softer? Is there something about the process of alloying itself that creates hardness? | [
{
"answer": "Metals like gold and copper are soft when pure because the regular arrangement of their crystal lattice allows them to slide easily over each other. \n\nThe alloying distorts the regular arrangements of atoms. This makes it more difficult for the layers to slide over each other, so alloys are harde... | null |
8u4242 | how are different marijuana strains made? | [
{
"answer": "What the previous guy said but also by mixing these different plants. And I quote \"This is like if that Blue Oyster shit met that Afghan Kush I had - and they had a baby. And then, meanwhile, that crazy Northern Light stuff I had and the Super Red Espresso Snowflake met and had a baby. And by some... | null |
e050hc | Terms like the Dark Ages are now considered outdated. What’s the general ‘catch all’ term for that period now? Or have the periods been thoroughly broken up? | [
{
"answer": "Your question gets at an important problem that the field has been struggling with, well since always. If these are the \"Middle Ages\" or the \"Dark Ages\" they clearly have to be contrasted with something. Middle Ages implies a beginning and continuation, usually \"Classical\" (or Ancient) and ... | null |
2x0x0f | please can someone translate this in layman's terms? (an excerpt from an academic journal) | [
{
"answer": "Basically:\n\nThey collected headlines from articles using some sort of software. This collection took place all of 2013. They did this to A) develop a model of what types of headlines are being created, B) analyze the words in the headlines, and C) find out the words that were used most frequently... | null |
adco9s | why do some greenscreens look painfully obvious and lower quality than others? | [
{
"answer": "Bc some people rush through and basically just copy and paste the picture in in the background while others take their time",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A myriad of reasons ranging from a poor camera setup and staging/lighting of the green screen plates to limitations of the vfx... | null |
1jqo3p | does rogaine work, and if so, how? | [
{
"answer": "Interesting story. Science isn't perfectly clear on the why/how.\n\nMinoxidil (Rogain) is a [edit: *anti*hypertensive] ~~hypetensive~~ (high blood pressure) drug, and they discovered the hair growth as a side effect of prescribing it for high blood pressure. They think that maybe the drug widens bl... | null |
8zs36b | can you explain me why or why not we should refrain from killing spiders in one's house? | [
{
"answer": "More spiders, less other bugs? At least, that’s what I tell myself when I’m too wimpy to squish the 8 legged demon spawns.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Spiders are our bros! They eat ants, flies, and other bugs! They also usually keep to themselves. \n\nMy spider bros and I have... | null |
1p5es1 | how this scientists draw the conclusion that the universe will one day 'collapse on itself', why can't it grow forever? | [
{
"answer": "That's no longer scientific consensus. Originally, we thought the big bang flung everything apart, but eventually the energy would be dissipated and gravity would slowly pull everything back together.\n\nWe've since discovered that the universe is expanding even faster than it was before. We don't ... | null |
6m4vz2 | how did people not question all of the words shakespeare came up with? | [
{
"answer": "It is unlikely that Shakespeare made up words out of nowhere. He recorded words known at the time, invented basic words by combining others in ways that would be easily understood. What he did invent was *phrases*, and those could be understood in context because they were metaphors or were parts o... | null |
4aolk0 | what do antidepressants do for people who are not depressed? | [
{
"answer": "Not much. An anti-depressant is more of a brain chemical regulator, putting things in proper order. Taking one doesn't make you happy, it just makes you capable of experiencing a normal range of emotions. Most studies on this indicate that mainly you'd get the various side effects of the medication... | null |
dmj2zi | Other than the Iliad, are there any other sources regarding Troy? | [
{
"answer": "Well, there are remains of a city called Ilion and/or Troy in northwest Anatolia; however, that doesn't necessarily make that place \"the\" Troy of legend or the one in the Iliad. [This older post](_URL_0_) goes into detail about it.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"proven... | null |
c3e8zx | how does an international debit/credit transaction work? | [
{
"answer": "There are 5 parties in any card transaction: the purchaser, the issuing bank (the bank who issues the purchasers card), the payment network (Visa, MasterCard, etc.), the merchant's bank, and the merchant.\n\nThe merchant and the purchaser approve the transaction.\n\nThe point-of-sale system, using ... | null |
1nqo0r | Does the body absorb water through the skin while swimming for example. | [
{
"answer": "Yes, however it's important to realize that the skin is a more complicated barrier than say, rubber. The skin is made up of multiple layers, so while the skin can become more hydrated than normal (this doesn't mean wrinkly -- that's a nervous system response that is likely caused by electrolyte cha... | null |
e88f6x | what is a military security clearance in the us, why is it beneficial to potential employees, and how do you get it? | [
{
"answer": "Ok. Security clearance have various levels. It’s basically you being investigated for all aspects to determine who you are, how trustworthy you are and whether there is something you did that’s a warning sign. For instance if you have bad credit and a lot of debt, someone might bribe you with money... | null |
112e5v | what does it mean if your sample size is smaller than your margin of error? | [
{
"answer": "It doesn't mean anything. They're two different numbers that aren't really related; the sample size is the size of your sample, while the margin of error shows you the range of possible results for the entire population.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
... | null |
131jqq | What would it take for an aircraft carrier to fly? | [
{
"answer": "100,000 tons.\n\nthe MV22 weighs 27 tons (all up) and has 10,000hp with disc loading of 100kg/sq m.\n\nScale it up and you need 40million hp (30GW) and 1 million sq m ( 1000m x 1000m, or 1 sq km) of disc area to lift 100,000 tons..\n\n\nAlthough if you made it efficiently out of aluminium you could... | null |
3np0vz | How did the USSR obtain nuclear weapons in the first place? | [
{
"answer": "You seem to have two different questions in here. One is the title one. The answer is: despite their ravaging by the war, after Hiroshima, Stalin made creating an atomic bomb a top priority. The project (headed by Beria, who also ran the secret police and the Gulag system) was able to take as much ... | null |
4x67a5 | how is it possible for ocean currents to shift or stop entirely? | [
{
"answer": "See _URL_1_'s article on [*High-latitude volcanic eruptions affect ocean circulation for decades*](_URL_0_)\n\n > But the volcanic event also brings long-term changes to two ocean circulation fronts: The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), and the El Niño–Southern oscillation (ENSO)... | null |
8av3yp | why was new orleans spared during the civil war? | [
{
"answer": "Spared how? The US Navy ran the forts and seized the city. The South never mounted a serious effort to retake it. However, maybe you should look up Benjamin “Beast” Butler.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "As an European I would love to know and read more about the US civil war. ... | null |
1hbtwg | Are there any accurate representations (Computer simulations, re-enactments etc.) of what specific battles/wars looked like from a participants or an overview perspective? | [
{
"answer": "I heard that [the battle scene in 'Rome'](_URL_0_) was a pretty accurate representation of how Roman soldiers fought. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I'd wager your best bet is films. There is a section for historical accuracy in films in the FAQ, so it could be an idea to consult... | null |
606h4b | doesn't it make more sense to spend than save, considering inflation is degrading the value of my savings year by year? | [
{
"answer": "Sure, if you know for a 100% fact that nothing bad is ever gonna happen ever and you're gonna die right as your last penny runs out or sooner than that.....\n\nBut life is nothing if not uncertain. So while saving does take some minor losses to inflation, the security of not being on a knife's edg... | null |
2pdbex | when i touch a radio (specifically the antenna), signal comes in clearer | [
{
"answer": "Your body is being used as an antenna when you do that. \n\nBigger antenna = better signal. Simple.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Followup question:\n\nI've noticed this phenomenon when i'm not even touching the radio, just standing near it. Please explain!",
"provenance": n... | null |
2uez1p | why are dogs in general more friendly than cats? | [
{
"answer": "they're more social animals. cats are solitary in nature.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They're pack animals, thus more social by nature.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "17068310",
"title": "Labrad... | null |
1b2i69 | Can someone explain how heat works in regards molecules? | [
{
"answer": "Pardon is the language is too simple - you never know who might read. \n\nOften it's by direct collision, like two pool balls bouncing off each other, or bouncing off the rail of a pool table. This is what happens when gasses and liquids are involved - heat is just motion after all. But it can get ... | null |
y4p98 | why does water increase grip for fingers on pages etc? | [
{
"answer": "Okay, imagine you just spilled some coffee on a book. You know how it sort of spreads out from where it originally hit the page and winds up being like twice the size of the original stain? This is because of how water interacts with paper--it's called \"hydrogen bonding\", but all you need to know... | null |
1ywo5f | Can anyone provide a rundown or good resource for a rundown of all of the duties and jobs aboard ships during the golden age of piracy? | [
{
"answer": "Oh boy, let's see. Just a warning, I'm in class and on Mobile so I'll edit this when I have actual resources. Just going off memory right now. \n\nThere was obviously a Captain. He ran the ship in the way the governemnt runs a country. It was somewhat a democracy until they went into battle. Once t... | null |
3e0jxh | why do companies like hbo rescrict their content to usa? as a non usa resident this only motivates me to pirate game of thrones instead of paying for it so why? | [
{
"answer": "Because they made a deal with distributors outside the US to give them the rights to distribute that content in their area of operation. If they didn't restrict the content, people in that region could easily go to the source and this would understandably piss off the people they've made deals with... | null |
1m2lsx | how did tony abbott win? | [
{
"answer": "In Australia one man owns 3/4s of all the newspapers and other media outlets. It turns out that that man supports Tony Abbott's party. This means that the average Australian will be constantly inundated with stories about how good Tony Abbott and his party is and how bad all the other parties and... | null |
16g336 | the affordable care act enables us to buy insurance "across state lines." why is this valuable and what was stopping us from doing it before? | [
{
"answer": "Insurance is regulated, historically, at the state level based on state level mandates and state level departments of insurance, so what is a compliant plan in one state may or may not be a compliant plan in another state, and the same goes for business practices or other operations of an insurer. ... | null |
5hq653 | why is it that one persons brain will be really good at understanding knowledge in one subject that someone else really struggles with but is able to understand other subjects really well? | [
{
"answer": "If you are doing a CS degree you might have heard of Neural Networks in Computational Intelligence. Our brain works kind of like a neural network (or rather: neural networks try to mimic how a brain learns). Depending on the design of the neural network, it will be better at learning some functions... | null |
f35jgw | What exactly does Gibbs Free Energy measure as it relates to the potential spontaneity and thermodynamic properties of a chemical system? | [
{
"answer": "The simplified equation for Gibbs Free Energy is derived from the second law of thermodynamics, that is that in an isolated system entropy cannot decrease. It is different from other energies as it is defined as being at constant temperature and pressure - which also means that work can be done wit... | null |
j3cou | can someone explain the difference between roman and greek mythology li5? | [
{
"answer": "Ancient Greeks liked to [compare foreign beliefs with their own](_URL_0_) (sorry, the link isn't LI5). Romans did too. So when they heard about each others' ideas, they just mixed them together, probably keeping the names they had already known but throwing in personality traits of the other set. S... | null |
jmhos | why are americans so ant-tax and anti- government | [
{
"answer": "Because among the very first subjects cut (30 years ago) from public school curricula were civics and critical thinking skills, leaving students inundated with cultural norms derived from profit-driven, entertainment-centered media -- and this all happened during a series of economic bubbles that i... | null |
1slxlr | why hasn't there been a concerted effort to create cities or large communities underwater? | [
{
"answer": "It's very expensive, and not very safe. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Pressure at the bottom of the ocean is too high.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because everyone's played Bioshock.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
... | null |
92rwk1 | why do commercial radio stations only go from 80.x to 107.x fm and 530 to 1600 am? | [
{
"answer": "Those are the frequencies the government has designated open for public radio transmission and issue the radio station licenses.\n\nThey reserve other frequencies for air traffic control. CB radio. Ham radio. And other purposes (including banning the one elemental hydrogen transmits on because i... | null |
dli6hg | Parachuting pilots (mainly ww2 or ww1) | [
{
"answer": "It varied depending on the individual and particularly the theatre, but on the Western Front at least there are several examples of cordial relations between aircrew of opposing sides; Adolf Galland and JG 26 hosting Douglas Bader and Robert Stanford-Tuck in their mess, for instance, after the Brit... | null |
17lpn8 | How do more complicated molecules (such as anthocyanin) get their color? | [
{
"answer": "It's not bond lengths, but rather the electron energy levels.\n\nYou get atomic emission and absorption - the electrons have certain energy levels, and if a photon matches a difference between two levels, it can be absorbed by the electron. It is the same with molecules, with one major difference: ... | null |
1xczts | How does the Pertussis (Whooping Cough) vaccine work if Pertussis is caused by a bacterium and not a virus? | [
{
"answer": "Are you referring to antibiotics or vaccines? Vaccines definitely work for bacterial diseases as evident in the use of the cholera vaccine.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Vaccines can be made from killed or attenuated viruses or bacteria. They can also be made from purified protei... | null |
6ekgsy | why is it not faster for airplanes to fly lower to the ground if the distance traveled would be shorter | [
{
"answer": "Because the air is much thinner at altitude. Closer to the ground the air is as thick as pea soup for an airplane. It would be like you trying to crawl through a kiddie pool of honey.\n\nHigh in the sky costs MUCH less fuel and is MUCH faster because there is very little drag 35,000 feet up. Dra... | null |
862i0r | why are cells living? i know they’re the building blocks of life but what defines living? are plants a different type of “alive” because they have a different cell structure? | [
{
"answer": "Living is a somewhat nebulous term, but mostly comes down to a range of ongoing physical processes. It's important to note that there's not necessarily one definition, and all of the components of a definition aren't necessarily agreed upon. These components tend to include things such as stimulus ... | null |
1f17xy | What was it like to be an emissary or messenger throughout the Middle Ages? | [
{
"answer": "In Western Europe, the messengers were the heralds, tasked with communicating important information, and required to be adept in the ways of diplomacy. On top of this, heralds primarily needed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the coats of arms of every knight; domestic and foreign.\n\nHeraldry became ... | null |
29m4sr | how does a court stenography machine work? | [
{
"answer": "A [stenotype machine](_URL_0_) works with a special keyboard layout. You press keys simultaneously, but the output keeps the letters in a specific order. You basically type the sounds in shorthand. There are some standards, but stenographers often have their own abbreviations. This lets you type up... | null |
9sys5t | Why did the Russian Empire expand so far east? | [
{
"answer": "[This](_URL_0_) post by u/poob1x goes into some detail about Russia’s motivations for colonizing. I feel like this question gets asked a lot, if there’s a mod reading, y’all should add it to the FAQ.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedi... | null |
5eqobj | why can't synthetic diamonds be as hard as mined diamonds? | [
{
"answer": "They are just as hard. \n\nSynthetic diamonds are identical to natural diamond is virtually every chemical and physical way. It is anti-synthetic propaganda put out by De Beers and the few other diamond companies that exist that make the public think they are inferior, but that is not based on trut... | null |
2qu4jp | Were there historical sites in ancient times? | [
{
"answer": "So, I’ve got two things I think I can talk about with some authority. The first is about the original post you mentioned and Egyptian citation of place through time. The second point I can make is about ancient and pre-Colombian Mesoamerica. Though I imagine there are experts here on both points be... | null |
b8ox4m | why does a ticketing app/website not work at all when there is too much traffic? how much traffic does it take? what measures are available to prevent the app/site from crashing? | [
{
"answer": "They try to estimate how much traffic there will be and allocate servers and other necessary infrastructure accordingly. If they underestimated the traffic, you get slow connection or even no connection.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "One thing that wasn't mentioned here already i... | null |
aof0bs | why are 12v, 5v and 3.3v so special in electronics? | [
{
"answer": "As chip fabrication shrinks, the breakdown voltages of the silicon get smaller and smaller. They also get more efficient because of this.\n\n12V and 9V used to be very common, but now really 5V has taken their place - mostly because of USB. If you design your product to run on 5V, power supplies ar... | null |
7wtqai | can you drink warm tap water or only cold? (without boiling) | [
{
"answer": "I would seriously advise against it as it isn’t made to be drank I’ve heard that the tanks for hot water aren’t as clean so don’t do it x.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "2554507",
"title": "Scalding",
"secti... | null |
c9v9j2 | Do the contents of our blood have any affect on mosquitos after they drink it? Do drunk people make drunk mosquitos? | [
{
"answer": "I think the answer is, \"[we don't know](_URL_0_),\" but it seems that mosquitoes are more attracted to drunk people, than sober people, and according to the article I linked fruit flies do get drunk, but have a high tolerance. \n\nSame article also says, \"Any liquid other than blood is diverted f... | null |
56o4hc | the difference between over the counter and prescription ibuprofen. | [
{
"answer": "I'm almost 90% sure it's the same. I think the only difference is that your doctor has looked at why you're gonna take it and has decided the benefits outweigh the negatives.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yes, it's the same. And yes, it can be bad for you, which is why you need ... | null |
227v0k | In the world before the invention of radio and mass media, how widely-known were famous composers of the Classical era during their own time? | [
{
"answer": "Was Mozart's music known to the average person? Probably not, if you mean the average working man or woman. Serious \"classical\" music then as now was more a middle- and upper-class sort of thing. [Here's](_URL_0_) /u/caffarelli - who knows far more than me- addressing a similar point relating to ... | null |
10i9f4 | Do I understand this correctly? | [
{
"answer": " > Am I correct to assume that because they are so many billions of lightyears away they appear early because that light is just reaching us now.\n\nYes. That is correct.\n\n > Would it also be safe to assume that those galaxies actually exist completely different in the actual time they exist in n... | null |
3n1g0g | How do large Aquarium's accommodate Sharks, Sting Rays, Sea turtles and other small fishes in the same enclosure? Do large fish prey on the smaller ones in such conditions? Why not? | [
{
"answer": "*Experience in working in aquariums*\ndifferent fish eat different types of food and have various preferences.\naquariums feed fish every day (or every second day if needed) so they are very well fed and tend not to eat each other. *Though i was giving a tour in an aquarium where i worked, their Wh... | null |
2lt4za | Authors every historian should know? | [
{
"answer": "I would say it really depends on the field; the book list on this reddit has quite a few of the highlights. Here are some of what I believe to be key authors from my fields.\n\nPacific History; only putting a few, cutting myself off before I make this super long.\n\n* Greg Denning [also key figure... | null |
1ybk1e | what the numbers mean on county roads and interstates (i.e. route 70, i-95, etc.) | [
{
"answer": "For federal highways and interstates, they're numbered according to which direction they run in and where they're located. East-west highways are even-numbered and north-south highways are odd numbered.\n\nFor interstates, the lower numbers are in the west and south, and increase as you move north... | null |
3z50ur | Are emotions innate or learned ? | [
{
"answer": "Basic emotions such as joy, anger, and fear are innate. We have evolved to automatically perceive certain cues - such as a smile - positively. As such, even very young (neurotypical) babies experience a rush of rewarding neurotransmitters when they view other human faces and when those faces are s... | null |
8sqcgs | breath out under water | [
{
"answer": "You can breathe out as much air as you like. But each time you've breathed out a small amount, the pressure of the water will close round it and make a bubble. If you were to breathe out, say, mercury instead of air, the \"bubble\" would be bigger.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": ... | null |
8amz78 | Need some advice/tips for studying history! | [
{
"answer": "I would recommend going through your readings and taking notes on facts you think are crucial or that you really need to remember. I would also recommend trying to explain stuff you need to know for the test to a friend - talking out what you know helps me memorize.",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
80zr81 | when you numb your arm by sleeping on it what happens and why does it not hurt it permanently? | [
{
"answer": "The numbness comes from pressure restricting blood supply to the nerves which convey sensation. While restricted enough to mess up their usual operation it typically isn't enough to cause permanent damage, although in more extreme cases it actually can cause permanent nerve damage.",
"provenanc... | null |
5woedm | how does the fbi impact the everyday life of american citizens? | [
{
"answer": "Hopefully, not much. The FBI is designed to investigate federal crimes on a nationwide level, and so it should generally only be impacting the lives of those who commit those crimes. \n\nHowever, they can expand their understanding of what that investigation requires, to include surveillance or i... | null |
31jkmj | How does the large hadron collider begin to accelerate particles? | [
{
"answer": "It starts in this bottle of hydrogen: _URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "As /u/iorgfeflkd mentioned, the protons come from a bottle of hydrogen at linac2. The hydrogen gas is ionised in a device called a [duoplasmatron](_URL_2_), which is effectively a gas-filled discharge tub... | null |
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