nc33/MultiSpan_SQUAD huggingface dataset:
Geography_of_the_United_States

The West Coast of the continental United States and areas of Alaska (including the Aleutian Islands, the Alaskan Peninsula and southern Alaskan coast) make up part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of heavy tectonic and volcanic activity that is the source of 90% of the world's earthquakes.[citation needed] The American Northwest sees the highest concentration of active volcanoes in the United States, in Washington, Oregon and northern California along the Cascade Mountains. There are several active volcanoes located in the islands of Hawaii, including Kilauea in ongoing eruption since 1983, but they do not typically adversely affect the inhabitants of the islands. There has not been a major life-threatening eruption on the Hawaiian islands since the 17th century. Volcanic eruptions can occasionally be devastating, such as in the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington.

Question: What is the area in the pacific known for heavy volcanic activity?
Answer: Pacific Ring of Fire

Question: Which Hawaiin volcano has been erupting since 1983?
Answer: Kilauea

Question: The Pacific Ring of Fire contains what percentage of the earthquakes on Earth?
Answer: 90%

Question: When was the last time that the Hawaiin islands experienced a life threatening volcanic eruption?
Answer: 17th century

Question: What year did Mt St. Helens erupt causing devastating damage?
Answer: 1980
Compact_disc

Compact Disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format. The format was originally developed to store and play only sound recordings but was later adapted for storage of data (CD-ROM). Several other formats were further derived from these, including write-once audio and data storage (CD-R), rewritable media (CD-RW), Video Compact Disc (VCD), Super Video Compact Disc (SVCD), Photo CD, PictureCD, CD-i, and Enhanced Music CD. Audio CDs and audio CD players have been commercially available since October 1982.

Question: When did Audio CDs become available for purchase?
Answer: 1982

Question: What does CD stand for?
Answer: Compact Disc

Question: What does SVCD stand for?
Answer: Super Video Compact Disc

Question: What were CD's originally created to store?
Answer: sound recordings

Question: What does SVCD stand for?
Answer: Super Video Compact Disc

Question: In what year were compact discs realesed for purchase?
Answer: 1982

Question: What was the original intended format for CDs?
Answer: data storage
Compact_disc

In 2004, worldwide sales of audio CDs, CD-ROMs and CD-Rs reached about 30 billion discs. By 2007, 200 billion CDs had been sold worldwide. CDs are increasingly being replaced by other forms of digital storage and distribution, with the result that audio CD sales rates in the U.S. have dropped about 50% from their peak; however, they remain one of the primary distribution methods for the music industry. In 2014, revenues from digital music services matched those from physical format sales for the first time.

Question: In what year were digital and physical music sales the same?
Answer: 2014

Question: How many CDs had been distrubuted worldwide by 2007?
Answer: 200 billion

Question: In 2004 how many CDs had been sold around the world?
Answer: 2004

Question: What percent decrease did audio CD sales experience?
Answer: 50%

Question: What has caused a decrease in CD sales?
Answer: other forms of digital storage and distribution

Question: In 2004 how many CDs had been sold around the world?
Answer: 30 billion

Question: How many CDs had been distrubuted around the world by 2007?
Answer: 200 billion

Question: What has caused a decrease in CD sales?
Answer: other forms of digital storage
Compact_disc

The Compact Disc is an evolution of LaserDisc technology, where a focused laser beam is used that enables the high information density required for high-quality digital audio signals. Prototypes were developed by Philips and Sony independently in the late 1970s. In 1979, Sony and Philips set up a joint task force of engineers to design a new digital audio disc. After a year of experimentation and discussion, the Red Book CD-DA standard was published in 1980. After their commercial release in 1982, compact discs and their players were extremely popular. Despite costing up to $1,000, over 400,000 CD players were sold in the United States between 1983 and 1984. The success of the compact disc has been credited to the cooperation between Philips and Sony, who came together to agree upon and develop compatible hardware. The unified design of the compact disc allowed consumers to purchase any disc or player from any company, and allowed the CD to dominate the at-home music market unchallenged.

Question: Who created Compact Disc prototypes in the 1970s?
Answer: Philips and Sony

Question: How lond did the creation of Red Book CD-DA standard take?
Answer: a year

Question: To what does the compact disc owe its prosperity?
Answer: the cooperation between Philips and Sony

Question: How many CD players were sold in the United States in their first year?
Answer: 400,000

Question: What did the CD evolve from?
Answer: LaserDisc

Question: What made it possible for CDs to be played on any companies CD player?
Answer: unified design

Question: What year did CD players become available for purchase?
Answer: 1982

Question: To what does the compact disc owe its prosperity?
Answer: cooperation between Philips and Sony
Compact_disc

In 1974, L. Ottens, director of the audio division of Philips, started a small group with the aim to develop an analog optical audio disc with a diameter of 20 cm and a sound quality superior to that of the vinyl record. However, due to the unsatisfactory performance of the analog format, two Philips research engineers recommended a digital format in March 1974. In 1977, Philips then established a laboratory with the mission of creating a digital audio disc. The diameter of Philips's prototype compact disc was set at 11.5 cm, the diagonal of an audio cassette.

Question: In what year did Philips institute a laboratory to create a digital audio disc?
Answer: 1977

Question: What was the proposed diameter for the original compact disc?
Answer: 11.5 cm

Question: What year did Philips propse the idea of a digital audio format?
Answer: 1974

Question: Who was the director of the Philips audio division in 1974?
Answer: L. Ottens
Compact_disc

Heitaro Nakajima, who developed an early digital audio recorder within Japan's national public broadcasting organization NHK in 1970, became general manager of Sony's audio department in 1971. His team developed a digital PCM adaptor audio tape recorder using a Betamax video recorder in 1973. After this, in 1974 the leap to storing digital audio on an optical disc was easily made. Sony first publicly demonstrated an optical digital audio disc in September 1976. A year later, in September 1977, Sony showed the press a 30 cm disc that could play 60 minutes of digital audio (44,100 Hz sampling rate and 16-bit resolution) using MFM modulation. In September 1978, the company demonstrated an optical digital audio disc with a 150-minute playing time, 44,056 Hz sampling rate, 16-bit linear resolution, and cross-interleaved error correction code—specifications similar to those later settled upon for the standard Compact Disc format in 1980. Technical details of Sony's digital audio disc were presented during the 62nd AES Convention, held on 13–16 March 1979, in Brussels. Sony's AES technical paper was published on 1 March 1979. A week later, on 8 March, Philips publicly demonstrated a prototype of an optical digital audio disc at a press conference called "Philips Introduce Compact Disc" in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

Question: Where was the 62nd AES Convention held?
Answer: Brussels

Question: Who was the general manger of Sony's audio department in 1971?
Answer: Heitaro Nakajima

Question: What year did Sony first exhibit the use of an optical digital audio disc?
Answer: 1976

Question: What did Nakajima's team use to create a digital PCM adaptor audio tape recorder?
Answer: a Betamax video recorder

Question: Where was the Philips Introduce Compact disc conference held?
Answer: Eindhoven, Netherlands

Question: What did Nakajima's team use to create a digital PCM adaptor audio tape recorder?
Answer: Betamax video recorder

Question: When did Sony release it's AES technical paper?
Answer: 1 March 1979
Compact_disc

As a result, in 1979, Sony and Philips set up a joint task force of engineers to design a new digital audio disc. Led by engineers Kees Schouhamer Immink and Toshitada Doi, the research pushed forward laser and optical disc technology. After a year of experimentation and discussion, the task force produced the Red Book CD-DA standard. First published in 1980, the standard was formally adopted by the IEC as an international standard in 1987, with various amendments becoming part of the standard in 1996.

Question: In what year did Sony and Philips band together to design a new digital audio disc?
Answer: 1979

Question: What year was the Red Book CD-DA standard released?
Answer: 1980

Question: When did the IEC isntigate the Red Book CD-DA as an international standard?
Answer: 1987

Question: Who headed the 1979 Sony and Philips digital audio disc task force?
Answer: Kees Schouhamer Immink and Toshitada Doi
Compact_disc

The Japanese launch was followed in March 1983 by the introduction of CD players and discs to Europe and North America (where CBS Records released sixteen titles). This event is often seen as the "Big Bang" of the digital audio revolution. The new audio disc was enthusiastically received, especially in the early-adopting classical music and audiophile communities, and its handling quality received particular praise. As the price of players gradually came down, and with the introduction of the portable Walkman the CD began to gain popularity in the larger popular and rock music markets. The first artist to sell a million copies on CD was Dire Straits, with their 1985 album Brothers in Arms. The first major artist to have his entire catalogue converted to CD was David Bowie, whose 15 studio albums were made available by RCA Records in February 1985, along with four greatest hits albums. In 1988, 400 million CDs were manufactured by 50 pressing plants around the world.

Question: Who first sold a million copies on CD?
Answer: Dire Straits

Question: Which artist was the first to have their full catalogue converted to CD?
Answer: David Bowie

Question: What year was the Dire Straits album Brothers in Arms released?
Answer: 1985

Question: How many studio albums did David Bowie release in February 1985?
Answer: 15

Question: How many CDs were mass produced in 1988?
Answer: 400 million

Question: How many studio albums did David Bowie release in February 1985?
Answer: 15
Compact_disc

The CD was planned to be the successor of the gramophone record for playing music, rather than primarily as a data storage medium. From its origins as a musical format, CDs have grown to encompass other applications. In 1983, following the CD's introduction, Immink and Braat presented the first experiments with erasable compact discs during the 73rd AES Convention. In June 1985, the computer-readable CD-ROM (read-only memory) and, in 1990, CD-Recordable were introduced, also developed by both Sony and Philips. Recordable CDs were a new alternative to tape for recording music and copying music albums without defects introduced in compression used in other digital recording methods. Other newer video formats such as DVD and Blu-ray use the same physical geometry as CD, and most DVD and Blu-ray players are backward compatible with audio CD.

Question: What does ROM stand for?
Answer: read-only memory

Question: What year did Sony and Philips release CD-Recordable?
Answer: 1990

Question: What was the original intended format for CDs?
Answer: musical format

Question: What year was the 73rd AES Convention?
Answer: 1983

Question: What was the CDs predecessor?
Answer: the gramophone record

Question: What was the CDs predecessor?
Answer: gramophone record
Compact_disc

Meanwhile, with the advent and popularity of Internet-based distribution of files in lossily-compressed audio formats such as MP3, sales of CDs began to decline in the 2000s. For example, between 2000 - 2008, despite overall growth in music sales and one anomalous year of increase, major-label CD sales declined overall by 20%, although independent and DIY music sales may be tracking better according to figures released 30 March 2009, and CDs still continue to sell greatly. As of 2012, CDs and DVDs made up only 34 percent of music sales in the United States. In Japan, however, over 80 percent of music was bought on CDs and other physical formats as of 2015.

Question: When did CD sales experience their original decline?
Answer: the 2000s

Question: What portion of music sales did CDs and DVDs account for in the United States as of 2012?
Answer: 34 percent

Question: Which country attributes over 80 percent of its music sales to physical formats?
Answer: Japan

Question: How are MP3s compressed?
Answer: lossily-compressed

Question: When did CD sales experience their original decline?
Answer: 2000s

Question: What has caused a decrease in CD sales?
Answer: Internet-based distribution of files
Compact_disc

Replicated CDs are mass-produced initially using a hydraulic press. Small granules of heated raw polycarbonate plastic are fed into the press. A screw forces the liquefied plastic into the mold cavity. The mold closes with a metal stamper in contact with the disc surface. The plastic is allowed to cool and harden. Once opened, the disc substrate is removed from the mold by a robotic arm, and a 15 mm diameter center hole (called a stacking ring) is created. The time it takes to "stamp" one CD is usually two to three seconds.

Question: How are CDs mass produced?
Answer: hydraulic press

Question: What type of material is used to make CDs?
Answer: raw polycarbonate plastic

Question: What size is the diameter of the center hole in a CD?
Answer: 15 mm

Question: How long does it take to stamp out one CD?
Answer: two to three seconds

Question: What is the term for the center hole in a CD?
Answer: stacking ring
Compact_disc

This method produces the clear plastic blank part of the disc. After a metallic reflecting layer (usually aluminium, but sometimes gold or other metal) is applied to the clear blank substrate, the disc goes under a UV light for curing and it is ready to go to press. To prepare to press a CD, a glass master is made, using a high-powered laser on a device similar to a CD writer. The glass master is a positive image of the desired CD surface (with the desired microscopic pits and lands). After testing, it is used to make a die by pressing it against a metal disc.

Question: What materials can be used to make the reflective layer on a CD?
Answer: usually aluminium, but sometimes gold or other metal

Question: What type of light is used to cure CDs?
Answer: UV

Question: What is a glass master?
Answer: positive image of the desired CD surface

Question: How are glass masters created?
Answer: high-powered laser
Compact_disc

The die is a negative image of the glass master: typically, several are made, depending on the number of pressing mills that are to make the CD. The die then goes into a press, and the physical image is transferred to the blank CD, leaving a final positive image on the disc. A small amount of lacquer is applied as a ring around the center of the disc, and rapid spinning spreads it evenly over the surface. Edge protection lacquer is applied before the disc is finished. The disc can then be printed and packed.

Question: What is the term for a negative image of the glass master?
Answer: die

Question: How is the positive image on a CD protected? 
Answer: lacquer

Question: How is lacquer distrubted on a CD?
Answer: rapid spinning
Compact_disc

The most expensive part of a CD is the jewel case. In 1995, material costs were 30 cents for the jewel case and 10 to 15 cents for the CD. Wholesale cost of CDs was $0.75 to $1.15, which retailed for $16.98. On average, the store received 35 percent of the retail price, the record company 27 percent, the artist 16 percent, the manufacturer 13 percent, and the distributor 9 percent. When 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, and CDs were introduced, each was marketed at a higher price than the format they succeeded, even though the cost to produce the media was reduced. This was done because the apparent value increased. This continued from vinyl to CDs but was broken when Apple marketed MP3s for $0.99, and albums for $9.99. The incremental cost, though, to produce an MP3 is very small.

Question: What is the priciest component of a CD?
Answer: jewel case

Question: Why did the cost of audio music increase when the production costs decreased?
Answer: value increased

Question: What did CDs retail for in 1995?
Answer: $16.98

Question: Who received the most profit from the sale of CDs?
Answer: the store

Question: How much did a jewel case cost in 1995?
Answer: 30 cents
Compact_disc

CD-R recordings are designed to be permanent. Over time, the dye's physical characteristics may change causing read errors and data loss until the reading device cannot recover with error correction methods. The design life is from 20 to 100 years, depending on the quality of the discs, the quality of the writing drive, and storage conditions. However, testing has demonstrated such degradation of some discs in as little as 18 months under normal storage conditions. This failure is known as disc rot, for which there are several, mostly environmental, reasons.

Question: How long are CDs expected to last?
Answer: 20 to 100 years

Question: What can cause sudden disc degradation?
Answer: disc rot

Question: Are CDs meant for permanent or temporary use?
Answer: permanent
Compact_disc

The ReWritable Audio CD is designed to be used in a consumer audio CD recorder, which will not (without modification) accept standard CD-RW discs. These consumer audio CD recorders use the Serial Copy Management System (SCMS), an early form of digital rights management (DRM), to conform to the United States' Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA). The ReWritable Audio CD is typically somewhat more expensive than CD-RW due to (a) lower volume and (b) a 3% AHRA royalty used to compensate the music industry for the making of a copy.

Question: What does SCMS stand for?
Answer: Serial Copy Management System

Question: What does DRM stand for?
Answer: digital rights management

Question: What does AHRA stand for?
Answer: Audio Home Recording Act

Question: What type of CD is intended to be used in a Consumer audio CD Recorder?
Answer: ReWritable Audio CD

Question: Which is less expensive, the ReWritable Audio CD or a CD-RW?
Answer: CD-RW
Compact_disc

Due to technical limitations, the original ReWritable CD could be written no faster than 4x speed. High Speed ReWritable CD has a different design, which permits writing at speeds ranging from 4x to 12x. Original CD-RW drives can only write to original ReWritable CDs. High Speed CD-RW drives can typically write to both original ReWritable CDs and High Speed ReWritable CDs. Both types of CD-RW discs can be read in most CD drives. Higher speed CD-RW discs, Ultra Speed (16x to 24x write speed) and Ultra Speed+ (32x write speed) are now available.

Question: How fast could the first ReWritable CD be written?
Answer: 4x speed

Question: Which CD has writing speeds betwen 4x and 12x?
Answer: High Speed ReWritable CD

Question: How fast can Ultra Speed+ CDs write?
Answer: 32x

Question: How fast can Ultra Speed CDs write?
Answer: 16x to 24x
Compact_disc

A CD is read by focusing a 780 nm wavelength (near infrared) semiconductor laser housed within the CD player, through the bottom of the polycarbonate layer. The change in height between pits and lands results in a difference in the way the light is reflected. By measuring the intensity change with a photodiode, the data can be read from the disc. In order to accommodate the spiral pattern of data, the semiconductor laser is placed on a swing arm within the disc tray of any CD player. This swing arm allows the laser to read information from the centre to the edge of a disc, without having to interrupt the spinning of the disc itself.

Question: Where is the semiconductor laser found in a CD player?
Answer: on a swing arm

Question: What wavelenght is used to pull data from a CD?
Answer: 780 nm

Question: What is used to discern the change of intensity in light on a CD?
Answer: photodiode

Question: In what pattern is data stored on a CD?
Answer: spiral

Question: What createds the change in light reflected off of a CD?
Answer: change in height between pits and lands
Compact_disc

The pits and lands themselves do not directly represent the zeros and ones of binary data. Instead, non-return-to-zero, inverted encoding is used: a change from pit to land or land to pit indicates a one, while no change indicates a series of zeros. There must be at least two and no more than ten zeros between each one, which is defined by the length of the pit. This in turn is decoded by reversing the eight-to-fourteen modulation used in mastering the disc, and then reversing the cross-interleaved Reed–Solomon coding, finally revealing the raw data stored on the disc. These encoding techniques (defined in the Red Book) were originally designed for CD Digital Audio, but they later became a standard for almost all CD formats (such as CD-ROM).

Question: What type of result from a CD will return a one?
Answer: change from pit to land or land to pit

Question: Where can one find the encoding techniques for CDs?
Answer: Red Book

Question: What type of encoding do CDs implement?
Answer: non-return-to-zero

Question: What type of modulation is implemented when a disc is mastered?
Answer: eight-to-fourteen
Compact_disc

CDs are susceptible to damage during handling and from environmental exposure. Pits are much closer to the label side of a disc, enabling defects and contaminants on the clear side to be out of focus during playback. Consequently, CDs are more likely to suffer damage on the label side of the disc. Scratches on the clear side can be repaired by refilling them with similar refractive plastic or by careful polishing. The edges of CDs are sometimes incompletely sealed, allowing gases and liquids to corrode the metal reflective layer and to interfere with the focus of the laser on the pits. The fungus Geotrichum candidum, found in Belize, has been found to consume the polycarbonate plastic and aluminium found in CDs.

Question: Where can one expect to find damage on a disc?
Answer: label side of the disc

Question: How are scratches on a CD fixed?
Answer: refilling them with similar refractive plastic or by careful polishing

Question: What eats at the plastic and aluminum found in CDs?
Answer: fungus Geotrichum candidum

Question: Where does the fungus Geotrichum candidum originate from?
Answer: Belize