id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
9g3x9l | Book recommendation please: WWII / post war liberation | [
{
"answer": "Fiction or non? There is a great non-fic book called Savage Continent that talks about the immediate aftermath. Then there is another non-fic book called Postwar by Tony Judt. Savage Continent is incredible. Havent read Postwar but Tony Judt is well regarded. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
2dcwq2 | how were international treaties enforced before the establishment of international organisations such as the UN, EU and the international court of justice? | [
{
"answer": "Well, the simple answer is of course that *in general* they weren't 'enforced', at least not in the sense of being subject to some sort of supranational legal procedure. It's a bit more complicated than that, though.\n\nTo a large extent this is more of an IR question than a history question, since... | null |
75d9sl | Similar to how Christmas has pagan roots, Are there any traditions in Islam or Buddhism that pull from various regional traditions or customs? | [
{
"answer": "While I can't speak for Islam in broad terms, I can speak a little bit about Buddhism. Even then though, I had to think about it at first, because the idea paganism exists in far more fluid terms in the places where Buddhism is prominent vs Christian and Muslim places. Buddhism is in many was a c... | null |
8d45ve | why is it possible for certain animals, particularly typical pets, to die from extreme stress? | [
{
"answer": "stress has an inpact on the body functions and chemicals up to a point that it gets dangerous to the body functions.\n\nit is possible for almost all animals including humans to die from stress.\n\nthe amount of stress needed might be different. in most cases it is a heart attack in humans.",
"... | null |
36gdaw | Are there Lagrangian points between the black hole in the middle of our galaxy and the sun/earth? | [
{
"answer": " > So Langrangian points are points where gravitational forces of two things cancel themselves out, right?\n\nNo, not right. They are points where the combined gravitational force of two things is just right so that a third thing can co-revolve with them. The total force isn't zero, it's equal to ... | null |
33sot1 | differences in pain? (example: stab, sharp pain vs. punch pain?) | [
{
"answer": "Part of it is the degree of pressure. A pinch stimulates nerves more accurately than a punch. A sting or stab is more centralized than a punch. If you were pinched at the same pressure as a punch, it would hurt more than a punch. Punches also aren't felt as deep. Think of scratching your skin. Tha... | null |
1j10c7 | why do i stop being able to see properly for a brief period if i exercise vigorously? | [
{
"answer": "I'd say this is more a question for your doctor rather than reddit. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There's doctors on reddit... I think OP question is quite a common thing after working out. It happens to me too.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenan... | null |
63dih8 | Is there any evidence of Roman gladiators from the same stable (or known to each other) making fight 'arrangements' in order to survive? | [
{
"answer": "Follow-up (or addonial) question: Would it be actually common for gladiator fights to result in death of gladiator(s)? I'm aware that games could include basicaly execution (throwing prisoners sentenced to death to animals etc.), but I assume that properly trained gladiator would be rather expensiv... | null |
2xo4zx | Without hindsight was Stalin's reasoning for believing Hitler wouldn't invade reasonable? | [
{
"answer": "In the books I've read I've never seen any opinion that Stalin's belief was in any way the result of a rational examination of the available evidence. From Mein Kampf, Stalin knew that Hitler intended to attack the Soviet Union. He also knew that Hitler had abrogated peace treaties in the past, ind... | null |
1s23ob | why is it that some paintings are popular and others are not? | [
{
"answer": "As far as technique is concerned you're somewhat correct as there is an overabundance of artists with the appropriate training/ability to paint/draw/sculpt a masterpiece. The difference between an artist on the street and a big name artist in modern times is less about skill and more about creativi... | null |
2xo2do | What was the English view of Bacon's Rebellion of 1676 and did they know he wanted full independence from England? | [
{
"answer": "Nathaniel Bacon never intended to declare independence from England. Despite attacking royal governor William Berkeley, Bacon and his group fully imagined themselves as Englishmen who just happened to live in Virginia. They knew that Virginia would fall prey to other colonial powers, the Dutch, the... | null |
7o98ks | why did south korea and japan become so successful after world war 2, but the philippines didn’t? | [
{
"answer": "For 20 years after WWII, the country was plagued by Communist rebels and by corruption. Then a corrupt dictatorship took over. \n\nThis long period of terrible leadership hurt the country a lot.\n\nBy contrast, the US Army took over Japan and imposed order quite firmly. This was made easier by the... | null |
9jxszz | why does using a pillow feel comfortable when it makes your head tilted? | [
{
"answer": "It's about supporting the neck more than the angle of your head. Ideally, you want to keep the spine aligned while maintaining that neck support so that your muscles are not straining to try to provide that alignment. So you're basically letting the muscles in your neck and shoulders relax by using... | null |
8m7qea | What makes paper fresh from the copier hot? Why don't inkjet printers produce the same amount of heat as copiers do? | [
{
"answer": "Laser printers and photocopiers don't work under the same principle as an inkjet printer. When you make a photocopy, the first step is to give an electrostatic charge to a special cylinder. That cylinder is coated with a material that becomes conductive when exposed to light. When the document is b... | null |
6cxv8x | why do you continue to sweat from running (particularly in hot weather) after taking a cold shower? | [
{
"answer": "Your body doesn't stop sweating into your internal organs cool down. A cold shower is only cooling off the outside.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A quick, cold shower will help cool the outside of your body, but you may still have an elevated internal body temperature. Once the i... | null |
20qq8d | Why is is that some atoms with a higher atomic mass are less dense than those with less atomic mass? | [
{
"answer": "The atoms themselves are not more dense, but the crystalline structures they naturally form may not be. Let's compare silicon and aluminum at room temperature. Silicon is the heavier atom, but aluminum forms a denser material at room temperature.\n\nFor the purpose of crystal structure, you can thi... | null |
2rn0mr | what are islamic extremists actually trying to accomplish by violent attacks, like the one today in paris? don't these attacks just embolden the majority against the viewpoints of the attackers? | [
{
"answer": "We can only speculate on their motives. They may simply want to lash out with violence due to anger or hurt regardless of its effectiveness. They may want to provoke an 'emboldened response' since such would likely embolden people on their own side, since a harsh response can create something of a ... | null |
40sz1d | Why is the word 'Bosnian' left out of the 'Serbo-Croatian language' and the country 'Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes'? | [
{
"answer": "Croatia and Serbia (also Croats and Serbs) existed since early middle ages, before becoming Christian and long before east-west schism. Bosniaks weren't considered separate ethnicity, like Macedonians, by others and weren't allowed to declare as separate people until after WW2. Bosniaks did exist ... | null |
bwr0yy | can bees sense any ''human-made'' signals such as bluetooth or wi-fi? | [
{
"answer": "I don’t know what type of waves they can detect, but is it possible he was just responding to the vibrations of your head phones? Or perhaps his hearing is better than ours, so he could hear the music?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Do you wear hairspray? From my personal experien... | null |
ycswv | How much do we actually know about gravity? Where are some holes in our knowledge? | [
{
"answer": "Well first off, evolution and gravitation are both observations. Evolution the observation of changes in a population over time, and gravitation is the force of attraction objects with mass have. \n\nThe theories are explanations for the observations. \"Theory of evolution\" is probably a shortened... | null |
76eu2g | Is it true that the VOC (Dutch East Indian Company) was the most valuable company ever? | [
{
"answer": "Follow up question:\n\nThe same but for the French Mississippi Company, worth 6 trillion dollars, which is even more ridiculous as Louisiana was empty at this time, it would be as if each French has on average 300 000$ of share of this company... Is it just an artificial value due to speculative bu... | null |
8jfx3y | How can scientists detect binary systems of planets with no star? | [
{
"answer": "The planets are about 3 times the mass of Jupiter each, and have a temperature around 1000 Kelvin. This makes them big enough, bright enough, and close enough that they can be detected with a state-of-the-art infrared telescope.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance"... | null |
1rb77o | If the terminal velocity of an object is about 120mph, what would it be if the object was falling in an airless environment? | [
{
"answer": "There is no such thing as terminal velocity in an airless environment. It doesn't matter what the terminal velocity of an object in air is, if there is no air for the object to interact with through friction, the object will keep accelerating as it falls until it hits a solid surface.",
"proven... | null |
1xq3ar | why don't we say "an user" instead of "a user"? | [
{
"answer": "We determine whether a word should be associated with \"a\" or \"an\" by its sound, not by its spelling. For example, \"hour\" starts with h but it's silent, so the word actually starts with a vowel sound.\n\nUtensil and user both start with consonant Y when pronounced\n\nedit: But, of course, lots... | null |
4262bd | why does radiation destroy human dna and make human life impossible but yet trees can survive and flourish? | [
{
"answer": "Human life isn't impossible in Pripyat. It's just not necessarily advisable, since you would experience a potentially increased risk of radiation-linked ailments like certain cancers. The overall background radiation in the region is not 'immediately human destroyingly' high.\n\nEdit: To more direc... | null |
2tnpnh | why does nasa launch its rockets in florida which is prone to a lot of rain? why not launch in arizona where rain is rare and the skies are very clear | [
{
"answer": "Crashing in the ocean > crashing in populated areas. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A couple reasons:\n- It takes less fuel to reach orbit the closer you are to the equator\n- The launch site is away from populated areas so debris doesn't hit people\n- Back when they built it, ... | null |
94veki | why can the sound volume of commercials on internet tv be double the actual show's volume? | [
{
"answer": "It is illegal in the USA for broadcasters, cable, and satellite providers to have louder commercials. The [CALM Act](_URL_1_) lays out procedures which must be followed. One problem is that some programs are 30 minute infomercials while the CALM Act applies only to commercials. You should register ... | null |
1327mq | How did Europe go from a backwater land in the medieval era(Compared to Asia) to one of the most thriving lands in the world by the end of the Renaissance and Industrial Era | [
{
"answer": "And exactly what are we comparing?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I think OP refers to the general difference between the academical, technological, philosophical and economical delay of Europe in the dark ages compared to the Muslim world, and the fact that it's thriving in the s... | null |
823ken | what is derealization? | [
{
"answer": "It is usually termed depersonalization/derealization and in essence, it is the vague feeling that everything is just a dream, or that life has no substance. Its really difficult to remember how I felt, but withdrawing off valium and ativan, back in 2016 made me feel this way. Like nothing is real..... | null |
urmam | how are teeth made and why can't your body make additional ones? | [
{
"answer": "I also would like to know this, especially since I have seen pics of cysts and tumors on reddit, that had teeth inside them.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Simply put, we don't have the biological process developed for this to take place. This would be an extremely complicated pro... | null |
6wl5it | how the heck do keurig's actually work? | [
{
"answer": "They punch holes in the top and bottom of the capsule, and run hot water through it.\n\nAhoy, matey! Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained:\n\n1. [How Does a Keurig Work? | The Coffee Whisperer ](_URL_0_)\n1. [Inside the Keurig Vue V700, a Single-Serve Coffee Maker - Graphic - ... | null |
6gsf03 | why does the surface of a stirred liquid calm before the rest of it? | [
{
"answer": "Well, water is sticky stuff. However its 'stickiness' is a factor of surface tension. Water wets glass, which means that it sticks to glass more than it sticks to itself.\n\nWhere the glass meets the water at the bottom of the glass, there's no surface, and one particle of water is as likely to p... | null |
4jxkk5 | if i donate blood while high off marijuana, will the same chemicals that are making me high (thc,cbn,cbc,cbd) make the recipient high when they receive the blood? | [
{
"answer": "No. That made me think of a new question though. What is the difference between being high off Marijuana, and high ON Marijuana?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I give blood high all the time and I asked to make sure it's okay and the nurse said it was fine and that whoever would b... | null |
3nyyed | Scope and use of different tactics in the First World War | [
{
"answer": " > what exactly were the tactics used in areas where fighting was more mobile?\n\nOn the Eastern Front, infantry tactics in the beginning were based off pre-war training and ideas; the German infantry utilized fire rushes, while Russian infantry were trained to entrench and use cover wherever they... | null |
3om8n8 | what causes the fishy smell in clean dishes? | [
{
"answer": "Uhmm...have you ever cleaned them properly using piping hot water? That only ever happens if you don't clean dishes and such like properly as bacteria can fester in the water.\n\nEither that, or your water supply in the area is severely contaminated.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": ... | null |
jy0rf | the poincare conjecture. | [
{
"answer": "I'm not sure it's possible to explain one of the Millenium Prize Problems to a five-year-old. The [Simple English Wikipedia entry](_URL_0_) on the topic may provide the insight you're looking for, though.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I’ll give this a try, but I’m not an expert, ... | null |
748odd | What regulations were there for firearms in the early United States? | [
{
"answer": "So I am going to share a link to past questions I answered on this subject because that'll make the most sense, [which you can find here](_URL_0_). Essentially, there wasn't any widespread laws to govern firearms or firearm safety during this period in early American history (1776 - 1803). At the ... | null |
23p4po | Is it true that there was an unspoken rule amongst WWII pilots that said you shouldn't shoot at soldiers in parachutes while in the air? | [
{
"answer": "It depends on when and where in the war you're talking about. Generally, there was some sort of unspoken rule, although it was definitely broken at times. Many airmen talked about letting themselves fall as far down as possible before deploying a parachute for fear of being shot while drifting down... | null |
37heyj | why is whatsapp so popular? | [
{
"answer": "Very easy setup. No account needed. Takes over from your phone number. It's literally like texting over wifi",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Easier, account not needed. I don't know much about WhatsApp but there is a similar case.\n\nIn Asia there is LINE, which comes loaded with a... | null |
quoup | when being drunk, is there a psychological factor involved? | [
{
"answer": "people have different tolerances, one person can get hammered on an amount of alcohol which would give someone else a pleasant buzz. \n\n_URL_0_\n\nAlso the results of a prank where someone had a party with alcohol free beer might be relevant: \n\n_URL_1_\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"an... | null |
41wn1q | Berbers ancient to Ireland? | [
{
"answer": "18th century antiquarians like Charles Vallancey speculated that Irish civilization was founded by Phoenician seafarers, and attempted to prove this using what we would call today linguistic arguments. While largely discredited, it is possible that Carthaginian explorers based in present-day Morocc... | null |
3mqz75 | places like norway and iceland seem to have few to no trees, yet i've seen old dwellings and other ancient structures built out of wood. we're there forests at one time? | [
{
"answer": "Correct. \n[Source](_URL_0_)\n\n*At the time of human settlement about 1140 years ago, birch forest and woodland covered 25-40% of Iceland's land area. The relatively tall (to 15 m) birch forests of sheltered valleys graded to birch and willow scrub toward the coast, on exposed sites and in wetland... | null |
kk0wq | - utilitarianism | [
{
"answer": "Utilitarianism is basically the principle that the best course of action in any given situation is the one which maximizes the overall well being or good of the most people. There are other types but pretty much its just the greatest good for the most people is rational",
"provenance": null
}... | null |
6hxk9b | why do police helicopters circle instead of hover? | [
{
"answer": "Because it gives them a constant overview. If they hover they only have one vantage point. If the cops wanted a stationary observer they could just send a man onto a building. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Probably because they are looking for something. \n\nStaying in the same... | null |
bq2hp1 | how did old hand-drawn animation achieve such consistent color? | [
{
"answer": "Speed and skill. Each pencil drawing by an animator was traced in ink on to a transparent sheet. Once the ink dried it was sent to painting where the paint was applied to the BACK of the transparent film. Each section of color had to be completed quickly while the paint was still very wet so it wou... | null |
1ywpcz | if stars we see now could actually by "burnt out" due to the traveling of light, will the major constellations (i.e. the big dipper) ever disappear? | [
{
"answer": "Yes. Millions or Billions of years for most stars.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "All stars have a life cycle, so eventually they will all die, but likely not for millions or billions of years. When the stars of the Big Dipper do \"burn out,\" we'll start to know about it 58 year... | null |
8dacox | how do transistors in a cpu work together? | [
{
"answer": "First we'll need a reference image. [This is how transistors are arranged in a NAND gate](_URL_1_)\n\nThe top two transistors are ON normally and turn OFF when A or B goes high. The bottom two transistors are OFF normally and turn ON when A or B goes high. If both are low then Out is connected t... | null |
1owm3y | How did Soviet military power at its height compare to the U.S. during the same period? Where they relatively equal, or was there some advantage to one side, militarily speaking? | [
{
"answer": "I think this breaks down into two questions:\na) when was the soviet military at it's height\nb) how did it compare with the US at the same time, or at the time of greatest soviet advantage. \n[This thread](_URL_1_) summarizes the discussion ;\n\nEssentially you may have to split military power acc... | null |
338lqr | what does "cogito ergo sum" mean? and what is the importance of this statement? | [
{
"answer": "I think therefore I am.\n\nThe importance of it is that, while all other knowledge can be doubted, because we are inherently limited by our senses, being able to doubt yourself seems to prove that you exist by the very act of doing it. \n\nFor instance, I cannot absolutely prove that you exist. Yo... | null |
23870f | How did North Africa and the Middle East become so thoroughly Arabized. | [
{
"answer": "This question is made difficult by the lack of consistency in what \"Arab\" has signified throughout history. The same can be said for \"Turk\", as during most of the Ottoman empire \"Turk\" referred to an Anatolian farmer. But as the article say, Arab identity relies heavily on lingustics. Turkish... | null |
8kh1pe | why there are rainforests along australia's east coast but not the west? | [
{
"answer": "The mountain range running the length of the east coast (the Great Dividing Range) causes moist air that's coming off the ocean to rise (called orographic uplift), when it rises it cools, condenses, and comes down as rain, allowing forests to exist. At least to the seaward side of that range. The w... | null |
45sv3o | Searching for a historical figure | [
{
"answer": "Could it be Robert Owen? He was manager and part-owner of the New Lanark mill in Scotland, and among other things he paid employees in currency instead of tokens (as was customary), pressed for ten and later eight hour workdays, etc. He's a pretty seminal figure in pre-Marxist socialism.",
"pro... | null |
9byxbf | How exactly were armour and weapons (that we associate with being) used by samurai suited to their way of waging warfare? What would make European plate armour less useful in Japan than in Europe? | [
{
"answer": "First, a summary and timeline of Japanese arms and armour, and warfare:\n\n1. **Ancient period (until approximately AD900):** Armies depended on infantry, often armoured, equipped with polearms (primarily spears) or sword (short, often double-edged, straight) and shield. Soldiers could be full-time... | null |
2otd11 | why do restaurants need to do 2 trips with my check? why can't they just give me the check with the tip line in the first place? | [
{
"answer": "Letting you add a tip when you put your card in would not reduce the number of trips. They still have to bring you the bill, take it to the computer to process, bring it back to you, and pick it up at the end.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It's more fun to just pay cash. That way... | null |
751ph7 | what's the subconscious drive that gets you motivated to do something your conscious brain doesn't want to do? | [
{
"answer": "Humans have an instinct side, this decisions are made without our \"permissions\" and it represents what our reptilian side of the brain does.\n\nThe reptilian side of our brain represents our primary survival function. Your heart, lungs and other parts of the body survive thanks to this. This is t... | null |
e7dshx | how does the shape of an airplane's wings generate lift? and how does the retractable wing flaps affect that? | [
{
"answer": "The shape of the wing when viewed from the side is called an aerofoil.\n\nAs the aerofoil moves, the wind / air splits into 2 streams.\n\nThe air passing above the aerofoil generates higher velocity (speed in simpler terms). Whereas the air velocity below the wing is low.\n\nWithout going into the ... | null |
7hfahk | Christmas tree candles?? | [
{
"answer": "A few considerations:\nThe candles probably weren’t left lit all the time, since candles were expensive.\n\nThe tree was probably very fresh, and cut locally rather than being shipped in. Also, Christmas Day was the beginning of the season, not the culmination (as it is now, where the beginning of ... | null |
93m3ml | Can people die from a highly oxygenated environment? | [
{
"answer": "Let me first give you the stupid answer: yes you can die because if your environment is really « oxygenated enough », you are stuck in a high pressure block of solid oxygen and cannot move or breathe, and you’re also probably crushed.\n\nI have the feeling this is not what your question meant, and ... | null |
32ojl1 | is it possible to see the iss from earth? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, often without binoculars. On a clear evening, far from the city, with a cheap pair of binoculars you can make out the solar panels on the side.\n\n[NASA webpage providing estimated viewing times](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Yes. At night, given the right time and ... | null |
av9j88 | emps | [
{
"answer": "EMP stands for electromagnetic pulse. It is a sudden massive burst of energy, which can be created through multiple natural and artificial processes.\n\nThe main way EMPs cause damage is a huge current flowing through electronics, which will destroy capacitors, resistors, diodes, wiring and circuit... | null |
424833 | since there is a nautical mile, is there also a nautical feet, inch, etc? | [
{
"answer": "I'm sorry to say, but there isn't. \n\n_URL_0_\n\nThat is a good reference, but I'll try to sum it up.\n\nA nautical mile is defined as 1,852 meters. So, from that alone you can see that it wouldn't have an immediate basis in feet or inches or any other imperial/US Customary unit. \n\nHowever, it h... | null |
7m7nyj | Why were the innovations on the HMS Dreadnought not thought of earlier? | [
{
"answer": "They were thought of earlier, or arguably, at almost exactly the same time:\n\n- The Japanese began construction of the *Satsuma* in May 1905, several months before HMS Dreadnought. She was a \"semi-dreadnought\", incorporating and all big-gun armament of mixed 12in and 10in guns (although original... | null |
1q9xi2 | How many of those living in the Roman Empire/ Rome itself, were actually citizens. | [
{
"answer": "Interesting question! And the answer is that 1) we can never really know and 2) it changes drastically over time. \n\nThe definition of citizen changed multiple times over the course of both the republic and imperial Rome. The point of greatest change came in 212 with the Constitutio Antoniniana in... | null |
sqpdo | What is happening during a 'sleep high'? Why is everything so funny? | [
{
"answer": "[Relevant study.](_URL_0_)\n\nApparently a lack of sleep stimulates pleasure centers of the brain after a while. (NB: being \"sleepy\" isn't exactly like being sleep deprived, but I'm on mobile and can't look for better sources at the moment.)\n\nEDIT: looks like mine is the only relevant comment i... | null |
9ezhw5 | How deep into the ocean will the impacts of a hurricane be felt? | [
{
"answer": "Three times the effective wave height.\n\nThe magnitude of water movement underneath a wave tails of quite rapidly with depth. Once you are about three times the wave height (trough to crest) below the surface, the movement is barely noticeable.\n\n\"Effective wave height\" is the average height of... | null |
47vaqj | how hindu religon / gods works | [
{
"answer": "Do [these previous discussions](_URL_0_) help?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "100099",
"title": "Yama",
"section": "Section::::Abode.:Naraka (Hindu).\n",
"start_paragraph_id": 17,
"start_char... | null |
b61m2p | How does blending fruit/veg change nutrient content and uptake by the body? | [
{
"answer": "Well, solid food remain in the stomac for a while before the pyloric sphincter release, and it does when the solid material have dissovled / liquified enough. Then the stomac content can escape through the duodenum and the small intestine where the majority of the glucose is absorbed (a small fract... | null |
3hj83c | if it takes lawyers 3 years to learn the law, how can we trust a cop to learn it in 6 months? | [
{
"answer": "Cops don't need to know the bankruptcy code, or contract law, or probate law, etc. The part of the law they're generally concerned with is much smaller. And they don't need to be experts - anything they do is generally useless in the long term if the DA (a \"real\" lawyer) isn't willing to prosec... | null |
8ux9s2 | how does the koenigsegg gearless transmission work? | [
{
"answer": "Basically its not a transmission at all... the engine is linked directly to the wheels through a differential type unit. Meaning that the ratio of engine speed to wheel speed never changes. Normally this won't work with gas motors because they make such little torque at low rpms that the either can... | null |
2vrbe6 | Can custom proteins be manufactured? | [
{
"answer": "The technique we use to make novel proteins has been around for decades. See [site-directed mutagenesis](_URL_1_), a common technique in deciphering enzyme mechanisms. Basically, you introduce a desired mutation to the DNA sequence that codes for the protein - say, changing a serine into an alanine... | null |
a1dgd3 | Can race be determined by bones alone? | [
{
"answer": "The anatomy of the skull can be used to determine race with a decent degree of accuracy, certainly enough to make the claim that a set of remains \"probably\" belongs to a member of one race or another. It's a major part of the field of forensic anthropology, along with determinations of things li... | null |
2z140t | when did people start listening to music/radio in their cars. | [
{
"answer": "Not so much a question of being available, but being practical. The earlier radios were big, required a lot of electricity, and were not loud enough to be able to be heard while driving. There was also a problem with radios picking up the ignition noise. [Here](_URL_1_) is an example of why radi... | null |
5a3dr6 | Can the human eye detect a Gamma Ray Burst from a near distance? Or are Gamma Rays frequency too high? | [
{
"answer": "Human eye can only see things between ultra violet and infra red. That's why they are called such things. The lowest frequency we can see is red, and the highest we can see is violet. Anything beyond those are not in our visible range. Gamma Rays have frequencies much higher than violet visible lig... | null |
c03t9e | when astronauts play with liquids in space aren't they worried about water damage to parts from all the floating liquid? | [
{
"answer": "They have machines that filter the moisture from the air which then gets filtered and recycled for reuse.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "59108359",
"title": "Alcohol and spaceflight",
"section": "Section::::... | null |
kq7s0 | software patents and why they are "evil" | [
{
"answer": "The term \"software patent\" isn't official. Informally, it's a category of patents that are applicable to software in some way. All patents, software patents included, are granted based off of a 18th century definition of the term: a \"device [with] no prior art\".\n\nAn *algorithm* is just a seri... | null |
1lyzwn | Why do we see citizens who support the Confederacy in the US even today, and why are they not considered traitors? | [
{
"answer": "I think it goes more along the lines of freedom of speech. neo nazis in america are allowed to hold parades and such things in america because they are protected by the constitution. as long as they are not violent, they are left alone. Same thing applies for confederate supporters.",
"provenan... | null |
3kvdm9 | what are the most likely effects of this super powerful el nino season? | [
{
"answer": "I remember in the 90's being in California and having a powerful El Niño taking us from a 10 year drought to \"normal\" in a month (it was referred to as March Miracle). \n\nThere's a lot that could happen or could not happen.While we know it will generate more precipitation, where that lands is g... | null |
3ixbnr | Is it true that our solar system moves at speed of 70,000km/h? | [
{
"answer": "Move relative to what? An important part of physics, classical or modern, is that there is no absolute rest frame. That is you can't say an object is moving at X kilometres per hour because it isn't obvious what we mean by that. On earth it sort of is, we mean it relative to the earth. And that is ... | null |
ey4of4 | how can babies scream for a long time and not hurt their vocal cords but adults can easily hurt themselves when they cream for a few minutes? | [
{
"answer": "When adults do what now?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because most of the time, babies aren't screaming they're just vocalising. \n\nOpen your mouth, push air out by tensing your belly - that's what a baby does, it isn't actually engaging much in terms of it's tiny muscles. \n\n... | null |
5jtd4h | why is it so satisfying to peel something? | [
{
"answer": "I'm assuming it's because when we were in nature and evolving and stuff, we would get some sort of dangerous stuff on us. The ones who would peel it off would live, so peeling stuff is satisfying",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I'd assume that it triggers a smaller version of the d... | null |
4xarod | What's the oldest historical event that we have mythology about? | [
{
"answer": "Hi there. While you are waiting for a more comprehensive answer, you might want to take a look at [this discussion](_URL_0_) about this very topic from a few years ago. \n\nThe consensus seems to be (and this agrees with what I know), that Australian Aboriginal oral histories likely record major cl... | null |
gbl7o | What's the most distant possible orbital path for something orbiting Earth? | [
{
"answer": "Not my area, but I think you're asking about the size of the Earth's [Hill sphere](_URL_1_). The Earth's is about [1.5 million km](_URL_0_) in radius -- or around 4 times larger than the Moon's orbit.\n\nedit: \"it appears that stable satellite orbits exist only inside 1/2 to 1/3 of the Hill radiu... | null |
afrqne | Is there a factual, un-ideological and un-biased primary source covering the history of all (or mostly all) communist governments? | [
{
"answer": "This isn't exactly the answer you are looking for, but unfortunately, I do not think such a text exists, nor could it exist. Communism is an inherently political subject, and there is no way to have an \"unbiased\" history of it. Moreover, even books like the *Rise and Fall of the Third Reich* have... | null |
1q8mzh | why do theists often deny evolution? what religious beliefs does evolution disprove? | [
{
"answer": "It pretty much ruins the whole \"Made in God's own image\" thing that most of them have going on...Nobody wants a god which therefore looks like an amoeba.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Any religion starts from the point of view that mankind is somehow special. Science practicall... | null |
2prnaa | A spaceship travels from earth at near speed of light and is transmitting a short message back to earth every 10 minutes. After one year of travel the signal has to travel a year to get to earth but will it still arrive every 10 minutes? My head aches thinking about this. | [
{
"answer": "It will be subject to a [relativistic Doppler effect](_URL_0_), so its frequency will be lower than 1/10 min. You also have to specify whether you mean 10 min in the ship's frame or the earth's frame. If the ship is traveling with a constant relative velocity, the frequency will be constant. The di... | null |
1l1866 | Do proteins dissolve in water? | [
{
"answer": "It is not true that all proteins are soluble in water. Proteins are typical macro-molecules having a large range of solvents in which they dissolve including water. The property of solubility of different proteins is governed by their three-dimensional folded structures. Many proteins have exposed... | null |
ab7gxo | Why is there still such a sizeble italian minority in the US despite ww2? | [
{
"answer": "It did. Assimilation occurred on a wide scale, and it continues today, often though gentrification. \n\nAnd Italians were placed in internment camps, as were Germans. Neither were on as large a scale though, as the US’s main adversary and concern was the Empire of Japan.",
"provenance": null
... | null |
1y58hf | Why did the Labour Party achieve a landslide victory in the 1945 UK General Election? | [
{
"answer": "There is much debate over this topic and unfortunately I am away from my computer to get all my references for this issue.\r\rHistorians have suggested that during WWII there was a move towards a more left leaning UK, hidden by the fact that by elections in the UK were not properly fought due to a ... | null |
53jcye | What is the age difference of Earth's pole vs equator (theory of relativity)? | [
{
"answer": "They are actually the same age, for not-obvious reasons. Basically, the difference in the passage of time due to the relative motion from the rotation is perfectly offset by the difference in the gravitational field due to Earth's shape. An explanation can be found [here](_URL_2_) or [here](_URL_1_... | null |
lu6eq | If you are in a car going the speed of a bullet and shot a gun backwards out the window what would the bullet do? | [
{
"answer": "fall while spinning",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Mythbusters did this with a soccer ball. It fell straight down.\n\n[youtube link](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Mythbusters did an experiment on this. It would drop strait down if the speeds were match... | null |
fnz9hq | why does depression sometimes cause cognitive dysfunction issues, such as reduced attention span, memory, concentration, information processing capability and executive functioning, that sometimes persist after a depressive episode is over? | [
{
"answer": "Depression still exists in a depressed person's brain even after an \"episode\". Depression is more than just in your mind, it is like a mental disorder that actually causes physical changes in your brain's structure and neural network, and it is those changes that can cause the other symptoms you ... | null |
rs6jp | Would an all out nuclear war result in these conditions? | [
{
"answer": "No, no, and no. Our weapons just aren't that powerful.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "This sounds like sci-fi fantasy. \n\nNew mountain ranges can be ruled out - orogenic events (a fancy way of saying mountain building) are known to almost exclusively come from buckling of the Ea... | null |
4354qz | How did Hitler improve Germany's economy to the extent it was before World War two broke out in the space of six years when prior to 1933 inflation and unemployment were at all time high under the leadership of the Weimar Republic. | [
{
"answer": "So Hjalmar Schacht successfully begins to bring Germany back from the great depression, at the same time the the world was recovering from the Great Depression. The plan he implements to get people on their feet involves large social programs. – policies which had been instituted in Germany by von ... | null |
16wktx | Was there a consistent democratic "country/state/area" between 1000-1400 AD? | [
{
"answer": "Iceland had a democratic body, the althing, and can be considered a democracy until 1262. The althing came together once a year for two weeks. Every household owner (i.e. a farm of a certain minimal size) had a seat. All feud ceased during that time and disputes were brought before the body. Before... | null |
a6ua46 | why law enforcement uses polygraphs but they are not admissible in court | [
{
"answer": "Because even though it might not be admissible In court, it'll flag people who are worth investigating further... and when you investigate those people further, you WILL find evidence that IS admissible in court.\n\nEg: \nCop: \"Did you kill her?\" \nMurderer: \"Naw!\" \nPolygraph: \"He's lying.... | null |
4cb3bq | is it possible for there to be a solar system in a solar system? | [
{
"answer": "Stars that orbit one another are fairly common. However, it's unlikely that any planets would remain in stable orbits. The tug from the other star would keep pulling them around. The stars don't even need to get all that close to cause problems. especially if there are any gas giants that can be k... | null |
a2k7gp | how are sine, triangle, square, and saw waves used to produce sound? | [
{
"answer": "Those waves are a representation of the sound. Let's take a square wave because that'll be a simple example, at 1000hz. So 1000 times a second there will be a high and a low on the wave. So 1000 times in one second, the speaker playing the sound will move to where however much the high side gives i... | null |
3t9wp5 | how are fetishes learned but sexual orientation is inborn? | [
{
"answer": "Your question suggests that we already know this is the case, but that's not really the truth. Depending on who you ask in psychology. You'll get different answers. A radical behaviourist might (but most won't) argue that all behaviour is learned, including sexual behaviour. A psychologist focuses ... | null |
ae8kf0 | how can people with dark skin say they're, "half-white" and white people can say they're, "half-black"? | [
{
"answer": "No, race is a complicated and mostly made up categorization. It includes culture and characteristics beyond phenotypes including historical affiliation.\n\nIts not a good categorization, but its more complicated than just skin tone.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Differences are m... | null |
2d00xv | why are nike shoes $150 or more and how do they enhance performance in sports? | [
{
"answer": "It's a fashion statement mostly.\n\nDon't get me wrong - there's some technology and research there, but not nearly enough to really affect, well, anything that much. You may jump a few millimeters higher through some new bouncy sole and lighter material. And there is some stability enhancements ... | null |
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