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

[User] Why can't we see well underwater? What is different about the eyes of aquatic animals?

[Assistant]
The key difference is in the lens of the eye that handles focusing the image onto the retina.  When focusing, the "work" is done as light transitions from one material to another, as the index of refraction changes, which causes the light to bend.

Outside the water, this is (roughly) air -> lens -> vitreous humor (the fluid in most of the eye).  Underwater, the air is water instead, and the difference between the index of refraction of air and the material of the lens and water and the material of the lens is much greater.  So outside the water you need a much less round lens to do the focusing.

Human eyes are adapted to focus well in the air, while the eyes of aquatic creatures do better under water.  This is also why if you put goggles on, you can focus well underwater.


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

[User] If normal body temperature is 37 degrees Celsius why does an ambient temperature of 37 feel hot instead of 'just right'?

[Assistant] A lot of the processes/reactions in your body release heat (when you run you burn energy and get hotter). This is the case even when resting, so your body has to constantly release this heat to keep your internal temperature at 37 C.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Has Latveria (under Doom's leadership) ever entered the list of states sponsors of terrorism?

If so, has the UN, the US, or the EU attempt to impose economic sanctions against it?

[Assistant] Latveria has faced economic sanctions in the past on multiple occasions. That's about as far as any other nation is willing to go, because they're scared of open warfare with Latveria. They've bent over backwards to excuse Doom in his various terrorist attacks on the Fantastic Four, because the fear of a war with Latveria is such that other world powers are willing to look the other way.


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

[User] Why don't we sneeze in our sleep?

[Assistant]
This is a very simple explanation, but people sneeze when nerve cells are stimulated from foreign objects (eg. dust). While we sleep, they also shut down, so we don't notice the objects and there is no stimulation that gets noticed by our body. So while we sleep, we just don't notice the need to sneeze.
Note that this is only when we are "deep in sleep" during REM, and if we aren't, the stimulation can just wake us up, causing us to sneeze.


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

[User]
Since the honeybee is an foreign species in North America, would it really be that bad for NA if all honeybees died out?

Since honeybees are technically an invasive species, would it have much impact? How did pollination work before bees in the Americas?

[Assistant]
Bees aren't the only pollinators; before european bees were introduced in 1600, other pollinators played a central role.

But you can't feed the US of today with the technology of 1600s. Crops that depend on pollination by bees today include apples, avocados, onions, oranges, pears, and pumpkins.

Eliminate everything from your life that includes any one of those, see how much is left, and then decide whether that is "much impact".


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

[User] [Star Wars] Leia knew the Empire was following them, why did she then lead them straight to the secret rebel base, why not ditch the MF on a dead planet after sending a message to the rebels to send a ship to pick them up. A ship not being tracked by the Empire.

[Assistant]
They had already jumped to hyperspace by the time Leia had a chance to warn Han about the tracking device, and there's only so many planets along the course that the Falcon took away from the Alderaan system.

Now, while it's possible that the Falcon could have dropped out of hyperspace in order to jump into a new heading, the Empire isn't stupid: this was a happenstance rescue, sloppy and doomed to failure had they not allowed the Princess to leave. The TIEs forced the rebels into a hasty jump, which told the Empire what they needed to know.

Basically, from the moment the Falcon jumped into hyperspace, it would only be a matter of time before the Empire showed up at Yavin. Leia knew this. She also knew that their only hope was to analyze those plans as soon as possible and formulate some sort of miraculous defense.


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

[User]
[MCU] Knowhere - where is the rest of the celestial body?

Where is the rest of celestial body? There should be at least some of it. Head is not like a bare skull, it still have some body fluids so in is not like ancient old.

[Assistant]
Space is big. The body parts probably just drifted in different directions.

Something like a head could more or less keep its shape, but arms and legs would collapse under their own weight and form spheroids.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why is it when we type the letter "A" in lower case it looks like this: "a", but when we write it, it looks like this: ?

Where does this difference come from?

[Assistant]
Cursive was invented because back in the day, people used ink quills. Cursive's function was to minimize the amount of times you had to raise your quill (so you could write in continuous strokes) because of ink dropping on paper.

Actual fonts on typewriters were designed so they would be more legible at quick glances.


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

[User]
[WH40K] What does the judicial system consist of in the Imperium? How are prisoners treated?

I know they have penal battalions but besides that I don't know what being an inmate in a prison in the Imperium consists of.

[Assistant]
>I don't know what being an inmate in a prison in the Imperium consists of.

There aren't that many. Keeping prisoners requires resources, and frankly, those are better spent on law abiding citizens. In most cases, you're either powerful enough to get off scott free (Governors, nobility, high ranking administrators etc) loaded into a Penal legion, or executed. A few (and this being the Imperium, we're still talking millions) that are of able body but unfit for Penal Legions can also be given to the Mechanicus, who turn them into Servitors.

The only individuals you tend to see in any sort of incarceration facility are valued for their information, or slated for other things (the Blacks Arks being massive prison ships for transporting psykers). And neither have pleasant existences. The former are regularly tortured, probed to mind-scoured, and the latter are locked in heavily warded sensory deprivation cells and overseen by psychic nulls.


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

[User]
[Neal Stephenson's Anathema] So what exactly is Fraa Jad?

I've been reading the records made by Fraa Erasmus about the events leading up to the Second Rebirth, and one thing stuck in my mind. According to his records, Saunt Jad actually had some sort of ability to pick and choose worldtracks.

Is Saunt Jad *actually* an Incanter (or something like it)? Was he really as old as Erasmus thought he was? What other explinations might there be for Fraa Erasmus's experiences?

[Assistant] It seems pretty undeniable that Fraa Jad actually had unique capacities. The whole tiling thing shows pretty conclusively that he could, at minimum, perform quantum computation in his head. The way he and his party interacted with alternative timelines _strongly_ support the contention that he had some kind of influence - or at least awareness, and inspiring similar awareness in others - of alternate timelines/correlated quantum states. The real question is whether he can interact with alternate causal domains.


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

[User]
Why do we care whether it is a "real" Picasso?

It is often accepted that a work of art is valuable in and of itself. For literature, Barthes suggested "The Death of the Author." In an art gallery we are encouraged not to think too much but just "experience" the work and how it makes us feel.

But in some ways there is a big importance given to the artist. We regard a painting differently when it is a "real" Picasso or an actual Pollock. In an art gallery we are given very little information about the works, except we always get the name of the artist.

Who has written about the *importance* of the artist/author?

[Assistant] I think it's the direct connection to the artist that makes it important. Picasso actually *touched* this painting. Picasso's mind and body actually *created* this work of art. He's the one that pulled it out it the infinite, and gave it to us. It's an actual piece of history. When someone else paints a copy, it's just that: a copy. They're not the one who started from 'nothing'. A good artist can copy something, but it's something else entirely to actually *create* it. It's like the difference between watching an event on video, and actually being there, live and in person, *witnessing* it. It doesn't matter how good it is, it's just not the same.


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

[User]
ELI5: What causes the switch process in bipolar disorder?

What biological process causes a person to go from severely depressed to euthymic or manic and back again?

[Assistant]
Mainly hormones and the amount your body produces or gives you - or doesn't because something stops/slows down the production of hormones that make you happy. (Serotonine and Dopamine) If some points in your body get close to them - you get happy. This is manic BPD.

Works also the other way around some bodies produce more of the 'feel good/euphoric' hormones but less 'feel bad' ones with the opposite effect. This is depressive BPD.

This is caused by neurological problems. Your brain can't control this right and you can't control your brain when it comes to this . Imagine pulling off all cables on a machine with no Idea how to reattach them.

Feels like sitting on the back of a bike with no driver and just sometimes you can take the wheel yourself.

Edit: ELI5 : Your brain doesn't produce the needed amount of 'happy' and 'sad' hormones or can't distribute them right. So they wait until they can 'come through' which leads to fast mood swings.


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

[User]
ELI5: 3D that doesn't require glasses, like the Nintendo 3DS

So I'm wondering how the 3D on the Nintendo 3DS works specifically (as I own one), or any other 3D device that doesn't require glasses. I know that it has to do with multiple screens but that's where my knowledge ends.

[Assistant] It works because the LCD screen on a 3DS is not your conventional LCD. It uses a technique that basically splits the images sent to each eye based on the angle the eye is to the display. You know those funky strips that changes the picture when you move it? (also super fun to scratch and make those sounds) It's a similar effect, only your brain interprets the result as 3D even though it isn't in the sense of everyday objects that you can hold.


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

[User] ELI5: What is the purpose of "Not to be removed except by consumer" tags on mattresses, pillows, and the like?

[Assistant] There are laws requiring certain items (for example, upholstery, mattresses) to be labeled clearly showing what they are made of. It's illegal for the store or the wholesaler to remove the tag before the final consumer buys the item, because they are entitled to know what it's made of.


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

[User] [Star Wars] What if Obi-Wan agreed to Dooku's proposition and became his apprentice?

[Assistant]
I feel as though whatever gains obi wan picked up from turning wouldn't outweigh what he lost.

Raw power isnt what makes Obi-wan dangerous. Discipline, and rational thought are what puts him in the same league as mace windu or a young anakin Skywalker. If he gets corrupted theres a chance that he loses what makes him great in a trade for a small boost in power.


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

[User] ELI5: What in the body makes someone horny and what goes away when the sexual tension is released to turn off the feeling for a period of time?

[Assistant]
In men, a hormone called prolactin increases after orgasm. This will cause a lack of interest in sex, difficulty in achieving an erection and orgasming. It is primarily responsible for the 'refractory period'.

There is a prolactin lowering drug called cabergoline which can drastically reduce the refractory period and make some men multi-orgasmic.

Prolactin is also responsible for causing women to lactate.


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

[User]
Does immunity from a virus get remembered for longer if a recovered person is exposed continually to it?

I read somewhere else that after recovery, immunity from covid19 lasts around three months. Which is the amount of time our immune system spends resources on creating antibodies specific to that virus.

However, does that take in account if the person is continually exposed to infected people? Is it possible for her/his immune system to get a "memory refresh"? Something like a signal in the body that says "hey, I know you can't remember coronaviruses well but you still need immunity for this"?

[Assistant] You did not read that immunity only lasts 3 months. No one knows how long immunity lasts.  You read that antibody titers drop off after 3 months.  Antibodies drop off after a few months for many viruses.  Memory B cells are responsible for long term immunity.


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

[User]
CMV: Homemakers are the most under appreciated labors in America.

I cant say for other countries because I dont have enough first hand experience, however, at least in my life it seems that the people who never get acknowledged for how much they legitimately contribute to their families and communities are the homemakers.

Often times it seems it is their partners and family that so under appreciate them. Its always seen as the person making cash as being the one who supports the family, but rarely is acknowledged that without the homemaker they would not be able to spend so much time focused on their work.

[Assistant] What about fruit pickers?  When was the last time anybody bothered to appreciate the migrant laborers who work 8 hours a day picking the fruit off of trees?  Or for other kinds of agricultural work that use migrant labor?


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

[User]
[General] Why isn't super speed considered overpowered?

I mean, come on people. You could move so fast time basically freezes, and then you can just simply defeat all your enemies easily. You can even outrun a bullet or never show up on camera.

[Note: MIT actually made a one trillion FPS camera, it can watch light as it travels! I encourage you to read about it,  it's very interesting!]

You can be pretty much anywhere on earth in mere seconds/minutes. You can defy gravity (running on water, up walls, etc.) to some extent. You could fly to some degree (running up a ramp with a head start) but you know, not fully flying. It's basically time travel, teleportation, and gravity defiance rolled into one incredibly OP superpower. What do you guys think?

[Assistant]
It *is* considered overpowered. Especially when paired with abilities that downplay the negative effects of such high velocities.

The Flash is usually the third most dangerous of the Justice League, after Superman and Green Lantern.


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

[User] Why does a black hole gets less denser when you add mass to it? Shouldn't gravity make it even more dense?

[Assistant]
We don't really know what happens when mass goes beyond the Swarzschild radius. Mathematically, at the center of a black hole is a singularity, which is a point with infinite density, but that seems to be unphysical. Since we don't know how matter is distributed in a black hole, we can't really make a definitive statement on its density.

Which is why the "density of a black hole" is typically defined as the ratio between the mass of the black hole and the volume enclosed by the Schwarzschild radius. This is a reasonable definition in the sense that a homogenous distribution of mass in this entire volume exerts the same gravitational force on objects outside the Schwarzschild radius as a distribution where the mass is more localized in the center or even the limit case where all mass is gathered in a single point.

Since the Schwarzschild radius is proportional to the mass and the volume is proportional to the cube of the Schwarzschild radius, that makes the volume proportional to the cube of the mass. And since density is mass over volume, that means that the density is proportional to the inverse of the square of the mass.


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

[User]
ELI5: Okay, I know fighting zombies is kind of a fun concept. But how to explain the incessant rash of zombie-related EVERYTHING that struck America in the past few years?

Seriously. Without looking anything up, I came up with Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, Romero's Dawn of the Dead, Romero's Land of the Dead, Zombieland, Resident Evil 1-5, publication of the popular Zombie Survival Guide, The Walking Dead graphic novels and now TV series...

What the undead fuck. Sure, it's cool to think about. But what's our culture's fascination with taking one type of supernatural being (be it aliens, vampires, zombies, whatever) and just running it into the ground?

[Assistant]
The cycle tends to go like this, something is obscure and underground.  At some point, something comes along to bring at least a part of it out into the light, media companies see an easy way to make a buck.  They make it overly romantic, in the literary sense, so that it's easier for a larger audience to digest, people get burnt out, eventually it goes back to being more underground.  It happened with wizards, vampires, were-wolfs,  the supernatural, it all follows the same path.

There is, however, another part to the zombie apocalypse in that certain people use it to live out a heroic alter ego in which they are a survivor and will make it through.  The humble and meek are transformed into heros and alpha-males overnight.  Try to think of the main demo this stuff is aimed at and you'll find your answer.


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

[User]
[Lord of the Rings] The breaking of a Wizard's Staff

In the LotR and Hobbit movies, we have seen multiple instances of a Wizard's staff being destroyed or lost.  In the Desolation of Smaug, Sauron shatters Gandolf's staff.  Gandolf then loses his staff to Saurumon when he is captured in the Fellowship of the Ring.  We do not see him escape with it on the Eagle.  Saurumon has his staff shattered in the Two Towers.  The Witch King also destroys Gandolf's staff at Minith Tiris.

Obviously, a Wizard is not able to use magic without their staff.  We've seen Wizards quite effectively captured and powerless without them and Wormtongue was also confortable to be around Gandolf if Gandolf didn't have a staff.  So, if Wizards are powerless without a staff, how do they go about getting a new one? We see Galdolf get a new staff in Rivendale and he obviously gets another one after escaping from Dol Guldur.

What's the process for a Maiar to replace his staff? Also, Galdolf always seems to have a similar staff.  Does each Wizard need a particular "flavor" for his staff, based on their coloring and identity?

[Assistant]
Mr. Jackson is an excellent filmmaker, but he has never been overly devoted to historical accuracy.  Only two instances of staff-breaking occur in the Red Book of Westmarch, written and compiled by the Mr. Baggins (elder), Mr. Baggins (younger), and Mr. Gamgee, discovered and translated by Mr. Tolkien.

The first is that of Gandalf's staff, which broke when he smote the bridge of Khazad-Dum while facing the Balrog.  Presumably, he gained a new staff after his reincarnation as Gandalf the White.  However, this does not mean that he lost all his power upon breaking his staff, given that his testimony to Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas indicates that he nonetheless was able to kill the Balrog afterwards.

The second instance is the breaking of Saruman's staff by Gandalf at Isengard.  Saruman's power was greatly diminished (but not removed entirely) after this occurred.  Given the evidence of the first instance, however, it seems likely that the diminishing of Saruman's power was due more to the fact that Gandalf had been imbued with the authority to lead the order of Istari (the five wizards) than the fact that his physical staff was broken.


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

[User]
CMV: 18 is too young to do porn/onlyfans

So personally I dont slut shame. I dont think sleeping around is bad if you dont have a boyfriend and make your intentions clear and dont manipulate. And Im fine with sex work, and all for legal prostitution. BUT, despite all that I just think that 18-20 is too young, especially being a teenager. I just graduated and know people who still live with their parents and have an only fans where they produce explicit photos, and personally I think that making that type of decision requires maturity, and having a little more life experiences to do, and also that people who do that help the idea of as soon as were legal we can be preyed on. Ive also seen that the term #teen trend on pornhub, which I find disgusting. Personally I think one should have lived on their own and experience life outside their parents house to choose that type of path, because making porn out of your parents house to me sounds like borderline child porn.

Edit: I keep getting questions about the military: I absolutely think that the trauma and possible death of war is hard to deal with for any age, let alone a hormonal teen. Theres no changing my view on that, whereas pornography is more reasonable for someone to deal with than war.

[Assistant] If 18-20 is old enough to have any boomer slam their crusty dong into your asshole for free, then it's also old enough to be able to sell a starfish selfie for 5 bucks a month from the safety of your bedroom.


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

[User] Why do you see double when drinking or sometimes experience the situation where you need to close one eye to concentrate on written text? More specifically, what mechanisms in the brain create the situation where hemispheres of the brain might not communicate correctly in this situation?

[Assistant]
Thank you for this question, there is some fascinating work in the brain going on here.

Alcohol is a "depressant". This means that it slows down the brain. When we are intoxicated with alcohol our eye tracking slows down (along with a lot of other brain processes).
Eye tracking is what makes both of our eyes look at the same thing. As it is slowed down by alcohol this causes the eyes not to sync up correctly and both eyes are looking at slightly different points.

Our brain interprets sight by comparing both eyes. So it effectively takes two images and blends them into one. Because the images are now not tracked we get a double vision effect.

Closing one eye removes one of the two images and therefore alleviates this problem.


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

[User] ELI5 Why are humans the only animals that need to wipe? Did hunter-gatherers walk with dirty butts?

[Assistant]
A greater need for that comes with upright posture, other animals don't have their exit chute buried in butt cheeks which are prone to catching and smearing feces.

That said, we're not the ONLY ones. There are plenty of species that have intermittent issues with poop clinging to fur, skin, scales or feathers and causing problems. Ever seen a dog drag it's bottom on the ground or licking itself? Same idea happens in nature as well.

Both of those said: diet and body hair also plays into this. We have nothing like the diet of our ancestors. Even among people today some people have relatively little trouble while others are posting that Parks and Rec meme about the marker.

Our ancestors cleaned with what was available.  Leaves, water, sand, a hand if they had to. No one likes diaper rash in any time period.


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

[User] ELI5: Can atoms touch?

[Assistant]
Define "touch".

Ordinarily, atoms repel one another due to the electrons having similar charges, but atoms can sometimes bond together through their electrons as well, sharing (certain) electrons with one another, which could be thought of as "touching" since the two atoms are basically joined at the shared electrons.

Of course, you can also fire a nucleus at an atom at very high levels of energy in order to break it apart and cause a nuclear reaction, such as a nuclear explosion.


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

[User]
Am I objectively wrong if I choose non-existence over life?

If before I was born I was taken aside and had the chance to look upon my current life and was asked if I wanted to live it or just not exist. Would I be objectively wrong in choosing  non-existence?

[Assistant] If there was ever a "you" to be taken aside and given the choice then non-existence isn't possible. It becomes a question of continuing to exist or not. So if you don't hold belief in consciousness' ability to survive the body its really the same as asking if suicide is morally permissible.


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

[User] ELI5: How can a hormone like estrogen cause muscular problems like an ACL tear?

[Assistant] Estrogens do not cause an ACL tear. However, it is true that joints, particularly joints that are under high mechanical stress (like the knee joint), may be more injury prone in the longterm presence of estrogens. Estrogens influence fibroblasts, the cells that form collagen - the main compound of ligaments. This effect of estrogens on collagen synthesis may explain the increased incidence of ligament injuries in female athletes.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do Octopus know what color they are when they camouflage?

How do they learn what color and texture to turn into if they have no mirrors to see and adapt to?

[Assistant] The chromatophore cells of the octopus can detect light - basically every individual cell can "see" without using their eyes. They're able to detect what the environment looks like, and then mimic the colors and textures with their skin.


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

[User]
[2001] Why does HAL send Poole outside the ship twice before killing him in the 2001 book?

I can't recall what happens in the movie, but in the book HAL falsely reports a faulty AE35 unit and gets Poole to go outside the ship and replace it. After the astronauts verify that it works, HAL reports a fault on the 2nd unit, only to kill Poole when he goes out to replace that one.

Why did he wait till the 2nd opportunity to kill Poole? Seems like it was far easier for Bowman to figure out what his intentions were at that point, after Bowman died. If HAL had  killed Bowman during the 1st replacement it could have been chalked up to an unfortunate incident.

Seems like poor planning by HAL..

[Assistant]
HAL really believes the module he sends them out to service is malfunctioning. It's a symptom of his gradual deterioration. (In the book, the first clue is that he starts getting worse at chess.) He only acts out when he catches Bowman and Poole discussing shutting down his cognitive circuits (from his perspective, putting him into a coma). He did not send them out the second time; they were already planning to replace the unit, and he took advantage of that situation to get rid of them. In the book, HAL invents the fiction of the malfunction in order to get them outside.

In both cases, HAL is acting out due to xenophobia. The other members of the crew are unaware of the real reason for the mission. Only HAL is aware. The reason they are kept in the dark is that experiments found that humans almost universally reacted with xenophobia when confronted with the reality of alien contact. HAL was thought immune to this, but he is not.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Let's say I'm a spaceship pilot flying around in my ship when I run out of fuel, where can I refill?

[Assistant]
If you still have enough power to your repulsor engines to land, anything that can honestly call itself a spaceport, nearly anything that can call itself a landing pad, and any open field within a few hours drive of a major metropolitan area can suit you. The last two will have a pretty massive upcharge, especially the open field; whoever supplies that fuel is going to be a dedicated hauler that pretty much knows that they've got you by the short hairs, and will bill you accordingly.

If your ship is 100% dead, you're basically at the mercy of whoever is in emergency broadcast range. The Navy will help you for free (after checking every last inch of your papers and cargo), commercial operators will either help a fellow spacer out or charge you at an insane markup, and pirates will dock with you, start the refueling process, make enough polite conversation to find out how many people are on your ride, and then flush you out the airlock of their brand new ship.


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

[User]
[40K] What is the Grey Knights/ Inquisitions contingency plan for the time the Emperor's throne fails and the demons come flooding through.

Will they put Titan back into the warp as they once did and wait it out, will they stand and fight, will they pray to the Star child to save their souls or will they release their captured Necron C'tan shards as a distraction.

[Assistant]
Plan A: Call for backup and hold the line. The forces that come through might only be a trickle and Terra may not be lost.

Plan B: Bring all the artillery and siege weapons they can manage to hold the gate. They'll shell the Throne if they have to. Maybe the Warp doesn't have an infinite number of demons to spit out.

Plan C: Release the dragon on Mars and point it in the direction of Earth. Terra and all the planets in its system are lost, but probably so is the Imperium.


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

[User]
[Rogue One] Why is Vader in a bacta tank?

Surely by this time any wounds have scarred and healed as much as they ever will?

What exactly is the bacta doing for him by that point?

[Assistant] He spends most of his time in a poorly fitted cybernetic suit. Its highly uncomfortable and constantly exacerbates his injuries. Regular treatment is necessary to prevent infections and soothe his pain.


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

[User]
ELI5: Juggalos

What's up with those guys?

[Assistant]
Alright, real answer, trying not to be derisive even though they make it difficult.

Juggalos are fans of Insane Clown Posse, a rap-rock group that's kind of like what would happen if you crossed Marilyn Manson with Lil Wayne and then poured in a container of bleach and some extra chromosomes scraped off the floor of a high school gym. They are for the most part blue collar [if they can afford a collar] and not too well educated.

It appeals to people who don't fit in, similar to any number of musical acts that provide outreach to listeners feeling ostracized however they also emphasize a style that encourages listeners to dress like trailer park goth clowns  which in turn makes their listeners look ridiculous and be further ridiculed and therefore more likely to find solace with other goth-trailerclowns since most other self respecting goths, trailer park dwellers or clowns think that they look fucking ridiculous. This reinforces a sense of community or, as they put it, family.

Together they meet at gatherings and concerts and for that brief, shining, chemically-altered moment get to be with people like them before going back to whatever dismal life they have polishing the floors of CVS after midnight, raising their five year old daughter while waiting to be old enough to learn how to drive or managing hedge funds for Goldman Sachs or whatever.

Anyway, to sum up, they're almost universally what would be qualified as "white trash" who form a sense of community and family that's reinforced by the fact that they aren't accepted by others which in turn is reinforced by their own encouragement of one another to act like ridiculously dressed nihilistic louts.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can scientists confidently say we've only discovered 14% of all living species?

Are there a finite number of species? If we've discovered roughly 8 million, are there only about 75 million species on Earth? How can scientists know there are that many species on Earth but not know all of those species?

[Assistant] Its a general hypothesis that only so many *could* fit on the earth, so that being said, a rough estimate can be made about a conservative max number of living organisms on the planet. Its basically like knowing the dimensions of your new bedroom, and by placing your bed in there you can roughly estimate the amount of other furniture that will fit in there without it being unreasonably crowded.


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

[User] ELI5: Why my stomach "growl" and make noise?

[Assistant]
The digestive system is a long tube that starts at your mouth and ends at... the end. The muscles in the intestines contract and push the food downward. This also helps turn the food, liquid and whatever else into a gooey mix. This is what results in a growling stomach.

Two hours after your stomach empties itself, the nerves send a message to the brain, which sends a message to your digestive system to restart the contractions. This gets any remaining food that is sitting there from the last time. These vibrations will make you hungry. They'll come and go every hour and last about 10 to 20 minutes until you eat something.

To avoid this happening in a quiet setting, eat many small meals a day instead of 2-3 large ones so your stomach doesn't have time to restart the process.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is cling film so sticky when it touches itself or around bowls but it does not feel sticky at all when it touches our hands?

[Assistant]
The surface of the bowl is very smooth alowing the clingfilm to essentially suction onto the bowls surface along with the static charge of the film.

Edit: damn guys i didnt expect this much feedback GG's <3

Edit: Damn..


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

[User]
Has anyone ever done a brain scan of someone who is about to die?

What kind of brain activity is there as someone is dying? Does everything just turn off? Or is there like an explosion of activity first?

[Assistant]
I've made recordings from inside brain cells (neurons) of animals as they die.

But in a more general sense, we have a pretty good idea of what happens.

As oxygen levels drop, cells lose there ability to generate energy. In a brain cell, this means they loose the ability to separate electrical charge. What you see is that cells slowly become "depolarized". Neurons normally hold a negative voltage inside of themselves, relative to the outside. It is changes to this voltage that allows neurons to perform computations, and signal to other brain cells. When this voltage is lost, (aka the become depolarized) they lose their ability to function.

Brain cells stop working. Brain stops working. You die.


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

[User]
CMV: "Capitalism" and "Socialism" Have Become Meaningless Buzzwords

When people claim to oppose capitalism or socialism, they typically don't know what they are talking about. I'm all for questioning the status quo, but  these words get thrown around so much that they've lost all meaning. So, why not be more precise? Let's have discussions about economics, human rights, markets, and government regulation without reducing everything to capitalism versus socialism. Capitalism and socialism are better thought of as immutable forces endemic to every society, rather than conflicting ideologies. We should be seeking balance instead of exacerbating polarization and avoiding nuance.

[Assistant] This idea of 'socialism is when the government does things', is a definition neither capitalists or socialists agree to. Capitalism is an economic system based on the free exchange of goods and services for money, socialism is one based on collective ownership of the means of production.


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

[User] Eli5 - Robinhood sent a thing out about fractional shares being not held. What does this mean?

[Assistant]
Fractional shares are an oddity as you cannot actually sell a fractional share on the market. To sell a fractional share, a brokerage needs to combine the fractional shares into a whole share.

Due to this, there are issues with trading fractional shares and they are generally much less liquid (aka, harder to buy or sell) than related whole shares. By marking trades of fractional shares as "not held", the brokerage is allowed much more freedom in executing trades, however the fractional share may sell for less than market price. The reverse is also true: if trying to buy a fractional share, the brokerage has more freedom to buy, but may end up buying for more than market price. For major stocks, fractional shares are likely still liquid enough for it to not have much impact, while less traded items may see significant differences in price or delays in execution.

It is also worth noting that fractional shares also create issues with voting. Fractional shares may either not be voting, or a brokerage may combine like-minded votes from multiple fractional holders to allow them to vote.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is Bluetooth audio so unpredictable? Some times you can listen to music from seemingly impossible distances, when other times just moving your hand near your device causes an interuption.

[Assistant]
That's just how digital transmission works. Data is sent with some amount of error correction, which allows for let's say 5% of data loss. Right until 5% the quality is going to be perfect. The moment that is exceeded, error correction fails and you have a gap in your audio.

With wireless transmission there's all sort of interference from walls and other devices, so even small changes in positioning can be what sends you over the edge, if you were already close to it.

It works the same over copper which is why premium HDMI cables are nonsense -- it either works perfectly, or it works very badly or not at all. If a cheap cable works as it should a more expensive one isn't going to gain anything.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do SATA cables transfer so much data through so few pins?

I understand if something is hooked up to a one to one connection.  So you flick the light switch on, bam circuit completed, output received.  But how can all these cables and connectors transfer so much robust data through just a handful of electrical connections?

[Assistant]
The advantage of parallel signaling is you can send a lot of data at once in a single clock tick. The disadvantage is you have to synchronize all the signal wires. This overhead limits the frequency by which you can signal. You can increase parallelization, but you exacerbate the synchronization problem, and further, that much data might not even be available at that time.

Serial communication suffers no such problem, so you're simply limited by frequency, and now days, we're much better at generating frequency.

SATA has two pairs of wires per channel, two channels for full duplex communication (concurrent 2-way communication). The data is split between both signal wires in a method called differential signaling. The data isn't represented by the difference between the signal and ground (called single-ended signaling), but by the difference between the two wires. The advantage is in noise reduction, important in high frequency transmission.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is it when we look over to a blinking object the first blink seems to take a lot longer?

When I look over at my blinker in my car it seems like it stays on for a longer period of time than it normally does. Why is that?

[Assistant] This phenomenon is more commonly noticed with clocks, and goes by the name of chronostasis. What's happening is your brain decides that what you're seeing while your eyes move over to the blinker is too blurred/dizzying and therefore decides to ignore it for your own good. Instead it replaces it with a copy of whatever your eyes eventually settle on. So if your blinker is normally on for 0.5 seconds and it takes your eyes 0.1 seconds to move, you actually perceive the blinker for 0.6 seconds (assuming you look at it just as it comes on). This process is called saccadic masking.


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

[User] Would taking a cellulase supplement the way lactose intolerant people take lactase allow a human to each grass and other no digestible plant matter? If so, could this be a way of addressing world hunger?

[Assistant]
Potentially. It's questionable whether it could provide complete nutrition on its own though, there are limited studies of use of cellulase in the diet of farm animals which so far have only been mildly exploratory.

However, world hunger in the modern age is rarely a problem of production but rather of distribution (typically due to the lack of rule of law in an area, or due to intentionally created starvation). If you had the means to ship a bottle of cellulase supplements to a starving population then you would also have the capability to ship them rice, so it's rather a moot point whether or not it would be possible.


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

[User] [The Matrix] If the computers know that humans are being withdrawn from the system and being transported away from the pods, why aren't there more sentinels protecting the pods?

[Assistant]
Remember that everything about the resistance is a planned operation. Of course the machines know humans are being disconnected - this is just a step in the normal procedures to allow the cycle to continue. Sure, this puts the humans out of the machines' direct oversight for a limited time - but the machines also know exactly where they're going and what they're trying to do.

We see in the Animatrix short "World Record" what happens when a truly unplanned release is threatened - a machine immediately responds and reinserts the human back into the Matrix, preventing his escape.


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

[User]
Is a "luxury" high rise building being built across the street good for my properties value?

Ok, so I own a shitty condo in a middle class neighborhood. Couple of weeks ago a developer announced they were making a very nice building in front of my apartment, were there used to be a vacant lot.

It feels like this would have positive externalities on my propertys value, but doesn't this also increase the supply for living space, lowering my propertys value?

[Assistant]
There are too many factors to consider to adequately answer your question.

It's quite possible that, in the long run, it'll be good for your condo because the area generally improving will make your unit inherently more attractive to buyers. (More money coming in, more businesses, etc.)

But it's also possible, if there is enough undeveloped land, that more and more new condos are developed which would make it harder for you to sell unless you did major renovations to compete with what's being offered.

So, it's too tough to say. There are a ton of factors that go into real estate speculation. As a very general guess... If you live in a really dense area, then I'd bet you're value will go up. If you live in a sparse area, then I'd bet your value would go down.


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

[User] [LOTR] What exactly happened between Gandalf and Balrog? Why did he survive? Why did he change color? What is this all about?

[Assistant]
Gandalf is basically an angel, and angels are purely spiritual (*fa*). They clothe themselves in a physical body (*hra*) if they wish. Gandalf was sent to middle earth to sort out all this sauron business. His physical body was destroyed when him and the balrog killed each other, he buggered off back to heaven, they were all like "no your job isn't done yet go back" so they sent him back in a new body.

All the wizards were originally sent to middle earth for the same purpose, with saruman the big cheese. When gandalf went back to heaven he got a promotion to replace saruman because he'd gone all evil.


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

[User] [Who Framed Roger Rabbit] How are racist black and white toons' treated in today's post-Obama toon town?

[Assistant]
Those toons were just acting for those films, as many toons did in that age and still do today. They are just as intelligent, witty and clever as anyone, but to get work and feed their families, they had to play the stereotypical parts that were available. It wasn't dignified acting by any stretch of the imagination, and they didn't feel good about doing them, but it kept their families fed and in a home when many people, black or white, had nothing.

Today, those toons are treated as respected figures in the history of film and are revered for the sacrifices they made just to stay afloat in those dark times. You might find some giving lectures at universities, teaching acting themselves or even still performing, but in much better roles than what they had to work with in the past.


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

[User]
Why value truth?

I was talking to one of my teachers about her christian beliefs once; I was trying to convince her that she should be open to other points of view about how to see the world (either theistically or naturalistically) because what we believe might be false, and that we should seek truth. She replied by saying that she did not want to because she felt comfortable believing what she believed, regardless of if it was in fact false. I was a bit taken back and didn't know what to say as I had never heard an argument like that before. This made me question if we should value truth after all. I also started wondering how to convince people like my teacher to give up their comforting but presumably false beliefs in pro of discomforting but presumably true beliefs.

[Assistant]
Your question is a rather big question.

I am interested in something that Richard Rorty says: "*There's not much we can say about truth*." Rorty seems to say that when we talk about *truth*, instead of seeing it as "Transcendent, Objective Truth", we can consider ourselves to be talking about *useful descriptions*. That is, descriptions of ideas, events, objects, experiences, etc that are **useful** for some specifically situated needs, goals, purposes, etc.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we elevate injuries to promote recovery? If this is the correct thing to do, why does the body send more blood to the injury?

[Assistant]
Elevating injuries makes it easier to recirculate the blood at the injury site. Excess blood can cause unwanted swelling which could worsen the injury. Plus, blood at a lower injury site has to fight against gravity to go back to the heart. Elevating the injury site above the heart allows blood to easily flow back with gravity.

Blood to the site is not greatly affected by elevation since it's already at a high pressure when pumped by the heart.


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

[User] ELI5:Why do evergreens not shed their needles like other trees shed leaves?

[Assistant]
They actually do, but the needles last from 2-7 years instead of just one. The tree is always "green" because needles drop at different times. It's an evolved trait. Based on their design, evergreens can get enough energy from sunlight year round to support keeping their leaves (the needles are technically leaves) attached and functioning.

Edit: Also evergreens can handle snow better do to their cone-like shape. Broad leaf trees will lose a lot of branches in an early winter storm because their leaves allow them to collect much more weight, but the branches cannot support it.

And as some users said below, water conservation plays a role.


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

[User] ELI5: What's activated charcoal?

[Assistant]
First let's talk a little about what charcoal is -- charcoal is when you take wood and you heat it up without oxygen being around. The lack of oxygen is important because you don't want the wood to burn, you want to remove the water and other chemicals from the wood and leave behind the carbon. This oxygen-less heating process is called pyrolysis.

Activated charcoal or activated carbon is charcoal that has been treated to create lots of small holes/pores within the structure of the charcoal. These microscopic holes increase the surface area. This gives the activated carbon more area to bind to things and lock them up, which is why activated carbon is useful for purification purposes. Different chemicals bind to activated carbon better or worse than one another, and you can change those properties by treating/modifying the activated carbon in different ways.

You can make activated carbon using chemical activation using acids/strong bases/salts or physical activation with hot gases during pyrolysis.


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

[User] ELI5: What does bug spray do to an insect that makes them writhe around as soon as theyre sprayed?

[Assistant] Many insecticides contain pyrethrins which bind to the sodium channels responsible for nerve transmission. Application of insecticides containing pyrethrins results in initial hyperactivity of the nervous system (inducing the writhing you describe), then blockage of all nerve impulses resulting in death.


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

[User]
If Hollywood only produced aprox. 6% of all films  made according the Chapman (2003), why does it dominate the global film culture?

I for one think that it had a lot to do with the setback Europe faced with war, and from then the format that the USA had produced (hybrid-genres, the hollywood studio system, americanization itself) is the reason it was able to maintain itself as the most important film producer and distributor in the world.

[Assistant]
Hollywood dominates in the West, but there are certainly strong contenders. Whilst the revenue is lower, Bollywood produces more films per year than Hollywood, about 1000 to Hollywood's 400.

Hollywood does extremely well in the US and Europe, however outside of these areas revenue's drop significantly, out of it's $29.2 billion box office sales (as of 2009) 20.2 was in both Europe and the US.

The main reason for this is simply that English, either as a primary or secondary language is fairly common. Because of this English speaking films were always going to do well when the language is similar.

The second reason is that Hollywood nowadays also has a much larger budget than any other cinema industry, this means that for action films or sci-fi, fantasy...anything that requires CGI or expensive props will undoubtedly look better if it's a Hollywood movie.

Because of these two reasons, the major film releases are usually in the large cinemas, the multiplexes. It's difficult to get films in cinemas if they don't come from Hollywood or your own country / own language. Thus most cinema's will have probably 90% Hollywood films, maybe 10% of their own nations films.

Finally, Europe isn't a single nation. It's split into many many cultures with lots of different languages, it would be impossible to make a single movie industry within it, and if it had in the 20th Century it'd probably be on par with Hollywood.


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

[User]
ELI5 how do sold scripts not get stolen?

When one sells a script, how do they provide enough information to the buyer so they can tell if they like it, but little enough so they couldn't just copy it and fill in the minor blanks?

[Assistant] They don't try to be coy about it. Instead they hand over the entire script to be read and evaluated. If they like it they buy it, if they don't they don't work on it. If instead they don't buy it but produce it anyway then the writer sues their pants off in court and takes all their money.


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

[User]
[MCU] How did he know about him?

(INFINITY WARS SPOILERS). So when Tony meets Thanos, Thanos recognizes him and tells Stark "You're not the only one cursed with knowledge". What does he mean by that??

[Assistant] He has been observing and tracking the infinity stones for years. He was the one who had sent Loki to earth to get the space stone, and when Loki failed, Thanos found out who had stopped him. Thanos likely knows about all of the original 6 Avengers.


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

[User]
[40k]Craftworld bretheren. We have conquered a Mon Keigh world. The Seers demand their subjugation instead of the usual Wailing Doom. How did we craftworld eldar handle a pacified human tribe?

By Khaine we have captured what the mon keigh called a civilized world and slain their astropaths to prevent cries for aid. However a Farseer told me that we cannot slaughter them for they will serve a role in a prophecy that will spare many of our kin many years from now. So we must lord over them.

I knew of how our wretched fallen would do but we Craftworld Eldar are enlightened. What would we do to lord over the Mon Keigh?

[Assistant] Use a light hand and an invisible approach. Choose there new leaders carefully and prop them up, doing as much as possible to remain unseen as you do. Once you have chosen the leaders, you must educate them and train them to seek out your goals. The project will take a great deal of time, many of there life spans and this must be accounted for. The heirs to the world must also be directed, set on a grand path which they have no choice but to follow. After a time, the future will be set in stone and need only the lightest guidance from time to time. In three to four of their generations the battle they lost will be forgotten and the leadership will seem like nothing but loyal imperial citizens when the inquisition arrives. Now on a river only a massive event can turn them from their course and you have seen success.


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

[User]
CMV: Gender reveal parties don't predispose a personality onto your unborn child, and are ok when done safely.

I have heard people say that gender reveal parties (they should be called "sex" reveal parties) predispose a personality on your unborn child. I argue that parents can instead be excited to learn and share the **only** thing you can know about your unborn child (not hair color, eye color, etc) with the ones you love.

By doing this, you're not telling the world that your child, who is born with female parts, will be a straight, cis-gendered woman.

To me, being excited about the sex of your unborn child isn't transphobic or anything like that (though I'm sure transphobic parents have gender reveal parties, but from what I'm seeing, a lot of people seem to think that gender reveal parties are just inherently bad, even when done safely.

I've also never been a parent, so I don't know how all of this feels.

[Assistant]
I dont understand gender reveal parties. They seem to me to be suggestive of a certain trait that considers ones own children of supreme interest to the rest of the world.

Find out the sex of the child by all means. we did that with all of ours. If theres information to know, lets know it. And tell people, sure.

But the whole hoo ha with the party and the little videos and stuff. Its all very look at me. And heres the thing about your kids (addressing the world): no one else thinks theyre as special as you do.

You know that vague disinterest you have in everyone elses kids? Thats how the world feels about yours.

So, the gender reveal thing always seemed like a wild over estimate of how much anyone else gives a shit about the sex of your child.


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

[User] ELI5:What is the purpose on limiting the amount of stock trades you can make if you do not have $25000?

[Assistant]
That rule only applies to pattern day traders. The reason is that the SEC thinks that people with more than $25,000 in their brokerage account are experienced traders who know the risks and can absorb the losses.

The rule is enforced by the brokerage, and they tend to err on the side of caution. The rule is only supposed to apply to margin account, but they sometimes apply it to cash accounts as well.

Again, this is only for day trades, buying and selling a stock in the same day. There is no limit to the number of stocks you can buy or sell on a given day, so long as they weren't purchased and sold on the same day.


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

[User] [General Fiction] What are some examples of characters using seemingly useless powers in a creative and effective way?

[Assistant] The Alcatraz books, by Brandon Sanderson. The main character's family has a power called "talent" and it's almost always something really dumb. His grampa has the talent of getting late , his uncle has the talent to getting lost, his cousin has a talent to tripping and falling. His grandfather can arrive late to bullets, wounds and even his own death, his uncle can get lost and teleport, everytime his cousin trips, he avoids danger, so when he trips, everybody arround throw themselves intonthe ground as a reflex.


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

[User] ELI5: How does looking at a bright light help with sneezing?

[Assistant] It can trigger what's called the photic sneeze reflex. This reflex makes some people sneeze when they look at bright lights. The exact mechanism by which it works isn't fully understood. It's also genetic, so only people with the gene for it will have that reflex.


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

[User]
If I cut a rope into 4 pieces and braid them together, how much stronger will the resulting rope be in relation to it's original specs?

I understand there will be a lot of 'depends', but in general, will it be 4 times as strong? Just a little stronger? Weaker because of the twists?

In the original rope, a knot will introduce a significant weak point knocking off, say, 40% of strength. In the resulting 4 strand rope, will the same knot reduce it's strength by a similar amount, or would it's effects be different? Say the resulting rope is only twice as strong, will the weakness introduced by the knot also have a calculable ratio?

(By braid them together, i mean laying the lengths side by side and braiding them into a rope approximately 1/4 of the original length, not braiding/splicing it back into a rope of similar original length/thickness)

*Edit:* So it seems that getting 4x or even more strength isn't outlandish, mostly due to distributing the weakness over 4 ropes, so you would get > than 4x the strength of the 'actual' rope strength, as opposed to getting 4x the stated rope strength.  (if a 100lb rope has weaker and stronger points, cutting and braiding it will distribute those strengths and weaknesses instead of the entire length being vulnerable to the weakest point (say, 90 lbs) After that, you have to take the braid/twist/material into account and calculate an appropriate reduction in strength into account, which could be nominal, or significant.

[Assistant]
What type of braid?  Can you ensure that the strands don't twist when you braid them?

You're right that there are a lot of "depends."  If the braid is not twisted, then best-case, each strand supports an equal load, so you'd expect your new rope to be 4X stronger than the old rope.  However, if you introduce any uneven load distribution when you make the braid, then the allowable load would be knocked down by some percentage.  This depends on the material, diameter, twist, and construction type of the rope.  For instance, with a 1" diameter, 12-strand, nylon rope, 5 twists (rotations of an individual strand) per meter results in a 20% knockdown as compared to full strength.

The questions you're asking are all very specific to the type, size, and style of rope...sorry.


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

[User]
ELI5: How that text you can send to friends turns off their phones. More info in description.

If you send the following:

  effective.
Power
 h

Send that to someone with an iPhone it turns their phone off

To an iphone, it restarts their phone.

HOW?!?

[Assistant]
UTF-8 encryption/encoding/viewing error.

**HOW TO FIX:**

go into photos app, send a random photo to the person who sent you the text, go into iMessage, and delete the conversation.

Hope it helped.


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

[User] Why does the Human body reject transplanted organs /tissue and proceed to destroy them but it doesn't kill parasites like worms ?

[Assistant]
Every defense mechanism has false positives (for example, when you body attacks itself, like in an auto-immune disorder) and false negatives (for example, when your body doesn't attack a pathogen).

Various parasites have the advantage of having had millions of years to evolve their evasive mechanisms and their defense mechanisms to avoid detection or mitigate attacks by human immune systems.


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

[User]
ELI5: What happens to the extra veins and other blood vessels when you lose fat?

I heard for every pound of fat you have, your body makes 7 miles of veins and blood vessels. Where do they go when you lose weight?

[Assistant] Your body can program cells to essentially "self-destruct" (this is called apoptosis). Since blood vessels are made of cells, your body will divert blood away from these blood vessels and essentially destroy them through apoptosis (although, in this case, it's more like recycling, because all of the stuff released from these cells can be reused). It takes time (just like losing weight), so it occurs at the same time.


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

[User] [Star wars] can the emperor commit obstruction of justice?

[Assistant] Not really. Hes an emperor, not a president. He is the senate, after all. There are likely some flimsy regulations reigning in his insaner behavior but that all went out the window when he powderized Alderaan. He is the supreme ruler, and anyone who argues can look forward to having their homeworld nuked.


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

[User] ELI5: How/why do speech impediments happen?

[Assistant] Not all speech impediments can be traced to the same cause. Some may be the result of under-developed musculature in the face and tongue, in which case speech therapy will likely be particularly effective. Some may be the result of neurological damage in speech or language regions of the brain. Some may be psychosomatic, due to traumatic experiences or mental illnesses.


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

[User]
Is there a name for this sort of negotiation/manipulation tactic?

When someone says they are very fine with your proposal or even superlative things such as they love it, and then start proposing small changes or "additions", until eventually there's absolutely nothing left of your proposal.

I call it the piecewise substitution tactic or "pulling a tin woodman" (from Land of Oz, and because it sounds similar to pulling a strawman), but I am thinking it must have already a name.

It is a bit similar to a fallacy, and rhetoric is sometimes grouped with Philosophy, so I thought it may be the best place to ask.

[Assistant] It seems less like a philosophical principle to me, and more of a manipulation or communication method. Fallacies can be used to manipulate as well, but philosophy is concerned with the truth value (or lack thereof) of fallacies, not with how or what to do about them. For instance, the study of logic doesn't indicate whether one should be fined or punched for using a fallacy... although ethics may be able to help you investigate that question.


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

[User]
ELI5 how double toggle switches work.

*Note: I'm not sure if they have a name/what their name it is but I tried to make it as obvious as possible.*

What I'm talking about is when a light has two switches and both have the ability to switch the light from off to on and on to off. It can't be as simple as two circuit breakers, because if one was in the off position, the other would be useless.

This problem has troubled me for a while now.

[Assistant]
They use two wires.

Here the two are switched the same way, so there's a connection and current flows (through the top wire).

            ______________
    _______/              \_______
            ______________

If you flip either of them you end up with this:

            ______________
    _______               \_______
           \______________

or this

            ______________
    _______/               _______
            ______________/

Both of which break the connection.

But then if you flip the other one you get this

            ______________
    _______                _______
           \______________/

And there's a connection again (through the bottom wire) so the light comes on again.

Whatever the set-up, flicking either switch turns the light off if it's on, and on if it's off.


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

[User]
CMV: The stock market is hardly a step above casino gambling and negatively influences companies who they support. (r/WSBs opinion encouraged!)

Im a layman when it comes to the world of Wall Street, but my current disposition from the outside looking in includes several criticisms. I know there are plenty more knowledgeable people on the subject around so here are my points of contention:

1.	**Reliability of success** - How is the stock market any different than a casino? Sure, you can arguably make as educated of a guess as possible based on all sorts of information, but at the end of the day a shares value is constantly at the mercy of any unforeseen event that could decimate that value at any moment. Weve all heard the story of the literal monkey that created a portfolio that outperformed actual experts in the field.
2.	**Shareholders have a negative influence on the actions of a company** - while investors provide the financial means of expansion and innovation that looks great on paper, I believe they more often than not become a pervasive influence on the direction and accountability many companies hold themselves to. Catering to investors over the benefit of the consumer/end user is a scale tipped completely in the wrong direction. It encourages companies to feign success and assure infinite growth in the interest of securing immediate unearned funding.
3.	**The consequences of trading are not limited to those taking the risk** - A business can be the livelihood of thousands of real working people with families to feed and provide for. What happens when that business leans too heavily on its value on the charts? Does this not place the outlook of an entire workforce and their loved ones in the hands of a group of traders whose commitment only exists if theres a buck to be made?

For these reasons, I view the entire stock market operation as a glorified casino for those with more time and money than sense. A slot machine that potentially puts peoples jobs at risk making the act of frivolous trading arguably unethical in some cases.
I realize that an argument can be made for the contrasting positive side to some of the points Ive mentioned (e.g. The stock market can enable a business to prosper and support families just as well as they could hurt them) **but ultimately my view is that the stock market and its effects are more negative than positive.**

[Assistant]
I think youre too quick to lump in day trading and swing trading to actually investing. Because you absolutely cannot lump in the whole stock market to your view point.

Sure the meme lords at WSB make the day traders look like degenerate gamblers but there is absolutely a large percentage of portfolios on the Stock Market that are full of blue chip, low growth, low risk stock that end up accruing like interest in a bank.

Now if you said day trading/swing trading is hardly a step above casino gambling then, yes you are pretty much right. But a lot of the market is rooted in investment funds that have lots of diversified exposure which reduces your risk.

In summary, your initial point of the whole stock market being a casino is extreme where as youre witnessing a large scale cultural shift from relying on stock firms to the lay person with an app. A lot of what youre seeing is a very public pump & dump disguised as memes. But in actuality most of the market (in non-crisis times) is like an sideways, acute lower case L rather than a W or M.


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

[User] [Harry Potter] Why Voldemort didn't use Liquid Luck potion?

[Assistant]
A well known side effect of Felix Felicis is that it eventually backfires on you due to causing a reckless reliance on the luck it provides.

Since overconfidence and recklessness, combined with the phenomenally bad luck of being on the ass end of barely understood magical counterplay *twice*, are what eventually defeats him, it may be the case that he is using Liquid Luck and we just never see him use it on-screen.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] When Jedi and Sith fight what stops one from force choking or picking their opponent up and controlling them with the force? Are they able to "block" the other's force ability on them?

For example, Ventress is fighting Obi-Wan and Anakin and suddenly force chokes them. Obviously she's enraged more than before but why couldn't she have done that from the beginning and killed them?

Also, when Jedi face General Grevious why can't they just pick him up with the force and bash him around until he's dead? Or rip him apart with the force?

It seems like Galen Marek (Starkilller) is the only one who really uses the force a lot and dominates his opponents with it.

It seems like Jedi and Sith don't use their full power when fighting. Just curious why this is. Thanks!

[Assistant]
The Froce is some crazy shit man...

We are watching this simplistic sword fight but in reality we are watching some insane mind games take place.  Remember, any force user's strength relies in their ability to lean on some level of premonition that borders on the INSANE reflex that is credited to them.

Take into account now, force users have the ability to cloud another premonition.

Now take into account, just as one as a telekinetic like ability, so does the other, they are constantly clouding another judgement, clouding another's ability to move shit.

Addressing Obi and Anakin, Jedi don't just go around force choking people to death, that is some dark side shit.

Speaking of dark side, the non canon cartoon of clone wars shows Mace Windu straight up force crushing Grevious's heart like the bitch he is.

(in canon though, in these situations, the jedi would never kill someone so mercilessly, and dark side ones....well maybe their power and arrogance lends itself to being a little cocky and not taking advantage of the same situations)


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

[User]
[DC] Do any versions of Batman utilize magic as a regular tool?

I know he's familiar with magic as a concept, but does he himself ever use it? It seems like it would give him some versatility, or allow him to be a bit more of a heavy hitter within the League.

[Assistant]
Batman can bench press a thousand pounds. He can vanish from the middle of a crowded room. He stores hundreds of pounds of gear in a belt. He goes days without sleeping. He knows things that are impossible to deduce.

*You think he doesn't already use magic?*

He's brilliant enough to learn, has access to the tools and teachers necessary to study it, and he's clever enough to *never let on that he knows.*

Think about it.


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

[User]
Professor told me he's not the best choice for a letter of recommendation, but that he can still write one. Should I still ask?

I need 5 letters of recommendation from professors to get my school's Health Professions Advisory Committee to review me. These letters need to come from science or math professors, and since I'm a liberal arts major my options are very limited. I have gotten 4 professors that know me well, but I had difficulty with coming up with a 5th. I decided to ask a professor whose class I did well in and really enjoyed. He told me that he can write me one, but it will mainly be based on my performance in the class and that they're usually looking for recommendations from people who know the student well. He said if I'd still like one to send him my transcript and resume. I'm completely fine with that, but I don't know if that was his way of saying he doesn't want to do it or if it's appropriate to tell him I'd still like one. I'm sure if he didn't want to he would've straight up said it, but I just wanted to confirm here what is and isn't appropriate. Thanks.

[Assistant]
Take it at face value. Your professor will comment on the grade you attained in the class, your performance on a couple of assignments, as well as attendance and participation.

Five is a lot of letters, so if your other 4 are more personal, it should be fine.


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

[User]
[General] Do I exist in fictional universes?

If I had some sort of device that could transport me into, say, the latest episode of *Criminal Minds*, and then I made my way to my hometown, would I find another me there?

Or if I transported myself into the *MCU* and called my phone, would I hear my own voice on the other end?

So long as the setting is early-21st century Earth, I should exist, right?

[Assistant]
It depends. For something like Criminal Minds et al, unless you live in an area affected by events from the show or the show's backstory, then you likely live there just as you do here. In general, worlds like that are explicitly identical to ours except where noted.

The MCU is a little bit trickier. Their WW2 had Hydra mucking about, Cap's deployment and the super soldier serum. Howard Stark making all those inventions for the allies. S.H.I.E.L.D. All of that likely had some kind of butterfly effect on the modern world (Sokovia and Wakanda being countries, for example). Chances are unless you're from, or descended from, someone affected by those events then you'd still exist though differences are still likely.

The closer a particular universe and its history are to ours, the more likely it is that you do indeed exist with the inverse also being true. That's not to say you couldn't exist in the 21st century of the Star Trek universe, it's certainly possible, but the chances of that version being identical to *you* are slim at best.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does weed relieve pain? Does it work like ibuprofen or aspirin?

How does marijuana relieve pain? Does it work like ibuprofen or aspirin?

[Assistant]
Ibuprofen/aspirin, opiates, and marijuana relieve pain in different ways. Ibuprofen and aspirin interfere with the production of prostaglandins, which are hormones that help transmit information about pain and cause inflammation. So ibuprofen stops your body from swelling and transmitting pain at the site of the injury.

Opiates bind to opioid receptors in the gastrointestinal tract, spine, and brain, and prevent pain messages being passed through those channels.

I don't think we fully understand how marijuana relieves pain yet (there haven't been as many studies done due to its legal status), but the research so far shows that it doesn't reduce pain intensity, but rather it helps people ignore the pain or cope with it. So you might say "yeah, that stinging sensation feels like it's stinging just as much, but it's easier for me to not care about now." That different mechanism of action is one reason why it has promising medical benefits. If a patient in chronic pain doesn't respond to other treatments, then marijuana offers another way for them to get relief.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40k] Help a Newb Understand Warhammer 40k

Hey folks:
I am running a pnp game set in the Warhammer 40k universe, but I feel like i don't know enough to really flesh out some of my plot points. Anybody want to set some things straight for me?

1) Did all of the primarchs know what chaos was and how it could change them? The wikis make it soubd like some were really naive or just ignorant of that threat.

2) Magnus broke into the webway when he was trying to contact GEOM. Is the webway now infested with daemons, or was it always like that?

3) Is there ever any lore about the two lost legions? Or is that just a thing gms can fill in on their own.

4) Do tech prayers actually work? Maybe like the orks rely heavily on the immaterium to make their stuff go.

5) How augmented are sisters of battle? Are they near Marine tier?

6) Is there any lore about what happened to the sisters of silence?

7) Do people ever make new things in the 40k universe? It seem like so much is about recovering old stuff, not making new advances.

8) Are the eldar trying to grow a God?

9) Are all the AIs wiped out? Why are AI vulnerable to chaos?

10) Are there gods of order, too?

11) The tyranids don't connect to the inmaterium, right? But how do they have psykers.

12) Can anyone clarify the difference between psykers and sorcerers? Also, are wards against chaos a real thing, or superstition.

13) If the emperor banned being a psyker why are there so many psykers, like the grey knights.

14) How did ftl navigation work before the emperor was placed in the golden throne?

15) Any suggestions on books i can read to get a good feel for the universe? I need like 2 or 3 titles, i cant read much more than that in the time i have to get this game running.

Thanks a lot, folks!

[Assistant]
1. The Primarchs were semi-aware of Chaos, but only the Emperor knew the true danger it presented to anyone even having knowledge of its existence. Those that fell to Chaos were transformed over time, not overnight, and wouldn't've been immediately aware of what was happening no matter how cunning they were. Horus himself only fell to Chaos because he was shown a vision of the Imperium as it is now in the 40th millenium - he wanted to stop that from happening and save the future, with disastrous results.

2. The human portion of the Webway is under constant siege by daemons attacking the Golden Throne, the only entrance into the Materium that they remotely care about. The rest of the Webway is outside of Chaos's normal reach, and any daemons getting into it would soon find themselves under attack by Dark Eldar or Harlequins. If anyone hates Chaos more than humanity, it's the Eldar.

3. The two lost legions existed but were redacted by the Emperor for unknown reasons. It's not lore you can freely edit without spinning off from main 40k into your own thing.

4. Tech prayers and rituals are the result of 10,000 years of slowly forgetting how the machines actually work. A consecration ritual for a Leman Russ tank would involve lighting the incense and saying the prayers, but would also include the actual maintenance process it required. The Mechanicus has the blueprints and knows how to make its machines, but has forgotten what the specific parts do because of their complexity and the stigma against innovation.

Orks don't rely on the Immaterium for much at all. They have the Weirdboyz, which are their psykers, but all other Orks possess no psychic power besides the latent green energy, which affects probability more than it calls upon the Warp. A hundred Orks will slightly change the odds of a gun misfiring so it works properly. A million Orks will make it so a Gargant will run despite its engineering flaws. A full-blown WAAAGH! will let them build functional starships that rightly should fall apart when they move.

5. The Sisters of Battle are normal humans with better equipment than other normal humans usually have. However, thanks to their intense faith in the Emperor, in direst need a Sister of Battle may have a miracle occur wherein she channels the power of the Emperor himself and becomes unstoppable on the battlefield. This is an exceedingly rare occurrence, however.

6. Not sure.

7. Innovation risks taint by chaos and is frowned upon, but still happens. It may take centuries for a mundane invention to propagate through the Mechanicus before it's commonplace enough to be accepted, however.

8. When they die, the Eldar *should* reincarnate. However, their souls get devoured by Slaanesh when they go to the Warp, preventing reincarnation. To save themselves, Eldar carry spirit stones, which capture their souls on death and preserve them inside the stone. They hope that one day they'll have enough souls concentrated to form a new god to beat Slaanesh into paste, letting them return to their hedonistic ways.

9. AI is heresy in the Imperium. Eldar tech doesn't use it. Necrons aren't vulnerable at all, and are probably more dangerous to Chaos than humanity because one of their endgoals is separating the Immaterium from the Materium forever. The Tau don't have true AI yet but are working there.

AI, or at least human AI, are truly sentient and thus have a signature in the Warp. Any being that has a presence in the Warp can be affected by Chaos (the Necrons have no Warp signature which is why they're safe), and so the "machine spirits" in AI can be corrupted to turn against their creators.

10. The God-Emperor is the God of Order. Some of the Eldar gods are still around, and try to fight Chaos (it's a losing battle), with the only success coming from the Laughing God, who's too enigmatic to be defined as chaotic or ordered. The C'tan are godlike but not Warp gods, and fight Order and Chaos alike.

11. The Tyranids are all connected to the Immaterium, which allows for their massive communication webs and the presence of the Hivemind, which may exist only in the Immaterium. This creates the Shadow in the Warp effect where the Warp is so crowded with Tyranid psychic activity and the weight of the Hivemind that other races can't use it at all and Chaos is blotted out. Tyranid psykers are modified neural node creatures which act as routers from the smaller creatures to larger ones up to the Hivemind.

12. Stout and unwavering belief in the Emperor can hold off Chaos because Chaos needs doubt or fear to seed itself. If one is resolute against it, wards will hold. Also, belief can physically manifest, so if all humans believe wards will work, then they'll work since they have that cumulative power in the Warp. There's no difference between a psyker and a sorcerer except for how spiky they like their clothes, and Sorcerers can have a daemon in their head instructing them or loaning power.

13. The Emperor never banned being a psyker. The Emperor believed psykers could be used to great effect if they didn't fall to Chaos, but after he was placed on the Throne the Imperium started taking psykers on the Black Ships to the Terra, where they're either turned into Navigators or Astropaths so they can better serve the Imperium, or placed in the Choir where they constantly funnel their power to the Emperor, who amplifies it with his own and creates the Astronomican. The Choir is enormous and roughly 1,000 psykers die of the strain per day, but are constantly replaced.

14. Before the Emperor was placed on the Throne it worked the same as it does now. Ships travel through the Warp, protected by Gellar fields. The Emperor wanted to make a safer and faster way of travel than the chaotic Warp and started work on the human webway, but we all know how that went.

15. The Eisenhorn trilogy is pretty well-liked.


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

[User]
Why are the oceans salty? Have they always been salty, or did it start out more like a fresh water lake?

If the oceans started out not salty, are they still getting saltier? If they are still getting saltier, how salty will the oceans eventually get?

[Assistant]
It all starts in higher elevations. When rocks weather, one common byproduct is ions in solution such as K^+ Na^+ and Ca^2+ . These ions are found in the most common mineral on the Earth, Feldspar along with micas and amphiboles, which are the majority of the minerals found in rocks that are weathered at high elevations. These ions eventually make their way to the ocean mostly through river transport. The rate of weathering is not fast enough to cause rivers and lakes to be salty, thus the oceans are the container for the build-up of these ions.

Is the salinity being increased? It probably isn't changing by any noticeable means. When oceanic crust gets subducted it brings those ions with it, which in turn get melted and recrystallized and spit up to form highlands, where the process starts all over again. It is all a cycle.


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

[User] ELI5: How does a nuclear bomb work?

[Assistant]
Some elements are unstable.

Normal Uranium (U238) is a little unstable. It's angrier friend Uranium 235 is *quite* unstable. It doesn't take much extra energy to make U235 atoms split. When a U235 splits (fissions) it turns into 2 smaller atoms, a few high speed neutrons, and a bunch of energy.

When you stuff a whole bunch of U235 atoms together in a small space those neutrons have nowhere to go but into other U235 atoms, which causes them to split and release more neutrons, which in turn hit more atoms, that release more neutrons, etc.

If you spread your Uranium out a bit and absorb some of those neutrons with stable materials (like graphite or water) you moderate the reaction and you get a very hot bunch of Uranium you can use to make electricity.

If you smush all the Uranium together and don't moderate the reaction you get **A LOT** of energy. Like, enough energy to create a city-sized fireball.

So simple nuclear weapons are basically just a Uranium squisher. The simplest kind is the gun-type bomb. It's basically a tube with a big chunk of U235 at one end, and a smaller chunk of U235 and some explosives at the other. Separated, the two chunks of Uranium are more or less safe. Then you trigger the bomb and the explosives blast one chunk into the other. Now you  have what is known as a super-critical mass, basically too much unstable Uranium in too small a space, and blammo.

The more complicated type of fission bomb uses a carefully timed series of explosions to turn a hollow Plutonium sphere into very small Plutonium ball. Same result though, too much Plutonium in a small space goes kaboom.


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

[User]
Why do we use significant figures?

In high school chemistry this year, I was introduced to significant figures and taught the 'rules' of how to use them. I understand the gist of it being an answer cannot be more precise than it's measurement tool and I know about the example with the cutting of wood (not rounding to correct sig figs caused the person to redo it when it wasn't necessary) but I still don't understand *why* we use them.

About the *'an answer can't be more precise than it's measurement tool',* why is that a rule? For example, in math we've never used them and only round to how much the textbook or teacher specifies. And wouldn't it be better to just put the answer you get when doing the math?

About the cutting wood example (or any real world applications), wouldn't it be better to just use common sense? Like if someone measures the width of a piece of wood to be 0.18ft and they had to convert it to inches to give to a woodcutter, they would get the exact answer as 2.16in but once they talk with the person, couldn't they agree that .16 isn't that important and just have it as 2 inches? What I don't get from this example is that using sig figs would still be more difficult and might cost the person more if the woodcutter messes up.

* Also, when we're doing multi-step problems in chemistry, our teacher tells us to wait to round until the very end, but if significant figures are really more precise/accurate, wouldn't it be better to round after every step?

* And finally if significant figures are actually better/more precise/more accurate, why does it not work for simple things like 5 x 5 (which equals 25 but because of sig figs have to be rounded to 30)?

**Edit:** Thanks to everyone! In chemistry, our teacher just vaguely told us the *an answer can't be more precise than its measuring tool* but never really went in depth and so it still didn't make sense to me. But now, after everyone's help, I feel more confident about knowing *why* we use significant figures and *where* to use them, so thank you everyone!

[Assistant]
Here you should distinguish between math in an ideal sense, and math in its real-world application. So your examples of math class or 5 x 5 = 25 don't consider any uncertainty at all - that's fine, because you're learning about the rules of math.

Significant figures come into play when the input and output have uncertainty in them:

> About the 'an answer can't be more precise than it's measurement tool', why is that a rule?

Because you're trying to faithfully represent the certainty of your answer. If you're, say, trying to calculate how many donuts you've eaten last week, but you using very crude measurements (i.e., "meh, about 5 donuts a day for something like 5 days", when reality you aren't sure if it's closer to 4 or 6 donuts or days), you cannot with confidence state that you have eaten _exactly_ 25 donuts, when the answer could range from something like 16 to 36 donuts).


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

[User]
If there's no drag in space, what's stopping a spacecraft from accelerating to light speed?

The fuel capacity no doubt needs to increase somewhat.
But this is a petty monetary issue.
What am I missing?

[Assistant]
By far the biggest issue is the fact that you are underestimating just *how* much energy is needed to accelerate a massive object up to close the speed of light.

The equation used to calculate kinetic energy when talking about relativistic (close to speed of light) speeds is

E_k = ( mc^2 / (1 - (v/c)^2 )^(1/2) ) - mc^2

Making v=c gives an infinite amount of energy, which is why it is impossible for a massive object to travel at the speed of light, but even a significant fraction of c would give energies far beyond the capabilities of any current fuel-based propulsion methods.


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

[User]
Can pi be expressed rationally in a non base 10 number system?

EDIT: Thank you for all the responses! I learned a lot more than I was expecting!

[Assistant]
No.

The definition of a rational number is that it can be expressed as the ratio of two integers. So a number X is rational if there exists integers A and B such that X = A / B.

Note that this definition is completely independent of the number system.


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

[User]
I believe that the identities of alleged criminals should be kept confidential, just as the names of victims are kept confidential in some states. CMV

In America, you are innocent until proven guilty. The news media doesn't seem to have gotten that memo, however, since people are treated as guilty as soon as they are announced as a suspect, with only the occasional "alleged" thrown in to acknowledge the fact that they have not been convicted of anything.

You may have heard of Richard Jewell, who was suspected of having planted pipe bombs at the 1996 Olypmics (despite having been the security guard who found the bombs in the first place). A live feed of the FBI searching his apartment was broadcast on national TV. The FBI eventually admitted that they had absolutely no evidence implicating him and called off the investigation, but not before Jewell had been fired from his job and the entire nation had decided he was a terrorist.

This is absolutely despicable. Unless the criminal is currently at large and the police believe they are dangerous, there is absolutely no reason people need to know anything about them. Allowing their identities to be broadcast does nothing but drag their names through the mud and, if the case is high-profile, ensure that it's impossible for them to receive a fair trial.

I personally think that Casey Anthony did murder her daughter and OJ Simpson did murder his ex-wife. *I should not have these opinions*. These people were found not guilty in a court of law and deserve to be treated as innocent - but they never will be, because the entire country knows what they were accused of doing.

[Assistant]
There's definitely an argument that the accused should be able to release their name *if they want*. It is an excellent defence against tyranny that the state is unable to try individuals in secret. Perhaps the Miranda Rights could be updated to contain a line like, "You have the right to remain anonymous, but any attempt to contact the news media will be taken as evidence that you choose to waive that right"

Perhaps you could Change your View to reflect the fact that sometimes people might prefer an open trial.


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

[User] ELI5: What is happening on a neurological level when you get dizzy?

[Assistant]
If you're talking about dizziness after spinning around loads of times, this is because of a mismatch between your sense of balance and your vision.

Deep in our ear, we have three channels that have liquid in them. When we move our head around, the liquid in these channels moves around and this allows our brain to keep balance and keep our eyes completely fixed on a point no matter how we move our head.

After you spin round loads of times, this liquid is still "sloshing around" inside the channels in your ear. These are sending messages to your brain telling you that you're still spinning around even though you're not. Your brain then sends signals to your eyes, trying to make them 'keep up' with the spinning that it thinks is happening, making it seem like the world keeps spinning around. When you try to make a movement with your legs, your brain will send signals to the legs that are modified by your sense of balance, so your legs won't do what you're trying to make them do, e.g. if you want to move your leg forward, your brain thinks that "forward" keeps changing, even though it isn't anymore.

If you get dizziness without spinning around first, then this is most likely due to a problem in the inner ear where these channels are.


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

[User] ELI5: How don't those engines with start/stop technology (at red lights for example) wear down far quicker than traditional engines?

[Assistant]
On top of everyone else's answer, it's important to note the role that the motor oil plays in the process. Motor oil that is at operating temperature and hasn't been broken down allows the metal surfaces inside the engine to almost never touch. The wear goes into the oil and not the metal, the former being much easier to replace than the latter.

When an engine is shut off, the oil is still hot (typical operating temperature is 205F-220F depending on the manufacturer/design) and it's continuing to drip and cover all of the metal surfaces such as the pistons, valve springs, etc etc. Starting the engine in this state causes very, very little wear as again, it's the oil taking the wear and not the metal.

Cold, winter starts are when the engine takes the most wear, when the oil is most viscous. Start/Stop systems typically do not kick in when they detect the engine is not at operating temperature or power needs exceed a certain threshold.