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

[User]
[Pokemon] Hey, so I've just caught the physical incarnations of every major cosmic principle in the universe. Is this bad?

So, you know the powerful cosmic beings who embody and control (at last count): earth, sea, sky, plantlife, knowledge, emotion, free will, time, space, antimatter, dreams, nightmares, Ying and Yang, life, death, order, the sun and the moon? Also the creator of the universe? So, in total, basically everything in reality?

Yeah, I stole a bunch of masterballs and now I keep them all as digital energy in a box in a pokecenter.

Is this bad? Is the universe going to go off the rails? Will new ones appear? Did i just undo the cosmos?

How important are these cosmic entities, and how much of a problem is it that I now own all of them?

[Assistant]
Do you remember when you were playing a global match and you fought that other Arceus? Did that seem at all confusing to you?

Most often Legendaries you catch are not avatars of the godlike beings, but mere Aspects, slivers of the greater whole spun off to aid worthy trainers. You did not stick God in your pocket.


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

[User]
[Hard Sci-fi] What would an interstellar organization governing 16 planets look like?

I'm trying to create a somewhat hard, or at least justifiable, science fiction idea of what such an organization would look like. It is independent and has a population of 20 billion.

Furthermore I want them to sit somewhere between 1.15 to 1.35 on the Kardashev scale. I know it's a large range but still Given these parameters what kind of government would I expect to create, assuming it's very strict if benevolent to its citizens. What would be the average day in their lives?

[Assistant]
How hard? In particular, is there FTL communication? FTL shipping?

If not, it would have to be very loosely connected. Even with FTL communication, if trade takes too long or is too expensive there likely wouldn't be a strong connection. Then again, maybe intellectual property is the only thing that's really valuable, so physical trade doesn't matter anyway.

The average day in their lives depends heavily on what technology is available and what their culture is like. Do they still have normal bodies? Are they cyborg? Do they live their lives in virtual reality? Do they live their lives on the internet, so disconnected from physical reality that whatever games and interfaces they use no longer seek to emulate it? Have they cured aging? Have they learned to prevent death altogether?


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

[User]
How do plants know which direction to lean towards in search of light?

For instance, indoors where there's minimal light coming from one window like 30 ft away. Does the plant sense the UV radiation similar to how we feel 'hot' vs 'cold'?

[Assistant] In a nutshell, yes.  At the tips of the plant shoots are hormones called auxins, which are responsive to light and function in making the plant get taller.  They auxins themselves are negatively phototropic, which means they migrate to the side of the plant that is getting less sunlight.  So, shine a light from the north, all of the auxins go to the South.  This causes the plant to grow more on the dark side, which pushes the stalk tip towards the light source.


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

[User] ELI5 Does a medications half life continue to leave your body at the same rate after the half-life is reached?

[Assistant]
For first-order elimination, half of it gets eliminated in the first half-life; another quarter gets eliminated in the second half-life; then an eight of it in the third half-life, then a sixteenth, and so on.  The "rate" in terms of the length of one half-life stays the same, but the "rate" in terms of milligrams per hour steadily goes down.

Some drugs (alcohol as the most well known) instead follow zero-order elimination, where a fixed amount of drug gets eliminated per hour.

You can also have hybrids between those two - For example, a first-order drug may saturate the path your body uses to eliminate it, and act like a zero-order drug until your levels drop below that upper limit.


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

[User]
Why do google/microsoft/firefox care if I use their browser or not?

What do they get out of it?

[Assistant] Ad revenue. Firefox gets millions of dollars a year from Google for using their search engine for the Firefox start page and as the default search bar at the top right. Google increases it's own revenue by doing the same on Chrome, and Microsoft is pushing IE more now that they have Bing.


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

[User]
ELI5: the difference in time signatures, including the more complex (to me) ones used in jazz, like 6/8, 7/4, etc.

i have yet to find an explanation that can change the only example ive ever known which is 4/4. is it just how many notes can fit into a bar? why cant the bars just be made longer? dont all notes and bars have to eventually come back to an even number, like in 4/4? 12 is all i can thing about...

[Assistant]
The bottom number indicates which type of note is a *beat*. Quarter notes (4), eighth notes (8), etc.

The top number indicates how many beats per measure.

So 6/8 says that eighth notes are a beat and there will be 6 beats per measure.

7/4 says that quarter notes are a beat and there will be 7 beats per measure.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do you store energy/electricity?

If i were to build a dam in a river, to focus the flow of the water and try to harness it. I guess i would create some sort of wheel that would be spun by the power of the water. How do i turn this into energy and eventually even store it?

[Assistant]
Imagine you have a long line of golf balls, all touching and side by side. This is a wire, lets say its a copper wire because copper is easy to make into the long wire and its something the imaginary golf balls have an easy time rolling in (it could also be made from steel and some other metals). These golf balls are electrons,   a metal, like copper, is an element whose electrons can "move" around.

If we push on the balls without them rolling (imagine on the other end something was blocking the way that will move if you push hard enough) we have just created Voltage, its the pressure pushing on the electrons. If they move we have Amperage, the number of electrons that move or flow down the line. How hard we have to push is the Resistance.

Now, we can't just push the golf balls into nothing, that would make empty spots in our line and it wouldnt be a line anymore. So imagine the line goes off into the distance and comes twisting back around so that the other end is touching our starting spot. Now you can see that by pushing the balls forward they will roll like a train and fill up the spot where you moved them from. This is the flow of electricity, electrons move out but simultaneously move in from the other way. We could say the direction they go is positive and the direction they come from is negative.

Now let's create some power. Magnets, or actually the magnetic field magnets make can gently push on those balls without touching them, very useful! If we spin the magnet we can push one ball forward every spin. This is nice but its not a lot, so let's take our wire, the long line of balls, and wrap it around outside the spinning magnet many, many, many times. Now when the magnet spins it can push alot of balls at once and with a lot of pressure. We need a way to keep the magnet spinning, we could do it by hand but that isnt a real job. So lets hook the magnet up to a big fan and spin the fan. We could use wind, or steam (coal, gas, nuclear all heat up water to make steam to push the fan to turn the magnet) or we can use flowing water. We could also make a special type of wire that makes sunlight move the electrons but we can focus on the basics.

Now we have a big spinning magnet and lots of wire pushing electron and creating electricity. We can do way to many things with it for me to cover everything, but ill be happy to answer specifics. As for how to store it, we can use batteries. We actually use so much electricity that our magnets are practically spinning all the time, but sometimes we need batteries. There's many types, but the basic idea is to take two different metals and submerge them in an acid. The acid has holes in it that want to be filled with electrons and the two metals have plenty to give. So if we add electricity to the battery it will "charge" and fill up all its spots. We can then take electricity from battery by connecting to it later. The actual number of electrons in the battery doesn't go up or down they just change locations from the acid to the metal and back.


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

[User]
CMV, a yellow card during in a football game should be followed by a 10 minutes suspension.

Having a yellow card during a soccer game has almost no impact on the game. In my opinion, the rules and the fact that there was no VAR until now encourages situations in which players will fake an injury (yes, I just saw Mbapp faking) to get a free kick. The only result, if the player is caught red handed as Mbapp was, is at worst a yellow card and the game will go on. It is also true for rough plays on certain players (for example, Griezmann has been a target during the whole game against Argentina, and except for one yellow card, there was almost no  punishment).

Having a 10 minutes suspension like in rugby would really penalize the whole team which would need to run more and get tired faster. This would really discourage foul plays and would both protect the players and their health from tough plays and eliminate the aspect of soccer that every afficionado hates: simulation.

[Assistant]
Yellow cards are a warning. Red are the ones that come with punishments. Your recommendation basically just eliminates yellow and turns them into red.

As for faking injury, that should result in ejection from the game, not a penalty in time.


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

[User]
[Marvel] In "Deadpool kills the Marvel Universe"

How did he kill Copycat, that X-man that he was in love with, that crazy lady that raped him by pretending to be the X-man he was in love with, Squirrel girl, Doctor doom, the Silver Surfer, Thanos, and the other guy(s) in the panel with the SS and Thanos?

[Assistant] Ironically, despite Deadpool's stated desire to break free from his creators' shackles, he was never doing anything but what they wanted. They allowed him to kill those characters because it amused them.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does putting someone in an induced coma prevent further brain damage?

When someone suffers a serious head injury, they can be put into an induced coma to reduce the chance of further brain damage. How is someone put into an induced coma, and how does being in an induced coma prevent further brain damage?

[Assistant]
They generally don't just put you in a coma then say "good enough!" and walk away, they generally put you in a coma so they can do a thing to you that you'd not put up with if you were awake, like they cut part of your skull off and leave your head open or they cool your brain way down to stop swelling.

if your brain is sitting open or has fluids pumping in and out to cool it they basically need you to absolutely not move around for a couple days and do not want you awake ever till they put you back together.


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

[User]
If there is no memory of something is it of any value?

This thought occurred to me after I had a dream that I couldn't remember.  The dream made me depressed, but now I cannot even remember what it was about.  But I can still remember the feeling, so I would argue that it mattered even if I cannot remember it.  If I didn't remember this feeling either, then did it matter at all?

To take it a bit farther, what if this could somehow happen in real life.  Say we invented a way to 'undo' things.  Say we torture someone, but they have no memory of it at all, and no information comes into the world about it.  Does it matter?  The person experienced the torture, there just is no information about it happening, even to them.  But they did experience it.

Then this thought path caused me some existential questions.  Once the world ends, or the universe 'ends' what if all of the information about its existence is lost?  My general thought is that that is what is likely to happen, so why does progressing as a species even happen?  Are we just playing a joke on ourselves?

[Assistant] I don't know about the last paragraph. But, some philosophers have what's called a 'desire-satisfaction' account of personal well-being, which entails not just that you don't need to remember something for it to have been good or bad for you, you don't even need to have experienced it. The classic example is this: imagine that, for all of Jones' 10 years of marriage, their spouse has been cheating on them. Jones thinks their marriage is happy, strong, whatever, but they are being lied to on a daily basis. Desire-satisfaction accounts of well-being think that Jones' life is *going worse for them* than it would be if their spouse were not cheating on them.


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

[User]
How does SARS-CoV-2 proof read its RNA replication?

 I've read in a number of articles that SARS-CoV-2 has a low mutation rate because corona viruses check their copied RNA for errors.

I thought that viruses used the internal processes of the cells they invade to handle replication so what is "proof reading" the replication as before replication the virus has made no proteins of its own.

[Assistant]
So, first you aren't really that far off here.  Generally speaking viruses hack the machinery of the cell to replicate.  But, just about every virus has a viral genome that encodes for a few, or in some cases many, proteins.  It all just depends on the virus, it's evolutionary history, and the type of genome is has (Dna single stranded, DNA double stranded, +/- Rna).  Sadly this coronavirus actually has the genetic code for creating an RNA proofreading protein complex (crazy right!?!) So in this case the virus itself is providing the proteins for proofreading during replication, causing the relaticely low frequency of mutations (which is still high generally speaking because it's a virus, they replicate fast and enter new environments fast)

This also makes it difficult to target covid with drugs as many of the best antivirals drugs work by tricking non-proofreading viruses into incorporating a bulky, not easy to work with nucleoside instead of a normal one into it's genome.  These "nucleoside analogs" look to the non-reading virus like a normal ATCG but they are chemically modified to terminate the reaction.  So if you as a virus incorporate a nucleoside analog then too bad, you are now prevented from replicating.  Covid can tell that they picked up a nucleoside analog instead of a normal nucleoside, will kick the analog out, and thus our best antivirals can't stop covid from doing it's thing.


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

[User] ELI5 why people with Alzheimer's forget things like their age, name, friend's faces etc but not how to breath, talk or walk?

[Assistant]
Alzheimers is degenerative disease of the cerebral cortex.  This is the part of the brain that deals with memory, attention, thought, language, awareness and the like.  So the disease affects a part of the brain that controls a separate function from the examples you gave.

The Brain Stem is the part of the brain that controls things like breathing, circulating blood, digesting food.. etc.

As for talking, many people who have Alzheimer's do forget how to speak certain words.  They won't remember what a word for something is or might not know what a word stands for with out having the object to use as a relation.

The Cerebellum is the part of the brain that controls voluntary movement, posture and balance.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we believe an asteroid killed off the dinosaurs?

[Assistant]
67 million years ago theres dinosaur fossils everywhere in the rock layer.

65 million years ago theres *zero* dinosaur fossils.

In between is a thin layer of ash and iridium.  Iridium is very rare on earth, but common in asteroids.  A global layer of ash would suggest something cataclysmic happened, incinerating forests on a global scale and/or setting off a massive volcanic event.

This theory was kicked around for some time, and then the real bloody knife was discovered in the Gulf of Mexico - an enormous crater thats 66 million years old, obscured beneath the water and Mexican jungles.


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

[User] ELI5: How come when some people get in contact with poison Ivy, oak, or sumac; they break out in blisters. What is happening for this reaction to occur?

[Assistant]
I type this with a hand covered in poison ivy =(

It's caused by an oil called "Urushiol". Yes, Poison Ivy, Sumac, and Oak all have the same stuff that makes the rash, although it may be different amounts/concentrations.

In 5 year old terms, what happens is this oil gets in contact with your skin, and over the course of 1-3 days, it causes a reaction with your skin cells. It bonds with the proteins in your skin cells, which makes your immune system react as if it's an invader since it can no longer identify it as skin. In an effort to get rid of this foreign substance, your body forms the itchy/blistery/flaky "dermatitis" that we know so well.

TL;DR Urushiol oil messes with the proteins of your skin cells, tricking your body into thinking it's not skin. Your immune system tries to get rid of it, resulting in the itchy/blistery/flaky skin.


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

[User]
[Star Trek] Telepathy is an uncommon trait. Yet the universal translator reads brain waves to translate speech, doesn't it? How is such a technology common?

And why does it work on the Ferengi, who are supposed to be immune to telepathy due to their unusual brain structure?

[Assistant]
The Universal Translator does not read brain waves. It looks for (or interpolates) common language structures in a given language, then uses that structure to provide a translation map to/from that language. The concept is probably best demonstrated on the DS9 episode "Sanctuary" where the Gamma Quadrant visitors' language was so unusual that it took the station's universal translator significantly longer than normal to be able to break it down.

"Classic" Star Trek lore (defined as "everything before the Abrams reboot") leaves a lot to the imagination when it comes to the UT. A more realistic interpretation happens in the Abrams reboot where UTs are shown on the collars of people, translating their spoken language into English in real time as their users speak (so you have an amalgam of English and Alien), although the mechanism that determines how the UT knows what language to translate into has yet to be learned.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do heatwaves, like the one currently affecting the UK happen?

One week, we can have a cloudless sky and the temperature be no more than 20-25C. This week we have a cloudless sky and the temperature has reached approaching 40C. What factors cause the huge difference in temperature?

[Assistant] Air on Earth doesn't heat up evenly due to the angle of the sun, weather, and geography (eg. water and land heat up at different rates). Sometimes a heated air mass from a warm region goes places where they normally don't - like to the UK. It's usually hard to predict where air masses go, but they have patterns. These patterns are changing - that's in part what we mean by climate change. So at the moment basically a hot air mass - which is more likely to exist as a result of climate change - is going to a place where they historically rarely go - which is also more likely to happen as a result of climate change.


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

[User]
ELI5: Now that we have hudreds of years of history to look back on, on top of computer technology--why is there such debate on how an economy should be run?

I would think we could look throughout time and see things like varying tax rates vs. a countries economic performance (among hundreds of other economic factors) to figure out the proper way to run an economy. Is the fact that we have a huge globally connected economy and contact changes in technology the issue?

[Assistant]
This is like saying that by now we should have more than enough data to fully understand and build a human brain.  No. Just no.

An economy is a horrendously complex thing. You can't just look at a few variables like that and decide that you've figured it out.  That would be very much like deciding that since we've figured out some relationships between blood pressure and heart disease or between hormone levels and whatever that we should now understand all of human medicine.

Some of the most brilliant mathematicians alive have devoted their lives to trying to model various bits of the markets, and none of them would have the hubris to claim that they've come up with a rigorous theoretical model that explains economics.


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

[User]
CMV: I think that we should abolish the minimum wage and replace it with universal basic income.

We are rapidly reaching a point where automation will completely replace all entry level and medium to low skill jobs. As a result, it will be incredibly difficult for people to raise themselves up out of poverty in our current system. Only so many of us can become programmers and/or contribute on a financially meaningful scale.

I am not advocating that everyone should be given an extremely large amount of money, only enough for them to cover basic human necessities such as food, shelter, and some form of basic healthcare. Once these needs have been met, the individual should then be responsible to work for any additional wants/needs.

By meeting some of the most basic human needs, I believe this system would help relieve the biggest stressors on the individual and make them more competent to negotiate a fair wage. As a result, I think that minimum wage would no longer be necessary and might even be a hinderance to commerce and building wealth.

[Assistant]
> We are rapidly reaching a point where automation will completely replace all entry level and medium to low skill jobs.

We've been saying this for decades, if not over a century at least now. We'll still have many things that humans do far better than robots for at least the next few decades. We'll even see a rise in mildly technical jobs of working on machines/robots because there will be far more breakdowns that robots themselves cannot fix for a long time.

But that aside, how does removing the minimum wage help? Perhaps you could lower it, but then that'd really depend on where you live still.

Also, have you figured out the math on basic income? There's too many people and no where near enough government income to pay for that, and until society has far more mechanical workers than humans, that just won't be feasible.


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

[User] ELI5: If we can figure out secure online banking, why not secure online voting?

[Assistant]
Because banking is almost but not quite the exact opposite of voting.
In banking you want a to keep a meticulous paper trail that allows you to tie every transaction to someones account. In voting you want to do everything you can to avoid a paper trail that lets you tie a voter to a specific vote.


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

[User]
ELI5:US Supreme Court: King v. Burwell. Obamacare subsidies

In light of the recent ruling on King v. Burwell (in favor of the Government, 6-3) and the number of questions it's already creating we decided to make this sticky thread.  Feel free to ask any questions related to this ruling in this post or offer an explanation of the ruling and the background behind it.

[Assistant]
"Obamacare" made health insurance exchanges. Each state had the option of making their own exchange, or using the federal exchange.

The part of the law in question gives federal money to people who are within 100% to 400% of the federal poverty line.

However, the law technically says the federal money can go to people who buy insurance from an exchange created "by the state" not "by the state, or by the federal government."

In the background of all of this, there is the fact that WAY more states refused to make their own exchanges, and used the federal exchange than Congress expected, because of negative reaction to the law.

So there are LOTS of people who got the federal money for insurance bought on the federal exchange.

If the "by the state" language meant just "by the state" the whole insurance scheme would fall apart, because there are so many people who rely on the subsidies and the federal exchanges.

However, the Supreme Court just decided that "by the state" actually meant "by the state or the federal government," essentially because the law would not work without that interpretation.

So people get to keep their federal subsidies now, regardless of whether they bought their insurance on the federal or state exchanges.


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

[User] [General Sci-Fi] What are some realistic reasons aliens would want to conquer Earth?

[Assistant]
I really like the concept behind the aliens in XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Spoilers ahead if you care about that kind of thing.

So in XCOM you slowly learn through the course of the campaign that all the different kinds of aliens you are fighting are not one species, but several, that have been heavily modified through genetic engineering and mechanical augmentation. Eventually you discover a breed of psychically active aliens, and learn that all of the various species are connected through a psychic hive-mind tha is organized hierarchically, with the more psychically active species at the top.

By the time you get to the end of the campaign, you have appropriated a ton of the aliens' technology, and eventually create your own psychic super-soldiers, culminating in one super-powerful psychic; The Volunteer.

It turns out that all the aliens you had fought and defeated were failed experiments, attempts at creating a species that was physically and psychically 'perfect', something the alien leaders were never able to accomplish.

But you were.

The whole invasion was one in a series of conquests in which the "Ethereals" used warfare to force the evolution of a species to the point where they became psychically active. Mankind was the first such species to be "uplifted" successfully, by creating soldiers who were both physically strong and immensely powerful psychics.

Had the aliens had their way, humanity would hen have been assimilated into the collective and the aliens would have achieved 'perfection'. Another piece to the puzzle is that it is implied that the alien leaders were themselves uplifted by a powerful forerunner race, who eventually transcended physical existence, and the alien's pursuit of perfection is an attempt to follow in their footsteps, having been left behind.

**tldr;** Aliens use warfare to force humanity to evolve rapidly in preparation for assimilation into a psychic collective.


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

[User]
How do you concretely exploit the fact that a qubit can be in several states knowing that observing it is fixing its state ?*

I think that I understand the superposition principle but I don't understand how can a quantum system can use it to explore more combination of qbit at once. For example factorisation ?

[Assistant] You mess around with it while it's still in superposition to get the answer you want to interfere constructively and the answers you don't want to interfere destructively. For example, suppose you have some function where if you plug in state A, it gives 1/sqrt(2)(C+D), and if you plug in state B, it gives 1/sqrt(2)(C-D). Either of those states has a 50% chance of returning C and a 50% chance of returning D. But if you plug in a quantum superposition of 1/sqrt(2)(A+B), then you get 1/sqrt(2)(1/sqrt(2)(C+D)+1/sqrt(2)(C-D)) = C. The C states interfered constructively and the D states interfered destructively.


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

[User]
For those who have sold programs, script or projects, how did you come up with the idea and how did you sell it?

Im working on a program i wrote for automating some of the tasks as an insurance seller and my company is paying me 500$ a month (which is too cheap as my script is able to make the company tens of thousands a month)

We were tasked to prospect at home so that we had people to call the day after and i told my boss that i would make a program that did it for me. It went from a small python project to becoming much bigger with a lot more data handeling than i thought..

I was curious about other peoples experiences with something like this as im learning python at the same time as im making this project. I took the first offer i got from my boss as an extra motivation for learning the ropes of python.

[Assistant] I think youre on the right track for how to build/sell projects. Find a _real_ problem, build a proof of concept, sell it to a few customers, then grow your business until you can sell the company. Next time you should work on it as a side project/business so your current employer doesnt own the legal rights to it.


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

[User]
I don't think it's bad that many people don't vote, because it means the votes of those who are informed and committed count for more. CMV

If someone doesn't vote, surely they either don't know enough about the issues for their vote to be worth anything anyway, or they don't have any issues that they see any party can solve. So their vote isn't going to be very considered, and is more likely to be chosen based on superficial factors.

For each person like this who doesn't vote, the impact of the vote of someone who does care and is knowledgeable is magnified. And surely this is a good thing.

Personally I'm glad when people don't vote because it means my vote counts for more.

EDIT - I'm in the UK and talking from a UK perspective, but also interested in perspectives from elsewhere.

EDIT 2 - I'm only including those for whom voting is not anymore of a challenge than for the average person in the 'don't care if they don't vote' category.

[Assistant]
Apathetic, largely centrist voters are a good check against ideologically driven voters. If the majority of people voting are those with rigid views who strongly favor one side, then candidates have more incentive to campaign with less moderate views to appease their party and prevent a primary challenge. This is one driver of polarization.

Moreover, there's no reason to believe that the average voter is knowledgeable, or that this 'knowledge' is even a good thing. Someone raised a die-hard conservative and listens to talk radio every day would probably do better on a political quiz than a self-proclaimed nonvoter, but if the latter were forced to vote then they would probably put more reasoning into their decision than the former. Remember that in the US, voting is more or less zero sum, there are "informed" people who support both candidates and it's a 50/50 shot for every "uninformed" person, so it's not like their vote can do any damage.


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

[User]
ELI5: How/why are we able to physically feel emotions?

This morning I was laying next to my boyfriend and I found myself missing him. Physically, my chest felt tight and buzzy.  I remember in high school physically feeling my heart break after break ups. Or the butterfly in your stomach feeling.  How and why does this happen?

[Assistant]
It has been proven that the brain perceives emotional pain in a similar way to physical pain.
Missing someone causes stress and worry to which brain answers with the physical response of muscle tightness, increased heart rate and shortness of breath.

A heartbreak results into insane amounts of stress which activate the fight-or-flight response where the heart starts pumping more blood, muscles clench and you start breathing faster because you feel in danger and as though you have been hurt.
The brain is also taken aback by the emotional shock and is trying to take control of the situation, but it is stuck in a period of analysing and processing the shocking situation.

Butterflies in the stomach are caused by a reduction of blood flow to the organ as a result to anxiety or excitement. The adrenaline is released to increase the blood flow and rush more blood to the muscles to get you prepared for flight or fight.

We feel these intense feelings in response to our emotions in order to adapt to situations and prevent making the same mistake. You feel the heartbreak because the partner your brain and body has accepted as a potential mate has rejected you after you formed an emotional attachment.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why AT&T merging with T-Mobile is triggering antitrust challenges but Sirius/XM merging is not an issue.

There are no other players in the satellite radio world so it seems like Sirius/XM have a monopoly on things there.  AT&T/T-Mobile merging still leaves Sprint, Verizon and a bunch of local type carriers (Cricket, etc.) so that doesn't seem to be as big of a deal.

[Assistant] The argument for the Sirius/XM merger was that it competes with terrestrial radio (AM/FM/HD Radio), thus the two entities combining would not create a monopoly. Also, unlike maintaining the exorbitant cost of cell towers, it's conceivable someone could come along and start their own satellite radio service to compete with SiriusXM by just shooting a couple satellites in the sky.


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

[User] Why are Europe and Asia considered separate continents?

[Assistant]
Historical reasons.  There isn't a strict definition of what constitutes a continent.

edit:  It should also be mentioned that in some places, Europe+Asia are considered one continent, and in other places North+South America are considered one continent.


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

[User] ELI5: why is the US the only country, apart from Liberia and Burma, not to have adopted the International System of units?

[Assistant]
The short answer about this is that the US *has* officially adopted it. But nobody wants to use it. There's no public will to actually change everything over to standard units, so that doesn't happen.

But if you talk to scientists, or medical personnel, they will tell you that they use metric at work.


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

[User]
[Daredevil] How does Daredevil even compare to heroes like Spider-Man?

It seems all his powers are just a somewhat more diverse Spidey-Sense... but he's also blind...

It seems that Daredevil would be a hardly on-par Superhero even if he could, y'know, see? His powers are really just hear and smell good, which wouldn't be all that important if he had... eyes...

I feel like he could be a lot more effective if he could just see with upped reaction times from a lifetime of boxing. The fighting skills are all him, it just feels like a mediocre trade off, sight in exchange for better hearing that he can use to see.

[Assistant]
Why else do you think the Avengers have been pretty much ignoring him?

He *isn't* on their level. He's mostly a detective with specific goals and missions, he's not like Spider-Man patrolling the city of Captain America leading global counter-terror missions.


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

[User]
Is there anyway besides suicide to opt out of society?

If society is a social contract how does one opt out?  There is no where to go, all land is owned by other people.  It doesn't seem that there is any way to survive without partaking in human society on at least some level.

[Assistant]
There is lots of wilderness.  For example, Northern Canada has vast regions where no one lives.  If you really know how to fish and hunt and live off the land, you could survive in this wilderness all alone, until, say, you break a leg.  However, few human beings could survive the loneliness.

The very fact that you are reaching out across the internet for social contact suggests to me you aren't ready.


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

[User] ELI5: water storage in aquifer. Is it possible to put water back into a natural aquifer for storage? As it sounds as though we are draining many basins, but also building new water storage projects, can we not just use existing aquifers?

[Assistant]
Yes, this is possible and being done in many areas. In Portland, Oregon, for example, large pumps in the Columbia River inject water into a shallow aquifer during winter high flows which is used for the city water supply in late summer.

Several factors govern the feasibility of this storage method: the depth of the aquifer, the porosity of the geology, the rate of water withdrawals, etc. if the aquifer is deep below ground, pumping costs may be prohibitive. If the geology isnt porous enough, the recharge rate may be too slow to store much water in the near-term (natural recharge of aquifers can take hundreds - thousands of years in many cases). In many areas, water withdrawals from aquifers are so large that it is impossible to replace the volume of water removed. These are overdrawn aquifers where the water table drops every year with associated pumping cost increases. Eventually, water quality and volume degrades to the point it is no longer worth pumping.


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

[User]
I think drinking is not okay, especially for high school kids.

1) Drinking only gives you temporary reprieve when you feel awkward in these situations. If you were able to get your own social fears by yourself or find your own courage or learn to relax by yourself, that courage/new ability to cope in social situations would stick with you as opposed to going away when you aren't under the influence anymore. Turning to these substances for reprieve seems very weak to me. Being bale to cope in these situations by yourself seems to show much more strength than relying on drinks.

2) Even if someone speaks their mind while drunk, its not WHO they are. Who you are is not your thoughts, its what you think mixed with what you choose to say. Someones who drunk says whats on their mind which is changing who they are even if for a small period of time.

3) Obvious reasons such as lack of judgement, possible drunk driving accidents, making a mistake, illegal, and being pushed into a sexual situation.

4) One can argue that things like video games and book change you mentally too just like drinking does. I.E an inspiring character in a book inspires you to be more confident and alcohol making you more confident, although the product in the same in both situations, the means of achieving it are not the same in the way that drinking physically changes you while being exposed to new ideas in like books and stuff present you with new ideas and give you the choice to act on it and the products stick with you in one case and not the others

Tl;Dr: In summation, drinking is not okay because it gives you only temporary bravery and stuff when acting as a social lubricant, it changes who you are as a person, and it promotes weakness. There's also the obvious like drunk driving and bad decisions. It also isn't necessary and every possible possible effect it could have on you is able to be accomplished through other means.

I want to prematurely thank you guys because I'm very obdurate in my view of this but I really want to change it to help me be more accepting of what others around me do. Please help my change my view!

[Assistant] I think you mean getting drunk. It doesn't seem like your post says anything against drinking.  Do you think there's something wrong with having a glass of wine or a beer or two at dinner or when hanging out with friends?


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

[User]
How much delta-v would you need to escape a gravity well like the one in Intersteller?

It seems like no human spacecraft in the present or near future would be capable of escaping such an insane amount of gravity. Would the gravity well that created a 23 year time gap require a planet to be so massive that no human could live for a short spacewalk on it? What formulas and method would you use to calculate it?

[Assistant]
That orbit is so extreme that it doesn't even exist. Orbits are unstable below 3 schwarzschild radii.

The velocity you would need to escape from that radius (ignoring the orbit) is immense, it's well relativistic. In this regime, it doesn't make much sense to still talk about v.


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

[User]
Which programming language will force you to learn the most advanced math as you progress through it?

I was thinking C++ or Haskell.

My goal is to prepare myself for advanced maths (Calculus I/II, Differential Equations) and have something I can throw at research in pharmaceutical research. I heard Pascal mentioned for someone who struggled with math their entire life, but can super focus when they're interested in something.

I have basic exposure to R, but it's not something I'm really interesting in: more interested in building the actual software that can interface with an even more advanced algorithm developed by colleagues.

[Assistant]
The math you implement in a program isn't really dependent upon the language at all.  Any language worth its salt is going to support just about any reasonably straightforward operations (eg addition, subtraction, multiplication, logarithms, exponents, etc.)  Any extra features beyond these (eg solving systems of equations, finding antiderivatives, etc.) are going to be found (if at all) in some library written for that language, but not as a built-in part of the language itself.

That being said, some languages can be better suited for certain types of computations (eg python can handle numbers waaaaaaaay larger than just your standard 32 bit integers you have in most languages.)


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

[User]
Why is titanium dioxide used in supplements?

What other purposes would Titanium dioxide serve in a supplement other than colour enhancement/ whitener?

[Assistant] I believe that it can also serve as an anti-caking additive, similar to the use of SiO2. TiO2 is a fine white powder that is primarily used as a white pigment and/or visual enhancement additive. No idea if it is actually specifically used for anything other than pigmentation as a food additive, but I'd guess that it could have the additional benefit of reducing caking.


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

[User] [The Incredibles 1] why didn't the guy who tried to kill himself just try to kill himself again instead of suing Mr incredible for preventing his suicide?

[Assistant] Sometimes people attempt suicide when they see no purpose in continuing their life. That man found a new purpose in exposing and curbing the incredible dangers presented by the actions of supers. He probably also developed a grudge against Mr. Incredible and didn't want to die without getting his revenge.


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

[User]
CMV: Companies like Gillette and Pepsi disseminate controversial ads that will upset their consumer base on purpose

The new Gillette be better ad sparked backlash from some conservative leaning consumers of their razors/male hygiene products, but will this affect sales in the long term? Companies like Gillette/P&G do not sell direct to consumer or end user of their product, but instead to wholesalers/retailers like Walmart who sell to consumers.

These controversial ads themselves have a short hold on the collective public attention and likely dont affect short term buying habits of a Walmart or a CVS. Realistically, any public outcry with have a short lifespan as well and any potential changes in consumer buying habits will be minimal and unnoticeable to wholesalers/retailers. However, the average/mass majority of consumers who arent triggered by the ad might be more likely to keep the brand Gillette in the front of their mind the next time theyre buying razors. Unconsciously, the average buyer will be more familiar with the product and thus more likely to buy.

[Assistant]
Not at all. Companies are in it to make money, that is all. Gillette doesnt give two shits about how men treat women. What they do give a shit about is that right now women are their target audience.

Gillette charges far more for womens razors than mens razors, even though they cost the same to produce. Women feel like the need a womans razor so they have not flocked to places like Dollar Shave Club like men have. Times have changed and women are now Gillettes primary customer.

They are not pissing off men on purpose. They are catering to women. The idea is that women watch the advertisement and say this is a company that cares about women even though the advertisement is critical of men.

Its all about the dollars. Nothing more.


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

[User]
[General] Why is there gravity inside spaceships?

Why is there always gravity (or what appears to be gravity) inside spaceships. This is prevalent in Star Wars, Star Trek, pretty much every Sci-fi media, and it's always bugged me.

We never see any sign of artificial gravity while inside spaceships, and it seems the instant the characters step outside for a spacewalk they are in zero gravity. What gives?

[Assistant]
Most kinds of "artificial gravity" rely on a conceit like Mass Effect fields or "gravity plating".

Newer sci-fi (the Martian, Red Mars, and Halo, for instance) have ships with rotating toruses intended to simulate gravity via centripetal force.

When you move between toruses you experience different levels of gravity. In Halo they use special "gravity gyms" to get buff, while in Red Mars they use it to adjust to what it will be on Mars (.3G). On military vessels these toruses would be hidden behind layers of armor; the UNSC Halcyon is a pretty good example.

Magnetism can also produce gravity fields, however, you need extreme cold to keep the magnets superconductive (which drains power). This was actually the underlying conflict in 2009's Avatar; the humans wanted "Unobtanium" (stupid name) because it was a room temperature super-conductor. Just recently a device was made to levitate a small mouse using magnetism, thereby producing a 1G field to cancel out the Earth's gravity, so it is possible.

String theory posits that gravity and electromagnetism unify in hidden dimensions, however, no one knows how to manipulate this.


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

[User]
[DC] Do people have theories about Superman's alien-ness?

In most incarnations of the DC universe, Superman is usually one of the first public alien figures. Most people know that he's from a planet called Krypton, the works.

Does the public or the media have theories or debates about him based on his extraterrestrial origins?

Examples:

Does he actually have a human appearance, or is it a disguise because his true form would frighten us? Is he even truly a "male" as humans would understand it? Maybe he's actually some sort of jellyfish!

Are his powers natural or the result of advanced technology?

Is his genial act genuine, or is it an act that covers an alien mindset that humanity can never truly comprehend? Is he protecting people out of the goodness of his heart, or is humanity somehow important for him/his species?

...and so on.

Are discussions like this common? If so, what is the prevailing opinion?

[Assistant] In the New 52, when the government came looking for the alien who crashlanded in Smallville, Jonathan and Martha pass off a miscarried calf born with two extra legs as the alien. Years later, when Lex Luthor and General Lane are holding Superman captive, Lex shows him the calf and demands to know if that's his true form. Recognizing the calf from his parents' story, Superman just starts laughing at him.


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

[User]
CMV: All labels to identify activists or certain groups of people in general (ex.Feminist, ANTIFA, Alt-Right, Liberal) are hurting society more than they are helping.

I strongly believe terms used to identify large groups of people who support a certain cause used to show simply where you stood in the discussion, in recent years, however, they have been used to identify a person.

Social Media has perpetuated this judge a book by its cover mindset, allowing these terms to make 2-dimensional caricatures out of regular people that, at times, have opinions that dont completely align with the group they are supporting, but they are lumped in with the group as a whole anyway. These labels have become stereotypes, something were supposed to avoid as a civilized society, so that the country doesnt divide into tribal mentality. When someone doesnt like an opinion of another person, instead of discussing it, they label one another, Well youre just a filthy liberal/alt-right because of that opinion, this is incredibly detrimental to society.

For us to unify the US again we need to relinquish these labels all together, or at least give them less power, so that we can go back to discussing issues civilly. These stereotypes/labels give the opposite effect of turning people towards their causes, because the publics view of them is easily manipulated and they are shown as more radical in the media than some actually are.

We need to go back to when we understood that people are individuals with their own thoughts and opinions, and that grouping people simplifies an individual dramatically, allowing hate and prejudice to fill in the blanks.

Change my view if you believe that the current way society identifies people actually benefits us in any way.

[Assistant] It depends on helping who? Labels help politicians to dehumanize the enemy and getting their own faithful to the polls. We are living in time when political discussion is focused on turning out the voters, not changing opinions, and scaring people by pointing out vicious feminists or bloodthirsty gun nuts gets voters excited.


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

[User]
Would there be a benefit to putting solar panels above the atmosphere?

So to the best of my knowledge, here is my question. The energy output by the sun is decreased by traveling theough the atmosphere. Would there be any benefit to using planes or balloons to collect the energy from the sun in power cells using solar panels above the majority of the atmosphere where it could be a higher output? Or, would the energy used to get them up there outweigh the difference from placing them on the earth's surface?

[Assistant]
The atmosphere is largely transparent to visible light, which is the range most conventional photovoltaics use. If located higher there could be a marginal increase (ignoring other factors at the moment) because there would be a few percent more of that light, however without the atmosphere blocking the more energetic wavelengths like UV the cells degrade requiring you to add thicker shielding/glass to mimic the effect of the atmosphere.

Additionally photovoltaics have a reduced efficiency when hot, which is a concern when they are being hit by useless wavelengths (which normally the atmosphere blocks) that only heat the panels and contribute nothing to the actual generation of power while also having very little to no medium to assist in transferring that heat away

Finally you'd need a way to get that power from the panels back down to the ground, which could be done in a variety of ways, but realistically it's not practical from an engineering or cost perspective when you want the power at ground level in the first place.


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

[User] [Star Trek] What's there to stop civilians or non-Federation species from making first contact with the pre-warp planets all willy-nilly?

[Assistant] You gotta remember the Federation is a post scarcity socialist utopia. (Hard to tell from all the grimdark interpretations of modern Trek.) There's very little to gain as a civilian to break the Prime Directive. Other Empires will but the 3 "powers" of the Alpha quadrant (Romulans, Klingons and United Federation of Planets) tend to respect each other's spheres of influence rather then risk a diplomatic incident or increase tensions.


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

[User]
ELI5: The difference beyween AMOLED and P-OLED?

For example, the Pixel 2 runs AMOLED screen while the Pixel 2 XL runs P-OLED? What's the difference?

[Assistant]
AMOLED stands for "active-matrix organic light-emitting diode", where the AM part means that each LED has an individual transistor driving it, hence "active". Practically all graphical displays these days are active-matrix. The OLED part doesn't specify what kind of organic molecule is used as the light emitting material.

P-OLED is more specific type of AMOLED display that uses an organic polymer (=plastic) as the light emitting material.


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

[User]
[Lord of the Rings] Both Gondor and Rohan have a period where their respective rulers at the time of the books were "incompetent" - why weren't there other councillors or nobility to help rule the kingdoms?

At the time of the books, both Theoden and Denethor II have long periods (*edit* these periods may not have been VERY long after all, but I think the question is still relevant) where they their rule was plagued by incompetence, possession, and paranoia to the extent that they were working against their own kingdoms. They were like modern "Manchurian Candidates". Theoden was largely advised by Grima, a non-family member. How did this power dynamic emerge, and why was there no check or balance? It seems strange that Grima, and not other Marshals or nobles, would help rule the realm - especially as both the Westfold and Eastfold were losing to "the enemy". Theodred, Eomer, and Eowyn comment in the books that Theoden was visibly not well or healthy... yet only Grima helps to rule the land?

I extend the question to Gondor as well, given that Denethor seemed to make similar questionable decisions with literally no checks or balances from other nobles or councillors of Gondor, despite the Stewards deriving their power from being the Chief High Councillors.

It seems as though both Rohan (Kings) and Gondor (Stewards) had a hereditary autocratic/absolute government. I find the quick evolution into absolutism a bit extreme given that both kingdoms were ruled by dynasties with no ties to the more legitimate Numenorean dynasties, who would have claims to Arnor and Gondor. But, given the long-term, hereditary dynasties of both Rohan and Gondor, how could other blood relations or nobles not help rule the land to prevent their imminent collapse from multiple threats?

[Assistant] Well you make a small error in thinking that Denethor was an incompetent ruler. In fact he is was a very capable ruler and was able to hold back the forces of Mordor without any help from any of the other realms. Other nobility didn't step in because up until the very end, he showed he was a wise, capable, strong, if proud leader. But he was being slowly misled. He lost hope. He lost his first born son, his second son was on deaths door, the armies of Mordor were overrunning his own people, and Sauron showed him a vision of Frodo being captured (it was a distorted truth, but Denethor knew Frodo had the ring and now he thought that Sauron had it and all was lost.)


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

[User]
How do you get energy from electromagnetic radiation?

Is this even possible, if not, why can't we? Or explain how we already do.

[Assistant] You can harness the energy in electromagnetic radiation by absorbing it.  Photovoltaic cells absorb light and produce electricity.  Other systems absorb light and increase their temperature, the idea behind passive solar heating.  You can take sunlight and use mirrors to focus the light to heat water and run a turbine to generate electricity.  In the biological world, photosynthesis is another method for converting the energy from light into other forms.  And, just to look at another part of the electromagnetic spectrum, crystal radios generate sound by absorbing radio waves and using their energy to create that sound.


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

[User] ELI5: Difference between a heart attack, cardiac arrest, and stroke?

[Assistant]
Heart attack: blocked blood flow in heart, can kill parts of heart

Cardiac arrest: heart stopped, can be caused by many things - including above

Stroke: blocked blood flow in brain, can kill parts of brain

As heart feeds brain and brain controls heart, a failure in one can feed back into the other

Edit: coming back late, but so anyone reading this late as well isn't misled, as many commenters pointed out strokes can be caused by bleeds as well (hemorrhagic stroke) as opposed to an "obstacle" blocking the flow like a blood clot. The brain also doesn't have much *direct* influence on the heart. Check replies for more info.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Why didnt Strange use portals to decapitate Thanos?

During End Game, he chose to tie Thanos with magic ropes.

[Assistant]
Thanos is probably too durable to be cut in that way, he was able to use the powerstone on captain Marvel without too much damages to himself and he survived using the IG.

Strange portals are probably waaaaaayy weaker than the powerstone.


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

[User] ELI5: how do game developers create games with graphics so intense that not even the latest tech can achieve those graphics? (Like even the rtx 3090 struggling with CP2077)

[Assistant]
They could create graphics that take 50 hours to render each frame of they wanted to. In many ways it's more difficult to do the opposite, having a game that runs well on a wide range of hardware.

Generally speaking, targeting future hardware isn't too tricky as the progress of hardware is relatively predictable, at least in terms of trends. Offline renderers - the sort they use to make animated films and such - are fully of features and settings that aren't even close to being possible in real time yet.

What makes it into games - even things like Raytracing - tend to be hacked about versions of what's in offline renderers, designed to run in real time. The better the hardware, the closer to the "real thing" they're able to get, but real-time hardware is so far away from being able to render these things in real time that it's not like they're running out of stuff to do.


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

[User]
ELI5: How my body knows not to shit itself while asleep.

Urination could be included as well.

[Assistant]
When you go to sleep, your brain releases special juices into your body that make it so it won't do stuff, like acting out your dreams. That way if you're running in your dream, you won't start running in real life. This also makes it so if you poop in your dream (5 year olds shouldn't say the S word, mister!), you shouldn't poop in real life.

Sometimes this doesn't work though, and is why some people sleepwalk and some people have problems with wetting the bed. Their bodies don't "turn off" for the night like they should.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do seeds know which way is up?

So I was doing some gardening with my 9yo daughter and we moved on to planting some seeds. She was studying them carefully before dropping them into the holes in the compost. I asked her why and she said that she was trying to make sure she planted them the right way up, otherwise they wouldn't grow upwards and flower.

As cute as it is, this got me thinking... How does a seed know which way is the right way to grow?

[Assistant]
ELI5: Plants have cells that can tell which way is down. The roots know which way is down. The leaves/stems decide which way is up by sensing the light.

In the most simple of terms, plants have cells called stratocytes in the tips of roots that respond to gravity. They give a signal that releases a plant hormone that directs the growth of new cells.

In the shoots and stems, a similar process occurs which directs growth upward. Mature plants don't really have this ability anymore and thus use the angle of the light to "decide" where to grow. This is called phototropism.

A seed in utter darkness will know to grow roots downward, but a plant in utter darkness will not know which way to grow upward because there is no light for it to chase after.


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

[User]
Since everything with mass has a gravitational pull, does this mean that Pluto has a pull on me currently?

To be more specific, I know everything that has mass has a gravitational pull, even atoms.  I wanted to know, regardless of how small, if extremely far away planets/stars have an effect on us?  It got me thinking that if time is infinite, will everything with mass, every atom, and every quark eventually come together as one big mass in space?

[Assistant]
Pluto has a mass of about 10^22 kg (about 500 times less than the earth), its distance to the Earth depends on where it is in its orbit (since its orbit is quite non-circular) and where we are but honestly it's billions of kilometers from the sun and we're only 100s of millions so our orbit only affects the first decimal place and we might as well just ignore the difference, thus its average distance from the sun is about 6x10^9 (6 billion) kms, which is the same as its distance from the Earth.  In fact, pluto's eccentric orbit takes it from about 4.4 billion km to 7.4 billion km to the sun, where Earth's is only about 0.15 billion km from the sun.  So the Earth-Sun distance is actually negligible to the problem.

So the gravitational force a mass of 1 kg feels towards Pluto on Earth is about:

2x10^-14 or 0.00000000000002 Newtons.

For context, apparently a flea egg weights about 20 micrograms, which means that the downward force/weight you feel from holding a flea egg ( 0.0002 Newtons) is about a 100 million times greater than the pull of pluto.

But it's there... in the darkness... pulling....


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

[User]
[X-men comics] Kitty Pryde and Adamantium

I'm not that knowledgeable about her character, but I just saw a random comic panel of her ripping out Emma Frost's heart while partially in diamond form.

Would Kitty be able to do the same thing to Wolverine and pull out his heart through his adamantium skeleton?  Also, would this kill him?  Presumably, if he were damaged in the heart, he could heal, but what if she just ripped the entire heart out at once?

EDIT:  I keep reading responses about Wolverine's ability to regenerate *from* a few *cells* -- which raises the question: what part of Wolverine do you need for him to regenerate?  Apparently, the heart isn't needed.

[Assistant]
In an alternate timeline, where Wolverine was unable to shake his brainwashing by the Hydra (or maybe the Hand), Kitty had to do something like that.  She phased her hand into his head, then re-solidified it.  She lost the hand, but it remained embedded in his brain, reducing him to a vegetative state.

Simply removing the brain (or heart) this way wouldn't likely kill him, he'd regenerate.  She left her hand there as it would be merged with his own tissues at a molecular level.


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

[User]
Is cold water sufficient for ridding fruits and vegetables of pesticides on their surfaces?

The question is in the title. If it is not sufficient, what measures should be taken in order to make sure pesticide ingestion is kept minimal?

edit: To add to the original questions, are the potential health risks from consumption of pesticides serious? Meaning, **based on the average amount of pesticides ingested by the average person, are there health risks and are they serious?**  I cannot find any well researched answers on this, as most information seems to be biased towards companies that profit from the use of pesticides in harvests.

[Assistant]
Definitely not, most pesticides are not designed to be water soluble. If they were, farmers would have to respray after every rain. They're designed to "stick" to the plants to ensure longer protection.

Using soap to rinse produce is a pretty safe bet. Just make sure that it is rinsed thoroughly after washing, as the soap can easily become stuck in the pores.

But in all fairness, even with good washing there is still a high chance of ingesting pesticides on a regular basis. These chemicals are everywhere in our daily lives.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the flesh of an apple go brown fairly quick out in the open?

[Assistant] It's exposed to oxygen which activates enzymes (Things that break down parts of other things saliva for example contains a lot of enzymes and  it breaks down food in your mouth) that turn it brown in the process. It mainly happens when the skin is not protecting the flesh as oxygen starts the reaction.


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

[User]
Should we value human life thats hasnt yet had a conscious experience?

I always thought that abortion was okay since the fetus was something that doesnt have conscious experience but someone pointed out to me that people in comas also dont have conscious experience.

[Assistant]
The key question raised by your phrasing of the debate would be as follows: What is a human life that *hasn't* had a conscious experience at all?

A big part of the debate over abortion settles on the question of when a life becomes a life, and there are a number of different ways in which this could be defined. Almost all sides of the debate tend to agree that 'life' begins no earlier than conception and no later than birth. In other words, it makes little intuitive sense to insist that the baby is alive before the egg is fertilised, and we tend to believe that a baby is a 'life' by the time it is born. Between those two moments, there are a few ways to define 'life', and part of the challenge of using consciousness as our 'marker' is that... we honestly don't know that much about consciousness itself. We strongly believe it's closely related to the physical brain, but outside of that we don't completely know, so we tend to lean on this fact when deciding the latest point at which the foetus can be aborted.

There is an obvious difference between the person in a a coma and the non-yet conscious foetus, and that's that we know that the person in a coma does appear to have had a conscious experience prior to their coma, so we can reasonably assume they are capable of having one (current condition notwithstanding). But is this a philosophically-meaningful difference?

Perhaps. The truth is that there probably isn't as much of a difference as it might appear. In both cases, there are situations in which we might consider ending a life; in the case of the coma patient, there are situations in which we would consider ending their life if there is no possibility of them regaining consciousness ever again. Similarly, there are many situations in which parents make a sad but unavoidable decision to terminate a pregnancy. In both cases, human life is clearly valued, but is balanced against other factors that affect the quality-of-life of the subject and those around them.


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

[User] ELI5:Why is it that most animals seem to survive just fine in the wild due to instincts, but most humans probably wouldn't know how to start?

[Assistant]
Because most people are not in their correct evolutionary niche. Humans evolved, and are adapted to, living in the savanna of Africa - the correct temperature, plenty of available food, wide spaces to see predators from afar. Almost every single technological and cultural advance we've had has been related to coping with *not* living in our original home.

Also, humanity has had hundreds of thousands of years to evolve around tool usage. We can't digest uncooked food as well anymore, since almost everyone has been using fire for so long. Instead of sharp claws, we have soft hands for making and using tools. etc

tl;dr - a modern day human being dumped naked and tool-less into a temperate European forest is a bad example since that is not our natural habitat. A modern day human being dumped naked into the African savanna with some stone tools and the knowledge how to use them and make more would be a good example.


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

[User] ELI5: Why, when I'm watching TV at night, is it easy to doze off, but when I go upstairs to bed in a dark room, I'm immediately wide awake?

[Assistant] You're relaxed, your mind is in neutral.  And you've been sitting there for perhaps half an hour or more.  But to go to bed, you must get up, walk the dog, perform your ablutions, etc. By the time you climb into bed, you need some time to get relaxed and in neutral again.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we feel weak (as in not being able to lift a heavy object) when we are laughing a lot?

[Assistant] Someone may be able to correct me on this, but a good ELI5 would be that our core muscles (Abs and such) play a major role in keeping us upright and maintaining posture, and are even more active when we are also lifting something heavy. When we are laughing uncontrollably a lot of that core muscle activity is now involved in the act of laughing and not maintaining posture, to the point where in particularly intense laughter we might end up doubled over on the floor.


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

[User] ELI5: OLED burn in. We know how it happens, but why does it happen? Do pixels fade away over time or what?

[Assistant]
Yes pretty much, over time (and over use) the pixels age and their properties degrade. As long as all pixels are getting roughly the same use, you will not notice this, but you are actually getting the same "burn-in" over the whole screen.

It's not necessarily a "fade away" though, they will lose max capacity, so on white it will seem like they have faded, but the same pixels may show brighter on dark, so it's more like a loss of dynamic range then, how the burn-in presents itself can vary..


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

[User]
ELI5: How do corrosive materials not eat through their containers? Ex: What makes glass impervious to acid?

I've been wondering this ever sense middle school... Does it have something to do with the strength of the corrosive material? What's to stop an extremely strong acid from eating through everything?

[Assistant]
Acids generally work by donating protons, generally shown in chemical reactions as H+, a hydrogen atom that has no electron.

In order for an acid to react with another chemical, that chemical must have free electrons to react with the proton donated by the acid.

Silicon Oxide (glass) is a completely stable chemical compound that has no free electrons, and so cannot react with acids.

It doesn't so much have to do with the strength of the corrosive material as it does with how different chemicals react with each other.

However, there is one acid that will eat through glass, Hydrofluoric acid.
This is actually because of the fluoride, instead of the strength of the acid. Hydrofluoric acid is extremely dangerous to use and is probably the most dangerous and corrosive of the acids, however its 'acidic strength' is much weaker than many other acids. This is because of how we rank acid strength, which is based on how easily it donates a proton, not how easily it dissolves things.


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

[User] ELI5: Back in the olden days, movies showed the majority to all of their credits BEFORE the actual movie. Now, the credits roll after the movie. When was the official transition between the two, and why did Cinema change it?

[Assistant]
One of the first films to have substantial closing credits was Around the World in 80 Days, in 1956, however it wasn't until the 1960s that it started to become common, and the 1970s when it became standard.

Initially, credits were only shown in the beginning because that was in line with book credits or theater programs (which you get when you enter) -- you see the credits right up front. And when the credits only included the above-the-line personnel (the key creative personnel who shape the film), that was feasible. Think of the handful of people included at the bottom of movie posters, and who are sometimes still credited at the beginning of the film: the actors, director, writer, producer, DP, editor, composer, production designer, etc. When those were the only people being credited, it was easy to put them all up front.

It wasn't until movies started crediting more than just the above-the-line personnel that there was any need to move them to the end, because audiences didn't want to sit through extensive credits before the film started; showing them at the end, when people could get up and leave, was the only alternative. Further, big spectacular films, with very large casts and crews (like Around the World) were the ones most likely to have extensive credits, so in many cases they were the earliest films to do so.

It's also worth noting that, initially, end credits tended to be an *addition*, not a replacement -- most films still included the key personnel in opening credits (just as they had always done), while also providing a complete list of credits at the end. But over time, as end credits became standard, more films began opting to forgo the opening credits altogether.


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

[User]
ELI5: Whats the physical difference between a low end budget speaker and a high end pro one?

More specifically Im wondering about the speaker cone itself. Is it anything to do with speaker cone materials, shape, design, testing, etc, or is the biggest difference found in the drivers? (I realise brand and to a lesser extent quality of electronics makes a difference to price.)

Bonus question: is it possible to get some indication just by visually inspecting the cone?

[Assistant]
First, high-end and professional speakers are not the same. What you hear during concert will never work well at home.
Second, speakers and speaker cones are very important, but it's just part of what makes a high-quality speaker.
Budget speaker cones are made basically from paper with flimsy suspensions and tiny coils.
The quality drivers are heavy, with very stiff and light cones, often made from composites and exotic materials.
Generally, speakers to be high quality have to be very stiff - and usually heavy. Plastic is one of the worst materials for speakers.

I don't think there is a way to judge the driver visually only, there is much more to it.


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

[User] what would happen if someone with severe insomnia just stopped sleeping? would they get ill, would they die?

[Assistant] They would get ill. We don't know if they would die. There is a disease(Fatal insomnia) that stops some people sleeping and they end up dying but it's not clear if it's caused by the disease rather than lack of sleep.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Why not snap your enemies' wands and/or break their arms?

I find it puzzling that - if they refrain from killing - the heroes do not effective immediately snap the wands of any Death Eaters (and other enemies) they manage to disarm.

Why don't they also break their arms for good measure? Sure, wizards/witches can mend bones in a heartbeat, but that can mean the difference between life and death. If you break their wands and their arms, they are most likely not going to be able to retaliate.

[Assistant]
Because it literally never occurs to them.

The heroes are taught how to fight in dueling class, where there are strict rules and the fight is over as soon as the opposing person drops his wand. This has pretty much taught Harry and his friends that they won as soon as they disarm the other person, so use that time to get away.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do most laptops still have a 1366x768 screen resolution while most smartphones are already at 1920x1080 and up?

[Assistant]
Resolution is also about viewing distance.  You can get away with a lower resolution display if you are sitting further away.  However, when trying to make out text on a small 5" screen 1 foot from your face it helps to have a higher res screen.  A lower resolution on a larger display that you sit 2 feet from is more acceptable than a low resolution on a smaller display you hold closer to your eyes.

A lot of it now is also marketing and becoming overkill, but it is more helpful to have a higher resolution display on a cell phone than on a laptop.  You don't really need to not see a pixel on your phone, but that was the reasoning between the resolution wars on smartphones.  There never was a resolution war on laptops.


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

[User] [Marvel] If he had access to a DVD set from our universe, what would the 616 Reed Richards make of the Venture Bros' Richard Impossible?

[Assistant] Probably nothing - 616-Reed had seen some shit, including a whole dimension of other Reeds. At this point to Reed it would be just yet another supervillain version of him, far removed from baseline to boot.


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

[User]
[MCU] Why are Iron Man's Strength and durability levels inconsistent?

Ok, this is going to be long...In the first Iron Man movie, Iron Man's armour was able to survive getting hit by a TANK shot, crash through a jetwing at fast speed, with barely any damage.

Even in Avengers 1, he was able to take hits from mjolnir and thor and still continue fighting,

But what I dont get is this, by captain america civil war, his armour wasnt even able to handle a beating from cap and bucky, Super soldiers are strong I get that, But Iron Man is leagues above them in strength and durability.

Yet, Cap was able to physically hurt tony through his suit, not just from his shield, but even from fist punches.

Even bucky was able to physically overpower Iron Man with his Normal arm and used his metal fingers to pierce tonys suit? The mark 46 is supposed to be a lot newer, and better upgraded armour than the Mark 3, so why dies it get damaged by metal fingers?

[Assistant]
Seems like he sacrificed a lot of durability in favour of armour that could be equipped quickly and stored conveniently.

This armour can be carried around in a suitcase and quickly attach itself to Tony in segments.

The previous models couldn't do that.

Eventually he moved to nanotech based armour to get the best of both worlds.


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

[User] ELI5: What would happen to the Cartels and organized crime in the US if marijuana is legalized.

[Assistant] Marijuana has always been easy to grow even in a closet.  It can be grown in the US very easily and has been forever.  It's also cheap as fuck, so the risk:reward to smuggling it over the border in any significant quantity is a no go.  That's why cartels primarily deal in meth, cocaine, heroin, etc. because those are much easier to produce en masse in Mexico than in the US, and the reward for smuggling is much greater.  Organized crime within the US, however, have already felt the pain in states where it has been legalized, and have moved or switched to other products.


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

[User] ELI5: Why can humans eat almost anything, yet so many foods like chocolate, grapes, and xylitol are dangerous for dogs and other mammals?

[Assistant]
The premise of your question is basically flawed. We can't eat almost anything. About half of the red berries in existence are poisonous to us but not to birds, for example. The same is true about mushrooms.

Also, not everything that is edible is food. Uncooked grains are edible, but you would eventually die if that's all you ate. OTOH, if you cook it into bread, you're pretty much good to go.


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

[User]
ELI5: How come, given we hear ourselves differently from how we think we sound, we can reproduce musical notes accurately by singing, just by ear?

I mean, shouldn't we be slightly out if we hear ourselves and think we've hit the note?

Same goes with mimicry, I guess... If we think we are replicating a sound of someone's voice, wouldn't it be different to everyone else hearing it?

[Assistant]
So, there are sort of two different things going on here.

Nobody sings a single musical note, note really.  When we sing, speak, or play a note, there are a bunch of different pitches that blend together.  These give us the tone or *timbre* of the note.  The thing we think of as the pitch of the note is the lowest or *fundamental* note.

When we hear ourselves speak live vs in a recording, we don't hear a different note.  Instead, we hear a different *tone*.  The notes are the same, but the version we hear internally has more of the lower parts that make up the tone.  But the lowest note is still the same one.

TLDR: we hear ourselves sing the same note but with a different tone.  Harmonising is about the note, so the tone doesn't really matter.


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

[User]
[MIB] Since they technically don't exist to the governmwnt, have no identity, no fingerprints, and have Neuralyzers. Could MIB agents easily get away with robbery, murder and other crimes?

Edit: I'm saying if one of these agents decided to be a serial killer without telling the agency.

[Assistant]
If they're only trying to get away from regular law enforcement, sure, they'd be uncatchable.  But you're forgetting the *interplanetary law enforcement organization* they work for, whose technology level far exceeds traditional police forces on Earth, and whose agents are allowed a great deal of freedom to disintegrate things at their discretion.

Put another way, if you want to rob a bank as an MIB agent, go right ahead.  Just don't be surprised if you find three other agents on your tail afterwards.


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

[User] ELI5: How do NASA scientists know that a spacecraft is completely air sealed before it goes into space?

[Assistant]
The same way we test any other pressure sealed system, raging from big tankers to tanks, to the gas pipe systems. Every valve and opening is sealed, then we pressurise the system, if the pressure doesn't drop then it is sealed.

Once they close the door to the spacecraft, they can pressurise it and check whether the pressure stays stable.


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

[User] ELI5: If omega 3 fish oils are so good for you why don't we just fry everything in that?

[Assistant]
You can cook with it, but:  "However, due to its high concentration of polyunsaturated fats, fish oil should never be used for cooking. Its best used as a supplement, one tablespoon per day. Keep in a cool, dry and dark place."

Also, taste. Do you want your french fries to taste like fish?


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

[User] ELI5: Why do content creators/ streamers get dmca strikes when they play games and music plays? The music artists gave their consent for their music to be used in games which the streamer then plays so why do the streamers get striked?

[Assistant] Most of the time it's an automated system. The music is copyrighted, though allowed for use in certain media. However an algorithm that can spot a certain track being played is a lot easier to program than an algorithm that can spot if a certain track is being played, then recognise the context in which it is being played, cross reference this context with the agreements permitting to that track, and then decide which action to take.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why does Kyle Ren seem to use the Force to read people's minds in interrogations but Vader doesn't?

Why does Kyle Ren seem to use the force to read people's minds in his interrogations but Lord Vader doesn't? Vader instead uses torture droids and uses the Force to choke people out of their aspirations.

[Assistant] Because it can backfire. Note how Rey (a natural talent, but completely untrained) managed to glean information from Kylo's mind nearly as much as he got from her. Good old fashioned analog torture doesn't carry that risk, and can be supplemented with force-based mind techniques after wearing them down in body and spirit.


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

[User] ELI5: I've seen tons of "music videos" that predate the 80s. Where would people watch these videos before MTV?

[Assistant]
The earliest videos were often just of the band doing a number and weren't really a 'story'. They'd often be shown as part of a TV special such as them being a guest on a variety show. Some were part of a dedicated movie. The Who's "Tommy" in 1975 or some of the Beatles and Elvis films were examples.

Later on as 'videos' started to take off, they had a half-hour or hour-long sometimes-hosted show that was dedicated to playing a variety of those videos, usually airing on Friday and Saturday nights.

Then MTV and its variants came along and kind of killed those shows.


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

[User] ELI5: When searching for jobs online, I almost never see an amount (whether hourly or salaried) of how much a company will pay an individual who actually gets the job. Why is that so?

[Assistant]
they want to get away with paying the minimum amount they can, so they usually ask you for your past salary info and make a slightly better or similar offer.

they don't want to start the salary listing higher than they need to.


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

[User]
What does it really mean that the electromagnetic force and weak force converge at high energies?

I did my undergrad in physics at MIT, so I'm pretty solid on quantum mechanics and E&M, but I've never had a good intuitive understanding of what it means that the electromagnetic force and weak force converge at high energies (the eletroweak force). I've encountered this idea in pop-science books and it was touched on in classes, but I'm hoping someone here can explain it more. (and if possible, explain symmetry breaking and the role that photons and quarks play in these two forces)

[Assistant]
Yeah hard to explain without maths thought. There is some tool called gauge transformation, when you input a symmetry and do the transformation you can deduce the equations of motion of a particle and the fields associated.

For example: we know the group of symmetry related to  the equations of electromagnetism (mathematically we call it U(1) ). When we use U(1) we deduce all laws of electromagnetism.

Now we can try higher symmetry groups (based on the reaction symmetries of the experiments in nature). When we input U(1)xSU(2)l (related to weak processes) we get four bosonic fields with zero mass. Yet the experiment tells us weak bosons have mass.

To fix this we use the Higgs mechanism to "break the symmetry". Now the theory predicts that at ground state (low T) there are two charged boson and a neutral boson with mass that correspond with the W^(+/-) and the Z boson that we find experimentally. The fourth particle has no mass and corresponds to the photon.

At high T however all the W,Z and photon must mix  to give the real 4 bosons predicted originally of one unified force called electroweak force.

Hope it helps.


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

[User]
ELI5: when you take pain meds like aspirin or ibuprofen, does it go treat the pain at the location or is it a general dulling of pain in your whole body?

Edit: Thanks for all the great answers guys!

[Assistant] Once NSAIDs such as aspirin are absorbed, they are widely distributed throughout the body. The drug doesn't all localize to the site of inflammation, and it's not as though there is some substance that binds the drug and carries back only to the injured cells. Unlike opioids which act centrally, however, NSAIDs act locally to reduce pain and inflammation by inhibiting an enzyme (COX-2) which produces inflammatory compounds. COX-2 itself isn't a prostaglandin precursor, but rather an enzyme.


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

[User]
ELI5:If motion is relative, then why is light speed the speed limit?

If I'm off in space somewhere with nothing around me, then how would I determine whether or not I was moving?  How would I determine whether or not I was accelerating, or what speed I was moving at?

So some object comes whizzing by me at half the speed of light.  If I decide that it was stationary and I was moving at half light speed, then I could not possibly accelerate to another half light speed, or I'd be going the speed of light which is impossible.

On the other hand, if I decide that it was moving at half the speed of light, and that I was stationary, then I could accelerate to half the speed of light or faster.

So, what gives here?

[Assistant]
The concept of "moving" only exists when comparing two things. So if there is nothing to compare yourself to, "moving" and "stationary" are the same thing. It's not just that you can't tell if you're moving or not, there isn't any distinction between the two at all.

The concept of the speed of light is very confusing. The important thing is that light in a vacuum always travels at the same speed *relative to you*. However fast or slow you are going, light will always appear to be going at the speed of light compared to you, and nothing with mass can reach this speed.

This sounds like it could cause all kinds of contradictions like the one you've mentioned. But they don't happen because travelling at those speeds causes time to pass at a different rate and distances contract.

If you saw a space ship fly past you at near the speed of light, it would look squashed in the direction its travelling in. Also if it was possible to see the people walking around inside the ship, it would look like they were going in super slow motion.

They would see the same thing if they could see inside your ship too, because from their point of view, you are flying past them at near the speed of light. But inside their own ship everything would seem normal.


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

[User] How does asexual reproduction avoid the negative effects of inbreeding?

[Assistant]
Inbreeding and asexual reproduction isn't the same thing.

The main problem with inbreeding is that most organisms, including us, carry a large amount of recessive traits that are harmful, but as they are recessive it's only a problem if both parents have the gene and pass it on, which of course is more likely if the parents are related as they then share more genes.

While there are many kinds of asexual reproduction, asexual organisms essentially just makes a copy of themselves which functions just as good as they did so they don't have this problem.

The problem of asexual reproduction is that there is little diversity. Everyone is almost the same, which means that if e.g. everyone is weak to cold, and it gets colder, things turn out pretty bad for that population. The advantage however is that it's easy and cheap and they can reproduce very quickly.


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

[User]
What is the fireball of a nuclear explosion composed of?

I assume it isn't the bomb itself due to the sheer volume of it.

[Assistant]
The 'fireball' from the explosion is from the surrounding matter which has been vaporised by the energy released from the fission.

The nuclear fission releases ~~most of it's~~ energy in gammas and x-rays (and kinetic fission fragments and neutrinos and neutrons).  This energy get absorbed by the surrounding matter (rock, air, bomb casing, fission fragments etc) and they become superheated into plasmas ~~(a candle flame is a plasma)~~ which then rapidly expand (shockwave) and also re-radiate their energy all over the EM spectrum (heat, light).


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

[User]
Are proofs of the law of excluded middle circular?

I cannot think of a way to prove the law of excluded middle without a proof by contradiction, which seems a little circular since proofs by contradiction rely on the premise that if a proposition leads to a contradiction, then its negation must be true.

[Assistant] Well, the law of excluded middle is not a tautology of intuitionistic logic. Which means that to prove it, you'll have to make some additional assumptions. The proof by contradiction you mention can be viewed as an application of double negation elimination (assume A is false, that leads to a contradiction, therefore A is true), which is also not an intuitionistic tautology and is in fact indeed equivalent to LEM.


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

[User] ELI5: What does it mean when a song/album is remastered and how is it done?

[Assistant]
When talking about recordings on Vinyl, the initial "Master" copy of the vinyl will be of the highest quality, every subsequent copy will be of lesser quality due to things like dust, scratches and what not that each get passed down to any subsequent copies of that copy. And the degradation that happens to a disk when pressing a copy of it.

To mass produce records the initial "Master" copy will be used to make actual 'production' masters that are used to make the full order of discs. So for instance, there may be one "Master" which is used to make six Productions Masters that then are used to make a thousand copies each for a total of 6000 records even though the "Master" was only pressed 6 times, thus preserving it's quality as much as possible.

When a record is "Re-Mastered" it (sometimes) means that a new production master is made from the initial Master. A similar thing happens with physical film when it is copied.

Modern re-masters can mean many different things though, since most media has gone digital, sometimes a remaster is the re-conversion of a record or movie using higher quality digital formats (e.g. blu-ray or 4k, or at a higher sample rate for audio). This kind of remaster only really applies to things that were originally recorded on analog media, and aren't as easy for things that were filmed or recorded digitally from the start (if the quality was low to begin with). In other instances a "re-master" may refer to cleaning up source material to "fake" a better quality using things like digital noise reduction.


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

[User] ELI5: Why doesnt the water in lakes and rivers get absorbed into the ground?

[Assistant]
Some do lose water due to seepage. They lose more or less depending on what kind of rock and sediment lies beneath the lake.A rocky bottom holds water better than a sandy bottom.

Lakes are also subject to evaporation from their surfaces  especially in a dry places  for example, the American West.

So why dont lakes just dry up? Some do. For a lake to keep its water over time, it has to be replenished.There are both natural and man-made lakes. The main way that water gets into reservoirs and man-made lakes is from the rivers and streams that were dammed to create them. Like man-made reservoirs and lakes, natural lakes may also be replenished by rivers and streams.

Natural lakes have another advantage, when it come to holding their water. They tend to form in the lowest elevations in a given area. So these sorts of lakes may also get underground water that flows in from underneath the lake  the lake floor may be an area of water input, rather than a drain for the lake.