[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why cant phones turn on instantly when plugged in after dead battery but laptops can?

[Assistant] Different circuitry design priorities. The outside power to a laptop is designed to run the computer first. Then any excess is used to charge the battery. So the circuit delivers the full voltage to the motherboard from the go. The phone's charging port has a primary function of topping up the battery. The phone's circuitry has to wait for the battery voltage to build up to the point where the circuitry can operate. It could work differently if the design aim was to be able make phone calls sooner with a dead battery.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Mother Theresa, and why there are such differing viewpoints on her and her work?

[Assistant]
Well, for years she was uncritically glorified by many Catholic organisations and spokesman for her work with the poor in what was and is a pretty tough area with lots of poverty and sick people.

Christopher Hitchens, the famous atheist journalist and provacatuer, took a real dislike to her and did a great deal of work to discredit her efforts, saying that they were un-modern, inefficient, and unscientific. He had a number of enemies over his career that he was absolutely relentlessly critical of; she was one and Henry Kissinger was another.

Hitchen's work succeeded in changing her public reputation --- in some circles. Other people still venerate her and think her worthy of admiration. (I think she's at least partway down the official path to sainthood.)

Personally, I'd say read a bit about her from both sides if you want to know more. Hitchens could be a very good writer, but he was never a very fair one. He was careful to make his criticism factually accurate --- and also to never give an inch of praise to anything he criticised, even if merited.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[LOTR] Why did nobody question Aragorn's heritage?

He seems to have been what amounts to an unknown bum before he came out and claimed to be the heir of the most important kingdom in middle-earth. So he has some minor healing powers. A lot of people in ME do, that doesn't prove much. The most important person who vouches for him is an old wizard who obviously has political interests.

Even Boromir only questions whether Gondor needs a king, not that Aragorn is the reightful heir to the throne.
Surely there were people who were interested in keeping the current governmental structure of Gondor the way it was.

Where were the Aragorn birthers?

[Assistant]
For one thing, he was raised in Rivendell, so there are elvish authorities who can vouch for his identity. For another, Aragorn clearly has the air of the old Numenorean kings. Consider how Eomer reacts to him when the two first meet:

> Aragorn threw back his cloak. The elven-sheath glittered as he grasped it, and the bright blade of Andril shone like a sudden flame as he swept it out. Elendil! he cried. I am Aragorn son of Arathorn, and am called Elessar, the Elfstone, Dnadan, the heir of Isildur Elendils son of Gondor. Here is the Sword that was Broken and is forged again! Will you aid me or thwart me? Choose swiftly!

> Gimli and Legolas looked at their companion in amazement, for they had not seen him in this mood before. He seemed to have grown in stature while omer had shrunk; and in his living face they caught a brief vision of the power and majesty of the kings of stone. For a moment it seemed to the eyes of Legolas that a white flame flickered on the brows of Aragorn like a shining crown.

> omer stepped back and a look of awe was in his face. He cast down his proud eyes. These are indeed strange days, he muttered. Dreams and legends spring to life out of the grass.

On top of this, Aragorn was an enormously popular war hero who saved Minas Tirith from Sauron's armies when he showed up with reinforcements from the south. Some might also have recognized him from his earlier days as an extremely successful captain of Gondor, when he was operating under the alias "Thorongil". Then with Denethor dead and the two next-most-powerful people in Gondor (Faramir and Imrahil) firmly in support of Aragorn, it makes sense that he was able to take the throne with little controversy.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why is gold worth more than silver?

[Assistant]
Originally, because Gold was rarer, therefore harder to get hold of: the standard rule of supply and demand means that a rarer metal, where both are in demand, will be more expensive.

Nowadays, silver is actually rarer, but the perception has been, for hundreds of years, that gold is rarer and more expensive... so there's a higher demand for gold.

That means that although gold has greater supply than silver, the demand for gold is still significantly higher: enough that the price stays higher.

**If you have 10 pieces of silver, and 20 pieces of gold, but 10 people want the silver and 30 people want the gold... which will you get a higher price for?**


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] [MCU] Why doesn't Tony Stark always use the Hulkbuster suit?

[Assistant]
Do you use a butchers cleaver when you just need a parring knife? Not only is it overkill, it's actually less useful in that instance.

Veronica, is a speciality suit, it's cumbersome, energy inefficient, and draws so much attention. Flight is probably a little less smooth too.
His regular suit is like a Swiss army knife, its light, compact, designed for many functions and requires much less resources.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: How long does it take to our cells (like blood cells, muscles, etc...) to "understand" that we are dead after we made our last breath? Are white blood cells fighting against external agents minutes after we've died?

[Assistant]
It depends on the tissues. Some tissues require a lot of oxygen and will expire relatively quickly, in a few minutes. Other tissues, like bones or skin, might last for hours, perhaps even a day.

Still other material, like sperm cells, could last longer than a day.

You mentioned white blood cells, a fraction of these may actually live for days.

However, you are unrecoverably dead after only a few minutes, and after a few days most of your tissues are going to be likewise unrecoverably dead.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: Why is astronaut Scott Kellys body suffering severe health issues after 300+ days in space?

He is suffering joint pain, swelling, rashes, vision problems, etc.

[Assistant]
Low gravity causes problems with our bodies since they were built around an environment where there are certain pressures places on our body from living on Earth. Since he is in space with none of these pressures (namely gravity) his body becomes weaker, his blood flow is effected, pressure on the eyes is effected, etc.

ETA:  We just aren't built to be in zero g for long periods of time.  Its one of the problems that prevent us from going to Mars right now is that it would take a year for a round trip.  Thats really hard on our bodies and we haven't come up with a way to counter the effects yet.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Why do diesel locomotives have electric engines?

I hope this is the right sub reddit for this question...

Why do diesel locomotives and even some ships use Diesel engines to power generators that then run electric motors to "drive" the vehicle?

From a scientific perspective, why don't we do this for cars?

[Assistant]
There are a few advantages but the most significant one is that it simplifies the coupling of the diesel engine to the wheels.  By having the diesel drive a generator and putting electric motors on the wheels, you do away with complex drive shaft and transmission systems and just run some flexible cables to the wheel motors. Imagine the size of the clutch that would be needed on a typical locomotive. The electrical control system also replaces the need for a mechanical gearbox. Again, imagine trying to double clutch a train.

On ships the main advantage is being able to connect multiple diesel engines to multiple propulsion devices without complex mechanical couplings - just wire them together instead.

It isn't done on cars because a mechanical transmission is more efficient and simpler for small scale machines.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[DC]Is Atrocitus a Villain, Hero, or Antihero?

I guess this question goes for all Red Lanterns, but I went with Atrocitus specifically because he's in charge. I know the Red Lanterns will usually serve as villains in Green Lantern stories, but are they really evil? I know they kill people, but they kill mostly those who have wronged other people, considering themselves a force of vengeance. I think they fall around the area of Antiheroes, but I'm not entirely sure.

[Assistant]
I consider him an Anti-Hero; his methods don't align with those of the Green Lantern's but he still holds noble intentions, not unlike Ghost Rider.

He'll take down villains and evildoers without a care in the world but he always follows his code and even goes out of his way to help heroes when their paths align.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
If North and South Korea were reunified today, what would it do to the population of North Korea?

The closest similar situation I can think of is Germany's reunification, but it is a different case, given that Germany didn't fight a war against itself and that it was essentially a colony of the USSR. North Korea is an independent nation that carefully cultivates an insular ideology, and has - at least I get the impression - a population that is more loyal to that ideology than was the case in East Germany. However, even in Germany, you can still tell the difference economically between East and West, especially in Berlin. Still, Germany is doing well as a unified state. Would the same be the case in Korea or would the other factors I mentioned make a difference? Would North Koreans be able to handle a drastic ideological shift? What would happen?

If I'm in the wrong subreddit, my apologies in advance. This one seemed like a good place to get a good answer. :)

[Assistant]
The difference between East and West Germany and North and South Korea though is that East Germany had a significantly smaller relative population than West Germany as compared to the Koreas, and that the economic disparity between the two countries is much, much smaller.

>**East Germany**:
Population  in 1990: 16,111,000,
GDP Per Capita in 1990: $9,679

>**West Germany**:
Population in 1990: 62,168,000,
GDP Per Capita in 1990: $15,300

>**North Korea**:
Population in 2011: 24,554,000,
GDP Per Capita in 2011: $1,800

>**South Korea**:
Population in 2012: 50,004,000,
GDP Per Capita in 2012: $32,272

East Germany had about a quarter the population that the West had, but was able to keep up with standards of living, mostly because the East German government was relatively better managed and more forward-thinking than that of North Korea. German reunification went smoothly because the people of East Germany did not live in decrepit conditions, and because there wasn't a whole lot of them compared to the West.

In contrast, North Korea's population is about half of that of South Korea, and their living conditions are much, much worse. The reunification of North and South Korea has the potential to be the greatest economic disaster to ever face the South, assuming that they would be held to pay for it. Such a thing, when not handled right, would also throw global markets into a stir, especially in Asia. Fortunately, North Koreans are for the most part employable, and aren't lacking in manufacturing and IT skills. The biggest problem would be faced by how the countries are reunited, and whether or not the collapse of the North Korean government came from a state of war or an internal collapse.

EDIT: Sources via Wikipedia, search the pages for each country if you feel you must.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Pokmon] I found this gold coin on the ground and gave it to my Pokmon. Now everyone's giving me, like, twice as much money after I beat them? What's up with that?

Even little kids, which makes me feel kinda bad.

[Assistant] This coin is actually an ancient talisman used by the mad pokmon master Midas. He prayed to Arceus that everything he touched turned to pokedollars and his wish was granted. Unfortunately this greed became a curse and he destroyed which he loved most. It is said that after his ultimate suicide a modicum of his power was transferred into various coins. These coins are now scattered across the globe and duplicate any money won.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: When bats fly together in the thousands (sometimes millions) - how does each bat know which echo is its own?

[Assistant] Usually that type of flight is done at dawn and dusk. Bats have very good eyesight contrary to popular belief and are flying using sight to see other bats and hearing other bats to determine distance between them. Their own call is drowned out and unimportant when they are flying that way. Echolocation is more important when they are hunting than when they are commuting.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Star Wars] What would it take for me to take the Death Star for a joy ride?

Hold my blue milk. As a maintenance worker on the Death Star, we all know the life expectancy here is very, very short. I'm trying to live it up while I can, and my buddy bet me I couldn't "pilot the Death Star through that there asteroid field".

I don't care about the consequences, I just want to do donuts in the Death Star. How many do I need to get in on this, at minimum, and what's the best way to pull this off?

[Assistant]
Transfer your consciousness to a droid without ethical programming (so, as an example, an assassin droid), then upload that consciousness to the Death Star central computer.

I'd recommend foregoing the droid, but there's historical evidence suggesting that such a method would work.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: Why do cameras need to focus? Why isn't everything equally crisp?

I'd understand if they had two lenses side by side, because they'd have to converge the light to the same point physics blah blah blah. But why do normal cameras, which don't have two lenses side by side, need to focus?

[Assistant] Because they still need to converge the light onto the sensor (or film if you're old school). It doesn't matter how many lenses there are, you always have to get the light to converge to get a clear image and that will happen at different settings depending on the distance of the object being photographed.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] [Marvel] Has Taskmaster ever copied a technique that his body didn't have the appropriate muscle build or body type for? Has this ever had a negative effect on him or do his powers compensate for this somehow?

[Assistant]
There's a rumor that when he was young he managed to mimic a perfect dive from a professional swimmer. Before he knew how to swim. Taskmaster also sometimes pushes his powers to harmful points - once he watched the kung-fu combat footage at doubled speed, and it enabled him to repeat it also ludicrously fast, but since he doesn't have enhanced physique, it put a real strain on his muscles. He doesn't do it very often.

Other than that, Taskmaster had shown great experience with his ability, and usually only picks best and most suitable examples to keep in memory - especially if that thing about his ability gradually wiping his memories is still true, then he really can't afford to just copy everything in sight.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] [Marvel] Shield gains access to two updated versions of the SSS which are 100% guaranteed to create two more Caps at 0% failure rate but they can't be replicated whatsoever. Every Shield agent is willing, but who would be the most logical candidates?

[Assistant]
You stage a shooting at SHIELD headquarters and choose from the most heroic of the noncombat personnel. You'll want somebody like a mailroom clerk who shields their friends from a hail of (mercy) bullets or an administrative assistant who "dies" holding a door closed.

You want people who are selfless and good. All other requirements are secondary.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[The Matrix] What was the robot that flushed Neo evaluating when it grabbed him by the neck and examined him?

Clearly it wasn't determining whether he was still alive.

[Assistant]
It actually might have been checking his vital stats. The people of Zion didn't *really* escape the Matrix so much as they were allowed to leave. Zion is part of the overall balancing of the Architect's grand equation, as is the struggle between the Zionists and the Agents. Neo in particular was very important to that balancing.

When someone wakes up from within the Matrix, they would die without the aid of the machines. It's the machines that deliver them to the expected extraction point. It's the machines that decide to flush them rather than snap their necks. And it's the machines that make a shadow play that *looks* like the human is just barely escaping, because the machines need Zion to believe in the war in order to balance the equation.

When Neo woke up, the machine probably said to itself, "Yep, Mr. Anderson is awake. Program executing as expected. Delivering subject to expected extraction location." And the Architect was probably immediately informed.

If Neo had been dead, if the "escape" protocol had killed him, the machines probably would have just recycled his organic matter. Waste not, want not.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
What is the difference between proof and evidence?

Is proof always deductive and evidence always inductive? Or is it something else?

[Assistant]
Context always matters, philosophy talks about a large amount of different topics, so if in doubt you should always try to figure out how a specific article or book use words. But if nothing else is specified there, a standard way to use those words is to say evidence for X if we mean anything that provides us with *some* reason to accept X, and proof for X if we mean something that establishes the truth of X.

On this account it makes sense to weigh evidence for and against X and it's completely intelligible to have evidence for and against X - some reasons to think X and some reasons to think not-X. However, it usually doesn't make much sense to speak of proofs of X and disproofs of X at the same time.

> Is proof always deductive and evidence always inductive? Or is it something else?

Neither evidence nor proofs need to be arguments, so no.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Marvel] So we all know Spider-man pulls his punches, but how did he figure out how strong is too strong?

IMO as an amateur boxer, you can only measure how much damage your punch can do to a person precisely, by punching someone and seeing the results, specially as an outboxer, some times faster is better than harder.

How did Peter figure out how much gas he should put behind his punches? We see Dr. Ock rip scorpion's jaw off with a punch, we can assume he wasn't punching at full force since he didn't see scorpion as a serious threat, proving that point, did Peter kill or heavily injure someone/a few people before figuring out where to start pulling?

[Assistant]
If he's subconsciously worried enough about something happening, his spider-sense will go off if it's going to happen. In other words, it can warn him about abstract dangers, not just actual physical dangers. A case example of this is that his spider-sense will go off when he's about to change into/out of his suit and someone is watching, saving him from putting his civilian identity in jeopardy. Same thing probably happens with punching regular humans, he worries about hitting them too hard so his spider-sense helps him know when he's about to go too far.

In the same vein, Superior Spider-man punched someone's jaw off because he wasn't worried about that happening.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[MCU] What would have happened to Thanos's plan if Ego succeeded first?

Thanos's plan in the MCU was to gather the six Infinity Stones and use them to wipe out half of all life so the other half would be better off.  But what would have happened to his plan if Ego succeeded in his from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2?

Ego planted spores of himself across a hell of a lot of planets (possibly all, but I can't be sure), with the intention of terraforming them to be extensions of himself.  Let's say he succeeded, and every world with life was made into just Ego.  Now that's the only other lifeform in the universe, so what happens to Thanos's 50% plan?

[Assistant] Thanos' goal would immediately switch.  Killing half of life for resource preservation immediately goes to the back burner because Ego is a much bigger threat to him and his plans.  Thanos would attempt to acquire the Infinity Stones to kill Ego specifically.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: Why is it that a computer mouse allows a person to play video games with so much more precision than a handheld console controller?

I know that a mouse is much more accurate and preferable for first person shooters, but why? Controllers have adjustable sensitivity and the same reticle as computers -- what makes the mouse so much easier and precise?

[Assistant] The fundamental difference between a mouse and a controller is how the brain relates operation of the mouse/controller with movement of the cursor on screen. A physical change of position of the mouse results in the same change of position of the cursor (adjusted to the chosen scale). With the controller, the user uses the joysticks to tell the cursor which way to move and it becomes more of a, "wait until it is in position, then tell it to stop." Basically: a mouse is like drawing the route on a map, a controller is giving real-time directions.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Stargate/SG1]What was the benefit of having to manually lock the 7th chevron?

Why are the addresses 7 digits long if a particular gate would always have the same last digit?  Why wasn't it just assumed, or are there other possible functions than point to point transport that could be accessed via last chevron manipulation?

[Assistant]
In  one book, they could be locked on the lines between chevrons for off-planet, interstellar locations.  So if you are moving a gate by a ship the last chevron changes.

8th chevron dialed another galaxy (Atlantis)

9th?  who knows?


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] How do companies like Jack Daniels that make a product that needs to be aged for years predict how much product they will need in the future?

[Assistant] Whiskey sells on such a large scale, and the market changes so little. A large chunk of big name liquors get sold directly to bars, whose annual usage has very distinct trends. This cuts a huge chunk of unknown out of their sales figures. And while more and more people are turning 21, people in their early 20s are not the primary consumers of whiskey. So the buying habits of Jack Daniels customers shouldn't be difficult to predict four years in advance. The market overall doesn't change much.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Star Wars] Did Uncle Owen accidentally make Luke Skywalker more curious about old Ben Kenobi by saying Obi-Wan died at the same time as Anakin?

Why would Uncle Owen know when some random person in a big galaxy died if Owen's position was that R2D2 was speaking nonsense? Wouldn't it make Luke suspicious that Owen is hiding something?

Luke Skywalker: Well, I stumbled across a recording while I was cleaning him. He says that he belongs to someone called Obi-Wan Kenobi. I thought he might have meant old Ben. Do you know what he's talking about? I wonder if he's related to Ben.
Uncle Owen: That wizard's just a crazy old man. You stay away from him, you hear me? He's dangerous. Now, tomorrow I want you to take that R2 unit to Anchorhead and have its memory erased. That'll be the end of it. It belongs to us now.
Luke Skywalker: But what if this Obi-Wan comes here looking for him?
Uncle Owen: He won't. I don't think he exists anymore. He died about the same time as your father.
Luke Skywalker: Did he know my father?
Uncle Owen: I told you to forget it.

[Assistant] It was probably the hologram of a space princess begging for help that really inspired his call to adventure. Before that he was helping his family be moisture farmers and was hoping to join the Empire, all around a boring life without much introspection. Not the type to be curious about a detail like that (especially since a lot of people died at the same time during those wars).


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Who was the person responsible for naming our planet "Earth", Why?

[Assistant] There wasn't so much a person as just a group.  The word earth evolved from the german word erda, which was used to describe the ground/dirt.  In the middle ages people began using it to describe the globe by saying the earth.  Now it is Earth.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why is it that we laugh more when we watch a movie with others than we do when we watch the movie alone?

[Assistant] Laughing is primarily a social signal that is used to indicate solidarity with others.  If we are laughing along with other people, it indicates to them that we are similar to them (because the laugh shows that we like the same things).  Robert Provines is a psychologist who has studied laughter and found that people are far more likely to smile or talk when alone than they are to laugh.  The reason laughter is a good social signal is because people can tell when you are faking it (i.e., trying to appear to be a member of the group by pretending you find the same things funny when you really don't), so an honest sounding laugh is a good signal to someone that you like them.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5 why it takes so long for humans to gain lean muscle mass.

[Assistant]
If you don't like spending more money than you have to, you'll only buy a car big enough for your needs.

A bigger car is more expensive, and uses a lot more gasoline than a little car. You wouldn't buy a big SUV if you didn't need it.

Lean muscle mass burns energy - it's expensive for our bodies to build it, and keep it going.

Our bodies won't build muscle unless it's needed. So if you don't have a physical job, big muscles are a waste (as far as your body thinks).

Our bodies are geared towards **survival** above all else.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
How can someone sleep on their arm and cut off the blood supply for 8+ hours without any injuries?

Also, if someone did this every night for years, would their arm still be fine?

[Assistant] When your arm goes numb you're not cutting off the blood supply, you're only pinching a nerve and stopping the impulses from getting through. Your arm isnt dead in the morning from sleeping on it all night in the same way a paraplegic's legs aren't dead from not feeling them.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Rick and Morty] is there something different in the relationship of the Rock and Morty from Earth dimension C137?

In Close Rick-Counters of the Rick kind, we see that C137 Morty is much more brave than any of the Mortys held captive by Evil Rick. Is MC137 special to R137?

[Assistant]
Yes, it is shown that C137 Rick is one of the only (if not the only) Rick who values / loves his Morty. He's not great at showing it, but he demonstrates it numerous times in the show (the King Jellybean episode is a good example).

As for Morty being more brave, there are a couple of theories. He is either the prime Morty or his personality is just different in that way. Personalities can vary in the multiverse to an extent so it's possible he is the bravest one out of the ones we have seen so far.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
as a layman outsider how do I educate myself in the social sciences?

I found some textbooks online (economics, psychology,sociology, statistics) thats a good start, and some youtube tutorials with some bits of research advice.

But my problem is: how do I judge if a paper is valid? Besides checking the statistical methods and inferences.

Like, I would love materials about basic research and "peer review" and stuff, at the moment I skim papers (read conclusion and abstract mostly) out of interest but have little ways to check if the conclusions are correct. Also im struggling with mental health, and I got nothing but a high school degree (a type that only gets you into plumbing/low level IT/military/secretary/etc)

tl;dr what resources are freely available that can make me properly read , verify and judge psychology (etc) papers?

[Assistant]
As far as making sure papers are valid- be sure you're looking at peer reviewed journals. If you're reading secondary sources, try to look up the original papers. Scientific American and the Atlantic tend to do the best job of relaying article information.

Learning more about research methods- check out Healthcare Triage on YT. They have two playlists called "Experimental Design" and "Analysis and Reporting" which are wonderful. The guy who hosts it is a pediatrician and writes a lot about health care policy.

Happy reading!


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: Speed causes time dilation. Mass causes time dilation. What is the link between speed and mass which means that they both cause the same phenomenon?

I hope the title makes sense.

[Assistant]
To try to make this very simple, space and time are both components of a single thing called, very logically, spacetime. Spacetime is a coordinate system consisting of three spatial directions and one temporal direction. Time dilation is a result of the way things move through spacetime. Both speed and gravity are related to the way things move through spacetime, which is why they both cause time dilation.

For speed, again, in a very simplified way, you can conceive of everything moving at a combined velocity of c (the speed of light) through spacetime. Thus the faster you are traveling through space, the slower you are traveling through time, and vice versa.

Gravity, by contrast, is the warping of spacetime by mass/energy. Just as it warps the path that objects take when traveling through space, this warping also affects the path they travel through time.

The mechanics are different, and the end result is also different (time dilation due to velocity in special relativity is reciprocal. Gravitational time dilation in general relativity is not), but the common thread is the interaction with spacetime.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: Do raw ingredients for baked goods share the same nutritional value as the final product?

It seems too "easy" to just add up the total calories, fat, etc from each of the individual ingredients due to any chemical reactions that happen during the actual baking process from the combined ingredients in a heated environment. Examples could be any baked good like bread, cake, etc. I know when cooking it seems like it's fairly straightforward (minus any burned off grease/fat left in the pan/bowl/etc), but baking seems like it'd be different.

Basically, I wonder if I could just eat all of the ingredients (whether that can cause other health issues aside) and get the same level of nutrition that'd be labeled on the recipe/box.

[Assistant]
No. Part of the reason for cooking foods is that the cooking process makes some of the components of the food more available for absorption and use. Its not adding anything, just causing some changes. Starches can become sugars. The sugar is easier for your body to use, so you get more nutrition/calories from it. If you ate the pre-cooked high starch ingredient you wouldn't be able to break down and absorb as much.

Its similar with cooking meat. The cooking process alters the meat breaking down some of the tougher parts making it easier for your body to break down and digest.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Scp foundation] Isnt the Scp foundation a direct contrast to lovecraft?

In Lovecraft, humans apparently are unable to fight off cosmic horrors, however in the Scp foundation universe, the foundation itself is the human response to the supernatural.

Arent the two universes polar opposites?

Instead of going insane looking at Cthuhlu, they instead find a way to SOMEHOW clone him and use him as a standard soldier in some extra dimensional army.

[Assistant]
SCP is Lovecraft with humanity buffed. Not all threats in Lovecraft were unmanageable by humanity; the U.S. Navy was able to drive the cultists out of Innsmouth, and the agents of the Mi-Go can be repelled with a combination of dogs, guns and chutzpah. But some threats are just plain beyond human ability to resist; if the Great Race wants to borrow your body they get it, if the demons come out of the holes in the Boston tunnels they eat you, and when Cthulhu wakes up everyone is **fucked**.

SCP plays by the same rules. More things are inside humanity's grasp, and more threats can be met head on, or at least mitigated. But not everything. Humanity has not, and may never, be the master of the universe. In fact, the human race is more or less perpetually one bad day away from everything going right in the shitter, as multiple human agencies have custody of at least one anomalous object or creature that, if mishandled, could pull the whole temple down.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] [Marvel] if Spider-Man was killed early on in his superhero career, then what repercussions would that have had on the larger Marvel universe?

[Assistant]
A hell of a lot fewer civilian casualties.  Just imagine if the NYPD had to actually do their jobs.

For example, in a fight with Dr. Octopus:
"STOP RESISTING!"

And then he's shot once and for all.  No stupid cardboard prisons, no cars flung at spider man and smooshing innocent old ladies behind him, one bullet to the brain and he's no longer a problem.  A jury wouldn't even convict the cops, he was clearly *Armed*.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why are some diseases less dangerous for children? (e.g.: Measles) Dont adults have stronger immune systems?

[Assistant]
Biologist here!

We aren't 100% sure!

We have a solid theory it has to do with how adults immune systems work compared to kids.

See, kids immune systems are still learning, so they have a higher number of phagocytes, big cells that eat invaders to learn how to fight them later.

Adults have more antibodies, cells that attack infected tissue or invaders. Our body has already learned so many diseases, we now have a specialized army to fight them

The problem is, antibodies will destroy infected tissue. If the infection is bad enough, the antibodies go into overload and start attacking our organs, start shutting down our critical systems, and cause far more damage than just the infection would.

Children's bodies take more time and are slower to respond, giving them a better chance to kill the invader slower and safer!


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
CMV: Nihilism is as unhealthy as religion

So, I've been having an existential crisis recently. I used to believe in god and an afterlife, but after many church visits and my fundamentalist religious teacher, I've turned away, and in some way felt more free than I had before.

I've had one major existential crisis before, and it was cured with time, I'm having another major one, however this one feels like reality isn't real, and is much more taxing. So I, as a curious person who wants answers to things, looked up research, asked people on their opinions, asked myself questions, tried motivating myself, asked others for motivation, etc. etc.

During these last four months or so of my existential crisis, I've stumbled upon nihilism. If I understood correctly, it states that life has no intrinsic meaning or value, and in some cases it says that the only true value life has is the one we create for it, but that too will be meaningless after death. Which brings us to a second part of the post: death. It's always scared me. I don't like the idea of living forever, but at the same time the idea of ceasing to exist isn't very appealing either.

Now, here's my point: I think accepting that life has no meaning and just saying that anything that people claim to believe is false simply because there's not enough evidence for it, is as bad as just assuming life has meaning and that whatever belief you believe in is automatically true, no matter how much evidence there is against it.

What I mean by this, is while I doubt there's someone that specifically created us and watches over us, and that is the meaning to life (doing his bidding, obeying him) etc., saying that life has no meaning because there's a scientific reason to everything, is just as wrong. I don't mean to say that science is wrong because it's not finding any evidence of meaning.

I'm not sure if I've explained myself, English isn't my first language and mistakes here or there might be present. If anybody needs clarification I'll provide it. I have an existential crisis, aspergers, an open mind, and a will to find an answer to my question. CMV Reddit.

[Assistant]
I think your mixing existentialism and nihilism together in some ways. Nihilism is the belief that there is no meaning in the universe and everything we do is pointless.
Existentialism is the belief that the universe contains no meaning, but that it is ones interior world that really matters. We create meaning in the world, through our words, our beliefs, our actions. Because there is no God to tell us how to behave, we are infinitely free to do what we want, yet this means we are also, each of us, infinitely responsible for ourselves, each other, and the world we share. This responsibility is too much for people to take, so they find ways to pretend their choices are meaningless or that they really don't have any control over their actions (this is called Bad Faith).
If 'meaning' was in the universe itself, or in God, we would have no control over it, and our lives would be superfluous. Without God, every action we take is meaningful. Death will not rob our actions of meaning, each action we take will the world and the people that will live in it after we are gone. We only have one chance at life, we have to make it count.
(I'd suggest reading Sartre's Existentialism Is a Humanism if you're interested in this line of thought)


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[JoJos Bizarre Adventure] Was Dio actually evil from birth?

Speedwagon claims that he can smell that Dio was inherently evil from birth. I am assuming that he was just being dramatic and not literal, but stranger things have happened in the JoJoVerse.

Is it true? If Mrs. Brando had taken Dio away as a baby and raised him herself, would he have still grown into an evil vampire supervillain?

[Assistant]
Too subjective. We're just guessing now. He was raised in poverty by an abuse drunk. That's obviously going to affect him. Was that alone enough to make him want to kill dogs, poison people, and attempt the murder of someone who helped him? Prooobably not... but maybe?

I think you would've still seen his ruthless ambitious attitude come through even if he were raised in a better household, but he probably wouldn't have been the villainous type he turned out to be in the end. Maybe more like a shrewd businessman or politician with little morals towards things that would help propel him further.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: How does verifying the checksum confirm the integrity of a downloaded file, when it's posted on the same website the file came from?

[Assistant] A lot of people aren't getting the crux of your question. As you say the checksum and the file often come from the same site, this does nothing for increasing trust. However there are situations where you might retrieve the checksum from a trusted source and the file from elsewhere. If the file is big you could go get it via BitTorrent then download just the checksum from the trusted site to check the file wasn't tampered with. But yes if you don't trust the source of the checksum it means little for you.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Fallout] What's the purpose of the Vault experiments?

Everyone is dead. Who are they gonna give the results to and what purpose will they serve?

[Assistant]
The Vaults were never meant to be used as actual fallout shelters, though they clearly did that well enough. So when we look back and say what was the point, remember that important fact.

The people who where collecting the data was Vault-Tek, and secretly the US government.

Though this is dipping into semi-canonish explanations as it was to be featured in the cancelled Van Buren project.

The ultimate goal of the Vault Program was to test how people would act in isolated communities in preparation for space travel and colonization. There was an Enclave of high ranking goverment officials and scientists who believed the world was heading to a nuclear apocalypse and the only way to save the human race was to escape Earth. And as an aside, yes, that Enclave.

So what ultimately foiled this plan was that the nuclear Apocolypse happened on a shorter time table then the Enclave predicted. Though in the end, their experiments did manage to save the Earth's population, though not entirely how they would have wanted. They made good fallout shelters in order to entice a skeptical and scared populace to participate in their experiments.

This is also why, despite there being 122 vaults, none of them held any government officials or soldiers. They were all ready to escape to space, not hide underground.

EDIT: The GECKs were made for terraforming their new homes, not for resettling the world after the Apocalypse.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Mass Effect] Was Shepherd the first human Spectre, or was Captain Anderson also a Spectre?

Edit: As I play the game, I'm currently looking at "Asari Councilor: You are the first human Spectre, Commander.  This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."

But I seem to remember Captain Anderson saying something about being a Spectre with Saren, and commenting on his bloodthirsty, get-the-job-done-at-all-costs ways.  Was Anderson a Spectre?

[Assistant]
Anderson's mission with Saren was a test to see if he would become a Spectre. Saren sabotaged the mission, and Anderson was denied true Spectre status.

Shepard is the first human spectre, but not the first human to be considered for the position.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] Why do airlines sit their planes from front to back instead of back to front?

[Assistant] First class and business class seats are in the front, so they seat those people first so that they don't have to be in line at the terminal, and have time to stow away their belongings and settle into their seats. Then elderly and mobility impaired get priority seating. Then the rest, usually front to back, but efficiency studies have shown that random or window to aisle is more efficient for loading (people don't block the aisle, preventing the rear of the plane from loading), but the system of calling out the order at the boarding gate becomes more difficult with this method.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] [Stargate]What if the Russians or Chinese has found the stargate instead of America?

[Assistant]
If China discovers it:

They likely never get the program going. The academic culture of China wouldn't be able to support people like Daniel Jackson or Samantha Carter in their endeavors. China was strongly stifled until the 1980s, and it spent a long time lagging behind the USA. Further, China's political orthodoxy requirements persist even in 2014, making it hard for them to be receptive to certain notions, such as that China's great ancient culture was actually created by evil aliens.

So China never learns how to operate it.

However, in 1998, archaeologists in Mexico discover Hathor's sarcophagus. After she kills them and returns to it, the remnants of that team track down Daniel Jackson, who is probably struggling to get a part-time job at a community college or becoming his timeline's Ancient Aliens Guy. Jackson eagerly accepts their invitation to Mexico City.

Studying the sarcophagus, Jackson opens it, and Hathor again emerges. Jackson realizes his theories are suddenly validated and eagerly talks with her. Hathor, instead of killing him, recognizes him to be a valuable source of information and charms him with nish'ta.

Jackson becomes the leader of Hathor's cult on Earth, which, upon his advice, Hathor keeps a secret and continues to operate from Mexico. She transforms many of her men into jaffa and implants them with symbiotes which she has spawned after mating with Jackson. To live a life of luxury while she waits, she uses nish'ta to take over a drug cartel and live with their wealth.

Several years later, her spawn are mature enough to take complete control of hosts of their own. Hathor first seizes control of Mexico. Jackson, now a highly respected professor of history at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, is implanted as well. He then travels back to the USA - where he helps plant symbiotes in American academics, journalists, and politicians. Symbiotes spread to other countries.

In 2005, the cult has infiltrated most major Earth governments with goa'uld. The heads of state and the cabinets of Mexico, the USA, England, France, Germany, Canada, Russia, China, Japan, and more are all under Hathor's control, and many senators and members of parliament are likewise hosts now. They announce their intention to form a common world government. Opposition leaders are also made into hosts.

In 2006, the major nations unite into in the Republic of Earth. Hathor is elected as its President rather than made its queen: At Daniel's suggestion, they'll keep up appearances of normal democratic mechanisms for several more years until the tau'ri are ready to accept her as their queen and goddess. Most governments fall to the Republic by way of their leaders becoming hosts.

Hathor's public activities gain the attention of Setesh. Setesh was loyal to Ra, and Hathor, as Ra's mate, is on the same team. Setesh presents himself to her and offers gifts of some of his buried goa'uld technology.

Jackson now directs efforts to find any and all goa'uld artifacts on Earth. He eventually discovers Chinese records of the stargate, leading to its swift recovery. Given the security of Cheyenne, it probably ends up there again. Soon after, Jackson finds out the Russians have had the DHD since WWII.

In 2007, the gate is operational once again. Hathor dials up Ra, reuniting them after thousands of years of separation.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Data breach: Why are the companies themselves responsible and why does it still happen?

[Assistant]
Usually with companies that get breached, there is some company-consumer assurance that their data will always be safe. So when it is breached, its like a breach in their trust.
 It is also extremely difficult to find the hackers, they may be on the other side of the world. Thus, not being able to bring the suspect to justice, the company will be forced to take the blame themselves, to give the public closure and move on.

Hackers are just like bank robbers and buglers. also with the growing amount of people with the skills necessary for hacking ect. So, just with any other crime, it is likely that we may never see a complete end to Data breaches.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: If coaxial is good enough to get the signal inside, why do we use all kinds of other connections (HDMI, Ethernet etc...)

Had some new services installed in my home recently and realized that they used coaxial cable for every service (TV, phone, Internet). I remember coaxial always being used for the TV, but it used to be a cable that just went straight into the TV. Then it changed to a cable going in a box that then hooked up to the TV. Now its the same but the box connects via HDMI instead of coaxial. Internet same thing, coaxial runs into the modem and then uses ethernet cables after that. Phone has its own modem which also then uses regular phone like jacks and connectors.

But if Coaxial is what is importing all these signals into the house in the first place, why not standardized everything to run through coaxial inside the house as well?

[Assistant]
The coaxial signal is very high frequency analog.  It takes significant electronics to decode it and encode an outgoing signal.  The box that does this is called a modem (MOdulator-DEModulator).  If you add that electronics to every thing, it would significantly increase the cost, over a digital system like HDMI.  High frequency analog signals are also subject to cosite interference when you have more than one of them inside a box, so things would need lots of metal boxes to put the components in.

Net result, it would cost a lot more.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Why can't we use capacitor as batteries?

Instead of chemical batteries?

[Assistant] Batteries have much higher energy densities than capacitors, so they are used where you need to store a lot of energy. On the other hand, capacitors can be charged and discharged much faster than batteries, so they are used where high power is needed.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: Warm-Bloodedness and Cold-Bloodedness in animals.

What's the difference? Why is being warm-blooded / cold-blooded beneficial to the animal?

[Assistant]
Warm-bloodedness means that the animal makes its own body temperature. This is beneficial because it means that the animal can happily live in cold places and places with fluctuating temperatures, and can be more active for longer than a cold-blooded animal, as long as it can get enough food for fuel. It's a disadvantage because it means that the animal needs to eat a lot more food than a cold-blooded animal. Mammals and birds are all warm-blooded-- they usually have to eat many times every day, but can live nearly anywhere on earth.

A cold-blooded animal gets most of its body heat from outside of its body, like by soaking up the sun. This is beneficial for the animal because it has to eat a whole lot less than a warm-blooded animal, but the downside is that it has to find that external heat regularly to keep itself going. Reptiles are cold-blooded-- they can go for months without eating, but can only live where it gets warm enough often enough.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[DC] Does a Lantern ring amplify someone's emotions?

Was Larfleeze always that greedy? If he had his ring removed (somehow), would he still be as greedy as he was with the ring?

[Assistant]
It depends on the individual.  Larfleeze was already incredibly greedy, which was how he ended up with the Orange Lantern in the first place.

Let's compare the Red Lanterns to the Yellow Lanterns.  Atrocitus specifically recruits people who are filled with rage but don't know how to control it, so in his corps he's pretty much the only individual that qualifies as sentient.

Now Sinestro, on the other hand, specifically recruits people who have the ability to cause great fear for his Yellow Lantern Corps.  Because he want's people who understand fear and know how to utilize it rather than people who'd be used by it.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: Why is the US legally allowed to fly drones in foreign airspaces and kill terror suspects?

Aren't they violating other nations' airspaces? Also, why do these nations allow their citizens to be bombed and killed by a foreign nation without a trial?

[Assistant] "Legal" has very little meaning in international politics on this level. What matters is, "Who is going to complain?" and "What are they going to do about it?". When possible, the USA gets either official or de-facto cooperation from the state in question and if that state doesn't complain with diplomatic force, then nothing comes of it (e.g. Pakistan and Yemen). In other cases, the USA puts great diplomatic effort into ensuring that no complaints are going to shake the support or indifference of its allies (e.g. Libya and Syria).


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: What happens to the property and assets of criminals sentenced to life in prison?

I'm not sure if it's asked before or what, but I thought it would have an interesting answer. I mean, who keeps the property and stuff? Where does Billy Bob Joe's trailer and bank account go? To his family/sons/girlfriend/beneficiary, like in a case of death? Or to the government?

[Assistant] If your property was not used in the commission of the crime you're in jail for, the government has no recourse to seize it. That person still owns their property and can do with it what they see fit. Of course, they are restricted in their ability to use it, being in prison and all.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why is it that after looking at a bright light source, and then closing your eyes, you see a colorful outline of the light source for a little while?

[Assistant] Your eyes contain cells that chemically react to light. Stimulating them strongly can create temporary lasting imprints because either the cell is depleted of the signalling chemicals relative to other cells (you look at a red image then switch to a white wall - the red cells are less capable to signal than the green and blue ones so that portion of your vision looks more anti-red) or the cells continue to fire since they are so strongly stimulated (you close your eyes and see bright outlines).


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
How is O2 introduced to blood in the alveoli?

Are streams of O2 and blood introduced into the same space and given time to bind?

[Assistant]
It's via diffusion, the deoxygenated blood has a higher affinity for the oxygen and the haemoglobin will bind to the oxygen easily.

Diffusion isn't very efficient, hence needing a very high surface area and very thin capillary walls in the alveoli.

The blood travels along enough of this diffusion-optimised path to ensure (in a healthy person) that almost all the blood becomes saturated.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Futurama] Since Fry went back in time and became his own grandfather, why does he bear such a striking resemblance to Enos?

Since Fry has now become a closed loop of genetics, why does he look almost exactly like his "grandfather" Enos?  And for that matter, how can they be descended from David Farnsworth? Unless I have my family tree wrong, aren't both the professor and Fry the progeny of Enos and his wife?  Wouldn't that make it so the Professor *also* lacks the brain wave that the giant brains use against the planet?

[Assistant]
It's possible that the rules of time travel in Futurama aren't like other things, that Enos was supposed to survive to an old age and when Fry accidentally killed him, he simply 'patched' the timeline by inserting himself in his grandfather's place. He was related to Enos in the original timeline, explaining his resemblance to him, but that got shunted aside/merged when he became his own grandfather. He still holds Enos' genes, however. (This would also mean that Fry's father was sleeping with his own grandmother in the 'new' timeline, making it two generations of incest to remove that specific brain wave.)

The reason the Professor still has the brain wave is that a thousand years have passed since then and he's had enough genetic material from different sources to regain that specific brain pattern. There are at least ten generations between them, meaning ten different pairs of fathers/mothers equalizing Fry and his father's acts of incest with new genetic material.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
How do neutron stars produce a magnetic field if neutrons have no charge?

I learned that magnetic fields are created by moving charges, so why would neutron stars be able to produce a magnetic field? Do the magnetic properties of the neutrons change once they are under all that gravitational pressure?

[Assistant]
A neutron star is not *entirely* a ball of neutrons. It gets its name because the concentration of neutrons is much higher than is stable in normal atoms, but it's not 100% (maybe ~90%). For example, as you get near the surface of the neutron star the gravity and pressure aren't high enough to break apart normal atomic nuclei and you'd likely find lots of normal iron nuclei at the surface.

Even toward the core, although neutrons dominate there will be a nonzero number of protons (which may be in a superconducting state). It should be enough to produce and maintain the magnetic fields.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] [Star Wars] Was is it that almost every stormtrooper and Imperial official are human? Is there any resentment against humans for being the apparent dominant species?

[Assistant] The Empire did promote human-supremacist and humanocentric ideals, which were already on the rise after the Clone Wars due to the Separatists being predominantly nonhumans. (I mean... their leader was very visibly a human, but nobody ever said prejudice was rational)


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Is "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" supposed to read like the bible?

I've just picked up "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" and it honestly feels like I'm trying to read the bible cover-to-cover. It feels plotless, preachy and bloated with unnecessary metaphor. I have a budding interest in philosophy, but I'm on the easily distractable side and god, is it *boring* me. Am I doing this wrong? Do I need to read something else for background?

[Assistant] Yes, the book is meant to read like the Bible. The language is even modelled on Luther's German translation of the Bible. It also has pastiches of various other religions and traditions of learning. It's part parody, part heartfelt attempt to communicate a message. It's a very strange project within the wider tradition of philosophy: it's something like an attempt to conjure up what kind of prophetic tradition the world would have had if the Transvaluation of All Values held the kind of status among people that Christianity did in Nietzsche's milieu.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why was it so groundbreaking that ancient civilizations discovered/utilized the number 0?

[Assistant]
To go a bit against the others here:

The fact that people discovered, that "nothing" can be expressed as a number - that you can also calculate with - is not obvious and very revolutionary.

It shows a new level of abstract thinking that actually leads to mathematics as something different than just "counting things". That a number substracted from itself equals 0 seems painfully obvious to us now, but imagine having to do math without this simple operation.

The decimal system is nice, but a very similar system is also possible without 0 - the Roman numerals just are exceptionally confusing. There is nothing stopping people from expressing (for example) 2437 as "2D4C3B7A" and 3004 as "3D4A" and some cultures used systems that were conceptually similar.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Starcraft: HotS] How does Sarah Kerrigan 'respawn'?

You kill her, and 60 seconds later, she pops out of a hatchery.  How is that working, exactly?  The Zerg grow a new Kerrigan body, sure, no problem, Zerg do that kind of thing - but is she the same Kerrigan?  Does Kerrigan's soul (for lack of a better word) psionically relocate to the new body?  Is her mind/brain located in Zerg hatcheries and projected out to control her host body Overmind-style?  Are the new Kerrigans straight-up clones with copied memories, with the original long since dead?

(And for that matter, if Kerrigan can clone herself, why doesn't she make an army of Kerrigans?  Pound for pound the Queen of Blades is scarier than any other Zerg combat form...)

[Assistant] Kerrigan's body is her own, there are no clones. When she has been sufficiently damaged in combat she deep tunnels back to the Swarm's main hatchery. There she is placed in a caccoon and regenerates.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Using balloons to lift rocket before ignition?

I am writing a script, and I had an idea... I want to know if its completely stupid or not, and if not, why aren't we doing it. We can send some not so heavy stuff almost into space using balloons. Where air friction is virtually none existent. Would using bigger balloons to lift up spaceships really high, and start the engine from there would reduce the energy cost necessary to put object into orbit? I thought about the engine burning the hydrogen but helium is not flammable (or is it the other way around). Buy anyway. Is it a stupid idea?

[Assistant] The main issue with getting into space is not just getting high enough in the atmosphere, but getting up to a fast enough speed going sideways to reach orbit. For any rocket that needs to reach orbit, it will need to carry enough fuel to get it up to speed such that the balloons required to lift it would be unfeasible large.  Considering that the rockets already have to carry enough fuel to get up to speed, it's grossly easier to just increase the size of the fuel tank slightly, than to put an entire other system in place to get it up to the required altitude.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] Why physics can't be applied on scales smaller than Planck Length?

[Assistant]
The problem is that gravity is non-renormalizable. That means roughly this:

We have our low-energy theory (low-energy meaning much lower than Planck) for gravity, which is general relativity, plus the rest of known physics which is the standard model. The gravitational interaction + SM are actually just two of many interactions involved in the true theory of everything, which is valid at any energy.

The other interactions (which include the quantum corrections to gravity) however get very very weak when you scroll down from Planck energy to low energy, so they are not measurable and we don't know anything about them. By comparison, the SM interactions do not change much in strength from the Planck scale, while gravity does get weaker (which is why it's so weak now) but at a slower rate than all the others. Since we only have SM and gravity, and the rest is unknown, our understanding of the theory of everything is missing infinite information.

If you still insist on using current physics to describe higher and higher energies, you will find it is (hopefully) accurate until you near the Planck scale. Close to that, those infamous quantum corrections become big again to be detectable, which means they do matter in physics - and since you don't know them, you don't know the physics.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
CMV: Student loan debt shouldn't be cancelled before addressing the underlying issues

If student loan debt is cancelled without treating the underlying reasons why there's so much debt, the problem will be even worse for future generations.

University's will dramatically increase prices because now the cost doesn't matter as people will assume the government will just eliminate the debt down the road. Without addressing why tuition is so high today then we will be in the same place 4 years from now with a new group of grads with astronomical debt.

I understand this will help people today but I cant possibly see the positives for anyone in college or about to enter it.

[Assistant] Student loan debt should be cancelled while we are addressing the underlying issues because the devastating impacts of the debt on students, families, and the economy during a global pandemic are happening right now as we type. Your view is analogous to not stenting a wound because a hospital is right around the corner where it can be sewn up, or not capping an oil spill until we figure out where the leaks coming from. This stuff takes time to investigate and implement measures. Your argument assumes the underlying issue can be fixed immediately. Your argument may be, well loans are paused so why cant we address it now while the bleeding isnt causing any damage. But, the truth is, without cancellation, were all foregoing buying cars, houses, having children, starting businesses because the student loans are out there. Those who truly want the economy to prosper and who read the expert studies know that this is a good thing that should be done now.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[CW Flash] Why doesn't Flash just speed blitz his enemies when fighting the metahuman of the week?

If you go through all of the opponents he's faced, most of them don't seem to have super durability so wouldn't it be easier for him to just speed blitz his opponents?

If he just played the knockout game in Central City wouldn't that get the job done more efficiently?

[Assistant]
because he is dumber than a bag of hammers, he has the IQ of your avarage door. thats really it, he is so stupid he cant do basic stuff that anyone who had those powers would. his fight with doctor light is the best example of this. she can shoot energy blasts (it wasnt lasers) that travelled a bit fast, but not that fast. but lets say that they travelled faster than he could run.

what he did, was that he ran around her fast enough to create about 40 different after images, so she would keep shooting at illusions of him so he wouldnt get hit. Right before this, he tried to run up to her and hit her, but he ran up to her straight ahead from infront of her, so she just had to shoot in a straight line forward. so, he runs around her instead. what does he do now? does he stop her? No, he instead asks the others, wells and the group *on advice on what to do now*. after a 30 second peptalk from wells (you are fast barry, faster than you know) he runs up and punches her out in a one hit KO. thats all he did. he could run around her fast enough to create a shitload of afterimages (which he only thought of doing after wells told him to do it) but he couldnt understand that he could just run up from behind her from the start and knock her out, no, he needed a peptalk from his mentor in order to understand *that he had to hit her*.

ignore what the others say here, about hurting them or such, he has demostrated a million times that he can hit people at such speeds and it will only knock them out. the only reason he gets beaten by those guys is that he is as stupid as you can be while still be able to walk, eat and speak.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] Can planets orbit twin star systems?

[Assistant]
There are two broad categories of binary star systems, wide and close binaries. Wide binaries have two stars that are far apart and don't have a huge amount of interaction with each other. Close binaries are where the stars are pretty darn close, close enough that mass can be swapped between the two stars.

In a wide binary system, there is no reason that a planets cannot orbit the individual stars. In a close system a planet would not be able to orbit one of the stars, but far enough out would be able to orbit the center of mass of the two stars.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: How can software not have mass?

How can software not have mass if it fills a
space/hard drive and can get to the point where no more "bytes" can "fit" inside said drive? What is being filled and shouldn't there be an observable change in some type of measurement if not mass? So basically, how can software have no physical presence yet operate on physical hardware?

[Assistant] Consider a table covered in coins. You can store information by turning coins to heads or tails, each coin representing one bit. We might say the table is "full" when you're using all the coins to represent some meaningful data, but the coins are always there and have the same mass as they do if you "blank" the table to all heads.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Why can't adenovirus-vectored vaccines be aerosolized so they don't require needles?

Whether through a nasal spray or inhalation, it seems like there would be less vaccine hesitancy if there was a route of administration that didn't require needles.

[Assistant]
A couple of reasons: shots are cheaper (nebulizers for delivery cost more), shots are quicker (seconds, versus a couple of minutes to inhale), dosing is consistent with shots more so than inhalation, and, finally, the vaccine can be irritating  which is not a big deal for a muscle, but in lungs it can trigger asthma attacks or breathing problems.

You cant use a system like an asthma inhaler that delivers albuterol. Those make much smaller particles by forcing the liquid through an aperture under pressure, but if you tried that with the adenovirus, youd just rip it to shreds in the process.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: If the middle of Great Britain was transposed directly west, it would lie in freezing cold places such as northern Quebec. Cities in this region in Canada have average winter temperatures of around -25C, yet winter in the UK is relatively mild (average 6C) and rarely even snows. Why?

[Assistant] Thermohaline circulation.  Heat gets pumped around the oceans.  In winter the West coast of Scotland is 2^^^o warmer than the East coast because the Gulf Stream brings so much warm water across the Atlantic.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5 how does splitting the atom cause such a big explosion?

[Assistant] It takes a lot of energy to put the atom together in the first place.  Imagine a large very strong spring.  Imagine that it takes a lot of energy to push it together, and when you get it together, you latch it so it stays.  Now to unlatch it takes energy to open the latch, but when you do, all the energy of the spring is released.  the atom is the same.  It takes a lot of energy to push the positively charged protons together, but when you do, another form of energy takes hold, and latches.  To split the atom takes energy to force the a little bit apart, but then the repulsion takes over and releases more energy.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
If 1 Antimatter Hydrogen was released into a mass of Helium, would the result find one Regular Hydrogen atom?

Just curious if it works this way, but from my understanding if 1x Hydrogen and 1x Hydrogen antimatter collide they both destruct, As they are both made up the same with opposite charges

However if that antimatter hydrogen collided with a helium atom, would they both still destuct or would the helium cancel out the antimatter properties and remain another atom?

(Helium just used as example, unsure if relevant to other meterials)

[Assistant] Antihydrogen would consist of one antiproton and one positron (antielectron). If this collided with helium, each antiparticle would annihilate with its "normal" matter equivalent. Helium normally has 2 protons, 2 neutrons, and 2 electrons, so after the collision it would be left with 1 proton, 2 neutrons, and 1 electron. This is still hydrogen, but most hydrogen doesn't have any neutrons at all; we've actually made a relatively rare isotope of hydrogen (tritium).


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Relationship between level of welfare benefits and crime

My intuition is that reducing the level of welfare benefits for the poor in a society increases the crime rate because people will always find some ways to provide for themselves and in the absence of safety nets more poor people will turn to illegal ways of doing this.

There is probably research done on the topic. So: is there correlation between crime rate and amount of welfare benefits? If there is, how does it depend on type of benefits received?

[Assistant]
There's probably a ton of research on this. Keep in mind that it's going to be dependent on shitloads of factors which will vary not least by country.

Here's one study from the US, examining the effects of the Clinton welfare reform.

Brown, V. L., Montoya, I. D., Dayton-Shotts, C. A., Carroll-Curtis, T. L., & Riley, M. A. (2004). Trends of Criminal Activity and Substance Use in a Sample of Welfare Recipients. Crime & Delinquency, 50(1), 6-23.

They found that over time, criminal activity people who were welfare recipients at first measurement declined, and stuff like income was not correlated with criminal activity (arguing against the potential objection that decreases in crime were related to the strong economic and employment growth going on then). While drug use predicted crime, drug use also declined over the course of the study (four annual measurements). The authors attribute this potentially to increases in employment and social support from welfare case management. The cannot rule out study attrition for the observed phenomena.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: Why aren't the U.S. Presidential Primaries rotated so that other states have a chance to go first?

It seems that by April the choices essentially are made and many states never get to select among a full slate of candidates.

[Assistant]
There have been many proposals to do just that. But there's a few things to remember:

1. Primaries aren't just for Presidents: they're for all the offices later that November. States are more or less bound by law when primaries are held. In practice, of course, states can basically do whatever they want; witness Michigan and Florida in 2008 who went against the DNC and had their delegates stripped (which conceivably could have given Hillary Clinton a boost over Obama).

2. The first four states (New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina, and Nevada) weren't chosen by accident. They represent each of the four regions (North, Midwest, South, and West) and most are small enough to make it competitive. If the first state was New York, Texas, or Illinois, only well-financed and connected politicians are going to win. Basically, these first four primaries are a reasonable test that most candidates can afford to compete in.

3. After these first four is Super Tuesday, where multiple states (usually around 10+) are done at once.

It's a difficult balance. You don't want to have all the primaries at once, because that doesn't give voters a whole lot of information to digest. You don't want big states at first because you want most of the candidates, even smaller and less well-known ones, to at least have a chance. But you also want a candidate who has the organizational skills to handle multiple states at once and to win a state that doesn't require going door-to-door.

Basically, you want a candidate that can handle multiple different scenarios. Organization, fundraising, retail politics, media savvy, and state-level support (i.e. interest groups). Someone who can win in both big and small states, and can win in multiple regions. That usually does a good job of vetting candidates who are ready to go on to the general election.

So, to answer your question: they can (and probably should) rotate the states around, but there's only so many states that fit this particular pattern. It's probably more trouble than it's worth.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
CMV:The book Dune, despite being historically important, is actually not very good.

_____

Prepare yourselves for the ultimate wall of text.

To start with, i did enjoy the book. The flaws didn't ruin it, but I was forced to tolerate them the whole way through and that was very difficult sometimes. Also note that I haven't read the seauels and don't necessarily care to, so if and issue is fixed in a sequel (not likely because most of my issues are structural) then please disregard my point.

I'll be dividing this up into two parts; largely objective flaws and plotholes, and personal issues.

Flaws

First of all I'm going to tackle the biggest problem of them all: The dialogue (both spoken and internal) is utterly atrocious. It's stiff, formal, and uninspiring. Every time a grand scene occurs the dialogue renders it neuter by way of Herbert's monotone writing style. What's worse is any time a given character talks to another. Despite almost every character having their own, well written, individual personality and motivations, every time a character opens their mouths they turn back into the exact same wizened old philosopher as everyone else in the galaxy. What's most inexplicable is the fact that there seems to be no one in the story who actually fits that description. There are exceptions of course; the mercenary/bard that trained Paul (his name evades me) and the shady guy with the emperor who kept saying, "ummm" and "ahhh" for some reason, but there are few, if any, more examples than these two and even then they're pretty weak. The worst offender by far is Paul himself. He starts his journey as a teenager and ends it as a young man. At no point in the story, no matter how omniscient he is, does it make sense for him to speak the way he does. This impenetrable verbage is at least 90% if not entirely why Dune is so hard for casual readers to get into and thus why few people have even heard of it.

Next, there is a great deal of information required for understanding the plot, the back story, and the world around them that is left out of the book itself an stuck in the little information center in the back end. Its not even a great deal of plot, just crucial stuff that could have easily been given out through a bit of exposition or info-dumping but seems to have been replaced by random ecological facts. Its like the book equivalent of the first dark souls game; they tell you just enough not to die, but leave out important details (how to upgrade weapons, what humanity is for, how to get info on the items and stats...etc) that make the opening grind incredibly difficult.

Fans advertise the book as having this grand scale when it kind of doesn't. People compare Dune to Lord of the Rings so I'll use that for a juxtaposition. LotR takes place on a much smaller scale yet feels much more epic in scope. The reason for this is world-building, something Tolkien was a god at. The characters are constantly on the move, at different times getting together and splitting up to cover as much ground as possible. As a result the reader sees EVRYTHING in middle earth,which not only makes a personal connection to the reader but shows them what the protagonists are fighting for. In Dune on the other hand the cast is largely trapped in the same few locations on the same relatively boring planet, yet we're supposed to buy into this backwards-ass planet being the lynchpin in an intragalactic conflict? The connection to the characters and realism of the world itself suffer from this boring story arc.

Next; Paul's story is just ridiculous. He's something like three different "chosen ones" all at one time. (the kwisatz haderach, Maud'dib the liberated of the fremen and Terraformer of arrakis, and Paul Atreides the new emperor and bringer of the jihad, and arguably more than that) That's just too damn many chosen ones for one damn guy. The chosen one trope is literally the oldest trick in the book (source: the fucking bible) but here it's used to a new extreme. It wouldn't be so bad if there was only one chosen one who was destined to do everything, but each title is mutually exclusive for some reason.

Personal Issues

I'll spend a little less time of this section.

The ending was terrible. After spending the whole story, desperately trying to avoid the jihad, Paul just sort of gives up and says, "Fuck it. I'm Emperor now" His freaky little sister, who had no real reason to be in the story at all, just up and kills the Baron which anticlimactically nixes the only person who could feasibly be called the antagonist. Paul selfishly and deliberately betrays the Fremen's dream of Terraforming Dune, so he can have a superior fighting force to the sardaukar. The arrival of the emperor has approximately as much impact on the reader as breakfast and has about as much dramatic effect. He pretty much only came to end the book but that doesn't change how colossally stupid it was to come to dune in the first place. And to boot the last line of the whole fucking book is Jessica (my most hated character of all fiction) telling chani how awesome it is to be a concubine. The hole turn of events takes around as much time as it does for them to get to dune in the first place. It feels rushed and poorly thought out. As a side note to this how the fuck was Paul supposed to avoid the jihad when his plan of action consisted of doing exactly what he always was going to do?

Finally, there is a kind of callus, almost blatant, disregard for life in the course of the story. I don't particularly mind This kind of thing in other books. In the A Song of Ice and Fire series, there also exists a disregard for life, but the difference here is that it has a point in Game of Thrones, that being a kind of in joke between the reader and the author about the poor state of society in the story. Then you have scenes in Dune where characters seem downright apathetic. For example, when Paul hears that his son had been killed He hardly reacts at all, going as far as to tell chain in some poor attempt at consoling her that they'll make more. (Paul is kind of an asswipe)

So that is my view in as little as I could type.

tl;dr: Dune is boring, stiff, and dated. The book is a little overrated.

[Assistant]
Just a few points:

Paul talks the way he does because he's been trained from birth to be the feudal lord of an entire planet.

The reason he is multiple chosen-ones rather than just one is that he co-opts the old Fremen legends for his own advantage. He is *lying* for the sake of his own gain, at least at first.

As far as the jihad goes -once he starts seeing the future, ALL the paths leads to the jihad, even if he tries to avoid it. He merely picks the one that will give him the most control/give him the most favorable outcome.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[DC] When Superman looks up at the night sky from Earth, can he see any Alien Civilizations? Is his super-vision that powerful? Similarly, are there any advanced alien civilizations/cultures/planets within range of his super-hearing when he's on Earth?

Basically, what could Superman tell humanity about the Universe if he decided to use his super-senses (and ONLY his super-senses; no actual flying to Space or anything like that) to become an Astronomer?

[Assistant] Hes not that powerful. He can't see through all the distortion from atmosphere and solar radiation to spot individual cities on planets far away. He can probably tell a little more than a telescope can but it's still a blur with some odd light refraction at best. Could be ice on the planet or could be satellites in orbit. As for his hearing he can only hear in atmosphere. In space there's nothing for sound to travel through so he can't hear anything in the void or from beyond it.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Is there an infinite number of wavelengths on the EM spectrum between 2 wavelengths?

If you take 100nm and 101nm wavelengths, is there an infinite number of wavelengths on the EM spectrum between 2 wavelengths or is this number restricted by Plank's Constant? And if there is an infinite or finite number of wavelengths emitted within the visible spectrum, does black body radiation from the sun emit that finite or infinite number of wavelengths or less than the theoretical limit?

[Assistant]
No, it's infinite. All wavelengths are allowed.

Planck's constant cannot do that, and you can deduce that without knowing the physics. The theory of photons is free quantum electrodynamics, which has only two dimensionful constants: c and hbar, respectively from relativity and QM. c has units of length/time, hbar has units masslength^(2)/time. If you had some kind of discretization of wavelength, which has ofc units of length, the step should be a pure number times a length obtained by combination of powers of c and hbar. But as you can see, there is no way to build a length multiplying powers of c and hbar.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: When you block one end of a straw why does the liquid stay in place/in the straw?

[Assistant]
There are three main forces at work here.

The first is a force called capillary action. In short, this is the tendency for a cohesive fluid (cohesive meaning it's sticky to itself and holds together, like water) to cling to the walls of the inside of a tube and generate an upwards force. This upward force combined with the waters surface tension, another product of waters cohesive properties, allow the fluid to stay intact inside of the straw instead of just running off and separating like oil would.

The second is gravity, which obviously pulls the fluid towards the ground

the third is suction, which causes the air pressure in the straw to drop as the water is pulled away by gravity. after a short drop, the pressure is low enough to provide a suction force powerful enough to suspend the fluid.

so basically, capillary action and cohesion keep the fluid together, and gravity combined with suction keep the fluid in place by pulling in opposite directions.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5:Why is it sometimes a popular connotation to assume that attractive people are less intelligent than others?

[Assistant]
2 Primary reasons:

Anecdotal evidence, people thinking instances of it and generalizing.

Compensation thinking... people seem to have an unfounded belief that strengths come with weaknesses. If someone's attractive, they must be stupid...or the opposite, if someone is smart they must be socially inept. The idea that some people are good without major drawbacks is uncomfortable to some people, it makes them feel better to assume the rich guy is unhappy or cruel or the pretty girl is an idiot.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why can you sit 2 hours trying to solve a programming/math problem, give up, go to bed & then when you wake up, solve the problem in 10 minutes?

[Assistant] When you keep trying to solve a problem for a long time you often get stuck in some dead-end area of thought which doesnt lead to any solutions. After youve rested you often can take a different approach which leads to victory. And it might be fast, because really many such problems have rather simple solutions once you know them.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] Eli5: What makes hi-vis colors... hi-vis? What is it about hunter orange and highlighter yellow that makes them "pop" like they're glowing?

[Assistant]
This is because they glow.

Conventional pigments reflect some colours of light and not others. For example a yellow pigment reflects yellow light but doesn't reflect blue light.

Hi viz colours reflect some light for example yellow. However they also contain fluorescent materials which glow when energised by blue or ultraviolet light.

The natural blue light in sunlight as well as UV light cause the material to actually glow, as well as being coloured.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
Why do RBC's get bigger or smaller depending on whether Vitamin B12 or Iron is deficient?

I have studied that in Vitamin B12 deficiency, there is macrocytic (big celled) RBC production, whereas when there is a lack of iron, there is a microcytic (small celled) RBC production.

I know that vitamin B12 is required for DNA synthesis, and iron is required as a part of the heme group of hemoglobin, but why do the deficiencies have such different outcomes?

[Assistant]
Well a red blood cell is in essence a cell which is filled to the brim with hemoglobin.

If you lack hemoglobin but can produce cells at a regular rate you have less hemoglobin per cell -> smaller cells. If you have a regular amount of hemoglobin, but can't produce enough cells because you're lacking in DNA synthesis you're ending up allocating more hemoglobin per cell -> larger cells.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5: Why does my truck manufacturer suggest not using 4WD over speeds of 55 MPH

I've been looking online for this and can't find a suitable explanation. It just says in the manual to only operate 4 Wheel Drive High under speeds of 55. Is that just a "cover our asses" recommendation or is there a legitimate reason?

[Assistant]
When you're in standard drive, that is, with only power to your rear wheels, your front axles aren't powered and your transfer case is disengaged. Your front wheels are free to spin at whatever RPM they feel like. The RPMs of the front wheels will be different from your rear wheels in several situations, most noticeably when you're taking a turn because your front wheels travel further (especially further than the rear wheel on the same side as the direction you're turning).

Your transfer case does not have a differential. A differential would allow the two pairs of wheels to spin at different RPMs. Without it, the front and rear pair are forced to rotate at the same RPMs.

When turning, even gradually, you will feel shuddering and tire skipping because your drivetrain is fighting itself as one set of wheels is forced to rotate either faster or slower than optimal to match the RPMs of the other set. This increases wear on your drivetrain, and gives a bad ride quality.

edit: axles, not transaxle.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
ELI5 Why do guillotines fall with the blade not perfectly level?

Like the blade is tilted seemingly 30 degrees or so. Does that help make a cleaner kill or something?

I only ask because I just saw a video of France's last guillotine execution on here.

[Assistant] It does make a cleaner kill. If it fell level, the blade would have to cut through the whole neck at once. It requires more force to do that. It's the same principle as cutting food with a knife. You don't put the knife right above the thing and press directly down, you put the knife at an angle.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] [Mortal Kombat] Do Johnny Cage and Shao Khan use the same sort of power? They both use Green Energy and seem to have a sort of glow when they use their powers.

[Assistant]
Shao Kahns powers are a manifestation of magic. Part of the reason he is so powerful is because he absorbs souls just like his favorite sorcerer. In the mortal kombat universe any of the dark magic associated with stealing/absorbing souls is green in color. The soulnado is a good example.

Johnny Cage has green power because he is a a descendant of an ancient warrior race. His green energy is innate and activated when in dire circumstances. His daughter Cassie has the same powers too.

Edit: Ancient Mediterranean warrior race.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[1984] Are the countries Eurasia and Eastasia like Oceania? Better? Worse? Do they even exist?

All we know is from the propaganda BB pushes on those countries, right? I haven't read the book yet, it's on my to read list.

[Assistant]
It's understood that Eurasia and Eastasia have governments that are functionally identical to Oceania.

Oceania's Ingsoc (English Socialism), Eurasia's Neo-Bolshevism and Eastasia's Death Worship are all virtually indistinguishable from one another in practice.

The fact that all three are the same is kept from the people as to maintain the constant war between the three.

All three governments depend on perpetual war in order to survive, since dedicating each nation's entire industrial effort towards war production allows the population to be kept productive while never allowing general quality of life to ever improve.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Why do fight scenes in older movies look so fake compared to newer movies? Isn't it just choreography? Not CGI (mostly).

[Assistant]
Because that was good enough for audiences of the day.

Most people have little exposure to real fighting, and up until the 60's, the only martial art they were likely to have seen was boxing.  Movies followed these expectations, and most fights were stand up punching.

With the rise of the Hong Kong movie industry, and martial arts stars like Bruce Lee, audience expectations changed.  Stand up punching seemed slow and ponderous, so it was necessary to mix in some more sophisticated fighting.

Also, the way audiences viewed their movie heros changed.  You used to have John Wayne cowboy type leads, who were better than everyone else by virtue of being special.  He won his fight because he was always stronger, tougher, and luckier than mere supporting roles, that all the reason the audience needed.

Today's heroes are usually a little more nuanced.  If they are going to win a fight against a bigger, stronger opponent, the movie has to show how he outsmarts or outskills the big lug.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User] ELI5: Can snapping someone's neck in real life like in the movies really kill someone fast? If so why?

[Assistant]
It severs the spinal cord, which prevents the brain from sending any signals to the rest of the body. Your lungs will be unable to take in air, your heart will immediately stop beating, and your brain will run out of oxygen very quickly.

It's the same way that hanging works when done properly. Snaps the neck, doesn't suffocate them.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
[Aliens] How strong are face huggers? Can an average person push them off?

Title. If a face hugger attacked a fairly average person, what are the chances of coming out uninfected?

[Assistant]
In the second documentary, we see one attempt to attach itself to an average human female, Ellen Ripley. She was able to waylay the creature in its task, but was clearly fighting a losing battle. It took two additional people to pry the creature off, and it hadn't even gotten a good grip.

The average person has next to no chance of successfully defending themselves.


[System] Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:

[User]
What is special about sunlight versus artificial light that plants need it?

If all light is just photons, and plants convert photons into sugar through photosynthesis then why do plants die when placed indoors even if given enough artificial light?

[Assistant] Plants operate best on certain wavelengths of light, and not all light is the right wavelength for them. There is also that people tend to vastly underestimate what is "enough light" for a plant to grow properly. Without special high output lights, indoor lighting is not actually bright enough for most species of plants. Plants can absolutely be grown with artificial light, you just need to make sure there actually is enough and that it's light they can efficiently make use of.