id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
212trm | What is the history of the American lawyer's bar exam? | [
{
"answer": "Not a historian, but as a law student I feel qualified to give some insight into the reasoning behind the exam.\n\nFirst, passing the Bar shows you're familiar with your state's laws. As many know, states law vary quite widely depending on where you're at, so having an exam to prove you know the st... | null |
92oqw7 | what happens in our brains that makes us "like" or prefer one thing over another? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not a professional, but I have heard that whenever you like something, your body makes the hormones dopamine, seratonin, oxitocin, and endorphins. You don't necessarily crave food you like for the taste, for example, just the sensation that comes from it. You like what sends more \"good\" hormo... | null |
6nksqc | hypnagogia | [
{
"answer": "That's a popular question here. I hope you find these previous posts helpful.\n\n\n- [Eli5 Sleep Paralysis and Why It Happens...?](_URL_0_)\n- [Eli5 Sleep Paralysis...?](_URL_4_)\n- [Eli5 Sleep Paralysis...?](_URL_3_)\n- [Eli5 How Does Sleep Paralysis Work and Why Does...?](_URL_1_)\n- [Eli5 Sleep ... | null |
t13so | Why are there no true-color pictures of tiny things that are much (!) greater than visible light wavelengths? | [
{
"answer": "So it depends on how large something is what you can resolve as you already alluded to. Let's make a bacteria a 2.5 um x 2.5 um square. If we take green and crudely put the diffraction limit to be 1/2 the wavelength then we have 100 pixels (10 x 10). It isn't much.\n\nNow there are ways to beat the... | null |
6mj2sb | why does having something on your head (hat, headband, etc) worsen a headache? | [
{
"answer": "To put it simply, headaches are generally skin deep. Pressure on nerves or blood vessels can make it feel worse. Common headache medicines work by reducing inflammation, which reduces that pressure in the inflamed tissue.\n\n_URL_0_\n\n > The brain itself is not sensitive to pain, because it lacks... | null |
2nd7zh | What were investigative procedures like for crimes committed in colonial America? If I were to have committed murder, how likely was I to get away with it provided I took even the most basic of precautions? | [
{
"answer": "I can't say much about specifically colonial America, but I have done some reading in the Ratcliff Highway murders, which were somewhat contemporary, and give some insight into the methodology behind early criminal investigations.\n\nThe Ratcliff Highway murders involved two home invasions just out... | null |
1suluw | Why is redwood naturally rot resistant? | [
{
"answer": "Compounds known as \"extractives\" cause the wood to be resistant to pests and pathogens. Some of these compounds may be extracted with water; others are soluble in acetone, ethanol, or benzene, and (I suppose) others may be classified based on their ability to be extracted by other solvents as wel... | null |
2hpwdo | Is it possible to convert the co2 in mars (or similar planets) atmosphere into o2? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, and in fact on the next Mars rover, [there will be an instrument that will convert CO2 into O2 in a technology demonstration in preparation for human exploration](_URL_0_).\n\nThe problem with plants on Mars would be the soil moreso than the atmosphere. The Phoenix mission I worked on did some... | null |
cbismr | why is science so political? and why does it make you seem left leaning to other people when you don’t deny scientific discoveries? | [
{
"answer": "\nI [answered a similar question](_URL_2_) to this on ELI5 around two years ago (and got gilded for the answer!). The previous question was more specific to climate change, but it applies to the politicization of science in general as well. Here's what I wrote then: \n > > Generally speaking, wh... | null |
e8gxzq | How does our body deals or tries to deal with toxic substances such various poisons and specifically heavy metals? | [
{
"answer": "So phagocytes generally attack bacteria and parasites. Poisons and toxins filtered through the liver and then excreted through the kidneys (for the most part). However if it's a potent toxin like say, curare, which is a powerful muscle relaxant, it will essentially kill you before your liver can an... | null |
88oa6t | What motivated León Trotsky to choose Mexico as his place of asylum in 1928? | [
{
"answer": "/u/Cozijo answered this question posited slightly differently (as in, why did the Mexican government offer Trotsky asylum and what was the history of Russian Socialist influence in Mexico) [here](_URL_0_) a couple of years ago. You might find their response informative.",
"provenance": null
}... | null |
1d8zh6 | can 'they' be used as a singular, third party pronoun? | [
{
"answer": "In English, like many other languages, there is no genderless singular pronoun (bedsides the rarely used \"one\") so male is used as the default. Recently it has been considered sexist to use 'he' when meaning genderless (by no means unfoundedly as there is a valid sexist based argument why male i... | null |
9w0jbi | why are some roads tan, and others black? | [
{
"answer": "You're correct as to what materials they're made of. Concrete roads are more durable, and tend to be used in high traffic areas where frequent repairs can't be done. Asphalt is much cheaper to install, so it's mostly used where concrete is not required.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer... | null |
1p0oiu | how did western european countries end up colonizing the world, instead of some other civilization? | [
{
"answer": "Short answer. Geography\nLong answer. Go watch guns, germs & steel\nThe basic premise is that because of Europeans ability to grow a large variety of low effort high calorie foods in their temperate climate they gained an advantage over other civilizations",
"provenance": null
},
{
"a... | null |
2hyi0g | ups drivers not making left turns? | [
{
"answer": "This article gives great insight on why it's done. \n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "i wonder if it really saves gas if you have to drive extra just to make a right turn instead of a left... for example: \n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "UPS drive... | null |
1agnpz | Saint Patrick. Who was he? Why is he celebrated to much - why does he have national holidays and parades around the world? | [
{
"answer": "1. St. Patrick was born in what is now england toa well off family but was captured and sold as a slave in ireland. he said his faith grew there and once he escaped came back as a missionary, who is credited with getting rid of paganism. this is where the story of driving driving snakes out of irel... | null |
83a6ji | how is putting files in the recycle bin any different from a regular folder? | [
{
"answer": "Imagine your computer is a spaceship, you have a bunch of storage compartments. oh this old crap? don't need it anymore, probably, put it in the air lock. \n\nNow instead of having two doors between it and the nothingness of space, it only has one door, and at anytime, you can press the \"open oute... | null |
6g6hpr | what is a hung government? and why do some people think it's good for britain? | [
{
"answer": "It's good because with no one party in charge, they don't get to run the country purely on *their* idea of what's best. They have to run it by the other party/parties and reach a compromise (if the other parties are tough enough to argue their case and stand up to the ones with the most majority). ... | null |
1nfxg2 | Were shields in the Medieval era really painted with the heraldric symbol of a lord the soldier belonged to? | [
{
"answer": "Medieval shields were covered with fabric, primed with a plastery chalk paint called gesso, then painted with tempera paints and possibly metal leaf. \nProfessional shield makers made shields and were often governed by guilds.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There is a practical re... | null |
cmeehd | When a stroke or brain damage causes a person to have to re-learn language, how does the brain typically adapt? Do the damaged parts recover or do other parts of the brain take over, and how does this affect the relearning process? | [
{
"answer": "The damaged parts do not recover. By and large, they are dead. The other parts take over, and there is evidence of some processes, like long distance axon sprouting, that are not thought to normally occur. \n\nThere are several different well identified learning mechanisms being engaged.",
"p... | null |
y8qfx | How would our brains function without our five senses? | [
{
"answer": "I read about an experiment in Mikhail Veller's book (he provided a reference, but I won't be able to retrieve it from work). \n\nHe described an experiment where a physically and mentally healthy volunteer was put in a dark sound-proof room, wearing a special suit that hinders all touch feelings, a... | null |
wtn9m | what would have happened if the banks didn't get bailed out? | [
{
"answer": "Well, put shortly, the US economy would have collapsed, as liquidity would have disappeared and loans would be non-existent. Other Western economies soon would have followed (assuming no bailouts anywhere) resulting in a collapse of the entire financial system.\n\nBroken down more (I'll do a 'like... | null |
47dlwh | Was the Mongolian composite bow a better weapon than the English longbow? | [
{
"answer": "I feel this is an odd question. The two bows might be somewhat similar in effect (i.e. shooting an arrow across a distance), but have different purposes. It's like asking if a sniper rifle is a better weapon than an assault rifle. They have two different battlefield uses.",
"provenance": null
... | null |
18vyal | This might sound like a silly question, but would is it possible to fly through a rainbow? | [
{
"answer": "No, a rainbow doesn't exist at a definite location like you are thinking. They are an optical phenomenon that always appear up at a specific angle (about 40 to 42 degrees) away from the line from the sun through your head.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I've \"driven through one... | null |
lbt7n | how computer languages like c and c+ are developed and how they work with the computer? | [
{
"answer": "You're telling a person how to get somewhere. Technically, how to get there includes steps like this:\n\n* Put your left foot forward.\n* Shift weight forward and onto your left foot\n* Put your right foot forward\n* shift your weight forward and onto your right foot\n* Repeat the first four steps ... | null |
1wmhdb | timeshares? something for rich people or something ? | [
{
"answer": "Condos in places like ski resorts and vacation resorts are ridiculously expensive.\n\nSo, instead of buying a condo, you buy a small share of it, usually 1/26th or 1/52nd. This gives you the right to stay there 1 or 2 weeks per year.\n\nWhile there's nothing wrong with that concept, the problem is ... | null |
6s5582 | why do most of us have one common fear? | [
{
"answer": "Instinct. Phobias like heights, scuttling insects, snakes are common because these were very common ways to be injured and killed in our past. Depictions of monsters and the supernatural all share common traits across the planet, like big sharp teeth and glowing (or rather reflective) eyes, because... | null |
bxnkw8 | how do diuretics work? | [
{
"answer": "Side question, why does coffee make you poop? Or is it just me?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There's a hormone in your body called ADH, or anti-diuretic hormone. As you know, diuresis means \"to pee\". So an anti-diuretic hormone causes your body to pee less - specifically by ma... | null |
4pw1uu | why aren't there nitinol motors? | [
{
"answer": "Nitinol motors are just a kind of Stirling Engine. They just don't provide enough power to be useful in most applications. There just aren't that many applications where you need a small amount of power, have a ready source of heat, and can't use a more efficient engine for some reason.",
"prov... | null |
ytvwa | Question about the temperature inside | [
{
"answer": "There's a delay because your house is storing heat in the floors, air, etc. You might try cooling your house with convection. If you have a two-story house and window fans, set them up to blow air in on the ground floor, and blow it out of the upper floor. Hot air rises, and the fan setup should en... | null |
1vl4o9 | How far back in history do we see the use of patents? | [
{
"answer": "Although actual patent laws which were actively enforced by the state are generally thought to have started with the Venetian Statute of 1474, much earlier precedents do exist. In 500 BC in the Greek city of Sybari, culinary innovators were able to patent their dishes for a whole year.\n\nSome earl... | null |
18fhhg | Why is the relationship between time and light as it is, and why does it break classical space-time for anything to travel faster than it? | [
{
"answer": " > Why is this assumption made? Why not let c vary and t be constant?\n\nBecause c doesn't vary, and time does. It's not an assumption, it's an observation. There is no situation in which you can observe anything moving faster than c. There are plenty of situations in which relativistic objects can... | null |
m5e8c | What are the effects of Heavier then Earth Gravity on a human? | [
{
"answer": "I found a few studies where they grew embryos of various animals in hypergravity:\n\n_URL_3_\n\n_URL_1_\n\n_URL_2_\n\n_URL_0_\n\nThey mostly look at microscopic properties, rather than the whole organism.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I found a few studies where they grew embryos... | null |
1xwnct | why do people "share" porn over social media like reddit or twitter? possible nsfw | [
{
"answer": "I assume for the same reason people share movies, music and books with their friends. They found something they like and they want to enrich the lives of people they care about.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There's a whole giant side to reddit that's just NSFW sub-reddits. Heck ... | null |
4boele | during hitler's rise to power, did people in germany debate whether or not he was fascist and anti-semitic or was it widely accepted? | [
{
"answer": "Hitler and the Nazis were explicitly fascist- but fascism wasn't a byword for evil back then. It only became so because of its association with the Germans' crimes during the war and holocaust.\n\nHitler and other top Nazis were also openly anti-semitic. It was part of his public persona. There was... | null |
6zf6bx | Do pencil markings make your paper heavier? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, since you're just rubbing small amounts of graphite onto your paper. The same goes for ink markings from pens or markers. You are adding matter, so you are increasing mass. However, since you're adding such a tiny amount, it would be difficult to measure without extremely precise equipment.",
... | null |
1edv2p | How long does it take for a population III star to form? | [
{
"answer": "Hi there - your English is good!\n\nWe're not exactly sure how population III stars formed, but we expect it would be quite different to star formation in the present day, because the interstellar medium was much warmer, denser, and not yet ionised. It's generally expected that population III stars... | null |
4vi5dk | what is the 'birds and the bees' story, and how is it meant to be an accurate, child-friendly explanation of sex? | [
{
"answer": "I think birds and bees is just a vague way of saying nature in general, like all creatures do it to reproduce ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I've never heard of an explanation that actually involves birds and/or bees.\n\nI'm sure rule #34 applies, I'm just saying I haven't seen i... | null |
2b67k9 | Compromise of 1790 | [
{
"answer": " Moving the Nation's capital to the South was an important strategic victory. IN the late 18th century news traveled slow, having the capital in the South meant that the Virginia heard news quickly, and allowed the political elite more time to respond. Another concern, one which we take for granted... | null |
l9l3u | yeast | [
{
"answer": "Is the [Wikipedia](_URL_0_) article not good enough? \n\nQuick edit: That sounds way more condescending than I intended. What I mean is, do you want an even simpler version of that?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yeast is a part of the Fungi family and has over 1500 separate speci... | null |
54cigs | what is the biological difference between a queen ant and a regular "worker" ant? | [
{
"answer": "The queen is capable of mating and laying eggs. That is about the only actions she does. The worker ants are infertile and vary in body type based on task in many colonies. Some colonies will have 4-5 different types of workers and 2-3 warrior ants. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": ... | null |
arshi7 | how does alexa work so quickly and accurately when it supposedly isn't listening-in at all times? | [
{
"answer": "Computers have a response time of just a few *milliseconds* at their slowest.\n\nThey can perform thousands of calculations every second.\n\nStarting recording as soon as you say \"Alexa\" is easy.\n\nJust like how making a \"?\" appear as soon as you hit the \"?\" key on your keyboard when you typ... | null |
guky2 | Could it ever be possible to record somebodies dreams in audio or video format? | [
{
"answer": "So this thread is full of non-responses and incorrect responses.\n\nAnd nearly all of them are infuriating me.\n\n\nWhat you're asking is analogous to \"uploading/downloading\" in the brain. The answer is no. We have had countless threads about this recently. Search terms:\n\n* upload/uploading\n\n... | null |
3f3teh | why does air travel (especially us airlines) have such a low rate of failure? | [
{
"answer": " > why is there such a low chance that the plane will crash?\n\nLots of inspection and standards. \n\nAlso lots of incentive, a plane crash financially hurts a company a lot immediately and long-term. \n\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It's really a combination of everything you... | null |
41ffvb | Why did "Nationalist" China collapse in the face of "Communist" China so easily? | [
{
"answer": "I talk a bit about this [here](_URL_1_) and [here](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Chiang Kai-Shek was kidnapped in 1936 in what's known as the \"Xi'an Incident\". Essentially, in the face of a fierce Japanese offensive, Nationalist leaders were frustrated with Chiang's s... | null |
1kicer | how do our bodies convert the food we eat into feces? | [
{
"answer": "Most of your feces *isn't* food you ate. Most of it is cells that have lived out their useful life span and died, and your body is expelling their remains. Most of these cells are red blood cells, which is what gives feces its characteristic color.\n\nAs for your digestion, basically what happens i... | null |
35gp4y | when our brains find something funny, why don't we just think it's funny. why do we often expel air through our noses, or laugh out loud?sometime to the point we can hardly breathe. | [
{
"answer": "Humor is a really important social tool. \nIt's likely we wouldn't experience humor if it weren't communicated in some way.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "25328283",
"title": "Laughter (book)",
"section": "S... | null |
bvygoj | the amounts of elements formed during supernovaes | [
{
"answer": "After the Big Bang there was only hydrogen and helium in the universe.\n\nThat coalesced into stars which fuse the hydrogen and helium into heavier elements. Once the star gets to iron it can no longer fuse heavier elements (fusing iron takes more energy than it releases). At this point the star ... | null |
2jchpg | Why did King or Emperors use so many titles? | [
{
"answer": "\"Used\" isn't quite the right word. What you're quoting up there is what's called the *long title*, an official collection of all the noble titles held by the person.\n\nFrancis II's long title would only be used for some official documents, by no means everyday use. Why the long list? Because all... | null |
93wehx | What is the most dangerous part of car exhaust for the human body, the gases or particulate matter? | [
{
"answer": "Carbon monoxide is the most dangerous component of exhaust. It has a binding affinity for hemoglobin something on the order 100x that of oxygen, so the CO molecules bind in your blood over O2 and you are unable to transport oxygen within your body. CO poisoning can become rapidly fatal if not corre... | null |
d7jdm6 | why can you die from using methamphetamine and having anthesisa performed on you? | [
{
"answer": "Meth increases blood pressure and heart rate, and this increases the ability of anesthetics to change the rhythm of the heart, which will lead to a heart attack.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I'm an Anaesthetist.\n\nYou can summarise this into:\n\n* **Effects of the methamphetami... | null |
5gu7t7 | what's an easy way to describe gap insurance? | [
{
"answer": "GAP insurance covers the difference between the actual cash value of a vehicle (what your insurance will pay if it is totaled) and the balance still owed on the financing (car loan, lease, etc.). GAP coverage is mainly used on new and used small vehicles (cars and trucks) and heavy trucks. Some fin... | null |
6s5osv | why does a small private plane such a cessna cost so much more than the materials and labor? | [
{
"answer": "Several reasons.\n\n- The material are actually more expansive. For a car you can use normal steel, you don't need high end material unless you make a high end car. But you can't use that for a plane of it will be way too heavy, you need a material that can strong and light. That usually mean alumi... | null |
3t3hem | Are there many examples of sieges throughout the 20th century, which lasted for months or years like mediaeval sieges? | [
{
"answer": "The Siege of Leningrad in WWII lasted 872 days, and was one of the most destructive sieges in history.\n\nThe Germans and the Finns besieged Leningrad. The Russians defended. The siege was rarely complete, as supplies (in small numbers) could still get in across Lake Ladoga most of the time.\n\nU... | null |
42xs7d | how do comedians verify if their jokes are original? | [
{
"answer": "They don't.\n\nIf you come up with it on your own and it just happens to be similar, thats not stealing a joke. Some comedians may try and vet that to hopefully not get accused but most people understand that happens. \n\nYou have to actually put in effort to end up with a joke that people cant eas... | null |
a7os23 | how are non-organ, donated body parts prepared to be transplanted such as skin? | [
{
"answer": "Skin *is* an organ. \n\nSkin harvested from body donations is used for transplants, and in that case it is called a *cadaver skin transplant* or *allograft* to differentiate it from a transplant of one's own skin.\n\nA device known as a *dermatome* is used to skin skin from the donor, the common on... | null |
1i5gdn | Was the CSA doomed to be ruled by the most powerful states? | [
{
"answer": "Well, this is all what-ifs and hypothetical, but I don't think that larger states like Virginia would begin to annex neighboring states for a few reasons.\n\n1. Whereas the Holy Roman Empire was once comprised of hundreds of very very small states and kingdoms, the CSA was comprised of relatively l... | null |
912vye | Was the Medici family actually corrupt? | [
{
"answer": "_URL_0_\n\nthis post talks about how the medici grew in power and what they did to become that powerful\n\n_URL_1_\n\nthis post is about the methods that the medici used to control the florentine government\n\n\nboth credits to /u/AlviseFalier\n\nnot sure about the papacy though",
"provenance":... | null |
qd3zo | How does human space exploration stack up against robotic exploration? (Voting optional) | [
{
"answer": " > Privacy Notice: We ask for an email only to ensure no one person can stuff the ballot box. The information you provide to this NASA Web site will be used only for its intended purpose. \n\nBecause asking for an email address is the best way to ensure no one person stuffs the ballot box... heh."... | null |
58vlsa | After divorcing or beheading 80% of his wives at that point, what did Henry VIII's last wife expect to happen to her? | [
{
"answer": "I understand where you are coming from, but the question far oversimplifies the politics and reality facing Henry VIII during the early sixteenth century. Let's take a look at this one wife at a time.\n\nKatherine of Aragon - This is obviously the most contentious, and is often oversimplified as He... | null |
5s8w45 | Why do the Chinese hate the Dalai Lama so much? | [
{
"answer": "Hi, I'm actually a historian of modern China so hopefully I'll be able to shed light on this for you.\n\nFirst of all, perhaps the issue most central (at least from a historical perspective) is the narrative of the so-called Century of Humiliation ( 百年国耻). Now of course the defeats suffered by the ... | null |
7f591g | how does the human ear discern between a quiet noise and a distant noise? | [
{
"answer": "A distant noise sounds more echoey because it is accompanied by a lot of reflected sounds on its path to you, whereas a quite sound close to you is more direct.\n\nFor very close sounds, another cue is that the sound has different angles to you ear. Whereas an infinitely distant sound arrives at yo... | null |
4uj7tc | why do men need stimuli for an ejaculation? wouldn't it be better if you could do it actively like moving a muscle? | [
{
"answer": "There needs to be a positive feeling associated with sex to make sure we do it. If it was like flexible your arm, then you would not go out and look for it. Its like working out. We know we should, but most don't.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "If something feels good, then you do... | null |
4s04yl | What were some of the factors that lead to the city of Atlanta to be settled and grow as large as it has? | [
{
"answer": "That's an interesting question. I wonder that about a lot of cities. I don't want to hijack your thread but I'm interested in the reconstruction of the city after it burned as well.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Atlanta native here.\n\nThe simple answer is that there is no parti... | null |
1uuq52 | When did the NBA become considered a major league in America? | [
{
"answer": "Well the important thing to remember about that game is that it turned into more of a farce than one of the \"greatest and most celebrated games\". Kinda like those [DIII schools that set scoring records by centering their offense on one player and play full-court press for the steal, and barring t... | null |
1hxh80 | how sound works? | [
{
"answer": "Think of sound as a movement. \n\nWhen you beat a drum, the drum-skin vibrates up and down; this causes the air surounding the drum skin to move up and down too. \n\nThis movement propogates through the air as a [pressure wave](_URL_0_), until it hits something. When this pressure wave hits your ea... | null |
zd9mm | When a body is in motion, its mass increases relative to an observer at rest. Why? | [
{
"answer": "First off, it doesn't. This is called relativistic mass, and it is a mis-understanding of relativity. What actually happens is that as objects approach the speed of light it's momentum increases faster than Newton's momentum equation, p = mv, would predict. \n\nSo, why does this happen? Well, why i... | null |
6pmasf | how come if milk is poured in to a pint glass, that when ever beer is poured into the same pint glass it will become flat? | [
{
"answer": "That is a myth. Beer will always go flat once it is not under pressure (keg, bottle, or can) so it will go flat in any glass that it is poured into. \n\nNow the kernel of truth that exists is that if you pour beer into an unwashed milk glass it will not form a good head. This is due to the fats fro... | null |
9pg2gt | what optical property allows a projector to project a coherent image onto a surface while simply pointing an lcd screen at surface only produces a blurry image? | [
{
"answer": "A projector has a series of lenses on the inside that focus the image. You can adjust these lenses to focus the image, where as a lcd screen is light scattering in any direction with no organization. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikiped... | null |
5hb0bt | how do companies like gj wentworth work? | [
{
"answer": "When you win a lawsuit or settle it in your favor, the person you won the money from usually doesn't have to pay you all at once. Instead, there is a payment plan. When you agree to such a payment plan, instead of having a trial, this is called a \"structured settlement.\"\n\nJG Wentworth and simil... | null |
2t9b69 | Does sharing drinks, eating things that were on the floor, etc actually improve the immune system? | [
{
"answer": "In the sense that you increase the number of antigens your body encounters, and thus the number of different kinds of antibodies you produce, yes.\n\nIn the sense that you won't get sick or that you might not accidentally encounter some bacteria, virus or other pathogen that your immune system can'... | null |
bb7rrz | Are there linking species between sexual and asexual reproduction? They just seem so discrete | [
{
"answer": "Just speaking generally, there are species (I know of single cell organisms for sure) that can reproduce both sexually and asexually. If the organism gains a competitive advantage from sexual reproduction in a certain environment, then those organisms more prone to reproducing sexually would eventu... | null |
811xr8 | Why is WW2 considered to be a major catalyst in the advancement of women in America when they had been a large part of the workforce since factories became mainstream? | [
{
"answer": "There are two sides to this answer.\n\nOne side is that World War II did see (in America and elsewhere) an explosion of women a) performing jobs that had traditionally been coded masculine, such as laborers in factories making munitions and machinery, and b) joining the workforce when they likely w... | null |
2dm88p | how does live cd work? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, AFAIK live system create in-memory file systems. _URL_0_\n\nI don't think you can run those if the main memory is too small.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Instead of mounting the file systems on to persistent storage, such as a hard disk, the file system is mounted in volati... | null |
99stce | how does going to a malacious website help the people behind it spy on you and take your personal information? | [
{
"answer": "They can look at your cookies, which are bits of info that search engines like Google use to find ads that suit you. Companies can look into these to find out things such as your age, gender, and use that to track you further. I'm not an expert, but I'm comfortably sure all of this is factual. Ther... | null |
fwquy9 | how gear ratios, long and short gears work. | [
{
"answer": "lets say you have a gear with only say 10 teeth, against a gear with say 20. the constant in this case is that spinning through one tooth (36 degrees) on the first cog, moves through one tooth (18 degrees) on the second cog. in such a way, you've managed to move the second gear at half the speed of... | null |
tgsnd | which is more powerful the suck of a fan or the blow of a fan or are they the same? | [
{
"answer": "Imagine a lot of people entering the Disneyland through the turnstiles. They are very uneducated people so they don't have the habit of queuing. Instead, they just congregate near the entrance as they move slowly through the turnstiles one by one. Once they're in, they immediate rush towards the at... | null |
8szciv | why are different kinds of disinfectants used in different situations? | [
{
"answer": "This can be a big deal--there are often specific guidelines on how to clean for certain diseases and equipment. C diff infections are notoriously hard to kill, and require crazy amounts of cleaning in a patient's room to make sure it doesn't spread. Overall, it depends on quite a few things, includ... | null |
1yxyh1 | how does a html5 video load instantly (even on a phone), never buffers, and has amazing quality, when the same video in a gif takes 30 seconds to load, stutters, and looks like shit, and a flash video buffers and pauses all the time, and why isn't everyone using html5? | [
{
"answer": "Easy:\n**GIFs** are basically a series of images strung together, created decades ago. They are really simple files. Long gifs are made up of quite a few hundred images that you have to load and as such you can imagine they are quite slow.\n\n**Flash** basically plays a video file using it's own pl... | null |
30oilp | After a nephrectomy, how does the body fill the empty space where the kidney was? | [
{
"answer": "The kidney is retroperitoneal, which means it is under the peritoneal cavity. There is a small amount of blood which eventually gets resorbed. But apart from that the body doesn't do anything with the extra space. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
2zrbtr | why do we most often focus on economic growth in absolute gdp terms instead of gdp per capita? | [
{
"answer": "GDP isn't meant to be used as an employment statistic, you're absolutely right about that. It's supposed to measure a nation's ability to participate in a war through the creation of useful goods and services, and it's overall purchasing power to pursue new kinds of industrial technology.",
"pr... | null |
fstna3 | during the therapy of a person, what's the goal of a psychologist? | [
{
"answer": "The goal of the therapist is to help the client find their own goals and support them as they work towards those goals.\n\nSafety is also the top priority, so sometimes assessments of SI or SIB need to happen.\n\nBut overall, the therapist doesn't really have their own goals in the relationship.",
... | null |
54elst | Were the Romans aware that an eclipse of the Sun was caused by the Moon blocking its light? | [
{
"answer": "The Greeks reportedly knew how to predict them as far back as 585 BC. Herodotus gives an account in *The Histories*:\n\n > ...just as the battle was growing warm, day was on a sudden changed into night. This event had been foretold by Thales, the Milesian, who forewarned the Ionians of it, fixing ... | null |
12t7u6 | Does cooling really account for 30% of all CO2 production by humanity? | [
{
"answer": "Ask him to provide a source for that statistic next time you see him. \n\nThe number seems high, but not outside the realm of possibility considering [this](_URL_0_) site claims 40% of energy consumption is from buildings. He should be able to provide sources for his claim, or at least explain wher... | null |
19numt | Are there any notable examples of history vindicating someone? Perhaps an action that was not popular but proved instrumental later? | [
{
"answer": "Must resist username joke...\n\n[Seward's Folly](_URL_0_) is probably the most obvious in terms of a standard high school history class. Not everyone thought buying Alaska for two cents an acre was a good idea. I'd say that he was vindicated.\n\nIn a similar vein, many people opposed the Louisiana ... | null |
40g1dw | Did the Russo-Finnish Winter War actually encourage Germany to attack Russia? | [
{
"answer": "Hiya!\n\nThe short answer is yes, the appalling performance of the Red Army in the Winter War was absolutely influential in convincing Nazi Germany, and indeed other states, that the USSR would be incapable of defeating a German invasion. I've discussed this directly in [this](_URL_0_) post, as par... | null |
tqash | Have there been many incidences of a country re-locating their government in the face of invasion? | [
{
"answer": "Portugal moved their government to Brazil when Napoleon invaded, and this directly led to independence and the Empire of Brazil",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "During the Korean war the south Korean government was forced to move to the very south of the country when northern forces... | null |
4wvrkv | Can Pauli's exclusion principle be violated? | [
{
"answer": "No. There are a few steps along the logical progression that lead to Pauli's principle, and they're all more or less iron-clad.\n\nFirst, if you have a wavefunction representing multiple identical particles, Ψ(x*_1_*,x*_2_*,...,x*_i_*,...,x*_j_*,...,x*_N_*), and you define the permutation operator ... | null |
30qdq3 | Judas's betrayal of Jesus and Roman law | [
{
"answer": "I think you’ve misread some basic details in the Gospels. I recommend at least reading through Matthew 26-27 and John 18-19.\nThe accounts we have do not have Judas betraying Jesus in relation to Roman Law, but in relation to the political and religious dealings of the power-players in Jerusalem, n... | null |
1u6l7q | why do i sometimes hear a really high-pitched noise in one of my ears then go deaf in that ear for a minute? | [
{
"answer": "You could have [tinnitus](_URL_0_).\n\nYou should see a doctor if you want any further information, since asking for medical advice is not allowed in this forum.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "WebMD says you have Cancer.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"p... | null |
3oxe2i | why is north korea generally not considered to be a monarchy? | [
{
"answer": "Because it's not a monarchy, it's a single-party state.\n\nBasically, the government consists of the Worker's Party of Korea, which is led by Jim Jong Un as the Secretary of the Worker's Party (and commander of the military).\n\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance... | null |
5lq6ku | How did early computers display characters in languages where the letters are more complicated than English-type (and languages that use the same characters)? | [
{
"answer": "I can say a bit about how it worked for Japanese in particular. For early computers there are actually two problems: one is that, like you say, there is not really enough pixels on the screen to display legible characters. Another problem is that early computers where mainly developed in English-sp... | null |
3lhh5j | the difference between headphones | [
{
"answer": "Please for the mother of god, go to _URL_0_ and make a new post. Tell them what type of music you listen to and if you play games or not. Tell them if you like bass or not, or if you even have a preference. Explain the types of instruments that you like the sound of. Tell them your budget that ... | null |
b2um7w | Does having a fast metabolic rate cause your body to generate heat faster? | [
{
"answer": "Your metabolic rate is the energy you use per unit time, and as we all know energy can come in different forms, including heat. Individuals that have a slower metabolism can feel a bit colder, although not too normal, it can occur as well as vise versa. Too add on, your metabolic rate can be broken... | null |
be71hq | Why was Opeartion Barbarossa so sucessful at first and how did the soviets stop it later? | [
{
"answer": "The initial success has a number of factors. For one, the Great Purge took out a huge proportion of the most senior staff- Marshalls, Corps commanders, admirals, etc. While not all were killed, and some were eventually \"rehabilitated\", this meant the initial defense against the strongest fascist ... | null |
o6ijx | Who was the first monarch? | [
{
"answer": "The oldest monarch almost certainly lived in ancient Mesopotamia or Egypt.\n\nThe oldest datable monarch that we can be certain existed historically is currently [Lugalzagesi of Umma](_URL_2_) (2341-2316 BCE) who was the first city-ruler of an ancient Sumerian city to rule as hegemon over all the o... | null |
7xp7qa | what would happen if we didn't remove the air bubble from syringes? | [
{
"answer": "The main risk with leaving an air bubble in a syringe is inaccurate dosing. With the syringe partly full of air, the amount of liquid won't be accurate to the markings on the syringe.\n\nGetting air into a vein isn't a significant hazard unless it's a huge amount - like a whole drip tube full or so... | null |
3yl1uh | in the united states why is it legal for me to home brew beer but illegal for me to distill spirits? | [
{
"answer": "Chances of adult soda go boom not very high. Chances adult spirits go boom much, much higher",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Search turns up a few prior discussions, including one long one: _URL_0_\n\nQuick answer: Taxes. The federal tax on distilled spirits is much higher than on... | null |
ecjcth | how did studios able to upgrade old mv to 4k on youtube (especially last christmas by wham)? | [
{
"answer": "Actual 35mm has a expected resolution of approximately 4K so it's just a matter of doing a new transfer from the film to digital media. So there's really not a whole lot involved it's just a matter of scanning the film in at the higher resolution.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": nul... | null |
3i7hdp | what is going on with the hugo awards | [
{
"answer": "This was asked previously at _URL_0_.\n\nI thought the article relatively straightforward, but I was already familiar with the basic Hugo process. Perhaps if you started a new thread asking specifically about what in the article is confusing. Otherwise, between the previous thread and that articl... | null |
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