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

[User] [MCU] Besides plot and a weaker suit, how did Iron Man lose to Captain America and Winter Soldier after previously going toe to toe with the likes of Thor, Killian, and Ultron? How did Cap and Buckys faces not get broken throughout the fight against Iron Man?

[Assistant]
Barnes received a version of the Super Soldier Serum. Cap did as well. Neither one was a standard human and it would take a whole lot to "bust their faces".

And while their stamina and resilience was a pretty important factor in the fight, the main thing was that Tony was *not* fighting rationally. He was full on-tilt.  He was not using the suit's abilities to their fullest extent and he wasn't thinking strategically.

(I mean, flying outside and bringing the whole thing down would have been more effective than engaging two super soldiers in hand-to-hand combat.)

Damage to the Mark 46 limited his effectiveness as the fight wore on, but it had a secondary effect as well. It forced Tony to realize that in a straight-up brawl the Mark 46 was not strong enough to defeat Bucky and Steve, especially because they worked so well together (like the passing around the shield thing).

So he asked Friday to do a bit of thinking for him, and that enabled him to turn the tables to some degree.

If Stark had walked in and began to methodically destroy his opponents in a dispassionate curb stop, there's not much that Cap or WS could have done about it.


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

[User]
[General Sci-Fi] Why must these type of teleporters destroy the original?

There exists in different stories a type of teleporter that doesn't transport matter, but instead has a cache of matter at each location. When a person or object is to be teleported, information is sent about how the person or object is assembled and then a copy is made at the destination, while the original is disassembled. Why must the original be disassembled? This is akin to sending a fax and having the original sheet exit into a furnace, and saying the sheet was teleported. More precisely, a copy was made and the original destroyed. I can understand that this method would be convenient in other ways though: replication, production, etc.

[Assistant]
Typically the explanation is that the scanning process is destructive in and of itself.  To get the necessary resolution the scanner must destroy the original.
It's less like the fax original exiting to a furnace, and more like the light being so bright/hot that it burns the original as it makes its scanning pass.


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

[User]
[12 Cloverfield Lane] Just how practical was Howard's bunker?

I mean the bunker itself was pretty impressive. Recycle air and water, lots of food and even tv to watch. However there are just two regular large doors that stop people from getting. The bunker might be good to prevent toxic air from getting in, but if it was a military invasion or aliens and they wanted to get into this large door, they could have simply just blown it down with a missile and walk right in?

[Assistant]
It was designed to help survive in an environmental contamination scenario. Usually not many people are left alive outside, so physical security wasn't a priority.

Howard was forced to rely on the bunker's inconspicuousness, which seemed to work fairly well. Only one person thought to investigate it and she may have just been lucky.

Wouldn't 12 Cloverfield be Howard's neighbor?


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

[User] Does incrementing (a++ and a=a+1) have the same cost in computer? Or it depends on the programming language and the way incrementing is implemented low-level?

[Assistant]
It does depend, but in a sensible language it shouldn't, most languages it won't, certainly not any mainstream C compiler.

That said, addition is extremely cheap and is very rarely going to be the bottleneck in your application.

"Premature optimization is the root of all evil" - Donald Knuth

It's much more important to write working code, and then second to write modular code. Once you've done that, if you notice your application not being fast enough, then you can make it faster.

There are some exceptions, but these are generally "best practices". So for example if you have an enormous list of things and you want to check if something is in that list, that list had better be a hash table (dict/vector etc.). Anyway--computers are fast, don't worry about small stuff like that for now.


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

[User]
[MCU] If Dr Strange has no special qualities and learned magic as a regular human, then can anyone learn magic?

For example, what about a badass Iron-man with magic? Or Spiderman.

[Assistant]
Hypothetically yes, depending on the continuity.

Realistically no, learning magic takes a certain mindset, along with a fair amount of intelligence, a good memory etc.

Excluding some people who's powers are mutually exclusive with magic, anybody can hypothetically learn (usually).

But without the right mindset and ability the cost/reward ratio is so small it's not worth it.


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

[User]
Why do teeth have nerves attached to them if the only thing they do is get infected and hurt?

What is the evolutionary advantage of teeth having nerves? tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the body so why is the inner part of the tooth something that just drives you crazy when it's exposed?

[Assistant] Ever have a root canal or a dead or fake tooth? You actually do have feeling in your teeth which help you know how much pressure you are applying onto something or when to stop biting because there is a bone or rock in your food that is breaking them. You don't necessarily need the nerves but you use the feeling in your teeth more than you realize.


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

[User]
ELI5 How did the owners of Grumpy Cat turn that whole thing into a money making enterprise?

I've heard they quit their day jobs and are raking in millions. What exactly are they selling and who is paying them?

[Assistant]
The cat, Tartarsauce, has numerous books, meme's and even a movie created around the idea of 'Grumpy Cat'.

Since the cat cannot legally have money in an account under her name, the owners of the cat are the ones who benefit. (Like any animals in a movie, but this sense is more extreme)

They get paid from royalties of all the books, pictures, calendars, toys, cothes, posters, games movies and other things.


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

[User] Askscience, This is keeping me up tonight, help. If I was on the surface of the moon with a helium balloon and I release that balloon, it should fall to the surface right?

[Assistant]
Yes. Assuming the balloon is strong enough not to explode in the airless vacuum, it will drop to the ground just like any other object.

If you drop a hammer, a feather, and a helium balloon all at the same time, they will all hit the surface at the same time.


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

[User]
[Marvel] I'm a college student going on an exchange program to Latveria for a year. Is there a lot of censorship in Latverian Academia?

I've decided to take part in this program because I've heard that Latverian schools are AMAZING. But I also know that media is tightly controlled there. Does this extend to academic studies? Are there subjects/authors/texts that I'm forbidden from studying or mentioning while I'm there? I'm not trying to get my host family executed. Anything else I should be prepared for while I'm there?

EDIT: Followup question, while I'm thinking about it...what is the likelihood that my host family is comprised entirely of Doombots?

[Assistant] Mostly it's cool but they have some weirdly specific hate speech laws. You can say anything you like about most groups but one wrong word about the Romani and you disappear. Like literally disappear. There's a flash of light and then you're gone. Sometimes you smell sulfur.


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

[User]
[Red Dead Redemption 2] Why didn't the gang simply take care of Micah early on? Kick him out, ditch him, hell even straight up kill the guy.

I understand that, later on in the game, he had wormed his way to becoming Dutch's right hand man, but why not after he had initially joined? He's racist, self centered, insults everyone except Dutch, and a relative newbie to the gang. Why didn't Arthur, who at the time had much more pull with Dutch, just get rid of him? Surely almost the entire gang would have supported him.

[Assistant] Because Dutch was still the leader and had pull where most gang members didnt. At the time, the gang still saw Dutch as their best bet to survive. It wasnt until Hoseas death that they started to realize he was fully losing it and, by that point, Micah was already too deep into his loyalty.


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

[User]
Does energy have gravity?

For something to have gravity, must it have mass? Does light, for example, have gravity associated with it? Would greater concentrations of energy have more gravity?

[Assistant] Forms of energy which are not mass do indeed contribute to gravity. Light is one example, but most of the time the energy density of light is far too small to have a significant effect compared to all the other stuff in the universe. However, in the very early universe, there was a time when the energy density due to radiation dominated the expansion of the universe.


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

[User]
Why are there more islands in the Pacific Ocean compared to the Atlantic Ocean? What causes this difference?

The Pacific Ocean is significantly older than The Atlantic Ocean, does this have anything to do with the amount of islands each contains? Or does the depth of the oceans play a role in it?

[Assistant]
There are several factors.

Firstly, the pacific is obviously bigger so it's normal to expect more islands in it.

Secondly, the Atlantic is growing (South America and Africa are moving away from each other) so the newly formed ocean bottom as this happens is at the bottom of the ocean.  Some places in the Pacific are moving towards each other, hence places like Japan and New Zealand.  When two plates push together it makes sense that parts of the ocean stick up above the water.


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

[User] ELI5:Why does Iowa always choose the presidential candidate? Why don't we switch states up for every caucus?

[Assistant] Iowa doesn't choose the presidential candidate. In fact it's only about 50/50 even at predicting the outcome of the primaries. It is however the time that we see actual vote results for the season rather than polling data. This generally leads to a big shift in campaigns. Donors can flood in or dry up depending on the outcome and momentum that can lead straight to the party nomination can result from that simple fact.


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

[User]
[MCU] Can The Watcher see the TVA's actions?

Like has he ever seen the doors open and close and the pruning of a timeline?

[Assistant]
It would be odd if he couldn't. If nothing else, he would have seen it's origins - the person running it came from a universe like any other, after all. They just didn't stay there.

The Watcher might not be able to see into the TVA itself, though maybe he can, but he can certainly see anything they do outside of it. He's The Watcher. It's what he does.

Now, whether the head of the TVA is in some way aware of The Watcher is another question.


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

[User] [The Lord of the Rings] What is known about the making of the one ring, like metallic composition.

[Assistant] It's made of solid gold. It's resilience and abilities are not a matter of composition, but of the skill of he who crafted it. The same way an elf can make a rope that stays secure as you climb down it, but comes undone at a single tug when you reach the bottom. It's not because it's made of a special secret rope material - they are just that much better at making ropes.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are high pitched sounds harder to locate what direction they are coming from?

[Assistant] It's the opposite - low frequencies are harder locate for humans. That's why it is less important as to where you put a subwoofer with regard to the other speakers in the system. It's very hard for us to work out exactly where very low frequencies emanate from.


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

[User] What happens to your body when you are knocked out with a punch?

[Assistant]
Doctor here.

When trauma to the brain occurs, several things can happen.

The direct injury to the brain is called a *coup* injury. This is damage to the brain at the point of impact (the trauma to the head causes the brain to impact the skull).

You can also get a *contrecoup* injury - this is when the opposite side of the brain then bounces against the back of the skull.

Either of these injuries can damage brain tissue. This can be in the form of swelling of the tissue or of something called "diffuse axonal injury" - micro-shearing of nerve cells.

In any event , the injury to the central nervous system more or less "overloads" the system and higher level functions - like consciousness - shut down.

There's more to it than this, but this suffices as a basic explanation.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is 4 = -2 false?

Maybe this is kind of dumb but I'm in algebra 2 and we've been doing a lot with square roots and radicals. And for most of what we've done, we'd get something like

x^2 = 4

x=2, x= -2

But when checking for an extraneous solution, it worked out to -2 = 4. I figured that worked, so I entered -2 as a valid solution for x, but the computer marked me wrong. I asked my teacher, and she told me that basically

If you have x^2 = y, then the answer is x= y

But if you have y = x, it's just the positive number.

But aren't x^2 = y and x = y pretty much the same? Why does it work one way but not the other?

Why is

-2^2 = 4 valid, but -2 = 4 false?

[Assistant]
Its really just convention that sqrt(x) only means the positive square root. Youre right that 4 has a positive and negative square root, but we write +-sqrt(4) to mean 2 and -2, whereas sqrt(4) just means 2.

However, when solving the equation x^2 =4, we include both solutions 2 and -2 unless theres some other information that tells us that x cant be negative.


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

[User]
[Death Note]What is the aftermath of the Kira incident?

How, if at all, did society change, and what about how police forces operate?

[Assistant] After Kira died, crime quickly increased to pre-Kira levels. There's some sort of memorial group/cult who idolises Kira as a righteous judge, but they don't seem to kill anybody (at least as far as we can see).


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

[User] [Marvel]Cant some mutants just pretend they got their powers from a freak accident or a bug bite instead of being born with them so they dont get harassed?

[Assistant]
Yes, as a general rule, members of an oppressed class can lie about their membership in that oppressed class to avoid oppression.

Also, generally, it is considered a very dick move to think that the onus should be on them to lie about their identity rather than on the oppressors to not, you know, oppress people.

Specifically, this lie would not withstand scrutiny, as mutants are mutants because they carry the X-Gene which can be scanned for and detected.


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

[User] [1984] What do the upper echelons of power look like? What is the relationship between the oligarchs? How much intrigue is there?

[Assistant] I always imagined the party to be a sort of machine. Every member working to further the power of the party. There would be no "Big Brother" or head authority that commanded everyone. Everyone would be cogs in the machine. There would be no goals other than following through with the same daily actions and keeping the party alive. Always liked the idea that even the upper echelon of the party became no different than their subjects.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do Amazon used booksellers stay in business selling many books for $0.01?

I understand that sellers have to play by Amazon's rules or be undersold. Do they make a small margin on handling? Are these free book stores staffed by volunteers? I'm trying to decide whether I'm taking advantage of someone by getting text books this cheap.

[Assistant] I managed an online book company for the past 4 years. It's the shipping. Amazon sets the shipping charge for all books and media at 3.99 (USD). Most of those books are going to cost me around .80 (possibly less) to ship anywhere in the US, .08 for materials, labor is pretty small, on the order of fractions of a cent for any one book. We list around 1200 books a day, and ship around 2000-2500 a week. Pretty much, it's volume (which also gets you the shipping discounts for being a bulk mailer), and cheap shipping.


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

[User]
ELI5: How exactly do people who upload pirated content (suppose from Netflix) benefit from it?

I'm pretty much amazed at how prevelant piracy is and I'm shocked to see at how lengths people will go to upload pirated content. Almost every show/movie is uploaded on some torrent site as soon as within a week of release. This just made me wonder whether people who upload such content earn anything or have any benefits uploading the content?

[Assistant]
Some do it simply because they want to share the stuff. There is a whole political movement that disagrees with the copyright altogether.

Some do it for fame. Game cracking is basically a race between different competing teams.

Some do it for money, some download pages pay a share to uploaders to attract content wich in turn attracts more people who watch the ads before.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why was Las Vegas built in such miserable heat?

I just find it strange to built such a large and well known city in the desert where it can be as hot at 120.

[Assistant]
Las Vegas was a water stop on the Old Spanish Trail. The springs (which fed the meadows) created a rare oasis, and a pleasant one. For much of the year, Las Vegas has beautiful weather: mild sunny days, cool nights. That was traveling time.

The Old Spanish Trail connected the Pacific Coast ports with Santa Fe, the inland-northern top of Spain/Mexico's North American empire. It was a treacherous road west over the Mojave Desert, and Las Vegas was a full-service wagon-road stop. When railroads connected Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, Las Vegas was a natural place for a railway town with all the services rail travelers needed.

Because Arizona choose poorly in the Civil War, the area that is now Las Vegas in Clark County, NV, was taken from the northwest tip of Arizona. And that proximity to Los Angeles during the economic boom of the post-WWII era made it acceptably close to Los Angeles for a weekend of Sinatra and Ann Margaret and gambling over martinis.

Former Nevadan here. (And one who greatly enjoyed the state's history!)


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

[User]
What is the difference between someone who can hold their breath for 6+ minutes, and someone who can barely hold theirs for 1?

Does training physically change your body?  How?

[Assistant]
I'll let someone with more medical knowledge than me answer the physiological differences, but there is also a psychological difference. People can hold their breaths a lot longer than they think. Getting past that mental block takes training, because the body very much does not want to hold its breath and will make you do involuntary things to stop you from holding its breath. It's a panic reaction that, if you can learn to control, can be overcome to hold your breath longer without many physical changes.

Outside of that, though, there are definitely physical differences. How much oxygen your blood can carry (can be changed with cardio training), lung capacity, oxygen absorption (training at high altitudes), etc.


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

[User]
What would happen to a sealed tin can in space?

Would it explode? Is the metal strong enough to resist the pressure differential? Does it depend on the temperature? What if it were filled with water vs air at 1 atmosphere pressure?

[Assistant] It depends on the can and how pressurized it is. The ISS is kept at about 1 atmosphere (sea level), and it holds pressure just fine. Soda cans regularly hold nearly 3 times that pressure, and probably wouldn't explode in a vacuum. If there is a manufacturing defect or the material inside is heated up it could blow out the weakest point in the structure. You can find videos of soda cans in vacuum chambers if you'd like.


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

[User]
[Marvel 616] How are things between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark?

I know that during Civil War they had a bit of a falling out, what with being on opposite sides and Capt being branded a fugitive and all.

Now that things have had time to cool down have they patched things up or are they still taking a break?

[Assistant]
Currently as in right now? Or do you mean after Civil War?

Cap dies after Civil War, and through some time/space/dimensional fuckery is returned and the whole thing is sort of glossed over.

Then there's more fuckery and Steve is turned into an old man after losing the super soldier serum, but is still a mean motherfucker and isn't having any of Tony's shit. Tony, for his part, is once again trying to solo-save the world from an impending universal collapse (during "Time Runs Out", and with some help from the rest of the Illuminati) and designs a solar-powered weapon called "Sol's Hammer" to destroy the colliding alternate Earth, something Steve has a major moral problem with. Also, the Illuminati mind-wiped Steve after the first time he objected to them taking matters into their own hands, but that's just bonus resentment fuel. So, as it does, it comes down to Steve fighting Tony as the world goes to Hell around them, with both of them presumably dying as 616 Earth and the Ultimate Universe Earth collide, erasing both universes.

And then there's more fuckery on Doomworld and eventually everyone is brought back to life by the Fantastic Four. So right now, as in today, there's another Civil War brewing, but it's between Iron Man and Captain Marvel. Fuckery.


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

[User] ELI5: what is wrong with the FIFA organization?

[Assistant] They were taking bribes to give World Cup locations to countries with horrible human rights records. Qatar is basically a shit hole unless you're rich, and they only got it after paying fifa a whole lot of money.


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

[User]
[General] Why do villains that eventually turn good always seem weaker fighting on the side of good as opposed to being stronger when they were evil?

I've seen this phenomenon time and time again, in movies, shows and comics.

Everytime The " good guys " go to fight the " bad guy " , the villain always puts up A good fight using strength, intelligence and sheer will power, but whenever they, for whatever reason, join the " good guys ", they just appear weaker and never fight to their " full " potential.

Is it because if they did, the fight scene would be over too quick?

Or are they no longer fueled by " hate, revenge " ?

[Assistant]
Sometimes it can be about hate and revenge. More often it's about *certainty*, which is a powerful motivating factor on its own.

Evil is self-righteous. At least the most dangerous kinds of evil always are. They are sure of themselves, and sure that they are doing what must be done. Or whatever their reasons may be. It's not the decision-making or the acts themselves that are important to this discussion. It's the feeling behind them. The absolute, complete conviction behind them. The entire world stands against them, but that conviction fuels them. It pushes them to go farther, go faster, go stronger. Then the good guys come along, and say "hey maybe don't, y'know, with the murder and the mayhem so much." Or they say "hey this guy you're standing against, he's the real deal."

And *doubt* starts to creep in.

Even if outwardly they don't change that much... they still seem certain and righteous now that they're on the side of good... there's always that little seed of doubt. Now that they've included more than their own point of view into their decision making, *every* point of view becomes viable. Were they right to switch sides? Are they right to stand against the bad guys? Are they hurting their allies just by being around them, weaking *their* certainty?

So it takes some time for them to grow back into the full use of their powers and abilities. They're (usually) not jobbing or deliberately limiting themselves. They're just not willing to put 110% of their power behind every move and action until they've fully transitioned into a more stable wordview.


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

[User]
CMV: The United States Senate is going to cause the United States to fall behind as a world power because it bricks progress and legislation from being passed

I personally do not see a use for the Senate.  In theory, the senators are supposed to enact the interests of the state but in reality the senators pander to their political party.  Representation is based entirely on States and not population so we end up having a backwards system where less people have more political power in federal legislation.  They are supposed to be a check in the separation of powers but they really have the same bias and agenda as politicians in the house of representatives so they aren't serving as anything extra beyond them.

No other system where one group of people having extra voting power would be deemed fair.  For instance, people say it prevents tyranny of the majority but that logic is flawed.  By that same logic, we should let blacks, Muslims, gays, trans, atheists, etc. have more voting power but no one who favors the Senate will favor that.  Also the Senate doesn't prevent tyranny of the majority, that's just a talking point.  Many minorities have been heavily discriminated against in this country's history.

With all my issues said I truly think the biggest problem with the Senate is they kill much legislation and progress from happening in this country.  This is my biggest concern about it by far.  Not necessarily that they over represent rural America more in an unfavorable way.

Since the filibuster was created by accident by Aaron Burr, it's allowed the group to kill most legislation that doesn't get a supermajority so many things don't get passed.  It has been heavily exploited in the civil rights era and in the current polarized political era.  Since the Senate already greatly overrepresents rural parts of the country and a 60% threshold is needed on top of that to bypass the filibuster, many pieces of legislation don't advance.  Because of the rural bias with the 60% threshold, in reality it becomes something like 80% of Americans represented in the Senate have to agree before anything can pass.

This means things like federal protections to voting rights, healthcare reform, environmental protections, marijuana legalization, etc. that are favored by a majority of Americans can't pass because a supermajority of elected officials (again heavily biased by rural America) won't agree to it.  So in essence, something like 80% of Americans have to support something before it starts becoming viable to pass the Senate.  The only group that gets to bypass this is special interest groups that can pay off senators.

Throw in the special interest lobbying and playing of politics where one side will always vote a against the other party's legislation no matter what and we have a very broken system.  For instance, it was just leaked ExxonMobil explicitly supports a carbon tax because they 100% know that it will never pass in the Senate so they get free PR by lying that they support it.

In the end, I fear the Senate will be the undoing of the United States being a leader, innovator, and staying ahead in the future.  I suspect most things will stall and we will fall behind.  My greatest fear is we will end up like the Rome with a failed empire and a major cause will be the gridlocking caused by the Senate.

[Assistant]
The US senate is necessary because of the set up of the US. Because every state is basically their own sovereign entity, they have to have representation at the federal level on matters that effect them. The US isn't one big blob of people in a country without borders, states are *extremely* important.

The filibuster is also a good thing. Yes, it slows government down and makes it hard for anything to be passed. That's *much* more preferable than the constant changes in law we'd have every four to eight years if we had a simple majority. With a simple majority, every time power flips between parties they'll be able to completely rewrite the law as they see fit. We'll see constant yo-yo between conservative and liberal laws. With the filibuster things are slow, but when something is passed, it's actually bipartisan.


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

[User] Eli5: why do people say to get at least 1g of protein for desired body weight when it comes to losing weight?

[Assistant] Because you don't want to lose muscle mass, only fat. If you lose muscle mass your metabolism will drop too, so when it comes to losing weight you will want to have calorie deficit and at the same time to maintain a high protein intake.


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

[User] [TF2] I just saw a BLU Soldier drop dead when a RED Heavy pointed a finger gun at him and say pow! What the hell is going on!?

[Assistant] He didn't expect it and suffered a heart attack at the sight of a massive russian man screaming loudly. As you should well know surprise is one of the most dangerous weapons on the battlefield be it a spy decloaking or a demon man mining a door way.


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

[User] ELI5: How does a busted hard drive that wont boot anymore get its data recovered when you take it to the magic computer repair shop?

[Assistant]
There are some tricks to it. If you only lost your MBR, the drive can be dropped into another machine and the data recovered.

If the drive is truly dead, as in it does not spin, it can be sent into a shop that will remove the platters and place them into an identical drive and then recover the data. That method is expensive and takes a while.


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

[User]
ELI5: what happens with a woman's abs while pregnant?

What if a woman has a rock hard sixpack? Will it stretch easier or harder?

[Assistant] It's called diastasis.  Our ab muscles are surrounded above and below by a white thick layer that goes around everything in your abdomen called the fascia. The abs separate in the middle, but they are still connected to the fascia.


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

[User] [The Flash] [Marvel] Can Barry phase through adamantium or vibranium?

[Assistant]
If he can, it wouldn't be as easy as he could through other materials. Kitty Pride has been shown as having major difficulty passing through adamantium, and her powers actually do involve actually phasing out of alignment with space.

The Flashes basically vibrate themselves to the point that their molecular structure becomes loose enough that it can pass through otherwise solid materials.

I don't believe I've ever seen any of them actually use their phasing for more special materials than just regular stone and metals, however.


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

[User]
[Starship Troopers] Are we the baddies?

I joined the Mobile Infantry right after Buenos Aires and my unit landed on Planet P as reinforcements just a few hours ago. I was psyched when I watched as Private Zim captured the brain bug. I cheered when we found out that military intelligence detected it was feeling fear. But now Im looking at our uniforms, Im looking at us way out here on this rock and I cant help but shake the feeling that we are the bad guys. Am I going crazy?

[Assistant]
Soldier!! Its very normal do have doubt and to feel insecure now and then. If you have these feelings our army specialists are able to help you! Go to the nearest field hospital and well make sure youre not under the influence of bugs!

Do you want to know more?


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

[User] ELI5: Why is being Jewish considered an ethnicity?

[Assistant] It is considered an ethnicity because the development of the Jewish religion occurred among a specific group of people, and so as the religion grew, so did the ethnicity associated with the religion. The Jewish ethnicity is defined, therefore, partially by ancestry and partially by religion. The Jewish community also stayed closed off to matches not within the community, preserving their ethnical integrity. That is, until the modern day, where one can be an ethnic Jew, a religious Jew, or both.


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

[User]
Is a 'randomly' generated real number practically guaranteed to be transcendental?

I learnt in class a while back that if one were to generate a number by picking each digit of its decimal expansion randomly then there is effectively a 0% chance of that number being rational. So my question is 'will that number be transcendental or a serd?'

[Assistant]
When we talk about probability distributions on the real numbers, we are really ultimately talking about a *measure*. A measure is a rather technical way of assigning a length to an interval or a volume to a region. We can actually define many measures on the real numbers, but we typically stick to so-called *Lebesgue measure*. This is a measure that allows us to assign "lengths" to subsets of real numbers in such a way so that the length of the interval [a, b] is just what you expect: *b*-*a*.

We can forget about most of the technicalities. What's important for your question is that Lebesgue measure assigns measure 0 to single points. That should make sense: the length of a single point is 0, right? It's also important that any measure satisfy certain properties. One property that makes a lot of sense is that if *A* and *B* are two *disjoint* subsets (that means they don't overlap), then the length of their union is just the sum of their lengths. For example, the measure of [1, 3] together with [5, 6] should be 2+1 = 3, and it is. What's interesting about measures is that we extend this rule of *finite* additivity to *countable* additivity. So if we have *countably* many disjoint sets (and there could be infinitely many of them), then the measure of the union is the sum of the measures.

So what happens when we combine those rules to a countable set of points? For instance, what is the Lebesgue measure of the set N = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ....}? Well, each number in the set is a single point and has Lebesgue measure 0. There are countably many numbers in N, so the Lebesgue measure of N is just 0+0+0+... = 0. This applies to *any* countable set. All countable sets of real numbers have Lebesgue measure 0. That should also make sense. Remember that the real numbers are uncountable. So a countable set, even though it may be infinite, is very small when compared to the uncountable set. Our sense of that smallness is reflected in how we construct Lebesgue measure.

Okay, so what does this have to do with transcendental numbers? Consider the set S of algebraic numbers, that is, all real numbers that are a root of some polynomial with rational coefficients. It turns out that S is countable! How can that be? (We need to use the fact that the rational numbers are countable.) We can actually just make a list of them. Forget about degree-0 polynomials since those are constants. What about degree-1 polynomials? Each degree-1 polynomial is determined by 1 rational number (we can always assume the leading coefficient of the polynomial is unity). There are countably many such polynomials, each of which has at most 1 real solution. So we get S*_1_* = set of real solutions to degree-1 polynomials with rational coefficients, and that is a countable set. Then we move on to degree-2 polynomials, and there are countably many of those since they are determined by 2 rational numbers. Each of those degree-2 polynomials has at most 2 solutions, so there are countably many solutions. (Two solutions times countably many polynomials = countably many solutions.) So S*_2_* = set of real solutions to degree-2 polynomials with rational coefficients, and that is a countable set.

We can generalize clearly. Let S*_n_* = set of real solutions to degree-n polynomials. That set is countable, being at most the size of finitely many countable sets. Finally, we see that S (the set of algebraic numbers) is the union of S*_1_*, S*_2_*, ..., S*_n_*,... . Here we have to use the fact that the union of countably many countably sets is itself countable. The proof is not that difficult. If you have a list of the members of each set, you can form a list of the union by listing them like this:

> S*_1_*(1)

> S*_1_*(2)

> S*_2_*(1)

> S*_1_*(3)

> S*_2_*(2)

> S*_3_*(1)

> ...

The pattern is rather simple. List one element from the first set. Then the next unlisted elements from the first two sets. Then the next unlisted elements from the first three sets. Then the next unlisted elements from the first four sets, and so on. Eventually, every single element in the union will appear on the list.

So now once we know that the algebraic numbers are countable, we know that their Lebesgue measure is 0. We say that *almost all* real numbers are transcendental. So, for instance, if you consider the uniform probability distribution on the interval [0,1], there is probability 1 that a randomly selected number is transcendental.


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

[User]
CMV: Religious people don't need to let gay people get married in their church. However, they shouldn't be allowed to influence their rights for any form of legal marriage outside of that religion.

Religion should not influence politics. Gay people should be allowed to marry if they so choose.
But that doesn't mean that every church or belief has to agree to perform marriages between homosexual people. If a specific belief says they're against gay marriage and don't want to perform it, that's fine. The gay people can just go next door to the church of a different faith, or to a courthouse.
The religion shouldn't have to change it's view because something is made legal. If their's is an unpopular opinion, they'll just get less believers anyway.

[Assistant]
I agree with the basic statement.  However, a couple of points:

>Religion should not influence politics.

Voters have the right to cast their votes after private deliberation, which inevitably will sometimes include religious influences.

>The religion shouldn't have to change it's view because something is made legal.

There's a difference between views and actions.  A church is free to hold the *view* that having a pet cat is a sure sign of witchcraft, and ought to be met with capital punishment.  They're not free to act on that view.

If a religious group chooses to operate a business that offers some sort of goods or services to the general public -- a "public accommodation", as it's called -- then it gives up some of the privilege to discriminate that it has in its strictly religious activities.  So in the case of the for-profit wedding chapel, the people running the place can't be required to act in their capacity as ministers of their church by holding a religious ceremony for a same-sex couple.  But if they offer, for a fee, to help with the legal paperwork for non-believing couples that walk in off the street with no connection to their church, then they can be required not to discriminate in that offer.


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

[User] Why do older people's veins look squiggly? Do veins and other internal body parts sag like our skin does?

[Assistant] You are partially correct. In old age, the elasticity of blood vessels decreases just like our skin. Additionally, you will notice that these squiggly veins appear on lower extremities, where the back-pressure is great in an upright posture. There are valves inside veins to prevent backflow. Eventually these valves can dysfunction, leading to the back-pressure being conducted all the way down. This further worsens the "squiggliness" and dilates the veins by stretching them out. These are called varicose veins.


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

[User]
ELI5: What exactly is a conductor doing?

In classical performances and stuff, besides keeping tempo in check. Is he really needed?

[Assistant]
First, what you don't get to see while watching a performance is all the work a conductor has put into shaping the music. The conductor is much like the director in a movie: they decide how to interpret to music like a director interprets a script, and they select what sounds best. If a piece of music says to slow down, the conductor has to decide *how much* to slow down. They have to decide how certain sections should sound, how to use dynamics effectively, and how the pauses in the music are executed. The conductor also decides, or at least helps decide, who is fit to be in the orchestra, what the proper balance of instruments is, and who should be playing.

Come the time of the performance, the director is in charge of keeping the tempo, yes, regardless of what environment they are playing in, and the ears cannot be totally trusted with keeping tempo. The director also is constantly providing reminders of what they have rehearsed, and is instrumental in keeping everyone together and focused, no pun intended.


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

[User] ELI5: A lot people know that if the sum of the digits of a number is a multiple of 3, then the number is also a multiple of three. How can this be explained mathematically?

[Assistant]
If you've got a three digit number "abc" then you can write it as
100a + 10b + c

You can rewrite that as
99a + 9b + a + b + c

The 99a+9b part is definitely a multiple of 3, so the whole number will be a multiple of 3 as long as (a+b+c) is.

Nothing we did depended on having 3 digits, so the same argument will work for any number of digits.


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

[User] ELI5 Why is it that when ice is put into a deep fryer it essentially erupts?

[Assistant] Steam explosion. Ice is a fairly dense form of water and steam on the other hand is not very dense. When you put ice or even liquid water into hot oil, it basically instantly boils. The water rapidly expands into steam, and a rapid expansion of gas is just another name for explosion. Liquid water will also do this, which is why you should never put out an oil fire with water.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Is it possible to be seemingly the most benevolent being, nice, caring....but actually be a Sith?

I was wondering when you look at the Sith, they just scream "bad guy". I get it though, their teachings are all about power, hate, passion etc etc.

But I was thinking, imagine how jarring it would be to find a person so charismatic, friendly and generally a good guy, like imagine they're decked out in white royal clothing or something. Truly angelic, only to reveal that they believe in the dark side. But you know, to THEMSELVES, they are no different than anyone else. They don't have to wear menacing, brooding clothing or just act like a angsty, badass all the time.

That would be the ultimate Sith deception.

I guess, to some extent, Sidious did that. He was a Sith but played the part of the caring and nice old senator. But I mean, imagine that WAS his nature. Caring, compassionate, but ardently follows the dark side and does not hesitate to "turn up" the darkness when he needs to.

I just think it would be cool to see someone use the force and keep guessing if that person was a Sith or a Jedi without it being so obvious. I know you can be as asshole Jedi, but can you be a polite Sith?

[Assistant]
>Caring, compassionate, but ardently follows the dark side and does not hesitate to "turn up" the darkness when he needs to.

Herein lies the problem, and this is why you will only pull examples of dark siders like Palpatine and Dooku who are good at pretending to be these things in front of their constituents, but are only acting.

The dark side corrupts an individual, makes them act out of selfishness and greed, and this is furthered as they draw on the dark more and more. You can put on a manipulative face and act like a nice person but if you truly serve the dark side you serve yourself above all else, and thats why the sith are so detestable.


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

[User] ELI5: In Catch 22, Yossarian says he stopped playing chess with an artillery captain because 'the games were so interesting they were foolish'. What does this mean?

[Assistant] He was at the hospital and off-duty, which was what he liked best and wanted to last as long as possible. He actually wanted to remain bored so that the time would seem to pass slowly, rather than be interested and have the time pass quickly.


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

[User] ELI5: Neurologically, how does drawing work? How is it that we can all imagine something but our hands aren't able to accurately depict it?

[Assistant]
I feel like it's about being able to imagine something repeatedly, quickly and on-demand while also being able to multitask simultaneusly with the drawing.  Like a good artist can almost instantaneously picture something as they are drawing it but a non-artist has to stop drawing, think up an image and when they go back to draw it a second later, the image and detail has faded.

Art is also a lot of teachable technique that comes natural to some but it's extremely difficult if you don't know the various processes.


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

[User]
eli5: Why are temperature differences more noticeable indoors?

In my apartment 71 degrees is freezing and 73 is uncomfortably warm. Outside, anything from 60-85 feels fine. Why are temperature differences so much more noticeable indoors?

[Assistant]
Outside, all the parameters that add to your experience of the temperature are constantly shifting. The wind may set in more, the clouds might stop blocking the sun as much, even the type of material you walk on might reflect more or less heat than what you were walking on just a minute ago.

When you're sitting inside, however, you are constantly experiencing practically the same parameters. If it's just slightly too hot or too cold to be comfortable, there is no periodic breeze or sunshine to distract you from that fact.


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

[User] If someone loses a part of their body that can be reattached, how do all of the nerves/veins/tendons etc. Find their way back to each other?

[Assistant]
Replantation or limb reattachment via surgery is microsurgery, therefore requires a microscope to operate under.

With such surgery often the route of reconnecting the various vessels to each other is done manually. This takes many hours 'under the knife'.

Usually when people ask this question they're thinking about 'vascular remodeling', where after an amputation the blood vessels reorganize themselves to restore proper blood flow.

With reattachment of limbs this process must not occur, otherwise the severed limb would merely be a dead limb sewn on. Hence the manual reconnection.


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

[User] Why does adding a single extra oxygen atom to H20, which is something we need to survive and drink daily, suddenly causes it to become extremely toxic to even breathe? (H202)

[Assistant]
The difference between H2O and H2O2 is not simply "adding a single extra oxygen".

The structure of H2O is H-O-H, one oxygen atom bound to 2 hydrogen atoms.

The structure of H2O2 is H-O-O-H, a hydrogen atom bound to an oxygen atom which is bound to another oxygen atom which is bound to a hydrogen atom. That oxyen-oxygen single bond is called a peroxide and it is very weak. The entire molecule doesn't need much persuasion to fall apart into two hydroxyl radicals, which themselves are eager to react with important molecules like fats, proteins, and DNA.


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

[User] [Dragon Ball Z] Although they are aliens, why are saiyans so similar to humans? and furthermore how are humans and saiyans able to procreate together?

[Assistant]
Evolutionary pressures on planet Vegeta caused the Saiyans to evolve into humanoid form. Same reason anything winds up in the shape it is.

As for the interspecies breeding? Blind, pure stupid luck that the biology is similar enough for it to go down. Even more lucky that the half-breeds aren't mutated or sterile.


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

[User]
[Teen Titans] How does starfire balance so many emotions at once?

in the puppet episode of teen titans, it is revealed how starfire's powers work, in that they are each powered by a seperate emotion. starfire is shown to be able to both fly and throw starbolts, but those require pure joy and furious anger, respectively. How can she do these at the same time?

[Assistant] It is possible to feel all those emotions at once, while hard for an average person to do it is still possible. She more than likely focuses on good moments in life and what she is fighting to keep to have pure joy, while at the same time focusing on the people she is fighting and that they want to take the good from her in order to have anger, and she is almost always confident which gives her super strength. Tamaraneans are a warrior culture so they probably learn emotion control at a very early age.


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

[User] ELI5 What is formal logic? I've read the wikipedia page a dozen times and I still feel five.

[Assistant]
This is a pretty condensed ELI5 but formal logic is a set of rules you can use to construct valid arguments or prove statements. You can also use it to check whether other people's arguments are valid.

It has heaps of uses. You can check mathematical proofs, make electronic circuits, and solve philosophical problems. You can also use it in debating, law, economics, and many other fields to look at whether people have valid and factually correct arguments.


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

[User]
Are cars built with computer controls?

I got into an argument with my dad about whether or not you could hack into a cars breaks. Do cars really have computers that operate the controls based on user input? Also if so, would it be possible to hack said controls?

[Assistant] Depends on how old the car is. Some newer cars have everything controlled by electronics, but this is a relatively new development. All cars after 1996 have an engine diagnostic system called OBDII which allows one to *read* state information, but not control it.


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

[User] eli5. How do table saws with an auto stop tell the difference between wood and a finger?

[Assistant]
The safety feature detects an electric signal. Human bodies are electrical conductors, so when we touch the blade, we create an electrical circuit. The machine detects this electrical difference, and initiates the blade jammer when it does. A piece of wood is not conductive, and so it does not create a circuit with the blade.

It's similar to those lamps or even your smart phone screen. You operated them by making contact with your skin. They detect the electrical impulse of your skin. If you tried to active these with a thick glove, it would detect no signal and not turn on.


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

[User]
[Dilbert] If Wally is trying so hard to get fired, why is he never fired?

I don't get it. Wally is being extremely lazy and is trying to get himself fired. Yet he never is fired. Why is that? Can someone explain comprehensively?

[Assistant] Wally read through his contract and the HR policies, and discovered he qualifies for an *extremely* generous severance package in the event that he's fired.  He does not qualify if he quits.  Ergo, he's trying to get fired, and management is unwilling to fire him because it costs them less to just keep him around.


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

[User]
Why didn't Yoda sense Anakin was close to the dark side?

In *Revenge of the Sith* Anakin has a talk with Yoda about the dreams he's been having of Padme dying, though he keeps the exact contents of the dreams to himself, only referring them to of "dreams of pain, suffering and death".  Yoda tells Anakin to detach himself from those he fears to lose and not to mourn them.  However, that advice seems to be almost cruelly inadequate given how clearly upset and tormented Anakin is by his dreams.  Why didn't Yoda try to empathize with Anakin more or at least advise him to speak with a healer or consult Jedi texts about premonitions and how to deal with them or influence their outcomes?

Or was Yoda's advice supposed to be frustratingly detached and nonchalant to show how the Jedi teachings of detachment and denial of romantic love could lead to an Order that was at times unfeeling?

[Assistant]
Since Anakin was vague, only saying the dreams were of pain, suffering and death, Yoda couldn't answer.

He didn't know that it was the pain and death of his wife, and his suffering afterwards, for all he knew it was the pain, suffering and death of clone troopers fighting in battles that Anakin had become friends with, or the pain, suffering and death of any group or individual in the galaxy.

Yoda couldn't advise him to do anything because he only thought that Anakin was becoming more in tune with the universe and the Force, and the only solution that would not result in Anakin changing the universe or the Order being broken, was to follow the most basic and essential of Jedi beliefs.

That you can't save everybody, and you need to detach yourself and make yourself be able to make decisions based on logic, rather than emotion.


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

[User] Eli5 What has Family Video done differently than Blockbuster that has kept them in business?

[Assistant]
From Wiki:

> In addition to the brick and mortar store front, Family Video has branched off into other markets such as real estate, 24-hour fitness centers, and cable television. The company also sells new and previously used items online. Family Video expanded into the Canadian market in 2012.

> In 2013, following the continued decline of competing video rental stores, Family Video formed a partnership with Marco's Pizza providing space for the franchise in many of its stores. The company is using the partnership as a way to deliver video rentals with pizza orders. Family Video also leases space to other retailers such as hair salons and fitness centers.


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

[User] [DC] Exactly how strong are the White Lanterns? Other than just being nebulously stronger than other Lanterns, how much stronger are they than normal Lanterns, and what can they do that other Lanterns can't?

[Assistant] They are not necessarily stronger, especially since Kyle split the ring and power to several hosts, but White Lanterns are the ones wielding power of Life in its pure form, so they actually can reliably heal things and deny death better than blue rings of hope, and they can channel other colors of the emotional spectrum like indigo tribe, but without requiring other ringbearers being present to do it.


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

[User] Is it possible for a body of water (lake, pond, etc) to be naturally carbonated?

[Assistant] In fact, many bodies of water are naturally carbonated - they're called soda lakes. When you dissolve CO2 in water, you get carbonic acid which has a pKa of around 6.3. So when your body of water is sufficiently basic (pH>pKa1), carbonic acid will act as an acid and deprotonated to exist as bicarb. If your lake is even more basic than that (pH>pKa2), bicarb will act as an acid again and deprotonate to exist as carbonate.


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

[User] [TMNT] What are some the darkest moments in TMNT history?

[Assistant]
The IDW comic reveal that Caseys father is monstrously abusive and he hides out at the Lair whenever hes been badly beaten.

One night he staggers in barely able to stand and Raph, seething with anger, actually leaves with full intent to kill Mr. Jones.


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

[User]
[General] In settings where bows, melee weapons and firearms are all commonly used, for what practical reason do people use other weapons than firearms?

Mostly asking so I can get ideas to justify it in my own setting.

Common reasons I've seen were that arrows are easy to make and can be picked back up, or that a bow is more silent, but honestly, the archers I've seen in fiction rarely were very stealthy or even ever gathered their arrows. There's also the tradition and racial culture reasons, but fuck that.

BONUS QUESTION : is there a modern setting where these weapons replace guns entirely?

[Assistant] Bows have higher range, accuracy, and firing rate than early guns. They're much harder to learn to use, but if you already can use one it's better to keep it around. And if it's a setting where people routinely carry swords bigger than they are, then they could easily use longbows.


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

[User] [Sesame Street] Why aren't the residents of said street concerned that they have a vampire living pretty close to them and that any one of them could become his next victim in an instant should he choose?

[Assistant] They know that he, like all traditional vampires, is obsessed with counting and all carry little bags of rice to spill should he prove a threat. He would then be compelled to count every grain, allowing them time to escape and call one of the adults to take care of the problem.


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

[User]
If inflation is transitory does that mean when bottlenecks are relieved prices will fall or will they not rise as quickly?

I understand inflation is a rate of change.  If in fact the supply bottlenecks/COVID-related demand are transitory, once theyre relieved (gone), assuming all else constant, will supply/demand seek its prior equilibrium which means wed see DEFLATION back to previous price levels?

[Assistant]
Shipping prices will fall once backlogs and other issues resolve.

It will vary by industry (and probably even company) if those reduced costs reflect in prices.  In many cases the additional supply chain costs were explicitly passed on to consumers, in these cases those reduce. In other cases (e.g. resellers) the increase in shipping costs reflected in higher prices; here some companies may again lower prices, where others may try to keep the new (higher) prices in place.  How much prices reduce likely depend on the level of competition in the market given.


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

[User] ELI5: Durring the week i can get 8 hours of sleep and feel like i got 2, but durring the weekend i can get 5 hours of sleep and feel like i got 10. Why?

[Assistant] When you sleep, you're doing it in cycles that last roughly 90 minutes. Interrupting these cycles mean that your brain doesn't quite finish the recharging it normally does during sleep, and you will feel more tired and like you only got a few hours of sleep. During the weekend, you are probably waking up naturally, without an alarm clock to interrupt your sleep cycles, which is why you feel more rested.


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

[User]
Hummingbirds flap their wings around 70 times per second during normal flight...what is the fastest natural movement that humans are capable of, either voluntary or involuntary?

My daughter was watching a cartoon on PBS this morning and they were talking about pollination.  It was mentioned that hummingbirds are capable of flapping their wings upwards of 200 times per second.  After a quick google, it seems 70 is the more common number for "normal" flight.  That's obviously still extremely fast and made me wonder what humans are capable of in terms of pure speed, so I thought I'd ask here.

[Assistant] The National Science foundation released an article on the fastest articulated motion a human can execute, which is throwing. When an arm is cocked back it can store a lot of energy which is then released during a throw. The finger tips can reach over 100mph. A hummingbird flapping at 70 times per second with wing chord of 40mm and assuming it flaps in half a circle would have an average speed if 8796mm per second or about 20mph.


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

[User]
[DC] Has Joker ever truly begged for mercy?

In most times when Joker dies or is on the brink of death, he still laughs himself silly, or at least to the best of his limited abilities depending on the situation, but has Joker ever truly been scared to the point of genuinely groveling and begging for his life?

[Assistant]
TAS Episode 'Joker's Favor'

He was about to be blown up by a lowly accountant he'd blackmailed into helping his latest scheme. The thought of being killed by someone ordinary terrified him.

Similarly, BATB's take on Emperor Joker had him try to invade Batman's mind, where he was confronted with his worst fear: going back to be an ordinary overlooked struggling comedian. He screamed with horror.


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

[User]
ELI5: The first law of thermodynamics states that the energy of the universe is constant, but the universe is constantly expanding, so how does the energy stay constant considering the expansion?

I think this is physics based(?), but I thought of this question during my summer chemistry course, so I wasnt sure of the flair.

[Assistant]
That is a question that will probably win you a Nobel Prize if you can answer it. The reality is that nobody knows.

What you're talking about is exactly the thing referred to as "dark energy." The vacuum energy of the universe is, indeed, constant and the source of that energy is dark energy - "dark" here meaning "unknown".

Side note: dark *matter* was originally called "dark" because scientists initially thought it was normal matter that is literally too dark to be seen on telescopes at the time, but that theory has been ruled out. Since then, "dark" in that context has taken on a new meaning which is "unknown" or "not understood" or "doesn't interact with normal matter probably." Dark matter and dark energy are not related (probably), they just share a similar name.

Dark energy might be the *cause* of the expansion. It could be that some constant source of energy is pumping energy into our universe, which causes its expansion the way blowing air into a balloon causes it to expand. Or, dark energy could just be a consequence of it - some property of spacetime causes vacuum energy to be constant, so as the universe expands dark energy is created by some unknown process or drawn in from some source outside of the universe - like how drawing a syringe pulls liquid into it.

It should also be noted that dark energy isn't usable in any way. Energy only does work when it goes from places where there is more of it to places where there is less of it. The vacuum energy despite not being zero is still the least concentrated that energy can be, like the ocean being the lowest point that rivers flow too. So although dark energy means the energy of the vacuum remains constant the universe will still eventually run out of energy that *does* anything. Dark energy isn't reversing entropy, in other words.


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

[User]
[Dragonball Z] What if it turned out that humans were able to do the kaioken without any (or much fewer) consequences?

Goku's use of the kaioken demonstrates that it takes a massive toll on the user, and is often used as the reason no one else used it, at least until Goku did with SSJBKK. But what if by some quirk humans were just naturally more able to perform the kaioken without the same level physical abuse? How would the various sagas have played out differently?

[Assistant] Probably shit stomp Radditz and Nappa but that's about it. After that power levels rise so exponentially humans just can't keep up. Saiyans needed numerous Zenkai boosts and forms while Namekian had to merge to rival the power of a super Saiyan.


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

[User]
CMV: Cultural "appropriation" is not an inherently bad thing

To clarify I put appropriation in quotations because I'm not sure what to call it. People call almost everything cultural "appropriation" now for reasons I cannot understand.

Adopting different aspects of other cultures is not a bad thing, despite what individuals online might say about it being cultural appropriation. Culture is MEANT to be shared, meant to evolve and be integrated into your own, etc. There are obvious times when one might take an aspect of another cultural and completely disrespect it. Ex. Turning a cultural, modest article of clothing into something revealing and sexy with no understanding of the meaning and values attached to the original article. That would be an example of cultural appropriation in a bad way.

On the other hand, if someone wants to wear something from another culture, use a name from another language (while knowing the meaning because otherwise that's embarassing), etc. We do things such as try eachothers food without a problem, why not go any further than that? What is the harm? There is a grey area where people may do something harmless (white people wearing dreadlocks), and black people finding it disrespectful because they are typically looked down on for their hairstyles.

So in conclusion, cultural appropriation is not inherently bad. If I am misunderstanding the meaning of the word, it does not take away from the fact it is thrown around way too heavily and for things that are not bad at all.

[Assistant]
What you're saying is that utilization of cultural objects isn't always _cultural appropriation_.  To appropriate them is always bad, but simply to use them or display them is not.

You're lost in semantics here I'd say, but we use the term "cultural appropriation" to denote that something is the bad version of the things you're describing, not all of them.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do oil companies get tax breaks?

[Assistant] The same reason every company gets tax breaks (mostly for expenses sometimes for investments that congress wants to incenivise).  Oil companies do a tremendous amount of fixed investment (so depreciation is very important for them).  Also they're in a great position to make investments in green energy technology that's frequently offers tax credits (lots of chemists, high incomes access to energy, and not all "green" tech is what you'd expect).


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

[User]
[Back to the Future] What would happen if Marty got Lorraine pregnant and had a child?

His mom was super hot...

[Assistant] A precedent for this sort of thing was set by Phillip J. Fry, who became his own grandfather in a similar case of time travel incest.  His situation suggests that the child might lack a delta brainwave.  This would make the child immune to the attacks of Brainspawn and give him/her a leg up when fighting the Dark Ones.  On the downside, the child might also end up being stupendously dumb and easing picking for the Biffs and Benders of the world.


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

[User]
ELI5 Why Gadhafi is a bad person.

I don't know enough about the situation and from the propaganda that is coming out of Libya it makes Gadhafi out to be a good guy. What exactly is bad about him?

[Assistant]
Among other things, he ...

* generally censored and suppressed dissent in Libya, including killing members of rival political groups;
* sent assassins to kill various people in other countries who criticized him;
* severely oppressed the Berber ethnic minority, including banning their language from schools;
* attempted to ban English foreign-language education and promote Russian in order to cozy up to the Soviet Union;
* switched from oppressive Sovietism to oppressive Islamism in the '90s, enacting mutilation as punishment and forbidding women from entering public life;
* tried (and failed) to invade and conquer Chad;
* ordered a (failed) attack on the civilian ship *RMS Queen Elizabeth 2*;
* expelled Palestinian refugees in 1995 because the PLO was actually trying to make peace with Israel;
* trained and supported Charles Taylor of Liberia, notorious war criminal;
* supported communist and Islamist terrorism worldwide, particularly in the Philippines, but also including the communist groups the Red Army Faction (Baader-Meinhof) in Germany and the Provos in Ireland;
* committed bombings in Germany;
* supported Serbian war-criminal and rape-camp-master Slobodan Miloevi;
* looks like Severus Snape;
* dresses like boggart!Snape in that one scene in "Prisoner of Azkaban";
* probably isn't nearly as bad as George W. Bush.


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

[User]
[Kung Fu Panda] Was there any getting through to any of the main villains or were they all already too far gone?

It seems like Tai Lung, Shen, and Kai all had at least some doubts about the paths they were on.

[Assistant]
Id say it was probably too late for them. Shen and Tai Lung both likely did feel a bit doubtful, but they both believed that it was far too late to just back out by that point (Shen had already genocided an entire species and Tai had been refused his title, massacred a village and been locked up for a solid amount of years.)

I cant speak for Kai, but the other two likely felt that simply stopping wasn't in the cards since they already crossed too many lines to go back to normal.


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

[User]
How is the ion H- created?

Hello everyone,

I wanted to know how a hydrogen atom, with one proton and one electron,  with a net charge of zero, and a spherically symmetrical charge distribution (1s), could attract another electron in order to become the ion  with net charge -1e. The question is about how the ion is created. I  can't understand what causes a free electron to bind into a neutral  hydrogen atom in order to make a ion with net charge -1e. From what I know, a spherically symmetrical charge distribution with net charge zero would not produce a resulting electrical field to attract the free electron in the first place. What is happening here?

Thanks for the attention.

[Assistant]
Classical analogue: magnets attract each other. How come a magnet is attracted to a piece of iron, that in rest doesn't have a net magnetisation? The magnetic field induces a magnetic polarisation in the iron, whereafter it can be attracted.

For an H atom, the charge distribution of the electron cloud is symmetric, but not in an external electric field. The free electron repels the bound electron, while it attracts the proton, creating an induced dipole moment. Then, the attraction to the proton is larger than the repulsion from the bound eletron.

In general in multi-electronic atoms, the electrons are further apart than one would naively expect, this is both the result of Fermi-Dirac statistics and interelectronic repulsion.


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

[User]
[Fallout] How terrifying would the Australian Wastelands be?

Earlier, I had the thought that a hypothetical Fallout: Australia would be interesting and completely terrifying.

The game might entail a large scale armed invasion and extermination of every living and undead, venomous and/or poisonous, irradiated monstrosities that Fallout radiation rules would render from the already terrifying Australian ecology...

What kind of monstrosities could you see cropping up in a Fallout Universe Australia? Would Platypodes have evolved into the Aussie Deathclaw? How do they maintain their position at the top of the local food chain?

How would you handle the story for such a hypothetical game? Would any humans have survived on the continent?

Given how the Fallout ecology is basically an irradiated Jurassic World hellscape, if Australia is human free, what reason would humans have to return other than the general human gift for being more stubborn than kangaroo-mule?

[Assistant]
Well for one we have no idea how bad the outside was hit other than China, we kinda fucked their shit up.

Odds are Australia wouldn't be so bad, it's really not a center of the world at that time. And half the mutant animals like Deathclaws, Supermutants, and Cazadores are man made monstrosities. So unless Australia was a center for FEV research most of their animals would just be irradiated and ugly.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Was Palpatine ever considering ruling the galaxy through the Separatists, or was a Republic victory always the plan?

It seems like it could work out with him on top and the Jedi wiped out either way.

[Assistant]
I'd imagine the Republic victory was his greatly preferred outcome. The Republic was the established government while the Separatists were on paper at least aiming to simply secede.

Palpatine was also the open leader of the Republic while Sidious was the shadow leader of the Separatists.

Overall he would have a much easier time transforming the Republic in the Empire than the Separatists, like if the separatists won then there would be more more resistance to the kind of centralised state Palpatine seems to create.

But the thing about the Clone Wars is of course that Palpatine won either way, the way was meaningless overall and served to only increase his power. But things would be much more convenient for him if the Republic won and so he would likely only accept a separatist victory if he had little choice.


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

[User] ELI5: What are the white spots that sometimes appear on nails and why are they there?

[Assistant] Left in humid conditions, nails of any variety can begin to rust (or oxidize). Aluminum oxide is white colored and could be responsible for white spots on nails. Iron oxide is rust red and would cause red spots on iron nails.


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

[User]
[Marvel] If Reed Richards found a way to create or scout non inhabited planets for Galactus to eat. Wouldn't that make him his herald?

Reed Richards initially had to reason with Galactus, then scare him and then come to an agreement. When Galactus was on trial he stood up in his defense (which was totally stupid TBH.)

So 2 questions:

* Shouldn't Reed find non inhabited worlds for Galactus to devour? This would save trillions of lives. Far more than he does as a hero.

* In doing so wouldn't he essentially be a herald of Galactus?

[Assistant]
> Shouldn't Reed find non inhabited worlds for Galactus to devour? This would save trillions of lives. Far more than he does as a hero.

For a world to be suitable for Galactus, it needs to fit a fairly specific set of criteria - unfortunately, these criteria also give rise to life, and there aren't enough living worlds without intelligent life to keep Galactus alive.

If Galactus dies, it is catastrophic for the universe - thus Reed's terrible calculation that as awful as the existence of Galactus is, the possibility of his nonexistence is even worse.


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

[User] ELI5: How can the Sun's gravitational pull be strong enough to keep Pluto in orbit but not just pull Mercury into it?

[Assistant]
The Sun's gravity is pulling Mercury, but the planet is traveling so fast that it can't fall fast enough to ever hit the Sun. Mercury's orbit is elliptical though, so it does vary in distance from the Sun. As it gets closer to the Sun the pull from the Sun's gravity does increase, but so does the orbital velocity of Mercury, which means it simply keeps on moving in its orbit. As the orbital radius increases and Mercury gets further away the strength of gravity decreases, but so does Mercury's orbital velocity. The end result is a stable orbit.

It is actually VERY difficult to make something crash into the Sun. If we were to suddenly reduce the Earth's orbital velocity by 20% we would simply move into a much more elliptical orbit. We would not fall into the Sun. If we wanted to send a space probe to the Sun we would have to completely counteract the orbital velocity it has from being launched from the Earth. This takes something like twice the fuel as it does to send a probe out of the Solar System!


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are running tracks anticlockwise instead of clockwise?

I'd like to know if there are some explanations or just coincidence.

[Assistant]
There's no real reason, other than the fact that we had to pick one.

Initially it would just depends on the track and the event, each club/race would be run one way, and events at the same track tended to use the same direction. After a while, this kind of thing tends to spread to make life easier... until most of a country is running the same way.

The first 2 (modern) Olympic Games (Athens 1896, Paris 1900, America 1904) all used Clockwise running, and clockwise tracks were still being used as late as the 1940s.

In 1904, it was realised that more countries present used anti-clockwise tracks at home, so from then onward the olympics switched to anti-clockwise. Once the Olympics switched and started to become more popular, pretty much everyone else followed slowly suit... because if you want to compete at the Olympics, it makes sense to practice by running in the same direction

----

So the simple answer

**There's no specific reason, it's just that when we wanted to decide on a single direction, we realized more people/countries/clubs/tracks used anti-clockwise running, and we went with the majority**


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

[User]
ELI5 how do companies implement lifetime bans on people? How in the world will the average employee know who's banned from doing business with them if the banned person comes back to another store on another day?

Question also valid for sports venues, casinos etc.

[Assistant]
Generally speaking companies have no method of enforcing bans other than someone recognizing them and knowing they aren't supposed to be there. Outside the specific store they have been banned from, and the same people working there, it isn't likely they will be enforced.

However such a ban has another purpose. It means that if the banned person comes to another store and causes trouble then the company will have much more legal recourse. The person would be trespassing and liable for criminal as well as civil penalties. This is the real force behind such a ban. Sure you probably won't be recognized, but if you *are* recognized the police will arrest you.


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

[User]
Does natural selection still occur in human populations?

Or has modern conveniences/technology somehow thrown a wrench in natural selection?

[Assistant] Yes, natural selection is continuing to occur. Natural selection is just the fact that some organisms reproduce and some don't due to their environment and or genetics. Our environment has changed from a more rural lifestyle to one that just happens to involve technology.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do you crave salty/fried foods after drinking alcohol?

[Assistant]
Did you know, if you attempted to run a marathon drinking only water, you could die. Shocking, huh?

Water is exceptionally important to human bodies but it doesn't work alone. Salts help this water get to where it needs to be and helps water do what it needs to do. Drinking alcohol dehydrates you, and that dehydration means your precious salts went out with the piss. Your body wants more back in there!


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

[User] ELI5:What do electronic artists (producers and/or DJ's) actually do live?

[Assistant]
There's a couple things that a good EDM DJ can do during a live show, but for every good DJ, there are a dozen others that just do nothing.

1) Tweak the lows/mids/highs to get the sound right. This is especially necessary if you're going from venue to venue and not using your own equipment. Getting it to sound "right" often varies track to track, and so continued adjustment is fairly common.

2) Multi-track mixing. A good studio example would be Daft Punk's  Alive: 2007 album, where they mixed two of their own tracks together to create new tracks. This can be done live, but usually on a much lesser scale, which is more of point 3.

3) Adding samples. A lot of EDM is nearly wordless and very repetitive. This isn't a bad thing, but a track can get old if you don't spice it up a bit. A DJ might throw in pre-recorded add-ons, such as the good ol' "Drop the bass!" or a "Let's go!" DJs that make their own music might even have a pre-programmed sample pad that lets them get different drum loops going or change what synth is doing the melody.

For Tiesto specifically: he's very very good at reading the crowd. He knows that the crowd wants to see him jumping up and down and doing things, even if he's just playing pretend. If he doesn't look into it, the crowd won't be into it, and that's part of why he's so successful.

As for why they don't recreate their music on the spot, it mostly has to do with how the music is made. Most EDM producers nowadays work in software that would be... challenging to reproduce live. There are often multiple different synth layers, a bassline, drums, sfx, and vocals at the same time. Reproducing that with one person doing everything live isn't possible.


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

[User]
CMV: Americans have high material wealth because of smart protectionism, not free market policies

America often takes credit for being a prosperous nation. This stems from the intuition of it practicing free market fundamentalism. What many overlook is that America's success derives from smart protectionism. American workers are given high pay premiums from restrictive immigration laws and quota systems. When you're a user of a  reserve currency, you're fortunate to work less hours than users of pegged currencies for the same products. Many industries are protected by occupational licensing. This protects incumbents from having to compete with new entrants.

[Assistant]
> Many industries are protected by occupational licensing. This protects incumbents from having to compete with new entrants.

The reduction in competition increases the prices of this service and reduces the quality. These policies hurt America as a whole, although they help the people who happen to be working those jobs.

> When you're a user of a reserve currency, you're fortunate to work less hours than users of pegged currencies for the same products.

A pegged currency is the opposite of free market, as its price is set by the government.  Reserve currencies are part of the free market.

>American workers are given high pay premiums from restrictive immigration laws and quota systems.

This creates lower quality and/or more expensive goods for the average consumer. These laws only help specific workers.

Overall, these things do help some Americans, but hurt the country.


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

[User]
[Starship Troopers] How are the bugs able to launch projectiles capable of leaving Klendathu, let alone Buenos Aires?

So, the bugs are capable of launching projectiles capable of reaching space.

How?

Presumably, they're organic creatures. They don't appear large enough to contain enough chemical propellant to launch projectiles into space, ala a scaled up blister beetle.

Are they nuclear? If so, why don't the space marines take precautions to prevent radiation hazards?

[Assistant] If you're talking about the novel the bugs are capable of space travel and have advanced technology equal to the federation.  If you mean the movie the plasma bugs hit the orbiting asteroids and project them at ftl speeds towards a target.  It's hard to explain scientifically but they do have the ability to hurl their spawn at planets in a large mass to colonize as well as exist in the vacuum of space without suits or discernible technology.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] In Return of the Jedi, why did the destruction of the 2nd death star and the death of the emperor mean that the Empire had lost the war?

From what I can tell in SW 4-6, the Empire still had a LOT more ships, bases, and planetary occupations than the Rebellion.

[Assistant] They didn't lose the war until a year later, at the battle of Jakku. What they lost was control of the galaxy. With the Imperial fleet shattered, the second Death Star destroyed, and the Empire's figurehead and guiding hand dead, the oppressed peoples of the galaxy weere bolstered in their revolts, protests erupted even on worlds like Coruscant, and the surviving governors and admirals either grouped as part of a contingency order specifically created to destroy the Empire and the Rebellion in the event of Palpatine's death, or locked down their sectors and tried to conceal news of the Emperor's passing, these freestanding fiefdoms would eventually collapse and be integrated into the Republic or the First Order.


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

[User] ELI5: What happens to the cyanide in apple seeds when we juice the fruit whole?

[Assistant] nothing "happens to it" its still there, but the amount of cyanide in an apple isn't enough to really do anything to you. Normally the seeds prevent you from ingesting any cyanide at all but even if you manage to metabolise all of it its still less cyanide than you metabolize in a cup of tapioca pudding.


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

[User]
[Marvel] What are the strongest civilization/organizations in the 616?

In terms of tech and army strength, what civilization or organization is the strongest in the 616 universe? Some civilizations/organizations I think of off the top of my head:

* Latveria
* Wakanda
* Atlantis
* Shi'ar
* Skrulls
* Kree Empire
* Attilan
* Nova Corps
* Annihilation Wave
* Asgard
* SHIELD
* Hydra
* AIM
* SWORD

Rank them in order from strongest to weakest and why? Feel free to include other civilizations if I've forgot any.

[Assistant]
Well, the Nova Corps has been gone for a while, Atlantis was demolished in Infinity, and Namir drowned Wakanda (which, for the curious, auto corrects to Zealand's?) Hydra and below on your list shouldn't even be considered.

Although the Annihilation wave in its prime was the most powerful. The Kree are probably currently the strongest, especially since they've allied with every other race in order to take out Earth.

(Although the absolute strongest would be the Beyonders.)


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

[User]
ELI5:Why are universities treating education like it is corporate business?

Why don't they lower tution/ costs so that more students can attend to make up for the loss of profit? The cost of higher education contributes so much to the debt of this country that it sounds counter-intuitive to cause such financial strain on future customers. Is the demand for higher education really that high that people are willing to sacrifice their well being to attain it? I have so many questions and I'm not sure if this is the right or wrong place to ask it.

I know there are many factors such as: more professors, larger facilities, more housing, etc but with more students flowing in wouldn't this be possible? What other factors influence the way higher education is structured?

[Assistant] You named them.  More faculty, more housing, more classrooms.  Universities are very expensive to run.  Qualified professors aren't exactly a dime a dozen, and most universities I've seen are running low on space to expand, since they were either built in a major city or a city has grown around them.


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

[User] ELI5: Do the specialized drawers in a refridgerator really make a difference in how well your food is stored?

[Assistant] Yes they do. The specialized drawers have a way of limiting the amount of air that hits certain foods (which is why that have that slider that says fruits or vegetables.) This makes a difference in how long your food lasts and overall how it tastes as well.


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

[User] When you shake up a carbonated drink, where does the pressure go once its settled?

[Assistant]
The pressure forces the carbon dioxide to redissolve in the liquid of the drink, where it exists as carbonic acid (H2CO3) and bicarbonate ion (HCO3-).

This is the dynamic equilibrium:

H2CO3(aq)
<-->
H+(aq) + HCO3-(aq)
<-->
H2O(l) + CO2(g)

Agitation (or heat) push this equilibrium toward gaseous CO2, and positive pressure pushes it in the other direction, as it forces the CO2 to redissolve.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why is it that the higher the altitude, the lower the temperature?

Shouldn't it get hotter since we're closer to the sun?

[Assistant]
The sun is too far away to make a few tens of kilometers matter.

The difference is pressure. Pressure and temperature are related. Temperature is about the average amount of movement in the molecules of gas in a given volume. As there are less molecules in gas at a lower pressure, there is less movement.

Another point is that air that is rising experiences a drop in pressure. It has to expand as it does so, and that expansion is movement, and movement needs energy. That energy comes from the heat energy of the air, cooling it. This is TERRAOperative's explanation in different words.

The third is Juanfro's - the Sun's energy travels through the transparent air, and heats the Earth's surface. The hot surface of the earth heats the air close to it, and that makes the air nearer to the surface hotter.


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

[User]
[Comics] How do famous villains/Supervillains get away with anything anymore?

Like Catwoman.  Every time anything cat-themed goes missing, surely people are on the lookout for Selina Kyle.... but okay, she probably travels incognito.

How about guys like Lex Luthor?  Even with the best lawyers in the world, if the entire Justice League says "yeah, he was the dude who tried to sell Earth to Darkseid for some pocket change and he kicked some babies while he was doing it", don't you think the public would start looking askance at him?

I know that real life rich people get away with all sorts of shenanigans, but it seems like threatening the planet is far, far beyond the pale, and even the greediest, most craven, most blackmailable politicians would turn on someone like Luthor, especially since he's shown that he will throw his partners under the bus when it is expedient.

And what about The Joker?  He isn't exactly hard to spot.  Yeah, he can wear a mask, but don't you think Gothamites would have learned to be particularly suspicious of guys in purple suits with bags over their heads (or whatever :P... any face concealing garment, even with regular clothes)?

Also, wouldn't people have learned by now not to ever make deals with him or work for him, as the best case scenario is getting punched in the face by Batman, and the worst case scenario is too horrible to contemplate?

Could that be one reason why the Joker loses so often to Batman- his henchmen are subtly dropping clues and otherwise working against the Joker, hoping to get off with a punch to the face rather than a fate worse than death :P?

--

And how in the name of poopypants did Norman Osborn get put in charge of anything, ever, no matter how famous he got for one symbolic act?  They don't let convicted felons vote, but they'll let them run superagencies :P?

I guess if they let Deadpool run free (rather than organizing a party to hunt him down and bury him in cement up to his neck) the people of the Marvel Universe are just fine with whatever :P.

[Assistant]
Two words: meddling kids.

Kids these days just don't meddle as much as they used to.  They're too busy with Facebook and Instagram and their new-fangled cell phones.  Kids don't get bored or really even hang out anymore, so there's no reason for four or five of them to pile into a van and cruise around looking for trouble anymore.

As such, villains don't have their plans hampered and crime flourishes.  Then, due to the unsafe conditions of society, parents keep their children even more sheltered, which further decreases meddling behavior.  It's truly a vicious cycle.

Without meddling kids getting in the way, villains are constantly able to "get away with it".


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

[User]
Why don't we "seed" life in the solar system?

Of course, one would like to know if something exists first. Suppose though, we find nothing: How much sense would it make to deliberately place simple organisms (bacteria, esp. extremophiles) on other planets? Are there conditions where earthly organisms could survive and thrive? Would a "shotgun"-approach work, i.e. shoot a large sample of different types onto a planet and come back later to see what sticks?

On an aside: Can we exclude that we don't seed already? Is the production environment for probes totally sterile or is any bacteria etc. brought along *certain* to be dead through exposure to vacuum, radiation and temperatures?

[Assistant]
Mainly because we are just getting started exploring the solar system in the first place.  We barely know a thing about most of the solar system.  We don't even know if there _is_ life on Mars, and we haven't landed on Europa at all, or done any significant exploration of Titan.  We'd kind of like to get a good idea what those places are like before putting bacteria on them.  Especially since someone would have to spend millions and millions of dollars to do so.

And yes, it's possible that some bacteria have been carried along with our probes, although attempts are made to sterilize them.


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

[User] ELI5: How did cats develop an affinity for eating fish if many of them also dislike water?

[Assistant]
Fish is a popular example with cats, mainly because of house cats. If you were to talk about all "FELINES", you wouldn't associate fish with most of them. When was the last time you saw a Lion, Cheetah or Jaguar eat a fish in the wild?

Most house cats are curios creatures and will want to play with the moving fish in the fish tank. Cats are also carnivores and eat all small animals. Mice, fish and birds.

It's also true that many of them dislike water because that's not the natural way they keep their coats clean. They usually dislike anything that messes up their coat.