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

[User] ELI5: How did different races cone to existence if at first we were all of the same race?

[Assistant]
Two main factors - distance, and inbreeding.

For most of prehistory, humans were very nomadic. There was no incentive to settle down in one place until the advent of agriculture, which occured a few times in different places around the world around 10,000-4,000 years ago. Before that, you had to move with the food - once the prey animals moved on and/or the fauna was over-foraged, human groups had to move on to a new area. Over time, distance increased between different human groups. Eventually, several groups uncovered the techniques for agriculture, began settling down, and started the very first civilizations.

With this vast distance between populations, inbreeding was fairly normal. Not brother-sister or parent/grandparent-child, but cousin-cousin was fairly frequent. Today, we often scoff at anecdotes of people like Albert Einstein or Edgar Allen Poe marrying their first cousins. But for most of history, this was a fairly normal practice (and one that tends to avoid the damaging genetics of closer inbreeding). Populations were simply too small and too distant for everyone to be able to mate with someone they werent closely related to.

Eventually, this began strongly concentrating certain traits - some of which arose through chance mutation and others which arose by environment. Those populations in Europe developed lighter skin to attain adequate vitamin D, while those in Africa maintained darker skin to protect from excess harmful UV light, and some developed the genes for sickle cell anemia to stave of malaria. Another adaptation, the eye fold characteristic to far northern populations and populations in east Asia, may have been developed to protect the eye from UV light and snow blindness. These differences are very largely superficial - not enough time has transpired for any living human population to diverge into a different species - internal organs and cognitive capabilities have remained the same (although genetics and contagion exposure over time have played a role in epidemiology)

Since these populations were concentrated amongst
 themselves for so long, those traits eventually became definitive in those areas, to the point where such traits can identify ethnicity and ancestral origin.

It wasnt until about 600-700 years ago that interactions between these previously distant populations became relatively common, and it wasnt until the past few hundred years that the intermingling of these populations became common (e.g. interracial marriage in the United States was illegal until 1967).

The globalization of all world populations may introduce something equally revolutionary in our genetic pool in the future - a single, unified ethnicity. Because almost every population has access to almost every other population, traditional ethnic traits will likely converge over time.


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

[User]
[Trogdor] Why does Trogdor burninate all the people and their thatched roof cottages?

Is he hunting for food?

Or just defending his territory?

Did they provoke him?

[Assistant]
Why does the writer write?

Why does the  hunter hunt?

Why does the thatcher thatch?

WHY DOES TROGDAR THE BURNINATER BURNINATE?

He's not the Burninater because he burninates, he burninates because he's the Burninater.


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

[User]
[Encanto] If Casita can rearange it's own furniture why, does everyone keep asking Louisa to move things around the house?

Casita can move multiple things with more ease, finese and speed than Louisa. I know it's almost zero effort for Louise, but it's still takes her away from tasks that maybe Casita isn't capable of, so why do they keep asking her to move things?

[Assistant]
Because Louisa is The Person Who Moves Things- Alma has put everyone into a role. This is perhaps a more subtle indication as to how ultimately unhelpful her roles for her family are.

On another level, the person with the closest connection to Casita and thus the *best* person to ask to move things? The powerless Mirabel. And no-one's thinking of her.


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

[User]
[Matrix] Are there different Matrices? If so, how many?

The Animatrix appears to show a few different simulated universes, such as the techno-noir one and the more suburban one with the "haunted" house. Are these totally different "servers", or just different parts of one huge Matrix?

[Assistant] They are previous versions of the Matrix which humanity rejected. Later, the Oracle discovered that humans needed a choice in order to accept the Matrix, and thus its current inception of a modern society which people were able to be unplugged from it was born. Programs such as the twins and the "werewolves" in the Merovingian's employ are said to be programs which came from these previous versions of the Matrix.


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

[User]
[LOTR] What's the difference between Gandalf the grey and Gandalf the white?

when Legolas apologises to him saying "forgive me, i mistake you for Saruman" Gandalf replies: "i am Saruman"... so i was wondering what is this new Gandalf the white? whats the difference between the old Gandalf the gray and him?

[Assistant]
Gandalf the Grey was sent last of the wizards, to be a learner and an adviser.  He had the power to inspire greatness in others, and the curiosity to learn about the different peoples of Middle-Earth to help bring them together, but he didn't have the power of spirit or the power of influence that Saruman had.  And he's supposed to be less powerful as a wizard, as well.

When he came back as Gandalf the White, he kept most of his old personality, memories, and abilities, but he was given something more: the strength of leadership.  Saruman was sent to be the leader of the wizards and the White Council, to guide the peoples of Middle-Earth towards noble goals, and in that he failed.  Gandalf the White was the leader that Saruman should have been, with all the greatness and power of Saruman's spirit tempered by the gentle wisdom of Gandalf.


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

[User] ELI5: What is overclocking and how does it help/hurt your computer?

[Assistant]
A computer program is basically a step-by-step recipe for your processor to follow.  However, there are many different parts of a processor, and many of them have to work together for the program to correctly execute.  Therefore, everything in your computer has to be synchronized, so that you don't accidentally start the next step in the recipe before the previous one is finished.

The way this is achieved in a computer is through something called a **clock signal**.  This is basically an electronic oscillator that sends out a regular pulse.  Each individual pulse signals to the rest of the computer that it is time to move on to the next step.

So now we get to overclocking.  Usually, on a retail computer, the clock timing is very conservative.  This basically means that the clock cycle is longer than it needs to be, just to make sure that all of the parts have the time they need to finish their instructions before moving on to the next step.  So often, you can just make the clock cycle shorter, which will make your computer run correspondingly faster because it spends less time waiting.

However, if you keep pushing the clock cycle shorter and shorter, eventually there won't be enough time for the computer to finish its instructions before the next cycle starts.  This is when you will start getting errors.  There is a way around this, however.

It turns out that increasing the voltage that your computer runs at will also increase the speed that the components in your CPU executes instructions.  So if you want to push your computer even further, you can crank up the operating voltage, and continue to decrease the clock cycle time.  However, increasing the voltage also means that your computer will be outputting more heat, so if you're severely overclocking a computer, you will probably need to find a better way of cooling it.

So the advantages of overclocking are basically that it makes your computer faster, without changing the hardware at all.  The disadvantages are that you can start getting errors if you're setting your clock cycle too fast, and that if you're running it at a higher voltage, your computer will run hotter, which could lead to a shorter lifetime for your computer.


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

[User]
To Professors, how do you prepare your lectures? How do you design them to teach?

Hello professors of Reddit! I am a college student, and right now I am trying to learn my course material better by trying a new study technique. I've heard that if you can teach the material for a topic, then you probably know the material for said topic. So, I've decided to set up a camera and a whiteboard and make personal lecture videos on the topics my professors have covered in class. In order to make these self-lectures better, I want to know how real professors prepare for their lectures: especially those in the STEM related fields. I especially want to know how you go about reviewing the material you are about to teach before you actually do the lecture. Thanks for any and all help!

[Assistant]
You might be better working in a group of peers, or assisting a peer or someone in years below who needs some guidance.

This way you get feedback and are able to see issues in teaching and learn how to explain problems/solutions to people.

This is how most profs start out teaching, maybe as a TA etc.

Reciting to a camera alone won't teach you much about teaching.


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

[User] ELI5: What allows for caesium, gold, osmium, and copper to have different colors while all other metals are gray or silver?

[Assistant]
Conductive metals have an 'electron sea' of free electrons, which are constantly oscillating back and forth between moving toward and away from the positively charged metal ions; they are moving between energy levels.

When light strikes the electrons, the electrons are excited to a higher energy level, producing some sort of light relative to the rate of oscillation.

Most metals emit light in the UV spectrum, which we can't see and which appears silver/grey. Gold, however, has electrons that jump between the 5d and 6s orbitals. This causes more blue light to be absorbed than other metals, causing the gold color.

The other elements mentioned also have unusual color properties due to particular numbers of electrons in particular orbitals.


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

[User] Can the equations of fluid dynamics be used to describe/model the flow of electrons?

[Assistant] In low-Reynolds number flow (slow or constricted flow), fluid circuits can be treated the same way as basic electrical circuits, with pressure instead of voltage, flow rate instead of electrical current, and a fluidic resistance that is analogous to electrical resistance except depends differently on geometry. The analogies generally break down if you move away from this regime.


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

[User] [Star Wars] does R2-D2 recognize the Larms Homestead?

[Assistant]
Yep.

R2-D2 is one of the most well informed beings in the galaxy, when you think about it. But he's a mechanic. He has no ambition to do much with that knowledge if it doesn't involve his current mission or directly helping the people he likes.

And no one ever thinks to ask an astromech if he knows any of galactic politics' most compelling secrets.


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

[User] [Harry Potter] Are there witch hunters in the world of Harry Potter? And if so are they even much of a threat to wizards?

[Assistant] Not so much in the modern age, no.  Wizards were subject to the witch hunts from hundreds of years ago which was ultimately the cause for the Statute of Secrecy, but even then most wizards were competent enough with magic to either not get caught or render the executions harmless, though innocent muggles were falsely accused of witchcraft as well.


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

[User] Is there any truth to the meme that American women are more selective in relationships than men are? If so, how widespread is this across cultures?

[Assistant] It would be hard to compare to non-Western cultures, but the book *Date-onomics* compiles some interesting data within the USA comparing different populations. Essentially, where men outnumber women (suburbs, rural areas, army towns, western tech-dominated cities) women can be very selective, and their selectivity increases with the discrepancy between men and women. Where women outnumber men (liberal arts colleges, NYC, Atlanta, etc), men are allowed to be picky and women lower their standards significantly, often dating below their level of income and education and fitness, and even becoming less adept at distinguishing basic markers of attractiveness like facial symmetry.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is my 2004 Desktop Faster then my 2013 laptop?

[Assistant]
There's no way of knowing without knowing the machines' specs.

The desktop could be a 6000$, top of the line, high end computer (for its time) whereas the laptop might be a 400$ piece of crap.

The laptop could be riddled with viruses or just encumbered with lots of programs.

The desktop could be running a lightweight operating system, or a system more appropriate for older comptuers (for example windows xp vs. windows vista).


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

[User]
Is there a limit to wireless connection speed? (Internet)

With all the recent posts about increasing data speeds, such as:
the 5G coming in S. Korea and and the proposed deal between the UK and Germany, as well as the new 800Gigs/sec cables Intel is making soon - I was wondering what limits are on wireless connection speeds.
Thanks in advance.

[Assistant]
Technically the limits are...

1. The frequency of the transmission, which partly determines the data rate.
2. The energy requirements of said frequency to broadcast it over any distance (the higher the frequency the more energy required to broadcast it over distance).
3. The ability of the recipient to receive and process the data
4. The error correction algorithms managing to correct any errors in the data to product a stable data stream.

If those obstacles can be overcome theres no reason why you can't increase the data rate again and again.


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

[User]
ELI5: What happened to Gandalf the Grey in Fellowship of the Ring? Why did he come back as Gandalf the White?

I was really thinking about this today. Sorry if i got the names wrong, i don't know much about it.

[Assistant] He killed the Balrog, and died in the act of doing so. He left the World, and was sent back by Eru Iluvatar (God) with enhanced power and authority. The Elves of Lorien, recognizing his newly-enhanced authority, clothed him in white and gave him a white ash staff, and called him Gandalf the White to symbolize his taking the head of the Wizard's Order from Saruman, formerly called the White but now calling himself Saruman of Many Colors.


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

[User] Why is putting metal inside a microwave dangerous, but the metal on the inside wall (and other general metal construction) of the microwave not affected?

[Assistant]
The electromagnetic waves in a microwave oven have different effects with varying metal geometry.  The metal walls and metal mesh screen over the door are meant to contain the EM field.  It cannot penetrate sheet metal, even if there are very fine holes.  (If the holes were larger, then the field could escape through them.)

You can technically put some metals in the microwave saftely and see no effect.  For instance, you could put a spoon with a very round handle into a bowl of, say, mashed potatoes, and turn the microwave on and it's possible that it wouldn't damage the microwave or jeopardize your health and safety.

Problems arise when you have pointed objects, or metal objects touching/nearly touching.  The problem with pointed objects is that the microwave induces charges on the surface of the metal.  Where the metal comes to a point, like at the tip of the tines of a fork, the charge density is high, and the fork can arc.  The same thing happens where metal touches or almost touches metal - induced voltage differences will cause arcing.

The spoon in the mashed potatoes can arc if it gets too close to the metal walls, perhaps due to a turn table.  Foil is hazardous as well.

In the end, how the electromagnetic field affects metals in the microwave is dependent on the metals' geometry, and RF engineers have carefully studied the metal walls to make sure they are safe.  While you can get away with certain metal objects in the microwave, it's advised to not attempt putting any metal objects inside, to avoid sparking.

As an aside note, you can also get nonmetallic objects to arc.  One such example is a grape, cut into hemispheres, with a bit of skin connecting the halves.


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

[User] When genes change expression is this change simultaneous over the whole body or could genes in only certain cells change expression?

[Assistant] No, genes can be expressed in some cells but not others. This is how you get differentiation of cells, to create organs etc. It's not just in something large like the body that this happens, genes can be turned on in certain portions of a embryo, but not in others.


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

[User]
ELI5: Say, someone is staring at us and we haven't seen them yet. Somehow, we figure out that they are staring at us and we instinctively look towards them. How does that happen?

My 10 year old daughter asked me this today. Thought it was an interesting observation to which I didn't have a good answer. Can Reddit's wisdom help? Thanks.

[Assistant] You don't remember all the times you turned around and nobody was staring at you.  Your brain doesn't bother remembering all the times nothing happened, so we have a tendency to think certain random events happen more frequently than they really do.


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

[User] [General] How do mermaids reproduce?

[Assistant]
The mermaid releases her eggs from her clutch into the "bed" that has been carefully arranged by the male.

The mermen then fertilizes the eggs and can spend up to five months "bedding," or watching over the eggs until such time as they hatch.

This bedding period, when the merman is preoccupied, is when the mermaid is most likely to flirt with sailors to make up for the lack of male company.


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

[User] [Dresden Files] Newly minted wizard of the white council here, how do I become obscenely rich without violating the Laws of Magic?

[Assistant] Make yourself lucky, gamble. Don't do it at an actual cassino for various reasons including difficulty and risk and don't win too much from any one person. Transfer the karmic imbalance this causes into objects and use them as weapons or just sell them to anyone that thinks cursed ammo sounds like a great idea.


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

[User]
How are organ transplant even possible?

I thought that our MHC and HLA cells would immediately detect that the organ and tissue is foreign and proceed to attack it. Is there a sort of threshold of similarity for these cells to not attack the transplanted organ?

[Assistant]
They give you immunosuppressants.

Immunosuppressants are drugs or medicines that lower the body's ability to reject a transplanted organ. Another term for these drugs is anti-rejection drugs. There are 2 types of immunosuppressants:
Induction drugs: Powerful antirejection medicine used at the time of transplant
Maintenance drugs: Antirejection medications used for the long term.


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

[User]
CMV: Every Cryptocurrency is a zero-sum game, meaning you can only make money when someone else loses money. That means its basically a scam, or (maybe) gambling.

Cryptocurrency isnt an investment, because it doesnt create anything of value. Youre just trading money with other people who sell early or at a bad time, or are the person on the receiving end of a pump & dump scam, which means youre the bagholder.

For example, if 10 people buy a cryptocurrency for $10 each, then that means there is $100 in the system. If someone wants to sell, they may price it higher (to $11), but now the newest person is holding onto something that is priced at $1 more than it should be. And now that $11 holder has to convince someone else to buy it for $12, etc, etc.

Well, this example is a Ponzi-scheme (edit: or Pyramid scheme), because there isnt enough money in the world to keep the price going up, and every time someone buys/sells, someone gains value/money and someone else  loses value/money. Meaning it all becomes a zero-sum game.

Note: I am NOT talking about blockchain as a technology.

Edit: now getting DMs from people using ad hominems instead of actual arguments, guess I must be on to something. People get angry when you expose their scam.

[Assistant]
All currency is a zero sum game.

Excluding inflation for a second, the only way to acquire currency is for someone else to give it to you.

Bringing Inflation back into it, if the supply of money goes up (someone gets money without someone giving any up) then the value of everyone else's currency goes down.

Either way, it's still zero-sum.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does swirling water cast a shadow?

Like in my pool, while the pump is running, I can clearly see the bottom, but the swirls from the jets create shadows on the bottom of the pool.

[Assistant]
It is due to refraction. The surface of the water is not flat in this situation. It makes a lens that bends some of the light. The shaded part looks darker because the light that would hit it is bent and hitting some other part of the pool.

In other words the lens made out of the surface of the water is bending light away from the shadow.


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

[User]
ELI5: how do hydrogen-powered cars work, and are they a considerable competitor to electric vehicles?

Are hydrogen-powered cars even a thing?

[Assistant] Hydrogen can be used as fuel for combustion engines that are very similar to the fossil-fuelled ones. But another, less mechanically complex solution is to use hydrogen as fuel for a *fuel cell* which creates electricity that powers the car. So in that case, the car is just a normal EV where the large battery pack is replaced with a hydrogen tank and a fuel cell.


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

[User] ELI5: If all of Manhattan is basically hollowed out underground for the subway systems, what prevents all the buildings from collapsing in on its self?

[Assistant] Tunnels in cross section are basically arches with the brick or concrete lining acting as the pillars.  That leads the stress on the top down to the ground beneath.  They will design the tunnels and the routes they take to support the weight above and would avoid hollowing out beneath a building without carefully calculating the stresses they need to account for.  Often tunnels will take routes that don't have high loads above, like following the line of a road.


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

[User] Eli5: How does brain tumors form when brain cells dont even regenerate and produce new cells?

[Assistant] Some brain cells do replicate, these are called glial cells and produce gliomas when they develop into masses. Glial cells are the supportive cells of the brain, not the neurons that conduct all the important electrical impulses of nervous tissue. Neurons are cells that typically dont divide, however there are areas of the brain where neuron regeneration occurs at a limited level. As such, neurons can become cancerous, but it is less common.


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

[User] ELI5: When a car engine is listed as having some amount of liters (like a 3.2 liter engine), what does that actually mean? What does that affect, and how?

[Assistant]
Liters, cubic inches or cubic centermetres (cc's) for smaller motorcycle engines all reference the displacement of the area inside the piston cylinders where the gas and air mix and explode to provide the force that moves the pistons, and thus moves the car.

In general, the more explody gas action from more cubic inches or liters or whatever, the more power you get from an engine. However there's lots of nuances to it. There are ways to get a relatively small (like 1.4L) 4 cylinder engine to produce almost as much (horse)power as a larger 3.6L V6 engine for example, likewise a modern 3.6L V6 engine from today may have the same amount of horsepower as a big 5L V8 from 15 years ago.

But stuff like torque and energy efficiency and compression ratios and turbo/super charging is a bit beyond the ELi5 level.


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

[User] ELI5: If lightning takes the shortest path to the ground, why is it all jagged-like in the sky, and not a straight line?

[Assistant]
It doesn't use the shortest, but the path of least resistance. And that is exactly why its jagged.

Also there are actually two strikes every time. First is going down searching the path and ionizing the air, second one goes up and is the bright one.


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

[User]
ELI5: Can radiant heat also be incandescent heat?

I know toasters use incandescense to toast the bread, but other websites say that toasters use radiant heat. Which one is it? Can it be both? Please explain!

Thanks!

[Assistant]
Radiant heat is heat applied over a distance by radiation, such as infrared as compared to direct contact.

Incandescent heat is generated by heating something, generally a metal filament, hot enough that it glows. This generates radiant heat; all incandescent heat is radiant heat, but not all radiant heat is generated via incandescence.


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

[User]
Mercury isn't moving at a speed close to that of light. Why did Newtonian gravity fall short in predicting its orbit?

My understanding is that relativistic effects are negligible at speeds far, far below that of light (~50 km/s, give or take, in the case of Mercury's orbital speed). Does that rule of thumb apply on to special relativity?

[Assistant]
The issue here is the Sun's mass much more so than velocity (relativistic effects also happen due to gravitation). Mercury is close enough to the Sun to cause an easily measurable difference in orbital precession relative to Newtonian theory. This too is actually a comparatively small change, if you were looking at your watch face as an analog of a complete orbit about the Sun the relativistic precession of perihelion would be less than 1/5 of a percent of the space swept out by one second hand, or equivalent to the angle a constantly moving second hand sweeps out in 2 milliseconds. Per century. But because orbits are large, this is a measurable amount on the scale of the Solar System (corresponding to a difference in location at perihelion equal to the diameter of the Earth).

It just happened to correspond to something that was possible to measure to that level of precision in the early 20th century. Today there are lots of things where we need to account for relativity. GPS satellites, of course, which rely on very precisely synchronized clocks in orbit, without accounting for relativity measurements would diverge by several km per day between re-calibration. Astrometry space telescopes (like Hipparcos and GAIA) need to account for the fact that the apparent positions of stars will be different depending on whether or not they are viewed along a sight-line that is parallel or perpendicular relative to the position of the Sun, due to the bending of light caused by the Sun's gravity. It's a small effect but for very precise measurements it makes a difference.


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

[User]
Do stars have lagrange points?

Since our star is orbiting the centre of our galaxy, does it have it's set of L-points? is there some far off L4/L5 position of just some colossal clump of debris never to have a star of it's own to orbit? If so, could a sufficiently large enough star hold entire other star systems in it's L4/L5? and should you be some astronomer to evolve in such a star system, would you be able to tell that you were in the L4/L5 of a larger body and not infact independently orbiting the central mass of the galaxy? would that have any implications?

Thanks!

[Assistant] For most of the galaxy the gravity of the center is very small relative to the gravity of all the other stars in the galaxy. So any stellar Lagrange point would be swamped by the effect of gravity from other stars.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Peter Parker is a good person, but is he... a good friend?

Putting aside the fact the double life issues, Pete seems like a kinda thoughtless friend to me. He'll forget plans or lose track of time (even if gets busy with stopping crime, is is surprising because he's, like, the eighth smartest person on the planet). He's got a 50/50 chance of saying the most clumsy, insulting thing at the wrong time. I mean, I like the guy as an observer, but still. Am I wrong?

[Assistant]
Absent mindedness, tardiness, and being socially awkward aren't qualities of being a good or bad friend.   They're just personality flaws.

Being a good friend is supporting and caring about those people closeset to you.


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

[User]
Why was it so cold inside Apollo 13?

Seems to me it should have been too warm.  Space is not cold, it is a vacuum, a great insulator.  Add to that the full force of the sun on the capsule 24/7, and three adult bodies each creating their own heat in quite a small space.  The only way for the capsule to cool is radiation.  Why did it cool so effectively?

[Assistant]
> Why did it cool so effectively?

Because it was designed for that.

You're right that space is a great insulator and that radiation is a very inefficient method *when compared to conduction and convection*, but it's not that hard to cool down. Radiated power grows with the fourth power of the temperature, and the capsule had a large outer surface area.

A spacecraft must calculated to radiate a power equal to the sum of absorbed sunlight, the heat generated by the occupants and heat generated by equipment. It was the third that was diminished when they lost power from a fuel cell and tried to save battery power as hard as they could by turning all equipment off.

Just some quick math, the command module was 11m long and 3.9 m wide, approximating this as a cylinder would be an external surface area of 135m^(2). It's not impossible to radiate a couple of kilowatts from such a big surface.


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

[User] [DCU] How strong are actually the Endless compared to The Monitors&Perpetua/Darkseid&Highfather/Lucifer/Dr Manhattan? I mean outside their respective realms since inside they seem to be virtually invincible. Could they actually be killed for good? Are they unique across the whole multiverse?

[Assistant]
We don't know the range of their power (even if we know that Death is the Death for all of DC characters) but they can be killed. If they are killed, another one appears with the same skillset and persona. They are ideas, they can't totally dissapear.

But i think Death and Dream are the strongest, Death for obvious reasons and Dream because he can use dreams to make everything he wants and control people subconscious (of course he can be killed but only if he let peoples do it). Dream probally can beat anyone he want in their sleep if they don't know he is here.


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

[User]
[General Zombie Apocalypse] After they are killed, is there ever any intiative to identify who the zombies were and infrom loved ones, etc?

Happens all the time in war zones.

[Assistant]
In the beginning, before people realized how badly things were going to get, there was some push.  It died out more quickly than the people did, though, when people realized that *death* was no longer a scary thing waiting for them, but something that would actively hunt them down.

Religious organizations that typically put high emphasis on the proper disposal of the body quickly changed their tune, as well.

With the prospect of the *un*dead, mourning the dead changed its shape.  Wakes, in retrospect, seem like vulgar activities. There are a few, weird quasi-religious groups that still hold wakes for their "living dead," (often called "perpetual wakes") some of them even worship them as the fulfillment of prophesy... these groups usually have unreasonably contorted justifications for why *they* should remain alive, but they actively seek to "convert" outsiders.  It's pretty creepy, frankly.

Anyway, because of that activity, and the general morbidity surrounding the undead trying to fucking eat you, people just burn the dead, and try not to look at their faces, ever.


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

[User]
ELI5: When I smoke meat, where do the carcinogens go? Am I eating them?

I could be wrong, but isn't smoke pretty bad for you? So why do I get none of the negative effects when I smoke some porkchops? (Or do I?)

[Assistant] Smoked, chargrilled, BBQ'd, and any kind of meat with char on it is pretty well established to have a fair number of carcinogens in it. It's just a byproduct of the chemical reactions that happen during the cooking process. Most people feel that meat is worth the carcinogens, however.


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

[User] ELI5: Why we can blow hot or cool air just by changing the shape of our mouths.

[Assistant]
You can only blow hot air.  However, when you purse your lips and blow, the narrow opening causes the air to speed up, and faster airflows are better at pulling in surrounding air.  So that air that you're feeling in that case is partly air from your lungs, and partly cooler air from the surrounding environment.

Try loosely cupping your hands around your mouth and blowing, and you'll see that the temperature is the same when you're blocking the airflow off from the surrounding, cooler air.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the air feel so cold and "fresh" after you've had something minty (bubblegum etc.)

[Assistant] The active ingredient in mint that creates its cooling effect is menthol. Menthol triggers the cold receptors in the membranes of your mouth, causing them to sense even the smallest decrease in temperature far more intensely, which you perceive as cold.


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

[User] Why does it take so long for eyes to adjust to changes in light when pupils can quickly constrict and dilate?

[Assistant]
Pupils adjust for some changes quickly. Night adaption is a chemical process that takes about half an hour in the retina itself, this happens after the pupil has fully dilated.

Wikipedia has more details on the process, am on tablet so hyperlinks are a pain.


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

[User]
[General] We often hear about objects that can corrupt the wearer, i.e. (gradually) turn evil. Why not the opposite?

You don't really hear about a ring that can turn even the most evil individual into a good person.

[Assistant]
Perhaps because manipulating/controlling people is not within the nature of 'good' - Even if it were to make them better as a person.

The equivalent (or opposite) would be to give that individual free will.


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

[User] ELI5: What does stretching do and why does it feel so amazing?

[Assistant]
when you sit still or sleep for a long time your muscles are not moving and blood has a hard time getting to all the cells and giving them more good food and energy and removing bad things. If you move your muscles around it helps to get blood to hard to reach places so that it can do its job better and get your nerves ready to start firing and used to working again! Which is good for your body!

Our brain likes to reward us to do things that are good for our body so that we do it more often, so stretching feels good so that we do it more often.


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

[User] [Pokemon] If Attract only works on pokemon of the opposite gender, does that mean gay pokemon don't exist?

[Assistant]
Attract isn't just a pokemon presenting itself as appealing to the opposite sex, as there are too many different species of pokemon for a single method of attraction to be universally viable. Instead, Attract is often performed alongside the release of a pheremonal brew, designed to kick pokemon of the opposite sex (regardless of that pokemon's personal sexual orientation) into a mating state and pulling it out of a combat state. What uneducated humans call the "infatuated" condition could better be described as a psychological dissonance in the pokemon after experiencing this sudden hormonal surge in a time which they know they should not be experiencing.

Pokemon who are attracted to members of the same sex may be even more vulnerable to Attract, as the dissonance would be exacerbated by the fact that the pokemon knows that it is not attracted to the being which is triggering its mating process. The only pokemon who are truly immune to Attract are species which lack a sexual reproductive process entirely, such as Magnemite, as they never evolved to respond to mating pheromones of any kind.


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

[User]
"He is not only idle who does nothing, but he is idle who might be better employed" - Socrates

Anyone know the context of this supposed quote? Doesn't sound very socratic to me.

[Assistant] Doesn't sound Socratic to me either, but if it were it would likely be from the Republic; in describing his ideal city Plato may have offhandedly made some reference to the most efficient use of various kinds of people.


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

[User]
What is the best book for non-programmers to learn the fundamentals of programming ?

 I've not studied CS but accounting and I want to make a switch or at least add it to my CV. Can you suggest me a book to learn the fundamentals of CS concepts?

Other sources like video tutorials are welcomed.

Thank you!

[Assistant]
*Code* by Charles Petzold.

If you are specifically asking about programming, not computer science, then there are plenty of books that serve as an intro to a computer language -- just pick one, it really doesn't matter much.

Or do Harvard's CS50 or MIT's Intro class, which aren't books but will cover both CS and programming.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do spiders make those single lined several meters long spiderwebs that hit you in the face from time to time

And what for?
Sorry, english is not my native language.

[Assistant]
Those single threads that cross large gaps are either leader threads they released into the wind specifically to cross the gap or an escape thread that a spider used to drop down to the ground.

Spiders often let the wind carry a long leader thread from one tree to another so that they can quickly cross in relative safety instead of taking the long way across the ground.  They have no way to reel the thread back in, so they abandon it if theyre not planning to build a web in that spot.


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

[User]
If a tornado is measured on the Enhanced Fujita by damage, how is a tornado in an open field measured?

Also, could this mean that there are more EF5 tornados in more rural areas that go undocumented?

[Assistant]
If a tornado with 300+ MPH winds (that are accurately measured) only snaps a single twig off one tree and doesnt carve the slightest path in the ground, its EF0/1. If a tornado with 80MPH winds toppled a single reinforced structure but then vanished after 2 minutes, its EF5.

Any tornado that does basically no damage is EF0, even if the **potential** is there. Its very very very likely that there are dozens of tornadoes every year that have the POTENTIAL to obliterate reinforced concrete structures but happen to occur in open farmland which lands them an EF0 rating.


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

[User] ELI5: At what point can an astronaut take off their helmet and why do they need to wear one for take off? (Asked by an actual 5 year old)

[Assistant]
Once the dangerous part of the launch is over.

The first thing the spacecraft has to do it to get into orbit by riding on top of a huge rocket. This is very dangerous as rockets are known do spontaneously explode on occasion (as you would expect from a vehicle made of 98% fuel and riding a explosion at 10 times the speed of sound).

Once into orbit and clear of the rocket the risk of an accident requiring a helmet becomes basically 0.

**[edit]** They'll have to put their suit and helmet back when approaching the space station, because it is also dangerous (the main risk is a loss of control and collision with the station)

**[edit]** For those confused: the helmet isn't here to protect them from an explosion directly, but from the potential decompression that comes with a failure of the vehicle and/or the violent shaking and acceleration that happen in an abort scenario.


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

[User] What is happening in the brain when we try and 'think hard'?

[Assistant]
A priority of brain resources are routed to the prefrontal cortex. This is a "newer" part of the brain, evolutionary speaking and is why some of us are better at concentrating than others.

Fun note, this also leads the brain to produce extra waste in the forms of proteins. As this protein builds up, it makes focusing harder, just like when muscles produce lactic acid as we exercise. Only sleep "flushes" these out.

So, also, thinking really can hurt.


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

[User]
[DC Universe]Why do The Green Lanterns have such poor imagination?

So this ring, you can create anything, right? Like as long as it fits within your will or whatever, right?

So why is it that they are so uncreative with their objects? Baseball bats, guns, rockets, boxing gloves, etc. That all seems so awfully lame.

[Assistant] Creativity and willpower are different concepts and, in a lot of cases, diametrically opposed. Think of the most creative artist you know, and what comes to mind? Is it a hard-charging, driven, never-take-no-for-an-answer and bend-the-world-to-his-will badass? Probably not. Similarly, think of the most determined, focused person you know. Do they spend their weekends weaving imaginary worlds?


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

[User]
ELI5: Why has the USA not put a stop to the atrocious genocide and obvious human rights violations in North Korea?

The USA has made a habit of being the world's police force in history. Now as an American I really don't support this behavior, but my question is why break protocol now when it comes to N.K.? We were able to put a stop to Hitlers regime and his concentration camps, why can't/won't we do the same to N.K's "labor camps?"

[Assistant]
Have you ever seen an errant piece of string sticking out of your socks and so you figure wtf this thing has to go. So you yank it out all of it. But now the sock lost its elasticity and you find yourself embroiled in a nuclear war between three super powers. So you look back at that errant piece of string and you say "yea it was annoying but at least we weren't all dead"

Has that ever happened to you? Because thats what it is like.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do electric cars have 1 forward gear whereas gas engine cars have multiple forward gears?

Both engines translate energy into motion, but why can't gas engines utilize a one gear system?

[Assistant] Gas engines have a much narrower effective range of speeds. They need the gearing advantage to get the car moving from a stop, and they need overdrive gears to cruise comfortably. Electric motors are capable of making enough torque from start without gearing, and can cruise comfortably without an overdrive gear.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do we have two distinct genders as opposed to all being hermaphrodites.

It seems to me that it would be easier from an evolutionary standpoint if any two people could breed. What's the advantage of having a male and a female?

[Assistant]
First of all, get it out of your head that evolution tends toward the "most advantage." Evolution is a compounding process in which traits from billions of years of biological change pile up on each other one on top of another. Of course, some information is lost through the ages, but at no point does DNA take stock of itself and make the most advantageous choice.

The division between asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction took place a long time ago and, for whatever reason, it worked for the organisms that developed it. Most likely, they were very simple organisms compared to us, so they faced much different survival pressures. How can we begin to justify sexual production in terms of what we go through? We simply can't. Sexual reproduction is a relic of times long past. There is no "why" to it. One thing is for sure - we're not going back.


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

[User]
CMV: We should not have to alter history when a transgender person comes out.

I support a transgender persons right to transition and live as the other gender and be called by their preferred pronouns and all of that.  The problem is in the idea that the persons whole past life and works must now be amended and everyone can no longer reference their previous name or gender when referencing past events.  I find the insistence on this to be offensive and, quite frankly, ridiculous.

Take Elliot Page for example.  I distinctly remember watching a film several years ago with a female actress, playing a female character, being feminine, identifying as female, being identified by the other actors as female, and (presumably) having female sex organs to prove it.  When talking about this film, being filmed in the past, I should go by the name  of the actress listed in the credits, Ellen Page.  I cannot honestly say I saw a man playing that role in that film.  That would be lying.

If Elliot decides to make films in the future, I will refer to him by his new name.  Its the same as an author using a pseudonym for many years then switching to their real name, like James Tiptree switching to her real name of Alice Sheldon.  I refer to her Tiptree books as written by her pseudonym.

Insisting that other people lie en-masse about the reality they experienced is no different from insisting transgender people lie and cover up their own experience.  Its backward and narcissistic in the extreme.

[Assistant]
Its common practice to refer to someone in the past using their current identity. For example, youd say, Hillary Clinton was born in Chicago even though that wasnt her last name at the time.

Its not lying. For Elliot you could phrase it something like Elliot Page played the character of a pregnant girl before he transitioned.


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

[User]
Birthday Paradox

This problem is related to the birthday paradox but I could not  find any calculator online so now I'm asking you.

If there are 2700 people in a room, what is the probability that 81 of them are born on the same date. If you could show me a formula you used that would be great too!

[Assistant] There are 2700!/(2700-81)!81! = N  10^(156.65) groups of 81 in 2700 people. In each group there is a (1/365)^(80) =   10^(-204.98) probability that everyone shares the same birthday, so the probability of _not_ having the same birthday is 1-. The probability of having N groups _not_ sharing a birthday is p = (1-)^(N) (this last expression can be approximated with 1-N for  much smaller than 1/N). The probability of having _at least_ one group with a shared birthday is thus 1-(1-)^(N)  N  10^(-48.33). That's around one in the number of atoms in the Earth.


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

[User] ELI5: Many brands for toothpaste and mouthwash claim to be "whitening" what are these doing (if anything) to make my teeth whiter?

[Assistant]
yes they are, but the means by which they do is really, really bad for your teeth in the long run.

some of them use acids, hydrogen peroxide that weakens your top layer of enamel that has been stained and you brush that away like a scouring pad would take wax off of a car. This leaves your teeth very sensitive, and prone to cavities and even chipping. Some of them use harsh abrasives- pretty much like sand paper grit- to etch away that enamel. The only real way to change the colour of your teeth outside of the *proper* way a dentist would, would be to grind it away, and that's what these toothpastes do to your goddamn teeth. Some even have chemicals to counteract the sensitivity/numb the nerves inside your tooth so you don't feel how much of your enamel's been eroded away.

...but at least your teeth are whiter! right?


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

[User]
[Dune/GoT] if the Atreides and Harkonnen houses were placed in Westeros, how would they do?

No God-Emperor/Kwasatz Haderach powers, just based on their political abilities and leadership. The people, not the technologies. It's up to y'all whether or not Mentats count. Maybe make the magic pursuant to the Got Universe as well.

[Assistant]
The problem is that even without Kwisatz Haderach powers, the people of the Dune Universe are the product of thousands of years of a concerted effort to make the best human beings possible.  Because of the Butlerian Jihad, they have honed themselves to do all the things that computer might do.  And while doing that, the rest of humanity has kept pace.

House Atreides has mentats that can process ridiculous amounts of raw data.  You have Swordmasters of Ginaz who are the pinnacle of martial arts training.  You have Bene Gesserit, who are so attuned to the individual movements of others that they can read these and determine who is lying and who is telling the truth, along with the ability to manipulate them with modulations of their voice.

What's more, the noble classes of the Imperium, because open warfare is forbidden, have to deal with a War of Assassins.  Once declared, they got to live their lives knowing that death lurked around any corner.  That tends to sharpen the senses.

The only downside for any House of the Imperium placed in Westeros would be that they would lack the substances they often require for their advanced conditioning.


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

[User] ELI5: How do TV Street Magicians work? If actors are used then why does nobody expose them online?

[Assistant] Any magician employing actors to fool people with would get non-disclosure agreements signed by the actors and could pursue civil action (i.e. lawsuits) if they did speak out. So there is little to be gained from actors speaking out since people already know magic acts are trickery, and potentially a lot to lose like the actors job or future job prospects or paying for a lawsuit.


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

[User] ELI5: How does a computer tell us how much battery percentage is left?

[Assistant]
They use a method called "Coulomb counting".
Imagine you bought a wallet to store your money. You know it's empty. Now you put $100. You know, the wallet holds $100. Then you stopped by a gas station and spent $20. Now, even without looking, you know that there are currently $80 in your wallet.
Coulomb counting works similarly with batteries - the charge controller monitors how much energy was put into battery and how much was used (and reports this to the computer).

This method is subject to some inaccuracy due to losses and gradual deterioration of battery's properties, but is good enough and is much better than measuring voltage (laptop batteries have a very flat discharge curve). Some systems employ "learning" algorithms to adjust the value based on how the battery was charging/discharging previously.


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

[User] [Dragon Ball Z] Is there any reason that Goku and Turles look near-identical to one another?

[Assistant] Saiyans have a very low level of diversity in their gene pool. This is probably due to some previous even in the distant past where the species had a bit of a bottleneck after many individuals died out. Because of that most Saiyans look alike to some degree. Turles and Goku have a strong resemblance because of this.


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

[User]
I need to hire a Java developer but I know next to nothing about the language

I'm not sure if this is the correct subreddit to ask this, but as the title says, I need to hire a Java developer. The issue is that I know next to nothing about Java. I was hoping you guys can help me figure out some questions (and answers) that I can ask during the interview process to help me assess who actually knows the language, so I do not get mislead.

[Assistant]
In your situation, I'd lean on experience. More than technically quizzing somebody (which is often pointless anyway).

If you're after a single Dev then you need someone who can develop the full range of what you require, and be happy with releasing that and supporting it in a production environment.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40k] How does each faction treat their prisoners of war?

I know that being a p.o.w in the 42nd milennium must be a fate worse than death, but how are captives treated by the Orks as opposed to, say, the Imperium, the T'au, or Chaos? How do Craftworld Eldar differ from Drukhari, Corsairs or Exodites in handling p.o.w's?

Furthermore, do Necrons or Tyranids ever bother with taking captives? I can't imagine the Tyranids doing this unless they somehow figure out dangling Space Marines or Tau captives around means luring more biomass to them.

[Assistant]
The Imperium doesnt take xenos prisoners. Heretics and traitors may be given a chance to repent before their execution. Prisoners of the Adeptus Mechanicus may be converted into servitors.

Orks occasionally take slaves, who are used as brute labour, food, training targets, and general entertainment.

Tyranids digest their prisoners, and recycle the biomass.

Dark Eldar take prisoners for the specific purpose of torture, rape, and more torture, with a side order of horrific mad science experiments and occasional agonising poisons.

Tau might give you a chance to join them, after appropriate reeducation.

Craftworld Eldar have no interest in taking prisoners. Theyll either kill you or let you run away, depending on which is more convenient to their purposes.

Necrons hate you for being alive, and will swiftly rectify that flaw.

Servants of Khorne will enslave you, and work you to death or until they decide to add your skull to the Skull Throne.

Servants of Nurgle will keep you for a while, then let you go. Probably near a densely populated area. Itll be fine, although you should probably get that rash looked at.

Servants of Slaanesh will do things to you which our vocabulary cannot adequately describe. Eventually, if youre really unlucky, youll start to enjoy it.

Servants of Tzeentch will take you prisoner or let you go, torture you or heal you, lie to you endlessly or reveal maddening truths. You will sense some dark purpose to their manipulations. You will try to understand this purpose. Pray that you fail.


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

[User] Are modern medicines designed or discovered? What are the processes involved?

[Assistant]
Modern medicines are extraordinarily diverse. These include, but are not limited to:

1. Analogues of existing medicines - Synthetic chemists are able to take existing compounds and modify them chemically to give them new potency, better half-life, less toxicity, or simply to extend patent law.

2. Rationally guided discovery - Gleevec (imatinib) is the most famous example of this. They used what they knew about the structure of BCR-ABL fusion kinase, and then rationally designed a scaffold and side chain modifications to selectively inhibit the protein. However, it still has off-target effects on other kinases.

3. Biological medicines - Antibody based therapy is becoming very popular. Scientists will raise inhibitory antibodies to protein targets, small molecules, etc, in mice, humanize them, and then use them directly as a source of treatment. Infliximab is an example that targets TNF to treat auto-immune diseases.

4. Natural sources - New classes of antibiotics are still being discovered in bacteria/fungi, although the rate of discovery is very slow nowadays.

5. Random screen, pray for luck - This is what a lot of people in academia and industry are doing right now. Chemists have created extensive chemical compound libraries. For example, a quinone group with every modification possible off of the carbon backbone. People will just screen these libraries (thousands and thousands of compounds) in an assay and look for the desired phenotype. Once they have a "hit" they will optimize it to improve solubility, toxicity, efficacy, etc.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can we tell when audio is backwards even when there aren't words?

Why does it not sound like someone speaking a completely differe?nt language. Or if it's white noise, why does it not still sound like regular white noise?

[Assistant]
As a rule, audio sources start loud and then fade. Think of a guitar string, for example. Even if a sound starts and ends abruptly like a hand clap, echo from the surroundings fades over time. When played backwards the difference is is easily detectable.

True continuous white noise will bot be distinguishable when played forward or backward.


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

[User] ELI5: What is the Civil Air Patrol in the US? What do they do and do they get paid? And are they recognized as members of the military? Or are they similar to the merchant marines?

[Assistant]
Former cadet here.

The Civil Air Patrol is a civilian, volunteer auxiliary of the USAF. Its members (both Senior Members, over 21, and cadets, under 21) wear the Air Force uniform, go by Air Force grades (officer grades only for adults, cadets use both enlisted and officer grades), but have no military authority and enlisted service members do not have to salute them.

They fly domestic search and rescue using civilian propeller-type planes (mostly single-engine Cessna 152, 172, and 182 models, with high wings for better observability) for downed civilian aircraft, a role the USAF is not well-equipped to do efficiently with their military aircraft.  They also run a cadet program for youth, and participate in counter-drug operations. They are not a combat unit, and have no armed aircraft assigned to them.


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

[User] [Marvel/DC] How does Peter Parker compare to other geniuses of DC/Marvel?

[Assistant]
**Coming from the MCU:**

He is a 16 year old poor Tony Stark. If he had the toys and the father Tony had, he would probably be on a similar level to Tony, when it comes to tinkering - although he is more a maths and physics/chemistry guy, less a mechanic.

I could see him work with Bruce Banner, or Reed Richards, when he is in his 30s, and has studied physics/chemistry - but as it stands, he is still a teenager.

**Comics in general:**

I have no ~~glue~~(silly german me) clue, but his science background is always secondary to his spider powers, so likely he would be a good scientist, but no comic level genius like Stark or Richards. If Stark/Richards are a 10/10, and a "normal scientist" is a 6/10, then Peter would be a 7/10, just because he is a main character.

To cite Doc Ock from Spiderman 2: "Brilliant ... but lazy!"


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

[User]
[Halo] A few What Ifs...

A few questions on how changing certain events might effect the universe as a whole:

1. **What if Nobel 6 survived and managed to board The Pillar Of Autumn?** Let's say Emile managed to shoot down the Phantom full of the Elites that killed him, allowing him to remain in the gun and allowing 6 to board the Autumn. How would 6's inclusion in the events of Halo 1 have changed things?

2. **What if the Heretic Leader has given The Arbiter the opportunity to ask 343 Guilty Spark questions?** He tells The Arbiter to "Ask the Oracle about Halo" but before The Arbiter can do so The Heretic Leader attacks. If he had waited a few more moments would the Arbiter have learned about Halo's purpose at that time? Would he have believed it? Would he then join the Heretics?

3. **What if the humans hadn't follow Truth through the portal?** I don't think there's any way the Elites wouldn't have followed, but what if the humans didn't. We know that Truth can't actually activate the rings without a Reclaimer so there's not much he can do from over there. But once The Flood show up at Earth and head through the Portal, would the Elites or Brutes be able to contain them?

[Assistant]
1. In the grand scheme of things, probably nothing. Jacobs Keyes would probably be still alive. Or not. Depending on how good Noble Six can keep him alive against the Flood.

2. The Covenant Civil War would happen way earlier. And both Sangheli and San 'Shyuum would have lost a majority of their fleet due to the NOVA bomb smuggled aboard.

3. The entire galaxy would have been lost to the Flood. The Forerunners at the zenith had to resort to mass genocide to contain the Flood. The Covenant using the base copies of that technology cannot stop the Flood.


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

[User]
Checklist for your computer last day at work

Using windows 10, what would be a good checklist to do last day at work giving that im not supposed to delete or alter the OS?

[Assistant]
1. Delete local app data folders for Google and/or Mozilla and any other app where you might have logged into personal stuff or browsers

2. Go through each file directory and delete anything that may be personal or you don't want anyone else to see

3. Go through emails and delete anything personal

4. Remove all credentials in Credential Manager

5. Uninstall any programs installed by you that are not useful for company use or can be used by your successor.

Any thing else y'all can think of?


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

[User] ELI5 why do we say "5 in the morning" but then say "5 at night"? why not "5 at morning" or "5 in the night"?

[Assistant]
Focus on the prefix **"ing"** here.

Would you say 5 in the evening? Or 5 at evening?

You can see when we substitute the word "night" for a synonymous one that ends in "ing", we would use, "in the" as opposed to, "at"


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

[User]
ELI5: What does ISIS have against football/soccer?

I read about them banning it for being a "western idea" and killimg people for even watching it on TV. What's the reasoning?

Please only serious answers not stuff like "because they are crazy".

[Assistant]
Soccer is a western sport. Western *anything* is against Islam by ISIS's theory of *how Islam works*.

That's really it. Saying *because they're crazy* is a legitimate response when *they are crazy*. ISIS is doing things that even *other* Islamic extremists think is *too extreme*.


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

[User]
[WH40K] All opponents of the Imperium are annihilated... what next?

What would happen if one day, the Orks, the Tyranids, Chaos, the Eldar, the Tau, the Necrons, etc all disappeared?  Nothing else has changed, all faster than light technology remains, what's the Imperium of Man to do now?

[Assistant]
The Imperium's biggest enemy is the Imperium. The imperium stands not because it is powerful. It stands because it has to be.
  The innumerable threats legitimatizes the suffering the Imperium does onto its citizens. Crime is allowed because it feeds the space marine chapters. Workers are worked to death because you need to arm the mighty armies of the ' mighty' Imperium.
   When that need is gone, you cannot step on the citizens anymore. Before they tolerated it for the collective good. But now, it is gone. You cannot push humans anymore. Then, the mighty Imperium of man will crumble.


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

[User]
Do you know of any philosophers who grew to regret or disagree with their early work?

I find it interesting that people can feel so certain in their beliefs earlier in life, even to the point of writing in-depth books about it, while at the same time continuing, themselves, to grow and learn with more and more experience and wisdom as they age. Surely, at some point, some of these wise men must have grown to change their beliefs? Do you know of any such people?

[Assistant] Wittgenstein's philosophy is generally discussed in terms of 'early Wittgenstein' or 'late Wittgenstein' to distinguish between his views in the *Tractatus Logic-Philosophicus* and *Philosophical Investigations*, respectively. Wittgenstein abandons some significant aspects of his view from the *Tractatus* but doesn't quite regret it as it's a valuable contrast to his later view of language.


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

[User] What happens to the temperature of a raindrop while it's falling?

[Assistant] It heats upby a lot. Even on a descent day down here, it can easily be way below freezing where all raindrops begin, because of motion, they are often even super-cooled to below freezing temperatures and held up there by updrafts before they even begin fallingall this in the summer heat too.


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

[User] ELI5:How does a refrigerator generate cold?

[Assistant]
1. The compressor squeezes the refrigerant (inside coils and tubing) which is in a vapor state - this raises its temperature,  then  pushes it into the coils on the outside of the  refrigerator.

2. The hot gas in the outside coils cools down to the air temperature of the kitchen.

3. The refrigerant flows into the coils inside the freezer and the fridge - as it flows, it expands.  This pulls heat from the refrigerator interior.

4. The refrigerant expands, absorbs the heat from inside the fridge, cooling down the air.

5. It then flows back to the compressor, where the cycle starts all over.


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

[User] ELI5 what the hell are cookies and why do websites want me to enable?

[Assistant] Imagine a website is like a hotel. The hotel wants each returning guest to have their room personalized to their requests each time they visit. They have millions of guests so instead of keeping a list of what everyone likes in a huge book, they write the guests requests on their foreheads. That way, there is no confusion and there is no need to identify everyone in a huge database. When a guest returns, they instantly know what they want without even asking.


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

[User] ELI5: Is there an actual reason no two people have the same fingerprints, or are there just so many possible fingerprints that it's very unlikely?

[Assistant] Fingerprints are made when the fingers form in the womb.  When this occurs, multiple layers of tissue are growing at the same time.  However, slight variations in the movement of the layers induces folding, leading to the ridges that make up the fingerprint.  As a result, the exact pattern that ends up on someone's fingers is effectively random.  Theoretically, 2 people could probably have had similar enough conditions in the womb where their fingerprints are the same, but the odds of that are so incredibly low that it's estimated as a 0% chance.


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

[User] [Blade Runner] Was Harrison Ford's character an android the whole time?

[Assistant]
The fact that there is a debate is the whole point.

This is the meta answer...

Whether he is a replicant or not alters the themes of the movie. There is a lot of discussion on whether the theatrical or directors cut is canon or whether you take Scout's or Dick's version. In the end it doesn't really matter. Watch the movie multiple times and each time change your view. One time watch it with the pov of Deckard as a replicant and another as human. Some questions don't need an answer.


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

[User]
[Star Trek] Why the swap between Red and Gold/Yellow Uniforms?

Two part question:  Why did the uniform colours change for Command and Security between the Original Series and Next Generation?

Would like to know on two different levels, namely the real-world television-studii answer (i.e. Patrick Stewart didn't like the colour)  AND the in universe thought process... what was Starfleets reasoning.

(If this has already been answered, by redditing is rather weak, could someone point me in the right direction.)

[Assistant]
Gold, or yellow, was originally chosen because human eyes see yellow faster. It was thought that in a crisis the yellow uniform would "pop" a bit more lending a CO a bit more authority.

As the Federation and Starfleet expanded more and more species came into the fold that either couldn't see the color gold well or confused it with other colors.

Red was chosen because it can be differentiated by a wider number of species and still carries the weight of authority.


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

[User] ELI5: What atomic properties determine the transparency of a material?

[Assistant]
It has to do with the way that the electrons are arranged.

Electrons can also absorb photons to jump up energy levels - but only if there's the right amount of energy in the photon to do a complete jump. Electrons won't jump up anything but whole energy levels.

This means that there has to be the right amount of energy in the light in order for it to be absorbed. With light, energy is proportional to the frequency, which is inversely proportional to the wavelength. This means there's a direct relationship between wavelength and energy.

This is why glass, for example, is transparent. The amount of energy necessary to excite electrons in glass doesn't match the amount of energy that photons have when they're in the visible part of the spectrum, so the photons go whizzing on through without being absorbed.


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

[User]
CMV:The extreme social repugnance we show to self identified Nazi's should also be applied, and with just as much disgust, as a self identified communist.

I grew up in a multicultural part of the country. Emerson said, I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me. Emerson could of also added how the people we know in our life also make us who we are, and are much more memorable, and impactfull, then the best book. In the spirit of that, let me introduce you to my next door neighbors growing up and a college professor I had the privilege of knowing for twenty years.

I am just old enough to of had as neighbors an elderly couple who survived a German concentration camp because the husband was a cobbler and the wife was a vintner, who made made vinegar and jarred pickled vegetables for the guards, the wife told me that what killed most the people in this camp was "banal" starvation. I was one of those children who had that mixture of curiosity and ignorance that adults found charming instead of insulting. When I first met these neighbors I was six, my first question was, "Why did both of you get tattoos like that." My mother almost feinted, the wife laughed and the husband turned red. She answered all the questions I had for the next ten years that we were neighbors, her and her husband helped shape my opinion on this.

The most influential man I have had the pleasure knowing, aside from my father, was a college professor in the US. He was also alive during WW2, he escaped a Russian Gulag sometime after the war and lived/hid in Eastern Germany for a decade before escaping into Western Germany and then making it to the US. After he made it to the US he got a high school diploma, got accepted to a college and then accepted into a history doctorate program. He told me how in the 60's, after he completed his doctorate, he applied for a professorship. He had a panel style interview and he knew who the interviewers would be for that college. More importantly he knew what the interviewers wanted to hear from a potential colleague. He intentionally used Marxist phrases, and falsely stated he mainly used a materialist view of history when writing about Ancient European/Mediterranean history for his published works. He waited until he had tenure to inform most of his colleagues how much he despised communism in all its forms and mutations. He said that seeing the look on theirs faces, at a conference of historians that his college hosted, brought him more satisfaction then anything he had done. This man helped shape my opinion of this.

I am neither trolling or being slightly disingenuous in my title. I see, and have seen, both as cancerous for twenty years.  I am more then willing to hear how, **either** of these amazing folks shaped my opinion incorrectly.

As an aside posting this to another popular sub got me shadowbanned, so today is off to a bad start for changing my view.

[Assistant]
The reason communism is bad is because its execution has always been poor. If we ended up with star trek it would be fine (not saying that's going to happen obviously). There's nothing inherently hateful in communism. It doesn't work when scarcity exists but it isn't advocating genocide even if it has happened.

The reason Nazism is bad is because it's inherently hateful. It will always be bad.


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

[User]
[MCU] *CIVIL WAR SPOILERS* Question about a scene in the big team battle.....

When the two sides fought, it seems like they weren't going 100% "kill the other side." Black Widow and Hawkeye were reaffirming each other that they were still friends, Iron Man and War Machine didn't just shoot up Ant-Man when he became giant, etc..

However, Vision shot a beam at Falcon as he was flying away. Falcon dodged it and the beam was strong enough to destroy part of War Machine's insanely durable armor. Would that beam have killed Falcon if it had hit? If so, why was Vision using lethal force?

[Assistant]
Iron Man told Vision about Falcon and said to "turn him into a glider".

The plan was, presumably, to destroy the wings' rocket booster.  Falcon would have then been forced to glide back to earth.

However, whatever Vision's beam weapon is, it's not a laser because it travels slower than the speed of light.  Falcon was able to detect it (or anticipate it) and drop out of its path before it struck.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are the wheels of athlete's wheelchairs tilted, and how does that affect its motion?

[Assistant] This is called cambering.  Wheels with a negative camber (that is, wheels that angle inwards at the top) provide more stability, and better control for cornering/turning at high rates.  In addition, the camber allows for forward momentum with downward force, in addition to forward force.  It allows the athlete more control over their speed, and direction.  It also protects the athletes hands from colliding/scraping against other players/equipment during close quarters play.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] When Kanan and Ezra feel such strong feelings of cold, hate, anger when near Vader, is this typical of all Sith Lords or just Vader?

Is the intensity of these feelings due to being strong in the dark side or specific to Vader since he is a miserable wreck who messed up everything so badly and hates himself so much?

[Assistant] Pretty much. He blames himself for everything that has happened to him. Vader was full of self-loathing and hate during that time. So much that it emanates out of him and other force-sensitive people can feel it.


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

[User] ELI5: How come a large portion of African Americans are such devout Christians?

[Assistant]
The religion gave them faith in a better future during slavery, and it has been passed on culturally from mother to son, father to daughter. They weren't allowed to practice any of their native faiths, and since slaves came from many diverse tribes none of them would have had the same religions, so Christianity took on very well with slaves.

It's a religion that's all about being oppressed after all.


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

[User]
ELI5: From the POV of the bank, why is a mortgage considered an asset and a client deposit considered a liability?

I'm having a hard time visualizing this, as I thought it was the other way around.

How does this appear on the tax statements?

[Assistant] An asset is something of value that you have. And the bank have a piece of paper saying you owe them a certain amount of money and detailing how you should pay it back. This piece of paper have a value and it is therefore considered an asset. A liability is when you owe something to someone else. In the case of a client deposit the bank owes you your money and have to pay it back when you ask for it. So it is considered a liability.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is evidence found illegally by police inadmissible in court?

I am **NOT** asking why it is illegal to do random search and seizures of private property, or why police officers gathering evidence  should be charged. Rather I am curious why any evidence found illegally is considered inadmissible? Its still evidence isn't it? Is it simply because it was found illegally or are there other reasons?

[Assistant] In the simplest way it's because they broke your rights, typically either legally or your constitution, and if we allowed cops to break these rules for evidence that defeats their purpose in the first place.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do multiplayer games sync player actions with each other?

I know some of it has to do with the server side of things but at some point you have to lend some things on the client side, correct? I'm curious on what typical multiplayer games do server-side and client-side and make sure that everybody sees (mostly) the same thing while accounting for lag and all that.

Not necessary but I would also appreciate knowing how peer-to-peer vs. dedicated server environments tackle these issues as well.

[Assistant]
Dedicated server: The basic run down is that your client shares information with the central server who then distributes the information to everyone else's clients (and gives you their data). Since all of this exchange is handled by the server, your client (and device) just has to handle decoding the incoming data and sending your new data to the server. To ensure players "see" the same thing, time stamps and packet numbering is used in addition to some predictive measures on the client side (sometimes not always). The server tries to balance all the lag/latency by sending the smallest packet of information possible; all the participants' clients will try to do the same. Other latency/lag balancing measures is sending only information that is needed to the clients that need it.

EXAMPLE: In Minecraft, only locations with active players need data to be sent to those players. So the player(s) in chunk (136, 250) get sent the data of that chunk and the chunks around it up to the render distance (typically between 8 and 16 chunks.) Any changes made in these chunks are sent back to the server who then sends the updated data back to the players; these packets are quite small as ONLY the changes in blocks (which is about 3 bytes in size per block) and player locations are sent (these changes can be larger in size than block data as they tend to be vectors of about 8 bytes in size, but also the server uses some predictive measures to ~~guess~~ calculate what a player's new location will be.)

Peer-to-peer: Pretty much the same, but instead of sending to a central server that then sends out to everyone, your client (and device) send the data directly to everyone else's client. This method does not have a great way of handling lag/latency as packet numbering can vary between peers. Also since your device's internet connection is now having to handle multiple connections to other players, instead of just one connection to the server, it can run into bandwidth issues. The same smallest data packet principal applies here as well.


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

[User]
CMV: If one is trying to get into a healthy, serious relationship, they should first go on relatively low cost dates until they are ready to get into a relationship

*I define "relatively low cost" as under 2 hrs worth of wages, less if you have low-mid income in a high COL area. Where I live with a high COL, I would put the price of "relatively low cost" dates at <$30 for a lower wage worker, <$20 for most dates.*

Spending a lot on the first couple of dates is usually a bad idea if you want to get into a loving, serious relationship.  Here are four reasons why:

**1**

Early dates often don't lead to a serious relationship so spending a lot of money can be a burden on one's finances.

**2**

Some people will take advantage of a person who is willing to go out on expensive dates with them.  This leads to many expensive dates that don't lead to a serious relationship.

**3**

Spending large sums on a first date can attract people who want to live a lavish lifestyle.  This can lead to compatibility issues arising if you are unwilling to spend that sort of money on a regular basis.

**4**

Expensive early dates can create an unhealthy dating dynamic.  Imagine a situation where Person A pays for the cost of an expensive date for themselves and Person B.  Person A, who spends a great deal of money on the dates, might feel entitled to more time with Person B or believe that Person B was taking advantage of them if Person B chooses not to go on any more dates.  Meanwhile, Person B, who is not paying for the dates, might feel pressured to go on more dates, even if a healthy, serious relationship is extremely unlikely to form, since they don't want to seem like they were taking advantage of Person A.

**There are some exceptions that I recognize if they meet the following criteria.**

-  Neither person will take advantage of the other person or pressure them to continue dating.

- Both parties are transparent and quickly learn about each other's expectations regarding their finances.  This will prevent people from going on many dates before realizing they are incompatible when it comes to their spending habits.

- You have enough disposable income to pay for expensive dates without being financially hurt in any significant way.

**Here are some very specific exceptions:**

- If you like a hobby/activity that requires >2 hours of wages to do during a date, you want a partner who likes that hobby/activity, you would like to know if they like that hobby/activity ASAP, the hobby/activity will not break the bank, and you are good at determining whether a date is actually interested in the activity, it might be worth paying for it on one of the first dates.

- If they live quite a distance away from you then spending more than 2x your hourly wages on a date might be a good idea in order to cover transport costs.  Yes, it will cost more money but it doesn't lead to other significant problems.

**EDIT:**

I gave a delta and added the criteria regarding hobbies and transportation.

[Assistant]
That's fair. But there's only so much personality that one can exhibit in a coffee shop. If you're looking for someone to share your life with, you should demonstrate that you are interesting.

So, really you should start as you mean to go on. And whether this is going to lead anywhere or not, you should act as if it doesn't matter. The point of you being here doing this is that you're here for a good time, this is your environment. And you're putting out feelers for someone to join you in that environment.

I think the problem with dating is that there's a level at which you're always trying to act in a way that you don't actually act.

So, if you're the sort of person that actually does something that costs money, or requires effort, you shouldn't be afraid to bring someone there with you. It's the artificial nature of the situation that's really a problem. You shouldn't start having fancy dinners because you think that's what your partner would like.


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

[User] Can a celestial object have liquids on its surface and no atmosphere at all?

[Assistant]
Most liquids, no. Almost all substances have a triple point - a temperature and pressure that is the crossing point between liquid, solid, and gas. At pressures lower than that, liquids cannot exist; solids sublimate directly to gas when heated.

So any substance with a non-zero triple point cannot be a liquid in a perfect vacuum. However, there is one pure substance without a triple point; helium. At a sufficiently low temperature (2K - 3K or so), helium will stay a liquid in a vacuum.

 A planet orbiting a star would probably be too hot for this, but perhaps a rogue planet in deep space could cool enough.


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

[User]
Why should I learn C when I know C++?

Hello all, I have an interest in some lower level learning of lower level languages, I already know (some) C++ from classwork but have developed a bit of an interest in C due to conversations with co-workers/friends.

Never really had to use it specifically for anything, but I'd like to exercise my brain a bit and think it could be interesting to get into embedded systems programming.

I am not particularly afraid of manual implementations of things taken for granted in Java, Python or whatever else.

So why should I learn specifically C over just using C++ or something like Rust?

Side question: is there a way to play with specifically asm in a simulated environment?  Most of my experience is in high level app dev, not low level stuff so I am not very well oriented.  Thanks!

[Assistant]
C and C++ are very very different languages today.

Even though they can compile and link with each other or snippets of each can be embedded in the other, it better to think of them as totally different languages that happen to have a similar name.   Like Java and Javascript, but if the Java compiler could accept some Javascript syntax.

Imagine a language that is like C++ but you have 1) no new/delete 2) no iostreams 3) no templates 4) no operators 5) no built in data structures at all 6) no language support for classes, inheritance, or polymorphism 7) no constructors 8) no algorithms except sort and binary search 9) no references or const references. 10) it takes special effort to link with C++ functions.

At that point how is it even C++?  Its not.  It's totally different.

C is a totally different language from C++ now.


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

[User]
CMV: If states vote to ban abortion, they should be required to establish state-funded support systems for women and children in need - and those systems should be up for vote, too.

For the record, I am vehemently pro-choice and that part of my view will not be changed.

That said, if this is the direction our country is voting to go, I believe we should require more government-funded support organizations and easements for the people directly impacted by this decision (women and children in need).

Ive admittedly not considered all the pros, cons and logistics of setting something like this in motion, but i believe its beyond irresponsible to pass laws and restrictions that will have significant short and long-term impact on our countrys population, culture, economy and healthcare systems without requiring a support system for the inevitable *equal or opposite reactions.*

Fundamentally, I dont think its possible to take something away without giving something back to fill the void. If were going to make matters of personal choice (such as abortion) non-negotiable, state-level decisions, then those states (not *just* independently funded organizations) need to accept responsibility for the impact on their individual citizens and the resulting health of their larger communities.

Perhaps this is a basic concept for solving a complex issue, but its my view nonetheless. CMV.

[Assistant]
Would this apply to states that do not ban abortion completely, but just restrict it more?   How much would a state have to restrict abortion before you think they should establish these systems for women and children in need?

Also, do you think that states like New York with very liberal abortion laws should not have to also support women and children in need as much?  Why shouldn't all states have to support women and children in need to the same degree regardless of their abortion laws?


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

[User] What are some chemicals that rank 4 - 4 - 4 on the Hazmat Diamond?

[Assistant]
Carbon monoxide is 4-4-2. (not highly reactive)

Trinitrotoluene is 2-4-4. (not highly toxic)

I don't know of anything offhand that is 4-4-4, most violently reactive agents aren't also extremely poisonous because they can't persist in the body long enough to cause toxicity.

Side note: googling a bunch of uncommon high-explosives and horrible poisons to see if any were 4-4-4 has surely put me on the NSA watch list.


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

[User] ELI5: Chest pain during a panic attack can be mistaken for a heart attack. What happens during heightened anxiety that causes chest pain in the absence of a cardiac event?

[Assistant]
Psychiatrist here. Think of a panic attack as your body wrongly believing that you are in a life or death situation. Your brain goes into full fight or flight and prepares you for potentially disastrous scenarios. Your blood vessels tighten to keep your blood pressure up if you begin to bleed, your heart rate increases to make sure your muscles have what they need to run fast or fight, your gut wants to purge everything because you dont want to waste energy digesting when youre running or fighting, your sensitivity to pain begins to filter for worst case scenarios (i.e it is safer to assume the worst thing is happening when interpreting physical sensations so your brain will assign the worst possible causes to things your body senses in an attempt to keep you safe).

Lots of other things happen but these are the easiest to understand as causing chest pressure. Your blood pressure is up and your heart is working hard. Additionally a lot of people have nausea and reflux which can be interpreted as chest pain, especially when youre in a heightened state.


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

[User]
[DCU] Is there a reason why majority of earths superheros are orphans/have dead parents killed in from of them?

Superman - 2 dead fathers. 1 died in front of him other still guides him. Also, 1 dead mother

Batman - Orphan. Parents died in front of him.

Flash - Dead mother-- died in front of him. Father -- alive but absent.

Hal Jordan - Orphan. Father died in front of him.

[Assistant] Superheroes aren't just people with superpowers. They're people with superpowers who fight crime. See, when a normal person is good at something, they ask how that ability can be useful, and how they can make money with it. If you gave a normal person super speed, they might start a courier service, or write software super fast, or something like that. But when your parents were killed in front of you, then you start wondering how you can fight crime.


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

[User] [MCU] Could plan to capture Captain America in an elevator in Winter Soldier somehow work out if it was better planned, or was it 0% from the start because of how OP is Steve in comparison to human?

[Assistant]
Those magnetic wrist bonds could've worked if they had gotten two attached. It took all Cap's strength, using his back and arms and legs to pull himself off of just one. He wouldn't have been able to get the leverage if his hands were spread apart.

Then, when they have him immobilized, they can drug him or tase him or something to knock him out.


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

[User] Why do sunburns start to hurt after you get out of the sun? Why dont we notice the pain while we are in the sunlight?

[Assistant] Its because the burn is caused by cells dying in response to DNA damage from the sun, but it takes time for the damage to be detected and apoptosis (programmed cell death) to begin. Once it does, the burn begins.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does wearing black make people seem slimmer?

[Assistant]
Because black absorbs most light, rather than reflecting it like lighter colours, we can't see much detail in dark clothing.

When we see someone wearing a light coloured item of clothing, more light reflects: specifically, it reflects differently depending on the shape of the person - lots of shadows, different light levels etc.

What does this mean? Well, it means we see all their lumps and bumps and bits that stick out, because we can see the shadows created by those lumps and bumps more clearly.

With dark clothing, we can't see those imperfections as easily or clearly, so our brain assumes they're smaller/not there.

The same applies to some extent with the sides of the clothing - because the clothing is darker, there's no clear "shadow" as the body curves away. That means our body assumes the dark areas to the sides are all shadows at the side of the curve (rather than front of your body) and we "see" the person as "narrower" (or slimmer)


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

[User] eli5: If space and time are the same thing(spacetime) and all of space obviously exists right now, does all of time exist also?

[Assistant]
Asking "does all of time exist right now?" is like asking "does all of space exist right here?"

Right now for me it's 14:43 on 20th August 2021. Does all of time exist in that moment?

When put like that, the answer is obviously "no". Time extends backwards from now to the big bang, and forwards to the end of the universe (if there is one).

(In fact, the question of whether all of space exists right now is more complex than you might think, since space is expanding, and you could probably have some interesting but complicated discussions about the concept of "now" with regards to relativity.)


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

[User] [Star Trek] Which of Kirks logs would still be classified by the time of Picard?

[Assistant] Anything concerning the Guardian or the Genesis Device, certainly. Possibly the parts of his logs that detail what happens to people who move past the Barrier at the edge of the galaxy, to deter would-be godlings.