id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
2gecm7 | if the smell of cut grass is a distress signal, what will the grass that receives the message actually do about it? | [
{
"answer": "The grass sends it's nutrients etc. to it's roots so that they won't go to waste and can use them to regrow.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The smell itself is not the distress signal. Plants release ethylene and jasmonic acid particles into the air to warn other plants/other par... | null |
2ioon8 | how does the photo 51 of rosalind franklin show the evidence for a double stranded dna | [
{
"answer": "This page has an interactive walkthrough of the image explaining everything along the way:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nIt's not perfect but gives a decent understanding of it using simple terms.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The ELI5 is we understand the physics of how light scatters off cryst... | null |
9rr63a | ; it’s not the volts that kill you, it’s the amps? | [
{
"answer": "Basically, voltage is electrical potential, amps is that potential being realized. Potential can't kill you, action can",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The title statement is misleading because it takes voltage to make current flow. Together with resistance they form Ohm's Law: E=I... | null |
75ywnb | Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in the UK and not elsewhere? I have seen several theories, including colonialism, natural resources, Protestantism, capitalism and the rule of law. Is there any historical consensus on this? | [
{
"answer": "No, there really isn't a complete consensus; there's even an entire group of people out there that believe it was a pure accident. But there is one very popular theory out there: Institutional Development Theory, which I take after.\n\nThe general conclusion drawn from the theory that the small eur... | null |
4hj8fs | How do self driving cars respond to traffic officers? | [
{
"answer": "Most self driving cars right now have an actual driver in them whom can take control at any time. So this is not much of an issue.\n\nEdit- How will it work in the future? Implementing computer recognition of lights and sirens is no more difficult than what they do already. It may be a little odd f... | null |
afovjo | Other than learning from mistakes of past. Why would you say it is important for a person in the present times to know and understand history? I like history a lot, but I find myself unable to expose its relevance to uninterested people. How is it a useful or important knowledge? | [
{
"answer": "Currently in college, I took on history because I needed those free As and now accidentally have 80% of a history degree, so if they need a GPA booster, learn history! /s\n\n & #x200B;\n\nIn all seriousness though, learning history I think has a few benefits. Firstly, the actual learning process. A... | null |
1a0zgs | how do you get into medical school in the united states? | [
{
"answer": "There are certain required courses which you must complete in college. If you haven't done them, you can't get into med school.\n\nAfter that, the most important factors are your grades and your score on a standardized test known as the MCAT. Medical-related volunteering is also important, but it's... | null |
13w125 | if a muslim was on the exact opposite side of the earth from mecca, where would they turn to pray? | [
{
"answer": "They would probably move a bit.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It would indeed be in the ocean. _URL_0_\n\nIn that case they would simply point any direction they pleased.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You're right, they would be on a boat, [in the middle of the... | null |
5nuaps | What did those in the English speaking world in the Victorian era consider "spooky" architecture? | [
{
"answer": "Decay and decrepitude are kind of universal - I can give a couple of examples from opposite ends of the Victorian era (1837-1901):\n\n > I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain—upon the bleak walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows—upon... | null |
j2eu9 | can someone explain general relativity? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not an expert on this, but I'm pretty sure you could sum it up like this:\nIt's basically a theory that explains gravity & it's effects on space, time, matter, etc.\nFor example, how light can bend around a planet because of the gravity field of that planet, how planets orbit around suns, how... | null |
oul1n | Why is my non-dominant hand/arm able capable of doing some things and not others? | [
{
"answer": "This isn't an answer but just a semi-relevant tangent. I've tried to teach myself to do more with my left (off) hand over the years and some things come easily while others don't. Certain other tasks have very strange outcomes. For example, when I was trying to teach myself to write with my left ha... | null |
73ppqq | how does physics work in calculus? | [
{
"answer": "Acceleration is the second derivative of displacement with respect to time. The second derivative of force with respect to time isn't all that meaningful. I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, to be honest. Can you clarify a little bit?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "You get s... | null |
2szseo | why do dogs cock their heads when their begging for something? | [
{
"answer": "There are a few theories on why they do this.\n1. They're trying to hear better\nDogs have movable earflaps that help them locate the source of a sound, but they also have brains that can compute time differences between the sound reaching each ear. A slight change in a dog's head position supplies... | null |
aarlw2 | what will happen to the 0.1% of the germs that didn't get killed by the hand sanitizer? | [
{
"answer": "Those that survive will often pass on this genetic advantage to their offspring, which will then be slightly more resistant and so on...This is natural selection and evolution in action. Bacteria and viruses have already evolved/mutated in response to our modern medical treatments, which has create... | null |
8qypz4 | Can a fathers abuse of alcohol affect the number of dopamine receptors in their child? | [
{
"answer": "Don't call him out. There may be a genetic connection to dopamine production or uptake; I can't really speak to that because I'm a total noob to neuroscience (sorry!). However, the effects of growing up as a child of an alcoholic (abuse/trauma) can create biological changes in systems of the brain ... | null |
2zstj2 | why does music in 4/4 time sounds more natural to us? | [
{
"answer": "Part of it is what we are conditioned to listen to. Lots of music is in 4/4 so it has a context we can fit it into. As a professional musician, I've played lots of music in many mixed meters, so those don't sound or feel awkward to me anymore. I've been conditioned to have a way to understand them ... | null |
4tqhd2 | why has there recently been an increase in ultra-nationalism? | [
{
"answer": "Financial downturns always push populaces to the right.\n\n1. Have less money.\n2. Suffer more hardships.\n3. Look for scapegoat (with giddy help of local politicians)\n4. Identify simplest scapegoat as foreigners.\n5. Demand border closure to keep dirty foreigners out.",
"provenance": null
}... | null |
jln8p | the fed and why people like it and dislike it | [
{
"answer": "People dislike the federal reserve because they make money out of thin air every year which causes all of our money to decrease in value. This is much like a hidden tax on your currency on top of the taxes you already pay, and people hate taxes. At times they seemingly make money according to no se... | null |
acp2ic | How will the historian of the future sift through the billions of primary sources offered by the digital age? | [
{
"answer": "That's a great question. Short answer: digital sources are readily handled by digital tools. While the amount of digital information is growing rapidly, the power of the tools we have for examining this information is already powerful, and it's fair to imagine that they will grow much more powerfu... | null |
1m95vj | why do shark cages have gaps in them, which look big enough for sharks to fit through? | [
{
"answer": "Could be because most dangerous sharks are still too big to get in. Could also be that if a dangerous shark did get in, the diver could escape.\n\nEdit: I found a video in which a man uses the gap on the side to escape _URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Just an idea:\n\nOne ... | null |
1spae4 | How exactly do scholars decipher an unknown writing system? | [
{
"answer": "There are many ways. One of them, and probably the ideal case, is if you find a document where the same text is written in several different languages and scripts. The best example of that is the Rosetta Stone.\n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "If you know what the languag... | null |
91ddf4 | At what stage is cryonics and medicine at where a cryopreserved human body could be resuscitated? | [
{
"answer": "Anhydrobiosis is a technique used naturally by living organisms to survive in a desiccated (dry) state. Surviving the extreme cold uses the same techniques, as it all boils down to preserving the lipid bilayers that make up cell membranes.\n\nOne way to do this is \"water replacement.\" Normal m... | null |
2e1u6u | How is dry ice made? | [
{
"answer": "Carbon dioxide is generated via chemical process\n\nThe gas is pressurized and refrigerated until it becomes liquid\n\nPressure is reduced, causing some of the liquid to vaporize\n\nVaporized carbon dioxide freezes the remaining liquid into \"snow\"\n\n\"Snow\" is compressed into ice.",
"proven... | null |
45uyjv | why does usb have fewer reliability issues than older interfaces? | [
{
"answer": "Not an engineer or anything, but i'm pretty sure that NES and other cartridges used many like 20+ connections. the more connections there are the more likely one or more of them might be unstable or slightly disrupted. Blowing them clears dust away which is usually the culprit. \n\nUSB's are design... | null |
7apbrs | why every storm we get the radar shows it moving one way but the wind blows the opposite? | [
{
"answer": "You’re probably feeling the inflow feeding into the storm. Inflow winds will blow toward the storm system and be fairly warm. Outflow winds will be colder (rain cooled) and blow away from the storm. \n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because the wind is not pushing the storm alo... | null |
18vrg9 | in islamic countries, how are women who wear a face veil identified for official purposes? | [
{
"answer": "I don't know for sure but I believe that women go into a private area and show their face to a female officer. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "As I live in an arabic country, I can tell you, that on their passport, or official ID card, women have a picture of their face. This is ... | null |
2lfujj | how does net neutrality continue to be threatened through legislation? haven't we already shot this down? | [
{
"answer": "Unfortunately, there's no \"double jeopardy\" on bad legislation. They can try and try and try to pass it as long as they want.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It's not enforceable I don't think. Plus, the big companies that push for these bills to pass probably won't ever stop re... | null |
11uohv | Why would someone be listed as a "Slave" in a 1910 US census? | [
{
"answer": "Here is my thought: the constitution bans slavery except as punishment. It is possible that he was on some form of work-release from the prison. If he was not being paid as part of this, it would be slavery as punishment.\n\nThat, or your great grandparents were real hard-asses, and the guy was bei... | null |
8mstu1 | how does fat in the body create more flesh? | [
{
"answer": "You have dedicate fat cells that are specialized in storing energy as fat. To if you eat more food that you need you can stor it as fat in those cells.\n\nIf you eat food with less calories then you need you start to remove the fat from the cells and use it for energy. When you use fat for energy y... | null |
2fb011 | Is there a substance that burns with a flame cold enough to touch? | [
{
"answer": "The only reason that fire is fire, is because the chemical reaction is powerful enough to emit light(via electrons moving up and down specific orbits.) If you were to suppose a similar reaction, like oxidation of iron in the prescence of an oxidizer, you can often get the same kind of reaction albe... | null |
4azd1j | what the scientific meme is? | [
{
"answer": "Are you talking about the Sociological concept of a meme? Well essentially it's a thought virus, a concept that quickly spreads from person to person. Most cultural norms would be considered memetic in nature.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
v6n5q | "The [Ku Klux] Klan in some areas of the country tried to be a means of reform, fighting the decline in morality and using the symbol of the cross... In some communities it achieved a certain respectability as it worked with politicians." How accurate is this statement from a history textbook? | [
{
"answer": "It depends on the context. What else does the text say on the Klan? Because they undoubtedly did have a measure of respectability (if having local politicians as members is a sign of respectability), they did use the symbol of the cross (duh), and there was an element of moral conservatism to their... | null |
6ky2jn | Worth your salt? From my understanding salt was worth more then gold at one point in time. If that's the case then how come people used to "salt the Feild's" of there enemy's wouldn't that be a cost prohibitive measure? Also couldn't they just boil down sea water to produce salt? | [
{
"answer": "Hi, not discouraging further answers here, but meanwhile, you may be interested in a few previous posts on salt\n\nSalt vs gold\n\n* [Why was salt so important in trade? Was it ever \"worth its weight in gold\"?](_URL_0_)\n\n* [Why was salt so expensive in ancient times (close to it's weight in gol... | null |
7l9uro | Why do LEDs sometimes appear to "bounce" (e.g. if you chatter your teeth)? | [
{
"answer": "I suspect that the main effect is due to changes in processing at low-light levels (e.g. holiday lights in the dark) and the relative brightness of the lights. In low-light, there is more blurring (i.e. spatial pooling) of light, but there is also temporal blurring: the visual system is a bit more ... | null |
co7azr | what happens in the brain when you decide to move a hand or leg? | [
{
"answer": "It is a VERY long answer in reality, but I'll try to make it short. Your brain sends signals from the zones that are responsible for initiating movement to the muscles needed. It generates this signal based on various information (sight, balance, etc).\n\n\nWhile the muscles contract and perform sa... | null |
4as22c | the situation in brazil right now. | [
{
"answer": "Okay.\n\nBrazil's economy is really bad right now. The public are blaming corruption at the federal level. President Dilma Rousseff is being accused of altering the countries financial records to make Brazil look less in economic disaster. She's also being accused of being involved in a grand schem... | null |
3itapo | why are some people so smart without even trying? | [
{
"answer": "I think there was some study about this saying that the brains in smarter individuals actually process information at a faster rate than average. Since the signals are going much faster, the brain can make links to similar situations/memories more quickly.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"ans... | null |
4p6wzq | Are plant cells significantly more or less succeptible to radiation damage than animal cells? Also, how does damage typically manifest - do plants get cancer? | [
{
"answer": "I don't know about the radiation part, but the pathogenic bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens causes something like cancer in trees. Crown gall disease. One big difference between plant and animal cancer, and also how body patterning develops, is that that plant cells have stiff cell walls and can'... | null |
5nkeit | How can I read history on Wikipedia in a responsible way, knowing what is useful information and what to be skeptical of? | [
{
"answer": "As far as wikipedia goes, and I am thinking mostly of my subject area, one of the pitfalls is the extremely dated nature of many of the tertiary sourced used- or sometimes their inappropriate usage: miscitations, misuses, or misappropriations- generally claiming they say something they do not.\n\nW... | null |
1k3g1h | how is the universe constantly expanding when there is no edge? | [
{
"answer": "The space between two points grows. Literally the space between them. It's not expanding *into* anything, and therefore the edge of space never becomes an issue.\n\nThe space between the Milky Way and the next Galaxy (in this case, Andromeda) literally grows. It just grows a very small amount. O... | null |
mixtb | how do escort ads still exist and how are they not all set ups? | [
{
"answer": "A former escort posted an AMA, and explained it (I can't find a link, but she did it recently). Pretty much, you just pay for an escort's time. Whatever you two decide to do is between you guys.\n\nAt least according to this woman who worked in the UK.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answe... | null |
24zw90 | why isn't there a list of ingredients on a pack of cigarettes, when it seems like anything else you buy has that information on their products? | [
{
"answer": "There are labels in Canada...",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Same reason there isn't an ingredients list on beer (assuming you're asking about the US). Food is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, under the Department of Health and Human Services. Alcohol and Tobacco are... | null |
u1yi3 | If humans evolved different colored skin from living in different climates, will skin colors change to some equilibrium now that people of all races live in the same areas? | [
{
"answer": "The previous Answers are incorrect. Look up Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Without pressure to remove the variation allelic frequencies remain stable. \n\n[Wikipedia Link](_URL_0_)\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "We're not one breeding population. Obviously a lot of humans aren't co... | null |
bdmzgc | how is it that your veins/arteries don't simply cut off whenever you sit or compress the body in normal circumstances? | [
{
"answer": "For the most part veins and arteries are not on the surface so simply sitting won't compress them enough to \"cut off\" flow, but it can be significant enough to reduce flow to the point your leg \"goes to sleep\" , also why you should not have legs crossed when taking your blood pressure, etc. \n\... | null |
1ox1qu | How was the food on columbus' ship and other jouneys that span over several months? | [
{
"answer": "The food carried aboard ship varied a bit between nations and years. I don't have my books handy right now to find out exactly what the Spanish would have provisioned their ships with, but the recurring elements across the board are salt meat(often beef), hard biscuit, peas, and oatmeal. Drink woul... | null |
24m6mu | When and why did commissioning art die as a cultural concept? (ie. if I go to a museum it feels like 80% of art older than one century was a commission and only 1% of art made within the last 50 years was a commission) | [
{
"answer": "In NYC, 1% of commercial real estate budgets above some threshold must be allocated for the commission of art projects. I know nothing of the rest of the world but this is how it works here......_URL_0_ \n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"... | null |
55nfvu | p-hacking and how to detect it? | [
{
"answer": "The [paper that coined the term p-hacking](_URL_0_ ) is online, and an interesting read.\n\nTL;DR: P-hacking is the use of data mining to find patterns in data that can be presented as statistically significant, without first devising a specific hypothesis as to the underlying causality. Then a hy... | null |
3i3upw | Is there any evidence of a slave trade in Eastern European and Asian countries? | [
{
"answer": "Sure, there’s plenty of evidence.\n\nLet’s just look at the history of Tartar slave raids amongst the Russians, only in the period after the Russians began gaining independence from the Mongol and Tartar steppe hordes. (There was plenty of slaving of Russians earlier, and plenty of slaving of non-... | null |
2xrqsk | why is honey and lemon good for singers when it never gets near the vocal cords? | [
{
"answer": "Not sure what the honey does, but lemon water helps cut the phlegm in my throat. Makes it so I can sing without rattling or hitching.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Lemon is an astringent, in small amounts it will help clear mucous from your throat.",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
5mrffe | Why are certain planes used in specific areas during WW2 | [
{
"answer": "Note, this answer largely deals with the Americans. Of the major warring powers, the US had the most extensive and far-flung aerial operations. And for clarity's sake Pacific Theater (PTO) and European Theater (ETO) speaks for these theaters in the broadest sense, including areas like the Mediterra... | null |
14logq | I just bought a re-usable toy hand warmer for my son that works by "clicking" a small metal clip inside the sachet of clear liquid. The liquid turns opaque in an instant and the sachet becomes warm. How does it work? | [
{
"answer": "The sachet is filled with a supersaturated solution of [sodium acetate](_URL_0_). By clicking the metal clip, you're providing a nucleation site for crystals to form. Since the crystallization of sodium acetate is quite exothermic, heat is released.\n\nWhen you place the sachet under hot water, you... | null |
2cs7uz | Universal expansion: movement in space or movement of space? | [
{
"answer": "Not movement at all. Space is *added* between objects. (what you'd call movement of space, I guess).\n\nWhen we talk about accelerated expansion or gravitational collapse, what we mean is that the rate at which space is *added* is growing as time goes on. Similarly, if the universe didn't have dark... | null |
il3cc | How *exactly* did the dinosaurs die out? Why did the mass extinction target some types of animals (dinos) but not others (mammals, fish)? | [
{
"answer": "I think there's still a lot of debate about many of these questions you raise. And some of them might be impossible to answer - 65 million years ago was a long time ago, and an event that took place over just a thousand years is really just the blink of an eye in geological terms. We do know some... | null |
coxf6d | what’s hpv and how does it differentiate from herpes | [
{
"answer": "Hpv is a skin virus that typically causes warts. Most people have hpv at various places on their body occasionally throughout their life. One type causes genital warts which is an std. herpes is a disease that causes skin blisters and again becomes an std when on the genitals",
"provenance": nu... | null |
6c7tfi | is there a highest temputare the human body can feel? | [
{
"answer": "Well first, I don't think someone would notice the slight change of temperature. It's like feeling the difference between 73 degrees and 74 degrees but hotter. Also the heat would start to burn your skin and damage nerves which would tell your brain that it is hot. So the highest temperature someon... | null |
2t18qe | how can lg and samsung produce amoled or oled screens for phones with great resolutions for relatively low price but can't do the same for tvs? | [
{
"answer": "The manufacturing process doesnt scale up easily, is the short of it",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "34459981",
"title": "Universal Display Corporation",
"section": "Section::::Televisions.\n",
"start... | null |
e5cc5m | why is it so much more difficult to chug cold water vs room temperature? | [
{
"answer": "Ik for me the cold water can make my teeth hurt and kinda gives my mouth and throat a sort of \"brain freeze\".",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Because it will make your mouth and throat cold and the human body doesn’t like that?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null... | null |
6j4ztd | What makes electronic money officially money? Why can't people forge electronic money? | [
{
"answer": "If by electronic money you mean cryptocurrencies I will try to answer. The Bitcoin paper solves an important problem in computer science called \"the Byzantine generals problem\", which aims to achieve trust and consensus among two or more parties by using untrustworthy communication channels.\n\nI... | null |
12o417 | Monday Mish-Mash | The Human Body | [
{
"answer": "I was mentioning to a friend earlier today how everyone has heard of smallpox but I guessed that not too many people have wondered what the \"big pox\" was. The \"great pox\" was syphilis.\n\nMy favorite traditional modification practice to think about are the [lip plates](_URL_0_). Besides their o... | null |
4a57v9 | When they simulate neural networks in Google deep-mind and other similar AI systems are they writing code that simulates neural networks or are they litterally building hardware that simulates neural networks? | [
{
"answer": "Depends on the word \"similar\". Most neural networks are based of a very simple code... infact... I'll go grab one from when I wrote a neural network to recognize hand written digits:\n\n function g = sigmoid(z)\n g = 1.0 ./ (1.0 + exp(-z));\n end\n\nThat is the activation function fo... | null |
5szdv4 | how do we know/guess how many died in historic plagues? | [
{
"answer": " > but it got me thinking- how do they know?\n\nPeople wrote stuff down. Even back then it was important if people died, and keeping track of population was important for things like taxation. Researchers can look at a period of time and see how the deaths differed from normal and deduce about how... | null |
qi569 | Is it possible to predict where and how a glass will break? | [
{
"answer": "It depends.\n\nWith structural analysis finding the general areas and different modes of fracture is more or less straightforward. However, the specific fracture crack pattern and exact positions are very difficult or impossible to calculate because the outcome is sensitive to very small difference... | null |
7oeo0r | Pictures used to load from the top down, now they load blurry and clear up as more data is received. Why? | [
{
"answer": "Basically it's all about the file format and bitmap encoding.\n\nCertain file formats (as an example, JPEGs) can be saved in a interlaced encoded bitmap^^1 . This encoding works by sending a \"rough draft\" of sorts for what the image is. This \"rough draft\" is really just a subset of the image's ... | null |
ao0lnx | what's the appeal of 4chan? every time i try to read it doesn't make sense | [
{
"answer": "Much of what happens on 4Chan is what's called shitposting. I.e intentionally posting drivel (either harmless or inflammatory drivel). There are also lots of inside jokes and bits of jargon that originated on that site, which a new viewer might not know. Kind of like how redditors might joke about ... | null |
6azgqp | how can we feel tense / bad atmospheres in certain places? | [
{
"answer": "It's a purely psychological effect. The \"atmosphere\" isn't real, but lots of symptoms are -- these can include an odd smell, an unusual quiet, the presence of nervous-acting people, or objects arranged in a manner that's unusually messed up or unusually tidied up.",
"provenance": null
},
... | null |
2xrpd1 | why do arcades use coins instead of quarters? | [
{
"answer": "I've always thought that people were more likely to spend \"coins\" as they don't see them as money in the same way. Plus coins lock a person into spending a certain amount of money, unlike quarters which can be easily taken elsewhere. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Arcades can a... | null |
3iyph4 | how does solid state memory work with no moving parts? | [
{
"answer": "Essentially, Solid State memory functions by creating \"cells\" that can be written on to, and require no energy to maintain.\n\nTo be more specific, like with the interior of a CPU, we encase super-tiny mechanisms called Floating Gate (FGMOS) transistors into divots in sheets of ultra-thin colorle... | null |
dd5zza | Where does the flap-flap sound of a helicopter come from? Do all helicopters sound the same? | [
{
"answer": "The \"thup thup\" sound comes from the disturbance in air caused by the interaction between the main rotor and the tail rotor. They are both moving a lot of air, and the way those airflows interact cause a bunch of noise. The way those interact based on number of blades, speed, and general design... | null |
a3eata | Why did we cultivate onions even though we couldn’t eat them the same way as apples or oranges? | [
{
"answer": "Its more of an historical questions then biology. As you can very well eat an onion just like an apple - > if you use one that is not as strong in flavor like red onions. You can also eat it raw and make pickles...Onions where used hundreds of years before... to spice up food. As regular food (as ... | null |
5pb8p0 | why is heart cancer so rare? | [
{
"answer": " > Right?\n\nWrong, the heart is a muscle. (Technically a \"muscular organ\")\n\nThat isn't why there's no heart cancer though. It's because cancer is the unregulated and out of control division of cells that turns into a tumor. But heart cells don't divide, so there's no process to go haywire.",
... | null |
cgvb94 | What was life like for a Canadian infantry soldier in NW Europe during WW2? | [
{
"answer": "If you haven't read Tim Cook's work, start there. His novels are incredibly easy to read and he does an excellent job capturing WWI and WW2 (The Necessary War, Fight to the Finish) in his two volume sets. That would be a good starting point anyway. \n\nThere is also a video set that a Manitoba hist... | null |
7ns9io | when your body is submerged in cold water, it feels freezing at first, then starts to feel warmer and warmer. when your body is exposed to cold air, it feels okay at first, then gets colder and colder. what causes this phenomenon? | [
{
"answer": "I'm no expert, but I think it has to do with body heat. In the water, your body heat and the temperature of the water find an equilibrium where both are at the same temperature, whereas in the air, it's always moving so it cools your body while your body heat doesn't have time to affect the air tem... | null |
2uet83 | Do quantum computers, if developed to the same scale as regular PC's, have any use to a regular person? | [
{
"answer": "you can do everything you can do with a normal computer with a quantum computer. Because of how quantum computers work, every step needs to be reversible.\n\nyou can add 1+3 on a normal computer, and in the end you have 4, without knowing if the input was 4+0,1+3,2+2,3+1 or 0+4. You can not do that... | null |
1ufsvt | Are there any records, from ancient civilizations, of stars (or other celestial objects) that cannot be seen or found in the sky today? | [
{
"answer": " > I'm assuming that thousands of stars that were visible during ancient times have supernova'd\n---\n\nAnswer is **yes**. \n\nBut let me intrude a bit into r/askscience :\n\nThere are just ~5,600 stars visible by [naked eye](_URL_7_). \n\nStrict definition: *visible [by naked eye]* are stars with... | null |
2eq3a0 | if the airline industry is struggling, wouldn't it be better for them to sell unbooked seats for less at the last minute than operate at a loss? | [
{
"answer": "To a point, but remember that planes take fuel. It takes a certain amount of fuel to get your weight from A to B. If you want to fly you need to pay them AT LEAST that amount just to break even for the added weight you contribute. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Airlines already... | null |
2kww30 | What are some ancient Roman spooky tales? | [
{
"answer": "My first article, which appeared in Arv: The Scandinavian Yearbook of Folklore in 1979, dealt with two legends from the 1st-century primary source, The Satyricon. One legend dealt with a soldier who changed himself into a wolf. The second described some witches who abducted a baby. These stories we... | null |
eg3gwb | how can a government block targeted internet access once starlink is available vs traditional isp? | [
{
"answer": "The first and simplest way would be to demand that SpaceX stop providing service when the government demands. Almost certainly they are going to agree to do so.\n\nOtherwise the government doesn’t give them a business license and makes doing business with them illegal. Now most people can’t get acc... | null |
fmzyo5 | how do the graphics card, ram, and processor all work together to determine performance of a pc? | [
{
"answer": "CPU is its ability to do math. Everything a computer does is dictated by math, so this makes things faster. However you can't get faster than almost instant (dictated by speed of electrons wizzing around inside) so if the CPU is able to go at that speed, other things may slow it down instead.\n\n... | null |
69vk5l | why is the tip of the human nose made of cartilage? | [
{
"answer": "The actual reason, although rather vague, is that natural selection leads to traits that are more advantageous for survival to be selected for and thereby become more prevalent in a population. So having a cartilaginous tip to the nose allowed for better survival to reproduction. Probably because... | null |
2bg72t | what exactly makes cheap beer taste much worse than something more expensive? | [
{
"answer": "Some of the big boys use rice in their beers. And their light beers are just overfermented then watered down. You can really taste poor quality ingredients.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Without going into too much detail the flavor of a beer is determined mainly by types of grai... | null |
2634p2 | why can my ipad play videos for hours straight without even having a fan, while my laptop reaches 85deg c and higher after streaming netflix for only 2 minutes? | [
{
"answer": "Well your laptop has a full blown processor it running a full blown OS. That requires a lot of processing power to handle all the background processes and other elements that come with it. The ipad on the other has a risc(reduced instruction set) processor that is a simplified processor that was d... | null |
1vvr08 | How did technology evolve from analog to digital? | [
{
"answer": "The first step in digital electronics was the [flip-flop](_URL_1_), at around 1919. A flip-flop is a circuit with two stable states (which can be thought of as 0 or 1).\n\nWhy is digital a good thing? \n\nLet's start with what analog is. Analog means an electronic circuit deals with a continuously ... | null |
1i785c | how do protesters have time to protest for days on end? | [
{
"answer": "One big reason people protest is lack of jobs, or lack of jobs that pay them enough to make working more appealing than trying to point out that their work sucks for the amount of pay they get.\n\nEssentially, people protest because they care a lot about what they're protesting about. Some people p... | null |
14yg02 | What were the reasons behind the rise of the Caliphate? | [
{
"answer": "I always suggest this because its my favorite book, but \"Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes\" by Tanim Ansary goes into great detail about the rise of the Caliphate, why it was so successful, the Golden Age of Islam, and how historic events impact todays current events.... | null |
8w6f6x | why do bugs when outside fly around the same area with a bunch of other bugs instead of being spread apart? typically gnat like bugs. | [
{
"answer": "They are making more bugs via the usual route. That requires them to be in close proximity. Think of it like you are walking through a bug night club.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "872241",
"title": "Boxelder bug",... | null |
4gxoyt | Why are spinal discs so prone to hernias? | [
{
"answer": "People are pretty out of shape compared to the fitness level we evolved with, so I would think less supporting musculature? Maybe we sporadically lift heavier objects than we were evolved to as well. We certainly have more stuff to move around now too, versus as someone said hunting and gathering a... | null |
a02ivq | How do particles turn to follow the circular path of the Large Hadron Collider? | [
{
"answer": "The trajectories of the particles in the beam are curved using magnetic fields. Particularly, superconducting dipole magnets. You can read more about them [here](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "A charged particle moving through a magnetic field will experience a force per... | null |
1dhx0f | music in dreams | [
{
"answer": "Because your mind is beautiful and capable of an incomprehensible amount of creativity. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "This has happened to me before. I heard a beat while I was dreaming and just started rapping. I remember it being the dopest shit ever, but couldn't remember a w... | null |
3dudww | How did 'tribes' or 'tribal federations' work? E.g the Saxons or the Angles | [
{
"answer": "I want to direct your attention to [this quite excellent post](_URL_0_) by /u/Aerandir. The context he wrote that was for a discussion about what the definition of tribe is/should be. \n\nI don't believe the concept of 'tribal federation' is really addressed in that comment, nor is the comment real... | null |
1vkq8q | why ice molecules are closer together than water molecules, yet ice of the same mass as water takes up more space. | [
{
"answer": "They're not closer together, I forget what it's called and why they do it but at the very moment of freezing the particles basically jump away from each other. \n\nIt's because of this that ice evaporates faster than water, the molecules are already farther apart.",
"provenance": null
},
{
... | null |
2usx94 | How do scientists refer to specific points in space without an up or down or polar directions (E,S,N,W)? | [
{
"answer": "I actually don't know for sure, but I assume an X,Y,Z system using a common central point. \n \nI actually want to find this out now. To the Google! \n \nFound this site : _URL_0_\n\nIs that what you are after?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
ee8i0q | movie trailers show "festival award winner". how do movies win awards before they are released? | [
{
"answer": "Most movies are finished long before they're released. They're shown at certain film festivals or given limited releases in a few major cities before they get into theatres everywhere.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "9545616... | null |
axuv3z | if you are alone with a tire in an empty space, if you spin the tire, will it go forever? | [
{
"answer": "Is the tire on the ground or floating in a vacuum?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "If you are in the vacuum of empty space, no air, no light, and no other objects, (no gravity) then yes it will spin forever, assuming there's no air in the tire.\n\nIf there's air in the tire, the ... | null |
1xmpm1 | how did that consitition accommodate both federalist and anti-federalist viewpoints | [
{
"answer": "United States 1.0, the Articles of Confederation, was a strongly federalist system. The central government in US1.0 could only act when the States were in consensus - which means each state had a veto on the actions of the whole country.\n\nUnited States 2.0, the Constitution, is a system that com... | null |
3vl5hm | how did u.s. colleges not only get into football in the first place, but also become so extremely invested in their stadiums, teams etc. over time? | [
{
"answer": "Long story short sports are big money. Over the years they have gotten bigger and bigger by everyone wanting to one up everyone else. Football and emerged as the biggest sport over the years in America. Football being big money plus stuff like ESPN making a big deal over it has made people want to ... | null |
362zzv | Dorian invasion, sea peoples, and Phoenicia. Any relations? | [
{
"answer": "You may be interested in [this recent AMA](_URL_0_) with Eric H. Cline, author of *1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed*.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "42056",
"title": "Greeks",
"section": "Section::::... | null |
25sxlm | what are the results of the indian elections, and what does it mean? | [
{
"answer": "People are giving out pros and cons, but this means there is a bias.\n\nWithout bias, the elections have no meaning. A party has been elected democratically in India, and it is just like any other election.\n\nPros and cons, and \"what does the election mean\" come with perspective.\n\nIf you are n... | null |
1lopv4 | why do whiskey/bourbon have more carbs than vodka? | [
{
"answer": "_URL_0_\n\nThey don't have any carbs",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "32787",
"title": "Vodka",
"section": "Section::::Today.:European Union regulation.\n",
"start_paragraph_id": 49,
"start_cha... | null |
fbgffu | what actually make the teeth grow and push through the gum? | [
{
"answer": "Root resorption - simply put when the tooth is developed (which is an entire process) the adult teeth begin to push on the baby teeth which causes the roots of the baby teeth to shrink, become loose, and fall out.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
65hkvo | if vaping is just inhaling water vapor and some ingredients, why does the room get foggy with still smoke, instead of it just dissipating? | [
{
"answer": "It's vapor of polyprolene glycol and glycerine. That stuff is a liquid at normal room temps. so when mechanically vaporized, it sticks around in vapor droplet form",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It's not water vapour. The vaping fluid contains very little if any water, the main ... | null |
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