id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
bibh8o | how does the 20 questions electronic game work? | [
{
"answer": "It's basically a \"binary search\". Let's look at guessing a number between 1 and 100.\n\nYou pick a number in the middle (50) and *that rules out half the questions*. If the number you want is higher or lower, you repeat this (25), and again (12) and again (6) and again (3) and again (2). You c... | null |
6a8r03 | Why was the Avro Arrow destroyed? | [
{
"answer": "During the late 50’s the threat perceived to radiate from the soviets was changing.\nIt is argued that the Canadian Government was operating in an information vacuum with regards to this threat.\n\nAs a reaction to the detonation of the Soviet Hydrogen Bomb in 1953 NORAD was under development, a s... | null |
anirql | Has there been a time in Western culture when muscular men were not considered sexy/attractive? | [
{
"answer": " > The cultural standards by which a woman's weight and shape have determined her sexiness have changed dramatically over time in Western/European societies. For example large, curvy \"rubenesque\" women were deemed sexy for much of the 17th and 18th centuries whereas today, thinness is praised > ... | null |
24og33 | how is chewing bones good for dogs teeth, and can it benefit humans? | [
{
"answer": "Their teeth are specifically designed to crush softer bones like ribs and vertebrae unlike our teeth. When dogs eat lots of softer foods like commercial dog food their teeth can't get tartar build up on it just like our teeth; gnawing on bones will help scrape the build up off.",
"provenance":... | null |
avisrz | how do audio recordings that are stored in binary code on devices get re-converted to the sound that comes out of my phone’s speakers? | [
{
"answer": "It is covered thanks to a device called a DAC (digital to analogue converter).\n\nWhen audio is traveling in a speaker wire, it is just an electrical impulse - it has a voltage and a frequency based on what the sound is. That voltage and frequency is then amplified (by an amplifier) and pushed to ... | null |
14094l | [Meta] Book List Meta Thread | [
{
"answer": "General question (as in every sources thread): What about non-English language sources? Yay/Nay? Only for country specific topics? ...?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "^^I ^^did ^^not ^^find ^^Edward ^^Gibbon ^^dull ^^at ^^all...",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "the... | null |
14c61l | Is it possible to make 3D contact lenses similar to 3D glasses given out at Movie Screenings? | [
{
"answer": "I think it's a great idea, and I see no reason it shouldn't be doable. Indeed, polarized contact lenses have already been [patented](_URL_0_). And whereas linearly polarized contact lenses to reduce glare like polarized sunglasses would be impractical (since the effect depends on the orientation of... | null |
42tx06 | how can a 60hz monitor have a response time of 5ms when 1/60hz = 16.7 ms? | [
{
"answer": "The response time is usually the time it takes a pixel to change from black to white, or some predetermined gray to another gray value to estimate the average real usage. This will determine the amount of time it takes the average pixel to change to the updated value after a new frame is received b... | null |
4rs845 | what is the root cause of what appears to be unequal treatment of minorities by police? | [
{
"answer": "From my point of view as a late 20s black male. The root cause is cultural conditioning, and that is something that will never go away which is why I strongly believe it's a problem that will never be solved. Now if you don't know what I mean by cultural conditioning, everything from kids movies, T... | null |
6cvu5t | do animals get sick from licking another of the same animal it's wounds/blood? | [
{
"answer": "Whenever an animal hunts other animals and eats meat, they're eating some of their blood. Their stomachs just pulverize everything. Same for if they were to lick another of the same species. Same for humans, too, pretty much. Something like a blood transfusion would probably cause problems, though,... | null |
50t450 | why can't a human be frozen while still alive, and jumpstart and come back to life when they thaw out (like avatar)? | [
{
"answer": "Someone with more knowledge can come by with more info, but the primary reason is that our cells cannot withstand the ice crystals that form when they are frozen. When our cells freeze they rupture and die. If all of our cells freeze, they all die. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": n... | null |
21njka | What did Stalin do the first week of Barbarossa? | [
{
"answer": "Stalin chose to let secretary of State Molotov announce the German invasion to the citizens of the USSR. According to Molotov's own words: \"[Stalin] didn't want to be the first to speak. He needed a clear picture. He couldn't respond like an automaton to everything. He was a human being after all.... | null |
5ng3cs | how do radio stations broadcast album art? | [
{
"answer": "Radio stations have extra radio bandwidth that they don't need for the audio alone. They can use this bandwidth to send additional data to your radio such as the station name, song title, artist, or I guess the album art. It's essentially sending data over a wireless internet connection, point-to... | null |
9yp7fi | What determines what wavelength of light is reflected from object? | [
{
"answer": "The transmission/reflection spectrum of a material is a function of the [electronic structure](_URL_1_) of the molecules composing it. You can imagine an electron as a charge on a harmonic potential; the electric field in passing light excites the electron into an oscillatory motion. When the frequ... | null |
5gush7 | the us is known as the "no vacation nation", the only developed nation without mandatory pto. | [
{
"answer": "\"Because why should I pay someone not to work?\" That's what it amounts to basically, you can always find someone for the same job that will work for less pay or less benefits.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because there's no political will for it. Laws have to be drafted and pa... | null |
1ci7j1 | Mathematically speaking, if a given game of Sudoku, in its initial state, has only one possible outcome, will it always solvable without having to resort to guessing a cell's value? | [
{
"answer": "Sure, if it has a unique solution, it's \"solvable\" by giving that unique solution. Whether it's solvable by some particular algorithm is going to be very dependent on the details of that algorithm.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Unless the person who made the puzzle made a mista... | null |
7oam2x | How can I find a certain persons coat of arms from the 1000s? | [
{
"answer": "You almost certainly won't find it at all. Formal heraldry, in which each individual possesses a unique, identifying coat of arms based on symbols inherited from the father and mother, did not develop until the 13th century. It's likely that 11th century Normans decorated their shields, but this wo... | null |
16f8mj | What happened to all the Aquatic Dinosaurs? | [
{
"answer": "For some of the part, lots of sea creatures survived. Look at sharks, they've been around for a very very long time. An asteroid strike would have also affected the water, it would have been to cold for some animals in more tropical seas to have survived, areas would have iced over too.",
"prov... | null |
a7gt32 | when i’m driving, the wind can blow my car all over the road. when i’m parked, the wind can’t move my car one inch. why? | [
{
"answer": "But it does move your car. If you're driving down the road and a gust of wind hits the side of your car it's going to push it off to the side until you correct it. That's because your car is already in motion but it's shifted slightly to the side during that motion. However while it's parked that s... | null |
4dl2of | why do the us elections need donations? what for? what would happen if that was not allowed? | [
{
"answer": "Funding for the various candidates does not come from the Government in the US save for a very small pool of funds used to get things started. So the money that the candidates use has to either come from their own personal savings, come from party coffers, or come from donations made directly to th... | null |
2feqql | Why are 6- (and sometimes 5-) membered rings far more prevalent in chemical compounds than rings with 4 or 3 members? | [
{
"answer": "3 and 4 membered rings have high energy bond angles that are strained and unstable. 5 and 6 membered rings allow the bond angles to relax and that allows the compound to be more stable and energetically favorable. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It's due to the energy required to... | null |
192srr | If it was possible to look at from close, what would the ignition of a star look like ? | [
{
"answer": "It wouldn't be easily perceivable. Externally, it's actually a gradual process. Most people don't appreciate that stars begin their lives hot even before fusion starts. This is due to the energy of gravitational contraction. When you compress something to make it smaller you heat it up, and a proto... | null |
1otyor | How did attacking a city generally work in the 11th/12th-ish centuries? | [
{
"answer": "I will assume that you mean Europe, and specifically Western Europe.\n\nA walled city was a very tough nut to crack for any attacking force. A walled city would have the local militia, and quite likely at least a small garrison of professional soldiers under the employ of the liege. \n\nNow, an arm... | null |
3lai0z | basic bonsai tree care. | [
{
"answer": "Bonsai are trees that are deliberately grown in a way to dwarf them, and are often sculpted into specific shapes. So you start with the standard \"give it the right amount of water, food, pot space and light\" that applies to almost all houseplants. \n\nBut the species, age and size of the bonsai a... | null |
1us9jm | gold trading and how it's used to "back" currency and the like | [
{
"answer": "Gold was money, used in trade, made into coins or bullion, sometimes by governments, most often by gold specialists.\n\nCurrency is a substitute for the real money (though not only gold was used as money). Currency was usually a paper substitute for real money that were called \"Bank Notes.\" Idea... | null |
5xo4jx | why does the speed of a car seem slower when i'm inside it rather than outside? | [
{
"answer": "Relativity!!!\nwhen you are in a car you are in car's frame (in other words you are moving with speed of car) and when you look from window all objects have a speed equals to object's speed minus car's speed (vector addition) which slows down everything which seems to you like car is moving slow",
... | null |
7ch067 | how does the body correctly sort food and fluid (especially when you eat and drink together)? | [
{
"answer": "The bladder is not directly connected to the digestive system, so there's no \"sorting\" involved. The small intestine extracts water and nutrients from the food in to the blood, with the help of friendly bacteria, and you poop out what's not used with a lot of dead bacteria. The kidneys, on the ot... | null |
25mzw4 | Why were there fewer African American soldiers in Vietnam than in other American-waged wars? | [
{
"answer": "It does seem unusually low. Where did you get that statistic? [This site](_URL_0_) claims (my emphasis):\n\n > The Vietnam War saw the *highest proportion* of blacks ever to serve in an American war. During the height of the U.S. involvement, 1965-69, blacks, who formed 11 percent of the America... | null |
b8i8i9 | why are germs so difficult to wash off, and yet so easy to spread? | [
{
"answer": "Because even a tiny bit that gets off or that remains can then apread to cover the whole surface in a relatively small timeframe, since when bacteria multiplies, its population size basically just straight up doubles.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{... | null |
2c87p1 | why can some people only twist their tongues in one direction? | [
{
"answer": "I can't twist my tongue at all. I just tried.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It is a purely genetic trait akin to having a widow's peak.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Whoa just realized that I can't twist my tongue two ways.\n\nWell it sort of works the other wa... | null |
1cnk4d | Is there any facts to back up the claim that before the Vikings came, North American Indians had a homogeneous culture that covered a large portion of the Continent but due to foreign diseases brought along by the Vikings most of them died out? | [
{
"answer": "You're kind of mixing up two different claims. And it's a little difficult to disentangle them in a short answer. You might start with the popular questions page topics about [Native Americans and European Diseases](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I'd be interested to kno... | null |
2s0eqr | Can we tell the exact moment a subject begins to fall asleep by looking at the brain activity? Or is it a more gradual process? | [
{
"answer": "The clear definition of sleep onset is not yet clear (mainly because people can report being awake, even though there are clear behavioral changes that can indicate the presence of sleep). There are various measures that can be used however to measure sleep onset.\n\n- EMG (electromyogram) shows a ... | null |
2rtjk5 | why is the "peace sign/victory sign" with two fingers used with positive connotation, if it was first used by winston churchill, a british man, and the "v-sign" is an offensive hand gesture there? | [
{
"answer": "Sorry I only have time for a small part of an answer, but take a careful look at the position of the palms when people make these signs: v-sign with palm out means \"victory\" or \"peace\", v-sign with palm in means \"the finger\" in the UK and its relatives.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"... | null |
10vygi | Why was the Ashanti "Sika 'dwa" translated as "Golden Stool", not called the "Golden Throne"? | [
{
"answer": "I think, you kinda answered the question yourself: it is a stool- not a throne (nor a chair).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Slightly unrelated: stools were also given as grave goods in some Bronze Age burial mounds and Iron Age graves in Denmark and Germany, also regarded as symb... | null |
4a0nb7 | when hearing a very loud noise, that blowing sound/feeling in your ears | [
{
"answer": "Sound is vibrations in the air. Loud sounds = stronger vibrations. If the sound is loud enough, you can feel the vibrations in your ear. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "3096971",
"title": "Phonophobia",
"sec... | null |
1g60bl | Did Libraries face the same issues as Digital Media currently experiences? | [
{
"answer": "Copyright law is quite recent. \n\nYou probably ought to ask u/caffarelli about this matter, as it is her specialism.\n\nI published a brief case note on this issue late 2011, however, translated roughly:\n\n\"It was not until 1837 that Prussia and the German Bund introduced copyright law. Prior to... | null |
3dhcic | what and how are hot jupiters formed, and what does this mean about the creation of our own solar system? | [
{
"answer": "Hot Jupiters are basically gas giants that orbit very close to it's star. Usually at half earth distance or closer (less than 0.5 AU), usually towards the closer end. As a result they get very hot, to the point of glowing from the heat.\n\nThe top theory about how they form is that they form at nor... | null |
2crjck | the difference between a fee antivirus software like avg, and a paid antivirus software like norton 360? | [
{
"answer": "Computer science major here so I know a bit about this stuff, I could drag this out but to try to explain simply, a number like 98% of viruses are just evolutions if precious viruses. All antivirus softwares look for these base differences. Free antivirus software finds these and eliminates. When y... | null |
62sz94 | why peanuts without shells are way cheaper than peanuts with shells if it takes labor to shell them? | [
{
"answer": "Could be a matter of scale / volume. I would imagine nearly all of the peanuts consumed are shelled to be eaten or made into peanut butter. Shelled peanuts are sold in comparatively much smaller volume. When you produce something in very large quantities, you are able to take advantage of \"economi... | null |
14d419 | Why is it that all macroscopic organisms (that I know of, anyway) are left-right symmetric? | [
{
"answer": "starfish have radial symmetry",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Generally, locomotion requires two equal sides to be most efficient. On land, feet come in pairs, so do wings in the air, and fins in the water, and most things that want to move right also want to go left. So when you f... | null |
2uoij1 | what's going on with the fcc? six months ago all i saw were how corrupt the fcc is. over the past month though i've seen a lot of positive articles about the fcc shifting towards public opinion. what's really going on? | [
{
"answer": "The FCC has a long history of holding \"hearings\" and \"information sessions\" about decisions and then deciding based on what the incumbent telecoms want. Basically the process of public consultation was a farce to cover for a decision that already been made.\n\nWhen they announced the stuff abo... | null |
7ey3t3 | why sms messages cannot come in bold/italic/underlined, etc | [
{
"answer": "Technically, they can. \nBut the support for such formatting has to be widespread and unified between phone hardware manufacturers for it to be useful, which is obviously not the case now.\nAlso, the SMS protocol has been designed with a limited message length in mind, adding the formatting would ... | null |
31gjfu | How did illiterate conquistadors transact business with the Spanish crown? | [
{
"answer": "Illiteracy is a spectrum, not an absolute. More importantly, conquistadors were usually members of the 'middling' class, including artisans, craftsmen, and professionals (like lawyers and scribes). Most conquistadors probably could read some and at least write their names. Even if they couldn't the... | null |
1syb9v | why does nasa go to such extreme measures to remove bacteria before traveling in space? | [
{
"answer": " > wouldn't we want to allow life to form on planets where we have found none?\n\nNot if we're trying to study them as they are! In particular, if we're looking for life on Mars, we don't want to contaminate the surface with Earth's bacteria.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Imagin... | null |
18co7q | How did societies without any "currency" survive and do business? | [
{
"answer": "The Aztecs had a barter system with a strict court in place to judge disputes between traders. There was no 'currency' but there were widely accepted consistent values attached to specific items--in the capitol city of Tenochtitlan, it was generally stated that 20 feather cloaks was about one year'... | null |
7aoke6 | why are interest rates so low for me if i deposit money, but so high for students who lend it? | [
{
"answer": "I think you mean high for students to borrow...\n\nHere's the deal - generally, banks make money by holding on to some people's money and then lending it out to other people. Their profit is based on the difference in the interest rates. They incentivize people depositing money by giving them inter... | null |
267tdy | how does a car tire maintain the same psi measurement weather or not it is on the car? | [
{
"answer": "Disregarding changes due to temperature for the moment:\n\nWhile you're right that the weight of the car influences the pressure, it only causes an increase in pressure in proportion to how much the weight of the car deforms the tire and causes a reduction in the volume of the tire. \n\nThink about... | null |
do278g | South Africa | [
{
"answer": "Following the Second Anglo-Boer War, the Transvaal and Orange Free State were barren. Scorched earth tactics from the British had left farmland ruined, and the concentration of the Boer population in camps had lead to a huge depopulation, with around half of the Boer children in these camps dying f... | null |
1aiwaf | what is the purpose of using gpa instead of a percent average? | [
{
"answer": "GPA is an easier way for people to tell at a glance, what grades you got more often at school:\n\n4 is A\n\n3 is B\n\n2 is C\n\n1 is D\n\nand anything lower than that, you fail at life.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Could someone possibly explain this to someone unfamiliar with t... | null |
bakrge | how can clouds can get in the way of the sun, but don't block out the light? | [
{
"answer": "Clouds do not block the sun, they change the speed of the light and defuse the light coming though them from the sun. This is why the tops of thunderclouds look like they are glowing while the bottom are dark, the light has slowed so far down it is no longer defuses. ",
"provenance": null
... | null |
6dx076 | what is fiber-optics? how does it differ from traditional sources of internet? | [
{
"answer": "It's basically a laser fired down a hair-thin glass cable. It travels at the speed of light, has very little signal degradation due to interference, and by using different freq of light multiple signals can be sent at the same time.\n\nIf you have fiber internet there will be a special modem insta... | null |
6a2d5x | why did i prefer eating sweets as kid but now as i got older i prefer savory food. | [
{
"answer": "Children prefer sweet foods because, as a general rule, sweet foods contain more energy and children need more calories in relation to their body weight. Children also have more tastebuds and dislike bitter tastes because they experience them more intensely.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"a... | null |
ow5ji | I know probiotics have been discussed before, but on the question of "recolonizing the gut" with good bacteria- is this even possible without a fecal transplant? | [
{
"answer": "The best data I can find on this concerns using probiotics as a theraputic treatment for diseases such as inflammatory bowl disease. These types of diseases are caused and/or worsened by gut flora. Its suggested that probiotics can be used instead of drugs with some success. \n\nThe research im tal... | null |
65xz0c | why does sex, for most people, feel good. i understand the release of hormones but why are they released. | [
{
"answer": "Evolution reinforces the genetic traits that cause an animal to reproduce more often. If there was no incentive or reward for a species to mate, it would quickly die out. It'd be outbred and starved of resources by species that mate more frequently.\n\nOrgasm is nature's reward for propagating the ... | null |
bsv8il | What did Roman provincial aristocracy and wealthy citizens do for fun? | [
{
"answer": "Believe it or not, they engaged in the same types of leisure as their counterparts back at Rome: they went to the horse races in the circus, they saw animal hunts, they watched gladiators, they went to the theater, and they went to their country villas to get away from the hubbub and relax. At Colc... | null |
9wg2kt | First King or Queen of England | [
{
"answer": "We have no particular idea who the first person to call himself a king in what's now England; the word in various forms (*cyning, kyningas, cyningas, cyninges, king*) goes back to Old English. But if you're asking about the first person to be king of \"England\" as a political entity, the answer is... | null |
s0e0z | the difference between a turtle and a tortoise. | [
{
"answer": "Turtles are aquatic. They mostly live in water and have webbed front feet. Tortoises are land animals; they have regular feet. I think that's the main difference. Besides that, I am sure they in live different parts of the world, have different diets, and have different shells and other anatomy... | null |
38jtse | why can't allied forces bomb these long isis military parades we see pictures/video of. | [
{
"answer": "They just keep forgetting to apply for the permits, so there is no way of knowing where the next parade will be held, whether it will be large enough to warrant bombing or just strafing. Damn terrorists.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You would have to know when one of these is go... | null |
8pgdju | why do emergency services wrap people in a blanket, if they're in shock? what does this do? | [
{
"answer": "Preventing hypothermia, and psychological comfort. Avast ye! Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained:\n\n1. [ELI5:Why is it after a person is saved from a fire, they are wrapped in a blanket afterwards? ](_URL_0_) ^(_66 comments_)\n1. [ELI5: Why is it that people are given the gr... | null |
35kjox | How do bacterial vaccines (like whooping cough vaccination) work? I was always told growing up only viruses could be vaccinated against. | [
{
"answer": "So yep, they work based on the same principle. \n\nProteins specific to the bacteria you are vaccinating against are contained within the vaccine. Your body reacts to these proteins to create protective antibodies against them.\n\nIf the actual bacteria is later encountered, antibodies directed a... | null |
4rerob | with the japanese being very strong in the automotive industry - why are most passenger jets made by airbus (french) and boeing (american)? | [
{
"answer": "From _URL_0_\n\n > Now, to the two nations you specifically mentioned in your question. First, Japan provides significant airframe components used in the production of Boeing airliners -- Mitsubishi Heavy builds 787 wings in Nagoya, and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd will be building \"wing boxes\" for ... | null |
extuhx | how can geese be so intimidating to bigger animals? would a human be able to do the same? | [
{
"answer": "I'm no animal behavior expert, but no animal wants to get injured. If you have nothing to gain from a fight, probably best to not get in a fight with something that is aggressive. If you can come up with a convincing display or sound, many animals aren't gonna fuck with you. Note that I said *many*... | null |
99dgqt | Who are the mysterious invaders who ended the Bronze Age? Why have I never heard this before. | [
{
"answer": "Not to forestall further (in-depth comprehensive) answers, but you are likely thinking of the 'Sea Peoples', and there's been a bunch of discussion of that topic in this subreddit! There's [a section of our Frequently Asked Questions page about the Sea People](_URL_3_) featuring not only a great e... | null |
b3q8m5 | why does stropping a blade with leather make it sharper? | [
{
"answer": "If you look at a metal blade under strong magnification you'll see \"burrs\" that look like saw teeth. They alternate in direction. After repeated use they get out of line and mangled. Using a leather strop realigns them and makes for a smoother cut or shave. It's pretty much the same as using a wh... | null |
3st6pk | why did/do the mafia get involved in industries such as waste management and construction? | [
{
"answer": "It's easier to launder money through a legitimate business, especially one with extremely variable costs",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Waste management is a good way to dump some bodies....\n\nConstruction is where the big money is at. Put in a million, get 10million back. T... | null |
3wwxp8 | why is fresh food considered better than packaged food? | [
{
"answer": "Packaged food is usually filled with preservatives that allow it to be packaged and stored for a while. These preservatives aren't particularly tasty or good for you, so fresh food is valued more. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_... | null |
6oxlgu | what would happen to animals that sleep during the winter if there where a sudden ice age? | [
{
"answer": "They'd quite possibly die from the unusual weather conditions, as would many animals that don't hibernate. A 'sudden ice age' would be a very traumatic event for any and all ecosystems. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Wait, aren't we still technically in an ice age? \n\nAs hard as... | null |
7i6343 | How did scientists discover that mars had a magnetic field? | [
{
"answer": "The Mars Global Surveyor was a probe sent to Mars with the purpose of detecting its magnetic field. It had a magnetometer on board that mapped the entire magnetic field of Mars from orbit. \nAnother way is by observing the effects of the magnetic anomalies on particles. Basically magnetic fields w... | null |
10xqrn | how do capacitors work? why do they explode? | [
{
"answer": "The simplest capacitor is two metal plates separated from each other by something that doesn't conduct electricity (a dielectric). They store charge because when a voltage is put across them, this causes some of the electrons on the positive plate to move to the negative one. If you then disconnec... | null |
7q1m47 | How did taking ships as prizes actually work? | [
{
"answer": "(1/2)\n\nThe procedures surrounding this varied a lot by country and time and place but typically in the 17th-18th centuries there wasn't much of a rigid legal procedure that was followed. \n\nThe mid-17th century Caribbean was famous for the totally corrupt English and French governors who unscrup... | null |
91gjet | Did France ever consider intervening in the English Civil War? If not, why not? | [
{
"answer": "[This answer](_URL_0_) from /u/ETFox explains the limited involvement of the continent.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "5390191",
"title": "Treaty of Tours",
"section": "Section::::Context.\n",
"star... | null |
1vijov | how does the human body/mind know to growing when your young? and when to stop? | [
{
"answer": "**Hormones** and **DNA** regulate when and how our bodies grow and age.\n\nDNA encodes all of the information on the physical structure of our bodies, from the overarching human form to the microscopic insides of our cells. This information is translated into physical structures, like proteins, whi... | null |
d8g181 | why is the yogurt on the rim of the cup always a little different in texture from the rest of the yogurt? | [
{
"answer": "You mean the stuff that's seperate from the rest right? It's a smaller quantity and is exposed to the bit of air inside the container so it dries out.\n\nIt's a little thicker because of a lower moisture content.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
1bnjew | Can children eat rare or med rare steak? | [
{
"answer": "None that I can think of. The inside of a piece of uncut meat(beef) is sterile. Make sure that the meat isn't mechanically tenderized or injected with a brine solution. \n\nThe problem arises when meat is ground because then the potentially contaminated outside becomes the same as the previously st... | null |
874awz | why summer night air has that discinct "peaceful" smell? | [
{
"answer": "**TL;DR:** *Dust mostly is gone because the wind dies, air is moister and cooler and so conducts smells better, there's not as many \"bad smells\" that you get from a hot sun, and a lot of plants that bloom at night smell awesome.*\n\nSo, lots of reasons. Let's get started.\n\nThe first reason is t... | null |
36i14i | Birds such as pigeons and sea gulls are extremely successful in urban environments, why don't we see proportional numbers of predatory birds in cities as well? | [
{
"answer": "Peregrine falcons were actually quite common in cities [for at least two centuries.](_URL_1_) What happened was that people started spraying DDT and the falcons saw their populations collapse as it moves up the food chain.\n\nNot that DDT is banned, they're [coming back to the cities](_URL_0_). One... | null |
oxuaz | caffeine jitters | [
{
"answer": "Caffeine like all chemicals, can change the way your body functions. Caffeine stimulates the adrenal glads, producing adrenalin. Your body literally is chemically tricked into thinking it's a in a fight or flight situation. \n\nThis can eventually lead to things like heart palpitations, sweaty palm... | null |
3y0k28 | If space is expanding, why has the Big Crunch been discredited? | [
{
"answer": "Because we have an accelerating expansion, meaning that there must be a dark energy or similar component. \n\nDark energy accelerates the expansion while matter slows it down. Moreover, the expansion itself dilutes matter and makes its density smaller while dark energy stays the same.\n\nTherefore ... | null |
582s4y | Are new archaeological discoveries still being made in Egyptology? | [
{
"answer": "The Egyptian civilization lasted for thousands of years from the pre-dynastic period (5500 B.C.E) to The Roman Period (30 B.C.E-~300 C.E). (1) There is a wealth of information still to be discovered. There are archaeologists in the deserts now still making discoveries. There are several academic jo... | null |
1stape | how a company changes when it is acquired by another company | [
{
"answer": "Every merger or acquisition is different. There is no single answer here ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "None of these really have a fixed answer, except possibly the question about owning shares of stock.\n\nIf company A buys company B, they can do whatever they want, within the ... | null |
25n6mr | Does Jupiter's "spot" move around like a hurricane, or is it a stationary storm? | [
{
"answer": "The spot stays almost stationary in latitude (North/South) but it moves longitudinally (is that even a word? > . > ). Because Jupiter is so large, the distance and speed it travels East/West varies quite a bit with even a few degree latitude shift.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer":... | null |
2w2h8o | Is the Earth orbiting the sun in a straight line? | [
{
"answer": "Kinda. Freely-falling objects follow [geodesics in spacetime](_URL_1_). Whether or not these are straight lines is probably a matter of semantics. \n\nAs a simpler example, consider whether you might call [geodesics on the surface of a sphere](_URL_0_) \"straight lines\" or not.",
"provenance":... | null |
7y3d9v | how do criminals crack 3-4-5 digit codes on safes,locks etc? | [
{
"answer": "Not a criminal, average joe.\n\nI really don't know on physical safes, but on PC, normally a Brute Forcing software will do the trick. What a Brute forcing Software does is try a TONNE of different combinations really fast. Every possible one until it gets a match. ",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
9ocpzk | inside the brain, how do a bunch of neurons translate to a piece of information? | [
{
"answer": "This is an interesting question. The answer is I don't know, no one knows, and if you figure it out, can I get an invite to your Nobel acceptance.\n\nCertain neurons are activated when we do certain things. Let's use vision as an example. When we see something, our primary visual cortex activates. ... | null |
9kxesk | why are jet engines so much faster and powerful than propeller engines | [
{
"answer": "Propeller engines have a limit to how fast they can spin because at high rotation speeds, the tips of the propeller blades can reach supersonic speeds, and this is extremely loud, and can damage the propeller. \n\nJet engines can spin at much higher speeds since the rotating components are smaller,... | null |
2km778 | how do laser rangefinders work? | [
{
"answer": "The rangefinder measures how long it takes for a laser beam to travel there and back, and then uses that data to calculate distance.\n\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A LASER rangefinder consists of a LASER, and a receiver tuned to the LASER's frequency. The device shoots the LA... | null |
1u9rdn | How did family members find out if a relative died during WWII? | [
{
"answer": "As with most countries, by telegram. Typically they would inform the family that the relative was missing, e.g.: _URL_3_\n\nAs noted, a letter (usually from the CO) would follow.\n\nOf course, some of the missing turned up, I believe the Red Cross would get lists of POWs and inform the armed forces... | null |
1s2716 | why if i slowly submerge an oreo in milk will it completely sink in less than a minute but if i simply drop it in, it seems to float forever? | [
{
"answer": "The surface tension of the milk holds it up. \n\nIf you look at water, you will see that the surface is like a thin rubber skin. This keeps the cookie afloat. Also, since most of it is above the liquid, it does not soak up as much. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "the slow submergi... | null |
59a90j | Did the Soviet Union have competitive entrance examinations for Universities? If yes, how did they differ from the ones in Europe and US? | [
{
"answer": "As a follow up question to OP's question, how common was it for Soviet universities to increase the difficulty of the entrance exams for, so-called, \"undesirables\"?\n\n[This article](_URL_0_) highlights the unfairness of entrance exams given to prospective Jewish students at the mathematics depar... | null |
7wwrph | How good were the Confederacy's other generals in regards to Robert E Lee? Or the Northern generals for that matter? Were they second-rate, or just as good as Lee himself? | [
{
"answer": "It might be best to start on a discussion of Lee just to clear up what we're looking at in terms of a measuring stick. OP's question presupposes that Robert E. Lee was one of, if not THE best general of the American Civil War. By \"best\" I assume this is a combination of factors including (1) scor... | null |
74q2kq | what led to the creation of the knights templar and what was their mo? | [
{
"answer": "During the Crusades, the Church controlled Jerusalem for a time, and this attracted pilgrimages to go see the holy land. The trip from Western Europe to the Levant was rough and dangerous. The Knights Templar were formed as a monastic order charged with securing the safety of pilgrims.\n\nBesides... | null |
1b3tco | why we flinch | [
{
"answer": "Fight or flight instinct. When surprised, your body/brain makes itself ready to defend itself, or run for the hills...",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Also, moving away from a collision when it happens dampens the overall effect or damage. Kind of like how you have to move your ha... | null |
523jlk | what will happen if we try to land on a gas gaint, like jupiter? will we come out from the other end, never being able to land? | [
{
"answer": "No, as you enter the gas giant the pressure would increase and the interior gases would buoy your ship because their density would be increasingly higher as the molecules are squeezed closer together by gravity. You'd probably end up floating inside like being deep underwater rather than just passi... | null |
60wd7u | How long did soldiers have to stand in the landing crafts during D-Day? | [
{
"answer": "The convoys carrying troops departed from ports in southern England on the afternoon of June 5, 1944 and proceeded slowly across the channel with heavy air cover. They dropped anchor in their designated transport areas 23,000 yards offshore at roughly 0200 on June 6, at the same time that airborne ... | null |
2bwp3h | What is the origin and historical context of so called, "honor killings?" | [
{
"answer": "hi! if you don't get responses here (or even if you do), it might be worth x-posting this question to /r/AskSocialScience and/or /r/AskAnthropology for their perspective",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "457803",
"titl... | null |
4keecy | Would the night sky have appeared much brighter in the time of the dinosaurs? | [
{
"answer": "The universe is expanding, but gravity keeps small-scale (relatively speaking!) structures like galaxies - and even groups of galaxies - together. The volume of space containing all the stars we can see is a vanishingly small part of our galaxy! So the number of stars visible doesn't really change ... | null |
3ggsuw | why there are lions in india, but no tigers in africa? | [
{
"answer": " > Lions, leopards and tigers are all part of the Felidae family of cats, which originated in Africa and share a common ancestor. At some point, probably around 2 million years ago, one offshoot of Felidae migrated east toward Asia, and those cats evolved into the orange-, black-, and white-stripe... | null |
20tvap | Why do larger land animals seemingly tend to have fewer legs (among those that have them)? | [
{
"answer": "Interesting question, I think the distinction might not be between small animals and large ones, but rather between invertebrates and vertebrates. \n\nMy speculation is that there is a tradeoff between the number of appendages an organisms has, and the range of motor control it can have with tho... | null |
apo0tx | From my understanding hundreds of years ago when a country would steal land to absorb into their empire, they’d invade and forcibly take the land they wanted. Now when countries want land they negotiate, buy and sell it, when did that change occur? | [
{
"answer": "Your understanding is pretty much incorrect. \n\n\nFirst off, the entire idea of land being firmly and incontrovertibly owned by a particular sovereignty, with concrete territorial boundaries marked off, is roughly speaking a modern idea associated with what is commonly called \"Westphalian sovere... | null |
5rttns | why do spinning objects seem to stay in the air longer? | [
{
"answer": "Spinning stabilizes the object so that it doesn't wobble or flip over. This enables it to continue moving through the air smoothly. By itself this doesn't make it stay up any longer, just travel farther. \n\nHowever, if the object is also shaped like a wing (a Frisbee is), staying in the right orie... | null |
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