id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
1aw5h2 | What's stopping a black hole from growing exponentially massive and destroying entire systems? | [
{
"answer": "You might be interested in reading about [Sagittarius A*](_URL_0_), which is likely a colossal black hole at the center of our galaxy. It's thought to be about 12 light hours across, or about the size of the orbit of Neptune, and have a mass of about 5 million stars. \n\nIn fact, it's now commonly... | null |
y7395 | When they say that CERN achieved a heat record of ~5 trillion degrees, what does that actually mean/do? | [
{
"answer": "It is a really, really small space with very, very few particles in it. So the real world effect is incredibly, undetectably small. The temperature is measured by looking at the energy of released particles, or by the spectrum of emitted thermal photons. That's why the article says they have to con... | null |
3tmerk | Can you give any information about this flag? | [
{
"answer": "hi! Do consider x-posting this to /r/vexillology (the flag sub!)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "38980195",
"title": "Flag of Stellaland",
"section": "Section::::Description.:Green flag displaying a white sta... | null |
35f0qm | why do we grow out of things. | [
{
"answer": "Because your tastes change as you get older and you learn more about the world and develop your social life. As you're exposed to more, better media, you start to realize how underdeveloped, uninteresting, and pandering a lot of children's media is. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": ... | null |
59pxe6 | What property decides if a material can be a superconductor? | [
{
"answer": "That is a really hard question to answer, mainly because there's several classes of superconductors and only for one of those we really understand all the details.\n**Conventional** superconductors can be explained by [BCS Theory](_URL_0_). The gist of this theory is that 2 electrons interact with ... | null |
1njwn9 | my company has a wifi network for their employees to connect their "personal devices" to. can they see everything i do? | [
{
"answer": "Do you log in by joining the network, then every time you try to go to a webpage it redirects you to a login form? Because if that's the case the certificate warning is probably just that the browser thinks your connection has been hijacked because it knows that Google (Assuming that's your home pa... | null |
3sj1pj | why aren't women allowed in the royal armoured corps? | [
{
"answer": "They *can* join the Household Cavalry, Armoured Corps and Infantry regiments, they are just not allowed an active combat role.\n\nI don't want to get into a debate about the reasons (can't be bothered to do this again) but remember that when people start to compare the physical fitness don't make t... | null |
6rl0i7 | what gives soap operas that “low quality” feeling to them? is it the lighting? the dialogue? it’s very distinct, but hard to pin down. | [
{
"answer": "It's the frame rate. Most soap operas are shot at 30 frames per second (technically 29.976 but that's irrelevant). Film is shot at 24fps. We have been trained by experience to see higher frame rate video as being lower quality.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It's called [Motion In... | null |
219td1 | Is there a drug linked to brain growth and development similar to how testosterone and FSH are linked to muscle growth and developent? | [
{
"answer": "I'll edit this post to include some more hard science later, but check out /r/Nootropics \n\nNootropics are 'cognitive enhancing drugs', and may increase \"intelligence\".",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "58685",
"tit... | null |
44xsd2 | Manichaeism seems almost unique in being a former major international world religion that was rendered completely extinct without even small remnant populations. Why did it disappear so entirely? | [
{
"answer": "What is a world religion? Roman paganism had millions of adherents, reduced to nothing. Ditto for the so-called mystery religions (besides possibly Christianity) that sprung out of: the cult of Isis, Mithraism, etc. Egyptian religion similarly had millions of adherents and died away. Aztec religio... | null |
7rfyig | can every single thing a computer does be broken down into binary code? | [
{
"answer": "...the signals going to the monitor are in binary. Once inside the monitor, the signals get reinterpreted by the controller ciruits, in binary and determine the brightness of each color pixel, whose data is in binary. The pixels themselves are sent binary signals. The brightness of the pixel is ... | null |
1c7gxo | How did Britain keep the value of its currency stable during its explosive growth in the 19th Century? [reposted because unanswered] | [
{
"answer": " > Was it just the growth in supply of gold?\n\nThat was a big part of it. You had gold strikes in California, the Yukon, South Africa, Colorado, Australia, and so on, all increasing the money supply.\n\nAnother big part was the growth in the private creation of paper money by [commercial banks](_U... | null |
cev5k2 | how do treadmills and other machines track your hearts bpm by those silver things on the handle? | [
{
"answer": "The basic concept to be aware of here is what makes the heart beat.\n\nOur heartbeat is driven by an electrical signal generated by a small group of cells (sometimes called pacemaker cells) located within our heart. The electric pulse generated by this group spreads through the heart, causing first... | null |
q3j1g | why is it illegal to not hire somebody because of their race/religion? | [
{
"answer": "Access to the public market requires public accommodation. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The technical why?\n\n- Private sector: the commerce clause of the US Const gives power to congress to enact legislation to regulate interstate commerce > employment discrimination affects... | null |
4g93ry | why people trust crystal healing when there is no scientific evidence to support its claims? | [
{
"answer": "The same as with most things people believe. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence, and when that evidence is put forward by a source someone already trusts - an actor, a family member, a community leader - the stories are believed without double-blind testing to back them up.",
"provenance": n... | null |
38nbj3 | Why is it that we are losing helium into space, while hydrogen stays around? | [
{
"answer": "Your intuition is correct. Lighter gases are more likely to escape Earth's gravity. If you look at the [composition of the atmosphere](_URL_0_) you can see that helium is about ten times as abundant as hydrogen.\n\nWhen we purify hydrogen, it's often from electrolysis of water.",
"provenance": ... | null |
3kihib | Are all elements produced in stars? | [
{
"answer": "No. \n\nOr at least there are some elements that we cannot possibly detect even if they were produced in stars. There are some elements which have extremely short half-lives. Which means that they can be created in laboratories, and there's a very short time within which these can be detected befor... | null |
3b16jz | why do cars need transmissions but planes and boats don't? | [
{
"answer": "Transmissions carry work from the engine to wherever generates thrust. In plane engines and outboard boat motors, this task happens inside the same mechanical unit.\n\nSome inboard boat motors however do have an actual transmission.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Some planes and b... | null |
29h95b | How fast does a torus need to rotate to simulate earth gravity? | [
{
"answer": "You are right. A larger diameter requires a smaller angular speed. The formula is *g = omega*^(2)*r*, where:\n\n* *g* is the Earth's gravity (9.8 m/s^(2))\n* *r* is the radius of the ring\n* *omega* is the angular speed of the ring.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"prove... | null |
8lctg6 | Why is it called "Missionary position"? Where does the term come from? | [
{
"answer": "You may be interested in u/yodatsracist's recent 4-part answer to [I saw an article today claiming that the \"missionary\" position derives its name from Native Americans/Africans who saw missionaries having sex. How true is this?](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
... | null |
f2w7lp | Are bats the only carriers for Ebola that do not die from it? | [
{
"answer": "*Technically*, we don't know for certain that bats even are the carriers, although they are the likeliest suspect. [This paper from 2005](_URL_1_) sampled a whole spread of animals to try and find a carrier, so that might help you on your search for different species. \n\nInterestingly, [dogs can b... | null |
9p168t | what are the rules in the music industry that govern how one artist’s song can be covered by another? | [
{
"answer": "In the US you make and sell cover versions of other artists' songs \\*without their permission\\* as long as you do certain things, including paying them a fixed rate royalty. Here's a link with more information: [_URL_0_](_URL_0_)\n\n & #x200B;\n\nThere is a slightly different process for cover ba... | null |
1kg29b | why do we have ear lobes ? | [
{
"answer": "The general shape of our ears actually helps us determine the direction of sounds, as they reflect sounds differently based upon where they are coming from. If you change the shape of someone's ear then it takes a little bit for their brain to learn how to interpret the echoes properly again. ",
... | null |
787sz3 | Life in 1910, London | [
{
"answer": "We've allowed this post, but you're unlikely to get a thorough answer. Questions like \"were life conditions good?\" and \"were people happy?\" are not really answerable: some people had a high standard of living and some did not; some people were happy most of the time and some were desperately un... | null |
cd0evh | Why is strep throat, caused by a commensal bacteria, contagious? | [
{
"answer": "Because there are different forms found in different people much like blood types, therefore it is fine for yourself to carry but not other people\n\nThe exact reason strep throat is contagious.\nBecause if a new type of streptococcus is found the body sends infection markers and can be potentially... | null |
n5vjh | could it be possible that a black hole in our universe turns out to be a big bang in some other universe? | [
{
"answer": "[There's a Polish cosmologist who thinks this might be possible.](_URL_0_)\n\nIt's totally untestable, though. At least, for a very long time.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "This is actual a concept/idea that is being tossed around.\n\nThe idea is that all matter compresses down ... | null |
1lfuxz | How big is our solar system in non-planar directions (up & down rather than out) | [
{
"answer": "I can't answer your actual question but Voyager 1's mission wasn't to leave the solar system. It was to photograph the solar system and we were lucky that we launched when we did because it's a very rare occasion (not sure exactly how rare but I think it's hundreds of years at least) that we can ta... | null |
briy0t | In the early 19th century why did it take so long for major powers to adopt the rifle over the musket? | [
{
"answer": "One piece of the puzzle was ammunition design. Until the introduction of bullets like the Minie Ball, loading a rifled musket was a difficult, time-consuming endeavor. With the round ball that was standard for ammunition at the time, the ball was close to the same size as the bore, with wadding use... | null |
9pvgd2 | the difference between piston plane engines and car engines | [
{
"answer": "if car engine breaks down, you putter to side of the road and call AAA.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nif your plane engine breaks down, you fall out of the sky and call FAA. \n\n & #x200B;\n\nif you maintained your car engine at same level of your plane engine, you'd be doing inspection every morning before le... | null |
l6qgo | Has there ever been a mathematical "Piltdown Man"? That is, a mathematical theorem that was accepted as valid for many years, only to have a fatal flaw discovered much later? | [
{
"answer": "Not to insult the folks here, but you could try x-posting over at /r/math.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There have been several mathematical theorems that had proofs or claims thereof that contained flaws that were later fixed. However, I can't think of an example where a theor... | null |
4d6i4w | How was FDR's decision to run for a third term received by the Democratic Party? By his 4th election was there "Roosevelt Fatigue"? | [
{
"answer": "To ask a follow up question if I may - why was he constitutionally allowed to run for a third term and then a fourth? \nEDIT: Thanks for the replies - question answered.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Follow up question - How much did WWII play in the decision to run, if any?",
... | null |
2wroyj | what keeps a panting dog from hyperventilating ? | [
{
"answer": "Panting in dogs tends to be shallow breaths an they're not moving a ton of air, which prevents them from blowing off all their carbon dioxide (CO2) and getting respiratory alkalosis (high blood pH which causes an acid/base imbalance). But not always... dogs that are taking fast, deep breaths will s... | null |
2bqsf2 | Did the Union Jack ever have a red background with a blue central cross? | [
{
"answer": "No. The Union Jack has only ever had a red cross (from the flag of England) and a blue background (from the flag of Scotland). Whoever coloured this image made an error. And whoever drew it too, for that matter. The British flag being lowered seems to be an illustration of the *current* Union Jack,... | null |
293ryd | why are we training so many kids to code? | [
{
"answer": "We teach all kids history, it doesn't make them grow into historians. (It doesn't even grow many of them into history-aware people, kids forget most of what they learn or never gain much competence at it anyway.)\n\nAdditionally a lot of the cheaper overseas folk are sub-par programmers too. ",
... | null |
9b3z7w | why is a sugary drink sticky when spilled, but an artificially sweetened one not? | [
{
"answer": "Artificial sweeteners are much more concentrated. So, when they dry out, there is less leftover. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Sugary drinks contain sugar, which is highly attracted to water. Even when the spilled drink \"dries,\" it's not completely dry. The sugar in the liquid... | null |
2zu37a | Benedict Arnold is regarded as the biggest traitor of the American Revolution. I've heard that he was treated poorly by America beforehand though. What's his story? | [
{
"answer": "[Here's a previous thread](_URL_0_) with a response by /u/zuzahin that goes in-depth into Arnold's story and motivations.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "417858",
"title": "Benedict Arnold",
"section": "",
... | null |
6sf7rp | why are puns generally frowned upon (albeit humorously)? | [
{
"answer": "Because they're low effort, short jokes. They're like a reddit shit post. It can be funny, but it can't be elaborate and abstract.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained:\n\n1. [Do people actually hate puns or do they just pretend... | null |
1syhs2 | why does it seem that most movies have a "happy" ending? | [
{
"answer": "Because most people like happy endings.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Why would you want to leave the theater depressed? The point is to have a closing that let's you leave on a positive note. There are French (and of course other places) movies however, that end without happines... | null |
2up5za | How popular were the Odyssey and the Iliad in Ancient and Classical Greece? | [
{
"answer": "hi! you may be interested in these posts\n\n* [how commonly known would the story of the Iliad, have been in the second century BC classical world?](_URL_3_)\n\n* [How well known would the stories in the Odyssey have been to the average Greek citizen at the highest point of its popularity?](_URL_2_... | null |
gsv7q | Could someone clear this whole thing up? (When smoking from a bowl made of aluminum, can aluminum enter the lungs?) | [
{
"answer": "This guy has been smoking too much and not taking enough science courses. The list of ignorant things is kind of long, and my patience for stoners in pretty short, so I'm going to keep this brief and to the point. (In case anyone decides to nitpick details.)\n\nA Butane lighter simply doesn't have... | null |
2xy8fa | how do floors get mopped, garbage cans get emptied, plumbing get repaired etc. in top secret areas? are there janitors with high level security clearance? | [
{
"answer": "Areas like that have \"clean desk\" policies where everything has to be secured in locked drawers when you are not at your desk. If it is somewhere with constant activities then the people there take their trash to somewhere outside the room where it gets collected.",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
15fnu6 | if you are able to look at somebody's reflection, this person must also be able to look at yours. does this concept apply always? | [
{
"answer": "The way light bounces, this will always happen on a *flat* surface. If the surface is warped, skewed, or bent, the light will bounce back according to that angle.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "if you can see their eyes, then they can see your eyes. It always *works* with cameras... | null |
6meoid | what happens to clinically insane people after committing crimes that if a non-insane person did, they would receive the death penalty? | [
{
"answer": "Part of a crime is intent and knowledge of the likely outcome of one's actions.\n\nIf a person is \"not guilty by reason of insanity\" it means that durring that *specific* crime they did not know what they were doing, similar to how a person is not guilty of a crime if a crane unexpectedly breaks ... | null |
6u3rr6 | Do doppelgängers have extremely similar DNA like siblings or twins do? Or do they appear unrelated when taking a DNA test? | [
{
"answer": "If you are asking whether people that look superficially the same as you would show up as related to you if they took a DNA test, then no. These types of genetic testing look primarily at so called junk DNA, the ~98% of you DNA that is not actively involved in how your body is created, so any simil... | null |
5bltbq | how are there enough cows to supply the over 15k macdonalds and burger kings in u.s. | [
{
"answer": "First, a single cow produces an awful lot of hamburgers. A grown steer produces about 500 pounds of beef, which is 2000 quarter-pound hambugers.\n\nSecond, there are enormous herds of cattle on ranches in the rural parts of the US, which you generally don't see because they're not along highways, ... | null |
9uqghw | why do my hands feel weak after i watch doctors taking blood. | [
{
"answer": "Likely because some part of the process makes you anxious and you experience a mini fight-or-flight reaction of blood being drained from your extremities to be pumped into things your body deems more important in the moment. Possibly resulting in your hands even becoming totally numb. \n\nSource: A... | null |
arg2iy | if black absorbs all colors on the visible spectrum, then how are there glossy black finishes that reflect light | [
{
"answer": "There are more ways light interacts with a surface than by absorption. Reflection is a different mechanic where the light is bounced off the surface based mostly on the smoothness of the surface. This is only a surface effect.\n\nDifferent materials will have different reflectivity, the tendency fo... | null |
11kabv | Can chivalry in the Middle ages be seen as an attempt to rein in the violence of the warrior classes? | [
{
"answer": "That sort of thing is difficult to measure.\n\nChivalry may have more of a literary basis. The chivalric code appears in stories like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight or in El Cid, but in actual battle field scenarios, finding evidence of chivalry can prove more difficult. The simple fact is that in... | null |
3r3tvw | what is going through my cat's head when he runs back and forth seemingly aimlessly? | [
{
"answer": "Although there are a bunch of factors to consider, (sterilization, age, etc) if I had to make a personal guess, I'd say he has a natural instinct to prowl and hunt like in the wild and since he can't exactly do those things, he just aimlessly runs.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": nu... | null |
710po8 | In physics, why is the formula to calculate force F=ma instead of F=mv (mass x velocity)? | [
{
"answer": "The problem is that you are not calculating an impact force correctly. The equation **F** = m**a** tells you the net force on an object. But the equation does not tell you directly the impact force of one object on another when they crash.\n\nFor instance, if an object of mass *M* traveling at spee... | null |
6b9jzz | What stopped Nixon's push for Universal Healthcare? | [
{
"answer": "Politics, plain and simple.\n\nUntil the end of his life Sen. Edward Kennedy said his greatest regret during his political career was turning down President Nixon's deal on healthcare.\n\n[This column] (_URL_1_) from 2009 and [this one] (_URL_0_) from 2012 do a good job explaining the plan and the ... | null |
cy4svt | how is liquid nitrogen kept cold? can it be kept in a bottle for a long period and still be cold? | [
{
"answer": "LN2 is stored in dewar's for smaller amounts or in cryogenic tanks for larger quantities. Dewar's are just high efficiency thermos tanks usually with a vented lid. Why the vent? Because no thermos is perfect at retaining temperature, so as temp goes up, the volume increases and there is a phase cha... | null |
7iwdqw | how does left-cardiac hypertrophy lead to cardiac arrhythmias? | [
{
"answer": "With left-sided hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the left ventricle is very muscular and that leaves little room for blood to fill up in it between beats. As a result, you can get blood backing up into the left atrium. This stretching can cause electrical signals to get \"messed up\" (simple way to put... | null |
4ubixe | would there be any temperature difference if the speed of the light were slower? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not sure I can ELI5 this, but i'll just try and explain it anyway. I'm not really sure what the best answer, but my best guess is that it depends on what other physical constants changed. Assuming that everything was held constant and you just halve c, going with the [plank einstein relation](_... | null |
1a6p6i | why are x-rays emitted through high powered lights, and just how dangerous could it be with prolonged exposure? | [
{
"answer": "Those aren't actually stage lights; they're the CRT picture tubes from a [rear projection TV](_URL_0_). \n\nCRTs work by accelerating a beam of electrons in a vacuum tube to high energy, and letting the beam hit the phosphor-coated inner surface of the screen. Some of the energy excites atoms in th... | null |
1p0bea | what process has happened over the years that makes things i found as a child hilarious to me then but now not finding them as humorous. | [
{
"answer": "You've developed more sophisticated tastes. Maybe not much more sophisticated, but still, at least a little. You've seen things that are far funnier than simple rude jokes or silly cartoons, and you've also seen so many rude jokes that the idea has gotten old.",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
1ptbqx | How much air do various plants need to live relative to humans? | [
{
"answer": "The short answer is very little. You can keep a [plant in a glass jar]( _URL_0_) forever.\n\nIn principle a plant could run out of CO2, but in practice a plant will survive indefinitely in a sealed jar with a bit of soil because bacteria and nematodes tend to breathe in the O2 and exhale CO2. Plant... | null |
5d6juj | What were the average prices of firearms in the 1890 era american west? | [
{
"answer": "I would suggest finding a period Sears Roebuck catalogue. Sears Roebuck was the Amazon of its day, and sold everything from clothing to medicines to firearms by mail-order.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "This is something that should be simple but incredibly difficult. Store reco... | null |
31o4s8 | hpv -- so there's an std that basically everyone has and it's benign except when it isn't? | [
{
"answer": "Everyone is crawling with bacteria and viruses all the time. Having benign bacteria all over helps keep pathogenic ones away. Even different strains of the same bacteria/virus can behave quite differently.\n\nHPV infection is very common, so yes, it pretty much *is* the common cold of STDs. you can... | null |
5mgnr7 | why did the dea decide to make cbd a schedule 1 narcotic? | [
{
"answer": "Because there is a long history of pharmaceutical companies lobbying to have anything that might take some of their money made illegal. CBD oil is making headlines and deserves to be researched. By lobbying to have it made schedule I, there will be little to no research done in the U.S. ensuring th... | null |
hwlzm | A (probably) dumb question about dimensions... | [
{
"answer": "Absolutely. The [Klein bottle](_URL_0_) is one such example.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I did some googleing and found this for you, kinda lengthy but it looks like it has the potential to answer your questions\n\n_URL_0_\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yes... | null |
2svhly | Historians, can you help me identify this money found in my granddad's WWII warchest? | [
{
"answer": "These are some interesting but commonly found banknotes.\n\nFrom top to bottom, left to right:\n\n10 000 German Mark, 1920's Weimar Republic/Germany.\n\n1 Pound - Japanese Occupation Currency for Oceania.\n\n10 Pesos - Japanese Occupation Currency for the Philippines.\n\n5 Pesos - Japanese Occupati... | null |
32km16 | When the Germans were attacking Russia, and winter began, why didnt the Germans simply not take Russian clothing available on site? | [
{
"answer": "The Soviets implemented a \"scorched earth\" policy designed to deprive the occupying Germans of anything and everything they might use to sustain themselves. This included burning down all usable buildings and their contents, killing any livestock that could not be brought east, poisoning wells an... | null |
cc5gl6 | What did Thomas Jefferson think of the Haitian Revolution? | [
{
"answer": "In Thomas Jefferson's letter to Lafayette in 1791, he wrote about the American, French, and Haitian revolutions. He praised the French for \"exterminating the monster aristocracy, & pulling out the teeth & fangs of it’s associate monarchy.\" However it is clear that he does not see the plight o... | null |
2btftz | why hasnt a large group of people filed a class action suite against verizon or comcast | [
{
"answer": "Many service providers in the US, including Comcast, have clauses in their user agreements which actually forbid customers from engaging in class-action lawsuits against the company. In fact, many of these user agreements prevent you from taking any legal action and mandate that all disputes (that ... | null |
2wyjzk | why don't we have nintendo wii styled controls for a computer instead of the conventional mouse? | [
{
"answer": "Because The wii mote is very imprecise for clicking. The ergonomics don't really work well for the complexities of computers.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "If you have a bluetooth adapter in your computer, [you can absolutely use your Wiimote that way](_URL_0_).\n\nTurns out most... | null |
5xmc03 | what is a typical career path taken to become a us ambassadors? | [
{
"answer": "You can be anything you want! You just have to earn a lot of money. Then you donate it to a political party, and use that donation as leverage to get the position!",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "25602913",
"title": ... | null |
2zz6ls | what do pets think about all day? they must get bored. | [
{
"answer": "Some do which is sometimes why bored dogs for instance destroy furniture",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "4899489",
"title": "Three-toed box turtle",
"section": "Section::::Diet.\n",
"start_paragraph_i... | null |
45s5wb | excess reserves | [
{
"answer": " > Watched Janet Yellen's testimony to congress last week. \n\nFor those of who do not want to use up all of our bandwidth, or week-end time, watching 6 hours of very boring you-tube, could you point us to the part that you are talking about?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
... | null |
5rwsvb | how can gov officials get away with giving seemingly classified information to news outlets? | [
{
"answer": " > The official was not authorized to speak publicly on the subject\n\nThat is not the same thing and does not imply that they gave out classified information. What it means is that the employee was not designated as the public spokesperson for the organization. The information they are giving is ... | null |
9zus8o | why don’t you bleed out when you get an injection? | [
{
"answer": "There is about 50 processes that occur to act together to clot your blood and plug the hole.\nSome people could bleed out, they are called haemophiliacs, and their blood clotting system malfunctions in one way or another.\nBonus fun fact for you, if you take too many blood thinners, you can bleed o... | null |
b6ja5e | how does property line surveying work? | [
{
"answer": "Property lines is often described using features in the terrain and not necessarily coordinates. And even if there is coordinates they may not have been measured with high accuracy, using old datum or the terrain might have changed. So a surveyor is walking around trying to make sense of the previo... | null |
2jn9fc | Isn't it somehow obvious that mathematics don't work with infinite values? | [
{
"answer": "Hidden inside your question is another very philosophically deep question: how does math work? As philosophers and mathematicians have concluded over the last few millienia, mathematics \"works\" by establishing a set of ground rules (called \"axioms\") and deducing consequences based on these rule... | null |
28qe4v | why do computers need screen savers but not tvs? | [
{
"answer": "My TV has a screen saver",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because of [screen burn-in](_URL_0_).\n\nIf you let an old CRT screen display the same image for a longer period of time, that image can be permanently burnt into the screen. (check the link for examples.)\n\nOn TVs this wasn... | null |
30sfp2 | Why did China move to simplified characters instead of the traditional ones? | [
{
"answer": "Short version: because traditional characters, while they make more sense while learning them, are a pain in the ass to write and look very intimidating. The stated benefit was that more people would become literate, which happened (for various reasons)\n\nLonger version deals with Mao's apparent d... | null |
1026ju | Is there any evidence or possibility of truth to the theory that Psilocybin Mushrooms Contributed to Human Evolution? | [
{
"answer": "No. It's a fun theory to entertain if you do a lot of drugs, but that's not how evolution (at this stage) works. Basically, evolution comes from mutations that are passed down through heredity. In other words, even if you gained a higher level of consciousness through pscilocybin mushrooms, this tr... | null |
30vr4s | why is the proportion of left-handed people so small in comparison to right-handed people? shouldn't it be closer to 50:50 than the 10:90 ratio we see today? | [
{
"answer": "Once humans starting using tools, handedness started to matter. A left handed person would be a disadvantage using tools make for right handed people.\n\nOn the other hand, with weapons, being left handed could be an advantage, if everyone was used to fighting right handed people. So there would ... | null |
17no3n | Can tungsten survive lava? | [
{
"answer": "Tungsten **melts** at 3422°C (it boils at a much higher temperature). Pāhoehoe is one of the hotter types of lava, at about 1200°C.\n\nSo nothing would happen. It would get hot, but not melt. There are plenty of elements/metals that have melting temperatures hotter than 1200°C, like titanium, pl... | null |
g139e | ferrofluid carrier fluid? | [
{
"answer": "Did you make the carrier fluid yourself?\n\nWhat was it already made out of?\n\nA quick perusal of google suggests it's most commonly made with Kerosene and Oleic acid.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "533793",
"title... | null |
73s4xx | how can an mri show the side of the body if the person is lying on their back? | [
{
"answer": "It scans all around you, not just from one direction. \n\n[MRI machine](_URL_0_). See how it is round and surrounds your entires body?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "MRI machine image all around you producing a 3d image. You can then view this image from multiple directions (known... | null |
egxzul | how is digesting liquids possible? | [
{
"answer": "Digesting is just breaking down things into small things, then breaking those down into tiny things so you can absorb them. You break proteins down into little amino acid blocks, break down carbs into small pieces, and break down fats into little fatty acids. Your body absorbs those, along with a... | null |
1d442w | Why was human anatomy poorly drawn in ancient works of art? | [
{
"answer": "Not a professional historian, but I have read much on this on my own. Really the question here is fundamentally about the purpose of representational art.\n\nIn many cultures, paintings were not meant to be interpreted at face value, but rather as symbols. Anatomy is rather irrelevant when a cultur... | null |
ezz0t4 | what is technical the difference between a thread and an async-operation? | [
{
"answer": "A thread is a *long-lived* independent running part which is *initiated by the main program*, for example receiving traffic from a network device and once it has received enough, inform the main program that the data is there.\n\nAn asynchronous operation is a *short-lived* independent running *stu... | null |
112zx6 | What started the European explorers craze that got them discovering the new world and Asia? | [
{
"answer": "Money, prestige, and the struggle for dominance over rival nations. The usual suspects.\n\nIt started with Portuguese attempts to corner the spice trade to and from the East Indies by getting ships around Africa (to circumvent the Ottoman control of the ancient overland routes), which was made mor... | null |
atrl6u | investing: buying stocks, selling stocks. eh? | [
{
"answer": "A stock is a piece of the company. If the company issues 1000 stocks, and you own 100 stocks, you essentially own 10% of the company.\n\nThe main reason for buying stocks is investment. If the company makes a profit, the company is worth more, so your share of the company is worth more. The company... | null |
ew4ev5 | why does a yawn filter out any deep bass sounds? | [
{
"answer": "The inner ear is normally sealed, air can’t get in or out. However there is a tube connecting it to the throat so that pressure can be equalised. When you yawn these tubes open. The same thing happens when you swallow and is why when your ears ‘pop’ , like in a plane, swallowing or yawning can fix ... | null |
2h0ahi | If fusion naturally occurs in stars, does fission occur naturally anywhere or only under manmade conditions? | [
{
"answer": "A few nuclei, including some uranium isotopes, fission spontaneously. However this process is very rare. Most fission processes are induced by neutrons, which requires a large assemblage of radioactive and fissile material, and the right geological environment. This happened naturally at least o... | null |
skwpw | What natural disaster significantly changed the course of history? | [
{
"answer": "I guess pompeii might be one, but did that really alter the course of history by a large degree?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The [Lisbon earthquake](_URL_0_) of 1755 had a profound effect on enlightenment philosophy. All the churches were destroyed and a huge number of people ... | null |
b0v5tc | how do photographers who print a lot of tourist photos make a profit if not everything they printed is sold? how does their business model work? | [
{
"answer": "Selling 1 photo pays for a LOT of unsold ones and people are more likely to buy something they can physically see in front of them then on a screen and then wait for it to be printed.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Printing them takes time, particularly drying time so that they do... | null |
6l8aj6 | How did people precisely control the temperature of ovens for baking at specific temperatures? | [
{
"answer": "A bake oven is a very big pile of masonry. Get all that thermal mass up to temperature, and it will fluctuate fairly little, and occasional stoking with a little wood can keep it hot. This is why baking was commonly done either by bakers, all day/night long, or by housewives one day a week: once... | null |
cm3xvu | pcr's (polymer chain reactions) | [
{
"answer": "So it's been a while since I've done it but here goes : Think of DNA like a zipper. Pull the 2 sides apart and then cut the 2 single strands into chunks. With spare zipper teeth (ACTG) you can build 2 new strands, zip it back together and now you have 2 full zippers.",
"provenance": null
}... | null |
40v454 | how do news agencies decide what is a national story? | [
{
"answer": "Great question. The short version is that the news outlets have an editorial meeting every day or every shift to discuss ideas and assign reporting staff to the stories. Many stories come from press releases or public tips. Many more come from routine events, like a city council meeting, a parade,... | null |
xa4ju | What would a tub full of viruses look like? | [
{
"answer": "Hey there! I work with viruses, and this is what I can tell you: \n\nWhen we infect cells, we use vials of virus stockseed, which, depending on which virus you're working with, is essentially a purified suspension of virus that's been frozen and stored until it's needed for use. It's not 100% pur... | null |
1vzatt | if websites like youtube can shorten their url for "sharing" purposes, why can't the url just naturally be shorter? | [
{
"answer": "Taking Youtube as an example, if you actually pay attention to what is in the URI, you might see that this is where different options are passed about what you want to see. For example, if you watch a video and decide to send a link to someone which starts at a certain timestamp, you will get sligh... | null |
602s6d | how come when having a sickness that requires medicine, i have to do it in a span of a week or a few days? | [
{
"answer": "Accomodating the poor English, are you asking why you can't take the whole course of medication at once?\n\nLet's use the antibiotic 'Gentamycin' for example. The drug is not easily filtered out by the kidneys, and an overdose would cause the kidneys to not work. That results in kidney failure and ... | null |
400x08 | Do we believe the figures for Ancient Battles? | [
{
"answer": "This topic, depending on the battle, can be hotly debated among historians. Occasionally archeological evidence can shed light on the battles, but often historians must defer to the written record. That said, most historians won't take the figues exactly at face value. If the army in question is Eg... | null |
196dsv | relative to the size of time and space today, how big was the dot of condensed matter before the big bang. | [
{
"answer": "First off, \"before\" the big bang is an absurd qualifier. Time, space and possibly causality too, originated at the big bang. Asking what happened \"before\" that is like asking what's north of the north pole - in other words, a statement so absurd that it's [not even wrong](_URL_0_).\n\nBut, to a... | null |
76ij08 | if our body focused on preventing telomere reduction, what changes might our bodies experience? | [
{
"answer": "To prevent telomere reduction, your cells have to stop dividing. If you meant regenerating telomeres, I don't have the answer for that",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Cancer. Cells continuing to divide with no limit is called cancer.\n\nIf you mean instead \"what would happen to us... | null |
ajce0s | what is the difference in propaganda and fake news | [
{
"answer": "Well, one thing to be cautious of, is that 'fake news' is thrown around with relative abandon today, even against news that is not, in fact, fake *or* propaganda, merely which contrasts against the viewer's given preference. \n\nSo in some ways, it is simply a slur against the reporting organizatio... | null |
bwc53q | Did the Strategic Defense Initiative Real aka "Star Wars" really help Bankrupt the Soviet Union ? | [
{
"answer": "No. This is a post-Cold War myth, written largely by people who would like to make SDI not appear to be the boondoggle it was, or to make it look like something that had a positive effect on diplomacy, rather than the more easily-documentable negative effect. Pavel Podvig has [written at length abo... | null |
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