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

[User] [The Good Place] Mindy acquired a lot of negative bad points but her non-profit at the very end of her life gave her just enough good points to break even and be perfectly medium. Shouldn't other people who weren't as bad and also started great non-profits been able to make it into the good place?

[Assistant] That's the problem with the afterlife points system pre-Chidi. Mindy St. Claire got the points for starting up the perfect charity, but didn't gain the negative points from all the unintended consequences of running said charity. In fact, Mindy was the best case scenario for anyone on Earth post Columbus.


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

[User]
[Game of Thrones] Own or Rent: How does a deal with the Golden Company work?

After payment, does Cersei now "own" these soldiers forever, or do they just work for for until some goal is reached? If you do own them, then it has got to be terribly expensive right? If you are only paying them to do a job, is there a point where her money runs out and the Golden Company leaves before the end of the mission? Could someone just wait out a battle until Cersei runs out of money and the Golden Company punches their card and heads home?

[Assistant]
Two ways: You either pay a flat fee to accomplish a task, or you pay them an ongoing rate to keep them on retainer. We do not know which of these options she chose, but she does not "own" them forever.

There are pro's and con's to either type of contract.

If you pay them a one-time fee to accomplish a goal, you most likely are sacrificing direct management of their forces. That is, barring specific contractual obligations and restrictions, they are free to decide how and when and at what pace to accomplish that goal. This protects them as then Cersei can't just keep them around indefinitely under the guise that they haven't finished their "goal." An important protection for a company that prides itself on never breaking a contract.

If you pay them a recurring fee, then they will likely stick around and perform whatever tasks you want, but even this kind of contract likely has some sort of expiration date. Maybe she has paid them a lump sum to keep them on retainer for a month, or a year, then they are free to go. In this case, they are protected in the sense that they can just leave at the end of the contract and, again, just can't be kept around indefinitely.

For the second, you might think you can just wait them out until the money dries up, but in this particular situation, time is on Cersei's side.


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

[User]
Did eyes evolve only once on Earth? Is there something about the small band of "visible" light that makes it optimal for eyes to evolve to see? Or is it just a coincidence that most animals see in the same spectrum?

I have heard of animals that see infrared & ultraviolet. But they all see (or so I think) the same frequency of light we see.  Would an alien eye be more or less likely to see nothing in our "visible" band of light because it sees a higher or lower frequency?  If eyes evolved once, it may be that the commonalities are just happenstance and not due to some inherent quality about the small band of frequency of light we can see.

[Assistant]
"eyes" evolved independently in an enormous number of species.

Or more accurately, the basic parts of an eye developed waaay long ago in the species that formed the base of a lot of different genetic trees.

Long before the dinosaurs, or before most mammals existed.

And this has to do with what the most basic form if the eye is, a cell that can determine light from dark is to most people an "eye" and that has evolved near the base of almost every family tree.

It evolved because the sun is the basis of almost all life on Earth.

From that simple beginning most animals have developed eyes as at least a secondary sensory organ.

But those eyes are well different from each other, some only see certain colors, some see movement, some work in low light, some  are farsighted etc etc.

The basis of all of them is pretty similar, because the base evolved we'll before "human" and "cat" evolved to be separate.

The original mammal had something that we might recognize as "eyes" and those formed the basis of what all the mammals (well, the vast majority) would modify into the eyes they have today.


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

[User] ELI5: How do pills (like back pills) target a specific area of the body?

[Assistant]
They *don't* target a specific area of the body. They are dissolved, and absorbed into our bloodstream, and then go to every part of our body (except for potentially our brain, which is protected by the "blood/brain barrier" that only some chemicals can pass through).

Pills that relieve pain do so everywhere in the body, and not just on one place.


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

[User]
[Grand Theft Auto] Why is nobody in the entire US driving with their car doors locked?

Niko Bellic can run up to any random car on the street and just straight up open the door and drag the driver out. Why is no one ever locking their doors while driving?

[Assistant]
Hello? Have you seen how dangerous cars are? A few fenderbenders and they burst into flames and explode. If you are unlucky enough to flip your car, it will burn and then explode. A few stray bullets from a shootout? The same thing. In fact, you can probably take more .44 bullets than your car.

You need them to get to work, but damn are they dangerous.

If your car starts smoking, it is just a question of seconds before it explodes. Do you *really* want to fidget with the car door lock in that situation?

Didn't think so.


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

[User]
Are capital gains taxes really double taxation?

I really don't know a whole lot about how capital gains taxes work, but I do hear people claiming that it's a form of double taxation. I thought I'd just throw out a quick scenario that would help clarify things for me. Suppose I buy $100 worth of stock. Then 2 years later I sell that stock for $200. Do I have to pay the 15% capital gains rate on the whole $200 or just the $100 of actual gains that my capital made? If the former then it seems undeniably obvious that capital gains tax is double taxation, if the latter then I don't really see how someone could argue that it is a form of double taxation.

[Assistant]
You would pay tax on the $ 100 of gains, plus on any dividends you might have received.

They call it double taxation because the firm pays corporate tax on its profits. These profits are then returned to shareholders via capital gains or dividends, where they are taxed again.


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

[User]
[Jurassic Park] How Rich was John Hammond?

Hammond founded a genetics company whose technology was many years ahead of its own time and founded a dinosaur park on his leased island. How could Hammond afford this and how did he save his company from going to bankrupt in the movie universe?

[Assistant] He'd personally be a multibillionaire. But the assets of the company would be far greater than he himself had. Jurassic Park would be a subsidiary, which was not wholly owned by the parent, so as to protect the parent from legal liability. It was also not in the United States, so when it defaulted on all its debt American courts could do little about it. Being outside the US also protected JParkLLC from being sued by all of the victims and their families, or at least limited the damage. Some well targeted bribes to the right Costa Rican authorities took care of the rest.


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

[User]
[DC] If Superman is so powerful why was Doomsday able to beat him to death?

So ScrewAttack and other fanboys insist Superman is incredibly OP. Why then was Doomsday able to beat him into a bloody pulp. I bought the Death of Superman when I was in 4th grade at the book fair and cried my eyes out because Superman (my fave hero at the time) was wrecked into next new year by this grey monster with ice for a beard. It was fairly traumatic and I want a reason as to why such a thing is possible despite the fact that he seems to be a casual multiverse buster.

[Assistant]
Because Doomsday is just as OP.

Let's look at Doomsday's background here.  He was created hundreds of thousands of years ago as the ultimate experiment in adaptation and evolution.  Every time he died, he would regenerate with an increased resistance to whatever killed him.  His creator, an alien scientist called Bertron, basically dropped him in the harsh pre-historic Kryptonian wilderness and let him die again and again, for *decades*.  First the environment killed Doomsday, then the wild creatures killed Doomsday, then a lack of food and nutrition killed Doomsday, and he *kept coming back*.  He evolved to not need food or air, he evolved to be extremely tough and vicious, and he evolved to become highly intelligent.

Then, by chance, Doomsday hitched a ride on a spaceship and started traveling the cosmos.  Now he was facing high-tech weapons such as energy beams, as well as much more powerful opponents such as Darkseid and Green Lanterns.  He adapted and grew strong enough to beat them all.

Eventually, he ended up pretty much depopulating an entire planet, and the final energy blast that defeated him in that particular battle managed to lay waste to something like a quarter of the planet's surface.  And, of course, that didn't kill him permanently either, it just took him out of commission for a while.  The survivors on that planet shot him into space, and he landed on Earth, where he woke up, much stronger than before again.

It's worth pointing out that when the survivors of that last battle shot him into space, they shackled him in exceedingly strong chains made of some unknown substance.  He managed to free one arm from the chains and dug himself out from underground, and started beating up everything in his path.  He took out pretty much the entire Justice League, with one hand literally tied behind his back.  The League finally concentrated their energy attacks in one desperate blast, which only served to destroy the chains and free Doomsday's remaining limbs, while leaving him unscathed.

Let's just think about that for a bit.  Doomsday tanked a combined attack from the entire Justice League, and laughed it off.

So basically, Doomsday is just as strong as Superman, just as fast, just as durable, just as intelligent, and is not constrained by fatigue, morality, fear, or indecision.  His body is covered by sharp bony protrusions that serve as both offensive weapons and defensive armor, and even if you do get past the bony spines he doesn't have any weak spots on his body to target.  He is the ultimate killing machine, and he can never be permanently destroyed.


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

[User]
ELI5: Undecided delegates- What/Who are they, why are they important, and why has the DNC said to stop showing them?

Why/why won't they vote for the most popular candidate?

[Assistant]
They're a set of delegates who haven't been pledged to represent any specific voting sector.  Most delegates are pledged, and must vote the way the voters they represent go.

They're meant as a way to give some inertia to the standard views and ensure that a fringe candidate is really electable.  They usually go for the establishment candidate and it presents a barrier to opponents getting in.

For example, if there were four or five democratic candidates then they'd mostly swing towards the most establishment candidate.  If there's a popular nutbar in that group, then that nutbar has to beat the superdelegates to get nominated.  He can't just skate through  and win.

The DNC wants to stop showing them because they haven't actually voted, so it's misleading to show them on the list.  It makes it look like Hillary's lead is overwhelming, rather than just very significant.  It also makes it seem a little less like the DNC is trying to swing the vote for Clinton.

Think of superdelegates like a handicap in sports, except it goes to the favorite.  It ensures that an underdog really has to whomp the favorite in order to win.  This prevents popular but unelectable candidates from stealing the nomination and then losing the general, which has happened before.


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

[User]
[LOTR] so what are hobbits then?

Valar are the beings created by Iluvatar in song; maiar are the beings imbued with power by the Valar; wizards are just late-arriving maiar; elves and men are the first and second children of Iluvatar; dwarves were created by Aul; all plants were created by Yavanna; the eagles are the servants of Manw; orcs, dragons, trolls, cats, and wolves are the various corruptions and creations of Morgoth and Sauron.

So... where the hell do hobbits fit into all this?? They're not men, they're not petty dwarves, and they're certainly not elves, orcs, or creatures... So what gives? Did they just crash the party uninvited?

[Assistant]
They are human.  It's just that no one knows their origins (where and when they became physically distinct from "normal" men).  The furthest back anyone knows anything is that they appeared in the Vales of Anduin, and there was some remainder of them there even in the Third Age while the rest moved over the Misty Mountains.

But they are certainly still ontologically men.  It's not so odd a concept if you realize that Numenoreans, for example, actually grew to physically resemble the Elves, but were also still men.


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

[User]
ELI5: How are consumable meats cultured in labs?

Whenever I think of lab cultures I mostly think of bacteria in a Petri dish. How are theses meats able to "grow" and put on weight? How will they able to produce the amount of pounds of meat that is currently in demand?

[Assistant]
Actually we all start out as a lump of cells when we were still an embryo. When cells divide, you will grow in size and your cells will start to specialize in certain functions (for example skin cells can absorb sunlight). Thus by absorbing enough nutrients, the lump of cells can divide and grow into a human.

Now if you want to grow meat, the process is more complex. Main problem is that the cells will try to specialize into a task. So you add drugs to stop the process. Also your Petri dish will run out of nutrients as the cells kept dividing non-stop, thus it will be better if you use an entire tank of cell culture instead. Just keep refilling the tank until the meat is ready.

Keep in mind though this is VERY expensive. Controlling the enviroment (temperature, pressure......) is not easy and it cost at least $10000 for a pound of lab grown meat. Most meat we eat today are just animals kept in farms (most likely GM for more meat), which is cheaper and safer.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we make such a big deal about the Titanic disaster when there have been other incidents that were even worse, such as the Doa Paz and Lusitania?

[Assistant]
Wikipedia says more people died from the *Titanic* disaster than the torpedoing of the *Lusitania*: about 1,500 vs. 1,198.  The collision and sinking of the *Doa Paz* was several times worse, about 4,386 lives lost.

A quick perusal of the Wikipedia article reveals that the sinking of *Doa Paz* was the result of multiple failures to follow the regulations governing how to operate the vessel in safe and conscientious manner.

But the *Titanic* is different in many ways.  Aside from all the wealthy people aboard, many of whom died (probably the primary reason the *Titanic* is more memorable, sad to say), *Titanic's* crew was, essentially following the rules.  But the rules were shit.  Required lifeboat capacity was based on vessel size rather than passenger count, and the *Titanic* basically fell into the "X many tons and above" category.  According to the law, she had *more* lifeboats than required.  The wireless operator spent most of his time sending and receiving messages for the well-to-do passengers;  the regulations regarding the use of radio were primitive.  The *Californian* was only about 12 miles away from the *Titanic*, but her captain had gone to bed, the wireless was shut off for the night, regulations didn't require 24-hour operation of the wireless.  And because the bursts from the *Titanic's* distress rockets lacked color (certain passenger lines used certain colors; the White Star Line, the operator of the *Titanic*, used, you guessed it, white bursts in their distress rockets), the crew of the *Californian* just assumed the rockets were *not* a sign of distress.  There wasn't any ice patrol in those days, either.

Not to put too fine a point on it, *Titanic* represented a "sea change" in maritime law governing how to operate passenger liners with a minimum of acceptable safety.  *Titanic* essentially wrote these laws.  *Doa Paz* merely broke a bunch of them.


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

[User]
Is there a maximum size for atoms?

Of course large atoms are very radioactive and unstable, but I was wondering if there is any theoretical limit to the size of an atom even if it only exists for a trillionth of a second?

[Assistant]
Yes there is, but we're not exactly sure how big. With unstable nuclei, adding more protons and neutrons still leads to a very short-lived nucleus which then decays. However, if you add two many protons or neutrons, you get to a point where they're just not bound anymore. This is called proton drip and neutron drip. Anyway eventually there's a point where neither protons nor neutrons can be added and still become bound.

There's also an electron limit, where the binding energy of new electrons is greater than the rest energy (mc^2 ) of the electron, and electron-positron pairs can get created out of the vacuum to neutralize the atom.


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

[User] ELI5: What will happen when the student loan bubble bursts? Will it be different from the 2008 financial crisis?

[Assistant]
The financial crisis wasn't just "a bubble bursting." It's far more complicated than that. Housing prices collapsed, that's true, and while it certainly exacerbated the crisis, it was far from the only issue.

Mortgage loans were packaged into securities and sold to investors, including banks. The idea was that one lender may fail to pay back his loan, but if we throw 50 mortgage loans together chances were presumed to be very likely that 40+ or 45+ of those loaners would pay the loan back, making it seem like a sound, safe investment.

But since the demand for these securities (CDOs) was so high, this in turn meant that lenders would become less stringent on who they would lend money to, since they cared less about being paid back the loan and more about repackaging it and selling it as a security.

Now when these two issues come together, the housing bubble collapsing driving property prices way down (so that people who had recently purchased real estate got royally screwed), and the fact that everyone and their mother was getting a mortgage loan, you can see see that it presumably wouldn't be the case anymore that we should expect 40 or 45 of those 50 mortgage loans to be paid back.

But the rating agencies like S&P, Fitch, etc. didn't see it that way. So they would slap their triple-A rating on these subprime securities, incentivizing investors (including banks) to keep buying them.

As you can see, all these issues - the housing bubble, the securities, the lower standards for giving out mortgage loans, the poor underwriting of the rating agencies - they were all interconnected, and they all exacerbated each other. Without any one of those issues, we wouldn't have had a financial crisis; or at least one as significant and dramatic. So it's hard to compare the financial crisis with what would happen when another bubble bursts, without those other issues.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why does baking a cookie make it impossible to turn it back into dough?

Mud can be made back into dirt and water, even after being left in the sun. What's so different about cookie dough?

[Assistant]
Mud is not a chemical reaction.
It's just adding water to sand. The water creeps between the sand particles making them move around more easily.

The more water the more "fluid" it becomes.

Baking cookies is a chemical reaction where different ingredients bind together which creates new chemicals.

The baking itself removes moisture but also provides the energy (heat) for the chemical reactions.

Reversing the procces isnt possible because the energy is already absorbed.

Think of it like this:

If you take the fuel from a car, the car doesnt reverse to its original position.


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

[User]
[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends] Why are imaginary friends not allowed to work? What other rights don't they have.

When Mr. Herriman leaves fosters to find another job, he passes by multiple signs on businesses refusing to serve or employ Imaginary Friends. Why are businesses allowed to discriminate against Imaginary Friends? Also, what other forms of discrimination are allowed against Imaginary People?

[Assistant]
"Allowed" is a tricky word. It's likely that there just aren't legal protections for imaginary friends in that world. There's still a shocking lack of legal protections for plenty of minority groups in *our* world.

But the reason why this discrimination exists is probably because there's a fear of an imaginary workforce stealing jobs from humans. If an employer could just imagine a workforce that can work more hours and requires less pay, why hire humans?


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

[User] ELI5:Why aren't we doing anything about the colossal amount of trash in the pacific ocean?

[Assistant]
Because it isn't what people think.

The Pacific gyre is filled with plastic, it's a huge problem, but the plastic is millions of tiny pieces suspended in the water.

To 'do something' you'd have to filter billions of gallons of water without killing every living thing in it and then find some way to remove the plastic accumulation from the local biomass without again killing everything.


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

[User] [MCU] The Time Stone has an aura around it, making it impossible for direct contact. What might happen if one physically touches the stone? Will it be similar to the Power Stone but resulting in the host erratically aging forward and backwards?

[Assistant] The Time Stone was in the possession of the most powerful sorcerers for millennia on Earth. Its very possible that the sorcerers did some sort of magic on the stone or put some sort of aura on the stone allowing for some contact while keeping the handler safe. There is a reason that most of the Stones have some kind of protection for the user around them.


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

[User]
[DBZ] When did Bulma and Vegeta get married?

The first time Bulma refers to Vegeta as her husband is during the martial arts tournament. And when baby trunks first appears, they don't really seem like a couple. So when was their wedding? What was it like?

[Assistant]
Probably a quick hitch and it was soon after or before (most likely before) Vegeta went to train to be a Super Saiyan.

Before that, he was living with her and she had already taken kindly to him. They probably ended up getting together much like team four star suggests, and a little while after that she suckered him into marriage.


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

[User]
[Aliens] Could the Xenomorphs have a sustainable population?

Say the aliens are unchecked on Earth. Do they cause the end of all life on the planet (and thus die out) or can they find an ecological niche?

If they can find a way to maintain their population, do they eventually form a culture? They have signs of higher intelligence.

[Assistant] I don't believe this is possible. Remember, they were engineered to be weapons, and consider their population and reproduction dynamics: newborn xenomorphs aren't raised by parents, and they age so rapidly that it's unlikely they have very long lifespans. How could they have culture if one generation has no involvement in rearing the next one?


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

[User]
ELI5: why is a pancreas transplant not used to cure diabetes?

I am referring to type 1 diabetes in which the person develops the condition because their pancreas does not produce enough (if any) insulin. Couldn't a transplanted pancreas fix this?

[Assistant]
Organ transplants are expensive, risky & have a high chance of failure or rejection.  Patients need to spend the rest of their life on anti-rejection medicine.

If the patient is going to have to take drugs every day, it's easier to just give them insulin which is cheap, safe & effective.


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

[User]
I do not believe healthcare is a right CMV

Now then, let me clarify. I believe that having *access* to healthcare is a right. That no government should deny you the right to procure it.

However, I do not see it as a right in the sense of right to free speech, self defense, freedom of assembly etc etc are rights. More or less that rights are abstract things, and not material items. Excluding things like right to property, ability to procure property, etc etc.

I find it abhorrent the idea healthcare should be paid for by the point of a gun, and not of their own labor. What I mean by this is that when I hear "health care is a right and should be provided by the government", I see it as, "I think the government should tax other people, and take their money by force if necessary, to pay for my healthcare."

I can understand the view of, "its just the right thing to do." Which is fine if you personally want to do such, but it becomes morally suspect IMO once you force others to provide that charity.

edit: its 1:00 PM and I have to step away for a lab that'll run till late this afternoon. I'll try and answer a few from my phone, if this continues. I haven't had that  answer yet, but there have been a few that have let me struggling to answer. So far interesting discussion.

[Assistant]
>More or less that rights are abstract things, and not material items. Excluding things like right to property, ability to procure property, etc etc.

*Why?* If healthcare can't be a right solely because it's a material thing, how come property rights are exempt from this argument?


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

[User] [Left 4 Dead 1 & 2] It's been eight years. What are the survivors up to?

[Assistant] The same thing. They are doomed by eternal recurrence to keep following the same path through the same hospital-highway-airport-forest for all eternity. Sometimes they die, sometimes they achieve some kind of brief escape, but they never get to safety, they always wind up stuck among the infected again, always fighting their way to the next safehouse in the hopes of finally achieving some kind of lasting respite. In the end, they, and not the infected who know only the sweet oblivion of rage, are the unluckiest of all.


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

[User]
Eli5: if it were possible to weight earth precisely, to the gram, would its weight vary or stay the same over time?

I understand that all on the surface is likely small in comparison the earth whole mass, but if all that is created and all which disappears is just a renewal of the same elements..is earths weight a constant..?

[Assistant]
No, Earth's weight is not constant. Every time you see a "shooting star", that's a meteor(ite?) that's burning up on entering Earth's atmosphere, which adds mass to the Earth. At the same time, many of the very light gases, like helium, that are present in the Earth's atmosphere can be lost to space due to electromagnetic "winds".

Earth's mass is never constant.


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

[User]
cmv: No, you are not the granddaughters or the witches that were burned

Edit: Don't take my words literally, I don't actually think that it's one big ass family tree. Please just debate the actual statement, I can't debate whether or not I'm soapboxing or whatever it is. I'm not perfect and I have fallacies that I didn't previously know existed. I'm doing my best, but it's not helping when I have 20+ comments telling me that they think I'm to literal. I'm just one guy, I can't reply to all of these, and I won't reply to them because I don't want to copy/paste the same statement over and over again

Modern witches claim that they are they descendants (in terms of heritage of beliefs) of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials. That is untrue. The Witch Trials weren't bad because men killed innocent witches, they were bad because innocent people were falsely accused of being witches and then killed. The idea is that they are part of a heritage or bloodline of stifled witches. Keep in mind that many random people were on the chopping block when it came to a witchcraft accusation. Men, women, children too. It wasn't a systematic ethnic cleansing of magic, it was a panicked slaying of normal people. Therefore, I believe that it is not possible for people to be preserving the legacy of witches that did not exist (at least in that time and place). This is not a claim that witches were never real.

My title is referencing a phrase that witches use, often in relation to overthrowing patriarchy. I think this statement takes away from the tragedy of the past event. It makes it seem more fictionalized, as if the people were some characters in a Disney movie.

[Assistant]
You seem to be taking the idea of 'witches' very literally here.

The idea of the phrase 'we are the granddaughters of the witches that were burned' is that the 'witches' who were selected for persecution back then were just any women who were inconvenient, oppositional, outsiders, strong and independent, or threats to male power.

Whether or not the persecutors of that time actually *believed* those women had magic powers and kissed the devil or w/e is irrelevant; *in practice* the people they called witches were any women that were inconvenient to the patriarchy, and so that's what the word 'witch' actually means.

And that's what it means in this context, basically:  you may have killed the revolutionaries of the past, but the revolution continues.  More or less.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What happened to the rest of the clones after the war?

There were clones being grown continuously. What happened to the ones that weren't combat ready by the end of the war?

[Assistant]
In the Expanded Universe, clones continued being the bulk of the Galactic Empire's forces for roughly a decade after the end of the Clone Wars; during this time, new clones continued to be inducted into their forces. However, the tight Imperial rule established on Kamino to secure that continued supply also gave birth to rebellion.

Kaminoan cloning masters, seeing what was to come, secretly began altering the development process soon after the Empire's rise - birthing a new generation of clones absolutely loyal to them. In 12 BBY they launched their rebellion; it was quickly, quietly, and brutally crushed by the 501st Legion. During this battle the life support for the cloning banks was deliberately destroyed, terminating further developing Kaminoan-loyalist clones.

This rebellion prompted Palpatine to end reliance on a single source of clones and switch the Empire's military to general recruitment. Further cloning efforts were aimed at much smaller projects - Force Sensitives, and the like - rather than armies.


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

[User] ELI5: How is it that Red Bull costs $3 per can when it is for all practical purposes a soda?

[Assistant]
Because that is what the market will bear.

Marketed as an "energy drink" and something that's made for adults, it's seen as a boutique product.  As long as people perceive its value to be $3 a can and will continue to pay that much, that's what it will cost.


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

[User]
If a point is translated a unit either up, down, left, or right, determined randomly, in a two dimensional cartesian plane every second for an infinite amount of seconds, what position would it approach as the amount of seconds approaches infinity?

I envision the origin (assuming it starts at the origin) to be the most likely destination for the point after n iterations. However, I doubt that if I carried out this experiment 1000, 10,000, or 1,000,000 times that the point would fall anywhere close to the origin. Is there even an answer to this question?

[Assistant] The average displacement of a 2D random walk is zero, but the root-mean-square displacement is proportional to the square root of the number of steps. This lets you define a "radius of gyration" which tells you the average size of a random walk.


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

[User] ELI5:How do music apps like Shazam work?

[Assistant]
music can be converted into a digital data format that describes (in a format that can be understood by a computer) the sound that the music is made of. this usually involves sampling the music at a very high frequency rate (for example, 192,000 times per second) and recording the amplitude and frequency of the sound wave at each time instant sampled. this digitized data can be used to do computing on the recorded music.

one form of computing on the recorded music is playback. this is what you're most familiar with. its the basic function of an iPod or any kind of digital music player. another form of computing on recorded music is analysis. this is what Shazam is doing.

I don't know the exact algorithm that Shazam is using but is is highly likely that the program produces a kind of "summary" of the recorded music (sometimes by producing a histogram, or some other kind of meta-data). then it searches through a database of known "summaries" until it finds a match. there is a high likelihood that the match of the two summaries indicates a match of the complete song.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why must there always be economic growth?

When reading news articles or watching TV, we hear that economic shrinking is bad, stagnation is disconcerting, and growth is good.

Is a constantly growing economy even feasible? What's wrong with stagnation or shrinking?

[Assistant]
1) Population is always growing, barring some horrible catastrophe or war. Therefore, economic output must also increase in order to create the jobs, and goods, all those new people need. This is true just about everywhere.

2) The value of money is almost always inflating, so people need corresponding wage increases in order to continue to afford to live. As wages stagnate and prices continue to grow, eventually people can't afford to pay for everything they need, such as rent/mortgages, food, gas, cloths, etc. Constant economic growth makes businesses more money, which results in them paying their employees more. (In before some socialist comes and rants at me about growing wage gaps or whatever. This is an economic principle, and yelling at me won't change that)

3) If the economy isn't growing, then it's shrinking. This translates to businesses shutting down, people losing their jobs, and less tax revenue for the government. Each of these things results in, in order; fewer goods for sale, resulting in higher prices; fewer people with money to spend, resulting in even more businesses closing; and the reduction of government programs, which means more people without jobs. Combine these problems with either of the previous examples and you have a recipe for massive unemployment, exorbitant prices, and a bankrupt government that continues to spiral downwards until the country collapses.

TL;DR, An economy that isn't growing is like a body that can't make new cells. You'll be dead in a week.


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

[User]
ELI5: How exactly do brethalyzers work?

How realistic are breathalyzers in determining how impaired you are? For example, if I swished around some liquor in my mouth, spit it out, and then blew- would it register that I have alcohol in my system?

[Assistant]
For the ones which count as evidence in a DUI, there are two mechanisms which measure the alcohol.  One is infrared, the other is electrochemical.

One of them falls for the liquor-swishing, the other guards against it.  Some of hand-held ones are electrochemical and will be duped by mouth alcohol. But those aren't valid for a DUI trial.

That's why DUIs wait 20 minutes before taking it just as an extra measure.  All the alcohol will be gone by 15 minutes, unless you puke up fresh booze from the stomach.

It's also why the breath sample has to be almost impossibly long, so the infrared mechanism gets the air from the longs and not stuff from the mouth.


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

[User] If you clap your hands in the vacuum of space what happens to the energy that would have went into sound when clapping on Earth?

[Assistant]
That's a neat question.

The sound of the clap comes from work being done on air. With no air, the work is not done, and sound does not happen.

Essentially, there is no *"CLAP"* sound in space, and in exchange, clapping is very very slightly easier.


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

[User]
ELI5, do we have any system of "direction" in outer space?

With everything moving and no obvious cardinal directions, how do we tell which way is which? Is everything just relative to what it orbits? With the message on voyager giving our "address" would other planets even know which way to go?

[Assistant]
Let's just talk about navigating within the solar system.

First, you have an easy direction - towards or away from the sun.

Second, you pick a couple of fixed points in the sky, really bright stars that you can easily identify.

With those 3 points you can determine your position anywhere in 3D space around the sun.  This is how spaceships beyond Earth navigate in deep space.

Traveling between the earth and the moon, the Apollo astronauts used star sightings and known landmarks on earth (like Cuba, Hawaii, Baja California, Madagascar, etc.) to determine their location.  Modern travelers will use the sun + stars system.

If you travel beyond the solar system but within the local group of galaxies, the best way to navigate is probably using pulsars.  Pulsars are all unique - they rotate at varying speeds, and those speeds can be detected.  Finding 3 pulsars in the sky, and having a catalog of known pulsar speeds would allow you to ID the three pulsars and triangulate your position anywhere in the galaxy.

Essentially any time you can get 3 fixed points of reference in the sky, you can determine your exact position.


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

[User] [Quantum Leap] In the finale, why did the picture of Al display the Quantum Leap effect?

[Assistant] Because Al made the leap home. Sam altered Al's fate and doing so also severed his connection to Al and Sam's Present.  Al found his home with Beth, and Sam is somewhere in the time stream setting right what once went wrong.


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

[User]
Can the radiation from a microwave effect a Wi Fi router?

Whenever the microwave in the lounge at school is turned on the internet speed slows dramatically. It returns to proper performance almost immediately after the microwave shuts off.

The two most common theory's we have are.
1: That radiation from the microwave somehow disrupts the WiFi.

2: The router and microwave are on the same circuit and when the microwave is turned on it draws power from the router disrupting performance.
We can not actually see the router it is mounted and plugged in in the drop ceiling.
Both the router and microwave are new. (Purchased within the last year.)

[Assistant]
The microwave ovens are known to interfere with wifi connections, because they operate at the same frequency (~2.4 ghz).
Some ovens are shielded better than others though.

Same thing happens if you have wireless headphones that work in the same frequency range. As you get closer to a running microwave oven, the audio quality will decrease dramatically.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why hasn't there been another "Einstein" yet?

There have been many great astrophysicists and cosmologists since Albert Einstein, but none that were on Einstein's level.  We currently have better worldwide conditions (e.g. education, nutrition, healthcare) than was present during Einstein's time.  Also, we have a MUCH larger educated population in the world now than during Einstein's time.

[Assistant]
Einstein and his contemporaries, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli, lived in a very special time in which technology allowed for them to bump into a revolutionary change in how we understood the world. A collection of geniuses of the time worked together, in an almost accidental, ad hoc manner, to first stumble upon, then begin to unravel, and finally to develop quantum theory.

It completely crashed against the so-called classical physics. It made us reevaluate the very nature of reality. It was a big deal. The biggest deal since Sir Isaac Newton invented physics in the first place!

Even at that time there were many brilliant scientists, some, such as Wolfgang Pauli, were even brighter than Einstein. Einsten possessed a very powerful intuition and creativity, those were his skills. As a mathematician he was subpar ( relatively of course, and no pun intended) and even used assistants to test the math on his theories.

So why don't we have other Einsteins?

We have many many many brilliant scientists working right now, changing everything right now. Look at how quickly technology has developed in this century. This is unprecedented in the history of mankind. We went from steam trains to the B2 Stealth Bomber in a little over 100 years.

We have our Einsteins, but there are so many of them, and we are so alienated, we don't even realize it.

Meanwhile people continue worshiping Steve f'ing Jobs.

Eh.


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

[User] ELI5: How do we know universe is approximately 14 billion years old?

[Assistant]
The first method is to use the current expansion rate and work backwards to find out how long it took for the universe to expand to its current size.

The second method involves looking at stars. Imagine there is a stopwatch somewhere in this universe that says it has been running for 13 billion years. The existence of this stopwatch means that that universe is at least 13 billion years old.

The oldest stars act as this stopwatch, by finding out the age of the oldest stars we can find, we can find out the youngest age the universe can be.

Since both methods depend on different things, if both methods give roughly the same answer, we know that it's likely to be correct.


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

[User]
Is there a largest Prime Number?

My teacher told me that researchers found 'the largest prime number', and that it's as big as a book. I don't think that's possible that an upper limit exists, anybody know for sure?

[Assistant]
There is definitely no largest prime number. This is a mathematical theorem, which means it has been completely proved without any doubt.

However, actually calculating prime numbers can be quite tricky. So there is such a thing as the "largest *known* prime". We know for sure there are prime numbers above that number, but this could be the largest prime number that we currently have an exact number for.


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

[User] ELI5: how do they make it so you can have thousands of phones in close proximity all sending and receiving signals at the same time without the airwaves getting clogged up into completely unreadable noise?

[Assistant]
It does get clogged.

It's not a free for all where the phones just transmit whenever they want. The cell phone system controls the phones and tells them when it's ok for them to transmit and when not to transmit. It does this based on need so that phones not using a lot of data get less time. This means it's not always obvious how busy the system is. But this sharing system has its limits,  if there are lots of phones all trying to use the network at once then everyones connection slows down.

In really heavily loaded situation connections will drop out. The system tries to do this in a smart way so that data fails first allowing voice calls to still go through. And if there are too many phone calls emergency calls get priority over normal calls.

Edit: getting a little over 5 year old level here but there are several ways to share radio time. A lot of people are talking about each phone talking at a different time (TDMA, time division multiple access). Some are talking about different frequencies (FDMA). And there is also CDMA, code division multiple access, where the signals are encoded in a way to allow them to be separated out at the receiver.

Cell phone systems initially used either TDMA or CDMA depending on the type of network. The newer standards are horrendously complicated and use a combination of these simultaneously.


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

[User]
Help me understand the enigma of Kierkegaard, reason and God

I'm deep into existentialism.  From Nietzsche to Sartre to Camus, they all make sense in their own way, as much as I disagree with their conclusions.

But Kierkegaard, he's something else. He seems to come to the same conclusion as the other nihilists (if one can blanket-call them all that name), yet he then falls back onto Jesus and faith. Although I read his biography which summarized all of his works, I'm still unable to comprehend how he reasons to take that leap.

If one can confidently arrive at the conclusion that there is truly no purpose in life, how can one then reason themselves back into faith?

I ask because I'd love to be able to have faith. Even though it'd be artificial, itd offer infinitely more comfort than nihilism. I'm fully aware of hypocrisy of this quest, but I'm hopeful because if someone as mentally capable as Kierkegaard could fall back on that, so could someone much less intellectual.

This bears the question, how did he specifically reason the existence of God and Jesus in particular? Most of his work is highly reasoned and logical, yet its culmination takes a huge leap of faith. How? Was it because the idea was drilled into him by his father while Soren was still in his formative years? Or does he offer a genuinely appealing reason for God?

Thanks guys.

[Assistant]
Im on mobile so Im going to try to make this succinct - Kierkegaard was *not* a nihilist. While he did believe it is an extremely difficult undertaking to, for example, become an individual before God, he does believe it is possible. In fact, he thinks that every single person has been **commanded** by God to become themselves and that not doing so is to be in a state of sin. (The Sickness Unto Death)

As for his philosophy ultimately leading to a leap of faith, well, yes, because he denies the ability to prove the existence of God. According to him, the concept of God is so inconceivable from the vantage point of reason that to try to prove the existence of such a being a la Leibniz or even Aquinas or anyone else is futile. He calls this The Ultimate Paradox : the tendency of reason to think of something that is inherently unthinkable in a rational sense. One must submit to the absurd (not really in the sense Camus uses the term) in order to be faithful - faith is not an object of reason. (Philosophical Fragments)

At the same time, he never denies that reason and rationality are important. In fact, without exercising ones reason to the fullest potential, one would never be confronted with the paradox of faith and would not come to the point of having to make the leap in the first place. The religious sphere of life, the sphere belonging to the Knight of Faith is reserved only for those exceedingly rare individuals who truly have faith - everyone else is still operating within the realm of established ethics which Kierkegaard takes as given from thinkers like Kant. He simply pushes back against the idea that this realm is the absolute highest of existence. (Fear and Trembling)

Kierkegaard simply believes philosophy needs to stay in its lane, that it is hugely important but that faith itself is something so purely existential, individual (in the sense that God assigns each individual a different selfness) and unrational that it would be crazy to attempt to philosophize it in any standard way.


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

[User] ELI5 How does radiation from cell phone towers go through walls but doesn't affect humans?

[Assistant]
Because it's radio waves.

Radio waves are, as far as most of the electromagnetic spectrum is concerned, very long wavelength. Even the smallest wavelengths used by phones (1-10mm) are still much larger than a human cell. As a comparison, X-rays have a wavelength of 0.0110 nm (1mm  = 1,000,000nm).

Very small wavelengths are dangerous to humans and animals because they are small enough to meaningfully interact with our DNA. A bigger wave basically just goes right past us without ever doing anything simply because our sensitive biology is too small for it to interfere with.


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

[User] [Marvel] Given the low/nil body count when it comes to the Hulk despite the level of destruction caused, is it possible he is an "Idiot Savant" and micromanaging the apparent damage to ensure no direct loss of life?

[Assistant]
That is exactly what is happening. Bruce Banner's still in there, and what minimal control he has is pretty much all spent on mitigating the actions of the Hulk.

Not to mention that for the most part, without a direct provocation, the Hulk's base personality is an expression of general anger. His primary motivation is a desire to stop anyone that tries to bother hurt or restrict him, and other than that, he means no one harm and wants to be left alone.

Those two factors make it pretty likely that anyone who just comes across the Hulk won't be hurt, and the Hulk may even stop someone trying to hurt others.

This is the original version of the Hulk Banner was cursed with originally, mind you. The Hulk since then has had his own set of traumas that have formed his personality in different ways, and at this point it really depends on where his mind is at as to who he will and will not hurt.

His current 616 incarnation, Doc Green, will kill (more accurately, will allow to die) whomever he pleases to reach his ultimate goals, even though he's smart enough to avoid having to do so for the most part.

The Worldbreaker Hulk had no issues with killing.

Savage Hulk wouldn't hurt a fly if it didn't hurt him first. He just broke a lot of stuff.

..and so on and so forth. Some incarnations killed, others did not.


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

[User] How did they discover that a photon was the smallest unit of light, and how did they fabricate an instrument that could shoot individual photons?

[Assistant] It really started with the "Ultraviolet Catastrophe": classical physics predicted that black bodies should emit light at all frequencies, with the intensity going up for higher-frequency light. However, around the ultraviolet range, the classical prediction broke down and didn't explain the black body spectra observed. Max Planck showed this could be explained by a quantized form of light - light energy being carried in individual "packets" of energy. Einstein would go on to propose the photon (although he did not give it its name) when he described the photoelectric effect, for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physics. In the photoelectric effect, light shines on a metal and electrons in that metal are ejected. Einstein noted that if photons were discrete particles, then the intensity of photons (number per area) should control the number of electrons being ejected, and the energy of the photons should determine if electrons are ejected at all. Specifically, if light below a certain frequency shines on a particular metal, no electrons would be ejected. These properties of the photoelectric effect were demonstrated and this was taken by the scientific community as proof that light must exist in discretized particles - the photon was discovered.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Horcruxes twist the mind, as seen with how the locket turns Ron into an asshole. However, Harry, "the seventh horcrux", spent a whole lot of time around Ron and Hermione, not to mention all the other students. Why didn't the horcrux inside Harry affect any of them?

This question arose due to me thinking about the fan theory that the Dursleys were such giant assholes (and yet generous enough to keep around a boy they hate) because of the horcrux. If that were the case, why did it not seem to affect anyone else?

[Assistant]
When Harry saw the piece of Voldemort's soul that was hidden within him, it was a tiny, misshapen little abomination that couldn't do much more than wail. This doesn't match up to the other pieces of Voldemort's soul that we see - the piece in the diary and the piece in the locket were both cunning and manipulative.

By the time Voldemort made the Harry-Horcrux, his soul was so weak from constant splitting that the pieces could no longer function like they once did. The piece of his soul inside Harry was good for keeping him alive, but not much beyond that.


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

[User] ELI5: how did Google become so dominant?

[Assistant]
A lot of people are talking about Google's minimalist design but that's not really relevant.  Google became dominant because they simply had a better product.  Their search engine returned significantly better results.

Before Google's PageRank algorithm, most search engines effectively used word counts.  If you searched early Yahoo, AltraVista, etc. for "Corvette" the top result was the site cataloged with the most mentions of the word "Corvette".  Those top results would likely be fan sites, parts dealers, etc.  Chevy.com, etc. would have been pretty low  in the rankings in comparison.

Google completely changed the world when it started using links to a site to rank sites.  So now when you searched "Corvette" Google counted every link and those mostly went to Chevy.com, etc.  The results were infinitely better.


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

[User] ELI5: Being such a vast country, how come the US does not have high speed trains to connect major cities?

[Assistant]
Cost and distance.  Building rail infrastructure requires a large investment, and the distance between population centers is huge.  Outside of the North-East, the population density is very low across the US.

In addition, we have a somewhat-decent network or roads and airlines which cover the majority of transit needs.


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

[User]
[The Culture] What happens if I have a personality clash with my home GSV or Orbital Hub?

I know that if I were an adult, it's simply a matter of changing ship or Orbital, but what if I were a child? What would happen if I were born on a GSV and don't get along with our omnipresent, omnipotent, entirely benevolent Mind? Are there any options open to someone who's drug glands haven't matured yet? Someone who hasn't chosen their Full Name?

[Assistant] This is highly unlikely to happen. It is also highly unlikely that it would be such a clash that you felt like you would have to move. If you did, you could just move. The mind is much more likely to fake it's attitude to make you happy.


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

[User] [Marvel] How are mutants distinguished from super power enhanced heroes like Captain America?

[Assistant]
**Mutant**: someone who was born with a different genetic structure than baseline humanity.  They have the potential to pass on their abilities (ex: X-Men)

**Mutate**: someone who was born with a similar genetic structure to baseline humanity, but had their genetic structure altered at some point.  They also have the potential to pass on their abilities (ex: Spiderman)

**Enhanced**: someone who was born with and retains a similar genetic structure to baseline humanity, but had their mind/body altered in some way to grant them super abilities.  They do not have the potential to pass on their abilities (ex: Captain America)


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

[User]
[WH40k] Who is the de facto leader of the Imperium?

I mean, I know the Emperor is there, but he's hardly capable of direct communication. Someone has to be the boss, or make big decisions. Who's actually doing the leading in the emperor's stead?

[Assistant]
The Structure of the Imperium is very clear.

The Emperor is above all, any order given by the Emperor may never be revoked unless the Emperor does so himself.
During the Horus Heresy the Emperor ordered all Land Raiders to be put to use to the Astartes, as such, no Imperial Guard may use them.

There are 3 organization directly bellow the Emperor. The Adeptus Astartes, who no one may officially give order to. The Council of Terra, Adeptus Terra, the High Lords of Terra who rule by interpreting the Emperors will. Last is the Inquisition who technically have higher authority then the others (with the exception of the Astartes).

Most of the Imperium however is run without input from these three organizations, there are rules and procedures how to handle events and situations. A Planetary Governor refuse to pay tithe? There are procedures what to do then.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the northern part of North America, Asia and Europe become so much colder and get so much more snow in their respective winter months than the southern part of South America during theirs?

[Assistant]
The southern part of South America is not nearly as far from the equator as the northernmost parts of North America or Europe. Ushuaia (pronounced "oo-SWHY-uh"), Argentina (the southernmost city of any size in South America) is at about 55 degrees South, which is about the same latitude as the southernmost tip of the Alaska Panhandle, Dublin, Ireland, or Hamburg, Germany. Compare Oslo, Norway (59 N), Helsinki, Finland (60 N), or Anchorage, Alaska (61 N).

That's half the reason. The other half is that the southern tip of South America is rather thin, which means its climate is moderated by the ocean around it. This effect is even stronger because Antarctica has a very strong current running in a circle around it that keeps antarctic waters isolated from the rest of the world's oceans. This keeps the coldest weather isolated to Antarctica. As a result, Antarctica is *far* colder than the high Arctic: the Antarctic Peninsula at 63 S almost never goes much above freezing, while a hot day in Fairbanks, Alaska (65 N) can be hot enough to be uncomfortable. This ocean moderation is why Ushuaia (55 S) isn't as cold as places like Moscow (55 N) that are well inland.


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

[User]
Are degrees from schools in the US the "most marketable"?

I was doing research on doing graduate studies in Japan, and someone recommended getting a Western grad degree (i.e. a degree from North America?) and instead doing your postdoc in Japan or wherever else, because Western grad degrees are "more marketable". How true is that last statement? Are Western grad degrees more eye-catching than degrees from school in other parts of the world? Europe has some big name universities as well as far as I know (I mean, I'm sure all the continents do, but Europe comes to mind first)

Edit: Sorry for not specifying from the start, I'm wondering about STEM fields specifically. I'm studying a mix of gerontology + biotechnology-related topics if I need to be even more specific

Sorry if this is a stupid question, any answers are appreciated!

[Assistant]
Like most things around here, this is going to depend heavily on the field. Does the field... have anything to do with Japan? Is there a famous researcher in the field based in Japan? A ground-breaking lab, some special facility?

It's impossible to make sweeping statements about graduate studies "in Japan" vs "Western" ones.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Are there spells, incantations and potions only available to a specific region due to language barriers?

Fluer has an incredibly thick French accent; for her to produce an English spoken levitation charm pronouncing Wingardium Leviosa as perfectly as required, wouldnt go over well.  So Im assuming that there is a variation of this spell spoken in the French dialect?

And that got me into thinking that theres probably a variation of that levitation spell in Ghana and China and Mexico.. and everywhere else.  Then this regional thinking got me into wondering if there were spells and stuff that may have been worked out in other countries, that havent been properly translated into a working spell to be done in the English, Spanish, Russian or other languages yet.

Or is all based on some sort of inner magic, and the words spoken dont really matter, they just help you focus your feelings into what you want to do magically.

Additionally; surely there have to be potions that have been created based on the indigenous flora and fauna that arent (or cant be) created elsewhere due to ingredients not being available (unless imported), right?

[Assistant]
In canon there are regional variation to magic.  According to Pottermore, the wand is an European invention that got popular around the world in the recent century. African wizards and witches traditionally don't use a wand, and even though it is available there now, they still often just do wandless magic.

That would suggest that the wand movements in casting a spell is not necessary for magic in general, and appears only to be needed in a European/Britain regional variation of the spell.

Animagi are also very common in Africa, whereas it's very rare in Britain.  Either their education system was different, or they just have other regional ways to make Animagi.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] If Grand Admiral Thrawn were to scrutinize Earth's arts what would happen?

If Grand Admiral Thrawn were to scrutinize Earth's arts what would he find about us?

Given "similar" technology, how would he exploits the flaws and how easy would he be able to invade and conquer Earth?

[Assistant] He'd see the wide variety of art forms, both within and between cultures, and realize that a "divide and conquer" approach would work: find the group most willing to work with the Empire, give them aid, and then tell the other peoples "you can get this too, or be conquered by the people we're helping; your choice."


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

[User]
ELI5: Why was a King's Seal considered such a reliable way of making sure it was the King's own letter?

It seems like it would be fairly easy to replicate a stamp, or steal one. Going to sleep, so I won't respond for a while.

[Assistant]
Security measures never prevent something, they only make something difficult. Hopefully difficult enough that it discourages criminals from doing whatever the security measure is meant to discourage, or stealing what it is meant to protect.

Seals were made by skilled craftsmen so there are limited numbers of people able to replicate them. These craftsmen are generally well compensated and part of court in order to secure their loyalty as well.

They also only had one or a few seals made at a time and they were either rings or other jewelry worn by the king at all times, or they were locked in a box that was then locked in a room. You also have guards to contend with everywhere the king would go.


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

[User]
Why doesn't a stream of bubbles form a long tube,
rather than discrete, individual bubbles?

I was swimming today and it struck me how a stream of bubbles is just that: a line of discrete, individual "balls" of air. I assume it has something to do with the viscosity of water, and/or the speed at which the air is expelled from my lungs, and/or the speed at which air rises through water in Earth's gravity and atmospheric pressure, and I started wondering: given a sufficiently viscous liquid, and a steady rate of air expulsion (from lungs or from a machine), would the air form a single long tube-like bubble, rather than individual balls of air?

[Assistant] think of it like this: the water molecules want to *exclude* the air bubbles from their midst because the air has a different density. they *could* seclude them into a long tube, but a sphere has the smallest surface area to volume ratio, so it is far more stable, thus, they form tiny little bubbles instead of a tube.


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

[User]
How were the number of atoms in a mole determined?

I'm trying to do a bit of reading on this and what I've read so far doesn't seem to get at it. I get the definition of there being 6.02x10^23 atoms in 12 grams of carbon 12, but how did they 'count' the atoms in those 12 grams?

[Assistant]
First, a bit if history. Avogadro had made the idea of a mole as you described (12 grams of carbon in carbon 12), but he didn't actually create the constant of 6.02x10^23. What's important is that moles have been around.

Michael Faraday worked in the 1830s on electrolysis, and he had been able to calculate the electric charge per mole of electron. The number of elections was still not known, though.

In 1910, Robert Millikan was able to measure the charge of an election. Taking something like hydrogen, for example, he had to get a mole of hydrogen which was a mass he already knew, calculate the charge, and divide that by the charge of one electron. That formula gave him the number of electrons, and the constant we use today.


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

[User] ELI5: If the max amount of money an individual or corporation can donate to a politician is $2700, how can the Koch brothers and other millionares donate millions of dollars to the candidate of their choosing? Wasn't the $2700 rule put in place specifically so that politicians couldn't be bought?

[Assistant] Yes. They don't donate directly to the campaign in those amounts, though: they donate to the parties and to political action committees (so-called "Super PACs" in particular), which have higher limits or no such limit.


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

[User] ELI5: How do flying bugs just somehow appear around left out food, almost like the food itself birthed them?

[Assistant]
Flies smell rotting organic material (food/animal dead bodies/and animal excrement) are attracted to it by instinct (pre-programmed in their dna - just like you are pre-programmed to like sugary foods).

The flies themselves are mature/adults and do not eat, but they lay eggs on or in said rotting food/dead animal/animal pooh. The eggs hatch and their larva (also known as maggots) eat said organic matter and then form a hard shell around them called a pupa, where they metamorphosis (change body type) like butterflies do into flies.

They find a mate upon emerging from their pupa and repeat the cycle.

If you find flies in your house, they likely came in when you walked in the door, or through a crack in the floor/wall/ceiling/air-duct in their search for a place to lay eggs.


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

[User] ELI5:Why are people supporting Jeremy Clarkson when he punched his boss and threw a fit?

[Assistant]
There are a variety of reasons.

* Something to bear in mind is that anyone who was likely to be turned off by Clarkson being an arsehole has long since departed.  He's done plenty of controversial and offensive things already, thus weeding his fanbase down to only the core of people who don't care about that sort of thing

* Some people just want to see the show and literally don't care about what Clarkson did

* Some people see Clarkson as a valiant warrior against political correctness and/or leftism at the BBC, and they think that the beeb is just looking for an excuse to sack him to advance their 'agenda'


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

[User] ELI5: How is Helium, which doesn't undergo any reaction when used, a limited resource?

[Assistant]
Many uses of helium cause it to escape into the atmosphere, where it escapes into space.

Unlike hydrogen (which also escapes the atmosphere, but is highly reactive and so is likely to bind with other atoms and thus not escape after all) it is also extremely rare to find on or in the earth.

These two things combined means that helium is indeed a limited resource.


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

[User]
How important was the role of PhD supervisors in the career of successful researchers?

My question is specific to researchers who have made significant  contributions in terms of investigating fundamental phenomena and  developing techniques that have defined the trajectory of their field.  Any accounts from biographies of such personalities would be  appreciated. Eventually it would help me answer if extreme hard work,  constant self-evaluation, and the drive and motivation to study science  are all that it takes to be a successful researcher.

[Assistant]
Very important, but not really in the way youve described. Its more:
- Do they either fund you or help you get enough external funding for you to be able to live off of so you can focus on and complete your program?
- Do they properly socialize you into the field?
- Have they introduced you to networks of scholars who will help you grow and develop during and after your program?
- Do they support your development as a human being and not just a cog in their data-analysis-publication machine?
- Have they helped you develop good work habits that are healthy and sustainable for you?
- Have they helped you discover and refine your scholarly voice?
- Have they helped you refine your passion and ideas into a tangible and productive research trajectory?
- Have they helped you develop the technical and soft skills needed to thrive in academia?
- Do they support you in publishing enough good work in good enough outlets early enough in your program to be competitive in the current job market?
- Is their reputation and network strong enough to get you noticed by hiring committees?


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

[User]
ELI5: Unleaded gasoline

Why is it that almost all (USA) gas stations say unleaded gasoline?

I know that in the old days cars  needed leaded to run. Now cars are better, what happened?, More specifically what technology improvements for cars made leaded gas obsolete? (Other than electric cars)

It seems since every gas station sells unleaded gasoline does anywhere still sell leaded gasoline?
What still uses leaded gasoline?
Why add lead to the gasoline in the first place?

Obviously there are health risk associated with lead poisoning, how toxic are the gas fumes from both leaded and unleaded?

[Assistant]
Tetraethyl lead was added to gas to allow for higher compression which increased engine power and fuel economy. In the late 70s and early 80s most countries began phasing out the use of lead additives in gasoline in favor of other octane boosters because of the serious health effects of leaded gas emissions

Leaded gas is still sold for some specialty appications, and for use in some aviation engines.


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

[User]
How does a social science education shape students' political views? Do they become more/less conservative/liberal? Do different social sciences affect students' political ideology differently?

Is the average Political Science graduate more left-leaning than when she began studying? Does an Economics student become more right-leaning? And so on...

If yes, how do different fields affect the students differently (why does the econ graduate become more conservative the sociology graduate)?

[Assistant]
I agree that this is going to be a tough question to answer.

Here are some elements you'd need to start with.

1. Take a university. Worry about external validity (across uni's) later
2. Poll all students for political beliefs before freshman year
3. Watch the ones that go into social science
4. Poll those kids after their social science courses
5. Figure out how to deal with majors switching later (from one social science to another, or dropping out, or "dropping in" after a few years of STEM)
6. You now have a pre-treatment dataset (from before the freshman year), a treatment (social science courses of varying stripes), and post-treatment evaluation. Of course you'd need a control group - those who didn't take social science courses? Seems problematic, but what else do you do? With just social science students, you can at least do a test of differences. Maybe put demographic stuff on the right-hand side at minimum.
7. Of course in this case, your population is "university students" and the specific subgroup you care about is "uni students who majored in social science of varying stripes." If you cared more broadly about "early 20s individuals," you'd need prior data on the political beliefs of 20-somethings more generally.

Somebody in  labor econ or the economics of education might know of studies along these lines?


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

[User] ELI5: Why is alternative medicine so popular? How is there a multibillion dollar industry, with millions of devotees, dedicated to medical treatments that don't even work?

[Assistant] Because the correlation between cause and effect is hard for us to see. Science can prove it all we like, but unless you read and understand the literature yourself, there's very little difference between believing in science and believing in engrams.


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

[User]
[Action Movies General] How effective is a vet at treating human wounds?

We've all seen this in multiple action movies before. Our beloved one\-liner badass action hero got into a fire fight with 50 well\-dressed henchmen of some billionaire villain, and killing them all. But not before sustaining some injury like a gunshot wound or multiple cuts from a knife. So obviously our hero ain't gonna go to the hospital or the authorities because he's badass that way, he decided to limp his way to a vet instead, scaring the shit out of the vet and warning him/her not to call the authorities, then asking the vet to remove the bullets and treat the wounds asap before he's off to another gunfight the next day. Are vets capable of doing that? Are they trained to treat human patients?

[Assistant] They are not trained to treat human patients, but they are trained a lot more generally than a surgeon is. When you work on anything from a hamster to a dog to a horse and everything inbetween, they are more than capable of treating one in a pinch. Might not be as good work as a specialized surgeon, but a human is just another animal on the list of what the vet have treated that day.


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

[User] [WH40K] Is there any possible situation that would merit an exterminatus on Terra?

[Assistant] The Imperium would only consider that after exhausting the usefulness of everyone they had trying to defend Terra. Literally every man, woman, and child that can stand would be given to the imperial guard for orders and quick marksmanship training. Failing that, the Grey Knights would be called in from Titan of the threat was Chaos based, and the Adeptus Mechanicus would bring every war engine, tank, titan, and servitor they have to keep things running. If all of that fails, and the Golden Throne falls, then they would rather see Terra burned then in the hands of xenos.


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

[User]
[Fallout] Why were the Vaults (presumably billions of $ in resources) ultimately just big social experiments that weren't designed to repopulate the Earth, while the actual plan amounted to nothing more than a (big, fortified) oil rig? That seems like quite a mismanagement for the Enclave to make.

Surely trusting that the Enclave would be the only people who needed to survive was an odd choice. I've heard the Vaults were data collection for colonization missions (the GECKs being terraforming devices).  So having a sizable portion of the population survive was just irrelevant, better delegated to telling us a few things about what being in a generation ship might look like?

If the Vaults were just experiments, why wasn't there a real, super vault other than the Controls (which were few and far between) to really secure survival?

[Assistant]
The war wasn't supposed to happen when it did, if you ask the logistics teams and long-term planners of the pre-war Enclave. The Vaults were meant as social experiments to test various conditions, not for the war, but for long term space travel and colonisation of other planets.

Communism had infected the planet like a disease. The Enclave thought the best option was to bury the entire world in nuclear fire while they found a new planet (probably mars) to live on, and restart society the right way.

When everything started to really go south, they started to make preparations to instead allow themselves to survive the war, and quickly establish control over the planet.

The Enclave didn't care about survival of anybody but themselves. And they achieved that.


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

[User] Why are people so willing to commit to compassionate euthanasia when death is imminent for their pets but not for their fellow human beings?

[Assistant]
Here's one principled philosophical reason: it isn't wrong to kill an animal, but it is wrong to kill a human, because the wrongness of killing comes from interrupting life-goals (which animals don't have) or violating implicit social contracts (which animals can't make), or something like that. So with a suffering animal, there's no good reason not to commit to euthanasia, but with a suffering human, we've got to weigh the suffering prevented by euthanasia against the wrongness of killing a human (even with their permission).

I don't think this kind of argument works, but it's probably defensible.


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

[User] ELI5 How do snakes move?

[Assistant] There are four snake movement schemes: serpentine (slithering), concertina, side-winder, and reticulation.  The bottom of a snake has little grippers which hold the ground, and the snake lifts or moves parts of its body while pressing down onto the ground with other parts of its body.  Not all snakes use all schemes.


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

[User] The surface of Venus sounds like hell. How comparable is it to the Hadean eon of Earth?

[Assistant]
They both had/have lots of volcanos and an atmosphere rich in CO2 and water (both with a lot of pressure, 90 and 100x modern Earth, respectively). Both hot, but Venus is all the way at 462C (we use temperatures lower than that for sterilization) and Earth only made it to 230 C (and Venus is near that temperture constantly, regardless of latitude, day/night, or season). Venus also has no ozone layer or magnetosphere, so a lot more radiation.

Also, the Hadean may have had water oceans, but on Venus it's all evaporated.


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

[User] What causes the area around our eyes to turn dark when we are tired?

[Assistant]
iirc A doctor answered this question a while back:

The skin under your eyes is one of the thinnest areas in your body.  Therefore small changes in the blood are most noticeable there.  In the case of bags under the eyes it is due to increased adrenaline flow in an attempt to keep you awake.

Not an exact quote but should answer your question.


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

[User] ELI5: How does the science of chewing gum "keeping its flavor" work, and why do some brands last longer than others?

[Assistant]
Found This-

"Chewing gum contains sugar or a sugar substitute and artificial or natural flavors. The amount of flavoring contained in a stick of chewing gum is actually quite small. When you put chewing gum in your mouth, saliva production increases, softening the gum and releasing the flavoring and sugar. The sugar serves to enhance not only the sweetness of the gum, but it also boosts the flavor.

The longer you chew your gum, the more the sugar or the sugar substitute and flavoring dissolve. As the sugar dissolves, the boost it provides the flavor diminishes, causing the flavor of the gum to become more mild. The sweetener dissolves much faster than the flavor crystals, but as the sugar dissolves you won't be able to taste the flavoring as well. Putting a sugar cube on your tongue can help boost the flavor of your gum once again.

Many popular gum brands produce sugar-free chewing gum. These types of gum utilize a sugar substitute to stimulate flavor distribution while the gum is being chewed. The most common types of sugar substitute used in chewing gum are xylitol and sorbitol. There sugar substitutes reduce the caloric content of the gum while preventing cavities and other dental problems. In addition, they do not dissolve as fast in saliva, so they help boost and distribute the gum's flavor longer than sugar. Additionally, these sugar substitutes cause a cooling sensation in the mouth, which can enhance the flavor of gum.

The recent introduction of flavor crystals to many popular brands of chewing gum creates a longer, more intense flavor sensation. Flavor crystals are small pockets of concentrated flavor and sugar or sugar substitute, which when chewed, produce a burst of flavor in the mouth. Flavor crystals produce flavor the same way that chewing regular gum does -- the saliva and sugar stimulate the release of the gum's flavor. However, these flavor crystals dissolve at different rates, which prolongs the intensity of the chewing gum's flavor."


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do store bought tortillas keep A LOT longer at room temperature than store bought sliced bread?

When it comes to taste, texture, and mold, tortillas last a whole lot longer than your standard sliced bread. I have noticed that this is true for both corn or flour tortillas. Why is that?

[Assistant] Water content and surface. Tortillas are very dry and flat, so there's no water and very little space to grow for mould. Sliced bread has more water and because of all the yeast air bubbles and being sliced has a lot of surface for the mould to latch onto.


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

[User] How do radio telescopes peer into the universe through all the interference from radio broadcasts on and around the earth?

[Assistant] There are international agreements which reserve numerous, scientifically important regions of the radio frequency spectrum for Radio Astronomy.  So, if everyone plays nice, those frequency bands should be quiet.


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

[User] ELI5: How does the stealth technology work on stealth aircraft? How invisible are these aircraft to sensors? Some examples being the B-2 Spirit, and F-117 Nighthawk.

[Assistant]
The stealth technology at present has two components. There is a coating of radar absorbing material (RAM) that prevents bounce back. This is the primary protection for the B2. There is also radar redirection by using finely angled surfaces to prevent a direct bounce back to the site. This is the primary protection for the F117.

Both will be defeated if the range to the source is low enough. Additionally, tactics have evolved specifically to defeat these airframes, such as using airborne radars to beam and ground receivers to look for "blank spots".


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

[User]
[The Purge] Would the NFFA intervene if someone in the rich elite was interfering with Purge night?

Im an uber-rich billionaire (so rich that I make Jeff Bezos look like a beggar).

Every Purge night, I hire a massive team of super-elite mercenaries and split them into three teams:

Team One roams the city, killing everyone they find Purging and escorting victims to safety.

Team Two will attack a specific target that Ive designated beforehand, usually some rich psychopaths having a Purge Party. They kill everyone they find taking part and free any victims that might be there.

Team Three guards my mansion, where I, my family and anyone who needs shelter for the night stays. Weve been attacked a handful of times, but our invaders never make it past the courtyard.

Ive been doing this every Purge night since the beginning. My team has only lost one soldier in all this time, and weve made the city much safer on Purge night.

(I also work to end the Purge through legal channels the rest of the year)

My question: Do the NFFA see me as a threat, or do they let it slide since me and my team are technically Purging?

[Assistant]
You're not that big a threat on purge night.  As prepared as you are, you're still just one guy in one city.  Your teams will make your city's purge slightly less effective,  and your roving teams might be targeted by NFFA teams, but that's about it.  The Purge is a societal level thing, you're working at a local level.  It has too much inertia for you to be able to do anything effective.

Honestly you're probably more of a pain to the NFFA the rest of the year.


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

[User]
Douchebag academic

I just met an absolute arsehole of an academic at this networking event. The dude is a big name but was trying to put me down and insult me.How do you navigate through such weird and unpleasant social situations?

[Assistant]
As best you can, just be a reasonable person, defend your work, and hope that other people realize what an asshole the person is.

Then, if you ever get the opportunity, crush them and destroy their lives.


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

[User] [Community] Why did Abed take the Who's The Boss class, if he was so convinced he knew who the boss was?

[Assistant]
Abed has an interest in the systemic study of pop-culture. This is a pop-culture class.

He didn't come in intending to contradict the Professor, but when the professor appeared to be explicitly *wrong*, he saw no reason why he shouldn't correct him.


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

[User]
Do you have an academic Twitter account? If so, how do you use it?

Hey everyone, I'm thinking of making myself an academic Twitter account. I'm in psychology (specifically language and cognitive development in early childhood) and I will be applying for PhD programs for 2020 entry.

I was just wondering what kind of things you normally post and any advice you might have for someone just starting out. Thanks in advance!

[Assistant] From what Ive seen, academic twitters are used for connecting with other scientists and sharing articles/new data to keep up with the trends in your fields of interest. Im also on the fence about making one so itd be nice to hear what others have to say.


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

[User] [Doctor Who] Why do humans look Time Lord? Is there any way to tell the difference, just by looking?

[Assistant]
There are some fan theories that the Time Lords did in fact create humans, or played an important role in their evolution. This might explain why the Doctor is so protective of humans. This is supported by the line "No, you look Time Lord, we came first".

Alternatively, it could just be a result of convergent evolution. Humans and Time Lords are not the only humanoid races in the Universe. The original Cybermen of Mondas, the Thal and Kaled from Skaro were also more or less human-like. Maybe the humanoid form is highly efficient.


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

[User]
How do the alveoli maintain a different air composition to the atmosphere if they are connected to the atmosphere by an open tube?

The alveoli always maintain the same pressure as the ambient air due to the open airway but they can somehow maintain a different composition of O2, CO2 etc. Why doesn't it mix with the outside air constantly to maintain the same 20% O2 composition?

[Assistant] They don't maintain the same oxygen, while the air is in the alveoli, the oxygen level in the air goes down because there's a gradient that causes the oxygen in the atmosphere to diffuse into the plasma of the blood. At the same time the carbon dioxide in the blood plasma is higher than in the atmospheric air in the alveoli so it diffuses across the barrier from the blood into the air and is exhaled. The gas that you breathe out is not the same composition as the gas that you breathe in because the gas is diffused across a semi permeable barrier into and out of the bloodstream.


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

[User] [Dragonball Z]does the entire Buu Saga happen in one or (at most) two days?

[Assistant]
Yes.

The Boo Saga starts during the 25th Budokai on May 7, age 774. Pure Boo is defeated rhe next day on May 8th.

Most of the time passes after Gohan goes to Other World as he spends nearly a day on his potential unlock.


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

[User]
I think that pedophilia should be treated as a sickness to rehabilitate rather than as a malicious crime. CMV.

Be careful not to read too much into the statement. I draw a distinction between child molestation and rape, which is an act of violence and should be punished as such; and pedophilia, which is a sexual preference as unavoidable as any; one can not *choose* their sexual preferences.

As ine can not choose their sexual preferences, I think the demonisation and witch-hunting which is a reaction to pedophilia simply drives these people away from help and forms of authority which might be better suited to assist in rehabilitating and counselling against their urges in support groups.

Of course, a person who acts on these urges is comitting a violent act to whom there is a victim, and should be punished accordingly, but always with the mindset that he was acting out a sexual desire which he cannot choose, any more than we choose our own.

I'm not gonna say that ciminalisation does more harm than good; i can't call those numbers. But i do think its not a fair or long-term solution.

Edit: i had recieved a message from the subs Bot that my post had been removed due to the frequent topic post.
CMV.

[Assistant]
Well having pedophile urges is not in itself a malicious crime anyway. If you had those urges, but told the world that you found kids sexually attractive, no one would arrest you.

 But when you act on those urges you are commiting a crime.


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

[User]
[STAR WARS] If a Jedi shot a laser at another jedi and they started deflecting the laser between themselves, how long would it take before the shot stops or can't be deflected anymore?

Also can normal bullets be deflected by lighstsabers?

[Assistant]
>can normal bullets be deflected by lighstsabers

No, they are melted and you get a blob of molten metal on you.
 Lasers are called lasers but they are not made from light, they are actually plasma. A lightsaber is really a plasma sword. It can deflect the plasma from a blaster because it is plasma.


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

[User] [Star Wars] If Windu/Skywalker wanted to contain Darth Sidious for a trial, how would they do it?

[Assistant]
Think of it like chess. You don't need to *take* the king, you just need to put the king into a situation where any attempts to flee or attack will result in immediate death.

Windu underestimated Palpatine, and tried to take the Chancellor in his office. He took heroes of war along with him, and thought such a vulgar display of power would make Palpatine unwilling to fight. That's why they foolishly gathered in the entrance and waited for Palps to make a move.

But had they employed a bit more strategy, it would have been possible for a few Jedi to constrain him. Even later, had Anakin and Windu worked together, with the space between them, they could have defended each other and removed the immediate threat.

Sidious is very fast, but he's not omnipotent. Yoda could have defeated him if he'd had a capable partner.


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

[User]
Is there such a thing as genetic memory?

Is there any science behind genetic memory, a la Dune?
Is it possible that "information" is passed to the fetus from the mother during pregnancy?

[Assistant]
Short answer: not in anything like the way you're thinking, no.

Slightly longer answer: first of all, the only truly genetic information the fetus gets from its mother is in the DNA of the egg, which actually forms while *she's* still in her mother's womb - she just has one batch of oocytes for her whole life that she doles out one by on for a few decades. She could get cancerous mutations all over her body, but they wouldn't be inherited because they wouldn't affect the DNA in the oocytes.

Now, there are some known ways that information from the mother's womb can leave an imprint on the fetus for the rest of its life, even though they're not strictly genetic. It's starting to look like intrauterine environmental stimuli like hormone levels and food shortages can cause permanent epigenetic modifications to the fetus' DNA that will change its hormone responses or metabolism long into its adult life. If you want to consider this information transfer from the mother, that's not wrong - it's just not genetic, not information passing from her genome into the fetus' genome.


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

[User] [DC] We know Lex hates Superman with a passion but what does Superman think of Lex?

[Assistant] Usually Superman doesn't exactly hate Lex, but in recent portrayals he's clearly fed up with him and doesn't trust him as far as he can throw him - which mostly shows in post New52, when Lex was a saviour of Metropolis and used an Apocalyptian warsuit with a big S-shield on the chest as a sign of respect to fallen New52 Superman. Pre-New52 Superman didn't seem to even consider that Lex could genuinely try to reform, and just waited for Lex to stab him in the back.


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

[User]
[Star Trek] Why do EMH's use tricorders instead of the ships internal sensors in the Medbay?

It's always struck me as odd that we create holographic doctors for our ships but when we use them they always have to use physical devices to scan us. Why cant they access the medbay's internal sensors to determine what is wrong with us? All the bio-beds have sensors already installed with data displayed.

[Assistant] It's a bedside manner thing. They're designed to act as much like 'real' doctors as they can. It's less unnerving for patients if their holographic doctor uses tools like a real one, instead of just being able to scan them anywhere, at any time.