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

[User] Why does milk go bad even when its refrigerated?

[Assistant]
There are these little bugs called "bacteria" swimming around in the milk, and they eat the sugar in milk. The bacteria aren't necessarily bad for you - some can actually help settle your stomach (that's why if you eat yogurt or drink milk it can help sometimes) - but a small number are toxic. When milk goes "bad" it means that there are enough toxic bacteria to make you sick. We don't know exactly when there will be enough of the toxic bacteria to make you sick, so we estimate an expiration date.

Putting milk in the fridge slows down the multiplication process through which the bacteria grow, simply enough. It slows it down - doesn't stop it - just slows it down.

Qualifications: 10 minutes of Googling. Seriously.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do white blood cells "chase" something? Like I get how they move, but how do they know the thing is there without eyes? And how do they make decisions to follow it without a brain?

I've seen videos of white blood cells chasing down various bacterium or whatever and they appear to be distinct organisms with decision-making abilities and whatnot, but surely it's just chemical reactions (and far simpler chemical reactions than our own decision making processes).

I'm not so much asking how they move, but how they "know" to move, and where to move, and how they "know" what is an invader and what is not.

[Assistant]
They can track them by touch and by smell.

Basically how it works is each of your B lymphocytes (the white blood cells that chase down bacteria) gets randomly assigned one specific antigen (a cell part visible from the outside of the cell) to look out for for and then gets released into your blood to float aimlessly around gloming onto cells and seeing if they match that antigen. (This is also how they know which things are invaders and which aren't: the cells are 'trained' in your bone marrow by basically exposing them to your own cells and killing any of the ones that exhibit an immune response - these ones are defective and would attack your own body, so they get weeded out before they're released into the bloodstream.)

If they ever find a match, that B lymphocyte starts releasing a variety of chemicals into your blood: antibodies (which latch onto the antigens it found and makes the bacteria sticky and visible), and cytokine (which are signalling chemicals which your other white blood cells can 'smell' and follow to the site of the infection, based on the concentration gradient of that particular cytokine). It also starts rapidly dividing and reproducing into a host of B lymphocytes that all match that one antigen, many of which undergo a different developmental pathway (which is based on the presence of those cytokines) to specialize them for different roles in the immunological response.


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

[User] ELI5: What happens if a small female dog mates with a large male dog?

[Assistant]
Well, with the Great Dane and Chihuahua the act of mating itself would most likely kill the Chihuahua. But assuming she survived without grievous injury, and became pregnant (or was artificially inseminated) they would have major problems as the pup developed and would likely die from a single pup as it would be larger than they are naturally even with the mix of genes.

If the size difference is too great and the female is the small she will almost always die before giving birth due to not being large enough to bring the offspring to term.


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

[User] [Death Stranding] Can someone please explain the story like I am five?

[Assistant] The wikipedia synopsis is pretty good but the tl;dr is there was a big event (the "Death Stranding") that caused invisible creatures called "Beached Things" to roam the earth. When they consume the dead they cause huge explosions, and they cause a rain called "timefall" around them which causes things to decay. Human civilization has been reduced to isolated walled cities, and porters work to reconnect the cities by transporting supplies between them.


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

[User]
ELI5: The collapse of the Soviet Union

I realize this is a broad question but if somebody knows the history of the cold war like the back of their hands, I'd appreciate some insight. I've waded through the wikipedia page but it just isn't very concise.

[Assistant]
The biggest factor was nationalism. The USSR was one large super-state made up of many smaller states that had been independent countries in the past; sort of like the United States, if Texas, California, and Idaho had all spoken separate languages for centuries and considered themselves, to varying extents, different races before being united under one federal government. As you might imagine, there were plenty of people in each of these states that resented being united in this way or felt under-represented -- Russia had clear preference in most affairs and dominated the union -- and wanted greater independence.

The USSR had a special arrangement with a variety of neighbouring countries -- East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary -- called the Warsaw Pact. This pact basically said that "If you attack any of us, you attack ALL of us and we will all declare war on you together." The USSR was by far the largest force here -- it's as if the USA had that deal with Canada and Mexico. So what it really meant was that the USSR promised to protect those countries, in exchange for some authority over their military affairs and strong influence on them. They were popularly called the USSR's "satellite states" -- they weren't part of the USSR, but the USSR had major influence on them. It was like a mafioso promising to protect you from your enemies, in exchange for you 'owing' him favours.

Now in the 1980s, a new wave of Soviet politicians arose who opposed the totalitarianism and oppression of the past, especially the abuses of the Stalin era, and wanted a new, open, accountable form of communist government. This wave espoused three big slogans and programs: Glasnost (openness/transparency), Democratizatsiya (democracy), Perestroika (restructuring/reorganisation). More open elections and citizen involvement, fewer secrets, clearing out corruption, those were the goals.

Many human rights abuses and problems with the society and its leaders (especially Stalin) were openly taught and discussed for the first time, which started to ebb at patriotism and cause a public divide between the old generation and the new generation, and a government divide between the conservative hardliners who thought this was all a mistake and the glasnost supporters. This served to only intensify the big debate taking place in the new more democratic society -- the debate over nationalism.

As part of the new initiatives, the USSR's leader, Gorbachev, promised to stop intervening in the affairs of the satellite states and leave them more independent -- but this also meant, as part of the compromise, reducing or removing the Red Army's guarantee of protection. So they gave the nationalists and anti-Soviet voices more prominence both within and without the country, while giving the satellite states less reason to need them. Countries like Poland started electing governments who were anti-Soviet or at least not aligned with the USSR, as previous governments had been.

When this started happening, it fanned the flames within the USSR, and the USSR's republics/states began breaking off -- the communists lost elections in the Baltic and Caucasus states, which began becoming independent nations. This was when the USSR started really breaking up.

What really made it *collapse*, though, was the coup d'etat. In 1991, the conservative hardline members of the government, totally opposed to all these bleeding-heart changes that were weakening  the USSR and its military pacts, staged a coup to remove Gorbachev from power and abandon his new initiatives. They were fiercely opposed and the coup failed, but it absolutely destroyed confidence in the government, and many more states declared their independence. The president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, was a fierce opponent of Gorbachev's himself and banned the current party from doing activity in Russia and eventually declared *its* independence also.

In the background of all this is the decline in oil prices, oil being vital to the USSR, and escalating military budgets causing food shortages and declines in healthcare and quality of life standards across eastern Europe. It's a big complicated issue. If you want a proper detailed explanation, *Armageddon Averted* by Stephen Kotkin is utterly fantastic (and then move on to his three-volume biography of Stalin, still in progress, for more detail on the USSR, and Sheila Fitzpatrick's *Russian Revolution* -- the 3rd edition, after the fall of the USSR and her admission into the old Soviet archives -- and Orlando Figes's *A People's Tragedy*).


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

[User] ELI5: Why does drinking fluids help when you're sick?

[Assistant]
Truth of the matter is no one knows for sure but we have some ideas, it might be all of these, or none at all.

First of all the obvious, if you're sick enough you're losing water by sweating feverishly, having diarrhea and throwing up, then you're keeping yourself from being dehydrated and dehydration can make you feel pretty miserable.

Second, being dehydrated makes you feel crappy, so of you're lightly dehydrated plus sick then you're feeling double-crappy.  Supporters of this theory point to comfort food and the desire to engage in soothing activities like warm baths when sick.

Third, most of the feeling crappy when you're sick is actually the result of your body's own immune response, causing inflammation, fever and other responses to fight infection.  A minor cause is the remains of destroyed cells and if it's a bacterial infection, bacterial toxins.  Being well-hydrated helps your body eliminate these toxic substances more easily.  We're not sure about immune chemicals but excess might be excreted by the kidneys.

Another theory says when you're sick your metabolism is increased and you need more water to help things along.

Truth of the matter is it's not certain which factors play into it, but it's probably a complex combination of factors.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why are rechargeable batteries 1.2V instead of 1.5V?

In particular, I'm talking about AA and AAA batteries.

[Assistant]
Typical one-shot batteries are alkaline batteries. Their reaction is not trivially reversible, and so they cannot be recharged. A side effect of this reaction is that they also have a very steep voltage curve compared to rechargable lithium ions.

The result is that their curve is between 1.5v at full charge, to 1v near death. This is why you can cycle batteries from a high power device which no longer starts as it requires 1.2v per cell, like a camcorder, to your remote control, which can use the 1.1v still available.

Rechargables are much like an emulated alkaline replacement. The average power of their curve is what really matters, and since their voltage curve is linear and reasonably minor, they don't need to provide a constant 1.5V, but can provide a more consistent 1.2V that the devices expect from a reasonably charged alkaline.


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

[User]
If a space ship is going 99% speed of light time is slower for them according to the earth (I think) but if the space ship is out reference point then the Earth is going 99% the speed of light. So wouldn't time be going slower on earth in relation to the ship?

So 1 earth hour is only .5 hours on the ship (I am fully making numbers up here) because the ship is moving 99% the speed of light relative to the earth. But if you choose the ship as a reference point then the earth is the one moving so that would mean (as I understand) that 1 hour on the ship would only be .5 hours on the earth. And now 1 hour of thinking about this is causing a 3 hour headache!

[Assistant]
It is important to take into account the difference between the very nature of the two observers.

If you take the observer in the spaceship, what they see is the earth and all of space moving away from them, as if their ship is standing still.  This means that we must also consider spacial contraction.  This is the contraction of space in the direction of movement.  It means that if, to take your example, a 1 meter ruler is moving at 99% the speed of light, the ruler will actually be .5 meters long when observed by a stationary person.

Now this means, in the reference frame of the dude in the spaceship, the distance of space that they are traveling through is actually shorter because, according to them, all of space is moving by at 99% the speed of light.

Warning, the following is physics!

There is an interesting application in physics where scientists have observed muons that typically have a half life of 2.2 microseconds.  These particles are created in the upper atmosphere and move toward the earth at very high (relativistic) speeds, something comparable to the speed of light.  Using classical physics, we can easily determine that something like .05% of the muons will make it to the surface of the earth, however we experimentally observe something around 80%.

It makes sense, if we use relativity, that in the reference frame of an on ground observer, the half life of a muon will actually be longer because of time dilation, this easily explains how 80% of the muons actually make it to the surface.  But it is not so clear if we take the reference frame of the muon, and this frame is perfectly fine to use, so how do the muons survive with a half life of 2.2 microseconds, their half life cannot change because they are not moving relative to themselves.  The answer is spacial contraction.  Because they are moving so fast, they see the space that they travel through to be shorter.  This means that, despite having a short half life, they don't have to travel as far to reach the surface of the earth and be detected.

It is weird to think that two different observers can explain the way something happens in two completely different ways, but physics tends to work like that.


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

[User]
ELI5: If dust is made of dead skin cells, then why are places where there are no people (abandoned house, in your attic) the dustiest?

I understand that places with high traffic don't have as much because the traffic knocks it to the floor (i think???), but why is it that unpopulated places left alone accumulate dust.

[Assistant]
Dust isn't just dead skin cells. Dead insect parts, skin, hair, dirt, organic material, chemicals, plastics, metals, and of course Dorito, Cheeto and Frito crumbs.

Anything small enough to become airborne (or not airborne), float (roll) around awhile and settle somewhere nice and quiet, falls under the "dust" category.


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

[User] [Mass Effect] Does the galaxy "need" the Relays? Could they still travel to other systems at FTL speeds with generation ships?

[Assistant]
Yes, they *can* travel at FTL but sub-relay speeds. Relay-to-relay was nearly instantaneous. A really good warp core can bring a thing to *about* 15ly/day. Drawbacks include that it needs to refuel and discharge status much more often along that trip, requiring that a whole hell of a lot more infrastructure be built up, society would need to build one along every - or every other - system with a gas giant suitable for refining, building an infrastructure waypoint-bridge to every point of interest. Lack of availability of suitable planets might mean that some of these routes need to be meandering or indirect.

What this means for the section of the quarian fleet stranded near Earth after the blown relay... they need to cover something like 20,000 light years to get back home. That would be about five years of non-stop travel, *if* they could fly in a straight line, and if the infrastructure they needed was already present. Though with a large fleet they probably have a mobile refining ship - which means they have to spend almost half their time stopping for maintenance, repairs, refining, and refueling of every child vessel in the fleet. If they're lucky, persistent, and don't have to take any major detours, they might get back to Rannoch inside of the next decade.

For the Turian fleet - they didn't come as prepared, or with as many self-sufficient food-producing live-ships as the quarians, if they even bothered to bring supplies for a long journey. Luckily, they have less than half as long of a trip... but since nothing on Earth is edible for them, they're going to have some major problems. A lot of aliens are never going to make it home.

Galactic civilization can't continue to exist in the form it has been. Trade and visitation between cultures will be a slow, years-long voyage. The Citadel is no longer in any way centrally located. Major colony worlds that sprouted up near mass relays will have to deal with a gross lack of resources (including food) in the short term, and will no longer be relevant as hubs for trade and exchange. Since the extranet relied on the relays to send data packets at FTL speeds, communication between worlds will have to be set up through QE molecules, and will be strangled down to a bare fraction of its former bandwidth. Every level of government is going to become a lot less centralized and more locally regulated.


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

[User]
I think that for a parent, any reason for owning a handgun is outweighed by the inherent risks of having one in the home. CMV

Safe gun practices (using a gun safe, storing ammo separately) prevent a gun from being useful in most instances where a gun might be useful for protection. Having a gun and ammunition in a home increases the risk that someone might get injured or killed. This increased risk is not outweighed by any potential increase in protection from outside threats. I realize that my assessment of risk is flawed and not based on any hard evidence, but this awareness in itself does not change my perspective. Please cite peer reviewed studies if possible. CMV.

[Assistant]
The following statistics were from the National SAFE KIDS Campaign:

In 2003, 231 children ages 14 and under were treated in hospital emergency rooms for unintentional firearm-related injuries; more than 50 percent of these injuries were severe enough to require hospitalization.

In 2002, 60 children ages 14 and under died from unintentional firearm-related injuries.

In 2003, nearly 8,300 children ages 14 and under were treated in hospital emergency rooms for unintentional non-powder gun-related injuries (e.g., BB guns, pellet guns).

From CDC:

Children: Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates. In 2009, among children 1 to 4 years old who died from an unintentional injury, more than 30% died from drowning.1,2  Among children ages 1 to 4, most drownings occur in home swimming pools.2 Drowning is responsible for more deaths among children 1-4 than any other cause except congenital anomalies (birth defects).1 Among those 1-14, fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death behind motor vehicle crashes.

So for parents, owning a swimming pool is significantly more dangerous then owning a handgun.  Wouldn't the conclusion is that parents not paying attention is the common cause here, not guns, not swimming pool?


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

[User] Why can't I get service when high up on a plane, but when I take a picture with my iPhone, it knows exactly where I am and tags my location?

[Assistant]
It's using GPS to determine your location, not cell towers.  As long as you have 3 satellites you can get a signal for you can get a position, the more satellites you are able to 'see' the more accurate the position.

Likewise, if you're in an area where there is no cell coverage, you can still use the GPS in the phone to get your position or use an application that has offline maps.

Edit to add: if you have 'airplane mode' set on the phone it should disable all radios including GPS, and you would not get geo-tagged photos.


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

[User]
[40k] The Imperium comes across a planet where everyone knows about Chaos, what happens?

Ok, so the Imperium finds an as of yet discovered old human colony, around Terra circa 2016 in technology and, daemons and the warp are common knowledge there but, everybody despises them with the same fervor that the Imperium does. Does that make it Exterminatus time or not?

[Assistant]
Exterminatus is only used if the world as actively hosting an enemy force which cannot be repelled or removed from the planet by other means.

If the world could be convinced to accept Imperium rule, a task force would be sent to sterilize and place the native population in work camps. Adeptus Mechanicus local branches would sweep over and pick out any useful technology for cataloging, Inquisitors burn any books or other data storage that might induce heretical thoughts, and then eventually new Imperial citizens are shipped in to colonize the world and turn it over to Imperium prodution. They are told that the surviving former inhabitants, in their work camps, are criminals and not to be sheltered or listened to. Eventually the old population dies out and is forgotten. This is basically what the Inquisition tried to do on Armageddon, where the native (loyalist) population had become widely aware of Chaos.

If the world cannot be convinced to accept Imperial rule, they're obviously enemies of the Imperium and deserve no mercy. The world is invaded, the inhabitants slaughtered, and proceed as above.


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

[User] [ELI5] Why does Hulu have multiple gates for their content? I mean why do they have ads, and charge and even if you pay for Hulu Plus, gate what you can watch to certain devices or from certain computers.

[Assistant]
Hulu is what happens when old guard TV business men try to apply old strategies and models to streaming internet television.

They're making money, but it remains to be seen whether they can compete in the long run with Netflix's rotating library, HBO Go's movie and original programming slate, or even something like WWE Network's niche appeal.


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

[User] [Marvel/DC] Which low-level/street-level/ B-Lister hero could potentially become the most devestating villain?

[Assistant]
Spider-Man has a good mix of powers. Decent super-strength, decent toughness, and low-level super-speed. Add in limited precognition, a low-level healing factor, and peerless agility and you've got a dude with not a lot of weak points. He could do a *lot* of damage as a bad guy. (But then, it's always easier to hurt people than it is to protect them.)

The thing about Evil!Spider-Man is his methods wouldn't be all that different. He'd still web you up, only this time he'd aim for your nose and mouth.


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

[User] ELI5: How do astronauts prevent the buildup of carbon dioxide inside the spacecraft?

[Assistant] There are CO2 scrubbers that remove it. This is typically either lithium hydroxide or a zeolite that will chemically bind to the CO2 and pull it out of the air. By circulating the air of the craft through this system the CO2 concentration can be kept low and the astronauts able to breath.


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

[User]
[Marvel] the limits of sandman's powers?

Can he control sand made of any rock?
Can he control the rocks before they become sand? If not, at what point do pebbles become sand?
Can he control the thing?
What about glass?

[Assistant] He can't control anything besides himself.  He can turn his own body into sand and take any form he wants to.  The biggest problem he has is that he is an uneducated thug with limited imagination.  If he trained he'd be able to defeat the Hulk.


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

[User]
[Spider-Man: Homecoming] What if Peter had refused to let Toomes threaten him in the car?

What would have happened if Peter raised up a fuss and passersby saw Toomes (a grown man) threatening a teenage boy with a gun in his car?

Or, even better, Peter uses his super-reflexes/super-strength to incapacitate Toomes and screams for help. Passersby see that Toomes has a gun, so they come to the correct assumption that he was threatening Peter, although Peter hides the fact that he has super-strength by pretending to really struggle with Toomes until someone gets the gun.

Would Toomes have been able to talk his way out of this? What ramifications would this have had on the rest of the movie?

[Assistant]
In the ensuing confrontation in the movie, Peter earned Toomes respect by both showing up and saving his life. It's because of that fight Toomes doesn't reveal Parker's secret to the Scorpion or the authorities.

Had Peter made a move in the car, the Vulture probably would have told everyone who Spiderman really is.


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

[User]
[The Walking Dead] Are there variants of the virus?

Like, lets say the reason someone died was because they got the flu, or Covid, or some kind of other sickness. They get sick, dont have the means to get better, die, and turn. Is the sickness now combined with the zombie virus to the point where, as that zombie walks around, someone could catch whatever they had just by being near, or close enough to kill that particular Walker?

[Assistant] Given that the virus is supposedly extraterrestrial in origin according to Kirkman i doubt it'll be that easily altered. Dying of something contagious such as ebola or the plague may survive initially in the corpse but without fresh tissue to feed on most earth based diseases cannot survive in necrotic tissue for long. Cell division seems to stop meaning cancers or viruses like cholera likely won't continue to grow but the point is rather moot. Exposure to active zombie virus samples causes the dormant strains in your body to activate. Ebola takes days to kill you but the zombie virus takes minutes to hours.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why did the bronze age come first?

I have a cursory knowledge of history at best and very little of forging metals.

Why was it easier for humans to make an alloy like bronze before just refining iron?

[Assistant]
Bronze preceded iron as a widely worked metal due to the fact that the metals which make bronze are easily recovered from their ores, and the resulting alloy is soft enough to be easily worked with the raw materials which were then available.

Copper is probably the reason why the Bronze Age came first. Copper is the perfect gateway from stone tools to metallic tools for primitive societies because:

Copper exists in nature in relatively pure form, and it's common enough that it certainly would have been found in many places. Also pure copper is a striking attractive red-gold mineral.

Copper can be melted at wood burning temperatures, so it can be
easily cast

Copper can be beaten into shapes with minimal or no heating

Copper tools are superior to stone tools for many types of uses.

The biggest problem with copper is it's soft and doesn't work well for tools that need a sharp edge: Axes, hatchets, knives, swords.

Iron is a common element in the earth's crust, but it almost always occurs as a compound, it is very rarely to find it naturally as metallic iron. Occasionally an iron meteorite will fall from space, to provide a 'magical' source of the metal. Such rare occurrences allowed a few smiths to discover the valuable properties of iron.


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

[User]
ELI5: The physical process of death

I'm curious about what happens to your body as you die.  The order of events and how one might feel as this is going on.  Thanks!

[Assistant]
The loss of blood in the capillaries happens rapidly, within minutes of death.

Algor mortis is when the body begins to cool. Within the first hour, the body will lose two degrees in temperature. Then, every hour afterward, it will lose one more degree of temperature until it is the temperature of the environment it is in.

Rigor mortis is the stage most people are familiar with, if they know their CSI. It is when a dead person becomes stiff. It begins after three hours of death, reaching full stiffness after 12 hours. Then, three days after death, the body becomes soft again as it slowly decomposes.

Livor mortis is the next stage, when the blood begins to pool to the lowest part of the body. Since the body no longer combats gravity by pushing the blood around, the blood just resorts to falling down to the lowest level.

Decomposition and putrefaction occurs, marked by the production of vapors. The bodys cells are rupturing and breaking apart. The intestines push out and fall prey to distension. The skin breaks apart often and the insides purge out. Insect activity begins to take shape.

Decay is marked by the breaking down of the body. Bacteria, fungi, and protozoa begin to move in, as insect and possibly animal activity begins to become more rampant. The darker the color of the body, the longer the person has been dead. Also evident are blisters or skin slippage.

Skeletonization or diagenesis is the final stage. The moisture in the body is lost. The bones are visually evident. Two years is typical in moderate temperature, whereas in hot climates like Africa, skeletonization may occur as quickly as in two weeks.

Bones, in the first year of death begin to bleach and moss or algae may grow on them. After a decade, big cracks will form.

The End.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do large military ships/vessels use nuclear power but same size or larger cruise/cargo ships don't?

[Assistant] Nuclear power is difficult to do safely and the government will allow its own ships to do things private organizations can't. Also nuclear power means a warship can't be starved for fuel which is of strategic importance while cargo ships don't really worry about enemy forces cutting off their supply lines.


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

[User] ELI5 In a flooding event (i.e. hurricane, etc.), do officials preemptively shut off electricity to prevent electrocution from downed power lines? If not, how dont people get injured?

[Assistant] Im a power line electrician, depending on the grid they cant just disconnect power lines, plus people still need power even with a flood happening, most of the time ground level transformers that power blocks of houses will just blow or short out and cut power to homes that way, if its pole mounted transformers then the house panel will most likely trip and kill power to the house before anybody gets electrocuted. But this is not a guarantee and people still die from electrocution in a flood, in a flood power will not be cut so if youre in that situation BEFORE the flood hits cut the power off in your house from your main panel, after that stay on high ground and DO NOT go anywhere near a downed power line.


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

[User]
[ATLA] Is there a contingency plan if the Avatar goes rouge?

Like just imagine for whatever reason, that the Avatar decides to destroy or conquer the world or something. Does the world/spirit world have a plan B in the event of something like this happening?

[Assistant] In the Kyoshi novels, when an enraged and emotionally unstable Kyoshi decides to murder a Fire Nation noble for a crime that definitely does not merit the death penalty, Kuruk stepped in made Kyoshi snap out of it. The past lives definitely have a say and can do something should the current Avatar go rogue.


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

[User]
ELI5: The eurozone crisis. Whats going on?

I understand what went down in the US economy, with all the mortgage backed securities and what not, but I haven't been able to find any good news articles on the Eurozone crisis. Can some one explain it to me?

[Assistant] Greece accumulated a shit load of debt. They can't cover that debt. They need the rest of the eurozone to bail them out. Other countries(Germany) don't want to, but they share the same currency as Greece, so Greece failing would also hurt them.


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

[User] [Marvel-Fantastic 4] Can Sue Storm use her powers of bending light like a magnifying glass? Could she create a giant magnifying glass and create a giant heat ray?

[Assistant]
No. Her force fields are totally invisible, they don't have the refractive capability needed to do that.

While she can filter out light (changing colors or turning totally invisible), she cannot change the *direction* of the light. So, no focusing for lasers or magnification.


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

[User]
CMV: Passing as white is the same thing as being white.

This is something I've heard a few times, sometimes form people I've followed for years whom it always seemed obvious that they were 'white.' Now I've never understood how whiteness is something you could 'pass' as. Here's my thinking and tell me why it's wrong.

1. There is no scientific difference between 'races.' (Of humans obviously.)
2. That means there is no biological difference between a black man or a white man. I mean of course they are different people, but there is nothing genetic which separates them into two different categories of humans.
3. Therefore 'race' is really just perceptive. Black people are black and white people are white because people see them as white or black.
4. That means a person's race is based in other people's perception of them.
5. If a person 'passes as white' then that means that other people perceive them as white. But since your race is literally what people perceive you as, being perceived as white means that you are white.
6. Therefore, passing as white is equivalent to being white.

Now I've asked, and some people have told me that it's a cultural difference, but I don't understand why that can be true. I'm a white Ukrainian - Canadian, but if I were to move to a predominantly black or Hispanic nation, and whole hardheartedly immersed myself in the language and the culture, I would still be a white guy who speaks Spanish (for example) and partakes of that nation's culture.

Heck even if I my white parents went and lived in the same country - Let's say it's Spain -, raised me there, and furthermore did not teach me Ukrainian or English but Spanish as my mother tongue, and I was raised practicing the same cultural events of other Spanish people, I would still be a white guy Spanish guy, not a Hispanic person, correct?

For the exact same reasons it can't be geographical. White person born in an African country is still just a white person born and raised in said country, and same with a black person born in a traditionally white country like any European country.

Also if anything other than how people perceive you determines whether or not you are white, then what is it that is distinct about whiteness besides the light skin tone? What makes white 'white' or black 'black?' What is different from me and someone who merely passes as white? Because language, geography, culture, and religion don't seem to cut it.

If you asked most people how they judge race the immediate answer would be 'the persons' skin color.' Now there a white people who are paler and darker then me. So if a person has skin which is light enough to be perceived as white, then it's just white. That's how color works. If someone told me 'This painting is yellow and red mixed together' they would be correct, but I would also be correct if I said 'That color is orange.'

[Assistant]
Passing as white is a conditional state. It means you're safe until someone decides to take white identity too seriously.

Think about how many arabs in America passed as and thought of themselves as white until we collectively decided that being or looking Muslim was a politically relevant distinction.


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

[User]
Is there a difference between turning up the source volume and not the speakers versus turning up the speakers but not the source volume?

Just watching a baseball game and wondering whether I should turn up my speaker system or the TV volume for clearer sound.
(EDIT: Not sure how to categorize this.  Engineering, I guess, because it's ultimately about electricity?)

[Assistant]
Yes there is a difference. Good quality sound is achieved by taking a signal, which is usually quite weak, and boosting it in *stages*. This allows a few things to happen: finer control over which frequencies are boosted and which (noise) are filtered; less opportunity for noise from the components to seep in, easier to use each component at its optimal level.

When you apply too much gain early on in the path, the signal can get *clipped*. Imagine the smooth curve of a sine wave hitting a ceiling and turning "square" at the top. That's literally one of the most common things you'd see in an oscilloscope in the scenario you're describing.

If you turn up your tv all the way, the signal coming into your stereo will be closer to the ceiling of what your stereo can handle coming in, and you'll hear distortion. On the other hand, set too low, your stereo will amplify any incoming noise along with the weak signal and you'll hear hiss. Best to set the tv to a moderate volume and let the stereo supply the real power. (Assuming all the components match up in terms of what they're expecting.)


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

[User]
Can our organs feel 'pain'?

Do we have pain receptors on our organs or rather just our skin?

[Assistant] For the lungs: the only pain receptors are on the outside.  This means that if you get stabbed  - you feel pain 1st as the skin is cut, again when the pleura that lines the ribs on the inside is cut, and again when the lung itself is punctured.  However, if we snake a tube through the mouth or nose and down the throat - you will cough and gag when it touches the vocal cord or trachea (numbing with lidocaine reduces this) - but it won't hurt if we do biopsies of the lungs themselves.  Most organs work similarly - meaning pain receptors on the outside edge and that's it.


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

[User]
[Lord of the Rings] what exactly is the difference between Numnoreans/higher races of Men and other races of Men, and how did this division come to pass?

I've always found the concept intriguing but I don't really get the multitude of racial differences in LoTR.  Specifically about the races of Men.  Were Numnoreans/higher races the first Men? Why are they different? What about them is different compared to other Men? Was there a time when there was only higher races of Men or have there always been higher and lower? I need to know it all!!! Help me Reddit!

[Assistant]
There are technically four types of men.

The Edain/Numenoreans/Dunedain - They are the "high" race of men. The original Edain who fought against Morgoth in the First Age were blessed and became Numenoreans. Numenoreans were superior to other men in every way (height, strength, culture, lifespan and an immunity to sickness). The Numenoreans grew powerful, eventually becoming the most powerful nation in the world. They established colonies all throughout Middle Earth and at first, they had a cordial relationship with the men who lived in Middle Earth. However, as their power grew, so did their arrogance, cruelty and most importantly, their longing for immortality. As their faith in the Valar started to decline, so did their superiority and by the time of the Fall of Numenor, the Kings of Numenor who had once lived to over 400 years of age now barely lived past 200 years of age and all Numenoreans lost their immunity to sickness. When Numenor fell, the survivors (the ones who were still faithful to the Valar) became the Dunedain and founded the Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor. Although they regained some of their strength, they've slowly been in decline throughout the Third Age. Aragorn is a pure-blooded Dunedain and lived to over 210 years of age, whereas someone like Faramir is mixed blood and lived to just over 130.

It's also worth mentioning that Black Numenoreans are also a thing. These guys are basically Numenoreans who became loyal to Sauron. Very few actual Black Numenoreans still exist as most of them intermingled with the Haradrim and became the Corsairs of Umbar. It's possible that the Corsairs may have retained some of their Numenorean ancestors traits.

Middle Men - Middle Men are men who were related to the original Edain and either didn't cross into Beleriand during the First Age or didn't go to Numenor. Middle Men include Bree-landers, Rohirrim, Northmen, Dunlendings, Hill-men and Druedain. Although they're all technically Middle Men, they're mostly pretty different from each other. Bree-landers, Rohirrim and Northmen are all pretty civilised, whereas Hill-men, Dunlendings and Druedain are pretty much barbarians. Whereas Numenoreans are superhumans, Middle Men are pretty comparable to modern humans in most physical aspects.

Men of Darkness/Twilight - These guys are pretty much the same as Middle Men in most ways except for the fact that they worship Morgoth/Sauron. They include the Haradrims, the Easterlings and the various other men that live throughout Middle Earth. They didn't descend from the Edain and generally hate the Dunedain and their allies.

Hobbits - Hobbits are technically Men. It's not really known how they became the way they are, but biologically they aren't really their own race like Elves and Dwarves are.


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

[User]
[John Carter] What are the planets, from a Martian POV?

We often see in sci-fi stories, like the John Carpenter series, a protagonist drawing a simple solar system to designate where they are from, to a Martian native. But then I thought, "Would Mercury be naked eye visible from Mars?" Followed shortly thereafter, "Would any of the other outer gas giants be visible?"

In short, if a hypothetical Martian was naming wandering stars, or planets, which ones would, or would not, bo on the list?

[Assistant]
It should be made clear the civilization we see on Barsoom is basically in its Mad Max phase- a ruined shadow of its once great glory, and life forms are barely kept alive by the atmosphere machines.

So it's possible they had access to better astronomy equipment than "naked eye" at some point in their past

That being said, we do know several names they have given to other planets: they call Mercury "Rasoom," Venus "Cosoom," Earth "Jasoom," Jupiter "Sasoom," and Saturn "Xasoom." Those are in fact all the planets visible to US by naked eye.


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

[User]
How was the permeability of free space derived?

It seems really strange to me that it is a constant with respect to pi. What were the calculations to derive that the permeability of free space is equal to 410^7 Vs/(Am)

[Assistant]
Well... there's a fixed relationship between the permitivity and permeability of free space (c^2 = 1/(00)). In the SI system of units, meters and seconds are both defined, and therefore c is fixed.  We then *defined* the permeability of free space, which in turn fixes the permittivity of free space.

So in short, that value is defined, not derived.  In other unit systems, they define a different value for the permeability and permittivity.


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

[User]
ELI5: What exactly does a "karat" measure?

I read somewhere that "karat" is a unit of weight measurement for any precious stone, etc. What I don't understand is how, then, is the same term, "karat", used to describe purity of precious metals? (24 karat gold is apparently pure gold). Couldn't you (hypothetically) have a chunk of pure 24 karat gold, that weighed several kilos?
(This is kind of rambling; I hope my question makes sense)

[Assistant]
Carat (with a C) is a measure of weight for precious gems.

Karat (with a K) is a measure of purity for precious metals.

So, a 24 karat gold nugget gives *no* indication of its weight, only that it's pure gold that has no other metals added.


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

[User] [Stories involving treasure hunting] Why would the original treasure holders leave out clues/trivia scattered when their main goal is to keep the treasure hidden from everyone else?

[Assistant]
It's to remind themselves exactly where they left it.  In a pre-GPS world without man-made landmarks you had to get creative.

But they don't want to just write it down so anyone can read it.  They scatter the clues so that only they know how to track them all down or they can direct their confederates how to find them.


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

[User]
[Deus Ex: HR] A question regarding supplies

Adam Jensen is the head of security for a massive corporation that makes massive profits of it's enterprises, enough money comes into that place for a fully funded R&D department. So why the hell does Adam Jensen have to rely on spending his own credits for weapons and ammunition? Why does he have to skulk around abandoned gas stations for assault rifle ammo, why can't he just order them in bulk and have them warehoused somewhere?

[Assistant]
No time.

Jensen certainly _can_ arrange to have needed supplies delivered to his apartment and filed to "discretionary security expenses," but that takes time. Time that he definitely doesn't have when he's flying around the world shooting people.

When it gets down to it, and you need a gun _now,_ then the gas station (or a downed foe) is really his only option.


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

[User]
eli5: why can't human body produce Vitamin C?

The other day I learn that the only thing that the human body can't produce is Vitamin C; that's why we have to take it in external way.

If our body can produce other vitamins, why not Vitamin C? What do human not have to produce Vitamin C?

[Assistant]
Most mammals can produce it, but we had lost the gene which is necessary for this very long ago. Why? Our ancestors didn't need it, they ate enough fruits to cover the demand for vitamin C, so producing it wasn't advantageous anymore.

One more thing - vitamin C is not the only thing humans can't produce, we can't create some aminoacids for example.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do we know water is made of two hydrogen and one oxygen atom?

Curious about how scientists came to discover this, google didnt help much.

EDIT: thank you so much for the help!

[Assistant] You can separate the two elements with an electric current, a 9 volt battery is plenty. It is called electrolysis. Look it up and you can see how to make or buy a small apparatus to do it. Fill two test tubes with the resulting gasses and you can measure the volume of gas, showing that the hydrogen tube has twice the volume of the oxygen tube. You can test the properties of the gasses (explode the Hydrogen, use the Oxygen to make something burn brighter, etc.)


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

[User]
CMV: Higher insurance rates for young men is sexist.

Yes, I understand the fact that there are studies showing how young men can be more reckless than women, but that shouldn't be a good enough reason to treat men any differently than women.

For example, "Whites, who make up 78 percent of the U.S. population, accounted for 35 percent of the state prison population. Blacks, who make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, were 38 percent of the state prison population. Hispanics, who make up 17 percent of the U.S. population, were 21 percent of the state prison population." Does this mean Blacks or Hispanics should be treated differently just because there are statistically more of them in prison? No. This, I feel, is a good analogy as to why men should be getting the same insurance rates as women.

I'm not a 'masculinist', but It just strikes me as unfair. I would love to hear some other opinions! Thank you for taking the time to read :]

Edit: I'm talking about car insurance.

[Assistant]
Insurance rates are all about probability.  The insurance companies compile huge amounts of data.  Based on the demographic data of the insured, what is the probability that they will have to pay out, and how much will they need to pay.  They take that number, add in a profit, and that's your rate.

Things that they have discovered correlate with lower costs to them include:

* grades
* defensive driving classes
* safe driver
* age
* miles driven
* where you live
* safely equipment on the vehicle
* gender

Of the these factors are used to set rates.  All of them are "unfair" in a sense.  You could be a much better driver at 16 than some other people are at 40.  You could get straight A's and drive drunk every night.   But statistically (and again, that's all that insurance is), if the company insures 1000 women and 1000 men, they are going to pay considerably less for the women.  Why should they have to pay more?


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

[User]
I've noticed many of the exoplanets within a few dozen lightyears of us that are considered "inhabitable" have extremely short orbital periods around their sun (>20 days). What effect would that have on the seasons on said planets?

Title :) Curiosity + research.

[Assistant]
The reason for the short orbit stars being ubiquitous in the studies is because. Its easier to spot a regular body crossing a very large star, the more often it orbits the easier it is to spot the dimming pattern.  The reason we are finding more of that sort is because thats the sort the technique finds most easily (confirmation bias).  Whether there Is life is doubtful because of the radiation from the stars probably bleaches them.  Seasons on them?  tidal locking at such close distances (like our moon) makes seasons unlikely.

Our sun is very small, if someone was in the right plane to see the earth cross the sun if it was being observed from a long way away it would only dim the sun by tiny amounts once every 365 days!  A very difficult pattern to spot but perhaps not impossible.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Why didn't Padme freak out when Anakin told her about the Tusken slaughter? Shouldn't she be worried that being with a murderer could end poorly or that one day he might take out his anger on her?

[Assistant]
There is a theory out there that Padme only likes Anakin because he is brainwashing/mindcontrolling her. That is why she always acts so stilted, and doesn't seem to care about anything. Also, why she died when Anakin got so injured. Anakin lost concentration, which caused her mind to shut down.

So Padme didn't get mad because Anakin wanted her to be the perfect supporting waifu.


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

[User] ELI5: How does UV light disinfect things and what all can it disinfect?

[Assistant] UV radiation is ionising. That means that if it collides with certain molecules, it ionises them - puts them into a reactive state. If UV radiation ionises DNA, the DNA has a pretty high chance of changing its pattern as a result of that. Since the pattern of DNA is vital for its function, a change in the pattern can cause all sorts of problems, depending on where the change is and what the new pattern does. UV light isn't extremely penetrating, so the worst it does to humans a thick block of cells) is kill and mutate the outermost layers (the skin), but bacteria are just individual cells forming a thin sheen across a surface. Expose a bacterium to enough UV radiation and its DNA will mutate enough that the bits vital for life stop working, and the bacterium dies.


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

[User]
eli5: What makes electrical motors in cars so quiet?

I mean in comparison with other motors, like power tools or even home appliances? Is it just sound insulation or is it a different kind of motor?

[Assistant] Many power tools, kitchen appliances and vacuum cleaners use universal motors, because they're cheap and power dense, but they're also very mechanically noisy. There's also in many cases cheaply made gearing that's noisy as well. Universal motors have brushes and are not very long-lived, so EVs use long-life brushless motors that are much quieter, and helical gears that cost more but are quiet and wear-resistant.


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

[User]
What actually IS a flame?

Why does fire create a visible flame, why does it exist and what is it made of?

[Assistant]
A flame from something like a candle is visible because it's filled with three types of atoms that are going through changes. The paraffin in the candle - wax - is a long chain of hydrogen and carbon that's linked together. Add heat, and that long chain first melts (to form liquid wax) then evaporates (to form that puff of "steam" on the end of a just-blown-out candle wick), and then the links start shattering and it breaks down into carbon and hydrogen atoms, or small groups of the same three ingredient atoms. (Wood does the same thing, actually, except when it breaks down there's more leftover carbon and other stuff, and because it doesn't melt, the process isn't usually as clean).

For a brief moment, those carbon atoms - soot, really, that got broken out of the wax rise due to the heat - gets super-hot and give off yellowish light as a result. This is called "black body radiation". Many of these carbon atoms react with oxygen to form CO2 (carbon dioxide) and give off heat, but before that happens they'll glow. (The hydrogen in there also gives off a little visible light when it burns, but not very much compared to the glowing unburned carbon atoms.

If you slowly burn something like propane on a low-set stove, you'll get a different result. Get enough heat and oxygen in there and smaller molecules start "burning" (reacting with oxygen) before they give off much glow, and instead only produce a light blue light  That's why a propane stove's flame set to "low" is blue. But push too much fuel through and you'll get lots of broken-out carbon atoms (which add a yellow color when the carbon heats up, and leave soot behind) instead of a nice clean burn. So cook lots of stuff on "high" on a small stove and you get yellow flame and pots with black bottoms. And burning charcoal - burning carbon - is red, but not BRIGHT red - because it's not burning fast and heating up carbon atoms that have been released by its heat and are floating above it.

So a flame is an area above a fueled heat source such as a campfire or candle or matchstick, that gets hot enough to make fuel to turn to gases or broken-down molecules. Those molecules  give off a little visible light as they burn, but depending on the type of flame, the "dust" that's in there gives off a lot of visible light due to the heat, and the chemical reaction gives off a little.


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

[User]
Why does winter (and summer) seem to last longer after the solstice, and is not centered directly around it?

  For instance the average October temperature for Denver, CO is around 51 F, but February temps average at around 33, and March averages 39.  The solstices should be the equal points in solar elevation, but the coldest and warmest points in the seasons always come after them.   February 21 is always colder than October 21 - but they're both equally as far from the solstice.

[Assistant] It pretty much comes down to the fact that Earth is a giant heat sink. While heading into winter, there is still a lot of latent heat held in the ground/ocean/etc which is keeping the temperature higher. And the opposite as you head into summer, the ground and water is colder, so it takes time to get them heated up again.


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

[User]
Anyone else bummed out posting on StackOverflow?

The past few days I have been studying programming. I believe I am understanding code a lot better than I used too compared to myself last year. I am getting comfortable with C++ so I started to make a project that revolves around classes and storing them in vectors. I was so proud of myself till I got stuck. So I had the bright idea to post on StackOverflow. The two times I did post were flagged, downvoted and then locked. Some of the kind people there did answer my question so I did get an answer (happy that I did) but Im afraid of posting in the future. The second time I made a post I made sure to cut down on the amount of code presented and the result I wanted vs the result I was getting and still got downvoted and locked. I have read the rules and the tips/tricks but to no avail. Has anyone else had this experience? I feel like a moron.

[Assistant]
StackOverflow is not a help forum. It's a Q&A documentation service. If your problem is not unique, well researched, and minimal, your post will very likely be downvoted and locked.

The trick is to not take this personally. The votes are for whether your question is helpful for *other* people visiting the site in the future.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does someone with verbal Tourettes often use swear/crude words? Society is the only thing that makes those words taboo, so why does it seem people with Tourettes get stuck saying them?

[Assistant]
There is actually a specific part of the brain that is dedicated to housing these sorts of 'taboo' concepts. Anything that we're brought up to believe is taboo more or less gets stored here.

The specific variety of Tourettes that causes the 'involuntary swearing' tick (there are many more cases of this disorder which do not exhibit that specific tick) apparently causes people to access these specific regions of the brain at random or under certain conditions.

This is the least common variety of Tourettes, and it is much more common to see people with physical ticks (compulsions to move their hands, eyes, etc., In specific ways and so forth).


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

[User] CMV: As a business owner who creates custom items, I should be able to refuse creating anything that I personally find offensive.

[Assistant]
That's the law. You are allowed to refused to customize your product if the requested customization is offensive to you.

The gay cake thing was about selling a non-customized cake to a gay couple. It wasn't a "gay cake." It was just a cake. The couple was gay. The bakery refused to sell to a gay couple; that's the violation of the law. Nothing to do with offensive customization; it was their opinion of "offensive customers."


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

[User]
CMV: I don't care about the societal impact of Zuckerbergs Metaverse

All problems that social media in general has are gonna be present there. Whether those problems are gonna become more intense or not fails to bother me.

The only exception to this is the danger of radicalization - which may be the only legit concern about it. But that is not a problem of the Metaverse - It is a problem of social media in general.

When it comes to people warping their views, expectations, friendships, relationships, hobbies, self images and confidences because of this new thing:

Nobody is forced to use it. You can get a job without it, you can travel without it, you can live without it. And you are always going to be able to.
So I simply do not care about people spending more time in the virtual world than in the real one. If they wanna rot away I let them. If they expose themselves to overstimulating streams of content all day with a headset on so be it.  I'm never going to be a part of it, and if people find it all that important, I simply keep my distance.
If someone decides to spend thousands of dollars on whatever purchases are available on there, why not let them. If they are an adult they are irresponsible and if they are kids their parents are making mistakes.

They choose this, whatever you say. Entering this program without understanding its potential harm is your fault. If you can't comprehend it, you shouldn't use it and wonder about the dangers. Whoever you are.

[Assistant]
So, this is a funny thing. Imagine we travel back to 1990 and you say the same about this new gimmicky thing called "e-mail". Nobody is forced to use it, you can get a job without it, you can travel without it, you can live without it and we believe we will always be able to.

Now, fast forward 30 years and it turns out it became so popular that you can no longer get a job without it, you cannot travel (at least not far) without it, and you cannot access many goods and services without it. Can you live without it? Maybe, it will be an issue trying to do so, specially getting a job since all job offers and interviews are arranged through emails today.

So, what if in the future most job interviews are done through the Metaverse? What if most travel is done through the Metaverse (like imagine that actual physical travel becomes a luxury for the rich and most people can only pay to go to MetaParis)? What if most goods are purchased in the MetaSupermarket and there are no more physical supermarkets near you?

We really cannot say for sure that any of this things will certainly happen or not, but they are a possibility nonetheless so you should actually care, at least a little bit, about the societal impact of the Metaverse.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the United States have more prisoners per capita than any other country?

[Assistant] While this is an extremely complicated question,the most significant contributing factors are "the war on drugs", mandatory minimum sentences, and three strikes laws. These function to incarcerate people for what would otherwise be considered less serious offences.


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

[User]
proficiency of math required before starting philosophy of math

hi everyone, im an undergraduate interested in philosophy of math. but im not sure what level of math i should be proficient in before being able to take phil of math classes. i know that set theory knowledge and how to write proofs are probably necessary but im not sure about the rest.

aside from these, im planning to take calculus (1-4), linear algebra, complex variables and abstract algebra for the next 4 years. would these be sufficient in learning more about philosophy of math?

bonus last question: what areas of math is most relevant to philosophy? eg. number theory, probability, topology, etc.

any answers are greatly appreciated! thank you!

[Assistant]
Hi

It depends entirely on the course. If it's an introductory course, sometimes no background information is relevant at all.

Learning formal logic will be far and away the most beneficial for you, though sometimes this is offerred under philosophy courses. Number theory which you mention in turn is very relevant to formal logic. Logic is really what you need though.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40k] How would a commanding Sister of battle eg: Sister superior, Cannoness react to a Commisar executing a battle sister for perceived cowardice/heresy?

Also what are the rules regarding cross faction jurisdiction? Can an inquisistor order a space marine? A guardsmen general order a mechanicus unit and so on?

[Assistant]
A Commissar who *blam*s a Sister better start explaining himself pretty quick, or else they're going to get flamethrowered.

The Commissariat is a component of the Astra Militarium, a *whole different branch* of the armed fighting forces of the Imperium. They have *zero* intrinsic jurisdiction over the members of the other groups; the Sisters are in charge of their own discipline, and if anything their treatment of perceived cowards is even more brutal than a Commissar. For them, a laspistol to the back of the head isn't punishment, it's undeserved mercy.

As far as overall jurisdiction in joint situations, the word of the day is "political clusterfuck". Imagine the worst territorial bickering between the Air Force, Army and Navy, or between federal law enforcement and the local boys, crank it up to 11, and give some of the participants authority to commit mass murder without a permit.


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

[User] ELI5: Why medical professionals, mainly nurses, on whom lives depend, are made to work 12 hour shifts?

[Assistant] Shift changes take a lot of time transferring knowledge and they also introduce risk of failure to transfer vital information.  The longer the shifts, the fewer shift changes to incorporate into all stuff that really needs to get done.


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

[User] ELI5: There have been many stories recently about multivitamins being ineffective. But I have a family member who had an iron deficiency, was prescribed an iron supplement, and it worked. What gives?

[Assistant]
What gives is there is a difference between being prescribed medicine to combat a specific illness, disease or deficiency, and a person without such a condition taking a multivitamin for general health and well-being or as a preventative measure for diseases like cancer or heart disease.

That is, if you have a condition where you need iron or you'll die. Then yes, getting iron will help.

But if you don't, then taking iron isn't going to do anything for you.


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

[User] [X-men/Marvel] Could Magneto use his control over magnetism to disrupt the electromagnetic fields in a person's brain or heart, thereby killing them instantly? If so, why doesn't he use it all the time?

[Assistant] In one story he did use subtle control over his magnetic field manipulation powers to make someone pass out, but he had to physically touch them. He probably could do more damage if he was inclined to, but if physical proximity is a factor, it'd just be easier to kill them using one of his more common methods from a distance.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do firefighters investigate a fire and figure out its source?

Like finding out if it was intentional or and accident and any other info useful to them.

EDIT: thanks to all who took the time to answer, I really understood even though I'm five.

[Assistant] What part of the house/structure was burned the most and how much /what pattern did the surrounding areas burn. They can extrapolate how long a fire was in an area based on how much damage it has done to certain substances (i.e. wood, metal, insulation). So, if there are four equally bad spots at four ends of the building, then their likely going to suspect arson.


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

[User] ELI5: How does imagination work and why are some people more creative than others?

[Assistant]
Simple and correct answer: it's very complicated and is studied by scientists.

Now then, here's a simplified answer that's sort of right:

Roughly speaking, the brain works by connecting ideas to each other.

When one person says "cat", the part of your brain that thinks "cat" starts becoming active. Now, in your brain "cat" is also connected to the ideas of: mammal, pet, Dr. Seuss, and so on. And then each of those ideas is connected to other things as well, the idea of Dr. Seuss might be connected to hats for example.

So when someone says "See that cat? The one near that hat?" The part of your brain that thinks "cat" lights up. And the part of your brain that thinks "hat" lights up. And because both of those ideas are connected to Dr. Seuss, you also think of the book he wrote called "The Cat in the Hat", and mention that to the person talking to you.

So imagination is when you experience something, and instead of just thinking of that thing that you experienced you also start thinking about other things that are related.

One person is more creative than another when they know more ideas, that are connected to each other in interesting ways, and they know how to let those ideas connect to each other and turn into a new idea.
Practically speaking they also have to have a decent sense of what a good idea is too.

One thing to learn from this is that a brick layer who read a lot and took the time to think a lot about what and why they were writing, would probably be just as creative as a person trained to be a poet. You don't even need to be intelligent to be creative. The reason brick layers don't often become stellar poets is simply because brick layers don't usually have the education, time, or luxury to develop the necessary skills.


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

[User] ELI5: what causes the weird buzzing noises when you touch a 3.5mm jack plugged into a speaker?

[Assistant] Your body is acting like a radio antenna, and conducting that signal into the input of the amplifier. The most common local source of noise is going to be the magnetic fields generated by the power grid. So the noise is usually 50hz or 60hz depending on what country you live in.


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

[User] [General] Are there instances where villains overestimated the hero?

[Assistant]
Titania.

She is a She-Hulk tier villain who had a crippling fear of Spider-Man because right after she got her powers he heay her on Battle World by using his agility. Which lead to her fearing him and refusing to fight him for a long time even though she fought people way over his league regularly. It would take a while before she got over this.


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

[User]
AskScience AMA Series - IAMA published climate science/atmospheric chemistry PhD student at a major research institution

I am a fourth year atmospheric chemistry and climate science PhD student. My first paper was published last month. I work at a major US research university, and one of my advisors is a lead author on the upcoming IPCC report.

I will be around most of the weekend to answer questions. I'll answer any question (including personal and political ones), but will not engage in a political debate as I don't think this is the right forum for that type of discussion.

**Edit: I'm heading to bed tonight, but will be around most of the day tomorrow. Please keep asking questions! I'm ready to spill my guts! Thanks for the great questions so far.**

**Edit 2: I'm back now, will answer questions as they come and as I can.**

[Assistant]
I understand that the ocean is soaking up carbon at the moment, and that while it is soaking up enormous amounts, it will reach a point where that stops and there may be a spike in atmospheric CO2 levels.

Are there similar tipping points in the atmosphere that you are interested in talking about? I.e., are we currently experiencing relatively slow change in atmospheric constitution, and will there at some time be more rapid change?


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

[User] [Looney Toons] Where is Roadrunner going? What is its destination?

[Assistant]
>*That coyote is really a crazy clown,*

>*When will he learn that he never can mow him down?*

>*Poor little Road Runner never bothers anyone,*

>**Just runnin' down the road's his idea of having fun.**

He's not going anywhere. He lives there and runs around for fun.


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

[User] ELI5: Gay men are gay, gay women are lesbians, why is this?

[Assistant] "Lesbian" in this sense is a word that was around slightly before the modern usage of "gay" and is more specific than it, so it's stuck around. It's in reference to the ancient Greek poet Sappho, who was from the island of Lesbos and wrote on among other things female homosexuality. In the 1800s people started using "sapphism" and "lesbianism" to refer to that, by inspiration from her. The modern usage of "gay" first appeared in the late 1800s and caught on more in the 1900s. It's more general, but because there was already a word for gay females specifically it's also used to refer to gay males specifically in e.g. "the gay and lesbian community". After all, those gays who are not lesbian are generally male.


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

[User] [Fallout] Aside from the Mormons, is mainstream Christianity a dead religion by the time of the Fallout games?

[Assistant]
Rivet City has Saint Monica's Church, which is a Catholic institution. And Father Clifford implies that there are other Catholic churches in the areas surrounding the Capital Wasteland. But they all tend to be small and local places of worship due to most people having abandoned their faith over the centuries.

Diamond City has the All Faiths Chapel, which is itself a multi-faith building that preaches to be accepting of all belief systems, and to learn from each other rather than fight over them. It's run by Pastor Clements, which is a Christian title for a church leader, so he likely holds some form of Christian faith.

The Abbey of the Road also exists somewhere west of the Commonwealth, and it regularly sends missionaries into the wasteland. (it's a reference to "A Canticle for Leibowitz") Which is another hint that Catholicism is alive and well in the world.

Truth be told, our glimpses into post-war America, particularly the east coast, have been EXTREMELY limited in scope. And so we have a bare handful of hints toward the surviving religions of the wasteland (it's more than Mormons and Catholics. We also know Aradesh was Buddhist) But we do know that they're definitely out there. Perhaps not in great numbers, but still there.


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

[User]
When we say something doesn't have a smell, like carbon monoxide, does that mean (a) ordinary people can't smell it, (b) humans lack the ability to smell it, or (c) it actually doesn't give off a smell detectable by anything?

And if the answer is C, how is it physically possible for something to not have any smell at all?

[Assistant] B: The human nose has no developed and holes that trigger signals to your brain saying "hey there's a smell" for CO, or anything similar size to CO. That's how humans smell things, is by lacking a receptor (hole) of the same shape of a molecule we can't smell it.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why didn't the Empire attack Mon Calamari?

With Mon Calamari providing capital ships to the Rebel alliance, why didn't they attack the planet? Even with the Death Star destroyed, they could have sent a couple dozen star destroyers to wipe out the shipyards and manufacturing facilities.

[Assistant]
The Rebel Alliance used Mon-Cal ships converted from civilian star cruisers. They were supported in covert ways by those still on planet, but a large group defected completely to the Rebel Alliance.

Mon Calamari was still technically an obedient subject of the Empire, and was toeing the line as a functional and obedient shipyard.

Attacking Mon Calamari in retaliation for the Rebels using their vessels as akin to America bombing Japan, because ISIS use Toyota vehicles.


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

[User]
[Predator 2] How is the Predator able to see in infrared without its mask on when in Predator all it sees is red when its mask is off towards the end during the fight scene with Dutch?

Just watching Predator 2 and noticed that when it takes its mask off, it sees in the same infrared as it does when it has the mask on. I thought it was the mask that allowed it to see in multiple light settings and not its actual vision.

[Assistant]
The Predator sees in infrared naturally; that isn't a function of his mask. The different vision modes available to him are all presented in infrared; a human wearing the mask would see nothing.

When the Jungle Hunter took off his mask, what we saw was the oppressive heat and humidity of the jungle fogging his vision. Since he was still very capable, it probably wasn't as bad for the Predator as it was for us, but the mostly-blue view we saw throughout the movie was an enhanced vision mode that gave him additional details that his normal sight would have lacked.

When the City Hunter took of his mask, we saw that he still had mostly-blue vision. This suggests that the ambient temperature was simply lower in Los Angeles, and didn't interfere with his sight in the same way the ambient temperature of the jungle did.

The Jungle Hunter's view, therefore, was something like night-vision would be for us; it allowed him to regain vision that local conditions would otherwise preclude.


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

[User] ELI5 what is steampunk and where does it come from?

[Assistant] Steampunk is a genre of science fiction and cosplay that emulates Victorian fashion and adds in copious amounts of technology that is proportionate to the technology of the day (steam driven bionic arms at 5 times the size, for example).


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

[User] ELI5 Why are deep-fried versions of food almost always so much tastier?

[Assistant]
Fat!

Sorry that the answer isn't fancier but deep fried food has literally been bathed in fat and the fat then is coating the food (after heat being applied fat is basically fused into teh food).

And fat is a fantastic taste 'carrier'.

To get a little mor complicated, fat activates certain receptors on our toung that then again stimulate activity in the brain creating the sensation that something tastes good (after some other chemical reactions happen in your body).

But essentially it's 'Fat carries taste'


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

[User] ELI5: Why is alcohol described in two ways: % alcohol by volume and proof? What is the point of proof if it is typically just 2x the % alcohol by volume?

[Assistant]
To add onto what has been said so far.

Historically sailors were given rum as part of their fashions. Essentially it was part of their agreed wage.

Human nature not having changed much in the last few million years and alcohol having always been relatively expensive, captains had a tendency to water the rum down beyond what was considered an acceptable level and sailors given perfectly good rum would say it had been watered down.

To resolve this a test was developed where a small amount of gun powder was soaked in some of the rum. If it would still ignite this was considered proof that the rum was good enough.

Now you may think, it's awfully convenient that this number is 50% ethanol, and you'd be right. The actual number is 57.5%. If you buy booze in the UK, 100 proof is actually that number. The US shifted the scale because it made the math easier. Yes the British navy was staffed by motherfuckers who consumed a reasonably large amount of 115 proof booze daily.

It's used for the same reason that in countries countries where the metric system is used almost exclusively you'll still buy beer in pints, which is that tradition matters an awful lot when it comes to booze.

TL;DR booze with 57.5% ethanol wouldn't stop gunpowder from igniting and proved booze was an acceptable strength. The Americans rounded down to 50 for easy math and people don't like change when drinking.


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

[User] ELI5: In the double slit experiment, how are they so sure that it's the act of observing that introduced a collapse and not some other interference ?

[Assistant]
'Observing' basically breaks down into interaction with the observed particle. After all, if there were no interaction with the particle, then it couldn't be observed - that's why neutrinos are so hard to observe.

Back in the day, people weren't really aware of that, which lead to ideas like Schroedinger's cat being alive and dead at the same time until someone looks inside when interaction already happens at the Geiger counter, at which point the quantum superposition is broken, or Einstein's "Is there a moon when nobody looks?" - Yes, because the particles interact nontheless, and it's not just the act of actual human observation that breaks superpositions.


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

[User]
ELI5: is it a DUI to drive a horse while drunk, since the horse isn't an idiot and isn't as dangerous as a car? What if all I'm doing is riding the horse, and it knows the way home by itself?

Yes, I just read that Cracked article.

Edit: Thanks for the responses!

**ITT: "Why, when I was a child, I remember this person, who did that.**"

[Assistant] Knew a girl in high school that got picked up drunk while riding a horse. Charge with underage and DUI. Got a lawyer and the DUI was dropped because horses are legally considered to have a mind of their own.


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

[User]
[MCU] Small question regarding Doctor Strange (minor Infinity War spoilers)

In his solo film, Stephen Strange was more or less completely broke. In the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, this seems to have changed. Does he get paid a salary for being the protector of the New York sanctum?

[Assistant]
It's not explored in the MCU. But one would assume that they've got ways to conjure up most of what they need.

Who knows what else they own?

But they're living a relatively ascetic lifestyle as well. So they don't need much.

Edit: the comics likely explore this.


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

[User] ELI5 : What happens to a photon after it has given its energy ?

[Assistant] In every sense of the word, it's annihilated. The photon ceases to exist. Photons are packages of energy and when all of that energy is given up, the photon goes away. This is unintuitive in our macro word, but this is how the micro and quantum word work. Particles are created and destroyed in the most precise manner.


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

[User] [Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood] Why do so many people lose limbs that automail is a massive industry, instead of a niche specialized medical treatment?

[Assistant] Amestris was a state constantly at war (to expand there borders far enough for the giant transmutation circle ) so as such you have years and years of bloody conflict of which veterans and civilian casualties (seeing as limiting those wasn't a priority ether since they wanted to make crosses of blood in the land) are a by product and as such there is a big group of clients for automail - especially since you have to consider that an automail implant isn't a one-time procedure you have to show up for regular maintenance, newer less body-straining models etc.


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

[User] [Jurassic World; Dominion] Give it to me straight, ecologists. How much of a disaster is it that dinosaurs have been introduced to modern ecosystems?

[Assistant] Depends on the dino and where they are.  Some of them will be outcompeted by modern animals in the same niche, and will die off.  Others will be incorporated into a vacant but unobtrusive niche, and just coexist with modern wildlife.  The ones to worry about though, are the ones that will become invasive.  This is a large threat for native wildlife and will almost certainly drive extinctions, which can ultimately unbalance the whole ecosystem.  This will put an area at risk for famine and severe weather effects like desertification, severe flooding, wildfire etc. depending on whats died off and how it usually serves to maintain the landscape.


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

[User]
Why does cold hurt?

I understand why hot hurts because it is actually damaging the skin, but what makes it so when I get in my car in the morning, the cold of the seat is cold enough to hurt?

[Assistant]
Cold also is damaging to the skin. Frost*burn* and its nastier older brother frostbite are serious injuries.

It's a funny quirk of water that it expands when it turns into ice (most other liquid's solid form is more dense than its liquid state). Have you ever tossed a beer or full bottle of water into the freezer and come back to a burst container? The container will crack, burst, or flat out shatter. The same thing happens to your cells if the water they contain freezes. Burst cells die. That's why the affected areas of frostbite look black - it's literally dead and rotting cells.

Your body doesn't want bits of it to die, so excessive cold pings those nocioceptors - the pain-sensing nerves - just as much as excessive hot does. It's even why cold can be described as burning. It's the same biological mechanism screaming "GET AWAY!" when it's too cold and too hot.


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

[User] ELI5: How can we edit DNA if its so small!?

[Assistant]
We use really small tools!

Keep in mind that eventhough DNA is very small, it is absolutely necessary for an organism to have a full access to it and to manipulate it with critical accuracy. A single mistake, and the whole cell can become cancerous! (it usually commits suicide before that happens, it's called apoptosis). To do so, cells have specialized "tools" (tool=protein) that can unzip/dupicate/fix DNA with an amazing precision.

Most of these "tools" don't really EDIT your genome, since it remains untouched during the lifetime of most cells. But some organisms developped tools that can actually cut, add or delete bits of your DNA (most common examples: transposons which are basically parasitic genes, retroviruses/retrovirii/whatever you want to call them...). By using these tools in a clever way, we can edit the DNA of any living organism in any way we want.

There are limitations, but they keep being pushed back as we discover new tools. Have you heard of CRISPR-Cas9?


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

[User]
Why does Uranus look more uniform and less streaky than Neptune when they have similar atmospheric compositions?

Uranus looks way more uniform than Neptune, and it's also a lighter shade of blue.

If they have very similar atmospheric compositions, mustn't their appearances be nearly the same?

[Assistant]
For some reason - it's not totally clear why - Uranus produces less internal heat than Neptune. The heat sources cause Neptune's clouds to billow up and create interesting structures, while Uranus is more uniform.

Additionally, very small differences in chemical composition can make a big difference in visible properties. It doesn't take very many molecules to make something opaque - think about how thin a piece of paper is. Uranus has a thin haze in the upper atmosphere that makes it even more featureless.


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

[User]
Is Logic a priori?

I working on a master degree Thesis on philosophy of Mathematics and I am trying to demonstrate that Logic Is not a Priori. Can you share with me some of your thoughts and some papers on the argument?

[Assistant] Standardly its understood that logic is the tool we use *to do* a priori reasoning. I.e. when we are reasoning a priori we are doing logic. That being said if you tell us more about your intuitions about logic and mathematics not being a priori we might be able to help some more.


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

[User]
[GoT] Why wouldn't they teach Hodor how to fight?

GoT S6 Ep2 Spoilers:

So in the "flashback" where Bran is shown his father, uncle and Lyanna in the courtyard where they are about to have Hodor, who can speak and is intelligent enough to comment he knows Neds(?) fighting style, spar we are interrupted by Old Nan.

She says Hodor will never be a fighter because he's a stable boy... as she leads a hunched over child that is still taller than Winterfell's guards away...

How could he not at least be expected to become a foot soldier one day? It doesn't take a military genius to know someone of that size with some half-decent training would be a great asset as a guard or otherwise.

Would the Starks have really squandered such a gift?

[Assistant]
We'll never know because Hodor turned simple. It's possible that if that never happened he would have eventually become a man-at-arms just by sheer necessity.  But most men-at-arms and soldiers you see are just farmers and craftsmen drafted to fight. Remember the time Aria found a group of Lanister soldiers and they were just normal dudes and Ed Shereen?

Now, being trained to fight at a young age was the privilege of the elite. They didn't have to help their parents tend the crops and care for animals. They were given proper book learning, lessons on leadership, and taught to fight. That's why all these noble types are so much better at it than most normal people, they've been doing it longer and with proper instruction.

When Hodor's mom is telling him to get back to work she is telling him he is not a Noble who can while away his hours with frivolous things like swinging a wooden stick around, because he has work to do. Unlike Robb, Jon, and Theon.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does a rocking motion facilitate sleep?

Why does the rocking motion like that of a moving vehicle or a rocking chair put me to sleep? Why does this work for babies and also me as an adult? I can even just rock myself and it puts me to sleep - ELI5!

[Assistant] I imagine that it has something to do with the development of an unborn child in the mother's womb. In what way is it comfortable to sleep? - in darkness, in warmth and with rocking motions, three attributes of the inside of the uterus. You spent the first nine months of your life sleeping inside of there. It's only logical that your subconscious pines for its relative safety and comfort.


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

[User]
[Raimiverse Spider-Man Trilogy] Can Spidey's webbing be DNA-tested?

Since Peter's webs are naturally produced by his own body in this universe, couldn't someone just get a sample off of all the webbing he leaves around NYC and test it for DNA to determine his identity?

[Assistant] Probably not. There's likely some genetic evidence left in it but not enough to identify him. Just a bit to go yea it's partially human but not much else. And even if it has a perfect template of his DNA unless he's in a registry somewhere like ancestry dot com or thoroughly identified for police records having his web DNA isn't going to identify him.


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

[User] ELI5: How do they find who is patient zero?

[Assistant] Epidemiologists study these things. They carefully take a patient's history, their location, the people they've interacted with, etc. After they've done gathering pertinent data, an analysis is done to highlight common denominators. It's like detective work trying to narrow down things to get to a point.


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

[User]
When a star goes supernova, what determines if it will become a neutron star or a black hole?

I read a post earlier about how a neutron star is formed from a supernova, but I always heard that black holes form from supernovas. So what determines if a star going supernova will form a neutron star or a black hole?

[Assistant]
Whether or not the collapsing core has enough mass to pass the Schwarzschild radius - that is, the radius at which the surface of the body would have an escape velocity exceeding the speed of light. At that point, no light is able to escape it and it becomes a black hole.

If the star has enough mass to exceed the Chandrasekhar limit, but not the Schwarzchild radius, then it will become a neutron star. If it doesn't have enough mass, then it'll just become a white dwarf.


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

[User] Why, when you are paralyzed from the neck down, are your involentary organs not paralyzed as well?

[Assistant]
Paralysis such as you describe is usually caused by an injury to the cervical (neck area) spine. Skeletal muscles (the ones you can control voluntarily) depend on the spinal nerves to get signals from the brain. That's why someone with a broken neck is likely to be paralyzed.

There are other nerves that connect the brain to the rest of the body, though. The vagus nerve is the largest of these, and runs from the brain to the heart, lungs, much of the digestive tract, and other abdominal organs as well as some skeletal muscles. It _doesn't_ run through the spine, however. It's possible, therefore, to completely sever the spinal cord (causing paralysis) without damaging the vagus nerve (leaving heart, lung, and gut function intact). That's why the involuntary muscles can continue to work in a paralyzed person.

The heart also has its own "pacemaker" (the SA node) which doesn't depend on spinal nerves or the vagus nerve. This allows it to keep beating without any connection to the brain.

The diaphragm _does_ depend on the spinal nerves, so a person from the neck down typically needs a ventilator or other breathing support.