id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
3hduel | why is bed-wetting associated with serial killers? | [
{
"answer": "It is part of the Macdonald triad. The Macdonald triad proposes that three behaviours in youth (extended bedwetting, fire-starting, cruelty to animals) are indicative of later violent tendencies.\n\nThe thing is though, we aren't actually sure if the Macdonald triad is actually statistically a thin... | null |
6q6lu8 | when watching a screen, do our eyes focus purely on to the distance of the screen or the percieved depth of the picture? | [
{
"answer": "Purely on the screen. Same if you're looking at a photo: the depth isn't real and doesn't affect your focus.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "195718",
"title": "Cinematography",
"section": "Section::::Aspects.... | null |
2yg1nq | do my dogs think i'm just a big dog? | [
{
"answer": "It's hard to say what dogs actually *think*, but there are some things we can infer from their behavior and from their body chemistry. We have recently come to understand that dogs' brains are capable of generating oxytocin in the same way ours are, and under the same circumstances. When you inte... | null |
4bt6pn | why do we only see fog when it is at a distance? | [
{
"answer": "Fog is a collection of tiny water droplets suspended in air at or just above ground-level. They are too small to see individually but they bend light never the less. As you get further away, there are so many droplets bending light that the objects further away from you can't be seen because the li... | null |
30w622 | At the time of the American Revolution, were there any other republics in the world? | [
{
"answer": "**Commenters:** Please keep in mind that top-level answers at /r/AskHistorians should be informative and comprehensive. Answers will be removed if they are only a single sentence long.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The Netherlands was a republic from 1581 to 1795. However, it's ... | null |
3z5ybj | What was Attila the Hun's full name? | [
{
"answer": "So far as we can tell, his name was Attila. As you've guessed, Huns did not use surnames or family names, and only a non-Hun would call him \"the Hun.\"\n\nInteresting trivia: *Attila* does not seem to be a Hunnish name but Gothic, like *Totila*. The Huns were not one tribe but a confederation of ... | null |
1pfzea | what would happen to you if only your head was above water for a long, long time? | [
{
"answer": "Depends how long and what kind of water.\n\nThe skin is capable of passing stuff in and out of the body. If you're under water this presents a problem, if the water is pure enough the overall transfer will be water into the body and salts/minerals out of the body (bones and blood would have major i... | null |
cvqyfg | why are paddling pools blue etc instead of black to absorb the heat and keep warm? | [
{
"answer": "Blue reminds people of the seas and oceans (or rather shallow water near the beach). Black would be creepy to many people (b/c it looks like deep water). \n\nAbsorbing heat can make the water too hot, and most pools are sold in areas with a lot of sun, and people want their pools to stay cool. \n\n... | null |
rxivv | A few questions on Wave interference | [
{
"answer": "Observing interference is a little harder to do in those situations. Things like headlights and music are made up of lots of waves with many different wavelengths so the interference pattern is very complicated and you won't notice it.\n\nThere are two ways you could observe wave interference at ho... | null |
1ak6jj | Why don't orbiting electrons radiate? | [
{
"answer": "It's not enough for you that they're in their lowest energy state? Clearly, they can't emit energy in the form of a photon and _gain_ energy doing so - that'd just blatantly violate of conservation of energy. \n\nBut fair enough then. If the electrons behave quantum mechanically (which you've accep... | null |
45i9rk | How does LIGO know that the gravitational waves they observed were from 2 black holes? | [
{
"answer": "The shape of the signal they detected -- how long it lasted, how its frequency changed, how its amplitude changed -- distinguished the event as a black hole merger, and even allowed determination of the masses of the two black holes.\n\nThere was a lot of modeling of various phenomena using general... | null |
3gzsfg | does poison ivy really get worse each time? why? | [
{
"answer": " > \"the memory of the last infection\"\n\nYour immune system has greater reactions to things it recognizes more quickly, and it recognizes things more quickly by being exposed to them in the past. I think this is why you can develop allergies to things like super powerful epoxy if it touches your ... | null |
6eep78 | Why do some vaccines, such as Hep B or HPV, require multiple shots spread out over time? | [
{
"answer": "Several things come into play here. The initial immunization that triggers the first immune response results in the generation of memory B and T cells as well as long-lived antibody-secreting plasma cells. After that in subsequent immunizations, you are re-activating memory B and T cells, which can... | null |
387aou | why are services like uber and airbnb considered by some to be disruptive to the economy? | [
{
"answer": "Hotels and cab companies are regulated and taxed, they have to follow certain rules in order to keep their operating license. If I rent you my house for a short stay or pick you up and drive you around the government doesn't get any tax revenue from that and I'm not bound by the same licensing requ... | null |
2c6h05 | What is the definition of a "Great Power" and what makes a country one? | [
{
"answer": "I was a history and international relations major as an undergrad, and here is where the two disciplines meet. The term \"Great Power\" comes from the Realist tradition in international relations. Without going too far down the rabbit hole of explaining what Realists believe, they essentially view ... | null |
13umtn | Just how credible is the Abiotic Oil Theory vs. the organic algae/zoo-plankton theory? | [
{
"answer": "[This review from Resource Geology shoots it down pretty hard.](_URL_0_) Really, the most obvious criticism is that there haven't been any big oil discoveries that can be conclusively credited to this hypothesis.\n\nThis hypothesis might have been worth consideration back in the 1950s, when the Rus... | null |
dfgrq7 | what is happening when the body develops a cauliflower ear? | [
{
"answer": "The ear fills with blood and fluid that calicifies and hardens over time if it isn't drained and taken care of right away.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "From what I hear most people don't have it drained, because it's one of the msot painful things you can do. \n\n\nWhat I never... | null |
dkpq6f | Have there been any major Civil Rights movements in the US which ultimately failed totally and completely? | [
{
"answer": "Well, there's the modern pederasty movement. By pederasty I mean movements defending adult - adolescent sexual relationships, especially of the homosexual kind. It arose during the 60s and 70s, along with other parts of the sexual revolution and civil rights movement. NAMBLA (North American Man Boy... | null |
7gor1m | if someone were pushed into a bottomless hole, what would be the first thing that killed them and how long would it take? | [
{
"answer": "If they could theoretically fall forever, my guess would be dehydration would kill them eventually. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The air pressure would get too high and they would die due to oxygen and nitrogen toxicity once the air pressure got over 10 atm, probably within the... | null |
1eihup | Can one neuron within the human brain have several types of neurotransmitters that binds to it? For instance, can a neuron that usually allows binding by GABA neurotransmitters also allow binding from other types of neurotransmitters, such as NDMA, DA, 5-HT, etc? | [
{
"answer": "Yes. Neurons can have, for instance, both excitatory and inhibitory inputs, mostly mediated through glutamate and GABA",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yes, the neurotransmitters bind to receptors (specialized for that molecule) which protrude from the neuron. Each neuron can have m... | null |
23awy0 | how do google glasses work if i can't focus on anything within three inches of my eyes? | [
{
"answer": "I've wondered this too. Commenting to keep an eye on this thread in hopes someone will explain.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You can't focus on anything within three inches of your eyes because the lens in your eye can't accommodate (become stronger) well enough. You can only ma... | null |
acznaz | the difference between functions, methods, objects, classes, and oop languages. | [
{
"answer": "A *function* is a block of code which runs some commands and can be called on from elsewhere in the code.\n\nexample:\n\n def function():\n print \"I do something.\"\n\n # now we can call the function from other code, like this, and it will always print \"I do something\".\n functio... | null |
cc1m32 | What technological breakthroughs between 15th century to the 19th century were required for the creation of pistols and rifles? | [
{
"answer": "Depending on the specific cutoff date you've got, I'd argue that smokeless gunpowder in 1886 is the single most important breakthrough. Smokeless powder paved the way for firearms as we know them today. Smokeless powder burns slightly differently than black powder (rapid burn rather than low explos... | null |
9zcc6n | What was the impact of the Albigensian Crusade on the centralization of France ? | [
{
"answer": "Hi there - unfortunately we have had to remove your question, because [/r/AskHistorians isn't here to do your homework for you](_URL_0_). However, our rules DO permit people to ask for help with their homework, so long as they are seeking clarification or resources, rather than the answer itself. \... | null |
cb47eh | How do Historians recognize/rule out humor or sarcasm from historical texts? | [
{
"answer": "To answer this, I'm going to first start with an example and work through why the historical account is contested. One of the most infamous cases of this is probably Caligula, the \"depraved\" Roman Emperor. In pop culture (e.g. things like the series *I, Claudius*) he's portrayed as a truly despic... | null |
2p4tdd | why does the box of my ps4 say it comes with 500 gb when it only comes with 407.2 gb? | [
{
"answer": "Technically it does come with a 500gb hard drive but the ps4's firmware and updates need a bunch of that space. Doesn't matter though, they still provided you with a 500gb drive.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "GB can technically mean 2 different things. One is the computer definit... | null |
1gl482 | Why didn't the Germans bombard southern England with artillery? | [
{
"answer": "They did, to an extent. The Germans had quite a bit of cross-channel artillery at Calais, which they used to fire on Kent for years. Economically though, it probably wasn't all that useful. The German guns and their barrels and ammunition probably cost more than the damage they did to anything on l... | null |
z2k0a | What is chemically happening when pasta sauce stains tupperware? | [
{
"answer": "Without having a source I would rather say that there is nothing happening on a chemical level\n\nIt is just the Carotine (rather the Lycopin) that makes tomatos red, that is stuck to the plastic.\n\nSince Carotine is liposoluble, you should try to rub it out with oil (just normal cooking oil). I l... | null |
13u6zk | Wouldn't a diver get serious hearing damage if he was to swim close to the pistol shrimp? | [
{
"answer": "It's important to note that that 218 dB is at a distance of 4 cm, and is relative to 1 µPa. Now, first off, by convention the source level you quoted for a jet is equivalent to a measurement at a distance of 1 m. Taking that into account, the source level of the shrimp drops to 190 dB. Moreover, it... | null |
3am0gy | why my dog loves his collar so much? | [
{
"answer": "It probably feels odd to have it off. If he wears it all the time it would be like having a necklace on all the time, you'd notice when it wasn't there and feel a bit 'off'. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Do you always use a leash when you walk him? The leash is attached to the c... | null |
1lz4uo | When I was in the USA I noticed the First World War memorials were dedicated to soldiers who died in The Great War of 1917-18. Why is it not described as 1914-18? | [
{
"answer": "This seems too obvious, but wouldn't it be because the United States only joined the war in 1917?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The US didn't enter WW1 until 1917.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Does the related WW2 memorial only list from 1941-45? Curious if t... | null |
1d4rd1 | Ionization Question - Ionization Energy | [
{
"answer": "for electrons on atoms, the electrons are either bound or unbound depending on their total energy relative to the potential well ([a morse potential](_URL_0_)). if the electron in question has total energy less than the dissociation energy (the ionization energy), then the energy is quantized to di... | null |
91u76b | why is china airlines from taiwan? why not call it taiwan airlines instead? | [
{
"answer": "Because Taiwan's official name is the Republic of China (ROC).\n\nAlso, China Airlines was founded back when the Taiwanese government still considered itself the government of China (though exiled)\n\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "China had a civil war between the communists and... | null |
17s3be | Planets revlove in an ellipsoid trajectory around the sun - but what are the foci? | [
{
"answer": "One of the foci is, strictly, the centre of mass of the system, rather than the centre of the Sun itself, but effectively the difference is minute. The other focus doesn't have any astronomical meaning.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Let's consider what a two-body system with grav... | null |
c02y6c | how does tidal energy not break conservation of energy? | [
{
"answer": "In short, the moon is constantly slowing the rotation of the earth. Eventually the moon and earth will always be facing each other.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The energy from the tides actually comes from the kinetic energy of the moon. the tides are slowing down the moon and ... | null |
2e559f | does putting "i do not own this song" on youtube videos actually prevent it from getting taken down from the record label? | [
{
"answer": "Nope! Some people think it's polite though, which is kind of strange, because the people are pretty much saying \"Yes, I knowingly violated the copyright on your product, but at least I'm not claiming it's mine\"",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "No, for two reasons. The first is tha... | null |
3sgxdf | what damage can be done if someone gets access to your wi-fi password? | [
{
"answer": "There are definitely a few guides out there detailing how to beef up your network's security, check them out when you have a chance (on mobile, can't link any at the moment).\n\nThere are a few implications when someone has access to your network:\n\n* If they're doing something bandwidth-heavy (ga... | null |
46gqgg | why do politicians and the media never just call people liars? | [
{
"answer": "They do, often. Have you not seen any of the presidential candidate's debates this season?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because that can be considered defamatory, leading the person to file, and win, a lawsuit against you. This will have the effect of making them look like a vic... | null |
3qjhq1 | string theory and m-theory | [
{
"answer": "String theory: everything in the universe is connected by invisible strings and can be interacted with through the forces of nature.\n\nI can't even imagine how someone would explain M theory to a five year old...\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
1s1exv | How brutal was the USSR to the people in Nazi territory when it helped beat the Third Reich in World War II? | [
{
"answer": "Soldiers of Waffen SS when captured by frontline troops were shot on spot. If they got lucky and were captured by 'trophy company' or by MPs, they will be put in POW camps. Many survived - there's a book in preparation (in russian) with recent interviews of former POWs, many from Waffen SS. So, des... | null |
2tqgeu | Was Bohemia very bohemian? | [
{
"answer": "hell yeah dude, it was pretty much all bohemians! ... with a bunch of germans thrown in\n\non a more serious note, these threads are probably what you are looking for: \n\n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_1_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "3... | null |
7w2922 | why do most foods, drinks etc have to be refrigerated after one use? what happens to the contents after just one use? | [
{
"answer": "For some products, they are packaged in a environment and method so that the package is sealed, and pathogens are not present. This results in a product with a long shelf life when unopened. Once the package is opened, it is no longer sealed from the environment, and it is possible that bacteria ma... | null |
9ytv3i | how can people sell video game merch or art on etsy? | [
{
"answer": "Some companies don’t bother with the costs of a lawsuit because it would mean too much cost for little payback. A good lawyer will probably cost way more than a % of the profit a Etsy artist makes ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It’s not legal for sure, but they probably aren’t m... | null |
zruiy | What are the ergonomic effects of sleeping without a pillow? | [
{
"answer": "I think this was linked before when this topic came up. _URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "12226249",
"title": "Orthopedic pillow",
"section": "",
"start_paragraph_id": 3,
"start_characte... | null |
39wapz | why can websites appear to be down for me but be online for everyone else? | [
{
"answer": "Unless a website has different servers for different people (very unlikely if it's within the same region) this should not happen ever. If you experience a website that is down and others don't, the problem is on your end and could be your internet connection.",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
9rfc82 | why is it that if you drop something electrical into a pool it affects the whole pool, but if you drop something electrical into the ocean, it dosent electrocute the whole ocean | [
{
"answer": "The pool is ≠ the ocean, in any way.\n\nThe electrical thing you throw in the pool doesn't affect the whole pool either. Electricity is very, very good at finding the path of least resistance and following that. It's almost never through a human or a fish. Those metal drains and grounded lights ... | null |
3mch15 | how does the current "competitive healthcare market" benefit the patient? | [
{
"answer": "The idea is that the insurance companies will compete with each other and this will cause lower prices for the patient. Sort of like the cell phone companies (Sprint, Verizon, AT & T, etc...). Unfortunately, this hasn't really happened, and I'm unsure if it ever will. ",
"provenance": null
},... | null |
71wgtt | How can Burning wood (carbon) generate UV radiation? | [
{
"answer": "Do you expect a lot of UV for some reason?\n\nThe thermal emission will contain tiny amounts of UV. In principle chemical reactions can directly lead to UV emissions as well but I'm not aware of specific reactions that would occur in a wood fire.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Fou... | null |
4ffpbt | james holmes killed 12 people and injured 70, but is charged with 24 counts of first degree murder and 140 counts of attempted first degree murder. why does he has 2 charges for every murder/attempted murder he did? | [
{
"answer": "From a ways down that page:\n\n > For each person killed in the shooting, Holmes was charged with one count of murder with deliberation and one count of murder with extreme indifference.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "He also probably got 1 count of attempted murder for each perso... | null |
j00ei | What is the current state of knowledge on the long-term effects of caffeine on productivity/well-being? | [
{
"answer": "I would like to know this also so upvote.\n\nAnecdotal tidbit: Nikola Tesla said in his biography that he had heart problems until he realised it was the cup of coffee he consumed each day. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "[Coffee and Health: A Review of Recent Human Research](_URL... | null |
2a98k7 | Was there a particular flag that the Union used during the American Civil War other than the traditional 34-star flag? | [
{
"answer": "I assume you're asking was there a flag that didn't have stars representing the Confederate States? In that case, no, not officially. Even when West Virginia broke away from Virginia, the official flag gained a [35th star](_URL_1_) (which still included Virginia and all the other rebelling states).... | null |
102yj2 | If you were on a spaceship in the absolute black void of space, how could you measure your speed without any points of reference? | [
{
"answer": "You couldn't, using only local measurement. That is the whole point of relativity - there is no difference in local physics based on how fast you are moving (no preferred frame of reference).\n\nYou could measure the *difference* in your speed by keeping track of your instantaneous acceleration an... | null |
ak51x8 | how do different antibiotics target different parts of the body? | [
{
"answer": "The thing about antibiotics is that they only effect bacteria, which are very different from your cells (if you’re 16:bacteria are prokaryotes and your cells are eukaryotes). So as previous reply said, the antibiotics disperse throughout your body and attack the bacteria... all of them. Including t... | null |
1okmm8 | Does a positive correlation exist between the length of a gestational period and the intelligence of the birthed animal? | [
{
"answer": "Your comparison of a fish to an elephant is a little broad. But generally I would say no, the gestational period does not translate to inherent intelligence. The length of 'childhood' or child rearing may be a better indicator of intelligence. Certain animals have a long gestational period and hit ... | null |
3rb6y5 | " A small splinter group of the Muslim army crossed the Pyrenees and was defeated by Charles Martel near Tours in 732, a minor incident in this whole story and, in no way, the turning point in European history as it has sometimes been portrayed" | [
{
"answer": "I think it depends largely on what perspective you are viewing this from, and I would love to hear a comment from a European medievalist on how this was viewed at the time in France or Europe, but I think the line you quoted is broadly in line with the thinking of historians of the Arab conquests.\... | null |
o1fc2 | If I urinated on an electrified fence, would it shock me? | [
{
"answer": "Yeah.. it would fucking shock you",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "If you can get close enough to produce a steady stream then yes, you would get shocked by the fence, because urine is electrically conductive, but you have to avoid 'fragmentation' of your urine. \n \n[Here's](_URL... | null |
58v1zd | how do we make extremely, extremely high frame-per-second cameras? | [
{
"answer": "The sensors in most cameras are perfectly capable of capturing at a higher frame rate than what they are normally being used for, but the challenge is getting the data and putting it somewhere fast enough. If your storage subsystem is too slow, you won't be able to ingest the flood of incoming data... | null |
vrdik | why are most (not all) military personnel right wing and anti-obama/universal anything if they are part of a government run, universal healthcare providing, free almost everything military? | [
{
"answer": "The majority of America's military volunteers come from regions in the US that are majority conservative. That gives way to a majority conservative military. That being said, I've met plenty of liberals who served in the military, who are pro-gun, pro-gay, and anti-war.",
"provenance": null
}... | null |
3zwr9x | Is there archaeological support for the stereotype of Roman infanticide as sex selection? | [
{
"answer": "I can't speak for Roman society generally, but I am familiar with one specific case of sex-selective infanticide from Tel Ashkelon, Israel. We excavated a Roman/Byzantine bathhouse in Grid 38, (you can read the publication report for free at _URL_2_, just download the massive PDF of volume 1 and y... | null |
3xlur2 | how do courts decide who to send to white collar prison? | [
{
"answer": "There's a point system that takes into account a number of things (age, gender, crime committed, whether the person is an escape risk, and whether they have violent tendencies). The more points the convict gets, the higher level of prison security they get.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"an... | null |
1u1krl | How have small speakers (cellphones, beats pill) improved in quality so much recently? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not an expert on small speaker design, but here's the best I can come up with.\n\nFirst off, let's split up the question into \"mini-speakers\" like the beats pill, and \"micro-speakers\" that one might find in a mobile phone.\n\nMini-speakers are not all that different from normal loudspeakers... | null |
56vqit | At what point and location did the English language split among the use of the article "the" before "hospital"? | [
{
"answer": "This is not a historical development, as such. Though nor is it usage which may be explained with a hard and fast rule, as there is some dialectal variation with respect to it. \n \nWhat we are observing, essentially, is that English nouns require an article where they are countable, singular an... | null |
3vrtho | Did the reforms of the Gracchi Brothers actually influence Rome? | [
{
"answer": "TL:DR Yes, absolutely. At least in aristocratic memory.\n\nWho is Jeremy Corbin?\n\nFirst of all, the Gracchi were one step in a line of \"trouble-making\" tribunes. Lily Ross-Taylor wrote an important article \"The Forerunners of the Gracchi,\" in *JRS* 52 (1962) if you can get it. She challeng... | null |
bvq81k | How was the iconography of the Confederacy reframed into something that's treated as honorable/worthy of obsession? | [
{
"answer": "Civil War memory is something I write a lot about, so I'd point you to [this older answer of mine](_URL_0_) which focuses more on the evolution of Confederate statuary than the Lost Cause itself, but I think does speak well to your question, although I'm of course happy to do my best with any follo... | null |
827fob | What happens to the body when your cortisol levels are constantly too high? | [
{
"answer": "This is a really broad question, since excessive cortisol in the human body can have a lot of implications. I'll just talk about one of them.\n\nOne area of your brain that has a lot of cortisol receptors is the hippocampus. There is some evidence that excess cortisol can cause the hippocampus to b... | null |
4i99pg | how do electromagnetic pulses (emp) destroy electronics and is it possible to deploy it in bombs for warfare? | [
{
"answer": "it is basically a very strong signal that is capable of frying weaker systems. It can be used for warfare, but its use is some what limited by the fact that military hardware is tough and most known systems are not big enough or thorough enough to take down civilians areas with any effectiveness. E... | null |
7bps5m | why do headphones sound tinny until you put them on? | [
{
"answer": "Bass waves travel the least amount of distance, while higher pitched waves will reach your ears. Your ears are best at picking up and discerning those higher pitched sounds because they are most like the sounds you would normally be hearing. All of this considering the headphone speakers are very s... | null |
z5h8p | Were Serbs exceptionally effective in the war against Austria during WWI? | [
{
"answer": "Serbia's army had experience from the [Balkan Wars](_URL_0_), unlike the Austrians who were quite green. Austrian troops were better equipped, but had far less patriotism due to the fact that most of them weren't Austrian, but Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, etc. The Serbians also could match the Austria... | null |
s4gx7 | the d & d alignment system, particularly the distinction between "neutral good/evil" and "chaotic good/evil." | [
{
"answer": "It helps to just view the alignments one axis at a time -- lawful, neutral, chaotic; good, neutral evil.\n\nLawful means you will follow certain rules.\nChaotic means everything is random -- rules are made to be broken.\nNeutral is somewhere in between these two; really, most people you meet with i... | null |
3pjo5p | why can my dog eat shit and be fine, but not grapes or chocolate? | [
{
"answer": "Because dog shit doesn't contain a compound (Theobromine) that is toxic to dogs. It *may* contain pathogens that make them sick, though.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "3303843",
"title": "Dog anatomy",
"sect... | null |
7yr4kn | Why didn't the overthrow and regicide of Charles I prompt massive retaliation from other monarchs the way Louis XVI's did? | [
{
"answer": "For much of the time of the English Civil War(s) Europe was still involved in the Thirty Years War. And the concurrent Franco-Spanish War, which blurred with the Thirty Years War but lasted longer. For the Holy Roman Empire and Spain the Thirty Years War was a much more pressing threat against thei... | null |
24ib45 | how credits were added to film | [
{
"answer": "Assuming you are talking about the older days before computers, credits where often printed onto a a sheet which was attached to two rollers, kinda like a treadmill. Then they could just film it.\n\nThey could also layer films over one another to superimpose credits on a live action scene.",
"p... | null |
56s0ym | Sources on pre-modern/medieval arms race | [
{
"answer": "You are entirely right that much internet information on weapons is fragmentary and contradictory. Part of this is because a lot of the information out there is by enthusiasts of different knowledge levels and there are a lot of old sources and bad scholarship mixed in with good sources and sound m... | null |
36rom5 | If light has properties of waves, would it be possible to phase-cancel two laser beams? If yes, what would happen? If no, why not? | [
{
"answer": "Yes. This is called interference and is a property of all waves. The prime apparatus that demonstrates laser beam interference is a Michelson interferometer. Basically, a laser beam is split into two different laser beams (so that they are coherent because significant interference requires coherenc... | null |
2khy1d | Do all terrestrial bodies which experience a planetary wobble and orbit a star have four seasons? | [
{
"answer": "The Earth's wobble (precession of the equinoxes) doesn't cause the seasons. The seasons are due to the axial tilt and the orbit of the Sun.\n\n\"Seasons\" isn't an astronomical term. Any planet whose axis of rotation is tilted with respect to its orbital plane will have solstices and equinoxes. If ... | null |
2rlp1l | why do japanese swords only have one edge? | [
{
"answer": "Two advantages of a single edge is that with a thicker back the greater the stiffness than a comparable double-edged sword, which in turn greatly improves the blade's thrusting capability.\n\nAlso with a thick and flat back edge it is better for defending a strike from your enemy. ",
"provenanc... | null |
3zcy8r | how does professional poker work? | [
{
"answer": "I am not a professional poker player, but I do know three pros personally. They are not big name pros, but they do earn a modest living ((think mid-five figures) playing poker.\n\nOne of them got his start by making the final table of a large multi-table tournament at a casino with a smallish ($20... | null |
6iavqm | Is there a difference between the chubby and skinny Buddha? | [
{
"answer": "Hi, you may be interested in some earlier threads on this question. See this answer by /u/Notamacropus, and follow the links for more\n\n* [Given that Siddhartha was likely very thin, when and why did depictions of the Buddha come to be fat?](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer":... | null |
d4qwkd | how do completely torn ligaments such as atfl heal? | [
{
"answer": "Fairly complicated, the simple answer is that cells communicate. A cell can tell other cells where is it, what type of cell it is, and if it’s in some kind of “distress”. There is also a 3 step response when tissue tears, and the first step is basically inflammation. In this step, a ton of differen... | null |
2mp006 | How do you continue studying history after graduation? | [
{
"answer": "Keep up with the big journals, and go to some of the big conferences. You'll stay up-to-date with the most recent research, and get to keep interacting with people who hold a similar academic interest. \n\nOnce you have your JD, there's always the option of (potentially) writing academically on cla... | null |
1cxfm3 | Aside from the obvious (algebra, chess, etc.), how did Western science benefit from encounters with Islam and the Middle East during the Crusades? | [
{
"answer": "I don't know if you mean strictly science, but after encountering civilization that payed much attention to every-day life comfort and hygiene, westerners began equipping their homes with furniture. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "In my understanding that old idea of information t... | null |
3jn2dw | Are artificial food dyes different than dyes used in craft supplies? | [
{
"answer": "Dyes that are approved for use in food or hygiene products have undergone testing to various degrees in order to ensure that they are non-toxic in the quantities you'd find in those products. Crafts supplies have no such regulations in place, and there is no telling what materials are present in t... | null |
3l5vg6 | How does the UV Catastrophe relate to the quantization of energy? | [
{
"answer": "The basic problem can be thought of like this: in classical thermodynamics there is the [equipartition theorem](_URL_0_) which means that each mode has the same (finite) average energy. The electromagnetic field has an infinity of modes, hence the problem.\n\nedit: corralled some runaway words ",
... | null |
puth7 | Is it possible to condition your own bladder to hold more liquid? | [
{
"answer": "The feeling of needing to urinate stems from mechanoreceptors in the bladder, it's certainly possible to learn to develop tolerance to the desire to urinate and as such increase the length of time between urinating. Drugs such as Tolterodine and various bladder training techniques have been shown t... | null |
cjf4ug | Why were the Anglo-Saxons one of the only Germanic groups who didn’t assimilate into the cultures they conquered? | [
{
"answer": "Who says that they didn't? Robin Fleming argues in *Britain After Rome* that the idea of the Anglo-Saxons as a purely Germanic culture is misguided and not supported by the evidence that we have available through archaeology. She points to the blend of clothing and jewelry styles that emerged fol... | null |
1tb10p | why do my muscles hurt after using them? | [
{
"answer": "You are literally damaging them on the cellular level. That's what prompts them to rebuild and become stronger.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Lactic acid build up within the muscle may cause pain. Muscle tightness also may cause pain in the muscle.",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
534uvf | Why does my vision change when I focus intently on anything around me? | [
{
"answer": "When you [stabilize an image on your retina](_URL_1_) for a long time, you adapt to portions of the image and stop noticing / seeing them. The auditory equivalent is when you do not notice the hum of a light or a fan until you pay attention to it again. Normally, your eyes are moving many times a s... | null |
2sjd79 | what is going to make future 5g internet, faster than current 4g networks? | [
{
"answer": "Well, there was a mobile network CEO or tech apecialist recently that described how the 5g network will work. It will be closer to skynet in terms of the net will be smarter, faster, more organized, and better equipped with newer generation technology that enables up to gigabit. There will be bigge... | null |
155sy2 | How was life as a Carthaginian compared to life as a Roman? | [
{
"answer": "Eckstein in *Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome* argued that Rome was no more militaristic than any other Mediterranean state. He was bucking the traditional claim that Rome was super-militaristic, but I think he's convincing.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer"... | null |
3cua55 | How did the United States of America arrive at their valuation of Greenland in 1946? Could the area have been worth the cost of purchase in terms of economic output, or was the value purely strategic? | [
{
"answer": "Initially, America very much wanted it for strategic reasons. The GIUK Gap was hugely important. Specifically, it was important to the Soviet Union's submarine fleet.\n\nIf you look at the terms of the [Montreux Convention](_URL_2_), it was impossible to \"sneak\" a submarine through Turkish waters... | null |
3yj1wt | has the physiological damage caused by trauma been the same through out history? | [
{
"answer": "No. Trauma has been present with humanity throughout our history. The difference is that nowadays, we are allowed to actually speak about our traumas, and help them heal, whereas in the past there was mostly an attitude of 'why are you acting like this, stop it'. Or if it was mentioned, it was ment... | null |
3g5fna | Why was the USS Indianapolis sailing without an escort when she was sunk? | [
{
"answer": "It's normal for a cruiser to operate alone without destroyer escort in some circumstances. A heavy cruiser is an important asset, but it's not a capital ship that will shift the balance of naval power if lost. Destroyers were always in high demand for various roles in world war two and there were... | null |
1x45w6 | What adaptations do humans have that allow them to remain balanced without a tail? | [
{
"answer": "During the time our tails were disappearing (and they still are, if you look at our skeletons), we began to evolve a sense called Equilibrioception—or balance.\n\nEquilibrioception makes use of a variety of sensory input to keep us from falling over while walking or standing:\n\n1. Visual cues, lik... | null |
1ayjco | "Rubbing Alcohol" is the main ingredient in most skin care (and other) products but we've all been told to basically not use it for anything except an antiseptic. Why? | [
{
"answer": "If I remember correctly, there are two big reasons for this:\n\nWhen the skin dries up, it flakes off and ends up in the pores which will cause more blemishes then when you originally started.\n\nSecond, because it dries up so much, your skin will try to regain a balance and then overproduce oils, ... | null |
5m2l4c | When did the US Government begin doubting that China/Taiwan would ever retake the Chinese mainland? | [
{
"answer": "The US was never really under any illusions that the nationalists would somehow turn things around in the Civil War after they retreated to Taiwan. Even before the end of WW2 there had been multiple American observers and experts in China who had reported the Communists enjoyed much broader popula... | null |
ky24g | How do physics and astronomy undergrad majors differ? | [
{
"answer": "They are very similar, but you'd do better to get a degree in physics if you're really interested in high level astronomy. Astronomy degrees can focus too much on what may or may not be relevant to your interests. It's better to get a broad understanding of physics, rather than an astronomical base... | null |
252kku | how do octopuses avoid giving themselves brain damage? | [
{
"answer": "They don't really have a localized brain, like we do. Rather, it is spread throughout their body, with a lot of neural tissue in the tentacles.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "22780",
"title": "Octopus",
"sec... | null |
3q1dai | why did we go from round headphone wires to flat ones? | [
{
"answer": "i'm not sure what you mean. all headphones i've bought in the past few years have round wires. can you give an example of these \"flat\" wires?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Flat wires do have a harder time getting tangled. Also some prefer them for aesthetic reasons. That's pret... | null |
3spya0 | who was the last living person to hold the position (however ceremonial) of a roman senator? When was the last time the Roman senate met? | [
{
"answer": "The Roman Senate continued to meet throughout the first part of the sixth century, and even enjoyed a renaissance of sorts under the barbaric rulers beginning with Odoacer and especially under Theodoric the Great. The Gothic Wars, though, devastated Italy in the mid-sixth century, and Rome was no e... | null |
5pmhiw | American and Russian submarines during WW2 | [
{
"answer": "During WWII the United States Navy used the Mark 14 torpedo. The torpedo had a speed of 46 knots. Now it is unclear what class of Soviet submarine was being used but I can assure you that it would have been hopelessly outmatched in terms of submerged speed. From what I found the submerged top sp... | null |
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