id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
u9w1l | I know this question is asked a lot in other subreddits, but I want to hear it from here: what's the most interesting, thought provoking fact you know? | [
{
"answer": "The Romans had tacky shot glasses shaped like gladiator helmets.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Ethnocentrism plagues our accuracy for history.\n\nExample, Okinawan \"[karate](_URL_0_)\" originally meant \"Chinese hand\" (Okninawans' perspective) and its similarity sound in diale... | null |
7kptiu | why does a dishwasher seem to slowly loose the ability to clean over a few years, but a washing machine works the about the same until it breaks? | [
{
"answer": "You’re more likely to have food particles left on plates than you are to have dirt and debris on clothes. The food particles and other stuff likely caused a clogged filter. Your washing machine also has a filter FYI",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{... | null |
9x24el | How are quantum computers actually implemented? | [
{
"answer": "In superconducting quantum computing one typically uses Josephson junctions (superconducting tunnel junctions) to make anharmonic resonators that act as qubits. Junctions are made by litography like classical CPUs. Such qubits are prepared by microwave pulses that correspond to rotations on the Blo... | null |
6d4yt0 | how does sentience arise during gestation? | [
{
"answer": "The fertilized egg has different genetic material than either parent, so at that point it would be considered a different living creature.\n\nYour other questions are more social questions, insofar as the rights of the unborn are concerned, which don't have any objective answer.",
"provenance":... | null |
1vs7lj | why do 3d movies hurt my eyes? why do i have issues when others don't? what's going on with my vision? | [
{
"answer": "I have a similar issue. I asked my eye doctor and was told that the astigmatism is what causes the headaches and such. Something to do with how the eyes shift to focus. I can't go to 3D movies because I get wicked headaches. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [... | null |
1u0bw1 | Is it likely that our current model of fundamental particles is unadvanced? | [
{
"answer": "Most extensions to the standard model invoke the existence of new particles. For example, supersymmetry predicts that every particle has a \"super partner\". However, in most of the theories, the extra particles exist as a result of new symmetries, which actually simplify the theory by making the... | null |
m7prm | How did the astronauts that have landed on the moon manage the descent to and especially ascent from the surface? | [
{
"answer": "Here they are ascending. _URL_0_\n\nIt was all timed to meet up with the CM in orbit over the moon.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "So here's [an xkcd](_URL_0_) I find to be very relevant. The earth sits at the bottom of its local gravity well, and the moon is up the well a bit, wi... | null |
bw266y | what is a luxury tax as it refers to sports teams? how does signing potential free agents possibly impose the tax on a team? | [
{
"answer": "It is a sort of soft cap. A hard cap like football is you can’t spend more than x amount of money on player salary . A luxury tax is a soft because you can spend more than the cap but at a penalty. If you spend more than x amount of money you will have to pay a penalty of a certain percentage for e... | null |
1kh2xp | What would it be like to be on a planet in a Quasar galaxy. | [
{
"answer": "I am in a group that studies quasar host galaxies. That is galaxies with a quasar in them. This is an active field so things are always changing but this answer will be my best guess considering current research.\n\nLets only consider disk galaxies. In that case most of the emission from the quasar... | null |
z8xvw | why do some martial artists yell in movies and at demonstrations? | [
{
"answer": "There are many reasons. Exhaling tightens the diaphragm and tenses the body, making strikes more powerful and protects the body from counterstrikes. This is why UFC fighters always make that \"tsss\" sound whenever they throw a strike.\n\nI am also fairly sure that yelling has to do with rituals us... | null |
6pxb2w | what do people mean when they blame the "older generation" for ruining housing and the economy? | [
{
"answer": "In general, the baby boomer generation went to college, got married, bought houses and retired from companies they had worked for for many years. Millennials, on the other hand, generally haven't got the earning power to do that. They often graduate college in debt or skip college entirely, general... | null |
665cjq | How does the Foucault Pendulum work if it is within Earth's atmosphere that is rotating along with Earth? | [
{
"answer": "The Foucault pendulum has nothing to do with the atmosphere. The relevant forces are gravity, tension, and the **Coriolis force**.\n\nThe Coriolis force is simply due to the fact that the Earth is rotating, so a reference frame fixed with respect to a point on the surface of the Earth is non-inerti... | null |
xcd0o | why do stripes look wonky on videos? | [
{
"answer": "In real life, spots on a line can be anywhere they want. \n\nIn videos (assuming vertical lines on a 1080p video) each spot has only 1080 places it can possibly be. If the line is perfectly straight, they will line up nicely like that, but if not, the recording device will have to choose a spot to ... | null |
6en6rb | in videogames, why is the animation of simple things so damn difficult( kissing, drinking water, playing an instrument, etc? | [
{
"answer": "Because they are not that simple. For instance, a sword slash would be movement of larger areas, whereas a face has many tiny areas that would have to be animated, keep in mind all those tiny animations have to fit together. If motion capturing is used its also much more difficult to track face mov... | null |
38c0rn | why don't we have jungle bears with green fur? | [
{
"answer": "Mammals only have 2 types of pigment in fur/hair: eumelanin (black/brown) and pheomelanin (red/orange). Combinations of these pigments give a wide range of colors, from black to light brown to auburn to orange to yellow blonde. Absence of these pigments results in white, and in icy habitats, bears ... | null |
1435gb | what does your computer do when it "shuts down"? | [
{
"answer": "Software can often store information in temporary places. When you go through a shutdown/quit/exit process, it's not just stopping that program, it should also be reverting any of those file/directory locks and bringing the 'temporary' information back to a 'permanent' state. \n\nWhen you just pull... | null |
1uv220 | How'd the Dutch rise, colonize, and build one of the biggest navies in the world while they were constantly fighting the Spanish? | [
{
"answer": "And where did most of the wood come from to build their ships?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "21148",
"title": "Netherlands",
"section": "Section::::History.:Dutch Republic (1581–1795).\n",
"start_pa... | null |
dpd8dv | what is newton's concept of absolute space? | [
{
"answer": "You may be having this problem understanding it because you've grown up in a world that has known Newton was totally wrong about this for several generations now. Relativity and quantum mechanics are familiar to you, and the complexities that come with them.\n\nThrow out this complexities and thin... | null |
33nn3i | If gravitational waves propagate not instantaneously, but instead at the speed of light, does that mean gravity waves can interact with and influence other gravity waves? | [
{
"answer": "Yeah, sort of. You can get [interference](_URL_1_) of lots of gravitational waves. You won't really get a refraction, explained well in [this post](_URL_0_).\n\nPulsar timing experiments, among others, are looking to detect, among other things, a stochastic background of gravitational waves, which ... | null |
4c6tbr | In ancient Rome what was the difference between a freedman and a citizen? | [
{
"answer": "Many scholars argue that part of what made Rome great was its relatively lenient policies regarding manumission, that is, going from slave to freedman (whose children would then be full citizens) was a great motivator for slaves to be quiet, content, and productive. R.H. Barrow in his work, Slavery... | null |
1v19vb | Have people always thought nature is beautiful? | [
{
"answer": " I'm not certain exactly what you mean by the modern age but the current trend of art praising the beauty of nature was started by two men, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge when they published Lyrical Ballads in 1798. This kicked off the Romantic era of art, and heavily influenced art... | null |
m4hif | tabletop rpgs... | [
{
"answer": "I'd suggest this site as a starter: _URL_0_\n\nYou may be better off asking in /r/boardgames. There are lots of games that initiate conversation, though like I said, you'll be better off asking those more experienced.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I'm sure everyone's heard of Rol... | null |
30bvxa | when jumpstarting a car, why is it important to always start with the positive gauge (red) ? | [
{
"answer": "If you connect negative first, and you accidently touch the positive to something like the frame, engine block or even the battery strap, you can complete the circuit and get a spark, which could damage the car's electronics.\n\nRed first means you have an open circuit, because the relay switch tha... | null |
1n3rkz | How much weight can the human foot support? | [
{
"answer": "I know nothing about biology, but as an interesting lower bound, the heaviest [deadlift](_URL_0_) on record is 1180 lb. Adding the weight of the weightlifter (reported to be 275lb) shows that a (extremely strong) human can hold at least 1455lb on two feet, or 727.5lb per foot. I highly doubt that a... | null |
7tvni3 | In movies, oftentimes a command given to archers is “fire!” I saw somewhere that the command wasn’t actually the word “fire”. What would someone say in order to command an group of archers to shoot arrows at a target? | [
{
"answer": "To get the simple things out of the way first, “fire” is generally not considered the proper term for shooting a non-gunpowder weapon. Early gunpowder weapons were triggered by applying a fire source, often a slow-burning wick, into the gunpowder via a hole in the side of the weapon. In the earlies... | null |
th7lt | If cosmic microwave background radiation is traveling to us from a little after the Big Bang, at the speed of light, then how did we get here first? | [
{
"answer": "The big bang wasn't an explosion in space at a point, away from which we're now flying. It was the expansion of *all* of space. For several hundred, thousand years after the initial singularity, the universe was too hot and dense for light to travel. Any time it was produced, it would immediately b... | null |
3fwx0y | how do you lift 'with your legs' and not with your back | [
{
"answer": "The easiest way I've learned to feel it is to try to feel the pressure on your legs.\n\nWhen you go to pick up something, bend your knees. As you lift it, focus the pressure on your legs. It'll be difficult to pick up heavy objects initially, but you'll get the hang of it really fast",
"provena... | null |
3mbl7g | what is political correctness? | [
{
"answer": "In a nutshell, political correctness is a way of speaking, behaving, and expressing oneself that deliberately focuses on having no negative implications towards any one or group of people. It's designed so that no one is offended and to let other people know that you have considered all people and ... | null |
207at4 | If quantum computing is a possibility, is there also such a thing as quantum storage? | [
{
"answer": "As for long term storage devices for [entangled states](_URL_1_), none exist. It is ridiculously hard to preserve entangled states for longer than a few seconds. Currently though, the quantum information processing community is working on something called [quantum memory](_URL_0_) that would allow ... | null |
1qpw01 | How different was Mao's communism from Marx's commuism? What about the Russian figureheads like Stalin, Trotsky, or Lenin? | [
{
"answer": "One of the biggest difficulties with this is that Marx is a little light on Revolutionary theory, so much so that philosophers and historians still disagree about whether he advocated violent revolution or not. The Communist Manifesto is a slim thing, about thirty or forty pages, and is decidedly i... | null |
iu02q | Why does 5 hour energy contain 8000%+ vitamin B? | [
{
"answer": "Since it is water-soluble, it just gets flushed out in your urine pretty quick. The whole process takes about... 5 hours! Which makes me wonder what kind of trickery those \"6 hour power\" guys are up to.\n\nFat-soluble vitamins *can* accumulate. Too much of them can lead to [hypervitaminosis](_... | null |
4l8gut | if the court sides with the defendant, why are they still responsible for lawyer fees ? | [
{
"answer": "Because it would encourage parties to make litigation less efficient. If I have to pay for my defense I'm less likely to want my attorney to file a ton of unnecessary motions. That's assuming the lawsuit is not frivolous. Though they could potentially collect in a suit responding to this one, such ... | null |
3tqcss | Good historical movies for ancient/classical times? | [
{
"answer": "Unfortunately, antiquity is very poorly depicted in television and film. I personally cannot think of any film set in antiquity that accurately depicts it’s setting. I do apologize for the short answer, but there really are none. Might I ask why you are looking for films that are “pinpoint histori... | null |
6kiagh | why does it seem that u.s. construction projects, roadwork, etc. take so long to complete while in other countries it appears to be much shorter? | [
{
"answer": "A lot of times, it's money. Unless the project is urgent, the contract for a job goes to the lowest bidder. There is rarely a financial incentive to complete one project quickly.\n\n\nHowever, in some cases, projects can be done quickly. See the Atlanta I-85 bridge collapse as an example. ... | null |
27muyn | what does is feel like to have a seizure? | [
{
"answer": "There are many different types of seizures, all of which probably feel very different. But, I can tell you about the one I had.\n\nI was sitting at the computer and everything suddenly started tilting and sliding. From my perspective it was like the entire room just suddenly tilted and slid to the ... | null |
2bghpv | Are the different regions of the brain physiologically different? | [
{
"answer": "The answer would be \"both\": the cells are different, and the ways they are connected to each other are different.\n\nEven in the cortex (you know, [that wrinkled walnut-looking stuff](_URL_3_) that you first imagine when you think about human brain): even in the cortex, although it looks pretty u... | null |
26maa8 | what does a cyber attack look like? | [
{
"answer": "It isn't anything like the movies. If you notice anything at all it would look like your internet connection suddenly turning crap, or applications crashing.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You don't find out until you notice something's wrong or someone tells you what happened. Tw... | null |
nxuyt | how movies like toy story had great graphics in the mid-90s, but video games took much longer to reach the same level of quality | [
{
"answer": "\"Rendering\" is when the computer uses math to make the visuals output. Shadows, reflections, colors, everything you see on a movie or a game is calculated with math.\n\nVideo games are rendered in real time, which means that the computer is doing the math to make what you see on the game as it is... | null |
46jkxl | out of everything that comes out of our body, what contains dna and what doesn't? | [
{
"answer": "DNA is found in basically all of our body's cells (the major exception being red blood cells, which kick it all out so they can carry more oxygen). Off the top of my head, the main sources of DNA that you could leave behind are skin flakes, blood (in white blood cells), semen (sperm are basically D... | null |
26igp7 | what are the anti-eu parties across europe actually objecting to? | [
{
"answer": "The combined currency is for some nations weaker than there own was, the freedom of movement and immigration laws see lots of people from poor eu countries moving into and living off welfare/stealing jobs from rich eu countries, bailing out stupid eu countries for making stupid decisions, the eu le... | null |
82bozp | what does o(log n) mean exactly? | [
{
"answer": "Its [Big O notation](_URL_0_) and tells you how processing time increases with a function of data size.\n\nIf something is O(log n) then processing time increases proportionally to the log2 of the size of the data. If you increase your data by a factor of 8 then processing time will quadrouple.\n\... | null |
akyvki | how can we freeze molecules to almost absolute 0? | [
{
"answer": "ELI5: we take their energy away. Heat is energy as you mentioned, now we just have to remove enough energy. \n\nThis really should be on r/askscience rather than here ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "When you decrease the pressure of a gas, it will cool down. If you compress it, it... | null |
1xklzz | in what way am i being fucked by my isp if my internet connection is considerably faster through a vpn connection? | [
{
"answer": "There are a couple of things that it could be, but the most likely is a server with QOS(quality of service) functions. In its most basic form, they sniff the packets of information, and then the server decides on how well it will service you. As to why a VPN will help, the server essentially won't ... | null |
655v9p | What was taught at Oxford University during the first few years after it was founded in 1096? | [
{
"answer": "[Oxford was not founded in 1096.] (_URL_0_)\n\nThat said, the basic curriculum for the average, bureaucracy-bound medieval university students in the 13th century consisted of the seven liberal arts, the *trivium* plus the *quadrivium*. The trivium was ~~dialectic~~ grammar, logic, rhetoric (essent... | null |
7ucmz1 | Most plants that live on the Earth's surface die without sunlight. But what happens if they are exposed to constant sunlight? | [
{
"answer": "they grow quicker and bigger if in optimun soil. technically many annuals are tender perrenials and just keep growing. alaska for example has a short growing seasom but the nearly 24 hour sun in summer leads to huge growth",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Having experience in plant... | null |
2a0y9b | I've heard that Russian tanks were immediately sent from the factory to the battlefield with ammo and men inside during WW2. How true is this? | [
{
"answer": "Ok, so here's the list of main Soviet tank producing centers before the war:\n\n* Moscow - plant №37 (produced light amphibious tanks - **T-37a**, **T-38**, **T-40**, ~4.500 total)\n\n* Leningrad - plant №174 (in 1931-1941 produced light tanks **T-26**, total production ~10.000, and started light t... | null |
b8kdmc | Do people with a fast metabolism have more mitochondria or do the reactions happen quicker? | [
{
"answer": "I think you have the idea of metabolism slightly misunderstood. Metabolism, in most peoples understanding, is how much food you can eat and not gain weight. Whereas metabolism, in scientific terms, is the overall production and expenditure of energy through the deconstruction and construction of co... | null |
xwvq7 | Does masturbation make one sleepy like sex? | [
{
"answer": "Masturbation, or more specifically an orgasm. Is a very energy intensive process for the body, from flooding the body with hormones to producing bloodily fluids, not to mention the raw physical exertion. All these factors add up to make the body more \"tired\" than before the process. Also endor... | null |
ew82vl | How do investigators determine that an individual was “killed instantly” in an accident? | [
{
"answer": "It’s not something that “investigators” as in officers determine, that’s the area of the coroner/medical examiner. “Killed instantly” usually refers to catastrophic deaths that destroy a critical part of the brain or nervous system. In instances where no one else was present or the subject was asle... | null |
2lb4ni | anisotropic filtering & anti-aliasing | [
{
"answer": "Anisotropic filtering helps textures in video games to be viewed in more detail when they are viewed from an extreme angle [example 1](_URL_0_), [example 2](_URL_1_). Anisotropic filtering also helps to prevent aliasing.\n\nThe anti-aliasing method used in video games is officially called supersamp... | null |
2b4qtr | mh17 is there a chance someone survived the initial explosion? | [
{
"answer": "_URL_0_\n\nThis woman survived a 10k meter fall after a bomb went off on the plane. I'm not sure how different the effect of a bomb vs missile strike is, but in her case, it did break the plane in two. I think she was unconscious for the fall though, so no texting possible.\n\nEDIT: Better explanat... | null |
5hsisj | why does it sound terrible if two songs play at once on one computer? | [
{
"answer": "A speaker produces sound from a very simple physical movement, and this movement can only contain a finite density of \"information\". The computer will collect all sound output and sum them together into a single wave pattern that it will instruct the speaker to perform. The wave signal created by... | null |
15ae3x | where did Anglo-Saxon churchmen get the red wine they used for the sacraments? | [
{
"answer": "It's a very specific question about a difficult period (not a tonne of sources about this particular aspect, I would guess). So the quality of my response would be doubtful. That being said, it probably doesn't take someone well-read in this period to wager that the wine came from southern France (... | null |
3fdb4a | why are smokers often berated but there is a movement for fat acceptance, basically promoting obesity? | [
{
"answer": "smoking is bad and it's a pretty straight forward narrative, people shouldn't smoke because it's not healthy.\n\n\"fat acceptance\" or the HAES movement is more complex because it is tied down to gender and social issues. The HAES movement is more or less a response from society and the media and a... | null |
6tls5x | "the netherlands is the world's second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products, after the united states". how on earth is this possible? | [
{
"answer": "_URL_0_\n\nSummary: they export high-value products, and many of these are actually grown elsewhere and just *traded* through the Netherlands.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The largest and most important port in Europe is Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Agricultural products come f... | null |
1wydev | Several times on Reddit, I've seen claims that Johan de Witt was eaten by a mob of angry Dutch. Is there any support in the primary sources for this claim? | [
{
"answer": "well, there's [this](_URL_0_) contemporary publication of several eye-witness accounts and a letter by a judge. I haven't read the whole thing but it does mention people biting the corpses and cutting off pieces with the intent of eating them (so they said). To say that he was entirely eaten would ... | null |
48oq87 | what is a gifv, why does it stop background music on ios, and what's wrong with a good ol' gif? | [
{
"answer": "\"Gifv\" is specific to Imgur. Instead of playing the Gif normally, it converts it (well it's already converted) to WebM, a video format. iOS automatically pauses background audio whenever a video file is played, whether or not the video has audio.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": nu... | null |
e2xtky | After a nuclear detonation, why do rings appear sometimes around the mushroom cloud? | [
{
"answer": "They are called condensation clouds and are speculated to form during large explosions in humid air due to the shock wave passing an area leaving a low pressure wake behind it in localized areas. The low pressure drops the region below its dew point and the humid air condenses and becomes visible. ... | null |
6aak0l | the state of illinois hasn't had a budget in over two years. what has all of our money been doing during that time since taxes are still being collected? | [
{
"answer": "This is a question I'd love to see answered. My understanding is that there are ongoing operational expenses that are being funded by our taxes--like the necessities of day-to-day state government functions. A huge portion of our taxes go toward paying interest on the enormous debt that the state h... | null |
jz96j | When something is known to "cause cancer," what exactly does that mean? | [
{
"answer": "Layperson on this subject, but I believe we know that cancer is caused by damage done to the DNA in cells which makes them not function properly and form tumors. We can identify certain substances that cause this damage as 'carcinogens' (spelling might be off). Something important to understand is ... | null |
8qen4d | During World War II, did the Allies open the western front to prevent the Soviet Union from conquering western Europe? | [
{
"answer": " > I found this interesting because, if true, it would pretty significantly change my interpretation of the Allied invasion of western Europe. The typical narrative is that the Allies invaded France and Italy in 1944 in order to increase the pressure on the Nazis and to relieve the pressure for the... | null |
5s5epw | why do online cable streaming services only show a select 4 or 5 commercials? | [
{
"answer": "Possibly because you sign in to a lot is these services, and they use cookies and whatever else they might know about you to show targeted adverts for your specific demographic.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Is the ad rate so different than broadcast? I watch a local San Francis... | null |
8fuvdi | During WW2, were there any naval battles in the Atlantic that involved American warships? | [
{
"answer": "From an [earlier answer of mine](_URL_9_) also look at [/u/fourthmaninaboat's answer to the same question](_URL_10_) for some of the bigger naval actions. \n\nMost of the USN's surface encounters with the European Axis tended to be very small-scale compared to the Pacific battles and often entailed... | null |
n3ejy | How does this "magic" mug work? | [
{
"answer": "The phenomenon is called [thermochromism](_URL_0_). It involves changing the state or the structure of the dye molecule as a response to temperature change.\n\nOne way it is done is using a solvent with a high melting point, so when heat is applied the solvent is liquid, dissolving a dye and causin... | null |
2zs72r | why are seemingly "blank" or "simple" pieces of art considered exceptional? | [
{
"answer": "The history of art is a very long one and also one that is very complicated, but I think to appreciate art like this, you should have a little knowledge.\n\nPaintings like the Mona Lisa, which was made in the 16th century, were made in a very different context than this black painting in the pictur... | null |
splc6 | are radio waves as fast as the speed of light? then why is it stated that nothing can travel as fast as light, and/or that light (only) is the fastest thing that travels? | [
{
"answer": "Things with mass can't travel at the speed of light. Radio waves *are* light, they're electromagnetic waves just like the light we see, but they have less energy. The same applies to microwaves, infrared, UV, X-rays and gamma rays, although the last three have more energy than visible light.",
... | null |
33ga20 | What is the psychology behind using odd numbers as a price point for marketing of a product ? | [
{
"answer": "I'm assuming you're referring to the tendency for items to be priced at something like $19.99 rather than $20.00. The guiding principle here is called left-digit bias. In essence, when we make valuation judgments, we preferentially attend to the leftmost digits (or rightmost, if that's where the m... | null |
8flvbb | What caused the New England countryside to turn against British authorities in the run up to Lexington and Concord? | [
{
"answer": "As you rightfully point out, the origins of the resistance against the perceived overreach of the British government during the imperial crisis were based in the urban centres of New England where the different acts passed after 1764 had a greater impact. Now, it does need to be said that acts such... | null |
4x0es9 | how is russia able to afford its current modernization program? | [
{
"answer": "The available resource right in mainland and doesnt have to import, Russia with its vast land is very resource rich, so it's more cost-effective to self supplying some of the industries, making the product costs lower comparing to other countries. Furthermore, the cost living in Russia is lower tha... | null |
h2vz3 | Likelihood of seeing another "observable universe"? | [
{
"answer": "It's better to think of the observable universe as the little geographic territory you presently live in. You know there's more earth beyond the borders of your (city,state,country) even if you can't see them from where you're at this moment. Granted it's a little bit different because it is, in pr... | null |
w29mw | How and when did Hinduism start? Does it predate Indus Valley civilization? | [
{
"answer": "\" Until there is sufficient evidence, speculation about the religion of the IVC is largely based on a retrospective view from a much later Hindu perspective.[44]\"\n\n- Wikipedia. \n\n\nIt's mainly Hindu nationalists that like to claim the figure seen in the popular IVC seal as Shiva. If you do no... | null |
4wi8ps | I know a lot of plants and animals have developed toxins as part of a defense strategy, but what about bacteria? | [
{
"answer": "Microbiologist in training here! \n\n Yes , bacteria, as fungi, have also developed chemical defense strategies, that can be a lots of things, like antibiotics, anti tumor or, as you said, toxins, etc.. \n\n E.g. Botulism is caused by a neuro toxin called botulinum, from bacteria from th... | null |
3af6t5 | what is the difference between netflix's new releases and recently added? | [
{
"answer": "Recently Added means that the content has only been added to Netflix's library recently but may have aired/been released on other platforms at any time before. New Release means the content has only been released on other platforms recently.\nFor example, if Netflix added a tv show from the '60s ye... | null |
5jao7u | what causes some people to be more "addiction prone" than others? | [
{
"answer": "Lack of coping mechanisms, growing up in families with addiction, not necessarily because of the hereditary issue , but the learned behavior by seeing your parents abuse drugs and/or alcohol",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Although genes factor into making someone prone to addictio... | null |
1n3bf0 | is the us actually at war with any government? | [
{
"answer": "Not right now but we were at war with the Afghanistan government(Taliban) and Iraqi government back in the day until we got them out. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "10736697",
"title": "Schlesinger v. Holtzman",
... | null |
17uiln | how does the defrost on cars work? | [
{
"answer": "The front or the back?\n\nThe front defroster works by blowing hot air on the windshield. The back window defroster works by pumping electricity through thin wires until they heat up.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "3590554"... | null |
2d7w0s | Why did Rome never solve the "Persian Question" or vice versa? | [
{
"answer": "Well, the Eastern Roman Empire did beat the Persians. Emperor Herakleios (610-642 AD) led a campaign against Khosroes II for most of his reign and managed to bring about their surrender and defeat by 627 AD. It's only because of the (first) Arab Spring that we don't hear much about it. The Sassanid... | null |
3eqhvk | why don't reeds work well on brass intruments and brass mouthpeices on woodwinds? | [
{
"answer": "They both make vibration and therefore sound, but in different ways. On a woodwind mouthpiece, you blow air to vibrate the reed, while in a brass mouthpiece your lips are doing the vibrating. Both types of instrument (woodwind and brass) are designed to use the vibrations in different ways. The wo... | null |
clw4ut | would greenland be properly inhabitable with fertile soil should all ice melt there? | [
{
"answer": "Greenland has a base of volcanic rock so should have all the required minerals for plant growth, however there is no depth of soil require for plant growth, but eventually that could happen.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There already are plants on Greenland. Obviously, not every... | null |
8x148b | homelessness and skid row in la | [
{
"answer": "Mental illness. Persistently homeless people tend to have mental illnesses and there aren't enough places to treat them, so they end up congregating together on the streets.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "For LA in particular, housing costs are the driver.\n\nThere's generally go... | null |
5dkazg | when speaking about non-newtonian fluids, what is shear-thinning and shear-thickening? | [
{
"answer": "Imagine having two plates with a fluid between them. When you move the plates there's a resistance put up by the fluid; less than if there were nothing lubricating the plates, most likely, but still some resistance.\n\nIn a Newtonian fluid the resistance scales linearly with speed: move twice as ... | null |
98nf27 | female voices are higher pitch than male voices, so why can you still hear the difference between a male and female voice when they sing the exact same note for example? | [
{
"answer": "Gonna give this a to the best of my non-scientific knowledge shot. \n\nVocals have a quality known as timbre. I was taught in music theory classes that this is more or less the “texture” of the sound. Female timbre is softer and smoother than a male voice. A male voice has a rougher, more masculine... | null |
1axfs2 | why do some websites say "webpage moved: redirecting in 10 seconds. click here to redirect now." why don't they just redirect immediately? | [
{
"answer": "Instant redirects are very annoying, because it's difficult to use your browser's back button to get past them.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The actual redirect is being caused by a \"tag\" that the developer inserts into the code. They can customise it as much as they want, fro... | null |
1tf3ge | why do "aids treatment breakthroughs" keep making it to the front page every week when all of them are nowhere near proven or relevant yet? | [
{
"answer": "This isn't an HIV or Aids question, this is a why do people jump to conclusions so quickly question. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Welcome to science journalism.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Sensational titles = ratings = money.",
"provenance": null
},... | null |
2zez4b | What causes ocean waters to rise in temperature? | [
{
"answer": "Sea level rise is caused by the expansion of water itself as it heats up, and the input of water as glaciers and ice sheets melt. The melting of the glaciers and ice sheets are caused by increasing air temperatures. However, the vast majority of the heat is taken up by the oceans as the winds mix a... | null |
8aly1x | if a neighbor blares music, why does only the bass sound pass through walls? | [
{
"answer": "Sound is waves. High sounds are short waves and bass are long waves. It's not so much that bass is better at getting through walls but that high pitched sounds, meaning short waves tend to get more easily scattered.\n\nImagine a snake moving forward though a bed of rocks. If it slithers shorter the... | null |
9c69k9 | - how does remastering work? if the source material produces a blurry film 25 years ago, how do they make it clear now? | [
{
"answer": "So film is actually very high resolution. Like, the actual material that movie cameras record on. If they can go back to those original high quality sources and then use modern technology to process them, they can get better results because modern tech can preserve more of the resolution that was s... | null |
3oadr2 | Arabic in Medieval Europe, how common was it and how did people learn it? | [
{
"answer": "tl;dr - Overall, very rare.\n\nThe most important factor to keep in mind is *reason to learn*. For the vast, vast majority of medieval Christians, there was simply no reason to learn Arabic. They might know \"pagan\" Saracens existed, but that would be about it.\n\nAs you mention, OP, there were a ... | null |
2bhwhc | how commodities trading works. | [
{
"answer": "For the most part, commodities are traded as futures. Basically, as an investor, you make a contract with a seller to buy X amount of whatever they are selling for Y dollars on date ZZ/ZZ/ZZZZ. If on that date, the product is more expensive than it was when you traded for that future, you have made... | null |
4ip5d7 | Did Roman gladiators really promote products from the arena? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not aware of any reference in any ancient source to this sort of thing, although I won't rule it out completely. But let's have a look at where the Wikipedia article on the film Gladiator, which is the linked source to the TIL post, gets its information. Ah yes, that reliable historical source,... | null |
apb0k9 | how do instant fog windows work? | [
{
"answer": "Liquid crystals embedded in the glass are activated by electricity. They then turn and scatter light that tries to pass through them.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Switch glass has two sheets of glass. Inside those panes of glass are electrically charged sheets and between those ... | null |
ft05r4 | AITA for leading my people to a new land, and then setting myself and my family up as de facto gentry? | [
{
"answer": "NTA. You fought for that land, its only right that you get to enjoy it! What do those peasants expect from you!?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "ESH. Obviously your chief's son is TA for refusing to accept cattle as taxes, but my goodness, settlers are *always* TA as well. Props to... | null |
6tv7wl | What is the burden of proof to Identify/classify a new species? | [
{
"answer": "To name a new species you need to publish a species description in a scientific journal. This is a type of scientific paper that explains what your new species looks like, where it is found, how it lives, and how it differs from any similar known species. You don't need a PhD, but you do need a bod... | null |
3t9p3v | what triggers evolution in a species? | [
{
"answer": "Natural selection is always occurring. Every species can produce more offspring than can survive.\nSo some of the young alive will not reproduce. The rest are better at surviving and reproducing.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Cats less inclined to drink near their food were more ... | null |
3xkgxv | how can the human body still have organs that are useless after so many years of evolution? | [
{
"answer": "Evolution is not meant to be perfect, it is meant to make you survive until you reproduce. If an organ is useless, but not hurting enough humans to threaten the species, there is no point in removing it.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "We really don't have any completely *useless* ... | null |
8vaopt | sometimes i have to enter my debit card pin and sometimes i don’t. why? | [
{
"answer": "You can run a debit card as credit, so you won’t have to enter a pin (but you should have to sign for large purchases). \n\nSome merchants run cards as credit for convenience sake (fast food)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because they don't *have* to use your PIN, because America... | null |
a8mjj3 | if one person runs 10 miles at a 7 minute pace and another runs 10 miles at at 10 minute pace, who burns more calories? | [
{
"answer": "There is no way to determine that from the information provided. The person running the 10 minute pace might weigh 250 pounds while the 7 minute pace person weighs 100 pounds. All else being equal the movement of a given weight over a set distance requires more power when done faster, but as you po... | null |
dilzew | how does patient zero get sick? | [
{
"answer": "Most often it is cells damaged by an infection that mutate and start to show disease symptoms.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Few options.\n\nThen can be the person in which there was a mutation that allowed the disease to evade the community's immunity. Or they can be the person ... | null |
cmnpw5 | what is the us6506148b2 patent? what does it do exactly? how does it work? | [
{
"answer": "The patent claims that by pulsing the image or an electric field at a specific frequency, it can elicit a certain emotional and/or physical response. The patent covers the use of this technology within a television\n\nThere does exist transcranial magnetic stimulation, which more or less can do thi... | null |
5j820e | what is flops and is it a meaningful way to measure a computer's performance? | [
{
"answer": "FLOPS = Floating Point Operations Per Second\n\nIt is a meaningful way to measure performance in CPU intensive operations, like computational fluid dynamics. It's still used some in the super-computing benchmark arena.\n\nIt's not a meaningful measure of personal computing performance because most... | null |
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