id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
9al734 | how does an electric current produce a magnetic field? | [
{
"answer": "The short super unsatisfactory answer is that it just does.\n\nThe longer answer is that what we define as a charge is actually a disturbance in the electric field, which is part of the electromagnetic field. A moving charge creates a disturbance in both the electric and magnetic field. The two phe... | null |
9o50u7 | how exactly does carbon-14 dating work? would it work on diamonds (which were once organic matter, i think), or are they just too old? | [
{
"answer": "Carbon-14 dating is primarily for dating formerly living things. Carbon 14 is made in the atmosphere so its absorbed by living things through respiration. It maintains its levels while the thing is alive. When it dies the respiration stops replenishing the carbon so it starts to decay away since ca... | null |
ezocfs | why do appliance's volumes (eg. tv, radio) use an arbitrary 1 to x value instead of basing the value on decibels? | [
{
"answer": "High-end stereos for audiophiles, or studio monitors, typically do use decibels.\n\nThe problem with decibels is that either you'd have relative loudness - where 0 is the maximum and anything softer is a negative number - or you'd have absolute loudness, in which case headphones would only go up to... | null |
43hrlg | what is all this controversy with thefinebros about? | [
{
"answer": "Search before submitting ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "14082953",
"title": "Lexulous",
"section": "Section::::History.:Lawsuit.\n",
"start_paragraph_id": 17,
"start_character": 0,
"... | null |
7p8o6z | Geographers Diener and Hagen claim that Pacific Northwest tribes had a concept of property similar to modern Americans' - contrasting common claims that Native Americans had no concept of ownership. Where did the idea that Native Americans had no concept of property emerge? | [
{
"answer": "Can you please expand on what Diener and Hagen said?\n\nSpeaking for groups in Washington State (Coast Salish, Quileute, Sahaptin, Chinookan), I'm finding a little hard to see property concepts being that similar to Modern American ones (there's some overlap but the differences are pretty significa... | null |
338naj | are wi-fi and/or bluetooth, signals harmful to our health? | [
{
"answer": "No, it's not true at all. They're completely harmless. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There has been numerous studies, and the concensus is that radio signals in the WiFi and BT bands are not harmful at the levels output by communication devices. ",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
3afaxk | Questions about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis | [
{
"answer": "1) No consensus whatsoever. The Navy's orders to Capt. McVay were to \"zigzag *at (his) discretion*, weather permitting.\" These orders are equivocal, and when the *Indianapolis* was sunk, he was not zigzagging. The prosecution said that McVay should have been zigzagging. However, the commander... | null |
6q24xd | seeing all of these harambe & deez nuts votes in the presidental elections, what would happen if one of them actually got the majority of the votes? | [
{
"answer": "Harambe is not human, and is deceased so does not qualify. All votes to him are void. \n\nDeez Nuts is not the real name of the child, and they are under 35 and so not eligible. All votes to him are also void. \n\nSo the electors for that State would give their vote to the eligible candidate with t... | null |
2b1gcb | why do i find baby animals super cute, but human babies ugly? | [
{
"answer": "Because baby animals are cute and human babies are ugly.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A lot of what makes things cute is the ratio of eye size to facial real estate. Many young animals have a better ratio than humans in this regard. In other words, the animals literally have \"... | null |
3ro4uz | how is it that mars has lost it's atmosphere to solar winds, but earth hasn't | [
{
"answer": "The churning of earth's core creates our magnetosphere which protects us from the solar winds, it's like a shield protecting us from the sun's \"bullets\" (charged particles). The stronger the core churns, the stronger the magnetic field or shield. Mars' core is dead or dying, so it no longer has a... | null |
1eo4vj | What Is The Difference Between Basic Medicines? | [
{
"answer": "don't look at the brand but the ingredients\n\ntylenol is acetominophen an antipyretic and analgesit (decreases pain and fever) \nacetominophen the brand name is irrelevant and many companies including big chains can market their own brand under whatever name they want.\nhow it works is pretty com... | null |
1pdfon | Why does even a laser beam spread out after a long distance? Can't we prevent that via lenses? How does this relate to focusing light that came to us over billions of light years? | [
{
"answer": "Perhaps the easiest explanation as to why we can not make or have divergence-less light comes from the uncertainty relations. Uncertainty in the momentum of light means that we can not make it travel in perfectly straight lines. If a group of rays travel perfectly parallel to each other, this wou... | null |
70unlm | How did Vikings and Lapps deal with gnats and mosquitos? | [
{
"answer": "This doesn't address Scandinavia specifically, but you might be interested in [this earlier answer](_URL_0_) about the *ubiquity* of little itchy things in medieval Europe and how people just had to deal.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Answer from the opposite hemisphere: solution... | null |
eqm5bf | why do lemons sometimes become all green and moldy, while other times they become rock-hard when you forget to eat/use them? | [
{
"answer": "Depends on the environment. It's the same as why some bread will just go hard and stale while other will grow moldy.\n\nA good experiment is getting a new pack of sliced bread and taking the first slice with some gloves on and putting it into a new bag. Then take another slice with bare hands and t... | null |
2jfcwd | Why did the descendants of Proto-Indo-European come to dominate so much of the world? | [
{
"answer": "While welcome here, this might reach more informed audiences at r/askanthropology and r/linguistics",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You can speak an ancient people's language without being their descendant",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": " > PIE descendants are spok... | null |
2wwywy | How do historians distinguish between the Medieval and Renaissance periods in Europe? What are the major signs? | [
{
"answer": "Similar question from 2 weeks ago:\n\n[What ended the Middle Ages?](_URL_0_)",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "25739189",
"title": "Italian philosophy",
"section": "Section::::Renaissance.\n",
"start_pa... | null |
66ioib | If I steep a tea bag in hot water, will it eventually reach equilibrium and stop diffusing flavor and caffeine? | [
{
"answer": "Depends on how much flavoring and caffeine are in the teabag and the solubility of both in the water at your given temperature. \n\nIf the amount of flavoring and caffeine in the teabag is less than the maximum solubility of them in water, all of it will be dissolved into the water. \n\nIf you had ... | null |
r61k2 | Is the universe making us smaller? | [
{
"answer": "The metric expansion of space only happens on the very large scale. On a more local scale, the scale of galaxies and such, gravitational attraction overrides the expansion.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "31880",
"t... | null |
c7re9o | why aren't tv shows that follow criminals, like drug smugglers, forced to hand over footage? | [
{
"answer": "Aren't they \"handing it over\" by publicizing it?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It really depends on the ethics of the filmmaker / journalist. I know in the States we have the Freedom of the Press. This allows Filmmakers and journalists to report on certain topics without persec... | null |
cr9xcq | Italian army during WW2 - what were conscription practices and how possible was it to avoid military service entirely? (Researching for a work of fiction) | [
{
"answer": "How much \"entirely\"? Give him a \"war-priority\" job, or make him a very lucky career officer.\n\n\nIf you can read Italian, then you should probably check [Virgilio Ilari's *Storia del servizio militare in Italia*](_URL_0_).\n\n\nAs a general word of caution though, the idea of avoiding military... | null |
c9u29t | inspired by an earlier post on Germany, wondering how the formation of Germany’s states gave rise to the failed democracy in the Weimar Republic? | [
{
"answer": "The fate of democracy in the Weimar Republic is the source of no small amount of debate within modern German historiography. Certain factors, however, can be generally agreed upon as contributing to the less than robust state of Weimar democracy in the run up to Hitler’s rise to power. Among these,... | null |
k4ag1 | How does hydrogen peroxide make hair a lighter color? | [
{
"answer": "Hydrogen peroxide is unstable, particularly in light, and emits oxygen free radicals. These oxygen free radicals combine with whatever materials they touch - in this case, hair. When they bind to a pigment, they damage the pigment molecule, which tends to produce a lighter color. Melanin is one ... | null |
ohuqa | Does the human body utilize the nitrogen in air? | [
{
"answer": "[Molecular nitrogen](_URL_1_) is too inert to be used in any biochemical processes, and doesn't play a role in human metabolism. \n\nHumans do use nitrogen (in the form of [ammonium](_URL_3_)) in various biosynthetic processes, but that nitrogen is derived from [amino acids](_URL_2_) obtained by br... | null |
16hyy6 | What were some of the long term effects of the 1953 Iranian Coup? | [
{
"answer": "These things are slippery of course. But there seems to be a pretty good argument for two major long term effects: \n\n1. Short term: restoration of the shah as the center of power in Iran. At the time of the coup he was essentially in hiding, not from any major threat to his life, but from his re... | null |
flt6z | is time standing still at the speed of light? | [
{
"answer": "this is kind of breaking my brain. so a photon at the speed of light (and time standing still) can travel EVERYWHERE and back again in the universe in no time at all? \n\nuniverse\ny u no easy to understand",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"w... | null |
4sjztk | how long does a fly have to spend on your food before it has done anything that may pose any sort of health risk? | [
{
"answer": "The length of time he's on food has little to do with it. What matters is what is on the fly, and if it gets on the food. There really is no way to predict it. A fly walks around on shit a lot and can potentially carry things like salmonella and e-coli. In general, the risk of a single fly land... | null |
13jwkz | How fast does something have to spin before it looks like a blur? | [
{
"answer": "Your eyes can't detect any changes that happen under 10 milliseconds. Did you know the digits on your alarm clock aren't on all at the same time? They rotate every few milliseconds to save on power consumption / prolong life.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [... | null |
54kfr1 | My teacher says that the 1800 election was the first time in world history that power was peacefully transferred between parties. It seems too general to be true. Is he right? | [
{
"answer": "This seems to me like the kind of claim that can only be supported with a ton of goalpost moving on the terms of \"peace,\" \"transfer,\" and \"party\" against counter-examples. \n\nEG 1 In 1714 the Throne of England was transferred from the House of Stuart to the House of Hanover. I would call th... | null |
1hhamx | Can you use embryonic stem cells to change someone's sex? | [
{
"answer": "In terms of a female to male transgender your looking to create a penis and testes. This probably shouldn't be *too* hard as you would need to generate a proto-phallus and target it with the correct hormonal sequence to trigger its development. That should fill out the requisite blood vessel and ne... | null |
2yn2o5 | If photons travel along waves with varying frequencies, but these waves all traverse distance at the same speed (c), then are the photons in higher frequency waves, which would be longer, traveling faster? | [
{
"answer": "Both photons travel in straight lines.\n\nThe wave is not the path that the photon takes. The wave is a representation of the electromagnetic field associated with that photon.\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Photons of higher energy do have bigger momentum but for photons it do... | null |
fyjint | where did the idea of bears being cuddly and lovable and the idea of teddy bears in pop culture come from l, and why did we pick a animal that's a killing machine to give this image to? | [
{
"answer": "The \"Teddy Bear\" was created after Teddy Roosevelt went on a bear hunt that went nowhere. Trappers brought him a caged bear as a trophy instead, but Ted said that was too unsportsmanlike (although the injured bear was put down anyway).\n\nThe story spread and novelty stuffed bears became popular... | null |
lyz5w | When an animal dies, what causes the individual cells to die out? | [
{
"answer": "The cells in a multi cellular organism are kind of like people living in a community. Different people (cells) have specialised roles, like a farmer, who's role is to produce food, or a doctor who keeps people healthy.\n\nWith out all the roles being performed, people in the community would start t... | null |
13ag0f | Are there any more effective methods than helmets to reduce the risk of brain injuries? | [
{
"answer": "This is a major problem in NFL football these days, but as long as there is contact to the head there is a risk of injury. There is an idea floating around that removing helmets altogether would increase safety via a lack of security (knowing you'll be at risk) but I don't think anyone will go for ... | null |
5bag4q | how come when a neutron star spins incredibly fast, it creates radio jets and becomes a pulsar? | [
{
"answer": "Every neutron star spins rapidly and produces radio jets. This is because as the star gets compacted down it has to maintain its angular momentum, the same way a dancer brings their arms in to spin faster. The radio jets come from the fact that you have a lot of mass spinning very very fast, which ... | null |
6to388 | why do other countries (outside of the us) have little or no commercial breaks on tv? | [
{
"answer": "You may want to be more specific as many countries have just as many commercials on TV as the US does.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Turkey has 2 hour long shows with 1 hour advertisement. They usually take 7 to 10 minute breaks every 15 minutes. ",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
4zarur | why does mold grow slower in colder temperatures? | [
{
"answer": "Life is just chemical reactions. Chemical reactions either produce heat, or take heat from their surroundings.\n\nThe act of reproduction is lots and lots of chemical reactions, some of which need heat from the surrounding environment. If there's less heat in the environment (it's colder), those re... | null |
34z70t | what functions do d3 and 2 have in automatic cars and what situations should i be using them? | [
{
"answer": "Those are your \"low gears\". They're good for climbing steep grades, towing, and you can also use them as an \"engine brake\" when you're going down a steep hill so you don't have to hit your brakes as much and wear them out. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance":... | null |
1127is | Is a "runner's high" a minor form of Hypoxia? | [
{
"answer": "Runner's high is caused by the release of endorphins caused by the strain of using your muscles for a prolonged time. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "189037",
"title": "Exercise",
"section": "Section::::Heal... | null |
b2meuh | how cold does it have to be for food not to spoil? | [
{
"answer": "All living organisms have a certain temperature range in which they function best. The reason why we refrigerate out foods is because all the most common contaminates have this range around 20-40C. So while the lowered temperature does not completely prevent growth, it greatly reduces it.\n\nWhen y... | null |
cus1xe | Philippines during Latin American Wars of Independence | [
{
"answer": "I think this is a good opportunity to point out a major issue with historiography of the Philippines. That is, when people talk about Philippine independence they are doing so through the lens of mainly the Tagalog people, and to a lesser extent some other groups such as Bisayans. This naarative is... | null |
36bqcf | - how were roads built and paved before large machines were invented? | [
{
"answer": "Mostly by hand. They'd have [lots of people](_URL_1_) involved, though. Sometimes crews of hundreds or even thousands. \n\nEven today, with all the large machines, there are inaccessible places or places where there's no financial incentive or other means to pay for it where they have to do it by h... | null |
1bzg4d | How accountable was the average member of Nazi German groups such as the Einsanzgruppen and the Reserve Police Battalion for the Holocaust? | [
{
"answer": "In an academic sense, there are three categories to place those responsible for the Holocaust: perpetrators, collaborators and bystanders. (_URL_0_ - just one academic example, but Google searches for \"Perpetrators collaborators bystanders\" will bring Holocaust studies to the top; 'rescuers' are ... | null |
6nvn4u | does celibacy contribute to increased proficiency and productivity? | [
{
"answer": "ELI5 rules dictate that I can't just reply with \"no\" but if I could, I would. Yes, there were some notoriously brilliant people who were celibate, but there are millions of people out there in the world right now who are celibate (either by choice, or because nobody will have sex with them) with ... | null |
su2l1 | How does an advance in telescope technology allow us to look "further back in time" when the speed of light obviously hasn't changed? | [
{
"answer": "Very distant objects (such as the most distant galaxies observed to date, at about 12.7 billion light years away) - are extremely dim (because they are so far away).\n\nThe telescope where I work uses a 27 ft primary mirror (the worlds largest single piece mirror). TMT telescope, which is being co... | null |
81dxx9 | the tariff war in 2002 and how the proposed 25% tariff for steel imports from canada will hurt the us economy | [
{
"answer": "This is argued every day with many viewpoints. This is ELI5. \n\nIf the leaders of a country want their industries to grow they impose tariffs, taxes on imported goods. That helps local companies produce these goods which means locals have jobs. Seems good.\n\nNow imagine taking this further. You w... | null |
317z2z | how does someone live without a gallbladder? does it change how they eat? if so, how? | [
{
"answer": "I live just fine without a gall bladder. I have not changed my diet in the slightest.\n\nA gall bladder allows me to store bile, so that in theory, if I suddenly ate (say) an entire bucket of lard, I would have enough bile ready to digest it.\n\nInstead, I am now relegated to eating that lard in s... | null |
9x3i4b | I was brought up in Texas in the mid-late 90's and during middle school Civil War history we were taught that Robert E. Lee was a well organized masterful tactician, while Grant was a drunk who won more so due to resources and fortunate circumstances. How true is this? | [
{
"answer": "It's hard to overstate just how off-base and factually incorrect this analysis is, at least from the Grant side of things. No offense meant to OP, who seems to have been the victim of what was, for a time, a standard Lost Cause interpretation of Lee and Grant, but this view is patently false. \n\nV... | null |
202w65 | Is it possible for an embryo to continue growing without developing into a fetus? | [
{
"answer": "Theoretically, the cells that form the inner cell mass of the blastocyst could progress through division without initiating the process of differentiation, however, that would result in the spontaneous abortion of the embryo. Basically, even if it did just continue to divide, the embryo would be d... | null |
su5dr | [For everyone] I'm looking for examples of riots that were started for reasons we now find ridiculous... | [
{
"answer": "Be wary. There are likely a multitude of reasons for why an uprising occurs, and a ostensibly trivial matter can be the spark that unleashes a lot of stored outrage.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The riot that took place during premier of [The Rite of Spring](_URL_1_). I think an... | null |
6z95ku | why do we have an easier time sorting things by strings of numbers vs by strings of letters? (ex: t#124567 vs t# asedtz) | [
{
"answer": "The order of numbers is meaningful, 2 comes before 7 for a reason. We are also used to counting up and counting down, which reinforces this order in our minds.\n\nThe order of letters is arbitrary, we could rearrange the alphabet and it wouldn't make much of a difference. There is nothing innate ... | null |
4mz05r | How can people predict when the next eclipse ,years from now, will happen, but can't predict the weather more than a few days from now? | [
{
"answer": "Orbits and whether are both chaotic, so a tiny inaccuracy will grow exponentially until our model is useless. But with orbits, that's a *really* tiny exponent. With weather, things interact quickly. Small errors build up fast. With planets, you can model it almost perfectly as the planetary systems... | null |
83u38z | if dna contains informations about our whole body, why can we not regenerate certain body parts if they gets removed? | [
{
"answer": "IKEA instructions do not equal a finished IKEA cabinet :) similarly, if you build the cabinet you no longer have the materials to build another one, even though you still have the instructions. You need more materials (which, for humans, basically boils down to stem cells). \n\nThis isn’t perfectly... | null |
5m6fmy | The Alaska Purchase in 1867 is often called Seward's Folly, dubbed so by detractors. Did many Russians oppose selling the land? If so, on what grounds? | [
{
"answer": "Followup: How many Russians (or others) actually lived in Alaska at the time of purchase?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Great question. **The principal Russian reaction against the sale was driven by people who had financial interests in the Russian American Company and those who... | null |
3u0p3w | What is the historical consensus on Reagan's presidency | [
{
"answer": "The consensus is still forming. However, Reagan is neither the icon he is portrayed as on the right or the demon of the left. The historical consensus on Reagan's presidency is still developing and is an exceptionally contentious topic, though I think it will ultimately settle on the notion that ... | null |
6ns7j7 | how do ancestry reports work? | [
{
"answer": "Scientists have collected DNA from different ethnic groups all over the world. There are certain markers on DNA or RNA, they can calculate what mutations have occurred and how fast they happen. \n\nMitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell) are only inherited from your mother and have their own sep... | null |
1vx5kr | I'm aware of why so many Irish left their homes in the 19th C, but what about Scandinavians, Germans and Chinese? What made them come to North America in large numbers? | [
{
"answer": "The Chinese came but not as immigrants but more temporary workers. Much like in Singapore the Chinese came to earn enough money to send home to support their families before moving back. In the case of America the Gold Rush and the Railways provided jobs which were attractive to immigrants and so t... | null |
14ff2b | Spanish / Latino Historians: How long did it take for countries (Mexico for example) to comprehensively adopt Español as their national language? | [
{
"answer": "You might want to clarify your use of \"comprehensive.\" You can still find villages in Mexico where every single person speaks Tzotzil or Tzeltal or something, and only one or two speak Spanish.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id... | null |
5jvge0 | how did kings know how much was in their coffers and avoid having it picked at by treasurers? | [
{
"answer": "This is still a problem in the present day. The answer is: you have another, independent person (an auditor) come in and make a separate count. And you warn the treasurer that this is going to happen, again and again, so they'd better not cheat because they'll get caught.\n\nFor a while the Chinese... | null |
6zulb9 | how did the united states first distribute and get people to use the dollar? | [
{
"answer": "Early dollars were silver coins. Minting coins was just creating a standardized amount of silver to simplify using it as a commodity.\n\nMore generally, governments promote the use of their currency by requiring that tax and court-ordered debts be paid in it. If you have to pay your taxes in dollar... | null |
u0pv0 | Saturn V Launched From The Moon; How Fast Would It Go? | [
{
"answer": "By my rough calculations, the three stages of a Saturn V with no payload unencumbered by gravity or air resistance would be able to achieve the following speed relative to their initial velocity: \n5.7 km/s + 5.6 km/s + 10.3 km/s = 21.6 km/s which is 48,000 mph.",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
35sbsg | when and why did universities start inflating their tuition rates so much? | [
{
"answer": "In the U.S. a large part of the rising tuition over the past few decades is universities trying to offer a better \"campus life\" than others. Instead of just offering better academics, schools started competing over who had the best dorms, dining halls, on-campus events like concerts, comedians, e... | null |
1jzqja | the differences between 501c4, 501c3 and llc, and 527. | [
{
"answer": "The ones that start with numbers are tax-exempt organizations under the IRS tax code.\n\n501c4 is for social welfare organizations and employee assosiations.\n\n501c3 is pretty broad and includes religious institutions, charities, educational institutions, amateur sports institutions, animal cruelt... | null |
10167y | what is the common ancestor of birds? | [
{
"answer": "A dromaeosaur theropod definitely seems to be the best fit. Archaopteryx seems to be fairly basal (close to the ancestor of all birds). ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "665030",
"title": "Monarch flycatcher",
... | null |
29w78d | is there a way to get over phobias? | [
{
"answer": "Yes. Usually Exposure therapy. Your body has an irrational fear response. Exposure therapy teaches you how to calm down during that fear response.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Progressive exposure. Get a kid to catch a pillbug in a jar and sit across the room from it. When you'r... | null |
3mkn43 | why do we grab our chest when we are startled? | [
{
"answer": "My guess would be it has something to do with a natural reaction to protect the heart area of your chest. Sort of like an instictive fear response. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I just did a quick google a managed to find a little info that may help\n\nThe responses of people to... | null |
80f2dq | what is a sanctuary city in the usa and what is typical daily life like for illegal immigrants who live there? | [
{
"answer": "A sanctuary cities is one whose local government refuses to help the Federal government in checking to make sure an immigrant is here legally, or retaining someone who is here illegally till the Federal government can take them into custody. The Federal government can still send agents after you, t... | null |
66eash | how do lotteries that reward $1000 a day work? | [
{
"answer": "That really is not that much money in lottery terms. That is $365,000 a year. Over 10 years that is only $3.65 Million, and $14.6 Million over 40 years.\n\n$14.6 million is not that much money in lottery terms. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Basically they just calculate the mone... | null |
yggnh | I just watched Armageddon and it got me thinking, if an apocalyptic-sized asteroid were on a collision course with Earth, does Nasa have any plans in place to destroy it before contact? Or would we actually all be screwed? | [
{
"answer": "You wouldn't want to destroy it, you'd just end up with a big ball of sand coming at you (if it didn't reform), which would impart just as much energy onto earth, just in a different way, and still have catastrophic results. \n\nWhat you want is a [gravity tractor](_URL_0_), which will slowly defle... | null |
2iaqnh | Did lancers really use their lances as javelins? | [
{
"answer": "From the video link you seem to suggest that you are talking about \"lances\" in the sense of the Crimean War period. Could you please clarify this is what you mean?\n\nActual kontos and thrusting spears (such as those used by cataphracti) were fully 3 to 4 meters long and would *wholly* unsuitabl... | null |
9d2wku | How much more advanced and safer is a nuclear power plant built today compared to one built in 1986? | [
{
"answer": "Engineering?\n\nChernobyl was based on a stupid reactor type that is not built any more. In addition the operators were actively overriding multiple safety rules and mechanisms - something that won't happen any more because we have an example how that can end. Another accident like Fukushima is not... | null |
1vr3lg | If energy cannot be created or destroyed, how come the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate? Where does the energy for this expansion come from? | [
{
"answer": "The energy that is causing the accelerated expansion is [Dark Energy](_URL_2_). There is an [AskScience thread](_URL_0_) with a related question and good answers about it.\n\nWhat I find fascinating (and don't really understand) is that there is a form of energy assigned to space, called [Vacuum En... | null |
2m06wa | why does gillette advertise against their own product? | [
{
"answer": "Gillette is by far the leader in the razor market. The Fusion blades are more expensive than the Mach 3 blades, so they get the most bang for their buck by convincing Mach 3 users to upgrade rather than getting others to switch from competitors.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,... | null |
68o54e | why isnt the number 11 pronounced onety-one? | [
{
"answer": "English is a Germanic-derived language, and Germanic cultures counted by twelves sometimes instead of tens. This is why the concept of a \"dozen\" exists.\n\nThe words *eleven* and *twelve* come from *einliff* and *twaliff*, Germanic words meaning \"one left\" and \"two left\", i.e. you have one/t... | null |
5k2z4v | I found this piece of paper behind a photo of a German WW2 soldier can someone help me identify it? | [
{
"answer": "Hiya,\n\nFrom my limited German, it appears to be an issue of orders to an [occupation force? Literally \"something-land-service.\"]. I'll leave it up to any number of actually-fluent German speakers to provide more information. More importantly, I'm chiming in to note that under our [Privacy rule]... | null |
3bqcna | Did Roman propaganda have any basis in fact? | [
{
"answer": "I can speak a bit about the Parthians. In essence, it was a mixed bag, because in some cases, there was respect, in others not so much.\nHere is a quote from Justin epitomizing Trogus:\n\n\"Each man has several wives, for the sake of gratifying desire with different objects. They punish no clime mo... | null |
3ppbn4 | why are kids taught to use "x" to mean multiplication until the age of ~11, when they switch to "·"? | [
{
"answer": "It is very important that they learn what a punctuation mark or decimal point is. It may be difficult for young kids to discern the difference between . and · especially when handwritten.\n\nx as a multiplication symbol only works until you need to learn algebra. Then x becomes a variable. It i... | null |
q95wq | Are there any theories/speculation which attempt to explain the logic behind quantum information decomposing following observation? | [
{
"answer": "The electrons don't actually change from a wave to a particle, that's just a convenient (but now severely outdated) approximation. The particles actually follow the same rules all the time. [Here](_URL_0_) is a very good introduction that uses the many worlds interpretation (which is poorly named, ... | null |
2lrhgk | where do we find the room to bury the dead? | [
{
"answer": "Individual graveyard burial generally doesn't last forever. Eventually the soft parts of a body will decompose and the remains are dug up and stored more efficiently in something like an [ossuary](_URL_0_). \n\nAlso not everyone practices burial in this way. Cremation (burning the body and collecti... | null |
d8u3jr | how much water is on the international space station? | [
{
"answer": "Yep, recycling is critical, since there's really no feasible way to constantly be sending new water tanks into space to refill drinking water supplies. \n\n\nFrom what I've read, the ISS is able to keep a reserve of 530 gallons of drinking water in case of emergencies. Since the ISS is made up of ... | null |
4kg34a | The Nazis refered to themselves as socialists, but also spoke of their struggle against marxism. How did they distinguish their beliefs from the Soviets? Was it just thinly veiled xenophobia? | [
{
"answer": "At first, the National Socialist Party did have a leftist component, and the party even put out a plan that called for the redistribution of capital. Hitler, however, only promoted socialism in order to garner as much support as possible--he supported rightist policies that appealed to the upper c... | null |
4xqmkp | different types of radiation | [
{
"answer": "Think of radiation as a wave. The energy of a particle determines what wave it is. Kind of like light from stars. The higher the energy the whiter it is. On the lower energy scale you get red. Now as an atom starts to decay certain particles are released due to the weakness of the atoms containment... | null |
5jng4d | how humans didn't get eaten by predators who heard babies screaming when humans lived in the wild. | [
{
"answer": "Humans built fortifications, often in caves. Lived in fairly sized family bands that offered constant protection of the group. And had weapons with which to defend themselves. So we did not have pressure to evolve \"silently hide\" instincts while infants. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"an... | null |
2yodiu | What was Kurdish society like before the Arab invasion? What do we know about Pre-Arab Kurdistan? | [
{
"answer": "One thing that I remember that really stuck out to me when I read the Anabasis, by Xenophon was when they were traveling through the Kurdish mountains of what modern northern Iraq/turkey. \n\nIn the book, a unit of Greek mercenary hoplites gets stuck deep in Persian territory, after their Persian ... | null |
52a1yj | when would a doctor use stitches, and when would he use staples? | [
{
"answer": "They are interchangeable. Sort of.\n\nA stapled wound and one closed with a non-absorbable suture are similar. Both require medical aid to remove, and for this reason day surgery and short stay surgery usually use absorbable sutures. These dissapear over a few weeks as the body breaks them down.... | null |
1yb8fj | If our sun didn't give off UV rays could we stare at it without damaging our eyes? | [
{
"answer": "no. It's not just UV rays that are the problem. (otherwise, with glasses on, with a UV coating, you would be able to. **you should not try this**). It's the fact that your eye's lens focuses light. Like a magnifying lens on an ant. It's simply depositing too much energy into your retina and can dam... | null |
30bnpn | how is it that populations of people all across the planet in different countries all developed at relatively the same rate, when there was no means of communication between them? | [
{
"answer": "Some did. Compare the Europeans of Columbus' time to the Native Americans. They were much further advanced by hundreds of years.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They didn't develop at the same rate, it's just that the weaker ones were destroyed/absorbed by more powerful and techn... | null |
8n58ii | How does the size of an atom change as you move through the periodic table? | [
{
"answer": "Atoms rarely exist in isolation; they're bonded with other atoms, and that tends to change their sizes. For example, Oxygen picks up two extra electrons and this bloats it enormously. Beryllium gives up two electrons, and that shrinks it enormously. Here's a [table that shows both the isolated and ... | null |
114ckz | Since Temperature is a measurement of how fast molecules vibrate, would it be possible to heat molecules to a point where their vibration approaches the speed of light? | [
{
"answer": "Temperature is not a measure of how fast molecules vibrate. It is a measure of the kinetic energy of molecules (sum of translational, vibrational, and rotational).\n\nVibration is quantized into energy levels. As the quantum number v (vibrational energy state) increases the bond distance is actua... | null |
5oqclk | can defense attorneys 'throw' a case if they know their clients are guilty? | [
{
"answer": "That would be unethical. In our society, even the guilty are given competent representation. What they can do is seriously suggest that the person take a plea deal. Part of the process requires a good defense or the conviction can be overturned on appeal.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answ... | null |
1a54y6 | How did the Romans farm? Did the way they do it change throughout the ages? | [
{
"answer": "The really quick answer: The Roman *ideal* was that of the yeoman, or small landholder, who self-sufficiently farmed his own little plot with the help of his family and a handful of slaves. In reality, however, this ideal was already decaying by the time we start to have good data on Roman life; ... | null |
3x0b7o | How much would a Roman Denarius be in USD today? | [
{
"answer": "This is not a simple question to answer, unfortunately. Different goods had drastically different price ranges back then due to differences in supply and technology. Since the prices of goods are the only real metric by which we can compare currencies, this means you could get a wide range of val... | null |
9193ct | why isn't time read literally as numbers but instead the letter o is said to represent zero? | [
{
"answer": "In English (at least American English) unless you have a bunch of zeros in a row you almost always say \"O\" for every single number, not just time. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "\"Oh\" is one syllable and \"Zero\" is two. People are lazy.\n\nWe changed the word \"Colour\" to \"... | null |
2i3xw7 | standard error in measurement. i have no idea. what is it's relation to standard deviation? (rhyme not intended) | [
{
"answer": "Standard Deviation refers to variability in general. If you're learning this in a class, it probably is implicitly meant as the standard deviation of the sample in most cases.\n\nStandard Error is the standard deviation of whatever measure you're trying to estimate. Since in statistics you're typic... | null |
1jbtv2 | how do reality shows record reactions in monologues like they are happening for the first time? | [
{
"answer": "The people giving the interviews are asked to reenact their initial reactions. Its all just good (or in most cases, bad) acting. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They are called \"OTF\"s or \"On the Fly\" interviews. The producers record an interview with the person after the fact... | null |
uwef4 | How can gravity possibly be accounted for by quantum theory? | [
{
"answer": "What we don't know is how to solve for the curvature of a particle that doesn't have reasonably precise position and momentum (quantum particles). So far no approach we've thought of has really worked out right...",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": " > ... then what is quantum theory l... | null |
3ovn62 | how does viagra actually work..? | [
{
"answer": "Without getting really technical, Viagra is a type of drug called a Vasodilator. Vasodilators relax the muscles and arteries so more blood can flow through them. Think of a Vasodilator as a hose. If you have a hose that has a 1 Inch Diameter, only so much water can flow through it at full blast. A ... | null |
23hrb5 | bedsores | [
{
"answer": "When you press down on your skin it prevents your blood from moving naturally. This lack of blood to the area causes the tissue to break down over time, if left over a prolonged period of time it can cause pretty severe damage and infection.\n\nSafe rule of thumb for prevention and healing of mino... | null |
q2171 | how do leases work? | [
{
"answer": "It's like renting, but long term. Also, usually harder to get out of.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Be careful if you drive a lot, there are sometimes fees for excessive mileage.\n\nAlso, most people consider Leasing, financially, the worst possible choice in terms of \"owning\" ... | null |
c8g1ms | since the hypothalamus is located near the brain and it regulates the body's temperature, how would the human body react if the head is at one extreme temperature and the rest of the body is at an opposing extreme temperature? | [
{
"answer": "The hypothalamus doesn't sense its own temperature in order to regulate the body. It gathers the data from nerves all over the body and uses that. If most of your body is hot but your head is cold, the hypothalamus will \"know\" that and will tell the body to cool itself down. \n\nAlso, your body i... | null |
6tkfuj | how do actors appear dead in movies and films so that their chest isn't moving from breathing and their heart beating | [
{
"answer": "Sometimes they don't. I love catching someone breathing during a tv show. Law and Order and Criminal Minds is a gold mind. Spotting moving corpses while watching is a running competition I have with my husband. \n\nI think the camera crew tries not to linger on them too long to reduce the amount of... | null |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.