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

[User]
CMV: Regardless of the outcome of the Pearl Harbor raid, or whether it happened all, it's almost certain that Japan would have eventually lost WWII

It doesn't really matter if Japan had sunk a couple aircraft carriers or the entire Pacific Fleet in the bombing, American dockyards would have easily recovered the losses in a few years. Simply declaring war on the US without bombing Pearl Harbor wouldn't help either, the superior USN would have crushed the IJN and they would have probably lost even faster.

Directly attacking the Allies colonies in Southeast Asia isn't an option either, Japan needed the Phillipines as a foothold to project naval and air power into the south Pacific, of course Philippines is ruled by a US puppet government. Even if Japan somehow bypassed the Phillipines, it's extremely likely that the US will declare war on Japan for attacking UK and Allies.

Simply not attacking any of the Allies isn't feasible either, because Japan was bogged down in China at that time, the war was depleting Japan's fuel stockpiles, UK and US were sending lots of aid to China, and US had already placed an embargo on Japan, preventing them from trading for oil and steel.  They had no hope of winning the war without the resources in southeast Asia, and the Chinese weren't going to sue for peace when they still had significant reserves of manpower and lend-lease equipment.

Basically Japan was doomed when the invasion of China ground to a stalemate, while the Allies imposed sanctions which starved their industry of much-needed resources.

[Assistant]
It all depends on how you view Japan's relationship with the other Axis powers.  They held on for a long time to their partnership but if they had been a little more proactive they could have struck a deal with the Americans allowing them to keep Manchuria in exchange for keeping tabs on Russia.  The attitude of the US after Japan's capitulation versus the allies with Germany and Italy is stark.  Japan was let very far off the hook for their role in the war considering they are the only nation to have attacked US territory plus all the other shit they engaged in.

I've never understand why, when they lost several large islands, they didn't make this kind of deal.  The US would easily trade a strong Japan for a weak Nationalist China.

This would have been a victory for Japan who didn't see German ambition as essential to their own plans.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do small, superficial wounds heal faster on certain areas of the body, like the mouth, than in other areas?

[Assistant]
The mouth is special for two reasons, one it contains certain chemicals that aid wound regeneration and saliva, saliva provides moisture, cleaning/defence and more good chemicals.
In the rest of the body, it differs, certain places in the body have worse blood flow, which inhibits wound regeneration.  The dimensions of the wound are important too, if its a cut ; its easier to heal, as less time/material is required to make a block. If it only perforates the skin layer (epithelium) and not go further it is also preferable as epithelium grows quickest, if it perforated deeper, into the connective tissue, where you have Nerves and blood vessels, regeneration is gonna take longer.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Did any lightsaber duelists ever use a gauntlet or lightsaber chainmail?

I'm sure something could prevent a lightsaber from knicking knuckles and chopping off hands and limbs.

[Assistant] The ancient Dark Jedi and Sith used armor but it may have been meant to protect against Force imbued blades or blasters instead of lightsabers with the exception being Darth Bane who had parasites attached to his flesh whose carapace were extremely lightsaber resistant. Use of armor amongst the Jedi tended to wax and wane depending on how long theyve been at war with it peaking in the Great Galactic War or the New Sith Wars.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we rub our eyes when sleepy?

[Assistant] When we are tired, we tend to be blinking less trying to keep ourselves awake. This in turn, dries out our eyeballs (our corneas). When we rub them, we massage the eyelids and the lacrimal gland  the tear producing gland. We then massage those tears over our eyes, cleaning the dirt from the air off the lenses.


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

[User]
ELI5 Why do people cut themselves?

I mean I understand that people are depressed, but what are people trying to achieve when they cut themselves?

Does inflicting pain on themselves make them feel better?  And if so, why are they specifically slitting their wrists?

[Assistant]
A couple of reasons:

1. Inflicting pain *can* trigger a release of endorphins, which are basically "feel-good" chemicals in your brain. So, given that many cutters are experiencing psychological issues, this can be one way of getting endorphins that are otherwise not being produced or absorbed properly.

2. As a sign to others that they really need help and are seriously ill. A lot of people with severe depression have a very hard time talking about it, and these actions are cries for help that the person would otherwise be unable to actually make.


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

[User]
ELI5: How are graphics cards improved every year? How can you improve a product so consistently?

What exactly goes on to improve a card?

[Assistant]
The most important factor is the manufacturing process. It's called "photolit*h*ography"- which means "writing *in stone* with light" (edit: Thanks for the correction). Basically, they're using a fancy Xerox to print electronic circuits onto a slice of silicon.

Over the years, they have found ways to print circuits in finer details, which allows them to cram more stuff onto a piece of silicon. So they're improving the shape of the individual transistors to work better in small sizes and they're also using light with smaller wavelength, which is basically like getting a smaller brush size. In the past few years, they have started to work with a technology called "EUV", that is extreme-ultra-violet. Its "brush size"  is 30 times smaller than the UV-light that causes tan and skin cancer. This is extremely difficult and expensive to work with, but it allows to cram billions of transistors onto a single chip: NVidias top chip, the GA100 used for their "Tesla" cards, has more than 50 billion transistors, compared to 20 billion on its predecessor that was made without EUV.


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

[User]
[Samurai Jack] How does the world develop after Jack defeats Aku?

Jack saw life from other worlds and extremely advanced technology in the future. How does the world develop knowing that such things exist or will exist at some point? Does it become more unified and reach technological advancement faster?

[Assistant] Doesn't only Jack know of all those things? One man knowing things that far into the future, far enough out that he could never use the knowledge to his gain or prove to anyone he isn't just crazy. Probably won't have much of an impact.


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

[User]
Is there an estimated maximum number of planets that can orbit a star?

I know the answer won't be a simple concrete mathematical number, but I'm just wondering if there is any sort of "generally accepted" range for such a figure.  I'm referring to stable planetary systems that will orbit this star (or pair of stars) for a very long time.

Can a star have up to 50 or 100 planets orbiting it?  Or is it just too complex to be stable?

[Assistant] The mass and density of the initial accretion disk limits the total cumulative size (and number) of the orbiting bodies that form around a star. The term "planet" is used to refer to objects of a certain size or larger. The number of planet-sized bodies that would form would likely be quite low, although, there may not be a theoretical upper limit, if you include extrasolar captures.


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

[User] [Marvel] why does it seem like Captain America is so much stronger and versatile when he faced The Winter Soldier/Hydra agents, but barely able against Loki and the Chitari?

[Assistant]
I actually just watched Avengers again yesterday and the others in the past week.

* First Avenger: Cap literally never slows down.

* Avengers: Loki toys with and manhandles Cap in Germany and fake surrenders when Iron Man blasts him. Only Thor and Hulk can physically deal with Loki. He's a thousand year old space god.

* Avengers: Cap actually fucks up a LOT of Chitauri and easily early on. It's not until he's thrown out a window by the alien grenade, falls four floors into a car and gets shot in the stomach by an alien that he starts to fail.

* Winter Soldier: He doesn't even slow down until Bucky repeatedly shoots him.

Rule of thumb in writing a Cap feat of action:

* Could *some* human *theoretically* do this physical action? If yes, so can he. Repeatedly.


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

[User]
[Halo] Do the names of Covenant ships mean anything?

I'm currently reading a book about colonialism, and ran into the phrase "truth and reconciliation", which I now know refers to official inquiries into past wrongdoing by a government and appropriate reparations. Prominent examples of truth and reconciliation commissions were in Latin America after various periods of civil upheaval, in post-apartheid South Africa, investigations into US treatment of indigenous peoples, and so on. For hours I couldn't put my finger on why the phrase "truth and reconciliation" sounded so familiar until my brain dredged up a memory of Cortana's voice saying it, of all things! It's the name of one of the giant ships from Halo 1, along with the Pillar of Autumn. The latter is a super generic phrase that I doubt has any lore behind it, but the former is such an oddly specific phrase that I can't help but wonder why the Covenant would name a ship that...

My knowledge of Halo lore is basically nonexistent beyond the basic plot of Halo 1 and 2 -- was there some event in the pre-series history of the Covenant that makes that phrase relevant, or is it just something Bungie thought sounded cool?

[Assistant]
Religiously motivated. A big thing to remember is that the covenant don't quite see ships in the same way as humans do, because of the nature of human vs covenant technology and manufacturing. Covenant tech is mostly either repurposed or imitated forerunner tech, compared with human tech, which can be made by any human with the proper engineering skills and raw materials.

This means that not only the ships themselves hold religious value, but that they have more value period, per being harder to produce than a comparable human ship (raw tech differences accounted for).

There was a scene in one of the novels, which took place directly after CE, where the chief and a group of marines who survived 04 managed to take over a covenant ship and plug Cortana into the main computer. Cortana then realized how incredibly inefficient many of the ships systems were, and started by re-programing the cannons to fire much more destructive beams rather than slugs of plasma.

Instead of copying her, the covenant shipboard AI called her a heretic.


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

[User]
Why must therapeutic proteins be stored at 2-8C to prevent them from degradation and denaturation when proteins in our body are in an environment that's 37C and are perfectly fine?

What happens exactly with the stability of therapeutic proteins when kept at room temperature?

[Assistant]
Proteins have various ordered and useful states and disordered and non useful states. Proteins which aren't frozen at room temperature will tend to loose activity over time. This happens in the body as well, but the body can replace broken enzymes.

They're also away from other useful proteins in cells that would keep them properly folded, so they'll tend to denature more quickly.

Proteases, chemical oxidation, and microbes tend to damage them over time, so cooling them slows these things down.

That said, in the lab enzymes have been left out for one reason or other for weeks and have been fine later when we tested it. It really depends on the enzyme. Some do less well in warm temperatures, some do better, depends on your luck.


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

[User] Why is it that we have found countless mutations which result in very serious or even fatal diseases yet we haven't found any which give some significant survival advantage ?

[Assistant] We actually have found some.  Tetrachromatic vision, malaria resistance, high bone density, and a mutation that makes heart attacks and strokes less likely, have all been found in small populations and could become more dominant over time. Most mutations, however, are not beneficial because they are random, and just randomly changing a complex system like our genome, well, there's more chance of things going wrong than right.


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

[User]
[Dredd] Water?? Where does Mega-City One get enough water for so many people?

Can someone explain how Mega-City One manages, distributes, and obtains the water necessary to sustain so many people living in such a high density?

The amount of water and the sheer infrastructure needed seems mind boggling.

[Assistant]
The technology available in Mega-City One is actually pretty impressive. That a lot of people seem to live in poverty and that crime runs rampant is due more to a lack of resources and massive overpopulation, but that doesn't mean that they're not still using some pretty impressive technology to even keep things at the level that they're at.

There's plenty of water on the planet - If you have sufficient technology to desalinate and filter sea-water, you'd never really approach a problem of lack of supply.

Given that most people in Mega-City One are unemployed due to advanced automation, it seems likely that desalination wouldn't be a problem for them.


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

[User] [Metro 2033/Last Light] How doomed is humanity?

[Assistant]
Very.

We would have hard time going toe-to-toe with the changed wildlife even with fully intact infrastructure.

Yeah, the whole "nuclear holocaust" thing kind of ruined *that*. You step outside, if the radiation doesn't kill you (and it will) the nature will. Kalashnikovs and copious amounts of 7.62 rounds are a nice stopgap but the guns break and bullets run out. We cannot repair the little infrastructure we have and it's slowly, ever so slowly grinding itself into nothingness to keep humanity afloat.

We've all heard rumors of surviving U-boats and nuclear plants-turned-fortresses. Sanctuaries where mankind could just bide its time to resurface once the storm blows over.

But riddle me this, even if these sanctuaries miraculously survive the test of time, what then. They have no resources. They have no population. What they do have, is a world filled with monstrosities more than willing to put an end to that conundrum once and for all.

We're royally, completely and utterly fucked.


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

[User]
What does it mean for morality to be objective?

I've done some basic reading on metaethics, and I simply don't understand what moral realists mean when they say morality is objective.

Here's what objective and subjective mean to me:

* A statement is objective if it is capable of being determined without the mind of a human. The statement "this glass of water has a temperature of x" is objective because temperature is simply a function of the activity of the water molecules, which would be the case even if no humans existed.  No two humans could possibly disagree about the temperature of a glass of water (assuming they are both happy that the thermometer they are using is working properly).
* A statement is subjective if it is the product of human thought.  The statement "vanilla ice cream is good" is something that a human might say, but there's no truth value to it because it's simply the product of a human mind.  There's nothing analogous to the glass of water or the thermometer.

Now, take the statement "it is moral to do X."  This statement seems to me to be more like "vanilla ice cream is good" and not at all like "the glass of water has a temperature of x."

* There's no thermometer we can use to determine if it is moral or immoral to do x.
* Two reasonable people can disagree on whether it is moral/immoral to do x, and there's no way to say that one is right and the other is wrong.

So, what do moral realists mean when they say that morality is objective?  Are they using "objective" differently than I'm using it?

Thanks.

[Assistant]
All statements are the products of human thought. Even the statement This glass of water has a temperature of x was produced by a human brain.

The words subjective and objective can mean different things in different contexts. The claim that moral assertions are objective is basically a combination of two claims:
1. Moral claims are not assertions about the speaker. (Example: Kicking puppies is good does not mean I like kicking puppies or I like when others kick puppies or something like that. Its a statement about puppies, and not about the speaker.)
2. The correctness of a moral claim does not depend on what anyone in particular happens to think.


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

[User]
CMV: I don't believe not wanting to date someone based on their gender identity or race is wrong.

To start and give a little background I'm a straight white male and I mention that because through conversations with other college friends it looks like the opinion that having a preference towards not being interested sexually or in a relationship with a person based on their skin color or being trans is either racist or transphobic.

To be specific, I told a good friend of mine who is a transgender woman that also has an interest in dating that while we can still be friends I am not interested in a sexual relationship. She passes very well almost like that youtuber Blair White, but I only want to date a cis woman. Some of my friends believe I'm transphobic because I don't want to give her a chance due to my reason being she's not a cis woman, which I think is wrong since I don't have a phobia towards trans people just a preference for who I want a sexual relationship with.

For a little background, we've been friends since the 9th grade and I knew her when she was a "he". We were best friends then and still best friends after she transitioned. I noticed after we went to college though, she started to flirt about the idea of a relationship or sex which made me feel uncomfortable. Which led to her coming right out with it recently and me turning her down.

I also typically don't date women of other races. I have friends that are of different races and don't hold view that is hatred of any race..I'd just prefer to date white women. However I've been told that it is a racist view to hold to rule out any black woman. My transgendered friend is also biracial (black + white) and feels this is a racist view that I have.

Is it really an unacceptable view these days to not want to date a black or hispanic woman due to their features and/or cultural differences? Is it really transphobic to rule out dating anyone that is trans for child bearing reasons and just prefering a cis gendered woman?

Update:

I read through the responses and I wanted to clarify my stance on the issue to avoid confusion.

1.) I am a straight male with no desire for another man.

2.) I do not desire dating a person with a penis regardless of their gender.

3.) I only desire natural born women, I would not date a transwoman that went through the surgery of removal of the penis into a vagina.

I do see that it is hard for trans people since they only see themselves as full woman. When I turned down my friends advances, she took it as a rejection on her womanhood. It is possible I may have been too blunt and since apologized for how I came across to her.

I still maintain that since she had and still has a penis (no surgery yet), I would never consider dating her. I still maintain that sexual organs are a very important part of a relationship. While I do understand the many different ways a child can be conceived (ex had PCOS), on the onset I would prefer a woman who can bear my a child. I would like to go through the whole pregnancy experience with a woman, and a transgender woman just cannot provide that.

I'm still interested in hearing arguments as to how that makes me transphobic since I don't have a fear of trans people, I just don't share a sexual preference for people who were born male.

As for my racial preferences, after a few discussions here I will concede that it could be difficult to determine on the onset whether a woman shares some black traits especially if its far up the generational chain. My position on race now is that I still don't find brown skin women attractive due to their physical features (skin, typical facial features, body styles etc).

I know that not all black women share these physical traits which is why I mentioned typical features that are from black people. So to refine my viewpoint on race, I'm attracted to:

1.) Only women who are white and have features that white women typically have.

2.) I'm a fair skin guy myself, but I prefer a woman to have either pale or fair skin.

3.) I like black or brown hair typically but would also date a blonde. Most black women I know (unless they are mixed) are naturally kinky haired unless they use perms or weaves and I'm not attracted to that.

I've turned down black women before since I just don't find them attractive. I'm never rude about it though, so would this still make me borderline racist?

[Assistant]
I would say it doesn't have to be, but it can be.

I grew up in a smallish Texas town and I've absolutely heard people say "I would never date a n\*\*\*\*\*" \- It had nothing to do with the hypothetical individual personally, they were just disgusted at the idea because the person was black.  Would you agree that in that instance, not wanting to date someone based on race is racist?


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

[User] ELI5: Why are viruses like the measles so dangerous? Wouldn't the virus want to keep the host alive to help it spread?

[Assistant] Most people who get measles dont die from it. Measles are dangerous because it can induce lethally high fevers.  But, generally, microscopic organisms like  viruses are built to reproduce in a given environment (like the human body) rather than travel through different environments.  Their ability to spread from host to host is often incidental, such as through a transfer of bodily fluids.  Also, viruses mutate frequently, so the "successful" viruses we know about usually spread by airborne means or skin to skin contact.  There have probably been thousands of lethal viruses that only killed one person then died out with them because they had very specific or no means of transmission.


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

[User]
(Wh40K) What interaction have the Tau had with Chaos Gods? Have any ever been corrupted?

Bonus question: Are the Tyranids aware of Chaos? Are the Queens psychically capable of sensing the presence of them?

[Assistant]
The Tau have only a basic knowledge of the Immaterium, as their minds hardly register within the Warp.  To the Chaos Gods, they are like the little white dots you get in your peripheral vision; you notice they are there, but focusing on them reveals nothing.  To date, not one Tau has been corrupted by the Chaos Gods.  Also to note, the Tau try to establish diplomatic relations with their enemies prior to combat; one of the exceptions are the forces of Chaos, as they see no way to reason with them.

We do not know much of how the order Tyranicus and their dealings with Chaos.  What we do know is that the great Hive Fleets casts a great, immutable Shadow across the Warp, blanketing the Immaterium with a haze of psychic activity that drive the Psyker mad.  For reasons yet to be determined, this Shadow does not attract the attention of Daemons and other denizens of the Warp.  Pray the Emperor that it never does.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Given that Vader respected the power of The Force would he have been inclined to not punish subordinates who fell victim to Force Persuasion? Could the same also be said of Kylo Ren?

Vader is well known for his ruthlessness and absolute standards; second chances are rare with most who fail him usually end up losing their lives in short order. That being said, given what we know about Vader's respect for the power of the Force would he be less likely to punish one of his underlings who had failed him as a direct result of another Force user using their mental abilities to manipulate them?

Would Kylo Ren have a similar view? How might he have dealt with "JB-007" after he released Rey from her restraints?

[Assistant] Force persuasion only works on the weak minded.  An Imperial officer who fell victim to Force persuasion would be just as culpable as an officer who was convinced to do something by any other means (bribery, coercion, seduction, etc).  Vader knows this, and thus he'd most likely deal with victims of Force persuasion quite harshly.


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

[User] Why did most of earths life evolve to have male and female?

[Assistant] At first glance, it might seem that having sex is a disadvantage compared to asexual reproduction as your offspring have only 50% of your genes vs being an exact copy. It is currently thought that  by mixing genes to give novel individuals instead of identical copies of the previous generation is an advantage because it makes it harder for parasites to become perfectly adapted to take advantage of future generations. The trade off of only passing on on half your genes, but in healthy individuals vs passing on all of your genes in individuals that are more likely to get sick makes sexual reproduction common in multicellular organisms.  With the increased diversity that comes from sexual reproduction there is more raw material for natural selection to work on and the species is likely to evolve more quickly and stumble on better adapted forms sooner.


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

[User] [Stranger things]Suppose I live in Hawkins and I build a ...shed. does duplicate of it just appear in the Upside Down right away?

[Assistant]
Season 4 has revealed that the Upside Down only updates itself at certain times, likely when a major gate between dimensions has been fully opened.

The only exception to this seems to be when lights are brought into a new location. And even then its probably not that the lights themselves appear if a gate hasnt been opened, but rather a representation of the electricity that flows through the lights. Nothing new duplicates while the gates are closed.


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

[User] ELI5: What exactly does catnip do?

[Assistant]
Catnip produces a chemical called Nepetalactone. When that enters a cats nose it triggers the production of endorphins in much the same way opiods do. There are basically happiness chemicals. So they basically just make the cat feel good, happy, and sometimes energetic.

Fortunately, it does not seem to cause withdrawals or addiction in the same way. So get those kitties nice and high!


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

[User] ELI5: why do (most) dice have the same face placements? As in, why is the 6 usually opposite to the 1, likewise with the 3 and 4? Does this affect the "fairness" of a dice roll, making it a 1/6 chance every roll as opposed to a different value?

[Assistant]
If youre rolling the dice properly, it doesnt matter and its just tradition. But, its theoretically possible to hold and throw the dice in a particular way and have certain faces come up more often, or to have slight manufacturing defects that cause one half to come up a bit more often. Its more of a thing with 20 sided or larger, more round, dice, but its basically impossible to hit one face in particular. So, if you have 20, 19, 18, 17 and so on all right next to each other, someone could roll it in such a way that that general half of the dice comes up more often. Scattering the numbers so the high and low numbers are evenly dispersed compensates for that possibility.

I.e. if you have a 6 sided dice, you could theoretically roll it like a wheel so its just rolling on 4 of the sides, and the other 2 will basically never be landed on. But you cant control which of the 4 it lands on. If you put the numbers so the 2 impossible sides are 1 and 2, you can get an unfair advantage, but if they are 1 and 6, or 2 and 5, youre eliminating both good and bad outcomes, not just bad ones, and you dont really benefit from rolling it that way. Its a pretty easily detectable method of cheating at dice, and pretty hard to execute, but it is possible, and placing the numbers the way they do helps to counter it.

Or theres a bubble in the resin that makes one half of the dice more likely to come up. If all the high numbers are on that half, it could be considered loaded and cheating. If theres high and low numbers on that half equally, theres an increased chance of both the good and bad numbers, so its not as advantageous to the roller.


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

[User] Why do bats make such good reservoirs for zoonotic viruses?

[Assistant]
The main factor is that they are extremely social, living in colonies with millions of individuals while also traveling long distances and interacting with other colonies. They move back forth between colonies picking up and passing around diseases giving them a lot of opportunity to evolve.

Pig pathogens are far more likely to be able to infect people but pigs don't get around nearly as much as bats, if a new pathogen infects one pig farm it will take a lot less time for it burn through the population.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do refrigerators, coolers/cooler rooms and freezers work?

They are powered by electricity (obviously) and sometimes the back of a fridge is warm. But what is going on inside that makes the temperature inside the fridge/cooler cold? Thanks!

[Assistant]
Refrigeration works on the rule that turning a liquid to a gas sucks up heat, and turning a gas to a liquid releases heat. An example of the first is that wearing wet clothing makes you cold. This is because your body heat is being sucked up to turn liquid water into water vapor.

In a refrigerator or freezer, this happens inside a pipe, with a chemical that boils at a much lower temperature than water. As it passes through the inside of the refrigerator, it turns from liquid to gas and sucks up heat. Then, outside the refrigerator, the compressor uses electricity to squeeze the gas back into a liquid, which releases heat. Then it gets pumped back through the inside, and so on.

If you have a large space, like a walk-in freezer, or air conditioning in your house, air is circulated over the pipes to get the heat sucked out of it, and then the cold air is blown around inside the space.


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

[User]
Why cant space craft's slow down before re-entering Earth's atmosphere to prevent burning up?

If I'm not wrong, objects entering Earth's atmosphere burn up because they are travelling at enormous speeds and the air friction and pressure buildup is so much that their surface burns up. But then why don't space crafts like the shuttle slow down before re-entering? Wouldn't that save a lot of money and reduce risk?

[Assistant]
I just thought I'd point out a very common fallacy.  It's not air *friction* that causes the heating, it's the rapid compression of the air, like in a piston...like how a bicycle pump heats up.

As expensive as heat shielding is, carrying extra fuel to lower the craft gently is impossibly expensive and problematic.  They're actually getting a cheap braking force by utilizing the atmosphere.

As for retiring unmanned satellites, it's cheaper and safer to allow them to burn up in the atmosphere.


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

[User] ELI5: What's going on in the brain when you "turn down the music to see better"?

[Assistant] Reducing cognitive load. It's not so much that you need to see better, like the way glasses bring things into focus, but you are scanning the environment for clues and processing those clues. It's one of the more demanding cognitive tasks you can do. Your brain knows that any other distractions are just going to divert resources away from your primary task.


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

[User] Why doesn't it get twice as bright when I turn on a second lightbulb?

[Assistant] it does, in terms of energy, but you don't perceive it that way: humans see in logarithmic scale, which means if you want things to get twice as bright, you have to square the intensity! It allows to have a good contrast perception in dark or bright environments similarly.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are washing machines usually smaller than dryers? (Have way less space for clothes in them)

[Assistant]
Dryers need to tumble the clothes apart from each other more. Washing machines can have clothes very close to each other. They rub against each their helping to clean each other with friction.

Dryers need to get the clothes more separated, to get the heat in. If a pile of wet clothes had heat blowing on them but they stayed close to each other, they wouldnt dry as quickly.

So while dryers may look like they can take more clothes, theyre at their most effective with a load that matches the size of the washing machine.

This is true with blankets and comforters as well. Allowing the blanket to get a loose tumble is what dries it.

Not very scientific sounding, but its the basic answer. Im sure someone smarter could explain heat dispersion, and give us a more technical answer, but this is the gist.


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

[User]
[MCU] Why does Thanos use our calendar when he's far out in space?

So in Endgame, when Nebula travels back in time and is captured, they point out the time stamp with our Western calendar ... why? Presuming he's in deep space, rotations and cycles are different, yet, they use Earth's measurements of time.

[Assistant] Its probably just a translation implant thing. Thanos may want to look at the 287th klep of Zuras in the 67th most recent cycle in Titan reckoning or whatever, and its intepreted as February 28, 2019 or another Earth date by Nebulas Earth-modified implants. Its clear translation implants translate for broadcasting as well as listening.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do we see objects if the atoms that make it are 99% empty space?

I understand that this might be a very stupid question, but I studied this and I can't believe that I forgot it.

[Assistant]
That empty space is filled with potential electrons. They may not actually be there, but the electric field still interacts with light.

As well, visible light has wavelengths in the hundreds of nanometers. Atoms are much smaller. So the wavelengths are just too large to fit through the empty space. They definitely will interact with the electrons. Or at least, there is definitely the possibility - some molecules are arranged such that the electrons don't interact with the light much anyway, which makes them clear like glass.


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

[User]
[Metroid] How does Samus's morph ball technology work?

I once heard a case just after Samus was on Tallon IV where she found confidential Space Pirate information of how they tried to replicate her morph ball technology. However, it just ended up being a bloody disgusting mess. Any insight into how this technology is achievable?

[Assistant]
Some may posit that Samus is flexible to an almost contortionist extent, but other sources seem to think that Samus's suit converts her into energy and operates the rotation of the sphere on a psychic interface.
Freakin' Chozo technology, man.


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

[User] ELI5: What is the difference between constant and variable bitrate MP3 files, and what makes the latter supposedly "better"?

[Assistant]
Bitrate means how many bits are used per second of song. In general, the more bits you have the higher quality the recording.

The thing is, some sounds are more 'complicated' and have finer details (higher frequencies). To accurately capture this, you need more information per second. You could just record the entire song at really high bitrate, but then you are just wasting space on the sections that are simpler and don't need as much information.

Variable bitrate is the middle ground, the sound is analyzed before hand and the more complex parts are assigned a higher bit rate, simpler parts are assigned a lower bitrate. That way you still get good reproduction of the original sound, but don't waste a lot of information; makeing the file smaller.


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

[User] ELI5: How does a RBMK reactor explode?

[Assistant]
Reactors use really hot water thats maintained at a constant pressure as a coolant.

The pressure prevents the water from boiling at its normal temperature.

If there is change in this balance and the water turns to steam in the primary coolant loop the water becomes ineffective as a coolant.

The reactor gets hotter and so does the water. More heat, more steam. This causes a feedback loop and eventually something in the system will break down.


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

[User]
[Shadow of mordor/lotor] what would the fellowship think of talion if they met him?

Say if some accident sent talion ahead in time and he met the fellowship how would he be percieved, would he be allowed to join them?

[Assistant] Assuming the game stuck to the lore enough to be considered canon, they would consider his a very sad story. The man who desperately tried to hold evil at bay, even sacrificing his own soul and giving himself to the darkness. All Talion wanted was to be reunited with his wife and son. That was postponed for millenia because of his mission.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is a computer with 2 or 4 fast processors better than one with 100 or 1000 slow ones?

EDIT: Thanks for the answers.  I learned that GPUs *are* many, many specialized processors.

[Assistant]
It depends on your needs.

If your task can be split up into many smaller parts and processed without care of other pieces, then you can use 10000 cheaper smaller CPUs.   This is the basis of distributed computing.


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

[User]
ELI5: How the body decides whether to burn fat or muscle, and which area of the body it targets first.

Just like the subject says. For further explanation see this hypothetical: A man is eating 1700-1900 calories and burning 2200-2400 calories per day via interval training or other forms of cardio. To  make up this deficit what ratio of fat:muscle will the body typically consume, and which area of the body would it come from first? Does the body favor to burn fat closest to the muscles being used, or does it target a specific area first?

[Assistant]
Mostly the adipocytes, the fat cells, when they're triggered just release fatty acids and the blood moves it around bound to some proteins.  They're not locally targeted really. The liver sends the body signals when it starts to get a low on blood sugar supply and triggers the fat cells to send out free fatty acids. The liver doesn't direct it to a special place, and the blood just carriers it wherever cells need energy.

Fat -> blood -> muscle. Which muscles you're exercising don't control where the fat comes from.


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

[User]
[Looper] Why do they send old loopers back to in to be killed by their younger self?

Why are loopers sent back in time 30 years to be killed by themselves? Why even send them back at all? What possible reason would the criminal organizations have for letting the old loopers walk around free for 30 years and then randomly send them back to die instead of just letting them stay retired and die of old age?

[Assistant]
1. The loopers might know things they shouldn't. Simpler to kill them.
2. It's amusingly poetic and ties a neat little paradox bow on their lives. Crime families enjoy that.
3. The boss is kind of a lunatic.


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

[User]
Is it possible that the Straits of Gibraltar were closed and that the Mediterranean sea was dry at any point when humans existed?

Just something I'm curious about... There are so many underwater ruins in the Mediterranean, is there any evidence to support the idea that the straits were closed and were only recently (past 10,000 years or so) opened by some combination of geological events and rising water levels?

[Assistant]
As danby and rwh99999 said, the Mediterranean was most likely filled before humans. However, if gigantic floods interest you, it might be of interest that the Black Sea was a land-locked lake of significantly lesser dimensions possibly as late as 5600 bc (with more conservative theories dating it to 7500 bc or earlier). Whether it filled to meet the Aegean slowly by the inflow from the rivers from the north, or by the dramatic spillover from the Aegean is still under debate.

Regardless, there were certainly human settlements that were later covered by the Black Sea, some of which have been excavated.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do certain smells like garlic stick to your fingers so well, even after washing, and some don't?

[Assistant] Not everything is soluble in water. Garlic, it seems can be removed by citric acid so washing your hands in lemon juice usually works. Similarly, the capsicum in chillies is also not soluble in water but it *is* soluble in fat so drinking milk with a hot Indian or Mexican meal is better than water or beer for soothing the palette.


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

[User] ELI5: Why paper and photographs are predominantly rectangular rather than square shaped?

[Assistant]
Photographs tend to be primarily portraits or landscapes. The human face on average is longer than it is wide, and therefore a vertical rectangular format works best for depicting it (this is true in painting, drawing and relief sculpture as much as in photography). Landscape photography works best in a horizontal format, since what tends to be most interesting (middle distance and horizon) is horizontal, and you can crop out immediate foreground and all of that uninteresting sky.

Paper tends to be rectangular because of writing and printing. In theory, a square shape would work just as well as a rectangular (usually vertical) shape for printing books and manuscripts -- and in fact there are quite a few square-format books that have been printed. But various conventions of writing and publishing in most languages have made it so the layout of text tends to be vertical: page numbers, footnotes, comfortable line length for reading in languages that print horizontally, etc.


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

[User]
[Stellaris] Is it unethical to prevent war by changing a culture?

Empire A is a pacifist interstellar nation that picks up chemical traces and discovers Race B, a warlike, slave domineering, xenophobic race has just completed several manned flights in low orbit of it's homeworld and is 130 years from First Contact.

Empire A, horrified that this warlike culture may introduce the horrors of war, oppression, and pogroms to an interstellar scale, begins a campaign of subtle manipulation using holograms and subtleties to entice the race into changing their ways to be more in line with the local accord; that is almost the exact opposite politically.

Is it unethical to alter the path of a civilization through secretive means in an effort to avoid conflict in the future?

[Assistant]
You might like the Ringworld series for this specific question. In it, the Pierson's Puppeteers culturally and socially manipulate an extremely aggressive and warlike race into more docility by repeatedly encouraging them to attack humans, a scientifically more power species. They always lose, but doing so kills off the more aggressive of them, leaving the cooler and more pacifist members alive. Do this enough times, and all that's left are the pacifists.

Now if it was ethical or not, well to the Puppeteers, absolutely. But if you were the ones culturally engineered, well, probably not.


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

[User]
Why does breath start to smell bad when people are hungry?

Is it because the oral bacterial waste is building up or does it have something to do with the emptiness of the stomach? Why does eating make the bad smell go away?

[Assistant] It's a couple of things. Normal bacterial growth in the mouth that gets washed/"brushed" away by the food when you eat and your saliva. Also, if a person hasn't eaten long enough ketogenesis occurs and results in acetone production, which smells weird.


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

[User] [Star Wars] What might an (evil) mirror universe to the Star Wars universe look like?

[Assistant]
Well the good jedi would have an opposite group that would be evil. Let's call them Sith for short. Also instead of a galactic Republic, there would be an autocratic form of government, lead by a powerful and evil figure, an emperor if you will.

Someone should make a movie about that stuff.


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

[User]
ELI5:How does electricity even work? How does it get "used up"?

So, they say that an electric current is just an electron jumping from atom to atom, but okay, how does that turn my fan, or how does that give me an output on my TV screen? And if it is just electrons moving from atoms, how does my fan or TV "consume energy"?

EDIT: I've seen all your comments, thanks for the deep answers, all good! But I still wanna know how the electricity gets "used up" *without examples*; like what happens to the moving electron that make us say that it's been "used up"?

[Assistant]
Think of electricity as a rope, made of electrons. In the big power plant, a giant generator pulls this rope back and forth.

Meanwhile, in your house, your fan attaches itself to the rope, and is thus moved by it.

This moving and pulling is done via magnets. A changing magnetic field induces an electric charge, and vice versa.


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

[User] If we are running out of helium, why is it still used to inflate party balloons?

[Assistant]
The helium "shortage" is simply from the decision to sell off the Federal Reserves within the decade. It, by no means, mean we're running out of it. Although helium is continually lost through atmospheric escape, it's also a ~~natural by-~~ derived product from natural gas production.

Also, inflating party balloons is a very, very small percentage of helium consumption.

Edit: For clarity.


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

[User] ELI5: What's the difference between UEFI and BIOS?

[Assistant]
UEFI is the replacement specification for BIOS - it does the same basic role of bootstrapping on launch, but BIOS has a host of technical limitations owing to the fact that the original specification is nearly 30 years old and unable to work with some modern hardware (for example, BIOS can't work with a hard disk of over 2.1TB).

An easy illustration - any newly built computer that boots into UEFI will have usb mouse support. No such luck on an old AwardBIOS.


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

[User]
CMV John Bolton is NOT a Patriot!

CMV: I believe that if John Bolton (and the others that have refused to appear) truly held the ideals of honesty and integrity and doing what is best for the country then they would appear and tell the truth to the Congressional committee.
A Patriot would put telling the truth for the best interest of the country above protecting the interest of an individual.

I was just reading an article about the expected court ruling on Monday whether Congress subpoenas have to be followed.
In this article it mentioned that John Bolton is watching this ruling to see if he should testify to Congress about what he knows.
It struck me that he is hiding behind the ruling of the judge.  To me this is not the actions of a Patriot. A Patriot would speak out and let the chips fall where they may.

(Edit for spelling of chips :)

Update 11/25:

I was very close to being swayed by Abstractig_You with his presentation that Bolton's belief in that supporting/protecting Trump would be in the interest of the country would make his actions patriotic. Such as a loyal Russian's action would be patriotic to Russia.

However, several aspects kept my view interact, and have actually strengthened it.

What defines this country?
What is patriotism?
Are good intentions sufficient to be patriotic?

There are many ways to define the country. One aspect sticks out, especially for government officials, and that is upholding the Constitution and laws of the country.

Bolton described the Ukraine situation as a drug deal. This shows he saw illegal aspects to it.

Congress is an equal and separate branch of the government as said out in the Constitution. It is congresses duty and responsibility to investigate and determine if there was wrong doing.

By refusing to testify Bolton is undermining the duty of Congress by his belief he should protect Trump.

This is putting the interest of an individual about the interest of the Constitution.
Patriotism is putting the country above a party or an individual. Bolton is not doing this.

It does not matter if he feels his goals are ultimately in the interest of the country, he is not putting the country first.
It does not matter if he thinks that Biden did something wrong as the justification for Trump to do something wrong.
2 wrongs do not make it right.

Good intentions are not a justification to not put the country above a party or an individual.

So in the end I still hold the view that John Bolton is not a Patriot.

[Assistant]
What is the definition of a ***patriot*** in your mind?

John Bolton and many of the people Trump has surrounded himself with are neorealists. To them, they *are* working towards the best interests of the nation. Trump getting into power has been the biggest boon for that camp since he is pretty much giving them carte blanche to implement realist policy on a national level, something Obama eschewed for most of his tenure.

If you are finally able to make the policy changes required to keep America safe and prosperous (their point of view, not mine), why would you flip on Trump and get him impeached? With Pence in office, it would not be as easy to get their policies approved.


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

[User] Is there a theoretical maximum size limit for a star?

[Assistant]
One guy from the Space Telescope Science Institute had a look  for massive stars on the Hubble telescope

"We expected to find 20 to 30 stars with masses between 130 and 1,000 solar masses," Figer said. "But we found none. If they could have formed, we would have seen them."

He set the limit at 150 solar masses.  If a gas cloud/ proto star is too massive, radiation pressure would probably destroy it.


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

[User]
CMV: The campaign by republicans to denounce the US presidential election as stolen is harmful to the integrity of democracy.

Ironically, I think Mitch McConnell said it best when he said that rejecting the results of the US presidential election would send democracy into a death spiral.

Its been almost 8 months now since Biden was declared the winner and I still will see republicans talking about the stolen election, fraudulent ballots, and how Trump should still be president. To date, there has been no SIGNIFICANT evidence of voter fraud. I say significant because there has been a few instances of minor ballot tampering (minor meaning not enough to change anything about the election). I have yet to see any real, justifiable evidence of something that would impact the election results. Every court has rejected appeals to dismiss ballots.

I believe people are out of touch with reality if they really believe the election was stolen. Too much right-wing news propaganda is being fed to people to think there actually is evidence of voter fraud. It hurts our democracy when its citizens do not believe in the integrity of elections. I believe the events on Jan 6 are also a direct result of this campaign and ignorance. People should accept the results, even if they dont like it, and hope the president does a great job for the benefit of the country.

Finally, Im gonna add that if there ever is any significant voter fraud, it should be investigated to the highest extent and by a non-biased committee.

[Assistant]
Just imagine it if the parties were reversed.  Imagine if a Republican president won the election and the Democrats and the news media spent the next four years claiming that the only reason he won is because he convinced a foreign country to rig the election for him, against that country's own best interests.  Then imagine the FBI spent two years investigating this, and all they could come up with was some completely unrelated stuff from 10-15 years ago.  Oh, and that the foreign country in question posted some memes on Facebook, for both sides.  But despite the issue having been thoroughly investigated, the Democrats and the news media still insist to this day that's what happened, and the president knew all about it.

Just imagine if something like that were to happen.


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

[User]
So give me a better alternative.

I'm feeling insolent.

There is a tendency among some academics on this forum to advise against pursuing graduate studies. They cite the usual reasons--decreasing salaries, job insecurity, etc.--as evidence. Presumably they are motivated by one of three reasons: 1) sadism, the joy of crushing dreams; 2) egoism, "I successfully navigated the world of academia but I would not expect as much from you"; 3) sincere concern for the well-being of the student, which I suspect is the primary reason, but I could not help including the other two.

Certainly the concerns are substantial. Attrition rates alone indicate that many students either are not adequately prepared for graduate school or are attending graduate school for the wrong reasons. That being said, many students want to attend graduate school because the skills they have developed as undergraduates are unlikely to be rewarded outside of graduate school. Whether or not that reason is sufficient, I do not know.

Which brings me to the title of my post. You don't owe your students an alternative. Providing the answer to the question "How should I live my life?" is not, for better or worse, your purpose as professors. But at the same time, each of you is complicit in a system designed to develop skills applicable only within that system. It is also an unsustainable, increasingly corporatized system that charges students an exorbitant tuition so that they might pursue positions within that same system for wages too low to cover the cost of the initial expense in the first place. Moreover, your jobs are dependent upon, among other factors, the student's or her financial providers' willingness to pay for the classes you teach. We can, of course, quibble over the degree to which the critical thinking skills valued in undergraduate classrooms apply outside the classroom but, on the whole, my reasonably intimate knowledge of postcolonial theory has yet to land me a job. I do not intend to imply that you are culpable, or even responsible, for the scores of overeducated, underemployed (to borrow a phrase) students on the job market who increasingly consider graduate school preferable to positions hopelessly unable to recognize the value of books beyond entertainment, if they can recognize the value of books at all, but I do think complicity should be given due attention.

So I ask, depending not on your sense of duty, since I don't think that you are obligated to provide the answer, but on the same sense of sincere concern that motivates you to discourage graduate studies in the first place, what is a better alternative? Where can I use these skills that mean so much to me that I dedicated four years to honing them, that help me define who I am, if not within the very system that encouraged me to develop them in the first place?

Full disclosure: I recently completed my Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature and am in the process of pursuing graduate studies. My question deals with the humanities more than the sciences since the sciences tend to develop skills applicable outside academia. Finally, if a sense of betrayal pervades this post, please know that I do not regret my time as an undergraduate, I am merely concerned by how quickly professors discourage graduate studies without stopping to asses the ambivalence of their position or, if they do asses that ambivalence, then it has not been done publicly, *to my knowledge*.

[Assistant]
I think one of the fundamental misconceptions that people have (especially undergraduates but also parents, etc.) is the idea that an undergraduate major is supposed to prepare you for a specific career.  The old adage: "what are you going to do with that philosophy degree, open a philosophy shop?" is demonstrative of the utter misconception of what undergrad is for.

Unless you are pursuing a very specific major for a very specific goal, such as engineering to become an engineer, history to become a historian (in which case, hopefully you *will* understand the ramifications of going to graduate school when you apply) or the like, it really doesn't matter what major you pursue.

The goal of a 4 year undergraduate degree is to make you a well rounded person, able to think critically and contribute to society and to function in complicated and complex situations.  It is not to prepare you for a specific "career", per se.  If you want to prepare yourself for a specific career through a specific path of education, perhaps trade school is the answer (keeping in mind that undergrad *can* but doesn't have to be a trade school for an academic career).  Otherwise guess what, uncertainty (and not always liking your job) is part of being an adult.  Even those in graduate school/academia suffer from it!

Comp lit teaches you how to look at disparate cultures, styles of writing. and ideas and to synthesize, analyze and craft ideas about your observations.  Guess what, there is no career and no place in life that *isn't* well served by these skills.  But they are not skills designed to slot you into a job, they are skills designed to make you a more competent thinker and doer.

Sorry if you don't find that particularly helpful, but it is kind of the truth.

By all means apply to graduate school if what you want is a career in academia.  But that's what it is, a career training center, not an extension of undergrad.  You don't currently have the skills you need to be an academic.  You will learn them in grad school, and once you're done, you'll be looking for a job.  Just like you're looking for a job right now.

If you are unsure about academia as the thing you want to do for the rest of your life, go out and use your college experience reading and grappling with ideas to find a job that is interesting.  Barring that, use it to do interesting things when you aren't at work.


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

[User]
ELI5: the Holy Spirit in Christianity

I literally went to Sunday school for a decade growing up and just realized I still have no idea what the heck the Holy Spirit is or how it's distinct from the other parts of the Trinity.

[Assistant] That'll depend somewhat on your denomination, but AFAIK the most common teaching is that the Holy Spirit is the personal presence of God in a believer. Sort of like an additional conscience, untainted by sin, guiding believers to salvation. The Holy Spirit entering the body is what baptism represents, whether the church uses oil, dirt, water, etc.


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

[User]
Is It Possible To Know Gods Existence Solely Through Reason?

I was thinking not because you need faith aswell, right? Are there any other ways to believe in God besides faith & reason. Also, can you provide scholars? Thanks in advance :)

EDIT: The question is supposed to be answered in the view of a theist so as much as I would like to put an atheistic/agnostic point into it, I cannot :(

[Assistant]
There's some different views on this. A lot of people think God doesn't exist. A bunch more think he may exist but that we don't know. Of those who think God probably exists, many of them do think we can know this solely through reason, yes. Though there are some who think we can't, but claim to believe this only through faith. Among those, there are a number of different positions on what exactly *faith* means. So you've kind of opened a whole can of worms here.

Probably the most popular view among theists involved in philosophy is that we can know God's existence through reason, though again there are some who disagree.


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

[User]
[Godzilla] What makes Godzilla/other Kaiju skin so resistant to modern weapons?

We've got high Penetrating rounds, things capable of going through tanks, bunker busters, giant canons, and everything in between. And in many of these movies it's been a recurring theme to run into these monsters, so wouldn't research and strides be made to make reasonable weapons that could penetrate or do some damage? Why do none of our weapons ever seem to work in these movies (I mean I get why they wont work cause I want to enjoy the movie)?

And if there was a weapon that you would think worked what would it be?

[Assistant]
They're really really tough.

I know it's not the most satisfying answer but, like, why is a tank so resistant to medieval weapons? You could give a lot of complex answers based around material sciences and the physics of impacts and so forth, but they'd basically boil down to "the tank is really really tough".

Same here. Kaiju are just very, very tough. Like the knights fighting a tank, we haven't made something able to harm it yet.


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

[User] ELI5: The Incompleteness Theorem.

[Assistant]
The first of Godel's incompleteness theorems has to do with what happens when we pair a comprehensive theory of mathematics (we'll call it T) with a corresponding statement called its "Godel Sentence" (we'll call it G). The Godel Sentence for any given mathematical model is as follows:

"This statement is not provable by the axioms of the referenced model."

Using symbolic notation:

G asserts: "G cannot be proved within the theory T."

Here, the Godel Sentence acts as a "true but not provable within T" statement. The interaction between a theory and its Godel Sentence is as follows:

If you could, by the rules of mathematical logic and inference, extract the "truth" of the statement G by using the axioms of the Theory T, then the theory has just contradicted itself. Think about it: if T proves something that says "T cannot prove me" to be true, then T must be inconsistent, because it has produced a contradiction.

On the other hand, say that G actually holds up, and there is no possible way to logically infer the statement G with the axioms of theory T. Now, T is still consistent, because it has avoided the contradiction of accepting G under its paradigm, but by doing so, it has demonstrated the truth of G, because, like G said, "I cannot be proven in T". Hence, the theory T is incomplete, because there exists a true statement that it cannot possibly prove.

These two scenarios present the fact that for any set of axioms that make up a theory T, the theory must either be inconsistent (and therefore useless in terms of mathematical logic), or it must be incomplete because of its inability to prove some demonstrably true statement. When this happens, our first instinct would be to just add G to our list of axioms of T, but by doing so, we effectively generate a different and distinct theory T2, which has its own different Godel sentence G2. This continues on and on, and thus any axiomatic formal theory of mathematics using our currently accepted rules of logic and inference will always be "incomplete".


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

[User] Because violet light is closer to UV and X-ray light than the other colors, is violet light at all more likely to give someone cancer?

[Assistant]
The key to understanding the damage caused by photon radiation (light and electromagnetic radiation) is whether or not it is capable of creating ionization when it impacts another material. Ionization is when an electron is stripped from an atom, which causes it to become charged and reactive, and possible to break apart whatever molecule it's part of. The molecule of most concern is DNA. Our bodies are quite good a repairing or killing off cells that have mutated or broken DNA, but not perfect. Roll those dice too many times and your risk for a skin cancer increases.

Violet/blue (visible) light is not at a high enough energy level to ionize the elements that make up animal skin/tissue. UVA and UVB are.


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

[User]
Can I tell my students NOT to buy a department-required book?

My department is requiring a truly awful handbook for one of the classes I'm teaching this fall. (I'm an adjunct, as well as a grad student in the department.) It is poorly organized and had little really relevant information. Other than this book, we can do anything with the course as long as it fulfills the learning objectives.

Will it be a huge problem for me if I tell my students NOT to purchase the book? It's about $75 afaik, which is a fair chunk of change for something I'm going to have to struggle to fit in to the course. I don't want to lose my job, though.

Thoughts? And thank you!

[Assistant] I have had professors say things like "this is the textbook the department requires you to buy for this unit. The exam will be based on lecture material, and the textbook is freely available in the reserve section of the library if you want to have a look at it".


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

[User]
ELI5: What happens to your property when you are imprisoned in the USA?

Let's assume you get 20 to life. Assuming you have a plot of land, a house, a car, a computer, a really nice tea cup, an envelope of money, a horse, and an apple, what happens to each item in terms of ownership? Does it change if you have debts vs no debts? Also, assume USA citizenship, residence, and prison. If I left out any stuff, go ahead and talk about that as well.

[Assistant]
First thing that will happen is someone in the government will try to take it. If there is a possible financial penalty for the crime, they will assess it.

Secondly, your victim or your victim's family will sue you for it.

If there's anything left after the above and your lawyer's fees, it's still yours, so you can do what you want. Typically it's not possible to care for a house or something like that, so people can hire an attorney to manage their stuff, appoint a family member, etc.


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

[User] How do we know that the laws of physics are constant?

[Assistant]
Almost every physical law has breakdown points. Two common ones are inside black holes and during/before the big bang.

A lot of things we know because we can look out in the universe and we can apply our earth-laws to anything we want out there and we can still accurately predict what's happening.

A law is just a relationship that can be used to make predictions. As long as we keep testing predictions and we're spot on - then the law is constant.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do musicians that play in an orchestra have to use sheet music to assist them when other musicians that play other genres of music such as pop and rock etc dont?

[Assistant]
Length of material, complexity of their part, precision required from each section, specific methodology for learning to perform...just to name a few.

Besides, its not always the case that ensemble and orchestral musicians are reading.


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

[User]
CMV: Having a UBI for all people reduces the need for minimum wage and gives everyone more freedom for employees and employers alike.

UBI for those that don't know, is a concept that involves a basic income for all people that is handed out by the government. It would be enough to cover only living expenses such as rent, basic food and basic bills. Many countries have taken the idea seriously enough to have pilot programs to test UBI with pretty positive results.

In a world where unemployed people have enough to survive on, the power to turn down exploitative work is very valuable.

On the flipside, it opens up jobs that normally wouldn't be worth it for the employers unless they pay very little. As an example, food delivery jobs such as doordash/skip do not typically pay enough to live on and are typically done as a secondary job. If every job you do isn't to survive but rather to improve your quality of life, it could be much more rewarding. You do it to build up your wealth rather than to avoid getting behind.

Other benefits of UBI worth mentioning are reduced crime and violence, reduced drug and alcohol abuse, improved mental health and less overall stress.

It also goes without saying that AI and automation will replace more work every year. Even if most people keep working and more jobs are created, the hours we work are decreasing, and that can be a good thing.

[Assistant]
How do the deal with the issues associated with UBI, the biggest one being inflation?

If the UBI is enough to live off then less people will work decreasing productive capacity and leading to inflation meaning that the UBI no longer is enough to live off and we're back to the current situation.


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

[User] [ATLA/TLOK] How long does it take for a bender to achieve full mastery of their element?

[Assistant] It can vary according to their affinity and resources. A prodigy like Katara can master waterbending  in a few months with a great teacher like Pakku and some practical experience from traveling with the Avatar. A typical bender with typical means can take a few years.


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

[User]
ELI5: How did Konami lose the source code for the original Silent Hill game? Why couldn't they just datamine the source code from the retail copies of the game?

I've heard many times that the reason the Silent Hill remaster collection didn't turn out so well was because Konami lost the original source code and had to re-create it. But I don't understand how that is possible. If they were selling copies of Silent Hill, why couldn't they just take a single disk of it and datamine the source code off of it? How could they possess the game without possessing the game's source code?

[Assistant]
Source code is different than the compiled code.

Think of it like a recipe for a cake, and a baked cake.

Having a cake, or even eating it and being able to tell flour, eggs, butter, vanilla, sugar doesnt necessarily tell you how to make the cake. You can get some info from this, but generally not an entire full recipe and steps from it.

Source code is the exact text of the programing language that is human readable, if hp = 0, then player = dead (not a real language, but an easy example).

It is then fed through a compiler that translates it to machine speak.
Like mixing it then baking it in an oven so it can be eaten.

Compiled/object code is what the computer makes sense of.
You can reverse engineer some things from compiled if youre really dedicated and skilled, but even then its not an exact match and things can get messed up. You lose variables, notes, etc which would then need to be un-borked.
In the previous example, it would end up like if [unknown variable] = 0 then
But games have a lot of variables. Player locations, loot values, damage, HP, ranges, light values, player speed, etc.
So now unless thats fixed the game is broken. Which *can* be fixed, but its often easier to recreate the game.

As a side note, its why source code leaks are a big deal for programs. For games as an example, it would describe how the game works, including things like anti-cheat.


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

[User] If I'm near-sighted, why can't I hold a mirror in front of my face to look at something in the distance behind me and see it clearly?

[Assistant] Because the object you're looking at isn't on the mirror in front of you. If there is a 30 foot distance between you and the object, and you put a mirror between you, your eyes still have to focus 30 feet away. the mirror isn't displaying the image like a monitor, it's merely reflecting it.


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

[User] Why is it that the whites of human eyes are very visible, while they aren't visible in other mammals (i.e.- cats, dogs, deer)?

[Assistant] I read somewhere (might have been here) that the whites in our eyes were a social evolution that allow us to see where someone is looking. This is useful for conversation. In addition, as hunters this would allow us to share direction of sight without actually speaking or moving.


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

[User]
[James Bond] Do those movies have a canon or not?

Do the Bond movies operate on multiple timelines where he looks a little different in each one and grew up in a different decade? And if yes, why are there common things in multiple timelines, like M looking the same in the Brosnan and Craig movies?

[Assistant]
The theory is James Bond and 007 are identities given to various elite MI6 agents. There's also IRL history to support this claim.

Ian Flemming, the author of the original James Bond books, was a formally a Commander in the British Naval Intelligence (the reason Bond is a navy officer). Multiple characters, including villains, are based on the people he met. For an instance, the 00# was based on system given to operatives in the WWII Special Operations Executive. This group used deep cover spies embedded who were provided detailed false identities and background. In at least one case, more one person assumed the same identity.

As to the practicality of this, it works really well. The spy essentially becomes immortal. Every time one dies or retires, another takes his place. For counterintelligence, if they didn't know Bond was actually several people, they'd think he was some sort of unstoppable super spy. This would force them to waste resources into stopping him, only to be thwarted at every turn. The reputation alone would make excellent psychological warfare, especially against the high command.

This also ties the movies together in a way that doesn't disrupt continuity too much.

* Sean Connery is the first Bond. That's why he doesn't use as many exotic gadgets and many of his foes are Axis remnants.

* George Lezenby was only Bond for a short time because the death of his wife made him retire/resign from grief.

* Roger Moore served during the height of the Cold War and the beginning of the Age of Silicon. Hence his gadgets are often extremely advanced and over-the-top.

* Timothy Dalton went rouge during *Licensed to Kill* and was court martial. Which is why his service was so short despite being so effective.

* Pierce Bronsnan became Bond shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. Because the USSR was already weakening during the 80s, it's why so many years past between his service and Dalton's as the soviets weren't as big of a threat. Most of his missions are merely cleaning up soviet remnants.

* Daniel Craig is Bond of the Information Age. Because information is largely digitized, spies only need to be skilled hackers. So Craig is more an elite government assassin than spy. His foes no longer want "world domination" but make fortunes through terrorism and crime.


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

[User]
[General Fantasy] Does centaurs have two sets of each organ?

Two hearts, two stomachs, two sets of lungs, etc.

[Assistant]
Depends on which breed or location, or whether they're created or natural but normally no.

Most centaur aren't *literally* a human and a horse mashed together. You wouldn't have a human heart and a horse heart. You *might* have multiple organs, but in the same way that cows etc have multiple stomachs. They're just naturally evolved duplicates for alternate functions, not copies. You might have a primary heart and a smaller, secondary heart for making sure blood gets circulated through the upper extremities.

Of course, if your centaurs are the results of magical or alchemical grafting, then all bets are off.


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

[User]
ELI5: If traditional locks are easily picked, why do we still use them?

What are the great advantages of tradicional locks over other designs? Security doesn't seem that great...

[Assistant]
Physical locks are not meant to make things impossible to get to. They just make it hard to get to. No amount of physical locks will ever make something 100% secure because even if they are unpickable, and there are some unpickable locks, physical things can be broken.

The point of physical locks are that it takes the robber time and energy to get around them. If it takes more time and energy to do it most robbers will just go to the next location and hope there is less security.

because of this most people just need convenient locks. Ones that do not take up a lot of space or time to open.

It is only when we see extremely valuable things that the higher tech locks that take a lot of space/time/energy to work with.


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

[User]
ELI5: Japanese soldiers in WW2 movies are usually portrayed as stupid and tactless, fanatically charging towards heavily defended positions and only using bayonets, is this actually true or a media falsehood?

Well?

[Assistant] The Japanese army focused on close quarters tactics which can be very effective under the right circumstances. Unlike the European theater of the war where there were a lot of wide open fields, the Japanese fought most of their battles in dense tropical forests or the rugged terrain of China. It was also meant to be a psychological tactic. A bunch of guys charging with bayonets and screaming like maniacs would unnerve all but the most battle-hardened veterans. The average Japanese soldier wasn't fanatic loyal to the emperor body and soul but it certainly worked to his advantage if his enemy thought that.


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

[User] ELI5: What does it mean when someone says that China is "devaluing their currency"

[Assistant]
They're making their currency worth less, compared to other currencies. They do this so people in other countries will find it cheaper to buy Chinese goods. There are other reasons to devalue a currency, but China in particular does it to make its exports cheaper

There are a couple ways to do this. One is for the government to guarantee an exchange rate-- promising to sell yuan in exchange for dollars (or another currency) at a fixed rate. This essentially pegs the value of the yuan to the dollar. Another way for China to devalue its currency is to make more of it. It can print off more money, or put more into circulation by buying bonds it's issued, replacing bonds in the market with money. (Curiously, it then owes money to itself).

(Tangent warning) This is what some countries do to get out of a debt crisis. They devalue their currency by printing off large quantities of it, and then use the money they've printed to pay off the debt.


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

[User]
Whats something useful youve learned from your field that you think everybody should know?

Im not a PHD or anything, not even in college yet. Just want to learn some interesting/useful as Im starting college next semester.

Edit: this is all very interesting! Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed!

[Assistant]
Physical and mental health are far, far more connected than people appreciate. The gut microbiome and systemic inflammation are huge contributors to our mental health. For example, gingivitis, a bacteria-caused inflammatory gum disease, has been associated with many mental illnesses as well as neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimers.

Take care of your body including your teeth. It is so, so important for your mind.


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

[User]
[HellRaiser]Why did the Cenobites reject Frank?

So in order for the cenobites to accept you into becoming one of them, you have to be somebody who is into 'extreme' things, like pleasure, sadism, etc?

So why did they reject Frank in the first movie and sent him to hell instead? On the surface, he seems to check every box for desirable cenobite quality: Hedonistic, self-serving, desires extreme pleasure, etc. All the while, they accepted that doctor character from the second movie wtf.

[Assistant]
I get the impression that being made into a Cenobite is the exception, not the rule. Pinhead was made because they needed a new Pope, the ones in the movies were created because Pinhead needed a minion to track down escapees, and so on.

But for the most part, if you open the Configuration, the Cenobites are going to torture you for eternity. They are basically responsible for punishing gluttony of one form of another, which is why they *didn't* take the little girl that was tricked into opening the Configuration. They'll make a new Cenobite when necessary, but for the most part it's all torture, no job offer.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why don't game designers just use real world physics equations in games?

Since we have so many well-established physics equations explaining gravity, motion, and just various forces overall, why don't game programmers just create their worlds using actual physics equations? Since a computer/console is just going through the code and essentially solving equations, wouldn't it just be easier to define all of the parts of the equation and have the video game world work that way? Sorry if I'm just completely off on my assumptions as well. I just started my Informatics major.

[Assistant]
They do. It's often tweaked a bit to make for better gameplay, but they are based on real world physics equations.

They're not perfectly accurate because of processing power limitations. It's hard to accurately simulate lots of complicated objects, so some simplifications are made. For example most game physics only deals with completely rigid bodies. Soft bodies which can compress and stretch (such as fleshy humans parts) are modelled using rigid bodies connected together with joints and springs.

There's also the fact that they do it using discrete maths rather than continuous. The game is split into distinct frames, and it uses the results of the previous frame, and works out where things will be the next frame based on their velocity, acceleration, other objects they have collided with etc. Doing it this way means sometimes it's sometimes glitchy, especially if things are moving fast. A common thing that goes wrong is that an object is moving so fast it can completely go through another object because it's so fast that there is no frame where it would be intersecting the other object, so the simulation doesn't realise it should have collided with it. Some physics engines can deal with this though.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is the picture in night vision goggles green?

[Assistant] When the light enters the goggles, it's converted to electricity, then boosted electrically, then the light hits a phosphor screen (like the screen part of old school CRT displays) and converted again to light. There's no way to preserve the color, so it's effectively a black and white image, but it's converted to Green because our eyes see better contrast that way.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is 60 degrees indoors so much colder than 60 degrees outdoors?

I'm going to guess this has something to do with sunlight... but I don't really know. I would think that 60 degrees is 60 degrees. That certainly doesn't FEEL like the case. 60 degrees indoors is freezing. 60 degrees outdoors feels just fine.

[Assistant]
How any given temperature makes the human body "feel" is related to humidity. Air conditioners lower the temperature by removing the humidity from the air. That is why air conditioners have a drip line. The water you see dripping from an AC unit is the humidity that has been removed from the environment.

Low humidity makes you feel cooler while high humidity makes you feel hotter. When the humidity is low your body sweat can evaporate easily. Body sweat evaporation is how the body regulates its temperature. When the humidity is high your body sweat cannot evaporate because the air is already full of water. When your sweat cannot evaporate it makes you feel very hot and sticky.

**It is all about the humidity.**


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

[User]
What is the surface of the sun?

I mean when people say the temperature at the surface of the sun is 6000K, how do they define what is the surface of the sun?

[Assistant]
Most of the comments here discuss what the visible surface of the sun is but do not cover the physical surface.

The sun is a mass of ionized plasma, matter heated to the point where even the outer electron shell is stripped away.

This material is packed densely, and flows much like a liquid would, except in this case the liquid is affected by magnetic fields due to the ionization of the media. It flows due to heat convection, and it flows along the magnetic field lines that are produced by/travel through the Sun.

To answer your question, the surface of the Sun is a writhing, seething ocean of superheated ionized gas that is just barely being held together by force of gravity.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is Hillary the focus of her e-mail server issues, and not IT staff?

I get politics. But I also know higher ups aren't usually in charge of their computer systems. Trying to figure out if there is a reason (other than politics) that I have heard nothing mentioned of the folks who are tasked with the computers being accountable.

[Assistant] The personal email server isn't the issue. The issue is she sent classified information to and from her personal email server. The IT team wouldn't have anything to do with that with the messages being sent back and forth, they just set the thing up.


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

[User]
CMV: Having a military is just as "socialist" as having universal healthcare.

In short: if the US government is willing to spend billions of dollars on defense, and millions of Americans support this defense spending, why do many of the same people fight so adamantly against the government paying for healthcare?

A lot of us don't agree with defense spending (myself included). A lot of this "War on Terror" has just proven to be an inconvenience for ordinary citizens - just look at the TSA and what we have to deal with to get on board a plane. Others are blatant violations of privacy, such as NSA surveillance.

Some people disagree with how universal healthcare should be run, and wouldn't support it with their hard-earned dollars. But if a similar number of people don't support sending our troops abroad to fight wars that almost nobody has an interest in.

To be clear: I strongly support implementation of healthcare as it is executed in the Nordic countries (and I advocate the Nordic model in general). I'm not saying only socialist countries should have militaries, but I do say that the implementation of national armed forces and healthcare are too similar from a purely economic perspective to support one and oppose the other. (Socially and politically, of course, they are radically different.)

[edit] I'm not saying that a national military is a socialist idea, either. Just that there's a good similarity. Hence the quotes around "socialist."

[Assistant]
What you provide to people, they have reduced need to provide for themselves.  If the government provides military defense, playgrounds, or three-toed-sloth-crossings, socialism-haters don't get bent out of shape because they weren't really rooting for people to pick up rifles and head to Iraq, build sloth crossings, or build big playgrounds.  On the other hand, if you provide food or health care it upsets them because they think a big part of what you should do in life is work to afford food and health care.

Additionally, socialism-haters worry that the government will make benefits contingent on conformity.  If it's providing you with food and health care, it can say "food stamps not for druggies" or "no lung surgery for smokers" or "Tea Party activists are slightly more likely to be denied for a second knee replacement".  Whereas the government can't very well defend only some people from invasion, or only allow correctly-voting people on the playgrounds.


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

[User] ELI5: what is cross-fit and why is it mocked so much?

[Assistant]
Basically, it's a fitness programme/movement of sorts that involves high-intensity interval training and some weightlifting.

It has a negative image among some circles because CrossFit practitioners are seen to be quite obnoxious and obsessive over it, so they won't shut up about it among their friends so much so that CrossFit's like an all-consuming cult. In part, it's due to how CrossFit is structured and advertised as a "lifestyle", with daily workouts to boot so everyday there's always something "CrossFit"-ish the "CrossFitter" friend of yours can talk (and post online) about.


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

[User]
CMV: There Should Be Trade Schools For Every Major And Employers And Graduate Schools Should Take Them Seriously

I honestly think college is a waste of time for several people including myself. Let's just say that one wants to be a mathematician so they major in math. Wouldn't it make sense for them to take only math classes and focus only on math instead of taking irrelevant courses. Remember their only goal is to be a mathematician it's not to be well rounded or intellectually stimulated. Yet most graduate level mathematics programs require a bachelor's degree( the overwhelming majority of whom require general education requirements). I believe for every single field there should be a trade school. The thing that irritates me about being an engineering student is that I have to take general education requirements that are not directed related to the field I want to go in. I would like for there to be a trade school specifically for the type of engineering I will do and attend that trade school only taking courses relevant to my subject area. For example, if I am 18 years old and I want to be a chemical engineer then I could go to a trade school specifically for chemical engineering and only study that subject.

[Assistant]
General education curricula are meant to make the student a more well-rounded individual. A basic understanding of a wide range of subjects that are not major specific not only make you a smarter, more educated person in general (the whole goal of universities), they also build invaluable soft skills like effective writing and critical thinking.

Viewpoints like this are a product of our current attitude to higher education. We treat degrees like they are only job qualifications, and we act as though college were a path to a piece of paper that says you may work in this field. We don't really seem to be interested in the academic experience, the exploration of subjects we may consider impractical, the study of different topics, however briefly, that we may never have given a thought to if they were not compulsory. What we often don't realize is that those "pointless" classes are helping us to build a solid foundation on which to build a comprehensive and enriched education in whatever we choose to specialize in.

Your gen. 'eds are not a waste of time -- approach them inquisitively and with an involved attitude and enjoy them. At the very least, you'll be more well-rounded, and you may even change your goals completely.


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

[User]
ELI5:What is a Saudi prince? Why are they always rich? Why are there so many of them?

I always see people talk about Saudi Princes but it seems they're always extremely loaded. Are they all from the same family? Why so many different families with so many different princes?

[Assistant]
Yes, they're all from the same family; namely, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia is a monarchy, and has been ruled by the House of Saud since the 18th century.

The House of Saud is massive -- about 15,000 members. All the main ministerial positions in government are reserved for members of the House of Saud. And King Abdullah has four wives, seven sons and 15 daughters.

The family is rich because they literally own Saudi Arabia; and with it, they control 18% of the world's oil. It's estimated that the king has a personal fortune of $18 billion.


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

[User]
[LotrR] When Frodo and company return victorious to the Shire, they have a mug of ale in the tavern. In the background, some hobbits are seen joyously slamming a MASSIVE pumpkin down on a tavern table. What were they going to do with it? I can't imagine they could eat it, could they?

Is there a rational explanation for why hobbits might have a two-hobbit-sized pumpkin in a tavern? Was it prepared in a way that could be eaten?

[Assistant] He seems very proud of his pumpkin and other people gathered around him to congratulate him. Considering a lot of hobbits are farmers, it's very likely he grew it himself and just took it to the pub to show off to everyone.


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

[User] ELI5: Why has gold been valued almost unanimously in nearly every culture?

[Assistant]
It's relatively rare, yet can be found fairly easily. It's (almost) completely non-reactive...and so can be found in a pure state right out of the ground.  This is also a property that makes it very long lasting...it does not corrode and is *very* recyclable.
It's pretty to look at and can easily be made into durable objects.

It is very difficult to find these qualities any other materials.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why does the Board of Education and teachers nationwide (may be global) belittle Wikipedia's credibility and resourcefulness?

I find Wikipedia to be a database of thousands of years of information, all for free, no ads, completely full of wonder. Why are teachers so against it when it usually provides better information than standard articles of the same subject. Thorough explanation please!

Edit: Thank you all for all of your amazing explanations!

[Assistant] Wikipedia is what most academics would consider a "secondary" source. The articles rely on what actual researchers discover, but it's still a rehashing (in a perhaps distorted way) of what original researchers have learned. Teachers would prefer you just go to the source, not a summary of what the source said. Wikipedia is Cliffnotes, if that makes sense.