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

[User]
[Yu-Gi-Oh!] Why doesn't Yugi just use a luck-based deck?

More specifically, why doesn't Atem/Yami Yugi have a luck-based deck instead of his Dark Magician-centric one? We've seen that Atem's powers manifest through probability manipulation, or the heart of the cards. In his last duel, he was able to *will* his topdeck.

It would be more effective if he had honed his probability manipulation to work with a deck like Joey's because he can will the heart of the cards to his favor. I am aware that there are some cards that counteract luck, but there are also generic counter trap cards or dispel-type magic cards to handle these. I am also aware that Atem/Yugi's deck is built around flexibility in general, but his theme with the Dark Magician seems oddly way too specific, when in fact he could be using a flexible strategy deck that incorporates more luck-based elements.

[Assistant]
He doesn't need luck, not when you have your heart in the cards.

Yugi trusts his deck, it has gotten him through some of the most pivotal battles in the series he treats every one of his cards like an old friend and ally. If he has faith in them the match is his.


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

[User]
[HP Lovecraft] If the Deep Ones can create hybrids with humans, could they create hybrids with other animals as well?

Deep Ones and humans seem very different but still create hybrids that change over time. Could this happen with other animals? Could there be some kind of Dog/Deep One Hybrid? Or maybe a shark or something? Could they just pick any animal and diversify their species that way? Wouldnt it be more effective and infiltrating the globe?

[Assistant]
In the RPG, there *are* hybrids with dolphins and sharks.

More generally, presumably yes. But humans are the ones who live in large, concentrated settlements by the sea and will agree to a deal with where they let you regularly impregnate them in exchange for gold. Imagine trying to set up the equivalent of innsmouth with a pack of wolves, and you see why the focus is on us.


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

[User]
ELI5 Why do computers/processors get faster while their speed (GHz) stays the same?

Hey wo i was wondering because the intel core 2  duo quad processors already got speeds up to 3 ghz per core. And I. The last 10 years it looked like the numbers stayed the same between 3-4 ghz per core.

So how did computers got faster while the number of processing cores and speed(Ghz) stayed relatively the same?

[Assistant]
There's not only clockspeeds. The biggest improvements besides more cores are the numbers of instructions processed. This is called the IPC (instructions per cycle).

Think of it like when you're coming home from grocery shopping with a car loaded with groceries. Clockspeed determines how long it takes you to carry things from your car to your fridge. IPC determines how many groceries you can carry in one trip. So a 3,4GHz CPU from 2008 might also need 30seconds from the car to the fridge, but it can only carry the bread and eggs while a 2018 CPU can carry the bread, eggs, bacon and soda at the same time.

Additionally newer CPUs have more cores. So you're not carrying the groceries alone but got your brothers and sisters helping you. So instead of you doing 4 trips from the car to the fridge and back, you and your 3 siblings carry the stuff simultaneously so you only have to take one trip.

Additionally you can save time if you carry the groceries to the fridge in the order they should be put in it so you don't have to reorganize everything in the kitchen. So you gotta anticipate the correct order. Modern CPUs got much better at predicting what's going to be next.

All in all, this boosts overall performance. That being said, compared to the development in storage and graphics processing, the innovation of CPUs has slowed down a lot in the past years.


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

[User]
How did cavemen deal with toenails?

Did theirs stop growing after a certain point? If so, why did we evolve ever-growing nails? Did they trim them somehow?

[Assistant] Other living primates have nails and they generally wear down. We have a special situation where we go around protecting our feet inside socks and shoes. But other primates don't do this and so their toes are exposed to many abrasives (grass, bark, rocks, dirt etc.) that keep their nails from becoming excessively long.


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

[User]
[Discworld-The Fifth Elephant] why does Vimes single out the werewolves as the people to be rude to?

When Vimes goes to visit the three factions in Uberwald, he's polite to Rhys and Lady Margalotta, but he's constantly fucking with the Baron and Baroness. At this point he didn't know that they were guilty of anything, so why would he constantly say "bath" and "vet" when he knows it bother them? You'd think, if anything, he'd want to fuck with the vampire and NOT potentially alienate the parents of one of his best officers...why is Vimes such a dick to the werewolves?

[Assistant]
Because they behaved the most "nobility" like of all the persons he visited.

Lady Margalotta was like Vetinari, the Dwarf King was a well dawn to earth guy only the werewolves behaved like nobility and acted as they where something better because of there pedigree (pun intended) and Vimes HATES nobility.


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

[User] What world alliances are most likely to be formed/broken in the future?

[Assistant] I suspect the major changes will be a decline in how dependent many of the fringe allies of the West are on their old benefactors. Countries like Turkey who have for a long time been very interested in relations with Europe and the US are slowly starting to look east rather than west for political and economic ties.


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

[User] If a company cant afford to pay their workers a living wage, they shouldnt be in business. What does economics have to say about this? Is that an economically sound argument?

[Assistant]
That statement is a normative statement. Economists like to deal with positive statements such as "if a company increases wages by X per cent, it would lose Y per cent in profit and respond by reducing employment by Z per cent".

As to answering such a question, it isn't well defined. You have to figure out what a living wage is and what "should be in business" means. If you then implement policies that do that, the specific mechanisms of those policies could convert it into something measurable or simulatable.


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

[User]
How large would the surface of contact between two perfect spheres 1 centimeter in diameter be?

Assuming firm contact I suppose? How about for two 1 meter diameter spheres?

[Assistant]
In both cases, 0. They would only touch in a single point.

Of course, this assumes the spheres as purely mathematical objects, once you move into the physical world, there's no such thing as a perfect sphere and the contact surface will be non-zero.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] My not-assassin droid just "accidentally" killed somebody. Am I on the hook for murder?

To clarify, I built him myself from spare parts, so there's no factory serial number or registration information that can link him back to me. He is *not* equipped with any blasters, just a repair torch.

[Assistant] Considering the scare quotes, it sounds like you intended for it to kill someone, and given the time it takes to build a droid, it's premeditated. The exact laws depend on the planet, but it sounds like you're guilty of first-degree murder or the local equivalent. The lack of registration information might help you avoid getting caught, but posting this on the hypernet did not help matters.


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

[User]
CMV: the Dark Knight trilogy is much better than the marvel movies.

TDK trilogy was mind blowing. For starters, the cast is exceptional. Batman and all of the villains are portrayed as being more realistic, which makes it much more realistic in a thrilling/horror sense.

All marvel movies today feel like a cash generated flick. Theres not much depth, especially in the newer ones such as black panther, etc. I get that theres 18 movies compared to 3, so theres a lead up to a big movie (infinity war) but even then, the trilogy as a whole was much better than infinity war.

The obvious exceptional part of TDK cast was heath ledger. Theres just not ANY villains in ANY marvel movie that compare to him. Not even close. He played such a psychopath and his method acting and improvisation was the best I have ever seen in a movie. The make up was amazing as it wasnt too comical. He PERFECTED the walk, laugh, mindset and everything the joker has to offer.

Tom Hardy was exceptional as Bane. Instead of being the veiny, lab rat that the comic books show, hes portrayed as a beefy guy that can cause terror, which is realistic and makes it that much scarier. The destruction he caused was amazing. The mask was an awesome touch, although at times his voice was hard to understand the first time around.

Christian Bale was a good Batman. His voice in the first two movies were meh, but TDKR figured it out to be less raspy so that you could understand him. Overall, he played Bruce Wayne/Batman great and was memorable.

Dont get me wrong, I like the marvel movies. Infinity war was a great movie. I love guardians. Maybe Im inclined to the realism that TDK trilogy presents compared to the extra sci-fi found in the marcel movies, but overall I find the trilogy to have much better depth, acting, and plot.

[Assistant]
Its not exactly fair to compare three movies with a fairly unitary vision produced by one of the truly auteur filmmakers of his generation to ~20 movies by different filmmakers in different genres trying to accomplish different things.    That said, what the MCU has pulled off is frankly more impressive than the Nolan trilogy.

Great filmmakers produce great movies, and there have been many great filmmakers who made great trilogies.  Nolan applied that to a comic book-based trilogy, but hes still in the same general artistic space as many of his predecessors.  And, frankly, they dont hold up as well as they could once you start to scratch at them.  Ive never heard anyone say Wow, Batman Begins, what a movie!   The Dark Knight Rises really doesnt make that much sense if you think about it too hard.  The Dark Knight is a great film, but thats still one out of three once you really stare hard at them.

Pulling together a 20+ film universe that is reasonably coherent, consistently at least decent in quality, and often outright really good?  Thats a damn impressive feat that no one else has managed to do before.  Maybe no single MCU film is as good as Dark Knight, but a number of them are at least as good as Batman Begins and some are arguably better than both that and Dark Knight Rises.   Heck, Id argue that Thor 3s ability to be serious, epic and still incorporate the absurdity of comic books in a respectful way is a far more interesting take on the genre than just using dark and gritty as a stand-in for deep and realistic.


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

[User]
How can velocity be relative when the speed of light is constant?

Ever since I read somewhere in a book that the speed of light is constant, I never understood how that worked with velocity being relative; the two are mutually exclusive.

[Assistant]
The speed of light is the same for all frames of reference. So, if a space-ship is flying towards the Earth at half the speed of light, and it turns on its headlights, then from the Earth's frame that light is approaching at the speed of light - not 1.5x the speed of light. From the space-ship's perspective, the Earth is approaching the space-ship at half the speed of light, and the light from the space-ship's headlights are approaching the Earth at the speed of light.

This doesn't add up if you use the classic formulae for adding velocities. And this is the core of how relativity was derived. If the speed of light is constant for everybody, then space and time and velocity must work differently from our old classical assumptions. This is where you break universal time, you get time dilation and length contraction, and you can't just add two velocities like you used to. With these new equations of space and time and motion, you end up without any contradictions.


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

[User]
ELI5: Can someone explain the US's love affair with Israel?

It seems as though the US is in pretty much constant support of Israel and has been for a long time. Why?

[Assistant]
It wasn't always. Back in the '50s the US was generally less supportive than western European democracies like the UK and France. The initial wave of support came from Cold War politics. Whenever the Soviets gained a client the US immediately sought to gain clients to counter balance and if possible to pry the Soviet client back out of the Soviet sphere. So when nations in the Middle East started to buy equipment from the USSR we tried to sell to them as well (Iraq and Egypt) and to make alliances in the area. Israel as a western style parliamentary democracy with a large western population was a natural fit as an ally.

Once the basic relationship was established several other factors have continued it.

First - The continued need for allies in the area. And while there are a number of downsides to siding with Israel (like generally pissing off everyone else in the region), there are good reasons to stay with them. Not least is to prove to other allies across the world that we'll stick with them. So we stick with them to show to countries like Japan and South Korea that we are the type that will stick with them even if China or Russia starts something with them. And Israel has generally been a pretty good ally for the US.

Second - There is a huge Jewish population in the US. In general they support Israel and lobby hard for it. This is even when they disagree with some specific Israeli policies. The idea of maintaining a specifically Jewish nation and homeland is viewed as something that would help should another Holocaust or other lesser pogrom happen again. Israel would in such a case act as both a refuge and someone who could act in international forums. So even when they disagree with Israeli policies, the concept and fact of Israel is enough to maintain their support.

Third - The Evangelical Christians also strongly support Israel. This is generally for doctrinal reasons, mostly to do with the predicted second coming. Millennial prophesies (as they interpret them) require an Israeli state. And this also goes for groups that aren't in the normal Evangelical fold like Mormons. It also influences other non-millennial groups who see their other Christian neighbors supporting Israel and join in... without quite knowing why. This support is also largely independent of any specific Israeli policy.

Fourth - There isn't a large Palastinian, Arab, or Muslim minority in the US. So when the other two groups lobby or otherwise pressure the government to support Israel there isn't much of another side to oppose it. So one side provides funding and votes to the politicians and the other doesn't. And until politicians start losing their jobs for being pro-Israeli they aren't likely to change their tune.


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

[User]
How does the outer barrier of our atmosphere work?

As in, what is the containing force that prevents our atmosphere from dissipating into 'deep space?'

[Assistant]
it's mainly gravity that keeps our atmosphere "down".

you could also say that it's our magnetic field, which prevents solar wind from blowing our atmosphere away.

but the atmosphere is dissipating anyway, only very slowly. it is continually replenished by various gaseous sources (stored in the earth's crust, under the oceans, volcanoes etc.)


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

[User]
ELI5: Where did HIV come from?

My grandmother told me that it came from a homosexual black man in Africa "experimenting" with a monkey. The fact that she saw the need to include his race and sexual orientation leads me to question the veracity of her claim, however.

[Assistant]
HIV does actually come from a related virus called SIV, which is common in monkeys and which can infect humans (but it doesn't do anything to humans). But the virus transmission wasn't from having sex with monkeys, it was from *eating* monkeys. "Bushmeat" is meat from wild animals in the forests of Central Africa, oftentimes monkeys. It's considered a delicacy in many African societies and an important source of protein for people too poor to raise livestock for meat.

Anyway, SIV made the leap from monkeys to humans, where it gradually evolved into HIV, a virus that does affect humans and causes AIDS. This probably happened in the early 20th century and by the 1950s had spread all over Africa and onto other continents too. The first presumed case of AIDS in the US was a teenage prostitute in St. Louis, Missouri in the mid 1960s. He died in a hospital of a rare infection and his body showed signs of sexual abuse.


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

[User]
[X-Men] Is it possible to live your whole life without knowing you're a powerful mutant? Are/were there any?

I know when Charles uses the Cerebro he can see all the mutants in the world, but is it possible you're an Omega level mutant but...you just don't know it? Maybe you have a power in a very specific criteria and you lived your whole life never knowing that?

Are there any mutants like that in X-men?

[Assistant]
Omega level mutants have fine control over a fundamental force of nature.  It's possible someone like that wouldn't realize it, but it's very unlikely.

The thing about mutant powers is that their use is reflexive unless specially trained.  Think of it like breathing or blinking.  If you focus on it you can definitely control your breathing rate or blinking (to a reasonable extent) but if you don't actively spend time thinking about it and learning to handle those muscles, you won't have much control.

In an Omega level mutant that reflex isn't breathing quickly, it's tearing apart the fabric of reality.  That tends to be a lot more noticeable than mutants who reflexively make basil plants grow quickly, so Omega level mutants tend to know something funky is going on.  The broader and more impactful your power, the easier to realize what's up.


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

[User]
[STAR WARS] Why would anyone want to be a Jedi?

After watching the movies I had this question. It seems all the jedi can do is have a light saber and push things around. The sith can do everything a jedi can do and MUCH more. they have force lightning, force choke, and apparently the ability to transfer their souls. So why even consider being a jedi when it's so restrictive in how you can live and you don't even get cool powers out of it?

[Assistant]
Well for most of their history, it's how they grew up since basically infancy so it's not like they're choosing to give up a lot.

But also, some people like to be good and make a difference. The Sith are terrible, cruel, selfish people who have a negative impact on the galaxy around them; they hurt people and cause suffering wherever they go. The Jedi make sacrifices to not become... That.


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

[User]
[Pokemon] What had the scientists and politicians so scared they had to create Mewtwo?

Mewtwo is engineered for combat, not gym battles. What happened to terrify people so bad they had to create a weapon?

[Assistant]
Well, nothing. Mewtwo wasn't engineered for defense. He was created by Dr. Fuji, but secretly funded by Giovanni. This is where things diverge;

\[In the anime\] Giovanni used Mewtwo  for his own ends for a short while, until Mewtwo escaped.

\[In the games\] Mewtwo was uncontrollable from birth.


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

[User]
Frustrated with how much of the philosophy I read I forget; how do you retain information from harder texts?

For example, right now I am reading Rawl's A Theory of Justice and am on chapter 2. I've reread chapter 1 a few times but even with this I forget the more nuanced arguments. Sure, I can remember his basic statements on equality but the purpose of the book itself (from my understanding) takes mostly well known principles like equality to a more abstract/higher level so there's not much to gain from just looking at an online summary. It's those abstract/ higher level arguments I struggle with retaining; Rawls is definitely not an easy read for me either.

I do well when there's imagery and such in a book because then I can connect events/arguments but when it's just primarily a sequence of arguments one after another I have to frequently look back at the notes I took when reflecting, and even then I'll forget many of the premises after a week.

The point is, while I can summarize, say a piece of history or the plot of a novel and have no issues, I struggle with memorizing  deeper/higher level arguments Philosophers make. I'm not reading Rawls for a class so I don't have the benefit of lectures/ writing papers on him for better retention.   In my general note taking process I try to write in the margins and summarize what I think the author is saying.

I guess I'm looking for a better way to read/ process/ take notes for harder philsophy texts I read.

EDIT: Thanks for the advice, I will definitely try more exercises that force me to engage with/understand the material like explaining it in layman's terms.

[Assistant]
Try writing summaries in a way that someone who hasn't read the text will understand. Also try to compare and combine theories. It's easier to remember things that you are sure you understand. The best way to know if you understand something is being able to explain it. That's the point of the exercises of summarizing, comparing and combining.

You could also try to draw conceptual models of theories as a visual aid.


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

[User]
ELI5 - The situation in Greece/the EU right now

Last thread about this was two years ago, I think an update is due.

Why are they the only country that is still in such deep shit while countries like Portugal and Italy pulled through?
(Maybe this is false but Greece is the only country you ever hear about so I assume the others overcame the crisis)

What kind of consequences would a "Grexit" have for Greece? Surely they would only shoot themselves in the foot with that?

Does the rest of the EU really still care about "confidence in the Euro" wavering if Greece leaves?

Is it likely that countries like Italy, France and Portugal would follow Greece? Why would that be so bad?

Is it likely that Russia and Greece will team up? What are the chances of both of them, economically unstable countries as far as I know, succeeding together?

[Assistant]
In order, here are answers to your 5 questions.

1: Greece is not at all the only country in deep shit. They are just in the deepest shit. As of last summer, they had a debt to gdp ratio (amount of money they owe, compared to the value of all the goods and services they produce in a year) of 174%. Portugal, by comparison, was only at 126%. Italy was at north of 132%. (Incidentally, the US is also north of 100%, but they are much better off, because according to labor rates and productivity, the US economy is humming along, while Greece continues to be in a recession.) So they're an easy country for the media to talk about because they're the worst off. They would be the first domino to fall.

2: A Grexit would, a majority of economists agree, be terrible for Greece. Because they're so deep in debt and unable to pay, they would have to 'default' on their debt, which is basically just like declaring bankruptcy. So people who loaned Greece money would get only a fraction or nothing back, and in the future, no one would be willing to lend Greece money. Which would mean the government would be unable to provide all kinds of services, and people would lose government jobs, their pensions, etc. It would be bad. Additionally, the ECB (European central bank) has said they will not allow Greece to keep using the Euro if they leave, so they would have to create a new currency which would have little to no value outside of Greece, since they're bankrupt.

3 and 4: Hypothetically, if it were possible for Greece to leave and not bring anyone else down with them, then the EU would not care about Greece leaving, and there would be no threat to the Euro. However, remember how when Greece leaves they declare bankruptcy and their creditors don't get their money back? Well, guess who some of their biggest creditors are. The Eurozone owns more than 80% of the tens of billions of dollars loaned to Greece. That includes groups like the ECB and the IMF, but also countries like Italy, Portugal, Spain, etc. So Greece is a "contagion risk," because if they go bust, then all of the sudden the other countries on shaky ground are that much closer to being bankrupt themselves. Italy, Portugal, and Spain NEED the money loaned to Greece (and to each other) to come back to them in order to pay their debts. If they all were to default, France and Germany would also be in trouble (although, they could survive). So the EU definitely would care about confidence in the Euro in that pessimistic scenario.

5: It is beyond unlikely that Greece and Russia would team up. What a crazy event that would be. Neither country would have a lot to gain, since what they both need most is cash-rich investors. Also, sometimes Russia isn't a very good team player.


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

[User]
ELI5: If Ancient Romans and Greeks used short swords, why in the middle Ages did Swords become 'bigger'?

We're told that the Ancient Greeks and Romans were very advanced in their practise of warfare, and the short swords were preferred as they offered the wielder more control, as well as having other advantages.

So why did we end up with Broad Swords and Long Swords?  Was it to pierce armour?  Surely these swords were very very difficult to use?  Couldn't a short sword practitioneer have beaten a long sword one?

Ty for any information.

[Assistant]
There are a few factors that caused this to some extent.

The development of ironworking allowed for the creation of larger weapons.

The tactics of the classical era (tight formations and well trained warriors) were the ideal place for short swords to be used, the armies of the middle ages tended to be less disciplined levies of untrained soldiers who would never have the experience to use a sword properly but could manage a simple spear.

In the middle ages, swords had become somewhat of a status symbol. Since the peasants forming the majority of the army would never be able to own one, they were a way to show your wealth and power (the fact they're shaped a bit like a crucifix was probably a part of it too in European Christendom.

With the swords belonging to the rich and powerful, they were inevitably wielded by knights, who would normally fight on horseback. Using a sword from horseback requires much greater reach, therefore, a longer sword.


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

[User]
As a HS student, what does it take to work at a reputable thinktank?

I'm currently a junior in highschool and I'm very intrested in both politics and econ as a future pathway. Math (Algebra 2 right now) for the fist time since third grade has actually become suprisingly enjoyable to me and I'm finding a relative enjoyment in writing essays and research papers for Sociology, APUSH and English. For the first time in my life, I'm finding I really don't enjoy my science class all that much (Chemistry) and Science Olympiad is making me realize I might've only enjoyed Bio for the teacher...

Anyways (sorry off topic) growing up both poor and an immigrant, I've learned to see schooling as a pathway to income security and I'm a little cautious of the "follow your dreams" rhetoric. My parents tell me
I have little prospects with an econ degree but ultimately I want to have some impact on welfare reform either through research (my best shot) or public policy (prospects are dim).

So suppose that my questions are the following: What does it take to work at a reputable think tank? What impact do they have? What are the different jobs available? How is the pay/unemployment/benefits/job security? Does the college you go to affect your job prospects? Am I just reaching here?

I'm truly sorry if I sound like I'm way over head or if I'm a naive teen. My parents, who I know want the best for me a pressuring me onto a career path I'm not sure I want to take and college is way too expensive to really delay anything.

Most of all I'm sorry if this isn't the right sub. A lot of the comments and answers here seem fairly well argued and educated so I hoped that people older than me might have some advice/warnings. Yeesh, I'm sorry for the long and rambling post!

[Assistant] Looked at a summer job at think-tank as an undergrad working on a economics major. Most won't look at you unless you are working on a masters or a PHD. It's labor supply and demand. At this point in your life do very well at school because that is what opens the most doors.


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

[User] ELI5:Why are the Arabic numerals (0-9), unlike languages, consistent and widely recognized among almost all modern cultures?

[Assistant] The Arabic numerals are from India originally and came to Europe from the middle Eastern mathematicians including al-Khwarizmi. He is considered the father of algebra. His books were translated into Latin in 12th century and some were used by universities until 16th century. So basically the numerals are used because they were the ones used when math was invented.


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

[User] If honey "lasts forever" and kills bacteria, why does it rot if harvested too early?

[Assistant] The water content is too high in uncapped honey, which makes it a better environment for bacteria. Honeybees fan their wings over the cells to evaporate water until it gets below 20% water content and then the cap it with a layer of wax.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does putting water on a grease fire cause a massive fireball?

[Assistant] The grease is _much_ hotter than the boiling point of water.  When you throw water on the fire, the water flash boils and turns to steam instantly.  This is violent, and forces grease droplets into the air.  The droplets then catch fire, which causes the fireball.


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

[User] Why is the waste produced in a thorium fuel cycle need storage for only 300 years instead of thousands of years for uranium fuel cycle, even though U233 from Th232 had mostly similar fission products as U235?

[Assistant]
This argument is mainly about transuranic isotopes. These are waste products which through neutron capture become heavier. They do not fission at all. To go from U238 to P239 all you need is one capture. To go from U233 to P239, you need a series of captures and there will be plenty of opportunity for fission instead of capture and less transuranic elements will be bred from Thorium.

The fission products are indeed very similar in composition. One notable exception with liquid fuel reactors is that xenon will not be transmuted in the reactor core (as a gas it will bubble out). In that case you get a lot more Cs135 which has a half life of 2.3Ma. But mostly the fission products are essentially the same.

Fission products are either very short lived and those are not a problem, or they are medium lived (10-100years half life) and those are a problem, or they are long lived and those are not that much of a problem (they have low radioactivity).

P239 has a half life of 20000 years and that means it is pretty radioactive and also pretty long lived. Also when P239 decays, it will go through a long chain of maybe a dozen decays before it becomes stable, whereas fission products usually become stable after a single decay.


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

[User]
eli5 How can life insurance be used before death?

How can life insurance be used when youre alive? I saw people comment that they used it to purchase rental properties. How?

[Assistant]
There are two types of life insurance, Term and Whole Life.

Term is just like car insurance. If you keep paying the payments youll get cash when you die. If you stop paying you get nothing.

Whole Life is like term except it has an investment component. The money accumulates over time. If you die you get the full payout, if you stop paying you get a partial payout (which could be significant if youve been contributing for decades).

Like any other investments, you can borrow money against the savings.


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

[User] ELI5 what is gauge theory and why is it important?

[Assistant]
If were both driving, saying that youre standing still and Im moving away from you is equivalent to saying that Im standing still and youre moving away from me, or that the earth is standing still and were both moving relative to that (for more or less obvious reasons, thats the version we always use).

All of those are accurate descriptions of the same situation, and we can describe how to convert one description into another description through what is called a group of symmetries. Gauge theories are mathematical models that have this sort of symmetry. For example the traditional Newtonian mechanics taught in school is one particular case of a gauge theory.

The reason this is important is that in some cases you have a description where you cant measure things directly (e.g. you cant measure density directly), but you know how to translate between that and an equivalent description where you can measure things (you can weigh an object and measure its volume). In this particular example its mostly a mathematical trick, but in electromagnetism and related fields these transformations are somewhat fundamental to our understanding of things.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do meats need to rest after cooking, before carving? What is it about letting them rest away from the heat source that causes the juices to reabsorb?

[Assistant] The basic reason is that protein molecules are coil shaped and they 'tighten' up when heated (cooked) and force out moisture. When meat cools, the coils unwind and reabsorb a bit of moisture making the meat juicier. Think of it like ringing out a towel. When you wind the towel up, the moisture is squeezed out. If you lay the towel down, it will unwind and reabsorb some of the water you squeezed out.


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

[User] [Star Wars] After being put in the cyborg suit how much power did Anakin lose?

[Assistant]
You may find this particular section of "Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader" enlightening, as it examines this from Palpatine's POV:

> "Yes, Vader was not precisely what he had bargained for.  Vader's legs and arms were artificial, and he would never be able to summon lightning or leap about like the Jedi had been fond of doing. His dark side training was just beginning. But Sith power resided not in the flesh but in the *will*. Self-restraint was praised by the Jedi only because they didn't know the power of the dark side. Vader's real weaknesses were psychological rather than physical, and for Vader to overcome them he would need to be driven deeper into himself, to confront all his choices and his disappointments.

> ...

> Sidious understood that he would need to do everything in his power to shake Vader out of his despair, and reawaken the incredible power within him.

> Even at Sidious' own peril..." (Page 135, Hardcover)


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

[User] What is actually happening when I see a 'shooting star'?

[Assistant]
You are seeing a rock burn up in the atmosphere as it falls down towards the ground. Most rocks will disintegrate into dust as they fall and never actually reach the ground. The rocks are moving up to 50 miles per second, so as it stars to hit the air, the air heats up and burns the rock.

Many rocks come from the kuiper belt. It's the area beyond pluto where tons of tiny rocks, dust and more dwarf planets are. As they are nudged and run into each other, some fall out of orbit and into the middle part of solar system, running into earth.


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

[User]
[DC] Why is Superman specifically weak against kryptonite?

From what I understand they are radioactive pieces of his homeworld, but what makes Krypton so special? Surely more worlds have exploded the way Krypton did and yet Superman isn't weak to their remnants, so what exactly sets Krypton apart?

[Assistant] I think the idea is that kryptonian radioactive elements harm kryptonians in the same way that earth-based radioactive elements harm humans. Due to his natural biology he has no defense of warding off its effects.


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

[User]
CMV: Microsoft should fire everyone who currently works on naming their consoles

Okay so first was the xbox, a great name, it's a box but it's extreme or whatever, it works. Then there was the xbox 360 kinda dumb but it followed the whole extreme vibe put a 3 after xbox to match the playstation 3 and was distinct from it's predecessor.

Now here's where the problem starts. Xbox One. That's right the 3rd xbox was called fucking Xbox One, what moron though that it'd be a good idea to call the 3rd xbox xbox one is beyond me especially considering when they didn't name the 2ed one 2 specifically so people wouldn't think it's behind the playstation 3. The only possible rationalization for this even being an idea I can think of is that if you say it out loud it can sometimes kinda sound like xbox won but regardless of why it was dreamed up how it actually got to be the official name is beyond me...

Now after having such a horrible name and paying the price for it you'd think they'd have learned their lesson? Nope, the new Xbox is called Series X and Series S not to be confused with the ps4 pro equivalent Xbox One X but we all know it will be... those poor children on Christmas.

So not only is the xbox series X going to be confused with Xbox One X and nobody will be able to remember which series is which... unlike the PlayStation 5 and play station 5 digital edition but Series is just a dumb fucking name... They could've gone with Xbox nova and xbox supernova or something but no Xbox series, series? What the fuck is that it's not a name it's a fucking production line.

[Assistant]
If game companies fired people who came up with bad names there would be no one left.

See also:

New Super Mario Bros -> New Super Mario Bros Wii -> New Super Mario Bros 2 -> New Super Mario Bros U -> New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe -> New Super Mario Bros 3d Land -> New Super Mario Bros 3d World

More seriously, the Wii U was so badly named that many people thought it was a peripheral for the Wii rather than a new console, which is thought to be responsible for its poor sales. This is why the Switch made its differences as clear and distinct as possible from the get-go, so people would know exactly what it is and what its benefits are.


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

[User] [Startrek] in post scarcity society, since wealth is abundant, what is the normal civilian do?

[Assistant] Anything. You could dedicate your life to star fleet and help discover the cosmos and meet new life, or own a bar in New Orleans if that was your true passion. If you don't work for star fleet the size of your home , holidays to rigal 7 would depend on your contribution back to society, like volunteer etc.


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

[User]
What does high level mathematical study give us?

May sound like a stupid question to some but Im having trouble understanding how new advanced mathematical study is used to explain things like how AI works. Is it kinda like if simple addition didnt exists and a farmer was struggling to know how many apples he had. A mathematician would discover hey if you add one apple and another you have two apples which revolutionises apple stock taking?

[Assistant] Sometimes it allows easier or more exact analysis of physical reality, such as quantum physics or general Relativity. Or it allows faster or more efficient ways to process information. Or sometimes, it is just perusing knowledge with no end goal or expectation of a "useful" outcome.


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

[User]
ELI5: Dialysis treatment

I have a friend who's kidneys are failing right now and the doctors don't know why right now. But they said they are going to start Dialysis , I've heard of it before but I'm not really sure what it is and want to understand if he's going to be okay or not.

[Assistant] Basically blood is pumped into a machine that does the work that kidneys normally do i.e. filtering the blood and removing waste products. This procedure is generally performed on a regular basis but the frequency depends on the state of the kidneys.


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

[User]
[Star Trek 2009] During the Star Fleet Captain's test, how did Kirk cheat?

I didnt watch any of the original movies, so was it explained then?

[Assistant]
Wrath of Khan basically just tells the broad strokes of what the 2009 movie portrayed - that Kirk somehow modified the simulation to make it winnable.

The novel "The Kobayashi Maru" (published 1989) tells a different story of how Kirk won the scenario. In this telling of events, Kirk reprogrammed the scenario so his adversaries recognized him as a famous and respected commander, allowing him to bluff them into standing down and offering assistance (so basically, he turned himself into future-Captain Kirk).

Interestingly, the book also tells a story of Montgomery Scott beating the test. He exploited bugs in the simulation that made an attack far more effective during the test than it would be in reality. He did this knowing full well it would only work in the simulation so he'd be "forced" out of Command School (which his family pressured him into) into Engineering.

Chekov activated his ship's self-destruct to take out the enemy ships with him, killing his entire crew in the process (he'd launched escape pods, but they wouldn't have escaped the explosions of the 4 ships). Sulu elected not to attempt rescue of the freighter due to the slim odds of success.


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

[User]
Can honeybees sting smaller animals/ insects without losing their stingers?

I was told that bees only lose their stingers when stinging humans because our skin is too thick, but they can happily sting insects/ small animals multiple times.

[Assistant]
The barbs on the stingers of honey bee workers are designed to catch on the skin of larger animals (bears, skunks, people). They do not catch on the exoskeletons other insects. Honey bees can sting other honey bees (which happens during robbing) and insects without losing their stingers.

Queens don't have barbs and can sting larger creatures multiple times, they typically don't however.


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

[User] Is spin a bulk property? Does it make sense to talk about the spin of a macro object by adding up spins of individual particles, the same way that we can talk about its charge by adding up the individual charges?

[Assistant]
Yes. You can define a single spin of a collection of large number of quantum mechanical particles of certain spins in the same way you define the total spin of 2 or 3 particles.

The simplest example to consider would be a spin chain of noninteracting spins.

The wave function can be written as

|w>=|w1 w2 ... wN> with appropriate combination to make sure that it is an eigenstate of S(total)^2.

The total spin along a particular direction(say z) of the state would just be the summation of spin along that direction of all the states.

The total spin would be given by the eigenvalue of S(total)^2 which is s(s+1) hbar^2. For N spin 1/2 particles, s would be N/2. (Or a constant factor times N/2)

So, the total spin would be N(N+1) hbar^2 (multiplied by some constant factor).

In the classical limit, N is taken to be infinite(N>>1) and hbar is taken to be small such that the different components of the spin commute. The classical or macro spin will then have a magnitude proportional to (N hbar).


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

[User]
Are all plants with thorns closely related? Or are thorns an example of convergent evolution?

Thorns have an obvious advantage for plants that are prone to being eaten, so it seems possible they could have arisen more than once.

[Assistant]
Well, first we have to define the thorn to distinguish it from other sharp plant appendages.

**Thorns are modified branches or stems**, we must contrast this with modified leaves (spines) and other modified protrusions like hairs (prickles).

So, when we use the designation *thorn* we are using a ~~generalization~~ *piece of nomenclature* to classify a modified portion of a plant. This distinction is important for keeping our anatomy consistent. It means that cacti do not have thorns, they have *spines*, each bundle of spines effectively representing the modified form of all the leaves from an ancestral branch (over generalization here, don't think into it too much). Many cacti have this sort of spine arrangement because it was advantageous in that it both protected from predators and reduced respiration by reducing photosynthetic surface area - they didn't need all those leaves, so the selective pressure to reduce their surface area was very strong - that the surface area was reduced to a hardened spine is kind of an evolutionary bonus that proliferated particularly well.

Many plants with thorns are much less specialized than cacti, various trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants have modified their stems or branches to include sharp protrusions, because this sort of defense is generally advantageous against herbivores. So any plant with the physiological capacity to produce hardened protrusions (which represents a physiological *cost* in the form of calories), and the selective pressure of herbivory, had a possibility of developing a thorn modification to reduce that negative pressure. And so, as you predicted, the modification appears, and disappears, constantly throughout the histories of many distantly related plant varieties. The modification is not too specialized (like the cacti spine arrangement) that developing it would require life altering physiological changes. Thorns contain vascular tissue and are just a projection of existing anatomy, so many plants can take them or leave them, develop them within life-cycle, or have some progeny who will develop them and others who will not. Making their expression quite transient.

edit: **tl;dr - convergence**


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

[User] ELI5: When you turn on a BBQ, what prevents the fire from propagating towards the source of the gas (e.g. propane tank, natural gas line)

[Assistant] The fuel will only combust in a mixture with oxygen, present in the air. As there's a persistent outward pressure of gas, oxygen can't get in, and the fuel won't ignite anywhere but at the escape point. In school science we learn to use bunsen burners as a demonstration of this: you can boost or cut-off the flame by adjusting the air inlet.


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

[User] [MCU] Why are so many of the Infinity Stones and Superheros are on or linked to the Earth ? one planet among billions.

[Assistant]
Haven't been brought up yet in the MCU, but earth is most likely is the same as the one from the comics; a center/nexus point to a lot of things.

Already, human DNA have shown great adaptability and mutation (Carol AKA CM gaining so much power when came in contact with an infinity stone, Peter Quill being the only known child to tap into celestial powers, Bruce transforming into the hulk after experimenting with gamma radiation something that kills most species, sorcerer supreme living on Earth, powerful witches existing on Earth, etc.


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

[User] ELI5: How does an EMP work?

[Assistant]
An EMP is simply a massive burst of EM.

EM is Electromagnetic Radiation. This is the generic term for Radio Waves, Microwaves, Light, UV, X-Rays, and Gamma Rays. All of these are fundamentally the same thing. They're all just photons given off by ions. But what they're called by us humans is determined by their wave-length (we call this color).

Your EMP is a very bright FLASH of a board spectrum of EM radiation (so radio waves, microwaves, etc.). This energy is **Electro**magnetic so it interacts with electrical hardware. This is how mankind is able to build cellphones, radio stations, fiber optic cables, digital x-ray machines, etc.

When you send out **A LOT** at once. You overwhelm the sensor frying it. If you send out **EVEN MORE** you make wires behave like antenna. This overloads an electrical circuits frying them.

:.:.:

**TL;DR**: Big burst of Radiowaves/Microwaves makes circuits behave like antenna Kentucky Frying all your electronics.


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

[User]
Can liquid oxygen occur naturally?

I was just wondering if liquid oxygen could occur naturally, on this or any other planet? Weve found asteroids full of metals and minerals and such floating around in space, and it just occurred to me that it may be possible to find other things as well.

Update: Thank you all for the great comments! I didn't expect so many people to answer. This community is awesome!

[Assistant] The thing about oxygen is that it really really doesnt want to stay as free atomic or molecular oxygen. It reacts with silicon to form silicates, which is to say rock, with metals to form metal oxides, with carbon to form CO or CO2, with hydrogen to form water and theres a *lot* of hydrogen in the universe!


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

[User]
CMV: Active bodycams and dashcams should be mandatory for all police interactions with the public

I believe that whenever any police officer interacts with the public, in any capacity, it should be recorded (and stored for a reasonable time), without exception.

The reduction of costs of potential law suits (either frivolous or valid) should address cost concerns, and even if they do not, I would be happy to pay slightly higher taxes to ensure that law and order is more evenly applied, good cops are allowed to do their work, and bad cops are identified and removed from their positions. Seems like a win-win for everyone to me.

Does anyone have an argument as to why this would be a bad idea?

edit: I should explicitly exclude undercover operations here. Thanks to the posted who pointed that out.

[Assistant]
Im all for this, as a cop, most of the time it exonerates us, and when it doesnt, it holds our feet to the fire which ultimately brings accountability to the public which is a prerequisite for trust. It does cost money though; not only the acquisition and maintenance but the raw data storage. Storing video is very expensive. 800,000 cops x 3-4 hours of video per day = A lot.

Edit* Now that Ive been educated about the advances in data storage, sounds like it isnt actually that expensive, thanks!


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

[User]
Why are superheroes (generally) more attractive than non-super powered beings?

I'm sorry if this has been asked before but here goes...

I have noticed, more often than not, that superheroes have (in my opinion) unrealistic, but not displeasing aesthetic features.

For example:

-- The Flash and his abilities stem from super speed but his body looks more like a bodybuilder's physique. But not only him but almost all male superheroes seem to look this.

-- Likewise for female superheroes. They musculature generally varies but one thung I've noticed is their apparent lack of bodyfat everywhere but...well you know...

I've actually met Power Girl face to face and there was nothing fake about her. She's actually pretty cool and let me down pretty nicely when I asked her out.

So what's the big deal? How are superheroes and super-heroines (spelling?) able to maintain/have such aesthetically attractive bodies?

[Assistant]
Because they're constantly getting exercise on a scale that most gym members would be stunned by. It's not easy punching Nazi Apes from the Nth Dimension, but they're out there every day, running miles, swinging from unstable surfaces, throwing cars, etc. They're incredibly fit because, even with their powers, they're getting extreme workouts that work their muscles as much as the Olympics, except they get it practically every day.

As for the females, well. Let's just call that one of their most common superpowers and leave it at that.


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

[User]
Tactful way to say that someone's published paper is wrong

Last year, I became aware that a very high profile, highly cited paper in my field had a rather elementary math error in it that had a significant influence on its results and the author's extrapolation of them. It's not too obvious (because it doesn't seem like anyone else has noticed as of yet) but anyone I point it out to immediately understands and agrees that the paper is flawed. I ended up doing a similar analysis to what the author had done, but with more data and more sophisticated methods, and reached entirely different conclusions. Now I'm in the process of writing a manuscript on my findings.

So, essentially, I need to point out this rather striking math error and mention that the previous paper is incorrect. But, I'd like to do this in as tactful a way as possible. I know the author, whose interests are similar to my own, and I certainly don't want to alienate them or come across as condescending.

Any advice? Examples of specific verbage that might convey a mistake in a polite way would be very helpful.

[Assistant]
1. Do a literature review on that paper.
2. Publish your own findings
3. Profit

There is no tact in academia. We eat each other for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on daily basis. If you don't have time for a new paper, then you can write a review article on it. Seriously, if you don't point it out, someone else will sooner or later, and that person is going to profit.


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

[User]
How much faster is C compared to Python? I'm currently coding a SAT solver algorithm that will have to take millions of input data, and I was wondering if I should switch from Python to C.

I'm currently coding a SAT solver algorithm for an internship, but right now it's only able to handle inputs of 10\^5 within reasonable time (over 100 of iterations, this is so we can gather statistical data on the algorithm). However, from 10\^6 and after, my Python code bottle necks and takes a long time to finish. My professor suggested that I port the code over to C, but when I try doing that there are a lot of small things that make it difficult to port. For example, I need to be able to randomize an array size for a structure that's in a header file, but you can't do this in C (well, I don't need to do this exactly, but other methods will be a bit harder to code and look sloppier). I was wondering if the bottleneck I mentioned above will be reduced drastically if I switch over to C, especially for inputs of 10\^8. I know this depends on the complexity time of the algorithm, but I was wondering if porting the code will be worth the headache because I'm pretty sure that my python code is the same time complexity as my professors pseudocode. I thought of using pypy and Numba, but they only speed up 2x to 4x, which is still slow, especially when inputs will be 10\^8 or 10\^9. I was also thinking of trying to use Go, although I never used that before. Thank you in advanced!

[Assistant]
Your speedup could be 500x.  It could also be 2x.

It depends a lot on the algorithm you are using and how you are trying to solve it.

SAT intrinsically is NP complete, you shouldn't realistically expect that it will scale.

Whatever algorithm you are using, have you thought about using a GPU?


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

[User] ELI5: How do WIFI waves travel through walls?

[Assistant] It's sort of the same as asking: how does visible light travel through windows? Every single material has certain wavelengths of light they are allowed to absorb. If this were not true then windows would be completely opaque! So in the same idea, certain materials are unable to absorb radio waves, so these waves can travel right through without much problem since the chemical bonds and atoms don't want to absorb it since they can only allow discrete (specific) values of energy to be absorbed.


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

[User] [Batman] How much property damage has the vigilante Batman done over the years he has been active?

[Assistant] Its hard to account for inflation and variations in property value, but to be honest, he's not as bad as Superman. Batman's fights tend to damage vehicles, facades, storefronts, etc. Superman tends to knock down bridges and skyscrapers and the like.


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

[User] ElI5: how come the Harlem Globe Trotters don't play in the NBA?

[Assistant]
They're different skill-sets and for the most part aren't as good at competitive basketball. They are dunkers, great dribblers, etc., but more so they look for entertainers. It's a show..the game isn't competitive, they aim to make families and children happy.

**TL;DR** They're not really good enough, but they can do some cool things really well and have great personality on the floor.


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

[User] Since all galaxies are moving can we theoretically map and trace back their paths to find a common point of origin (i.e. big bangs ground zero)?

[Assistant] No, because the big bang doesn't have a "ground zero".  It isn't like an explosion where everything is moving away from a central location.  Rather space itself is expanding, and every galaxy is moving away from every other galaxy. The classic metaphor is that it like blowing up a balloon, where galaxies are points drawn on the surface. There isn't really a center for the expansion on the surface of the balloon.


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

[User]
Earth makes an elliptical orbit and on december 22nd our planet lies closer to the sun than on june 21st. Does that mean summers are warmer in the southern hemisphere?

Does that make any sense?

[Assistant]
If everything else was the same, then yes, southern summers would be slightly warmer.

However, weather and climate is a very complex thing and the fact that the southern hemisphere has a lower land area and more ocean area plays a bigger role than aphelion/perihelion.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does holding hands feel weird when you and your partner's fingers are in the "wrong" order?

Edit: Thanks for sharing personal experiences! It aids deeper thinking. However, am I to gather that the answer is "no one knows for sure"? Was looking for biological theories like the way the brain is programmed.

[Assistant] Hand clasping preference has been studied by many people. It seems to have some basis in genetics, but not entirely. It's not linked to handedness. In most studies, preference was about 50/50 as to which way people preferred to link hands.


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

[User] ELI5: What is physically happening when a file gets deleted, and how is it physically stored anyway? How is the file still stored when the PC is off?

[Assistant]
When a file gets deleted, it's still there it just has a flag applied to it to say that that space can now be used.

Think of it like a car park. If a car (file) is in a space, it's there. Deleting a file just means a tarp is thrown over that car with the understanding that, if the space is needed, the car will be removed (it'll be overwritten). As soon as the tarp is there, the space might as well be empty. But it kinda isn't. That's why files can be recovered when they're deleted. You can get a special program that goes around and pulls off the tarps restoring the files.

The way you delete files properly is by 'shredding' What happens then is the file is deleted, and random data is written over the same spot again, deleted, re-written, so there's nothing to recover. Even if the tarp is pulled off, there's nothing of any sense left there to retrieve.

On a hard drive the data is stored magnetically. There's a physical disc inside, made of metal, and there's a head that magnetises areas of the discs in a pattern which when read, converts back to data. Magnetism persists without power, so that's how the data is held.

With solid state storage (an SSD), the easiest way to think of it is there are a bunch of electrical switches inside, transistors, which can be either open or closed, and they're what's called 'non-volatile' that means whatever state they're in, they'll stay in whether there's power there or not. There are millions of these switches, and depending on the pattern they're switched into, that can represent data.

I realize this is being very vague indeed, but it's a subject that would rapidly jump out of ELI5 territory if you went into the nuts and bolts of it.


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

[User] ELI5: Why aren't commercial airplanes getting any faster?

[Assistant]
Most big airliners fly somewhere in the ballpark between Mach 0.5 and Mach 0.8.  Going faster than that would require a few things:

First, you'd have to use a lot more fuel.  Drag increases ~~exponentially~~ geometrically (see comments below) with speed, so going faster requires you to burn a lot more fuel.  Fuel is the biggest cost associated with commercial air travel, so a faster plane would be a lot more expensive to fly.

Next, you'd have have to redesign the planes.  The current configurations of planes aren't equipped to travel at Mach-1 or near Mach-1 speeds.  If you look at something like the Concorde (a supersonic commercial airliner) you'll see that it has less room, as wide bodied designs aren't really conducive to supersonic travel.

Assuming you want to go supersonic, you'd have to get around the problem with sonic booms.  Sonic booms are very loud, and most people get angry when a loud explosion happens over their house.  In the past, supersonic commercial flights were conducted almost exclusively over oceans because communities didn't want supersonic jets flying over them.

_____

If you're asking why we don't go as fast as possible without breaking the speed of sound, it again goes back to cost and efficiency.

If we have a 767 going Mach-0.75, a plane going Mach 0.99 is only 33% faster.  A flight that would take 3 hours would be cut down to 2 hours and 15 minutes.  Sure you'd save 45 minutes, but you'd burn considerably more fuel, which would drive up the cost of tickets.

It's unlikely that the market would support spending something like 50% more for a ticket to only shave off 33% of flight time.


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

[User]
[Star Wars Battlefront] Why are all these rebel fighters just dully standing in front of Darth Vader shooting at him?

I know as soldiers they're trained to push forward and everything, but do they *know* who this guy is? Why aren't they, like, at least backing off a little, or showing some form of intimidation?

[Assistant] Some don't know who he is, and think this black suit wearing dip with a sword is going to be an easy kill. Some know who he is, but think he  must be mostly hype; no one could really be that dangerous, could they? And some know who he is, know what he can do, and are too busy defecating their uniform and suffering from a severe fight/flight response to come up with a better plan.


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

[User] [Return of the Jedi] If Luke had either been killed or willingly became the Emperor's apprentice, would it have mattered in the grand scheme of things? Wouldn't Lando have still blown them all up regardless?

[Assistant] In either event, Luke and/or the Emperor would have been able to escape from the explosion and continue on. Destroying a second Death Star would be a blow for sure, but at the same time they still failed to actually kill the existing power structure. Losing Luke would be a big morale blow, but him turning also means every piece of information about the Rebellion he knew is now in the hands of the Empire, allowing coordinate Star Destroyer strikes to eliminate them.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why can musicians legally make and sell cover albums of popular music, but as an artist, if create a stylized rendition of an iconic character I am unable to do the same?

A little more context to the above question. I was sitting enjoying my morning coffee and listening to some streaming video game music. I heard a track from Kingdom Hearts that sounded familiar, but slightly different and it turned out it was fan reinvisioning of the original track. After some searching I found the track up on Loudr with an entire album for purchase. This got me thinking.

Why is it okay for musicians to parody a score that they didn't originally create, but not okay for traditional or digital artists to do the same with characters? It appears that many musicians make income by doing covers albums of popular music (in this case video game soundtracks) and it is perfectly legal. However, say if I were to make a stylized 3D figuring of Mario and sell them online I'd most certainly be issued a Cease and Desist from Nintendo.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. :)

[Assistant]
When cover songs/albums are sold, if you read the liner notes on the album, the original artist/owner of the song is credited. Behind the scenes, the artist's record company is paying licensing fees to the original artist for the privilege of making money off their song.

You could do the same with art f you had a licensing agreement with whatever person or organization owns the character - but as a single, solo artist, it's generally not going to be worth their while to bother licensing that character out to you. Not enough profit for them in it to be worth the time and money to set up the contract.

Edit to add: Parody is a special case. Parody is covered under 'fair use' in copyright laws - if you're making fun of something you can generally use it as long as your parody falls on the correct side of the slander/libel line. This is also how Robot Chicken works. Their cartoons are acts of parody - but also, they pretty frequently have the original actor's permission, and often even have the original actor providing the voice!

Remixes are kind of a grey area as far as 'fair use' goes. Depending on how much of the original material you use and how much is your own composition, you can claim 'fair use' - but to be honest, a lot of people who release fan music just count on not making big enough sales to get attention and get shut down.


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

[User] Why do car doors have two states of locked, one closed and one closed with a 1cm open gap?

[Assistant] The idea is to ensure that the door will not easily come open on it's own. The catch/latch is referred to as a "Bear Claw". When it wraps around the "striker", which is the stud or u-shaped piece, it engages the claw to grip tightly around it holding the door in place. The claw is spring loaded so that it always wants to be in the open position, that's why there is very little force required to pull the door handle. Now the back side of the claw actually has teeth on it like a gear and there is a piece of metal that buts up against these teeth that is released when you pull the handle and returns when the handle is released. So because the claw will spring open quite easily when the handle is pulled they will put extra teeth on the back side of the claw so that if it manages to slip, then the door will not come all the way open. But because that claw has rotated it is no longer tightly gripped around the striker so you will be able to move the door a bit. Some Bear Claw Latches will even have two sets of claws in order to insure maximum safety, and others may even have multiple sets of teeth so that the gear would have to slip twice before you fall out of your vehicle.


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

[User] [DC/Truman show] How would the justice league, especially Batman and Superman view the Truman show, given it violates a person's basic human rights without any problem?

[Assistant] Both characters would try to stop the Truman Show since Truman is pretty much being held captive. Bruce Wayne would buy the company that makes the show and immediately shut it down. There's not a whole lot Superman could do without violence.


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

[User] Can someone explain how junk bonds work?

[Assistant]
Normal bonds are like loaning money to your trustworthy, suit-wearing neighbor who has a good salary and just needs some cash for a quick project.  He'll pay you back, but since you two are such good buddies, he'll only pay you an extra 5% on top.

Junk bonds are like loaning money to the creepy coke addict down the block.  You're not sure if he'll pay you back- he has a lot of money problems.  However, if his big coke sale goes through next month, he'll be able to pay you back, plus 20% more!  You just have to hope that his "business" does well, even though the experts are telling you it has a higher chance of failing.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does it feel so good to scratch a mosquito bite?

It feels sooo good, but why?

[Assistant] When you have an itch (not bug bite), you get a little signal sent to your brain saying "remove something that's stuck here". You scratch to remove the offending material, and this causes minor pain that your body compensates for by flooding the site with pain blocking stuff, and the little signal is shut down. When you get a bug bite, the nerve in your skin still complains to the brain that something is stuck there, so you scratch and the area you scratched gets covered in anti-pain stuff, so you no longer feel any bug bite and you get good feelings partially because your body sez "All right! Problem is solved, everything is good now!" for the next 15 seconds and also because those pain-blocking chemicals also make you feel happy, and your brain registers that, basically, this little patch of skin is drunk for a few seconds. But it's more the satisfaction of removing an irritant.


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

[User]
CMV: "Follow your passions" is what people say when they don't want to be held accountable for your actions.

I have friends who have made some royally stuipd choices looking back on it. One of them dropped out of high school to join a almost circus with their girlfriend at the time. They tried to hide behind excueses like "I'm passionate about making people happy". Looking back, that's a bad reason to seek a job since (almost) every job in the world helps people ;it's hard to justify paying someone to not help someone. They had friends that told them it was a bad idea and they just cut off the unsupportive friends. 6 years later? They are single, the circus went under, and they finally got their first job a few months ago as a part time gym substitute.

Another recently-ish moved to another country and gave up the career they fought hard for because their girlfriend at the time wanted to be closer to home. Now, not only did they break up, but they can't seem to get a job anymore in their prior industry since no employer likes the answer to his job gap. ( I've even been there told 3 times at conferences that they weren't getting hired because the company was looking for people who could stay with the company a few years which is strange bc the job he had before leaving the company he was at for 5 years )

Even now that I am on a hiring team, I understand it is hard to convince my team for job gaps. It is hard to convince them for career shifts and pivots unless someone literally has a masters.

The reason I bring this up is, following your passions is better advice **outside of your day-to-day job**. Pick a job that enables you to pursue passions outside of work if anything.

Personally, I love my job, but if you asked me in high school, their is no way I would do the job I am doing rn.

Who ever thought of "find your dream job" really probably meant "I don't want to be held responsible for your potential employment"

Edit 2 -
Sorry to be clear the first story was someone who was passionate about making people happy. So they joined the circus since it fueled their passion.

The second story was someone who gave up their career for their girlfriend because their girlfriend made them happier then their career.

But let me use a situation that involves no romantic partners.

One time one of my co-workers was a UX designer and really loved doing UX Design but also really making animation! They even have a YT animation channel. And we worked together in tech for about 3 years before they got a contact job to work as a 2D key framer animator on a mid length film in another country. Not only did they go, they loved their job while there so much they chose to keep working in the industry when they came back to america!

After about 9 months of applying regularly, despite having a sizable Youtube Following & a professional credit, they couldn't find any junior Key Frame animator roles. After about a year and a half, they tried going back to UX design, but the field became super competitive and saturated to the point she could no longer get back in.

She loved her UX job as it was. But she eventually got used to it. SO she tried doing her hobby as a full time job. In pursuit of it, she lost her ability to do both. She says in interviews, they always ask her about her youtube channel and digital presence since now googling her name will show her youtube channel first so now she can't really get a job anywhere since they feel her hobbies are more important then her work job.

She does regret chasing that new thing now.

Edit - to be clear, my friends have pointed out they regret the choices they made. Sorry for not being clear.

They regret making those choices because "passion" wasn't a sustainable reason to make the decisions they made. And anyone who went against them following passion for rational reasons was cut out of their life because I guess american's are die hard on the concept of **either you are with me or you're against me** when in reality, **if someone cares enough to tell you you are making a mistake, it's probably worth heeding**

Now I'm kinda at a point where I will support my friends and just go silent when they get into decisions like this unless we are like best friends.

[Assistant] Both of your examples are misapplications of "follow your passions" when someone was actually following their _partner_. This sort of scenario isn't what "follow your passions" is about, and indeed a follow-your-passions approach would encourage people _not_ to do this.


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

[User] ELI5: how do human stop growing? How does the body know it reached adulthood so no more growing indefinitly?

[Assistant]
When we're born, our skeletons are made up of both bone, and this soft flexible material called cartilage. The soft cartilage is near the ends of the bones. Bone CAN grow (there are little cellular workmen who walk all over your bones breaking it down and building it up in places where the bone gets pulled on the most, which is why exercise is good for your bones) BUT not very much. We get taller, really "grow up," because the soft cartilage can grow fast.

Imagine a classic cartoon dogbone. In a baby, kid, and even most teenagers, the place where the straight long middle of the bone meets each the wide tips is made up of cartilage. This cartilage grows outward, and slowly turns into more bone. The more good foods and vitamins you eat, the more building blocks your body has to grow the cartilage and then make it into bone.

The older we get, the more of the soft parts get used up and turned into bone. Eventually, it's all firmed up and all of it is bone, and that's the tallest you'll ever be! Different bones finish hardening at different times: your head bones finish before your leg bones, and the last ones to finish are usually the collarbones that connect your shoulders to your chest. By the time a person is in their early to mid 20s, their skeleton is fully bone, not cartilage.

If you want to feel some cartilage, touch your nose or ears. That's what the stuff is inside, that feels not as hard as bone but not as soft as skin, fat, or muscle. That's why our noses and ears grow throughout our whole lives. The nose on a 70 year old will be bigger than it was when they were 30, even though their bones stopped growing in their early 20s!


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

[User] [Scooby-Doo] Why are there so many criminals who dress up as monsters or ghosts to pull off some scheme? Was it a popular method before the mystery gang came along or did they just start copying each other after the first one got caught ?

[Assistant]
In one episode we see Batman, making clear that it takes place in the larger DC universe.

In a world full of actual super-villains, monsters and ghosts the average person is much more likely to believe that the theme park is actually under attack by the supernatural rather than by someone just dressed up in a costume.


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

[User] [LOTR] During the Battle of Helmsdeep, why did they make a big deal about saying the women could fight and handle a sword, but then locked them all away in Helmsdeep and started fitting the children with armor and weapons?

[Assistant] You have to understand their culture. Although they may have been a fierce people they have to think about the long term affects of sending their woman out to die. As you recall in that episode there were a few scenes that set the stage for the battle and how important it was.


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

[User]
I believe that Minecraft being used for education is nothing more than a gimmick. CMV

I don't see how a game like Minecraft could possibly teach kids anything more than they could learn on a whiteboard. What could it teach them? House building?

I believe that things like math and science could be taught much more effectively on a whiteboard than in Minecraft.

CMV?

[Assistant] Using what kids are interested in to teach them is an incredibly effective methodology that has worked for generations. What that interest is varies from culture to culture and generation to generation. Any topic can be used for effective teaching, by an effective teacher. Once you've got the kid's interest that 50% of the job done.


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

[User]
When someone loses a limb, how do the arteries and veins form a closed circuit again once the wound has healed?

Once the severed arteries/veins are closed off to stop bleeding by the healing process, the heart would keep pumping blood along the previous complete circulatory system and when blood reaches the closed off part of the artery, it has nowhere to go. Similarly the vein exiting from the wound will never have blood in it again. Will the circuit complete itself somehow? If so what is the mechanism used to find the openings of the respective major artery and vein and how do they join?

[Assistant]
Arteries and veins are not connected end-to-end like plumbing pipes.

As an artery gets further from the heart, it constantly has smaller and smaller vessels branching off from it. Those vessels themselves branch smaller and smaller, eventually becoming the microscopic capillaries.

At the opposite end of capillaries it's the other way around. They join together into tiny veins, and then larger and larger veins.

So blood entering your arm doesn't all go to the end of your finger and then turn around. Instead, it perfuses the capillary bed all through your arm. Some blood makes it as far as your fingers, but other blood goes through the capillaries of your forearm or your bicep, and then makes the return trip.

If you amputate your hand, the capillaries in the rest of your arm are all still there. Circulation through them continues to happen just as it always did. The only difference is in pressure, because now there are fewer capillaries being fed by the same size artery.


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

[User] [Vampires, general] Can my landlord let vampires into my apartment?

[Assistant]
Depends often on the lore.

And how the threshold is created (or if it's threshold based)

Typically a threshold is a form of magic from the thought of "home = safe" so anybody who considered the place to be home (or sanctuary) could likely invite the vampire in.

In the case of there being no threshold, then it depends on the legalities of who has permission to let a vampire in.

Usually in that case, anybody currently inside the house can invite in the vampire, but simply owning the building would not be enough.


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

[User]
[MCU] Does Adrian Toomes sell a weapon that could kill Luke Cage?

The Judas bullet looks like nothing compared to that disintegration beam he used to kill Shocker.

[Assistant] Yes. Cage's skin is very tough, but his insides are not. A shotgun blast knocked him out, and punches from an exoskeleton almost took him down. The weapons that Toomes sells are very high energy and kinetic force projectors.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why is Mace Windu such a big deal?

I guess I havent gotten into much of Star Wars outside of the movies. He seems to be held in pretty high regard.

[Assistant]
Based solely on the movies:

He's a master Jedi and a member of their High Council, so he's one of the absolute tops of the Jedi Order. His unique lightsaber skills made him one of, if not the best duelist the order has ever seen. (Word of God is that he legitimately beat Palpatine)

You can take this further with Disney Canon, and much (much, much) further with legends, but if you're interested in that sort of thing you should check out some of the EU for yourself (The Clone Wars is a great place to start, specifically the Battle of Ryloth for Windu)


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

[User]
ELI5: What do producers of movies do?

Also what is the difference between an executive and regular producer?

[Assistant]
Producers organize the making and selling of a movie.  They find scripts, hire directors, co-ordinate with movie studios, fund the movie, deal with insurance and copyright, and do the marketing.  They are the backbone of the movie.

Usually, executive producers fund the movie by either directly paying for it, or by giving the movie resources such as a film studio.


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

[User] ELI5: What is the Windows .NET framework, and why is it useful?

[Assistant] Cooking, eating, washing dishes, and getting rid of trash all took a lot longer and was less effective before we standardized dish sizes, cooking instruments, had a stove and a dishwasher, and were able put all the trash on the curb where it magically disappears later.  Frameworks represent standards, appliances, garbage collection, and easy means of getting things to and from your code/house to remote locations/landfills that you haven't the slightest idea about how they work.  Additionally,  If you write your code to the framework, you can be sure it will work on anything that the framework says it can run on.  In the case of Windows .NET, that means 'any' version of Windows.  In the case of DotNetCore, that's starting to mean 'any' modern device.  There's a few asterisks in there, but that wouldn't be ELI5.


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

[User] ELI5:Why don't I find my mom and sisters sexually attractive?

[Assistant]
It's not really clear to be honest.

Westermarck, an anthropologist, proposed that we are evolutionarily "trained" to avoid sexual contact with people we are very close to for the early part of our life (brothers, sisters, parents, etc.).

The idea is that evolution chooses people who show this aversion/disgust towards sex with those they are close to early in life because reproduction between close family members leads to reduced genetic diversity and (eventually) accumulation of bad mutations.

He proposed that this "Westermarck effect" could be proven because even non-related children who grow up together tend to show similar repulsion towards sex with each other (think of a close family friend you've known since childhood who you'd never want to have sex with because they're "like a brother/sister to you"). Vice-versa, siblings separated at birth who meet much later in life might find themselves sexually attracted to each other despite being related (see, news stories about couples who later find out they're related due to DNA testing, shock horror!).

HOWEVER: There are plenty of flaws in this theory however, and plenty of studies which have come out to oppose its findings. Other studies have found that people are attracted to people with more similar features to their own, which seems to contradict this theory. Long story short, science ain't super clear, but it's likely to be a combination of cultural and behavioural factors, tied to evolution.


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

[User] [Mythology] Would a centaur be at a potential advantage or disadvantage against standard horse and jockeys in a race.

[Assistant]
Racehorses have been bred through multiple generations to the bleeding edge of equine speed performance, to the detriment of their long term health. Centaurs probably wouldn't have such a performance advantage, so in a straight speed race a centaur would probably be at a disadvantage against a racehorse.

On a steeplechase course the centaur's direct control of their own body might give them a significant advantage over the jockey/racehorse team.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do DVR TV ratings matter so much if people recording shows are likely to just skip the commercials? Shouldn't the more prominent ratings be focused on the people actually watching the ads?

[Assistant] They track both -- live viewing, same day viewing, next day, three day and so on. And yes, higher live ratings are best, but DVR ratings are important too, and some ads can still work with DVRs. Have you noticed that movie ads have the name of th film bannered across the top during the whole ad? That's so the name of the movie is visible during fast forwarding.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are the states in the east coast of the USA smaller than the west coast?

[Assistant] Most of those states began as colonies of Great Britain, and colonies tend to be smaller political units than provinces or states.  Additionally, the East Coast states were incorporated as they were settled, while the boundaries of the West Coast states were drawn at a time when the land in question was already both owned by the United States and settled by Americans (or, in the case of California, existed as the Mexican province of Alta California prior to being conquered).


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

[User] ELI5: Why do worms always congregate on the sidewalk after it rains?

[Assistant]
Worms can't stay above ground long on dry days, they'd dehydrate and die.

When it rains they take that opportunity to try and cover a long (for a worm) distance to try and find some better dirt.

Some of them end up on the sidewalk and get disoriented, they're not well adapted to an environment where they can't just burrow back down.

The old claim that they come up to breathe isn't true, worms can survive fully submerged for a long time.


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

[User]
Why is so much easier to balance on a moving bike than a stationary one?

I imagine there's some physics involved here...does the momentum somehow make it easier to keep going straight than to fall over?

[Assistant]
While you are moving, you can make corrections in your trajectory (by adjusting your balance or shifting the handlebars) in order to keep your balance.  At slow speed, the correction required becomes larger (since you are moving over a smaller distance), hence why it is easier to balance a bike at speed.

When you are stationary, you can't make corrections at all, and you have to balance through other means.  Most of these involve turning your front tire to the side and being able to move backwards and forwards (either from being on a hill or riding  a non-freewheel bike).


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

[User] ELI5: how does compound interest work.

[Assistant]
Compound interest means that the interest is added to the balance, and next period's interest is calculated off of the total balance, including the interest. Hence, it compounds.

$100 gaining 10% interest, compounding annually, grows like this:

End of year 1 - 10% of $100 which is $10, total balance is $110.

End of year 2 - 10% of $110 which is $11, total balance is $121.

End of year 3 - 10% of $121 which is $12.12, total balance is $133.12.

End of year 4 - 10% of $133.12 which is $13.31, total balance is $146.43

You see how each year the amount of interest goes up? It's compounding - you're getting interest on the interest.


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

[User]
Why does alcohol interact with so many other drugs?

A lot of drugs carry a warning to not mix with alcohol. Is it just because it's legal and widely used or is there a chemical explanation?

[Assistant]
Oh wow, lots of misinformation in this thread. Yes, alcohol has CNS effects. Yes, it affects other organ systems. But **this is not the main reason that it interacts with other drugs**. The source of its interaction is its metabolic pathway.

Alcohol is oxidized in the liver, primarily by the enzyme Alcohol Dehydrogenase. However it is also oxidized by the cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP2E1. Alcohol consumption upregulates CYP2E1. This enzyme also metabolizes lots of drugs, including many anesthetics. So if you drink while on these drugs, the drugs are metabolized more quickly.

Metabolizing drugs more quickly does three things. Firstly, and most obviously, it means that the drug is consumed and therefore less effective. Secondly, it means the the drug's metabolic by-products build up more quickly. This effect can be very dangerous, and is the source of most Tylenol (paracetamol) toxicity. Thirdly, some drugs are given in an inactive form, and their metabolization by CYP2E1 *activates* them. In this case, alcohol will quickly (and sometimes catastrophically) increase the amount of active drug in your body.


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

[User] [halo] what was the covenant's reaction when they first encountered spartans?

[Assistant] Initially they didn't know that all of the destruction the Spartans were causing was done by small teams, but they seemed to catch on pretty quickly. Once they were aware of the capabilities of their enemy many considered adding humanity to the covenant as they were seen as competent and eager warriors. The Prophets did some shenanigans to make sure that didn't happen for reasons but after that we get the "Demon" moniker which not only refers to master chief specifically but all Spartans who despite being under 100 individuals were able to turn the tide of the war in many cases.


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

[User]
Where the robots doing anything else outside of The Matrix?

Other than farming humans and running their massive network, were other robots assigned to explore a better future for robotkind?

Where they exploring space or the deep oceans? Did they have R&D labs working on cold fusion or warp technology?

[Assistant]
> Where they exploring space or the deep oceans?

The "scorched sky" was actually a cloud of self-replicating nanobots designed to contain the machines, as evidenced by the shutdown of any sentinels or ships that passed through it.  The machines are *imprisoned* on Earth, and it's *possible* that the rest of humanity has gone interplanetary and quarantined its homeworld.


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

[User] Why do we have pimples/acne?

[Assistant]
Acne is generally caused through hormonal imbalances, there is an oil in your skin called sebum, and when you get a hormonal imbalance, your body overproduces the oil and it clogs up your pores. Sometimes dead skin cells can block pores during this overproduction, the combination causes a blockage and the oil builds up.

Now there is bacteria everywhere, all over your skin at any given time, these bacteria thrive in this oil, and when your body produces too much of it (and it gets clogged in your skin), it causes an infection. As in the bacteria begin to rapidly reproduce in their new swimming pool of sebum (oil).

Once the infection gets too big (generally just big enough to see) it ruptures the cell walls containing it, in response your body sends a slew of white blood cells - aka the pus, to kill off the bacteria, the acne pimple swells, the bacteria is killed, the whiteblood cells leave and it dies down.

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**Simple version.**

Hormones cause skin oil, oil causes blockage which causes infection, your body responds by making pus to clean out infection.


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

[User]
ELI5: What causes me to wake up minutes before my alarm goes off, even when I've barely slept?

For example, I woke up at 5:45 am today, like I would normally do to go to work, except I had the day off. I went to bed at 2:30 am, so it's not like I was fully rested either. What causes this to happen?

[Assistant]
There is something in our body called a biological clock. If your body is used to doing some things at a certain time, be it waking up or maybe using the restroom. You will generally do these things at those times even when its pointless to do so otherwise. Since you work your body does this to help you not oversleep when its time for you to work.

I hope this helps you.


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

[User] ELI5: If a blocked nose is caused by inflammation then how does the blockage switch sides so freely?

[Assistant] The inflammation is caused by an involuntary part of your brain to stop further germs/bacteria/viruses from entering your body so your immune system doesn't get overloaded. It switches each side so one side doesn't get too exposed to the bacteria before being re-inflamed/re-mucus-ed.