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

[User]
ELI5: How are bombs (especially the atomic bomb during the Manhattan project) built safely without worrying about it going off?

Manhattan project specifically since it was the first known time the atomic bomb was being created here in America, so research/knowledge was scarce.

Edit never thought this would...*blow up*. Thanks for the awesome responses guys!

[Assistant]
uranium and plutonium aren't like gunpowder. It's not like a stray spark would make them explode. They're arguably safer to work with than conventional explosives in most respects.

Nuclear material will only actually explode under very specific conditions. Building a machine that actually was able to create the heat and pressure necessary was the whole second half of the manhattan project (the first half was isolating enriched uranium). The bigger worry was that the bombs wouldn't explode at all.


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

[User] ELI5:Why can't our teeth heal like our skin and bones?

[Assistant]
Essentially, it's because there is no mechanism to get resources and healing cells up to the crown of your teeth. The roots are surrounded by blood vessels that can deliver healing resources, but there is no blood going to the top of your teeth.

Your saliva *can* provide a limited amount of healing to the enamel because of the calcium in contains, but it's very minor, and more of a maintenance process, rather than true healing.


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

[User]
CMV: I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with furries

I would like to preface this by saying that there is a lot I don't know about the furry community but I personally feel like as long as they aren't sexualizing children or participating in bestiality with real animals I don't really see the harm in furries and I don't really understand why they're so hated. If there are furries that sexualize children then the issue would be with pedophiles not with furries and if there are people who have sex with animals then I would once again argue that its a separate issue from being a furry.

I would agree that it is somewhat strange and it is a lifestyle that I wouldn't choose for myself and would possibly get uncomfortable with seeing in person but I do feel like there is an unwarranted hatred for them and they are treated with this absolute disgust. I don't see the harm in dressing like anthropomorphic animals and that the general population is very prejudiced against them so I would like to hear some arguments as to why being a furry is something as horrible as people make it out to be.

[Assistant]
The issue stems from the prevalence of pornography and sexualization within the community. While the characters that we know of who began as anthropomorphic characters have the connotation of the story they appeared in, furries as a community are rife with sexuality, and being that much of that sexuality involves the *genitalia of animals*, it is extremely off putting to those outside the community.

Further, while it is understandable for someone to want to change themselves to present as a different sex, as that is still withing the scope of humanity, wanting to change ines appearance to present as not just an animal, but specifically a cartoon animal, often fails to bridge the gap of the uncanny valley, and are therefore, in a word, "creepy".

Finally, due to the memeification of the community at large, this has led to many of the hormonal and younger members of the community being outspoken and developing a persecution complex, leading them to become less of a person with a weird hobby, and more of a militant prosthelytizer of their identity, which is almost universally a bad look.


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

[User] ELI5: Bra sizing???

[Assistant]
You measure the circumference of your ribcage just under your breasts, then you measure around at the fullest at your breasts.

Now there are two methods of calculation. One tells you to subtract the ribcage measurement from the breast measurement, the other tells you to add 2-4 inches to the ribcage measurement. This is because decades ago when stretchy materials like Lycra didn't exist, you need to add some inches to the band in order to be comfortable.

So most modern day bra manufacturers (at least in the US) use the modern method. Let say your ribcage measurement is 34 and breast measurement is 38. You subtract 38-34 = 4. The ribcage measurement will be the band size (so it's 34) and every inch difference will be one cup up (if you get 1 inch difference you have A cup, 2 inch difference you have B cup. In our example the difference is 4 inches, so congratulations you have D cup boobs). Our bra size is 34D.

It might be a little confusing when you get to more than 5 inches in difference. Back in the 50's the biggest cup available was D (I guess they didn't foresee breast implant become popular or people getting fatter), so when they realized they need to make even bigger cup sizes, they just add an extra D thinking boobs cannot possibly get any bigger (most old ladies at the time wore one-piece corslettes, bra was something younger and slimmer women would buy). When they needed to make yet bigger cups, some manufacturers decides to make DDD and others decides to go up one letter to E. There isn't a standard on cup sizing beyond DD so some bras cups will be A-B-C-D-DD-DDD-E while other bras cups will be A-B-C-D-DD-E-F. (I've noticed DDD is more common in the US while DD-E is more common in the UK).

Take note though, finding the correct sizing is only the beginning. Bra manufacturer may or may not make the bra according to the size or make bras that's just not suitable for your shape. Therefore it's very important to try several different sizes/styles on and learn what's the best design for you.


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

[User]
[Zombies] What are the differences between zombies, such as Romero zombies and Resident Evil zombies?

Everyone understands the difference between a "regular" zombie and a 28 Days zombie. However, I was recently thinking, are there differences in the different "regular" zombies we see?

Specifically, I wanted to look at the differences (if there are any) between Romero zombies, Walking Dead zombies, Max Brooks zombies(book not movie), and Resident Evil zombies.

[Assistant]
**From the desk of Brigadier General Z. Shanix, Acting Officer of US Army Biological/Organic Infection Isolation and Containment Unit, on behalf of Dr. X. Imea, Lead Researcher.**
___
Originator Zombies, AKA Romeros:

* Original popular zombies, baseline for most zombie ideas.
* Transfer via bite, up to three days from 'normal' to 'zombie'
 * Removing limb (if applicable) fast enough can stop infection
* Require brain trauma to 'cure'
* Do not 'eat' people for hunger - major psychological need for it.
* Can learn over time, albeit very slowly.
* Unable to run, best pace is walking.
 * Can 'jump' at prey if need be, nearby
 * Unlimited endurance, humans can outwalk but cannot outrun.
* Can survive as head w/out body but body cannot survive w/out head.
* Can have 'hunger' turned off after major surgery.
* 10-12 Years before major necrosis sets in and zombie is near incapacitation

___
Walkers/Roamers/Lurkers/Geeks/Biters, AKA Walking Dead Zombies:

* Comparable to Romero zombies, however displays of intelligence have been noted.
 * Lurkers have been recorded to play 'dead' until prey arrives, then attacking
* Overall, less likely to 'learn' than Originators.
* Does **not** require a bite to become a zombie.  Pathogen is exposed to all - if death occurs, then the person will be reanimated.
* Known to convert from death between seconds and eight hours.

___
Ghouls, AKA Brooks Zombies:

* Known Pathogen, the Solanum Virus.  Known to exist throughout major human history (records dating to Egyptian times of zombie outbreaks)
 * Disables need for Oxygen for Ghouls.  Brain is changed into organ that negates the need.
* Very similar to Originators.
* General 24 hour time period between bite and Reanimation - including death.  **A Bite from a Ghoul means DEATH**.
* Does not enhance a human in any way other than lack of oxygen - a human is a box of tools, Solanum does not add any new ones.
* Solanum has effects on the sense.
 * Sight minorly degenerated from baseline Human.
 * Hearing unaffected.
 * Smell unaffected, possibly enhanced to a minor degree.
 * Taste, unknown.
 * Touch removed.  Pain completely removed from Ghoul 'mind'
 * Possible additional sense - Ghouls have been known to attack when all sense removed
* Unable to regenerate wounds - a thousand cuts will be a thousand cuts.
* 3-5 Year Span between infection and degeneration to near safe standards.

___
T-Virus Infected, AKA Resident Evil Zombies:

* Based on experimental virus, the T-Virus.
 * Produced by Umbrella Corporation
* Brain cells damaged by Virus.
* Can digest meat eaten, however, this requires an overproduced of stomach acid - noted cases of zombies puking acid repeatedly
* Require Decapitation to be stopped.
* Known cases of zombies with greater than average abilities - Hyper Zombies.
 * Can take more damage than average T-Virus Infected
 * Can move faster
* Few cases reported of zombies waiting, pretending to be dead a la Lurkers.
* After dormancy, T-Virus Infected can reanimate again into "Crimson Heads"
 * Aggression, movement speed are sharply raised
 * Claws develop on hands and feet.
* After dormancy, T-Virus Infected can reanimate again into "Lickers"
 * Haunched, four legged creation.
 * Tongue elongated into hunting weapon - akin to prehensile tail.
 * Brain tissue becomes exposed, skin lost.
 * Incredibly agile - jumping ability greater than most mammals.
 * Claws develop on hands and feet.
 * Greater intelligence - noted instance of Lickers hunting in Pack
 * Loss of Sight, compensated for by increased Hearing.
 * Can evolve into further strains.

___
Rage Infected, AKA 28 Days Later Zombies:

* Caused by Rage Virus, based on Ebola Virus.
* Not restricted to humans - primates have been infected.
* Transferred through bite, injection, or any contact between infected and uninfected blood.
* 10-20 Second window between infection and Zombiism.
* Not 'standard' zombies, rather, infected by virus that turns them to cannibals
* Noted increase in speed, Strength, stamina, and mobility over time.
* Starvation will cause death, approximately 2-3 months after last 'feeding'
* Noted intelligence, at or around level of Originator Zombies
* Unable to swim
* Focused on killing rather than eating
* **Do not require Decapitation for incapacitation**
* Known to use complex paths to reach uninfected.

___

We hope this answers your questions.  Please direct all further inquiries to our office if need be.

*Signed,*

Brigadier General Shanix & Dr. Imea

___

Addendum: Several other researchers have pointed out inaccuracies, or expanded upon, this letter below.  Their word is as good as ours, if not better.


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

[User]
[dc comics] how does Oliver (green arrow) hide is identity?

like the man as a ever unique face. the beard is almost a dead give away. same eyes same hair color and everything. lives in the same city. like how does does green arrow stay a secret.

[Assistant] He wears a hood and a mask, and his skill set tends to require him to stay at a distance, so your not really gonna get a good look at him. Plus he is a blonde haired white guy with a beard, how many could there possibly be.


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

[User]
[Half Life/Portal] Why would Aperture design a portal gun when Black Mesa already has far more advanced portal technology?

The portals in Half Life weren't limited to flat surfaces within a small enclosed place. There was even a portal gun that could teleport users to Xen.

[Assistant]
Short answer? The Black Mesa portal tech only connects to Xen.

The Portal Gun creates a stable and safe(ish) wormhole between two points, without having to bounce off any exotic universes. Kleiner's later research did succeed in producing (semi)reliable linear teleportation, but this actually seems to be a very uncommon thing in the HL universe.

In fact, this technology has eluded the Combine, who rely on Black Mesa-style gating to "bounce" off Xen.

If one subscribes to the various G-Man conspiracies that suggest he was instrumental in the development of Black Mesa's portal research, it's even possible that Black Mesa's technology was more or less entirely based on already available Combine technology.

So:

Black Mesa / Combine Teleportation: A -> X -> B

Kleiner Teleportation: A -> B*

Aperture Portal: A <-> B

EDIT:

\* Kleiner's teleporter technically still uses Xen, but it does not require a stop there.


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

[User] ELI5: How does a war neutrality work? For example, why didn't Germany just invade Switzerland and ignore its neutrality?

[Assistant] It had little to do with Swiss neutrality. Switzerland is a castle of a country. It's set in very mountainous area with only a few strategic roads and railways that offer quick movement across it. These all have bridges and other expanses that can easily be blown to slow down an invading force and cause a high number of casualties. It's strategically not very important if you already control most of the surrounding countries like Germany did. This wasn't set in stone there were a number of border skirmishes and fights that spilled into Swiss territory and Nazi Germany had plans to invade (Operation Green)


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

[User]
[General Fantasy] Why are all these books and tomes I find so short? Why are there bookcases full of only one or two different publications?

Avid adventurer and bibliophilic bookreader here. I've journeyed across many lands such as Tamriel, the Northern Realms and beyond, and across the Kingdom of Albion (all three many times over a large period of time), and many more. However I've noticed that in my efforts to learn more about the worlds I traverse, I'm left.... unsatisfied. There are countless books present on shelves, in bookstores or in stacks in numerous random locations. However the visage is a mere illusion!

In the Imperial City of Cyrodiil, I visited the First Edition bookstore, and was suprised to see that although hundreds of tomes lined the shelves and bookcases of the establishment, only a few dozen were listed in the shopkeep's trade manifest! On my travels throughout the Continent, I was frequently finding myself in others houses (with no detrimental ramifications I assure you), crypts, palaces and many other places. Bookshelves were lined with tomes and books, paperback and hardback alike. However attempting to search the shelves yielded a book or two at best, and not unique ones either. I've found 28 copies of *The Slaughter of Cintra*, 23 editions of *Tales of the Wild Hunt*, and gods-know how many copies of *What Shall Become of Temeria?*. Are these really the only books on display in all these places? Why can I only pick up a single book per shelf? Are the rest merely for show? This occurs throughout the realms of men, and other realms besides.

In addition, *why* oh *why* are the majority of these tomes so short? I picked up a book titled *Religion and Life*, only to find that despite its hefty weight and roughly 250 pages betwixt its covers, it had but **one paragraph** of text! The same can be said for almost all books I found across my travels! In the Continent and Albion I found books ranging from a mere sentence of content to several pages at best, Cyrodiil and Skyrim fared better with a couple of pages to maybe a dozen, but regardless I'm still at a loss for lengthy tomes! Where are all the arduously written, hulking masses of written knowledge and fictional etchings that I expected to find? I know literacy isn't a prominent skill in many of these places, but still *I would assume* that scholars and noblemen would have written lengthier texts for others in their fields and spheres of influence to read.

So what gives? Am I only finding the editions reworked for low-attention-span peasantry? Are the writers less determined to pass on knowledge than I thought? Why are the books in these worlds so short *and* limited when I happen upon any number of random bookcases and bookstores?

[Assistant]
Books have to be handwritten to be distributed. Few enough people know how to read and write, much less have the literacy and skill to write much of a book. Furthermore, the books that are going to be transcribed and distributed most widely and cheaply? That's gonna be the shortest of the short books.

On top of that, what adventurer has time or patience to read an entire book? You just sat yourself down in a damp-ass bandit cave to grind through the complete biography of Barenziah? You read the interesting bits and get back to slaughtering. Or, in the case of the Lusty Argonian Maid, you get embarrassed and put the book down before somebody walks in on you.


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

[User] ELI5 how are we sure that every arrangement of number appears somewhere in pi? How do we know that a string of a million 1s appears somewhere in pi?

[Assistant]
The actual answer is: we aren't.

The property you are talking about "that every arrangement of number appears" is called *normality.* And we have absolutely no proof that pi is normal. So far it appears to be normal, but we have nothing that proves that it will continue to be normal. It is perfectly possible, for example, that the number 9 stops appearing at some point.

In fact, other than specific numbers constructed to be normal or not normal, we have no general test for normality *at all.*


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are unicorns not called unihorns?

If uni means one then the next part of the word should be horn because thats what it is referring to, right?

[Assistant]
In short, they are.

> unicorn (n.)
> early 13c., from Old French unicorne, from Late Latin unicornus (Vulgate), from noun use of Latin unicornis (adj.) "having one horn," from uni- "one" (see uni-) + cornus "horn" (see horn).
>

The "corn" in "unicorn" is actually from a Latin root that meant "horn". Consequently, this means they are in fact named "unihorns".


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

[User] So what was B:\ drive? Why isn't A:\ drive the primary and how did C:\ become king?

[Assistant]
A:\ = first floppy disk drive
B:\ = second floppy disk drive
C:\ = first primary partition of the first physical hard disk

Long time ago in ancient history computers could have both 3.5" and 5.25" floppy disk drives before the latter one died out, leaving B:\ obsolete and now the A:\ drive is also obsolete when people moved on to CDs.


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

[User] [Warhammer 40k] Are normal animals (eg cow, turtle, birds) considered xenos that be exterminated? If not, where is the line drawn?

[Assistant]
of course not. These are all animals that have been/ can be domesticated and serve as a food source for humans.

The basic Categorization, as far as the Imperium is concerned, of a human is a creature with sentience, 2 arms, 2 legs, 20 digits, and a head. Therefore, we have designated ab-humans such as the Ogryn, Squats, Navigators, and Ratlings that are allowed to live within the Imperium and can fight alongside the base humans.

As far as where the line is drawn. that really depends on the situation. For instance, Eldar are most certainly non-human, however they do somewhat resemble our species and thus the Imperium has deined it useful to join forces on rare occasians. However, the Eldar are still considered Xenos filth to be wiped out eventually.

One, non-bipedal xenos that comes to mind as far as the classification of exterminatus are the horrid, Megarachnids that the great legions stumbled upon during our Great crusade. Had these Xenos turned out to be just mindless creatures, even if they attacked the legions, they possibly would have been left alone, however their intelligence in their attacks and their social behaviour, deemed them a species that was to be exterminated.

If a race is intelligent, and does not look like us.  then it will be annihilated.


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

[User]
Why did Germany produce so many philosophers?

I haven't delved into philosophy much yet, but from my layman's view it appears as if Germany produce a massively disproportional amount of philosophers. Germany produced Weber, Kant, Hegel, Nitezsche, and Heidegger, and I'm sure quite a few more I don't know about.

What was it about Germany that produced so many brilliant minds, especially in or near the twentieth century? Should we emulate what they did so well?

Also, I don't intend to be obtuse here, but does the quality that gave Germany so many intelligent thinkers also made Germany the only country that Hitler could have risen in? It seems astounding that a nation which consistently produces the most intelligent thinkers in the world is also one which succumbs to the greatest evil.

[Assistant]
Germany, ~~England~~Britain, and France - and to a lesser extent, Italy - were the three biggest economically developed language zones (Germany and Italy not being "countries" until late in the game) from the early modern period on. This meant they were able to afford to produce the most intellectuals, and to this day in most academic fields English, French, and German are the most useful European languages to read, and hence also to write in.

With Germany specifically there's also the fact that the Prussian state was the first to introduce compulsory elementary schooling as well as the one to invent the modern research university, which inaugurated a form of patronage that allowed the existence of academic philosophers who only needed to justify themselves to other academic philosophers. This allowed philosophy to become much more abstract and, for the internal community of philosophers themselves, more prestigious and hence influential.


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

[User] ELI5: How do governments decide how much money to print, to ensure there's enough in circulation? Do they print more when there's a physical cash shortage?

[Assistant] Yes, they get orders from the banking system for cash, along with "old cash to destroy".  To the degree that these are not equal, then they know to make more.  It's not completely effective, as the current coin shortage shows, because there are limits on the governments ability to make different denominations of currency.  It turns out that the machines that make coins are super expensive, custom, machines which limit the ability of the US government to make enough coins right now.


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

[User]
What does data normality imply?

I see a lot of statistical papers and tutorials checking for data normality before doing any statistical test. I know that some tests assume that the data is normally distributed, but I've seen people doing this even when doing a linear regression. So my questions are:

1. What data normality imply in an statistical analysis?
2. Why statistical tests assume normality when it doesn't happen so often in the reality?
3. When to check for data normality?

Thank you, guys! This subreddit is awesome!

[Assistant]
>  I've seen people doing this even when doing a linear regression

The usual tests, CIs and prediction intervals in linear regression also assume normality -- but not of any of the observed variables (rather, of the unobservable errors).

> What data normality imply in an statistical analysis?

The data themselves are not actually normal; normality is an assumption about a population, which is an assumption of some procedures.

> Why statistical tests assume normality when it doesn't happen so often in the reality?

It's rather a good question. You can often find people bringing up something about the central limit theorem but that misses a couple of important issues.

Nonetheless, some of the tests that assume normality are at least somewhat level-robust to moderate deviations from it (that is, the significance level is not badly impacted in some circumstances), though power can be an issue sometimes.

> When to check for data normality?

Tests answer the wrong question.

However, if you're choosing your analysis based on looking at the data (whether you use tests or not), you're screwing with the properties of the analyses you're choosing between. So if you're going to use some sort of check on nearness to normality don't do it on the data you want to use some other test on.


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

[User] When accelerating close to c, the universe appears to contract. We see the universe as expanding. Is it possible that this is some related phenomenon and that the universe isn't actually expanding?

[Assistant] No, these are two different phenomena (which are, by the way, both accounted for in the mathematics, so aren't being mistaken for one another!). Two observers who are moving at different speeds will measure lengths differently - this is what you're referring to with contraction - but there's no such set-up in cosmology, we're essentially at rest (in our own reference frame) and watching galaxies and galaxy clusters move away from us in all directions.


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

[User]
[Sci-Fi] What does Sci-Fi look like inside any Science Fiction universes?

I'm Wesley Crusher, it's the 24th Century, the Captain just told me to shut up and I want some escapism.

I grab the latest Sci-Fi movie/game/book/holodeck tape and watch/play/read/??? it.

What is science fiction in that world? Or any other Sci-Fi Universe?

[Assistant]
There was a scene on Firefly:

> Wash: [about River] Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science-fiction.

> Zo: We live in a spaceship, dear.

> Wash: So?

Apparently science fiction includes psychics and more people living on spaceships.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do dreams always seem to end at the "good part"?

Right when you hop in the Lamborghini, or when she climbs into bed with you, or just before that Kamehameha?

Though not before that time Vegeta beat me up (true dream story)

[Assistant]
There is actually a reason for this. Sleep is essentially just a reduced state of mental activity. When you start getting excited, emotional, sexually aroused, or anything else because of a dream your brain begins increasing its level of activity and you wake up.

Simply because it is the best part is why you wake up.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why did WW2 Allied soldiers not use shields?

It seems like shields would have been especially helpful in situations like the Normandy invasion, since they were pretty much walking right into gunfire, right? Even if the shields didn't protect the soldiers from all the bullets/etc, wouldn't they have helped enough to be worth using?

[Assistant] As 1mfa0 said, a sufficiently thick shield would be extremely heavy to carry. So you'd probably have to provide some sort of motor to move it. And since it's not economical to provide one for every soldier, so you'd be better off making bigger shields that multiple soldiers can use together. And since you've got a motor, you can move quite a bit faster than on foot, so you'll want to have a group of these shield-vehicles moving together. And since a motorized shield-vehicle can carry so much more weight, you could have the soldiers use guns that are far larger and heavier than their normal guns. It will be big and expensive, but impervious to normal bullets, relatively fast, and pack a lot of firepower. Maybe you'd call your new army an Armored Division, and your new mobile shields "tanks"


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

[User]
Why do communities in America adjacent to interstate  exits tend to be more economically poor?

This may just be perspective bias, but it always seems that you come right into the ghetto at the worst but just generally seedy surroundings as you get off the interstate, and it gets better as you get farther away?

Just an observation, and I figured you guys could shed some light.

[Assistant]
There are many many urban historians who have written on this. Highway exits have massively different impacts on property values depending on their particular location. Things prized in suburbs are anathema to property values in cities. In most large cities the location of highways near poor neighborhoods is because planners dumped interstates into areas with the least political clout or economic power--most commonly heavily minority areas. Putting an interstate here was the most "economical" from the State's perspective of land acquisition and dovetailed nicely with vogue of slum clearance. Once built highways tended to further reinforce the existing segregation and economic depression in those communities.

The end result is that today those communities are often even more devastated than they were prior to having their physical neighborhoods ripped apart so suburban commuters could get downtown faster in their cozy, private, cars.

If you want to read about the machinations of how this happened Caro's book on Robert Moses, The Power Broker, is a good place to start.


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

[User]
CMV: If college education were made freely available, there could be negative effects in the form of employers requiring higher and higher qualifications than are actually necessary.

Firstly, for relevance some of my following views are listed below:

+ I do believe education should be as low cost as possible in the system we have in the US, if not free.

+ I do believe higher education should be included with that.

+ I do not have an irrational fear of socialism or socialized systems being used and made more prominent in the US, nor do I intend on using education reform as a slippery slope argument for a rant against socialist systems.

+ My main purpose for posting this is to discuss if the topic is a valid concern.

_____

I don't really know how much this could realistically happen so I figured I would post it here. Let me reiterate what my stance is for the purpose of this post:

If college education, or higher education in general, were made free, there could be an influx of qualified workers that could cause employers to react by making the qualifications for a variety of jobs much more higher than necessary.

Also as a result of that, potentially the amount people are paid in respect to the amount of education they got could go downward overall. This of course would be due to the high supply of workers versus the current model that isn't necessarily a low supply of workers but it is a lower one than this hypothetical.

[Assistant]
In terms of Percentage of the population 25 to 64 years old who had attained any postsecondary degree the US ranks 4th among OECD countries as of 2018, with only Canada, Japan, and Korea ahead.

Meaning all of those European countries with free college have lower rates of college degree attainment than the US. The assumption that free college = more people going to college is not backed by statistics. In actuality, colleges will have the same number of spots to be filled, but will be more selective as the competition pool is larger. Ultimately the amount of people getting degrees will be more or less the same, so employers wont see an influx.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Is balance ever brought to the Force, or has it ever been?

[Assistant] In Legends it was implied that Luke's Jedi Order was embodying balance by incorporating both Jedi discipline and a tiny little sprig of passion. Members of his order were permitted to marry and had more personalized training.


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

[User]
[Avatar:TLA] If I'm a non-bender, is there any hope that I'll ever be equal to bender?

Amon may have been a liar and a douche, but he made good points. Can someone learn how to bend just by being spiruitual? Or are benders born better than non-benders?

[Assistant]
There have been plenty of non-benders that can hold their own against benders, Ty Lee and Mai are great examples.

Benders have more raw power, that's for sure, but they're not invulnerable.

You can't learn to bend through being spiritual. Bending is a gift that was bestowed by the Lion-Turtles.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Who pays the Jedi?

The Jedi Order appears to be an extremely well funded organization. They have the financial ability to house, feed, train, equip, and deploy hundreds, if not thousands, of members from across the galaxy. This includes a hangar full of multiple limited runs of starfighters (I would assume there would also be some transport ships in there as well) and a spacious temple built on what must be premium property in the Coruscant skyline.

Don't forget that there are Jedi from many species all housed in the temple. I find it hard to believe that there is a one-size-fits-all solution for every Jedi which means there must be special accommodations for many of the members of the order as far as housing, dietary requirements, and equipment which could get expensive.

The Order is somewhat like an academic institution, but you are a member for life, so there are no alumni to make donations. It is a religious organization, but as far as we see in the movies there aren't "laypeople" who donate money.

Who is paying for all of this?

(No extended universe based answers please, so feel free to make up whatever, if it's not specifically seen or stated in the movies it's fair game)

[Assistant]
> No extended universe based answers please, so feel free to make up whatever, if it's not specifically seen or stated in the movies it's fair game

Essentially "Don't actually answer if they give an answer, you have to make it up because"

They are able to support themselves off of two main sources of income

1 - Republic funding, or funding of whoever is in charge at that time (For 99% of recorded history, it's been the Republic), in return for them acting on the Republic's behalf and as agents of the Republic.

2 - Donations, it'd be a bad decision, both financially and as supposed "protectors and healers" if they didn't open their medical areas up to the masses to act as doctors and healers if they had the ability.

Not to mention the Enclaves (such as the one on Dantooine) was largely supported by farmers, many of whom thanked the Jedi for protecting them from Raiders and Bandits.

All that brought from the extended universe because fuck you, that's why.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can the same species of fish live in so many different lakes? Shouldn't we have more unique lakes with unique species as the lakes acts as closed enviroments?

And also, how does it even exist fish in really remote lakes that is far away from any nearby water?

[Assistant]
Most lakes are *not* closed environments.  Salmon, for example, swim upstream and find their way into lakes, even if those lakes spill into the ocean and get their water from rain or snowmelt.

Also, birds can carry eggs or seeds and plop them into other bodies of water.


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

[User]
ELI5: How did the first computer code know what to do?

If you think about it, when you type a code into a computer, it usually is a key / has key elements that affect currently existing codes. How was the first one created if there were no prior codes?

[Assistant]
It's built right into the hardware. Every processor has a device called an *instruction decoder* which takes machine-code instructions and translates them into the electrical signals that drive the various components in order to carry out the instruction. That instruction decoder is in turn from logic gates just like all the other parts of the CPU.

Computers do not "know" anything. They are machines that blindly manipulate data according to set rules that are designed into them by the engineers who built them.


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

[User]
ELI5 - Why does USB transfer rate fluctuate?

Why does the transfer rate fluctuate when I'm moving a file from a flash drive to my computer, instead of staying at a constant rate?

[Assistant]
it could be one of two things

1) you are using a mechanical hard drive and it has to spin and search for different free sectors to save the files to.

2) you are copying alot of folders of different sizes. the copy progress bar is based on what file you are currently copying and how many files you have total. if you have 3000 files, 2999 of them are 1 MB and 1 is 1 TB, it will base the progress as a percentage of 3000 files until it finds the huge 1 TB file. then it will start to take that into consideration.


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

[User] How does radiation cause mutations?

[Assistant]
Simple answer:

Ionizing radiation causes formation of reactive oxygen species. These are molecules and ions that can react with things in your cells - namely DNA.

Usually, the changes to DNA can be repaired. Sometimes the changes to DNA are permanent, and can:

- Be such a drastic change that the cell cannot survive, and will either straight-up die, or will commit suicide.

- Be a genetic change (mutation) of no significance.

- Be a mutation that actually matters.

Some types of radiation (namely UV) can cause direct DNA damage that is not mediated by reactive oxygen species (i.e. no middle man).


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

[User]
Could another force appear in the future as the universe cools down?

If the forces supposedly started off as one great "super-force", but split apart early in the history of the universe as things cooled down, is there any thought that one might just split off again at some random point as the universe gets colder and colder, leaving us with 5 forces and a radically different world?

[Assistant]
Probably not.  Things are already pretty cooled down, there isn't that much more cooling to do in the grand scheme of things.

We know that electromagnetism and the weak interaction become a single unified force at high enough temperatures, and the popular hypothesis is that this also happens for the strong interaction at even higher temperatures, and possibly even gravity at higher temperatures still.

The unification of forces is only apparent when there is enough energy to preserve a certain symmetry, and *anywhere* below that energy, the symmetry will be broken and the split forces will be obvious.

However, we can do experiments with all of these forces at ordinary temperatures all the way down to absolute zero, and there is no indication that any of these forces break down at these temperatures.

TL;DR:  Almost certainly not.


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

[User] [General Superpowers] I have developed shapeshifting powers. I can't increase my mass though, and I can't change the chemicals that make up my body. What techniques can I perform with these limitations?

[Assistant]
Really depends on how quick you can change.  If it's a slow change well then you don't have much of use other than pretending to be other people. Espionage can be useful but without the flash change ability if you get caught you lose the ability to get lost in a crowd.

However with flash change you can get a few benefits other than getting lost in a crowd.
Got an injury that's causes heavy bleeding? Shapeshift into a You that's not injured. This only works on superficial injuries though.
Need a weapon? Shapeshift so that your forearm bone is petrifying from your palm as a shiv.
Need to survive a fall. Shapeshift so your bones are all in one place. Bones break then re form them and your squishy insides should be fine.


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

[User] Imagine a spaceship that can sustain a 9.81m/s acceleration: if you were inside locked in an isolated cell, how would you know you're not on earth ? Could you ?

[Assistant] If you had the right equipment, you could tell the difference because of tidal forces. Einstein's equivalence princinple states that a linearly accelerating frame and a *uniform* gravitational field of the right strength are equivalent. The Earth does not have a uniform gravitational field. It has a roughly radial gravitational field which is close to uniform on the human scale. The non-uniformity of Earth's gravitational field causes tidal forces. Standing on Earth's surface, your feet are ever so slightly more strongly pulled down than your ears because your feet are closer to the Earth, causing you to stretch. The effect is so small, that you can't feel it. But, in principle, sensitive force meters can measure the non-uniform nature of the Earth's gravitational field. On your hypothetical spaceship, you would try to detect the radial non-uniform pattern of Earth's gravity, fail to find it, and conclude you were not on Earth.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the body crave bad/fatty foods after a night of drinking alcohol?

[Assistant] When we drink alcohol we are pretty much putting a poison inside of our body. So our body will often get rid of that alcohol either by peeing a lot and/or vomiting. This causes a type of dehydration called hypovolemic thirst, which is when our body is not only low in water but also a low sodium count. So after a hard night of drinking, your body is going to be craving salt and water. And fatty foods (bacon, chips etc) typically have high amounts of sodium. That's why bars typically have pretzels or other salty foods available as snacks so that the hangover the next day won't be as harsh. That's also why drinks with electrolytes (Gatorade) are great to cure a hangover.


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

[User]
How comes the Senators in the United States usually come from powerful families while in Europe Union the parliamentarian are mostly clerks and teachers and the likes?

With Europe I can understand: As a parliamentarian you can create a humble fortune and secure a decent future for your kids. The parliaments are a spring board for the little humble bourgeois who are more cultured than the rest, i.e. for bureaucrats and clerks. These people are also more exciting for the lobbying groups because they are more easily influenced. But in America the parliamentarians are drawn from the elites.

Social science, how comes?

[Assistant] In one of his working papers ("Why Are There So Few Working-class People in Political Office? Evidence from State Legislatures"), Nicholas Carnes highlights the important role of labor unions in providing a space in which working class people can develop politically useful skills and in recruiting working class people to run for political office.   Applying this argument in comparative context, the weakness of American labor unions relative to their European counterparts could explain some of this difference.


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

[User]
[The Orville] Where are the civilisations of The Orville-verse on the Kardashev Scale? Relatively close to each other and or their Star Trek parallels? Or are there some outliers?

To clarify for those not in the know, the Kardashev Scale is a measure of a civilisation's evolution based on their energy needs, energy collection methods and other cosmological control they do or do not possess.

Type 0 is for civilisations establishing themselves through agriculture, industrialisation, expansion and technological innovations. Energy acquisition and use is crude and inefficient. Current Earth's human race is suggested by some, like Carl Sagan, to be around 0.7 on the scale.

Type 1 is for civilisations capable of harnessing and controlling energy on a planetary basis. Travel between solar system planets is common, but exoplanetary excursions and colonisation attempts are extremely far-fetched at this point.

Type 2 is for civilisations capable of harnessing and controlling energy around that of a solar system or more specifically, that of a star. Interplanetary travel and colonisation of home galaxy worlds, typically.

Type 3 is for civilisations able to harness and control energy output on a galactic scale. Travel across galaxies, collecting energy on a level equivalent to multiple stars, and intergalactic colonisation spread is commonplace for a Type 3 civilisation.

Type 4 is considered to be essentially universal, a civilisation at this level is able to make use of any and all energy on a universal scale. There's not much a Type 4 civilisation can't achieve within the bounds of the universe, with some degree of spacial control/wormhole manipulation or super FTL technology in play to enable rapid cross-universe travel and colonisation to take place.

It can get rather silly-buggers going beyond the 4 generally accepted Types of Kardashev Scale civilisations. Some people theorise a Type 5 (Multiversal), Type 6 (Megaversal), and Type 7 (Omniversal) civilisation could exist, but honestly at that point you're really muddying the waters of what plays into what, and what is even conceivable after universal tier.

[Assistant] 2 in the Orville and Star Trek is 2 possibly trending towards 3 depending on how far ahead in the canon you want to go. In TNG they were amazed by a Dyson sphere but they may have analyzed it. They dont seem to have the need to harness whole stars as matter replicators do a lot of the heavy lifting.


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

[User]
[Iron Man 2] How does the Briefcase Armor have enough protection?

Using some simple math, I guesstimated it holds 2,500 to 3,000 cube inches of metal, and that's on the big side. The average human has a surface area of 2,300 square inches, and that's on the small side. If you just covered him in metal, nothing else, you'd have 1 inch of metal around him, but there's obviously many overlapping parts, so how does this thing protect him?

[Assistant]
The Mark V is the weakest/flimsiest of his armors. It's there purely for emergencies. He probably doesn't even have a full one inch around in all places, as most of his systems are knocked out. What he does have are weak repulsors and an AI system. No flight, no other weapons, just some slight strength enhancements, JARVIS, and repulsors.

Vanko tore the suit apart fairly easily, if you'll notice. It's probably bullet resistant, but Stark obviously only meant it for emergencies when he couldn't access any of his superior models.


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

[User] How deep is the sand on a typical sandy beach? If you dug straight down, what would you find underneath it?

[Assistant]
Beach sands are typically extremely thin, a few meters at most.

The reason is that beaches are extremely high energy environments because of waves and tides, where cementation proceeds rapidly because of ion availability, agitation, increased salinity and other processes. Thus beach sands become cemented quite fast, usually by carbonate cements but also to some extent by silica and/or other phases, so the typical beach sand is underlain a few meters below the layer of loose sand by progressively better cemented sandstone.


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

[User]
I was playing around with a green LED hooked to a 9V power supply and a 50K linear pot.  As I reduced the resistance, the LED grew brighter and brighter (Green), but then it switched to yellow, and then red, and then it blew out!  What causes it to change colors?

It's just a regular old green led, diffuse casing, rated at 2.2V with a .02A max.

[Assistant]
You overloaded the LED till it burned out.  It is not surprising that it went through color shifts because the internal environment is shifting as it breaks down.  It almost certainly emitted IR as well, right before it died.

This is normal behavior of an overloaded LED.

Interestingly, in some cases right at the very last moment the LED will actually put out a coherent burst - making the normal LED an IR laser for just a fraction of time (though for the most part the housing diffuses it away). This was the concept behind early cascading laser diodes. Except they were built to hit that point for that fraction of time and not burn out (and then the next one would take over, then the next, etc... till the first one could be refired again).

Edit: Fixing autospell goofs

Edit: If you add too much current you can blow the top off... be careful because that can send hot plastic right at you.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How do Jedi friendships work?

We see Obi Wan and Anakin always paling around like partners in crime, even while Anakin has his own padawan so presumably he isn't under Obi-wans mentorship anymore. So do Jedi get to form partnerships like that? If I really bond with my master do we get to keep doing missions together? And what's the difference between this type of relationship and something like a romantic one? Can't friendships be just as possessive as romantic relationships? Like when Anakin constantly bends the ethics of the Jedi code to keep Ahsoka alive; his interrogation of Poggle the Lesser being a pretty good example?

[Assistant]
The bond between master and Padawan is a deep and strong connection. The Jedi teachings under yoda do their best to mitigate this into a continual mentorship but it's impossible to stop friendship from forming. Most masters are chosen as older more experienced individuals whereas kenobi was fairly young for his role. His bond with Anakin isn't rare but it is highly unusual. Their performance together is enough to merit the council ignoring how deep their bond as become.

 As for all the other code bending going on under normal circumstances the order and council would harshly punish it. But the raging clone wars and sith threat led to allowances being made that were highly suspect. Dooku had left the order decades prior after making similar bending of the code was admonished by the council.


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

[User] [Supergirl] so if I were to have sex with her would I die of a crushed penis if she orgasimed and clinched or would I survive?

[Assistant]
If you believe in the tactile telekinesis theory, then no. The theory holds that Kryptonians (under the effect of a yellow sun) aren't inherently strong or durable, but it's all an extension of a sort of automatic telekinesis. Completely subconscious. The theory would also hold that non-threats will not engage the tactile telekinesis. Try to stab Supergirl with a syringe and you'll never break skin. But Supergirl could voluntarily offer herself up and the syringe would go in with no problem. This is why Superman can shave but a grenade won't harm a hair on his head.

By a similar extension, IF you believe this theory, Supergirl reaching orgasm wouldn't harm anyone. Similarly, Superman would suddenly develop a case of "murdercock" every time he wants to have sex.


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

[User] ELI5: if race is a social construct, then why can't people identify as other races?

[Assistant] People absolutely can identify as other races. But since, as you've pointed out, race is a social construct, someone identifying as another race has to navigate the social ramifications of such an identification.


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

[User]
[Shawn of the Dead] Not the only place in the world?

In Shawn of the Dead shawn forgets to book the place with the fish leading to him suggesting the Winchester yet again and Liz to break up with him.

He lives in London for the love of all that is holy, was there literally no where else to go? Hell he could have gone to a Wetherspoons at least they serve food.

Why could he not just go to... Well anywhere else?

[Assistant]
Had it just been a normal night, he probably could have gone "hey Liz, how does 'Spoons sound?" and been ok, but he had promised her something special. Fulci's was likely a place they have a history with before they settled into their Winchester rut, but he waited too late and couldn't book there. At this point, he's already terminally played himself because Liz had made a point to call him that morning and ask if the reservation was made and he lied and said yes, so instead of thinking rationally and coming up with a plan B he panics and freezes up, so when Liz calls him again the only option he's got is Ed's suggestion of the Winchester.

Had he been more responsible, he'd have the Fulci's reservation. Had he been quicker on the draw he could have found a backup, where he'd still be underdelivering but could have averted total disaster (and yeah, even Spoons would probably have been better than the Winchester in this case). But at this point Shaun is neither responsible or quick on the draw, and so he crashes the metaphorical car straight into the wall of the Winchester.


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

[User]
Starving yourself is a good way to lose weight. CMV.

There is an increasing rate of obesity in the country and in the world met by the amount of unhealthy food. In America, at least, there are high obesity rates but a high amount of fast food chains, eating healthy requires extra time, dedication and money. The current problem with weight in America has left a negative effect on mental health and self-esteem. A good weight is not the key to happiness but a bad way can easily lead the opposite way. Exercise is a huge contributor to good health and weight loss and should be encouraged. Of course diet is the other factor in losing weight, calorie intake vs. calories lost. But given the nutrition facts of 95% of food, it is harder to eat healthy when smaller portions of food have much more calories. Eating as little as possible is the cheapest and simplest way to lose weight.

Edit: Thank you everyone! I have been sustaining one meal a day (about 500 calories) and HAVE noticed increased irritability and lower energy. I would not recommend it at all but noticing weight loss every few days seems like something that would only happen in my dreams.

[Assistant] Severe calorie reduction is actually one of the most difficult ways to lose weight. You will be feeling constantly hungry; overcoming that takes immense willpower. Cutting down on sugar and exercising regularly is not easy, but it's far easier.


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

[User]
[Stealth games] All those people I knocked out... are they going to be okay?

I may be a hired killer, but I'm an *ethical* one--I kill my target and nobody else. Those security guards are just doing their jobs and don't deserve to die. Luckily there's an easy way to get them out of the way: Just sneak up from behind and choke them for a minute, and they pass right out. Then I hide them in a closet and I'm good to go. Thing is, my training never covered what happens to those people. They are going to eventually wake up, right? Will they suffer any permanent damage to their health? I just want to make sure I'm morally in the clear.

(This applies to Hitman, Dishonored, Assassin's Creed, and many others.)

[Assistant]
*NOTE: This post contains inaccurate information delivered in-character. Any trauma that causes immediate unconsciousness in a human is potentially debilitating or fatal, and requires prompt medical attention*

Yeah, they'll wake up just fine. Trade secret: everyone agrees to just lay down and play dead if you perform the right actions. It's right in the Henchman's Union bylaws, any henchmen subjected to a certain amount of cranial trauma or oxygen deprivation is entitled to a 30 minute break, during which they are not permitted to perform any henching, mook work, or related tasks. Technically they could just lay there and dick around on their phones, but this is considered poor form and the shop stewards discourage it.


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

[User]
I think forcing kids to read classic novels in high school is counterproductive and turns people off reading again in the future. CMV.

When I was a freshman in high school, one of the required reading assignments was Brave New World. As I was reading it, I didn't understand why it was so special and hated having to do worksheets and essays on it. This was pretty much the case with all other novels I read throughout high school, and it made me hate reading. Since then, I have not read a single novel for pleasure. However, now that I've gotten a little older and understand more about the world,  I finally get the message Brave New World was trying to make, and now realize that the book was a masterpiece. However, since I was being forced to read books I didn't understand a few years ago, it makes me not want to actually read it again. I get that making kids read in high school is trying to open their minds to literature, but since they haven't gained the life experiences or maturity yet, it just makes reading a chore instead of something pleasurable. CMV.

EDIT: I mentioned that I had to use sparknotes to do the reading assignments. I admit that part of it was due to laziness. However if I hadn't used it, then my superficial interpretations of certain plot points would be entirely off because I hadn't picked up on the underlying themes. If I had written down my *actual* interpretations, then I would have been marked off. I don't consider using this resource as cheating. If you had a math problem that you didn't understand, and you looked on the internet for a different way of explaining it in simple English, would you consider that cheating?

[Assistant]
English class does not exist to make kids love reading any more than math class exists to make kids love math.

High schools have math classes to teach the basic principles of algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus because those subjects are the fundamental bases of advanced math, physics, engineering, medicine, programming, you name it.

Similarly, English classes are meant to teach kids how to understand and analyze what other people say and think. Those English papers where you write a topic sentence and find symbolism might seem like crap, but they're teaching you how to deconstruct someone else's work, look for the purpose and meaning behind their work, and make a constructive argument supporting or negating what the author says. That's a necessary skill to have as a lawyer or as politician. In addition, reading "classic" novels teaches kids what people were reading and, consequently, thinking about in the past. Literature can have a major impact on the way society thinks and evolves; just look at the impact "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair had.

Like every class in high school, English class is meant to give you a fundamental base from which you can make your own choices about your life. After you graduate from school, it's your choice what you read or whether you read at all. But it's not English class's responsibility to make you love reading.


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

[User]
Why are the males of some species bigger and stronger, but in other species, it's the females that are big and powerful?

What exactly makes it more advantageous for some species to have strong males and weaker females, while some other species have huge females and relatively puny males?

[Assistant] There are a variety of reproductive strategies which lead to different types of sexual dimorphism.  In many species, males have to fight with other males in order to establish dominance, which allows them to mate with females.  Hence, there is evolutionary pressure for males to become bigger and stronger.  But if we consider a spiders, for example, males do not fight with each other, they just mate at will.  The female spider needs to be larger than the male because the eggs which the female will lay are much larger than the seminal fluid that the male needs to produce, and there is a biological cost to producing those eggs, which requires the female to be able to consume more food, and to hunt more effectively.


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

[User] ELI5: What is oxidation exactly?

[Assistant]
Oxidation is the process by which an atom or molecule loses electrons in a chemical reaction.

Since this happens pretty much any time oxygen reacts with something and oxygen reacts with lots of things easily (see: burning things) the process got the name "oxidation."


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

[User]
ELI5: How does "Auto focus" works on cameras?

Like, how can the camera decide that the object is in focus? How is the distance measured by using just light (I assume so since it's normally very difficult for the camera to focus in low light environment)

[Assistant]
To add to the other answer that's here already with a tiny bit more detail:

The first uses infrared (IR) light, and the sensor in the camera measures the time it takes for the IR light return to figure out the distance. Fancy computer calculations that already know all the variables (lens length, aperture, etc etc) then figures out the physical distance to the target and adjusts the lens to the proper focal length. It can be confused by other sources of IR light in the room, or something interfering with the IR light coming back to the camera's sensor.

The other type works exactly as stated, looking for contrast points in the photo and then changing the focal length and looking at the same points. It compares the two results to determine which gives the clearer lines. This type of autofocus doesn't know the distance it just looks at the contrast points. It can have issues with changing lighting scenarios and moving targets because of this. This type can be slower to "hunt" for the focus sometimes, and lower light can make it harder to use as there's generally less contrast to be had.


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

[User] [Middle-Earth] Do elves live in inherently magical places? Or does their presence there make it magical?

[Assistant]
Neither, actually.

The whole of Middle Earth was more magical when Elves first came to it.

The three rings of power given to the Elves helped preserve this magic within their realms.

With the destruction of the One Ring, the Three no longer worked as they once did, and the lands of the Elves would become like all other places in the world.

They're only inherently magical, in that where they live is as it was thousands of years ago, thanks to the magic of the rings of power.


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

[User] ELI5:Why are Russian Spetsnaz so revered, yet their regular infantry soldiers are looked at as "Meh" by most analysts?

[Assistant] It's their army tradition. Historically, Russians did mass wave attacks with poor quality arms and training, with conscripts.  Spetsnaz got the training, and the resources of a major power to be really effective.


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

[User]
Can dark matter form it's own planets and stars?

Dark matter doesn't interact with "normal" matter, but it does affect gravity. It makes sense to me that clumps of dark matter could form, which would eventually lead to planets and maybe even stars, but I could be wrong.

[Assistant]
No, because dark matter (by definition) doesn't interact electromagnetically, which is the primary cooling mechanism for ordinary matter.  Dark matter is capable of gravitational collapse, but without a way of shedding excess energy, the particles are moving much too fast to be contained in a small space (such as a planet or star).

Think of it like this - if you start squeezing dark matter particles down to squeeze them into a small box, they'll be moving so fast they fly right back out.  In fact, it turns out there is a limit to how small you can make a dark matter cloud, and it turns out that size is roughly the size of a galaxy - which are the so-called "dark matter halos" we see lurking around most galaxies.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does musical theory define both sharps and flats? Couldn't we just define them all as sharps? Why do we need both?

Thanks, chaps! So in summary.

* To keep one of each every letter in any key.
* Sharps used to be legitimately different from flats.

Thanks for E-ing L I was 5.

[Assistant]
I believe it's just so that every key uses all 7 letters with no duplicates

For instance, consider the key of F Minor:
F, G, A, B, C, D, E

If we only allowed sharps, we'd have to convert it to
F, G, G#, A#, C, C#, D#

It's just a bit easier to keep things straight when every key moves through the alphabet the same way, and using both flats and sharps just gives some naming flexibility that allows that to happen.


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

[User]
[Avatar: The Last Airbender] Why did the Fire Nation bother taking waterbenders prisoner?

Something that has been bugging me about Hamas story in The Puppetmaster is that I dont understand why the Fire Nation went through the effort to not only take the waterbenders of the Southern Water Tribe alive, but then maintained an absolutely hellish prison (that was likely very expensive) to keep them incarcerated. What exactly was their endgame with the prisoners? Were they expecting to reintegrate them into society following the end of the war (Harus father implies that this was the expected fate of Earthbender prisoners, and the situation in the Fire Nation colonies lends some credence to this, but the Fire Nation seems to have no interest in occupying the South Pole)? Did they plan on indoctrinating them into serving the Fire Nation (if this was their goal it clearly wasnt successful given that we never see any waterbenders helping the Fire Nation)? Was it just mustache-twirling-villainy (the Fire Nation doesnt seem to lack for it, but genocide is usually their preferred MO)?

[Assistant]
Remember- they thought the avatar was an waterbender. Just killing all the waterbenders would just mean the avatar would be reborn in a different body in the earth kingdom.

If they could find the Avatar and imprison them, then they've stopped the avatar messing with their plans. Either they decided to capture them all just in case (running the prison would cost money, but for a major empire, it's a rounding error), or after they realised they weren't the avatar they just feel through the cracks and were left there.


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

[User] ELI5: why do hormones make women moody/sad and does this ever happen to men?

[Assistant]
Hormones are chemical messengers that travel through the blood and cause long term (on the order of hours to years) changes in the body. These hormones can directly influence the brain, or can cause other things to happen and influence the brain indirectly.

Also, you can't just say "hormones". Some hormones makes you happy. Some make you stressed. Some don't do anything at all.

Men can and are equally affected by hormones. Hormonal mood swings are associated with women because the menstrual cycle has some hormones flooding in and then disappearing throughout the cycle, while males don't really have an equivalent.


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

[User]
ELI5: why is bass the most overpowering channel in music?

Why is it that it's always the furthest to carry on and it seems the loudest?

[Assistant]
Sound consists of vibrations in the air. The air moves back and forth like it's being compressed and decompressed. The speed at which air does this determines the "frequency" of the sound, or whether it's bass or treble, for example.

Bass is a very low frequency, so large amounts of air move at once. Less energy is wasted moving the air because it doesn't change direction as often . Those two things combined, large volume plus less energy loss, enable low frequency sounds to penetrate further and more deeply than high frequency sounds.

Another factor is low frequency sounds can move "around an object". Because a low frequency sound has a longer wavelength - the air moves farther back and forth. This enables the air movement to go around corners, and to also hit solid surfaces with more force.

Low frequencies actually pass through everything much more effectively.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Did Obi-Wan truly not remember R2-D2?

Or did he not want to bring up the past for some reason? He's pretty open about being a jedi knight a few scenes later.

[Assistant]
He doesn't say he doesn't remember the droids.

He says he doesn't recall *owning* any droids - which is true in two different ways. First, as a Jedi, they only owned the clothes on their back and hte lightsaber on their belt. Everything else was owned by the Jedi in general. Second, R2 was never owned by Obi-Wan - only by Anakin and Padme.


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

[User]
[General] Superpowers that appear useless, but if developed and trained properly, theoretically become powerful

I'm trying to write a story and I want the MC to have a superpower that is useless in combat and which everyone make fun of him for. However, over a period of time, he trains the power and develops it in a way that makes it very powerful during battles.

The only one I can think of is the MC initially can only make his body glow different colours of light. However, he trains his power enough to the point where he is able to generate heat from his body, which he uses later on to shoot heat attacks.

[Assistant]
The power to teleport very small objects very short distances. A little training, and youre the perfect assassin, embedding small change in the brains of even the most invulnerable of foes.

A prehensile tail or extra arm. Hard training will let you develop a five-limbed fighting style which nobody will be prepared for.

The ability to talk to squirrels. Get your head right and youll be taking down Thanos, Doom, and Galactus before brunch.


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

[User]
What would the inside of sun look like to the human eye?

So yesterday I saw a documentary about the sun and how photons are created in the core of stars. When they are first created though, they have so much energy that are in the form of gamma and X rays, which aren't visible to the human eye. So if these photons don't become visible light until the outer layer of the sun, does that mean the inside of the sun would be invisible to us?

[Assistant]
It would appear brilliantly bright for a short time. The photons from fusion would still be very high energy, but the photons from temperature would not. It would emit lots of ultraviolet, blinding you, but also visible light.

It's a short time because the gamma rays would make short work of you. The radiation exposure would turn your DNA into little ruined fragments.


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

[User]
How often do you use switch?

How often do you use switch in your code?
What is good use case of switch? Can you replace switch with something else except condition?

[Assistant]
In most languages switch is very similar to if/else, but in some systems languages switch maybe faster if you are micro-optimizing.

Stylistically switch is usually preferred to if-else when you are branching on an enum value vs if-else being preferred for boolean comparisons.


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

[User] ELI5: How do people "live" in an Embassy for extended periods of time? I've never visited an Embassy, are they like hotels or something or it just a very awkward situation?

[Assistant]
It really depends on the countries involved and the situation. A lot of embassies are nothing more than office buildings with no living accommodations.

The U.S. Embassy in London is an office building and the U.S. amabssador lives in a huge mansion called Winfield House in Regents Park. Most of the staff are locals and live in the area surrounding the embassy.

On the other hand, the U.S. embassy in Iraq is a fortress where everyone lives in the compound.


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

[User] ELI5: If you can't sleep so you lay still for an extended period of time with your eyes closed, does that do anything to restore energy? Or does the fact you're still awake make it a useless gesture?

[Assistant] When you are laying at night with your eyes closed and relaxed, but you feel awake, you may actually be in the first stage of sleep. People who go for sleep studies can report that they didn't sleep all night but when their brain wave activity is analyzed, they were going in and out of light sleep.


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

[User] [Harry Potter] If a muggle was forcefully brought into Hogwarts, would he see it as a decrepit ruin from the inside?

[Assistant] I suspect they would be able to see the castle if they were brought there by Wizards. Didn't Hermione's parents once travel to Diagon Alley? It also has powerful Muggle-repelling charms. Similarly, someone apparates into 12 Grimwald Pl. and it breaks the secret-keeper charm. Getting access to a protected location from a privileged person seems to break the charm for that person.


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

[User]
[Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle] How would a speedrunner play Jumanji?

While Jumanji's in-game world seems to mostly function like the real world (for the most part), could a speedrunner who was sucked into the video game beat the game in a reasonably quick amount of time? There are video game mechanics in place in Jumanji after all, like NPC dialogue, cutscenes and a life and respawn system. Are there mechanical or momentum based exploits, skippable dialogue or scenes?

For one thing, it seems as though there are invincibility frames when someone first spawns or respawns after death, since Spencer died from a fall off a cliff, but no one of course dies from fall damage when respawning.

[Assistant] To speedrun a game you need to actually take time to learn the system and how to beat it. Given the threat levels involved (dying in real life compared to wasting time) a speedrunner would play carefully and might actually play things slower than normal people by experimenting with all of their options first.


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

[User] [Monk] What is Adrian Monk's consulting fee?

[Assistant]
The general salary range of a private detective is roughly $14/hr to $73/hr, with those numbers being the bottom and top 10% of their field, respectfully.

Considering that Monk was/is renowned as being one of the best detectives and that he also can afford to hire on a personal assistant (who performs well above the standard expectations) it's likely that Monk is in the upper 10% range.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do my teeth start moving back to their original position when I don't wear my retainer for a few nights (after 15 years of wearing it)?

I got my braces off in 1998. I'm 27. My teeth still move when I don't wear my retainer for a night or two. Am I going to be wearing this retainer (at night) for the rest of my life? Why do these teeth want to move?

[Assistant]
You might have a tongue thrust - i.e. when you swallow your tongue hits your teeth instead of resting on the roof of your mouth. Since you swallow so many times in a day, a tongue thrust can move your teeth subtly.

It's pretty easy to figure out if you have a tongue thrust, just swallow normally and pay attention to where your tongue goes.


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

[User] What are antioxidants, and why are they good for me?

[Assistant]
Most molecules have an even number of electrons.  The atoms that molecules are made of strive to have 8 electrons - this is known as the octet rule.  Not all atoms within a molecule follow this rule, though most do.  To be most stable/happy, each atom should have 8 electrons around it.

A "free radical" or "reactive oxygen species" is when an atom or molecule has an odd number such as 7 electrons.  That lone electron makes it super unstable, and it can start damaging DNA and proteins and lipid membranes in your cells.  This is known as oxidative damage.  It basically attacks many things in the cell and destroys them as it goes along just because it's so unstable.

This is related to aging, as oxidative damage can mess up DNA, or kill cells, or cause scarring.  People say that "older looking skin" is due to free radical damage.

So, how do we slow down this aging and damage process?  Antioxidants.  They are very stable molecules which usually have a property known as aromaticity.  This means that they can "sequester" that lone electron - they basically steal it and absorb it.  Because antioxidants are so stable, even with a lone electron, they won't go around killing everything in the cell.

More antioxidants (such as vitamin E, lycopene, or beta carotene) found in grapes + apples etc, means more protection from free radicals.

Hope that helps!  It might not be ELI5, but hopefully it's clear and simple enough to understand anyway.


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

[User]
Trailing spouse options

Hi everyone! Looking for some advice regarding options for a trailing spouse headed to Champaign, IL (UIUC). It sounds like there are many options there, though might be tricky for a foreign national who may need a work visa. Has anyone had experience with UIUCs dual career program? Or alternatively, has anyones partner decided to pursue a PhD or higher education in lieu of finding full-time employment? Thank you!

[Assistant] Big employers include Parkland College (a community college where you can teach with a masters degree) and Carle Hospital. A lot of young professionals also work for the university in staff positions (e.g., NCSA). There are also a handful of startups there at all times that spin out of the university; however, if they take off, they quickly relocate to the Bay Area.


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

[User] ELI5: How can an asteroid of 6 miles in diameter cause such a global catastrophe on an earth nearly 8,000 miles in diameter?

[Assistant]
By hitting at 30kps.

The crater that it created was 150km in diameter.  That's a lot of material to remove.

But even before that you're talking about the impact itself releasing a lot of energy that would have created a fireball.  This would have set things on fire for quite a distance from it.

Now, back to the material from the crater.

A lot of it would have been blasted with such force that it would have gone into into space and then much of it would have re-entered the atmosphere.  This would have then caused the atmosphere to heat up like an oven over a lot of the planet.  If you couldn't seek refuge in a hole in the ground or deep water you cooked to death on much of the planet the very day the asteroid hit.

Now, the impact itself sent shockwaves through the Earth.  Very powerful ones.  There were Earthquakes, massive ones, all over the planet.  This then most likely also caused volcanoes to be set off or new ones to form.  A lot of toxic gases were most likely released into the atmosphere.  This would have poisoned a lot of life.

The material that wasn't thrown up with enough force to go into space floated around in the atmosphere for years.  This greatly reduced the amount of sunlight that reached the ground.  Most plants would have died.  What ate the plants then mostly died.  What ate the things that ate the plants then mostly died.

Most of life on Earth died because of all of this.


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

[User]
[Batman] Why does Batman allow ranged weaponry on his vehicles?

This is NOT about Arkham Knight. It's well explained in-game why the Batmobile is a heavily armed tank.

But in any other circumstance, why does Batman allow guns and weaponry on his vehicles?

[Assistant]
On similar justification as "anti-material" weapons used by the military; he doesn't intend on using them on people. The guns on the vehicles are supposed to be for other vehicles or other inanimate objects.

How each Batman does in terms of keeping to this varies from Batman to Batman. He has been known to give into temptation and shoot for a person, like when he launched a strafing run on the Joker during Tim Burton's Batman film.


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

[User]
[Mortal Kombat] does anyone ever actually get penalized for breaking the rules?

They're introduced like they're a big deal, but various characters (mostly villains) always seem to break them with impunity.  The Elder Gods actively refuse to enforce them at least once, so it seems like they may as well not exist.

Breaking the rules and then losing in mortal kombat anyways doesnt count; I'm curious if someone with the power and authority to just enforce the rules ever actually enforces them.

[Assistant] The Elder Gods punished Shao Khan for breaking the rules in Mortal Kombat 9 so they care but not a huge amount.  You'd have to get someone like Raiden, Fujin or Cetrion who the Elder gods give a shit about to go rules lawyers to the Elder Gods if it was any more minor violation.


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

[User]
Why does water tend to follow the path of a nearby object instead of going straight down?

For example, when pouring water from a mostly-full glass, it will cause the water to follow the side of the glass instead of fall perfectly down. Also, a sink will do the same to your arm, or finger.

[Assistant] I believe you are referring to the force of *adhesion*, water has a tendency to adhede to other dissimilar surfaces. There is no one theory as to why adhesion takes place, but rather it is thought to occur by multiple mechanisms, including: chemical, mechanical, electrostatic, and dispersive forces. Materials with high "surface energy" tend to have strong intermolecular forces, drawing water to the surface with such energy rather than the air, which has no surface energy for our intents and purposes. Not sure if this explains the phenomena you're referring too, but it's what came to mind.


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

[User]
[The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra] How cool would Earthbenders be now?

I know in the Legend of Korra series this concept is touched on with metalbending and such, but how many modern innovations and technologies would an Earthbender in a modern society be able to control? I'm going based on the fact that almost everything comes from nature if you go back far enough. How far does it have to go from straight out of the ground for an Earthbender to no longer be able to control it?

[Assistant] Earthbenders can only bend dirt/rocks specifically, they can't bend derivatives like metal. Some can "bend" metal, but in those cases they're actually bending the dirt impurities in the metal and the rest of the metal goes with it. So in modern day, because our metal is so pure, they really wouldn't be able to do much of anything in a city.


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

[User]
programming portfolio

I have bunch of programs with me and I wanted to compile it and use as a portfolio when I apply for internship. What would you recommend me to use or do?

[Assistant] The expected path would be to post the code on GitHub with an accompanying, well-organized Readme to explain the context, build requirements (if any), and relevant functionality of the program. If you have precompiled binaries, it's a bit more dependent on the situation because usually people aren't eager to install apps until they know who and what they're dealing with. In any case, good luck!


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

[User]
[Iron Man 2] How did Justin Hammer not notice Ivan is secretly making a suit for himself

A suit like that is not going to come in cheap, won't Justin Hammer notice that a large portion of his funding isn't going into any of the drones and was just seemingly missing. Plus during Hammer's routine check on Ivan, how did Ivan manage to hide such a huge manufacturing process from Justin?

[Assistant]
Justin Hammer is a dipshit.

Vanko pretty much pulled Tony's "in a cave with a box of scraps" routine, building his suit right under the noses of his guards and minders, because they weren't tech savvy enough to know what he was doing. All the hardware for building a suit was already in Hammer's inventory (we can see their prototype in the video presented at the congressional hearing), so Vanko didn't need to fabricate/steal a lot of *new* gear, just get access to the stuff lying around. Then, all he has to do is stay mindful of the check-ins and make sure he hides the really incriminating stuff when he's not working on it; as a former prison inmate, he is no doubt well versed in the art and science of hiding contraband.

As for the money, again, Hammer is a dipshit. As far as he cares, any expense related to the drone legion is just another "R&D cost" to tack onto the bill he delivers to the military. He's not sitting there counting nickels and dimes, or asking a lot of questions. Hell, if Vanko looked him dead in the eye and told him that he spent six figures from the budget on cocaine and escorts, Hammer would probably say "great, how are the drones?".


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

[User]
Does red-green 3D work for red-green color blind people?

I just had a discussion of how the current 3D-glasses work and the question came up.

[Assistant]
yes, it would, and potentially better.

with some simplification, what looks red before glasses is light of "red" wavelength, and what looks green is light of "green" wavelength. only the green light can pass through the green glass, so in effect, the "green" eye gets a "green or black" signal, vice versa for the red eye, which gets a "red or black" signal. that's an effect on the light, independent from perception.

i have not tried red/green 3d for some time, so i'm not sure how much people with regular vision perceive seeing red and green after some time. (i figure the eyes' "automatic white balance" takes care of that, so we perceive roughly grayscale images). a person that can't tell red and green apart would just see the right images for their eyes without the confusion we experience at first. (but red-green color blindness is a little more complicated than just not being able to tell them apart.)


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why did the Alliance use snowspeeders at the Battle of Hoth and not use X-wings?

Watching Rogue One, the X-wings seem to take down AT-ATs relatively easily and are able to fight in atmosphere. So why did the Alliance use snowspeeders at Hoth given that snowspeeders don't have heavy weapons like the X-wings?

I understand using the snowspeeders as scouts earlier in the film as they may perform better in icy conditions but when it comes to battle, surely the X-wings are a no-brainer.

[Assistant]
Despite the fact space is very cold, it's actually very hard to get rid of heat - you have to radiate it all. It's why the ISS has *tons* of radiators.

X-Wings, designed for space flight, radiate heat *very* well. Considering the environment of Hoth, they'd simply exhaust too much heat. Machines need at least some heat in order to work (think how hard it is to get a car engine to crank over in cold weather).

It's why they said they were having problems adapting them to the cold. During a prolonged combat, they might ice up and stop functioning.

Edit: Also note that the AT-ACTs are very lightly armored, so the X-Wing's results against them might not be typical.


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

[User] [DCEU] [SUICIDE SQAUD] Why did Flagg assume Deadshot would run as soon as the fighting started?

[Assistant]
Probably two reasons.

One, Deadshot is known for being an assassin, and not really known for assault situations being in the thick of it (not to say he can't handle himself). Flagg might be implying Deadshot is a pussy when he's not shooting from a distance.

Secondly, he knows Deadshot is deadset on returning to his daughter, and would almost certainly bolt if given the chance. As soon as the fighting starts, things become chaotic, and maybe Deadshot can break away to hide or try and escape the signal range for his explosive chip until he figures out how to remove it. Who in their right mind would stay and work for the bastards that locked you up and tormented you?


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

[User] ELI5: Salts are constantly added to the ocean through volcanic emissions, runoff from continents, and the weathering of rocks in general, but is there any process that reverses this and removes it?

[Assistant] Yes. Salt can settle out, be captured by organic processes, and (most commonly) become landlocked. In that last one, a part of the ocean recedes or gets cut off from the rest of the ocean. The water evaporates and deposits the salt (which gets buried over time), then the fresh water rains back into the rest of the ocean.


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

[User]
ELI5:How do medications know exactly which part of the body to go to?

How does a depression medication know how to go to the brain, an ED pill to go to the nether regions, and vice-versa.

[Assistant]
They don't. They enter the bloodstream and float around until they find a receptor they can act upon.

The reason why medications seem to only affect the target tissue is because they've been designed to do so. 'Side effects' are caused by the medication affecting tissues that it's not intended to and unbalancing the body in some way.

Incidentally, ED pills like Viagra were originally designed as blood pressure medication. The ED aspect was actually a side effect.


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

[User]
[DARK SOULS 3] Did/do regular people exist?

There are all of these cities and building, but barely any normal things...were there ever regular people around? Everything is grotesque and bizarre, but there are also regular environments that could exist in reality as well.

[Assistant]
Yes.  Very few by the time of DS3 because the fire has faded so much and everything has gone all timey wimey wibbley wobbley, but regular people did exist and did populate all the kingdoms we pass through while hunting for the Lords of Cinder.

The existence of regular people was a bit more explicit in DS1, where the NPCs talked about their homelands as places they had been recently exiled from.  Lordran was the only ruined kingdom, while life in Catarina or Astora was pretty much normal.


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

[User]
Why is the speed of light 299,792,458m/s? Would the universe be different if the speed of light were higher/lower?

Why is the speed of light what it is? If photons are massless, then what's stopping light from moving at infinite speed? ~~(I understand that the mass of light is more complicated than yes or no, but that's about all I know)~~

Furthermore, if c were different, would there be any significant change in our daily lives other than changing our internet speed?

[Assistant] Well the mass of light is actually a simple no. It has none. And the speed at which massless things move is the speed that links units of space and units of time. It's the speed that says 1 light year in distance and 1 year in time are the same "length" in space-time, so to speak.


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

[User]
Why do humans not have a mating season?

So many different species (crabs, cats, etc.) seem to have a mating season. Did we evolve to just not need it?

[Assistant] Lots of species have mating seasons, but the other great apes do not.  In fact it's not unusual for species living in a tropical habitat with a relatively constant climate to breed year-round.   So it's not really surprising we don't really have one.


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

[User] In the Rain Forest greenhouse of Biosphere 2, there is a forest with 90 species that is 25 years old. Being in a greenhouse in Arizona, why hasn't the heat trapped in the greenhouse baked this forest?

[Assistant]
Among other things, it's at about 4000 feet.  It's substantially cooler that high.  It's relatively close to the Mt. Lemmon ski area-- which is a couple hours *south* of Phoenix.  It sounds crazy that there's skiing in Arizona that's further south even than the fiery death-zone of Phoenix... but the change in altitude makes it possible.

Oracle is, on average, about 20 degrees cooler than Phoenix.

This probably doesn't explain all of it, but it does help explain why it's not quite as bad as "a greenhouse in arizona" might suggest.


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

[User]
[MCU]I am a televangelist who lost my flock and want to start a cul-... I mean religion around one of the powerful beings which have shown up in the world lately. Which one should I start collecting donations on behalf of? What are the pros and cons of devoting my new religion to different ones?

Suggestions for names are also very appreciated.

Obviously our new deity needs money so we will start up a collection for them, don't worry about how I will get it delivered to them, let me worry about that.

Have a blessed day! May whatever powerful being we are about to worship bless you with atributes thematically appropriate to them!

[Assistant]
Cult of Thanos. You know there HAVE to be some psychopaths on Earth who were 100% behind what he wanted to do. Just tap into that crazy and go with it.

WARNING: COULD TURN INTO A RADICL EXTREMIST RELIGIOUS GROUP. MIGHT BE TOO COMPLICATED/RISKY.


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

[User] [MCU] Thanos and his army are on their way and will launch an invasion of the planet within the next few weeks. How would you organise earth's heroes and powers to fight Thanos off?

[Assistant]
We have a Time Stone and a Sorcerer Supreme with no qualms about using it.

With Doctor Strange utilizing it, it would be child's play to grab a few key pieces of technology (the fully-realized arc reactor, for example) and port them back to Howard Stark in the prime of his inventing potential.  Turn the arms race and energy race towards Thanos, and all should be well.


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

[User]
ELI5 why inbreeding causes problems.

It's general knowledge, as far as I know, but what actually happens?

[Assistant]
Certain diseases are related to genes. Now for every gene in your body it has a partner. You have two sets of genes, one from mom and one from dad, and need both to live.

Some times a defect or change in the gene causes a disease. Now here is the tricky part: if the change is only in one of the two copies of the gene and you get the disease, it is called Dominant. If you need the defect in both copies it is Recessive.

Lets make up a gene, called DERP1. Remember you have two copies of DERP1, mom and dad versions or DERP1 (m) and DERP1 (f). Your DERP1 (m) is defective, i.e. it doesn't work and cannot be used to make proteins, but DERP1 (p) is just fine and there is no disease. You are a CARRIER for a disease of DERP1, but you do not have it, because it is Recessive and you need both copies to be defective to have a disease.

Now DERP1 defects are rare, so if you marry some random woman, the odds of her and you both having a DERP1 defect are small, and you won't pass along the disease to your kids.

But your sister may also be a carrier for the defective DERP1 from mom. So if you mate with here the odds of your off spring getting both defective DERP1s (one from you and one from her) is 25%.

As a general rule of thumb, most family trees contain one to two Recessive diseases in their genes, most people are carriers and without genetic testing would never know that a whole gene was broken. But by inbreeding the chances of recessive disease genes linking up are vastly increased. Its funny that incest is probably the only universally reviled practice in human history (I had a anthropology teacher tell me this) and that even animals will usually avoid inbreeding.

Edit: Fixed mistake with %