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

[User] [Superman] How far away is Krypton, and how many years was Superman traveling as a baby? Did he have faster than light technology and that's why he never aged while in the rocket? So how many years ago was Krypton destroyed?

[Assistant]
Earth is in Sector 2814, Krypton is in Sector 2813.  How large a sector is is up for debate (and varies by continuity) but we know they are sequential (sometimes in a circle, sometimes adjacent squares) and can take a comparison with other famous planets.  Thanagar (Hawkman and Hawkgirl) is in sector 2682.  It takes their conventional ships on the order of months to travel to Earth.  Tamaran (Starfire) is in sector 2828.  Bounty hunters who started looking for her on her home planet were able to get to Earth, and planned to go back and treated it like  typical job, the kind they do often, so it can't be that far of a trip.  And yet, these sectors divide up the entire universe, so it's quite probably more a matter of them having really fast FTL.  Measuring it in units of light years is meaningless.  The point is that for an advanced spacefaring civilization, they are the equivalent of neighbors.

tl;dr: Close.


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

[User]
ELI5: I've heard European cars are more advanced and fuel efficient than American cars. Why are these cars not sold in America?

It's obvious that fuel efficient cars exist, why aren't cars sold in Europe also sold in the US? And I don't mean brand names, I mean specific models of car.

Can one buy cars and Europe and sell them in the US? How would that work?

[Assistant]
Emissions regulations are different and the test cycles used to determine compliance are different. Therefore, it takes more effort to design and certify for both Europe and the US.

Safety regulations are different and the crash tests used to determine compliance are different.  Therefore, it takes more effort to design and certify for both Europe and the US.

Roads are older and narrower in most of Europe.  Europeans favor smaller cars which make is easier to get around.  Americans favor larger cars for comfort, style, and to haul their things.  Therefore, demand is lower for smaller cars in the US, making it hard to justify the costs to import.

Fuel is more expensive in Europe.  Again, this means that Europeans will favor smaller cars.  Gas is relatively cheap in the US, reducing demand on small cars and making it hard to justify the costs.

That being said, car companies are moving more towards "world" cars to reduce costs.  One example is the Chevy Cruze that is sold nearly identically throughout the world.


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

[User]
Cmv: The best thing society can do for mental health problems is change people's attitude to helping others on an individual every day level instead medication, therapy, charities etc.

Don't get me wrong, I think therapy and medication are useful, and charities are still important to raise awareness for mental health problems and fund studies etc. But I feel that people will often say that mental health is important and a cause they really care about, but at the same time of one of their friends is moody they will stop hanging out with them as much when what they really need is more company. Or if someone they meet seems negative then they will not want to be friends with them.

It's natural for those other people to feel like this but it would be great if we had a culture of pushing through our naturally disinclination to hang around these people because it was important to do so. People being moody, or negative, or not fun be around is what mental health problems look like. People who are lonely and have no friends aren't fun people, but they desperately need people in their lives, and no amount of therapy or medication is going to be as beneficial as simply more people making effort with them.

I met up with a guy from University i knew only a little bit when I first moved to a big city and didn't know anyone. I was a bit depressed at the time because my job was unsociable and my housemates were unsociable and I did t know anyway so this was kind of a lifeline. But because of my situation I don't think I was as fun to hang out with as this guy's other friends were. So he stopped making effort to meet up and I gave up messaging him to meet up because it was always one sided. It put into more into depressed and I basically spend the next few years struggling to make friends even more because I was really depressed and lonely. BUT this guy volunteered for the samaritan's (the mental health hotline) helping people who are depressed or even suicidal. He probably felt like he was doing a good thing and rightly so, but I couldn't help but feel that the people on the phone to him needed that hotline because people in their life weren't willing to be there for them or make friends with them, just like he was doing with me.

Another example is a girl I was seeing who was told me I get into moods sometimes and it's weird. She didn't understand it and she kind of blamed me for it. She thought because she is able to get herself out of a bad mood but I stay in a bad mood for a long time I therefore must not be trying hard enough to get out of it (I explicitly confirmed with her that this is what she was thinking and she agreed). As a result of this assumption, she was less willing to help me get out of the mood I was in because she thought I was being stubborn. The idea that perhaps I just find it harder to get out of a bad mood because I have a personal and family history of depression was less likely to her somehow. She was also a pharmacist so it surprised me that a health professional thought like this. She since ended things with me, which I don't blame her for, but it was at a time when I just loved to a new city and didn't know anyone and it made things a lot harder.

I think the crux of this issue is that we don't recognise mental health problems in our day to day lives. We think people are being weird, or even being dicks because they are acting in a way that we wouldn't act. We see people acting weird on xfactor auditions for example and we laugh at them because we think they are idiots for thinking they could get though with such bad performances.

I told the girl above that people acting weird is what mental health problems look like. It remindas me of the quote from the film Joker: " the worse thing about having mental health problems is that you are expected to act like you don't".

It's like we dish out medication and therapy, and raise awareness about mental health, which do help, but they wouldn't be needed nearly as much of we just had a culture of supporting more the people who need it even if they aren't the funnest people to be around and even if they aren't really close friends.

We give money to others who need it (charity) at a cost to ourselves and this is encouraged in our society because we presumably see these people as being less fortunate and our own situation as being more fortunate, like the roll of the dice. Why should they suffer because they were dealt an unlucky hand?

But we aren't willing to do the same with our time and company, or even respect when this is much more valuable to those same people who were dealt an unlucky hand.

[Assistant] The best thing society could do for mental health is reduce the contributing and exacerbating factors (hint: it's poverty and overwork) and reduce the barriers that take away people's time and energy to even try and help each other on that personal level (also poverty and overwork)


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

[User]
[star trek] What exactly happened on earth that brought on the federation (potential spoilers)

I am not a trekkie, but I heard there were multiple wars, Khan was a warlord... then there was some kind of drug-induced gene-modified future soldier program. What lead to the Federation? Was there WW3?

[Assistant]
Cliff notes version?

* 1985-1999 - The Eugenics Wars, a series of limited proxie conflicts fought all over the world by dozens of nations on earth, manipulated from behind the scenes by Genetically Engineered Superhumans, Khan is the greatest of them, but he disappears with 72 others before they can be apprehended.

* 2010-2040 - A period of extreme inequality, eventually, the poor are herded into the equivalent of ghettos, the period ends when the Bell Riots highlight conditions within them and reforms begin taking shape.

* 2026-2053 - WWIII, traditional combined arms warfare ending with a limited Nuclear engagement, most major cities destroyed, 200 million dead, very few governments survive.

* April 5th 2063 - First Contact, humanity is formally made aware of the existence of extraterrestrial life after Zephram Cochrane invents Warp Drive.

* 2063-2110 - With help from the Vulcans, all major societal ills are banished. Hunger, common diseases, terrestrial war, poverty, inequality, etc.. Gone.

* 2110-2150 - Humanity gradually increases the technological sophistication of their Warp Drive, some Traders begin plyingthe stars in bulk transports going up to Warp 3.

* 2150 - First Contact with the Klingon Empire spurs the launch of Earths first exploration vessel, the Warp-5 capable NX-01 Enterprise.

* 2157-ish - An attempt by the Romulan Star Empire to sow conflict between Earth, Vulcan, Andoria, and Tellar instead results in their mutual cooperation.

From there it gets a bit murky, we know there was an *Earth*-Romulan War, we believe it occurred *after* the four original founding planets of the Federation came together, but *before* they actually formally formed the United Federation of Planets.

* 2161 - The United Federation of Planets is formally formed.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Are all sith "evil" or Darth Sidious and his followers were just shitty people who happened to be sith?

[Assistant]
The Dark and the Light sides are simply divided by their practitioners' adherence to certain emotions. Where Dark Siders draw from raw emotion: Jealousy, Anger, Fear, etc. Light Siders draw from higher feelings like Patience, Compassion, Mercy.

While one may follow the Dark Side and be "good" (for instance, passionate love is the domain of the Dark Side and that's not necessarily bad), the power drawn from the Dark Side is drawn in large part from very selfish feelings. The greedy, aggressive and megalomaniacal are the strongest in the Dark Side, so those are the ones who managed to become Sith Lords.

TL;DR - Sith are dicks because Sith are powerful in the Dark Side and the Dark Side's power mostly comes from being a dick. However, not all who use the Dark Side are necessarily dicks.


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

[User]
ELI5: What's the difference between the different varieties of gasoline, why do they exist, and who even buys anything other than regular and diesel?

There's usually 4 varieties of gasoline at most gas stations. While I don't know the difference between regular and diesel, I do know that certain vehicles can only run on the latter (but don't know why).

[Assistant]
The engine has to squish the mix of air and gasoline together before it makes it burn with the spark plug.  But some engines reeeeeally squish it a lot (because they're trying to be more powerful), which can make the mixture burn on its own while the engine is still trying to squish it.  This makes the engine break.

So for these engines you have to make the gasoline harder to start burning.  This 'how hard is it to burn' rating is the octane number on the pump, and the higher the number the harder to burn (and the more expensive to make it).  Since new cars try to make the same power out of a smaller engine, a lot of them squish the mixture more by using a turbocharger (basically a fan that pushes in more air), which is why they need the more expensive gasoline.

If your car doesn't require it, higher octane fuel just wastes money.  It won't make your car more powerful.


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

[User] ELI5: Are there colors that we can not see?

[Assistant] No, if we can not see it we do not call it a color. Infrared for instance is not a color. That would be like saying a radio wave is a color. Color refers to the visual spectrum. There are other wavelengths that we can not see, we just don't call them colors.


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

[User] Eli5: Why are printers so unreliable compared to other computer accessories?

[Assistant]
Printers are sometimes unreliable because printers have a ton of moving parts inside of them. And when a device has a ton of moving parts it is more susceptible to mechanical failure.

Another reason for printers being unreliable is the way printers are installed. Sometimes the proper driver for the printer isn't shipped with the device (or the driver is simply out of date) and wrong drivers for a printer will cause it to act up and not work properly.


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

[User] [Batman] If Batman had no rules, how dangerous could he be?

[Assistant] Extremely dangerous. Most if not all of his rogues gallery would be dead and the same goes for the various crime bosses in Gotham. Hed be Punisher if Punisher was a genius and had billions of dollars and ridiculously advanced technology.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Do single-lightsaber users gain any advantage from using two lightsabers?

For example, In episode 2 when Anakin is dueling count Dooku Obi-Wan throws him a second lightsaber.

Did Jedi gain any advantage from that? Do they have more protection from a second saber or would it not matter since the force guides them while dueling?

[Assistant] I think it's mostly a factor of people not knowing how to defend against it as well since it's not commonly used. The downside is that it's harder to wield two. Probably why Grievous was so terrifying (outside of TCW)


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

[User]
ELI5: How long does uncooked rice (like the one milled and just packaged in bags) actually last?

I'm from an Asian country that loves rice, but now that I think about, I'm not actually quite clear what gives rice its longevity. Common wisdom here is as long as it doesn't get insects, get mold, or otherwise change from being dry it should be fine to cook and eat. Otherwise, it can simply sit in a bag or a storage container without apparently spoiling.

How does it do this? I'm aware that it doesn't last forever, but it sure stays edible (as long as its uncooked) for longer than I expected.

[Assistant]
There are, broadly speaking, two ways food goes "bad"

First is bacteria and fungal/mold growth. Both of these require water to survive. Dry rice has no water so mold and bacteria can't grow and therefore never make the food go bad. Or at least are very slowed down from making the food go bad.

Second is a chemical reaction called rancidification which is when fats and oils chemically react with the air and become really gross. Rancid oils are usually less acutely dangerous that moldy food but it's still bad. Which is to say eating the wrong kind of mold can kill you in a day but rancid oils just make you sicker and sicker over a long period of time.

Rice (at least white rice) is immune to both of these because it is very dry and also has no fat.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are some programming languages better for certain types of projects than other programming languages, when they can all essentially do the same thing and they all seem to work the same way?

[Assistant] Let's take some extremes. MATLAB is designed to do math. Scientists and engineers love it because it allows them to do some very complicated high-end math very easily. It also natively does 2D and 3D plots of the data. Contrast with SQL, which is designed for databases. It's strengths are input and output of data, and manipulation of it. Doing math stuff on SQL, or database stuff on MATLAB, wouldn't be very efficient.


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

[User] ELI5:ELI5: How does newly minted currency/money enter the economy? Does the government give it to banks or something like that?

[Assistant] Banks regularly swap out used or recalled currency with the federal reserve. This happens the most when new bills are issued which is why when a new bill shows up you'll see less of the old one so quickly.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do women living together end up with synchronized menstrual cycles?

My 16 sister year old sister doesn't know, and I'm curious.

[Assistant]
They don't.

A woman's biological cycle is not clockwork.  The whole "28 days" thing is an average.  Some women have 26 day cycles.  Some 30.  Some women float between 25 and 32.  Some are even more random.  And even women who start their period every 28 days like clockwork rarely start it at the same time on that day - noon one time, 8am the next time, 8pm the next time.. and so on.

If you have two women, one with a 29 day cycle and one with a 26 day cycle, then at any given point in time their cycles will appear to be getting closer together.

It's.. kinda like the turn signals on a car.  Ever watched two turn signals not anywhere close to each other slowly start to sync up, then they appear to be blinking at exactly the same time?  But what happens after that?  They start driving apart again, because they aren't actually syncing up with each other, they just happen to be in a part of the cycle where they appear together.

Same thing with women, only it takes a month to get a data point.  Combine the length of time needed to gather data with confirmation bias, and you'll have women swearing their cycles are getting closer when they're actually getting farther apart.   Because they're starting to sync up with the preceding one.


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

[User]
ELI5: Animal perception of humans.

Is there anything understood not just how our pets see us but perhaps even seals(that let us pet them wild) or octopi that interact with us without fear. Deer usually are pretty skittish around humans. To insects I assume we are just another giant.

Animals clearly see us differently but how do they see us, as just another random animal that is on a survival cycle. Can they make sense of any of our gestures like "come here" or petting them?

[Assistant]
Animal behaviour is typically learned, but it can be genetic too. Any animal that isn't fearful either hasn't noticed you or is curious. Curiosity is a useful trait in nature because it can help us, and animals, learn new things, and the more you know, the less likely you are to die. If an animal is curious, it will approach you or act interested in you. When it does this its often sizing you up, figuring out how you tick, learning your weaknesses. It knows where you live. Joking aside, it's figuring out what a human is. This is often a behaviour found in animals that don't have many natural predators who can afford to be curious. An animal that is fearful may have a learned fear of humans, perhaps it's met some before and had a bad experience, or it has a lot of natural predators so it has a better chance of surviving if it stays away. To insects, we're a source of food or something to be ignored. Insects have relatively primitive brains but they do know that being dead = bad so they still avoid your flyswatter. So much. They avoid it so much. Those winged bastards.

Whether or not an animal can make sense of gestures depends on how socially intelligent the animal is. Most gestures will need to be taught though. Animals mostly learn through association. They associate certain behaviours with certain rewards or punishments which is why the way to teach an animal something is through repetition. If you're interested, theres loads and loads of studies on the psychology of monkeys and apes who do ridiculously cool stuff. A monkey for example will only steal from you when it knows you can't see it which means it has a perception of what other creatures are doing and perhaps even why they're doing it. That may not sound like a big deal but it really is. But back to gestures. If you make a gesture at an animal, it will only respond to the gesture if it has associated a reward or punishment with that gesture. If zookeepers often use a "come here" gesture to signify that food has arrived, they will respond to "come here" when you do it too because it will make them expect food. See pavlov's dog. More intelligent animals are capable of discerning between different humans though.


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

[User]
Beef with a philosophy course

On the section of an online class with Nietzsche, they seemed heavily biased against him. One of the questions we were asked was how the Will to Power could be used to justify the actions of a bully, but not anything about how it could be used positively. They also said he was arrogant and cited chapters from a book he wrote (can't remember which one) titled Why I am So Wise and Why I Write Such Good Books. A quick Google search said that this was intended to be taken ironically, which would make a lot more sense.

Basically, did Nietzsche intend these chapters ironically or was he actually that's arrogant? Thanks.

[Assistant] It's more than likely a bit of both. Nietzsche has always been known for his self-celebration, but it's likely that these titles were meant to be ironically self-aware deprecations as well. *Ecce Homo* is a weird work in general, though. We aren't sure whether or not Nietzsche's insanity was already taking hold at that time, and since it was published posthumously, changes made by Gast or Elisabeth probably influenced the manuscript.


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

[User]
Why weren't historical characters in the holodeck racist?

It seems that when black characters like Worf, Geordi, and Guinan go to dates before the 1960's they don't experience any racism from the other holodeck characters.

The holodeck characters seem to recognize their race and appearance, but don't seem to have any serious racial biases.

[Assistant] Holodeck's have always been created as places for leisure and training. Since it is unlikely that our crews would ever need to train for situations on a pre-warp earth, we created characters and personalities from that era with only leisure in mind. Being treated in a racist manner is not particularly enjoyable.


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

[User]
[MCU] Why didn't Cap or Tony know who Thor was despite him being a major part of their Avenger dossiers?

Both of them got info packs on the Avengers, which is how they knew who the other was *and* how Cap was familiar with Banner's scientific work (and his Hulk form). Hell, back in Stark Tower Tony even sees a detailed feed on Thor and his encounter with the Destroyer, so we can't possibly believe they don't know who Thor is, right?

And even if we brush that off as a possible "oh maybe they don't know the name of the Asgardian kicking ass against the Destroyer", that raises further questions as both Fury and the Council *know* about Thor and know enough to confirm he isn't on Earth.

[Assistant]
Thor appeared the first time out of nowhere, smashes up a base full of highly trained SHIELD agents, then proceeds to level a small town during a titanic fight with the Destroyer.  He then disappears again.

The second time he appears, he tears an extraordinarily dangerous prisoner from the two flagship superheroes and clear 'good guys', then attempts to disappear again.

They're forced to assume that either a) he's a hostile, or b) he's a neutral entity that may accidentally destroy more towns/cities for whatever he's here for.


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

[User]
When water soaks upward into a paper towel dipped into a glass, where does the potential energy gained come from?

Or is the water even gaining gravitational potential energy at all?

[Assistant] Water is gaining gravitational potential - it's higher up the paper towel. However, what you observe is more a _trading_ of potential energies - electromagnetic interaction between water and the fibres is a type of potential energy as well: electrical potential.


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

[User] [General][Merfolk] How (if at all) would merfolk smelt metal? Is there any conceivable way to do this?

[Assistant]
Depends on the setting. If they can use magic, then its the usual. Otherwise, they've got two options:

The first is using hydrothermal vents to melt and process ore, though this would effectively only work for lead and similarly low melting metals. If they could process ore another method, such as through chemical reaction, then they could use the vents to heat aluminum, zinc, tin, and lead and make it malleable. They could work it that way.

The second is for them to beach briefly themselves to create beach-side forges and foundries. This has similar safety issues to the hydrothermal vents, but would allow for higher quality metals to be processed.

Either case, their gonna have more difficulty than land dwellers making metal goods, and would rely heavily on stonecrafts, scrimshaw, and similar animal  products.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do some noises, like chalk scraping against a blackboard, or metal scraping against metal, produce unpleasant sensations in the body?

Like, when I hear chalk scraping against the blackboard, I'm fine; it's my classmates who clutch their ears. however, when I hear metal scraping against metal, I almost feel like something inside me is *vibrating* in a really unpleasant way. Does anyone know why this stuff happens?

[Assistant] Due to the similarity of the sound of your teeth being damaged. It goes way back ages to foraging where food sources like grains and berries may have grit or small rocks mixed in, and the sound makes your body instantly have a reflex against it.


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

[User]
Questions on physicalism

Just wanted to ask. Wouldn't what we know about contemporary physics and the epistemic limits involved in the creation of such knowledge put physicalism in a position open to criticism? Much of what we know beyond the subatomic depends on not-quite empirical knowledge and seem to be inferred by mathematical limits. And wouldn't said knowledge also suggest the idea of the "physical" actually emerges from relationships that are not what we understand to be physical l?

[Assistant]
> Wouldn't what we know about contemporary physics and the epistemic limits involved in the creation of such knowledge put physicalism in a position open to criticism?

Physicalism is already and in any case a position open to criticism!

> Much of what we know beyond the subatomic depends on not-quite empirical knowledge and seem to be inferred by mathematical limits.

But physicalism needn't restrict its grounds to strictly empirical sources, so this worry is probably neither here nor there.


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

[User] [Legend of Zelda] Why isn't Link any more legendary than Zelda?

[Assistant]
The original "Legend of Zelda" is about the first Zelda, who was put into a magical sleep for a long time. Her brother felt guilty about it, and started the tradition of naming all the princesses Zelda. This is legendary, in the sense of people talking about it, since people are going to asking about all the princesses having the same name. It was already a legend by the time a Link got involved, and that's really more of a sequel legend known as the "Adventure of Link". So that Link at least was recognized.

Since then, the term "Legend of Zelda" got tacked onto every legend involving a Zelda and a Link, and eventually every legend involving a Zelda or a Link. It's a bit confusing, but then again, so is naming every princess Zelda.


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

[User] Why do two lines indicate a negative result in ommunoassay urine drug tests when in most other immunoassay tests two lines indicate a positive result?

[Assistant] It's a competitive binding/inhibition assay for the negative result (is present = no signal), whereas in other tests a positive signal results from direct antigen-antibody binding (is present = signal). The second line, C, is an internal control of the assay for a highly expressed protein/antigen \[albumin, immunoglobulin or something\] to verify the sample and assay quality.


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

[User] ELI5:How do nationality suffixes work? (American, Swedish, Chinese, Thai, Afghani, Laotian, etc.)

[Assistant]
I don't think nationality suffixes are actually supposed to "work" somehow, I'd guess it's more like an issue of cultural development in the English language. The suffix "an" is probably more common because it seems to mean something like "someone from this place" in English. There are peculiarities explaining other suffixes, though.

Words such as Iraqi, Israeli and Afghani end as such because those are words in local languages, borrowed by English. E.g., Israeli in Hebrew is exactly Israeli.

Now, words such as French, Turk and Greek are so peculiar because such nationalities came before the nations. E.g. there were Turks roaming around before Turkey (the suffix is in the name of the nation, not in the nationality).

I know the word Greek is based on an ancient italic language word meaning foreigner. Traders back then travelling by the coasts of Italy came from the area (not a nation yet) known today as Greece (land of the foreigners), hence the name. Greeks call themselves something like Hellenians, though.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How was jar jar able to survive on tatooine?

Jar Jar is an amphibious creature from a swamp and water planet, and he goes straight to Tatooine, a desert planet. How was the lack of moisture and heat not killing him?

[Assistant] The Hutts are also essentially giant slugs from a swamp world, yet they seem to thrive on Tatooine.  It's likely that the Star Wars galaxy has developed some form of moisturizer/anti-desiccant that's readily available commercially.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do some things stay together when wet (sponges, cloth) but others fall apart (tissues, paper)?

[Assistant]
It has to do with whats causing them to stick together when theyre dry. Sponges are usually one big piece of material. Cloth is made by interweaving long strings. Both of those things might expand if they get wet, but water cant unweave threads.
On the other hand, something like paper is made from very fine wood pulp. There isnt any kind of structure running through the entire sheet: its just tiny bits of cellulose stuck together with glucose. When you get paper wet, the glucose, being sugar, is water soluble, so it mixes into the water and stops binding to the cellulose. This means that the paper is just a pile of disjointed wood pulp, and it falls apart.


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

[User]
Why are we sending orion space craft to Mars?

Hi,

What are we still pursuing on Mars? Europa seems to have more answers with its underground ocean.

What are some questions that may be resolved by Mars mission with human crew?

or is it just a practice mission to improve rocketry and sustaining human life in space?

[Assistant]
There is one overwhelming reason why Mars is our next target for human exploration rather than Europa or anywhere else: distance. You can get humans to Mars quite easily in a year and a half or less. It would take several times that long to get to Jupiter, which means that all of the challenges of human spaceflight just get that much more challenging. The more mass you tack onto your spacecraft, the more fuel you need, and then the more fuel you need to lift that fuel. It gets dramatically more expensive and difficult the larger your spacecraft gets, so without some serious advances in propulsion it will be a while before we can feasibly get humans to the Jupiter system.

Additionally, on a mission of ten years or so, the chances of problems go up dramatically. A healthy individual could be expected to go the couple of years of a Mars mission without any significant medical problems, but over ten years or more it's likely that something would crop up, and a craft is necessarily going to have limited medical facilities. The astronauts would be exposed to a dramatically larger radiation dose just from being in space en route. But then when you get to Europa, the Jupiter system is subject to a pretty hefty radiation field from Jupiter's magnetosphere, so you'd need extra shielding if you want to put anybody on the surface.

As with everything in science, we do it step by step. If we can successfully send people to Mars and back, then later on we may plan crewed missions to Jupiter. But first things first.


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

[User] [Batman/The Office] Wayne Enterprises buys out Dunder Mifflin, and Michael Scott has to travel to Gotham City to meet his new bosses. What awful things ensue while he's there?

[Assistant]
Poison Ivy hears through the grapevine that a powerful paper magnate is due to arrive in Gotham City. She arranges to kidnap this person and either hold him for ransom, or otherwise convince him to shift his business operations away from deforestation.

So she nabs Michael and imprisons him. She lets slip fairly early that she thinks him to be some kind of influential figure, stirring a mess of conflicting reactions in Michael: of course he thinks he *is* an influential figure so hes quick to validate her assumptions about him; but hes also entirely worthless and powerless, stripping any deals or promises he makes of operant value.

The entire debacle shifts back and forth. In one moment, Michael is a pitiable pathetic mess under Poison Ivys green thumb, and she doubts the political value of her prisoner; but each time Michael notes the disappointment in her eyes, he quickly fumbles his way into yet another babbling blender of self-aggrandizing lies... because he really likes it when she looks at him like hes the king of the world.

However, eventually, Poison Ivy comes to accept the truth that Michael is a worthless moron, and is actually in the middle of letting him go when Batman shows up, rearing for a bat-battle.

Poison Ivy waves him off. Nah, you can have him, she says, pushing the unvined Michael into Batmans custody. Hes just a paper boy.

Michael is wounded deeply by this, and he gives her The Kicked Puppy Look. Before Batman can get Michael out of there, Poison Ivy sighs, leans in, and gives Michael a good long deep-mouthed toxinless kiss, forcing Batman to watch in quizzical frustration.


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

[User]
How come the mass of objects does not affect their fallings speeds, but the mass of the planet does?

From what has been explained to me as a child, if a heavy and a light object are dropped in a vacuum on the same planet, they will fall at exactly the same speed, and land at the same time.

However, if an object is dropped on a large planet/body, it will fall faster than if it is dropped on a light one, like we can see on the footage of the moonlanding, when they jump around.

So how come the mass of the two objects attracting each other only seems to matter in one case, but not the other?

[Assistant]
Force of gravity = a constant x mass of object x mass of planet / (radius of planet, squared)

Force on an object = mass of object x acceleration of object

So the acceleration caused by gravity = a constant x mass of planet / (radius of planet, squared)

The mass of the object you're dropping does not affect its acceleration, because it "cancels out" on both sides of the equation.


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

[User]
[SCP Foundation] Why is the UIU so disparaged and underfunded?

The US Government is aware of the Foundation, so they are aware of the very real threats.

Why, then, is the UIU so underfunded and disparaged?

[Assistant]
*Hm.* It's a simple answer, really. Organizations such as the UIU, belonging to any single government, are typically at the miserable beck and call of politics. Even if the politicians in charge of funding the UIU are aware of the Anomaly threat- Which, disturbingly enough, isn't always the case- they are, invariably, lied to about the intensity, prevalence, and importance of the threat.

They believe they are funding an organization devoted to nothing more than the containing of threats such as a 'house with a talking door' or a 'knife that makes its holder kind of angry.'

The UIU is, in short, underfunded because they aren't willing to do what needs to be done, to reveal what must be revealed to those who must know the truth. The GOC, on the other hand, operated by the United Nations, is far more formidable a threat, not nearly as willing to allow the masquerade to stay for the blind men who fund them as the UIU.


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

[User]
REALLY basic question about how money works in a closed economy

I'm having trouble understanding where new currency comes from when value is created in an economy, and how it enters circulation.

I'm thinking of a hypothetical closed economy with say 10 people. Each person produces 10x of goods/services of value $10. They all exchange. Let's say one decides to innovate, and produces 10x goods of value $20. How can they sell their goods without others going into debt? The only way I see is if the others increase their money supply, but this feels wrong - how can they increase their money supply without having produced something commensurate with that increase?

What seems to follow is that if one person adds value, everyone else has to add value by a similar amount to prevent from going into debt. This doesn't sound right. And even if it's correct, how does the new money enter the circulation?

I understand this is an incredibly rudimentary question, but maybe so rudimentary it isn't articulated, so I've kinda missed it.

[Assistant]
If you have a fixed amount of currency in circulation, the currency would become worth more as prices would decrease over time. If it was impossible to create or destroy currency, then as new goods are produced prices would decrease.

However, basically all monetary systems run on a fractional reserve system which creates money to through debt. This process is controlled by a central bank.


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

[User]
ELI5:Before electricity was understood, how did people explain static electricity & static shocks?

I'm imagining someone in the medieval ages would think static electricity shocks would be akin to magic...

[Assistant]
People on the Mediterranean have known about electric fish since before recorded history. The African electric catfish, for example, is found in Egypt and can deliver a mild electric shock. Although they didn't understand electricity, it was repeatable, so they were able to figure out that there were particular creatures that created this weird shocking, numb feeling. Around 2,600 years ago, the Ancient Greeks were experimenting with static electricity from amber and connected it to the feeling of being shocked by an electric fish. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't "magic", because people understood where to find this thing in nature (electric fish) and how to make it themselves (rub amber with a cloth). About 400 years ago, the phenomenon was given the name "electricity", from the Greek word for amber.

What ancient people defined as "magic" is different from our own understanding of the word. But with something like gravity or shadow or electricity, if people could predict what it does and how to make it do that thing, it wasn't magic, it was just a part of life.


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

[User]
ELI5: The fourth dimension.

In a math class I just finished, I had a professor try and explain it, but the concept is just so far beyond me that I barely understood anything.  Is there a simple way to explain it?

[Assistant]
In theory, it's fairly simple, but imagining is kinda difficult since we live in an inherently three-dimensional world. Time is often thought of as the fourth dimension, since it often makes most sense. For example, the coordinates for this specific place now and yesterday could be said to be (X,Y,Z,T1) and (X,Y,Z,T2). Mathematically speaking, it doesn't have to be time, just a coordinate axis you can't get to using the other axi.

Another way to look at it is this:

0d is a point.

1d is infinite amount of points. (line)

2d is infinite amount of lines. (plane)

3d is infinite amount of planes. (space)

4d is infinite amount of spaces.

5d is infinite amount of whatever you called that last one.

6d -||-


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

[User]
Do man-made objects sent to the Moon and Mars run the risk of infecting them with life from Earth?

If so, how big is that risk and what measures are taken to counteract that risk?

[Assistant] Sterilization is a serious concern for NASA. It is the reason for them crashing Galileo into Jupiter (to protect potentially life-harboring Europa) and the reason they caught a bit of heat for the Huygens probe.


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

[User] [Superpowers] what would be the best real world martial art for someone with strength and speed like invincible or Superman?

[Assistant] It's generally agreed that a fighting style involving punching foes into submission probably wouldn't really be nearly as useful as, say, grappling. Why would you punch someone half-a-continent away and half to chase them down when you could grab onto them and dislocate or break their bones in your hands, or subdue with a chokehold?


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

[User] [40k] What is the Imperium fighting for? Are there normal humans whose way of life is being protected or is it all war all the time?

[Assistant]
So small minded.

The common man? The wealthy man? All are part of Mankind. Humanity is attacked from all sides from heretics to xenos to things too terrible to mention. We of the Imperium fight so that one day mankind can rise as the supreme, that the glory of our species is known in every corner and all those who dare threaten that fall under the boot of our brave soldiers. Our God Emperor dreamed this, and it is our duty to make it so.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does a simple app such as iHeartRadio need access to my photos and call information?

I figured I'd get the app in case I ever wanted to listen to proper radio on my phone but it says it needs access to so many different things.  I'd understand needing wifi info, maybe even location info, but why does it need to access my photos and my call info?  My photos have nothing to do with them.

[Assistant] We have a detailed explanation of the Android permissions we need and why we need them on our help site which you can find here: iHeartRadio.com/AndroidPermissions. (Mods, hope linking to the answer is okay).


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

[User]
CMV: Elon Musk is obviously a right-winger

Even though he calls himself a moderate, what Elon Musk says, does, and supports, is incredibly typical of the average conservative

Some notable examples:

\- He is against the proposed "billionaires' tax"

\- He mocks the use of pronouns

\- He constantly reposts conservative memes, and never reposts progressive memes

\- He considers himself "anti-woke"

\- He always calls out progressives and rarely (if ever) calls out conservatives

\- He has voiced opposition to unions

\- He thinks conservatives are victims and rallies around their movements and doesn't voice support for progressive movements or causes

\- He gets into Twitter spats with progressive politicians but not conservative politicians

If you can find instances where some of the bulletin points are not true or accurate then I would be more than willing to change my mind. Based on his actions, I feel it is entirely reasonable, and even consistent, for others to label him as a right-winger, even though he says he is a "moderate". But as the old adage goes, if it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, then it's a duck. Of course, if you think he doesn't share much in common with conservatives and my points aren't applicable, I am more than willing to hear your argument and have my view changed.

[Assistant] I think if you dont agree with everything the woke movement says, youre automatically labelled a right winger. A left winger 10 years ago, hell even 5 years is probably considered right wing now. (Socially)


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are subway staircases so windy?

Everyday on the way to work, my fellow commuters and I are always feebly trying to hold our shirts/dresses/hair etc. down as we walk up and down the subway stairs.

What causes this?  Is it the air circulation system pumping in oxygen?  Is it the constant repetition of trains rushing by causing high and low pressure areas combined with the change from being above ground to below ground?

[Assistant]
That wind is the subways operating in tunnels with little clearance and provide a "plunger" effect, drawing air in from the departure site and then expelling it at the destination.  It more or less pushes it along with the train creating positive pressure ahead of the train and a negative pressure (vacuum) behind the train, pulling air into the tunnel.

There are other factors too, such as the thermal gradient, which, to a 5 year old means air moves relative to the temperature, and it's always colder under ground, so with air cycling in from the outside, it's always mixing.  The effect is much greater when you have a limited access tunnel like a subway where one end is warm and in the sun, and the other end is cold in the shade.

Lastly, the outside wind will find its way in at terminals and exit points.

Your guess was pretty good.

For reference, you'll have windy caves if there's more than one entrance that operate on the thermal and wind effects alone.


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

[User] ELI5:Why is it called (American) football when you mostly don't play it with your feet?

[Assistant]
It's a historical term dating back to the very earliest days of the sport, when it was a hybrid of rugby and what Americans call soccer. Later (but still before the introduction of the forward pass), the game evolved to one where touchdowns were worth four points and what was the equivalent of field goals, five. This placed a higher emphasis on the kicking game than the modern game.

The sports associations at the time surrounding football were mostly collegiate and they had "football" in the title from those early days. The name has stuck even as the game has evolved to its modern form.


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

[User]
[Vampires] Why can Vampires be outside at night?

I might be completely wrong, but as far as I know the moon reflects the sun's light, so how can Vampires be outside at night? Wouldn't they still burn, or have to be covered or underground at all times?

[Assistant]
Typically, it's a metaphysical thing.  Even though moonlight is reflected sunlight, it has different metaphysical properties, and that causes it to be harmless to vampires, and also to have its particular effect on werewolves.
In your more sciency-type explanations, the act of reflecting off of the moon will also change the intensity and wavelength of the light such that it is no longer harmful.


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

[User] ELI5: What happens to alcholic products like wine or whisky when they are 'aged' and what is the point in doing so?

[Assistant] Basically to add flavor and mellow the alcohol. Once the distillation process is done you have a clear alcohol, think moonshine or everclear. Once it's put into the barrels the alcohol is absorbed into the wood, circulating in and out of the wood. During this process it picks up flavors and color from the wood. This helps mellow the flavor. The longer it's aged and more flavors are imparted to the alcohol. This is why younger whiskies are lighter and "harsher" than older, generally darker ones. Same process for wine as well.


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

[User] [It Follows] What's the cause of death when 'It' finally catches up to you?

[Assistant] If the scene with the girl at the beginning is any indication, natural causes. Being grabbed by a supernaturally strong, invisible creature and folded like a basket of laundry naturally tends to kill most humans.


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

[User]
What happens if an ant is released outside in a strange location?

Whenever I see an insect in the house, I capture it and let it outside. Yesterday I scooped up an ant and released it in my front yard. This got me wondering, what happens if an ant is released nowhere near its hill? I'm talking miles away here. Will it be assimilated in a new ant colony? Will it be shunned by "local" ants, forcing it to live the rest of its life alone?

[Assistant]
What happens is that the ant tries to get home. The ant will look for scent trails or landmarks to get back home. If it is a worker ant, the ant has only one mission, and it can't do that mission if it is not in or near it's colony.

Taking the ant from inside your house to the front lawn, the ant will probably be fine. The reason is that nearby queens are often related and an ant can pass through the nearby colony and not trigger any defenses because the scent will be close enough to the one of the related colony. Often, there are super colonies with the queens being closely related and the worker ants will often interact closely without any harm.


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

[User] How are there still radioactive elements such as uranium on earth when they've had billions of years to decay?

[Assistant]
Really simple answer: because they take more than billions of years to decay.

Uranium-238 has a half-life of about 4.5 billion years, which is (very roughly) the age of the Earth. That means we've only used up half of it.


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

[User]
If the valence electrons are in orbitals, what are the non valence electrons doing? Do they have orbitals? What might they look like?

Thanks?

[Assistant] Yes, they're still in orbitals. Those orbitals look very much like the hydrogenic orbitals one typically sees plotted. Since the core electrons don't participate in bonding, those orbitals also more or less keep that shape whether or not the atom is in a molecule, as opposed to the valence electron orbitals which combine into molecular orbitals on bonding.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are British people known for having bad teeth?

[Assistant]
Dental treatment on the NHS is subsidised, rather than free, for adults. However this only covers treatment for dental health -- much cosmetic dentistry, in particular tooth whitening treatments, are not covered. Therefore anyone in Britain wanting to have their teeth artificially whitened would have to pay the full market price, and in a country where nearly all medical treatment is either free or heavily subsidised at the point of use, it's a very hard sell indeed to get people to pay large sums of money for any kind of healthcare.

Note that although cosmetic dentistry requires payment, orthodontic work such as braces *is* usually covered by the NHS.

This means that Britons tend not to have the artificially-whitened teeth that American films and television have popularised, however Britons' general dental health and hygiene is among the best in the world. Teeth can be completely healthy without being pure white.


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

[User]
[Lord of the Rings] What happens if I throw the ring into a volcano other than Mount Doom?

I mean, is it going to be destroyed? If not, how the fuck are orks going to get it out anyway?

[Assistant] The Ring stays out of Sauron's reach for a while. Sauron conquers Middle-earth using plain old military might. Many years later the Ring winds up on the surface due to eruptions or tectonic shift or some other such activity, and Sauron reclaims it.


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

[User]
[Firefly] What would the Alliance do if they ever encountered intelligent alien life?

What would the Alliance do if they encountered intelligent aliens that were:

**Possibility One** - relatively primitive and lived on a single planet without space travel.

**Possibility Two** - at about the same level of advancement as the Alliance.

**Possibility Three** - much more advanced.

[Assistant]
If the peaceful primitive aliens lived on a world with resources valuable to the Alliance, it's likely that they'd exterminate the species without letting the general population know. And then they'd aggressively harvest said resources. If the world has nothing they want, the Alliance would probably announce its existence to the public and deem it a "nature preserve" to show just how benevolent and awesome humans are. Nobody would be allowed to colonize it, but scientific expeditions would be common.

It's similar with relatively similar advancement. If their home territory has something the Alliance needs, it WILL lead to war. The Alliance may stage things to make the aliens look like aggressors, or publicize the conflict as a struggle for humanity's survival. If they don't have anything... it would still eventually come to war. If the government thinks the people need a war for whatever reason, the aliens would be convenient scapegoats.

If the Alliance is completely outmatched, they'd try to avoid as much as possible just in case the aliens turn hostile. (Or if the aliens realize how tyrannical the Alliance is and want to "liberate" the people.) They would also try to hide the truth from the population as best they could, lest any stupid humans try to contact the aliens and spark a conflict.


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

[User]
Evolution without speciation?

When Stephen J Gould said, "Eldredge and I believe that speciation is responsible for almost all evolutionary change", why did he qualify this statement by saying almost? Is there any other conceivable way that evolutionary change could occur?

[Assistant] If an entire species exchanges genes fairly well among its members and faces similar conditions across its range then everybody evolves in lockstep. If those conditions are not met (and they rarely are for widely distributed species) then different fragments of the population will go in different directions and ultimately speciate.


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

[User] ELI5:Plastic bottle caps used to have a rubbery seal on the bottom and now they don't. What happened to them?

[Assistant] A few years ago many companies redesigned their containers to use less plastic, especially in the lids. During the redesign they added a small circle lip to the inside of the lid that seals the container in place of the seal you remember.


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

[User]
Why does sodium dissolved in water (through table salt for example) not react like pure sodium does when it touches water?

If my basic understanding of chemistry is correct, the bond between Na and Cl in table salt vanishes when it is put into water. Wouldn't this leave pure atoms of Na floating around which are highly reactive with water? Probably I'm missing something obvious from one of my teacher's lectures that I zoned out in.

[Assistant]
The reason that sodium is reactive is that is has an outer shell electron but would rather have a full outer shell as it is more energetically favourable. Substances generally have two ways of obtaining a full outer shell; they can gain electrons or get rid of them. Sodium does the latter and that process of getting rid of an electron is what makes it reactive. This leaves the Na+ ion, having lost its electron, more stable with a full shell.

NaCl contains the Na+ ion and Cl- ion, when added to water, the Na+ is pulled away from the Cl-, no real chemical change occurs.


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

[User]
Which is more powerful the suck of a fan or the blow of a fan or are they the same?

An interesting question my older brother just asked me. I'm not totally sure how to answer. Any help?

[Assistant]
Imagine a lot of people entering the Disneyland through the turnstiles. They are very uneducated people so they don't have the habit of queuing. Instead, they just congregate near the entrance as they move slowly through the turnstiles one by one. Once they're in, they immediate rush towards the attractions straight ahead.

This is a poor analogy because the mechanisms are reversed, but it roughly illustrates how air particles move around the fan. One key concept is that air particles are always pushing at each other. When fan blades spin, they "kick" air out the front. The air around the back, being push by the air further behind, are drawn into the fan from all directions much more slowly. Therefore you can feel the wind from the front, but hardly from the back.

I think the real question here is that, the blowing stream is fast but narrow, while the suction stream is weak but wide. All in all, which is stronger? The answer is the blowing stream, because the fan blades are adding energy into the air stream while they're spinning.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] After the fall of the Empire, did the truth about the Clone Wars come out?

With the death of Palpatine about the DS2, did the general galactic community find out about him and Dooku both being Sith Lords running both sides of the Clone Wars come out? Or did the general public never find out about the Sith conspiracy.

[Assistant]
Maybe eventually if someone delved deep enough into personal archives of the Emperor, they could've found that he was the one pulling strings, but great deal of imperial records were lost in the scramble, and in general average scholar can go only by common sense, knowing that Palpatine was a sith lord and generally a horrible person, to deduce that he likely had his hand in this.

Surviving jedi likely could shed some light on it, but by the time when it became safe for them to show up and join Luke's Jedi Order relevancy of this info drastically lowered, since not only Palpatine was dead, but Dooku was dead and most clones were dead. Everyone was dead, Bill. Value of truth in this matter becomes purely academical.


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

[User] Could we, in the near future, artificially create a stable ozone layer around Mars?

[Assistant]
Near future no in the medium to far range future (Say 500 years)sure. We could setup manufacturing facilities on Mars and allow them to spew Carbon dioxide as well as Ozone and Oxygen into the atmosphere. Once there Oxygen would go through the Ozone-oxygen cycle eventually turning into Ozone while carbon would just help thicken the atmosphere increasing Atmospheric pressure on the surface. The increase in Carbon dioxide could over time allow for some species of plants to survive on the surface of Mars. This in turn would jumpstart the Carbon-Oxygen cycle which will reinforce the Ozone-Oxygen cycle.

Edit Note: The gases being pumped into the atmosphere would require continuous engineering to maintain due to the reduced gravity of Mars and other factors that allow for more of the atmosphere to escape into space.


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

[User]
ELI5: What happens to gravity in the center of the earth?

Ok, hypothetically there is an elevator that travels exactly through the center of the Earth. What happens to gravity as you travel? At what point would it reverse in perspective to the gravitational pull when you entered the elevator?

[Assistant]
It would gradually decrease as you went down, until you were weightless at the exact centre of the Earth. Then it would reverse and gradually increase again until you got back to the surface.

The really weird case is if Earth were in fact a hollow shell rather than a solid planet. Then as soon as you got inside the shell, the gravity from different parts of the shell would cancel out and you'd be weightless anywhere inside the shell.


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

[User] If a meson is made of a quark and it's anti-quark, how is it that a meson is formed instead of pair annihilation occurring?

[Assistant]
If the quark and anti-quark are of the same flavor, as in a neutral pion, electromagnetic pair annihilation does occur on a time scale of 10^-17 seconds, and the pion decays into a pair of photons.

The timescale of meson formation is much shorter than this, ~10^-24 seconds. So a neutral pion will usually stick around for a very "long" time before electromagnetic pair annihilation occurs.

Now the quark / antiquark pair can annihilate into a pair of gluons, but then those gluons still have to form hadrons (mesons or baryons).

I think that a reasonable (and not too inaccurate) mental picture of a meson is a "bag" of quarks, antiquarks, and gluons. One can imagine gluons splitting, combining, creating quark-antiquark pairs, and those quark-antiquark pairs annihilating to make gluons. It is a big messy interesting system that really is not understood all that well.

You can think of a proton in the same way - its a messy bag of quarks, antiquarks, and gluons confined to a width of around 10^-15 m. There may be several quark and antiquark pairs of various flavors, but there is always an excess of exactly two up quarks and a down quark. So no matter how quarks-antiquark pairs are created from gluons, and no matter how many gluons convert into pairs, you can't get rid of these three extra "valence" quarks. So the proton does not decay - at least not by any well established physics.


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

[User]
[LOTR] Why did Saruman have a full cooked Turkey floating out of his store room?

Sorry for spoilers.

[Assistant]
Because MEAT'S BACK ON THE MENU, BOYS.

But seriously.  There were a lot of things at Isengard that needed to eat.  It stands to reason that there would be very active kitchens there.  The Ent attack interrupted lunch preparations.


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

[User]
Coffee with prof.

I am supposed to meet my prof for coffee next week.

Any advice on what I should do or ask ?

Would love to keep in touch and learn as much as possible from him.

[Assistant] Remember it's not a test. It's quite depressing sometimes when you invite someone for coffee, and they turn up fully prepared for it like it's an exam. It's coffee, he wants coffee and chat, not a performance.


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

[User]
How to get good student evaluation scores?

I am an instructor in a state university and have not been getting good student evaluations. I try my best, am easy with grades and try to be as interactive as possible. Please let me know how I could improve in getting better student evaluation scores.

[Assistant]
If your university offers any pedagogy lectures or classes, Id strongly recommend looking into them. Often what leads to low scores is a combination of different things, only some of which you may have control over (eg higher grade averages for a class often correlate with higher evaluations, but are the higher grades because you graded easily or because the students learned more effectively and therefore achieved better scores themselves because you taught well?).

For example, Im an a pedagogy course atm, and one thing weve practiced recently is transparent teaching which is strongly correlated with higher evaluations *and* better results for traditionally underperforming or under-represented students (eg first gen college students). Transparent teaching involves being as explicit as possible in: a) why you are assigning a certain task/homework/project/exam  what skills will they develop from it or how will it demonstrate the skills theyve learned; b) the exact steps (broken down or deconstructed as thoroughly as possible) they will need to take to complete the task; c) how you will evaluate their performance on the task  what qualifies as both a sufficient and exemplary/above and beyond and why those qualities are important and related to the skills they are developing in your course. Transparent teaching is, unfortunately, sometimes easier said than done, but in general when students are told exactly *why* they are doing something and exactly what they need to do in order to succeed and excel, it makes them feel more confident and more trusting in their instructor.

If your university doesnt offer any pedagogy lectures (even one-offs can be helpful), try How Learning Works: 7 Research Based Principles for Smart Learning or Teaching What You Dont Know by Therese Huston, which were both used in the course Im taking so theyre probably decent introductions.

Theres also things like backward course design and flipped classrooms that might be worth looking into.


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

[User] ELI5: If another sperm won, would I still be me?

[Assistant] A completely different person would have been born instead of you. On average, that person would have 25% different chromosomes from you, and 75% the same. In other words, your sibling would have been created and you would not.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why can't we use all the excess skin from people with extreme weight loss to treat burn victims?

With the technology surrounding grafting, why can't we take the huge amounts of skin that come from the formally obese and graft them to victims that have suffered severe burns? If skin 'typing' is an issue, it seems we could setup a global exchange - there is demand on both ends it would seem?

[Assistant]
Your cells have specific proteins on their membranes that serve as markers for your immune system to differentiate self from non-self. These proteins can vary from person to person, although they serve the same function.

The reason you typically graft skin from yourself is that the skin will not be rejected by your immune system, where as if you used someone else's there's a very likely chance it will be rejected and cause an immune response.


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

[User]
[Witcher 3] How did Geralt get so powerful between The Lesser Evil and the Witcher games? [Mild Witcher book spoilers]

Witcher 3: how did Geralt get so powerful between The Lesser Evil and the Witcher games? [Mild Witcher book spoilers]

In The Lesser Evil, Geralt's actions earned him a title thats stuck with him through every game: The Butcher of Blaviken. Its a good story, and really highlights the ethically grey areas Geralt finds himself in, as well as showing off how badass he can be with a sword.

Theres only one problem: Geralt "only" killed like five or six people at once, compared to the literal dozens that he kills without effort in the Witcher games. If killing six goons in a market square was enough to warrant such a grim title, how come nobody makes much fuss of his more recent killing sprees?

Its true that some of the bigger death tolls happen in bandit camps in the wild or enclosed spaces away from public eyes, but hes also killed groups of thieves and bandits in Novigrad with plenty of witnesses.

[Assistant] He didn't get the title just because he killed 6 people, it's because the town believes he did it unprovoked. They had no idea the what the people he killed were planning, they just saw him in the market sword in hand ready to kill. To the towns people he just butchered the people because he's a mutant witcher. Nature and publicity of the kills stuck him with the title, kinda like how Jake the ripper is one of the most infamous serial killers although he only killed 5 or 6 women, compared to the dozens another might have.


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

[User]
ELI5 - How does Twitter make money?

No ads?  Free accounts?  I don't get it.  Are they playing the very long game?

[Assistant] Companies pay for promoted trends and promoted tweets. Let's say Starbucks are releasing a new drink, and they want to promote it through Twitter. They will pay Twitter a certain amount of money to promote the trend, which means it will appear on the main page timeline. It's all advertising, except the user doesn't know it's advertising because there aren't text-ads all over the website.


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

[User] ELI5: when the stock market "crashes" and everyone loses their money, where does that money go?

[Assistant]
Stocks are pieces of ownership in a business.  If you had a lemonade stand, and were the only person who built and ran it, you wouldn't need "stock" in the company, you would be the sole owner.  But say you have an idea for an awesome lemonade stand, but you don't have the money to build and stock it.  You can go to your friend who has the money and borrow it from him/her to build the stand.  Of course, your friend might want to share in the profits of the business instead of just collecting interest on the money, so you can agree that you and your friend have ownership in the stand, and will split the profits based on the percentage of the business that you each own.

Now, you don't necessarily have "stock" yet, just a partnership.  Now, if your friend wants to sell his share of the business to someone else, stock is the easiest way to handle that.  You would divide up the ownership of the stand, say 60% yours, 40% your friend's, into 6 shares of stock for you and 4 shares for your friend.  Your friend could then sell those 4 shares to someone else, and "cash out" of the business.

The stock market is just a public exchange where people buy and sell stock.  The "money" people are losing in a stock market crash isn't really money, it's wealth.  They paid money for a stock, and that money went to another person who was selling the stock.  They now have no money.  They only have stock.  It's worth money, but it's not real money.

Now, when they "lose money," it's because that phrase describes the amount of wealth someone has in stock based on what the stock would sell for in dollars.  As the market crashes, the selling price of the stocks goes lower and lower, so people's wealth is dropping.  People haven't lost anything until they sell the stock, since they have exactly what they had to begin with, the same number of shares of stock.

So, the money never goes anywhere except to another person buying/selling the stock.  That's why the stock market is called a "zero sum game,"  because if someone buys low, then sells high, and the person who buys low sells high, overall the amount of money trading hands has stayed the same, because the amount the low/high guy made is negated by the amount the high/low guy lost.


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

[User]
Time estimates & always feeling rushed

At my work I'm always asked to give time estimates.

When I try to give a good one with enough padding I get told it's too long and I see a lot of frowns all around.

If I give into a small estimate I often find myself rushing and doing a bad job.

At this point I'm feeling like I'm bad at this. Clearly it's just me because other devs seem to navigate these waters fine but I feel to be disappointing the team sometimes.

Could really use some advice on this!

[Assistant]
A comment above touched on this, but there are basically three things you can negotiate here:

1. The actual end date
2. The product delivered by the end date
3. Your sanity

Assuming you're not willing to sell your sanity, that's two.

The fact is, the amount of time it takes to complete a given product without sacrificing your sanity is relatively static. Shorten that time, and you have to sacrifice quality. So, stand your ground: You can get the product done by X date, or, if the date is moved up, you can work with them (cooperatively!) to deliver part of/a base version of what they want.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Are the humans (like Obi Wan, Princess Leia, Lando) actually human?

Since Star Wars takes place in a galaxy far, far away, I would assume that they are just aliens that happen to look like humans.

[Assistant]
Follow-up questions:

* Why does it seem that humans are so much at the center of galactic history?  The most important historical figures, both good and bad, seem to be predominantly human.
* Why was a human template selected for the clones in the Clone Wars?  Are humans the best soldiers?


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

[User] ELI5: Why do cats smell good even if they've never been bathed? Dogs lick themselves too, but they generally need to be washed or else they get smelly.

[Assistant]
Dogs are pack animals, so they are concerned with communicating with each other. The easiest way they communicate is through their super sensitive noses, and through sniffing and smelling they can talk to each other. Though dogs only really sweat from their noses and paws, each hair follicle has a special sweat gland. It is speculated that this gives each dog an unique scent that only a dogs special nose can pick up. Another gland that gives off an unique scent is their anal glands. It's why dogs like sniffing other dogs' butts. These glands give smells as unique as our names; a dog identifies another dog through their odor. But as humans, we don't have the same smelling talents as dogs, so we only distinguish the musky, dog odor. Also, it doesn't help that dogs love rolling in stinky stuff. It helps mask their natural odor from other animals which they hunt or try to avoid.

Though cats can sniff things out better than we can, they aren't as concerned with sniffing out and becoming friends with other cats. They are a more lonesome creatures, and thus haven't evolved to have super obvious and unique body odors. Instead, it is more important for a cat to be stealthy. They are smaller, and have many more predators than your average wild dogs have. That is one reason why cats are so finicky about grooming. They are trying to keep clean and odor free in order not to attract bigger animals that could possibly eat them, and to hide from the more aggressive cats. Their tongue is specially designed to remove dirt and other particles that might lead to odor. Keep in mind, male tomcats can develop a thick, musky scent from their anal glands. That is because they are the biggest, toughest cats around and it helps intimidate other kitties from approaching them or their territory.

Diet is also a factor. Dogs eat almost anything, including trash and dead animals, and it can give them an unique bouquet of odors coming from their mouth and butt. Cats have a very restricted diet, which their body handles very well, and it helps limit their odor.


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

[User]
How can Leibniz' God (as a monad Himself) cause other monads if he admits that substances are not intercausal?

This is specifically in reference to his *Discourse On Metaphysics* in which in paragraph XIV says "A particular substance never acts on another particular substance" and in paragraph XVI says "...God being the true cause of substances."

If God Himself is a substance, how can Leibniz take all of these to be true?

[Assistant] "Created substances depend on God, who conserves them and even produces them continually by a kind of emanation as we produce our thoughts (Discourse on Metaphysics). God is the ultimate source of substances, so this doesn't contradict substances not acting on other substances.


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

[User]
Eli5: how does a country's passport "strength" work? How does a country become visa-free for another country?

It is stated in Henley passport index, that the top three countries are  Japan (1st) , Germany and Singapore (both ranking 2nd), what gives a country passport the strength to be visa-free in other countries?

[Assistant]
The governments of Japan, Germany and Singapore (using your example) went to a BUNCH of other countries (USA, Argentina, Egypt for example) and said, hey, can you let our citizens visit your country without having to get a visa beforehand? Those countries governments looked at Japan, etc and thought "hmm, their citizens make good money, generally obey the laws, like to spend money here as tourists and arent likely to overstay...". Sure, you can have visa on arrival.  Rinse and repeat for like 150 different countries = a lot of countries they can travel to with a visa on arrival = Strong passport.

Now, lets say the government of Elbonia went to a bunch of other countries and asked the same thing. Now the USA, Argentina and Egypt are thinking "Elbonians earn like $100/month, dont follow the rules anywhere they go, dont have any money to spend and will probably overstay in our country to work and earn more than $100/month". Uh, no; sorry Elbonia. You guys want to come visit us, you need to apply in person at one of our embassies beforehand, pay a fee and prove to us that you have enough money to get back to Elbonia and won't overstay.  Rinse and repeat for like 150 different countries = a lot of countries they CANT travel to without having to get a visa at an embassy first = Weak passport.


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

[User]
[General] Why are people (usually) clueless about how to deal with time travel?

It seems as if a majority of time travel incidences involve a time traveller running around and acting, well... insane to outside observers.

Why doesn't anyone casually ask the date, citing reasons like having a bender or playing it off as a joke? Surely, especially those who are fans of time travel, should know the general rules and act accordingly.

Edit: I can understand freaking out if it's your first time-travelling incident, but what about (semi-)experienced time travellers. Additionally, what about individuals who live in universes where time travel is heard of/used?

[Assistant]
Most time travel stories involve people who are doing it for the first time.  Inexperienced people usually make mistakes and otherwise act insane to outside observers (teenagers for example are usually highly criticized for their crazy behavior however this is at least partially due to this being the first time that they have agency in their own life).

Look at Edge of Tomorrow or Groundhog Day.  The protagonist in both starts off acting crazy, but once they figure things out their behavior becomes ultra competent.

Also consider Primer.  The characters in that movie start off seeming competent, but as soon as they encounter a situation where things aren't going as they planned their behavior takes a turn for the worse (they're still somewhat competent, but the moral implications tend from shaky at best to sociopathic at worse ... ie insane, just not in the way you meant it).


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

[User]
ELI5: How does wearing a supporter/tight underwear help with a hernia?

I just got diagnosed with a hernia and while it isn't very painful it is very annoying since my constant coughing could make it worse, my right testicle feels like it gets kicked everytime I touch it, and the fact that my penis is suffocated by extremely tight underwear. I'm having a hard time understanding why keeping it tight down there helps with a hernia. Does it push the hernia back in? Can hernias even be pushed back in or can it be so small that it just stays there? Thanks.

[Assistant] You're right, it can help to push the hernia contents back in. A hernia is a hole in the muscle linings, the stuff going through it is intestines and fat typically. The support belt can help push thing back/prevent more from coming through. It can help support the weight of what has come through to make you more comfortable. It won't fix the hernia. It also won't prevent stuff from getting stuck, which can end up being an emergency to fix. So, come see me, and I'll fix it for you.


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

[User]
Are roads really public goods?

Roads are often cited as public goods AFAIK. However, public goods have to be both non excludable and non rivalrous. However, roads are excludable via toll gates, and are rivalrous to some extent in that the more people drive on a road past a point, the more congested it becomes to the point that traffic can grind to a halt, and if I occupy a space on that road, other's can't occupy that road space.

So I am willing to hear some arguments against those points.

[Assistant] Pure public goods are non-excludable and non-rivalrous - a classic example is national defence. Partial public goods are sometimes non-rivalrous and/or non-excludable, but not always - like roads, which can be excludable (if there are tolls); and can be rivalrous (if it is rush hour).


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

[User]
[MCU] Does Thanos know that Gamora is in the Guardians of the Galaxy?

It seems like he might be interested that his favorite daughter has gone on to become a space superhero.

[Assistant]
He (Thanos) mentioned that her favorite daughter betrayed her after getting imprisoned.  Nebula also knew who she was hanging around with and very likely reported that to Thanos.

And if he didn't know in the first Movie, it's not like its a big secret.


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

[User]
Why did Bulgakov in "The Master and Margarita" write: "No wonder Schiller said that only slaves could be satisfied with Kant's arguments on this subject, while Strauss simply laughed at his proof."?

The subject at hand is the proof of God. The characters of the first chapter of the aforementioned novel are discussing the five proofs of God. Berlioz straight up rejects these claims:  Alas! Berlioz said with regret. Not one of these proofs is worth anything, and mankind shelved them long ago. You must agree that in the realm of reason there can be no proof of Gods existence.

But then the foreigner replies:  Bravo! cried the foreigner. Bravo! You have perfectly repeated restless old Immanuels thought in this regard. But heres the hitch: he roundly demolished all five proofs, and then, as if mocking himself, constructed a sixth of his own.

To which he hears back:  Kants proof, the learned editor objected with a subtle smile, is equally unconvincing. Not for nothing did Schiller say that the Kantian reasoning on this question can satisfy only slaves and Strauss simply laughed at this proof.

So, could you elaborate on why did Schiller say that the Kantian reasoning on this question could satisfy only slaves? And on why Strauss would simply laugh at this proof.

 The Schiller in question is  Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) and the Strauss in question is David Strauss (1808-74) .

Thank you.

[Assistant]
The expression by Berlioz: "Schiller say that the Kantian reasoning on this question can satisfy only slaves" was probably an almost verbatim quote from the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, from the article "God".

Which could have been a subtle way for Bulgakov to mock Berlioz's superficial knowledge of this complicated subject, as Berlioz sort of mindlessly uses a cliche, that he just memorized, possibly without putting much thought into it.

The reason why that was phrased this way in the article is because Schiller was an aesthete and to him Kant's morality was too dry and mechanic, it almost required following strict and austere monastic rules, while suppressing any sensuality, which Schiller valued. So it was like an algorithm created by a pure mind that a human must robotically follow in the pursuit of a higher good, which for Schiller, who valued feelings and beauty might have looked as as a life of a slave, automatically following master's orders.

That could have been loosely the train of thought of the author(s) of the article.

As for the Strauss line, it's also a reference to the same dictionary, which has this phrase in it: "Strauss mockingly points out, that Kant to his system (which opposes theism in spirit) attached a little room and put God into it".

The reason why there is such a phrase in the article is probably due to a quote from Strauss, who wrote that (loose translation) this Kantian moral proof is a kind of a janitor room, where God, after the resignation from Kantian system, could still receive maintenance and still had things to do.


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

[User]
[Casper] What's the deal with Casper's Uncle's?

We get a whole explanation for how Casper died and became a ghost, but never any backstory whatsoever for these three. They all treat Casper like shit and there's never any explanation why, other than that he's a sweet friendly ghost and they're all mean. Casper calls them his "uncles" but also says he's completely forgotten everything about his life, so it's not clear if they are actually his relatives or just some random ghosts who also live in the house. And if they ARE his uncles, what relation do they have to his dad, who is a character in the movie but never became a ghost? Are Fatso, Stretch, and Stinkie their real names? Also, ghosts in the film Casper are stated to only stay on Earth if they have unfinished business, so what business exactly do these three have (all they seem to do is hang around, get drunk, and play pranks on people)?

[Assistant]
There's a prequel movie that explains everything. Those aren't his actual uncles, but three ghosts he met up with. He never went to be formally trained and the trio took him in, so he treats them like family.

We don't know anything about what they were like in life. Those almost certainly aren't their human names though. Likely they made them up.


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

[User]
If fast food workers are successful in raising their wages to $15 an hour, many will lose their jobs after the restaurants shift to more automated machinery CMV

First of all, $15 an hour is more than many managers make already at fast food joints.  So the payscale would make no sense with employees making more than management.

Second, the cost of labor would more than double for each employee.  And since fast food is generally a low skill job, fast food restaurants will opt to use more machinery to operate.  I.E., self serve registers, more automation in food prep, and operating with as few human workers as possible.  You could easily pay a technician $15 an hour to keep the machines functioning correctly and get much more for the dollar than a regular employee.

That said, this will result in fast food employees getting fired.  But not only that, technicians and efficient management will be emphasized and it will require more skill to have the possibility at working for a fast food restaurant.

[Assistant] Automation takes time and technology.  The more immediate impact to the workers would be the sudden competition for the jobs from semi-skilled, more reliable, workers.   The sort of people who are currently in the 12-15/hour range doing work that requires minor intelligence and showing up every day.     They'll easily outcompete the lowest performing fast food workers, meaning that their 'big win' has put them squarely at unemployed.


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

[User]
Why do you need to reach escape velocity?

If you had a rocket that provided as much thrust as a helicopter, why couldn't you gently lift into space. Gravity doesn't get stronger?

EDIT: Thanks for informing me about so many things.

1) Gravity in orbit is 90% of that on earth, astronauts are in free fall, hence 'weightlessness'.
(btw, from an astronauts perspective does it feel different to be in 90% gravity and in free fall compared to really being in an environment with very little gravity, say half way to the moon. Also, when Burt Rutan won the X-prize, they showed pictures of the pilot letting out M&Ms that floated around the cabin, was this really more of a publicity stunt with this act being not that different than what you see happen with on the vomit comet, i.e. he was in free fall at the top of his arc?)

2) Escape velocity is not necessary to get into space, but it is to get into orbit.

3) If you had a rocket that had the same thrust as a helicopter, that wasn't dependent on oxygen, you could gently lift into space if it could run long enough.
(So why don't they do this. Jets fly for thousands of miles on a tank of gas. Would carrying the oxygen as well as the gas make a craft too heavy to go far enough? I know that there are many practical reasons to get into 'orbit' but it strikes me if flying that high with what I am describing as slow lift rockets would have been created already an would have some practical use.)

[Assistant] Escape velocity is defined as the velocity necessary to escape from a gravitation field with *no further propulsion*. A rocket providing constant propulsion doesn't fit the concept; think more in terms of firing a cannon. As you can imagine, firing a cannon ball gently would not allow it to escape the Earth's gravitational field.


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

[User] [Judge Dredd] What produces enough goods to sustain the population despite the insane unemployment?

[Assistant]
Resyk. When you die, you get reused. All of you. Nothing is wasted.

The Big Meg also has farms out in the Cursed Earth, as well as a lot of mines on the Moon. It's also one of Earth's biggest spaceports, and there's a certain amount of interplanetary trade.


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

[User]
If utilitarianism is true, is it most effectively promoted by pretending other moral theories are true?

If utilitarianism is true, is it most effectively promoted by instead pretending other moral theories are true?

Assuming you're able to predict the consequences, perhaps best in a closed system, would it not, sometimes, bring most utility by promoting theories that, on the surface, go against utilitarianism?

Maybe the truth is best honored by not everyone knowing it?

As long as people do the optimal thing ethically, does it matter why? And does it matter whether they know the right reason for it being the right thing to do? Is that always the optimal utility maximizing strategy?

[Assistant]
> If utilitarianism is true, is it most effectively promoted by pretending other moral theories are true?

Thats an empirical question.  If it turns out that committed Kantians, for whatever reason, create the most utility then, sure, it would be right by the lights of utilitarianism to be a committed Kantian.  Do Kantians make the most utility?  We need to do an experiment.

This is not terribly surprising and people experience something like this all the time.  Imagine an athlete who focuses on winning so much that they make bad local decisions.  It might turn out that focusing on something else besides winning makes it easier to win.  Railton talks about how to approach this in Alienation, Consequentialism, and the Demands of Morality.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40k] Why is the Emperor of Man so powerful?

From bits that I've read from a few sources it sounds like ancient shamen rallied together in order to reincarnate their collective as a single being. However, I don't understand how their fusion could create such a powerful being when I cannot imagine them being able to stack up to some of the psykers present in the 40k universe.

So is there something that I'm missing or has the Emperor's power simply been exaggerated by the secondary sources I've looked at? Thanks.

[Assistant]
A unique combination of circumstances.

First; in the time of the fusion the Warp had no Chaos Gods; it was only beginning to become.. turbulent. The Old Ones were in full swing, as were their child races. The gathering dark in the Warp made it harder and harder for these Shaman to reincarnate; they were essentially immortal and had thousands of years of memory to draw on as well as having massively developed mental abilities.

Second, the warp really was pretty damn quiet. Imagine it (the difference in attention between them and current Psykers) as the difference between standing naked in the middle of times square at 12:30pm thrusting wildly and standing in your bathroom taking a shower, alone. The warp inhabitants are basically japanese tourists that really want to take a photo of your junk. A lot of stuff was possible then that isn't now because of the lack of tourists.

So, you take a bunch of psykers with no fear of the warp, thousands of years experience and then have them go "HEY GUYS LET'S HAVE THE MOST FREAKY THOUSAND-SOME EVER". They bugger off to the Warp, their souls merge and in the process cracks open up. Energy floods in, increasing the psychic potential of those souls before they finally merge with the whole. The whole sucks in energy and changes its birthplace; no longer a being of the material realm but wholly of the warp. It jumps up a few ranks; the difference between a powerful human psyker and a powerful daemon, multiplied a few thousand times.. boom! Emperor!

Or more specifically, Chaos God, but without the Chaos and the birth pangs because of the nature of his birth.

Oh, and it probably is slightly exaggerated; he's a transcendent psyker, sure. But an Orky Waaaaagh managed to suppress his power enough that he required rescuing from Horus once. It was a BIG Waaagh, sure, but still. Chances are his strength grew considerably over the course of the great crusade until his moment of 'triumph', scaring all four gods out of Horus.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Stupid question, but is Darth Vader's helmet intentionally made to look intimidating?

As a kid, something about his masked seemed really scary. I think its the triangular mouthpiece combined with his eyes and breathing. I mean, usually I find androids and helmets kinda cool, for example the mandalorian or stormtrooper ones, but something about Vader just gives me the creeps. Like if I never knew who Vader was and saw him in that cave in Dagobah I'd shit myself.

Was the intimidating look intentional or is it common to have helmets like those?

[Assistant]
Absolutely yes. In fact, his whole suit is designed to inspire fear by calling back to ancient Sith armor designs.

The Empire is all about using fear to control its population. Thats why things like the Death Star exist.


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

[User]
[WALL-E] Why was Eve equipped with a plasma cannon?

As a new settler on New-Earth, I've been viewing the records of Eve visit on Earth when she made contact with WALL-E. Eve's primary function as a robot was to scout planet Earth for Vegetation and signs of photosynthesis. So why was she fitted with a weapon so powerful such as a plasma cannon? it's clear that Earth was supposedly uninhabitable, so what on Earth (heh) could she of needed a plasma weapon for?

Followup question: How far and how long was WALL-E and Eve travelling on board the Axiom return vehicle? the vehicle did not possess a way FTL travel. (From what we're aware of) Could they have been travelling days? months? possibly years?

[Assistant]
She'd need it in case of hostile robots or to clear debris away.

They were likely travelling only a few hours, because the plant inside was still green when she took it out. After a few days of containment, it would've been yellow or brown.