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

[User] [Cabin in the Woods] where did the monsters come from and when did the organization appear?

[Assistant]
They're a globalish organization that go around capturing them to enable saving the world and keeping the old one asleep. They mention that the things that enabled them to do this are legends and rituals all over the world that predate the organization. It's unclear when they organized and banded together. It's also possible they operate separately and cooperatively in lieu of being one big cohesive organization.

Considering that there doesn't seem to be one organization managing how they do anything I'd subscribe to that theory. They had to be TOLD that a bunch of other people failed. Most likely because they operate independently and not that one single organization above is coordinating them at all together.


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

[User] ELI5: The sensation of "too quiet"

[Assistant]
Just spitballing, but human brains filter a huge amount of information all the time, to include ambient noise. We usually don't think about it because it isn't relevant to any of the decisions our brains think we're going to need to make soon. The sudden absence of noise, however, is unusual. It breaks the pattern, and our brains tend to notice that. They also tend to jump to conclusions about what the pattern break means.

Specifically in the case of silence, your brain is probably reverting to a fight or flight response. Sudden silence might mean that there is imminent danger in the form of a predator that everything around you has noticed (and is hiding from). Your brain assumes the worst, so it starts raising your hackles. It makes you hyper alert so that you can run like hell if need be.


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

[User]
CMV: Donald Trump would look more professional by trimming his hair down to look more clean cut than by keeping his extreme comb over.

Donald Trump's hair is ridiculous in my opinion. It's an orange-yellow color. It's too long which makes it wavy and erratic. The direction he combs it makes it look like it is just floating on top of his head. It's ridiculous. It lools like a hair helmet. I've felt this way for years even before he won the presidency. I can't take him seriously as a businessman or president for many reasons, but the hair is icing on the cake. I believe he should use some of his millions to hire a professional hair stylist to trim it down and make him look more presentable. They're are plenty of balding men that shave the rest of their hair off and they look handsome and good. Donald Trump's current hair style makes him look like an idiot. It's almost like he's been overdue for a haircut for about three years but refuses to go. I believe this makes it hard for some people to take him seriously, even if only subliminally. Change my view!

[Assistant]
He has a completely unique look. His hair makes him instantly memorable not just to politicians, but to *everyone*. Even if you didn't know anything about Donald Trump even before the political campaign, his ridiculous hair instantly gives you an image in your head of who he is and what he looks like. He's distilled his entire brand to a cartoon logo - his hair. An orange wig alone will make you think about Trump. It's the kind of publicity you can't buy, especially not with your generic $400 politicians' haircut.

For all the exaggerated (and ultimately damaging to the left) comparisons to Hitler, very few people compared Trump's hair to Hitler's mustache, which at the time was also seen as silly and an object of derision. But it gave Hitler a memorable visual hook. Hey, you've heard what Hitler's saying? Hitler? That's the guy with the mustache, right? And immediately the listener has a way to relate the message with the source. It's probably the single most accurate comparison between Trump and Hitler you could make, and it's also one of the absolute smartest thing they both did for their personal brand.


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

[User] ELI5: Do cats know when they're playing with a toy or do they think they're actually on the hunt and that they're attacking a prey?

[Assistant] They don't know until they are 6 months old but toys are must for brain developing. Cats are just like human babies with toys; they dream and think about that toy, make sounds and examine it. Cats can get bored too and toys are good for working-out. But if you close a cat in a room with lots of toys it might get nervous and unhappy because it wants to play them with you, just like a human baby. And you must let them win :)


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

[User] ELI5: How do TV and radio stations know how many viewers/listeners they have?

[Assistant]
They have what is known as a sample audience. A group of volunteers or sometimes paid people from a wide selection of areas that have a device tracking what channels and when they watch on television.
This sample is then used as an indicator of views, and an estimate is made  to give the overall number of viewers for any show.
They want to know this information primarily so they can charge their advertisers fees based on the viewing audience. Nielson Media Research is a company most commonly doing this, so you may have heard the term 'Neilson rating' before.


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

[User] [Culture] Is the Culture technologically stagnant?

[Assistant]
Not in the slightest.  We have had a lot of tech and cultural changes over the years.

A few examples:

  - 'OU class ship:  Prior to the Idiran War a dedicated warship would be unthinkable.  By the time of the Excession Incident or the War in Heaven we have already seen great leaps in design and lethality.  Some of those heathens don't even have crew!

  - Displacement:  We learned a lot during the fiasco that was the Excession (may the ITG rot in hell).  For one, we got detailed scans of the Excession "jumping" a displace.  To this day some Culture ships don't know how to pull that trick.  SC has appropriate files and charts of who can be shown that one.

  - Mind Design:  Minds from the Idiran War era wouldn't even qualify for the title anymore.  Minds from the time period have upgraded themselves extensively.   However, similar capabilities built new would be called minds (small m) or AI cores.  What once operated a GSV is now used for interstellar shuttles.

  - Drones:  Drone designs and capabilities have shown a similar change.  Drones use to have far larger bodies.  Some older drones still keep those old chassis as a sign of how long they have been around.

  - Human/technology integration has taken huge steps forward.  It would have been easier if The Player of Games had had a Neural Lace instead of having to give up his pen terminal to play Azad.

  - Some Orbitals use to make all building entirely space rated in case the Orbital came under attack.  This was a fad prior to and for a period after the Idiran conflict.  Now we still take precaution but some Orbitals are much more "old school" and still hold defensive drills.

  - Organisationally we have had changes.  SC and Contact were joined by Quietus,   Numina, and Restoria.

  - Thats not even getting into all the toys and fun SC has been working on.  Have to constantly stay ahead of the curve.  How else are we suppose to keep the motto: "Don't Fuck with the Culture."


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

[User]
Where to start with Leibniz

Hey guys , have been listening to Firas Zahabis mma podcast and he has mentioned Leibniz a few times on different occasions. Ive tried to find any essays or books to read about his philosophy but Im stuck and not sure where to start , any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers !

[Assistant]
For primary source material, get the Ariew and Garber translation of Leibnizs Philosophical Essays you can probably find a free pdf pretty easily if you look in the right places.

Also any secondary source articles by these guys is top notch.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why Is It US ISP's and Telecomms companies seem to be able to dick their customers with impunity?

I live in the UK and although our ISP's and Telecomms providers arnt generally everyone's best friend it seems in the US they seem to able little of a damn as possible while raking in huge profits. I'm aware some of the problem is availability of options, caused by barriers to entry that no-one up top seems intent on removing.

[Assistant] Because they've managed to set themselves up so that there is little to no competition in most markets. Oh, sure, there are lots of ISPs and telecomms providers, but you might be surprised how little their areas of service overlap. Your providers are determined primarily by where you live, not by who you choose to business with.


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

[User] ELI5: How are photos colourised?

[Assistant]
Some modern cameras store images much like these pictures. They use two channels, color and intensity. The intensity channel would be like the grayscale image. Intensity ranges from 0% (white) to 100% (black). The color is painted over this intensity, resulting in different shades of that color.

To colorize old pictures like this, an artist takes a relatively small color palate and applies it to the image, using the greyscale as the intensity channel. This way, the artist doesn't have to create shades of a color, the intensity channel does it automatically.

As for how accurate it is to the original color, it's often not very close. The artist may make a few educated guesses as to what color things should be (grass is green, sky is blue, etc.), but unless there is some other documentation as to what color the clothes, eyes, hair, etc., were, it's all just guesses and whatever the artist thinks looks good.


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

[User]
[Avatar: The Last Airbender] Why does Azula create blue flame?

Nearly every firebender creates 'normal-looking' orange fire, whereas when Azula firebends it is always blue.

I don't think it's particularly to do with power, as Ozai and Iroh appear to be more skilled at firebending and they firebend 'normal-looking' orange flames.

[Assistant]
She practiced to produce blue flame.  Personal choice.  Blue fire is hotter than red fire (blue stars are hotter than red stars), but obviously takes up more energy.  It's indicative of Azula's personality.  She came to play.

*But really, they did it to distinguish Azula from Zuko.*


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

[User]
How do scientists discover viruses in glaciers/ice?

I was reading a post about scientists discovering an ancient virus in a Tibetan glaciers? How do they do that? Do they pick random chunk of ice and analyse them? How does that work?

[Assistant]
You're basically right.

They collect an ice core by drilling down, take a sample of the ice, carefully melt it, and then analyze the water for viral particles.

They also had to be extra careful to not contaminate the ice cores when they were brought up, to make sure that none of our current microbes contaminate it.


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

[User]
ELI5: Uses of complex numbers.

I recently got interested in the topic of complex numbers, I watched a few videos on YouTube about the subject and I think I got the general idea of what they are. But I still don't understand what uses they have in real life.

[Assistant]
The original use of complex numbers was to solve the dilemma of the fundamental theorem of algebra. Way back in the distant past, mathematicians argued that every polynomial had a number of roots (places where the function crossed the x-axis) depending on the order (highest power) of the polynomial. Unfortunately for those mathematicians, there were a host of counter-examples to this very elegant principle. So instead of just taking their lumps, they decided to invent complex numbers so they could be right - with the addition of complex numbers, the fundamental theorem of algebra ends up being true.

However, a more interesting application of complex numbers is with respect to the concept of *rotation*. You can use a complex number to represent a vector in two dimensional space (i.e. a set of x,y coordinates). If you multiply two of these vectors together, you end up with a new vector whose angle is the sum of the angles of the original vectors and whose magnitude is the product of the magnitudes of the original vectors.

Rotation also leads into *periodicity* - things that repeat. So we can represent periodic phenomenon with complex numbers. Since waves - including sound, light, etc. - are periodic phenomenon, complex numbers are a way to model them.


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

[User] ELI5: Why was purple pigment history difficult to produce? Couldn't ascestors have just mixed red and blue, instead of laboriously extracting it from sea snails?

[Assistant]
The blues they had access to were mostly bluish-greens. The reds they had access to were mostly reddish-oranges. When you mix those, you get sort of a baby-poop brown color instead of purple.

The \*REALLY\* deep reds, deep blues, and deep purples almost all came from the same snails, just fermented differently. (There's one deep blue that came from the indigo plant, but it was almost as valuable as the snails).


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

[User]
ELI5: What makes primary colors "primary" (unable to be created by other colors), and why are we able to create secondary colors from primary colors?

Regarding primary colors, why is it that red, yellow, and blue specifically are the colors that are our base primary colors?  Also, I understand which primary colors create secondary colors, but how does that work?  Why do those specific color mixes create new colors?

[Assistant]
Because our eyes actually cheat. They can't detect colors other than blue, red and green. What they do however is, using those three colors, your brain then can form very good guesses about what the color you see actually is. It's a very complicated process, but because your eye literally only has those 3 colors to form its guess from, you can cheat it with just the right combination of blue, red and yellow to make it arrive at erroneous conclusions about what it's actually seeing. Since real yellow activates both red and green sensors in our eyes, you can make brain conclude its seeing yellow simply by throwing both green and red light at the eye. The brain can't tell the difference between these cases since either way, eye is telling it that both red and green light sensitive sensors have activated.

It's important to notice there are actually two types of primary colors, based on how colors combine. Computer screen is additive. If you have red region, you can add green light to make the segment appear yellow. Paint on the other hand works by **substracting** light from what it receives. So if you mix yellow paint, which substracts blue and only lets out green and red, with magenta paint which substracts green and only lets out red and blue, resulting paint only lets out red color. So with substractive colors, primary colors are cyan, magenta and yellow. This is how printing works, for example.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do giant corporations like Bank of America get billions of dollars in US tax refunds while smaller companies OWE 30-40% of their profits?

[Assistant]
Any company can have tax refunds when they have deductible expenses and/or write-offs

BoA by being big, and probably paying billions in Corporate Tax also has billions to get refund

(Also better accountants, some incentives of course, but the idea is the same)


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

[User] ELI5: If you cut your finger, why when it heals does it have the same unique fingerprint pattern?

[Assistant] You don't always get the same fingerprint, it depends on how deep the cut is. your skin has two major layers: the "dermis," which is the deep layer skin, and the "epidermis," which is the outermost layer (the layer with fingerprints). the look and feel of the epidermis is determined completely by the dermis, because the dermis is what creates the epidermis. you can think of the dermis as the "skin factory" and the epidermis as the "skin product." no matter how much you damage the epidermis, as long as the skin factory underneath is intact, the skin will always be replaced exactly the way it used to be, fingerprints and all. however, if you cut deep enough, you actually damage the dermis itself; you damage the skin factory. thats when you can get serious scarring and actually lose part of your fingerprint forever.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do our bodies know when its time to wake up?

Im aware that sunlight makes our bodies produce cortisol, but what causes us to wake up when sunlight isnt a factor?

[Assistant] We have a natural "Circadian Rythm". It's 25 hours long though, and needs sunlight to correct itself occasionally. In an enviroment without sunlight it will quickly go out of sync with the actual time of the day, but you will still sleep about once per day.


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

[User]
ELI5: How in the hell do nicknames work in English ?

Hi Reddit ! I'm French, and I have two questions.

First one is : how do you get Dick from Richard ? How do you get Bob from Robert ? In France, most of our nicknames are either the first syllable (Samantha becomes Sam) or the first syllable, but doubled (my name is Myriam, the logical nickname is Mymy).

Seconde one is : how can you casually call people "Dick" ? No one here could have a nickname meaning "penis" or "vulva" or "vagina". No one would use it. Except bullies maybe.

EDIT : I think I made a mistake in my title. I don't think "in the hell" is correct. Eh. Too bad. Sorry.

[Assistant]
A lot of it is a rhyming scheme. So from Richard, it becomes Rick, and then Dick. From Robert, it becomes Rob, which becomes Bob.

There are some debates about the etymology of 'dick' in the penis sense, but it's clear that Richard (and the nickname as explained above) has much older roots than 'dick' in the sense we know it now, as the latter is actually a relatively recent development for the use of the word.

Edit:
I would like to add that one of the suggested routes for exactly how it came to mean penis is that it was a nickname first, at least around the 12-13th century, then because it was such a common name some years later, it became synonymous to mean a male, such as in the phrase, 'Every Tom, Dick and Harry'. It eventually became a nickname for police officers or detectives in the late 1800s/early 1900s, and also a nickname for a riding whip, and around that same time it also started being slang for penis. So as causation can't really be proved, you can see how a number of ways could have influenced how it came to be.

Just to point out from comments here, spotted dick is thought to have originated from spotted pudding, to puddick, to dick.


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

[User]
Are the rare elements on earth proportionately rare throughout the solar system and universe?

Speaking of things like gold, platinum, osmium, rhodium, etc.  For instance, would any given moon of Jupiter have the same proportions as Earth?

If the distribution is uneven, why?

[Assistant] Pretty much actually. Any element heavier than iron can only be forged in a supernova explosion. And factor in decays of some elements that you lose, and gain a few more as stable decay products, yeah pretty much even throughout the universe. That being said, some elements are more rock-friendly and they're up in the crust, while others are more metal-friendly and down in the core of the earth, so that's a factor too, but one we'd expect to be present on any rocky planet like earth.


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

[User]
[General Fantasy] How do fledgling vampires get over the initial "eww" factor involved in ripping open a person's neck and subsisting entirely on their blood?

Obviously some (mainly those who I assume became vampires willingly.) fledglings can just jump right in to the cannibalism party, but I feel like a lot of them would have to get over the actual hunting, killing, and consumption of humans. And I know it's not *technically* cannibalism, but I feel like vamps and normies are similar enough to still trigger that empathic response of "maybe don't kill people?".

Unless there's a chemical change in the brain that blocks those sort of feelings, or if the vampire is a different being entirely (like in Buffy, where they're corpse-possessing, mind-snatching demons), I can't imagine it's easy to get over that stuff.

Then even once you get used to the idea of killing and eating another person out of necessity, you still have to get used to blood itself.  Which is like, the second grossest part of the body that we still consider food.  I feel like I'd get over eating people way easier then I'd get over having to eat (drink) nothing but their blood.

So how do they get over these initial squick factors of their new life?  Or are they not supposed to?  Is the gross-ness of their diet part of their "curse", similar to how other undead might not experience taste anymore(like the crew of The Black Pearl)?

Side question: Assuming it's not part of the curse, since a lot of vampires often mention quite enjoying the taste of blood(it tends to taste different to them, I've heard it described anywhere from "warm butter" to "fine wine"), do they ever get used to the monotony of it?  Do different people's bloods taste different enough to keep them from getting bored, or would it be comparable to me deciding to live on nothing but peanut butter sandwiches and giving up after a week because now they taste like nothing?

__

I tagged the post as "general" because I felt the topic applied pretty broadly, but if you have examples or relevant universe-specific info, I'd still like to hear it.

[Assistant]
Becoming a Vampire changes you.
To become a vampire, dying is part of the process, and that alone can be life-changing for most people, the then becoming a vampire after dying is even greater change.
You stop being a human, and become a vampire, something different. Sure, you look human for the most parts (minus the teeth) but you are fundamentally different.

But what is the biggest thing that allows vampires just to feast on blood is the hunger.
There is nothing quite like it.
Imagine the hungriest you have ever been and that is nothing to a vampire's thirst and hunger for blood. Even if you would have a incredibly empathic person turn Vampire, that thirst will make them do things they were not ready for.

Another reason why Vampires often have no problem with it is because most vampires are sired with intention, accidental siring is rare. Vampires takes time to pick a person they believe would make a good vampire.

And yes, While all Blood taste like blood, it's more like how all wine taste like wine, but different types of wines tastes somewhat different.
It's also based on the fact that vampires are no longer human, imagine a predatory fish, they feed only on other fishes, do they grow tiered of it? No, because they are made to eat fish, a vampire is made to drink blood.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is there so much more land in the northern hemisphere than the southern hemisphere?

By looking at a map, it seems like a majority of land on Earth is in the northern hemisphere. Is there a reason for that, or is it just coincidence?

[Assistant] There is no other reason for it than that's where it happens to be right now. In plate tectonics theory, the continental crust - which makes up the land - wanders around on the denser oceanic crust. Only *extremely* slowly. 600 million years ago most of the land was in the southern hemisphere, and it's just at this particular geological "moment" all drifted up north.


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

[User] [Space Invaders] Why are we being invaded? How many are there?

[Assistant]
We do not know what the Invaders want.

They arrive in squadrons of 55, plus a special command ship, and attack in lateral maneuvers, closing inexorably, firing missiles the entire time, until they are destroyed or they overwhelm and destroy Terran bases. Even if the 3 laser cannon commanders deployed manage to destroy a full squadron, another will shortly arrive, moving even faster. It is inevitable that the speed will continue ramp up until all the intrepid personnel at a base are destroyed and the invaders claim their prize.

Without fail, whenever they overrun a Terran position, we permanently lose contact with that base and have no knowledge of what they do at the scene. No commander has ever survived until the end of an Invader attack, so it is assumed that for attrition purposes they should be considered to have inexhaustible fleet capabilities.

In other words, they will never stop coming.

All we can do is continue to deploy laser cannons to our bases and pray they eventually run out of attackers before they make it to our inner-ring defenses.

The good news is that the fleets do always conform to specific patterns and habit of maneuver, so a skilled commander can stretch out the engagements for as long as they can maintain endurance. These brave holding actions are invaluable as they allow us to gather the resources to bring more combat positions into play.

Fortunately as well, technology has advanced radically since the Invaders first arrived in our galaxy, and with the advent of the Galaxian hordes and their Galaga elite fleet, what we once thought was a critical threat is more like an infestation to be managed.

It is sad that it requires the sacrifice of laser commanders to do the work, but such is the cost of being a spacefaring race. It is no less noble than the efforts of the Defender corps against the mutants or the work of the crews that clear asteroids for us.

As long as we can financially maintain the battle and can find brave volunteers we can and will continue to combat this threat.

I only have one piece of advice. Do not cross the sibling race of the Invaders, the Yar. They are vicious, unstoppable and tales of their revenge is historic.


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

[User] ELI5:What's the difference between a Business and a Corporation?

[Assistant]
A corporation is just an organizational structure that someone may choose when starting their business. The corporate structure has advantages and disadvantages; an advantage is limited liability for owners, meaning an owner (stockholders) is only liable for the money they willingly give to a company. The stockholders are not personally liable for any of the corporation's debts. Personal assets are also protected from a legal standpoint, so long as they aren't obtained illegally through the company.

A disadvantage of the corporate structure is double taxation. Because a corporation is its own legal entity, it is responsible for paying taxes. A corporation pays income tax, then the owners again pay taxes when corporate income is paid out in the form of dividends.


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

[User]
Scientists always say that most of the stars today were created when bigger stars died. I always thought bigger stars died when they ran out of hydrogen, where does the hydrogen for the new stars come from then?

Thanks for the answers in advance, I am really curious since this question popped up in my mind several times over the last few months!

[Assistant]
Stars aren't created from the 'ashes' of dead stars. All stars pretty much form the same way: from collapsed clouds of hydrogen gas, which is itself left over from the big bang.

These gas clouds get 'enriched' (or 'polluted,' depending on how you want to look at it) by the heavier isotopes/metals produced by earlier generations of stars. For example, we generally think older stars will be more metal poor because there is a good chance they formed from gas that was more pristine than gas that is available today. Observing the abundances of heavy metals in stars is actually one method of figuring out what 'generation' a star is and for figuring out what stellar processes were happening during different epochs.


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

[User]
[Avatar: The Last Airbender] What would have happened if young Zuko tried to fight back against Ozai in the Agni Kai?

For reference, im talking about in the flashback when Zuko spoke against Ozai in the war council that Ozai declared Agni Kai against Zuko. What would have happened if Zuko actually fought back instead of begging for forgiveness?

[Assistant] Ozai might've gained some more respect for his son, but ultimately it would've ended the same. Ozai hated Zuko and was just looking for an excuse to get rid of him. Zuko's guilt might have been stronger, but that's it.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What happened to General Grevious?

Why is he a cyborg? What happened to his original body?

[Assistant]
Canon: Grevious was a warrior who slowly started replacing his body parts with cyborg parts eventually becoming a full on cyborg.

Legends: Dooku had Grevious's ship destroyed barely leaving him alive and dooku turned him into a cyborg.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do many cultures greet or leave with a kiss on the cheek but not in the US?

[Assistant]
There are a lot of complex issues for this. A few of them are:

1) Personal space. Kissing on the cheek is far more invasive than even a hug. Americans have developed a larger personal space bubble than many places due to having more physical space and being less crowded in our cities and towns. Because we are less crowded invading someone's personal space without permission is a much bigger insult than other places. You will also notice that the few cities that are highly crowded like NYC and LA have a decent percentage of the population that do use the kiss on the cheek as a greeting.

2) Propriety. Anything to do with sexuality is a bit more taboo in the US due to our history with more conservative religious groups. As such a kiss on the cheek, although being very mild is still too sexual of an act for it to be common. And even when it is not considered sexual, it is considered something only granted to relatives (like grandmothers or aunts with young children) and so is considered improper to do as it is claiming a level of familiarity you have not earned with someone.


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

[User] ELI5 How are animals able to eat spoiled food without much backlash, but if I eat something a few days past its spoilage date, I'm attached to the toilet for a week?

[Assistant]
Animals (specifically *other meat-eating* mammals *like dogs and cats*) often have much shorter digestive tracks, meaning food exits well before the time it takes for bacteria to build up a toxic quorum. Also, they tend to have more acidic stomach acid designed to break down things like connective tissues, skin and bones.

*edited for clarity*


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

[User]
[Marvel] Are there consistent rules for Darkforce and Lightforce?

I especially want to know about Darkforce since the powers seem to change per character. All I know is that their powers come from an alternate dimension. Cloak, Dagger, and Mr. Negative got their powers through drug experimentation. Others seem to gain them through exposure to radiation. Has Marvel said anything about what the forces really are?

[Assistant]
Darkforce is most well-defined so far. It indeed can bestow many different kinds of powers, but generally it can be narrowed down into providing abilities related to teleportation, power drain and darkness.

"Lightforce" is more nebulous term, mostly relating to powers exhibited by Dagger and Mr. Lee, a good side of Mr. Negative. Most obvious are Dagger's powers of light projection, which are quite potent, enough to light up whole Manhattan like a tiny sun.


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

[User] [MCU] If Ego's plan in GOTG2 had worked and he repopulated the universe with himself, how would Thanos react? Would Ego be too strong at that point for Thanos to complete his plan?

[Assistant] Thanos would be so mad he would furrow his brow and rotate in his floating chair to face a view screen with Ego on it when he chewed him out instead of letting a henchman do it for him.  He might even point with malice.


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

[User]
[MCU] Do people in the MCU recognize "Supervillians" as a concept in the same way that they recognize Superheroes?

People in the MCU explicitly refer to Iron Man, Captain America and so forth as superheroes, which makes sense. They have PR teams, they lean into the cameras, they do high-profile acts of heroism on a fairly regular basis.

But many of the MCU takes on Marvel supervillians fail to ever attain a high public profile. Some, like Baron Von Strucker, mirror real-world terrorist leaders in that you'd have to be paying very close attention to Geopolitics to know who they are. Some of them, like the Kree, Yellowjacket, or Dorrammu, are stopped without the public ever becoming aware there was a problem in the first place. Several, like Loki, Malekith, Ultron, and Thanos, are less *personally* visible to the general public than the armies they deploy. Some, like Batroc and Leland Osley, simply lack the flair necessary to qualify as supervillians. Some are closer to being forces of nature, like Ego's jelly monster or Abomination. And almost universally, the villains get killed or jailed for good before they become a recurring problem. There were maybe 30 people who got a good look at Iron Monger on that dark highway before he got Kaboomed. It's unlikely the moniker"Iron Monger" was ever used in-universe.

So this leads to the question- is "Supervillian" a term that people in-universe could use with a straight face? Would they stick to more conventional terms like "terrorist?" Or is there just a stunted public awareness of the fact that malicious counterparts to the heroes exist at all?

[Assistant]
Not all of them, but for the major ones like Thanos, yes.

Think of Pacific Rim, or even Logan. Heroes and villains/monsters? Someone is gonna make a toy of it, or a comic, or a cartoon.... Even if they're literally based off real things that have killed a lot of people.


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

[User]
When light is redshifted, where does the energy come from to do such a thing?

If I remember correctly, AS physics taught me that, in a photon, E=hf
Where E is the energy of a photon, h is Planck's constant, and f is the frequency of the photon.

So when the "fabric of the universe" expands, light is constantly red-shifted, hence the background radiation peaks in the microwave range.

So where does the energy go when a photon changes from a higher frequency to a lower one?

[Assistant] Energy is not conserved in this case. Going into more detail: energy is conserved when a system is invariant under time translations. This ultimately arises from Noether's theorem. The expansion of the universe is not invariant under time translations and therefore energy isn't conserved.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why charities with similar goals don't merge to become more effective?

I saw today on my Facebook newsfeed of a video for I already forgot the name but a charity that provides clean drinking water to poor villages in Africa.

I am all for the cause because everyone in the world should have clean water at a bare minimum. That said, I know I have seen at least 2 other charities with the same goal.

Why do these charities not merge, combine funds and resources, and provide more marketing campaigns and build more wells?

The only thing that comes to mind is el hefe of each charity wants his final say in how things are done and/or some want to push their agenda (be it a political/religious/etc affiliation). Please tell me it is not that ignorant? There has to be more reasons, right?

[Assistant]
Merging companies (and yes, non-profits are companies) requires a lot of work. First, just because two companies do the same thing does not mean that they could merge easily. What if one is a Catholic charity, and the other is non-religious? Is the new charity religious or not? Which of the two Presidents is going to be in charge? Are you going to fire a bunch of staff? If not, how is it more efficient to have 1 big company with twice as many workers?

Companies merge when it makes some financial sense. Since non-profits are not in it to maximize value, they don't have to worry about being the biggest and best.


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

[User] [Pokemon] Are some Pokemon non-vegetarians? That is, do they eat other Pokemon as food since there are no animals in the Pokemon universe?

[Assistant]
> do they eat other Pokemon as food?

Yes. Here's Heatmor's Pokedex entry: *"It draws in air through its tail, transforms it into fire, and uses it like a tongue. It melts Durant and eats them."*

> since there are no animals

Also, this is wrong. Here's Raichu's Pokedex entry: *"Its electric charges can reach even 100,000 volts. Careless contact can cause even an Indian elephant to faint."*


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

[User]
ELI5: How does pre-loading on video game consoles work?

And how is it that if you download most of the game early, stuff isn't leaked by going into the games files or anything?

[Assistant] The console downloads pretty much everything but it can be left encrypted; your console has the file but it cannot make sense of it. When the game releases they just send the key and it can be decoded.


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

[User] MacIntyre said St. Thomas was "In many respects a better Aristotlean than Aristotle." Are there any philosophers who also satisfy this formulation of being "a better Xian than X"?

[Assistant]
Lots of people seem to be better Platonists than Plato, if only because it's deeply unclear which of the doctrines that came to be called "Platonism" Plato actually believed.

Plenty of people in 19th-century Germany certainly thought they were better Kantians than Kant. And he's so easily caricatured in his ethical thought that sometimes you get philosophers mounting criticisms of the "Kantians" while admitting that those criticisms may not apply to the more nuanced positions that Kant himself held. The same kind of thing sometimes happens with Hegel.

Then you get people in the Marxist tradition who talk about how for major theorists "Xism" (usually Marxism, Leninism, and Maoism when it comes up) doesn't mean "what X thought" but instead means "a branch of revolutionary thought that builds primarily on X's work, but receives its mature formulation from people other than X."


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does the wind make such a distinct sound against a microphone, but we don't hear that sound against our ears at all?

We all know the crunchy, flappy sound of wind getting picked up on a microphone. I'm not asking why that happens, I understand that.

I'm asking why that sound is so different than what our ears pick up. We don't hear anything close to that sound. It's not like the wind-in-a-microphone sound is just quieter in our ears  it doesn't exist at all!

Why does that happen?

Thanks!

[Assistant] Theres a lot more mechanically going on within our ears than with microphones. For starters, ears are shaped very differently than a microphone, out of different materials. The curls of the outer ear, shape of the ear canal and cilia (little hairs) affect how sound vibrations hit our eardrums. Plus, our brains filter sound, so what we hear is not necessarily what we perceive.


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

[User] ELI5 Why, especially in sports, do people put their hands on their heads when disappointed or upset?

[Assistant]
When training you are often taught to place your hands on your head to help recover and catch your breath after vigorous activity. It promotes stretching of the chest allowing full inflation of the lungs to speed up recovery.

Combine this with a player experiencing disappointment and you have someone suddenly noticing their tiredness in a combination of exasperation and fatigue.


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

[User]
ELI5: How is there enough oil under the ground to power hundreds of millions of cars, planes, boats..etc. daily?

I don't understand how there is THAT MUCH oil under the ground.

Think about it.

There are millions of cars all over the world, Los Angeles, New York, all the major cities in all the countries and all the suburbs... plus planes, trains, and other things that use oil... each are consuming hundreds of millions (billions?) of a gallons PER DAY.

So is the earth just a thin crust FILLED with OCEANS of oil?

I just don't get it.

[Assistant]
The earth is BIG, compared to our oil consumption:
We consume 93,250,000 barrels a day of oil (not just gas) world wide.
At 42 gallons per barrels, that's 3,916,500,000 gallons used every day!

But!, the surface of the earth is 5.1 x 10^8 square kilometers. Oil has been found most everywhere, under land and water so lets assume there is oil under the crust everywhere.

If you took all the oil the world burns in a day, and spread it across the world, it would be only 1.1x10^-6 inches thick. Tha'ts 1000 times thinner then a human hair.

If their was only a inch of oil under the crust (which can be up to 50 km thick), it would supply us with oil for 8.75x10^5 days, or 2,400 years. This assumes our oil consumption doesn't increase.


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

[User] [Doctor Who] If the Doctor were to meet Cthulhu in person what would be the most likely happen as a result?

[Assistant]
In classic series Doctor Who canon, the Doctor met Hastur (Cthulhu's half-brother) and trapped him in the 3rd Century, before defeating him once again in 1943 (*The Curse of Fenric*). The Gods of Ragnarok, who he met and defeated a short time earlier, were also strongly implied to be Great Old Ones.

So he'd probably treat Cthulhu the same way he treated Hastur/Fenric - trick him, trap him, and escape unharmed but leaving a pile of dead in his wake.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] why is Voldemort so fear inducing?

I mean, he is a normal wizard with higher than average magical powers. It wouldn't be unreasonable to say that there could be a handful of other magicians with magical powers close to those of Voldemort.

In the real world it would be similar to having a criminal with amazing shooting skills who is also the strongest human on earth. Yes, he would be threatening to handle one on one, but he'd be no one man army.

[Assistant]
bit of a ramble, but here we go.

Voldemort operated in a world where stealth vastly, ridiculously outmatched detection. In the Wizarding world, if you wanted to hide, and you knew enough magic, nobody and nothing could find you (Fidelius). The government itself had no defense against Polyjuice potion imposters (as we see in the books), and nobody seems to have any defense against the Imperius Curse. In the Wizarding World, terrorism isn't just an effective battle tactic; it is the most effective battle tactic.

Essentially, Voldemort was so fear inducing, because he had the good luck to be operating in a world set up to be incapable of defending itself from him. The way magic seems to work (and is used) in Harry Potter, the attacking force always has a ridiculous advantage, to the point where three teenagers, with only one adviser, were capable of breaking in and out of the most secure bank in the country with minimal consequences. That's how effective stealth and mind control is in the Harry Potter universe. Shapeshifting is so overpowered, that Grindelwald himself (the most wanted man in the world at the time), managed to work at a pretty high ranking role in the American Auror department. Notice how Voldemort only lost once he had conquered the government, and so had stopped being a stealthy, attacking force, and instead became a standard dictator. The moment Voldy marched his forces against Hogwarts like an army, instead of having them use the hit and run tactics that had been so effective before, is the moment he lost.

Plus, powerful wizards in Harry Potter seem to be exceedingly rare, and have powers their peers can barely dream of. Nothing in the movies or the novels has come close to what we saw when Dumbledore fought Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic. And the very nature of magic in Harry Potter means that being the more powerful, individual wizard is ridiculously important. Think of it like this. Imagine if anybody who could beat you in an arm-wrestling contest, could also then read your thoughts, or turn you into a newt, or instantly kill you in one blow, or take control of your mind and have you do terrible things, or make you tell them all your secrets, etc... and the leader of the latest terrorist cell was also rumored to be the strongest guy around. The sheer amount of power a wizard can exert over another wizard is so vast that individual strength kind of becomes the be all, end all.

Harry Potter seems to take place in a world where personal security should be of the most utmost importance, and yet is given almost no consideration at all. Losing a duel could mean spending the rest of your life as a mind-slave, and yet important public figures don't seem to be afforded security details, and defense is allowed to be the most neglected subject at Hogwarts. They know shapeshifting exists, and yet there seems to be no automated way of detecting it. The Fidelius charm means that anybody wanted by the government could literally just go back to their house, cast it, and be completely untouchable

The entire society of the Wizarding World seems to hinge on everyone being so contented by the "First World +" life they can lead with magic, that there's no one malcontent enough to become a terrorist or criminal. Maybe that's the reason their only prison is a literal frozen hell in the middle of the ocean, patrolled by soul-sucking monsters. When crime is so easy to get away with, the punishment for getting caught has to be pretty damn harsh if its going to be an effective deterrent.


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

[User]
Is it true that some women have XY genotypes?

I heard somewhere that some women (e.g. Jamie Lee Curtis) are born with XY chromosomes but some kind of hormone imbalance or something makes them develop into females. Is this true, and if so, does this mean that these women can only ever give birth to males?

[Assistant] 46,XY females will typically have gonadal dysgenesis. On the outside they may look like a female, but internally they lack a full female reproductive system. In fact, if the "ovaries" are not removed, these individuals are at risk to develop gonadoblastoma. Without a proper functioning reproductive tract, these females are not able to naturally reproduce.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it that after eating spicy food, eating hot (as in temperature) food is so much more painful?

[Assistant]
Capsaicin (the thing that makes peppers spicy)   makes the TRPV1 protein activate and sends "this is hot" siignal to the brain. TRPV1 is the same protein that sends the signal to your brain if you burn your tongue or touch a hot stove.

So to your brain, you're burning something that's already burning... Making it hurt worse :)


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

[User]
What does it mean if "the Sun releases 5 million tons of pure energy every second"?

This is a quote lifted directly from a text-book designed to develop teachers' subject knowledge, and seems a bit odd to me. I'm assuming they're talking about tonnes meaning equivalence to tonnes of crude oil but that seems like an abysmal unit to be using, especially without explanation.

[Assistant] By Einstein's famous relation E=mc^2 matter and energy can be interchanged. When hydrogen fuses into helium in the core of the Sun, the total mass of the products is less than the mass of the hydrogen atoms that you started with, due to nuclear effects. The extra mass is "lost" as energy, and because c^2 is such a large number (9 x 10^(16)) that's a lot of energy. That's why nuclear power is so much more potent than chemical power - you're converting a small amount of mass effectively directly into energy.


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

[User]
ELI5: Was "racist" a word (or even a concept) when slavery was popular?

EDIT I wasn't very specific. I'm mainly wondering about America's early years when Africans were enslaved.

[Assistant]
Depends on what you mean by "when slavery was popular." For most of human history, slaves were not of a given race, they were just unlucky people who couldn't pay their debts, were captured enemy soldiers, etc. Race didn't really have anything to do with it. If/when the slaves were freed, they could go about their lives and were treated like normal citizens.

With respect to the enslaving of the African peoples, that led into racism over time, in part because the Africans were less advanced and easier to enslave. In addition, this racism was noticed, and so yes, racism was a concept, if not one that was brought up very often.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Princess Leia is certain that the reason she and her rescuers escaped the Death Star so easily is because the Imperials were tracking them and let them go on purpose. Regardless, they set a course to Yavin IV, the location of the secret rebel base. Why?

[Assistant] Because the Death Star needed to be destroyed as quickly as possible. She most likely thought since they had the plans this was their best chance, and so was willing to risk the annihilation of Yavin IV if it meant tens of billions lives could be saved in the process.


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

[User] eli5. Why is natural spring and ground water safe to drink? Don't bacteria live everywhere even after natural filtration?

[Assistant]
You can ingest a fair amount of bacteria and be perfectly fine. Even deadly bacteria and viruses in small enough quantities can be dealt with by your immune system (or even just the other bacteria out competing it).

Bacteria needs food to live. Water running quickly through a cold sandy stream bed filters out a lot of the food making the bacteria content lower, and relatively safer compared to a stagnant or slow moving water source. The clearer the water, the colder and the faster moving, the more likely it is bacteria levels are going to be lower.

I no longer drink out of streams like we did decades ago. A dead deer up stream or a farm dumping pesticides or an algae bloom could prove a source of bacteria being sent downstream. Filtration is a good idea, or iodine tablets.

Now, if you are talking about bottled "spring" water, there is a good chance it's pretty heavily filtered to remove bacteria and even viral matter,band pulled from a relatively clean source (underground spring for instance). They will avoid using chlorine to maintain tastes, and really on fine filters and lab testing the water routinely. Most though is just tap water.


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

[User]
[The Big Bang Theory] Leonard's mother, being a successful psychiatrist should be aware of how damaging she can be to Leonard so is she doing what she does on purpose?

I mean what the hell?

[Assistant]
A lot of professionals struggle with blind spots in their analysis when the task is personal.  Doctors are suggested to not diagnose themselves, even the best lawyers would never consider defending themselves in court, and plenty of psychiatrists have issues of their own.

I mean they're human too.  A lot of people assume that their kids are perfect angels even when there's tons of evidence to the contrary.


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

[User] ELI5: How exactly do athsma inhalers work?

[Assistant]
During an asthma crisis, the airways in the lungs get tighter and almost closes completely, therefore air cannot pass and the person cannot breathe.
Asthma inhalers contains molecules (such as salbutamol) that will force the airways to release the tightness and therefore open again so the person can breathe.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do I feel most productive right before I go to bed?

This happens about 5-6 times a week, I usually feel like I want to work or do something constructive when I should be sleeping. I think my brain is trying to justify why I'm awake when it shouldn't be.

[Assistant]
Because your mind is filled with dread all day, and right before bed it realizes there is nothing to worry about because the day is over, so it relaxes, and has full capacity to function.

The stress of the day probably causes you to not get all that much done (compared to what you get done if you were relaxed), and leaves you no energy to exercise, which aids in feeling exhausted before bed, leading to sleep.

So, Exercise hardcore in the morning, work hard during the day, but don't let the stress in. Identify stressors and find solutions.


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

[User] I know Blue Whales primary diet is krill because of their teeth, but if a larger fish ended up in their mouth would they be able to eat it?

[Assistant]
Blue whales have baleen, not teeth. They work like this:

The whale aims for a swarm of krill, opens his mouth wide while turning on its side, then closes it. Folds under the jaw allow a huge amount of water being trapped there. Then the whale squeezes out all the water through the baleen with the aid of its tongue.
Everything too large to slip through the baleen remains in the mouth and gets swallowed in a large ball.
The only way to not be swallowed is by swimming away fast enough. Some fish make it, some don't.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do piratebay uploaders like YIFY,FLT, Skidrow and others make their money?

Really intrigued by this, as the actual downloaded content from these people do not feature any ads , as such. Plus the ones that we see on the page while downloading seem to belong to the piratebay website.
Also, I ve come to know there is a significant work involved in terms of  softwares used and skills involved when it comes to delivering high quality content compressed to the smallest size possible,   So what's in it for them??

[Assistant]
Pirates have always been motivated by "street cred".  They're in it for the virtual reputation, the feeling of accomplishment at being the first to make a release, the feeling of belonging in an exclusive group & just knowing that thousands of people are taking advantage of what you've "created".

It's sort of like why graffiti artists put complex works on train cars.


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

[User] ELI5:They say an object is of a particular color because it absorbs all colors but that particular color that is reflected back but what is that "absorption" exactly. What is going on in terms of atomic level to make an object absorb or reflect a particular color?

[Assistant]
It all comes down to electrons.

Electrons exist in certain energy levels around the atom. At rest, they're in the lowest energy state, but they can absorb energy to become excited - and move up to higher energy states.

However, they can only absorb energy in precise amounts - exactly the amount needed to increase their energy state to a whole integer multiple.

This means they can go from ground to 1st excited, or ground to 2nd excited, but they can't go from ground to 1.5.

Now for light, the amount of energy that a photon contains is a function of its frequency, which itself can be determined from the wavelength - and its wavelength that determines color.

This means certain energies are associated with certain colors of light. And electrons need to absorb certain energy to increase their energy level. If this amount they can absorb is equal to the amount in photons of a particular color, they'll absorb light of that color.

Now, photons can also decay back to the ground state, and they do this by releasing photons. They don't always go from their excited state straight to the ground state, they can fall through intermediary states and release photons equal to the difference in energy of these intermediate steps.

If that energy corresponds to light of a certain color, they emit light of that color.

Put this together and it means that substances can absorb light of one color and emit light of another color or mixture of colors. Or they can absorb light outside the visible spectrum and emit light in the visible spectrum, or absorb light in the visible spectrum and emit light outside the visible spectrum.


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

[User]
What prevents certain drugs from permeating the blood brain barrier?

I hear about drugs not being able to reach the brain because they're filtered out by the blood brain barrier. What's going on to prevent this in certain drugs? Is it the size of the chemical or how it binds with proteins in the blood?

[Assistant] The size of the drug molecule primarily. Also, the BBB is extremely selective and only allows transport of very few molecules, mainly water, glucose, amino acids, and other substances that are critical for the brain.


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

[User]
ELI5: What did people do before the inventions of toothbrushes?

It seems like if people nowadays dont brush their teeth often, they diminish and rot until they fall out. Before the toothbrush was invented, did people just lose all their teeth by their 20s? And how do animals teeth stay clean?

[Assistant]
Don't forget that before 100 years ago, diets had much less sugar in them so there were few if any cavities.  No cavities generally mean healthy teeth that didn't fall out.  They probably had horrible bad breath and staining, but the teeth had much less caries (cavities) in them.

Twigs were used to rub teeth clean as were finger with salt or seaweed as abrasive.


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

[User]
[Fox X-Men] If Quicksilver sees everything as moving slow and himself moving at a normal speed when he moves at super-speed, how does he run long distances without going insane?

* For instance, the run from his house to the X-Mansion in *Apocalypse* was probably several hundred miles long. If Quicksilver sees everything as moving slow and himself moving at a normal speed when he moves at super-speed, how does he run long distances like this without going insane?

[Assistant]
This might be a case of Required Secondary Power, providing tranquility while in that state. Much like fliers don't bother about are resistance even if they have no other invulnerability.

For Nyx that altered state of mind works so nice, she had to remember returning to normal time.


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

[User]
[Thor:Ragnarok/MCU]So....are there only about 500 people living in Asgard?

At the end of Ragnarok there can't have been more than 1000 Asgardians trying to get into that ship, did Hela kill everyone else?

[Assistant]
Asgard is about the size of a small city so its population is probably somewhere in the 10s of thousands before the MCU starts.  There are probably two large contributing factors to the decline in Asgardian population.

(1) Hela Herself killed everyone that dared stand up to her.  So that's basically everyone but the women and children (Sif being a warrior is a big deal so we know most women aren't)

(2) In Dark World we see most of Asgard's armies are out fighting and peacekeeping in the 9 realms.  When Loki takes over as fake Odin there is no reason for him to recall those armies.  It would be best for him to leave Garrisons of Asgard's best warriors spread out in the 9 realms so there are fewer people that personally know Odin to figure him out and fewer people that can physically stop him before he can get away if he is found out.   One of the first things that happens when Hela shows up is Heimdall steals the sword that controls the Bifrost so Hogun who seems to be leading the main resistance force can't recall the other warriors and only has the guys garrisoned in Asgard.

The Warriors 3 are probably back in Asgard bescause they are personal friends of Thor and he would have asked them to meet up with him back home when he goes to present the crown of Surtur.  Lucky thing he couldn't get a hold of Sif.


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

[User]
ELI5: Do honey products help or harm bees?

I've heard about bees being endangered and it being dangerous to our ecosystem. Some honey products (ex: the young girl's honey lemonade business featured on Shark Tank recently) advocate for saving the bees. Does purchasing honey help this issue or are we draining these resources and therefore hurting this endangered species?

[Assistant]
Bee farms depend on a healthy colony of bees to produce honey, so any business that is based on honey will intrinsically be good for bee populations. As for whether that will solve issues of endangered bees, no it will not. Bee farms encourage large populations of bees, but in very concentrated areas. To help with pollination and support the Earth's ecosystem, bees need to be widespread.

In short, buying honey will help a little, but it won't hurt.


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

[User] ELI5: What is the difference between Cardiac Arrest and the Heart Attack?

[Assistant] Heart attack is when blood flow to the heart is sudden interrupted. Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly stops beating by its own accord. Heart attack is a circulation problem; cardiac arrest is an electrical problem.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are you not allowed to use a mechanical pencil on standardized tests even if it's the same #2 lead?

[Assistant] Mechanical pencils can be taken apart/could possibly put small pieces of paper with cheat notes inside. #2 wooden pencils are solid and uniform across companies so are easily identifiable to administrators. Regardless of the usefulness of the tests, there was a lot of thought put into ensuring all students have an identical experience when taking those standardized tests.


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

[User] [Dwarf Fortress] What causes dwarves to go into strange moods?

[Assistant]
Dwarves are natural creators and craftsmen, it's deep within their blood and soul to make wondrous works out of random shit they found lying on the floor. Every now and then something just clicks, they have a seed of inspiration and they are compelled to act on it.

Their fierce dedication to this goal also indicates some sort of obsession or mental illness which kind of explains a lot about how unstable the little bastards are.


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

[User] Covid-19/viruses mutate often, but can Scientists predict certain mutations ahead of time to safeguard via vaccination?

[Assistant]
Mutations occur at random, usually during viral replication. Because of this, they are not predictable (but might be pseudo-predictable, more on this later), as they could occur in any part of the viral genome. In general, most mutations are harmful to the virus, but on occasion, one will be helpful ( i.e. cause it to replicate more quickly, or give it an advantage to make it more infectious, etc). These tend to become new variant strains. A mutation could also occur that gives it no actual advantage bit doesn't inactivate it either, and this type can also make a new variant.

Many viruses belong to families of genetically similar viruses, which means that large parts of their genomes are similar or even identical. By looking at ways that other viruses from the SARS family mutated, they may be able to make educated guesses about what could be possible for Sars-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. However, those same mutations might never occur in this virus, or that when they occur some other viral gene causes the effects to be different than predicted.

So... It's possible to make an educated attempt at this, but since it is unlikely that a known mutation would cause the exact same effect in an already-mutated strain is low, and no prediction can be made about which gene will mutate at any given time, this isnt likely to be of as much use as being vigilant about identifying new mutations, and then dealing with them as they arise.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What if Darth Vader had delayed in bringing Luke Skywalker to the Emperor on the Second Death Star?

I was always curious, because it seemed apparent that Darth Vader was faltering. Luke was the only living fragment of his past, a fragment of something Vader had loved so much that he lost it completely. Would Luke have turned Vader on his own? Would Vader have goaded Luke to the Dark Side? Because as far as I remember, during the original situation, Palpatine's laugh is what jarred Luke into not killing his father after Vader threatened to turn Leia instead. Let me know your thoughts! Would it have mattered?

[Assistant]
Vader runs off with Luke to train him, and both start trying to turn each other to their own side.  In the meantime, the rebellion dies? The Endor team gets eaten up, except for Leia? The Imperial Fleet doesnt collapse, and a decimated rebel fleet barely manages to make it out.

Palpy finds Leia on Endor and starts torturing her to bring Luke and Anakin out of hiding.  The possibility of losing Leia, turns him to the LS. Anakin kills Palpy, but dies in the process.


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

[User]
I believe that a catastrophic event that will change the face of humanity will occur in my lifetime. CMV.

I recently started a big boy job, and in thinking about retirement (TIAA-CREF FTW) I finally realized and solidified an opinion that had been floating around in the back of my head for years:I will not live to see my retirement, or if I do, society will be so different that concepts like retiring won't be a thing.

Most of this thought comes from a realization about how fragile our society is, and how easily it could be interrupted. Here are what I think  are the most likely to happen (possibly in combination), in order of their likelihood:

-Climate change: The possibility of famines and other food supply-disrupting weather, shrinking landmasses = competition for resources, scarcity, destabilization of society. This is practically a certainty, the only question is how fast will it happen and how well will we handle it.

-Telecom/electrical grid failure or sabotage: Our society would fall into chaos without these services, and if any were interrupted long enough, bad things would happen. Just really think about what would happen if the electrical grid throughout the US and Canada was just turned off for a couple of months.

-World War III: This seems the least likely, but the repercussions of North Korea's potential idiocy from a couple moths ago proved that it might not be that unlikely if one country makes one wrong move.

Catalysts:

-A further breakdown of our political system, which is slipping into the shitter already in my humble opinion.

-Income inequality continues and accelerates, riots and protests that make "Occupy" look like a Sunday brunch commence.

I'm not a paranoid person, I don't lose sleep over this, I've just accepted it as a fact of life for maybe the last 5 years. Do CMV, because when I do think about it it's depressing as hell. I'm just saying, society is very *very* fragile and we're currently barreling towards a number of potential disasters.

[Assistant]
Those are all possibilities.  It is true that any of that COULD happen.  But you should also know that every single generation has felt the same.  Ask your parents about the Cold War or the Cuban Missile Crisis, they were sure the nuclear war was inevitable.

I believe that people believe that because every generation WANT to be the last.  The idea of seeing the breakdown of civilization, no matter how terrible it could be, is comforting because it is better than the alternative and more likely truth: the world is going to continue on for hundreds and thousand of years and no one will remember you were ever here.


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

[User]
Why is everything so slow at the universities?

As the title asks, why things like getting contracts, admin related work, joining labs, working in the labs and logistics around it so slow? Do you experience the same? If so, how do you cope up with it?

Edit: Thank you for the responses! I am surprised to see so many responses. It is heartbreaking to see that many people have been affected by this situation. Hope that the problems go away soon!

[Assistant] At a US public university its often because 1 person often has the workload of what used to be supported by anywhere from 2 people to a whole department of staff. There simply are not enough hands on deck at the lower end of the pay scale to do all the work that needs to be done, but theres always money for a new VP of Innovative Strategic Directions.


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

[User]
ELI5: In Marxist theory, where did the term 'Bourgeoisie' come from and why is it still used in English?

^

[Assistant]
Bourgeois is French for Brger (vice-versa) and in both German and French, the word designated people who lived in the protection of the city walls (Burg is the German word that designates a castle that also has a surrounding protected area), as opposed to peasants outside those walls. Due to how trade guilds developed and the increased importance of merchants during the late middle ages/Renaissance/Reformation Era, being classified as Bourgeois meant you had some more socio-politcal weight to throw around due to controlling some aspect of how money moved within the city where your lord, earl, duke, archbishop, etc. lived; even though you didn't have a fancy aristocratic title (like the German "von" used to mean) or necessarily own land. Fast forward to the mid-1800s and Marx is looking at this established class of people who have beat out the Aristocrats in America and in France for a little while, and who continue to grief the "Germans" and Austrians up to WWI. This group owns all the stores, farmland, and factories (what he calls means of production). But just like how these new people are wrestling more and more political power from the previous people in charge, he theorized that the next political struggle would come from the people underneath the Bourgeois; the proletariat.

Why does English use the word Bourgeoisie? The same reason we tell people to RSVP (repnde s'il vous plait) to parties, call giant bread sticks baguettes, and sometimes label appetizers hors d'oeuvre. English had/has a hard-on for stealing words from other languages, and whom better to steal from than those people that you were constantly fighting/fucking for hundreds of years.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are you woozy and uncoordinated after you wake up in the morning?

[Assistant] Part of it is melatonin. It breaks down after waking up due to (sun)light, which is why waking up in the dark is harder and usually makes you feel more drowsy at first. Melatonin is responsible, in part, for making you feel tired at night.


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

[User] How many mutations does the average human have, if <1 what % of people have at least 1 mutation present?

[Assistant] Everyone undergoes ~ 20ish during gestation. And throughout your life individual cells undergo mutations that may of may not be passed down to other cells. Apoptosis prevents most from being passed down to other cells. By the end of your life it is possible to sequence a cell from your left hand and a cell from your right hand and get very very close but ever so slightly different sequences.


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

[User]
I don't believe wearing a seat-belt in a privately owned vehicle should be enforced by law, CMV

I obviously have a bit of a libertarian streak. Also, it's worth noting that I wear a seatbelt 100% of the time I am in a car, and always have.

That out of the way, I feel that forcing people to engage in an activity which at face value only serves to protect them from themselves is overstepping reasonable government regulation. Adults should be allowed to increase their risk of injury or death so long as it does not increase that risk for any other persons.

I've had talks with people about my take on this IRL and have had some pretty interesting discussions. People generally point to higher road fatalities causing taxpayers money due to costs of first responders as ways in which driving without a seatbelt hurts others, but I personally consider this negligible as there are many small actions  in all facets of life that on aggregate could cost taxpayers money.

I really see no good reason why private individuals should be forced by law to engage in a safety measure which is 99.9% personal safety.

CMV!

[Assistant]
It's not just personal safety, though. It's also other people's liability.

Say you don't wear your seatbelt. What if another car accidentally hits your car from behind. If wearing a seatbelt, you would have survived, but instead you hit the windshield and, with the harsh impact, die. Instead of a smaller insurance issue, it now becomes manslaughter.

I think it's similar to why police (technically are supposed to) enforce jaywalking laws. It makes you a liability to someone else.


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

[User]
Eli5: What's the difference between a CEO, President, Owner, Principal, Chair, and all the other "top boss person" titles?

I assume some of it has to do with types of corporations, public/private, etc. But I know nothing.

[Assistant]
CEO is the guy running the company. He doesn't necessarily own even a small part of the company, he just does the work of, well, executing all the company's actions.

President is pretty vague, it's loosely the "leader" of the company and, when the office is held by someone who is not the CEO, the CEO is usually still the one calling the shots. President's do not have to be a part owner either, it is simply a salaried position.

Owner is the person (or one of the people) who actually owns the organization. They may have a substantial stake in the organization or only own a small part of it.

Principal is just a substantial investor in the company. Usually, though not necessarily, they'll be helping to run the company as well.


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

[User]
ELI5: Based on the financial success and cult-following of the original "Super Troopers", why are studios opting out of financing a sequel?

The original Super Troopers was filmed on a budget of $1.2M, grossed $18M in theaters and an est. $65M in DVD sales over subsequent years. (Also I'm certain TV broadcasts earned some money over that period as well).

With this data in mind, and the cult following of Super Troopers, how is a $2M asking budget not a safe investment for a Studio or independent movie financier??

[Assistant]
It's been a long time since it came out and sequels made a long time after the originals tend not to do all that well. (Sin City & 300 are notable examples). Another crowd-funded movie, Veronica Mars, did quite poorly at the box office despite a lot of hype. While Super Troopers did quite well and has a cult-following, it never reached anything compared to a movie like Anchorman.

Another thing to consider is the cast. None of them are a huge draw that are essential to comedies. The likes of Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Kevin Hart or Steve Carrell will put bums on seats based on their names alone. Super Troopers has nobody like that.

All in all, there's a lot of risk to consider.


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

[User]
[Batman/A Clockwork Orange] Would the Ludovico Technique work on the Joker?

It couldn't actually make him moral in any sense of the word, any more than it did with Alex DeLarge, but could it render him harmless as it did with Alex?

[Assistant]
Probably not.

The Joker is a whole different tier of scum than Alex. Alex is chiefly a product of bad environment and misguided juvenile impulses, and as the book's closing reveals there really isn't much wrong with him that can't be solved with time and effort; he was never unsalvageable. He was vulnerable to the Ludovico Technique because *he was sane enough to be programmed*.

Joker, meanwhile, is well and truly fucked in the head. The most generous possible interpretation is that he's "sane" in the sense of not having any unsolvable mental issue, but capable of living 'in character' as a crazy person so well that an entire legal and mental health system is convinced that he's bugnuts. Alternately, he really is insane in novel and extreme ways. Either way, it's unlikely Ludovico would get much traction; in the former case he'd play along much like Alex was originally planning to do, and then use his criminal resources to "deprogram" himself, and in the latter he just wouldn't be much affected by the nausea induction in the first place (but might pretend he is as part of some con).


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

[User]
ELI5: Why can't we just create water? All we need are 3 atoms.

Isn't it simple? To somehow synthesize/combine two hydrogen atoms with an oxygen atom. This would solve the worlds water problem! Can't we do this with other stuff, like food or plants?

[Assistant]
Yes it is that simple, all you do is take two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen set it on fire and BAM water (and a whole lot of heat).

Now just find a cheap way to get the hydrogen and you will have a Nobel Prize.


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

[User]
How was this targeted ad possible? (All the facts)

I told my girlfriend about a gadget I purchased online today when she was asleep.

We have seperate credit cards, are not married or any legal connection.

She did not search the product, or type anything about it on her phone. I did not text her about it.

She got an Instagram ad 30 minutes later to a similar gadget that solves the exact problem that I talked about (remote controlled light-switch), her interests are not related to this in any way.

We are connected to the same Wi-Fi could this be it?

[Assistant]
Yes. There are different types of ad targeting. Personalized to the user and whatever your search/purchasing history is. This is most noticeable if you stay logged into your (google) account, however you will still get somewhat targeted ads based on cookies that are stored in your browser even if you don't logon.

Then there's localized and regional targeting. Localized gives similar ads to people with similar ips (routers, wifi etc) and locations, regional gives ads to people in the same region, it checks for things like local language and is why you get ads targeted for your area and in your language. If you proxy into a foreign server you'll get there ads instead.


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

[User]
[Shadowrun] How did mega-corporations rise above nations after the Great Re-awakening?

Shouldn't the governments be even more united in containing the magic crisis?

[Assistant]
Alright chummer, its time for a little history lesson.  There was a time back before the turn of the century when megacorps barely existed.  Back then, governments ran the show, well... At least when a cop beat you to a pulp for being the wrong color he had his wrist slapped by a politician instead of a CEO.

Everything changed in 2001 when the courts took corporate "person good" to a whole new level.  Back then the courts declared that Corps, Shiawase specifically, had extraterritoriality.  Big word ain't it?  What it means is that after that, corps were there own nation, there own laws and their own power.  They didn't need to buy politicians anymore, they could just ignore them.  As long as you had a corporate logo stamped on your forehead and plastered on your building, you were your own law.

That was just the start though slim, from there the world went to shit pretty fast.  The Israeli/Libyan nuclear war, the quakes, and of course VITAS.  The megacorps used their new powers to fight over the scraps and tear the world apart while official governments fell apart in crisis after war after crisis.

Then magic happened.  The corps were the first to seize the opportunity to use and abuse magic and metahumans.  The world governments had to debate and argue and were still reeling from the past decade of strife.  Corps had their own territory, their own police, military and science teams and they only answered to profits.  It's no surprise that they took over.

It took a while, and it was 20 years from the drekhead decision to make corps their own nation to the start of our brave new world of corporate overlords, but it started with a simple rule.  Your building, your laws.


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

[User]
GMO's? Science on the subject rather than the BS from both sides.

I am curious if someone could give me some scientifically accurate studies on the effects (or lack there of) of consuming GMO's. I understand the policy implications but I am having trouble finding reputable scientific studies.

Thanks a lot!

edit: thanks for all the fantastic answers I am starting to understand this issue a little bit more!!

[Assistant] The problem here is that there's no reason to treat "GMOs" as a cohesive group.  You can use genetic engineering to insert all kinds of genes.  The health effects, if any, will depend entirely on what genetic modifications you do.  You can add a section of noncoding DNA which reads "MCwaffle was here" to corn and it won't do a thing.  You can add the genes to produce digitoxin and it will make the corn poisonous.  It all depends on the modification.


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

[User]
[DC] Can Martian Manhunter turn into Kryptonite?

From what I know, he was never shown to do that, but since he's been shown to alter his body's chemical composition, would this fall under that category? He did turn into a metal but that was in JL TV series. If he can't, what would be the limits of his chemical alteration?

This is the first thing that always comes to my mind when I come across MM vs Superman battles.

EDIT: No idea why I capitalized "kryptonite"...

[Assistant] What makes kryptonite harmful to Superman is the radiation that it emits.  We've never seen J'onn emit radiation, so he might be able to replicate the shape and color of kryptonite, but it would be about as dangerous as a painted rock.


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

[User] [MCU] Why didn't Captain America get pruned when he said "Hail Hydra"?

[Assistant] Because the TVA were told that the Avengers completing the time heist was all part of the 'Sacred Timeline'. In reality everything they did wasnt a threat to Kang or didn't interfere with his stranglehold on the multiverse. The one part that WAS, i.e Loki getting the Tesseract, was pruned.


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

[User] ELI5: How do plastic cooking utensils not melt and how is it safe to use them with boiling heat (without chemical poisoning)?

[Assistant]
"Plastic" is pretty much used as a catch-all word for polymers. Plastic *is* a polymer, but not all polymers are plastic.

Some polymers have an *extremely* high melting point. Teflon, for example, has a melting point of over 600F (which is over 300C). Some polymers have an even higher one than that!


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does it take several minutes of charging for a dead iPhone to come alive when a laptop can do so instantly?

Isn't an iPhone essentially a tiny laptop?

[Assistant] A laptop has circuitry that allows it to be powered directly from the charger. But, cell phones are always powered by the battery, even when they're plugged in. So, the battery has to get to a base level of charge before it can safely power the phone.


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

[User]
eli5 Why does plastic not dry in the dishwasher?

Everything else comes out perfectly dry, but plastics all stay wet. Please explain!?

[Assistant]
Plastic does not retain heat like the glassware, ceramic, and metal that everything else is made of.

So the drying cycle, which is just "let all the really hot dishes sit and steam off the water" doesn't work on plastic because it isn't hot, or rather, cools much faster than the rest of the dishes.

So, the water on the plastic dishes doesn't evaporate.  In fact, some of the evaporation from the other dishes will actually condense back onto the plastic dishes.


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

[User]
Is ethanol the only alcohol that humans can tolerate because of enzyme specificity or the relative harmfulness of the products?

Humans can only tolerate ethanol. Ethanol and NAD+ are converted to acetaldehyde and NADH by alcohol dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde and NAD+ are then converted to ethanoic acid and NADH by aldehyde dehydrogenase.

So is it that one (or both) of these enzymes is specific to two-carbon molecules, or is it that the by-products from a reaction with  methanol, isopropyl alcohol, etc. are more potent in their toxicity?

EDIT: I am guessing the former, because enzymes essentially lower the energy of the transition state by making hydrogen bonds and forcing molecules into a specific conformation. This means there isn't room for extra carbons because hydrogen bonds can only occur within a window of ~1 Angstrom (it's like 2-3 Angstroms away for an H-bond, I think). Wikipedia is not specific enough and the articles I'm reading don't address the physiology. Correct me on any of this.

[Assistant]
Alcohol dehydrogenase is a rather non-specific enzyme.  It's primary physiological role isn't to metabolize ethanol, at least not in humans.  Most any straight chain alcohol can fit into the active site and get oxidized to the corresponding aldehyde.  Even something as large as retinol can act as a substrate to this enzyme.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase is a broad family of enzymes, some of whose members are specific, and some that are non-specific.  The enzyme ALDH2 does work quite well in the oxidation of acetaldehyde, but there is evidence that it utilizes something as large as 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde (a metabolite of dopamine) as a substrate, too.

As for the toxicity aspect, acute alcohol toxicity can occur for nearly any alcohol due to their depressant effects.  The aldehyde metabolites are also toxic, and are responsible for alcohol flush and hangover symptoms.  The formaldehyde produced from formaldehyde metabolism is very toxic (LD50 200 mg/kg), but the acetone produced from isopropanol metabolism isn't significantly more toxic than the alcohol (both about 5000 mg/kg).  For comparison, the LD50 of ethanol is 7100 mg/kg, while that of acetaldehyde is about 3500 mg/kg.


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

[User]
[Spiderman 3] why didnt the butler tell Harry that Spider-Man didnt kill his father ?

In the first Spiderman movie Harrys father dies when his glider stabs him through the chest and Harry thinks that Spider-Man killed his father.But the butler knew this the whole time and never told him.Why didnt he tell him this from the beginning ? It would have saved so much trouble.

[Assistant] It would have also implicated his father in several murders and terrorist attacks as well as dying by his own stupidity.  No one outside the butler and spiderman knew that the green goblin and Norman were the same person. Outing him would have caused immense emotional pressure on harry who was already dealing with his father's death and taking over oscorp and also put the Harry and oscorp on the hook for criminal and civil prosecution.  The butler probably hoped Norman's secret would die with him but couldn't anticipate Harry following him down that path of self destruction.


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

[User] ELI5: why diamonds are as expensive as they are if they aren't really that rare.

[Assistant]
De Beers.

Basically up until fairly recently the De Beers Diamond Trading Company controlled the *vast* majority of the diamond supply.  They collected around 80-90% of the diamonds that were dug up in a given year, but instead of selling them all out on the open market  they put them in storage.

By keeping their diamonds in storage and only allowing a certain amount of diamonds hit the open market, they limited the quantity supplied out to the open market, inflating the price of the diamonds.  For a long time De Beers executives couldn't come to the US because they would be arrested for violating anti-monopoly laws.

At this point De Beers doesn't control as much as they used to, but diamonds are still expensive because the price is what we expect diamonds to be.  Diamonds have always have been expensive.  Why would they suddenly become cheap?

It also doesn't hurt that they're aesthetically pleasing and shiny.  Also becoming the cultural norms for engagement rings haven't hurt either.


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

[User]
[Marvel] What the differences between Power Cosmic and Cosmic Energy?

Are there any difference between the two other than the name? Does people with Cosmic energy such as the Eternal, Fantastic 4, etc use the same power as the Herald of Galactus?

[Assistant]
Totally, totally, different.

Cosmic rays are a real thing, being loosely the background radiation of the universe. Marvel just wrote in that some characters harness (Eternals) or were altered (F4) by it.

Galactus Power Cosmic is a completely invented well of power in the sense of the ability to actually do things like travel through space, blow up planets and manipulate matter & energy.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What if Count Dooku had stood trial?

Anakin chops off Dooku's hands. Palpatine tells Anakin to decapitate the old guy. Drawing on his years of Jedi morality training and tutelage under Kenobi, Anakin declines, and says that Dooku will be brought to trial. What happens next? Assume that Palpatine won't be able to assassinate Dooku before the trial takes place.

[Assistant]
Palpatine does everything in his (considerable) power to prevent this from happening. Assuming that through some miracle he fails, Dooku's trial would be... interesting. Dooku is far to smart to try to out Palpatine as a Sith during a public trial, but he would definitely plant the seeds of doubt in the mind of anyone who would visit him in the days leading up to the trial. Yoda, Obi wan, and possibly even Windu would be likely candidates for such subterfuge, and given the suspicion the Jedi Council already has for Palpatine, he'd probably have some success. Not enough to sway the outcome of the trial, but enough to put the Jedi onto Palpatine's trail.

Of course, the events leading to the rise of the Empire play out pretty much the same, for the same reason that is invariably the answer whenever a "What would have happened had the Jedi discovered Palpatine earlier" question is asked. He's just way too good.


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

[User] [DC/Marvel] Why are Aquaman, Black Panther and Green Lantern part of their respective Super team, don't they have two kingdoms to run and a sector to protect?

[Assistant] A Lantern hanging out on Earth is like a beat cop chilling on the street corner between 3 rival gang's territories with smuggling tunnels under the street and two meth labs across the street from each other. Something's gonna go down, it's just a matter of time.


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

[User]
Are there more primes than non-primes?

There is an infinite number of integers divisible by 3, and for each of them there are two integers not evenly divisible by 3. Given that both are infinite, can you say that there are "more" numbers not divisible by 3?
And further, if you can say that, can it be shown whether or not there are more primes than non-primes?

Thanks in advance.

[Assistant]
Since both sets are infinite, it depends on what you mean by "more". One common sense of size mathematicians use to describe sets is called "cardinality". Two sets have the same cardinality if you can define a function from one to the other such that each element in one set corresponds to exactly one element in the other. The primes and non-primes are both "countably infinite", meaning they have the same cardinality as the integers, and so they are the same size as each other. In this sense, there are the same number of primes as non-primes. In the same sense, there are also the same amount of number divisible by 3 as numbers not divisible by 3.

Another sense of "size", which only applies sets of (positive) integers, is to define a_n as the number of (positive) integers m in the set S that are less than n, then take the limit of a_n / n as n goes to infinity. This is sometimes called the "asymptotic density" of the set. The asymptotic density of the numbers divisible by 3 is 1/3, and the asymptotic density of the numbers not divisible by 3 is 2/3, so in this sense more numbers are not divisible by 3 than are. For primes, a_n ~ n / log(n), so the limit of a_n / n is 0. Naturally, non-primes are the complement of the primes, and so the asymptotic density of the non-primes is 1. Thus, in this sense, there are actually many more non-primes than primes.

It should not be surprising that there are more non-primes than primes. Even numbers and odd numbers both have asymptotic densities of 1/2, and only one even number is prime, while many odd numbers are non-prime. If you consider numbers divisible by neither 2 nor 3, they have an asymptotic density of only 1/3. This is already less than half the integers, and will only get smaller when we include more prime factors.