id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
6pbeor | what do cows have in their body/diet that produces "magic" mushrooms from their waste? | [
{
"answer": "It has literally nothing to do with cows. Cow poop is just fertilizer. Magic mushrooms are a species of mushroom. Only specific species of mushroom produce the chemicals known as psilocybin and psilocin. Which are responsible for the magic part of magic mushrooms. The cow poop has nothing to do wit... | null |
38zbed | cogito ergo sum | [
{
"answer": "If you are able to question whether you physically exist, then you do. If you didn't really exist, you couldn't be able to question your existence.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Existence is a fickle bitch. If you can't see, hear taste, or touch something how can you be sure it e... | null |
50ulum | For hundreds of years, lands stretching from Algeria to Bengal were under the rule of Turks. If Turks dominated for so long, why are Turkic languages, outside of Central Asia, limited to Anatolia and Azerbaijan? | [
{
"answer": "For most of history, Turkic languages were not looked upon as prestigious or worthwhile. Most (perhaps all, though there may be exceptions) of the states of Turkic origin in the eastern half of the Muslim world used Persian as the language of court and intellectual life, for instance the Mughals an... | null |
3tt6xt | how does reading help you write better? | [
{
"answer": "AS a person whos English is second language, reading anything in English, increases my knowledge of language. I learn new words, new sentence structures. And in general how to write like an adult without using, lol, lmao, etc.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It exposes you to new w... | null |
1s2u6j | how bad was body odor back in the day? roman times, ancient china, colonial americas, medieval europe, egypt, etc. if we truly could time travel, would the funky bo be a deal breaker for some ages? | [
{
"answer": "I always ask why certain people always have the stankiest BO, and if they notice that they stank so much.\nA lot of people say that they probably are used to the smell and don't notice it anymore.\nI don't want to believe that. But it sounds plausible, I guess.",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
2ec0q4 | hydrogen peroxide for first aid. how does it work and what is the mechanism of action? | [
{
"answer": "Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) decomposes into oxygen and water, creating highly reactive **free radical oxygen** species (Oxygen with an unpaired electron) in the process. These radicals oxidize organic compounds, effectively destroying cells. **Reactive Oxygen species**, compounds capable of forming Ox... | null |
3hrapg | why are things that humans make considered artificial, and not natural? for example, a beaver builds a dam, and its considered natural. humans make food with materials that they made from natural resources but it would be considered artificial. | [
{
"answer": "This is because of their very definitions. Artificial does not mean fake, it means the item was something that was made by human skill. As opposed to natural which means something that was created by nature - Eg. created by something other than human skill. \n\nThis is a case of words having differ... | null |
7kqigy | Why can't human cells use anaerobic processes to create ATP when in an atmosphere of no oxygen? | [
{
"answer": "_URL_0_\n\nAnaerobic glycolysis only produces 2 ATP per glucose, compared to a maximum of 38 with aerobic glycolysis.\n\n_URL_1_\n\n > Virtually all tissues have a requirement for glucose to function normally. Glycolysis is the major pathway of glucose metabolism and occurs in the cytosol of all c... | null |
4y2pzt | for a human, when is the period of most rapid development in the brain? | [
{
"answer": "Not counting *in utero* growth of the brain, yes, the brain develops most rapidly in the first 3 years of life.\n\nDevelopment doesn't mean growth in mass alone, however. It also means refining neural connections, which also means that some connections are lost in a process called [neural pruning](... | null |
8ul7kg | Black holes. If they did not exist, could galaxies sustain themselves? | [
{
"answer": "Nope. The black hole in the middle of the Milky Way (Sagittarius A\\*) represents 0.04% of the mass of the galaxy, whereas the Sun (which the planets orbit) represents 99.8 - 99.9% the mass of the solar system.\n\nSo if Sag A\\* were to vanish tomorrow, the Galaxy would remain together, and the orb... | null |
1y3ips | Can a winter storm have an "eye"? | [
{
"answer": "Yes. Both low and high pressure systems, in fact, can have well-defined centers of circulation around which winds swirl (in the Northern Hemisphere, counterclockwise for low pressure systems and clockwise for high, if I haven't totally lost my mind). This is not a peculiar feature of tropical cycl... | null |
d73r0j | how do they get fizzy drinks inside cans? | [
{
"answer": "Have the can with the top not on, pour in fizzy drink, immediately seal it with the top. Very little space left inside the can to let the fizz escape from the liquid. The small amount that does pressurizes the can, ensuring more cannot escape.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
... | null |
1mb566 | How come Glow in the Dark objects seem really bright, but don't illuminate the area around them that well? | [
{
"answer": "Piggy back question: and why don't they glow in the light?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The other answers are a bit too vague or incorrect. Answering this and the follow up question.\n\nJust for information, the unit for the total \"amount\" of visible light emitted by a source ... | null |
iajw9 | What the hell happened to me last night!? INCEPTION (for real) details inside... | [
{
"answer": "Fairly certain it is [sleep paralysis](_URL_0_) as you pointed out. Your body is still in REM even though you're conscious. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Short answer: [sleep paralysis](_URL_0_). Your brain woke up from your dream, but your brain and muscles were still disconnec... | null |
3niewu | how does an external battery pack continue to charge my phone when bot my phone and the pack have the same level of charge. | [
{
"answer": "Say you have a 2 liter bottle and a 20 oz bottle, although both may be at 50 percent capacity, the 2 liter still has more in it.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "2885000",
"title": "Battery charger",
"section"... | null |
2wyjul | why do humans like/dislike different food if we're all hardwired to only want energy? | [
{
"answer": "Some foods have more readily available energy. Glucose (sugar) tastes good and we crave it because our bodies can quickly convert it into energy. It is not as easily available in our evolutionary past. Densely caloric foods like cheeseburgers we crave because they have a lot of energy in them. Also... | null |
185gfh | Is a vaccine still effective if the person is already infected with the virus? | [
{
"answer": "Yes - a good example is the [rabies post-exposure prophylaxis treatment](_URL_1_),which combines a vaccine with anti-rabies antibodies. Research has also shown that [vaccination in the early stages of chicken pox can resolve the infection](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "... | null |
1y3a1h | Are all particles in the electromagnetic spectrum photons? | [
{
"answer": "The electromagnetic spectrum is simply the range of frequency of photons.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The electromagnetic spectrum is not a class of particles like, for example, the Standard Model.\n\nTo translate your question into every-day objects, you are basically asking i... | null |
9zf33p | how can an original gameboy that has been sitting in storage for 6 years still have a full battery charge, while my old cell phone's battery is dead after a couple months? | [
{
"answer": "Phones use lithium batteries. Lithium batteries are terrible. AA batteries last 30+ years without being touched",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Rechargeable Li-Ion batteries generally have a relatively high self-discharge rate. The battery protection circuit and the phone’s clock a... | null |
27thjb | Why did low-intensity conflict become the norm? | [
{
"answer": "Part of this is a sort of history bias: it's a lot easier to talk about the battle of Cumae than it is to talk about That Time Those Guys Killed Some People And Took Off. And probably a historian bias, too. There's often a literal class war aspect when, say, your solidly upper middle class hoplites... | null |
10kfft | How does pH affect enzymes? | [
{
"answer": "It will vary. For example, changes in pH can trigger denaturation of the protein; in other cases, though, there might be a deleterious effect on its function. Hydrolysis of peptide bonds without the aid of an enzyme is rather slow at neutral pH, although can be tremendously accelerated in very aci... | null |
eqbses | How do neurons know not to send the signal in the wrong direction? | [
{
"answer": "So the way neurons propagate signals is through a chain of opening and closing of ion channels. The reason it doesn't typically go backwards is because the previously opened ion channels temporarily inactivate and prevent opening again for a brief period of time.",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
367706 | how is bill cosby just going around the country performing stand up? if 34 people accused someone of rape in any other profession, they would not be performing their normal job. | [
{
"answer": "Because they are nothing more than accusations. If there is a point where there is law enforcement involvement, then his movements might be restricted.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because he still has tours to do and people still want to watch him. The accusations are nothing m... | null |
1lxqas | How long did it take for knowledge of the "discovery" of America to make it to the Muslim world? Did any Muslim leaders send subsequent expeditions to the New World? | [
{
"answer": "Additional question: I've heard many of Columbus's crew were Muslim Moors, any truth in that?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Did any Barbary pirates raid the Caribbean?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Side question: Would they have had the technology to do so? I... | null |
lvgu7 | It seems everybody has a gluten intolerance... Is this a legitimate issue? Or overblown? | [
{
"answer": "I should start off by saying this is not my area of research. However, as a scientist and someone with known gluten problems (likely celiac disease, but thats a different story for a different subreddit), I spend a fair bit of time reading the primary literature about this topic. I'll try to keep... | null |
1omxbb | if someone 'objects' during a wedding ceremony, what happens next? | [
{
"answer": "Surely it depends on what the objection is. If it is someone with an actual legal reason why they can't be married, then they can't be married!",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Everyone gasps at the shocking breach of decorum, and the objector is not invited to future weddings.\n\nT... | null |
2aj5j5 | How long after Hitler's suicide did the Allies know the cause of death? | [
{
"answer": "The Russians found out pretty quickly what happened because they reached Berlin first. However, they ended up capturing most of the witnesses who were present in Hitler's bunker and kept the whole thing a secret (or ambiguous at the least).\n\nAt the time, the rest of the Allies had several theori... | null |
tpvo6 | why we should shut down things like computers and gaming consoles instead of just unplugging them. | [
{
"answer": "It's to avoid corrupting your data. If the computer is accessing something at the instant it loses power then you may find that certain files don't work when you turn it on again. If it's rewriting your registry or something, it can screw things up quite badly, even if most of the time it won't be ... | null |
2j67pq | if we can use the rectum for effectively absorbing suppositories, how come we don't get blood poisoning from all the bacteria and waste minerals in our faeces? | [
{
"answer": "Just taking a wild guess, but maybe the bacteria are too large to pass through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Our digestive tract has a pretty strong barrier (lots of IgA antibodies that act like a web to trap) that prevents bacteria f... | null |
8ic513 | Are there any theories of a correlation between massive volcanic eruptions and a reversal of earth's magnetic field? | [
{
"answer": "No. The mantle is an insulating region and so the magnetic field does not interact with it. Further to this any changes in the fluid flow in the outer core will not propagate through the mantle for millions of years (as this is the timescale for mantle convection, 50 million years if I remember rig... | null |
2g05x7 | on to catch a predator, what crime are those guys committing? | [
{
"answer": "That's up for a jury to decide. Any crime which you intend to do can be followed up with that, and yet attempted assassins still end up in jail. \"I wasn't actually intended to shoot the mayor, I was just roleplaying with the gun dealer (undercover cop) for fun\". ",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
6tios5 | Why were there no Nuremburg-type trials for Confederate leaders after the American Civil War? | [
{
"answer": "In was Lincoln's expressed wish that such tribunals not be held. During the River Queen conference that Lincoln held in March 1865 (this was on the steamer 'River Queen'), he told Gen. Grant, Gen. Sherman, and Admr. Porter his intentions for handling the peace negotiations. Lincoln wanted to start ... | null |
3wxa2m | If there were more/less than 24 hours in a day, would humans have adapted to need more/less sleep? | [
{
"answer": "We can't say for sure because we still have such a rough idea of what sleep is actually for. We know there are harmful effects from sleep deprivation (there is a reason it is considered a form of torture) and all mammals have evolved to need sleep as far as we can tell. But the amount of sleep diff... | null |
46qb6v | Prior to their presidency, have any Presidents of the United States ever been cited, arrested, or gone to jail? | [
{
"answer": "Washington, Jefferson and Adams were tried and convicted of treason in absentia by the British. \n\nAndrew Jackson was imprisoned by the British during the revolutionary war. He also publicly killed a man in an illegal duel, though he was never charged.\n\nWhile president, Grant was cited 3 times a... | null |
abnxr6 | Do the the planets in the solar system have any effect on the planets near them (gravitational pull for example)? If any of the planets were destroyed somehow, would that have consequences for the rest of the solar system? | [
{
"answer": "A little bit. Measurable but not with consequence for e.g. someone just looking into the sky. The [perihelion precession of Mercury](_URL_0_) is a famous test of general relativity, but 90% of it actually comes from the gravitational influence of other planets - the question was just where the rema... | null |
1dvrs7 | What is the distance to the horizon from the ISS? | [
{
"answer": "It's been a few decades since I took geometry, but here's my back-of-the-envelope calculation for distance-to-horizon:\n\n_URL_1_\n\nResult: about 2330 kilometers using average values for both the ISS orbit and Earth radius.\n\nEdit: Where did everyone get the 330 km perigee? The NASA website isn't... | null |
4bkhgt | Is there any plant in the world that can induce a miscarriage? | [
{
"answer": "There certainly are plants that have been used as abortifacients. The real issue is balancing abortive intent with full-on toxicity and potential for harm to the pregnant woman. These are extremely difficult to study in a controlled fashion as well, seeing as most \"wisdom\" comes from cultural kno... | null |
1vffif | Is how the bible is written now how books / text was written in that time? | [
{
"answer": "Something that you should take into account is that the Bible contains many different forms of literature. Some of the Books contain prose narrative (Exodus or the Gospels for example) where others are poetry or songs (the Psalms) and therefore follow the style of those genres. Other books like C... | null |
hskij | A hypothetical question | [
{
"answer": "Throwing a toaster into the ocean would short circuit the toaster, allowing current to flow from the hot wire to neutral or ground. Since electricity will travel along the path of least resistance, its unlikely that a person would be harmed by this.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": ... | null |
253dh3 | What causes molecules/ atoms to be in constant motion? | [
{
"answer": "Being above zero degrees kelvin. You can think of temperature as being an average of the kinetic energy of the molecules in a substance. As you probably already know, the more energy/heat you add to something the higher the temperature. If a molecule were lowered to zero degrees kelvin, theoretical... | null |
40w7qn | i understand "heat" but what creates "coldness"? what makes up the cold waves that i feel when i put my hand near an ice block? | [
{
"answer": "The temperature of the ice block affects the air around it.\n\nIt cools the air immediately around it, which makes it more dense, and thus heavier, and it falls to ground. When it does this, it displaces other air.\n\nMeanwhile, more hot air has taken the place of the cold air, which becomes cold a... | null |
aju7tw | why/how is a 24 mp full frame camera sensor better than a 26 mp aps-c camera sensor | [
{
"answer": "Full frame definitely has advantages when using wide lenses and take a wider variety of them. Cropped sensors can distort the imagery with some lenses, but do have other advantages like bieng smaller of course and this cheaper. The MP count is really not that big a deal once you went over 16, there... | null |
1684i3 | What would be different about our solar system and Earth if we were located in the Eagle nebula or somewhere similar? | [
{
"answer": " > I know that a nebula is a cloud of dust and gas and some are star-forming regions. I was wondering if we could survive as a species in a star-forming nebula\n\nWith active star formation comes active star death. In these areas, supernovae and pulsars could be close by, and dust clouds could exis... | null |
4w1uiv | What happens when opposite magnetic poles meet? | [
{
"answer": "If you look at the magnetic force between the magnet and one of the iron filings, it will in general have a component in the radial direction, but it scales like 1/(distance)^(4). So it's very weak unless the dipoles are very close to each other.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null... | null |
l6yyo | Are there any easily-understood evidences for macroevolution that even the strongest detractors could understand? | [
{
"answer": "Any dog race at least has a common ancestor with wolves, but that probably won't work if they are as stubborn as usual.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "One of the common and often purposefully repeated misconceptions you'll get is a differentiation between macro and micro evolution... | null |
7gzth5 | why is there no warning light for when your headlights or breaklights are no longer functioning? | [
{
"answer": "If a headlight is out, it's usually pretty obvious.\n\nIf a taillight is out, the parking brake indicator usually comes on.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Depends on my car, my old VW golf absolutely did give me a light when my license plate was out (actually, shop installed wrong... | null |
2q7491 | what exactly is happening in your muscles as you get older and sudden vigorous activity makes you much more sore the following day, and the soreness lasts longer. | [
{
"answer": "Muscles are tissues. They rip and get repaired. Your cells could only replicate so many times before the process becomes less effective. (Aging)\n\nAs for being sore, the lactic acid your muscles are not being cleared out fast enough as it used to. As you grow older, these processes to regenerate a... | null |
qhnb3 | the point of high fashion | [
{
"answer": "Fashion shows like those are not there to show how you are supposed to wear the clothes, it just shows what the designer's visions and inspirations are. You are supposed to take elements from it and make it work for your everyday wardrobe. For example, no one would wear a tull dress with huge holes... | null |
4ikgfe | How historically accurate is the film 300? | [
{
"answer": "In its essence, *300* is a retelling of Herodotos' account of the battle of Thermopylai (480 BC), meaning that its basic narrative is as historically accurate as we could hope for. However, there are at least 3 layers of historical inaccuracy piled on top of that, which makes the result ever so sli... | null |
zcrlq | how do radar and sonar work? | [
{
"answer": "You bounce radio waves off of something and they eventually come back, a computer then shows the range, speed, altitude or depth as well as terrain. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Think of spitting down a hole. The longer it takes to hear the splat the deeper the hole is. Sonar i... | null |
6it3el | how do snipers make kill shots over 2 miles away? hiw do they correct for all the variables that come into play with a shot that long? | [
{
"answer": "An incredible amount of training, a shitload of experience, and not a small amount of luck, in some cases.\n\nAt that distance, there are so many variables to take into account that they make computer programs to help get the math right. If you look really closely at the movie *Shooter*, in the sce... | null |
1bxfex | networking: what it is, how to do it, and how to use it. | [
{
"answer": "Keep in mind that many, many people get their jobs or find out about job opportunities from friends, acquaintances and co-workers (rather than things like job postings). One of the goals of networking is to ensure that when someone hears about a job opportunity that might be good for you, they thin... | null |
u8cez | What is the slowest recorded speed of sound? | [
{
"answer": "The more loose the gas is, the slower the speed at which sound travels in it. What this means is that as the gas loosens, the speed will gradually decrease until the vibrations in the gas will cease to match our definition of sound (i.e. oscillations of pressure in matter sufficiently strong to be ... | null |
7t5rej | why do preachers talk the way they do? | [
{
"answer": "It likely comes from the days before microphones. Short sentences, projected voice, and this instilled a style of speaking which has continued due to the organic nature of it.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It's generally a \"learned thing among the subculture\" -- different types... | null |
65hvov | why can't scientists send an empty, satellite controlled submarine with cameras into the bermuda triangle and discover it's mystery? also, how far are we from discovering it's secrets? | [
{
"answer": "There is no mystery to the Bermuda Triangle. It has virtually average rates of ship disappearances and plane crashes as any other populated region. The idea that things magically vanish there is a myth. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wiki... | null |
4x51k9 | how do sheep herding dogs, know how to herd? | [
{
"answer": "Instincts. A pack of wolves will know that a tight group is better to catch than a loose group.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A combination of training and inbred instinct.\n\nA couple hundred years of artificial selection for only the best herders has given herding breeds the na... | null |
8o07bw | How do we know there's a Baryon asymmetry? | [
{
"answer": "The only observed ways that matter is created is when an antimatter-matter pair of particles is created from energetic bosons. This process will never make more of one of the types of matter. Statistics has nothing to do with it in this process.\n\n Since we know that there is more matter than anti... | null |
6xswsk | How were the modern provinces of South Africa chosen? | [
{
"answer": "The [Commission on the Demarcation/Delimitation of States, Provinces and Regions collected a lot of information in 1993](_URL_0_) in its purview of trying to create viable, internally consistent, and functional governments. They collected a huge amount of information on who lived where, which citi... | null |
2o2jdv | in the us, how is flag burning legal when it's clearly stated against the law? | [
{
"answer": "Flag burning is protected first amendment speech. The supreme court case Texas v Johnson stated that any laws prohibiting flag burning are unconstitutional.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "To my knowledge, flag burning restrictions have been previously found, by the Supreme Court, ... | null |
23mt4v | how is it possible for someone to survive riding in the wheel well of a jet at 36,000 feet for several hours? | [
{
"answer": "Like most of the stories going, he entered a staye of hibernation. This is possible. Ive heard stories of people being trapped underwater in subfreezing temps but what happens is the body keeps only the vitals alive. Ive heard of this with infants who fall into pools occasionally they survive wi... | null |
aciyui | How does a stomach bug function and what effect does the virus itself have on the human body? | [
{
"answer": "If your body is trying to digest something and sees something wrong, it will force you to vomit. It may not notice it until it gets into your intestines, which is where the real digestion happens. Once it sees it, the body will induce vomiting to keep from possibly digesting more of the offensive m... | null |
5ra2l5 | why are modern depictions of the future often dystopic, compared to the bright and positive predictions in the past? | [
{
"answer": "Science Fiction is less of a prediction mechanism and more of a window into what people are currently thinking. In early sci-fi, the goal was to exploit a possible future where people became better as individuals and as a species. Currently, sci-fi represents a general pessimism about the human c... | null |
89erf3 | What are good books on the history of the exploration of the Antarctic? | [
{
"answer": "So, while this not strictly a specific answer to your question, a good place to look for stuff like this (imo) is the [*Isis Bibliography of the History of Science*](_URL_0_), which has been made into a database for public use! Luckily for you, last year a anthology of scientific writing on the Ant... | null |
rnuom | why does my device's light stay on for a second after i turn off the power? | [
{
"answer": "Everything is still discharging. Basically, the power isn't completely off yet.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Capacitors, they're an electrical component that effectively act like tiny batteries.\n\nThey're usually used to help \"smooth\" the electric current, so that if it dips ... | null |
7dplnb | in this age of sophisticated online tracking and surveillance, how are criminals able to transfer money through multiple offshore accounts, and be able to withdraw it, without the trail being followed and their identity discovered? | [
{
"answer": "Most often, by using an account of a business whose owners are secret, and/or in a country where banking privacy laws prohibit revealing who owns an account without a ton of paperwork.\n\nSometimes, by withdrawing the money in cash, on using it to buy something untraceable, like gold bars.",
"p... | null |
1aljuh | Please recommend a book about the life in Nazi concentration camps, especially from psychological and sociological perspective | [
{
"answer": "I think [Man's Search for Meaning](_URL_0_) is right up your alley. You might want to just read the first half, which is one of the most famous Holocaust memoirs ever, written by a psychologist about the effects and mental survival tactics of those imprisoned. \n\n",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
mlzkg | soap vs rest vs json and why one is better than the other. | [
{
"answer": "OK, first of all they are three slightly different things.\n\nREST describes a method for creating APIs or informational services. A RESTful API or service allows clients to make requests to it in the form \"verb object\" where \"object\" is a unique identifier for the thing the client wants action... | null |
2daqyf | how are nielsen homes selected for nielsen ratings? if i watch a show and don't have a nielsen box, am i helping that show's ratings at all? | [
{
"answer": "Not specific to Nielsen, but Tivo boxes and other DVRs report stats back to the networks or perhaps to Nielsen itself. I wonder how much that's replaced Neilsen.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I got an unsolicited questionnaire from Nielsen in the mail. I filled it out, and they s... | null |
6k8o8z | I have read that the conflicts of the Hundred Years War put both England and France into very considerable debt, who paid for this? | [
{
"answer": "So your question has several moving parts. Let me answer each one separately. \n\n > How were these wars financed and how was this money used?\n Where did the initial funds/resources come from? \n\nThese two questions are actually very interlinked, and you're actually asking an incredibly interesti... | null |
4e5682 | how do animals like ants and birds instinctually know how to build their dwellings/homes? | [
{
"answer": "They have inherited the knowledge in their genes, but they learn through trial and error, at least that is what we assume. There's quite a lot we don't know about ourselves and nature, but that's why we keep studying. \n\nThey're really fascinating animals. We had a bird in our garden that made a s... | null |
5zgkfd | how inheritances work and why people covet them so much? | [
{
"answer": "How they work: Relatives leave you money in their will and when they die you inherit that money\n\nWhy they're coveted: Free money",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "7149688",
"title": "Hard inheritance",
"secti... | null |
2vlbqi | Are there different "kinds" of mathematics/physics in the universe? | [
{
"answer": "No. There is nothing fundamental about the Coulomb. It's based on other human constructs. \n\nOf course, things will still act the same way under a \"different\" kind of physics. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Values of constants are chosen arbitrarily. For example, one second ha... | null |
1bmnl7 | Are Hydrogen Bonds and Van der Waal's Forces related in anyway? If so, how? | [
{
"answer": "I think the short answer would be: not really. Hydrogen bonds are a particular strong form of dipole-dipole intermolecular interactions. The only real relationship in that both VDWF and HB are intermolecular forces.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
297lyz | Do New York City's skyscrapers have any noticeable effects on the city's weather? | [
{
"answer": "Cities affect the local climate. Generally, they are warmer due to materials (concrete, asphalt, etc.) and the lack of evapotranspiration due to lack of vegetation. They are generally less windy (because of tall buildings) and develop street canyons. Due to particulate matter, cities might receive ... | null |
1pl929 | how many vitamins do you really need to stay healthy? | [
{
"answer": "Biochemically, a vitamin is a co-factor for an enzyme in a reaction somewhere in your body. That means they are not consumed by whatever chemical reaction they are helping with. That means you don't technically need a steady supply in your diet so long as you have stores somewhere in your body. The... | null |
211z8p | vacuums, not the machine, the actual process of a vacuum and is the vacuum of space a true vacuum? | [
{
"answer": "A vacuum is simply an area where no 'stuff' (matter) is present. Certain parts of space are vacuums because there is nothing there. No stuff. No matter. \n\nThings do not simply fly out into vacuums like a vacuum cleaner pulls things in. What is happening if you have seen things fly out into sp... | null |
5epfpa | Are Coptic Christians in Egypt descended from Ancient Egyptians or Greco-Romans? Where do they come from? | [
{
"answer": "I can't speak for their genetics, but the Coptic language is a direct descendant of Ancient Egyptian, albeit written in a Greek script. Since the Copts did not originate as an ethnoreligious group but rather morphed into one over time, it's most likely that the Coptic community is descended from ea... | null |
1tdw3c | when suicidal, how can we be determined to kill ourselves, but our body does everything it can to stop us? | [
{
"answer": "We can perform many actions voluntarily. Suicide can lead to one overriding any mental barriers which would caused a fear of death in the person, that is, the reason behind the suicide may be so strong that it would not cause a person to feel danger while orchestrating or perpetuating the act itsel... | null |
50cg2n | Hi, my name is jack, I'm 14 years old, and I love Baseball. I would like to know when a pitcher throws a baseball, how does it curve? | [
{
"answer": "You are going to want to research the magnus effect, this explains how rotational momentum effects velocity.\n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Oh, that's a tricky one. I'm not good at explaining it myself, [but there exists a nice infographic](_URL_1_) that does it quite w... | null |
19baf9 | How did religion factor in to Genghis Khan's expansionism? | [
{
"answer": "You might find [this](_URL_0_) thread an interesting read. It's a discussion on the religious tolerance of the Mongols. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "3835549",
"title": "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern W... | null |
bft541 | why do cpus and gpus perform better when cool | [
{
"answer": "If a processor is cool enough, it will often speed its clock (which controls how fast things happen) up, balancing thermals with performance.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Many motherboards will decrease CPU and GPU performance when it gets too hot. This is to prevent damaging th... | null |
34dacr | With today's anniversary of the fall of Saigon, I cant help but ask, what did the U.S. do wrong in Vietnam? | [
{
"answer": " > Was the original premise of U.S. involvement wrong? Primarily that policy makers interpreted a civil war as theater of a wider anti-communist struggle.\n\nWhether or not the original premise of U.S. involvement was wrong is a question which will give you a myriad of answers from historians. In ... | null |
51knh8 | Why doesn't it rain in Mediterranean climates in the summer months around the world? | [
{
"answer": "If you look at a map of [the Mediterranean climates around the world](_URL_0_), you'll see that they share a set of common features:\n\n* They're all located around 30° latitude,\n* They're all located on the east side of large oceans.\n\nThis is not a coincidence. \n\nUneven heating of the Earth's... | null |
2555t7 | In the new Kingdoms that emerged after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, when did the distinction between Barbarian and Roman disappear? | [
{
"answer": "You might be interested by [this](_URL_0_) old post, which, though it is centered on Aquitaine, tries to address the same question for Gaul. I can (try to) answer follow-up questions if you have any.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It really depends on \"who\" you're asking. During... | null |
38sryb | "it's the amps which kill you not volts." but, wouldn't amps be always constant for given volt, as r=v/i. (where r of human body is same) | [
{
"answer": "It depends on the power source. Some power sources limit the amount of current that can be drawn independently of the supplied voltage.\n\nFor example, many AC-DC adapters will limit the current output to a certain amperage like 1.0 A independent of what the voltage output is. Similarly, some circu... | null |
1g8k8f | hockey lines and a coach's strategy on when to change. | [
{
"answer": "The first line is generally the best and has the superstar players on it. In most cases there are four lines played in a game with the fourth line only being played sometimes. \n\nUsually on the second line there is one good player and the rest are average. The third line has average players; th... | null |
4paldz | what means if a song gets certified platinum by riaa? | [
{
"answer": "It is an official recognition of the number of units sold.\n\nIt means the work has sold a million copies.\n\nThere is also gold which marks half a million sales and multi platinum which marks 2 million sales.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
30cmjx | Why does the warp of a CD not match its spin? | [
{
"answer": "I'm guessing it's a frame rate effect. \n\nThe warp could well be of a high frequency vibration which is at a higher frequency than the frame rate of the camera. \n\nThey have in effect under-sampled the event. You need to have a frame rate of at least twice as high as the frequency you are trying ... | null |
ckc9ug | why are all negative temperatures hotter than the planck temperature? | [
{
"answer": "So here's the thing:\n\nTemperature is caused by how much energy atoms have. Atoms like to move, but since they're so small you generally don't see it. The more they move the hotter they are.\n\nIf they reach a certain temperature they break atomic bonda and change phase. There are many phases of m... | null |
3tg91t | why do hotter things cool down quicker? | [
{
"answer": "The molecules of the cooling surface transfer heat to the surrounding air molecules by colliding with them. When they collide, energy is transferred - the fast moving molecule (the hot one) slows down (e.g, it gets cooler); and the slow moving molecule (the cool one) speeds up (e.g, it gets hotter)... | null |
5w2d1z | why do we need e-mails to register an account on another website | [
{
"answer": "In case you forget your password, then they can send an activation code for you in case you request a password reset. Or to sell your information to a third party.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "15559466",
"title": ... | null |
68zqb8 | why does tensing your legs help you reach orgasm? | [
{
"answer": "Has some interesting answers to this repost \n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Best ELI5 Answer from the previous thread - \n \nAn orgasm is, partly, an uncontrolled muscular spasm. By tensing up your legs, you're tensing up other things, and by other things, I mean your ... | null |
3duom9 | why do house lizards stay stationary for long periods of time? what's going through their head? | [
{
"answer": "Reptiles are cold blooded which means they can't produce their own body heat. In turn, they rely on external heat sources like the sun or a rock heated by the sun, to keep up their body temp. If they start to get cold, they'll become more sluggish and begin looking for a place to warm up.\n\nLike... | null |
12xbhj | What was the etiquette for riding horses in cities? | [
{
"answer": "You can't ride into St. Peters Basilica unless you're a Knight of the [Order of St. Sylvester](_URL_0_), an Order that is awarded by the Pope.\n\nHere in Germany it is said that [Konrad Adenauer](_URL_2_), the first Chancellor after the War, also had this right as a Knight of the [Order of the Gold... | null |
7wgi8k | Does the salt put down on roads affect the salinity of surrounding water courses? | [
{
"answer": "Yes it does. Here is a good explanation. \n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "80207",
"title": "Sodium chloride",
"section": "Section::::Uses.:Road salt.:Environmental effects.\n",
"start_parag... | null |
rgccy | Carbon-dioxide is important for tree growth, but how much more important is it than the nutrients in the soil? | [
{
"answer": "So, carbon dioxide is used to create glucose, which the plant uses as an energy source and to create starch, but just like you can't survive on glucose alone, neither can a plant. Plants need those nutrients to build structures that are made up of more than just carbon and oxygen, for example it ne... | null |
1n5unp | pharmaceutical terminology, purposes/functions, brand names etc. | [
{
"answer": "Brand name drugs are drugs that are produced under a brand name given to the drug by the inventor. Lipitor, Valium, Xanax, etc. are examples of brand names.\n\nWhen a drug first hits the market, it is protected by patents, so only the inventor can make it. After the patents run out, other manufactu... | null |
5r53o0 | why do people's eyes get small/ squinty when they smoke weed? | [
{
"answer": "Decreased blood pressure. In the eyes, a dilation of the ocular capillaries occurs, encouraging the blood flow through the eyes and effectively causing red eyes. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Before I ever got high I used to laugh at one of my friends who would always hella squi... | null |
lopv6 | If light is made of alternating electric and magnetic fields, why can neither and electric nor a magnetic field interact with light? | [
{
"answer": "Electric and magnetic fields can only apply a force to charged particles, and as photons have no net charge, they will not be deflected by EM fields. \n\nElectric fields and magnetic fields [obey the superposition principle](_URL_1_) and thus the fields DO add vectorally.\n\nYou can create light ea... | null |
1afhlp | Misconceptions on Historical Warfare | [
{
"answer": "I'm thinking your question will get more attention if you place it in a particular period. \"Historical\" is a big time period. ;-) \n\nI'm curious about this as well, in particular how communication took place over large distances. I assume using flags and horns.\n",
"provenance": null
}... | null |
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