id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
1mxpz3 | How common was it for girls under the age of 15 to get married to men before recent times? | [
{
"answer": "From the medieval period, the church said you could be betrothed before puberty, but you could not be married until both parties could assent to it, which coincided with puberty - generally assumed to be 12 for girls and 14 for boys. That was a minimum however, and there was a fair amount of comme... | null |
6tpc80 | how can things like trees,weeds,grass, and so forth,be considered to be "alive", as well as know how to do what is required to keep themselves alive, such as absorb water and sunlight,when they don't have a brain to control their functions? | [
{
"answer": "Sentience is not a classification for life. Growing, reproducing and the ability to react to the environment are. Organisms that exhibit these behaviors are considered alive. The cells in plants, for example, preform all the necessary functions without a central brain (as we know it) being necessar... | null |
1gs0gx | Were slaves in Haiti aware of the French Revolution, and perhaps influenced by it? | [
{
"answer": "David Geggus has written a lot about Haiti specifically - you might be interested in an essay collection Geggus compiled with David Gaspar, titled *A Turbulent Time: The French Revolution and the Greater Caribbean*.\n\nYou're correct, the dates are no coincidence but - according to Geggus - in only... | null |
1mjduj | What are the major cities that no longer exist or have decreased dramatically? | [
{
"answer": "I can think of Chernobyl, Ukraine, because of radiation, of course.\n\nPompeii and Herculano, Italy, because of a volcano.\n\nI heard about Cordoba, Spain, that used to be a city with more than a million inhabitants.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Antioch. Founded by Seleucus Nica... | null |
1dx8sc | what is a limited slip differential, or differential in general? and in what cases are certain types of differentials preferred/more beneficial over the others? | [
{
"answer": "when a car goes around a turn the wheel on the outside of the turn has to rotate more because it covers more distance, the differential allows this to happen.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Not sure if this fits the rules of ELI5, but I think it fits the spirit. Here's the (quite ... | null |
sg8hd | the beef between tupac and biggie and the conspiracy surrounding their deaths | [
{
"answer": "I let someone else explain it but keep in mind a lot of what happened is because the media got involved and hyped it up to get more coverage.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "they were friends. tupac got shot while on the east coast and found out biggie knew about it happening but n... | null |
28xcys | when i force myself to see double vision, how am i doing it? and what is happening to cause it? | [
{
"answer": "If you're not crossing your eyes, and seeing double that way, then you're probably just focusing far away. This is how you see /r/magiceye pictures! ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "1969542",
"title": "Extraocular mu... | null |
5mdfgs | why has tesla's work on 'free energy' never been fully explored or completed in the modern day? | [
{
"answer": "The biggest problem is most likely that this free ubiquitous energy doesn't exist. If it would exist, corporations would use and resell it. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Tesla never tried to produce \"free energy\". He wanted to realize wireless power transfer - but that still ... | null |
p4df2 | When our epidermis grows with our size, does the number of nerve endings increase to maintain a constant density, or are they simply spaced further apart? | [
{
"answer": "the number of sensory nerves innervating your skin is determined by the number of neuronal cell bodies in the dorsal root ganglia. During gestation this number increases through division (some die off) and reaches a stable number. Neurons are 'post-mitotic' and do not divid further. The neuronal ce... | null |
2kms72 | If temperature is a measure of average kinetic energy, is a bottle of water speeding past me "warmer" than a bottle of water in my hand? | [
{
"answer": "It has more energy, but it isn't really \"warmer\". The question abuses the definition of temperature. Temperature is about the molecular average kinetic energy, not the macroscopic energy.\n\n(An analogy: It's like asking how fast can a fish swim, and then you put your fish tank into your car an... | null |
2j8crm | on election night, how do they determine who has won a state after calculating only 1% of the state's votes? | [
{
"answer": "News bureaus and polling agencies conduct many polls in the weeks and days leading up to an election and do exit polling throughout election day. They know that many races will not be close, so they can declare a winner in those races as soon as the polls close.",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
4az03s | Does the placenta have the DNA of the mother or the baby? What about the umbilical cord? | [
{
"answer": "The placenta is fetal tissue! Very, very early on in development the blastocyst implants in the endometrium of the womb. The outer layers of cells in of the blastocyst become the trophoblast that becomes the placenta, embedding deeper and interfacing with the blood supply of the mother. The foetus ... | null |
b96z56 | How common was it for people in ancient civilizations to just travel for leisure? | [
{
"answer": "Not to discourage any further answers, but you'll probably find these older posts helpful:\n\n* [Did tourism exist within the Roman Empire? I assume that most of the lower class could not afford to go visit another city, but what about the richer population?](_URL_1_) by /u/bitparity\n\n* [Do we kn... | null |
5x6mn4 | why does everyone want sessions to resign? | [
{
"answer": "The allegations are that he was contacting the Russian ambassador outside of his Senate Armed Services panel responsibilities prior to the election and then committed perjury by saying that he had no contact with the Russians during his Attorney General confirmation hearings. ",
"provenance": n... | null |
3i2kw4 | data breach: why are the companies themselves responsible and why does it still happen? | [
{
"answer": "Usually with companies that get breached, there is some company-consumer assurance that their data will always be safe. So when it is breached, its like a breach in their trust.\n It is also extremely difficult to find the hackers, they may be on the other side of the world. Thus, not being able to... | null |
1krzaz | how does the show top gear get ahold of these impressive super cars and get away with basically anything when driving them on the public roads (drag racing, etc.) when the roads are clearly not closed for filming? | [
{
"answer": "The car makers want their cars on the show you can't get better publicity than top gear\n\nIts cleverly put together when they do the stupid stuff it's closed off ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "This depends on the car they are driving. Most of the cars are models they get from th... | null |
2j7y0d | How have check marks come to represent 'right' while Xs represent 'wrong'? | [
{
"answer": "There are quite a few theories floating around out there, but as it's not a universal standard and mainly contained within Western Europe and cultures influenced by Western Europe, I'm inclined to go with the tick / cross system being distributed by the Romans, especially given the amount of bureau... | null |
6e7hio | who develops medicines for animals? | [
{
"answer": "Many human medicines can have the same effects in animals. For example you can give some pets tylenol, benadryl, antibiotics, etc. But it'd be a good idea to adjust dosage accordingly.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Some are developed for humans and then only work on animals, oth... | null |
di4qw1 | How did Egypt become a client kingdom of Rome? | [
{
"answer": " > So, when Caesar arrived in Egypt, he said that it was his job as Dictator of Rome to settle a royal dispute between Ptomely and Cleopatra on who sould be pharaoh. He even stationed himself at the Palace of Alexandria as a judge to hear the case made by both parts\n\nThat isn't right. Caesar at n... | null |
4zo2na | what info can whatsapp use to provide targeted ads, if all my chats are encrypted? | [
{
"answer": "I'm assuming this question stems forth from the recent publication that WhatsApp is going to share data with the Facebook network so that specific social network can use that information to provide targeted advertisements.\n\nThere are many ways this information can be used. But one of them that I ... | null |
420as1 | why isn't there a tl;dr law that would prevent things being secretly added to bills in congress? | [
{
"answer": "Because Congress writes the law. Some of the laws they pass cannot be less than fifty pages. Maybe a lot of them. I do not know. I do know we could form an organization which could examine every page by enough people willing to read the law. I would like to found such a group, or better yet, just j... | null |
911ikc | why does a step up transformer cause lower currents? | [
{
"answer": "Ohm's law applies when you shove electrons through something by applying voltage. A transformer isn't doing that. It's a coil of wire applying a magnetic field to another coil of wire. Now if that second coil is running at twice the voltage and twice the current, then we have magically created ener... | null |
19wjk4 | Did the ancient Romans have any ideological or moral reasons for why they ran gruesome gladiatorial combat? Was it truly only for public pleasure or was there more to it? | [
{
"answer": "The origin of Roman gladiatorial combat was probably [some form of ritual combat](_URL_1_), linked to funerals or religious festivals; the death of one (or both) of the combatants would then be a form of human sacrifice. The oldest *recorded* gladiator fight in Rome was in honor of the funder's de... | null |
2vrdz6 | why when i scratch an itch, does my brain/body create another, often on a completely different part of my body. | [
{
"answer": "Wish I knew. It's the same thing when I'm trying to go to sleep and I get an itch, right on the side of my body that I'm laying on. Can't ignore it, have to turn over and scratch.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Please correct me if I am wrong but I read somewhere that itching was ... | null |
197kqu | Engine design question - why do standard car engines always come with cylinders in banks of 2, and never 3? | [
{
"answer": "I think this question is better suited for /r/AskEngineers, so if you don't get your answer here, try submitting it there. It's a good question. :)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "W configurations exist. I believe volkswagen has some. The ultimate decision on what to go with has to... | null |
2xf62c | was there anyone prominent in classical times, in Greece or Rome, who believed there were other inhabited worlds in the universe? if "yes" how did other people take the idea? | [
{
"answer": "Epicurus was a fairly prominent Greek philosopher (founder of the philosophical school of Epicureanism) of the 4th-3rd centuries BCE. The doxographer [Diogenes Laertius records a letter from Epicurus to Herodotus](_URL_0_), in which Epicurus says [Loeb translation]:\n\n > Moreover, there is an in... | null |
1ea4k9 | Would it theoritically be possible to isolate serotonin and dopamine, and create them in drug form, if this is possible what would the side effects be? | [
{
"answer": "To answer part of your question: \n\nWhile you can create dopamine, injecting it serves no purpose unless it can be directly administered to the desired area of the brain. This is because dopamine is incapable of passing through the blood brain barrier. However, we can work around this by giving pe... | null |
4nf07m | why do babies in the womb not have allergic reactions to foods they will later develop allergies to (assuming the mother eats those foods during pregnancy) | [
{
"answer": "Well allergic reactions have to develope. Your body has to see the antigen and form a response to it. However while you're growing in the uterus the cells necessary to develope these responses don't really function/aren't developed. So even if you see the antigen you won't mount a response. ",
... | null |
12rg3e | If there were a radio station on the Far/dark side of the moon would we be able to detect it? | [
{
"answer": "No. This problem arises for spacecraft on the far side of the moon. There is no direct line of sight to earth, so there can be no direct transmission. \n\nImagine if there was a REALLY powerful radio on the far side of the moon. Radio waves power decreases according to the square of the distanc... | null |
d81obu | - why does your nose burn when there is a foul or strong scent in the air? | [
{
"answer": "When you smell it is because you are breathing in amounts of the actual chemical it is that you are smelling. For example: If something smells like bleach it is because you are breathing in particles of bleach and that is what your nose is recognizing.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nIf your nose is also burning ... | null |
1aeuia | why can you see the veins in your eye when the eye doctor shines a bright light into it? why do eye doctors even do that? | [
{
"answer": "They do it to see the back of the inside of your eye through your pupil. They can determine whether you are at risk for glaucoma, among other things, this way.\n\nEdit: the veins you see are on the front of the inside of your eye. You can see them because of the light reflected off the back.",
... | null |
4flz3f | why are high pop. density areas more left leaning? | [
{
"answer": "\nSmall cities are essentially everyone feeling a sense of community by sharing the same religion, hobbies, and ideals. They view the government as an outsider trying to rule over them. When 95% the town is Religion X, nobody opposes things like bible verses in court houses. \n\nHowever in a larg... | null |
409l3s | if a premiere is not supposed to happen till sunday, how can they show commercials with previews of these live events on wednesday? | [
{
"answer": "The footage they show on commercials is from previous years. The \"live from the red carpet\" shows are filmed as the celebrities arrive for the awards, which can be an hour or more before the ceremony starts",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
113kk1 | when they bottle soda how do they stop it from bubbling over? | [
{
"answer": "They add the carbon dioxide when the water/rest is already in the bottle.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "6254672",
"title": "Diet Coke and Mentos eruption",
"section": "Section::::Cause.\n",
"start_p... | null |
2lb4ea | Do particles at different temperatures experience time differently? Can we heat particles to near-relativistic speeds? | [
{
"answer": "Well, 1 mph experiences less time dilation that 2 mph. So the answer to the first question is trivially yes. For the second part, you'd experience relativistic phenomena that converts an energetic particle into multiple particles before you started reaching too high of energies, but the dilation ef... | null |
1gdhxv | Why don't we consider the Romans to be a cruel in the same light as other civilizations? | [
{
"answer": "They certainly were cruel by modern standards. However, they also had a huge hand in defining western civilization, and brought an era of relative peace and stability to the Mediterranean for hundreds of years. They gave us our legacy of literature/art/law/science/technology along with the Greeks. ... | null |
2am4oz | Did the Red Army really use human-wave tactics in World War II? | [
{
"answer": "Borrowing from the answer I provided last week for the [Eastern Front AMA](_URL_0_)\n\n > It isn't *not* true, but it didn't happen like you see in Enemy at the Gates.\n > \n > There are three principle ways that human waves were utilized during the war.\n > \n > * In the very early months, th... | null |
1ecvcj | What was Hitlers policy towards Freemasons, and were any masons in his administration? | [
{
"answer": "Hjalmar Schacht was the only freemason in the 1933 Nazi government. The Nazi's associated freemasonry with international conspiracies and denounced it in their propaganda. Freemasonry in Germany was targeted immediately after the Nazi's came to power in 1933 and became illegal in 1935, after most o... | null |
41tvzi | Recommend me a good book covering Europe in the period after the Roman Empire and before the turn of the millenium (1000AD) | [
{
"answer": "Chris Wickham's *The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000* (2009) sounds like the book you are looking for. Wickham is an excellent historian and his breadth of knowledge really shines in this book, it's not often that you can find a medievalist just as comfortable talking abou... | null |
1yrqob | why is the devil portrayed as he is? | [
{
"answer": "From the Gauls. They had a horned god who was master of the hunt. When Christianity was absorbing paganism, he was turned into the adversary. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "27694",
"title": "Satan",
"sectio... | null |
3x5g9i | so what happened to greece after the media stopped caring about it? | [
{
"answer": "If a crisis occurs and no major news outlets cover it, does it make any crisis? ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "15860999",
"title": "Media of Greece",
"section": "Section::::Censorship and media freedom.\n",... | null |
3141fb | why does mac & cheese thicken as it sits? | [
{
"answer": "* evaporation\n* mac still sucking up water\n* fats in the cheese coagulating again",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The cheese sauce contains lipids and fats that become liquid at high temperatures and solidify when they cool (think of butter from the fridge vs room temp). In addit... | null |
fqi5bl | What characteristics made Sparta an environment where women could be so much more powerful, confident and autonomous than in other states of the ancient world? | [
{
"answer": "Spartan women do seem to have enjoyed a considerable degree of social and economic freedom as compared to other contemporary societies such as Athens. We should not overstate their power and suggest that this was an egalitarian society when it came to gender, however I think it is unfair to charact... | null |
276ty7 | During the American Civil War were the tactics used really as far behind the technology as stated in many documentaries? | [
{
"answer": "The mass fire tactics used with muskets with ball shot were developed in part because of the relative inaccuracy of a single shot from the weapons. The development of the minie ball made each individual capable of hitting his target over 100 yards away. So you go from people shooting at masses of p... | null |
dzznai | does keeping my phone plugged in hurt the battery, and what is the best charging practice to keep my battery at maximum efficiency? | [
{
"answer": "It's pretty easy:\n\n* Don't let it run out, that's really bad for it.\n* Avoid using fast charging unless you need it\n* Keep it cool, so for instance don't leave it in a hot car or in bright sunlight.\n\nOther than that, there's little you can do for a phone battery because unlike laptops they're... | null |
323xwx | Why did Musket and bayonet era troops (1600-1800+) Why bright colorful clothes? most notably the British redcoats? | [
{
"answer": "[There are](_URL_0_) [several](_URL_2_) [answers about this](_URL_1_) [in the past](_URL_3_). I'd recommend going through them. If you have any other follow up questions, I'll be happy to answer but the simple answer is that they're like that to create a regimental unity and to show which side they... | null |
1ft7et | Why is Michigan one state and not two separate, smaller, states? | [
{
"answer": "This was asked and answered last week: [Why is Michigan's Upper Peninsula part of Michigan and not part of Wisconsin (or even its own state)?](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Just FYI, your \"small gap\" is spanned by a bridge approximately 26,000 feet long. It's actually ... | null |
2izv71 | Did any non-European powers ever engage in colonialism or become an overseas power? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, absolutely. Since I assume you're referring to the 'age of imperialism', the first and foremost example would be Japan.\n\nThroughout the Tokugawa Shogunate, from 1600-the mid 1800s, Japan had been in relative self-imposed isolation. Large scale trade continued with other east-asian countries,... | null |
ms4iy | why is there cotton in various medication containers? | [
{
"answer": "Probably so that a *mostly* full bottle of aspirin doesn't rattle so much.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "pills bad when wet, cotton absorbs water.\npills bad when broken, cotton absorbs shock.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "As my father said it when I was young:... | null |
3phqmo | What culture was the first to create candy? How did that happen? | [
{
"answer": "The practice of eating raw honey and honeycomb is so old it predates history, and possibly even humans in the sense of anatomically modern Homo sapiens. Does your definition of \"candy\" mean the sugar has to be cooked?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
... | null |
89fgue | Why did the Allied Strategic Bombing campaigns of 1942-45 help break Axis civilian resolve while German “Blitz” of 1940 helped strengthen British civilian resolve? | [
{
"answer": "Does this question assume facts not in evidence?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The bombing didn't break axis morale. The bombing was decisive because it imposed enormous costs on germany. By 1944, the defense of the reich was consuming something like 1/3 of all the ammunition g... | null |
29r5j2 | computer science and computer engineering. | [
{
"answer": "Computer Engineering is generally associated with hardware - making better physical components that make the computer run. \n\nComputer Science is generally associated with software.\n\nHowever, there is some crossover. Knowing a little about CE may situationally help a software developer optimize ... | null |
6he6gc | how do conjoined twins fit in the womb? | [
{
"answer": "The womb can stretch a lot and unborn babies are very pliable. They can curl up into fairly small balls (newborns have soft bones). Also important to remember is that the vast majority of twin pregnancies (even non-conjoined ones) will not make it full term. The average length of a twin pregnancy i... | null |
vmbk7 | When does "simplifying" history for children in text books become falsifying history or misinformation? | [
{
"answer": "When I went to school in Germany, there were no history courses in elementary school. They only started after grade 5, when everyone was grown up enough to grasp basic concepts of history. \n\nA lot was still dumbed down, of course, but probably not to too basic a level.\n\nPerhaps it's better just... | null |
2mbejj | How does a computer processor wear out? | [
{
"answer": "Current flow causes heat. Heat causes expansion. Cooling allows contraction. Solid state components often fail when connections break down due to the constant cycling of expansion and contraction. \n\nI'm not sure about the cpu die itself but the connections where the die meets the conductors wi... | null |
3afykz | how are booger formed and what makes them change colors? | [
{
"answer": "You breathe in lots of dust during the day. You don't want dust in your lungs. The hairs in your nose and mucus capture the dust to prevent them from entering your lungs.\n\n\nBoogers are just collections of dust and mucus. They change colors based on what kind of dust is in there.",
"provenanc... | null |
3jlwhs | What were stone age civilizations like? | [
{
"answer": "So, Stone Age is a tricky term that a lot of archaeologists don't use anymore. Part of the reason is that a lot of public perception is that societies had a unilineal evolution or development that progressed through a Stone Age to a Bronze Age to an Iron Age and so on towards modern Western civiliz... | null |
1rqc0m | why are there so many ladyboys in thailand? | [
{
"answer": "Being a primarily Buddhist country, there is much less stigma attached to being gay or TG there.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "333614",
"title": "History of homosexuality",
"section": "Section::::East Asia.... | null |
5lmjzx | being from canada, why do all these sports websites block me from watching a highlight from their website? | [
{
"answer": "Content rights are generally owned on a country-by-country basis.\n\nThe owner of that highlight may only have authority to broadcast it in say Belarus, not in Angola. As such, since they are legally not allowed to show you the content since you live in Angola, they don't show it to you. There ma... | null |
bae7y0 | How liquid crystals rotate light's polarization? | [
{
"answer": "No, they don't act as polarizers, they are what's called a birefringent material.\n\nLinear polarization can be described as a linear combination of left and right circular polarizations, and the angle of linear polarization is given by the phases between the left and right circular polarizations.\... | null |
joe97 | Why do we teach more complex sciences earlier in life, and wait until around 11th-12th grade to start explaining physics. | [
{
"answer": "Physics require understanding of calculus. Calculus requires a lot of prerequisite knowledge of math that takes years to learn.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Physics require understanding of calculus. Calculus requires a lot of prerequisite knowledge of math that takes years to l... | null |
8dckzt | how do scientists make money? | [
{
"answer": "Many scientists work for universities, where they are professors. Others work for government research labs. These people are paid by the government - either directly or through research grants - to do research.\n\nMany others work for private industry, doing research that furthers the goals of th... | null |
64ftyj | Would a woman be allowed to become a blacksmith in Medieval Europe? | [
{
"answer": "The Holkham Bible (British Library Add. MS 47682) from 14th century England isn't a \"Bible\" in the standard sense. It's more like a biblically-based storybook, combining prose and poetry narratives that weave apocryphal legends into bible stories. This sort of narrative or historiated Bible isn't... | null |
attkni | i dont understand animals having multiple primary colours. what do they see? | [
{
"answer": "Light is Radiation and there are different frequencies that correspond with different colors. Us humans have three distinct receptors in our eyes and are able to see a part of the radiation spectrum with them. Other animals have more types of receptors and see colors like infrared (a to us invisibl... | null |
b1ckqg | How and why was what constitutes a deck of playing cards decided upon? | [
{
"answer": "Hey there - while you're waiting for an answer for your question, here are some related topics that you might be interested in:\n\n/u/AshkenazeeYankee discusses the traditional colors for playing cards: [Why are playing cards red and black?](_URL_1_)\n\n/u/Vox_Imperatoris talks about the original g... | null |
fnijb | At the most fundamental level, what stops me from falling through the floor? | [
{
"answer": "I think the most common explanation is electromagnetic. My electrons repel the electrons in the wall/floor and thus we can't pass through them.\n\nBut I had a professor in undergrad that swore it was the Pauli exclusion principle at work. My electrons can't occupy the same space at the wall/floor's... | null |
811mrm | how do zambonis work? | [
{
"answer": "Cooling tubes embedded in the concrete beneath the ice keep it at a temperature which is somewhat below zero. This is important, as it needs to keep the ice cold enough to freeze the additional water which is laid down during resurfacing. The machine first scrapes the ice to remove shavings and pre... | null |
5kxbvi | Did the US really save UK's ass in WW2? | [
{
"answer": "This is just a short answer but, kinda. The supplies being sent across the Atlantic were incredibly benefitial to the British, as was the numerical support given by the American troops. \n\nHowever, Britain was for the time being relatively safe from an all out land assault after the Battle of Brit... | null |
193k4f | How many atoms "thin" does a solid sheet have to be before it becomes transparent? | [
{
"answer": "Depends on what the paper is made out of.\n\nGlass can be rather thick and still be transparent. An equally thick piece of most metals would be opaque. However, a sufficiently thin piece of gold foil is mostly transparent and is used on astronaut helmets as a filter.",
"provenance": null
},... | null |
jz16m | Could high blood pressure be treated by giving blood every week? | [
{
"answer": "The blood pressure is not because you have too much blood in your system. You have the correct amount of blood :)\n\nThe problem is occlusion of the blood vessels. and so, yes, high BP is definitely a symptom of something else. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yes, removing volumes... | null |
4m7ql7 | To what degree was Manifest Destiny religious in its origin? | [
{
"answer": "The answer, in my view, is both *entirely yes* and *not really* at the same time. Here's why:\n\nThe United States of the nineteenth century was an overwhelmingly religious country. Even compared to today's US, which is much more religious than most of Europe, people *believed* during the nineteent... | null |
15b8xs | Drink with lime in a solid copper mug, is there a chemical reaction that changes the flavor? | [
{
"answer": "it's called a [Moscow Mule](_URL_0_). \n\nCopper oxidizes over time, creating a layer of copper oxide in the cup. When copper oxide (a base) comes into contact with the citric acid (an acid) from the lime juice, the neutralization results in a salt. Now, whether this produces enough salt to be noti... | null |
2z5law | What happens to light and thermal energy? | [
{
"answer": "A photon hitting something and being absorbed (and therefore destroyed) involves transferring all of the photon's energy (and momentum) to the particle that absorbed it. This may be in the form of raising the energy level of an electron, for example.\n\nWhen something cools down it may be transfer... | null |
2jig03 | what authority permits the us national guard to be deployed overseas? | [
{
"answer": "I would assume that this would fall under either voluntary order, or Presidential Reserve Call up. Which is basically a fancy way of saying, if the president and his team think a certain situation calls for federal aid he can send the guard. There generally isn't much of a problem getting enough vo... | null |
1me86t | Were puritan women permitted any rights? | [
{
"answer": "This is something I might well be able help you with, but I need more information about what you mean. The answer will depend more on the law in the particular time and place you're talking about than on a given woman's religious commitments. \n\nDo you mean women in Oxfordshire in the 1590s, or wo... | null |
3hn38a | why are different types of alcohol (vodka, gin, whiskey, tequila, etc.) associated with different moods of intoxication (violent, mellow, happy, crazy, etc.)? | [
{
"answer": "I think people's preconceived notions of how alcohol affects them causes them to act a certain way more so than the actual type of alcohol. When someone says \"let's do some tequilla shots\" - there's a certain \"party mood\" that comes with it. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Fo... | null |
133175 | What does the interior of the ISS smell like | [
{
"answer": "Apparently, [meat and metal.](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Probably a bit like a locker room. Hygiene is tricky in space and the astronauts have to exercise regularly to prevent their bones and muscles from atrophying.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": nul... | null |
a55rfe | Curiosity on Support for Nixon during the Nixon Presidency | [
{
"answer": " > Not only towards the time of his resignation, but as the investigation rolled on (I see it began in 1972; his resignation occurred in 1974.) did he still have many staunch supporters stating he was innocent?\n\nTaken from an earlier answer:\n\nMost Republicans stuck out with Nixon to the end. In... | null |
xhtfe | Can too much cardio be bad for your heart? And how do you know how much is too much? | [
{
"answer": "Yes. A review conducted by the Mayo clinic has found that excessive exercise can actually cause patchy scarring in the heart. However, excessive exercise was defined as people who are marathon or ultramarathon runners, not your average Joe. They found that up to 60 minutes of vigorous physical a... | null |
2p5d8s | oil price goes up, market crashes. oil price goes down, market crashes. wtf?? | [
{
"answer": "Instability is the issue. The market doesn't respond well to irrational players. Saudi Arabia is taking far-less profit per barrel of oil than other oil exporters with the intention of hurting the economy of other countries. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Basically OPEC dropped t... | null |
fd6m0d | how is it that in 10 years i’ve never seen an answer posted in here that a 5 yr old could understand or not become incredibly bored with inside of 5 seconds? | [
{
"answer": "Read the sidebar.\n\n > LI5 means friendly, simplified and layperson-accessible explanations - not responses aimed at literal five-year-olds.\n\nThat would be why.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because the concept is to explain something simply. Most questions here even the base... | null |
1yybho | if energy is not created nor destroyed, what happens to the energy in batteries once a device uses it? | [
{
"answer": "It's almost always converted to heat, eventually.\n\nSay you use a battery to power a cell phone. The chemical battery energy is converted initially into radio waves, sound waves, and light waves. Each of those eventually impacts something and turns into heat when it does. Energy used for other thi... | null |
1wiej3 | what does the denotations of flu viruses, like h1n1 or h7n9 indicate? | [
{
"answer": "They refer to the strain of the virus. the genetic variant of the virus -- explained like your five, consider it like breeds of a dog.\n\nWhen I ask you what kind of pet you have, \"dog\" isn't nearly as useful as when you tell me you have a Husky, or Dachsund, or Chihuahua.\n\nWhile they are all i... | null |
s6u3k | how do we keep such good track all of the objects that are orbiting earth? | [
{
"answer": "The laws of the universe are actually fairly simple. They get complex when it's a whole bunch of them mixing together - but space is perhaps one of the least \"law-mixing\" regions. Basically if you know the velocity of an object and the mass of the objects around it, you can *very* precisely predi... | null |
3v8hg7 | How large were the Greek Colonies in the Mediterranean? | [
{
"answer": "They were some of the largest cities of the Greek world. Herodotus tells us that Cyrene (in modern Libya) could field 6000 hoplites in the mid-6th century BC, which means it would be outmatched only by the biggest communities of the Greek mainland. In the Classical period, Syracuse (in Sicily) was ... | null |
emn6rf | why is the nuremberg defense not considered valid? | [
{
"answer": "The Nuremberg Defense refers to a legal strategy employed by many of the defendants at the Nuremberg war crimes trials seeking to convict Nazi perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Second World War. Many of those defendants claimed that they were not guilty of ... | null |
n7squ | information theory | [
{
"answer": "Information theory does not require a being. It does tell you what the being can (theoretically) do with the information, and whether (and how much) he can tell the information from noise. If you get caught up in philosophical questions, you'll probably just confuse the issue. Look at it this way: ... | null |
q2pej | How come only mammals have external ears? | [
{
"answer": "Different types of species have different reasons. Such as snakes and some reptiles don't have them as to protect themselves from getting dirt and water in their ear. Birds on the other hand don't have them because they have small feathers that cover the ear hole to reduce noise generated from high... | null |
5i0syw | how does stephen hawking continually contribute to science despite his severe disability? | [
{
"answer": "For the most part, he doesn't.\n\nHis scientific output has declined significantly since the 1980s, when he retained more control over his body. This actually isn't that unusual for even able bodied theoretical physicists, who tend to peak in their 20s and 30s.\n\nSince then, he has been more of a... | null |
c95t6w | I am a proud member of the Soviet Union, and I have answered the call to defend the Mother Land against the Facists in WWII. What is the extent of my training, and what is my fate? | [
{
"answer": "Ah, the popular view of the Red Army; questions along these lines pop up every now and then.\n\nYou'll be most interested in u/Georgy_K_Zhukov's [answer on blocking detachments](_URL_1_), which also addresses several other matters along the way - namely, your question 2 and part of your question 3.... | null |
9fdpgv | article 13 meme ban? | [
{
"answer": "It just bans copyrighted imagery, so if someone draws/makes something/takes a photo then you can’t steal it to make a meme out of it.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Anybody can claim copyright of any image. There is no proof needed, and it has to be removed from the entire Intern... | null |
7onlbb | History questions about the medieval period | [
{
"answer": "I think a good place to start for you would be Ian Mortimer's *The Time Traveller's Guide to Fourteenth-Century England* (or, if you prefer early modern, *The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England*--you might find that some of the issues you're asking about are more relevant later). It's a ... | null |
5l5zci | how does color work and does it exist in the dark? | [
{
"answer": "Color is something your brain generates, to represent various wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, the part of the spectrum we call visible light. It does this in response to those wavelengths falling upon receptor cells in your retina that are sensitive to those wavelengths.\n\nColor does not... | null |
2d3xs0 | Does a map of North and/or South America pre-colonialism exist? | [
{
"answer": "There are some old petroglyphs and other items you may find interesting here:\n\n'Maps, mapmaking and use of maps by native North Americans'\n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "5230611",
"title": "Science and ... | null |
xofj7 | [Opinion]How has the American Civil War and Reconstruction affected the forming of the two modern political parties and modern American politics in general? | [
{
"answer": "In my opinion, the modern condition of the two parties is a result of things much more recent - Nixon's Southern Strategy and the rise of Fox News. The Civil War and Reconstruction certainly played their part, see the Civil Rights Act, but in terms of meaningful effect I would still focus on more ... | null |
21slir | how did the 9 month school/3 month break system develop and how come it's universal? | [
{
"answer": "It has to do with buildings being hot and sweaty and poorly ventilated during the summer.\n\nCompletely an urban thing -- nothing to do with agriculture.\n\nEdit: It may have started as an agricultural thing, but as soon as school schedules became synchronized (no more rural schoolhouses), that wen... | null |
3m3zri | what would happen if everyone maxed out all of their credit cards at once? | [
{
"answer": "I like this question, generally banks or lending institutions extend lines of credit, but use statistical algorithms to decide how much money to keep available, so it's possible Visa might run out of money, since this is an essentially impossible occurrence, for which they are not prepared. ",
... | null |
ztjy2 | how does the vocaloid software work? | [
{
"answer": "In order to understand it, you first have to understand a bit about the difference between English and Japanese. English writing breaks everything down into letters (c+a+t = cat). Japanese breaks things down into the sounds (kuh+at = cat).\n\nSo, in Japanese they have this huge list of phonemes (... | null |
sbs9g | How and where does our brain store the "voices" of people/friends so that when we imagine them, we can hear them in our heads. | [
{
"answer": "There may actually be one neuron in your brain that fires in response to a familiar voice. I heard someone found evidence of voice-activation of the \"grandmother cell\", but unfortunately I can't find a reference for it now. The [grandmother cell](_URL_0_) is a single neuron that fires in response... | null |
36bg0e | What would be the first language of the Irish who arrived in the United States in the 19th century? What impact or relation did it have to their relation to society? | [
{
"answer": "By far the majority of the Irish who arrived in the US in the 19th Century spoke only English, or were bilingual in English and Gaelic.\n\nThe 1861 census of Ireland (a few years after the large potato famine immigration, but the best data I could find, and unlikely to have been much different in 1... | null |
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