id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
7mfn3y | market capitalization when it comes to purchasing a company. | [
{
"answer": "Often the buying company must pay a premium to the traded price, to acquire the company, but usually this premium is 20-50% of the pre-offer share price. \n\nOne thing that isn't in the market cap but is usually part of the purchase price is the assumption of debt. If Kindred owed roughly $3.3 bi... | null |
10vgn7 | If everyone had a self-driving Google car, would there be a problem with interference between all the radars and lasers? | [
{
"answer": "Probably not. Google “phase-sensitive detection” and you'll see how it's actually quite easy to recover your own signal from a sea of noise.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Follow up question: \n\nIf there were a sea of self-driving Google cars that somehow had to report each other... | null |
6ivo3l | the difference between interpreted and compiled computer languages? | [
{
"answer": "Compiled languages are translated directly into the machine code that the processor can execute. It would be like taking a cookbook written in Greek, and getting it translated to a cookbook written in English. Once you have the translated cookbook, you can then follow the recipes (as can everyone... | null |
3sxehv | why do manufacturers print "best before: see bottom" instead of the actual date? | [
{
"answer": "It could be a case where the label is printed well before the product actually gets canned/boxed, so you cant put a date on the label as you don't know when it will actually be put on a product. So it directs you to where the date will be put during the final canning/boxing process.",
"provenan... | null |
7auxmh | Have humans/organisms caused an increase on the overall mass of Earth? ie man made objects or birth of organisms? | [
{
"answer": "The Earth (and everything on it) has not really increased in mass, other than meteorites coming in and lighter gases going out.\n\nYes, there is a lot more people, animals and plants than in the beginning. That's life, basically turning dirt and sunshine into people.",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
2ho1ys | why in most us universities do they make you share a room with a roomate? | [
{
"answer": "It's cheaper, and uses less space. I'm getting shafted enough already on rent in this two-person dorm room, I can't imagine what it would cost for everyone to have their own room. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They get twice the amount of money for one room. Economics is down th... | null |
9ed2cb | Possibly the defining characteristic of Julius Caesar's legendary status as a general was the speed with which his army was able to operate- what accounted for this? What was he doing that other Roman generals weren't? Do we know how he was able to pull this off? | [
{
"answer": "This has been asked before:\n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Refer this [earlier thread](_URL_0_)\n\nExcerpt from /u/Teizke : \n\n > He was in fact a believer in *forced/loaded marches* as seen in his campaigns mainly in gaul. He was able to do this because he was so cha... | null |
6d355p | why is devil's food cake not just called devil's cake? | [
{
"answer": "there's two kinds of cake. \n\nthe first one along was called \"[angel food cake](_URL_0_)\". \n\n\nthen someone added chocolate to it, and made it into \"[devils food cake](_URL_1_)\". \n\n\nbecause the second one was \"devilishly good\"\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
... | null |
2iovsy | why does alaska have so many lakes? | [
{
"answer": "Glaciers receded during the ice age and tore up the land. Check out what most of the Canadian landscape looks like vs the lower 48 for a clearer example. Tons of tiny (and not so tiny) lakes everywhere. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wiki... | null |
ttvlj | Ancient Rome, Marriage, Sex | [
{
"answer": "I'm actually a little skeptical about how much different their sexual norms were. For example, many say that sex between men and boys was acceptable but there's a scene in The Satyricon where a tutor brags about trying to seduce his underage male student but if the father caught him, he'd be killed... | null |
ae80ed | Is there any consensus among historians on why Britain, in particular, became the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution? | [
{
"answer": "This is a difficult question and my reasoning could be subjective in many aspects, I will cite my sources to justify my reasoning. For the industrial revolution to occur, people such as land and business owners had to be incentivised to invest in newer technology, otherwise there would be no reason... | null |
1gs16v | what are farm subsidies and how do they work? | [
{
"answer": "Farmers get government payments for planting a crop, or for not planting any crops. People who own farm land and say they are \"actively engaged\" in farming the land they've never even seen get government payments, too. Some of them live in Manhattan and Beverly Hills.\n\nIt used to be that you go... | null |
7dtsbs | Do we know anything about siege weapons and siege warfare in Native American societies? | [
{
"answer": "While waiting for further comments, check out [this earlier thread](_URL_0_) on warfare and sieges in the New World.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "56922100",
"title": "Ann Hibner Koblitz",
"section": "Secti... | null |
15kbey | How long would it take for Earth's orbit to be affected if the sun were to suddenly blink out? | [
{
"answer": "Approx the same time as us finding the lights going out, as gravity (they now say) travels the speed of light. I think this is about 8 minutes. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The effect of gravity does travel at the speed of light, so the earth would cease to orbit, and travel in... | null |
78v14a | What is the biochemical mechanism by which smoking reduces bone density? | [
{
"answer": "From the national institute of health, \"Analyzing the impact of cigarette smoking on bone health is complicated. It is hard to determine whether a decrease in bone density is due to smoking itself or to other risk factors common among smokers. For example, in many cases smokers are thinner than no... | null |
3e1c20 | Do human skeletons retain their death pose? | [
{
"answer": "Rigor mortis would likely change the position, and as tendons dry up they would pull the skeletal structure into different positions; you've almost certainly seen this in fossil imprints where a creature's head is bent backwards. Consider [this](_URL_0_) image.\n\n\n",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
6aqv5h | why do media organizations ask for user permission before sharing submitted content from twitter but not reddit? | [
{
"answer": "If you submit a link to Reddit, it's from an external source/site. Just because you shared it doesn't mean it's yours so there is no reason to ask permission from anyone on Reddit. You'd ask the owner of the original source of the link.\n\nText posts and comments are easier to use under fair use - ... | null |
6aceth | A good source for causes WWI? | [
{
"answer": "Definitely make sure to check out the /r/AskHistorians Booklist, [which has an extensive section on this!](_URL_0_) If you find yourself better suited to listening, many of those books should be available as Audiobooks.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
... | null |
1lps7x | How did the vacation practices of Western Europeans differ from Eastern Europeans during the Cold War? | [
{
"answer": "Not sure about the rest of Eastern Europe, but in the Soviet Union, you couldn't easily travel abroad without a special permission or a work assignment. Especially to non-communist countries. However the USSR was a large enough country that there were still plenty of places to vacation within the c... | null |
q0sgr | the difference between gaelic, welsh, breton, and manx | [
{
"answer": "Since you are five, let's pretend that English, [Gibberish the language game](_URL_1_), and Pig Latin were all languages you knew. They are all pretty closely related, but you can pretty much immediately understand Pig Latin and English since there really isn't much difference. Gibberish on the oth... | null |
tk2gy | Why do pigeons walk the way they do? | [
{
"answer": "[The head bob allows them to hold their head still (relative to their surroundings\\) for as much time as possible](_URL_0_). This probably makes them better able to observe their surroundings. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id"... | null |
28c5sj | how come native americans never built empires like cultures on other continents? | [
{
"answer": "See also, [The mound builders](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Near St Louis is Cahokia. There are Mounds several stories high that were built by a large civilization. Several thousand Indians thrived there. \n\n_URL_0_\n\nMore information : apparently it was one of the la... | null |
j0ktm | In evolution, why do certain traits develop that seem helpful but not essential to survival? | [
{
"answer": "It can sometimes be deeper than this.\n\nFor example Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disorder that shortens life span significantly. Why then do 1 in 25 people in Britain carry the recessive allele? Surely evolution would have killed it off?\n\nThe answer is that Not so long ago (in the evolutionary... | null |
7wl1ae | When the brain receives a nerve signal from the skin, how does it differentiate between a heat signal, a cold signal, a pain signal, a pressure signal etc? | [
{
"answer": "It is in part structure- and code-based. In addition, it is also signal-based. Below is a rather simplistic description of what goes on without discussing how it happens. May be able to provide one later if you are interested. Unfortunately my lunch break today was rather short.\n\nI'll try to illu... | null |
qnbjl | Skim, 1%, 2%, whole milk? Soy milk? Almond milk? Coconut milk? Nutritionally speaking, what's the best kind of milk to drink? | [
{
"answer": "Are we talking about long-term health or general nutrition? Steroids can be administered to cows in the US, the same is true for antibiotics in cases other than curing disease (or preventing it from spreading) - both these things are prohibited in the EU for health reasons. I tend to agree with the... | null |
nkfoc | Is the lack of snow in North America an effect of Global Warming? | [
{
"answer": "Two things.\n\n1) The lack of snow, if anything, would be a symptom of global warming not a cause. AKA more heat = less snow.\n\n2) The local weather is influenced far more by local meteorological trends (highs, lows, fronts, etc.) than by global warming. It's like dipping a cup into the ocean tr... | null |
2805yu | How big is the area of sky we look at during the day? | [
{
"answer": "**It depends on your height and how far into the sky you are looking.** I assume you mean \"Due to the atmosphere we can only look so far\", this I'll not be able to clarify for you. Part of your question can be answered with math though. \n\n\nIf we assume you are at sea (the most uniform horizon)... | null |
2sliik | If humans can see ants at our current sizes, would we be able to see germs, cells, etc. if we were ant size? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, but they can see only slightly smaller objects than we can. Camera resolution is limited by the [aperture diameter](_URL_0_). The bigger the aperture the better angular resolution. That's why astronomers like huge telescopes. On the other hand smaller camera can focus on closer objects. Both o... | null |
1lf2aq | why is it illegal to use milk crates for other things aside milk? | [
{
"answer": "I didnt know that. At my job we go into the dairy cooler and grab milk crates for other purposes every day.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "23658647",
"title": "Minnesota v. Clover Leaf Creamery Co.",
"secti... | null |
3lgsem | What is the evolutionary advantage of the poppy plant to produce morphine? | [
{
"answer": "Alkaloids like morphine, nicotine, caffeine, and many more act as [insecticides](_URL_0_) for the plant in nature. Their effects on us are a bit of a natural accident.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "14034",
"title":... | null |
6fpibt | why do companies pay ceo's so much money? | [
{
"answer": "1) CEOs spend a lot of time working, so they need to be compensated. They are held responsible for the company, so 24/7 they are on the hook and often answer calls in the middle of the night, skip weddings and kid's soccer games, and don't have meaningful time off. \n\n2) There are only so many exp... | null |
tqswh | Could a diamond be considered a massive molecule? | [
{
"answer": "I's technically not considered a massive molecule, as it doesn't have an identifyable shape or size. They tend to be better described by how other crystalline structures form: in \"cells\" that are repeating patterns of with the same structure that can be joined together and repeated. \n\nIt does ... | null |
ccfg05 | so what exactly is the connection between nazism and the composer richard wagner? | [
{
"answer": "Wagner wasn’t a Nazi, because he died in 1883, before Hitler was even born. But in his time, Wagner was a virulent anti-Semite. \n\nHitler and the Nazi Party loved Wagner, however, and the composer and his beliefs conflated with Nazism and anti-Semitism. \n\n[BBC source ](_URL_0_)",
"provenance... | null |
7lmn7m | Do we know exactly what would've been hit had the cold war gone hot? | [
{
"answer": "Not exactly. First of all, the targets, strategies, and capabilities varied by time period. So the answer for 1962 is not going to be the same for 1983, for example. Second, the exact targets have tended to be classified. Occasionally there are ways to glance at that information, e.g., a list of po... | null |
no123 | why does certain bacteria cause food poisoning that makes you expel basically everything in your digestive system? | [
{
"answer": "Some bacteria, as a byproduct of their metabolism, produce a toxin. This toxin and its source, when detected by our bodies is *gotten rid of* as quickly as possible via explosive bowel movements. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Some bacteria, as a byproduct of their metabolism, pr... | null |
ch8plg | Where would you have to be standing on Earth such that you were furthest away from the Earths centre? | [
{
"answer": "The summit of [Chimborazo](_URL_0_), Ecuador.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "233636",
"title": "Spherical Earth",
"section": "Section::::Effects and empirical evidence.:Visibility of distant objects.\n",
... | null |
39o6fq | why is identifying as another gender ok but identifying as another race crazy? | [
{
"answer": "_URL_0_\n\n_URL_1_\n\n_URL_3_\n\n_URL_2_\n\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Duplicate of other posts\n\n_URL_0_\n\n_URL_1_\n\n_URL_3_\n\n_URL_2_\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "144716",
"title": "... | null |
1y2tl6 | What force balances gravity when I spin a belt/cord/rope above my head in a circular motion? | [
{
"answer": "Good question. This is a problem often addressed in a first year mechanics class. It is the tension in the string which balances the force of gravity, and that tension is determined by the string's weight and how fast the string is spinning - spinning faster means more tension, according to the cen... | null |
b2qiec | why objects smaller than the wavelength of visible light can't be seen by a regular microscope | [
{
"answer": "Imagine that you are tasked with building a realistic statue of a man. The only materials allowed are Legos. Done well, the statue will look fairly realistic. Now, build the same statue with concrete blocks. Can it even resemble a man? No, the pieces are too big. It's the same with light. If you ar... | null |
2qax14 | how do they count all those bees when news headlines say 37 billion dead bees? | [
{
"answer": "They send people out to count them all\n\nJust playing, Basically, they (whoever released the information) judge how many bees died by what they know about bees, and what they can observe. Bees act a certain way, weigh around a certain amount, etc. They would most likely find the rough area of wher... | null |
98k741 | Do magnetic and/or electric field have any influence on time and space? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, all energy contributes to the stress-energy tensor and the curvature of space-time so that includes energy in the electric and magnetic fields",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "As other people have pointed out, the answer is yes, but there’s something in the way you phrased the ... | null |
jxbn3 | Can rocks evaporate? | [
{
"answer": "Technically when rocks melt (as in a volcano) they become magma (underground) and only lava when it reaches the surface.\n\nTo vaporize rock you would need to raise the heat way higher than what can occur naturally in a volcano. But yes, it would be possible to vaporize the rock. Since 'rock' is n... | null |
j1lr1 | Is there significant risk of infection from fecal
bacteria if there is an open cut on the anus? | [
{
"answer": "This sounds like something you should see a doctor about.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yes. There is increased risk of infection anywhere a wound can become contaminated. It's not a guarantee of infection, especially for a young and healthy person with a small cut. But an older ... | null |
71qz7l | Did dinosaurs, like reptiles of today, molt or shed their skin? | [
{
"answer": "It depends on the dominant integument (body covering) of the dinosaur in question. \n\n**Feathers:** There is good evidence to indicate that feathered theropods with pennaceous (vaned) feathers molted as they grew, much in the same way that birds do today. Although hatchlings of the oviraptorosaur ... | null |
1a48vy | Ants and bees have queens that are physically very different and serve very different roles than the rest of their group...how genetically different are they? | [
{
"answer": "It is how they are treated and fed during development. They have the full set of genes, unlike the drones, but they are not genetically different from their sisters.\n\n\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Queens are genetically identical to their sister workers. I am not entirely su... | null |
62a2u4 | how do countries divide payments for sending mail by post? | [
{
"answer": "They are not, as the countries themself have little to do with it (unless we are dealing with state-postal-service - but they usually are still another entity).\n\nLets stay within your canada- > australia example.\n\nYou buy stamps from the Canada Post Corporation. put them on your evenlope to a... | null |
cfsisu | why do cucumbers taste so mild while you're eating them, but taste so strongly when you burp afterward? | [
{
"answer": "It's the cucurbitacin in them. It's a chemical that they have to help prevent certain animals from eating them (too much and there wouldn't be any to make more-hey nature!)\n\nIt's mostly in the stem end so if you don't eat that part it will cut down on it too. Also can deseed them and they will he... | null |
ns3vc | how do password hashes work? | [
{
"answer": " > Also, what's to stop someone from essential 'brute-forcing' hashes by starting with a and going through all the alpha-numerical symbols for 12 characters or so, and then have a just compare any given password to the compiled list of hashes?\n\nThis is called a [rainbow table](_URL_1_). And if yo... | null |
3j17ec | In WWII were there any reports of either military or civilian injuries or deaths caused by anti-aircraft weaponry, or any type of air based weaponry, missing a target and falling back to the ground? | [
{
"answer": "hi! there's always room for more input on this, but you'll be interested in several previous posts on the impacts of anti-aircraft weapons and dogfights...\n\nAnti-aircraft\n\n* [What happened to all the stray bullets fired in the skies during WWII? (Or any war for that matter)](_URL_4_) - featurin... | null |
55s4wh | airport economics | [
{
"answer": "Couple things:\n\n- Retail space. Airports generate a ton of money from retail. Renting space to specific stores/shops, selling products directly, etc. I would not be shocked to learn that franchise set ups inside airports are also owned by the airport directly (like burger king and mcdonalds)\n\n... | null |
40wi4d | the falcon9 landing. why is it cool? what does it get us closer to doing? | [
{
"answer": "As you can probably imagine, one of the most expensive aspects of space travel is building a rocket to get there. SpaceX has been working to make re-usable rocket technology at an unprecedented scale, and the Falcon 9 landing tests are part of that goal.\n\nIf SpaceX are able to land their rocket b... | null |
fkvcg5 | why do some noises produce a physical reaction in people? | [
{
"answer": "Well, your body reacts to sounds by using your brain to resurface earlier instincts. For example, sudden high pitched sounds (such as writing on a chalkboard) will make you feel stressful and \"wriggly\" because your primal brain tells you to run from the nonexistent predator or natural danger that... | null |
abiy0x | how does putting food in hot oil fry it (like, how does the actual frying process happen)? also, what are those bubbles, is it water that leaves the food due to the high temperature or something else? | [
{
"answer": "Oil is active as a heat stabilizer and heat transfer fluid. As the oil heats various components begin to break down or evaporate (boiling does this rapidly). This takes energy and holds the temperature relatively even as the oil evaporates or smokes. This means that your food is cooked at a rela... | null |
22kmi5 | Was lacrosse really used to settle national disputes? Are there other examples of sports settling national disputes? | [
{
"answer": "There are a lot of lacrosse-related metaphors regarding warfare, and warfare-related metaphors regarding lacrosse. Many of the preparations undertaken by ball players have close or identical analogues among wartime preparations. The association between the two has deep roots and grew increasingly s... | null |
18bpu5 | Why do we only look for radio waves in SETI research? | [
{
"answer": "We assume that life is like us, because we have to. We're aware that life could take any form we can or can't imagine, but we don't know how to look for life we can't imagine, and while we might be able to look for life we can imagine but is very different from us, it's smarter to look for life lik... | null |
2jnc3p | How did the Mexica (aka Aztecs) deal with the umbilical cord after birth? Was there any cultural significance attached to it or was it merely disposed of? | [
{
"answer": "Aztec births were a highly ritualized affair involving spirituality and midwifery. When the umbilical cord was removed it was preserved and when a son reached adulthood he would bring his to a battle field and bury it. A daughter would bury hers next to the family's hearth. There is an illustrated ... | null |
bu12d9 | Interested in the Three Kingdoms | [
{
"answer": "I would suggest you read (assuming your an English speaker) the book itself! There are many translations available, the one I read was the translation by [Robert Moss](_URL_0_). Also there is the actual historical text that the novel was based on, Records of the Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou, for th... | null |
29wzwf | What were preparations like in the dsys/hours/minutes before an attack on a castle or city back in medieval times? | [
{
"answer": "It's useful, I think, to first differentiate fortifications into three basic types. These are the fortified town, the baronial castle, and the ducal/royal castle. The three really only have in common the fact that they are fortified places of strategic importance; the way in which they are construc... | null |
8sip51 | How did Rome get buried? | [
{
"answer": "I didn't know /r/askhistorians did guides (I'd definitely hire some of the mods for private tours!) \n\nIt's definitely not a stupid question, how indeed does a city fall to ruin and get buried under the ground when people still occupy it?\n\n\nThis isn't exactly asnwering about Rome but /u/Pachaca... | null |
422bvb | what does it mean when a drug (cocaine, heroin) is cut? | [
{
"answer": "It means it's been cut *with* something in order to stretch the supply. Kind of like if you have half a can of soda, and you fill it up with water. You now have a full can, but it's much weaker soda. And if you sell it like that, whoever bought it might be pissed.\n\nWith drugs, it's not unusual to... | null |
uxkgp | Do castrated people lose their libido? | [
{
"answer": "Yes. Your testicles are a driving force in testosterone production, which is key to having any sort of sex drive for males. Steroid users often use faux testosterone to get bigger, causing their body to stop making its own. So when they get off a cycle the have to block estrogen production and wait... | null |
3f3zyw | When will earth lose the moon? | [
{
"answer": "We will not lose the Moon. It will recede as it exchanges energy with the Earth by slowing our rotation. Eventually the recession will stop when the Earth becomes tidally locked to the Moon and one side of the Earth will always face the Moon. \n\nThe opposite process has already happened and the s... | null |
agt8aj | why do so many older people who are otherwise competent struggle to use computer technology (such as copying and pasting or attaching a file to an email)? | [
{
"answer": "Something about technology scares them. It's so different than how things were when they were younger that they assume something horrible will happen if they do something wrong. They have heard so many \"horror stories\" from their contemporaries that they have just given up. \n\nCombine that with ... | null |
9ctn48 | why do companies doing an ipo need to "secure $x billion from y investors" and need z investment companies to "sponsor" them? | [
{
"answer": "They are sponsors in that they have committed to pay at least some amount of money to buy shares of the company. If there was no secured funding, the private owners of the company might have no bidders at all. The secured funding also sets a floor on the price so that they don't get unlucky and sel... | null |
5f1yh5 | why do some electronics not turn on while charging? | [
{
"answer": "Simply put, those things don't have a circuit that diverts power to the device as well as the battery. \n\nBatteries can't charge and discharge at the same time. When you plug something like your phone in, it has a circuit which directs the required power to the phone and the rest to the battery ... | null |
18ulji | Why do things like glue, sticky notes and other adhesives like that become "unsticky" when it's cold? | [
{
"answer": "Most glues conform to the shape of whatever they are bonding to. If there are microscopic ridges on a surface the glue would fill them This increases surface area for chemical bonding and attraction which is the primary way the glue sticks.\n\nWhen its cold the glue can contract and it may not conf... | null |
5oy5bb | why are sodas made with such strong acids? | [
{
"answer": "As far as I understand it, the do it to equalize the sweet taste of sugar. Now, you asked why they even add as much sugar in the first place.. sugar sells. Your body reacts to sugar well comparable to how it reacts to heroin, although significantly less drastic. You have the feeling of happiness an... | null |
48c1ep | Besides Allied interception of Japanese plans throughout the Pacific theatre, what caused the demise of the Imperial Japanese Navy and its forces? | [
{
"answer": "Allied codebreaking and other SIGINT ultimately had relatively minor impact compared to the sheer quantitative, qualitative, and technological advantages that the US Navy had over the Japanese one. \n\nThe authors of Shattered Sword have a [certain webpage](_URL_0_) in reference to just how massiv... | null |
x1jzq | how does one secure venture capital funding? | [
{
"answer": "Hype might not be the right word- but there is a significant preference to high-growth companies (usually young ones, since the maturity phase is relatively unlikely to lead to a high (risky) ROI-1). A mere business plan is usually not good enough unless you've discovered an untapped market or |the... | null |
6sx80m | how can companies like amazon afford to price things at such low margins? | [
{
"answer": "Amazon's margin is ~15%, it's not low. Really what you're seeing is that many manufacturers place their MSRP high enough that the moderate traffic mom and pop shop in a major city can sell it at MSRP and still make rent, and they can afford to mark it down for various sales. [Thus most industries h... | null |
2se5nw | why can't we use waste gas to create more energy? | [
{
"answer": "The 'gas' emitted from power stations is the bi product of combustion of their fuel, which could be gas, coal, whatever. A hefty amount of that is water vapour.\n\nFor a gas to be able to turn a turbine then it has to be expelled under pressure, which is of course how power stations work, usually b... | null |
86gjhj | why are smartphones vertically oriented screens by default and design, yet all other forms of screens and displays are all designed horizontal? | [
{
"answer": "Have you ever tried holding your phone horizontally with one hand to use it?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Smart phones go into people's hands and a vertically oriented screen is much easier to hold and operate than a horizontally oriented screen. Just try holding a phone horizon... | null |
210d62 | Do Religious Scholars Take the Gospel of Judas Seriously? | [
{
"answer": "The Gospel of Judas gets a good deal of action in academic circles devoted to the study of ancient Christianity, as /u/anoldhope mentions. (Take a look around [JSTOR](_URL_2_) or [Google Scholar](_URL_3_), for instance.) In fact, it gets just as much scholarly attention as any of the many [other an... | null |
faqhp6 | the difference between pressure and compression? | [
{
"answer": " > \tAs I understand it fluid can't be compressed\n\nAnd that is where you went wrong, any fluid can be compressed. Any material at all can be compressed of course.\n\nFluids are often said to be incompressible because they take a lot of force to compress even a little bit, but it is a simplificati... | null |
3wbe02 | Did ancient people really get captured by marauding bands of slavers? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, certainly. If you want a good real-life version of the Gladiator scene we have Julius Caesar's capture by pirates. These pirates would capture people and sell them as slaves, often to rich Romans. \n\nHowever, if they happened to catch an important person, such as Caesar, they ransomed them in... | null |
6qr25h | how do other countries come to know if a nation has conducted a missile test? | [
{
"answer": "In the case of North Korea, the US probably has a satellite pointed at the country 24/7 to detect missile launches. Maybe some other detection equipment based in Japan and South Korea too",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "2641... | null |
679wce | Are there any examples of positive cooperation between the Soviet Union and the USA during the Cold War? | [
{
"answer": "There was the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project that led to a joint US-Soviet space mission in 1975. ASTP's value in terms of scientific or engineering progress was extremely questionable, but it certainly qualifies as a \"positive, cooperative moment.\" One could argue that that first instance of working ... | null |
5gt3dv | Is it known who shot down the plane that triggered the Rwandan genocide? | [
{
"answer": "I asked a similar question a week ago! If I may ask a follow up question, why was it that so much of the world almost seemingly refused to get involved and even turned blind eye to the Rwandan Genocide? \n\nWhy did countries like the U.S. And Europe and even local surrounding countries abstain from... | null |
4vedlc | What were ancient Roman parties like? Describe the most opulent/crazy one. | [
{
"answer": "You should read the feast of Trimalchio. It's not about orgies and is more satire and mocking of the extravagance of Roman elites.\n\nIn this case it is mocking the faux sophistication of Trimalchio (a former slave who has now become quite wealthy) as he hosts a dinner party but repeatedly commits ... | null |
3za2p6 | how do thermal optics pick up heat signatures from such large distances away? | [
{
"answer": "if i understand this correctly, its basically just shifting the infra red spectrum so it can be seen. (electronically, with a sensor and a screen)\n\n_URL_0_\n\n\nits always there, we just are not equipped to see it.\n\n\nlife would be weird if we could see somewhere up to fm frequencies.\n\n\n_URL... | null |
2mkma8 | What were the attitudes of Orthodox Russian rulers towards the Crusades and the Crusaders? | [
{
"answer": "As a follow-up, how Christianized was late 11th century Russia? Was Orthodox Christianity the religion of the majority of people west of the Urals?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "10557902",
"title": "History of the ... | null |
1mte1t | why do i feel depressed at random times for no reason? | [
{
"answer": "You have no history under this name. Are you male, female, have a family history of depression, etc? I don't think any one can say much about you specifically without more info. That and you should see a doctor as \"medical\"advice really shouldn't be given on redit.",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
595k0n | why u.s. conservatives are so against abortion but generally the first to gripe about families with multiple children on welfare. | [
{
"answer": "It generally goes to a perception of responsibility. A key conservative principle is that people should be responsible for their own actions and behavior. And children are a part of this; if a woman becomes pregnant, she should carry the child to term and ensure for its future. If you have children... | null |
acuypg | why do certain bugs and glitches appear on seemingly random occations in some programs? | [
{
"answer": "The dont appear at random, but after a series of events / when the game is brought inr a certain state that triggers the bug.\n\nGames and programs are made so complex these days, that its nearly impossible to test each and every permutation / state the game can be in",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
1p7kgy | Was the Isthar gate and it's surrounding walls ever used in defence under a siege? | [
{
"answer": "It depends on which Isthar gate you mean. Babylon had eight main gates, that were named after the closest temple to that gate. Babylon also fell to the Kassite and Assyrians after the time of Hammurabi, but before the rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. T... | null |
28jjzs | why is a drone strike considered invariably worse than an f-16 pilot dropping a 500lb jdam? | [
{
"answer": "The more that people are removed from killing, the easier it is to lose ethical perspective. Currently, that doesn't seem to be an issue but imagine a world where drones had such good AI that people just had to press a button to kill someone--they'd become very detached from the killing. ",
"pr... | null |
49rwo3 | What is the Banach-Tarski paradox? | [
{
"answer": "Of course there exists a bijective function from the set of one sphere to the set of two spheres. That is, we can break up a sphere into uncountably many points, and rearrange the points into two sphere. So we're essentially forgetting everything about the first sphere, except how many points it ha... | null |
d992ms | Why did clock and watch makers decide on only 12 hours instead of 24? How did a 12 hour clock face become standard? | [
{
"answer": "It has to do with the cost of building clocks and clock towers. 12 hour clocks are cheaper.\n\nI explained it in some detail in this previous thread [here](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "4416478",
"title":... | null |
85e0he | To what extent did the Hittites make use of iron? | [
{
"answer": "Iron is first attested in Anatolia in the third millennium BCE. An iron dagger with trace amounts of nickel was found in the \"royal\" tombs of Alaça Höyük (ca. 2300 BCE). Iron is better known, however, from Old Assyrian texts (2000-1750 BCE). During this time period, Assyrian merchants regularly t... | null |
8fn4sv | How are mineral seedbeds created? | [
{
"answer": "A mineral seedbed is a growth medium that lacks significant amounts of organic matter.\n\nWildfire can create seedbeds like this by combusting all of the organic material out of topsoil, leaving behind a \"sterile\" mineral based layer for things to grow in. Areas with high erosion, desert climates... | null |
1xjifh | who benefits from sending computer viruses out into the world? | [
{
"answer": "Depends on what it does.\n\nSome malware is designed to make the creator money. This includes things like the \"scareware\" programs that pop up, tell you that you have a virus and need to pay them $30 to clean it up. There are also viruses that try to steal your credit card information when you sh... | null |
2ccj9e | why does the milk at the grocery store expire in 1-2 weeks but the milk at fast food places are good for over one month? | [
{
"answer": "It's a different type of milk. You can get UHT milk/long life milk. It lasts longer and is fine for coffee etc but doesn't have the same taste as fresh milk. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "19714",
"title": "Milk",
... | null |
1qo9jk | i've deeply cut my finger, what is my body's immediate response to this and what exactly is my skin, muscle and other tissues doing during the healing process? | [
{
"answer": "Well, your immediate response is pain. The All severed blood vessels will constrict as much as possible to stop blood loss while other vessels proximal to the cut will expand, somewhat bypassing the affected area. \n\nDuring the healing process, as long as everything is bandaged up tightly and in t... | null |
2uwl6c | why is having netanyahu speak in washington so controversial? | [
{
"answer": "I say this with a neutral point of view, not to make a point:\n\nThe Israel/Palestine conflict has led to a number of human rights issues and accusations of war crimes on both sides. Many people are opposed to the state of Israel's existence at all. The majority of foreign leaders who speak in Wa... | null |
a9pa3j | What sort of influence did the arrival of European settlers have on the style of warfare practiced in the Natal? What did Zulu military technique look like prior to contact? | [
{
"answer": "To answer your first question:\n\nGuns were present in Natal from the time Shaka Zulu created the Zulu Empire - Shaka even hired/conscripted very small numbers of Europeans with muskets to fight for him, although never in decisive or significant numbers.\n\nThe primary Zulu weapons from the time of... | null |
4mrdvm | why do older phones (like sony ericsson) not start up without sim-card? | [
{
"answer": "Older phones' main functions were provided over the cellular network. They used the SIM to make and receive calls and send and receive text messages. Older phones did not have the concept of WiFi or Apps used for something other than communicating. Hence there wasn't a point of the phone unless it ... | null |
27nfmk | Why is it that there is a (approximately?) 50/50 chance of an offspring being male/female? | [
{
"answer": "[Fisher's principle](_URL_0_):\n\nImagine there exists a population in which the majority of individuals born are female. In this case, it's in a female's long term reproductive advantage to produce male offspring, because it's easy for males to find females to mate with, but hard for females to fi... | null |
2crybk | Why did Roosevelt issue so many more executive orders in comparison to other presidents? | [
{
"answer": "First, Roosevelt was in office for 12 years, so the orange bars (number per year) is a more useful measure. And before FDR, executive orders weren't always tracked that carefully.\n\nSecond, a lot of the government regulatory agencies that we now take for granted were *invented* as part of the New... | null |
7sor51 | Late medieval/early modern urban geography (?) - how was the population spread in a country in the 1500s? | [
{
"answer": "RenlyWHW:\n\nThere are a lot of questions here, but here are a few notes that might help. \n\nFirst, England's population distribution from 1550-1700 was somewhat unusual for Europe, given that London vastly outstripped every other city in size (it became what demographers call a 'primate city,' a ... | null |
3lltto | why are computer not used in sports games? for balls/strikes/safe/outofbounds etc... | [
{
"answer": "It's mostly tradition, umpires don't want to be out of a job, and people in general don't like change. But there can also be a deeper meaning.\n\nTake racewalking as an example, an olympic event where one must move as fast as possible without running, aka without ever having both feet off the groun... | null |
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