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

[User]
Eli5: How do memories work? How are they stored in the brain and how do we access them?

Its crazy to me. I was driving and trying to remember something I heard on the radio earlier this morning, and I could *FEEL* I was close to remembering it. Then I suddenly did remember.

[Assistant]
Your brain is built on a web of neurons. The neurons themselves are connection points that "activate" when excited, broadcasting to the neurons they are connected to. They don't store any information. However, the connections *between* the neurons act as an encoding mechanism. So, imagine you get some input, like you see something. The optic nerves are excited, they are attached to the part of your brain that handles optical input, passing that excited signal along in different ways (sort of like a game of Plinko). Different neurons require different amounts of incoming "excitement" to activate themselves. They then cascade that activation through the brain in different ways depending on the type of input they got.

Imagine a spiderweb. Let's say you see a bicycle. A certain pattern of strands in the web "vibrate", but not all of them. Every time you see a bicycle that same pattern vibrates in the web. That pattern is the concept of a bicycle as it pertains to visual input. Let's say you see a motorcycle, you might activate ALMOST the same pattern, with a few strands being different. That's because the more similar the pattern, the more similar the ideas. If you saw, say, a banana, it might activate a COMPLETELY different pattern. This is how your brain conceptualizes everything (neural activation patterns). It works like an encoding in a lot of ways. That pattern is your brain's own personal encoding for "bicycle". Another brain would associate that pattern with something, potentially, completely different (but in actuality would probably not be able to make sense of it at all, since that brain wouldn't have the same neural connections).

As you learn things, experience things etc, new connections in the web are made to accommodate new encodings. As you forget things, old connections are dissolved/degraded (because they aren't being used as often) also to make room for new encodings. Not every brain is equal in this process, but every brain works this way. Some are more efficient at it others not as much.

This is a contrived example. But it gives the gist of how the brain stores and recalls information. It's not like a computer's hard drive at all. It's a completely different mechanism.


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

[User] ELI5: what would happen to a person being turned upside down indefinitely? What is happening inside the body?

[Assistant]
The human body normally works with gravity as much as possible, and has to develop methods to work against it. Our legs have a very powerful hookup to pull the blood back up from the bottom, for example.

However, our brain doesn't. Normally, blood will flow back out of the head with little effort due to gravity. If placed upside down, the blood would begin to pool in the head, as the vessels there are not expecting to work against gravity.

Eventually, this would cause the blood vessels to burst. Apparently, reverse hanging was a fairly common form of torturous execution in the past, and they would frequently right the victim every 4 - 6 hours to let the blood leave the head -- the idea being not to provide relief, but to extend the suffering.

Supposedly, it's lethal after 10 - 24 hours. It obviously depends on the level of physical fitness.


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

[User] ELI5: How do the major religions finance themselves?

[Assistant]
Through the greatest nation in the world: Donation.
Otherwise known as tithing, churches, temples, mosques, etc. take donations from their members to fund the organization's members and operations costs. Some religions require a certain amount of your income, or "recommend" it. Each individual church, temple, mosque, then feeds a portion of it's collections to the higher governing body in the heirarchy until it reaches the top of the religion as a whole.
They do alright, for the most part. Especially since a lot of their income is not taxable in many countries.


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

[User] [WH40k] Does anyone still believe in Santa Claus?

[Assistant]
Oi lad, course dere's a Zanta Claws.  He's a right 'uge lad, big as Ghazghull and 'e's got 'uge bleeding 'ightning claws, and just bout da biggest squig beard you ever seen.  'E's got a ship, right red it is, wit a bloody horde of gretchen.

If yooz fights real good, 'e'll bring you a nice new shoota or choppa!


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

[User]
CMV: The current outcry towards removal of plastic bags at supermarkets is justified.

First off let me get something straight. I am fully on board with getting rid of plastic bags. However I have a big problem with how it is being conducted as I'm sure many other people do.

The main problem I have is that supermarkets are removing the one way for people to throw away rubbish and food scraps. It is no good removing plastic bags while continuing to sell products that are wrapped in plastics. Supermarket chains obviously do not care about the environment and are only doing this to increase revenue by providing bags which cost and of which they know people will forget.

I believe that before getting rid of plastic bags, these supermarkets should have phased out products made of plastic and other rubbish. Which they have not done. Which will eventually lead to people having lots of rubbish and no bags to throw them out in. Thus they will buy plastic bags and there will be no improvement in the environment.

However if the supermarkets flat out refused to sell these kinds of products then that would be of much greater benefit. If all packing is recyclable then there would be significantly less rubbish, plus all food scraps will then be more likely to be used in compost. I guess I just find it hard to believe that people are applauding them for getting rid of plastic bags when it won't actually do any good for the environment.

So what I'm looking for is for someone to show me how supermarkets not providing plastic bags and doing nothing else to assist is actually beneficial to the environment.

[Assistant]
I think that you're in a minority when it comes to using plastic grocery bags as a primary method for handling rubbish.

A lot of people own a trash can that is bigger than a  grocery bag, and they purchase bigger, sturdier bags to line the trash can with. Plastic bags represent additional plastic waste above and beyond a trash can liner for these people, so it makes sense to try to eliminate this extra source of plastic waste.

I do agree with you that food packaging could be less wasteful. The nice thing about plastic bags is that they represent an area where we can very simply reduce the amount of plastic waste we produce, without dealing with hard issues related to keeping food fresh when it is shipped long distances and stored for a long time.


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

[User]
What's the difference between Social Psychology & Sociology?

Thank you!

[Assistant] Generally speaking, social psychology seeks to study the behavior of individuals within groups, while sociology seeks to understand the behavior and development of large groups and societies as a whole.


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

[User]
How does a new currency get introduced into a society? Think the American Dollar in the 1800's?

How does it get value? How is its value determined? How much is decided to print off? Does the government just have free money basically that they can spend anywhere?

[Assistant]
There are a lot of economic papers regarding endogenous currency creation, they tend to be very mathematical and quite impenetrable, but they generally trace back to one paper by Kiyotaki & Wright (1989). In general, they created a model which demonstrated that in an economy characterised by the barter exchange of multiple goods, the good which is most frequently traded ends up being the good that other goods are denominated in - i.e. it becomes currency. This is based on what we call a "search theoretic" model, and is basically built on minimising costs of exchange.

From there, economists realised that the single most traded good in any regulated economy was actually tax credits. Since every trade effectively generated tax, everybody needed to ensure they had a good which would be accepted by the government in lieu of tax. In fact, this could be any good; which meant that anything the government declared as useable to pay tax would automatically be viable as money.


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

[User]
[40K] So, Horrus stabs the Emperor, the Emperor kills him.. What are the events immediately proceeding this?

He's standing there in a battlefield bleeding and what not I guess, Horrus is dead, so his men just sorta... stop fighting? So who suddenly took charge and got him back to the throne (which I assume was nowhere near the battlefield, being at the very bottom of a palace the size of Europe...) Who started setting up contingency plans in the case that at that moment he *died*.

[Assistant]
They're on board Horus's battleship, the Emperor has just wiped Horus's soul from existence and is lying, nearly dead, in the midst of horrible carnage. The bodies of Ollanius Pius and Sanguinus lie near him, and the Emperor weeps for instant of sanity he saw in his son's eyes before he killed him.

Rogal Dorn enters, having split away from the Emperor shortly after they teleported aboard the battleship. The Emperor, realizing that he is dying, and knowing that he needs to be alive to guide the Imperium, tells Dorn how to build the Golden Throne, and gives him instructions on how to keep the Emperor in stasis. Dorn then teleports himself and the Emperor back down to the surface of Terra, where the Heretics have been pushed back in the wake of their General's death.

Abaddon retook Horus's battleship and lead a fragment of his forces away, where they would eventually hide in the eye of terror. Other Primarchs took their forces and fled as well, some of them being tracked down and killed by Imperial forces, others managing to escape.


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

[User] ELI5: why do we hear the slow build up of clacking when lightning strikes and the the big boom. Assuming sound is a wave but originates at a single line in the sky why isnt it always a boom instead of a slow crackle and then a boom?

[Assistant]
First of all, lightning is _not_ a "single line in the sky". Lightning is more similar to a network of roots, each seeking out a path of low resistance. When this is happening in the sky, that can take quite some time and there doesn't even have to be a boom at all. When one of those "roots" finds its way to the ground, however, it rapidly discharges, making that path one of very low resistance, so the rest of the charge quickly follows. You can see this happening in real time. First, a lot of small forking arcs will form, until one of them hits the ground. Then all that electricity quickly drains into that one bolt that leads to ground. That's where you get those really big booms. Or, well, at least that's the most obvious way.

There isn't really a single good answer to your question, though, because lightning comes in a lot of flavors and can behave in a lot of different ways, depending on the conditions. So, without knowing what you are talking about exactly, it's a bit tricky to figure out the exact cause for your observations. But understanding that lightning is virtually never just a single bolt should go a long way to clearing this up, I'd imagine.


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

[User]
ELI5: Do mirrors make our eyes focus further away?

The 20/20/20 rule can help reduce stress on your eyes when looking at screens: every twenty minutes, look at something twenty feet away for twenty seconds. This is supposed to help keep the eyes from being overly injured from staring at a close screen.
However, if I look in a mirror thats 5 feet away and at the wall 10 feet behind me, would that count as looking twenty feet away? Would me eyes be focusing the equivalent of twenty feet, or would that only really be five feet?

[Assistant]
Your eyes are focussing on the virtual image which is 15 feet beyond the mirror, so yes you are correct.

Id suggest physically moving though, even if that just means turning your head. That will cause you to adjust your posture etc.


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

[User]
Why is it that some philosophies translated into religions whereas others did not?

Im a bit concerned about what makes a philosophy a religion and at what point does it become a religion.

For example, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism are philosophies but to many they are also religions, and atleast one of them is a world religion. How did it get this way and at one point does something stop becoming just a philosophy and become a religion as well? and more importantly why havent other philosophies (even in a relative time period) did not catch on?

As a frame of reference, why didnt stoicism, or any Greek philosophy, have a similar outcome?

[Assistant]
Since philosophy is such a broad term, what we today ultimately call "philosophy" might not be what people in earlier periods or of different traditions call "philosophy". For instance, the Western philosophical tradition during the middle ages seems to be inseparable from theology. But there were many elements of scholastic philosophy that were not solely concerned with religion. Additionally, in Plato and in Aristotle we see religion pop up in their texts, though it is clearly not as dominant a topic compared to scholasticism.

I think it is important to think about this problem historically/sociologically. What were the dominant forces in the society that contributed to a higher degree of "religious" influence or sentiment within that society's philosophy?

If you are not interested in the historical analytic approach, then also consider the idea that all of us at some point have to reckon with faith in something beyond ourselves. Some philosophers take that idea much more seriously than others, which might mean that their philosophy is of a distinctively religious flavour.


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

[User] ELI5: How are old films digitally remastered into High Definition?

[Assistant]
"Old films" actually has a higher resolution than for example Blu-ray. You have to remember that these movies were meant to be seen on really large cinema size screens (30 meters aross or more). Putting up a Blu-ray movie on that sized screen would not look good.

So we're actually not making old movies better, we're getting closer to having  the detail they actually have on our home media.


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

[User]
Eli5 Why do newer appliances - dishwashers / washing machines can be more energy efficient when their cycles are 2x-3x longer than older versions?

I recently changed both machines to newer energy rated A+ / A++ models and I am surprised that their standard "eco" cycles land between 3-4 hours. How can they be more energy efficient when their older versions did the same job in less than half of that time?

[Assistant] The biggest energy consumption in dishwashers, washing machines and dryers is the heaters. What they can do is to lower the temperature of the water which means it requires less energy to heat it up and less energy is washed down the drain. But this means that the dirt does not dissolve as fast and you need a longer wash cycle to get all the dirt dissolved into the water. So you are trading time for energy efficiency. Since these are autonomous appliaces most people do not care that they take much longer to complete normally as they just put it on and then forgets about them. So this tradeoff is usually quite good. However if people can not wait, for example when hosting a dinner party and you need to wash three loads of dishes throughout the night, they still allow you to turn off the eco-mode and some might even let you wash on higher temperatures then normal to get the wash done faster by using more energy.


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

[User]
Do mammals have a handedness preference like humans?

I don't think I wrote the title correctly, so what I mean is, do mammals have a preference on which hand they will use? For example, when cats are touching something, do they have a preference of which hand they're going to use or they use which ever is closer/easier to use?

[Assistant]
Paw or hand preference is common.  It seems to appear in pretty much all mammals that use their forelimbs for things other than locomotion.  However the distribution is 50/50, with half being left handed and half right handed.

The only animals known to display a lateral preference at the population level are humans (right handed) and some species of parrots (left footed).  Some theorize that the lateral preference could be caused by language specialization in one hemisphere of the brain.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is the Earth so warm, and the Space between us and the Sun so cold?

[Assistant]
Try this:

Get a flashlight and point it at your toes.

Why do your toes get brighter when a flashlight is shining on them but the space of air between the flashlight and your toes doesnt get brighter?

Light and heat are both just energy at different wavelengths.  The heat from the sun is infrared (a longer wavelength than the color red)


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

[User]
[General] Can a vampire's thirst be fully satified?

The well-known characteristic of vampires is their thirst for blood, that is only temporarily satisfied when feeding on a mortal. So, I had this idea in my head of setting up a device or a magic spell what would feed a vampire an equivalent of his normal blood intake during feeding but at constant rate infinitely. Assuming that the logistics of setting it up and supplying the blood are satisfied,would the vampire still experience any hunger? Would it require larger and larger amounts? Could it become "satisfied", not feeling like drinking any more for at least a while. I realize that vampires in media usually do other stuff that just feeding but I wonder if that's just out of necessity and whether they would take up being fed constantly if the option was on the table. As a bonus, I wonder how it would affect their powers. Whether there is some hard limit to how much blood a vampire can keep ingesting and getting some benefit out of it or if it can actually keep occurring forever.

I would like to see how different lore compares in these aspects: Buffy, Anne Race, World of Darkness, all those are on the table as well as any others.

[Assistant]
Most Vampire varieties can be fed to satiation. In some cases (Being Human, for example) this wouldn't actually be a perfect solution, as drinking blood is incredibly intoxicating. While theoretically, you could try to work out an exact regimen, they would regularly be on binge-cycles and feel the urge for more and more, until they are completely incapacitated.

Furthermore, nearly all Vampire varieties (including Buffy and WoD) do not experience any physical pleasure except for drinking. Their main goals are simply ensuring their safety and ensuring their continued supply of blood. With their blood needs met, they may find themselves lost, without any guiding force in life.

On the other hand, many Vamps (most notably WoD vampires) gain power in direct correlation to how much blood they consume. You'd be handing them a gun with infinite bullets.

Anne Rice's Vampires would benefit the most - they need *less* blood to survive as they age.


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

[User]
How does adaptation (in evolution) work?

So the way I understand evolution is that mutations happen and those mutations turn out to be better in given conditions (and as a result animals without that advantageous mutation die off). But then adaptation comes into play. How do they occur? I reckon one individual doesn't just decide they need larger paws or better vision and just get it. How do bodies adapt through time if not by mutations? Thanks.

EDIT: Thank you all for all the answers. I knew where to ask. Cheers!

[Assistant]
What you're thinking about is actually two sides of the same coin. The way natural selection works is similar to what you say. Lets take Giraffes. In some ancestral Giraffe, there was a population of individuals, some had longer necks and some had shorter necks. Ultimately, the ones with the longer necks had better access to resources (in this case food from trees). The longer necked Giraffes tended to have more offspring, that had longer necks, and slowly the shorted necked individuals died out. Thus, now all our Giraffes are longer-necked. The main thing here is the natural selection can only act on traits that are already present in the gene pool.

Now the term adaptation generally means, a trait that has been evolved to do something. When we look at Giraffes today, it would be acceptable to say, longer necks are an adaptation for feeding, which they are. Depending on who uses the term in what context, an 'adaptation' may both refer to the trait that has evolved and/or the process by which it has evolved.

Mutations specifically refer to a change in DNA. Mutations can be good, bad, or neutral. Mutations are the only way that new traits can evolve. But as you point out, just because some trait might benefit an animal (like better vision for instance), does not mean it will ever evolve, or that a mutation for that will ever happen. The mutation must already be present in a population of individuals, and then if that mutation is beneficial, then maybe natural selection will act on it. Meaning the individual with the mutation will ultimately make more offspring than other individuals.


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

[User] ELI5:What exactly is jury nullification?

[Assistant]
**Note, this is not legal advice and the contents of this comment may prevent you from serving a jury duty. Approach it as purely educational and nothing more**

Jury nullification is the phenomenon when a jury's verdic is in direct opposition from it's opinion. For instance if all evidence points to the person on trial being guilty without doubt, but the jury still states he is innocent despite what their opinions are.

it is a logical result from two laws that make juries work:

* A jury cannot be punished for any decision they make in jury
* A defendant cannot be put on trial again for the same crime.

The resulting clause is thus that a jury can veto the court without being punished and without regards to evidence and the defendant cannot be put back on trial to negate the nullification.

A piece of advice: Going into a trial with the intent of nullifying is a definite "nono" which is why you're never told that this is an option. When you're about to enter the jury you're usually asked the following question:

*"Do you have any beliefs or opinions that may infer with your ability or actions while in court." (A.k.a will you try and nullify or do something not lawful?)*

If you answer "Yes" you're off the court.
Answer "No" and you lied under oath, a federal felony, and are risking  imprisonment.

.

For more information refer to CPGgray's video on the topic.


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

[User] How numerous is the Imperial Fleet (Star Wars) and what sort of ships does it consist of?

[Assistant]
For a full summery i would suggest checking out the Imperal Navy page on the Wookiepedia holonet site, but the short version is alot. starwars(dot)wikia(dot)com(slash)wiki(slash)Imperial_Navy

The Imperial Navy was one of the most formidable militaries ever assembled, consisting of millions of warships, fighters and transports, manned by trillions of fleet crew. The mainstays of its fleets - the Star Destroyer and Super Star Destroyer capital ships and the TIE fighter series of starfighters - became some of the most visible symbols of Imperial rule to the galaxy's civilian populace.

There were close to 10 diffrent modles of the Imperal Star destroyers serving functions from missile ship to scout to tackling pirates. Where all previous units were generally bound to specific system or set of systems, the Imperial Navy designated a fleet as a "sector resource", allowing it to operate on a sector-wide scale. A fleet was the smallest unit transferred between sectors. With such a large number of units, there were thousands of potential types of fleet alignments. Common fleet deployment types included superiority fleets, assault fleets, and bombard fleets. Other examples of alignments that a fleet might have taken included a deepdock fleet, support fleet, or ordinance fleet.

Superiority fleets maintained space superiority in sectors with "four or fewer world confirmed hostile to the New Order, and no more than 16 additional worlds with confirmed significant hostile elements", a superiority fleet was deployed. With six Imperial-class Star Destroyers and almost 400 other starships, a superiority fleet was presumed to be a sufficient force for relatively calm sectors.

Assault fleets transported huge numbers of Imperial Army and Navy troops to coordinate ground operations, while maintaining space superiority around the targeted systems. With two transport forces and two force escorts, an assault fleet engaged in massive planetary and system-wide ground campaigns.

Bombard fleets contained an average of 416 ships, allocated between two system bombards and two force escorts. Bombard fleets were assigned to sectors where the Empire had determined the probability of repressing the Rebellion in the sector to be less than even. System bombards were used when the Empire would rather completely destroy a world than see it fall into Rebel hands.

17 dreadnought types
11 battle cruiser types
21 types of destroyers
22 crusier types
11 carriers
13 frigates
14 corvettes
60+ fighter and scout ships
all of these filled specfic rolls in their fleets or units.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does defogging the windshield work?

I feel dumb for this, but I never know what temperature to put the air to. Also why doesnt it help when I turn the AC off but still have the fan blowing air from outside at the window? Shouldnt that equalize it??

Edit: RIP my inbox. Thank you for so many answers. Please do not share more Mark Rober links there are like 5 in the comments already! If you want more of an in-depth answer there are several recommendations down there to look him up so do it!

[Assistant]
Think of air as a sponge. However the temperature of the air determines the size of that sponge and how much liquid it can hold. The colder it is, the less water the sponge can hold. The air always has some amount of water in it, this is air humidity. When the air touches the cold windshield, the "sponge" shrinks and suddenly can't hold all the water it was holding. This extra water is dropped off and left on the windshield. This is fog.

In order to defog the windshield you need to remove the moisture. The best way to do this is to use a big dry sponge, (warm, dry air). Generally the humidity inside the car is higher than outside so ideally, you want to use warm air that is coming from outside with the AC on.

Part of what the Air Conditioning does is reducing the humidity. So when you turn the AC off and just blow outside at the windshield, this will eventually work, but is left efficient. An important note, AC doesn't always refer to cold air. The AC can be on while hot air is coming out too.


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

[User]
ELI5: How are mafia crime bosses able to be publicly known as mafia crime bosses?

This question was inspired by the TIL about John Gotti and his son yesterday. I know very little about John Gotti or the mafia or the legal requirements needed to get people associated with the mafia behind bars. Just from the little I read up on him, he was publicly known as the head of the Gambino crime family for several years before his eventual arrest and imprisonment. I know most of these guys get taken down eventually, but how is it possible for someone to be the known head of an established criminal organization and walk around free for so long? The current head of the Gambino crime family is a guy named Domencino Cefalu. According to his Wikipedia page, he currently resides in Brooklyn with his mom and his legitimate employment is a salesman for a bakery. Again, how is Cefalu able to be publically known as the leader of a group infamous for murder, drug trafficking, illegal gambling, fraud, extortion, etc., and at the same time live free at home with his mother?

I get that charges have to be brought up and proven and the FBI spends years building cases against these people. But how is the simple fact that they are the head of a crime family not cause for arrest and prosecution?

[Assistant] Without actually having something to prosecute him for, its technically just a reputation.  You could become know for being a murderer but if the police can't pin anything on you then what can they do?  Also, the cases they build against these guys can take years and sometimes decades to put together and then try.  So, while the FBI is putting together a case, these guys are going about their lives.  Keep in mind that you don't get to be the boss of the Gambino crime family without being smart about how to avoid prosecution.  They probably do some of their own dirty work but most of it is done by associates.  And typically there is only a few people he communicates the orders to directly.  Those captains are typically very loyal and not going to snitch (then again Sammy the Bull did snitch to save his ass).  Also if you've only got a few guys that can finger you for a crime, then you only have to clip a few people to save yourself.


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

[User] [Star Wars] How does the Naboo N1 Starfighter move around in space? Or any ships to be honest. How are ships able to move up or down or spin? It doesn't appear there are additional trusters, and the engines they do have seem stationary.

[Assistant] They usually use plasma exhaust (assuming the writer decided they use fusion rockets or ion drives in that story and not kerosene jet engines or dark matter power plants) which can be vectored using electromagnets. Basically you can direct the thrust flow downwards, upwards, side-to-side etc to maneuver.


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

[User] [Warcraft/LOTR] I'm in a room with both The One Ring and Frostmourne. Which one will tempt me first?

[Assistant]
The one ring, no contest. Frostmourne can whisper things to you, but aside from some sort of magical psychic communication, it can't do much else.

The ring, on the other hand, pulls at your *actual soul*. It goes MUCH deeper than just whispering words of power and temptation. It undermines the weakest part of you, tempts your most basic and unspoken desire (which is power. all human beings want power) without even saying a word. If you were put in a room with the ring, you'd walk out with it in your hand before you even realized what you were doing. Frostmourne could cry all it wanted in your head, you would only know one voice. Because it would be your own heart, but no longer under your full control.

And of course, you'd eventually wind up putting the ring in Sauron's hand one way or another. You'd most likely raise up an army under the delusion you were powerful enough to take the dark lord on yourself, march on the black gates, and then get your army destroyed by endless waves of orcs and other dark creatures. And then the ring, either attached to your corpse or not, would be given to Sauron in his tower.


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

[User] ELI5: What specifically are doctors looking for when they check your eyes, nose, mouth, and breathing? Why is this standard practice?

[Assistant]
When looking in your eyes they want to make sure the pupils are dilating like they are supposed to. If not there could be a lesion among the cranial nerves. They also look at your retina. There are little arteries in your retinas that can look different with different types of heart disease. A problem with these can lead them to check other things.

In your nose they are looking for any polyps or lesions. Theyll shine the light in there too to check to make sure your sinuses light up meaning they are clear.

Checking the mouth, they look at your tonsils if you still have them. Theyll also look at your uvula (hangy ball) to make sure it isnt leaning to one side. This can also mean a lesion in a cranial nerve. They check the tongue to make sure it isnt deviated to one side or the other (if it is it means there is a lesion in a cranial nerve).

The check your breathing to make sure your lungs are clear. Any weird sounds could mean infection, asthma, COPD, etc.

They also check your heart at 4 separate points to check each valve of the heart for murmurs.

Theyll use the stethoscope to check your neck for bruit (basically if there is blockage in the carotid arteries leading to the head it makes a weird sound through the stethoscope).

Theyre also supposed to check your neck under your chin from behind to feel for your thyroid.

There are other things they are looking at while they are checking these things you just might not notice.

TL;DR: theyre checking for abnormalities in the cranial nerves, heart and lungs. These are super easy tests and should be done to make sure something isnt starting to go on with a patient before they even know themselves that it is.


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

[User]
What are the practical implications of a unifying theory of everything?

I hear all the time about researching being done on a unified theory, but if such a theory were found what could we potentially get from that new found understanding?

[Assistant] There are not obvious immediate practical applications like "When we have this equation we'll be able to build a machine that can turn off gravity." When you're doing basic science (ie science for the sake of science) you don't know where it will lead. The guys developing quantum mechanics in the 1920s didn't know that one day the equations would be applied to silicon crystals and lead to ubiquitous computing. Paul Dirac didn't know that the positron predicted by his equation would one day be used to detect cancer.


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

[User]
[Science fiction] If hyperspace exists, does hypospace exist?

Does there exist a dimension where you could travel for days at high speed, only to jump back into normal space and find yourself five metres away from where you started?

Would there be any practical application for such technology?

[Assistant]
Great way of preserving things:

You could broadcast with EM in such a hypospace and treat it as mass storage, as days later your broadcast could be received but an antenna meters from the start.

If relativistic speeds still dilate time you can use it like a lifeboat - go as close to the speed of light as you can in hypospace and millenia later you could be recovered from the same spot frozen in time - zero chance of the life sustaining machinery breaking down as the machinery was the universe. Only have to hope someone knows where to look for your hypospace egress point (but then again they have all the time in the world to look for you!)


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

[User]
How do construction workers determine which type of charge they will use to destroy a structure?

When removing a building, how do engineers figure out how to remove a building safely? Once they decide to blow it up, how do they determine which type of charge (I hope this is the correct term) to use? When I say charge, I mean what factors determine the relay series that will detonate the bomb.

[Assistant]
There are usually a bunch of rules and regulations to follow first.

Survey the building, remove hazardous material, preparation of plan, install safety measures.

Most implosive demolitions "fall like a tree".  The explosive is small because it only needs to weaken most of the structural beams on one side.  The building then falls over towards the weakened side.

Rarer, but more interesting, is "falling in it's footprint".  The building appears to collapse in on itself.  The explosives are planned to follow a design procedure called *progressive collapse*.  Remove keys supports and make sure there is space for the material to fall into, otherwise it will fragment outwards and create a huge dust cloud.  Any timing and arrangement is unique to the building and what's around it - for instance, chimneys, elevator shafts, stairs, walls, etc can all be supporting or floating.  The explosives are designed larger and as close to simultaneous because you don't want the building to fall to any side.

This "relay" is all controlled through the *initiation system*.  Wireless blasting systems are the latest sexy tech, however, traditionally demo crews time the charges by running different lengths of wire to the controller.  Can be electric system or non-electric with detonating cord/shock tubes.  If you play Minecraft it's really similar to redstone wiring.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter]How well does Grunnings do as a company?

I personally have never heard much about the company Vernon works for, and now for some reason I am intrigued.

[Assistant]
Not much is known of Grunnings, but there are a few things we can gather. First they seem to solely manufacture drills, as on a photo we see in the Dursley's home, Vernon stands next to a sign that reads: "Grunnings Drills". More evidence of their specialisation lies in Vernon's client we see in CoS, who is in want of a large drill order. Not tools in general, specifically drills, which suggests Grunnings only makes drills.

Grunning's financial state is also guesswork. From what we can see of the Dursley's home, they are very much middle class. Vernon's position at the company is director. From these two facts we conclude Grunnings to be a small company, because Vernon would almost certainly buy a bigger house if he could afford it, and that means his salary is not enough to live a rich lifestyle on. Which makes sense for a company that makes such a niche product as drills.


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

[User] [Doctor Who]was the Doctor just being hyperbolic, or Could one dalek really kill everyone is Salt Lake City (2012 population) before the National Guard and Air Force neutralize it?

[Assistant] Absolutely. Dalek tech is so far beyond whatever modern weaponry we have that we wouldn't be able to scratch it without serious heavy duty firepower. Unless UNIT or Torchwood got involved we'd be shooting at it and it's shrug it off like nothing. It'll be like tossing rocks at a tank.


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

[User]
If the universe was homogenous after the Big Bang? What caused the initial stars to form?

The way I understand it, right after the Big Bang all the matter/energy expanded in a uniform way. If everything was uniform, how was there enough gravity in certain places to pull anything into stars? Wouldn't gravity be equal everywhere and cancel out? Was space time not created perfectly?

[Assistant] Quantum fluctuations during inflation provide initial density perturbations. These will evolve over time and act as seeds for galaxy formation. This has been calculated by people like Mukhanov in he 80s and has been shown to be in agreement with current CMB-data.


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

[User] [Halo Legends] Why didn't the Forerunners repopulate with their own stored DNA? Why restore the other alien races, but not themselves?

[Assistant] Essentially, they felt that they had failed in their duties to protect the galaxy, and they didnt deserve to continue as a species. Some Forerunners did survive the activation of the Rings, but most of them decided to leave the galaxy anyway.


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

[User]
I think we should combine feminism and men's rights movement into one, CMV

So, where I'm from the feminist movement is not in favor of females, but is fighting for equal rights for both sexes. They do fight strongly for women but I don't feel left out. I'm really proud of it to include rights for men as well as women.

International feminism is defined as "the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes." according to Google definitions.
The feminist movement overshadows men's rights movement and each factions tend to get bad reputations every now and then. Why can't we just have one to rule them all?

[Assistant]
People who fight against racism are also for equal rights between all people.  People who fight against discrimination against the disabled are also for equal rights between all people.  People who fight for gay rights are also for equal rights between all people.  By your reasoning, all these people should be combined into one movement.

The problem is that women face different forms of discrimination than men.  Black people face different forms of discrimination than the disabled.  Gay people face different forms of discrimination than he elderly.  In theory they may be all fighting for the same thing but in practice they all have different concerns.  So it makes sense that they form separate groups.


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

[User] [DC] In the Earth we know, Batman was targeted by the Court of Owls, a secret society that has been doing evil in Gotham for some time. Does this mean that on Earth 2, there is a Parliament of Bats that has been secretly doing good in Gotham, and will someday target Owlman?

[Assistant] Maybe it had, but Earth 2 has bigger problems, being all destroyed by Darkside in New 52, having all population evacuated and re-settled on completely another world donated by Telos after Convergence.


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

[User] How does glue work?

[Assistant]
It depends on the glue. The strength of the glue is based on the type of bond it makes between the two surfaces and roughly parallels the  increasing bond strengths. The weakest glues form van-der waals or hydrogen bonds, like a post-it, and the strongest, like superglue or epoxy, form covalent bonds. What cause the glue to cure again changes from glue to glue.

Also, do a search this question is asked often.


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

[User] ELI5: why does anime attract so many autistic people(honest question)

[Assistant] Simple and easy to read exaggerated facial expressions. A huge part of autism is not being able to read expressions well but when people have faces that are just giant eyes and everything is so over the top it gets much much easier to read and much more understandable.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is it so hard to cancel a print job?

I'm not sure about on a Mac, but with Windows, why do print jobs either fail to cancel, or require cancelling at both the computer *and* the printer, or only print half a page but only after initiating a cancel?

[Assistant]
Print spoolers are based on really early tech, and was never really implemented well. Over the years, instead of improving printing functionality, manufactures focused on compatibility. This is also why there is a driver hell for printers. Everyone needs their own translation layer to work with it. As to why cancellation fails, could be that the message is lost or ignored, the command isnt implemented for your specific driver, or any multitude of things.

Its no coincidence that several critical CVEs have been released recently around print spools, they can be quite shitty to work with.


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

[User]
[DC] Is there anything that lex luthor is legitimately scared of?

We know that lex luthor is the picture of confidence ( with a healthy dose of arrogance) and seems to be fearless most of the time. However there has to be something that hes afraid of right?

[Assistant]
In terms of concrete fears like a monster or a specific person that traumatized him, not really.

Luthor's fears are more complex, but they're also at the core of his personality, which he shields with his arrogance and aura of confidence. Above all, he's terrified of being forgotten by history. Being seen as something lesser than the foremost human intellect and paragon of his species. Losing power, or at least being made powerless.

Wouldn't you know it, Superman represents literally all of those things according to his world view. He's not cowering in fear at Superman or anything, but he is terrified that in the grand scheme of history, people will remember this time as the "Superman era" and not the "Luthor era".


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

[User] ELI5: How do May Flies exist if they only live for 24 hours and are only around for about a month out of the year? What happens to them for the rest of the year?

[Assistant]
What you see are adult, sexually active mayflies. The nymph stage (juvenile stage) live underwater for upwards of years before rising to the surface and molting into the subimago stage (adult stage), which then molt again into the imago stage (sexually active stage) within a few minutes to a few days depending on the specific species.

It is only during the last two stages that we generally encounter them, but rest assured they're happily swimming away underwater all year round.


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

[User] Why can't you make beverages 'sparkly' using pressurized air? Why do we use pressurized CO2 instead?

[Assistant] The "sparkling" is gas which has been _dissolved_ in the drink coming _out_ of dissolution. In order to make that happen, you need something which dissolves nicely in water. Air is mostly nitrogen, which does not easily dissolve. CO2 works better.


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

[User] ELI5: We can freeze human sperm and eggs indefinitely, without "killing" them. Why can't we do the same for whole people, or even just organs?

[Assistant]
Because sperm and eggs are just single cells. Organs and organisms are collections of cells that must operate in unison or the entire organism dies.

If you have 5 million sperm cells and your freezing/thawing process kills half of them, you still have 2.5 million viable sperm cells to rely on, and only need one for success.

If you freeze/thaw a person and kill half their cells, you end up with a mess.


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

[User]
ELI5: Fiber optical cabling. Specifically, how data is managed to be transferred through a beam or two of light.

I understand what fiber optic cabling is, and that it uses light as a way to transfer data. I'm pretty sure I get what it's made out of. What I don't understand is how one day, somebody just said "wait a minute, we can transfer all of these bits through a beam of light. Fuck that copper cabling stuff." I'm studying networking at the moment and this is just one of those things that gets more mind blowing every time I think about it.

[Assistant]
Its not a solid beam of light, its lots of pulses of light and they can put many streams on one cable using different wavelengths.

Edit: like using a flashlight to transmit morse code, but really really fast.  On for 1, off for 0.


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

[User]
[Doctor Who] Do Daleks have an oral tradition?

In the recovered Satellite 5 security report code named *The Parting of the Ways,* the enigmatic man called the Doctor claims that the Dalek race as a whole is deathly terrified of him. He even goes so far as to say that in the old Dalek legends, he's referred to as "The Oncoming Storm."

I've seen the recordings. Daleks aren't big on poetry. They roll in with their light bulbs flashing, screaming "EX-TERM-IN-ATE" at their prey before gunning them down on sight. Even when they've been recorded talking to one other, they're observed barking curt orders at each other, with no time devoted to chit-chat.

My question: how does a race so singularly devoted to ruthless logic and senseless murder spare the time for telling stories and legends? How did these cold, almost mechanical beings come up with a name like "The Oncoming Storm"? Do they have an oral tradition--even fables and fairy tales?

[](/changeling) If anyone asks, this is for my xenoanthropology paper.

[Assistant]
my guess is issues wth how the TARDIS translates things from Gallifreyan to Dalek and then back into English. You forget these are three very different species talking in three very different languages.

The TARDIS has to take languages that are extremely literal and translate languages that are mostly complex metaphors.

Gallifreyan might be very poetic and it uses such phrases as "oncoming storm" to describe a concept. This concept in Dalek is "giant ball of angry fuck thats coming your way", which in Dalek actually sounds like "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!"

Daleks dont really say the word Exterminate. Thats a human word to describe a Dalek concept. They probably speak in some form of Binary and sound like buzzers or a squawking megaphone.

If you want an example of how this works in Canon. At the battle of Demons Run, Amy's Daughter Melody Pond was looked after briefly by a soldier from the Gamma Forest. She had put a prayer leaf in the childs' cot as per their traditions, however,  the name was mistranslated and the order reaaranged, it was written River Song. As these were the Gamman words that best matched the Name. When Kovarian and the Silence took it, they transliterated it without the TARDIS and her name stuck.


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

[User] [Xmen] Can Cyclops shoot his beam indefinitely? Is there a limit?

[Assistant] Depends on the continuity. In some cases his optic beams are powered by solar energy, and if he stays in the dark long enough the beams stop. In others, his eyes are portals to the punch dimension, and they just keep on punching no matter what.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it harder to get glitter off your skin than dirt?

[Assistant]
Glitter is kind of 2D whereas dirt is kind of 3D. As your skin is almost always a tiny bit moist (with sweat and oils) it's harder to get the 2D stuff off than the 3D stuff.

Try this experiment:

1) Lightly spray a concrete floor with water

2) Drop some grapes on the floor

3) Drop some notecards on the floor

When you try to sweep up which is easier?


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

[User]
What is the maximum heat of any known solid?

My son asked me tonight if it was possible for something to be as hot as the sun and still be a solid and I couldn't give him an answer. Help!

[Assistant]
Currently the substance with the highest verified melting point is tantalum hafnium carbide (4263 K or 3990 C or 7214 F). In 2015, some theoretical calculations indicated that another substance (an alloy of hafnium, hydrogen and carbon) would have a higher melting temperature (about 4400 K), but that was not yet confirmed experimentally.

Sun's temperature is about 15,000,000K at the center and about 5800K at the surface, so the answer is that there is no known substance that would be solid at Sun's temperature.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do many radioactive isotopes eventually decay into lead, and does this have anything to do with how lead blocks radiation?

[Assistant] It's simply because radioisotopes will decay until they hit the first stable isotope, which for most (but not all) of the possible decay chains, that's one of several isotopes of lead. It's merely a coincidence that lead also happens to be good at attenuating radiation.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why software developers use error codes and not just say exactly what is wrong?

Was playing Watch_Dogs 2 and was unable to connect to the servers. Instead of just saying "No internet connection" It says a bunch of gibberish.

[Assistant]
Error codes report on the specific fault or symptom, not "what is wrong".

An error code that translates to "Couldn't connect to server" for example, means that *for some reason* the program couldn't connect.

What exactly is wrong in that scenario?  It could be that your internet connection is down, the server is down, both are down, you turned off your wifi antenna, there's a memory leak in the program's net code, the net code is poorly written, and many, many more possibilities.

So often, the error will be accompanied by *common* "what is wrong" causes of the error code "Check your internet connection, check your firewall, server busy/try again later, etc."


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

[User] ELI5- Why does the air smell different during different seasons?

[Assistant]
You know how on Wednesdays me and mommy cook spaghetti?  Then the whole house smells like spaghetti?  Then on Fridays we make tacos and the whole house smells like tacos?  It's kind of like that.  It's smells different because there's different stuff in the air.

Different when it's hotter outside, or more moisture, that's the wetness in the air, smells travel around differently than they would when it's really cold.   Also, when the leaves are falling and dying, they make a different smell than when they're new and fresh.

Lets not forget all the new plants that are growing every spring and summer.  They all add to the different smells we get every year.


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

[User] ELI5: How did Dolphins go from being land animals to water animals?

[Assistant] We beleive right now that dolphins and whales originated from a pig like creature who lived in and around water 48 million yesrs ago. You can look at what we believe is the closest land relative to the dolphins, hippos, and sort if imagine how the ancestor lived. Some evolutionary biologists assume that the ancestor took the next step and over generations became better and better fit for the shallow ocean environment of the time until it became completely aquatic.


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

[User]
[Star Wars: Episode III] What if Obi-Wan truly underestimated Anakin's power on Mustafar?

At the end of the climactic battle Obi Wan stands atop the high ground, giving him a major tactical advantage which he used to mutilate Anakin. But what if Anakin had jumped a bit higher? What if he immediately cuts his old master down in a swift move of his own? What if they continue their fight but it ends inconclusively with both alive and relatively unharmed?

[Assistant]
So Anakin defeats Obi-Wan, goes back to his family, and returns to the Empire with them?

Anakin, victorious, would see his power grow exponentially as he continues training with Palpatine, and within a few years would be strong enough to depose his master, as is the way of the Sith.

Not only is Anakin a war-hero and one of Palpatine's most trusted confidants, he also uncovered and defeated the Jedi plot against the Republic/Empire , so the Senate and the People believes him when he tells them Palpatine died peacefully in his sleep and they don't mind when he tells them he will assume office of Emperor immediately.

Assuming that Padme lived, she would be under constant surveillance, and be routinely manipulated by a paranoid Anakin into submission through the Force. She would, however, be defiant in her moments of freedom, and use her position in the Senate to protect the weak and safeguard the remaining  democratic institutions. Anakin doesn't mind so long as she doesn't touch the army, he very much prefers to spend his time with the 501st, squashing one rebellion after the other, hunting surviving Jedi here and there, and meditating on the Dark Side.

Anakin, while supreme commander of the armed forces, is quickly becoming more and more a beloved symbol of the unity and strength of the empire, rather than an actual ruler. The Senate rules instead, as it has always done, though Padme has become the de-facto Chancellor through her association with Anakin - some otherwise openly rebellious Senators, such as Mon Mothma, are instead convinced by Padme to work towards a balance within the system for the sake of peace.

Anakin has become the only remaining Sith, though because his training into the Sith-ways was not very comprehensive before he grew powerful enough to depose his master, and he remembers his previous training very well, he doesn't really care about the order as a whole very much. Coupled with the fact that his life is pretty good altogether, with family and a peaceful galaxy and all that, he lapses from a moderate Sith into something entirely different over time.

When they become old enough, Anakin would start taking his children with him in his campaigns, training them in the ways of war and the force. The children absorb the knowledge enthusiastically, though what they are becoming is not Sith in any traditional sense and they are definetly not Jedi.

At one point during his campaigns, Anakin would have found Yoda, and the two would have a climatic fight that the Emperor would ultimately win. Most remaining Jedi eventually perish at the hand of the Skywalkers, though many would convert and join the Emperor.

Eventually, Anakin would die, probably in some far-flung battlefield in the Outer Rim or something like that. By this point, both the Skywalker children would be grown adults and would have had plenty of experience in the military, some would fear a civil war between the twins, but nothing of the sort would happen - Padme's work in the senate has come to fruition, Imperial law states the office of Chancellor would be split from the office of Emperor upon the death of Anakin, with the Chancellor elected by the Senate, and the eldest male child becoming the new Emperor.

Luke is acclaimed Emperor by the senate and a thousand systems, while Mon Mothma is elected Chancellor a few months later. Princess Leia is unsurprisingly fine with all that, she never fancied to rule, was always more like her father in that regard - no, she has other plans...

...within a few years, Princess Leia has gathered and organized his father's teachings about the Force into coherent whole, with the intention of starting a new order of force-sensitive knights with the purpose of protecting the peace in her brother's Empire. The members of the new order are nothing like anything that previously existed in recent memory, they make no distinction between sides of the force, and make use of the full force in balance... just how Emperor Anakin eventually came to use the force, unknowingly.

Thus, Anakin's empire and death has ushered a new age of unprecedented peace, and by dying both as the last Jedi and the last Sith, he has finally brought a certain old prophecy to a close.


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

[User] [Star Trek] When Vulcans do ethical math in order to apply "the needs of the many...", are significant people deemed more valuable? If there was a Kobayashi situation that came down to a choice between saving the Federation president or 50 civilians, what would they choose?

[Assistant] No, they'll always go with the many. That might not have been explicitly stated anywhere but it's definitely frequently implied. The logic being a new president would realistically be equivalent, applying the same logic and the same moral/ethical choices as the now deceased one. So having a bunch more people outweighs having one person survive.


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

[User] ELI5: What exactly is soap and why does it do a better job cleaning than straight water?

[Assistant]
Soap contains stuff that helps make grease and oil "stick" to the water, so that when you rinse, the water rinses it away.   Water alone will take some of the grime away, but the soap enables it to get most, if not all of the grime.

Often, the foam and suds that you see when you use soap (or shampoo) actually isn't even necessary, but rather just something that companies add into the soap to make it "look" like it's working.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40k] The Tau are allied with a race called the Kroot. Are they basically Tyranids?

The Kroot possess the ability to change their genomes and actually alter their bodies, based on the types of dead bodies they eat. Isn't this kinda what the Tyranids do?

[Assistant]
Similar but not the same.

The Kroot are native to the 40k galaxy and entirely different species from the Tyranids. Also due to them being distinct individuals with their own purposes.

Tyranids are controlled by their queens and have almost zero free will on the individual scale. They are also extragalatic invaders and have a completely different evolutionary biology.


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

[User] ELI5: What exactly is Net Neutrality and Why does it affect me?

[Assistant]
Net Neutrality basically means ISPs should be Neutral about what's going over their Nets. Specifically, that they can't charge different rates or provide a different level of service for traffic coming from specific sources.

For example, without Net Neutrality, it would be possible for an ISP to charge you extra for using Google instead of Bing or their own - most likely crappy and add-infested - search engine. Or instead, they could limit the bandwidth for Google, but not for the other search engines.

Another example, seeing as most ISPs are also cable companies, it would become possible for them to effectively cripple video services like YouTube and NetFlix instead of having to compete with them.


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

[User]
Why is (human) blood immiscible acetone?

If you drop blood into acetone, it will not mix at all. It sinks to the bottom and if you stir it, the blood will break up into smaller particles.

This is strange as blood and water are miscible, as well as acetone and water.

What is going on?

[Assistant] The proteins in blood are "fixed" by the acetone, causing denaturation & cross linking. If you put egg white in hot water you will get a similar aggregate of denatured proteins. We use acetone to fix cell cultures so they can be looked at or stained later.


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

[User]
[Benjamin Button] What is the cause for his disorder?

Button's case is unique and clearly supernatural. What is the cause?

[Assistant]
Retrograde degradation of the telomeres. Essentially, Button was born with "broken" short telomeres. These telomeres were somehow lengthened by a previously unknown mechanism within all human cells, causing Button to appear to age in reverse. Unfortunately for Button, this mechanism did not deactivate whenever his telomeres reached a sufficient length, and he continued to rapidly de-age later in life, ending in his death.

Scientists are working to discover this mechanism, and the so-called genetic switch to try to crack human immortality. The FDA refuses to support human experimentation until they show progress in non-humans. So far, they have been unable to replicate Button's transformation in any non-human subjects, and it is theorized to possibly not exist in other species.


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

[User] What's actually happening when you go temporarily blind for standing up too fast?

[Assistant] Your heart needs to pump at a slightly higher pressure to move the blood up to your brain, since it must now fight gravity. It takes a little while to adjust, so your brain becomes slightly blood (and oxygen) deprived for just a little while, causing your vision to momentarily degrade.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Why didn't the defeat Voldemort, then deal with his Horcruxes afterward?

It seems to me like it would be simpler to focus their energy on finding and killing Voldemort, and then use the breathing room that would afford them to hunt down his Horcruxes without worrying about him organizing attacks and stuff. I imagine the Death Eaters would fall apart at least a bit without his guidance, even if they knew he wasn't really dead.

[Assistant]
This might not be *the* answer, but if Voldemort was defeated again, the majority of wizards would have assumed the threat was over and immediately write off those who still pursued him as nutters.

Take care of the horcruxes while everybody is at war, then end the war.


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

[User]
CMV: Being pro life shouldnt be viewed as bad or offensive: pretty much any stance on the spectrum is reasonable if it is supported for the right reason.

Are there people who are pro life for sexist reasons? Sure. But a lot of people who are pro life have reasonable reasons to have that standpoint. for the record, I am pro choice, although to be honest Im not fixed on this just like how Im not fixed on any political belief.

Just to be clear, when I refer to the spectrum I mean being pro life or choice to a certain extent: for example supporting abortions under certain circumstances such as rape or endangerment of the mother and/or child. Pretty much any stance has some reasonable backing for it and should not be treated as offensive like a lot of people do.

Why do I think this? Well, it comes down to balancing the rights of the child and the mother. Some would say that killing is always wrong, and this is often associated with religion. This is a hard viewpoint to change. Then there are some people who believe that only in certain scenarios should abortion be allowed. The basis of this can be explained like a balance. At what point does the right of the fetus to live out weigh the right of the mother to choose? If the mother is in danger it makes sense to allow an abortion. If they were raped, they in no way chose to have a child and were pretty much forced to. But you could argue that if their excuse was just that they didnt mean to even though they had unprotected sex with no birth control, then they shouldnt just be able to end the fetuss life because they regret their previous actions. Some people value the lives of a fetus differently, and this should introduce respectful arguments, not accusing people of being sexist or being terrible people and basically ignoring what they say on the basis of them being bigots.

This brings me to a smaller point, that if you want to change somebodys mind, ostracizing them isnt how you do it. Especially millennials tend to do this a lot. They assume anybody who has a certain viewpoint (like being pro life) is this terrible person who deserves no respect. If you act that way, not only is it wrong imo but also it prevents you from being able to change their minds. This is the problem with so many issues but it definitely applies to abortion.

Anyway, thats my view: people value the life of a fetus differently and as a result arent necessarily wrong or bad just because they come to a different conclusion on the acceptability of abortion.

Edit 3: I think I need to get rid of both of my edits and say that my view went sort of like this: at first I was what I said above, then somebody convinced me that being strictly pro life, and then I started just feeling like a piece of shit being devils advocate but I think thats because this CMV became people attacking the belief and expecting me to defend it when I didnt hold it the point is that somebody who is pro life fundamentally believes that a fetus is a human, and that an abortion is murder. And if thats what they believe thats not only not evil, but also from their moral standpoint the exact right thing to do. People listing examples like setting restrictions or creating fake clinics so that people will delay so that it is too late - in their minds theyre doing the right thing. Does that make them bad people? I really dont think so. And even if you see a fetus as a life, you can still say that very early on its just a clump of cells, while later on it can become valued as a person. As such, you might say if the mother will die you can abort any time, if it was rape you could abort a bit later, but if nothing happened then you could be very limited to before the point where a fetus could be considered a living thing with feelings. And from the religious standpoint, thinking that abortion is killing a fetus no matter when it happens is perfectly reasonable because you believe that babies have souls. Morally, based on their understanding of the world, theyre right. So, based on what Ive read so far, I hold that judging somebody just based on their beliefs still shouldnt be done.

[Assistant] If we're granting that a fetus is a human life, why does it matter if the mother was raped in order to conceive it? If the fetus might kill her that's a separate issue. But why make exceptions for rape?


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

[User]
[DC Comics Universe] How have magical superheroes impacted the careers and popularity of mundane stage magicians like David Blaine?

You'd think that the public existence of real magic would have some sort of impact on the popularity of stage magic with the general public. Does the sterling reputation of magical superheroes like Dr. Fate  make stage magic that much more popular or has actual wizardry made pulling a rabbit out of a hat too boring to pay for? Is Zatanna able to pass off as a stage magician because they're more sought or is she the only one still working because she uses sorcery?

[Assistant]
As a concept,  yes. As entertainment,  no. People know stage magic isn't real now,  but that doesn't stop them from enjoying it.

Given the choice between watching dr fate or criss angel, a lot would choose criss angel. Magic users who are superheroes aren't as showy as stage magicians,  and not as fun to watch.


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

[User]
[DC Meta] Do people not realize Bruce is constantly at fundraisers or charities?

He does *work*, he sticks his neck out on business opportunities based on whether they'll bring jobs to Gotham instead of actual profit. He's funding half the city's orphanages, hooks criminals he beats down with jobs, supplies the GCPD with new cruisers, and even helps rebuild collateral damage. Are people daft? *Every* reboot or new series mentions this in it's issue #0 or #1. You only ever see Bruce outside of his costume when he's at a fundraiser, even Nolan's movies and the last 20 years of animated series have kept that consistent.

Why do people act like he doesn't help his city, and he does Batman out of fetishism?

[Assistant]
It's not that he doesn't help the city at all, it's that he could do so much more for the city if he put his efforts 100% into it like he does for being Batman.

Imagine if he took his "prep time" and "infinite money" and put it to revitalization efforts of the city, to fixing the problem at it's source rather than punching the symptoms.

If he took his Batman budget (and let's be real, it's astronomical) and resources (otherworldly tech) and put it to his city, it would be a similar economic change that Latveria had under Dr. Doom, minus the ~~oppressive dictator~~ glorious leader.


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

[User] ELI5 why old TVs can change instantly between stations but new flat screen TVs that can even connect to the internet can't?

[Assistant]
Here's the process an analog TV goes through when changing channels:

* Tune to new frequency, display signal. It's instantaneous, there are no processing steps required, it can just pipe the signal it receives directly to the screen.

Here's the process a digital cable box or TV goes through when changing channels:

1. **Tune** to new frequency
2. **Demux** bitstream and identify correct channel
3. **Decrypt** individual channel (on pay-TV systems)
4. **Unpack and Decode** channel video and audio streams
5. **Wait** for a keyframe in the video stream.
6. **Display** video signal.

Each of those steps takes tenths of a second to complete. The wait for a keyframe, especially, can take 1 or 2 seconds.

Let me explain each of these steps in more detail.

**Step 1** is tuning to the frequency on which the desired channel is broadcast. This step is pretty much instantaneous.

**Step 2** is *demultiplexing* or *demuxing* the signal. This is required because on the vast majority of digital TV systems, a single frequency will carry several individual video channels. These individual channels are smooshed (*muxed*) into a single stream of bits. Your TV/Cable box looks at this bitstream and figures out which bits belong to the channel you selected. It separates the correct bits into a different bitstream that carries just the channel you selected. This is called *demuxing*.

**Step 3** is decryption. On Pay-TV services, most of the channel streams are encrypted to prevent people from watching them if they haven't paid. Your cable box or satellite receiver must consult its internal decryption key table to get the right decryption key, and use it to decrypt the stream. If the key is not available, the box must wait for it to be resent, which can take several seconds (but this is unlikely).

**Step 4** is unpacking and decoding. This is another demux process, but instead of looking for the bits for a video channel, it is now separating the channel stream into video and audio streams. The video uses a codec like MPEG2 or MPEG4, while the audio uses a codec like PCM or AC-3. The box must identify these codecs and begin the proper decoding routines.

**Step 5** is waiting for a keyframe. MPEG2 and MPEG4 are video compression schemes. The way they compress video is by transmitting a *keyframe* (which is a complete frame of video) and then only transmitting the *changes* from one frame to the next. The receiver gets the keyframe, then applies the specified changes to make up subsequent frames. But what if the receiver jumped into the stream in between keyframes (which is the most likely scenario)? All it has are a bunch of changes, but no original to make the changes on. So it has to wait for the *next* keyframe (which usually takes a second or two) and begin decoding from there. This is the biggest reason for the delay in changing channels on most digital TV systems.

**Step 6**, finally, is displaying the decoded video and audio.

All of those processing steps take a little bit of time, and the cumulative effect is that it takes a couple of seconds to begin showing a newly-selected channel.


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

[User] ELI5:What are the actual jobs of high ranking people in the armed forces? Generals, majors, colonels, etc.

[Assistant] They are managers. Money, manpower, etc. The higher the rank, the more you become a politician and the further you are away from the reality of "boots on ground" or "bombs on target", just like the civilian world.


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

[User] ELI5: When it comes to cooking, acid is said to cut through fat - what is actually happening here?

[Assistant]
Fats have a pleasant savory taste, but they can be overly rich and somewhat bland in large quantities.  And a lot of foods that we love are high in fat - think of hamburgers, salmon, avocado, etc.

So to "cut through" that blandness (figuratively), we want something with a little zing.  Salt is a good option, it helps to counteract that blandness, but it doesn't add much flavor of its own.  Acid excites a whole 'nother set of taste buds and breaks up the monotony of that fat, making it more interesting to us.  Which is why we put pickles and mustard on that hamburger, lemon juice on that salmon, etc.  It's a contrasting flavor to fats and keeps them from overwhelming our palette.


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

[User] [Star Wars ROTJ] Did Anakin have trouble fighting Luke because he couldn't feel enough hatred towards Luke to fuel his Dark Side Force use?

[Assistant]
Pretty much, yes.

Ever since Vader was informed that the pilot who destroyed the Death Star was named Skywalker, he had become obsessed with finding Luke. For much of the war post-Yavin, Vader threw his entire being into finding what he thought was his last connection to Padme. Luke was living proof that he wasn't alone, and that many of Palpatine's words were outright lies. Anakin had been distancing himself from his Sith master for quite some time before Luke, but his son was the big push he needed to start making plans to take Sidious down. Vader just didn't realize that pursuing Luke was also his path toward redemption.

By the time of the fight on Endor, Vader was struggling mightily with his dark side persona and the one he called "the Jedi", a self-imposed lockbox of all his memories and feelings as Anakin. After his failure to capture Luke on Bespin, since he had promised to capture Luke and make him "a powerful ally" of both Sith lords, Sidious punished and tortured Vader mercilessly. It's why he was so cowed and seemingly hopeless when Vader brought Luke to the second Death Star.

Vader half-assed the fight in the Emperor's throne room partly because he was following his master's instructions to do a grand pantomime in the hope of turning Luke to the dark side. But the other part was exactly as OP asked, his waning grip on the dark side and the resurgence of Anakin Skywalker. When Luke started drifting into the dark side and beat Vader into submission, he genuinely won that fight, because Vader was stuck in such a deep crossroads of his old and new personas struggling mightily in his head. It wasn't until Anakin saw his son being tortured and killed, his last family being taken from him, that Anakin won the fight once and for all.


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

[User]
[Marvel/MCU] Kingpin is often more than willing to fight Spider-Man in an encounter, despite the power difference. But how much more powerful does a hero have to be, before Kingpin refuses to fight them?

And/Or better yet, abide by any demands that they would have. Like, if Thor came down from the sky, and demanded 1000 Lbs of a brand of pudding, that only Kingpin can get him, would he acquiese to such demands?

[Assistant] Kingpin is tactically brilliant and a long term planner.  He would rather bribe, blackmail, steal, threaten, manipulate or buy his way out of a problem rather than punching his way out.  If 1000 lbs of pudding gets Thor off his back Thor gets his pudding.


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

[User] ELI5: Does birth hurt for other animals as much as it does for humans?

[Assistant] No. As we evolved to walk upright, our hips became narrower which caused the birthing canal to became narrower as well. We also grew bigger brains which had to be pushed through those narrower birthing canals. This is why humans have more complications with birth than other animals.


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

[User]
Wouldn't it be cheaper/more efficient to pay people, rather than bail out companies?

What I'm reading is that we need to bail out companies in order to maintain jobs. Wouldn't it be far more efficient just to pay a UBI-type thing? (Note: I'm not advocating UBI *per se*, rather as a stop-gap in the current crisis.)

Arguments/my reasoning:

* If businesses are failing because no one is using them (e.g. air travel), then they are going to continue to need bailouts. Thinking bailouts are a one-time thing vs. ongoing UBI-type payments is unrealistic.

* We've already seen companies using the cash to buy back stock.  OK, we can put in legislation to stop that, but paying people would be far more efficient.

* Giving working people money maintains money flow - working people buy necessities, rather than investments.

* Medium/long-term, we would realise either a) we don't need this/that industry or b) this industry needs to be more efficient.  It would provide a huge opportunity for innovation and entrepreneurship as people try to fill the vacuum left by collapsed companies.

I am a complete econ-novice and my reasoning is probably super-naive, so I'm def here to learn!

[Assistant]
I'll address one point:

>Medium/long-term, we would realise either a) we don't need this/that industry or b) this industry needs to be more efficient. It would provide a huge opportunity for innovation and entrepreneurship as people try to fill the vacuum left by collapsed companies.

The problem is that whole industries are collapsing, not because they are badly run, but because they're faced with an extremely serious natural disaster disaster, an act of god. These companies would be essential to the coming recovery. Case in points is the airline industry. All airlines are going to have practically zero flights for the next few months, but they are still going to incur significant costs. Any business operating in such a situation will collapse- it isn't about efficiency. A random shock has fallen from the sky. It's like allowing all local businesses and companies to collapse after hurricane Katrina.

When the virus eases up and we're trying to rebuild the economy, if the airlines are all out of business, it will take time- for new entrants to set up businesses etc- that will take months, even years. Do you think the American economy can function without airlines for a few months, and recover quickly? Probably not.

The coronavirus isn't some terrible moral failing of capitalism, it's a very very very serious natural disaster that affects just about everyone- if you let the businesses collapse, your recovery is going to be very slow.


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

[User]
[ECONOMICS] What would happen if all of a sudden the entire national debt of the United States were paid off?

This is assuming this was possible, of course. What would be the benefits and/or consequences? Would this even be a good thing?

[Assistant]
We would be free of about 200-300 **B**illion dollars in debt service payments per year, or about 1.7% of GDP.

Basically we would lose **all** of our current liquidity to gain an annual income that's less than 2% of our revenue.

It's why real, actual economists are either agape or clutching their sides in laughter when politicians declare the importance of paying off our debt and not taking on any more of it, and ask for extreme budget and tax cuts to do it.


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

[User] ELI5: If I jump how long must I be above the ground for the earth to noticeably rotate below me.

[Assistant]
You won't notice it for two reasons.

1) You are rotating at the same speed as the earth, so when you jump, you will continue to rotate with the Earth rather than staying still.

2) You are being pushed on by the atmosphere in the direction of rotation, so there is no drag to slow you down once in the air. The air around you rotates at the same speed as the Earth.


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

[User]
Why does a long balloon, if partially inflated, sometimes inflate in sections instead of inflating the whole balloon?

What keeps the pressured air from inflating the parts of the balloon that is not inflated and stay where the pressure is highest?

[Assistant]
A picture of what you're talking about might help. However:

Pressure is the same inside the entire balloon.

The differences are in the balloon itself.  For example, due to manufacturing process, thickness of the material can vary throughout the balloon so some parts get stretched out more than others, or the top of the balloon might resist deformation differently than the middle of the balloon due to its shape.


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

[User]
Accepted onto a TA position but no staff account or pay has been arranged for me

As the title says I was accepted onto a TA role at a UK university. I completed and passed all right to work checks and so far I've taught for the past 3 weeks at the max my PhD contract allows (5 hours/wk) so thats 5 hours a week at a wage of 15 p.h which means that I've worked (so far) for free and am owed 225.

I've asked the university 3 times now if there is a way for me to claim these hours and they said an unforeseen error has prevented the creation of my staff account.

It sounds dumb but here, the staff accounts allow you to access the class teaching materials, claim hours worked and contact HR if something is going on. Currently I can't do any of this and I have more and more unpaid hours racking up.

I'm tempted to suspend my TA activities until they pay me because I'm really running low on cash...

[Assistant]
Yes, dont do any more work until your account is set up. Email HR, cc your supervisor and state your situation.
Edited to add. Once you get through to HR, tell them you are relying on this money and they might be able to make an emergency payment, rather than waiting for the next pay cycle (which could mean being paid at end November, depending on your local HR processes).


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

[User]
ELI5: How does the earth avoid a massive build-up of static electricity ?

And to an extent, what happens to an electrical charge when you ground it ?

[Assistant]
Nothing that happens entirely on earth can change the number of electrons. The solar wind is mostly neutral, cosmic rays contribute a bit of positive charge. Very high levels of charge will dissipate; "space" is faintly conductive.

When you ground an electrical charge you mostly put it back when you got it (whether static or generated).


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

[User]
ELI5: In movies we see negotiators outside a bank robbery. So in real life what exactly would they be allowed to do?

Can they give in to demands like in movies?
Do they really let people be so close to the crime scene behind the tape?
Basically how different is it from a movie?

[Assistant]
I think that the negotiation role is less appeasement and more intended to open up a channel of communication and try to persuade the robbers/gunmen to turn themselves in. If they're talking on the phone, they're not killing hostages. If you start killing hostages, the game is up, because it becomes a race to see whether they can kill all the hostages before they are killed themselves.

If you commit an armed robbery and take hostages, they're is no version of the story where you fly off in a helicopter with cash. Even if that happened, you'd be arrested at the airport etc. Generally, you get arrested or shot.


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

[User] [Marvel] Who carried the earliest origin of the zombie virus of Earth-2149?

[Assistant]
A version of the Sentry who was sent to Earth 2149 from Earth 91126, and then bit that universe's Captain/Colonel America, Hawkeye, and Ms. Marvel shortly thereafter.

It's unknown where the Zombie chain in Earth 91126 started, but it's basically stated that that some weird ass causality loop was implemented by a Watcher to keep the virus contained between the 2 universes: Earth 91126 sends an infected Sentry to Earth 91126 which then sends infected heroes into the past of Earth  2149, which starts the infection there, and causes sequence of events to repeat themselves.


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

[User]
ELI5: If whispering doesnt use your vocal cords, then how can you still hear someones unique voice/tone/pitch while theyre whispering?

Ive lost my voice from having a cold, but heard myself whispering and it still sounded like my own voice. It made me wonder how that is possible if you dont use your vocal cords when whispering.

[Assistant] The recognizable sound of your speech doesn't just depend on your vocal cords. You're using your mouth to form the words that you say. Your lips, tongue, palate, teeth & throat are all working together to do this, under the control of your muscles. The shape of your mouth and the way you control it are unique to you. So some of the recognizable qualities of your way of speaking are preserved when you whisper. However, it's still harder to recognize someone by their voice/speech when they whisper vs. when they use their vocal chords.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What was Yoda's plan at the end of ROTS of he'd won?

If somehow he defeats Palpatine. What was the plan then?

The public already believes Jedi are usurpers. Beating the new (very popular) emperor in a lightsaber duel, possibly even killing him, would only prove everything Palpatine said about the Jedi true. Did Yoda plan for that?

[Assistant] They talked about what would happen if they needed to remove the Chancellor from power already, after Dooku was killed. Remove the Chancellor, install an interim Chancellor to calm things down, and go from there.


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

[User] [Ant Man] What if Scott took off the suit while being the size of an ant?

[Assistant] MCU: The suit and helmet are only needed when switching size. The suit ensures he changes size as a whole, the helmet prevents the Pym particles affecting him mentally. If he took it off while tiny he's just a tiny naked man.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why aren't the Rockefeller family trillionaires by now?

According to Wikipedia, "By the time of [John D. Rockefeller's] death in 1937, estimates place his net worth in the range of US$392 billion to US$663.4 billion in adjusted dollars for the late 2000s, and it is estimated that his personal fortune was equal to 1.53% of the total U.S. annual GDP in his day."

But I just looked on Forbes, and there is only one Rockefeller on the billionaire's list, and he's way down at #556 at *only* 3 billion.  What happened to all that money?

[Assistant]
The family fortune would naturally diminish over generations because there are several heirs to divide inheritances.  JDR Sr. had 5 kids, and many of his children and grandchildren also had 4, 5, or 6 kids.  That means the inheritance would get smaller and smaller over the generations.

Then you had various Rockefeller's giving money away to various causes, spending money on extravagant lifestyles, or engaging in various business ventures that didn't pay off.


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

[User] When they announce discovery of a new breed of bird or fish or whatever, are they always meaning "Never before discovered" or does it sometimes mean a new crossbread from previous breeds/types?

[Assistant] It depends on the type of animal (wild v. domestic) but the majority of the time they mean never before discovered. But discovered can mean different things, maybe it a species that we've never seen before or maybe it's an animal that we misclassified. An example of this is the platypus, after genetic testing it is though that there are two subspecies not one species as originally thought.


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

[User]
CMV: No individual has the responsibility to vote for the lesser of two evils.

Election season is upon us, and in the Democratic primaries weve come down to a choice between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

Now this statement applies to everyone in regards to whomever you vote for, but in this instance Im going to be talking about Bernie Sanders supporters.

As more and more of the establishment throws itself behind Biden, I hear more and more rhetoric about how regardless of who wins the primary we all should come together to support the party nominee.

Some people are very militant about this, and will blame their parties loss on voters who dont turn out to throw their support behind the majority candidate. Ive listened to this for 4 years as someone who didnt vote in 2016, as if the reason Hillary lost was because me and these millions of other voters didnt do our duty and go support her, and not the fact that her character and her policies didnt appeal to me and millions of others.

I see the same sort of situation emerging in 2020 if Biden loses to Trump. Ill hear a lot of rhetoric to the tune of, If you didnt vote you cant complain, and The reason Trump is president is because of people like you.

Politics shouldnt be a zero sum game, and the fact we have only two parties basically turns our elections into a form of sports, where people are expected to support a team and a color, even if, or especially if your teams policies dont resonate with you.

I think there are more than enough reasons that I wont vote for Joe Biden even if he gets the nomination as seems likely. Whether its my concerns for his mental health, my concerns about his touchiness, particularly with children, my concerns with his voting record particularly with things like the Iraq war, or Gay marriage, or my concerns with certain racial things hes said.

Personall I feel as though I have enough reasons to conscientiously object to voting for Biden. Yet without a doubt someone will insinuate that I should plug my nose and go vote regardless of whether I find a candidate and his policies distasteful or not.

Imo its not my responsibility to vote just to push someone out of office. Instead, its my responsibility to vote for someone I feel represents myself.

[Assistant] Politics affects everyone and at the end of the day either the Republican nominee or the Democratic nominee will win the presidency. Conscientiously objecting doesn't do anything practical but make you feel better.


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

[User]
[Pokemon] After 30+ years how are people in other regions still ignorant of Ash being god-tier.

Also why does pickahu get bad again after every season :(

[Assistant]
Ash is actually far from god-tier. He always seems to botch any Pokemon League runs he takes part in, having won only (I think) the title for the Orange Islands, and that was a close match, coming down to a 1v1.
Ash is a high tier trainer, but for the next step, maybe look up Red. Like Ash, but actually successful, and he even filled out the pokedex while doing it.
As for pikachu getting bad between regions, it's due to his choice of snack. Pikachu enjoys snacking on Common Candy, an item which severely weakens pokemon, reducing their level by 1 per candy eaten. Pikachu pigs out.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does radiation poisoning kill you?

for example how does drinking contaminated water or being exposed to contaminated air actually kill you?

[Assistant]
Ionizing radiation, the dangerous kind of radiation, can damage your body's cells all the way down to the DNA, which is what controls the whole cell.

It's like replacing your kindergarten teacher with another 5-year old. No one would do anything they were supposed to and chaos would ensue. Eventually the principal would come and get you all in trouble.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is History channel still labeling sci-fi shows "documentary" even after Discovery Channel realized it hurt their credibility?

[Assistant]
I would imagine it's similar to what happens to MMO's when they change the balance too much. Your old user-base moves on and you get stuck with whoever didn't mind the change. If you try to change back or appeal to the old group again it generally makes more people leave instead of join so you are stuck in a cycle of pandering to who's left.

With the Discovery Channel, they used to be known as a great source of solid information. Once they started going soft, all the people interested in real info left to find a new source and then the only financially beneficial types of shows are the ones catering to the conspiracy theorists or reality show addicts.