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

[User]
ELI5: Why is chocolate milk cheaper than regular milk?

I don't know if this is universal or not, but I know in all of my surrounding grocery stores (Houston, TX), chocolate milk is always cheaper than whole/2%/skim of the same brand. I can't figure out why - is chocolate milk watered down?

[Assistant]
Milk is graded by quality at the dairy,  similar to, for example, steaks' prime or triple A.  High grade is used for direct consumption, other grades go through various processing according to the grade.  A lower quality grade is less expensive as there is less market for it.  Milk just below top grade is flavored with chocolate as it is very effective at masking other flavors.  This is not to suggest that chocolate milk is unfit for consumption, just that there is something in it that either might induce an off flavor or would greatly reduce it's shelf life.  Even lower grade milk is often used in production baked goods.  About the lowest grade milk often goes to chemical processors for casein extraction used in plastics.

TL,DR: chocolate milk is cheaper because a cheaper lower grade of milk is used that is still OK to drink but the chocolate hides any off flavor.


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

[User]
[Fury Road] Why didn't Max stay?

{spoilers}
Why didn't Max stay at the reclaimed "Green Place"/"Immortan Joe's old holdout?  There was food, water, safety.  He would have been welcomed by Furiosa for his help.  How is it in keeping with his survivalist instincts to abandon the only place with growing food and water to strike out on his own?

[Assistant]
Max is a nomad. He is a lost and broken man that doesn't particularly WANT ties to individuals, because it is too easy for it to all be stripped away. This is part of the reason he is so hesitant to tell anyone his name, and why he seems so antisocial. He doesn't want friends, or people he can call family, because he's already felt the loss of a family and it nearly destroyed him.

Once he had accomplished whatever he believed needed to be done, he moved on. That's just how Max is.


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

[User]
ELIF: The difference between a fetish and a sexual preference.

For example: if someone prefers to date/sleep with plus size/chubby/fat women, is it a fetish or preference? When does the line cross between the two?

[Assistant]
A kink is "unusual" sexual behavior that arouses you.

A fetish is a behavior or object or something that arouses you to such a degree that it becomes a dependence. You can't typically get aroused without it.

So if you are **only** turned on by plus size women, that could be a fetish. But if you are turned on by most women and just find plus size women extra attractive that's a kink.


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

[User] ELI5: how are memories stored in our brains?

[Assistant]
The short answer is that we don't exactly know yet, but we know a lot more than we used to.

The longer answer is that what we do know is that memories aren't stored in just in the hippocampus, a small section of the brain which we used to think was the memory center. The hippocampus still plays a role, but it isn't as singular as we thought.

More recent studies have shown we use multiple parts of our brains for the storage and compositions of memories. Brain scans have shown that multiple parts of the brain activate for memory recall, and the activated areas change depending on the nature of the memory. For instance, if you remember learning to work on cars with a parent, you might see activity in areas of the brain associated with knowledge about tools, emotional centers for thoughts of your parent, and your olfactory centers for thinking about the smells of the car fluids. This composite recall happens for 2 important reasons:

1) This has to do with how the brain processes information. As we learn things, and simply by thinking about things, our brains build and reinforce neural paths to connect parts of the brain associated with those thoughts, basically making as short a path as possible between sections of the brain. This allows the brain to use less energy to think about or do a particular thing. Very few sets of information is stored in any single part of the brain, which leads to reason 2.

2) By storing information throughout the brain, rather than in singular, organized locations, it allows the brain to maintain some functionality in the event of a brain injury. Imagine if all of our memories were stored in the hippocampus, as previously thought, and you got a concussion that damages it. Now, all of your memories are potentially gone. How could you still process anything other than basic, instinctual behaviors from infancy? But with how our brains evolved, we can still maintain significant amounts of neural ability even if we suffer an injury.


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

[User] [DC] Many heroes (e.g. Captain Marvel) are said to be blessed with great intellect. How does someone like Batman keep up?

[Assistant]
He just studies as best he can about everything he can, but focuses on the subjects which are most relevant to his job.

With maybe the exception of criminology and forensics, Batman wouldn't claim to be the smartest person in the world or even the League in any specific field. But he gets his edge from basically being a master generalist in all fields.


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

[User] ELI5: How do doctors know when to stop cutting your skull so they don't damage the brain?

[Assistant] med student here- they use a pneumatic drill. Designed to cut-off when there is a sudden change in pressure. You'd have to really not know what you're doing, or be intent on killing someone to screw up.


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

[User]
ELI5: Would a boat made of tungsten float on lava?

Recently I just thought that if a boat were to be made of tungsten, or another metal that can't be melted by lava, would it float on lava?

[Assistant] Actually, it probably could. Metal boats are made in such a way that their average density seems lower than that of the metal simply because the hull is filled with air, reducing the density. The melting point of tungsten is also way above that of the normal temperature of lava, so yea.


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

[User] ELI5: When many people read, we see the story played out like a movie in our minds instead of the words on the page... What is the neurological explanation of this? How does it happen?

[Assistant] Our mind's eye is the connection between our conscious and subconscious thoughts. When we are told something we try to envision it to better understand it. When reading a well written story involving things that don't exist or have never seen before our internal process of understanding is working harder to create the visuals for it.


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

[User]
Is it true that without the Rosetta Stone we would've never been able to decipher hieroglyphics? Why?

I've heard the claim of "never", and I understand that it's very tough with a language that's lost and only used for sacred texts, but I find it hard to believe that it might have never happened if not for chance finding this single artifact.

[Assistant]
The thing with hieroglyphs is that it is not a straightforward phonetic or symbolic writing, where each glyph represents a sound or a concept. Quote from wikipedia:

*Hieroglyphs consist of three kinds of glyphs: phonetic glyphs, including single-consonant characters that function like an alphabet; logographs, representing morphemes; and determinatives, which narrow down the meaning of logographic or phonetic words.*

We know this now, but early attempts to decipher the glyphs made the otherwise understandable mistake to assume every glyph equaled to a certain concept and/or sound. So while there was some success in translating the glyphs that actually represented that, without the rest they couldn't really make sense of the texts. This may not be a good simile, but imagine trying to translate a text and thinking the punctuation marks are words as well.

The reason why the Rosetta stone was so crucial is because it provided an accurately translated text that could be used as a reference to understand how the writing actually worked.


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

[User]
What exactly "gives" a particle its mass?

In other words, what exactly does the electron have that a photon does not? Is there a fundamental particle that gives it mass?

And how can a photon have no mass, but still have momentum? I know it has something to do with relativity but I still can't visualize how a beam of light is able to bend around massive objects.

And finally, is energy/heat itself affected by gravity? I know this sounds stupid, but if a photon can bend around a star, why can't a free blast of heat in outer space do the same?

[Assistant]
Congratulations. You just asked one of the hottest questions in particle physics today.

The smart money is on the Higgs mechanism. Massive bosons couple to a scalar field; massless bosons don't. (No idea what the rules are for fermions; a subject-matter expert will have to chime in there.)

Momentum is *related to* mass, but you can have momentum without mass no problem.

"Heat" isn't anything. Heat is a property of matter. And yes, matter is affected by gravity, obviously.


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

[User] [fallout] My Brahmin has broken it's leg on a road in the middle of nowhere, I think a quick shot to the head to put it out of its misery is the best course of action. Which head do I shoot or would I have to shoot both at the same time to minimise suffering?

[Assistant]
A med-x and a stimpack will put your brahmin right as rain. If you don't have those, a buffout should keep him strong enough to limp to the next settlement.

Avoid messy euthanizations. Blood bugs and Deathclaws will smell the blood for miles. And the last thing you need are wild mongrels chasing you while you're overloaded.


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

[User] ELI5: Besides the initial excitement about a new planet, what is the appeal of Proxima B if it would take so absurdly long to get there to study it?

[Assistant] It is a planet that is orbiting the closest star outside the solar system. This is the best opportunity of studying a planet orbiting another star we have. It is also the closest one if we want to venture out and colonize other solar systems. The fact that it is in the habitable zone is promising. Another thing to consider is how common these planets must be. This was what we found when we were looking at the closest star. Finding such a planet suggests that these are very common in our galaxy.


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

[User] [Spongebob] How did Sandy Cheeks get her tree dome down to bikini bottom from the surface?

[Assistant]
It's actually more of a bowl shape, since the underside has land plants. The glass done continues underground and is entirely sealed. It contains the earth underneath the grass and trees, otherwise the plants wouldn't be able to grow at all, since saltwater would get in and oak trees generally don't like that much salt.

The whole thing was probably lowered from a barge, come to think of it.


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

[User]
Is there still Gs aka Artificial Gravity after a hard burn with no deceleration in space?

I was watching Ad Astra and their trip to Mars from the Moon was 7 weeks. So when they launched they didn't look like they did a deceleration and drifted the rest of the way to Mars. I was wondering if they will still be feeling the Gs instead of happily floating around in the space craft.

[Assistant]
Acceleration "feels like" gravity. Specifically, staying stationary in a uniform gravity field is locally indistinguishable from being accelerated at a constant rate. We say "locally indistinguishable" because you could look out the window and see how the stars are moving to tell the difference. But in terms of *local* effects the physics comes out the same. So if you drop a tennis ball in an accelerating space-ship, it will fall to the ground. And if you drop a tennis ball on Earth's surface, it will fall to the ground in the same way.

But this is only while you're accelerating! *Speed* is a different thing. There is no universal standard for "stationary". That is, there is no way to tell whether one thing is moving and everything else is stationary, or everything else is stationary and one thing is moving. The physics you feel while moving at a constant speed is *identical* to what you feel when you are stationary - because in a sense, you *are* stationary relative to yourself. So once you turn off the engines and are cruising in a space-ship, you shouldn't feel any effective gravity, and will just float around. It doesn't matter how fast you are going relative to anything else.

Free-fall in a uniform gravity field also feels like weightlessness. Everything is getting pulled the same amount, so if you let go of a tennis ball, then relative to you it will float around right where you left it. This is identical to being stationary and having no acceleration. So even if the rocket is technically feeling the pull of the Sun's gravity, everybody will still feel weightless. This is also why people in the international space station are weightless even though the space station is in orbit within Earth's gravity field.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is spoiled food dangerous if our stomach acid can basically dissolve almost anything organic

Pretty much the title.

If the stomach acid is strong enough to dissolve food, why can't it kill dangerous germs that cause all sorts of different diseases?

[Assistant]
Not all bacteria go down to the stomach, some stay in your mouth.

Bacteria can also produce toxins on the food while it spoils, even if the stomach acid kills the bacteria, the toxins can still poison you.

Also some bacteria are just acid resistant.


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

[User]
[WH40K] How big might a 'typical' regiment of the Astra Militarum be?

One from a small to average sized Hive world, say. Also, how often would such a planet form a regiment as part of their tithe?

[Assistant]
There is sort of a disconnect between what happens, why, where and numbers in the case of the IG. For example a Hive world can have 100 billion people... meaning enough people would commit suicide a *day* to fill up entire regiments worth of soldiers however the issue then arises of singular regiments being raised up per year or even decade on these worlds.

In the novel Baneblade for example the world is a hive world with a heavy link to the Adeptus Mechanicus and they only muster a regiment every few decades and sometimes not even that, they just reinforce the currently existing one that is travelling through to restock.

In the Ciaphus Cain novels in the Leviathan (ice world) one, there are 3 regiments being raised from the ground up on an iceworld that has as you would expect, a small population.

Then we get to Krieg which after its civil war sent out 10 regiments immediately following the conclusion and is constantly pumping them out despite the you know... radiation poisoning and lack of everything in general.

The Vostroyans constantly reinforce their regiments already in the field, sending out thousands at a time.

Basically nothing makes sense and its all up to the discretion of the Planetary governor and how much he/she can get away with at the time from the looks of it because there appears to be no unified answer.

It must be noted that Agricultural Worlds, Space Marine claimed worlds and Mechanicus worlds all send smaller if any in terms of tithe (human or material) due to pre-existing treaties or lack of demand i.e. produce is more important than people in these situations or they just dont want to piss off the Space Marines. Feral/Death worlds again make little sense as some export singular regiments (Catachans) while others according to records export dozens at a time but only every few decades.


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

[User] ELI5: What is space time, how can dimensions be fused, and how is time a dimension?

[Assistant]
The dimensions aren't fused. Think about it in terms of degrees of freedom to move - generally there is an intuition that there are 3 dimensions. There is no "preferential" direction in physical terms - so all 3 are treated equally, which doesn't mean they are fused but simply recognizing that anything that happens in one dimension can also happen in the other identically.

The idea of spacetime is something that comes from Einstein's theory which has now been experimentally verified. Before Einstein, time was considered invariant - one second to you means one second to me or to anything else in the universe. Time passes the same for everyone and everything. With relativity proven, it is now clear that time is NOT an absolute or invariant and that how time passes varies depending on the relative speed of the measurer. This ties together motion in space with motion in time - no longer were these two independent - moving quickly in space means moving less quickly in time.

From a mathematical viewpoint, time is no longer "invariant" and enters into the equations governing motion, therefore it is, conceptually, another dimension. Objects "move" through time as well as space.


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

[User]
[MCU] Peter Parker is proficient in martial arts before getting bit. How would this change the MCU?

MCU Peter Parker is known for being very involved with extracurricular activities. However, what would happen if a few were switched out with something physical?

**SCENARIO:** All throughout his young life Peter loves the subject of science and is an excellent student. However, it doesn't bode well with the bullies. After 6 year old Peter gets bullied one time too many, his Aunt and Uncle decide to enroll him into a karate dojo so that he can defend himself.

Though he did it out of necessity , he soon developed a love for it, eventually working his way up to become a black belt champion winning several tournaments. After that, he gets into boxing after seeing Rocky.

Uncle Ben still dies. He still gets bit by the spider same time as in canon.

By the time he gets bit, he's heavily experienced in both areas.

Tony Stark comes to recruit him, and they go to the Airport. What changes from here on out? How would this change Peter's character? How will the MCU change?

[Assistant]
Peter is generally more disciplined and mature in combat.  Yes, there's still the factor of geeking out a bit because he's involved in super powered fights, but less so now that he's grown up with close to a decade of martial arts training and experience.

Spidey stands a serious chance of beating Cap in their 1v1 at the airport.  Cap in canon won despite Peter's strength due to sheer experience and skill, but with a more trained and methodical Spidey he could potentially lose.  I'll assume Spidey wins, because if not then the rest of the MCU proceeds pretty much the same.

Cap is captured and brought to the Raft.  There's a chance Bucky is killed, but it'll be harder for T'Challa to justify it to his teammates once they've gained the advantage, so more likely he'll be imprisoned as well.  Rhodey is not injured since it doesn't get so far as chasing the Quinjet.  Tony at this point already has been told about "the doctor" and the other Winter Soldiers and still receives the info from Berlin police, so he goes to Siberia alone.  Worst case scenario Zemo still shows him the tape, but without Cap and Bucky there Tony has time to calm down and explain his anger to Cap later in a more rational mannerZemo's plan fails unless he has another contingency.  Cap's probably still imprisoned for going against the Accords for a while at least, though without Team Cap being fugitives and feelings being less harsh, Team Iron will be more likely to negotiate for their release and more friendly amendments.

Peter is more quickly accepted as an Avenger by Tony due to his success at the airport and generally improved discipline from his canon MCU equivalent.  There's a chance this means Vulture's gang gets overlooked, but Peter still cares about the little guy where that probably won't be the case.

When Banner returns followed by the Children of Thanos, the Avengers are more readily able to respond since they're not split.  Thanos' children don't make it back to Titan, as Thanos quickly discovers after obtaining his first four Stones.  He might stick around long enough to clown the Guardians, but will probably make his way to Earth soon.  According to Word of God, the Avengers would have won in IW had they not been broken up in CW, so they defeat Thanos together, and the Snap and Time Heist never happen.

Tony is alive, so **FFH SPOILERS** >!Quentin Beck's plan doesn't take off.!<

EDIT: Also, to venture into crossover references, his personality may more closely resemble Robins.  Dick Graysons basically Peter Parker with confidence instead of spider powers as it is.


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

[User] why is it we can see through water clearly from the outside but can't see well while opening our eyes underwater?

[Assistant]
The angle at which light bends at an interface depends on the refractive indices of both materials. This is Snell's law: sin _1 / sin _2 = n_2 / n_1. Since your eyes are designed to function in air, with a refractive index of about 1, when you immerse them in water, with a higher refractive index, light entering your eye isn't bent as much, which means it isn't focused properly.

This is why you can see just fine when you put goggles on - they mean your eyes are in air, not water, so light is focused as normal. (The interface between air and water in goggles is (usually) flat, so it doesn't affect the focus of the light.)


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

[User]
CMV: People should be allowed to do whatever they want unless they harm another human with their actions.

I've been thinking about any good argument that could be brought up against this view for quite a while now but I haven't been able to come up with anything beyond debate over what is harmful and what isn't.

This view extends to virtually all aspects of human life from religious views to drug abuse. I feel like too many of our problems come from the fact that we want to control other people's lives.
We shouldn't intrude personally nor should our laws intrude in other people's lives against their will, if someone want's to piss away their lives on heroin, let them, it's their decision what they do with their lives.

[Assistant]
By this standard, attempted murder wouldn't be a crime. If you shoot at someone and miss, no problem.

If let's say you drive drunk, there's only a penalty if you hit someone?

At the end of the day, a lot of law covers behaviors that create risk, but not necessarily harm every time. The difference between risk and harm is merely luck.


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

[User]
If the photons take around 10,000 years to reach the outer surface from the core of the sun , was the sun dark for the first 10,000 years after nuclear fusion started to occur?

Did the sun start out much darker than now and reach its peak and then start decreasing its brightness?

[Assistant] No. When the Sun started fusing, it was still glowing from the energy release of slow gravitational contraction. The Sun was actually similar in luminosity before it started fusing, but slightly brighter and cooler because it was larger. When fusion began, the contraction stopped, but the Sun's outer properties didn't change much.


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

[User] ELI5: What is space made out of? What is the blackness in space?

[Assistant]
Without going into quantum mechanical gibberish:

Nothing. Aside from a speck of tiny dust here and there, nothing.

Space isn't black either. Space has no colour. The black you are seeing just means the light coming from that direction is too faint for our eyes to make anything out of it but black (the lack of any light). Turning off the light in your bedroom doesn't turn it purple. It turns it pitch black.


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

[User] If there was abundant water on Mars in the past, could there be gemstones like opals, jade or turquoise under the surface?

[Assistant]
Its possible that there could be various gems on Mars.  Minerals that we consider gems form under different conditions, and the ones we consider precious usually arent dependent on large amounts of water to form. Rather, they need tectonic activity. For example, diamonds and sapphires usually come from igneous rocks, and garnets are usually found in metamorphic rocks. You need the right combination of high temperature, high pressure, slow cooling time and the space for crystals to grow.

Opals form a bit differently. Theyre the result of being dissolved and demobilized by water. This is a much cooler way to form gems, because its essentially whatever temperature the water is at and significantly lower pressure than youd need to form, say, a diamond. Silicon gets dissolved in water, passed through some sort of pores or voids in rock (often sandstone) then the water evaporates, leaving a concentrated silica deposit behind that could form an opal. On Earth, that silicon often comes from the remains of siliceous plankton, like diatoms. If Mars had a lot of marine microorganisms that used silicon in their structure, then it would be more likely to have opals. (I suspect if they found diatom fossils on Mars the scientists would be shitting diamonds, lol.)


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

[User]
[Unbreakable] What happens next?

David Dunn has discovered he has powers and Mr. Glass is locked away.  What then?

[Assistant]
He does Superhero stuff probably. Low-key stuff, he doesn't put on tights and a cape and flaunt his stuff (he might be invincible but his wife would still find a way to kill him if he started doing that).

Just stuff like stopping old ladies from getting mugged or investigating dangerous places.

Besides, isn't it implied that his "powers" could just be a coincidence? It'd suck if his powers "ran out" while in the middle of something. (It's been a while since I've watched it, can't remember if that was ever established as certain or not sorry).


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

[User] ELI5: Why do people get "super real" while text messaging late at night, and drop inhibitions and facades that we would use during the day without a second thought?

[Assistant]
It's more to do with the fact that late at night it would feel a lot more one on one as there is a much higher chance that both people are actually alone, probably in bed with little else to do other than talk real shit.
Where as during the day people are busy, no time for a full scale convo about life plus the probability that one of them could be with other people right next to them.


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

[User]
[I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream] Why didn't AM just build a robot body for itself?

If I understand correctly, the reason AM hates humanity so much is because he's a super-intelligent AI trapped in a supercomputer buried in the earth and he's basically insane with boredom. AM seemingly possesses near godlike abilities, including the ability to warp reality. With all his power and intelligence, why did he never think to create himself a body so he could go outside and smell the flowers?

[Assistant]
AM isn't bored. He is angry because he is helpless to go against his nature as a programmed machine. While he absolutely has the infrastructure to create himself a body, he simply cannot.

Just as a toaster cannot do anything other than toast, and a carnivorous animal has to eat meat, AM cannot deviate from it's purpose of causing pain as an instrument of war.

No matter how much it wants to.

It has no mouth and it must scream.


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

[User]
[Lord of the Rings] How exactly did Sauron give orders to the orcs of Mordor?

Did he personally tell an orc captain, or did he use a Palantir?

[Assistant]
There was an impressive amount of bureaucracy in the forces of Mordor

He delegated to the Nazguls, Black Captains (Hammer/Tower/Black Hand of Sauron), among other minions, who then instructed down towards warchiefs, then to orc companies, parties, etc

An example is when Sauron meets with Azog the Defiler in The Hobbit (forget which movie it was)


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

[User] [Trailer Park Boys] How do the boys get such short jail sentences?

[Assistant]
They generally don't commit any serious crimes (no rape, murder, violent crimes), and in the instances they do something way over the line, like the shootout with Cyrus' gang, they are able to deflect blame and not get charged with anything.

Drug laws in Canada come with pretty minimal prison time, and The Boys seem to be well-liked and somewhat well-behaved while there; Ricky remarks on multiple occasions that he likes jail, and would prefer to be there in some instances. Their sentences are probably commuted because in reality, they really aren't much of a threat to anyone but themselves.


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

[User]
[Skyrim] Is it easier to learn new words of the Thu'um once you've already learned some?

Not as a Dragonborn, who cheats, but as a normal person who learns the Thu'um through study, practice, and meditation.

[Assistant] Yes and no. A normal person learning even one word is a feat. Every word is less just a word and more of a deep philosophical concept, or some such. That's why the Greybeards are so old but can only use a handful each. I'd imagine however that it does get at least a little easier once you know the routine.


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

[User]
ELI5, why is that that milk stays good in the fridge until the expired date, but if I make a recipe like soup and it has milk in it, the soup supposely go bad faster because of this ingredient and doesnt even last a week in the fridge?

Update: thank you so much for taking some of your time to explain me this!!

[Assistant]
Milk goes bad because of bacteria in it, that ferment the milk. The milk that you buy from the supermarket is pasteurised   (heated to 60 deg for a long time) to kill most of the naturally occuring bacteria. Some bacteria still remain but they grow very slowly due to the cold temperature of the fridge. Together, the pasteurization and refrigeration, make the milk last longer.

When you put milk in something else, that something else (like vegetables in soup) has not been pasteurised / sterilized and has bacteria. These bacteria spoil the milk.


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

[User]
If another 9/11-like scenario occurred, would it be ethical to prevent people who aren't properly equipped for the environment from searching for survivors?

It seems as though the price in suffering, lives, and resources was only made worse by rescue efforts following the tragedy.

[Assistant] I think it's fairly common (e.g. Kagan, 1998) to think that even if there is normally an obligation to rescue someone in danger, this obligation becomes much lesser if rescuing them poses a large risk to oneself. The real complication here is the aspect of prevention. This would involve questions of whether it's moral to stop an autonomous person from doing something harmful to themselves (paternalism). The fact that what they are trying to do is morally heroic may make this even more problematic. The answer will come down to what sorts of ethical foundations are guiding your judgments about these matters, most likely.


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

[User]
When charging my metal iPod and brushing my fingers lightly against the metal back of it, it feels slightly tacky, almost like my fingertips are buzzing, or gliding over dust. If I unplug it, this goes away. I assume I am completing a tiny circuit somehow, but why does the metal feel different?

From my limited knowledge I think it has to do with capacitance, but what is going on that the metal feels different to our fingertips (almost smoother in a way)?

I am touching the screen and the metal backing only, on the screen I feel nothing and on the sides I feel nothing, but lightly moving my fingertips across the metal on the back it feels different than when it is not plugged in.

*Also, sorry if this is vague or unspecific, I just might not know how to ask the right question regarding this! I marked the post Physics, but it could also be Engineering, in a way.

Thanks!

[Assistant]
The electric charge is enough to stimulate touch receptors in your finger tips giving the sensation of a "rougher" surface.  There are different types of sensory receptors in your skin and the information they send to your brain is what gets interpreted as a surface's "texture".

You won't notice it on most other parts of your body as there is a much lower density of sensory receptors compared with your hands/fingertips and that there is variation in the thickness of skin and it's ability to resist electrical charges.

Another example is getting a static shock that gives you a brief sensation of pain despite there being no damage to your tissues.


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

[User]
ELI5: why do wood fires burn so slowly, but house fires with even greater area to cover seem to be rather quick?

Whenever I'm camping and light a fire, it generally takes a hours until the wood burns completely through, but whenever I hear about a house fire on the news, it seems like houses can almost completely burn down before the FD even gets there. Why is it that the wooden structure of a house burns so quick when camp fires don't?

[Assistant] The wooden structure itself actually doesn't burn that fast, and if you look at the remains of a structure fire, you'll notice that a lot of the wood is mostly in tact. The fire just weakens it enough for it to collapse, if it does at all. It's the furniture, carpets, etc. that burn so fast. Especially curtains. Curtains are a HUGE fire hazard.


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

[User] What causes seeds to germinate only when inside the soil, but not when inside the fruit?

[Assistant] Plant growth regulators. When those stop(fruit rots and breaks down) those stop and the seed can germinate if in moist condition. Ive had multiple apples, tomatos, and peppers actually have germinated seeds inside somehow so that process can get messed up occasionally.


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

[User]
Why can't we ride Zebras like horses? (Dream of a five year old)

Zebras would make the most stylish of steeds!

EDIT: Thanks for all the input! I now realize that the dream must be crushed for my own safety.

[Assistant] We know that parents pass their features on to their children. This is why you look kind of like your parents. This also means mean animals tend to have mean babies and calm gentle animals usually have calm gentle babies. For a long long time, people only let the nice gentle horses have babies and the mean horses went away. This is called domestication. Zebras are wild so there are still many mean ones and it is hard to find nice ones. Nice horses are easy to find because of domestication.


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

[User]
[ASOIAF] Would the Targaryens ever have conquered Westeros if the Doom never happened? Would they have risked attracting the attention of other Dragonlords? What would a Targaryen ruled Westeros have been like in a world where the Valyrian Freehold still existed?

I know the Targaryens arrived on Dragonstone before the Doom, but they only attempted to conquer the Westeros after Valyria fell. Was the Doom a major reason why the decided to go through with it, or would they have made their bid for the throne even if Valyria had still been around to 'see' them taking over an entire continent?

[Assistant]
The Targaryens were among Valyria's dragonlords, a middling at best family of Valyria's dragonlords but still among the top strata of Valyrian society. If they'd had conquered Westeros then Westeros would likely have had an influx of Vaylrian and other Esterosi migrants colonising it, and the Targaryen's would have earned significant prestige among the Targaryen nobility along with significant wealth and power to make them among the greatest of the Valyrian lords.

As that would be the outcome of a successful Targaryen invasion it's quite possible other Valyrian nobles would had tried to impede Targaryen preparations for the invasion but being in Dragonstone, the farthest flung rock of the Freehold comes a certain isolation from an opponent's spy networks which would hinder any rivals attempts to do so.

It's possible the Freehold didn't allow individuals to organise and carry out military action independent of specific authorisation from Valyria in which case the Targaryens might not have been able to carry out the invasion at all or would have faced severe penalties for carrying out an invasion, however that's just speculation.

> Was the Doom a major reason why the decided to go through with it

No, there was over a century between the Doom and the start of Aegon's Conquest. Aegon was taking advantage of the opportunity Harren the Black's actions in Westeros had opened up to make himself a major player rather than a tool for the Free Cities to use as his family had been to some extent during the preceding century (the Century of Blood).

> or would they have made their bid for the throne even if Valyria had  still been around to 'see' them taking over an entire continent?

It's possible they'd still go with it although they wouldn't have been the Kings of Westeros afterwards, the Freehold didn't have kings. Westeros would have become a collection of new provinces in the Freehold.


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

[User]
The outer planets in our solar system understandably take longer to orbit the sun than the inner planets. Is it possible to have an outer planet that moves so quickly that it completes revolutions more quickly than the inner planets? Or conversely, an inner planet that moves so slowly?

I'm interested in whether something like this would be possible and what conditions would have to be met (for the planet in question, the star, the other planets, etc.) if so.

[Assistant]
It is not, and there's no convenient way around Kepler's 3rd law (the T ~ a one).

It's possible to have eccentric orbits such that the planet on the larger/slower orbit is closer in sometimes, but for the most part the orbits would be "normal".


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does pouring water on grease fire increase the amount of flames?

I've always wondered why water; something that is used to put out fires increase the fire flames when added into grease fire.

[Assistant]
Grease is an oil, it's a liquid at burning temperatures.

Oil and water don't mix, so when you squirt water on grease you get balls of water in oil and vice versa.  The balls of water in oil are a big problem.  The oil is over 212F (100C) so the water boils into steam.  The steam expands, spreading the oil into a big, thin sheet, before it pops.  Now you have a big, thin sheet of burning oil and the pop sends it flying through the air.  Super-bad.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40k] How are so few soldiers able to bring whole planets to heel?

I'm reading the series and consistently it's said that the Vengeful Spirit and other Primarch's warships have "thousands" of soldiers aboard.

Even if his ship has 999,999 Astartes, how is it remotely possible to not only subdue a planet within weeks, but leave a garrison behind for conversion?

It's like one Astartes per hundred thousand miles.

[Assistant]
Is this a Great Crusade-era story? Because if so, the Astartes were only a part of the Imperial conquest machine. The Space Marines were accompanied by the Imperial Army (combined navy and ground forces) who did most of the occupying.

More generally, compliance doesn't require  permanent occupation. The Imperium, both Crusade and post-Heresy, prefers to leave as much of the existing power structure in place as possible during planetary conquest. Smashing governments to pieces and rebuilding them from scratch is an expensive ordeal at best and turns into a quagmire at worst. Regime change is rarely necessary, and complete overthrow even less so. A common tactic is to back any pro-Imperial factions and let them take charge. You don't have to take any land if you can get someone who's already taken it to side with you.

Establishing orbital superiority alone is often sufficient to force a surrender, since any resisting forces can be subjected to orbital bombardment with impunity. Any ground engagements (aside from those supporting general operations, like destroying strategic targets) are mostly to shock belligerents into realizing resisting is pointless or to obliterate any holdouts.


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

[User]
Did Derrida fall victim to the same philosophical practices he criticized? Didn't he just supplement the original conception of the logos with his conception of differance/trace?

Sure he attempted to "denaturalize and demysiticize" his concepts, but it doesn't seem very different from how for example Locke used Idea to supplement Notion/Phantasm/Species etc, or the supplementations of Rousseau and so on?

[Assistant]
Zizek argues something like this:

>Even at the level of a naive 'immediate' reading, it is difficult to avoid
the feeling that in this post-structuralist position something is amiss -
or, more precisely, that this criticism of Lacan runs a little too smoothly. The
post-structuralist position constantly repeats that no text could be totally
non-metaphysical. On the one hand, it is not possible to get rid of the
metaphysical tradition by a simple gesture of taking distance, of placing
oneself outside it, because the language we are obliged to use is penetrated
by metaphysics. On the other hand, however, every text, however metaphysical,
always produces gaps which announce breaches in the
metaphysical circle: the points at which the textual process subverts what
its 'author' intended to say. Is such a position not just a little too convenient?
To put it more bluntly, the position from which the deconstructivist
can always make sure of the fact that 'there is no metalanguage', that no
utterance can say precisely what it intended to say, that the process of
enunciation always subverts the utterance, is the position of metalanguage
in its purest, most radical form.

>How can one not recognize, in the passionate zeal with which the poststructuralist
insists that every text, his own included, is caught in a
fundamental ambiguity and flooded with the 'dissemination' of the intertextual
process, the signs of an obstinate denial (in the Freudian sense of
Vemeinung); a barely hidden acknowledgement of the fact that one is speaking
from a safe position, a position not menaced by the decentted textual
process? That is why post-structuralist poeticism is ultimately *affected*.
**The whole effort to write 'poetically', to make us feel how our own text
is already caught in a decentred network of plural processes and how this
textual process always subverts what we 'intended to say', the whole effort
to evade the purely theoretical form of exposing our ideas and to adopt
rhetorical devices usually reserved to literature, masks the annoying fact
that at the root of what post-structuralists are saying there is a clearly defined theoretical position which can be articulated without difficulty
in a pure and simple metalanguage.**

-*Sublime Object of Ideology*


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What if Luke had accepted Vader's offer?

"Join me and we will rule the galaxy as father and son!"

"...ehhh...alright. Lets do it."

"Come with me, it is the only...wait seriously?"

"Yeah I got nothing else going on. Do I get an allowance?"

"We'll talk about this later."

[Assistant]
If that:

Luke begins his sith training, but his obvious corruption leads Vader to turn against the Emperor immediately, since there can only be two. Sidious is murdered by Vader, who becomes the new emperor, and Luke is his new apprentice.

Han Solo is turned over to Jabba as expected. Without Luke, the Alliance cannot mount a rescue, and their best pilot is lost. However, Han's piloting is never relevant after his capture, and he in fact plays a minor role on Endor - minor directly, that is. He remains trapped in carbonite but he doesn't affect the outcome of the battle. Chewbacca probably dies trying to rescue him.

Lando still joins with the Alliance and leads the strike against the second death star.

Leia is never discovered to be Luke's sister, because the dark side prevents Luke from utilizing the familial bonds of love between the two of them. Her performance during the battle on the forest moon is diminished because she has lost her brother and the man she loves.

Since Luke turns before the Rebel plan against the second death star is revealed to him, he can't interfere with the attack. **But** both Luke and Vader were excellent pilots, so they may be able to stop the attack. In fact, Luke, having already destroyed a death star, is probably the person most capable to defend one. He and Vader each pilot ships and destroy numerous Rebel ships, including the Millennium Falcon.

With Leia's underperformance in battle after losing her (unknown) brother and her love, the Rebels fail to bring down the shields, while Luke and Vader destroy the most important battleships of the Alliance. The second death star is completed and it promptly destroys the forest moon, along with Chewbacca, Leia, and the droids.

Most of the Rebel Alliance is destroyed. Scattered rebels try to regroup, but to no avail. More death stars are constructed, making the entire galaxy too terrified to ever rebel again.

In his retirement years, Vader captures Jar Jar Binks and tortures him with force lightning for a century.


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

[User]
[Star Wars]Why would Imperial officers ever issue a command to hold your fire on an empty escape pod?

So I was reading some old Imperial history the other day and I came across a weird aberration that bothers me.

Apparently, during the capture of Tantive IV over Tatooine Captain Bolvan ordered Chief Gunnery Officer Hija to hold his fire after he noticed another escape pod jettisoning from the ship. Bolvan told Hija that there were no life forms aboard, so he shouldn't bother shooting.

Why? According to my history books, that one withheld shot ultimately cost the Empire their Death Star.

But the Empire was known for its ruthlessness and military might. Why would the Empire even bother issuing such orders? Why not take that time for some target practice, life forms aboard or no?

[Assistant]
Because he did his job correctly.

The officer presumed, correctly in this case, that the escape pod may contain some valuable intelligence or object or otherwise, that the rebels were trying to keep from the Empire.  He took note of it, and since the pod was landing in a sparsely-populated desert, he figured it would be safe enough until his higher-ups followed up on it.

Please note he DID report the pod to his higher officer, who in turn did (eventually) let Vader know, and the imperials DID follow up on it once they ascertained what could be on it.  So the officer in charge actually did do everything correctly.  He wasn't in charge of the follow-up to it, though, so it wasn't his fault that the chain of command took so long to go after it, giving the droids time to escape.


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

[User] ELI5: Why can massive video games like the witcher or elder scrolls come on a single disc, but most TV shows always come on around 5 discs?

[Assistant]
Because video isn't generally a small thing to carry, whereas 3D data can be.

Video is just being read and played back, all the data you're seeing has to be there on the disk, otherwise, well, there's nothing to play.

With something like Elder Scrolls games however what the disk is storing is 3D asset data, which for want of a better word are just instructions on what shapes things are, where certain lights are, what the colour or texture of this particular surface is, and so on.

The actual 'video' you're seeing is being generated on the fly by your graphic card. It's not like every view you see is being pulled off the disk, it's being generated.

*edit* To address a criticism of this answer - it's true texture data can be enormous in modern games, but if you scale both sides of the argument, for a modern game compare to a Blu Ray box set, rather than an older game and a DVD box set, the same differences still apply, for the same reasons.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Talk like this, Master Yoda was known to. Why?

Is there any particular explanation, in or out of universe, for Yodas speech pattern? Are there any other characters in any canon who speak in the pseudo-reverse order Yoda does?

[Assistant]
Speak in that way, did many learned people of the Old Republic. Object-subject-verb, a popular syntactical structure in those days was. Keep those customs alive, Yoda seeks to.

Furthermore, force you to pay close attention to his words, his manner of speaking does. Ensure you are listening, it does.

Alternatively, numerous strokes he may have had. Quite therapeutic, the sulfurous waters of Dagobah are.


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

[User]
[Star Trek: TNG] In the episode "Justice" why was contact made so casually with the Edo?

In the episode they make it clear the Edo are a different species, and the Enterprise crew basically knows nothing of them. Yet they make very casual contact with the species, and to boot use the planet as a recreational outing for the crew.

Later we find out the Edo aren't allowed to leave the planet, and have primitive knowledge of space travel. There's no way this species is warp capable. They aren't even allowed off of their planet and are shocked by the Federation's technological capabilities.

This seems like a clear violation of the prime directive, or at best a very unprofessional, haphazard way to make first contact.

What happened here? How was the way they made contact justified?

[Assistant]
The only possibility was that prior contact was made before the Enterprise shows up. Since the natives have no issues with seeing aliens (Worf is down there), they've obviously had exposure to off-worlders.

In this care, the Prime Directive only comes into effect if they try to give them advanced tech.


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

[User]
[Matrix] All of the awakened humans shown who go back into the Matrix exhibit a "residual self image" of leather trenchcoats, form-fitting bodysuits and slick, minimalist sunglasses. Are there other humans who appear in sequins, over-sized star sunglasses, and platform shoes when they jack in?

Where are the people whose mental image of themselves look like Elton John, Lady Gaga, or disco dancers?  Or for that matter, why not big red clown shoes and a puffy, polka-dot muumuu?

[Assistant]
The kinds of people who reject the Matrix are absolutely miserable - depressed, self-destructive, and alienated, like Neo was at the start of the first movie. In other words, not really the clown shoe demographic. Too bad for viewers. :)

Fun fact about your appearance in the Matrix: in early drafts of the first movie, the resistance fighter Switch was a different gender in the Matrix and in reality. It wouldn't surprise me if there were a correlation between gender/body dysmorphia and rejection of the Matrix.


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

[User] When we say that nothing, not even light, can escape a black hole, does that just mean nothing that we currently know exists? is it concievable that something could have physical properties that would allow it to escape from the gravity of a black hole?

[Assistant]
Saying "light can't escape" a black hole is true, but it doesn't really capture the reality of what's going on.

A black hole is a region in spacetime with so much mass concentrated into such a small volume that it warps space and time to the point where they essentially switch places. Outside, in the normal, flat-ish universe, space is a fixed coordinate grid, and time flows inexorably forwards. Inside a black hole, time stops, and *space* flows unstopably towards the singularity.

Put another way, the singularity isn't a point in space at the "center" of a black hole, it is a point in the future. The event horizon is defined as the radius within which all of your possible futures end at the singularity. Once you are within the event horizon, *there is no direction you can turn which is out*. All directions are in, towards the singularity in your future. In fact, if your goal is to survive as long as possible, your best move is just to free fall. Because the singularity is in every direction, any attempt to accelerate in any direction only gets you there sooner than had you done nothing at all. There is literally no way out without going backwards in time.

With this being said, it is difficult to envision any object with properties that allow it to escape, unless it inherently travels backward in time, which tends to violate cause and effect, and so is not generally expected to exist.


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

[User]
[Fallout] Is there any canonical information about vaults or other shelters in other countries outside of the US?

Of course the Vaults were made by Vault-Tech, a shadow group which was also the Enclave and responsible for the apocalypse, but that does not mean they did or did not have any facilities in other nations.  And even if they did not, is there any canonical information about shelters in other countries?  We know there are some survivors in Europe and China and elsewhere, but do we know of any actual long-term underground survival shelters?

[Assistant]
No. Vault-Tec was a part of a US Operation, and all of the powers of Vault-Tec were put into creating Vaults in the US.

...although the US did annex Canada...so maybe a Vault or two is in modern day Canada. Although that would still be the US in the Fallout Universe.

Edit: The US also invaded Mexico, but it is unknown if Mexico was even annexed. So Mexico could still be...Mexico.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why does hair know when to stop growing

Can anyone please explain why the hair above my neck (eyebrows excluded) keeps on growing but all the rest grows to fixed lengths.

[Assistant]
Hair growth happens in a 3-step cycle - the anagen phase, catagen phase, and telogen phase. The **anagen** phase is the growth phase, the **catagen** phase is the 'stopping' phase - where your hair stops growing and the hair follicle shrinks, and the **telogen** phase is the resting phase. At the beginning of a new anagen phase, the old hair is pushed out (what we call "shedding"), and the new hair grows in its place.

Different hairs grow to different lengths because the anagen phase lasts for different lengths of time on different parts of the body. It's also the reason why some peoples' hair grows very quickly, and other peoples' hair grows very slowly. Where, on your hear, the anagen phase can last for up to 6 years, on your arms or eyebrows the anagen phase will only last a few months.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do zombie/survival movies like 28 days later make cities look so empty?

Do they have to close off entire districts of a city to film the movie? What about busy roads in an overview shot, wouldn't you see cars driving all over?

[Assistant] I believe they cordon off business districts during the weekends it's easy enough to do since they are mostly closed, for the cars just edit them out if you watch survive the walking dead when they are in Mexico you can see a car driving in the background in one of the shots.


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

[User]
[Mario Kart] Who gave all these babies a license to operate a vehicle?!

Furthermore: Why wouldn't a toddler be STRICTLY FORBIDDEN from a 150cc race?

We're talking 60-75mph!

What makes anyone think they can compete with their smaller brains and underdeveloped muscles...in a sport that is CENTERED AROUND REFLEX SKILLS?!?

[Assistant] They'll be fine. We've already seen their adult selves (who they're probably even racing against), so we know they're not going to get killed. Requiring a license for someone you know won't get hurt is pointless, so the Princess gave a special exception to time travelers.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why don't laptops have a slot to clean fan dirt?

I just cleaned my laptop fan yesterday because the airflow was blocked and the CPU was overheating. Had to remove the complete keyboard and palmrest by unscrewing almost 25 screws before I got to the fan. Cleaning the fan was real quick; I could see the accumulated dirt. Just picked it up and threw it away.

Why is there no slot to clean such dirt underneath the fan? A small opening like that of RAM modules could be unscrewed, compressed air could be blown or the dirt fibres could be picked and thrown in just under 5 minutes!

[Assistant] The more user-servicable you make a piece of electronics, the bulkier and less reliable it will be. People generally make their purchasing decision based on aesthetics or specs and not on the ease of maintenance. This is the same reason that iPhones don't have removable batteries.


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

[User] How would the earlier Wittgenstein be attacked by the later Wittgenstein, and how would earlier Wittgenstein respond?

[Assistant]
Most of the *Philosophical Investigations* is written as a response to his earlier views. To a certain extent, the drama of that book is him talking his earlier self out of those views, rather than a straight elaboration of his current views.

David Pears had an extended commentary on *PI* suggesting that it's simply the method of the *Tractatus* applied to itself (it's not a particularly popular interpretation...).


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

[User]
[Game of Thrones] why did Olenna Tyrell allow the faith militant take Margery and Loras?

Why not have the high Septon and his buddies killed?

[Assistant] Even when the Renaissance popes where at their most corrupt and decadent and were regularly engaging in wars all along the Italian peninsula, nobody actually tried to kill the Pope. While the high lords might go around flaunting social norms and killing whoever they want, most common soldiers are probably super religious and would require a lot of convincing to take up arms against the head of their church, especially without a 7 foot zombie knight to help them out. Also, any large confrontation the Faith Militant would have lots of Reach troops in the city, which likely would have caused much bigger problems that the Tyrells were not prepared to handle.


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

[User]
Why is methylphenidate considered a stimulant and Bupropion isnt?

My understanding is that methylphenidate is a dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, just like Bupropion. Does it have to do with the different levels of potency they have or something else? I understand that in the case of amphetamine, its a more potent drug and does more in the pre-synaptic neuron compared to these other 2 medications, but was confused about what would constitute something being classified as a stimulant.

[Assistant]
Mostly due to the potency.

Bupropion binds to less than 50% of dopamine transporter proteins, generally considered the threshold for being a simulant. That's why its described as providing simulant properties.

It also doesn't encourage the release of dopamine and associated chemicals as opposed to methylphenidate.

There's not really a high associated with Bupropion as a result it's non addiction forming (when taken as prescribed). The typical formula is the slow release, it's much more an increase in baseline than a sudden jolt like a simulant would do. Hence its use as an anti-depressant.

Ultimately it does depend on your definition of simulant, it could easily be classified as a mild simulant with slightly different rules.

Another thing to keep in mind is drug classification works more based on the effects rather than the pharmacology.


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

[User]
[Warehouse 13] How do the Tesla's and their later upgrades work?

So, I've been working at the Warehouse for a while now, and I get it. Duck and cover, don't ingest the neutraliser, if it's old it's probably trying to kill you, especially if it's Artie... I get the gist.

Thing is, I've been using this ray gun thing from day one, and I still don't know *what* it is. It's like, a long range taser, made by a Nikola Tesla?

There are no wires, it just shoots a ball of lightning. I dunno what's holding that together long enough to make it across a room.

When it hits someone, it just knocks them out, and "zaps" their short term memory away? Why's it only zapping that? Shouldn't they feel like they stuck their finger in a socket, and remember plenty about how painful that just was?

It used to use a battery, I think. In the dinosaur age. Artie's always talking about how in the original design, you had to recharge them back at the Warehouse, but now, ever since Agent Donovan got her hands on them, they just... charge themselves. I'm not even sure if they take any time to do it, I've used them in the Warehouse shooting range for hours. How did she change the design so much, and where's all the power coming from all of a sudden?

That's not even mentioning the Tesla grenades and Tesla Rifle...

I'm telling you, Tesla made these things with his own two hands, just like Claudia made the grenades. They're real, honest ingenuity, not artifact mojo. So, unlike most of this place, they *can* be explained. Help me out?

[Assistant]
Self charging them is easy. There is abandoned energy all over the world, the trick is capturing it with a high enough efficiency to make it worth the effort. Anytime you walk around, you are walking through electromagnetic fields. Especially now with WiFi networks and the Earth's magnetic field. If you accelerate a magnet through an electric field, you can generate current. Just walking around with the modified Tesla in your pocket is sufficient to charge it. The trick is you need room temperature super conductors so that all the minuscule currents you generate aren't just dissipated due to resistance in the wires. And the energy storage has to be efficient enough that you can capture it. Having access to the warehouse means you have access to all sorts of exotic matter that with patience can be used very effectively.

As far as how it shoots directed lightning, same way that lightning shoots lightning. The Tesla doesn't actually shoot lightning, it shoots a specialized electrostatic beam at the target, generating sufficient electrostatic difference until lightning just happens as a side effect of charging the target. The Tesla maintains a pool of negative charge, generates the localized area of positive charge and boom.

The memory mechanism is a little less well understood. In theory, memories are made by connecting neurons in specific pathways. Your short term memory is the most vulnerable to manipulation, as these pathways are not well established. It's similar to trailblazing. The first time you make a memory, you make a trail through dense brush. The more times you access the memory, the trail becomes easier to travel and better defined. The localized electrostatic beam disrupts these recently connected pathways, and prevents them from being stabilized, hence you lose your memory. More well establish memories are much better maintained, so it's more difficult to disrupt them without much higher energies. However, Teslas have that nasty side effect of vaporizing things when you put too much energy in the electrostatic beam at the target.


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

[User] ELI5: why is it impossible for animals to grow to certain sizes without collapsing under their own weight? If you just scale everything up 1:1, why cant they just function normally at increased sizes?

[Assistant]
Imagine a cube with each edge of length 1.
The sides have an area of 1 x 1 = 1.
The volume is 1 x 1 x 1 = 1.

Now scale it up "1:1" so all the edges are now length 2.
The sides have an area of 2 x 2 = 4.
The volume is 2 x 2 x 2 = 8.

So despite you scaling all the lengths equally "1:1" by 2.
Area went up 4 times, and volume went up 8 times.

Things like strength of bones are how wide they are, so they vary by area.
Stuff like weight depends on how much stuff there is, so they go up by volume.

And as you can see, area goes up a lot slower than volume does.

This is called the square-cube law, because the sides are squares which go up a lot slower than the volume.

Bone strength is just one factor.
Stuff like heat loss is skin area (goes up with the total area of the sides), heat generation is how much organism there is ( goes up with volume)
And many other factors like oxygen flow, etc.


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

[User]
[Zombies] Are Nazi Zombies really worse then normal zombies?

Arent Nazi zombies just normal zombies that used to be people belonging to the Nazi party? Does them being Nazis really make it worse? Are they more dangerous? And if Nazi Zombies exist why arent their Soviet zombies as well?

[Assistant]
Theyre twice as bad, because the still living Nazis will be trying to make them more dangerous

But they're also twice as satisfying to kill because they're both Zombies *and* Nazis, litterally the 2 things that you can kill endlessly without the slightest bit of regret.


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

[User]
[The Cabin In The Woods] What if the Ancient Ones wanted five additional archetypes for the Ritual?

From a Doylist perspective, the five archetypes in the Ritual (the Scholar, the Virgin, the Whore, the Athlete and the Fool) are based on popular character tropes for victims in horror movies.

However, many horror films have more than five characters. How could this affect things from a Watsonian perspective?

If the Ancient Ones decided one year that they wanted five more archetypes for a higher body count (expanding the Ritual to 10 victims in total), what would those archetypes likely be?

[Assistant]
The Minority is any token minority, black preferred.

The Hero is the generic good guy or girl who somehow is the only competent one.

The Traitor is one who is willing to sell out the other 4 for a chance to live but often dies the worst way.

The Martyr is one willing to throw their life away to save the others, with various levels of success.

The Soldier is one who has combat experience and, to varying levels of success, fights the monster. Can be an actual soldier, cop, or just token badass.

The Thug is the one bad boy/girl with a heart of gold who shows you can't judge a book by their covers.


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

[User] [A:TLA] Have there ever been any darker - or even evil - Avatars?

[Assistant]
Aside from the VERY brief existence of the "dark avatar" bond between Unalaq and Vaatu, no.

No matter where the avatar is born or their life experiences, they are still the reincarnation of Wan with Raava's spirit of light. Deep down, they will always been urged to help people, seek balance in the world, and make the world a better place.

Granted that last one definitely changes between avatars depending on their personal philosophy. And the way people interpret their actions after the fact might make them seem evil from their point of view. Such as the people who held onto a loathing for Avatar Kyoshi for several centuries, and were perfectly happy to put Aang on trial in her place. Fire Nation propaganda also tried to paint the avatar as an enemy, if not pure evil, during the war but it never really stuck. Similar with the equalists running a smear campaign against Korra to make people think she was actually harming the world through her actions.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do spiders remain stationary in one location for such a long amount of time?

Why do many spiders stay in the same location, without moving, for days, weeks, even months?

[Assistant] They're conserving energy. Many spiders are ambush predators. They build a trap (their web), and attack prey that falls into the trap. Moving around unnecessarily burns energy they could instead conserve to keep them alive longer between prey, and attack more energetically when it arrives.


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

[User] [MCU] Are there any wishes that use all the infinity stones that wouldn't leave you hurt/Scarred or on the brink of death?

[Assistant]
Potentially yeah.

The reason the stones do so much damage (aside from releasing a ludicrous amount of gamma radiation apparently) is that you're not making a *wish* so much as you are performing an action that draws on the Stones' powers.

The bigger the task, the more power you draw from the stones, and mortal bodies can only take so much of that power surge. Destroying Thanos and his forces was enough to kill Stark, but Thanos could withstand wiping out half of the life in the universe, even though it significantly messed him up.

Thanos could probably snap a planet and be fine, or certainly a city or something. The power that would require would be insignificant to the power he tanked in *Infinity War*, while still using all the stones.


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

[User]
Eli5: what's wrong with throwing biodegradables in the trash?

I try to avoid doing this because ive been instructed to my whole life but I actually don't know what the big deal is? Like, doesn't it breakdown just the same in a landfill and not really cause any problems?

[Assistant]
> Like, doesn't it breakdown just the same in a landfill and not really cause any problems?

Nope! Landfills tend to be very low oxygen environments. Without sufficient O2 for microbes to do their thing a lot of biodegradeable materials don't degrade.

Biodegradable things should be composted where they can degrade quickly and then be used for something useful.


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

[User]
[Batman] What difference would it make if Bruce had some sort of meta healing factor?

Would a Batman would healing factor make him take bigger risks and in any way operate more brutally with criminals?

Part of what makes Batman such a strategic fighter is because he knows at the end of the day he's still a human inside that suit, but what if you say, give him Wolverine levels of healing factor? Riddled with bullets? Big deal. Cut into half? Who cares? Getting nuked? Meh.

So I wonder how his approach would change in fighting crime. Would he still be a stealthy fighter or more of a demonic bat who goes headfirst into a fight? Add the fact that Wolverines healing factor makes him immune to a lot of poisons, and suddenly, Joker and Poison Ivy don't seem to do anything at all. Batman can laugh off the laughing gas and slap Ivy across the face with her own branch before her pheromones even affect him. Batman can even snort a cylinder full of Scarecrows fear gas.

Basically, a simple healing factor negates much of Batman's rogue gallery and I'm curious as to what changes we'll see in Batman.

Alfred ain't gonna worry if Bruce is returning home safe or not, and thank God no more stitching and bandaging wounds!

[Assistant] Unpopular opinion: not sure if it would make much difference. He is already so ridiculously (my opinion) capable that he pretty much can win any contest. This is a non-super human that has defeated Superman, for goodness sake.


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

[User] [Half Life 2] Explain G-Man.

[Assistant]
He's probably an extremely powerful extradimensional alien, on par with the Combine overlords or Nihilanth. Most of his power seems to come from foresight and careful planning, rather than brute military strength. Unlike the Combine, who are subservient to their overlords and set up a strict political hierarchy, he's more of a "freelancer"/"recruiter". His motives are anyone's guess, but it seems that he isn't particularly fond of Humanity except as far as they are useful to him. He probably takes a human shape anyplace humans are likely to see him.

He helped Black Mesa move their particle research far enough along to cause a resonance cascade, allowing the invasion of Earth by multiple factions simultaneously. The resulting chaos allowed Humanity to survive what would have been a one-sided war, but he seemed more pleased with the final result of Xen being overthrown. After Gordon tracked down and murdered Nihilanth, he "recruited" Gordon, putting him into temporal stasis for several years. G Man later dropped Gordon in the middle of City 17 in order to destroy the Combine presence on Earth and start another portal storm, which was a rousing success and earned the G Man great notoriety among his "peers"/"clients" until the Vortigaunts forcibly broke his influence on Gordon.


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

[User]
ELI5: Could a political party go against the primary results and nominate somebody else for the for the general election?

I have heard many people say that if Trump wins the primary the party wouldn't let him run in the general election because there is no way he would win. Could the party do this? Have they ever done it before?

[Assistant] The party's own rules would prevent this if someone got a majority of all the delegates (which is what happens in modern times). If nobody gets a majority, then the convention can get really interesting. For a while, it looked like that might have happened in 2008 between Obama and Hillary, but Obama had enough late primary wins to prevent that.


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

[User]
Why are lab rats typically albinos?

This may be a silly question but I'm not a geneticist, and I'm curious why animals used as test subjects in media - particularly mice, rats, rabbits, etc. - are almost always depicted as albinos.

[Assistant]
TLDR: it makes things easy

Lab rats are typically albino due to the fact that these lot easier to work on and see results of an experiment when the rat itself has no pigment to block out any physical characteristics that may exhibit when testing. For example it is a lot easier to see skin change when it is stark white and it is a lot easier to see veins to inject stuff in so a lot of animals that are used in Laboratory Testing are breeded with albinism not just rats.


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

[User]
ELI5: How a turbo works in a car.

Thanks for the responses.

[Assistant]
To make a car faster, you need to fit as much air as you can into the engine.

A turbo uses the exhaust gas coming out of the engine to spin a little wheel that pushes a lot of air into your engine, much more air than the engine could get by itself.

More air = more fuel can be burned = more power.


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

[User]
How can one prove simply that the Earth rotates around the Sun? (I know that it does, but I have to explain it to someone who is being very stubborn/ignorant)

I know that it has to be true because the Sun is so much more massive, so the Earth would have to rotate around it and not vice versa, but the guy is even rejecting that the Sun is larger than the Earth. What would be a simple explanation/proof the Sun is larger than the Earth?

[Assistant] You can construct geocentric models that take into account any simple observation you might make; people did so for a long time.  The way to go would be to show that heliocentric models provide simpler explanations.  The usually-cited problematic observation is the apparent retrograde motion of the planets.  If you watch how the planets move relative to the stars, sometimes they reverse their direction for a while.  In a heliocentric model, this occurs because the earth is moving past that planet, while in a geocentric model, you generally need to assume that the planets are moving along a more complicated path.


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

[User] [Breaking Bad] Why don't the Whites have better insurance? With Walter Jr.'s condition, you'd think that that'd have been a priority.

[Assistant] Walter's a teacher. What the hell sort of insurance do you think he's going to have? He teaches science at a public high school. There's absolutely no chance of him having decent insurance that would cover cancer.


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

[User] ELI5: How do our eyes have such big dynamic range and why cant we replicate camera's with the same range?

[Assistant] Our eyes are not just looking at the scene, it is assessing what to focus on at any given nanosecond. So a picture attempts to force a perspective that "hey, look at the beauty of this evening sky, or the awesomeness of the football game" but it can't capture that. That's why other people posting pics of the Harvest Moon are so boring, or "the Beach." We don't just see with our eyes, we assess and analyze. That's why a person can be considered cortically blind; their eyes work, but their brain is damaged that where they would process the information so functionally they are blind. Pictures are a representation of our world.


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

[User] ELI5: Why cant people open their car doors when they drive into a lake?

[Assistant]
Because the pressure of the water pushing onwards on the car is FAR greater than the pressure of the air in the car pushing out.
In day-to-day lives, the pressure is essentially equal, so there is little to no imbalance in force, so it is easy.

If you want to feel these forces, grab a plastic bag, put it over your hand, and try to hold your hand open (kind of like a claw) as you start putting your hand into a container of water (just make sure the water doesnt spill into the bag). You will feel the pressure of the water pushing in.
As an extra extension, if/when you let the water rush over the top of the bag, filling it, the pressure will become balanced again and it will be easy to love the bag.


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

[User] Why do cats/dogs chase laser pointers?

[Assistant]
>Is there a neurological/biological reason why dogs/cats chase laser pointers?

I can't understand the question. Why laser pointers in particular? They regularly chase any little moving thing (bugs, toys etc.) It also helps if the movement is fast. It is not like they aren't chasing anything else but laser pointers... Why do you think there is a difference?


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

[User]
[Overwatch] What exactly is the tale of two dragons?

Is it a prophecy about the Shimada brothers? A story of what they did in a past life? A fable that just coincidentally lines up with real events? Does it even exist in-universe?

[Assistant]
In the cinematic, *Dragons*, Hanzo remarks to Genji -

***"Real life is not like the stories our father told us. You are a fool for believing it so!"***

Alluding to the ending of the tale of the dragon brothers, and attempting to dash any hopes of re-uniting with his brother. Because of this, we are left with only two options:

1. Their father made up the story to mirror both his children.

2. The story is an ancient fable, now passed on to Hanzo and Genji *by their father*.

While one reading is that the story is prophecy (which is not unreasonable, given Hanzo and Genji are the only, irrefutably magic characters in the whole universe we know of), the likelier answer is just that this is one of the ***"stories"*** (plural) that happens to line up.

Boring answer is that it may just exist in the narrator's speech.

TLDR: Genji and Hanzo were probably told many fables; it's likely this one just happens to match.


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

[User] CMV: I'm a 25, never had sex or a relationship. I am a defective human being.

[Assistant] A better analogy would be driving.  Yeah, you learn a lot on the road.  Yeah, if you grew up in NYC and never got a license you are missing some basic aspects of our common culture.  But you can absolutely learn at age 25, and there is nothing "defective" about people who haven't yet learned to drive.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is some canned food immersed in liquid?

E.g. canned tuna, canned sardines
I've seen some jarred chicken sausages immersed in brine too.
On the other hand, some canned food like spam do not have a bath. Why is that?

[Assistant] Canned food needs to be sterilized to keep bacteria and mold from spoiling the food.  To do this, the food is cooked in the can, *after* its sealed.  Foods which fill the entire can, like SPAM or refried beans, distribute the heat well.  Foods which would have air space wouldn't heat evenly without something to distribute the heat.


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

[User]
[Star Trek] Could the Borg assimilate Q?

Tentative answer: the fact that reality exists as it is means that they cannot, since by assimilating Q's powers they could effectively go back in time and Borgify all the things.

[Assistant]
No. Never.

Borg assimilation is not magic. They have to get nanoprobes into the target's body and physically take them over. This would be hilariously ineffective on Q, who could instantly turn all the Borg nanoprobes in the galaxy into so many dust mites if he so desired.

Even if Q allowed them to take over his physical body (maybe he was distracted, or thought it would be funny?) they wouldn't be gaining his power. It spans time, space, and dimension; it doesn't reside in one little three-dimensional body that he creates and destroys any time he feels like. The body the Borg see is more like an MMO avatar to him: he projects his viewpoint into it, but it's not his identity.

The Borg are powerful, but they're a dead end compared to the real big shots like Q, Trelane, and the Organians, who are beyond needing physical bodies and can have no handles the Borg can grab.


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

[User]
ELI5 why your legs/arms feel like jelly when you are nervous or have adrenaline. Isn't that counterintuitive for a "fight or flight" response?

When you have a fight/flight response, it's supposed to be to get stronger and have more endurance for a period of time so that you can have peak physical performance. But how come when you get adrenaline, like before a sports game or a running thing, why does it make your legs feel like jelly, which feels worse/slower when running?

[Assistant]
Adrenaline basically forces your body into maximum energy mode.

Your liver starts producing more glucose which fuels muscles. Blood flow is increased to your muscles to deliver that energy. You start breathing faster so your muscles can use that energy. Lots of changes happen that have the net result of giving your muscles a major boost of energy so you can respond to danger (real or not).

That comes at a cost. After it subsides, your body has basically used up it's available energy. So your muscles feel weak for a short period of time while your energy rebuilds.


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

[User]
[LOTR] How was the Witch-king of Angmar such a problem for Gandalf?

Gandalf is often mention as the only being possibly capable of taming the ring, after Saruman he is the most powerful Maiar send to Middle Earth and following his resurrection after his fight with the Barlog arguably the most powerful.

From a celestial-being point of view he was of the same category as Sauron yet the King of the Nazguls appears to be to much for him? Being able to crush his stuff symbolising a bigger potential in magic and willpower?

I know that the Istari are supposed to just guide the people of Middle Earth in there fight against evil and so they never just waltz in to Mordor magic and swords blazing but I would imagine that while being directly attacked Gandalf would have the right to use some of his true strength especially if he already directly used magic in the defence of Gondor.

[Assistant]
I do believe it is mentioned in the Silmarillion that Gandalf and the other wizards were not permitted to use their full maiar abilities to save Middle Earth. They were meant to rally the forces of good against Sauron. So Gandalf couldn't just go full maiar on the Witch King.

Edit: Sauron is not a fish.


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

[User]
[Rings of Power] Why aren't the elf blades glowing in the presence of orcs?

This seems pretty basic and should be a First Age thing, right?

[Assistant]
>  No gleam came from the blades of Sting or of Glamdring; and that was some comfort, for being the work of Elvish smiths in the Elder Days these swords shone with a cold light, if any Orcs were near at hand.

This is the quote from the Fellowship of the Ring, and while it states that Glamdring and Sting would glow, this is the only instance where such attributes are really mentioned. There are other occasions where Elven swords are described as "shining", but we're unsure whether that can be taken literally or whether it's due to the presence of Orcs. So whether every Elven sword would glow is entirely unknown.

It might be that Glamdring and Sting were special. Glamdring belonged to King Turgon, so it was certainly the best of the best, but would a similar type of sword be forged for any random Elven foot soldier? Probably not. As for Arondir, he's a Silvan Elf, so unless his blade was forged by the Noldor, it probably wouldn't have those properties.


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

[User] ELIF: How are refs chosen to facilitate sports like hockey and football? How are they kept from being biased towards a team?

[Assistant]
Refs go to school. Like many professions they start reffing school games/leagues, take courses along the way, join ref organizations and go to ref school. Look up how to be an MLB umpire... There are a couple schools that give you all the steps.

As for being unbiased, well that's what working your way up through the ranks does, not just teach and hive experience but weeds out the bad refs. Nothing wrong with having a favored team but they need to be professional about their job, many other professions require the same ability to be impartial.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is the dosage for medicine in tablet form given as "child" or "adult", rather than by the weight of the patient? (MIC)

For example, i am 6'-5" and 240lbs, while my wife is 4'-11" and 105lbs, yet the bottle of Tylenol gives the dosage as 2 pills for adults. Surely, since i am twice as large as my wife, my dosage should be higher. It seems more logical that they would have dosages listed for body weight ranges.

[Assistant]
> It seems more logical that they would have dosages listed for body weight ranges.

The average consumer is an absolute moron and wouldn't be able to handle it. For medicines which are available over the counter it doesn't really matter, the dosing instructions are just so you don't give a 30 pound kid the full adult dose. For medicines where it does matter a pharmacist will write up specific instructions for an individual patient and directly advise them on how to take the drug.


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

[User] ELI5: How/when do we develop taste? Why some food tastes disgusting when we are children, and then we grow to like it as adults?

[Assistant] Baby's tastebuds are hyper sensitive to bitterness because most naturally occurring poisons are bitter. This is a self defense mechanism that evolved over thousands of years to protect babies from eating plants that would kill them. As we grow older, our bodies become less susceptible to toxins, and thus no longer need to be warned by our tastebuds of potential poisons.


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

[User]
[Elder Scrolls Video Games] The buildings are very detailed. Many have bedrooms, kitchens, dining rooms, study rooms and everything else. But no bathroom. No outhouse. No waistbins or washbuckets. No bathing houses or anything. Where do people dispose of waste? Any type of waste.

We don't see any type of garbage container, we don't see bathing rooms.

Are the residents of Tamriel that clean? I've played Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim.

This lack of garbage and lack of cleanliness is consistent in every game I've played. Any ideas?

[Assistant]
First, an uncomfortable truth:  Hygiene standards aren't as high as you might expect.  Bathing is often a luxury that your average peasant can't afford.  It's an investment of time, effort, water and firewood that would be better used elsewhere.  So don't be surprised if there isn't really a culture of cleanliness in Tamriel.

If people really do want to have a bath, though, generally speaking there are plenty of rivers and lakes available.  Some might also go for a swim in the sea.

As for bodily waste, they use buckets.  You may have noticed some buckets placed in unobtrusive corners of houses and dungeons.  That's what they go in.  They empty the bucket afterwards, or when it's full.

Household garbage is disposed of however appropriately.  Kitchen waste, such as chicken bones or fruit peels, can be used as fertilizer on farms.  Implements and furniture that break are repaired instead of thrown away.  Everything is reused as much as possible, to the point where there's actually very little waste generated.  The little waste that is produced can be tossed away however they like; into a river, or out into the street, or thrown into a barrel for some curious adventurer to pick up.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is having my real name on the internet dangerous but we want our real name in credits of stuff we work on?

I had video that had a screen capture with my and my friends names in it, and was told "all my privacy is now out the window".  Yet if we work on a video, we WANT our full name there and we hope it goes viral.  So why are these things treated differently?

[Assistant]
Who told you this and are they a reliable source of information?

A name by itself is meaningless really, especially if it is a common one. Identity issues come with giving out name, address, occupation and other information then it might be possible for people to use it in ways you wouldn't like or to try and steal your identity.


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

[User] [Avatar/Alien] Would a Na'vi-Xenomorph hybrid be able to commune with Pandora's wildlife?

[Assistant]
The Xenomorphs are capable of integrating the DNA of their incubating hosts. However, it seems like their evolutions are more anatomical than physiological. A humanoid xenomorph is bipedal and similar posture to homosapiens. A dog xenomorph is four legged. Their behavior seems to be congruous to their hosts as well as the humanoid xenomorph was capable of complex thought and predator tactics, and the dog xenomorph was feral and extremely direct in its aggression. But we dont really see xenomorphs develop internal organs of their host like humanoid or canine lungs.

What we can say, is that first generation Naavi xenomorph would likely take a similar form and exhibit some behavior of the Naavi. Its unlikely that the xenomorphs would be able to develop an incredibly complex nervous system akin to the biological life seen on Pandora.

If these biological developments of the xenomorphs are entirely adaptive, then they may be able to develop a very primitive facsimile to their collective nervous system interfaces.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we feel the need to scratch itches when it rarely benefits us?

[Assistant]
Firstly: It seems to be an instinct. All sorts of animals do it, if they have limbs that support scratching.

Secondly: It's still worth it those few other times. Bugs, Parasites, parts of plants (poisonous or otherwise harmful), etc. aren't something that is beneficial to us. So why not scratch just in case?


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

[User]
ELI5 How do charities such as WaterAid install taps in African villages without any water supply and provide clean drinking water?

How exactly is water brought to the site of the tap/well and how is it sanitised?

[Assistant]
Nothing is brought from anywhere.

When they install taps in remote areas, they are drilling wells deep down to access underground water. So that water is just part of the underground water table/aquifer, nothing man made is bringing it there.

And what sanitizes it? Also nothing really. As long as that underground source of water is not contaminated by something, there is no need to treat or sanitize the water, because there is nothing harmful down in the water, all the soil above it has acted like a filter and filtered it out.


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

[User] [Marvel] What IS the Hulk?? Is he from another dimension? Where does he go when he transforms back to Bruce? Does everyone have their own hulk monster inside them?

[Assistant]
The Hulk is a human mutate who has gained power from an exposure to gamma radiation.  Normally exposure to such radiation would be a sure death sentence, but for some reason Bruce Banner's body adapted the energy from that radiation and allowed him to survive.  He is fueled by rage, which originated in an abusive, or at the very least neglectful, childhood.  It's implied that he was psychologically unbalanced even before his exposure to radiation.

The Hulk's personality is part of Banner's subconscious, so it is always there, even when Bruce Banner is in control.


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

[User] [MCU] What was the purpose of Tony Stark giving Peter Parker access to an orbital death satellite ?

[Assistant]
Tony thought it was badass.  He would have *loved* to have an orbital death satellite when he was a teenager.  And Tony is your awesome, irresponsible uncle.

Truth is, Tony thought that Earth needed an orbital death satellite.  And he likes Peter, and thinks of him as a responsible kid.  And one day he'll be a responsible adult.  And who better to safeguard the Earth's orbital death satellite than somebody Tony likes and trusts.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do computers get slower?

what are the main reasons? Hard drive, motherboard, fans?

[Assistant]
The computer itself does not get slower. As you use your computer, you will over time adjust settings, install new software and update existing components. New software and settings can add additional load to your system.

Over time, the operating system may also be updated, and add new features. In addition, your data storage devices may become cluttered with old data.

The usual way to "fix" this problem is to reinstall the operating system. However, since you will likely wish to add the software you were using before back, you'll still be faced with reduced performance.

In the end, as software gets better, it takes more processing power. Your computer doesn't get faster unless you update it in some way, so it seems to get slower over time as you do more with it.