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

[User]
[John Carter of Mars] Would John Carter's super strength and jumping power fade over time?

We know that John Carter's strength and jumping power stem from the fact that, since he was born on earth, his muscles and skeletal system are used to Earth's 1G. When he finds himself transported to Mars's .85G, he has to retrain himself from overcompensating with his excessive strength, giving him the ability to use "super strength" when needed.

If John stays on Mars permanently, will his muscles slowly atrophy to the point where they are "Mars normal", effectively losing him his super strength? If so, how long before his leadership with the Thark clan is challenged?

[Assistant] Mr Burroughs has published records of Mr Carter's life for many years. Not only do John's strength and agility not fade, he passes that strength down to his son. It appears that Mr Carter has the best of both worlds while on Barsoom - the strength of a human and the near-immortality of a Martian.


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

[User]
[40K] Was the Council of Nikea part of the conspiracy that began the Horus Heresy?

In the novel Mark of Calph, Roboute Guilliman made a remark that was something along the lines of how it seemed convenient that the librarians were disbanded not that long before they were faced by threats from the warp, against whom they would have been more effective than conventional weapons. Was it only coincidence, or was this done intentionally by those that were plotting against the Emperor?

[Assistant] It may have been coincidence or not. But it wasn't by the plotters at any rate. The decision was made solely by the Emperor. Not to mention that there were Primarchs arguing for either result on both sides. Mortarion for example *hated* psykers even more than Russ, but then he ended up rebelling in the Heresy. After which he realized how he had allied with the sorcerers and daemon thralls. He was less than thrilled about that.


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

[User] [All Fiction] What happens to vampires when they dont get enough blood?

[Assistant] Depends on the fiction.  Most versions they become dessicated and enter a deathlike state as a mummified corpse of sorts until blood is used to revive them.  Others have the vamps becoming more and more feral as their hunger overtakes them until they eventually die of starvation.  And a rare few they simply remain hungry and lose some of their supernatural abilities but don't die or hibernate and continue to live normally.


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

[User] OK..so you know how you hear things all the time, like "in 20 years, the amount of X will be at X level, or we will run out of X natural resource by 20XX" etc... What I want to know is, what amount of those same predictions they made 20 or 30 years ago have actually happened?

[Assistant]
From Ray Kurzweil: The Age of Intelligent Machines (1990)

2000-2010

*Translating telephones allow people to speak to each other in different languages.

*Machines designed to transcribe speech into computer text allow deaf people to understand spoken words.

*Exoskeletal, robotic leg prostheses allow the paraplegic to walk.

*Telephone calls are routinely screened by intelligent answering machines that ask questions to determine the call's nature and priority.

*"Cybernetic chauffeurs" can drive cars for humans and can be retrofitted into existing cars. They work by communicating with other vehicles and with sensors embedded along the roads.

*The classroom is dominated by computers. Intelligent courseware that can tailor itself to each student by recognizing their strengths and weaknesses. Media technology allows students to manipulate and interact with virtual depictions of the systems and personalities they are studying.

*A small number of highly skilled people dominates the entire production sector. Tailoring of products for individuals is common.

*Drugs are designed and tested in simulations that mimic the human body.

*Blind people navigate and read text using machines that can visually recognize features of their environment.

*PCs are capable of answering queries by accessing information wirelessly via the Internet.

Many of those things exist in some form, but not as described. Most certainly not commonplace.


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

[User] [Son Of Batman] Why didn't they even try to put Ra's Al Ghul in the Lazarus Pit?

[Assistant] He dies before he makes it there. Now, Lazarus pits CAN raise the dead but they tend to come back....not great. Alive, yes, but also crazy. Added to the fact that Ra's has already used the pits plenty of times and isn't entirely right in the head to begin with, well, they probably just didn't want to risk it.


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

[User]
[Spider-Man No Way Home] Why does Raimi Trilogy Peter have organic webs in his wrists, but the other Peters don't?

This feels so damn convoluted and it boggles my brain trying to figure out how the same spider bite could have such a change.

[Assistant] Because it wasn't the same spider in every universe. Same reason why all three Spider-Men look different - they're still the "Peter Parker, son of Richard and Mary, nephew of May and Ben" but their genetic makeup is different.


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

[User] ELI5: How was Tymnet different from the Internet?

[Assistant]
While there are many many technical differences the fundamental architectural difference is with how connections were routed.

Tymnet routing was managed centrally. A network supervisor would control how traffic was routed and had to know the entire path. You connected to a central server, and that server connected you directly to where you wanted.

Internet routing doesn't require centralized management. Any individual router from the IP address of a destination, and internal routing tables could tell what router it needed to forward traffic to next. Later on as networks got more complex protocols like BGP we're develope to allow routers to figure out better and alternate paths automatically.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do airport security scanners know whats a vitamin versus an illegal drug?

I have always wondered when I pack vitamins when traveling, how does airport security know what is actually a vitamin and what is, say ecstasy?

[Assistant]
It doesn't, all they know is you are carrying pills.  Tons of people carry pills, so it rarely causes suspicion.  Also, no one buys a plane ticket to smuggle 30 pills, so unless they see a suitcase full of them, they are not going to bother.

Airport security is mostly about preventing people from interfering with air travel, not enforcing other laws.  Actually, it is more about performing a little skit to give people the illusion they are being protected.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do insurance companies survive through major disasters?

Some natural disasters devastate huge amounts of property and assets costing huge amounts of money that I would assume policy holders would want to claim. Maybe I am naive to the huge amounts of profit that insurance companies make, but how do they survive financially?

[Assistant] They insure themselves against a major catastrophe.  It's called reinsurance.  Who insures the reinsurers?  Well, in the end, it all turns into an securitized asset (like stocks and bonds).  So investors see their portfolio value fall.


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

[User]
[Pokemon] If Alakazam have an IQ of 500, why haven't they solved all the worlds problems?

I mean seriously, we've got these various Teams running around and screwing with people and a good portion of the world is undeveloped. You'd think the few that exist would set their brains toward solving world hunger or something but we haven't heard a single improvement from them.

[Assistant] 500 IQ was the estimate of a 10 year old novice trainer. Our actual scientists have pinpointed Alakazam's IQ at roughly 170. Remember, the Pokdex is not connected to a main server - trainers fill them out manually, and the professors aggregate the data. It's popular to reference the Pokdex entries of champions, but it's important to recall that these entries were made early in each trainer's career. If you were to talk to Red, Gold, May, or Dawn about it, they'd surely be embarrassed. Notes like this are purely trainer impressions; the Pokdex does its own scanning. That's the factual information we use, not the trainers' opinions.


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

[User]
[Jessica Jones] What if Kilgrave asked someone to do something that is literally impossible?

Two versions of this: what happens if Kilgrave tells someone to shoot laser beams out of their eyes or read someone's mind?

What happens if there's three people in a room: A, B, and C. Kilgrave asks A to kill B, but C kills B before A can.

[Assistant]
> What happens if Kilgrave tells someone to shoot laser beams out of their eyes or read someone's mind?

Depends on the recipient's interpretation.

Hopefully, they're not too imaginative and they stand there staring at the target trying to laser beam them / read their minds.

Otherwise, they might try to somehow implant laser pointers behind their own eyes and shine them out, or cut the target's head open to analyse their brain.

> What happens if there's three people in a room: A, B, and C. Kilgrave asks A to kill B, but C kills B before A can.

We've seen before that commands can be considered fulfilled if the perceived result is still accomplished ("walk off this building", "put a bullet in your head").  I'd imagine that once B is dead, A will be free.


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

[User] ELI5: Why aren't we more worried about the growing size/business model of Google?

[Assistant]
Google has for the most part been an exemplary company. They treat employees fairly and provide a great place to work. No "vertical integration" or monopoly behavior has sprung up. Their profit model is not usurious, is well explained, agreed to by clients, and alternatives do exist (even if they're not as good).

They develop products people want, and take feedback into account on revisions. This is part of the reason they're so successful, they're providing products and services people want, and refining them to better meet their evolving needs.

They will continue to expand, and be encouraged to expand, until they begin violating laws. They are being monitored closely, and any unfair business practices would be quickly exposed. The thing is-they have no incentive to do wrong, doing the right thing is working well.


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

[User] Would it be possible to shoot someone to the moon with a giant gun like in Jules Verne's, "From the Earth to the Moon"?

[Assistant]
Realistically, no.

Let's start with one key fact: The necessary velocity to reach the Moon from Earth (if you're purely a projectile and have no onboard engines, and if you ignore air resistance from our atmosphere) is about 11 kilometers per second. The fastest in-atmosphere flight of all time was around 1 kilometer per second, in an SR-71 Blackbird, and that was at high altitudes where there is less air resistance. At those speeds, the surface of the plane would get well above 300 degrees Celsius. Aerodynamically, it would be very difficult indeed to launch a projectile out of the atmosphere with sufficient velocity to reach the Moon.

Then there's the problem of acceleration. Let's assume that with appropriate G-suits and seats, our intrepid human cannonballs can survive 10 gees of acceleration for a prolonged period without damage. They'll gain 100 m/s of speed each second. Their final velocity needs to be 11,000 meters per second, which will take 110 seconds. Since distance **d = 0.5 a t^2**, they will have traveled about 600 kilometers during this acceleration. Unless you want to build a cannon barrel that's over 60 times the height of Everest, this won't work very well. At that point you're better off just building a space elevator.

Of course, you could do much of the acceleration horizontally and then curve the launch path upward, but that's far from easy either, and you'll still exert some tremendous acceleration during the curve. And either you have to build your cannon to above the atmosphere or else you have to dramatically increase the muzzle velocity to account for the speed lost to air resistance.


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

[User] Since quality of life, disease eradication and average life expectancy tends to improve each year, are we morally indebted to our future children to wait as long as possible before having them?

[Assistant]
As an empirical matter, children tend to be healthier if born to younger parents. Risks for things like Down Syndrome and similar health problems increase radically with the age of the parents.

So, even if we accept the theory that we have a moral obligation to maximise the health of future children, that still does not imply you ought to wait.

Whether the obligation even exists will, of course, crucially depend on your general ethical theory, and how you deal with the problem that your children don't actually exist yet.


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

[User] When in space, is food digested in a differenct way, because it floats around in the stomach?

[Assistant]
You body has a special function called peristalsis.
Smooth muscles of your throat slowly contract behind the food so as to slowly push it further and further. Imagine having a bit of toothpaste left in the tube and you slowly push it from the back to the front. The smooth muscles work in the same way. After digested in the stomach the digested food moves into the intestines where another round of peristalsis starts.

So basically, just like a tube to toothpaste isn't affected by zero gravity is the same way your digestive tract works. Doesn't matter if there's no gravity pushing it downward, you always have the smooth muscles in your body pushing the food toward the stomach and after the stomach toward the rectum.


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

[User]
Why does salt seemingly have no smell compared to its intense flavour?

Most other seasonings have a more noticeable odour. Why is this?

[Assistant]
Salt is an ionic lattice of sodium and chloride ions. They are strongly bound to each other and stay as a solid. The chemical term for substances that can easily become a vapour is volatility and because of the lattice energy that hold the sodium and chloride ions together salt has a very very low volatility. This means that no salt becomes airborne and hits your nose, hence no smell.
As others have mentioned taste and smell make up flavour salt tastes very strong but has little smell.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Would force sensitivity make you any better at beatsaber

I know that force sensitivity gives enhanced reflexes because they have limited precognition. For example, a Jedi can deflect blaster bolts because they can sense them before they ever get fired. Would that work for purely virtual hazards of beatsaber, or does the force only recognize "real" threats?

[Assistant] Actually, yes. In one of the Legends books, Luke ended up being berated because his Force sensitivity meant he was able to predict the dangers and actions of a flight simulator, causing it to break down when he took actions that shouldn't have been possible.


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

[User]
Why are people able to distinguish color more precisely than musical tones? Is it possible to train yourself to have perfect pitch?

Unless a person is colorblind, it's easy to distinguish colors: red is different from green is different from dark green is different from grey-green, and those differences are immediately apparent, near-universal, and nearly indisputable.

With sound, though, it doesn't seem to work that way. People can distinguish different instruments easily, can tell the difference between high and low, and can determine relative placement of notes (e.g. can tell that middle E is higher than middle C). However, very few people can hear a note and say "That was G sharp." Why is that so difficult for people?

Related question: It seems instinctively like people should, upon related exposure to a note, be able to recognize it--in other words, it seems like perfect pitch should be trainable with persistent effort. As I recall, though, this generally doesn't prove to be the case. Is perfect pitch trainable? If not... well, why?

[Assistant] Play two tones, you will hear the difference. See two colors, you will see the difference. Perfect color vision (tell me the wavelength of the color you see in front of you) is probably more rare than perfect pitch (in its simplest form tell me what this frequency is).


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

[User] ELI5 How does switching a car into sport mode work?

[Assistant] Sport mode programming tells the gearbox to favor higher rpm, in order to keep the engine closer to the power band  the rev ranges where it makes the most horsepower and torque....most cars are programmed for fuel efficiency, so the 'sport' mode will keep the vehicle in the optimal power band (wasting more fuel) to ensure you are faster.


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

[User]
[Terminator] Why is Skynet such a poor shot?

As a human I'm naturally thrilled that this is the case, but still:

Even if Skynet didn't want to/couldn't use biological or chemical weapons against our brave Resistance fighters, why are the units under it's control such poor shots with their lasers and plasma weapons?

How come most terminators seem to employ spray 'n pray tactics, instead of accurate, energy-efficient fire?

[Assistant]
It was a last-ditch sacrifice by someone associated with the Skynet program that they corrupted the targeting algorithm.  Probably someone who was actually working with Kate Brewster's father.  Skynet has never detected the error.  It continues to load it into each successive generation of hardware.

Otherwise, the scenes would be a couple of Resistance fighters talking, then suddenly their heads explode.  We would see a silent HK drone rise above the blasted landscape 10km away and continue its patrol.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do browsers sometimes drain a lot of RAM until rebooted?

[Assistant]
People in this thread keep mentioning memory leaks. This explanation is wrong.

Browsers try to keep a copy of things you might need prepared in advance. Often if a browser feels snappy, it's because rather than waiting for the thing you asked for to be downloaded of the internet, they kept a copy from the last time you asked for it. In fact, for extra snappyness, they keep it in RAM.

Browsers like chrome assume that they are the main thing you do on your computer, and will shamelessly take up more and more memory on the off-chance that you ask for something they are keeping. It gives them that quick snappy feel, but also makes them memory intensive.


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

[User] ELI5: How do artificial flavorings taste so much like the intended flavor?

[Assistant]
"Artificial" just means that it was produced by chemical processes in a lab, not extracted from a naturally occurring source. Usually, the exact same chemical substances are created (that give the real object its perceived taste), or ones that at least interact the same way with your taste receptors, and aren't toxic, obviously.

"Natural" flavor also doesn't necessarily mean it comes from the food it's intended to replicate the flavor of, but simply that it's extracted from any natural source. In the industry this will obviously be the cheapest source available.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is the UI theme of many popular computer programs/apps (MS office, Google, etc.) extremely "white"? Is it functional, or simply to look modern and cool?

It seems like many of the most popular apps have extremely white and bright interfaces, especially MS office and Google. It feels like they hurt my eyes after hours of using them, much more than if they used more grays and blues.  I believe Microsoft added some minor tweaks and themes to Office 2016 after complaints about this, but they seemed to do a poor job of it.  Also, I assume that white would drain  phone/laptop batteries faster than dark colors.  Is there any science (computer or physical) behind this, or is it simply marketing and product design?

[Assistant]
White does not affect battery life on most screens. Regular LCD screens are lit up 100% white in the back, and then use polarizers to darken the non-white pixels.

This aesthetic originated at Xerox PARC and was then copied by both Microsoft and Apple. It is meant to make the screen look similar to a piece of office paper, since desktop computers were originally meant largely for office work.


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

[User]
I believe NFL players should be allowed to sign a waiver forfeiting their right to sue in the event of long term brain damage, allowing them to compete immediately following an in-game concussion. CMV.

This view was inspired by recent events.

In the AFC Divisional Round playoff game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Kansas City Chiefs, a player, Jamaal Charles, was concussed. League protocol takes him out for the rest of the game. He was injured in the first half of play.

His team (Kansas City) went on to lose in near-historic fashion, giving up a 28 point lead. A major reason they lost is because their second string running back (behind Charles), Kniles Davis, was also injured and taken out of the game. The probability of two running backs for the same team being injured in the same game is extremely low. Their inability to "run out the clock" (a euphemism for relying on your running back to be effective late in the game, and a strategy for preserving a lead) is the primary cause of their loss.

While Davis suffered a serious lower body injury, rendering him ineffective, Charles appeared ready to play again. He was not permitted though, per the National Football League's rules.

I believe that players should be allowed to sign a waiver forfeiting their right to sue for long term brain damages. Whether or not it is allowed in-game is an entirely different debate. They ought to be allowed to exercise the right to do what they want with their bodies.

Take as example:

A person chooses to drink alcohol in their own home. Though they drink heavily every night, to the point of intoxication, they lock themselves in their house, never once touching the keys. This person has that right, do they not?

Alcoholism and concussions are not equal, but the difference is only a matter of degree. If a man wants to risk his body *and his alone*, he should have that right. The National Football League does not permit this, fearing legal reprehension.

**I am not arguing whether Jamaal Charles should have came back in the game. My view is only that he should have been afforded the right to choose. CMV.**

[Assistant] If the league allows an option for concussed players to return to the game, then coaches will expect all players to do so, even if they wish not to. This creates a dangerous situation where the players who do not want long term brain damage are not resigned or traded.


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

[User]
Where does mold come from?

Like how does it just start growing on bread in a house with no other molds? Where does it come from?

[Assistant]
You're making a false assumption: "in a house with no other molds". Mold starts as a "spore", kind of like tiny mold seeds. They can often drift on air currents, land on someplace inviting (right amount of moisture, a form of energy to consume, the right temperature, etc), and start growing.

Mold spores are very widespread, are produced by mold, and create more mold when they land somewhere nice, like that week-old loaf of bread.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do houseplants know what season it is?

How do houseplants know when it is time to grow and bloom and when to die back. I grow daffodils in my kitchen which is a pretty consistent temperature all year round however, without fail my daffodils will bloom in the spring and die back over winter. How do they know when to do this?

Edit: Thanks everyone for their responses. I understand how it works now.

[Assistant] They get varying amounts of sunlight every day.  Short days = winter; and long days = summer.  Temperature varies every day and swings over a large range.  It's not as reliable as sunlight.  Some plants, like cherry trees, do use ground temperature, but they bloom very early in the spring.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is fear of clowns such a common phobia?

[Assistant] Clown's costumes distort and exaggerate their features for humorous effect. However, we naturally find feature distortions as worrying or frightening because deformities are indicative of disease. There's also the uncanny valley effect, in which we find things that are *almost* human in appearance far more disturbing than things that are obviously fake, probably for the same reason. Children are less easily able to tell that clowns are fake and are thus more likely to fear them, a fear that can carry over to adulthood.


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

[User] [Star Trek]What is the difference between phasers and disruptors and why does it seem like the federation is the only group that uses phasers?

[Assistant]
It's sort of the difference between a sniper rifle and an AK. The sniper rifle is more elegant, accurate, and effective, but also costs more and is harder to maintain, requiring pretty good supply and maintenance support. It's also greedier powerwise. If you're a naval officer, you want a phaser. If you're going to be stuck on some shithole planet for awhile with no support and you're mostly interested in protecting yourself, go for the disruptor instead.

Both use energy to manipulate matter in the target zone, but do so by different methods. The disruptor crudely and violently agitates molecules in the target in order to disrupt its molecular cohesion; for soft bodies, this produces haemorrhaging and tissue ruptures, broken bones, torn nerves, and so on; it's effective, but in the way a rusty axe is. A phaser changes the energy state of the target zone, and can do so very precisely (depending on design; not all phasers are designed with such precision in mind). A phaser can deliver a usually painful but only momentary and rarely dangerous shock to the nervous system of the target, causing a temporary loss of voluntary muscle control and (usually) consciousness. At the highest settings, it energises molecules so much that they transition into plasma, which quickly dissipates as energy into the immediate environment, effectively dematerialising matter in the target zone. (At the highest setting of all, the phaser produces an internal feedback energy buildup, until it spontaneously converts a large portion of its own matter into energy all at once, effecting a surprisingly powerful atomic explosive, but one that's also effectively uncontrollable. As a 'weapon,' this option is pretty dangerous for user and target alike.) At the same time, a skilled phaser operator could weld, cut, or even perform surgery with a phaser (if it's of a sufficiently sophisticated design). It's a lot more versatile than a disruptor, but that comes at the cost of higher demand on quality construction and technical support, and a somewhat higher demand on power.

The shortest answer to the question of why so many non-Federation powers prefer disruptors is the same reason the Soviet Union favoured the comparatively crude Kalashnikov over the technically superior M16: It *gets the job done*. It gets it done messily and brutally, and usually quite painfully, but it gets it done. And best of all, it's relatively efficient on power, relatively inexpensive, relatively reliable under harsh conditions, and so on. This is a cultural difference, but also a practical difference; disruptors are just easier to deal with over the long haul, a lot less hassle than an arsenal of fussy and needy phasers.


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

[User]
[Winter Soldier] Questions about Alexander Pierce - SPOILERS

1. Why in the beginning is Pierce so nice to Fury and accept his offer of delaying Project Insight? Also, why would Pierce want Iron Man to be at his kids birthday when once of the targets for insight is iron man himself? Was it all an act?

2. There's the part where the winter soldier is not complying with Hydra and then Pierce slaps him quite hard actually. How can a 75 year old successfully and painfully slap a super soldier?

[Assistant] 1. was some very canny political maneuvering. He made a show of telling the WSC that he was delaying the project because of Fury. Then when Fury was 'killed', the WSC made a redoubled push for Insight that they wouldn't have otherwise made if they weren't fed up with delays. If Cap and Widow hadn't screwed it up for him, Pierce would have come off looking to the rest of the world like the only member of the WSC that *wasn't* gunning for flying murderboats, leaving him in a great position to grab even more political power in the aftermath of Insight's slaughter and inevitable destruction by Thor and Hulk.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why was Vader protecting the Emperor in the Return of the Jedi?

In the famous scene in Episode V, when Vader cuts Luke's hand, he tells him they can destroy the Emperor together and rule the galaxy as father and son.

However, in Episode VI, when Luke hears enough from the Emperor and pulls his lightsaber to kill him, he is blocked in the last second by Vader.

Why would he do that?

[Assistant] Vader was in a constant struggle between light and dark. On one hand he wanted Luke to join him on the dark side but at the same time he wanted to protect Luke, as any good father would want for his son, and prevent him from falling. If Luke had killed Palpatine at that moment he would have fallen to the dark side. In addition to that, the dark side of Vader was still the "apprentice" of Palpatine and as such would protect his master. So in that moment stopping Luke actually managed to satisfy both sides of Vader.


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

[User]
How small can an object be in space and still support an atmosphere?

I'm assuming it would not only require enough mass but maybe a magnetic field too. Could a large asteroid potentially have a very thin atmosphere? Thanks.

[Assistant]
For gases to stay over geological timescales the escape velocity must be a large multiple of the typical thermal speed of particles.

For the lower size limit you want a slow thermal speed - cold and with heavy gases like xenon. If you are fine with very thin atmospheres then asteroids could have atmospheres if far away from a star. At 100 K, xenon typically moves at ~100 m/s, an escape velocity of 500 m/s (Ceres) would give it some survival time but with significant losses. A bit more mass or a bit lower temperature and you can keep it over geological timescales. The vapor pressure of xenon at 100 K is very low, however.


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

[User]
Is time truly another dimension or is it a description of the other three?

What I mean is: we tend to percieve time as a line or something that we're travelling through, and different events happen at different plottable points on this chart.
But all the ways we measure time are based on repeatable events/the movement of things through the universe, e.g. years, days, seasons, and if nothing moved, there would be no time.  Time-travel is impossible because you'd have to rewind every atom etc to the position it was in whenever you're travelling to.

So, my questions are: is time it's own direction, or just a description? Is this why time and space are connected? Is this even a valid question? Please rid me of my ignorance.

There is a possibility also that it is the words we use to describe time that's causing my problem here: "forwards" in time, time "travel", "timeline" etc.

[Assistant] Yes, time is a dimension just like the other three, with the exception of one small, technical difference in its mathematical description. Spacetime is a four-dimensional surface on which all physics takes place, and depending on your speed through spacetime, which directions correspond to time and which to space will vary and become intermingled, much how when you rotate a sphere, the new latitude coordinate is a combination of the old latitude and longitude coordinates.


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

[User]
Why do antigen rapid tests not work after 15 minutes?

I've used two different types of antigen rapid tests. Both say that the results aren't valid if more than fifteen minutes have past since testing (dropping the solution onto the test kit.). Why is this so? Do the coloring/colored molecules that do the binding no longer work, or weaken, after 15 minutes? Or does a positive turn into a negative?

[Assistant]
These tests work by detecting the virus with manufactured antibodies that recognize some specific feature of the virus, like the infamous spike protein. There are two antibodies that together form a sandwich around the antigen (the feature the antibodies are looking for). The sandwich is formed when all the parts come together like a lock and key, or ball and cup. Its very similar to an enzymatic reaction in that everything matches both physically (like the grooves in a key and the pins of the lock), but also electromagnetically - sometimes there are concentrations of positive charges that expect to meet negative charges (and vice versa) in these components that fit together. So the better the fit, the more obvious and fast the reaction. Where the fit is good, the test can be considered positive because all those antigen-antibody sandwiches are present in a high concentration (and therefore visible as a line on the test).

However, over time, these sandwiches will still continue to form even in the absence of one of the components (even in the absence of the antigen), because positive and negative charges are so drawn to each other. They make a bad, but detectable, reaction. Because this isnt an ideal sandwich, it happens slowly, very slowly, compared to a true positive. Thats why they give a cut-off time to the test - eventually its going to turn positive, but the speed at which it does is the telling part.


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

[User]
CMV: 20% Downpayments for Houses are Unrealistic

So, I've been looking at purchasing a home in the next few years. All of the calculators and tools that I've seen assume a 20% downpayment plus closing costs out of pocket. Yet, all of the banks around me are advertising no or low-money down loans.

Given the economic trends in the housing market and the current rate of inflation, it seems nearly impossible for the average person to save up 20% of a loan for a house and be able to pay that up front. It also doesn't appear that 20% is really the norm any more. Accordingly, I believe that we should stop giving out this outdated advice. It is contributing to the low rate of home ownership.

[Assistant] In the US you can get a loan for less than 20% down, but typically you'll be required to maintain mortgage insurance that adds 0.5-1% of the loan balance per year. The advice is just that it's easier to qualify and costs a lot less to borrow if you have a 20% down payment.


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

[User] [Marvel], [ATLA] Can Earthbenders (or atleast the strongest ones) control Sandman?

[Assistant] It's entirely possible, but it would be a matter of strength of Sandman's will over the skill of the bender.  Toph should have no problem with it, strictly speaking, but using Earthbending that way is like Bloodbending: it's kind of evil.


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

[User]
[Five Nights at Freddy's] Shouldn't there be other people like janitors or other night guards working with you?

I know gameplay-wise, it wouldn't be practical, and I don't Know how pizzerias operate but realistically, wouldn't there be other staff members working with you after closing?

[Assistant]
In real life there's no one in the building after the business closes. If you've ever been to a Showbiz or Chuck E Cheese's you'll know that janitors are strictly forbidden from these sorts of places.

 The job of nightwatchman would easily be done by an alarm system and a locked door.

Or y'know a cadre of bloodthirsty murder bots.


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

[User]
[guardians of the Galaxy] was Rohan a special Kree in any way ?

Are all Kree as strong or stronger than Cap. Looking at the people of Zandar it seems like the Kree would massacre them in any war if all Kree were as strong as Rohan.

Also why didn't any Kree follow Rohan or serve  in his army ?

Also how didn't the nova corps not detect Rohan's ship way before it got to Zandar.

[Assistant]
Answering per-question:

> Are all Kree as strong or stronger than Cap.

Kree in general are much physically stronger than humans, yes, though typically not so much as Steve Rogers post-operation. To be fair, Ronan and his men were at least partially involved in the Kree military, so they have that going for them.

> Looking at the people of Zandar it seems like the Kree would massacre them in any war if all Kree were as strong as Rohan.

Luckily for the population of *Xandar*, sufficiently-advanced technology means that most confrontations are solved in a gunfight or in starships; physical strength is certainly an advantage, but it's far from everything when your society is at that technological level.

> Also why didn't any Kree follow Rohan or serve in his army?

Many did, but *Ronan* was an extremist and Kree supremacist exiled from Kree society as a whole for political reasons and because he was somewhat genocidal; public Kree opinion of *Ronan* is fairly low as of his dealings with Thanos and assault on Xandar.

> Also how didn't the nova corps not detect Rohan's ship way before it got to Zandar.

A combination of cloaking and the fact that most of the Nova Corps are out on missions or patrols to other planets at any given time; *Xandar* may be where their heads of operations are, but they generally can't amass an invasion-repelling army within a day's notice. What little of their forces were on-planet at the time were necessary to defend the capital directly. *Ronan* was prepared; the Nova Corps was not.

*EDIT: Typos.*


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

[User]
ELI5: What happens to innocent people who get identified in a police lineup?

Let's say I get asked by the police to be in a lineup because I look similar to the suspect. I'm innocent, but the witness/victim identifies me as the person who attacked them. Am I free to go, or is there any kind of investigation?

[Assistant] The line ups are staged.  They don't put a bunch of possible suspects in the line up, the line up has the one suspect and 4-5 other people that may look similar but are not at all under investigation.  If the witness points to anyone but the actual suspect then it casts doubt on the witness.


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

[User]
[Undertale] all of these people seem really nice and friendly I don't think that most of them have any intention to kill me. Why do I die when I fail their minigame?

Aaron is only interested in flexing, froggit is just minding his business being a frog, and Washoua just wants to make sure I'm nice and clean. Hell, Shyren doesn't even approach me! She's in the corner! Why do I drop dead when I fail their minigames?

[Assistant]
Unfortunately, you've come across the second reason for the Human/Monster war of old. The first is well known-- a monster that gains a human soul develops incredible power, which is plenty terrifying. But the second is this: monsters have inherent magic. They can hurt you **accidentally** just by being emotional near you.  Just by enjoying themselves, or by being sad, or anything... if they aren't consciously and deliberately suppressing themselves for your sake, their natural magic is quite liable to cause a nearby human severe injury.

To a monster, this magic is harmless, and even aesthetic. They send each other "bullet pattern" birthday cards, for example. It's only humans who are always hurt by them. If you've never seen a human before, and don't really know much about them, why would you act differently around them, until it's made clear to you that this is a problem?

Of course, humans have their own advantages. Magic hurts them, but not nearly as much as PHYSICAL violence hurts monsters... to the point where a small human child is quite physically capable of genocide. There's a reason the humans won the war.

If monsters and humans are ever to live together in peace, humans will have to be physically careful around their fragile monster neighbors, and monsters will have to be emotionally careful around their magically vulnerable neighbors.


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

[User]
[Star Trek/Star Wars] Coruscant along with it's inhabitants suddenly appear in place of the destroyed planet Vulcan. What happens next?

Edit: Let's go with 25 BBY and everything up to and including it's moons come through.

[Assistant]
A diplomatic crisis. Trillions of beings from possibly millions of planets with a lot of tech that surpasses their immediate neighbors by hundreds or thousands of years (in most cases)-not to mention it's the political capital of an entire galaxy! Some might accept their fate and remain in the federation, others might venture out into the galaxy to seek their fortunes in the new frontier, and still others would play galactic politics between the alpha and beta quadrant powers.

One thing is clear though: with hyperdrive, the Borg come into play ALOT sooner. Oh, and the Soongs are going to have a field day.


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

[User]
How can both nuclear fission and fusion release energy?

I understand that nuclear fission releases energy such as a nuclear bomb. I also get that nuclear fusion such as how the sun power itself, also releases energy. How can two opposite processes both release energy?

[Assistant]
Fission will occur if a nucleus can decrease its energy by splitting into smaller constituents, and fusion will occur if nuclei can reduce their energy by combining.

If a fission process releases energy, the fusion process obtained by running this in reverse does *not* release energy.

Likewise, if a fusion process releases energy, the fission process obtained by running this in reverse does *not* release energy.

The nuclei of heavier elements can release energy via fission, while the nuclei of light elements can release energy by fusing.


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

[User] ELI5: Why and how do magnets ruin electronics?

[Assistant]
Magnetism and Electricity are the same force in physics.

So magnets can create electricity and Electricity can create a magnetic field.

Today Magnets are not as dangerous as they used to be for computers due to shielding and a change in technology.

Back in the day the coating on the inside of a CRT monitor could be damaged by a magnet causing it to display properly or have dark spots. Today's LCD or LED monitors work under a completely different principal so they don't have this problem.

Floppy drives though where by far the worst for this. Data is written to a floppy drive using magnets and the disk is only protected by a tiny layer of plastic. So if you wave a magnet over a floppy drive you could easily erase it.

Today spinning hard drives are still magnetic and vulnerable but they are shielded so it is less likely that a magnet will damage them. They are also built with powerful rare earth magnets inside them, used to move the hammer.

Generally speaking magnets + electronics is still a bad combination but it's not nearly as bad a problem as it was in the 80s and 90s.


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

[User] I think many of us have heard the story of canine evolution stemming from humans' interaction with dogs' ancestor: the wolf. But the story of the evolution of the modern house cat is never talked about. Do we know much about the evolution of the many types of felines over recent millennia?

[Assistant]
the main theory is that cats basically socialized themselves.

As we started getting into farming and building early communities we ran into a problem. Pest animals and insects. Eating our crops, making us sick, spoiling our food. Just good times all around.

But this came with a silver lining, for there was a creature that one might say was purfectly adapted to hunting these critters; the cat. And the cats followed their prey to our silos and around our homes. Early humans realized that the cats didn't care about us and just wanted to eat the pests.

So we welcomed our fuzzy saviors and let them hang out. And slowly but surely that moved to bringing them indoors much like you would with a modern day barn cat. At which point we fully domesticated them and started breeding them to customize them.


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

[User] Why does the word "mama" so often mean mother in different languages, even in languages that aren't closely related?

[Assistant]
Infant humans gain sounds in a fairly predictable order, regardless of where they are born. Some of the earliest sounds include /d/ /b/ /m/ and vowels that require you to little more than open your mouth like /a/.

With infants being able to say little than "mama, baba, dada", it is no surprise that those first words developed into the words for mother and father.


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

[User]
[MCU] why did Loki attack germans but lecture them in English?

When Hawkeye needs an eyeball, Loki goes to Germany, and then lecures a crowd of German people about how they'll always kneel. Why does he lecture them in English?

[Assistant]
Asgard involves itself in quite a lot more diplomacy than many legends might lead you to believe - with such far-flung races as the Frost Giants and Dwarves, each with their own language. Over time, eight of the nine realms have developed magics designed to seamlessly translate their speech into a form that can be more freely interpreted by any listener, regardless of their natural language barrier. Being isolated from the other realms and far lacking in magical development by comparison, the humans of Midgard seem to be the only race not to actively control this ability, though they have collectively developed just enough to unconsciously perceive magically-translated speech.

This is why you may have heard Loki's speech in English when present, but most of the crowd hear it in their native German.


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

[User]
ELI5: Kantian Ethics

I'm having a hard time understanding his theory in general.

[Assistant]
So, Kant basically wants to argue that morality exists as an entity that is logically inevitable, and therefore a part of the universe and not a part of humanity, and therefore a part of God.

Each of his moral laws is intended to be 'a thing in itself' - the idea being that an amoral universe is logically impossible. His most famous example is about lies.

It basically goes that, if everyone told nothing but lies, then language would be incoherent. No one would pay attention to what anyone else says because it's never true, and so no one would ever talk. To lie requires that truth exists, and therefore Truth is a thing in itself, which can exist without lies, but lies cannot exist without truth, and (this is the controversial part)  therefore Truth is good and Lies are bad.

Friedrich Nietzsche was a famous critic of Emmanuel Kant, who held that a lot of his thing-in-itself theories didn't really prove anything or provide us a meaningful glimpse of the real truth of the universe. The above story is a nice justification for a traditional European absolutist morality structure, but it seems purpose-built to do just that.

Would we be morally obligated to perform them? And is lying always wrong just because lies depend on truth to exist? And what if we found things we didn't like that are things-in-themselves?

Enter Schopenhauer. Death, he argued, is the ultimate end of life. It is the eternal reward of heaven or punishment of hell, and that, as all life between baptism and death is no more than further chance at Hell, the best thing in life is to die, and die quickly - the immortal heavens being a thing in itself without which the world cannot exist, it was more desirable than living.

So, what do you think? Is a thing in itself a moral truth, or just an interesting logical phenomenon? Should we find meaning in ideas that can exist independently? That's the legacy of Kant, the thought for us to consider as we move through philosophy - that an idea might be strong, but wrong.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why didnt Organa speak for the Jedi in Rots?

I wonder in Revenge of the Sith when Palpatine was giving his speech at the senate of the Jedi being traitors and about to declare himself as the emperor Bail Organa (The only politician other than Padme who knew of the Jedi's innocence) didnt speak out against him to the senate. Whys that?

[Assistant]
It was way to late by then. The Jedi were gone, and most of the Senate were backing Palpatine. The only thing speaking up against Palpatine would do is paint a target on his back. Better to keep quiet, find likeminded allies, and start planning the next step.

Like rebellion, for example.


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

[User]
ELI5:How can the Federal Government demand colleges handle sexual assault under Title IX?

It seems to me that the language on Title IX has no bearing on sexual assault.

[Assistant]
Title IX provides that schools receiving federal money (effectively all of them) are required to ensure that the environment does not become hostile to students.

The argument the Feds have used to force the schools to comply with this logic is that they (the schools) have an affirmative duty to remove people who pose a threat or by their presence create an ongoing hostile environment to other students. Students who claim they are survivors of sexual assault also claim that interacting with the alleged abuser creates a hostile environment that limits their access to the campus and thus to furthering their education.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do I feel colder inside my house in the winter even though my thermostat is set at the same temperature all year?

[Assistant]
Several reasons:

* Humidity: More humid air feels warmer. Air in the winter is usually very dry.

* Heat radiation: Your windows, walls, etc will be colder in the winter. Even though the air has the same temperature it may feel colder because you're radiating away body heat to the cold walls.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are bedroom & bathroom each one word, but living room and dining room are two?

[Assistant]
Very simple.
The reason for this is that 'living' and 'dining' are verbs, while 'bed' is a noun.
Verbs: A word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence, and forming the main part of the predicate of a sentence, such as hear, become, happen.
Nouns: A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea.


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

[User]
[Dungeons and Dragons] Could a gold dragon mate with a red dragon?

Couple of questions about dragon alignment. I know red dragons fall under the lawful evil umbrella, but is that some sort of genetic predisposition, is it by choice.. or something different like environment or driven by their gods?

Furthermore; could two differently aligned dragons conceive a baby dragon and if so; what color would it be and how would they align?

[Assistant]
Dragons can mate with almost anything.

It would be a unique specimen.  Probably with stats the average of the two types of dragons and a 50% chance to have any special ability of either parent.

Alignment would likely be according to it's rearing.


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

[User]
What is the result of a black hole colliding with something larger than itself?

Say we have a black hole that's 30,000km in radius. What would the result of a collision with a much more spacious object be? Say, 1,000,000km in radius?

Same question for things more massive than a blackhole, let's say we have a blackhole of mass 10^40 kg, and it collides with something that's 10^60 kg.

Are these variables that affect the outcome of these sort of collisions? Or does the same thing happen no matter the size/mass of the black hole/object?

[Assistant]
Black holes don't really have a "size" like you think they do.  They do have a Schwarzschild radius, which is essentially any place where the singularity has a gravitational pull exceeding the speed of light.

The nature of the material that lies inside the singularity is unknown with indeterminate "size" due to our lack of knowledge concerning the nature of whatever it is that may or may not be inside the singularity, but determinate mass inferred by the strength of the gravitational field around the singularity.

That being said, the black hole simply attracts the mass, and gobbles it up, with a corresponding increase in the mass of the black hole.


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

[User]
Why do we have to increase cooking times when placing multiple items in a microwave?

I imagine the standing waves inside a microwave oven as planes through which food on a carousel will pass and pick up energy. Let's say that the carousel spins at a rate such that food will pass through this plane four times per minute and it takes one minute to cook one item. If I place two of those items in at the same time for one minute, they'll both still pass the plane four times. Why do I need to double the cooking time? Why is four trips through the plane enough to cook one item but not two?

[Assistant]
Why do you need longer times to cook *larger* food items?

Simple answer is that there is a limited amount of energy the microwave can output.  The less material you have in the microwave, the more it can absorb.  So if you put more material in, whether it be a larger item or duplicates of the same item, it'll take longer to cook.


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

[User]
[Spiderman 2] Why does Doc Ock try to kill Peter Parker if Peter was his only key to Spiderman?

After being informed of Harry that Peter knows info on Spiderman, Doc Ock tries twice to kill Peter, once by throwing a car through the window and second by throwing Peter into a wall. Has it not crossed his mind that any normal human would've died, if not fatally injured?

[Assistant]
Perhaps he thought that even if Peter had died, Spiderman would have taken notice if his friend/acquaintance Peter Parker had been murdered, and would have sought out Doc Ock on his own.

The metal tentacles puppeteering his brain at that point were just making him far too homicidal for his own good, really.


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

[User]
ELI5: what's the deal with rap music? What makes rap music, and what's the criteria for "good" rap music?

I listen to rap from time to time, and do enjoy it, but I don't exactly understand why it's "music." Although there are instrumentals, there are no pitches to the lyrics. Is it just supposed to be a sort of vocal percussion? And when music critics (or you) evaluate this kind of music, what makes it good?

[Assistant]
There are things like:

* Clever lyrics and humor
* Rapping before or behind the beat
* How smoothly the lyrics come out
* The timbre of the guys voice
* The quality of the beats and other instrumentation

Rhythm is very important but there are simple melodies in the verses if you listen carefully.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does diarrhea / gas cause crippling pain?

[Assistant] Because gas, which often developes with diarrhea, distends your intestines. While your intestines can be cut wide open without you feeling it, they are sensitive to pressure increase, which is causing the pain you are experiencing.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does burnt food generally have the same taste even if the foods are different?

[Assistant]
All the complex and varied organic compounds making different foods tend all to decay into more or less the same basic blocks (i.e. charcoal and simple organic molecules) when overheated, giving the universal burnt taste.

Think of it like ice sculptures - they can be of varied shapes, sizes and impressiveness, but they all turn into puddles of water after a warm spring weekend.


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

[User] If the Pfizer vaccine needs to be stored at low temperature, how does it survive in the body (37C) for long enough to be effective?

[Assistant] It's not that the Pfizer vaccine has to be super cold when it's injected. It's that it has to be kept cold during transport and storage. But it is thawed out before use. Once thawed, it has to be used within a specified time or get thrown away.


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

[User]
Why has the size of the nominal GDP of Turkey shrunk to $850 billion in 2017 from around $930 billion in 2013 despite growth rates ranging from 3% to 8% during that period?

 Is it due to their currency depreciation? Is this sustainable?

[Assistant]
Im not familiar with Turkeys situation but if their currency has depreciated then thats how they had growth yet a nominal GDP decrease. This is why Real GDP is a better figure for growth.

Sustainable probably not but it really depends but its an area Im not going to touch since Im not familiar with whats going on with Turkey in the slightest.


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

[User]
[Mass Effect] What does the existence of the asari and their method of sexual reproduction mean for the human definition of a "species"?

A species is often described as the largest group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. However, the asari have been successfully mating with several other species for hundreds of years. What does this imply?

[Assistant] iirc the Asari don't actually breed with another person. They reproduce asexually, with a caveat - their bodies require a second DNA template to create genetic recombination, the whole point of sexual reproduction. They basically "borrow" the DNA ideas of the other species to improve their own DNA.


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

[User]
Is it possible that getting world governments to agree on enacting policies that may hurt their economies to prevent climate change impossible due to Nash Equilibriums?

in a payoff matrix for big business contracts and such where if both adhered to the contract then it would be reasonably beneficial to both parties, but if one breaks it and the other does not the first will get a large payoff and the other gets screwed and visa versa. The Nash equilibrium would be that both break the contract, however in actual business the government is there to make sure signers of the contract adheres to it. In international contracts like the Paris Agreement there is no higher power to enforce it.

Is it possible that long term international climate change governmental action is impossible due this segment of game theory?

[Assistant] Possibly. But the international collective action problem seems to be not as important as othersconsider how difficult national support for climate change policies is in the US, for example. And remember that the damages, both from climate change and from mitigating it, are not symmetric internationally, so things arent as simple as a classic 101 prisoners dilemma.


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

[User]
eli5: How do urinal cakes work?

Do they just release a pleasant smell that overpowers other odors? Are they some kind of detergent that breaks apart bacteria or other odorants? Does something in them inhibit olfactory nerves? Is it just there to give you something to aim at?

Whats the mechanism of action?

[Assistant] Urinal cakesinitially made of the same chemical in mothballs and now typically made up of a chemical named paradichlorobenzeneare designed to overpower and soak up the smells produced by all that urine that doesn't end up down the drain.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we not call countries the name that their native tongue calls them?

[Assistant]
Because we got the name of countries way back in the past, when the name of the country was different, and never bothered to update. EG. China, which was named after the Chin Dynasty (~1st century BC).

Or, we got the name of the country from people who speak another language and they mangled it. EG. Japan, Nippon became Jeppan in Malaysian, which became Japan in English.

Generally, the "newer" the country, the more likely English Speakers will use the "native" name.

Germany (Deutschland) was a special case because for pretty much 1000 years, the German Area was fragmented into dozens of kingdoms each with a different name, so English speakers defaulted to using the Latin name for the area, Germania, which later became Germany. When Germany unified in the 19th Century and became Deutsches Reich, the English name stuck.


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

[User]
[Avengers: Endgame] Is there any logic to the teams sent on the different time heists?

As per title, is there any logic?

The New York heist team being the most overpowered makes sense as they are responsible for three stones. Lets also say Thor was the most well suited for the Asgard heist, even if they are arguably wasting his offensive capabilities.

But then it gets strange. The Morag team is reasonably competent, but the team sent to Vormir, with the most unclear mission parameters, is composed of two non-powered humans?

It seems Nebula didnt know the full details of what happened to Gamora on Vormir, so its not a question of sending two people who loved each other. Even if it would have doomed the mission to failure, with what the Avengers knew, Nebula or a powered person from another team with more cosmic experience should have been sent to Vormir, or Rhodes due to his offensive potential in a fight. Whats Hawkeye or Black Widow going to do if a Thanos-level threat protects the Soul Stone?

[Assistant]
There was a certain amount of guesswork when it came to making up the teams.

Naturally, they needed most of the team to head to New York for the three stones and Thor was obviously the only person who could be sent to Asgard, as you have guessed.

Morag was more a matter of working with what they had. Nebula knew more about the region and people involved and Rhodes was there for backup if things got hairy.

Vormir was... likely a gamble. The fact of the matter is that if a cosmic-leveled power was protecting the Soul Stone, none of the Avengers except Captain Marvel would be able to stand up to it. Since they didn't want to wait for her, it stood to reason that they'd send the two team members who were best at strategy and thinking on their feet because if they couldn't get the stone, no one could.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] WTF is with the officer who mouths off to Vader in ANH?

Even if he doesn't believe in his religion (which is objectively wrong because Vader demonstrates magic powers as a direct result of following his religion, but whatever), this is the Emperor's right hand man. Why is he just mouthing off like that to his superior?

[Assistant]
To be fair Vaders preceding line about how the literal planet destroying battle station is inferior to the power of the force is really obnoxious. It's the kind of thing someone says when they can't resist dragging every conversation back to their favourite topic.

If you do not believe in the force, (and remember by this point the Jedi are just old legends and fairy tales) then that sounds like some bullshit. Like if you were a serious general, with many years in the academy, talking about hydrogen bombs and your boss' kooky yoga teacher who he's promoted above you for some reason snorts and goes "yeah but its not like mastering chi flow energy though".


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

[User]
[It] What is the extent of Pennywise's Strength/Vulnerabilities?

This is regarding the most recent It movies (not the books, that's too bonkers).  Pennywise seems to be defeated easily sometimes, but other times he is completely unstoppable.  He spends a really long time just inches from eating someone, but one swift kick to the nuts and he's down.  Why is he beaten so easily most of the time?

Bonus question:. I thought he just ate kids.  What the hell happened to that couple on the beginning?

[Assistant]
ITs powers and strength is to the extent on which form he takes. When he was a leper Eddie was able to overpower him because a leper is physically weak. People are also able to defeat/push back IT when they overcome their fear and strike with the belief that the weapon/object at hand will cause harm then IT will feel pain.

The hate crime on the gay couple was to signify the return of IT since there must always be a tragedy to hail its return and another ending tragedy to signal the feasting time to be over. In the first movie Georgie was the first tragedy and Powers was supposed to go on a mass murder spree to herald the end.

Child or adult IT will still kill/eat you, its just that IT loves children more because they have such a wide variety of fear and scare more easily in their everyday life like monsters to the simple dark. Compared to an adult when the biggest cause of concern at the end of the day is paying the rent.


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

[User]
Something that has been bothering me recently: Why is reason better than the alternative? I can't prove it is without stumbling into a bootstrapping problem

I like to think of myself as a person that bases his decisions on reason. That is, gathering and weighing evidence in a logical way to reach conclusions. Being this way inclined I've always divided up beliefs into those which are reasonable and those which are not. Believing in evolution is reasonable, believing in creationism isn't. Being religious is unreasonable, believing in scientifically proven facts is. There is "right" and there is "wrong". I've put a lot of pressure on others to prove to me why their beliefs are correct but I've never put the same pressure on  the foundation of every belief I have

I'm starting to ask myself why Reason is correct and an alternative is wrong? The best argument I can come up with is that thinking about problems using reason produces useful results. These results add to the evidence that reason is correct. The problem is the whole notion of a wealth of evidence leading to proof, or at least support, is derived from reason itself. When I reach this point in thinking about reason I find myself trapped in a bootstrap problem. I can't justify reason without using reason. In effect, I'm just as bad as a committed Christian saying they believe in god because it says he exists in the bible.

I'm sure I can;t be the first person to get trapped in this train of thought, my question is therefore: Are all belief systems equally as valid from a philosophical point of view, or is there a concrete argument as to why reason is superior?

[Assistant]
This is a basic paradox concerning the justification of logic and there's lots written on it.

Roughly, you cannot argue that arguments are invalid, without using an argument to do so, which would be invalid if the argument was right.

And inversely,

You cannot prove, without using an argument, that argumentation is valid.
So it seems to run into a circle.

To avoid this problem this structure of justification problem, you end up appealing to three possible solutions.

1: That fundamentally, everything comes down to a brute fact. This can come in different flavors, for example, if you believe that the base axiom is ultimately self-evidential or not. (Can turn into 3 sometimes)

2: That there is always a further reason, and never shall you reach an ultimate, final one.

3: Circularism/Coherentism: That there are a finite amount of reasons, and that they eventually repeat or come together in such a way to justify one another.

This is also the basic structure of knowledge, perhaps because of the 'ancestral' aspect of justification.

Most philosophers tend to be foundationalists, but not all. See Klein for an infinitist defense.

Your question is a bit confused, however. Reason in philosophy, is taken to mean, thinking in terms of arguments. Arguments are merely a instantiation of concepts/words onto formal logic arguments, with P's and Qs.

Your question boiled down is asking, why is logical thinking better than non-logical thinking?

Well, you have to know what logic is to answer that. And logic is merely the science of necessary truths; in that regard, it's similar to math but doesn't deal with numbers.

Why do we trust math over non-math?  Because it's reliable and practical. (This is a psychological point, not philosophical)

You mention reason as if it is a belief system to compare to other belief systems. The only system of belief that reason is, is logic. Therefore, when you compare it to non-reasonable belief-systems, you're comparing it to non-logical ones. That is, one's in which it has been determined that the conclusions do not actually follow from the premises.


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

[User]
Historically, how tall have the tallest mountains on Earth been, relative to Mt. Everest?

I know that upheaval and erosion are constant processes, which suggest that which mountains are rising up and which mountains are wearing down is constantly changing.  But I have never come across a good answer for this.  Is Mt. Everest extraordinarily tall, geologically speaking?  Or has there been something much bigger in the distant past?

[Assistant]
There might be a kilometer in it, but we're certainly not talking about 20km peaks.

There are several limits, and it's generally accepted that the Himamlaya are approaching those limits.

First of all you need a very rapid collision of continents to push material up quickly - the aim is to force the mountains up before the continental root can develop to form isostatic equilibrium.  If you collide slowly you form the root at the same rate you build the mountain, which means you need 4 or 5 times the amount of material entering the collision belt to generate a given height of mountain.  You also need this collision to happen quickly because the higher a mountain gets the more subject to erosion it is.

We have rocks exposed now which were once part of mountain belts, and the rocks exposed now show metamorphic changes consistent with being 20km (or more) below the surface.  That does not mean the mountains were 20km tall.  It is a result of isostatic compensation; You add 20 km of material on top, and the whole plate sags down into the mantle.  The final mountain will only be a few km tall, the rest of the material has been buried and subsided.


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

[User] [Star Wars] If the Death Star blows up a planet, what happens to the planets moons?

[Assistant]
As long as the debris stays inside the moon's orbit and is symmetrical, mostly nothing changes.

This is not likely, given the pyrotechnic nature of how this works. It's very likely that any moons lose the gravitational influence and move into larger and more unstable orbits. Their surfaces are bombarded with debris from the destroyed planet. They may drift towards other planets in the system, causing more instability that may lead to tsunamis and earthquakes on other planets in the system. Probably not much in the way of active collisions, but you may get other planets in the system swapping moons or moving their moons into different orbits with catastrophic long-term effects. Every planet in the system could be adversely affected.

So it just goes to show, you don't want to be in the same system as a planet buster.


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

[User]
How do surgeons connect small veins when reattaching limbs?

How do surgeons know when they have stitched together enough blood supply when reattaching limbs? I imagine suturing arteries are easier because they are generally much larger than veins but I wonder at what point do the surgeons just decide some blood vessels are too small to reconnect and just leave it up to the body to heal. I have never taken an anatomy class so Im not well informed on the human body.

[Assistant] If the two ends cannot be stitched together, or repaired with bovine pericardium grafts then usually major arteries and veins are bypassed with vein grafts from the patient. Small arteries and veins are usually not reattached in any surgery because because over time the can form collaterals and re anastomose (angiogenesis). The principal concern are the main arteries and veins, the flexor and extensor tendons or muscles, the bones and repairing the nerves.


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

[User] [Spider-Man] Is it easier for Spider-Men/Women to stick to surfaces without gloves or shoes?

[Assistant] Most spider-people stick to surfaces by manipulating van der waals forces - in those cases whether they wear gloves/shoes is irrelevant. However it would affect the ones that use different methods to stick to stuff, like Tobey Maguire Spidey (tiny hairs) and Spider-Man 2099 (razor sharp talons that stick into surfaces)


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

[User]
ELI5: How do keys and chords work with drums?

How do you know which drum notes fit the key and chords being played by guitars and piano?  I'm learning the guitar and I know the drums play notes, but how do they know which part of the drum to hit?

[Assistant] Drums don't really produce identifiable tones. Toms can be tuned to specific tones, but even then it's hard to identify their main tone. Drums are mainly a rhythmic instrument and they work in every key and chord.


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

[User]
[Star Trek TNG] Do other galaxy class Federation starships experience insane scientific mysteries too? Or is it only the flagship Enterprise?

and what about Klingon ships.  are they having crew members disappear because of phase shifting and falling into temporal time loops?

[Assistant]
Over the Enterprise-Ds exploration career, quite a bit of the weirdness they experienced had already happened, and they were called to go check it out.

As another commenter mentioned, a lot of it also was that the Enterprise went towards the weirdness and so got a bigger portion than most ships.

There's one other factor that nobody takes into account- most of the exploration Galaxy class ships never made it to retirement. They almost all ended up destroyed or lost, including the Enterprise-D. Other ships undoubtedly encountered things like the Enterprise did, and never made it back to report about it.

Lastly, there were also more than a few events that occurred or were survived because of that particular crew on that particular ship. When you have the only Klingon officer in Starfleet, you might have Klingon issues. Same with having the only sentient android. When extradimensional entities have a thing particularly for the Captain or even a specific engineering ensign, weirdness is bound to ensue. There are probably hundreds of new conditions in the Starfleet Medical Manual with only 2 doctors ever having treated them - Pulaski or Crusher. New states of matter only ever seen by LaForge, etc.

Most ships would have not even had the ability to detect, identify or interact with some of the anomalies that the Enterprise-D did, because of its crew.


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

[User]
[Superman] Does no-one ever  touch Clark Kent?

I put my hand on a colleague's shoulder during a party the other day and I could tell that they worked out, there was a solid feeling.

Surely if Superman's skin can take a bullet, someone slapping him on the back or hugging him or putting a friendly hand on his shoulder would feel something completely different to a normal human being?

[Assistant]
He's not made of steel, he's just invulnerable. His durability isn't due to density.

They would, however, notice that he is absolutely ripped. It's come up before, usually explained by farmboy habits.

Heavier contact than that, like actually hitting him, is dealt with by him being very fast and moving with the blow. Basically giving the illusion of hitting a standard human, hardness is merely a matter of resistance to manipulation after all.


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

[User]
A helium balloon floats because it has a lower density than air, right? So if I created a vacuum inside a balloon, and managed to keep its shape, would it also float?

I realize the "keep its shape" is the hard (impossible?) part. I've read that helium has 1/7th the density of air, so what if I managed to reduce the amount of air in the balloon to 1/7th the normal fill while maintaining the same size?

I guess the question is: Imagine a box of incredible strength that would float away if filled with helium. If I pulled out all of the air, would it also float?

[Assistant] yes it would. The most difficult part is the "keeping its shape". To get something to float, it needs to have a total density < air density. So if you had a 1m^3 box that was filled with vaccum, the box itself would have to weigh <1.1 kg. You'd have roughly 10,000 kg ~~of force~~ pressing in each side, which would crush that box.  The nice thing about helium is that its lighter, but still puts that pressure. So the box would have maybe 10,000 kg/m^2 pushing in and 11,000 kg/m^2 pushing out (hence, balloons inflate..).


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

[User]
ELI5: How does The Pirate Bay get away with all the copyright?

I've always wondered.

[Assistant]
They don't, at all. The people behind TPB are currently serving sentences and got fined millions.

The reason the site is still live is that someone else is hosting it and the founders claim they don't know who. As it just contains the information needed to connect to somebody else with the file you want, it's actually a very small site to host.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] So the younglings ... do they get like ... practice light sabers so they don't cut their hands off before they know what they are doing?

I'm just curious ... don't remember seeing anyone cover this. I know that knights started getting training in archery and swordsmanship as pages ... so what did the Jedi do for their kids?

[Assistant] In the EU, padawans begin training with a training saber which can only afflict light burns and minor bruises at most. At least one Padawan actually 'won' a duel by actually *grabbing the blade* of his opponent and pulling it aside before delivering a winning blow himself, and came away no worse for it.


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

[User] ELI5: What happens to turn lobster bright red when boiled?

[Assistant] The dramatic color change during cooking has to do with the way certain biochemicals inside the shellfish react to heat. Lobsters and crabs have a pigment called astaxanthin in their shells. Astaxanthin is a carotenoid pigment: absorbing blue light and appearing red, orange or yellow in color.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does water stain silk?

[Assistant]
Two reasons:

* Many dyes that are used on silk are water soluble, which means that the dyes can run if you get water on it.
* Silk fibers become more delicate when wet, and, especially if you're rubbing the fabric, can slightly damage the fibers in a way that causes the fabric to look stained.


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

[User] [Transformers] What kind of ammunition do I need to damage and possibly kill an autobot/decepticon?

[Assistant]
Not ammunition, but weapons:

anti-vehicle/anti-armour weapons.

EMP/technology based weapons.

Another Transformers weapon.

Energy based weapons.

I doubt small arms could damage one regardless of ammunition. Maybe if you could turn an already dead Tranformers body into ammunition.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do digital clocks get "off" over time?

I have to reset the clock in my car every few months because it'll be 3-4 minutes behind. How does this happen?

[Assistant] Digital clocks have a small device that vibrates in order to keep time. The clock is manufactured to know how many vibrations are in 1 second. However its never exact. It could actually be 1.0000001 seconds or 1.01 seconds or .999 seconds. So over time. Those very tiny errors add up to a couple extra minutes.


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

[User]
[Mass Effect] In a Galaxy filled with advance ideologies, weaponry, and communication, how did the Batarians maintain control over their Slaves?

Every race in the Galaxy is stubborn as all hell and I doubt many were born into it if the Batarian raiding history is anything to go by. How did they keep control over enough slaves to support their society?

[Assistant] By preying on Non-council worlds. Not every planet in Council Space is under the jurisdiction of the Citadel Council, and a good 3rd of the Galaxy outright rejects it's authority (the Terminus Systems). The Batarians just raided worlds that had either renounced, or distanced themselves from the Council.


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

[User] ELI5:How are pigeon carriers trained?

[Assistant] Carrier pigeons only know how to find their way home, which isn't a big task for them, as they do it naturally.  People then take the birds away from their home, and then attach a message to them and send them home, where someone picks up the message.


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

[User]
ELI5: If the moon orbits 13 times a year. So why not have 13 months ?

go, Smarch!

Thanks all.
I was told once it was because there were 12 apostles, but no, it Science !
(thanks again)

[Assistant]
Because it's not exact.

The lunar month is slightly longer than 29.5 days. So, 12 lunar months make a 354-day lunar year. Our 365-day year isn't arbitrary, it is based on the time it takes the Earth to go around the Sun, which affects things like agricultural seasons.

There are some solutions to this difference between the lunar and solar years. The Romans said "screw the Moon", and made the months 30 or 31 days long, so that a 12-month period would equal a solar year; this at the cost of the months having nothing to do with the phases of the Moon any more. Theirs was the basis for our current civil calendar (we just found out they had a bit too many leap years).

The Muslims said "screw the Sun"; their calendar has 12 lunar months and, as such, is shorter than our civil calendar. You can notice this by seeing that their religious celebrations (the holy month of Ramadan, the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca) happen about 11 days earlier every year. This implies the Muslim calendar has nothing to do with seasons, which wasn't much of a problem for the original desert nomadic Muslims.

We Jews didn't say "screw" anything. Jewish months are lunar-based, alternating between 29 and 30 days. However, in our tradition it was important to keep accurate track of the seasons, so we sometimes insert a thirteenth month in the year to make up for those 11 days the  lunar year is shorter than a solar year. Initially, the decision of how long a month would be, and whether or not to include an extra month in a given year, was made by observation, but afterwards it was standardised in mathematical rules. Given that sometimes we have to add or subtract a day to prevent a year from beginning in some days of the week, the cost of the system is that it is very complicated for someone to know exactly what the calendar for a given year will be!


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

[User] [ELI5] Why are fingers different length?

[Assistant] Different lengths makes for a better grip when clutching an object, as the ends of your fingers provide the strongest point of grip, and varied finger lengths allow their strength to get staggered along different points of the object.


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

[User]
ELI5 the hate for Jews

I could never really understand, I wouldn't even really be aware of their existence (except for that little thing hitler did).

[Assistant]
In general, throughout history, Jewish people have been a very tight-knit community.  This means that when a group of Jewish people moved to a new area, they would retain their Jewish traditions for the most part rather than completely adopt all the traditions of their new neighbors.

This strong sense of Jewish identity sometimes made their new neighbors feel like the Jews were stuck-up or strange.  Then, if something goes wrong in society, the citizens are going to look for someone to blame and if they already have a small minority that acts different from the group then it becomes easy to pin the blame on the Jews rather than really address the true causes of whatever went wrong.  Of course, sometimes Jewish people did cause problems but a lot of times they didn't cause problems but still got blamed just because they were a little different.


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

[User]
ELI5 why do credit cards have an expiration date?

I get needing expiration dates back when they first came out, but it seems sort of antiquated in today's world.

[Assistant]
One reason is to replace the card on a regular basis because they do get damaged over time. Also makes you update your  address so they can find you.

Another reason is fraud related so that if someone compromises some database of card info from 5 years ago that the info is less useful since even if the card number changes the CVV and expiration changes.


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

[User]
[Predator (1987)] What exactly is Dutchs crew? They say they are a rescue unit not assassins, but they pack a handheld minigun and completely level that rebel camp. Dillon says they are the best, but the best at what?

Any theories as to who they were and past missions they did before encountering the Predator?

[Assistant]
>In 1980, Dutch left the United States Army and set up his own private military company, mainly recruiting other US Army personnel.

>Dutch's team saw operations in Angola, Cambodia, Lebanon and Afghanistan. More recently, the team dealt with a terrorist siege at the Sudanese Embassy in Berlin, Germany, assaulting the building and eliminating seven terrorists in under ten seconds. Not only did the operation in the center of the city go totally unnoticed by the world's press, the terrorists were eliminated before they even had a chance to call in their demands.

>A notable condition of employment for Dutch and his men was that they only ever operate as a rescue team, and he refused to take on any mission where the prime objective was the elimination of enemy personnel, such as a proposed operation in Libya that he turned down.


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

[User]
What are some good beginner books on philosophy? Touching on topics like the meaning of life itself, or anything similar.

The Big Bad Wolf book sale is happening in my country in about a week or so, and I just finished playing a videogame called Nier: Automata. It touches on topics like the meaning(less) of life and even nihilism. I really very much enjoyed this part of the game, and it made me want to get into philosophy proper.

What are good beginner philosophy books that touch on similar topics?

[Assistant] A great place to start would be "The History of Modern Philosophy" by Josiah Royce. Take notes on texts mentioned in the book that you would like to explore further, and enjoy the trip down one of the most fulfilling rabbit holes ever.


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

[User]
[Kingsmen] What was the fallout from the failure of the plot?

Amongst the regular people many hundreds possibility thousands would have died and that isn't counting the fact that at least the western world Elite are dead. (Literally decapitated all governments)

[Assistant] I imagine that it's only a matter of time before someone reverse engineers Valentine's technology. Imagine a 13 year old downloading a Ukrainian .exe that lets him trigger everyone who still has a V-chip in the vicinity.


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

[User] [The Walking Dead] How buried corpses whose heads were intact upon dying trying to get out of their tombs? Did the disease affect people already dead when it broke out?

[Assistant] From what we've seen, the disease/virus/whatever it is that causes people to reanimate when they die does NOT affect those who were already dead when the infection began, so those who died prior are just sitting there rotting away. Those who were buried traditionally after the infection began are probably doomed to just scratch endlessly away at their coffins until they cave in and either crush them or they burrow their way upwards.


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

[User]
ELI5: When a man ejaculates, what creates the pressure for the semen to fly out?

Are there muscles in the balls or something?

[Assistant] Testicles only produce the sperm that makes up about 5% of the volume of ejaculate. The rest is fluid produced by the prostate and other internal glands. It is ejected by forceful contractions of the muscles at the base of the penis.


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

[User]
[General fantasy] Why do adventurers tend towards swords instead of spears when starting out?

Wouldn't it make more sense for a novice to run around with a spear, something easier to use and control distance with?

[Assistant]
Because swords are more convenient. They take away less space, and are better sidearms. Spears are weapons for war, and adventurers in a fantasy novel rarely go to war.

 Basically, all the same reasons why James Bond carries a pistol and not an assault rifle.


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

[User]
Does burning cash (literally, with fire to ashes) improves the strength of a currency?

If yes, then by how much?

is there a paper that deal with this scenario?

[Assistant]
If by strength you mean its value to others. Well if you are creating too much that it is inflationary then destroying some to make it less inflationary could improve its value relative to others.

However the utility of money which is to act as a medium of exchange could be reduced if you do not have enough money for commerce.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do some pots and beakers pour well while others cause liquids to drizzle down the edge, resulting in a mess?

[Assistant] It's to do with the shape of the lip. If the lip is too smoothly curved between the inside and the outside, the forces that keep water on the surface of the pot/beaker will be enough to overcome the force that pulls the water away from the surface. If you just have a lip that has an abrupt edge rather than a smooth curve, it will be much harder to make it drizzle and much easier to pour.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] how did the imperial army turn from clones to all stormtroopers so quickly?

I'm playing Jedi: Fallen Order which takes place about 5 years after order 66.  The entire imperial army is now all stormtroopers, and I'm assuming it has been so for a long time before these events. How did this happen in such a short turn around. There would have likely been 100s of thousands to millions of leftover clones. How did they recruit so fast. How did they even replace all the republic gear too? They decommissioned perfectly fine venetor starships even. What a waste.

[Assistant]
The Imperial Army isn't clones - it's recruits. The Stormtroopers are not the Imperial Army, they are a different military tradition.

The Empire spent the five years after the end of the Clone Wars building a massive recruitment system, phasing out the clones to the point where by the time Fallen Order takes place, seeing clones was a rarity.

They decommissioned the Republic ships because the Empire *was not* the Republic, although it was spawned from the Republic, the tactics used by the Empire are ironically closer to the way that the CIS operated - nameless, faceless ranks of soldiers taking power through sheer numbers.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are pet fish okay living in perfectly clean, filtered water, when they normally come from natural bodies of water that are not so pure?

[Assistant]
Firstly, because it's not just about cleanliness it's also about oxygen content. Natural bodies of water will absorb oxygen from the atmosphere, but a small fish tank, without some kind of filtration system, will end up depleted of oxygen.

Secondly, it's a specific kind of "impurity" in your fish tank that hurts the fish. Their water is filling up with their own feces. If any natural body of water were as full of feces as an unfiltered fish tank, those fish would be sick and dying too. Other kinds of impurities are more tolerable for the fish, not harming their health even though they wouldn't be good water for you as a human to drink.

Also though, natural bodies of water that become heavily polluted will eventually see the fish and other wildlife in them die. Even parts of the ocean can become so polluted that they are "dead zones" where few if any organisms live.


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

[User] ELI5 Why does my mouth produce slime after I consume drinks with a high sugar content?

[Assistant] Little tiny bugs called bacteria need just a few things to live - food, water and warmth.  Guess what?  Your mouth has LOTS of all three of those!  The bacteria in your mouth start as little groups, when they suddenly get a lot of sugar to munch on, they begin to multiply really quickly.  All the bacteria start having kids and grandkids and great-grandkids faster than you can blink.  The bacteria family works better as a group, so the bacteria produce a sticky slime (called extracellular polymeric substance) so that they can stick together and stick to their food source (you!).  This is called a biofilm.  Sugary drinks may make this the most noticeable to you, but they aren't the only thing that bacteria families eat - they'll eat anything.  You probably have a biofilm on your teeth right now.  Gross!  This is why it is so important to brush and floss your teeth at least twice a day.