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

[User]
ELI5: Virtual machines

Im trying to understand them a bit better, but its just not clicking for me. How is it able to operate like a physical computer and what is the benefit of that? Would you be able to say write an essay for your English class on a VM, save it there, and access it at a later time?

[Assistant]
All an operating system is is an interface between your applications and the hardware; that these days provides some convenience functionality: a shell/desktop environment, a file system for data storage. But at a low level, the operating system is just computer code itself running in the CPU of the computer.

But what's the difference between a computer instruction running on the real hardware CPU or one that is interpreted by a software based CPU that is itself running on a real CPU? Turns out, not much.

When you turn on a computer, the CPU knows to look in one specific location for its very first instruction. These instructions are a boot loader. These point to other locations to load special operating system files (for Windows or Linux). So you could easily write a program that emulates or simulates a CPU in this behaviour... you can write software the emulates _everything_ in a computer.

That's all that virtualization is - an emulated computer running on a special virtualization platform that is running on a real computer.

To answer your question about the essay tho... the answer is: it depends. When you write your essay and hit save, the essay is written to a physical hard disk or storage device. IN a virtual machine, the essay would be saved to a virtual hard disk/storage device, which itself is just a special file on the real storage that the virtualization software can understand. So yes, so long as they physical hardware that stores the virtual machine is ok, then yes you should be able to access the virtual storage as well.

The nice thing about virtual machines is you can save their state at any time and restore back to it. We use virtualization at work in our testing all the time. We have a virtualized Windows PC, we install our software, the software was buggy, causes the virtual computer to crash, we wipe/restore the VM back to its known good state with a single instruction.

Old MS-DOS game emulators like DOSBOX? essentially these are virtual machines. Playstation or Gameboy emulators? virtual machines. Someone has just taken the time to write software that emulates the hardware of these old platforms.


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

[User] [General Sci-Fi] How do you scan for life forms? What is the scanner picking up?

[Assistant]
Heat is the main one. It's relatively easy to isolate a single heat signature against a cooler environment, even from a distance, and most forms of life will produce heat as a byproduct of metabolising. Not all, though, and this won't work in hot environments for obvious reasons.

Chemical signatures. A lot of life forms give off chemicals, either as pheromones or as waste products, and these chemicals tend not to be very common in nature outside of environments with life for various reasons. Finding particular concentrations of these chemicals in an area can give you an approximate number of life forms in the area. Certain types of scanners might also be able to look for specific chemicals that are unique to living things as part of their basic makeup.

Neural activity. Anything with a sufficiently complex central nervous system will give off a bioelectric field. It's quite faint but if your scanner is powerful and sensitive enough, you can probably detect it.

Motion. Fairly obvious. Animals tend to move around.

Sound. Again, also obvious. Many living things make sounds, either actively (roaring, sqeaking, etc) or just passively as they move around. If you have a sensitive enough scanner you could also pick up on potential heartbeats, though you also need to be able to eliminate the ambient noise.

Visual. Might seem a bit old fashioned but sometimes the best way to find what you're looking for is to literally look for it. Not manually, of course. The sensor itself would have some sort of algorithm capable of looking at the data and making its own determinations.

Obviously if you know the type of lifeform you're looking for, it's much easier to detect even in an unknown environment, since you know what the signs you need to look for are. And vice versa in that if you don't know what you're looking for, it's fairly easy to miss since not all forms of life will be detectable by any one type of sensor, as well as not every type of sensor will work in every environment. Which is why any sensor worth its salt will use as many different methods of detection as possible.


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

[User] ELI5: Since we're aimlessly floating in space with no real orientation, who first decided that the North Pole is "up" and the South Pole is "down" and not vice versa?

[Assistant]
It has to do with orientation of Maps. At first East was up as the rising Sun was the marker for orientation when traveling and making maps. This means it was the top of a Map. (That is also why Asia was called the Orient).

Once magnetic compasses were invented magnetic north became the orientation on maps used by those in the Northern Hemisphere. Since most of the human populace, and specifically all of Europe lives in the Northern Hemisphere that is what most people view as up on a map. This opinion was carried by Europe to its colonies, even those in the Southern Hemisphere.

So once we started making globes it was logical that up on the map meant up in the room for the globe and so the globe was mounted such that the north pole was at the top. This then carried over to mapping the Solar system as a whole once science advanced enough to start doing that.


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

[User] ELI5: Whats going on when my URL bar sais about:blank?

[Assistant]
When a browser sees "about:blank" that tells it to display a blank page.

Sometimes when bad coding or weird hiccups happen, your browser will open a new window, but fail to understand what's supposed to go in it, so it defaults to about:blank.


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

[User] [W40K] Fiction and stories exist in the Imperium, they just have a certain... slant to them. How do our fairy tales and Disney movies end in their Imperial versions? Other famous movies?

[Assistant] Cinderella was aided by her treacherous Eldar allies to attend the ball and seduce the Primach. When he rebuffed her she fled, and the Primarch ordered the Inquisition to search the realm until they found her. Many heretics died in the agony of the Boot of Glass; many faithful souls were released to join the Emperor. In the end, the xeno-loving heretic Cinderella was abandoned by her allies, found, and judged. Millions vowed renewed loyalty to the Emperor, lest they follow her example. The Empire lives happily ever after.


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

[User] ELI5: when we accidentally breath in water, how does the body remove that water from the lungs?

[Assistant]
Most of it: cough it out!

What's left of that: the lungs have a microscopic conveyer belt called "cilia" that can bring some up (probably mixed with mucous, probably still coughing it up too)

What's left after that: can be absorbed. Pee it out eventually.


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

[User]
[Batman] Has Batman ever actually helped anyone by sending them to jail?

The criminals always seem to want revenge, has there ever been anyone who was helped by the criminal justice system?

[Assistant]
It depends on the continuity.

Harvey Dent was briefly rehabilitated during the "Hush" arc.

Selina Kyle has gone from a greedy thief to a bat-family adjunct.

Harley Quinn has also considered going straight (heh), but how much of that was Batman's doing is arguable.

And it's safe to assume that, as in real life, plenty of the street criminals Batman has locked up decide to turn their lives around.

We really only hear about the failures.


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

[User]
[Star Wars]Is the design of Star Destroyers reasonable?

I mean, I know what they were going for: Maximum amount of surface for mounting weapons while offering as little area to oncoming attackers as possible. But does this design make any sense?

[Assistant] Because of their wedge shape all side mounted weapons can also fire forwards. This means that it can fire as many weapons forward as it does in a broadside. Most capital ship can't because the front is much smaller than the sides. SDs can charge into battle with all guns blazing. A different type of capital ship would have to get into a broadside position before bringing more guns to bear.


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

[User]
ELI5: how does eyesight/hearing deteriorate overtime?

What outside factors cause deterioration for the eyesight or hearing? Prolonged exposure to certain visual displays? Unprotected ears around highly noise polluted areas?

[Assistant]
Too much ultraviolet light exposure on your eye over a lifetime causes the crystalline lens behind your iris and pupil to cloud up, causing cataracts. Cataract removal surgery is the most common surgery where they replace the clouded lens with a man-made one.

Excessive light exposure can also cause age-related macular degeneration (AMD) where your eye doesn't fully recycle some of the components it needs to sense light. This ends up accumulating and prevents the light sensitive part of your eye from properly receiving nutrients, causing loss of vision.

Typically these eye issues occur with age (usually greater than 60 years old).

Hearing is similar. Tiny specialized hairs in your ear act as tiny tuning forks that vibrate to sound. This is your sense of hearing. Excessive noise or just a lifetime of noise will wear them out, causing hearing loss. These hairs cannot regenerate.

Remember you only get one set of eyes and ears so make sure to protect them!


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

[User] Why do pimples develop on the face far more than rest of the body?

[Assistant] The most simple answer is that we have a greater density of sebaceous glands on the face and the skin is complex, varying greatly between different sites and one of those variations is how it responds to hormones.


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

[User]
Branching from a branch, merge to master

Probably a pretty basic question but I am working on a branch, lets call BranchA. I have a PR in for BranchA right into master, but it will take some time to get approved. I need the changes from BranchA so I can create a branch of BranchA called BranchB.

I never will merge B into master before A, since I know B will contain the commits of A. But if I merge A into master, what is the procedure to merge B into master? Will it recognize that they are the same commits originally from A and just only add on the commits from B?

[Assistant]
> what is the procedure to merge B into master?

The same as the procedure to merge A into master.

> Will it recognize that they are the same commits originally from A and just only add on the commits from B?

Yes. The commits are uniquely identified by a hash that is shared across all branches with the commits.


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

[User]
[Married...with Children] What manner of thing happened that women's shoe salesman are so hated?

They speak of one in hushed tones. One Al Bumby...or was it Birdie?

[Assistant]
Al brought a lot of the hatred on himself.

Don't get me wrong, he works in retail at the mail when Mall Culture was big and had to put up with a lot of snooty middle/upper middle class women who mostly just waste time by trying on shoes and pester the salesmen without ever buying anything.

Al comes from a "good old boys" background where selling products oriented at women was the lowest of the low. The only way it could be worse is if **\*mocking gasp*** he had to work with GAY PEOPLE.

So instead of sucking it up and doing his job, he makes his job as difficult as possible by acting toxic towards his customers. He mocks women and points out their insecurities and gets hit with the consequences on the regular but refuses to relent because he has no other outlet for his emotions.


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

[User] [Star Trek: DS9] In the season 5 finale, Starfleet is unable to send reinforcements since the ships are needed elsewhere. Where is this?

[Assistant]
Starfleet was engaged in a massive joint operation with the Klingons to eliminate a major Dominion shipyard.

Taking advantage of the Dominion's focus on the assault on DS9, the Klingons and the Federation launched a major attack against the Dominion shipyards on Torros III. By concentrating its forces on a single operation, the Federation-Klingon units attained local superiority of force against Dominion's absolute numerical superiority in theater. Allied units breached Dominion lines and established a salient towards the Torros system, while a special taskforce entered the system proper and suppressed system defences long enough to affect the complete destruction of Torros III's shipbuilding infrastructure. Once the shipyard was eliminated, Federation and Klingon units withdrew behind their own lines and closed the salient.

The Dominion had heavily invested in the Torros III shipyard. Its output and location would have given the Dominion a significant advantage against attrition for several sectors. The destruction of Torros III forced the Dominion to rely on shipyards in systems located deeper within Cardassian space, slowing the tempo of Dominion operations.


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

[User]
[War of the World's Film] How deep do the machines have to be for us to not notice them.

Ignoring aliens can fine them, and then shoot lightning down with aliens inside. I am wondering how deep would these machines have to be buried to be hidden from our current tech and also how deep they can be before they could reach the surface while climbing.

I would have to assume some devices are lost during the earth shifting but I'm not sure if they could be deep enough or shallow enough to avoid that.

[Assistant] Rarely do we dig past 300 feet but seismic scans and radar would detect them if they're in a regular shape. But assuming sporadic deployment along ideal habitation areas they'd be anywhere from 1000 feet to a mile down to remain undetected by most mining operations and eluvian soil movements. It's possible they were placed atop bedrock or in heavy stone outcroppings to appear as large rocky protrusions. Given how fast they rose up id assume they were buried much shallower which may work in areas like Boston but newer and older developments would have had to dig them up for utility lines or underground trains so maybe they were placed further out into wilderness that wouldn't be developed by the patterns of human civilization projections at the time of their burial.


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

[User]
[LOTR] So after the ring was destroyed and Sauron was gone..what happened to his vast armies of orcs/goblins, wargs, and trolls?

I haven't read the book but in Return of the King, ALL of them basically hit the feet once the tower comes down and the ground starts to collapse.

[Assistant] When Sauron died most Orcs died in Mordor, when it all began to come tumbling down. Aragorn and his Reunited Kingdom dealt with any surviving force in Gundabad and scattered in Eriador.  Those that survived did so in Moria. However, Durin VII and his Dwarven army retook the city sometime later in the 4th Age, exterminating nearly all the remaining Orcs.


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

[User] Eli5 how do cameras capture a literal moment in time?

[Assistant]
On film: you hit the button, and the shutter closes. When it does, it streams light through in a focused beam, and whatever light enters the aperture gets burned (for lack of a better term) onto the film. And that's a picture.

On digital: same basic concept, but the light hits photosensitive tiles that convert the light into code - different colors and brightness are different pieces of the code. It stores this code and reproduces it on demand, making the picture you just took.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do we have such clear photos of galaxies that are a billion light years away?

I've just finished reading a book that was basically pictures of galaxies, stellar bodies, nebulas etc. from within our own solar system all the way to the intergalactic space a billion light years away. I know that they're taken with super powerful telescopes and that a lot of the photos are filtered under infrared and x-ray and all that but how does this all work? How are the telescopes able to do it? What kind of processing (if any) goes into the final version of the photos we see in books? How can we see things that are so far away?

[Assistant]
Do an experiment for me.

Go to a random webpage that you've never seen before, glance at it for a split second, and close your eyes. Chances are you remember the general look of the site, but are fuzzy on the details.

Now open you eyes, and really study the page. Spend a minute or more just memorizing it, noting the specific layout, colors, words, font, everything.

Telecopes take really long exposures. Instead of doing a really fast "snap" shot, like a camera, they stare at a spot in the sky, sometimes for WEEKS at a time. They collect all of the super faint light; light that even the huge telescopes can barely see. They then take these weeks of light, and combine them all in to one image. They merge it all together to form a bright image; a picture that is thousands of times more clear and bright than a quick "glance" or "photo" would be.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is it that standing your ground works so well against charging animals. Even though they should just plow through you?

An example I would like to present to you fine ladies and gentlemen of the inter-web is as follows : a moose charging a human being. Said human plants its feet firmly in the ground and starts waving its arms and screaming. Now I find it hard to believe that this 800+lbs behemoth stop its charge. And think to its self " Great Scott ! Look at this hairless ape ! It was moving just a second ago through my woods and has become a loud immovable object !!  WITCHCRAFT !!!! " then gallops off into the woods scared for its life.If some one could explain this it would be appreciated !

[Assistant]
Most predators are used to animals fleeing from them. An animal standing its ground is alien and intimidating to them.

Note: Some animals don't give two sh!ts if you stand your ground: A mama grizzly, for example.


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

[User]
eli5: how did trains in the 1800s know they werent going to run into another train on the same track?

Im watching 1883 (its amazing), and Im wondering how trains in the Wild West days knew they were free and clear on the track they were on considering communication was very limited.

[Assistant]
Originally originally, schedules. The railroads were one of the prime sponsors of consistent time keeping and proper time zones for exactly this reason...as long as everyone could agree on the time and who was going which way on which track at what time, everyone could stay out of everyone's way. This is why running the trains on time is a big deal...it's not just (or even primarily) about customer satisfaction.

Once we had telegraphs, stations could notify stations of changes: a train running early, or late, or stuck, etc. Thus it's not a coincidence that early telegraph cables very often followed train track...you had an existing right-of-way and one of the main people who wanted to use the telegraph were along the train tracks.

Once you had wires connecting stations, signals were easy to setup. The signals would tell the train if the next section of track ahead was clear or occupied. And that's basically where we're at today, with the additional of real-time monitoring of position. Some dense networks, like subways, use physical interlocks to stop trains from entering occupied sections but that's not very practical over very long distance networks.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] "But with the blast shield down, I can't even see!" When were helmet blast shields used and how did the pilots fly without being able to see?

How were the shields brought down fast enough to protect from blasts?

[Assistant] The helmet Luke used was one of the surviving prototypes of a failed specialized blast shield helmet for the Ividal Sector Forces' Z-95 starfighters, developed during the Capture of Ongary IX during the Clone Wars for protection against the flash of burrowing plasma charges. It had been accidentally left behind on the Millennium Falcon by Jorn Kulish, a disgruntled former member of the Sector Forces' Foxfire Squadron, back when the freighter was known as the Stellar Envoy.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Does a lightsaber wound instantly cauterize itself?

We see someone get their arm chopped off in the first star Wars movie, and there's blood, but in later movies, people suffer serious wounds from lightsabers and don't bleed at all.

[Assistant] It does. But not every species responds to lightsaber trauma in the same way. Human flesh and Aqualish flesh are not exactly the same, and Aqualish can still bleed after being slashed by the weapon. It's not a lot of blood considering the severity of the injury, however. So the wound is still cauterized, at least to an extent.


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

[User]
[LOTR] When Bilbo calls the ring 'my precious' at Bagend, Gandalf says "it's been called that before, but not by you". Why was Gandalf so sure in that statement?

Gandalf knows it's a magical ring, and is seemingly pretty confident in it's identity by saying it's been called precious before. Which seems in contradiction to Gandalf spending the better part of 17 years researching rings after this.

How many people called it precious, and if it was just Gollum why wasn't he tracked and watched sooner? Did anyone call the lesser rings "my precious"?

[Assistant] Gandalf is specifically referring to Gollum. Gandalf knows that Gollum called it that because Gollum called it that in front of Bilbo. Gandalf and Bilbo are close friends, and Bilbo has also made it a point to transcribe every detail of his adventures to fight Smaug and return to the Shire in his book.


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

[User]
[DC] What does a Lantern construct feel like?

Is it hard? Like glass (considering how they're always shown shattering as such)? Is it dependent of what the Ring wielder has in mind? Could they create an anvil that feels like a marshamallow? Or vice a versa?

[Assistant] I think it's dependent on what the lantern wants it to be. Hal Jordan has made water before to put out a fire, so I'd imagine that construct felt like water.  Building on this, if he makes a jet, it feels like metal. Id say that lanterns like Stewart or Rayner have constructs that feel exactly like their real life analog because the meticulously design their construsts.


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

[User]
How are temperatures such as "4 Trillion degrees Celsius" possible on a machine without burning everything down?

I was reading the following

> Quark-gluon soup
> Credit: CERN.
> Another amazing feat of physics came out of Brookhaven's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider this year. In February 2010 scientists announced they'd created a "quark-gluon soup" where protons and neutrons had broken up into their constituent building blocks  quarks and gluons.
>
> It took extremely powerful collisions of gold atoms in the accelerator to achieve the temperatures necessary  about 7 trillion degrees Fahrenheit (4 trillion degrees Celsius). These conditions are 250,000 times hotter than the center of the sun and similar to temperatures seen just after the birth of the universe. They were the hottest temperatures ever reached on Earth."

It confused me. I always thought that a temperature that high, even for a fraction of a second would destroy everything in its vicinity.

How are temperatures like that even possible without damaging the collider? And if we can make machines that resistant why don't we make one that could travel to Mercury ?

[Assistant]
You aren't talking about much matter getting up to that temperature in this scenario.  Maybe a micro gram of gold, maybe.  The inside of the collider is a vacuum which provides almost zero heat transfer to the surroundings so that helps to shield it a lot and buy a bit of time for things to cool down, but for the most part the energies involved are just too small.  A microgram of gold at 4 trillion C has enough heat to bring a kilogram of material with similar specific heat up to only 4000 C, not much.  Spread that out across the hundreds of kilograms of mass that would be impacted and you might see a temperature increase that you could measure.

In short, its a matter of scale.


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

[User]
[Lord of the Rings] Are ents made of plant, or do they just have plants growing on their skin?

If chop through one, are they tree all the way through? Or would I hit skin and blood after a point?

Trolls are corrupted ents, but they don't seem to resemble plant life at all.

[Assistant]
> A large Man-like, almost Troll-like, figure, at least fourteen foot high, very sturdy, with a tall head, and hardly any neck. Whether it was clad in stuff like green and grey bark, or whether that was its hide, was difficult to say. At any rate the arms, at a short distance from the trunk, were not wrinkled, but covered with a brown smooth skin. The large feet had seven toes each. The lower part of the long face was covered with a sweeping grey beard, bushy, almost twiggy at the roots, thin and mossy at the ends.

While they were made to resemble trees in many, many ways, they're not "walking trees," so we have no reason to believe they're made of plant matter. They have digits, they have hands. They're the equivalent of giants in Tolkien's universe. Per Wikipedia:

> "Ent" was taken from the Anglo-Saxon (Old English) word _ent_, meaning "giant"

Treebeard himself says as much, so while they're very "tree-ish," we have no reason to believe they're anything other than flesh and blood just like every other sentient creature created by the Valar. They may not bleed the same (referencing the other comment in this thread), but every attempt in-universe at calling them trees is pretty quickly corrected.


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

[User]
CMV: If you become a soldier willingly, you are perpetuating war.

This is a view I've had since I was a youngin, appropriately so as it does sound childish, but hear me out.

I'm imagining a world where soldiers do not exist, first however it would be helpful to define exactly what I mean by "soldier":
A soldier, by my perspective, is an individual who willingly or unwillingly is assigned to serve in a *nationally* provided army.
So, they cease to exist. Please try to imagine this hypothetically, not practically. I am fully aware that millions of people losing their job at once would be outrageous.

Let's start, so what would be the most noticeable differences? Well I believe that:
- Countries would become powerless against one another and thus way more peaceful
- Citizens of countries that are generally pleased with their lives would not be warmongering, further pushing the above point
- High ranking politicians would be unable to cause the death of innocents because of a dispute with another country
- If a dispute arises between countries, at least it would be brought on by the citizens and the blame would fall upon themselves

I understand that some or even most people become soldiers to *defend* their country, but if a country so wishes those same people could become tools of war, fighting a war they would not agree with if the veil of inevitable propaganda was lifted.

Ultimately, I am aware that something like this is not feasible, but it does make me question if i should respect soldiers in the first place. There's such a strong push for respect towards people "serving" the country, yet really those people could easily become killing machines for the sake of a stupid argument on a politician's telephone. I find that ridiculous.

Change my view, please, I don't like disliking soldiers.
_____

[Assistant]
I can provide an example of his not necessarily being as you describe: Switzerland.

Switzerland is famously neutral and has stayed out of international conflicts for close to a thousand years. Yet, they do maintain a smallish core of professional soldiers, even if the majority of their forces are conscripts and militia.

Their armed forces exist for exactly one purpose: prevent war by making sure it is too much trouble to invade them.

Therefore, joining a military can be about preventing war by preventing neighbors from viewing you as weak and vulnerable to invasion.


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

[User] Eli5: what makes us sleep more when depressed?

[Assistant]
I'd like to point out that depression affects different people differently. It might make some people sleep more, and it might make some people have a very difficult time sleeping. It might make some people overeat and some people _stop_ eating.

It's basically not very well understood, to be honest. We do know it makes just about everything more difficult, more stressful, and makes it so a person is pretty much unable to experience joy. But how that manifests, that's very individual.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is a carbonated drink so excruciatingly painful to drink for more than 3 seconds? (Why does carbonation hurt)

Is it because the tissues in the throat are super sensitive, and the popping of the bubbles diddles around with it to the same effect of taking a needle and poking your throat but many many many times, because of all the shit tons of bubbles popping?

[Assistant] It's most likely because carbonic acid is soaking into tissues. Carbonation is carbon dioxide dissolved into water which forms the carbonic acid, which then spontaneously breaks down into water and carbon dioxide again when the liquid is no longer under pressure. While drinking, the acid levels on the nice soft wet tissues start increasing, but when you stop drinking the carbonic acid either breaks down into CO2 and H2O or gets washed away by saliva and other bodily fluid.


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

[User]
[Sandman] What would be the effects of trapping an Endless that wasn't Dream?

While numerous negative effects are seen as a result of the capture of Dream, and it can be fairly well inferred that the capture of Death *would* mess up the idea of people dying (she takes *every* soul), what would happen with the others abandoning their realms due to capture? Destruction leaving his didnt wipe out the idea of destruction, and Dream's capture didnt end all dreams for everyone, so what would happen if the others got captured? Would anyone even notice Delirium missing at all? Does Destiny's freedom actually matter? It seems more that he's a watcher of fate rather than the causer of fate. Death seems to have the biggest actual job. Despair's capture could even actually improve the world it seems.

[Assistant]
> Despair's capture could even actually improve the world it seems.

You say that. But there is no joy without its contrast, no depth to tragedy without suffering, no empathy without experience of pain. Despair's function isn't *nice* but it is *vital*, it is part of what makes humans people instead of automatons. If you cannot imagine anything worse, you also cannot aspire to anything better.


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

[User] How do engineers plan for thermal expansion when laying traintracks in deserts where the daytime and nighttime temperatures are vastly different?

[Assistant]
Railway engineer here.

There's some misinformation in this thread but most people have the gist of it.

Most modern lines will use lengths of continuously welded rail (CWR), where you can have miles of rail before there is any physical gap. This length of rail would normally be subject to large amounts of thermal expansion but because the rails are rigidly held to the sleepers, it isn't able to move. This instead builds up high thermal forces within the rail, which if weren't controlled, would eventually lead to the rail buckling in high temperatures and cracking due to contraction in cool temperatures.

To combat this, the rail is prestressed when laid. The amount of stress applied is designed to put the rail in a stress free zone at the average rail temperature throughout the year. In the UK, this Stress Free Temperature (SFT) is 27C.

Expansion joints are still used when transferring from CWR track into standard jointed track to allow for some thermal expansion at the end of the welded section.

In addition to carefully stressing the rail, the threat of buckling is mitigated by ensuring sufficient lateral resistance of the track - normally through maintaining the ballast shoulder (ballast being the stones that the track is normally laid within).

When the temperature exceeds a Critical Rail Temperature (a value roughly 30C above the SFT), there is a risk of buckling. At this point, line speeds are normally reduced as this lowers the lateral loads imparted on the track by passing trains and makes it less likely to buckle.

Jointed track is far less susceptible to buckling as the rail is designed to allow for thermal expansion and contraction between the joints (typically 22 yards). However, there are huge disadvantages in using jointed track for high speed, high tonnage lines which is why they are rarely used for that purpose.


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

[User]
Why does overclocking a CPU make it unstable?

I'm interested to know what physical processes make CPUs less stable at higher clock speeds. I imagine it might be similar to the idea of transistors smaller than 10 nm having issues with quantum tunneling.
Why does the varying purity of the silicon (dubbed as the silicon lottery) affect how well a chip can overclock?
Thanks!

[Assistant]
Instability is not caused by heat; that answer is simply incorrect. Higher temperature can lower stability slightly but the factor is very small compared to higher clock itself.

Each clock cycle consists of a set of instructions being run by the cpu. When you raise the clock the amount of time available for each cycle drops, naturally. If the set of instructions does not complete before the next clock tick, then your chip has become unstable.

Or to rephrase and be marginally scientific, a cpu becomes unstable because ~~the electrons don't get to where you need them to be fast enough~~ the transistors don't respond/flip state quickly enough.  This  is why overclocking is usually accompanied by an increase in voltage.


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

[User] ELI5 Why do wood wardrobes randomly make crackling noises?

[Assistant] So its not the lignin or whatever that other person what talking about. Wood will expand and contract with humidity and heat/cold forever. What youre hearing are the wood bits finally moving under pressure from the humidity and heat/cold against each other.


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

[User] [MCU] Why is Rocket Raccoon so obsessed with prosthetic and cybernetic body parts?

[Assistant]
Probably due to how extreme trauma causes people to hyper fixate on things related to that trauma. It's unlikely he even sees this in himself, not without years of therapy.

It's sorta like how Dr. Strange broke his hands and became so obsessed with the trauma of breaking his hands that he upped and went to the dimension of hands which was full of hands and reached out to him with hands. So to does Rocket Racoon reach out for false body parts.


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

[User]
Difficulties applying to graduate schools abroad as an African.

I am a graduate of pharmacy who hopes to change a narrative for himself by furthering his education!

Ever since I finished my undergraduate studies, I've been seeking opportunities to study abroad but certain standards set by foreign universities has proven my efforts abortive. One is required to write English proficiency exams (TOEL, IELTS etc), GRE and the other exams despite having been instructed in English language as an undergraduate. Writing these exams isn't the problem. The problem is in the fees one is required to pay to write them.

Is there any University abroad that seems to be different with their demand?

[Assistant] I don't know what country you're from or where you've looked into applying, but we (R1 university in the US) do exempt many African countries which carry out schooling in English from TOEFL/IELTS requirements, including Ghana, Nigeria, etc.  Keep looking around.


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

[User]
Why does sperm get sticky when it comes in contact with water?

I was just wondering why this happen, for example when you take a wank in the shower and you cum on yourself the cum gets all sticky and is very hard to wash off. Is there some kind of chemical reaction the sperm and the water? Does anyone have an answer to this?

[Assistant] It's an interaction of polarities.  Water is polar, while semen is largely enzymatic, fatty acids, which are hydrophobic.  In the presence of water, which, by definition, is hydrophilic, hydrophobic molecules aggregate together to minimise surface energy.


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

[User]
[Ant-Man] If Ant-Man falls from a plane when he's really high up and the size of an ant and he turns normal size right before he hits the ground, could he survive?

My friend asked this because ants are able to survive falls because their terminal velocity doesn't get fast enough to be fatal to them.

[Assistant]
A small ant's terminal velocity is around 4 mph. He should be fine so long as, when small, he has the mass of an ant and not his full human mass.

Something the size of an ant with the mass of a human would have a greater terminal velocity than a normal human, so he would not be happy if that's the case.

It seems that he has some control as to whether his mass decreases or not when he shrinks, so he just needs to make sure it does.


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

[User]
[Hitman] The Agency has a contract on me. How do I survive?

I'm a businessman linked to an unfortunate mess related to asset forfeiture among other issues for an oil pipeline. A few people got hurt at a protest. Some are no longer with us.
I had no call on that, this I swear up and down.

The father of one victim allegedly hired someone to kill me. I got this information from a mysterious source who told me to prepare. I don't know anything about the assassin other than my contact that *does* told me his moniker is a number.

47.

My contact simply told me "it'll be quick."

I am deeply ashamed of what my employer's company has become and what he's trans- what I've allowed his money to turn me into.  I want to survive.
I know this is greedy to say with the blood on my hands. I admit I have ties to bad people.

I will make this right. Somehow. I will, even if it bankrupts me, even if my bosses have me killed.

I have an inordinant amount of money and a private island and state of the art personal protection. How do I absolutely make sure I survive until this 47 moves on?

[Assistant]
I'll preface this by advising you to get your affairs in order; your prospects are admittedly quite grim. One of Agent 47's key strengths is his adaptability, there are few wholesale solutions which can counter him, anyone can have a dire prognosis when he is involved.

*However*, that does not mean there is nothing you can do to protect yourself, and perhaps out-smart his employers...

# Location

First of all, **ditch the private island**, it's the obvious location and the first place he'll come looking. Private islands have large, undefended beaches to land on, undeveloped land to hide in, and few bystanders to act as witnesses. Even with the best security there will still be large gaps for a sole infiltrator to penetrate. If it's at all feasible for you, try sending a body-double/decoy to occupy it in your place, you might just be able to fake your own death.

In the meantime, you want to be setting up an above all unassuming safe-house. It shouldn't be too isolated from the public, as that will just give 47 a window to use less subtle techniques (explosives/sniping etc.), nor *too* public, as that will give him greater opportunities to blend in with the crowds. You want somewhere small enough that you and your bodyguards can quickly identify people who shouldn't be there, but at the same time with enough bystanders to keep 47's hands tied. Think something like a small town, or a suburb.

As for the complex itself, it should be equally unassuming: small, bland, preferably with tight corridors. The problem with giant fortified mansions or compounds is the same as islands, far too many openings due to the sheer area coverage.

*Keep it simple*. It may be tempting, but don't splurge on secret escape tunnels or helicopters. If you escape, that just means you'll have to start all of this over again, and if you *don't*, you've just handed him the escape route. The rooms should be equally bland, preferably with a guard and camera in each one. Even the bathrooms, *especially* the bathrooms (just get a divider). As you've kept it small, there'll be fewer cameras to worry about, making it easier for your security to pay attention. Speaking of which...

# Security

This is going to sound strange, but fire *all* of your male security guards if you have any. You want it to be purely women. 47 may be a master of disguise, be he isn't *that* good. If contact with men is unavoidable, implement a strict 'no hats' policy, and avoid dealing with any bald people.

When arming your security, the more obnoxious and loud the weapons, the better. Rifles and shotguns can't be easily stolen and concealed, as pistols can, and also busies both hands. While 47 will likely bring his own armaments to the table, it doesn't hurt to limit his field selection.

# Habits

While 47 is highly skilled, he often relies on the faults and failings of his own targets to see his contracts through. You must become highly disciplined if you wish to survive.

Drink *only* fresh tap water, and only put a glass down when it's empty. As for food, invest in pre-packaged, pre-cooked junk and canned meals, as they can be easily identified for signs of tampering. It also means you don't have to keep any knives or other deadly kitchen implements.

Take showers, not baths, and keep the temperature low and the fan on to get rid of steam. Stay away from any windows and keep curtains shut. Avoid going outside at all costs, but if you do find yourself travelling in public, take public transportation. The ICA is averse to civillian witnesses and casualties.

And most importantly of all, have good luck.


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

[User]
ELI5: How does a tax haven country benefit from the rich storing their money there?

Please ELI5 how does attracting rich people to store their personal wealth in a tax haven benefit a country?

Assuming there is extremely low or 0% tax, are there any benefits socially, politically or economically?

I've been wondering how a country like Singapore work its growth model.

[Assistant]
You put the money into a bank in that tax haven.

Banks, when they look after your money, don't just leave it sitting in the safe doing nothing. They invest it! They might do this by lending it to other customers (for a fee), or by investing in the stock market or the currency exchange market. But that money is busy earring the bank money.

(I don't know the rules in Singapore, but in some tax havens - the Cayman Islands, for example, tax is very low for money earned offshore. But money earned in the tax haven *is* taxed, albeit not at a massive rate - but the money the bank makes probably *will* be taxed.)


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

[User]
Would a perfectly insulated drinking glass ever sweat?

Related: You have a poorly-insulated glass and a well-insulated glass. Each is situated above a bucket, so that any sweat collecting and falling will be measured. If both glasses are filled with the same amount of equally cold liquid, which glass will produce more sweat?

[Assistant]
If the glass were insulated so that the thermal conductivity between the liquid and the environment were zero, then the outer surface of the glass would reach equilibrium with its environment and on a warm day, it would not form condensation. However, initially if it were cold, like being brought outside on a warm day after being in a refrigerator, then it could still form condensation. Condensation could also form if the air was supersaturated, as in air that was once warm and moist, but recently cooled.

Assuming you have two cold liquids on a warm, humid day, the same applies. The well-insulated glass will have a warm surface so no condensation will form. The poorly-insulated glass will have a cold surface, so it will collect more condensation than the well-insulated glass.


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

[User] ELI5: What is meant when it is said that a food is "alive," like yogurt or cheese or yeast? Secondarily, how is a "culture" different from a mold or other similar organism?

[Assistant]
For the first part, alive means just that. There is living bacteria/mold/yeast in the food. For yogurt, its generally accepted to be good for your gut biome. For cheese, it serves as an advertisement (blue cheese) and a warning for those who are allergic. Yeast is less common to be served alive as it causes food to quickly change taste however, this may be desirable in things like baking.

As for the second part, culture is just a word to describe that they intentionally added it in. In the case of yogurt, words like acidophilus cultures just tells you what bacteria are added. This is good for adults as our bodies may need assistance in regulating our gut biomes (bad diet, medicine, etc).


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

[User]
[Music] Why Don't Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie hang out before she passed away?

She's church going so they probably see each other once a week.  if they are both so lonely why not play cards together or soemthing?

[Assistant]
Eleanor Rigby lets herself daydream of a life she wishes she could have, but never goes out and makes it happen. Shes lonely, not because she *cant* find friends, but because she doesnt try. Similarly, Father MacKenzie busies himself with writing sermons and mundane chores instead of living his life. Hes lonely because he makes himself too busy, and so stays that way.

One is too busy dreaming, the other is too busy working. Being lonely is sometimes a choice we make instead of a situation were in.


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

[User]
ELI5:How does shadowbanning work?

I hear about it, but still don't fully understand how it works and for what purpose.

Edit: In a funny side effect to this thread, multiple mods show up to the thread to joke and explain. I, personally, thought it was pretty funny.

[Assistant]
Basically, a shadowbanned user thinks they're participating, but they really aren't.

Users who are shadowbanned can vote, comment and submit, but they are the only one who will see their actions. Everything the account does gets separated from the rest of the site, so nobody else will see any of their submissions or comments, and their votes aren't counted.


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

[User]
CMV: copyright should have stayed at 28 years before being removed

When copyright was first introduced it had a set time frame of 28 years, and that would give the author enough time to make a profit off their works. Then other aspiring writings and creators could use that to make their own stories with it. But as it stands today, congress has agreed with writers on four separate occasions to make copyright longer.

It was first pumped up to 42 years, than to 56 years, next it was the lifetime of the author plus 50 years, and finally it got changed to the authors lifetime plus 70 years. Meaning that most great works of our time will not be available for close to a little over a hundred years, and that doesnt include any Renewal of that copyright.

This has forced writers to keep looking back for inspiration, or have to figure out an original story that doesnt mess with any existing copyright laws.

In conclusion, because copyright is so long, it doesnt allow for others to use that work to make more of what we love and enjoy

Edit: this doesnt mean original works arent good, their great.

[Assistant]
... What is wrong having to you know... write originally? Copywrite with books isnt difficult to avoid. Why would you want more repeats and retellings and remakes?

You can also use other peoples stories to note. It just needs to be non-profit **or** fair use.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does GoDaddy Support the SOPA if it just means the domains they have registered will be taken down (The exact thing we are doing on our own)?

Or do I not understand this correctly? Please enlighten me.

[Assistant]
A lot of people think that big business doesn't like government making rules for their business ("regulation"). But weirdly enough, big business people *write* a lot of the rules that government passes. And big business spends a lot of money supporting lawmakers who pass those rules.

What's up there? If they don't like rules why do they write them and support them?

The problem with having a lot of complicated rules is that it's hard to make sure you are following them all. It's expensive. You have to hire lawyers and compliance experts and other people to tell you how to follow the rules.

Imagine if football or baseball got hundreds of new rules every year, and all the teams had to hire lots of extra coaches to teach the players how to play by all the new rules. Well, the *very rich* teams wouldn't have a big problem with that. They can afford to hire all those extra coaches. But the *not-so-rich* teams would have a big problem, because they can't afford the extra coaches. They would spend so much on trying to figure out the new rules that they wouldn't have any time to practice throwing the ball. And *new* teams, who were just learning the game, would have more and more to learn before they could compete.

And who are the very rich teams competing against? The not-so-rich teams and new teams.

Big business doesn't compete against government. It competes against small and medium business; and new businesses (startups)  which always start small. Regulation increases the cost of business, but big businesses can afford that better than small ones. And big businesses have the influence with government that lets them help write the rules so they aren't as much affected by them as their competition.


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

[User]
Something I never quite understood from high school biology: What determines whether or not a gene is dominant?

For example, I have a parent with blonde hair and a parent with black hair. I'm pretty sure that, despite being blonde myself, blonde isn't -always- dominant over black. I guess I'm trying to figure out if the dominance is something that is simply inherent, or if there are other factors that drive it.

[Assistant]
It's usually related to the nature of the protein that the gene encodes for.  For example, genes coding for structural proteins are often inherited in a dominant fashion because an error in just half of those proteins is sufficient to produce a change in phenotype.  On the other hand, genes coding for an enzyme are more likely to be inherited in a recessive manner because often half the protein expression is sufficient.

(This is a simplification since there are a ton of other factors that come into play, but that's the gist of it.)


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

[User] [Warhammer 40k] Can Eldar still become Dark Eldar?

[Assistant]
Absolutely, yes. The various qualities of the Dark Eldar pertain to the over-exposure to stimulus and the gradual soul-draining power of Slaanesh. ALL Eldar are subject to the latter, and the majority protect themselves with Waystones, which act both as barriers and proximity siphons, containing the spiritual energy rather than letting it bleed into the Warp.

Any Eldar without such protection will gradually have their soul bleed energy. The more they engage in certain actions which align more closely with Slaanesh, the stronger this effect will be. If the drain becomes stronger than the souls natural growth, they will eventually die.

Dark Eldar are past this threshold, and require huge amounts of stimulus to encourage soul 'growth' to keep going. The most efficient way to do this is pain, which they eventually absorb like a sponge from their surroundings.

ANY Eldar subjected to the criteria above will become Dark Eldar. It still happens, and is in fact a rather common fate for those who spend too long on the Path of the Outcast.


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

[User] If I fall sick due to a bacterial infection, and I chose to recover 'naturally' (lots of rest, water, etc) without taking any antibiotics, will my immune system be stronger for it compared to if I took antibiotics?

[Assistant] No. You still have the immunological memory of being exposed to the bacteria. This ignores side issues, like the fact that antibiotics can destroy the good intestinal flora, or the bacteria might return resistant to the antibiotics etc. But just in terms of your immune system's ability to respond to that bacteria, it will still be able to generate a stronger immune response the next time, even if the bacteria are killed pharmacologically.


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

[User]
[Tekken] What exactly are the rules to the 'King of Iron Fist' Tournament?

As you all know the Mishima Zaibatsu often runs this martial arts competition and it is clearly very popular as it attracts the best talent as from around the globe. However the fights seem to take place at random locations: I.E streets, woods, ancient temples and there is never a referee or rarely even a crowd present to validate the results, also Weapons are seeming allowed as are robots and bears, are there any rules at all? If not who decides the winners of the fights and who fights who?
How is it organised? are there any restrictions? How comes the Mishima clan keep on winning (suspicious, right?). Can anyone enter or only the best?

[Assistant]
The King of the Iron Fist Tournament is a world wide phenomenon, breaking viewing figures around the world and making celebrities of its contestants.

The tournament itself grew out from the popular sports of MMA and boxing and became something larger, more spectacular and, on the surface, more deadly.

The fights consist of a best of three series of fights, ending when one of the fighters is knocked out, or after a time limit, at which point the fighter who has taken fewer hits is declared the winner.

The tournament proceeds in knock-out fashion with brackets so that certain fighters are kept separate, meaning not all fighters must be defeated to win. Where the KOTIF tournament really separates itself though is in the later rounds, where after defeating the other fighters there is often a giant monster of some sort that must also be defeated. The monster is not required to compete in the early rounds and if one fighter is defeated then another is sometimes allowed to have a go.

This has resulted in controversy, as in the third year when Paul Phoenix defeated an Ogre and departed, not knowing that the Ogre was to transform into a secondary form, which Jin Kazama defeated, making him the actual winner (although Paul had won all his fights) but then Heihachi Mishima declared himself the winner anyway.

Heihachi Mishima, who is pretty much the Vince McMahon of the KOTIF tournament has won quite a lot. Again, much like Vince. In fact, the WWE did suddenly go under just before the KOTIF tournament started and despite there being weapons and it being "deadly" all the fighters are there, year after year, wearing bright costumes and with special entrances and so forth...


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

[User]
Addressing Professors

In Canada or US, does Professor John Smith mind being addressed as Hi John, in an email. How about in person? In what context is it (in)appropriate to use Hi Prof Smith vs Hi John?
How about pre-interview, during and after getting hired and working in the same lab?

[Assistant] It's Prof. or Dr. until they give you permission, either explicitly or implicitly. If they start signing emails "-John", then you're probably clear to use the first name. Until then, use the honorific.


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

[User] ELI5:How come my mac can go into sleep mode for what seems forever, but my PC laptop only sleeps for a few hours before dying?

[Assistant]
So, your Windows laptop has two energy saving modes: sleep and hibernation. In sleep mode, everything is turned off except for power to the memory. In hibernation mode, the memory is written to disk and then everything powers off.

In Windows sleep mode, it lasts only as long as there is power available to it, either by being plugged in, or the battery. When the power is gone, what's in RAM is lost, and sleep mode is over. It's just turned off. Hibernation, on the other hand, can be indefinite.

The nice thing about sleep mode is that it's very fast to recover from; the laptop just has to power up the hard drive and monitor and all that. Hibernation takes longer because it has to reload the RAM from the hard drive.

Macs don't have two modes like this. They have one, and it's called sleep. And it's kind of a hybrid between the two. Like hibernation mode, the Mac writes the contents of RAM to disk. But, then it keeps power to the memory.

The result of this is that it has the near-instant startup time of sleep mode, **and** has the longevity of hibernation. If the power to the RAM runs out, then the Mac will simply reload it from disk. It's like automatically failing from sleep to hibernation mode.

The downside of this is just a little more time writing the memory to disk once the Mac goes to sleep, but it does this after you close the lid, so really, it doesn't have any impact to the user. It's really a better way to do it.

**TL;DR - It's a matter of terminology, and Apple combined two energy saving routines into one superior one.**


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What about other galaxies?

I know galaxies are farther apart, but with hyperspace tech would there not at least be attempts to go to another galaxy?

[Assistant]
There have been attempts, and none of them have panned out very well. A Hyperspace disturbance lies outside the borders of the Galaxy, making it incredibly difficult for anyone to adventure in or out of the Galaxy. There have been a couple of attempts to go exploring outside of the Galaxy, with the most notable attempt being led by the Jedi. Suffice to say Darth Sidious and the Chiss put an end to that expedition pretty quickly.

Bearing in mind that the Yuuzhan Vong also crossed into the Galaxy to slaughter everyone, it's not seen as an idyllic region of uncharted space to go explore. As wars are constantly raging, expedition teams won't have the financial backing or military aid of the major factions to go on these extra-Galactic journeys, and so most fail or are postponed.


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

[User]
Can individuals with complete hearing loss "hear" via bone conduction? E.G. Shower water hitting your body, resonating bass at concerts etc.?

Theoretically I'd assume this makes sense, but are there conditions which inhibit this?

[Assistant]
Complete hearing loss does not come from the outer or middle ear - the ear canal, drum, or tiny bones. If you have a problem with these, surgeons can and do repairs and restore some, or sometimes even normal hearing.

Complete loss comes from damage to the inner ear, to the structures that convert vibrations to signal to send to the brain, or even damage to the brain itself. As the system that detects vibrations has failed, transmitting vibrations through bones won't do anything.


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

[User] Why is stable matter only composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons? Why aren't there other stable combinations of elementary particles?

[Assistant]
Those have the lowest energy for given decay path (meaning: although a proton has higher energy as an electron, there is no path leading to its decay to an electron). A free neutron is btw. not stable, but will decay into a proton (and other particles). Neutrons are only stable inside of a nucleus, because in a *bounded* state, it might be favorable for a proton to decay into a neutron (because too many protons in a nucleus make it unstable).

Keep in mind, that a proton is also not a fundamental particle, but consists of 3 quarks (which are fundamental, but only exist bound together).

So the fundamental answer to the question "why is the universe like it is?": because it is the most stable configuration under the given circumstances.


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

[User]
How does propulsion in space work?

I know that space is for the most part a vacuum. So considering newton's third law, if space shuttle (or any object) is at rest its pretty much stuck there, and ay the same time its trajectory is pretty much set once it 'leaves' a large body's gravitational field.

[Assistant]
If you shoot something out of the rear of the spacecraft, conservation of momentum means that the spacecraft gets a nudge in the forward direction.

This is in essence what's behind propulsion of spacecraft: Expel "stuff" in the direction opposite to the direction you want your acceleration to be in.


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

[User]
[The Iliad and the Odyssey]The Trojan War only happened because poor Paris had to pick between Aphrodite, Hera and Athena on was the hottest. Each offered him a bride. How should he have responded and who should have picked? What would have been a better gift to ask for?

Hera offered to make him the ruler of basically the entire world. Athena offered him wisdom and military success.  Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world, which he picked which then kicked off the Trojan War and later got him killed and his city burned to the ground.

What would have been a better way for him to respond? Suppose that he asked for a different gift or boom from any of the goddesses, what would it would have been a better one to ask for?

[Assistant]
Maybe he should have said something to the effect that the beauty of the Goddesses was so overwhelming and magnificent that no mortal could judge which of them was the most beautiful but (and this is important) don't say they're equal, say that one of the surely must be the most beautiful. Don't insult them by saying they have equal beauty; say that one is the best but you can't tell which, then they'll keep fighting each other because each Goddess in her vanity will imagine that it's her.

This may or may not work, but Paris was screwed no matter which he picked so it was at least worth a try.


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

[User]
[LOTR] Does the One Ring Tempt You, Or Corrupt Your Reasoning

It's commonly stated that no one could willingly throw the Ring into Mount Doom. To me, this suggests more than the Ring seducing or persuading but taking a more active role in forcing its will on to an individual. For example, someone who hated Sauron utterly and wished him destroyed more than anything else who also possessed the knowledge that they lacked the power to wield the Ring could not really be persuaded by the Ring. Frodo's final corruption also seems to be more than just persuasion on the part of the Ring. So, does the Ring just tempt people or does it warp their ability to reason?

[Assistant]
IIRC it's an insanely alluring item at first, and prolonged contact (or to a lesser extent close proximity to the Ring) begins to warp the mind of the affected person(s) in the same way that a strong addictive substance might do. The reasoning differs from person to person, for instance Boromir was already tempted by the prospect of having the One Ring on his side to lead the Last Alliance against Sauron. Frodo spent so much time with the Ring that he developed an addiction to the feeling it gave him, making it harder to get rid of. The invisibility was a nice plus, but mostly it warped Frodo's mind to place the positive feeling he had while possessing the Ring *above* the importance he placed on defeating Sauron by destroying the Ring.

So if Frodo had more willpower (a staggering amount) then he could have still resisted the Ring and tossed it in. But by that point he was past the point of being able to personally resist its allure.


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

[User] Since the moon we see reflects the suns light, does that mean the earth also reflects the suns light and from space it looks as bright as the moon?

[Assistant]
Brighter.

The amount of sunlight reflected by a celestial body depends on a large range of parameters, but primarily on the composition of the object. Some materials are more reflective than others. And since many planets and moons aren't homogeneous, some areas will be brighter than others. In the case of the Earth, oceans are darker than vegetation covered land, which in turn is darker than a sandy desert. And snow and ice are more reflective than any of those.

A quantity that is used to denote the diffuse reflectiveness of an object is its "albedo", which is a dimensionless number that ranges from 0 (no reflection at all, perfectly black) to 1 (full reflection of all incident light). The Moon has an average albedo of 0.136, while the Earth sits at an average albedo of 0.3.


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

[User] ELI5: How did wild humans deal with the pain of walking barefoot?

[Assistant]
They didn't.  Their feet developed calluses, thicker and harder skin, which meant that they didn't get hurt as badly from stepping on stuff.

Your feet are only as vulnerable as they are because you protect them with shoes all the time.  There are barefoot runners even today with callus-armored feet.


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

[User]
ELI5: Instincts, how they work and how a baby knows to suck on its mothers nipple to get milk

Title says it all. I get that all animals have instincts, but HOW? How do they know to do the things they do? Where are the instincts stored? Do they evolve over time?

[Assistant]
When your potential ancestors didn't do this, they died.

The one thing your ancestors all have in common, right back to the first molecule of organic matter, is that they survived long enough to produce offspring.


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

[User]
[ASoIaF] Why is the linguistic diversity of Westeros so limited?

From north of the Wall to High Garden, all the people of Westeros seem to speak a mutually intelligible language, no matter if they are a northern noble, a Flee Bottom gutter kid, or a wildling. This seems strange, as Westeros has no of the institutions that encourage language homogenization, such as centralized government, highly literate populace, and widespread written word.

[Assistant]
Actually, Westeros is better equipped than anywhere else in the explored world for language homogenization for one institutional reason: the order of Maesters.

These learned gentlemen serve many purposes throughout the realm, one of the most important being providing a standard service for all the great lords and many of the lesser lords of the land. Among themselves they use a standardized version of the Westerosi tongue, and it is from them that the lords learn their letters and grammar, and it seeps its way down to the smallfolk from there. After all, you can't very well ask your lord for a boon if he can't understand you.

North of the Wall, many of the southern wildlings speak an approximate version of the common tongue, and this is because they still have some measure of commerce with the Kingdoms. Men of the Watch run away, raiding parties steal women, and there is even trade with the Watch from time to time. The tongue is kept alive this way. However, the farther north you go, the less intelligible it becomes, and in the far, far north the Thenns and other groups speak the Old Tongue that was said to be that of the giants and other creatures that we know to be extinct.

It's the Maesters that we have to thank for our standard of living, as their studies press us forward in language, agriculture, economics, and every other field of study that the order pursues. The Great Chain pulls us all.


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

[User]
If I inhaled pure oxygen, could I hold my breath longer?

Knowing that the air we breathe is roughly 21% oxygen, could I hold my breath longer if I emptied my lungs and inhaled pure oxygen?  Simple logic says that I should be able to hold my breath 4 - 5 times longer, but I will guess that this logic is false.

[Assistant] The breathing reflex is not mediated by the amount of oxygen in the air, but the level of carbon dioxide. So regardless of what composition of oxygen you breathe in, the rate at which carbon dioxide builds up when holding your breath will remain the same, so the urge to breathe will still increase at the same rate.


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

[User]
[LOTR] What would have happened if the Ring was destroyed a bit later than it did, allowing the orcs to finish off Aragorn and co. outside the Black Gate?

Evil is destroyed forever (?) but Aragorn and most of the fighting men and generals are killed. Nobody returns to Minas Tirith from the Black Gate. What do the men in Gondor do when they realize Sauron has been destroyed?

[Assistant]
Well, there would be no further heirs to the throne of Gondor so Faramir would assume control and continue the ruling stewardship. Arnor will likely never be reestablished (or else it will take much longer than it actually did). omer also perishes leaving no male heirs to the throne of Rohan. There is no precedent for the throne to pass to a female relative of the King, but owyn would be the closest surviving relative to the King and would probably become the first ruling Queen of Rohan as her deeds at The Battle of the Pelennor Fields would more than give her the clout needed to maneuver her way to the throne.

Basically, it would be quite a grievous blow to the leadership of the two kingdoms of men, but they would still rebuild much as they actually did. It would just take somewhat longer to do so.

Edit: Forgot to add, Faramir and owyn would probably still marry meaning Rohan and Gondor are united under a combined Stewardship/Kingship.


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

[User]
[Star Trek] Why does the Borg queen exist?

I've been watching both TNG and Voyager and I still don't get the Borg queen.

She isn't there to represent the Borg because she makes big decisions but she kinda is made as a representative of the collective in TNG. Why does she make big decisions instead of the collective doing it? Why does she act like she has feelings? Why does she have feelings in the first place? What's the point of the hive mind if she can say fuck it and do her own thing? Why is she even an individual?

What's the point of having something that's considered a force of nature, a species that became what it is now so long ago no one remembers what they were in the first place and giving them a face in Voyager and an evil one at that?

I'd like for someone to explain this at least in a few sentences because watching Janeway and Seven tag team vs. Queen and a few evil drones match is kinda annoying at this point.

[Assistant] At some point in time, the Collective grew too large to function as a simple hive mind.  Thus they had to implement a "Command Node" structure which managed portions of the Collective.  The Queen we see is most likely one of many, all interconnected and sharing one mind, controlling their own little portion of the Collective.


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

[User]
CMV: Having separate bathrooms for people who don't identify as male or female won't solve more problems than it creates.

If you only have two options, male and female, some people will have the problem of not knowing which to use.

If you create a "transgender" option, that solves the problem for a small percent of transgender people, but not for someone who doesn't identify as transgender, but perhaps identifies as something else.

Creating a separate bathroom for everyone who identifies as something different is impossible.

So have the option of creating a bathroom for "others" but then that creates the problem where anyone can identify as whatever they want without getting into trouble. One can say they don't identify as male/female and go in there. No one will know they're lying.

So that naturally leads to 2 options. Make all bathrooms unisex, or keep everything the way it is.

If we make everything unisex, maybe 5% of people are happier because they don't feel awkward using the bathroom, but rape/molestation would likely go up.

So that leads to the natural conclusion, everything should stay the way it is.

Am I wrong?

[Assistant]
I struggle to see why we need to make any changes with _bathrooms_ at all.  Our current system is:  use whichever bathroom causes the least disruption and if you cause problems (regardless of your gender) you'll be removed/arrested.  The system works just fine today; after all, trans people are using restrooms _as we speak_ and the world is still spinning.

I can see the need for some discussion on locker rooms or other communal spaces where public nudity is more common, but in a bathroom it seems to be making a mountain out of a molehill.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why does the Empire use slave labor?

Yes they are supposed to be the bad guys, so saying they use slaves makes them sound really evil. But how practical is it to use slaves when droids are so easy to produce? They must have reached the point where it is cheaper and easier to just automate. Slaves even if poorly treated still need food and shelter provided. Add they need guards as well.

Some sources mention using Wookies as slaves on the Death Star construction, isn't that suicidal? Wookies are very temperamental with insane amounts of strength.  and the chances of an uprising would be high. You would need a guard for every Wookie slave.

Why not make huge droids just for construction, they would not need to be humanoid in shape. Imagine being octopus like in shape. They would be able to life heavy loads and move wherever they are needed, and could work in a vacuum.

[Assistant] Simply put, its another form of enforcing control over the greater galaxy. While slave labor is typically economically inefficient (rebellions, housing, etcetera) the psychological impact it can have on the average citizen is enormous. Sure, life may be less tolerable under the imperial yoke than it was before, but is it really worth rebelling when the consequences may not just be death, but the enslavement of your family and possibly your entire species?


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

[User]
[General] What would humans look like if a higher life form bred them like humans breed dogs?

Think the mid way point between us and a Great Old One.  A creature that views us as pets rather than ants, and takes an interest in Human-Fancy, breeding us into weird, freakish things almoat totally divorced from us our origins.

If a higher life form bred us to aid them in tasks, for companionship, or for weird freak shows, what would we look like?  What features would they focus on, or try to breed out?

[Assistant]
That... kind of depends entirely on the higher life form and what they want to use us for?

If they bred us for tasks, they'd presumably breed us to be better for whatever task they had in mind, if they bred us for companionship they would breed whatever features they find desirable in companions and if they bred us for weird freak shows they would focus own whatever features they find weird and freaky.


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

[User]
[DC] Let's say that I hypothetically killed the Joker in his cell at Arkham, how could I expect the reaction of various people to be?

Hypothetically, let's say I paid the staff of Arkham Asylum off and hired some goons to open fire with machine guns into the Joker's cell, and just for good measure, let's say I had his head cut off too. Then, let's say I turned myself into the police for doing this. What could I expect from the various criminals of Gotham? The police? The general populace? The Bat?

[Assistant]
Needlessly elaborate scenario.  If you'd shown that much premeditation you'd probably get life in jail, where the other prisoners would keep you at the bottom of the barrel for letting yourself get caught.

Try this on.  Bats drops off Joker, bound and gagged, in front of PD HQ for the nth time.  Rookie Officer McFeels calmly pulls out his service piece and puts a clip into the clown.  He claims self defense because of Joker's numerous escapes.  Now it's a party!

Families of victims would provide for best lawyers available.  Underworld would publicly decry the act, privately let Gordon know that the think McFeels is OK in their book.

Bats might gnash his teeth, but would be willing to let a jury decide.

tl, dr-anyone who kills the Joker spontaneously gets away with it, anyone who plots his murder is going to prison for a long time.


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

[User]
Why doesnt anybody want to find more stable isotopes of existing elements?

With all the talk about discovering new elements, other elements are just left behind. Take astatine, for example. While it theoretically has a stable isotope, its still heavier than any isotope discovered or created. Itll surely be easier to add more neutrons to astatine than try to make element 119 or 120. With the many, possibly unique properties of the those near the end of the periodic table, it seems like a no-brainer to try and look into those as well as discovering new ones.

[Assistant]
We are very interested in discovering new elements, and new isotopes of already-discovered elements. And people are actively working on doing this in labs all over the world, every day.

However, it's unlikely that there are any yet undiscovered nuclides which will be stable.


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

[User]
What does contact mean regarding to the annihilation of matter and antimatter particles?

The wikipedia does state that a contact of a matter particle with an antimatter particle will result in their mutual annihilation. But how close is contact? Is the distance between the two hydrogen atoms in a hydrogen molecule already close enough if one of them would be an antimatter hydrogen atom? Or would even the average distance between two hydrogen molecules close enough? Or does it have to be a close contact like an antiproton is hitting directly the core of a hydrogen atom.

[Assistant]
It is complicated, but as good approximation: Overlap of their wave functions. Particles don't have a fixed single position, they always have some distribution over space. If that distribution overlaps significantly with the distribution of a suitable antiparticle they might annihilate. It is a probabilistic process - it doesn't have to happen.

Antihydrogen and hydrogen can't form a proper molecule, by the way. The electron would be repelled by the antiproton, same for the positron and the proton.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Was Voldemort so diminished after the loss of his body because he had split his soul so many times? Would someone with one Horcrux be closer to a ghost?

According to Voldemort, he was "lesser than the meanest ghost" and tired often.

[Assistant]
Which is why he wanted the Elder Wand so much. At that point he was relying on fear and his Death Eaters to do a lot of heavy lifting.

Avada Kadavra only requires unrelenting hatred, not power. With the Elder Wand he can become more powerful than anyone else.


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

[User] ELIF: Just watched Ford v. Ferrari. How was the 1964 GT40 able to achieve a top speed of 210+ when modern supercars are still barely pushing 200?

[Assistant]
First of all you're comparing a 55-year-old racing prototype to brand new road cars. The Ford GT40 was made to go as fast as it could, reliably enough to win a 24-hour race; a modern 'supercar' is designed to look pretty, be comfortable, meet government safety regulations, etc. reliably for years. A more apt comparison is between the GT40 and a new Le Mans prototype.

Compared to a modern Le Mans prototype it was more advantageous for the GT40 to be as fast on the Mulsanne Straight as it possibly could. The course at Le Mans now has chicanes deliberately added to the straight, to force drivers to slow down. There's only so much space to reach top speed now, so carrying as much speed through corners and accelerating as quickly as possible is more advantageous.

Last year's Le Mans winner, the Toyota TS050, had a top speed of 217.5 mph, which isn't all that much more than the GT40. However, it reached that top speed in much shorter straights and can corner much quicker than the GT40 ever could. Dan Gurney set the fastest lap in '66, at 3:30. Last year's fastest lap was 3:17, with two chicanes in the Mulsanne Straight. Overall the TS050 is **much** faster.


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

[User]
I believe that all people who are opposed to the theory of evolution don't understand what evolution is. CMV

I think that all people who propose an anti-evolution viewpoint are people who either willingly or unwillingly don't understand what evolution is. The way that evolution works is simple common sense when explained, and to reject it if one understands it would make about as much sense as rejecting an explanation of how an internal combustion engine works.

The only reason anyone rejects the idea of evolution is from either a willful refusal to understand it or being left out of the loop by a society that encourages its rejection.

[Assistant] What is your opinion of those who accept the principle of evolution (changes in populations over time due to differential birth rates), but do not take it to the conclusion of the Universal Common Ancestor?


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

[User]
[Fifth Element] Are all Mondochiwans the supreme being, or just the one who happened to be holding on the case with the stones?

Leelo is rebuilt from a Mondochiwan hand, are all Mondochiwans super hot humans?  And why did the government scientist immediately start comparing her DNA to "normal human DNA"?

[Assistant]
No, Leelo is rebuilt from a hand inside a piece of armour. It's very different from those of the Mondochiwan.

They simply took custody of the Perfect Being during a galactic war, to ensure it's safety.


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

[User] [The Avengers (2012)] What would the front page of reddit look like during the final battle with the Chitauri?

[Assistant]
Chitauri can't melt steel beams.

The President planned it so that he can get a third term

It was all an inside job by SHIELD to get the Avengers Initiative approved.

Lots of pics with people holding alien tech they found during the attacks.

Lots of posts for missing people.

Etc.


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

[User] ELI5: When my paycheck gets direct deposited, or I use my bank's Bill Pay feature, does physical money get exchanged between banks? If it's all just digital records, what stops banks from just making it all up?

[Assistant]
Well, the main reason is auditors and government regulators and the fact that what you are talking about it very easy to detect and extremely criminal. So, high risk + low gain = not happening.

But let's take a look at the mechanics of this. OK. so, let's say that the bank just changes the numbers so that, instead of your paycheck being $1000, it's actually $100. That would work, right?

Well, no. You'd notice that, wouldn't you? You'd call and scream and someone would look into it and someone would go off to jail and you'd get your money.

OK, so what about the bank adding a zero or two to someone's balance? Well, the problem there is that there's no incentive for the bank to do it, because they're giving away their *own* money.

See, every deposit is an asset. And every customer balance is a liability. When you have $1,000 in your account, that's a liability, because the bank owes you $1,000.

If they just "make up" money, then what happens is that they are adding liabilities without a corresponding increase in assets. So, there's no reason they'd *want* to do that, because that money comes out of their profit.


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

[User]
CMV: Five Nights at Freddys is a genuinely good series with good gameplay and storytelling

Many people when asked may tell you that Fnaf is a cheap repetitive jumpscare game with very poorly written lore and bad storytelling and I strongly disagree, as someone whose been a fan of the series since 2015 I just never understood or agreed with that think the series has way more merit then people give it credit for and that its in fact quite good

Gameplay: The series gameplay and horror I find to genuinely be very good, while obviously not on the same level as something like silent hill Fnaf still offers its own unique yet effective experience that gives you a lot with very little, the game has a well balanced and solid gameplay loop with a good difficulty curve that doesnt overstay its welcome and creates a series of games that are enjoyable and well designed for what they are and that Im still able to go back and revisit. The horror is my favorite part of the game, many claim its morhinf more then cheap jumpscare horror but Id actually say its atmospheric horror, the Fnaf games are dripping with atmosphere and are great at building tension. Everything from the look of the building, the lighting, sound design, and character designs all serve to enhance the experience and the horror and as for the jumpscares while they certainly arent scary in the slightest (with the debatable exception of Holstein Freddy) I dont think its fair to say that its the core of the horror or that it all the games have to offer because in reality the jumpscare are nothing more then a death screen, something to indicate that you lost essentially, and the fact that theyre completely avoidable and theres none your forced to experience, you can theoretically go the entire game without experiencing a jumpscare and it still remains effective and tense. While its an extremely minimalistic series I dont think that means its bad and I think it offers a solid experience for its price

Sequels: people often claim that the sequels are repetitive and just the same thing over and over again and to that I have to disagree, each installment in the series is able to mix things up enough to keep it fresh by offering new esthetics/atmospheres, expansions on the story, and different gameplay mechanics and the series is able to evolve when needed

Story/lore: the story is certainly very flawed in a lot of aspects its also a great asset and Id argue is good overall, the series utilizes visual storytelling and I feel the way it presents its narrative is engaging. A main criticism I hear is that the story is made up as it goes along and I actually think this is 100% correct, however its not necessarily bad at all,I feel like each game (with the exception of 3) has a narrative/lore that functions well on its own out of context while also effectively and naturally building upon things that were previously established in part games and the series is full to the brim of unique and creative concepts and ideas

If you choose to respond please be respectful and if you want me to elaborate on anything said Id be happy to do so. Thanks for reading!

[Assistant]
Im not sure how you expect your view to be changed. You can like whatever you like for whatever *reasons* you like it.

The series has never appealed to me because the way it tries to scare you is more or less the same every time. Its a surprising, loud noise. To me it isnt nearly as fun as many of the resident evil games, silent hill, etc. Those titles have atmospheres and situations that are unnerving or scary for a variety of reasons, that make the player uncomfortable in more ways than surprising them with a loud noise.

 The game can have an interesting story, sure. But when the actual gameplay boils down to repetition of these jump scares, it gets old very, very fast.


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

[User]
If nerves don't regenerate (or do so very slowly), how do transplanted organs work?

Say someone receives a liver transplant, do the surgeons reconnect the nerves? If so, a) how and b) is the liver capable of functioning without autonomic nervous input until the nerves heal? If that is the case, how is possible for an organ to survive without any nervous input? Also say a different someone receives a stomach transplant (uncommon probably), would they still experience stomach discomfort or satiety?

[Assistant]
A liver will function without being hooked up to the nervous system. Most organs that are transplanted will. The heart for instance can regulate it's ritme on it's own. In a normal situation the heart is hooked up to the sympatic (autonomic) nerves system but after a transplant it will do it's job fine without this connection.

There is however some evidence for the limited regrowth of these sympatic nerves after transplant in some patients:
Arrowood, James A.; Minisi, Anthony J.; Goudreau, Evelyne; Davis, Annette B.; King, Anne L. (1997-11-18). "Absence of Parasympathetic Control of Heart Rate After Human Orthotopic Cardiac Transplantation". Circulation. 96 (10): 34923498. doi:10.1161/01.CIR.96.10.3492. ISSN0009-7322. PMID9396446.


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

[User] What's the white stuff that forms on batteries after a while?

[Assistant]
It is mostly lead sulfate, caused by the reaction of the sulfates in the battery itself with the terminals.  It it forms, it means that the plastic sealing is not entirely perfect, although a small amount of it isn't cause for concern.  It is somewhat toxic, but as long as you wash your hands after contact you'll be fine.

You can clean it off with a variety of substances.  One of the more efficient ones is phosphoric acid, which readily reacts with lead compounds.  You can buy a can of that at the auto parts store for a pretty high price, or just use soda (Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, etc.)


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

[User] ELI5: Do human babies 'imprint' on the first person they see like animals? Or do we 'choose' parents based on other things?

[Assistant]
Newborn babies recognize their mother / parents by the voices when they are born, having heard them for months in advance.

Within days they also recognize the smell of the people taking care of them.


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

[User]
ELI5: Does centrifugal force exist in space?

If so, could it be linked to the outward movement of objects in space? Or better said: Could it debunk the big bang?

[Assistant] Yes, but stuff in space isn't moving 'outward.' It's moving apart. Outward infers two special locations, an edge and a center. We see neither of these. It also implies that, unless we're at the center of the universe ourselves, we'd see stuff moving along with us on 'our side' of the center. We don't, everything in every direction is moving away, save our immediate gravitationally bound neighbors.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does the smokestack of old steam-powered locomotives have that odd narrow-wide-narrow shape? Why isnt it just straight like a pipe?

[Assistant]
Spark arrestors.  So, when you burn things, you can end up with flaming little embers escaping with the steam.  Those that exit out the chimney could land on brush near the train and start fires.  So chimneys had these little mesh grates called spark arrestors to catch the embers and hold them in place preventing them from escaping and causing fires.  But that causes a build up of residual material in the chimney, reducing pipe area, which reduced the exhaust and subsequent power of the engine.

So those wide brimmed areas were designed to funnel the smoke, and the embers with them, to the side where the mesh grating would catch the embers and deposit in in the wider brim.  It'd have to be emptied out occasionally but prevented buildup in the main chimney chamber.

It's basically a bucket to hold stuff to prevent fires while also not clogging the main exhaust.


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

[User] [Marvel] Why does HYDRA (named after the mythical serpent with multiple heads) use the symbol of an octopus as its logo?

[Assistant]
Iirc in one continuity, it was originally (like hundreds or more years ago) an actual hydra on the shield but got changed over the years a few times, ended up getting flipped over somewhere along the line, and turned into an octopus.

In another continuity (I think - might just be the same one) the organization went through a bunch of changes and acquisitions by groups over the centuries. The shield changed along with it. As they absorbed more organizations, each subsidiary became an "arm" represented by a tentacle on the shield.


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

[User] Eletromagnets question, would making the coils closer togeather with thinner wire make the magnetic field stronger?

[Assistant] If the current flowing through the coil remains the same, then yes. The field inside the coil is proportional to the number of loops per unit length of the coil. If you increase this loop density, you increase the field strength.