id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
3mp3x9 | For a typical box fan, does the air move because the blades "push" it or because of the Bernoulli Effect? | [
{
"answer": "Fan blades work the same way screws work. As the blade turns about it's axis, the pitch of the blades forces air to move in the direction of the fan's axis (as well as spinning with the fan, but that's irrelevant here).\n\nBernoilli's principle is just a way of expressing conservation of energy in ... | null |
emdcyh | why does depression increase a lot when you happen to fall in love ? | [
{
"answer": "From personal experience, depression seems to happen because the brain is focused on itself and it’s perception of itself from an outside perspective. Falling in love with someone is heavily emotional and depends largely on how the person you are in love with treats you. A depressed brain heavily r... | null |
3ztn1x | why is lemmy such a big deal? | [
{
"answer": "First off, I hate Motorhead.\n\nHowever, most metal fans and musicians loved the band. They had a unique sound forged in the early days of metal. Lemmy was the front man and only consistent member of the band. He was an icon. \n\nOh, and [Lemmy was God.](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
2venb7 | what effects do electronic devices, wi-fi, electromagnetic fields, etc. really have on human health? | [
{
"answer": "To date, there is no proof that there is any effect whatsoever. Doesn't mean that it's impossible, though. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The effects they have on humans is immeasurably small, at least from a pure electromagnetic sense. When I was a kid, I could hear the whine o... | null |
mc7di | the fda and its role in tobacco regulation | [
{
"answer": "I'm not knowledgeable on this subject, but I think the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms) regulates tobacco, not the FDA.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I'm not knowledgeable on this subject, but I think the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms) regulates tobacco, not the FDA.",
"pro... | null |
c6biha | how can manure/hay self combust in hot temperatures even though they're nowhere near 200+ degrees celsius? | [
{
"answer": "hay is more than just dried grass... it’s actually undergone a natural curing process which locks in nutrients and makes it keep better. This happens because grass doesn’t die the moment it’s been mowed...its cells (and certain microbes on it) continue to respire, and this creates some heat. \n\nno... | null |
44ohbm | i have acid reflux. what is happening inside of my body that makes it feel like i am softly belching molten lava? | [
{
"answer": "You are burping up a strong stomach acid and while your stomach has a protective lining, your throath has not.\n\nThe acid is corroding your throath and that feels like belching molten lava.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "7... | null |
3pwpgl | Physiology Blood type question, how can universal recipient receive any type of blood and universal donor can donate to any blood type without the transfused blood cells being attacked and destroyed? | [
{
"answer": "Blood type describes the type of antigens (structures used in immune system response) found on a person’s red blood cells. The letters (A, B, & O) refer to sugar-based antigens. There are A antigens and B antigens. We use type O to refer to blood cells with neither A or B antigens. The plus/minus... | null |
2cgde6 | What would happen if a soldier in the U.S. military from the south, was stationed in the north during the start of the civil war, but he support the confederacy and wanted to go fight for them? Would he be arrested or allowed to leave? | [
{
"answer": "Some of them were allowed to leave at least.\n\nLewis Armistead for instance, resigned his commissioned in late May 1861, a month after the bombardment of Fort Sumter. His fellow officers knew full well that he was doing so to join the South. He traveled to Texas and was commissioned a colonel in t... | null |
5huhfz | what is the difference between a president, a chancellor, and a prime minister? | [
{
"answer": "It varies from nation to nation. In general, many nations have both a head of government and a head of state.\n\nIn the Westminster system (UK, Canada, Australia), the Prime Minister is the head of the government and is in charge of all executive policy. The prime minister and other government mini... | null |
8a9mkg | why are there so many fake movie trailers trending on youtube? | [
{
"answer": "Majority of them are getting tricked, it's like people watching those GTA 6 videos. The people posting them do it on purpose for views, this one guy had practically made a living by making videos like \"Rockstar accidentally sent me GTA 6!\" If you throw some ads on you can make some pretty easy mo... | null |
4eyb38 | What was life like in Rome's provinces? How different would life be in a province compared to Rome itself? | [
{
"answer": "This is a very, very vast and complicated question. Not only does the meaning of what a province actually *is* change considerably over the course of Roman history, but the provinces themselves have an internal history and considerable variation, from Britannia to Egypt or Baetica to Syria. There c... | null |
52d95b | why does gravity influence objects with larger mass, even though they're farther away, more than those with smaller mass | [
{
"answer": "The ISS and its astronaut's are also \"trapped in orbit\" around earth, and earth's gravity does influence both; more than it does the moon, because it's farther away.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The thing with space station is not that they're so far away or anything. If you b... | null |
1hiplk | what are the differences between the electricity in the usa vs. europe. | [
{
"answer": "Europe uses a 220 volt system, whereas the United States uses a 110 volt system. The 220 volt system is just more powerful, but can also be more dangerous if you are shocked by it.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Europe uses 230V AC at 50 Hz, the US uses 115V AC at 60 Hz.\n\n\nMost... | null |
3txun4 | how are new data points created in a video such that a video filmed in 30 fps can be viewed at 60 fps? | [
{
"answer": "Interpolation is a process where a display unit (TV/Monitor) takes two frames and puts them together (similar to an \"average\") to generate an extra frame in the middle. By inserting an extra frame between each one that was recorded, you effectively double the frames per second and can bring 30 to... | null |
6m3wxb | If a Tsunami is coming inland would it be better to attempt to go upward into skyscraper, or try to go inland? | [
{
"answer": "That depends on your location on the beach, the structural integrity of the beach-side buildings and the size of the tsunami. \n\nMost tsunami travel a fairly short distance once beached, think of how quickly a big wave stops when walking on sand. The flooding can reach 300 meters or more from the ... | null |
2ycm1w | richard the lionheart. how did brits know what lions were if at that point they had never been to africa? | [
{
"answer": "There used to be lions in Europe but they were hunted to extinction.\n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "_URL_0_\n\nThe British would have seen or heard of lions from any of the southern states of Europe, most likely the Romans.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer"... | null |
22joy9 | Historic Document Translation? | [
{
"answer": "You are correct, it means 'ditto'\n\nIt shows up very commonly in passenger and freight manifests for ships. Other things said would be 'same', 'above', 'SAA', a single or double quotation mark or a carrot.\n\nSource: Pg 4, [Immigration Research Guide from _URL_0_](_URL_1_)\n\n",
"provenance": ... | null |
3mr0nj | why do so many apps require sign-up these days? | [
{
"answer": "They require this information so they or their partners can send you marketing information based on what you so on you phone, where you are, what time it is, etc. If you want to use these apps most of the time you don't have a choice. Some of the app owners may also sell on the information they gat... | null |
4x8m8n | Why were there so many different names for the ancient greeks? Lacedemonians, hellenes, etc... | [
{
"answer": "In the Classical period, there is only one name for the Greeks: *hoi Hellênes*, the people of Hellas.\n\nThere were, however, numerous ways to refer to the Greeks in earlier times. In the works of Homer, the most common name for the Greeks is *hoi Akhaioi*, the Achaeans; this may have been an archa... | null |
6jcbjc | Why don't Americans eat very much sheep? | [
{
"answer": "Hi, not discouraging further contributions here, but you may be interested in some previous threads on sheep in the USA\n\n* [If sheep were so numerous and popular in medieval times, why do we use so few sheep products now? What happened to the sheep?](_URL_0_), with a few follow-on comments here [... | null |
f768x7 | how was the chris hanson predator show not entrapment? | [
{
"answer": "Entrapment involves inducing someone to commit a crime they otherwise would not be inclined to carry out. For example threatening someone to get them to buy drugs. However posing as a drug dealer and arresting those attempting to buy drugs is not entrapment, as people not inclined to illegally purc... | null |
3tbth5 | why does reddit have such a bad reputation amongst non-redditors | [
{
"answer": "a lot of the big things reddit gets known for (the events that blow up) paint reddit in a bad light. The most popular probably is the witch hunt on the wrong guy for the Boston bombings, which made reddit look extremely racist. The other is the nazi flag on the front page (which is still the 6th mo... | null |
5ow3e8 | what action could navient take if all borrowers stopped paying our student loans? | [
{
"answer": "I am sure there would be instant penalties for late payment. The borrowers would eventually have to pay extra interest. The debts are legal. Their manner of operation was not fair. If all the borrowers stopped paying the worth of the company would increase due to expected increased future revenue.\... | null |
6hbhd8 | Hello. I would like to expand my knowledge about the general history of Europe | [
{
"answer": "Hi! Glad you're taking an interest in history. SO, you like Europe but don't know where to start. I'll give you a good list to get started but we have to cover two things first: Historical Interpretation and Historiography.\n\nHistory isn't an exact retelling of the past, instead, it is an argument... | null |
1aa3rq | how old is the notion of the political party? | [
{
"answer": "UK perspective here. It's important to note that the ideal of personal independence - moral, financial and political - was paramount as parties took shape in the late 18th and early 19thC. To be dependent on some kind of party line was seen almost as disreputable. You're into the 1830s and 40s befo... | null |
1myvmv | Why did the pikemen of the Hellenistic phalanxes carry shields, while the medieval European pikemen didn't? | [
{
"answer": "I don't know a ton about ancient pikemen, but as for the Swiss:\n\nThe massive pikes they used required two hands to use effectively, but that still could have allowed the use of a small shield. The Swiss pike formation adopted very aggressive tactics - the goal was to use a combination of speed, s... | null |
3qdgf6 | Who is the current "Lineal Champion" of military history? | [
{
"answer": "I don't think this is answerable (even if it didn't break the rules).\n\nThe greatest military minds in history are by definition generals who performed exceptionally well. They won wars after wars, beat all those around them, and by these feats are labelled as exceptional military leaders. In this... | null |
abzdnx | why does the federal reserve pay interest to banks? what is the impact of this? | [
{
"answer": "It's the other way around: the banks pay interest to the Federal Reserve Bank on money they borrow from the FRB.\n\nA higher rate on those loans makes it more expensive for banks to borrow money, which makes those banks charge more for loans (discouraging borrowers) or be more cautious about the lo... | null |
786z5b | Why is Hitler's Muder of USSR Civilians never talked about? | [
{
"answer": "Related to your question, you might be interested in [this](_URL_0_) earlier answer by u/commiespaceinvader, which doesn't specifically focus on Soviet civilians, but does explain why there's a tendency to highlight the fate of the Jews in particular.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer":... | null |
fognqu | Is the optic nerve stretchy or is there some slack to let your eye move? | [
{
"answer": "The optic nerve in an adult has about 8mm of slack to allow the eye to move. \n\nNerves in general do not stretch very much, and the optic nerve in particular cannot stretch at all. That's because it is part of the central nervous system. \n\nBecause the nerve connects directly to the brain, it is ... | null |
vnm69 | Would inhabitants of the ISS be able to see with their bare eyes if a nuclear war started on earth? | [
{
"answer": "oh yeah, no doubt they could see it and the fires burning after.. \n\ntalking about things which explode brighter than the sun.. \n\nISS is only 350 kilometers up or so.. not very far \n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Most definitely. A nuclear fusion bomb is orders of magnitude h... | null |
1evxvc | How does your brain know how to assemble the signals from the individual cells in your retina into a spatial image? | [
{
"answer": "It is both hard-wired and partly plastic.\n\nThe basic organization is hard-wired, particularly in the crossing of some neurons from the right eye to the left side of the brain and some neurons from the left eye to the right side of the brain (while some from the right eye stay on the same side of ... | null |
1a9x19 | Did any countries in the Middle East play any roll in WWI or WWII? If so, what? | [
{
"answer": "There were a number of allied invasions in the region during 1941, as Britain pre-emptively dealt with potential threats to their oil supplies and lines of communications. At the time, the British position in North Africa was looking somewhat dire, as German forces under Rommel started to advance ... | null |
63uzc2 | why is everyone blaming the current ad revenue problems on youtube on youtube itself? | [
{
"answer": "It's a very complicated subject to be honest.\n\nYoutube is responsible to where those ads will be put on. If an ad is put on a video promoting violence, then it's the responsibility of youtube. The advertisers had confidence in youtube that their ads won't be used on inappropriate video. \n\nThat ... | null |
2mhwy8 | how can a [computer] screen keep track of each and every pixel? how can it be this specific? | [
{
"answer": "The idea, or perhaps model, is that every pixel on your screen can be identified with its own address. For pixels, addresses are usually in the form of coordinates. A bit (or a lot) as how points are identified in a mathematical graph.\n\nIt is customary to assign one of the four corners of your sc... | null |
8ybqnh | how do refrigerants like hfcs and hfos work? | [
{
"answer": "Think of it like a cup of steaming hot water in an insulated cup. As long as the lid is on, the heat is contained, it stays in the cup. Not harming anything.\n\nBut take the lid off and now the heat is escaping into the air.\n\nIt's the same concept, the heat gets absorbed, then it wants to be rele... | null |
2v2a28 | what is the difference between weapons grade and non-weapons grade nuclear material? | [
{
"answer": "Weapons grade fuels have high enrichment, power-grade fuels are low enrichment.\n\nEnrichment is what % of the nuclear material is capable of a chain reaction on its own. Power reactor fuel is < 5% Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239. The other 95% is a filler material. \n\nWeapons grade fuel is > 90% ... | null |
c0kfsw | If all ship's radars operate on the same frequency (S & X band), why don't they interfere with one another? | [
{
"answer": "They generally would. Though specific bands are rather large, antennas/radars can operate in narrow frequency ranges within a band, and the frequency space required to prevent interference between two bands can be, by design, very narrow (you could have a radar operating at 9.985 GHz and another at... | null |
32y5bz | how all the counting numbers can be interesting at once | [
{
"answer": "Well, you've simply created a paradox for yourself. By defining 'the first boring' as 'interesting' you've created an unbreakable loop, where your two classifications refute one another. \n\nIf it's the first boring number, it's not interesting. But if that makes it interesting, it's not the first ... | null |
1b78bo | A couple of rudimentary physics questions my teachers never could really answer, for some reason or another, that I'd like to still know. [Big post warning] | [
{
"answer": "1) Light has no *rest* mass but has momentum based on it's frequency. Newton's laws don't describe it as it wasn't discovered yet. Newtonian laws only apply to Newtonian physics.\n\n2) They would repel one another as a function of distance squared.\n\n3) Falling into a black hole is not destructi... | null |
jt3r4 | the plot of atlas shrugged | [
{
"answer": "There are only about 15 people (I am guestimating) in the entire world who are able to do anything good. These people are the captains of industry because they worked hard, made themselves extremely smart, and earned every single penny they ever got. They also hate being forced to help people, beca... | null |
gonw4 | Is there really no way to know whether or not a shelter dog has rabies until/unless symptoms arise? | [
{
"answer": "Yup. Only way to test for rabies is observation in quarantine or brain tissue. And the latter is the only real, definitive way. \n\n > The shelter giving my dog the regular rabies vaccine for dogs wouldn't do anything if he was already infected with rabies, right?\n\nDepends on progression of t... | null |
2r91i0 | Were there other attempts at peace during World War 1? | [
{
"answer": "There were two notable attempts by the papacy to broker a peace deal. In January of 1915, Benedict XV sent a papal diplomat as an envoy to Austrian emperor Franz Joseph. That diplomat was Eugenio Pacelli (who in 1939 would be elected pope and would take the name Pius XII). The goal was to try to... | null |
rf5xm | What causes the pale greenish tint we get when we are nauseous? | [
{
"answer": "I googled that and got the answer pretty fast. it apparently has to do with the blood leaving your face leaving you with the yellow of your skin and the blue of your capillaries. \n ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "2076669... | null |
2cpdws | how did letters like g and j, or c and k, come about? why do they share a common sound? | [
{
"answer": "I think it's best expressed by a quote from James Nicoll:\n\n*The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and... | null |
4xjphh | how do sports commentators know all the players and their backgrounds so readily? i realize they are fed the info beforehand but they seem to spit out the info at appropriate times and so easily. | [
{
"answer": "They typically have notes on hand during the broadcast, additionally they have a producer in the truck feeding them information.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They get very well organized packets before a game and they are also being fed stats throughout the game that are applica... | null |
1tw16s | During the Cold War, why was it necessary for the USA and the USSR to build arsenals of literally thousands of nuclear weapons, enough to destroy all human life multiple times over? | [
{
"answer": "This is more of a question about nuclear war strategy than history but here goes:\n\nThe buildup has to do with theories on nuclear war that require establishing enough of a strategic nuclear force to ensure a second strike capability. Theoretically, one side would attempt a counter-force first str... | null |
1z414c | What is the "speed limit" beyond the event horizon of a black hole? | [
{
"answer": "In classical general relativity (ignoring all the recent business with firewalls), nothing special happens as you cross the event horizon from the point of view of an observer falling in. The laws of relativity don't disappear, so you still cannot travel locally faster than light.",
"provenance... | null |
29f45q | What was the Value of a Knight and other warriors? | [
{
"answer": "The main issue with your question is the range. The medieval time period lasted a LONG time. Also, the quality and locaton of the armor and knight affected a lot. Europe had many vast economies. If you could narrow down the question, I'm sure the question could be answered.",
"provenance": null... | null |
45zunb | why do even numbers feel safer and more pleasing than odd numbers? | [
{
"answer": "Because it is more familiar to you. You have 10 fingers, 10 toes, two eyes, two ears, two arms, two legs, etc. Yes, you have one nose and one mouth but the number two satisfies your natural sense of symmetry more easily. The reason that five is comfortable is because of five fingers and five toe... | null |
ec826u | how do latrines flush away stool but get blocked because of tissie/toilet paper? | [
{
"answer": "Toilets have pipes. A lot of paper will be difficult to compress and fit through those pipes. Turds, meanwhile, are relatively small and squishy.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "239932",
"title": "Flush toilet",
... | null |
1uom8z | What did knights/lancers do with their lance after a successful charge? | [
{
"answer": "Typically a lance is used once in a battle, you charge, the lance either becomes embedded in your target, breaks or misses, in either case you drop it and draw a sidearm for close quarters fighting. There have of course been cases where lancers or knights have wheeled around, gone back to their ori... | null |
8fbjxh | how elevators know what floor to go to and how they stop perfectly *nearly* every single time | [
{
"answer": "A certain number of rotations of the gears causes a specific change in height of the elevator. This isn't something that has any drift to it, it's pretty constant on the kind of scale we care about.\n\nA little tuning and you have it set with all the heights. Not much to it.",
"provenance": nul... | null |
2fqe36 | Upon launch, what kept the Space Shuttle from tilting backwards towards the orbiter? | [
{
"answer": "If the rocket nozzles generate a thrust that points through the center of mass of the shuttle, then it won't rotate.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "28189",
"title": "Space Shuttle",
"section": "Section::::M... | null |
37chy0 | special economic zones | [
{
"answer": "It basically means the country or state has declared certain areas to have separate trade/regulation/economic policy than the rest of the country or state. It is typically done to encourage trade and boost their economy.\n\nHere is an example. Two islandic countries fish for widgets. Country A has ... | null |
8y246v | After the Stanford Prison Experiment, what happened to all the ‘prisoners’ and ‘guards’ who were involved? Did any of them sue/have long term mental health issues from what went on in there? | [
{
"answer": "Any interveiw sorces would be greatly appreciated if anybody has any",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Although Zimbardo did not conduct an immediate debriefing, which could have uncovered harm caused by the experiment, none of the prisoners displayed long-term mental health issues. ... | null |
1l919g | Were there "baby boomer" generations as a result of large armies returning from battle in ancient times? | [
{
"answer": "Its important to remember that the Baby Boom in 1950s America was not simply caused by troops returning from WW2. Remember there was no real Baby Boom in Britain or France in response to WW2 and even within America after WW1 there was no real \"boom\" in population. David Faber in *The Age of Great... | null |
162w76 | Were there black KKK members? | [
{
"answer": "The KKK had membership rules which prohibited blacks, Jews, homosexuals, atheists and Catholics from joining. Or to be more exact, they only allowed white, protestant, Anglo-Saxon men to join. Later, in the 1920s, they did start a women's organization that allowed only WASP women to join.\n\n_URL... | null |
a50gsh | how do sodas travel the country all carbonated but as soon as you get one alone and it shakes up, its flat?! | [
{
"answer": "When you shake a carbonated beverage, a bunch of the carbon dioxide which is the cause of the \"fizz\" goes out of the liquid and into the air.\n\nIf you then let it sit still for long enough, the carbon dioxide will dissolve back into the solution.\n\nSo if you shook a can of soda and let it be fo... | null |
10p5hk | How exactly is a photograph actually stored as 1's and 0's on a computer? | [
{
"answer": "Let's talk about [bitmaps](_URL_0_). \n\nThe simplest case is a black and white bitmap (which will literally be a bit-map... the 0s will be black and the 1s will be white. And it will be 32 by 16 pixels.)\n\nYou have to tell the computer at least one thing about the bitmap:\n\n1. How many pixels wi... | null |
r854y | irc | [
{
"answer": "IRC is a way for groups of people to chat to each other. \n\nFirst, you connect to an IRC network. IRC networks have many different channels on them; an IRC channel is the original \"chatroom\". Channels are named with a hash beginning them; for example, #Cars or #Politics or #Cooking. So you enter... | null |
1gwnwf | AMA: Vikings | [
{
"answer": "As I'm sure you all know, pretty much everything we know about Norse mythology comes from Christian sources, written hundreds of years after its practices had been banned (eg. the Edda and the Codex Regius).\n\nDo you think Norse mythology as depicted in the literature we have is reflective of how ... | null |
51a46z | 'weight cutting' in combat sports | [
{
"answer": "Many combat sports are divided into weight classes. Being at the top of your weight class can give a slight advantage, so if you can lose a few pounds and drop into the next lower class you'll be at the top of that rather than the bottom of your original one.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"... | null |
t0hxm | what is the point of the catcher in the rye? | [
{
"answer": "It's very debatable, but this is the gist of what I got from it. Salinger was a big fan of children, and Holden had an issue with the corruption of people. Holden struggled with the idea of preserving the innocence of society, while containing his disdain for the corruption of it. This is why h... | null |
3kj62k | how it is that we exert the same gravity on earth as earth exerts on us? | [
{
"answer": "Because gravity works both ways with any two objects. The earth is pulling on you with a force equal to your weight, and you're pulling on earth by the same amount. It's just that, even if those forces weren't cancelung eathother out, a few hundred pounds of force has a tiny effect on something as ... | null |
7bba6o | Were people in Victorian times actually as weak health-wise as they are portrayed in novels from the time period? | [
{
"answer": "I cannot speak to the actual, physical health of Victorians, but I did once write an answer on the related subject of why one shouldn't take representations of fainting in period fiction as just a reflection of what people were actually doing:\n\n[How did fainting in the Victorian era become so gen... | null |
bfpbio | Before Einstein, did nobody else consider there was a deep relationship between gravity and space time? | [
{
"answer": "If you don't get an answer here, you can also try /r/historyofscience, /r/philosophyofscience, or /r/historyofideas",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Depending on how you see it, there is also no deep relationship between gravity and spacetime in General Relativity. GR is originally ... | null |
2jkq1t | What causes the scars on the ocean floor? | [
{
"answer": "Do you mean the near-perfectly straight lines, like the ones [seen in this goog map?](_URL_1_) When you're on the actual google maps site, you can [zoom in on one of those \"lines\"](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The long linear irregularities in your image look imag... | null |
6gl8jv | what is the difference between baking powder and baking soda? | [
{
"answer": "Gonna just use the internet for this one. [Differences](_URL_0_)\n\nBaking soda is sodium bicarbonate only and it acts as a weak base. Baking powder is a mixture of baking soda, an acid that's usually cream of tartar and a little cornstarch.\n\n > Aka bicarbonate of soda or sodium bicarbonate. Le... | null |
82rrv7 | How do polarizing filters “know” the orientation of incoming photons? | [
{
"answer": "It's hard to do better than this 60 Symbols video:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nIt's not about \"knowing\" it's that if the incoming light is not perfectly polarized already then no matter what angle you choose it will have SOME component along that axis and that is the component that survives the filter, which i... | null |
3jdvph | why are the refugees blocking the eurotunnel in callais not arrested/kicked out/processed/in france? surely they are illegally staying there too? is the french govn't just lazy or is there some technical reason? | [
{
"answer": "They aren't exactly tolerated - the local police break up the camps and arrest people whenever the numbers start to rise significantly, as over this last summer. The current Mayor of Calais seems determined to see something done now that numbers are rising again, and has threatened to blockade the ... | null |
2g1nxx | Is there a reason that baldness in babies follows the same general pattern as Male Pattern Baldness? | [
{
"answer": "I think you may have a flawed premise here. Babies generally don't follow male pattern baldness. If they have very thin hair, it is generally very uniform. \n\nMaybe someone else can give you a better answer, but I haven't been able to find a single example of a male pattern baldness newborn for ab... | null |
1iilko | I read about children working underground in coal mines during the Industrial Revolution. Is that accurate? | [
{
"answer": "Until 1842, children did work underground in substantial numbers.\n\n[An accident at Huskar Colliery in Silkstone](_URL_1_), near Barnsley in 1838 clearly shows this. A stream overflowed into the ventilation drift after violent thunderstorms causing the death of 26 children; 11 girls aged from 8 t... | null |
1paagj | A question on Cosmic Radiation and Electromagnetic Shielding | [
{
"answer": "While the earth's magnetic field does help with cosmic rays, you are forgetting the massive attenuation that occurs due to our atmosphere. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "12987773",
"title": "Astronautical hygiene"... | null |
45juvp | why can a light tap or flick or what have you on my testicles hurt pretty bad, but ball-slapping sex doesn't hurt at all? | [
{
"answer": "Because the impact is directed onto a smaller surface area. \n\nCan I ask why nut shot pain takes a few seconds to really kick in? ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Well, during ball slapping sex, things hurt less. Hormones, adrenaline, etc. For me at least, it's common for them to... | null |
7mt0xl | why we can't see a full circle rainbow? | [
{
"answer": "Because of the physical properties of rain droplet, the light entering and leaving forms an angle of about 42^(o). That means a rainbow is going to be a ring \"around\" the sun at 180^o - 42^o = 138^(o), or 42^o from the point exactly opposite the sun. Since that point is below the horizon, the e... | null |
3lq4oa | why do sites sometimes give an error, but if you refresh it a second after it works? | [
{
"answer": "Here's an example.\n\nLet's assume the Google server that I access is in California. I type something into a Google search bar, hit search, and it goes from here in New York State to the Google California Office in 13 milliseconds (0.013 seconds).\n\nThe server in California then has to look for wh... | null |
17zu41 | Reading about the WWII pacific theather. Why the huge difference in losses? | [
{
"answer": "A fast deteriorating supply situation for the Japanese and the industrial might and adaptibility of the US happend. What followed was what always follows when ideology, honor culture and courage clashes with superior firepower. \n\nQuite simply, the IJN didn't surrender when almost any other force ... | null |
6c28m1 | why is it called the "secret service" when it isn't secret at all? how did they get that name officially? | [
{
"answer": "In 1865, the \"Secret Service Division\" of the US Treasury Department was formed as a federal police agency devoted to investigating and preventing money counterfeiting, which was a huge problem at the time. In it's early years it ended up doing all kinds of law-enforcement and intelligence/counte... | null |
byj9vy | if horse racing tips had any merits, why wouldn't the bookies adjust their odds to match? | [
{
"answer": "Betting on horse races is fairly straight forward. If more people bet on a particular horse because they think it has a good chance to win, odds will adjust. The horses with low odds stay that way because few people will bet on them. The bookies do adjust the odds, in horse racing and pretty muc... | null |
375y8z | what is that carbon fiber pattern? why is it so appealing? | [
{
"answer": "Carbon fibers have extreme tensile strength to weight ratio. This is good in that a light weight component can support a larger load. However, its strength is highly directional i.e. it is strong only in one direction. So the fibers are woven into a matrix like the pattern you see commonly. The pat... | null |
xgfn7 | - water towers | [
{
"answer": "Water towers make it so that, instead of pumping water *all* the time, you just have to pump water to the top of the tower. This means you can still get water when the power goes out, and that's very important in areas where the power is likely to go out.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answ... | null |
7n1ffe | why do some foods taste just as good (or better) as leftovers the next day, when others are horrible? | [
{
"answer": "It's hard to generalize it because it's different for each food. A lot of chemical processes happen constantly even after food is cooked, and it depends on it's chemical makeup, how it was cooked, how it was stored, and how it was reheated. \n\nFirstly, reheating anything often ends up cooking it a... | null |
2wcs9f | "Blacks" or "African-Americans"? | [
{
"answer": "You might split the difference and go with Black Americans. No one is likely to get mad about that sort of thing in an undergrad paper so long as you're making a good faith effort. Also the general trend is to [capitalize the B in Black Americans](_URL_0_) these days, though that is a hot topic. ",... | null |
2klr5z | does massage really work to get rid of the 'knots'? what are the knots and why do you sometimes feel worse after a deep tissue massage? | [
{
"answer": "Knots are muscles that are contracted (bunched up) after over use or injury. As far as I know, massage is the best way to get rid of knots. There are a few reasons you could feel worse after a deep tissue massage: you could be bruised, your body was so used to your muscles being tensed up and it n... | null |
8jsbzh | why is the australian dollar so weak against the british pound? | [
{
"answer": "No, the Aussie dollar is pretty strong against the pound, currently sitting at 55 pence.\n\nIt is always a mistake to compare currencies absolute values, as these are a result of history. The difference in this case is because Australia switched to decimal currency back in 1966, and with currency b... | null |
2jtajb | Why does water that you carry feel heavier than water that you consumed? | [
{
"answer": "When you drink it, the water is at the near center of your body, in your backpack it's not. There i more support at the center of your body so it feels lighter. Carrying it on your back also requires a posture that is harder to maintain and thus requires more energy and may exhaust your muscles mor... | null |
xww2c | How certain are we of what year it is? Were there every any disagreements, like during the Dark Ages or afterwards, of the exact year? | [
{
"answer": "On the subject of disagreeing about the year, an intriguing, if grossly flawed, fringe theory about chronology: _URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Well, it's one thing to be off by a day or so, but by a year? That's a massive mistake for an entire population to make. But it w... | null |
trm8w | meta plea to eli5 about the upcoming elections. | [
{
"answer": "Suggestions for the quick explanations:\n\nElectoral college: States have a number of electoral college seats based on their population size. Voters in the state choose a candidate, and the one with the most votes gets all the seats. When all states have chosen their candidates, the seats are tal... | null |
3s524l | why does it take minutes to take money from my bank account but days to put it back? | [
{
"answer": "What takes minutes is the authorization for somebody to take money from your account, not the time for the money to actually be removed from yours and into theirs. However, once a transaction has been authorized, your bank will show your account as having that much less money, so it can seem like i... | null |
16qlln | what is "doping" in cycling and why is it illegal? | [
{
"answer": "Doping in cycling typically refers to the use of any kind of performance enhancing drug. The actual term doping, I believe, comes from the term \"blood doping\" which means to artificially increase your red blood cell count. A lot of cyclists that have been caught cheating recently have been using ... | null |
41uufm | why have desktop app stores not gotten similar development as mobile app stores? | [
{
"answer": "Mobile devices make it difficult to download apps from random places, like someone's website, and easy to download from a centralized store. This means that there is some exclusivity to mobile devices, and that they have things like ratings, etc.\n\nDesktop systems are different because you can get... | null |
5gkzds | How does a single membrane in an earphone generate multiple frequency sounds at the same time instant? (For example, high hats with vocals) | [
{
"answer": "When a complex sound or mixture of sounds is heard, there is really only one wave that hits your ear. The waves of sound in the air are able to interfere both destructively and constructively, and the function of the final wave is the sum of those of all the individual waves. The result is not a se... | null |
c5o78l | nowadays we are starting to use more paper products than plastic (straws , bags etc) will this his not create a problem in the future because paper is made out of trees ? | [
{
"answer": "I think the idea is that we can farm trees, wood is a renewable resource. Also so long as this wood isn’t burnt and instead is turned into paper, it should in theory soak up CO2 from the atmosphere and leave us better off.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Fuck the trees! Giving us o... | null |
84ow73 | how can only one jet engine fly a twin engine airplane for hours after the other has shut down? | [
{
"answer": "All things being equal, yes. But planes have the ability to turn and this can be used to counter the effect of having an engine out.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Most times, either the engines are close enough together not to make any noticable difference, or you can easily \"tr... | null |
1dvpcx | It's generally understood that a good deal of dangerous animals have bright colors to act as a "warning" (poison dart frogs, coral snakes, etc.), but aren't most of their natural predators colorblind? Wouldn't this diminish the effectiveness of this defense mechanism? | [
{
"answer": "Birds (which are common predators of insects and frogs) have some of the best vision and color detection of any animal. If they were colorblind we wouldn't have colorful birds (color helps them mate and show dominance), because the duller colored ones would be less likely to be eaten by predators,... | null |
yql3h | the whole controversy around goldman sachs. | [
{
"answer": "Read Griftopia. Sorry, it's not that simple. That's why it went on for so long.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "335244",
"title": "Goldman Sachs",
"section": "Section::::Controversies and legal issues.:Role... | null |
1hcrng | What causes a gun barrel to rise when I shoot? If I hang upside-down and shoot, will the barrel "rise" away from the anchor point (i.e. my feet) or away from the source of gravity (i.e. the Earth)? What would happen if both are absent (i.e. in space)? Or is something else going on? | [
{
"answer": "The bullet doesn't leave along the line that passes the center of the gravity for the gun. Because of this, the device will experience a torque from the gas that pushes back in the firing chamber, and it will attempt to begin rotating, which is what you should see in space.",
"provenance": null... | null |
33g1p1 | what makes an expensive product so expensive? is it more related to the brand, or the materials? | [
{
"answer": "It's really depends on the product. Some are expensive because of the brand, some are expensive because of msterials. But both and neither can apply.\n\nThe better question is what product are you refering to?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Everyone prices their product at the max... | null |
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