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

[User]
What are Planck units (mostly Planck time, but also the others) actually used for?

I read somewhere that there were more Planck time units in one second than there were seconds that had elapsed since the beginning of the universe. Whether that statistic is actually true or not, what could possibly happen so quickly that a unit of time that short is needed to measure it? And, if I understand correctly, the other Planck units are also extremely small. What are they actually used for as well?

[Assistant]
The reason we use Planck units is convenience. The scaling of the Planck units is based on a number of universal constants (speed of light, gravitational constant, and others). That means that when using Planck units, those constants actually have the value 1.

And because of that, many equations that feature these constants can be rewritten without them, because multiplying or dividing by one can be ignored. This makes equations simpler and makes it easier to understand the relation between various physical quantities.

And while our regular units, be they meters, miles, grams or pounds, are rooted very much in our own history and are therefore very human-centric, the Planck units are based only on universal constants. A hypothetical alien civilization would derive the same equations based on these units, while they would have no notion of human units like meters, seconds, etc...

The Planck units don't fundamentally alter the physics. If an equation holds in regular units, it'll hold in imperial (US) units and it'll hold in Planck units, after rescaling it correctly. But for many branches of fundamental physics, working with Planck units is more convenient.


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

[User] ELI5: We often hear about first world and third world countries/problems ect. But why do we never hear about second world?

[Assistant]
Because the "Second" world doesn't really exist anymore.

Some definitions:

The "First" World - The United States and its Allies, Capitalists countries

The "Second" World - The USSR and its Allies, Communist countries

The "Third" World - Developing countries that the 1st and 2nd world fight over.

So the end of the Cold War essentially ended the "Second" world.  The original definitions have nothing to do with economics (like they do today) but with where you were positioned in the Cold War.


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

[User]
[back to the future] what was the 25 minute experiment that happened in Doc Brown's garage that fateful morning?

Did he flux capacitate the whole garage 25 minutes into the future?

If so, how did he do it?

If not, what was the experiment?

Why were all the alarms set for 8am?

[Assistant]
Doc probably tested the time machine beforehand, by putting multiple clocks into different areas of the Delorean and sending it 25 minutes into the future. If all the clocks are off by exactly the same amount the time flux bubble is even across the entire car, and if the clocks keep working over the next day there probably are no lingering bad effects.
Even though Doc is a risk-taker he wouldn't have risked Einstein's life without a previous test of the time machine.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the jeans break always in the same manner, first the vertical fibers, then the horizontal?

[Assistant]
The vertical fibres are under more stress more often  (eg - especially at the front bend of the knee)

After the first vertical fibres fray and break, this adds more load onto the other ones, so they break more easily.

And this finally exposes the horizontal  threads. So they'll start breaking too, eventually.


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

[User] [LOTR] What sort of infrastructure did Mordor have to feed and house a massive army with no obvious farmland or towns?

[Assistant]
We only see the desolate plains surrounding Mt. Doom. In the book, Frodo and Sam wonder the exact same thing for the exact same reason:

*Frodo and Sam gazed out in mingled loathing and wonder on this hateful land. Between them and the smoking mountain, and about it north and south, all seemed ruinous and dead, a desert burned and choked. They wondered how the Lord of this realm maintained and fed his slaves and his armies. Yet armies he had.*

Fortunately, the narrator fills us in:

*Neither he nor Frodo knew anything of the great slave-worked fields away south in this wide realm, beyond the fumes of the Mountain by the dark sad waters of Lake Nurnen; nor of the great roads that ran away east and south to tributary lands, from which the soldiers of the Tower brought long wagon-trains of goods and booty and fresh slaves. Here in the northward regions were the mines and forges, and the musterings of long-planned war.*


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

[User]
Where does the energy come from to cause blue shift/why is there not any extra energy?

So, as I understand it, if light is emitted with a certain wavelength, then the energy of each photon can be calculated (as h x f1 if h is plank's constant and f1 is the frequency of the light emitted). And when the light is detected the energy of each photon is h x f2, where f2 is the frequency of the light received.

However if the emitter and detector are moving towards each other, the light will be blue-shifted and therefore f2 will be larger at the receiver, meaning that the photon will have more energy at the receiver.

So basically what I'm asking is where that energy comes from, of if there's something wrong with my picture of the situation which explains why the photon doesn't need to gain energy from anywhere.

[Assistant] Basically, energy is not conserved when considering the same thing from different reference frames. Imagine a bullet instead of a photon: in the reference frame of the gun, a bullet emitted from it will have enough energy to go through a person. In another reference frame moving very fast away from the gun, the bullet will not have enough energy to that. Both reference frames are valid, but in only one can the bullet pierce someone.


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

[User] ELI5: why does army have to march instead of just walking normally?

[Assistant]
If they don't all keep the same pace, they will fall out of step, and the line of march will become what you see when kindergarten children walk in a group to the park.

Also it trains and reinforces discipline generally.


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

[User] [star trek] how did the protein re-sequencers in the food generators turn out hand assembled foods? i.e. the tortilla on a burrito or sausage in the casing.....

[Assistant]
Replicators are kind of like 3D printers that work nearly instantly. They also have transporter tech, so that makes things even faster.

It would be easy for them to build it layer by layer. It's not like it would have time to spill out in the few seconds it takes replicators to actually assemble the food items.


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

[User]
[DC Comics] How does Amazo replicate Flash's speed?

If Flash were just a fast guy, I can understand (sort of), but his abilities are a direct result of him being able to access the speed force. Is it that Amazo replicates the ability to use the speed force as opposed to super speed?

[Assistant]
His absorption cells absorb the Flash's ability to access the speed force, so he gains that ability as well.

He doesn't know about the speed force, however, so the only ability he can tap into is superspeed.


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

[User]
CMV: Women selling nudes and posing naked as models does not empower women but further sexualizes women with the guise of empowerment.

The title really says it. This is my first time posting so I dont really have any interest in being called ignorant, I just want to be educated. In my experience, women are not okay with being sexualized and objectified and so they should be empowered to do what they want with their bodies and have sexual freedom to do so without being seen as sexual objects. However, selling themselves as sexual objects (although it should 100% be their right to do so) just further sexualizes them and even though it can be considered empowering to be proud to be naked and unashamed of ones body, it is having an effect that is empowering in the long term but more harmful to women as a whole.

I just want to reiterate that I am a huge advocate for equality across the spectrum of all races, sexes, and religions. I believe that there is a huge power and wealth differential that, until sorted out, will plague our world indefinitely. I want to help more effectively advocate for that change by doing things like asking these questions and getting better educated on subject matters by hearing everybodys viewpoints. This is a viewpoint of mine that Ive been told was wrong but I havent been truly convinced otherwise so I would love to hear more on it from all of you.

[Assistant]
There's a difference between being sexualized by someone else and sexualizing yourself. One is empowering, the other is not.

Women/feminists are not complaining about all sexualization (well...some are but they're marginal), they're complaining about unwanted sexualization, sexualization that they are not in control over.


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

[User]
ELI5: why was late 18th and early to mid 19th century Conventional Warfare (such as the American Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars) so civil and organized?

Wouldn't it make more sense to attack with a major charge while your enemy's troops were organizing? Why did they allow their soldiers to get to shot and why didn't the soldier simply draw on the enemy and return fire? This has always confused me. Why was it so formal?

[Assistant]
napoleon was actually not very civil with his tactics.

War was in many ways considered a game for rulers. Armies would push and move and claim territory without many men dying. often men would line up and enter the field  (lines were tactically the best for ranged warfare) and fire at each other until one side's discipline broke or their general could see they would not win today and withdraw. Injuries were regular, and so were deaths, but not hundreds a day like movies portray. there were rules of engagement and to break these rules for a victory was unsporting and would bring ridicule...there was no honour in stabbing a sleeping man. Ambushes were tactical and the fault of the enemy for not being prepared, and so not dishonorable. Even in retreat men should walk backwards and face the enemy for to run with your back turned was cowardly.

napoleon was considered ungentlemanly in the way he conducted his troops to attack baggage lines, strike from behind or at night, he also did not battle in lines, but in columns and destroy the enemy like a battering ram.
Napoleon was not there to play games, he was there to win...and he was very good at it until the others caught up.

EDIT: in the civil war era battle was disastrous and thousands of men died each battle, because this was also not a game of gentlemen like the hundred year war, or war of roses, or the trinity wars, or the 7 years war, much of the Spanish conquest and so on. The reason the these wars were organised was because strategic points are quite clear to both sides.
If there is a river crossing, one side is attacking and one is defending. when the attackers move, the defenders have time to react...often hours. There are no jeeps and APCs to move men, they move at walking speed. and when you know the rage of your opponents you can gather your troops outside this range into formations and march them forward.


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

[User] ELI5: Why most of round trip tickets are cheaper than one way?

[Assistant]
Domestically they're not.  One way is usually a bit over half as much as a round trip flight.

International is a different story.  If an airline flies you into a country and then that country refuses to allow you to enter, then *regardless of why you were refused entry* the airline needs to pay to fly you back.

There are also very, very few people who fly international one way, so airlines are extremely suspicious about anyone who does.

Because of the risk that international one way passengers pose to airlines, as well as their rarity, airlines just assume that a high percentage of such passengers will be rejected by the destination country and bake the weighted average cost of a return ticket into the one way ticket price.


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

[User]
CMV: Magic: The Gathering is a pay to win game

For those of you that have played TCGs, such as Magic, Yugioh, and Pokemon, you know that most top tier competitive decks are typically stacked with high value/money cards. These expensive decks also tend to pull down more wins than decks that user cheaper and less effective alternatives.

Perhaps the most profound evidence that MtG is a "pay to win" game is the striking contrast of power levels between cards that do effectively the same thing. For example, Demonic Tutor and Diabolic Tutor. They are both black sorceries that allow you to search your library for any card and add it to your hand. However, Demonic Tutor only costs 2 to cast and is a $30-40 card, compared to Diabolic Tutor, which is 4 to cast and is roughly a $1 card. In decks that utilize black, this card is objectively better than Diabolic Tutor. That is, you will see greater value out of Demonic Tutor 9.5 times out 10 than you will compared to Diabolic Tutor.

Another example of this is Cancel and Disallow. They both have the same casting cost, but Disallow is objectively better due to it being able to stop triggered and activated abilities (and likewise is worth more than Cancel). Someone who pays extra for Disallow has a far greater advantage in game than a person who can only afford Cancel.

A last example are lands. Dual lands are worth hundreds of dollars, as they are the same as the "shock" lands. Breeding Pool and Tropical Island offer the same thing, but Tropical Island is objectively better because it comes in untapped with no added cost. Other cards are valuable not because they are objectively better than a cheaper alternative, but because they give great utility for such low cost. Amulet of Vigor is a good example of this. It costs 1 colorless mana and allows things that would otherwise be tapped to enter untapped, allowing you to do extra things that same turn rather than waiting for it to untap.

For these reasons, it cannot (in my mind) be denied that Magic is increasingly a pay to win game. Skill is a huge factor in how to play the game, a factor I am not discounting in my argument. I have witnesses cheap decks in EDH defeat expensive decks. Money does not always correlate to winning more. However, I will argue that it, on average, increases your chances of winning. For instance, fetch lands allow you to remove an extra land card from your deck and decrease the probability of drawing a land when it is not needed. These money cards don't just buy you greater value, they buy you greater circumstances that can increase your "luck" in drawing the right cards at the right time.

And again, I recognize that having an expensive deck means nothing if the person piloting it doesn't understand the rules or basic strategy. People with high powered cards can get unlucky and not draw what they need. However, with a card like Demonic Tutor, even a bad player will gain significant value compared to a situation in which they used Diabolic Tutor. So even lacking in-game whit, money cards can partially compensate by providing a high degree of value and utility.

[Assistant]
This greatly depends on format.

In penny dreadful for example, everyone is spending 60 cents no matter what.

In larger formats the meta basically comes down to aping the other player as quickly as possible, and an ape strategy is typically very cheap to play. In the biggest most popular formats most decks are like two ships passing each other in the night. There is barely any counter play, so running insular strategies (like tribal or red deck wins which are usually very cheap) is much better than running cards like mana leak or other expensive instants.

Standard is 100% as you describe, but that's the "tax" you pay for having tournament support etc.


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

[User]
CMV: You are either a Christian or a Republican. In todays political climate, you cannot be both.

I grew up in a wealthy community in the south, and spent a lot of my time until I left for college within a church setting. Now I know the New Testament can be interpreted a lot of different ways, but I was under the impression that the key theme of the whole thing was essentially to love and help one another, ESPECIALLY those that cannot help themselves and the downtrodden.

And as far as politics, the takeaways I got from my Republican upbringing were more along the lines of every man for themself. Sorry you were born with every disadvantage one can imagine, now pull yourself up by your bootstraps like I did.

I know this is speaking in generalities a bit, but it seems as though that in this day in age, the more Christian or Catholic you are, the higher the likelihood you are a republican. And yet, outside of the abortion argument, it seems as though Republican ideals with regard to helping one another fundamentally oppose what Christianity is all about.

What gives? Am I an idiot, or are these people being extremely hypocritical? Id prefer to hear from those on the right as well. How do you justify the gospel saying one thing, and your politics pushing the opposite?

For the record, Im pretty moderate at this point in my life, in both politics and religion.

[Assistant] The problem with these threads are always the same: It ends up being Democrats telling other Democrats what Republicans believe in the most partisan ways possible.  You're not really describing Republicans.  You're describing what you and other partisan Democrats want to believe Republicans are - which is basically heartless monsters.


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

[User]
Why can't we feel shapes?

If someone places a heart shaped metal, or to make things easier, a square shaped metal on my skin, I cannot really tell what form it is. Why? Does this depend on the size of the shape/the force being applied over the object meaning that the higher it is, the most likely I will recognize its shape? Thank you!

Edit: Not sure how I should categorize this post. If I've done it wrong let me know please.

[Assistant]
You can feel shapes, in the areas of your skin where you have a high nerve density, for instance in your fingertips. It's easier to feel the shape of things if your fingertips are moving, but that's not totally necessary.

Try it - take a coin out of your pocket, and place it on a tabletop. The front and back of the coin are easily identifiable, with a little practice.


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

[User]
[DBZ] Is wolf fang fist an intrinsically weak technique, or is it weak because Yamcha is using it?

If someone of a higher power level were to utilize it who doesnt really have techniques per se and coasts by on sheer brute force would they do more, for lack of a better word, damage?

[Assistant] It was pretty effective on Goku when they first met and Yamcha was in the same area of strength, but generally it's more of an old school martial arts based technique. Think of it like Goku's Jan Ken (rock paper scissors) technique, it was quite effective at one time, but in the world of Super Saiyans, Gods & Super Saiyan God Super Saiyans it's not going to be able to do much since the style of fighting is generally quite different.


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

[User] Eli5: how does assembly code work?

[Assistant]
A computer is a machine that only knows how to follow a list of basic instructions.
It can read values from memory, do basic math on them, and store the results. It can also compare two values and jump to a different place in the instruction list based on the result.

The computer uses numbers to represent these instructions.  So for example, 1 means load and 2 means add, etc.    A computer program is stored as a list of numbers.

Assembly language is just a simple translation of these numeric instructions into readable words like MOVE and ADD.  When you write assembly, you are writing directly in the basic instructions the CPU understands, but with codewords instead of numbers.

On the other hand, high level programming languages let you write English like instructions for advanced operations, like printing to the screen or connecting to another computer.  The compiler or interpreter does the job of translating these into the sequence of assembly code that the computer can actually follow.


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

[User]
[MCU] Was there a replacement Sorcerer Supreme after The Snap?

Was there an interim SS during the 5 years after the initial snap? Did Strange come back and immediately get recrowned as SS? I can only imagine that would piss off the other guy a little bit if that is what happened.

[Assistant]
Guarding the entire world by yourself is a gruelling, thankless task that ultimately leads to death or worse.

Strange was the acknowledged master, fat beyond the abilities of most wizards.  Anyone who filled in his shoes would probably be happy that he was back.

We don't know what happened to Wong.  He would be the obvious choice to take over during the years after the blip.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the Spanish language incorporate two question marks at the beginning and end of their questions when writing?

[Assistant]
In Spanish, as in English, the whole sentence is transformed by the fact it's a question--the meaning is different, and you use a different tone. (Consider the difference between "It belongs to him." and "It belongs to him?") A question mark at the start of the sentence is an extra clue in Spanish, while in English we're fond of words like "why" to signal the start of a question.

Punctuation, especially standardized punctuation, is relatively new as far as European languages go. Hence why different languages often have different ways of doing it.


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

[User]
[My Hero Academia (Anime-only)] Isn't it irresponsible to *not* tell Aizawa (and to a lesser extent, Vlad) about Deku and OFA?

Misunderstanding Deku's Quirk could lead to serious issues with training, most notably with clashes against Class 1-B and Monoma. Most recently, Monoma's team went up against Deku's team, and the former tried to copy the latter's Quirk. It was a real concern for Deku that Monoma would try to use OFA and explode due to not being used to it, to the extent he almost risked defeat in the match to try and warn him, and even showed concern post-match for the next two episodes that it could still happen.

*Now*, we know from S5E12 that Monoma is safe because OFA is a "blank", in that copying OFA copies the stockpile aspect of the Quirk and *not* the stockpiled power built within it. But surely scenarios like this should have been considered and safeguarded against by the faculty anyway, right? How can Aizawa train Deku and help safely teach the rest of the class if Deku has the most OP Quirk of all time which is constantly evolving? Surely the reveal of the Black Whip(?) Quirk should have warranted coming clean to Aizawa about the fluctuating nature of the Quirk.

At the start I could understand not telling Aizawa due to his hard-line nature and hesitance to not tell anyone unless absolutely necessary. But when so many other faculty, cops, mentors and even Bakugo know about it, shouldn't Deku's primary school teacher also know what's what? Aizawa has proven to be an exceptional hero and loyal teacher over and over and over again, so it's not like he's gonna spout off to Present Mic or snitch to the League of Villains or whatever (who should know about Deku anyway thanks to AFO knowing).

[Assistant]
I don't think that many people actually know about the quirk or the technicalities behind it. Besides All-Might and Deku, there's Bakugo, Nezu and Gran Torino, not some never ending list of heroes and citizens with Aizawa conveniently excluded.

Now, yes, it probably would make a lot of sense to loop Aizawa in on the secret in *some* capacity. Like you said, as Deku's primary teacher, it'd be good for him to have some knowledge on training, but All-Might seems to be navigating this blindly and not sure what he's doing.


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

[User] ELI5 : Why does pinching a hose at its extremity make the water flow faster while pinching in the middle make the water flow weaker?

[Assistant]
because it reduces the volume moving past that point while increasing the speed due to the pressure behind.

When you pinch in the middle, the volume is restricted, but then expanded again, meaning the rest of the hose has reduced pressure and volume, due to the expanded area.

If you keep the hose pinched all the way along from the first pinch point to the end, the water will flow faster (but you'll have increased friction all along that stretch which will slow things down a bit).


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

[User]
Using a mutex to protect a bool in C

I have a one bit flag that'll be used across 2 pthreads. The first pthread will write to it once in a while, and the second pthread will read from it in a loop. Do I need a mutex to protect that one bit? It feels kinda overkill, but I don't want to run into hard-to-debug threading issues

Also, I saw that I may need to mark it volatile to avoid caching, is it an issue in this case? When would this be an issue?

[Assistant] Imo, whenever multithreading if there is any kind of a shared resource between two threads it is better to be safe than sorry. You gotta protect the shared resource, race condition problems is almost inevitable in these kinds of situations.


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

[User]
[LOTR] Why did the dwarves not make weapons out of mithril?

The only reason I can think of is that mithril was incredibly rare, at least in the third age, and still very rare before then. Mithril was used for Frodo's chainmail and even helmets of the guard of Minas Tirith, but given its strong properties once forged, I wondered why the dwarves never used it to make insanely strong swords or axes.

[Assistant]
Because dwarves usually depend on axes and hammers: weapons that use their weight to deal damage. Mithril is noted to be a very lightweight metal, practically like cloth. It just wouldn't have the weight needed for that kind of weapon.

So while it made a great defensive item, or perhaps a rapier or dagger, it wouldn't have the bite needed for a dwarven fighting style. They were not particularly graceful fighters, after all.

That said, it was mainly the elves that used mithril.


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

[User] How well is cetacean "language" understood, or, how complex is dolphin/whale language?

[Assistant]
very little is understood.

We know that they have signature whistles (names) they use to identify each other. Their signature whistle is similar to their mother. They have dialects. They can learn human sign language, both individual words and sentences. They also understand the difference in ordering of words. It seems that they have the capacity for using simple language, at least.


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

[User] ELI5: Why instant ramen can be cooked instantly with only hot water but pasta needs minutes for it to cook?

[Assistant]
Quick (Ramen) answer:

Instant ramen is already boiled, and then they deep fry it so it's crunchy like potato chips and you just need to get it soggy again.

Regular pasta needs to get soggy all the way through, and then heat it up enough that the starch soaks the water back up and makes it into a pasta texture.

---

Food science (Pasta) answer:

Think of the starch in pasta like a heat activated sponge, so it's tiny and crunchy when it's cold, and won't expand even if it gets wet, but then when you get it hot it spreads out like a sponge and can soak things up and it's soft. Just heating it up won't expand it though, if you just heated up you just scorch the little pellet rather than expanding it because life likes to make things hard for you.

The sponges in the ramen have already been expanded, they're just dry right right now. The sponges in the pasta still need to get hot with access to water for a while before they can soak stuff up.

As was pointed out by somebody in the comments, you can actually soak uncooked pasta to rehydrate it, it just takes forever, and it still won't really be tasty unless you bring it up to a boiling temperature to activate the starches. This does allow for cooking really quick batches of pasta though, and it plays into why fresh pasta cooks so much faster than dried.


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

[User] What is the knot in my stomach when I'm nervous/scared? Why is it there?

[Assistant]
During an episode of anxiety, lots of stress related hormones called catecholamines are released, and the body's "fight or flight" mechanisms are ramped up through the sympathetic nervous system.

Normally, this fight or flight sympathetic system is balanced by the rest and digest parasympathetic system - both are constantly balancing out the automatic processes in your body such as heart rate, contractions and relaxations in your digestive tract, etc.

Specifically in the digestive tract, your "rest and digest" system of nerves allows for digestive secretions, contractions of the muscles lining your digestive walls, and other mechanisms which allow for your food to be mixed up, absorbed, digested, and moved along.

However, when fight or flight takes over, digestion becomes less of a priority, and stress hormones and sympathetic nerves suppress these rest and digest functions. Less secretions, less digestion, less contractions and movement. Because this comes on so quickly, it can cause a nauseous sensation that can feel like knots in your stomach.

Also stress hormones can cause for more acid production in your stomach which can cause reflux. And your abdominal muscles may be tightening up due to the increased muscle contraction that comes during fight or flight.


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

[User] ELI5:Beef comes graded in prime, choice, select, etc. but chicken, pork, and other meats don't seem to have this distinction. Why?

[Assistant]
At least for chicken, there are grades! Its just A, B, and C though.

Grade A chicken is the kind you buy at retail. Grades B and C are used for ground meat or other processed products.

With beef products the grading describes the physical quality of the meat. Things like fat content, distribution, etc., and is legitimate tiers of meat. Ranging from cheap but serviceable with a poor fat content or muscle structure, to high quality expense with ideal meat and fat structure.

With poultry, since we only really cook and eat Grade A from the store, any grading would be arbitrary. It would be difficult to pin down any qualities that make one piece better, at least better enough to warrant grading.

Im unsure of pork and the others, though.


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

[User]
ELI5: why politicians paint themselves as being simple people and even anti-intellectual.

I wonder why politicians everywhere play this charade of them being simple and in touch with "the common man". They go visit small towns and say they are the "real country" against big city people.

Why do people all over the world fall for this? I think we should elect authorities based on their skills and experience.

I for one want captains of industry in the government, guys that built empires from nothing or refloated failing businesses, Nobel prizes, scientists, etc.

Yet, these people seem to always play down those atributes and go with the same tired propaganda.

[Assistant]
Because most people aren't captains of industry, and they don't think people who are rich or already powerful or already successful would understand the issues they face.

In general, people like people like them, so politicians say they are like the average person to get the vote of the average person.


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

[User] ELI5: How does a cut heal? Do the cells around it just replicate until they fill in the hole?

[Assistant] When your skin cells break they still behave (relatively) normally. Blood is what fixes the wound. The first response to a cut is called the coagulation cascade. Basically blood enters the cut region and clots the site with platelets and fibers called fibrin. It forms a scaffold for new cells to fit in, which release growth factors and other proteins to pull specialized cells to the wound site. Over time, these specialized cells pull fibrin together with collagen and form the extracellular matrix that was broken. The cells stuck in the matrix release proteins due to lack of oxygen (hypoxia) that starts angiogenesis (growth of new veins and arteries) allowing for capillaries to grow into the matrix to ensure cells receive oxygen and nutrients. Within this matrix are embedded cells, but at a lower concentration than regular skin. The blood is only focused on fixing the cellular matrix so it sort of overdoes it, forming a scar. Mechanical stability of the wound doesn't reach about 70 percent until a month later and never reaches 100% relative to original skin. This process is more specialized and extremely interesting, with different pathways and mechanisms to form clots.


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

[User]
[Star Wars]Who is the most dangerous person in the galaxy?

Jedi, sith, bounty hunters, who ever. Who is debatably the most dangerous person in the history of Star Wars?

[Assistant]
Darth Revan.

He's a wild card that has never been confirmed dead.

He has extensive training in both light and darkside powers and can easily rival the Skywalker family in both skill and raw power.

He has single handedly formed and defeated governments, alliances, empires and entire armies.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does spicy food act as a laxative?

[Assistant]
Hot spices are irritants, they indicate that there is a problem to the tissues they affect. In your mouth or even on your skin this can be sensed as pain, but inside your digestive tract this irritation is less consciously perceived. It is still there though, and your body may conclude that speeding up the process of digestion is a good idea to quickly expel the irritants.

Normally things are moved through the digestive system by peristalsis, an involuntary rhythmic series of muscle contractions that squeeze the mush through all your tubes. Increase the frequency of those contractions and everything speeds up! If overworked you can also start to feel painful cramping in your abdomen.


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

[User] ELI5:Why is it more expensive to execute someone than to simply put him/her in prison for life?

[Assistant]
The reason its more expensive to execute the person is not the actual cost of the execution, which is very inexpensive. The actual cost is the legal fees, which can be millions of dollars.

After some states killed several dozen innocent people, the laws started requiring them to make absolutely sure that the person was guilty, and in some states a death sentence has an AUTOMATIC appeal filed in the name of the accused killer, just because of the huge chance that they might be innocent.

Its turned out that a single state killed loads of innocent people when they actually knew completely that the person was innocent. The prosecutors actually hid evidence that proved they were innocent. So from now on, they are required to give the accused killers a fair chance to prove themselves innocent.

The laws vary, but the costs in additional lawyers and other professionals is extremely high. Even at $60,000 a year or more to house a prisoner, the cost of a death sentence can easily exceed the cost of housing a prisoner for 20 or 30 years.

So the cost is not actually due to the execution itself.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do planets and extraterrestrial bodies always appear as a spherical shape? I.e. why not square?

[Assistant]
LARGELY sphere-LIKE, not necessarily spherical. Some bodies rotate so fast that they're actually thicker along their "middle" and thinner from pole to pole. Others have big craters and stuff that mar their surface. And a great great many comets, asteroids and small moons aren't even close to spherical. Phobos and Deimos, the moons of Mars, look like potatoes.

But the big ones are generally sphere-like because that's how gravity works. It pretty much evenly pulls everything toward the centre (with lighter stuff like air being pulled less and metals being pulled more).

So if you get enough mass into a planet-sized object, the inward force of gravity will have a tendency to pull down the taller bits and fill in the lower bits until everything is an even distance away from the centre. So taller bits will spread out to the sides and lower bits will get filled up by the stuff that falls down the taller bits. Gravity attracts uneven stuff downward, and the more gravity (caused by the denser or larger the planet), the bigger the pull.

This doesn't work so well with big chunks of hard rock - and that's why we have mountains and why old, cold small moons or comets or asteroids that were once maybe a part of a planet are irregular - but it works great with gasses and liquids, and works quite well with dust and sand.

Considering most of the larger planetary bodies were either liquid or gas or dust at some point in their past life, gravity would have shaped them more-or-less into a sphere as their surfaces flowed around.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Why in the Marvel Universe does Earth not have intergalactic space flight capabilities?

Why with all this alien tech being destroyed on Earth, Tony Stark being a genius, etc. etc. is Earth limited in having advanced technology used only by certain people (avengers)? Even in the comics and such Marvel super heroes are always interacting with extra terrestrial beings and even beat them in some cases but why is Earth's technology so primitive in comparison to the Kree or Scrull or whatever aliens there are?

In the cinematic universe wakanda has technology to the extreme, even beyond something Stark can muster, so is FTL technology really that far out of their reach?

[Assistant]
Well, for starters, it's probable that few if any of the neighbouring star empires have the technology for easy or reliable intergalactic travel. It's not something you need, when a single galaxy is as large as it is.

Earth does have the technology for interstellar travel, but it's prohibitively expensive. Earth is surrounded by the aforementioned empires, none of which have any need of anything Earth can offer, and most of which are scared of and antagonistic towards Earth, on account of all its superhumans and its history of punching above its weight in interstellar politics. This is why pretty much all of them voted to turn Earth into a maximum security prison a few years back.

Of course, Earth does have enough technology to defend itself, and various governments have come together to form SWORD, and then to re-orient Alpha Flight, as planetary defence forces. These organisations have their own spaceships, and can visit alien worlds as necessary, but since we have no trade with them, and diplomacy is limited to "Earthlings fuck off, we don't want you conquering or destroying *our* empire, thank you very much", there's very little reason to do so.


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

[User] Why do metals glow a bright red when heated?

[Assistant] Everything above 0 Kelvin glows, the higher the temperature the higher the frequency of the photons i.e. light. And the photons in the frequency range visible by the human eye is emitted when metals are very hot. And of course this applies for any other matter too. Keep heating stuff up and you'll eventually see it glow.


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

[User]
I believe passive voice is better than active. CMV.

My writing style is heavily influenced by the passive voice. It has been ever since I can remember. Even though I use it often in my writing, I have no concrete objective reasons for liking it. To me it is is simply more elegant, professional, and flows smother. Although I don't want to change, I have been told by many of my high school teachers that some college professors hate it, and that its use may hurt my essays. I hope this is not true, but I would like to know before I enter this fall.

I apologize for my subjectiveness, but can someone please change my view?

Edit: Just a quick fyi. Although in English passive is frowned upon, others languages, like Spanish, encourage passive.

[Assistant]
I think the main attraction of active voice is that it is more concise than passive voice.

Action on the bill is being considered by the committee.

The committee is considering action on the bill.

The second sentence is much more straightforward and requires less mental processing.  Now, true, it isn't much, but when we're talking about a 5 page paper there is a noticeable difference in the effort required.

And what about a doctoral thesis?


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

[User]
CMV: College Needs to be Abbreviated

I say this as a masters student with plenty of college load debt already.

* I do not care if my physician knows doesnt know what was the cause of Barbary Wars.

* I do not care if the architect that designed the bridge I drive across every day  doesnt know what the diatomic elements are.

* I do not care that the chemical engineer developing a new drugs does not know what tempo Mozarts fourth symphony is in.

* I do not care that the aerospace mechanics/engineers who put potentially dangerous aircraft above us do not know the chemical bases of DNA.

* Does it matter if a marine biologist can identify art from the Baroque period? Does it matter if a neurosurgeon can speak broken phrases and French?

Colleges and Universities have got to stop with the stupid prerequisites. Stop trying to make Renaissance men of us all.

This would reduce the cost of graduating because you can take out 2 years worth of moronic courses that will have no profit in your career afterwards.

All classes should be oriented at one specific subject matter. No undeclared majors... hop right into it and get out quicker.

[Assistant]
University is not a jobs training program. If you want that, go to a vocational college. Jobs not available from a vocational training program are kept that way because there are more important things in those workplaces than simply production or providing a service.

The top universities are not known as such because they best prepare the students for their job. They are known as such because they best prepare the students to learn from, think about, and critically analyze whatever they may encounter in their daily life. Students gain this skill from having a good fundamental base of knowledge from a wide variety of subjects, the core curriculum: mathematics, language, natural sciences, and liberal arts. Teaching students subjects they didn't choose and aren't as comfortable with forces them to activate parts of their brain they may not be used to using intensively.

Whenever you learn something and reproduce that knowledge in a novel way, you have become smarter. Even if that connection will never be used in your life, it taught your brain how to process information better. Employers of college graduates aren't looking for robots to do a task they were already taught; They are looking for dynamic thinkers able to adapt to unpredictable changes and circumstances, thus they want university graduates. I'd argue most jobs that don't want dynamic thinkers already mostly hire vocational/trade school students anyways.


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

[User]
[MCU] Quick question about time travel

I'm a grad student researcher who has been helping to get current events added to the history textbook revisions coming out next year, and my team is covering the Battle of Earth and the events of the Blip.

From what I've been able to verify, there was some kind of time travel(!) involved in which members of the Avengers had to move backwards in time in order to collect essentially magical stones in order to put them all together in a gauntlet to undo the Decimation. A leaked document seemed to indicate that after the end of the battle, Steve Rogers moved backwards in order to return the stones, lest he create some kind of paradox whereby the stones couldn't have been used to begin with. Dr. Banner described it as "the impossibility of changing the future by changing the past" at a lecture at NYU earlier this year.

But Thanos, his Black Order, and a fairly large ground invasion force were apparently killed twice. The Black Order and much of his invasion force were killed in the Battle of Wakanda, and Thanos was beheaded by Thor. They were also all (presuming the same ground invasion force) decimated in the Battle of Earth. They died twice, and the versions of them at the Battle of Earth were not returned to the past so they could carry out the Battle of Wakanda and the Decimation.

I'm only a historian-in-training, so maybe I'm missing something, but I can't seem to square this circle, I have a publishing deadline coming up, and I'm already 5 years behind my life plan to become a history professor. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Assistant] When an event of this nature occurs, the time-path splits, temporarily creating a new reality. Using secrets from the captured Nebula, a Thanos from the past created one of these splits and came to the future of earth to grab the stones, a similar action to what the avengers did to re-collect them but in reverse. In a manner of speaking Thanos didn't die twice, two Thanos' died once, the second one's time branch was then trimmed by Steve Rogers so events there were prevented from having changed, but our main timeline still bears the scars of the others influence in the tragic effects of The Snap and the battlefield where the Avenger's northern base used to be.


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

[User]
[Star Trek] What is Klingon food like? And how would they feel about a vindaloo or a phall/phaal?

So I've had some downtime on a space station and there are some Klingons on board. I've always been interested in their culture and we seem to be getting along well; I'm honestly not sure why if I'm honest.

But they are a rough and rowdy sort, so they must like strong flavours in their foods, right? I was thinking of inviting them over for some curry and lager at some point, but I don't know how they'd react.

I was also wondering about Klingon foods, I'm tempted to try some but... honestly I'm not sure.

[Assistant]
They have restaurants. Go and ask for a variety platter or something.

They are also pretty accepting of other cultures, have an appreciation of art, and have a weird fetish for pain,. So depending on how well you know them you could max out the curry into a pain contest and venerate the finer points of mead and everything would be fine.


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

[User]
[Half-life/Portal] Which "Portal gun" was actually better?

Both Black Mesa and Aperture Science were working hard on moving objects from one place to another through the use of hand held devices. The Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device functionality seems to be very well known now with having limited zero point manipulation (must be in very close range) and being able to open effectively Wormholes between two designated points of the user. On the other side we have the Displacer Cannon from Black Mesa which at the time of the incident seemed to still be in testing and required ammunition which the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device did not.

 Also while there are some offensive uses to the Aperture version, it was mostly seeming to be utility based while the Displacer Cannon actually had offensive capabilities, possibly due to safeties not yet designed at the point it started to go into use. The other big difference is that the energy projectile from the cannon seems to move much slower but doesn't need a surface and instead it will transport whatever the projectile becomes in contact with as long as the object is only having the mass approx that of a human or less. The other part of it that goes along with the seemingly weaponization (or lack of safeties installed) is when the transport happens, anything around the energy ball when it discharges is damaged.

The final thing is with it that it seems the Displacer cannon, while able to use the same slingshot technology that was used in the larger stationary teleporters implemented by Black Mesa, due to that it seemingly sent anything on earth to Xen when used and any target on Xen was sent to earth. It is unclear if it had the ability to set destinations for it's target. The one man who was last in possession of it being not a scientist but rather a Soldier and he used it without any clear training or idea how it operated. To which he is lucky that he didn't get harmed by it's self teleport feature.

So to come back around, which is better? The non-weaponized and highly and thoroughly tested Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device or the weaponized Black Mesa Displacement Cannon prototype? I see the ease of use of Aperture's device a strong benefit due to little to no training seems necessary to operate it to the point they tested it's operation with not just the greatest minds but the least of minds, but in a world ravaged by rifts, dangerous alien attackers, and more a weapon that can be so effective in banishing them and damaging if not killing those around it as well as providing easy escape for it's user seems to be quite advantageous, even if it uses rare radioactive material as ammunition.

[Assistant]
Aperture Science's portal technology is vastly superior to Black Mesa's (and even the Combine's). The main difference is that Black Mesa's portals require a slingshot around the border world, Xen. This makes them dangerous, error-prone, imprecise, and unreliable. The Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device requires no interdimensional travel; it uses a quantum tunneling effect that is completely safe. The "offensive capabilities" of the displacer cannon that you mention are a side effect of the slingshot to Xen; they are not the intended function of the device and they make it absurdly dangerous to use.

The ASHPD has surprisingly low power requirements, requires only line of sight to a large enough portal-conductive surface (most white surfaces will do, though some materials, such as moon dust, conduct portals better than others), and allows you to see through both ends of the portal. And who says you can't use it offensively? You could use it to ambush enemies behind their lines, open portals below enemies, use them to deliver explosives, rapidly advance on an enemy position, sneak past security, change cover without the enemy knowing... it's pretty easy to imagine what someone like Gordon Freeman could do if he got his hands on the portal gun. That's part of the reason the *Borealis* is so important.


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

[User]
What's the difference between a N baryon and a  baryon?

What if both have the same quark content? What's the difference. Same with  and  baryons.

[Assistant]
There are a few differences between nucleons and ^(+)/^(0) baryons.

Their spins are different (1/2 versus 3/2). As a result, their masses are *very* different, because the strong force is spin-dependent. Another difference is their isospin.

The nucleons form an isospin-doublet (T = 1/2) while the deltas form an isospin quartet (T = 3/2).


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

[User] ELI5: The difference between a Therapist, Psychiatrist, and a Psychologist.

[Assistant]
Therapist: A person who doesn't necessarily have a degree (but they very often do). But works to help people through problems such as bereavements or social anxieties.

Psychologist: A person who studies the human brain and behaviour. These people mainly do research into why we are what we are. They study all types of human behaviour. From how we store memories. To why Mr Hitler was just that little bit too grouchy. They're also the ones who you can see and who will work things through with you a bit like a therapist.

Psychiatrist: These guys are doctors. But doctors of the mind. And treat things like Schizophrenia and Psychosis as medical conditions. They prescribe medication to patients and will help them in medical treatment to get better. Also, they will also sit down with you and talk through any problems you may need to talk about.


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

[User] ELI5: How does a virus, like rabies, cause a very specific psychological symptom in the brain, like fear of water? Also, what is the evolutionary advantage of virus-induced fears?

[Assistant]
This is a great question!  Rabies is one of the few viruses known that actually causes a behavioral change in the infected animal.  It's really quite amazing, but it all boils down to the virus optimizing it's own transmission.

Rabies gets into an animal (or human) from the bite of another infected animal.  Once injected into the muscle, the virus enters nerve cells and begins moving towards the brain.  This keeps it hidden from the immune system.

Not only does the virus go to the brain, but it also goes to the salivary glands, where it replicates to very high concentrations.  Further, the virus causes the production of large amounts of saliva.

In the brain, the virus causes an inability to swallow ("hydrophobia").  It also causes fear and aggression in the animal.

So, how does all this help the virus?  The virus replicates in the salivary glands.  It causes large amounts of saliva in order to carry the virus.  It prevents the animal from swallowing the virus-filled saliva as well.  Further, the virus causes the animal to be afraid and aggressive, thus more prone to bite.  All of this promotes the efficient transmission of the virus, and thus carries an evolutionary advantage for the virus.  Quite cool!


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

[User] ELI5: If the reason behind the marbled meat of Wagyu cattle is genetic and it tastes so good as everyone claims, how come they aren't even close to being the most common beef cattle in the world?

[Assistant] Its incredibly time and resource intensive as well.  Wagyu beef costs so much more to produce than regular beef.  Beyond that, there simply isnt a benefit to it for many uses of beef, like ground beef.  All that marbling is wasted.  Think of it like high end sports car.  Its by far a nicer automobile than, say, a Camry, but the Camry is way more economical and practical most of the time.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Why is Slytherin allowed to even exist as a house?

I know Slytherin House represents certain positives like cunning, ambition and pursuit-of-perfrction but they're also a *consistently evil* faction.  It's not just one particular bad egg, the very founder is a monster and the history of house is long and storied with attrocities.

It's like having your kid go to a school with big clubs and they're told: "Hey!  Here's the volleyball team!  Here's the Robotics Club!  Over there is the student council!  And here we have the Nazi Party!"

Is there an explanation?  I read the whole series ten years ago but my memory is foggy.

[Assistant] I'd argue that the sorting system itself is what creates a breeding ground for the majority of evil wizards in Slytherin.  If the students were mixed rather than living in an echo chamber for seven years, you might end up with more well rounded people.  Dumbledore even makes a comment to this effect.


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

[User]
ELI5: How is it that phones differentiate between fingers touching the screen and material objects?

So yeah, in my immense procrastination efforts for my exam, I was sitting with my pen and poking it at my phone. Why is it that when I try to operate my phone with a pen it will not work, but when doing it with my fingers it works seamlessly? How does the phone know that it is human fingers operating the screen and why is that only way the phone can be operated?

[Assistant]
Explanation: Your fingers conduct electricity and are capable of completing an electrical circuit at the point of contact. Certain objects can also do this, but many do not, hence why wearing certain kinds of gloves, for instance, won't manipulate the screen, while others will. The screen is programmed to respond to this completed circuit in certain ways depending on where exactly it's completed, hence how you can select a button on the homepage and have it go to a specific app. The phone isn't doing anything to actively discern a finger from an object; it's just electrical conduction.

Edit: Wording and fleshing out a full explanation.


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

[User] [DC] How powerful would the lantern corps be if they were united?

[Assistant]
If you mean all of them in a battlefield, most likely not as powerful as each of them "separated" iirc Sinestro has such a hate for the green lanterns that in the old comics if a yellow and green lantern were together their rings started acting strange. Also have in mind Blue lanterns boost the Green ones but kind of disables the Red ones.

If you mean politically, as a kind of galactic government they would be a force to be reckoned with. They do survive and fight Brainiac/Darkseid/The anti monitor/Trigon etc in many comics.


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

[User]
[Starwars{legends OK}]Before the original three holocrons were rediscovered, what did what were peoples theories on the Clone Wars, old Jedi order, etc.

I was lucky enough to grow up in age after the fall of the Empire. When the original three holocrons were discovered, I heard they shed a great deal of light on the events leading up to and the rise of the empire. But before this time, I can imagine people had many theories on what the Clone Wars, Jedi order, and specific historical figures such as the emperor looked like. What were some theories on these events before we learned about them through the ~~Prequal trilogy~~ Original Holocrons ?

[Assistant]
(In case you're wondering, you can just ask 'What were peoples theories before the Prequel Trilogy came out)
One of the big theories was about a completely different Clone Wars were people were fighting against their own clones.
There was a theory that Obi Wan Kenobi was actually a clone of the jedi Ben Kenobi, and that his name was actually OB1.


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

[User]
ELI5: On Election Night, How Do They Determine Who Has Won A State After Calculating Only 1% Of The State's Votes?

sorry if this has already been asked, but I couldn't find it in the search query.

[Assistant]
Normally they won't call an election won with only 1% of precincts reporting.  It's just an indicator.

Usually, it is known ahead of time how certain counties vote.  They can extrapolate from that how the rest of an election goes, but they won't call an election until a higher % of precincts have reported their results.


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

[User] ELI5: how we detect water in the atmosphere of a planet 110 light years away.

[Assistant]
We use super-powerful telescopes that can look out into space in a wide range of spectrums of light.

So when we start looking for potentially habitable planets, what we often start with is finding planets that are orbiting around a star in the "Goldilocks Zone". This term is a play on the Goldilocks story, where the perfect bowl of porridge is "not too hot, not too cold". So when a planet is too close to its sun, it's too hot for life to exist (as far as we know) and so hot that any water it might have had would just evaporate away. And when it's too far from the sun, it's too cold for life (as far as we know) and any water it might have would be frozen solid. So the Goldilocks Zone is where a planet is just the right distance away from the sun to have 1. Liquid water, and 2. Potential life..

So once we find a planet at the right distance from the sun, we can look at it through these powerful telescopes. Now the specific planet we're talking about here is much too far away for us to see it in detail, so through a telescope it kind of just looks like a little dot. But what we CAN see is the sun going dim each time the planet passes in front of it as the planet orbits. It's almost like seeing a little mini solar eclipse. Every time the telescope sees the sun go dark for a second, we know the planet has just passed in front of it.

Ever more cool is that the scientists can then look at the color of the sun's light as it passes through that planet's atmosphere. Like imagine if you had a pink balloon and you filled it with blue water. If you just hold the balloon in your hand all you see is the pink rubber. But if you hold the balloon up in front of a really powerful lightbulb, that light will pass through the balloon and shine through the blue water, and we can see the blue through the thin pink skin of the balloon.

So when we watch the planet, and we see the light of the sun filtering through its atmosphere, we can tell what that atmosphere is made of, because different gasses and substances show up as different colors. And by analyzing the colors we can tell that there's a great deal of water vapor in that atmosphere. We can't tell exactly how much water, but we can see that it's there, and that's a big deal.

Now, just because a planet is in the Goldilocks Zone and it has water, that doesn't automatically  mean that we could just land on it and live normal lives. It's too far away for us to see the surface so it could be covered in evil man-eating slime monsters, or it could be a planet that has water but absolutely no life at all, or there could be weird gasses that would kill any life form we know of.  But finding water is a good start, and as technology advances we'll be able to see more and more.


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

[User]
ELI5: What exactly happened during the stock market crash of '08 and why did the American public suffer so greatly and for so long afterwards?

Everyone always talks about the crash and the Depression that followed, but I never quite understood every aspect. I want to know how inflation, real estate, and major corporations come into the picture. Please help!

[Assistant]
The (relatively) short version:

Banks found ways to lend money to people to purchase homes who would have, in the past, been considered to risky to lend to by spreading the risk around to other investors. This fed a housing bubble because there was a huge growth in demand for homes and people bought in hoping the price of real estate would keep rising.

Obviously, it didn't, and when real estate markets crashed a lot of big banks found themselves with a lot of mortgages that were never going to get paid off. This threatened to shut down the financial sector. When banks stop lending economic activity slows massively. While bank bailouts averted a complete credit freeze and collapse of the financial sector, the crisis still led to a massive recession.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can children learn two or more languages without mixing them while growing up?

Simply: I have a little sister, she's 3 years old.  Since I'm always watching some american/british series and tv shows (like Steven Universe), she's growing up watching those with me (we are brazilians, so she's growing listening and speaking mostly portuguese ~~and nonsense~~)

I couldn't help but notice that recently, she's noticing the differences between portuguese and english, for example, I'm watching something, then she comes and says:

"Ela disse 'ball' haha" (she said 'ball' haha)

or then

"Blue, why are you watching english?"

Sometimes I even ask things like: "Do you wanna listen to 'Let it Go' in english, or portuguese?" and she freaking understands the difference between both, and reply either "english" or "portuguese".

**How so?**

[Assistant]
Young children are still at an age where they are learning language and the constructs of it. This makes it easier for them to acquire new language, because they can learn the ins and outs of both languages at fairly quickly. They're not "cemented" into one language yet. Their brains have a plasticity to them that make it easier to form new connections in contrast with an adult brain that isn't as moldable.

I teach 3 year olds, have several bilingual students, and one trilingual student. She has been slower on the uptake of language at all, because she gets the languages confused, but even in the last 3 months of school she's become more fluent in both English and Spanish (both of which are spoken at school). It's really amazing to see what a three year old's brain is capable of.


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

[User]
Has the universe existed long enough for entire galaxies to have been born and died?

Certainly it has happened with stars, but could an entire galaxy have formed and died out in the time since the big bang? I vaguely feel like the universe isn't old enough for that yet, but I'm not an astronomer.

(this question inspired by a meme I saw that said "Cthulhu saw galaxies flare into life and fade from view before he put madness in the minds of men")

[Assistant]
Define died out. Do you mean every star within them gone out? If that's what you mean, then no. All galaxies will invariably contain Red Dwarfs and White Dwarfs. Both stars have live spans that are so massively long, they will not die for what is conceivably, forever.

Red Dwarfs livespans are nearly 1-10 trillion years,

The sun will exist for another 5 billion years by comparison.

The entire universe is only 13.75 billion years old.

White Dwarfs are theorized to continue shining for a billion billion years.

So do you consider a galaxy to be its parts? If the stars in a galaxy are still alive is the galaxy? Astronomers consider a galaxy dead when they are no longer producing new stars, in which case, yes we have found galaxies that fit that criteria.


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

[User] CMV: Taxi meter laws are outdated and are only being argued for to maintain a monopoly.

[Assistant]
To clarify, are you attacking the general licensure and regulation scheme for taxis, or specifically the meters?

This might be a terminology thing. In the US, the meter is specifically just the machine which tracks distance and calculates price. The license to drive a taxi is called something else.  NYC calls it a medallion for instance, but some places just call it a license.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it that humans have no knowledge of reproduction at birth, while most animals have it hardwired into their genetics?

[Assistant]
Humans also have it hard wired into their genetics. The programming just doesn't seem to turn on until puberty.

Emphasis on "seem" because most prepubescents would have curiosity about reproduction, but society trains them to keep it hidden until they're older.


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

[User] ELI5:How come the 4x100m relay world record (37.10s) gives a faster time than the 100m world record (9.58s) multiplied by 4? This gives each runner an average time of 9.275s, faster than any 100m ever ran. How is this possible?

[Assistant]
The fastest person in the world today is Usain Bolt - he can run 100 meters from a stationary start in 9.58 seconds. He set that time in 2009 and during that race he traveled between the 60 meter and 80 meter markers in 1.61 seconds which is 44.7 km/h or 27.8 mph, the fastest anyone has ever run.

If he was allowed a running start and went on to run the whole race at that speed he would finish in 8.06 seconds. That's 1.52 seconds faster than his standing start record. In real life it's not possible to run quite that fast over the full 100 meters - Usain also holds the record for the fastest electronically recorded time for a 4 x 100 leg at 8.65 seconds.

In a 4 x 100 relay three of the four runners in each team get a running start and have an extra 20 meters to get up to speed before their 100 meters starts. The first 10 meters of that are purely for acceleration, the next ten are for handover within the first runner's 100 meter distance.


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

[User] ELI5: How do automatic guns deal with the heat that would be created from the friction of so many bullets passing through the barrel so quickly?

[Assistant]
Some automatic guns, typically machine guns, have replaceable barrels that are meant to be interchanged when they overheat. Some older machine guns were even water-cooled, or had rotating barrels that would share the thermal load (i.e. the classic Gatling gun).

Otherwise, the barrels are just kept well ventilated so that airflow will cool them off. Most automatic weapons, like assault rifles, aren't really meant to be fired continuously, so overheating isn't much of a problem in normal use.


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

[User]
Would Superman be noticeably more effective if he learned how to fight?

So, it seems pretty obvious that Superman has no clue how to fight.  He pretty much sticks to punching stuff.  He certainly never seems to block, which makes sense against bullets, but he gets knocked down enough that it might help.  Compared to someone like Batman, Superman is clearly unskilled.  Would it matter if he was?  Would he become far more effective if he learned how to fight as if didn't have the superstrength/speed, or is he already powerful enough that such training would be superfluous?

[Assistant]
Superman is actually versed in two forms of Kryptonian Martial Arts, one focusing on his physical actions, the other designed to strengthen his mental fortitude and resistance to mental intrusion.

The simple reality is, Superman rarely needs to do anything more and just punch things. Chaining together multiple attacks in the same was as conventional martial arts is also not exactly useful for Superman, since one hit is likely to launch an opponent dozens, if not hundreds of meters, making followup difficult.


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

[User]
[Comics/superhero fiction] Do supers with super strength also weight train? Would it make a difference, or do their powers already max them out?

The only time I think I've seen anything like this was in the incredibles, when Mr. Incredible tries to get back in shape by doing weight training at the train yard. Even in his older age, he was naturally insanely strong, but training managed to improve his condition.

Would the same apply to other heroes? Could Superman get stronger if he trained with something that challenged him physically, or does being Kryptonian and living in a yellow sun already max him out? Or could even the Hulk improve if he had some kind of extreme work out regimen?

[Assistant] Superman would not get stronger. His strength is entirely from the Sun. Hulk's is entirely from anger. But someone like Spider-Man, who's strength *is* from muscle, would get stronger with weight training.


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

[User]
ELI5: How long would it take to go outside after a nuclear detonation?

When would it be safe to leave your hiding spot or what would happen if you leave too soon?

[Assistant]
It depends on how close the explosion was to ground level, and how big it was, how much protective gear you are wearing, and how long you would be staying (are you coming out of hiding just to leave the area, or are you planning to live there?)

TLDR: Bigger warheads, and detonations that are closer to the ground tend to leave behind more radioactivity; the more protective gear you are wearing, the sooner you can come out. If you want to stay in the area long term, that makes a big difference compared to leaving your hiding spot and them getting the hell out of dodge.


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

[User] [LOTR] What happened when Galdriel rose with a green hue and challenged Sauron?

[Assistant]
She drew upon the power of Nenya, the Adamant Ring of the Three, the only rings created by the great smith Celebrimbor that did not fall under the influence of Sauron. Gandalf and Elrond had the other two.

She also possibly drew upon innate powers as the only notable Noldor, or high elf, to remain in Middle Earth until the close of the Third Age.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why was Mace Windu so visibly annoyed when Qui-Gon mentioned Anakin for the first time?

It seems like a highly Force sensitive person should be interesting to the Jedi.

[Assistant]
There's always a guy at the office who's known for bringing up inane shit, inventing problems, and just wasting time.

To most of the council, that was Qui-Gon, and this was just a "here we go again" to them.


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

[User]
[Marvel 616] How powerful is Loki with magic? Where on the magic hierarchy does he stand?

In comparison to other magic users in the universe how good is Loki? Is he nearly as good as the best such as Strange, Doom, Hela, etc or is he just a pretty good magic user with a mischievous twist?

[Assistant] He's up there with Strange and Doom. He generally doesn't do huge magical rituals as a way of solving problems, tending to be more creative with schemes, but if he has to, he can stand up to them in a magical duel.


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

[User]
[Walking Dead] What Happened to the US Military stationed in overseas Bases?

We only saw the Army, National Guard and possibly the Air National Guard along with the Air Force during Operation Cobart and when they bombed certain urban areas. What about the Carriers and support groups?

[Assistant]
It depends how quickly information about the virus got to the bases before they came under attack, a lot of the early casualties came about because they didn't know head shots were the only way to put down the infected permenently and soldiers are trained to aim for the centre mass.

I can see any base near a heavily populated area being overrun quickly while other places would be able to hold out longer providing there's no sick people on base but being overrun eventually as the dead come looking for more food.

Ships at sea might last longer but all it takes is someone dying before the infected take over.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do you often get a long-lasting, unstimulated erection when you're really sleepy?

[Assistant]
From Wikipedia "Nocturnal penile tumescence (abbreviated as NPT), also known colloquially as morning wood, is a spontaneous erection of the penis during sleep or when waking up. All men without physiological erectile dysfunction experience nocturnal penile tumescence, usually three to five times during the night, typically during REM sleep.[1] NPTs are believed to contribute to penile health.[2]"

I seem to recall the spongy tissues of the penis can develop scar tissue if blood flow is suboptimal in a flaccid penis for 24 hours. Your body is performing routine maintenance to keep it in working order.


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

[User] ELI5: What happens when your injected with blood of a incompatible type?

[Assistant]
You must first understand how bloodworks:
Type a blood has an "A" antigen(basically a license plate for your cells to tell your immune system what they do)
Type B blood only has a "B" antigen
Type AB has both an "A" and a "B" antigen
Type O has none of these antigens

So your immune system is good at attacking anything that it doesn't see as normal. It is afraid of change so it will kill bacteria and stuff but also any foreign cells. So your immune system uses the antigens to see if the blood is the same type as it. If you have type O(no antigens) but your immune system sees a type A blood cell then it will pour all its resources into getting rid of the type A blood cells and you will get sick from your immune system not being able to do more important things.

Now let's talk about donations: if you have type O blood then you can donate your blood to anybody(no matter the blood type of the recipient ) and type O people are known as universal donors for this. They can donate to anybody because their blood has no antigens and thus can't be recognized as foreign to the immune system(it's a bit like taking off your license plate because the police can't identify you). If you have type AB blood you are a universal recipient because you have both A and B antigens so your body won't attack the blood because it thinks it's natural.

I hope that helped
Source:I am in a college Hematology class.


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

[User]
ELI5: What happened with the Ron Paul delegates at the Republican convention

I don't mean the ruckus that resulted afterwards. I mean the process by which they could decide not to seat some delegates and seat others.

[Assistant]
At the opening of any national convention, the first 'vote' from the assembled delegates is to adopt the 'rules' which govern how the convention will run and even set future rules for future contests. This is a hold over from the old days when state parties had all the power (now the national party does) and conventions actually decided nominations and not just elaborate 4 day TV commercials.

The rules to be adopted this time included among other things, a refusal to recognise the delegates from the state of Maine (where Ron Paul delegates got the majority but there are a lot of legal shenanigans about who won what were), and also included rules for future primaries which would ban tactics used by the Ron Paul campaign (The new rules say the delegates have to match the popular vote count, what RP supporters had been doing was going to state conventions and caucuses, where thier turnout was better and using arcane rules to increase their delegate count, its all very complicated and state by state, but the ELI5 is: the RNC is trying to stop any future Ron Paul revolutions before they happen).

Now traditionally the 'rules vote' is such a boring and procedural and uncontroversial thing that they do it by something called a voice vote, the speaker asks for 'ayes' and 'nays' and the loudest side wins. Again usually everyone says aye, no one says nay, and they can move on with speeches and other, more tele friendly stuff.

This time, with the controversial changes in the rules, when they called the voice vote, the ayes and nays sounded exactly the same. What supposed to happen is they pull out paper and start actually counting votes from the delegates. But John Boener ignored this and stated the 'ayes' won. The Ron Paul delegates and supporters relized that the RNC was going to force them out of the party's rule making process and that this was the elite's way of stopping any grass roots movement in the GOP. So they flooded out of the convention and told as many reporters as possible about how the RNC was acting undemocratic and breaking their own rules and steamrolling regular party members.

Combine this with a series of legal battles over the results of many of the state caucuses, where Ron Paul supporters believed that Mitt Romney friendly state parties stole delegates from their totals by again, breaking rules; and that Ron Paul was only offered a speaking slot if he would let the Romney campaign 'vet' (review and edit) his speech and give a full, unequivocal endorsement; and you've pretty much pissed off all the Ron Paul people.


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

[User]
[Spider-Man] Why doesn't Peter sell his pictures to ANY other publication?

JJ hates Spider-Man, treats Peter like garbage, pays Peter pennies, makes a smear campaign for Spider-Man...

Why doesn't Peter take his business to any publication other than the Daily Bugle?

[Assistant] Most other newspapers got tired of putting Spider-Man on their front page. Yes, it's good for a few days, but eventually people get bored of it. JJ is obsessed with Spider-Man, so he's willing to put Spider-Man on the cover anytime there's an interesting news story about him.


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

[User]
[Star Trek] Why is Starfleet seemingly uninterested in developing ways to fight Q and other cosmic entities?

The various ships on the shows have had numerous encounters with these things, yet there doesn't seem to be a single mention of anyone trying to study them or come up with a way to beat them. Shouldn't it be one of Starfleet's top priorities to figure out how to stop entities that can blink planets out of existence? Since you've got these things running around the universe, Starfleet should probably have a way to defend themselves

EDIT: We know that you can build weapons to kill them thanks to Voyager, so Starfleet's unwillingness to even try seems a little weird. Why isn't Section 31 at least looking into it?

[Assistant]
When they were discovered, the Borg were more or less the most existential threat the Federation had ever faced. Figuring out a way to handle them became a top Starfleet priority ... but one that was handed by Not The Enterprise Crew.

There are certainly branches of Starfleet dedicated to figuring out who, what, and how the Q are, but that off-screen action is likely to be even less interesting than Borg-based research.

At least with the Borg, you have physical laws to fuck around with. The Borg tune their personal shields to the frequency of our phasers ... let's use frequency shifting to keep our weapons working! The Borg have a hive mind ... maybe we can plant a computer virus in one, and wipe out the whole! The Borg are all pale and clammy ... maybe they have a Vitamin D deficiency we can exploit!

The Q Task Force, on the other hand, is essentially going to be a bunch of atheist theologians sitting around arguing about how to kill God.

The Q appear to be somewhere around a Type III (or higher) civilization. A single Q can wipe out a planet with the snap of a finger (which they just conjured for themselves from the nothing), or travel back in time and prevent your tiny civilization from ever emerging from the primordial goo.

Realistically, the task force's TODO list would be one item long: figure out how to Sublime. Anything short of that, and you only risk antagonizing the Q with your efforts.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is it that Africa isn't home to the most developed and advanced societies on Earth when humans have been there longer than anywhere else?

Africa is the cradle of humanity. We were adapted by millions of years of evolution to thrive there. Modern humans existed there hundreds of thousands of years before ever leaving for other parts of the world. So why is it that most African countries are so underdeveloped and behind compared to the rest of the world?

[Assistant]
In short, it's because development isn't a straight path forward. A civilization's ability to thrive is highly dependent on its environment, and many civilizations are overtaken by neighbors or eventually collapse--with a loss of knowledge in the process.

In the past few centuries, Europe accelerated ahead of the rest of the world and colonized the globe. When we say that Africa is not "developed," it's in reference to the Western standard, which is the furthest ahead. But there was a time when Europe was inferior in development to the Arab world or the Chinese Empire, too.

The playing field is not level, countries switch positions in the hierarchy all the time, and we only ever look at a snapshot of history produced by the most recent events.


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

[User]
Why isn't flourine the substance with the highest boiling point if it's the most electronegative element?

I was confused as to why tungsten is considered to have the highest boiling point compared to flourine that has a very low one (according to some online sources). What determines the differences in boiling points between elements?

[Assistant] That's because the melting point has nothing to do with electronegativity. It's about the intermolecular bond strength. Fluorine as a molecule is unpolar, which means that the bonds between the molecules are mostly Van-der-Waals type, which are quite weak.


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

[User] How can we know details about animals that lived thousands of years ago if all we have are bones?

[Assistant] Bone size indicates the weight it had to support. Attachment points show what sort of musculature it had. Size and length of limbs and the angles they make with the torso indicate how it could move and how fast. Jaw and teeth give clues about diet. Then there are things like chest size and lung capacity, whether it has feathers, defensive armour which indicate a prey animal, and so on.


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

[User] Why is Neptune warmer than Uranus?

[Assistant] There isn't a great deal between the two, but because of the huge distance that both are from the Sun neither gets much warmth from the Sun. Instead some heat is generated by internal motion within the planet, partially assisted by the Sun striking the pole as Neptune is "tipped over"


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

[User]
Why doesn't dark matter collapse together to form black holes?

If they aren't really interacting what force is stopping their collapse?

[Assistant]
Ignoring any interactions, a cloud of gas of either normal or dark matter will not collapse so long as the gas has sufficient thermal energy (i.e. random motion of the particles) to maintain equilibrium with the gravitational potential energy of the cloud.

If a non-interacting cloud is too hot and/or not dense enough, it will simply disperse. If it is dense, cool, and massive enough it will undergo collapse.

With normal matter, the electromagnetic interaction helps collapse to occur, as heat energy is radiated away in the form of photons. This may cool a cloud of gas as it collapses. In this regard dark matter may be less prone to collapse than normal matter, as there may be no interaction which will produce a substantial amount of radiative cooling.

So as long as an effectively non-interacting cloud of dark matter is not overly dense, massive and/or cool, gravity will not overcome the gas pressure and it will not collapse.


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

[User]
ELI5:How did my plane yesterday depart late but it was able to reach the destination before it's original scheduled arrival time?

My plane the other other day left it's origin about an hour after it was originally meant to. How then did it arrive to my destination before it's original scheduled arrival? Did the pilot just put his foot down?

[Assistant] We generally do not fly "as fast as we can go". We fly at a speed that is calculated by our airline to be a nice balance of speed and fuel economy. However, if a flight is behind schedule and could potentially impact the departure times of flights further down the line, then we can be authorized to kick it up a notch, so to speak, and try to make up some time in the air. We can also pester air traffic control for a few extra "shortcuts" along the way if we really feel that we need to catch up a bit with our schedule.


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

[User]
How do we know how far away the planets are from the sun?

I know that distances can be measured by laser but only if it gets reflected on the object, so that wouldnt work quite well I guess? How do we find out the exact distance between planets and the sun or other astronomical objects without sending a probe that is kept track of? I cant think of any other method to measure such long distances and when I asked my father about it he didnt really know either, he just said that it could maybe be derived by the planets weight and how fast it moves, but how do we know the weight?

(I am sorry for my lack of english skills and hope that this isnt a dumb and silly question)

[Assistant]
Look for "Kepler's Third Law."

Kepler discovered that the square of the period of a planet (the planet's year) is proportional to the cube of its distance from the sun.

So if we say that Earth is 1 AU from the sun and it has a 1-year year, then we can look at Mars with a year of 1.88 years. That tells us a = (1.88)\^(2/3)= 1.52. So we'd calculate Mars was 1.52 AU from the sun, which is correct.


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

[User]
ELI5: If we discover a really rare mineral/element on another planet that could be used for many purposes on Earth (like in Avatar), how will we share it?

Suppose it is useful in making superoconductors/supermagnets or efficient desalination of sea-water or unlimited energy...

Will the finders be keepers?

Do the countries already have a treaty to deal with it?

Do they just let multinational mining giants go get it?

Will there be a new way to share/allot this? Who will decide the rules?

[Assistant]
Who knows?

Currently there are treaties which say that space belongs to all of humanity...... but that's between countries.  If private companies get up there then they are probably not bound by the treaties unless their country says that they are.


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

[User] ELI5: If fruit get their nutrients to grow from the tree, how do they continue to grow or ripen after they are picked from the tree?

[Assistant] Fruits that continue to ripen as they are picked normally contain lots of starches that get converted into sugar like bananas.  Some fruits like tomatoes will ripen if the vine is cut and they are left on the vine as there are still some nutrients left.


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

[User]
ELI5:What does Daft Punk actually do in a 'performance' on stage? I'm wondering what more they do than simply hit play on their songs.

I watched Daft Punk's performance at the Grammy's with Pharrell Williams and Stevie Wonder and was curious as to what the two guys actually control on their computers on stage. Does anybody know what they do specifically, or have experience doing a DJ performance like that themselves?

[Assistant]
Some DJ's just press play, but other DJ's orchestrate, mix, cue and compose live - a feat that's no walk in the park. Nowadays, recent technological leaps mean that the degree to which a performance is pre-recorded really depends on the artist and what approach they've decided to take.
I know in the past daft punk has done a lot of difficult, time-sensitive live work, but that may have changed with their recent ascension to super stardom.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does scratching an itch temporarily relieve it only to trigger more itchiness afterwards?

[Assistant]
When you scratch at an itch, your nerves transmit pain signals to the brain. This blocks this itching sensation temporarily. It's like you are distracting your brain and causing it to pay attention to something else.

The brain responds to pain signals by releasing the neurotransmitter serotonin. A study done at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that serotonin may cause the itching to get worse. The researchers had two strains of mice. One strain was incapable of producing serotonin. Both strains were injected with a chemical which is known to cause itches. The mice which couldn't make serotonin didn't scratch.

So, basically: When you scratch, it hurts. Your brain releases serotonin in response, which causes the itch to get worse.


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

[User]
[WH40K] Commorragh sounds like an awful place. How do we blow it up?

You know, for the Emperor.

[Assistant]
First let's define what Commoragh is:

When two or more webway tunnels intersect that intersection contains a spacious area. That is essentially what Commoragh is, a nexus of numerous webway intersections. Due to its location, it is at the heart of several sub-realms that are connected by webway portals through Commoragh. Hence it is essentially a 'port' city.

Because of the reasons above, Commoragh is NOT contiguous, meaning it can't just simply be subjected to exteriminatus. Now assuming that the Imperium had access to a webway tunnel leading to Commoragh; then those access tunnels will simply be closed shut and the Imperium forces divided and butchered. Not to mention it's a called a *tunnel* for a reason, large fleets can't simply pass through.

But hey let's assume that a Crusade sized fleet along with several Space Marine Chapters managed to warpically (magically)  assault Commorragh, then honestly? Commoragh is fucked. The Salamanders seriously fucked up Commoragh and played an essential role in Vect's rise to power. A Crusade's going to blamerize Commoragh.

But that wouldn't stop (Dark) Eldar raids, the Archons of Commoragh's sub-realms would just seal their portals so the Imperium wouldn't be able to get them. They'd actually thank the Imperium for getting rid of Vect (hell they might even do it themselves during the chaos of battle). There would still be Dark Eldar worlds to move to, and Eldar corsairs (which are composed of both Craftworld and Dark Eldar) would still be a plague to Imperial Shipping.

But without Commoragh to 'unite' them cooperation between Archons would be harder. Meaning planet scale raids may be significantly (or totally) be reduced.

In any case, Khain's Gate is collapsing so Commorragh is already fucked. No need to send the Emperah's Fureh.


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

[User]
How does the photon of specific phase that causes stimulated emission in a laser device arise?

I understand that when a photon of specific properties (phase, wavelength..) comes near an excited atom with sufficient energy, the atom will most probably release a photon that has the same properties as the first photon and will fall to a lower energy state. I understand this is how light is amplified in a laser device after population inversion is achieved. I just don't understand one thing. Where does the photon that causes stimulated emission in the device come from in the first place? I tried to think of an explanation taking spontaneous emissions as a factor and using brewster's window for polarization but that seemed really unintuitve for some reason. Is there an external entity that increases the probability of the spontaneously emitted photons to be in a specific phase? It would be a great help if someone could explain this. Thanks!

[Assistant] The first photon doesn't have to have a specific phase. Whatever it has determines the phase of the laser. In terms of direction and polarization: If it is not aligned with the laser cavity (or has the wrong polarization, if that is relevant), this chain of photons dies down quickly and another "first photon" will start the laser. Note that actual lasers do not emit *perfect* laser light. You can still get all sorts of weird effects in between.