id stringlengths 5 6 | input stringlengths 3 301 | output list | meta null |
|---|---|---|---|
32wvn8 | what's the difference between a forest and a wood? | [
{
"answer": "They're used interchangeably a lot. You'll get different answers from different resources, but the general consensus seems to be that woods are smaller than forests.\n\n > A wood is an area covered in trees, larger than a grove or a copse. A forest is also an area covered in trees, but it is large... | null |
1yc9zg | Are there any good source material on the Warsaw Ghetto to be had online? | [
{
"answer": "Many of the relevant primary sources wont contain the those specific details in an aggregated way. There are a few great examples of diaries and reports coming from the Warsaw Ghetto. The statistics you are looking for would likely come from secondary sources.\n\nOne great example is the Stroop Rep... | null |
elzx1n | we do we instinctively grab a part of our body after it is hurt? | [
{
"answer": "A) instinct. To protect it from further damage (if the damaging agent is ongoing) or to prevent bleeding and such.\n\nB) pain. Our brain knows that pressure sensation blocks pain sensation from experience. So we reflexively grab the injury site because it alleviates the pain.\n\nEdit: English and c... | null |
1j7pwx | Following the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment, were there any cases of slave-owners attempting to continue the practice illegally? | [
{
"answer": "All across the South during the years following the civil war, a series of \"Black codes\" were passed into law. Their purpose was to effectively re-enslave the freed slaves by justifying their forced labor by labeling them vagrants, essentially making unemployment illegal and thereby allowing a st... | null |
3qr7uu | In medieval and pre-modern times, political entities made marriage pacts between heirs in order to secure peace. Often times, this didn't last for more than 20 years, if not even less. Why did they even bother? | [
{
"answer": "Twenty years of peace is much better than no peace at all. Twenty years is enough time for a generation of young men to forgo military service, time to build infrastructure, time to consolidate power, and time grow a treasury.\n\nThere are also plenty of examples of peaces that last longer than tw... | null |
fvbxhi | What happened to German and Italian volunteers in the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War after they were disbanded in 1938? | [
{
"answer": "I gave a relatively brief answer to this [here](_URL_0_), focusing more on the Germans (for whom I had a relevant source handy). If I get the chance later today, I'll try and expand on it!",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "349... | null |
31qce9 | What (if anything) did Native Americans think lay beyond the Pacific and Atlantic oceans? | [
{
"answer": "The desert people of the American Southwest generally understood the concept of oceans as not being fundamentally different from a large lake or stream. Among the [recorded] creation myths of the O'odham peoples, at least two contain gods or demigods turning small rivers into vast oceans, splitting... | null |
11j8u0 | Is it possible that in the distant future, an organism that exists right now on Earth, will evolve to the point that it can be considered intelligent life? Which animal comes the closest? | [
{
"answer": " > Is it possible that in the distant future, an organism that exists right now on Earth, will evolve to the point that it can be considered intelligent life?\n\nYes, it's possible, but by no means is it a sure thing. Evolution doesn't have a goal in mind, nor does it have specific end points that... | null |
1qfda2 | How much can you learn from someone's genome? | [
{
"answer": "Well this is fun, we literally just covered this kind of stuff in my advanced molecular biology course.\n\nYour genome will contain variation depending on genetics that has been passed down from your parents. You may be homozygous for 11 copies of a short-tandem repeat (STR, 2-3 'letters' repeated... | null |
3s6g1h | why are hispanics included as whites in statistical polls instead of being considered their own independent demographic like blacks or native americans? | [
{
"answer": "Hispanic is not a race. It's an ethnicity. There are white Hispanics, black Hispanics, Native American Hispanics, and even Asian Hispanics.\n\n",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "White is an ever shifting definition. It wasn't that long ago that Irish, Italians, Eastern Europeans an... | null |
3lv8jv | what causes "flashing lights", or blurry vision after strenuous physical activity? | [
{
"answer": "**NOTE**: I am not a medical doctor, and this is not a diagnosis; just the best attempt I can at explaining it.\n\nIt's likely caused by the gel inside of his eyes rubbing on or pulling at the retina. If he stood up after a car ride, it can cause a change in blood pressure as well, which would lead... | null |
1rwxa7 | if an ambulance on its way to a call witnesses an accident, what do they do? | [
{
"answer": "It depends on the severity of the accident compared to the severity of the call they're en route to. If they see a horrible car wreck, and they're on a call for a broken bone, they'll stop for the wreck and radio in to let the dispatcher know to send out a new ambulance for the initial call. Howe... | null |
272ed8 | how do i know that i don't have depth perception? | [
{
"answer": "Sure, if you've never experienced true binocularity (brain fusing each eye's image into one that is 3D), you might not realize you don't have it. It's possible to develop that skill so long as both eyes are physically intact and functional and so is your brain. Neuroscience ftw!\n\n A book that dis... | null |
8oarq7 | since oil & water don't mix, how are essential oil soaks helpful? | [
{
"answer": "As far as I know there is no scientific proof that essential oils work anyway, but yes your skin can only absorb so much.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Essential oils are worthless for everything but smelling good anyway, so adding water certainly doesn't improve anything",
... | null |
75t27i | if a nuclear bomb is dropped on other nuclear bombs that are idle on the ground, will it create a double explosion or do these weapons need to become 'activated' in order for them to be able to detonate? | [
{
"answer": "a nuclear device functions by joining two or more chunks of radioactive material with explosive force together attaining a critical sustainable mass. A nuke dropped on nukes would not trigger this....the grounded nukes could only, theoretically, add to the radioactive fallout as their unspent nucle... | null |
7wy34p | why do bottles of liquid have a dent/semi circle at the bottom of them? | [
{
"answer": "Its to make the plastic stronger. Without it they would have to add much more plastic to make it stable, which is more expensive. The bottle wouldn't explode, but it would cause the thinner areas to sag and deform. That would increase the chance of it bursting apart when force is applied. But with ... | null |
5by6yg | the dow futures is reported to have dropped 700 points already. what does that mean for retirement funds, the market in general, etc...? | [
{
"answer": "It means that Mr. Market is scared, and the future looks really bleak. \n\nThe market believes a recession or worse is coming and that for the foreseeable future, things in an economic sense look bad. \n\nRetirement funds are based heavily on the stock market (not entirely) which will go down corre... | null |
1nfs65 | During the Cold War period, was Able Archer and The Cuban Missle Crisis the peak of tensions? | [
{
"answer": "I would see a distinct difference between \"peak of tensions\" and \"closest we came to a nuclear exchange.\" The Berlin crisis of 1948 was potentially a higher \"peak of tensions\" than Able Archer 83, but because the nuclear situation was only one-sided, it is not cited as a \"close call.\" I wou... | null |
3cnjdg | what's in artificial food coloring that makes it so toxic to consume? | [
{
"answer": "Food coloring is not considered toxic by most people. From Google:\n\n > \n > \n > While red dye #2 was subsequently banned from products sold in the United States, many health-conscious consumers continue to avoid foods with other artificial colors or dyes — **even though the U.S. Food and Drug A... | null |
65gxj9 | why does it feel like your stomach drops when your adrenaline kicks in? | [
{
"answer": "It's related to the fight-or-flight response. Your body prioritizes your extremities and blood is drawn away from \"non-essentials\" such as the digestive system. This leads to that uneasy stomach feeling you get.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
33eu1y | what happens to someone convicted of a felony that is going to die soon? | [
{
"answer": "There are Hospitals/infirmaries in prisons. They'd likely just spend their final time in there.\n\nOr they might just be put in with the general population if they don't need constant medical care.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "They still go to prison, there was a nazi war crimin... | null |
3imr6u | Why can a person safely receive platelets donated by anyone, but can only receive a particular type of whole blood? | [
{
"answer": "Platelets don't have antigens (the things antibodies recognize) on them. What might be a good way to remember this is that they're not made from red blood cells where the ABO blood group antigens are, they're shed from cells in the bone marrow called megakaryocytes. \n\nThat's not to say platelets ... | null |
41k6y7 | why don't people get tolerance from orgasms like they do from drugs? | [
{
"answer": "Well you can. Masturbate everyday, and compare it to not masturbating for a month. You do build up a tolerance if you will. It's less intense.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "I can confirm this too, from exhaustive experimenting. Then more frequent you repeat it, the smaller a kick... | null |
230tie | Is the shield wall fighting depicted on the show "Vikings" historically accurate? | [
{
"answer": "Awesome thank you. I checked the FAQ and totally missed it.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "277246",
"title": "Schiltron",
"section": "Section::::Etymology.\n",
"start_paragraph_id": 3,
"start... | null |
db5xd6 | what is the difference between inches, millimeters and caliber when talking about guns? | [
{
"answer": "Caliber is a measure of the internal diameter of a gun barrel. Inches are an SAE unit, and millimeters are a metric unit. Either can be used to describe the caliber, based on the manufacturer's preference.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Oh boy, this one is a rabbit hole because th... | null |
ca8tzl | why is hydrogen so common on earth and helium quite rare? | [
{
"answer": "Hydrogen is highly reactive, it bonds to oxygen, forming water. Water is quite dense, even as a vapor, and is therefore quite durable in the atmosphere.\n\nHelium is a noble gas and nearly perfectly inert. Being unbound to any heavier elements, it quickly rises to the top of the atmosphere and is l... | null |
pmni3 | Why do the Russian scientists have to wait till December to study the water they took from Lake Vostok? (Lake under Antartica) | [
{
"answer": "Vostok Station is one of the most [inhospitable places for humans to work](_URL_0_). December is the Antarctic summer, so the weather will be better, temperatures warmer, and up to 24 hours of daylight.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wiki... | null |
1cpgy5 | I hear a lot about rape from the Red Army in Berlin during WWII. Did the German army (and SS) rape women too? If so, why isn't it talked about as much? | [
{
"answer": "Yes, there was definitely rape committed by the Wehrmacht/SS. This is from Timothy Snyder's *Bloodlands*: \n > [The Wehrmacht] would also rape Jewish women, casually, as though this were not an offense for which they could be punished. When they were caught, they were reminded of German laws agains... | null |
3ioidq | Do different types of wood have different specific heats? | [
{
"answer": "Wood in general is a very complicated material. The specific heat of any particular piece of wood is going to be dominated by the amount of water in that wood. So it can vary significantly not only from species to species but also within species according to what treatment, if any, the wood has u... | null |
7a7jmi | why is the greek language used in science so much? | [
{
"answer": "The Greeks in antiquity did a *lot* of science, and we kept a lot of their words for things. I've said more than once in my anatomy class that “if it's not Latin, it's Greek.” To stay on topic, Greek has a lot more words in biology and physics (including those words), and Latin is more for chemical... | null |
1ukppx | Just finished watching "12 Years a Slave": Was life for slaves in the southern U.S. during the 1800's really as bad as these movies depict? What was the average life like for an average slave on an average plantation? | [
{
"answer": "I wrote a report on slave narratives. I read Frederick Douglas', Harriet Jacob's and W.E.B. DuBois (although DuBois was not a slave himself). Not every slave owner was cruel to their slaves. Although there was a stigma of a man that wasn't stern with his slaves, as the community would think that he... | null |
5resu2 | why does sunset time sometimes decrease or increase by 2 minutes instead of 1? | [
{
"answer": "Daylight time changes vary by latitude; in July the North pole experiences 24 hours of daylight while in December it experiences 0, so there must be a change of at least 24 hours daylight time in 180 days, which turns out to average about 8 minutes a day change. At the equator no change is perceiv... | null |
3ph28l | why do humans have fetishes and animals appear to do not? | [
{
"answer": "Let me disect your question.\n\nWhat is a fetish? Whoever you ask, be it a psychologist, a biologist or a sociologist, you probably will in detail receive very different answers.\nHowever, they will most likely all have one thing in common:\n\nSexual behaviour outside the norm.\n\nThe differences w... | null |
7o45zk | Can you transmit the flu through semen? What about sweat? | [
{
"answer": "It is primarily an infection involving the upper respiratory tract. The virus is primarily shed through coughing/sneezing. The likelihood of semen or sweat containing the virus is low and unless those fluids are inhaled it wouldn't cause an infection. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer"... | null |
2qrl9b | Why are pipe organs used to play songs or jingles at hockey games? | [
{
"answer": "For the same reason that they're used (or used to be used) at baseball games: volume. Even a small hockey stadium is a huge place, filled with screaming fans, and the pipe organ has the oomph to be heard in that environment.\n\nNowadays, most use \"electronic pipe organs.\" The one in Chicago's U... | null |
efpfyw | What was the Roman Empire's opinion of the crusades, and how did they feel about the outcomes? | [
{
"answer": "I'm not well versed on their reaction to all of the Crusades, but their opinion of the First Crusade was initially very positive. Emperor Alexius had extracted oaths of loyalty from the prominent Crusader leaders, and promises to restore reconquered territory in Anatolia to the Romans, and this is ... | null |
6szlkx | how are you assigned to classes in college? | [
{
"answer": "You'll talk to an advisor who will give you a schedule based on the program you are enrolling in. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "11177803",
"title": "CU Online",
"section": "Section::::Assignments.\n",
... | null |
9535js | why does throwing an extremely light object, for example a golf ball, strain the arm as opposed to a baseball that is relative in mass? | [
{
"answer": "The same reason you should never dry fire a bow (shooting a bow without an arrow in place). If there is no arrow to transfer the energy of the pulled bowstring, all of that energy will go into the bow itself and can damage or shatter the bow.\n\nYour arm functions the same way as a bow: transfering... | null |
10p2r8 | Why is there so much Carbon-14 in these fossils? | [
{
"answer": "That's quite a lot to read over for so little potential gain. Could you be more specific?",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "There's a lot of crap on that page.\n\nFirst, carbon dating doesn't work for things like dinosaur fossils. They're too old.\n\nThe number 22,380 has no referen... | null |
4tob1b | As the needle approaches the centre of a record, its speed increases, right? Are the grooves cut differently towards the middle of a record to account for this? | [
{
"answer": "The grooves aren't intentionally cut differently, but the wavelength representation is longer near the edge compared to the center because the speed of the track increases from the center to the edge. Since the grooves are cut directly into the recording material, no external adjustment is necessar... | null |
7pw6gm | How was the East India Company able to maintain rule over the massive subcontinent for over 100 years? Was it stable? Was it more than a loose administration? How much indigenous resistance was there? Did this change under direct British rule? | [
{
"answer": "While there were a numerous way in which the English East India company were able to maintain control over their massive Indian territory , I will cover some important ways in which they exerted control :\n\n#**Part 1**\n\n#**Control over the rulers**\n\nOne of the important pillars of power of com... | null |
2p89e4 | In a chemical reaction, if the product has a lower energy than the reactant, why doesn't all reactant convert to product? | [
{
"answer": "Reactions have an [activation energy](_URL_0_) associated that acts as a barrier from all reactants rapidly and spontaneously turning into products. That is, there requires some extra energy put into the reaction before it can proceed. Commonly this is heat energy - hence reactions occurring faster... | null |
60avpy | Why is there such a thing as "critical mass" for a radioactive material? Why couldn't the chain reaction sustain itself with less mass than the critical amount? How is this mass calculated? | [
{
"answer": "The reason for the chain reaction in the first place, is a chance for a neutron emitted by an atom to hit another atom. This event in turn emits even more neutrons. If those manage to hit an atom, the chain will continue.\n\nCritical mass ensures that emitted neutrons do not just miss everything an... | null |
5uk349 | how do hackers hack a web cam? | [
{
"answer": "Generally speaking, they don't. The public Webcam feeds you can find online are usually there because of shit security settings on peoples' networks and computers.\n\nIf someone had the skills to rewrite or modify the webcam driver file, it would be pretty easy to change the settings to not turn o... | null |
35ej48 | Do Historians studying Colonial America *need* to be fluent in Native American Languages? | [
{
"answer": "Probably not. Many of the indigenous languages at that point were only spoken languages and were not written, which is why you aren't finding many, if any, sources in an indigenous language. You should be fine if you focus on one of the European languages (French or Spanish if you are studying an... | null |
144z2t | Will Solar Energy Ever Surpass the Efficiency of Fossil Fuels and Will it be a Viable Source of Energy for the Future? | [
{
"answer": "You're comparing apples to oranges. You can't/shouldn't compare efficiency across different methods of extracting energy. What you should care about is dollar pr watt hour. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The major problem with solar is it only works about 8-12 hours a day. Then n... | null |
3bn75c | why do marathoners and triathletes tend to have small body frames? | [
{
"answer": "Most body frames (skeletons) are very similar, and most \"shape\" comes from fat or muscle on those bones.\n\nThe heavier you are, the more work you have to do. It's easier to move 150 pounds 100 feet than 200 pounds 100 feet.\n\nRunning results in injury to heavier people more often. Joints stan... | null |
3oux22 | How is the primality of extremely large numbers tested/proven? | [
{
"answer": "This probably isn't exactly how they do it computationally, but intuitively you could do this:\n\nEvery number can be uniquely factored into primes, i.e. 10 = 2*5, 28 = 2^2*7, etc. \n\nIf a number is prime it only has one factor, itself. If a number is composite, it is made of of 2 or more prime fa... | null |
kb7n7 | Is MDMA really harmless? | [
{
"answer": "One of the problems you'll note when reviewing literature on MDMA is the recent influx of research on MDMA assisted psychotherapy. This research tends to be biased towards showing the safety of the substance, and it's making it harder and harder for unbiased research to make clear conclusions abou... | null |
fs4px3 | what is economic contagion? | [
{
"answer": "Without bringing current events into it:\n\nAn \"economic contagion\" or \"financial contagion\" is the idea that effects in the economy - particularly bad ones - have a way of spreading from one market to another.\n\nA \"market\" can be an industry - for instance, if the housing industry sees fewe... | null |
25psxq | Why is there such a hard cut-off in the glacial lakes in Canada and northern US? | [
{
"answer": "It has to do with comparing the previously glaciated terrane with areas which were not (or minimally) glaciated. The lake-rich northern terranes are underlain by glacial sediments. These typically include large proportions of poorly sorted material (such as till) as well as glacio-lacustrine clays,... | null |
2c16kp | How can fish swim their entire lives? | [
{
"answer": "How do you breath all your life? Your diaphragm muscles must surely tire of pulling air in all the time, if you spend all your life breathing. Or your heart, which pumps blood nonstop your whole life.\n\nSome muscles don't tire because they can't. They're too important.",
"provenance": null
}... | null |
3j5hm7 | What role did pike phalanxes play in late 16th and 17th century warfare? | [
{
"answer": "By the time period in question, the pike blocks [(*not* phalanxes)](_URL_0_) have taken further and further secondary roles to shot/firearm troops. \n\nIn the early 16th century, the shot troops are there to support friendly pike blocks and harass enemy pike blocks when contact is made. By the 17th... | null |
3tu0f3 | how someone like marvel can copyright something like thor and loki? | [
{
"answer": "They can't. What they can do is copyright their portrayal of them, so if you write a story or draw cartoons about one of them which is so close as to be mistaken by the man in the street for their version, then they'll jump on you.\n\nOf course, they might well try anyway, which is enough to put ma... | null |
216k2t | appears to be water on the road ahead. | [
{
"answer": "It's a mirage. \n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
"wikipedia_id": "140458",
"title": "Drachten",
"section": "Section::::Culture.:Art project \"Water is Life\".\n",
"start_paragraph_id": 22,
"start_cha... | null |
ikjza | If deaf people put their fingers against the diaphragm on a speaker, could they "feel" the music? | [
{
"answer": "Deaf people actually dance to music. Anyone can feel the music, especially if it is very bass heavy, without touching a speaker. \n\nOne of the best concerts I've been to had an amazing sound engineer and you could feel everything. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provena... | null |
43769n | why do only some animals have recreational sex, while other animals only have sex purely with the intent of reproduction? | [
{
"answer": "There are several factors, the main ones that come to mind are that the animals are more advanced and therefore can understand pleasure, while more \"simple\" creatures only know mating, feeding, dying. Secondly, some organisms do not experience orgasms, so sex is not a pleasurable experience even ... | null |
hu6z3 | Is it really possible to colonize other planets considering the laws of special/general relativity? | [
{
"answer": "It's not as crazy as you imagine. The entirety of human civilization is a small place today, it takes mere hours (or sometimes minutes) to travel to the other side of the planet, and it takes mere milliseconds for messages to travel around the world. But it wasn't always that way. For much of human... | null |
e7ptdq | why don’t all phone services send texts over the internet (like apple’s imessage does)? | [
{
"answer": "The short answer is that they don't because they didn't originally.\n\n*Short Message Service*-messages, as they are called in the GSM standard among other more recent standards, is a technical feature offered in the communication protocol used to communicate to and from the phones.\n\nInternet tra... | null |
2vmvdt | Did fighting cease at night during the Battle of Stalingrad, or did soldiers fight 24 hours a day? | [
{
"answer": "Since I would imagine fighting never stopped and only slowed , I would like to ask an additional question. Did either the Russians or German troops have any tools to aid in thier night vision? I always hear about the Japanese Navy having great night optics but did generals or armies have access to ... | null |
1zlnw6 | Why does water form the shape it does when poured? | [
{
"answer": "The shape is dependent on a lot of things. Some are properties of the water itself like viscosity, density, and surface tension. Some are properties of the environment like gravity, density/viscosity of the air you are pouring into. Some are properties of the way you actually pour the water like th... | null |
2f9qyi | If island chains like Hawai'i were formed by the continuous movement of a plate over a magma plume in the mantle, why do they take the form of separate islands rather than a continuous ridge? | [
{
"answer": "Easy. Because the volcanoes do not put out magma (which forms the islands) at the same, consistent rate that the plate is moving. Kilhuea is erupting steadily right now, but that's after a long lull in activity. The eruptions go in all directions as well, changing from eruption to eruption. But for... | null |
364ctn | why do brownie corners taste better than brownie centers? | [
{
"answer": "Brownie center lovers are going to debate you on this, but the reason is because the brownie edges simply taste different due to a process called a [maillard reaction](_URL_0_).",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Off topic, but who would want that shriveled up crunch edge? I'd much ra... | null |
1pt58w | what is the difference between gdp and ppp? | [
{
"answer": "GDP is the gross domestic product, the total output of the entire nation's industries and workers. Sometimes they list this as \"GDP per capita\" which means how much each person would contribute to that total if it were divided equally.\n\nPPP is purchasing power parity, it's a determination of ho... | null |
eow4ic | In curling, how do sweepers influence the path of the rock? | [
{
"answer": "The ice has little bumps on it. Sweeping away the bumps to smooth the ice allows the stone to speed up on the left or right side therefore making essentially different drag on the left or right causing it to turn.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": null,
"provenance": [
{
... | null |
24hyyj | why do stores, businesses, buildings play music? | [
{
"answer": "i don't know about other buildings, but i know that grocery stores will play slow music because you slow down while browsing the aisles with slow music, thus giving you a higher chance to buy something.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "Have you ever been in a department store when t... | null |
1hi562 | Homophobic slurs in turn-of-the-century/WWI Britain? | [
{
"answer": "Just to clarify, in the TV show Deadwood, the profanity was anachronistic (in other words, no \"cocksucka\"). The show creator chose to go this route because he felt using period-appropriate slang would have sounded silly rather than profane.\n\n_URL_0_",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer... | null |
4rrkbu | why does food microwaved in commercial kitchens turn out much better than what someone can do at home? | [
{
"answer": "It actually has nothing to do with the tech. You use normal microwaves in a commercial kitchen - it's entirely up to the quality of the food. Your meal would have been prepared that day (or immediately - not everything is nuked!) by someone who knows what they're doing, with OTHER expensive tech. T... | null |
2zrmeb | with plea bargaining, why is it not acceptable to pressure someone to forego their right to a lawyer for a better sentence, but it is acceptable to pressure someone into foregoing their right to a trial? | [
{
"answer": "Because the lawyer can tell you what are and are not reasonable offers, and not having the lawyer present will never benefit the suspect. Forgoing a trial benefits both the justice system by avoiding a timely, costly, and pointless procedure (assuming there's clear evidence of guilt), while the sus... | null |
bo0yt5 | so i've been wondering, if the ocean water gets affected by the full moon, does human also get affected (maybe just the slightest) since we are consisted of water? | [
{
"answer": "Yes you are, not because you're made of water because you have a mass in general. So if you weight yourself on a super precise scale when the moon is straight up in the sky you will be (slightly) lighter than if you weight yourself when the moon is on the opposite position. But that effect is soooo... | null |
1jsssx | How big were vegetables 2,000 years ago? | [
{
"answer": "I don't know about 2000 years ago but the size of vegetables sold to consumers has certainly increased significantly over the last century. One reason for this is crop breeding for increasing fruit weight, and this has been successful for pretty much everything you'll find in a supermarket. The oth... | null |
3u6z3m | Was the fear of communists in the US mostly about the military threat, or the fear of the idea and it leading to a revolution from within? | [
{
"answer": "There were many periods of anti-communist sentiment in the United States, each having its own set of domestic and international issues. Many consider the 1930s to be the \"heyday\" of American Communism (see [Harvey Klehr's book](_URL_0_)) because that's when the US was closest to revolution (due t... | null |
28qfjj | Did medieval cities have street names?/ How did people in urban areas tell each other where they lived? | [
{
"answer": "hi! feedback on street naming in medieval Europe is welcome, but meanwhile, you might be interested in a couple of posts that discuss other times/places without street names, to get an idea of how it works:\n\n[Did streets in Rome use street numbers during the Republic and/or Empire period?](_URL_1... | null |
4zb3d1 | In Classical-age Europe, how pervasive was the ability to speak Greek? | [
{
"answer": "The flaw in your premise is asking about Europe, when your question is about Judea.\n\nPretty much west of the Balkans, Latin was the dominant language of the Roman empire, though Greek was very prevalent among educated Romans and among the upper classes diglossia (switching between two languages t... | null |
3he26n | when watching shows set in earlier centuries, the "lords" or "estate owners" always seem to be lounging all day or attending balls. where was their wealth coming from that they didn't have to work at all? | [
{
"answer": "If they owned land, and there was something valuable being produced on that land, then they'd get the money from said stuff being produced. It's also worth noting that not all nobility/aristocrats were rich. Some had high titles, but were relatively poor. Back in feudal and mercantile Europe, ones ... | null |
2bntss | why does everything seem to be so much smaller than it was millions of years ago? | [
{
"answer": "Oxygen! The atmosphere contained different levels of oxygen than it did millions of years ago. The more oxygen present the bigger life forms our Earth can support. Animals evolved to adapt to the levels of oxygen, along with other things, in order to be best suited for the environment. Natural sele... | null |
xgn64 | What would be the critical mass a black hole would need to be to consume our planet? | [
{
"answer": "Here is my first stab at an answer. As I note below I don't think it's the right answer, but it should give you an idea of how we might go about calculating this.\n\nThe power a black hole puts out from [Hawking radiation](_URL_0_) is inversely proportional to its mass squared. For my simple calc... | null |
1444hk | Weird question. Does a wine drunk have a different effect on your emotions? [neuroscience]? | [
{
"answer": "Consumption of alcohol inhibits the parts of your brain that send alarm signals when you're about to do something stupid (the amygdala complex, if I recall correctly). You're perfectly aware of what you're doing. You may even be able to figure out that it's a dumb thing to do, but the signals tha... | null |
x8oq8 | /r/shitredditsays. i don't get that subreddit. can someone please explain to me what the fuck is going on there? | [
{
"answer": "They read the Wiki for [Poe's Law](_URL_0_), then cranked the retard full blast and created a subreddit to record the progress.\n\nThe experiment is ongoing.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "As far as I can tell it's just an endless series of in-jokes made by 'indier-than-thou' base... | null |
1w7ei1 | I have a few questions regarding colonial-era naval battles. | [
{
"answer": "The image which you attach is of the battle between the USS Wasp and HMS Reindeer in the War of 1812.\n\nLike most naval battles, this was fought near land (in the approaches to the English Channel) rather than in the middle of the sea. It is hard to find enemy ships (or fleets) in the vast reache... | null |
4af15w | what's the big deal about the leicester city soccer team? | [
{
"answer": "Leicester City were promoted to the EPL in 2014. They've generally been considered a lesser team, having been relegated several times and rarely have competed with the more established teams of the EPL.\n\nAlso, the EPL has traditionally been dominated by the likes of the big spending clubs such as... | null |
6ivfui | Can you make electricity from radio waves? | [
{
"answer": "Antennas are devices that turn radio waves into electrical power (or vice versa). It is possible to harvest energy from ambient electromagnetic radiation, but the amount of power you get is fairly low, usually on the order of a few milliwatts, which can be used to power small electrical devices. ",... | null |
drzr5f | How did people "optimise" crops for better yields in ancient civilizations or in the middle ages? | [
{
"answer": "Interestingly enough, this question coincides with “How was the cow domesticated?”\n\nA little bit of context, the cow (aurochs) before domestication was an absolute brute. They were violent beasts much larger than humans and much larger than the modern cow. So how the heck did it get domesticated?... | null |
z9c7e | Physical interpretation of impedance | [
{
"answer": "Let's consider an RC circuit, with a sinusoidal current. As current flows in one direction, charge will be accumulating on the \"front\" side of the capacitor, while when current flows in the opposite direction, charge will flow off the \"front\" and onto the \"back\" side of the capacitor. Let's... | null |
2ldlbq | how did marijuana suddenly become legal in 3 states? why is there such a sudden change in sentiment? | [
{
"answer": "baby boomers' kids grew up already so they don't have to worry about them trying pot when they were younger",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It hasn't been sudden, it just hasn't been covered, really. The media would rather see Amanda Bynes' tweet than listen to news anchors try to ... | null |
27uz9i | how do plants avoid pollinating themselves? | [
{
"answer": "There are multiple techniques to avoid this. \n\nThe first one that comes to mind is only activating one gamete at a time. A plant may choose to do it in 6 month cycles, say 6 months of pollen release with stigma closed and then 6 months of stigma open with pollen not being released (in actual fact... | null |
88418n | how come some liquids(like milk) can be held in paper cartons, and some can not(like toothpaste)? | [
{
"answer": "Toothpaste isn't a liquid. It's a paste. And the easiest way to dispense a thicker substance like that is in a tube you can squeeze. Also, nobody needs a 1L carton of toothpaste. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "The paper in cartons has a plastic coating on it. It used to be wax.\n... | null |
ewobou | why dont metals compound with each other | [
{
"answer": "A compound is a substance where one part gives electrons and the other part takes them (this is very simplified).\n \nMetals tend to give them up and non-metals want to take them. \n \nSo two metals both have extra electrons and they do not want to take more.\n \nThe reason is that when the ele... | null |
2p3hvc | how does face paint, such as that used by quarterbacks, help block the sun? | [
{
"answer": "It doesn't exactly \"block\" anything.\n\nWhat it does is it darkens the reflection of light off your own face into your eyes. If you're looking into sunlight, the brightness of your own cheekbones below your eyes causes glare that can be distracting. It sounds absurd, \"glare off my own face? W... | null |
1tomsr | Can someone describe with good detail how exactly the sacking of a major city by Roman troops would occur? | [
{
"answer": "This is a pretty broad question and there is no hard and fast rule for every aspect of your question. One of the chief concerns for a Roman soldier was booty, particularly during the Republican when such booty would make up the majority of their pay during their soldierly career. The types of depri... | null |
6x4s09 | why does it feel good to soak in a hot tub or a hot bath when we are sore? | [
{
"answer": "The heat relaxes your muscles. When you're sore your muscles are cramped, stiff and or sensitive. The heat counteracts those symptoms. Often you don't even realize that some of your muscles are cramped until you take a bath. \n\nI found this really nice article about it; [_URL_0_](_URL_0_) ",
"... | null |
47fw5g | why does the usa allow harmful chemicals, preservatives, and dyes in our food (and health care products) which are otherwise banned in other countries? | [
{
"answer": "Because we have determined that they are not harmful enough to bother with banning them. Those other countries are being overly paranoid and controlling of their citizens in our opinion. ",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It has not been proven that they present a serious risk or ser... | null |
4usx5s | Why did Standard Oil continue to drop prices as their monopoly went on? | [
{
"answer": "I didn't know that happened. I do know that Standard Oil took a huge advantage in economies of scale and scope, that allowed it to drastically lower its cost compared to potential competitors. If Standard Oil did drop prices as you claim, then they valued market share over pricing in order to maxim... | null |
1cl5w6 | ruby ridge incident. | [
{
"answer": "Do you have a specific question? \n\nIf not I would direct you to the overall pretty decent wikipedia article. \n\n_URL_0_\n\nThe short version is that the federal government had a sniper shoot people who were not threatening anyone and did not even know the feds were there, including a child and ... | null |
w3kes | How common is cannibalism among animals? | [
{
"answer": "[Searched](_URL_2_)\n\nRelevant [discussion](_URL_4_)\n\nOriginal question by [negativefps](_URL_1_)\n\n > What exactly detracts humans and other animals from cannibalism?\n\nRelevant comment courtesy [smalrebelion](_URL_0_)\n\n > This. Members of the same species share almost identical immune syst... | null |
1aeyap | why was jfk assassinated? | [
{
"answer": "Oswald denied ever shooting Kennedy, so he obviously never gave an explanation. It's likely though that it could have been politically motivated, he was pretty militant about Communism. It's also possible that a major factor was him just wanting attention. He defected to the USSR at one point bu... | null |
blf4ye | What makes Jupiter's giant red spot red? | [
{
"answer": "No one knows for sure, but it is likely to do with the photochemical production of chemical compounds that absorb visible light inside the spot. \n\nA kind of similar phenomenon occurs on Earth inside the polar vortex, in OClO is produced in high quantities (normally not really present measurably i... | null |
jbuie | Does it take more energy to heat water from 10°C to 20°, than it does to heat water from 80° to 90°? | [
{
"answer": "No, liquids and solids have almost* constant [heat capacities](_URL_0_). It takes almost exactly the same amount of energy.",
"provenance": null
},
{
"answer": "It would take more energy to heat from 80, all else being equal, because the rate it heat loss to the environment (room temp o... | null |
b0m3k2 | How do the rovers get there directional heading on Mars? | [
{
"answer": "[_URL_0_](_URL_0_) – I don't have an account to read the full article, but the preview suggests that navigation is mainly done by physical landmarks. For coarse positioning and direction, you'd use the angle from the rover to larger hills and craters that you can match to satellite photos of the ar... | null |
1mnsvi | What would a standard English soldier during the late 1300s be composed of? | [
{
"answer": "Some mail would have been in use. Much would have already shifted to plate harnesses. Since you didn't specify, I'm going to cover basics, using manuscript illustrations for reference, [sourced from here](_URL_1_)\n\n[BL Yates Thompson 35 La chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin, dated 1380-1392](_URL_... | null |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.