id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
87kgo9 | Popular history YouTuber Feature History claims that "Hutu" and "Tutsi" were originally class distinctions rather than ethnic ones. How much merit does this claim have? | [
{
"answer": "here's an answer from another thread that answers your question\n\n_URL_0_\n\ncredits to /u/gplnd",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "23909654",
"title": "Ethnic groups in Rwanda",
"section": "Section::::Pre-colo... | null |
2wlfs6 | How did the Thirty Year's War and the Paraguay War lead to such a huge loss of life? | [
{
"answer": "First: a loss of population from pre-war levels is a very different thing than direct counts of casualties. The Holy Roman Empire's population was roughly two-thirds in 1650 of what it was in 1615 (although some regions suffered much more directly), but much of the population loss were simply refug... | null |
8ycmae | when microwaving food, why does it seem to get more soggy rather than crunchy? | [
{
"answer": "Microwaves specialize in heating up moisture specifically. The heated up moisture just tends to steam and diffuse making crunchy things less crunchy and more damp(soggy).\n\nFeel free to fact check.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia... | null |
1sovqx | Are there solar systems that are not contained in galaxies? How would our solar system be different if that were the case? | [
{
"answer": "So you can contrive to have a situation where it might occur. Stars can be lost from a host galaxy via a few different means. (Mergers, Supernovae, Scattering off hard binaries, etc. Generally anything that can throw stars into different orbits.)\n\nIf you have a very tight solar system, say a star... | null |
3fv9qu | Would the Lorica Segmentata have been a good choice of armor in medieval times? Could it have retained its effectiveness on the battlefield, let's say, around 1000 AD?" | [
{
"answer": "The threats on the battlefield of 1,000 AD weren't really much different to those of 100 AD; spears and arrows for the most part, with slingshot, battleaxes and swords also being fairly common. Lorica Segmentata offered adequate protection against all of those, so in that sense it was as good as ev... | null |
8k48uq | as a non-american; what is the carpool lane and why does it exsists? | [
{
"answer": " A restricted traffic **lane** reserved at peak travel times or longer for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers, often used as an incentive to share cars and reduce congestion/pollution, as they should lead to faster travel times. ",
"provenance": null
},
{... | null |
1vt8x6 | why are some insects (such as flies) extremely skittish towards humans whereas others (such as ladybugs) are extremely docile towards humans, despite having similar flight abilities? | [
{
"answer": "Ladybugs are toxic (or something like that) to most predators, as indicated by their flashy colors. They know that predators know not to eat them, so they have no need to run away. Flies, on the other hand, rely on their mobility to escape from predators, so they need to be jumpy. ",
"provenanc... | null |
2arnx1 | how exactly does water ruin electronics, assuming that they are turned off after and dried throughly, what damage to hardware is done that is irreparable? | [
{
"answer": "Water can do two things:\n\n- If the device is powered on, short circuits can wreak havoc. The less pure the water, the worse off you'll be (pure water is a very poor conductor).\n\n- If the device is unpowered, water can still cause corrosion and deposit minerals on the circuit boards. The longer ... | null |
30l07d | why doesn't the u.s. have standardized education across the board? wouldn't that make everything easier? | [
{
"answer": "The US has a history of federalism and local control. It's much bigger and more diverse than Japan or the UK, so it's harder to get everyone to agree. \n\nCommon Core was an attempt at standardized education, and it met major backlash pretty much across the board.",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
fmycw8 | what's the difference between oled, amoled and super amoled displays? | [
{
"answer": "My favorite simplification of OLED was in an article I read a few years back. It explained it as OLED being lab created fireflies, they turn on and off. Full HD tv's still have a glow when the screen is black but OLED's are true black, it looks like the tv shut off. I am not up to speed on AMOLED o... | null |
33244s | why do male dogs pee with one leg up and female dogs don't ? | [
{
"answer": "Males are marking their territory...the higher they pee, the less likely someone can pee over it. My Labrador used to also poop on top of boulders to mark his territory.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Not all male dogs pee with one leg up. My male dog squats. \nFunny thing is, it'... | null |
1lt4yo | why don't legitimate banks offer up competitive alternatives to paypal? | [
{
"answer": "Amazon and Google both have good alternatives to Paypal. Chase Bank lets me send money to other Chase customers electronically, but I don't know if it works with businesses. If you see a web-site that only accepts Paypal, you should e-mail the webmaster, express your concerns, and request they of... | null |
2wjkof | why does audio feedback always sound like a high squealing noice? | [
{
"answer": "Resonance. Audio equipment (and most physical objects) will have special vibration frequencies that are amplified much more than others. Normally, even if the microphone picks up the speaker sound, the feedback decays away like an echo because it’s not at a resonant frequency or the feedback is ‘ou... | null |
xl7ap | If yellow teeth are supposedly healthy and natural, why do we find pearly white teeth attractive? | [
{
"answer": "I'm surprised to hear that yellow teeth are healthy. Normally, one would think discoloration signifies rot or oral disease. Do you have a source for that fact?\n\nAs a layman, I would speculate that white teeth are considered a sign of good hygiene, and logically so. A person that cares about keepi... | null |
9cz410 | how the big bang theory and the intelligent observer co-exist in science. | [
{
"answer": "Simple: science does not say the universe requires an intelligent observer. One may or may come into existence at some point.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I'm not exactly sure of the scope of your question. We, humans, are intelligent observers, and we've observed enough eviden... | null |
3lfrem | What happened to pre-Columbian dog breeds? Did they die off from diseases brought by European dogs? | [
{
"answer": "There are several breeds of domestic dogs that were developed in North America. Some are breeds are still around, while others are extinct.\n\nAmong those that are still popular pets today you can find huskies and Malamute and their relatives, which have Old World counterparts in the Eurasian Arcti... | null |
1nrdhm | Has anyone ever looked into waste heat from cars and buildings being a factor in global temperature increase? | [
{
"answer": "If you look at oil, it produces about [5.6 million BTU per barrel](_URL_2_) when burned. There are about 3.5e10 barrels in a cubic mile, and we know that globally [we consume about 3 cubic miles of oil _equivalent](_URL_1_) each year, so that's about 10.5e10 barrels, producing about 5.9e17 BTU, or ... | null |
9tqgr7 | How was Irish culture change by the settling of Vikings? | [
{
"answer": "It's well attested to that raiders and settlers from Scandinavia had a substantial impact on Irish society. In some instances we can still be point to this influence in contemporary Ireland.\n\nFirst, a brief history of Viking contact with Ireland. The first recorded reference is from 795, when it ... | null |
30rblz | bonus in basketball | [
{
"answer": "You have a certain number of fouls before you hit bonus. Teams under this are considered as having fouls to give. A bonus allows one free throw and if you make it, you get another one, regardless of the foul (non shooting fouls), and a double bonus allows 2 whether you make the first one or not.\n... | null |
21fyt0 | As the first European city founded in California, why didn't San Diego become as prominent as San Francisco or Los Angeles? | [
{
"answer": "Without answering your question precisely, I'd like to point out that being the first city doesn't always make it important. For example, Jamestown, though the first English colony in America, no longer even exists even though it was the capital for 80 or so years. \n\nTerrain and resources make a ... | null |
5n1u24 | what is the psychological reason for intentionally revisiting memories/photos/things/experiences that have hurt us? | [
{
"answer": "It's an attempt to heal wounds that still ache. What you are referring to is benign, but repetition compulsion drives people to get into therapy for harmful relationship patterns. \n \n_URL_0_\n \n ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipe... | null |
482l7w | How deep can an open pit mine be? | [
{
"answer": "Not a complete answer, but it's something: \n\nBingham Canyon Mine, located near Salt Lake City, is the world's deepest man-made open pit excavation. The mine is 2.75 miles (4,5km) across and 0.75 mile (1,2km) deep. Since mining operations started in 1906, Bingham Canyon Mine has been the granddadd... | null |
2etixl | How accurate is the movie Gandhi (1982)? I read some articles slamming Gandhi (the actual person), and I don't know what to make of them. | [
{
"answer": "I recommend you go to his own autobiography to look at how his belief in universal human rights evolved over time, after being raised in two cultures that were perfectly happy with a rigid ethnic hierarchy. It turns out neither Gandhi, nor any of my own Catholic saints were born fully adult and fu... | null |
3zrsm2 | Did Germany pay reparations for World War I during WWII? | [
{
"answer": "Nazi Germany did not pay reparations during WWII. Reparations had been suspended for one year by the Hoover Moratorium in 1930, and were suspended indefinitely at the Lausanne Conference in 1932. When WWII ended, the allies assessed a value equivalent to 16 Billion dollars, that Germany was to pay ... | null |
fare76 | Who decided north is up and south is down? | [
{
"answer": "u/terminus-trantor and u/qed1 worked on a similar question just a few days ago:\n\n[Was North always on the top of maps?](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "56478",
"title": "North",
"section": "Section... | null |
287d42 | What was the technique for harvesting ice on the Great Lakes for iceboxes/traincars, etc... | [
{
"answer": "I used to work at [Dundurn Castle](_URL_0_) (it's not really a castle).\n\nIn the side hall, where we had visitors wait for the next tour, hung a print depicting a 19th century ice harvest.\n\nIt showed horse teams on the ice and groups of men using long saws (like a traditional lumberjack saw, but... | null |
8atcdh | How were elite divisions in ww2 such as the 101st airborne from Band of Brothers able to have replacements often even though training took 2 years? | [
{
"answer": "Men assigned originally to airborne divisions of the U.S. Army trained for a much longer period than those assigned as loss replacements overseas. The first standardized training program for airborne divisions took effect on 4 November 1942. The divisional training program was to take 37 weeks, dis... | null |
3chptf | what's the definition between a fetish and a kink in the bedroom? | [
{
"answer": "I've always heard that a kink is something you enjoy while a fetish is something you have to have in order to get off.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Fetish: \"a form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object, item of clothing, ... | null |
4w6t73 | how video games loop music so seamlessly? | [
{
"answer": "the songs are made in a pattern. they end the song with the same notes as the start of it. or it will have a hard stop that is able to restart the song fluidly. basically, think of it like a repeating sound, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. you can end and restart that pattern anytime. now think of... | null |
245d7v | why do the effects of novocaine stay relatively close to the injection site? | [
{
"answer": "Dentists generally use lidocaine these days, not novocaine. It's a much safer anaesthetic all around.\n\nIt's not injected into the bloodstream, it's a topical anaesthetic. The most common use is something called a 'nerve block,' where the lidocaine is injected into the nerve in the jaw and disrupt... | null |
6dsvle | Before Israelite conquered it, who ruled Jericho and where is Jericho mentioned outside the bible? | [
{
"answer": "This is a good question, but I want to start by clearing up a couple of things. Firstly, some definitions: 'Canaan' is usually used to refer to the area from the Eastern Mediterranean coast to the hill country that's farther inland, and often comes with an implied sense of 'not Israel and Judah'. I... | null |
1ug9d4 | When Russian troops sacked Berlin near the end of World War II, did they kill civilians? What exactly happened? | [
{
"answer": "The population of Berlin at the end of the war was disproportionately comprised of Women and children, with most of the men fighting in the army, or being drafted into the Volkssturm at the last minute. Most of the violence directed to Berliners was looting and rape. Rape was endemic at the time... | null |
9x1ngq | Is it true that Emporor Hirohito barely spoke normal japanese, and as such a large amount of citizens could not understand when he surrendered on air? | [
{
"answer": "Not to discourage further responses, but u/aonoreishou answered a similar question [here](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "87995",
"title": "Occupation of Japan",
"section": "Section::::Cultural reac... | null |
32fxor | What were the military advantages that helped Cromwell and the New Model Army win the English Civil Wars? | [
{
"answer": "Most of this is taken from Christopher Hill's God's Englishman: Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution. \n\nAs Hill points out, the New Model Army was a progression of ideas that had started in the Dutch Republic 'fifty or sixty years earlier'. Essential Hill argues that the essence of the revo... | null |
dtup5b | do people lose in sensitivity to adrenaline if exposed to it repetitively ? | [
{
"answer": "Neurobiology student.\n\nOk, so the first thing I thought reading this question was \"Nah, I don't think so\", but I still looked to be sure. Well apparently yeah, you can have some receptors, called B-adrenergic receptors, lose their sensibility if constantly exposed to a drug that activate them. ... | null |
vgnw7 | Did the Founding Fathers frame the Constitution solely for their economic self-interest? | [
{
"answer": "Probably not. If the founders like Washington were motivated by self interest, then he would have become king when they offered it to him.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "First off, I don't know of a single historical work written that long ago that still holds up on its own today... | null |
2uqpu2 | why does a computer need to be cooled? | [
{
"answer": "Because every electrical current causes warmth due to resistance. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The processor works by sending a lot of electrical signals back and froth. Which creates heat, there is no way around that.\n\nYou can of course reduce the heat by reducing the power,... | null |
5km95b | how is mass extinction humans fault? | [
{
"answer": " > Considering most people at that time and prior loved in mud huts\n\nHA!\n\nHumans had already been farming for 9,500 years, living in cities for most of that, China had been a sprawling empire for 4,500 years, Rome had risen and fallen. \n\nJust because we hadn't built a steam engine yet didn't... | null |
2ojwmi | Why did "White Australia" use a dictation test instead of a criterion openly based on ancestry? | [
{
"answer": "Enforcing the policy through a subjective test allowed it to be expanded to exclude politically undesirable people. \n\nThe Immigration Restriction Act (1901) required immigrants to be able to \"write out at dictation and sign in the presence of the officer, a passage of 50 words in length in a Eu... | null |
3hsl9v | what is a snap election, and why doesn't it exist in the us? | [
{
"answer": "Often times in parliamentary systems of government the prime minister or other head of government must have elections every set number of years, just like in the US system, but they also allow for them to call for elections at a time of their choosing prior to the normal time between elections. Th... | null |
3kwz08 | after world war ii, what changes did germany make to it's own political system to ensure a dictator figure could never take power again? | [
{
"answer": "My answer won't fully describe your question, but one of the main reasons dictators weren't allowed to rise *immediatley*, and for the 40 or so years after the fall of Hitler, is the fact that Germany was split into two. The eastern half was controlled by the USSR, and the west was controlled by th... | null |
28tkv4 | Was New Zealand really forced out of the British Empire? | [
{
"answer": "I think your professor's language is a bit harsh, but he is trying to emphasize a point.\n\nNew Zealand (along with Canada, Australia, and a few other countries) didn't achieve independence in an abrupt manner in the same way India and the USA did. These countries made a gradual shift towards self... | null |
1l6r8j | what is behind the american fascination with japanese style tattoos? | [
{
"answer": "Because it is foreign and mysterious and aesthetically pleasing. \n\nA kanji looks cool and invites people to wonder about the meaning. This mystery implies that the owner has important secrets. Plus, if the viewer doesn't know the kanji then you can lie about what it means depending on your moo... | null |
8j0o1k | why does a shower speed up the sunburn symptoms? i just walked in with a light glow and walked out looking like zoidberg | [
{
"answer": "Hot water acts as a vasodilator. It also irritates inflamed tissue if it's too hot, which your shower undoubtedly was if you're anything like me. So the shower increased blood flow to the inflamed area, and further irritated the damaged tissue.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
... | null |
73xp9b | how do people in courtrooms, depositions, parliaments and what not type everything being typed up so quickly? | [
{
"answer": "stenographers use a [stenotype](_URL_0_) a shorthand typewriter that uses [22 chording keys](_URL_0_#/media/File:Stenkeys.gif) to allow very rapid documentation with minimal finger movement. Stenographers type at least 180wpm with some reaching as high as 375wpm thanks to this more efficient system... | null |
5rgwim | why does/did fox own the rights to the simpsons and family guy, shows that often deconstructed and even scorned traditional values? | [
{
"answer": "So, the first and foremost thing to understand about Fox is that it's a large organization with a lot of channels. And, like almost all large organizations, it really only cares about one thing. Money.\n\nFox News Channel (which came into existence fairly late in Fox's life) has discovered a niche ... | null |
kjq9d | why this new obama tax plan is making waves. i thought you had to pay 2% on income if it's over 380k? | [
{
"answer": "The percentage you are thinking of is 35% for income wages over $379,151. Those who are making over $1 Million per year aren't likely to be making it from wages, the are making it from capital gains (read investment or Wall St.). Taxes on this kind of income can be much lower, and can be made even ... | null |
yi0kk | If you hold in poop does your intestine still absorb nutrients or does it just kind of sit there at the end of the line? | [
{
"answer": "From [Wikipedia](_URL_0_)\n\n > Food is no longer broken down at this stage of digestion. The colon absorbs vitamins which are created by the colonic bacteria - such as vitamin K (especially important as the daily ingestion of vitamin K is not normally enough to maintain adequate blood coagulation)... | null |
47srry | is lava sticky? | [
{
"answer": "I can't answer if it's sticky, but you don't have to be sticky to be viscous. Just as one example gear oil is quite viscous without being sticky, it's especially thick when cold and since it's a lubricant is the definition of not sticky.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"p... | null |
8zn4u9 | How common was wearing masks in renaissance Venice? | [
{
"answer": "Venetian masks outside of carnival (which only lasted for the month before Lent) and theater/masquerade were not so much a thing in the Renaissance; according to James Johnson in *Venice Incognito: Masks in the Serene Republic*, the practice began among the male and female nobility in the late seve... | null |
17kd6p | When alcohol is poured into a hot (for example almost boiling water) liquid does it vaporise? For example whiskey in an irish coffee or anything similar? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, alcohol can vaporize. This fact is utilized in [distillation](_URL_1_) to separate alcohol from solution. You can see from this [phase diagram](_URL_0_) that the boiling point of a water/ethanol solution is lower than that of water alone. However, distillation relies on constant heat source - ... | null |
8xzbwf | why are single-use straws so bad even if properly disposed of in a landfill? | [
{
"answer": "The goal is to reduce the amount of trash; period. Single-use, disposable, common items are a total waste of resources and fill up dumps. Straws are especially heinous because they generally serve no real purpose. Unless you're physically disabled in some way, just drink from the cup.\n\nYou also n... | null |
29y1hb | How can some materials resist being dissolved by both polar and non-polar solvents? | [
{
"answer": "Per your example, glass, there are solvents that will dissolve it. What makes it more resistant than most materials is it's crystal structure, which is in a lower energy state than most compounds. In order to be converted into another compound, the overall energy (via entropy and thermodynamics) mu... | null |
b2ao8w | why is there a lower limit to brightness on your smart phone. why can’t they make it so that you can keep on turning it down till your phone turns completely dark ? | [
{
"answer": "The biggest reason: if you could put it to completely dark, how could you ever turn it back up since the control is on the screen itself?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "How would you get higher brightness again, after turning it to 0 making your screen completely dark? ",
"pro... | null |
l79oy | If carbon dioxide was once 20 times as prevalent in the atmosphere as it is now, why should we be concerned. | [
{
"answer": "well, it's not that increasing carbon dioxide levels will destroy all life. If it spikes too quickly, it may cause a mass extinction of sorts. But life will still persist, and evolve into something different. \n\nThe threat is that we will turn the earth into an environment where we can't survive. ... | null |
3t01fm | why does the clit exist? | [
{
"answer": "All fetuses begin as female.\n\nTo put it simply, the penis is technically an enlarged clitoris, and the clitoris could arguably be considered a small penis.\n\nWithout the clitoris, there would be no penis.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"... | null |
4cp1lw | whenever my phone is near my computer, every so often it will pick up some really weird frequency's and will play through my headphones. | [
{
"answer": "Your headphones are speakers, and speakers sometimes pick up on nearby radio transmissions. \n\nYou're cell phone has a transmitter which transmits radio waves to a cell tower. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "42319754",
... | null |
24old1 | why are 'news' networks such as hln and cnn allowed to air such biased opinions on such a large scale? | [
{
"answer": "They are private organizations, and the US has the strongest freedom of speech laws in the world.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I'm from Europe, and if you think that the European media are free of bias, you're very much mistaken. Quite simply, there is no such thing as a medium ... | null |
1hp30o | why don't rovers on other planets or satellites in space ever take true video? | [
{
"answer": "Probably because videos take a relatively large amount of storage space compared to photos, and they would take very long periods of time to transmit. Seeing as how there's no real added value to a video versus a picture when nothing is moving, there's not a great reason to do it other than \"becau... | null |
1erksa | How did the people of Imperial Japan view their German allies in WW2 and vice versa? | [
{
"answer": "I can't give a full answer but Imperial Japan was very strict on censorship. I'm pretty sure Mein Kampf was banned. Foreign influence, especially western influence was considered a bad thing. And at the same time Nazi Germany was at war with The USSR, Japan maintained a non aggression pact. This hu... | null |
7wo0gp | Did the Allies have a plan B in case the invasion of Normandy failed? | [
{
"answer": "Not to discourage other answers, but you might find these previous posts to be helpful:\n\n* [What was the back up plan if d-day failed?](_URL_1_) feat. /u/KroipyBill\n\n* [Was there a \"Plan B\" if D Day failed? Or was it simply going \"All in\"?](_URL_0_) feat. /u/Rittermeister\n\nThey're both ol... | null |
52mj4v | Is there a limit to the amount of potential/kinetic energy an object can contain? | [
{
"answer": " > I've always heard that as an object approaches the speed of light, the energy required to further approach that limit increases asymptotically to infinity.\n\nThis is correct. There is no upper bound.\n\nThe kinetic energy of a particle with mass m and speed v is:\n\nK = [1/sqrt(1 - (v/c)^(2)) -... | null |
blvkh9 | How do I choose what era to study in Grad School? | [
{
"answer": "A great deal of the process of doing history - or \"doing\" any of the humanities - is the combination of distinct experiences and backgrounds in ways that yield unique perspective. You might find fertile ground by considering nineteenth-century British fixation on everything medieval - architectur... | null |
1redsm | what does it mean to "rewire" your brain? is it possible? if so, how? | [
{
"answer": "Wires are a common analogy for neurons, the main cells of your brain (and the rest of your nervous system.) It's a fair comparison: neurons are long and thin, rapidly conduct electricity to carry signals, and even have a coating of insulation.\n\nNeurons communicate with other neurons at points cal... | null |
1ctvbc | Are the recent Iranian and Chinese earthquakes related given both of their positions along the Indian Plate? | [
{
"answer": "Ahh it's 2:35 AM but I love this topic so I'm going to give it a shot. \n\nShort answer: YES we think something is going on. \n\nI like the maps you linked, but I would like you to look at [this world map](_URL_1_) and this [map of the major tectonic plates](_URL_3_), bear in mind they are not alig... | null |
5k31ft | what's a loan shark? | [
{
"answer": "Someone who loans you money, usually with a very high interest rate, knowing that you won't be able to pay the money back. They then privately hound you for the money either threatening you or stealing your assets to repay the debt.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A loan with a ban... | null |
1nj0fz | is there a correlation between c-section babies and mental health later in life? | [
{
"answer": "the reasons to have a c section are usually because of something wrong with the way the birth will take place that has nothing to do with the preparedness of the baby for life, or its 'darwinistic fitness'...c section babies show no higher rate of birth defect or cognitive problems than a regular b... | null |
5aelol | regarding death valley, why is being 86 m below sea level so much more extreme than being 86 m above it? | [
{
"answer": "The elevation actually doesn't have anything to do with it being extreme. It's the giant mountain ranges to the west that block all the rainfall and its geographic location in an area of few clouds, a somewhat southern lattitude, and lots of sunshine that make it a hot, baked desert. Lots of death ... | null |
1j842h | why do i feel something touch me just before it actually does? | [
{
"answer": "Could you be more specific or do you mean all thing all the time?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It's actually called chronostasis, and it involves your brain filling in the time before the event and thus making the event seem to happen after you perceive it. There is a lag betwee... | null |
59zy44 | why/how do different alcohols (beer, wine, spirits) cause different hangover effects? | [
{
"answer": "The more distilled something is, the less the hangover hurts.\n\nThe more sugar there is, the more the hangover hurts.\n\nBasically, the closer you get to pure alcohol, the less you will hurt the next day.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Sugar content. You'll get a less severe hang... | null |
36asjx | what is the science behind using a knife to cut things? | [
{
"answer": "Blades take a small amount of force and concentrate it on a small area, which causes a large amount of pressure to break the surface. Then, the blade acts like a wedge, directing downward force outwards to drive the two halves apart.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"proven... | null |
22o6pj | why in 2014 is the ocean still such a mystery. we overcame obstacles to space travel 50+ years ago but can't figure out water. | [
{
"answer": "We actually can do some pretty cool things in water. We get oil from miles below a surface that is miles below the waves, we explore at tremendous depths, and we lay cables that stretch the length of the oceans. \n\nIt's true that there's still a lot left to do, and we certainly could do a lot mor... | null |
2t06fy | what is isis? what makes them such a threat? what is their history? why can't a continental superpower such as the united states just wipe them out? | [
{
"answer": "To wipe them out, we(the USA/US public) would need to realize that wars have a ton of civilian causalities. We didn't win WW2 by only killing soldiers, we flattened entire cities of those who opposed us. People are not ok with that anymore. Think about the outrage that people would have over us tre... | null |
5lpzo7 | What are the roots of anti-intellectualism in the United States? What is its history? | [
{
"answer": "Awesome question. The classic answer can be found in Richard Hofstadter's 1963 book, *Anti-Intellectualism in American Life*. Hofstadter, who went on to win the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction for the book, wrote:\n\n > \"Anti-intellectualism . . . is founded in the democratic institutions and ... | null |
1iyr4f | how in the heck is edward snowden "living" in the russian airport without being seen? | [
{
"answer": "He's not in the standard passenger area. He is in a hotel at the airport and in some back/employee type areas of the airport. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "55668685",
"title": "Edward Snowden asylum in Russia",
... | null |
35m7uz | in the us, why do nurses get paid considerably more than paramedics? | [
{
"answer": " > basically the same set of skills and the same amount of schooling\n\nNo. Paramedics usually only take 2 years of school out of highschool. Nurses (Specifically RNs.... you may have meant other types of nurses which would get similar pay to paramedics) have full 4 year degrees and way more medica... | null |
9ti2vx | when you choke drinking water, does the water actually go down into your lungs? if yes, what happens to it next? | [
{
"answer": "It is possible. It's called \"aspiration.\" What happens then is that fluid can sit and pool in your lungs. Which isnt good for your lungs. Pneumonia can happen or other respiratory dysfunctions. This is actually common in (older) adults that has lost some ability to swallow properly. This is why y... | null |
876y6i | do insects get food poisoning? | [
{
"answer": "From what I understand from my microbiology class it would depend. It depends mainly on what species of bacteria is in that chicken. If the species of salmonella is able to infect the fly and cause a disease then yes the fly would be sick, but if the species of salmonella present is not adapted to ... | null |
9i1ju0 | how did japan successfully land two rovers on an asteroid | [
{
"answer": "Math, lots and lots of complex math.\n\nYou know its orbit, you know our orbit. Provide the right amount of thrust in the right direction.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "40649814",
"title": "MINERVA (spacecraft)",
... | null |
2ngo9h | why do people listen to music with earbuds in while driving a vehicle that most likely has a stereo in it? | [
{
"answer": "They could be listening to music from an audio player which can't connect to the car stereo (for example if the car doesn't have an aux input).\n\nOr they could just be using their headphones to talk to someone on the phone.\n\nAnd where I'm from it's very illegal.",
"provenance": null
},
{... | null |
4v1mvv | When classical music was published in the 18th century, how did the music circulate? | [
{
"answer": "The only media available for the recording of classical music in 18th century was print, of course, and that business is essentially the same now, with a few minor changes. The printing of music parallels the printing of words, with the earliest examples being carved on wooden plates, then engraved... | null |
5dbwas | What did nomadic horse archers use to make their arrows? | [
{
"answer": "Hi, this is not to discourage other answers but you might be interested in [this post](_URL_0_) by u/krishaperkins",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "19685198",
"title": "Mounted archery",
"section": "",
... | null |
5ybupc | where does the "water" portion of beverages go when dumped down the drain? | [
{
"answer": "It depends :)\n\nIn a modern, civilised and industrialised region the water goes through pipes to a water treatment station. This water follows the same path as the water from the bathtub, kitchen sink or toilet. The treatment station tries to purify the water through several organic methods (plant... | null |
3mq3np | how are some people addicted to work? | [
{
"answer": "Psychologists have linked it as a means of coping with depression/lonliness, satisfying a craving for competition, or simply greed. This is a case-by-case type of addiction.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "24482368",
... | null |
645p8q | How do calculators deal with imaginary numbers? | [
{
"answer": "Complex numbers are operated on arithmetically exactly the same way as normal numbers. Your calculator just knows how to keep the two separate. There's really nothing special about the process, other than having the capability of storing different number types and understanding how to display them ... | null |
5bl0at | given densities are well understood,what prevents geologists from predicting where minerals are,rather than prospecting?also since the heavy ,valuable metals sink,what prevents a rush to volcanic sites to mine these metals? | [
{
"answer": "Because it's way, way more complicated than that.\n\nRocks move. Yes, the heavier elements might sink lower as the lava cools, but cooling lava isn't the only way rocks are made. Sedimentary rocks don't really care about density, but the order things fell on them as they were formed. Even the igneo... | null |
3jwwbb | Are there any historical precedents to a socialist/communist government before the 20th century?? | [
{
"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 |
60bd2m | how do professional songwriters write hit songs? | [
{
"answer": "ask them r/music and related subs",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "94154",
"title": "Songwriter",
"section": "",
"start_paragraph_id": 3,
"start_character": 0,
"end_paragraph_id": 3,
... | null |
ak8h97 | Gorbachev and Dissolution of USSR | [
{
"answer": "I will point you to this [answer](_URL_3_) I wrote on the role of Gorbachev in the dissolution of the USSR. In essence, Gorbachev, after becoming General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1985, undertook a series of structural political and economic reforms that unleashed forces that were ultimat... | null |
13k3es | why do daily vitamins for seniors contain less or no iron? | [
{
"answer": "Too much iron for people over 50 raises the occurrence of heart disease.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "First of all, the discussion about \"vitamins\" is really important. There's some evidence that vitamin supplementation could be beneficial in the elderly, but this notion comes... | null |
5985ok | Why did European firearms technology become superior to that of other continent's? | [
{
"answer": "For a very good recent book on the subject I highly recommend *The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West* by Tonio Andrade. He sums up a lot of the information and theories available as far as china goes and concludes that the main cause does seem to be a relative lack... | null |
b23e7v | how does the wifi bridge work on my phone? | [
{
"answer": "Hey that’s a neat feature!\n\nI’m not intimately familiar with the specifics of your phone, but I do have a fair knowledge of networks. What’s most likely going on is exactly the same process that 4G hotspot uses, but only involving wifi.\n\nBasically the laptop is connected to the phone via some m... | null |
46d59v | why are fire extingushers placed in a glass case with a handle, yet in case of fire the glass has to be broken | [
{
"answer": "Because some idiot would open it and play with it. Having to break the glass means that you're only going get the extinguisher if it's a real emergency",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Broken glass makes it obvious the the extinguisher might have been tampered with. Worst thing is t... | null |
5tsoeo | how can encryption methods be open source? | [
{
"answer": "It is a generally accepted security precept that \"The enemy knows the system.\" That is, when you are designing an encryption algorithm (or any security measure) that you assume the enemy knows its design. You assume that, eventually, an adversary will get a hold of the algorithm and therefore A) ... | null |
1hf3f9 | Was Philippe Pétain unjustly criticized by the new French Republic? | [
{
"answer": "It wasn't just about the fact that he had surrendered to the Germans that the French were pissed off about. Pétain and his government, shortly after the surrender, took a vote to reorganise the Third Republic into the French State, an authoritarian (and more importantly an extremely collaborationis... | null |
3849rg | How come in Physics we can round off numbers willy nilly? | [
{
"answer": "Someone asked a very similar question the other day and it got a lot of good answers, so I'd recommend you [read those answers](_URL_0_) (I linked directly to my favorite response). But here's my quick take on it. Numbers in math are ideal. If I ask you to solve the equation x^2 = 2, the answer is ... | null |
lyj1q | Is Stephen Hawking still relevant? | [
{
"answer": "Your second sentence isn't really wrong or right. Most people never thought black holes did anything but exert a gravitational attraction towards object. He conceded defeat on whether information could be destroyed, but it hasn't been proven conclusively that he was wrong. He's still relevant as... | null |
8hydrl | what are the implications of america leaving the iran deal? | [
{
"answer": "A lot of oil companies who were in the process of investing in Iran for production purposes won't be able to continue if the sanctions go back in. \n\nIran will be free to restart progress toward its goal of making a nuclear weapon.\n\nOur allies in the deal will not be able to trust us to keep up ... | null |
4l33sg | how was gamma radiation discovered to be a photon, not neutron? | [
{
"answer": "The Gamma ray was discovered by Rutherford in 1900 when studying radioactive elements. It was indeed neutral, but was reflected by crystalline matter, while a neutron would be absorbed by the barrier.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Gamma radiation was discovered in 1900. Neutrons ... | null |
lqqee | Could anything man-made trigger the Yellowstone super volcano? | [
{
"answer": "there was actually an article in this months popular science about man made earthquakes, i tried and failed to find a link, but here are some surprising facts, over 200 quakes of more than 4.5 magnitude have been caused by man in the past 160 years. the best known case is the earthquake caused by t... | null |
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