id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
5slzdq | why by do we use exchange rates to represent value of currency (eg: strong vs weak dollar)? | [
{
"answer": "Because when you look past the price your paying at the register, the product your buying has its own inputs. \n\nLet's say (making up numbers), a jar of peanut butter costs you 1 USD, while the peanuts in your peanut butter can be purchased for 1 XYZ, and further, 1 USD can buy 5 XYZ's.\n\n\n\nFur... | null |
1ner0u | Why does my bathroom mirror fog up but my phone screen doesn't? | [
{
"answer": "The H2O in the air will condense on your mirror forming a fog, so it is passing from the gaseous to the liquid state, so it need to cool down. This is possible because your mirror is relatively cool and the H2O can form the fog, whereas due to the circuit and light in and on your phone screen, the ... | null |
273lcc | Why does water gather together? | [
{
"answer": "Yay finally a question I can answer!\n\nWater molecules want to bond together and form hydrogen bonds between each other. This causes them to exhibit surface tension. The water molecules at the surface of the liquid don't have as many other molecules to bind to. Therefore, the surface molecules cre... | null |
2yizt0 | why do dogs suck at hide-and-seek when they have a super sensitive olfactory sense? | [
{
"answer": "Remember that their noses are so sensitive that to them, the whole house is saturated with the smell of everything. Imagine trying to find one hidden bottle of perfume in the perfume department at macy's - it's just too much sensory input to be accurate in all those \"smells\" - (not saying you ... | null |
w14do | Why does the force of gravity appear to have contradictory effects in the solar system? | [
{
"answer": "For the same reason you don't fall towards the sun, but instead fall towards the Earth: Earth's gravity is stronger than the Sun's at this distance.\n\nAs far as the tides go, the slight gravitational effect of the moon pulls the oceans slightly towards it. I'm not sure why you think this means it ... | null |
4i6rsu | i understand the first level (employer-employee) of direct deposits but how does it work between my bank and my employer? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not 100% sure, but I'm fairly certain it is just a simple banking transfer.\n\nYour company runs a \"payroll application\" most likely bought from a vendor like ADP. That application runs through all the information for each employee, pulls out the correct amounts of tax (as specified by your ... | null |
c20pkp | how does washing detergent work? | [
{
"answer": "All soaps are surfactants. A surfactant is a molecule of which one end is attract to water (hydrophilic) and the other end doesn't like water (hydrophobic) but likes oils and dirt. Oils and dirt stick to the hydrophobic end and are washed away by water which attached to the hydrophobic end.",
"... | null |
4lx22u | how come the middle-eastern and asian civilizations got surpassed even though their knowledge and techniques were far superior to those of the western world? | [
{
"answer": "A surprisingly short time has actually taken place in which Asian civilizations weren't the top dogs. \n\nIn the grand scheme of things, it'll correct and balance out again.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Civilizations rise and fall. By the time the West as we know it was getting ... | null |
1nqxbe | Do internally ingested radionuclides tend to accumulate in certain tissues as opposed to others? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, some radionuclides accumulate in certain tissue (based on their chemical properties), and the internal dose models account for this.\n\nThe ICRP internal exposure model is a compartment model, and they assume uniform distribution of a nuclide throughout a *compartment* (not the whole body). \n... | null |
719ycu | Who are Slovenians and what's their history? | [
{
"answer": "Not exactly.\n\nThe Slovenes are a Slavic-speaking ethnic group living primarily on the eastern region of the Dolomite Alps, historically known as the 'Julian Alps'.\n\nSlavic-speakers probably began entering the region in the 7th century, but for almost 100 years did not likely impact the local cu... | null |
w9tpk | Why does semen begin thicker immediately after ejaculation and then later "dissolve" into a much thinner liquid? | [
{
"answer": "Thankfully, Wikipedia has a crystal clear answer for this:\n\n\"During the process of ejaculation, sperm passes through the ejaculatory ducts and mixes with fluids from the seminal vesicles, the prostate, and the bulbourethral glands to form the semen. The seminal vesicles produce a yellowish visco... | null |
djmbmz | what is the point in separating the armed forces into army, navy and air force when they all have their own foot soldiers, planes and ships? | [
{
"answer": "In the US it's largely tradition, other countries may have other reasons like intentionally weakening their military to prevent coups.\n\nThere's also an argument that can be made that having separate branches with specializations allows them to be better at their jobs by focusing on a narrower set... | null |
2ior69 | How were ancient generals educated in the art of war? | [
{
"answer": "I don't know enough to give you an informed answer however I would recommend you narrow down your question to a specific country (or at least region) and include some sort of time period you're interested in.\n\nYou have a really interesting question, I just feel you should be a bit more specific."... | null |
1djawn | Is it realistic to say that nothing in the universe exists that is at a completely stopped state? | [
{
"answer": " > Since the planets are all moving, and galaxies are all moving away from each other, that would mean that everything is in some sort of motion at all time?\n\nDepends on your reference frame. All motion is relative.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{... | null |
6zum2y | i understand 4th dimensional space. but what exactly is 5th dimensional space? does it exist outside time and space? | [
{
"answer": "The universe, as far as we can tell, has 3 dimensions of space and 1 of time. If there were 4 dimensions of space instead, everything would be the same except there would be another independent direction to move in besides up/down, left/right, and forward/backward. That's all dimensions are: direct... | null |
2no0tl | Ancient Egypt | [
{
"answer": "Not to discourage further comments, but take a look at the [Ancient Egypt section of the AskHistorians book list](_URL_0_). Some of those ought to provide good information for you.\n\nI'll leave the question of \"covering up\" things to someone with more knowledge of the topic.",
"provenance": ... | null |
24o92d | How did a Holy Roman Emperor differ from the kings of England or France? | [
{
"answer": "The organization and hierarchy of the Empire were complicated to say the least. It wasn't a Kingdom in the true meaning of the word, like France or England for example. It had some republican characteristics, but it wasn't a republic either. \n\nIn the Empire, there were thousands of settlements: v... | null |
24f7tr | why does my phone's battery drain so much faster when it's hot? | [
{
"answer": "Lithium-ion batteries perform well at elevated temperatures; however, prolonged exposure to heat reduces longevity. You've probably shortened your battery's life permanently through excessive exposure to heat. Time to get a new one.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provena... | null |
159hbu | Road Salt and road longevity | [
{
"answer": "Road salt increases the number of freeze/thaw cycles that you mentioned, which in turn causes faster deterioration. I would also think that the chloride ion in salt could cause corrosion in bridges reinforced with steel.\n\nEdit: [Gotta have sources](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
6mf9ro | why are governments often referred to by their country's capital in news articles? | [
{
"answer": "Because there are not enough government names. \"The Prime Minister said ...\" could be any of dozens of people. Using their given name sounds like they are just an opinionated person, it doesn't carry the prestige of their office. Name plus title takes too many letters for headlines or intro ta... | null |
k5dgd | Why does reading often trigger yawning? | [
{
"answer": "Are you lying in bed?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "In a similar vein I was wondering if reading causes you to become tired. I'm fine until I start reading , then I am usually progressively getting more tired.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Are you lying in bed?... | null |
6p1xja | Why is there so little French influence except for names of places in the American Midwest unlike in Quebec? | [
{
"answer": "France didn't establish many major trading posts or cities in the Midwest, so cultural influences didn't stay strongly tied to the land. Look at this map:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nThere aren't any significant French settlements in the Midwest, but in the Louisiana area we see New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Mob... | null |
4kkygu | why haven't avocados been bred to have tiny pits? | [
{
"answer": "You can't just \"breed\" things arbitrarily to have whatver quality you want. You have to find one that naturally mutated that feature, then breed that plant. For example, no one bred seeds out of grapes. They found a grape vine that mutated to grow no seeds, then they grafted that vine over and ov... | null |
z3ffe | is it better to put your computer on standby, hibernate or turn it off after every session? | [
{
"answer": "Depends on your criteria for \"better.\" \n\nLess power used would mean hibernate or powered down. Faster startup would mean standby.\n\nGenerally most modern operating systems don't require frequent rebooting, but if yours is older it may make sense to power down as this would combine rebooting wi... | null |
f0qp4x | why do some playstation one game discs have a blue coloring while others are black? | [
{
"answer": "They just look cooler and made it easier to identify counterfeits. I very much doubt the PS2 can identify disc color.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I don't remember those being blue, but some ps2 ones were. IIRC it was the earlier discs [before they were proper DVDs that were blu... | null |
2qoa3h | what did de blasio say to piss of the cops that they turned their back on him? | [
{
"answer": "He said something mildly critical after the cops tackled and choked an unarmed fat black man to death for selling black market cigarettes.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "18946874",
"title": "Jose Luis Nazario Jr.",
... | null |
4h91wi | If I were to analyse the DNA of a newborn baby, and then wait 80 years before analysing that person's DNA once more, how genetically dissimilar might I expect the two samples to be? | [
{
"answer": "Not an expert, but I remember an interesting fact about cells from a fetus becoming integrated into the body of the mother. If I remember correctly even neurons were identified throughout the body that were genetically identical to the mother and not the child. This makes a woman increasingly chime... | null |
2sl34f | how, when, and why did it seem everyone decided white was the go to color for toilets? | [
{
"answer": "Toilets are generally ceramic, and ceramic is white unless it's dyed some other. Dyeing ceramic is expensive, so a non-white toilet will be more expensive and is therefore more likely to be found in homes than public bathrooms.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Most waste is easy to... | null |
230gft | what would happen if i soaked my body in a tub of vodka? | [
{
"answer": "You would likely absorb enough to kill yourself. But before that happened, you would get drunk and sparkly clean.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "And if you want to get right fucked, open your eyes under~~water~~vodka",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You can absorb ... | null |
9ayc01 | what makes us emotionaly numb when we are depressed? | [
{
"answer": "Emotional numbness is one of the key markers in the first step of diagnosing things like major depression, but also PTSD and depersonalization disorders and they sometimes have different causes. \nWith depression, it's often heavily influenced by the imbalance of chemicals in your body and brain li... | null |
4glu9z | What is the best place to find primary documents about New France? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not sure what kind of sources you're looking for, but you can start with books on whatever topic you're interested in and check their footnotes. One particularly good book I've read is Bonds of Alliance, by Brett Rushforth",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": ... | null |
wfe9z | why pug's tails curl. | [
{
"answer": "Some say humans bred them that way because we liked it and it has no other purpose.\n\nOthers say it's because pugs are short so we bred them to have curly tails so that it wont drag on the ground. This makes sense because animals tails are a part of their spine so you'd want to keep that out of da... | null |
46pxv7 | why is it that the larger dominoes fall slower? | [
{
"answer": "The bigger something is, the more inertia it has. That is to say, the harder it is to get it to stop doing one thing and start doing another.\n\nIn this case it would be stopping it from just sitting there and making it fall over.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The bigger somethin... | null |
29ayra | why does some cheese cost so much more than others when they all seem be made of milk & bacteria and are made the same way? | [
{
"answer": "Many time and resource consuming factors can go into making a cheese, and ultimately the price of a cheese. For example, some cheeses are aged, meaning they must be stored and preserved and therefore cannot be produced as quickly, meaning a more expensive cheese in the supermarket. Some cheaper che... | null |
7btsyf | To what extent could the Cold War be attributed to the transition from Roosevelt to Truman? | [
{
"answer": "This is one of those questions that has consumed historians pretty much since the Cold War began. This is a fierce historiographical debate on top of a complicated factual question, but I'll try and lay out the various positions.\n\nRoosevelt is pretty famous for having been extremely controlling i... | null |
4si9xa | how do the algorithms work that convert audio to a faster speed without changing pitch? | [
{
"answer": "Imagine you have a tape of someone playing a song on a piano. If you play the tape fast, the pitches are all higher, which you don't want.\n\nBut since you're a really excellent musician yourself, instead, you listen to the notes and write sheet music for the song, then you play it yourself on a p... | null |
787n5t | why do you see a normal picture after looking at a negative picture and then at a white background? | [
{
"answer": "Your retina has light sensitive pigments. When light strikes them it causes a chemical reaction. The pigment is saying \"I have been struck by a beam of light to which I am sensitive. I am bent out of shape.\" Its nerve sends the signal to the brain. I takes a while for the pigment to bend back int... | null |
jn7qg | the casimir effect | [
{
"answer": "I'm a grad student working with the Casimir force right now. I'll admit, my theoretical knowledge isn't complete, but I'll give the best explanation I can. \n\nSo at a really, really small level, light is popping into existence and then going right back into nothing. It's doing this all around you... | null |
fruovo | Why was cannabis, a drug used for thousands of years in the Middle East, banned by Western nations in the 1800s even though they found little to no harmful effects? Was there an element of xenophobia? | [
{
"answer": "There's always more to say on the subject, but [here's a previous thread](_URL_0_) with an answer from u/Roggenroll that may be helpful. Basically, it was almost entirely due to xenophobia, with very little consideration given to the drug's actual (non-exaggerated) effects.",
"provenance": null... | null |
106dmv | Is there any physical limit to the Periodic Table? Or could we theoretically just keep fusing elements together to make heavier ones? | [
{
"answer": "It's 3:00am here and I have no idea why I'm still up, but here is something that might help answer your question. I'm too tired to try to explain it though... _URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": " > \"My basic understanding is that heavier elements are typically made when 2+ lig... | null |
3rrpe3 | AskHistorians Podcast 049 - Shaft Tombs of West Mexico | [
{
"answer": "FYI, some follow-up discussion in this thread\n\n* [What Age were the Native Americans in?](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "/u/mictlantecuhtli, listening back, the voladores goal of 13 rotations made me think of the 13 level *topan* of Nahua cosmology. Any chance there cou... | null |
1jf7ri | why is there the colours in vertical stripes on when you put in an old vcr tape? | [
{
"answer": "It is a color test that the consumer can use to adjust the color saturation on their television. It was produced by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and is refereed to as the SMPTE color bars",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
1ddnvd | How Did British People of the Early 18th Century View Americans? | [
{
"answer": "The Parliamentary Records page has some archives if you don't mind digging a bit. I know I've seen some linked here on speeches specifically about the nascent American government given on the floor of Parliament during and after the American Revolutionary War but I am having problems searching on ... | null |
92iz58 | How can receipt paper be able to leave a "pencil like mark" when you score it with your nail? | [
{
"answer": "A lot of receipt printers use thermal paper, which show marks with heat. The heat from friction between your nail and the paper could be doing it. Try putting a lighter near the receipt sometime—if it’s using thermal paper, it will leave a mark from the heat. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
18nb5t | the movie primer (spoilers) | [
{
"answer": "Everything after your #1 is pretty far off the mark.\n\nThey didn't make money from sports betting. They made money from the stock market. Every afternoon they checked the closing prices of different stocks and looked for one that gained a lot of value over the day, but that traded in very large vo... | null |
2ed1o4 | What was the first, real city? | [
{
"answer": "Because we are always unearthing new ancient findings, this answer changes over time. Currently, however, the city of Jiroft, uncovered in 2001 in modern day Iran, is currently considered by many the oldest city and the first civilization. It was a radical shift and the beginning of civilization. P... | null |
8f5g4y | is there a good reason why we need to wear socks with shoes? | [
{
"answer": "Reduce friction. Absorb sweat. Keep insides of shoes cleaner, fresher. Adjust fit of loose shoes.\n\nI've searched tha seven seas fer an answer. Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained:\n\n1. [ELI5: why do we wear socks with closed shoes? ](_URL_0_) ^(_5 comments_)\n1. [ELI5: Why... | null |
bnomux | Was the moon landing ever (implicitly or explicitly) set as a "win condition" for the space race? | [
{
"answer": "Modified from an [earlier answer of mine](_URL_0_)\n\nAs popular as the narrative of the \"race to the moon\" is in popular culture and discourse, both the Soviet and US leadership balked at the escalating costs and dubious rewards from manned spaceflight.\n\nThe Eisenhower administration was cool ... | null |
bs5yv1 | What's up with the Hubble constant disparity and changing universe age (as 12.5b years)? | [
{
"answer": "This is a really important question, but we don't really know what the reason is yet. The most we can say about it is that the disparity is between measurements of the Hubble constant in the *early* universe (from Planck measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background) and the relatively late unive... | null |
60pa6z | what scientifically stops us from creating life? | [
{
"answer": "We can't put them together from scratch yet. Close, but not quite. \n\nAlso, life is a dangerous thing...there's the \"wipe out all other life on Earth\" possibility to deal with.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "We've replaced the genetic material in simple cells with a synthetic... | null |
9gl8uc | how did people subsist on mostly grains in the past? iow, why did a failed wheat harvest cause a famine? | [
{
"answer": "Grain-based foods like bread or rice are pretty much the most efficient calorie delivery mechanism available. Today we think about watching what we eat and trying not to get fat, but in those days the main concern was not starving to death. Bread was cheap, really cheap, and since the vast majority... | null |
3ca742 | With the use of lightning rods, would it be possible to store/utilize the power of lightning? | [
{
"answer": "It could be possible, but it's not practical. The problem would be that all that electricity comes in at such a high power over such a short amount of time, and the respective technology that would receive this (the conductors and the battery itself) is just not ready for this. Another problem woul... | null |
8e513b | why does one get paranoid at times? in other words, are there receptors for paranoia in the body? | [
{
"answer": "The endocrine system regulates your flight or fight response, releasing various chemicals that attach to your receptors and make you feel scared.\n\nParanoia is a reaction to fear, such as is anger.\nIf there is no immediate threat, your brain is going to rationalize your fear.\n\nIt's why we get p... | null |
2qmze2 | Why was Romania the only Communist Country not to cut ties with Israel? | [
{
"answer": "It seems hard to believe now, especially after Ceausescu clung by his fingernails to power while the rest of Eastern Europe turned away from Communism, but during the seventies and eighties he had a reputation as something of a pro-Western (or at least not stridently anti-Western) \"reformer\" who ... | null |
6kbhfu | how is netflix cheaper than cable without ads while cable has them? shouldn't it be the other way around ? | [
{
"answer": "Netflix is about the same price per month as a premium cable station like HBO or Showtime. So, I am not sure why you think it's substantially cheaper.\n\nIf you are comparing Netflix to cable service as a whole, remember that the cable bill includes getting the content to your house. Netflix doesn'... | null |
f97aop | why can't engineers remove the violent left/right movement and shakes of trains better? | [
{
"answer": "The technology exists, but it's too expensive so most manufacturers don't bother because rail companies won't buy it.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The simple fix is to stagger the rails instead of them being like ========= they should be like \"-\"- (where the quotes are offset ... | null |
1q5pa4 | What percentage of our urine is water? Why do we not hold/process more water and then simply pee thicker urine? | [
{
"answer": "Your body only absorbs the water it needs, and then uses the rest to get rid of certain waste products (the stuff that makes urine yellow).\n\nIf you drink a lot of water, a lot will come out in urine, and you will have clear urine. If you don't drink enough water, your urine will get thicker.\n\n... | null |
ats1fd | Why is bleach so effective both at removing stains and at sanitizing? Is it the same chemical property that is responsible for both functions? | [
{
"answer": "Yes.\n\nBleach is an oxidizing agent. When it reacts with coloured material in your clothes, it oxidizes it into a colourless form. When it reacts with molecules on the outer surface of bacterial and viral cells, it oxidizes them into non-functional and / or degraded forms, which kills the cells.",... | null |
16nk8u | frost at above-freezing temperatures | [
{
"answer": "You (or the weatherman) are measuring the temperature of the air. You should try taking the temperature of the car. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "2309094",
"title": "Puerto Iguazú",
"section": "Section:::... | null |
axhzsk | I’m trying to better understand Marcus Crassus’ portfolio. What does it mean to be an ancient billionaire? How did he spend his money, and where did his wealth go when he died? | [
{
"answer": "Two authors estimate Crassus' wealth. According to Plutarch, he assessed his own property at 7,200 talents of gold. Pliny the Elder tells us that he possessed the equivalent of 200,000,000 sesterces. Attempts to calculate the modern equivalents of these amounts are [usually based on bullion value](... | null |
36ulru | If solar cells were 100% efficient how much land mass would it take to support the world's current power production? How about the projected power production of 2050? | [
{
"answer": "According to [Wikipedia](_URL_0_) the solar intensity on the Earth's surface is about 1400 W/m^2. According to [Wikipedia](_URL_1_) the amount of energy generated in 2012 was 22,668 TWh. Assuming that half of the world is getting 1400 W/m^2 of intensity and the other half is getting 0 you would nee... | null |
facwht | Are quantum mechanics interpretations falsifiable? | [
{
"answer": "Overall they give the same predictions for the same obsevables. However, they arrive at the answer in slightly different ways. There are tests of locality and “hidden variables” that could hypothetically predict these, but by tests of Bell’s inequality, we know that if hidden variables exist, they ... | null |
1j5w25 | how close are we to build engines capable of travelling at roughly the speed of light? | [
{
"answer": " > How close are we to build engines capable of travelling at roughly the speed of light?\n\nNot even remotely close.\n\n > I often hear about how we some day will be able to travel at the speed of light.\n\nIf our current understanding of physics is correct we will never be able to travel at or fa... | null |
bi00fk | why does tapping wood and tapping metal produce different sounds? | [
{
"answer": "you know when you put a ruler on the edge of a table and push it down and let it go and it makes that woioioioinggggg sound? And if you vary the length of it off the table, the sound changes and the speed at which the end of the ruler goes up and back down changes? This is the natural frequency of ... | null |
21k4xl | How did Gregorian chant develop? What musical traditions does it descend from? | [
{
"answer": "This is a very difficult question to answer. \n\nAsking about music before the so called Gregorian chant gets you to deal with oral traditions from many centuries ago (the earliest notations we have would be from the 9-10th century). Gregorian chant had to be REVIVED in the 20th century, after abou... | null |
13we85 | why does my hair stand up every which way when i wake up? | [
{
"answer": "I can best explain this by having you pretend you've parted your hair. When you part your hair, you're training it to prefer to stay in one way or another. When you have short hair, or cowlicks as some people call them, you've slept on your hair so that it sticks up at an angle and you've trained i... | null |
5cuxt4 | why does all mainstream virus protection software mcafee kasperky norton etc all take 1 hour+ yet malware bytes take 5 mins and actually find the problem? | [
{
"answer": "This is because they have wildly different use cases.\n\nFirst off, don't be fooled by terminology. Just because a software is called \"Antivirus\", it doesn't mean it will only protect you from viruses, which is only a subset of threats out there. This is just a traditional term for anti-malware s... | null |
3mo4wc | the newest change in facebook privacy settings. do they actually use my info/pictures/messages? can they actually make my account public? | [
{
"answer": "This might be what you're talking about, and may help you. I'm not sure without more detail though. _URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "No those stupid posts about \"facebook cannot use my information blah blah blah\" do. not. work.\n\nThey fail to realise that when they signed... | null |
1q9u38 | So you are a red blood cell of an average human. How long does it take to visit every part of the human body? | [
{
"answer": "It'd depend on what you define as \"every part\". Your entire blood supply passes through the heart roughly once a minute, although where each cell goes is pure chance.\n\n They \"live\" for about 120 days, which is more than enough time to reach every major organ and all the major vessels. But, ev... | null |
4bezza | Can genes be partially-methylated? | [
{
"answer": "Yes genes can be partially methylated, it's a sliding scale from 0-100% methylation and can be calculated several ways depending on what you're interested in. A single gene in a single cell will have many cytosines. While an individual cytosine is either methylated or not (ignoring for now that m... | null |
5iw5bq | How did the mycaneans (and their ancestors) know about lions? | [
{
"answer": "Lions were fairly common in southeastern Europe as of the time of Herodotus. We are told that Xerxes encountered a few during his attempted invasion of Greece. They were driven extinct around 100 BC. It's believed that European lions were similar to the Asiatic lions present in the Middle East.",
... | null |
7wfkk5 | why does heartburn at night cause nightmares and a racing heart? | [
{
"answer": "I'm no Dr but I am a chronic sufferer of acid reflux, especially at night. I have never experienced this. It may be psychosomatic. I used to experience muscle spasms and stinging feelings in my back as a child and they were always accompanied by dreams of bee stings. I've experienced these feelings... | null |
3ld6ki | Why is the the Fibonacci sequence shown in bubble chambers all the time? | [
{
"answer": "If by bubble chambers you mean the [Fibonacci spiral](_URL_0_) then it's just an interesting mathematical play on the sequence. If you start with one square whose side we consider to be equal to 1 (the unit of measurement is irrelevant) and then proceed to attach sqares to the side of the shape in ... | null |
1rldgl | how do doctors/paramedics know what's wrong with a person if they're unconscious? | [
{
"answer": "By examining the patient for the more common causes of being unconscious. Typically when in an accident it's not going to be totally unexpected that they took a bump to the head if they're unconscious and in most cases unconsciousness doesn't last very long. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
1o5i6y | what is tommy john surgery, and why do so many baseball players have it? | [
{
"answer": "Tommy John Surgery, known in medical practice as ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction, is a surgical graft procedure in which the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body.\n\nThe patient's arm is opened up around the elbow. Holes t... | null |
4f2sep | How strong a gravity could humans adapt to? | [
{
"answer": "We don't know. We have no to limited data on the effects of long term exposure to different gravity than g.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "[Rats in a centrifuge](_URL_1_) develop denser bones and stronger muscles and are mostly fine at 2-3 g. They have [some difficulties getting p... | null |
65idxr | Protestant teaching under Luther's Two Kingdoms suggests that church and state should be separated. So why did the English monarch become the head of the Church of England? | [
{
"answer": "Hey there! While I'm in no way an expert in this area, I was researching it recently and hope to provide even just a little insight!\n\nFrom what I understand, a key element of the English Reformation is just that - it was an English Reformation, relatively separate from the German debates occurrin... | null |
mei7e | why do us universities favor professors who are better at research than teaching? | [
{
"answer": "Guess which one makes them more money, and gains better publicity, which brings more students.... and more money.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I'd just like to point out this phenomenon isn't US specific. It happens here in Finland even though we're said to have some of the bes... | null |
462xjo | how can ed sheeran's song "thinking out loud" win song of the year at the grammys when it wasn't released in 2015? | [
{
"answer": "\"Uptown Funk\" was also released in 2014. Grammy nominations do not run the calendar year. For a song/artist/album, etc. to qualify for a Grammy for 2015, presented in 2016, it must be released between Oct. 1, 2014 and Sept. 30, 2015.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "[This thread](... | null |
2499zu | why do auctioneers still use "auction chants"? | [
{
"answer": "3 reasons:\n\n1. because most auctions are small events that are fairly bare bone affairs. an auction company comes in, sells a bunch of stuff, gets a commission, and leaves. usually there isn't any extra room or time to deal with flashy items.\n\n2. if the auctioneer has a ringman (or ringmen at l... | null |
3tjybt | if the middle east is seemingly so rich with oil, why is there so much poverty and civil unrest? | [
{
"answer": "Because the governments of most Middle Eastern states are totalitarian and embezzle all that money away into Swiss bank accounts long before it ever reaches the people. In the case of Saudi Arabia and Iran they then use the money in those accounts to fund and export their particular flavor of insan... | null |
8x2eln | why does putting a band-aid on a minor wound cause it to hurt slightly less, even if it’s not open and bleeding? | [
{
"answer": "It stops the skin stretching die to the numerous microtears in the skin created the resulting wound. You may not be able to see it but the skin becomes more stretchy and delicate as a result of this. By having a bandaid you keep the wound in place and stop friction and movement which are things whi... | null |
4asbu8 | Was the Carolingian Empire related to the Holy Roman Empire? | [
{
"answer": "The Carolingian Empire and the Holy Roman Empire are directly related.\n\nThe Carolingian Empire was started by Charlemagne, who descendants then split his territories into several smaller kingdoms but predominantly West and East Francia. West Francia is the forerunner of what we call France, while... | null |
1j2gkn | Any interesting or remarkable tales of WWII Italian fighting skill or courage? | [
{
"answer": "There were many instances of not only stubbornly fought military actions, but also successful engagements by Italian forces in WW2. I should first establish the strong military tradition that surrounds the young Italian nation. When she was formed, there are several elite branches that serve differ... | null |
1ur5jd | does stretching after a workout really do anything regarding muscle soreness the next day? | [
{
"answer": "It also elongates the muscle.\n\n\n\"A long muscle is a strong muscle\"- Arnold szwahshdjHahshdjshshsjhaahhancjaager",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Oh and since you were talking about DOMS, no, stretching doesn't help that. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Absolut... | null |
5f6ady | Why'd it take so long to beat the Confederacy? | [
{
"answer": "This is a bit late, but it was sitting in my upvote folder, and now i have free time!\n\nA lot of reasons, on the operational, strategic, and grand strategic levels. In the broadest sense, the rate of Union advance was limited by the size of the area they had to occupy, and it took time for the Un... | null |
76n7at | On the declining popularity of "virtue" | [
{
"answer": "Alasdair MacIntyre's 'After Virtue' tackles exactly this question. I'm not sure to what extent he admissible in the sub as a source, seeing that he's a philosopher, and the book is one of philosophy, but he does employ a specifically historico-philosophical method. He outlines this point in the boo... | null |
1cwgx7 | Why did the javelin, once prevalent in the ancient world, disappeared from the battlefield during the medieval era ? | [
{
"answer": "First off- the javelin was actually used up into the 1800's by tribes in Africa. The Zulu were probably some of the best known warriors who used spears (including javelins) up until they were finally crushed by the British. \n\nI THINK I see your point though - you're speaking of the Javelin losing... | null |
deijxk | Old unidentified Japanese object | [
{
"answer": "It’s nothing I or my (Japanese) family have seen before. It’s most likely to be part of something, eg a netsuke.\n\nThe Ikeda crest isn’t a big deal, I’m afraid, because that symbol is used just as a pretty symbol on clothes and accessories.\n\nIs it wood with no space inside, right?",
"provena... | null |
c0xwge | do insects have the same sort of internal organs as us? | [
{
"answer": "No, they do not. They have analogous systems, but they can vary wildly in function. For example, the respiratory system of most insects is trachea, not lungs; they do not have a pump that hauls air to and fro, they absorb oxygen by diffusion.\n\nOnly vertebrates have truly the same organs as us, be... | null |
5z738o | how does flint, mi still not have clean water? | [
{
"answer": "It's slowly improving. Water sources aren't exactly easy to clean up once they're contaminated, and replacing the lead pipes takes time (they've officially got another 2 years to complete the project).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "For the same reason it got lead in it in the fir... | null |
fn2lst | how does gene diversity develop if we all came from common ancestors? | [
{
"answer": "Mutations. Genes change. Your genes aren't exactly duplicated from your parents. The differences are slight, but given many generations they really do build up.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Just to add onto the other answers, a slight mutation rate is actually built into us. It'... | null |
2yk4m7 | how does " save game " and "load / continue " work? | [
{
"answer": "Short Explanation: The game runs a chunk of code which pulls a bunch of data currently stored in the computers RAM, (it's storage space for the memory it's currently dealing with) and records it to a hard drive for permanent storage.\n\nDetails: The reason it doesn't always act the same is that it ... | null |
ea45ts | if you were to breathe in extremely humid air, for long periods of time, would you eventually ‘drown’? | [
{
"answer": "You could potentially, if your lungs were colder than the ambient temperature, which would allow the water vapor to condense down back into a liquid form rapidly enough to prevent the lungs from expelling them through normal processes. It could also occur under different atmospheric pressures than ... | null |
168w2k | Considering how long humans have been in control of fire (somewhere between 120k and 400k years ago) do we have different/better burn response/recovery than other animals? | [
{
"answer": "You're assuming that a person would be more \"fit\" from being more physically resistant to fire-related injuries. I don't see such a trait being extremely useful since it's not as if fire was literally raining from the sky at any point (at least any of our own making). One would think that even a ... | null |
4bdnrx | why do millionaires only have a small percentage of their wealth in cash or liquid assets? | [
{
"answer": "Cash and liquid assets don't make you any money. If you invest your wealth, it can make you more money, but it's not in a form that you can immediately spend.\n\nI wouldn't have a million in cash on hand unless I had an immediate need to spend a million dollars on something.",
"provenance": nul... | null |
bnnfig | When did Medical Gloves become a common practice for all Pre-Hospital/Hospital workers? | [
{
"answer": "No one quite knows who first introduced rubber gloves into surgery. Galvanized rubber and subsequently gloves were developed in the middle of the 19th century. In surgery, this was the time of Lister, Koch, and Pasteur (that is, the acceptable of sterilization, then germ theory). As such, by the 1... | null |
2mpa9g | why are retainers needed after braces? | [
{
"answer": "It's because your gums are no longer as resilient as they were before. You move all your teeth by pushing and pulling them where you want them, the gums lose their strength slightly.\nImagine pouring concrete, you need a frame to pour it into, until it hardens, so it'll maintain shape on it's own."... | null |
2ljfgh | dreaming for people who were born blind. | [
{
"answer": "I have always wondered about not only dreaming, but visualizations in general for those who are born blind. Can anyone shed some light on this(omg terrible play on words but I'm keeping it)? When they picture an object can they spatially picture it in their head through experience through touch? \n... | null |
47tsib | why is satanism commonly connected to occultism? | [
{
"answer": "Theres a huge difference between the different types of satanism. \n\nThere's LeVeyan satanism which is the stuff you hear about a lot. The 11 rules are a part of that. [here](_URL_0_) is a lot more about them, they less literally worship satan and more base around the golden rule philosophy. LeVey... | null |
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