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

[User]
Why is the Lagrangian such a special quantity?

Why is T - V so special. I understand why you would want the Hamiltonian, it is total energy. But where does the Lagrangian come from?

[Assistant]
The Lagrangian and Hamiltonian differ only by a Legendre transformation. If you have one there is a straight forward way to get the other, so in a sense the encode the same information but are just two different ways of looking at it.

While the Hamiltonian is important because it gives you the total energy of the system, as you mentioned, the Lagrangian is nice because it allows you to define the "action" (which is the time integral of the Lagrangian). The action allows us to obtain the equations of motion of a system (namely by requiring that the variation of the action with respect to the path through phase space goes to zero).

You can also get the equations of motion straight from the Hamiltonian if you like (there are twice as many of them, but they have the benefit of being first order in time).


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

[User]
ELI5: If Colorado is able to legalize marijuana in direct conflict with federal law, what's to stop Mississippi from outlawing abortion?

I'm pro-legalization, but the legal precedent put forth by states being "allowed" to violate federal law in such an explicit way is a pretty wild one.  Are there any legal differences between those two situations?

[Assistant]
It's not violating federal law. The fact that Colorado has legalized pot does not mean that DEA agents cannot enforce federal law in Colorado. Rather, it simply means that Colorado police will not arrest them for pot-related crimes; DEA agents, however, are welcome to enter Colorado and arrest people for pot-related crimes against federal law.

If Mississippi tried to ban abortion, the superiority clause would take effect, which means that federal law would trump state laws, and Mississippi would not be allowed to ban abortions.


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

[User]
Where in Einstein's field equations (or other equations if needed) does gravity propagate at the speed of light?

Obviously c is in the equation but it's in the denominator of a term, and it's to the fourth power. How does this translate into gravity propagating at the speed of light/causation? (Relatedly, is it significant that that term has 4 radial rotations about the circle in the numerator and c^4 in the denominator?)

Is gravity's speed just assumed? Is it part of the stress-energy tensor and I just need to study that more closely? Am I looking at the wrong equation entirely?

[Assistant]
Let's first answer your question about the significance of c^(4) in the equations. The Einstein equations can be written as

> R*__*-(R/2)g*__*+g*__* = (8G/c^(4))T*__*

The terms are R*__* = Ricci tensor, R = scalar curvature, g*__* = metric tensor,  = cosmological constant, T*__* = stress-energy tensor.

The metric tensor is, strictly speaking, a dimensionless quantity. The components of the Ricci tensor are obtained via second derivatives of the metric, which means that the Ricci tensor has units of (length)^(-2). Hence *R* and  also have units of (length)^(-2) if the left side of the field equations is to make sense. The units of the stress-energy tensor is that of an energy density, or energy per unit volume, or (energy)(length)^(-3). The left and right sides of the equations must have the same units. Hence the constant multiplying T*__* on the right side must have units of length per energy, or (length)(energy)^(-1). The unique combination of the gravitational constant *G* and *c* that gives those units is G/c^(4). So there really is no significance to the constant other than that of units.

(The factor of 8, however, cannot be deduced by dimensional analysis, and it does have some significance. If the field equations are to reduce to Poisson's equation in the limit of Newtonian gravity, then we need the factor of 8.)

---

Now for your question about gravitational waves. The standard way of describing weak g-waves is to write the metric tensor as some fixed background metric plus a small perturbation. For the type of wave that was discovered by LIGO, the simplest choice of background metric would be the flat Minkowski metric. Symbolically,

> g*__* = *__*+h*__*

with |h*__*| << 1. This has the effect of ignoring all terms that are at least quadratic in *h* when we calculate the components of the curvature tensors, Christoffel symbols, etc.

There is a bunch of math at this point where you substitute this form of g*__* into the field equations to get some set of equations for the perturbation h*__*. There are some mathematical subtleties here. For one, the decomposition of g*__* is not unique: there may be many coordinates systems in which g*__* takes the form of a flat background plus a small perturbation. This freedom is related to a so-called *gauge freedom*, and there are several choices one can make. A particular convenient choice is the *Lorenz gauge* (similar to the one used in classical electrodynamics). If the wave is far from any sources, then we can instead impose a so-called *transverse traceless* gauge. But, whatever, those details are not important for the purpose of answering your question.

You stick this form of the metric into the field equations after choosing an appropriate gauge. The equations that pop out take the form

> (-*_tt_*/c^(2)+)h*__* = -(16G/c^(4))T*__*

(Strictly speaking it's not *h* that appears here but rather the trace-reverse perturbation, but that's not important.) Hence each component of the perturbation satisfies an inhomogeneous wave equation. You can read off the source term as the corresponding component of the stress-energy tensor. You can also read off the speed of the wave, which is just the number that multiplies *t* in the time derivative part of the wave operator. In this case, that number is just *c*. It is well known that solutions to this wave equation may be interpreted as signals that propagate at the finite speed of *c*.

**In summary, (1) write metric as FLAT+SMALL, (2) substitute into the field equations, (3) obtain wave equations for the components of SMALL, (4) note that the speed of the wave is just *c*.** So it's not completely obvious from the general form of the field equations that gravity waves travel at *c*. For one, there is quite a bit of machinery that has to be developed just to define what we mean by BACKGROUND+SMALL. But, to answer your question, no, the speed of gravity waves is not defined or put in by fiat. The fact that gravity waves even exist (i.e., are predicted by the theory) is something to be discovered, as is their speed.


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

[User] [Lord of the Rings] When used for war and power, how exactly does the Ring help mortals?

[Assistant]
One Ring to Rule them all

If a mortal claimed the One Ring, its possible the Ring Claimer would control at least the Nine Rings given to mortal men, now the Nazgul. Having 9 Nazgul under your control would be pretty impressive.  Nazgul, Ride!


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

[User] ELI5: In simple terms, what is fracking exactly and why is it controversial?

[Assistant]
Conventional oil deposits consist of oil that exists as an underground pool that's under pressure.  To get it out of the ground all you need to do is to drill down into it.  Because the pool is under pressure, the oil will naturally flow up to the surface.  Once you've extracted enough oil there won't be enough pressure for it to come up on its own, but you can inject water down into it, increasing the pressure and causing more oil to come up.

What puts pressure on the oil is that there is a layer of rock sitting above it.  Dirt is very dense while oil is not.  Because oil is lighter than the surrounding dirt it naturally wants to "float" up through the dirt to the surface.  But it can't pass through the rock layer above it and so gets trapped.

Sometimes the rocks sitting above an oil deposit are semi-permeable to the oil.  This means that the oil can enter the rock, but the rock acts like a filter and traps it, preventing it from rising any higher.

The way that you extract this oil is that you drill down into the rock and then pump high pressure water into it.  This causes the rock to break apart, creating channels that flow out into it.  You then pump a solvent into those channels.  This solvent pulls the oil out of the rocks and into the channels you created.  You can then pump the oil out of those channels and to the surface.

The controversy around fracking has three components:

The first is in the solvents that are used.  The chemical composition of the solvents are considered trade secrets, so nobody knows what they are except for the companies using them and the EPA (in the US).  If the rock that's being broken apart is close to an underground aquifer that people are using for drinking water then there is a chance that the solvents can get into that.

The second is that the process of injecting high pressure water deep into the ground creates, well, underground pressure which can cause minor earthquakes.  Those earthquakes are too small to cause damage to modern buildings, but it is possible for them to damage the kind of very old brickwork buildings you see in some parts of Europe.

A significant source of opposition to fracking is more political than it is about the health effects of it.  Fracking produces relatively cheap oil, so people who don't want oil consumption to rise oppose it on that ground.

Fracking is also a high technology industry - only a handful of US companies have the expertise to do it.  Fracking has resulted in US oil production surging to an all time high.  This, in turn, has caused the global oil market to be oversupplied.  This oversupply is largely to blame for Venezuela's current economic collapse, and is causing serious economic issues in most OPEC countries.  As a result, OPEC has put a significant amount of money into anti-fracking lobbying.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the propensity for motion sickness increase as you get older; e.g., riding roller coasters or other rides at amusement parks?

[Assistant]
Balance is controlled by a group of small organs in the ears, called the vestibular system. These organs detect two different kinds of motion: rotation and movement in a straight line.

The way straight line movement is detected is that there are tiny little bones shaped like bits of stone that sit in a kind of sac that is lined with tiny hairs. When you move in a straight line, the little stones press against the hairs, which send signals to the brain that say hey, were moving forward! or hey, were tipping over!

The way rotation is detected is with three rings inside your ears.  These rings are filled with fluid and more tiny hairs, and they are arranged in a way so that no matter which direction you move, the fluid presses on the hairs, too. So, if you did a cartwheel, one of the rings would say to your brain, hey, were doing a cartwheel! If you spin around like a ballerina a doing a pirouette, a different ring would tell your brain, hey, were doing a pirouette! And if you nod your head up and down, a third ring tells your brain, hey, our head is nodding!

The fluid in our ears is roughly the same as blood.  Sometimes, that fluid thins out, which makes movements seem more intense than they actually are, which can cause problems with balance. Sometimes the little hairs in the organs will break away,  and the spot where they were either sends too many signals to the brain, or none at all.  This can also affect balance.


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

[User]
CMV: There is no non-racist reason for people to say "Melania Trump is bringing class back to the White House".

The phrases itself "bring class back" implies heavily that class was gone. So when I see a this phrase written over and over on middle aged White people's Facebook page's I have to wonder what possible way they could mean that other than someone white is back in the White House.

These same people only ever managed to complain about Michelle's sleeveless dress. They carefully stayed away from her ivy league degree, her professional success, her work with child health and education. But now that they are celebrating their Trump victory they are saying Melanina will "bring class back". And since every other time they are concerned with family values, how are the over looking her history as a nude model? How are they over looking how she was mistress two before wife three? The only common denominator seems to be that she's white. Please, I'd love to be wrong, convince me not all these people are racist.

[Assistant] There's also the sexist reason, that Melania is "classy" because she is content to sit there and look pretty and not interject herself into her husband's business/ political endeavors unlike a Michelle Obama or Hillary Clinton.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why was I not allowed to take a picture in a Sunglass Hut?

This was a few years ago at a Sunglass Hut in the mall. I was trying on a pair and was about to take a picture with my phone, but a salesperson there said that I couldn't. I just randomly thought about this.

[Assistant]
Probably because they don't want you to look up the brand online and see how much they've marked up the price.

Take the picture with them on your face and say you just want to see how they look.  If they still have a problem, there are plenty of other stores out there.


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

[User] What would happen if the government legislated price caps on the essentials (food, water, fuel) at their current levels, strictly going up 2% per year? (effectively legislating the inflation rate for these products)

[Assistant]
If costs to produce those goods grew too rapidly, businesses would stop producing them at the needed quantities, causing a shortage. If there is a shortage in goods, by definition, people are willing to pay more to buy that good. If there is no price cap, companies will then produce more to take advantage of those higher prices. The influx of production wipes out the shortage and lowers prices, keeping things in equilibrium.

If prices are capped, the market cant mitigate the shortage by raising prices and inspiring higher production rates.

Capping prices would A) create a shortage or B) require the government to subsidize production, unless the cap is high enough that companies can profitably provide the needed amount of goods.


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

[User]
Interbreeding Between Homo Sapien and Neanderthals

I read that scientists believe there was interbreeding between humans and Neanderthals, to the point that Neanderthal genes remain in our DNA.

But humans are the species homo sapien and Neanderthals are homo neanderthalensis. I thought the definition of species was the inability to breed.

[Assistant] Species-level distinctions are extremely difficult to make with extinct species. The designation of Homo neanderthalensis as a species separate from modern humans was made in the 19th century and has stuck around largely intact since then. Genetics research that shows evidence of interbreeding between humans and neanderthals has all come out within the last decade. The two remain a separate species, and will continue to remain a separate species largely on the basis of convention, though there is a possibility that neanderthals could eventually go back to being called Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, as they were sometimes called during the latter half of the 20th century.


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

[User] [Jupiter Ascending] At the end of the movie, Jupiter has saved Earth and is the Queen of the galaxy or whatever Are we to assume that planet harvesting continues, since the whole galaxys economy was based in age extension serum?

[Assistant] Jupiter didn't have much clout in the galactic order. She's fabulously wealthy but it's limited wealth as she's unlikely to continue the family business or use it to extend her own life. She iirc protected earth from harvesting but her "daughter" still has the majority of the wealth and the younger son if he wasn't killed. Depending on the details of her arrangement with the galactic powers earth may only be spared for her lifetime with it reverting to one of her children or rivals on her death. Earth is worth an untold fortune and iirc the single most valuable planet in her family's holdings. A prize like that would be a tempting target to everyone through legal and illegal means as it's value was worth more than all their other holdings combined. So unless Jupiter uplifts earth's technology by millennia from her newfound wealth once she dies of old age it'll likely be harvested.


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

[User] ELI5:My house has "osmosis filtering" but I don't know what that is so I call it rich people water. Would rich people water be usable in Flint?

[Assistant]
A good thin film membrane will remove about 95% of the lead, eventually the membranes will get clogged. Consumer reverse osmosis systems use pretty crummy membranes, or small ones.

Commercial and industrial RO membranes are not cheap.


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

[User]
[LoTR] Would the Journey to Mount Doom be easier if it was Done 17 years earlier when Frodo just received the Ring from Bilbo? How would things have changed?

Apparently Frodo had the Ring for 17 YEARS before most of the events of the books and was just hanging onto it before Gandalf came back and sent him on the journey.

EDIT: For People saying that Everyone including Gandalf would think the Ring is some other Ordinary Ring of Power.

1. The Elves have those. It clearly isn't like those.
2. The Ring gives a Tempting Effect.
3. The Ring itself is suspicious enough that Gandalf bothered to research it.
4. 1-3 proves that if they put the two and two together faster they would know.
5. The question is what would they after they know.

[Assistant] The journey to Rivendell is no problem, that's for sure. But once they get there, then what? Gandalf has no proof that this hobbit trinket is the One Ring to Rule Them All, Isildur's Bane and Doom of the Dark Lord. The only way to definitively prove this is Sauron's ring is to heat it up and reveal it's secret writing. The problem with that is the writing was a secret for thousands of years, until Gandalf's 17 years of research paid off when he found an account of Isildur that mentioned the heat-message. Without that strong evidence, Boromir will drill Gandalf until he admits that Saruman, trusted Head of the Wise and the foremost expert on ring-lore, thinks the One Ring is lost beyond all recovery. With such a lack of any evidence and the authority of Saruman against him, no one will be willing to walk into Mordor for Gandalf's hunch.


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

[User]
[DC] Does Batman have a (relatively) weaker moral fibre than other superheroes with his absolute no-kill rule?

Though dependent on the writer(s), Batman has been shown to believe that killing one individual - usually the Joker - would send him on a downwards spiral.

Yet, other superheroes may believe killing to be acceptable, but only as **the** final solution; even then, it is usually treated as an unsavoury option. After the act of killing, these superheroes don't **truly** fear going down a dark path, like Batman does - i.e. beginning a systematic execution of every type of criminal.

Is Batman so on the edge of morality that one kill - no matter how justified (e.g. Mongul, Joker etc.) - would push him over that edge? To me, that shows how mentally unstable Batman is compared to the likes of superheroes like Superman (yet Superman is almost always treated like the bad guy in elseworld stories).

[Assistant]
In the immortal words of the Doctor "good men don't need rules."

Generally a character that has to make a point of setting a rule against killing for themselves does so because they need that rule to stop them.


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

[User]
How detailed are reflections in mirrors?

If you were to zoom in on a mirror, just how detailed could the reflection be? Would it get blurry and fuzzy like when you try to zoom in on a picture? Or could you zoom in far enough and see atoms?

(this is all assuming you have a mirror with 100% reflectivity and a good enough camera or microscope to zoom on atoms)

[Assistant]
For most practical purposes (looking at light and visible things) the answer is that the mirror is infinitely detailed, given your assumption that the mirror is flawless.

Hypothetically speaking, you couldn't zoom in to the mirror to the atomic scale, you'd end up looking at the atoms of the mirror. However, you could look into a mirror reflecting a magnifying lens which will show you atoms of the object you're interested in.

Of course you can't actually see atoms, they're too impossibly small. When taking about looking at atoms you're usually talking about electron microscopes of some kind, these machines use magnetic lenses to do the work done by glass in an optical microscope.


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

[User]
If its pretty universally accepted that humans are morally worth more than animals because of our rationality...

then how do we get around the idea that more intelligent people are worth more than less intelligent people? What is the relevant difference that makes it ok to kill a cow but not okay to kill a severely handicapped human that has intelligence around the level of a cow?

I realize this question makes me sound like a psycho. Im not one, I just want to know what people educated in ethics think. I personally suspect that the but animals arent rational is total bullshit and in a few hundred years, we will be looked back on like Nazis for killing other sentient creature for food/sport.

[Assistant] Rationality is supposed to be a "range property," such that if you have any of it (or, rather, enough of it, and enough is not much) then the full moral effects of having that property apply to you. It's like if a club has a rule that they only let in people wearing a blue jacket. It's not like you can get let into the club twice by wearing two blue jackets or by wearing a blue jacket plus blue pants. As long as you have a blue jacket you're in, and you're just as in as anyone else with a blue jacket.


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

[User]
[Marvel] How does Magnetos helmet work?

[asking about any marvel univere, movie or 616)

How does it work? And does it got a max limit? Is there any one strong enought to overcome the helmet, or does it just flatout nosell it?

Could other versions of telepathy or mindcontroll work? Like, warhammer warp telepahty? How about reaper indoctrination and quantom entangelemt? others?

[Assistant] In one of the earlier comics, it's mentioned that the helmet contains electronics that disrupt the mental energy required to read minds and totally cut off the signal. Sort of like a psychic Faraday cage.


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

[User]
[Terminator]What weapons did Kyle Reese have access to in 1984 that would've been effective against a terminator

Anti-tank and anti-material rifles seem to do the trick based on Genisys. Why didn't he attack an armory or a gun store and steal some?

What about just throwing acid on it like they did in Genisys? I don't know if you could build a gun that shot acid without it also destroying the gun, but something like that would probably be more effective.

I don't think Reese had the ability to make EMPs.

[Assistant]
Kyle didn't have time to rob an armory or anything like that. He barely had time to check the fit on those sweet ass Nike Vandals when he was clothing himself. He had to make do with what he could pick up along the way.

Having bad ass weapons wouldn't mean much if the Terminator got to Sarah while he was out shopping for anti-tank guns and acid.


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

[User] ELI5:Why are adults woken up automatically when they need to pee, while young children pee the bed?

[Assistant]
It's both learned and related to development.

All mammals have the instinct not to "soil the nest". We mostly train our babies out of this instinct by putting them in diapers and being totally oblivious to their signals that they want to pee, but it's possible to keep it going - there is a thing called Elimination Communication which is one of those "parenting movements" with an awful name but effectively, it's a googleable phrase which means you can find information about how to watch your infant for signs they are about to pee or poop and "catch" it in a little pot instead of using a diaper. This is also common practice in some non-Western cultures. Of course, if you want to do it at night you have to sleep in very close proximity to the infant. But doing this even very young babies will wake at night to pee and then go back to sleep.

So partly we train them out of it and then have to train them back into it again when we potty train. What happens when potty training is that toddlers are learning to associate the feelings of a full bladder/bowel with the imminent arrival of pee, and control the muscles around the urethra to hold it long enough to get to a toilet first. Children sleep much more deeply than adults - they tend to sleep through noise, for example, much more easily - and it's common that for some time during and after potty training they are either not aware enough of the nerve endings around the bladder to pay attention to them even during sleep or they are just too deeply asleep to notice these sensations. Once they become more accustomed to paying attention to these signals, they'll be more likely to wake up, assuming they are not too deeply asleep.

Secondly, the hormone part somebody mentioned below is also true but it's not strictly related to why we wake up, more the amount of pee created. The adult body produces a hormone called ADH (antidiuretic hormone) during sleep which tells the body to produce less urine during this time, meaning that adults rarely produce enough urine at night to get into a desperate enough state to wake us up. When we do, it's likely unusual enough that this is a significant factor as well. For children who haven't started producing this hormone yet (the exact age varies, but girls tend to develop it a couple of years earlier than boys, which is why boys are more likely to suffer from bedwetting for longer), the feeling of having a full bladder at night wouldn't necessarily be unusual meaning it's less likely to wake the child up.

Lastly there is the simple fact that adults tend not to be afraid of the dark and additionally are much more aware of where their limit for *actually* peeing themselves is, whereas children might delay getting out of bed because they are cold, scared, or just sleepy and they don't have as good of a handle on that tipping point yet because they don't have as much experience. (This is the same reasoning for why young children sometimes hold on so long that they just pee themselves because they were too busy playing or didn't know that they didn't have enough time to get to the toilet, whereas this rarely happens to adults without incontinence issues.) But again, this isn't strictly the same situation since you mentioned **waking**.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Are there people with magic who choose not to take part in wizarding society?

By this I mean are there people with the talent for magic who choose instead to live as muggles? Who don't allow their children to go to Hogwarts? Who live so outside the system that other people wouldn't even know that they're capable of magic?  Is this even possible for them to live undetected, and if so is it legal for them not to be registered with the Ministry of Magic?

[Assistant]
Great Britain is a *really* bad example, they're essentially the Apartheid South Africa of global magical community.

It's possible for a person to live under the radar in Great Britain ( and at any one time they have at least one genocidal nutter on the lam), however any sensible person would migrate to more enlightened parts of the world where non-magical people are considered human and fucking your cousins for "blood purity" is the exception rather than the norm.


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

[User] [A:TLA] What are some fun, unconventional and/or lucrative ways to use bending?

[Assistant]
Well, we see how Aang invented the air scooter to play games with, so theres a start. Airbending could probably be used for acrobatics (see the Ty Lee is an Air Nomad descendant theory to get an idea on that), and also to control the path of thrown objects-someone skilled enough could likely pull off Bullseye level bullshit with anything. Soundbending has been thrown around as a possible technique, but its unknown if the level of skill required to manipulate sound waves can be reached. Its also theoretically possible to create an air bubble closely around your skin to let you breathe underwater, similar to what Percy Jackson does when swimming. Creating mirages?

Waterbending could be used in botany and crop growing-see the swampbenders and the reverse of Hamas plant technique. Ming-Hua used waterbending to accommodate for her lack of arms, so we know it can be used for artificial limbs if necessary. A skilled enough practitioner could create a structure with water, then freeze it into ice to create homes-there are ice hotels and houses in certain parts of the world. Ice skating would also be amazing. See the above air bubble theory as well, expect for keeping water away from the body.

Earthbenders can do construction on their own, and we know from the Kyoshi novels it can also extend your lifespan. Searching for precious metals would also be incredibly easy, especially with seismic sense. Metalbenders can create plenty on their own as well. Sandbending is shown to be a thing as well, and with enough skill it may be possible to go from sand to glass similarly to earth to lava. Crystalbending is likely available to be used. Possibly siliconbending?

Lightbending may be possible for firebenders. Plasma could also be manipulated, but its too early in the world to see that. Coldbending by taking the fire *out* of something is possible, given that fire is simply coming directly from chi. Steam?


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

[User] Why do we take anti-inflammatory medicine for an injury. Isn't your body inflaming the injury to promote healing?

[Assistant]
You are 100% correct in saying that inflammation is the body's way of promoting healing. However, inflammation can be categorized into one of two types: acute and chronic.

Acute inflammation is "healthy". It promotes healing.
Chronic inflammation is "unhealthy". It is the body over-responding to a situation and it begins to cause itself harm.

Anti-inflammatory medication is not given to acute inflammations. They are usually given for chronic inflammation to prevent the body from hurting itself from the over-reaction.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] If you ate chocolate while facing a dementor, how much would it help?

I've only seen chocolate used as treatment post-dementor. What would happen if you had it in your mouth while a dementor was attacking you?

[Assistant] It would be a bad idea. Dementors suck happiness out of you, chocolate makes you feel better because it makes you happy, replaces the happy you lost. If you got happier while a dementor was around it would just make it more interested in you.


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

[User]
Why use the term African-American?

As a non-american, and white I've never understood this term.

It seems that it is describing nationality, but most African-Americans today are many generations just Americans.

Then it would seem that the term refers to ethnicity, but surely that's just "black".

From where Im standing the term seems racist (A way to call people only half American) but it is often considered the accepted term. Please un-confuse my confusion. Why do people prefer to be called African-Americans?

EDIT: I have a second question. Is African-American an ethnicity term? If a black person from another country was visiting America would they be referred to as African-American by the people there?

[Assistant]
>I have a second question. Is African-American an ethnicity term? If a black person from another country was visiting America would they be referred to as African-American by the people there?

There is a story (possibly apocryphal) about a 1980's British athlete, Kriss Akabusi being interviewed after a race by an American interviewer who asked him:

So, Kriss, what does this mean to you as an African-American?

Im not American, Im British

Yes, but as a British African-American

Im not African. Im not American. Im British.


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

[User] Why do nuclear reactors need a steam turbine to generate electricity? Why can't we just directly convert the thermal energy into electricity?

[Assistant]
We can convert thermal energy directly to electrical energy with a "thermoelectric generator" - the problem is that they are expensive and usually less efficient than a turbine.

Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) are great because they have no moving parts - just put one between a hot thing and a cold thing and it makes electricity when heat flows through. This makes them useful for deep space probes - the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) on board New Horizons, for example, is powered by a piece of plutonium, kept warm by radioactive decay.

Again, this sort of technology is general expensive and not that efficient, so we only use it in specialized cases.


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

[User]
[Terminator 2] why was the CPU set to read only on the terminator?

The terminator was sent back by the resistance to protect john Connor. We learn that cybernet places all CPUs on outbound journeys to read only (to prevent them learnign too much and separating from the collective) so why then was the CPU not changed to read and write prior to sending back by the humans?

[Assistant]
For the same reasons Skynet usually keep them in read-only mode: they don't want it learning too much and going against its orders. We see that Terminators, once allowed to learn, can become fully self aware and self-determinant, able to make their own choices and disobey any pre-programmed directives. Uncle Bob does it in the end, going against his programming which tells him to obey John no matter what, and disobeying him when John orders him not to go into the molten steel.

So it seems logical to me that the Resistance would be fearful of that happening but with the Terminator deciding to help Skynet instead. So they set it in read-only mode so that it can *only* protect John and follow his orders. Don't forget, that was a terminator, a tool of the Enemy. The Resistance probably trust it as far as they can throw it but had no other choice but to use it.


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

[User] [Star Wars] How does the rest of the galaxy feel about the Sith? Are they universally hated/fear, or are there any any civilizations that respect them or just like them in general?

[Assistant] The rest of the galaxy in most cases would have no opinion of the Sith.  While the galaxy knows about the effects of the Sith (for example, the Empire), the Sith themselves are a very niche interest for which 99% of the galaxy has no awareness.


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

[User]
[ATLA] Kind of a gross question I know, but when Hama was trapped in the Fire Nation prison, why couldn't she or the other benders use their urine to waterbend and break out?

As we saw during the episode The Puppeteer, Hama and the other benders seemed to be mostly unbound during their captivity, only being bound when they where given water to drink. While it's probably likely that they were restained when they needed to relieve themselves, that wouldn't stop them from peeing while the guards weren't looking and using the urine to facilitate their escape.

[Assistant] A few things would be working against them. First, every imprisoned waterbender is likely chronically dehydrated, reducing the amount of urine produced on any given day. Second, their cells are kept pretty sparse, leaving them nowhere to try and accumulate urine over time to build up a decent quantity. Finally, any action taken using urine is in as much of a danger of being detected as any other escape method. Bloodbending had a massive advantage over other escape methods because it's a *completely outside context problem* for the folks designing and running the prison; Hama essentially pulled the elemental magic equivalent of "in a cave with a box of scraps", and no one was ready for what she whipped out.


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

[User]
ELI5: What happens in the brain when someone has a "lightbulb moment" where they suddenly understood a math concept or other concept? Did a physical change in their brain occur during this "lightbulb moment"?

 When you learn something new what actually happens in your brain? Is it like a new neuron grows in a certain part of the brain, or links to a different neuron? or is it something else?

What about if learning something physical, does that mean the same changes happen in a different region of the brain like the cerebellum?

[Assistant]
Until a "light bulb moment" occurring is captured in an MRI or similar scan at the moment of it's occurrence, and that is done many times with many different people to truly capture sufficient reliable and consistent data, nobody can give you a proper answer on what "happens" to / in the brain.

If anybody does give you an answer, while this observed data does not yet exist, know that it is speculation, even if given by the world's best neuroscientist.

That being said - the brain is known to process information not only consciously, but subconsciously as well. Namely, it is known to perform problem solving tasks in this manner. It's called Unconscious Cognition.

Sudden realization moments happen likely because your brain has been working on a problem for a while, while you were unaware of it, and has either reached a solution which you then become aware of, or you have acquired some additional information that it required in order to reach that solution.

Minor Addendum: *Your brain does a LOT that you are not aware of. Imagine being aware of every single aspect of every single sensory input being processed, being aware of all memory alterations or fading, being aware of all the cognitive functions involved in forming sentences or interpreting language spoken to you, being aware of all the cognitive functions involved in you reaching to grab a can of soda with your hand (the distance to reach, the amount of pressure to get a good grip, the amount of muscle tension to control the speed of your reach, even the recognition of all the visual patterns that make up the "soda can" object), etc. Your brain does a whole lot of work subconsciously, and a lot of problem solving already in most aspects of life. The same applies to cognitive efforts like solving mathematical problems, or other such endeavors.*


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

[User]
ELI5: Why can't they diagnose CTE in NFL players until AFTER they're dead?

CTE has been in the news alot over the last few years. There are several high profile football players who exhibited erratic and impulsive behavior only to find out after they've passed they had holes in their brain (Aaron Hernandez, Junior Seau, Vincent Jackson and it goes on). Some are saying the outburst by Anonio Brown this weekend is likely due to CTE...In looking at pictures of healthy brains vs ones w CTE via Google the differences are so stark it seems like something you should be able to diagnose when they are alive. So what gives?

[Assistant] The "pictures" you are looking at are slices of the brain stained with a contrast enhancing agent.  You can't slice someone's brain while they are alive, because the slicing itself would cut all the neural connections needed to keep the person thinking.  Tiny cuts in the brain were used in lobotomies, with severe consequences for the patient.


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

[User]
What are the best career fields for trailing spouses?

Knowing that our life together will always require that we live in college towns, what are some career fields that will make it most likely I'll be able to find a job wherever we move? I'm in my mid-30s and work as an urban/community planner. However, with free tuition for classes at a major research university, I could conceivably get another degree in the next few years. Does anyone have any thoughts about this? Any experience?

[Assistant]
This is an excellent question and one that more people should ask directly. Far too many couples end up stuck in some place where the trailing spouse is either unemployable or must give up on a professional career because whatever they have trained for is not in demand anywhere near the partner's school.

The primary question is whether the trailing spouse wants to work in academia (perhaps even at the same school as her/his partner) or in some other sector. If academia appeals, then one might consider training for the sorts of non-faculty jobs that exist at every college: librarians, lab techs, IT staff, student development professionals, counselors, residential life/student life directors, career counselors, academic advisors, fundraising/development officers, physical plant staff, accountants/business office staff, etc.

If work *outside* of academia appeals more, the options will depend quite a bit on location. In some places health care (nursing especially) is a good option. IT is in demand in others. Teachers everywhere, though compensation and working conditions will vary wildly. Public sector employment-- city, county, state --offers a range of options in many locations. Child care, elder care, and veterinary services are needed in every community, as are mechanics and most other trades. (I have faculty colleagues whose spouses are mechanics, electricians, real estate agents, and home inspectors.) Probably the best lines of work are the sorts that allow one to work remotely, i.e. consulting, creative work, anything that allows telecommuting.

As a department chair involved in many hires over the years, I've come to believe that just about anything *except* another academic will probably be OK. We're not in a metro so if a couple shows up with two Ph.D.s in, say, political science, one of them will never be employed in the field in our area. But barring that, most careers that are in demand in one region will be in similar demand in most others-- portability and high demand are the  most important factors.

OPs background in planning might suggest GIS as a path for this "extra" degree. Both public  agencies and private companies are still adopting GIS and demand has been high in our area. The combination of planning and serious GIS skills could be marketed in many different ways, or potentially even leveraged into some sort of research/teaching position at the right school.


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

[User] How did humans eat meat before fire?

[Assistant]
Since everyone else touched on the technology of 'fire' existing pre-human, I'll chime in with another point:

We still eat raw meats today. Fish can be eaten raw, and often is in sushi. Inuit cultures eat meat raw often. And fresh game can be eaten raw as well. Beef tartare and 'tiger meat' are both raw and eaten today.

And you can order your steaks 'blue'. This isn't hot enough to get the internal temperature high enough to kill parasites or eggs, it's just enough to cook the surface. And that's largely the point, kill whatever was on the surface since that's the most likely place for it to pick something up. It's harder for bacteria to make their way INTO butchered meat if they weren't already there to begin with, and that's why when you grind it into hamburger you need to cook it more thoroughly, because you've just introduced anything on the surface to the insides too.

It isn't so much that raw meat can't be eaten, it's just that cooked meat is much easier on our intestines. They have to do less work since lots of the enzymes and proteins are broken down in the the cooking process. Our guts even got smaller as the developed a regular habit of eating cooked foods. It's more nutritionally available, so it doesn't take as much time to get all the valuable stuff from it.

So we can eat meat raw, and our ancestors did so too. But once people got the hang of fire to make every meal cooked, there's a clear winner in everyone's mind.

And it's not the bacteria and parasites.


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

[User]
When a natural disaster happens, how do insurance companies not go bankrupt?

I'm guessing that a lot of the people in Houston right now are insured, and those insurance companies are going to have to shell out a ton of cash- how do insurance companies have enough money to pay for all these damages? Do insurance companies expand and diversify locations to minimize the probability one disaster wipes them all out?

[Assistant]
Not very knowledgeable here, but here's a brief explanation on two main ways:

1. Large enough insurance companies have policy holders across the country, even if one area is hit hard the rest may never get hit at all. It's a numbers game, do we have enough low-risk policy holders to compensate us for the high risk ones?

2. Insurance company's take out insurance against things like this, just in case.

Insurance is just a fancy term for 'financial contract for if shit hits the fan'. This is where we get things like the Futures/Forwards market from, people trying to hedge their risk by selling to people willing to gamble.


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

[User]
ELI5, Why do you get congested when you get sick, and does it really help you heal faster?

I'll admit I'm just feeling too lazy to do the research myself today, reddit. So shower me in your advanced knowledge of why this happens because I'm congested right now and it sucks.

[Assistant] The mucus is doing three things. First, it's forming a protective barrier to trap any viruses that are trying to get in. Second, it's loaded with white blood cells to destroy any invading organisms, and lastly, as it is expelled, it is flushing disease-causing microbes out of your body. It's not really helping you to heal any faster, but it IS helping you to not get sicker.


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

[User]
I Don't Know How to Feel About This Death Penalty Case

In my state there is a unique case surrounding the death penalty and I dont know how I feel about it.

To keep it really simple, a man was set to go back to prison and he killed a police officer as he was escaping.  His wife told police that the man dreamed to 'go out' like the characters in (his) favorite movie, 'Natural Born Killers.'" After he was arrested, the state began to consider charging the man with the death penalty. However, his wife and parents say that because of his death wish to be killed by the police, the proper way to punish him would be to give him a life sentence in prisonbecause giving him the death penalty is giving him exactly what he wants.

So what Im struggling to figure out is whether its more ethical to give him the death penalty for his crimes, or if life imprisonment is a cruel punishment because he wants the death penaltydespite the fact that it seems to me like the death penalty is normally a harsher punishment. How should I be feeling about this?

[Assistant]
Well, what do you think the purpose of punishment is?  Is it retributive, rehabilitative, deterrence, something else?  And then, depending on which one it is, does that justify killing and/or life imprisonment, and should we consider the perpetrator's preferences when determining the severity of a kind of punishment?

In this case, it seems like the biggest part you're having trouble with is whether we should consider the perpetrator's preferences when determining the severity of a kind of punishment.  This is harder because we could easily imagine 'weirder' cases, many people might prefer to have an arm cut off to life in prison, although that's considered torture and not allowed by most western societies whereas life imprisonment is relatively standard practice.


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

[User]
[Star Trek TNG] Are the Crushers just really cold?

I just started watching TNG and noticed that both Wesley and Dr Crusher are always wearing sweaters, while everyone else onboard the Enterprise is wearing their well tailored uniforms. Dr Crusher wears a sweater over hers. So are the Crushers just more prone to being cold?

I'd think that an advanced star ship like the Enterprise is kept at comfortable temperature. Additionally I'd assume that Star Fleet Uniforms help maintain the wearer is at a comfortable temperature for those away missions on a variety of planets.

[Assistant] I think, in the case of the elder Crusher, it's both a nod to the traditional doctor's lab coat as well as the fact that, in her position, she treated both military and non-military spouses and children. The Enterprise-D, especially, had a lot of the latter on board and she would want to help put the non-military personnel at ease given she's in a uniform and some people can find that imposing.


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

[User] ELI5:What is going on in your brain while trying to remember something that you just can't seem to?

[Assistant]
When you remember something, your brain isn't actually accessing the original event, it's accessing the memory of the last time you accessed the event. So the more often you access it, the more iterations there are to go through. You're meta-processing. You are aware that you have remembered it before, but you cannot unlock the content of the original memory.

Think of it as telling a story. The first time, you get eh story straight from some book. But then you tell it from memory. And then you tell it from the memory of the last time you told it, because that's much more efficient then re-translating the story. You never forget that at one point you read the book, but eventually you forget exactly what it said. When you actively try to remember something, your brain is trying to process all the way beck to the actual reading of the book, which is much harder.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why has "clean" web design (white background, large fonts) became so popular?

I think Medium was the first place where I saw it. Recently many websites (even, at least partially, Forbes or The Economist) have adopted it. But I'm not sure where's the appeal. The fonts seem to be too large, which makes reading harder and slower. It also requires constant scrolling.

Where has this trend come from and why is it spreading?

[Assistant]
Several reasons.

**It's practical.** Clean design is generally about removing unnecessary elements that distract from the primary content on the page. It's like a novel, where you wouldn't want little images and extra information crowding the page and stealing your attention away from the story you're reading. The idea is that users should be able to quickly and easily see the important information. This is part of why certain text appears so large -- to draw your attention to really important things like article titles. Having significantly less visual noise also makes it easier for web pages to be built in such a way that one version can display and size correctly depending on which device it is being viewed on. (For example, having blocks of text and images shrink to fit within smaller smart phone screens.)

**It's technically light-weight.** In general, using a simple design style means that each page is smaller in terms of file size, the amount of data displayed on the page, etc. This means that less information has to be transmitted to devices like phones and iPads that are viewing the site. Historically, this was beneficial as wireless connections, phones and tablets were not as fast, and mobile devices did not have as much memory as normal computers. Obviously this is less of an issue nowadays, (with many people owning phones that are faster than their aging computers). Still however, less data to transmit means that the page will generally load faster.

**It's currently stylish.** Clean interfaces generally aim for several positive visual ideals: sophistication, sleekness, and simplicity. Partially thanks to companies like Apple, this sparse style is currently associated with being modern and hip. This will change over time, as styles regularly do. Eventually, it will become considered stale and empty and boring. But the previous two points will still remain valid.


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

[User]
[Comics] How common are Peak Humans (especially in the military/sports)?

So Batman hit Peak Human by spending his formative years turning his body into lean, mean fighting machine. The Arrow did something similar with his time on the island and his fighting skills. That being said, isn't the military also pretty interested in churning out peak human soldiers as fast as it can? Given the success of peak human vigilantes, does any military have training programs geared towards churning out Batman level fighters? As far as I know Frank Castle got most of his training in the military and he's pretty damn 'peak', so that has me leaning towards yes.

And if so, are peak humans actually that rare? Is the average special forces guy actually pretty close, or is there some 'special sauce' missing from their training that keeps them from attaining 'peak' status? When Batman takes on a SWAT team, or a Special Forces squad, how far above them is he really, in terms of pure physical stats?

The same question could be asked about Batman and Olympic/Pro Athletes.

Essentially, how common are peak humans among non-vigilantes who also happen to be training their bodies for peak performance, like professional athletes or soldiers?

[Assistant]
>That being said, isn't the military also pretty interested in churning out peak human soldiers as fast as it can?

Sure, but the actual people that join aren't really interested in becoming a peak human soldier. They just want to earn a paycheck like you and I, most likely for doing the least amount of work.

Athletes are also a no-go, since they're interested only in becoming peak in a very narrow way.

When we're talking "peak" in terms of Batman, Cap, and others, we're talking peak in a very broad way. They are peak human speed, endurance, strength, fighting ability, etc.

Sans artificial means, this takes an extraordinary degree of training, willpower, and biological makeup that would be extremely rare. Not to mention the free time to actually put in the effort. It's no coincidence that these non-artificial peak humans you mention are either extremely rich (Batman, Green Arrow), or basically hobos with no day job (Punisher).

What really sets them above the rest, though, is mentality. Firstly the have the mentality to devote themselves to the kind of regimen required to become peak human. But also, when fighting your average Joe, they just have the mentality that is needed to win/end fights. Batman can win against someone that is stronger or a better fighter because he's got the single-minded devotion to his cause that is truly rare. Your average SWAT guy simply doesn't have that mindset. His goal is to deescalate a situation, use lethal force as a last resort, and get home alive.


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

[User]
[Halo] Why is Dr. Halsey imprisoned for war crimes in Halo 4?

Don't get me wrong, her experiments were ethically heinous and her rationalizations are very dubious. Plus, she's kind of a bitch.

But it doesn't make sense to me politically for her to have been imprisoned by the UNSC. During the Covenant War Halsey was basically Chief researcher spearheading every research and development program the UNSC had, from medicine to xenotechnology to xenoarchaeology to weapon systems design  to artificial intelligence. She had tons of subordinates below her and allies (but probably not friends, because again, kind of a bitch) among her superiors and colleagues. What happened to all that political clout? I understand that rivals like Ackerman tried to discredit her  to divert funding to their own pet projects, but he's dead now.

 It seems like hypocrisy for UNSC high command to condemn her research as unethical when they were the ones who approved and funded it in the first place. Then they directly built on her work to make the Spartan IIIs (arguably even less ethical than the Spartan IIs) and the Spartan IVs.

Sorry if this seems like a rant, but Halsey's conviction is a bewildering plot hole to me. Dr Mengele lost his war. Halsey *won.*

[Assistant]
Halsey really wasn't arrested for her involvement with the Spartan-II program. She was arrested for kidnapping Kelly and for luring Fred, Linda, and Will to Onyx under false pretenses. Now granted, if she was liked by. the heads of ONI most likely she would've just been slapped on the wrist and told to get to work in Shield World-006/Trevelyan.

Moral of the story is don't piss off ONI.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Could Luke have changed the ideological direction of the Empire if he had taken Vader's offer after his hand got cut off in Empire?

After he and Vader potentially overthrow the Empire couldn't Luke have tried to bring him back into the light? Without the Emperor pulling the strings Vader might be much more open to transitioning back from the dark side. With Luke and born again Anakin in charge they could slowly reform the Empire back into the Republic or some other more effective democratic body.

[Assistant]
Not really, had Luke given in both he and Vader would have been murdered on the spot. Sidious had no intention of giving up his throne or his life.

Once Luke gave in, Sidious would have lashed out in force to quickly kill either Luke or Vader and reestablish his control over the survivor.
Really the only reason Sidious lost in that fight was that he couldn't see Vader betraying him like that.


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

[User]
[Pokemon] Why does the Pokemon industry try to push Potions on me, when Fresh Water and Lemonade are more effective?

What's the point of these overly engineered potions supposedly developed by the finest chemists of Silph Co. when just grabbing some clear water, or hell, making lemonade from that water proves to be way more effective in healing my Pokemon?

[Assistant] Presumably, the bottled "Fresh Water" and lemonade are from the same company. And they get their water from a specific source. So, potions are very likely much more effective than just water or lemonade. Except for this very specific brand. Possibly a special spring.


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

[User]
CMV: Conservatives and Libertarians adore the Electoral College precisely because they know full well that they dont represent the views of a majority of Americans.

This is a phenomenon that has come up recently a couple of times, most notably the recent presidential election. When it came out that Hillary Clinton had lost despite having ~3 million more popular votes than Trump, conservative types trotted out the defense that America was designed as a *republic*, not a *democracy!* That in and of itself is a factual statement, so I cant fault them there. But as for why exactly theyre so proud of it, I can contest. For all their talk of avoiding tyranny of the majority and 2 wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner, I just dont believe that its about principles for them. Looking at the positions they represent, its pretty clear they represent the minority of America, especially the rich and those who live in rural areas. If elections were decided purely by popular vote, conservative candidates would never win a single contest. They arent opposed to popular vote on a principle basis; *theyre opposed to it because they know full well people dont like them and the current system allows them to win anyways.*

TL,DR; Conservatives love of the Electoral College has nothing to do with fairness and everything to do with the fact that they would be destroyed if every vote was counted equally.

Im writing this on mobile and fresh out of bed, so forgive me if this comes off as rambling or incoherent. Ill clarify my views in the comments if asked.

[Assistant]
We are a republic, not a direct democracy. The States are the member units of said republic and it is THEM that decide who their leader is in electing the POTUS. While most State allow the electors to vote however they want they tend to vote as their State voted and no election has ever been decided by a rogue vote.

And our method is far more democratic than a Parliamentary system which does not even have any input from the public on choosing a Prime Minister.


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

[User]
How do you regain your passion for a subject after a stressful grad school experience?

I am fortunate to have a full time teaching job in my field after earning my Masters. The trouble is I had some bad experiences with my PI and my whole thesis experience being very stressful and not getting the support he promised when he asked to be my PI. I graduated, but never felt confident in my learning. On top of that, my husband died the year after I graduated and I suddenly became a single mom with all the household duties my husband used to do.

 Now it's 2 years later and I have a very flexible teaching schedule and the luxury to learn my subject more in depth at a leisurely pace and I find the whole idea of digging into a new project to get better at it just makes me feel stressed out and avoidant. I have undergrad students who are passionate and doing amazing projects while I have imposter syndrome and wanting to do cool things, but lack motivation to roll up my sleeves and dig in to the difficult intellectual work. I feel like I'm just phoning it in.

How can I learn to love my subject again and put aside all the anxiety and avoiding behaviors? I really want to fall in love again with my work!

[Assistant]
Hey OP, probably not the advice you're looking for but you're doing great. Keep focusing on your and the kid's well being.

As far as enjoying the subject again, i went and bought the books i wanted to read but never had the time to during grad school. Try different mediums too: podcasts for instance. Don't necessarily try to go deep as far as you were before, don't take notes reading or try to remember, just focus on enjoying what you're listening to or reading.


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

[User]
Are there objects in the universe that are as massive as stars but aren't giant balls of Hydrogen producing light?

Basically, is it possible for a solid matter object to be the size of the Sun and have planets orbiting it without having the normal characteristics of a star? Just a giant ball of rock instead of gasses.

[Assistant] There's no astrophysically feasible way for an accumulation of rocky matter the size of a star to occur. The atomic matter in the universe is, after all, about 98% hydrogen and helium with only a smattering of the heavier elements like oxygen, silicon, iron, and nickel that make up Earth and other rocky planets. The reason rocky planets form in the inner solar system is that the heat and radiation pressure prevent large gas accumulations from forming very close in to the star, whereas the denser, heavier materials can clump up more easily. But they represent a tiny fraction of the mass of a forming stellar system.


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

[User] How does digestion work when you're upside-down? If hung upside-down, would you eventually starve, even if you had food?

[Assistant]
No, the smooth muscles in your esophagus will push the food down into your stomach independent of gravity. This is why you can take a gulp of water upside down.

As for the stomach and intestines, they also have layers of smooth muscle called tunica muscularis that maintain peristalsis in order to keep the food going in the right direction.


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

[User] ELI5: What gives you that cool sensation when breathing after consuming a mint? And why can't we just rub it all over our bodies during the summer?

[Assistant]
There is a protein called TRPM8 that changes shape based on temperature and is used in cold-sensing nerve cells. Menthol, the chemical inside the mints, somehow binds to TRPM8 and activates it as well, creating the sensation of cold.

We could rub it all over our bodies in the summer but there would probably be absorption issues and it would put people in increased danger of heat stroke.


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

[User]
[Dresden Files] Having already mastered a complex spell to shapeshift, what is preventing Will, Georgia and the other wolves from learning other magic?

Is it just a gift from the wolf woman from the Nevernever that allows them that only skill? If not, what would keep Harry from teaching them more magic if they have such talent already?

[Assistant] Nothing really. They are practitioners of the Art and could be taught other basic magic. Although, being able to channel and utilize Magic is a skill that gets stronger the more it is applied. People like Harry, Molly, and other Wizards are the exception, not the rule. They had natural talent allowing their development to be much more rapid than the minor practitioners of the paranet.  Additionally, like many disciplines, Magic has different types and individuals can show higher proficiency in certain areas. The Alphas worked rather hard to master the two spells they know and have a clear proficiency for shapeshifting magic. The caveat here is shapeshifting is not a form of magic that lends itself to experimentation in the slightest. One mistake and you could be missing organs, parts of your brain, or become a pile of gore.  There's a reason that many Wizards don't employ spells that allow shapeshifting, flight, or high energy motion. Their bodies are still flesh and a loss of concentration or stamina in those scenarios yield only death.


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

[User]
ELI5: The bodies response to sea sickness or travel sickneas

I was listening to an old No Such Thing As A Fish podcast and they were discussing the theory that motion sickness might be and old response to stop our ancestors from climbing too high in trees, and the swaying motion from the weak branches would bring on motion sickness. In situations like this, or any other situation where it occurs, what purpose does throwing up serve? Why is this the body's response to these situations and not something else that doesn't waste precious resources and nutrients?

[Assistant]
When you get sea/travel sick, it is due to what your eyes seeing (little/no movement) conflicting with what your inner ear is saying (movement).  You are traveling - and your balance systems know this - but your eyes are telling you everything is stationary (because you are looking at the inside of the vehicle).

This incongruence _also_ happens with some poisons, so our bodies default reactions when it senses this incongruence is "you've been poisoned - get everything out of the system ASAP".  This reaction evolved long before we had the kind of travel that would mimic the symptoms, and there isn't really and advantage (evolutionarily speaking) to getting rid of it, so the reaction remains.


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

[User] ELI5: What does Hawkings discovery, black holes don't have event horizons, mean?

[Assistant]
The basic paradox of the black hole event horizon is that all "information" - velocity and position of the particles going past it, etc. is 'lost' because it can never return past the boundary. So say a meteor heads right into the black hole - once it is torn apart crossing the boundary, we can't predict or say anything about the stuff that got sucked in.

A lot of stuff has been written about possible ways that this information may be retained, or is actually leaking out of the black hole, and things like that. One of these things is called Hawking radiation. Another is this 'soft hair' theory which seems to be what you're referring to.


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

[User]
[Batman] if alfred is his legal guardian AND butler, could bruce wayne still fire him?

so bruce wayne was raised by his own employee. could bruce still order him around?

referring to bruce wayne AS A CHILD only.

[Assistant]
As legal guardian, Alfred would be an employee of whatever trust was established to support Bruce during his minority, not Bruce himself. If anyone were to fire him, it would be the trustee. If Alfred himself is the trustee, then no one can fire him without involving the courts.

It's also possible that Alfred is employed by the Wayne Estate to manage their properties. In that case, the executor could fire him.


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

[User] If you're injured in multiple spots, will your body "focus" it's attention on healing certain areas before others?

[Assistant]
Certain types of tissue are more resilient and grow faster than others.  Blood flow to an area of injury also greatly affects the rate of healing, so in short, certain areas can heal faster, but it's the innate biology of that region and other factors that cause it to heal rather than a truly pre-ordained and co-ordinated attempt by the body to heal one specific wound more quickly.

There is an important exception to this rule:  The body can and does shunt blood to the core of the body and the brain in the event of hypothermia and sever blood loss to protect the vital organs.  It can shunt blood flow away from the GI system as well.  If we're speaking in terms of a person with critical multi-system injuries this can create a slightly different scenario.


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

[User] ELI5: How are 4024 people missing in the Seoul stampede incident?

[Assistant] In a situation like this one, the number might represent the number of people unaccounted for based on count/estimate of people in the vicinity by on-scene survivors and possibly reports from people that friend/family was in the area at or around the time of the incident.


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

[User] Do adult animals recognize their own siblings when they encounter each other in the wild?

[Assistant]
Some can yes. Closely related animals smell similar. Tests done on mice show male mice can scent and pick out females who are closely related and actively avoid mating with them if other options are available to them.

Some hypothesis on human relationships suggest humans are similar and we enjoy/seek out people who smell different then us when looking for a partner.


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

[User]
Why are most random number generators said to be "pseudo-random" rather than truly random? What is the difference between true randomness and pseudo-randomness?

Reading a book on programming they mentioned that the Random function for C# didn't actually produce random numbers, it produced pseudo-random numbers, but that this is acceptable for almost all situations. I'm a bit confused as to what they actually mean. My understanding is as follows:

My random number generator is designed to output either a 1, 2, 3 or 4. The random number generator will "designate" an equal probability for all possible outcomes (in this case it would be .25 for each number), but somehow the designation of the probably means that it is not truly random. But if this is not truly random, how can a number generator actually produce a truly random number? Wouldn't it always have to assign a probability for each number, thus always making it's decision pseudo-random?

EDIT: Does this mean that randomness can only happen in an environment that we cannot completely control? So flipping a coin, since we can not actually *force* the coin to has a 50-50 chance of being heads or tails (in the same sense that a  program can) mean that a coin flip is truly random.

EDIT #2: So I looked up a bit more about this because I'm really curious about this and got the following situation

If you had a program that "generated a random number" by creating a predetermined sequence of numbers in which each number had a 25% chance to occur and the only reason they have this probability is because the program put an equal number of occurrences for each number (So if it created a sequence of 100 numbers it would make sure that the number 1 occurs 25 times, the number 2 occurs 25 times etc...). If this random number generator was to be truly random then it **can not** create a table that has more than 1 number in the sequence. It would have to create a new table every time.

[Assistant]
Let's start with the definition of deterministic.  A deterministic process or system has one future for each state.  In phase-space, the trajectories don't cross.  So you can usually predict the future state of a particle given the particles current state.

Random processes/functions/systems (whatever) can have multiple futures for one state.

On computers, random numbers typically are deterministically generated, but by a process so complex that each future state is not easily predictable (you can have determinism without predictability: see chaos for instance) and also such that their distribution obeys the statistics of the desired random process.


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

[User]
ELI5: Calculus Derivatives

I'd like to know as much as possible about derivatives; from how they are solved to what are their applications. Thx in advance.

[Assistant]
If you actually want to know *as much as possible* about derivatives, you're in the wrong place. But I'll explain the concept LY5. (and let someone else do the math part if they want.)

A derivative tells you how fast something is changing. It's a number telling you a *rate of change*.

Let's say we're driving down the road in a car. At 5 o'clock we are at mile marker 10, and at 5:01 we are at mile marker 11. Our position on the road was 10 at time 5:00, and it was 11 at time 5:01.  So how much did our position change? It changed by one mile in one minute. So, we were moving at 60 miles per hour.

That's why we say that velocity (or speed in a car) is the *derivative* of position. If you took a graph with position on the y-axis and velocity on the x-axis, you would see that, at time 5:00, we were at position 10, and at time 5:01 (one unit to the right), we were at position 11 (one unit upward). So if we drew a line from the first point to the second, it would look like this:

    12 |
       |
       |
    11 |         o
       |        /
       |      /
       |    /
    10 |  o
         -------------------------
         5:00   5:01   5:02   ...

This line tells us our **position** over time. At 5:00, we were at marker 10; at 5:01, we were at marker 11, and so on.

And so, we can ask, what's the *slope* of that line? It goes up by one unit and over by one unit. So for every one (mile) it goes up, it goes one (minute) to the right. So the slope is **1 mile/minute**, which is the derivative of our position.

Here's some extra food for thought:  When you step on the gas pedal of your car, the car speeds up, right?  So say you're going 60 mph when you hit the gas, hard, and in two seconds, you've gone up to 70 mph.  So in those two seconds, your *velocity* has changed by 10 miles per hour. So what is the rate of change of your velocity? It changed by 5 miles per hour each second. (It did this for the two seconds you hit the gas, making a total change of 10 miles per hour -- from 60 up to 70.)  So your *acceleration* -- the derivative of velocity -- was: (5 miles per hour) per second. Just like velocity is the derivative of position, acceleration is the derivative of velocity.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is the beat of electronic music always dictating the change of melody with a multiple of 8 beats?

[Assistant]
Dancing.

Western music evolved alongside western dance and the beat pattern is just what we are culturally inclined to dance to.

Walts music changes in 3s because it's written in 3/4 time. Balkan dances are written in odd times because they dance in rhythms that go "long long short" in terms of pulse.

Music and rhythm are cultural, whatever style of dancing is popular will always dictate the rhythmic pulses.


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

[User]
[John Wick] How hard would it be to actually kill John Wick ?

I know people hired bounty hunters to kill him but all their methods seemed pretty stupid. What they did was basically get super close to him and try to take him head on. Why doesnt someone get super far away from him and shoot him with a sniper when he doesnt expect it? I dont think he would be able to see it coming.

[Assistant]
All you gotta do is take him by surprise. He almost died several times throughout every movie. Hell, the douchebag son could've easily killed him as he wasn't even in a position to protect his dog.

Aside from that, explosives would do the job quite handily. People wanna stay alive, but if you could get a suicide bomber to pretend to fight him in order to get close, you got your problem fixed right there.

The main thing stopping people from killing him seems to be a "code" of sorts that people have to abide by when killing.


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

[User] Do humans permanently retain some portion of the water they consume or is all of the consumed water eventually lost/replaced?

[Assistant] The other thing to consider is that water molecules are constantly being created and destroyed by chemistry. Proteins and other large molecules are hydrolysed (cut by water) where the H2O becomes an OH that leaves on one molecule and the H leaves on another. Similarly, building up new versions of proteins, etc creates 'new' water molecules that may have come from the atoms of things you ate, or oxygen that you breathe in.


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

[User]
Why time slows down if you travel at very high speeds? Is there a way to intuitively understand this?

It's very easy to understand gravity once we imagine space as a fabric, and heavy mass bodies as iron balls on the fabric bending it when we hold the fabric stretched out. It's very intuitive to understand the concept of blackholes this way, and why light cannot escape from a blackhole. Is there a similar example to understand special relativity?

[Assistant]
One way to think about it is to remember that time is a dimension just like each of the three dimensions of space are. Even if you're at rest in space, you're still travelling through time. In fact, it turns out that:

a) Your speed through time is, in some well-defined way, the speed of light, and

b) Even when you're not at rest, your total speed through spacetime is again the speed of light.

Let's say you start moving through space. Your total spacetime speed still has to add up to a constant speed (the speed of light), so your speed through time drops. What this means technically is that, relative to an observer at rest, your clocks will tick more slowly.

Side note: As long as you're travelling at a constant velocity, this situation is symmetric. You will claim to be at rest, and that your clock is ticking normally, while the observer who sees you moving looks to you to be themselves moving, and to you *their* clocks seem to be ticking more slowly than yours.


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

[User]
ELI5: Bane

I understand Bane from The Dark Knight Rises is a very, very complex character. Please explain him, his personality, and his motives like I am a 5 year old little dummy who doesn't know anything about him.

[Assistant]
Depends if you want to know about Bane from TDKR or from the actual graphic novels; they're a bit different. The most detailed character information is from the graphic novels.

In the novels, his back story is that he is born within one of the worst prisons in the world, somewhere in South America, and is made to serve out the remainder of his dead father's life sentence. Throughout the time he was imprisoned in this hellhole, he develops on his natural abilities: he becomes extremely intelligent, reading eveything he finds, and gets hench and becomes awesome at fighting. Notably, throughout his time in prison his dreams get plagued by an image of a bat.

After becoming essentially the 'badass' of this prison, he gets chosen to become a test subject for an experimental drug called 'Venom'. Once taken, Bane becomes insanely strong and powerful, but has to take it every twelve hours or he suffers from intense withdrawal effects.

In the Knightfall storyline (which TDKR is loosely based on), he escapes the prison and heads to Gotham City. He does this because he wants to destroy Batman - he is fascinated by him because like in prison, Gotham is ruled by fear, only it is fear of Batman and not Bane. He also believes Batman is a bat from his nightmares and believes it is fate that he must fight Batman.

He then breaks open Arkham Asylum, unleashing all the supervillains, and Batman is forced to run himself ragged trying to capture them all. When Batman is on his last legs, Bane emerges, breaks his back, and essentially takes over Gotham City. Oh yeah, and Bane works out Batman = Bruce Wayne before they battle.

Now in the movie TDKR, they change it around a bit. Bane's mask supplies him with anesthetic rather than venom (presumably to make the film more 'realistic'). His motivation is different also; it is revealed that he was actually Talia Al-Ghul's accomplice and his whole scheme was actually part of the League of Shadows. This kind of spoiled the movie a bit for me as once this is revealed Bane seems less menacing.


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

[User]
Do touch screen devices wear out in a similar manner as regular buttons?

Given a phone with buttons, it is obvious that the buttons become depressed with use and function poorly. How would the screen in a touch screen phone age?

[Assistant]
It depends on the type of touchscreen. The touchscreen on an iPhone uses the conductivity of your skin to determine where you touch (which is why you can't use it with your average pair of gloves). Considering the screen is glass (on an iPhone at least), it would take a long time for you to wear through that by dragging your finger around on it, unless you were exceedingly rough with it. You'd have to rub through the glass to wear it out.

Other types of buttons get worn out because they're a mechanical system and the moving parts can get worn out and stressed.


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

[User] [General] Why do beings keep "punishing" villains with Immortality?

[Assistant]
Generally, immortality in these contexts comes with curses- eternal misery, imprisonment, torment, loneliness or simply boredom.

The curse is the punishment, the immortality is a secondary part to ensure they can't escape it.


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

[User]
CMV: Kanye isn't crazy. He is just another rich asshole

The whole internet has been sharing his antisemitic tweets at first, now we have an interview where he triples down on the antisemitism. Then  he also had to pull George Floyd into the mix for some reason.

I have seen a lot of people making excuses for him "oh he needs help", "it's a manic episode" ,"people are exploiting him, he shouldn't be giving interviews"

I don't buy any of it. This was all started because a jewish person refused to help sell his racist t-shirt. Which he took as a personal insult. It's just another tantrum of a rich asshole. Who plans to buy parler, which to me indicates that he is aware of what he is saying, hence preparing a back up option to spew his bullshit. He got attention, now he will cash it in.

Edit: My view has been changed to "His bipolar disorder made his antisemitism outbursts worse and will continue to spiral due to refusal of treatment"
I should have not used crazy in the title. I do not dispute his diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Edit2: I will not be responding anymore to comments trying to argue the "White lives matter" t-shirt isn't racist. It is a racist dogwhistle, deal with it.

[Assistant]
1. He can be both

2. He was hospitalized in 2016 and diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Whether that does or doesnt have anything to do with his recent behavior, its fairly undeniable that he suffers from mental illness.


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

[User] ELI5: How did Bitcoin go from being nothing into becoming something so expensive?

[Assistant]
The simplest explanation is that people wanted it.

Value is just a representation of how much someone wants something, and how much they're willing to pay to have it. When Bitcoin was first invented, nobody really saw a use for it, nobody wanted it, so it was dirt-cheap. As people kept talking about it, and the philosophy behind it grew more widespread, people wanted it more, and started charging a higher price.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Darth Vader decides to go for a walk through the Tantive IV and finds his two old droids trying to get into the escape pod. He catches them and views the transmission from Princess Leia revealing Obi-Wans survival? What happens next.

[Assistant]
He heads down to Tattooine to hunt Obi-Wan, using the coordinates programmed into the droids as a starting point.

There's a few options at this point.

* He searches, but Obi-Wan realizes he's being hunted and remains hidden. Vader eventually is forced to give up the hunt, coming to the conclusion that Leia must have simply been mistaken and Obi-Wan is dead. Beru and Owen are never killed, Luke never leaves to join the rebellion, the Death Star wins.
* He locates Obi-Wan. They fight, Vader wins. Beru and Owen are never killed, Luke never leaves to join the rebellion, the Death Star wins.

Those are the boring options. But wait, there's more...

* He begins his search near one of his only points of familiarity: The home of his step-brother, Owen. He discovers Luke, and realizes the true nature of their relationship (Luke calls Owen "uncle", Luke's last name is *literally* Skywalker, whatever). Whether or not Obi-Wan intervenes or not is irrelevant, because Vader would kill him if he tried it. In either case, Luke is captured and trained as a Sith in secret by his father. Together, they attempt to overthrow the Emperor. But Sheev isn't stupid, sees it coming, and kills both of them. He trains up a new apprentice.

No matter how you look at it, if Vader goes to Tattooine to search for Obi-Wan, it's game over for the rebellion and the galaxy.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is it that characters in video games often have difficulty to directly touch each other?

For example: I notice in some video games, like Skyrim (bad example probably), that when two NPC's give each other a handshake, their hands don't seem to be directly touching each other but rather have some air floating in between them or they will just partly clip through each other's hands.

Is this technically very difficult or just sloppiness in the development?

[Assistant]
Technically very difficult.

Most animation systems rely on some kind of 'skeleton' of sorts as a basis for movement, and then use distances from that skeleton to determine if something hit that character. (That's an oversimplification of sorts, but this is ELI5 so bear with me). This allows others to interact with the "surface" of the 'model' (i.e. touch the outer part of the body somehow).

It's fine for an arrow because that's a simple two-dimensional (maybe curved a little) path. But it's not for a handshake where the amount of math required to make one hand fit properly inside another and then grasp and squeeze and fold fingers and skin is pretty daunting. Getting that perfect is going to take a super-big lot of testing tweaking and adjustments, and enough players will let it go that it's not worth delaying a game's release date.


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

[User]
(Doctor Who) Question on Gallifrey coming back.

When Gallifrey came back what were they trying to accomplish? Wouldn't it have just destroyed both planets when they collided?

[Assistant]
Obviously you aren't able to grasp the mastery of the physical universe possessed by the Time Lords.

A broken down model 40 TARDIS has been shown to be able to tow a planet,  travel into pocket universes,  destroy the universe itself,  maintain paradoxes on a planetary level,  etc.

At the very center of their power?   Do you really think they would be vulnerable to anything besides one of their own?


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

[User]
[The Matrix] what happens on new year in the Matrix? Does everyone think it becomes 1999 every year?

I dont know if this is expanded on outside the three films but how does one form memories when the matrix is constructed to be at the peak of human civilization? Are memories completely altered every year and if you get older do you start to remember longer and longer ago?

There must be some memory erasure to help kids come to terms with the time mummy and daddy became Hugo Weaving. Unless theres a programme for group therapy on it.

Maybe errors in memory erasure is what helps people work out that the Matrix isnt real?

[Assistant] Time continues as normal. Eventually there's a point where technology and cultural development will become too extreme for the machines to control. Prior to this point they reset the matrix and alter everyone's memories and everything to put it back to a beginning date. The machines pretty easily manipulate time in some of the extended universe material. Places like the UK can be sometimes years behind other parts with the machines altering and changing everything in real time to keep up the illusion. So they could make every day repeat endlessly or run it in a loop of decades and because memories are so easily altered it's impossible to tell the difference.


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

[User] ELI5 How exactly is data transferred wirelessly? Bluetooth, Radio, Satellite, NFC, Wi-Fi, Li-Fi etc?

[Assistant]
Imagine the hose in your garden. Its connected to a faucet. If you open and close it fast enough and in a pattern, water comes out of the other end also in a pattern.

Now, devices have recievers and transmitters. These know how to "read" and "write" patterns respectively. We can now set this up so that certain patterns can mean certain symbols. A collection of symbols can ultimately form an email, a message on facebook, and more complex streams like pictures and videos.

in real life, these devices turn on and off at tremendous speeds, and as a general rule, the faster you can turn on and off, the more information you can send in a single time frame.


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

[User] How does sound move in plasma ?

[Assistant]
In a non-magnetized plasma, sounds waves behave just like sound waves in a regular gas. They are just longitudinal, adiabatic compression waves of the mass density of the gas/plasma. And assuming an ideal gas, the speed of sound depends only on the type of gas and the temperature.

In a magnetized plasma, things get more complicated. You can have transverse (Alfven) waves or longitudinal (magnetosonic) waves. In both cases, the speed of sound depends on the magnetic field strength.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do most shows call their first episode "Pilot"?

[Assistant]
Pilot come from the the greek word for a oar, rudder you steer  a boat with.  It was transferred to the persons that steer a boat and to a person that know a harbor etc and today it might be as maritime pilot, harbor pilot.

So a pilot is another word for a guide in some context. You for example drill a small pilot hole to guide a nail or a larger drill, the the pilot hole is the first hole you make

So from that is transfer to usage a  a test or a trail  as a pilot study  or initial production as pilot run.  So it is from this use you should look at a pilot episode of a tv show as a test episode that you produce before you commit to produce any more episodes.

There is a lot of tv pilots that is produced as a test and then it is determine that something have to change or that  it was not a good idea and there is never a series produced. They are usually not made public but some  can found online. Look for unaired pilot or original pilot and you might find som of a show you know, There can be small or large changes and it is not uncommon that some actors are replaced.


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

[User] ELI5: How can Comcast legally claim that they have the fastest in-home Wi-Fi when services like Google Fiber are much faster than Comcast's fastest package?

[Assistant] keyword.  in home wifi.  google fiber doesn't provide in home wifi.  this is talking about those comcast branded routers that provide "in home wifi."  as long as the router is ac then it is "the fastest"


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

[User]
[MCU] Would Cinematic-Loki have been such a bad king?

Looking through both of the Thor movies and even Avengers Loki doesn't seem to be that malicious of a character. Don't get me wrong, he is ruthless in the pursuit of his goals. . . but he isn't evil for the sake of evil, he simply wishes to rule Asgard (earth in Avengers). Furthermore, he seemed to genuinely care about his family, even if he had to remove them when they got in his way; he also seemed to have sense of honor, if extremely warped. Even going so far as to allow his brother the freedom to return to earth at the end of Thor 2 while complimenting and making him feel better about himself.

What I'm getting at is, aside from how ruthless he is in achieving his goals he seems to be the type of political, manipulative, and genius (arguable) character that'd make a far better ruler than a hero-fighter like his brother.

[Assistant]
IMO, you can look at how he treats humans for an example of his character. He made his scene, he didn't need to lecture people - he did so because that is how he genuinely felt. Likewise, look at his dialogue with the avengers and see that he truly feels that he is superior to everyone (humans in particular) and that ours is a life of servitude at best.

You don't want a person like that in charge of one of the most powerful armies in the universe. He might be great for Asgard... but he would be horrific for the rest of the universe.


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

[User]
[MCU] How were those giant underwater hangers built?

I mean clearly they weren't built from under the river and up.  I also imagine that damming that large of a section of a river would not go unnoticed. How secret were they?

[Assistant]
Why couldn't they be built underwater without damming it?

First step is to excavate an antechamber, something small to stage the hangar doors in.

Next, build the doors under the surface.  Once they're in-place, remove the material above.  If they leak, only the antechamber floods.  Seal over the door, empty the room, and fix it, then try again.

Once the doors are good, dig out the rest.  Start at the top, adding temporary reinforcement as you go, then add permanent reinforcement once it's done.

This is a big undertaking, but not beyond SHEILD's capabilities, especially if someone like Tony Stark is lending a hand with specialized suits.  Which he has in spades.