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

[User] [DC] What are some of the Darkest Alternate Realities?

[Assistant]
Personally, Id say the two darkest alternate realities are Flashpoint and Injustice.

Flashpoint includes the destruction of Western Europe, a hyper violent and murderous Batman, a war between the Atlantis and Themiscyra that is destroying the world, and a fearful and emaciated Superman who has never seen the sun.

Injustice turned Superman into a murderous tyrant who killed many of his own friends and saved (read subjugated) the entire planet and murdering whom ever he deemed fit. His list includes green arrow, Shazam, a huge swath of the Green Lantern Corps, and countless others. The rest of the justice league either join him and become fascist and overall terrible versions of themselves, or joined a resistance lead by Batman and were generally captured or died.


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

[User]
Eli5 how do the blood vessels and nerves reattach themselves when reattaching a severed limb?

I just saw a post about organ transplant, but how can the nerves of a limb still allow it to function properly if nerves cant really be reattached?

[Assistant]
The first thing is that the surgical team has to basically lock the two ends of the blood vessels and the nerves together so that they can heal, a lot like setting a broken bone.  After that, it's mostly the "quick cells" growing.  In blood vessels, you have lining called epithelium that can repair and grow pretty quickly, so as long as it's sealed up so that the patient doesn't bleed out the blood vessel will probably heal up well.

As far as nerves go, while the nerve fibers can't recover if the cells inside are killed, as long as the nerve cells themselves are still alive, there actually are cells that can help reattach nerves.  These cells, called neuroglia ("nerve glue" in Latin,) are the cells that help support nerves when the nerves are healthy.  There are specific cells, called Schwann cells, that surround nerve fibers and make them conduct signals faster; those cells can support a damaged nerve cell as the cut part grows outward, searching for the part it lost.  If the cut parts find each other, the nerve cell can actually fuse the two parts back together and heal itself, but if it can't, the function of that cell is permanently lost.  Schwann cells and other cells involved in the neuroglia can actually help direct the two parts of the nerve cell in the hopes that it will find the other part of the cell.  As long as most of the cells in the nerve find their cut parts, the nerve can function pretty much as if it were never cut.  It's unlikely that 100% of the nerve cells will find their cut parts, so it's very rare to get back 100% of the function of a severed limb, but as long as the limb was just cut off and the surgical team reattaching it is skilled, most of the nerve fibers can get back where they belong and most of the limb function can survive.


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

[User] ELI5: What did devaluing the Yuan against the dollar achieve? Also how does it affect gold rates?

[Assistant] By artificially devaluing the Yuan, it made gave all other currencies strong buying power within China, it made exporting labour to and buying goods from China much cheaper and more profitable for the US, Europe, etc. At the expense of labour laws and humanitarian issues it went in China's favour as it was essentially the pouring of foreign currency into the Chinese economy which then wasn't redistributed to the world because China didn't need to import things from elsewhere, and also had very harsh import taxes and such. As to how it affects gold, the Chinese have been buying large quantities of gold, or it seems that way to the gold market, because their own currency isn't backed by gold (a more universally accepted form of monetary worth) this shocked a large number of people into thinking that it was a currency back up, and seeing as the Yuan is so weak it would reflect that in the worth of Chinese gold. In reality the gold isn't for money at all, their economy is so huge it couldn't be sufficiently backed by all the gold in the world, as more and more people realise that the gold they have been buying is for products and research and all sorts of other stuff, gold prices return to normal. :) Hope this helped.


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

[User]
Why is element 18 more heavy than element 19?

On the periodic table, it says element 18 weighs 39.948, and that 19 only weighs 39.0983. Why isnt 19 heavier than 18? Doesnt it have 1 more proton?

[Assistant] Your thinking isnt wrong, Potassium (19) has one more proton than Argon (18). The reason Potassium (K) has less mass than Argon (Ar) is just a quirk of how atomic mass is calculated. A simplified explanation of how they calculate it by taking the average mass of all the isotopes the element has bearing in account the abundance of each isotope. So a short answer to your question is **because the most common isotope of Ar has more neutrons than the most common isotope of K**. <99% of Ar is Argon-40, which means it has 18 Protons and 22 neutrons. The most common isotope of K is Potassium-39 which is <93% of all K. It has 19 Protons and only 20 neutrons. So most Ar has 40 particles in its nucleus, while most K has 39, regardless of the fact K has more Protons. If they both had an equal number of neutrons, K would be heavier.


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

[User] ELI5: Coming from the Philippines, how does a welfare state like Sweden work and how is it that third world countries like us can't do the same?

[Assistant]
Lots of countries, including the Philippines, do have welfare and social service programs but ensuring access and distribution is always problematic. Graft and corruption are usually the biggest barrier, but another major issue is simply a lack of civic education.
The people who most need welfare are also the most likely to not know their rights, how to apply for these programs, or even that these programs exist.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why is Classical music considered so complex compared to other forms of music?

Also, what sets apart composers like Beethoven or Mozart that makes them "elite"?

[Assistant] Classical music isn't just your typical four chord rock song with a basis beat. There are themes in each song and each song used different techniques like counterpoint and countermelodies and polyrhythms and stuff like that where basically different instruments are playing different melodies and rhythms but in the big picture it all comes together to make beautiful sound. Composers of classical music also are geniuses because they have to know how a melody they write on a piano will sound for a cello or a French horn and all these other instruments with different timbers and different keys. They didn't sit around in studios trying ideas out. It was all in.


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

[User] ELI5: What is the difference between programs and algorithms?

[Assistant]
An algorithm is just a collection of instructions to do something.  But that's pretty abstract, it's not tied to the specific way its done.  For example there's a maze solving algorithm that goes like this: "Whenever you reach an intersection in the maze, take an unmarked path at random if available, then mark it.  If no unmarked paths are available, take a path with a single mark at random and give it a second mark.  Do not follow any path marked twice."  This is an algorithm, but its not a program, how you perform it, or how a machine performs it will be different, but you can still all perform it.

However if you take that algorithm and you write it up in a programming language, to perform that algorithm on a piece of hardware, on a system that can execute that code, then you have a program.

The algorithm is the logic, the program is how its implemented.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40K] Suppose for a moment that two of the Primarchs had swapped which planets their were swept away two by Chaos. What would be the most interesting combinations?

Say, Rogal Dorn ends up on Fenris and Leman Russ is found on Inwit, (Maybe Russ can handle the harsh environment, but Dorn might grow to hate the boisterous culture of his adoptive family).  Or maybe Horus and Angron had been raised in each others places. Which combinations would yield the greatest shakeup?

[Assistant]
-The Khan on Fenris, so we'd get marines on snowmobiles

-Vulkan sent to Nostramo, to dispense justice but not the homicidal Batman way but through kindness

-Switch Dorn and Perty, just to see which falls to Chaos.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do Japenese put extra words after names in sentences sometime?

Examples being kun or senpai

[Assistant] Those are *honorifics*, which most often are used to show the status of the person being spoken to. In your examples, *-kun* would be used for a male friend close in age, and *senpai* would be used for a slightly older person whom you respect and admire, though the word literally refers to older siblings.


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

[User] [Star Wars] How could Han Solo plausibly navigate an asteroid field if the chance of success is 3720 to 1?

[Assistant]
C3PO was likely spouting a misleading statistic.  Being a protocol droid, he probably didn't run the odds himself based on data about Han and the Falcon.  Rather, he was more likely programmed with the stat as trivia for entertaining diplomats (and so who knows what it was based on).  That, or R2 calculated the odds for another pilot in a different asteroid field at some point and C3PO's remembering and misusing the stat.

Regardless, C3PO's statistic most likely isn't accurate for Han and the Falcon.


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

[User] ELI5: How do monarch butterflies migrate through multiple generations, considering that one of them can only make it part of the way?

[Assistant] Genetically learned traits. Basically they've been doing it so long it's become ingrained in their core. They even fly around an obsticle (can't remeber if it was a mountain or lake) that's not even there any more! A million (or whatever) years ago this feature of the Earth went away, but the butterflies still circle where it once was.


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

[User] If UV light from the sun is harmful to us, does that mean UV light in a night club, for example, is also dangerous?

[Assistant]
Generally, no.  'Ultraviolet' actually doesn't refer to light of a single wavelength, it encompasses a spectrum from about 10 nm to 380 nm.  For comparison, the visible light spectrum runs from about 380 nm to 750 nm.

Ultraviolet light in the region closest to visible light (UVA) is what most nightclub blacklights would produce, and it shouldn't cause any damage to the skin or eyes unless an individual is unusually sensitive for some reason.  These tend to be at around 370 nm.

Once you get further down into the UV spectrum, however, then the shorter-wave (higher energy) radiation can cause damage.  The UVB range (280 nm - 315 nm) stimulates vitamin D production ... but in excessive amounts will cause sunburn and/or further problems.  Higher energy UV gets into the territory of risking eye damage.


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

[User]
[Halo] What would've happened if the Spirit of Fire had returned to UNSC space during the Covenant War?

Coming back with knowledge about the Flood and the Forerunners way before the Halo events could have helped the UNSC right?

[Assistant]
They didnt really have that much information on the Forerunners, other than 'they built huge and powerful stuff', and some members of the UNSC already had a feeling that there were stuff like that out there (like Onyx).

Knowledge of The Flood wouldnt have really changed much, as they didnt have information about the Halo's so events pretty much happened as normal, but they werent as surprised by The Flood's sudden appearance (if the UNSC actually told them about it, which is not a certainty)


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

[User] [Star Wars] How was civilian life like in the areas the republic separatists controlled?

[Assistant]
Depends on the planet. Some planets were treated very well, specifically the ones belonging to the separatist senators and other Politically valuable planets. On these planets you likely would be no different then a republic citizen.

Conquered or occupied planets were treated much worse. What would happen to them was what you'd expect. Slavery, oppression, poor living conditions. All military and security will have been replaced by droids who were programmed to be assholes, political leaders would be replaced with puppets.


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

[User]
[STAR WARS] What is the barrier stopping them from leaving the galaxy?

What is it? Why is it there? How did the Vong get in? I don't know if these have ever been answered.

[Assistant]
Since you mentioned the Vong, I'll assume you're asking about Legends continuity. It's revealed that the Vong are a partial reason for that as most ships that left the galaxy never returned, even from short trips. The few that did return spoke of monsters beyond the veil.

Aside from that, force users that traveled out there found that there was a disturbing absence of the force a certain distance away from their galaxy. It's also implied that the Vong aren't the only big players just outside their borders, with many horrors having occasionally found their way into the galaxy.


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

[User]
[Most Zombie Lore 2006+] How does a zombie outbreak's origins remain a mystery while spreading to pandemic levels?

We know where corona and the spanish flu started from, i'd seem weird to not know where a zombie virus's origins to started from, especially from scared refugees and the internet sharing their stories.

[Assistant] It takes some high level science to trace a disease's origins, and in most zombie lore the world goes to crap in a handbasket and mankind's ability to science gets fucked. If the Spanish Flu wrecked us zombie style, we'd never know where it came from.


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

[User]
Can the U.S. Vice President cast a tie-breaking vote for a 2/3 majority in the U.S. Senate?

For instance, if Puerto Rico became a state and the Senate voted 68-34 to propose a constitutional amendment, would the Vice President cast the deciding vote?

[Assistant]
Good question.  The answer is no.  The Vice President may only cast a vote when the Senate is "evenly divided." U.S. Const., art. I,  3.  So the VP gets no casting vote in votes requiring two-thirds (e.g., to expel a senator, trials of impeachments, treaty ratification, veto overrides, and proposals for constitutional amendments).

This actually came up in the otherwise excellent *John Adams* miniseries on HBO, which inaccurately depicts Adam, as President of the Senate/Vice President of the United States, casting the deciding vote to ratify the Jay Treaty.


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

[User] ELI5: What is bankruptcy and what does declaring it do?

[Assistant]
Like you're Five:  On the day you get your allowance, you buy a bag of candy.  The next day, you want more candy, but you spent your allowance, so you ask your brother if you can borrow his allowance, and pay him back with your next allowance. You buy another bag of candy.  The next day you ask your sister if you can borrow her allowance, and promise to pay her back when you get your allowance. You buy another bag of candy.

When you finally get your allowance, you realise you're in trouble - you can't pay your brother and your sister.  You get so worried about it that you go buy a bag of candy instead.  When you get home, you get in a big fight with your brother and sister about it.

When your Mom asks what you're fighting about, your brother and sister tell her that you borrowed money and you won't give it back.  She asks you why not, and you say that you spent all of the money on candy, and you don't have any money left.  She sighs, and makes you give all the candy you have left to your brother and sister.  They want to know when they get their money back, and she tells them the money is gone, and they need to stop fighting with you and forgive you.  They say that that isn't fair, and she says that it really isn't, and that they should remember this the next time you ask them for money.


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

[User] ELI5:Have we heard and written down every musical tone that's possible?

[Assistant]
Yes and no because of the limitations of human hearing. Tonally: The human hearing range only encompasses tones between (approximately) 50Hz-20,000. As we get older, this is shaved down and we lose hearing in some of those frequencies. So because we can only hear tones in that range, we can't truly fathom tones outside of it.

Dogs, on the other hand, have a hearing range from 40Hz-60,000. Therefore, they can hear sounds we cannot.

Musically: In western culture, we really only recognize 12 notes to make music with. (A-Bb-B-C-Db-D-Eb-E-F-Gb-G-Ab) These repeat themselves through higher and lower octaves. Some other cultures use a different set of notes in between those notes. There are pitches in-between all those notes and we often refer to them as +/- cents sharp or flat.

Intelligent life could recognize sounds far below or above our hearing range and even communicate in sound waves we can't fathom.

Edit: For those of you who wish to claim 20-20,000- this is true- from birth. The average person has hearing loss shaved off both ends of spectrum from life things such as having the car window open, airplanes, concerts, fireworks, trains, etc.


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

[User]
Eli5 How does engaging the clutch pedal gradually avoid stalling a car?

I know when you stall your car is because the resistance torque is greater than the torque generated by the engine. But how does releasing pedal gradually help with the take off? Does doing this way increase the torque produced by the engine? What is the difference between letting go of the clutch instantly and gradually from a scientific perspective?

[Assistant]
>	Does doing this way increase the torque produced by the engine?

No, it reduces the resistance from the wheels. The clutch is two plates pressed together to transfer the torque, and by releasing slowly you are engaging them with less pressure for a time. This lets the plates slip, transferring some torque without it being enough to stall the engine.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does the rear view mirror work after flipping it up at night?

Is it like a reflection of a reflection or something? Please explain!

[Assistant]
The front surface of the mirror is glass, which is only slightly reflective and mostly transparent, while the back surface of the mirror is smooth metal which is highly reflective. The glass surface and metal surface are titled with respect to each other. Usually, you are looking at the strong reflection from the metal surface. When you adjust the mirror at night, you align the mirror so that you are now looking at the weak reflection from the glass surface and not the strong reflection from the metal. You need a weaker reflection at night because you need your eyes adjusted to low-light levels to see the streets, but the headlamps of the car behind you are very bright and will destroy your visual night-adaptation if you see a strong reflection of them.

Glass always reflects a little bit of the light. If you look very closely at any standard metal-glass mirror, you will see two images slightly offset: the strong reflection from the metal and the weak reflection from the front surface of the glass.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do we get this "spacey" feeling right before we sneeze?

You lean your head back a little, you close your eyes, no thoughts are going through your head (spacey, lightheadedness), then BAM. You sneeze. What causes that feeling?

[Assistant] A sneeze is an involuntary action but it is a semi-autonomous one, meaning you have some degree of control over it. Most of the time, though, you don't choose to exercise this control and resign yourself to the action. It's similar to a yawn- you feel your own body doing something on its own accord. Additionally, your breath fluctuates wildly during a sneeze and especially during multiple sneezes. This combination-  your conscious brain experiencing an unconscious action plus a change in your regulation of oxygen- creates a "disconnected" feeling that leaves you feeling discombobulated after a sneeze, as if you're "returning to reality".


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

[User] Why is it that when you touch two pieces of, say, iron, together they don't "stick like it does to the rest of "itself"

[Assistant]
Because the two pieces will have a layer of oxides, coatings, oils, dirt or other impurities on their surface. In addition, the surfaces will be rough, so the actual contact area will be miniscule.

But do away with that, and metal will 'cold weld'. For instance, make a moving joint on a spacecraft in the vacuum of space. The two pieces will wear, exposing fresh, uncontaminated metal, and will fit exactly, making the contact area large. It will not rust, because there is no oxygen. The two faces of the joint will cold weld, becoming one.


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

[User]
eli5: When do planes reach the end of their life?

I feel like Ive been flying on the same generation of planes my entire life. I live in the US. Will there have to be some sort of mass breakdown for updates?

[Assistant]
Airplanes on average have far better maintenance that cars for example, so even a very old aircraft can still be airworthy and quite safe so long as the maintenance has been kept up.

Modern Pressurized aircraft can only handle so many pressurization cycles. It's like inflating and deflating a plastic bottle over and over again, eventually the material becomes too stressed and damaged to be re-used or repaired. So an airframe will time-ex (expire) after a certain number of take-offs and landings (cycles). After that the FAA won't certify it for flight anymore no matter how much maintenance you do.

This is a particular problem for short haul airplanes because they'll do multiple take offs and landings per day.

But an older airframe like a Beaver, a Buffalo, or Dakota (C-47) isn't pressurized so it doesn't have that problem. Which is why so many really old aircraft are still flying.

For those airplanes it's a matter of economics. When the aircraft costs more to repair than keep it in the air, it's time to scrap it.

The other obvious way to end an aircrafts life is to crash it or damage it so much that it isn't worth fixing.


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

[User]
ELI5: How is a hard disk drive able to be simultaneously read and written to?

My 5TB external drive is always being backed up to the cloud, but I can still read/write from/to it without any trouble. Since it relies on mechanical arms to access the data, how can it do all of this at the same time?

[Assistant]
it doesn't read and write at the same time. It can't do that.

what you are seeing is the operating system caching the reads and writes, so that it can do a little reading, then  little writing, then a little more reading, etc, so that it SEEMS it is doing both at once.


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

[User]
CMV: People who view AI as a solely positive advancement, are naively disillusioned.

EDIT: As a comment pointed out, disillusioned is likely not the right word for the title. "Naively optimistic" would be better phrasing. Thanks.

After reading a number of arguments and debates online, I've become a bit of a pessimist in relation to the advacement of AI. I'd like to lay out some of the arguments I've heard, my initial reaction, and hope to generate some discourse on any number of the points in no specific order. This is in regards to upcoming AI within the next few decades, not the current standard we are able to use.

***-*** ***AI will only evolve how people do their jobs, not replace them completely.*** ***If it does, they can just get new jobs.***

While I agree a select few jobs will see improvement with AI assistance, I feel its far too hopeful to expect companies to not focus on the bottom line. Leading to handfuls of layoffs as a machine that can do 80-90% of the quality at thousands of times the rate pushes all but the top performers out of an industry. When this is widespread throughout multiple industries, there won't **be** any other jobs for people to switch to that aren't hard labor. For a business to remain competitive in the space, they will need to transition to a more automated work force to keep up. With the a high supply and low demand of workers looking for jobs, the ones that remain can offer near nothing in compensation.

***- AI will create new jobs for people to educate and train themselves in.***

I do not believe the rate of jobs created to jobs lost will be a 1:1 ratio. Furthermore, what's to stop many of these new jobs from being automated not long after they're created by better AI?

***- AI will usher in societal safety nets such as UBI.***

This may be more likely in Socially Democratic countries, but in the U.S. where socialism is demonized in some political spheres, laws to assist a growing poverty class will be highly contentious. Lobbying to prevent corportations from paying an AI tax for displacing high amounts of workers, that could feed into some form of UBI, will be rampant.

***- AI will end capitalism***

I sort of agree with this at a slightly unrealistic and completely doomerist level, corporations entirely take over, no longer beholden to workers labor to make goods. They hire private miliatries to hold order and lavish in their small pockets of excess and wealth. I see this as a far more likely outcome than a fair and equal socialist society. This is probably my weakest thought, based more in fear and disdain for the vast swathes of croneyism that exist today.

***- AI will remove the need for people to work.***

If the ruling class lessens their hold on the reigns of power, this is possible, but unfortunately dependent on the former question. Why, exactly, would they give up their power to allow the plebians to be on equal footing? Additionally, AI on a large scale is likely very expensive. A bill that the upper 1% could foot, but would leave out much of the middle and lower class.

***- Humans and AI will integrate to form something new and powerful.***

Similar to the above, this is likely not going to be cheap. As with most transhuman ideals, it's likely not feasible for widescale deployment into each and every human on earth. Who do you decide gets implants? When? Why? Do you create a new caste of have and have-nots with this technology?

***- AI increases accessability to skills and other artistic mediums.***

I believe this devalues art and nuanced digital skills. Hand crafted items may retain a sort of novelty value. Art and design skills are often impressive because you can recognize the time and effort someone put into them. Creating something by hand and wishing to share it will cause it to be easily be copied by numerous tools. Potentially devalueing the novelty of it from thousands of AI created clones. What is the point of pursuing an artistic interest if everyone can do it and any unique style you come up with is quickly adapted and perpetuated?

I would like my view changed on any number of these because I want to view technological advancement as a positive force. One that will truly allow humans to become better and focus on higher pursuits. I consider myself moslty a realist with some optimistic takes and would like to be shown I may not be thinking entirely correctly on some of these points.

[Assistant]
It seems like pretty much all your points can be boiled down to: *"AI will take jobs"*

And it will.  But that's how progress works.  The printing press put scribes out of work in the 1400's.  But books and literacy became accessible to all.  The power loom put weavers out of work in the 1700's.  But clothing became more affordable for all.  The internal combustion engine put horse breeders and carriage builders out of work in the early 1900's.  But now we have more powerful and efficient means of transport.

Progress comes at a cost to a few, but everyone reaps the benefits.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Does "C-3PO" refer to a model of droids or one specific droid?

Essentially, are there other C-3PO's, besides the one we know? Is it a model number for a general class of droid?

If not, that means that there are only 26 3PO units in the galaxy? What are the naming conventions? How did Anakin "get" that name for his droid?

[Assistant]
C-3PO is from the 3PO series of protocol droids. All the ones that look like him are from that line produced by Cybot Galactica.

Now as for naming conventions... well that is tricky. C-3PO is his official name, but could there be the possibility of another droid named that? Quite possibly.


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

[User]
Why do animals have bladders to hold urine?

Is there an evolutionary reason for this adaptation? Why doesn't urine just dribble out as it is processed?

[Assistant]
Most land animals excrete away from where they live for health and comfort reasons. They don't want to wake up in a wet bed any more than you do. Some also hide their leavings so they are not tracked. For a mouse to Ieave a trail of urine back to its nest would be an open invitation to a snake or rat for instance.

Scent marking, as has been mentioned, and not wanting to contaminate potential food also play a part in the usefulness of being able to control excretion.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do mirrors reverse left and right, not up and down?

[Assistant] Because the mirror actually doesn't reverse left right. It reverses _front and back_ - as if someone pulled your nose out the back of your head. If you track the image from the wall behind you, you'll notice that your back is closer to that wall than your nose is. However, if you extend this analysis to your image, you'll see that the nose of your image is closer to the (real) wall behind you than the back of your image. You've reflected front and back.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do video game companies bloat their games with DRM even though pirates always find a way around it? Can't the experienced company programmers defeat the pirates?

[Assistant]
Nobody believes that DRM is going to prevent piracy, it's there to slow it down and make pirating the game inconvenient.

It's the difference between having the game available on torrents an hour after launch that can be installed and run just by double clicking the icon and having it on torrents a couple of days after launch that requires a bit of reading to get it working.

People are willing to pay to get things quicker and with less effort.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do people say that time began at the big bang? Is there no 1 trillion years ago, for example?

[Assistant]
People say that because, as far as we can tell, that's what happened. "Time" isn't a thing by itself, it's intimately connected with space (that's why physicists talk about "spacetime" all the...time).

So our concept of time is intimately tied with our concept of space; space, and spacetime, and hence time all came into being (we think) at the big bang. When you squash spacetime back into whatever it's original state was, space and time as we understand them quit existing. And the very notion of "before" implies time, so saying "before the big bang" literally doesn't mean anything in a technical timey-wimey sense.

There might be "something" "upstream" of the big bang but, whatever it is, our physics doesn't work there so even our basic concepts of space and time don't work there either.

It's like saying "What color was the wall before you build the house?". Without the house, you can't meaningfully talk about the color of the wall.


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

[User]
[X-men days of future past]What happened?

Spoiler warnings ahead as always.

Logan's mind was sent back in time, the assassination of Nixon and his gang of suits was foiled, Mystique/Raven saved the president. Yay for the heroine.

And Logan eventually wakes up again captured by Trask, but his mind zips back along the timeline to the future where he's a history professor (What really?) working for Charles Xavier.

What happened to the rest of the world? What was the ultimate impact of the sentinel event?

Additionally, where the hell did those robots come from in the 70's?
As far as I know the dawn of the microprocessor was still almost a decade off. How did Trask manage to build autonomous humanoid robots before then? (I mean Dinklage is awesome. But I'm not allowed to break the 4th wall here.)

[Assistant]
>And Logan eventually wakes up again captured by Trask

He was lifted from the river by Mystique posing as Stryker, not Trask.

>What was the ultimate impact of the sentinel event?

Because Mystique didn't kill Trask (and Nixon et al.) the sentiment toward mutants changed from hostile to friendly (or neutral at best) so that the "dark" future never happens.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do black holes lurk at the center of galaxies?

From what I have been reading up on black holes, most of the galaxies appear to have a super massive black hole at their center. But there are huge stars lurking all over the place in galaxies, when these huge stars collapse on themselves, wouldn't we see(not literally) black holes scattered all over the place in galaxies?

[Assistant]
Your question is backwards.

It would be like asking why there is a star at the center of the solar system? The solar system is a product of that star, without it there would be nothing to hold the system together.

Galaxies are the same way. The super massive black whole is what is taking this assortment of stars and systems and holding them in a coherent pattern that we know as a galaxy.


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

[User] ELI5: What's the psychological mechanism behind why incestual porn is so popular but most people are grossed out by the thought of having sexual relations with a family member in real life?

[Assistant]
Kind of guessing here but one answer that comes to mind is how arousal works. There are studies that show that being sexually aroused or anxious are not really that different, mostly the context is different. So the wires cross fire when it comes to incest. Incest is "wrong", which makes you anxious and uncomfortable, coupled with sexual arousal it intensifies it, which is where the "forbidden fruit" arousal comes from, basically because of us feeling it's wrong.

However, it's still a fantasy, you can enjoy fantasies but in real life you would never want to do it. It's almost like you're highjacking the anxiety that the idea incest gives you for a better sexual high, but wouldn't want to do it in real life. Same way with how we kill people in video games because we high jack the high, but would never want to kill someone in IRL.

Also from what I've seen the most popular porn seems to be "step moms" and cousins, and cousins don't count!


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

[User] [The Boys(TV)] Why is A-Train singularly addicted to Compound V to maintain/boost his abilities; could that work with other supes?

[Assistant]
Out of all of the seven, he is the one that is constantly called upon to push himself to his absolute limits. Consider, by contrast, Homelander who in any given situation does the absolute least amount of work necessary to "solve" a given situation. Whereas A-Train is doing things like racing other speedsters.

Ultimately, the use of A-Train's powers at their limits all the time has taken its toll on his body, and he has needed to compensate through the use of Compound V.


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

[User] [Wall-E] What do you think were the reactions of the citizens when it was announced that they will go to the Axiom and stay for 5 years?

[Assistant]
They don't give a fuck. They already paid for their Buy n Large lifestyle subscription.  Buy n Large is not just a company, it's EVERY company, it's the government and most importantly, your very best friend.

Everyone's so caught up in the hedonistic lifestyle of the Capitalist "Utopia" that they barely notice the planet dying. Advertising/brainwashing tends to do that. The only people who are truly aware of how fucked the planet is  are the people running the world/company, along with the A.I. In charge of running the cruise ships.


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

[User] When I accidentally bite my tongue, how does it heal? Clearly, it does not scab.

[Assistant]
The tongue is the fastest healing part of the entire body =)

It does not scab because it is always lubricated, similar to fresh tattoos that uses lots of lotion.  However, if you for some reason stuck it outside your body for the duration of the healing process, it will scab.


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

[User] ELI5: my girlfriend gets super stuffed up when we sleep with the fan on. Why?

[Assistant] Allergy suffer and frequent traveller. It's because allergens rest on things. Dust, mold, pollen, hair, and others will rest until disturbed. Turn on the fan and the airflow will pick it up and into your sinus. Add in it will bteak your bubble of humidity and push dryer air to you, you get stuffy. Get a filter or humidifier.


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

[User]
CMV: USB spots should be added to most home electrical outlets.

I am currently at a hotel and one of the outlet panels has the standard North American prong plugs, but also has two USB outlets as well. It is set up in a way that there is no additional space required by the outlets, so four things can be plugged in at once. However, the best draw for the USB outlets remains convenience. If I forget the AC adapter, I can simply plug in to the USB, and since so many charging cables have those two components, I lose the adapter quite frequently. I genuinely see no reason why these outlets which I only really see on vacation should not exist in most homes aside from cost, and I am somewhat skeptical that in a new building these outlets would be far more expensive. Can anybody give me a reason why we should stick with regular outlets?

[Assistant]
USB-a or USB-c?

That question not having an obvious answer is indicative of the problem: the rate of change on these standards is too great for them to be added universally.

They also do tend to necessitate transformers and more complexity, making them (slightly?) more expensive.

Generally, you only want USB outlets on a very small subset of your plugs - so why do this everywhere instead of those near desks/nightstands or at counter level?


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

[User]
[Dune] Why arent more traditional melee tactics used?

Why do fights seem to almost always fall into individual melees, why dont soldiers use physical shields and weapons other than short blades?

[Assistant]
It's extraordinarily difficult to maintain the sort of fine control you need over the business end of a longer weapon such as a sword or pike to penetrate enemy shields. Only short blades that effectively function as extensions of your arm are practical in that sense. As such, knives don't lend themselves well to the sort of tactics you'd see with historically conventional arms.

Physical shields are probably regarded as redundant.


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

[User]
[Rogue One] Is the empire's security apparatus entirely incompetent?

As seen in the movie, bodhi rook states that they were rerouted from eadu flight station, which apparently is enough to convince the shield apperture operating crew. I served time in my country's military and did guard duty, and this is against all base security protocol i've ever seen, why was no contact made with whoever is in charge of rerouting military flights? If sheev could contact clone commanders in the outer rim from coruscant, then an imperial officer can definitely contact space traffic control or an equivalent there-of.

In addition, would there be no record that the shuttle approaching the shield apperture is missing? After all the rebel air traffic controller on yavin stated that it's an impounded imperial ship, so there must have must have been some suspicion about a missing shuttle, not scheduled to be there, suddenly showing up over scarif?

[Assistant]
The shuttle also has proper code clearances, and with such a massive bureaucracy, information travels slowly. News of the attack on Eadu may or may not have reached Scariff yet, and whatever news did arrive was likely incomplete. The logistics of such a large empire are very complex, so an unscheduled arrival wasn't that uncommon.

Look at it from the Imperial perspective. They live and work on a quiet planet, protecting a giant library and some R&D stuff. No locals, no Rebel presence, just a calm beach world. Many Imperials worked there as a semi-retirement because it was a very easy, low stress assignment. Shuttles come in and out. Another shuttle comes in. The shuttle itself is undamaged and looks like every other shuttle. The pilot speaks in the same manner as every other pilot, and knows all the procedures. The codes they have transmitted are correct, and shuttles fly in and out from those sorts of research planets all the time. An unscheduled arrival, but that happens. Clear them, let them land, then inspect it just to be sure.

From an organizational perspective, the Empire knows nothing about Rogue One. They have no idea Galen put a weakness in the Death Star, or that Galen got a message out saying the plans were on Scariff. For all they know, the Rebels knew of the weapon and Galen's involvement, and then assassinated him to keep him from working on the project. Krennic went to Scariff to review the plans and ensure there had been no more breaches of security-nobody was expecting a Rebel attack at all. When the Rebels detonated the explosives, everyone was frozen by inaction, and only Krennic realized what was going on-is they expected a Rebel attack, deploying the garrison would have been step one. The Rebels caught everyone by complete surprise.


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

[User]
If you were to make a hole all the way through to the mantle, what would happen?

Lets assume you have a magic heat-proof drill of a ludicrously powerful shaped charge or laser or something that will make a hole, say, a couple of meters wide straight down all the way through the crust where I am in the UK.

Would you get an instant volcano? Would the results be different if it were under the ocean, where the crust is thinner (or have I got that backwards?). I suspect the planet doesn't just deflate like a balloon...

[Assistant]
What happens when you drill a hole in the ice on a lake? The water below the ice rises up through the hole to just below the top. This is because the ice is floating on the water, so the water below the ice is under pressure and is forced up the hole until the weight of the water column is equal to the weight of the ice around it.

Same if you managed to drill through the crust. The exact results depend on how you're keeping the hole open and how dense the crustal rock is compared to the magma below.

You could also get some interesting behavior as dissolved gases are released (interesting as in being close would not be a good plan).


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

[User] [Harry Potter] I just took polyjuice potion of a woman who, as luck would have it, is about to go into labor. Am I now also pregnant? Am I having this kid? Does the kid disappear after the potion wears off?

[Assistant]
I would say that you become a version of the woman who *appears to be* pregnant, with all of the discomfort, needs, and shape of such a state. But you just get the experience of what she's going through during the span of time in which you plucked the hair from her head, not necessarily the baby and the eventual birth.

The kid is a separate entity, so you don't duplicate the kid, but the mom is, shall we say, *in quite a state*, and you get all of the annoyances of that state.


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

[User] How is Milky way and Andromeda galaxy going to colloid if the universe is expanding and everything is going further apart?

[Assistant]
There are two parts to this. The first part is that galaxies are moving around anyway relative to one another, even without the universe's expansion, but that peculiar motion of each galaxy doesn't tend to be either towards or away from us.

The second part is that Andromeda and the Milky Way are very close together, in the scheme of things, and the expansion of space is hard to notice until you've got a LOT of space in between things. While space is expanding, it's only adding about 70 km/s per Megaparsec of distance between things. A Megaparsec is about 3,240,000 light years. Andromeda is only 2.5 million light years away, so the universe's expansion is only adding about 54 km/s or so. Galaxies in groups tend to move faster than that, though, around 100-200 km/s. Andromeda is moving towards us at 110 km/s, for example. Something 4 times further away than Andromeda would be much less likely to be moving fast enough to merge with us eventually.


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

[User] What is the hottest manmade temperature ever recorded on Earth, and how was it created?

[Assistant] The hottest temperature ever recorded on earth was about 5 trillion Kelvin in a quark-gluon plasma produced in the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. It was created by accelerating lead ions to incredibly high speeds, 99.9999% the speed of light, so when they collided there was enough energy for quarks and gluons to have asymptotic freedom, as opposed to always being confined in hadrons as they are at normal temperatures.


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

[User] ELI5: What's actually happening in my brain when I'm confused?

[Assistant]
Most thinking we do is based on maps of reality we build up in our heads that prepare our mind and body for expected events (e.g. Pavlov's dog). Confusion is when something happens to us that causes our minds to seriously reconsider whether the map it was using is valid, and, if not, which map is.
  The problem is, your current map was based on the best available information and now seems wrong - so your brain must toss through ALL the information it can to extrapolate the proper map to apply.  This is overwhelming enough,  but worse, it still has an investment in the map it was using so it becomes very difficult to be decisive because the brain is caught between two competing models of reality.


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

[User] ELI5: So I know that you can't eat/drink x hours before surgery to not aspirate your food, but what do they do when it's an unexpected surgery and the person just ate, like a car crash or burst appendix, etc?

[Assistant]
It's a risk vs reward issue.

 If you can be stabilized until you are clear of food in your stomach. They will often times wait.

If you cannot be stabilized and whatever you need surgery for can kill you anyway they have alternate anesthesia techniques can be used depending on the surgery.

Source:work for on call ortho trauma surgeon.


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

[User] ELI5:What just went wrong with the SpaceX Dragon launch?

[Assistant] Per the commentator on CNN, something went wrong with the system that controls the direction of the rocket's thrust. They don't know in detail what caused it yet, but the machinery controlling it was drifting out of position. Since the launch has to be timed precisely for an orbital rendezvous, they'll have to wait until Friday now.


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

[User] [Star Wars] does Darth Vader still have genitals?

[Assistant] Likely no.  We see his legs suffering from 3rd degree burns so it's not unreasonable to assume that the soft tissue a few inches higher didn't fare better.  And why would palpatine bother healing a useless organ when he already had created a suit that barely kept vader alive anyways.  And i mean useless in that palpatine saw no need for his failed apprentice to reproduce again or need to enjoy the pleasures of that organ when its waste removal functions were better handled by a machine.


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

[User]
How to take full advantage of the summer before a CS major?

Hello world, So I came across this question asked before but it was by people with fairly extensive coding experience entering as freshmen. I was a terrible student at my HS (early college) before enlisting. I had a horrid GPA and talked myself out of even applying for colleges until now (5 years later). I currently have 66 credits but I'm not sure how many will actually transfer (NC vs. SC)

Shockingly enough I got accepted into an ABET accredited CS program at Coastal Carolina University for Fall. My question is, how should I spend my summer (aside from saving money at my current job) to best prepare? I've worked through the very basics of Swift in Treehouse but otherwise I have no coding experience.

I've read a few suggestions, FCC, Google's Summer of Code, Treehouse, and CS50, but what would you recommend? I think it would really benefit me to get a small jumpstart and begin falling into the right mindset. I also really want to apply for the school sponsored internships after my first year which requires submitting a competitive resume to the department chair.

Thanks everybody-
Also, I realize I'm going to have more than enough work once it starts and one option would be to just relax, but I feel like I could really benefit by going ahead and building a strong study regimen and routine before starting. That's definitely been my biggest hinderance in the past.

[Assistant]
Relax.

They'll teach you everything you need to know and pass the exams, so studying something specific now might be a waste of time in terms of passing an exam as it might not be relevant. And you'll only be able to do this for the first year, which is often much easier compared to the second and third.

So if you do want to get ahead of the curve slightly, then your options are to read something general and foundational, like Code by Charles Petzold, or go on their website and see if you can read the exact course material you'll be doing next year.


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

[User] ELI5 why could earlier console discs (PS1) get heavily scratched and still run fine; but if a newer console (PS5) gets as much as a smudge the console throws a fit?

[Assistant]
Early discs were CDs and DVDs. New ones are blu ray. DVDs and CDs store a lot less information a lot less densely. Think of them like a sheet of paper with 40 point font. Blu rays store a lot more info, which is great when you want to put high resolution textures or lots of game audio on them, but that means they're more information dense. More like a sheet of paper crammed full of the smallest font you can read.

If you spill something on the 40 point font you're probably not going to even obscure a whole letter. The same spill on the tiny font might obscure entire words.

The other issue is that data on blu rays is stored much closer to the surface of the disc. That means the point the laser is focused at is very close to the bit with the scratch. Data on CDs and DVDs is stored much deeper in the disc (even though they're very thin this does make a difference) so the laser can more easily look "past" surface contaminants.

In terms of scratches, it's because of both of the above that Blu Rays are coated with a scratch resistant compound. They are much more vulnerable to them so need to be protected more. So you might notice them getting smudged or dirty more but you probably see them get scratched less.


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

[User]
[Star Wars Canon] Why did Anakin throw Dr. Aphra out of the airlock instead of using a Force neck-snap?

Getting thrown out of the airlock still leaves a 0.001% chance of the person surviving, and directly using the Force to kill someone increases one's dark side powers. So why did Anakin opt for the tactically unsound option of throwing Aphra into space?

[Assistant]
When they first started working together, she made a request that if he ever killed her, that it not be via spacing. Lightsaber, force-choke, those were fine, but spacing freaked her out too much.

Then she rats him out to Papa Palpatine. Sure, Sheev is unexpectedly pleased with Vader, but Aphra still snitched on him to his master. So he's kinda super-fucking-pissed, and decides to kill her via the one way she specifically begged not to go.


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

[User] [MCU] In 2008, a military convoy was ambushed, killing several US service members...and the countrys foremost weapons developer. How do events play out in the MCU without Tony Stark?

[Assistant] The Avengers initiative continues, but the lack of Iron Man in the Battle of New York is a significant loss for the Avengers. Without Iron Man, a nuclear bomb is deployed in New York. Captain America, Black Widow, and Hawkeye are killed, but the Chitauri Invasion continues undeterred. The Chitauri defeat Thor and the Hulk and Loki becomes the ruler of Midgard. He has Thor watch his rise to power and kills Thor himself while Hulk is kept as a weapon for Loki's empire. HYDRA sees the writing on the wall and joins Loki's side. Because Loki wins and there is no Iron Man, War Machine, Ultron, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, or Vision, and with the death of Captain America, Bucky never turns to heroism. There is effectively no resistance that Loki cannot quell. Thanos' quest for the Infinity Stones is greatly accelerated by Loki's victory and the children of Thanos survive the ordeal.


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

[User]
[ST:TOS] In "Where No Man Has Gone Before," would Spock have been corrupted by that power?

In this episode, two of the crew members are affected by some sort of cosmic force that grants them god-like powers. They fall victim to the old adage that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."  Granted, one more than the other, as one ends up ultimately saving the day, but also dying in the process.

They were affected because they had a high ESP potential. Spock, though, is naturally telepathic. I don't know if there's an in-universe explanation as to why he wasn't affected, but that's not my question. My question is, if he had been affected, would his practiced discipline of logic overcome the seduction of power, or would he have fallen prey to it as well? Would he have been a benevolent god-like being or just as much of a devil?

[Assistant]
Life in the Federation under the rule of Administrator Spock was a gilded prison.

Still yet to develop the maturity and balance of his later years, he used dogmatic adherence to logic to repress and deny his human half. He had yet to understand that "logic is only the beginning of wisdom." He installed himself as the most logical choice of Federation President, and later the new position of Prime Administrator, when the checks and balances written for less-evolved beings became illogically restraining.

Science and technology flourished under his reign, though arts and recreational activities suffered from resource allocation only high enough to prevent a troublesome level of complaints. The M-5 artificial intelligence program under Dr Daystrom was a total success, given the supernatural assistance from Administrator Spock. The robotic Starfleet became the dominant military power of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, as Romulan and Klingon resistance crumbled inevitably but bloodlessly.

The Romulans invented a series of ever more subtle sign languages based on facial microexpressions and obscure cultural references to try to counter the all-pervasive listening ability of Administrator Spock, but gave up and resigned to their fate, beginning reunification talks six years after the Galactic Barrier incident. Faced with an enemy who could not be defeated, and would not grant them the dignity of death in battle, great sections of the Klingon military committed ritual suicide.

Earth's (and all major human colonies') school curriculum was adapted to concentrate on the teachings of Surak, father of the modern Vulcan way. Jim (formerly Captain) Kirk, in his last conversation with his old friend, speculated as to whether this was Spock projecting his inner conflict on the society as a whole. Jim Kirk was then entrusted with the key position, Ambassador to Tholia, and has not been able to communicate with the the core worlds of the Federation since then.

Some decades later, the Federation was enclosed by an impenetrable red lattice by an even higher power known as Q, after he declared the Federation guilty of squandering their potential for evolution, for not going boldly enough, and generally becoming tediously boring.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do hockey players put tape on their sticks?

[Assistant]
The blade of a stick is pretty slick... And provides no "grip" for the puck.

The puck is cross hatched on the sides, and combination of cross hatching on the puck, and the cloth tape on the blade, gives greater control. Passing, stick handling... Makes wrists shots more accurate etc.

And yes, the tape at the top of the stick is there for "grip"... So your non dominant hand doesn't slip off the end.

Edit: downvotes? Wtf? Ok, easy answer... Go play hockey without tape on your stick, and figure it out yourself.


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

[User]
This may be a stupid question, but should poorer countries welcome international trade?

Will it benefit them, or merely exploit them?

[Assistant] This is actually a very complex question. Classic economics will say that yes, it is always beneficial (the explanation boiling down to the fact that if it wasn't worth it for a company to trade then they would not do so). However, in reality there are a huge number of different things to consider. The kinds of goods traded will shape a developing economy, if it is profitable for a poor country to trade raw materials and import finished goods they may lack the impetus to develop proper infrastructure which can harm them in the long-term. South Korea developed by carefully restricting trade so as to nurture a thriving domestic industry and only then did it begin to open up trade on the back of the automotive and high-tech goods it could produce.


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

[User]
[Troy]Why didn't the trojan archers not kill Achillies?

In regards to the 2004 movie:

I never got this at all. Achiliies was all alone and the Archers had him in plain site and could have fired at any given time. Why didn't they just shoot Achilies down when Hector started get overwhelmed. Better yet, why not shoot him down as he was leaving and then recover Hector's body at the same time? Killing him would been a huge tactical advantage in the war.

[Assistant]
Honour.

It was a duel of honour, no matter how stupid it may seem, or arrogant and careless. Achilles was a great hero and while he acted poorly he did best Hector in a fight that Hector agreed to.

If the archers did as you said they'd be reviled by the conquering Greeks. Their own nation-state would lose some standing for breaking norms. They'd lose more than Hector. Remember, they were still successful at withstanding the siege. They weren't desperate enough for something like that.


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

[User] How do spacecraft like Cassini avoid being ripped to shreds by space dust?

[Assistant]
There's simply so little of it. A couple of dust impacts over a whole mission, maybe.

I'd be interested in seeing what happens to voyager in a billion years, maybe it would run into some occasional bits in interstellar space and become a cloud of dust heading in one direction. More likely it won't run into much and will eventually get stuck in a huge orbit around a black hole after being swung around a few it was too fast for. Maybe align close enough to something like a star or black hole and get sucked in. A couple billion years from now. Would love to see the condition of it before that happens, though.


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

[User] [DC] How can Batman possibly be an urban legend, doesnt he do justice league press conference?

[Assistant]
Generally, the conceit is that he started off as an urban legend before moving into the limelight.

He isn't one anymore in mainstream continuity, but he *was* at the start of his career, and given that a lot of adaptations take place fairly early in batmaning, that characterisation remains common.


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

[User]
Why do your limbs tingle after they fall asleep?

My foot just fell asleep in class and I was wondering where the super uncomfortable tingling comes from.

[Assistant] It come from your nerves "waking up." You can have a limb in a position that cut or reduced the sensory signals that are sent to the brain. Then when the connection is restored, the tingling is your brain sensing everything (like pretty much the weight of your own skin) before it remembers to filtering it out.


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

[User] ELI5: New driver here, can anyone explain the importance of changing your car's engine oil and why the engine should have it's coolant flushed?

[Assistant]
Your engine has metal parts that rub against each other (metal pistons go up and down inside metal cylinders.) This creates friction, which creates heat. If these parts heat up too much, they start to deform or change shape (hot metal gets soft and expands).

Engine oil both lubricates (reduces Friction) and reduces heat (many cars circulate this oil to an oil cooler). This oil prevents these parts from deforming.

Over time, the high heat starts to degrade the oil, limiting its ability to lubricate. So it needs to be swapped out for new oil. Some oil (synthetic) can be swapped at longer intervals than other oil (natural). Also, microscopic bits of metal from all the moving parts get into the oil and cause extra wear (imagine rubbing your face with water vs. water with some sand in it. The oil filter catches this and thus needs to be changed occasionally too.

The engine coolant keeps the engine cool and is important, but doesn't need to be changed very often. Mainly because it can get full of rust and mineral scale deposits which can eventually clog your cooling system.


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

[User] eli5: How do instant versions of foods (instant oatmeal, coffee, rice, etc.) exist? Why are they not the standard since theyre so efficient?

[Assistant] Instant items are typically precooked and then dehydrated versions of food.  While they are easy to prepare for a meal, they often taste not quite as good and have less nutritional value than fresh counterparts.  They also require a certain level of processing to make, which is often more effort for a large company to provide than just local farmers selling potatoes to grocery stores over boxes of potato flakes, etc.


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

[User] If the coronavirus (sars-cov-2) spreads through aerosols flying out of people's nose/mouth, why do we need a sample from deep inside the nose to detect it instead of just taking a saliva/snot sample from people?

[Assistant] Testing kits that check for the presence/absence of a virus work best if your sample is likely to have a lot of virus in it.  Theres more virus deep inside your nasal cavity than in your mouth.  Theres still plenty of virus in your mouth to infect someone, but not enough to produce a conclusive positive on a test.


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

[User] ELI5: How does headache work?

[Assistant] A headache (not a migraine) is when the muscles or vessels that cover a person's head or neck, swell or tighten. These changes stimulate the surrounding nerves or put pressure on them, and the nerves send a rush of pain messages to the brain.


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

[User]
[Immortality] I am an immortal, passably human, entity who needs investment advice.

My frustration with the human's ineptitude has led me to desire to skip the next few centuries and let the madness of humanity burn its self out a little more. Assuming the humans don't kill themselves, I'd like to have resources or money to trade with them in, let's say 300 years. What are my best bets for a three century stable investment?

[Assistant] That is a terrible idea that usually creates a dividing point for immprtals. The number one rule is not to put yourself out there. It is a burden, but you have all the time in the world. Reclaiming a 300 year old bank account (assuming it works and the bank is operational) is an easy way to get o  the news. Also, dont disasspciate too far; who the fuck would understand a person with 100, 200, 300 year old language patterns. Your best bet is to either start a cult or find a person to funnel funds through in return for something (promise of your immortal secrets, maybe?). Either way, stay in the shadows but keep connected enough to where you can slip in and out at will.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Would The Punisher give me time to explain if I seemingly broke the law in a way that deserves punishment?

Okay, say I'm out at night in the middle of New York. Literally 3 steps out of the front door I am held at knife point and the person tries to mug me.

I then proceed to whip out a gun and leave a hole where his brain previously was. So, in self defense I killed this man.

And to my luck, The Punisher was literally right around the corner and saw me shoot this person in the face. Knowing The Punisher, he probably has an assault rifle and grenade launcher pointed at my asshole by the time I turn around. Unfortunately though, he didn't see the mugging happen so to him I'm just some dick who shot a guy in the head.

Is he just gonna open fire before I can say anything or will he give me a couple seconds to explain that I killed the man in self defense?

[Assistant] Frank isn't an idiot.  He has made mistakes before (like the time he killed Spiderman, Daredevil, possibly Cloak, and definitely Kingpin, as well as a bunch of innocent people in Kingpin's vicinity), but after he subdues you, you'll probably be able to make your case.  He'll grab your wallet, verify that it's you on the ID, check that against the address you are at (huh, it's your address), he'll look at the knife on the ground and then realize that all is well.  He might even give you a better gun.


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

[User] [Destiny 2] Why did Zavala put the Cosmodrome on quarantine?

[Assistant] Because it was full of SIVA and housed a splinter of Rasputin. Almost the entirety of the Iron Lords died horribly there, or were twisted into nanoplague cyberzombies. It's a charnel house full of death with nothing of value left in it.


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

[User] [Marvel] Could someone use 5 of the Infinity Stones/Gems to the same effect as having all 6 if the individual was naturally powerful already in whatever aspect the missing Gem was already? Eg: Professor X without the Mind Stone or Captain Marvel who has already been infused by the Space Stone?

[Assistant] No. They create a self-reinforcing loop that is infinite in scope. Prof x might be able to wield five (if he picked them up in the right order) but he can't create the loop without the sixth. And the infinite nature of that power is deadly.


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

[User]
Falling out of love with academia: is it normal?

Hi! I am looking for advice/stories similar to my own! I'll explain my situation briefly.

I am a 22-year old, highly motivated student from Holland. I am currently enrolled in my first year as a ReMA student in Linguistics, and I have a bachelor degree in Linguistics and Dutch literature.

The program I am currently enrolled in is quite a prestigious program, and when I applied (as an undergrad) I dreamt about getting a PhD in Linguistics some day (oh, how naive...). Nine months into the program, however, academia revealed to be not as much as a 'dream field' as I had imagined it would be.

Especially within linguistics, funding is low, the field is **highly** competitive (like screwing over your class mates for extra credit competitive), there is not much science-for-science but all the more science-for-fast-everyday-benefits (on governement funds), and a 60+ hour workweek is deemed fine (how some people, especially women, work in academia *and* raise a family is completely beyond me).

As a result, I am feeling quite gloomy about my future at times, and I am even considering changing programs in order to obtain a teaching degree (which is 'just' a master degree, not a ReMa degree), even though my grades are fine.

My question then, is: is this normal to fall out of love with academia during a ReMA/PhD? Do others suffer as much as I do from the work load? Am I being whiny? Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about my future thesis and I get the shivers.

**TL;DR**: dreamt of a career in science as an undergrad as I am head over heels with the field but I find the current developments in academia rather deterring - is this normal?

[Assistant]
Of course it is normal.

The funding issue is important here. Funding should always be the central focus for people interested in an academic career. First of all if there is no funding then there is no point dreaming. Or, if there is funding and you cant get funding then its an indicator that you are not at the level. Because if you are interested in a career, it is the funding money that you have got at each stage that employers will see as the most important section of your CV.

Also things happen in life so never close any doors!!! Good luck.


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

[User]
Are there any measurable differences between two hydrogen atoms?

Excluding isotopes.

[Assistant]
No. :)

That's a quite significant feature of quantum mechanics. They are completely indistinguishable. And this is a relevant feature when doing calculations in thermodynamics (more precisely in statistical mechanics).


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

[User] ELI5: Why is our vision blurred when we open our eyes under water?

[Assistant]
It has to do with the refraction index between water and air. When light hits a medium that it can pass through, the direction is slightly altered. It's like when you stick your hand in a fish tank and it looks like it has shifted to the side.

To put it simply, our eyes have evolved to compensate for the refraction index in air, and our brains are used to it. In water, the refraction index is higher (the light "shifts" more) so our brain isn't able to make sense of what we see. The reason goggles work is the layer of air between your eyes and the water. The air refracts in a way that our brains are used to. The light in the water is still being shifted, but it is all relative and we don't have anything to compare it to.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do tinted windows almost look like a grid when you wear sunglasses?

[Assistant]
Polarization. Simply put: Sunglasses with polarized lenses align the light in one direction. The tint is an imperfect film that has certain polarizing effects on light as well. When you have the shades on, youre able to see the alignment of the tinted application.

Try this with cheap shades. You wont see anything. Any sunglasses with polarized lenses will show off other polarized items. Even the aftermarket screen protectors on some phones are polarized, youll see the pattern as well.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do massages make us feel better if something is in pain?

[Assistant] Pain receptors send signals to your brain that is interpreted as a painful sensation. Applying pressure to the affected area activates touch receptors in that area, which not only sends messages of a touch sensation, but can also inhibit the transmission of pain signals along its path, therefore reducing the intensity of pain signals transmitted to the brain.


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

[User]
[Battlestar Galactica] A Question about the Final Five?

How did Number One manage to insert Col. Saul Tigh into his role in the Colonial Fleet? Surely, the Colonial Military would have records to establish that at the very least he didn't go to the academy/serve in one of the jr. ranks? Am I missing something?

[Assistant]
Saul didnt start in the military but was initially part of the merchant marine after the first cylon war, which may have allowed One to place the final five across the colonies as the electronic infrastructure of IDs and birth certificates must have been devastated during a war against machines. After enough time in the merchant marine he applied and gotten into the navy with his friend he made there, William Adama, it was then he probably got the schooling needed for a colonial officer

As a last point skin jobs werent known then, it was machines against humans. That a human who may have missing or possibly only a few intact physical documentation was applying for the merchant marine and then colonial navy was probably looked at as interesting but nothing really suspicious.


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

[User]
ELI5: Is there a way to 'stop' in space, or would we in theory always have velocity above 0 m/s?

Every object would have its own frame of reference, right? So in theory, there would be no way to 'stop', right? Or is there a universal frame of reference of speed?

[Assistant] The question of stopping in space is not a complete question. Relative to what is the rest of the question. Stop is only in relation to a certain object. It is possible to stop in relation to any particular object as long as you match course and speed.


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

[User]
[DC] Would Batman kill if someone killed Selina, Talia, the Batfamily and the Flash all at once?

The person is also telelpathic but uses his abilities to make sure batman can't sleep or have a waking moment without re-experiencing those deaths for good measure.

[Assistant] You're asking if Batman could be pushed until he reaches a point where he kills someone. Sure. (He shot Darkseid, didn't he?) But you could say that of any hero, or anyone at all. What makes Batman a great hero is that his limits are far, far above that of ordinary men.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do some countries only have Presidents or Prime Ministers, but some countries have both? And those that have both, why is it that in some places the President is more powerful (e.g. France) and in others the Prime Minister is more powerful (e.g. Germany)?

[Assistant]
Broadly speaking, there are two main types of government systems, parliamentary and presidential. There's a lot of variation within those types, and some countries don't really fit into either, but most countries do.

In a presidential system the president is the head of state and the head of government. They are the ceremonial leader of the country as well as being in charge of actually running the country.

In a parliamentary system, parliament picks a prime minister (or equivalent) who runs the country, but they have a separate head of state who had limited powers.

Some parliamentary countries have a monarchy, so the monarch is the head of state. But others have a president who is either elected or appointed by parliament. Either way, their role is fairly similar.

France is one of the countries that is somewhere in between the two. It has a semi-presidential system. So the President has quite a lot of power, but there is also a PM who is in charge of various aspects of running the country.


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

[User] If we detonated large enough of a nuclear bomb on Jupiter, could we initialize a nuclear chain reaction and create a second sun?

[Assistant]
No.

Jupiter is not nearly heavy enough to sustain a fusion reaction. Fusion only takes place under extreme circumstances (temperature, pressure). It happens in stars, because they are so big that their own gravity compresses the core sufficiently to create these circumstances. Detonating a bomb on/in Jupiter won't do anything to change its mass or density.

Furthermore, hydrogen fusion isn't a chain reaction process in the way that nuclear fission is. Nuclear fission (as used by humans anyway) relies on energetic neutrons striking the atoms of the fissionable material (e.g. uranium), causing it to break apart and emit more energetic neutrons, which will cause fission in other atoms, etc... a chain reaction.

Hydrogen fusion doesn't need an external input, such as neutrons, like fission does. Simply crank up the temperature and pressure of a hydrogen gas and eventually fusion will take place. This means that starting the process isn't a matter of "kickstarting" it.


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

[User]
[General] Are there any character who are always right, in terms of deduction and reasoning, to the point where other characters are constantly frustrated by them?

Bonus: If the person who is always right isn't smug about it.

For example, the character says that they are pretty sure that the Cookie Monster - in a context where it *shouldn't* make sense - is responsible for a situation. Other characters don't believe them, with some even mocking the character, only to be proven wrong.

How does it feel for these other characters to be proven wrong time and time again - no matter how ridiculous the truth?

[Assistant]
Gregory House.

I still remember the arc where he cured a man's paralysis and they wouldn't tell him.

He found out and asked Wilson why they didn't tell him.

"Because you were right when you had no right to be. We were scared you'd think yourself God and keep making these giant leaps of logic. And some would be right but eventually someone would die!"

"...God doesn't walk with a limp."


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

[User] Can a 2d plane bend without considering a 3rd dimension?

[Assistant]
Let me rephrase your question: Can a 2-dimensional object be curved without that object being embedded in additional dimensions?

The answer is yes.  The mathematical description of curved two-dimensional surface can be done entirely within a two-dimensional framework.  For example, to describe the surface of a sphere, there is no need to reference 3D space; you just describe the geometric properties of that surface.

Physically, in general relativity, one learns that spacetime is curved (this is now a 4 dimensional structure, not 2) without invoking additional dimensions.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is it easy to open eyes underwater, but hard to keep them open when you go up?

You keep your eyes open underwater no problem, the moment you go up it's hard to keep them open without clearing the water around the eyes. Why?

[Assistant] When you dive underwater and open your eyes, your eyes lose the mucous that's supposed to keep the moisture in. It might sting due to extra chemicals in the water (chlorine in a pool, salt in the ocean) but the water alone is perfectly fine for your eyes. Once you surface the water will fall off and your eyes are now completely exposed to air without their protective mucous. It makes your sensitive eyes very dry.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] I want to buy a B1 battle droid for non-war reasons. How problematic is this?

Let's say that, during the start of the Clone Wars, I want to buy a regular B1 battle droid to use as a pack mule, maid and/or general assistant. They seem a lot less expensive than C3P0-type assistant droids, but also a lot more talkative than astromech droids like R2D2 - which is nice, because I don't have a ton of money but still want to talk to someone.

How problematic would this be? Since there is such a huge amount of them I'm guessing they're not *super* expensive, right? Would any government be giving me trouble for using it if I tell them I have nothing to do with the Separatists? Is this even an option? Where would I find a fitting maid outfit?

**Edit:** Oof, seems I misremembered - I was talking about the autonomous "Roger roger" type droids, who can think more or less for themselves.

[Assistant]
That's like getting a decommissioned police car. Not too hard if you know where to look. Those battle droids can be demilitarized very easily since they literally hold a regular laser gun and aren't like Droideka.

Just like a used cop car isn't a real cop car, but if you drive around in one, you may still get some looks, having a B1 battle droid is going to be a similar issue.


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

[User] ELIF: Why can we 'see' dreams if we're asleep?

[Assistant] To some extent the nervous system is a closed loop. The eye is a sensory tool that inputs information from the outside world but cannot venture out there.  The external stimuli that we see during the day is input to the occipital lobe at the back of the brain that process sight.  What we see during the day is a manufactured illusion because the brain filters the image and gives significance to it.  If you take a psychedelic drug this becomes apparent because the filters are taken off and your mind is opened to other non-survival related realities that are always there taking place but our senses are blind to.  At night the brain is resurrecting/processing (mixing/matching past, present etc.) images usually of the prior day.  Hence its all internal because the eyes aren't open to see things.  Blind people move their fingers when dreaming.  Also, sometimes what we dream has to do with our current physiological state (ie. full stomach; being sit on by elephant).


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

[User]
Where to start with analytic?

I've been studying for almost eight years in uni but everything continental, from phenomenology to post-structuralism. I know next to nothing about analytic. I know who Frege and Whitehead and Russell and Wittgenstein are but I don't think I really know what they said and wrote and why. I would like to get to read more now we're in summer break here down south. I'm mainly interested in metaphysics/ontology, epistemology and logic (not so much in language).

What would you recommend to start with? I would like to get to read the philosophers themselves, but good secondary sources are welcome as well. I think the name of Bertrand Russell is the one that calls my attention the most, but I see he wrote just an awful lot about almost everything.

I will gladly welcome any recommendation!

[Assistant] Tugendhat's Lectures on Analytic Philosophy, any day. Also, Glock's book *What is Analytic Philosophy*. Finally, there are several collections of seminal papers. Ammermann's *Classics of Analytic Philosophy* (Hackett) is good, as is Rorty's collection (the linguistic turn or something)


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

[User]
[Injustice] What happened to lucifer morningstar in the injustice timeline?

I don't remember it coming up but I didn't play through every single character (I'm not good at fighting games) But it seems... important. Right? What happened to the actual devil that just lives as a cop in the dc universe, that many of the characters involved with superman are at least aware exists, and they are trying to wipe out all evil. Did they just quietly murder him without saying anything about it?

[Assistant]
He, nor Heaven or Hell proper are even brought up in any of the comics or games. So it can maybe be assumed he's not actively engaged with this universe.

It is alternate universe. As much as it likes to pretend it's identical it's history is very different. So either he isn't around, doesn't care or had better things to do. Hell even John Constantine just got out of dodge.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why is the power to destroy a planet insignificant next to the power of the force?

And how is this demonstrated anywhere in the movies?

[Assistant]
I think because the power to destroy a planet isn't so much a power. Its a weapon. It had to be built, it was costly, it has to power up, it has to be manned, it can be stopped, it can be disarmed, it can be destroyed.

But the force is already in everything. It cannot be stopped. Sometimes not even death stops it, as seen by the force ghosts. Plus, the force is far less limited. The deathstar has only one power: destruction. You could argue it has a second power, the ability to serve as a symbol to be feared. But the force has no limits. With it and because of it, the Jedi stood for thousands of years. With it and because of it, the Jedi were destroyed. It dwarfs the deathstar in power. Two death stars were annihilated. But the force cannot be destroyed.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we only sneeze when we're awake?

[Assistant]
Do we?

Regardless, the most likely answer is sleep paralysis. When you sleep your brain essentially "shuts off" most of your muscles so you don't hurt yourself when you move in your dreams. The muscles responsible for sneezing are partially voluntary (the diaphragm, abdominal muscles, etc.) which would be subject to the paralysis and thus wouldn't work when you need them to sneeze.

*However*, portions of the diaphragm are also involuntary and do not get turned off when you sleep (else you wouldn't be able to breathe). And considering the generally reflexive nature of sneezing I'd hazard a guess that we in fact are still able to sneeze while asleep. It's probably just uncommon because you're not breathing as deeply so there's less particulate matter getting sucked into your nasal passages that would trigger the reflex.


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

[User]
[Star trek TNG] So Geordi fucked that holographic Leah Brahms, right?

I mean, why wouldn't he?

[Assistant]
That is almost certainly what the holodeck is used for, far more often than Data and Picard playing Shakespeare and what have you.

When combined with access to transporter records, the crew of the Enterprise is able to get it on with a perfect recreation of everyone they encounter.


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

[User]
Not a Math Question but a Question to Mathematicians.

As a student of economics (please don't stop reading out of disregard for my kind) I have heard that more 'sciency' people, specifically mathematicians or physicist, as they are so well educated in the mathematical realm, logic and reasoning (almost regardless of the domain), are criticising the logic in economics. I am not fully aware of what they mean, whether it is in the assumptions, in the reasoning for those assumptions ("on average true") on the reasoning methods in causalities or what, I guess just pick what you want to criticise.

I myself am now interested, with the intent of improving that, at least in the areas of my interest, what's so fundamentally wrong in our reasoning that is laughable to call that science.

I sure am not offended if you want to speak freely and honestly how you fell about economics, and I am not here to convince you that economics is a harder science that maths (actually had to giggle myself), I'm just here for some input to improve, at least my, economic reasoning.

[Assistant]
Speaking as a mildly interested observer of economics from the Physics side of the fence, it just seems that there is a casual acceptance of a nearly total lack of predictive power in economic models as applied to real-world markets instead of idealised ones.

I mean sure, Physics has its spherical frictionless cows too, but just like our cousins in the Chemistry department, we've all come to agree on a pretty firm basis that we can *all agree on*. It's not like there's a different periodic table studied in Russia, China, Spain, or Brazil. Nope, everybody studies literally the exact same one. Ditto in Physics, where nobody disagrees on the basics of Newtonian mechanics, optics, or most such topics until you start to get into the bleeding edge of quantum gravity related stuff where there just isn't enough hard data to come to a definitive conclusion.

Meanwhile in Economics, there's the Austrian School vs Keynesian theories. Read one morning paper's Economics section, you get one prediction, read the other paper, you get a different prediction. A week later you find out they're both wrong.

Even outside of Physics, you'll find that most other sciences have their members in general agreement. Biologists, as a rule, accept evolution as true and revel in its incredible predictive power. Climatologists as a rule accept global warming as occurring and agree on the root cause of that particular slow-motion calamity.

But where is a politician to turn to for advice related to economic matters? If he were to turn his head to the left, he'd get an earful about making markets fair and lifting the minimum wage. Turn to the right, and it's all about supply-side trickle-down economics.

There just isn't any agreement, which means that *someone* is wrong.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40k / battlefleet gothic]Weapons ranges and ship engagement range.

I am a solider of the Astra Mili..... Imperial Guard. I love the ships of the Imperial Navy from the smallest of the Cobra Destroyer to the might of the Retribution Class Battleship. Praise the Adeptus Mechanicus and their work. I always wondered what the weapon ranges of weapons like the Lances, Macrocannons, and Torpedoes. What about our enemy like the Tyranids, Eldar, Orks, or the Necrons. What their weapons like and how do we unleash the fury of the emperor upon his enemy. I have looked high and low to find any relevant information on the matter. To any Imperial Navy or Adeptus Mechanicus that can give relevant information, what it like to fight of our enemy. Thanks and now the commissar said that we're on the move again. May the hand of the Emperor guide all.

**+++Serve the Emperor today, tomorrow you may be dead+++**

[Assistant]
From a fluff perspective: Torpedos can be fired from the edges of a system, we saw that in *Pharos* (came in at just under lightspeed, which we know is achievable with regular engine thrust according to *Dark Hunters: Umbra Sumus* - in fact, regular engine thrust can be used for FTL travel across a sector, granted it's barely a few multiples of c). Macrocannons tend towards generally being closer range than Lances, which go up into the tens of thousands of km, and Nova Cannons go into the high tens of thousands to low hundreds of thousands of km. Although as with everything in 40k, you'll also have situations where primary lances are reaching into 500,000 km (as in *Salvation's Reach*), sooo....it depends? As a soldier all you have to worry about are two things: 1) Gellar fields failing or 2) disappearing in a bright flash of light as your transport ship gets blown to smithereens by something you couldn't even see if you looked out a window.

10,000 km ish is pretty close range for 40k ships going from the BFG rulebooks, although that tends towards being a baseline rather than anything else, because it's normalized for a game and a reasonably sized board.


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

[User]
ELI5: Would my dead body decompose if sent into space?

I'm watching Star Troopers and a deceased body has been sent into space. If this happened to me would my body decompose?

[Assistant] Not the way it does on earth.  Since no organisms we know of can survive in space (without being contained in some sort of space protection), and the way you decompose on earth is by being eaten up by other organisms, you would not decompose or rot.  Instead, all the moisture in your body would be sucked out and you would be sort of freeze dried, preserving you for a long time.


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

[User] If you take any colour and made it dark enough, would it eventually just turn black?

[Assistant]
There are two ways of constructing colorsadditive (e.g., RGB) and subtractive (e.g., CMYK). Additive colors are added to black, and for them, the answer is simple: you make them darker by reducing the amount youre adding, and when you reach zero youre at black.

For subtractive colors, the answer is a bit more complex. The bandwidth of light blocked by each of the primary subtractive colors (cyan, magenta, and yellow) is narrower than the bandwidth the corresponding cone cells in your eye are able to respond tothis is necessary in order to create fully-saturated primary colors that trigger a single type of cone without crossing over and triggering other cones as well. But this means that there are some frequencies of visible light *between* the primary subtractive colors that arent blocked by them and will still be visible no matter how dark you make the primaries. (Thats why its necessary to add black to cyan, magenta, and yellow for CMYK printing.)

At least, thats the case if you have a full-spectrum light source. If your light source were only emitting pure red, green, and blue frequencies (like the light from an RGB monitor), then you could indeed make black using fully-saturated subtractive primary colors.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does "pure" alcohol feel so strange to the touch?

I had to clean out some PC junk recently and I used a tupperware container filled to the brim with 99% isopropyl alcohol to get the gunk out.

I dipped my hands in to get the parts out and I noticed that the alcohol felt very weird in my hands. I don't know quite how to describe it, but it felt very strange compared to water. Not as much resistance, and it felt very weird on my skin. Almost as if there was no friction against my skin.

What's the cause of this? Is it surface tension? Maybe a weird chemical reaction with my skin that makes it feel that way?

I googled this and only got results about treating open wounds with alcohol.

[Assistant]
Short answer: there aren't all that many liquids that you come in contact with frequently. Most of them are water-based. Water with stuff in it.

Alcohol is fundamentally different. It's not alcohol in water, it's that the alcohol IS the liquid. Most of us have water as our frame of reference for what we expect a liquid to be like, but alcohol is as different from water as oil or dish soap is.