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

[User]
[BSG Reimagined] Why aren't the Cylon centurions camouflaged? Why shiny, reflective chrome?

I was just going through the vids on the assault during the Rapture incident on the algae planet for Marine training on Galactica, and I was surprised to see that the Cylon centurions sent down for a ground assault were bright and shiny chrome, just like the centurions that came on board Galactica after the old man was shot.

I'm wondering why not give them a basic paint job before deploying them? Humans have fought centurions in many different environments, from urban and forest fights during the resistance back on Caprica, to assaults on ships, but they're always bright, shiny chrome, making them really easy targets. Anders suggested it was basically confidence, since centurions are such powerful assault troops, but it still doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Why are those frakkers chrome instead of camo?

[Assistant]
Well for one, the cylons never expected any sort of resistance following their sneak attack on the colonies. A prolonged war was never in their plans. If anything their arrogance really comes through on the centurion design.

Also, since those things can just be reborn (I think) - whats the point of hiding them. Sure survivability has its perks, but in the grand scheme of things you can just churn more out on an assembly line.......

Fear is another factor - having been on the front lines, seeing a chrome centurion on the horizon makes your stomach turn. Toe to toe, there is little you can do against their strength and speed. I'd go far to say they designed them to have a psychological effect on the field - like they wanted you to see them and think twice about engaging.

I have seen engagement vids where the chrome has reflected less, I'd be interested in knowing if the skin is more reactive than we think it is. Well leave that up to the egg heads to figure out.


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

[User] Why do cats like catnip so much? What, chemically or biologically speaking, is happening to them?

[Assistant]
Nepetalactone, which is the active chemical compound of catnip, enters through the nose and binds to receptors on olfactory epithelium (fancy name for smelling tissue in the nose). It is thought that nepetalactone mimics a cat pheromone, possibly feline facial pheromone or MMB (in cat urine).

Behavioral effects: rubbing against the plant, pawing, licking, and chewing the plant.

Consumption effects: drooling, sleepiness, randomly leaping about, and purring.

EDIT: additional facts, about 80% of cats react to catnip, and susceptibility to catnip is hereditary.


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

[User] ELI5: How is it that rich people's "net worth" is public, but average people's information is private?

[Assistant]
The "public" numbers are estimates, not firm numbers. In the case of public companies' founders, CEO's, etc. there are public disclosures of share ownership and that typically accounts for the vast majority of their net worth so it's used as proxy. There are also public disclosures like stock sales, there might be records of other investments they've made, etc. and the pieces are cobbled together to get an estimate.

For example, if billionaire X owns 50 million shares in the company he founded and it's trading at $100 then we know they are worth at least $5 billion. Maybe they've sold off 10 million shares over the years for living expenses and diversification clearing $600 million, and they've also bought 2 houses worth $20 million, a plane worth $50 million, invested $100 million in other companies and those holdings are now worth $400 million, etc. So they're worth an estimated $6 billion. Maybe it's off -- maybe they blew hundreds of millions gambling, or maybe they invested in Apple options and made a couple extra billion. So it's just an estimate.


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

[User]
How does the human body measure temperature?

I was wondering how does the human body measure its own temperature. How does it know that it's hotter or colder then normal. I take it its due to different nerve endings how how exactly the measure temp.

For example I understand how a regular thermometer works. When liquid is heated it expands and contracts when cooled. There is a scale that you could reference this too.

So how does the body measure temp?

[Assistant]
Humans are homeotherms, maintaining an average core temperature of 37 +/- 0.5 degrees Celsius. Core temperature varies slightly due to environmental and metabolic factors. **This is maintained by the hypothalamus** in the brain. The temperature of the body is regulated by neural feedback mechanisms which operate primarily through the hypothalmus.

While core temperature is tightly regulated, skin temperature varies greatly in response to metabolism and the environment. **Temperature receptors in the skin (cold and hot)** detect these changes, initiating compensatory mechanisms through the central nervous system. Temperature receptors are located throughout the skin, as well as in the spinal cord, abdominal viscera, and in and around the great veins. Stimuli to these receptors triggers heat and cold sensitive neurons in the hypothalamus as well as higher cortical centers in the cerebrum. Once this info is received by the hypothalamus, it initiates control mechanisms.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is rice so readily available and cheap?

I've traveled around Southeastern Asia a bit and seen rice paddies first hand, as well as have read a bit about how difficult life is for rice farmers. It seems to be incredibly labor intensive and somewhat low yielding, so I don't get why 1) there seems to be so much of it really available, and 2) it is such a cheap crop. Can someone ELI5?

[Assistant]
I am going to look at this from a smallholder/ traditional farmer point of view
It does appear to be incredibly labour intensive, but rice comes with one incredible advantage, you can flood the fields and plant the rice plants in the mud, and the rice will grow for the first few weeks of its life in the water, so while planting and harvesting looks backbreaking, apart from that you have 3 months or more where you just need to control the water flow.
This means no plowing, no digging, and more importantly no constant weeding or bug patrol for the farmers, it also means that they don't need tractors or teams of oxen, or to spend money on weedkillers and pesticides.


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

[User]
ELI5: In all the Zombie movies/television shows that I can think of, the number of zombies multiply. If they eat flesh shouldn't they devour people completly rather then just bite them slightly.

It just doesn't add up to me. I fee; that the number of zombies would increase as drastically as it does becasue the goal of a group of zombies should be to devour a person not bite them and therefore allow them to turn. Any insight would be greatly welcomed :).

**EDIT** I get that zombies are fictional and that its makes for a much more interesting story if there are tons of them chasing after a protagonist, my question was more focused on the justification for having the amount of zombies they do. Thanks for playing along with that idea! Your answers helped me play with the idea!!

[Assistant] You're right about the zombies' goals.  However, there are two competing goals at work here, the zombie's goal and the victim's goal.  While the zombie wants to eat the victim wants to survive.  Therefore even after an initial wound the victim will still try to escape.  This of course results in more zombies, although not immediately.  There is a transition period where the victim may or may not be aware of the bite before turning.  If they are aware of it then they either choose to ignore it and hope for the best or end their life rather than turning into a zombie.  When you also take into account the group mentality of people trying to survive around zombies it's easy to see how a victim who is either not aware of the wound or choosing to ignore it would be a great risk to the group.  As they inevitably become zombified they will be presented with more targets than they can effectively take down.  These situations will often lead to one or more new victims, and rarely an actual take down where the zombie can feed.  At this point the cycle repeats itself.


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

[User] ELI5: Why can a piano go years without being tuned, but you need to tune a guitar every time you use it?

[Assistant]
Piano strings are strung on a cast iron frame.  Guitar strings are strung on a piece of wood (usually with some partial steel reinforcement in the neck). Environmental variations (temperature and humidity) will cause much greater variation in the wood in the guitar than the cast iron of the piano.

In addition, guitar strings are under about 18 lbs of tension, whereas piano strings are under about 180 lbs of tension.  Slight variations in that tension cause a much greater effect when the tension is less.


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

[User] Does every celestial body (like Planets, stars, satellites, nebula etc) always rotate around their axis? Why do they rotate?

[Assistant] Generally, yes. Basically, it's just extremely unlikely that the gas that formed the star or galaxy or whatever happened to have exactly zero angular momentum - every flow of gas would have to be perfectly balanced by some other gas moving in the opposite direction, and that's not going to happen very often. For galaxies and stars, this just comes from the random turbulent motions of the gas. But things like planets and moons form within rotating discs, so there's going to be some angular momentum naturally flowing into them - that's why all the planets rotate the same way that they orbit. This doesn't happen for stars because star forming regions are tiny compared to the size of the galaxy, so random turbulence matters more than the large-scale rotation of the galaxy. But planets are reasonably large compared to the size of the solar system, so the rotation of the star-forming disc dominates.


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

[User] Why are some cancers more prevalent in children than in adults?

[Assistant]
Two reasons

1) children are in a growth phase, their cells are more ready to divide and grow, the growth hormones keep some genes more open and active and so more likely to mutate with the mutated cells turning cancerous. This is why childhood cancers in general respond more to cytotoxic chemotherapy than adults. Cytotoxic chemotherapy targets rapidly dividing cells which children has more off.

In adults, cells are usually slower, so cancers take longer to develop and dont eat up the cytotoxic medications as fast.

2) people with genes that promote childhood cancers are likely to be selected out and die early before they propagate their genes, over many many years in history. So these genes are not common until they break through or the mutations happen a new.

On the other hand, older-age cancers are not being selected out because they breed before they get the cancer, and most of them represent build up of mutation over life time rather than an inborn genetic tendency.


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

[User]
ELI5: Where would the potential 10,000 Syrian refugees to the U.S live during the 18-24 month vetting process?

I'm curious where they would live in the meantime since the background checking process takes so long. Would they live in the U.S without being fully vetted for some time? Do we have some specific area set out where they stay? Anyone know?

[Assistant] Most of them are already living in tent cities in countries surrounding Syria. It is not like we are getting the ones you saw on TV last month crossing boarders. And they go through the process described below. At least someone is asking questions and not just panicking like so many others.


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

[User]
[The Expanse] Why does it take 18 months to get to Ilus?

It's said that it takes 18 months to get from Ceres Station to Ilus, but that doesn't make any sense to me.

The Ring at Sol is described to be just outside the orbit of Uranus. For a ship continuously accelerating at 1 g (which is something Epstein Drive ships are perfectly capable of), it should take between 12 and 14 days to get from Ceres to Uranus, depending on orbital positions at the time, and taking into account flipping halfway through to decelerate. With a short layover at Medina Station and another two weeks at the other side, it should take about a month to get there. Maybe month and a half if the passengers are uncomfortable with 1 g, or the Ring is further out in Ilus' system. But I can't come up with any way it could take 18 months.

[Assistant]
There is a lot of relevant data to be extrapolated too. At what speed does the Sol gate orbit Sol? Does it match Uranus' speed. Does the 12-14 days include the 1G of deceleration burn?
I don't recall them specifying where the distance from the Ilus gate, to Ilus itself.
Bonus, Sol system is fully charted but Illus might not me, finding lanes and checking of debris et al, MIGHT be an important thing to do (which would lead to lots of burning and deceleration).


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

[User]
[My Hero Academia]Are there other ways of acquiring a hero license besides going to a hero school?

It seems sad that if you dont get in when youre 14-15, you essentially have no chance of becoming a hero.

Are there alternative programs that a person can go through?

[Assistant] You don't need to go to a Hero Academy at all in order to get a Hero License. It just makes the whole process of actually learning how to be a hero a lot more standardized. The Hero License Exams are a separate institution from the schools. They heavily feature the Academies, especially UA, but anyone can show up to take the test when it's held.


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

[User] How strong is human skin relative to other animals?

[Assistant]
A human raised in similar conditions to animals winds up with very thick skin on the hands, feet and sun exposed areas.

Look at the skin on the feet of individuals who regularly walk barefoot and it's often quite thick, then combine that with the increased need for thick skin on uneven, rocky ground.

Most mammals have relatively similar skin, with examples like rhinos, elephants and other savannah animals being an exception due to the increased need for protection from sun and predators, as well as the need for water retention.

The average indoor human, though, has thinner skin than we otherwise would have, being more similar to subterranean or nocturnal animals like moles and mice.


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

[User]
[LOTR] Can animals or beasts wear the one ring?

Anything from Rabbits to the watcher in the water.

[Assistant]
It is physically possible, but what would the ring do to entice the animal to want to put it on?

With the exception of a few birds and pests, most animals don't care for shiny things any more than anything else they can't eat drink or screw.

Wait, maybe the ring entices the animal by appearing to the beast as a... part of the opposite gender's anatomy.

Given its ability to change size,  i could see a deer getting the one ring stuck on his one thing.

A horny, invisible deer with the ring on his ding sounds terrifying.


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

[User] ELI5: How do doctors prevent getting ill from the patients?

[Assistant] They sometimes get ill, but you'd be amazed at just how effective washing your hands can be. You also tend to build up a bit of an immunity, but the truth is that they get sick just like everyone else.


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

[User]
If we dont observe good dental hygiene we tend to lose our teeth. How did early man cope without toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, etc?

How did early man cope without all the things we associate with good dental hygiene today? Did they continually lose their teeth and just deal with it? Or did they also observe rudimentary dental hygiene practices to slow tooth loss? Also, isnt tooth loss due to decay a kind of evolutionary flaw?

[Assistant]
IANAA.

Early man didn't have toothbrushes (but maybe they had some plants they could chew to scrub their teeth and freshen their breath), but they also didn't have refined sugars, so they might not have needed to clean their teeth as often in order to keep them.


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

[User] ELI5: How do insects bite humans and other large animals? Wouldn't the size of an insect's mouth biting a human arm, be comparable to a human biting a flat surface such as a table?

[Assistant] Insect mouthparts that are specifically designed to bite large animals (like mosquitoes and horseflies) are usually more like needles than jaws. Some insects that you might think of as biting insects, like fire ants, are actually stinging insects (again, with a needle-type design).


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

[User] ELI5 What are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th degree burns? How dangerous/harmful are each?

[Assistant]
1st - 4th in terms of least - most dangerous.

The categories are basically how deep in your skin the burn goes. How many layers it affects.

1st degree affects the top layer, it won't blister, just be a bit red for a while. Mild sunburn for example.

2nd degree affects the top two layers. You might get swelling, the burn will be bright red and shiny, and will blister.

3rd degree completely destroys the top two layers. It may not hurt because you've cauterised the nerves, will definitely require hospital treatment, and will definitely scar.

4th degree are the worst. All layers of your skin are destroyed, and the burn may even damage muscle, tendons and bone. Life-threatening.


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

[User] [Star Wars] How long can the average Blaster Pistol go without reloading?

[Assistant] With the exception of game mechanics (which have never been canon), we don't know. The *Saga Edition* RPG states a heavy blaster pistol (like Han's) can be fired up to 50 times before needing a replacement battery pack.


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

[User]
[Rick and Morty] What the actual hell does Beth see in Jerry?

Clearly its not just the fact that he got her pregnant because she went back to him even after she had the chance to be rid of him.

[Assistant]
He's a winner.

Not under normal circumstances, but Beth has *never* lived a normal life. She's always lived a life of chaos, and excitement, and danger.

In Jerry's normal mundane life, he's all very much the loser his kids think he is. But once that mundane boundary is broken, the dude really steps up. When he was caught in a simulation, he ruled that simulation. Which might not sound like much, but it's part of a pattern. When the whole world went Cronenberg, he took care of his family and ruled. Then when aliens invaded, he wasn't just some chump, he was getting paid and constantly winning.

Sometimes the winning isn't so obvious. Sometimes his house gets turned upsidedown from space parasites that cast illusion spells. But during that experience, he learned a lot about *himself.* Which helped him grow as a person. And that's what Beth needs. She needs a man in her life who can tolerate the crazy zanyness of being the Mad Scientist's daughter. He can keep up. And he can rule. But more importantly, he can grow as a person.

He's all the man she needs in her life that her father failed to be. Hell, at the end of the camping trip, Rick Sanchez may have fought a god, but Jerry saved her life. *Somebody* has to be the man in her life, and it aint Rick.


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

[User]
How does the body create so much mucus so fast and where is it stored?

I have been sick for almost a week, and it seems that I can blow my nose for hours on end and never make any progress clearing anything out.

Is all this mucus created as it is needed, or is it stored somewhere in the body?

[Assistant] You have specialized cells in all of your mucus membranes (mouth, sinus, GI tract, etc.) called goblet cells.  They are interspersed within the cells that line the cavities and are always producing mucus to lubricate and protect the surrounding cells.  When you have an infection, mucus production is sped up as a form of protection to try and keep the bacteria/virus out of the tissue (specifically out of your blood).  It is especially ramped up in your sinuses because the mucus there will either be blown out of your nose or flow down your pharynx, into your esophagus, and then digested (destroying the included infection) in your stomach.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do airplanes use green camo instead of blue? Wouldn't it make more sense, since they would be less visible on sky?

Thanks!

[Assistant]
First, look at the purposes of camouflage on aircraft. In past and present years they had three different goals--disguise the aircraft on the ground, Disguise the aircraft in the air, or a scheme to make it difficult to judge an aircraft's distance away, speed, altitude, etc.  Green camo falls into the first category.

Green camo was common decades ago (WWII for example), In those eras most reconnaissance was still completed by aircraft and bombings were done based on visual recognition--green camo made it difficult to see aircraft on the ground.  Keep in mind that many of the airstrips of the time were simple and there weren't many hangers.  Modern grey camo is the best choice for aircraft today. We don't see blue sky everyday and grey has been found to be the best choice for all weather conditions.  In reality, camo matters far less today in an era of advanced radar, weaponry, and GPS.


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

[User] Mars rover Opportunity was built to last 90 days, and lasted 15 years. Voyager aircrafts were built for five year mission and lasted 41 years. Please explain if these crafts were over-designed or Nasa just got lucky?

[Assistant] Suppose they built it so that they could estimate the rover had a 1 in 1000 chance of failing by the 90th day - basically a guarantee (99.99% chance of making it 90 days). With that probability of failure, the chances of making it to the 5000th day would be something like 94.6%, so it's basically just a consequence of making that 90 day target as absolutely solid as they could.


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

[User] ELI5:If galaxies are moving away from each other at tremendous speed, why are the Andromeda galaxy and Milky Way about to collide?

[Assistant]
Dark Energy is expanding the universe, but the rate it expands is greater the longer the distance is.
On the universal scale, Andromeda and the Milky Way are quite close together. There isn't enough distance for Dark Energy to overcome the  force of gravity for now.
Scientist estimate that every second, each megaparsec (~3million light years) grows about 46 miles. Andromeda is .78 megaparsecs away.  Gravity is pulling out two galaxies together at 68 mi/s. As Andromeda gets closer the speed of approach will increase while the rate of expansion will decrease (because the distance is decreasing).


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

[User] ELI5: Why does it hurt so much to do things like fasten a lid or turn a tap when your fingers are very cold, when it doesnt hurt to do those things if your fingers are normal temperature?

[Assistant]
Your body does not like being cold.  So that's one thing that sucks.
You're also applying some pressure and that also sucks a bit.
Being cold is one unit of suck.  Pushing really hard with your fingertips is a second unit of suck.  But those 2 units of suck end up sucking more than a single thing that has 2 units of suck on its own.


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

[User]
ELI5: Where does the first person each season catch the flu from?

I know the flu is seasonal (influenza flu) - but it HAS to start somewhere each season. Where does that unlucky person catch it? As I understand it, the virus doesn't live too long outside of a human.

[Assistant]
The flu is always going around.  During the summer months, if someone with the flu sneezes outside, the flu virus sprays out from their nose and mouth, and then floats down to the grass where it doesn't get transferred to anyone.

During winter months (flu season), the same sneeze happens in doors where other people come in contact with it, contract the flu and then proceed to spread it further.

tl;dr - the flu virus is always out there spreading, it's just during flu season that humans conduct activities more conducive to spreading the virus.


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

[User]
[What Women Want] How would the ability to read the opposite sex's mind be affected by someone that has gone through a sex change?

So say Nick had passed someone that was born a man but has since become a woman could he read her mind? What about a woman that became a man?

[Assistant] It depends on the nature of the mind control. If it was hormonal that'd be easy. Anyone with higher levels of estrogen he could read the minds of. If it's magical in the sense that you feel as though you're a woman, then anyone who considers themselves a woman could have their mind read.


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

[User]
ELI5: What is a "Layer 7 DDOS attack"?

I understand the basic premise of a DDOS attack (a huge amount of computers/servers make massive amounts of request to one server and/or PC). But when I was reading about the attacks against voat.co they kept reffering to it as a "Layer 7 attack". I'm just wondering what the specifics on that are.

[Assistant]
To really **ELI5**... Imagine your whole class wants to prevent the teacher from getting work done, so you band together to ruin his/her day. You have some different options:

1. Bang pots and pans and turn out the lights.
2. Hum music or play the kazoo while wearing a mask.
3. Babble nonsense streams of syllables and make silly faces.
4. Continually interrupt and try to talk over one-another.
5. You sit at your desk, politely say "excuse me, Teacher?" and raise your hand... But when called on you pretend nothing happened. If the teacher asks you a question, you start answering and then pretend to fall asleep.
6. You act normally, except you speak entirely in an unintelligibly thick accent.
7. You ask lots of understandable questions for answers you don't care about. If the teacher asks you a question, you give an answer which is understandable but useless, like: "It depends... On... the stuff."

The exact numbers blur together, but as you go to higher numbers on the scale, it takes more time and effort from you... but it also becomes harder for the teacher to clearly identify (and unarguably punish) you for your disruption.


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

[User] ELI5: What causes a song to be stuck in ones head?

[Assistant] Ooh...I kinda know this one! Read a study that neurons in your memory cortex are firing when they hear a song. Basically, your mind is trying to connect the memory from beginning to the end of the song, so it keeps repeating it over and over, trying to find the end. Theory is, if you listen to the song stuck in your head to the end, the "loop" is completed, and your brain will move on.


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

[User]
ELI5: the financial term "total cost of ownership" as opposed to say, buying and running costs

Financial experts of reddit: I think I understand the usefulness of TCO (total cost of ownership) but I'm at a loss when asked to explain it. Most people I know prefer buying or running costs as for appliances but I don't see how to persuade them that TCO will give a better overall picture. Or doesn't it?

[Assistant]
well...

Theres several things you have to take in to account.

It depends if its something you plan to trow away or resell after youre done using, what it consumes while operating, if you have to get additional services for it.

Lets say a car

You buy a car for 25,000 dollars,

So you fill the tank (40 bucks) once a week, thats $2040 a year.
Insurance thats around 1000 a year,
mechanical service/oil changes/wheel change around another 500 a year.

you keep it for 5 years so its 3540 x5 thats 17700 dollars. but you sell the car on for 10,000 dollars,

So total cost of ownership over the 5 years was the price of the car plus the price of running costs with the resale price deducted.

So over 5 years the car costed you (25000 + 17700) - 10000,

total cost of ownership was 32700.

but lets say a TV,

You get a 37" TV for 400 bucks, the TV consumes 50 bucks of electricity a year, you keep the TV for 4 years, and then sell it for 150 bucks,

TV cost + Running cost - sale price.
(400 + 200) - 150, the total cost of owning that TV was 450 bucks.


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

[User] [Generic Vampires] Why don't vampire hunters ever drink holy water?

[Assistant]
Drinking holy water is actually a pretty normal thing. Some branches of Christianity say that pious individuals should drink a cup of it every morning.

Mind you, however, that holy water has salt in it. Depending on how much salt was added, drinking that and *only* that could be bad for your health. There are also health issues, due to how 'public' your typical holy water fount is. Lots of people have dipped their hands in it and the like. The holy water being dirty doesn't make it less holy, but it *can* be desanctified if it's nasty enough.

But say you're buddies with a priest and he's blessed the gallons of water in your portable potable tank. He still has to add salt, of course. But what happens after you drink it? The blessing of the holy water, God's blessing, is transferred to your soul, not your body. It ceases to be holy water and turns into plain water, while your soul receives the blessings it once carried. Unfortunately for you, Hunter, just because your soul is blessed, it doesn't mean a vampire can't drain your body of its precious bodily fluids.

As for garlic water, you're already diffusing the benefits of the garlic by mixing it into water. You'd be better off just eating a clove or two raw. And even then, the garlic would break down swiftly in your body.


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

[User]
ELI5: a small leaf pile will destroy the grass underneath it quickly, but an even thicker snow pile that lasts for months throughout the winter seems to have no effect. Why?

Editing just to say thanks to everyone who has contributed. The responses make perfect sense!

[Assistant]
A few things,

In cold temps, plants go into hibernation mode. It uses the energy it stored up to ride out the covering of snow.

Also leaves are highly acidic. To many in a given area will change the properties of the soil.

Finally, is the leaf still living?
Fresh leaves still absorb sunlight, even off the tree!


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

[User] How do Maxwell's equations prove that electromagnetic waves are light?

[Assistant]
Initially, Maxwell conjectured that, since Maxwell's Equations predict waves that move at the speed of light, light waves might be electromagnetic waves.

However, once you make that connection, then you can test it, and see if light interacts with charges as it should if it is an electromagnetic wave.  In this way, you can indeed verify that light waves are electromagnetic waves.  You can study how charges will produce electromagnetic waves and then check that in those situations in which those waves have the right frequencies, you see light.  You can see what properties cause electromagnetic waves to be reflected, transmitted, or scattered, and by how much, and then show that light waves reflect, transmit, and scatter in exactly these situations by the right amount.  In this way, you can demonstrate that light is, indeed, electromagnetic radiation.


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

[User]
Ultimate noob question. Can I program/compile with a shit 150 dollar laptop? Are there online compilers so I can actually run programs?

I mostly want to write math programs.

[Assistant]
Yes, you can. Simple programs are not resource intensive most of the time.

Depending on what math you want to do, it will just take longer or shorter to complete a calculation. But you don't really have anything to worry about, $150 laptop is fine.

Online compilers are a pain in the ass, but they exist.


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

[User] [star trek] why did kirk and crew have to travel back in time to bring a whale to the future when they could've used their advanced communication technology to create a whale translator and communicate with he alien craft?

[Assistant]
Kirk actually asks Spock after being pitched the plan to go get some whales. He asks, "Could the humpbacks' answer to this probe be duplicated technologically?"

Spock answers, "The sounds, but not the language. We would be responding in gibberish."

The problem is that they dont know the humpback language at all, so the universal translator wont work.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Why dont anti heroes like Deadpool and Wolverine be jailed for their murders?

Why dont Marvels anti heroes be jailed for killing those who werent deserving or were.

For example, the multiple killings Deadpool did in his 2016 movie. Logan killing those thugs at the start of his 2017 movie.

[Assistant] Generally speaking, antiheroes are violating the law and police and heroes will try to stop them. The antiheroes are just able to fight off the police or escape prison etc. In darker stories, it's also possible that the government turns a blind eye to it because it's convenient for the villains to get killed, but the government doesn't have enough evidence to legally arrest and convict them.


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

[User]
Eli5 How the value of a nation's currency is determined?

Like why can't some country say something like "our country's currency value will be 200 times that of US dollars " . And who determines this value or how it is determined. And why it constantly changes.

[Assistant]
\> "our country's currency value will be 200 times that of US dollars "

They do. This is called "pegging" and is a fairly common practice. However, it does come with risks: if the currency you're pegging to changes in value in a way that's harmful to your economy, there's not much you can do about it.


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

[User] Eli5: What happens to a childs schoolwork when they have to go to juvie, rehab, mental hospital, etc.?

[Assistant] Most schools will send your school work to you and you will do it at the hospital/facility. But if you are incapable of even doing that then you will have to repeat the school year once you are capable.


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

[User]
ELI5: What's the difference between lager, ale, stout etc?

When you go to a bar there are always lots of different drafts and bottles of beer. What makes them all different?

[Assistant]
Starting with the "beer" category, you have two kinds: Ales and Lagers, which are the two types of fermenting yeast. Ales are fermented warm,  the yeast sits on top, and it happens in a matter of days; Lagers are a relatively new (past couple hundred years) type of yeast that ferments cold, on the bottom of the fermenter, and takes weeks.

Lagers are typically (though not always!) a lighter style, like Budweiser, Carlsberg (the scientific name for lager yeast is actually "Saccharomyces carlsbergensis"), and so on while Ales have a more complex range of outcomes.

Now getting to the next categorizations, you have a few within each Lager and Ale. Lager has fewer - generally you're looking at a pale lager like a Budweiser, but there are also black lagers and a bunch of pale types like Helles. Within ales, you have stouts, porters, amber ales, golden ales, list goes on.

To help explain these categorizations, it's helpful to understand what makes one beer taste different from another. There are generally 4 or 5 ingredients to beer: Water, Malt (Barley, wheat, etc.), yeast, hops, and in some other beers a cheap source of fermentable sugar like Rice or Corn (e.g., in Budweiser it's rice).

Malt gives the beer its color. Caramel and Crystal malt, the pale kinds, aren't roasted very long and end up with golden and amber colored beer. More roasting means darker, which end up in ruby, brown, black beers. Malt gives beer flavors like chocolate, coffee, sweetness. Hops are what gives beer its bitterness and much of its aroma, and flavors like citrus. It's the combination of malts and hops that end up dictating style.

Stouts, as you can probably guess, are ales, dark malts, and the hops vary depending on what sweet/bitter balance the brewer is going for. Pale lagers are lagers, light malts, light hops. Amber ale is medium roasted, often lots of hops. Hefeweizen is wheat malt, an ale, a bit of hopping. So, you can see where this is going. Some other brews will have other ingredients like fruit, and some brews like Lambics will have weird wild yeast, but this should help you distinguish when you're at a pub.

tl;dr: The "ale / lager" distinction is settled by the type of yeast, the style within ale / lager is dictated by malt type/treatment and the hop character.


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

[User] Why does water damage electronics?

[Assistant] Pure water doesnt. Its the impurities dissolved in tap water that make it conductive, meaning it can create paths for electricity that bypass the intended pathways. This can damage ICs and other sensitive components.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why don't different kinds of birds reproduce and create "mixed breeds" like dogs?

Why aren't there finch-pigeons and crowbins?

[Assistant] Dogs are all the same species.   Two random birds of different species are very unlikely to be compatible.  Their mating rituals don't match up, eggs aren't viable due to X or Y or Z, mismatched number of chromosomes - there are a lot of things that can go wrong there, and they've had millions of years to accumulate such differences.  Dogs, on the other hand, were all wolves quite recently in comparison, and look much more different than they actually are genetically.


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

[User]
Why do sockeye salmon rot, while still alive, during their trip upriver to spawn?

I'm watching an episode of Monster Fish, and they briefly touched on it, but didn't really give any explanation for it. Just that the salmon "undergo a dramatic change" during their trip upriver, and the flesh literally rots off of them by the time they're done.

Why does this happen? And does it provide some kind of an evolutionary advantage?

[Assistant]
Pacific Salmon go on a one way trip to spawn. Once they start upstream they stop eating, but still need large amounts of energy to get up those turbulent cataracts. That energy has to come from somewhere, so their bodies strip off the body fat and starts to eat itself from within to supply the body with nutrients to complete the swim and spawning. Then, body spent, they die and add nutrients to the stream ecosystem, and bears.

The advantage is that it gives them enough energy to get to the safe spawning zones so they can spawn wee baby salmon, once theyve done that they have no further use.


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

[User] Would holding in your urine longer than was comfortable, when repeated over an extended period of time, stretch the bladder and make you have to urinate less often?

[Assistant] Yes it will stretch the bladder allowingyou to go longer between bathroom breaks. Though it will eventually lead to incontinence due to over stretching of the muscle tissue that makes up your bladder.


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

[User] ELI5: What triggers the intense coughing when cleaning your ears with Q-Tips?

[Assistant] You have something call "Arnolds nerve" in your ear which is connected to the "Vagus nerve". The Vagus controls important stuff like coughing and breathing. When you touch the inside of your ear the Arnolds nerve sends a signal which sometimes the Vagus misinterprets. Instead of telling your brain that you have something in your ear it tells your brain that you have something in your throat. When your brain hears that it starts coughing to remove the nonexistent throat object.


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

[User]
What would happen if a positron encountered a negative muon?

 As is common knowledge among the physics community when positrons encounter electrons they mutually annihilate each other into two high-energy gamma rays. Though what would happen if a positron encountered a negatively charged muon? Seeing as though they have opposite charges you would expect the same result. However, what would be leftover looking at how the muon is 207 times more massive than an electron? Would the new particle only be 206 times "heavier" than an electron? Would it now have a neutral charge? Would the particle still be short-lived and unstable like ordinary muons? If yes, what particle would it decay into? Why?

[Assistant]
Having opposite charges is not enough for two particles to annihilate, they have to be *each others* antiparticle. You cant have annihilations between positrons and muons.

So what happens when they interact? Theres lots of possibilities, depending on the available energy. They could just scatter elastically, or at higher energies, all sorts of particles could be produced. B not annihilation.


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

[User]
[The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells] How long did the Martian invaders actually take to reach the Earth?

Im listening to the audiobook of the factual account of the Martian invasion of 1907 in my spare time, and theres something Ive always wondered, as its rather cryptic in the pamphlets.

Just how long was the Martians journey to our planet all those years ago? When exactly did they launch? How long did they take to get here? A matter of weeks? Months? Years? Its not clear, at least to me.

[Assistant] It takes the Martians a few months.  We don't know the exact amount of month, but it's "a few".  The opening of the novel where they go to the observatory and see the explosions on Mars are the Martians firing their cylinders to Earth - it's probable that they were doing space-travel through giant cannons a la Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon.  Then an unspecified number of months later, the cylinders arrive on Earth.


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

[User]
What do the colors in space photos represent and what do they really look like to the naked eye?

This might be a dumb question, but I know that a lot of if not all beautiful pictures of space are artificially colored to represent different data. So what exactly do the different colors mean? (For example a real color approximation of Pluto is mostly brown, but a common version features large areas of vibrant reds and blues) more specifically what would various nebulas look like to the human eye? Photos of them are stunning, but if we were there in person would it just look like void empty space?

[Assistant]
Depends on the picture. Some are what we would see of course, but others have a colour assigned to a certain frequency or group of frequencies, eg blue for xray red for radio, all combined into one image. Still others may all be false colour from one group of frequencies, eg false colour infrared.

The colours represent frequencies of light, exactly how the normal colours we see work, only of course these colours are false since we are assigning a colour to a frequency we otherwise wouldn't see. You can also  have a grey scale image which would show different intensity of frequencies, but obviously all the same colour.

Frequencies of light is what they represent. Of light we cannot (edit: mostly cannot) see with our eyes.


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

[User]
[SPIDERMAN] Why is Spider-man's suit red and blue?

Red and blue has nothing to do with spiders and would not be colours that i think of when designing a suit associated with spiders? What does the colours symbolise?

[Assistant]
Spider-man first designed his suit to be a wrestler and at the time "loud" suits were the thing for wrestlers, when he became a superhero he just kept the suit.

Alternatively, he's poor and those were the cheapest colours.


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

[User]
[Batman Arkham City] What happens to the Joker men in the steel mill after the big fight?

During the fight with the fake Joker in the steel mill, he orders in dozens upon dozens of thugs to assist including Mr. Hammer and a Titan thug. Batman has to knock all them unconscious or incapacitated. Tyger forces them bomb the roof of the steel mill. Shouldn't the floor of the fight area be just covered in crushed bodies of the unconscious inmates? Mr. Hammer does make it out but we can assume he's a lot more durable and less "knocked out", allowing him to make it out, but what about the rest? Why are their bodies missing in the cutscene?

[Assistant] Batman's code against killing presumably also includes permanent brain damage. If he's not hitting them hard enough for brain damage, they won't stay down for long (unless Batman's still there and they know what's good for them). Maybe they all managed to get out.


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

[User] [MARVEL] if spiderman got hit with the same chemicals that blinded daredevil, will it enhance his spider-sense and to what degree?

[Assistant]
Probably not. Daredevil doesn't display anything like Spider Sense, and Parker's precognition is based on his connection to the "web of life," not enhanced senses.

In the MCU, on the other hand, his Peter Tingle *is* based on enhanced senses. However, he has to wear sensory-dampening gear in order to prevent his senses from overwhelming him. Being hit with Daredevil-level sensory information would probably leave him a quivering heap on the floor.

He'd likely learn to adapt, but at least on the offset having senses like Matt Murdock would be a hindrance to Parker, not an aid.


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

[User]
Are most arguments just an appeal to authority?

I've notice that almost all debate, whether it's on You Tube, reddit, or in person, all revolve around simply appealing to authority.  Well, that is how it seems to me.

For instance, if someone told me that the sun does *not* produce radiation, I really don't know how I could prove them wrong.

I would just tell them to google it, or read the facts out of a science book.  But the truth is...I really don't know anything about radiation, other than what I have read.  And I have never tested any of it.  And even if I did, I probably wouldn't even know if I was doing the test correctly.

I realize that is pretty much the way it is with not only almost all of my beliefs, but mostly everyone else's too.  People will argue for hours on topics that none of them have ever had any direct contact or knowledge of.  This is what I would say 99% of discussions I see are like.

If someone asked me if evolution was true, I would say yes, I believe it is.  If they asked me why, or asked me to prove it...all I can do is just appeal to the authorities on it.  I really have no idea myself.

[Assistant]
Appeals to authority are only fallacious when the authority in question isn't related to the issue. A lot of folk reference Morgan Freeman when it comes to ending racism but he isn't really an authority on what is a multi-faceted issue better answered by sociologists.

Or taking the word of a neurologist on ethical issues over that of an ethicist.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why are rhythm games more popular in Japan than in America?

Sure we get a few popular games like rock band and guitar hero, but most rhythm games seem to be made in japan. For example, DDR, Sound Voltex, Mai Mai, Taiko, beatmania, In The Groove, and many more all originated in japan, and are so hard to find in arcades in the U.S. The only one you're likely to see is DDR, but not much else. Why do these games seem to be more popular in the east than the west?

[Assistant] Arcade culture is a big deal in Japan. One of the reasons is Japanese kids go to arcades to socialise a lot more than American kids do. Japanese arcades are sometimes 10 story buildings, filled with games of every type. Usually there's at least one entire floor devoted to dance/rhythm games. People that live in Japanese cities tend to have small apartments, so, it's hard to have all your friends over to play games, they go play at the arcades. Dance/rhythm games are a social thing and the Japanese take it very seriously whereas in a lot of other developed countries, arcades have died out, yes they still exist but nothing like the scale of what you find in Tokyo. I've been lucky enough to visit quite a few countries, Arcades in Tokyo are amazing. They even let you smoke and drink. Japan is awesome.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] What happens when one who anchored his soul using Horcruxes gets kissed by a Dementor?

Horcruxes prevent the "main" soul from leaving the world by anchoring it with small slivers of it bound to objects.

Now what happens if the main soul ends up in a dementor? For that matter, (and to bring out the fridge horror), does a dementor really kill someone? They take the soul, everyone knows that, but what do they do with it? They could very well stay in the dementor forever never to leave for the afterlife as far as we know.

[Assistant]
I *hope* that a Kissed person's soul isn't destroyed or prevented from entering the afterlife, or dismantling the Ministry and making sure nobody ever got Kissed would be a priority far above taking down Voldemort.

If so, the soul would just be disembodied, the same as if the body had been hit with a Killing Curse.


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

[User]
ELI5: How is it that mucus can build up in your lungs and not cause you to drown?

It's probably a question for one of the many medical subs but I'm no doctor, and need "laymen accessible" responses.

Edit: I have a second question, (I'll make a new post if I have to.) Why does it seem like excessive or violent coughing damages your throat?

Edit 2: Thanks for all the help everyone!

[Assistant] Actually you can. Pneumonia is the build up of fluid that can cause death and it would be technically drowning. Humans are tougher than we think though, we can survive on only part of our lungs and it might just be enough to survive until we can get healthy again.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does seeing other people vomit make us want to vomit?

[Assistant]
The evolutionary advantage of "contagious vomit" is that in a group of people if someone got sick from something, it was likely others would to.  So...first person eats something poisonous or that has gone bad and makes you ill, then others wold get it out of their system _early_, rather than wait until genuine symptoms produced their own vomit.

It's _likely_ that this reaction was advantageous and increased likelihood of surviving as a trait - it would certainly prevent certain kinds of toxic materials from taking out an entire village if getting it out of your stomach early increased likelihood of survival.


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

[User] [The Boys] How much money does The Seven make?

[Assistant] In-universe, they're franchise-leading megastars. Their initial contracts probably don't pay all that much (although still enough to dazzle a hopeful young superhuman new to the industry); those who stay famous long enough to renegotiate, like the Homelander, probably have Robert Downey Jr returning as Iron Man-level "just part the truckloads of cash round back" salaries.


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

[User] ELI5: If both people are on speakerphone during a video/phone call, how does the technology prevent each person from hearing their own voice being broadcasted from the other person's device?

[Assistant] it's called *echo cancellation* and one such method is to employ cross-correlation filtering.  This is where you take two (or more) streams of audio and apply a correlation filter (basically seeing where they match) and subtracting out what is filtered (e.g. subtract out the echo coming back).


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

[User]
[The Village] What was the plan once the elders were too old to keep pretending and their kids were old enough to continue the tradition to the next generation?

What was the point of creating the Village anyways, couldn't they just move with the amish?

[Assistant]
The village is just an even more extreme version of a cult compound.  These usually collapse after the death of the founder.  The only way for them to continue after that is for the founders to induct a few children into the truth, and convince them to carry on the traditions of the elders.  This was probably their plan, they just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

The elders are portrayed as having benevolent motives in the movie, but this is mostly because the movie takes great pains to show everything from their point of view, and nobody portrays themself as being a villain.  From an outsider's point of view, the village elders are totalitarian nutjobs who want absolute control over their children's lives,  and can't bring themselves to confront the reality that they will eventually die, and therefore no longer be in control.


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

[User]
[Dragonball / Z] How come everyone forgot about Goku and his actions in Dragonball?

Like, why does everyone think energy is a trick by the time Hercule is famous? He won the World Tournament no more than 10 years after Goku defeated Piccolo and they both used powerful energy techniques, I can't recall if it was televised. Plus old King Piccolo was the first major villain to have attacks that could threaten a city and no one except the announcer dude remembered by the Buu Saga. Videl said she had to look Goku up. I thought Master Roshi and Master Crane were world famous. Makes no sense.

[Assistant]
The World Tournaments were not at the forefront of mainstream culture. Martial artists knew who Crane and Roshi were and who had won recent tournaments, but the average person, not so much. Mr Satan was famous not because he won the tournament, but because he's a skilled self promoter. His championship was the springboard he used, but he's far better known than other winners.

For an example for our world, I'd hold up the governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was able to use his Mr Universe championship as a launching pad to become famous. You could go anywhere in the world and find people who know him today, but how many other Mr. Universe winners could the average person name? Schwarzenegger was a hustler (in the best sense of the term) and able to use his victory as a selling point, but it's not what made him a household name on its own.


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

[User]
ELI5: How did climate change and conservation become such a political issue?

Shouldn't the environment be something everyone cares about?

[Assistant]
Unlike other "scientific debates" the impacts of climate change are heavily dispersed, unequal, and most importantly, methods to reduce the rate of climate change are extraordinarily expensive. Major oil corporations still employ hundreds of thousands of workers and have revenues that are larger than many countries. Policies that curb emissions, place quotas or enforce regulatory plans cost those firms, and a credible argument could be made that they also cost jobs.

Politicians in states where many of these jobs are located (Texas, Oklahoma) need to serve their constituents to be reelected and that means protecting fossil fuels. Politicians in New York or Oregon don't have the same priorities, and thus the political debate.

In contrast, anti-science movements such as the anti-vaccine groups not only lack scientific studies and money on their side, but vaccines also protect people in every state. There aren't enough anti-vaxxers voting.

Tl;dr It isn't about climate change per se, it's about politicians doing more or less what their constituents believe is necessary to protect their economy. If that means denying science to feel better about it, then so be it.


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

[User] [Skyrim] It seems that most people in Skyrim, including just about the entire population of Windhelm, knows that Aventus Aretino is trying to summon the Dark Brotherhood. Why hasn't the Windhelm Guard intervened yet and arrest him for trying to contact an Assassins' Guild?

[Assistant]
The dark brotherhood? Assassins' Guild?

Hah, that's just a scary story mothers tell children when they want them to go to bed. Or a story evil orphanage proprietors tell the orphans to make them behave.

No one really believes in such a thing. A guild of master assassins who come to you if you pray to them? Its laughable really.

Just a child being silly.


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

[User]
ELI5: If our cells are constantly replicating, how do we age and die?

Like how we always shed dead skin, yet we grow more to replace it..

[Assistant] Imagine --- that --- these --- words --- represent --- genetic --- information. Whenever --- your --- chromosomes --- replicate --- they --- often --- get --- shortened --- just --- a --- little --- bit. To --- protect --- your --- genetic --- integrity --- these --- chromosomes --- have --- buffers --- on --- their --- ends --- which --- can --- be --- shortened ---- without --- harm. Eventually --- these --- buffers --- (telomeres) --- get --- depleted --- and --- your --- chromosomes --- finally --- start --- suffering --- damage. Now --- you --- have --- a --- problem.


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

[User]
ELI5: What's so bad about allergens that your body would rather kill you than let them enter?

I know allergies are really common, but I don't quite understand what's so bad about pollen, peanuts, etc. that you body would rather shut down your airways entirely than let them enter. What exactly would happen if they did get in?

[Assistant]
Your body has defenses against stuff. In the most simplistic terms: first it identifies a threat, then it takes it out.

Stuff enters your body all the time. Sometimes it's food, sometimes it's viruses, sometimes it's bacteria, sometimes it's mold, sometimes it's cancer cells, sometimes it's other junk like dust or fiber or pollen.

When harmful stuff gets in, and it starts damaging your system, the white blood cells get to work destroying it. Some set things on fire (histamine and inflammation) and call in the troops. Some assassinate the cells that are harboring the baddies. Some eat the baddies up (macrophages).

**Your immune system finds out what's a threat through trial and error.**

Often this is good - the flu builds a home in your cells, then you build antibodies to the flu to wipe it out and your system remembers what the flu looks like to mount a response again later before it gets too cozy.

Sometimes this process goes awry - pollen, food proteins, or your own cells can look like threats and set off the white blood cells to come destroy everything to get rid of it.

The histamine response is basically locally setting everything on fire when a threat is detected. Great for wiping out bacteria and viruses. Awful when it's something stupid like pollen or tree nuts (allergies) or your own cells (autoimmune disease). But your immune system, as effective as it is, doesn't know the difference.


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

[User] [Little Mermaid] What's that little lip around where Ariel's tail meets her body? Doesn't it impair her hydrodynamics?

[Assistant] They are some kind of pelvic fins. They provide powered corrective forces and help fish to balance, keep level, and prevent rolling from side to side. Ariel's pelvic fins probably have a similar function.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why humans are relatively hairless?

What happened in the evolution somewhere along the line that we lost all our hair? Monkeys and neanderthals were nearly covered in hair, why did we lose it except it some places?

Bonus question: Why did we keep the certain places we do have? What do eyebrows and head hair do for us and why have we had them for so long?

Wouldn't having hair/fur be a pretty significant advantage? We wouldnt have to worry about buying a fur coat for winter.

-

edit: thanks for the responses guys!

-

edit2: what the actual **** did i actually hit front page while i watched the super bowl

-

edit3: *stop telling me we have the same number of follicles as chimps, that doesn't answer my question and you know it*

[Assistant] Hairlessness allows us to regulate our body heat more easily. One of the main advantages humans have over other animals is our ability to run long distances, and hunt animals by tiring them out. If we were covered in fur, we would simply heat up too quickly and not be able to run for long.


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

[User] Is Listerine's burning sensation indicative of actual cleaning, or is it just there to make you think "Wow this must really be working", when in fact the burning has no functional use?

[Assistant] The burning sensation is due to ethanol and other disinfectants that clean. However, in the past many companies have released mouthwashes that are just as effective as listerine but do not have the burning sensation. They all failed because people did not believe they worked as well. So, to answer your question... yes.


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

[User]
[MCU] What if Thor had Stormbreaker in the first Avengers movie?

How would the events of the first Avenges movie have changed if Thor had Stormbreaker by this time?

[Assistant]
He would've grabbed Loki from the Quinjet then used the Bifrost to zap back to Asgard.  Odin would add the Mind Stone from Loki's scepter to his treasure room.

Tony, Cap, and Natasha would be left scratching their heads.

Later, Clint would show up to attack the helicarrier, not knowing his mind-controlling boss was gone.  He'd be captured and returned to normal.

Then Tony would get notice that his building's security picked up Eric Selvig trying to smuggle a device to his roof.  The Tesseract would be recaptured by SHIELD.

The pre-Avengers team would all go their separate ways.  Phil Coulson would continue to work his way up through the ranks of SHIELD until being cut down when HYDRA took over.  Sky Johnson would be apprehended for infiltrating secure government servers and wind up with a criminal record.

A faction of HYDRA would use the Tesseract to finally retrieve Hive from Maveth, ushering in the Age of Inhumans.  Millions die.  An undercover, on-the-run Nick Fury would reactivate the Avengers to battle the threat.


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

[User]
[General] What happens to an immortal with normal durability if he is passed through an incinerator?

To clarify, he can take damage like getting stabbed in the heart, but he won't die from that damage.

[Assistant]
Depends on his regenerative capabilities. If he's not capable of regenerating injuries beyond the same degree a regular human is - ie, he's only surviving a knife through the heart because he can't actually die - then presumably he'd lose consciousness and burn until he's ash.

If he's magically capable of regenerating from something like that, he should be okay.


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

[User] ELI5: If electrons and protons are oppositely charged, why aren't they attracted to each other in the nucleus of the atom?

[Assistant]
Electron degeneracy pressure and the pauli exclusion principle. The force of this is greater than the electromgnetic force.
Two fermions cant occupy the same quantum state, unless gravity overcomes this as in a nuetron star.

ELI5

eseentially the force attracting protons and electrons is weaker than one that is keeping them apart. Think of it like an airplane- how can it fly if gravity is attracting it. Well the force of lift is overcoming the force of gravity. No different with electrons and protons.


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

[User]
ELI5 Why is eating enough protein considered to be crucial in order to build muscle as human while a lot of animals with huge muscles in fact don't eat any protein?

Depending on the source you are being told that you need to eat 1.5 to 2 grams if protein per kg of body weight / 0.8 - 1grams of protein per lbs of bodyweight. Protein sources are meat, fish, nuts and oats and milk and it's products.

Now have a look at elephants, rhinos and even gorillas as they are somewhat similar to human. They eat grass, plants and fruits. This nutrition provides little to zero protein. How can these animals maintain and even build their muscles?

[Assistant]
Protein and the building blocks of protein exist in plants, but human tummys are not super efficient at acquiring them. We also can't eat a lot of food without getting sick. Herbivores have digestive systems that are designed to breakdown plant material and are much better at acquiring those nutrients than we can. This is why cows have several stomachs and herbivores have longer small intestines than carnivores. They also eat a far larger volume of vegetation than what humans could manage.

On top of that, most herbivores will actually eat meat when they can get it.


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

[User]
What is the real reason that are there no snakes in Ireland?

A question in honour of St. Patrick's day: As an Irish person I've often wondered why we don't have snakes here, while they seem to exist in the UK and even in more northerly European latitudes. What is the real reason there are no native snake species on the island?

[Assistant] They were wiped out during the ice ages, and never managed to recolonize across the ocean to Ireland.    The rest of Britain was connected to the mainland for a little while after the retreat of the glaciers.


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

[User]
ELI5 : Why do people in the US use the term "African American" when they mean black people ?

There are white african americans, and not all black people are actually originally from Africa.
I've actually heard Americans visiting my country use the term "african americans" when they meant black people in *my* country and everyone in the conversation was puzzled on how people can get it so twisted.

ELI5 : if white people are white, why are black people "african americans" ?

[Assistant]
In the 60s and 70s during our civil rights movement here in the US blacks as a whole, or at least the vocal civil rights activist decided that "black" was too close to the pejorative "colored" and so decided that the politically correct ethnic term they wanted to use was "African-American".

And save for the Aborigines of Australia and a few of Polynesian island natives all blacks do trace their lineage to Africa. Particularly those here in the US. But because of slavery African-Americans cannot trace their ethnic groups to specific tribal/ethnic groups like whites can (Italian-American, Irish-American, German-American) so they chose to refer to the continent of origin.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are motorcycle transmissions designed with first gear down and the rest up so that you pass neutral going from first to second and when downshifting from second to first?

Is there something inherently beneficial in this design or is it more of a holdover from old designs?

[Assistant]
It's easy to lose track of what gear you're in, so when you come to a stop you just keep mashing the shifter down until it won't go any more. Then you know you're in first.

It would also be dangerous to put neutral in the bottom-most position, because again, if you lose track of what gear you're in, you can end up in neutral when you really need to be in gear (such as a vehicle approaching from behind about to rear-end you).

It's also important to note that neutral is a half-step. So shifting up form 1 to 2 is easy if you use the full travel of the shifter. You have to deliberately make a half-shift to get from 1 or 2 to neutral\*.

\* Kawasaki transmissions have a Positive Neutral Finder, when you are stopped you can do a full upshift and it will lock you into neutral and not let you go into 2.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why don't Jedi use their powers in unison more often?

Jedi and Sith have been shown to be able to work together to a certain degree by combining different force powers, or the same powers to more devastating effects.

In the Darth Bane trilogy, several Dark Lords working together were able to strip the life from a planet via the Thought Bomb.

In Clone Wars, Anakin, Yoda and Ashoka work together to find force sensitive children before they can be kidnapped.

So, why don't Jedi use their powers together more often in combat situations? I imagine that if the Jedi had been using their powers together on Geonosis, they'd have torn that arena to shreds, along with a majority of the droid army.

According to Wookiepedia, the Geonosis Strike Team consisted of 212 Jedi of varying degrees of skill, but evidently competent enough to be put in such a dangerous situation. Surely, that number of Jedi in one place would be devastating for any army, and they should be ripping ships out of orbit with that amount of accumulated strength, right?

[Assistant] The Jedi do not use their powers like the Sith do, and there is your first mistake.  Jedi often use there powers in concert with one another, but not in an offensive matter like the Brotherhood of Darkness' thought bomb.  Instead, Jedi use the force to manipulate the world around them for the purpose of ***preserving natural life***, as seen by Anakin, Yoda, and Ashoka's work in finding and saving the force sensative children in TCW.


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

[User]
ELI5: How did chopsticks become the primary eating utensil in Asian cultures?

Thanks for the input!

[Assistant] >The first chopsticks were probably used for cooking, stirring the fire, serving or seizing bits of food, and not as eating utensils. Chopsticks began to be used as eating utensils during the Han Dynasty. Chopsticks were considered more lacquerware friendly than other sharp eating utensils. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that chopsticks came into normal use for both serving and eating. They then acquired the name kuaizi and the present shape.


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

[User] ELI5: Submarines dive by allowing water to expel air from their  tanks? How do they regain buoyancy in order to surface?

[Assistant] They have compressed air tanks on board (and compressors to refill them when they're at the surface) but these are generally for emergency use only. Subs have control surfaces similar to the wings on a plane and adjust these with forward propulsion in order to ascend in normal circumstances. When they approach the surface they then use their snorkel mast to suck in air in order to blow the water out of the ballast tanks allowing them remain buoyant even without forward propulsion.


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

[User]
Conducted my first lecture today. It did not go well

Im a TA and this term I am conducting classes for one of the intro lectures for first years. Its like a general knowledge module on my country (so we cover history, econ, politics etc).

I had my first independent lecture today on a topic Im not familiar with at all. And it was so bad. I couldnt pronounce a few names (it was on the origin of our language), my explanations were all over the place and I couldnt answer a question a student had (I did answer it later though). I found out the topic yesterday so I didnt have enough time to prepare.

Im not sure how to deal with this. This was their first impression of me and Im a little worried that Ill make things worse for them.

Was anyone ever in a similar situation? How do I recover from this?

[Assistant]
Oh, the first time standing in front of a class of students is hard!! You go in so confident, thinking you are prepared, and then as you begin you start seeing all the gaps, and then leave feeling so deflated.

It is actually one reason why getting students to teach each other concepts is a great learning tool.

It gets easier, you work on your gaps, you find your strengths (and play to them) etc etc.


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

[User]
[Halo] What are/were the Precursors?

The Forerunners knew us as Precursors. Those who came before. They believed we were born on the fringes of the Galaxy, deep within the Large Magellanic Cloud. They believe we seeded the galaxy with life, that we, in our inevitable passing bestowed upon them the Mantle of Responsibility. They do not understand.

Once, maybe, we were one. A primordial species reaching towards the stars. The first. Perhaps these first Precursors seeded their neighboring stars with life. Soon, these worlds too housed Precursors. Soon, these worlds too reached out to the cosmos.

We lived many lives, knew many forms. Some never escaped their own cradles, dying with their worlds as the eons wore on. Others continued the cycle, expanding, seeding, fading.

Then we discovered the Change that is Thought. The living mind of space time, the consciousness which drives all things. It became us, and we it. Thought is Change, Change is Creation, Creation is Thought.

We spread, we seeded, we created. It became our nature. Over billions of years we fostered countless species, countless worlds, even as our own cycle of seed and rebirth continued. We created the Forerunners. We seeded Earth.

The Forerunners could not understand. They did not bear the Mantle of Precursor. They thought the Mantle to be spiritual. They thought that we favored the budding Humans over them. It was not so. Humans were Precursor, Forerunners were not. They could never bear the Mantle which was Humanities by birthright.

The Forerunners rose against us. They brought destruction where we knew only creation. Our cycle shattered, humanity was left fragmented, unable to join the whole, unable to assume the Mantle of Precursor.

Some escaped. Some hid. Some became dust. Dust which could rebuild the forms we had taken in the past. But the dust became tainted. Tainted with fear, and misery and revenge. We found fear, and it was good. We found misery, and it was good. We found revenge, and it was good.

We returned. First to the Humans, still lost without their Mantle, then to the Forerunners.

Where first we brought Light and Hope and Diversity, now we brought Darkness, Misery, Unity.

Where we spread many through the cosmos, fostering the creation demanded by the Time that Thinks, now we bring oneness.

Blissful, agonizing, sacred unity.

We are Precursor, we are many. We are Flood, we are one.

[Assistant]
In a less... poetic vein... What were the precursors?

They were not a single species as we understand it, but rather a collective of species over many generations and billions of years. They would rise, seed new worlds, die, and rise again. Their 'many forms' were their various incarnations as they went through the repeated process of evolution on dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands of worlds throughout the Local Cluster.

At some point, they discovered the principals of Neural Physics and the living consciousness of Space Time. This led to their obsession with creation. It consumed them and became part of their nature. Through their own cycle of death and rebirth, they also created new species, fostering biodiversity across not only the Milky Way, but other nearby galaxies.

By the time the Forerunners came along, the Precursors had been doing this for, literally, billions of years. They had created what the Forerunners would later call the Domain, a vast repository of all their knowledge, so that their successor species could achieve their understanding and replace the current embodiment as Precursors. The Mantle isn't some sacred duty, but rather is literally the burden of BEING Precursor.

The Forerunners, however, didn't understand. They believed the Mantle was the responsibility to protect biodiversity. They didn't comprehend that creation was, to the Precursors, far more important than protection. They were static minded, prone to ritual and traditionalism. This is because they were not of the Precursor Seed.

The rising race of Humans, however, were. They were dynamic, intelligent, ever changing. They already bore the Mantle, as they were burgeoning Precursors, but the Forerunners didn't understand. They thought the Precursors had rejected them in favor of humanity, and they lashed out, determined to take the Mantle for themselves.

The Forerunners pursued the Precursors across the galaxy and into the Large Magellanic Cloud. To their knowledge, they totally wiped out the Precursors, then (with the exception of one colony) wiped the event from their racial memory.

But some Precursors survived. A few, determined to maintain the cycle, engineered themselves into a fine dust which would reshape a body into one of the many forms the Precursors had worn over the eons. But this dust was tainted by thoughts of revenge, of destruction. The dust became the Flood, and where the Precursors created, it knew only how to destroy.

Comments? Critiques?


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

[User] ELI5: Why does food reheated in the microwave seem to cool down faster than food fresh out of the oven, even when brought to a temperature too hot to eat?

[Assistant] Most microwaves heat food unevenly, so even though parts of the dish are heated to the point that they are too hot to eat, other areas are still relatively cool.  Much of the 'rapid cooling' of microwaved food is just redistribution of heat from the hot areas to the cool areas, while heat lost to the environment is comparable to an oven-cooked meal.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do the nerves on genitals produce pleasure when touched whereas those on other parts do not?

[Assistant]
The brain.  Everything is how the brain is wired to interpret it.  For the genitals certain types of touch will be interpreted by the brain as pleasurable....... but a different touch in the same area will be interpreted as painful.  It all depends on how the brain interprets it.

It's take that from the amount of pressure, whether you're turned on or not, the type of movement and so on and so on.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do new allergies develop?

How do people start developing allergic reactions to things they weren't previously allergic to?

[Assistant]
I was taught to think of the immune response like a police traffic stop.

An unknown protein is driving along, and gets pulled over by a police officer because it "doesn't quite look right". Everything is fine and the protein is allowed to continue. The officer files a report that they did the stop and this is put on the police computer.

That protein is seen again and when a police officer sees it, it sets off an alert because it had been stopped before. The police officer tries to stop it to see what is going on. The protein is allowed on its way, and another report is filed.

Later on, the protein is seen again. A police officer sees it, and sees that there have been several stops made, so he gets quite twitchy and stops it with even more force. It is allowed on its way as it is doing nothing wrong, and another report is filed.

The protein is seen again, there are huge red flags because of the amount of times it has been stopped and the level of force used when it has been stopped. an armed response unit is sent to stop it. Nothing amiss happened, so it is allowed on its way.

The next time it is seen, an armed response team is deployed again based on past stops, it is surrounded and forceful entry is effected damaging nearby structures as the police raid where the protein is to see what is going on and why it has so many markers against it.

The protein itself is doing no damage, but the immune response is having the negative effect on the body systems. The immune response increases with each exposure, leading to more damage on the systems.


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

[User]
[Ready Player One] With the Oasis shut down on Tuesdays and Thursdays, how am I supposed to survive?

Hello, Im a high school student attending school on Ludus while working part time as a vehicle repairman on Sobrukai. With the new rules, I just lost a lot of income and my entire schedule has been fucked up. I no longer have days off from school to work, and there are now two days of zero income. This is terrible. Now my family cant afford anything. I was providing for my whole damn family, but then Parzival had to take away the only stability this family had. My father has Alzheimers, so he cant work. What the fuck are we supposed to do? I cant get an irl job because those were already really rare prior to this stupid Oasis shutdown. Seriously, how the hell does Parzival expect us to survive? I bet IOI would have done a better job keeping my family alive.

[Assistant] Congrats! You've got until the shutdowns begin to learn how to work a physical trade. Since *everybody* will be out on their ass on T-days, there's going to be a *massive* upsurge in real-life services. Yes, demand for those jobs will be cataclysmically high, so you'd better start polishing that resum *pronto.*


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

[User]
[General Zombies] Some scientists have developed an injection that flat-out cures zombie-ism, but the apocalypse is in full swing and entire cities have been overrun. Is there any practical way to distribute this treatment? It's hard enough to corral one zombie, let alone a city's worth.

We're looking for suggestions here.  Wholesale slaughter of the zombies is completely off the table now that we have ready access to a cure, but we're at a loss as to how distribute this to the really big herds- you have to inject them one at a time. We're also not sure how to house people in recovery without those locations being overrun and reinfected. How do we get the most bang for our buck with this treatment?

Also, would it be worth the difficulty of trying to track down known infected VIPs so that we at least get them back on team human?

[Assistant]
Dart guns seems to be the most efficient. Unless you need very precise weight to dosage measurements, you can load the darts up with a dose that should cure just about any body size and then use gas rifles to cure people from a distance.

Otherwise, you're going to have to set up a facility to hold zombies with a slaughterhouse sort of chute system. Then you do a cattle drive to get the groups in the facility and push them through the chute one by one.


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

[User] What would happen if you took a space elevator up to the height of a geosynchronous orbit and then jumped?

[Assistant]
If by "jumped" you mean "stepped off", you'd just stay there floating next to the elevator.

If you mean "jumped" as in jump up, you'd be putting yourself in an orbit that had a perigee at geosynchronous altitude and apogee slightly higher, with a period of slightly longer than a day. So relative to the elevator, it be like you were taking backwards "bunny hops" each taking a day, and each moving you further behind the elevator.


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

[User]
[40k] What will happen if Dark Eldars capture a Chaos Space Marine, who suddenly manages to open the Warp portal?

Okey, let's say that during a raid Dark Eldars have managed to capture a Chaos Space Marine, who doesn't look like one. Somehow, he opens the Warp portal and some Chaos legion pours in.

What will happen?

What will happen if Black Legion will come out of the portal? What about Word Bearers?

Edit: Consider even craziest scenarios!

[Assistant]
Honestly, not as much as you might think. Commorragh is not one continuous city in the way that you might think of it. Instead, its a series of inter-connected spaces that are brought together through various webway tunnels, each of which is collapsible.

Imagine that you have one house in each state in the U.S. Each of these houses has a portal to another house, which allows you to instantaneously move from one house to another. Effectively, you now have a mansion the size of all 50 houses put together. Now imagine one of these homes of yours catches fire - you don't have to worry about the fire spreading so long as you shut down the connecting portals, because the houses are in reality hundreds of miles away from each other.

So yeah, a Chaos infestation in Commorragh would not be GOOD, but it's also easily survivable. Indeed, some of the major players in the city are already fortifying their own home turf for just this eventuality. After all, a certain portal underneath the city has been amking some pretty strange noises...


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

[User] [Legend of Korra] When Prince Wu said he was going to abolish the Earth Kingdom Monarchy was he also going to abolish the Monarchy in Omashu or just the Monarchy in Ba Singh Se?

[Assistant] There's no reason there can't be subordinate monarchs within a democracy, replacing the Earth King/Emperor with a President or Prime Minister as a head of state while retaining local kings is technically possible. It has precedent in the German Empire and even in modern-day India and the Philippines, where there are ceremonial royal families who nominally represent small regions or provinces, but the country is led by an elected president.


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

[User] ELI5: How are companies like Samsung able to keep appealing court decisions for more than 10 years? Is there a limit to the number of appeals?

[Assistant]
Eventually you run out of higher courts to appeal to, or a higher court opts to reject the appeal and let the lower court's decision stand.

For complex corporate cases each appeal can take several years due to the vast volume of information involved, so stringing it out for a decade doesn't necessarily involve more than a few appeals.


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

[User]
How Dangerous is Oil Drilling today?

Using 50 years and 100 years as reference, how detrimental is oil drilling and refinement to both human populations and the eco-system today? Does it only directly impact the immediate area of drilling or does it have wider consequences? Is it, by today's standards, "safe"?

[Assistant]
Onshore and offshore drilling can be safe and have a very small impact on the environment *if done correctly*. The process of drilling itself is not very obtrusive at all, minus the rig itself and the transport to get to and from the rig. It's what you find under the Earth and when it comes to the surface is what you need to worry about.

 Oil spills are horrifying, and people are always very upset when they happen, for a good reason. But if we understand that the conditions we have to drill in now days is because everyone wants to drive their car to the mailbox.

Fracking. There's a loaded word when it comes to drilling. The documentaries that portray that people can light their tap water (from a water well) on fire can be accurate, but we have to realize that the reason that the companies are drilling there is *because there's a lot of natural gas* in that area. So, if you drill your own well, chances are you're going to get some contamination.

Most of the fracking fluid is also recovered, and it is 99% water to begin with. There can be problems in the evaporation ponds with the linings, but that is usually fairly rare too.

In short: Drilling is not a very bad process if done properly, and drilling done by a responsible company will leave things better than when they came in.


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

[User] [Doctor Who] What would the Daleks do if they did somehow exterminate all life in the universe other than themselves?

[Assistant]
Have a sick ass Dalek Dance Party now that all the nerds aren't around to bother them.

I mean, probably turn on each other exterminating each other one by one as they draw the line of what is and isn't Dalek closer and closer to one being.

Remember this is a race that hates so much that they tried to end all of reality. No way that hate would just end once everyone else was gone. So like any hateful angry organism, that hate would be channeled inwards.


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

[User]
Fellow scifi fans: what is the most unique scifi concept or idea that you have come across?

EDIT: Wow!! did not realize this blew up. Thanks for all the responses, I have some interesting books for my reading list.
To me, The sociological concepts and implications in Asimov's foundation series were very new and interesting. It got my mind thinking on how seemingly small implications such as a person's life expectancy (Settlers vs Spacers) impacts the evolution of a species. Also the whole concept of humanity living in a communal environment like shared restrooms, dining areas etc got me thinking.

[Assistant]
There are spoilers for the Hard sci fi book *Revelation Space* by Alistair Reynolds in the following paragraph.

At the end of the book, there is an object that looks like a sun, but in actuality is a mass of structured spacetime.  By taking several *entire stars*, and precisely controlling how the mass of those stars fell into a black hole, an advanced civilization far, far, into the future used the time-bending properties of the black hole to have matter interact with itself in the past and create a giant computer of black hole material that calculates things by using interacting ripples in the fabric of spacetime, and is simultaneous across several centuries of normal space and time.

This thing has nothing to do with any of the events that preceded it, was never set up in the narrative, does not relate to the actions of either the protagonists or the antagonists, it would have been a gigantic deus ex machina if it accomplished anything that actually related to the plot, and it is so absolutely wonderfully insane that you really don't care.


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

[User]
[Futurama] Is there any reason why the parasites that lived in Fry's colon should have been gotten rid of? They seemed to maximize his intelligence and physical state with no apparent drawbacks, shouldn't they be given to other people or at least researched?

I know Fry got rid of them because of the philosophical idea that Leela didn't truly love him but rather the parasites, but from an objective viewpoint wouldn't they have greatly benefited society? They seem to have effects similar to the Captain America super soldier serum, where it maximizes everything in your body and allows for rapid healing.

[Assistant] Although beneficial in the short term, they clearly had an extraordinary rate of reproduction. They went from an intestinal infestation to a complete body saturation in a matter of a few days. Although their intent seemed to be benign at first, there was no semblance of population control. This being said, it can be assumed that they would quickly outstrip the resources of the "universe". The life cycle of the parasite can be hypothesized to be initially infestation, rapid reproduction, improvement of host in preparation for transmission, transmission to second host, then exhaustion of original host. The reason that they improved Fry was so he could attract others for the spores of the next generation to spread, but the reproduction rate was untenable and if they had not been expelled, they would have shortly destroyed their own environment.


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

[User] ELI5: How come all those atomic bomb tests were conducted during 60s in deserts in Nevada without any serious consequences to environment and humans?

[Assistant] The simple answer is there were serious consequences to both the environment and human health. There were marked increases in cancer rates noted, not just in Nevada, but across the midwest. Test site workers and downwinders (communities down wind from the test site) sued the federal government. To date more than half a billion dollars in compensation has been paid out.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do psychology researchers obtain informed consent without tipping their subjects off on the subject of the study?

I know that subjects of research studies must give informed consent before they are allowed to participate. I also know that informing subjects of psychological experiments of the study's true purpose can influence the results. How are these two concerns reconciled?

[Assistant] You have to tell them what will happen to them during the study.  You don't have to tell them why you are doing it or what conclusions you will draw, except in the vaguest of terms.  "You will answer a series of timed questionnaires while being observed by our researchers, to increase our knowledge about how people make decisions".  Maybe they don't care about your answers to the quizzes, only your facial expressions while you take them.


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

[User]
ELI5 what actually happens in our brains while on psychedelics to cause 'tripping', hallucinations etc.

As per the title, what is the chemistry behind what psilocybin, lsd etc., does do our brains ?

[Assistant] We don't know. Other than that it binds to serotonin receptors and lights our brain up on an MRI like a Christmas tree. We haven't really done enough research on serotonergic hallucinogens to totally understand their effects on our brain chemistry.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do people get dark bags under their eyes when theyre tired?

[Assistant] So basically, you're so tired that you can't keep everything tightened up. As your muscles begin to weaken, the skin around your eyes droops. This causes it to contour to your natural wrinkles and facial structure. This forms the outside appearance of the darkened "bags". They appear swollen due to fat deposits around the eyes sinking, as well as a pooling of body fluids. Since the skin has sunk, it creates little pouches, which is what allows the little sacs of fat to drop down, normally the general tightness of the skin prevents this.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why can a baby scream endlessly for hours on end while an adult loses their voice after a short period?

I have a 2 month old colicky baby.

Why is it that when I go to a concert and cheer/scream a bit for less than an hour I lose my voice, yet my child can scream until they make me deaf - FOR HOURS - and it's nothing to them?

[Assistant]
It is because babys use the full potential of their lungs - kind of like opera singers. That way they don't Stress their vocal cords that much. We as adults don't do that anymore, our breathing is much more shallow, so we have to use our muscles as a compensation. And that is exhausting and you lose your voice.
Source: i watched a documentary about it and thats what i remember...