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

[User]
ELI5: Why doesn't the United States just lower the cost of medical treatment to the price the rest of the world pays instead of focusing so much on insurance?

Wouldn't that solve so many more problems?

Edit: I get that technical answer is political corruption and companies trying to make a profit. Still, some reform on the cost level instead of the insurance level seems like it would make more sense if the benefit of the people is considered instead of the benefit of the companies.

Really great points on the high cost of medication here (research being subsidized, basically) so that makes sense.

To all the people throwing around the word "unconstitutional," no. Setting price caps on things so that companies make less money would not be "unconstitutional."

[Assistant]
Private industry/the market sets the prices and thus can't be controlled by government.  It's a question for doctors, insurers, hospital owners, pharmaceutical companies etc.  Not the government.  That's what happens with a market driven medical sector.

You might as well ask why the government doesn't set the price of a big mac.


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

[User]
ELI5: I am 30+ years old and just got told that I have peanut allergies. I grew up eating peanut butter and several other peanut related foods. How can I suddenly acquire such an allergy?

A couple of weeks ago I had an allergic reaction while out at a local coffee shop. After getting to a medical facility and having it under control, I went to see my doctor to find out what happened. Blood work was done and it came up that I'm suddenly allergic to peanuts. I am still getting more blood work done because my wheat allergy was slightly high, so my doctor wants to see what my sensitivity to celiac is (not sure if this could be related or help explain things). I've been left completely in the dark by my doctor about this sudden allergy.

I grew up eating peanut related foods on a regular basis. I would snack on a spoonful of peanut butter frequently. If I someone who didn't eat it often I wouldn't be so at a loss. How can this come on so suddenly?

[Assistant]
An allergy is an accidental immune reaction. One of the major features of your immune system is your antibodies. Antibodies are like keys that float around looking for their locks, which are biotic features called antigens. An antigen is a unique tag that living cells produce.

These antibodies are randomly generated in your lymph nodes. There are upwards of a billion possible antibodies in most people and before they are released into your body they are tested for self-similarity, meaning that if your own cells trigger the antibody it is disassembled so that your immune system doesn't attack your own cells. (In some people this doesn't work, and that's how you get an autoimmune disease.) In most cases, your body will also screen out foreign antigens that are known to be harmless (like peanut antigens).

So, why do you have a peanut allergy all of a sudden? In your first 30 years, your body never happened upon an antibody that is triggered by a peanut antigen (remember antibodies are randomly assembled). Now, your body has made that antibody and apparently that antibody made it through the screening process. So, the antibody attaches to the antigen and basically posts a sign, saying 'immune system come find me and destroy me.' Meanwhile, it also sends a copy of itself back to your central immune system with a message that says 'I am a useful antibody. Keep making copies of me.'

So now, unless you happen upon an immune disorder that interrupts the peanut-antigen-antibody making process, your body now things that peanuts are something it's supposed to attack. And voila! Allergies.


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

[User]
If breaking the sound barrier results in a sonic boom, would going faster than the speed of light have a similar effect?

I know it's theoretically impossible and I'm familiar with the time travel theories, but would there be any other kind of effect similar to that of a sonic boom?

Side question: Did they know that a sonic boom would occur when an object broke the sound barrier before they actually broke it?

[Assistant]
There actually is such an effect in the right context, and it manifests as Cherenkov radiation.

In a vacuum, light travels at speed *c*.  In a transparent material, light will travel at a slower speed.  (This is what the index of refraction measures.)  Let's call that slower speed *v*.

If a charged particle travels in that transparent medium at speed greater than *v* but, of course, less than *c*, it will produce Cherenkov radiation, the electromagnetic equivalent of a sonic boom.

Cherenkov radiation is key to certain detectors (for proton decay and neutrino observatory experiments like Super Kamiokande); they have large underground areas filled with water and detectors set up to detect any Cherenkov radiation, which would then indicate that certain particle physics phenomena had occurred.


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

[User] If two people are in a dark room and a single photon is fired to the wall. Which person sees/absorbs the photon?

[Assistant]
Well, one photon doesn't register for human eyes, so no one will see it regardless of absorption...

The photon *appears to* travel in a straight line, so it would hit whoever it is pointed at... if it is not pointed directly into one of the eyes, it would just be absorbed by a wall or their clothing or whatever.

If you however are talking something like a double slit experiment, then it would be random which detector absorbs a specific photon, if they have equal chance to.


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

[User]
How much does vaccine injection site really matter?

Aside from, for example, so long as a subcutaneous vaccine is administered subcutaneously, does it really matter *where* on the body? Does it impact level of effectiveness, whether it's effective at all, etc.?

For context, I was looking into where on the body cats and dogs receive their shots and wondered how much it really mattered.

[Assistant] Its likely for consistency. Some cats used to get injection-site sarcomas from rabies vaccines so theyve now changed the rabies vaccine for cats and they typically always give it in the same spot now so that if it occurs again they know what specific vaccine it is. Dogs vaccines typically go in the same places every time, but if they dont its documented really well. So its likely a consistency thing and in case theres issues with the vaccine/injection site theyll know which vaccine it is easier than having to research where each doctor gave it. Not sure if its the same in humans?


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

[User]
What is at the very edge of the (constantly expanding) universe?

Say you're all-powerful and you travel to the very edge of the universe. What would you see? Could you actually see it expanding before your eyes? Beyond the expansion of matter, is there literally nothing? Have I got no idea what i'm talking about? Sorry if that's the case!

[Assistant]
There is no edge. Metric expansion isn't about objects traveling outward from a central point, it's a homogeneous and isotropic stretching of space. The amount of space between two distant points is simply increasing. You could go to the edge of the observable universe, and you'd see much the same thing that you see from here: galaxies, largely in groups and clusters and superclusters, stretching for billions of light years, and then eventually the cosmic microwave background.

The universe is most likely either infinite or *finite but unbounded*--the latter case meaning that you could travel far enough in one direction to come back to your starting point.

See the FAQ in the sidebar for more discussions of expansion.


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

[User]
Does the earth's rotation affect the force of gravity Near the equator?

Does the earth's centrifugal force from rotation cause people Closer To the equator to experience slightly less gravity than people closer to the poles?

[Assistant]
Does it affect the actual force of gravity? No (except to the extent that it distorts the shape of the Earth). Does it affect the *perceived* gravity (the measurable acceleration towards the center of the Earth)? Yes.

How much? The equatorial velocity of the Earth's rotation is 465.1 m/s. The equatorial radius is 6378.1 km. Therefore the centripetal acceleration required to maintain the uniform circular motion of objects around the equator is a = v^2 / ρ  = (465.1)^2 / (6378100) =  0.034 m/s^2 . Subtract that from the standard gravity *g* and you get *g**_net_* = 9.77265 m/s^2 . This is about a 0.35% difference.


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

[User]
[The Martian] What are the long-term side-effects of Mark Watney's ordeal on Mars? How could he help combat this, even as he's still on Mars?

Malnutrition, bone and muscle density...

[Assistant]
Another thing to think about is going crazy while hes stuck up there. Mental deterioration is a problem, especially when he is so close to death all the time. He has to make sure that he relaxes, takes time to unwind and entertain himself, which you see him do by watching episodes of Happy Days and listening to disco (though this might have done the opposite).

His continuous practice of making video logs and finding funny tidbits to keep the levity in a survival situation is going to prove important.


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

[User] [Batman]Why don't armed thugs ever try to shoot Batman in his uncovered mouth instead of armored chest?

[Assistant] One does not simply shoot a fast moving target who is covered in black (hard to see a body outline), sneaking through the shadows (can't see any bright skin against the costume), and likely has the drop on you (as in you'll never get the chance)


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

[User]
ELI5: How is it when youre using something that uses two batteries and it starts to go dead you can switch the same batteries in different slots and Ill give your electronics more battery life?

Itll*

[Assistant]
Two reasons:

1. Removing and reinserting the batteries cleans some oxidation off the contacts, improving the connection.

2. Handling the batteries heat them slightly. Household  batteries rely on chemical reactions that work slightly better at higher temperatures.

Switching doesn't do anything by itself.


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

[User]
[Fictional Prisons] What is the absolute worst fictional prison to get sent to? The best?

There's no need to include fictional depictions of literal Hell, but short of that, what's the worst place to get locked up in all of fiction? Conversely, what's the best place to not be allowed to leave from?

[Assistant]
Azkaban is actually really messed up if you think much about it. We don't know much about it, but the main thing we do know is that it is guarded by Ringwraith-esque horrors who literally survive by draining  happy memories and good feelings from their victims until they are despairing husks incapable of anything except constantly reliving their worst moments of despair.

And the Wizard Government sends people to a prison for this to be done to them non-stop until they die. The Wizard Government was a nightmare, even before Voldemort took over.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What would Han Solo do if Boba Fett started a casual conversation with him in Mos Eisley?

Han is hanging around Mos Eisley one day and Boba walks over to him and starts a casual conversation with him. What does Han do?

[Assistant] He'd probably reciprocate. What else would he do? Neither of them are Sith Lords who get offended when a lower being addresses them without kneeling first. They're professional criminals who need to interact with peers quite often.


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

[User] Why do things curdle?

[Assistant] So let's use the obvious example of milk. Milk is a pretty complex mixture full of fats, proteins and sugars; and it also contains a significant amount of microbial life. These bacteria eat the lactose and one of their digestive by-products is lactic acid. As the bacteria eat and produce lactic acid the milk becomes more acidic, and the more acidic environment causes the protein, mainly casein, to denature (unfold and lose their quaternary, tertiary and secondary structure). These denatured proteins are now able to stick and clump together forming those chunks you see when milk curdles.


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

[User] Why is this Photoshopped picture of Paul Ryan's face so hard to look at?

[Assistant] Your brain expects a normal face with one set of eyes, one mouth, etc. The brain 'thinks' that its seeing double because of a focus issue, not because the picture is actually doubled up. Therefore, it tries to continually adjust focus to get you back to single-vision. Of course this doesn't work, because there is no focus issue to begin with, and all you get is an uncomfortable feeling.


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

[User] What is the hiccup actually doing? Is the function trying to accomplish something, or is it just an alert to drink water? Or is it something entirely different?

[Assistant]
Neil Shubin writes in the pop. scientific evo-devo book 'Your inner fish' about the hiccup. He writes it is a non functional trait that is a remnant of our amfibian-like ancestors, specifically tadpoles. Since tadpoles have both lungs and gills, they need to be able to shut the entrance to the lungs to breath through the gills underwater. The mechanism they use is closing the epiglottis, just like our hiccup. This is controlled by the exact same area in the brain as with our hiccup and can be blocked with the same trics that stop our hiccup (higher concentration of CO2 or extension of the chest wall). So what enables tadpoles to not drown their lungs under water is basically an extended hiccup. Our hiccup in this explanation is a remnant of a time we still had gills. Something similar goes for the weird route that the nerves follow that control part of this movement (nervus vagus and nervus phrenicus) that originate at the base of your skull and then travel all the way down to your diaphragm instead of just originating from your back in that general area. A remnant of the time we were still fish.
I do not know how strongly this hypothesis of the hiccup is supported but it seems very logical to me.


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

[User]
Does running air conditioning in your car impact gas milage?

I've heard some people swear it's true, and others say it's a myth. Would it not just run off the battery and not affect the gas usage?

[Assistant]
Yes, it does.  Most AC units draw mechanical power directly from the motor via a belt attached to the main pulley at the end of the crankshaft.  The unit has an electric clutch that disengages and allows the pulley to turn freely, or engages and runs the freon pump (thereby extracting mechanical energy from the engine).  It's a small power draw compared to (say) driving on the freeway, but significant - especially for city driving - because it is continuous.

Even if the AC only pulled power from the battery, that power is not produced magically.  Energy stored in the battery comes from the car's alternator, which works by extracting mechanical energy from the motor the same way the AC unit does: it imposes a drag force on the motor via a belt attached to the pulley at the end of the crankshaft.  The more electricity you use, the more drag force is imposed.  Nothing is for free.

On modern hybrid cars the effect is even more pronounced because the AC forces the engine to run (to supply the needed mechanical energy) even if it would otherwise shut off.


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

[User]
What happens to light INSIDE a blackhole?

If someone were to generate light from the center of a blackhole, does it just shoot to the schwarzschild radius and then orbit the blackhole? Or does it get reflected from the outer rim and then hit the source?

I'm guessing since the blackhole has to have a speed of light c as its escape velocity (can't be higher or lower), the density inside is not constant, but gradually increases as you go towards the outside of it. But if it's doing that, and there's more particles, then shouldn't the speed of light just inside the blackhole be much slower than the speed of light in the vacuum just outside (acting like total internal reflection)?

[Assistant]
All energy including mass inside a black hole that hasn't consumed energy recently is thought to be concentrated in the singularity - a 0-volume "area" at the center of the hole. Anything outside the center has a density of 0, and the center itself has infinite density - at least, that is the best we can tell with the current knowledge of physics we have.

The Schwarzschild radius is the distance from the center where the escape velocity is equal to the speed of light. As you get closer to the center the escape velocity increases, and at the singularity the escape velocity is infinite. This means that even light can't go anywhere but towards the center once it is inside the Schwarzschild radius - any path that *anything* could possibly take is pointed inwards.


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

[User] ELI5: What is it about the filming procedure for soap operas that makes them appear so different visually?

[Assistant] They're filmed and shown at a higher framerate which makes the motion look more smooth. Ironically, even though it's closer to how you perceive motion in real life (not on a screen), it somehow looks "less real" because you're so used to watching other TV at a lower framerate.


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

[User]
Have humans always had to brush their teeth to avoid rotting?

I cannot think of any animals in nature that need to brush their teeth? However, I'm not sure if wild animals' teeth rot or not. Aside from the domestic dog that the owner brushes for them.

[Assistant]
The short answer is that no, brushing of the teeth wasn't necessary. Humans didn't live nearly as long until recently, and there was no reason to evolve more long-lasting teeth.

The long answer is that there is no selective pressure to produce teeth that last longer. Teeth don't usually start getting seriously rotten until our third decade of life or so. At this point, we're already well past sexual maturity and, in prior millenia, would have likely reproduced. Remember, unless a trait gives a reproductive advantage, there's no selection for it.

A related phenomenon is that humans and their ancestors didn't live nearly as long in the past. The set of teeth that we have is perfectly sufficient for a lifespan of 25 or 30 years. As we've dramatically expanded our lifespan, we've had to come up with ways to preserve the teeth we have (by brushing them), or replace them altogether (with dentures).


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

[User]
CMV: People who work in journalism need to publicly disclose their familial connections, romantic connections and friendships with politicians or political organizations.

How should they do this? Im not really sure. Maybe just having a page on their website or paper thats dedicated to disclosing potential conflict of interests. What inspired me to create this post was that I was recently reading an article that outlined several familial and romantic connections between Canadian politicians and journalists. I think having these connections outlined would contribute to restoring some people's faith in media in an era of "fake news". I think it would go far in also helping inform readers on potential biases.

[Assistant]
I mean even if they did how many people would really use this information?

I mean that genuinely. When was the last time you purposefully looked up a journalist's page and took the time to read up on all their potential connections? When was the last time you even read the name of the person writing the article. This is one of those things that sounds really nice and simple on paper but not so much in practice

Here's another question of all those connections how many did you then note had lied or otherwise falsified information? Can you point me to any article they wrote and show me how these connections influenced them to do so?

If a journalist lies or covers up or refuses to print a story; then trust other journalists to report the truth both of said connection (as they did in that article) and the true situation as it stands.

I get wanting unbiased news, but making journalists; some of whom make a habit of pissing off powerful people with the articles they write, is just a good way to give every troll and extremist a perfect list of targets more than anything.


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

[User]
ELI5: How only a few companies can sell Domain names.

How do domain names work, and how do companies like godaddy get a corner on the market? Why can't anyone just sign up for a domain name?

[Assistant]
For the sake of doing this like an ELI5 we will focus on the .coms rather than going into detail on all of the different structures for obscure TLD (Top level domains) like .ms, .tv, ...

Essentially the companies you buy a domain from (eg Godaddy - Registrar) need to speculate on how many domains they will sell per year, and pay that number multiplied by a registration fee (7-10$) to the larger body (eg Verisign - Registry). So it takes the financial power of a large company to pay the up front cost to the registry.
Additionally the Registrars need to follow specific rules and regulations laid out by ICANN (the regulating body of the industry) and other financial/procedural standards.

Bonus fact:  At the origin of the .com, there was only one company (Network Solutions) who was both the sole registrar, and the registry.  This was later broken up, Verisign essentially purchasing the Registry power, and allowing other companies to set up Registrar functions.

Source: Worked for a Domain registrar for a few years.


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

[User]
[Star Trek DS9] Why would Starfleet give one of their most advanced warships to a bunch of cadets in the middle of a war?

So in the middle of the Dominion war, Starfleet assigns one of its most advanced warships, the USS Valiant, to take a crew of mostly cadets on a 'tour of the Federation'.

Why would they waste this ship like this? Surely these cadets could have taken an Oberth class or some ship less useful in a time of war. If they really wanted them to have experience with a Defiant class, wouldn't it make more sense to put them on a holodeck or something?

The fact that these cadets screwed up so badly and ended up getting themselves killed and the ship destroyed proves what a horrible idea this was. So how did this even get approved?

[Assistant]
The Valiant was actually sent out before the Dominion War started, only getting caught behind enemy lines after hostilities broke out. She was never meant to be out there with cadets during the actual conflict.

As to why the cadets were assigned to the Valiant to begin with, those cadets are Red Squad. Red Squad is sort of a proto special forces training unit for Starfleet. Its members are the best of the best and are given special classes and advanced training. A brief stint on an actual Defiant-class ship falls within those guidelines.

At the same time, the Valiant was a brand new ship. She probably still needed a shakedown cruise before Starfleet would be confident in putting her to work in the war. Putting Red Squad aboard for a relatively benign mission would have been a good way to kill two birds with one stone. Red Squad get their training and field experience, Starfleet gets to work out any kinks in the Valiant before putting her in the firing line.

Starfleet just underestimated how quickly the war would start.


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

[User]
CMV: Uther was in the wrong when he left Arthas before the culling of Stratholme.

By abandoning Arthas at Stratholme, Uther would have allowed the undead Scourge to spread even further and take more lives. By the time Arthas had arrived he was simply doing damage control and minimizing the body count. There was no good way to know who would have eaten the infected grain and would turn. Everyone in the city could have been quarantined, but that would have left an undead legion for Mal'ganis to use against Lordaeron. By killing everyone in the city, he slowed the spread of the plague. Arthas' mistake was not in the culling of Stratholme, but in following Mal'ganis to Northrend and taking Frostmorne.

[Assistant] I think you're missing the point. The purpose of this was to demonstrate to us Arthas slipping further into darkness. While logically it made sense, where would it stop? Would Arthas have marched through the country side slaughtering every town he came across if Mal'ganis made him believe there was infected grain? Uther left because he saw that Arthas was out of control and beyond help, no longer a Paladin.


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

[User]
ELI5: What's the difference between a Senior Vice President and a Vice President of a company?

Are their duties completely different? Why the difference in the titles? I notice, like at General Motors, there's a lot of both.

[Assistant] Strongly depends on the company. In some companies, it's an executive position. In others-- especially client-facing ones such as banks, consultancies, and marketing agencies, VP can be a popular title for most mid-career positions. This started out as a way to make clients feel that they were interfacing with someone important, but it's since then drifted into non-client-facing roles at those companies due to title inflation. Mid-level (not even managerial) corporate employees at investment banks, for example, tend to be VPs. Their bosses are SVPs. In other companies, they would be managers, directors, or maybe VPs.


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

[User]
[MCU] How did Doctor Strange know to keep watching when he reached timelines where Thanos snapped and appeared to beat the Avengers?

So we're told Doctor Strange watches 14 million or so timelines but, conceivably, he's only watching with the intent to find one where the Avengers win.

How would he know to keep watching the one proper timeline when, by all accounts, Thanos snaps half of life away and appears to have defeated the Avengers and secured his victory?

In particular, in that timeline not only would he have to watch Thanos snap half of life away BUT he'd also watch them kill Thanos a few weeks later and find out there was no way of reversing what happened.

In fact, it would be FIVE YEARS of a defeat until the Avengers found a way to win. Am I supposed to believe he watched FIVE YEARS in every timeline until the right one came along?

Or did he, hypothetically, fast forward to his death (Ala the Ancient One in DS1) in every timeline to see which one he could see furthest in to then work backward?

Seems to me there would be no incentive to keep watching once Thanos snaps half of life away. Unless Strange knew there were timelines where he gets snapped away but is brought back five years later.

Thoughts?

[Assistant]
>Or did he, hypothetically, fast forward to his death (Ala the Ancient One in DS1) in every timeline to see which one he could see furthest in to then work backward?

That actually sounds like a very reasonable suggestion.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Can Vader or the Inquisitors still open and access Jedi Holocrons?

This thought occurred to me while I was talking about the plot of *Jedi: Fallen Order* in another thread and nobody answered my question there, so I brought it here.

In *Rebels* we see that Maul is incapable of opening a Jedi Holocron, as he was raised by a Sith and has never known any world view other than that of the Sith - elevation of the Self, domination over others. Since the Light Side mindset is all about opening yourself up, treating other beings as equals and allowing yourself to be vulnerable to make a connection, Maul cannot open it.

He also tells us that to open a Sith Holocron one must either *be* a Sith themselves or *think* like one. Would it be a safe assumption that Jedi Holocrons have that same inverse requirement of being in touch with the Light Side of the Force? At one point, Ezra is capable of tapping into both mindsets and can open both Holocrons.

Vader and the Inquisitors are all former Jedi, so at one point they would have been able to tap into that mindset. But are they now too far gone in the Dark Side to do so? If Vader were to successfully retrieve Cordova's list of Force-Sensitive children, would he be capable of accessing and using that information?

[Assistant]
In old canon it's likely would've been next to impossible, since ye' olde holocrons had sentient gatekeeper AI in them patterned after the creator, who could at-will allow or deny people access to the knowledge.

In new canon however it seems that holocrons are more mundane storage devices, so probably former jedi would be able to access them, just like you've said, Ezra being able to open both jedi and sith holocrons.

EDIT - more mundane in a sense that it's still a storage cube that's somehow locked through the Force, RPGs usually say that they're based around kyber core. But once unlocked with the Force, they just spill the beans about everything they have. At least Jedi holocrons are not shown to have sentient AI guardians in them unless you count the RPG adventures, and FFG games are largely using the old canon details, so not a good source for confirmation of new canon questions. Sith holocron in Rebels seemed to have some sort of consciousness in it, but it's hard to say if it's unique in this regard or not.


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

[User] ELI5: if humankind has been selecting and breeding and cropping and, in general, manipulating, seeds for centuriesif not millenniumsmanually, why do companies that just make the process faster and more automated and efficient, i.e. Monsanto, get so much hate?

[Assistant]
The most valid argument against Monsanto is that they engage in some pretty severe business practices. Perfectly legal, but somewhat bullyish. Or at least it seems that way to detractors. They own the seeds, and the farmers who grow them in effect "rent" them. If any seeds from those plants are sold, or grown without Monsanto's consent, farmers face huge penalties and lawsuits. Because of their presence, most farms have to use Monsanto. There are not many good alternatives to the average farmer. This doesn't just exist on the micro scale, but continues on to their macro/international commodities presence. A sort of Wal-mart to farmers on the small scale, and a Goldman-sachs type of player on the global scale. Because they're American, they receive far more scrutiny from almost everybody.

The next reasonable argument against them is that they're being a little reckless. A little tough to argue, but there is at least a legitimate place for concern. Previous genetic manipulation took decades and centuries. The changes did not happen at scale. Now they're fast, and done across the globe. Even a small mistake can have huge consequences. So far they've done alright. Their business model does mean they take on a sizable amount of liability. That said, they're one of the largest corporations in the world, with a lot of political sway. Volkswagen got away with their false emissions numbers for years. What could Monsanto get away with, then? They receive a lot of attention, but they also have a lot of friends and influence.

Then you start getting into conspiracy territory. This takes the very reasonable concerns/criticism, and amps them up to eleven. Assumes malicious intent in Monsanto's practices, and tries to tie them to global hegemony. Some of the links are certainly there, but the connective tissue doesn't really hold.


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

[User]
How to avoid "wasting" a year if I don't get in any of the Ph.D. programmes I applied for?

I am in the process of applying to four programmes, one in Italy, one in Norway and two in the UK, and patiently waiting for May's intake to go bug another couple of institutions.

In the while, I am trying to get a driving license, begging for the occasional part-time gig (the job market in my country is awful) and planning to do "half a Master" in order to gain a more specific Advanced Diploma related to my field.

This is perfectly fine for a year, but I have to admit that my relative's "when are you gonna get a real job" mantra is happily feeding into my "what if nobody wants me" paranoia that yes, is happily sticking around, no matter how many reassurances I throw myself and the others.

So, what if I just end up with a pile of rejections? How to better my chances for the next round?

I keep considering that second master, partly because I want to gain a better specialization (my Anthropology Mphil could be seen as a bit generic) and partly because, well... I just really like to study.

I am open to advice :)

Edit: Grammar stuff. Seems like I can't use touchscreens.

[Assistant]
I'd also apply for research assistant positions. They advance your chances of getting in to a PhD programme, and would make you better prepared for that programme when you do get in.

To find these, you can either email people you're interested in working with and see if they are looking for research assistants, or can go to your local universities' websites and looking for RA posts.

It's not a *real job* maybe in the sense that your family would like (i.e. high-paying), but it might be enough to ease their minds?


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

[User]
Do sleep walkers still get the same, sufficient amount of recuperation as if they slept soundly?

After watching the reaction video of the mother who was treated to a video of herself sleepwalking (for what I assume is the first time), I was curious if the brain can still recuperate as efficiently when someone is sleepwalking as if they had slept soundly.

[Assistant]
No, sleep walkers generally walk during the SWS (slow wave sleep) phase of rest and require a higher level of consciousness than is typically seen during REM (rapid eye movement) because their brain is partially engaged during the walk.

But, this varies depending on the complexity and length of the sleep walk.  Sleep walking can be as short lived as 30 seconds or as lengthy as 30 minutes.

Given a sleepwalker with a complex walk (such as walking about the house and re-arranging things) and lengthy walk (30 minutes), their brain may miss the benefits of an entire REM cycle and feel as if they have slept for 1.5 hours less than a non-walker.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, a sleep walker that sits up on their bed for 30 seconds may not feel any different than any other non-walking night.

So, the answer is no sleepwalkers do not get the same amount of rest as compared to a night where they sleep soundly, but it really depends.

**Edit**: Misread the question.

**Edit 2**: Yes, there are no empirical facts here but it is well-understood that a lengthy interruption of REM sleep (being the most vital cycle in feeling well-rested) will cause the individual to feel lethargic the next day.  This can safely be inferred.  But, as to some of the shorter sleep walks it would be scientifically responsible to map the brain waves of the sleepwalker and determine if the short walks cause enough interruption to interfere with sleep cycles in any meaningful way.

The point is, lengthy sleep walks are very likely to cause the sleepwalker to feel the effects of the interrupted sleep the next day.


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

[User] [Star Wars- Both Canons] What did the other Chiss think of Thrawn?

[Assistant]
Canon:

Thrawn is a radical who constantly pushes against Chiss society rules. While many have trouble discrediting his results his methods are put under heavy scrutiny and Thrawn lacks many if any political allies outside of the military high command.  This results in many consequences for Thrawn for example: his ship is put at the bottom of the repair schedule by political adversaries within his own family to prevent him from taking an active role in Chiss society.

TLDR: Thrawn gets results but his methods piss everyone off, friends and enemies. Enemies because Thrawn breaks or bends Chiss rules and friends because Thrawn is so politically inept that theyre the only people covering his dark blue ass.

Sources: Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising and Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good.

Speculation: Its very likely the reason Thrawn is sent as a spy to the Empire is because Thrawn causes so much politics turmoil in the third book that his military is over other wise and this is suggested by his allies or himself as an efficient and effective use of him that doesnt result in critical political fallout.


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

[User] ELI5: What's behind that reflex to immediately shake one's hand vigorously after, for example, closing the sliding glass door on a fingernail?

[Assistant] Because shaking it causes a focus shift of the pain intensity. The nerves that control that kind of pain get drowned out by motor nerves telling your muscles to work and by your brain concentrating on proprioception (where your hand is relative to your body). We only have limited tracts to the brain to process information and the proprioception tract is much faster than the one carrying dull aching pain.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does pain sometimes feel...good?

[Assistant] Your body releases pleasure chemicals (like dopamine) in response to pain so that you aren't just debilitated by pain. This has an obvious survival advantage so you can, for example, get away from a leopard even if you have a broken arm.


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

[User] ELI5: For someone who doesn't understand music or music theory at all, what exactly is the big deal about "A Hard Day's Night"'s opening "chord"?

[Assistant]
Without going too far into details about the notes, it was essentially a chord people couldnt figure out for a little while. No instrument or 12 string guitar could recreate that same sounding chord. Later they found out that the frequencies of the chord were so unique because each member played a chord or a note from that chord at the same time, but the piano included an f note that could not be played on the guitar when holding that specific chord.

tl;dr - the beatles threw in a rogue f note during that chord that made it sound so unique.


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

[User] [28 Days Later] What does it look like twenty eight months later?

[Assistant]
Spoilers for *28 Weeks Later.*

The virus is effectively unstoppable, and it has now reached mainland Europe. There are two possibilities: Either nuclear force is immediately authorized, and Paris is completely obliterated or (more likely) the authorities fail to respond in time. The infected quickly spread across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The Western Hemisphere closes its borders, but not before carriers of the virus arrive among refugees, and they are subsequently fucked. The Rage virus spreads across the world, effectively ending humanity, with the exception of New Zealand.


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

[User]
What causes bays to form?

So, the overall shape of a continent is decided by tectonic movement, but what causes the shapes of the shorelines you see when you look closely at a map?

[Assistant] Usually the formation of bays is due to different types of rock. Where the rock type is more easily weathered away by the sea then a bay will form. Conversely, headlands will form where the rock types are less easily weathered.


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

[User]
Will the sea eventually grind down the entire earth into sand?

I understand that sand is created by the sea wearing down rocks.

To stick sand back together requires high temperatures, probably deep underground. Unless solids melted, the average size of objects would keep on decreasing.

How does the rate of sand creation compare to the rate of sand destruction?

[Assistant]
Not at all. The rock cycle is as complex and active as the water cycle, rock is continually produced and destroyed and recycled. Sediments eroded and weathered that end up in rivers and eventually the sea are redeposited in a wide range or styles leading to various sedimentary rocks - sandstones, shales, mudstones etc. through the process of diagenisis - simply layers and layers of sediment build up, and the lower layers evolve into rock as pressure increases and they are compacted. There are also organic rocks such as limestone that is precipitated out of seawater from dissolved constituents by organisms, that when they die can consolidate on the sea-floor into chalk or limestone. There are many other's besides. There is also new rock produced by volcanoes, and magmatic processes.
As to how the rates compare, its very difficult to determine but there is a number of feedback mechanisms that mean it is largely balanced.


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

[User] How close could a rogue planet feasibly get to us or our solar system without being detected?

[Assistant]
Why are people answering with "that can't happen?"

A planet-sized mass that was ejected from a solar system or formed outside of one could be orbiting the galaxy and its orbit around the galaxy could eventually intersect with our solar system's orbit around the galaxy.

Our solar system orbits the milky way at 230000 m/s so even if the planetary sized object was coming straight at us in the other direction its relative speed towards us would be 460000 m/s, so it would take ~3.8 days to travel the distance between the earth and the sun.  That would be more than enough time for an amateur astronomer to notice it if it got around 1 A.U. away from us (distance between the earth and sun).  If it was orbiting the galaxy in the same direction we do it would take even longer to traverse that relative distance towards us because its relative speed would be much lower.  It's an entirely different question as to whether they'd notice that it was a previously undocumented object though.

I don't know what % of the sky professional telescopes are monitoring at any given time, so seeing it before it got within the solar system would be some amount of luck given where the experimental telescopes are pointed when it comes by.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How did Palpatine transition the Republic to an Empire in a single night?

Wouldn't he have to deal with alot of paper work and documents? Even Augustus didn't transform the Roman Republic into the Empire over a single night.

[Assistant]
What Palpatine did was incredibly similar to what Augustus did.

As in, he didn't do it in a single night.  What the Jedi and some of the Senators like Bail Organa and Padme didn't realize was that the Republic had been functionally the Empire since the Clone Wars.  Palpatine had slipped the democracy into autocracy before people realized that he'd done it.  There was just one day, when Palpatine used the attack by Mace Windu and Order 66 as his justification for dropping the pretense and announcing the Empire openly.


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

[User]
ELI5: The Mandlebrot Set and fractals in general.

I can recognize the Mandlebrot Set by looking at it, and, thanks to Jonathan Coulton, I even know the formula, but I still just don't get it.

[Assistant]
The mathematical rule that creates the Mandelbrot set is relatively simple (at least, if you're comfortable with complex numbers from a decent algebra class). It works like this:

Pick a complex number *c*. Let's say we pick c=1. Once you've picked it, start with zero and repeat the following process: square the previous number, than add *c* to it. In this case, we'd generate the sequence 0, 1 (0^2 + 1), 2 (1^2 + 1), 5 (2^2 + 1), 26 (5^2 + 1), and so on, and this sequence runs off to infinity.

On the other hand, if we picked c=-1, the sequence would go 0, -1 (0^2 + -1), 0 ((-1)^2 + -1), -1, 0, -1..., and never runs off to infinity.

The Mandelbrot set is the set of all numbers that do *not* run off to infinity this way.


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

[User]
[Marvel] If you were to stop The Hulk's heart using telekinesis, would he die? Would he become incapacitated? Would it even slow him down?

The Hulk is capable of surviving/healing from just about anything, but what happens if an outside force physically prevents his heart from pumping blood? Can his body continue to function while undergoing cardiac arrest? Will the heart automatically start pumping again once the block is removed?

[Assistant]
I believe he would become incapacitated when his muscles runs out of oxygen saturated hemoglobin.

However it would require a quite large force to physically prevent his heart from pumping as his heart is presumably as strong and durable as his other muscles.


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

[User] [ELI5] How do transistors work? What makes 3 chucks of silicon put together able to turn on and off?

[Assistant]
Let's call the 3 "chunks" source, channel, and drain (in that order). The two ends (source/drain) have charge carriers available that allow current to flow through them if there's a voltage.  But the piece in-between, the channel, is depleted of charge carriers. If there are no charge carriers, there can't be current flow. Since that's what current flow is: the movement of charge carriers due to a voltage.

So let's introduce a fourth piece: the gate electrode. It sits on top of the channel, but is separated from it by an insulator. And one more piece: the "bulk". It's kind of below the first three pieces.

If you put a voltage on the gate electrode, it can pull charge carriers up from the bulk into the channel. At that point, it can conduct electrical current, and the transistor is "on".  Conversely, put the opposite voltage on the gate and it will push the carriers out of the channel and turn the transistor "off".


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is the Lion so widely used in European Heraldy even though they are mostly found in Africa?

Why are Lions used so much on European Heraldry, especially British/English ones, despite lions being primarily found in Africa?

[Assistant]
Well, the dragon is used a lot too, even though it's found... no where.

It isn't about the actual, physical representation of the animal. It's about the symbolism and ideas it represents. Europeans thought of the Lion as "king of the jungle." A powerful, noble animal at the top of its food chain. There really isn't an analogous animal in Europe (aside from wolves, which always had a negative connotation).


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

[User]
[Harry Potter]If I'm expelled from Hogwarts, can I just enroll in another magical school?

Or if my wand is snapped, can I buy a new one as an adult and learn that way? Asking for a friend.

[Assistant]
Our main example of this is Hagrid, who was expelled and prevented from learning magic or (officially) getting a new wand, even though he's close friends with Dumbledore, who went on to become one of the most influential wizards on the planet.  It seems unlikely that anyone else subject to that sort of penalty would be allowed to enroll at a new school or publicly buy a new wand and start learning magic as an adult.

Since the Ministry of Magic (which enforces punishments like this) only has jurisdiction in the UK, it's possible that you'd be able to find another school in another country that would accept you.  Especially if you come from a wealthy and influential family, or if you show phenomenal talent for wizardry.


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

[User]
Taking a break before Grad School?

Hi, this has probably been posted many times but could anyone give advice on taking a break between undergrad and grad school? I am graduating with a degree in History, so I've thought that going to Grad School is really my only option. Upon further reflection, taking a break does seem like it has benefits. I am also getting my TEFL certificate (originally started as a backup plan) and am thinking of using that to get a job in the meantime.

Long story short - I am young and want to travel/live life a little!! Should I take a break before Grad school or is it worth it to just go ahead and get my grad degree?

[Assistant] Absolutely! Going straight to grad school from undergrad is exhausting and nearly burnt me out completely. Enjoy your life! Spend time working, traveling, developing hobbies. Eventually youight find that grad school doesn't really fit with what you want out of life.


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

[User]
What exactly is the fiscal cliff?

What does it mean that we are approaching it?  How are we approaching it?  I hear all the political pundits discussing it, and honestly, it doesn't sound like anyone knows what they are talking about.  Economists, help me out here.  I just need to be educated before I have to go home for Christmas and have to hear my family rant about something they don't understand either.

[Assistant]
It refers to an agreement by Congress to pass deficit reduction measures or certain cuts, mostly to defense, and tax increases, mostly to payroll, will automatically kick in next year. If you just realized this means the fiscal cliff is the stipulation that "Congress must agree to tax increases and spending cuts or else there are going to be tax increases and spending cuts," congratulations, you're paying attention.

"Fiscal cliff" is a journalistic term designed to lower your political IQ and create the notion there is something worth discussing. There have been three or four other "fiscal cliff" type deals reached in the last half-century (1996, 1994 and 1982) and in each case the general solution by Congress was to ignore them. This is almost entirely an ordinary budget discussion rendered artificially riveting by certain rhetorical choices, nothing else.


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

[User] [Marvel] Can you estimate how many Doombots are out there and how many have been discovered so far?

[Assistant]
In Fantastic Four #350, we see the culmination of a civil war for control of Latveria between Dr. Doom, and his adopted son Kristoff, who has been implanted with Doom's memories and personality.

At the height of their battle, the *real* Doctor Doom returns, deactivates the one who had been fighting, and reveals that he's been off exploring the multiverse for years, and that most Doom appearances since Fantastic Four #40 had been Doombots. Not quite all of them - he says he has returned a handful of times over the years.

Thus, any Doom story you think is awesome was the real Doom; everything else was a Doombot.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is microwaved food bad for you?

My parents always tell me that microwaving food is bad, but they don't know why. I've heard some myths about the change in the molecular structure, but don't quite get it.

[Assistant]
It isn't bad. Microwave cooking isn't voodoo magic. It's just a particular way of transferring heat into food.

There are three ways to get food hot. There's conduction, convection and radiation.

When you heat up a pan, then plop a steak down in it, the surface of the steak that touches the pan gets really hot really quickly. That's conductive heat.

When you heat up your oven, then stick a blob of bread dough into it, the hot air in the oven transfers heat to the dough and turns it into a loaf of bread. That's convective heat.

When you draw a glass of water from the tap and then set it down in the sun, you'll come back later to find it warm, maybe even warmer than room temperature. The light from the sun is streaming through the glass, bumping into water molecules and other things, and causing the water to heat up. That's radiative heat.

Microwave cooking is just like leaving a glass of water in the sun only instead of the sun, we have an artificial source of microwaves. The light from the microwave source is way more intense than sunlight, so as it passes through the food it bumps into big molecules water molecules, mostly and heats them up.

Microwaved food isn't bad for you.


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

[User] Eli5: how does my phone know how much percent of battery I have?

[Assistant]
Almost all smart phones use two different methods together.

The most simple is voltage. Voltage is not a very good indicator of charge in li-ion batteries used in phones because the voltage does not fall at an even rate when you use them. Voltage measurement is used as a fail safe. It's very bad for a battery's voltage to get too low. This is why sometimes when you get your phone cold in the winter it drops dramatically in charge percentage instantly. What has happened is the battery's voltage dropped when the phone got cold. Now the phone has started reporting an estimate based on voltage.

The second and much more accurate is coulomb counting. This is like counting the individual electrons as they go in and out of the battery. It counts them as they go in (charging) and as they go out ( using it not plugged in). This allows the phone to know exactly how much energy it put in and can accurately guess how much is left. Just like putting gas In your car. The electronics that do this are actually called 'gas gauge' chips.

The phone will have programming in it that will use both methods together to track and report charge state to you.

Source : electronics engineer that designs things w li-ion batteries.


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

[User]
Why do we have an optic chiasm? Wouldn't it be simpler if the right eye supplied the right cortex and the same for the left?

I have found many descriptions of the optic chiasm yet I can find nothing for why it is there. Maybe it has something to do with 3D vision but I don't know enough to come to my own conclusion.

[Assistant]
The left brain processes the right side of the visual field in both eyes, the right brain processes the left side of the visual field in both eyes. The crossing over of incoming visual stimuli and the location that this splitting/mixing occurs is the optic chiasm.

It's difficult to ask why sometimes in medicine - it isn't like we have an owner's manual to refer to for a definitive answer.

One explanation might be that this set up is safer. If you sustain trauma or receive damage (stroke, tumor, lesion) to your occipital lobe or optic radiations (or other associated structures) on only one side of your brain past the point of the optic chiasm, you have not rendered one eye totally useless, instead one half of the visual field has been wiped out. Your binocular depth perception remains functional.


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

[User]
[Marvel] What is life like for the average latverian citizen

I've heard a lot about this doctor doom fellow, and I keep hearing that he's the leader of Latveria, but I've never visited. What's it like living there?

[Assistant]
Pretty sweet, as long as you're super cool with Doom doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants, no matter how it affects you and your life. Latveria is very wealthy and technologically advanced, and Doom is a benevolent-ish dictator, so as long as you don't fuck up you should be sitting pretty.

But do not fuck up, because he will literally send you to Hell for it.


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

[User]
Why do shockwaves form at the leading and trailing edge of objects moving at supersonic speeds?

I've just started to study shockwaves this year at university and we've been shown images of double-wedge aerofoils with  leading edge and trailing edge shocks.

I understand why shocks form but what I don't understand is why you have them at both edges. Is it just the flow coming off the upper and lower surface and hitting itself?

[Assistant]
the leading edge of the wedge produces an attached oblique shockwave that doesn't reduce the speed of the flow below Mach 1.0 if the freestream flow is supersonic.

Since the flow is still supersonic, passing over the corner in the center of the double wedge airfoil creates an expansion wave which increases the speed of the flow.  The shock at the trailing edge is created as the flow is turned back into the direction of the freestream as if it hit a corner.

You would see similar phenomena with a flat plat at some non-zero angle of attack except you would have expansion waves on the upper leading edge and lower trailing edge.  The diamond shape causes oblique waves at the leading and trailing edges at no angle of attack.


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

[User]
Why is water such an effective radiation shield?

What are the properties that make water(H2O) effective at shielding/absorbing radiation?

[Assistant]
Simply put, it is dense and cheap.

There are lots of different types of radiation - photons, electrons, alpha particles, neutrons, and more exotic types.  A "shield" blocks radiation by interacting with it.  The rate of interaction depends on many things - the energy of the radiation, the composition of the shield, atomic number, etc etc.  But it also depends on the amount of atoms it has to cross.  Water is fairly dense (1 g/mL), therefore you can pack a lot of atoms between it and whatever you want to shield.

Concrete is an effective shield for the same reason.

There are many other reasons why certain materials are good at shielding certain types of radiation.  But if you have a strong, mixed source (like spent nuclear fuel), water is pretty effective as a general shield.


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

[User] [Life is Strange] If Max were to put something down and rewind time, would the object fly up in the air to where she was holding it, and then fall? Or would it teleport to her hand?

[Assistant] Most likely it would simply disappear from the world and either return to Max's possession the moment she rewound past the point in time where she put it down, or it would return to wherever it originally was had Max not touched it. The bomb she uses to blow open the door to the Principal's office is nowhere to be seen after she does the rewind to undo the damage, and Max herself comments that if she were so inclined she could use her powers to get all the cans out of a vending machine with only a single coin.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] How should I tell my girlfriend of my magical heritage?

[](/twipride) I've been dating this woman for almost a year now, and we're close. Close enough that she's confided some very personal stories from her life to me, and while we haven't said it I think we both know marriage is on the table.

The one problem is... she's a Muggle and doesn't know about magic. I haven't told her that I'm a wizard.

Understand, the last thing I want to do is lie to her. But since I first thought of it I've been paralyzed with dread by all the stories about Muggles running away from their magical lovers when they learn the truth, and I'd die of a broken heart if that happened to me.

What's the best way to... drop the news? Should I buy her a pygmy puff? Conjure her a rose from the end of my wand? Is there a pamphlet I can get for her?

[Assistant]
You should definitely break it to her slowly and start by making it seem as if only you have magic.

Clean the entire house while she's out.

She goes out to check the mail, and when she comes back, the house is filled with flowers.

Take a sip of Felix Felicis right before sex.

When she asks you what's going on with you lately, then you show her the wand and tell her you are magic. Once she's accepted that, you can tell her the rest.


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

[User]
[General Fantasy] Could a vampire survive on black pudding?

It seems like a much easier way to get blood then from people- but could they actually survive on it? Or does the blood need to be "fresh" or not from animals?

[Assistant] Depends. There are *many* different definitions of "vampire" and every universe seems to have its own. The ones from *Twilight* probably couldn't (given Meyer's "dead blood" excuse for why menstruation doesn't attract vampires), but Dracula might be able to.


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

[User]
[The Simpsons] When Homer sold his soul for a donut and would be sent to Hell if he finished it, did it specifically have to be Homer who finished it and is the contract always active?

In Tree House of Horrors 5 one of the stories has Homer selling his soul to the devil for a donut, he is told the instant he finishes it the devil will own his soul and take him to hell, Homer realizes this and doesn't finish the last bite, later he eats it at night leading to the trial for his soul. My question is that could Homer be sent to Hell if someone else ate the last bite, or if it got destroyed? Could he put it in a capsule underground or would he be sent to Hell when the capsule gets destroyed?

[Assistant] The contract specifies that he (Homer Simpson) must finish said donut. Should said specific donut be finished by any other means, a.i. Homer offering the last bite to someone else, or, as he tried and failed, not finishing it at all, then he would keep his soul for himself.


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

[User]
ELI5: How would menstruation work in zero G?

Would it all just stay inside or proceed normally?

[Assistant] This was actually something that NASA scientists were worried about.  It was theorized that the blood might actually flow backwards causing something called retrograde menstruation.  In reality, it works basically the same way it does on earth.  Female astronauts use pads or tampons.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How much did everyone knew about Emperor Palpatine's powers?

How much did the citizens of the Empire know? And how much did Imperial officers know?

[Assistant]
He wouldn't use his powers, much less in public. And if he did use them, there wouldn't be any witnesses. This is a quote from Tarkin, who was very close to Palpatine before and after the Clone Wars:

>There were many stories about what had occurred that day in the chancellors office. The official explanation was that members of the Jedi Order had turned up to arrest Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, and a ferocious duel had ensued. The matter of precisely how the Jedi had been killed or the Emperors face deformed had never been settled to everyones satisfaction, and so Tarkin had his private thoughts about the Emperor, as well. That he and Vader were kindred spirits suggested that both of them might be Sith.

This suggests very, very few people knew about The Emperor being a Sith. None of the citizens, and very, very few officers would have some suspicions. about it. Maybe the ruling council knew.


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

[User] ELI5: How does a compound bow work, particularly the function of the cams and the "let off"?

[Assistant]
Because a compound bow differs from a recurve bow in that it has shorter limbs (the part that extends past the grip), the power to drive the arrow forward into flight comes from a system of pulleys, or "cams" on the ends of the limbs.

Essentially, a regular recurve bow works by putting force into the limbs by pulling back on a string.  The force is transferred to the limbs so that they are drawn back, and when the string is released, the limbs snap forward, pulling the string and the arrow along with it.  This produces the force that propels the arrow.

Compound bows, on the other hand, instead of putting the force of the string at a perpendicular angle to the limbs, use their pulleys (cams) to essentially try to pull the limbs together instead of back during draw.  There is the part of the string that the arrow rests on, but there is an additional length that is doing the actual "pulling", and it pulls straight up and down on the limbs, pulling them together.  When the string is released, the limbs snap back both up and down, instead of forward, making it easier to control. This reduces the strain on the archer, and allows for higher accuracy in a more compact frame, since you're not fighting against the bow trying to fly forward out of your hand.  this design comes with the trade-off of needing stronger materials to function properly, but that isn't much of an issue with modern materials.

As for "let-off", the cams can be designed and positioned in such a way that the strain of holding the bow at full draw (all the way back) is reduced by a certain percentage, usually anywhere from 70-85%.  If you look at a modern compound bow, the cams are not circular, but rather a strange ovoid shape; this is the design that allows for let-off.

Let-off allows trophy hunters or casual archers to hold a drawn shot for longer while they sight the target or wait for their prey to come into range.  If the let-off weren't there, you would have to hold a full 80 lbs or so of draw, which is difficult to do for any length of time; a let-off of 80 means that you're dropping 80% of full draw weight at the very end of your draw, so you only have to hold 20% of what you did to draw it back.  An 80lb bow with a let-off of 80 only takes 16lbs to hold at full draw, which can be done relatively easily.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does water go gluglugglug when we pour it too fast? Will it take a shorter time to empty the container if we pour a bit slower?

[Assistant]
Because air has to fill the empty space the water leaves behind it. If you have a container with another hole large enough to suck air in behind the water (while the contain is pouring), it'll pour faster and not have the mentioned issue.

Alternatively if you can spin the container for form a vortex as the water pours out, it'll also pour faster because air can go through the middle of the vortex instead of the water having to temporarily stop so air can flow through.


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

[User] If you drank a significant amount of water while eating food, does it take longer to digest the food in the stomach due to stomach acid being diluted?

[Assistant]
The HCl acts as an activator for protein digestive enzymes (proteases which lyse proteins ). And also as protection against bacteria.

A tiny amount of HCl does the job, even if diluted the actual amount is still present in the stomach. So don't worry enjoy your meal with water.


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

[User]
Quick question about time dilation...

Hypothetically, if I had a space craft that was capable of travelling at half the speed of light and I decided to travel to Alpha Centauri, how long would it take me (from the travellers perspective) and how long would it take from the perspective of people back on earth?

I know this isn't possible due to many reasons but, **if** it was and my body was able to withstand travelling at half the speed of light... how long would it take?

[Assistant] Not an answer to you question, just a clarification. Your body *could* withstand the velocity of 0.5c. What you would have trouble withstanding would be the acceleration to that speed. Once you are going that fast, assuming you continue that fast it is not a problem.


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

[User]
Best simple price discovery process for every day use? E.g. Fair way to split rent between rooms.

Hi,

My friend and I are moving into a flat together later this month. One room is clearly better than the other room, and we were thinking about what the fairest way to split the rent might be.

This got me thinking, what would be the best, simple, price discovery process so that it reflects each of our "willingness to pay" while minimising downsides for each party?

E.g. If we both right down what we are willing to pay for the nice room, there is a risk to overbid.

Keen to hear your thoughts!

[Assistant]
Both of you write down on a piece of paper how much you think each room is worth, without the other person seeing.

The person who bid the highest for each room gets that one but for the midpoint price between them. This way both people get the room that they valued more than the other person but for a cheaper price.

E.g
Total rent is 1,000
Tenant A values the better room at 700 and the worse room at 300.
Tenant B values the better room at 600 and the worse room at 400.
The midpoint is therefore 650/350.

Tenant A gets the bigger room for 650 (less than they valued it) and tenant B gets the smaller room (also for less than they valued it)


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

[User]
[Infinity War] Why didnt Bruce Banner just shoot/hurt himself to turn into the Hulk?

It worked in The Incredible Hulk, Age of Ultron and Thor Ragnarok, and it was mentioned in The Avengers.

So why didnt Bruce come up with the idea of hurting/killing himself to force the Hulk out?

[Assistant] If Hulk is actively refusing to come out, which literally was never the case before, then that begs the question of can he deny saving Bruce's life. It used to be that Bruce had to fight him tooth and nail to keep him in, but now he can't get him out no matter how hard he tries. But even if the Hulk saved Bruce, that doesn't necessarily mean he'll stay out and will probably go back inside.


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

[User] ELI5: How does a nuclear power plant work?

[Assistant]
The same way most other power plants work; heat is used to boil water into steam and drive a turbine which turns a generator, making electricity. The only major difference is that instead of burning coal or something to make the heat, a nuclear pile is used.

Nuclear fuel is full of unstable atoms which will spontaneously break apart and release energy in the form of radiation and heat. When they break apart they can throw bits of themselves into other nearby atoms, causing them to break apart in turn. So if you cram them closer together the reaction rate speeds up. Moderating this speed of reaction allows the power plant to in essence dial in their desired level of heat, and they do this with "control rods" which are made of a material which is capable of absorbing neutrons (those bits that fly off to knock the other atoms into decaying themselves).


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

[User]
If one goes through a portal to a parallel universe where there are no cellphones, and the portal remains open, do they still get reception?

I need to know.

[Assistant]
It depends on the nature of your portal. If you have a "bridge" or "door" style portal that converges two points of space, enabling you to freely step through, then you would probably have some range in front of the portal but only when the signals could pass through at the right angle. Probably wouldn't extend very far unless you could put a transmitter at the portal, or had a very large portal.

Obviously if you're teleporting, you're gunna be out of range of a standard early 21st century cell phone.


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

[User] ELI5: why dont we have fat and muscle surrounding our brains as an added protective layer over our skulls?

[Assistant]
Heat retention. The brain uses a large portion of our energy and the temperature range from  normal to heat stroke is all of 3 degrees  C. Also because of all of the blood vessels in the brain, a lot of the body's heat is pumped through your head.

Just being hot makes you think slower and make more mistakes.


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

[User]
[Cyberpunk 2077] Why do the fixers only issue contracts on their own gangs?

Wakako Okada lives in Tyger Claw territory, was a former Tyger Claw, and all her sons work for the Tyger Claws. She only ever has you target Tyger Claws. "Padre" Ibarra is very clearly a Valentino, and is friendly with Valentino members. Despite this, he only orders hits against Valentinos.

Why do all the fixers exclusively shit where they eat? Furthermore, why aren't the Valentinos at the funeral you go to trying to tear you and Padre limb from limb?

[Assistant] Fixers don't order hits, everyone else does. If you want someone dead, who are you going to go to? The fixer who hangs out at your local bar. And who do you want dead? Probably some guy who lives near you, not on the other side of town.


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

[User]
Is it better to be a jack of all trades but a master to none in CS?

I've always been curious because whenever anybody looks up how long it takes to learn a certain language, skill, or whatever, the answers from professionals is always "A couple hours to a few months to learn the basics, but a lifetime to master". But it also seems that many people bounce around for a while in their CS career to different companies/jobs working their way up with different skills. So what do you think?

[Assistant]
One good option between those two extremes is to be a T-shaped engineer. Have broad, shallow knowledge across a variety of topics, and then deep knowledge in one topic in particular.

The deep knowledge makes you a valuable topic expert. Id also argue that learning something deeply exercises different cognitive skills than shallow learning. Once you have these skills, its easier to go deeper in another topic should your role change. Also, dont forget that being an expert in something is great for marketing yourself.

Broad knowledge has huge benefits when collaborating with other topic experts, because you already have some idea of what theyre doing and how to communicate with them. On the flipside, it also allows you to be more self-sufficient for the easier stuff outside of your expertise.

Its becoming more common for companies to try to build cross-functional teams of T-shaped engineers.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do creole languages always use phonetic spelling?

This is a pattern I've noticed with every single creole I've heard of. Is there something in the creole development process that leads to purely phonetic spelling?

[Assistant]
They use phonetic spelling because there isn't time for irregularities to
arise. If you look at the complexities in English spelling, for example,
most of them are either remnants of older English (e.g. "knight" was originally
pronounced as it was spelt) or copied from other languages. Tracing back far
enough, almost all irregularities arise this way (though the occasional mistake
is present). They are retained due to the influence of tradition and sense of
social status they provided to the writing "elite" in times of lower literacy.

In a creole, by contrast, these forces are not generally present. Given that
most creoles emerged only in the past few centuries, pronounciation has not
shifted sufficiently to override "phonetic spelling". Compounding this is the
fact that any such shifts would largely have been smoothed over- any "social
status" to be sourced from writing is generally expressed through writing in
the parent language(s) of the creole.


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

[User] [Mass Effect] how common are Asari-Hanar hook ups?

[Assistant]
That's a little private, don't you think?

(But probably no more or less common than any other Asari hookups. Hanar are just as sapient and nuanced as any other spacefaring species, and 1000 years of living will eventually make anyone curious. Just like real life, it's all up to personal preference.)


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

[User] ELI5: Why are France and Spain 1 hour ahead of the UK when part of those countries are directly below us?

[Assistant]
Because Nazis.

They used to be in the same time zone as the UK. But then when the Nazis took over France in WW2, they switched them to the same time zone as Germany.

Spain wasn't directly involved in WW2, but were on fairly good terms with the Nazis so also switched to have a matching time zone to aid cooperation.

For both it turned out to be more convenient after the war was over so they stayed that way. Now they all work quite closely together, and people and goods cross the borders all the time, so it's easier to be in a single time zone.


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

[User]
ELI5: If plane wings are designed create lift in one direction, why doesn't a plane flying upside down plummet to the ground?

We are always told the shape a wing is shaped to create lift to counteract gravity, so how can those acrobatic bi-planes we see at air shows fly upside up and upside down?

[Assistant] While planes tend to use shaped wings to make it better to fly it's not the core of why there's lift. Lift is mainly about the angle of attack of the wing, and you can get the right angle of attack while upside down in many planes. (Doubly-so those meant to support flying upside down.)


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

[User]
Why do some aircraft, such as the F/A-18, feature canted tail fins, despite also having "flat" horizontal stabilisers?

The F/A-18 Hornet, among other aircraft features canted fins, as well as traditional "flat" horizontal stabilisers. Why is this?
Why do the fins need to be canted? Why not just have them pointing straight up, at right angles to the stabilisers, or just have a traditional v type tail? There must be a reason but I can't put my finger on it. Anyone?

[Assistant] I can't speak for any aerodynamic reasons, but right-angles such as between traditional vertical/horizontal stabilizers have a very high radar cross-section. Essentially it acts somewhat like a corner-cube and reflects a large amount of radio waves back to the transmitter. Military aircraft tend to like lower cross-section aircraft for obvious reasons. You'll notice that true stealth aircraft, namely the F-22 and the F-117 also implement this feature as one of many strategies to mitigate their radar cross-section.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does our conscious mind (morality, discipline,..) take a backseat when we are aroused/excited or in a tight situation (like public confrontation), etc.?

For example when you take a vow to abstain from sex or alcohol, etc. for a certain period, if you're very aroused/have cravings, you might relapse at some point.

[Assistant]
Many different modules in brain, do different things at different times. Older, primal modules, necessary for survival, care little what newfangeled expansions to brainspace say about situations *it* evolved to master countless generations before the rest of what is now you ever took shape.

Old modules, never offline. Newer modules, layered on top of older modules. Old modules not *inactive*; *inhibited*. New modules keep under control. Sometimes, new modules lose control. When damaged. When tired. When angry. When scared. When horny. Old modules say: This is what *we* were made for; *give us control*. Engorge with blood. Force control from newer modules. Do their thing.

When situation resolved, calm back down again.


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

[User]
ELI5:How did people indigenous to islands end up there?

For example, how did humans native to Hawaii from many generations ago end up in the middle of the ocean? I assume they have been there long before boats capable of traversing entire oceans were invented. So how did they get there?

[Assistant]
Hawaiians are polynesians - who indeed are a great seafaring people who spread throughout the pacific using innovative craft.

All humans on earth originally migrated out of africa. Polynesians are humans that spread from asia to oceana.  Hawaii was one of the later places that polynesians spread to.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do currency counting machines only grab one bill at a time so quickly and accurately?

It drives me nuts wondering how these machines are able to do this so fast when i have trouble grabbing just one bill using my hands!

[Assistant] They use rollers with a rubbery surface that grab one bill from the bottom of a stack (just like your printer does with sheets of paper). AFAIK there are also models that have a light shine through the bills to detect if more than one bill was grabbed.


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

[User]
CMV: Rape allegations against Trump have no political impact due to his type of supporters

Recently Trump was accused by another woman (afaik, it's now up to 22) of assaulting her. No one seems to even consider the possibility that this will have any political impact despite the fact that a similar accusation could bring down a government in another country. I believe this is correct and that Trump could be accused of rape by another 22 women and not suffer politically. This is down to his supporters.

Imo, American voters come in 4 rough categories when it comes to Trump:

1. Democrats who despise him utterly and likely already suspect him of rape can't think any less of him.
2. Independents who aren't listening to the news and won't until a few weeks before the election (if that).
3. Moderate conservatives who hate Democrats and will vote along party lines despite being uncomfortable with Trump.
4. Trump fans who don't care if he has raped someone.

The only group who would strongly care about these accusations are the first and they wouldn't vote for trump anyway. The second would care but are unlikely to pay attention for a long time and may just ignore the accusations as details that don't directly affect them. The third group follows the party line regardless and has failed to limit trump.

The fourth is the most important group. At this point, no one who supports trump can really claim to care if he has or hasn't raped someone. Anyone who would seriously care about this wouldn't support him anyway or would have stopped years ago. This means that the bulk of Republican voters will back trump even if he was guilty of rape (or perhaps because of it) and the rest will follow for partisan reasons.

As a result of his voters extremism and lack of morality, he is effectively immune from the political consequences of these allegations and he could be accused by dozens of more women and still win in 2020.

[Assistant]
>At this point, no one who supports trump can really claim to care if he has or hasn't raped someone.

This is the problem of your argument, the strawman you've built for yourself.

The main contention I've seen surrounding the issue from trump supporters, is the timing and vagueness of the claims are highly suspect; these 22 people coming forwards just as the reelection campaign is starting is very weird (Claims that were nowhere to be seen over the last 20 years), especially as due to the proposed claim of the incidences, there will never be any evidence for or against the problem.

I'd imagine that for most of these people, if any of these claims were proven slightly correct, they would stop supporting trump.


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

[User] Why don't planetary orbits have more than one planet in their orbit e.g. the other side of the sun?

[Assistant]
Stability is the problem. Perturbations from the other planets would usually cause the co-orbital planets to drift and eventually collide.

This may have happened to the early Earth. It's fairly solid theory that a Mars-sized body known as Theia caused a cloud of debris that coalesced into the Moon. Where Theia came from is unknown and one hypothesis is that it formed at the Sun-Earth L4 or L5 point, sharing Earth's orbit but 60 degrees ahead or behind. This was stable as long as Theia's mass was small, but once it grew to about 10% the mass of Earth it was destabilised and its orbit drifted until impact.

There are co-orbital situations in moons of the solar system. For example Janus and Epimetheus, moons of Saturn. One orbits a little higher and slower and the other a little lower and faster, and rather than colliding they "swap orbits" when they approach close and therefore drift apart again, and eventually have another close approach the other way round and swap back and the cycle continues. So such orbital arrangements *can* be stable but it depends on the details.


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

[User]
Why is it so hard to understand philosophy?

So Im not a philosophy reader but I recently gave it a chance by trying to read Jack Reynolds existentialism in which he explains Heideggers, Sartres, De Beauvoir and Marleau-Pontys ideas. Its a heavy read and not easy to understand at all. Why cant he just explain it in simple terms? It annoys me to some extent.

[Assistant]
> Why is it so hard to understand philosophy?

Because the ideas discussed in philosophy are hard to understand. Viz., they are ideas people are not used to thinking or talking about at all, they are ideas whose consideration requires people to set aside the conventional attitudes which are the basis for most of their thinking, they are ideas pertaining to technical concepts where specificity of language and concise reference to rich debates and ideas are a necessity, etc.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does transposing work and why does it exist?

I don't fully understand instruments being transposed. For example, I play Trumpet, which is a B Flat instrument. If I play a C on trumpet, it is a Concert B Flat. So why is it written as a C if it it isn't a C at all? What are the benefits to writing music for an instrument a step up (B flat) or a step and a half down? (E flat)? If that pitch has its equivalent on concert pitch, why aren't all pieces just written in C for all instruments?

[Assistant]
When we say that a instrument is in F#, that means that when you write a C on the music sheet for this instrument and that the player play, you hear a F#.

Transposition is made for 2 reason :

- it's easier for player to read written music : all note will be around the line of the music sheet and you never need to add too much supplementary line above or under that are difficult to reaad (is there 5 or 6 lines? it's difficult to see at first sight)

- it's easier for player to switch between instrument : Alto Saxophone are in Eb and Tenor Sax are in Bb. If you see C-D-E on a part for Tenor sax, you move your finger in a certain pattern. If you see C-D-E on a part for Alto Sax you will move your finger the same way. The final sound will be different ( Bb C D vs Eb F G), but for the player it's easy : same note written => same fingering.


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

[User] What is the logical basis behind the multiverse theory? In other words, what does the multiverse theory attempt to prove or answer?

[Assistant]
It is intended to explain some of the weird effects of quantum mechanics, most famously, the results of double-slit experiment. In the quantum version of this experiment, a single photon of light was sent at two slits and the scientists did not observe which slit it went through. After several photons were sent through one at a time, the scientists expected to see a projection of the slits on a screen behind the slits. However, they instead saw an interference pattern, the same that appears if many photons are sent through the slits together.

Multiverse theory is one of two major proposed explanations for this. It suggests that in cases of probability such as which slit the photon travels through, the universe splits into two universes for each option. Furthermore, on very small scales such as those of single photons, the universes can interact with each other, and the photon can interfere with its counterpart in the other universe.


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

[User] ELI5: If imaginary numbers like sqrt(-1) are in fact imaginary, how can they help solve actual Math problems?

[Assistant]
all numbers are imaginary, they are concepts that exist only in your mind. Numbers become useful when they can describe real world objects. The number *i* is a natural way to describe a 1/4 rotation. If you do it twice, *i*^2 you have done a 180 degree rotation, and in math, turning around is like multiplying by -1, so in terms of rotations, *i*^2 = -1. And if you do 4 rotations of a 1/4 turn, you have spun all the way around and are back where you started. It is like you have done nothing at all, in math, that is like multiplying by 1, so in terms of rotations *i*^4 = 1.

So all numbers are imaginary and live in your mind, and they become useful when they represent something real. When you relate imaginary numbers to rotations they become very useful and solve many real problems.


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

[User]
CMV: There is nothing morally or ethically wrong with consensual gladiatorial combat.

This is not a meme. I am 100% serious. I unironically want to bring back the duel.

I do not believe there to be anything wrong with two consenting adults agreeing to duel each other to the death. Nor do I think there is equally anything wrong with a consenting audience who are willing to pay to witness this match in a colosseum or other such sports arena.

It doesn't even have to have weapons involved. I'm in favour of all bloodsports in general. It could just be two guys duking it out with their bare fists (or girls). It doesn't even have to be to the death. A system could be easily implemented for opponents to "yield" or "tap" out, along with other strictly enforced regulation such as a team of paramedics on constant stand-by.

The commercialisation of gladiatorial combat would also create a lot of jobs (trainer, ticket seller, commentator, blood cleaner, blacksmith) and stimulate the economy with ticket sales and merch and the like.

I don't think our current society's want to hide violence from the public as if it doesn't exist in the real word, is a very healthy idea, nor a very smart idea in the long run. People are going to learn about the world's ugliness sooner or later - at least this way they can be more prepared (both practically and mentally) for it. Plus, it's not as if anyone's forcing you to watch. If you don't like it, don't participate in it.

As for the argument that the "normalisation" of violence will only make people more violent on the streets, I would argue that the same can be said for just regular UFC or MMA. It's no different. At least this way, one can be provided with an outlet for their violent tendencies in a regulated environment. And, what? You think just because UFC has stricter rules, that means people will carry those rules onto the street when committing crimes? That they'll arbitrarily hold back just because the people on TV do? If someone wants to hurt someone, they will. That's the end of it.

[Assistant]
>If you don't like it, don't participate in it.

If you're poor and unable to find a job that will pay you quickly enough to save your home or feed you, or if you have a close friend or family member that needs a life-saving medical procedure that you can't otherwise afford, this is already a life or death situation, and you're essentially forced into gladiatorial combat to survive.

Even if no one 'technically' forced you to do it. You still have to do it. Is that okay?


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

[User]
[DCAU] During the Apokolips war why didnt Darkseid turn Superman into a servant?

After he ambushes the JLA I noticed he took both Wonder Woman and Batman and made them servants, he even got flash to be his generator. Yet for Superman he took  away his powers . Why though? Wouldnt it make sense to turn him into a servant? Is Darkseid that afraid of Clark?

[Assistant]
The point is a punishment- Superman is (in principle) forced to spend the rest of his life powerlessly watching the world he failed to save slowly and agonisingly die.

It's not that's that afraid of Clark- it's that he hates Clark too much to simply brainwash him. He wants him to suffer, and he wants him to be aware for all of it.


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

[User] ELI5: Why can an internet connection sometimes stop working with no visible cause? Why would disconnecting and reconnecting fix it? What changed?

[Assistant]
Physically, there are (usually) hundreds, maybe thousands of individual connections and devices that data has to travel through between your computer and the server it's communicating with. That's hundreds or thousands of individual things that could go wrong! Maybe a cable connection burned out somewhere, or a switch has been reset along the line. Your ISP might be making changes to it's equipment for a couple of minutes, or maybe the guys working on the exchange accidentally a wire or two.

Logically: Software is complicated! Each device your data passes through runs software that makes it able to pass on your data. If you leave a device running for long enough, it might decide to just throw a tantrum and stop working, for almost no reason!
In terms of the internet, this usually happens on your end unfortunately. Your computer is probably running a couple hundred individual programs at any one time, and any one of them might send a signal another one doesn't like, or decide it's had enough and stop working. If that program has something to do with enabling your networking capabilities, the whole thing might just stop working. In this case, resetting your computer will restart those programs, and they will have forgotten all of the little things that were annoying them in the first place!


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

[User] ELI5:In the U.S., why is milk sold in gallons, but soda is sold in a 2 liter?

[Assistant] Sometime in the early 70's the US was going to attempt to move to the metric system.  During this time the 2L soda bottle was introduced.  While the US did not move to the metric system, the soda bottles remained.


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

[User] ELI5: Does extremely poisonous animals like poisonous squids or frogs not have any natural predators? If so, how are their population controlled?

[Assistant]
Often there are still some predators, poisons that dissuade birds wont necessarily also work on tarantulas.

A species with no predators at all can hit the carrying capacity of the environment - theres only so much easy food to go around and a population larger than that will starve.

Tiny prey animals arent likely to hit that, but large grazers and apex predators often do.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] When Vader makes jokes like "choking on aspirations" or "apology accepted," does he chuckle to himself or does his respirator prevent laughter?

Also does his humor help keep him sane from the torment of being in the suit?

[Assistant] He's not the type of person to laugh himself, he's almost constantly in a world of his own hatred and loathing. Occasionally he'll make comments like that, you have to remember that Anakin is still there in some capacity.


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

[User] ELI5 when lowering resolutions, how exactly do displays know what pixels to keep and which to throw out?

[Assistant]
They dont keep certain pixels, instead they usually use clever algorithms (google nearest neighbor/bilinear/bicubic interpolation) to determine what the new pixel values should be.

To get a feel for it, imagine you are given a red square and a white square with a black square inbetween and asked what you think the color of the black square should be. You might average the two colors and get pink. These algorithms do exactly this, except in two dimensions and with more sophisticated methods than averaging.