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

[User]
[Star Trek] Given their life span why isn't Starfleet full of Aliens in higher command?

While most species ,in Starfleet, have life spans comparable to humans there are a few that can live a few centuries given a normal life span.  So one would assume that officers of some species would eventually get to a point where they couldn't be promoted further and would just stay in the higher commands.  And since you would only need so many Rear Admirals, Vice Admirals, Admirals, etc one might think most of them would be from species with very long life spans.  Is this the case and it isn't seen much in the shows?  Or is there another explanation?

[Assistant]
It seems to me that a lot of Vulcans and other prominent species in the Federation tend to be opposed to the idea of spending their entire lives on one task. Because they live longer, they're far more likely to be able to start over or have a second career. Take Tuvok, for example--he was in Starfleet in the late 2200s, serving with Sulu on the Excelsior, until he decided he just didn't feel like doing that any more and left. Sixty or seventy years later, he changed his mind, ended up back in Starfleet, and served aboard Voyager. The same can be said for Spock, who left Starfleet to become an ambassador and eventually moved on to focus his efforts towards the Romulan/Vulcan Reunification movement. Worf did something similar, by most accounts, and withdrew from Starfleet to help rebuild the Klingon society in the wake of the Dominion War.

So from just those few examples, we can say that this is pretty typical of the longer-lived species. It's not like it's a hard rule or anything, though; we've seen plenty of Vulcan admirals ("The First Duty" comes to mind). There's also the fact that most Federation member worlds still do maintain some fleets of their own, which seem like a logical choice for experienced alien officers. What would you rather be: just another paper-pusher Admiral in Starfleet, or *The* Admiral of the Andorian Guard?


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

[User]
When an organ, say, a kidney, is donated, what
happens to the empty space where it once was?

When an organ is donated, there has to be a space left behind, so do the doctors fill that space with some sort of material that the body doesn't perceive as foreign? Or does the body itself fill the gap?

[Assistant]
Normally, the body itself fills the space. How the space fills up depends on the part of the body we're talking about. When a kidney is removed, for example, (retroperitoneal space) the space just closes up. When a part of the brain is removed, the space is filled by cerebrospinal fluid.

Usually, surgeons don't fill the void with other materials.


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

[User] ELI5: What exactly is a lobbyist? And why do people dislike them so much?

[Assistant]
A lobbyist is someone who is paid to advocate for a group or an issue to politicians.

Every day, they will phone up various politician's offices, arrange meetings with them, throw parties and invite them, and so on.  There is a wide variety of tactics involved, most of which cost money or time - money and time which the average person doesn't have.

On the one hand, lobbyists are useful for making sure politicians know how you feel about an issue.  On the other hand, it gives more influence to any special interest or corporation with enough money to hire one (or dozens).  This is why people dislike them!


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

[User] [Inuyasha] What happened to all of the fantastical aspects of ancient Japan (demons, magical creatures, etc.). I haven't seen any in the modern Japan where Kagome is from.

[Assistant]
Some remain as seen with the Noh mask.  However, note that even Inuyasha's time was one in decline.  As mighty as Inuyasha and Seshomaru were they were shadows of their father.  Naraku was a unique circumstance of many weak demons combining and began assimilating/devouring other demons to grow stronger.  Inuyasha's power based on a fang of his fathered reinforced with his own fang fed powers of greater demons from before his time using demon forge techniques from his father's time.

So you have new demons not being as strong as previous demons, in general.  Demons killing each other.  Humans whittling down on whichever demons "win" and getting more advanced.

By the modern age it is basically complete.  Much like the Elves, Ents, and like that settled farther West the end of the third age saw some stragglers, but eventually fell to Man.


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

[User] Why are radioactive elements that only give off alpha radiation still dangerous, given that that's just a helium nucleus?

[Assistant] Alpha radiation from outside your body is harmless.  Within a few centimeters of air, most of it has dissipated.  However, when the isotope emitting the alpha radiation is ingested or inhaled, the alpha radiation is able to disrupt electrochemical bonds in your flesh.  Furthermore, if the element in question can be easily absorbed (like polonium), then the alpha emitters are absorbed into your bloodstream, and the alpha radiation is able to do substantial damage to your internal organs.


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

[User]
Differences between a "preprocessor" and "superset" ?

TypeScript is considered as a strongly typed JavaScript "superset".
Sass is considered as a CSS "preprocessor".
When transcompiling languages, I _guess_ it implies : parsing, tokenizing, AST, compiling into some language but what does a "preprocessor" that a "superset" doesn't and vice-versa ?

[Assistant]
All CSS is valid SCSS.

All JavaScript is valid TypeScript.

By those tautologies, both SCSS and TypeScript are supersets, of CSS and JS respectively.

A superset is a mathematical term. It's just a way of saying, for a set S, a superset of S contains all of S and then more. I.E. SCSS has all of CSS, and then adds some stuff on top.

A preprocessor is a program that takes data in one set, and converts it into data in another set.

In this case, both SCSS and TypeScript are preprocessors. SCSS is processed into CSS, and TypeScript is processed into JavaScript.

Asking, what's the difference between a preprocessor and a superset is a bit like asking, what's the difference between a field and a tractor. It's not a logical question, but they are related ideas. We just tend to see more talk of SCSS as a preprocessor, and TypeScript as a superset, even though they're both supersets and preprocessors.

Note: Some of this may not be technically bulletproof, particular in concise definitions, as I've tried to make it more accessible for an explanation.


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

[User] ELI5: Why can't we just use a machine to take large amounts of C02 out of the atmosphere to slow global warming?

[Assistant]
What exactly do you suppose should power these machines?

Maybe we can power them by burning oil?

The most efficient machines to take CO out of the atmosphere are plants and they work on solar energy.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why doesn't Trader Joes have sales?

They're the only grocery store I've ever seen that does not have sales.

[Assistant]
You do sales for two primary reasons: get people into the store, or get rid of excess inventory.

Trader Joe's has a nearly cult-like following...they don't need sales to get people in the store (they barely advertise anyway so having a sale wouldn't help much).

They also have only about 1/10th the number of unique items for a typical grocery store and have a much lower stock of perishable inventory. This combination means they're much less likely to be overstocked on anything, so they don't need sales to get rid of excess.


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

[User]
[DC] If Harley Quinn is an elite fighter, and she was presumably trained by the Joker, does this mean the Joker is an elite fighter?

As can be seen by her tenure with the Suicide Squad, Harley Quinn is an extremely skilled combatant. She had no combat experience prior to meeting the Joker. So, presumably, the Joker trained her.

But, the Joker doesn't typically seem like a skilled fighter. He often seems like he's just a guy who uses guns and poison. I don't think of the Joker as a martial arts master.

Then again, he's often able to fight Batman. While its true that he always loses, he usually seems to give Batman some trouble. Batman is consistently portrayed as one of the greatest martial artists on Earth. So, if the Joker is able to make Batman struggle, then I guess he must have some skill.

Just how skilled is the Joker at martial arts? What other fighters does he compare to? Also, where did he learn to fight? As far as I'm aware, he wasn't a martial artist before becoming the Joker. Or was he?

[Assistant]
I know she was gymnastics student and athletically gifted, she likely had self-defense training before ever meeting him.

I think the  presumption that the Joker has any sort of advanced combat skill off from the vast majority of portrayals of him.  The real trouble with the Jokes isn't fighting him, its dealing with whatever things he has already done before you get close enough for a fight.


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

[User] ELI5:Why do firefighters vent roofs of structure fires, wouldn't that make the fire worse by adding oxygen to it?

[Assistant] When a hole is made in the roof because the building is "vented," the smoke and gases escape because heat and smoke rise. It makes it much easier for the firefighters in the building to see. It also reduces the possibilities of backdraft (explosion) and flashover.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do Americans learn a foreign language so late in their educational career(i.e. high school and college) while foreigners are practically fluent in English by the time they're in their late teens?

And on a related note, why is it that American schools only offer 2 or 3, maybe 4 languages (usually French, Spanish, German and maybe Latin)?

[Assistant]
Part of it is that in Europe it's more important to learn other languages because of proximity.  Look at Germany France and Belgium.  The countries that all have different *majority* languages and they all touch.

In the US we have a one of Canada's provinces to the north that speaks French and then then entire height of our county before you get to Mexico where people speak Spanish.


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

[User]
[House of Leaves] Are there any theories on what the deal is with the House?

So cutting through the meta-narrative, are there any theories on why the House displayed anomalous properties? There is evidence to suggest that the anomalous region we know as the House on Ash Tree Lane existed at least four centuries ago ("we have found stairs!")

What would a full government, military, and scientific investigation of the House yield, assuming unlimited resources?

[Assistant]
Four centuries? They found materials that dated before the creation of our solar system.

The House isn't ours to understand. You should have understood that from the first moment the measuring tape came out larger on the inside. How do you comprehend that which resists the human model of reality?


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

[User]
[Marvel] Is Luke Cage as durable on the inside as he is on the outside?

Basically, if I stuck a gun in his mouth and shot at his brain would the bullet hit his brain and kill him, or just bounce around? I'm also curious about his internal organs, are the unbreakable as well?

[Assistant]
No, his skin is pretty much indestructible, but he's suffered serious internal injuries that's required use of specialists using adamantium-tipped bonesaws or access through the nose or eye.

A hard enough concussion impact to the skull or heart kills him just like you or I, just his threshold is shotgun blasts and explosives, not falling off a ladder or getting poked in the goop with something sharp.


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

[User]
Can animals have accents?

People who speak the same language but grow up in different locations can develop accents. Can the same thing happen to animals too? If so, could two animals of the same species with different accents communicate?

[Assistant]
Orca (killer whale) groups have different dialects based on their family groups. The northern resident group of orcas (found off the coast of British Columbia) has been divided into three different clans, A, G, and R, based on their vocalizations.

Transients (now also known as Bigg's killer whales) live in much smaller social groupings. Their ranges are larger, and their calls are distinctive from other orca populations, but are similar to other transients all along the Pacific coast.

In captivity, they have been able to learn the calls of orcas from other groups. The Vancouver Aquarium had a female named Skana, from the Southern Resident population. A male, Hyak, from the Northern Resident population, learned her calls. After Skana died, the aquarium acquired two orcas from Iceland. Bjossa learned Hyak's calls and even some of Skana's, despite not having met her.


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

[User]
[star wars] how effective would AT-STs and AT-ATs be on the battlefield today ?

Would they be effective I see big powerful weapons of  destruction but also big slow moving targets that aren't very mobile.

[Assistant]
This depends entirely on how effective the armor  (it's not unimaginable that Imperial materials science is significantly more advanced than modern Earth- there are several construction methods and technologies that could defeat HEAT/HEAP rounds, some plausible, more possible and many, many more that are space magic) and electronic warfare is.

I would imagine that AT series vehicles would be absurdly effective given the 10k years of technological progress behind them, but that conventionally configured vehicles using the same tech and tactics would be better.


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

[User]
Is there a reason we can't just build an incredibly long tube to get liquids such as water or fuel into space?

It seems to me like that would cut costs dramatically if you were able to build something long and strong enough.
I imagine The issue is building something with both the length AND the strength to accomplish the task. Or is there another reason?

[Assistant]
Pressure increases with the height of fluid in the column. So if we use the formula:

 roh x g x h

and the fact that low Earth orbit begins at 160 km and ends at 2000 km (just googled that), we can calculate the pressure at the base of the column, no matter it's diameter.

so we get (for water):

1000 kg/m3 x 9.81 m/s2 x 160,000 m

Which is: 1569600 kPa or 227,651 psi.

Good luck making a tube that can withstand that kind of pressure at its base and also support a structure reaching that far up.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are we forced to open our mouth while yawning?

[Assistant] You can learn to overcome the urge to open your mouth... especially if you are in boring classes or meetings where openly yawning is considered rude! It does require controlling the muscles in the back of your jaw and inner ear area - also very useful for equalising the pressure in your ears while flying or diving...


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

[User]
When I'm hungry and my stomach makes noises, what exactly is the cause of these noises?

Is it stomach acid churning? Gas? What makes the gurgly noise?

[Assistant] The noises you are hearing come from waves of contractions passing through your GI tract, churning their contents as they pass. Specifically, those that most likely cause the noises you hear are those of the MMC (Migrating Motor Complex); A series of waves that begin roughly 90 minutes after your stomach empties (and every 75-90 minutes thereafter) and go from your stomach all the way down through the GI. Hope that helps!


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

[User] ELI5: What would happen if there was a material that absorbed 100% light?

[Assistant] If a material absorbed 100% of light that hit it, that means that nothing would be reflected back into the photosensitive cells inside your eye. That means you wouldn't be able to discern any detail about the object. Imagine being in a completely dark room - you wouldn't be able to make out an object right in front of you because no light would be reflecting off of it.


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

[User]
Why is it that most people / doctors will tell you to "drink plenty of fluids" when you are ill?

I'm assuming that it somehow helps your immune system / counters the dehydration of most illnesses.  But I've always been curious.

[Assistant]
When you get sick it's likely you'll experience nausea (vomiting), fever(sweating), and the shits(Diarrhea). So you need to keep hydrated to replace any fluids lost there.

If you do get dehydrated it can put a lot of stress on your body, which will make you feel worse and take longer to recover. Cconsidering it's so easy to rehydrate all doctors will tell you to keep yourself watered just in case you're a dumbass who thinks coke is like water.


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

[User]
ELI5:When deleting data off hard drives to cover your tracks, why do we often see the drives physically destroyed?

I'm talking about in movies and TV shows, like Mr. Robot, when trying to delete evidence or something on a hard drive/usb drive, often simply deleting it isn't enough.
I am aware that simply 'deleting' something doesn't necessarily remove it, (it just sets that chunk of data as available to be written over) and forensic data recovery can find it, so I am asking more specifically how can you recover data that has been properly deleted. Like written over, formatted, and wiped clean. Is physically destroying the drives just to be 100000% sure or is there an actual chance that if found the data could be recovered?

[Assistant]
Think of a hard drive like a notebook. Imagine writing important stuff on that notebook really hard. If you do a simple delete, you're just erasing the cover that says what's in it. Someone can still open it and read what you wrote. You can also overwrite it, which would be like tearing off that top sheet and writing over the dents in the notebook with other data. Even AFTER doing that, someone could still maybe figure out what was written before (just like rubbing it with the side of a pencil). It's messy and you might not be able to make it all out, but maybe enough to be dangerous. Clearly, the more times you repeat writing over that page, the harder that is. Plus it takes forever to cover every inch of that paper.

Your solution then? Light the damn thing on fire. Or crush it, break it, physically damage it (it should be noted that just like taping a shredded notebook back together, it is possible to retrieve data from broken drives in some cases, but it's very time consuming, very difficult and because data is written in bits spread all over the drive and not in neat rows as in a notebook, even harder still.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is around 200C/ 400F the right temperature to cook pretty much everything?

[Assistant]
It's a good balance of speed, browning, and not burning.

Virtually all baking relies on some generation of steam, so you need to be far enough above 100C to get that done.

Then you don't want to wait forever, so you want to go well above 100C. If you want browning you need the food to get up to about 150C, so you want the oven even more than that.

Above about 250C things start going haywire...paper (like muffin cups) starts to char, things go from browning to burning, and you ruin the outside before the heat can propagate to the middle.

Without specific constraints, 200C/400F is hot enough to do what you want quickly without ruining anything.


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

[User]
What would happen if you took way too much LSD? I'm talking hundreds of times more than your optimal dose.

What would be going on in your brain at this moment? Would you ever recover?

[Assistant]
Funny story, this actually happened once. Some people were trying to do cocaine and ended up snorting LSD. As LSD is much active than cocaine, they ended up taking a couple hundred fold dose over what they should have.

From "Klock JC, Boerner U, Becker CE.
Coma, Hyperthermia, and Bleeding Associated with Massive LSD Overdose, A Report of Eight Cases.
Clinical Toxicology. 1975;8(2):191-203."

Quote found at Erowid.

"Although there have been many reports of overdose with D-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in humans, little toxicologic data are available. The physiologic effects of LSD in doses greater than 1 mg have not been studied in humans and the lethal dose must be interpolated from animal studies. We performed extensive toxicologic studies on eight people who took large doses of LSD; the results and clinical-toxicologic correlations are reported herein. REPORTS OF CASES On July 29, 1972 four women and four men ranging in age from 19 to 39 years were admitted to the emergency room at San Francisco General Hospital for drug overdose. **[Fun part starts here]** Following a dinner party, they had "snorted" (inhaled through a straw placed in one nostril) a small amount of cocaine and a quantity of white powder believed to be cocaine. All eight were reported to have snorted at least two "lines" (rows of powder measuring approximately 3 x 4 x 30 mm) of the second substance. Within 5 min they experienced anxiety, restlessness, generalized parasthesias and muscle discomfort, vomiting, and physical collapse. Ten minutes later they were admitted to the emergency room in varying degrees of intoxication (Table 1 and Appendix). Five were comatose when first seen and most were extremely hyperactive with severe visual and auditory hallucinations at some point during their course. Three required endotracheal intubation. and assisted ventilation and three aspirated vomitus. All had sinus tachyeardia, widely dilated and fixed pupils, emesis, flushing, and sweating. Fever developed in four and diarrhea in two. Transient hypertension was present in three patients and no patient had convulsions. All had coagulopathy as manifested by the inability to form firm clots and absence of clot retraction in the blood specimen tubes. Seven had guaiac-positive vomitus and four showed evidence of mild generalized bleeding (microscopic hematuria in two, gross hematuria in two, oozing at venipuncture sites in three and small amounts of blood in the vomitus or stool in four patients). Laboratory data showed normal or negative values (see Appendix) for the following: blood glucose and serum sodium, potassium, and bicarbonate levels, hemoglobin (13.0 to 16.4 gm/dl), platelet Count (186,000 to 458,000/pl), prothrombin time (11.0 to 12.5 sec) and partial thromboplastin time (19.3 to 38.7 see), chest roentgenograms, and electrocardiograms. Results of liver and renal function tests were within normal limits in the three patients studied. Direct examination of the blood clots and results of clot retraction tests on several patients showed friable clots that fell apart easily without dissection, and absence of clot retraction (Fig. 1). Supportive care included respiratory assistance, use of hypothermic blankets, and administration of antibiotics and corticosteroids when indicated. Bleeding was mild and disappeared within 4 to 6 hr. Blood transfusions were unnecessary and all patients recovered completely within 12 hr. All were discharged or left the hospital within 48 hr of admission. No residua were observed in a year of direct follow-up of five patients."

Basically, they had a horrible time and some stopped breathing, but all in all, they lived and ~~recovered~~ and had no adverse effects 5 years later.


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

[User]
(DCU) How did the krypytonians evolve to gain all of their superpowers despite thier very sun preventing them?

To expand on this did they ever realize yellow light had the effect it does on kalel, and use this indoors to compete in games or make society more advanced?

[Assistant]
Kryptonian civilization is insanely ancient and technologically advanced. They were able to save their planet from being destroyed while their sun went through main sequence from a yellow star to a red giant. Kryptonian superpowers evolved billions of years earlier while the star was still yellow.The superpowers were only maintained for so long due to a side effect of making the people incredibly fit and chisled. So while they no longer could fly or shoot lasers out of their eyes, they still found the superpower genes attractive. Much like how the peacock, which bred for beautiful plumage.

TL:DR Sexual selection.


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

[User] ELI5: How are LED Bulbs of different Brightness/ Wattage made ?

[Assistant]
An LED works by making electrons give up a certain amount of energy when they cross the diode. That determines the wavelength of light that is emitted. Every electron that passes through means that a photon will be emitted. If you want more photons, you need more electrons, for more electrons you need more power (higher wattage). Now you can't just take an LED and force more power through it, or else you'll burn it out, so if you want to make one rated for a higher wattage, you need it to be built to allow more electrons through. It's like a pipe, if you build it to hold more water, more water can pass through it, but if you over fill it, it will burst.

A simple explanation, how "long" an LED is determines the color, and how wide it is determines the brightness.


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

[User] [Lord of the Rings] Were there any defectors from Saruman or Sauron's armies or were they all completely loyal to them the entire time?

[Assistant]
Morgoth, Sauron's big boss, created an orcish culture which said that elves were evil, and if captured by them the elves would torture or eat the elves for amusement, and Sauron's armies generally inherited this racism. There were orcish warlords accustomed to independence, but by the LoTR, Sauron had quashed most rebellions, and had them in almost antlike obedience. Saruman likewise had little trouble controlling his smaller forces.

The Haradim, those people with giant elephants, had more active rebellions. The blue wizards worked extensively with rebels among them, vastly reducing the size of the army Sauron could field. Gondor had long oppressed them with violence and cruelty. After the war ended Aragorn made peace, and continued the violence and oppression.

Next, the Dunlendings. They were humans related to some of the indigenous people of the land who the Numenor/ Gondorians (magical humans like Aragorn) had booted out of their land and given it to the Rohirrim. They had experienced generally unpleasant treatment, including slavery and heavy exploitation and violence for centuries. Saruman had promised them their ancestral lands back. Once Sauron and Saruman were gone they fairly peaceably left, their oppression under Gondor continuing.

Finally, the easterlings. They were long allies of Morgoth, and their culture was very pro war with Gondor, and they were generally very happy to go to war, and didn't have much internal dissent.


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

[User] Would a supernova produce an audible sound due to the gas cloud formed during the explosion?

[Assistant]
any material that can form pressure waves can produce sound.  even in interstellar and intergalactic space where the gas density is extremely low you can have shockwaves.

in and around stars the space is filled with gas as a plasma, plasmas have tons of oscillation modes including pressure waves, so certainly a supernova will create a huge pressure wave.

but if you're asking if the human ear can hear such a sound is a different question.  considering you'll be instantly vaporized long before the pressure wave hits you.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why carbonated drinks stay "fresh" for ages until you open it, but after reclosing the lid very tightly it goes flat in a few days

This always frustrates me. I leave a 2 liter of coke in the pantry, its fine for a *month*. I open it, pour a glass, close that **** as tightly as possible and put it back. 3 days later theres next to no fizz. How come?

[Assistant] The bottles are pressurized to keep the CO2 in the liquid. When you open it, the bottle depressurizes and the CO2 can freely escape into the void you make by drinking some. After the bottle is opened once, you'll hear it depressurize again the second time you open it. This is the gas that has escaped since you last opened it.


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

[User]
Can somebody please explain light and frequencies?

I don't really understand this area. Do the photons actually move around when they are travelling? Does this relate to how much energy is in the photon?

[Assistant]
If you are thinking of a photon as a tiny sphere, then you are likely misunderstanding the concept of a photon.

The particle equations describing a photon are better imagined as a wave packet with some location and spread in space. But when the photon interacts, it interacts discretely - and that is what we call a particle. So it is a wave that interacts discretely.


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

[User] Why is 0-14 used for the pH scale? What are the highest and lowest pH substances both in existence and theoretically possible?

[Assistant]
The pH scale is related to the molar concentration of hydrogen ions. Normal water has a H+ concentration = 10\^-7, therefor the pH is 7.  Technically, pH is the -log10 \[ hydrogen ion activity\]. The scale goes beyond 0 - 14, but only uncommon substances are outside this range. Battery acid is pH = 0, meaning the H+ activity is 100%. Pure liquid lye drain cleaner is pH = 14, so the H+ activity is 10\^-14 (very low), and the OH- activity is very high.

Hot saturated solution of sodium hydroxide can reach pH = 16. Very concentrated HCl solutions have pH = -1.1, and some waters from the Richmond Mine in California are reported at pH = -3.6.


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

[User]
[Sherlock/D&D] What kind of trouble would Sherlock cause in a D&D campaign?

So John, Mrs. Hudson,  and Lestrade convince Sherlock to play a campaign of Dungeons and Dragons, Lestrade is the DM, and they're all playing 3.5 edition. How quickly would this game be broken?  (I am envisioning the BBC Sherlock adaptation for this)

[Assistant]
The game would be broken from the get go becuase our sherlocks incredibly specific questions.

"you walk into a tavern and see an elf"

"hmm, what color is the elves hair"

"errr, brown"

"what shade of brown"

"....amber?"

"hm, what is his profession"

"he's a blacksmith"

"then he is the murderer, come now Watson lets go home."

"murderer! what murder?"

"Good day Lestrade"


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

[User] If things like misuse of antibiotics or overuse of hand sanitizers produces resistant strains of bacteria, can mouthwash do the same?

[Assistant]
Alcohol in mouth wash works differently to an antibiotic because it actually breaks down the lipid layer of the cell membrane and when the alcohol gets inside the cell it breaks it down and it dies.  However nobody knows if or when an alcohol resistant bacteria will develop lets hope its a long way away.

The thing to remember is if we we use a single method of action to kill anything that has  a fast reproductive rate the risk that a  mutated bacteria will be created will always exist but it is more than a single mutation that would be required for that to happen.

However recent studies have highlighted certain bacteria are already developing alcohol resistance in hospitals.   139 samples of E. faecium, isolated from 19972015 were assessed to see how well each sample tolerated diluted isopropyl alcohol.  After analysis, it became clear that the samples taken after 2009 were significantly more tolerant of alcohol than those taken before 2004.  So our reliance on alcohol as a sanitiser is already creating greater resistance in some bacteria in hospital settings and that could lead to an accidental creation of a totally totally resistant bacteria over time.  But these tests were with diluted not neat alcohol so while we may not need to panic now the potential does exist that bugs can learn to live in ever higher concentrations.

Much work is being done on this problem but cocktails of substances so if one bacteria develops a resistance to one thing then something else in that cocktail will finish it off.  The next wave of combined antibiotics are already in development and the first have entered drug trials with good results.  So we may have new weapons in the fight against resistance in our arsenals soon.


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

[User] ELI5: If the US was attacked with a long-ranged ballistic nuke by a foreign nation, would we be equipped to disarm it before landfall and how does this technology work?

[Assistant]
The current belief is (hopefully never to be fully tested) that a few missiles could potentially be stopped.  Depending on from where it's launched, the US has a few layers of defenses posed to try and stop it, primarily with missiles designed to intercept other missiles.  We've seen this technology improving and in action in places like Israel against short range ballistic missiles and other weapons.  Against large numbers of targets and at high altitude the reliability understandably decreases, not taking into account special measures/technologies that might be employed to defeat interception missiles.

The biggest defense against a nuclear attack is the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, which is to say that if we detect an attack we're ready to respond in kind before any warheads actually impact, leading to significant destruction on both sides.  No rational power would challenge such a threat.  Even a state like North Korea, which really acts the way it does solely to preserve its particular political structure.


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

[User]
How do isotopes affect protein folding?

How do isotopes of different sizes affect protein folding? Is the effect negligible, can too many isotopes of a certain mass disturb the proper folding of a protein? Thanks in advance, askscience.

[Assistant] It's negligible. Isotope substitutions only affect kinetics, really. In _theory_ that could change folding by causing one folding path to become kinetically favored over another. In reality it doesn't seem very likely that evolution/biology would produce a protein that was _that_ sensitive to kinetics (and thus temperature). It'd end up misfolding too often even without the isotopes.


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

[User]
CMV: The obsession with preserving cultural identities is bad for humanity

There's this constant fear among both the right and the left in my opinion of cultures mixing and synthesizing. To sort of boil down the argument I often hear goes something like this "French culture is beautiful Islamic culture is beautiful, but if we start mixing them then both cultures will just end up being destroyed, or one will just devour the other".

You can see examples of this like I said allover the political spectrum. Whether its the "replacement theory" lunatics in the US, Anti immigration in Europe, The Quebecois obsession's with maintaining their French heritage, the Japanese obsession's with racial purity and their strict immigration quotas. Religious households of multiple faiths wanting to create enclaves so that their kids aren't exposed to other cultures or beliefs.

There is some truth to this, the cultures will be destroyed, but they aren't mentioning the 2nd part, that a new culture is created that is a synthesis of both. Cultural achievements are just as real and as important as scientific achievements. Do we have "american" science or "british" science? Does calculus and Newtonian gravity belong to England, but Einstein's discoveries belong to jewish people? Science belongs to humanity. I don't see why culture is any different. Shakespeare doesn't "belong" to English people, Dostoyevsky doesn't belong to Russia, Socrates doesn't belong to Greece, Lao Tzu doesn't belong to China. They belong to humanity.

We should be encouraging as much cultural exchange as possible just like we encourage as much scientific exchange as possible. Look at how much better food got after the Columbian exchange. Italian food exists because native american culture (tomatoes) Chinese culture (Noodles) and Mediterranean culture mixed. Creole food classic french cooking with african and spanish mixing, probably my favorite type of food in the world. Music, Jazz mixing African rhythms with European classical music. Basically all modern western music stems from that mix.

Mixing makes things better not worse. We should be increasing the scope of our identities toward a more global human identity and away from provincialism. Now I do agree that one culture shouldn't erase another, which often does happen. A good example is rock music where the contributions of African Americans are significantly downplayed in relation to white stars like Elvis, the Rolling Stones, Beatles etc. When all those guys basically took most of their inspiration from black musicians (they admit it themselves most of the time). But the end product of Rock music is still good for humanity. People should get the credit they deserve obviously, but  the actual mixing still produced something great.

[Assistant] There's a difference between the gradual shift and melding of cultures and a culture being forcefully and willfully stripped from a people, and that is a legacy that a lot of people, like many indigenous populations, are struggling with... because their culture didn't mix or change, it was stripped away. Perhaps for those people, a cultural identity, especially when they are the victims of historical and contemporary oppression, can be a real source of strength and unity. In that light, maybe it's important for them to preserve their culture.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do we have earlobes?

Evolutionarily speaking, why has the human race developed earlobes? Are earlobes present in other animals?

[Assistant]
Wikipedia doesn't know what they're for, usually random traits like this are caused by either:

1) The genes that cause it to grow also have other functions (maybe brain development?) that are selected for

2) Sexual selection - earlobes (for some reason) make a person look better to the opposite sex so you have more mates, like a miniature version of a peacock tail.

3) Random luck - a mutation caused them and it stuck because they don't do any harm.

Also apparently chimps have earlobes too so they must have developed before humans split from other great apes.


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

[User]
[D&D/Pathfinder] Why isn't the world full of ancient dragons?

Think about it. Dragons are portrayed in both flavor and statistics as some of the most powerful creatures on the Prime Material Plane. Even a newborn outmatches the vast majority of human warriors, and is also a reasonably intelligent and extremely haughty and greedy creature. And with age, dragons only become larger and more cunning and powerful.

So why do so few dragons reach their maximum age? Why would the vast majority of them die before they reach maturity? Why don't dragons dominate the world? There surely aren't enough seasoned adventurers running around to kill off almost every one of the ~35 types of dragons with full age progressions that have been published for Pathfinder.

[Assistant]
1.  Dragons are very territorial.  They hate each other generally, and vie constantly for resources.  Any given million-square-mile area is unlikely to have more than one ancient dragon; lesser wyrms may be tolerated, but as they grow in power and age the eldest will come for them.

2.  Dragons are *very* powerful, but not invincible.  They are a threat of a magnitude sufficient to unite many other entities against them, and they're arrogant enough to rarely think they need their own allies.

3.  Dragons don't mate and lay eggs often.  Once every few hundred years, most likely.  That's not a high birth rate.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do dogs go grey around the mouth? Do animals have "beards"?

[Assistant]
The same reason many humans generally start going gray at the temples first and then it spreads to other parts. It's because as we and the animals age, certain pigment-producing cells at the root of our hair die, and that usually starts in specific body regions first.

Normally as the hair grows, those cells inject a colour into the hair, but when they eventually die off in some body regions as most people (and dogs) age, they're not there any more to inject the dye, so the growing hair becomes essentially fingernail-clipping coloured.

Genetics determines when and where this happens, in the same way that it determines other hair features such as waviness or patches of colour on a cat's or cow's hide (except that's not as time-related).


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

[User] ELI5: Why can't we "rewind" the satellite images and track the Malaysian airplane from its takeoff to see where it went?

[Assistant] We don't have live satellite imagery of the entire world.  There are definitely several government "spy satellites", but they were almost certainly not being wasted to track what, at the time, appeared to be one of hundreds of thousands of normal daily flights.


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

[User] [Warhammer 40k] Can vegans eat orcs?

[Assistant]
Generally, veganism is built on the moral platform that you shouldnt cause death or suffering to sentient beings for the sake of your own lifestyle. Since orks are sentient beings - even if they are sentient fungi - they would therefore be inappropriate for a vegan diet. However, since orks are also foul xenos, accursed in the Emperors sight, many of the more sternly orthodox leaders of the Imperium would regard recognising their sentience as heresy, and would therefore argue that eating their flesh is no more wrong than righteously slaughtering them in His name.

You still shouldnt eat them, though. They taste terrible.


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

[User]
cmv: Therapy should not be for life

In recent years, I have noticed some worrying trends in therapy usage. I believe it is a great thing that therapy and seeking mental health help has become normalized, but I think consistently being in therapy for many years is not good. The ultimate goal of therapy is to give someone the tools to get out of therapy and be internally health on their own. People who have gone to therapy for 10+ years and still struggle just the same have not been very successful and should probably seek other help (other therapists, alternatives, etc). Furthermore, I think a sense of pride in mental health issues is also a mistake. The consistent Im so depressed lol culture is not how life is supposed to be. If you are depressed, feel free to own it, but it is not a joke and should be something to be fixed. Mental health issues are just that, an issue, and the continual acceptance of not trying to end issues is a problem in its own. Im not saying that being depressed is an issue, but being okay with being depressed is one.

[Assistant] Do you not go to your doctor for life? Do you not work out for life? Your mental health is part of your overall health. Unfortunately our bodies and minds are fragile and need to be constantly maintained.


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

[User] [Marvel] I found Tony Stark unconscious in the street after a big battle. He was not breathing so I decided to perform CPR. However, this blue glowy thingy in his chest is getting in the way of chest compression. How do I save him now?

[Assistant]
Don't. Yes, it's really that simple. If you REALLY want to help, drag him into a building where he will not be found by a bad guy too quickly. Defend his body if you must, but for your sake you should probably leave immediately.

Tony Stark has, over the last few decades, done several things to himself and his technological empire that mean that anything you do will do more damage than good. However, if you wait patiently and simply watch, you might get to see something REALLY cool, depending on how much damage he has sustained.

This may include defensive automated AI suits of armor, as well as a medical bot coming in through the ceiling. It may include his own internal bio-suit automatically protecting him and/or providing first aid... coming straight out of his skin. It's really weird to watch.

And, if all is done and Tony is already dead, then an AI replacement is already prepared to continue his personality and livelihood into the future. Yes, he did actually create multiple complete copies of his own psyche, in case of catastrophe. Tony Stark has ensured, far better than most and in an ethical way, his effective immortality.


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

[User]
How much damage would a sudden reversal of the magnetic poles do?

My (somewhat paranoid) sister says that the 2012 apocalypse will happen when the solar system lines up with the galactic core and reverse Earth's magnetic poles. I was wondering how much damage a sudden reversal of the poles would do.

[Assistant]
Polar reversals are not really sudden the way most people would think of them. They happen over the course of anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 years, so they just seem instantaneous on a geological time scale. It is actually quite possible that one is occurring now, as the poles have moved a fairly significant distance (about 10 miles) in the last few years, and it looks like they may be accelerating. So basically the chances of a sudden magnetic reversal on dec. 21 is essentially nil.

With that being said, as to the damage a reversal would do: very little. There have been thousands of pole reversals in earth's history, and none seems to have caused much of a problem to the life around at the time. There was some speculation that the P/T boundary was partially caused by a magnetic reversal, but that idea has pretty much been scrapped.


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

[User] Do chargers with "frayed" ends (such as ripped insulation before the USB drive) work less efficiently than the same chargers in mint condition?

[Assistant]
If the damage is severe enough to induce additional electrical resistance in the cable, yes.

However, you shouldn't use a damaged cable - it's a major safety risk.  A short-circuit will cause the charger's transformer to heat up as it passes extreme currents through its coils.  Ideally this will pop your circuit breaker.  In reality, if your charger is not UL/CSA/CE approved, the windings on the mains side of the transformer may be resistive enough to keep currents *juuust* low enough to not trip larger circuits.  This can end with your wall catching fire.

In summary: don't use damaged cables.


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

[User] [Marvel Comics] Whatever happened to Nightcrawler being a priest? I've heard crazy rumors that it never happened, or it did happen but it was a fake church...what's the deal?

[Assistant]
There is no answer to this that does not raise further questions.

Kurt was raised Catholic, and was always very religious. Eventually, he took holy orders, but carried on superheroing while wearing a nifty new collar.

Then it turned out  that his ordination was fake, and he wasn't really a priest. Instead it was part of an evil plot by the Church of Humanity (generic mutant-haters with religious symbols) to make him pope (yep). How they would persuade the College of Cardinals to elect a freshly ordained (only not really) priest who quite possibly doesn't even speak Italian was not fully explained.

Anyway, they would then have revealed that he was a mutant (this stage of the plan also involved them somehow acquiring a shapeshifting mutant who could look human until the Big Reveal - not quite as far-fetched as everything else you're about to read, since Kurt has an "image inducer" which lets him look human when necessary), thereby - somehow - destroying the Roman Catholic church.

Also, they were going to fake the Evangelical version of the Rapture (which is not recognised in Roman Catholic doctrine) using poisoned communion wafers which make people disintegrate. Exactly how this would help their plans to bring down the Catholic church and kill more mutants was not specified.

Also, they crucified Jubilee (who survived, because Archangel had just developed magic healing blood) and Skin (who didn't, because Generation X gets no love), apparently just for shock value.

... It was a weird time for the X-Men.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why do dogs eat poop?

Why do dogs eat poop? Is there a biological reason?

[Assistant]
A lot of animals don't have great digestive systems - most of the nutrients pass right through their body. In order to get those nutrients, the animal has to process the food more than once.

Some animals, like cows, barf up the food to chew it several times before swallowing again. Other animals, like rabbits, just eat their poop to get the nutrients they missed the first time around.

Dogs do both. People do neither.


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

[User]
What does the supply curve of digital products look like, since the supply is basically infinite?

Probably an obvious question, but its been a long time since Ive taken an economics class.

[Assistant] Digital products are not homogenous. They are protected by intellectual property rights, which gives their providers monopoly power. So, instead of the supply and demand framework for the competitive markets, a monopoly framework with small marginal cost and decreasing average cost could be more appropriate to analyze them.


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

[User]
[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure] Why are so many males, especially the Jostars, muscular?

I can understand Jonathan being big due to having been into sports as a child (boxing, football, etc) but how can people like Joseph and Jotaro have the same muscle mass? Joseph is canonically lazy and I doubt he has the drive to put himself into a lot of strenuous activity unless the world depends on it.

[Assistant]
First thing, Jonathan is enormous, even by Joestar standards. Joseph and Jotaro don't really compare.

Second, Joseph never struck me as lazy(sedentary) so much as lazy(hates honest work). He probably spent his youth escaping from irate shopkeepers and cops, and it shows when he fights as an adult - he outruns or outsmarts his opponents, rather than overpowering them.

As far as Jotaro, we're never told he's on a sports team, but it's implied he does get in a lot of fights.


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

[User] ELI5: If we can build a functional hard drive in minecraft- is it theoretically possible to build a computer within minecraft that could build minecraft?

[Assistant] Theoretically, yes.  Would you want to?  No.  The clock rate of anything you build is limited to the rate that redstone circuits can change, so whatever game you make is going to run very, very slowly.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do humans have to wipe after they poop when practically every other animal does not need to?

[Assistant] Because we walk upright so have big butt muscles which mean our anus is actually right up in between them leading to problems with cleanliness when defecating. This is exacerbated by the sit on toilet when we probably squatted before. Though we also have complex dexterous hands which can over come the problem by directly or with the use of a tools- (leaves scraping tools, paper etc )removing any mess that might attract parasites etc.


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

[User]
ELI5: How is "Counting Cards" in Poker Considered as Cheating?

While watching TV a girl in the show got addicted to poker and she got in trouble and the guys she were playing were like "She's cheating! She's counting cards".

How is that cheating? It is like playing a memory game and remembering what cards you already picked up, right?

[Assistant]
First, you can only count cards in blackjack, not poker. It's not cheating, it just gives you a ~~huge advantage~~ slight edge over a casino. They're in the business of making money, and if you're counting cards, they're losing money (if you do it right). Because they're losing money, they'll kick you out. It's only considered "cheating" by the casino, because it's bad for business. The reason why it's "cheating" is because blackjack is supposed to be a game of chance. You're not supposed to know what cards are coming. If you count cards, you can make educated guesses about what cards will be next, so you can bet big if you know you're probably going to win, or small if you're probably going to lose.

Edit: Reality crushes Hollywood.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do I get light headed and dizzy when I stand up too quickly?

So I was in my room and went to switch the light on, when I stood up I went all light headed and dizzy - u know - when someone says "woah I stood up too quickly, headrush!" Why reddit? Why?

PS, I'm healthy, never had any brain issues, no intoxicants (although seems to happen to stoners lots more than non-smokers?) my resting pulse is just above 50, I don't smoke and there's no history of stroke or anything else! And no, it's naht a toomah.

PPS, say yes to arnie, no to drugs.

(Edit - If your answer is something to do with rushing blood, why does *that* happen?!)

[Assistant]
So you have numerous arteries leading into your skull and veins leading out of your skull. Their function is to supply your brain with fresh, oxygen rich blood and to drain it of the used, oxygen deplete blood. This whole system works because your heart's pumping your blood in a closed loop of arteries and veins throughout your body.

Now depending on certain physical positions you put yourself in, it can cause imbalances in the quantity of blood in different areas of your body. When you're off your feet, relaxing, perhaps reclined somewhat so your legs are elevated, there is going to be less blood in your legs than if you were standing. This has mostly to do with gravity not pulling blood downward towards your feet. Now if you stand up quickly, guess what happens? A bunch of blood that was previously not being pulled downward by gravity suddenly is being pulled down.

This drop in blood pressure slows the amount of blood that is going to your brain and you get a little light headed as a result. As soon as your brain starts feeling a little oxygen-starved though, it generally will tell your heart to get it's ass in gear and pump harder so as to bring more O2 to the brain quicker. That's why you often have a stronger pulse after a head rush, it's your body overcompensating because the brain think's it's starving.


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

[User]
ELI5: Stairway to Heaven

Last time I saw someone ask for an explanation to "Bohemian Rhapsody" and learned a bunch.
Now, I'm looking for someone to explain Stairway to Heaven to me.

[Assistant]
> 'The wonderful thing about "Stairway" is the fact that just about everybody has got their own individual interpretation to it, and actually what it meant to them at their point of life. And that's what's so great about it. Over the passage of years people come to me with all manner of stories about what it meant to them at certain points of their lives. About how it's got them through some really tragic circumstances ... Because it's an extremely positive song, it's such a positive energy, and, you know, people have got married to [the song].' -Page

Didn't really answer your question, but it's a fine quote. Good idea for an ELI5 by the way.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are pills packaged so inefficiently?

[Assistant]
Pills are packaged in a standard size foil pack and box even if they don't want to fill the entire sheet with pills, because that is **more** efficient rather than less. Being able to reuse the same equipment and materials for multiple products is a lot better than needing to resize everything for each run, and just not inserting a pill is simple. What is a little thin plastic and foil in waste?

Another issue is that the box should be a certain size for customers to see it on the shelf and purchase it. Sure they could cram the pills into a smaller size but if that hurts your sales then why do that?


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

[User]
[Invincible] Why isnt Atom Eve considered the most powerful superhero?

She can rearrange atoms at the molecular level. I mean, thats basically it, right? No one can stop that. She can do anything.

She can easily stop Omni Man but just rearranging his atoms so that his bones are made of jelly, or his heart is on the outside, or hell, make him a baby or something. She could wipe out the entire GDA by just turning the Pentagon into toxic gas. She can bring all of the Guardians of the Globe back to life by rearranging their atoms into healthy functioning bodies. (Admittedly this last one could be a stretch because with Damien Darkblood in the show, theres clearly a spiritual aspect to reality and I guess it could be argued that she cant create life because of souls not being made of physical stuff like atoms or something)

I just finished the Amazon Prime show but havent read the comics, so if youre into the comics and they have a more complete explanation of the limits of her powers, Im super curious to know. It was a great show!

[Assistant]
Like mentioned, she has locks on her powers in the comics from the man who experimented on her which prevents from being able to effect living beings with her powers.

Next, Eve is one of the most powerful beings in the Invincible universe even with this limitation. But like a lot of characters what limits Eve is that she is to slow. Even if she could affect living things consistently (and not just when near death), she is not as fast as even Mark when his powers are developing let alone a prime Viltrumite like Omni-Man. She would be speed blitzed before she could do anything.


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

[User]
Which came first, naked (hairless) humans or clothing?

Some further questions:

- Did an advancing ice age/migration to colder areas cause clothing to be necessary?
- Was a hairless human first advantageous due to a very warm climate?
- Did clothing cause discomfort, leading to an evolutionary advantage to be hairless?
- Did evolution reroute resources from hair to somewhere more useful due to hair being redundant?
- Or was there another reason as to why having hair was a disadvantage?

[Assistant]
Hairlessness. There were cultures, such as some tribes in New Guinea and Australia, that never picked up the habit of wearing clothes.

Hairlessness allows sweating, which allows better temperature control, which is useful for long distance running, which is what humans excelled at.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does college tuition cost so much in America?

[Assistant]
In contrast to many countries in Europe the US doesn't directly subsidize college education. While it offers many grants and loan programs students are still required to purchase it at its full price.

This, coupled with more students and expensive extra curricular facilities/services makes college very expensive.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What do Mandalorians think of Boba Fett?

From watching The Mandalorian, it seems that they don't like the Empire very much. They took their beskar steel, something they highly respect and hold in almost spiritual importance. Hell, one of them got up in the protagonist's face for even dealing with the Empire remnants.

And then there's Boba Fett, who's been contracted by the Empire and worked directly under Darth Vader himself. There's no way Boba Fett didn't know of the Empire's fucking over of the Mandalorians, and he was their willing worker anyway.

So it got me thinking, do groups of Mandalorians dislike him? Or did they take a more neutral stance when the Empire was in great power, and just saw Fett as a great bounty hunter taking the highest bidder?

[Assistant]
Canon: They probably hold him in disgust for using Mandalorian Armor without being a Mandalorian himself; they probably also hate him for working for the Empire.

Legends: Completely different. He joins the Mandalorians and eventually becomes their leader. They were willing to ignore the fact he worked for the Empire, probably seeing him as a great bounty hunter taking the highest bidder.  It doesn't hurt that Legends Boba seems to be far stronger (survives the Sarlacc pit, once survived a fight with Darth Vader in *Enemy of the Empire)*

*Edit: Jango Fett is a Mandalorian in Legends but not in Canon. Many of the Mandalorians in the Protector faction (Legends) idolized Jango Fett and his legacy (which includes Boba), but does not apply in Canon.*


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

[User] [Men in Black] [DC] How would the MiB agency view Superman, Martian Manhunter, or the Green Lantern Corps?

[Assistant]
They'd want to recruit the former two, and establish a working relationship with the latter.

You can see that they pretty much manage diplomatic relations with alien powers (at least, you can see that just before getting neuralized :P).

Ditto for them employing aliens in their agency.  Whatever you might think about them running around erasing memories, at least they're an equal opportunity employer.


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

[User]
[Halo] What were the ecological and global climate effects of Africa being glassed?

In *Halo 3*, the Elites glass the entire continent of Africa to prevent the spread of the Flood. How did this affect weather, climate, and air quality for the rest of the planet?

[Assistant]
Although Admiral Hood may have accused them of glassing "half a continent", the reality was that the Sangheili actually only glassed a relatively small area of 'only' a few hundred kilometers around the Flood infection site thanks to the Arbiter's Council.

Globally it would have been like a large scale volcanic erruption. The massive amount of ash and dust thrown into the air would have caused the Earth to cool, causing a mild nuclear winter effect for a few years, maybe some striking sunsets and sunrises due to the particulates in the upper atmosphere.

Locally, though, the devastation would have been absolute. Within the glassed area itself not even bacteria survived. The surrounding regions also suffered severe, if not total, ecological collapse. Massive wildfires, storms, mass animal migration. Many species of both plants and animals rendered extinct.

However human intervention and the use of advancements to terraforming technology, along with the relatively small scale of the destruction, meant that once the War was over, at least some of the damage could be repaired or reversed.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does file compression work?

Title basically says it all. I understand how photos and videos can trade quality for file size, but files like games or large folders can be shrunk into a .rar or .zip file, transferred, and pulled back out with no loss to functionality. How does that work? If nothing's being taken away how is space being saved?

[Assistant]
Some files have patterns in them.  The compression tool looks through the file and finds the patterns.  Then it makes a new file with one copy of the patterns, followed by the rest of the file including a marker for "pattern 1 goes here" or "pattern 5 goes here".  Since the markers are smaller than the patterns, and some file have a very large number of certain patterns, the compressed format of the file can be much smaller.  Some files don't compress well, and the compression doesn't make them any smaller.

Above I've discussed lossless compression, where no information is destroyed.  There are other approaches used to compress sounds or images, that also lose some less significant information, but those operations are not lossless.


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

[User]
[SW] What would have happened if Luke had gotten Vader off the Death Star?

Would Vaders quality of life have improved? Could he have trained Luke? Found The Child? Kept Ben from turning ?

[Assistant] If vader had survived it'd depend on your preference of legends or eu.  In legends he'd be kept hidden and separate from the rebel forces and used to find secret hidden Imperial forces and bases pumped for information in exchange for some measure of amnesty.  Likely he'd die by the events of dark empire either succumbing to his age and injuries or killed by palpatine and his Hands.  Canon he'd have to immediately go into hiding likely with Luke's help alone.  He'd train Luke as much as he could but probably still die before Ben's birth.  If his survival were known by anyone the new republic would have hunted him down across the galaxy for their own version of the Nuremberg trials before publicly executing him for his numerous crimes.


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

[User]
ELI5: Wireless phone charging

I just can't wrap my head around it. How is the transfer in energy occuring when there's no direct connection?

[Assistant] Electricity moves around and creates magnetic fields, and can wiggle physical stuff. The opposite is also true, magnets wiggling around can create electricity. It's just a to b to a again, with some loss in between.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] What happened to all the money in Gingotts while London was under the occupation of Voldemort?

Once Voldemort and the other Death Eaters had occupied  (read: taken over by force) London, and all the magical districts and businesses that came with it  (MoM, Diagon Alley, etc.) what happened to everyone's bank account?

I couldn't see it being below Voldemort to just say "Congratulations! Your life savings have now been heroically donated to the war effort. You will be handsomely compensated, in that your death will be swift and merciful."

I could particularly see this happening if they found out that a sizable amount of money in the bank belonged to one Mr. Harry Potter, Public Enemy No. 1.

Was the bank just like it's own sovereign nation, with the goblins as its sole residents? And were they willing to do business with anyone so long as they had the coin for it?

[Assistant]
> Was the bank just like it's own sovereign nation, with the goblins as its sole residents? And were they willing to do business with anyone so long as they had the coin for it?

Gringotts operates like Swiss banks. They're sovereign and independent of the wizarding world, because neutrality is the crux of their business operation.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can pi never repeat a pattern?

Given a finite number of digits (0-9) wouldn't this be impossible? How are we qualifying a "repeating pattern"?

If we say, for example, that 678 is the pattern, wouldn't it merely be a matter of time before 678 appears twice?

[Assistant]
You've misunderstood a bit--"repeating pattern" doesn't necessarily mean that the pattern *never* shows up again, just that it doesn't regularly do so.

So, pi might well have "678" in multiple places, but it's never going to settle into a pattern where the rest of the digits are "678678678678678678...".


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

[User]
Eli5: How do herbivore animals get enough calories in a day?

I just read that 1Kg (About 2lb) of grass has like 64 calories.

How on earth do animals that run around all day like deer or huge animals like elephants eat enough calories from plants in nature to function?

I know they dont only eat grass, they eat roots, bark, sometimes fruit if found, but if sedentary humans consume something like 1200-2500 calories a day, how on earth do these animals that move a lot can get enough calories?!
I read that for example deer burn anywhere from 6000-9000 calories a day.

[Assistant]
The 64 calories is what's available if you ate it. Cows and the like let the grasses ferment in their stomachs which allows them to get calories from the cellulose which is otherwise indigestible.

The effective calories a cow or horse can get from a lb of hay is more like 800-900 per lb.


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

[User] ELI5: What happens if you turn a computer off while it says not to turn it off?

[Assistant] Updates often have changes for operating system files. If the PC should lose power, some files may only be partially saved, causing system corruption, and potentially destroying the software. In such a situation, your only option may be to completely wipe the hard drive (losing all your saved information) and reinstalling the entire operating system completely. Do yourself a favor and let the thing do the thing.


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

[User] [1984] If Oceania is alway allied with either Eastasia or Eurasia and warring with the other, does that not mean the other Powers are fighting two at a time half their wars?

[Assistant] Presuming that Oceania is actually at war with either power, yes. But it's just as likely that Oceania isn't at war with *anyone*, and is terror-bombing its own populace in an extended series of false flags. Or that there's only one war, and Oceania is just changing who it's against based on what they want you to believe. Or that the other powers are nuclear wastelands.


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

[User] ELI5:Why did NATO think it was a good idea to have Turkey as a member?

[Assistant]
Geography.

Turkey controls the Bosphorus strait, splitting the Black Sea from the Mediterranean. During the Cold War, control of that strait was absolutely vital. The USSR's navy was bottled up for large portions of the year when the winter would freeze their other ports up. Only the ports in the Black Sea remain ice free 100% of the year.

It was also very close to Russia, and the US placed several nukes in Turkey until the Cuban missile crisis.


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

[User] How do 17 year life cycle cicadas "keep track" of the year count to know when to emerge?

[Assistant] It actually has to do with the life cycle. It was believed that they were hibernating or asleep. Recent studies have found that they are actually alive, tunneling underground as a flightless juvenile stage. They emerge as adults at the same time, presumably to breed and then their offspring will take 17 years to become adults, at which the whole cycle will start again.


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

[User]
[Spider-Man] Why did Peter Parker not gain web powers?

In the comics, Peter does not gain web powers from the spider bite, he creates the webbing himself. In the Raimi trilogy, he gets webbing powers. Why wouldn't he get webbing powers in the first place? He gets all other powers of a spider, and the webbing is like the most important power.

[Assistant] Peter's powers are, believe it or not, magical in nature, and not purely biological. The spider bite didn't give him the necessary organs to produce the webbing, but imparted with him the knowledge to make the webs.


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

[User] [Star Wars] When all those Alliance ships enter hyperspace together, can they actually see and interact with each other inside, or does each individual ship get its own hyperspace tunnel?

[Assistant]
Yes, they can see each other while in hyperspace.
If you take a look at Poe's fighter squadron on approach to Starkiller base, as the pilots are checking in you can see the other craft flying alongside.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] What happens if I can't fulfil an Unbreakable Vow because the conditions become impossible?

Say I made a Vow to kill someone but that person dies some other way first. Am I off the hook, or destined to die horribly myself?

[Assistant]
This exact situation happened.

Yusuf Kama made an Unbreakable vow to kill Corvus LeStrange after his father, who was also named Corvus, kidnapped and raped Yusufs mother. But the real Corvus LeStrange was drowned in a matter entirely unrelated to him, leaving the conditions unable to be fulfilled, possibly even before the vow was made.

He's fine, and nothing happened to him, even after he learned he could never fulfill the task. SO evidently, nothing happens.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Why does Luke not grieve his aunt or uncle, but when Ben dies he gets all super-sad?

[Assistant]
Grief is a peculiar thing. It doesn't happen all of a sudden. True grieving takes a while to set in. Luke was basically in shock when he saw that Beru and Owen had been killed. Then he made an impulsive decision to go travelling with Obi-Wan, and his mind was kept occupied by all the travelling/adventures they were having.

Basically, he didn't have time to properly grieve until much later, and we're just not shown his grieving process in the film.


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

[User]
The fundamental idea behind Pokemon is animal cruelty. CMV

Disclaimer: I love Pokemon, always have since it first came out. The games have been an enormous part of my life (I had to learn to read in order to play Blue) and I would never discourage someone from playing them.
My opinion that I would like changed is that at its core, pokemon is about enslaving a team of creatures to destroy someone else's team of enslaved creatures. The way I see it is even if you were argue that it is about the love between master and pokemon, it boils down to the fact that I love my awesomely powerful poke-death machine of a gyrados for its ability to destroy all who stand in our way. Also pokeballs. A snorlax in a pokeball is on par with leaving your dog in the car on a hot day. Also please don't try to change my view with a mountain of text stating how awesome pokemon is. Trust me, I know. CMV!

[Assistant]
> A snorlax in a pokeball is on par with leaving your dog in the car on a hot day.

Aren't Pokeballs supposed to be some wonder of technology that can fit something like a Snorlax inside of them? How do you know it isn't a spacious furnished apartment in there?


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

[User]
[Mass Effect] How advanced is the medical technology?

Like, what's the most someone could walk away from in just a couple of days?

[Assistant]
Well, we do have one very... metal-faced example. Garrus apparently is back into action less than within several days of having a part of his face meet a stream of copper moving at Mach 30.

Apparently biochemistry is very advanced, allowing rapid repair of soft tissue damage; gene therapy may be legally stunted, but medical cloning is not. Bullet wounds and concussive trauma probably end up fitting your criteria, amputations take months to fix.


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

[User]
Eli5: Black heads and pimples

What is the difference between me politely and lovingly popping my pimples at home with clean hands and my dermatologist going ham on my face with their metal sticks or those suctioning machines, what's the reason the doctor's way is more advisable? (Other than them being a professional and me being a mortal)

[Assistant]
Think of it like showering in the rain vs showering at home. Sure you get wet and you can remove the dirt and all, but you never know what germs you can get from bathing outside and the rain could be dirty. Also, you can't control the rain. You also have more toiletries at home in case something goes wrong.

The doctor's clinic is supposed to be a clean and safe environment where they use sterile materials so there is less risk of getting infections and if something goes wrong, they have the necessary materials for it.

Also, there are some areas where popping pimples in an unsterile environment can be dangerous (around the nose area). Infections here can spread to the brain through the veins.


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

[User] [MCU/Black Panther] why does the most technologically advanced nation on Earth still fight with spears?

[Assistant]
Correction: they're spears *that shoot fricken' laser beams*. You know how guns with bayonets are just guns that happen to do some spear-like things? Their weapons are essentially spears that do some gun-like things. But there's a lot of reasons, from the practical to the cultural.

From a technological standpoint, there have been times where armor completely outclasses almost all forms of personal weapons, including ranged weapons. Remember that these people have energy shields and vibranium armor (not sure how widespread the latter is, though; it could just be limited to Black Panther), which treat bullets like soap bubbles. In such a scenario, melee actually works better than ranged because it's easier to target gaps in the armor or bypass energy shields (it still has to let "slow"-moving things like air through). Even if there's 100% armor coverage, the body is still vulnerable to grappling and attacks that exploit one's own biomechanics - in the late medieval age, this is how armored knights fought each other since nothing short of artillery could reliably penetrate plate armor (even the early guns were ineffective).

From a cultural/historical perspective, Wakanda hasn't had a *serious* war in its entire history until the MCU - they've never fought against an opponent with roughly equal resources, manpower, and technology. Thus, they have no incentive to improve upon the laser spears that served them in the past. There's almost no material on Earth that could stand up to a blast from one, and the few armors that *can* tank a few shots are better attacked in melee, as noted above.


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

[User] [General] Where do dead gods go?

[Assistant]
Depends on the universe.

If you're talking about ours, a lot of them have been fairly cagey on the subject when it came to their biographies (maybe they just didn't want to be too morbid). However, immortality's usually considered a vital part of the job description, since they have to stick around for eternity to look after the universe's lifespan, the afterlife and so on.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why do we almost never see Imperial Army Troopers if they outnumber and are deployed more than Stormtroopers?

According to the Star Wars lore in both Canon and Legends Imperial Stormtroopers are supposed to be a smaller military branch of elite troops and the Imperial Army Troopers vastly outnumber them and make up the majority of the Empire's ground forces. If this is the case then why do we almost never see Imperial Army Troopers? Even the backwater Imperial warlord states in The Mandalorian use Stormtroopers.The only time that we see this dynamic between the Imperial Army and Stormtrooper Corps is in Solo a Star Wars Story. Also if Stormtroopers were supposed to be more elite than Army Troopers then why is it that in the show The Mandalorian former Imperial Army Trooper Mayfield mocks the Stormtroopers ability?

[Assistant]
The army digs in and slogs it out. Stormtroopers go where the action is the heaviest and act as an all around defense/offense force of the navy. We rarely visit worlds that survived for long against the empire in open warfare or were actively fighting. We do see naval leaders chasing the rebellion and New Republic through unsettled and uncontrolled systems.

The reason we see the army so rarely is because they're a completely different breed from the stormies. Army forces rarely left their bases unless out fighting. They rarely fought strategic battles and moved like an army hitting an entire planet or ground force not a strike team. The army had no way to travel themselves and relied on the Navy to ferry them around. The Navy relied on stormtroopers and regularly used stormies for expeditionary forces or more traditional ground combat forces until the army could arrive. The two branches filled overlapping but distinct roles seperated mostly by their personal dedication to the empire and their association with the navy.

Post endor the reason you only see stormtroopers is because mudtroopers and other army types were typically conscripts forced into service not loyal citizens. Remove the threat of imperial retribution and pensions and only those loyal or fully indoctrinated would remain in service.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does getting a massage feel so pleasurable?

[Assistant] Because you get to relax while someone else moves your muscles for you.  It's sort of like a really good stretch, when your muscles feel warmed up and loose, but someone else is stretching for you, and for an extended period of time.


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

[User]
Why does commericalisation tend to make things bland?

Sorry for the vague question, but it's just an inkling I have rather than a fleshed-out idea.

It seems there is often a trend where something starts out niche and interesting, and then business spots an opportunity, but in the process makes it bland. The web is one example - it used to be common to come across interesting sites by people with a particular passion. Now things seem to be consolidated into a few big media and tech companies. Another example is music - the most popular music tends to be bland in comparison with more niche music.

I'm wondering if there is any social scientific work on this phenomenon - whether it's real, what might cause it, etc.

[Assistant]
Companies work to capture the largest percentage of the market. They do this in two ways, established products seek to differentiate themselves from other products to maximize customers, new products seek to replicate established products to take away their customers. It is obvious why replicating other products makes things bland, but I'll give an example of how differentiation can too.

Imagine two established chocolate companies names Coke and Pepsi. People have a preference for what percentage of cocoa they want in their chocolate. Coke starts with 20% coca, Pepsi starts with 80%. Coke realizes if they make theirs with 79% coca they'll get all the people who like less than 80% cocoa chocolate. When this happens, Pepsi starts losing money, but realizes if they make 78% cocoa chocolate they'll get almost as much of the market as Coke had from moving to 79%. This continues back and forth until they end up at 50% and 51% cocoa, where no one can get more of the market by changing their product.


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

[User]
I believe EU member states should continue to integrate until we create a United States of Europe CMV.

Despite the growing amount of 'Euro-scepticism' not only in my own country (I live in the UK) and other EU member states (most notably Greece), I believe that the EU has been a complete success in all has set out to do so far, and that any reforms (and I do believe reform is needed) should come in the form of further integration.

A federalist Europe would complete the single market, Increase democracy in the EU, and help Europe achieve near superpower status on the global stage.
Using the USA as a model, individual member states still retain considerable autonomy on social issues.
Of course it takes away the sovereignty of all 28 member states, but what difference does that make to voters if its democratic? If anything, voters get more power, since they now have a say in EU-wide issues.

[Assistant]
It would in no way increase democracy in the EU.

The EU is already dominated by certain countries, without whom nothing can be done. (The UK, France, Germany) In any scenario in which the EU turns into a federal republic minor nations will not just have to put up with their orders on an international stage, but nationally as well.
(The big 3's dominance of the EU is so vast that they are able to dictate how much they themselves pay in dues.)

To give you an example that you may be able to relate to as a Brit:
Scotland, despite their over-representation in the house of commons still have absolutely no say in what goes on in the union. Their votes are largely irrelevant to who gets to live at 10 downing street.

Now imagine Scandinavia wants to keep their socialist tendencies, they're pretty much fucked because the numbers of British people who voted for David Cameron outnumber Norwegians (All of them, including Samis) 2 to 1.*

*I am aware Norway is not part of the EU.


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

[User]
ELI5: How did people on the Apollo missions knew the specifics of the moon?

I'm reading a lot about the beginnings of space exploration, and especially the early missions from soviet Russia and USA with the moon landing goal. But what I read from now is that most of the "complicated" things were about launching and space manoeuvers (like the CSM and LM docking process). Most of the missions before Apollo 11 even just circled around the moon without landing, and I can't figure how they knew they would have to adapt to an environment that different from space.

How did the engineers from NASA (and also soviet Russia, they must have thought about it too) knew what "being" on the moon would be like? What it would need to descend/ascend, gravity, environment, temperatures...

Did they have precise data of it or was it more about safety and redundancy?

Also, irrelevant but I don't know how people lost interest that quickly for space exploration (Apollo 12 and 13 weren't even widely followed until the Apollo 13 incident).

[Assistant]
By knowing the mass and size of the moon, we can what sort of gravity to expect, whether or not there is enough gravity for an atmosphere (there isn't), and without an atmosphere we can determine the temperature of the moon by observing its spectrum from Earth.

And we can determine the mass and size of the moon by observing how objects in space move around the moon, and how the moon moves around the Earth.

Think of it this way - if you are in the desert and see a small city in the distance - you might not know if it's small and close, or large and far away.  So you move closer to it and make another measurement, and now you can determine whether it's small or far away.


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

[User]
ELI5. what is negative voltage?

I like watching science videos on YouTube and I have a very basic understanding of electronics. But I never seem to get the "negative voltage" thing.

Why is it used and how does it differ from normal voltage.

[Assistant]
Did Obi-wan have the high ground?  Or did Anakin have the low ground?

Both are correct since its all relative.  Obi-wan was either on a hill (+V) or Anakin was in a ditch (-V), depending on your perspective.


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

[User] [Marvel] Is JARVIS sentient?

[Assistant]
He was not There's no doubt that he was a highly advanced artificial intelligence. He was specially built to interact with Tony Stark in such a way as to come across as a program which possessed a *personality*, and he proved capable of deducing what Tony may require almost before he said so.

But he was still simply lines of code running "if/then/else" algorithms.

After JARVIS merged with the Mind Stone he finally achieved true sentience.


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

[User]
[Starship Troopers] Why doesnt the Federation use tanks (and other vehicles) against the Arachnids?

Outside of mechs like the Marauder, the Federation doesnt seem to use any ground vehicles at all when fighting the Bugs. While this makes sense in planets like Klendathu which is full of irregular terrain and caves, we never see the the Mobile Infantry use any land vehicles like tanks or APCs even in regions suitable for their use.

Even if tanks arent effective in direct combat, wouldnt it be worth it to use APCs for fast transport or missiles trucks for artillery instead of relying exclusively on bombers and orbital barrages?

[Assistant]
In the films it's different than the book. The books the mobile infantry are essentially walking tanks and armored cavalry and scout vehicles depending on there role.

In the films there's no real mechanized military forces as the drop ships and space craft have made them redundant. For centuries the Federation has fought with ground troops and air superiority and orbital attacks. Tanks and artillery are relics of war fighting that haven't been on a battlefield in generations.  This logical gap for military strategy has been slowly addressed by the Federation following it's disastrous opening campaigns of the first interstellar war. The Sky Marshals are distracted by political matters but they're still making progress and with the successes of the marauder suit and later exo-suits we're beginning to see wide spread adoption of mech units and doctrine focused on small scale precision forces rather than massed mobilization.


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

[User]
CMV: The Abortion Debate has nothing to do with Womens Rights

Allow me to elaborate. I think people often over complicate this debate. People talk about the rights of the baby vs the right of the mother, what happens after the birth, what if shes raped, what if its incest, what if she cant afford the child, etc.

My argument is that it is much simpler if an issue than this. Either its a human life, or its not, and nothing else matters. This is the only thing we should be debating, and while this particular issue is very important and necessary to discuss, its just not as complex an issue as its made out to be.

The reason I say that whether or not the unborn fetus is a human life or not is the only thing that matters is the following. Under the premise that it is not a life, you can do what ever you want with it. Its like a kidney, or a spleen, or an appendix, and no one else can tell you what to do with it. On the other hand, under the premise that the fetus is a human life, then you cannot morally kill it, under any circumstances. You just cant. There is no situation in which any of one persons rights supersedes another innocent human beings right to live.

To summarize, Im not arguing whether the baby is a life or not, Im simply arguing that the scientific debate of whether or not it is a life is the only part of this debate that actually matters.

Change my view.

Edit: this got a lot of replies fairly quickly, Im responding as quickly as I can, bear with me :)

Edit 2: Going to class for a few hours, Ill resume reading and responding to the replies after. Also, thanks for all the replies, its certainly been an enjoyable and thought-provoking discussion for me, I hope it has been the same for all of you :)

Edit 3: A lot of people have brought up the point that it is not okay to force someone to donate organs against their will even if they could save another life, and thus the right to life does not supersede the right to bodily autonomy. Id just like to post my thoughts on this up here so as to avoid repeating the same answer. I believe there is a distinction between compelling someone to sacrifice their body to attempt to save a life, and compelling someone not to actively terminate anothers life. The first is not okay, the second is.  Also, under the premise that the fetus is a human life, it has the right to bodily autonomy too, which is certainly violated by crushing ya skull, sucking out its brains, cutting off its limbs, and pulling them out one by one.

Edit 4: It has occurred to me through all these discussions about bodily autonomy vs the right to life that there is another part to the issue beyond just whether its a life or not, and that is whether the right to life trumps the right to bodily autonomy. While I still believe that life is more important, that fact that this is also a debate that needs to be had contradicts my original position. I dont think that I can award a collective delta, so this is my way of doing that :)

Final edit: Okay, this has been fun. I have to get on with other things now, but its been a thought-provoking debate for me. I tried to get to as many of the top level comments as I could, sorry if I missed anyone. I may come back from time to time, but feel free to debate in the comments or roast tf out of me while Im gone. Thanks for having a discussion with me everyone, its been fun!

[Assistant]
>There is no situation in which any of one persons rights supersedes another innocent human beings right to live.

Except there is. A persons bodily integrity rights (medically speaking) do in fact supersedes another human being's right to live. This is why we don't force people to donate organs, blood, marrow, even to save someone else's life. This is why we don't harvest organs from dead bodies that did not consent to having it done, even to save someone else's life. This is why killing someone in self-defense is allowed.

In fact, in all cases involving bodily integrity rights (medically speaking) the right of an individual to their bodily integrity supercedes another person's right to life. You cannot force someone to donate their body, blood, organs, or risk their life and health against their will *even if someone else will die if they don't.*

So why does this change just because the person who will die is the unborn fetus?


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

[User] ELI5: Why do rainbows seem to have individual bands of color as opposed to a gradual color shift?

[Assistant]
They don't have individual bands of color, and do have a gradual color shift. You tend to interpret the gradual shift as individual color bands, but that is largely your brain that is doing that.

You may be thinking of illustrations of a rainbow, where artists draw bands of color - but that is not what rainbows are like.


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

[User] [SW ESB] The Rebels had X Wings on Hoth, why didn't they use at least one of those to search for Luke and Han before locking up for the night?

[Assistant]
X-wings are starfighters, and they were no more adapted for cold atmospheric flight than the speeders were.
An X-wing could've launched and made orbit easily enough, but hanging around for in-atmo operations is a different story.  They'd have iced up as quickly as the airspeeders and there was even less point in adapting them to operation in that environment.
The Rebels did the right thing, they picked the right tool for the job and made it ready as quickly as they could.


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

[User] Why do aerosol cans become cold when they are shaken?

[Assistant]
Metal things at room temperature tend to feel cold* because they conduct the heat out of your hand when you touch them. When you shake an aerosol can you are moving the liquid inside around so that it can come into contact with the heat of your hand and absorb it.

edit *colder than the surrounding air which is also at room temperature.