id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
87d96g | Why are some charging cables faster than others even when using the same power supply? | [
{
"answer": "Wire length, wire diameter, and wire material all effect total wire resistance. If you know the resistance of the cable, r, you can calculate the maximum theoretical power transfer across that cable to a phone, which is a maximum when the phone appears to have the same resistance as the cable (for... | null |
93500e | what exactly happens when we bend paper? why is it permanent? | [
{
"answer": "[Here's what paper looks like under a microscope.](_URL_0_) These are ~~collagen~~ cellulose fibers that came from the pulp of the trees used and they all kinda mesh and weave together all tangled up - giving paper its strength. When you crease a fold, the fibers that get bunched up on the inside o... | null |
hwjsw | Will we ever be able "read" a brain ? | [
{
"answer": "I do know that pictures you are observing can be recreated with software that uses nothing but scans of your brain. From [NewScientist](_URL_1_) in 2008:\n\n > Pictures you are observing can now be recreated with software that uses nothing but scans of your brain. It is the first \"mind reading\" t... | null |
63p6gu | Why is it impossible for an object to have an absolute velocity of 0? | [
{
"answer": "How would you like to define absolute velocity? Which frame of reference are you choosing to be your absolute reference frame for measuring speeds, and why is that frame of reference preferred rather than any other frame you could choose?\n\nIn short, Special Relativity states that there simply isn... | null |
m609b | how does nasa take super detailed pictures of space? | [
{
"answer": "What NASA and many other photographers do is they take a bunch of really zoomed in pictures, putting the zoomed in pictures right next to ones that are close to it, and stitch them together, making a really detailed picture. \n\nThis same process is used when making panoramic pictures. \n[Image Sti... | null |
u8esq | How were French soldiers who participated in the mutinies during WWI punished? | [
{
"answer": "Your history lecturer (I'm assuming University by lecturer) refused to talk about somthing because it was too horrific? ...how is he/she not the worst history lecturer ever? A fairly large proportion of history is horrific, surely?\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Where is our won... | null |
yq7b0 | gluons | [
{
"answer": "Ok since you understand the principles of bosons, and fermions, I'll step the cutesy analogies, and just explain it simply. Gluons are basically the exchange particle of the Strong interaction. The strong interaction is what keeps the quarks together. It works just like electromagnetism, where the ... | null |
47pn5b | Has there ever been a city that feigned defeat, letting in enemy troops, to only trap them once inside the city walls? | [
{
"answer": "Sorry, we don't allow [\"trivia seeking\" questions](_URL_0_). These tend to produce threads which are collections of disjointed, partial responses, and not the in-depth discussions about a particular topic we're looking for. If you have a specific question about an historical event, period, or p... | null |
5ge7u0 | why do male orgasms get more intense in relatively short amounts of succession? | [
{
"answer": "Well everyone is different. Wildly so, in fact. Some people are capable of sustaining multiple, repeating orgasms of increasing intensity. This is more common in women, but certainly possible in men. Others can only have one orgasm of great intensity, after which they lose sexual stimulation fo... | null |
frcx1 | what is the feasibility of a (manufactured) organic computer, and what are the scientific obstacles to making it a reality? | [
{
"answer": "Keeping it alive for the same amount of time a regular PC will last? (without mutations in it's cellular regeneration causing memory loss or SKYNET)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "[Here's an article about a math problem solved with a DNA computer](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": nul... | null |
pe0vp | i spent a frustrating hour with gimp before coming to you guys, please eli5 how to make animated .gifs. | [
{
"answer": "You'll need each individual 'frame' to be on a separate layer. If you already have all your pictures you want to turn into a .gif made (and named in proper order), simply go File > Open as layers, select all pictures, and it will imported as layers.\n\nOnce you have every frame on it's own layer,... | null |
f44ou | What would happen, physiologically, if you drank Febreze? | [
{
"answer": "[Here](_URL_0_) we go. Looks like beta cyclodextrin is the one in Febreze, and the listed instructions in the event of ingestion are: \n > \"Do NOT induce vomiting unless directed to do so by medical personnel. Never give anything by mouth to an unconscious\nperson. Loosen tight clothing such as a ... | null |
2gvbvh | georg cantor and set theory | [
{
"answer": "He came up with a new proof technique, called diagonalization, and was able to show some infinities were bigger than others. It goes something like this:\n\nThere are an infinite number of natural numbers, and also an infinite amount of real numbers. If these infinities are equivalent, it should ... | null |
fupvfr | how would the earn it act negatively affect end to end encryption? | [
{
"answer": "Hopefully a simple example:\n\nNo matter how good a safe you install to store your valuables, the government wants the safe manufacturer to make a door at the back with a key available to the government. This is just in case, the government feels that you might be storing something illegal in the s... | null |
1j8bg7 | Why is the clock industry so strong in Switzerland? | [
{
"answer": "It's not exactly answering the question, but I'd like to add a bit of related information.\n\nSwitzerland, being strong in [horology](_URL_0_), has excelled in other industries where extreme precision manufacture is paramount. I work in seismology, and there are an number of historic and current ma... | null |
yq0ao | how someone can recover from being paralyzed. | [
{
"answer": "Your brain uses nerves to tell your body to move (think of your brain as a power strip and your nerves as the outlets) sometimes an injury destroys ALL the outlets, and your brain can't do anything causing a paralysis. Other times, only one outlet is destroyed, and the brain can just plug the fun... | null |
202ooq | Did the Romans understand what inflation was? | [
{
"answer": "It's not exactly inflation, but debasing the quality of coinage has a similar effect, and Romans did understand that. The reason to debase coinage is because you want to pass off the cheaper coin for the value of the more expensive coin. This periodically produced economic crises, such that peopl... | null |
2jwzjm | why is autism seemingly more common now that is has been in the past? | [
{
"answer": "The answer from the medical community is: 'we're not entirely sure'\n\nOne factor may be increasing awareness so cases that were previously undiagnosed or misdiagnosed are coming under the ASD umbrella.\n\nIt's also not entirely clear what causes autism, and there may be multiple causes - there's c... | null |
p77w4 | the fine print on the xkcd website | [
{
"answer": "It was a viral marketing campaign that XKCD took over, [like a boss](_URL_0_).\n\nNo idea why they're still there. Probably because the author thinks they're funny, or is proud of them.\n\nEdit: For a less disappointing response, ask again in r/shittyaskscience. :D",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
1lma9i | why are dogs no longer found in the wilderness? | [
{
"answer": "You can find some wild dogs, mostly in cities, but dogs were never an existing species, they're wolves that we domesticated that became so removed from wolves they became their own species.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A dog is a domesticated wolf. Dogs were never a wild animal,... | null |
v03a6 | This Mathmatical problem has been bothering me for over a week | [
{
"answer": "What you want is called a [de Bruijn sequence](_URL_1_). They are well-studied and also awesome.\n\nIn this case, you have an alphabet of *k* = 10 symbols (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) and want all words of length *n* = 4, so the total number of de Bruijn sequences is (10!)^10^3 / 10^4 , [which is... | null |
4rupim | Suppose I'm a typical voter in the U.S in the late 18th century. Am I aware the founders based the structure of the country on the work of other enlightenment philosophers (John Locke & so fourth), or do I think they made it all up them selves? | [
{
"answer": "The short answer is that the typical voter in the US in the late 18th century was well aware of both the work of American and non-American enlightenment thinkers. \n \nIn the late 18th century, a \"typical voter\" would be, in most states, a white, land-owning male. [*Charters of Freedom - ... | null |
8lpezh | Could a really skilled knight or swordsman really take on and kill 5 or so other opponents at a time? Or is that just movie bs? | [
{
"answer": "Can you please clarify what specific historical time or times and locations you are interested in? I may be able to answer your question, but as posed it isn't a historical one.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It's been done, so it's clearly possible.\n\nOne example: William MacBea... | null |
1926gl | what is the difference between constant and variable bitrate mp3 files, and what makes the latter supposedly "better"? | [
{
"answer": "Bitrate means how many bits are used per second of song. In general, the more bits you have the higher quality the recording. \n\nThe thing is, some sounds are more 'complicated' and have finer details (higher frequencies). To accurately capture this, you need more information per second. You could... | null |
sicqp | How can every point be the center of the universe if it isn't homogeneous? | [
{
"answer": "The best current models indicates that the universe is flat and infinite.\n\n > The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) has confirmed that the observable universe is **flat** with only a 0.5% margin of error. Within the Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) model, **the presently most... | null |
4kv6ya | Some planes from WW2 were designed in such a way that the bullets they fired had to go between the propeller blades. How did the designers make sure they won't hit a blade and was the fire rate affected? | [
{
"answer": " > How did the designers make sure they won't hit a blade\n\nAs far as I know the trigger mechanism to fire each bullet was coupled via a [cam](_URL_0_) to the shaft of the propeller. As the propeller shaft turned to a particular position the cam would trigger the gun to fire the bullet. This woul... | null |
c94xqy | Was the Holy Roman Empire really a singular state? Or was it at best a loose league of states? | [
{
"answer": "The answer to your question(s) would be a resounding \"neither\", I'm afraid. I'll try to get a bit more in-depth for the 1648-1806 period of HRE history where I'm best informed in, but hopefully you'll get other answers expounding on the many centuries before that. I can already give you a tl;dr t... | null |
fpq5kc | Why couldn't Chiang Kai-Shek lead a unified Kuomintang, despite being appointed by Sun Yat-Sen to be the new leader? | [
{
"answer": "Chiang Kai-shek didn't want to lead a unified KMT. In fact, he totally planned, executed, and then perpetuated the persecution of communists and the CCP from 1926-1937. And to be fair, Sun Yat-sen also had no interest in seeing the party unified with communists either, he was forced to by the USSR ... | null |
cccv40 | A question about how American right-wing religious rhetoric shifted around the end of the Cold War | [
{
"answer": "The soviet union's potential connection to scripture was based on a relatively pragmatic reading of the passages regarding Gog and Magog. These are the two allied forces that are supposed to invade Israel. Gog and Magog have long been thought to be connected with the scythians(and central asia), w... | null |
3guv9b | why does it feel so nice/good to sing along to a song? | [
{
"answer": "There's complicated theories behind why this happens but basically we get pleasure out of having an anticipation satisifed, which is why \"catchy\" songs tend to have repetitive lyrics and melodies which you can easily catch on to and remember. Since you know what's coming, you have an anticipation... | null |
1010j5 | why is reddit composed mostly of male, middle class liberals? | [
{
"answer": "Reasonable conjecture:\n\nBecause young teenagers tend to be more liberal.\n\nAlso, reddit draws a lot of focus towards technology related issues, which men are on average more interested in.\n\nFinally, middle class americans have more free time to blow on reddit then lower class americans.\n\nAls... | null |
7r7a6k | if one company buys out another company for a monetary fee, wouldn’t the money go back to the parent company, therefore the parent company essentially gained capital for free since they own the other company? how does that work? | [
{
"answer": "No, because when the company is bought it is bought from its owners. You know, the shareholders? They get the money from the buyout.\n\nThe only way it would stay with the company is if the company owned itself which is silly.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Nope. A company, just l... | null |
23mmq9 | Can Allergies be inherited? If not, how do they develop? | [
{
"answer": "Your immune system is constantly creating new antibodies. It does this basically by throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks, except with DNA from a certain region of the genome. Allergic reactions happen when the immune system recognizes a substance (such as peanut proteins or pollen)... | null |
a2fowe | What does "thinness" or "thickness" of air imply and how does it happen and change? | [
{
"answer": "Thick and thin are referring to density, I.e. how much air is contained in a given volume. On planets like earth the atmosphere's density changes because gravity pulls it down. The air high in the atmosphere pushes down on the air lower in the atmosphere, compressing it and increasing its density. ... | null |
1d7q56 | John D. Rockefeller - man of greed or a visionary? | [
{
"answer": "I doubt you'll get a meaningful answer. 'Man of greed' and 'visionary' are personal judgements. So what causes some to call Rockefeller a man of greed causes others to call him a visionary. \n\nThat said, I'd seriously reconsider those 'sources' you posted. The first seems to be a site about Linux,... | null |
1cu0ra | Why did Germany colonize Africa in the late 1800s and what did they gain from it? | [
{
"answer": "I agree with czela's point, but I'd like to expand a bit. There were really two types of Imperialism: Old Imperialism and New Imperialism. The Old Imperialism consisted of the exploration of the New World and the search of spices. The motives for this exploration was mostly gold (economic), God (th... | null |
107ntk | how does the "vote weight" system work--on reddit/res and elsewhere? | [
{
"answer": "Vote weight simply tracks the total net points you have given to a certain person. The ability to manually set it to whatever number is a novelty feature. \n\nAlso, I believe the creator of xkcd (Randall Munroe) wrote reddit's ranking algorithm.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,... | null |
6hcy6x | how does championship unification in boxing work, and how do championships get separated again? | [
{
"answer": "First things first. Boxing matches are not organised by a central governing body or league the way that say tennis tournaments are. Instead they are organised privately between two individual fighters (usually by a promoter) as a commercial arrangement where one fighter pays the other to fight and ... | null |
1g6acn | If global warming continues at its current rate is sea level rise an inevitability? If it is what will the rate be? | [
{
"answer": "First, sea level rise isn't an inevitability, in the sense that it will happen some time in the future. It is happening now, and it has been happening quite steadily since the start of the increase in greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere through anthropogenic behaviours about a century ag... | null |
3d1qjf | why is it when you take a nap, you get indents and marks from your sheets/body, but when you sleep normally you don't? | [
{
"answer": "There would be no difference, other than when you sleep normally you move around a lot so you're not in one position for long enough for your skin to be indented. When you take a nap you tend to move less as you only really enter 1 R.E.M. cycle.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,... | null |
1lr9oc | why do(almost) all police cars use the same car/model? | [
{
"answer": "buy in bulk for a cheaper rate.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Buying a lot of the same model means you get bulk rates as well as make maintenance easier. \n\nAnd for unmarked cars they do often use different models, and sometimes have the police use their personal vehicles. ",
... | null |
2rin7h | How would a vaccine against a different strain of flu minimize symptoms of the other flu? | [
{
"answer": "It's true, the vaccine will still afford some protection. The best way to think of this might be to use an analogy. Imagine a crime is committed by someone named influenza, and the police have a sketch artist come in. Say the sketch is perfect -- now law enforcement everywhere can easily catch the ... | null |
1aim9n | How diverse was the Mongol Empire at its peak? | [
{
"answer": "Carpine came a little bit early for the diversity that would define the [Pax Mongolica.](_URL_0_) However, within the next 100-200 years the mongol empire was extremely diverse. Kublai khan was heavily influenced by the chinese during his reign, and later many leaders were influenced by islam and a... | null |
5tblop | Why is the major key considered cheerful and the minor key considered sad? Is this a nurtured trait or a natural predisposition? | [
{
"answer": "Great question. \nA few things that I'd like to point to which I think might contribute to the discussion.\nThe relative degree of consonance/dissonance is directly associated with the number of cycles that are required before 2 (or more) notes repeat their pattern. e.g. in a unison it is a 1:1 rat... | null |
fjnn9 | We seem to agree on the metric system, but why not UTC? | [
{
"answer": "Because we all like noon to be when the sun is near the top of the sky. Yes we'd all function just as well to call that same event 5 pm, but we like our sun to be at noon, midnight to be the middle of the night, *ante meridiem* to be before noon and *post meridiem* to be after noon.",
"provenan... | null |
3ophb7 | why do we, humans need to have wars when we can just talk problems over?u | [
{
"answer": "You ask me for some ice cream.\n\nI say no.\n\nYou really want the ice cream.\n\nI say no.\n\nI'm the only one with the ice cream.\n\nI say no.\n\nYou try to talk to me nicely about it.\n\nI say no.\n\nYou try to negotiate.\n\nI say no.\n\nYou beg me.\n\nI say no.\n\nYou get fed up and get all your... | null |
2j6pyl | What are the main differences between Valence Bonding Theory, VSEPR Theory, and Molecular Orbital Theory? | [
{
"answer": "The best place to start is probably VSEPR theory. VSEPR theory is basically concerned with the geometry taken by the bonds in a certain molecule as a function of basic electron-electron repulsion; bonds between atoms (which constitute the sharing of an electron pair basically at this stage) want to... | null |
2c94jw | What were major differences between the Federalist Party and the Democratic Republican Party? | [
{
"answer": "The key differences were on issues of nationalism and localism. The best way to compare the two parties is to compare their ideological leaders. Alexander Hamilton was a driving force behind the Federalists while Thomas Jefferson was the founder of the old Republican Party (Democratic-Republican, ... | null |
118vdb | If we were to create a bottomless vacuum on Earth and dropped a ball in it, could it ever reach a "terminal velocity?" | [
{
"answer": "So just to be clear, you mean you apply a constant force forever on something in a vacuum?\n\nIn this case, it would accelerate forever. It wouldn't ever reach a terminal velocity, except in the sense that as it reaches high relativistic speeds its velocity asymptotically approaches that of light. ... | null |
1ccc10 | What were movies like in Soviet Russia during the Cold War? | [
{
"answer": "Could you explain your question? Soviet cinema is a broad subject, one that cannot be explained in a single answer. What are you looking for? Major themes? Cold war via cinema? Prominent figures in its development?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Depends. Some were long and 'heavy'... | null |
7z999l | How are we able to put more space/memory into processors, GPU's, ram, hard drives, etc. as time progresses? | [
{
"answer": "We are able to increase processor speed and hard drive space because transistors (the things that hold all the information) are getting smaller. Right now a transistor is about 14 nm and it will only get smaller. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The process which circuits are made ... | null |
1ypnmp | why can i kick a soccer ball farther when it's rolling towards me? | [
{
"answer": "Soccer balls deform under stress.\n\nWhen it's moving towards you, there's a certain momentum in that direction, which causes it to deform more when your foot impacts it than it would if it was stationary.\n\nThen when it snaps back to its normal shape, more energy is imparted to the ball causing i... | null |
e9vsip | Were there classical/medieval versions of ambulances? | [
{
"answer": "Yes and no. \n\nThe idea of an ambulance where a sick or injured person is transported, treated on route and brought to a place of medical care didn't exist for civilians until 1832 when London's Cholera outbreak lead the city to setup horse drawn carriages to transport the ill that served as the f... | null |
2bd7fn | the different parts of web development and the languages/tools that are used for each part. | [
{
"answer": "This explanation is a huge oversimplification but this is ELI5 after all... there are basically three levels of code in any code base as follows:\n\n1. Database Tier (MySQL, Oracle): this consists of database tables which contain all the data for your website like user name, address info, etc. This... | null |
6ea8u3 | what happens when your body "adjusts" to a high-fiber diet | [
{
"answer": "Any dietary change can cause rumbletummy. Your gut flora adapts to dealing with slower digesting food. However, some people have more difficulty than others. I eat lots of bran fiber as well as raw and cooked vegetable fiber... And chicory root (in fiber bars, some yogurts, and fiber cereals) give... | null |
yg4wf | - why is microwaving metal objects dangerous? | [
{
"answer": "Microwaves can induce electric current in metallic (or any conductive) objects. They are, quite literally, antennas. And while normally antennas receive signals of low power, these are high power signals meant for transferring energy. \n\nThe effect of these currents depends alot on the object's ma... | null |
2u0p0k | What is it about the American Revolution that allowed it to"work" when there are so many other revolutions (the French and Russian Revolutions come to mind) that end up horribly? | [
{
"answer": "To my consideration, the answer lies within the terms. While the Russian and French revolutions were, basically internal affairs, as they wanted to overthrow the government held by actual Russians and French people respectively, the American revolution was actually an independence, as the governmen... | null |
7c3acd | how is tv static from the big bang? | [
{
"answer": "It's residual energy that is still dissipating. In the grand scheme of the universe our lives are a mere split second, there are things at work that are bigger and take longer then we can comprehend.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Most of the TV static is from the amplifier itself... | null |
1r3nyv | Why would some knights during the Middle Ages name their weapons? | [
{
"answer": "I would put forward the following - \n\n- Possessions were few and far between in the middle ages; a sword was one of the most valuable things a person could have. As a result, knights wanted to show off their pride for their weapons by naming them.\n\n- The tradition of naming weapons probably aro... | null |
1xcpg5 | 50 years ago $20 was a lot of money, today it's almost spare change. where does all the extra money come from? | [
{
"answer": "The more money printed the less it's worth. Why QE is so controversial. But that is what happens constantly.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Unfortunately your question doesn't have an easy answer, it can't be narrowed down to one thing in particular. Whereas I'm no expert in econo... | null |
1p57ha | Since flames burn at different temperatures, are there any flames that are safe to touch? | [
{
"answer": "They are borderline for \"safe to touch\", but some materials burn as so-called [\"cool flames\"](_URL_0_) with temperatures in the 200-400 degree C range",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "37431",
"title": "Solvent",
... | null |
hgvou | I can't seem to understand what a virtual image is in optics. Secondly, is a rainbow an example of a virtual image? | [
{
"answer": "When you look at something, your eyes see and your brain interprets rays of light diverging from individual points of the object. This is called image formation.\n\nWhen you look through a magnifying glass at something, you still see rays of light that *appear to be* emanating from a common point,... | null |
1ny2sl | What is the significance of the use of "I am" instead of "I have" when Vishnu says, "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds"? | [
{
"answer": "You would probably receive a more thorough and knowledgable answer if you asked this question in /r/linguistics.\n\nHowever, I can tell you that the [present perfect](_URL_1_) construction \"I am become\" is not the result of a direct translation of Sanskrit, but an artifact of early modern English... | null |
400w7p | how does giving to charity save rich people money? | [
{
"answer": "This is just a basic example and not 100% accurate, but it will give you the idea. Lets say I make $1000. Normally I would pay taxes on the whole $1000.\n\nLets say I make $1000 and give $200 to charity. I would now only pay taxes on $800.\n\nIn reality, it doesn't really save you money. Because e... | null |
2otqay | why do we work so hard against extinction of any species, when 99.9% of species naturally die out? | [
{
"answer": "you don't really adapt to having no food. learning how to stop killing bees is probably more worth our time than walking around with cotton swabs pollinating plants by hand\n\nalso \"it was going to happen anyway\" is not a good argument. everyone dies eventually murder is still illegal ",
"pr... | null |
1vl90s | what are the properties of hydrogen/helium that enable physicists to distinguish them from 'metals'? | [
{
"answer": "_URL_0_\n\n > Metals are commonly:\n > \n > * Shiny\n > * Good conductor of heat and electricity\n > * High melting point\n > * Malleable (this means that they can be hammered or distorted)\n > * Ductile (this means that they can be drawn into wires)\n > * Usually solid at room temperature. ... | null |
20acw9 | how do we know what the earth looks like on the inside? | [
{
"answer": "In the simplest way I can think to explain it, different parts of seismic waves behave differently when they travel travel through different substances (solids, liquids, and different types of each.) Parts of the waves pass through fluids unaffected, parts bounce off, parts are absorbed, parts slow... | null |
3q6gp1 | when not hunting, what do predators do when they meet prey animals? | [
{
"answer": "Predators don't want a drawn-out stand up fight. A predator is only fighting for its food; the prey will be fighting for survival. Neither animal *wants* to get hurt, but the predator is the one that can afford to break off at any time and try again, so that means it'll be picky about starting one.... | null |
dakn8k | why are data measurement units (mb, mb, gb, tb) not even numbers of bytes? like why is a gigabyte not exactly 1000 megabytes? | [
{
"answer": "Because computer measurements are based on multiples of 8. (Base 8)\nThis is why you've heard the term 8 bit, 64 bit and so on.\n\nA gigabyte is 1024 megabytes, a megabyte is 1024 bytes and so on.\n\nIt's all in multiples of 8. There have been attempts to metricise this, but they've not really take... | null |
co5fi1 | Did he British ever plan a direct naval invasion of Germany in World War I? Were there any defensive fortifications on the German coast? | [
{
"answer": "There were a number of plans for amphibious assaults on German islands in the North Sea and even the Baltic coast of Germany, formulated in 1914-15, but these came to nothing as it was chosen to focus on knocking the Ottoman Empire out of the war instead. In 1916-17, planning focused on moves to ou... | null |
327kmq | Vonnegut says that the Texas Revolution was based on the idea that Mexico had outlawed slavery, which caused Texas to rebel. Any truth to that? | [
{
"answer": "Kind of a perfect storm.The Texans wanted slave ownership legal and church attendance voluntary; the Mexican government forbid slave ownership and had mandatory Catholic church membership. Not a few Texans had \"absquatulated\" from Mississippi and the South, losing their plantations and fleeing t... | null |
44ubyp | How different are brains in "normal" people, and their structure, genetics and other things? | [
{
"answer": "This answer to that really depends on the scope that you're looking at. In terms of brain structures and regions (cerebellum, amygdala, etc.), you can safely bet that most healthy people have these structures, the way most healthy people have fingers and a nose. When you zoom in to the actual neura... | null |
3i3shr | Historical context of the film Lincoln (2012) | [
{
"answer": "Don't consider this a full and proper answer, but it seems relevant to point out that the movie in question was largely based on a book about Lincoln's cabinet and political work during the Civil War, also touching on his election and position within the Republican Party. Check out Doris Kearns Goo... | null |
77hep9 | Isn't classical conditioning of animals basic "If this then that" reasoning? Doesn't this mean that cats/dogs could think? | [
{
"answer": "Of course cats and dogs can think.\n\nClassical conditioning is more of an association than logical If/Then reasoning, since it's very easy to create associations which 'break the logic' e.g. salivating when a bell is rung.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Classical conditioning doe... | null |
2ngjrj | Were people in Europe honestly religiously motivated to go to war or were religious tensions used more similarly to what we would call a "casus belli", by ambitious rulers? | [
{
"answer": "I would contend that there were elements of both sides of the argument in warfare in pre-modern Europe. On the one hand there was a level of belief extant in that period that is almost unimaginable to a modern person. This served as the basis for the mass appeal for events like the crusades and the... | null |
8eut4h | what is happening to our brain when we go to speak and the start of the words get switched? | [
{
"answer": "My dad used to say that you are sixing up your myllables! I was 5 when he first told me that so it fits in this sub (kinda, sorry I'm not helpful). ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The basic idea is that your brain has to go through a bunch of steps to put together sounds and words... | null |
q5h8t | the tree of life | [
{
"answer": "The Tree of Life is primarily about sublime experience more than it is about deep story.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nSublime is a philosophical concept about the sensation of being incapable of taking in the entire power and magnitude of something, especially something natural. Looking at the night sky and imagi... | null |
44cqhk | When Book 10 of the Iliad was written? | [
{
"answer": "The so-called Doloneia has been debated for some time, since antiquity in fact. There isn't really a consensus, though most scholars consider it an interpolation. The tradition that the Doloneia is an interpolation goes back to a Homeric scholiast in antiquity, who attributed the Doloneia to Pisist... | null |
yr8pu | What do former-soviet nations teach about WWII? | [
{
"answer": "I teach in a Post-Soviet school currently (English, but I majored in History), and I have spoken with the history teachers about the curriculum. Each state speaks highly of its own contributions to the conflict. Georgia speaks of its industrial contributions and soldier commitments. Even the smalle... | null |
tsyjt | Why was there such a gap between the earliest stone tools and the earliest metal tools? | [
{
"answer": "Because they were probably more focused on survival day to day then innovation. Only as agricultural skills flourished and led to a more sedentary lifestyle would people have the free time to be creative and figure out how to manipulate metals.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "\"Hav... | null |
4rr3m1 | Zhuge Liang: Fact vs. Fiction | [
{
"answer": "Pretty much everything about Zhuge Liang popularized in *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* is false. Some notable examples:\n\n**Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats:**\n\nThe *Sanguozhi* does not mention this at all, which means it is probably pure fiction. The SGZ does quote *Weilue* about a similar in... | null |
2n87hb | why do we tear up when we rip out nose hair or rip off a inner nose scab? | [
{
"answer": "Probably because there are lots of nerve endings in the mucosal lining. And it hurts like a bitch. The worst is when you get a zit in there.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "220802",
"title": "Cutting off the nose to ... | null |
bgczvz | So another earthquake hit the PH today. Just 1 day apart, but from different places. Is there a connection between the 2? Should we be worried here in the PH for another big one? | [
{
"answer": "For reference, the first large event was this [one](_URL_4_) occurring on 4/22 in the northern part of the country. The more recent event occurring on 4/23 was this [one](_URL_2_) in the more central/southern portion of the country.\n\nLocal geologists / seismologists have indicated that these two ... | null |
bstjpx | why are vietnam veterans praised so much in america? | [
{
"answer": "1. A lot of people were drafted. They did not choose to go.\n\n2. People already in the military also did not have a choice.\n\nMost of them were in one of those two categories. So if they had no choice and went through hell for their country (whether or not the war was justified is a separate stor... | null |
fwvcbi | how come peripheral vision is blurrier or less clear than whatever you're directly focusing on? | [
{
"answer": "The brain can only handle so much information at once. In fact, only a tiny area of vision is ever clear, if you look at the middle of your phone keyboard the letters on the side already are not clear. But you know what's there because it's held in very short term memory.\n\nFun fact, your peripher... | null |
1danlu | How often do cancer cells divide? | [
{
"answer": "The doubling time of cancers cells depends on the characteristics of that cancer, like what it has mutated, deleted, ect. Below I have linked a website that lists different types of Lymphomas and blood cancers. The different Cell lines are on the left, and a simple google search looking for each of... | null |
283wh2 | Why haven't we sent any more probes to Uranus and Neptune since Voyager 2? | [
{
"answer": "Part of the reason is the funding.\n\nAnother big reason is that the Voyager crafts had gravitational assists; basically, the planets' orbits were aligned in such a way that their gravity \"slingshotted\" the Voyager crafts forward. This meant that they didn't need as much fuel as a direct fuel-pow... | null |
a664dd | what causes a car's head gasket to blow and why do certain car brands seem to have a bigger issue with this than other brands? | [
{
"answer": "Alot of factors going into a head gasket blowing but the most prevent is design, especially the motor design, how much HP, amount of stress on motor and so on. The reason so many subaru's blow head gaskets is the design of the \"boxer engine\" where the pistons go outward putting more stress. ",
... | null |
f7oi2z | the accounting equation (assets = liabilities + equity) | [
{
"answer": "Things in your possession - Things that you borrowed = Things that belong to you.\n\nThe \"Things in your possession\" are your assets. They are the things you can use to do fun stuff.\n\nThe \"Things that you borrowed\" are your liabilities. You can use them to do fun stuff, but they need to be ... | null |
27m5zk | How did the natives of Indonesia and the Pacific Islands treat punctures, scraps, infections, and other injuries that might occur while hunting or foraging? | [
{
"answer": "Speaking of cuts, and of Pacific Islands off the coast of British Columbia, apparently through cleaning, and regularly applying of spruce pitch to the wound, and replacing it regularly. I'm curious about practices in further south though.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"... | null |
favv2y | how do guitar pickups get the strings sound? | [
{
"answer": "Magnets.\n\nDo people ever google something before just vomiting their thoughts here?\n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Inside the pickups are magnets wrapped in coils of wire with an electric charge running through them. Those magnets are what \"pickup\" the vibrations",
... | null |
3g26fb | Could all of earth's life survive if the atmosphere was only oxygen and carbon dioxide? | [
{
"answer": "No, nitrogen has an important role to play in the ecosystem, too. There are soil bacteria that convert N2 into ammonia that is taken up by pretty much everything that lives in the soil and anything that is further down the food chain. The ultimate source of virtually every atom of nitrogen in you... | null |
1eroh7 | bayes' theorem in probability | [
{
"answer": "To understand Baye's theorem, we must first understand the concepts of conditional probabilities and probabilities. A probability is the chance of an event happening, often denoted P(A), where A is the event, i.e. P(A)=1/6 where A is rolling 1 on a six-sided die. A conditional probability is the ch... | null |
558tsb | When did Europeans start bathing with soap rather than oil and a scraper? | [
{
"answer": "The differences between soap and olive oil is actually smaller than you think. \nRancid olive oil contains lots of free fatty acids, which have emulsive properties similiar to soap. \n \nFurthermore, traditional soap is made from olive oil, and/or other triacylglycerides. If a base is added to ol... | null |
3bpaht | Do any animals besides mammals and bees make food for their young? | [
{
"answer": "Bees don't actually make honey for their young, they make it for adult bee consumption during the winter. They do produce substances to feed to larvae, including royal jelly, in glands inside their heads.\n\nOtherwise, good question! Some birds perform premastication, chewing up food and regurgit... | null |
tm5wl | Does anyone have primary sources on the Seleucid government? | [
{
"answer": "Sure! Check what Livy has to say on the subject, he'll be able to tell you about the later Seleucids from the Roman perspective. Also Polybius should be an invaluable source to you. Check Plutarc'hs Lives as well.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You're having a hard time finding an... | null |
1gu0yg | Why was the latin word for left-hand "sinister"? Did they prefer the right hand over the left and for what reasons? | [
{
"answer": "The etymology is not quite certain, but there's a pretty decent chance it comes from the word *sinus*, which is the word for any kind of fold. In this case it *could perhaps* be because it's the hand that holds up the *sinus* of a toga.\n\nHowever, I don't have access to the most up-to-date etymolo... | null |
f8hmzb | Why do scholars always imagine recorded troop sizes to be larger than reality? | [
{
"answer": "More input is always welcome; for the meantime, you'll be greatly interested in these two answers from previous threads:\n\n* On the matter of Herodotos versus numbers, in this thread u/Iphikrates [breaks down just how Herodotos got his numbers](_URL_0_).\n* As for how modern scholars can be confid... | null |
8pejtq | European colonists often referred to Native Americans by grouping them into categories like "Cherokee" or "Choctaw" on an ethnolinguistic basis. How relevant were such distinctions to the indigenous groups themselves? | [
{
"answer": "One of the most difficult things that students of prehistoric and protohistoric cultures in the western portions of North America have to confront is the relationship of political entities to linguistic or other classifications. In most of California, and all of the NW coast south of the Tlingit an... | null |
17fjpr | What would happen if two tidal waves hit one another in the middle of an ocean? | [
{
"answer": "You get a super position of waves. The waves would add up. Where the 2 peaks align, you would get a wave twice as high (assuming equal waves), where a peak meets a trough, you would get no wave. As they parted, you the waves would look unchanged.\n\nThis can lead to some freak waves, where a large ... | null |
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