id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
6dh48q | what are the limitations of genetic engineering in adults? | [
{
"answer": "It is possible, in theory, to develop and administer a genetic treatment that would help an adult. There are a number of ways that this could be done, but in a certain sense CAR T cells are already a genetic treatment that is undergoing clinical trials. For a genetic treatment to work, you need to ... | null |
2kpe2h | how do sites track my activity in incognito mode? | [
{
"answer": "incognito mode only means that your browser, the software installed on your computer will not make local logs. You're still sending all the same information to the world.\n\nThat's the same reason you shouldn't browse porn at work, the network administrator knows who went to see what, since the dat... | null |
30l09w | what role does federal reserve play in the economy? | [
{
"answer": " > Are they responsible for debts and inflation that's going on in America?\n\nI wouldn't really say so for debts as that's more fiscal policy, but they do have an affect on inflation. They generally try and keep it around 2% or 3%. Their primary affect is on the money supply and interest rates. Th... | null |
19h9wp | Considering the length of time the Basque area was under Roman rule why is their culture/language so different from their neighbors? | [
{
"answer": "In Mark Kurlansky's \"The Basque History of the World\" he argues that Basquelands were less fertile and less valuable to Romans and Basques were often rebellious. Therefore, he argues that the Romans were more accommodating of the Basques. Notably Basques didn't pay tribute and were allowed to gov... | null |
9io023 | Why is it difficult to find the exact cause of canker sores? | [
{
"answer": "Its a relatively harmless phenomenon, that almost always resolves on its own, so there isn't a lot of money or effort spent on studying it. The cause was less straightforward than \"its an infection by ______\" and since nobody dies from it, it generally isn't worth the effort to look more deeply a... | null |
563wa5 | how to ensure anonymity online? | [
{
"answer": "TL;DR yes by using a VPN (virtual private network). \n\nYou connect to a private server using your personal IP address and then use that private server to connect to the internet using that private server's IP and not your own personal IP. The only way to track you is by tracing the private server'... | null |
262h6a | why doesn't ups deliver all night long? | [
{
"answer": "Because just like you, the drivers would like to sleep at night.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "For a few reasons:\n\n1. they get preferential costs for moving long distances during the evening on airplanes. Landing a plane at an airport at 2AM costs much less than at night. So.... | null |
2ju1eo | Assistance wanted to help identify these WWI Australian ANZAC items [x-posted] | [
{
"answer": "From first glance number 7 is an epaulette, and 2 and 12 are shoulder pips, which would be worn on the epaulette (one can even be seen on it) \n\n4 is a rising sun badge, but It looks a little small for the slouch hat. so perhaps it was used on the tunic? It does look like the third pattern, used f... | null |
7111l8 | why can't movies be offered on release date for more money at a premium for home viewing? | [
{
"answer": "- You can lend it around and have an entire community see it within the first week.\n\n- You can rip it and seed it and have DVD HD versions flood the market within the first week of the movie's release. \n\n- The cinema chain that you have a deal with will lose out on ticket sales and food and bev... | null |
vfbqi | Have humans evolved to the consumption of Alcohol over the last several millenniums? | [
{
"answer": "Alcohol consumption by humans probably has origins in eating naturally fermented fruit. Many animals (elephants, monkeys, et al) become intoxicated this way.\n\nHuman alcohol consumption became routine once we figured out how to \"domesticate\" the fermentation process--which was originally a means... | null |
6zc5yz | If both parties viewed war as almost inevitable, why would they both accept the German–Soviet Commercial Agreement (1940); the sale of raw materials from the USSR to Germany? | [
{
"answer": "I'll answer this looking moreso from the USSR's point of view. The main reason is neither side wanted to fight each other right away - they needed time to prepare or had other issues to deal with. Stalin reputedly told Kaganovich that he was only buying time by making the deal with Nazi Germany. Th... | null |
7j4l1o | why do plants growing in the wild not have to be watered like the same type of plant as a houseplant | [
{
"answer": "Houseplants contain a small amount of soil. Even when the soil is fully saturated, it takes relatively little time to dry out. \n\nIn nature, the soil is virtually limitless, and the plant's roots can reach deep down into the soil where there is much more water available ",
"provenance": null
... | null |
8j0qjq | Why did crime drop in the middle of the great depression and onwards? | [
{
"answer": "What's your source on crime rates during that time period?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "3897743",
"title": "Crime in New York City",
"section": "Section::::Administration.:Mayors.\n",
"start_paragr... | null |
71o8we | have any nations with incredible debt (like america) ever paid off their debt? | [
{
"answer": "America did have it's debt paid off in 1835, Andrew Jackson wad President then I think. Of course you've never seen it because that was more than century ago but you should have been glazed over it in US history class in high school at least.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "America... | null |
3k7neg | how did the english monarch come to be? | [
{
"answer": "Once upon a time there were many different little groups of people. One day one group of people took over another other group of people. Then another group of people took over that group of people. Eventually everyone was taken over by a single group. The leader of that group then was in control of... | null |
27jh11 | Were the Bohemian nobility treated differently within the Holy Roman Empire? | [
{
"answer": "The Bohemian nobility were treated differently, yes. However, this treatment had nothing to do with their ethnicity, which was all but irrelevant, and everything to do with the unique religious and political privileges the Bohemian nobility earned over the centuries. The Bohemians, in fact, *requir... | null |
7f1mzq | why does cold metal feel wet? | [
{
"answer": "The feeling of \"wetness\" isn't actually a sense, but more of a combination of senses. If you've ever touches water through gloves, your hand feels like it's wet, but you're not actually getting any water on you. This is because, even though you have gloves on, it's a combined triggering of your c... | null |
5b3h7q | - light, in terms of being a part of the electromagnetic (radioactive?!) spectrum... ? | [
{
"answer": "There are three types of radiation:\n\n* Alpha radiation is helium nuclei emitted from certain radioactive materials. It is highly ionizing but does not penetrate very far - a sheet of paper will stop it. Because it can't penetrate very far, it's harmless if the source is outside your body, but if ... | null |
4dddyq | what happens exactly to our bodies as we experience stress and anxiety? how does the body cope in positive and negative ways with this? | [
{
"answer": "The body responds to stress by releasing the hormone cortisol. This is part of the bodies fight or flight response in order to raise blood sugar levels for our muscles to use. This is important to escape from potentially dangerous situations. When cortisol or stress hormones are elevated, or heart ... | null |
94lg86 | how can a human possibly survive a headshot? what would the bullet have to miss? | [
{
"answer": "As long as the bullet misses the Medulla Oblongata, a small section of your brain responsible for basic life support, you could in theory survive the gunshot if you were treated for the complications afterwards, such as internal bleeding. Obviously you'll suffer massive brain damage as the bullet ... | null |
4xxwz6 | what would happen if i was charged for a crime that became legal? | [
{
"answer": "Depends how it becomes legal. Most have guidelines on if or how they will release current incarcerated people. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.\n\nIf you are arrested for, but not yet tried and convicted of a crime before the activity was voted on an... | null |
lpur4 | Guys... It sucks to admit, but I don't really understand evolution. | [
{
"answer": "A good resource for that is [Berkeley's Evolution 101](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Natural selection - Think about the people you know. They have different skin colors, they are tall and short, some are smarter, some are stronger, etc. There is variation in population... | null |
aabfwu | What are some good academic books/articles to consider when looking at intellectual history? | [
{
"answer": "Have you checked out [this section of our books list?](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "25022400",
"title": "Journal of the History of Ideas",
"section": "",
"start_paragraph_id": 1,
"... | null |
6u2bdt | why are there so many conflicting views on taking large amounts of fat soluble vitamins? | [
{
"answer": "It's fine if you're getting that much of a particular vitamin if it's from a natural source, like whole carrots, sweet potatoes, etc because your body has to process vitamin A, for example, from beta carotene into a form it can use. Vitamin A supplements (and that from liver) are already in a form ... | null |
e86scd | Why did the ancient Roman pantheon mostly consist of assimilated Greek gods? | [
{
"answer": "The FAQ has answers to a [similar question](_URL_0_), courtesy of /u/idontplayoboe and /u/cleopatra_philopater",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "45087159",
"title": "Deity",
"section": "Section::::Regional cult... | null |
3pq5bo | why does it feel different/better when you get a bj/hj from a different person than when you masterbate? | [
{
"answer": "Try sitting on your left hand until it's numb and having a go. It's just like having someone there!",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Same reason you can't tickle yourself - your mind expects the sensation. With someone else its different, unexpected (and awesome)",
"provenance":... | null |
6rwbrf | why does the one cup of coffee i drink make me pee as if i drank 3 cups? | [
{
"answer": "You probably already know this, but the active ingredient in coffee is a chemical called caffeine.\n\nPeople don't normally think of caffeine as a \"drug\", but it is in the technical sense of the word. The main effect of caffeine is that you'll feel more awake, but it's also a mild diuretic.\n\nSo... | null |
1udnpm | why is french so complicated? | [
{
"answer": "Chinese is horrid because you can't tell how to pronounce a new character.\n\nEnglish is known for its bizzare amounts of homophones.\n\nFrench has lists and lists of conjugations to add to words when you want to refer to different subjects, i.e. he, she, they.\n\nWelsh just looks like the sign wri... | null |
1wt44o | Lou Gehrig's disease | [
{
"answer": "the current hypothesis for how ALS works is dysfunction of the mitochondria in motor neurons resulting oxidative stress and therefore damage to the cell.\nIt is caused is also unknown however around 5% of suffers have a known genetic involvement such as a mutation in the superoxide dismutase-1 gen... | null |
5dg493 | [Serious] do we know if Jefferson raped "his" slaves at any point in his life? | [
{
"answer": "One way of answering this question is in terms of consent as we understand it today. Thomas Jefferson *literally owned the bodies of all his slaves*. It's hard for modern people to conceive of that sort of power relation in any way, but that's what it was. He completely owned them; they had no powe... | null |
39vckj | why do i sometimes get this ghost itch on the inside of my ear? | [
{
"answer": "It's most likely wax moving toward the entrance of your ear and it hits a hair that tickles/itches the inner ear.\n\nAt least that's what makes the most sense to me.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "424302",
"title": ... | null |
3cbbhn | How accurate is Chapter 1 of Inglorious Basterds? | [
{
"answer": "I cannot answer the other questions but if you are curious about the pipe, that is a Calabash Pipe, popularized in media because of Sherlock Holmes. [Quentin Tarantino specifically used it for narrative purposes]( _URL_0_) to portray contrast against the farmer's smaller pipe and to accentuate his ... | null |
2gf3qz | how does plant life begin on an isolated island in the middle of the ocean? | [
{
"answer": "Plants may drift on the ocean, or be carried by wildlife (birds) or the wind, in certain cases. Or, they may be barren, as some islands are.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "4479734",
"title": "Lake ecosystem",
... | null |
1t7h8a | When was the first time an extensive/university education was available to anyone who was willing to pursue it and work for it (not just the elite)? | [
{
"answer": "hi, this thread from the FAQ* may have some interesting information\n\n[How has admissions worked at historical universities and schools?](_URL_1_)\n\nand I believe there are more smatterings regarding admissions throughout this section in general\n\n[Life at University](_URL_0_)\n\n*see the \"popu... | null |
ad15tn | I've heard some say that the Arab slave trade was far larger and more damaging than the Atlantic slave trade ever was. Is this true, or a false/misleading statement to advance political ideology? | [
{
"answer": "_URL_0_\n\nAnswer by u/paxottomanica",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "While you wait for an answer to your question you might be interest in [these](_URL_0_) [previous](_URL_1_) answers regarding the slave trade conducted by Arabs and others across the Sahara and the Indian Ocean. T... | null |
fik8v | A thought experiment from childhood. Convoluted question inside. | [
{
"answer": "No. The attraction between atoms wouldn't be strong enough to overcome the acceleration forces and it would break far, far before you got it to lightspeed. In fact, you need infinite energy for the outside to travel at the speed of light.\n\n(Consider swinging a branch really fast so it makes a swi... | null |
slpq2 | What wild animals have the best temperament towards humans? | [
{
"answer": "Not many.\n\nThink about it, why do almost all animals (barring those that live off of our waste) avoid us? If they didn't, they'd likely be extinct. The notion of going to the grocery store for food and walking around in the wilderness to observe is very, very new.\n\nEven 500 years ago we pretty... | null |
bt9pxo | what’s to stop a bank from just making up money on their computer systems? | [
{
"answer": "They get audited regularly and any discrepancies carry large penalties and potential criminal charges.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "53113973",
"title": "Avaloq",
"section": "Section::::Background.\n",
... | null |
bc1isj | After the conquest of Gaul by Rome why did none of the surviving tribe's try to rebel during the numerous civil wars following the conquest. | [
{
"answer": "Roman influence was already significant before the Roman conquest, roughly since the late IInd century BCE (a bit before the conquest of the *provincia*).Treaties were passed with Gaulish states and coalitions, especially with Aiduoi who controlled not just their confederation and the road from Rho... | null |
1i71v3 | What are the earliest End of Days/Apocalypse Myths? | [
{
"answer": "Though I do not hold a lofty degree in history, social science or anything similar, I feel I may be able to add a small amount of perspective to this original question.\nThe concept of the Apocalypse is very old and is mentioned a number of times throughout the old and new testament. [The book of ... | null |
117hmg | Why do polar animals tend to be larger than their temperate/tropical counterparts? | [
{
"answer": "[Bergmann's Rule](_URL_0_) Basically, larger animals have a lower surface area to volume ratio and thus radiate less heat",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "6781871",
"title": "Cline (biology)",
"section": "Sect... | null |
37oaty | Why does hypertension cause ocular blood vessels to narrow? | [
{
"answer": "Your eye doesn't need that much blood flow, at high BP baroreceptors would indicate a lot of blood flowing through, however you don't want or need that much blood in your eyes so they are signaled to narrow in an attempt at limiting the flow of blood to the eye. As to why you don't want too much bl... | null |
24aouq | What did people use bread for before the sandwich was invented/became commonplace? | [
{
"answer": "Bread was typically eaten with some kind of moistener, usually based on an oil or sugar. \n\nBread or some other staple starch formed the foundation of the diet, and the term was sometimes used as a synecdoche, in which a part of something (bread) was used to refer to the whole (diet). \"Give us th... | null |
ba5s3y | How was Napoleon able to advance his rank in the French military so quickly? | [
{
"answer": "The short and snippy answer to why Napoleon advanced so quickly is because of the French Revolution. But for all the brevity, such an answer is not facetious. The Revolution created a series of unique conditions that allowed a man of Napoleon's talents to vault quite high at a young age. \n\nFirst ... | null |
kwfq5 | the relationship between the saudi royal family and religion | [
{
"answer": "You know how at Thanksgiving when all the family has to get together and it is tense and awkward from years and years of harbored resentment towards one another? Well, that's basically how Saudi Arabia politics work. It's a very large family with members of varying levels of influence over how thin... | null |
6ddg3k | Did Hitler have any plans to eventually invade France and/or Britain if they did not declare war when he invaded Poland? | [
{
"answer": "The memoirs of the German Foreign Ministry interpreter Paul Schmidt relates an illuminating anecdote about Hitler's reaction to Britain's war ultimatum delivered to Hitler on the morning of 3 September 1939. According to Schmidt, Hitler read the ultimatum and angrily turned to his Foreign Minister ... | null |
31ib6w | in very remote places (e.g. 50km from your nearest neighbor, 2 hour drive to the nearest small village) in places like canada, scandinavia, alaska, etc, what jobs do people do to sustain themselves? | [
{
"answer": "It's not really possible to live in total isolation in northern Canada. You would need to go to town often for supplies and food.\n\nThere are still professional trappers in northern Canada, so they might be the most 'self sustained' you'll find, but they'll be going to town to sell their furs to a... | null |
1z8yk8 | Can history be effectively taught by teaching effect before cause and slowly progressing backwards into history? | [
{
"answer": "Are you talking about serious academics only, or including elementary school?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I have a bachelor's in history, and obtained a Master's in Teaching, and then focused on teaching mathematics rather than history. \n\nThere's actually a lot of really good... | null |
e97659 | What prevents full on recovery of limb function? | [
{
"answer": "Some types of tissue don’t heal on their own. These are usually tissues that have no blood flow to them. Tissues that do heal almost always leave scar tissue, which interferes with the natural shape and limits movement.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Nerves generally regenerate ve... | null |
8hircu | dna replication, mitosis and meiosis? | [
{
"answer": "Mitosis will replicate DNA and cell will divide creating two identical cells to form. 46 Chromosomes total (23 pairs) in starting and ending cells.\n\nMeiosis will replicate DNA and cell will divide. Then chromosomes will crosslink allowing for DNA to move between chromosome pairs. Cells will divi... | null |
47gxai | why is it that fat is removed with soap, yet soap is made from fat? | [
{
"answer": "Things dissolve in water because water is a polar molecule. A water molecule is like the Disney mouse ears logo. A big circle with two smaller circles that favor one side. The area at the top of the mouse ears has a slightly more positive charge than the bottom of the mouse's chin. So water has a p... | null |
51bnk7 | how/why the wind blows | [
{
"answer": " Because of the temperature differences. Hot air tends to go up and colder air comes down to take it's place. In larger scale the Coriolis force -it's a force asked to masses due to the earth's rotation- makes air flow in some large scale [\"cells\"](_URL_1_) \n\nIn smaller scale is basically cause... | null |
5m1xz9 | what's going on with "black money" in india? | [
{
"answer": "A bunch of people aren't reporting their income, mostly because it's gained through illegal means (like the black market). This income is kept hidden in their homes generally, and isn't stored in banks. \n\nIn order to combat this, the Indian government surprised everyone by suddenly announcing tha... | null |
1kwhap | Would we die if a supernova occurred? | [
{
"answer": "If the closest star to sun 'proxima centauri' exoplodes as a supernova, the radiation reaching us will be the sixth of what we are constantly receiving from the sun, so basically no there is no close supernovas candidates.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
... | null |
lfalz | what do the ows protesters want? | [
{
"answer": "In general, the protest is about banks being douche bags. They fucked up in 2007/2008, and we, the taxpayer, bailed them about with over a trillion dollars so that they didn't fail. They almost failed due to making overly risky decisions to increase their profits. The protests want to limit what th... | null |
8mpebv | Were there any transgender people in the Holocaust? | [
{
"answer": "From an older answer:\n\nResearch into this area has only begun in recent years and very little is known at this point.\n\nThe Weimar Republic had allowed people to officially change their sex officially. People who wished to do to had to appear before a judge, undergo psychiatric evaluation, an op... | null |
3kpbxs | how does a tiny cable like usb-c carry such an incredibly huge amount of data so fast? and why couldn't they do that before? | [
{
"answer": "It all comes down to signal processing, encoding, and bigger better chips. I havn't looked at USB 3.1 spec closely but this is the case for every 'faster' connection that came before it.\n\nFor example, by sending extra data that verifies the data you sent is correct, you can increase the speed tha... | null |
2vahdj | Where does the term "Roma" for the ethnicity come from? | [
{
"answer": "The term Roma is plural for man (Rom in Romani)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "_URL_0_\n\n\netymological dictionaries are your friend\n\nEDIT: since you probably don't have access to OED he's what they say\n\n > Etymology: < Romani rom man, husband, Rom (plural romá ), of unce... | null |
3hmz82 | How extensive and fatal was Anti-Loyalist violence during the American Revolution? | [
{
"answer": "I would not say that it was more bloody than the French Revolution, but there was more fighting than is popularly portrayed. T.H. Breen's American Insurgents, American Patriots offers a compelling read as to this issue.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
... | null |
1o1wse | Do thermocouples take away heat when converting it to electricity? or does the heat not change at all? | [
{
"answer": "In the case of Peltier devices, in which one side resides outside of the system of interest, heat is absorbed to create electricity. This occurs due to phonons (quanta of heat) being absorbed by electrons that are effectively pushed through the material. (The conditions that allow this are very lim... | null |
484fp3 | Do other animals experience optical illusions? | [
{
"answer": "It has to do with visual processing in the nervous system, which varies between animals, and as such the perceptibility of illusions to different animals varies widely. [Kelley & Kelley (2013)](_URL_4_), for example, demonstrated that the [Ebbinghaus illusion](_URL_6_) is perceptible to bottlenos... | null |
2v6tkf | why vga connectors need to be screwed in when hdmi and others don't need to? | [
{
"answer": "Because of the pins. The screws prevent the connector from accidentally twisting and bending the pins inside. HDMI connectors don't use pins that can bend, so that's not an issue.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "\"Other\" ports have their own locking mechanisms. HDMI, usb, etc rel... | null |
b3siuk | Were black people allowed to vote during segregation? | [
{
"answer": "*Officially*, yes. Their right to vote was constitutionally protected, and could not be denied on the basis of race. However in practice, the right to vote is not actually that well defined under the Constitution, and there were many different ways that the white supremacist regimes in control of t... | null |
2rdumz | why are there laws that you can not be convicted of different crimes after a certain amount of time has passed? | [
{
"answer": "Probably so I can't blackmail you and extort money from you, only to file charges years later anyways. That and after a while evidence disappears so it would be a waste of money to try and gather it.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It becomes unreasonable to convict someone of som... | null |
2s08yw | Since time is (sort of?) a fourth dimension along with the familiar three, does that mean time can be measured in meters, feet, etc.? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, it can. The speed of light is the conversion between seconds and meters in this scenario. A meter of time is the length of time it takes light to travel 1m, which is a little over 3 nanoseconds. It's common for astronomers to do this in the other direction, expressing distances in terms of tim... | null |
160pi1 | Would the royal women of the medieval ages really have the flawless features that we see in movies? | [
{
"answer": "Well first of all, judging by the art from the middle ages in Europe, the beauty ideal for women was quite different from the one today, so if the person was widely regarded as handsome then, I'd guess they wouldn't look like Kate Winslet exactly. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "T... | null |
3ropnt | can anyone be a great singer or is being a greater singer something you're born with? | [
{
"answer": "As a singer i can say with utmost certainty that pretty much everyone can become a good singer in the same way that someone can become a good guitarist. But i'd say that it's more difficult if you don't already have an interest in music or aren't particularly interested.\n\nAll it takes is teaching... | null |
oqdgl | i realize that i don't like my government that much, and i decide to break away from my country and create a sovereign state. what steps must i make for this to happen? | [
{
"answer": "Be recognized by other big countries that you are another country. You are not a country until important countries recognize you as such. Especially the host country that you are seceding from.\n\nEdit: Spelled a word wrong in three ways. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A state... | null |
3aifd5 | where does the saying "cats have 9 lives" come from? | [
{
"answer": "Easy explanation: Because they're really good with their reflexes. They jump and land from heights we would break apart from.\n\nMore history:\n\nAn old English saying goes \"A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays\". The first three are the ti... | null |
rpz7w | why old tvs can change instantly between stations but new flat screen tvs that can even connect to the internet can't? | [
{
"answer": "Analog signals don't require buffering. Old TV's used analog signals. New TV's use digital signals which require time to buffer. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Here's the process an analog TV goes through when changing channels:\n\n* Tune to new frequency, display signal. It's in... | null |
3ef5m8 | why does congress have the power to completely alter a bill, changing the contents and even title, on its way through the house or senate? why was this power created? why has its apparent abuse not caused removal of the power? | [
{
"answer": "Congress, and only Congress, has the power to choose each and every word of a bill. This includes the power to edit the bill before voting, and the power to vote on the final bill. If Congress couldn't do this, who would draft, edit, and pass laws?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "T... | null |
6nxwqa | how do animals in the wild figure out that poison ivy is something to stay away from when it takes days after for the rash to show up? | [
{
"answer": "Most animals are not affected. Humans are simply allergic to their \"poison\" because it penetrates the skin and is identified by the body as foreign invaders.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "2467826",
"title": "Urus... | null |
4ccxv3 | How were Viking and Spartan warriors that survived battles and wars seen once they made home? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not sure about Vikings but elderly Spartan men could be elected into the Gerousia, a council of elders made up of 30 men over 60 years old who typically held office for life.\nThere were also the Ephors, 5 elected high officials who aside from the two kings held the most power. While I'm not s... | null |
395yxv | how can we be certain that there isn't another 'earth' on the opposite side of the sun, always out of view of our telescopes? | [
{
"answer": "Its gravity would have an effect on our planet, the other planets in the system, and even(on a very small scale) the sun, as well as all the comets and asteroids constantly cutting through our solar system. As we have not observed any such gravitic effects(and we'd notice, because it would screw u... | null |
451gcn | difference between serial killers and hitmen | [
{
"answer": "Motivation. $ or power or sex etc. That's really it. And hitmen are typically serial killers after the third kill( I think). \n\nIt like all Catholics are Christian but not all Christians are Catholics \n\nAll hitmen are serial killers but not all serial killers are hitmen. ",
"provenance": n... | null |
3b8xhu | What percentage of the sky is covered by stars? | [
{
"answer": "**Short answer:** If you don't count the sun, then basically zero. If you do count the sun, then it's about 0.0005%\n\n**Long answer:** You're hitting on a really interesting problem that astronomers had a hundred years ago, called [Olber's Paradox.](_URL_1_) \"If the universe is static and eternal... | null |
2p62rt | if cold air can't hold much moisture, how come fog and mist exist? | [
{
"answer": "That fog and mist is water condensing out of the air. The fog is water that has already separated out of the air and \" clumped\" together. It is just not quite heavy enough to fall thru the air to the ground.. The mist is actually heavy enough to fall",
"provenance": null
},
{
"a... | null |
1vpnkm | why is the "wizard of oz" so revolutionary in movie history? | [
{
"answer": "Because it took a wildly popular book and applied new (maybe not original or first time) film making techniques to it to make a wildly popular film.\n\nRemember, it's not who does it first, it's who does it best first.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
... | null |
117r5o | Why is the earth's crust thinner under the oceans? | [
{
"answer": "The oceanic crust is formed at the mid-oceanic ridges as mantle heat forces rock to the surface. As the mantle pushes up, this crustal rock cools at a fairly uniform rate/thickness of about 7km. \n\nThe reason it works out this way is that the underlying temperature of the mantle is directly relate... | null |
5r8vly | can a mall cop arrest me if i'm in a store that's not in the mall? | [
{
"answer": "I don't think mall cops can arrest, period. They're pretty much a liaison between the mall and the police. They're urged not to chase perpetrators and can even lose their job for doing so; reason 1 being it's dangerous and reason 2 is legal implications. If they're chasing a person across the stree... | null |
bc5n1v | Why are some roads made from concrete/cement rather than asphalt? What determines whether it should be one or the other? Why do a lot of the cement roads have grooves in them? | [
{
"answer": "cement roads with grooves are usually being prepped for asphalt. \n\nThe ground on which a road is built dictates the necessity for an underlying structure. Roads laid upon soft soils without a concrete layer are prone to potholes and other accelerated wear issues. Areas that have well compacted ... | null |
6yw2de | why are fall colors coming early in north america this year? | [
{
"answer": "They are not. The season of fall officially begins September 22 and it is not at all uncommon for the leaves to start to change as early as late August. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "43838810",
"title": "Autumn in... | null |
5hl7s2 | if isis entirely ignores the rules of the geneva convention, why can't countries fighting them ignore the rules, too? | [
{
"answer": "Because then you aren't any different than those you stand against?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "1. To an extent many of those countries already do. \n\n\n2. Those countries signed and agreed and wrote the Geneva Convention. Not ISIS. \n\n\n3. They are a terrorist group, the... | null |
28mahz | what happens exactly when it's chilly outside and i'm not wearing enough clothes to stay warm? later i feel the beginnings of a cold/flu. | [
{
"answer": "Cold air causes your mucous membranes to swell and excrete mucous, hence the runnyy nose, etc. This could lead to sinus pressure and headaches too, which might make your eyes watery or \"crusty\" with mucous. Extended time in the cold also drains your body of heat, which is energy, so if you haven'... | null |
vo4zc | it may seem dumb but... how do powerful telescopes see far into space without objects getting in the way. | [
{
"answer": "Well, everything that's going to get in the way is in our own galaxy; beyond that space is vacant enough that it's not a problem. In order to get those mind-blowing Hubble Ultra Deep Field images that show thousands of distant galaxies, we had to point the Hubble towards the most vacant areas of sk... | null |
6wn1u7 | why cant we artifically metabolize food to use as a renewable energy resource? | [
{
"answer": "Isn't that just solar energy?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "We can. That's basically what bio-diesel/corn-based ethanol fuel is. The problem is that food provides enough energy to power a human body handily, but when you want to start powering machines with it, you need a *lot*... | null |
3mzz5r | what do people mean when they say there are two china's? | [
{
"answer": "There are two countries which claim to be \"China\". There's the \"Republic of China\" (ROC) and the \"People's Republic of China\" (PRC).\n\nThe PRC is the one that actually controls what you'd normally call China. It controls that massive territory in mainland Asia, plus the Special Administrativ... | null |
2sr0h2 | How much communication and collaboration was there between American and Soviet scientists and academics during the Cold War? | [
{
"answer": "It probably did vary based on the field. In linguistics, communication theory and anthropology, for example, there was little official communication, but some little did pass through. The Soviets often managed to smuggle in the most important works of Western scholars and unofficial translations ci... | null |
1ofru2 | (serious) the thought process that leads doctors to choose to become proctologists, gynecologists or urologists. | [
{
"answer": "I can think of three reason:\n\n1) Money - If these positions pay more money, doctors will follow.\n\n2) Demand - Perhaps a lot of doctors do not want want to be urologists and such. However, since fewer doctors take these jobs, these positions will more available. So the doctor has the choice to... | null |
2jhb6p | how is a chicken made from liquid? | [
{
"answer": "The yolk must be fertilized first. The rest of the egg is formed around the yolk. The embryo uses the nutrients in the eggwhite to survive and grow inside. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": " > I'm assuming he means how it forms from inside he egg going from egg yoke to a chicken fet... | null |
21iqwe | What is the current historical understanding of how Native Americans developed corn (maize)? | [
{
"answer": "Actually just this past February a study was [released](_URL_0_) in which the climate at the time of the end of the last Ice Age was recreated in a greenhouse. They discovered that teosinte looks remarkable more like maize in the past than it does today.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answe... | null |
3o7i60 | what are the people in syria fleeing from? | [
{
"answer": "There was a [Syrian civil war](_URL_0_) because the leader was basically an oppressive dictator. In addition to the chaos of a civil war numerous terrorist groups came in/popped up and are just fighting whomever they really want.\n\nIn short, they're running away from terrorist groups (ISIS, etc.) ... | null |
1l0uf5 | Is solar power viable in the U.S.? | [
{
"answer": "They use high-voltage DC, with converter stations at each end, for long distance power transmission. Such a system transmits 3,100 megawatts from [Northern Oregon to Los Angeles](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You roommate is making a blanket black and white statement. ... | null |
3b5bvd | what exactly makes a group of molecules alive? | [
{
"answer": "There isn't one definition of life or \"being alive\" that everyone agrees on. Here are some requirements that most people agree on:\n\nReplication: things that are alive have to make new copies of themselves. Viruses for instance aren't alive because something else makes new copies of the virus. ... | null |
6jl80a | What is the craziest story from history you have encountered in your research? | [
{
"answer": "Just a few small stupid castrato stories... \n\n* Pasquale \"Pasqualino\" Tiberti, born probably in the decade of 1710 in Citta Ducale, Italy, hired onto the Sistine Chapel in 1743, and fired 11 years later for stabbing a priest in a fight, the priest died of his injuries. Apparently suffered no re... | null |
505oia | why does it seem so hard for anyone to make a good usb-c cable? | [
{
"answer": "These cables are intended to be able to carry more power (more Watts) than the previous generation. Cheap manufacturers sometimes use wires that are too thin or that.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The relevant thing that's different about USB-C is that it's designed to draw a lot... | null |
1zpjtk | Does the Milky Way Galaxy travel throughout the universe? | [
{
"answer": "Galaxies are grouped in clusters, typically orbiting a common barycenter.\n\nIn our case, in the local group the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxy are kindof orbiting a common barycenter. I say 'kindof' because they're actually in a collision course, that will happen probably in 3 or 4 billion years. ... | null |
366k8p | what is logistics? | [
{
"answer": "Logistics are generally the process of moving things around. Shipping things like cargo. Stuff like that. FedEx, UPS, the United States Postal Service, etc... are in the business of logistics.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Let's say you and some buds want to have a bake sale, you... | null |
1giain | Does modern day cryogenics keep the body intact, or does it irreparably destroy the body? | [
{
"answer": "When the water in cells freezes, it crystallizes just like the water in your ice tray. it also takes up more volume like the ice in your icetray. however, contrary to what's in your ice tray, when cellular water freezes it is more likely to form shards than smooth surfaces and that, coupled with th... | null |
15vzl3 | Approximately how many people would Mark Antony have ruled over in his time as a triumvir? | [
{
"answer": "I can't even guess the number but your map has problems. It lists 3 Triumvirs: Antonius (Marc Antony), Lepidus (Marcus Aemilius Lepidus) and Brutus? Who is this Brutus? The 3rd person in the 2nd Triumvirate was Octavian, later known as Augustus. Is it referring to Marcus Junius Brutus, one of Cease... | null |
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