id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
53sqz1 | what would happen if the world were to hit the reset button on the global economy? | [
{
"answer": "If everyone agreed to this, it would be very bad going forward. It would mean all the bonds issued by all countries would have a value of zero, which would destroy retirements, investments, pensions, etc.\n\nA countries currency and bonds are tied to their credit rating. If we can just \"reset\" wh... | null |
4mupmd | Did other nations have a similar "Manifest Destiny" period where huge numbers of settlers expanded the frontiers of the country? | [
{
"answer": "Japan comes to mind with their expansion into the Northern region of Hokkaido. That period of history in Japan has many parallels to Western expansion in the states. Right down to the subjugation of the native people who lived in the region. In Japan's case the native people were the Ainu instead o... | null |
85759g | if your neurones make a new connection when you learn something new, would it be possible to run out of space in your brain for new connections to form. | [
{
"answer": "No, basically a neuron is capable of thousands of potential connection to other neurons, your brain is formed of trillions of these neural pathways (synapses) and they do strengthen and weaken over time. Your brain cleans out old or unused pathways as it develops more. The potential for creating ne... | null |
i8ej7 | Is racism due to society or biology? -Social/Psychology- | [
{
"answer": "Inclusivity (ie, the feeling to exclude those you consider outsiders) comes from our inherent psychology (and by extension biology). That this can result in exclusion of other races comes from our history, I think (after all, other races for the majority of history were considered outsiders).",
... | null |
altxn8 | What is used as nutrition to cultivated cell meat? And how much antibiotics is used? | [
{
"answer": "You can avoid antibiotics, but most tissue culture uses some. It is really difficult to do industry-sized cell culture without antibiotics.\n\nAlso, they use fetal bovine serum as a nutrient, which is essentially baby cow blood, so it isn’t vegan and isn’t very sustainable at this point. Maybe some... | null |
72v1wd | why do some sites require credit card ccv numbers, and others (like amazon) do not? | [
{
"answer": "The CVV2 number isn't *required* to charge the card, but it reduces the risk of fraud. If the transaction is fraudulent, the merchant might end up having to pay fees or fines to their payment processor, so merchants have an incentive to check CVV2s. But if they don't want to and are willing to risk... | null |
1ayta7 | Why are the Planck Length, Time and Temperature so unbelievably minuscule or enormous while the Planck Mass is close to being on our scale, being the mass of a flea's egg or an eyelash? | [
{
"answer": "That's an interesting misconception that seems to be rather common. Not everything with the name \"Planck\" behind is unbelievably small. \n\nWe physicists are lazy, and we don't like keep tracking of dimensions, so we use a system of units in which there is only one to measure things: in length a... | null |
9i0vyh | AM modulation - What are sidebands? | [
{
"answer": "Say you have a finite bandwidth baseband signal, with upper cutoff of Fmax Hz. When you modulate a carrier of Fc, the baseband frequency response is shifted to the interval (Fc, Fc + Fmax] called the *upper* sideaband. This is mirrored across Fc, creating the *lower* sideband on the interval [Fc-F... | null |
fhu5ht | how do viral test kits work? | [
{
"answer": "A technique called qPCR. You use an enzyme called Reverse transcriptase to convert viral RNA into DNA. Then followed by another enzyme called DNA polymerase to clone it multiple times.\n\nMix that with fluorescent DNA primers (short glowing chunks) that are used by the enzyme to build the target DN... | null |
5pp8b2 | how did ancient people find/define constellations when there was no light pollution? | [
{
"answer": "The pictures you see are long exposure photos, which don't accurately represent what you see when you look at the night sky without any light pollution. [This photo](_URL_0_) much more accurately represents what you see with your own eyes than [this photo](_URL_1_). As you can see, it's very easy t... | null |
4pv0i8 | are vegetables alive? | [
{
"answer": "Yes they are alive. The carrot you have in your refrigerator may not sprout given the best care possible. The top was taken off. It was washed repeatedly, and is at the end of its life cycle.\n\nThe sweet potato I bought last Thanksgiving and left on the counter sprouted a week ago. I threw it out ... | null |
1iecmg | why do i always wake up from a dream immediately before i suffer some kind of fatal physical harm (ex. someone shoots me, stabs me, hits me etc.) | [
{
"answer": "It's because your brain is reacting to the fear of the situation. It's like \"Oh! Bad situation. Done!\" so you wake up. Your mind doesn't want to go through that, and you've never experienced it, so you also don't know how to react. :)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You don't. \n... | null |
9sl4rx | Do we have any evidence that the Azores were inhabited by humans at any point prior to their discovery by the Portuguese? | [
{
"answer": "We might! \n\nIt's very possible that sharp-eyed observers could have gained clues that the Azores were out there long before their official discovery; many migratory bird species stop there, and anyone watching birds moving northeast from the Azores could have deduced they were coming from islands... | null |
ixhio | If a mosquito bites my eye, would it be able to suck up any blood? Would it itch? | [
{
"answer": "This is a great question (because there may not be a complete answer)!\n\n.\n\nFirst, an aside: When using PubMed to search for another unpleasant insect-eye interaction\n\n > [bee sting, eye](_URL_3_)\n\nThere are quite a few results... case studies of bees stinging people's cornea (the transparen... | null |
1bwbuu | How does deionized water stay deionized? | [
{
"answer": "Deionized water still autodisassociates just like all other water. The 'deionized' part refers to the fact that the protons and hydroxides are (nominally) the only ions in solution.\n\nA deionizer works by passing normal water (from the tap, usually) through a series of filters and ion exchangers.... | null |
8oskfv | Did any of the ancient civilizations know they were one of the first human civilizations or have any understanding of the significance of that? | [
{
"answer": "Hey all,\n\nIf you frequent the sub, you know the drill. If you're here from /r/all, or browse only occasionally, please be aware we have strict rules here intended to enforce the very high bar we expect from comments, so before posting, please read our [rules](/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules). We remo... | null |
2aimrm | how can we show child sexuality in movies, books, and other media formats, but not in pornography? | [
{
"answer": " > In movies, like The Virgin Suicides and White Oleander, we're allowed to hear about children having sex. We even see a fourteen-year-old girl (in TVS), played by a minor, \"grab\" a boy.\n\nAnd none of that is pornography. It's not sexually exploiting children.\n\n > Books can get even more exp... | null |
15vmg8 | Has a wholly or mainly guerrilla opposition ever driven out a large conventional force, without the aid of another country? | [
{
"answer": "There might be a few anti-colonial conflicts worth looking at here. The FNLA in Algeria didn't (AFAIK) receive any substantive aid from other countries, nor did the major revolutionary movements in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. \n\nI'm pretty sure FRELIMO in Mozambique drove out the Portuguese without assista... | null |
25oco0 | is sleeping in a fetal position (curled-up back) as bad for your posture as slouching for 8 hrs a day? | [
{
"answer": "I would assume that it is *not as bad* simply because you don't have the same downward pressure on the arch when you are lying down as when you are slouching in a seated position. That said, it probably isn't great for your posture to sleep in a fetal position (I do the same thing, and slouch, and ... | null |
314w9p | Good Holocaust books dealing with holocaust denial? | [
{
"answer": "Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman's *Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and Why Do They Say It?* is a survey of deniers. \n\nGood luck engaging Deniers though, it's equivalent to yelling at a brick wall. Denialism thrives off of ahistorical arguments and although many deniers sty... | null |
2frhvr | why are people hiding ebola victims? | [
{
"answer": "Africa is a different place, with a very different culture than most people in the west are used to. There is a lot of distrust of hospitals there, and Ebola wards in particular. Most people there still believe in medicine men and traditional healing. So, people who are sick with Ebola or anythi... | null |
35tmik | what are the main differences between hydraulics and pneumatics? | [
{
"answer": "Air can move far more quickly than hydraulics. If you want something to move fast, air is the answer.\n\nAir is also compressible, if you want shock absorption (like air ride suspension in cars and trucks), again, air is the answer.\n\nHydraulics use an oil instead of air, but the way they work is ... | null |
fdlzqo | why are non-real ids still available in the us? | [
{
"answer": "State governments just refusing to implement the new documentation requirements in a timely manner. Plus the process also involves some individuals having to physically visit an office to present documents before their current IDs expire.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
... | null |
3dp0uy | What was the average number of children a Christian family had around 0 - 100 A.D.? | [
{
"answer": "This is an interesting, but extremely difficult question to answer. The reason for this is that the question transcends more than just a religious group. We have evidence that by 50 to 60 AD, Christianity had spread (although it was incredibly small at this time) to cities all over the Levant, an... | null |
3620lh | Is it possible to create a sonic boom by waving a stick really fast? | [
{
"answer": "Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if this was totally possible. In fact, this is basically the mechanism for making a whip crack - it's just a sonic boom - [these guys have a good high speed video and discuss the exact physics at play in a whip](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answ... | null |
6abqcx | Did the early-modern developers of the physical/chemical atomic theory explicitly credit ancient philosophical Atomism? | [
{
"answer": "By the late-18th/early-19th century the idea of Atomism had been hashed over for literally centuries. They weren't going back to the Ancients at that point. Dalton's own discussions of Atomism were rooted more in the work of Newton (who made various corpuscular assumptions in his work) than they we... | null |
2ovb8y | Why didn't slaves in ancient times just run away? and how were they distinguished from free men? | [
{
"answer": "Piggyback question: In the show Spartacus they paid the slave gladiators an allowance that increased with good performance. This was portrayed as making the slaves more loyal and eager to fight in the arena.\n\nWas the practice of paying slaves/gladiators a thing? How common was it? \n\nIf a slave ... | null |
1hcl8o | how did obamacre kill jobs, if it really did? | [
{
"answer": "I believe that arguments comes from one of the articles of the bill that requires employers that have a staff of certain size must provide insurance for their employees. If an employer might have trouble affording this cost, they might have to lay off workers or cut back hours in order to compensat... | null |
3mbhrh | How will Climate Change affect the the level of the Caspian Sea? | [
{
"answer": "The Caspian Sea is in it's own drainage basin (also known as a [endorheic basin](_URL_1_)) so it is isolated from the rest of the worlds' oceans. As global sea levels rise, they won't directly effect the Caspian since it is not connected. The water levels in the Caspian vary based on the balance o... | null |
8ufmte | how does type i diabetes develop so quickly in a seemingly healthy person, and how does this differ to the development of type ii? | [
{
"answer": "Type 1A diabetes is an autoimmune disorder. It occurs when you have a genetic predisposition for the condition and then something triggers the onset (most likely suspect is a virus). So you can have the genetic predisposition but never be exposed to the triggering event, and therefore never develop... | null |
3y30ob | What did Germany hope to achieve strategically with the invasion of Russia in WWII and how was this war sold to the public? | [
{
"answer": "Initially, one of the main reasons for the German invasion of Russia was food. The Nazi regime wanted to Germany to be able to support itself agriculturally, without having to rely on imports from the Soviet Union. The German administration had perceived the vast plains of Ukraine and southern Russ... | null |
7buzbs | what are neural networks? specifically rnns. | [
{
"answer": "The little league team you coach just won the big game, and you ask them if they want to go out for pizza or for burgers. Each kid starts screaming their preference, and you go with whatever was the loudest.\n\nThis is basically how a neural net works but on multiple levels. The top-level nodes g... | null |
6kgwn0 | Why has Linear B been deciphered but not Linear A? | [
{
"answer": "You must understand both the writing system and the language(s) in order to claim a decipherment. Most successful decipherments are based on bilingual or trilingual inscriptions (e.g. cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and the Cypriot Syllabary) or knowledge of the underlying language(s) (e.g. Linear... | null |
d5yqjy | In medieval Europe, how common would it have been for non-nobility to own weapons or have access to them? | [
{
"answer": "'Middle Ages' are generally understood as a period of almost 1000 years, so the subject is quite complex. In the following entry I'll limit myself to High and Late Middle Ages, focusing on Germany, Poland and England.\n\nIn general, weapon ownership was quite common. There were no rules preventing ... | null |
6yi2we | how do people spend billions of dollars on water? | [
{
"answer": "That is incredibly cheap, $4 for a whole year of clean water. How could it be cheaper?\n\nThe costs are mainly for digging wells and installing pumps -- and then filters if the water isn't clean.\n\nIf you don't mind your water dirty and 50 feet underground, can have it for free.",
"provenance"... | null |
5jyk9t | why do people who are going to be executed not put up a fight when they know they are going to die either way? | [
{
"answer": "Unless you've been captured by a terrorist group/drug cartel, most executions are made quick and painless out of respect. If you put up a big fight, your captor is more likely to make you regret it by torturing you and/or killing you slowly. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "you se... | null |
1x1jdt | Did dinosaurs actually roar or is it just a construct of movies to make them scarier? | [
{
"answer": "Dr. David Weishampel did a study of lambeosaurine skulls includin CT scanning that seemed to indicate they made a deep bellowing, horn-like noise. I remember an undergraduate course I took where a video was played that used a computer simulation to produce the expected sound of various dinosaurs ba... | null |
3lz32k | why is it socially acceptable to make as much noise as possible while riding a motorcycle? | [
{
"answer": "It's not generally acceptable, if a bike is loud it's because the owner made it that way.\n\nSome m/c groups like to think its a safety device, but in reality it's because they think it sounds cool.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Cars can be loud and some are with performance exha... | null |
1o92ed | how does renting a property with option to buy work? does your rent go towards the down payment? | [
{
"answer": "Usually these are case by case basis, whatever the renter/buyer and the landlord/seller agree to, there must be some legal contract with the terms spelled out and everybody signs or somebody is going to get screwed and it will probably be the renter. Normally it is the case though.",
"provenanc... | null |
4brmo8 | why do some speakers have "mini" speakers around the large ones? | [
{
"answer": "Those parts of the speaker are called cones. The little cones, known as tweeters, reproduce the high frequency parts of the music. \n\nThe larger cones, called woofers, reproduce the mid and low frequency parts of the music.\n\nThe size of the cone corresponds to range of frequencies it can reprodu... | null |
3o8z3z | how do electronics spin in full circles without getting their wires tangled? (example in text) | [
{
"answer": "The rotating portion receives electricity through a device like a \"rotary electrical connector\" or a \"brush slip ring\". They allow current to pass through two concentric rings, one inside the other, separated by an insulator, and depending on how fast it's intended to rotate, possibly sealed an... | null |
2y0tf2 | whats going on with the racial motivated rape gangs going on in europe? | [
{
"answer": "I am Dutch and I like to think I keep up reasonably well with the news here and I've never heard of any racially motivated rape gangs. To be hones, this sounds like the same sort of bullshit as the Sharia triangle bullshit we had on the news here a while back. Basically fear mongering from people w... | null |
3puxao | how to move out of my parents house (aka. downpayments, interest rates, credit) | [
{
"answer": "Unless you are in no hurry and already have a lucrative job you expect to keep for many years, I would not try to buy a place just to leave your parents house.\n\nSave up a few months worth of income and then rent something. If you rent small, close to work/school, avoid car ownership, and always ... | null |
2fhv6l | Given that many insects are attracted to light sources at night, do spiders take advantage of this? | [
{
"answer": "There are a few species of bat which have learned that a lot of insects can be found near light sources at night. The few species in Europe that have learned this behaviour are quite light-tolerant though, other bat species actively avoid light. So it might be possible that some spiders are more li... | null |
2ogvmk | Why are there so many companies getting hacked? | [
{
"answer": "Major companies operate networks that are absolutely massive. It's simply not possible for them to operate them in a way that is impervious to attack. Anyone who tells you they can operate such a network is lying. With computer systems it isn't a matter of *if* they will be hacked but of *when*.... | null |
1hijix | why when you get sunburned you get sleepy/tired? | [
{
"answer": "Sunburns usually come with dehydration as well. Mix dehydration and your body trying to repair a sizable chunk of skin, its quite draining. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "1268981",
"title": "Sleep hygiene",
... | null |
1mouo5 | english bill of rights | [
{
"answer": "The Bill of Rights is to do with establishing England (and later Great Britain and then the UK) as a constitutional monarchy, and formally sets out the relationship between monarch and parliament:\n\nIt states that Parliament is the ultimate decision-making and law-making body in the land. Parliame... | null |
ifpgf | Great ape crossbreeding... possible? | [
{
"answer": "The most closely related African Ape species are the bonobo and the chimp. [Comment 24 has a link to a citation of a known hybrid.](_URL_1_) There are also Orang-orang species hybrids.\n\nThe next closest relation in the phylogeny of apes is humans to bonobos and chimps. I've said before **the numb... | null |
1d6gvq | why can't enemy combatants on the ground hear apache helicopters (or whatever) before they strike? | [
{
"answer": "If you look at when they fire that missile, there's about 2.5-3s between launch and impact. Wikipedia lists the speed of the [Hydra 70](_URL_0_) rocket as 2,300 feet per second. That puts the chopper over a mile away from the target - plenty of distance for the sound to die out.\n\nThe camera foo... | null |
1t2de9 | the psychology of a troll (serious) | [
{
"answer": "People like to feel powerful. When you're desperate enough for it, even power to fuck people's day up is better than nothing.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They've never outgrown the childish mindset that 'any attention is good attention,' basically. If you're angry at them, you'... | null |
3xglx2 | why is it that illegal aliens are routinely arrested and deported but legal action is rarely if ever taken agains those that employ illegal aliens? | [
{
"answer": "So since this is already heading into THEY STEALING ER JERBS territory lets break it down. \n\npretty much every company in the USA pays at least minimum wage and auto deduct taxes. That's a whole lot of liability coverage since good luck proving they knew the person was undocumented. Also they pro... | null |
1omzoe | How does something as large as a city affect the crust/mantle below it? Could a city become so large and heavy that it would collapse or compress the earth underneath? | [
{
"answer": "I guess it depends on the kinds of soil. For example, Mexico City sinks a little bit every year because it is built on a dry lake or swamp soil (idk the correct term). If you look photos of the cathedral you'll see that its base is below ground level and many structures need constant maintenance",
... | null |
9yezqy | Is time exactly symmetrical? If we were to rewind it would it play back as the reverse of it playing forwards? | [
{
"answer": "Time reversal is not a complete symmetry of our universe. We know this, because we can observe T-violation in experiments. We know that the weak force violates CP, and if CPT is a good symmetry, that implies violations of T as well. We can see T-reversal in the shapes of atomic nuclei. There are nu... | null |
tkk4m | What are some modern social concepts that would be completely alien to a person living during the time of you expertise? | [
{
"answer": "It's not just homosexuality - heterosexuality and bisexuality *as modern Western society understands it* would also be a strange idea to a person of that time depending on the nation-state they hailed from. (Greek sexuality is a little early for me but my understanding is that the erastes/eromenos ... | null |
6ixij2 | WW2: What do these patches mean? | [
{
"answer": "The circular patches with the \"A\" are the insignia of the US 3rd Army, which in WW2 was under the command of Gen. George S. Patton. The triangular tricolour patches are the insignia of the US 16th Armoured Division. If you look closely, the embroidery below the 16 shows a tank track. The 16th Arm... | null |
2njnwm | how withdrawl from drugs causes severe illness? sometimes death? | [
{
"answer": "The body has been trying to compensate for the disturbances of the drugs by slowly making changes in hormone levels. Sudden withdrawal results in a body with lethal levels of these hormones still circulating. This is why a long term alcoholic suddenly deprived of alcohol may suffer fatal seizures. ... | null |
85s4ns | About the fancy uniforms we see in war paintings. | [
{
"answer": "Artists who do not travel with armies or have the chance to see one in a situation other than a parade may improperly display soldiers in battle. For example, many artists during the american civil war will draw every soldier with their knapsack (backpack) on and sometimes wearing gaiters, purely b... | null |
37nvyb | why is the triple crown in horse racing so rare? | [
{
"answer": "Because they allow a horse that hasn't raced in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, to compete in the Belmont and stop a horse that has raced all three from winning. Stupid ass rules. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The three tracks are different lengths. So it's similar to asking ... | null |
2rjj8a | Why does Patton seem to be disliked by most of the commanders of his day, yet a prominent figure by the enemy? | [
{
"answer": "I think you have to remember that Patton, for all his considerable skill, could be a thoroughly infuriating figure. Arrogant, rash, abrasive, impatient, and often intolerant of anything less than an almost reckless abandon for action the best that can be said about him is that he won, and that's pr... | null |
vutq2 | If someone spoke gibberish to babies would the babies mistake it for real language? | [
{
"answer": "It would have to be consistent in order to learn, and if it were then it would just be another language (even if it was made up).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "68974",
"title": "Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor",
... | null |
5r3yj5 | How did Genghis Khan's father die, specifically? | [
{
"answer": "Yesugai the Brave, by various accounts, was poisoned at a meal on the steppes, by Tatars who by custom owed even an enemy hospitality. \n\nWe do not know if it was actually poison. This could have been a simple bacterial infection. However, actual poisons were available, such as from poisonous mu... | null |
2zk56z | unix vs macosx/windows/linux | [
{
"answer": "The answer is complex. Unix is a very old operating system (actually, a group of operating systems) that was designed to operate on pre-personal-computer-era machines.\n\nHowever, Unix has consistently been praised for its simplicity and ease of portability. Unix is a \"pocketwatch\" in an age of... | null |
4tugbx | what are the historical reasons for which english cuisine is usually regarded as "bad" whereas french cuisine is usually regarded as "good"? (at least i think this is how we see it in the us... | [
{
"answer": "They were culturally different. Also under Napoleonic rule, France controlled almost all of continental Europe (but obviously not Britain) which allowed French chefs to experiment with ingredients from all around the continent. \n\n\nThe short answer is simply that French chefs had the ingredients ... | null |
2wnco6 | why does my bottom lip get dry and chapped, while my top lip always remains smooth? | [
{
"answer": "I think because when you smile, your upper lip remains straight but wider while your lower lip gets wider and bends down, effectively becoming longer than your upper lip, i.e.: stretching more than your upper lip.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
ay3t85 | why can’t pc hardware run mac os but mac can run windows? | [
{
"answer": "Windows software supports many hardware configurations, because many companies make Windows-compatible hardware.\n\nMac software supports many fewer hardware configurations, because Apply makes only a few hardware configurations.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They can, it's just ... | null |
5ocbfg | why do different numbers of protons/neutrons/electrons cause such drastic differences in the elements of the periodic table? | [
{
"answer": "You can think of them as chemical properties and atomic properties. \n\n~Chemical properties are mostly caused by the outer most ring of electrons (valence) orbiting the nucleus. You see electrons are lonely little guys and they like to be with other electrons, exactly 8 to be specific. If they can... | null |
6xg3ut | how does the definition of "species" work in single cell organisms? | [
{
"answer": "Traditionally, bacteria were classified by characteristics of theirs that were observed in a lab. For example, the most fundamental division of bacteria is between bacteria that are stained by a Gram stain and those that aren't. (This corresponds to important differences in their cell wall and memb... | null |
33kfrt | Has anything in the bible been proven to be historically wrong? | [
{
"answer": "Where does one begin?\n\nTo give a very brief summary of the kind of thing you're asking about:\n\n* The world was not created in 4,000 BC.\n* There was no global flood in the 25th century BC.\n* The world did not speak one language and all live in the city of Babel (Babylon) in the 23rd century BC... | null |
2ehvmp | What causes the liquid in a full spray bottle to siphon out entirely? | [
{
"answer": "Based on what information you provided, I would say that the cause would have been a temperature fluctuation paired with a faulty nozzle. As gases heat up, they expand, and when they cool, they contract. Even minor temperature changes (5°-10°C) are enough to make a noticeable difference in volume... | null |
2zgh5l | why do our bowels release when we are scared? | [
{
"answer": "Bowel contents are not required in an emergency.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Your body needs to lose weight and save energy. \nIn instances of literally pants shitting, bladder empting terror, your body is likely going to need to move as quickly and agilely as possible. \nEmp... | null |
17syyj | the difference between libertarian economics and anarcho-capitalism. | [
{
"answer": "Libertarians believe that a government should exist that supports property rights (e.g law enforcement (police), courts, etc) whereas, Anarcho-Capitalists believe that there does not have to be a government to protect property rights as everything associated with them (law enforcement, courts, etc)... | null |
205c0j | when a multi-billion dollar transaction occurs between two companies, how are the funds transferred/managed? | [
{
"answer": "Yup. Just a bank transfer. They will - in this particular case and many others - be broken up into smaller transactions, but not exactly because of the volume of money, but because when you're doing that size of a deal you're going to have complex contracts with lots of smaller deliverable and mi... | null |
3bbmz0 | why won't youtube fix the issue of saving the video quality even though it's the number one complaint they get? | [
{
"answer": "You mean when you start a new video? It's becomes HD every time I enter full screen.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "YouTube Help Forum Top Contributor here. I don't know what you mean by \"saving the video quality\", but whatever it is -- no, it's not the \"number one complaint\".... | null |
54zbhz | i know the 2 major parties don't want 3rd party candidates in presidential debates unless polling is at 15%, but why does the media let the parties control who is invited to these debates? | [
{
"answer": "Because the media knows that the candidates can always take their debate to another network. Since both sides tend to agree to this idea, it's even easier to get the media to agree.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The media doesn't.\n\nThere's a non-profit organization who coordina... | null |
563qls | why the english speaking nations are more successful than any other linguistic nationalities in history? | [
{
"answer": "It's not *English* that does it. It's luck, mostly.\n\nEurope had the industrial revolution first. That gave it an unprecedented ability to conquer other lands, which many countries did. The Brittish Empire just so happened to be in the right place at the right time to spread its influence far and ... | null |
abvgl1 | when a company commits a gross violation that affects people (physically/mentally/financially, etc.), why is the company forced to pay the government, instead of the people they hurt? | [
{
"answer": "Usually they'll have to pay both. Fines levyed by the state is not meant to replace money companies have to pay for the damages they cause a person.\n\nLet's say a company causes you to lose a leg because of negligence, they might be fined by the state if they broke the law, but *in addition to tha... | null |
2hsgoq | what's the difference between killer bees and honey bees? | [
{
"answer": "The \"killer bee,\" AKA the Africanized honey bee, is a hybrid bee created from Western and European bee strains.\n\nFor whatever reason (and I'm not a geneticist nor a beekeeper, so I don't know how this happened), the Africanized bee picked up a few nasty traits. They are excessively defensive of... | null |
aud4bl | How do scientists know the decay progression of Uranium-238 if it takes place over billions of years? | [
{
"answer": "Because the rate is the same. You can observe it for any period of time and extrapolate that rate of decay across whatever unit of time, whether it's days, months, or billions of years. Even if you observe it for a normal human period of time, there's still a tiny tiny change, and if you measure ac... | null |
5rujl4 | Why was the Spanish colonisation of the Americas so brutal and destructive compared to their colonisation of the Philippines? | [
{
"answer": "You have a mistaken impression about the Spanish conquest. I don't know much about the Mayans and others, but the Spanish didn't genocide the Aztecs, though in other cases, like with the Pueblo, there's certainly a case to be made for genocide. \n\nThe reasons so many Aztecs died were primarily dis... | null |
2ntri0 | i love that t-mobile does this, but how is allowing unlimited data for music streaming not a violation of nn? | [
{
"answer": "Net neutrality says companies need to provide equal bandwidth access to all sites. T-Mobile is still providing equal bandwidth which conforms to NN. Data metering is different as you get a set amount of data you can use on any site. They just don't meter you for the music site they prefer. You're ... | null |
3qwipr | how do they make boneless chicken breasts? | [
{
"answer": "They take regular chicken breasts and take the bones out of them. There isn't any magic beyond that. They aren't growing boneless chickens out there.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "5741239",
"title": "Chicken as foo... | null |
u4ds0 | how does amazon ec2 work? | [
{
"answer": "Amazon EC2 is a service that allows you to rent servers and pay for what you use in an easy to use way.\n\nWith the amazon ec2 you do not pay for a server by the month though, you pay for it by the hour. So let me create a scenario for you:\n\nLet's say you have a theory for the stock market that y... | null |
fzjnl6 | is human brain at it's limits? and are there other stages of human brain development that will lead to us getting smarter. | [
{
"answer": "A helpful way to think about the brain is not as a something that reaches 'capacity'. Our brains are very efficient, so as we develop and grow we keep reinforcing the neural pathways that help us the most in life - i.e. how should I interpret someone shouting at me, or someone crying.\n\nIf you gro... | null |
1ex5ez | Does WiFi have any detrimental effects? | [
{
"answer": "While it's prudent to repeat the experiment, there's nothing that is known so far (as in, reviewed and shown to be repeatable) that would indicate negative effects of Wi-Fi. The most serious detrimental effect of Wi-Fi is the rage it induces when the connection is too weak for whatever you're doing... | null |
ar3l57 | why do governments, schools, and big businesses (mostly) always use hp printers? | [
{
"answer": "So they? All I ever see is RICOH",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "hp usually gives away a lot of printers for free, but makes you sign a contract to buy supplies ie ink, toner, and paper from them. so businesses jump at this due to the low upfront cost since some of those higher en... | null |
3tjtk3 | if shadows are the absence of light, why do you get different coloured shadows with different light sources? | [
{
"answer": "A shadow is generally not the total absence of light. It is simply an area where there is less light because a light source has been blocked by something opaque. \n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "217296",
"title": "... | null |
ap172a | Is the black hole of our galaxy, rotating around something else? | [
{
"answer": "The galaxy rotates around itself. All the stars are being pulled by all the other stars, which tends to mean they are revolving around the center of mass - the barycenter.\n\nSagittarius A\\* happens to be at the center (well, near it), but the Sun doesn't orbit it. It isn't nearly massive enough."... | null |
o6z7g | Could we send a spacecraft to LEO using solar sails? | [
{
"answer": "Solar sails provide a very small but consistent force. For a 100 square meter sail, the force is about 0.0005 Newtons. In space, that will provide a small acceleration, which over long times will give it appreciable speed. On Earth, however, there is the 10000+ Newton force of gravity keeping it do... | null |
1vkdqj | why is there a stigma with google glass? | [
{
"answer": "It's just rude to video tape people that don't want to be on video.\n\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "As with all emerging technology it's paranoia and fear. We've had cameras that you can't even see with the naked eye that can take decent pictures/video for a while now. We've ha... | null |
1tm1ew | What different tactics were developed by both the French and Germans to assault enemy trenches? | [
{
"answer": "Are you referring to a specific war, or in general?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Towards the beginning of the war, the French and Germans utilized very similar tactics on the offense. This would involve extremely long preparatory bombardments (lasting days, or even weeks, and fi... | null |
2dh96q | When did mortgages start to be sold regularly? | [
{
"answer": "In _The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World_ by Niall Ferguson, he discusses (among many other things) the history of debt instruments. The truth is, the buying and selling of debt obligations has been around almost as long as debt obligations themselves.\n\nSpecifically, you may be r... | null |
24t08k | Was Jesus trying to reform the Jewish faith as opposed to trying to begin a new religion? | [
{
"answer": "From the New Testament gospels, we can find a portrait of a Jesus wherein he certainly considered himself to be operating within \"Judaism.\" I mean, there are any number of phrases we could select to show this (for a particularly 'conservative' one, try \"Do not think that I have come to abolish t... | null |
i978w | Is it possible that humans have evolved to have a tolerance to alcohol? | [
{
"answer": "Ask some native Americans.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It appears that we have evolved a tolerance to alcohol. Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase is more expressed in humans than other mammals. Some people lack the enzyme (usually asians) which causes them to get red-faced and feel i... | null |
20hrtr | why did apple's iphone gain so much popularity but windows phones have seen such meager market penetration? | [
{
"answer": "The iphone had no competition, the windows phone did. The iphone has a positive market image, while windows phone does not.\n\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "342663",
"title": "BlackBerry Limited",
"section... | null |
5ub64q | when a person is attempting suicide (eg about to jump from a bridge) and gets saved by emergency services, what happens to them next? what's their follow up care? could they just walk away? | [
{
"answer": "Well I don't know about the American system, but I imagine it's similar to here in the UK. If you tried and failed at suicide, they would treat you for whatever damage you did in the attempt, after which you would see a psychiatrist who would almost certainly section you, so you would have to stay ... | null |
1aflf1 | What muscle are involved in your tongue sticking out | [
{
"answer": "The primary muscle is the [genioglossus](_URL_0_). Note the figure there - because it attaches to the inside of the chin, contraction of the muscle 'pulls' the tongue forward. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "3101537",
... | null |
emiox6 | how can you love yourself? | [
{
"answer": "If anyone ever is raised by their family *not* to love themselves, to have that voice in their head that speaks loving thoughts, then their family has failed them terribly (likely because they themselves were failed and so on..). No, that is not okay and not right and should be different. Everyone ... | null |
5rzgyp | why people eat salty food then crave sugary food and repeat the cycle? what's going on in human body that causes this craving? | [
{
"answer": "We need salt and sugar to survive. Salt is vital for water retention and brain chemistry. And sugar is used by the body as well and natural sources of sugar like fruit and veggies are extremely good for us. \n\nAlso sweet and salty I believe are two major components of our taste. So our brain rewar... | null |
m4ksf | all the different kinds of alcohol, what they are, how they're different, what each one kinda tastes like, etc. etc. | [
{
"answer": "I'll go ahead and post this comment in place of the requisite reference to how five year-olds wouldn't exactly care-for or need these instructions.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "This is something you kind of need to experience yourself but here goes nothing:\n\n* **Wine** is brok... | null |
1fn3kb | what's the deal with the uk independence party? | [
{
"answer": "The uk traditonally had two main parties, Labour, left wing, and the Tories/conservatives , Right wing, Over the last few decades both parties have moved more to centre-left and centre-right. This is where the UkIP comes in. The Ukip is right wing party that aims to appeal to the more right wing me... | null |
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