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

[User]
ELI5: What is "Profit Sharing", and is it an effective way to boost morale and production at small businesses for otherwise hourly employees?

Additionally, how does one normally go about launching a 'Profit Sharing' program?

[Assistant]
Profit sharing is exactly what it sounds like - the company shares its profits with its employees.

So if a company has 10 employees, and makes $100 profit (over all its costs)... it might pay each employee $5 extra, and the other $50 is paid out to the owners.  Basically the owners are cutting all (or just some) of the employees in on the action.


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

[User] [ATLA] If the next Avatar is due to be a water bender, but every single water bender was dead, would a new water bender be born, would it skip to the next, or would there be no Avatar?

[Assistant]
That was the logic behind the Fire Nation's genocidal assault on the Air Nomads, but as we now know, it didn't quite work out according to plan. There really is no way to know what would have happened if Avatar Aang had died with the rest of the air nomads, but there are a couple of potential theories as to what could have happened.

1) The Fire Nation was right, the avatar cycle ends, no more avatar.

2) Due to the linkage between the spirit world and the physical world, cosmic forces intervene to guarantee that at least one water bender survives to inherit the Avatar Cycle.

3) The Avatar Cycle moves on to the next element in the chain, Earth, giving time for the water benders to reemerge much as the air benders did a couple of generations later during Avatar Korra's time.

Thing is, genocide on the scale required to pull this off would me remarkably difficult, and it would absolutely HAVE to be Genocide. Unlike the air nomads, who had always had a very small population in relation to the other nations, the Water Bending tribes were not isolated to small, localized regions. Due to their lack of numbers and tendency to remain in the vicinity of their temples, the Air Nomads were remarkably easy to kill off. The Water Tribes, however, were far more prone to sea travel, spreading to islands all over the world and also intermingling with communities in the Earth Kingdom. There were also the swamp dwelling benders Avatar Aang encountered during his travels, who were almost entirely isolated from other nations by their environment and virtually unknown to the wider world, so really it's just impossible to conceive of a situation where every single Water Bender on the planet would be dead.

TL;DR your question is impossible to answer in any satisfying manner.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the sun cause long term skin damage if we are constantly losing and re-growing skin cells?

[Assistant]
Because we're only losing and regrowing the outermost layer of skin, and near UV radiation can penetrate to the innermost layer of skin where cells are alive and well and furiously producing more skin to keep up with the loss.

If a single UV photon hit one of these cells in the wrong spot as it's preparing to split (which is how more cells are produced), this can cause it to start misbehaving, and be the start of cancer.

If this cell is not a regular skin cell but a pigmentation cell, it's even worse since those are able to metastasize even without unintended mutation. Now you have cancer that can spread throughout your body.

Edit: just to clarify, the UV photon has to hit *exactly* the right spot at *exactly* the right time to cause cancer. The risk of any one photon doing so is extremely small, but the number of photons in sunlight is extremely large which is why it happens sometimes.


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

[User]
CMV: In the popular consciousness, the word "fascism" has been warped so badly that it now carries little to none of its true meaning. This distortion is problematic.

For the past two years or so I've been getting more and more concerned by the number of people throwing around the words "fascism" and "fascist" seemingly at everyone and everything that doesn't fit their own politics.

In recent years I've read posts from loads of people (mostly left-leaning) hurling this term at conservative pundits, (e.g. Ben Shapiro) politicians, (Trump or any of his supporters) the entire republican voter population, and even relative moderates like Jordan Peterson. (not to say JP is politically neutral by any means)

None of the people mentioned above by name fit the fascist definition. Fascists are severely and openly authoritarian, nationalistic to the point of religious zealotry, and so racist that history's best example of the philosophy perpetrated the single worst genocide ever.

I just don't see any signs that indicate that the US is anywhere close to becoming a fascist nation. Trump's presidency was maybe the closest we've come in a while. He had the authoritarian spirit and populist rhetoric in spades, no doubt, but in the end he was ousted by the democratic process just like everyone before him.

It's also important to remember that in the past strong fascist regimes have really only taken power in countries with desperate populations facing dire economic circumstances. The US is most certainly not in that boat.

P.S.

I can't help but liken this to the cold war-era practice of using "commie" as a generically pejorative term, which--of course--was stupid and closed-minded.

EDIT: I accept now that Donald Trump essentially qualified as a fascist, at least after the 2020 election. I appreciate all of the effort you've put into your comments and the discussions they've sparked.

[Assistant]
Nah.

The problem is that fascism is becoming normalized, while few people know what it is.

You can sound the alarm bells all day long, screaming "fire!" from the top of your lungs until you're blue in the face, but if nobody around you knows what "fire" means, (or can't see the fire) then nothing's going to happen while the fire spreads.

The more that Republicans, specifically the MAGA Republicans, get called fascist, it doesn't matter how accurate the label is if they're not acting like the literal worst-case example of fascists. Even if they literally tried to violently overthrow the government just last year.

Ties right into the root problem with fascism: nobody takes them seriously until it's too late.


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

[User] Since a singularity is infinitely small, can 2 singularities be in the same place?

[Assistant]
Singularities in general aren't infinitely small points, it's more common for them to have the structure of instants in time - this is the case for the Big Bang singularity or that beyond a black hole. In those two cases respectively the singularity is in the past of any observer and in the future of any observer who has crossed the horizon.

The exception would be given by naked singularities such as that in an overextremal charged black hole, but these are not thought to be realizable in our Universe. These singularities look indeed like point in space - i.e., they have the structure of a time-like wordline (in some sense). But, again, these probably don't exist, and also are repulsive, not attractive.

In any case, the question is ill-defined because "being in the same place" means that it's understood that there's a coordinate system (t,x) defined on your manifold, and these two objects at fixed coordinate time t have the same coordinate position x. However a singularity is not part of the manifold, it's informally outside. Formally it's just what the name suggest, a singularity in the behaviour of the Riemannian structure itself as you approach an edge of spacetime. The presence of a singularity will at the very least influence the construction of a coordinate system close to it. In particular, for the singularity of a normal BH, it's impossible to choose the time and space coordinates such that the singularity can be understood as something that is in some place.


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

[User]
Why is greenhouse gas one way?

So green house gas like CO2 supposedly keeps heat inside the atmosphere, but if it doesn't let heat back outside the atmosphere, why can heat get inside in the first place?

[Assistant] Because the heat comes in mostly in the form of visible light. CO2 is perfectly transparent to visible light. This light is then absorbed by the Earth, which re-radiates it mostly in infrared light (because the Earth is much cooler than the Sun). CO2 in the atmosphere is not transparent to this infrared light, so it absorbs some of it, and re-radiates it isotropically (i.e. in all directions equally, so about half of it goes back down towards the Earth). The Earth then re-absorbs this energy, warming it up even further. This is similar to a greenhouse, which works by allowing visible light in, but preventing most of the heat from escaping once inside.


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

[User]
[Mass Effect] How is it that Humanity's first ships were roughly equal to Turian ships despite the lack of time for advancements?

In the first book we hear about the start of the First Contact War and we're told that the alien ships were roughly equal to ours because the reinforcement wave managed to wipe out the Turians that were there.

Given how many centuries the Turians (and all the ME races together) had to improve on the tech (better shields, better weapons, better engines etc), how were we able to hold our own using reverse engineered stuff from the Protheans, which would have been more basic than the stuff in use by the Turians since we see ship upgrades and advancements happening in the game and books (especially when talking about the Quarian fleet) in a matter of years, nevermind millenia.

The Turians and everyone else presumably got their stuff from similar sources, but they had centuries if not millenia to improve, yet we catch up in a couple of decades? I know we're meant to be a powerful force in the ME universe, but that level of expansion seems excessive.

[Assistant]
The prothean archive on Mars was the perfect treasure trove of information. Literally the PERFECT way to jumpstart Humanity's technology by centuries. It's never directly stated by anyone, but this feels like one of the Reaper's traps. They knew about the Prothean presence on Mars since it wasn't a secret project, and the Reapers had control of the Citadel at the start of the Prothean harvest. The Reapers more than likely sent indoctrinated agents/slaves to Mars to upload specific technical information to the archive just before the end, because they knew that Earth would reach spaceflight within the next one or two cycles. (We very much almost missed this one by a mere few decades. If any of Earth's space programs were delayed, we could have been the dominant power of the next cycle and thus doomed to extinction.)

Also, the very fact that the other races have had centuries to improve on their knowledge is exactly why they lost. Turians fight in one way and one way only: massive brute force. Their warrior culture is dedicated to completely crushing resistance with overwhelming firepower because it's what they've been doing for centuries, if not much longer. Because they've fought in one way for so long, they cannot easily adapt and change. They've become trapped by their own success.

Humans are adaptable, unpredictable and simultaneously bloodthirsty as Krogan AND as crafty as Salarians. Humans fight dirty, which is something the Turians couldn't conceive of. We sabotage supply lines, hit weak points and strike targets of opportunity instead of massing huge armies and crushing enemies.

The other races have become complacent because of their many centuries in the galactic community. They know their place and they've become comfortable in it. Humanity is new, ambitious and unrestrained by tradition. Nobody was ready for humanity, not even the Reapers.


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

[User] ELI5:If a person gets an organ transplant (and assuming their body doesn't reject it) is there a point, after the body's cells have been refreshed with new ones, in which the replacement organ will have no DNA of the person that it originally belonged to?

[Assistant] They refresh their own cells, so it will always have the donor DNA.  Cells don't come from a different place in the body.  The existing cells just split in two, keeping their DNA intact.  The only way to get an organ with your own DNA would be to grow them with stem cells.


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

[User]
ELI5:Are diesel cars better or worse for the environment than petrol cars?

As I understand it, diesel is worse for the local environment as they cause more air pollution. So if all the cars in your city use diesel, you will have lower air quality than if all the cars in your city used petrol.

On the other hand, diesel cars have better mileage than petrol and so contribute less to climate change.

Netting these two factors, are diesel cars greener than petrol ones?

[Assistant]
It is an ongoing debate whether diesel or gasoline causes more pollution.

Diesels often seem to cause more pollution, as they release more of the visible pollutants, like NOx and soot.  However, they release fewer hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, things you can't see as easily.  They also don't release lead, which is less of concern in places that mandate unleaded gasoline.


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

[User] ELI5: How did the people who made the first clock know what time it was?

[Assistant]
Solar time is the oldest form of time measurement. This means that the length of hours varies depending on the season, along with the length of daylight.

Consistent units were developed based on calculations of the average length of daylight. With permanently running clocks, they could be accurately set by referencing solar time on a particular day of the year, or with sufficient knowledge you can adjust from current solar time by calculating the deviation from the mean on today's date. This is why accurate timekeeping was often the business of astronomical observatories.

It's actually a very recent phenomenon that we don't have to consult the sun to determine the time.


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

[User] [World of Warcraft] Why is Alterac Swiss cheese called 'swiss'? What does swiss mean?

[Assistant]
The short answer is that it isn't actually called Alterac Swiss cheese. The Alliance races don't speak English they speak Common. When the Common name for Alterac cheese was translated into English the word Swiss was used as the name since the process used is similar enough to actual Swiss cheese that the look and taste are a reasonably close match.

It is therefore given the English name Alterac Swiss cheese to differentiate it from actual Swiss cheese which is a Protected Designation of Origin.


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

[User] ELI5 what's the difference between a state and a province?

[Assistant]
Technically, a state is an independent political entity, while a province is a sub-section of a state.

The confusion arises from nomenclature not keeping pace with politics.  The United States was, when founded, similar to the modern European Union.  It was a union of various sovereign entities.  However, after the Civil War, the entire union became a nation of its own and the 'state' label wasn't updated to reflect this fact.

You see the same issue with the United Kingdom.  The United Kingdom is actually the United Kingdoms - of Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England.  So you've got a nation state that's actually the union of 4 'kingdom's that are neither sovereign nor ruled by a king.


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

[User] [Star Wars] To put it simply, how does Darth Vader crap?

[Assistant] Less often than you would think. Want to know a dirty little secret about Vader's suit? The Emperor set it up to regulate activities that had actually gone undamaged in the Mustafar fight, including the digestive and urinary tracts. In theory this makes Vader a more efficient killing machine, in practice the Emperor was just being a dick. Most of his nutrients are introduced and bodily waste is filtered out by connections with the suit, sort of like a dialysis machine on steroids, meaning bowels and bladder are just kind of sitting there. By the time there is enough material 'on deck' for a movement (about 1-2 weeks, depending on activity level), he excretes it via a port in the suit... in a toilet that is by design within range (or just out of range) of a communication device. The Emperor knows damn well when his apprentice is going to be on there, and likes to give him a ring during those times. This is exactly as frustrating and humiliating for Vader as you would imagine, and a source of some amusement for the Emperor.


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

[User] What is the most poisonous substance that our own body creates?

[Assistant] Formaldehyde is far more toxic than acetaldehyde (ethyl aldehyde). In fact formaldehyde will kill you. This is why drinking methanol is toxic is because it is metabolized to formaldehyde. A fun fact is that if someone has accidentally ingested Methanol, you can save their life by having them drink a significant amount of hard liquor( has lots of ethanol). Sufficient quantities of ethanol can outcompete methanol for the enzyme active site, thus preventing methanol from being metabolized into toxic formaldehyde.


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

[User]
Logistic Regression, does y need to be 0 or 1?

Not sure if it fits this subreddit, but was doing some Logistic Regression with Python and had some errors. At the end I think I fixed it.

I first had y to be values of 2 or 4. I believe these did have a meaning.  When I changed them to 0 and 1 my ROC Curve made more sense.

My question is, does the y (what you want to predict) need to be 0 and 1, even if you only have 2 possible values (like 2 and 4)? And if so, why?

[Assistant]
Logistic regression models two groups which are **arbitrarily** labeled 0 and 1 for mathematical convenience --- it models a Bernoulli variable. Sometimes the groups are signified by -1 and 1 and the formulae becomes slightly different.

Whether or not you can recode to 0 and 1 depends on the meaning of your 2 and 4. If they are just arbitrary codes, then it is fine. If they convey something else, it might not...


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

[User]
I believe that "feminism" is no better than "nationalism", "supremacism" or "racism" in that it furthers a single groups agenda over that of others.

Think about it for a tick, eh? Surely if we're all egalitarians and in favour of equality and TRULY in favour of equality for all then we don't have to paint a particular groups colours on ourselves? Surely we can just be for equal rights without having to be for equal rights for X or Y or Z? Surely by its very nature, stating that a movement is specifically for a single group of people at best runs the risk of overlooking and at worst promotes EXCLUSION of those outside that given set? Or is it ok for me to be in favour of some groups rights but not others? Confused.

[Assistant]
Feminism (not 'Femenazis' or the 'Femen' movement) is about furthering the goal of a group that, let's face it, has been disadvantaged for the majority of human history.

The same thing with the NAACP and other niche groups that promote the interests of those who might not have the leverage or presence to get what they want/need/deserve.

If what you're saying is that there should be no groups dedicated to single factions of people, then that just won't work.  Communities vary in size, and you can't expect everyone to band together.  And it's the right of any group to organize and discuss and promote their agenda within the confines of the law and, ideally, common courtesy and kindness.


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

[User]
ELI5: the concept of "humanism"

so i heard of the philosophy of "humanism" before but i dont entirely know what it means. I tried googling it and i'll admit it was a bit too complex for me to wrap my head around.

in simple terms, what is the belief of humanism?

[Assistant]
It's a concept saying that what is right or wrong is a human concept. Basically, you shouldn't do something because it will hurt someone else or because society thinks it's wrong.

A lot of people think good and evil come from God but humanism says "Hey no way. Humans make their own values independent of religion".


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

[User]
What are those "chunky" things around your lips?

If you kinda bite down below bottom your lip you'll feel a buncha little tapioca-like things. What are they?

[Assistant]
Do you mean the small "lumps" under the skin, giving the tissue inside your lips a sort of grainy texture? That's just connective tissue, muscle, and some blood vessels.

**edit**: and glands, as others have correctly pointed out.

If, however, you have external expression of these bumps you describe, you should have that looked at.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do our bodies crave salt when we need so little of it?

[Assistant] Because it used to be so incredibly rare to find in nature (it only occurs in small quantities in food) and we desperately need it to function. Even after we started mining salt, it was valuable until large scale industrialization in the late 1800s allowed for deeper deposits to be mined.


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

[User]
[DC] What is the Joker's hygiene like?

Does he take care of himself? Does he brush his teeth and wear deodorant? Or is Harley making out with a dude who has bad breath and has B.O.?

[Assistant]
As said, impeccable.

Yeah, he's perfectly content to get filthy when needed. If he has to or it's funny or part of whatever he thinks is the plot, he'll wade into a literal open sewer of literal human shit, beat your brains out with a brick, and come out covered with shit, your guts, blood, and brains, and he won't blink an eye. He might wave yours around as a prop on its nerve stem after he rips it out.

But later, he'll be sharp as a tack, with a pressed shirt, perfectly clean shaven, hair *just* right, and he could stroll right onto a red carpet or into a photo shoot. He's got an array of perfumes and colognes right alongside various bottles of Joker venom. If you even considered whether he's unwashed or unshowered while working, he'd be appalled. He's a professional.

This will be while he's forced to hide in squalor in a filthy warehouse where Harley's hyenas are chasing rats.

He's also utterly insane, so he'll go through funks where he gets off the couch long enough to take a piss and get food from the fridge, and he won't shower or shave for days or weeks on end while he tries to think up a new scam or way to humiliate Batman. Once he does, though... he'll turn from dark and shoot you on sight to cheerful, 100% full of energy, and he'll dance his way into the shower to start all over.


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

[User]
[Modern Warfare 2] What is Russian army justification for their invasion of Europe?

I can understand how the massacre at Zakhaev International Airport is used by the Russian army as justification to attack US or by the grunts for shooting CASEVAC and civilian vehicles in Washington.

But what is it with Europe invasion? Do they blame Vorshevsky kidnapping on European countries?

[Assistant]
United States is backbone of global economy and one of the most important members of NATO.

The whole point of NATO is defensive alliance, where attack on one member state is attack against all. Russia could not have simply ignored Europe, as that is were rest of NATO states + remaining american forces would have started their counter attack.

And make no mistakes, once Russian troops parachuted down to Washington and burned down White House, that's a act of war.


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

[User]
[MCU] What would happen if Yo-yo has no clear path to snap back to her starting position?

Say that Yo-yo goes inside a room with her speed and at the exact moment she gets inside a force field is activated at the entrance (Basically the door is closed but you know faster). What will happen? Will she snap back to her original place unharmed even though that would take her through solid objects? Will she hit the wall/door at incredible speed and possibly die? Will she just default to a new position inside the room?

[Assistant] She will hit the forcefield/wall with a force roughly equivalent to her full unpowered running speed.  If it's a wall, she will bounce off of it.  If it's a forcefield, how she suffers depends on the effect of it.  She might be able to go through it and suffer major burns, or she might bounce off and suffer damage equivalent to a near instantaneous contact with it.


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

[User] [Star Wars] What are the benefits, if any, to asymmetrically designed starships such as the Millennium Falcon?

[Assistant] Something to note is that they don't need a sleek aerodynamic design on space ships because they're in a vacuum.  It would be almost the same as designing a house or base of a sort. Efficiency trumps design here.


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

[User]
What categorizes something as oil? Crude oil and olive oil are oils, but why not bees wax?

Looking at the molecular structures of all three and their properties, there look to be  similarlies but obviously huge differences.

I'm just wondering how we classify things as oils and what are the criteria.

Crude oil clearly isn't "fat with unsaturated fatty acid chains" as most cooking oils would be described.

[Assistant]
From a chemistry perspective, there is no standard definition of "an oil". Generally it just refers to a liquid, usually mostly hydrocarbon based, usually water-insoluble substance.

Beeswax would not typically be called an oil because it's a solid at room temperature. (Coconut oil is called an oil *despite* being a solid at room temperature, probably because it is clearly analogous to other plant oils.)


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

[User]
Liquids can't actually be incompressible, right?

I've heard that you can't compress a liquid, but that can't be correct. At the very least, it's got to have enough "give" so that its molecules can vibrate according to its temperature, right?

So, as you compress a liquid, what actually happens? Does it cool down as its molecules become constrained? Eventually, I guess it'll come down to what has the greatest structural integrity: the "plunger", the driving "piston", or the liquid itself. One of those will be the first to give, right? What happens if it is the liquid that gives? Fusion?

[Assistant] Correct, they are just much harder to compress than gas. At the bottom of the ocean the water is compressed by a few percent compared to the top. Typically compressing a liquid enough turns it into a solid, water is a little weird in that regular ice is less dense, so if you compress water enough it'll form a less-common phase of ice.


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

[User]
[1984] Should a solar flare or EMP fry all of the surveillance tech used by the party, what would happen as a result?

I don't know exactly how advanced the camera/recording, etc tech is in this universe (hell it might have been clockwork) but what if one day it all went offline suddenly. Do you think there would be a revolt? Perhaps the proles would rise up when access to such things are gone?

[Assistant]
If we assume that 1984's technology would be similar to what Orwell would expect in his day, the electronics would most likely be vacuum tube based and thus highly resistant to EMP.

IMO, Ingsoc isn't sustainable in the long run. There is very little room for problem solving and creating solutions to new, unthought problems.

The World State in Brave New World, on the other hand...


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

[User] Eli5:What exactly IS a yawn?

[Assistant] A yawn is a coordinated movement of the thoracic muscles in the chest, diaphragm, larynx in the throat, and palate in the mouth. By yawning, we help distribute surfactant (wetting agent) to coat the alveoli (tiny air sacs) in the lungs. Generally speaking, we cannot yawn on command. It is theorized that yawning is a semi-voluntary action and partly a reflex controlled by neurotransmitters in the hypothalamus of the brain.


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

[User]
CMV: If you say billionaires shouldnt exist, yet buy from Amazon, then you are being a hypocrite.

Heres my logic:

Billionaires like Jeff Bezos exist because people buy from and support the billion-dollar company he runs. Therefore, by buying from Amazon, you are supporting the existence of billionaires like Jeff Bezos. To buy from Amazon, while proclaiming billionaires shouldnt exist means supporting the existence of billionaires while simultaneously condemning their existence, which is hypocritical.

The things Amazon offers are for the most part non-essential (i.e. you wouldnt die if you lost access to them) and there are certainly alternatives in online retailers, local shops, etc. that do not actively support the existence of billionaires in the same way Amazon does. Those who claim billionaires shouldnt exist can live fully satiated lives without touching the company, so refusing to part ways with it is not a matter of necessity. If you are not willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of being consistent in your personal philosophy, why should anybody else take you seriously?

[Assistant]
> If you say billionaires shouldnt exist, yet buy from Amazon, then you are being a hypocrite.

Only if your view is also that no one should buy from Amazon/billionaires (and you quietly do it anyway). That isn't necessarily entailed in "billionaires shouldn't exist."


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

[User]
[General Sci-fi]What is the science behind "scanning for lifesigns"?

Besides heat and movement, what other lifesigns could be noticed from outer space or in a vacuum?

[Assistant] Usually the kind of lifeforms that humans deal with have a dependancy on a type of carrier that regenerates the body. For humans this would be oxygen. A method may be to search for oxygen pockets (or carbon dioxide pockets for those who arrive too late).


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

[User]
[Mass Effect] In 2013, humanity recieves a chilling premonition...(scenario inside)

The date's today, September 19th, 2013. Everyone is going about their daily business. In a dig site in Egypt, some archaeologists find a mysterious capsule. There is a small button on the side that they press. All of a sudden, everyone on Earth is contacted via some sort of telepathy. Everyone hears it, no matter who they are.

The speaker reveals themselves, to the shock of the world, as Protheans from Mass Effect. The telepathic message has everyone see that it is indeed a trio of Protheans. They display proof in the form of memories from the empire. For the rest of the message, the Protheans leave an omninous warning; the Reapers are real and they are coming. We have a set amount of time until they arrive from Dark Space. We need to prepare. Upon the completion of their harvest, the will retreat back into dark space and return in 46,736 years. (Assume that the Vanguard does not react to technological progress and prematurely summons them)

What could we do to survive?

Scenario 1: They will arrive in 20 years

Scenario 2: 50 years

Scenario 3: 100 years

Scenario 4: 500 years

Scenario 5: 1000 years

Scenario 6: 5000 years

Bonus Scenario: The Prothean Archives are exactly where they were under Promethei Planum, just like in canon. Additionally spread throughout the galaxy are anywhere from 1-2 million arguable Prothean ruins that can range from unfinished outposts to shipyards (all heavily damaged of course). Locations to a good amount could be accessed from the archives, but will require immensely powerful computers to crack. (perhaps a few decades away).

Rules:
1: No other Mass Effect species, just Protheans and Reapers.

2: It's unknown whether there are space faring civilizations, but if the Reapers are coming, than there could be.

3: All feats of the Reapers in Mass Effect are their real life capabilities.

4: For this scenario, the Reapers consider any species that has entered space as "space faring". So it won't matter whether the race has a multi-system empire or are launching communication satellites, the Reapers will go after them regardless. Meaning even modern Earth would be under threat.

EDIT: For the bonus scenario, the relays are still around, with the Sol relay still in Charon. Eezo is limited, but exists.

[Assistant]
For scenario's 1 and 2 our best hope would be to pull a Raloi and destroy all our satellites and any evidence we are a space faring race. But after 50 years, that will no longer really be an option.

For Scenario 3 we still are not capable of taking on The Reapers, but at this point we have no choice but to be Space Faring.  For this scenario, we would probably send out hundreds of colony ships. However, their destination is determined once they have left Earth, all records of their departure are destroyed, and the colony can never make contact with Earth until ten years after the last sighting of a Reaper. Each ship would have the equipment to build a massive underground bunkers that would be equipped with Cryo Pods and Cloning Tech. When Reapers are first seen all colonists go into Cryo Sleep until it is deemed safe enough to come out by the AI overseeing the colony. The Cloning Tech is there in case of some catastrophic failure and all the colonists die in Cyro. Once this happens, the AI would begin pumping out clones and then raise them and teach them. This will ensure that it will be almost impossible for The Reapers to find every single colony, and there are contingencies in place to maximize our survival.

For Scenario's 4,5, and 6 we are now able to take The Reapers on in a head-on war. Since Humanity gained a lot of knowledge on The Reapers from the Protheans, they should know that the Citadel acts as a massive Mass Effect Relay for the Reapers. Since all the Reapers will warp their when they first arrive, Humanity can gain a huge edge if they set some basic traps like minefields, an ambush with thousands of ships, throwing some asteroids at them, or even rigging the Citadel to explode, taking a good chunk of The Reapers out with it. Lots of options.


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

[User]
If there was a colony on Mars, wouldn't there be relativistic effects when the two planets communicated each other?

I was looking up the different speeds of orbits and was going to plug them into the time dilation equation, then I remembered I wasn't that smart and that we already have to account slightly for the effect that relativity has with GPS satellites.

So screw the numbers, someone else can do that. Wouldn't it be something that both planets would have to deal with? Especially if we are talking about a permanent colony on Mars that lasts 10, 50, 100+ years?

[Assistant]
There would be relativistic effects just like for GPS satellites, but they would be so small that you would need a very good clock (like the ones in GPS satellites) to notice. Earth orbits the sun at ~35 km/s, while Mars orbits at ~28 km/s depending on its time of year (its orbit is more elliptical than Earth's). At most, the difference in velocities between the two is ~60 km/s, which is about 2% of 1% of the speed of light. The difference in the passage of time from special relativistic effects would only be by ~2 parts in 100 million. And most of the time the relative speed of the two planets would be much less.

The effect from general relativity of being at different depths in a gravitational potential well is larger. The stretching factor for that is just sqrt(1-(v_esc/c)^2 ). For Earth, that's about 7e-10 and for Mars it's about 1e-10. That's just for the surface of the planets themselves though, and ignores the sun's gravitational potential. Again, the Earth is lower than Mars, and here we have time running slower by a factor of 1e-8 for Earth (about 30 times the effect from just being on Earth alone!) and 6e-9 for Mars.

Overall, you'd need to keep clocks on Earth and Mars running for 3 and a half years to drift apart by a single second. Earth would be the one running slow.


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

[User] Is it possible to predict the global structure of a fractal only from observing a part of it?

[Assistant] The answer to your question is sometimes.  There are a number of ways to generate fractals.  Assuming you could deduce the set of rules used to generate the fractal you may or may not be able to predict the full structure.  In the case where the rules are deterministic as long as you have access to enough information you will be able to deduce the full structure.  If the rules are stochastic you will only be able to generate possible structures as the rules rely on probabilities and not deterministic outcomes.


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

[User] How can a breathalyzer detect the amount of alcohol in your blood?

[Assistant]
When you breathe, all that air fills your lungs and touches your blood. The oxygen goes from the air into your blood and the carbon dioxide goes from your blood into your lungs.

When you drink alcohol, some of that alcohol in your blood also goes into your lungs, just like the carbon dioxide. That's what the breathalyzer is detecting.


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

[User]
ELI5 : If ocean waves can grow to be very tall in height, especially during a storm, how do ships not topple and sink very often?

I've seen videos of ships, and sometimes smaller vessels, in the middle of seas and oceans during a storm, where the peaks of the ocean waves are much taller than the ship itself, so that it looks like the ship is riding some dynamic hills. I just know about basic buoyancy, and that too, the assumption is that the water is still. I'm curious to know how these ships can battle large waves and high winds. I rarely hear about ships destroyed/lost in storms nowadays, and I'm pretty sure stormy seas are quite common.

[Assistant]
The most dangerous thing for a ship at sea, and this has been true since humanity first ventured on boats, is capsizing. If the boat/ship rolls over, it's basically game over (except for some very small vessels, like kayaks), since water can get in from everywhere at that point. So the skill of the pilot/captain in keeping the boat from capsizing is what keeps ships afloat most of the time. By sailing bow-first into the waves, the wave will hit the bow of the ship and break over it; if the wave were to hit the side of the ship, it would push it over.

The next hazard from water coming over the bow is from water getting into the ship. A ship that is in stormy seas will try to seal itself up as tight as possible (closing doors and hatches). If water can't get into the ship, it will just flow right off of it. If you look at ships in detail, you can see a lot of small things that work towards this. None of the doors are open at the bottom of the frame; there's always at least a few inches of solid steel or whatever material at the bottom, so that water can't flow through the crack between the door and the frame. Likewise, any cargo hatches on the main deck will have a raised rim around it, so that water will flow around them instead of into them. The sides of the ship either only have railings or the solid paneling will have cuts in the bottom so any water on the deck will flow off. The ships are as sealed up as they can be from any random water to prevent any water from getting in and weighing it down.

Lastly, if any water does get in, most commercial shipping will have bilge pumps to pump the water out. These won't save the ship if there's a hole in the side, but they will keep it from getting too heavy from the numerous, small amounts of water that are washed in from any given wave.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What happened to all the Republic-era technology by the Age of the Galactic Empire? Why would some areas of the Empire have better tech than the bulk of the Imperial Navy?

I know this has been covered before with suggestions such as the Watsonian "The Empire made cut-backs and went for a more minimalistic and practical level of technology across the board" and the Doylist "The original trilogy was made decades prior when effects and budgets were inferior", but is that really all there is to it? Would the entire Galactic Empire regress instead of incorporating the Republic and Separatist assets into a *technologically superior* armada?

The discrepancy I also touched on in the title is that in Rebels we can see that some parts of the Empire (notably the Imperial forces that the crew of the Ghost run into most often) are higher tech than the average Imperial forces, with equipment and ships that harken back to The Clone Wars and what the Republic held rather than the blander Imperial resources we see in the original trilogy. Why would these Imperial deployments around places like Lothal dealing with smaller Rebel factions have this kind of "midway Republic/Imperial" equipment and technology while the bulk of the forces we see at the Battles of Yavin, Hoth and Endor seem to be the "cutback Imperial economy" level stuff? Is it just aesthetics or were the Empire only able to get the more basic Star Destroyers and equipment in time to face the Rebellion at these events (perhaps with the more unique ships and seemingly superior versions occupied elsewhere)?

I'm also aware that the Galactic Civil War has been extremely tough on the Galactic economy (well besides for ship-builders, arms dealers and smugglers) which could contribute to areas looking more dilapidated and run-down. Were any areas in the Galactic Civil War able to experience significant development and advancement in the aftermath of The Clone Wars?

[Assistant] It's not *just* aesthetics.  The empire favors function over form.  They don't care that the tech is uglier.  They don't care that some civilians on certain planets think buttons are "so last decade".  They care that pretty much any person, of any species, in any armor, on any planet, can use them and accomplish the needed tasks within moments without needed to swipe around to different holographic environments.  The rebels on the other hand, are often using repurposed civilian tech, which is designed to look pretty but often breaks down or has various limitations that Empire tech doesn't have.


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

[User]
When I get an ad for something I've just been speaking to a friend about, is this because algorithms are highly intelligent or is it something more sinister?

Hi :)

I'm sure we've all had that spooky moment where you get an advert/search suggestion for something you've never searched about before but have just had a conversation about. Is this because the algorithms are highly intelligent and can predict my interests before I consciously think about them, or are they listening to me through my microphone? I need to settle this once and for all so I can sleep easily.

Any answers will be much appreciated!

[Assistant] Ad networks are "global", meaning they know about you and your friends and all the devices you all use.  Example: when you sign up for Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc, the first thing they do is ask you to upload your contact address book.  Now all the little ad tracking tech across the internet know who you and your circle of friends are.  In this way, if you have a verbal conversation with your friend, and they can detect that both your phones were in the same 10 feet of each other yesterday and YOUR Friend did a google search for said product, the Ad networks can make a decision that said product might be of interest to all that persons friends via contact upload, so many others will start getting ads for that thing.  In this way, it doesn't matter which one of you did the search because you are all in the same contacts group - meaning all your phones contacts has each other (100s of you) in it and you ALL have chosen to share that list over and over with different internet companies, so they know with a high degree of certainty what you all like and how to capitalize on what one person does and advertise that to others in your group in order to create a sort of "buzz" in your circle - like how you talk about a thing and then all of a sudden, you start seeing that thing all over the place.


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

[User]
[Spider-Man Trilogy] What if Peter Parker was paid the amount promised from the wrestling ad?

After defeating the wrestler, "BoneSaw", Peter went to one of the promoters to collect the money. The ad had offered $3000 to last 3 minutes in the ring with BoneSaw.  But then, the promoter had only given him  $100, saying you pinned him in 2 minutes  and you're lucky to get that.  I think since Peter had stopped him quicker than expected , he should've gotten paid some more.  Of course, this had led to Peter letting the burglar go out of spite for the man who refused to do right by him.

But what if he did right by Peter? In this AU, he pays Peter $3000 dollars for winning the match easily. Peter leaves in good spirit and optimistic, instead of bitter and spiteful. He sees the burglar running , and this time he does something. He trips him and webs him up.  They arrest him, and Peter becomes known.

How does this change the whole trilogy?

[Assistant]
There's been one or two comics that go along this line.

That said, for the Raimi movies, he'd probably stick to entertainment. Buy himself an actual costume, appear on Letterman, get rich as an entertainer. He probably wouldn't get involved with the Goblin at all, and would fumble the Doctor Octopus situation due to a lack of experience until the city was destroyed by the faulty sun reactor.

...Assuming he hadn't moved his family out to Hollywood and become a movie star by then.


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

[User]
[The Matrix] - Assuming they were locked in on the whole "biological batteries" thing, why did the Machines choose to use humans as a power source rather than any other species?

Another type of mammal would be much easier to manage, considering that most aren't self-aware in the same way that humans are. A lot of them can't even comprehend that their reflection in a mirror *isn't* another animal.

Plus, there are plenty of species that are a lot more energy efficient. I imagine that 60-80 kg of electric eels would make a much better battery than the average human being, and probably wouldn't give a shit about being held in the digital equivalent of an aquarium.

[Assistant] It's not *just* about the power.  The Machines did not want to wipe out humanity, but letting us roam free wasn't an option because we kept trying to kill them.  The Matrix wasn't *just* designed to provide them with power.  It was designed to keep us contained and content.  The Architect even mentions that they have other sources of power that while not as convenient would be good enough.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do long car rides take so much out of people?

Especially if they're not the one driving, why do so many people get so exhausted after a long drive? It's not like you do anything but sit there.

[Assistant] Cars bounce and vibrate the habitants and your body makes a lot of really small corrections to keep yourself upright in the seat. This puts a tax on your mind and body after a bit of driving. Also if you are looking out the windows for a while, it is easy to have hypnosis happen due to travelling on the highway (highway hypnosis is caused mostly at night due to no variation that the eye can see so it will cause your vision to tunnel) this can make people sleepy.


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

[User]
[Dune]The events of Dune never happen so the Galaxy continues on fairly peacefully. The Guild has a monopoly on space travel, if they decided to use that control tactically is there any reasonable likelihood that they could fail to conquer humanity?

Many worlds rely on importations of resources, if those imports stop those worlds descended anarchy. You can't project military force on anyone else without a spaceship and the guild has all the spaceships.  Sure, the guild might not have an army yet, but they can probably get quite a few to agree to fight for them under these circumstances and they do not need a vast army, no one else is able to project any force at all.

It might take a while, but would there be any effective strategy to stop the Guild deciding to just starve out or isolate all aspects of civilization which reused to kneel before it?

Obviously they need spice, but stockpiles exists on many worlds and presumably they could eventually marshall the resources to take an isolated Arrakis anyway.

[Assistant]
They need a lot more spice than you'd think.  Navigators live, eat, and breathe spice.  They won't willingly do anything that threatens their supply, and cutting off transport would do exactly that.

Whichever family was currently running Arrakis would cut them off instantly and threaten to destroy the spice fields, and the Navigators would surrender.  After that, the Great Houses would impose sanctions against them, probably in the form of reduced allotments of spice.  They know that, so they will never make that move.

The spice must flow.


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

[User]
Can Hegel be understood without having read Kant?

So, brief rundown:
I'm studying Marxism a bit and I want to read *The Phenomenology of Spirit* as an accompanying piece of literature. This said, Hegel is the Dark Souls of philosophy. I've heard that understanding Hegel helps if you understand Kant, but for me that's a problem.

I've admittedly never read Kant but nothing I know of his philosophy (or ~~racism~~ anthropology) particularly excites me. In fact I profoundly disagree with a lot of it. So, going back to the question - Just how understandable is Hegel sans Kant?

[Assistant]
You're going to have a bad time.  It's probably worth at least reading the Prolegomena  to get a handle on Kant's metaphysics and epistemology.  As a bonus, it'll make almost everything written after Kant (at least in philosophy proper) easier.

Edit: to elaborate, at least part of what Hegel's reacting against is the the thing-in-itself (the unknowable thing that grounds the experience of an object) and Kant's categories.

Edit 2: You could probably read Hegel's Lectures on the Philosophy of History without Kant which would probably be immediately more helpful for Marx and an easier introduction to Hegel.  That's where I'd started with him.


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

[User] [Phineas and Ferb]] How does the mom never ask the boys if what Candace is saying is true? All it takes it once. It's not like they try to hide it.

[Assistant]
Because Phineas has already asked for permission & does say what has happened is true. Linda assumes it's just their imagination.

Seeing is believing. Phineas pretty much believes his mom knows what they're doing.


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

[User] How do obscure/rare sea creatures locate each other to breed?

[Assistant] This is a related fact about creatures that run into each other super rarely. Desert tortoises are a similarly very low density population. Females can store sperm from a mating event for several years before choosing to fertilize their eggs and produce offspring. This means that they can meet a mate when conditions aren't good for having babies, then have babies at a much later date when environmental factors are better (e.g. it actually rains).


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

[User]
[WH40K] Do Daemon Princes and Greater Daemons communicate directly with their patron gods?

So when a dude becomes a Daemon Prince, do they receive communication straight from their patron god? Or do they just suddenly gain power? Do Greater Daemons just have "standing orders" and/or do things that will give their patron gods power, or do they communicate directly with the god in question?

Is it a one way line, like you ask for Favor from your god and you do things that you think will get that, and you get that favor if you do it right? Or do you get direct speech from the god on what do to?

[Assistant]
Yes. After a fashion. It's rarely in the form of a conventional conversation, and typically in a communion of wills and though, but mortal champions and Daemon Princes alike can commune with their patron. Particularly profane rituals even allow the summoning of messenger-aspects of warp-entities which can usually hold a conventional conversation.

Greater Daemons are somewhat different. They are both independent Warp Entities of near infinite power, and parts of the greater whole that is their patron. Speech between Khorne and a Bloodthirster is never as a mortal would understand, but rather an expression of wills. Sometimes, lime with Skarabrand, the servants will is resistant to that of its greater master, somewhat like a numb limb refusing to obey the commands of the brain.


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

[User]
Is there a minimal size a star can be?

I understand that stars can be massive. For example, *VY Canis Majoris* would fit inside Jupiter's orbit around our sun. But, what about small stars? Is there a minimal size they can be and still begin nuclear fusion?

(I hope I'm asking this clearly!)

Thanks, science!

[Assistant]
Yes, though it is more useful to think about a minimum mass rather than a minimum radius. "Brown dwarfs" are the intermediate between large gas giants and the smallest red dwarf stars. There is some fuzziness about where the boundaries lie, but ~80 Jupiter masses marks the point where hydrogen fusion occurs in the core.

Brown dwarfs (and some gas giants) are able to sustain lithium fusion for a bit but the available lithium runs out real quick so it isn't a long-term power source.


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

[User] ELI5: What happens when a woman with rock hard abs gets pregnant? And what happens after the pregnancy? Does she have to work all that muscle back?

[Assistant] It's called diastasis.  Our ab muscles are surrounded above and below by a white thick layer that goes around everything in your abdomen called the fascia. The abs separate in the middle, but they are still connected to the fascia.


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

[User] What exactly happens when you get executed by hanging? Technically speaking.

[Assistant]
It depends. There are four different kinds of hanging: suspending, short, standard, and long. Suspending is putting a noose around someone and then lifting them up which strangles them.
A short drop is when you are on and object and that object is removed, leaving you dangling there.. The drop isn't enough to break your neck so you are again strangled.
The standard drop is the more popular (obviously) and was     developed in Britain in the mid 1800s. The victim would be on a platform about 6 feet in the air and the platform would release, breaking the victim's neck, causin instant paralysis, etc. Because of this instant breaking of the neck, tho was seen as more humane which is why it was widely accepted in the world.
The long drop is nearly the same as the standard except calculations were used to make the noose as short as possible but still be able to break the neck. This was developed shortly after the standard. The problem with the standard is that all of the victims suffered the same drop and if there was that great of a distance of a drop for the wrong size person, the person would be decapitated (which if it's a public execution, it would be quite gruesome).


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

[User] ELI5: What is a 401k?

[Assistant]
A 401k is a special savings account with three rules:

1) You pay much less tax on what goes into a 401k (and, if you want, don't have to pay any tax at all on it until you take the money out)

2) You can only put up to $18,000/year into the account

3) You can't take the money out until you turn 59.5 years old (you actually can, but you pay a penalty that totally removes the value in putting the money there in the first place)

The program was created by the US federal government to incentive people to save for retirement. Typically you pay a percentage of each paycheck into your 401k, and most employers will match what you put in up to a certain percentage (usually 2-6% of your paycheck). Employers do this as a benefit; whatever percent they match can effectively be seen as a raise, which is pretty nice.


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

[User] [Yu-Gi-Oh] Why are the Egyptian God card considered such a big deal when Exodia (and some other cards) are instant wins, no fighting needed?

[Assistant]
If the heart of the cards is on your side then Exodia is indeed unstoppable. But if you do not have the heart of the cards helping your draws then you need to rely on luck/deck build to get five separate and relatively weak cards into your hand at the same time. The rare hunter who had a deck with three sets of Exodia in it had great difficulty once Yugi learned his gimmick because his deck was weighed down by 15 Exodia cards and had little else going for it besides the ability to mill his own deck and stall somewhat. By contrast, the god cards are always useful if you can summon them and dont require all that much more to make them work than any powerful monster.

Also the god cards are actually connected to said Egyptian gods and have related supernatural effects, especially in the case of Ra which requires knowledge of Egyptian script to use and smites anyone who plays a counterfeit.


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

[User]
Why would people who could afford higher education take out loans to pay it off over time?

I understand this is slightly political.

But if I were to take the idea that rich have more student debt than poor people at face value, what financial benefits are there to paying extra interest over time?

[Assistant]
If interest rate on a loan can outweigh alternative investment returns (+ tax benefits of loan if any). This is very common with home loans.

Also not everyone has 50-60k cash lying around every year for a nice private school. It may be easier to get a loan just to smooth cash flow.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do we feel ashamed about our bodies?
(further elaboration inside)

What I mean to ask, is why did people start viewing them as shameful to begin with? (especially with such zeal, sometimes) Why do we get embarrassed about it if, say, our jeans rip by accident and we're like "OSHIT COVER THAT SHIT UP RIGHT NOW".
I can see where some possible sources of this attitude might come from, but I'm not a hundred percent sure. Any insight is appreciated.
And thanks in advance for (genuine) answers.

[Assistant]
It's just habit and cultural conditioning. We're taught from a young age to cover up when other people are around and throughout our lives we (or at least most of us) are so rarely exposed in public that it feels weird to do otherwise.

These feelings can build up around almost anything we do habitually. For example, do you have a watch that you always put on before you leave the house (or it could be a piece of jewellery or sticking your phone in your left pocket)? What happens when one day you forget to put it on? You won't have walked more than a few steps from your front door before you'll feel a tingling in your wrist. Your body knows you're doing something that is against habit and it makes you feel uncomfortable.

**EDIT:** Just re-read your question and it looks like you're asking more along the lines of why people hold that moral view that nakedness is indecent. That has to do with the idea of sex being something private (note that it's the sex organs that people worry about most) and therefore anything to do with it should supposedly be hidden when in public. It's just like you wouldn't be buying something in a shop and start chatting to the cashier about your sex life; you wouldn't get your bits out in front of them either. At least, probably not.

As to where prudishness comes from, and whether it's a good or bad thing, that's another matter.


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

[User] ELI5: How does your body know when a wound is fully healed and when to stop healing?

[Assistant] Your body never knows it's fully healed, it just stops sending a healing response when it lacks a signal saying you're hurt. When a cell is damaged it releases calcium, which then triggers a bunch of healing responses. Once the calcium has been removed (dispersed, taken up by other cells, bound to other things) the initial signal is gone, and then the secondary/following signals kinda just peter out. This varies widely based on the location/type/severity of the injury. There is no final "tada" signal saying everything's back up and running.


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

[User] ELI5- Why do humans generally tend to prefer complimentary color schemes? Is there a particular reason our brains almost systematically reject pairings of colors that dont seem to go together, especially in living environments?

[Assistant]
The complementary colors are opposites - red/green, blue/(yellow/orange) - as you noted. This is fundamental to why we prefer them together and can be illustrated by "aftereffect" or "afterimage"...

Essentially, when seeing a particular color, the receptors in your eyes that detect that color fatigue and strain -- as they do, they detect less and less of that color. If you stare at a red dot for 30 seconds, and then look to a white area, you'll see a green dot aftereffect. This green dot is the result of the red receptors in your eyes being fatigued and not detecting the red light in the white area -- leaving reds opposite to "over detect" (or appear to).

When we pair these two colors with each other, we in effect, make it easier on our eyes to delineate the contrasting areas. (We strain the opposite receptors at the same time). It leads to brighter contrasts and less blurring in your vision.


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

[User] [DC] Why wasn't Bruce Wayne selected as the Green Lantern of Earth, considering his un-beatable willpower?

[Assistant]
The Green Lantern ring of Abin Sur would have chosen the being with the strongest will, then look at the closest being of those individuals who had similar willpower levels. At the time of Abin Sur's death the candidates that had the requisite willpower were Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart and Bruce Wayne. Hal Jordan was chosen because he happen to be closest to the crash site.

The second reason that Bruce Wayne was not chosen as Green Lantern of sector 2814 was that he had already started his career as Batman. As Batman he used theatricality and skill to instill fear into the hearts of criminals. A Green Lantern would never use the weapon of fear.


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

[User]
[X-COM] What happens to all the arms that X-COM sells?

Avalanche missiles, blaster launchers, fusion ball UGVs, plasma hovertanks, etc., aren't these enough to threaten to cause the next World War?

[Assistant]
All this stuff is incredibly limited in supply.

In X-Com (1994), Eulerium is explicitly stated to be well beyond the limits of human production, and can only be recovered in limited quantities from the aliens. In XCOM (2013), they're not as explicit, but the Eulerium, alloys, and weapon fragments (and Meld) must be obtained rather than produced, implying an even greater dependence on found technologies.

All this tech is cool and all, but it's not unbeatable. Hell, a squad of veteran humans can take down a Muton with purely terrestrial technology, given the right tactics and numbers, and he's got a few hundred pounds of muscle going for him in addition to the guns & armor. The tech is good, but it's just good, not god mode. The aerial tech is probably a larger leap from what we had previously, but it's still just a few ships, and not even with any air-to-ground systems.

A few dozen plasma rifles and like 2 flying tanks is impressive, but it's just not enough dakka to destabilize the balance of power between major nations.


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

[User]
Is Aristotle making a comeback?

It kind of feels like the Enlightenment philosophers sought to banish Aristotle from the scene (formal and final causes, powers ontology, substances, etc.) Maybe it's just me but has the ice begun to thaw?

[Assistant] certainly Aristotelian virtue ethics have undergone a revival in contemporary philosophy.  See for example the works of thinkers like Philippa Foot and Alastair MacIntyre.  Both argue against the enlightenment notion of morality that understands morality as an absolute value that any rational being would accept (Eg Kantian Ethics).


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

[User] ELI5: How does the eye-sight-measuring machine at the glasses shop actually give you the exact number of your eyesight?

[Assistant] Lenses work both ways. The machine is basically getting a camera trained on your retina and then auto-focusing until it sees a clear image of your retina. Software then calculates the properties of your lens based on the amount of focusing it required to get that clear picture of your retina.


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

[User]
[Avatar:2009] [Alien] If the movies of Avatar and Alien are in the same universe how would you link them with a timeline?

Let's start from the events of the pc game and end at the latest movie of the alien franchise. (You can edit any event inconsistencies within both franchises and add any more events to make the timeline more detailed/consistent)

[Assistant]
Are they really?

The main problem is that *Avatar* takes place in the mid-22nd century, and they use sublight engines to get to the Centauri system.

*Alien* takes place in the early 22nd century, but there is already an extensive interstellar industrial and economic infrastructure in place complete with common faster-than-light travel.  They travel to Zeta II Reticuli, which is roughly 30 light years from earth and approximately an 18-month transit time; it's mentioned in *Avatar* that it takes the better part of 7 years to get to the measly 4.3 light year distance to the Centauri system.

That makes it difficult to reconcile both universes. Your best bet would be to create parallel timelines that are linked in some way, perhaps with Engineer tech, or as an anomalous property of unobtanium; perhaps one universe is a simulation being run in another.


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

[User] ELI5: If we have to help animals like horses give birth, then how did they manage it themselves before humans started animal husbandry?

[Assistant] We don't "have to help" them, but in the case of horses, a lot of time we help in the birthing process because we're invested in the animal (emotionally or financially) and want to see the animal and it's offspring do good so we benefit from it as well.


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

[User]
eli5 Why do some songs sound so much louder despite having the same decibels?

When I played smells like teen spirit at 90% volume on AirPods it registered at 86 decibels, then I did the same with shape of you by Ed Sheeran same volume it also had the same decibel reading.

But smells like teen spirit sounds much louder to me, how is this possible?

[Assistant]
Decibels are not the only factor that contributes to our perception of volume.

Decibels are a measure of intensity in a logarithmic scale.Two waves with the same intensity will have the same decibels. It's useful but not the ultimate word.

The perceived volume is not only related to the decibels, but also to the root mean square. Which is a measure of how "crisp" is the sound.

The intensity of pure tone of a flute is very soft it goes up and down like rounded mountains

    /\_/\_/\_
And a pure tone of a clarinet is like cliffs

    _||_||_||

At the same intensity the clarinet sound at more volume because there is more abrupt pressure changes.


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

[User] ELI5 - How do lungs "collapse"?

[Assistant]
Your lungs are inside a sealed "bag" in your chest. That's what makes them expand when your diaphragm pulls down and your ribs move outward...the outer surface of your lungs is basically stuck to the inside of your chest.

Except if you break the bag...then air gets in. Now, rather than your lungs expanding, the air bubble just gets bigger and your lungs get smaller. Your lungs don't really have any structure of their own, without the suction from the seal around them they collapse like wet sponges.


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

[User]
[Stargate] What privileges do First Primes have?

What privileges and luxuries do the  First Primes of the Goa'uld System Lords have? Given their relatively high position compared to Jaffa and the slaves beneath the Jaffa.

[Assistant]
It really depends on the system lord and how they view their jaffa. Some are treated as nothing more than a faceless cog in their machine, a mouthpiece to hear reports from and a microphone to give orders to. Really nothing better than a slave amongst countless others. Other system lords place great value on their first primes. Some live in palaces that rival other goa'uld's and are wealthy beyond most people's belief. So long as they continue to faithfully serve their god, of course.

One such example of an extremely favored first prime is Oshu, the first prime of Lord Yu. He effectively ran the entire empire in Yu's stead when he was too weak to rule. Tea'c and Bra'tac also seemed to live in comfort compared to their jaffa peers, being the closest thing to upper class on Chulak and also having Apophis's ear for many decisions (even if their words went ignored). But even then, both Teal'c and Bra'tac were expected to fight beside their soldiers, and were given no real special treatment on the battlefield.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do some clothes shrink when washed in hot water and why can't they stretch back to their normal size?

[Assistant] This generally happens to clothes made with natural fibers. Those fibers are typically a protein matrix. Think of what happens when meat is cooked, the proteins denature and recombine into shorter strands/matrices.


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

[User] [gaurdians of the galaxy vol 2] why didnt ego just destroy the golden peoples fighters when they invaded his planet? Wasnt he also more powerful on his own planet?

[Assistant]
Most likely he was just distracted with Peter, Yondu and the Guardians. They were actively trying to sabotage and kill him, after all.

The golden people were - at most - a mild annoyance, and killing them would've actually worked against Ego, since they were trying to kill the Guardians and Yondu.


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

[User] [All comic books] If a being existed with the power of infinite luck, regardless of whether they willed it or not, would they be the most powerful fictional character in all of the comics?

[Assistant] Yes, since all of reality would basicly change to make sure everything was always in that persons favor. It wouldn't even be difficult. Quantum Tunneling would make bulletproof shields appear in front of any bullet shot at the character. Need to get to work fast? Quantum tunneling causes your entire body to suddenly move to where your job is.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] if tracking a ship through hyperspace was impossible until the First Order discovered it, how did Boba Fett follow the Millenium Falcon to Cloud City?

Edit: Ok i think i figured it out: the tracker placed on the Falcon didnt track location, it tracked coordinates the ship's computer was calculating.

Bam!

Which begs the question: why didnt they use this type of tracker the whole time?

[Assistant] Han didn't use the hyperdrive, it was damaged. So Boba Fett knew he didn't leave the system, and just waited for the Imperials to leave so Han would show himself. Then he just casually followed him to Bespin.


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

[User] Warren Buffett: "I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. Just pass a law that makes congress ineligible for reelection if the deficit is greater than 3% of the GDP" . Is this actually a reasonable idea?

[Assistant] Well, deficit spending is a critical tool the federal government has for smoothing out the business cycle, albeit not always used in time. You want the federal government to at least be able to smooth out recessions by making up the output gap.  3% seems quite arbitrary and if the goal is to really limit the deficit through a statute like this, why not just pass a law limiting the deficit?  The punishment is quite arbitrary.


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

[User]
Why don't magnets repelling each other glow?

Allow me to explain my reasoning:

1. Light is made of photons.
2. Photons are the force carrying particles of the EM field.
3. Magnets repel each other via the EM force.

I therefore assume that they repel each other through the use of photons, and we should therefore see them glow.

Why am I wrong?

[Assistant]
Stationary magnets (or close to stationary magnets) repel each other through an exchange of virtual photons, not real photons. Virtual particles are not stable, quantized particles that can radiate away into space and into your eye. Virtual particles are simply one way to describe EM field configurations that are not stable, self-propagating fluctuations (i.e. real photons). The word "virtual" is unfortunate because stationary magnetic fields are real enough, they are just not really stable particles that can radiate away and take on an independent existence. Magnets don't glow visible light because visible light consists of visible-frequency real photons, and stationary magnetic fields consists of virtual photons.

Although human eyes are not sensitive to stationary magnetic fields, there are machines and other creatures that are. To a homing pigeon, a magnet does "glow" in some sense of the word since they are able to detect magnetic fields (aka virtual photons). A human can indirectly "see" the virtual photons that constitute a magnetic field using a small compass.

Also, if you wave a permanent magnet about, the magnetic field is no longer stationary, and you create real photons in addition to the virtual photons. However, these real photons are very low frequency - far too low to see with your eye. But you could pick it up with a suitable radio antenna.


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

[User]
[A Clockwork Orange] Would the Ludovico Technique worked if Alex had received proper follow-up support?

Once Alex was "cured", he was basically sent back out into the world on his own with no money, no home, and no job. If part of the Ludovico program had been securing these for him after release (at least on a temporary basis), would Alex have turned out to be a contributing member of society?

[Assistant] Probably not, realistically the technique would more likey make you randomly snap while like walking your dog or something. The human mind is powerful but everything has it's limit and bombarding it with that much intense imagery is bound to have more serious effects than just an aversion to violence if anything there's much more of a chance the opposite would happen.


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

[User] Eli5. What decides an animals longevity as for as mortality? A horse, way stronger and healthier than most humans, live only to around 20 to 30 years, yet the steady rate when humans expire is around 70 to 80 years. How does this work?

[Assistant]
The faster a speices cells divide, the longevity of their organ tissue, the efficiency of their kidneys and liver, and their diet and lifestyle all factor into age.

Human tissue is pretty long lasting compared to most species, as cells divide DNA is slowly broken down, until cancer or organ failure or a dozen other diseases set in.


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

[User] What activates seeds to grow? Like, why can I leave a seed sitting on a table for years and it won't do anything but when I put it in dirt and water it, it starts to grow. How does it know, and was it doing?

[Assistant] When a seed is shed from the parent plant, it's in the state of dormancy; contains very little water and is metabolically inactive ( no respiration and thus no energy ), so it doesn't grow. However, when it's put in soil where there's water, it basically absorbs the water which stimulates the production of plant hormone called gibberellin. This hormone, in a series of steps, allows starch to be broken down into maltose. Maltose is then converted to glucose which is respired producing energy; allowing seed to germinate and grow.


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

[User]
[General Superheroes] Are there characters with low or medium level healing factors?

We all know about people like Wolverine and Deadpool who have healing factors which allow them to regenerate from injuries such as gunshot wounds and even the loss of organs within seconds to minutes. Many would consider these regenerative healing factors fast. Are there any healing factors which would be considered medium or slow, such as maybe taking a full day or week to heal from a gunshot or missing limb?

[Assistant]
Absolutely.  Most brawlers have some sort of minor healing factor.

A classic example is Spider-Man.  His powerset is focused on speed and strength but he has some increased durability and a low grade healing factor.  Broken bones heal in a couple days at most, concussions are gone in a few hours, he rarely gets sick plus recovers fully with only 8 hours of sleep and his cuts heal cleanly in a day or two at most.

Wolverine and Deadpool have unbelievable healing factors, but a lot of lower tier heroes with improved durability heal pretty rapidly as well.  Spider-Man is just one of the best documented and more impressive ones.


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

[User] ELI5: How the NES Zapper gun (like the one used in Duck Hunt) knew where you were pointing on the screen.

[Assistant] The Zapper doesn't actually "shoot" out light. Instead, it's the reverse: it's a light sensor. When you pull the trigger, the screen turns black and the targets (ducks, discs, enemies, etc.) would flash a white square. If the Zapper is pointed at a white square, it registers as a hit. This is also why it's possible to cheat by pointing at a bright light source (light bulb, window, high-brightness TV, etc.)


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

[User]
ELI5: (Value of) buying a condo vs renting an apartment

I get the equity thing, but not completely, I guess.

I pay a lot less living in an apartment (admittedly with two roommates) than I would if I bought a condo (something Im considering if/when the housing bubble pops)

I get that its something to do with long term value, but not short term? So if I buy a condo, I should plan to stay there more than 5 years, or?

Thank you!!

[Assistant] When you pay a mortgage payment, some of that payment goes towards principal, or your ownership in the property. If your mortgage payment is $1,000 and $200 of it goes to principal, then you sort of taking that $200 from one of your pockets and putting it in another. It's still yours. If you pay $1,000 on rent, none of that do you keep.


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

[User] [SurfaceTension] so there's a drop of water with a race of microscopic Merpeople in it, lets say to them the droplet seems 266KM wide and 117KM high and dome shaped, but it in actuality 2.66MM wide and 1.17MM high. how dense and replant would the surface tension seem to them?

[Assistant]
At that scale, the surface tension of the edge of their world would be insurmountable, impenetrable jelly.

Potentially, they may find a little issue moving or even respirating, but that depends on their specific anatomy.


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

[User]
[Overwatch] Does Tracer have to wear the Chronal-Accelerator 24/7?

I understand that the chronal-accelerator is what keeps Tracer from being a time-ghost, but does she have to have it strapped on all the time? It seems awfully big and bulky. Is there a smaller, less heavy-duty version she wears when she's not on duty?

[Assistant] It's what anchors her in normal space-time, so unfortunaly she can't remove it without risking phasing out of time. It's possible that Winston may have created a "safe room" of sorts, but AFAIK it hasn't been mentioned.


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

[User]
Is it possible to build an optical telescope that could give you clear images of exoplanets?

Is it a limitation of how big you can build the telescope or a more fundamental limit of light?

[Assistant] This would require interferometry on a massive scale that we don't yet have the technology to implement (but it's not impossible). To see in the the optical band with 1000 km resolution from 100 lightyears away (just spitballing parameters here), you'd need a telescope about 5000 km wide. This is not feasible, but an array of telescopes could do the job (the Very Long Baseline Array already does this for radio astronomy). This array of telescopes could either span the surface of the Earth (while being close enough to point at the same thing), or could be in space.


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

[User]
[General] How do dragons get that pile of money?

Dragons are usually seen sleeping on or near large amounts of money. Also as an aside, *why* does a dragon need money?

[Assistant]
Destroying kingdoms and castle that have vaults of gold and treasure, raiding towns for their valuables, and people paying homage to the great and powerful being that can kill them all.

As to why dragons need money, it depends on what sort of lore/myths/legends/stories you are looking at. Some they just like gold and other shinies because they are pretty. Others it could be a sign of power, while some need to eat gold and other precious materials to survive. And some believe that the gold is theirs to begin with since they own the land the trespassers are living on, so the dragons are simply taking what is rightfully theirs, similar in idea of a ruler taxing their subjects.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Why don't most Sith/Jedi wear lightsaber proof armour? There are materials resistant to it so I don't see why they don't just make armour out of it.

[Assistant]
Lightsaber battles basically don't happen. So it's never been necessary.

For the previous thousand years of history, the Jedi thought they were alone in being saber-wielding force-using warrior monks. There were other force traditions in the galaxy, but none nearly as large, and none with the exact traditions of lightsaber building and combat. It's really on the Sith that use lightsabers in opposition to the Jedi. And really, it's only to spite them. Bleeding a Jedi's crystal and using the power against them is just one tactic among many the Sith used against their eternal enemies. Even moreso after Darth Bane reforged the entire Sith order into an entity that seeked revenge.

And sure, Jedi sparred with one another all the time. And a few standouts were absolute masters of combat, either from their natural talents or years of practice. But for the most part, Jedi used their lightsabers in what was basically advanced meditation routines, physical fitness classes, and basic self defense. Nothing that required anything more than normal clothing.

And on top of that, don't forget that Jedi can see the future. So they frequently react to attacks before they happen. When fighting pirates or smugglers in routine actions for the Republic, or later against legions of battle droids, even the most novice Jedi could be an overwhelming opponent. And in the rare events that Jedi and Sith locked blades, both sides were simultaneously striking and reacting to things that had not yet happened. Which would make any sort of armor functionally useless.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are humans so bad at giving birth?

Women die in childbirth fairly often, even in developed countries.  Without proper sterilization, babies are subject to infection at birth.  Even if all goes according to plan birth is considered one of the most painful things a human goes through in their life.  Why are humans so bad at reproducing?  Other animals just pop out a baby and keep going on with their day.

[Assistant] The orientation of the human pelvis and location of the birth canal are a consequence of humans evolving to walk upright on two legs. It's not very conducive to having children, but boy don't we look cool standing up straight.


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

[User]
(LOTR) Couple questions.

Is the game "Shadows of Mordor" (I would recommend it, but it's not mindblowing at all, just a fun game.)  canon? If it is, it is mentioned in the game at one point that the reason that Sauron went out of his way to wipe out the dwarves was because they were far more stubborn then men morally, and thus, they were immune to the powers of the rings given to them. (I think 3 or 6?) If the game is canon, then that in itself is pretty cool, but does this mean they would have been immune to the powers of the one ring as well? I kind of doubt it but I am curious.

[Assistant]
The game is not canon.  It is fan fiction.

However,  The dwarves were indeed more resilient to the  corruption of Rings (they were given 7) than Men, but not wholly so. They became immensly greedy and this led to the downfall of many of the Dwarven kingdoms (by attracting Dragons).

The One Ring is far more powerful than the ones given to the Men and Dwarves.  No one in Middle-earth is immune to it.


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

[User]
What exactly produces the characteristic sounds you hear when two specific materials collide?

From what I understand, sound is just energy permeating space that causes your eardrums to vibrate (this is a very layman understanding, one that which I am still not confident in).  My question however stems from the fact that when two materials collide, i.e. a piece of aluminum and a marble counter top, the same sound is always produced.  What physical properties cause the characteristic sounds we hear, down to the molecular level?

[Assistant]
First of all, sound is vibrations of air molecules, when they hit your ear drum your ear drum vibrates with it.

The characteristic noise each material makes comes from how it vibrates. If a one object vibrates at a higher rate than another, then it will sound higher pitched or have a higher frequency. However, it doesn't stop there. Objects can emit sound at different frequencies simultaneously. The combination of these waves produces timbre and makes objects sound differently in more ways than just pitch alone.


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

[User]
[The Weathergirls - It's Raining Men] One day human males start falling to earth out of the troposphere. How do scientists explain the phenomenon? What are some less obvious consequences of the event (other than property damage, injury, lots of busted open corpses everywhere)?

It was on the radio this morning when I was in traffic and my brain went to a strange place.

[Assistant]
The song itself gives the reason for the event:

> It's raining men!
>
HALLELUJAH
>
It's raining men!
>
AMEN!

and

>God bless Mother Nature
>
She's a single woman too
>
She took over heaven
>
And she did what she had to do

For the first time ever, scientists were given absolute, definitive proof of the supernatural as the entity colloquially known as "mother nature" made her presence known as she literally rained human men down on planet Earth. Further study of the event would also seem to prove the existence of a paradise-like "afterlife" that fit the widespread idea of heaven.

Unfortunately, after the initial excitement of millions of men literally falling on the streets died down, problems emerged. Religious groups the world over reacted in every way imaginable. Some cheered, some solemnly gathered, some violently broke down as all of their beliefs were irrevocably proven wrong. Riots broke out in many countries as people realized their existential dilemmas. No country was spared the chaos, and the world was plunged into economic and political disaster for decades.

As for the men that fell, their story is also less than good. Almost immediately, the single women who ran out to meet their new beaus realized the men that survived their fall didn't speak the local language. In fact, very few of them even met the local standards of attractiveness. "Mother nature" saw it in her wisdom to seemingly pluck men from "heaven" who had died all across human history and randomly drop them on Earth at the same time. Men who had, from their perspective, been farming in Egypt in 2000 B.C.E. were suddenly on the streets of New York City 1979. Viking men fell in Greece and Japan. Mongolian horsemen fell in the Australian outback. As the world descended into religious-backed rioting, these lost and confused men added to the problems. Some ran wild with fear. Others, who had been criminals in their "past life" continued their sprees of robbery and murder.

Had the world been in a more stable place, these men might have been rounded up by local governments, given an education on the modern world and eventually released after extensive medical checks. Unfortunately, with the world in such a sorry state, their unchecked arrivals also had the terrible consequence of bringing disease and death back to many places that seemed to be rid of them. Thousands of men who had never been immunized before suddenly arrived in a world that thought it had BARELY rid itself of smallpox. People who unknowingly carried the disease spread it to these men, who then spread it to children who were not immunized. Other sicknesses followed in their wake. A pandemic worse than the 1918 influenza gripped the world in the midst of the riots, spurring further confusion and chaos.

Eventually, many governments realized the problems these new men caused and initiated cruel and draconian methods of contain them. Anyone who did not speak the local language fluently was immediately suspect. Men who did not fit local profiles of appearance and behavior were arrested without warning. For the most part, this caught the wayward fallen men, but many other innocents got caught in the net as well. Most people considered this acceptable, as it kept the community homogeneous and "strong". A few protest groups popped up, but amidst the worldwide chaos, their voices were not heard. Most of these men rounded up weren't given trials or even medical examinations, they were just mass executed by paranoid and corrupt governments. Even western countries committed these atrocities, though they tried their best to cover it up.

By 2010, most of the men that had suddenly appeared in 1979 were gone. Either killed in the chaos, rounded up or just successfully integrated into the places they fell. Most of the violence and rioting ended as well, the people too exhausted and starved for resources to continue. Many countries no longer existed, swallowed by their neighbors or just blank spots on maps. But people rebuilt like they always do. The lessons and scars from "manfall" would persist for centuries and human civilization, now with proof of a spiritual "other world", would never be the same again.


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

[User]
What is the exact relation between mass and electromagnetic charge in the scope of modern QFT?

Years ago I actually had several courses on GR and QFT (alas I forget most of it over the years) but why is it that all electromagnetically charged particles are massive. Is this a direct consequence of the symmetry breaking introduced by the Higgs field?
I speak Lagrangians and Hamiltonians, you don't have to be gentle.

[Assistant]
The mass and electric charge of a given particle* are independent numbers, arising from independent considerations. In the context of QFT, an elementary particle is something that transforms under an irreducible representation of the Poincare group. Such a representation turns out to be completely specified by two numbers: a non-negative real number (mass), and a non-negative half-integer (spin). Electric charge, on the other hand, is a number measuring how much a field's complex phase changes under a certain U(1) transformation, which is an internal symmetry not related to the Poincare group.

When you write the Lagrangian for a general particle, you include the mass and electric charge as free parameters (that are then fixed by experiment). In principle you could make the mass zero and charge non-zero and nothing would go wrong. It just happens that in our universe there doesn't seem to be any massless charged particles. We can be quite sure of this - if such a particle existed, it would be very easy to produce and detect, and massive charged particles like the electron would no longer be stable.

\*Although interestingly, the masses of particles in our universe depend crucially on the Higgs being uncharged. The photon is massless precisely because the Higgs is uncharged, and the Yukawa interactions that give rise to the masses of other particles would not be possible if the Higgs were charged. But there is no relation between a particle's mass and *its own* charge.