id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
2s3k3a | Why did Britain/USA not just colonialize Saudi Arabia? | [
{
"answer": "Just finished reading Daniel Yergin's \"The Prize,\" and it goes into a very oil-slanted history of the kingdom. In short (and I'm sure others here can add more), after WWII, the British empire was receding and the Brits saw a large presence in the Gulf as unsustainable. The US, at least under Trum... | null |
sru9t | Have there been Nobel prizes awarded for theories that were later disproven? If so, how does the foundation respond? | [
{
"answer": "[António Egas Moniz](_URL_1_) won a Nobel for \"for his discovery of the therapeutic value of [leucotomy](_URL_0_) in certain psychoses.\"",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Typically, especially in the latter half century, the Nobel committee has been extremely careful to wait for a ... | null |
b1y23z | Which part of China did Han people originate in? | [
{
"answer": "The earliest that \"ethnic Chinese\" can be placed with certainty is the 13th century BC, when the Shang were writing divination records in what was clearly an ancestral form of the Chinese language. Shang materials have been found over a large part of north China but concentrated around Yinxu in H... | null |
1qykuu | Why does orbital velocity decrease with distance from the planet/sun, but velocity around a turntable increases with an increased radius. | [
{
"answer": "It is because the two are not the same.\n\nYour example of a coin on a turntable has constant angular velocity, regardless of distance from the center. In other words, no matter how far away it is, it makes one revolution in the same period of time. This is _forcibly_ imposed on the coin by the fri... | null |
17apqx | When in the past did year abbreviations switch over (ex, '90s to 1890s vs 1990s)? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not sure what question you're asking.\n\nThe 1890s will always be the \"Gay Nineties\", as per your link (or [The Mauve Decade](_URL_0_)), just as the 1920s will always be the \"Roaring Twenties\", and the 1960s will always be the \"Swinging Sixties\".\n\nHowever, if you refer to the \"nineties... | null |
2iekc9 | since space itself is stretching, does that mean that black holes could form more easily in the distant future? | [
{
"answer": "It actually makes it harder for black holes to form because over time matter becomes more sparsely distributed. However, most black hole dynamics are on stellar and maybe galactic scales, which at this time aren't affected by the expansion of space.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": n... | null |
4qj4gt | how do criminals get away when being interviewed in documentaries on national geographic and such? | [
{
"answer": "The police cannot assume what is on \"TV\" is true. Neither should you. It could easily be staged or scripted. In order to become evidence, a man or woman would have to testify in court that everything on the video is true. That would make the film makers job very difficult in the future, so you c... | null |
99eid5 | how do communication waves travel in space, for example between the rover or apollo and nasa. don't waves need matter to travel? | [
{
"answer": "Not Electro-Magnetic waves. Those can also travel as particles. Back in the day we did, in fact, thought that there must be a medium in space to allow light waves to travel through, called **aether**, but all attempts to detect it failed, because it doesn't exist.\n\nElectromagnetic signals can act... | null |
1p3k2m | why is usb the standard and not thunderbolt? | [
{
"answer": "Somebody USBed all the things before thunderbolt was a thing. When something is better cheaper or necessary enough it will eventually become the next data transfer medium de jure.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "USB has been around for over 15 years. Thunderbolt's been around for o... | null |
16rb5v | car engine terms | [
{
"answer": " > What does a (x)liter V(x)engine means?(The x are the numbers, for example 3 liter V8 engine)\n\nThe first is the capacity in liters of the cylinders of the engine. More liters = more air/fuel mixture and more power.\n\nThe V8 is the layout and number cylinders. The V indicates an engine with hal... | null |
3ehsff | Can aquatic mammals get Decompression Sickness (the Bends)? | [
{
"answer": "Human free-divers can do the same. \n\nThe problem is different gas pressures in your breathing mix - for a SCUBA diver or someone working in a pressurized caisson, they inhale air at higher-than-atmospheric pressure, which causes the concentration of dissolved nitrogen in their blood to increase.... | null |
2lpsrx | in a time when drunk driving is so universally frowned up on and everyone is cracking down on duis, why is it that in some cities a business cannot be issued a liquor license if they don't have enough parking? | [
{
"answer": "It's often that they need a certain amount of spots in order to host any event, or they lack the required number of specialized spots (handicapped, expectant mothers, etc.) Or they lack the ability to have overnight parking for people who wish to drive there, drink, and then come back the next day ... | null |
1y412d | what is syndication exclusivity? | [
{
"answer": "Syndication is when a show starts airing on other networks. Sometimes they make contracts promising to exclusively air on only specific networks.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "3845525",
"title": "Syndication exclus... | null |
10cp0j | What are the chances that the Human race could evolve into two different species that couldn't reproduce with each other? | [
{
"answer": "Some small population that had enough people to maintain itself would have to become isolated long enough from the rest of humanity that they would change enough to not be able to reproduce with us.\n\nThe chances are incredibly slim in our modern world, almost impossible. Given that even \"isolate... | null |
1g21kl | What is a good (modern) book on the Battle of Passchendaele? | [
{
"answer": "These may be of some help:\n\n- Your first stop should be John Terraine's *The Road to Passchendaele: the Flanders Offensive of 1917* (1977); while not \"modern\" in the strictest sense, Terraine is very much reliable on these matters and is one of the fathers of the \"learning curve\" school to be... | null |
7bi0es | How similar is present-day Judaism to the Judaism of the 1st and 2nd centuries? | [
{
"answer": "This is not really a simple question to answer. There's no way to really define how similar things are over time. Additionally, the 1st-2nd centuries were a time of incredible amounts of change in the Jewish community, and neither ancient or modern Judaism are homogeneous.\n\nThe foundation texts... | null |
588nj9 | why does the math they teach in school keep changing and getting harder? | [
{
"answer": "One could argue that 3+5=8 hasn't changed in, forever.\n\nThe pressure is to teach **more math** in the same amount of time. That means that more intensive techniques need to be used, and students must **work harder**. It's not the math that's different, it's how much math you need that's changed... | null |
2ntxo8 | why no one appears to be talking about lockheed martin's recent claims to have a breakthrough in nuclear fusion technology. | [
{
"answer": "Because they haven't made a breakthrough yet. They have a design that isn't even complete, let alone a working prototype.\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They have provided no information about it. Just an announcement with no science is nothing more than a press release. If I ... | null |
1drfg3 | what's the point of big research stations in antarctica? | [
{
"answer": "I have a professor that goes to Antarctica yearly to study climate change, by examining Ice cores and sedimentary deposits. A lot of things can only be observed in Antarctica about paleoclimate (how the climate was in the past) because Antarctica is pretty untouched by man.",
"provenance": null... | null |
2fbmn4 | why does anybody get any kind of insurance? aren't they statistically formulated to rip you off (after calculating probabilities of accidents etc).. | [
{
"answer": "In the long run they make money off you *and everyone else*. In the short term it is much easier for you to pay $30 a month than to suddenly have to pay a $50,000 hospital bill.\n\nYou, personally, will not pay into the plan what you might get out of it. Neither will hundreds or thousands of other ... | null |
5usv8q | Biography recommendation(s) on the space/arms race during the cold war. | [
{
"answer": "Von Braun is kind of overdone — you're not going to find anything too new or interesting. If it were me, I would seek out other, often-overlooked, plenty interesting figures. Theodore von Karman comes to mind. Qian Xuesen is also an interesting case (though not European...). There were Germans who ... | null |
2dpcer | what is the purpose of the extra gears in my automatic car? when (if ever?) should i use them? | [
{
"answer": "If one of them is a D with a circle around it, it's Overdrive. It's good for when driving long distances at the same speed, like on a freeway. It's like economy mode. 1st and 2nd gears can be useful as well. I once had a car that started having transmission problems, had to put it in 1st, then 2nd,... | null |
rv7da | What differences would we see in the world (technologically and otherwise) if it was proven that p = np? | [
{
"answer": "I actually just started a research project about this and I've interviewed several people about this. An example of what could be solved include extremely accurate weather prediction. However, not every consequence would be beneficial; computer security relies on the fact that some problems are too... | null |
1v9ot1 | why did the dea strike a deal with the sinaloa cartel? | [
{
"answer": "The article you linked says it was in exchange for information on the other cartels.\n\nNot that I agree with it, but if you are trying to bust 5 different criminal organizations it becomes a lot easier if 1 of the 5 is giving you the complete dibs on the other 4.",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
221ver | When did Europeans start to refer to themselves as Europeans? | [
{
"answer": "People identifying themselves as European? That's still rather a strange thing to do for anyone. Only a few people who are seriously supportive of the EU would do that. Most others would either identify mostly by their national identity or even by a regional identity, like Scottish, Catalan or Occi... | null |
22xub7 | It's often stated that the U.S. has been at war for most of it's history. How does this compare to other states, past and present? | [
{
"answer": "So the question we really need to tackle is: What do you mean by \"been at war\"? The United States has not *legally* been at war since 1945, which means weve had nearly 70 years of uninterrupted peace since the end of World War Two. Infact, in its history the United States has only issued 5 declar... | null |
eknnac | what is redox chemistry and what is it used for? | [
{
"answer": "Redox is a reaction that involves reduction and oxidation of molecules. Examples are electron transfers that happen in living organisms during respiration.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "3457009",
"title": "Redox th... | null |
48rx7x | why the bullshit of naming sequels with original titles? | [
{
"answer": "Don't know the thinking in the game world, but I read the movie industry avoids numbering sequels because the audience thinks they have to have seen all the films in the series to get the new one, lowering the number of people who go to the sequel. Probably something similar applies for video games... | null |
5yviqc | how do pearls form? | [
{
"answer": "Here's a hint- It's the same material as their shell.\n\nThe sand is an irritant to the soft gooey creature, it can't reach to dislodge a grain of sand that is stuck, so it covers it in a layer of the same stuff the shell is made of. They get the minerals from their diet. Layer after layer it gets ... | null |
9njuwu | Why was property ownership a requirement for voting in early US history? | [
{
"answer": "Hey, this can be traced to the English traditions and views on voting rights. Though, it has to be said, we have to make a distinction between three phases: pre-Revolutionary structures, the 13 states under the Articles of Confederation and Post-US Constitution in 1789.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nPre-Revolut... | null |
sq3l1 | Why do I sink faster in water than others? | [
{
"answer": "Buoyancy in water is all about water displacement.\n\nGenerally the fatter you are the easier it is to float. If you are more muscular with very little fat then you will sink. This is why it takes a toll on you. You have to work to stay afloat where others can do little to no work for the same e... | null |
1x8zad | why are gay pride and black pride encouraged while straight pride and white pride are considered as racist ? | [
{
"answer": "Because they are currently minorities being mistreated in many places including the US. The vast majority of Americans are pro-straight and the largest demographic of people in the mid to higher class are white. There would be no point of holding straight or white power movements as neither demogra... | null |
65gqbi | Are there any good books or sources to read up on the mid to late pueblo people of the mesa verde region? | [
{
"answer": "Unfortunately, there aren't too many good and accessible sources on Mesa Verde meant for more general consumption (as opposed to very technical archaeological material). \n\nIf you are interested in Ancestral Puebloan archaeology generally (and not just Mesa Verde), then there are three good overvi... | null |
1rw69q | How did ancient archaeological sites like the Palace of Knossos and Troy (but not limited to) get buried? | [
{
"answer": "Most ancient cities quite honestly get torn or burned down due to accidents, conquests, or natural disasters and are subsequently built over.\n\n\nTenochtitlan was the Aztec capital. The Aztecs had built and modelled their city over the ancient ruins of Teotihuacan. After the Spanish Conquest and t... | null |
3ja0yf | why do leaves turn yellow and wither during fall? | [
{
"answer": "During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. They then slowly begin to become waste products of t... | null |
5x9x3i | why are americans saying special words for school years, like "sophomore"? | [
{
"answer": "As an Aussie who hasn't quite grasped this slsng, does sophomore come between freshman and senior? What's the hierarchy?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "in high school, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade are used synonymously with freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior (respectively)... | null |
cjbgub | when drawing straws, are you more likely to get the short straw if you pick first, or after several people have already picked? | [
{
"answer": "At the start, before anyone has picked, everyone has an equal chance of getting the short straw.\n\nBut as people pick and reveal their straw the probability changes now you know more information. If you're last and no one has drawn the short straw yet then obviously you have a 100% chance of getti... | null |
2kp3py | Is it possible to ever encounter plastic in nature that wasn't made by humans? | [
{
"answer": "Not in the strictest sense, as most definitions I have seen for plastic specifically use the words synthetic or man-made. As such a non-manmade plastic is impossible.\n\nHowever plastics are really just polymers, long chain molecules that are usually organic (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, maybe a few ... | null |
bzw48v | If you are on the moon, does Earth appear to go through phases? | [
{
"answer": "Yes.\n\nIn fact, it will be the exact opposite of whatever phase the Moon is in as seen from Earth. So if it's a New Moon as seen from Earth, it will be a Full Earth as seen from the Moon; if the Moon is in a waxing crescent phase, Earth will be in a waning gibbous phase.",
"provenance": null
... | null |
38l4gf | Why were the soldiers after WW1 seemingly so much more traumatized than the soldiers after WW2? | [
{
"answer": "I'd say it's a difference of depiction more than anything else. The fact that more armies and more soldiers fought in WWII than in WWI, the new weapons available, the extent of the destruction caused by the war, and the extent of the atrocities committed in WWII, the trauma of the second world war ... | null |
26dn21 | What mathematical structure represents a spin-3/2 field? | [
{
"answer": "You might be interested in the [Rarita-Schwinger equation](_URL_0_). The field is represented by a spinor.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "173954",
"title": "Orthogonal group",
"section": "Section::::Related ... | null |
1eehbd | double exposure | [
{
"answer": "Originally, a double exposure is an accident where a camera does not advance the film to the next frame, and you take a second picture ontop of the first. This often results in a mess, but sometimes it makes an interesting effect.\n\nUsing digital cameras, the term 'double exposure' is somewhat mis... | null |
dcswc6 | how do animals that come back from extinction overcome inbreeding problems | [
{
"answer": "They don't. At least not in the short-term. In the short-term they're absolutely will be inbreeding related problems associated with that bottleneck.\n\nIn the long-term if the species does survive, it does so because the problematic genes that have been over-represented in the population are slowl... | null |
12bet2 | why is unrefined sugar more expensive than white
sugar? by the same token, why do whole grain
products like whole grain bread and brown rice
tend to be more expensive than their white, refined
counterparts? surely, refining should add extra
cost? | [
{
"answer": "In a third world country unrefined food is cheaper than refined food. But in the western world they realized they can charge more by calling it \"healthy\". ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "For most products, the price you pay at the store has a lot more to do with what people are ... | null |
3ve4o0 | what is that bubbling creaking sound that my eyeballs make when i'm tired and i rub them? | [
{
"answer": "I have never experienced this? Tagging for later...",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Wen you rub your eyes from left to right and vice versa, especially over the joint of the two lids, you are causing air to get into and under your eye lids. This forms bubbles and makes squishy nois... | null |
dwqfbs | How does the quantum tunneling effect limit development of micro processors and how do we overcome that? | [
{
"answer": "When transistors get to a certain size, they can’t always hold electrons back, which can cause false signals and errors in computations. As far as I know, we can’t directly overcome tunneling, we can only work around it.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "As technology miniaturized wi... | null |
25tb7k | Do the rate of calorie intake and weight gain have any relationship? | [
{
"answer": "eating an extra 4k in a day would drastically alter hormones via increasing insulin and a variety of other hormones (thyroid hormone for example). these drastic hormone deviations shouldn't be seen if you only eat a couple hundred extra kcal per day.\n\ni'm not quite sure, but I believe the drasti... | null |
57wqua | When listening to music with earbuds/headphones, how are the producers/artists able to make the music only play on one side? | [
{
"answer": "This is called stereophonic sound, or simply stereo. It works by storing the music in 2 separate channels, one intended to be played by the speaker (or earbud) on the left side and one for the right side.\n\nOn the recording side, this effect is created by using specific microphone setups, for exam... | null |
b1aeai | Wikipedia says that when Constantinople fell and the Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque, the mosiacs depicting Jesus were either covered or destroyed. Since Muslims believe in Jesus, why were these mosaics covered or destroyed? | [
{
"answer": "While waiting for an answer to your specific question to come in, here are a couple of posts with in-depth answers which discuss very similar topics:\n\n[Post regarding portraits of Ottoman Sultans](_URL_1_) (credit /u/Polgara19)\n\n[Post regarding depictions of the prophet Muhammed](_URL_0_) (cred... | null |
fyq6o | Why do certain materials in my dishwasher retain water so much longer than others? | [
{
"answer": "Heat capacity. \n\nCeramic/Metallic objects can store a lot more heat during the long wash/rinse cycles than plastic objects can. During the drying cycle, that helps evaporate any water that remains on them, while the plastic objects cool off before the water evaporates.",
"provenance": null
... | null |
2bpu0j | why shouldn't you clean your earwax? | [
{
"answer": "Cleaning earwax is fine, cleaning too much is when their is an issue. As earwax protects your ears from excess sound, so too little earwax can result in damaged eardrums. \nI normally just wrap a tissue round my little finger and clean my ear, this means that only some wax is cleaned as the finger ... | null |
4yq5xv | why is there little to no border security between european nations. | [
{
"answer": "There's an agreement between many European countries called the Schengen Agreement. This means they have all agreed to abolish border controls between their countries, and cooperate on maintaining border controls with countries outside of the Schengen Area. So for the purposes of border controls, i... | null |
501ve3 | How did ancient/medieval wars lasting for dozens, hundred+ years work? | [
{
"answer": "The Peloponnesian War lasted over two dozen years (431–404 BC). Think of it as being something akin to the Cold War (the modern one between USA and Russia) where it is mostly political maneuvering and proxy wars. However unlike the Cold War, direct and intense fighting between the two biggest warri... | null |
4avf9x | Did the Communist party have any chance of success in the post WW1 world? | [
{
"answer": "In hindsight, they probably did not have much of a chance of success. Electoral Communism had its high-water mark on the Continent as minor coalition partners to much-farther-right, distinctly-anti-Soviet labor and social democratic parties in proportional representation nations. (It never had mo... | null |
1k07zn | Would deep-sea pressure have any effect on explosions? | [
{
"answer": "What kind of explosions are you thinking of? What is the situation you are thinking of?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yes:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nDuring such an explosion, the hot gas bubble quickly collapses because:\nThe water pressure is enormous deeper than 2,000 feet.\n\nThe expansio... | null |
1qmj5p | why soldiers are such a big deal in the us, while for europe for example it isn't such a big deal. | [
{
"answer": "I don't know the answer and am braced for the downvotes but Americans seen to get very overenthused about a lot of things. \n\nHalloween, Christmas, thanksgiving, soldiers. The world series of sports that only America plays etc. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Some European countr... | null |
7sioii | Did the Rome begin what we now understand to be civilisation? | [
{
"answer": "So, \"civilization\" is a pretty terrible term. It seems to be ranking different people in a way where \"civilized\" is good and developed and \"uncivilized\" is bad and primitive. In addition, by selecting some traits as necessary traits for a \"civilization\" we exclude people who might suit th... | null |
t3vx3 | how i can circumvent internet censorship with proxy's and vpns. | [
{
"answer": "[Tor](_URL_0_) is pretty good. They have a firefox plugin that gives you a button to enable or disable it. When you request a webpage through Tor, your request gets encrypted and sent to one of the Tor nodes out in the internet. That node sends it encrypted to another one, who then sends it encr... | null |
a9rsbp | During nuclear fission in uranium, what kind of radioactive rays are emitted? Alpha, Beta or Gamma? | [
{
"answer": "All of them can result from a fission reaction. \n\nAfter each fission reaction has occurred, the products may generally be in excited states, which can gamma decay to the ground state. Fission products tend to be neutron-rich, so they will usually beta decay one or more times to reach stability. A... | null |
2gpdjp | How do you determine the boiling point of water under certain vacuum pressures? | [
{
"answer": "You use [Antoine's equation](_URL_0_) which is an empirical forumala that gives you the vapour pressure as a function of temperature. Each chemical has different A, B and C constants. You're going to have to convert your vacuum units into absolute pressure to use it however. To save you time, here'... | null |
am4bvs | if we can produce phone screens that are 6" in diameter with a full hd resolution, whats stopping us from making 16k tvs? | [
{
"answer": "Nothing is stopping us. Theres just no market value. Even 4k is limited by content creators actually making their products 4k in resolution, most of the market for media consumption is for 2k displays.\n\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Who honestly would want a 16k tv when a lot ... | null |
1c7btz | what "chained cpi" is, and how it affects the social security cuts. | [
{
"answer": "Standard CPI has a couple of problems in that it overestimates inflation for consumers as it doesn't account for substitution in consumer behavior.\n\nIn the simplest example imagine someone is buying Lays brand chips that cost $2 a bag. Suppose that the price rises to $2.20 a bag, instead of accep... | null |
22k2fp | can insects see cells and their organelles? aren't there insects or other very, small microorganisms (think face mites or mites in general) that can see things as small as mitochondria? any organism with eyes that can detect things- what's the smallest thing they can visually perceive? | [
{
"answer": "If you're looking in visual light, the smallest object you can see, even in principle, is going to be on the scale of the wavelength of light - which for visible light goes down to about 300 nm. \n\nA single virion of HIV is a little smaller than this, and can't be seen visually no matter what. A m... | null |
2nri53 | Solar thermal farms are 19th century technology, why isn't the US full of them? | [
{
"answer": "This chart from the Energy Information Administration shows the levelized cost of energy from various renewable and non-renewable sources:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nEssentially, solar thermal is among the costliest sources of generation, even when compared with other renewable alternatives. Still, it has had s... | null |
6curfg | Did people living in the Roman Empire call it the "Roman Empire"? | [
{
"answer": "Why are all the comments getting deleted?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It was more common to refer to people ethnically rather than in terms of a kingdom, although \"Romans\" often referred to themselves as *Romani*. So you had Etruscans, Etrurians, and so on which made up the ... | null |
fa8atj | Any sources for reading about CIA, NSA, or just secret intellegence over all? Good non fiction. | [
{
"answer": "Look for James Bamford's books:\n\nThe Puzzle Palace: Inside the National Security Agency, America's Most Secret Intelligence\n\nBody of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency\n\nThe Shadow Factory: The NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America\n\nI've read and enjoyed th... | null |
a6q0qi | How did the introduction of the pocket watch effect surveying? | [
{
"answer": "Finding longitude and latitude were very big problems for a ship out on the ocean. It was impossible to precisely measure the distance from one day to the next with no hard and fast landmarks, and the actions of currents and imprecise speed gauges made it hard to correlate knots with actual travel... | null |
5mhz08 | What social opportunities would be available to a free black family living in the antebellum deep south? | [
{
"answer": "This is what my master's thesis was on, so buckle in, I love to talk about it. It was specifically about a wealthy Tuscaloosa, Alabama man named Solomon Perteet. He was by no means the most successful person of color in the antebellum South, but he's the one I know best. That said, let me give you ... | null |
8mpkm7 | how come even after just wearing my glasses for an hour without touching them, they’ll still get smudged? | [
{
"answer": "Your eyelashes may hit the lenses, leaving behind oils. And airborne dust may also get caught in said oils, further adding to the smudges noticed.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "27612",
"title": "Sonic screwdriver",... | null |
3tqncs | how do dogs know to be gentle with babies? | [
{
"answer": "Weve been breeding dogs for 40 thousand years to do things we want. The ones who didnt, didnt get to reproduce. Part of this was selecting for good hunting dogs, tracking dogs, guard dogs, but not murdering your children is also a trait that would be selected for. ",
"provenance": null
},
{... | null |
sz6bq | Does listening to neuroacoustic music have any measurable effect in putting people to sleep? | [
{
"answer": "The man is a quack and he has no scientific studies (besides his own) backing him up. There's no identifiable process behind the supposed 'theory', and everything I've read is nonsense.\n\nSo in short, no. Nothing beyond placebo.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance... | null |
3od6ox | when you listen to music on high volume in a loud place, does it damage your hearing the same way as it would in a quieter place? | [
{
"answer": "When you have a few loud noises, the quieter of the two noises is still loud. It still would damage your hearing the same way. It might seem quieter, but its still the same noise level from your headphones. I believe the difference if any would be due to the noise being sent right to your ears rath... | null |
2f8aqx | what makes good sushi "good"? | [
{
"answer": "the freshness of the fish and how the chef cuts it, i.e. not leaving the skin on it, thick or thin slices etc. Also with nigiri sushi (fish on rice with wasabi between) the right amount of wasabi. Some bad sushi ive had had insanely big slices, like hard to eat big, the salmon still had a little si... | null |
34mkm7 | how did "*" become an understood symbol for correcting a spelling mistake made while typing? | [
{
"answer": "\"*\" is usually used in text to [reference a footnote](_URL_0_). I assume it has derived from this as the corrections are usually placed under the text.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The * symbol, before the advent of instant messaging, was already being used as a way to emphasi... | null |
5ivehr | How were cartoons (political or otherwise) printed in newspapers during the age of movable type? | [
{
"answer": "By no means an expert on this but as far as I'm aware the most common techniques included [etching](_URL_0_), wherein an acid was applied to a metal surface which was then used as a printing plate and [woodcuts](_URL_3_) or [engraving](_URL_1_) which were done by carving the image into wood or meta... | null |
7m0zf5 | what is the leading theory / theories regarding creation of our solar system / universe / etc within the scientific community? | [
{
"answer": "The big bang is assumed to be what happened almost 14 billion years ago, however what happened before the big bang or exactly at the moment of the big bang is unclear.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "\nThanks to a guy called u/BadAstronomer, AKA Phil Plait, for most of this informa... | null |
5fe00v | what are those random sharp pains i get often on my skin almost like a big bite that catches my attention but immediately goes away? | [
{
"answer": "One of your hairs likely got caught in the fabric of your clothes and got tugged. When you reach to scratch it the motion either frees it or yanks it out entirely.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It could be a misfire of the nerves. It could be a hair stuck and being pulled on by s... | null |
n2lch | Is it possible to access more of your subconscious? | [
{
"answer": "The subconscious is a psuedoscientific term used by New Age types... *not* by modern psychologists.\n\nContemporary science doesn't really view the unconscious mind (which is the more scientific term) as some sort of powerful resource to be tapped into.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer... | null |
9v722q | how did the fluoridization of water improve dental health in america; historically and scientifically? | [
{
"answer": "Fluoride reacts with tooth enamel and hardens it.\n\nStatistical data shows a reduction in dental caries in areas with fluoride programs.\n\nHowever fluoridation occurs in nature as well, in natural wells it's sometimes at doses higher than recommended, so some municipalities are actually reducin... | null |
6kh8eg | How did tall ships and the like leave port before the advent of modern engines? | [
{
"answer": "Most of the time tall ships aren't docked, they're moored in a more accessible area and then when they push off, it's mostly a question of letting the wind and the tides do the work.\n\nHowever, if that's not good enough, there is also a particular anchor called a kedging anchor which is taken out ... | null |
6cyitv | How much of the earths surface can we see from the moon? | [
{
"answer": "From the side of the moon that is facing us, one would see about half of the earth at any single point in time, or all of the earth over a period of time.\n\nFrom the side of the moon that is not facing us, one would see none of the earth ever.\n\nAsking \"How much of the earths surface can we see ... | null |
z2a5b | why do people hate tsa soo much? | [
{
"answer": "Simply put, it's an unnecessary means of \"security\" that takes away reasonable rights of privacy, not to mention humiliates and endangers travelers.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The TSA is the organization that deals with security at places like airports. The typical person's... | null |
1nhbmj | Do we lose any weight through exhalation? | [
{
"answer": "You're exactly right! We actually lose *most* of our weight through exhalation. (Sweating is the other major mechanism, but since that's mostly water it doesn't create a net loss.) This is why weight loss is so hard; all the fat molecules that your body stores have to be oxidized and exhaled.",
... | null |
5hylrc | Why are cheetahs so fast? | [
{
"answer": "Cheetahs have a ton of physical adaptations for speed. Just mentioning a few here –\n\n- extra flexible spine for long strides and quick turns\n- shoulderblade doesn't attach to clavicle for added flexibility\n- lighter bones\n- they only run on the tips of their toes, using their claws more for tr... | null |
3loccg | What was the first event in recorded history? | [
{
"answer": "There's a discussion of dated events at _URL_0_. I was taught at school that Egypt's unification around the 32nd century BCE was the first specifically recorded \"event\", though the precise date is unknown. I'm not sure if we've found earlier ones in the interim - shameful, I admit! ",
"proven... | null |
ag5u86 | How effective was armor in medieval battles? | [
{
"answer": "Alright there's a lot to unpack here. But the short answer is: armor is amazing, that's why the wealthiest people and elite fighters wore it. What sane person would choose to wear 30-60 lbs of steel on their body if it didn’t do anything but slow you down?\n\nFirst things first, light, medium, an... | null |
lxbm2 | factory method design pattern | [
{
"answer": "Have you ever had to instantiate an object, and then do *something* to configure or manage it?\n\nLet's say your application has a SoundManager object, and you need it to know about every Sound object that you create. This means that you're liable to write code like this:\n\n mySound = new Sound... | null |
9jlgkd | How did Buddhist communities in East/SE Asia perceive the decline of Buddhism in India? | [
{
"answer": "We actually have some decent contemporaneous accounts of Chinese pilgrims visiting India during Buddhism's stable phase and then further accounts during the terminal phase. \n\nFaxian describes his experiences in India in his text *Foguoji (A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms)*. He departed China in 39... | null |
glmcn | I was microwaving some water, and it exploded all over the inside of the microwave with a loud "pop". What happened? | [
{
"answer": "Hard to say, but it was probably superheated. I've seen this happen with tapwater, and it can suddenly boil *after* it is taken out of the microwave, when you add a teabag to it. The teabag has nucleation sites for steam bubbles. [Here's a great video.](_URL_0_) At least it is great if you don't... | null |
5jekd0 | how does the united states federal government prevent a president from assuming total control and creating a dictatorship - like the actual people, laws or processes, etc that stop a rouge president from becoming a thing? | [
{
"answer": "There's a system of checks and balances in place that prevent any one branch of government from having too much power. For example the president can veto a bill but congress can overturn it. The president can appoint supreme court justices but not without senate approval. There are lots of things t... | null |
3adwvt | how and why does mega work differently than others file hosting services? | [
{
"answer": "Mega does this because the file itself is encrypted. Files are encrypted before uploading and then decrypted on your system.\n\nWhat is really happening is:\nThe encrypted file is downloaded, this takes the time.\nThe file is decrypted, very fast.\nThe decrypted file is saved, as you noticed rather... | null |
1ik9wg | Assuming there IS silicon based life there in the universe, what would they use as "water" or as their organic solvent? | [
{
"answer": "If water is available, there's not much reason to believe they wouldn't use it - carbon and silicon have near enough identical chemistry with water.\n\nOtherwise, your options are quite limited. If it's too hot for water, you're really too hot for most simple liquids - you also don't really expect ... | null |
5ea2cy | Did modesty in clothing (particularly covering the genitalia) originate from one culture or did cultures develop this fashion concurrently? | [
{
"answer": "Followup:\n\nMy guess was that it's mainly to keep your core war, but then why do some peoples living in already warm environments cover up that area?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Perhaps this is a question more suited for r/askanthropology? I'd suggest cross posting this there.... | null |
1og74m | why are we not working on sending a probe towards our nearest habitable planet (gliese 581g)? | [
{
"answer": "Because by the time it could get there we'd already have sent probes there using faster engines, if there's any reason to do it at all. \n\nCurrent technologies would take on the order of a hundred thousand years. We can probably cut that significantly just by waiting a few decades. At that time sc... | null |
352gct | Why is derivative notation d2y/dx2? | [
{
"answer": "Often, dy/dx is written d/dx(y), where \"d/dx\" is an operator. It's an abuse of notation but well understood.\n\nIf you apply an operator twice it's common to write it as \"squared\" - another abuse of notation. e.g A(A(t)) = A^2 (t).\n\nIf you square d/dx you get d^2 /(dx) ^2.\n\nApply that to ... | null |
3z4rab | why will youtube show people dying but freak out over nudity even non sexual nudity? | [
{
"answer": "For the exact same reason a film can have dozens of deaths depicted yet remain PG but throw a couple breasts and swear words in and it's an instant R rating. American prudishness, pure and simple. All nudity is considered inherently sexual (not long ago there was a question on here freaking out ab... | null |
3l2qoo | What is the volume of an inch of rain? | [
{
"answer": "So, first of all, a full measure of rainfall would be \"X inches in the last Y hours\". (Typically, the Y is standard, particularly on local news, and many times is just 24 or however many hours since the rainfall started. But a careful weather report will make sure to indicate the value of Y.) The... | null |
2hz6oy | why does a rocking motion facilitate sleep? | [
{
"answer": "Nobody knows it seems, not even scientists who have studied it.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nMaybe its something to do with rhythm which is soothing, like a heartbeat. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I imagine that it has something to do with the development of an unborn child in the mother's wo... | null |
303r53 | why is it that playing an online game uses less data in comparison to watching a video or browsing the internet? | [
{
"answer": "Online games don't need to send all that much data, just the positions and status of the dynamic objects in the game and a few small bits of info. Everything else is handled client-side by the player's computer.\n\nVideos on the other hand stream a whole lot of data all at once in order to play all... | null |
h5q0z | Is it possible to cure HIV or AIDS with a full body blood transfusion? | [
{
"answer": "Probably not, as there is blood everywhere, so long as there is 1 virus still in your system, it will multiply again and again.\n\nIt's not very effective.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "HIV infected cells migrate to (reside in) the lymph nodes as well as in circulation. Performin... | null |
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