id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
98if90 | how does humidifier work? | [
{
"answer": "So unlike boiling water where you have to heat the water to make it vaporize, humidifiers work differently. \n\nWhat happens is there is an item inside the humidifier called a wick. The wick is almost like a sponge the just soaks up water. When you turn the humidifier on it sucks in air and blows i... | null |
20c0ry | Why is it, whenever I look at snow for a lengthy period of time, my vision turns red? | [
{
"answer": "what you're seeing is probably an [adaptation aftereffect] (_URL_0_) to bluish sky light reflected by all the white reflecting surfaces that are covering everything (the snow). over time, the retina (and the brain) acts to normalize stimulus distributions, so that if some stimulus is regularly over... | null |
n8h0t | How much radiation do I get by opening the microwave door before it has finished? | [
{
"answer": "None (or at least, no more than you would get standing in front of the microwave with the door shut for the same period of time). All microwave ovens are equipped with [an interlock](_URL_0_) that disables the magnetron when the door is open.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It's ha... | null |
c51soh | Are Palestinians to a significant extent Arabized Jews? | [
{
"answer": "Apologies, but we have had to remove your submission. We ask that questions in this subreddit be limited to those asking about history, or for historical answers. This is not a judgement of your question, but to receive the answer you are looking for, it would be better suited to /r/AskScience.\n\n... | null |
sk2z2 | If instantaneous communication was possible between a person on Earth and a person accelerating near the speed of light in outer space (supposing this, too, was possible), what would the conversation look like since "time" is going much faster for the Earthbound person than it is for the traveler? | [
{
"answer": "This question is invalid as stated - the moment you \"pretend\" instantaneous communication is possible, you throw relativity out the window, and thus can;t say anything about how perception of time differs between the two reference frames.\n\nYou cant have your cake and eat it too - the same theor... | null |
3oq0k7 | What common historical misconception do you find most irritating? | [
{
"answer": "That textiles before mass production were all rough and chunky.\n\nHeck no! Our modern textiles are what medieval and early modern folks would call \"coarse.\" \n\nThere's this chemise/smock/camicia documented in Patterns of Fashion 4. In the nice zoomed in photo, you can see that there are 8 threa... | null |
lb1k4 | Why do humans react the way they to music/beats? And why don't other mammals react the same way? | [
{
"answer": "it has been shown to affect other animals. Most notably a cockatu? I believe. It used to be considered an entirely human trait however.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Parrots dance! Just type \"parrot dancing\" in youtube and you will have a treasure trove of delightful dancing bi... | null |
26lfc9 | Can you recommend me a couple of books on the history of the Holy Roman Empire, Reformation and the Thirty years war? | [
{
"answer": "On the Reformation: Diarmaid MacCulloch, 'Reformation: Europe's house divided, 1490-1700', London 2004. \nEDIT: This is an excellent read, very informative and entertaining\n\nOn the Thirty years war (and naturally with some information on the HRE): R.G. Asch, 'The thirty years war: The Holy Roman ... | null |
cfzc6q | Why is 0-14 used for the pH scale? What are the highest and lowest pH substances both in existence and theoretically possible? | [
{
"answer": "The pH scale is related to the molar concentration of hydrogen ions. Normal water has a H+ concentration = 10\\^-7, therefor the pH is 7. Technically, pH is the -log10 \\[ hydrogen ion activity\\]. The scale goes beyond 0 - 14, but only uncommon substances are outside this range. Battery acid is p... | null |
1cbz5j | This morning as I stirred my coffee it happened to be on a kitchen scale. I noticed that the weight of the spoon registered on the scale, even when I was holding it. Why? | [
{
"answer": "The coffee provides a buoyant force to the spoon, pushing it up, making it lighter in your hand. The counter to this force is added weight on the scale. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": " > Why doesn't the spoon feel lighter when I do this?\n\n > A high school project estimated th... | null |
e4kogm | How do donated organs remain viable without blood flow? | [
{
"answer": "Organs can usually last a few hours at very low temperatures (but not freezing). This is normally sufficient to get from the donor to the recipient.\n\nSame goes with the heart muscle during a myocardium infarction. Serious damage to the heart muscle doesn't happen immediately but is progressive th... | null |
gxy6i | Why are all the planets on the ecliptic plane? Why are there other celestial objects orbiting the sun that are not on the ecliptic plane? | [
{
"answer": "[This is a very frequently asked question](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "26903",
"title": "Solar System",
"section": "Section::::Structure and composition.\n",
"start_paragraph_id": 10,
... | null |
4xdtu2 | despite intense competition and very small profit margins in the mobile phone market, how do companies like xiaomi manage to provide significantly better hardware specs than relatively larger & older companies like samsung and sony? | [
{
"answer": " A few reasons. \n\n\n\n\nXiaomi's business model is like that of Kuerig, or Xerox, or HP printers. They will practically *give* you the device, because that is not the actual product. What they sell is software, the device is just a means of getting it to you.Printers are cheap, but you have to ke... | null |
4rqx20 | How did anti-miscegenation laws in the USA deal with mixed-race couples where neither partner was white? | [
{
"answer": "The usual disclaimer is along these lines: These listings just indicate previous articles that may be applicable. This is not to discourage new questions.\n\nA search for\n\n > jim crow asian\n\n(merely as likely terms to have been in an article) includes a reply, [When interracial marriages were... | null |
858prz | why do vacuum insulated containers insulate cold beverages longer than hot beverages? | [
{
"answer": "They don't. It's a difference in your perception of what constitutes \"hot\" and \"cold\", and the way thermal transfer works. \n \nRoom temperature is ~70F; a hot beverage might be ~170F. A 100F difference. A cold beverage isn't going to be any colder than ~32F, about a 40F difference. \n ... | null |
97a44t | What caused the guitar, an instrument not found in a typical orchestra, to become the de-facto popular music instrument? | [
{
"answer": "Relevant question, why did the air instruments (trumpets, saxophones, etc) didn't pass on to later music genres while the percussion and stringed instruments did?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Hi, not discouraging further contributions here, but do check out these earlier answers... | null |
ps7r2 | Why is it that when I eat from an aluminum container with a steel fork I get a similar taste sensation as when I put a battery on my tongue? Is there a reaction going on? | [
{
"answer": "Potentially yes, assuming you cook with salt. When two dissimilar metals are connected together by an electrolyte, they form a galvanic cell.\n\nSee: _URL_0_\n\nThese were the first types of batteries.\n\nIt can also lead to corrosion of metals, if they are kept in contact for too long. This is a... | null |
4a8uoz | why do some antennas such as the kind for tv have such a rail-like design? | [
{
"answer": "The series of parallel elements are called directors, and they, in effect, focus the signal. \n\nA simple wire, sticking up, will have a sensitivity pattern which is circular with is centre around the wire, but this isn't much use for receiving faint signals and shutting out interfering signals. Th... | null |
np0fp | Are humans evolving to appear more physically attractive? | [
{
"answer": "I have read that some scientists believe that beauty is an indicator of good health, and thus was probably important to mate selection, and yes, would thus consequently have lead to favoring that genetic trait.\n\nHowever, you asked the question in the present tense, and the current reality is prob... | null |
23tici | how come when i put the tip of an aux cable against my skin when its already plugged into another device, how come it appears to make a signal? | [
{
"answer": "Going to take a rough while I am on the Thunder dome at work\n\nYou body will act like it is connected to the cable and because you body creates thousands of millions of small electromagnetic pulses throughout your nerves and what not, this then creates the \"noise\" signal\n\nLike I said rough gue... | null |
1rwdw7 | how do you have money to spend when "all your money is in stocks"? | [
{
"answer": "\"Heavily Invested\" and \"All In\" are not the same thing. If Bill Gates invests 90% of his money in stocks he is still wealthier than you and I by a large margin.\n\nPlus, stocks are pretty liquid assets. Its not hard to sell off some shares if you need some cash.",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
4c5htm | Were Normans Vikings? | [
{
"answer": "Most people living in Normandy were not descended from Vikings. Following Rollo's appointment as Duke there was no mass-migration of Scandinavians. It was primarily the elite that were descendants of the original Viking invaders, and they very often intermarried with French nobility to form allianc... | null |
bo0i34 | how do they restore old videos to 60 fps? | [
{
"answer": "I would say that either they had an original of the record in 60 FPS, which was not uploaded back then or recreated the \"missing\" frames by \"averaging\" of the frames before/after of some sort.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_i... | null |
1t6jpx | How far can electricity travel through our electrical grid? | [
{
"answer": "For long distance transport, power is converted to a very high voltage and transported in high-diameter cables, usually Al for cost. \n\nA very naive calculation (300kV_RMS and 750mm^2 cross-section aluminum wire @ room temperature) assuming all the power of the Hoover dam is used (that's 2080MW) s... | null |
7y7rgs | if air is a better insulator than water, why do clouds trap heat? | [
{
"answer": "Heat is transferred in three ways\n\n1. Radiation - This is IR and other energy which is emitted from something warm\n\n2. Conduction - This is energy transferred between two objects that are physically touching\n\n3. Convection - This is the movement of energy through currents like hot air rising ... | null |
2ksstv | how can malt-o-meal blatantly rip off every brand-name cereal while apple and samsung have been in legal issues since the beginning of time? | [
{
"answer": "1) Types of cereal may or may not be patentable.\n\n2) Patents expire after a few decades, allowing anyone to copy the idea without issue.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You can't copyright a recipe for food and usually can't patent a food product. The specific form in which a rec... | null |
10p4b1 | [Physics] Considering that the photons would never be absorbed by the 100% reflective mirror, what would happen inside? It's in the realm of a thought experiment since you'll never be able to measure the result. | [
{
"answer": "I think that he is asking about the inside of a perfectly reflective box. Yes it would bounce around forever, here's why:\n\nThe photon is an electromagnetic wave in a vaccum, and is classically defined as a pair of coupled wave equations: _URL_0_.\n\nImagine a mirror in 1-D propagation. A perfect ... | null |
1lg3un | What is the effect of strength training on lifespan? | [
{
"answer": "I think you need to be more specific. Anything that uses your muscles will build strength. Push-ups, pull-ups, and standing squats, all use your own body weight to strengthen muscles. If you use these exercises as aerobic activity you will get cardio health benefits. \n\nIf you are talking abou... | null |
cf0bke | how are hand sanitizer companies able to claim their product is better or more effective than their competitors when they all kill 99.9% of all germs? | [
{
"answer": "No government oversight or enforcement of false product claims. Assume all copy on products is a lie.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They don't. They may claim 99.9% but not of all germs. If you look at the fine text it's usually one or two organisms only and usually the easiest... | null |
7nh1cs | how do martial artists break huge stacks of bricks without their hand passing through every brick? | [
{
"answer": "Dominos. The force is transfered from the top brick down by the breaking bricks themselves.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The first thing you need to know is that is is all a trick. They aren't breaking \"bricks\", they are breaking low quality, high sand content paving stones a... | null |
1kzql1 | Why do you feel a jerk when a car comes to a complete stop? | [
{
"answer": "[Jerk](_URL_0_) is actually a technical term, and part of the answer.\n\nI'm sure you're familiar with that feeling of being pushed forward when you're just braking. That's a result of inertia but it feels as if there was some force pushing you forward a bit, and we can even think of it that way. T... | null |
ozcxs | what are magnet links? | [
{
"answer": "They tell your PC to open up an application, then send that application some data.\n\nOther uses include: Starting a skype call to a number, Opening up mumble and connecting it to a server, opening up steam to download a game, and more.\n\nThey are very useful, and need more use!",
"provenance"... | null |
4dk95f | Can any bacteria survive the boiling point of water? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, see [wikipedia](_URL_1_) for a list of examples, such as [this one](_URL_0_) which can survive and reproduce above boiling temperature. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "bacteria that can (or require) extreme conditions to survive are called extremophiles. Specifically, ones th... | null |
122mdn | Why were Roman replicas of the bronze Greek statues made of marble? | [
{
"answer": "They often did, but marble is cheaper than bronze, so *most* replicas were marble. The Roman use of Greek statues was very often a change in context from public to private--many of the most famous statues were originally set up in either official or religious spaces, while the Romans would often pl... | null |
1fz3er | does fractional reserve banking cause all money to be created in the form of debt? | [
{
"answer": "Fractional Reserve banking is not started from scratch in any of the economies. They simply plug it in to the system. So there is some extent of money already present in the system for the Fractional reserve banking to work.\n\n > where is the money used to pay interest over and above the principa... | null |
90zu1g | why does fast air feel cold, if temperature is a measure of kinetic energy, even when i'm not sweaty? | [
{
"answer": "Because the air temperature is lower than you body temperature when it blows past your skin it's still taking heat away from the body.\nCausing the air to feel cool.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "As you exist in a location, your body warms the air around you, and basically makes ... | null |
4dgw63 | What causes light to slow when it travels through a medium? | [
{
"answer": "Dielectric materials are full of electric charges (positive nuclei and negative electrons). The charges aren't free to move around, but they do get tugged around a bit by electric fields: the electrons and nuclei are pulled in opposite directions in an electric field, and so a tiny electric dipole ... | null |
1kt5qi | why the martingale betting strategy doesn't work. | [
{
"answer": "It does and it doesnt, in THEORY it does, as you explained, eventually your numbers come up and you will always be up your initial stake. you reset and start again. \n\nThe problem comes in that casinos predict people doing this, they have max bets, so say if the max bet is £40 (for ease), you star... | null |
9y4tqp | carbs, protein, fats - in which order are these used by the body and why? | [
{
"answer": "Glucose is our staple energy source. If the body needs energy, glucose is broken down producing ATP and releasing CO2 and H20. If the body does not need energy, the glucose is built in to chains for easy storage in liver. These chain molecules are called glycogen. They are easily accessed and broke... | null |
4pejof | Was the failure of communism due to inherit flaws in the ideology or because the countries that adopted it were poorer and fewer than their capitalist counterparts? | [
{
"answer": "You seem to have a bunch of different questions here. For the questions in the last paragraph you might consider /r/HistoryWhatIf .",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "58301943",
"title": "Authoritarian capitalism",
... | null |
3dp58j | why did people in places like africa develop darker skin when black absorbs the most light compared to lighter colors? | [
{
"answer": "Dark skin is caused by melanin. When the sun hits your skin it gets absorbed by melanin and not by your skin cells. This is a good thing because if your skin cells absorb the sun it can cause damage that can possibly lead to skin cancer.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Darker skin ... | null |
1gn2ja | in electromagnetic waves, how are photons produced, how does the electric force and magnetic force interact and what factors effect the energy of a photon/wave? | [
{
"answer": "A photon is a little packet of energy in the form of oscillating electric and magnetic fields. They fly around at the speed of light. When certain photons hit our eyes, they tell our brain that we're seeing something.\n\nThe energy of a photon depends on its frequency (or its wavelength). The lowes... | null |
1r5dpm | How expensive were candles in the 18th century? Could only the rich afford to light their homes after dark? Was it a major expense to host a party at night considering candles were made of beeswax or the wax extracted from sperm whales? | [
{
"answer": "You are forgetting about [tallow](_URL_0_) candles, which have also been around for a long time. They are made from rendered animal fat. Candles would not have been very expensive, though the very poor would not have been able to afford them.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Well,... | null |
7t8u5z | Why are some of the heavier elements more common than the lighter ones in the universe? | [
{
"answer": "Different elements, different methods of formation.\n\nSome of the heavier atoms [like iron] are made in every star, but a few of the lighter ones are only formed in cosmic ray collisions [ lithium, beryllium, and boron ].\n\n\n\nIf you are interested in this, track down this book: [\"The Magic Fu... | null |
62257p | Are there any families from the Roman Republic period that survived into Late Antiquity? | [
{
"answer": "There are plenty of claims, but there is no way for modern historians to confirm any of them. The Anicii only appear in 298, when Anicius Faustus became the consul and I don't think there's any indication that they publicised their Republican heritage - the late antique Anicii originally came from ... | null |
8t79qv | it’s so important that we keep our hands washed, but our housecats literally touch their waste and don’t wash their paws. why is this ok? | [
{
"answer": "Until the 20th Century it was not common for people to wash their hands so often. But we have decided that we really don't like getting sick as much as older generations, or as cats do.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Two main reasons:\n\n1. Poop isn't really a problem until it ent... | null |
68quet | why do some people get off on being angry all of the time? what does it do for them? | [
{
"answer": "Sometimes it is a defense mechanism. I've seen angry people use a general anger-filled disposition to hide insecurities and in doing so they become highly irrational. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "68672",
"title":... | null |
1ukk8p | Is there a point as the temperature drops that it stops feeling colder? in other words, once a certain temperature is reached does it all just feel the same after that? | [
{
"answer": "You don't feel temperature directly, you feel the rate at which heat leaves your body. So it really depends on the material's heat conductivity and how it's arranged as a heat sink.\n\nGenerally, the rate of heat transfer is inversely proportional to temperature, all else equal, and since you can't... | null |
9idjun | what happens to all the bleach and washing liquids and chemicals we use. is any of it filtered out or degrades once it goes down the drain or are we simply polluting the seas? | [
{
"answer": "The quick answer is that we're polluting the seas. And the land. And the air.\n\nBut yeah, it gets diluted. Usually to the point of not being harmful, at least not in the short run.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I didn't mean to sound snide. Treatment plants handle the chemicals... | null |
4hpkmh | Were "perfume cones" a thing in ancient Egypt? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, its pretty well accepted that the yellow and white cones seen in Egyptian art from the New Kingdom are cones of fat that were meant to perfume the person as they melted. However, they were only worn in scenes where people were meant to be enjoying themselves, like a feast or festival. They wer... | null |
kr0o9 | I've heard that the Y chromosome is shrinking. Is it true, and what does it mean for future generations? | [
{
"answer": "talk presented by hhmi:\n[youtube video](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I don't think it's entirely true that the Y chromosome is shrinking. Certainly it has 'shrunk', but I wouldn't say that's a process that necessarily continues in humans. The lecture that rabrav linked... | null |
78nndn | How do we know this? - origins of elements from the periodic table. /physics/ | [
{
"answer": "The Big Bang created everything. As it cooled down atoms formed. Most were hydrogen. Some helium and lithium fused as well. \n\nEverything else is understanding supernovae and how stars die.. Most of those percentages are calculated guesses, not exact values though. Different types of supernovae ha... | null |
7tto2x | what is laveyan satanism | [
{
"answer": "Anton LaVey basically made up a faith based on his Ideals. Taking the satan figure as a symbol of defiance from western religions.\n\nLavey did not believe in the existence of any god or gods, as such to him humans are animals that got smart, and should act in that way.\n\nHowever he put into place... | null |
5crn17 | does software updates always increases its filesize? | [
{
"answer": "No, sometimes a file is overwritten. So as long as the original file isn't saved as a backup, there's a chance that a 60gb game with a 12gb update will likely stay 60gb.\n\nIf a more efficient code is produced, you can get lower file sizes. Sometimes programs launch with really clunky code that wor... | null |
3d7h5s | how is it possible that 50 cent who made $100 million from the sale of vitamin water, is bankrupt? | [
{
"answer": "Saw a comment before that said some woman is trying to sue him for $5 million for who knows fucking what. They said its his business side and not his personal side. So he is still super rich, at least from what I know so far",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
... | null |
3qf59h | How was lumber in the middle ages measured and cut? | [
{
"answer": "Indeed, medievals liked their timber as square and smooth as we do. \n\nI love [this manuscript illustration](_URL_12_), which comes from the [Bedford Hours](_URL_8_), a prayer book from ~1423 CE. It is supposed to depict the building of Noah's Ark, but it looks suspiciously like a timber-framed ho... | null |
2nt0uy | how did "a/an" evolve from "one"? | [
{
"answer": "It happened the other way around. Beyond that... let's talk about a few things about how the English Language developed. (This being ELI5, I'm oversimplifying a little bit because the *full* version is more complicated and, not being a specialist in the history of English, I don't even understand a... | null |
698ohr | finding and moving specific genes between organisms | [
{
"answer": "Biology PhD student here. In the interest in ELI5ness and not writing a wall of text no one wants to read, I'll write an overview and let you ask if you want to me elaborate more on how any particular part actually works.\n\n**Finding the gene:**\n\nYou sequence the genome of the organism (or part ... | null |
1fmxfv | Who were the first Jamestown colonists? How were they selected? | [
{
"answer": "While I can't speak to the specific members of the crew that first founded Jamestown, the initial motivations of colonists in the first half of the 17th century were as follows: \n\na) For the rich: A quick profit - either from gold or timber or soap manufacturing or exporting pitch, additionally m... | null |
7l1grd | Does dust/particles on the glass affect space telescopes significantly and how is this problem addressed? | [
{
"answer": "In general, no, dust on the mirror doesn't really affect the image produced by a telescope.\n\nMost telescopes are focused at infinity, so a speck of dust sitting on the mirror won't actually be in the image plane. All it does is *very* slightly dim the entire image, since the tiny portion of the m... | null |
ao9ml0 | I've asked all over Reddit for help identifying this unknown object. Recently, someone said it was part of a WWII Cryptography Radio. Someone else commented that since it may have historical significance, I should ask for help here. | [
{
"answer": "It looks like there was some kind of handle that selected between \"Voice\" and \"Tone\". The CAD files don't show that detail. Does that mounting seem to do anything inside?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "My father is a radio enthusiast who served as a 1st class radio operator du... | null |
5nigf4 | why do web pages viewed on mobile devices keep changing layout as they load, and then change again just as you try to tap a link after it seems like they were finished loading? | [
{
"answer": "Main reason is asymetric loading of elements and bad programming. \nIn detail: The main goal of a mobile page is to load as fast as possible. \n\nThere are certain methods to achieve this. The two most important (for your question) are: \n1) Load visible stuff first: \nThe first things that w... | null |
1ww4u3 | Why do amputees feel a part of the body even though it is physically not present? | [
{
"answer": "It's called 'phantom limb syndrom' and is thought to be related to the the somatosensory system (the neuronal system that senses pain, amongst other things). It's currently thought that this system does not readjust appropriately when a limb is amputated. This results in the continued sensation of ... | null |
orhyg | The charger for my electric toothbrush has no metal parts that touch the toothbrush. How does it recharge? | [
{
"answer": "Through [magnetic induction](_URL_0_). It's the same mechanism for [transformers](_URL_2_), the electrical circuits of which are not physically connected either. See [this diagram of a simple transformer](_URL_1_).\n\nBasically, the electricity from the outlet is used to generate a magnetic field, ... | null |
ovzxs | Do you get your memories back after electroconvulsive therapy? | [
{
"answer": "With our current methods of ECT, memory loss is quite common. There are a lot of complex idiosyncrasies and variables that play into the pattern and permanence of memory loss (i.e., age, bilateral vs. unilateral ECT, number of ECT treatments, psychiatric diagnosis, length of the seizures, interval... | null |
27u6us | How did the early advocates for LGBTQ rights in the US begin pushing their case? What were the methods of the earliest advocacy groups? | [
{
"answer": "Great question! Before I get into it, I want to provide a little context. I've talked quite a bit on here about different understandings of 'homosexuality' throughout history. How sexuality was understood and conceptualized has changed dramatically over the course of history, although not in a line... | null |
9j1v8d | how did the original mathematicians prove their formulas and theories, and to who? | [
{
"answer": "To their own community of academics. But how far back are we talking? Ancient greece? Renaissance? Isaac Newton era?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Originally, they wouldn't. Or at least they would rely on intuition, self-evidence, or consensus. And even then it was really only pe... | null |
15wexw | How are we self aware? What does our self awareness come from? | [
{
"answer": "This is an awesome question, and one that straddles the line between science and philosophy. The real answer is \"we don't know\" and there are fascinating arguments for multiple viewpoints (including arguments that run the spectrum from pure spirituality all the way to quantum physics.)\n\nI'd re... | null |
1kh18l | why guitar hero / rockband died. | [
{
"answer": "IMO it's because there isn't much room to expand on the core gameplay. Sure you can add more songs, but are you willing to spend another $50+ dollars on basically the same game? Not to mention that the equipment (guitar, drumset, etc.) can also rack up the price (some may say unnecessarily). Onc... | null |
192zgt | Were the Romans cynical about their downfall (or perceived downfall) as (some) tend to be today in America? Was there any "sky is falling" moments or movements? | [
{
"answer": "There is a large difference in response to this based on where in Rome you were at the time.\n\nI think it's fair to say there was an incredible, inconceivable amount of denial on the Italian peninsula which culminated in full blown panic in 410CE, again, for Italians.\n\nAll Roman's pride was irre... | null |
3ocqyn | Was classical music by German composers less popular after World War II? | [
{
"answer": "Not talking about symphony, because the real drama is at the opera, c'mon! The Metropolitan opera had been performing German-language opera since the 1880s. During 1914-17 the Met did German opera as usual, but when the US entered WWI in late 1917 they did cancel all German operas. [Check out the 1... | null |
2vvubw | how did calling shotgun for a vehicle's front passenger seat begin? where did it come from? | [
{
"answer": "The term calling \"Shotgun\" came from when stage coaches would transport money from bank to bank like in the old west movies. The person in the passenger seat would be holding a shotgun for defense against robbers.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "On stage coaches the man who sat n... | null |
2yecbg | how can my computer distinguish between my wifi and my neighbors wifi if they are both running on 2.4 ghz? | [
{
"answer": "It isn't just your router! every Wifi device is listening and broadcasting to everything! It is really chaotic at the signal level. There are several tricks wifi routers use to get around this\n\n1 collision avoidance - the devices actively try to avoid disturbing each other, and N routers (and ... | null |
1tfyjm | Can humans be predisposed to enjoying warmer or cooler environments? | [
{
"answer": "I've coupled several articles to get this conclusion, and therefore it could be a simplified conclusion: A person with two short (homozygotes) alleles of the upstream regulating region of the serotoninreceptor encoding gene (5-HTT) are likely to be more sensitive to all kind of stimuli, eg. cold te... | null |
jc4m7 | Under what conditions does matter emit light? | [
{
"answer": "As far as I'm aware, in order for light (or other electromagnetic radiation) to come into being, an electrostatically charged particle needs to either *a) accelerate*, or *b) transition between states with different energies*.\n\nI'm not very clear on how big the overlap between *a)* and *b)* is, b... | null |
ewe288 | How much was crusader governance and culture in the Kingdom of Jerusalem influenced by local customs? | [
{
"answer": "This is what I study in the real world, and partially what my thesis is about, so there’s a lot to say about it! Hopefully this answer doesn’t go on and on forever…I think I've written most of this in previous answers, so here they are, all collected in one spot.\n\nThe Frankish crusaders did try t... | null |
1a8vbh | What would it take for scientists or doctors to be able to see what a human is currently thinking? | [
{
"answer": "We don't know yet -- that's what makes it research!\n\nThere are many people working on [brain-computer interfaces](_URL_1_) to try to develop algorithms to 'decode' brain activity. At this point, however, the outputs that can be measured are relatively crude, e.g., sending a signal of \"up\", \"do... | null |
4fflx8 | why is president obamas amnesty executive order being brought before the supreme court? | [
{
"answer": "Reagan amnesty was a lawful compromise with Congress, tax cuts for so many immigrants. I am not familiar with any Bush amnesty so I decline to remark. Obama's executive amnesty otoh is a complete go around of Congress. Executive orders bear no legal weight, they are not law. They are directiv... | null |
305cka | what incentivizes companies to raise wages? | [
{
"answer": "When labor is short in supply, companies must increase wages to attract workers.\n\nYou can see this in (pre-oil-bust) Alberta, Canada. You can get paid $15/hr to be a Barista in Fort McMurray, while a few hundred kilometers away, in Calgary or Edmonton, they only make $10. Willing to do unskilled ... | null |
30r8kp | how does executive order qualify as constitutional and fall in line with the system of checks and balances? | [
{
"answer": "Executive orders (at least in theory) don't grant the executive branch more powers, they work within the powers already granted to the President by the Constitution or by Congress. The courts can overrule an EO if it's overstepped its bounds, and Congress can pass a law overruling an EO if it's bas... | null |
26oa7m | why does the face of a golf club have lines on it? | [
{
"answer": "The grooves are cut into the face of the club to increase the grip between the ball and the face. The puts a controlled spin on the ball, which makes the ball travel in a predictable path.\n\nIf the ball does not have a controlled spin, it will move in a random path as spin is created and lost as t... | null |
70deyt | what's the difference when a medication commercial says a child under 6 can't take it, and kids 6-18 should not take it? | [
{
"answer": "Pediatric medication is weight-based, so for many medications, the dosage strength would have to be severely diluted to be usable for young children to avoid overdose. This is why certain drugs are good for certain age groups of children - the weight difference between an 11 yr old and a 5 yr old, ... | null |
3vyden | why do my ears tickle/itch when listening with headphones? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not a doctor, yet, but every time I have experienced something similar to this, and found that I have the option of \"scratching\" it as best I can or turning down the volume. I think that the itch is a response to inner ear damage, because every time I have turned down the volume the itch goes... | null |
2dkmqt | why do you say "a european" and not "an european" | [
{
"answer": "You use an when the beginning *sounds* like a vowel regardless of if it is one. European starts with a \"y\" sound which in this case counts as a consonant.\n\nEdit: another example you would say \"an hour\" because the h is silent.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Europe starts wit... | null |
21rp2j | why is pre-made food cheaper than the ingredients? | [
{
"answer": "If you could buy an entire truck-full of tomatoes and wheat, you could probably make pizzas for less. You'd have to make a lot of pizzas though to make it worthwhile.\n\nCosto/Sams Club/BJs work on this model, though it's not quite as extreme.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Especi... | null |
4t55cv | how long do you have to stop drinking for your tolerance to alcohol to go down to that of a new drinker's? | [
{
"answer": "I tried searching google but found nothing concrete. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "In my personal experience, if I'm taking a break from a drug to let my tolerance build back up, i like to take at least a month off.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I was a heavy ... | null |
7z4n0m | in determining blood type, the o allele is recessive to both the a and b alleles. why is it then that o is the most common blood type and it's prevalence hasn't declined? | [
{
"answer": "So this is an interesting question. If I recall correctly from school, type O is what the earliest people had (postulated). Over time mutations have occurred leading to difference surface antigens like the A and B antigen. So while they are recessive, there are still many people with this. If two p... | null |
102kan | The big bang theory is the accepted theory for the genesis of the universe. I've always accepted and (I thought) understood this as a scientific theory. How does this theory justify/explain the creation of something (spacetime, matter) out of essentially nothing? | [
{
"answer": "We don't know. Our models of physics go back to just after the big bang. They cannot explain the state of matter at the moment of (just before) the big bang - in part because physics as we understand it didn't exist before the bang - our physics came into being along with the rest of the universe.\... | null |
8cjfe8 | what does it mean when a cough “moves into your chest”? was it somewhere else before? | [
{
"answer": "People generally say that in references to colds.A “cold” is a blanket term for any viral infection of the nose and throat. In the early stages of a cold, your body is fighting the cold directly and most of the symptoms are in your sinuses, nose, and throat. \n\nAfter a few days the virus is pretty... | null |
140aig | Is there any evolutionary benefits other than sexual selection in having blue or green eyes instead of brown? | [
{
"answer": "Like skin tone, lighter eye color is simply a reflection of lower pigmentation (less melanin). As with many genes, if those genes that influence eye color can mutate to less active forms without dicouraging the survival of a given organism, they may continue to mutate to less and less active forms.... | null |
2wbty1 | why do these videos of opening kinder eggs receive hundreds of millions of views. | [
{
"answer": "Because kids love to watch them being open and seeing what surprises are in them, even if they aren't getting the toy.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "22598303",
"title": "The Eggs",
"section": "",
"s... | null |
21fm7t | what's the difference between embezzlement and theft? | [
{
"answer": "Embezzlement is taking funds that you been entrusted with, and converting them to your own use. Theft is just taking property to which you are not entitled.\n\nSo, Janice is a teller at a bank. She's required to keep a drawer full of cash, count it, dispense it to customers as needed, etc. That mon... | null |
7l4v0f | Would I measure the generated magnetic field of a charged particle, if I am moving alongside with it? | [
{
"answer": "The fields produced by a point electric charge moving arbitrarily are given [here](_URL_0_). If you assume that the particle has no magnetic moments, these are the only fields it will produce. If you look at the magnetic field equation, it looks complicated, but you can see that the whole thing is ... | null |
26p1cs | What are the best books or online resources for acquiring a pre-Federalist Papers understanding of the debates of the United States Constitutional Convention? | [
{
"answer": "The [Avalon Project](_URL_2_) at Yale is one place where you can find many of primary sources related to the topic you are interested in. \n\nIn addition, [this website](_URL_0_) also provides numerous documents. \n\nLastly, the [Liberty Fund](_URL_1_) also contains numerous sources that touch on t... | null |
6t17ap | why are france and spain 1 hour ahead of the uk when part of those countries are directly below us? | [
{
"answer": "Because, logistically, it is easier for them to be on the same timezone as the rest of Europe.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because Nazis.\n\nThey used to be in the same time zone as the UK. But then when the Nazis took over France in WW2, they switched them to the same time zon... | null |
2dj4xx | if we can achieve every existing color by mixing the basic ones, why do cymk and rgb look different? | [
{
"answer": "Red, green, and blue (RGB) are the primary colors for **light (i.e., additive color)**. In this case, \"black\" is the absence of any light, and \"white\" is 100% of all three colors.\n\nCyan, yellow, and magenta (CYM) are the primary colors for **pigment (i.e., substractive color)**. In this cas... | null |
1d0d3a | Any good books on Stone Age? | [
{
"answer": "Although it is not a book about the Stone Age, Ian Morris's book *Why the West Rules -- for Now* spends several chapters on prehistory as part of a sweeping treatment of the entire history of East and West.\n\nOtherwise, I suggest asking this on /r/AskAnthropology.",
"provenance": null
},
{... | null |
3mkayv | why do people have the urge to grab cute babies' cheeks and smush their face? | [
{
"answer": "[This article explains why.](_URL_0_) TL;DR \"Cute Aggression\" is the brains response that could be protective, or a way of venting extreme feelings of giddiness and happiness",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "988208",
... | null |
60bkcj | the concept of wells/underground water. is there just water everywhere beneath our feet that we can access as long as we dig/drill far enough down? | [
{
"answer": "Water can seep through the ground and pool up in immense reservoirs exactly like oil does. All it takes is some favorable geography - a layer of rock that water can't get through, underneath ground that it can. The water seeps through over time and builds up on that rock layer forming a water table... | null |
1cpatw | was there a large difference between various Native American tribe creation myths? | [
{
"answer": "Most tribes had their own unique myths but most of these myths shared many common themes. In North America in particular, a common theme is the idea of humans climing out of a dark, shadowy underworld into the earth. In this view life originated in the underworld and at some point for some reason t... | null |
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