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

[User]
If the Big Bang theory is correct, how can we look back in time if we were once at the center of the event?

I was reading an article today about how hubble is getting close to seeing the very beginnings of our universe very close to the big bang, and it got me thinking about how that could be possible.

What I don't understand is that even if space is continuing to expand, why would we be seeing light that is so old?

For instance, lets say that space is expanding far slower than the speed of light, and therefore, our point of perspective is moving away from the epicenter of the big bang at that slow rate, wouldn't the light from the origins of the big bang have passed our vantage point long ago? Even light that is hundreds of millions or billions of years old should have passed us.

On the other hand, lets say that the universe is expanding at the speed of light, wouldn't that mean that we should have a spot in our field of view, corresponding to the epicenter of the big bang that is complete darkness, since light would never reach our vantage point, as we are accelerating at the same rate as the light waves?

I have been unable to find a satisfactory answer to this on the googles.

edit:  Thanks to Clever-Username789 and aescolanus for the clear explanation.  I assumed there was just something I did not understand, but nothing I ever found  before could explain it in simple terms.  Reddit delivers again.

[Assistant]
The big bang did NOT happen at one point in space. This is the fault in your understanding. At the instant of the big bang the universe was infinite in density AND size. Then the big bang caused this infinite space to start expanding, hence no longer infinite in density.

When the universe transitioned from being opague to transparent (the time that we observe as the cosmic nicrowave background) photons were permitted to travel without being interupted. So they could travel indefinitely in every direction from every point in the infinite expanse of the universe until being absorbed by a detector of some sort. This is what we're looking for, and we see it in every direction we look. If we were in Andromeda we would also see the same CMB in every direction. If we were in a galaxy 10 billion light years from here we would see the same CMB at the same distance from us and come to the same conclusions about the universe.

The big bang happened everywhere at once,  every point in space is the origin of the big bang. We are not in a special center point of the universe,  only the center of our observable universe.


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

[User]
What is the most scientifically feasible way someone will eventually build a working blaster pistol, phaser, or ray gun?

Or is it not possible? There are so many possible variations from Star Trek to Star Wars to Martian death rays to things like the proton packs in Ghostbusters. Are any plausible?

While I'm asking: how about a light saber-like device of some sort?

[Assistant] The main problem with a hand-portable laser right now is the power supply.  Currently, it takes a small truck-carried generator to get enough power to supply a reasonably deadly laser.  If someone invents a super-battery with thousands of times greater energy density, then we can have hand-held laser weapons.


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

[User]
How do I know the exact pace to stay on a treadmill?

I've started running seriously recently and it felt kind of unnatural that I knew the exact speed to run at to stay at the same spot in a treadmill.

Is this a learned action?  Or can anyone just get on a treadmill and run?

[Assistant]
The human brain has evolved a very good sense of motion.  It helped us survive the wilds.  It helps you pull out into traffic without getting hit by a car.  It allows your brain to also be fooled and think there is motion where there is not.  This is the reason why we can watch movies and perceive motion on a flat glass surface full of lights.  Obviously Jack Bauer isn't actually in your living room torturing terrorists.

Basically your brain autocorrects your pace to stay stagnant in that one position based on visual sensory inputs.  Close your eyes and try to stay in the same spot on a treadmill suddenly it's not quite as easy anymore.


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

[User]
A meter is defined as the distance light would go in a vacuum at 1/299792458 of a second. Where did this number come from?

The length of a meter is defined by the speed of light, and not the other way around. So where/why specifically did we divide a second by 299,792,458 segments and then measure the distance light traveled in a one of those segments and called it a meter? Where did 299,792,458 come from?

[Assistant]
The meter was originally defined as one 40,000,000th of the circumference of the Earth along a great circle through the two poles. Later it was redefined as the length of a canonical yardstick (meterstick?) that was built as close as possible to the original intended length.

In a modern context, none of these definitions are particularly useful. The Earth isn't perfectly spherical, or even a perfect ellipsoid. Nor is it static. Defining a reference ellipsoid (WGS84 for example) requires a circular reference to another unit of length. It's inconvenient to have to physically visit a yardstick for calibration, and despite all efforts to prevent it, such an object changes length with temperature, and may also be damaged over time. None of the historical definitions would work anywhere outside of Earth.

Defining the meter in terms of the speed of light is an effort to make the definition universally applicable, fixed and constant. The number 299,792,458 was chosen so that the 'new' meter would not be very much different from the old one. If you had chosen 300,000,000 then suddenly all rulers in the world, which had been calibrated relative to the yardstick, would be inaccurate at millimeter precision.


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

[User] If the default position for our eyelids is open, why do our eyes "get heavy," and why does it feel so good to close them when we're sleepy or tired?

[Assistant] So the default isn't open. It actually takes some strength to keep your upper eyelid from drooping over your eye, to keep your eyes open. That's why you notice it when sleepy. Some muscle diseases also have the symptom that eyelids start sagging early during the day, just because the muscles are too weak.


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

[User]
ELI5: if I buy something from another country, how does my country's postal service get paid?

Edit: I bought something from china for 20 cents with free shipping and it was delivered to my doorstep, how are they profiting?

[Assistant] By agreement between the members of the Universal Postal Union, each country gets to keep its own postage for international mail, even though the postal service of the destination country or any third countries through which it is routed must assist in delivering the mail. So if you're in the United States and send something to France, the U.S. Postal Service gets to keep all of that money. Conversely though, La Poste gets to keep the postage for mail going the other way. A few decades ago the UPU introduced a new rule, whereby countries that send much more mail to another country than they receive from that country will pay a per-ton amount to compensate that country's postal service. Once such imbalance exists between China and the U.S., so China pays the U.S. every year.


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

[User]
If earth's escape velocity is 11.2km/s, what would happen if you traveled upwards at exactly 11.1km/s?

Also what does escape velocity of 42.1km/s with respect to the sun mean?

[Assistant]
> what would happen if you traveled upwards at exactly 11.1km/s?

If you *constantly* move away from the Earth (which is what you seem to be asking about) at any speed, you would escape Earth's gravity. Given that you'd be moving against gravity, maintaining that speed requires propulsion.

But that's not what escape velocity is. Escape velocity is the speed given while at the surface, sufficient to escape gravity *without further propulsion*.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is leather still such a popular luxury item for things like upholstery?

Hasn't science created better fabrics by now? Is it really luxurious considering it isn't rare with hundreds of thousands of cows being slaughtered daily?

I was watching some show where the guy was showing a $20 million Leer jet and he kept going on about the leather. You have this amazing piece of technology that has only been available for 50 years and you're excited about the pieces of dead cow skin that has been used for thousands of years.

I eat meat and using up the leftover skin makes economical sense, but I don't get why it's the premier fabric of luxury.

[Assistant] Leather is extremely durable, and a lot of people find the look, feel, and smell of it pleasant. It's been in continual use for thousands of years because it's just a great material. And the synthetic materials you mentioned are all petroleum derivatives.


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

[User]
[Halo] Why were the Spartan IIs considered enlisted rather than commissioned?

Are officers not expected to actually pew pew pew their guns? They had to know when the 7ft walking demigod wrapped in a tank shows up that he'd probably command the most respect by default, why shoulder him with being an nco?

[Assistant] What's the justification for giving them a high rank? Navy seals are normally (according to Google) E4-E9, and they fill a role very similar to the SPARTAN II's. They aren't battlefield commanders. It's not their job to tell soldiers what to do or coordinate an entire engagement. Spartans that wash out or are injured beyond a point where they can fill their intended role are given different tasks and ranks that allow them to perform their duities. SPARTAN Serin 019 became a Rear Admiral and eventually succeeded Margaret Parangoski as head of ONI. SPARTAN Fahjad 084 was commissioned as a Lt. Commander and worked as an ONI analyst.


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

[User]
Are there any studies or evidence of current evolution of humans?

I know species evolve over millions of years but is there any evidence that shows how humans evolved in the past couple thousand years?

[Assistant]
There are a few classic examples thrown around. First, realize that evolution is really just the change in alleles in a population over time. Ideas from population genetics are useful in describing evolutionary trends. Towards that end:

The prevalence of sickle cell anemia in areas with high incidence of malaria. The parasite *Plasmodium sp* infects red blood cells, causing malaria in humans. However, people with one allele contributing to the sickle cell phenotype for red blood cells are given a competitive advantage at survival and reproduction (ie a fitness benefit), as sickle cells are unsuitable for *Plasmodium* to reside in.


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

[User] ELI5: Some animals are able to see colors we cant. How do we know what objects would be in a color we cant see?

[Assistant] Colour is just the frequency of the light. We know which frequencies make red, green, blue, etc, so we can use light sensors to measure the frequencies coming from other objects and see that they're not in the range our eyes are sensitive to.


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

[User]
Would high levels of radiation mutate animals and plant life like we see in the video game 'Fallout' and 'Metro: Last Light'? [Biology]

I am fairly sure everything would just die. I'm no expert though.

[Assistant]
Increased radiation might increase numbers of mutations per generation such that animals are able to adapt and change more rapidly to environmental pressures, and a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland could provide quite an intense selection pressure for massive adaptations. On time scales of tens of thousands to millions of years, you could see quite impressive genetic drift, in theory.

However, the sorts of immediate changes you see in games like fallout are not reasonable.  High levels of radiation doesn't turn people into Ghouls, for example, it just turns them into corpses.  So you wouldn't get giant ants and scorpions (which aren't even reasonable from a physics standpoint), or most of the other things you see in fallout games.


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

[User]
[The Flash] Wouldn't The Flash's superhuman speed and reflexes allow him to have borderline precognitive abilities like the jedi?

With his superhuman reflexes is it really impossible to see him possessing some sort of ability that is basically precognition?

[Assistant]
Jedi don't have borderline precognitive reflexes, they just straight up have precognition.

But yes, the Flash's reaction times are scary fast-- more than once he has dodged/vibrated through a bullet that he only found out about when it started to strike his skin.


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

[User] ELI5 Why does hold music have such bad sound quality?

[Assistant]
Imagine you want to draw a picture of the playground at your school. You only have 8 colors of crayons, so no matter how well you can draw, your picture is not going to be photorealistic. But that doesn't matter to you because you can clearly see the swingset here, the slide there, the sandbox in the corner, etc. 8 colors is enough for you to be able to recognize it as your playground.

Annie is a spoiled rich kid who gets those ridiculous giant crayon boxes with like 200 different colors. If she wanted to draw your playground, she could shade in shadows, get the shade of red just right on the monkey bars, etc. So Annie could draw a much better picture with the same level of drawing skill because she just has more colors of crayons.

The teacher needs to make sure that everyone has crayons for a school assignment. Because the teacher is paid like a teacher, he can only afford 100 crayons. Since he needs to provide for 25 students, he can only give 4 crayons to each one. And for some reason, students can't share crayons because .... look, this analogy isn't perfect, just go with it.

Telephone companies can only process so many calls at once. To avoid overloading their systems, they try to remove as much audio data as they can without making the other person's voice unintelligible. A common way to do this is to remove the highest and lowest pitched sounds. Instead of transmitting all the frequencies that humans can hear, they chop off the ends of the spectrum so that they only keep the frequencies most common in voices. But music often uses a wider range of frequencies than voices, so it sounds weird when the phone company chops off some of the frequencies. Audio that is not aggressively compressed gives a better sound over the full range of frequencies that humans can hear. And people who want to spend wayyyyy too much money can get audio equipment that is even better.


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

[User]
[DC/Marvel] Is citizenship available to non-human sapient beings? What about sapient aliens who want to settle on Earth peacefully?

Both the DCU and Marvel universe have a plethora of intelligent life. Some, like the Amazons, Atlantians, and Kryptonians, could pass for human and can blend right in. Others are more obviously non human.

Suppose a non-human wanted citizenship. Let's say Rocket and Groot wanted to retire from bounty hunting and adventure, and while they were on Earth they found some places they liked. Are there policies in place for a sapient animal like Rocket to become a Earth/Tera citizen? What would they consider Groot, is he even a sapient being?

There are many alien races in both DC and Marvel, some are humanoid while others are more unusual. Are there certain alien races allowed to visit and settle? Does the Martian Manhunter, J'on J'onzz (?), have citizenship in any nation?

[Assistant] I don't know of any citizenship laws that explicitly bar non-humans in the real world. Unless the laws are different in comics universes, they can naturalize themselves as easily (or not easily) as any human immigrant.


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

[User] ELI5: Why was my iphone $800 when something as sophisticated as a PS4 is only $400?

[Assistant]
1) Size - In a phone, you are squeezing all the electronics, including CPU, GPU, memory, wifi, bluetooth, into a very small package, that has to be shock resistant and cannot overheat. That is something very complex and expensive to design and build.

2) LCD - Integrating a high resolution, starch resistant and electricity sipping LCD into the phone package is expensive.

3) Business Model - SONY sells the PS4 at cost and makes money on the games. Cell phones have to make a profit as it is sold.

4) Apple - Apple fans will pay whatever price Apple demands. SONY consumers will not.


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

[User]
CMV: Boneless wings are essentially chicken nuggets

So I just ate at Buffalo Wild Wings for the first time and had this realization (Ive never had boneless wings before tonight, but I have had chicken nuggets before). And what I realized while eating was that boneless wings are essentially chicken nuggets.

Heres my reasoning. Chicken nuggets for purchase at fast food establishments are just fried pieces of chicken big enough to be eaten in a few bites. It comes with sauce to dip it in to make it taste better.

Boneless wings are also fried pieces of chicken big enough to be eaten in a few bites. They somewhat differentiate when it comes to the fact that you can glaze wings in sauce and spice them, but one actually does that themselves when they dip their nuggets into their favorite sauce.

So how are the really that different?

[Assistant] Boneless wings are usually a cut of meat. They ought to be more like mini tenders or fingers, with the muscle fibers intact. A chicken nugget is made from meat that is essentially pulverized, making forcemeat, like a gratin or bologna, which is then breaded or fried.


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

[User]
Struggling Study at Home (Quarantine)

Hi there,

I hope everyone is doing well during this hectic time. I am currently finishing my undergraduate degree in communication and I've been struggling to do classes from home. Currently, I am taking care of my father during quarantine and I had to leave my college house, library, and all other places I usually study in order to run errands for him in public. My father (who is usually really independent) is pretty worried about catching COVID-19 and is stressed that he will not be able to handle the virus.

Not only is this a huge transition for me as I am graduating, but also moving home tends to be a tad triggering for me. My father is also an avid guitar and dobro player. He listens and plays music very loud and it is quite distracting because I am usually doing home from morning, noon, & night. I feel so bad for telling him to stop playing because he has been making me dinner and helping around the house.

This is so difficult because I usually study with zero music, in complete silence, in the library. Being around so much energy during the day and not having any place to go is really hurting my academic performance. I am usually running around campus, meeting people, doing projects, and now all my energy is confined to a small room.

I am getting so frustrated with everything. I feel like I am going to fail my classes. I feel like I am not going to get a job. My graduation is canceled, all my research projects are canceled, and I was let go from my job. I can't sleep at night and my body feels like it is literally shutting down due to the stress. Most days I can't eat either. I know that there are a lot of worse problems out there, but I really need a solution.

 Can someone please give me advice on how they are managing to study at home? How do you stay motivated during this time? Sorry if this rant doesn't make any sense, I just really needed some feedback.

Sending all my love and prayers to those of you impacted by the virus. I hope you are all staying home & still managing to be productive.

[Assistant]
Start by acknowledging what you're worried about. This post is a good start. Try writing it all out... Everything, even if it seems insignificant. You'll feel better. Then try setting a schedule, just one day at a time. Decide 1-2 things to do between breakfast and lunch, and another 1-2 between lunch and dinner. If one of those things is physical activity (yoga, walk around the block) that's great.

If your dad's music is making things difficult, you don't have to ask him not to do it at all, but maybe ask him to plan 2-4 hours where he will not play, to let you get things done.


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

[User]
ELI5: How are knives and other sharp objects dulled by weak, soft materials like paper, etc

We have scissors and knives and my wife is always telling me not to cut paper with the "good" scissors because they'll dull faster, literally making me feel like a 5 year-old.

Disclaimer: she's not treating me like I'm five, I just feel that way because I've heard it since I was a kid.

[Assistant]
Take a stainless steel knife, and take a slab of meat. Which one is sharper and stronger? The knife right? The meat is not hard enough to scratch the knife.

Now hold the knife in a vice and beat the crap out of it with the slab of meat. The knife bent in half, but how can that be if the meat is softer than the knife?

That's basically what's going on as the edge on a knife gets duller (excluding things like minerals, sand, dirt, grit, bones, etc wearing the edge down) is that an edge is not perfectly straight or smooth. It's made of many microscopic daggers of metal like fine little teeth that grow from the edge.

As you cut things, these little metal teeth will start to bend to the left and right even though they are harder than the material they are cutting. When this happens you end up with the edge having microscopic mis-allignments of the teeth on the edge.

This is easily corrected by steeling the blade. You've seen chefs do this by scraping the blade up and down a metal rod which takes the bent teeth of the edge and stands them back up straight. This doesn't really sharpen the edge by removing material, but by straightening the material already there. Once this is done the knife is sharp again.

Barbers may also do this by stropping a blade with leather before using it. The leather takes the place of the steel and re-aligns the teeth on the edge of the blade. They may also use a stropping compound which is a fine abrasive which also removes a small amount of blade material and polishes the edge, making a more comfortable shave.

After a lot of use, or rough use, the edge itself may lose it's shape and at that point it needs to be re-honed or sharpened. The less material removed to get the blade sharp again, the longer the blade will last.

Here's a knife pro tip. You can strop any metal blade using nothing but cardboard. Cardboard is a very rough kind of paper and it is very high in mineral content like silicates, glass, etc which are harder than the steel in the knife. If you cut a piece of cardboard and lay it on a table top you can take a dulled knife and scrape it backwards so the edge is dragged back across the cardboard. Do this several dozen times, always pulling back against the edge, not pushing forwards against it, and make sure to do it with a light touch and alternate the sides of the blade every few strokes. Do this and you can put a razor edge on almost any knife you own.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do people afford the lifestyle of an extreme adventure enthusiast?

I'm talking about the folks who skydive, BASE jump, ski/snowboard, hike, explore, climb mountains, and trailblaze new areas of the world that people have been yet.

I want to do all of that stuff. And more. But it's to expensive! How is it possible for people to do this kind of stuff with their life?

[Assistant] Most of the time the people who go to these places are either already successful or some kind of athlete. The majority of the people you are talking about already have a lot of money to finance these trips. The alternative is usually some kind of athlete like the ones you see on YouTube doing extreme sports (base jumping, paragliding, etc.) In these cases the athletes sponsors foot the bill for the trip.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why can you go the whole day (of course after brushing your teeth) and not get a gross sticky taste in your mouth but take a two hour nap and have what tastes and smells like "morning breath"?

I absolutely hate the taste of morning breath and never fail to brush my teeth twice a day. After brushing in the morning I never worry about bad breath or a nasty taste in my mouth until the next morning, except for if I take even a two hour nap. I wake up with the same gross taste as if I slept for a full 8 hours. Thanks for the help!

[Assistant] Because when you sleep, your body produces less saliva. The bacteria then have a great environment to grow in your mouth.  The bacteria use all the moisture in your mouth and "defecate" in your mouth. lol. That is why your mouth stinks and is dried.


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

[User]
[DC] Do the general public think Batman is a metahuman or a normal man?

Batman has been seen taking down dozens of men in less than 5 minutes, glide, use insane technology and has one of the highest IQs on Earth, so do they think he's normal or not?

[Assistant]
Theories vary. He's allegedly a vampire, someone with psionic powers (telepathy and precognition would explain much of what he does), just genericly enhanced with no specific powers (not unlike Captain America).

Some people think he's actually several people with different abilities, and considering that Superman has ever filled in, they're not wrong.

There's even a conspiracy theory that he's Bruce Wayne's secret twin brother, trained as a weapon by the same organization that killed his parents and since escaped. This was started by someone posting under the name "M4TCH3S MAL1" and nobody takes it seriously.


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

[User]
CMV: People who think Mueller is going to fix everything with the result of this investigation are naive and misguided and it wont end with consequences for people like Scott Pruitt

Ok, over the past monthes it almost each department except for Mitch McConnells wifes Department of Transportation, has dealt with their own mini-scandal or regular scandal.

Pruitt has now just used his position so his wife could get a Chik-Fil-a franchise and has been sending aides to pick up an Old Trump Hotel Mattress

Ben Carson has been using taxpayer money for dinning table for his wife. Claudia Tenney blamed the scandal on the deep state.

I honestly forgot what Zinke has done.

I honestly forgot what Shulkin and Price did that got them fired

DeVoss scandal is her stupidity of everything but for-profit schools and how she is doing nothing to prove school safety and is how she is trying to benefit her  for-profit schools by hurting others.

Now we have the State Department saying Bolton was trying to destroy NK talks

Regardless of your feelings about them, Pruitts actions should have gotten him fired/impeach but the House is more focused on violating active federal investigations by threatening to impeach DOJ officials.
__________

As we all know Mueller/The FBI is investigating Erik Prince, Trump, the person who appointed these people, RNC, and assumingly Tony Podesta and as well as Paul Manafort.

But I keep on thinking about this.... So what? Lets say Trumps whole campaign was indicted except Pence. What then? Do we expect Pence to fire these people? Congress will never impeach any of Trumps cabinet unless it benefits House Republicans. That is a fact. Even if Pence was indicted, do we really except any GOP members who would be the next in-line to fire people like Pruitt?

Unless Mueller happens to be investigating Pruitt and Carson, they will continue to use their positions and blame it on someone else.

Pruitt even did so at a fucking hearing last month. Rachel Maddow ran a clip of Senator Ihofe trying to defend Pruitt. Basically Saying all the shit he has done is false because he doesnt think the Pruitt he knows would do that. Hell, I just remembered Pruitt was trying to start shit by saying the messages he is getting are threatening. Even though the message he called threatening is Climate Change is real

Do people really expect the FBI to start investigating Pruitt and Carson knowing it would look very bad if they brought charges towards Pruitt and Carson? Trump and his wingnuts entire narrative is that The FBI is out to get him.

I feel like the people who believe Mueller is going to fix everything are misguided and naive. We are stuck with some of these people like Pruitt until they piss off Trump. Double Hell, Trump has actively defended Pruitt for awhile. Mueller can only do so much and it seems the media cant even stay focused on one question that Sarah Vomitbee tries to dodge. So unless Pruitt and Carson or any of these cabinet members are in bed with Russians, Ukraines, and/or Israelis, Mueller is not going to be able to fix anything regarding the admin.

There is also the matter of why Mitch McConnell is still senate majority leader when his wife is Trumps head of transportation. ( how the fuck is that allowed?)

**Change My View: People who think Mueller is going to fix everything with the results of his investigation are misguided and naive and it wont lead to consequences for people like Pruit.**

[Assistant]
>**People who think Mueller is going to fix everything with the results of his investigation are misguided and naive and it wont lead to consequences for people like Pruit.**

Most people don't actually think that Mueller investigation is going to fix everything.  What it will do is be a stopgap against any further insanity.

Even if Trump is impeached, and Pence is installed as the next POTUS, it will essentially make Pence a lame duck, because nobody, even Republicans are going to want to work with someone associated with a now disgraced administration as it will kill their chances of getting re\-elected.  Thus for the remaining years that Pence serves, he will be a lame duck.

Furthermore, if Trump is impeached, that will just further help the Dems retake Congress in subsequent elections because having someone get impeached from your party is just really bad PR for the GOP.

It will also give a major boost for Dems to retake the White House in 2020, because on the campaign trail they can basically be like, "last time you voted GOP, look what you got?  A criminal in the White House.  Vote Blue in 2020!"

And if and when the Dems retake Congress, you can bet your ass there will be consequences for people like Pruitt.  The only reason that he currently gets away with it is because Congress is currently controlled by complicit Republicans.

TL;DR \- the Mueller investigation won't fix everything and all the damage Trump has done, but it will help stop any further insanity until the Dems can retake the White House and Congress.


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

[User] Hypothetically, we're on a space ship moving toward planet / galaxy / sun 5 lightyears away. Because what we see of it is 5 years in the past, when moving towards it, would the time in which we are seeing "speed up" due to us getting closer and the light still coming to us at a constant rate?

[Assistant]
Yes, it could appear that way.

Imagine travelling at 0.5c, and the planet is 5 light years away. That means at time zero, the information we get will be from 5 years ago. It will take us 10 years to get there, and when we arrive we will get information from the planet instantaneously, rather than after a 5 year delay. The signals we will have received will be more frequent than if we had been stationary.

No, if we are going at the speed of any current rocket.

Of course - this depends on our initial speed. 0.5c is a massive massive speed - 1.5x10^8 ms^-1 . At any speed we can currently achieve with a rocket would be many many many orders of magnitude smaller, and  the effect would be only just about detectable with the most powerful instruments. What we would more readily detect would be the blue shift due to the light frequency being increased, and from this we could infer time dilation.


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

[User]
When a geological event is "overdue," does it actually have a higher chance of happening soon, or does that conclusion come from a misunderstanding of statistics?

People will say things like "that volcano is overdue for an eruption" or "California is overdue for an earthquake." what exactly does that mean? Does the probability of an event continue to increase over time, or is it a gambler's fallacy--they assume that because it hasn't happened for X years, and it on average happens every X-1 years, that it must happen soon, whereas in reality it's independent of previous eruptions?

**EDIT:** Thanks for your answers! TL;DR for most events (earthquakes, volcanoes), there seems to be a consensus that the event becomes more and more likely as stress/pressure builds up; the system is dependent on time elapsed.

A couple questions have asked about the case of magnetic pole shifts. I've always thought this was a cyclical event, but could we get an expert opinion on the idea of being "overdue" for a pole shift?

[Assistant]
Yes **and** no.  You're quite right that, when scientists talk about something happening "on average every <foo> years", they are implying a model of uniform, time independent probability - so "overdue" just means that it's been longer than the average since the last one.

But some geological events (like earthquakes) do *not* have time-independent probablities.  California's earthquakes are releases of built-up strain (and stress) as the crustal plates slide over each other (and catch at corners and such), so "overdue" implies that there's more strain (and stress) than usual in the fault.  Hence an overdue earthquake is more likely on a day to day basis than is a not-yet-due one.

Edit: stress/strain.  Thanks, syds, pokeyhokie, and venividivixi.


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

[User] Why does heat cause distortions in the air?

[Assistant]
Hot air expands, and thus has a lower density. The index of refraction of air changes with density, which distorts the light you see.

It's similar to looking at something through a rippled piece of glass or flowing water. The distorted surfaces deflect light, making distorted images.


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

[User] How fast would the planet have to decelerate to a halt in its orbit to cause objects to overcome gravity and fly off the planet?

[Assistant] 9.8 m/s^2. That's the acceleration due to gravity at the surface of the Earth, so as long as the planet decelerates faster than that everything on the leading edge will overcome gravity. Everything on the trailing edge, of course, will experience up to 2g.


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

[User]
[Lord of the Rings] Aragorn's kingdom after Return of the King

How did Aragorn take control of Arnor? Wouldn't its population be opposed to suddenly being ruled by the king?

[Assistant] What population? After the war with the Witch King, Arnor was left largely uninhabited (except for The Shire, which becomes independent and Bree) But, more important: Arnor wasn't replaced with anything. Before Aragorn became king, there was no one else claiming any right or responsibility for these territories, so no one opposed him in getting Arnor up and running again.


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

[User] Why do Auroras change colours? Why are some colours rarer than others?

[Assistant]
The reason that the aurora is seen in so many colors is that our atmosphere is made up of many different compounds like Oxygen and Nitrogen. When the charged particles that come from the sun hit the atoms and molecules of the Earth's atmosphere, they excite those atoms, giving off light. Different atoms give off different colors of the spectrum when they are excited. A familiar example is the Neon lights that we see on many business signs in our modern world. The Neon lights contain the gas Neon. These lights have electricity run through them to excite the Neon gas. When the Neon is excited, it gives off a brilliant red-orange color. The Neon lights are the same idea as the aurora, only on a lot smaller scale.

Different gases give off different colors when they are excited. Oxygen at about 60 miles up gives off the familiar yellow-green color, Oxygen at higher altitudes (about 200 miles above us) gives the all red auroras. Ionic Nitrogen produces the blue light and neutral Nitrogen gives off the red-puple and the rippled edges. Imagine if the atmosphere were made of Neon gas and Sodium gas. We would see red-orange and yellow auroras!


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

[User]
[who framed Roger rabbit] can cg toons be killed with dip?

I'm the last few years in toon Town, we've seen the arrival of computer based life.  Can judges still use dip to kill them, the same as they do with ink based life?

[Assistant]
The Dip was made of paint thinner, so probably not.

Since computers rarely react well to getting wet, it's possible that ordinary water would kill a CGI character. Failing that, perhaps a powerful magnetic field could corrupt their data.


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

[User] What causes my dog to age and die much faster than my kid?

[Assistant]
There is no concrete answer to why different animals have dissimilar life spans. One theory is that the life span is dictated by how long creatures need to stay alive in order to ensure the survival of their spieces. Some animals can procreate within two months and die within 2 years (mice) so as not to overcrowd their environment. Others, like humans take ~12 years to reach puberty, take care of our young for ~17 years on average, and need to stay alive to defend and provide for the race. We don't have any natural predators, so we don't need to multiply like rabbits to ensure our survival. This is the strategy evolution has funneled us into.

Another theory is that each animal has a certain metabolic rate that relates to their life span. Basically, some animals live fast and die young while others live slowly and die old.


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

[User] ELI5: Where does the smell of 'new clothes' come from?

[Assistant]
Fashion Design degree here...

You are smelling Chemicals, pure and simple.

Now *which* chemicals is a very different question, and depends on the fabrics the new clothes are made out of. Oil-based textiles (nylon, stretch fabrics, etc) are treated at various stages to make the fabric more or less pliant, to color it, and to give other attributes like waterproofing, etc.

Cottons are dyed and also treated with starches (or with softeners) to change the "hand" of the fabric. (The "hand" is how the fabric feels in the hand... silk has a different hand than canvas, for example.)

And leather? It's better that you don't know how leather is treated. Trust me.

But yeah... chemicals. That's what you are smelling.


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

[User] Why does our brain have receptors for rare drugs that we wouldn't normally ever encounter, such as LSD?

[Assistant] The receptors aren't specifically for LSD. They're serving their own regular function related to normal brain behavior. Then, every once in a while a scientist will discover/invent a new chemical that happens to fit one or more of the existing receptor sites.


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

[User]
CMV: Using the "Only a few bad apples" argument in regards to Police corruption is toxic and only serves to help those corrupt officials

I should begin by saying I'm not a cop hater. I also do genuinely believe that the "few bad apples" is not indicative of the entirety of police forces in the US.

However, I believe claiming that there's only a "few bad apples" negates from the severity of the corruption problem, making it not only more dangerous for citizens, but even other good police officers.

Whether you are a fan of police or not, it's impossible to deny that not only there are corrupt police officials, but even entire departments can be rife with bias and corruption. A great example of this would be the 2020 incident of The Rio Arriba County Sheriff's department in New Mexico's deputies helping to effectively hide and shield their sheriff from a legal search warrant by the Espaola PD.

There are also countless examples of good whistleblowing police officers trying to root out corruption in their departments only to be met with extreme forms of hazing and abuse for "ratting out" their fellow officers. One great example of many for this is the 2012 incident where Detective Joseph Crystal of the Baltimore PD contacted IA to report possible police misconduct in a 2011 drug bust which resulted in one officer being charged with misconduct and another being charged with assault and obstruction of Justice, as well as having their own girlfriend lie to Prosecutors and Investigators. Shortly after the report, Detective Crystal started receiving death threats and it even went so far as to him finding a dead rat on his car, most likely from other police officers trying to signal that they think of him as a "rat" and that's what they do to so called "rats."

Police corruption heavily affects your everyday citizens and can be incredibly hard to combat and prove, but it also even affects the very own good police officers we actually want.

By claiming that "bad apples" are only a small percentage of what is actually indicative of the police force and that shouldn't be a reason for concern, you are effectively creating a setting stage for corruption to go unchecked. This results in a system that not only increases the chances of regular citizens having their constitutional rights infringed, but also a system where even the best of police officers have no power to fight corruption and even face a potential loss of their career, but even more dangerous repercussions.

It's fine to refer to them as a small bunch of bad apples, but let's not forget that the saying goes "a few bad apples spoils the whole bunch". Until we can effectively create a system that roots out corruption and assist/protects those good officers in their whistleblowing, then our police force in its entirety is flawed and dangerous for citizens and officers alike.

I believe we should stop excusing bad and violent officer behavior and heed the warnings of good police officers more often. Any instance of potential abuse or corruption should be thoroughly investigated by a 3rd party and not the specific departments Internal Affairs. As long as we allow corrupt departments to self investigate, there will be a window open for corruption that harms both citizens and officers alike. Saying there's only a "few bad apples" is what allows these entire departments to continue their rampant abuse while disguising themselves as a good force.

[Assistant]
"Only a few bad apples" is usually said in response to statements such as "ACAB" (criticising the police force as a whole). It is a defence of good police officers rather than an excuse for bad ones.

Generally we want to support those good officers as they perform an essential role. They are also the ones who are in the best position to do something about any corrupt officers.


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

[User]
[Infinity War] Years in the MCU

Rewatched Infinity War last night and noticed both Thanos and Thor talk about years. Wouldn't their years be different than ours since ours is based on how long it takes us to go around the sun?

I asked my wife and she told me to shut up and turn the movie back on.

[Assistant]
Asgard doesn't orbit anything, nor does it rotate on an axis. It doesn't have any comparable means of defining a "year" or "day." When Thor uses the term "year" he's referring to Midgard (Earth) years.

Thanos is talking to Gamora referring to how she frequently let him know how much she hated life aboard his ship while growing up. Whether he's referring to Titan years, or Zen-Whoberi years, Gamora understood what he meant - she was there the whole time. No humans are involved there so no confusion with Earth years.


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

[User] ELI5: Can people actually die from old age, or is there always some underlying condition at their old age that causes each death?

[Assistant]
"Old Age" is a euphemism, that is a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.  Since death is a pretty uncomfortable topic for most folks, saying that grandpa died of "old age" is a comfortable way to express it.

In reality, no.  People do not die of old age.  They die from something that might be *related* to their age, but being old does not kill you directly.  Instead, death comes from organ failure (usually the heart) or an infection that the body could not fight off (often pneumonia).  So from a medical perspective saying someone died of old age is more like saying "they died from one of the common ways that old people die, there is no sign of foul play, and the death was not unexpected *(edit:) so we're not going to bother to do an autopsy or otherwise worry to much about this beyond following proper procedure to take the body to a morgue*."


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

[User] ELI5: What rule of sound waves makes sounds that are 12 half steps away from each other read as the same note to us?

[Assistant]
The "12 steps" are arbitrary, but the relationship between the frequencies is not: at the distance which we call 'one octave' the higher of the two tones results from vibrations which are exactly twice as fast as the lower tone. This means that it sounds "the same only higher" to our ears.

Meanwhile, we in the West decided that it would be best to divide that distance up into 12 divisions, which we call semitones. That's far from the only way to divide that space up, though.

The easiest way to visualise this is probably get a string, measure it, and twang it. Then get a string half that length (or stop the first string half-way down its length) and twang it again.


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

[User]
How do spiders survive in dark isolated areas?

Everyone is familiar with basement spiders or abandoned building cobwebs. My question is: How do these arachnids survive (and seemingly thrive) indoors in the dark away from any abundant food source (bugs)?

[Assistant] Most likely there are bugs there, you just don't see them. A lot of them are tiny mites or small insects that found their way there. If not, many of those spiders can survive several months if not over a year with no food. So even if they rarely get a meal, they can still survive there fairly easily.


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

[User]
ELI5: DotA (the Real Time Strategy game)

I don't get what the difference between this one custom map (gametype?) and Warcraft 3 is.

[Assistant]
One day, you decide to play a game of Pretend War with your friends. You and your friends all bring out a box of toy soldiers and a few toy houses. The rules of this game is that you get to make a base out of your houses, and you get to order your toy soldiers around the battlefield. If a soldier dies, he is removed, but after a little while you can make him again at one of the little houses. You want to destroy everybody else's base with your army. If you lose a house, after a little while you get to put another house in your base.

After a while you get bored of this game, and decide to come up with another game. You already have all your little soldiers and houses and stuff, but you want different rules. So you and your friends bring two adults over, probably two daddies because they're nerdy enough to help out. You tell the daddies: you get to order the toy soldiers, but they're not very smart so just attack the enemy base and whoever is closest to you! And you and your buddies each pull out your own special action figure. You've pulled out Duke Nukem, but Carl pulled out Simba and Alan pulled out GI Joe. Duke Nukem can do awesome things, but Simba and GI Joe can also do awesome things, only they're different awesome things. Everybody is on a team, being with one or the other daddy's team, and you try to destroy the other base, defending your base and killing their heroes if you need to. If your hero gets killed, you have to sit out for a while before you can play again.

Pretend War is Warcraft 3, the other game is DotA.


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

[User] ELI5: What is actually happening when you panic and your "heart stops" for a half second and get that pain in your chest and why does it happen?

[Assistant]
Your heart seems to stop but its actually just changing how fast its beating. This feels like an abrupt pause if it happens fast enough. This happens many times a day, you just don't notice it most of the time.

The pain that comes is a result of the fear caused by noticing and misinterpreting the change in heart rate. You involuntarily contract the muscles in your upper body, and involuntarily inhale at the same time.  Since you're trying to do two things at the same time that are impossible to do at the same time, the result is discomfort.


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

[User] ELI5: If anti-histamines work by suppressing the immune system to avoid allergic reactions, then why do we not see an increase in infectious diseases such as the cold or flu in those who regularly take them?

[Assistant] Anti-histamine itself is as its name: it's anti 'histamine'. The histamine is a chemical produce by immune system. The medicine will directly suppress reaction of histamine that result in allergic reaction. It doesn't affect immune system. And because there're many ways that the immune system fight with pathogens, the suppression of histamine won't affect immune system operation that much.


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

[User] ELI5: When Americans say to increase taxes on the rich, what taxes are they specifically talking about and what changes would make it "fair"?

[Assistant]
Usually, they're referring to income taxes. (There are also arguments that the *capital gains* tax should be rolled into the income tax; that is, rather than being considered separately and taxed lower, profit from investments should be taxed as income.)

People obviously disagree on what the most fair tax rates would be.


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

[User]
[Darkest Dungeon] Wouldn't the odds of finding loot improve with more light rather than less?

Surely it's easier to find tiny gems and such with a bright light than no light at all.

[Assistant]
Here, in the darkness, the items of some value shimmer in the twilight. They stand out in the black.

Bright day may make sighting the foe easier, but washes out even the most eye-catching of trinkets.


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

[User]
[STAR WARS] Why did Darth Plageuis care about saving lives and bringing people back from death considering he was a Sith?

And how did he do it with Dark Side force powers? Seems a lot more like a Jedi thing to do and a Light Side force power attribute rather than the reverse.

[Assistant]
I suspect one of a few possibilities:

1.  Palpatine is lying.  Plagious never had such ability.

2.  Plagious was driven by love initially and genuinely wanted to raise the dead out of the goodness of his heart.  Unfortunately, love leads to the dark side.  He eventually gave into his anger and rage, forgetting the magic of resurrection.

As for why the Jedi don't do it:  1paplatine says it himself, "The Jedi would consider unnatural."  When the Force calls you home you don't defy its will.  Bringing back the dead is an unholy subversion of the natural order.


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

[User]
CMV: Homeschooling should be Illegal

I believe homeschooling should be illegal, because it places total responsibility for raising a child on the parent(s). This encourages abuse abuse and fosters unbalanced or extreme upbringings.

Having children go to school outside the home helps prevent abuse and neglect. In cases where one party is not fullfulling their responsibility, the other party is able to step in and mitigate the problem. For example, if a child is experiencing abuse at home they are hopefully able talk to a trusted friend or teacher. Some types of abuse might be apparent to teacher even if the child does not speak up. The child might not be acting normally or the they might be physically hurt. Homeschooled children do not have this safety net, especially if they lack friends who arent connected to their parents. Conversely, parents are able to step in when schools are performing poorly. They can give their child additional guidance after class, they can bring up issues at PTA meetings, or they might be able to transfer the child to a private or religious school.

Homeschooling encourages extreme upbringings, even if the parents aren't abusive. What the parents do well is done well. What the parents do poorly is done poorly. And what the parents don't do, isn't done. For example, homeschooled children might get a rigorous education, but are kept extremely isolated (full disclosure: my upbringing) They might get a sloppy education, but the parents encourage healthy relationships. They might be very disciplined, but they aren't taught how to be self confident (my upbringing again). Having children go to school outside the home helps balance the parents' extremes. Children with high-strung parents might get to observe easy-going friends and teachers. Children with a religious upbringing might get to spend time with people who have different religious backgrounds. In short, children who go to school outside the home get to experience a variety of values and ways of living. Homeschooled children are not guaranteed this opportunity.

Note: I can imagine that for some special needs children school outside the home might be impossible. Homeschooling should be allowed in these cases.

Edit: Thank you all for your responses. Some of you have brought up the issues with the quality and availability of public schooling. I agree now that banning homeschooling would harm those people who's only reasonable alternative is homeschooling. Some of you have argued for state oversight and monitoring of home schools. I think this seems reasonable if it is vigorous.  I'm still skeptical of homeschooling, but I now see a number of reasons not to ban it.

[Assistant]
So you don't want homeschooling because you don't think *other children* would be taught what *you* want them to be taught.

That's exactly why people homeschool, except they don't think *their own* children should be taught what *they* want in school.

You've got the exact same opinion, but they've got quite a bit more skin in the game, no?


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

[User] ELI5: What is that stomach dropping sensation you get when on a roller coaster, jumping off a high diving board, etc.? Why does it terrify some while exciting others?

[Assistant]
Your organs, more or less, hang off your skeleton like clothes on a clothes hanger.  That's their comfortable position.  Now imagine flipping that hanger upside down.  Your organs won't be quite as disheveled as the clothes, but they are pulled out of their comfortable position a bit.  Some folks enjoy that unusual feeling and some just get queasy from it.

There's more to it than that, but that's how I'd explain it to a five-year-old.


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

[User]
Why are all the planets' orbits on the same plane?

Its almost as if they were just rolling around on the floor, is it possible for a planit to orbit the sun vertically?

[Assistant]
The solar system formed from a disc of gas, so when this disc fragmented into planets and asteroids etc, these all had orbits that were still in the disc. Scattering from nearby passes of asteroids can kick stuff up a bit, but generally only for small objects, and not very many of them. There's nothing stopping a spaceship from orbiting the Sun in a polar orbit - it's just not where planets tend to form.

A disc is the natural shape you get if you have some angular momentum, and dissipation. Basically, any region of gas in space is going to have some net spin - the odds that all the motions exactly cancel out are extremely low - so when some gas collapses to form a proto-stellar nebula, the spin gets amplified and you have a strongly rotating system. The gas can also get warm through collisions and compressions, but it radiates this heat into space, gradually cooling down and reducing its pressure. This pressure is what holds up the gas in a ball. So as it reduces its pressure, the ball collapses, and eventually the only thing that's stopping it from collapsing all the way down is its centrifugal force - you end up with a rapidly rotating disc.


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

[User]
ELI5: What was in wallets before plastic cards?

I was born on the brink of digitalization ('95), so I don't really remember an era before everybody had a bunch of cards in their wallets.

I'm guessing that before, the only things you would have in your wallet are cash, a couple of ID cards, receipts, and business cards. There's a separate transparent slot for your ID, and you don't put business cards individual slots, so you'd need like 5 at most.
Did wallets look a lot differently back then? Or am I forgetting something?

[Assistant]
It was what's in our phones now: pictures of family/friends, contact information for people, receipts, reminders, and anything else that could fit.

Also, cash. Probably a lot more of it than we carry around now too. If you went to buy a $400 thing, you'd need $400 in cash. That's a lot of bills to carry.


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

[User]
What happens to lost ants?

I was in my car the other day and noticed numerous ants had jumped in for a free ride. It got me wondering if one and or a small group of ants got in my car near their colonies nest and then exited my car ~30km away what would happen to them?

[Assistant]
If a worker ant gets separated from its colony, it's doomed. No other colony will take it in, and it can't start its own colony--only queens can do that. It might be able to live for a while, but generally not that long--a lost worker is generally more concerned with hunting for its colony than with feeding itself, and its energy reserves are fairly small (depending on the ant species--some have workers that are adapted to taking long foraging trips). A few ant species, however, have "supercolonies," where neighboring colonies are established by queens directly related to one another. When queens are close relatives, their workers tend to have similar chemical profiles, meaning they can move from colony to colony without triggering the usual colony defenses against intruders. (Intruders are recognized by their chemical profile--their odor--and not by appearance, ID card, etc.) In such cases, workers routinely transfer between colonies, so a worker may end up working for its grandmother or, forgive me, its aunt.

tldr; If a worker ant gets separated from its colony and can't find its way back it is doomed.


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

[User] ELI5: when you apply for a patent how do they check there isn't already a conflicting one?

[Assistant] Patents are indexed by subject matter and words they contain, but basically the patent office still does it the hard way, by looking at all the related patents they can find. Computer searching speeds things up a lot, but someone still has to read the patents and understand what they are about, in order to decide whether a new idea is new and different enough to deserve a patent.


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

[User]
What level of culture did Neanderthals have?

I know (now, through searching) that the sub is inundated with Neanderthal questions, but they mostly seem to be DNA and extinction related. So hopefully this is different enough. I wanted to ask what the current thinking is on the level of Neanderthal culture at the Upper Paleolithic boundary and beyond?

Last I remember (class in undergrad 10 years ago?), there are some indications of art, bone tools, harpoons (?). More reliable indications of caring for the elderly and for burial, and post-Mousterian toolset innovations. There seemed to be new findings about Neanderthal art and tools coming in occasionally, and they were always followed by Zilhao & d'Errico writing something like a "See! Told you *too* Neanderthals are super duper smart!" kind of interpretation and Paul Mellars writing something like "oh, it's misattributed and misdated, but if it turns out to somehow be Neanderthals, they prolly just stole it from a nearby sapien and didn't know what the hell it did". So did this question get resolved somehow? What's the general consensus on Neanderthals? Did they make cave paintings? Did they have music? Could they sew? Did they invent the Chatelperronian toolset or did they just steal all the ideas of the Aurignacian without figuring out what did what? Or does that even matter?

If you want to give me references, I'd be super happy!

[Assistant] Neanderthals made advanced tools, had a language (the nature of which is debated) and lived in complex social groups. The Molodova archaeological site in eastern Ukraine suggests some Neanderthals built dwellings using animal bones. A building was made of mammoth skulls, jaws, tusks and leg bones, and had 25 hearths inside.


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

[User]
CMV: Everyone should be an organ donor with very few exceptions.

So thats pretty much it. According to the HRSA, More than 120,000 people in the U.S. are waiting to receive a life-giving organ transplant. We simply don't have enough donated organs to transplant everyone in need, so we balance factors of: justice (fair consideration of candidates' circumstances and medical needs).

120,000 people.

Man, women and children. 120,000 families, 120,000 sets of friends, 120,000 small communities of support all hinging on the kindness of someone living far far away.

8,000 people DIE EVERY YEAR because somewhere 8,000 people were too ignorant or too selfish to fill out the paperwork or check the box before buying a motorcycle. Its such a damn shame and completely preventable! If youre dead you have no need for your organs so it is silly ignorant and extremely selfish to not donate them if youre eligible.

Really the only exception that I see here would be people who are ineligible to donate because they are too old or sick shouldnt be organ donors. But for healthy people with healthy organs, the idea that they wouldnt donate their organs upon eligible death is a colossal injustice when you compare the need of people seeking them for highly successful procedures.

[Assistant]
Some people have a fear that if you are an organ donor, you might not receive the best possible care to preserve your life, because your death would save 4-5 other people.

Do you have any thoughts about that?


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

[User] [Fantasy Lore] can a succubus fall in love and if so, how would I know she's not just leading me on to eat me?

[Assistant]
Succubi *can* fall in love. Often they show their true feelings by swearing off other men (basically like if you starved yourself turning down all these delicious cheeseburgers because you wanted to own, but not just eat, a pizza), ignoring their sexual desires and playing the slow game with you not to blow it, and emotionally opening up to you about their feelings but not expecting anything more than say a hug, kiss or hell even just a verbal reciprocation in return.

Most likely you're going to need to understand why they're in love though. If you're just a hot guy, then chances are you're just dinner. If you've been good friends with her, made her laugh and protected her from harm (like the bond between a certain blue haired succubus and a brainless brown haired human) then it's much more likely that you're more than a snack for her.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do our voices change as we age? What causes the stereotypical "old person voice"?

[Assistant] Your vocal cords create sounds by vibrating against each other, powered by your breath and stabilized with your torso muscles. As you get older the cords can become less flexible, dryer, and your muscles can be weaker at powering the whole operation.


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

[User]
What is the economic definition of socialism?

I don't want to know what socialism means to you or what you think it should mean. I'm curious about those who work in the economics field and went to a university for an economics degree. What do they teach you about socialism in economics classes? What is the academic definition, if you will?

Also, I'm American so I'm largely looking for how it's used in the US university system if that differs from how they use it in Europe and elsewhere.

[Assistant] Socialism just means that the means of productions are controlled by the workers. This can be direct by way of workplace democracy or indirect through national control. Any other questions about economic specifics are up for debate.


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

[User]
[Matrix] What would happen if you took the red and blue pills at the same time?

Morpheus wants to recruit me for his army that's freeing humanity from robot control. He offers me and blue pill that will help me stay asleep and one that will help me wake up. I, being a junkie, just see free pills and quickly snatch and eat them both. What happens.

[Assistant]
The red pill is a homing program and false "death" signal sent to the Matrix.  Your body survives, but it's ejected out of the pod you're being stored in.  In order to live much longer, you need to be picked up by a human ship and nursed back to health.  This is probably going to be what happens to you.

The blue pill is a sleeping program with a memory-wiping subroutine.  You pass out, the rebels return you to your bed, and you don't remember there's another world out there at all.

When you take both, you're not going to remember the 'initiation' events or any of the explanation of your choices.  From your perspective, you fell asleep two or three days ago, and wake up in a completely unknown futuristic nightmare world.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do businesses such as grocery stores have cheaper prices for "members" when membership is free? How do they benefit from that?

Most retail locations have a membership program that is free, giving them access to cheaper prices. How does the store gain from that? It seems like all they're getting is my phone number and e-mail address.

[Assistant]
Customer Loyalty programs ensure that customers keep coming back to your store.  It's like a sandwich shop that has a "buy 10 get 1 free" deal.

These days, it also helps them collect data about who is purchasing what.  Getting your phone number gives them a single unique identifier so they track your purchases and get better information about what people are buying.

Beyond that, grocery stores used to offer sales *all the time* without a rewards/loyalty number.  These days, they just require a membership to get the sales they used to have *without them*.  It's not costing them anything extra.


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

[User]
I think there is no such thing as free will, CMV.

I believe that there are two kinds of decisions that people can make: ones where all of the factors leading up to that choice (genetics, one's history, etc.) determine the outcome of the choice and ones where the decision is made randomly (which would also imply the person did not truly choose out of free will).

I know you can argue that Person A will make a different choice than Person B when presented with the same circumstances. However, I feel that if ALL of the circumstances are truly identical, then Person A is exactly Person B in every possible way, so the decision outcome must be the same. What I mean to say is that people are determined by their genes, past, etc. and that is what governs how we make decisions, not free will. CMV.

[Assistant]
I think it's semantics, really.

Like a pseudo-random number generated by a computer, if you have all the data of how it makes its random numbers, it's pretty easy to see the numbers aren't random at all and you can pretty easily get the next random numbers that'll come out. However to someone on the other end (who doesn't have any information about where the numbers are coming from) it's basically impossible to tell, and thus it's random.

You can argue that yes, at the very top level of everything there's probably no free will, but as the ability to get all the data to make such a prediction is and will forever be impossible, it's no different than sitting on the random side of the random number generator. Thus, for all intents and purposes, we have free will.


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

[User] [TLA/TLK] Only the Avatar can master all four elements, but can someone master two or three even without being the Avatar?

[Assistant]
No. It is the spirit Ra'va that carries the ability to bend all for elements. It's Ra'va's bond with the Avatar that allows them to bend more than one. Generally, people cannot physically handle being able to bend more than one element at once. Avatar Wan and to train for some time to be able to.

That said, people can look at the bending *forms* and adapt that to their bending.  General Iroh for example studied the waterbenders technique and developed lightning redirection.


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

[User]
CMV: Work from Home is a benefit in almost everyway for everyone!

I really feel work from home should be a culture everywhere in the world and that's how people should actually work! Let me tell you why I say this.

* Work from Home actually makes people more productive because when someone actually has to submit a deliverable they will sit and finish their work and maybe can get an extra hour of sleep the next day. People can take a break in between when they need it and not when during the allotted break time.
* Companies can reduce the costs heavily. They can reduce the renting space which will save them loads of money on rent and electricity! There are lots of other things that company can save costs on!
* Number of negative incidents that happen to people at night when travelling back home from work alone will be significantly reduced.
* This will bring better cheaper and better quality Internet for everyone.  This could also bring a lot more investment to better Internet security for everyone.
* With people spending on average 20% of their lives travelling this can really give them more time to work when they have to and make use of our life in a better way.
* Following the previous point, this will also save tons of air, water and noise pollution as there will be less traffic everywhere and which will also help us travel faster when needed.
* We can spend a lot more time with our family! Better quality of life!
* Nature can heal itself like it is doing now during lockdown all over the world.

People can go to office when they need to. When they do not have the necessary hardware to do a work they can go there and get it done. Work can be done at home every other time.

I know a lot of places have work from home culture. I say its not enough.

Every company in every country where possible should make their employees work from home.

All these things were just off the top of my head. I bet there are a lot more benefits to working at home for everyone.

[Assistant]
There are several disadvantages of home working:
- you need an office to concentrate, not everyone has a closed room, comfortable, ergonomic and productive where you can keep family out
- home power usage goes up, and homes are usually less efficient than office buildings in heating, cooling and lighting, impacting both consumption and the environment
- many jobs have informal knowledge and communicatuin paths to get things done, such as tribal knowledge, look and learn practices and visual signs that are lost remotely
- at home it's easy to overwork, leadingto burnout
- work facilities have a considerable impact on productivity, so companies spend a lot of time thinking about this.  with employees at home they lose a tool for one they have no control over

Overall there are many benefits from working from home, but it's not all benefits.


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

[User]
CMV: Children should not have a life priority over those who are not children

I dont see any reason for why children are always prioritized in terms of healthcare, resources, and/or other ways.

I get that children are cute and pure, but they do not benefit society the way a person who work does. I acknowledge the fact that they may grow to become someone employed but there is no way you can know that for sure.

You might counter my opinion by saying that they have lower pain tolerance but that isnt really fully accurate to me, since I think age doesnt define pain tolerance.

[Assistant]
Children are still developing.  There are issues that can arise which can lead to irreversible effects.  Children are prone to ear infections.  Untreated ear infections can lead to hearing loss.   Giving children access to healthcare can reduce the number of deaf and hearing impaired adults meaning fewer services needed to support them, more adults who can perform jobs that require full hearing.  Can an adult lose their hearing from an untreated infection?  Sure.  How common is it compared to kids (a lot less)

Nutrition in early life can affect future development.  An adult can be malnourished for a few months but bounce back.  A child who is malnourished May never fully develop properly or even develop fully mentally and may have a lower IQ.  Providing free school lunches/breakfasts not only helps make sure kids get at least one or two full meals a day, it helps them focus and learn better.

Its not about this child vs that adult.  Its about society as a whole benefitting by making sure children reach adulthood healthy and fully developed.


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

[User]
How does mixing magmas of different types cause large explosive volcanic eruptions?

I've read from several different sources that when a fresh injection of basaltic magma intrudes into a more silica-rich magma chamber under a volcano, some sort of reaction happens that ultimately leads to a large explosive eruption. I've specifically heard this implicated for the 19th century Krakatoa eruption, where people point to volcanic rock of varying color bands indicating partially mixed magmas that cooled preserving the different rock types.

However, these sources don't mention a mechanism for this. Is there some sort of chemical reaction between the different magmas? Is it a physical reaction relating to different temperature/density/viscosity/gas content/something else?

What leads two bodies of relatively stable magma to generate immense pressure and explode when mixed together?

[Assistant]
Temperature difference. The lighter felsic magma in the primary chamber had been cooling down for some time. This theory around the magma mixing, involved a darker body of much hotter and more mafic magma intruding into the chamber. This caused a pressure spike, followed by the very large kaboom.

The other theory is a phreatic eruption, where a collapse in the base of the volcano wall resulted in seawater flooding the chamber - and steam from this contact with the magma resulting in the eruption.

Evidence of both theories exist, but either way it doesn't involve any fancy chemical reactions.


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

[User]
Do small populations help countries become first world faster or live better?

The Nordic countries all have very small populations and they have amazing development, some say they are more developed than the us.

Meanwhile India has a gigantic population and has severe poverty issues, most of Latin America have a similar dinamic (Brazil, Mexico).

So the question is, are smaller populations better? Was Thanos right?

[Assistant]
Not noticeably. Pacific Islands have even smaller populations and are poorer, meanwhile Japan has a large population, albeit not as large as the USA or Brazil, and is developed.

Also the boundaries of a country have a certain arbitrariness to them, at least for a continent like Eurasia. The Nordics are connected as economies, both to each other and to the broader European economy.


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

[User]
Could abiogenesis still be happening on Earth?  If so, how would we know?

I have read several theories about how abiogenesis could occur, but there seems to be an implicit assumption that it is something that happened once billions of years ago, and that all life evolved from that starting point.

It seems to me that if abiogenesis is a natural process, then there is no reason it would have been a one-off event, and could be happening spontaneously even today but probably would not evolve very far since all the ecological niches are already filled.  If that was the case how would we be able to detect abiogenesis happening in the wild?  Has anyone looked?

**Edit**:

Thanks for the comments so far.  I realise that the chances of new life forms arising from abiogenesis is zero to many decimal places given the competition from existing life.  I was thinking more about opportunities for observing the process in action, even if it did not survive long enough to evolve into a new life form.  If we could do this it would confirm what is now largely hypothesis, and give a much better insight into the probability of life arising on other planets.

[Assistant] It quite probably did happen.  The problem for any such new simple life form is that it comes into existence in a world teeming with life that has had billions of years of evolution behind it already, and is hopelessly lost when trying to compete for resources.  The only chance it would have would be if by sheer luck it occupied some niche not yet utilized by existing life.  This is rather unlikely, as life on earth seems to have already filled every ecological niche that biochemistry will permit.


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

[User]
ELI5: the human genome is fully mapped, but whos genome is this?

There are differences between everyones genome, so when the human genome was mapped, who were they basing it off of?

[Assistant] Research shows that that the DNA of human beings is 99.9 percent alike. That being said, for the genome project scientists used DNA from five individuals of varying ethnicity. The five people whose genomes were used in sequencing came from a pool of 21 donors. It was agreed that donors names would never be made public. So we never will really know the identity of the DNA used.


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

[User] [Star Wars] I want to get into the Jedi hunting business, using the tech in Star Wars how could I mimic the skills of a force user to effectively stand toe to toe against one?

[Assistant]
People say killing Jedi is hard. It's not. You just have to be smart about it. No blasters, no getting close to them, no attacking them directly when you can gun down their allies instead. There's ways of gassing them, drugging them, making them lose control, torturing them.

You can teach yourself... techniques. It's hard for a Jedi to sense what you're really thinking if you throw up walls of strong emotions and feelings. Lust, impatience, cowardice... most Jedi awareness doesn't cruise beyond the surface feelings, to see what's deeper.


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

[User] [Stellaris] Why is slavery so popular in the galaxy? Why not just build insentient automated factories?

[Assistant] Low initial materiel requirements. You need machinery to produce machinery; to produce more slave labour all you need is two slaves and judicious application of alcohol or equivalent disinhibitor. And you don't need an elaborate supply chain to keep them running.


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

[User]
Over time, can all black holes merge and swallow the entire universe?

This would potentially happen tens to hundreds of billions of years in the future. Would it be possible (or even physically plausible) for all the black holes in the universe merge into one enormous black hole? After that, could that black hole subsequently consume everything in our known universe?

[Assistant] Possible yes, plausible no. We live in a universe where A. black holes tend to have stable orbits around them and B. everything is getting farther apart. Those factors combined, it is not expected for most of the universe to end up in a black hole.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How hard is it for me to build a lightsaber and be fairly proficient at using it?

I will get this out of the way right now; I am not force sensitive. I am just a small time bounty hunter living on Tatooine. I recently came across a fair amount of credits and equipped myself with some new gadgets. As I was shopping around looking for an Echani vibroblade, I started to wonder if I could use a lightsaber instead. Now I know lightsabers are tricky to wield but I am skilled at using a vibroblade and I was wondering if it is possible I can get my hands on a lightsaber and use it for my own purposes?

[Assistant]
If you manage to get your hands on one, then learning to use it would be hard but possible.  You probably won't be deflecting any blaster bolts, but using it as a weapon is possible without the force.  The biggest problem is it's very difficult from a regular sword, and fairly different from a vibroblade, and since you lack access to a practice blade it will be difficult for you to become proficient.
That said, building one is near impossible without access to the closely guarded secret that is the Jedi's cave of lightsaber crystal.  The Sith have a method of making synthetic ones, but being indebted to them is a bad idea.


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

[User]
Do mRNA vaccines actually get translated into proteins inside human cells or is the RNA sequence itself detected as foreign?

Sorry for yet another COVID vaccine question, but I havent seen the mechanism of the vaccine explained anywhere. I assume the shot will basically be a bunch of massively replicated strands of coronavirus spike mRNA... but what are the mechanisms  for immunity to occur? I assume if it were just the RNA itself creating a response, we might be able to use cDNA. Thanks!

[Assistant]
Its mostly the first, but also a little bit of the second. The cells do translate the mRNA into viral proteins, and the immune system develops antibodies against those viral proteins.

However, it is also true that the mRNA is recognized by the immune system as foreign, and the presence of the mRNA attracts immune system cells to the area around the injection, which ends up making it more likely for them to encounter the viral proteins.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is the body able to regrow the liver and not any other organs?

[Assistant] The liver's primary tissues heptocytes perform their actions sometimes through an act of heroic self sacrifice. As such the ability for them to replenish their own numbers is necessary to perserve the functionality of the liver.


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

[User]
[Attack on Titan] How is humanity so advanced yet so primitive?

((Seriously, you all knew this question was coming))

The 3D Maneuvering Gear is a technological achievement in itself and yet humans still use cannons and flintlock rifles/pistols? Perhaps it has something to do with the Titans eating the humans to near extinction, but I assumed they would be better equipped to handle the giants.

[Assistant]
In the immediate aftermath of the Titan's appearance and near-extinction of mankind, people were forced to pack up and leave.  All infrastructure was abandoned.  Factories, refineries, natural resources, etc.  The only things humanity has access to are what happened to be located inside the walls when they got there, and what they were capable of building when they arrived.

The first generation had a large number of learned people; Scientists, Engineers, Professors, etc.  They were able to continue advancement during their lifetimes, and develop the advanced 3D-manuevering gear.  Unfortunately, the need to focus on survival prevented mankind from forming any kind of formalized educational system.  All advanced knowledge that couldn't be written down or taught died with that generation.

The 3D gear was tailored to the resources that were most abundant inside the walls, efficient use of high grade steel for melee weapons and extremely efficient gas-powered gear that uses a tiny fraction of what a car or plane would use.  They'll last a long time, are easy enough to make more of with the limited resources available, and the facilities to make more fuel are present.

Mankind is already equipped with the best of many bad options for fighting the Titans.


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

[User] eli5: Why do drugs that dont seem very likely to be abused or are unlikely to produce a high for example drugs for diseases, require a prescription?

[Assistant]
Because almost all medications/drugs have contraindications and the potential to interact with other substances. Also potential harm from overuse or overdose.

Each country has a body that reviews these and makes a decision on if it can be safely sold to the public without a prescription (over the counter) or needs pharmacist or physician level knowledge of its use to dispense/prescribe. This is why there are some things you can buy without a prescription in some countries, but not it others (e.g. some antibiotics are available without a prescription in some places, but you need a prescription for them in the UK).


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

[User]
How do spiders know where to build their webs?

Do they have any way of knowing where bugs generally fly? Is the one in my bathroom exceptionally stupid or is it just unlucky?

[Assistant] They put out streamers, test threads, and then go away for 48 hours (more or less depending on species). When they return, if the streamer is still intact, its safe to build a web there...if a bug is trapped in it, its a great spot to setup a web.


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

[User] What are the effects of high sodium diets in healthy individuals?

[Assistant] Zilch, basically. The body controls sodium very well, so a high sodium diet results in high sodium excretion. There *may* be a small effect on potassium levels, i.e. a slight reduction, but that's about it.


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

[User]
[Kill Bill] Why doesn't The Bride use her Hattori Hanzo sword to kill Vernita Green?

After she awakens from her coma, Beatrix goes to Okinawa with the express purpose of stirring Hanzo out of retirement to make her a sword in which to exact her revenge against the Deadly Vipers. She uses the sword to great effect against O-Ren, Sofie and the Crazy 88's, but then mysteriously leaves it behind when confronting Vernita, attacking her armed only with a small knife. Why not use the killing machine you spent a month waiting to be made for the purpose you got it made for?

[Assistant]
The bride intends to face each of her would-be assassins with the same weapon they themselves are predisposed to using.

Notice that when she visits Vernita, not only does she instantly throw the first punch after the door opens, but she only shows up with a knife holstered.  Later she comments that Bill said she was the best women he had ever seen with an edged weapon.  As an assassin a knife is vastly more practical than a sword hence why Vernita was good with knives and Beatrix only confronted her with a knife.  The challenge to a duel at night was only after the daughter showed up and made finishing the fight in the house impractical and dishonorable.  Remember she had no wish to murder her in front of her child.

Everyone else she fought or attempted to fight with a sword.  O-Ren obviously.  Bud she knew had a Hanzo sword so she tried with him but got shot because she underestimated him.  Ellie we see was not only a student of Pai Mei but knew how to use a sword so Beatrix likely meant to confront her with a sword but that went down at Buds trailer after he died.  And we see that while she showed up to Bills house with a gun, she also had her sword on her back and in the end they both basically agreed to end it all with a sword fight.


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

[User]
Why are these huge archipelagos and splotchy lakes mostly found near the poles, and not near the equator?

For example, the islands to the north of Canada, Greenland, Norway, and south-western Chile. (and bonus question: why only on the south west of Chile, and not the south east of Argentina?)

Some parts of these archipelagos look like river delta's. Did they use to be river deltas? Does it have something to do with the ice ages?

And for the lakes, I mean basically all of Finland and Canada. Are these related to the islands somehow?

What is the geological process that's at play here? And also, what happened in the places where we don't see these formations?

[Assistant]
This type of landscape - large plains with soft elevation changes and lots of lakes - are the result of glaciers moving over the land during the last ice age(s). Thousands of years of ice scraping across the earth created these formations, which often include large boulders sitting somewhere randomly, where a glacier dragged them.
Thus you get that sort of landscape closer to the poles.


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

[User] When you are "full" is your stomach really full, or has it just passed a certain threshold where it starts telling you to stop eating?

[Assistant] Aside from the mechanical effects of stretching the stomach, satiety is also conveyed through fat-tissue-release of leptin. This lets the brain know that at least fat levels within the blood are adequate for the work output. More leptin in the blood = less desire to eat.


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

[User]
[Hunger Games] I am a mid-tier military commander for the Capitol and I see the writing on the wall...

It seems like the President is more interested in hurting the feelings of the rebel symbol than, you know, fighting the rebels. I've been speaking with other commanders, and while we don't have everyone, we have several on our side. We've deemed it necessary for a *change in command* and are working on plans to *take control* and *retire* the President.

After he's gone, we can create a junta that can fight the rebels until they are willing to meet us at the negotiating table. How can we best deal with the President as effectively as possible to prevent the Capitol from breaking into factions, we need as much strength as possible, so we have to get back to fighting the rebels.

[Assistant] It won't work.  If you take down the President, the center won't hold, and you won't be able to squeeze the outer districts to the extent you need to squeeze in order to keep the inner districts doing their jobs.  That's why the President isn't fighting the rebels directly, he knows that's not a winnable fight.  The only way to hold it together is to make everyone think the center is strong, and that means defeating symbols like the Mockingjay before they gain any traction.  Make people understand that even she is beholden to the Capitol.


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

[User]
Does drinking straight hard alcohol put more strain on the liver than a mixture?

Say there are 2 totally identical people.

One drinks 8 fl oz of 43% ABV gin over a period of 10 minutes, and nothing else.

One drinks a 16 fl oz mixture of 50% water and 50% gin (the same 43% ABV gin) over the same 10 minute time period, and nothing else.

So they are both consuming the same amount of alcohol over the same amount of time, but one of them has their alcohol cut with an equal amount of water.

Which case will cause the liver to work more?

[Assistant] Well, both cases will cause the liver to work equally as much. Water is processed through your body much quicker than liquor is, obviously, so you're still left with the same 8 fl oz of 43% abv gin in your system, to be filtered through. That's why mixed drinks aren't much better than drinking straight shots. You're still consuming the same amount of liquor, the same amount of liquor needs to pass through your system, just the other homogenous parts of the beverage get absorbed faster .


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

[User] ELI5: How does our brain decide what foods we like or dislike?

[Assistant]
A large part of it is genetic. Before we started manipulating flavors with cooking, selective breeding, and modern science, things that taste good tend to be good to eat, and things that taste bad are tended to be bad to eat. Just as a result of evolutionary pressure. If someone ended up with a mutation that made them think, say, spoiled food smelled delicious they're probably not gonna last too long.

Then you have things like acquired tastes, where something might taste bad at first but begins to become a preference later. Or if you grow up eating it from a young age. Which is useful because clearly whatever you are eating hasn't killed you yet/has kept you alive, and is probably worth continuing to eat even when you have other options. And if you feed it to your kids they pick up that acquired taste and pass it to their kids and so on.


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

[User]
[Lord of the rings] Gandalf and the Balrogs fall

Now I havent read the books but I was talking to a friend about FotR and we started talking about when Gandalf does his skydive with the Balrog. Now I could be mistaken but doesnt it show a scene of Gandalf up on a snowy tower? How did he get there from falling down Moria? My friend couldnt remember if it was explained or even in the books in the first place.

[Assistant] They battled all the way to the top. When they land in the ocean at the bottom of the world, the balrogs fire is extinguished, and it turns into a slimly and grosse being. Gandalf then chases it all the way to the top, becasue there is a staircase that goes from the bottom to the top. When they reach the top, the balrogs fire reignites and they battle again.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do all eye doctors use the Big E as the top letter for their charts?

Always wondered why, and how they decided on that specific letter?

[Assistant] Because original eye charts (Snellen Chart) only had the letter E, but each letter would be rotated to point into a different direction (with the opening towards up, down, left or right), so that you can just point to which way the letter E is pointing (useful when some of your clients might be illiterate, too young to read, or non-English speakers). The E at the top is a reference to the old chart.