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

[User]
Is the recording of my voice really what my voice sounds like? I mean is it what people hear when they hear me talk?

Hey redditers I was recording my voice for my YouTube channel and it when i was listening to my voice and I cringe so badly cause is it what people hear when they hear my voice.

[Assistant]
Yeah. That's it. You can't hear it when you speak because you have both a familiarity with the tones as well as a second source of sound inside your ear. This area of the ear allows deaf people to "hear" low level bass tones but not much else.

If you're making YT videos, adjust the pitch a bit to raise or lower your voice to achieve something a bit more pleasant.


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

[User] ELI5: What causes the feeling of boredom and would it provide a survival advantage?

[Assistant]
There's no universal definition of boredom, but at the most basic level, its the feeling of of a lack of stimulation. From an evolutionary perspective, as hunters and hunted, we were under constant pressure to both be actively looking for food and to avoid predators by being aware of our surroundings. If we were to eat, we must be aware of possible meals, and if we were to survive, be aware of threats. Inattention meant death, so our minds developed hyper-attentive tendencies. In the modern world, we don't need to worry about those things, or at least not nearly as much. That leaves us with a brain wired for both physical and mental activity, but a lack of activity to satisfy that need, which can lead to boredom. Our ancestors who were particularly successful didn't have to work as hard to find food or shelter and thus had more "free time", which could lead to boredom.

Now, is there an evolutionary advantage to boredom? Possibly, although it's important to remember that not everything has an evolutionary purpose or advantage. A very plausible way that boredom *could* be an evolutionary advantage is that it serves as a motivational force that led our ancestors to try new things, seek new experiences, explore, and innovate, all of which could reward us with more mating opportunities, thus making boredom beneficial.


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

[User] How long does it take an electron to orbit a nucleus?

[Assistant]
It can be estimated from the uncertainty principle.

x p ~ ~~h~~, so p ~ ~~h~~/x.

The characteristic length scale of electron orbitals is a*_0_*, the Bohr radius.

So the RMS momentum is like ~~h~~/a*_0_*.

This is around 4 keV/c. Converting this to a speed, it's around 2000 km/s.

This is for the ground state of hydrogen, for higher orbitals and nuclei with higher Z, they'll be moving faster.


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

[User]
Is there something like a Lagrangian point for a galaxy?

Space is expanding. Two objects will have an acceleration relative to another dependent on how far apart the two are. If two galaxies are close enough, however, like the Andromeda and Milky Way are, their gravity can accelerate them together faster than space can "push" them apart.

So is there a distance at which the two cancel out? Have we discovered any galaxies which are positioned like this?

[Assistant]
Short answer: any such situation would be unstable and we don't have the precision to measure it anyway.

The expansion of the universe happens outside of gravity wells, where objects are too far away to fall toward each other. Interactions between galaxies are a fuzzy thing, with tidal forces being quite important due to the large scale of galaxies. If you had two galaxies in a situation like the one you describe, they would exert tidal forces on each other, stretching each other and moving closer.

We can measure radial velocity-- the speed at which a galaxy is moving toward or away from us-- with a high degree of accuracy. Measuring distance is much more fraught with error, although we can often get a good distance measurement to within a few percent for galaxies in the local neighborhood. Measure transverse velocity, the apparent motion of a galaxy on the sky, is currently not feasible for anything outside the Local Group.


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

[User]
Dear Economists, this thought occurred to me the other day, and it scares the hell out of me. Please tell me why I'm wrong.

Alright, so this thought occurred to me the other day.  Basically, ever since the financial crisis in 2008 and even before then central banks in most countries especially the US have been lending money at near 0% interest rates.

Now conventional economic wisdom tells us that extended periods of low interest rates increases the money supply and leads to inflation.  However, we have yet to see a significant increase in inflation as the result of this extended period of extremely low interest rates.

It occurs to me that this may be a result of the way we measure inflation.  Econ 101 says that inflation is measures by taking a basket of common consumer goods and determining how much it costs to buy those goods, the more money required to buy them, the greater the rate of inflation.  However, the money being lent at the fed window (at near 0% interest) is only lent to large institutional investors and the interest rates for the common consumer have not changed dramatically.

Suppose then, that you are a large institutional investor that has access to almost unlimited quantities of nearly free money.  Common sense says that you should borrow all of the money that you can and purchase any investment products that will likely return at a rate greater than 0.025% interest (or whatever the current fed rate is).  In fact all of the large institutional investors should be doing the same, potentially driving up the cost of almost all investment products as a result of the unnatural demand brought on by nearly free money.  Persons paying attention to the news of late will also note that at present the US stock market is in record high territory, despite the still relatively weak economic recovery in the US and Europe.

My theory is thus:  that the near 0% interest rate given by the fed to large institutional borrowers has created huge levels of inflation, however, the inflation is not able to be measured using traditional tools because the extra money has only been used to buy investment assets (stocks, bonds, derivatives, etc.), and that the price of those products, is, as a result currently inflated (perhaps hugely) by said excess monetary supply.  If this is true it would mean a few things, first that the fed borrowing window has created a two tiered monetary system, with one access to money for the ~0.5% (or less) who can borrow directly from the fed and another monetary system for the rest of us.  Second, and more importantly, that the stock and bond market may be in the midst of a bubble, brought on by easy access to nearly free money, and that this bubble may be largely hidden and potentially massive.  Following from that conclusion, should such a bubble exist it has the potential to massively impact the stock market (perhaps the kind of crash we have not seen since pre-1929), including large investors like pension and mutual funds.

So thats my theory, it would really reassure me if someone much more well versed in economics than I could tell me why Im wrong.  Please.

[Assistant]
So, keep in mind that a lot of that near-zero money isn't being lent (or "invested") by banks.  Which means its pumping up bank reserves (making the ratios look healthy), but not actually impacting the simplified inflation model you're working from.

Now also, if aggregate demand is down (from the recession, less consumer income, etc.), many prices fall, which means that basket of goods is not becoming more expensive per dollar (i.e. no/low inflation).

Given that profits are up, but incomes are stagnant among the working class, unemployment is higher etc., all that money that is being pumped into the economy isn't really having the effect you would expect.  It is however reducing risk profiles of types of investment and encouraging some investment/development.


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

[User]
What actually happens when you see stars?

You see it in cartoons all the time and sometimes when I blow my nose too hard I see little points of light flying around my vision. What causes this and why do we see it?

[Assistant] The little lights, or "stars," you see are called phosphenes. They are stimulated by pressure on the eyes which is misinterpreted by cells in the retina as light. You'll get the same effect if you close your eyes and press on them.


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

[User]
ELI5: Proteins, Amino Acids and other complex molecules... How do they know what to do it they aren't considered alive?

The inner mechanics of a cellular life has almost blown my mind, they move things from one part of the cell to the other, unzip and copy DNA, and a whole host of other activities. If they aren't considered alive then how do they "know" what to do and/or where to go?

[Assistant]
They don't "know" what to do. They just "do" according to the laws of physics. It's like asking how a ball "knows" it's at the top of a hill to roll down it. It doesn't. It just rolls because of gravity and the laws of physics.

Proteins, amino acids, and other chemicals and molecules are just following the laws of chemistry and quantum mechanics.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are laptop screens so hard to clean compared to smartphone screens? They seem to use some sort of coating that leaves nearly impossible to clean stains where as on a phone they just wipe off, why is that?

[Assistant]
Touchscreens usually have an oleophobic coating on the surface.

Phone screens are designed specifically for touch input interaction. Smartphones and laptops with touchscreens have an oleophobic coating on the glass which repels oils and allows for easier cleaning. This oleophobic coating can, of course, wear off over time, meaning finger oils will become progressively more difficult to keep off the screen as the phone ages. I've also seen some devices where the oleophobic coating wasn't applied evenly, and you could tell where finger oils stuck more visibly around the edges of the screen.


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

[User]
[Buffy The Vampire Slayer] Why do so many vampires seem to know karate?

It seems like every other vampire Buffy fights is trained in martial arts. Does it just come with being a vampire or do they train for it?

[Assistant]
A vampire is just a specific type of demon inhabiting a dead person's body.  Siring is how these demons procreate: when someone gets turned, they get killed and a new demon gets to live in their body.  The demon has all the dead person's memories, most of their personality, and in some cases *it actually thinks that it is the person who used to own the body,* but it is definitely a separate entity.

The demons that create vampires are good at martial arts.


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

[User] [Star Wars] If Luke had joined his father Darth Vader and overthrew the Emperor, what kind of ruler would Vader have been? Was he too far gone to the Dark Side, or would the good in him have led him to be softer than Palpatine?

[Assistant]
Mediocre.

Vader wasn't a statesman, he was a General turned boogeyman and had spent the last two decades in an iro n lung hunting down Jedi *personally*.

 He was never that good at delegating and fear only goes so far, sooner or later the Empire would have fragmented under his leadership.


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

[User]
[TLoK] What made Zaheer so dangerous?

I get that hes a terrorist that can fly, but he only recently gained air bending. Before, he was only a peak athlete locked up for more than a decade. Why and how is he so strong?

[Assistant]
1. Zaheer was a master combatant, considered deadly enough by people like Zuko and Tenzin to be a massive threat to even powerful benders like them and could keep up with the other RL members; part of his character design includes the boxed ears that martial artists get from fighting constantly, and the creators have said that he can use anything as a lethal weapon. His prison allowed him to keep hi,self in excellent shape and practice.

2. He had a deep knowledge of the Air Nomad philosophy, Guru Laghima in particular. This allowed him to maintain a deep spirituality, one of the key components to airbending. When the Harmonic Convergence occurred, he now could put his decades of theory into practice. Notice how his fighting style doesnt quite match any of the other airbenders we see-hes using his own, but his innate spirituality and knowledge of the philosophy allowed him to be advanced enough to utilize airbending with it.

3. Nobody has seen, much less fought, airbenders for almost 200 years now. They have no idea how to react or what strategies there are to go up against someone whos bending source is literally all around them. This gives Zaheer an edge in unpredictability that he capitalizes on.

That said, his fight against Tenzin proves that for all his prodigious talent, he gets his ass whopped by a legitimate airbending master. Even then it speaks in his favor; the fact he managed to last as long as he did speaks volumes to his talent.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do people have the ability to read in someone else's voice? Multiple of them in fact?

I was recently reading a writing prompt and noticed that a lot of people said they were reading it in someone else's voice. Now, I know it's possible, but how does it work?

[Assistant] You know how you have like, an inner voice? It's the thing that's reading this right now. That voice - its pitch, mannerisms, accent, dialect - is held in your memory somewhere. You can remember other people's voices in the same way, if you listen to them enough. Then, when you read something that you subconsciously associate with that person, you may find you're reading it in that person's voice instead of your inner voice. To experiment with this, go watch a full season of Planet Earth, then read a wikipedia article about frogs. You'll probably read it in David Attenborough's voice.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] When Count Dooku or Darth Sidious jumped around and rolled over in mid air, was it their pure fitness strength or did they use the force?

I.e. Dooku vs Anakin and Obi-Wan in Ep3, Dooku jumps in mid air to land on the the bottom floor.

[Assistant] Force users both light and dark can use the force to augment and enhance their physical abilities, though it does tire the user out quite a bit. In fact, form IV of lightsaber combat, Aataru, focuses on this, making the practitioner use the force to turn them into a lightsaber tornado at the cost of strain to their body.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does the Attorney General work?

I have seen a million post recently about how the Attorney General was fired for "Not performing Job Duties". I have also seen a million post about how she was fired for "Not agreeing with the POTUS".

I do not understand what the AG job description is, and if she has to enforce what she is told, or if she has the room to disagree. I am just trying to understand the system we live under. Thanks!

[Assistant]
> "Not performing Job Duties"
> "Not agreeing with the POTUS"

The US Attorney General is the head of the US department of justice.  The DOJ contains several departments and agencies.  First there's law enforcement, this includes the FBI, US marshals, ATF and DEA.  Then there's there's federal prisons.  Next is basically all federal prosecutors.  Federal immigration enforcement is also folded into the DOJ (everything from enforcement, detainment to the legal structures). Lastly federal lawyers who are not prosecutors, such as people who defend the US against lawsuits.

Like many high end government jobs the AG is said to "serve at the pleasure of the president".  Basically, the job of president is so tremendously large and involves tens of thousands of day to day decisions that is's impossible for one person to perform.  So the president, like the CEO of any large company, delegates job duties.

The people the president has delegated job duties to are generally known as secretaries (such as the security of state, or defense).  All of these jobs are basically the same, it's to be the delegated right hand to the president for the department that you lead.

Within a normal company, the VP of marketing works for the CEO making marketing decisions.  However, it's the CEO who is "in charge" of the situation.

Sooooo:
> "Not performing Job Duties"
> "Not agreeing with the POTUS"

These are the same thing.  The job of the AG is to execute the will of the president that they serve.  You are allowed to not agree with the president, but the moment you declare that you're not going to do as instructed you are failing at your job duties.


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

[User]
CMV: The labor theory of value is flawed

This might be an obscure topic, however, in somelargely Marxist circles the approach seems to motivate much of the dialogue of class structure and serves as a keystone to that perspective. The conclusion is that labor in a capitalist mode of production is always and everywhere a case of exploitation.

The standard example that is used to demonstrate the concept is that of a factory. Say that a factory produces some unit: U and is sold on the open market for, say, 100$. The sales price can be broken down into a few broad factors: material/equipment/distribution costs, labor costs, and profit. Say that the costs per item for the base cost is 60$, labor costs 30$, and profit is 10$. The LTV finds that because the worker made the 100$ item, they are entitled to 40$ in compensation. All the examples that I have seen go exactly along these lines and the 10$ of profit is the result of exploitation.

However, this doesn't seem that obvious, saying that the capitalist did anything for which he/she would be entitled seems absurd. Thus, I will propose a few factors that should explain some of the profit.

* Idea Value: The enterprise needed more than just inspiration. To create a successful company the capitalist would need.
   * Industry experience, to create and refine a competitive product
   * Knowledge of what the market needs
   * (Ultimately) The assuredness to risk capital on the venture.
* Capital: Diverting capital into a non-fungible forum is less preferable than in its fungible state.
* Premium from holding risks associated that go well and above what the worker takes on.
   * Bankruptcy
   * Profit margins
   * Competition
   * The general business environment

In my current opinion, this explains the vast majority of the profit gained from production. Taking on risk while also creating value seems to be fundamentally different from just plain labor and is thus compensated for in a fundamentally different way.

Further, when applied to the facets of the entire economy, the theory breaks down even further. Trying to determine the value of professionals who are being paid to create products and services that are far less quantifiable than manufactured goods and may even be experimental and not of any current value to begin with.

Critically, this does not eliminate exploitation or absolve terrible owners, capitalists, and the like. Awful situations are still awful, and the government is a necessary entity to keep such a system working and useful. This includes rent-seeking behavior in all its forms.

TLDR; The LTV assumes labor and only labor can create value and prematurely chalks up any deviance to exploitation.

[Assistant]
You're missing a part of this, the capitalist also generated value, sure, but they still did so via their own labor. It was simply labor of a different kind.

To say they deserves profits rather than a wage because their labor required experience/risk or whatever doesn't make a ton of sense. The entrepreneur should be compensated for their labor, but not in a unique way relative to other laborers.

He should be paid for his work while gaining expertise and he should be paid for planning/starting the new enterprise. If he continues managing the enterprise, he can even continue being paid for that labor, but there's no reason he ought to get to continue making money for work which is then later being done by other workers (profits).


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

[User]
[Dragon Ball Z/Super] Why did Frieza decide to get into illegal real estate instead of becoming the space king and charging planets crazy taxes

Z and the additional lore from Super paint him as a nearly untouchable figure in his prime. The Galactic Patrol couldn't touch him and he had free reign to do as he please so long as he didn't piss off Beerus.

So why get into a tedious real estate business when he could just make every planet his planet and reign as ruler. Did he just like doing business?

[Assistant] He was still de facto in charge, he just sold the rights to 'rule' the planets he conquered because coming up with a tax policy is more tedious than the policy of 'sell the planet, then take anything you want from them anyway'. It's not like he would at all benefit from taxes - the only thing money does for him is let him outfit his army, and occupying an entire planet permanently just *raises* those costs, and turns profitable taxation into a weird balancing act. Really not worth the trouble when you are indisputably the most powerful being in the universe who isn't, y'know, asleep.


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

[User]
ELI5: How did the base units come to be?

I know they are standardized based on physical properties (e.g. the meter is defined as the distance traveled by light in a specific fraction of a second), but how did we come up with these values? Were they arbitrarily selected at some point and just stuck, are they based on theory/experiment, or...?

For this I'm talking about the base units (meter, second, kilogram, ampere, kelvin, mole, and candela), but am mostly interested in the meter, second and kilogram.

[Assistant]
The meter was originally defined as 1/10,000,000th of the distance from the equator to the north pole. The second was defined as being 1/(24\*60\*60) of a day. Other units were derived from that- a gram is the mass of one cubic centimeter of water, for example. A Newton is the amount of force it takes to accelerate a 1kg object at a rate of 1m/s^2 (that is, it's speed increases by 1m/s every second). A joule is the amount of energy it takes to apply one newton of force for one meter.

The modern definitions of units- like the meter being derived from the speed of light- came when scientists found the original definitions weren't precise enough. The Earth isn't a perfect sphere so the definition of "meter" would change depending on where you started measuring.


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

[User]
What's the story behind the Nazguls' mounts? [LOTR]

What is the origin behind the winged beasts that the Nazgul ride in Lord of the Rings? Where do they come from? Why was their cry so terrible? Are they dragons or something completely different? Any information regarding them would be great.

[Assistant]
Nobody knows. But they were likely bred by Sauron from an ancient creature of the Elder Days.
Here's how Tolkien describes them in the book (hinting at their age and Sauron's influence):

>And behold! It was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all other birds, and it was naked, and neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers; and it stank. A creature of an older world maybe it was, whose kind, lingering in forgotten mountains cold beneath the Moon, outstayed their day, and in hideous eyrie bred this last untimely brood, apt to evil. And the Dark Lord took it, and nursed it with fell meats, until it grew beyond the measure of all other things that fly; and he gave it to his servant to be his steed.


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

[User]
ELI5: how does a company know how many shares to make public?

How would a company that wants to go public decide how many shares to put out?

Why do some companies issue 100 million shares while others issue 1 billion shares?

How much percent wise does a company hold in 1 share? Why isn't there a fixed amount of shares for all companies to issue when going public?

[Assistant]
How many shares to make.public is based on what a company wants their stock price to be.

So the two biggest reasons that different companies have different numbers of shares when going public is that 1) not all companies have the same valuation and 2) some companies want different levels of liquidity than others.

Some companies don't want it to be easy to buy or sell their stock. They want the stock price to remain stable, they don't want people trading it very often, and sometimes they really don't want individual investors to have any, as opposed to institutional investors. Also, remember that the corporation is accountable to shareholders, and shareholders get to vote on things, and the company may not want to have to answer to random jackasses who bought stock. So, they make it too expensive for regular trading. BRK.A, Warren Buffett's firm, costs something like $300,000 *per share*.

So let's say you think your company is worth $5 billion and you want your stock price to be about $100 per share. You'd issue 50 million shares of stock at $100 a piece. But what if you want your stock to be $500 per share to cut down the trading volatility? Then you'd only issue 10 million shares.

As far as how many to keep, generally the founder is going to keep at least 51% so they can still be in control of the company. Some founders are playing for the long term and are only going public to raise funds for their company. They'll only release as many shares as it takes to raise the amount of money they think their company needs. Some founders just want to cash in so they'll release as much as they think the market will buy and take the payout.


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

[User]
ELI5: how does surgery on fish work and how do they provide oxygen to them while anaesthetised?

Im assuming its always done above water.

[Assistant]
Fish require a lot less oxygen than humans, or even other mammals. So you don't have to worry *as much* about them getting enough.

To do surgery, most of the time they're anaesthetized using CO2 and chilling them way down. Since they're cold blooded, they can tolerate lower body temperatures better than mammals. They mostly just slow down. Also, although they absolutely do feel pain, their pain response is much different than ours and their capacity to experience pain is different, so pain management is less of an issue. So, again, often anaesthesia is just CO2 and cold.

Once they're chilly and knocked out (or as knocked out as fish ever get) they can be removed from the water and put on a table for surgery. A tube is put into their mouth that slowly feeds cool water through their gills. Honestly, as long as their gills stay wet so they don't get damaged, especially with the really slow, cold metabolism, they can get enough oxygen from the air to stay alive. So the water is really just their to keep their gills wet.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What's the difference between Grand Master and Master of the Order?

It always seems that in the prequel movies both Yoda and Mace seems to be the leader of the Jedi Council at certain parts of the movie yet Mace Windu is only a Jedi Master and not Grand Master. But Mace Windu held title of Master of the Order.

[Assistant]
"Master of the Order" is the leader of the Jedi Order as a whole, and is  elected by the Jedi Council. Both Mace Windu and Yoda held this role at different times.

"Grand Master" is an honorary title given to the "oldest and wisest" member of the Jedi Order, and they chair the High Council specifically.


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

[User] ELI5: what is the difference between blackheads and pimples?

[Assistant]
Seeing a lot of misinformation. A blackhead and a pimple are the same thing in essence.  Both are actually called comedomes.  They are blocked pores or hair follicles.  A blackhead has a wide opening and oxidizes.  A whitehead is closed.  Blackheads are open comedomes.  Whiteheads are closed comedomes.  Both are types of non-inflammatory acne and can be present in more severe acne as well.  These lesions are just blocked collections of natural sebum production, the oil your skin uses to lubricate itself.

Comedomes are differentiated from pustules and cysts.  Cysts are deep, often firm, and do not manually expresseasily.  Pustules are more yellowish and are filled with pus from bacteria and neutrophil collections.  These two types of lesions are present in more severe, inflammatory acne types.


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

[User] [Super Mario Bros.] How many Gooma, Koopa Troopas, and other creatures has Mario killed? Does he ever grow weary of the slaughter?

[Assistant] They're all war casualties. When Bowser kidnaps the Mushroom Kingdom's monarch, he effectively starts a war between said territory and the Koopa Kingdom. Does the slaughter take its toll on Mario? Unlikely, we haven't seen anything to indicate it does. Just "yipeees!" and "wahoos!"


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

[User] [Alien] What is the current state of Earth canonically? Is it abandoned? Is it overrun by xenomorphs? Or is it more or less fine ignoring the whole "looks like wasteland" part?

[Assistant]
Three big things have happened on Earth since Ripley left:

1) There was a xenomorph infestation.
2) The *Auriga* crashed into Africa at full speed.
3) Weyland-Yutani re-terramorphed Earth, averting an extinction event.

So, Earth is a shithole with a pretty wild climate, but it's livable. The human population has been drastically reduced, and there is barely enough wildlife left for what remains to be called an ecosystem.

People live, have jobs, raise families. Power outage are a little more common, and resources like food and water aren't as abundant as we're familiar with, but the quality of life isn't *worse* than it would be out in a colony in the frontier.


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

[User] [MCU] What precisely do the likes of Hawkeye or Falcon bring to the team?

[Assistant]
Hawkeye is an unparalleled marksman whose effectiveness is only increased by the trick arrows he uses. He's also a skilled hand to hand fighter, a master assassin and skilled with multiple weapons such as the sword & bo staff. Remember this is the guy who single handedly almost brought down a Helicarrier with just one arrow.

Falcon is a skilled pilot, combatant and has built in weaponry including guns & a rocket launcher. Not to mention he can also fly. Falcon also has the Redwing drone which is extremely useful for reconnaissance and tracking as well as itself being equipped with weaponry.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do they measure the weight of planets and how far away from Earth they are?

I don't know how much my dog weighs and these guys can figure out how dense stars are and shit that we can't even see. For the distance my guess is they use the speed of light. I'm sure they figured out the sun was 96mil miles from Earth based on the fact it takes light 8 minutes to reach Earth from the Sun.. But what  about the others?

[Assistant] If we know the mass of the star it orbits then it's an easy calculation based on a few observations of the planet.  A planet MUST be orbiting its sun at a speed that matches its mass in order to actually stay in orbit (any slower and it would fall out of orbit and any faster and it would escape).  All we need is the radius of the orbit around its sun and the period of that rotation (how long it takes to do a single run-around)


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

[User] ELI5: If it's illegal to use cellphones while driving for non hands free calling, why is it legal for truck drivers to use radios for communicating in the same way?

[Assistant] The fear with a cell phone is that you have to look at it while you use it, even for a short period of time. A truck driver is so use to picking up the radio it is literally muscle memory for them to do that task. While there is a learning curve for the truck driver it is something that becomes safer as they train the muscle memory. With your cell phone, unless it isn't a touch screen, there is no tactile feakback. Therfore it is much harder, if not impossible, to gain that muscle memory in doing the task. Even worse, as you do it over time you become overconfident in your "ability" to use it. You become less concise as you gain this bad habit of using it. Whereas before you may have answered it in a safer situation such as a stoplight or on an open road, now you overconfidence will lead you to answer it in less safe situation like heavy traffic or poor weather.


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

[User]
If I swing a laser pointer really fast and observe the speed of the laser dot, would it be moving faster than the speed of light at a high enough radial distance?

Let's say I take a laser pointer and start rotating it along and axis perpendicular to the direction of the laser beam would the laser dot break the speed of light at a high enough angular speed or distance?

[Assistant]
Yes, you can easily make the beam move across a distance surface faster than the speed of light by simply pointing the laser at a far away surface and moving it quickly enough. At first this fact may make it seem like we are violating special relativity, but that is not so, since 1) neither light, 2) nor information actually move faster than the speed of light in this scenario.

1) First realize that it is only the laser beam, not light itself that is moving faster than the speed of light. However, the beam is not a physical object but is only a shifting shape defined by the path of the traveling photons. As such, special relativity has nothing to say about the fast the beam can sweep laterally. On the other hand, when you look at the photons, you will see that they still move at the speed of light in that medium.

2) It's also important to realize that the fact that the beam can scan a surface faster than the speed of light doesn't contradict the idea that information cannot travel faster than the speed of light. If you wanted to send a signal using your laser, you would have to do *something* to the laser light, e.g. to turn it on or off. The part of the photon stream affected by this change would only reach that faraway surface at a time given by the separation divided by the speed of light.


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

[User] [Marvel] Did the Avengers and other heroes ever find out that Peter Parker started Super Heroics in his teens and how did they respond if they did?

[Assistant]
616

Hank Pym seemed astonished (and a bit envious) that Peter had invented all his gadgetry when he was only a teen.

Jessica Jones actually had a crush on Peter when they were teens (they went to the same high school), and seeing Spidey in action later inspired her to heroics. She told him this after he revealed his identity.

Ultimates

Captain America flat out tells him he is too young to be a hero and refuses to train him.

There's a pretty funny scene where Black Cat finds out he's a kid.


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

[User]
Eli5: How can you train reflexes if they are involuntary reactions?

What the title says. How do those train your reflexes apps or websites work? Do they just help you process information faster?

[Assistant]
Involuntary is a bit confusing here.  Reflexes occur without conscious thought.  There are also two types of reflexes - straight physical reflexes like when the doctor taps your knee and you kick, and reflexive responses when you react to a stimulus without thinking.

You cannot train the response to a doctor tapping your knee.

You can train your response to general stimulus.  This done through repetition.   If you practice hitting a button when you hear a bell, eventually you will do that without having to consciously think about it.  That is a reflexive action.


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

[User]
ELI5 - In DNA there are four molecules that combine in the double helix a bajillion times to create you. Since they come in pairs, how is there so much variety to life? There's only four options - this pair, or that one, flipped this or that way.

Is there a certain amount of these four combinations that then become a "set"?

[Assistant]
Same way a computer program is just 0 and 1, yea, not many options, but if you combine it enough you can get as many combinations as you need, just needs to be long enough. Because of that, it's essentially the length that determines the complexity.

As for a set, yes, DNA has start and stop codons, essentially a protein is defined by the stuff between a start and stop codon. Since the ends are marked, proteins can be as long as they need to be.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does asparagus affect the scent of urine but not stool?

[Assistant]
The chemical that makes asparagus stinky is water soluble. Anything that is water soluble gets absorbed into the blood stream and goes for a trip around the body. Pee is how our body rids itself of water soluble stuff that is not useful.

The way it goes is asparagus goes in, stinky chemical goes into the blood then stinky comes out with the pee.


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

[User]
[harry potter] why didn't Voldemort install an alarm system to warn you whenever someone came near your horcruxes?

in book 6, we have the following statement:

>Lord Voldemort would not want to...immediately kill the person who reached this island," Dumbledore corrected himself. "He would want to keep them alive long enough to find out how they managed to penetrate so far through his defenses and, most importantly of all, why they were so intent upon emptying the basin.

if what Dumbledore says is true (which is in most cases) then voldemort has already considered the possibility of someone finding out about his horcruxes and destroying them. so why didn't voldemort install an alarm system?

bonus: if dumbledore is right, then that would help explain why voldemort wanted an heir, he has already considered the possibility that he might die (even if the probability is very remote)

[Assistant] For that horcrux specifically, he likely did. However, he's also arrogant enough to assume that nobody could possibly retrieve the horcrux and escape, so he probably just figured he'd check up on the fool who dared to oppose him at his earliest convenience. Voldemort's defining flaw was his arrogance and it's pretty safe to say that it is to blame for most, if not all, of the mistakes he makes in the books.


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

[User]
ELI5: How are life expectancies calculated?

Im for example 32 living in the Netherlands. The average life expectancy is 81.7 years; does that number make any attempt to estimate medical advances during my lifetime?

[Assistant]
No, it does not.

Life expectancy at birth uses the current mortality rates *now*, i.e. % chance of dying as a 0-yo in 2021, % chance of dying as 1-yo in 2021, ...

Thus it does not apply directly to any generation: if you're 32 today, the relevant information is life expectancy at 32 (i.e. not taking into account mortality before 32, since you did not die!) for your generation: % chance of dying at 32 today, % chance of dying at 33 next year...


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why wasn't the A-Wing deployed against the first Death Star?

I'm no pilot, but I've learned my fair share about ships while scavenging for parts on Jakku.

The Empire preferred larger ships to fighters, that much is common knowledge. But they had TIE Fighters and Interceptors, easily a match for the Y-Wing and able to hold their own against the X-Wing.

Even if the A-Wing couldn't use it's concussion missiles against the Death Star's core as the X-Wing's photon torpedoes and the Y-Wing's proton bombs, surely the Admiralty of the Rebels knew TIEs would be deployed against their attack squadron, so why didn't they use A-Wings to engage the TIEs while the X- and Y-Wings delivered their payload?

[Assistant]
You're giving the rebels a bit too much credit. They're a rag tag group of terrorists, not an organized military. Just because one rebel cell had access to the A-Wing doesn't imply that every cell of their loose organization used them.

It was simply sheer luck that the large bulk of rebel cells hastily organized an offensive against the second death star, coordinating in a way far beyond their usual capabilities.

It's likely that the traitorous Darth Vader engineered this offensive, bringing together the various bands of terrorists for one large strike in order to distract our glorious emperor from his own betrayal.

Regardless, the disorganized masses of rebels could barely muster more than a couple ships at a time for their insurgency, it's doubtful they could manage to share logistics well enough to begin using standardized equipment.

Long live the teachings of our emperor, and may the First Order return glory and peace to our Galaxy.


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

[User]
Hannah Ahrendt: where to start

Dear philosophers,

I am highly interested in the work of Hannah Ahrendt. Hence, I was wondering whether any of you could give me a suggestion as to what is considered her most important book or which essays you particularly enjoyed.

Thanks.

[Assistant]
*Origins of Totalitarianism* is a good place to start, but if you want to dive more into her philosophical work, you could start with the *Human Condition*. Arendt also has a number of good essay collections -- the *Between Past and Future* anthology is particularly good.

In terms of what her most important work is, it depends on what lens you are reading her through. The *Origins of Totalitarianism* and *Eichmann in Jerusalem* are probably her best known books in political science. In philosophy, her most important works are probably the *Life of the Mind*, her *Lectures on Kant's Political Philosophy* and the essays *Thinking and Moral Considerations* and *Some Questions on Moral Philosophy* \-- though not everyone will agree with me on that. The *Human Condition* is well-known in both disciplines.

Arendt is pretty readable but like a lot of continental philosophers works on multiple levels at once. If you want to study her philosophical work seriously, it's worth establishing a good grasp on the history of philosophy and thinkers like Kant, Heidegger and Jaspers in particular. But even if you don't have that background, she is still a pretty enjoyable read.


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

[User]
[Dune] How is one rogue doctor able to totally cripple the defenses for the base of a major house?

In the film, Yueh assassinates the duke, jams their communications, and *disables the entire shield system*. How is this possible?

[Assistant]
Everyone trusted him absolutely, and they believed that there was more chance of Arakeen flying into space of its own accord than betraying them.

When you have to suspect *everyone* in the universe will betray or kill you - including your own family - being able to trust someone implicitly buys them a lot of freedom. If he walks up to the shield room, so what? He's probably just checking up on some soldiers hydration levels, let him pass.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is Video RAM (Like GDDR5) so much faster than regular RAM (Like DDR3 or DDR4)?

[Assistant]
GDDR, similar to GPUs are very parallel in design.

So while you might have "dual channel" or "triple channel" memory slots on a system board, GDDR memory can be arranged into 8, 16, or 32 parallel channels on the graphics circuit board. This yields nearly linear performance gains in memory throughput since memory chips are accessed in parallel.  For this to work efficiently, this requires that the graphics chip itself is also designed to be massively parallel (unlike CPUs) with hundreds (or thousands) of cores / shader processing units that are all loaded up between ticks and all fired simultaneously on the clock tick.


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

[User]
[MCU] If there is only one Sacred Timeline, then how can things like Alligator Loki exist?

I might be understanding this wrong but I just wanna know how it works.

I get that the TVA prunes things that arent supposed to happen, so the sacred timeline remains intact and a multiversal war doesnt occur. I also get that some leeway, like the Avengers time travel, is allowed if puts the sacred timeline in the right direction. What I dont get is how there can be Lokis that look different, and even an alligator one.

The alligator wasnt pruned for being an alligator, he was pruned for eating the neighbors cat. So this thing clearly came from another universe where some people, maybe Asgardians, are instead alligators. So, are these universes allowed to exist? Up until the cat eating, this alligator did nothing to violate the TVA rules. Does the sacred timeline apply to one universe, or all? I thought other universes werent even be allowed to exist until He Who Remains was killed.

[Assistant] There isn't really a sacred timeline. Kang set up the TVA to prune any timeline that would lead to another Kang. He basically quarantined a timeline away from the wider multiverse to stop the endless flood of Kang invasions he had witnessed all his life. And if that timeline branches in a way that does not lead to a Kang (see The Time Heist), it doesn't need to be pruned.


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

[User]
[Men in Black] why would aliens want to come to Earth?

It's a less advanced planet where aliens have to live in hiding. It seems only good for fugitives and anyone else that needs to stay low.

And if so... Why would the men in black allow aliens at all?

It seems like they are bringing a lot of heat to Earth for no good reason.

[Assistant]
K offers a clue when he references Casablanca.

It's a big, dangerous galaxy out there and some aliens- particularly those who are politically connected- need a place to stay. A place they'll be safe and a place that's perfectly neutral so that they can trust local authorities.

Casablanca might seem rough if you're from America or Europe or so on, but it's better than being under Nazi rule.


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

[User] [MCU] In a deleted scene, the Chitauri were said to be one of the weakest armies in the galaxy. However, they *appear* more advanced and more of a threat compared to the likes of the Outriders seen in Infinity War. Where would the chitauri stack up against notable MCU armies (Outriders, Sovereign, *

[Assistant]
I took that to mean that in spite of their weaponry they're little more than Space Taliban- a terror cell that focuses on quick strikes on vulnerable targets. Thanos doesn't look like he's spending too much on food production so he probably doesn't have a large, disciplined army so much as a fanatically loyal and disposable one

EDIT: The Outriders were clearly just a pack of attack animals. Useful in some scenarios but not well equipped to be a real army. In fact, they don't even appear well equipped to handle the Wakanda siege.


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

[User] ELI5 What was the point if a chalk outline at a murder scene and are they still common practice?

[Assistant]
The chalk outlines were originally for press photographers so they could photograph the crime scene without showing the dead bodies.

They're never used in modern investigations because they contaminate the crime scene.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do colds/flu/bugs seem to end with an annoying cough that lasts for ages?

[Assistant]
This is partially due to the fact the airways are still irritated from the effects of the illness, and partially because the flu weakens the immune system and allows additional infections.

It is, in fact, relatively common for more vulnerable people to develop bronchitis or pneumonia after a flu. This is why almost every source you ask about flu symptoms will tell you to see a doctor if your cough lasts too long, or if your fever disappears for a day or two and then comes back.


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

[User]
[DC] Would it be harder to become Batmans sidekick or Green Arrows sidekick?

Who do you think would have the more demanding training regimen?

[Assistant] Batman has the more demanding training regimen but he also collects sidekicks like we all collected Pokemon in 2016.  Green Arrow is more lax in his training regimen, but it's harder to get your foot in the door.


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

[User]
What are current theories on what the Great Attractor might be?

I read an article about it a long time ago and was wondering if any progress had been made on what it might be.

[Assistant] We're not completely sure what the Great Attractor itself is, but we now know that it is not as massive as we first thought, and it is in fact a galaxy cluster *behind* it that the Milky Way is drawn to, and not the Not-So-Great Attractor itself.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Who is the evilest person in the Marvel universe?

There are a lot of supervillains and terrible people, but who is truly the most evil out of all of them?

[Assistant]
Carnage. He's a psychopath that murders people. He's the Joker without roguish charm. There's nothing charming about Carnage, he murders people and that's about it.

Just a one-dimensional shithead. Most Marvel villains have a viewpoint that you can twist your mind into seeing where they're coming from. Not Carnage. A complete asshat.


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

[User] If volcanoes spew up magma from the mantle, is there any finite amount of magma that can be spewed up? Will the mantle ever run out of magma?

[Assistant] As magma is brought up by volcanoes and other forms of crustal creation, other parts of the crust are being pushed deeper into the mantle, where they melt and become magma again. In doing so, the magma renews itself. The Earth will not run out of magma until it has lost sufficient heat that the crust no longer melts.


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

[User]
What does Nietzsche mean by the Death of God, the Will to Power, and the Ubermensch?

Im new to Nietzsche and this is my understanding of his philosophy based on internet browsing and a tiny bit of reading:

1. Nietzsche believes that not only is it possible to not believe in Godthe Enlightenment has shown that we can create consistent moral systems without God (based on rationality)but also that it is impossible to believe in Godscience, (e.g. Darwinism) has definitively proven that man is part of nature. This idea is summed up in the phrase: God is dead (The Gay Science).

2. If it is true that there is no Christian God who made all people equal in spirit, then a form social Darwinism rules (unlike Darwinism, Nietzsche emphasizes survival of the fittest based on creative capacities rather than physical) in which there are natural masters and natural slaves. Moreover, if human dignity/purpose is not derived from God, we must create it for ourselves (believe in man Genealogy of Morals) or fall into nihilism. This idea is summed up as the Will to Power.

3. Finally, humanity must create a human-centered and life-affirming system of master morality to replace Christian slave morality. The one who creates this moral system is the Ubermensch-himself a godlike being who can transcend the apparent philosophical and intellectual limits of humanity itself.

Questions:
1. Is this a correct interpretation of Death of God, The Will to Power, and the Ubermensch?
2. Are there any other reasons why Nietzsche does not believe in God?
3. Does Nietzsche believe there is a fundamental difference between humans and animals? If so, would this difference be the Will to Power and/or humans desire for purpose?
4. Is the ubermensch a paradox?

[Assistant]
>1. Is this a correct interpretation of Death of God, The Will to Power, and the Ubermensch?

No, not really.

The Death of God is when God can no longer operate as the background principle that gives the final justification and grounds for everything. The stuff about morality and science isn't directly relevant, there's no evidence Nietzsche read a word of Darwin for instance.

A society structured around master and slaves doesn't come about because of the Death of God, this has always been how society is structured for N. One of N's fear is that we might actually be travelling towards a masterless society where we are all slaves.

N doesn't think 'humanity' must create anything. N is a fundamental anti-universalist. He's not troubled at all by the existence of slave morality, he thinks that slaves should follow slave morality, he is troubled by the idea that higher men are ending up following slave morality instead of master morality, or a higher better ideal based on the transvaluation of all values.


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

[User]
ELI5: Given the number and types of bacteria in our mouths, why is it that cuts/ulcers in our mouths don't get super infected very quickly?

I've heard that the human bite is one of the most dangerous because of the types of bacteria in our mouths and teeth. Knowing this, wouldn't cuts to the inside of our mouths (tongue, cheek, inner lips, etc) also be very dangerous?

[Assistant]
The bacteria we live with are well known and quickly recognized by our immune system, which is ready to kill them if they find themselves were they should not.

It's always the same bacteria in your mouth so your blood has lots of antibodies ready.


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

[User] ELI5: how does it take several minutes to get water to boil in a pot yet a Coffee maker can heat cold water to scalding hot in mere seconds ?

[Assistant]
In a pot on the stove not all of the heat energy (either from the gas flame or the coil on an element) goes into the pot - you get a lot of that heat escaping around the sides of the pot. An in the case of an electric element, if your pot or element are worn and not perfectly flat/flush with one another, you're naturally imposing imperfect heat transfer. Then, you have to sink a lot of that heat into heating the pot itself before the water gets heated.

Inside an electric kettle, the giant (aluminum?) heating element or coil is being fed electricity directly - i.e. its heat is coming from the resistive heating effect of the current flow running through it (or through an electrically isolated inner bit) - thermal flow from the element to the water is direct. Also its coiled to maximize surface area. Thus, 100% of the heat is being sent into the water that surrounds it.

In a coffee maker, the heating element is relatively small, but super hot. It takes small drips of water from the reservoir and vaporizes it immediately; the steam travels up to the drip pan and condenses as hot water to drip through your coffee grounds. So in that case, its a very small but hot element vaporizing just very small amounts of water.

In both latter cases because 100% of the heat is going to the water, its much more energy efficient and usually quicker.


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

[User] ELI5: what is an eigenfunction and how does one work?

[Assistant] A totally not mathy explanation for a five year old to  (hopefully) understand.  Imagine a magic box where you throw in different shapes.  You can throw in anything, a cube, a ball, a pyramid shaped thing, anything that fits in the box.  When you close and shake the box and open it back up, you will see another object inside. Maybe a blue pyramid gave you a green cylinder.  But if the ball is the "eigenfunction" of the box, then throwing in a ball will give you out the same ball but maybe a bit larger or smaller and another shade of the same color.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does your appetite decrease in extreme heat?

[Assistant]
Your metabolism's job is to regulate the temperature of your body. "Metabolizing" food is basically like setting it on fire in your body and using the heat for energy.

In the extreme heat, your body temperature is already high. So your body doesn't burn the energy it has as aggressively (your metabolism slows down) so that you don't overheat. This decreases your appetite.

It's also why you have less energy and feel wiped out after a hot day. You still needed that energy, but your body converted less to avoid overheating. Basically put you in low power mode.


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

[User] [Marvel] What does J. Jonah Jameson think of mutants?

[Assistant]
JJJ doesn't hate heroes in general, he hates people who insist on hiding behind a mask and commit illegal acts under their veil of anonymity.

Mutants tend not to hide behind a mask when using their powers and act to protect themselves and what they represent, he can respect that. He doesn't like Spiderman because Spiderman is a vigilante who, if he messes up, can't be punished because they don't know who he is.


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

[User] [Rogue One] Why would anyone be blind in a universe with cybernetic prosthetics?

[Assistant] He is a monk on a backwater planet in a crappy little town. Either he can't afford it, doesn't have access to it, or has otherwise decided not to pursue it. It is clear that he is mostly unhindered by it, so maybe he *sees* no need.


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

[User] ELI5: I built a garden box in a spot where there had never been a garden. I have no other gardens. I planted kale, and 2 weeks later it was covered in caterpillars. Who told them; where did they come from?

[Assistant]
In a way, the kale itself told them. Butterflies use their antennae to smell chemicals wafting through the wind produced by plants. Cabbage white butterflies (*Pieris brassicae*) in particular are attracted to mustard oil glycosides, produced by most plants of the *Brassica* genus, including mustard "trees", turnips, and of course, *Brassica olaracea*, of which kale is a cultivar - along with cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.

They can smell the kale, and know that that's a good thing for their caterpillars to eat, so adult butterflies will plant their eggs on your kale and when the eggs hatch, boom, caterpillars.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Did the Dursley's ever experience any consequences of committing child abuse?

According to my sources, Harry Potter, the Boy who Lived, suffered depraved abuse both physically and psychologically at the hands of his would be carers. I have read records of Harry being regularly locked in a cupboard without food, water or sanitation facilities. There is also evidence to suggest that the Dursley child spent many years assaulting Harry while his parents looked on and even encouraged this behaviour, such as when the father encouraged his son to "hit Harry with your smeltings stick".

Has justice come down on them yet or have some long term abusers escaped justice?

[Assistant]
Harry forgave the Dursleys, even though they didn't especially deserve it. As such he chose not to bring them out on child abuse allegations.

It is true that Harry's case was an emergency lodging situation and insufficient safeguards were put in place to ensure Harry's safety and well-being under the Dursley's care. The blame lies nearly as much with the wizards who put Harry there and watched him grow up.

Child abuse is almost unheard-of in wizarding Britain, and most wizards are not muggle-savvy enough to realize the extent of the issue in the non-magical world. The lay witch is completely unaware there is a muggle government institution dedicated to Child Protective Services, who no doubt would have been very interested in the Dursley's conduct, especially in Harry's pre-Hogwarts years.

However, the various powerful shields, distraction, and turning charms that protected Harry from Voldemort and Death Eaters at 4 Privet Drive also protected him from the intervention of any *other* interlopers, such as CPS.

Dumbledore, being no fool, certainly knew the horrible conditions of Harry's life with the Dursleys. He knew that Harry deserved better. Unfortunately, the Dursleys were the only choice. It was better to be abused by them and sleep safely than taken by CPS and eventually killed in his foster bed by Voldemort. Not to mention that exposing Harry to adversity from the get-go was a sort of preparation for his intense trials.


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

[User]
[Star Wars ROTJ] When Luke asks Vader to leave the Empire and follow him, Vader says "You don't know the power of the dark side, I MUST obey my master". Is Vader making a statement or warning Luke that that he cannot do anything regarding the matter?

It almost sounds like Vader would love to leave the Emperor, but cannot because he's too powerful to be disobey and incur the consequence. Is he simply telling Luke that his hands are tied regarding the matter and that he cannot leave Palpatine?

Basically, who's talking here, Anakin or Vader?

[Assistant]
I read it as Anakin talking, but not exactly in the way you mention.  It's not that Anakin wants to leave, but fears Palpatine's power.  There is a component of that, but that's not the main thing.

He didn't say "you don't know his power".  It's the "power of the Dark Side" that's the main driver here.

It's addictive, and Anakin is speaking as an addict here.  He's expressing that desire to return to the light, but knows that in so doing he will lose that seductive power, and thus must obey his master in order to preserve the ability to feed his addiction, even though he knows that's wrong.

Which is why Vader is offering to overthrow the Emperor and lead the galaxy as father and son.  That's his path to being free of Palpatine without giving up his addiction to the Dark side power.


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

[User] [Skyrim] Dragonborn notwithstanding, who are the wealthiest factions or individuals in Skyrim, and how much wealth do they have?

[Assistant] The Blackbriars and the Silverbloods are likely the wealthiest families in the province, surpassing even the Jarls in actual monetary value. The Jarls technically own the most land, and have total control of land rights within their holds. The East Empire Company is technically the wealthiest faction (probably in all of Tamriel) but it's presence is limited.


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

[User] Would proving the existence of dark matter change the way we view the world or affect our physics equations?

[Assistant]
Whatever dark matter turns out to be, it will likely have some interaction with regular matter, or some process that leads to its production. That interaction will have to somehow fit into the standard model of particle physics or its replacement, for example as a term in the Lagrangian.

The two main candidates are WIMPs, which interact weakly, and axions, which are related to the strong force and interact with magnetic fields.

Somebody always asks about modified gravity as an alternative: if that's the case then we'd have to add additional terms to Einstein's equation.


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

[User]
What happens when we overdose?

In light of recent events.  What happens when people overdose.  Do we have the most amazing high then everything goes black?  Or is there a lot of suffering before you go unconscious?

[Assistant]
Heroin overdose is similar to any opiate overdose. Opiates depress the central nervous system causing a relaxed, "euphoric" sensation. After the initial rush, breathing becomes more shallow, decreasing oxygen to the brain and rest of the body. Without oxygen, the brain will start shutting down systems, including the nervous system. The individual will feel extremely drowsy and slip into a coma state. At this point, the nervous system is so relaxed that it fails to function. The individual goes into respiratory arrest (completely stop breathing). Once this occurs, no oxygen is being brought into the body and systems shut down and death occurs shortly after.

TLDR: Opiates relax the nervous system. Heroin overdose would be the same sensation as being so drowsy that you fall asleep.


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

[User]
[Daredevil Netflix MCU] We have seen Black Panther, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, all of The Guardians and more kill in combat. Yet Daredevil out of all of the Netflix series refuses to kill. He spent much of the first season debating it. Then he killed someone and never spoke about it. Why?

He, Luke, Danny and Jessica seem to have Batman's ability to fight without killing anyone. Even hitting the enemy in the back of the head, throwing through glass, using choke holds that stop blood and breathe, and more without ever actually *unintentionally* killing anyone. It's incredibly impressive. Why couldn't Daredevil do this while fighting that guy from The Hand?

Why hasn't this challenge arisen again? Throughout the Defenders or the subsequent systems?

[Assistant]
The Avengers and their associates often find themselves in situations that would call for soldiers, so there's some justification to them behaving like soldiers. The normal rules of society don't apply when it comes to the battlefield.

Daredevil, on the other hand, is trying to do a policeman's job without actually behaving like a policeman. He doesn't work with the system the way a cop is expected to. He doesn't use warrants or write reports. He's a vigilante, and that's bad enough without being a one-man judge-jury-and-executioner.


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

[User] [Star Trek TNG] If the Federation is a post scarcity society that doesn't use cash, how do private citizens get their mitts on civilian spacecraft?

[Assistant]
It's not entirely post-scarcity. There are plenty of things that can't be replicated, such as dilithium and latinum, and replicators are limited in scale (so things like spaceships can't be replicated either). In addition, no matter how perfect replicated goods can be, there is still demand for non-replicated goods and services, making Joseph Sisko's restaurant or Robert Picard's winery possible. There's also demand for intellectual pursuits, such as holonovel writers or engineers.

So an economy clearly still exists, albeit one that's not mentioned very often (remember, everything we've seen of the Federation has been through the lens of full-time career Starfleet officers). When someone speaks of humanity as "beyond money" they don't mean it literally, but they mean it to mean that it is no longer the driving force behind the majority of humankind's actions.

So to answer your original question, private citizens in the Federation do not have to work (or work very much) in order to survive. But if they choose to, they can hold down a job, save up money, and buy whatever they like.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How high off the ground is Cloud City?

And what does the ground look like on that planet? Or what kind of planet is it? It must have vegetation and trees since the atmosphere is fine enough for Luke to breathe way up there.

[Assistant] Bespin, the planet that Cloud City flies above, is a gas giant.  Unlike our Solar System's two gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, which are primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, Bespin is said to be primarily composed of oxygen and Tibanna gas (which is why Cloud City exists; it's a Tibanna mining colony).  Using Jupiter and Saturn as a basis, Bespin is likely composed of an outer layer of oxygen and gaseous Tibanna surrounding another layer of liquid Tibanna, which itself surrounds a rocky core.  Either way, the planet itself isn't inhabitable due to a lack of a solid surface.  Cloud City itself is explicitly stated to hover 59,000 kilometers/36,660.9 miles above Bespin's core.


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

[User]
CMV: Batman is one of, if not the most talented superhero ever

Wow, a nonpolitical post, let's get to it.

Now, while I'm not saying he's the most powerful, far from it, he is however the most talented, especially for being a non-super-powered human.
Batman is above Olympic level condition, and he has mastered 127 forms of martial arts, and is supposedly one of if not the best at hand to hand combat in the DC Universe. Using willpower alone, he is able to resist many forms of telepathy and mind control.
As well as being physically strong, he has genius-level intellect and is considered one of if not the best detective in the DC Universe and is a very skilled interrogator. Not only is he multilingual, but a master of disguise and espionage and is incredibly skilled at escapology. As well he has the willpower to use a green lantern ring, as well as use, and resist the control of a yellow lantern ring.
He is also able to operate machinery and other equipment and vehicles such as a plane or a submarine.

All of this information was gathered from the Batman Wikipedia so yeah.

[Assistant]
>Batman is above Olympic level condition,

He's flat out supper human. He gets causally thrown through walls that would shatter a gorilla, none the less human.

>As well as being physically strong, he has genius-level intellect and is considered one of if not the best detective in the DC Universe and is a very skilled interrogator.

But is he? He captures same people over and over and never makes any long term progress. The joker always gets out and causes chaos.

He has nearly unlimited money. He should be abke to build a prison to hold joker forever and take down the criminal gangs that work for these nutcases in the city.

Or at least try.

But he keep failing in the same ways over and over again.


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

[User]
[GotG] How does Star-Lord's mask protect his entire body from vacuum?

He seems to fly through vacuum with exposed skin that never suffers the effects of vacuum as long as he's wearing the mask on his face.

[Assistant]
Brief exposure to vacuum isn't going to kill you. Unless you're in direct sunlight. That'll kill you.

In fact, your death from being exposed to space [as long as you're out of direct sunlight] wouldn't come in the form of freezing, or decompression, but from asphyxiation. The air in your lungs would be forced out almost immediately, and from that point forward you'd have until your body needs more oxygen to get from A to B.

So if Starlord has a helmet on [and isn't in direct sunlight] he could move around for a minute or two without lasting damage. Frostbite for sure though.


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

[User]
ELI5 Why do some plugs have a wider and thinner prong, requiring you too insert the plug into the wall outlet in a specific way, and some plugs can be insert either way?

Is it a safety measure, and if so why are all plugs not required to be constructed this way? This question is specifically for American style outlets.

[Assistant]
It is a safety measure.

The narrow blade connects to the *hot* side, while the wider blade connects to the *neutral* side.  The neutral wire in the outlet is very close to being the same voltage as ground, so if you accidentally touch the neutral wire, chances are nothing will happen.  Inside the appliance, the neutral side is used for those pieces where there's a greater chance of accidentally touching them.  For example, with a light socket, the socket itself should be connected to neutral while the contact all the way in the bottom of the socket should be connected to hot.

Some devices don't have any significant difference between the two lines internally, so there's no value in polarized plugs.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do humans sleepwalk?

[Assistant]
When you sleep your brain puts your body in a sort of paralysis so you cant hurt yourself. With some people however, when they sleep they dont get put under sleep paralysis and are free to move.

If Im wrong someone correct me.


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

[User] [MCU] Why doesn't Tony Stark have all the Avengers fitted with suits, with advanced weapons and personal AI, such as Spider-Man in Homecoming?

[Assistant]
I think it's more so that Tony thinks of Peter as a son he never had. He wants to provide him with as much as possible to keep him from killing himself, going as far as to make a built in training system on how to fully utilize the suite.

 He doesn't do this for others because they are all fully grown adults who already have their "thing" or their process of doing things and a suite would just screw with it. He also doesn't feel as responsible for them as he does for peter.

If you want to argue that vision is also a child, he's already made out of vibranium so a suite wouldn't help there. As for an AI for him, well he kinda already is himself?


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Some questions about the Empire.

1) What is a Moff?

2) Where do Moffs, Admirals, Senators, and generals list in the Imperial hierarchy status?

3) Did anyone in the Senate openly oppose Palpatine's change to the system from a Republic to an Empire?

[Assistant]
1) a Moff is the governor of a sector of the Republic/Empire. In the old days, a Moff governed one of a thousand sectors of the galaxy. The position waned in later years, but Chancellor Palpatine reinstated it during the Clone Wars.

2) The Moffs are territorial governors, where Senators represent a planet or sector. (breaking the 4th wall) A Moff can be thought of as the governor of a state, where the Senator can be thought of as a federal representative. Admirals are in charge of military assets.

3) It is known that Alderaan, Corellia, and Chandrila were among the first planets to secede from the Empire when the Corellian Treaty was signed. Though this was orchestrated by Darth Vader as an attempt to capture and stamp out the sparks of rebellion, instead it led to several other planets forming resistance movements against the Empire, including Sullust, Dantooine, Duro, Kashyyyk, and others. Approximately 2 years after the Corellian Treaty was signed, Emperor Palpatine dissolved the Imperial Senate as an "emergency measure" due to widespread dissemination of the Declaration of Rebellion.

Following the dissolution of the Senate, the Emperor was able to instruct the regional Moffs and Grand Moffs directly without the bureaucracy of the Senate interfering.


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

[User] ELI5: How do K9's know the right person to bite and not the other cops/civilians who are also around them?

[Assistant]
They don't.

Ideally a K9 unit should be deployed in circumstances where that isn't going to be a problem, either because the perp is very obvious by their movement and mannerisms, or because there are so few people around that the dog cannot make that mistake.

But... if you poke around, you can find plenty of stories where police get sued after their attack dog mauls the wrong person.


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

[User] ELI5: How did large congregations of people hear speeches (i.e. Lincoln's address, and countless other older speeches) without the use of microphones?

[Assistant] If people are quiet, and there is no traffic or other sources of noise nearby, the voice of a single shouting man can be clearly heard for quite a long way away. In addition the large congregations were usually held at big amphitheaters which are specifically designed to help the sound from the stage carry outwards. The stages usually had reflectors and resonators at strategic places to make this happen. Where there were problems hearing the people speaking they would use megaphones. These are large cones that a speaker could shout into in order for his voice to become louder and more directed so that more people could hear them. Popular speeches would also be written down or memorized so they could be retold. A lot of the people attending political congregations would be campaigners who would go back to their home towns and recite the speech word for word so that even more would be able to hear it.


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

[User] [Star Wars] At 50 years of age, why is Grogu still intellectually an infant? Are his/Yoda's species developmentally slow?

[Assistant]
Yoda was 900 years old when he died naturally of "old age"

Assuming a bell curve model of aging and maturity, and then atrophy in old age, then yes.

Also, it's explained by Ahsoka that he was taken as an infant and hidden away.  He likely missed some key developmental stages as a result.

We also learn both by witness and from Ahsoka that Grogu doesn't lack intelligence.  He's aware and understands... But he lacks language skills ... either simply by his age or because of the aforementioned lack of development or simply was never taught to speak Basic (English).

All that said, he's still a child in terms of his species and will still act and behave like a child would... Playful, mischievous, etc.


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

[User] Is there a reason all the planets orbit the sun in approximately the same plane and direction?

[Assistant] Yes. Conservation of angular momentum. Our solar system started out as a rotating gas cloud. Over time, this cloud collapsed and denser regions formed the sun and the planets. But due to conservation of angular momentum, the rotation had to remain, which means that the solar system as a whole rotates around the same axis that the original gas cloud did.


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

[User]
(Star Wars) How closely does Empire technology resemble Republic technology?

Also where does the republic tech come from? Is theirs also republic?

[Assistant] Nearly identical. There was a regime change, but Star Wars is a nearly post technological setting. The Empire's super weapons were application of existing tech on a larger scale (Death Star) or implementing a technology no one had seen a need to before (Sun Crusher).


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

[User]
[Guardians of the Galaxy] Question about Rocket Racoon and Groot. (SPOILERS!!!)

I loved the movie but I found it kind of weird that Rocket was so sad that Groot was going to die when he protected the group from the ship crash, yet he somehow knew that putting one of Groots sticks in a flower pot would bring him back to life.

If Rocket could simply just regrow Groot, then what was the point of him being so sad it? Did he already know he could do that or was it just some sort of desperate (and successful) attempt to bring back Groot?

[Assistant] Rocket didn't actually know that putting part of Groot in a pot would work.  Rocket was grieving and put a part of Groot in the pot out of desperation and hope that he could regrow like some species of plants.  When they fly away from the planet and Groot first moves you can see the elation and relief on rockets face that he was alive.


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

[User]
ELI5: If cancer is caused by your cells making errors when they duplicate, won't all multi-celled organisms, provided they live long enough, eventually get cancer?

Holy shit, front page!

[Assistant]
By sheer statistical probability, yeah.

There are organisms like naked mole rats that have numerous barriers to tumor development that enable them to resist cancer so well that we've never documented it in the species. However, *eventually* we would expect there to be mutations in enough of the genes that prevent tumor formation for one to form. DNA replication and DNA maintenance can't be 100% perfect.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] In A New Hope was Vader ever made aware that his step-brother bought the droids that he was after? Wouldn't this curious coincidence have involved him more, at least enough to interrogate Owen himself?

This always kind of bothered me. I'm sure Vader was being given regular updates on the status of the search, and I take it he would've been indifferent to the ultimate fate of Owen anyway. But it all would have been too much of a coincidence for someone like Darth Vader, right?

[Assistant] Why would he? He was not on the ground at the time, he was on death star or on his way there. The stormtroopers reported to some officer who did not know or care who Owen was. They had their orders and rules of engagement, and they did what they did, and only reported it after the fact.


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

[User]
[One Punch Man]Saitama may be invulnerable but why don't his clothes burn up when he fights the Alien Pirate King, who uses attacks capable of disintegrating matter? How does his exercise-regiment-related-powers empower his clothing?

Only at the very, very end of the fight after the Alien Pirate King uses his most Super Duper Ultimate Attack +24 are Saitama's clothes damaged and only then, only a little?  It is also unclear if that is from the alien's attacks, or Saitama's.

So, why are his clothes so tough?

[Assistant]
His clothes are made from 100 stitches, 100 knits and 100 weaves. Every day no matter how his hands hurt. He did stitches even when his hands were bloody. He kept knitting even when his knuckles started making weird clicking noises.

He woke up one day and noticed some changes. All the excess material fell off and his clothes were strong!

Guys fooling around with this new material science junk, they're never going to make it this far. Human clothes are strong because we can change them ourselves!


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

[User] [Marvel] There are a lot of "good guy" billionaires: Prof. X, Emma Frost, Reed Richards, Tony Stark, and T'Challa. Has any of them ever started a fund/grant to pay street-level superheroes like Peter Parker a living wage (like $40k) so they can fight crime without living in poverty?

[Assistant]
Tony Stark kind of does via the Avengers.  Even before he was publicly known as Iron Man it was widely publicized that Stark was bankrolling the Avengers by giving them a mansion and its mentioned when Tigra first joins that the Avengers are offered $52K a year though most refuse the salary.  A lot of heroes are given reserve status, so Tigra and Falcon were getting cash from Stark.   Spider-Man has a weird moral code where he doesn't want to be handed money (probably why he's poor as shit) but has been offered this wage by Stark before.

Reed Richards is pretty big on the philanthropy scene but tbh he uses most of the money they get because he's building HUGE shit constantly.

Professor X has a number of charitable organizations, but also runs a school/mutant rights group.

T'Challa is mainly focused on his own country.

The person other than Tony Stank who does the most like what you're proposing is Danny Rand who is a billionaire and co-founder of Heroes for Hire where he makes sure Luke gets a living wage.


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

[User] ELI5:Why aren't there more power outlets in airport terminals?

[Assistant]
Most airport terminals in the world were built before everyone carried a laptop, tablet and a phone with them on every flight, so outlets were never added to account for people charging them. 20 years ago, no one had stuff they wanted to charge before boarding so many outlets weren't needed. Adding an outlet isn't exactly trivial - wiring needs to be run behind the walls, circuit breakers might need to be upgraded to handle the extra load, etc. Think about what it would take to add extra power outlets to a room in your house, then consider that would have to be done at every gate in the terminal - all without disrupting normal operations at the airport.

Newley built or remodeled terminals ideally should be built with plenty of outlets. But it would be expensive to add them to older terminals.


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

[User]
If space based telescopes cant see planets how will the earth based European Extremely Large Telescope do it?

I thought hubble was orders of magnitude better because our atmosphere gets in the way when looking at those kinds of resolutions. Would the same technology work much better in space?

[Assistant]
By being much much bigger. The big advantage of space telescopes is no atmosphere, meaning no seeing (the twinkling of stars) and no atmospheric absorption of light. The big disadvantage is price and size - it is extremely expensive to launch a space telescope, they can only be a few meters across.

Land based telescopes on the other hand can easily be made enormous. We have adaptive optics and other systems nowadays to compensate for seeing. This allows us to negate many of the problems of the atmosphere and use enormous land telescopes.


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

[User] How can nerves be reconnected, but not repaired?

[Assistant]
It's like a wire. You can kinda *splice* the nerves back together, but you can't run new wire to places where the old stuff died.

But, you say, nerves are so complex! How do they put them back together exactly right?

They actually don't. The brain just re-learns what the input means.


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

[User]
ELI5: If airline pilots can "make up" for delays by altering the route or the altitude, why not just do that in the first place?

I just landed in Philidelphia from Chicago, 10 mins after scheduled. However, we took off 35 mins late. The pilot mentioned that he will "fly slightly higher to make up for the lost time". If this shortens the path or speeds up the journey, why would this not be the default flight?

[Assistant] It may have cost a fair bit more in fuel - but the airline decided it was better to spend that and catch up so the plane would be in the right place for it's next trip in time and so the customers were happier.


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

[User] ELI5:Why after you chop some onions the smell in your hand lingers for a century while perfumes fade away?

[Assistant]
IIRC, most perfumes are alcohol based.  Alcohol is very volatile, and the majority of it evaporates quickly after leaving the bottle.  That's why if you ever talk to someone selling perfume (sometimes you can't help it), they tell you to let the scent mellow for a little bit before you really know what it will smell like.

The compound that gives things like onions and garlic their potency is released when you cut into them, and is intended as an irritant.  This was to ward off things that would otherwise eat the onion in the original habitats.  Side note, these compounds have the ability to destroy the cells of dogs and cats, so should never be fed to them in any form.

The compounds released by cutting onions convert their amino acid sulfoxides to sulfenic acid.  This what makes you cry, but also what sticks to your hands, and is very difficult to remove with normal washing.  Most guides say stainless steel will help to remove the odor, and I've found it usually works for me.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is it that ads on YouTube load and play almost immediately and in HD quality, but the actual videos will buffer, loading very slow and pixelated? (regardless of length sometimes)

Follow up questions:
Why do full-length movies on Netflix load faster?
Why haven't the YouTube developers upgraded the performance by now?!?!

[Assistant]
It has nothing to do with the performance of YouTube - their servers run well. The ISPs that are between you and the YouTube servers are using something called QoS (Quality of Service) to prioritise the traffic that goes across their networks. They prioritise YouTube's traffic very low, and what you experience is long load times and buffering and stallouts.

This can be tested by using a VPN to connect to a VPN endpoint outside of the ISP you're using, and streaming a YouTube video  it will stream significantly faster. This is because your ISP cannot inspect the VPN traffic (it is encrypted) and will only throttle it statically instead of dynamically. Or the ISP will not throttle the VPN traffic at all.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do carbonated drinks feel almost like a burning sensation in our mouths if it's just the formation of bubbles of CO2 gas? Likewise, why does it hurt to burp that gas up through our nose?

[Assistant] the bubbles are made of carbon dioxide. When carbon dioxide contacts the lining of your throat, chemical reactions convert a portion of it into carbonic acid. The sudden change in pH from the acid activates the pain receptors in your throat, causing a burning sensation.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are postage stamps necessary? They just seem like a major inconvenience.

Especially in this modern age, there must be a better alternative or a way to do without them.

[Assistant] It's a quick and convenient way of proving that you paid the necessary taxes and fees. It's the most foolproof way we have to ensure that people aren't gaming the system and not paying. Otherwise, they would have to look up databases and records to see if you paid, and that's just not feasible when letters and packages are all zipping around. SOMETHING has to go on the package, to prove that you've paid. Might as well be a stamp.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the ring finger have different "mechanics" to the rest of the fingers?

[Assistant] The tendon from the wrist lies partially below the tendon for the middle finger. The middle finger position restricts the movement of the ring finger. If the middle finger is curled up (tendon fully stretched), the ring finger can't move. If you leave your hand flat on the table and lift repeatedly the ring finger, you'll see the tendon of the middle finger moving upwards too.


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

[User]
[MCU/Avengers] Why were they/Captain America in such a rush to close the tesseract portal?

If all the minions and giant robot flying lizards had already dropped dead from the blowing up of the mothership, why couldn't they at least try and wait and see if Stark would come back, instead presuming he was dead meat? I mean, all imminent threat besides Loki were gone.

In fact if Stark didn't blow up the mothership, they'd still be in much bigger trouble. They weren't exactly looking on track to comfortably handling the existent threats even if the portal was sealed.

[Assistant]
If they hadn't closed the portal, New York would have been nuked.

Sending Tony through the portal was supposed to stop that happening. It'd suck if New York was burned up in a nuclear explosion anyway.

EDIT: To clarify, the most immediate threat was now the **giant nuclear explosion** advancing from the other side of the portal, which they had to avoid.


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

[User] ELI5:Why Linux is supposedly so much more secure than Windows, even though it is open source and does not have a multi million corporation behind it?

[Assistant] It's secure *because* it is open source - anyone can look at the code in order to find security issues. Also, there are literally dozens of companies which contribute to the Linux project, such as Canonical (developers of Ubuntu) and Red Hat.


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

[User] ELI5: Is ISIS actually a huge threat or is the media just blowing it out of proportion?

[Assistant]
Short answer: yes.

Long Answer:

Obviously, if you live in the Middle East, then yes.  They might come to your country and slaughter you or sell you into slavery.

As for the rest of the world, there are a lot of things to be concerned about:

-They are further destablizing an already politically volatile region of the world.

-They are conquering a region that produces a lot of the world's oil, which is an essential resource.

-They could potentially conquer nations that have nuclear/biological weapons.

-The further they grow, the more power they gain (and can project into other regions).

-They could potentially threaten crucial shipping routes, such as the Suez Canal.

-Their success and media campaigns are re-invigorating Muslim extremism accross the world.

-They have threatened to use their resources to commit state-sponsored acts of terrorism.

There are a lot of reasons to be concerned if they aren't at least somewhat contained.


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

[User] Has there been a Feminist perspective on how Patriarchy oppress men?

[Assistant] Yeah. Most feminists recognize that and talk about it, but it's not their focus. There are some folks who focus a bit more on it, though. bell hooks is a good example - she wrote a couple of books about masculinity. You'll also see a lot of discussions of masculinity in queer theory, at least the kind that developed in the 90s with 3rd wave feminism like Halberstam. Also, Ladelle McWhorter's work on race and gender in the US is really great and would probably help.


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

[User]
[Dc/Marvel] Have there been any heroes who ran for office?

Usually when a hero thinks "thing would be better if I was in charge they usually ether laugh it off or start an alt timeline where heroman is evil. I think there has to be at least one powered individual who traded in the cape and tights so he could use his powers to better his nation, right?

[Assistant]
Green Arrow ran for mayor of Star City twice, winning once.

There's one alternate future, where Superman became President of the USA. And another alternate universe where Superman is pretty much Obama.


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

[User] Eli5: If ants love sugar, and bees make honey, why arent bee hives constantly attacked by ants?

[Assistant] Ants are constantly trying to attack beehives. Other bees and insects will also try to attack the beehives. This is why a large number of bees is dedicated to protecting their hives from these intruders.