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

[User] ELI5: why do some clouds appear darker than others? Does it have to do with density and sunlight?

[Assistant]
It's the different height of the cloud itself.

The darkness is how much shadow the top of the cloud is casting on the bottom of the cloud.

E.g. A dark storm cloud is a very tall anvil cloud casting a huge shadow on its own bottom layers.


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

[User] ELI5: How is electricity physically measured (like at the meter on my house)?

[Assistant] The old dial type meters are basically induction motors. Theyre motors that spin at various speeds depending on how much current is passing through the meter.  The more current (ie youre drawing more power), the faster the motor spins.  That motor is connected to the dials via calibrated gears that run the dial.


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

[User]
[Halo] So, how was Jorge-052 part of Noble team?

So much for Kurt holding the record of being involved with the 3s.

[Assistant]
The SIII's Jorge was with were special. They were some of the few who had the superior genetics of the SII's, and they even wore Mjolnir armour, instead of the SPI range most III's had. Noble team were more than the rest of their generation, to the extent that Halsey, the mastermind of the SIIs mistook them for another class of hers.

TL;DR Noble team were essentially Spartan IIs, and were operating as a special case.


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

[User] What are the consequences of getting a medical marijuana prescription? Would I be in a database? Could it affect me getting a job?

[Assistant]
For one thing, you lose your right to own guns. On the federal form to purchase a gun, it asks if you take illegal drugs. While state-wise you are not, the federal government (ATF) does not agree. Marking "no" on the form is a federal crime.

Edit: Not sure on the other parts.


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

[User] ELI5: What is preventing blue states from enacting single-payer/universal healthcare?

[Assistant]
Most US states have constitutions that would permit this, or at least have a mechanism for amending their state constitution to permit this.

What's preventing it is lack of desire to raise taxes or regulations in just one state, because that might drive businesses or wealthy individuals to move to an adjacent state. By contrast, if *all* states do something, that risk is lower.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] If Vader had survived after killing the Emperor, what would've gone down?

Specifically, what would the dynamic be between him and Luke? Would Vader want to continue the Sith tradition and make Luke his apprentice? Would Vader simply be good and go back to the light, ending the Sith?

[Assistant]
Considering that in his last moments after killing Palpatine he gave up the dark side, there's no way he'd consider continuing the Sith traditions.

His destiny meant that he ends the Sith, and with giving up the role of Darth Vader and casting Palpatine down, he does exactly that - survival or not. Barring some weird AU that goes against his characterization and everything he says and does in RotJ, he's not going to turn back to the dark side. He gave that up because of Luke's efforts.


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

[User]
ELI5: the difference between a front vs top load washer

I've read a few tech reviews that seem biased and paid, so I want facts the differences between the two. I am gathering that all front load washers are HE; is this a by-product of design or an intentional design? It mentions that they clean more; how so, and is this inferred or actually proven that they clean better?

[Assistant] Front load washers are by design HE; they dont need to fill the whole drum with water to soak your clothes and the clothes actually move inside, as opposed to oscillating in place while the water around them gets agitated.


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

[User] [Independence Day] Why the hell does USMC Capt. Steven Hiller address fellow Marine aviator Capt. Jimmy Wilder as "soldier"

[Assistant]
They're jokers. Marines are commonly mistook as the army. Military guys are always busting each other's balls.  He's just doing his pregame routine with his wingman.

I went to an all branches training school. Had army Sgts call the junior enlisted airmen "air privates".  Anytime, is an opportunity to take a jab at another's or one's own branch.


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

[User]
[Halo] How were the UNSC able to develop personal energy shielding for the Mjolnir armour, superior to that of the Covenant's with access to the same technology, whilst being behind in most other advancements?

As I understand it, the UNSC adapted the technology from the Jackal's shield gauntlets, so surely the Covenant would have equally effective personal shielding for their Elites. Analysis of combat footage and evidence from debriefings has shown that this isn't the case, the Elites shields can't stand up to the same beating as the Spartan's before failing. How have the UNSC managed to gain an advantage in this area of technology?

[Assistant] Covenant weapon and defensive technology is mostly based on Forerunner technology.  As "relics of the gods", they aren't really improved upon by Covenant scientists as it would be viewed as a sacrilege.  Humans aren't limited by that mindset.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do you feel so excruciatingly bad, sometimes even hours, before you puke?

Currently, I've got my head in the throne. Been here for 3 hours, happy I remembered my phone. I guess a good bonus question is, what would be safe to eat when I'm done sticking my head where I poop?

[Assistant]
Its because your body recognizes theres something in your stomach that could be bad for the whole system. So its stopped it from moving through your digestive tract.

Your stomach has two sphincters and when you have food poisoning the pyloric splinter (bottom one) of your stomach tightens to stop the passing of contaminated food(chyme) to your intestines. Which is what causes the feeling of knots.


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

[User] [AVATAR] Is there a reason most benders have a corresponding eye color to their element?

[Assistant]
We see in LoK that the nations got their start living in isolated cities on top of their respective lion turtles. Wan didn't even know other lion turtles existed, and most people were too wary of the spirit wilds to have ventured far on their own. If they were isolated for long enough, it's entirely possible that each distinct population center would have evolved certain genetic traits unique to them (like you mentioned, eye color).

This persists into the Avatar world, even before Aang. Travel would've been a lot more difficult back then (except for perhaps the Air Nomads, but they were always small population-wise and likely didn't interbreed too much). It's only once the indrustrial revolution started by the Fire Nation began, did travelling between nations become significantly easier, and intermingling much more common.


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

[User]
Any advice? Not sure how to feel/do

Hi everyone! First time poster. I'm a freshman undergrad that just joined a physics lab on the East Coast that I've been interested in since high school. I've had a great time so far with all the grad students, learning a lot from them and my notebook is chock full of notes. I really enjoy their company and the lab.

The lab has a bunch of free computers that anyone can use. I spent a lot of time at one of the computers there to the point where the grad students referred it as my desk sometimes, but I always make sure to keep it clean and tidy in case other people want to use the area and computer. Lately, an upperclassman just joined the lab and sits in that spot. I have no problem with that, but it's just that she doesn't use the computer, bringing her own laptop instead. Last time I asked her if I could use the computer (I don't have a laptop powerful enough for the software I need to work with), she told me space was limited in the lab very matter-of-fact-ly and next time I need to just bring my own laptop and kind of reluctantly moved.

I felt really bad for some reason (maybe since she seemed annoyed by me), but I'm not sure why/if I should be feeling this way. She keeps using up that space even though she doesn't use the computer and we have space in the lab for people to work on their laptop. Would it be alright to just keep asking her to move? Today when I came in one of the grad students noticed that where I usually sat was taken up by her again and asked me if I needed the usual computer I used, even referring it as "your." But me, being the non-confrontational person that I am, said I was alright and just worked by hand for a while.

Would it be ok to keep asking her to move every time I needed to use the computer? I don't want to get on the bad side of one of the (new) upperclassmen, but at the same time I really want to get work done in the lab. Am I overreacting/too worried about this?

Sorry if this is ranty, it's just been bothering me too much lately.

TL;DR: Upperclassman keeps using a computer spot that I usually use, got annoyed when I asked to use the computer, and continues to occupy the computer space even though she doesn't use the computer (just uses their laptop instead).

[Assistant] Just be up front and honest with her. State that she has a laptop that she can use and you don't and this place is reserved for people who uses the computer. Surely anyone with half a brain will be on your side if she decides to complain.


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

[User] [general superhero] Which superhero is the worst at snappy one-liners?

[Assistant]
Invincible is a bit rusty at the start, with even his villains mocking his one liners.

Drax is also a bit off, but it works to his charm. Him quipping "a finger to the throat means death" after killing Korath makes no sense, but Drax manages to pull it off extremely well regardless.


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

[User]
[Star Wars]Why does everyone pretend to care about, but inevitably ignore the Rule of Two?

This pertains more to EU/Legends though it kind of applies to the prequels, but it seems like every Sith has one apprentice and then a lot of secret apprentices. Some apprentices even have apprentices. Why even bother caring about the Rule of Two if no one actually follows it?

[Assistant]
Because every Sith thinks that they're the most special Sith to ever Sith in the entire history of Sith.  They lie, cheat, and steal by design and nature.  Of *course* they're only giving lip service to the Rule of Two while fully intending to cheat the crap out of it.  The Rule of Two is a tool used by Masters to maintain *some* control over their apprentices.  The Master knows that the Apprentice will try and cheat it but, at the same time, they're arrogant pricks who think that they're the *one* Master who can maintain control over their Apprentice.

They're all self-deluding, arrogant, cheating assholes.


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

[User]
Why does anxiety/stress cause intestinal upset in some people?

For example nausea or acid reflux?

[Assistant]
There is a part of your brain called the insula. In mammals, it handles gastronomical disgust, like if you were eating an apple and looked down and saw a worm (or even worse... half a worm). It doesnt taste bad-rather, just knowing that youre eating something nasty makes you retch.

Well, humans have higher levels of cognition than other mammals, BUT we still use the same parts, simply retrofitted for our high-minded uses. And so for us, a bunch of negative emotions, especially moral disgust, are handled by the insula as well. Thus, seeing your girlfriend kissing a strange guy makes you queasy, and somebody who rapes a child makes you sick-a physical reaction to a purely emotional trigger.

Interesting tidbit that accompanies this knowledge: Some people struggle to differentiate physical disgust and unease from moral disgust and unease, which is a biological explanation for SOME (NOT ALL) homophobia - people see someone doing something that they themselves are PHYSICALLY repulsed by, get that triggered insula feeling, and become certain that its MORALLY wrong.


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

[User] ELI5: If collagen is a protein that is broken in the stomach into amino acids, what is the difference between having collagen or any other source of protein like whey protein?

[Assistant]
I found a BMJ study in snakes that suggests collagen is broken down enough by stomach enzymes to be absorbed.

Collagen is predominantly rich in only two amino acids though, so it would be better to have a protein source rich in as many essential amino acids as you can.


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

[User] How many times would the word "great" need to prefix grandmother/father in order for me to be talking about a waterborne ancestor?

[Assistant]
If you want to go back to the first tetrapods, then you're about 390 Ma. In human generations, assuming 25 years for a generation, you have about 16 million generations (15,999,998 greats, if you will).

However, this is very rough and only based on a human generation. Your ancestors didn't have the same lifespan, so there would be many more greats thrown in there.

This is actually a nice visualization of how, when people say "look, there's no evolution happening", you can just tell them that the length of time evolution operates is staggeringly long.


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

[User]
CMV: Rap has become less about talent and more about persona

I mean, come on. Most of the artists I see today have poor lyricism, unrefined production, and terrible flows, and yet still manage to make it onto the top charts consistently, as if they arent pumping out garbage. There are some shining examples of those who have broken that mold and become legends, but that doesnt excuse the amount of utter shit that gets churned our year after year. We see artists living crazy lives, doing the most wacky things possible to get attention, but cant actually back up their lives with good music. Everybody wants to be the next Lil Wayne, and yet nobody who tries to copy that lifestyle is actually on that musical level, but I feel like the culture has become so accustomed to that type of personality that it allow others who act like that but with subpar music pass right through, clogging up the Billboard, Freshman List, whatever you look at with rappers that cant really rap. If you could prove to me that somehow there is some nuance to these people, go ahead. I love rap as a genre, and love new music, but some parts of this genre are truly hard to listen to.

[Assistant]
Rap has always been VERY about persona. Thats why rappers have always strived to be looked at as real. Tupac and Biggie are immortalized, as they should be, but their early lyrics took hold because of this persona they built up and the legend that followed them.

Em, 50, Jada, NWA, whoever you want to name: rap has always been incredibly about persona. If anything, these days its LESS about whos real and whos not. Weve got The Weeknd rapping about people trying to kill him, laughable. You think a motherfucker who starred in Degrassi would make it in rap in the 90s? Drake is a star, hes damn good at what he does, but that wouldnt have flown because he didnt have the real persona.


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

[User]
If the heaviest elements sink toward the center of the earth, shouldn't there be stratified layers of heavy metals - one of them being gold?

If the heaviest elements sink toward the center of the earth, shouldn't there be stratified layers of heavy metals - one of them being gold? And if so, won't we someday (possibly with the invention of some supermaterial) suck out this molten layer - upsetting the global gold/platinum/silver markets and so logically upsetting the world economy?

[Assistant] I think that the geological activity at these depths would be faster than the stratification of the heavy metals. The plate tectonics and magma flows would probably be faster than the rate at which the metal sink, and would constantly be mixing up the mantle and breaking up the lower crust.


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

[User]
Where has the medical community landed on the health impacts of dietary cholesterol?

So a few years ago I thought the consensus was shifting and I read a lot of studies showing dietary cholesterol didn't have a big impact on cardiovascular cholesterol, but then I vaguely recall a contradictory study that was supposed to be a sprawling meta-study that came out in like the last year, and they thought it *did* have an impact. So which is it now and why? Can I go enjoy a dozen eggs a week and big shrimp stir fries or should I generally stay away?

Thanks!

[Assistant]
So here's the gist.

Cholesterol in food does not have any caloric value, i.e. the human body does not extract energy from it, and hence, it  does not provide energy for us.

HOWEVER, measured cholesterol in our blood is a completely different entity. Cholesterol is used for many purposes in the body, it makes up our cell membranes, hormones, is used in many cell processes, it is used for transporting fat, and it is used to produce bile acids. Cholesterol measured in the blood is mainly in the form of tiny spheres that contain fats inside them. These spheres are used to transport fat around the body. Again, the walls of these spheres are made up of cholesterol and the inside of these spheres is the fat to be transported. We call these spheres cholesterol because that's what the walls are made up of, but they are in themselves not harmful per se. There are different types of cholesterol spheres in our blood and the differences come from the type of protein that is embedded in the wall of these sphere with the cholesterol. These proteins are important as they dictate what the sphere's ultimate purpose is. The types of cholesterol measured in your blood reflects pretty much your diet and how much fat you have circulating in your blood. In essence, a high fat diet is likely to lead to higher cholesterol levels of the bad type, the type that increases your risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Losing weight and exercising utilizes the fat and lowers these cholesterol levels, hence, lower your risk of CVD.

To answer your question, natural occurring cholesterol is found in everything you eat, even plants. In moderation, it doesn't seem to have any major impact on cholesterol levels, which translates to not having any increase or decrease in the risk of CVD.

BUT, fried shrimp is something different. The oil used to cook the shrimp will be mainly composed of lipids (fats), not cholesterol. THOSE lipids are the reason that your cholesterol will go up, not the cholesterol in the shrimp or eggs. This is why fast food diet strongly increases your risk of CVD: almost all of fast food is prepared with copious amounts of cooking oil.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does it disturb the healing when we pop our acne, but it's fine when dermatologists extract it for us?

I mean, assuming we still try to keep it sterile with alcohol the way they do.

[Assistant]
Think about when you pop a balloon. You just squeeze and squeeze until part of it fails. It usually tears the balloon apart and sometimes it is in several pieces afterwards.

Now try this, or look it up on Youtube: if you put a few layers of tape on the balloon, then carefully poke a hole through the tape with a sharp needle, the hole will not spread and the balloon will slowly, gently deflate. It'll stay in one piece.

That's the difference between popping a pimple and a doctor using surgical tools to drain it. They use sterile, sharp tools to do as little damage as possible. Your fingers and fingernails are the surgical equivalent of a broken glass bottle and a hammer.


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

[User]
[Mass Effect] What is the domestic Quarian economy like on the Migrant Fleet?

We know the Quarians, as a government, has access to funds used to trade with the greater intergalactic community, but what is their internal, domestic economy like within the Migrant Fleet for day to day living amongst themselves?

People need to eat, get clothes, have some entertainment and recreation. Young Quarians need at least some funds for food, lodging, and transportation when they start out on their Pilgrimage.

How does the Quarian Domestic Market work? Do they all receive a salary while living in the Migrant Fleet? Is it a fully communal society? Are there discretionary funds available for Quarians to buy personal items if they are away from the Fleet for official or personal reasons? Do they have a Quarian currency or is it all barter?

[Assistant]
> Young Quarians need at least some funds for food, lodging, and transportation when they start out on their Pilgrimage.

I remember Tali saying that each Quarian *is given* some money and resources for their pilgrimage.

It seems to me that it's a mostly state-run economy where essentials like food would be distributed in a way to avoid some having excesses and others having too little.

There has to be some way that they acquire their personal luxury items, but we're not shown it clearly. It might even vary from ship to ship, as each ship is like a micro-nation within the fleet's Federation.


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

[User] [Pokemon] Can I trick a high level Pokemon into obeying me with counterfeit badges?

[Assistant]
The badges don't matter. It's about what the badges represent. The whole system is very carefully orchestrated, so that when you are able to beat said gym, you are confident and strong enough to handle pokemon of a certain 'level'.

If your Pikachu feels it has out grown you as a trainer, at the position you're at. Getting a badge by any random means won't make it trust you again. Once you can step up to the plate and reprove your dominance (for lack of a better word) you'll be able to take back control of your pokemon. Until then, you huff it with the naives who don't know any better.


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

[User] ELI5: How do British police officers safely apprehend armed/dangerous criminals without carrying guns?

[Assistant]
Some police officers carry guns.

Routine police work, such as investigating a crime scene and issuing traffic tickets don't require a gun. When evidence points to where a suspect who is likely to be armed is hiding, they'll send officers trained in the use of firearms.

Separating out armed police from unarmed police has proven useful in places that do it. It creates a sense that the unarmed police are trustworthy public servants without removing from the police's ability to arrest suspects.

I think it would be harder to implement in America, sadly. In Britain, there's a gun registry and a lot of other firearms controls, so if someone owns a gun it's probably a matter of public record. In America, you can buy a gun at a show without so much as having your ID checked, so the police can't ever really know ahead of time if a suspect is going to be unarmed.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do humans need to brush their teeth? What did we do before toothpaste?

As far as I know, humans are the only species that requires special dental hygiene. Why do we need this and what did we do before the invention of toothbrushes and toothpaste?

[Assistant]
We need to brush them since they need to be freed from bacteria. If we wouldn't we'd lose them way to early in our life. Also due to our highly sugary diet.

Before toothbrushes/paste mostly sticks and herbs were used, toothbrushes exist quiet a long time though. Some trees have twigs you can chew on which releases cleansing substances.

I am at the moment not sure about what was used as toothpaste though, sorry.

And no, we are not the only species to need dental hygiene, we're just the only species to do it with a concious effort. Most animals clean their teeth by usong their surrounding vegetation or ven selfclean while eating their type of food.


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

[User] [Coraline]Where any of the tenants aware of the Other Mother?

[Assistant]
Short answer, no.

Long answer, nooooooooooooooo.

But in all seriousness unless they had a child, none of them would have been aware of the other mother. The only exception might be animals like Mr. B's muschkas which might interact with the scouts the Other Mother sends out.

Given that we only see three children's souls it seems like Wybie's grandmother has been doing pretty well at keeping kids out.

At the end of the day, due to the other mother not having an large influx of children, her activities are limited and not as overt.


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

[User]
[Dragon Ball] Could Vegeta have used the Dragon Balls to wish back the Saiyan race? If so, why didn't he?

I'm pretty sure Porunga could have wished saiyans back to life.  So, why didn't Vegeta do that?  Does he just not give a shit about his people?  Or, is there some reason why he wouldn't be able to use the Dragon Balls in this way?

[Assistant]
I believe it has something to do with how long they had been dead before he learned of the dragon balls, and that's assuming it's something he would have wanted in the first place. In fusion reborn, part of hell is shown to be a place where souls are ' cleaned' (so as to be reused, one might infer, implying reincarnation). It is possible the souls of the entire saiyan race are now inhabiting other bodies.

Given that in DBS, the super dragon balls are used to create a new earth that was long destroyed in another universe, it is possible that they have the capability to restore the saiyans. However, by that point, Vegeta has a family and a life on earth, and may no longer even think of the saiyans. He was selfish before, now he may not even identify with the group he could revive. He could also see them as a potential threat, or even unworthy of redemption because they failed to save themselves.

If it is something that was within the power of the dragon to do, he never cared enough to ask it to do so.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can we turn swivel chairs without touching the ground, just by jerking our body to one side? Where does the force come from?

Are we pushing air like we push water when swimming?

[Assistant]
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

This means that when you move your legs to one side, it pushes the chair to the other side.

But how come you can do it multiple times?

The answer has to do with friction. Friction steals a bit of the energy from your motion, but it can only take so much (momentum) per unit of time. So if you move slower, more (momentum) will be lost to friction rather than turning the chair.

That way, you can turn quickly to one side, and then turn slowly back, and you'll end up in a different position than you started.

Edit: (for clarity)


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

[User]
If the divergence of the magnetic field is zero, does that mean it always exists but its B is 0 sometimes?

In E&M we went over the divergence of a magnetic field being zero while it has a curl. This brings me to my question: if the divergence of the magnetic field is zero, does this mean that there will always exist a magnetic field around a charged particle whose strength is zero when it is stationary? This seems to make sense to me since the field does not diverge from the source but it responds to changes in the particle's velocity.

[Assistant]
Divergence means this: If you draw any surface, is there more outward flux of the field than inward through the surface? For any electrically charged object, Gauss's law says that -- regardless of the shape of any surface you would draw around it -- the net flux of that field (out minus in) is proportional to that charge inside it.

This statement for magnetic fields is this: it doesn't matter *what* is inside the surface, the net flux (out minus in) of magnetic field through the surface is always going to be zero. This doesn't mean that the B field is zero. It just means that as much of the field is inward-pointing as it is outward-pointing.


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

[User] [DCEU] In Batman V Superman we saw quite a lot people worshipping Superman as a god. Has his death and ressurection, similar to Jesus, therefor lead to the rise of a new world religion and if so how has it changed the world ?

[Assistant] The answer is possibly. In the movie we see in the Apokolips vision, Superman seemingly has a legion of soldiers devoted to serving him. Its not out of the realm of possibility that they worship him as deity.


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

[User]
[Watchmen] How did Robert Redford get elected to seven terms?

I know that the 22nd Amendment was abolished in 1976 in the Watchmen universe, and Richard Nixon was implied to have been able to serve five terms through political manipulation and corruption, but as far as Im aware, there is no canon explanation as to how Robert Redford was able to convince the public to vote for him *seven* times across *twenty-eight years*. It just seems unrealistic to me in a franchise dedicated to showcasing the realistic impact of superheroes on the world.

[Assistant]
What's unrealistic about it? If people are generally happy, they don't crave change.

Given the same option over and over, if most people feel he's doing a good enough job, they would keep voting for him. Why not?

I mean, basically any US president that does a decent job usually gets 2 terms. So why wouldn't they get more if there were no limits?


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

[User] ELI5: what is happening to your skin when a callus forms?

[Assistant]
Ok, a lot of people are anthropomorphizing the body a little bit with these answers. The body doesnt recognize increased pressure/wear. Actually the pressure itself damages the lipid shells of skin cells causing them to interlock and mesh together more strongly. Then when they die they are more tightly bound to neighboring cells and do not slough off. This process repeated over and over creates a crust of dead skin bound tightly to itself and the living skin underneath. Its sort of a passive process rather than the active one most people are describing.

Edit: Wow first gold, silver, etc. thanks guys, and also slough


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

[User]
[Pokemon] A few questions about Pokemon rights.

So, i have a few questions about Pokemon rights.

1- When a Pokemon is captured, is he obligated to fight? The trainer didn't ask permision to capture the pokemon, he just said: "You belong to me now". If i'm a Pokemon and some jackass human captures me, do i have the choice to not fight for him?

2- Can a trainer and a Pokemon have sexual relations? Like, legally? The Pokemon can consent, so it isn't rape, right?

3- (This is a question about the Anime) Why everybody is so concerned about team rocket? I understand when they try to steal pokemon from other trainers, but there are sereval episodes where Team Rocket is just trying to capture wild Pokemon and everybody thinks it's wrong. Why? Everybody does that, why can't Team Rocket?

[Assistant]
1- No. Pokmon can disobey a trainer that they don't respect. That said, there is a deep bond between trainers and Pokmon that is created by the act of catching the Pokmon. Pokmon appear to trainers in the wild to test them, to see if the trainer is willing to create that relationship. This has been the case since the end of the original war between people and Pokmon.

2- Physically, yes. To what extent a Pokmon can consent is debatable though, since as previously mentioned, captured Pokmon are loyal to their trainers. So, possible? Yes. Exploitative, bestiality, and flat out weird? Yes, yes, and yes.

3- When Team Rocket goes after wild Pokmon, they generally do so on a larger scale. Scooping up all the Bulbasaur with a giant vacuum, for instance. Removing an entire group from the ecosystem like that is incredibly destructive, and not at all what other trainers do. Some trainers will capture multiple of the same species, but after deciding which one they want as a partner they release the rest. Team Rocket rounds up everything with a giant net, then ships it off to their boss.


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

[User]
Can people develop immunity to viruses after picking up the inactive virus from a surface?

If someone with a cold or other virus touches a shopping trolley and then I pick up that virus three days later when it has become inactive, would my immune system react to it?
Why does the immune system react to dead viruses from a vaccine?

[Assistant]
Dead virus would not invade the body and so would not interact with the immune system, and being dead it would not trigger a response. Imagine what would happen if every bit of non-human protein resulted in immune activation.

Dead virus vaccines work because they use adjuvants - substances known to set off alarm bells in the immune system.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is female handwriting generally distinguishable from male handwriting?

[Assistant]
Young girls fine motor skills tend to develop a few years earlier than young boys. This also coincides with schools teaching handwriting, ages 5-8. As a result girls can get a bit of a jumpstart on developing and perfecting their handwriting.

If you want to throw socializations in also, it is usually stressed that girls should be neat and precise, while boys tend to be given a bit more leeway in messiness...."boys will be boys" excuse.


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

[User]
[Culture] How educated is the average citizen?

I understand that there are no real standard or average citizens in the Culture. But something like education must have some form of standardization right?

[Assistant] Formal education would take a different form than what we are used to. Theres no need for rote memorization since children have access to pen terminals (and as adults, neural laces) at all times. Children are well taken care of and most likely get personalized tutelage from their local Minds, Drones, and knowledgable Humans that caters to their interests and learning style. There's no emphasis on learning job skills and no pressure to one day be capable of "contributing" to society beyond being a well rounded citizen.


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

[User] ELI5 Why do we sweat when eating something spicy?

[Assistant] Eating spicy foods stimulates the trigeminal nerve, which innervates the face and mouth. Since piquancy (spiciness) in foods is interpreted by the body as heat, it's believed that the sweating is mainly a result of the trigeminal nerve trying to shed what it thinks is excess heat.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does the US aid countries in need? Logically, shouldn't the US be keeping all of the money to itself, since there are so many issues ?

Not an American, but in the light of recent events I just can't think of a justification to send billions of dollars abroad for altruistic reasons.

[Assistant]
When you hear "$500M in foreign aid", we don't just hand them a blank check.  Most of that money is required to be spent on goods from American companies.  In a way, it's a way for the government to improve our exports & help keep factories and farms running.

Secondly, it's a lot easier to help keep a country stable by making sure they can buy food than it is to send the military in to clean up the mess once they start having problems.  Similarly, it helps keep our allies closer to us so we don't need to directly engage in foreign conflicts.


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

[User]
Why does a womans risk of having a baby with Down Syndrome increase with her age, when women are born with all the eggs they will ever ovulate?

I just dont understand why the risk of producing an egg - or ovulating an egg - with an extra copy of chromosome 21 increases with age, when the woman has all her fully formed eggs in her ovaries at birth?

Or do the ovaries for some reason start to ovulate more eggs with the extra chromosome 21 as a woman ages?

[Assistant]
Its the cell division process that goes wrong in the older eggs. Youre right that they are there from birth, but they are sleeping or dormant most of her life. Each month, one wakes up and matures and begins dividing even before a sperm reaches it so that instead of having the full set of chromosomes it only has half (with the other half coming from the dads sperm). Aged egg cells are more likely to have faulty cell division and result in an egg cell with mismatched numbers of chromosomes.

I hope that helps.


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

[User] ELI5: What is the actual use for rohypnol and why/how did it become the common 'date-rape' drug?

[Assistant]
Rohypnol, pharmaceutical name flunitrazepam, belongs to the benzodiazepine family of drugs. You may be more familiar with two others in the family: xanax or ativan.

Its intended use is as a sleep aid, although it is sometimes used as an anti-convulsant or muscle relaxant.

It became "the date rape drug" because simply, its perfect for that.

It heavily sedate users, relaxes muscles making it harder to move, and can cause anterograde amnesia.  That is, it temporarily restricts the ability to create new memories,  which is useful to the type of person who would use it on a victim.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are there multiple methods for measuring electricity? (Volts, amps, watts, etc.)

[Assistant]
They mean different things.  Instead of electrons, imagine you're measuring a water pipe.

How wide is it?  That's resistance.

How much pressure is inside?  That's voltage.

How fast is the water flowing?  That's amperage.

The water is turning a waterwheel as it passes, how much energy is that using?  That's wattage.


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

[User]
CMV: Bus Stops Should Not be 1 Block Away from Each Other

I believe a bus stopping every block is inconvenient, fuel inefficient and a large waste of time. Makes more sense for a large group of people to get on at one stop than small groups getting on every single block, regardless of population density of the area. I dont think that taking out bus stops 1 block within each other will cause a major accessibility issue either. The only pro I can recognize of having stops extremely close together is if someone missed their chance to get off, they have multiple chances to get off on other stops that are not that far away. However I believe that this pro does not out weigh the cons as someone missing their stop should not come at the cost of inconvenience of everyone else, including the driver. Open to changing my mind!

[Assistant]
Bus stops being on every block =/=  a bus stopping every block. For every bus I've ever taken, the bus will stop for two reasons:

1) There is someone waiting at the bus stop

2) Someone on the bus requests a stop

Whether it's efficient to have the stops every block is a matter of discussion, but it's definitely not as bad as you're framing it.


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

[User] ELI5: How can big corporate supermarkets sell food much cheaper than directly from a farm?

[Assistant]
Basically, because farms are charging you a \*lot\* more when you buy direct from them than what they charge the supermarket for.

A big chunk of that is value pricing...most people are willing to pay more for direct-from-farm food, so the farmers charge what people are willing to pay.

The other part is overhead...the farmer expends basically the same effort/cost to grow an ear of corn whether they sell it to you or a supermarket. But for the supermarket they just dump the corn from their harvester truck straight into a megabin that goes to the supermarket, the incremental handling is very small. For you, they have to create/maintain/staff some kind of storefront to sell the corn, handle tiny numbers at a time, deal with the payments, etc., etc. The supermarket has a \*massive\* logistics operation to do that at very large scale and high efficiency, the farmer can't hope to compete with that, so their costs are higher, so they're willing to sell to the supermarket much cheaper than they're willing to sell to you.

And if you're talking small local farms, they're not typically selling to large supermarket chains at all so they're not even operating in the same market space.


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

[User]
[Men In Black] Why is J ok with erasing his whole life?

In order to become an MIB, every record of your existance has to be erased, and your loved ones will forget you ever existed, so why is J ok with that?

Now, I don't doubt him being ok with it, I want to know WHY. maybe he was a loner who had literally no one in his life?

[Assistant] It clearly takes a special kind of person to be recruited, specifically someone (see the agent in the international one whose name escapes me) who has a burning need to know the answers to their questions that makes erasing their life worth it. I.e The best of the best of the best. Sir!


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

[User]
ELI5: How do people get a Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) badge to put by their vehicle's license plate? Do these badges afford preferential treatment?

Does one have to donate money to the FOP to get a badge? Or is it just a badge of support? Or are people who display the badge actual members of the FOP? Do people who display these badges get special treatment, and if so, is that ethical?

[Assistant]
For the same reason that people put any sort of "I support the police" bumper sticker, license plate frames, badges, etc...

They don't necessarily automatically earn you preferential treatment, and the police certainly don't condone any sort of official policy of preferential treatment, but police officers are human beings just like anyone else, and they will obviously be swayed about their opinion of you if you have pro-police paraphernalia displayed.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does a sphere, which only has a single point of contact to the ground, not produce the same amount of downward pressure as a needle of the same weight?

A needle and a (nearly perfect) sphere technically have the same amount of area in contact with the ground. So with all other things being equal, why is it that a sphere does pierce through material when placed on top while a needle will?

[Assistant] It would if the material the sphere was placed upon was perfectly rigid.  In the real world, the material is not perfectly rigid, and deforms at least somewhat so that more and more of the sphere's surface makes contact with the material.  This is also happening with a needle, but there's just not enough surface area at the tip of a needle to spread out the weight at the material deforms, so it breaks through anyway.


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

[User]
What is the visual aspect of fire?

I understand the heat is from radiation, but what is the actual flickering, flapping, wispy glow we see? How is it produced? And why does its intensity change its color?

[Assistant]
The orange wispy bits are unoxidized carbon. Not a gas, but fine and hot enough to float through the air. Coming directly from the site of the reactions, they are heated to be glowing hot. Just like a piece of metal in a forge.

 The blue bits are electromagnetic radiation emitted from the energy released by the chemical reactions. The oxidization of the material releases enough energy to cause electrons to jump up in energy levels, at which point they fall back into a lower energy state by releasing a photon.

Both of these are called blackbody radiation. They are light produced of the material's own energy, as opposed to light being reflected from an external source.


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

[User] ELI5 how it is that a human can jump from 20-some-odd miles up in what essentially seems to me to be space and live while ships need a heat shield?

[Assistant] It's about orbital speed. Ships go into orbit, which means they need to be whizzing around the Earth *extremely* fast, like 17 thousand miles per hour. When things burn up on re-entry, it's not the speed of them falling, it's the speed of them orbiting. A balloon goes straight up, so there's no need to have the extreme speed that makes things burn up on re-entry.


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

[User]
[MCU] how was Tony Stark's death reported to the world?

the world knows he died saving it but does the news really go into detail as to the events surrounding his death?

is there a news story that just says "Tony Stark dies in an incident at Avengers compound?"

[Assistant]
It's quite likely that the media gets a pretty decent accounting of things from the participants and their assorted home agencies; the presence of War Machine and Black Panther means that both the United States Air Force and the Kingdom of Wakanda are going to be issuing their own press releases, and Stark Industries will no doubt issue a letter directly from the CEO on the matter.

Some details will probably get lost in the shuffle; some accounts of the story will conflate the snaps and not give Bruce his full credit for undoing The Blip, probably.


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

[User] [Star Wars] How did some creatures evolve to live in the vacuum of space?

[Assistant]
Im guessing their ancestors lived on a planet that died slowly, its atmosphere leeching away over millions of years. Anything we would recognise as intelligent life died or evacuated early on, but some things - the hardiest and luckiest - adapted to survive in the ever more inhospitable conditions.

As the planet turned more and more into a dead rock, life forms developed that had no need of air, that drew nutrition from things we would consider inedible, and that in some cases would even regard their worlds eventual disintegration into an asteroid field as no inconvenience, but rather an opportunity to grow big enough, in the absence of gravity, to swallow the Millennium Falcon whole.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do video games detect if they're pirated?

I remember hearing about how in GTA IV, if you were playing a pirated copy of the game, it would get stuck in drunk mode and make the game unplayable. How do games tell the difference between pirated and legitimate copies?

[Assistant]
There are a bunch of different methods that have been used:

* Non-standard formatting. This was most common back in the days of cartridges, where each console had its own unique hardware. This includes special hardware that isn't strictly required, but makes it easier to detect attempts to copy the device.
* Corrupt files. This was common for games distributed on both floppy and CD. The basic idea is to intentionally put a corrupted file on the disk, such that standard software either fails to read it, or cannot reproduce it during a copy. The software then checks to make sure this corruption matches exactly.
* Server connections. This is among the most common method today. Basically, your product gets registered with a central server, and the software connects to the server to check if it is valid. Generally, this will include embedding an encrypted product key somewhere in the software.
* Encryption. Its possible to make hardware such that you can encrypt the game so its only playable on that specific hardware. While the user could copy their own version, it will fail to run on anybody else's hardware. As this requires each copy be customized for each user, it requires digital distribution and can only work if the distributor controls the hardware. As such, it tends to be very rarely used.
* Intentionally releasing a "pirated" version. In doing so, its possible for the company to get the jump on actual pirated copies, while making the version they released inferior in some way. If done right, the vast majority of pirates will find this version over a normal version. As it is a bit tricky to manage, this tends to be a less common method.

Naturally, most companies try to keep their copy prevention methods secret as a form of security in obscurity. Its easier to bypass the security if its publicly known how its done. As such, there are probably other methods that have been used.


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

[User]
Wittgenstein on mathematical propositions

What does Wittgenstein mean when he says  In life it is never a mathematical proposition which we need, but we use mathematical propositions only in order to infer from propositions which do not belong to mathematics to others which equally do not belong to mathematics.  ?

[Assistant]
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

Think of a drum set thats missing the snare drum, so you use a trash can lid in its place. Essentially, mathematics is a way to interpret or conceptualize kinds of data, but it is always a substitution for the data itself. We use it to make sense of the world around us in the best way we can, though it doesnt complete the world around us or necessarily provide us with the snare drum to complete the drum set. Its more like the trash can lid that works AS the drum, but isnt actually itself the drum.


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

[User] ELI5:Why did Gavrilo Princip assassinate Francis Ferdinand and what exactly was the Black Hand?

[Assistant]
The Black Hand was a secret society based out of Serbia comprised of a number of members of the Serbian military. Their main purpose was the reunification of southern slavic territories under Serbian rule.

Now a major portion of ethnic Slavs lived in territory controlled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and like many ethnic minorities in a large empire, the slavs weren't treated too well.

Franz Ferdinand was the crown prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, thus a figurehead and symbol of the oppression of the slavic people in the Empire. As such, he was a prime target for assassination for people who wanted independence/reunification of Serbian people.

Gavrilo Princip was one such person, belonging to a nationalist group called 'Young Bosnia' (Bosnia being of the territories in the Empire that was mostly ethnic Slavs). The actual assassination of Franz involved a number of people but Princip was the one who succeeded.

Ironically, the Austrian Army Chief of Staff had been petitioning the Emperor to go to war with Serbia for years, but had been opposed on every occasion by none other than Franz Ferdinand. In fact, Franz was in favour of granting more autonomy for the ethnic minorities in the Empire. Arguably, Gavrilo shot the one man in the Empire who could've helped his group's cause the most.


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

[User] ELI5: Chomsky's Linguistic Theory.

[Assistant]
If you talk to a kid and a kitten long enough, the kid will eventually learn to understand you, but the kitten never will.  Why?

There is a special part of your brain that has the job of learning languages.  When you are born, this special part has everything it needs to learn any language in the whole world.

From the moment you are born, when you hear the people around you talking, that special part figures out all of the rules for that language, or the languages, people around you use all the time.  An example would be, the order in which we say our words.  Which one sounds right to you, the cat fat, or, the fat cat?  Or, when we use an "s" if there is more than one of something.  Like, one chair, two chairs.  Every language has it's own rules, and kids can learn any number of them, simply by listening.  Now, once you know how a language works, you are free to make up entirely new sentences and say things that no one has ever said to you.


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

[User] [Terminator 1] Why does the T-800 even bother to ask the gun store owner questions just to kill him later? Why didnt the T-800 just kill him as soon as he walked inside the gun store?

[Assistant] Terminator's are infiltrators. It draws a lot more attention/retaliation to shoot a man in broad daylight and then spend several minutes perusing his stock while police are being called. Police can't stop him but they can make his mission more difficult. Once the store owner has helpfully retrieved all of the weapons you need into a convenient pile with appropriate ammo and confirmed that there are no 40 Watt plasma cannons hidden in the back THEN kill him.


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

[User] ELI5:On the back of my dove deodorant, it says to ask a doctor before use if I have kidney disease. How is deodorant correlated with kidney disease??

[Assistant] Deoderants and Antiperspirants contain aluminium. Aluminium is abosrbed by the skin and enters the blood, in healthy people, the level of aluminium found in Antiperspirants is safe as it is rapidly removed from your body via the kidneys in urine. But in people who have kidney problems, aluminium can accumulate in the blood and cause toxic effects .


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

[User]
ELI5: Public-key cryptography

How does the public-private key system work? Why does it work?

[Assistant]
ELI5 example how public-key cryptography works:

Imagine persons A and B want to transfer secret message but they can only send packages to each other in mail which is unsecure. Anyone can steal a package and take what ever contents are inside or even swap them to something else.

In symmetric key cryptography they would use a locked box and they both would have a key for the lock. Problem is they can't exchange keys safely. If A buys locked box, how can he send key for it to B without possibility that someone steals the key and makes copies.

In public-key cryptography person A buys a lock (and keeps the key for it in some secure place) and sends the unlocked lock to person B. Person B then puts his message inside a box and locks it with A's lock. Then he can send it safely to A without anyone having access to the message.

Locks in the examples are cryptographic algorithms. Public-key algorithms are much more expensive to calculate so usually they are just used to do the key-exchange: both send a symmetric cryptography key to each other using public-key cryptography. From there on they just use the symmetric cryptography to encrypt their communication.


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

[User]
[Chronicle] Now what?

So, Matt saves the day and brings the camera to Tibet. Great, now what? Does he become the first super hero of Earth? Does he get experimented on by the government? Does he decided to lay low and put it behind him?

[Assistant]
He eventually makes his way to Japan after learning to conceal his abilities, before ultimately settling down and raising a family. His firstborn exhibits the same abilities at an early age, and he cautiously indicts the child, named Akira (after his mother's father) in a Japanese government program studying a small group of individuals designated as Espers (the programm arose after the incedent in America).

Matt unfortunately perishes in the 'incident' shortly afterwards.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Why did the Empire and First Order stop using clones? Or Battle Droids for that matter?

[Assistant]
Clones were ludicrously expensive and on top of that, it was somewhat of a specialty field - which makes your army vulnerable if the cloning facilities are attacked/destroyed.

Going off of *Solo*, it seems like the Imperial strategy was just "accept anyone who applies" and those who weren't fit for the academies were relegated to being infantry grunts (until they expanded the Stormtrooper Corps to be their main army). In other words, quantity over quality of training/recruitment.

Droids were mostly abandoned because of their association with the CIS, which was an image the Empire didn't want.


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

[User]
CMV: Adding pronouns to emails sigs and Zoom call names and what not is extraneous and unnecessary unless your name is ambiguous, or if your pronouns aren't what we'd reasonably expect

Okay, let's say you get an email from someone named "Steven". What are Steven's pronouns? I'm gonna guess they're probably "he/him". Now, it's possible that Steven is actually a ciswoman. After all, I have known women named Michael and even met several cis men named Maria. So it's not like it's impossible for a ciswoman with "she/her" pronouns to be named Steven. Or Elliot (Scrubs!!!) And then there are ambiguous names like DJ, Terry, Shawn or perhaps names that someone would be reasonably unfamiliar with (my mother's name was Chassye, and I've met the occasional Dashonta or Luree). So I guess in those cases, you probably should include just if you wanna avoid awkwardness when someone gets your pronouns wrong.

But like, come on. If your name is Ronald, we probably don't need you to explicitly state your pronouns. We can safely assume that Sandra is a "she/her", and if they're not, then I can see why you'd wanna include pronouns. But I think it should be like this:

Obvious male name belonging to a he/him = no need for pronouns

Obvious female name belonging to a she/her = no need for pronouns

Ambiguous or uncommon name = include pronouns

Obvious gendered name belonging to someone who does not match the obvious gender = include pronouns

Working in a foreign country where they probably have never seen your name = include pronouns

I feel bad saying this cuz I've added a "he/him" to my email sig and I use it a lot in my working life (zoom calls and stuff) but I feel like my name is a fairly common male name that no one could reasonably get my pronouns wrong.

I'm not opposed to doing this. I voluntarily added my pronouns to my work stuff, in spite of slight jabs from coworkers who tease me for it (they're all old school backwards types who believe in binary gender). So I support doing it. I'm just wondering why I do it.

For the record, I am not a backwards, old school gender binary type. I understand that gender is not the same as biological sex, and I've had a relationship with a trans woman, and I support people being who they are and I've even marched alongside LGBT folks at rallies before.

I just think the pronoun thing is sorta silly.

Also, someone is gonna have to tell me how to type a Delta on my phone in case I need to award one (I suspect I will).

[Assistant]
The reason many people do this is to normalise the practice. So it makes it easier for people whose gender may present more ambiguously to volunteer their pronouns. Its also an easy, low effort way to show solidarity. It costs no one anything and its a pleasant gesture.

(You can award a delta by writing !_delta without the underscore and with the ! and delta next to each other alongside a short comment explaining why your view changed)


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

[User] Is it possible to suffer permanent damage if a part of your body "falls asleep" for long enough?

[Assistant]
It's possible depending on how long. Radial nerve compression (one possible scenario of this) is sometimes referred to as "Saturday night palsy" because of passing out with your arm over a chair or something similar. Compression of the nerve over a long enough period of time can lead to effects that may never go away. In this case with radial nerve damage, someone may have a permanent wrist drop and weakness with other forearm and triceps function. This was one of the first nerve differential diagnosis cases we learned about in DPT school- always thought it was crazy.

Edit: Regarding "how long is too long"- it's really an "it depends" situation. People have mentioned getting hand numbness from riding bikes which checks out- often you can press down on the ulnar nerve on a long ride or compress the median nerve through the carpal tunnel. The damage severity will depend on the degree of compression and how long it was compressed. Everybody is wired differently, and situations vary a lot so it's really difficult to give a concrete answer :(


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What kind of field of view does Boba Fett / the Mandalorian have?

The Mandalorian looks pretty worried when he walks down stairs on TV, but what kind of field of view does he have in the Star Wars universe? Can he only see through the slits, or is there some sort of monitor lining that gives him a fuller field of view?

EDIT: Thanks! That's one less niggling question for me to live with!

[Assistant] Having an in-built sensor array in one's helmet is pretty part-and-parcel for bounty hunters in Star Wars. So he's probably got a pretty sophisticated HUD that allows him to see almost as though he weren't wearing a helmet at ll.


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

[User] What makes you a compatible bone marrow donor?

[Assistant]
Blood cancer survivor here!

Your body is made up of tiny factories called cells and inside each cell is a really big molecule called DNA.  Each DNA molecule tells the cell that contains it what to do and each DNA molecule contains all the information needed to build you... all of you.

DNA is so big that your body stores it like an encyclopedia, in volumes.  Scientists call those volumes "Chromosomes."  On Chromosome number six is a special part of your DNA called the HLA.  The HLA stands for "Human Leukocyte Antigen."

The HLA part of your DNA tells your body what the outside of your cells should "look" like.  When your body is building a new cell it uses molecules called proteins to make the outside of the cell match to what the HLA says it should look like.

When you get sick your body sends White Blood Cells -- sort of the Marines of your immune system -- after the germs that make you sick.  White Blood Cells are big and powerful cells and it would be bad if they beat up on parts of your body that aren't sick.  They look at the outside of cells and leave the ones that match your HLA alone.  That way they only beat up cells that don't belong... cells that don't have your DNA.

Sometimes when a person gets **SUPER** sick they need a bone marrow transplant.  Bone marrow is a special cellular factory deep inside your bones where your body makes new blood cells including white blood cells.  When a person's bone marrow is replaced they get a WHOLE NEW FACTORY but that factory comes with all of the instructions -- all of the DNA -- that made it work in the person who donated it.

That means that it comes with the donors HLA and that the white blood cells it produces will attack and kill cells that don't match the donor's HLA.

So if the donor's HLA doesn't match the recipients HLA the donated bone marrow will make white blood cells which will try to kill the recipient.  Doctors call that "graft vs host disease."

That's why it's so hard to find bone marrow donors.  You need to find someone who has a nearly identical HLA.  You need to fool the donated cells into thinking that they're in the body they came out of; that means you need an almost identical genetic match.

Those are hard to find.  Sometimes even brothers and sisters aren't a close enough match.  Fortunately, there are billions of people all over the world and while it might be a million to one shot of finding a donor, we have six-thousand-million people to choose from!


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

[User]
[Dark Souls] Why is EVERY THING trying to kill me?

I understand why the undead are trying to kill me, why the dragons are trying to kill me but why are even the trees trying to kill me. What's up with this world?

[Assistant]
You are a hollow, with a source of souls within yourself.  There are many reasons in dark souls people decide to fight you.
1. Denizens of the world covet your souls and seek to obtain your power through killing you, much like you kill them in order to gain power.
2. You have invaded their home or nesting grounds and they seek to defend what they consider is their territory.
3. This applies to golems and most human characters as well as a lot of bosses.  They see you as a threat to the place they have been pledged to protect, and attack you out of the need to defend an area.  Think of the humans in the forest, sif, biggie and smalls, etc.
4. they know you possess the lordvessel and defend themselves due to posessing either pieces or an entire great soul.
BONUS ROUND: List of people who dont want to kill you.
Most NPC's, Crystal Lizards, Priscilla, Hollows who have given up (New Londo, beginning of the undead asylum) the people of the forest after they know you aren't a threat because you pledged a covenant with that one cat, You murdered the Possessed Tree in order to get behind him he didn't even defend himself you monster,  mimics (did nothing wrong stop bothering them they know kung fu)


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

[User]
Very very very very basic question.

Considering the covid-19 pandemic, why is "Total number of cases in a country (ranked)" a more quoted statistic than "unit number of cases in a country (ranked)"? Is the latter tougher to interpret for the common man or is it more difficult to compute? Or is there some other reason?

[Assistant]
Three issues here: one political, one educational, and one is somewhat of a statistical problem.

1) especially in US media, they want sensationalized stories and titles. "Most cases in the world" is a powerful and simple statement.

2) education: the per capita case count is slightly trickier to understand, and doesn't fit neatly into a headline

3) The more interesting statistical issue is around small sample sizes and confounding variables. The highest number of covid deaths per capita so far have been: Czechia, San Marino, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montengro, North Macedonia, Moldova, and Belgium. Many of these countries are small (small sample size) or remarkably different from the US in composition (i.e primarily urban). They are also less well known countries that have less influence over pop culture. Due to their small size, a high death rate doesn't necessarily lead to many deaths. San Marino for example has the 1st or 2nd highest covid death rate in the world (depending on source) with about 80 covid deaths. It's not sufficient to be an interesting study around the spread and missed prevention opportunities.

Some argue the ideal metric would be death rate among G20 (highly developed) countries. In that case, it's Belgium. They got hit very hard by covid, and it's because Belgium is particularly urban and an international center of politics, trade, and culture. And that's true, Belgium is not rural like the center of the US, it's more comparable to New York, New Jersey, or Massachusetts, all of which have had a **higher** death rate than Belgium (despite the US as a whole have a lower death rate). Unfortunately, these metrics around how to normalize and how to subdivide areas end up in almost circular arguments, primarily driven by people looking to point fingers at which government did the worst job protecting their people. If the media gets to pick the metric, they just keep the metric simple and use it to point at the US Federal Govt, and that's not unreasonable.

Edit: also let's not forget when Trump tried arguing on 60 minutes about normalized metrics that has now turned into a popular meme, but he argued for deaths / cases, and not deaths / population. The first one is a measure of healthcare quality and availability of testing, while the 2nd is a measure of how much a country was impacted by covid. Either way, Trump chose the metric simply because it made the US look better.


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

[User]
How does force=(mass*acceleration) work? If a moving object with a constant speed (not accelerating) hits something, does it still have a force?

If two objects in space (rocks for example) are moving in the direction of each other at 5 m/s, but have no propulsion (ie: acceleration), why is there still a force when they collide?

or more directly asked: why isn't it force = mass * speed ?

[Assistant] Things don't *have* a force, they exert or experience a force. When one object collides with another, both of them change velocity. That change in velocity is the acceleration, and the change in momentum is the force. The quantity you are describing is momentum.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do muscles swell and look larger during workout?

[Assistant]
The blood vessels in the muscles dilate to allow more blood (and thus oxygen) to go to the muscles when kts needed.

This causes them to hold more fluid for a limited time, making them look bigger than they actually are.


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

[User]
[Star Trek... All of it] With the new timeline, does humanity have to go through the Q judgment of them again?

Title says it all - technically, the Q should still be aware of Picard's trial, even though Nero bonked the timeline.  How does this pan out?  Does someone else have to jump in and be judged by the Q for the crimes of humanity or are the Q happy with the prior timeline?

Thanks.

[Assistant]
Q, as expanded on later in the series, never really needed to judge humanity.  The continuum has the resources to evaluate humanity without direct interaction of they feel like it.

The judgement of humanity and continued Q interactions was more for humanity's benefit in a stealth mentor sort of way.  In that sense, it will likely take place again.


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

[User]
Where do the spores that cause mold on bread come from?

Are there spores in the bakeries where the bread is baked and they get in/on the bread before it is even packaged? Or are there spores living on my skin that are transferred onto the bread each time I open the bag to get a couple of slices? Or are they just floating around in my kitchen and each time I open the bread bag, some of that spore-bearing air ends up inside of the bag? Will an unopened loaf of bread still get moldy?

Also, some related questions:

Why do "name brand" breads (eg Wonderbread or Dempster's) seem to last forever without getting moldy (or even stale for that matter) while more "artisanal" breads produced by independent bakeries always go moldy in under a week, and "grocery store" breads produced by in-house bakeries at grocery stores seem to fall somewhere in between, usually getting moldy after 1-2 weeks? Is the difference in shelf-life of these different types of breads due to different preservatives being used, or does it have more to do with the environment in which the breads are made?

What is going on between the time a spore is first introduced to a loaf of bread and the point where the mold becomes detectable (either visually or by scent)? Is there ever a point where the mold is not detectable but still dangerous?

[Assistant]
Mold is a fungi. It transfers from air to the bread.

Why industrial breads dont get moldy so easily: tons of preservatives. Basically stuff that is poisonous to the fungi.

There are many types of possible molds, some more poisonous than others so what amount may cause problems depends. Some molds are completely fine (hence used in cheeses etc) whereas some can be very problematic in miniscule amounts. There are thousands of possible variations. When it smells bad, dont eat it. When it is visible, dont eat it (it is on the whole bread at that point since its porous stuff.


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

[User]
[HIMYM] How long did it actually take for Ted to tell his story to his children?

Some spoilers here.

I was wondering, it looks like the story seen in all of the 9 seasons of the show is told in one evening. Some episodes show the children getting bored but in the final episode they still have the same outfit, age and all (which is impressive IRL because it seems that they actually knew the end of the series at its beginning. If you have more info about that I also take them. I guess they recorded numerous ends so that no one could know which one is the real one).
So, it obviously didn't take nine years for Ted to tell his story in the show. How long would the nine seasons be IRL?

[Assistant]
Couldn't be more than a few hours. For comparison's sake you could time how long it'd take you to read the wiki entry on each episode's story, and it'd probably take you an hour or two to cover How Ted Met Their Mother.

More likely than not the kids expected a brief minute to 10 minute story, but with Ted getting side tracked and misremembering information, it stretches into a couple hours of needless tangents on Barney getting laid or Ted going on a boat with The Captain. Or hell even reminiscing about Lily and Marshall's housewarming party from like 5 different perspectives often going over the same events again and again.

But as you say with the kids staying in the same outfits, we can assume it isn't Ted telling them a bit at a time before leaving it for the day and picking it up again some other time. We also don't see them eating anything or drinking anything, meaning they're okay for food and water (likely having eaten recently). Given how at the end of the story in the evening Ted bails out to go get Robin back, we can assume the story started after lunch in the afternoon. This gives a maximum story time of maybe 6 hours for Ted to recount his story before heading to Robin's before it gets too late, but is pushing it a bit (try getting two young adults/teens to stay and listen for 6 straight hours). More likely after an early dinner (say 4 or 5pm) Ted tells the HIMYM story over two hours, his kids give him the go-ahead to plow their aunt, and he goes to Robin's for around 8pm.

TL;DR: Probably 1-2hrs, no more than 6.


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

[User]
Why is argon so abundant in Earths atmosphere?

Looking at a pie chart of Earths atmospheric composition, argon gets its own slice, being nearly 25x more abundant than all other non-oxygen/nitrogen gases COMBINED. Why should this be the case?? I understand that lack of reactivity probably accounts for some of it, but that still doesnt explain why argon is much more abundant than other noble gases, like neon and krypton.

Thanks for any info you can provide!

[Assistant]
Argon-40 is (sometimes) a breakdown product of radioactive potassium-40. Earth has a lot of potassium (its crust is about 2% potassium) and even though only like 0.01% of that is potassium-40, since argon doesnt chemically react with anything else (and is generally too heavy to float off into space) the resultant argon from Earths K-40 can just keep on accumulating, forever.

With over 4 billion years of K-40 decay happening, that has eventually added up to a lot of argon.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why are tracor beams not used to rip smaller ships and fighters apart?

How come larger ships, like Star Destroyers, don't use multiple tractor beams to smash and crumble hostile targets in close proximity? Or at least hold them still to have an easier time blasting them?

Second question; how come this technology isn't used onboard
 the ship as a defensive system against boarding parties / infiltrators?

[Assistant] The energy required to manipulate a ship in space with a tractor beam is equivalent to the energy required to power an engine that could move them at the same speed. That's an awful lot of lasers you could have fired instead.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do forehead thermometers measure your internal temperature? Wouldn't it just give the temperature of the surface of your skin?

We have forehead thermometers at work now, and I'm curious how the thermometer measures your internal temp? If I have a fever, but it's 10 outside and my face is frozen, wouldn't that affect the reading?

[Assistant] Your forehead is a spot where the flesh on top of the bone is very thin. Lots of little blood vessels(capillaries) in that area as well, so generally your skin temp on your forehead is really close to your overall blood temp.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does freerice.org work?

How does freerice.org work? I don't understand how answering trivia questions allows this website to be able to afford to ship rice to starving countries?

[Assistant] It's not actually about answering trivia questions - it's about refreshing the page. Each time you refresh the page, you provide the page with more ad-views. The money the website receives in ad revenue is then used to buy rice.


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

[User]
[Batman/Aliens] What would happen if WayneCorp successfully brought back an Alien?

Inspired because I misread the title of the other post - in an Alternate Universe where WayneCorp discovers the Aliens, decides it's a good idea to bring one back to earth, and successfully gets one into a high-security research facility.

Despite this being the future, Batman is still alive and active (*Because he's batman*) - how do things turn out?

[Assistant]
An aging Bruce Wayne is on the verge of forced retirement when WayneCorp gets access to something from another world.  Once it hatches, the WayneCorp facilities are overrun and Batman must suit up one more time.

Batman eliminates all threats, but as he kills the last Alien, a lone facehugger latches on to him.

Bruce Wayne is alone for days as something develops inside him, copying his genetic code, and somehow something more.  His mind.  Bruce Wayne's will is imprinted on the new creatire and BATALIEN is born.


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

[User]
Has the Big Crunch Theory been disproved?

I'm not that great with science but I know the basics of the Big Crunch theory. My brother and I got into an argument on whether the theory has been disproved. I couldn't find any evidence saying it has been yet he says that it has been official disproved so I was wanting a little help figuring out who was right.

[Assistant] It was basically ruled out by the 1997 discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe, given what we know about physics. If our understanding of high energy physics changes, this might change as well.


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

[User]
[D&D] Why is anyone evil?

In our world, good and evil are vague, controversial constructs. Evil people justify themselves in various ways, and delude themselves into doing the wrong thing.

In your standard D&D setting, that's not the case. Good and evil are not only objective truths, they're actual people who can show up at your house. Not sure you're doing the right thing? Ask a nearby cleric to check with the upper planes, they'll straighten it out.

By the same token, it is a demonstrable fact that, if you are evil, you will go to the lower planes to be tormented by fiends for all eternity, while if you're good you spend eternity in a nice place with celestial friends. Again, this isn't a matter of faith. You can go there and check.

So...why be evil? You are, as a matter of objective fact, wrong and going to be rewarded by eternal slavery and torture at the hands of the multiverse's greatest monsters. How are all these evil sorcerers and dark lords looking at that and going "sure, seems like a good bargain!"?

[Assistant] There are alternatives to death. Not everything in dnd dies and goes to lower planes like that, some things remain undead, and some seek to be raised repeatedly. Some make other deals to go to other planes.


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

[User] [The Office/Parks & Rec] The Documentary 'The Office: An American Workplace' was a success, how did the one about the Pawnee Parks department do?

[Assistant]
I don't think PandR has a documentary crew. In The Office it's clearly cannon; there are many moments (mostly in the later seasons) that make it clear this is being filmed for a documentary. When Jim looks into the camera he, in character, looks into *the camera,* when people talk in a side room they are answering questions that the filmmaker is asking

Parks and Rec has no film crew like that; their asides are directly to the audience, not the cameraman. The characters use shorter soliloquies like in Shakespeare.


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

[User]
[Batman/DC] Why Does Batman Wear A Mask That Doesn't Cover His Chin?

I feel like that could be a major vulnerability.

[Assistant]
It's for when he needs to interact with civillians, witnesses, hostages, small children, or anyone else who needs a gentler approach. He could make himself look vastly more inhuman if his only concern was scare tactics and intimidation, but he needs to be able to put people at ease, and that's easier if he can emote with his lower face.

Also, practically speaking, a full mask gets really stuffy and he doesn't have any superpowers to take the edge off. His chin's not that big of a target, so it strikes me as a decent tradeoff.


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

[User]
[Star Wars: Rogue One] The Battle of Scarif Question [Spoilers]

During the Battle of Scarif, there are Rebel Transports present, anyone know the purpose of them being there? Planning to land more troops? Fighter transports?

[Assistant] The rebels didn't have the luxury of a huge fleet of dedicated warships. When they went into a big space battle they had to throw everything available at it. If a transport ship has guns it's a combat ship to the rebels.


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

[User]
What would happen if you poured a sun-sized bucket of water over the sun?

Would it just go out? Like, poof, its gone? Would it solidify into something? Would all the water vaporize? I feel like it would all vaporize but its the same amount of water as there is sun, so it just feels like it *couldnt* all vaporize, yknow?

Also how much water would it take to put out the sun?

(Totally not asking because of any nefarious plans /s)

[Assistant]
The Sun is not "on fire" so you can't put it out with water. The Sun creates its energy from nuclear fusion, and that is all happening in the core of the Sun, so the fusion would continue. But, if you did drop a "sun sized" bucket of water on the Sun, you'd kill us all.

The Sun is in hydrostatic equilibrium- which is a fancy way of saying the forces pulling the Sun in, to collapse, are matched by the forces pushing out on the Sun. What are the forces? Well, the nuclear fusion is creating force pushing out. And gravity is the force pulling it in. It is not a coincidence that it is in equilibrium, of course. As gravity pulls to collapse the Sun, it increases the density of the core. As the density increases, the rate of fusion increases. This then, creates a greater outward force, and things go back into equilibrium.

So, this water that gets dumped on the Sun would be gravitationally bound to the Sun. So sure, it would vaporize, but the mass would stay the same. And a bucket full of water the "size of the Sun" would have 71% of the mass of the Sun (aka, water is 70% as dense as the Sun) and whether that's in the form of water or steam, the mass is the same. So, now the Sun has 1.7x the mass it used to have. This means, the gravitational force trying to collapse the Sun increases- and as we discussed, that would mean the rate of fusion would increase. And if the rate of fusion increased, that would mean the temperature of the Sun would increase as well. At only 1.7 Solar Masses, you would still be under the limit for a "Intermediate Size Star", so we would stay on the same nuclear fusion chain, just for much shorter period of time. Instead of the Sun lasting another 10 billion years or so, we'd be closer to completing it's main cycle (aka- the cycle that converts hydrogen to helium) in about 3 Billion years, meaning we'd essentially triple the output from the Sun. This would mean the temperature on Earth would become completely inhospitable.

This would also have an incredibly nasty effect on the orbit of the Earth, as the orbit would become highly elliptical (assuming the water appeared suddenly), and we'd spend quite a bit of time much closer to the Sun. Combined with the extra output from the Sun, and we're even more toast that otherwise would be.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Living as a common citizen, was it better to live under the republic or the empire?

Lets say I was the average mid-rim space transporter. Would I be better off living in the republic era or empire era?

[Assistant]
Let's assume for the moment that you're Human.

Under the Republic, each member star system basically operated under their own rules. There was an overarching structure for trade and mining rights, but, essentially, everyone was left to do their own thing. As a transporter, you'd have to deal with a few reams of paperwork for every trade, but only for the star system you're traveling to and from. Log your standard trade routes with the Astrogation Guild, and you're mostly good to go.

Under the Empire, everyone follows the Empire's rules (or else). Autonomy is stripped from the individual star systems in the name of unity. Somehow, though, your paperwork has tripled, and your expenses go up due to "inspectors" who not-too-subtly demand payoffs to make sure they don't find any "irregularities." Your margins are a lot thinner, your routes get changed around by the Imperial Astrogation Department due to "military exercises," and if something doesn't change, soon, you're going to go out of business.

If you're not Human, well ...

Under the Empire, your business starts to dry up. At first, it's just a few clients muttering something about the "current political climate," but a friend of a friend tells you that they fulfill that same demand from another supplier who's more expensive but the same race as the client. You notice that your shipments get "inspected" at least twice as often as other transports, and any attempts to slide some credits the inspector's way is met with threats of imprisonment for bribing an Imperial official. If you're super lucky, you might have a particular good or service that's valued by a Moff, and they'll allow you special treatment, but unless you're shipping kyber crystals (or spice), that's pretty unlikely. Before you know it, you've stopped working through official channels and have started to learn how to break blockades. Another year, and the legitimate business you've built is basically a smuggling operation to people who literally cannot live without your product. Another year or two of that, and you've joined the Rebellion. Or the Crimson Dawn. Or you're dead. One of the three.


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

[User]
[Marvel and DC] How easily can superpowers or enhancements be sought out to acquire? How often do normal but at least somewhat motivated folks get powers?

Let's say you have an average (at most equivalent to a well rounded and naturally gifted athlete physically and at most a similarly well rounded scientist) but somewhat motivated person with an interest in getting powered armour, becoming a mutate, or getting some enhanced physiological and athletic boosts to effectively become a hero if you'd like?

Are there countries where people can get these kinds of things more easily than others?

[Assistant]
Well, right now, in DC? Extremely easy. A *Major Event* happened recently and now new metahumans are popping up by the thousands.

Marvel, it's less easy for the average person. There are... ways, but either it falls to random chance, some genetic link, or lots of money to buy yourself enhancements.


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

[User] Why does fractional banking not cause inflation but the govt printing an equivalent amount of money does?

[Assistant]
It does affect inflation - the primary purpose of raising interest rates is to reduce the amount of money created by banks.

The banking system creates money through lending, higher interest rates reduces demand for loans, therefore less money created.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Do lightsaber need to have their batteries recharged and were they ever used for other than fighting? Could a Jedi use one to warm the water of a bath before getting in it or to stir a big pot of soup while cooking it at the same time?

If a Jedi lives in a house in the forest could he build himself a rack to store his lightsaber while it remains ignited in order to use it as a lamp?

Would the power source last indefinitely or would he need to charge it at some point?

[Assistant] Lightsabers recycle energy used in the blade, so they're very energy efficient. It's essentially a fixed, looping stream of blaster bolt energy fired through a force sensitive crystal to make it more efficient and powerful. The energy tends to last forever, because Jedi don't use their lightsabers much, and energy cells hold tons of energy. However, if you left it on for a week straight, it might start to run low. Jedi would typically replace the energy every once in a while, when they felt like the power could get low.


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

[User]
ELI5: How are humans able to hear tiny sounds they make inside their body?

For example when I'm gently tapping my teeth against eachother in my mouth (while closed) or playing around with my saliva I'm able to hear the sounds they make, whether they're sounds from my mouth or throat how come I'm able to hear them, shouldn't the soundwaves be isolated?

[Assistant]
It's actually quite the opposite. Your body is making a hell of a lot of noise (rest your head on someone's stomach some time), which your brain filters out. A disorder of the inner ear called superior canal dehiscence syndrome causes people to hear these sounds - including the sound of their eyeballs moving.

Noises that aren't made internally (like tapping your teeth) pass through the solid matter in your head and manually stimulate the ossicles - which your brain can't filter out.


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

[User]
[Assassin's Creed] The assassins just assassinated all the templars. Who benefits?

The assassins just killed all the templars. Yes, every single one. And they rolled up Abstergo and all other front organizations. And the assassins now hold sole control over all remaining alien artifacts and all written lore/history that pertains to them.

So what does this mean for me as an ordinary job-doing law-abiding citizen who has no interest in murdering or secret societies? Do I stand to gain? Do oppressive governments get replaced by benevolent ones, lies by truth? Should I expect more freedom, perhaps less war? Or will the assassins rule the world? Or will I even notice a difference?

[Assistant] Nothing happens. If the Templars win we get a new world order of some horrific kind. But the assassins are not trying to take over themselves so all we get is one less reason for people to be corrupt.


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

[User]
ELI5:Where does a country keep it's money? eg. Is there a 'Government of England' bank account at the Bank of England?

Do countries have normal bank accounts like everyone else with a bank or does it not work like that?

[Assistant] Essentially yes, there's "the Account of Her Majesty's Exchequer" at the Bank of England, which is like the British government's current/checking account. There are also government accounts with other banks for particular purposes. For example when you pay taxes by bank transfer you're actually sending the money to an account at Citibank because the Bank of England doesn't really deal with those kind of electronic transfers.


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

[User] How can photons be 'massless'?

[Assistant] A photon can be thought of as a disturbance in the electromagnetic field which pervades all space. It propagates through space in a similar manner to a wave moving over the sea. We wouldn't say that the sea wave has mass itself, as it's just a disturbance in the water, and yet it does nonetheless transport energy from place to place (as evidenced when waves hit something).


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

[User]
[Marvel] Would Tony or Steve be the heroes/men we know them to be if Yinsen and Dr Erskine survived? Or are their paths as heroes *fixed* on these two figures having to die in the process of Iron Man and Captain America being born?

Is the biggest part of their involvement due to the sacrifice/assassination to inspire passion and avenging within the two, or the philosophy they preached to them before they had their hero origins? I'm wondering if they still would have become heroes if their mentor figures survived to guide them after the fact, or if the premature death at the hands of the enemy is a fundamental aspect of making them into heroes.

[Assistant]
I imagine Tony would have still been horrified to know how his weapons were being used and want to change Stark Industries and become Iron Man. Hed also no doubt remain in contact with Yinsen if the latter survived, ensuring hed have a mentor who would encourage him to use his newfound lease on life for the better.

Erskine wouldnt have chosen Steve to receive the serum if he didnt think he would be able to stay a good man throughout the tests of time. Captain America may not have gone through the same trials to be born, but Erskine and Steve would work together no matter what to ensure good was being done.


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

[User]
ELI5: how do the scales that measure your body composition work???

Like how do I step on it and it just knows how much visceral fat, skeletal muscle, WATER IM CARRYING, and all that info? How accurate/reliable is it?

Thank you for any answers this may get!!

[Assistant]
They basically run a current of electricity through you. Muscle and fat conduct electricity differently so the scales measure how much of the current your body resists/absorbs and guesses your composition.

As you can guess they're not very accurate as the skin on people's feet is typically highly variable plus people aren't completely dry when stepping on scales.

The body comp scales that you use with your hands then to be more accurate.


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

[User]
How do epidurals work?

I feel like I've heard a lot of differing answers on this, particularly in regard to child birth. From "the woman doesn't feel a thing" to "the woman feels everything but doesn't remember the pain." Well, what is the actual mechanism? Is the medicine blocking some function in the brain? Is it numbing? Just curious, thanks!

[Assistant] Its an injection of anesthesia into the spinal canal at a certain level which then numbs the nerves below that point. The idea being to numb to some extent those nerves most commonly agitated during labor. Not really anything to do with the brain other than signals coming from the nerves in a womans pelvis are hindered from reaching the brain to register as pain.