id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
3kymzq | instead of melting, why do objects, such as paper, trees, and human bodies, turn to ash instead when lit on fire? | [
{
"answer": "They're composite materials, made of different stuffs basically. The temperature at which they would melt, is higher than the temperature at which the bonds that make them composites break down at. So before they have a chance to melt, you basically break them down into different substances. \n\nYo... | null |
3283rn | how do we learn our first language? | [
{
"answer": "We learn as a baby and toddler from our surroundings (parents, family etc.) If your parents repeatedly tell you \"kick the ball\" and react positively when you swing your foot against that round object on the floor, you have just learned what the words kick and ball mean.",
"provenance": null
... | null |
1zliv9 | why doesn't russia want to be part of the eu? | [
{
"answer": "Thanks for the response ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Russia has a long history of being the head of empires, not being subjects of other nations. Taking back seat to other countries is not in their nature.\n\nRussia joining the EU as a member would go over about as well as hav... | null |
3c14dq | Objectively speaking, was the Roman civilization on a whole more advanced than the various Celtic civilizations? | [
{
"answer": "What does advanced mean objectively? Or to you?\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Very hard to say. \n\nThere are significant gaps in almost all the celtic histories and entire cultural groups like the picts who we know almost nothing about. \n\nIn addition the few \"histories\" we... | null |
6khwkd | india's new gst-tax | [
{
"answer": "It's a \"value add tax\" similar to the GST in Canada or the VAT in the UK. Many countries have a tax system like this because it's fairly simple to implement and compliance can be easy audited. \n\nThe easiest way to explain a VAT is to contrast it against a traditional sales tax.\n\nWith a norma... | null |
biobk2 | what causes the pressure in our chest when we hold our breath? | [
{
"answer": "The pressure doesn't actually increase as you hold your breath. What you are feeling is the psychological manifestation of your need to breathe. And what is ultimately driving that is increased carbonic acid in your blood.\n\nCarbon dioxide is a bit different from other gases in that it doesn't rea... | null |
43m34m | why doesn't a slinky expand like normal springs do? | [
{
"answer": "Springs are just coils of metal that try *really hard* to return back to their original shape. If you stretch a \"normal\" spring in your hands, it'll try to pull back to it's original shape just the same as it pushes against you when you compress it.\n\nSlinkies are just springs that are wound to... | null |
2na3yn | why do people continue posting threads here when 99% of the questions can be answered w/ a simple google search? | [
{
"answer": "The good questions tend involve either complicated concepts or little bits of trivia that aren't easy to find answers to. With the former, Google searches probably turn up something, but what does show up is hard to understand and the poster wants someone who understands the material to explain it ... | null |
49z5xi | What is some of the oldest primary source documents from Northern Europe? | [
{
"answer": "Do you want first person accounts or the oldest accounts? I doubt those two are going to be the same.\n\nSome of the oldest sources will be saints' lives, usually written by biographers/hagiographers long after the saints were dead. See for example Adamnan's Life of St. Columba for Scotland: _URL_0... | null |
1gh0mf | branch davidians and the waco siege | [
{
"answer": "The branch Davidians, an Adventist sect focused around David Koresh lived in a compound in Texas were stockpiling illegal weapons. The ATF got a warrant to investigate and approached the compound armed. The Davidians didn't take too kindly to this so fended them off. Siege ensues. \n\nATF have no u... | null |
ebs6ej | why can motorbike batteries sit on a shelf unused without losing charge but when sitting inside a motorbike for a few weeks that hasn't been turned on, go dead? | [
{
"answer": "When its on the shelf, there no where for the energy to go. In a motorbike, the battery is slowly and passively discharging. even if nothing is on. This is because the electrons in the battert have another place to go, the motor bike electrical system",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer":... | null |
ahy77n | why do some airports make transit passengers go through security again and others don’t? | [
{
"answer": "As /u/TehWildMan_ said, international flights can force you to go through security again. But, even within the same country you might have to pass through security when connecting between flights. The common reason for this is that many airports have multiple terminals which are physically separate... | null |
6s6gzf | why is yellow visually/functionally the least strong color? | [
{
"answer": "So there are a few things going on here. First...\n\n > it seems odd that one of the three primary colors seems so submissive to the others. \n\nYellow is not a primary color, at least not in the way you're thinking of it in. In additive color (e.g. adding light together) normally it's red, green,... | null |
1nh7wp | Why did the Ustaše initially recognize Islam and "Muslim Serbs" as more Croatian than Orthodoxy and Orthodox Serbs? | [
{
"answer": "There is a strong connection, almost complete correspondence in fact, between religion and nationality in Bosnia (and Croatia, Serbia, etc.). Usually nations were defined not so much by what they have in common, as by how they are different than others. In this case, language couldn't be the differ... | null |
72l3z2 | What would the treatment of an RAF pilot at a German POW camp in WWII have been like? | [
{
"answer": " > How would they have travelled to Germany? \n\nPotentially by train; the Luftwaffe wanted to get prisoners to their Dulag Luft interrogation centre at Oberusel rapidly to extract information so captured airmen would often travel under guard on civilian trains. Around the time of the Dunkirk evac... | null |
17xcey | What would happen if one face of the Earth faced the sun year round, for ever? | [
{
"answer": "Here's a better answer: _URL_0_\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "35553026",
"title": "Position of the Sun",
"section": "Section::::Declination of the Sun as seen from Earth.:Overview.\n",
"start_para... | null |
15dfyo | how does a flute produce sound? | [
{
"answer": "It helps to think of the air in the flute and around the mouthpiece as a squishy fluid, like Jello or jam. We usually think of air as flowing like water, but you can compress air (squish), and compressed air will push back, like when you squeeze a bike tire.\n\nWhen you blow over the flute, you hav... | null |
lhqpo | Is it possible to cause light to travel in an "orbit"? | [
{
"answer": "This happens at 1.5 times the Schwarzschild radius outside a stationary black hole.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Sure. There's a region outside nonrotating black holes called the photon sphere where exctly that happens, and it gets more interesting for rotating ones.",
"prov... | null |
27g5ju | how does intuition or instinct work? | [
{
"answer": "This is an INCREDIBLY interesting topic... I don't know if this was just an 'idle-curiousity' ELI5 or one that touched on something you really are passionate about... if it is the latter, go to Amazon and purchase _URL_0_\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "We have senses, you are no... | null |
4ut8zb | is it possible to manipulate your voice? such as make it raspier, more hoarse or deeper? | [
{
"answer": "Permanently? Not without outside help. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "If you want to become hoarse, you can start screaming. Football coaches who have been screaming daily for two decades tend to be a bit hoarse.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenan... | null |
3lys1c | Was there a moment that was agreed upon to be the basis for clocks moving forward? | [
{
"answer": "The globally agreed upon standard for time is called [Coordinated Universal Time or UTC.](_URL_1_) The wiki has plenty of information on the standard, but basically in 1960 a bunch of national labs (e.g. _URL_0_ from NIST in the US) agreed upon the standard. Prior to this (and importantly prior to ... | null |
3uoqkm | indians: what is the deal with the train system in india? | [
{
"answer": "The main thing is the huge gap between the users and the providers of this service. \n\nAlso, indians love sitting on top of trains/buses. plus i think its cheaper to travel like that instead of INSIDE the bus. \n\nAnd trains, its basically 'last one in, first one out'. what with all the bustling, ... | null |
20pttf | Explain the application of Five Sigma for me? | [
{
"answer": "Let's define a few terms first:\n\nSigma (σ) in this case represents standard deviation. Standard deviation is the mean distance of values from the mean (μ) of the set of values.\n\nA normal (or Gaussian) distribution is probably the most common probability density function. It's some function like... | null |
1psyq9 | Were their any internal anti-imperialist movements at any time during ancient Romes existence? | [
{
"answer": "I don't really know about any internal rebellions against the Imperial system, rather than an individual emperor, but I'll try to answer your question. (Note that I'm in no way a historian.)\n\nRome was first ruled by Kings. Romulus is fabled to have founded Rome and was her first King. It had seve... | null |
wafnq | The Science behind HAARP? | [
{
"answer": "[Searched](_URL_4_)\n\nRelevant [discussion](_URL_6_)\n\nOriginal question by [permanentmarker](_URL_2_)\n\n > [the comment in question](_URL_9_)\n\n > Above is a link to the top rated comment on a post about the atmosphere above Japan heating rapidly before the March 11 earthquake.\n\n > I have h... | null |
1o263u | how do sinks work? | [
{
"answer": "I think you mean how do _faucets_ work, or _water pipes_. Pressure. The utility supplier pumps potable water into the top of the system. Boost pumps along the system keep the pressure up throughout the underground mains. This supplies the pressure to your house. When you open a faucet you are ... | null |
283v1g | What happens to the body when it falls into lava? | [
{
"answer": "You'd probably sink in a few inches, feet burning away, feeling hot from the rising heat. After your feet are gone you'd fall face first or backwards into it. You'd die moments after from the pain, nerve damage, and eventual organ damage. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Probably n... | null |
9ia1rt | what is bearing in navigation and how is it different from heading? | [
{
"answer": "Bearing is the direction to any given point or object. Heading is the direction you are travelling in.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Bearing is the direction to some specific object or location, and heading is compass direction you are moving. For example, if you take off from an... | null |
pymm3 | How can potential energy be relative? | [
{
"answer": "Voltage is not potential energy, it is potential. A charge has to be introduced into the potential in order for there to be \"potential energy\", and it is the charge that contains the potential energy, not the potential itself.\n\n > However, if you can do that, why can you not just test 2 points ... | null |
35hsfp | why is it preferable to keep apps running on android lollipop instead of closing them frequently? | [
{
"answer": "Force closing and re-opening them requires more power than to keep them open in the background. So to save battery, don't force close them.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It's true for all Android versions, not just Lollipop. [This article explains it.](_URL_0_)\n\nTL;DR Android k... | null |
2styzr | how can different operating systems able to read programs written in different programming languages. | [
{
"answer": "When you write a program in some programming language, you can't just run it. You need to pass the code through a *compiler*, a program that translates the code into binary code that the processor can understand.\n\nEven then, the executable binary code is platform specific. You can't run a program... | null |
3apdtc | how come when i use "end task" programs that aren't responding close instantly but when i "x" out of them it takes a while | [
{
"answer": "Pressing the X sends a message to the program asking it to close.\n\nIf the program isn't responding to other input, it's entirely possible it won't respond to that input.\n\nUsing End Task tells the operating system to kill the program.\n\nIt's the difference between using the key to move a broken... | null |
1viitx | why do me teeth feel loose? are they really loose, temporarily, or is my brain just playing tricks on me? | [
{
"answer": "Your teeth do move very slightly over time (they tend to crowd as wisdom teeth come in, for example), but they shouldn't be loose. If you tap on them while looking in the mirror, do you see any motion? Or is it just a feeling? If it's the former, see a dentist *immediately*, that shouldn't ever hap... | null |
h3dpu | Cutting someone in half and they still live for a few seconds? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, it is possible, and during the French Revolution, there were some doctors that were experimenting to see if the brain was still functional after decapitation by guillotine [[1]](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Interesting question! Apparently the technical term for be... | null |
6drejh | What will happen to the Voyager spacecraft if they never come into contact with anything? | [
{
"answer": "It has a pretty good chance (well north of 50%) of outliving the Sun, at least in some sort of semi-recognizable form. After trillions or quadrillions of years, I'm not sure, it will eventually essentially completely evaporate (even metals have vapor pressure). Although it'll cool down to the tempe... | null |
3nn4jj | What exactly is happening when a cyclist rides hand-free? | [
{
"answer": "The bicycle design is such that it will remain upright in response to lean. You can search through /r/askscience for the question of how bicycles stay upright which has some interesting answers as the research is still actually ongoing. Mostly, however, the rider uses his/her muscles to keep the bi... | null |
5w1ldx | how did fungi develop antibiotics fast enough to kill bacteria? and why couldn't bacteria just develop faster to overcome the antibiotics fungi made, therefore becoming resistant? | [
{
"answer": "Many bacteria HAVE evolved to become resistant to penicillin due to its widespread use as an antibiotic when it was first discovered. \nFrom what I understand, it might be opposite of what you think. Bacteria have poor DNA repair mechanisms due to their rapid generation time, so they often accumul... | null |
7h1727 | why do truckers always pass other cars/truckers when going uphill? i seem to notice this mostly on the interstates and it always results (obviously) in the “fast lane” getting backed up. | [
{
"answer": "They don't always pass when going uphill. Sometimes they pass going downhill and sometimes they pass on the level (source: I've seen them do it many times).\n\nYou probably notice it more when they do it going uphill because it inconveniences you most then. It's OK though: in all the jurisdiction... | null |
68916f | how is it that although we don't know all of the words in the dictionary by heart, we can easily spot when something is not a word? | [
{
"answer": "1. Recognition is easier than recall, so if you see a real world you usually recognize it, even if it's not one you use.\n2. In a specific language, certain letter combinations are rare or completely unused. Here are some realistic non-words: famp, droom, pank. Here are some plainly unrealistic one... | null |
4jrm6v | why black holes cause infinite curvature? | [
{
"answer": "Black holes are only infinite right in the center. The curvature at the event horizon **is** \"curved so much that not even light can escape\", but that isn't infinite. You don't need infinite anything to stop light from escaping.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The \"curvature\" o... | null |
bxzg85 | why do charley horses (the type of painful muscle cramp) seem to mostly happen while you're asleep? | [
{
"answer": "Because you sleep in weird positions and your muscles can't properly relax, or it's too cold and your body won't bother shivering, but the muscle still has to warm itself up,so it stays active and pulsates,and eventually it gets stuck",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"prove... | null |
179vp0 | Would a gladiator beat a trained soldier in combat? | [
{
"answer": "Well, to be fair, the terms \"gladiator\" and \"soldier\" are really meaningless terms and describe a very wide variety of persons. For instance, the majority of \"gladiators\" if we are referring to people that fought in the gladiator games, were just slaves that were sold to whomever happened to ... | null |
6djxzg | When people were put in stocks as punishment back in colonial times, was it just a given that they'd be raped? | [
{
"answer": "Hi, not to discourage further discussion, but you may be interested in this answer from a past question that deals directly with your question! \n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "7049963",
"title": "New York... | null |
2gwjpp | If two planets were of the same gravitational pull(earth's for example) and were close to each other what would happen if an object(or human) was directly in the middle of it? | [
{
"answer": "If the object was perfectly placed in the center, it would remain there, since the force of gravity from the planets would be equal in magnitude but in opposite direction.\n\n However, this would not be stable. Any minor change in the system would cause it to accelerate one way or another. All it w... | null |
3792bg | why do gas stations offer mid grade gas | [
{
"answer": "In my state (Montana) premium gas is 91 octane, but regular gas is 85.5 octane. From what I understand the low-octane gas is acceptable because of the altitude, at least for older cars without engine-management computers. So the mid-grade gas is 87 octane, which is what my engine requires. Thus, I ... | null |
35umfp | when people sing in a tonal language (like chinese), how do they keep the tones in their voice? | [
{
"answer": "The short answer is, they don't. You can't really tell the tones when listening to a song. The meaning is usually pretty clear from context.\n\nThe tones are basically lost when whispering Chinese too. It's still understandable.\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I'm not entirely su... | null |
3rsjqd | Has mercury been successfully employed to treat anything? | [
{
"answer": "Mercury is an ingredient in many vaccines, albeit not as the element purely. It's a component of the preservatives, and this is declining as well.\n\nI can't find anything in my journal access offhand, nor am I specifically aware of anything of this sort. That said, there are plenty of elements t... | null |
8jkmd5 | how can tv shows like south park and family guy still use the “all persons fictitious” disclaimer when they are clearly making fun of an actual person/celebrity? | [
{
"answer": "The disclaimer does not give them full protection from libel laws. It might offer them some protection in certain cases. However it is the overall perception that the viewer is left with that is important and not just a single disclaimer. It show however be noted that people who have chosen to beco... | null |
k1wp6 | how rainbow tables work and how they're used for password cracking. | [
{
"answer": "Passwords are stored by \"hashing\" -- to explain this intuitively, think of it like you give me your password, I run it through a machine, and the machine gives me an output that I store. The main point of this machine is\n\n1. The only thing that can cause the it to output what it just did is you... | null |
1r15t3 | Is it possible to set something on fire by pouring boiling water on it? | [
{
"answer": "yes, if it is a water reactive substance like calcium carbide water will react exothermically and ignite the gases produced",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Besides a chemical reaction with water itself, anything that has an [autoignition temperature](_URL_0_) below 100 C could theo... | null |
233jod | how does a cvt(continuously variable transmission) work? | [
{
"answer": "A normal geared transmission switches between larger and smaller gears to change speed to power or power to speed.\n\nA CVT uses pulleys that can move apart or back together. The inside of the pulley is inclined, so as it moves apart, the diameter that the belt rides on gets smaller, and then large... | null |
43na7e | Recently I read that recombination (the coupling of electrons and protons to form atoms) happened 378,000 years after the Big Bang. How can this estimate be so precise? | [
{
"answer": "The answer is that there is a direct relationship between the age of an object and the redshift of an object. This comes out of the [ΛCDM model](_URL_0_) of the universe, which basically just says we trust that general relativity keeps working on really large scales.\n\nIf the current distance betw... | null |
5bs5u2 | how does a single firework explode more than once and every explosion all at once. | [
{
"answer": "The first is just a rocket pretty much. it explodes and a bunch of shells are released (\"shells\". they're not hard like artillery ones.) with a fuse, of a very specific length and material that is lit by the initial one. this process repeats with the last ones.\n\nWe've been making these things f... | null |
9mu8u2 | how does voluntary/involuntary breathing work? | [
{
"answer": "When you go to a doctor's office and they tell you to take a deep breath, that is voluntary breathing. Most breathing falls under the involuntary category so that you don't have to occupy yourself with thinking about breathing all day. \n\nedited to add that voluntary blinking is sort of the same. ... | null |
34cjfd | how does fast charging work? | [
{
"answer": "You guessed right. They increase the amperage. With quick charge 1.0 the charger would deliver 2 amps and with quick charge 2.0 the charger delivers 3 amps. This doesn't damage the battery at all. Some lithium batteries are able to be charged in excess of 5 amps.\n\nEdit: as others pointed out I wa... | null |
bnha57 | How did the Practice of buying and selling an Officer's Commission become so widespread in the British military, and did having incompetent rich officers contribute to the decline in their military power? | [
{
"answer": "I don't see how the sale of commissions could be related to the decline of British military power: purchase of commissions was abolished in 1871 by William Gladstone's Liberal government under the Cardwell Reforms, largely as a response to the debacles of the Crimean War (in particular the Charge o... | null |
3crqgu | "live within your means" as the saying goes. but why is austerity not a good thing when you are a debt stricken country in a deep recession? | [
{
"answer": "Because the best way to earn money is to spend money, wisely, on good investments. By investing, the government can create work places and provide economical stability to people, this increases spending which in turn increases government income. The problem is when the government has to loan the mo... | null |
4h5a1x | why does rolling he windows down help car sickness, but the vent / air conditioner doesn't? | [
{
"answer": "I have found that breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth helps with car sickness, is there a reason why?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "33916504",
"title": "Automobile air conditioning",
"sect... | null |
2k55cu | what is the difference (if any) between medical grade nitroglycerin (like for angina) and "omg explosion" grade nitroglycerin? | [
{
"answer": "They are exactly the same thing, except the medical grade is in the range of milligrans, while you need at least a few grams of the stuff to create any kind of noticeable explosion. The medical grade is also very pure due to the fact that you're putting it in your body, a constraint that the explos... | null |
2f4ct5 | Why was Jesus poor as a Child? | [
{
"answer": "I can not answer for the Jesus of Christianity, /u/husky54 or /u/koine_lingua might be able to help with that part and their answers should (hopefully) at least to some degree correspond with what I can tell you about the historical Jesus. \n\nJesus is usually said to have been a carpenter and the ... | null |
ajr8zh | how do airport codes work when there are 17,678 commercial airports but only 17,576 possible combinations of letters? | [
{
"answer": "IATA codes are only used for airports that have scheduled passenger service. Pilots use ICAO codes for airports. Ticket booking and baggage systems use IATA codes and there are only about 3000 airports that need those.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
... | null |
8iji6t | Why don't strong magnetic fields disrupt the normal electrical activity of cells? | [
{
"answer": "So most magnetic fields only very weakly effect the eletrons in your body, and generally not enough to displace them from the nucleus of the atom. Basically the local forces tend to dominate the energetic landscape compared to the external field. Now you can have Zeeman splitting, where electrons o... | null |
3c09c3 | How popular was jesus by the time of his death? | [
{
"answer": "This is truly an excellent question. One that could actually take pages and chapters to answer (which many have done and I will cite below) but I will do my best to try and help answer it briefly. I have also answered similar questions to this in the past, so I hope you don’t mind if I copy and p... | null |
1jdm16 | the entire plot of bioshock infinite. still haven't figured it out completley. | [
{
"answer": "Spoilers obviously.\n\nBooker DeWitt fought in the battle at wounded knee, which was a very bad thing if you weren't aware. Afterwords he felt strong remorse for what he did and considered going to a baptism to try and absolve himself of his sins.\n\nNow in the universe of Bioshock there are an inf... | null |
8r8h7k | if you melt a penny or rip up a dollar, are you combating inflation, since that cash is no longer in circulation? or is inflation less straightforward? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, you are combatting inflation, but the amount of new currency that is added to the economy everyday is so massive that unless you were to orchestrate a huge money burn, you couldn’t make any sort of difference ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
jmawr | How far from the Earth would an asteroid big enough to destroy all life be visible? | [
{
"answer": "Visible to the best astronomical tools luckily pointed in the right direction, visible to back yard telescopes, visible like a star, or visible like the impending doom of a rapidly growing fireball?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Almost no asteroid could destroy ALL life. There a... | null |
2hgwhp | why do phone companies, like the iphone, focus on making smartphones thinner rather than putting in a bigger battery? | [
{
"answer": "It would appear that the market doesn't demand it, or at least manufacturers don't think the market wants it. The fact that literally anyone could make an android phone using mostly off-the-shelf chips, (\"anyone\" being \"anyone with access to a PCB printing and assembly plant\"), but we have yet... | null |
1lyrh7 | what really happens when you re-enter earth's atmosphere in a space shuttle (gravity wise)? | [
{
"answer": "Nothing happens gravity wise. Gravity is the force that pulls 2 objects to each other. A space shuttle is pulled towards the earth, the closer it get's the harder the pull. But nothing significant happens gravity wise when it enters the atmosphere. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "... | null |
anv9b3 | are musicians brains "wired" differently than non-musicians? | [
{
"answer": "A well-trained musician can hear notes and different types of instruments in pieces. They study music and can decipher music regularly. I would say anyone can learn music and be able to create a song if you learn the foundations of music. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"... | null |
1dbmc2 | why cant i smell or taste when i catch a cold? | [
{
"answer": "When you have a cold, phlegm blocks the passages to the olfactory receptors at the top of the nose meaning that less air is going to pass over them. Thus, fewer molecules are reaching the olfactory cells because they are being blocked by the phlegm. The taste of food is determined more by smell t... | null |
4s4yse | Viking height and build. | [
{
"answer": "Hi there! The thing to keep in mind about your question is that, properly used, the term \"Viking\" refers to an *occupation*, not an ethnic group or proto-nation or whatever. That is, \"vikings\" were people who participated in viking activity: seafaring raiding, banditry and piracy along the coas... | null |
3ysqv2 | how my neighbor's radon exhaust pipe is not a health concern for me. | [
{
"answer": "We have a radon exhaust pipe as well. The way it was explained to me is that the rador is exhausted into the air above the level at which people normally live and breathe. Mine is about 15 feet up on the side of my garage and my nearest neighbor is about 30 feet from it. It dissipates in the air. I... | null |
1lsrkc | why do homeless peoples dogs always seem so immaculately well trained? | [
{
"answer": "They don't exactly have very busy days, so they train their dogs in that time.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I think it's a combination of several things:\n\n1. They probably aren't fed well, so they may lack the energy to be as excitable as house-bred dogs. \n\n2. They're out in... | null |
z4vsh | How would a tyrannosaurus rex have laid down to rest, and then get back up? It seems with such small arms, lying down and righting-oneself up would be a disadvantage. | [
{
"answer": "At least one scientific paper has tackled this question:\n\nNewman, B.H. 1970. Stance and gait in the flesh-eating dinosaur *Tyrannosaurus*. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society vol. 2, p. 119-123.\n\nHowever, since we now know that *T. rex*'s palms faced each other rather than towards the ... | null |
2qki5m | what the hell is windows updating all the time? | [
{
"answer": "A majority are security updates. Behind the scenes stuff. Necessary, but usually not cosmetic in nature.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Updates aren't really pushed \"every other day\" (unless it's a super duper important thing that needs to be sorted now), but rather every mont... | null |
2er5c7 | Can small multicelled organisms sense or detect single celled organisms? | [
{
"answer": "Not my field specifically, BUT:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nWhile I can't seem to find any details anywhere (too many scare articles on 'brain eating amoebas') several places have said amoebas detect various chemicals in their environment and will move towards/away from certain stimuli including food. It's food ... | null |
3x5exg | would inflation exist if our money were backed by something? | [
{
"answer": "Sure it would--but inflation would then be tied to the supply of the backing, rather than just the supply of notes themselves. For example, the Spanish imported so much gold from the New World that they experienced dreadful inflation that was really damaging to their economy. That's the downside of... | null |
34e5a1 | how can there be so many different interpretations of a single religious text? | [
{
"answer": "Because try as we might, words can be very imprecise. Even nonreligious, everyday phrases can be interpreted in many different ways. \n\nAnd then add to that the fact that it's been translated from language to language to language, then the original meanings can be lost very easily. \n\nAs an exper... | null |
ehjve2 | how are new variations of plants and fruits created? | [
{
"answer": "Lucky mutations or experiments, seeing what pollen you can mix and still get a fruit for example. Nowadays also gene editing",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A mating partner IS selected. Nowadays, it's all done in sterile labs, where a biologist can take pollen from one plant and p... | null |
1ml5r9 | How were Latinos/Hispanics treated in pro-Slavery America? | [
{
"answer": "You may be interested in some of the past questions collected in our section on [How were other minorities treated during the period of racial segregation in America?](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "46455614",
... | null |
cvsy6i | why dont my stomach acids dissolve me from the inside? | [
{
"answer": "Gastric mucosa. The inner surface of the stomach is lined by a mucous membrane known as the gastric mucosa. The mucosa is always covered by a layer of thick mucus that is secreted by tall columnar epithelial cells and protects the stomach itself from the acids contained within.",
"provenance": ... | null |
fxl068 | why does the charge in fully charged rechargeable batteries go down even if i don't use the batteries? | [
{
"answer": "it's a property called self discharge. depending on the chemistry and purity of the electrolyte, it can vary from several years to a few % of total charge a month to as high as 30% a month.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "2... | null |
2iwjxq | How do these flash drives do this? | [
{
"answer": "Based on the image I would assume those screens use e-ink/e-paper similar to kindle readers in that the last image on the screen is able to persist without power.\n\nSo while plugged into a USB port it checks the memory usage in the device and sets the screen to correspond to that, then when unplug... | null |
apypzs | Since red blood cells contain no nucleus how is dna obtained from blood? | [
{
"answer": "There are plenty of white blood cells, for instance, these contain DNA (I'm not sure if this is where DNA is best extracted from, but I've shown you existence).\nAs an aside, blood type can help to narrow people down.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Generally, other sources are pre... | null |
6bq9qv | During the mid to late middle ages did heavily armored knights play much of a role in patrolling, raiding, chevauchee, etc. or were those mainly limited to lighter troops? Did knights ever opt to wear lighter armor or adopt a more flexible weapon than a couched lance for these sorts of duties? | [
{
"answer": "You might find [this post](_URL_0_) I made a few weeks ago useful. To expand on it, I do think there's too much distinction made between heavy and light cavalry within a western European context, and indeed between infantry and cavalry. Reality was messier than that. \n\nLet's start with a brief pr... | null |
13f4ki | Why does the sun shine in a "star" shape? | [
{
"answer": "This is caused by the movable aperture blades in a camera lens. _URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "26808",
"title": "Star",
"section": "Section::::Characteristics.:Diameter.\n",
"start_paragraph_... | null |
6netau | Why do you see double when drinking or sometimes experience the situation where you need to close one eye to concentrate on written text? More specifically, what mechanisms in the brain create the situation where hemispheres of the brain might not communicate correctly in this situation? | [
{
"answer": "Thank you for this question, there is some fascinating work in the brain going on here.\n\nAlcohol is a \"depressant\". This means that it slows down the brain. When we are intoxicated with alcohol our eye tracking slows down (along with a lot of other brain processes). \nEye tracking is what makes... | null |
2kuqep | what's the difference between looney tunes and merrie melodies? | [
{
"answer": "Silly Symphonies was Disney\n\nLooney Toons was Warner Brothers\n\nMerry Melodies was made by an independent studio until being purchased by Warner Brothers in 1944",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "50287",
"title": "L... | null |
12vtgp | is gravity the only measure of mass? | [
{
"answer": "Mass is a property, gravitational force is a force. Forces and masses are not the same thing, though there is a relationship between them: F=ma.\n\nThe problem is that many people think that weight is the same thing as mass, especially due to conversions from imperial (lb) to metric (kg), as if the... | null |
21mcuy | How historically accurate is the architecture in the Asassin's Creed series? | [
{
"answer": "I wrote this historical analysis of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flags if that will help:\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "51265284",
"title": "The Propylaeum",
"section": "Section::::Building descriptio... | null |
dg7ncq | why did vhs tapes show a blue screen on the tv when they started up? | [
{
"answer": "That was the VCR, not the tape itself.\n\nIt's the precursor to the HDMI no signal screen. Used to be blue.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "That's not the tape. That's either the TV or the VCR telling you, \"I don't have anything clear enough to show you right now.\"\n\nI remember ... | null |
6yochg | why do events that have a negative effect on oil production cause immediate rises in prices of gas but when production is back to normal prices don't plummet back to where they started? | [
{
"answer": "You have a lemonade stand. You sell it for 50 cents a cup. One day you find out it's going to be very hot outside and people are going to want more lemonade. You figure you can get away with selling it for a little more since the demand is there. So you start charging 80 cents. You notice that the ... | null |
vc7eq | What are the long-term physiological effects of heavy body building in pre-teen years? | [
{
"answer": "[Here](_URL_1_), with plenty of citations if you want to look into it further.\n\nThe important part\n\n > Epiphyseal plate (growth plate) fractures may be the key concern in this controversy. Damage to these plates induced by weight training is frequently cited as a reason for avoiding weight tra... | null |
6j3y53 | In massed infantry warfare (pikes, Roman legions, muskets, ect.) were casualties higher for soldiers in the front row? How did they convince anyone to be in front? | [
{
"answer": "There is always more to be said, but you may be interested in this answer by /u/iphikrates:\n\n[Did the people in the front lines of ancient armies basically know they are going to die?](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id... | null |
2w71vc | can "playing dead" really trick bears? whats the reasoning behind this? bears dont eat/kill seemingly dead things? | [
{
"answer": "Playing dead is only suggested for Brown and Polar Bears and it does two things.\n\n1 - It makes them think you're not something they would want to eat, bears aren't usually scavengers.\n\n2 - It makes them think you're not a threat and therefore they don't want to fight you.",
"provenance": nu... | null |
qd7cc | why do people's voices generally get higher when attempting to sound polite? | [
{
"answer": "A low voice sounds big and intimidating. A high voice sounds like a harmless little child. So it implies \"no offense intended!\" instead of \"hey get out of my way\".",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "4836072",
"title... | null |
2umlpv | Question about alaska | [
{
"answer": "The concept that it's just a lease appears to have originated as a plot element in the novel A Matter of Honour by Jefffrey Archer.\n\nThis theory has no basis in reality and the Alaska purchase of 1867 was just that - a purchase.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenanc... | null |
4i88c2 | why do we do things, which we know are dangerous or bad for us long term? | [
{
"answer": "Easy access to sugar and the use of fossil fuels have both been around for an extremely short time, evolutionary speaking. There hasn't been enough time for natural selection to gradually result in adaptations that discourage these behaviors.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Some re... | null |
s7d2r | Why does North Korea have a poor record launching ICBMs | [
{
"answer": "Developing ICBMs is very complex. They are not simple things to design and manufacture.\n\nThe US had plenty blow up in the process of coming up with ones that worked. Thing is the US could afford to test many rockets till they got it right. North Korea is very poor and very isolated so they can... | null |
3ujyey | why is the "black lives matter" toted towards police when statistically they seem to matter least to other black lives? | [
{
"answer": "Because the police aren't actually supposed to be killing people, perhaps? Besides, statistically, white people kill mainly white people, and the same for the other ethnic groups. \n\nThey're angry that a group who are supposed to *avoid* killing are not only killing anyway, but keep getting videot... | null |
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