id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
1otv5o | Why can't medical scientists collect data from a group of people and use the same human control group for every medical experiment in the future so that participants in a study don't have to risk taking a placebo? | [
{
"answer": "The major issue with that is it wouldn't be a good control *because* of the lack of a group taking the placebo. When they do most trials they do them double blind. Neither the subject nor the doctor knows who is getting the real drug and who is getting a placebo (until afterwards, of course). ",... | null |
1uaf8a | Why do lights dim briefly sometimes when lightning strikes nearby? | [
{
"answer": "If lightning hits a power line or transformer, it could greatly increase the voltage of the lines relative to Earth ground, and a lot of equipment connected to those power lines would be damaged. Varisters or Transorbs are places across power line components to protect them form sudden increases in... | null |
c34lta | why are animals and fauna no longer as large as they once were? what has changed about our world that mega fauna and mega animals no longer exist? | [
{
"answer": "Cold. Bigger bodies are better at retaining heat in cold climate. As the climate warmed over the past 10-20,000 years smaller bodies that shed heat quickly became more advantageous.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "We don’t *actually* know but some theories are that temperature of t... | null |
2o5xzp | why don't 'unincorporated territories of the united states pay taxes? why aren't they considered a state? | [
{
"answer": "Well in the US we have a thing about taxing people who don't have representation in the body that decides what those taxes are. They aren't states either because the don't want to be, or Congress won't admit them, or both.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They just don't pay *federa... | null |
8b0buj | Ku Klux Klan's reaction to Hilter | [
{
"answer": "[From a previous answer](_URL_0_):\n\nSo the history of the KKK and the Nazi movement isn't a particularly big one, but given the similarities - being largely centered around ideologies of racial exclusion - it shouldn't be a surprise that they did, occasionally, intersect.\n\nAs far as Nazi German... | null |
6a6wa7 | how are open-world video game maps designed? | [
{
"answer": "Yep, someone draws every inch. Well, \"models\" is the correct term since it's mostly done in 3D programs now, and there are usually entire teams of designers and the work gets split up among them. It takes a long time to build those kinds of worlds.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": ... | null |
4eoupv | Battle of Leuctra - the defeat the broke Sparta's power | [
{
"answer": "**1/3: Historiography**\n\nThe Battle of Leuktra (371 BC) is notoriously difficult to reconstruct. As Pritchett once remarked with obvious exasperation, \"there are more reconstructions of Leuktra than of any other ancient battle, and the end is not in sight.\" There are a number of philological an... | null |
2iff24 | why is drinking sea water lethal, but soups with massive sodium content are acceptable? | [
{
"answer": "Because soups with massive sodium content are still much, much, ***MUCH*** less salty than sea water. That's not to say they're healthy, though, Americans eat way too much sodium as it is. \n\nEdit: in fact, salt water is so salty, that getting a mouthful of it is known to cause immediate vomiting.... | null |
1v7md5 | How genetically dissimilar are different dog breeds? Could a Sheppard donate a kidney to a Lab? Could a Great Dane donate blood to a Chihuahua? | [
{
"answer": "Great question! Both cats of different breeds and dogs of different breeds are of the same species (*Felis catus* and *Canis lupis familiaris* respectively). As such, they can act as donors within their own species of both blood and organs.\n\nThat being said, there are things that you have to watc... | null |
4c1fan | why is it that whats politically correct sometimes isn't the same as the opinion of the majority? | [
{
"answer": "Let's start off with a statement, society evolves towards increased compassion for all members of society. On the forefront of that evolution is radical thought that tends to be less judgemental of others. For example, native Americans are equal humans (1920s), women are equal humans (1940s), Bl... | null |
mgxmt | How can paper be sharp enough to cut through human skin? | [
{
"answer": "Microscopically the edge of paper is like a saw blade rather than a razor, it has to slide along the skin in order to make the cut.\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Microscopically the edge of paper is like a saw blade rather than a razor, it has to slide along the skin in order t... | null |
4exz9i | is gordan ramsay actually a good chef? | [
{
"answer": "There's not really an objective way to answer your question, tastes can certainly vary. His restaurants have earned 16 Michelin stars, which are pretty sought after, so you may take that as an endorsement. At least some of these stars have been earned while he has been head chef at a location. He's... | null |
2tr77m | was Nero (the emperor) crazy from the beginning ? | [
{
"answer": "I wrote [an answer](_URL_0_) to a similar question a few months back. The tl;dr of it is that Nero likely never was crazy, he was just really unfit to be an emperor of Rome.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "7840123",
... | null |
4iboh5 | Are there any studies that show other species to be capable of lying/dishonesty? | [
{
"answer": "This was a guestion in AMA with Sir David Attenborough:\n\nIn all your time of shooting nature programs, what is the most human thing you have ever witnessed an animal do?\n\nA chimpanzee does in fact tell lies. If you can believe that. Also, when some Colobus monkeys find a very precious piece of ... | null |
f5q0u | I was spinning in my chair today (question about centripetal and -fugal forces.) | [
{
"answer": "There could be little subtleties that your brain picked up on, like slight wind resistance in the direction of motion, or the apparent motion of certain light intensities in the room that you could perceive through your eye-lids, etc.\n\nBut you're correct that, under ideal conditions, it should fe... | null |
ewrurj | In the 1970s UK sitcom Fawlty Towers, a few guests are shown to live permanently at the hotel. Was this common during this time? What factors led people to choose life in a hotel, and did this have a long history? | [
{
"answer": "Hotel living has a *long* history--the *Eloise* books by Kay Thompson are probably the most famous example. I can talk a little bit about some of the earlier history, specifically, hotel living in Paris!\n\n*(This is adapted from several of my earlier answers with some new stuff thrown in).*\n\nPar... | null |
dympbs | Why did 20th amendment required 3/4 of the states to be ratified? | [
{
"answer": "I think a couple of things are getting mixed up here. \n\nFor the process of amending the Constitution, as laid out in the 1787 document (Article V), here is the original language:\n\n > The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Const... | null |
60kzbf | What do we know about the fowl of the roman empire? | [
{
"answer": "Fortunately there is a cook book from the late 4th or early 5th century CE. That book is Apicius. Keep in mind these recipes would have been for the upper class of society. There is a section on fowl which includes chicken, pheasant, goose, duck and doves. It also includes ostrich and peacock along... | null |
jjxny | the plot of the legend of zelda series | [
{
"answer": "It's hard to attribute a chronology to Zelda, though some aspects can be assumed ( like Wind Waker seems to be a post-apocalyptic Hyrule, the Great Sea having flooded the world ), and each of the games has similar themes for the most part. Seeing as Link is the \"hero of time\", I always saw the se... | null |
7tkvqg | What causes the double sonic boom of Falcon rockets landing? | [
{
"answer": "Practically all objects that breaks the sound barrier cause a double sonic boom. First at the front of the object, where it is pushing away the air, and second at the end of the object, where it stops pushing away the air. At both these points there is a big and rapid change in pressure.\n\nThe F9 ... | null |
30uqnv | In the UK, how did political power shift away from the nobility? | [
{
"answer": "It was taken from the hands of the nobility in 1999 when Labour removed the rights of peers to sit in the House of Lords, which is the UK's second chamber.\n\n92 hereditary peers are left there today, along with 26 Princes of the Church. The rest are members of political parties that were ushered w... | null |
eipohz | What's the science behind the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs? Why were they still airborne when they detonated? | [
{
"answer": "Both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs were devices meant to create a supercritical state in a mass of enriched uranium (Hiroshima) or plutonium (Nagasaki), which allowed for an explosive nuclear fission chain reaction. In more layman's speak, this means that they quickly created the conditions so t... | null |
p79ph | what makes facebook so valuable? why would it be a 100 bn $ company? | [
{
"answer": "valuable market research and advertising revenue",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The 800 million users' profile information is theoretically worth twice as much as that.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They do have a product they sell, a very valuable one... You.\n... | null |
25ev3s | is there an evolutionary benefit to the type of hair you have? | [
{
"answer": "I can tell you that having really curly afro hair in the summer heat means that I can sick my fingers in my hair and it feels like there is a little private AC unit in there. It keeps my head cool, I imagine it does, and has for other afro haired humans who are almost entirely of recent African des... | null |
2s1066 | when nasa created the golden record that they sent with the voyager probe, how did they know that another intelligent species who found the probe would be able to read/play it? | [
{
"answer": "They printed instructions on how to play the disk in pictograms onto the disk cover.\n\nsee this picture on the explaination of the pictograms\n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It was also used as a memorial of humanity to be sent through space for when we get extinct. ",
... | null |
89qgl1 | what's a tarif? | [
{
"answer": "A tariff is a tax on imports or exports.\n\nFor example, if you have a 100% tariff on iron, that means someone wanting to import (or export) iron into your country must pay 100% of the value of the iron in taxes.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You have a lemonade stand and your fr... | null |
9vgqii | How does hydrogen peroxide work to remove stains? | [
{
"answer": "It either oxidizes the material responsible for the coloration to the point that it becomes water soluble and rinses away or until it no longer absorbs light in the visible spectrum (organic dyes absorb light in certain color bands based on the energy level of their electrons - adjust the electroni... | null |
129g3o | How did the first century Greeks and Romans view women? Further, how was this different from how Christians treated women? | [
{
"answer": "There's an [interesting article on this at _URL_0_](_URL_1_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Rodney Stark wrote an interesting article in the mid-90's arguing that as early Christianity attracted a disproportionately large number of female converts, they were therefore accorded a ... | null |
qpxrf | what went down in the ows subreddit? | [
{
"answer": "What is the OWS subreddit?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I only have a tenuous grasp of the situation, but what I gathered was that some dick (username: [TheGhostOfNoLibs](_URL_0_)) finagled his way into a moderator spot on [/r/occupywallstreet](/r/occupywallstreet). Several peop... | null |
20r2xz | Why is it human nature to enjoy the pain of others? | [
{
"answer": "It is not human nature to enjoy the suffering of others, quite the opposite in fact. Empathy is the one of the very important reasons our society functions well. \n\nSometimes however, the relief that we are not the ones suffering can be mistaken for enjoyment. \n\nIn modern day it can be seen as w... | null |
7p2l5u | Is there an auditory processing disorder that is similar to dyslexia? | [
{
"answer": "There is a disorder literally called Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) that is similar to Dyslexia. It is an abnormality in the processing of sound in the central auditory nervous system and it affects the brain’s ability to filter and process sounds and words. Most people that have Dyslexia also ... | null |
1p3ndq | How did James Maxwell determine that electromagnetic waves create their own medium? | [
{
"answer": "To get the speed of light, you can take Maxwell's equations, assume there are no charges anywhere, and 'pluck' the electric or magnetic field and watch what happens. The solution to these assumptions is a wave propagating through the EM field at the speed *c*. Maxwell proposed that light might be a... | null |
186039 | Does the electromagnetic spectrum abruptly stop at gamma rays.. or are there higher energy/shorter wavelengths out there? | [
{
"answer": "No, there is no sharp cut off, though we don't have a standard term for super-high energy photons. Typical gamma rays from nuclear have energies of 10^(5) to 10^(7) eV. Astronomical sources can yield energies around 10^(13) eV, indicating that they coming from processes other than radioactive dec... | null |
7kz79d | Monday Methods | An Indigenous Pedagogy | [
{
"answer": "This is incredibly interesting as a way to approach teaching. Do you know if this is implemented in non-indigenous settings too or is it something that is a process within specifically indigenous settings?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Another very fascinating write-up, thank you... | null |
b1gyrh | why are some seasonal fruits, like apples, available all year round, but others aren't? | [
{
"answer": "Seasonal fuits are grown in both the northern and southern hemispheres and shipped all over the world. A lot of summer fruits that are available in grocery stores in the winter in northern countries are grown in Chile, Argentina, New Zealand etc. The same is true of winter fruits that are available... | null |
4js7a2 | how do they fake apps/operating systems in movies/tv | [
{
"answer": "Usually you would want to do it in post-production because screens don't film well due to different refresh rates. They may have prompts on the screen if the scene calls for it though. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "These days the screens as filmed are all green screens, and the ... | null |
az97nm | why do game consoles not need a 3 prong plug with a ground wire but things like amplifiers and pcs do? | [
{
"answer": "The 3rd prong is just an added safety precaution. To be approved by the UL anything with an exposed metal case needs to have the 3rd prong so if a wire inside the device comes loose and into contact with the case the current will go down the ground prong and not to you if you touch it. game conso... | null |
1rvx41 | How does the rate at which a star burns up scale with temperature? | [
{
"answer": "Just taking some of the relationships from [here.](_URL_0_) We have:\n\n- Lifespan is proportional to M^-2.5 \n- L is proportional to M^3.5 \n- L is also proportional to T^4\n\n(where L is luminosity, T is temperature and M is mass). So combining all of these, we get lifespan is proportional to T^... | null |
s0rih | how is downloading movies/books online any different than going to your local library to check out movies/books for free? | [
{
"answer": "First sale doctrine applies to libraries, video rental outfits, etc.\n\nFrom [Wikipedia](_URL_0_)\n\n > The doctrine allows the purchaser to transfer (i.e., sell, lend or give away) a particular lawfully made copy of the copyrighted work without permission once it has been legally obtained. This me... | null |
21rgzl | what would happen if somebody broke the nato treaty? | [
{
"answer": "Sending military support is only one way NATO countries can show support. They can also provide financial aide, legal aide, or advisory aide.\n\nUnless one NATO country attacked another, I can't imagine a situation where the other NATO countries wouldn't provide some sort of support, no matter how ... | null |
2mbz84 | Why are Hydrogen(1) and Helium(2) highly abundant in the universe, while Lithium(3) and Beryllium(4) not that much? | [
{
"answer": "Production of lithium from helium is highly *Endothermic*, meaning that it consumes massive amounts of energy instead of creating it. Secondly the fact that it's endothermic results in a significant *Energy Barrier* that needs to be overcome, on top of the powerful electrical repulsion between nucl... | null |
e0a1gy | why does putting the air conditioner on 25°c in a cooling mode feel different from the same 25°c in heating mode? | [
{
"answer": "In cooling mode, the thermostat will wait until the temperature goes over 25°C and then turn on the AC until it falls back under 25°C. This produces a 'spike' of cold air when the AC is on, followed by the temperature slowly drifting up toward warm.\n\nIn heating mode, the thermostat will wait unti... | null |
1r281s | land bridges | [
{
"answer": "Here's a NOAA map of the last ice age sea levels at their peak (trough) _URL_0_\n\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It depends on what land bridge and when. The Bering straits land bridge connecting Modern day Alaska to Russia is said to be at one point 1000 miles wide. But as Ice ... | null |
qvtve | what's the deal with tuxes, blazers, etc, when is each appropriate, what kind of occasions? | [
{
"answer": "In descending order of fanciness:\n\n- **[White Tie](_URL_2_)**, otherwise known as Evening Dress or Top Hat And Tails.\nThis is as formal as it gets in Western fashion, and is generally restricted to very high occasions like state dinners, royal functions or very formal balls and evening weddings.... | null |
r077h | How do weather satellites measure barometric pressure in the atmosphere from space? | [
{
"answer": "Satellite radar systems can correlate a specific band of the electromagnetic spectrum with surface pressure, but according to my relatively limited knowledge of remote sensing, this technique is not commonly in use. Surface pressure is generally recorded in the ocean by anchored buoys, or potentia... | null |
rf7tn | Volume of Earths atmosphere? | [
{
"answer": "The volume of Earth's atmosphere, using the [accepted definition of the edge of the atmosphere](_URL_0_) is approximately 5.18*10^19 m^3 . Not very useful without something to compare it to, but it's a place to start.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
... | null |
21hsv3 | why do stores offer cash-out, if it seems like they don't make any profit off it. (they charge your card, and give you that amount in cash) | [
{
"answer": "The store benefits by getting rid of physical money and using electronic funds transfer - less money to transport in an armoured truck, less loss if they are robbed",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "4368047",
"title": ... | null |
1rgf8v | Why does a single gas molecule which is hot rise above another one which is cool? | [
{
"answer": "Metrics such as temperature describe the behavior of a system that is made up of components. These types of properties are termed emergent properties because they are derived from the behavior of the system as a whole and are not observable if you were to look only at the components.\n\nSo, for yo... | null |
ciy7p9 | how was space x able to build better rockets than nasa having less budget and experience? | [
{
"answer": "They haven't really. \n\n1) They utilized all of the science that NASA learned thus they \"had\" the same experience level as NASA. \n\n2) NASA has never had a massive budget. Even during the Space Race their budget was relatively small. Companies like Space X's budgets are comparable in size. \n\n... | null |
1c0opv | Is it true that there have been 29 years free of war in all of human history? | [
{
"answer": "It rather depends how you define things. If you count tribal disputes as wars, then it is unlikely there was ever a year without war. If you don't count tribal disputes, only formal armies, then the majority of human existence was without war. Mind you, most of human existence was before history."... | null |
3ijh7x | Why didn't Hitler tell Mussolini about his plans to invade the USSR? | [
{
"answer": "This one is kind of complex. \n\n[Operation Barbarossa](_URL_2_) was the operation the Axis had planned to invade the Soviet Union. Nazi Germany had started to amass troops and equipment and had a pretty substantial force at the border in February of 1941. The original plan for the operation was to... | null |
qsuob | what is cancer? (specifically leukemia) | [
{
"answer": "You, my ELI5 friend, are made of cells. Billions and billions of them, and they all have special jobs, shapes, and grow a different rates.\n\nSometimes we want cells to grow and divide a lot, like skin cells. And sometimes we don't want cells to grow and divide a lot, like brain cells. Each cell kn... | null |
3zxi88 | why are neanderthals always depicted with caucasian features? | [
{
"answer": "Because when you take the bones and perform the same reconstructive methods used on modern skeletons, they end up looking like some old Polish people. They were, generally, European.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Most, if not all, skeletons found of Homo neanderthalensis were fo... | null |
182pco | Urban abandonment during late antiquity and the middle ages. | [
{
"answer": "In the case of the Roman empire, there are several possibilities:\n\n- The loss of North Africa to the Vandals. North Africa was the breadbasket of the Western Roman Empire, and without it, huge cities could no longer be supported. There was a similar but less dramatic depopulation of Constantinopl... | null |
2vgf5t | why doesn't the us military replace the m9. i'm sure there are better pistols out there. | [
{
"answer": "The US Army is actually looking at replacing the Beretta. Probably within the next two years.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They're in the process of evaluating new pistols. As I understand it the current M9, even with updates, is already out of the running...I don't think they ... | null |
12zv9c | Hello AskHistorians, what are the most interesting or important books within your specialty, and what are they about? I am a teacher, creating a recommended/optional reading list for highly motivated students. Thank you! | [
{
"answer": "To answer my own question, in case anyone is curious, some of my own favorite books to recommend are the following:\n\nWW2\nSurvival in Auschwitz, by Primo Levi\nWith the Old Breed, by Eugene Sledge \n\nEconomics/Society\nFreakonomics and Superfreakonomics, by Levitt and Dubner\nThe Tipping point, ... | null |
34tpp6 | apparently there are tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from ireland in places like new york. isn't life very difficult for them? how do they earn money? can they get things like houses, driving licenses, healthcare, etc? | [
{
"answer": "The same way that the millions of illegal immigrants from other countries living in other places do those things. Some get a stolen social security number. More often they just pay in cash, get paid in cash, drive without a license or don't drive at all (or live in a state that allows illegal immig... | null |
q092n | If our moon causes our tides, and considering the size, wouldn't moons around a planet the size of Jupiter have tides that would flood entire continents? | [
{
"answer": "An interesting question, but it turns out that most moons are tidally locked to their planets, so the same side is always facing the planet, just like our Moon. However, the process that causes this is actually identical to the process that causes tides, except that it is not oceans that are movin... | null |
46rb6a | why do most aeroplane hangars have curved roofs regardless of their size? | [
{
"answer": "Actually it is for strength. An arch is incredibly strong and puts far less strain on the materials than a flat surface. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Since most of the curved type of hangars are military or government use, it often comes down to one factor. Price. The engineeri... | null |
2wqylg | What is the mythological precedent for Jesus's single resurrection? | [
{
"answer": "'The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt' by Toby Wilkinson describes how \"original sin [and] final judgement before a great god, and the promise of a glorious resurrection\" (p143-144) are already devised during the reign of pharaoh Pepi 2 (around 2250 BC). Although initially the resurrection was for ... | null |
smy23 | Since pi is irrational, is there a point in pi's decimals where there are 1 billion subsequent threes? | [
{
"answer": "Probably, but not just because it's irrational. For example, the [Liouville constant](_URL_1_) is irrational but has only 0's and 1's in its decimal expansion.\n\nHowever, pi is strongly conjectured to be a [normal number](_URL_0_). If this is the case, you certainly can find a billion 3's in a row... | null |
1t9hqt | how are the nsa intercepting my data? | [
{
"answer": " > Assuming I am US, by what method did the NSA just get hold of either/both the credit card details and travel information?\n\nSo the NSA is a spying agency, that also is involved in technical standards. They have court oversight through FISA, who can issue warrants that compel companies to turn ... | null |
6prw04 | why does increased air flow extinguish flames? wouldn't you be adding the necessary ingredients? | [
{
"answer": "Fire requires fuel, oxygen, and heat. When you know out a flame, you're removing the heat necessary to continue the self-sustaining combustion reaction.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained:\n\n1. [ELI5: Why can air both extingu... | null |
5hmxgz | why do people feel comfortable with themselves in the mirror, but hate themselves in flipped pictures? | [
{
"answer": "Short answer: Because mirrors show a mirrored version of your face that you are used to/comfortable seeing. Photographs show a \"correct\" version of your face where it is not mirrored and it looks off to the person who perceives sees their face in a mirror on a regular basis\n\n_URL_0_",
"prov... | null |
2nm0xs | If I could fly and I flew upwards really slowly, could I escape the earths atmosphere? | [
{
"answer": "There is no minimum speed required to reach space, just a minimum speed to stay up there. What your probably thinking about is Escape velocity, and it is an actual speed, speed that is needed to attain a geosynchronous orbit or to escape earths gravitational pull without putting in any more energy.... | null |
9meyt9 | American WW1 vet grave markings. | [
{
"answer": "That's his unit. Company A, 13th Machine Gun Battalion.\n\nSee page 76 of this PDF\n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Hi there! The MG BN probably stands for Machine Gun Battalion. You might find our [resources on locating military records](_URL_0_) useful, and if you know ... | null |
2s5wdf | -if lance armstrong and his generation were doped to the gills how is it that this generation of cyclists is breaking their records absent significant technology advances and without drugs. | [
{
"answer": "It's not just about speed, it's about consistency.\n\nArmstrong won event after event for a very long time, if he weren't cheating he'd unquestionably be history's greatest cyclist when held up against today's.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The riders today are not absent of tech... | null |
cojrh6 | why do people think that jeffrey epstein’s death seems like a coincidence? | [
{
"answer": "At this point he was ready to bring down the people around him with him. He was a liability for all of the guilty elites that took advantage of his services. He already almost died once due to a cop beating him senseless, so this isn’t that big of a surprise.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"... | null |
3h9x19 | why do bad smells seem to be so much more resilient than good ones? | [
{
"answer": "I would assume that it is because bad smells are most often things that can negatively affect our health, like feces and rotting food and we should avoid as long as it is around. \n\nThe running shoes example doesn't exactly fit, although that may be due to cultural/evolutionary distance from apes ... | null |
3akn2d | when i bend my little finger, why do my other fingers also move? | [
{
"answer": "[This page](_URL_0_) has a pretty good explanation of it. In some cases, it's because the part of your brain that controls the movement isn't fine-tuned to only move that one finger, so the signal to bend get sent to the other fingers as well. The index finger and thumb are the most used fingers of... | null |
zy2p1 | If the gene that causes dwarfism is dominant why is it that the percentage of the general population that have this dominant gene is not higher? | [
{
"answer": "Inheriting two copies of the gene usually leads to death in infancy [1], and a lot of achrondroplasic dwarfs have chronic pain, which would cause a general decrease in \"fitness\" (in the Darwinian sense). It seems fair to say it probably puts people at a pretty serious sexual disadvantage as well.... | null |
4i9wvs | Can a strong enough electric field penetrate Faraday cage? | [
{
"answer": "A Faraday cage works because the electrons in the cage respond to an external electric field and re-arrange themselves naturally to create an equal and opposite field.\n\nHypothetically, if you had a large enough externally applied field that all the free electrons moving from one side to the other... | null |
1gov32 | Why is steel stronger than pure iron? | [
{
"answer": "It all comes down to grain structure. Neither steel nor iron is a completely homogenous solid. A single crystal of metal can deform easily along the crystal axes; but if your metal is made up of a large number of small crystalline regions that are oriented randomly, they can't all deform in the sam... | null |
8mjf9h | in court how do they compensate swearing the oath on bibles for people who arent religious or are not christian? | [
{
"answer": "You don't have to swear on a Bible, or swear at all. You can simply affirm that you will tell the truth. As you noted non-religious or non-Christian people may have an issue with swearing on the Bible. Likewise some Christian denominations do not believe in swearing or oath-taking and aslo affirm/a... | null |
bcgkcp | What is it about Jamaican culture - opposed to other Caribbean nations - that produced so much extraordinary music? | [
{
"answer": "Not to stifle discussion, but /u/hillsonghoods wrote [some fantastic replies to a similar question](_URL_0_) of mine which I'd recommend checking out.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "9297589",
"title": "Jamaican Amer... | null |
3zj9k6 | What do we know about the Helots before they were enslaved by the Dorians/Spartiates? Did they ever manage to liberate themselves? | [
{
"answer": "The ancient sources for helots are of such paucity and quality that scholars keep getting to diametrically opposite conclusions about who they were, what was their servial status, and the timing of their servitude. If you're interested in Helotry, I'd recommend this [collection of essays](_URL_0_),... | null |
azfq5l | how do we get propane and other gases from the ground? | [
{
"answer": "We refine crude oil which contains gases in the oil(similar to carbonated beverages but less fizzy) and can undergo chemical reactions which will take bigger molecules and break them down into smaller molecules, like propane, which we then seperate out. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answ... | null |
q2dh3 | Does picking up a radio signal with a antenna reduce the power of the signal, even minimally? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not a professional, but I actually did this as part of a project in my University.\n\nThe answer to your first question is no, absorbing waves in point x does not reduce the power of a radio wave at point y. We were able to charge a hydrogen fuel cell, not very efficiently I might add, with a D... | null |
a6vibu | Does running through the rain make you more or less dry than walking? | [
{
"answer": "If you look at this problem by trying to figure out your wetness as you walk through the falling rain, then it can be pretty tough. But it actually becomes easier if you look at it from the frame of reference of the falling rain. In this reference frame, the rain is just sitting there, still, and t... | null |
499dxh | why do stenographers use those tiny typewriters? | [
{
"answer": "They're [stenotypes](_URL_0_) which are much faster than typing, but don't transcribe speech directly into readable English but into a form of shorthand.\n\nWhy? It's quicker - the words are formed with \"chords\" rather than letter at a time.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
... | null |
n3rh6 | how did the wwii enigma code machines work? | [
{
"answer": "It's pretty cool, actually. I'll start with the basics. Each letter on the keyboard is connected, or paired, to another letter. So, if you press the A key, for example, you might see K light up. Similarly, if you press K, you'll see A light up. So, if you were to press H-E-L-L-O, you might get some... | null |
4upyg4 | the lean six sigma methodology | [
{
"answer": "LEAN and 6sigma address two different aspects of factory production.\n\nLEAN applies analysis to find the minimal cost steps needed to produce the item. It could mean the difference between giving a power tool to a worker instead of a manual tool. or having a conveyer delivery belt move the com... | null |
cds2jn | how do the "check to ensure you're not a robot" things actually work? what prevents computers from "clicking all pictures with a car"? i'm especially confused with the ones that dont require you to do anything except check the box. does somebody have an explaination? | [
{
"answer": "It checks the way that the person clicks the button (path, speed, etc) to determine if the clicker is indeed a human",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There's some secret sauce behind these tests, but they check a lot of things.\n\n1. How your mouse moves; if you move in straight lin... | null |
34oxaj | how did mayweather win that fight? | [
{
"answer": "Mayweather is the greatest defensive boxer of all time. I don't like him, but he is a clever boxer. \n\nI wish neither him or manny played it safe, but that is the way it is.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Mayweather outboxed Pacquiao. He threw less punches and connected more and... | null |
27om2o | at the large hadron collider, how do the scientists get the 'right' protons into the machine? | [
{
"answer": "You're overthinking the way it actually works.\n\nWhat happens is they use a source that generates literally billions and billions of protons, these are all then accelerated around the machine and then finally allowed to crash into each other. Most of them don't even hit each other and are just abs... | null |
2dwd63 | What was the origin and meaning behind the haircuts of Medieval Japan? | [
{
"answer": "Frankly I only know of the common topknot (\"Chonmage\") which was mostly done as a way to ensure that the kabuto helmet would fit snugly on one's head. The idea was that the topknot would be able to fit through a small hole in the helmet. Over time, while this tradition was forgotten, as the bus... | null |
2ldjjq | (if your country has them) why do drinks in king-size cans cost less than the normal cans? | [
{
"answer": "There are a lot of fixed costs in packaging drinks and the price of a bigger or smaller can may not make much difference. Most of an items price has nothing to do with the size.\n\nI designed labels for a big box store once and learned that the difference in cost to make a 16oz can of soda and a 32... | null |
8iacl3 | 4 continuous hours in the sun results in a sunburn, but 4 hours broken up into 15 minutes chunks does not. | [
{
"answer": "Light is radiation. Radiation is like a really tiny bullet that can shoot through important stuff in your cells (like your DNA). Damaged DNA can cause cancer. When your body detects that the DNA in a cell has been damaged, the cell kills itself for the greater good of the body. No cell, no potentia... | null |
7pq8nz | what are these new-age solid-state batteries? how are they different from conventional batteries? | [
{
"answer": "They're batteries that use solid electrodes or electrolytes instead of liquid.\n\nThey have potentially higher energy density, and are safer since they're not flammable. They also have longer lifespans and don't produce as much heat.\n\nI think the problem at the moment is that they're not ready to... | null |
65f3qw | When I think of the legacy of dueling, I picture it as an exclusively male enterprise. Is this really the case? Or are there records of women dueling as well? | [
{
"answer": "Not discouraging any new answers coming in, but you better believe that /u/Georgy_K_Zhukov wrote about [this topic already](_URL_0_). Hope it helps!",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "6531362",
"title": "Battle of the S... | null |
23auwm | how does a bike roll down a hill (balance) with no assistance? | [
{
"answer": "Conservation of angular momentum. The wheels of the bike are spinning on a particular plane, and they naturally \"want\" to continue spinning on that plane, so they resist any change in that motion. In this case they resist the bike tipping over due to gravity. The faster they are spinning (meaning... | null |
66hq9v | why (in the u.s) we are taxed twice, and in many cases a third time, on the same income? | [
{
"answer": "There's nothing illegal for different taxation at different levels of government for different purposed. Different taxes are for different governing bodies, some are more regressive, some more progressive, some go to specific uses while others go to general revenue streams. The amount needed to be ... | null |
2jwufu | the "internet" to someone from the 1950s | [
{
"answer": "Think about it this way; you get your newspaper every morning, you sit down, and you read the headline story. Let's say it's a story about a car crash; you get an idea of what happened, who was involved, etc.\n\nNow imagine that instead of just reading *one* report, you could read several different... | null |
32hj6h | I was told that there is so much historical proof of jesus' ressurection that you can't claim it didn't happen, how true is this? | [
{
"answer": "**Commenters:** Please keep our commenting rules in mind as you respond to this. We've already had to remove a lot of comments that weren't up to the standards of the subreddit.\n\n**OP:** We actually have this question asked from time to time, or questions like it. You might be interested in thes... | null |
2juf49 | Can we create artificial atmospheres? | [
{
"answer": "It's hard, because planets are big. \n\nThink about what an atmosphere is. It's an razor thin envelope of gas that wraps around the surface of a rocky planet. There's no way to *fake* that. You don't want an *artificial* atmosphere, so much as you are actually asking for a real *bona fide* atmosphe... | null |
71tztk | why do space craft enter the atmosphere at full velocity, requiring heat shields and risking burning up? | [
{
"answer": "Extra fuel is extra weight. Extra weight requires more fuel to lift it and slow it down. More economical to use the atmosphere as a brake",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "\"at the expense of additional fuel\"\n\nThat's a really big expense, both in cost and weight. Its just literall... | null |
6dksc3 | the earth is about 4.5 billion years old, but at what physical point do scientists classify a planet's age as 0? | [
{
"answer": "When it started to be a planet.\n\nTo be a planet, it needs to fit three criteria:\n\nA planet is an object in orbit around the Sun with a diameter greater than 2000 km.\n\nA planet is an object in orbit around the Sun whose shape is stable due to its own gravity.\n\nA planet is an object in orbit ... | null |
hm5n2 | How much body heat do you lose in your legs compared to your arms? And in your hands and feet? | [
{
"answer": "heat loss is fairly uniform throughout the body.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "9688617",
"title": "Parkland formula",
"section": "",
"start_paragraph_id": 4,
"start_character": 0,
"e... | null |
1c1m2n | Theoretically could you implant cones into your eyes that would allow you to see colors you could previously not see? | [
{
"answer": "Perhaps. Experiments have been done where new visual pigment proteins have been introduced into red-green colorblind monkeys, and afterwards the monkeys could distinguish colors that they were not able to previously. However, these experiments did not implant new cones into the monkey retinas. Inst... | null |
34gqic | Was Russia/Stalin truly hoping to share the Europe with Germany/Hitler or was Stalin playing a waiting game? | [
{
"answer": "First of all let me say that Stalin didn't leave a diary so we can't exactly say what his emotions or personal thoughts were with confidence. That said, he was probably neither of those things. \n\nThe idea that he locked himself in a room for 3 days is certainly not true. We do have a record of hi... | null |
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