id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
7t7zob | how do fraternities work? do they serve any real function to the university? | [
{
"answer": "Interesting question. Fraternity is a short for Fraternal Organization. Literally a brotherhood. Like minded, funded, intrests etc\n\nIn the case on campus many began over a century ago as literal acedemic and social clubs. Like any many a club they have standards for admission. Not ev... | null |
327gim | Why would decreasing the extracellular concentration of Na+ cause the membrane potential to increase (get more negative)? | [
{
"answer": "To start with, your terminology is out. Getting more negative is a decrease in membrane potential. But it is quite confusing, that's why we always try to say depolarize or hyperpolarize.\n\nIn response to your question, it is a little hard to know why in YOUR simulation changing [Na+]o (extracellul... | null |
248vhd | Why was Unit 731 commissioned and did Japan ever intend on using their "research"? | [
{
"answer": "You can get the US gov't documents here.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nPages 32-34 and 46-49 gives summaries of the activities during the investigation.\n\nPages 53-55 gives a Q & A of Unit 731 in 1995.\n\nIt's a US gov't report so it's very concerned about what happened to US PoWs.\n\nYou should read the document... | null |
2g74tv | In general, how were utilities (plumbing, electricity, gas) handled in the United States during the late 19th and 20th centuries? | [
{
"answer": "The modern induction type electromechanical watt-hour meter was invented for the Westinghouse corporation in 1894. Prior to that there were several different designs for metering electricity running back to Samuel Gardiner who invented a meter that measured how long electricity was applied to the ... | null |
5m0h55 | why does coconut oil and other oils soak into some people's skin, and sit on top of others? | [
{
"answer": "Do they? I have never heard of this",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Now that you mention it...Coconut oil will absorb on my upper body but just sits on my legs. It doesn't even help with the ash. You can see the ash under the oil if you look closely. ",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
10u99h | If stars emit light and planets don't, how do we discover new planets? Their reflection of their nearest stars? | [
{
"answer": "[Wobble and transit.](_URL_0_)\n\nIn the first one, the gravitational effects of a planet-sun coupling cause a \"wobble\" that permits detection from afar.\n\nIn the second one, the planet's orbit is such that it goes between the distant star and the observer; this 'transit' blocks some of the ligh... | null |
rxrrw | Why do objects in space tumble when rotated on a certain axis? | [
{
"answer": "Objects will appear to \"tumble\" if they are not being rotated about one of their three \"principle axes.\" If you rotate an object about some arbitrary axis, then the angular momentum vector will not, in general, be in the same direction as the rotation vector. Because the angular momentum vect... | null |
3ap16n | why does it seem like coca cola is sold in nearly every country of the world, even underdeveloped ones, but bottled water seems hard to come by? | [
{
"answer": "Bottled water is available there also, but you hardly hear about it because bottled water doesn't have the marketing budget of a small country like Coca Cola pumps into marketing for it's Soft Drinks.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "In an undeveloped nation, Coca Cola is a rare tre... | null |
2gz1gu | Why does traditional Japanese architecture only rarely use stone structures? | [
{
"answer": "hi! additional input is welcome, but meanwhile, you may be interested in responses to these earlier questions\n\n* [Why are Japanese castles built of wood as opposed to stone?](_URL_5_)\n\n* [What military value did Japanese castles have, compared to European castles?](_URL_3_)\n\n* [Why didn't Asi... | null |
1hgc7s | what is depression and how do i deal with a friend that has it? | [
{
"answer": "Given that your friend was prescribed pills, his depression may stem from a chemical imbalance within the brain. Not sure what kind of anti-depressant he was given (Zoloft, Prozac, etc.), but if it helps, it helps. Like you mentioned, you can't just tell him to cheer up and pretend it's not there. ... | null |
dvbgwf | Is the expansion of Soviet influence and creation of the USSR considered imperialism? | [
{
"answer": "It's generally (though not universally) accepted that the Soviet Union behaved in the manner of a traditional empire, however calling the Soviet Union 'an empire' is a bit of a loaded statement-- especially in the context of the 20th century when the British Empire and French Colonial Empire were e... | null |
8wbfuk | we’re all told that using phones while they’re charging is bad. can anyone of the good people here tell me why? | [
{
"answer": "Who told you that? It increases the amount of time it takes to charge, but is otherwise fine.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Never heard of that before. I go back to the Motorola clamshell (look it up you little punks - and get off my lawn!) and have always done that. ",
"prov... | null |
2yoitc | Searching for books about Current Elites in Korea (~ < 50 yrs) for research. Any recommendations? (x/post /r/korea) | [
{
"answer": "I've done research on Korea from an economic perspective (looking at how political changes and actions were central to development), but there's some overlap with you want so here's a few papers that might be a good starting point. If you are looking for specific individuals then these papers won't... | null |
3b0ap7 | even if we could terraform mars, wouldn't its lack of magnetic field mean cosmic radiation would continually bombard whatever is living on the surface? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, the lack of a magnetosphere would be a big problem on Mars. That said, if we were able to deal with the other problems relating to colonizing a planet (like Mars' lower gravity, an arguably bigger hurdle) we could solve this one. NASA has even gone far enough to suggest long vertical rock cove... | null |
3kqgpd | Did the U.S. experience any diplomatic fallout due to non-Japanese casualties of the atomic bombs? | [
{
"answer": "I haven't really looked into the diplomatic fallout, though the issue did surface from time to time in the press. I know of nothing specific on this, but that doesn't mean anything (other than, maybe, the idea that it isn't something that has been written a lot about — but that doesn't mean it didn... | null |
1frm5e | How does your body remove excess salt from your body on a physiological level? | [
{
"answer": "Excess salt doesn't really go into your cells, because you have a pump that pumps it out in exchange for pumping potassium into the cell. If large quantities of excess salt went into the cell, osmosis would, in fact, pull water into the cell causing it to swell and eventually burst.\n\nInstead, the... | null |
7qumum | Does anyone have book recommendations covering the Battle of the Aisne (WW1)? | [
{
"answer": "The Aisne is at the center of my research, and I feel your pain. There's not much out there. \n\nIn the grand scheme of things, overviews of the 1914 campaign tend to view the Aisne as the final stage of the Marne. To historians of the French and British armies, it represents the Entente's inabilit... | null |
3l7v9m | When Did Black Canadians Gain the Vote in Canada? | [
{
"answer": "I've found a bunch of sources saying it was on the 24th of March 1837, at least for Lower Canada, but none of them tie into usable links, actual documents or even elaborate...",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "466982",
... | null |
2ybgv7 | How did the KKK become anti-semitic? I've read before that older members of the KKK claim that it wasn't anti-semitic initially, but that became part of the organisation's ideology over time. How and when did this happen? | [
{
"answer": "Follow up question:\n\nCould this have been influenced by Nazism?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There have really been 3 distinct KKKs over time. The first one was created in the wake of the Civil War by Nathan Bedford Forrest and others, and its target was blacks. That KKK attac... | null |
damdqg | why have some languages like spanish kept the pronunciation of the written language so that it can still be read phonetically, while spoken english deviated so much from the original spelling? | [
{
"answer": "Spanish has an academy whose mission is to standardize and grow the Spanish language, so that helps Spanish to keep its strict pronunciation. English is, and has always been, a total shitshow, linguistically speaking.\n\n [_URL_0_](_URL_1_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Englis... | null |
5tnn88 | Why were most of the popular ancient literature written in verse? | [
{
"answer": "I think there is a flaw in your question, or at least several problematic assumptions about literature, ancient and modern.\n\nLet's take your examples. Firstly, the Bible contain significant portions of poetry (Psalms, large portions of the Prophetic books), but it is not all poetry, and it is not... | null |
in4ps | How long before a nuclear weapon is incapable of producing a nuclear explosion? | [
{
"answer": "The decay of the fissile material is much less likely to be the limiting factor than is the lifetime of the warhead, e.g. the electronics which cause it to detonate. Or in the case of a rocket-based warhead, the rocket may become nonviable while the warhead is still perfectly capable of exploding i... | null |
8n8oge | When did people start to identify more with skin color rather than language/culture. | [
{
"answer": "Hi there -- you may be interested in [this recent answer](_URL_0_) from u/sowser, in which they go into some detail about how race is constructed through the experience of the Transatlantic slave trade. The whole thing is worth a read, but constructions of race are in part 4. ",
"provenance": n... | null |
i5xmz | If you were to theoretically use a microwave to heat a freeze dried food product in an environment with 0% humidity, what would the outcome be? | [
{
"answer": "Just a guess but here goes: Microwaves don't heat *only* water. They will heat a number of molecules, even if they're \"tuned\" to water or whatever. Anyways, The microwaves heat up the dehydrated food, but since it no longer has water to boil off, I imagine it could heat up above a combustion poin... | null |
1zdvui | it takes 11 minutes of hypoxia for the brain to die, but yet you can kill a man by strangling him much less. how come? | [
{
"answer": "Strangling someone where pressure is put on the blood vessels in the neck can cause feedback to the heart which can cause it to go into cardiac arrest (gentle massage to the carotid is used to slow down rapid heartbeats). If done properly that can be done in only seconds. The person still takes a... | null |
3peo97 | How far does the effect of time dilation "spread" from an object traveling at relativistic speeds? | [
{
"answer": "No, it doesn't affect your clock at all (except an incredibly tiny amount of gravitational time dilation, which I don't think is what you're talking about and certainly isn't important for the discussion.)\n\nIn special relativity, time dilation is not a 'field' or localized effect. It's just a thi... | null |
9h1v9j | During the height of the Cathar movement, what were gender relations like among the Cather Christians? Did their theology translate into women having a more equal status in society? | [
{
"answer": "Catharism is a well-studied topic, and while you are waiting for fresh responses to your question, it is well worth reviewing [this earlier thread](_URL_0_), led by u/sunagainstgold, which looks at the the history and historiography of the supposed heresy, and points out that our understanding of \... | null |
13asz0 | Why does the reflection in a shallow pond change depending on the viewing angle? | [
{
"answer": "The answer you seek lies in [Fresnel Equations](_URL_0_). While Snell's Law (n1 Sin[theta1] = n2 Sin[theta2]) will tell you about the angle of refraction compared to the angle of incidence, you need Fresnel equations to tell you *how much* light is refracted vs how much is transmitted.\n\nTake a l... | null |
r54cc | the process and significance of "making partner" in a law firm | [
{
"answer": "Significance, you become technically a part owner, and instead of just making your salary, you spin off profits from everyone else's billed hours too. A percentage of everything an associate bills goes to the \"partner fund.\"\n\nThis may be completely wrong, it's just what I've learned from books... | null |
n4fuf | the corruption in illinois. | [
{
"answer": "good question. \n\nillinois and chicago politics has a rich history of filth. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "If you're looking for a simple answer, you're not going to find one. The various motivations and relationships between corruption, politics, and power is an extremely comp... | null |
2zx5be | why do phone carriers (verizon, etc) have a say in the release of updates for android phones, but not iphones? | [
{
"answer": "iPhones are a locked ecosystem. The software & hardware is produced by them and therefore updates are pushed out whenever they want independent of the carrier. \n\nAndroid is an operating system that runs on other peoples hardware ... The hardware manufacturer has a deal with the carriers, the ca... | null |
69kf9y | What did Paul Mattick mean when he said that Marx was a Socialist and not an economist? | [
{
"answer": "I am not Marxian nor Marxist in anyways so my views would not be reflective of these sorts of views. That being said... the context of this quote and of the author is important. \n\n > It is often asserted that while Marx's theory transcends bourgeois economic theory in order to solve \"economic ... | null |
21gwht | Do all species eventually face extinction? | [
{
"answer": "So I hesitate to answer your question, because it enters more of a philosophical realm to truly answer it. What you're asking is basically:\n\n1) Can species remain indefinitely?\n2) Are all species subject to extinction?\n\nI break these up because they require different answers, which are:\n\n1) ... | null |
3fudmq | when drinking water, what is the mechanism that decides if the water will go to the bladder or be absorbed? | [
{
"answer": "The water is absorbed. \n\nThe water that goes to your bladder is excreted by the kidneys as it filters your blood. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "All of the water is absorbed into your bloodstream in the intestines. It gets filtered out by the kidneys to help dilute urine and ke... | null |
39rpfv | how can they prove paedophilia, such as rolf harris, decades after the offences? | [
{
"answer": "They usually take statements and try to corroborate them with accused testimony alibi.\nI watched a case link to Jimmy Saville where the women described a wall covered in graffiti where she was raped, years later they took new wall paper down and it was still there, all names of underage girls and ... | null |
f79nd | Is it possible that our universe exists within something else? Where can I find more information about this? | [
{
"answer": "This is more philosophy than science, since it's untestable. It's in that fuzzy realm where everything is still mathematically rigorous, but never demonstrable.\n\n\nCertain string theories have massive quasi-degenerate ground states, each representing a different type of universe. You can tunnel f... | null |
47myid | why do people constantly encourage others to vote, when 90% of the public are uneducated about the topics they are voting about? | [
{
"answer": "You are right, in principle, that people probably shouldn't vote if they don't know what they're doing. But obtaining a basic overview of issues and candidates is not hard--someone who is encouraged to vote is more likely to educate themselves in this way than someone who does not vote. Besides, a ... | null |
10eoiv | How big of a nuclear bomb would be needed to disrupt or destroy a massive wedge Tornado? | [
{
"answer": "That is one of the coolest questions I've ever seen.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "3145631",
"title": "Nuclear weapon yield",
"section": "Section::::Examples of nuclear weapon yields.\n",
"start_par... | null |
3b63w8 | what was building 7? why do conspiracy theorists use it as an example? what is the "real explanation" behind its collapse? what do the theorists think happened? | [
{
"answer": "The World Trade Center was a complex of seven buildings. The twin towers were 1 WTC and 2 WTC. Four other buildings were on the same block, and 7 WTC was across the street.\n\nWhile only the twin towers were struck by planes, their collapse caused substantial, irreperable damage to all the other bu... | null |
fi53z3 | Why were entertainers looked down on in Ancient Rome? | [
{
"answer": "First, disclaimer: Ancient Rome is not my area for this (China is) but I have dug into this a little in my reading.\n\nBoth prostitutes and actors were classified legally as *infames*in Augustus’ moral legislation. This was in part because they were viewed as faking emotions for money, and both gro... | null |
5tgcdd | How were the Romans able to field much larger armies than Medieval Europe? | [
{
"answer": "Firstly, keep in mind that the ancient armies you are describing were fielded by what were essentially ancient superpowers. At the time of the Punic Wars, the Carthaginians held an empire that controlled the western Mediterranean, spanning much of North Africa and Spain. Similarly, when you look at... | null |
4f3gx9 | Did the UK have any options at the start of World War I other than to commit a land army? | [
{
"answer": "Not really; for one thing, with Britain now at war, the staff talks with the French Army came into play, wherein the British would despatch an expeditionary force to assist them in fighting the Germans. Plus, the immediate reason for British involvement was the Invasion of Belgium, so the British c... | null |
17j2q8 | What's the difference between an endosome and lysosome? | [
{
"answer": "My understanding is that all material that's internalised by a cell starts as an endosome. If this material is destined for degradation, it becomes a lysosome. I.e., an endosome is a step on the way to lysosome. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "An endosome is simply a small, membra... | null |
4spadx | What did people think of fossils before modern archaeology and carbon dating? | [
{
"answer": "If you don't get an answer here, I recommend posting to /r/askhistorians instead.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Fairly insightful views were held by a few of the Ancient Greek philosophers, most notably Aristotle, who noticed the similarity between shells of contemporary sea crea... | null |
34v7ry | why do children dislike the taste of alcohol so much? | [
{
"answer": "Who likes the taste of alchohol?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Why are you giving children alcohol?\n\n\"Why do children hate the back of vans with blacked out windows so much?\"",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_... | null |
f9m9fz | Are Tardigrades susceptible to viral and/or bacterial infection? Can they get ‘sick’? | [
{
"answer": "Virtually all living organisms (probably all, but I am not 100% certain) can get infected with viruses. And many are susceptible to bacteria. \n\nSurprisingly, a web search turned up the following article, [_URL_0_](_URL_0_) , which reports a tardigrade that was infected with a fungal pathogen. Th... | null |
8b635l | In fiction, the gamma radiation (esp. from nuclear weapons) is usually depicted with a greenish, yellowish colour, and often makes objects glow. Does this occur in real life? | [
{
"answer": "Emitting gamma rays doesn't change the appearance of an object. You can't see it at all.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You can also look at the aurora borealis, which is caused by interaction of fast electrons (beta radiation) with the molecules in the atmosphere. The different m... | null |
3bpfy3 | When and why did the "corporation" become the dominant business entity in America, when all of the great gilded age companies were organized as "trusts?" | [
{
"answer": "I'm not sure I agree with the premise. The corporation's popularity spread with the growth of railroads: large undertakings, needing lots of investors, operating over large areas, usually with some years before any dividends would accrue—and most importantly, whose operations were inherently dange... | null |
1t8t8e | Who decided that north was up? | [
{
"answer": "Great answer to this question from /u/khosikulu [here](_URL_0_).\n\n > Historian of cartography (among other things) here. The northward orientation has a great deal to do with the importance of northward orientation to compass navigation. Portolans, and later projections aimed at navigation purpos... | null |
272pav | what happens when i "zone out" after a few hours of being on the computer? | [
{
"answer": "It's sort of like a vegetative state. You're letting your brain run on auto-pilot without paying attention to the world around you. This is why video games warn you to \"take frequent breaks\" these days - they reassert your grasp on reality and keep you from trancing too long.\n\nMy advice? Set so... | null |
4xoqze | how do humans lose 100 hairs per day and still maintain a full head of long locks? | [
{
"answer": "Most people have over 100,000 hairs on their head. The number you lose in the shower is easily replaced without notice in that big of a crowd. With all the hairs growing and falling out all the time the total number stays pretty steady.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because if I ... | null |
1pxzpq | How was bidirectional travel handled on the transcontinental railroad? | [
{
"answer": "Many, many rail lines have only one track. Passing sidings are installed at regular intervals, and the train orders specify things like \"Train #97 take siding at Danville to await passage of eastbound train #38.\" Unlike earlier railroads, the transcontinental was accompanied the entire length b... | null |
7ymx8o | why did adolf hitler consider native americans as equal to “arians”? | [
{
"answer": "Germans used to, and to this day often do, have a very favorable view of native americans. Part of the reason for that are the works of writer Karl May, an \"adventure novelist\" who wrote a lot about the \"nobel\" heritage and life of native americans - from a totally racist viewpoint. A good but ... | null |
6478p7 | How are gaseous elements harvested and purified? | [
{
"answer": "They aren't harvesting cow burps. They are taking all the livestock dung, putting it in a huge airtight container and letting bacteria digest the organic matter. Methane is a biproduct of the bacterial digestion process. They then collect the methane, compress it, dry it and then burn it.\n\n_UR... | null |
19mthj | reddit, can you explain to me the relationship between megapixels, resolution, and screen size? | [
{
"answer": "A screen's resolution tells you how many individual pixels or dots of light are there both horizontally and vertically.\n\nSo 1920x1080 means there's 1920 pixels horizontally on the screen and 1080 vertically. If that's spread out over a screen that's 42 inches across that just means there's more r... | null |
52fzsq | why if co2 is only .038% of atmospheric gases, does it have so much impact on global warming? | [
{
"answer": "The most abundant gases - O2, N2, argon - don't absorb heat. CO2 and H2O do absorb heat so when you increase them, you are directly increasing the greenhouse gas effect because you are increasing the most abundant heat absorbing molecule (with H2O). \n\nThat's very crude, but it's ELI5. Also as ... | null |
2v4qtx | How muh gear would a WWII British Commando carry into the field? Also: beret or helmet? | [
{
"answer": "Not sure about the packs, but the steel helmet protects against shrapnel, not direct hits from bullets. Since the commandos were involved in small raids and unconventional warfare, it's not unreasonable that they would have preferred to save on weight when shrapnel would have been unlikely.\n\nSee ... | null |
6hqdbo | how do locksmiths verify that you own a key before making a copy of it? | [
{
"answer": "Unfortunately there isn't always a way to tell.\n\nThere are mechanical kiosks at big box stores that copy keys for a small price.\n\nIn that case there is no verification, like you said - There's no proof that you aren't a theif required for copying a key. \n\nEdit: That's why most landlords buy k... | null |
z9us8 | If a woman's on birth control that stops her menstruating once a month, will she remain fertile for longer? | [
{
"answer": "That makes sense biologically (and is why nulliparity is thought to contribute to earlier menopause). However, this is not always supported by epidemiological studies. \n\n[This study](_URL_0_) found that history of oral contraceptive use significantly *increased* the risk for *early* menopause (... | null |
476umw | Are there any biographies available about Native North Americans who lived before 1492? | [
{
"answer": "Because of the strong oral traditions in many Nations, it is difficult to find records of individuals, and the ones who do get recorded are those who have done something great, and they get wrapped into lessons and tales that it becomes hard to tell if the person existed at all. \n\nWere you lookin... | null |
2e3bxv | if the metric system is designed to make for easy calculations and conversions, why wasn't the 60 minute hour changed to a base 10 unit? | [
{
"answer": "[Metric time]( _URL_0_) is in fact part of the metric system. Its just hasn't become used in most people's every day lives.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "time is always expressed in seconds in the metric system.\nor multiples, like milliseconds, kiloseconds, etc.\n\"Other units o... | null |
3oto53 | how exactly is there a connection with binaural beats and lucid dreaming - | [
{
"answer": "At least in my experience, first of all not all binaural beats do anything and secondly, they do not really get you to dream lucidly, they rather get you to dream more vividly, which makes it easier for you to write a dream diary (important step for lucid dreaming) and makes entering the lucid stat... | null |
10g3el | Why do different viruses (HPV/Warts, Herpes) discriminate between different areas of the body? | [
{
"answer": "That is called as tropism, specifically tissue or cell tropism. Usually, there is a specific receptor on certain tissue to which the virus attaches (virus attachment protein). A typical example is the human immunodeficiency virus and its affinity to the T lymphocyte cells. \n\nHerpes simplex 1 exhi... | null |
15o7bu | What spoken language carries the most information per sound or time of speech? | [
{
"answer": "[Here's](_URL_0_) a paper on information density vs speed of speech, done by the University of Lyon. I am not sure how accurate their methods are, but they seem to believe that some languages convey more information per syllable and for 5 out of 7 languages, that ones with lower information density... | null |
17inkq | bohr's theory of the hydrogen atom | [
{
"answer": "Basically, the atom was understood like a solar system. Electrons orbiting the nucleus. Bohr suggested that the electrons could only be in very specific orbits and light was emitted when it went from a high to a lower orbit and light was absorbed when it went from a lower to a higher. ",
"prove... | null |
2wswt4 | Did Moses exist and was there an exodus of people from Egypt corresponding to the story? | [
{
"answer": "This has previously been addressed. _URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I strongly recommend (edit: [this video lecture](_URL_1_) is better than the one I initially recommended) [this video series](_URL_10_) for a synopsis of what's currently known and believed about the exodu... | null |
9ykt5o | How did chemists explain reactions before the discovery of the atom? | [
{
"answer": "To put it bluntly, they didn’t. The first attempts at explaining the states and reactions of matter led to the postulates that theorized the existence of the atom, so they were mutually dependent. Reactions such as fire and the creation of alloys were found empirically, but never studied like they ... | null |
3curlp | How do they determine the longitude on another planet? | [
{
"answer": "For a rocky planet like Venus, the prime meridian is chosen to cross through some arbitrarily chosen reference surface feature, like a crater. The direction of increasing longitude is then measured in a direction opposite to the rotation of the planet about its axis. So, for instance, if you look d... | null |
1dh9ps | why is the tea party republican? why aren't they their own party? | [
{
"answer": "Because they need the establishment GOP votes to succeed. If they created their own party, Democrats would win every election ever since the Tea Party guys would vote for the Tea Party candidate, the establishment GOP guys would vote for their candidates, and Democrats would vote for the Democratic... | null |
1o37wh | Did the Japanese ever repulse an island invasion by the US during WWII? | [
{
"answer": "No. After the initial Japanese victories in the Pacific War, the United States won every major campaign and battle it entered. Even those cases where the Japanese scored tactical victories were strategic losses. Japan lacked the steel to make good its naval losses, and its cadres of experienced pil... | null |
2ttp4l | Bacteria can only live at certain temperatures, so when I eat cooked meat, am I eating a lot of dead bacteria? If not where do they go? | [
{
"answer": "Yes you are. Or at least the chemical composition or chemical products of cooking that made them up. \n\nCooking kills bacteria by raising their internal temperature to the point where they die. \n\nDepending on the process and the temperature, the cell walls of the bacteria can rupture, they can c... | null |
50cliw | why is it that lead in paint is harmful, but the 40% lead in solder material isn't? | [
{
"answer": "Lead in solder is harmful. There just aren't many alternatives. Lead free solder does exist, but it has a tendency to \"whisker\" which can create shorts that damage parts. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Large areas are covered with lead paint, often where there's lots of casu... | null |
17l4cr | what is the "cursive writing" thing i keep reading and what is the big deal about it? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, that's cursive, in contrast to \"print\".\n\n[Here are some examples](_URL_0_)\n\nIn the USA, kids usually learn cursive around ages 7-10, and print before that.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Cursive writing doesn't look like that. Sure, the individual letters do, but you c... | null |
2k42hf | What were the geographical boundaries of the "Old West?" Would we see "cowboy culture" in Canada? Mexico? The Caribbean? | [
{
"answer": "I can speak for Canada a bit, having grown up in a cattle town. We have plenty of cowboy culture, especially in my home province of Alberta.\n\nFor most of the our province's history, our main industries were agriculture and ranching, and even today, they are second only to oil and gas.\n\nAlthough... | null |
3g8p4m | How did the Native American tribes in the western portion of the U.S. get firearms, and when did these tribes first come into contact with firearms? | [
{
"answer": "With the exception of the unwieldy, unreliable early firearms that might have been brought to the Plains by the Coronado *entrada*'s [search for Quivira in 1540-1542](_URL_0_), the Plains nations would have started to regularly see firearms in the mid-seventeenth century. While horses flowed up fro... | null |
3m79y0 | why can we use controllers with pcs but not keyboard and mouse with consoles? | [
{
"answer": "Consoles can use a mouse and keyboard. Almost any USB mouse/kb will plug in and function with modern consoles. You can type messages, browse the web, etc.\n\nSome games do support kb/m on console: Counterstrike and War Thunder for example.\n\nMany games don't just because it takes extra effort to p... | null |
5z4hza | Why does there seem to be such a lack of emphasis on the Pacific Theater of WWII in American pop culture and History? | [
{
"answer": "I would wager it has partially to do with the different racial components of the two theaters, and the subsequent disparity in the \"goodness\" of the war in each.\n\nThe fight against the Nazis has been continuously held up since the 1940s as the epitome of a \"good war.\" American soldiers fought... | null |
812nw0 | Can someone with a weakened immune system receive a vaccine? | [
{
"answer": "It depends on the vaccine and illness.\nLive vaccinations tend not to be given to persons with compromised immune systems (e.g. yellow fever vaccination), whereas some inactivated viral vaccinations may be given to those with weakened immune systems (depending on their clinical condition).\n\nFor e... | null |
krqch | Could we in theory create Saturn style rings around the Earth, for shits and giggles. | [
{
"answer": "The only thing I know about this is [The Roche Limit](_URL_0_). \n\n > is the distance within which a celestial body, held together only by its own gravity, will disintegrate due to a second celestial body's tidal forces exceeding the first body's gravitational self-attraction. Inside the Roche l... | null |
1fkazw | In the American Civil War, was the Union victory at Vicksburg of equal, lesser, or greater significance than Antietam and/or Gettysburg were to ending the war? | [
{
"answer": "This is a good question and difficult to asses still nowadays.\nFirst Antietam, I believe it was never considered a big victory like Vicksburg or Gettysburg. It was still considered a victory, and good enough for Lincoln to issue his Emancipation declaration, but for the public in general it was ob... | null |
16s2in | please explain utilitarianism to me like i'm 5. | [
{
"answer": "There's this Cookie Monster, and he's obsessed with getting cookies. Whatever gets him the most cookies is what makes him the happiest. So if by taking a cookie from someone, the Cookie Monster can get two cookies, even though the person you took the cookie from is losing a cookie, there's still a ... | null |
5e70wo | what do ionizers in airpurifiers do? | [
{
"answer": "It introduces a mild charge to the small particles in the air, which makes them stick to things in the room rather than float around forever. \n\nBut on a practical level with consumer devices...i cant actually tell when they're on or off so i don't think they do much. I leave mine off for the most... | null |
72q0jx | how exactly are compounds named? | [
{
"answer": "-ide is the suffix of any negatively charged anion, eg. the anion of chlorine (Cl) is called chloride (Cl^(-))\n\n---\n\n-ate and -ite are the suffixes of some polyatomic ions. That's a really messy topic to get in to and some of the naming isn't always logical.\n\nNitr**ate** is NO*_3_*^(-), nitr*... | null |
1a1xzj | I've read a little bit about the affects of THC on Cancer. Is any of this research substantial or is it just not known enough? | [
{
"answer": "The research done in this paper was done to cell lines so it was not quite *in vivo*.\n\n > One possible drawback could be that use of select CB2 agonists to kill tumor cells may also cause immunosuppression. Thus, further studies are necessary to address the relative sensitivity of normal and tran... | null |
1dvem0 | why can dishwashers both wash and dry dishes, but clothes washers cannot wash and dry clothes? | [
{
"answer": "[They can. But they aren't particularly efficient at it.](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because clothes can't be tried as easily by just making them super hot like a dishwasher does. Since dishes don't absorb water, and they also don't burn.\n\nDual machines for clothe... | null |
3gnu1e | Are there waves of air on top of our atmosphere like waves of water on the surface of the ocean? | [
{
"answer": "Well, sort of.\n\nThere's no real top to our atmosphere the way there is a surface of the ocean - it just sort of gradually thins out.\n\nWith that said, though, both experience the same kind of [gravity waves](_URL_0_). Note these are not at all the same as *gravitational* waves you'd see around a... | null |
48o3y3 | If computers/electronics short circuit due to water damage, and if pure water does not carry current, could an electronic technically run under pure water? | [
{
"answer": "Yes it's technically possible, but the hazard that water poses extends beyond simply shorting circuits. Water can be corrosive to a lot of the different metals and chemical on a circuit board and it can especially react when exposed to metal containing flowing current. However, a circuit would most... | null |
3ipsld | Why do wireless electronics only use 2.4 and 5ghz bands? | [
{
"answer": "The relevant regulation can be found [in this Wikipedia page for ISM Band](_URL_0_). Your short range consumer electronics are designed to operate in the ISM band because it does not require a license.\n\nThe Wikipedia page for [frequency allocation](_URL_1_) will also give you an idea of what the ... | null |
40sdzi | When was the last time a president was elected who was "filled in" during local ballots? | [
{
"answer": "Just to clarify, as I think I understand what you're asking about, but I want to be sure, you're talking about a 'straight ticket' ballot [such as this one](_URL_0_)?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "55944120",
"title... | null |
cotmzh | does the music you listen to in your childhood affect your future personality? | [
{
"answer": "I truly think it has a great affect. I grew up listening to a lot of 60s and 70s rock, I still listen to it and it's shaped a lot of who I am and how I see the world. I love the lyrics, sound, expressionism and aesthetic. And I don't think I couldve gotten through the dark periods of my life withou... | null |
5r1uc6 | Did the people actually believe that World War I would be over by Christmas when it started or is that a common myth originated after the war? | [
{
"answer": "Not my area of particular expertise, but the answer to this is, perhaps annoyingly: \"yes and no.\"\n\nTo my reading the \"no\" camp-- that is, those who thought that a great power conflict in Europe would be a long, protracted conflict-- was relatively small but included some incredibly influentia... | null |
2lup7k | why is it impossible to fold a piece of paper in half more than eight times? | [
{
"answer": "For a regular A4 at eight folds its 256 layers thick and since the paper is so small at that point the amount of space needed to make a fold in each of the 256 layers there isn't enough room. \n\nHowever if you just get a bigger paper then you can, even though you are folding it by half each time. ... | null |
1zobb1 | if lockpicking guides and tools are available widely, why are so few houses lockpicked into? | [
{
"answer": "Its far easier and more efficient to break a window or kick in a door.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Houselocks are too hard for most amateurs. Plus lockpicks are considered burglary tools, which means they are illegal to carry on your person without a locksmithing licence. Addit... | null |
21bbh3 | Does light accelerate to the speed of light, or is it instantly the speed of light as soon as it is released from an electron? | [
{
"answer": "They don't start off at zero, and there's no acceleration. They start off at c and always travel at c. This is because, due to special relativity, any massless particle can only ever move at c, any other speed isn't allowed physically. Source: [adamsolomon](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
1v1gd5 | when i'm hungover why do i always crave greasy foods like pizza rather than foods that are better for me? | [
{
"answer": "Your body is depleted of various electrolytes and calories since alcohol zaps your blood sugar levels, and dehydrates you, fatty salty food is an efficient albeit unhealthy way to replenish those stores. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "FWIW: Fat is not bad for you, carbohydrates a... | null |
495n8d | why does this camera distortion happen? | [
{
"answer": "That is buffeting. Something is shaking the back of a digital video camera. You're seeing the effect of that vibration beat frequency interacting with the camera's 50-60Hz frame rate.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "1244820... | null |
2qpgsb | what do car fog lights *actually* do? | [
{
"answer": "Fog lights are not for you. It's for other drivers so that they can see you better!\n\nI always turn them on during heavy rain or fog",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Fog lights produce a short but wide beam spread which illuminates the road close to the front of the vehicle. The dr... | null |
edvhss | is it true that consuming your own species' flesh can cause madness? | [
{
"answer": "I think you’re thinking of Kuru. Here’s the definition:\n\nKuru is a very rare disease. It is caused by an infectious protein (prion) found in contaminated human brain tissue. Kuru is found among people from New Guinea who practiced a form of cannibalism in which they ate the brains of dead people ... | null |
3ct6wt | does a person who has unprotected sex for 15 seconds have the same exposure to sti's that a person who has unprotected sex for 15 minutes? | [
{
"answer": "No, person B has much more exposure to the STI. However, depending on the STI and whether the other person is actively showing symptoms, 15 seconds and 15 minutes might not make much of a difference in terms of whether or not the person gets infected.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer":... | null |
aggsvf | nyquist theorem perfect signal reproduction | [
{
"answer": "The key element you are missing is the Nyquist limit. For perfect reconstruction the signal must have all frequencies at less than half the sampling rate. This limiting of the frequencies guarantees that only one continuous wave could have produced those samples. In the case you mentioned of sampli... | null |
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