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

[User] ELI5: How did weed strains become increasingly more potent since the 70s?

[Assistant]
Ever notice how friggin' gigantic some strawberries are? It's because of selective breeding. Take the biggest strawberry from a bunch of strawberries, pollinate it with the second-largest, and then plant its seeds, and hopefully the gene that caused it to be massive will be hereditary and be passed on to at least one of its offspring. Now take the biggest strawberry from that group, plant its seeds, and repeat until you have those fist-sized strawberries you can get from some grocery stores.

Weed is the same idea, just apply it to the THCA content in mj leaves. Plant, identify, replant, identify, replant, identify, and so on.


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

[User]
[MCU] Loki. If Kang was trimming all other timelines then why were there such drastic differences between Lokis?

It seems anything even mildly different, it got pruned. So these Lokis were pruned from our own main timeline? Or is it mean hes pruning other alternate timelines too?

Im guess Im having trouble understanding, if theres only one primary universe and timeline, where would variants as dramatic as these (alligator) come from? The old Loki says he lived in solitude for a long time and he was picked up the second he thought about coming back. So the TVA pruned him from a completely different timeline/universe?

[Assistant]
TVA prunes universes that make Kangs, or Kangs that are going to be... problematic.

There is a main timeline but they branch constantly, some of those branches are almost identical, some are very different.


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

[User]
[Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] How did a machine figure out the "answer to life, the universe, and everything" without knowing the question?

An AI called Deep Thought famously determined that the answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42.  However, it was unable to figure out what the question of life is.

How is this possible?  Surely, Deep Thought needed the question to derive the answer.  How can it not know the question?

[Assistant]
This is common in mathematics.

E.g. you can know the product of two prime numbers without knowing the prime numbers, and finding those prime numbers is hard.

That's a case of knowing the answer and the *structure* of the question, but not the question itself.


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

[User]
ELI5: What do investors mean when they talk about derivatives?

What are derivatives and how are mortgage derivatives different than others?

[Assistant]
A derivative is any financial product that is based on the performance of another underlying product.

For example, a bank which has issued mortgages might offset its position by issuing a "Mortgage Backed Security". This is a derivative where the payments are based on many individual mortgages. If the homeowners don't pay up, the note pays less.

For an MBS, the mortgage is the underlying, but there are many types of other derivatives.


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

[User] ELI5 The Bacteria that eat plastic; Is this scalable to tackle plastic pollution? Will they multiply uncontrollably? What is the by-product they produce?

[Assistant]
Is it scalable to tackle plastic polution? Yes and no. The bacteria that eat plastic are probably not going to be released into the environment just because it would be inefficient from an industrial perspective. It would be way more effective to round up boatloads of plastic waste from the environment and put in in a vat full of this bacteria to digest it. The other aspect to tackling global plastic polution is that these bacteria can only degrade one type of plastic and if you walk around your house you'll probably find at least 7 different types of plastic with different numbers in the little recycle symbol on the bottom. So the global plastic polution problem is much more complicated, but this could be a really useful remedy for one especially common type of plastic.

Will they multiply uncontrollably? No haha, no they will not. This was the concept behind an interesting scifi comic book from the 80s or something where an organism developed the ability to eat plastic and then started devouring cars and cities. Its a fun though, but this would not happen. Especially if this bacteria is used in an industrial setting, these kinds of batch digestions are really common. It would be a lot like brewing a beer where you set everything up in a thousand gallon fermenter and then you let it sit for a month or two to fully degrade. In that fermenter, you might have to be careful about what kinds of plastic you use because the bacterium can degrade certain types of plastic. The other thing about fast/uncontrollable growth to keep in mind is that the degradation of the plastic is abyssmally slow. That initial step where a single molecule is pried from the polymer is way too slow to support any kind of rapid growth.

What is the byproduct they produce? This is a really fun question because there are a lot of answers to this. To answer with another question: what are all the things you can do with carbon? Bacteria are incredibly effective at taking in waste products and spitting out valuable stuff like insulin, antibiotics, or industrially useful chemicals. One way that this plastic degradation could be used is to recover the original plastic monomers. This would generate a supply of plastic ingredients that doesn't depend on any additional fossil fuel input. If you want to learn a little more, the search term "circular PET economy" will help.


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

[User] [Star Trek] Are there any relatively powerful, independent, non-Federation human powers in the Galaxy?

[Assistant] Not really. The only human powers are the Federation-aligned ones and small colonies of people transplanted by aliens prior to the formation of the Federation, such as the Native Americans on Amerind or Amelia Earhart and co. on a planet in the Delta Quadrant. - None are particularly technologically advanced.


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

[User] ELI5: If nothing can escape a Black Hole, how does it release Hawking radiation?

[Assistant] Because the Hawking radiation was never inside the black hole.  It comes from virtual particles, which are created in pairs, popping into existence.  One of the particles goes bye bye into the black hole and the other zips off and escapes.  They are created though by the black hole's gravity, so when one zips off the black hole loses a little bit of energy.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] How do Charlie Weasley's dragon taming friends manage to get to Hogwarts undetected to pick of Norbert?

Hogwarts has a load of magical defenses against secret and unauthorized entry. How did a group of people get to the highest tower to take away a dragon?

[Assistant]
Charlie probably asked Dumbledore if it would be ok to take care of this problem on the down low.

Dumbledore agreed because it would protect Hagrid and be a cleaner neater solution then if he or anyone else had to get involved.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do pills come in different shapes?

[Assistant]
First of all, there are different kinds of pills.

* There are pills containing mostly calcium - these doesn't taste bad, and are therefore uncovered.
* Other pills are covered in a sugar to eliminate the bad flavor.
* Some drugs need to work fast, and are therefore in powder shape, sealed in a thin shell that rapidly dissolves in your stomach.
* Some can be chewed
* Some doesn't even go in your mouth ;-)

Pills are designed, just as every other product in the world. It's business, and to be the best, manufacturers are of cause competing to make a pill that is:

* Cheap
* Good looking
* Easy to swallow
* Effective
* Taste neutral, or even good flavored
* Easy to manufacture
* Keep to certain laws and guidelines..
* Long lasting

**Edit: Formatting**


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

[User] How do ISPs (internet service providers) work?

[Assistant]
An ISP is like a very wide road.  If you pay them money, they'll give you a lane on the road so that you go and fetch the latest version of your favorite web site in pieces like a puzzle.  The wider the lane you pay for, the more you can carry in one trip, and so the quicker you get your website.

That's how I'd explain it if you were 55; 5 year olds all understand how ISPs work.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are Army Officers less prone to PTSD than soldiers ranked below Sergeant?

You always read and see homeless vets, with PTSD, who were ranked "private" or "corporal" and so on.  But you hardly ever see a Captain, Major or a General, talk about or seeking help for PTSD.  Why is that?

Why is it that we see homeless vets on the streets, but never see a homeless ex-Marine or Army Officer on the streets?  Instead, I have met a few guest lecturers in law and med schools who used to be Marine Majors or Lieutenant Commanders from the Navy, but were JAG Lawyers (Military Lawyers) or Army Doctors.  Is it a mentality thing that Officers have stronger mental strength to ward off PTSD, or do they not see much front line battles?  Because the latter argument shouldn't hold much strength as special forces do have Officers leading them into battle.

[Assistant]
What percentage of all military personnel are e.g. colonels? A small one.

So the percentage of PTSD sufferers who are colonels is going to be a small one. It's going to be further reduced by other factors (the higher your rank, the less likely you're going to see the kind of action that causes PTSD; the higher your rank, the better you'll be able to afford treatment; etc.)


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it after a long time of viewing pornography you start looking for more and more hardcore porn as the old more soft-core videos dont satisfy you anymore?

[Assistant]
Its called Desensitization!

You've seen it and done the business. The next time it just isnt interesting anymore.

(As an extreme example here) Its the same reason why nobody gives a shit about terrorist attacks or school shootings or whatever: it happens once and its a big shock, it happens every other week and its business as usual.


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

[User] Is our star particularly separated from other stars, or is it at a normal distance away from others?

[Assistant] Our star is further away from other stars than most other stars are from other stars.  This stems from the simple fact that most (~2/3) stars orbit other stars, that is, most stars are part of binary or larger groupings of mutually orbiting stars.  This is because stars are usually born in clusters.  An actual astronomer or cosmologist will be able to shed more light (pun intended) on the subject.


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

[User]
[MCU] Where did MCU Iron Man and Captain America learn their H2H fighting skills?

In his first movie Iron Man had reasonable fighting skills but clearly normal level. Come Iron Man 3 he can take on multiple trained goons and in Civil War could just about hold his own against Bucky. In his first movie on Captain America had basic bootcamp training but is clearly operating on a higher skill level both in the movie and in the Avengers team ups. Where did they learn to fight like that?

[Assistant]
Iron Man:

* has a custom AI companion constantly reviewing his performance and providing recommendations
* a lot of time on his hands to practice
* powered suit that can predict his movements, analyze his opponent, and guide his body to the most efficient defense/offense

Captain America

* Fought Hydra during WWII, gaining practical skills
* Brought back by SHIELD and trained in black-ops
* 'perfect' reflexes and mental capacity, and access to the best hand-to-hand combat instructors in the world for several years
* All his time was focused exclusively on training (he didn't have time for a girlfriend)


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

[User] [General wizards] What's the advantage of wearing large pointy hat ?

[Assistant]
For starters, it keeps the rain off. Seriously, it's simply a very practical hat design - the wide brim protects your face from the rain, and the pointy profile means water just rolls off it.

For a second, it adds height. There's a reason British police used to wear those tall helmets (and royal guardsmen still wear those tall bearskins) - the ability to loom is very useful when trying to defuse a confrontation without having to turn everybody into newts.

And finally, it has the weight of tradition. You wear a pointy wizard hat, everybody knows you're a wizard. Wizards tend to get free upgrades on long-distance travel, the best tables at quality restaurants, and far fewer unscrupulous merchants trying to con them in the marketplace - they are, after all, well-known for being subtle and quick to anger.


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

[User] Why is the continental shelf brake at ~450' below sea level uniformly worldwide?

[Assistant] It's a paleoshore! Wherever you have a shoreline for a long time, you get a local steep gradient because the waves can erode the beach but not the deep sediments. The shelf break is about at 450' because that was the sea level in the End Pleistocene, the previous geologic age. We're still seeing the gradient caused by waves thousands of years ago.


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

[User]
ELI5: If someone is on death row and has a medical issue causing them the die sooner than their execution date, why would they be given medical help?

Morally I kind of understand, but financially and logically it does not make sense to me.

[Assistant] Up until the moment the executioner turns the key, the state must provide care for their convicted felons.  The logic behind this is that up until that last moment, the execution is not 100% certain.  There are years of appeals, and the governor might still pardon the convicted at the last moment.  Also, allowing someone to die from a disease without treatment can be considered as cruel and unusual punishment.


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

[User]
ELI5: With everything going automated, how are we supposed to make a living?

Self driving cars so no taxis, self driving freight trucks and automated cashiers. Honestly,  how do they expect us to make any money when there will be no jobs in 50 years?

[Assistant]
In the past, people said the same thing about the automation of farming, the automation of factories, and so on.

What has always happened in the past is that new jobs have been created. A very high proportion of people (I can't remember the exact number) in the western world today are doing jobs which didn't even exist 50 years ago, so in 50 years time it's entirely possible that we'll be doing jobs we can't even imagine right now. There will be more roles involving creativity, which can't be automated, or personal services where customers want to pay a premium for a human to do a job, but there will be other jobs creating things which are beyond our imagination in the same way that, 50 years ago, the smartphone industry would have been beyond anyone's imagination.

There are some people who think that the speed of change, and the nature of the expected changes in the near-future, will mean that this change won't be like any others, and jobs will go far faster than anyone can create new jobs. If that's the case, then unemployment or under-employment will become more normal, and society will have to adapt to handle that.


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

[User]
[Fallout] What difference in the FO universe and ours caused iguana on a stick to become such a common place and popular food item?

Seriously, do they farm and eat iguana like we do beef/pork/chicken/etc? How is that even economical?

[Assistant] They hunt them - iguanas are one of the very few post-war animals that aren't fucking massive and trying to murder you all the time. Since you can catch them with relatively small and simple traps, they're a low effort food source, which is a rarity in the post-war United States.


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

[User] ELI5: When locksmiths started producing keys on a large scale for public consumption how did they make them different enough to only open one lock but not change them so much that they would eventually run out of key designs?

[Assistant] Locks don't *need* to be totally unique.  If you have a few hundred different combinations, that's good enough to stop anyone from accidentally getting into the wrong door with their key.  Anyone who wants to make all possible keys would be better served by picking a lock or just breaking down the door.


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

[User]
[Saw] Why was Jigsaw in the bathroom in the first movie?

What was the point of laying still in the middle of their game for 6 hours?

[Assistant] He wanted to directly observe the game. No cheating or tricks allowed. Plus IIRC he didn't trust his assistant and was hoping to turn the doctor into a new assistant. By placing himself there he knew the woman assistant couldn't create an unwinnable game despite her attempt to do so.


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

[User]
[Legend of Zelda] Why is Hyrule so primitive when they have such advanced technology?

Hyrule seems to have some inconsistent technology. For instance, they have bombs, but no guns or rockets using the same gunpowder. They have robots (since the era of Skyloft), but no computers, cell phones, or any other related tech. And the list goes on of all the tech they could build off the various inventions they already have. So why haven't they put any effort into advancing their society? Why are they still a primitive medieval society when they could be beyond our own just by further developing what they already have?

[Assistant] To answer your bomb question, most bombs are actually made from bomb flowers. Although more recently, bomb flowers are harvested, processed, and encased. It is still easy to find wild bomb flowers in the wild, though.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is MH370 described as "the only known missing 777," Why wouldn't we know of other missing ones?

[Assistant] There are 1313 of them. 3 have been scrapped, 2 destroyed and 2 with private owners. The scrapped ones were probably cut and up recycled, but nobody knows for sure where each part ended up. Until somebody goes and verifies the location of each one it's possible, but very unlikely, that another one is missing.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do coupons have a 'cash' value of 1/20?

[Assistant]
Before there were coupons, stores encouraged people to shop by offering trading stamps, where for every dime you spent at the store, you got a stamp, and when you saved enough stamps, you can mail in those stamps for free merchandise (Kind of like an analog version of air mile points). These stamps were HUGE business back in the early to mid 1900s.

But merchants had to pay the stamp makers for the stamps and that payment increased prices of goods, customers who didn't collect stamps thought that the price increase was unfair so Congress decreed that the stamps had to have cash value so that customers can redeem them directly with the merchant for money (thereby offsetting the increase in good prices). And the 1/20 of one cent was a considered a fair price back in the early 1900s (it's enough to shut the complainers up, but not enough to damage the stamp-maker's business). In certain states, coupons are still considered trading stamps, so by law, they have to include the disclaimer.


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

[User]
Millions of stars are in the area of a sky covered by a pin's head. How do radio astronomers know which radio waves are coming from which star when they point their radio telescopes to the sky?

 Shouldn't what they get be white noise? Radio waves from millions of stars at different points in space and time arriving together?

[Assistant] Sadly we currently are not able to detect individual stars that far away. The farther we get outside our galaxy the harder it is to detect individual stars. There are certainly millions and billions of stars out there but we can only see a small fraction of them. We detect galaxies instead and estimate the number of stars.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Why are Mutants so hated but the Avengers are celebrated?

Why do the public hold so much prejudice towards Mutants, but other superheroes like the avengers are loved?. For example shouldn't they hate spiderman since they don't If he's a mutant or a mutate?.

[Assistant]
Marketing and politics. A lot of people do hate Spider-Man. He is often on the front page of the paper as a menace.

The thing with mutants that they easily use to get people riled up is that the X Gene is a natural step on evolution and the scare mongers use it target to mutant minority with bigotry as "they will replace you" and since the expression of the powers often happens in a person's youth and spectacularly. There are lots of examples of "uncontrolled mutant destroys a school" type incidents.

Avengers publicly save the world and fight monsters to be seen as a good guys. Very often it has had mutants on the roster.


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

[User]
How do we know a single quark's mass if quarks don't exist as individual particles?

A proton's mass is 900-something MeV

A pion's mass is about 140.

And "Single" up and down quarks have masses of 2 and 4 MeV.

Wikipedia says that the rest of the energy comes from gluon interaction, at least in case of baryons. I can't seem to find the info whether mesons are too bound by gluons, but I assume it is so.

How did we figure how much mass is attributed to the quark itself and how much - to their binding energy? Did we just calculate the binding energy somehow and then substracted it from the total mass, or is it something more complicated?

Again, if a quark can't exist as a single particle, then what exactly is its "mass"?

Apologies if I'm misunderstanding anything.

[Assistant] For the light quarks, one can use chiral perturbation theory to relate the mass of the light hadrons to the mass of the light quarks. These two links give details and caveats of the procedures, as well as the most precise determinations.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are Brown, White, Black and Green common surnames but Red, Blue, Yellow, etc. aren't?

[Assistant]
They are surnames in Germanic countries because they are also shorthand for jobs - white signifies a silversmith, black signifies a blacksmith, green signifies a gardener, brown a farmer.
"Gelb" is German for Yellow, and turns up in Germanic names, and Blau does too, blaustein, blaupunkt, blauenfield. Rot is German for Red, and also shows up in names. Redfield, Redstone, but also Rotterdam, for instance. They aren't standalone because there was no trade significance of a profession to them - blue is the colour of the sky, red the colour of fire or blood, yellow signifies gold. Orange was considered either red or yellow, traditionally, and purple was usually reserved to signify royalty.


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

[User] [TERMINATOR] How did the resistance know the reprogrammed terminators weren't faking it, or wouldn't malfunction and kill John and Sarah?

[Assistant] I guess there could be some type of hidden software or hardware that the resistance did not find or take into account.  However at one level they are still machines and have to obey there programming.  If you understand the technology you should be able to completely erase all existing program and change the hardware to suit your needs.  They are very advanced and even sentient but there still machines when it comes down to it.


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

[User]
[MCU-Loki] How and why do the ________ allow the TVA and other time travelers to (spoilers)?

This question also applies to the 616 MU as well:

How and Why do Cosmic Entities like the Celestials and Galactus and others allow the TVA and other mere mortal time travelers to 'reset' the timelines/realities they are in?

There is no way cosmically aware entities like Galactus, the Celestials, Eon, and others would not be aware of events in their own past being changed, or that the timeline they are part of is being pruned or erased or whatever.  And with their power, they could easily intervene or prevent it.  So why do they allow it?

[Assistant]
Aside from Ego, we haven't really met any entities of such scale in the MCU.  Ego, for all his power, didn't seem particularly aware or interested in the multiverse, and the same may be true for many of his stature.

The only group we see take an active interest in the multiverse is the Masters of the Mystic Arts, and they are primarily concerned with incursions from other universes, not necessarily other timelines.  While they almost certainly would take arms against Kang, Kang comes from a thousand years in the future. His technology is likely more than a match for the sorcerers of the 21st century.


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

[User]
[LOTR] Why do Gandalf and Galadriel still wear Rings of Power?

Disclaimer: Ive never ready the books and am basing this question on the movies.

Why do Galadriel and Gandalf still wear rings of power? They know Sauron created them and the One ring to rule them. Theyve seen what became of the ring wraiths. Why do they still wear their rings?

[Assistant]
The Three Elven Rings were the ones that were never touched by Sauron - they were made by Celebrimbor alone, and were not tainted by Sauron, who was directly involved in crafting the other 16 great rings (which eventually became the 7 given to dwarves and the 9 to men).  Still, even though he never touched them, he would still have been able to dominate their wielders, so while he was in power they were kept hidden and unused.  But even so, these three alone were the purest magic rings in the world - their owners wouldn't fall to corruption like the Ringwraiths, or like Gollum.

After Sauron was defeated the first time, the Three Rings were used to maintain the Elven lands that they protected - Rivendell, Lothlorien, and Mithlond (the Grey Havens where the ships heading West set out from).  It's thanks to their power that these regions stayed mostly pure and beautiful - the Three Rings were able to do their intended job without Sauron finding out, though they were still used with secrecy.

And when Gandalf came out of the West to come help out in Middle-Earth, Cirdan, the lord of the havens, basically said "Hey man, you'll need this ring more than me" and passed his on to Gandalf - Narya, the Ring of Fire.  It's believed that the power of this Ring helped Gandalf in his task, which was to inspire the world of Men to fight against the darkness - he was a flame that kindled the fire in Men's hearts.


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

[User] Was Marx right to argue that capitalism causes alienation?

[Assistant]
Don't confuse the two different uses of the word "Alienation".

In most contemporary contexts, "Alienation" is usually used in a broader psycho-social sense to mean: "the state or experience of being isolated from a group or an activity to which one should belong, or in which one should be involved. Feeling separated, emotionally disconnected or apart."

In Marx's writing, "Alienation" meant something more specifically related to economic relationships: "a condition of workers in a capitalist economy, resulting from a lack of identification with the products of their labor and a sense of being controlled or exploited."

Basically, for Marx, "Alienation" is a characteristic lack of affiliation or identification with the products of one's labor specifically, but it does not necessarily preclude a sense of affiliation or identification with other domains such as one's family, ethnic group, social class, nation or religious community.

To give an example of what Marx meant by "Alienation" consider two laborers: one a cobbler who is a skilled artisan who crafts customs shoes from start to finish, and another a laborer who does hourly piece-work in a shoe factory cutting large layered slabs of leather over and over.

The Cobbler has a direct personal connection to every step of the work he does, he can take pride in his labor because he can see it from start to finish. He designs the shoes, he makes the shoes, he sells the shoes. And he can decide for himself when and how hard he works. He can probably identify every individual shoe he has ever made.

Now, the factory worker just cuts leather, and one slab of leather looks like any other, and he may never even see the shoes he helps to make. Indeed, the leather he cuts may not even be sewn in the same country where he is located. Nor does he design the shoes, nor does he put them together, not does he sell them. All he does is cut and cut and cut. And he doesn't decide when or how hard he works; he works the way he is told to work, when he is told to work. He is unskilled and replaceable. He has essentially no personal control over the process, and no personal connection to any given shoe he has had a hand in creating.

It's a lot harder to have a strong personal identification with the products of one's labor when one's labor has been reduced to a mechanical and repetitive action and one never sees the final result.


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

[User]
[LOTR] What did Sarumans ring do?

In the book, when Saruman revealed himself to be Eeeevil to Gandalf, he declared himself "Saruman of Many Colors" and apparently had forged his own ring, however that was never elaborated upon.

Did it have any special powers? Or was it just to cause seizures by scintillating colors of his robe?

[Assistant] If it's similar to Sauron's ring, it meant that he'd abandoned a portion of his spiritual power in order to bolster his might in Middle Earth.  For spiritual beings like Valar and Maiar, this is a great risk.  If they lose the ring, their powers are similarly reduced.  If the ring is destroyed, that portion of both their native and physical power is gone permanently.  Sauron had put so much of his native power into his ring that its destruction reduced him to a nebulous entity, condemned to only observe creation, but incapable of taking any form to interact.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why don't the dorsal fins of captive killer whales stay up?

And why do the fins of female killer whales and dolphins stay up? It seems to only happen to male killer whales (with the huge fin).

[Assistant]
There are a few theories.

1. In their natural habitat the pressure is so great that the collagen in their fins solidifies. In captivity they are in shallower water so the collagen can't solidify.

2. It's also hypothesised that the lack of movement, and more importantly, turning prevents the fin getting enough pressure. It has also been linked to dietary changes and changes in blood pressure.

All in all, it appears to be due to the collagen in the fins not being able to solidify, though the exact causes of that are unclear.


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

[User] ELI5: Why modern humans have to be so careful about diet (balancing carbs, proteins, fats, and ensuring that we have certain vitamins), when early humans wouldn't have had to put any thought into it?

[Assistant]
Because now we can eat what we want. In ancient times, if you just tried to eat as much of the tastiest food you could get, you'd be fine. You would hardly ever over-indulge in a serious way, because food was scarce, and fat, sugar, salt etc were hard to get. For example, the easiest way to get sugar would be fruit, which is only available for part of the year, and isn't very bad for you. Sometimes you'd get honey, but that's very rare and hard to get. So you'd never suffer from over-consumption of sugar. Same with basically every nutrient that we currently over-consume. The reason we never evolved a feeling of "ok that's enough fat/sugar/salt" is because they were rare enough that we never needed to cut back.

In the ancestral environment, we didn't need to put much thought into what we ate because what we thought didn't have much effect - we ate what we could get or we starved.


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

[User]
How/why does the body get used to cold or hot objects after being in contact for a while?

Is it that the body moves the temperature to the bodies temperature? Or does that body actually get used to it? Is it the skin touching the object numbing, or is it a mental change? Thanks!

[Assistant]
No. When we feel an object is cold or hot we are really sensing that is *hotter* or *colder* than our skin. We don't feel temperature, we feel the temperature exchange.

We don't get used to it, we simply get to the same temperature. If you touch something cold and your hand starts warming it, eventually both surfaces will have the same temperature and you won't feel the difference anymore.

Some materials, like metals, are very efficient dissipating heat so they will rapidly drain the heat from your skin's surface and will feel cold even if they are at the same temperature. Others, like wood, distribute worse the heat and the contact zone will get warmer faster.

You can test this by putting one hand in cold water and the other in hot water. Then, put both in water at room temperature.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How does the crew of the Millennium Falcon walk while in space?

Is there some sort of artificial gravity that keeps them grounded?

[Assistant] Artificial gravity manipulation is actually a piece of cake. There's a whole lot of devices that we use every day that operate off of the same basic principles used to create and manipulate gravity. From repulsor lifts that help speederbikes operate and ships take off and land in atmosphere, to inertial dampers, trash compactors, tractor beams, and yes, artificial gravitic field generators for starships in space.


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

[User]
[IT Novel] Why did IT wait underground for millions of years until Derry was settled? Why didn't IT relocate to feed off the humans/humanoids all over the world?

The first appearance of IT was the early 1700s, I assume this is because that's when the early settlers came to America IT emerged from underground to feed, but there were people for a long time before they came to Derry, why did IT wait for Derry to be settled before beginning the cycle?

[Assistant] We don't know that's when it started the cycle. That's just as far back as current American/Colonial records go. Native Americans didn't really have extensive written records nor were colonials big on maintaining them.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Just what is the Earths population?

I understand that the population of humans is about the same as real-life Earth, and that there are about 200,000 mutants on Krakoa.

But theres a whole Sub-Earth that is rarely mentioned. Lava Men, Atlantians, Lemurians, Deviants, Inhumans (though I guess they live on the moon), the microverse, etc etc.

How busy is this planet?

[Assistant]
It seems that the overwhelming majority of the population, even with all the additional species and subspecies, is still good old fashioned *Homo Sapiens.*  Even the largest non-human terrestrial civilizations don't look they'd be in more then the millions, and most much less.

As such, I'd say population is roughly the same as our world even taking our non-human neighbours into account- a few countries worth higher at most. 8 billion is simply too big a number for a few underground cities or underwater kingdoms to have much of an effect.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do flies land on the ceiling?

I have been thinking about this for a while. I am pretty sure they can't fly sideways so I honestly hope that they will do a backflip right before landing.

[Assistant] I had no clue.  Looked it up.  They fly normally, lift their front legs over their head and grab the ceiling, then flip the rest of the body up.  Then they have sticky glue secreted on their feet to stick.  Study showed the walk using three legs so they don't have to work so hard to dislodge all of their feet when walking. The More You Know.


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

[User] CMV: In Episode III, the Jedi attempted to launch a violent and illegal coup against a democratic government.

[Assistant]
In the Star Wars prequels, George Lucas tried to prove he was a good director and writer. That is why he failed.

It is poorly hinted at throughout the prequels (Mace talks about it to Anakin like 30 seconds before he's about to chop off Sidious's head--great setup George) that Palpatine was wielding his dark side influence to install his personal judges and cronies, get his friends and closest allies in the senate elected so that they would overwhelmingly pass any legislation, particularly the creation of the clone army, and build a huge military force that would be manned by clones.  This was not any normal arrest situation; Palpatine was a powerful master of the dark side who would almost certainly be set freed the moment he set foot in a court, at which point he would turn his malice on the Jedi.

Remember that he had already been Chancellor for longer than his original term limits due to the war with the trade federation which he himself created. Because he was in fact a Sith Lord, it was clear that many of his actions (particularly to create a Grand Army of the Republic) were not due to securing the Republic but to enhance his power and provide security for himself. That is a dangerous dynamic that required quick action.

The Jedi Order do not exactly work within the government--they are an independent body that operates on its own accord and in tandem with the government, but they generally have autonomy on actual operations. They are a combination of priest and knights tasked with defending the Republic at all costs, and letting a Sith Lord run it is probably the most chaotic thing you can do.

The Sith are mortal enemies of the Jedi and will stop at nothing to ensure their destruction, so Windu probably determined that the threat of having Palpatine remain in office any longer (especially with the war seemingly at an end and thousands of clone troopers at odds with every Jedi) put every Jedi in severe danger. Order 66 literally happened minutes after this confrontation.

(Honestly, Lucas kind of botched what the Jedi/Sith dynamic is all about, which is why the move in Episode III probably looks presumptuous to you. He didn't do a good job of setting up his antagonist the previous two movies and the clear and present danger a Sith Lord might present. He also never really explained the relationship between the Jedi and the government, which is also why this kind of looked like a semi-coup if you watch the movie more than once.)


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

[User] [Codename Kid's Next Door] If the delightful children from down the lane have never shared their birthday cake with anyone else, how does anyone actually know it's that delicious?

[Assistant] Because they say so of course! They are Delightful. You don't think that they would lie, do you? Not to mention that birthday cake is delicious by default. You just KNOW those Delightful Children will have the best of the best, if only to stick it to the the other kids that they are better!


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

[User] How does the shape of a hyperbolic cooling tower (like those in nuclear plants) help evaporate water/remove heat?

[Assistant]
The hyperbolic shape itself does not help the cooling of a power plant.

What makes the cooling successful is the height of the tower: by "protecting" the warm and moist air further up, it will maintain an updraft inside the tower.

The hyperbolic shape is just to have a stronger structure to deal with the high winds you get by increasing altitude..

Edit: If you are curious, the updraft is caused by pressure difference between inside/outside the tower. Big cooling towers have holes at the bottom, where ambiant air can rush in. Since hot moist air is less dense than the cool ambient air, it will tend to rise. This rise is then directed directly upwards by the tower.

If there was no tower, the moist air would rise, but with enough warm air exhaust, you could reach a stagnation point where the moist air just doesn't really move away much, hampering your cooling. Higher towers are necessary for big enough power plants, as they prevent the mixing of the rising up air with the cooler air around.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What plausible chain of events would be necessary for Anakin to be able to pursue a successful podracer pilot career?

What should happen in ep1 for this to be possible?

Because a mid 30's daredevil force sensitive human podracer pilot would just be too cool.

[Assistant] The council refuses to train Anakin, Obi wan agrees with the council. Anakin is transported back to Tatooine to live with his mother. Since Anakin is no longer a slave and has recently won a prestigious pod racing tournament, he could be sponsored as a racer and pursue a career in pod racing.


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

[User] ELI5: if plants age, how can you plant a cutting and still get a normal growth like it was a plant from seed?

[Assistant] Most plants are indeterminate growers, meaning that if they properly care for they can continue to grow for a very long time. A reason a plant might die of "old age" is that they get too big, and therefore have a hard time getting water to their entire system. They're also "perpetually embryonic", meaning that their cells are capable of changing into different kinds of cells, like human stem cells. This is why you can take a cutting and replant it and create a whole new plant.


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

[User] How come the water in the toilet bowl moves when it's windy outside?

[Assistant] You may have noticed that houses will have a pipe sticking up from the roof, typically over each bathroom. That's a vent for your sewage system, and it's tied directly to the drain pipe of your toilet. Pressure changes caused by wind blowing over this pipe makes the water in your toilet move around a little.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do gas stations constantly adjust their prices up and down with the market, but retailers of other commodity-driven products (coffee shops, jewelers, etc.) don't?

[Assistant]
Because they can.

For a gas station with electronic signage, there is almost no upfront cost in changing the price that gas is being sold at.    Unlike many commodities where physical paper signs must be changed (where the cost of labor discourages frequent small changes.).

Gas is a commodity with an inflexible demand.  If you need gas on a particular day, there's not much you can do except buy gas from someone, which leads to

Competition between nearby gas stations.  Many major gas stations are in close proximity to another.    As the product they sell is virtually the same thing, a price war often ensues: with each gas station trying to win over customers, while avoiding hurting their profit margin too much.

Also, because of near-daily price adjustments over the past few years, customers have come to expect in accept it.   A coffee shop or a grocery store would likely draw intense feedback if they started adjusting prices frequently.


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

[User]
CMV: At this moment in time, the United States creates more problems than it solves both domestically and internationally.

The United States has throughout its short history both been hero and antagonist. Historically, the country has accomplished many great things both domestically and internationally. Things like the Foreign Corrupt Practices act have had a net positive impact in the way business is done. Before, countries like France allowed bribes to be written off as business expenses. The Marshall Plan helped rebuild a devastated Europe after WWII (while we helped tip the scales on the Germans, the Russians really won the European theater). We've helped sparked economic reforms (albeit with some negative consequences) that have generally made the world overall better off. The US position as world super power has also led to the lowest level of violence worldwide, probably in history. The US is also a huge innovator in technology and industry.

However, when I start to analyze what's going on today, something seems to have changed. Not that we didn't create issues like this in the past or do messed up things, it just seems like now we make no correct decisions. The gravity of greed, corruption, ignorance, and/or a religious like attachment to ideology seems to either cause the US to make poor decisions or fail to fix past bad decisions.

It's is by no means comprehensive, but here are a few examples of what I mean:

* Supported the Salvadoran military government during the civil war leading to a mass exodus into the United States. This mass exodus lead to the creation of the street gang MS-13 who caused a lot of problems here. We then deported many back to El Salvador where they now basically terrorize all of Central America (I was a teenager when they were terrorizing my area in the US).

* Specific drug policies and paramilitary action in South and Central
America that gave rise to the cartels in Mexico, including Los Zetas who were originally Mexican special forces and likely had received some US training.

* Supporting the Taliban before we didn't. The DEA even commended them for eradicating all the poppy in the area. Probably never even bothered asking how they did that.

* Not knowing the difference between a Sunni Muslim and a Shi'ite Muslim before going into a war in a country with a longstanding conflict between them.

* Weaponizing computer code in the form of Stuxnet and Flame basically giving coders a framework for creating more cyberweapons of this sophistication.

* Failing to support environmental regulations including the Kyoto protocols. Now, it's basically too late.

* Allowing massive asset bubbles to be created and continually stripping away financial regulation despite crashes. We have a massive student debt bubble right now. When it pops, it will ripple through the world economy just like the housing crash.

* Indiscriminate drone attacks that create huge collateral damage and fresh new recruits for terrorist organizations.

* Helping militarize ISIS by disbanding the Iraqi military (ISIS was founded in 1999 by a Jordanian, but debaathification and the disbandment of the military helped it grow significantly in strength and sophistication).

* Supporting the Saudis despite their failure (and potential complicity) in reigning in the rich Wahhabis funding terrorist movements.

* Supporting Israel while they indiscriminately kill Palestinians whom they significantly overpower in the region.

* Creating patent and intellectual property rights laws that stifle innovation. Micky Mouse is probably the reason why the Great Gatsby is still not in the public domain.

Again, I could keep going on and on. Many of these issues are complex, but many are not and we just make horrible decisions.

EDIT:  Thanks everyone for the interesting discussion.  I think maybe this was a little too broad for a full change of view.  I awarded some deltas to people that made me look at things in different way even if it didn't completely change my mind on some of these issues.

[Assistant]
>Many of these issues are complex, but many are not and we just make horrible decisions.

I think this is the crux of the issue you are missing.

First, you are using the lens of hindsight.  How do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that these outcomes are WORSE than the outcomes that would have happened without US intervention.

Second, the United States intervenes in bad situations.  In reality there aren't any existing "good" outcomes, and we often must choose the lesser of two evils to try and produce an outcome that will produce the most good.

Many of your examples are the equivalent of police showing up to and breaking up a gang shootout, and then blaming the police both for gang members dying in the altercation and the gangs continuing to get in future shootouts

If anything was 100% clear cut, you wouldn't hear about it, (you don't).  Any decision a government makes is going to have negative externalities because every decision is a compromise of some sort.


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

[User]
ELI5: What exactly would have to happen to create a 51st state in the USA and why hasn't it happened since 1959?

I sometimes hear people saying they want a North and South California, or that Puerto Rico might become a state, etc. etc. And I'm guessing it's a pretty big deal to make a new state since it hasn't happened in a long, long time?

[Assistant]
Article IV, Section 3 of the constitution covers this.

The short answer for Puerto Rico is that it would take an act of congress to make Puerto Rico a state.  It gets messy in that Puerto Rico would need representation in Congress as well as electoral votes and those would have to be pulled from somewhere else in the Union.  Given that no one wants to give up power it would be quite a battle.

As far as making a new state from a current one or combining states it would take the approval of the state as well as federal legislature to make it happen.  And then the whole mess of votes and representation would happen again.

The short, short of it is there would need to be a massive amount of support at both the state and federal level to make a new state.  Something that just doesn't exist right now.

Locals who agitate for secession to make a new state (like in N. California and elsewhere) are just that:  agitators who have no legal standing to create a new state unless they can convince enough people to make it happen through legal channels.


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

[User] ELI5: What makes a great conductor great? and conversely what sets them apart from a random high school band teacher?

[Assistant]
It's important to keep in mind that a conductor is nearly always the leader of the orchestra, too.  So for weeks and months before you see him/her waving a baton around, they were in charge of auditioning band members, selecting the music, organizing rehearsals, making artistic changes or interpretations to the piece as it goes, and directing each section and musician.  So there was a hell of a lot of behind-the-scenes work that we don't always think of.

As far as actual performance, a good conductor is giving a dozen instructions at once.  Speed, volume, and style are all communicated by single movements.  Are his beats large, waving motions, full of drama?  I'll bet there'll be horns blaring long, sonorous notes.  Are they short, tight, precise movements, close to his chest?  You're almost definitely going to be hearing soft, short staccato notes.  Is he facing the trombones, pushing one hand down while conducting with his other hand?  He's asking them to play softer - maybe the acoustics in this room aren't what they're used to, and they're overpowering the rest of the band more than expected.  There are a million little adjustments that will go on in any given performance, and a good conductor can make them on the fly in very clear ways.

And of course, all of that body language goes to the audience too.  When you see that person swinging their arms in big, wide arcs, you'll get excited, even as the music begins to swell.  And when you see them sweep their arms in, you'll lean in, straining to hear the soft parts of the music.  The conductor is a visual cue to you to tell you what your ears can expect.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the milk in my coffee not spoil after hours in my thermos?

[Assistant] The spoiling of milk products is due to the growth of certain strains of microbacteria that cause fermentation byproducts. It takes a reasonable amount of time with the ideal conditions (room temperatures, proper oxygen..etc) to grow these bacteria. WIthin a few hours these bacteria may grow in minimal amount of numbers, although not enough to spoil milk in a (most likely still warm) thermos.


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

[User] [Futurama] Why wasn't Fry's brother shoved in a jar like all the other celebrities?

[Assistant] Since the technology to create heads in jars was not around in the era of these celebrities.   It's more likely they are either clones, or engineered beings, created specifically for the museum centuries later.  It may be that Fry's brother was just not chosen for this process.


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

[User]
CMV: You Dont Mess With the Zohan is Adam Sandlers best overall comedic movie.

First, I understand movie preferences is completely subjective so I understand that this is kind of a loaded proposition to change my view.

Secondly, I admittedly have not seen all Adam Sandler comedies, including some of the more recent Netflix movies hes done(but for some reason I feel confident no one will challenge that any of those are his best...)

Here are the reasons I think Zohan is his best comedy:

1. Sandler went outside of his usual comfort zone of goofball lovable loser. And while still playing a comedic caricature, I think he gave enough nuanced acting to make us forget that we mostly associate him with being incompetent. He actually did really well playing an international super agent. Its a type of character that many actors have played for comic effect and Sandler pulled it off by playing it straight which is so unlike his comedic style.

2. Compared to other Sandler movies, its full of political satire but not in any sort of aggressive or off-putting way. It really just brushes over the idea of xenophobia as well as government and capitalist corruption but not in any way that detracts from the comedy. The ridiculousness of the plot lends to the narrative that certain preconceived notions of society are just as ridiculous. To me, those moments in the movie came off as genuinely charming.

3. Speaking of ridiculous plots, Sandler comedies have those in spades. But Zohans general plot of an Israeli commando wanting to be a hairstylist is top notch ridiculousness. And the bit stayed funny throughout, coupled with his hyper sexual social interaction.

4. The traditional slapstick and over the top type of comedy was on point. Sure, that type of comedy can be predictable but when its done well even when you know its coming you still laugh. Thats why I think Zohan is Sandlers most re-watchable comedy. I still laugh at the same parts even if Ive seen them a dozen times.

5. I think the Zohan supporting cast was on its A game too. This often goes with most Sandler comedies, but I think Rob Schneider, John Turturro, and Nick Swardson were at their comedic best and Emmanuelle Chriqui was a really good balance to Sandler. Dave Matthews was great too(Mariah Carey not so much).

You wont change my opinion that Zohan is a really fun and funny movie. And if youre not a Sandler fan in general I totally get it but bashing him here wont change my opinion either.

But you could change my opinion that Zohan is his best comedy if you can convince me that another of his comedies has more than what I listed and is therefore an overall better comedy.

[Assistant] Happy Gilmore is Sandler's best.  Inserting a hockey fan character into golf (generally regarded as the gentleman's game) is a great premise.  It's somehow semi believable, yet also over the top.  It did well with making shooter into an actually unlikable character... Which can be rare to have a solid antagonist in this type of movie.  Finally it has genuinely memorable scenes.  E.g. Bob Barker actually beating up Adam Sandler.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it that it seems easy to control our limbs from moving, yet difficult to prevent our eyes from glancing at something we don't want to look at?

[Assistant]
It's in your DNA, you are wired that way.

Seeing something negative is a survival trait.  To see something unpleasant or dangerous = increased ability to deal with it.  So even if you want to look away, something gross or violent or threatening, you'll feel compelled to look at it.

So for that same reason, since it's a survival trait to be able to control your limbs, your DNA wires you to tend to have good control of your limbs.


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

[User]
ELI5: How come the development cost of the next generation console games is supposedly so high when there are already the PC versions that look better than anything next generation on consoles?

Something like Metro Last Light looks absolutely amazing on PC, significantly better than anything we've seen from the next generation, yet the development costs were quite low. Now that the next generation of consoles is merely catching up, how come the work is quadrupled (according to Killzone devs anyway)? So far, everything is as linear as ever, the AI is the same as ever and quite honestly everything seems like the PC versions of current generation games. So, how come the development costs are suddenly that much higher? What is changing?

[Assistant]
Okay I'll take this question by question.

>How come the development cost of the next generation console games is supposedly so high [...]

Because licensing, publishing to console costs around 300-500k on the part of the studio making the game in order to get access to the 'secret sauce' things that the company making the console uses.

 >[...]when there are already the PC versions that look better than anything next generation on consoles?

Hardware. Consoles can't sell at the price of 800-1500 dollars. Which you would need if you wanted to compete straight up with a high end gaming PC because the hardware is more complex and powerful.

Also power. A typically gaming PC draws upwards of 700 watts of power, while a Console typically draws ~250 to reduce noise/cooling. Power is a big barrier in performance and you really can't turn on a computer with a high end GPU on 250 watts of power.

>Now that the next generation of consoles is merely catching up, how come the work is quadrupled (according to Killzone devs anyway)?

They need to relearn what they already know. For example "println" may do something completely different and "printy" may do what "println" used to which increases development time and costs.

On top of this rumors are that XboxOne and PS4 maybe using the AMD's MantisAPI internally instead of OpenGL/D3D/DirectX. Which is far lower level, the reason why the later 3 were invented was to cut on development time that 3D systems like Glide/Mantis created by being so much lower level, and having to re-do a lot of code often for simple things instead of libraries taking care of it for you. This is naturally at the cost of higher performance (simpler API slower it works, generally).

>What is changing?

Nothing, its just natural progress. Gaming systems have to get more complex because their consumers demand it, in order to stay in step internal coding has to get 'closer to the metal' in order to let developers squeeze every ounce of performance out of the system they can.


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

[User]
[MCU] Are all the Marvel movies that came before the MCU in their own universe?

Movies like Sam Raimis Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, etc.

Are those movies all part of their own universe or are they connected?

[Assistant] All of those movies are each part of their own individual universes within the Marvel Multiverse.  Raimi's *Spider-Man* trilogy took place in Earth-96283, Webb's *Amazing Spider-Man* movies were in Earth-120703, the pre-*Days of Future Past* *X-Men* movie universe was Earth-10005, etc.


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

[User] How does iodine purify water?

[Assistant]
The mechanism by which halogens such as chlorine or iodine kill microbes is not fully understood.

There are a few specific theories, of course, but I'll speak in general.

In general, halogens are extremely unstable. They REALLY... REALLY want an extra electron. Because of this, it makes them extremely reactive, which means they react with... just about anything. Now, when this happens on a bacterial cell, it will often disrupt processes that allow the cell to survive.


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

[User]
[MCU] Is the Blip proof there is no afterlife?

None of the Vanished have any memory of the years between The Snap and their reappearance. Since they were killed and resurrected this would seem to imply that either death is the end and only oblivion awaits, or that none of Earths religions actually worship matter.

[Assistant]
We know for a fact that the soul is real: Doctor Strange and his kind are able to separate their souls from their bodies, and the very existence of a Soul Stone indicates that the soul is a fundamental aspect of the universe.

The Ghost Rider is also canon in the MCU, by way of *Agents of SHIELD*, and that opens up a whole can of theological worms, but his Penance Stare targets the soul.

We've also seen people interact with the dead; T'Challa meeting with the former Kings of Wakanda, for example.

It's possible that T'Challa's meeting with T'Chaka was a hallucination, but all of this together suggests that the afterlife is real in the MCU.


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

[User]
Critiques of MacIntyre's 'After Virtue'

I've recently finished reading Alasdair MacIntyre's *After Virtue* and I'm now looking for some critiques of his stances in the book. Particularly I'm interested in critiques from other Aristotelians who reject his account of the virtues, and those who totally disagree with his critique of modern moral discourse. Criticisms from different perspectives would also interest me.

Thanks in advance.

[Assistant] I like Richard Bernsteins work. He wrote a critique of *After Virtue* in the mid-80s. MacIntyre responded and theres another article discussing the debate. Bernstein has a startlingly clear writing style.


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

[User]
[MCU] Why didn't Bucky get his arm back sooner from Black Panther?

I'm sure it would have been handy to have. Bucky looked like he was helping with chores around, why wait until trouble was brewing before giving him a hand?

[Assistant]
The clear implication is that Bucky didnt want an arm which was a reminder of his decades of being a programmed killer.

Consider that in Infinity War, when TChalla brings the new arm, he doesnt have to say anything. Bucky understands immediately that hes got to give up his peaceful interlude and fight again.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can encryption methods be open source?

I was reading about the signal protocol and saw it has a github page. Doesn't this mean anyone can figure out how the encryption works and break it?

[Assistant]
It is a generally accepted security precept that "The enemy knows the system." That is, when you are designing an encryption algorithm (or any security measure) that you assume the enemy knows its design. You assume that, eventually, an adversary will get a hold of the algorithm and therefore A) you cannot rely on the secrecy of the algorithm for security; and B) your algorithm should be secure despite general awareness of it.

The strength of encryption methods lies in the keys (and, for asymmetric methods, the inherent mathematical difficulty of reversing the encryption process).

For example, the most secure encryption method, the One Time Pad (OTP) has an extremely simplistic algorithm. ALL of the security is invested in how the key is created, used, and kept secret.


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

[User]
[Santa Claus] How does Santa manufacture and give out name-brand toys?

So, How does Santa make name brand toys, in corporate packaging? I mean I get when he makes a toy doll or a football, but is he licensed to distribute counterfeit Nintendo or Mattell merchandise?

Does Santa's workshop have a licensed partnership with every corporation on Earth? This would mean Santa's workshop would be the most dominating capital entertainment industry in THE WORLD. If not, (and we are assuming he has no partnership since his workshop is "hidden" in the North Pole) this would cause a HUGE amount of lawsuits on the co's part, right?

[Assistant]
It would be very difficult to sue Santa for anything here.  You've got immense hurdles in your way regarding jurisdiction and how to serve him in the first place.
In any case, Santa isn't an 'industry'.  He doesn't sell anything, he doesn't even take any kind of monetary donations.  There are no licensing agreements, nor partnerships.
Basically, having Santa distribute toys under your brand on Christmas is just part of doing business.  Sure, there's a bit of lost sales there, but most companies consider it a sign of success to have their products showing up under those trees, in those family photos, and in those kids' conversations at school.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we need to spend nearly one-third of our life sleeping? Why did evolution not bring that number down?

[Assistant]
For starters, you have the fundamental fallacy of evolution.  It does not have direction.  HAD a random mutation occurred to eliminate sleep, it might have flourished.

but then, night time is dangerous, and sleeping is a good way to conserve energy and avoid predators, so maybe wandering around at night would have been bad.


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

[User]
What is the significance of the third law of thermodynamics?

I found on the internet that the third law is defined as: The entropy of a perfect crystal is zero when the temperature of the crystal is equal to absolute zero. I know very little about physics, so if somebody could explain, in layman terms, what this means and why it is significant that would be great.

[Assistant] There are multiple ways to state the third law (refer to the Wiki article on the third law to see them). But the important consequence of the third law is that the heat capacity of any system goes to zero as T approaches 0 K. This is what prevents any system from ever being cooled to absolute zero in practice.


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

[User] [Marvel] What's so special about the Super Soldier Serum which makes a person peak human, when the world has mutants, aliens, humans who got vastly more amazing powers through other ways and so on without using this steroid?

[Assistant]
It's in the name -  **Super Soldier Serum.**

It's treated as a holy grail because it's supposed to reliably make virtually anyone into a super-soldier. Steve Rogers was one step away from being a cripple, and after a dose of this, he puts olympians to shame.

An army of Steve Rogers is a wet dream of any government. Or army of Spider-people, in case of OsCorp.

Unfortunately, with original formula lost with the creator, "reliable" part is now gone, and everyone is stuck with endless string of human guinea pigs.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does our brain create the 'stopped clock' illusion

How does the brain remove the blurry transition and yet we still see during this period?

[Assistant] You don't actually see during this period, you just think you do because your brain back-fills your memory with whatever you see when you stop your eye movement. Your brain essentially tricks you into thinking that there was one seamless immediate transition from point-to-point, when there really wasn't. So, if you change your glance to look at the second hand on a clock you might feel like it hasn't moved in more than a second, which is impossible. But really your brain just altered your memory of how long you've been looking at it. Kind of creepy, but it stops you from getting disoriented during eye movements.


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

[User]
What are some of the unexpected tasks you do as an academic?

I went into my supervisor's office the other day and he was ordering books for the university's library. He told me that this is just one of the many random jobs he didn't expect he'd have to do as an academic (in the humanities) when he first thought of becoming an academic. I'm curious what other seemingly random tasks academics have found themselves doing that they didn't otherwise expect.

[Assistant] You clean also. The lab fridges and places where you store chemicals. Regular cleaning crews are not allowed to to touch these and you end up cleaning them yourself. Same with centrifuges and other common lab appliances.


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

[User]
CMV:Racism, sexism and general discrimination will only begin to fade when we stop pointing fingers and accept that "Us" vs "Them" isn't real, there is only "Us" on this earth.

It's a fairly accepted fact that humans are social creatures and like to form groups. This can have positive effects like a sense of belonging, cooperation and division of burdens. However, to make a group, each member has to have something in common, other than just being human. It could be gender, race, a common vision or belief. You get the idea.

So by uniting based on common characteristics, we automatically exclude those who don't fit the mould. Thus creating every kind of discrimination you can think of.

The worst part is, if you look at groups of people looking to reduce discrimination, they're as much as part of the problem as the original perpetrators. One example of this in action is the reporter who was kicked out of a Black Lives event in CSU. African Americans have a long history of mistreatment in the US and many have the right to be furious. But the problem is that they see all "whites" as being the perpetrators of this mistreatment and exacerbate the "white vs black" dichotomy.

My opinion on how to solve these issues is this: I've been told that to solve problems as a couple, you mustn't make it "you" vs "partner", you have to make it "both of you as a couple" vs "the problem". So I think we should apply the same logic to racism and sexism. Women vs men and whites vs blacks (only two of the uncountable amount of dichotomies that exist) can't be solved by separating and pointing fingers at the other group, it can only be solved by uniting. There is no Us vs Them, only Us.

Perhaps you've suffered discrimination first hand (as I have) and disagree with my opinion because you want justice above all. In which case, please explain your opinion.

Edit: Sorry if I reply late, having a bit of a family emergency.

[Assistant]
Interpersonal relations have improved, and interpersonal discrimination is less prevelant than it once was (that is not to say it has disappeared). The issue is that those forms of discrimination are now systemic, implicit. For example, schools and neighborhoods are still highly segregated due to white flight, and because public schools are funded by taxing local residents, richer white neighborhoods can fund better schools while poorer black ones cannot, resulting in a massive achievement gap.

Think of it as a problem of the commons, the issue isn't that one individual does it, but so many do. As a result, the group's actions adversely affect another: systemic discrimination. Uniting under one banner as you, and many others, have suggested is a noble goal, but it doesn't address the issue that one group's actions are unintentionally yet adversely affecting the other. Calling out the side-effects of another group's actions isn't segregating, as you put it. It's necessary in order to address the problem.


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

[User]
How to breach subject of "old boys' network" without seeming preachy or passive aggressive?

I'm relatively new to my university, tenure-track. The colleagues that I'm closest with in terms of collaborative projects (both in research and administrative/grant objectives) have a group of dudes who all get together for beers. Everyone in this group is a man around my age (I'm a woman), and this is explicitly billed as a "guys' night". The thing is that they *do* discuss work when they are out, even though it's just a social thing officially. Furthermore, each of them is fairly well-positioned in the university in terms of holding important positions (research chairs, dept chairs, deans, etc) -- as am I, by the way. But the only new profs they invite are other dudes. They invited the president of my university for beers (also a dude around our age) and now they are all buddies.

All these guys are really great -- they are socially aware and concerned with equity on some level. How to I point out that they are setting up a weird dynamic without making them feel bad or self-conscious. I *don't* want to join their group, by the way... I'm not sufficiently charismatic to be able to make that a comfortable transition for everyone. I just want them to think about this for what it is. They can do what they want with that information.

[Assistant]
pleasant: ask one that you know well if you can join

aggressive: ask the toughest one directly, why they don't invite you, are they afraid that you'll break up their "guys" night out

passive aggressive: just be at the same bar and force them to ask you to join

there are many ways to handle this. after a couple of meetings no one will remember what strategy you initially employed. however, the longer it goes on, the more awkward your initial joining will seem :(


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

[User] [ATLA] If a fire bender were blind, could they see by sensing heat? Could Firebenders develop the ability to detect heat or fire the way Toph can feel the earth?

[Assistant]
I think it may theoretically be possible in a *very* spiritually powerful firebender. It's been shown that firebenders have a similar ability to water healing, but instead they heal chi or something. The reason it would be harder than it would for an earthbender, though is because seismic sense is actually a natural part of earthbending that was merely forgotten (because simply seeing is easier) or not learned from badger moles (again because it's simpler to use your eyes).

Another challenge would be that, with earthbending you have a direct "line of sight", so to speak, because the earth between yourself and your surroundings are very straightforwardly connected. By simply turning dirt into sand, an accomplished and experienced seismic sense user like Toph had her "sight" greatly diminished. She was eventually able to master sand as well with practice, but it still took a while.

I think an airbender would have a slightly easier time as air is similarly always connected and even still air shifting from someone's movements could likely reach them. But air isn't as efficient at transferring movement as earth is. There's a reason why bunker busters are so effective.


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

[User]
[DC] So where does Superman sit on his universe's intelligence scale?

Red Son portrays him as a genius, whereas in other stories he's just kind of "dumb muscle" - easily out-maneuvered by Batman.

[Assistant]
His mind is very powerful and very fast, and in most situations that looks like genius intelligence. For instance, he can run circles around any existing Earth computer.

But he doesn't always have tremendous insight, instinct, creativity, etc. Those are products of an evolution and/or upbringing that he simply doesn't share with most geniuses. People are generally more creative as a result of *having* to be so, like Batman or Lex Luthor.


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

[User]
CMV: People at grocery stores who pick out meat, then decide to put it back in a random spot when they dont want it anymore, should face the same charges as shoplifters.

When meat like ground beef, chicken breast, etc get taken out their cold spots and end up being placed say in the cereal aisle by a lazy customer who changed their mind, that meat must be thrown away by the store.  I equate this to shoplifting because the store still loses all the money they would have made on the meat.

The only counter I can think of is if this were the case should people who accidentally break product (say drop a jarof pasta sauce) also be charged.  I dont believe so since most of the time that would be an honest accident and not just someone being lazy.

[Assistant]
They should be fined the same way theyd be fined for breaking an expensive item. Its a civil offense, not a criminal offense like shoplifting.

Remember that petty theft is a misdemeanor and misdemeanor convictions show up on background checks. Do you think job applicants getting turned down because they put meat in the wrong spot many years ago is a fair and proportionate response by our criminal justice system?


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

[User] [MCU] Why wasn't Stormbreaker an ace-in-the-hole against Thanos in Endgame like it seemed to be in Infinity War?

[Assistant]
Thor took Thanos by surprise in Wakanda.

Stormbreaker is an immensely powerful weapon, but...the gauntlet could've countered it regardless. It's just that Thanos didn't know what he was dealing with there, so dealt with it like he would anything else, only it didn't work. The element of surprise can be an amazing tool.

Granted, he didn't have the gauntlet for most of Endgame, but he *was* aware of the weapon this time around (through Nebula's footage), and Thor didn't get the drop on him. That's the crucial bit.

There's never a point in Endgame where Stormbreaker *fails* to damage Thanos (it cuts through him just fine on Thanos' farm). He just avoids getting hit, disarms the weapon, turns it on Thor, etc. He's strong and skilled and smart enough to do so, and he knows what he's dealing with.

Plus, he has his own nigh-indestructible blade to work with that presents a great threat to Thor in turn, and is useful as a defensive tool as well.


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

[User]
[Star wars]Mace windu agrees to let Palpatine stand trial, how would this play out?

Asuming Palpatine also agrees and doesn't just electrocute anything that moves.

[Assistant]
Mace says quite clearly "He has control of the senate and of the courts" and Palpatine even egotistically though correctly states "I am the senate" so basically it would be a sham of a trail that would look like the Jedi persecuting the Chancellor and nothing would come of it.

However it was more beneficial for him to resist as A) he convinces Anakin to switch sides, B) use the "assassination" attempt to wipe out the Jedi and C) show that the senates checks on everything was tenuous at best and they needed a strong emperor to defend their freedom.


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

[User]
I was studying about RAM having limited memory and ability to store limited values. So out of curiosity, and to see it live, I created a python program to eat up all my memory and CPU. I want some explanation, please.

I ran the program and it froze my 32Gb memory and 8700k computer. Using every available resource.

Following is the code I ran

    l = []
    for i in range(10**30):
        l.append(i)
    print(l)

I just want to know what part of the above program is heavy enough to freeze the system?

Is it looping for 10\*\*30 times?

Is it generating and storing 10\*\*30 values?

Or is it displaying the list?

Or a combination of all three?

[Assistant]
If this is python 2, it probably fails when building the range().

In python 3 you're probably failing during the appends.  What happens next depends on your operating system.  It might be trying really hard to swap some of your memory to a pagefile in disk.

You could do some experiments.

* Add a small print after the loop.  You probably won't get there but it will prove that it fails before the big print.
* Try running without the append.  Replace it with x = x+1 and measure the time it takes if the loop is just 10\*\*10 or 10\*\*15.  Can you extrapolate the time for 10\*\*30?
* Put the append back, and find the biggest loop that finishes.  Watch what it's running out of.  That will tell you if you are first limited by memory or by time. (at 10\*\*30 it may be both).


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

[User] Eli5: if there are a ton of harmful bacteria in every persons mouth, why is it relatively safe to give/receive oral when genitalia is so sensitive to foreign bacteria?

[Assistant]
The bacteria in your mouth can cause harm depending on your diet and personal hygiene habits. They are also specialized at living in this environment and prevent harmful bacteria from taking residence in this nutrient rich environment. Along these lines - most of the time, most of the bacteria in your mouth are protective, not harmful.

It's a similar story with the vaginal microbiology. Specially adapted, usually protective.

When you swap bugs from one environment to another they don't do well. It would be like plunking a lion down in the Arctic.

Source: PhD Microbiologist, working in Oral Care 10+ years.


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

[User]
Do black holes have a temperature?

Does the question even make sense?

[Assistant]
Yes, they do.  This was a major theoretical discovery of Hawking's, following on work by Bekenstein regarding black hole entropy.  This temperature enables black holes to emit particles and thus energy.

The temperature of a black hole is inversely proportional to its mass, so a large black hole has a small temperature, and a small black hole has a large temperature.

Black holes that we've observed have tiny temperatures.  Even a black hole with a mass equal to that of the Moon would have a temperature less than 3K.


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

[User] Does Neosporin and other topical antibioitics breed anti-biotic resistance?

[Assistant]
The antibiotics in Neosporin and similar ointments use classes of antibiotics that are almost never used as injected or oral drugs. Resistance may develop to the topical drugs, but there is virtually no effect on the effectiveness of systemic drugs.

In many ways, the topicals may decrease antibiotic resistance by preventing superficial infections from getting worse and requiring systemic drugs.


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

[User] ELI5 Why do human babies cry when they are born but other animal babies do not cry when they are born?

[Assistant]
Crying can be both an evolutionary advantage and disadvantage. If babies can signal to their parents that they need attention, that is good.

But if crying inadvertently attracts predators or warns off prey, that is bad. So whether babies crying is, on the whole, an advantage, depends a lot on the particular niche a species occupies in the ecosystem.

Humans are kind of outliers in that human babies are just spectacularly helpless compared to the young of other species. However, humans are also apex predators, and are pretty smart and could figure out how to leave the babies at home during the hunt.


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

[User]
[Borderlands 2] What is up with the Goliaths?

Is there an explanation as to what/how they can pop out their whole skull and spine and why it causes them to go into a rage?  Is it from Eridium exposure?

[Assistant]
You need to look at the history of Pandora.  Most humans on the planet were slave labor (mostly prisoners) to operate mining sites.

After the corporations pulled out (too costly to maintain) they left the workers to fend for themselves.

This harsh environment took a toll on their psyches.  This is why there are so many exceptionally insane individuals.  The goliaths are such individuals.

Eridium exposure, strange mining chemicals, harsh environments and such are likely the cause of biological abnormalities.

The goliaths are unique in that they're "passable" except for their heads.  So they wear helmets to cover their deformation.   When they are exposed, the pain (physical and emotional) causes them to enter a mutating rage.


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

[User]
ELI5: Does a mouse send 1s and 0s to the computer?

I saw a video saying it tracks and images how the mouse traverses the surface? So does it tell the computer a chain of 1s and 0s to move the cursor?

[Assistant]
it does send 1s and 0s but ultimately what they are interpreted from are numbers that correspond to the change the image sensor at the bottom of the mouse picks up and of course whether the buttons are pressed.

Your mouse shines an angled light at the mousepad or surface and the sensor next to it is like a tiny(like 18 x 18 pixels) camera that can see the tiny ridges on most surfaces and is always taking lots of little pictures really fast. By lining consecutive images up and looking for the tiny differences in these ridges it can do math as to how fast or far the user moved the mouse across a pad.

It's constantly sending these math answers to the computer, and if you were to look at the memory of the mouse hardware it would be sending this information in binary(1s and 0s) ~~but depending on what you use to read this it could be abstracted into assembly language(which is like shorthand computer code)~~ or full integers of a direction and speed, and true and false for button presses.


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

[User]
[MARVEL] Vibranium explained?

I'm trying to understand how Vibranium is supposed to work. It's introduced as a material that absorbs ALL vibrations. Howard Stark demos it to Cap by shooting at the shield and the bullets just drop. But, how come Cap flies across rooms when his shield is hit by a granade or something? If vibrations were absorbed would momentum still exist? Or is it just a fuck up by the writers?

Same thing for Black Panther. His whole suit is made out of vibranium. He should be the most powerful thing in the universe, nothing should be able to move him.

Is there a "scientific" explanation to these things or am I to keep being enoyed by it?

[Assistant]
Vibranium has a response curve, based on how much energy it's trying to absorb.

If you hit it with a small amount of force, like when Steve Rogers uses it as a weapon, or when a bullet hits it at an angle, vibranium acts like most metals; there's an elastic reaction where some of the energy is absorbed, but most of the energy is returned. This is why it can be used as a weapon, and why some bullets deflect off of it.

But if you hit it harder, like when Steve Rogers falls out of a buildings, a bullet hits it square on, or it is exposed to an explosion, vibranium's special properties activate. Rather than an elastic reaction that reflects kinetic energy, it actually stores all of that energy with its own molecular bonds. The energy needed to trigger this reaction is more than the energy needed to damage vibranium, hence its read-indestructibility.

Vibranium's ability to store energy is limited, however. If you hit it with too much energy at once, like when Thor struck Steve Roger's shield with Mjolnir, its capacity is exceeded, and all of the kinetic energy it has and is trying to absorb is released at once, in the form of a shockwave.

Black Panther's suit is a special case. For one, it isn't pure vibranium, but a vibranium weave. The suit moves like fabric, not a suit of Tony's armor, which likely means that vibranium threads are woven into it, instead of vibranium being the primary component. The suit also has special features, like the ability to release stored energy on command, which might impact its ability to absorb energy perfectly.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Are the Tesseract and the Cosmic Cube from the comics the same item?

I have seen a few images from the comics that talk about the Cosmic Cube, and even where they comically drop it on a few occasions. Thanos seems to go after it on several occasions, and in the latest run Red Skull used it to alter Cap's timeline.

In the MCU, the blue cube thing is the Tesseract and houses the Space Stone. But is the comic's Cosmic Cube the same thing, or is it separate from the Infinity Gems?

[Assistant]
No, in mainstream Marvel Cosmic Cubes are different things. It's basically a specific structure (not necessarily a cube), infused with a whole lot of extradimensional energies, which responds to the will of a mortal mind.

In essence, these Cosmic Cubes can grant wishes, and if you gather  up enough of them, they potentially can rival an Infinity Gauntlet. In general these things can allow you to rearrange matter, time-travel to retcon shit, bring back the dead and other shenanigans.

Last one for example, made Captain America a HYDRA agent.

Basically, Cosmic Cubes are shit not to be fucked with. There are also some caveats to them. Some Cosmic Cubes have finite amount of power, and can run out. Others actually develop their own minds, and evolve into living beings, like Kobic, or that Skrull one that became known as Shaper of Worlds.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do stocks that will never pay dividends have any value?

EDIT: There may be a bit of confusion on this question. I understand that the price of a stock goes and you can sell it for more than you bought it for based on people's projections about the companies future performance.

However, this doesn't answer why there is value in the first place. Pretty much every other asset I can think of (Besides Gold) Holds intrinsic value in that it either benefits you, or it's benefits can later be sold for others.

Holding onto a share of stock does not benefit me in any way, and the price only goes up based on how people feel about future performance. Without dividends, it's confusing as to where this value comes from. Though many of you have explained buy backs, or being purchased by a third party.

[Assistant]
There are, generally, four ways for a shareholder to extract value from a company:

1.  The company pays out its profits in the form of dividends;
2.  The company is sold and the shareholder's shares are purchased by a third party;
3.  The company buys back its own shares; and
4.  The company winds up and the shareholders take their equity stake.

So even if you never expect to get a dividend you can still get your money in one of these other ways.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do cells stick together to form different surfaces in your body?

Theres obviously a very distinct difference between the feeling (for lack of better word) of your skin versus say a vein, your eyes, your tongue, etc. What makes them feel different, or I guess have different textures? I know of course DNA, but molecularly what is the difference between a tongue cell and a skin cell that makes it look and feel so different? I hope my question makes sense!

[Assistant] The sticking part is also accomplished by proteins that go through both cells. Desmosomes and Hemidesmosomes. A mutation in the gene for them causes "butterfly children" (super tragic and graphic.  Do not Google.)


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

[User] What affects whether rain comes down hard or soft?

[Assistant]
The atmosphere everywhere (even outside the cloud) contains lots and lots and lots of water. And under a stable combination of temperature, pressure, and humidity, all that moisture is perfectly happy to exist in a completely gaseous state. But as differing air masses start to collide, the local atmospheric conditions can fall outside the range where water can exist in a completely gaseous state. That is known as the dew point.

A cloud is where two differing atmospheric conditions have met, and the resulting condensed water droplets simply do not have sufficient weight to overcome the updraft speed of the air around it. If the air masses mix slowly, the rate of condensation will occur slowly and over a longer period of time. The resulting clouds may simply "evaporate" as the local conditions stabilize, or the condensing water may slowly precipitate over the ground (soft rain), or the precipitation may never reach the ground at all. These gentler atmospheric changes tend to play out over longer periods of time because the air masses are moving more slowly so it takes longer for the differences to mix and settle down into a new steady state.

If two air masses have widely varying conditions (think warm moist air over the ocean meeting dryer hotter conditions over the land) and they meet more abruptly (higher wind speeds), this causes a more-violent disturbance; the moisture from the air will condense more quickly, the rain falls faster and harder, and the whole thing ends (relatively speaking) more quickly.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is 0! 1 and not 0?

3! is 6 as it is 3x2x1. 2! is 2 as it is 2x1. 1! is 1 as it is just 1. Shouldn't 0! be 0 as there are no numbers to multiply?

[Assistant] Because a factorial is how many ways you can arrange a bunch of items in a set. You can arrange 1 item in one way {1}, 2 items in 2 ways {1,2} and {2.1}, 3 items in 6 ways etc. You can arrange 0 items in one way, it is an empty set. You can make one combination with it {} so 0! is equal to 1.


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

[User]
ELI5:Escrow

I'm about to buy a house, and I don't totally understand Escrow.
What is it?
How is it used?
Why is it important?

[Assistant]
Imagine you want to buy a baseball for $5 from Bobby. Normally it'd be fine, you'd just hand him $5 and he'd give you the ball. But you only get $1 in allowance each week. So you need five weeks to get the money together.

Bobby doesn't want to just give you the ball, but you're also worried Bobby will lose/damage/sell the ball in the meantime.
So both of you go to Rebecca and say "hold on to the ball, and each week Rhysic will give you $1. At the end of five weeks, give him the ball and Bobby the money."

Rebecca is holding the ball and money in an escrow account.


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

[User]
What is something you wished you knew earlier in your PhD?

Hi all!

Currently in the first month of my PhD (humanities) and it got me thinking. As the title says: people who are currently finishing their PhD/have finished their PhD already: what is something you wished you knew from the get-go of your academic position? Something you might have wanted to tell your younger self?

Looking forward to your responses!

[Assistant]
Your dissertation is not the final goal...it is just the completion of a stage necessary to moving to the next level.

It is possible the next level may not happen though. Be fully aware of what lies after the PhD.


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

[User]
[Batman] Do Talia al Ghul and Catwoman know about eachother's respective romances with Batman?

What do they think of eachother, if they have had any contact at all?

[Assistant]
At least pre-New 52 they did, and they don't like each other too much.

Mostly because of their conflict over Bruce's affections, but also because of their personalities. Talia sees Catwoman as being not much better than any other criminal, and Selina thinks Talia is a clingy psycho with a superiority complex.

In Gotham Sirens, Talia even tried to get Zatanna to mind wipe Selina of her memories about Bruce under the guise of trying to protect his secret identity from Harley and Ivy, but it became apparent that it was also about eliminating the competition.