id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
2ywedq | Were presidents Garfield and McKinley "sainted" after their assassinations in the same way as Lincoln and Kennedy? | [
{
"answer": "Garfield was already a beloved national hero due to his service in the American Civil War. He was only president for a few months before his assassination.\n\nSource: Destiny of the Republic\n\nThat being said, I believe his reputation has actually suffered due to his assassination. He wasn't in ... | null |
3l7eyp | how does this "cure" for tinnitus work? | [
{
"answer": "Tinnitus isn't fully understood, but one of the hypothesis for its cause include a problem in the amplifier part of our ear.\n\nOur ears are pretty sophisticated, and including in them essentially a biological amplifier which, when there's no ambient sound around, increases sensitivity so that we c... | null |
eyvg3t | what is that line in the roof of your mouth and what is it for? | [
{
"answer": "That’s left over from when your hard palate fused as it should in infancy (otherwise it would be a cleft). They aren’t fused to start off, maybe in case baby’s head gets a little squeezed and bones need to shift? At any rate, you need it to make certain sounds “correctly.”",
"provenance": null
... | null |
3b9dtm | Are lightnings three-dimensional or two-dimensional? | [
{
"answer": "Certainly, [this guy](_URL_0_) recreated a lightning bolt in 3 dimensions based on a couple pictures of the same lightning bolt taken at different locations. \n\nFollow up question, do we know what the cross-section of a lightning bolt is like? Is it just circular? ",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
3km6ef | why do some chemicals change colours when mixed with other chemicals? | [
{
"answer": "These changes are do to new molecules being formed, making light react differently to the product. Different atoms and molecules radiate different colors of light, and the colors they radiate depend on their particular atomic and molecular structure. Specifically, the more electrons are confined, t... | null |
7x96ip | when completing in luge, what exactly are the athletes doing to control themselves and maximize their speed? | [
{
"answer": "The sled rides on two sharp-bottomed blades known as runners, the only part of the sled that makes contact with the ice.\n\nIn order to steer the sled, the slider uses his or her calves to apply pressure to one of the runners, or shifts their weight using their shoulders. Considering the extreme sp... | null |
2ougkr | why is latin, arguably a dead language, is still so prevalent in medicine, law, and even science? | [
{
"answer": "That is one of the reasons they started using it, because dead languages doesn't change!\n\nTo make it short, a swede named Carl Linnaeus got tired of the confusion that plants having different names in different languages caused, so he gave them all latin names. Most scientists at that time knew l... | null |
2b6nqh | in the usa, what are the guidelines on having a lawyer during interactions with law enforcement? | [
{
"answer": "You don't have to go down to the station at all.\n\nIf they ask you to come down to answer questions, just ask \"Am I being arrested?\" if they say no, then say \"Then please leave me alone\" if they say yes just say \"I want a lawyer\"",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You have the ... | null |
68d1lj | why is the dead sea not overflooding? | [
{
"answer": "The dead sea evaporates away leaving salt. It only has tributaries which is why the salt content is so high. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "52272493",
"title": "Environmental issues in Israel",
"section": "... | null |
7kklg6 | Can Dogs Count? | [
{
"answer": "Anecdotally, stray dogs in some cities have been observed riding the subways and successfully navigating the stops...unless they fall asleep and miss a stop or two. I don't think that could be explained without some ability to count assuming there wasn't some unseen confounding variable. ",
"pr... | null |
5i40fa | why do people put salt in cakes meant to be sweet? | [
{
"answer": "Salt removes bitterness. I add salt to coffee and lemonade as well. Since dark chocolate, fresh citrus, etc can be pretty bitter it allows the cake to have flavor without the bite.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Salt is an interesting ingredient, especially in baking. It heightens... | null |
2m0pnv | When listening to music, individual areas of the brain are "activated" for melody, rhythm and pitch. Are these areas in the exact same place in my brain and yours? | [
{
"answer": "Okay, so first, caveat, I'm a bit of an fMRI skeptic. This is not to say I think it's all lies, but it is the number 1 area of neuroscience that science writers tend to run with, and the authors never make any attempt to correct them.\n\nWhenever you read anything the that talks about fMRI, you nee... | null |
fvxol5 | How did the fallen angel Lucifer end up as Satan/the Devil - red-faced, horned, hooved and not what he originally was? | [
{
"answer": "Different people say different stuff because it's a form of Christian mythology, and different people have different explanations depending on where they were raised, the denomination or congregation they attend. It's the same reason why folk songs have many different lyrics, e.g. whether Barbary A... | null |
mp0fg | How does the theory of wave/particle duality do away with the need to find a wave medium for light, i.e. ether? | [
{
"answer": "The aether was supposed to be some sparse gas through which light was an oscillation. But modern physics has things called [fields](_URL_0_). And you can think of the universe as all of these overlaid fields for electrons and quarks and electromagnetism and gluons and so on. And light, photons, are... | null |
5t34aj | Just how much of an impact did Alexander Hamilton have? | [
{
"answer": "Although I'm not an expert on the American Revolutionary War, I am an economic historian and have extensively studied Alexander Hamilton's absolutely pivotal role in the creation of the modern american political and economic system. \n\nHamilton's close personal relationship with Washington and his... | null |
6tdc2v | Theoretical physics- What if there was no speed limit like the speed of light? | [
{
"answer": "TL;DR: In non-relativistic quantum mechanics, particles can't decay.\n\nIf you take the limit where the speed of light goes to infinity, but you keep [\"Galilean relativity\"](_URL_0_) (the notion of relativity we'd been using before special relativity), a very large change occurs at the level of e... | null |
1zc10q | when i'm about to fall asleep, i sometimes have a semi-dream that i'm walking. then i stumble and my leg jerks and wakes me up. why? | [
{
"answer": "It's called a [hypnic jerk](_URL_0_). They're associated with anxiety, but they occur essentially at random even if you're not stressed. Personally, I enjoy them.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I remember reading a paper about this saying that it is some sort of mammalian reflex... | null |
idvjf | So... does every (soft drink/water) bottle I drink from have BPA in it? If so, just how bad is this shit for you, and does anyone know what brands do not use a BPA-laden plastic? | [
{
"answer": "Many do not these days, at least to my knowledge. The most common way to find out in my experience is to check the number on the bottle. Look for a 7 in the recycle sign, if it has a that, the bottle most likely has BPA in it.\n\nAs far as brands, not so sure. \n\nEdit: typos ",
"provenance":... | null |
6o00fg | why is it that sounds that would normally drive is to murder, become perfectly bearable when we are the ones making them? | [
{
"answer": "You may have something called Misophonia. This is a psychological condition where certain sounds trigger your fight or flight response. So you hear someone chewing loudly, and either you want to leave or you want to hit them. \n\nThese sounds don't actually bother the other people. \n\nfrom _URL_0_... | null |
7n7k77 | internet cookies? | [
{
"answer": "Imagine you're reading a book. You're at a specific part of the book, somewhere in the middle. You decide \"that's enough book for today\" and you close the book. Next time you open your book, you're going to have to flip through all those pages again and manually find your page. Rather than having... | null |
6lml2a | why do kids love bright colors so much, but as they get older, bright colors seem less important? | [
{
"answer": "As a child, bright colors are more eye-catching and attention-grabbing. A child will typically want a bright red shirt that reminds them of a fire truck over a pastel red shirt, for example. \n\nAs you get older, most people tend to shift towards a more \"professional\" style, which, thanks to the ... | null |
gu1ke | Could it ever be possible to "download" our brains and assemble a "Wiki" of an individual's knowledge, memories, etc? | [
{
"answer": "No.\n\n\nA number of other threads in /r/askscience recently have been on the same, or similar topics.\n\n\nUsing the search feature with these keywords will show those:\n\n* download/downloading\n\n* upload/uploading\n\n* transfer\n\n* singularity\n\n* brain\n\n\n\nTo give you the short version: w... | null |
5e9c1x | How bad was the economic/social state in Britain before Thatcher? | [
{
"answer": "The problem we get before going into the question is that we need an adequate benchmark to judge the economic performance be it by economic growth, productivity, macroeconomic parameters, competitiveness, social indicators of Britain. I think the most relevant comparison would be Federal Republic o... | null |
3hagj5 | What are some examples of historic deals which were done over beer? | [
{
"answer": "Sorry, we don't allow [throughout history questions](_URL_0_). These tend to produce threads which are collections of trivia, not the in-depth discussions about a particular topic we're looking for. If you have a specific question about a historical event or period or person, please feel free to ... | null |
j8laq | Dear Scientists, How hard is it to synthesis Diesel or Petrol or other fuels obtain by crude oil? | [
{
"answer": "Not hard, just not worth it while there's cheap oil to burn.\n\nBasically, you use a [gasifier](_URL_1_) to generate a mixture of H2 and CO gasses, called \"synthesis gas\". This is basically done by burning a chunk of carbon (which can come from coal or biomass) in an oxygen-starved atmosphere, an... | null |
1k5de1 | Is there any material that allows light to pass through without any interference? Is it possible to manufacture such a material? | [
{
"answer": "Even a completely transparent substance still has an index of refraction that bends light that goes through it and I assume that refraction would count as \"interference.\"\n\nI don't believe there's anything other than a vacuum that has a refractive index of zero, so I think the answer to your que... | null |
3f76tn | Female Suffrage in France | [
{
"answer": "There was actually quite some activity towards women's suffrage in interwar France; for example, Léon Blum's government made a proposal for this (Léon Blum had probalby the best feminist pedigree in that time period), which was voted by the (left-wing) Assemblée nationale, but rejected by the (righ... | null |
7uuhdm | how does a bill that passed overwhelmingly in the house and senate (98%+) not get enforced by the executive branch? | [
{
"answer": "Executive branch has the power to decide how they enforce a bill.\n\n\nWhich bill are you talking about?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "In response to the title, since the Executive branch has sole authority in enforcing the law, as a consequence it can choose not to enforce the l... | null |
3etaon | would the screen rotation function work in space? | [
{
"answer": "Phones have devices called accelerometers which feel the pull of gravity similar to how we do. Take one of these devices on a bungee jump, and it will record the increased force that you feel at the bottom of the cord.\n\nIn orbit, everything is in constant free-fall, so there is very little appare... | null |
st1e0 | If a human got shrunk to a minuscule size, would physics act on him in the same way? | [
{
"answer": "You would probably be fine. What matters here is terminal velocity, which is proportional to mass. With the smaller mass of an insect like an ant, even falling at terminal velocity the ant won't reach a speed high enough to harm it. A smaller human would probably have the mass of an ant and may ... | null |
7jtwtu | how do brackets move teeths from their cavity? | [
{
"answer": "Your bone isn't a static structure, the hard mineral deposits that gives it its strength is constantly being repaired and remodeled by specialized cells.\n\nApplying force in one direction on the tooth stimulates the removal of bone on one side (by osteoclasts) and deposited on the other (by osteob... | null |
1fm1tn | Before the American war of independence, did the residents of the colonies consider themselves American, or as British colonists living in America? | [
{
"answer": "Many of them considered themselves to be British before and during the American Revolution, and actively fought against the Colonists on the side of the British. These people were known as Loyalists. The others did not view themselves as Americans either though. They identified themselves as Vir... | null |
3ain9b | How could a backdoor be put into a random number generator? | [
{
"answer": "Conceptually, it's somewhat straightforward. Let's say we have a deterministic RNG which requires some sort of seed. If, for some reason, someone were able to manipulate the seed source, the output of the RNG would no longer be pseudorandom.\n\nCriticisms of RdRand were the following:\n\n1. You had... | null |
2bb4pl | who makes direct-to-video movies and how do they make money? | [
{
"answer": "They make a profit off of people who either don't know better (grandparents who vaguely remember the title of the movie that little Jimmy wanted for Christmas), people who enjoy mocking them for their poor quality(20-somethings), or possibly strange families who have an aversion to showing their ki... | null |
2kdb6l | what's the difference between a state and a province? | [
{
"answer": "They're essentially the same. Just different names to describe the divisions of land within a specific country.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Technically, a state is an independent political entity, while a province is a sub-section of a state.\n\nThe confusion arises from nomen... | null |
2szq9q | as a heavy ( > 1pack/day) smoker, why don't i wake up from nicotine withdrawals when i can barely make it two hours without a smoke? | [
{
"answer": "Most smokers *DO* wake up after a night's sleep with nicotine withdrawal. I do not know why you do not. That is not the usual pattern for addicted smokers.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "38272",
"title": "Nicotine",... | null |
23kaa4 | What were Louis XVI's plans of counterrevolution and were they realistic? | [
{
"answer": "I believe that I can only answer the first half of the question - I feel as though I am not competent enough to expound on the second.\n\nIt is without a doubt that Louis XVI's plans of counter-revolution were in fact due to his disaffection with the changes to the Church, the limitations of his p... | null |
1der30 | When a photon is emitted from an stationary atom, does it accelerate from 0 to the speed of light? | [
{
"answer": "They exist at c.\n\n^^^thesuperconciseanswer",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Photos are absorbed and emitted by *moving* electrons. There is no *stationary* atom.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They don't accelerate, they always go at c. That's the speed at which ... | null |
404ma5 | if the odds of winning the powerball is 1 in 235 million, but the jackpot is $800 million, wouldn't it make sense to buy 235 million quick picks if you could afford it? | [
{
"answer": "Taxes, and the unfortunate circumstances where you share your winnings with others who only bought a few hundred picks... Not a good investment no",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Pretty sure it would be physically impossible for a single person to buy that many tickets between draw... | null |
6il5my | High exposure to sunlight damages your skin. What does it do to the bacterial population? | [
{
"answer": "The given \"sunlight damages your skin\" needs to be addressed before the question. The pathogenesis of sunburn is distinct from the mechanism of alkaline or thermal burns insofar as the agent (sunlight) is not directly traumatic. The change is mediated by signaling cascades possibly secondary to... | null |
7ew08w | what is it about how sound waves interact that make some sounds/chords pleasing? for example, why does a 5th sound good but a tritone (diminished 5th) doesn’t? why does it seem chords/chord progressions resolve? | [
{
"answer": "It has to do with the ratio of one sound wave's frequency to that of another. When the value can be expressed as a simple ratio, we interpret the interval as pleasing, or \"consonant.\" If the ratio is complex, we tend to interpret the result as displeasing, or \"dissonant.\" A perfect fifth, for e... | null |
20wzfh | what exactly is gluten, and why is it bad for you? | [
{
"answer": "It's a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, and it gives bread it's chewyness.\n\nUnless you have an allergy to it or Celiac disease, it's not bad for you at all.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "As a Baker, I can't wait for this \"gluten is bad\" fad to end",
"provenance": ... | null |
e7ba46 | why our ears remain numb and produce high frequency sound post concert? | [
{
"answer": "There'll be a better answer by someone else soon, but:\n\nInside your ear there's an organ shaped like a snail. It has tiny hairs on it, that when they vibrate translate this into nerve impulses to send to your brain. If they are stressed too much, they stick to that organ, producing a constant sig... | null |
31hfcr | Were there any volunteer gladiators? | [
{
"answer": "One exceptional example would be the Emperor Commodus, as depicted in the movie Gladiator. Commodus believed himself to be the reincarnation of Hercules and sought to imitate his martial accomplishments before the eyes of the Roman public. He, of course, was never in any real danger from his human ... | null |
69dfrg | one day they're there and the other day gone after construction! how on earth are cranes made!?? | [
{
"answer": "I presume you're talking about tower cranes - the type with the tall metal lattice tower?\n\nThey actually build themselves.\n\nThe very first thing that's done is that the bottom section of the tower is put in and, on top of that they put a special section of the tower that can move up and down, ... | null |
32m7ji | how dangerous is it to taste a small amount of cocaine? | [
{
"answer": "Not that dangerous. At worse it'll make your mouth go numb.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It isn't. People have been chewing coca leaves for generations without any side effects more detrimental than drinking coffee. It's the fact that it is so pure and concentrated that makes it... | null |
5mc6da | Does plate tectonic activity have a measurable effect on the weather? | [
{
"answer": "Tectonics has a huge influence on the climate (the difference between weather and climate being a question of a very short vs a longer timescale, so by proxy, tectonics have an influence on the weather, but it's easier and more appropriate to think about tectonics and climate as these evolve on mor... | null |
8xxx7r | Is there a compound that can be found naturally but cannot be made artificially? | [
{
"answer": "Depends in what way you mean by 'made artificially'. Proteins and enzymes are very complex structures that can't really be made by standard chemical reactions, and require a living organism such as bacteria to be produced in a lab. \n\n\n\nA good example is insulin, a hormone used to treat diabetic... | null |
yg5tk | If I ate this whole bottle of vitamins, what would happen to me? | [
{
"answer": "[International Units](_URL_6_) or IUs are biological equivalents for substances like vitamins. There is no standard conversion such as 1 IU always equals 0.5mg. It depends on what vitamin we are talking about. This may seem unnecessary at first, but when you consider that various versions of pre-vi... | null |
3xdhlb | If person A is travelling at a fast speed away from person B, why is it that person A's time runs slower when you could say that person B is travelling away relative to A? | [
{
"answer": "Your assessment is spot on. They both see the others clock running slow, which is generally called 'the principle of reciprocity' in introductory textbooks.\n\nIf you have two space ships pass each other while traveling at constant velocities, each will feel 'at rest' with respect to the other. Thi... | null |
3jfwtg | Does the concept of religion differ outside of Abrahamic religions? | [
{
"answer": "This isn't really a history question, but some here may want to answer. Meanwhile, you might consider x-posting this question to r/AskReligion, r/AskAnthropology, or r/AskSocialScience ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "267134... | null |
4bk3en | what is the keynesian multiplier, and how does it help disprove supply-side economics? | [
{
"answer": "The mythical Keynesisn multiplier falls hard for the Broken Window Fallacy. It measures what is seen in one part of the economy and neglects to subtracts out the unseen losses in the rest of the economy. If it were true we would never have another recession. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"... | null |
wy23w | what causes some tv shows/movies to look somehow "off" on newer screens (kind of soap opera-looking)? | [
{
"answer": "You have motion interpolation turned on. It is a function that inserts computer-generated estimate frames between the existing frames of video to create smoother motion, but it's an aesthetic associated with camcorders and soap operas, so people often dislike it.\n\nLook through your TV's menu and ... | null |
6q22em | why some people can float, while others can' t? | [
{
"answer": "People can float in water if they learned or figured out how to do so. Those who cannot did not learn how. But no one is incapable of it. In fact its harder to not float than it is to float, because of your lungs, since they are filled with air.\n\nIf you wanna see what I mean, try getting a baske... | null |
1batg0 | Q from my 5-year old: did dinosaurs have boogers? | [
{
"answer": "[Birds are more likely related to dinosaurs](_URL_2_), rather than reptiles to dinosaurs, and birds do get [nasal mucus](_URL_1_).\n\nA booger by any other name is still a [booger](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "8... | null |
1jv6t7 | calvinism | [
{
"answer": "John Calvin was a theologian who was part of the reformation. His theology became known as Calvinism. \n\nBasically Calvinism is boiled down to the TULIP beliefs. \n\n* T - Total Depravity - All parts of man are affected by sin\n* U - Unconditional Election - We are saved by Christ without any cond... | null |
an7lgu | I always hear how "Wilt played against milkmen" or "NFL players had day jobs as oil workers". How did sports contracts go from the equivalent of a second job to multi-million dollar deals? | [
{
"answer": "The answer boils down to about two points: Market size and collective negotiations. \n\nBack in the day, sports athletes were considered amateurs and were more motivated by passion to engage in a hobby more than working a primary job for earning income. As time went on through the 30s and 40s, comp... | null |
407ktr | what are the benefits to running in the cold | [
{
"answer": "I played rugby in high school and I much preferred training and playing in the cold because of how tired and overheated I felt after. At first it sucked since I was all clammy and cold but after you get blood moving this is no longer an issue. At the end of the day, I always preferred playing and t... | null |
34w95e | how do huge herbivores such as elephants and rhino's build muscle and mass without meat? what makes a human's body unable to grow similarly from just grass/leaves? | [
{
"answer": "As for cows, their stomachs are designed to readily break down and redigest food in 4 different stomach cavities. Ruminants like bovines do this through a predigestion process that ferments this plant matter. This, along with regurgitating some plant matter to further help break it down by chewing ... | null |
3g5oe2 | why are female pornstars paid more than male pornstars? isn't that illegal? | [
{
"answer": "No, it's not illegal to pay one person more than another. It's actually a very common way to do business, based on legitimate business needs.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Its a basic supply and demand thing. Probably all boys wana shoot porn, but not all girls do. ",
"proven... | null |
2iw7m2 | How can Planck's Constant be well... a constant if we know that space itself has and is expanding? | [
{
"answer": "Physical constants are immutable with respect to time by definition. If for instance the speed of light would speed up or slow down for some magical reason, it would from a physical stand point be the meter which gets longer or shorter as the speed of light and the passing of time must be constant.... | null |
kguz1 | why my torrents go so slow even though there's more seeders than leechers? | [
{
"answer": "There are several possibilities. \n\n1. If you are using a public site like piratebay most of those \"seeders\" are probably limiting their upload to a few k/s\n\n2. Your internet provider might be limiting your download over torrents. \n\n3. You might not be connectable the port you are using is n... | null |
b17v4i | Vikings and winged helmets? | [
{
"answer": "You could really cover all the basics of Iron Age Norse helmets in a few paragraphs. There are a few helmets from fancy ship burials in Sweden from the Vendel Age (550-800), the centuries preceding the Viking Age. Examples would be [Vendel I](_URL_8_) from Vendel (these very finds gave name to the ... | null |
fxnvov | How did Hitler finance the industrial build up to WW2? The story’s of wheelbarrow bread buyers would make one assume it be impossible to ramp up such huge industrial undertaking... where did the money come from? | [
{
"answer": "He did the same thing most modern economies do. Deficit spending. \n\nHitler and his Finance minister, Hjalmar Schacht, knew that simply printing money to pay for rearmament would lead to inflation, so they decided to re-finance industry by using credit. Schacht and the largest German industrial fi... | null |
41gkl8 | how do artists who don't make their own music... get their music? | [
{
"answer": "Songs are bought by music producers from writers either on spec or commissioned and then given to the artist to test out and possibly record. Commercial music artists pretty much just record the vocals of songs in studios, and then they are mixed with hired gun musicians (aka studio musicians). The... | null |
1v0lpe | Why did the Neanderthals (200,000 BCE - 30,000 BCE) start burying their dead? | [
{
"answer": "Not to discourage any responses, but this is more of a question for /r/askanthropology/ since it pre-dates written history. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "14825120",
"title": "Paleolithic religion",
"sectio... | null |
20janf | why are gas stations still advertising gas as unleaded? | [
{
"answer": "Not all engines that use gasoline use unleaded gasoline. It's best to specify lest somebody fill up their gas tank and find their engine doesn't work.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The only place I believe you can buy leaded fuel is an airport. It still exists and can case damage... | null |
ao8d23 | physiologically how do some scents cause certain animals to panic in fear even if they are naive to the origin of the scent? | [
{
"answer": "Not about smells but there's a cool paper on how water fleas develop protective helmets and longer tail spines in response to a chemical from a fish predator. \n\nEven if they've never met the fish before they will develop these traits. This means that the response was inherited from their parents ... | null |
1k0tqi | Might the radioactive water from Fukushima create radioactive rain on the west coast of the United States? | [
{
"answer": "There is a [team in Berkeley which measures radiation in rainwater](_URL_0_). They found some I-131 during the weeks after the meltdown, but quickly fell below detectable levels, and has stayed that way ever since.\n\nFood took a little bit longer, but they [haven't found anything in quite a while... | null |
72fyow | Sensitive, somewhat weepy male characters abound in late 18th c. Gothic novels and are not presented as unmanly or unattractive. Is there any truth in the claim I've occasionally seen that men's crying was more socially acceptable before the Industrial Revolution than it has been ever since? | [
{
"answer": "Hopefully it is acceptable to ask for context? Which characters and novels specifically are you thinking of?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I was hailed by a mod. I have barely posted here in years, but this is fun and I love this stuff. Forgive my rustiness, I am in another caree... | null |
f0kd8o | Pre 1800s how was money transferred between bank accounts across different countries? | [
{
"answer": "I answered a very similar question [here](_URL_0_)\n\nIn your specific case of traveling to Italy from the US pre-1800, I am not sure. But, generally,, you would look to find and pay a merchant or bank that did enough business there to make up a letter of credit that said, essentially, pay John Smi... | null |
23997s | what happens when you cancel an installation process? | [
{
"answer": "If you cancel, the installation process will remove the files.\n\nIf you ctrl-alt-del and kill the installation process, it will not be given that opportunities so installed files will be at the installation destination folder. They will fill up your hard drive space; but not if you try to install ... | null |
m4ga4 | why can't i just drink water and eat bread (or some such food for calories) and take in all other nutrients via vitamins or supplements and be healthy? | [
{
"answer": "First, you're going to be healthiest with the appropriate protein/carb/fat balance. Bread has WAY too many carbs, and it's typically not a complete protein. But assume you had a food that did have the right balance, and included complete proteins. Would that work?\n\nProbably, yes. The risk you... | null |
3oecqo | why does money go to the hundredths decimal place? | [
{
"answer": "We use base-10 so we like to dived things by 10. Dividing by 10 twice gives you 1/100. Divide by ten again and you get 1/1000 which is now ~~(and has always been)~~ too small to be useful for transactions. So, 1/100 **used to be** the smallest [order of magnitude](_URL_1_) of our currencies that wa... | null |
298rtr | Is there any material/chemocal that can go from a solid to a gas and skip the liquid state? | [
{
"answer": "There are lots, its not a property of the material so much as its a property of its tempature/pressure. Remember that water has different boiling points at diffrent pressures. Low pressure, low temp required, however at higher pressure (think pressure cooker) higher tempatures are required to boil... | null |
3mnreb | how much does "data" cost internet/service providers? where does the actual overhead come from? | [
{
"answer": "The overhead comes from running an extremely complex network with lots of infrastructure that requires highly trained and specialized engineers operating significant portions of it. Depending on what kind of a connection you're looking at setting up, your minimum entry cost is tens of thousands of ... | null |
1g94pj | why does amazon constantly have "sales" with $0.03 off? | [
{
"answer": "For me, it's a classic marketing trick.\n\nPure and simply; it's designed to get you in the store or at least looking at the item.\n\nJust because it's $0.03 off, doesn't mean it's not technically a sale.\n\nIt's like when a store has a massive sign outside saying \"50% OFF SALE!\". Most people fa... | null |
t3r8r | Could giant humans survive? | [
{
"answer": "I know taller people tend not to live as long as shorter people, but that doesn't mean people couldn't slowly evolve to be quite large, since most people stop reproducing long before they die of old age. So basically my guess is \"yes\" but not for long.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answe... | null |
1i5tg1 | How 'German' was Eastern Prussia under Frederick the Great? | [
{
"answer": "Just to correct a few things first: That doesn't correspond to the modern Baltic states, which are further northeast, that's broadly the north and west of modern Poland and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, formerly Königsberg. It's also a map of Prussia under the German Empire (1871-1918), not a... | null |
1e7eh7 | Why do some ants have such a high brain to body mass ratio? | [
{
"answer": "As the article you linked to, along with [this one](_URL_1_) describe, brain size does not scale linearly (isometrically) with body size. Instead, it scales *allometrically*, proportional to approximately (body mass)^(k), where the exponent k is somewhere around 0.5 to 0.75 (depending on the group ... | null |
6jysf0 | If Einstein hasn't came up with relativity was anyone else working on the similar theories? | [
{
"answer": "(As a warning, I got slightly jargony in this post. \nSR = special relativity\nGR = general relativity\nc = speed of light\nEM = electromagetism\nB-field = magnetic field)\n\nFirst off, SR probably would have been developed within a few years of Einstein's publication. This is because the root prob... | null |
7rjboj | how do zero gravity pens work? | [
{
"answer": "They inject pressurized gas into the ink capsule, that constantly pushes the ink toward the tip regardless of gravity or orientation.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "30182396",
"title": "Timeline of United States inv... | null |
g1603c | Where do the photons go after the light is turned off in the room? | [
{
"answer": "They get absorbed by the surroundings! Photons are electromagnetic waves, so when they come to matter, they \"wave\" the electrons in the matter around, so the photons lose their energy are are absorbed. This is why a wall in the sun feels hot! The light is being absorbed by the wall and all energy... | null |
41d6pl | how is it possible that sites like _url_0_ or any other movie streaming service violating copyright laws are still up and running? | [
{
"answer": "Not hosted on a server in the United States, perhaps?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "18059606",
"title": "Pirate Cinema",
"section": "Section::::Helsinki.\n",
"start_paragraph_id": 27,
"start... | null |
2glf0j | How can a paper cup full of water not burn up on a 2400 degree billet of steel? | [
{
"answer": "The reason is that, perhaps surprisingly, the paper simply does not get hot enough. Paper has an autoignition temperature (the temperature at which it will burst into flame) of about 210-250^o C. If you were to just put an empty paper cup on the hot steel, it would rapidly reach this temperature an... | null |
a6olsl | what is a probation? | [
{
"answer": "Basically means he can live feely as long as he abides by certain conditions (not out after certain time, keep the peace, and/or abstain from drugs/alcohol, etc...). ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": ".....\n\nit means instead of going to a prison, you can be elsewhere, but have to f... | null |
1wo1gt | what's the religious situation in the us? | [
{
"answer": "The nation is mostly Christian, and within Christianity there are many denominations. Judaism and Islam are also popular religions among the populace. The Indian population in the US has gone up drastically in the past years bringing with them Hinduism. And there are other smaller religions scatter... | null |
3ptuye | what is the ndaa and why did obama veto it? | [
{
"answer": "It's basically a defense spending bill. He vetoed it because it had provisions that prohibited removing spending cuts and prohibited the closing of Guantanamo Bay.\n\n[sauce](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "4830871... | null |
73m32p | Does our moon have a name in common english? | [
{
"answer": "The proper English name for the moon is \"the Moon\". ([source](_URL_0_)). \"Luna\" is sometimes used in literature, and is the name of the Roman goddess that was the personified moon to the Romans.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia... | null |
4by66h | absolute and apparent magnitude | [
{
"answer": "Apparent magnitude is how bright a star appears to an observer on Earth. Absolute magnitude is a measure of how bright the star would appear to an observer on earth if the star were 10 parsecs away.\n\nAbsolute magnitude allows astronomers to compare the inherent brightness of stars since the varia... | null |
119dcv | If Ulysses S Grant was such a bad president why is he on the $50 bill? | [
{
"answer": "His administration was prone to charges of corruption. Certainly, he showed bad judgment in the political realm and was easily influenced by some unsavory characters.\n\nAs for his popularity, he was the most famous General in U.S. history, save for Washington himself. And he was considered the mil... | null |
wze84 | To what extent did the typical 15th/16th century European peasant know about/be affected by the Age of Exploration? | [
{
"answer": "Well, there was the introduction of the potato, sugar (in loaves) from canes (as opposed to beets) and coffee. Oh, and tobacco. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "16743222",
"title": "Turquerie",
"section": "Se... | null |
1pggzg | what the different url means | [
{
"answer": "They're just supposed to denote what kind of organisation is using the website. The usual .com was originally intended for commercial sites, .org for nonprofit organisations, and .net for networking technologies (guess what .tv was supposed to be used for?), but they ended up being unrestricted so ... | null |
5viqw8 | What is the current Academic consensus - Anglo-Saxon Invasion, Anglo-Saxon Migration or none of the above? | [
{
"answer": "'It's complicated.'\n\nThere are a few different ways to approach this question.\n\n**Textual accounts**\n\nThe first, and the method longest favored, has been to trust the written sources. These include Gildas' sermon, Bede, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and other later texts. Each tells a slightly d... | null |
2jmwid | How do astronauts tell how fast they are going in space? | [
{
"answer": "It is just as valid for an astronaut to say they are still and all else is moving as it is to say the earth is still (we know it rotates on its axis and around the sun).\n\nThere will be someone on the ground telling them by radio their speed and position **relative** to the shuttle/satellite/stati... | null |
4i1qsp | if a non-english speaker learns english from a natural english speaker, why exactly do they have an accent? | [
{
"answer": "If a person already knows a language they will make some sounds similar to what they already know. For example Spanish speakers rolling their \"r\". They are use to rolling their r's so when they learn another language they still roll that r because that is what they are use to doing.\n\n",
"pr... | null |
5lnpgi | If Earth had a huge equatorial ocean like it did in the past, would it be possible we'd observe persistent hurricanes lasting months or even years, like a mini-version of Jupiter's great red spot? | [
{
"answer": "Not quite.\n\nGlobal winds and ocean currents on planets are based off numerous factors.\n\n- The tilt of the planet (not just seasons, but if influences the amount of sunlight at the equator and the poles)\n\n- Positioning of continents (alters ocean currents)\n\n- Positioning of continents (warm ... | null |
7pun5t | What physical properties make Iron, Cobalt and Nickel ferromagnetic? | [
{
"answer": "It all has to with the spins of the electrons. When all of the electrons in the orbitals are paired up, their spins (+1/2 & -1/2) cancel each other out. This results in a diamagnetic material that is slightly repelled by an external magnetic force. Conversely, paramagnetic materials have electron... | null |
3631fi | what constitutes resisting arrest? if i just go ragdoll when arrested, would that count? | [
{
"answer": "If you do not comply with the officers instructions, then you are resisting. They will instruct you to do certain things with your hands, and to get into certain positions, and if you just go rag-doll and refuse to comply then you will be treated as non-compliant and resisting arrest. It's passive ... | null |
3odcrx | How strong/durable would a sheet of diamond be? | [
{
"answer": "Diamond is the hardest naturally occuring substance, which means it's scratch resistant. But it doesn't mean it won't break. That's more of a toughness thing. Toughness measures how much energy it takes to break it.\n\nDiamond has a toughness of about 2.0 MPa m^(1/2). Glass is about 0.7 to 0.8 MP... | null |
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