id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
2rvsba | how does the mars rover send data(photos) from mars to earth? | [
{
"answer": "It has a UHF radio that it uses to talk to the orbiter (the thing that brought it to Mars that stayed up in orbit.) The orbiter has more power and a bigger radio dish; it relays msgs to/from the rover and Earth.\n\nIt takes 14 minutes for the radio data to go between Mars and Earth.",
"provenan... | null |
6r7nzy | we read about libraries that are sinking due to the weight of the books they store. we build cities with huge skyscrapers weighting millions of tons all in one place. can this affect earth rotation, or make the earth wobble, even by a small amount? | [
{
"answer": "In short, no. The size of even a skyscraper is small compared to earth. Looking at e.g. Mt. Everest, which is over 8km high, its hardly noticable if you look at the whole earth. It is also massive, pure rock, whereas a building is so to speak hollow, and a lot lighter.\n\nTo add to this (and use th... | null |
cw9tuf | why is underwear "a pair"? | [
{
"answer": "I'm totally not right but is a pair of pants because it's clothing a pair of legs?? Why is it called a pant leg then and not a pant...",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "\nPants used to be made in two parts, one for each leg. A shirt was made from a single piece of cloth.\n\nWhen pant... | null |
g7rkq | How long would an earth day be if there had never been a moon? | [
{
"answer": "While it's true that the moon is slowing down the earth's rotation period, it's much slower than what's causing the leap seconds. Leap seconds have to do with a difference between how seconds are defined (in terms of atomic vibrations of cesium) and the number of seconds in a day. We need approxi... | null |
1xnppy | Why are there no other species within the genus Homo still in existence while the genus Pan has two species that have stood the test of time? | [
{
"answer": "In part because a lot of taxonomy is, essentially, artificial -- *we* created it; nature doesn't have genera and phyla and kingdoms, they're labels we came up with to classify things. Before DNA sequencing, it was even more arbitrary, and because of the long-held belief of a hierarchy of life ther... | null |
1n79ro | Were Greek and Roman males shorter than they would be now? | [
{
"answer": "The Romans and Greeks (and practically everyone else before the present time) were [much shorter than us generally](_URL_0_) ('The Biological Standard of Living in Europe During the Last Two Millennia', Nikola Koepke and Joerg Baten, European Review of Economic History / Volume / Issue 01 / April ... | null |
1rymji | kant's view on determinism | [
{
"answer": "Someone has a paper due...",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "21478754",
"title": "Common sense",
"section": "Section::::Contemporary philosophy.:Ethics: what the community would think.\n",
"start_paragr... | null |
trvj5 | Underwater Cave/Air Pocket/Breaching | [
{
"answer": "Water would flow down, and the air would bubble up the newly drilled tube. There's nothing particularly unusual about the scenario you describe. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Not just a hypothetical: [Lake Peigneur drilling disaster](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{... | null |
b02xf9 | please eli5 the rules of magic: the gathering | [
{
"answer": "There are 5 colours, red, blue, green, white , black.\n\nYou play “land” cards to gain mana of that colour. (Eg forests give green mana, islands give blue mana).\n\nMinions and spell cards cost mana, some (or all) of that mana needs to be of a certain colour. There are also multi-coloured cards tha... | null |
1we5bv | when there is a holiday and trash pickup is delayed a day, how does the schedule right itself the following week? | [
{
"answer": "In my city Friday is not usually a normal trash pick up day. It's reserved for special pick ups of large items or large amounts of junk. When there is a holiday Friday becomes a normal pick up day and the special pick ups are cancelled that week. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": n... | null |
31bysh | Can an expert on the history of Poland provide an exegesis of this video? | [
{
"answer": "Please see: _URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "340687",
"title": "Gleiwitz incident",
"section": "Section::::In popular culture.\n",
"start_paragraph_id": 13,
"start_character": 0,
... | null |
2eknt9 | how do olympic athletes like ryan lochte fit 10,000 calories into their stomachs? | [
{
"answer": "They eat a lot of high calorie foods, and they eat a lot of meals. \n\nHigh tier swimmers might eat 4 or 5 big meals a day, plus snacks in between. They burn calories like crazy too.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "2886054... | null |
6t766z | how do icebreaker boats not get stuck in thick ice? | [
{
"answer": "Below the water line they have massive weights on moveable carts on tracks. The ships power on to the ice. If they can't crack the ice with their thick hulls, they ride on over the ice with the ship's bow. Then the weight is moved from the back of the ship to the front and the extra weight breaks t... | null |
14me6u | What knockon effects did Edward VIII's abdication have on the British public's perception of royal duty? | [
{
"answer": "I think if you're looking for a concrete \"Edward VIII's abdication resulted in A, B, and C being changed in the monarchical system\", you may be out of luck as this sort of symbolic system is very difficult to pin down.\n\nIn addition to that, George VI who succeeded Edward was extremely popular (... | null |
1nj8dy | where do all these surveys saying "__% of americans approve/disapprove ____" get their info from? | [
{
"answer": "You don't need particularly large sample sizes to get relatively good results. So if you go to [_URL_2_](_URL_0_) and just click on the first [poll available](_URL_0_/obama_ad.htm), you'll see a line that looks like this:\n\n\nCBS News/New York Times Poll. Sept. 19-23, 2013. N=1,014 adults nation... | null |
pgy8x | how do people get convicted of statutory rape? | [
{
"answer": "Physical evidence is *extremely* rarer than the media might lead you to believe. Even for the most serious of crimes, a majority of convictions weren't based on conclusive physical evidence.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Generally, what happens, based on my experience is that a 1... | null |
122kj2 | why is protectionism (specifically in a us context) a bad idea? | [
{
"answer": "Well if we put steep tariffs in place for their products, they'll do so for ours, in the end everyone ends up screwed. It might be an acceptable practice in very particular conditions or limited timeframes, but generally it just makes everything more expensive.\n\nAlso, it would definitely piss of... | null |
173gll | How did the Scandinavian welfare state come into being? | [
{
"answer": "~~In short social democracy happened. Denmark have mostly had social democratic prime ministers in socialist/socialliberal coalitions since WWII.~~\n\n The welfare state really started expanding in the 1950s with the danish public pension act of 1956. The public health care system got widely expand... | null |
2zjzye | why are melting ice sheets such a big deal? | [
{
"answer": "Most of the world's largest cities are coastal. Having to write them off because of rising water levels would cripple the global economy. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Of course, the threat can be exaggerated. But some considerations. \n\n- The rise may well be non-sudden, but ... | null |
53wq1u | why does "hard resetting" seem to fix just about anything like phones or gaming consoles? | [
{
"answer": "All computers have memory. When they start up they copy the instructions they need to run into memory. If something goes wrong, the instructions in memory can break. Computers don't work when following broken instructions. When you turn off the computer, it removes all the instructions from memory.... | null |
1fjejw | Does civilization lead to gene selection in humans? | [
{
"answer": "More often, crimes are influenced by the person's environment rather than genetics ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Anything that influences humans is part of evolution. Some of that influence can be very indirect.\n\nAs such, death sentences and incarceration do have an influence ... | null |
64lfhg | what happens to old churches? | [
{
"answer": "No, not unless you'll feel bad about it. Many churches meet in decidedly \"unholy\" locations. My current church used to meet in a movie theatre, currently in a repurposed warehouse. My old church meets in a nightclub. \n\nNow, I suppose the sellers of the building may want certain assurances befor... | null |
mojzm | If we we're to have the same Black Plague that happened in 1348 would we be able to create a cure and prevent it? | [
{
"answer": "We have a [vaccine](_URL_0_), so I think we're good.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "How do you know the date of the black death but you haven't read enough to know it was spread mostly by rats and their fleas, is bacterial and is now treatable, and was certainly greatly exacerbate... | null |
3wsnmz | Does a black hole ever appear to collapse? | [
{
"answer": "This is something of a paradox and I think you'll get different answers from different people, depending on their background. \n\nYou're right that in some sense, we (the external observer) never see anything cross the event horizon. Time gets dilated to shit and any infalling observer basically ge... | null |
b1z6k0 | What causes an iceberg to just tip over? | [
{
"answer": "Iceberg is mostly made of frozen fresh water (not sea water, as it contains various salts).\n\nMajority of the iceberg (approximately 90%) is below the waterline.\n\nThus when the iceberg melts, the balance of the iceberg changes, in some cases, tip over,",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answ... | null |
24qq4g | why is italy no longer a forward thinking and revolutionary civilization as they were in the past? | [
{
"answer": "For the same reason they aren't conquering the Mediterranean any more: it's not the same culture and society. Peoples change over time, the Renaissance was four hundred years ago. On top of that, Italy (along with Germany) are not natural constructs, they have historically been divided or united by... | null |
2oly7e | what exactly happened in the russian revolution of 1917? | [
{
"answer": "There were two major revolutions in 1917, the February and the October revolution (may differ because of calendars, but these are the most popular dates). The **February** revolution caused the abdication (stepping down) of the Tsar (Nicholas II) which ended the ~300 year rule of the Romanov dynast... | null |
6p3unz | What's the difference between Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism? | [
{
"answer": "Theravada is the oldest form still around.\n\nThree important main ones is that in theravada, post enlightenment buddhas only retain form for a short while. After that the enter paranirvana and no longer have a causal relationship to anything in reality. The goal of those in theravada is just to li... | null |
35icx3 | the relationship between hospitals and universities (when the two are associated with each other)? | [
{
"answer": "Yeah, the hospital acts as a regular hospital for the community, while also being a research and training facility for the school. It is usually a subsidiary of the school in every way. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "60200... | null |
75flpf | how are we able to tell which time is right or exact? | [
{
"answer": "If I'm not mistaken, exact time is held by an atomic clock. We use the atomic clock to set standard times that are kept by satellite/carrier signal. If you have wifi/Ethernet, your time will be the same as anyone in your time zone. If the device isn't connected via internet/satellite, it will not b... | null |
6dgehr | how does stuff get stuck up your anus and you need an doctor to get it out when your ass is made for stuff to come out | [
{
"answer": "Ok so muscles spasm post trauma. Your anus is inherently one way. So post slipping an object in, should it be wider than your natural orifice, you will sustain trauma. This will cause the muscles to spasm post stimuli. The clamping action of the spasm with further push the foreign object deeper and... | null |
319pqn | What did people think of William Tecumseh Sherman during and shortly after the war? | [
{
"answer": "Sherman could quite possibly have been president in the 1880s. The main person stopping him was...William Tecumseh Sherman who rightly realized he would be a terrible president.But he's a beloved figure in the North especially before the southern historians get a hand on him given that he's clearly... | null |
8qia1h | How are amounts of money from centuries ago adjusted for inflation in today's currency? | [
{
"answer": "Real wages, prices and so on are calculated on the basis of currency/gold standard. Various datasets have been cropping up in the past two decades that list every conceivable currency's real value over time, generally starting with the late early modern period. See for instance those released by th... | null |
7mciaw | if amber lensed computer glasses reflect the blue light, why aren't they blue? | [
{
"answer": "Amber lenses *absorb* the blue light, blocking it from coming through. They don't reflect it.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They're not reflecting the blue light, they're absorbing it. And all other colours except amber. So amber is what you see coming through them as well as bou... | null |
2b88dw | How accurate is Caligula: 1400 Days of Terror and/or how much of the Caligula legend is bs? | [
{
"answer": "Like with Nero, a lot of the allegations have to be taken with a grain of salt. Although a lot of the things brought up in the documentary are true, many of them are angled to make them look worse than they were. The orgies and such surely happened, but the sleeping around and all that is hard for ... | null |
7fxdv4 | why do people say that you can break your neck if you crack it the wrong way? how does this happen? | [
{
"answer": "Generally speaking, the casual neck popping shouldn't be an issue. The actual trouble is that our bodies are unpredictable and anything can happen. Some people use a lot of force to get their neck to pop and with too much pressure in the wrong place you could break something.\n\nCase in point - whe... | null |
1j4qhq | What was early Christianity like? | [
{
"answer": "It was not \"High\" church. There was no pomp, no celebrating Christmas or Easter. Until 70 AD, they would still have likely celebrated all the Jewish holidays of course, since the earliest Christians were nearly all Jewish, and important events in Jesus' life occurred on Jewish holidays (i.e. dy... | null |
c4606e | why is the research done at high energy particle accelerators important for mankind? | [
{
"answer": "Particle accelerators help scientists understand how the physical world works. Theoretical physicists can construct models of quantum mechanics and particle physics, but without experimental equipment like particle accelerators, they're flying blind. \n\nHigh level physics is how we get the super h... | null |
2wxdp3 | why did the edward snowden ama drop from nearly 11,000 upvotes to 6,500 upvotes in under 5 minutes? | [
{
"answer": "Yes. Reddit uses something called vote-fuzzing, which hides the number of total upvotes and downvotes on a thread, while internally keeping track, and while publicly displaying the overall ratio of upvotes to downvotes.\n\nThis is because votes from spammers and other cheaters are blocked by reddit... | null |
vgli4 | Why does water jump around on a hot grill? | [
{
"answer": "You're observing (quite astutely) a cool phenomenon called the [Leidenfrost effect](_URL_0_). Because the grill is so hot, the water vaporizes and cushions the droplet, so it glides very easily. It also acts to insulate the water so it vaporizes slower than you might expect.",
"provenance": nul... | null |
261nuy | Why does French use so many silent letters? | [
{
"answer": "You could try asking /r/linguistics too. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The simple answer is that they weren't silent at some point in the past, and spelling didn't change as quickly as pronunciation. \n\nFrench spelling is based on old French pronunciation. When the spelling of... | null |
3pfg25 | why are there so many rats in new york city? | [
{
"answer": "Where there are people, there will be rats.\n\n\nWhere there is garbage, there will be rats.\n\n\nThe more you have of either, the more rats you will have.\n\n\nNew York has a LOT of both.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "nyc is just kind of dirty. where large amounts of trash exist... | null |
5ncs61 | Did people other than royalty ever really have titles like 'Steve the strong' or 'Craig the wise' and if so, how did they get them? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but in Ireland it was/is very common to identify someone by a nickname that is long the same lines as those in your question. \n\nThis is a practice that starts very early - though I am hesitant to put a date on it we do have records in old I... | null |
3fx4nk | why is walmart known as asda in the uk? | [
{
"answer": "Asda existed before Walmart was even a thing. Walmart bought them (including their well-known name). They feel the Asda brand is valuable and well known in the UK, so they wanted to keep it.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "3... | null |
4lh21c | why do witches carry broomsticks? | [
{
"answer": "It's thought to have been connected with drug use.\n\nOne of the earliest accounts of the trial of a \"witch\" in the 14th century says that one of the things found in her possession was some \"ointment\" with which she \"greased her staff upon which she ambled\".\n\nIt's thought to have happened l... | null |
429ctw | why do certain artists have hits but then go into obscurity? | [
{
"answer": "Making a hit song is really, really hard. Especially if you don't have a huge industry backer. \n\nSome bands just absolutely nail it with one or two albums and then just can't make it happen again. It might be because the band changes lineups or styles, or just because the public has moved on and ... | null |
38y24o | how realistic is the shot and the recovery from the bullet "into the lung" in the movie focus (2015)? | [
{
"answer": "I don't know what kind of firearm and bullet were supposed to be used, but no, it's not realistic. A through and through wound would leave massive cavitation and other tissue damage as well as blowing a large exit hole - typically. It's a movies, they frequently are inaccurate .",
"provenance":... | null |
1ylal9 | what is happening with az sb1062 and hb2153 (relating to the free exercise of religion)? | [
{
"answer": "So basically, Free Exercise of Religion is the issue here.\n\nAt it's simplest form, Free Exercise of Religion means that for example, I can't make a law that says \"You can't worship Jesus Christ.\"\n\nThat's a CLEAR violation of Free Exercise. \n\nHowever, there is a concept called a \"Neutral La... | null |
fgxiog | how do erasable pens work? and why is the ink usually lighter than conventional ball and gel pens? | [
{
"answer": "The ink is actually temperature sensitive, when it gets heated up, it becomes white, so when you erase, the friction from the eraser heats the paper and it becomes white\n\nThis is also why it looks lighter, because it has to turn white \n\nInterestingly enough, if you put it in the freezer the ink... | null |
a3g39q | why do the inside of your ears get sweaty and itchy if you have earbuds in after a while? | [
{
"answer": "Your ears, nose, and throat are all connected. Earbuds plug your ears, so your normally open ear canal is now closed. It then gets warm in there like a room on a summer day, causing the skin inside your ear to sweat in an attempt to cool down. Not sure why it gets itchy. Hope this helps. ",
"pr... | null |
84vzll | why do car companies produce new models every year? could you produce the same car, save design and development expense, and make super cheap cars? | [
{
"answer": "While car makers produce new models every year, they only make substantial changes every 6-7 years or so that require significant design and development costs.\n\nTypically mid-cycle (3 years after introduction), they will freshen up the design, maybe by tweaking the bumper/grill, tail lights, etc.... | null |
5ay524 | why do we jump when we get excited? | [
{
"answer": "Is it because we get a surge of adrenaline which gives us energy?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "5757089",
"title": "Jump (Alliance–Union universe)",
"section": "Section::::Effects of jump.:Disorientation.\n... | null |
1imje6 | why do some countries (soviet union, china, north korea, etc.) call themselves communist even though all they really were only dictatorships? | [
{
"answer": "there's certainly some irony is the official names of these countries. \"People's Democratic Republic...\" is a propaganda thing, not a statement of truth. \n\nbut thats just naming. maybe your question is about something else. are you asking why is it that some countries have Marxist aspirations b... | null |
e6dwo0 | what makes processed meat carcinogenic? | [
{
"answer": "Certain chemicals that are used to keep it fresh for longer, as well as some that are produced when cooking meat at very high temperatures, can be carcinogenic. This is why the statement 'processed meat causes cancer' is simply wrong, because it depends how it's processed. Also the red pigment in r... | null |
1jnl73 | does wealth require poverty? | [
{
"answer": "If *wealth* means having more than everyone else, then yes. \n\nIf wealth simply means having a lot of resources, then no. The amount of available resources depend on how much we produce (essentially, how efficient we are). For instance, the industrial revolution greatly increased productivity in m... | null |
5s2304 | Why is the radiation from Chernobyl and Fukushima so intense, when Uranium has a half life of billions of years? Shouldn't it be minimal? | [
{
"answer": "Firstly, it depends on the Uranium they were using. U234 and U235 have WAY shorter half-lives.\n\nHalf-life means how long it takes for half the radioactive material to decay, so the most is released up front, then slowly tapers off.\n\nUranium decays into atoms that are also radioactive, some wit... | null |
38auzz | why does africa not have the same cocaine production problem that south america faces? | [
{
"answer": "You need to think in more than two dimensions, grasshopper. Altitude is a major factor in production of the coca plant. Additionally, generations of knowledge are missing in Africa.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "60604661... | null |
128ii3 | how can we "see" other galaxies? | [
{
"answer": "We use a big telescope that we aim at a tiny piece of blackness in the sky. [This](_URL_1_) is an image we received from the Hubble telescope. We see these galaxies in the piece of blackness because we use a long exposure time. For example, [this](_URL_0_) is what happens if you take a long exposur... | null |
x1g7s | how does download / upload speed affect online game play-ability? | [
{
"answer": "There's no direct correlation.\n\nAs long as you meet the requirements for uploading/receeving the game data (which is almost certainly FAR below 3MBit), the speed wont matter.\n\nWhat *will* matter is the latency, or how long it takes a single packet of information to get from your computer to the... | null |
2e0wic | How do we construct objects on a nanoscopic scale? | [
{
"answer": "Two ways: Bottom-up and Top-down [fabrication](_URL_4_). Top-down fab involves starting with a chunk of material and etching away parts until you have the design you want. This method can make complex shapes^[1](_URL_2_) ^[2](_URL_6_) but is limited to relatively large objects (~ tens of nanomet... | null |
a334dy | How much does body fat influence our perception of temperature? | [
{
"answer": "Key word in that question is “feel”. That suggests that it’s perceptual therefore it cannot be measured scientifically. What you could measure is the net heating rate. Assume all 3 bodies are identical it could be assumed that the metabolic rate and body controlled changes in body temperatures will... | null |
6gvsa9 | what legitament ties do fraternity groups have to what is considered "greek life"? | [
{
"answer": "The term \"Greek Life\" literally refers to the activities of fraternities and sororities. It's called Greek Life because most fraternities and sororities are named with three greek letters (Phi Kappa Alpha, Delta Iota Kappa, etc). ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provena... | null |
lellk | how do slumps and streaks work? | [
{
"answer": "Nothing. Usually what you see when there are \"streaks\" and \"slumps\" is just random variation. There's no more mental change in a player when he hits six 3-pointers in a row than there's a mental change in a coin when it comes up heads 7 times in a row. It's just something that happens.\n\nJu... | null |
476qle | why it's possible for a 'brain dead' person to wake up while being prepped for an organ donation? | [
{
"answer": "It is a cause for concern. Generally a brain scan will be performed which will show if there is electrical activity in the brain.\n\nDoctors do want the freshest most viable organs, the ones least dead.\n\nWhen your brain is dead can be debated to a certain extent. There is an ancient part of the b... | null |
31ch4l | why do i feel more out of breath after i stop running than while i'm running? | [
{
"answer": "It's an illusion. I want to show you a chart but can't find it. The oxygen that you use, is depending on your needs (howstrong is your cardio excercise). So if you look at the chart of the level of the cardio excercise and the input oxygen, you would see a straight line syarting from (0,0) and sudd... | null |
bnsytv | Need advice on potentially going to grad school for history | [
{
"answer": "I'm just typing this from mobile and will add more to it later, but if you suffer from anxiety and depression, academia may not be the best choice for you. And I say this not to be discouraging, but because it can be *tough*. I'm currently doing my PhD in medical history and definitely wished I lis... | null |
dwvdtt | trees, how do new trees grow? | [
{
"answer": "When mama tree and papa tree love each other very much, insects or winds take pollen from papa tree flowers and put them on the stamen of mama tree flowers. Then the little egg cell turns into a seed, which has all the genetic information needed to produce a new tree, and has a food reserve, a few ... | null |
2siak2 | would it be possible to charge our smartphone batteries using wi-fi waves "power"? | [
{
"answer": "Current WiFi is far too weak. Technically you could do so if it was made more powerful, but you wouldn't want it to be WiFi (you want a steady frequency) and it would need to be extremely powerful (probably dangerously so).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Technically speaking yes.\... | null |
2na65q | Could the gravitational pull of one black hole pull you out past the event horizon of a second? | [
{
"answer": "no. Gravity of a blackhole is like gravity of any massive object.. It varies with distance from the object. On the other hand, the event horizon is a surface which when you/anything crosses, it cannot come back.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "No, it can't. When black holes get clo... | null |
3acjr0 | how were the spaniards able to ally with the rival tribes to beat the aztecs, when they didn't know a single word of their language? | [
{
"answer": "Simple, kidnap some kids, bring them back to your home, treat them like kings for six months, return the kids, have them tell stories about how amazing these new Gods from across the lands are.\n\nDuring the time you have the kid, you learn some of their language, and they learn yours. Instant tran... | null |
dflott | Including animals that no longer exist, what animal is the largest ever? | [
{
"answer": "The blue whale is the largest known to have existed. Largest doesn’t mean longest. A 2 meter snake is pretty small compared to a 1.8 meter human.\n\nOne candidate for largest dinosaur (Argentinosaurus) is estimated to have weighed about 70 metric tons. Blue whales can get up to about 170 tons. The ... | null |
6e41rg | Do man-made electronics cumulatively make a significant contribution to the Earth's magnetic field? | [
{
"answer": "[There has definitely been human impact on the Magnetosphere](_URL_0_), though I'm not sure if that's strictly considered the same as the Earth's magnetic field (this is not my field of research, at all), and a large chunk of that comes from things like Atmospheric Nuclear testing.\n\nThat said, a ... | null |
67pf9z | Did Native Americans independently invent agriculture? And what does that mean about human culture before then? | [
{
"answer": "/r/AskAnthropology might be a bigger help to you! ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yes, agriculture was independently invented in the Americas. \n\nTo copy/paste an answer I gave [previously](_URL_0_)\n\n > There's a number of factors that can contribute to this answer and the deb... | null |
1g7njy | How accurate was Upton Sinclair's The Jungle | [
{
"answer": " > ... but a creek that’s constantly bubbling because of chemicals...\n\nChicagoan here. I can confirm this portion of your question. \"[Bubbly Creek](_URL_0_)\" is a local nickname for the South Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River. As the name implies, it constantly bubbled up methane... | null |
8vcivs | why do they put lightning rods on trees? | [
{
"answer": "A lightning rod directs the electricity safely into the ground rather than into the tree itself, which normally outright kills the tree.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "2449741",
"title": "Lightning strike",
... | null |
whu6a | can you literally die from not sleeping too long? | [
{
"answer": "We don't know, really. Some people will mention Fatal Familial Insomnia, however that is a prion disease, and current thinking is that it is the prion disease that leads to death, not the insomnia. In rat studies, rats will die after certain periods, but it's unclear why/what actually kills them (... | null |
2l5mug | what happens in time sensitive jobs during the daylight saving time hour? | [
{
"answer": "I'd assume they always state the time zone in official records. I know in the computing world we tend to use UTC (_URL_0_) for logs - I might convert that to GMT/BST (British Summer Time) when viewing the logs, but they're stored in UTC for consistency. It does mean we have to be extra careful to d... | null |
2t4gbm | obama's state of the union address? | [
{
"answer": "The US Constitution requires that the President give an update to Congress about the \"state of the Union\". It's done in the form of a speech every year, and it's a big moment in US politics because everyone gets to get out their grindstone for their particular axes.\n\nEdit: Every year, not every... | null |
88k8zu | why is the rate that technology improves rising. | [
{
"answer": "As technology advanced, a smaller portion of the population had to be in occupations required to sustain the rest of the population. This allows more of the population to focus on other improvements. Before the agricultural revolution, nearly everybody was involved in the food gathering process. Th... | null |
5bvvb7 | why are there always big fluctuations in the stock after a major national/world event? (e.g brexit, the election) | [
{
"answer": "The stock market is based entirely on sentiment or human perception of data and events. (Stock price = current market valuation driven largely by sentiment)\n\nCompany A reports record breaking earnings, people believe Company A may continue to do so in the future, people buy Company A stock and it... | null |
5b6yhk | How does the body react to cauterized vessels during surgery? | [
{
"answer": "There are lots and lots of anastomoses in vessels supplying virtually any part of your body and almost no vascularized tissue is dependent on a single individual vessel for blood supply. The microvasculature in tissue also has adaptation mechanisms for both long term and short term changes in blood... | null |
53kxq3 | Would it be more accurate to apply the "Bloody" title to Queen Elizabeth instead of Queen Mary? | [
{
"answer": "It's important to consider how long their reigns were. Queen Mary I reigned for 5 years, from 1553-1558. By contrast Queen Elizabeth I reigned for 45 years, from 1558-1603. Even if Queen Elizabeth I was responsible for more deaths, it doesn't necessarily make for a particularly 'bloody' reign.\n\n"... | null |
74s59n | why is the average height so much greater in certain parts of the world? why aren't people in general about the same height? | [
{
"answer": "Genetically, almost all have similar potential.\n\nBut nutrition plays a big part. Nutrition in them, their parents and even grandparents affects height.\n\nEver notice that second and third generation immigrants to Western countries are usually a lot taller than their first generation grandparents... | null |
2euzby | Are there any non-toxic mercury compounds? | [
{
"answer": "There are few but they do exist. A common one is Hg2Cl2 which is a well known disinfectant. Another is Hg(1)Cl which is solvable in the human body although only in very small amounts. There are also mercuric alloys that are non-toxic but they aren't really compounds. All in all, non-toxic mercu... | null |
1hutkj | Time and absolute zero speed... | [
{
"answer": "There is no absolute reference for the universe. Time dilation occurs relative to an observer. There's no such thing as absolutely still. If you're moving identically to another observer, time will pass at the exact same rate. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "To determine wheth... | null |
f8fbza | how travel sickness medication works (e.g. kwells)? | [
{
"answer": "Believe it or not, your brain has an area that tells you to throw up. Unsurprisingly, it's called the \"vomit center\" of the brain and is located in the medulla obongata. There are multiple pathways to activate the vomit center, but since you asked about motion sickness we will talk about that one... | null |
3vjxfg | Have diseases ever crossed the species barrier between plants and animals? | [
{
"answer": "Plants and animals differ all the way to the kingdom level so there are drastic differences in both genetics and cellular composition and given that pathogens tend to be highly specialized there are very few diseases that affect both. However, there are generalist opportunistic pathogens that can b... | null |
6cx05y | how is it possible for a baby beast to grow in the womb and be born without an umbilical cord? | [
{
"answer": "The umbilical cord usually breaks while the animal is passing through the birth canal. If it doesn't, it probably shrivels up and falls off on its own.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "2260429",
"title": "Tail",
... | null |
cuohw6 | why do spacecraft and satellite components need to be assembled in a sterile environment? | [
{
"answer": "Most satellite components are not. Spacecraft that are likely to land on other planets are clean ed thoroughly to minimize the transfer of life to other bodies. \n\nIn space with no atmospheric even oils from your skin can boil and condense to ruin lenses and other electronics equipment. Foreign ob... | null |
3toz1k | What were the strategic interests of France and Britain w.r.t. the Sykes-Picot Agreement? Why did they want spheres of influence in that region? | [
{
"answer": "I will have to be brief as I am waiting for guests.\n\nEssentially Britain and France had mutual suspicions of each other's intentions in the Middle East since the 19th Century. The 1904 Entente Cordiale papered over these cracks and pushed the issue into dormancy against a common broader strategic... | null |
3fjf30 | We're looking for new moderators and we want you! | [
{
"answer": "Also if you have any questions feel free to ask.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Can I join!",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "How about making the post sticky for a while until suitable candidates respond?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I love /r/a... | null |
e20ywm | Can a liver from an organ donor be shared and transplanted into two new recipients? | [
{
"answer": "Livers are special among human organs. They can regenerate themselves. So liver transplants don't require transplanting the entire liver. Yes, it is theoretically possible a single donor could donate to two people and then also have a fully functioning liver after a period of recovery.",
"prove... | null |
19r7vj | why isn't chrome the standard browser on android? | [
{
"answer": "It is on the newer nexus devices. On non-nexus devices, the manufacturer decides what goes on the phone, and it doesn't have to be chrome if they don't like it. Especially since the stock android browser seems to run better, and supports flash.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Googl... | null |
2lz1br | Can anyone offer any insight into this Nazi identification card? | [
{
"answer": "This looks like they were both from an exhibiton held in 1945/46 in Amsterdam, called 'Weerbare Democratie', the resilient democracy, an exhibition that apparently dealt with dutch resistance against German occupation. The card reads, essentially, as far as my very limited dutch will carry: \"This ... | null |
21itdy | Puzzle doors are common feature of ancient temples in fiction. Has there been ANY ancient puzzle door found? | [
{
"answer": "This is probably not the answer you're looking for, but in Cairo there is a Coptic church - the \"hanging church\" I think - whose doors are made of tiny, interlocking pieces that fit only one way. Because wood is expensive in Egypt, and there were occasional attacks upon churches which often inclu... | null |
1b0kw6 | In what order did the kingdoms become multicellular? And, are symbionts ubiquitous? | [
{
"answer": "Some of this is simply unknown. Precise phylogeny of these groups of organisms is _extremely_ difficult. In the first place, fossil remains of soft-bodied organisms are rare, making radiometric dating difficult at best. In the second, there has been such a long time of divergent evolution that in m... | null |
p32fo | elit: why germany is such a strong world power | [
{
"answer": "Germany is an industrious, educated nation with an excellent social infrastructure and minimal internal strife. They excel in manufacturing and management. In short, per the cliche, they're efficient. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A point in addition to all that was said. Germ... | null |
agmmmx | why don’t countries just put nicotine on the list of forbidden drugs if they want people to quit smoking? | [
{
"answer": "Because that would be fantastically unpopular among smokers, and a lot of people smoke. Politicians want to keep getting voted into office, so they tend not to do things that upset large blocks of voters.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Banning things that lots of people want inst... | null |
2383ce | why are trains in india so crowded? why not just have more trains? | [
{
"answer": "It's not just the trains - everywhere in India is crowded.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "449743",
"title": "Rush hour",
"section": "Section::::Definition.\n",
"start_paragraph_id": 5,
"start... | null |
hda2n | How far away are we from a supercomputer being able to simulate the entire universe? | [
{
"answer": "That will never happen, because said supercomputer would have to simulate itself as well.\n\nHowever, you probably refer to some sort of scenario in which said computer is an observer, then there's still the problem with [determinism](_URL_0_):\n > At atomic scales the paths of objects can only be... | null |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.