id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
5ylhep | how do we know ancient civilisations/events existed? | [
{
"answer": "Carbon dating is a chemistry-based method for determining how old organic matter (wood, preserved food) is. There's no disguising a 200 year old tomb as a 4000 year old tomb; the carbon dating is completely different.\n\nAlso, we have records from long ago (like the Roman Empire) of people *already... | null |
1vv34b | what are volts? amps? watts? which one(s) can kill you versus just shock/hurt you? | [
{
"answer": "The water pipe analogy is a famous way to understand electricity.\n\nVolts are like water pressure (high voltage would be like a pressure washer, low voltage would be like a babbling brook)\n\nAmps are like the amount of water flow (high amperage would be like the Mississippi river, low amperage wo... | null |
6nq7zq | each of the 5 positions in basketball and their responsibilities. | [
{
"answer": "Point guard, or the \"1\": Primary ball handler on offense. Brings the ball up the court, generally starts plays and creates opportunities for others. On defense, defends the perimeter.\n\nShooting guard, or the \"2\" or the \"2 guard\": perimeter scorer that plays off the ball. Needs to be a good ... | null |
1g4qv5 | TIL about the Phaistos Disk and Linear A and I'm curious, what other languages are still undeciphered? What are the chances that they will be deciphered? | [
{
"answer": "Indus script, inscriptions left by the Indus Valley Civilization, has yet to be deciphered. The language appears to use short strings of symbols. For the past few years, researchers have attempted to decipher the language but the chances of Indus script being deciphered is very low. A big reason is... | null |
a9gkt6 | why does japanese use 3 different alphabets/sillabaries? | [
{
"answer": " > \twhat's kanji because they don't tell me.\n\nKanji are symbols for full words. Obviously this requires a massive number of unique symbols and isn't practical for keyboards. Hiragana then was made for phonetic spelling of Japanese words, but many words are incorporated from other languages so ka... | null |
1mgndj | When did the notion of American exceptionalism first take root? | [
{
"answer": "An early advocacy of American exceptionalism came with the Puritan colonizers of Massachusetts. Here is some of the text of John Winthrop's sermon to the Puritan colonists while still on the ship \"Arabella\" as they were about to land in the New World. It is known as the \"City on a Hill\" sermo... | null |
2bb1es | How did the US Government get all of the Native Americans to Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears? What happened to the people who refused to leave? | [
{
"answer": "Basically the tribes were coerced by violence to relocate to Indian Territory. Some tribes were able to hide out and they later became their own tribes in their original homelands. Famous examples include the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama, Seminole Tribe of Florida (who were never militar... | null |
2c95sd | how film negatives work the difference between them and digital | [
{
"answer": "Think of a film negative as a cardboard with a cutout of something on it. When you shine a flashlight through the cardboard, it will cast a shadow of whatever's in it. \n\nIn an actual photo, you cast the \"shadow\" from the film negative on a paper that has light sensitive chemicals. The darkest p... | null |
1e4m8j | Was 200,000 Jews really conscripted into the German Wehrmacht during WWII? | [
{
"answer": "The actual number is disputed and other historians gave much lower estimates. But even if that number of Jews in the Wehrmacht was technically true, it's more complicated than it looks like. The problem is the definition of a 'Jew' in Nazi Germany: If your parents (or even grandparents) were Jewish... | null |
4vkd77 | is there any benefit to turning my phone off at night? does it need to "rest"? | [
{
"answer": "No. Modern smartphones are designed to only need to be rebooted for major upgrades. Turning it off at other times makes absolutely no difference other than battery consumption when not plugged in. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The battery doesn't like being charged after it hits... | null |
ale9az | how do you make a car more "reliable" | [
{
"answer": "In general reliable cars come from years of iterative design and improvement. For example, you might design a car that ends up having 10 common faults. You fix these faults in the next redesign of the car and release it to the market. Consumers then discover another 5 faults and you fix those for t... | null |
btimsv | why does the body need to be trained for cardio? what does your body do when at first u can’t run 1 mile but after a while u can run 10? | [
{
"answer": "Your heart is used to a non effort life so it supplies a small ammount of oxygen to your muscles, blood and eventually brain. When you start exercising, the heart starts pumping more but it's not used to it yet and can only do it for a small ammount of time. As the effort builds up, your brain gets... | null |
kfcp8 | If I blow my nose with a piece of toilet paper, would it be more environmentally friendly to put that paper in the toilet (to be flushed later) or in the garbage to be hauled away by a truck? | [
{
"answer": "Put it in the trash.\n\nIf you flush it, it goes through a couple miles of pipe, maybe a few grinder pumps, until hitting your local treatment plant...where it is filtered out by the screening system/centrifuge/pressing system or such, loaded in a dump truck...and dumped at the landfill.\n\nI imagi... | null |
ajkoci | Slavery seems to have a very prominent role in the popular conception of the Roman Empire, then sort of seems to fade away and become relevant again during the 17th-19th centuries. To what extent and how was slavery practiced in Western Europe following the collapse of the Western Roman State? | [
{
"answer": "Hello, [here](_URL_0_) is a post I wrote a little while ago about post-Roman slavery in the British Isles. I hope it's useful and I'm happy to answer further questions :)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "42063316",
"... | null |
2rmh80 | what are the rules for fan made merchandise? if it is illegal like i think it is, how do companies like etsy and redbubble get away with it? | [
{
"answer": "This would fall under copyright, and the gray area of copyright is confusing and hard to navigate. However, here is some basic information on this kind of scenario. Before going further: I'm not a lawyer, so please don't take my word as gospel.\n\nWhat this boils down to is that you're going to be ... | null |
5u7w85 | I've read that nazis' hate for jews derived of the fact that they were a race without a nation, and as a result were considered "parasites"[sic] of other nations. Would nazis then have approved of the construction of a jewish state like Israel? | [
{
"answer": "Not really, no.\n\nWhat is important to understand regarding the Nazi world view is that not only were Jews regarded as an existential thread due to their \"international character\" but also that Nazi policy did undergo an evolution during the Nazis' tenure in power.\n\nAs for the first factor: Ra... | null |
cxkcfo | why does chronic sleep deprivation cause erectile dysfunction? | [
{
"answer": "Sleep deprivation is a huge stress for your body. Evolution has built us that way - if you are that much stressed, the last thing you need at that moment is having sex",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "61235711",
"titl... | null |
2nuug2 | why isn't worshipping jesus considered idol worship in the christian faith? | [
{
"answer": "Idol worship is worshiping a specific physical thing, like a statue -- literally, an idol.\n\nNow, there are things can can represent Christ, like a cross. But if you were to destroy a cross in a church, people would get upset, but they would not think you had destroyed the thing they were actually... | null |
2gm83t | neurologically speaking, why do people learn in different ways (ie kinesthetic, visual, etc)? | [
{
"answer": "And which is the best?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Some scientists say the whole concept is bogus. NPR recently did a [story](_URL_0_) on this topic that you might like.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "This is probably one of those things they write books about... | null |
b6l6vw | What does it actually mean to “die peacefully” in your sleep? Is this even possible? | [
{
"answer": "During REM sleep the body is paralyzed ti prevent movement during dream state. \n\nWhen you are having trouble breathing due ti oak if oxygen, the body can jerk you awake using a body reflex. \n\nIf you combine poor breathing with rem state paralysis the body may not be able to rake you from your ... | null |
1ifpq4 | how are some cars so much more expensive than other cars. eg. 1,000,000$ car vs. 20,000$ car. | [
{
"answer": "It's not just the style; it's the material they use, the speeds they can reach (for sports cars), the size of the vehicle, the rarity, etc.\n\nIt's like saying why they can't just kill more snakes to make snake-skinned boots so they aren't $4,000 dollars. Snakes are rare and so is carbon fiber. Sna... | null |
1kutvl | How do things like Bop It manage to generate pseudorandom numbers? | [
{
"answer": "A very common way to generate random numbers in a small embedded device like that is to have a fairly fast free-running counter. When the device receives some input (like the player pressing the start button) the counter is read and that can provide a dozen or so bits of entropy, which is plenty to... | null |
1uawmx | how did the first land bound life forms know we needed water to survive? | [
{
"answer": "How did you know to suck your mothers teat? How is it that all puppies, kittens and even little babies know to flee from pain? \n\nIt's instinct. Evolution has brought us certain tendencies born right into us. If we never felt like drinking water when we needed it we'd die. If we couldn't distingui... | null |
1otbr4 | is the ability to sing a natural or acquired talent? | [
{
"answer": "It's a combination of both. If you have no ear for discerning notes, lots of practice probably won't make you a great singer. But I can tell you from personal experience, if you have an alright ear for music, you can practice and be able to see massive improvements. I was good at beatboxing and ok ... | null |
7hzbwo | Can anyone explain the Mouse Utopia experiments in a less tinfoil-hatty way? | [
{
"answer": "To start out, [The Smithsonian](_URL_3_) has a simple but brief overview of the experiments. On the opposite extreme, [Population density, social pathology, and behavioral ecology](_URL_0_) by Jim Moore (unfortunately, behind a paywall) discusses Calhoun's and similar experiments in a fair amount o... | null |
2t9p08 | What makes an atomic bomb/explosion stop expanding? Why don't atoms continue to split more atoms etc? | [
{
"answer": "Theres 2 basic types of atom bombs. Fission, and fusion.\n\nFission works by splitting already unstable atoms (specifically the nucleus is unstable) so I'll go there. Basically only certain atoms are unstable and prone to breaking apart. Imagine an unstable atom like uranium-235 is a mouse trap tha... | null |
3q0gqp | why was cloning such a big deal in the 90's but now is rarely spoken about? | [
{
"answer": "There were a lot of breakthroughs in the '90s, and that made it new and exciting and a big deal. And naturally also very blown out of proportion. \n\nThere are still advances being made, but nothing huge. \n\nCloning would not make a species viable, either. You need genetic diversity, which is the ... | null |
1o73eq | Does the confirmation of the Higgs Boson have any implications for String Theory? Does it strengthen it, weaken it, or have no effect? | [
{
"answer": "Little effect, there are some theories with large extra dimensions that would require no Higgs (they have their own mechanism producing the same end effect without adding a boson), so those theories are probably feeling it a bit, but otherwise it sheds little light on the landscape. \n",
"prove... | null |
2enbpu | Why was Pilot Wave Theory / de Broglie-Bohm theory considered controversial and ultimately discarded by most physicists? What does it mean for a theory to be nonlocal? What paradoxes would be created by combining relativity and de Broglie-Bohm? | [
{
"answer": "As a general rue any \"interpretation\" of quantum mechanics better be *especially* compelling in order to gain significant traction with physicists, because interpretations of quantum mechanics are a branch of philosophy, not science. One of the main reasons de Broglie-Bohm theory isn't *especiall... | null |
4sx33g | How did the Bismarck compare technologically to the allied fleet? | [
{
"answer": "It was essentially a 1915 design copy pasted to the 1930s. With a newer model of gun, and some new engines.\n\nWhat that meant was she was still hindered by the expectation of a short range brawl in the North Sea. Where stopping shells coming horizontally was the key. But even during WW1 increasing... | null |
hm6d0 | What would happen if you swallowed gasoline? Say maybe 8 oz and no vomiting. | [
{
"answer": "First off, it would be best to call poison control immediately and follow their instructions, but since that's not what you're asking, I'll give it a go: 8oz is not enough to kill (depending on the size of the person). If you ingest the gasoline, you will vomit as it is recognized as a poison by th... | null |
1tsjrc | why do i physically feel horrible immediately when seeing gory photos? | [
{
"answer": "This is an evolutionary \"trait\" of sorts. Similar to how some people faint after seeing blood.\n\nMy guess would be that humans subconsciously see blood and gore as 'something that's gone terribly wrong' and should be heeded as a warning. After all, if you saw someone suddenly shot and bleeding, ... | null |
16rf8f | Question about concave mirrors, projectors, and real images. | [
{
"answer": "[This is in fact almost exactly how flight simulators work.](_URL_0_) The key to it is a collimating lens that means the user doesn't have to sit in a precise spot and the image truly feels 3 dimensional. Check out the linked wikipedia article for a good diagram (that, good for you, looks almost ex... | null |
733pj1 | I'm a king in an average sized European castle in the Middle Ages. How do I get candles? Surely my candle use would be enormous. Do I have a guy whose sole job is candle maker, or do I have to import them from somewhere else? | [
{
"answer": "I completely love this question.\n\nThe courts of the late Middle Ages used an absolutely *mind-blowing* amount of lighting--individual tapers, full candelabras and chandeliers, larger torches when brighter light was culturally significant. (For example, on either side of the altar at Mass, or usin... | null |
141hlp | How do scientist know (what evidence is there) to show the decay rates of isotopes, such as carbon 14? | [
{
"answer": "They are decaying gradually, and the half-lifes given in the nuclide chart are based on measurements performed over the fixed time period, and then extrapolated from there. At least for those elements with long half-lifes.\n\nThe decay follows an exponential curve, so no matter how much activity yo... | null |
dep66r | what is frequency modulation and how are it's uses different from amplitude modulation? | [
{
"answer": "So first two key definitions: Frequency (of a wave) is the number of times a complete cycle of the wave is completed in a second; Amplitude (of a wave) is the height of the tallest (or the depth of the lowest) point in the wave from the center/baseline. \n\nIn frequency modulation, the frequency of... | null |
6hj84s | When did China start having conceptions of race? What is the history of race in China? | [
{
"answer": "This doesn't answer your historical question, but it might be worth clearing up what people mean today by saying that race is a social construct.\n\nThere are different ethnicities in the world, but our decision to group different ethnicities together into large umbrellas of \"race\" is the social ... | null |
eopv8w | What period in human history have literacy rates been the highest as a percentage of the worlds population? | [
{
"answer": "It may safely be assumed that today's literacy rates are unprecedented: Unesco reports that \"Since 1950, the adult literacy rate at the world level has increased by 5 percentage points every decade on average, from 55.7% in 1950 to 86.2% in 2015\" (*Reading the past, writing the future*, Paris 201... | null |
14iemc | what are mac adresses for computers and how are they different from ip adresses? | [
{
"answer": "MAC adresses are hard-coded into physical hardware devices (and cannot be changed) - sort of like the street address for your house. IP address are set in software and can be moved/changed - sort of like your phone number.\n\nWhen you call 911, the operator can tell what your address is because you... | null |
hx19w | A simple F=MA problem that frustrates my brain. | [
{
"answer": "If your car is coasting along (ie engine not actively powering wheels) and you include friction, then your car will be slowing down gradually. Friction between the wheels and the ground (rolling friction) would manifest as a force in the direction opposite of the car's movement, resulting in a sma... | null |
1fjq5a | What is the probable true extent of Koko the gorilla's intelligence? (Additional question for anyone fluent in ASL) | [
{
"answer": "Intelligence and the ability to communicate are not really the same thing. If by intelligence you mean the ability to communicate higher order cognitive functions such as emotions, deception etc I think you're not going to find an answer. People associate intelligence with language, but who says th... | null |
g00rvi | why do professional singers, such as elvis presley and andrea bocelli, have a vibrato on every note? is it learned/does it make singing easier in some way? | [
{
"answer": "Vibrato might make the sound a little more pleasant, and it also covers up tiny imperfections or discrepancies in pitch.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Vibrato can be on purpose or spontaneous. Sometimes it's hard to shut off. It can be affected by nervousness, emotions, even bein... | null |
4zw4fa | Is there more evidence of observable black holes now? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, one of the most striking examples is that the stars right at the centre of the galaxy are all [orbiting something massive and invisible](_URL_0_) over like a 20 year period.\n\nAnd just this year, LIGO detected gravitational radiation from two colliding black holes.",
"provenance": null
... | null |
3c7lg6 | How much of a concrete operations plan was "the Schlieffen Plan"? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not an expert, I only know what I had to do on a bit of work over a year ago, but I remember getting a good mark on it:\n\nWell the Schlieffen Plan relied on 5 *huge* assumptions in order to be successful:\n\nInvading Belgium would cause no issue with the UK, or France.\n\nBelgium would not res... | null |
1m6yn1 | complete quantum teleportation of photonic quantum bits | [
{
"answer": "How sad... i was really hoping for an answer to this one.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A bit is the basic unit of information. It's a logical question with either a yes or a no answer. Quantum teleportation of information has to do with a phenomenon known as \"Quantum Entanglem... | null |
4742v3 | What about deep breathing makes us lightheaded? | [
{
"answer": "Hyperventilation removes more CO2 from the blood than is being released into the blood via cell respiration. This increases the pH of the blood, a condition called alkalosis, which in turn causes blood vessels to constrict, reducing blood flow. Alkalosis also reduces the amount of freely ionized ca... | null |
z2qio | would the mass of a helium balloon be positive or negative and is there such a negative mass | [
{
"answer": "Are you confusing mass and weight?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The mass of a helium balloon is positive. The weight is negative. There might be such a thing as negative mass, but we haven't encountered such a thing yet.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
... | null |
23xh2v | why does the grocery store carry fully cooked frozen chicken and turkey, but not beef? | [
{
"answer": "Not certain but perhaps its because there's a lot of different degrees at which different people like their meet cooked.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "296928",
"title": "Domestic turkey",
"section": "Sectio... | null |
arm5pz | why can't we just transfer antibodies from immune people to sick people to cure them easily? | [
{
"answer": "Give a man antibodies and he's immune for however long they last. Teach a man's B-cells to make antibodies and they are immune for life (unless they stop making them in immune-compromised situations).\n\nAntibodies are single use. They bind to something determined bad to mark it disposal and are re... | null |
7rfjjg | how does dental uv lights work on fillings? what makes it cures so fast? | [
{
"answer": "Actually it is intense blue visible light, not UV light that they use for curing. As for how it works: \n\nThe material that is used for fillings is a resin based composite that is specially designed for that exact purpose. Resin is a polymer that looks similar in color to teeth and has physical pr... | null |
1j8qri | how redbull can afford to sponsor so many different (and expensive) sports, yet their product is only a drink? | [
{
"answer": " > They cant make that much money can they?\n\nThey really do. They brought in over 4 billion in 2011 (revenue, so that wasn't all profit of course).\n\nEdit - It is ridiculous this is one of my highest upvoted comments.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "That F1 team is valued at ... | null |
i9ug1 | Global Warming: Truth | [
{
"answer": "Yes, yes there is. The issue is with proving if it's man made or not.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "This can be a touchy subject, since the history of the earth is filled with extreme and sudden changes in climate. At this point we are overdue for an ice-age like event.\n\nHowe... | null |
10ke85 | What did people in your focus culture make of dreams? | [
{
"answer": "This is a topic of particular interest to me! I do Viking-age Scandinavia, and dreams were a big deal to this particular culture, if the sagas are anything to go by. I wrote a paper on this subject, the general conclusion of which was that dreams represent a kind of liminal meeting-place between th... | null |
5w2fdx | what constitutes a roman numeral in a chemical formula? | [
{
"answer": "You have to look at the oxidation state of the metal in the compound (a number like +1, +2, etc.). If it's always a certain value, like sodium for example, then you don't need a Roman numeral. Otherwise, the numeral just corresponds to the oxidation number, so in your example manganese would have a... | null |
4r4mtx | how does medicine like asprin work? | [
{
"answer": "Aspirin reduces pain and inflammation because it blocks the activity of a protein (called cyclooxegenase, or COX) which helps produce molecules that promote inflammation (called prostaglandins). \n\nIt helps thin blood in the prevention of strokes and heart attacks because blocking COX also prevent... | null |
esnpet | Is it true that the Soviet Union gave food aid to Americans during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl? | [
{
"answer": "I'm searching around, and I can't find *any* sources that make the claim that the Soviet Union provided food aid to Americans either in the Dust Bowl, or the Great Depression more generally. I would actually be curious where and who is making this claim. \n\nI can provide a little context for where... | null |
3e17c6 | how is food waste bad for the economy? | [
{
"answer": "Consider that you also created an artificial scarcity of $40 worth of food that could have gone to something else. This is similar to what happened in the short run with cash for clunkers. Yes, there were some new cars made and purchased but the dip in supply of used ones rekt the prices in the use... | null |
1ar0hs | What would happen if the Earth were to pass through the particle beam of a black hole or quasar? | [
{
"answer": "If the Earth went through an AGN (Active Galactic Nucleus) jet, all life would be obliterated. The atmosphere would be stripped away in very short order by the bombardment of highly relativistic particles; the Earth's magnetic field (which is far, far weaker than the magnetic fields present in AGN ... | null |
2afg0o | how do companies like kfc, mcdonalds or even coca cola protect their recipes? wont modern science be able to breakdown whats exactly in the food they serve? | [
{
"answer": "Billions have been spent to copy the Coca Cola recipe. It has always failed. Another example would be several old beers from Belgium. Some beers are close to a 1000 years old but nobody outside that one monetary can make it. The West Vleteren is world wide considered one of the best beers in the wo... | null |
29bc68 | Is Gavrilo Princip a "Yugoslav nationalist" or a "Serbian nationalist"? | [
{
"answer": "I think it really depends on how you conceptualize the Serbian nationalist movement in the early 20th century. \"Yugoslav\" means \"south Slav\" and a Yugoslav nationalist would be someone who supported the unification of southern Slavs - Serbians, Bulgarians, Croatians, Bosnians, etc - into one st... | null |
965gz8 | what is the difference between credit cards systems in u.s.a and europe? | [
{
"answer": "People use mostly same cards (Visa, Mastercard) some are unheard of (Diners)\n\nDifferences:\n\nIn EU, People favor using Debit cards instead of Credit cards.\n\nThere is no \"credit score\" in EU, so people have little motivation to use credit card just to improve credit score.\n\nIn USA when you ... | null |
8cr4b0 | what happens short-term and long-term when a person defaults on their student loans? | [
{
"answer": "The usual suspects. Credit score tanks. Collections calls start flowing in. Stuff gets repo'd or your wages get garnished until the debt is repaid.\n\nOf course it might vary by state and by whatever agency granted the loan (federal vs state vs whatever), but the basic pattern of \"this person owes... | null |
1me8mw | When the Roman Empire began to collapse, the Saxons invaded England. Were they united in doing so, or was it one tribe that invaded, or many? What happened to those that stayed behind in Germany? | [
{
"answer": "Invasion is a loaded word that really does a poor job of describing the Saxon's role in England. Many, many individual tribes traveled across to England and began settling the eastern coast. While there was some conflict between the native Britains and the Saxons it was largely a peaceful transitio... | null |
qwg1o | why we can secure banking/investment accts online but we can't secure voting | [
{
"answer": "The requirements are different.\n\nMost importantly, banking information needs to be tied to the person making the transaction. If any inconsistencies come up they need to be able to make sure they have enough identification information to trace the transactions back to the person who made them.\n... | null |
6evngr | religion. honestly i don't understand it. | [
{
"answer": "People want answers.\n\nBut what are the questions?\n\nThings like these:\n\nWhat is the meaning of life?\n\nWhy are we here?\n\nWho made us?\n\nWho made the universe?\n\nDo I go somewhere when I die?\n\nWhat is good?\n\nWhat is evil?\n\nReligion answers all (or at least one) of these questions and... | null |
94eov9 | what is the purpose of those robocalls where no one is on the other end | [
{
"answer": " > But what value could a call be that gets no information other than you picked up so it’s a live number?\n\nThat information is useful to reduce the calling list to numbers that at least work.\n\nRobo-calling outfits operate by having a call center full of workers ready to pick up and start the ... | null |
eevuc7 | cold hot water?¿ | [
{
"answer": "I remember one of my middle school science teachers explaining something like this. If I remember correctly, the body's nerves have a hard time telling the difference between extreme hot and extreme cold temperatures. So, the receptors can mix them up. When putting your hand in freezing water, it c... | null |
aar08y | how do babies/toddlers run on their knees like it's no problem but adults can't? | [
{
"answer": "I think it has to do with the fact that the bones of a baby don't really solidify into hard bones until they are older. So going on their knees isn't too bad. Also as a baby the have at what 15lbs of weight on their knees and are usually somewhat chubby (thinks more padding) Adults are a lot heavie... | null |
3esg2l | The Cold War was a time of incredible technological achievement. How did that directly impact ideas of national defense for both NATO and the Warsaw Pact? | [
{
"answer": "I've forwarded your question to a colleague who is a specialist in this area. I too am very interested to know more. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "45959",
"title": "Nuclear strategy",
"section": "Section::... | null |
45ato2 | Sailing Speeds | [
{
"answer": "This is an area of interest to me, but finding actual speeds is like digging a ditch with a teaspoon. You find a bit here, a bit there, and once in a great while, how many days it took to press on from one port to another. Due to the recreated ships, you can find out more hard data about Classical ... | null |
54wur1 | I have read that Crete produced some of the best quality archers in the ancient Mediterranean, what was it that set them apart from other archers of the time? | [
{
"answer": "I believe you may be interested in [this post](_URL_0_) by one of our moderators /u/Iphikrates, who comprehensively answers a similar question, but in a bit larger scope - concerning also the Rhodians and Balearics.\n\nIn their conclusion, they state that Cretans are not necessarily better archers,... | null |
2vtujz | (xpost /r/askhistory) When the first recordings of someones voice were made, did people think it was flawed without knowing you sound different in your head then to other people? | [
{
"answer": "Guys, we get it. They could have asked someone else.\n\nIf you have something to say based on historical records about people's reactions to hearing their voices recorded, please feel free to give OP an answer. If you don't, please refrain from commenting because your comment will probably end up d... | null |
6e1rg5 | what exactly causes the putrid smell that is released when a dead animal is in the process of decaying? | [
{
"answer": "Various complex molecules in our body break down into computers with apt names like putricine and cadaverine. \n\nSince decaying bodies are often unsafe to be around, we have evolved to be particularly sensitive to those odors.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "When an animal dies, ... | null |
6qpva2 | How do scientists calculate the location of a comet and its trajectory (projected orbital path) and then articulate it for others to confirm the data? | [
{
"answer": "You would want to report:\n\n1. the comet's position on the sky (usually in J2000 RA,dec; J2000 is the epoch, which sets where the axes of the coordinate system are)\n2. at each time you saw the comet\n3. precisely where you were located at those times\n4. optionally, the brightness ([magnitude](_U... | null |
3wqdrr | why is it supposedly rude to point? | [
{
"answer": "How would you feel if someone was talking with someone and then point to you? ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Pointing makes people uncomfortable or even feel threatened. If a stranger points at you on the street (assuming you're not a celebrity), it never means something good. Th... | null |
nhtix | My mom says to gargle salt water when I have a cold. Is she right? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not sure how salty water may interact with mucus or phlegm, but salt-water rinses or gargling with salt-water is primarily an anti-bacterial treatment. Salt-water in your mouth will create an osmotic pressure gradient that will cause the water inside bacteria to be sucked right out, killing the... | null |
3wr137 | Are there any rich or powerful families who can trace the origins of their wealth/power back to Roman times? | [
{
"answer": "Although the declining Roman empire left lots of room for non-patricians to make a name for themselves (especially in the army, more on that [here, aren't self-plugs fun!](_URL_0_)) many old Roman families were alive and well (albeit often refreshed with new blood. As stated in the link above, the ... | null |
1sh5ws | why does finding a smaller hubble constant imply that the universe is older than we thought? | [
{
"answer": "Imagine the universe as a balloon. And we hook up the balloon to a helium tank that is slowly filling up the balloon. If you measure the size of the balloon, as well as the rate in which the balloon is being filled up at (the Hubble constant), you can make a good estimate as to how long the ballo... | null |
9ttp2b | If there were two moons, would nights be noticeably brighter? | [
{
"answer": "We perceive light in a log scale so for something to appear twice as bright it would need 10x light on it. Because of this nights would be brighter but not twice as bright as they are currently.\nThe difference in moon phases would also effect brightness. 2 full moons(big moon) would be very differ... | null |
w94gv | Can modern Turks trace their origins to ancient Anatolian peoples like the Hittites and the Trojans? | [
{
"answer": "Probably not. Turks, as an ethnic identifier, are connected to central Asia (e.g., Turkmenstan) and were part of the [expansion of peoples prior to the Mongol invasions](_URL_0_). Those in Ionia might have some extra-Turkic connections that can be traced, but further inland, it becomes murkier ow... | null |
1zd79w | How is a historiography written? | [
{
"answer": "Here's something I wrote a few months ago in response to a graduate student looking for guidance in putting together a historiography paper:\n\nIt sometimes seems as though there must be only one way to write a historiography paper -- as if anyone can just describe the entire state of a field someh... | null |
d9rjax | why is there a threat of gun violence / mass shootings at joker screenings?? | [
{
"answer": "Joker is a character that attracts try-hard quirky lunatics by nature. He’s an unhinged murderer after all.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The Colorado shootings during the first screenings of the dark knight rises. The guy who did it \"idolized\" the joker.",
"provenance": n... | null |
3qcla9 | Could gravity in space bend the light coming from stars so much that where a star appears to be isn't actually where it is? | [
{
"answer": "This is exactly the effect that was measured by Eddington and Davidson back in 1919 that make Einstein world famous. During a solar eclipse, when the Sun is dimmed, you can see the starlight near it. If you record the positions of those stars and compare them to their locations when the Sun isn't i... | null |
3ea61f | how do computer viruses work? why can't whatever bug they exploit simply be fixed? | [
{
"answer": "*The* bug they exploits can be fixed. But software has become so complex that there will be more. It is a race between those finding bugs to exploit, and those finding bugs to fix.\n\nThere is also a major fault that we can't fix. That is the actions and understanding of the user. We can make our s... | null |
fgcpb9 | Why has no country ever tried to emulate the succes of the roman republic, and why did it take european countries so long to get rid of their kings when all it took the romans was one bad king? | [
{
"answer": "Though not an exact emulation, both the French and American revolutions were directly influenced by the Roman Republic and the ideals of Libertas achieved by the early Romans, as Sellers writes (reference at the bottom): \n\n“A new \"Senate\" would meet on the \"Capitol\" hill, overlooking the \"Ti... | null |
cqy9vd | Do tall people have more nerves, and therefore feel more pain? | [
{
"answer": "No, we all have roughly the same layout. I say roughly because that really only applies to the major nerves and branching elements, with the rest a bit more (not random, but) on-the-fly. Broadly speaking though, being taller isn't going to mean that you have more nerves, although you will have more... | null |
6fvupf | what is the procedure for when a demolition fails? | [
{
"answer": "Controlled implosions aren't just about bringing a building down...its about bringing it down so the debris goes where you want it to.\n\nThe actual amount of explosive force needed to bring a structure down is actually low (because of gravity) So if there is a screw up in the implosion process, th... | null |
1jlfcc | will the city of detroit ever get better? when will it be on par with other cities of similar size? (ex.- charlotte, boston, denver, seattle) | [
{
"answer": "There's no definite answer to that question. It really all depends on whether the city's economy improves, and that depends on the city being able to attract businesses.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "8687",
"title... | null |
afs6zt | How does a strong magnet fall in a copper tube? | [
{
"answer": " > At first I assumed the magnet would no longer move but if that where the case there would no longer a velocity, resulting in the retarding force becoming zero. It seems the magnet would neither fall or not fall. \n\nRoughly speaking, ∞ × 0 != 0. It can equal any number including 0 or infinity i... | null |
azsy1k | how do languages with a different number of characters share the same computer keyboards? | [
{
"answer": "With so many keys, and so many options for modifying keys, it's easy to use any language with a standard keyboard. When you need a character that is unique to a specific language, you just use a keyboard macro. Alt+0252 is a \"ü\" for example. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They ... | null |
2r19hc | if i had a room covered completely in mirrors, and turned on a flashlight, what would happen? | [
{
"answer": "Not what you're probably hoping. You would only see the beam from mirrors that reflected the light to your eyes. Any mirrors that reflected the light to another mirror wouldn't send it to your eyes, so you wouldn't see the light out of them.\n\nThis assumes flat mirrors. You might get something coo... | null |
92o6mt | how on earth does a snake move at all? | [
{
"answer": "Their bodies contract and it pulls them along. Like a centipede without the legs, it moves so smoothly that it’s hard to really see.\n\nThen there’s a snakes like a [sidewinder ](_URL_0_) that have their own fun way of doing it",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Snakes have over 300 p... | null |
2v65yd | What is the earliest date I, an English speaking American, could effectively communicate with other earlier English speakers? | [
{
"answer": "hi! fyi, you'll find a few previous posts in this FAQ section\n\n* [How far back could I go and still communicate?](_URL_0_)\n\nAs you'll see in those threads, the differences between Old English and modern American (and every other variety of) English is extreme. But on the off-chance that your la... | null |
goy9g | Can/will Psychology ever be considered a physical science? | [
{
"answer": "Psychology is never going to be a physical science. Wikipedia's definition of physical science being;\n\n > Physical Science is an encompassing term for the branches of natural science and science that study non-living systems, in contrast to the life sciences.\n\nSo, no.\n\nLet me go into a bit mo... | null |
8seq1u | what does "the u.s. has officially quit the un human rights council." mean? | [
{
"answer": "We didn't do much on it, and Trump isn't the biggest supporter of the U.N., so it was only a matter of time. The human rights council, last I heard, is actually headed by Saudi Arabia, a country that stones unfaithful women and throws gays off tips of towers, so I don't think they're the best examp... | null |
2jyptu | why does the circle on the isis flag look poorly drawn? | [
{
"answer": "idk about the circle, could be stylistic choices or that it's easy to reproduce but the writing is the [shahada](_URL_0_), with the top line saying \"there is no god but god\" and the words inside the circle being, from top to bottom, \"god messenger muhammad\" but if you read it from bottom to top... | null |
13vcsw | Would two people pointing guns at each other have enough time to react to the first gunshot? | [
{
"answer": "Let's take [600 feet per second](_URL_0_) as the speed of the bullet (this would be a pretty slow bullet). At 10 feet, the bullet would take ~0.02 seconds to get to the target. Average human reaction time is in the order of [0.2 seconds](_URL_1_). So to have any chance of reacting in time, you need... | null |
3w205q | Is radiation given out from everyday objects harmful towards us? | [
{
"answer": "Radio frequency (RF) radiation isn't harmful in the levels produced by household electronics. \n\n\"Radiation\" is a broad category; there's a lot of confusion about what it means. There are various types of radiation, primarily including:\n\n* Beta radiation-- this is electrons that are emitted by... | null |
a2ufvw | why is folk music called “folk”? | [
{
"answer": "What's so hard to understand? It's the music of ordinary folk, originating in the days before the term \"pop(ular) music\" was made up, before electrification, and was passed down by word of mouth (song) from one genreation to another - oftan a way of preserving stories - folk tales.",
"proven... | null |
5fkks8 | how do earthquakes effect the rotation of the earth? wouldn't that be an object acting upon itself, like using a fan to power the sails on a sailboat | [
{
"answer": "Rotation can be affected by the rearrangement of mass. Much like if you're spinning, pulling in your arms so more mass is towards the axis of rotation will make you spin faster and throwing your arms out will make you spin slower.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A sufficiently larg... | null |
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