id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
2f6qap | Did the USSR have any kind of attempt to appeal to the youth similar to how Captain America got big in the US? | [
{
"answer": "The kinds of figures that were lauded by Soviet propaganda were \"everymen\" who, because of their love of their country etc. etc., rose to do incredible things. The case in point here is Alexey Stakhanov, of the Stakhanovite movement. It would have been at odds with Soviet ideology for science-man... | null |
a7e6g2 | why animals naturally know how and when to mate, where as we are educated or we learn about it from external sources? | [
{
"answer": "We do know. It's just that our society has rules that deviate from natural instincts. That's what you get taught.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "We don't really get taught about the mechanics of sex in our education/external source learning. But it's not a very difficult concept t... | null |
4h1g0r | does your blood temperature actually increase when you get mad or hot(old people saying "makes my blood boil")? | [
{
"answer": "A lot of times when you get angry it's because you feel a psychological threat, like the threat of embarrassment or losing status somehow. Your body can go into 'fight or flight' mode, which increases your adrenaline and your blood pressure.\n\nSo, people that are real angry feel their heart pound... | null |
2ojtku | The Byzantines favored blinding to remove a potential rival from politics. How did the act of blinding take place? What was the favored method for blinding someone? What tools were used? | [
{
"answer": "Two points to make here; Mutilation was a particularly gruesome tool used by the Byzantine (and lots of others), and they used blinding to far greater scope and effect than purely as a way to eliminate potential rivals.\n\nThere is an inherent second level to this question that greatly effects the ... | null |
20x0ka | How big of a part did the navy play during Ancient Rome? What were some of the largest and/or most important naval battles? | [
{
"answer": "Rome's navy was actually very important when it had to undergo the Punic Wars against Carthage. Being that Carthage was on the other side of the Mediterranean, sea dominance was critical at the time. Since Hannibal had to march his army across Gaul and Hispania (modern day France & Spain) and whi... | null |
96721i | When does the body produce Melanin? | [
{
"answer": "Let's limit the question to production and release of eumelanin (=\"true melanin\") in human skin; melanin can be found in other odd places and in different forms.\n\nEumelanin production is stimulated by UV-B-caused DNA damage in the form of pyrimidine dimers in melanocytes, a type of cell disper... | null |
db9jq9 | why our vision appears to be "green" after closing the eyes for some time? | [
{
"answer": "Your eyes when closed still allow some light which is coming through your eyelids. This gives it a reddish hue. When eyes are exposed to this color this much then they adjust which results in lack of red when you open your eyes.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance"... | null |
a2dblj | why can’t a patient’s blood be reused in cases of internal bleeding? | [
{
"answer": "Yes. It's called a cell saver. The blood is suctioned out of the surgical field; washed, filtered, and centrifuged; then transfused back to the patient. It takes some time to set up, but it can save you using a few units of blood. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yes, cell-saver ca... | null |
bqdt20 | why do aa and aaa batteries not shock us when touching opposite ends with wet fingers, but licking a 9 volt battery does? | [
{
"answer": "First of all, your saliva is much more conductive than your skin.\n\nSecondly, 9 volts is times stronger than 1.5 volts.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The technical answer:\nYour skin poses a much higer resistance than your saliva, which Is in fact slightly conductive.\nIf the re... | null |
7s0um6 | why does antipsychotic medication mess with motor function and cause the body to tense up? | [
{
"answer": "Super simplified laymans knowledge version: psych drugs affect various neurotransmitters in the brain (dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, etc), these neurotransmitters are multipurpose and some regulate motor function in addition to mood. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The move... | null |
3nhz3x | Why did Benjamin Franklin not discuss the Revolution in his autobiography? | [
{
"answer": "The answer for this is fairly simply, apologies therefore if this seems rather sparse for a top-level post. \n\nFranklin does not discuss the Revolution, because he died before finishing the autobiography. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
863bug | why does the education system favours memory retention over imagination? | [
{
"answer": "Because most of us are not going to be in a situation where we need crazy outside the box imaginations. Most of us are going to have jobs where we’ll need the knowledge and competence in that particular field, and would only need a limited imagination to problem solve within the scope of our positi... | null |
6tznf6 | Does uranium actually glow green as it's often depicted? If so, why? | [
{
"answer": "[Uranium glass glows green under UV](_URL_0_) and was pretty popular in the mid-20th century. However it's not the radioactivity making things glow, it's a regular atomic transition. Radium was also used as a glowing paint before it was realized how horribly dangerous that is, and tritium is occasi... | null |
1sbifl | when you're reviewing your research, how the hell do you find the null hypothesis? | [
{
"answer": "The nullhypothesis is a statistical question. \n\nIt is the question you ask in order to disprove your hypothesis.\n\nIf you cannot disprove it with the data you collect, then the hypothesis must be correct.\n\n(Well, most likely correct.)\n\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
... | null |
12i2p2 | What happens to satellites and other objects orbiting our planet when they are outdated or no longer work? | [
{
"answer": "They become so called space junk or [space debris](_URL_0_).\n\nThe ISS had a most recent event, where they had to dodge an oild satelite [Source](_URL_1_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Ideally, low earth orbit satellites would be de-orbited intentionally when they are no longer ... | null |
b5rbvf | Is a child born via egg donor related to the birth giver? How much so? | [
{
"answer": "If you mean does the surrogate influence the foetus it grows in any way then yes. While not all that common, it is possible for the foetus to take on the mitochondrial DNA of the surrogate mother, whilst still retain the egg and sperm donors DNA within the rest of their genetic make up.\n\nHere is ... | null |
c0jgdl | what does "support/maintenance" for software mean? what is part of it, why do companies pay money for it instead of foregoing it to save money? | [
{
"answer": "It's like buying a really nice warranty for your phone.\n\nIf your phone breaks, and you don't have the warranty, then you better hope you know how to fix it.\n\nBut, if you bought the nice warranty, then you get 24/7 support from the manufacturer who will answer any questions you have, will fly a ... | null |
1cwqd6 | Was being a frontline, front rank, musket-carrying infantryman in conflicts like the Seven Years War a death sentence? | [
{
"answer": "These types of questions have been brought up a lot around here so I will try to sum them up and then post ones I am referring to later (bed time).\n\nOne post talks about how men in these battles would actually be pretty bad at aiming and only be drilled in firing and reloading, some never said \"... | null |
24wp03 | Why do I talk louder when I can't hear my voice as well? | [
{
"answer": "[Speakers rely on auditory feedback of their own voices when speaking.](_URL_1_) I'm not sure if that article is open-access or not.\n\nA pretty cool demonstration of how much hearing your own voice can disrupt your speech is [delayed auditory feedback](_URL_0_). If you've ever spoken in a room w... | null |
ew0w4k | How did humans end up in the Americas before it got ‘discovered’ by Europeans? | [
{
"answer": "I would suggest cross posting this question at r/AskAnthropology. They even have an entry in their faq regarding this subject.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "1912434",
"title": "Cedros Island",
"section": "S... | null |
bbt3wj | how can we edit dna if it’s so small!? | [
{
"answer": "We use really small tools!\n\n & #x200B;\n\nKeep in mind that eventhough DNA is very small, it is absolutely necessary for an organism to have a full access to it and to manipulate it with critical accuracy. A single mistake, and the whole cell can become cancerous! (it usually commits suicide befo... | null |
4s1z3d | Why does an atom that gains neutrons become radioactive? | [
{
"answer": "Due to the Pauli exclusion principle, you can't have have all the electrons in the same orbital, so you have electron shells and valance electrons and all that. The same applies to protons and neutrons. The important thing here is that it applies to them separately. As you add neutrons onto an atom... | null |
lld84 | How does the brain "store" vision? | [
{
"answer": "Edit: Note I'm talking about image storage, which I think is specifically what you're asking about. There is a related but separate area of the brain that just collects raw sensory data (eyes > optic nerve > lateral geniculate nucleus > occipital lobe > secondary association areas like dors... | null |
1nvfsm | why do some people get so effin' angry over repetitive noises? | [
{
"answer": "My answer has no scientific basis, and is pretty much just my own experience, but I think when we are concentrating on certain tasks (in this instance playing LoL) and we hear things that not only distract us, but also annoy us, it either makes us want to try even harder to tune them out and contin... | null |
2thrm8 | Pretty sure most of these photos are from WW1... what can you all tell me about them? (OC xpost from r/pics) | [
{
"answer": "The first four are of American troops during WWI. No patches, distinctive hats, puttees (like an ace bandage wrapped around the shoe tops and lower leg). \nTho others are from WWII, one of an infantry division (91st?) corporal/technician on a what looks to be a plow horse (the 91st had a tough time... | null |
2todt6 | Did the US *have* to nuke Japan in WWII? | [
{
"answer": "You might be interested in some threads from the WWII FAQ section on \"[The atomic bombs](_URL_2_)\" as well as from a recent search:\n\n**Overview of the Atomic Bombings**\n\n* [Could America have used the atomic bomb on a purely military target or some other more ethical way to force Japan's hand... | null |
45vnwr | why does it always come down to "drink lots of fluids" when you tell the doc you gave the flu? | [
{
"answer": "There's no cure for influenza once you're sick. It's a self-limiting and mild infection that your immune system will fight off, all you have to do is keep your body working long enough for it to do so. That means sleep and fluids.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You can take meds, ... | null |
dfig0i | when we sleep on our arms or legs in a weird way, why does the resulting muscle ache only seem to go away after we sleep again? | [
{
"answer": "I’m not an expert, but my understanding is that sleep helps the body heal from a lot of different things, including this.\n\nThe 5-year-old version is that while asleep, your body can put all of its focus on maintenance instead of giving you energy to do stuff. This includes healing wounds and inju... | null |
az8n0g | Was the Propaganda leaflets dropped over japan effective? | [
{
"answer": "Contrary to a lot of internet confusion, no leaflets warning about the atomic bomb were dropped on Japanese cities prior to the bombing of Nagasaki. Certainly none indicated any actual possible targets. You can read the whole story [here](_URL_0_), as well as read the official report on the leaflet... | null |
4u91nx | What was J.S. Bach's personality like? | [
{
"answer": "I am not a Bach scholar, so take this with caution.\n\nMy understanding is that we don't have much to know about his private life. There aren't many personal documents of his... For other composers we have many letters, and even fragments of conversations. We have many accounts of them because they... | null |
587lmt | how can a country survive without government? | [
{
"answer": "There aren't really any historical precedents and the closest contemporary examples (e.g. Somalia) sure don't look good.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They can't... or at least... not on a scale that we would recognize as a country.\n\nA country without a government would just be... | null |
ykmno | A question regarding language... | [
{
"answer": "Some groups of humans separated at least fifty-thousand years ago. Just look how different some dialects are in the US although they only had about 250 years to form and English is a pretty established language and you don't find new things you need new words for twice a day.\n",
"provenance": ... | null |
5dhf38 | why do streams need to buffer although the bar shows that it has many minutes preloaded already? | [
{
"answer": "I know YouTube stopped doing this as many people were not watching all the way through, so they now only pre-load in segments, say 30sec intervals. What may what happened to you is the player is incorrectly showing the buffer. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The reason for this is... | null |
49gcqh | Is it possible to slow down radioactive decay through cooling? | [
{
"answer": "To the best knowledge we have at present, radioactive decay is not perceptibly affected by any external conditions such as temperature or pressure.\n\nChemical composition of the substance slightly affects some forms (electron capture, internal conversion) of radioactive decay for some substances, ... | null |
6ynder | How do distant neurons know to connect with each other to create new pathways? | [
{
"answer": "Most synapses are formed during development and the number of synapses in humans peaks in early development. This process is largely governed genetically during development. This synaptic maximum is followed by a period of synaptic pruning that ends in adolescence. A lot less neurogenesis or synapt... | null |
a51ytx | how did it come to be that michael jackson owned the beatles’ songs? | [
{
"answer": "Songwriters often contract with a publishing company to market their songs for commercial purposes. That means they sell the rights to commercial use to the company, and the company pays them royalties (either a flat dee or a percentage every time the song is used). This is a benefit to the songwri... | null |
23rc3m | If we can "freeze" light for a minute, does that mean that we can "freeze" time? | [
{
"answer": "No. The freezing of light actually involves absorbing light in a very cold gas. It's so cold that the atoms have an \"absorbed\" state that lasts a very long time before re-emitting the light in its former trajectory. Not directly related to relativity or anything like that.",
"provenance": nul... | null |
4y5wcr | why are we less likely to fancy new stuff (especially music, art, cartoons, etc) when we get older? why does it always seem that only children and teenagers pick up on the latest crazes? | [
{
"answer": "Lack of time, mostly. When you've got a 40+ hour job, kids to raise and other obligations, it becomes much more difficult to devote time to seeking out new culture. Stuff that you're familiar with is comforting and easy and people would rather devote what little free time they have to stuff they kn... | null |
fxvg0 | Humans are one species, but we speak different languages in different parts of the world, which means not every human could communicate with every other human. Are any other species like this? | [
{
"answer": "Humans can communicate without language.\n\nCommunication through a shared cultural experience like language is another story. Birds and whales have been known to sing in regionally-specific patterns which could be considered a form of expression through culture.",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
2ab0w1 | what would the u.s. government have to do in order to make college free in the states? | [
{
"answer": "I'll assume that we're trying for a Swedish style system because, hey, that's worked. I'm on mobile, so I won't pull sources unless you guys need them.\n\nOver there, they spend about 4% of their GNP on education and research, one of the highest rates in the world. This would amount to about 640 bi... | null |
518meq | flashing headlights at oncoming traffic | [
{
"answer": "Having lived in the UK and Australia I can say that in these places at least this usually means that there is a speed camera stationed up ahead and the other driver is warning you.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They're trying to say \"pay attention\" but they can't really do much... | null |
5i94l5 | What substance (if any) is there to claims of Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact by the Arab or Muslim sailors? | [
{
"answer": "There's always room for discussion but perhaps the section [Travel and contact across the Atlantic before Columbus](_URL_0_) from our FAQ will answer your inquiry.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "53508543",
"title": ... | null |
3rq1tv | Could somebody who specialises in American history assess the historical accuracy of the article "Southern Slavery As It Was" written by two American pastors with Confederate sympathies? | [
{
"answer": "I haven't read Wilson and Wilkins' book, but I've read several reviews of it which, as far as I can tell, tear it apart. [Here's one response](_URL_2_) from Rev. Jack Davidson of Eugene, OR, engaging with a number of Wilson and Wilkins' primary sources - from the Slave Narrative Project - and poin... | null |
70kkkz | how was professional cooking and baking handled hundreds of years ago in the hot seasons with no refrigeration? | [
{
"answer": "No complex concept here. People cooked or baked every day, and ate the products soon so they didn't have a chance to rot. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Everything was made fresh.\n\nYou didn't store chicken breasts in a freezer, you had a chicken coop. If you wanted chicken for... | null |
3aa0w0 | Roman, Merovingian, and Carolingian political organization: what was the relationship between them? | [
{
"answer": "I can tell you about the Carolingian organization and the birth of feudalism\n\nCarolingian administration was in some aspects a direct inheritor of Roman tradition, attemtping a centralized imperial administration, where important regional powers were actually functionaries of the empire, so their... | null |
9pds43 | what happens with all the profits the fortune 500 companies make? | [
{
"answer": "Like any other companies's profits. It goes into bank account and used to pay for things later. \n\nMaybe later next year we build a new factory. Maybe we buy new machines. Maybe we get big bonus. \n\nOr maybe be put it into an investment account until we find a use for it.",
"provenance": n... | null |
1qkupp | Has there ever been a country that **de**industrialized for self-sustainability purpose? | [
{
"answer": "I personally have no knowledge of any in modern times that did this on their own accord, though Germany post WWII was forced to deindustrialize. The [Morgenthau Plan](_URL_1_) was proposed by [Hengry Morgenthau](_URL_0_.) who was the United States Secretary of the Treasury. Post WWII no one in the ... | null |
ary092 | hand sanitizer kills the germs, but the germs still remains on our hands. so its not clean right? | [
{
"answer": "yeah hand sanitizer is a good stop gap if you're in a place you can't wash and just wanna disinfect, but you cant just use hand sanitizer and never wash your hands :(",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yes, not clean. But also the dirt is not as dangerous anymore, just \"stuff that s... | null |
7zlb2u | What would a spaceship moving at 0.9c firing lasers both in front of it and behind it look like to an external reference frame? | [
{
"answer": "An observer who sees the spaceship moving at speed 0.9*c*, will see both light signals moving at speed *c*. The distance between the ship and the front signal increases at a rate of 0.1*c*. The distance between the ship and the back signal increases at a rate of 1.9*c*. The distance between the two... | null |
5rinw3 | why do they launch boats sideways instead of forward when first launching them? | [
{
"answer": "Boats are designed to have their weight supported for the entirety of the keel length. \n\nIf you tried to launch long boat pointy bit first, you'd have a time when the front is in the water, the back is still on the dock and the middle is unsupported. This (potentially) kills the boat. \n\nAnd the... | null |
3ve2oj | why does insulation work? | [
{
"answer": "Heat moves in 3 ways, convection, radiation and conduction.\n\nWarm air in the room, comes near the cold window, cools, and settles downwards towards the floor. Warm air comes in to replace the cold air that is settling at the floor. This creates a circular current of warm air coming to the window,... | null |
1p5swh | What were relations like between Pirates and Native Americans? | [
{
"answer": "Mixed.\n\nSome pirates utilized them to great ability, if your definition of \"pirate\" encompases privateers, buccaneers, corsairs, and freebooters. For simplicities sake, I'll use the term \"pirate\" as a catch all term for non-traditional non-governmental forces though including those groups th... | null |
28smgw | Why are the major producing oil fields located where they are? | [
{
"answer": "Oil fields are where they are as a due to the location of ancient organic-rich basins. Why were the organic-rich basins there? Tectonics, they generally drive the placement of landmasses.\n\n\nFor oil to be extracted, it needs:\n\n- a source rock: often these are shales with high carbon content, t... | null |
eaxkvq | how do caterpillars know when to spin a cocoon? | [
{
"answer": "How do you know when to go to the bathroom or shield your eyes from the sun with your hand?\n\nOkay it's not exactly the same, but we can all explain how it's because of chemical signals and hormones that indicate to the organism to change their behavior, but ultimately to really know what it's lik... | null |
xfq58 | I heard the Human body holds many more bacterial cells than it has Human cells. Hypothetically speaking, if all the bacterial cells could be removed from an average human, would that translate to a significant loss in weight? | [
{
"answer": "Not particularly. The vast majority are in your large intestine and appear to be feces in training. Each individual bacterial cell is much smaller than the average human cell, thus the difference.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_... | null |
3nw69o | why do closed rooms have a particular "smell" to them? | [
{
"answer": "the smell (in general) is because of the molecules carried by the air like salt in the sea. That means that when you're smelling, let's say an orange, you absorb orange molecules that carries the smell. \n\nWhen air is stagnant, you get something like the dead Sea (to continue the metaphor) where b... | null |
2gwn4x | how does yelp manipulate reviews? | [
{
"answer": "Yelp was accused of manipulating reviews, almost in a Mafia-like fashion. Business owners would get calls from Yelp asking if they wanted to purchase advertising (Yelp's main source of revenue). If they said no, some noticed their positive reviews disappear. No definitive statistics exist on this. ... | null |
cingl1 | Why did people think Anastasia survived/escaped the Romanov execution? | [
{
"answer": "There were rumors of each of them being the sibling to have survived, actually - and bear in mind that the full story we know of the Romanovs being executed in the House of Special Purpose was not publicly known at the time. People weren't even really sure that Nikolai and Alexandra were dead, let ... | null |
1nuo22 | why can astronomers see many distant galaxies but they don't know what's on outside of our own solar system? | [
{
"answer": "The Oort cloud isn't actually emitting any light, so there isn't anything for our telescopes to pick up on. Distant galaxies, on the other hand, are composed of countless stars as bright as or brighter than our own. Its the same reason you could see a lighthouse from miles away out at sea, but not ... | null |
70agth | The Collapse of the Kievan Rus' | [
{
"answer": "Firstly, Moscow was never a large city prior or during Mongol conquest. And it was sacked.\nSecondly, Novgorod avoided the fate because it was far enough away to the Mongols to not bother to go there. Novgorod accepted the Mongol rule anyway.\nThirdly, there was no 'powerful Russian state' based ou... | null |
2wf5ws | Why was Catharism never as succesful as Protestantism? | [
{
"answer": "Hi! You might be interested in this similar thread:\n\n* [How was it that Protestantism spread so far and to so many people in Europe, when previous heresies such as Catharism and Fraticelli were much smaller and more confined?](_URL_0_): A flaired user answers the OP's question plus some follow-up... | null |
4oipak | Were the plays and poetry made by William Shakespeare considered vulgar, sexually explicit and immoral in his own lifetime, or shortly after his death? Was he considered a great playwright during his lifetime? | [
{
"answer": "Shakespeare was writing for a \"common\" audience, as well as for a noble one. His plays were ones that everyone could understand, which did mean that there are several that have \"low art\" in them. Much Ado about Nothing comes to mind, there are several dick jokes in it, as does Romeo and Juliet ... | null |
2oie6m | How did one join the Soviet secret police in the 1920's? | [
{
"answer": "Originally, the CHEKA was originally drawn from Petrograd Bolshevik members. As it grew into the 1920's Felix Dzerzhinksy, the man Lenin put in charge of the CHEKA after its initial head, Moses Uritski, was shot and killed, recruited from members of the Bolshevik faction he knew to be trustworthy a... | null |
1q92qp | how do news organizations report natural disaster death counts so specifically and so quickly (i.e. "88 people dead as a result of ...")? | [
{
"answer": "When there are major incidents, local emergency workers generally establish a command post-type place where things like fatalities are reported as soon as they're located. When they give the death toll, they give it based off the numbers that have been reported thus far.",
"provenance": null
... | null |
zwt3h | what is *everything* made of? | [
{
"answer": "The 12 particles and 4 forces of the Standard Model. It stops at the elemental particles like quarks, gluons, electrons, photons, neutrinos stuff like that",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Well it matters who you ask. Most will say that right now, and most likely for as far as we wi... | null |
vxmhf | how can dogs bark and whine if they don't have a voice box? | [
{
"answer": " > I assume they don't have a voice box, otherwise they'd be able to talk, right?\n\nNot right. Pretty much all amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals have a larynx (aka, \"voice box\").\n\nTo quote Wikipedia:\n\n > computer-modeling techniques have suggested that the species-specific human tongu... | null |
uh5az | What aspects of Turner's
Frontier thesis are still
accepted by modern
environmental historians? | [
{
"answer": "Forgive me for not directly answering the question, but since there are no responses yet, I'll give a little background on the Turner thesis. You can find the text of the thesis online here (1920 republishing): _URL_0_\n\nThe American frontier was officially declared \"closed\" in 1890, with Turn... | null |
zs0xr | How common was violence against peasants in the Middle Ages? Is it exaggerated in novels and films? | [
{
"answer": "Unfortunately, there are few sources available to answer this definitively. Most chronicles from the time would be more concerned with the affairs if the Church and of those people rich enough to matter.\n\nIt is certainly recorded that peasants could often find themselves victims of deliberate att... | null |
35cui5 | why exactly do phone carriers sell their cellular devices with all of those unnecessary apps that users can't delete and stay on your phone forever unused? | [
{
"answer": "Somebody is paying them to. Since it's not you, suspicion would have to fall on the app producers, or the data sellers that benefit from the data extracted by the apps.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "4481381",
"tit... | null |
2fy6nk | as something gets closer and closer to the exact center of a body of mass (say, earth), what happens to the gravitational force from that body of mass? | [
{
"answer": " > So say it was completely possible to drill down to the exact center of the earth. How would gravity change from the surface of earth to the core?\n\nIf the Earth were the same density throughout, gravity would drop the further down you went, and would reach zero at the center. \n\nThis is becau... | null |
8jdtfj | why is it that you can try something for hours and hours, take a break/be done for the day and somehow do it your first time upon retrying? | [
{
"answer": "Your subconscious continues the learning process while you do other stuff or sleep. Also your body and mind are now well rested and it makes it easier to do stuff.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I just heard a really great interview with sleep expert Matthew Walker. He had a theor... | null |
1w7xx3 | Why did the Lorica Segmentata become the foremost armor both before and after the use of chain mail? What was special about the period that favored it? Why did plate not gain prominence again for a thousand years? | [
{
"answer": "Lorica segmentata was designed largely as a form of scale/plate hybrid armor that had overlapping strips of metal that allowed a wide range of protection. Its initial advantages, namely being more sturdy and resilient as a form of armor, were outweighed by its cost, and the technical proficiency ne... | null |
2buw2c | why do people turn down the music when they're close to locating a street or destination? | [
{
"answer": "I do it because I feel like it helps me focus. The music seems like a distraction, especially if it's loud.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Depends how loud you have it I suppose...I usually play mine pretty loud in the car so I turn it down out of respect for the people living ar... | null |
8ao9w4 | what is actually happening (inside) when you plug a portable charger into itself? | [
{
"answer": "It's not technically bad, it's just dumb (no offense). All that will happen is the charger will generate heat from the current while slowly losing charge to the resistance of the cable used to plug it into itself. Longer cables will provide more resistance, though most cables for such a thing won'... | null |
3gynrb | why do people in the us work so much? | [
{
"answer": "Average work week in the US is 47 hours a week. Full time is 40 hours. There is no required amount of vacation time in the US, the average number of days of paid vacation a year are 12 (this includes paid federal holidays), The average number of sick days a year are 10 and they are generally non-pa... | null |
4cokqm | all 5 mass extinction of the earth | [
{
"answer": "[From youngest to oldest...](_URL_0_)\n\n0. **[Holocene/Anthropocene Extinction](_URL_4_):** Ongoing. By all accounts, humans are now in the midst of a [6th major extinction](_URL_2_). Only the culprit this time isn't an asteroid or a volcano, its human activities. We are causing rates of extinctio... | null |
6f90mp | why is saudi arabia not diversifying their economy to include solar or wind power? | [
{
"answer": "Oil is so cheap there that solar and wind aren't affordable in comparison.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "But they are:\n\n[Source 1](_URL_2_)\n\n[Source 2](_URL_1_)\n\n[Source 3](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Solar and wind are strictly local power sou... | null |
3elnc9 | When the US entered WW2, how far did geography determine where a draftee would be deployed? For instance were those from Cali more likely to head into the Pacific, and likewise New Yorkers into Europe/North Africa? Brit here and it's something I've no idea about! | [
{
"answer": "Hello everyone, \n\nUnfortunately, we have already had to remove a number of poor quality responses in this thread. In this thread, there have been a large number of incorrect, speculative, or otherwise disallowed comments, and as such, they were removed by the mod-team. Please, before you attempt ... | null |
7x525n | why are portraits, any paintings of humans really, almost always left or right-facing instead of directly forward? | [
{
"answer": "People often look less flattering when faced front on. If you’re creating an artwork you most likely want it to look as aesthetically pleasant as possible. This would be much harder if the subject looked ugly. \n\nAlso when drawing or painting the (technical) purpose is to create depth. Facing fro... | null |
2i36fq | Is "Common Ancestor" a Literal Concept of a Single Animal? | [
{
"answer": "It makes more sense to think of a common ancestral population rather than individual. It is always a population issue, not just an individual.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "In evolutionary terms \"common ancestor\" is not used to represent an individual. The term defines a specie... | null |
4y5mtj | why does it make a difference in taste, if the water i brew tea with has boiled or not? | [
{
"answer": "It's about temperature and solubility. Coffee is the same way, you're toeing a fine line with certain flavor compounds that come out at certain temps.\n\nFor instance, if you boil the water, once it's all mixed in with the tea leaves it'll sit at say 204F (95C), this is hot enough to get all of the... | null |
bu0ngh | In theory (disregarding light pollution), do we see more stars now than our ancestors hundreds of years ago? | [
{
"answer": "Not really, no. The length of time that's passed even over the entire existence of mankind is a very small portion of the universe's age, so the factor by which the observable universe has grown during humanity's existence is very small.\n\nThere is a more fundamental reason why we can't see furthe... | null |
1ye1ms | what happens when someone wins a large amount of money (powerball, pch) and why does everyone seem to be broke after? | [
{
"answer": "People go broke mainly because they don't understand that if you are not making money right now, you should not be spending it. They don't invest the money they make in something that will make them money and they spend large amounts of money because they have it right now. They don't think about t... | null |
33i09h | Do plants/trees experience wind chill? | [
{
"answer": "Wind chill is simply a way of expressing the enhanced rate of convective heat transfer on surfaces due to convection. This applies for all surfaces, not just human skin. So yes, a tree will have more heat transfer away from its surface when the wind is blowing just like a human would.\n\nHowever,... | null |
3m3p7j | How can you separate mixed dna samples? | [
{
"answer": "They always have to do this to separate out the victim's DNA. Adding one extra isn't too tough - if you know there are two perpetrators, they test quite a bit of DNA and can get 3 different results. In a large gang rape, it gets increasingly difficult, but apparently is improving. Here's an interes... | null |
1qws7h | What would be found in a WW2 British soldiers rucksack or knapsack | [
{
"answer": "This [YouTube](_URL_0_) link shows some of the items a British solider would have during the Japanese invasion of Singapore. Some canned food, grenades, .303 ammunition, gas masks and a few other items that I can't make out. It also brings up another question for you. Which theater in WWII and w... | null |
8b6f8n | Would a fusion reactor be affected by earthquakes? | [
{
"answer": "Fusion reactors are created using super-cooled magnets that sustain the fusion reaction. Unlike a fission reactor that would go into meltdown if enough damage were to be done because the reaction is self-sustaining, a fusion reactor would simply shut down since the reaction cannot sustain itself.",... | null |
14uvle | In light of today's Connecticut shooting, are mass shootings a fairly recent occurrence? | [
{
"answer": "The answer is pretty straightforward. Mass shootings didn't occur when the shooter could only fire one round per minute.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I think a better question would be did killing sprees occurred prior to the type of 24hr tv news coverage we have now on scales w... | null |
5l9lqr | When did Europeans in New Zealand start adopting the practice of Haka from the Maori? | [
{
"answer": "hi! Hopefully some of the NZ specialists will drop by to address this question, but meanwhile, you can get a little start here\n\n* [Why has New Zealand embraced indigenous culture more than other former British Colonies?](_URL_1_) - /u/Cenodoxus makes a few comments on adoption of the Haka\n\n.. a... | null |
evgm3 | Physics student with a question on Mathematics. Seeking answers from those who work in a physic's capacity everyday. | [
{
"answer": "Maybe mathematical statistics (not too sure what they're including in the course though) or real analysis (although I don't know if you really need a whole course in this). What area of physics are you thinking of? Experimental, theoretical or computational? ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"... | null |
69c7fs | if our feet are naturally arched and used on the flat ground, why do flat shoes ruin arch support? | [
{
"answer": "The ground our feet evolved to have an arch on wasn't really flat. Floors, sidewalks, and other manmade flat surfaces aren't really natural; they're just easier to sweep.\n\nFeet do best on paths with little rocks or gravel, grassy areas, sand, and other rough or uneven surfaces.",
"provenance"... | null |
70v8mw | how is it that so many laws and rules are being placed that have their basis rooted in religion, yet the constitution includes the "separation of church and state" ideal? | [
{
"answer": "The separation of church and state simply states that the government cannot support or suppress a specific religion. If you were to not allowed to pass a law that was in line with a religion you wouldn't be able to pass anything really.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The Constitut... | null |
3fqzbh | What were the lives of Black people in the United Kingdom like during the World Wars? | [
{
"answer": "side note: did experience differ from Black British and West-Indies/African immigrants? ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "40362495",
"title": "Racism in the United Kingdom",
"section": "Section::::Black Britis... | null |
6pt2tc | why is the word "reich" always used in texts about germany, instead of translating it? | [
{
"answer": "Because the word \"realm\" (the closest translation) is too general. Even German has multiple words for \"realm of a king\" vs \"realm of an emperor\" vs \"realm of someone else\".\n\nBy saying \"the Nazi realm\", what do we mean? Do we mean Germany and Austria, where the Nazis actually ruled direc... | null |
af2c42 | How do vegetables such as onions, potatoes, and garlic sprout long after harvest? | [
{
"answer": "Yep, they're still alive!\n\nA potato, carrot or beetroot is essentially a storage container for the plant. Take the carrot - it's a biannual, meaning it has a two-year life cycle where the plant spends the first year of its life gathering energy and nutrients, and the second year spending its stor... | null |
6xsi9j | Why did the Catholic Church seem to be opposed to lay people reading the Bible? | [
{
"answer": "Not exactly true. Catholic Church does not opposed lay reading Bible. In fact, reading of the Bible is part of the Mass and regular attendee of the Masses will hear a large portion of both Testaments in span of few years.\n\nGiven, that Catholic rites formed in the period of nearly universal illite... | null |
3ja1a2 | what does canada's recession mean, exactly? what makes it different from the economic recession of the usa a few years back, and what does it mean for the average canadian? | [
{
"answer": "Just for ref ... America experienced a crash not a recession. Their markets were artificially valued so high that the correction threaten to basically devalue the American dollar to the point of worthlessness.\n\nCanada is experiencing a shrinkage of GDP for 2 quarters (that's what a recession is)... | null |
2us43c | If I were in an astronaut suit and I floated through one of Saturn's rings, what would happen to me? | [
{
"answer": "The rings are actually quite a dense mass of particles so your chance of hitting something massive is very high. If you hit the rings plane at more than (say) ten metres per second you will be in a lot of trouble.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
1r9dom | Do we know if people with depression have a structurally different brain when compared to person without depression. | [
{
"answer": "Great question! There's been a lot of investigation into biological differences related to depression; much of this work (at least that I'm familiar with) is related to hormonal differences. However, you're asking specifically about structural differences, so I'll give you an example from morphomet... | null |
2filh8 | why we can't change our vocal chords to sound exactly like another person, through surgery | [
{
"answer": "it's not just the cords. it's the shape of the voicebox. the throat. the teeth the cheek. and the muscle control",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "24797922",
"title": "Voice therapy",
"section": "Section::... | null |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.