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

[User]
ELI5: How do two different animals produce the same venom?

For example, monitor lizards and rattlesnakes both produce Crotamine, yet they havent been in the same genus for millions of years.

[Assistant]
By chance. It isn't uncommon for evolution to find similar solutions.

Consider it like this: The rules of our world are the same regardless of where you are. Chemistry works the same way, physics work the same way. So the functional solution is the same everywhere. So because these same rules affect organisms, they end up finding the same solution regardless whether they been in contact. This is convergent evolution. Similar solutions for similar problems.


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

[User] ELI5 what prevents people from using the routing and account number at the bottom of the check to steal from the account or write fraudulent checks?

[Assistant]
Theres usually nothing stopping it but there are lots of ways to get caught. Before a check clears, banks may do additional verification of names or other details on the check which is easier than ever with todays technology. Before accepting a check, most businesses do ask for ID. If the name on the check is wrong, it wont go through. If the name on the check is right, it wont match the scammers ID. If they have a fake ID thats another criminal charge if/when they get caught. And its in businesss own interest to check IDs because they are the ones who wont get paid if the check is bad, its not like shady businesses will just let a little fraud happen, they are the victims of it.

Its kind of like stealing a credit card or skimming numbers and using it to buy stuff. Nobodys stopping you at first, but eventually youll be on camera using it somewhere, or there will be a record of goods being shipped to your address. And the merchant you paid is the one who ultimately doesnt get their money when the transaction gets reversed, so they will happily hand any info they have over to police to track you down.


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

[User] ELI5: How is it that shaving razors don't peel off our skin like potato peelers?

[Assistant]
You know how no matter how hard you try you can't get your skin on your leg to make a 90 degree angle. like by pinching it. Your skin is elastic which lets it give. The razor blades can't grab onto anything because your skin is smooth and elastic. Try cutting a rubber ball by glancing it with a knife. (striking its very edge).

EDIT: Your skin being elastic also allows it to kind of hug the blade and it becomes closer. The shaving cream is for lubricating it so the dry blades dont wrinkle your skin thus being able to catch on your skin when you glide it across.


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

[User]
In what situations are Tariffs good for an economy?

I've been reading Tim Harford's The Undercover economist and he mentioned that tariffs are almost always bad for an economy. I am assuming there are situations in which they could be beneficial though - say the Govt. is trying to help a sector grow due to possible future gains.

Am I wrong? Or have I missed something?

[Assistant]
There are two "textbook" situations where tariffs can benefit an economy:

1. If a country has a large domestic market for an imported good and the production technology for that good features increasing returns to scale (per-unit costs decrease as a firm gets larger), an import tariff could make it profitable for domestic start-ups to enter the market and grow to a level where per-unit costs are comparable to existing international firms, and would therefore be able to compete in the global market once the tariffs are lifted. The short run losses caused by the tariffs would be offset by the efficiency gains from the new domestic industry once the tariffs are lifted. Note that there is no aggregate benefit to the country if the tariffs are not eventually eliminated. Some models suggest that this outcome could also be accomplished more efficiently using quotas rather than tariffs.

2. If a country is the dominant importer of a particular good and that good is supplied inelastically (the quantity produced is not sensitive to the price), then a small tariff might increase aggregate welfare. The increase in domestic price that results from the tariff is partially offset by the decrease in the global price of the product driven by the decrease in demand (due to the tariff). This offset, combined with the government revenue from the tariff itself, could be large enough to entirely offset the "deadweight loss" associated with the tariff. Note that the tariff would have to be small and the country would need to have considerable market power for this to work.

Neither scenario is likely to occur with any regularity in the real world.


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

[User] ELI5: How are musicians able to cover a song and not pay royalties, whilst sampling music means paying through the nose?

[Assistant]
Copyright is complicated.

In a song there will be separate copyrights in: the sound recording, the lyrics, and the music. It is entirely possible that there will be separate copyrights within those (if, for example, someone licensed some music or lyrics for their own lyrics or music).

These are often owned by different people - particularly the sound recording (owned by the record producer) v the lyrics and music (owned by the composer/lyricist).

So if a musician wants to cover a song they only need permission from the copyright owner of the lyrics and music, whereas if they use a sample they need permission from the owner of the recording copyright as well.

**Except** in the US this a bit different - due to piano rolls.

In the early 1900s the US had a problem with a company with a monopoly over the "piano roll" market. Piano rolls were sheets of paper with holes punched out, which you could feed into a modified "player piano" and it would play the music on the piano (the holes telling the piano which keys to press when). In 1908 the company won a case in the US Supreme Court, which ruled that these piano rolls were not copies of the original music as they weren't human-readable. Meaning that the piano roll company could produce and sell copies of composers' music without paying any royalties (and they did, causing concern to composers).

Congress changed the law to make it clear that piano rolls infringed copyright, so needed a licence. But as a compromise they created the idea of a "mechanical licence" - meaning that copyright owners couldn't refuse permission to use their compositions - instead third party organisations could act as "collective licensing" agency. If the piano roll company wanted to produce a piano roll for a particular piece of music, rather than having to get a licence from the copyright owner, they could just pay a fee to the agency, and the agency was responsible for paying out to the composers.

But this only covers the copyright in the music - not the actual recording. So producing a cover song is relatively simple; you just sign up to a collective licensing body and pay the appropriate fee. Whereas if you want to sample you generally do need a licence from the copyright owner directly.


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

[User] For species with very long life spans (everything from Johnathan, the 187-year-old tortoise, or Pando, the 80,000-year-old clonal tree system), are there observable evolutionary differences between old, still-living individuals and "newborn" individuals?

[Assistant] Not really. 187 years is long compared to a human but still the blink of an eye evolutionary. Even Pando is still more or less identical to modern day aspens although mostly inconsequential mutations were used in part to estimate its age. It's possible we'd see differences in Pando if it flowered, but AFAIK it's been ten thousand years since that happened. In some ~32,000 year old seeds from the Arctic the flowers that grew from them had slightly longer petals, but that could also be a regional thing where some now extinct populations had longer petals than most of the others.


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

[User] Why do crabs which are greyish in color turn reddish or orange when boiled or cooked?

[Assistant] When crabs and lobsters are alive, they have a protein-ligand complex called astaxanthin-crustacyanin. This appears as a blue/gray color. When they're cooked, the protein, crustacyanin, denatures and the astaxanthin becomes unbound. The unbound astaxanthin's color is the red that you see. It's also what gives salmon and shrimp their red colors.


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

[User]
How do I not get too emotionally invested in a paper I'm writing?

I have final papers coming up in addition to a writing sample for PhD applications in philosophy and I realized that a major stumbling block is that I am too emotionally invested in my paper (both the topic and the outcome of my thinking) and it is getting in the way of my ability to complete it on time.Does anyone else have this issue or any tips on how to overcome it?

Edit: By emotionally invested I mean partially that so much of me getting in to a program hinges on the writing sample being good that it interferes with my writing.

But also (and the more general question) that I am super interested in and care a lot about the topic of the paper and I want to do justice to it and be up to date on the literature and have it be the most accurate portrayal and answer of the topic that it can be, but I don't have enough time to do it justice. So I feel paralyzed between the two.

[Assistant]
No matter the point in your academic career, you'll have to "let go" of a manuscript so that it can be reviewed by editors/peers.

No matter the excellence of your argument, no matter how much time you've focused on perfecting it, other eyes will view it in potentially different light(s). Other minds will think on it from different perspectives, backgrounds, interests.

And you'll get feedback on that. Sometimes really positive, supportive, fantastic ideas. Sometimes reviewer 2 ruins your whole week or month.

But no matter what, it has to leave your hands and go out into the world. And you have to come to terms with letting go so that it can be strengthened  as a result.


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

[User] ELI5: Why don't moons ever have moons?

[Assistant]
You can have a small thing (moon) orbit around a big thing (planet).  If the small thing is *really* far away from the big thing, you can have a tiny thing orbit around the small thing, and it'll be pretty stable.  But if the small thing is closer to the big thing, then the gravity of the big thing will mess with the orbit of the tiny thing, and it'll probably get thrown out of orbit and fly off into space.

Example: stars are orbited by planets, and planets can be orbited by moons, and that's stable (because the planets are a long way away from the star), but you generally don't see a moon with another body orbiting it.

We can put satellites in orbit around a moon of a planet, but they generally have thrusters to correct for problems, and once the thruster fuel runs out they'll fall out of orbit eventually.


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

[User] Why is it that light with short wavelengths (x-rays) can penetrate objects, but so can light with long wavelengths (radio waves) yes visible light can't?

[Assistant]
Different materials are capable of absorbing only certain wavelengths of light. The visible spectrum is the range of the spectrum that tends to undergo a lot of interaction with common materials--this is why it was relatively easy to evolve sensitivity to it, and it is also particularly useful for perceiving the world around us.

Both higher and lower energy photons (shorter and longer wavelengths) lie outside of the typical energy ranges that electrons in atoms interact with. Therefore they tend to pass through materials without interacting as readily.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is there such an uproar about welfare but not about corporate subsidies (welfare)

[Assistant]
You've started with a false premise. There are actually plenty of highly publicized criticisms of corporate subsidies. For instance, farm subsidies routinely come under fire, especially recently when Congress passed on a food stamps bill. Government support for sports stadiums is also often criticized, and John Oliver discussed this on a recent episode of his HBO show.

So, allow me to reframe the question: Why do some people vehemently oppose government benefits for the poor while supporting government benefits for corporations?

The standard conservative theory is that people tend to do more of whatever they're incentivized to do. If being poor doesn't suck, then you're less likely to take a job that does suck just to get a little more money. The benefit of extra money from working might not outweight the suckiness of work. So, the less being poor sucks, the more willing people are to be poor.

On the other hand, they see benefits to businesses as helping those businesses grow and be successful, which in turn helps the economy, puts more people to work, etc.


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

[User]
[Man of Steel] Had Superman not been there, could the members of the League on earth have still dealt with Zod?

I know Zod arrived DUE to Superman's presence, but lets just say Clark was not for some reason and Zod tracked down the ship and arrived on earth anyways, could the heroes on earth have protected Metropolis?

We know the members of the league had their respective powers while the events of MoS were unfolding, so would they have intervened? They may not have been a team back then, but surely they gave a shit?

[Assistant] Given how easily resurrected Supes manhandles the entire league, Id say that the entire DCEU would be kneeling before Zod, and Steppenwolf would have gotten his ass kicked by an army of Kryptonians the second he set forth on Zodworld (formerly Earth).


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

[User] [GoT] Ser Jorah Mormont doesnt develop feelings for Daenerys and allows her to be assassinated and returns home to Westeros. What happens next?

[Assistant]
When Robb Stark calls his banners, Jorah Mormont responds. Robb is uncomfortable accepting the service of a man his father exiled, but a royal pardon is a royal pardon, and he can ill afford to refuse experienced men.

And Ser Jorah is at this point possibly the most experienced soldier in the Seven Kingdoms. While Westeros has enjoyed nine years of peace since the Greyjoy Rebellion, Jorah has been fighting his way across Essos as a sellsword in the Disputed Lands. He's been everywhere and fought everyone, and there's pretty much nothing he doesn't know about war. If Robb is smart, he'll listen to his advice and use him as a field commander.

Wild speculation, but Ser Jorah's presence could drastically alter the course of the War of the Five Kings.

If he had been in charge of Robb's forces in the Riverlands, instead of Edmure Tully, he would have had a better grasp on their strategy, and would have allowed Tywin to retreat west, preventing him from marching to King's Landing. Stannis would have taken the city and put Joffrey and Cersei to death, and the Lannister faction would be effectively defanged. The war could have been over within a few months, Tywin forced to sue for peace and Stannis reluctantly accepting a fragile detente with the King in the North.


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

[User]
Why do cats love to sit in boxes? No, seriously. Why?

We're all aware of the phenomenon. Place an open box in the middle of the room. Or even something flat like a newspaper. And sooner or later your cat will sit on it like a watchtower.
So why is this? It's not particularly warm, soft, or high up. Is there some natural behavior that domesticated cats are mimicking when they do this?

(I know this isn't as intellectual as the usual questions on this sub, but I am genuinely curious about it. And I could use a break from mind-bending quantum physics)

**edit:** While I appreciate all the responses, the general consensus seems to be "nobody really knows for sure". So until proven wrong, I state that they use the boxes as transmogrifiers when we're not looking. This explains why they stare at us while sitting in them.

[Assistant]
Boxes allow at least partial concealment.  Cats may enjoy that because they're both ambush predators and small animals that need to watch out for predators.

I don't think cats have such a strong preference for flat objects like newspapers.  Maybe it is just memorable when a cat sits on an object but not memorable when a cat sits on the normal floor.  It could also be that the flat objects your cat sits on smell like you from you handling them and the cat likes that.  Finally, if cats do indeed prefer to sit on flat objects instead of the floor, it may stem from their desire to be clean.  Cats are ambush predators and smell could give away their position to prey.  Maybe cats hope to keep themselves clean by sitting on a clean object rather than the "ground."


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

[User] ELI5: Why does apple juice not have to be refrigerated before opening, but orange juice does?

[Assistant] If your juice needs refrigerated it was not pasteurized. If it is shelf stable it was pasteurized. Pasteurization can affect taste so perhaps pure orange juice is generally not pasteurized, but Sunny D is (tbf Sunny D has very little juice in it).


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

[User] ELI5:Why did Sparta train their males at the ages of six years old, when other Greek states waited at least until late teens?

[Assistant] The entire society of Sparta was focused on creating the perfect soldier. Spartan men did not have trades, they did not plant crops, they did not really craft anything either. Those things were done by the slaves they took in battle. Spartan training started early because it was what Spartan life was about. You trained and fought until you either died or were physically unable to do so anymore and then as an old man you switched to supervising the younger men and children in their training.


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

[User] ELI5: What is actually happening when, after a day in the ocean or riding rollercoasters, the body will almost simulate the feelings when you're staying still?

[Assistant]
There's a few reasons why this happens, and it's actually been a source of contention for centuries now. This is part of where the term "Sea Legs" comes from.

When you are on a boat, or a roller coaster or other similar behaviours, your brain, vestibulocochlear system (The tubes of fluid in your ears that help maintain balance) and muscles all grow accustomed to that environment.

What you're actually experiencing after coming back from such things is actually almost the opposite of what you were feeling; your body is so used to that swaying motion of a boat that the complete steadiness of dry land temporarily "Confuses" it.

Have you ever been on a trampoline for a moderate length of time? That's a very similar scenario; after coming off the trampoline your legs feel heavy and your muscles seem weak because you've become used to the "Springy" terrain.

It's a similar situation here; You're used to the movement, and in its absence your brain is preemptively simulating movement that is no longer there, making you feel like you're moving even when you're sitting still.


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

[User] ELI5: Why were there so many recorded serial killers in the 60s, 70s and 80s as opposed to the present day?

[Assistant]
There's a lot of theories I've heard.

First violent crime rates in general were much higher back then.

There's a theory that lead based gas in the 40's-50's lead to more cases where children would get lead poisoning and be more violent in the 60's, 70's, and 80's.

Gay sex was much more of a taboo and lead to some violent gay serial killers who didn't have an outlet. John Wayne Gacy and Jeffry Dahmer may have managed a normal life if being gay was more accepted, probably not, but it may have contributed to them becoming killers.

In general it was easier to get away with several murders before you got caught. A lot of serial killer stories you can read about how much the police botch their investigation into these guys. Also it was hard for different law enforcement agencies to communicate, so traveling from state to state killing people made it easy to get away with it.

People were more trusting, hitch hiking was considered a normal form of travel for many years, and often a way serial killers got their victims. Other times serial killers would ask for help moving furniture or something and trap people. Ted Bundy would pretend to have a broken arm and ask women for help moving things. Ed Kemper practiced picking up hitch hikers for months before he actually killed anyone.

There's probably even more factors than that.


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

[User]
Why was Wittgenstein concerned about meaning and language at all? Why is it even a philosophical problem?

Sounds straightforward to me?

[Assistant] Language, or rather misuse of it, isn't just a philosophical problem for Wittgenstein but the root of all philosophical problems. Philosophical problems, by his view, are pseudo-problems which are dissolved when we straighten out our use of language.


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

[User]
ELI5: Does darkness of tan determine sun damage?

For example, take two people with the exact same skin complexion. Person 1 wears no sunscreen but stays out in the sun for a shorter period of time than person 2, who wears sunscreen but stays out in the sun for a longer period. Let's assume person 2 applies sunscreen effectively and reapplies the recommended amount of times. If person 1 and 2 obtain the same level of "tanness," have they both equally increased their risk of skin cancer?

[Assistant]
No. There are two main types of UV radiation you get from the sun, UV-A and UV-B, the latter being responsible for sun burns. When you apply sunscreen you are blocking a high percentage of UV-B rays and preventing the damage on the middle and upper layers of skins. UV-A on the other hand penetrates the skin much deeper and isnt blocked by traditional sunscreen. You still do damage, which presents as tanning, but because this happens at lower levels in your skin it often takes longer for someone to see a tan. Think of it as the color has to work its way up as you shed upper layers.

So the person who wears no sunscreen has absorbed UV-A AND UV-B rays while the sun screen wearer of similar tanness has blocked half of the damaging waves from the sun.


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

[User] [Star Wars/ Star Trek/ General] On Planets with high space traffic such as Coruscant, or Earth, are there any negative consequences to the constant departure and re-entry of spacecraft?

[Assistant]
Generally spaceports and traffic paths are far enough away from residential areas that this isn't a problem.

With Coruscant, it's not like you can freaking hear it over the sound of a planetwide city anyways.


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

[User]
ELI5: Ireland, the IRA, and overall what the fuck happened...

Also why bombs and terrorist tactics. I've looked up this subject before but was confused was not really able to grasp the why?

[Assistant]
Ireland fell under English control in the 1500's, and remained so despite frequent revolts, until the early 1900's.

Religion was a large factor, as England was Anglican, while Ireland was Catholic.  To try to gain better control, in the 1600 and 1700's, English citizen were encourage to colonize Ireland, particularly in the north.  The hope was that an English population in Ireland would dilute the Irish influence and make it easier to control.

It didn't really work out that way, it just put Anglican English and Catholic Irish closer together so it was easier to fight.  After World War I, England (now the UK) finally decided to let Ireland become an independent country.  But because there were a lot of English living in the north, they divided it, with the south becoming its own nation, and the north remaining part of the UK.

*This* is what everyone is fighting over.  Over the centuries, there were lots of English and Irish living in Northern Ireland, all mixed together.  The Irish think it should be part of Ireland proper, while the English think it should remain with England.

The IRA is the organization that wants Ireland to be unified, and the Ulster Unionist want to stay with England.  Both group have resorted to illegal violence in the past.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it that a wet tissue or piece of cardboard or paper tear more easily? How does water affect the structural integrity of paper products?

[Assistant]
Paper products are made from wood fibers that are basically matted together in random orientations like felt. As the paper dries, little hairs and random kinks in the fibers cause them to link up like tangled hair. Pressing/rolling operations enhance this effect.

Paper fiber is very hydrophilic, meaning it can soak up water easily and will soak up far more than its own weight in water. As the water wets the paper, capillary action pulls the water into the spaces between fibers and forces them apart. At the same same time, the fibers themselves absorb water, swelling up.

Between the swelling and the capillary action, the fibers are simply not as able to cling together.


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

[User]
Does the gravity of everything have an infinite range?

This may seem like a dumb question but I'll go for it. I was taught a while ago that gravity is kind of like dropping a rock on a trampoline and creating a curvature in space (with the trampoline net being space).

So, if I place a black hole in the middle of the universe, is the fabric of space effected on the edges of the universe even if it is unnoticeable/incredibly minuscule?

EDIT: Okay what if I put a Hydrogen atom in the middle of the universe? Does it still have an infinite range?

[Assistant]
In theory, yes. Gravity has an infinite range. However, it also takes some time to propagate - information about local changes in the gravitational field will propagate at the speed of light. So if a supernova goes off and creates a black hole, we won't feel the gravitational disturbance until we see the light from the supernova.

Additionally, since the universe is expanding there are distances such that we will never receive information from. Anything that happens beyond that horizon will not be able to effect us.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] If there were other "Jedi" or people with the potential to become force users, why did Yoda and Ben think Luke was the only one left?

"That boy is our last hope."

EDIT: I actually forgot that Yoda knew about Leia being Force sensitive, either way my question is the same.

EDIT 2: I think my question is getting *sort* of confused. Besides Luke, and somewhat Kanan were there any other fully trained Jedi still alive that could have helped Luke with training besides Ben.

[Assistant]
The Force was probably sending out very strong "don't screw this up" signals to both Obi-Wan and Yoda with regards to Luke and his training.

After all, Luke *was* the best option for clearing out the taint of the Dark Side from the galaxy, because - ultimately - it was his relationship with his father that had the greatest effect, and not his relationship with the Force.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do people in countries with 20%+ unemployment feed themselves and live normally?

in places like Spain and Greece, unemployment is super high.  i don't make a ton of money and i still have a hard time keeping it straight... i was just wondering what it's like for people who are even worse off.  how do you buy groceries? where do you live? how is life generally?

[Assistant]
Not there, but same way people who are unemployed survive here.

20% uneployment is a lot. but that means that 4/5 people who want jobs still have them.

So you live with family, maybe do odd jobs, eat way cheaper, live off charity, and if your country still has a welfare program use that.


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

[User] [Warhammer 40k] Would a ritual sacrifice of every psyker humanity has allow for the birth of a psyker as powerful as the God Emperor?

[Assistant]
Short answer: No
Long answer: Maybe?

The original shamans of Terra were very potent psykers who had attained a form of immortality by preserving their spirits in the warp after death in order to be reborn into new bodies. As the warp became increasingly chaotic with the formation of the Chaos gods the shamans found to their horror that less and less of their number were coming back; their spirits were being consumed by the new malevolent entities of the Warp.

Their ritual suicide is probably one of the greatest forms of sorcery in the 40k universe. They took advantage of the fact that the Chaos gods were still nascent and killed themselves.

This wouldn't work in the current timeline because the ritual suicide that led to the birth of the God-Emperor occurred before the Warp was fully corrupted. The Warp of today is an abyss and the souls of psykers are considered a delicacy to the malevolent entities within it.

In addition the original Terran shamans were incredibly powerful psykers, the same can't be said of every psyker in the Imperium in terms of strength of ability or character.

If, however, you figured out a ritual that would allow the souls of the deceased psykers to coalesce in the Warp without being picked apart there is a chance that you would create an infant Chaos god.


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

[User]
[Legends of Zelda: BotW] How does the Fang and Bone make money - what is Kilton's business model?

Or, if it's not money he's after, what the hell is he up to, setting up a floating monster part shop at night in hostile territory?

[Assistant]
He doesn't. Kilton pays Link for monster parts with mon, a currency he invented, that only has value to him. In theory he could sell those monster parts to other traders for rupees, but there's no real evidence he's doing so.

As for why he does any of it, well, he's simply obsessed with monsters. His clothes make monsters passive to Link, so the territory probably isn't actually all that hostile to him.


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

[User] ELI5: If you have 2 of the same item, one heated to 100deg and one cooled to -100deg. Will their temperatures depreciate at the same rate or is one faster than the other?

[Assistant]
You are missing one component that makes it impossible to know, actually a couple.  But mainly, how warm is the room they are in.  If the room is at 70 degrees, the 100 degree item will cool slower than the -100 degree item heats up.  Because the 70 degree air won't be able to dissipate the heat as fast as lets say 30 degree air, or -20 degree air.

There is still other factors too.  For example, not all materials transfer heat and cooling at the same rate.  So depending on what material the item was made out of, it might shed heat a lot faster than heat up.


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

[User] [The Road] What weapon could possibly cause all life in Earth to die except humans?

[Assistant] While there are no birds, the man never mentions any other animals to the boy. And with the supply of ash it may not even be a weapon, potentially a volcano rather than nuclear because in the early days of the post- apocalypse we saw people covering themselves, but not covering now in the later post apocalypse.


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

[User]
For anybody on an M1 Mac - what are you doing about package managers?

So I know that macports is supported on M1, and brew isn't yet, but you can use it through Rosetta 2.  But how does that actually work?  Like if I install a package through brew/Rosetta, will the x86 version be installed, or can I install the ARM native version?

[Assistant] You basically set up a new terminal that uses Rosetta, and it installs the package as x86. You can only use the Rosetta terminal to use brew but the files are stored as normal but must be run using the Rosetta terminal.


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

[User] [Cyberpunk] Ok, so we've seen CyberPUNK, but what does CyberFUNK look like?

[Assistant]
Daz didn't usually go this far down 24th, but Mikeal just couldn't shut up about the new club. Neither could anyone else who'd been. Word around town was *Fun Key* was a bit more than drinks and dance floors. Club's a club, though, right?

Not much to look at on the outside, basic brick in uninspired 00's cubic chunks. Painted all black as if to say "we really don't care about this architecture". Daz wasn't even sure it was the right place until he stepped inside.

Everything the club was from the outside, it certainly wasn't on the inside. It took a couple seconds for his eyes to make sense of the dazzling lights. Before he could quite come to question why the floors all seemed to be missing, a staff member tapped his shoulders.

"Put these on" she said, holding out a pair of headwrap V-goggles. Daz was no lo tech fool, so he hooked them on, booted, and turned on pass through. The club started to make a bit more sense.

The floors he'd started to ponder before took on a groovy glow around the edges, but we're otherwise totally transparent. They formed a sort of stepped pyramid going up to a small VIP floor at the top. But each level was its own whole dance floor. The same pattern was inverted below, with concentric steps dropping towards another small VIP floor at the bottom. From his position on the central floor, the effect was mesmerizing. Cats were busting moves above and below, all over, kinda like a dance party in space.

The staff member stepped in to view. "It's pretty simple, more energy at the top, more chill down below. Your audio will sync to the floor you're on, and the Vir timewarps the dancers on other floors to keep them moving to the same beat you hear. Don't forget to dress yourself!"

Daz pulled up his favorite neo-retro vir-suit, a bright yellow deal with fractal curve flares. Foxes loved fractals. Deciding to see what was up, he found a stairway and claimed a few levels. Once his headset adjusted, he saw quite the kicking party. Everyone had a color changing motion trail following them. When someone clapped, it sent fireworks off around their fingers. It was pumping, energetic, and everyone was getting down.

A while later, Daz sunk to one of the lower floors to relax. The Vir down here swayed like everything was underwater, and the sound was high-passed to sell the illusion. People groovin to the tunes made bubbles and waves that slowly worked their way across the floor. He chuckled to himself when he realized he could literally float on someone's vibe. He was feeling the deep bass riffs like a massage for his soul, and everything was copesetic.

Daz understood why everyone was raving about this place. He already knew he was coming back, so he did future Daz a solid and left the other floors for another night. At least, he tried to. Curiosity got the better of him a couple times while he found his way out. Little peaks showed a floor with golden v-mirrors that maped someone else's dancing to a model of your body, and vice versa. Another seemed to be strobing time, the world would pulse between frozen and moving in time with the beat, like a typical strobe room but without the headache inducing flashing lights. And one last one near the exit that he really had to pull himself away from. He didn't quite understand it, but somehow everyone there was playing an instrument, and the couple seconds he heard sounded fresh as mom's garden.

Yeah, future Daz was in for a treat.


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

[User]
[WH40k] Does ork equipment grow with them?

Orks like to collect all sorts of loot, especially warbosses, flash gitz and mega nobz. These are also the largest orks with the best chance to grow even larger. With gestalt field being what it is, does this equipment grow larger with them? Or is it just easier to find some new junk?

[Assistant] Usually if an Ork wants a bigger gun he just bolts another one onto his current one. That said, no, Ork stuff is what it is and has to be remade or modified to the new standards. There are an entire group of Orks, called Mekboys, who are basically specialist Ork mechanics that work on this sort of thing.


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

[User]
[Batman/DC] Is it clear to the general public that Batman does NOT have superpowers?

Given his reputation, incredible competence, and his A-lister status, do most people assume Batman has powers?

I imagine some know he does not (perhaps some in Gotham PD) but what about most people living in Gotham, or even his enemies?

[Assistant]
No, and he works real hard to keep it that way. He can only be a symbol of fear to criminals if they think he could do anything to them, and that they aren't safe anywhere.

Hell, he's actively tried to get shot multiple times, just so he can make it look like he can come back to life at will.


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

[User]
CMV: punishments that simply punish the criminal while not rehabilitating them or making reparations for the crime committed are pointless.

So basically what Im saying as a TL;DR is: punishments that just punish the criminal, like throw them in jail or something, are pointless if they dont rehabilitate them or somehow make reparations for the crime committed. (Ex: locking up a thief in prison for fifteen years and not ever trying to rehabilitate them)

In-depth.

So to establish an argument we first have to establish what I mean when I say things like crime and punishment. This is basically half of an essay on my beliefs on what crime and punishment is.

So why do we punish crimes? Why are they even established as morally reprehensible in the first place? Well there are several reasons. One is religious beliefs obviously, and another (and my most important one) is the maintain of social order. Why do we punish murder, rape, or stealing? One is moral grounds but a big one is to maintain order. After all you cant just have people going around murdering or raping or stealing from others as they please. If they could then society would collapse. That is one of the reasons that we have laws at all, for the sake of societies existence.

So then what is the purpose of punishment? As with crimes there are several reasons. Punishment is often used to make an example of people so that others might not get any funny ideas. If you see one guy get executed for stealing money then you might think twice about doing it yourself. Another reason is make sure that society gets repaired for the damage done by the crime. If someone steals then you catch them and confiscate the stolen goods as best you can to make sure everything in society is in its right place, so that everyones happy. Another is also rehabilitation; we rehabilitate criminals do that they do not commit the same crimes again, this is often done through punishment as its most effective. If you spank a child then theyll not go against your word again.

So now that we have established one of the big reasons why we punish criminals for crimes and why we have law in the first place, lets get on to the main point.

WHAT IS MY POINT?

My thesis is that if a crime is punished, but not in such a way that it makes reparations for the damage it caused or  rehabilitates criminals, then its pointless and shouldnt be done.

An example would be this: death penalty for first degree murder. In this situation the criminal is of course being punished in such a way that does not rehabilitate them. After all you cant change as a person if your dead. And you cant make reparations as you cant bring back the dead. So from that all I say that such a punishment is pointless as it does nothing for society and does nothing to repair what happened.

Another examples would be.... well the general prison system In many countries. In many countries rehabilitation is almost never the top priority and all it does is lock away what was most likely a petty criminal for an excessive amount of time for anything ranging from grand theft auto to aggravated assault. They make no attempts to help better society and just lock away the problem pretending like it doesnt exist.

Now there are a few counter arguments I can think of but Ill deal with them if they ever comes from you guys. So go ahead.... CMV.

[Assistant]
>They make no attempts to help better society and just lock away the problem pretending like it doesnt exist.

You can disagree with how prison systems in various countries are set up, but locking people away still serves a purpose; incapacitation. A violent criminal who is in jail does not pose a threat to the general public.


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

[User] If I'm incredibly drunk and a mosquito bites me, will my high BAC effect the insect in any way? Can insects get "drunk?"

[Assistant] When nectar ferments on the flower, it turns into alcohol. Bees that visit said flower will absorbe some of the alcohol thorough their bodies. This will cause them to get drunk. The interesting part is that when they make it back to the hive, the other bees know that they are drunk and will block the drunk bee from entering until it is sober.  They will even go as far as to kill it to protect the safety if the hive.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does it take up to 30 seconds to process and authenticate a credit card transaction using a chip but under a second with the mag swipe?

[Assistant] It takes just as long with a mag swipe. However with the swipe and the pin the terminal have all the information necessary to conduct the transaction and can do so in the background. However if you use a chip the transaction is conducted by the chip and not the terminal so you have to wait for the transaction to complete before you can remove your card.


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

[User] Why is the Higgs Boson listed separately from the other Gauge Bosons in the Standard Model?

[Assistant]
Because the Higgs boson is not a gauge boson.

Gauge bosons are spin 1 particles that are needed to ensure that a local symmetry holds.

The Higgs boson is a spin 0 particle and it does not serve to ensure the existence of a local symmetry.


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

[User] ELI5:How is it that a season of a show like Game of Thrones can be produced in a year, but a 90 minute movie takes multiple years to film?

[Assistant]
A few things.

First, a movie doesn't take multiple years to film.  Principal photography is usually done in a couple of months.  The many months after that is editing, CG, composing, etc.

Game of Thrones has incredible production value for a TV show.  But it's still not "Blockbuster movie" production value.  Until this latest season, large battles were usually skipped for the most part (remember Rob Stark's battle where they just cut to his Mom and then he walked up saying they won?)

The vast majority of Game of Thrones is simply the characters walking through an environment talking each other in an intense manner.  Literally 90% of the show.  That stuff isn't too expensive or time-consuming.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How long did it take Anakin to adjust his fighting style after the fight with Obi Wan on Mustafar?

I've just finished watching the Clone Wars series and can only think of this super speedy triple back flip-ing chosen one, who becomes the slow, menacing, powerhouse that is Darth Vader.

How long did it take him to adjust how he fought or is the only difference that he no longer back flips with his robot body and everything else is the same?

[Assistant]
If you mean "When does Darth Vader get as good with a lightsaber as Anakin Skywalker was before the armor?" he never did.

Even against Luke Skywalker, Vader sometimes used slow, clumsy downward strikes powered by bending at the waist because he couldn't raise his elbows into a high guard.

He's still effective because he's a precognitive telekinetic who has super strength and mostly fights people who don't have those abilities, but it's kind of like swatting flies. The power gap is so huge that almost no one can hurt Anakin, even though he's much slower than they are. People who try to run from Vader instead of standing and fighting mostly succeed.

The few times Vader fought people who actually knew how to use a lightsaber it didn't go well for him. Ahsoka cut into his helmet and came close to killing him. Obi-Wan threw the fight so that Luke would leave, but was holding Vader off fairly well before that.


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

[User]
Is my waist a natural body part?  If I never wore pants would I still have a muffin-top/love handles?

My waist is fairly slim (33") and hasn't grown much recently, but I have put on weight in the gut and love handle region.  Is the waist a natural area that does not accumulate fat, or is it because the constriction of my waistband keeps fat from accumulating there?

Can muffin-tops be cured by not wearing pants?

**EDIT** I should have mentioned that I am a man.  Men and women seem to be different in this area.

[Assistant] If an article of clothing is restrictive enough as to decrease lymph flow then the triacylglycerides will have a higher likelihood of being stored around that "bottleneck". This is often seen right below bra's where lymph flow has been restricted for prolonged periods of time. Since TAG's and Fatty acids are absorbed in the small intestine, people with poor lymphatic flow will commonly store fat in the buttocks, hips, thighs, waist, and stomach. Exercise, massage, and belly breathing are the greatest contributors to lymphatic flow because unlike blood it is not actively pumped.


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

[User]
CMV: Weather that's too cold is better than weather that's too hot.

When the temperature is too cold, it's very easy to over correct and instead put on too much clothing. It's a balancing act. Wear enough clothing to stay warm, but not too much to inversely get too hot. When it's too hot there's not much else to do short of dousing yourself in water and taking off all your clothing. The fact that there's an upper limit of what you can do to cool down while there's no real upper limit of what you can do to heat up makes it so it's preferable for temperature to be too cold, rather than too hot.

[Assistant]
When it is severely cold out, it becomes dangerous to be exposed to the air. People can lose limbs from frostbite.

When it is very hot, people just need to stay hydrated and wear sunscreen. It is unlikely that they might die.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do those bladeless fans work?

It's Satan as far as I can tell.

[Assistant]
The pedestal of the fan contains a brushless electric motor that takes in air and feeds it into the circular tube. Air flows along the inside of the device until it reaches a slit inside the tube. This provides the basic airflow that creates the breeze you'd feel if you stood in front of the fan. Dyson claims that the Air Multiplier generates a breeze with 15 times more air than what the device actually takes in.

There **are** blades in the fan -- you just can't see them. The pedestal hides the blades. A motor rotates nine asymmetrically aligned blades to pull air into the device. According to Dyson, these blades can pull in up to 5.28 gallons (about 20 liters) of air per second.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does frozen sperm remain viable?

How does sperm survive being frozen for an amount of time?

[Assistant]
The main issue with freezing is ice crystals forming that puncture the cell membrane and uneven freezing leaving some parts still functional, but unable to function because other parts they need to function are already frozen.

At small enough sizes (about mouse size) we can freeze things rapidly enough that the ice crystals are really small, so they won't puncture the cell, and the frozen gradient is also really small, basically the whole things freezes and thaws at the same time.

Then, it turns out, being frozen doesn't actually affect the ability of a cell to function as long as you avoid those two issues.


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

[User] [Lovecraft] What would happen if you threw Cthulhu into the Sun?

[Assistant]
We don't know.

This is, by design, the answer to many in-universe Lovecraft questions.

C'Thulhu's biggest anti-feat is getting hit in the face by a steam ship, deciding that was enough for one century, and going back to sleep.

But the damage C'Thulhu suffered was (relatively) minor; it destroyed his physical form, but his physical form was quickly being remade, even as the steam ship escaped.

C'Thulhu wasn't exactly defeated by that attack; the stars weren't right, which meant it wasn't time for C'Thulhu to awaken and destroy the world. He just wanted them to fuck off out of R'lyeh, which they did. It's the cosmic equivalent of waking up to chase a noisy cat out of your bedroom, and stepping on a leggo.

So if C'Thulhu fell into the sun, the result could be anything from his total annihilation, to a comfy nap, to C'Thulhu using the power of our star to leap between worlds. We just don't know. We don't even know if his consciousness would die with his physical form, or if his physical form is a manifestation of his consciousness, making him essentially immortal.

After all, in strange eons, even death may die.


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

[User] [MCU] Through a scheme that may or may not have involved time travel, I've gotten my hands on the lost secret of the Super Soldier Serum. Who would pay the most for this information, and how can I go about selling it without scary men in black suits showing up the next day?

[Assistant]
Those men are going to come. Face facts, anyone in a position to buy this is also in a position to fuck you over with zero consequences.

Maybe give yourself the treatment first. Tell no one and prepare to disappear. You might survive.


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

[User] ELI5: What are the differences between Hertz in electricity, in the electromagnetic spectrum, in processors, in displays and in sound?

[Assistant]
Nothing.

A hz is a cycle per second.

If your screen is 120hz, then it refreshes 120 times per second.

If your power is 60hz (A/C) then it cycles 60 times per second

Your cpu does ghz or 1billion cycles per second. Each cycle is a chance to do something.


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

[User] How do scientists know how to make a flu vaccine if viruses can be different every year?

[Assistant] They guess. However, it's a calculated guess. They look for emerging strains elsewhere in the world that are likely to immigrate, along with domestic variations, then they consider their pathogenicity and pick from those strains to develop their stocks of vaccine. Sometimes the guesses are better than others, but they are generally close enough to be effective.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does the "Zero-Interest-Policy" of the European Central Bank thats been ongoing for years not lead to more inflation?

Why does the "Zero-Interest-Policy" of the European Central Bank thats been ongoing for years not lead to more inflation?

And on a related matter - Are companies worldwide lending money in europe more cheaply instead of lending it at home for higher interest rates?

And as a bonus - what is Japan doing differently regarding the base interest rate?

I know its hard to break this down to ELI5 - I hope somebody can :)

[Assistant]
How about ELI15? Inflation is about not just the quantity of money circulating but also the speed at which it circulates.

This speed, in aggregate, has gone down massively. A lot of the newly printed money is actually just sitting on deposit at the central banks - partially as a result of the post-2008 requirements to hold a lot of cash in case of another credit crisis.

The zero and negative interest rate policies are to try and speed up the velocity of money - but it's like pushing on rope once you get below zero as banks are not able to pass the negative rates on to customers.

Fundamentally, inflation is based on people's expectations and nobody expects inflation to go up, so it doesn't and there's not much more that the central banks can do.


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

[User]
[Batman] Why would anyone willingly work as a henchmen for Batmans villains?

I could see the Penguin, because I doubt the Penguin would kill anyone.

But working for the Joker and the Riddler? Both of them are dangerous and crazy.

And Mr. Freezes headquarters are freezing.

Some could say the money, but is it worth it? Joker kills his henchmen.

[Assistant] Gotham really really really sucks for the average person.  And it's only worse for convicts and former convicts. A lot of the hired goons seen are simple crooks looking for a gang to run with and choosing to side with whoever pays the most. But some either are fugitives recently escaped from prison with a super villian in exchange for joining their crew or simply forced into it by having no other options. Not many employers will hire a former inmate of seagate or Arkham so honest work is hard to come by. But pull a few jobs for a costumed crazy and you can escape gotham for a more prosperous city or wait for a new job opening at Wayne industries various charities. So for every former mob leg breaker running with the riddler there's 5 or more just trying to avoid sleeping on the street and too afraid to try running since they know the boss holds grudges against anything and anyone that even remotely offends them.


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

[User]
[Overwatch] Ok, who put up the basketball net in the drop ship?

This isn't your backyard, people! When were you even planning on using it? If you use it during a mission, I'll have your neck, and if you endanger people by using it in the air, Mercy will have your neck. Just use the one in the gym at base!

[Assistant] Gotta warm up and keep your mind busy before you go sprinting out into the hordes of omnics all trying to destroy humanity. Can't be cramping up or becoming a nervous wreck when you're trying to swing your rocket hammer into the third bastion unit in a row.


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

[User] ELI5: why does it hurt when you get hit in the testicles?

[Assistant]
Basically, when you're in your mother's womb, your testicles start up near your stomach. Your nerves grow into your testicles as if they are a deep internal abdominal organ....then they descend into your scrotum.

So that's why when you get kicked in the balls, it feels like you're getting punched in the stomach at the same time. Everything is all cross-wired.


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

[User] It is often stated in studies that a change in one or two degrees can have drastic effects on the climate. How does this work when the temperature fluctuates all the time?

[Assistant]
Many reasons, but I'll try just one example. Though remember that 1 or 2 degrees is a fluctuation in **average** temperature.

If the average temperature gets 1 degree hotter, than the highest high and the lowest low will (not exactly, but let's say so) get 1 degree hotter. At the hot end, every degree is extremely important regarding effect on health, heat stroke deaths, etc. The increase in problems is sort of exponentially worse for each degree.

The difference between a 20C/68F day and a 25C/77F day is just wearing a different shirt. No problem.  The difference between a 35C/95F day and a 40C/104F day can be life and death for many people, as in the famous 2003 heat wave in Europe that killed about 10,000 people.

Really it's not quite so simple, you're more shifting a bell curve of temperatures to the hotter side, so the 35C days that used to come 3 times a year might come 10 times a year, and the 40C days that you never had before might come 3 times a year, etc. Many cities have been dealing with this already for decades due to a separate issue (urban heat island). Living in a big concrete city in summer...sucks!

This kind of thing applies to a lot of other areas. 1 or 2 degrees can make a difference. In the case of ice, if the whole world average temperature changes 2 degrees C, then there must be some regions in the Arctic where the average will go from from -1C to +1C, and ice melts when it shouldn't.  (Again, that's average, really it works out to the warm melting season being a bit longer and bit hotter over a bit larger area..though "a bit" can be millions of square km. The Earth is big.)

Also affects crops, trees, animals, weather, oceans, etc. Many things.


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

[User]
[ELI5] Why Does a Human Baby Need a Full Year Before Starting to Walk?

Why does a new born human baby take a full year to start walking while other species walk instantly or after a few days?

Yesterday, I was watching One Life (2011) and it suddenly occurred to me that many of these species in this documentary walk nearly instantly.

If it's not that difficult, I think ELI20 would be great as well :)

[Assistant] Human babies are born a lot sooner than those of other mammals (relatively speaking). If humans would be born at a similar developmental level pregnancy would take about 18 months; a woman would basically have to squeeze out a toddler.


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

[User] What happens to breast implants after you die? So they decompose with the body or will they last with your skeleton for thousands of years?

[Assistant]
The materials for medical implants are chosen because they are inert and non-biodegradable. They will not decompose when the biological parts of the body do.

Future archaeologists who excavate our graveyards will find many bodies that still have pacemakers, artificial hips, titanium plates, and, yes, breast implants.

Modern saline implants have a valve, which could leak and let the fluid out, but the silicone implant capsule itself would remain.


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

[User] ELI5: If humans have to eat a balanced diet to be fully functional, how do animals like lions eat nothing but one type of meat and stay healthy?

[Assistant]
Part of it is that lions get lots of exercise and don't eat very often. Have you ever seen a fat lion? Well, not counting ones in zoos.

Meat has a complete set of nutrients so they're all set except for one little thing: sugar. The brain needs glucose, a kind of simple sugar, to run. Most body tissues can be powered by anything but nerve cells absolutely need sugar. Don't worry, your body can store sugar for a long time and if you are an American this probably isn't a top concern.

Carnivores have a way to convert fat to sugar called gluconeogenesis and use it all the time; they have larger and more powerful livers, and better kidneys to handle all the nasty waste products (ketones etc). Some humans are better at this conversion than others. The reason why cat pee smells so awful is because cats are true carnivores and a lot of the protein they eat comes out as ammonia. In fact, if you let a cat eat a lot of sugar its body wouldn't know what to do with it all and the cat would get very sick.

There's also no fiber in meat, which is part of why cat poop is different from human poop.


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

[User]
Do Black Holes Consume Dark Matter?

If there is supposed to be a great deal more dark matter in the universe than matter we can actually see, should black holes be gaining mass at a greater rate than can't be accounted for with just regular matter? I guess a better question is do black holes interact with dark matter? Is there a way to know the mass of a black hole?

Sorry for a multiple question post.

[Assistant]
If dark matter crosses the event horizon, it cannot get back out, the same as with anything else.

Remember that the way we know dark matter exists is because we see the effects of its gravitational interactions, so we know explicitly that it is subject to gravitation (which would also follow on theoretical grounds, of course -- it moves in space-time).


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

[User] ELI5: Calling 911 without a sim card - how does it work? and how can they block spam calls?

[Assistant]
a SIM card tells the tower who the call should be billed to

911 calls aren't billed.   the carrier is required by law to route the call to the local emergency services.

nothing stops you from spamming 911.  you are an asshole if you do it from a SIM-less phone.


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

[User] ELI5: How do touch lamps work? Recently went home for the holiday and my nephew had one. One of those touch anywhere and it turns on lamp? How does that happen?

[Assistant]
Touch lamps will send a very low current through the metal parts of the lamp. Your skin can hold an electrical charge. We say that it has capacitance. The circuitry in the lamp can detect the change in capacitance when you touch the lamp. It interprets this change in capacitance as an instruction to turn on.

You'll notice that it doesn't work if you touched the lamp with a piece of dry cloth but probably would with a wet one.


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

[User] ELI5 if you are sitting inside a diving bell or moon pool deep in the ocean, what happens when you dip you feet in the water that is under high pressure? Would the pressure crush your feet right when you step your feet in?

[Assistant] No, the interior of the bell would be similarly pressurized. If it's an open bell you wouldn't be able to go super deep before the pressure crushed you, unless you had equal air pressure on the inside.


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

[User] What are cases in the last 200 years whereby a total outsider to academic philosophy has contributed something of great value to philosophy?

[Assistant]
Two of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century did not begin their studies in philosophy. Edmund Husserl was a mathematician who became interested in philosophical problems related to the foundations of logic and mathematics. He went on to found phenomenology, one of the most influential philosophical movements of the 20th century.

Wittgenstein, likewise, began his studies as an engineer and also became interested in philosophy because of these issues in the foundations of mathematics and logic.

Martin Heidegger, likewise, began as a theology student before turning to philosophy.

In the early 20th century, Germany didnt divide their faculties, meaning that all sciences were done in the philosophy department. This usually resulted in a more flexible vocational path.

Another notable example would be Lenin, who entered into the sphere of philosophy from out of his experience as a political revolutionary, yet went on not only to write some of the most important pieces of Marxist philosophy, but also to engage extensively with philosophy of science. Lenin wrote an important critique of Ernst Mach and some of the forerunners to logical positivism, a materialist critique of empiricism that heavily influences Althussers philosophy of science and subsequent materialist approaches.


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

[User] CMV: I would gladly sacrifice Edric Storm, Ender Wiggins, or any other innocent children whose lives could buy the survival of the human race.

[Assistant]
>the people making these choices believe, given the facts, that sacrificing the child will save everyone

Actually, the people making these choices believe that sacrificing the child will save everyone on their "side", while destroying their opposition. But if you're truly utilitarian, you have to take into account everyone's utility, not just your friends'. Sure, "sacrificing" Ender saved the human race, but it simultaneously exterminated (almost) every single formic. Maybe the universe would have been better off if the humans had lost.


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

[User] ELI5: What information does the doctor get out of hitting my knee with a tiny hammer?

[Assistant]
That the L2, L3, and L4 segments of your spinal cord are working. If your leg doesn't kick out, or doesn't kick out well (absent mobility issues), something is wrong (Westphal's sign) and can mean motor neuron lesions (the neurons that control muscular contractions), cerebellar diseases, and even thyroid problems. So that little tap actually tells the doctor a lot about what's going on in your braincase.

There are many other reflexes that are used to measure brain function such as the plantar reflex (see Babinski's sign) which is a great way to determine if a comatose ER patient suffered damage to the central nervous system.


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

[User] Could a lightsaber cut through vibranium?

[Assistant] Depends how long you hold the lightsaber against it, Vibranium stores energy in between it's molecules. There must be limit to how much energy it can store though, so the question is can the light saber heat it up faster than it can cool down. It certainly can, but because it stores heat it would take much longer to actually melt it. first you would need to hold the light saber against it for a very long time, for awhile it would seem like it's not heating up at all because the heat is being absorbed, but once it reached max capacity it would theoretically heat up and melt like a normal metal.


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

[User]
[Pacific Rim] What happens to the world politically?

Humanity was unified whilst fighting off the Kaiju. After the breach has been closed, there is no immediate reason for that unification any more. We know food has been rationed and is therefore in short supply, at least near the pacific coast, presumably in all of the countries surrounding the pacific. Kaiju will also have destroyed fossil fuel production in the pacific.

Three superpowers border the pacific rim, Russia, China and the US. All are shown to have the capability to construct their own Jaegers. China has an operational Jaegerbase for sure. What will happen when any of these countries decide to secure their interests, using weapons that could defeat creatures that could hardly be stopped by conventional means?

[Assistant]
In the immediate aftermath, things didn't change much. There was Kaiju mess to clean up and good will to spread. Nobody was 100% sure that the Kaiju weren't coming back, and it was a tense couple months.

After that, the major governments busied themselves with framing the events of the final Kaiju assault in their favor, most notably distancing themselves from the Wall of Life, claiming credit for training, equipping, supporting, or building the teams that made the final assault successful.

It wasn't until a few years later that everybody forgot what had happened. It started with initiatives to tear down the fragments of the Wall for environmental reasons. Then came the arguments about who owned the property rights for the land was built on, and all the land of the old Jaeger stations. Finally the major governments started getting prickly, claiming that one country or another owed somebody else for damages or cleanup or usage of land.

Despite the obvious natures of the Jaegers, they never served a true role in the cold war that followed. To a politician, they were all the same giant robots, everybody needed one or two, damn the cost, but they were never really viable for any combat, especially urban combat against conventional weaponry. The true arms buildups were the missiles and bombs that had been developed to fight Kaiju when Jaegers failed, the kind that threatened to take entire cities along with their Kaiju targets, the last resort kind.

We forgot about the lessons that the Kaiju taught us, about working together and trusting each other. We forgot the brief immense success we had and fixated on drawing borders and giving political and financial credit. China started calling in old debts, banking on their Jaeger base to strongarm the first world politically. With so many Jaegers, defunct or not, the US started to look less like a powerhouse and more like a tyrant, despite the fact that it had taken some of the worst damage during the war against the Kaiju and really wasn't in financial shape to make moves.

European countries including Russia, who hadn't taken much damage during the war, started to look much better, using funds that the US and other Pacific-bordering countries didn't have to fund improvements and make moves financially. The US never went bankrupt, but it lost more face than ever, ending up a country wracked with poverty, crime, riots, and disappointment, the decaying Jaegers in their ports a reminder of what was lost.

When calling in the US's debts made less money than expected, China cut off connections from the rest of the world in an attempt to "focus inward and rebuild", presumably to hide the massive damage and Kaiju waste that it never really got around to cleaning up.

Riding high off of successes in the Kaiju war and relatively little losses, Russia became the world's economic and political powerhouse. It established a number of powerful alliances in the Mediterranean, where secret arms contacts eventually led to the installation of missile bases and even Jaeger stations along the coast of the Mediterranean and Atlantic that far outpaced what NATO had there pre-Kaiju.

Eventually, the world settled into a new place, albeit a slightly more dysfunctional one than before. Unfortunately, the ill will between countries, rampant corruption and hushed up failures to finish cleaning up the waste from the Kaiju war, and military buildup that was more for show and intimidation than fighting any true enemy meant we were unprepared.

Unprepared for when they came back.


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

[User]
I just don't get NoSQL databases

Perhaps it's just because of my years of working with relational databases, but for the life of me I can't figure out how a non-relational database works.  I've read a number of tutorials and whatnot, and I understand that they are supposed to be faster and more suited for certain use-cases, but I can't really see how.

The Amazon Dynamo DB tutorial, for example, is a movie database.  If I wanted to store a cast list for a movie, I see no other way than an array of strings for each cast member.  But then if I wanted all the movies an actor was in, I'd have to either do what I suspect is some very slow iteration through all the movies' actors, or store that information in the actor table.  But now my data is doubled up and I can't see how that wouldn't create problems.

You might point out that I've tried to use a non-relational database to store a relation, but I can't imagine a database where some sort of relation isn't necessary.  Take Amazon, for example.  There's a million relationships they must be tracking--purchase to user, review to purchase, item to manufacturer, whatever.

Any insight would be appreciated!

[Assistant]
document based databases are really much faster at looking up individual records than relational databases. so, the primary use cases are things like caches (you're just storing blobs of data by a hash) and if your db ever gets large enough to where you're having trouble scaling your server(s) up (these no-sql dbs tend to be much better at scaling horizontally because they're not designed to store relations between multiple types of data).

the second case is what kind of triggered the craze. facebook switched to using a document based no-sql database to load friends data, if i remember correctly. the data is relational, but they traded duplication of data for lookup speed. they really just needed a key subset of user data in order to populate your friends list, but using a traditional relational database, joining on their 2 billion row user table wasn't very practical. so, they basically store a document for your profile or whatever with the relevant user data duplicated in it. they can shard that data however they want into multiple db instances and just route your request to the correct one and essentially get instant lookups of the data they need to display your profile to you.

however, most dbs will never get to the point where you need to do this type of thing. tons of people switched to using something like mongo because they thought it was the thing to do and ended up biting themselves in the ass because they were still trying to use it like a relational database. they would've probably saved themselves a lot of trouble if they just spun up a postgresql instance or whatever that would easily handle the load and amount of data they had.

edit: there are also things like Hadoop (big table databases) which are designed to just accept as many writes of data as possible. rebuilding indexes and such can be problematic to performance if you're trying to write billions of rows of data per minute. querying these tend to be a bit slower though, so most of the time you'll just write operations to aggregate data sufficiently enough to where you can shove it into a more standard relational database to actually work with the data.


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

[User]
ELI5: What exactly did Goldman Sachs do that they are suddenly getting blamed for the Greece debacle?

In the last few weeks, the number of commenters claiming that Greece would be alright if it wasn't for those rats at Goldman Sachs have been astoundings. What, leaving aside hyperbole and conspiracy, did they have to do with Greece getting $300 billion plus in debt? I know there must be *some* basis to these comments.

[Assistant] Goldman Sachs helped Greece hide how bad their financial problems were to make them look like a safer investment than they actually were by hiding debt.  They used some very complex financial transactions to obscure what the debt really was, which allowed Greece to go to the Eurozone and say that they were in compliance with EU rules about debt and could come onboard as part of the Euro currency zone.  Because they were part of the Euro currency zone, the EU central bank loaned them money to even higher levels which they then couldn't afford to pay back when the economy imploded in 2008.


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

[User] ELI5: Does the universe expand at equal speeds in all directions? Would we even be able to tell?

[Assistant]
Yes. And we can tell because we've looked and everywhere we look, we see the same things.

If there is one thing we know for sure about the universe is that on a grand scale, it is incredibly uniform (exactly the same in all directions).


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

[User]
Are all values within a margin of error equally likely, or does likelihood trail off? e.g. If survey says 40% support (+/- 3%), is the real value just as likely to be 37% as 39%? (Within confidence level, o/c)

As per title, would 37% be just as likely to be the "real value" as 39%? Or is the real value less and less likely to be X the further X is from 40%?

I understand there's a confidence level (e.g. 95% confidence) separate from the confidence *interval* (margin of error), but I'm just focusing on the confidence interval for the purposes of this question.

[Assistant]
Depends on the source of error. Most natural phenomena have smooth bell-curve distributions that can be approximated by a normal distribution, under which the center of the confidence interval is more likely than a same-size range near the edge.

But you have to know the process. A confidence interval alone doesn't tell you whether you have a typical distribution or a weird one.


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

[User]
[General Highlander] Why didn't the immortals grow with the times and just shoot each other?

I realize the "honorable combat" argument but in all honesty that doesnt make sense as there have been multiple uses of trickery to get the quickening. In my eyes it would be the same thing as shooting an immortal in the leg and then chopping off their head when they fall. Boom more power for you and it only cost you a slug instead of a lengthy sword fight.

[Assistant]
And when someone just blows *your* head off from a mile away?

The commitment to the rules isn't just for honors sake. Keeping with sword fights are in the immortals best interest: it means you always have a fighting chance and know when fights are coming.
If there are muderous gunmen coming for you, any chance of any immortal living any kind of normal life goes away, as simply stepping outside can easily kill you before you have a chance to do anything. You'd all have to live in bunkers forever.

Best to shut down anyone who tries advancing, for everyone's benefit. Even yours.


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

[User]
Do computers make calculation errors?

If computers can make billions of calculations per second, is there an expected calculation error rate they make? If so, is there some sort of correction process?
If the calculations are really just tiny jolts of electricity going through logic gates, is there ever chance for an error?
If I give excel 100,000 cells to perform a calculation on, is it possible for one of the calculations to be incorrect mathematically?

Thank you.

[Assistant]
The more pressing issue of incorrect calculation is that it is difficult to represent quantities like `1/3` with bits and so there are precision issues that programmers need to be constantly aware of.  In finance, this is particularly problematic, so reliable software works in the smallest possible denomination of a currency.  For example, you see $4.25, but the computer is working with this amount as 425 cents behind the scenes.

So the answer to the title question "Do computers make calculation errors?" is "yes, all the time" but not for any of the reasons you proposed.

Hope this helps.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does ice in a freezer get smaller over time?

I saved some snowballs from the first snowfall in our new house in Virginia. Over time, the snowballs have gotten smaller and smaller. Where is the water going?

[Assistant] It is evaporating, or, to give it its right name, sublimating. Just like liquid water evaporates into the air, ice does too. Either the water vapor in the freezer escapes when you open the door, or it ends up creating frost on the inside of the freezer.


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

[User]
Why is it important to "prove" mathematical conjectures/hypotheses?

For example, the Rieman hypothesis. What is the benefit to proving it over simply assuming it is true/false and seeing what the consequences of that are?

After all, mathematics rests upon any number of axioms and posulates that are accepted as true, and new branches of math can arise from flipping that around (e.g. discarding the parallel postulate).

Obviously, there may be novel math involved in solving these theorems, so this question is about the value inherent in the solution existing, independent of the how it was discovered.

[Assistant]
Based on our assumptions, how will we know if it is true if we don't have a proof? We can't just add a new axiom that says the Riemann Hypothesis is true or false, because the axioms we have now already determine if it is true or false. A collection of axioms must be consistent with each other, that is, we are not able to prove true=false using them. If the Riemann Hypothesis is false and we assume that it's true, then we get true=false. A proof is the only way to know if it is true.

That being said, it has a $1,000,000 reward because we expect it's proof to give us new math. Though, it is a common assumption in Number Theory to prove things under the assumption that it's true, if it is false then thousands of results will be affected.


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

[User]
[BoJack Horseman]Aside from his appearance, what horse-like traits does BoJack exhibit?

Wanda can see in the dark and fly.  Princess Carolyn has a scratching post and catlike agility.

BoJack, however, seems more man than a horse.  He's not a talented runner, for instance.  He claims to weigh 1200 pounds and have a high alcohol tolerance as a result, but he's still able to sit on ordinary barstools.

Bonus Question:  What human-like traits does Todd exhibit?

[Assistant]
BoJack is fairly strong. He beat Mr. Peanutbutter in an arm wrestling match and somehow stole the Hollywood "D" while blackout drunk, got it either through or around his house, and got it in the pool.

He's also abused his body for a few decades and is tremendously weak-willed. The few times he tries to do something physically demanding on-screen he gives up immediately, but presumably would have horselike strength and stamina if he got in shape and made a real effort.

He might also have an enormous dong, but that's never mentioned either way.


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

[User]
[meta] No questions about real life.

If you see questions about real life don't engage them just report them.

[Assistant] Can you more clearly define the term? Is "how would we react to Thor showing up in New York" an example? If so, could we re-word it to say, "how would our universe react to Thor crossing the dimension barrier and showing up in New York"?


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

[User]
[Sci-fi] Why does shooting a door panel open or disable a door?

Does where you shoot it determine whether the door opens or is locked?

[Assistant]
According to the latest IPTSS code:

> all secondary bulkhead doors must default to "open" in the event of circutry failure, while all primary bulkhead doors must default to "closed." All exceptions must be noted in local and submitted documentation, and temporary* waivers cannot exceed 1 per 500 m^3 habitable volume.


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

[User]
There's a glass of water on a perfectly flat and horizontal surface. Is the top of the surface of the water perfectly flat too? If not, what is the maxium height difference of its particles at the top?

It seems flat and all, but since water is made of molecules with a non-zero size, there must be some difference, right?

[Assistant]
If the water is below the level of top of the glass, there is a meniscus where the water slightly creeps up the sides of the glass and makes the top look concave.

The water can also be slightly higher than the top of the glass due to surface tension, and the surface would be convex.

If the water is at the exact top, then temperature and air pressure can make the center of the surface of the water bow out or end depending on the sum of all factors.


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

[User] ELI5:Why is it called Beheading and not Deheading?

[Assistant]
Words like "decriminalize" are Latinate constructions; Latin through and through. The words "head" and also "behead" are old English; the "be" prefix denoted taking away. Another example is "bereft".

edit: technically the "ize" in "decriminalize" is Greek.


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

[User]
Very newb question about Descartes

I'm taking a beginning philosophy class. We just read the First Meditation. Just before Descartes brings up the evil demon, he brings up the possibility of a deceptive God, only to dismiss it on the grounds that God is good.  But this seems like a crap argument, as it assumes something about God (and in this Meditation, Descartes is trying to get rid of all assumptions). Questions:

 * Is it a crap argument?
 * If so, is there any evidence that Descartes knew it was a crap argument, and is sort of signalling his doubt about God (His existence or nature), which Descartes felt he could not state explicitly, because of the risk of running afoul of the Church?

Thanks!

[Assistant] He doesn't do that, at least not in the first meditation...he dismisses the position that God would be no deceiver and says he will Assume there is an evil deceptive demon, and the meditation ends there.


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

[User]
How do we get Vitamin D from sunlight?

I never really understood why, like do we have some special organelle in our cells that convert sunlight to vitamin D or is it something entirely different?

[Assistant]
Its a photochemical reaction.

Theres a chemical in your skin called 7-DHC thats photochemically reactive to light between the wavelengths of 290 and 320 nm. These wavelengths are part of the suns spectrum and what is often referred to as UVB radiation. When 7-DHC reacts with UVB light, the product is dholecalciferol, also known as Vitamin D3, which is then carried to the liver.


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

[User]
[Agents of SHIELD] In S1E12, Fitz & Simmons claim candidates need at least one PhD to enter SHIELD's Academy of Science and Tech. Is it just me, or is that absolutely ridiculous?

I just don't understand the value a SHIELD science academy would provide to doctorate-calibre people.

Most PhDs are pioneers at their narrow, obscure scientific fields - what (or more importantly, HOW?!) the hell can you possibly teach them anything they don't already know at their field?

Or, if the academy is merely to give a well-rounded scientific education - WHY? These guys are rare talent with niche specializations. To have them do anything else seems like a waste of their talents that otherwise is extraordinarily difficult to find.

Plus, from what I understand, it takes an average of 8 years to earn a PhD. That's like a decade of their lives slaving away for their professors with poverty pay. Where's the incentive for a PhD to put their professional lives on hold for another 4 years to be at the bottom of the academic rung again? How on earth are they attracting enough PhDs to make an Academy viable??

[Assistant]
> Where's the incentive for a PhD to put their professional lives on hold for another 4 years to be at the bottom of the academic rung again?

The chance to work with top secret metahumans and alien tech. If you want riches and fame, SHIELD isn't for you. If you want the intellectual pursuit and a chance to make a difference, then maybe you'll fit in.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the touchscreen works with the negative pole of a battery?

[Assistant]
The actual answer is that phone screens sense changes in capacitance. The positive terminal of a battery goes right to the inside of the battery - which isn't a lot of material and has low capacitance.

The negative terminal, however, is actually bigger than you think - the entire case of the battery often functions as a negative terminal. So when you grab the battery, you are touching the negative terminal. Basically the negative terminal completes the circuit between your hand and the phone screen, so it works.


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

[User]
ELI5:If Haiku are Japanese, why are they 7:5:7 syllables in English?

I understand it's kind of a weird question, and may not make sense at all, but it's really bugging me. I dont understand. When we translate a Haiku into English, do we change words until it's 7:5:7? Is that not a rule in actual Japanese Haiku?

[Assistant]
It's just a way to adapt their poetry form into our language.

It should also be noted that the original Japanese form is NOT 5/7/5 syllables.  It is 5/7/5 moras. A mora is a unit of length defined as the vowel and anything following it.  A long vowel counts as two morae. English speakers often find it strange, because our language ignores morae.  Here's an example to demonstrate:

edo no ame
nan goku nonda
hototogisu
~Issa

"How many gallons
of Edo's rain did you drink?
cuckoo"

Notice how the second line has only five syllables? It still fits the meter because "nan" has two morae (a and n), and "nonda" has three (o, n, and a). Japanese poetry doesn't care about syllables, it cares about moras.  Oftentimes moras line up with syllables, because CVC syllables are somewhat uncommon in Japanese, but it's a crucial distinction.


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

[User]
Eli5: Why did the production of Grease cast such old actors to play teenagers?

John Travolta was 24 years old when the movie was filmed, Olivia Newton-John was 30. Why would they cast obviously old actors/actresses to play roles that were aged 18-19?

[Assistant]
This is the case with virtually all big-budget films and television productions. Simply put it's easier to work with older actors. They are better/more experienced at their job, they have more freedom to work when and where they need to, are more able to understand the management and business side of the production, and they are less likely to have the emotional/physical issues that real teenagers deal with.

Also, no one really cares. Superheros don't really exist either, but we pretend for the sake of the film. We know that these aren't really teenagers, but they are ACTING like teenagers and that's good enough. And to be honest they probably portray being a teenager better than a teenager does, most of the time.


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

[User]
ELI5: How did computer hackers do their hacking back in the 60s and 70s?

I realized that I know next to nothing about computers from back then, so I was wondering, for example, how a hacker from back then would hack into a business' computer? Like would they have to be on site, or could they do it remotely? Also, how easy was it to hack those old IBMs from that era?

[Assistant]
The vast majority of hacking in the pre-internet days relied on physical access to the system... as that was the only way to access it... or by manipulating someone with physical access to it to do something to it (knowingly or unwittingly)

Even today, physical access to the system is often how a lot of hacks take place, there's just no substitute for ease of actually having physical access.

Even many newer big name hacks, such as at least one of the Sony hacks and stuff like Stuxnet both were done with physical access.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do warmer countries/closer to the equator tend to be poorer than colder countries?

Sure there are exceptions like Singapore and Mongolia, but why do most colder countries seem to be richer than warmer countries?

[Assistant]
For most of history, there wasn't that much difference between most region of the world. Great civilizations rose and felt, bringing stability and wealth to different region throughout history. China was often one of the richest region of the world, the Middle East was a power house between the Ancient World and Islamic Golden Age, and Africa was known for several rich Kings, etc.

America was usually behind in term of wealth. Why it was the case is a bit complicated. Being separated by an Ocean limit the spread of trade and knowledge (trade between Europe, Middle-East, Asia and North/East Africa was important), but there is also a theory about the lack of tameable work animal in America, which limited greatly the work capability of American tribes. Animal work in the field mean some people could do other things than food production, which lead to more trader, artisan, craftsmen, etc.

It's really only because of the industrial revolution that Europe was able to get in front of the rest of the world in term of technology and wealth. According to Maddison (a British economic Historian), in 1600, China and India had 51.4% of the world GDP (PPP), but at that point in time only had 47.5% of the population, meaning they were not only big, but richer than the world average. In 1600, India had 22.7% of the World GDP (PPP), by 1820 it was 16.1%, by 1870 it was 12.2%. India wasn't getting poorer, their economic growth was 22.7% in the 16th century, and 21% in the 18th century. The difference was that the economic growth of Europe was just too big to keep up. Similar story with the rest of the world.

So the question really is why the Industrial Revolution happened in England instead of somewhere else and why remained concentrated in Europe. That's again a really difficult questions to answer. The is a lot of factor that made the industrial revolution happen in England, the agricultural revolution of the 17th-19th century, a large and easy access to coal, the political climate, etc.

Once this started, Europe had the technology and wealth to spread its power across the world through colonization. Places where European settled the most (America, Australia, New Zealand, etc) become rich, the places that were not settle by European but instead become exploitable colonies didn't received the technology and knew how needed to kick start an Industrial Revolution until several centuries later. At that point, their delay in economic growth was just too big leaving Europe and places they settled in ahead.


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

[User] If you were to be in a tank of water on a rocket/space ship leaving the planet, how much of the g forces would you feel at lift off?

[Assistant]
Why is everyone saying you'd sink? People generally float in water at 1 G, because the water is more dense than a person, overall. When the rocket accelerates, that water is going to want to slosh down, same as you get pulled down.

At more than 1 G, the buoyancy force will increase by the same fraction as your weight, so you'd still float. If there's not air bubble at the top of the tank, you'd be pushed against the 'top' of the tank even harder.

As for blood still draining down, kinda. Again it's all about relative density. In a tank of water the water would be pressurised by the weight of the water 'above' as the rocket accelerates. This means if you were floating upright, the water around your feet would be squeezing much harder than the water at your chest or head. Fresh water is slightly less dense than blood so the blood would still push down slightly harder than the water, but compared to being surrounded by air, the difference would be pretty negligible.


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

[User] ELI5: What actually happens when a young mans voice 'breaks' during puberty?

[Assistant]
Girls' voices break, too.

During puberty, your whole body grows at a rapid pace. That includes your larynx. It thickens and elongates. But when it's at a "transitional" size, it doesn't vibrate as steadily as it did when you were smaller. You grow into it.

And when you get old, the larynx loses some flexibility, which is why old people have creaky voices.


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

[User]
If you can't drive drunk, Why is being public intoxication a charge?

Example: Drunk at a bar but can't get a ride home, so you walk home but a cop arrests you for public intoxication.

[Assistant] For many states, to get charged with public intoxication, prosecutors are required to prove that you seem so out of control that you don't appear to be able to take care of yourself, or that you present a threat to the safety of others.