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

[User] ELI5: Why do our eyes go black when we stand up after sitting for a while?

[Assistant] You're probably moving too fast. That's *orthostatic hypotension*, and that basically means your blood pressure to your brain dropped a lot from moving too fast. That's why you get dizzy and your vision goes blurry. Maybe try getting up a little more slowly in the future.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do radio stations play talk radio in the mornings instead of music?

[Assistant]
Radio stations, just like TV, have time slots. Certain times lots have certain audiences. In the late night/ early morning most listeners are traveling/truckers... People traveling/trucking tend to tune in to Talk Radio more often because it makes time go by quicker and keeps you awake.

Basically, more people driving late night/early morning want to listen to talk radio. So radio stations program talk radio to get more listeners.


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

[User]
[DC] I'm just one of Joker's henchmen....and I shot and killed him. What do I do?

I mean, I didn't WANT to do it, he always seemed larger than life. But I also wanted to break free from his constant torture, working under him is no better than rotting in jail, always being afraid when he'll go off again and make us part of his joke.

I didn't think it'd be this easy. It was just me and him, I had the gun, he didn't even give me a second look. As soon as he turned around, I fired. I fired the whole damn clip into him. He lay motionless for minutes, I almost thought he'd rise up laughing, another sick joke, as if he almost KNEW I'd shoot him down. But no. He just stayed down. Dead.

What now? What do I do? What do I say? I don't have his sick sense of humor or ability to lead. No one would bat an eye if I died, yet, here I am, with the Joker dead at my feet.

Should I contact the Bat? The cops? I might be rewarded right? Or should I just take over the gang myself? What will I tell Harley?  Fuck fuck fuck. I feel like bragging, but I feel I painted a thousand targets on my own head. What do I do?!

[Assistant]
Honestly, i'd try to disapear for a few decades, never return to the city again, and start a new life. The Joker has a tendency to not stay dead. It might not be the same Joker you worked for, but they'll torture you all the same for killing them. Don't get me wrong, the Joker will still get his revenge on you, it'll just take a bit longer than if you stayed in the city.

Alternatively, I'd contact the bat. You'll still go prison for murder, but you're far more likely to not be brutally murdered by the joker. The bat will be your extremely stern guardian angel.

There isn't really a happy ending for you, to be honest, that went out the window when you started working for the Joker. You're basically down to "least miserable" ending.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do most foods taste better when drunk or high?

[Assistant] in very simple terms, weed blocks certain neurotransmitter reuptake. so, if your brain sends a signal that something tastes good, that signal will have a hard time turning off. so, that "this tastes good" signal will just keep firing.


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

[User] [Any] What super power would best translate into bedroom prowess?

[Assistant]
If it's just one power, then mind-reading:

- You can tell who's attracted to you. This saves a lot of time.

- You know what everyone's kink is. This saves a lot of time too.

- In bed, you know *exactly* what you need to do. No more fumbles!


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

[User] [Marvel/Xmen] Does Colossus at least have a super soldiers level of reaction time and combat speed?

[Assistant]
He doesn't, no.

He has a *soldier's* level of reaction time and combat speed, by human standards he's very good, but he's no steve rogers. Luckily, he has the strength and toughness to more then make up for it.


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

[User]
[MCU] (Homecoming Spoilers) About Damage Control...

How did Toomes' gang go unnoticed for so long?  They've been stealing from DoDC convoys for 8 years and selling the refurbished tech to criminals.  Does Damage Control not have an accounting system for the tech they've claimed?  They didn't even notice that Spider-Man accidentally got locked inside their vault.

[Assistant]
Well, there have been a few events that would tend to leave large gaps in records keeping.

Even if DoDC wasn't officially part of S.H.I.E.L.D. some of those events would have disrupted records.

Past that.. there's always the human factor. X crates loaded, X crates unloaded. Inventory control gets done on Mondays so sometimes things sit through the weekend. Could also be that in the early days DoDC was more careful, but after so many years people get sloppy.


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

[User] Why do our nipples get hard when it's cold?

[Assistant]
Your skin in general gets tighter (contracts, less area) to conserve heat. hence the "goosebumps" of the skin getting so tight you notice the hair follicles protruding as bumps.

When the skin around your nipples gets tight the nipple gets firmer.


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

[User] Is it possible for a planet to have an ocean without an atmosphere?

[Assistant]
It all depends on your definition of ocean. Since the equilibrium point between a liquid and its vapor determines condensation and evaporation of said material, a liquid without a significant pressure of its own vapor (i.e., an atmosphere containing such vapor) would ultimately evaporate.

However, if you define "ocean" simply as a layer of water, whatever its state may be, there are a bunch of object completely covered in ice, and some even made almost exclusively of ice (like most comets and the rings of Saturn).

If you are asking this question with the purpose of colonization in mind, there's no doubt that icy bodies yield the relevant quantity of water needed, and some more.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do we get an urge to crack our bones?

I have found myself getting the urge to crack my knees, lower back, knuckles, etc. at various times in the day. Why is that? What implications can this have in the future?

[Assistant] You aren't actually cracking your bones. You are just popping air bubbles between them. The urge to crack your bones comes from a slight pain relief and an appeasing sound( similar to the urge to pop bubbles in bubble wrap)


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

[User]
[Days of Future Past Movie] Why did they need Magneto?

So, Wolverine convinces Prof X and Beast to break out Magneto in order to stop Mystique from killing Trask thereby dooming them all, because future Magneto is like "you'll need me"

But did they really?  I mean he just made things worse. Not to mention the huge risk in breaking him out in the first place could have ended the whole thing right there and then.

Was it all just so the two actors could be really intense at each other?

[Assistant]
Originally they though that Mystique would only speak to Magneto, she was close to both Xavier and Magneto so she would listen to one of them. Magneto also showed massive flaws in the early Sentinel project, making it far less likely it would activate.

Two birds with one time warped stone.


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

[User]
[DCAU/MCU] Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark fall asleep in their home universes and wake up having swapped places. How do things change?

Bruce Wayne falls asleep in the Batcave after a particularly long and difficult night. Tony falls asleep in his workshop after dealing with Whiplash. When they wake up, Tony is being held at gunpoint in the Batcave by Alfred wondering who Tony is and where Bruce is. Bruce wakes up in Stark's workshop in Malibu. Pepper wants to know who Bruce is and what he did with Tony. None of their gear goes with them.

How do Bruce and Tony deal with this situation? They are returned to their home universes after a year.

[Assistant]
They probably work to find a solution home in that year after convincing Alfred to claim Bruce Wayne is ill (been done) and Pepper claim that Tony is on vacation.

Tony goes Mecha Batman to fight crime and advances bat tech energy production and A.I. capabilities.

Bruce goes Brawler Ironman and creates more problem solving and pattern recognition programs for detective work.

Tony comes back and uses the bat track to uncover the Skrulls and Hydra infiltration of Shield kicking off secret wars.

Bruce goes back and uses Tony's energy revolution to turn Gotham into a mecca and Tony's A.I. to better respond to crime around Gotham and the world.


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

[User]
[The Incredibles] Why is Mr. Incredible such a popular hero and treated as The Shit? His only power is Super strength and there are many heroes that were far more powerful than him. He isnt even invulnerable.

Holy HELL! This blew up, thanks for the upvotes.

[Assistant]
He was very good at his job, and he didn't get killed.

Take note of the sheer number of heroes in Edna's "cape-kill" montage; they were all very clearly trying to fill the "Superman Niche" in terms of how they presented themselves. Meta Man in particular went so far as to try and form the setting's version of the Justice League with himself at the head. Despite their incredible power and great branding, every single one of them got overconfident and died stupid, stupid deaths.

Mr. Incredible is tough and strong enough to be versatile, but the fact he's not invulnerable means he isn't fatally arrogant. From the scene where he stops the robbers while also saving the cat we know that he's good at  thinking on his feet, multi-tasking and thinking strategically; he went up against the Omnidroid on it's thirtieth or fortieth iteration, and he was still able to identify it's weaknesses and take it out in about ten minutes flat.  His skill at heroics, his raw dedication to helping people, his decent charisma, and the simple fact he didn't die meant he was destined to be a very popular hero.

In a world where almost every hero was systematically killed, He's one of the few OGs still remaining. That says something.


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

[User]
How does beta decay release an electron(or a positron) from a nucleus which consists only of a proton and neutrons?

The wikipedia article is kind of...totally Greek to me so I'm a little confused about this. Thank you for answering!

[Assistant]
Beta decay does not release an electron or positron. Rather, in beta decay, an electron or positron is created.

Let's look at a free neutron. When it decays into a proton, an electron, and an anti-neutrino, what happens is the neutron ceases to exist, and the energy of the neutron forms a proton, electron, and anti-neutrino instead.

Edit: typos fixed.


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

[User]
If the number of protons in an atom determines which element you have, does that mean that if we could manipulate the protons perfectly we could change one element into another?

So the difference in the number of protons and neutrons in atoms account for many of the different properties of elements. But most of the "real world" physical properties of materials - at least the ones we experience and relate to most - are caused by the electrons as well, so does that mean that if we could somehow manipulate the electrons and protons inside an atom, we could transform one element or object into another? (I may be asking a completely stupid question here or maybe I am missing some fundamental rules, but I thought I'd ask anyway so I can learn what I have wrong/right here). Thanks!

[Assistant]
We already do manipulate the protons and neutrons to change elements into other elements, but we do it to release power in nuclear power plants.

Researchers also do bombardment of different elements to create new ones, that is how elements heavier than uranium are made, and everything heavier than uranium is man-made.

Generally speaking, these processes are too expensive to general use, it's almost always easier to mine and refine an element, even expensive ones.  (There are exceptions, like Technetium and Americium, which are used in medicine and in smoke detectors, but in very small amounts.)


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What do ships use for fuel?

I would think a civilization as advanced as Star Wars would use nuclear power or something. But the scene in ROTS it looks like they're using jet fuel for Obi Wan's ship.

There's also repeated mentions of refueling, like in Mandalorian, and it drove most of the plot in The Last Jedi.

Do the ships in Star Wars run on regular fossil fuels?  Could fossil fuels even do what those ships do?

[Assistant]
The main plot of Solo is all about heisting some hyperfuel (Refined Coaxium), which is extremely expensive and controlled by the Empire.

This is used to power the Hyperdrive, which is what allows ships to go into Hyperspace.

For regular flight (sublight speeds), ships used thrusters, the most common one being the Ion Drive, which used fusion reactions to produce charged ions that were expelled through the exhaust ports, producing thrust.
So, they're powered by Nuclear Fusion.  The fuel for that can vary. In our experiments on earth, the most promising idea is to use Deuterium and Tritium for Nuclear Fusion, but at the tech level of the Galaxy, they probably use something we don't even know exists.


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

[User] What might be some practical technological applications for the Higgs Boson?

[Assistant]
For now, there aren't any. This is basic research, the purpose of which is to learn more about the universe we live in, not to develop new technologies.

That said, much like going to the moon, the search for the Higgs boson has lead to many technological advances in areas such as materials science (and superconductors, in particular) and computer science.


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

[User] Why cant we combine all of the vaccines into one big super vaccine and give it to babies at a young age instead of going through different rounds of vaccines at different ages?

[Assistant]
The reality is that we are exposed to thousands of bacteria and viruses every day and our immune system is constantly fighting off the Invaders.

Why then is it so difficult to put 5 vaccines together and get it all done with in a single visit?

The purpose of vaccines is to provide long lasting protection from illnesses, whereas the body really cares about the here and now.

If we were to go include all the significant diseases in a single vaccine, then the macrophages which attack unknown Intruders would be divided between each illness. This is normal, but to get a long lasting effect from the vaccine we want the macrophages to predominantly be fighting off the disease if interest.

The macrophage presents the intruder to the T cells which learn how to recognize the  intruder. They go on to program the B cells to recognize and destroy the intruder.

By giving proportionally larger doses of individual vaccines, we can ensure that the immune response is large enough to provide a long lasting protection. If we were to as everything to a single shot or bodies would seek and eliminate the intruders but might not have a sufficient response- that is programming enough T cells- to give us long lasting protection.


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

[User]
[Marvel Cinematic Universe] Is Steve Rogers/Captain America still a virgin?

I don't think he has actually dated since Peggy, has he? And I don't think they ever got it on. Just really curious.

[Assistant]
This is a guy who came from the roaring twenties and is aparrantly at least a somewhat devout Christian. He might be a firm believer in abstinance for all we know, which in itself isn't nessecarily a bad thing.

Be wouldn't have any difficulty picking up any women with that body, but he's still very inexpereinced given what we saw of him with Romanov.


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

[User]
ELI5: How is heart muscle so superior endurance wise compared to other muscles?

Walking up a few flights of stairs makes your leg muscles burn and fatigue. Doing something like squeezing a stress Ball 2000 times consecutively would render your forearm muscles almost unusable until they recover. Yet your heart beats 50-80 times per minute every single minute for your entire life and never needs a break, never gets sore even after beating at a higher rate during exercise. How does this work?

[Assistant]
Because the body is very well optimised to provide the heart the resources it needs.

Muscle pain is due in considerable part to lactic acid build up. This occurs when energy is being produced faster than oxygen can be provided. The heart always has a strong supply of oxygen as long as there are no blockages and the lungs have oxygen, which means the heart never really runs out of the stuff. If the body is running a little low, then vessels are constricted to preserve blood oxygen at the heart and other vital organs.

Muscle pain is also in part due to the formation of tiny tears in muscle tissue. This happens when a muscle is exerted beyond what it's used to. The heart is always pumping, so it's completely accustomed to this motion and thus doesn't form tears.

There's also quite a bit of redundancy in the heart. At any given point in time, 60-70% of your heart cells are resting. The heart has such a huge amount of mitochondria (bits in the cell where energy is produced) and such a ready supply of oxygen that even just very tiny rests for cells is enough to prevent fatigue.


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

[User] If you were standing on a nuclear bomb when it detonated would you feel it? Or would the blast destroy your nerves and brain before they could even process anything?

[Assistant] In short no you wouldn't.  Nerves have been recorded to transmit at speeds of 120 meters/second which although fast, is much slower than the speed of an atomic detonation which can be on the scale of over 400 kilometers/second.  You wouldn't even register that the bomb had detonated.


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

[User]
ELI5: what happens exactly if a country goes bankrupt?

for example greece, that has massive debt and a few time was on the edge of bankrupcy, what happens if it will go bankrupt?

[Assistant]
The country issues an announcement "We know we are suppose to repay X amount of debt this year, but we are not going to. Because we can't (or we don't want to)."

Entities that loan the money will complain for a while and then ask if the country will pay back at a later date? or pay back some of the money?

Depend on what they say, their credit rating will either be totally screwed for a long time or screwed for a little while.

Which means the country will have a hard time borrowing money in the future. When they buy things from other countries, they will need cash up front. International businesses wouldn't want to invest in the country. In extreme cases, the country's over sea assets may be seized. If the country have its own currency, it will be almost useless outside its own border.


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

[User]
Why were rabbits chosen as the animal model for early HCG pregnancy tests?

Mice were used before.

[Assistant] The rabbit test was faster. The mouse test, called the AschheimZondek or A-Z test, used immature mice and involved injecting them with urine multiple times a day for several days. This was because the small mice would die if subjected to too much urine at once. The test took 4-5 days to get results. The rabbit test, on the other hand, got results in 1-2 days and was easier to administer. Both tests were eventually superseded by a test involving toads that was faster (5-12 hours) and non-fatal for the toad.


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

[User]
Startup at an R2 institution in the midwest

Hello! I have a tenure-track assistant professor offer at a state university in the Midwest. It is my only offer. I am a woman of color. My friend (male), who is assistant professor there in the same department, and who does similar research as me, shared with me that he received $350K for 3 years (this was 2017). My initial offer is way below, $150K for 3 years. This is a brand new chair (male) and I am their first hire. I am perplexed as to why the amount is so different, especially when the budget I sent was a padded $500K (in anticipation of having it cut by a couple 100K or so). Advice and suggestions?

[Assistant] I don't know how long ago your friend was hired, but for many institutions the budget situation is very different than it was two years ago. Negotiate for what you need, but it may be that they just can't pay.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Had Voldemort returned during the Chamber of Secrets incident from the Diary, would he have been more powerful than the Voldemort soul-piece that did return two years later, given he was more "complete"?

Also wouldn't that make him more Voldemort than Voldemort himself?

[Assistant]
There are really two questions here: would Diary!Riddle have been more powerful than Voldemort, and did the Diary actually have more of Voldemort's soul in it than his body.

The former is, at least, fairly easy to answer: No, he probably would not have been more powerful. "Power" as a concept pertaining to wizards, is not actually a thing in the Harry Potter universe. No wizard is innately more 'powerful' than any other wizard, they are simply of different skill levels. Some people are better at it than others, but the same goes for math.

The Tom Riddle in the diary was almost certainly an exceptionally skilled wizard, the brightest of his age for sure, but he was also a teenage boy. He was a murderer, who had taken an obscure field of study as far as anyone ever had before him, but he was not the singular Force Of Nature he would later become, yet. Voldemort, on the other hand, had *been* that boy, once, then spent several decades going beyond that until he was a person who could stand before Albus Dumbledore as an equal, and from the seventh book, it seems like he never actually *stopped* getting better, considering he seems to have invented a means of flying unaided in his spare time between working to overthrow the nation's legitimate government.

There's literally no reason in the books to believe in 'power' as a meaningful concept, let alone the idea that how much of a soul one has affects this. Voldemort definitely didn't seem to be having any problems with his mutilated scrap of a soul limiting his strength when he was fighting Albus Dumbledore as a near-equal or fighting three of the most powerful living wizards and witches other than himself at once moments before his death, though.

The other question is a bit muddier. We don't really know how Horcruxes work - if they literally split the soul in half every time or if they just tear off a part of it. Either is possible, really. It's entirely possible that the diary was, at the time of its destruction, the single largest remaining piece of Lord Voldemort. It's equally possible that it was simply a larger fragment than the other horcruxes, because a minimum amount of soul is required to continue sustaining a body and thus the remaining pieces had to be cut smaller and smaller. Or any number of alternatives. It isn't an especially well thought-out part of the series.


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

[User] ELI5: how does cancer return back more aggresively after treatment?

[Assistant]
Youve killed the weaker cancer cells and the ones that remained were the strong ones. Its like antibiotic resistant bacteria, except instead of bacteria being selected by the antibiotic, its a population of cancer cells being selected by the treatment.

Also the next time it comes back your immune system is probably weaker as a result of the cancer treatment itself.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why is is that my computer can get a virus but my IPhone can't?

I browse the Internet with my phone more than I do with my laptop, and yet it's my laptop that has problems. Why?

[Assistant]
Your iPhone absolutely **can** get a virus. Several strains already exist, and have been out for a number of years.

However, as you would know, Apple imposes a very strict *method* for installing stuff on your iPhone. Unless it is jailbroken, the only way is to go through the official Apple store. These apps get curated by Apple prior to being published, and this is where they usually identify harmful code.

On a normal computer, however, you can download pretty much *anything* from *anywhere* you want. This is **great** news normally, because it gives you so much more freedom and flexibility than Apple gives you; it's particularly great for businesses who have their own private software, and don't want Apple to see or sell it. But it also means - if you're not paying attention - you might accidentally download something you don't mean to. Because it could be coming from any source in the world, there's no gateway for it to be checked first. You're just placing your trust in it.

TL;DR: In terms of technology, your iPhone is *just* as capable of getting a virus as your PC. But Apple creates a 'walled garden' with strict rules, which limits the probability.


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

[User]
How do warts function?

I know that warts are caused by the various strains of HPV, but *how* are they caused? How does the virus hijack the bodies chemistry to grow and supply the warts with nutrients? How do the warts spread the virus to other people?

I've searched and searched on google and wikipedia, but I only find the most basic of answers.

Any hard science info for me?

[Assistant]
Folks, please remember that **you cannot request or provide medical advice.**

This includes sharing how you got rid of a wart, or asking for recommendations on how to remove a wart.

**Unless you're discussing the science of warts, please do not post!**

Thanks, have a great day!


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

[User]
What's the latency of the Mars rover Perseverance regarding communications to earth / commands from earth?

I've read, that the 2012 rover had a latency around 20-40 minutes, depending on the position of the planets. Did the communication become faster?

[Assistant]
The latency of interplanetary communication is limited by the speed of light. The one-way path between Earth and Mars will take anywhere between 3 and 20 minutes (approximately) depending on where the planets are in their orbit. So a the round-trip-time of a message would be between 6 and 40 minutes.

Improvements to signal processing on either side of the transmission will have negligible impact on the total latency. It's all about the distance and the speed of light, neither of which are things we can change.


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

[User] What would happen if a helicopter just kept going upwards until it couldnt anymore? At what point/for what reason would it stop going up?

[Assistant] The air would get thin enough that the rotor couldn't produce a greater force of lift than the weight of the helicopter, at full engine power. Either that or the engines would get starved of air, again, because it's too thin, and they wouldn't be able to produce enough thrust to counteract gravity. These two effects complement each other, and they determine the service ceiling.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why do Apple users hate Flash and why do they want it killed and whats supposed to replace it?

I'm a lifelong Mac user and have noticed some articles saying its time to uninstall Flash and I have no real idea why. I've never had any severe problems with it. A simple explanation would help.

thanks!

[Assistant]
There have been a lot of reasons building up on Why Flash is Bad. One is that HTML5 does the same things. Another is that Flash requires Adobe's support (and they've already stopped supporting Linux). And just recently it was revealed that there are some huge security weaknesses with Flash when it runs in your web browser.

Steve Jobs was against having Flash on iOS for another interesting reason -- some of it is incompatible with emerging touch screen technology. For example, Flash allows stuff to happen when your mouse pointer hovers over a button, which is impossible on a touch screen.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why did plugs used to have 1 big prong and one small one, and why don't they have the anymore?

I was just looking at my phone charger and noticed both prongs were the same size (I'm not talking about the ground) and so I started looking at all my other plugs and noticed all prongs are the same size except for really old appliances, why is that?

[Assistant] If your appliance has a switch, you want it  to interrupt the hot so that all the internal wiring isn't energized (i.e. There is no potential for faults). Different sized blades on the attachment plug dictate which one is hot.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do SSDs have limited amount of rewrites?

Why do SSDs have a limit rewrites whereas from what I recall, HDs didn't have this concern? (though they broke often haha) SSD's have no moving parts, so I'm curious, is it just the current that damages it over time? What happens exactly?

[Assistant]
HDDs work by rearranging some particles using a magnet. You can do that more or less infinite times (at least reasonably more than what it takes for the mechanical parts to wear down to nothing).

SSDs work by forcibly injecting and sucking out electrons into a tiny, otherwise insulating box where they stay, their presence or absence representing the state of that memory cell. The level of excess electrons in the box controls the ability of current to flow through an associated wire.
The sucking out part is not 100% effective and a few electrons stay in. Constant rewrite cycles also gradually damage the insulator that electrons get smushed through, so it can't quite hold onto the charge when it's filled. This combines to make the difference between empty and full states harder and harder to discern as time goes by.


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

[User] ELI5: I understand how you can get viruses from surfing porn, torrent sites etc, but can someone explain to me what happens when Microsoft Security Essentials (or similar) catch threats when I'm surfing "safe" sites?

[Assistant]
It means the threat is already on your computer, and is only activating now, due to random timing, or to influence your actions on this site (e.g logging keystrokes).

Alternatively, the "safe" site may be infected. Browsers like Chrome will warn you when you attempt to access an infected site however, so this is less likely.


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

[User] [DBZ] What kind of training did Goku undergo to learn the Kaioken? How did King Kai teach it to him?

[Assistant]
Goku underwent two kinds of training with King Kai. The first was physical. King Kai made Goku work out to toughen him up, which, because of the planet's enhanced gravity, made him dramatically stronger.

The second kind of training is harder to explain, because it was less physical. King Kai taught Goku to focus and manipulate his Ki in a way that he could only learn by being dead in otherworld. Through meditation and training, Goku learned to focus on actual life energy. By manipulating this energy, Goku was able to access more of his own Ki in short bursts (the kioaken) and to channel the energy of others into a potent weapon (the spirit bomb)


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

[User]
CMV: If you are not living in a swing state, voting third party is not a "wasted vote." (USA politics)

I live in California, a state that in November, will give all 55 of her electoral votes to Joe Biden. There's nothing within reason anyone can do to change that fact, unless he dies, which then it will go to whoever his Democratic replacement is. I hate Donald Trump and I hate Joe Biden, I do think that Biden would be less bad than Trump, but whether I vote for Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Jacob Hornberger, Howie Hawkins, or Jesus Christ himself, California's electoral votes will go to Joe, so why should I give my vote to someone I don't like? But even when I bring this point up, people still tell me I'm "wasting my vote" if I consider voting for a third party, and I'm "contributing to Trump's re-election."

But in a non-swing state, voting third party could be making more of an impact than voting for one of the major parties. If a third party candidate reaches 5% of the national vote, they will get federal funding which could really help a party gain some more influence. And it doesn't seem out of the total realm of possibility, Gary Johnson got like 3% of the vote in 2016. I don't expect this to cause, say the Green Party to become just as big as the main two or anything, but they might be able to gain some kind of influence with that kind of money.

So change my view, how would voting for a third party in a state who's result is as pre-determined as California really be wasted less than it would be for a major party?

[Assistant]
Elections go way beyond who wins and who loses. Electoral margins are instrumental in securing a mandate and sending a message to the senate that Trumps corruption will not be tolerated.

I suspect you have some sense of this as you kind of need to understand that there is more at stake than a binary outcome in order to have an interest in 3rd party candidates.


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

[User] ELI5: When the media reports that the "FBI questioned x for ties to terrorism"- how does that work? Do they just knock on the door?

[Assistant]
Typically it means they've either been arrested for something similar, or that they've, indeed, just had the police/FBI etc around to ask some questions. Quite literally, knocking on the door and asking to come in.

This usually means that there's some suspicious link, but not necessarily something that means you're a terrorist. Eg they've not been caught carrying a bomb and wearing an "I <3 Osama Bin Laden" t-shirt.

Typically, it means they're friends/acquaintances with someone else who's under investigation for a similar reason: often in conjunction with something else that may or may not look slightly suspicious.

eg if you stopped to chat in the mall with someone who's under surveillance, and then you buy a bunch of fertiliser, the FBI might stop round to enquire about your gardening habits.


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

[User]
Why is it that when atoms bond together, the bonds can form angles?

A water's molecular shape creates a angle of about 109.5 degrees. Why do these molecules have fixed angles, can they not be free to rotate around one another as long as the electrons are still being shared?

[Assistant]
They are actually not fixed.  What you see when you see that water has an angle of 109.5 is actually the equilibrium angle or basically the angle with the lowest energy.

Now one thing to keep in mind some bonds are far more rigid than others.  single bonds for carbon-hydrogen molecules can be fairly flexible, but if you have a sp2 carbon those bonds tend to be much more rigid due to the double bonding structure.


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

[User]
Why don't we force nuclear decay ?

Today my physics teacher was telling us about nuclear decay and how happens (we need to put used uranium that we cant get anymore energy from in a concrete coffin until it decays) but i learnt that nuclear fission(how me make nuclear power) causes decay every time the uranium splits. So why don't we keep decaying the uranium until it isn't radioactive anymore?

[Assistant]
We can't force nuclei to decay, but we can make them undergo reactions that turn them into other nuclei which decay faster.

There is some promise of doing this with waste from nuclear reactors, so that we don't have to store it as long.


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

[User] [Percy Jackson] If seeing a god's true form instantly kills mortals, including demigods, then why didn't the gods use this as an instant win button in the multiple times in the series that gods have battled demigods?

[Assistant]
The same reason Ares didnt just zort Percy into oblivion in their duel at the end of The Lightning Thief.

The gods have a set of divine laws they have to follow, which includes them not being allowed to use their full power against demigods.


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

[User] ELI5: Many countries have been ruled by worse regimes than British rule of colonial America. Why haven't they developed a right to bear arms to counter potential government tyranny?

[Assistant]
I would go with:

1. The American Colonies were able to successfully oust the British by force of arms. Arms were seen as necessary for securing your own liberties.
1. The weapon a civilian was able to buy and that carried by a soldier was roughly equivalent.
1. The US did not have have a standing army and was to rely on well regulated militia.
1. Having just thrown off one tyrant you really, really, wanted to make sure you could throw off the next one in case your government went bad.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] What Hogwarts' House was Mundungus Fletcher sorted into?

I have two hypotheses (or theories, if you want):

1. Fletcher is a Slytherin (because he is involved in many illegal activities).
2. Fletcher is a Hufflepuff (because he was deeply loyal to Albus Dumbledore) (he even had a crush on Dumbledore).

I do not think he is a Ravenclaw, because he is somewhat a dimwit, neither a Gryffindor, because he is a coward.

[Assistant] Mundungus Fletcher might have looked up to Dumbledore, hell most of the Wizarding world pop. did, but calling it a crush is going a tad too far. Although he wasn't really that clever so more likely to be a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff than a Slytherin.


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

[User] ELI5: When and why did corsets move away from being common place and become more of a sexual statement?

[Assistant]
Corsets really made some sense in an era of multiple pregnancies; they help hold a woman together, keep the weight of her skirts off her hipbones, and provide excellent back support.  The problem arises when the fashion is for tight-lacing that also distorts the back, which was the case in the 1890s.

But really, the move from corsets is mostly the result of changes in fashion.  By the end of WWI, corsets had changed from figure-shapers to figure-smoothers.  The 1920s saw the popularization of boyish figures, very short hems,and a new kind of sexualization of women as actors rather than recipients. 1930s corsets were more all-in-one body shapers, and that style continued into the 1940s.  Postwar fashions were hyperfeminine, again emphasizing a narrow waist and broad hips and bust - again achieved with corsetry of one sort or another.

Women still wear corsets, except now they're made of spandex.  Frankly, having worn both traditional tight-laced corsets and "Spanx" bodyshapers, I'd vote for the comfort of the former every time.


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

[User] How do pilots know during a flight when there is turbulence coming? They turn on the fasten seat belt sign, and then it gets bumpy. The turbulence ends, and then they turn off the fasten seat belt sign.

[Assistant]
Im an airline pilot in the US. There are several ways we can anticipate turbulence, but nothing is certain and unexpected turbulence happens all the time.

- PIREPs, or pilot reports. Pilots tell ATC when they encounter turbulence and ATC relays the information to aircraft behind them. They are also published online and we can see them on a map on our iPads

- SIGMETs, or significant meteorological information. These are charted areas where severe turbulence or other hazards are expected.

- Turbulence forecasts on the flight release paperwork

- Turbulence forecasts on various forecasting apps installed on our EFB (electronic flight bag - literally just an iPad)

- Onboard weather radar

Additionally, any of the following are clear indications that turbulence in that area is likely:

- Towering cumulus clouds or thunderstorms

- Standing lenticular clouds

- Rotor clouds

- Mountainous terrain

- High winds

However, on a clear weather day, we generally play it by ear. The seat belt sign will stay on after takeoff unless the air is smooth. If it does seem smooth, we will ask ATC how the rides are ahead. If they tell us it will be smooth, we will turn the seatbelt sign off until we hit turbulence again or if we encounter any signs of possible turbulence ahead.


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

[User] ELI5: I drink plenty of water everyday, but why is my urine always yellow?

[Assistant]
Similar to how your fesces are the waste product of the food you eat, your urine contains the waste liquids from the stuff you drink. "Urobilins" are what give your urine the yellow colour.

If your urine is clear, it's probably because you're drinking more water than your body needs. If your urine is dark, then you're probably dehydrated. Your urine should be a light yellow colour, which indicates a healthy balance.


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

[User] ELI5: How is information and data stored in pieces of metal and green boards?

[Assistant]
A bunch of 1s and 0s (that are specifically arranged to describe the information) are stored in the form of anything that can be in one of two states, like a light switch. It's either up or down, on or off, 1 or 0.

So the easiest example to explain is CDs. The bottom of a CD is etched by a laser with tiny little dots, or, tiny little spaces with no tiny little dot. Then, an electronic device like a CD player is made so that it can see the arrangement of dots or no dots, and turn that information back into the form that humans can understand.

Other forms of data storage work the same way, just with different methods of storing and retrieving the 1s and 0s.

to go a little deeper and explain how something can be 1s and 0s... take the alphabet.

If you were to say 00000001 is A, and 00000010 is B, etc, and you had a wall of light switches and lights that went on and on and on, you could write messages by having the right lights on or off.

Modern flash memory does the same thing, except the wall of lightbulbs is actually an insane amount of tiny transistors that push electrons around to indicate 1 or 0.


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

[User] ELI5: What does non-Euclidian mean?

[Assistant]
Euclidean geometry, named after Euclid of ancient Greece,  is the geometry of a perfect, infinite, flat plane.  It's what people learn when they first learn about geometry.  It's a pretty good model for things on the size and scale that humans normally interact with like drawing circles on paper and making houses.

Mathematicians are a restless bunch & they like solving problems just to solve problems.  They've figured out the rules of geometry on balls & donuts and all sorts of weird shapes - these are "Non-Euclidean".  Sometimes they're just interesting mental problems - who really wants to build a house on a donut?  Other shapes, like balls, are more useful - when you're making big enough things, you need to actually pay attention the fact that the earth is round.


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

[User] ELI5: What are the major political parties of the U.K. and how do they compare ideologically to those here in the U.S.?

[Assistant]
There are two major UK political parties: The Conservative Party and the Labour Party.

The **Conservatives** are the party currently in power. They are a right-leaning party although they're probably a little closer to the centre than the Republicans in the US are. A lot of their policies revolve around keeping taxes low and trying to reduce how reliant people are on the government for support. Theresa May is currently the leader of the Conservatives.

The **Labour** party are a left-leaning party, although the "new Labour" movement of the late 90s to the early 2000s led by Tony Blair was closer to the centre in terms of their policies. Labour are currently led by Jeremy Corbyn, who is controversial because he's *very* far on the left, which has annoyed a lot of the voters that favour Blair's style of politics more. Labour's policies tend to focus on social reform and giving more power to trade unions. Labour are the UK's equivalent of the Democratic party in the US, although Labour are probably more left-leaning (especially under Corbyn).

As well as the two "main" parties, there are also quite a few other parties with varying degrees of influence.

The **Scottish National Party** are currently the biggest of the other parties, with over 50 seats in Parliament. They are a centre-left party that focus on issues relating to Scotland. Devolution is their main campaigning point, which means reducing the power of decision-making in London and trying to introduce more Scotland-specific policies. The SNP will likely try to hold another referendum on Scottish independence following the Brexit vote. Nicola Sturgeon is the current leader of the SNP.

The **UK Independence Party (UKIP)** won 10% of the popular vote in the last election, although only won 1 seat in Parliament. UKIP are a right-leaning party (further right than the Conservatives) focused primarily on securing the UK's exit from the European Union, which they have now achieved. Their other key areas of focus are campaigning for tighter controls on immigration and introducing lower taxes. Paul Nuttall is currently the leader of UKIP, although the party has seen several leadership elections since Nigel Farage (sort of) stepped down as the leader in 2015.

The **Liberal Democrats** were very successful in the 2010 election and formed a coalition government with the Conservatives, giving them an unusual amount of power relative to the number of seats they had. The Lib Dems suffered heavy losses in the 2015 election however, as many people felt that they had failed to carry out some of their key election promises (such as halting the rise on tuition fees) when they were in the coalition. The Lib Dems are politically close to the centre, leaning slightly to the left. Their key issues include building closer ties with the EU, investing more in education and the NHS as well as focusing on environmental issues. Tim Farron is currently the leader of the Lib Dems.

There are a few other parties too, such as the Green Party, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Fein. These parties are quite small and don't have much influence over UK politics at the moment.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How long does it take to travel across the galaxy?

I have always thought for the 2 first trilogies and legends, that even with a fast ship, it took a long time to travel between planets. (I estimated between 1 and 2 weeks to cross the galaxy) and that time was skipped in the movies to keep them interesting.

But in TFA and Rogue one I am under the impression that hyper space travels are done in matter of minutes or hours.

Was I wrong the whole time?

[Assistant]
Actual travel times are determined by route and the class of hyperdrive.

This makes it hard to say exactly the time needed to cross from one end of the galaxy to another.

Usually, though, it's under two weeks unless you've got a real poodoo quality hyperdrive.

I should also mention that, Doylistically, the films handwave the majority of travel time to not bore us.


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

[User]
[40K] What if a Hive Fleet got to Terra?

What if a Hive Fleet, lets say Leviathan is on route to Holy Terra, how does Terra prepare? I assume that the entire empire would send help to Terra and all (?) the space marines chapters would pitch in to defend the hell out of Terra, how would the battle end? who would win?
Edit:Thanks for the responses everyone! Man, I really need to get back into 40k.

[Assistant]
A major Tyranid attack on Terr, at their current stage, would almost certainly fail. Macragg repelled a Hive Fleet and it doesn't have a 10th the defenses.

Terra it's self has fortifications that descend into the planetary mantle, designed to withstand concentrated orbital bombardment. It has orbital batteries in such numbers that it can annihilate an entire battlegroup before they can even launch attack craft. The entire Moon has been turned into a collossal orbital battery with firepower to rival a sector fleet and with guns which can shatter a Battleship in a single shot. The Solar Defense Fleet contains hundreds of ships, always at the ready.

On the ground, Terra houses the greatest warriors in the Imperium. The Custodians make even the Astartes seem weak, and at least one Chapter of Marines is based off Terra. The High Lord of the Munistorum resides on Terra, one of the most capable generals in the galaxy, millions of the best trained and equipped Guardsmen protect the planet.

Then, within the Solar System, you have the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars, who have in their hallowed vaults the most powerful weapons in the Imperium. They possess billions of warrior servitors, the most venerated Titans in existence, and the manufactoring capacity to produce more ordinance than they could possibly use. It's own orbital defenses are almost as extensive as Terras.

Then you have Titan, home to the Grey Knights, who would never suffer the Tyranids to touch Terra, dispite their usual preoccupation with Daemons.

The Solar System alone could hold against any as-yet seen Hive Fleet, even without including reinforcements from elsewherre.


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

[User] ELI5: How does the existence of irrational numbers help in disproving the 'we're living in a simulation' hypothesis?

[Assistant]
I think the idea is that to store an entire irrational number, you would need an infinite amount of memory.  Numbers like Pi never end, so you would end up in a situation where Pi has more digits than there are atoms in the universe.

However, there are *algorithms* that can be used to calculate irrational numbers to a certain degree of precision.  If we were in a simulated universe, it could just calculate that number to whatever precision is required at that time.


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

[User]
Why is China more authoritarian than Vietnam?

What political developments led to China becoming more authoritarian than Vietnam?

Vietnam has access to Western sites while China blocks most, China cares about policing the internet more than Vietnam, and China cares about policing cultural works than Vietnam. Yes, Vietnamese movies have some serious censorship but at least they can still make ghost movies and homosexual relationship content.

Why does the Chinese government interfere in the social lives of Chinese people more than the Vietnamese government?

If its a case of losing authority? Why is the Vietnamese government more prone to make decisions that risk their authority than the Chinese government is?

[Assistant] Bro. Whoever is reporting this as an unanswerable social science question, to the extent that that's true, that's a problem with social science, and not the question. In an age where authoritarianism is on the rise globally, it's a pretty daggum important historical and sociological question.


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

[User]
Why do people keep blaming Obama for the things he wasn't able to accomplish instead of congress?

Obviously I understand why the republicans would want to point the finger at Obama, and I understand why Liberals might be disappointed that he didn't perhaps fight harder, but it bothers me when liberals and shows like The Daily Show and SNL mock him for things that he may have been able to accomplish if the republicans had been willing to work with him at all.

[Assistant]
It's hard to point the finger at 535 people, so the President gets the blame for most of it when it goes wrong, and on the flip side, he gets the praise when something goes right, even though in all cases he needs to work with Congress. His actual power is often inflated by the media.

There's also a well documented phenomenon showing that most Americans approve of their own congressmen and congresswomen, even if they don't approve of congress as a whole. There's an attitude of "Congress is terrible, but not our guy. Our guy is pretty good" that is held all across the country. Most congressional representatives have a fairly high approval within their own districts, even when those same constituents have an abysmal approval rating for Congress as a whole.


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

[User] [Star Wars] How powerful is Cal Kestis?

[Assistant]
Kind of hard to quantify, but he can at least hold his own against inquisitors which are literally Jedi hunters.

I would say that makes him a pretty high tier Jedi Knight. He's not as powerful as Ahsoka, he's probably a little bit less powerful than S1 Kanan.


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

[User] [Marvel]How was Admantium laced so well with Logan's/Wolverine's skeleton?

[Assistant]
There are different forms of adamantium. In Its purest form its quite workable until it sets. Lord darkwind (the father of lady deathstrike) developed a proces to be able to work it and bond it to bones. Deathstrike feels Logan stole her fathers legacy because of this.

From what weve seen it looks like its pumped into bones. The implication is that itll follow the bones instead of disperse through the flesh around it.

Ultron in his adamantium forms has a device that makes it malleable.


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

[User]
How does a stick shift save gas?

People always tell me that stick shift cars use less gas than automatic transmission. Is this even true? Do you have to drive a certain way?

[Assistant]
So much mis-information in this thread.

Two things at play here - Inherent losses in the transmission, and driving style.

Last first - you can drive a very efficient manual very aggressively, and get worse fuel economy than a very inefficient automatic.

For the transmission, let's time-travel back to the 90's - most automatics were 3 or 4 speeds, and most manual transmissions were 4 or 5 speeds (5 being more common).

The automatics of that era had two disadvantages:
1) less ratios (speeds).  With fewer speeds, the engine would have to rev higher at each shift, and higher at highways speeds.  This leads to more fuel used due to higher frictional losses in the engine (engine has to rotate more times for any given distance traveled, and each rev involves the same amount of friction)
2) The torque converter.  Think of a torque converter as two fans facing each other, with one connected to the engine and the other connected to the wheels.  If there was only air between the fans, then the car would barely move, but these fans have fluid in them instead of air, and the fan blades (fins) are very well designed.  The lack of direct connection is what allows the engine to stay running when the car is not moving (like at a light), but churning through that fluid saps energy (one fan moving, one stationary).  Also, when you go to accelerate, the fans are moving at different speeds, again consuming energy in the transfer through the fluid.  Only when the two fans lock together does it become more efficient (lock up torque converter / torque converter clutch).

A manual transmission of the era would have, on average, on more gear ratio, and almost always be geared to rev lower than the same car with an automatic, especially at highways speeds, so lower revs = less friction = less gas used.

Also, the clutch in a manual has no frictional losses except when engaging, which takes very little time.  At all other times, there is a direct non-frictional lossy connection.

Fast forward to today however, and many automatic transmission vehicles have more ratios than their manual counterparts, also, quite a few have done away with torque converters in favour of automated clutches (Volkswagen's DSG is an excellent example, as is the Eaton ultrashift in heavier duty tractor trailer applications).

As many have posted, the advantage is not really there any more, depending on the car.  If you buy a base econobox with a 4-speed, torque converter equipped auto, you will still be able to best its fuel economy with a manual version.   Buy something with a dual-clutch 7-speed auto, and you will have a hard time beating it, given the same driving style.

Heavy-footed driving is not exclusive to auto or manual...

Source -fleet manager for a national trucking company.


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

[User]
Why is hydrogen so prevalent all over the world in oceans and other bodies of water, yet almost completely nonexistent in our atmosphere?

Our atmosphere is almost completely composed of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon. Why not hydrogen?

[Assistant] Lighter gases move at higher velocity and are thus  more likely to escape Earth's gravitational field and leave the atmosphere. Over the last few billion years, most of the hydrogen has escaped. The same goes for Helium.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do x-rays cost so much? They take the picture and it pops up on the screen. Where do the high costs come form?

[Assistant] The x-ray machines themselves are very expensive. So, the doctors have to pay back the initial cost of the machine. Also, the skill to read and understand the x-ray is not common or cheap. Part of what you're paying for is your doctor's expert analysis of the x-ray.


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

[User]
ELI5: When you are nervous why your leg starts bouncing uncontrollably.

Pretty self explanatory really, but I would love to know, mine does it *all the time*.

[Assistant]
When you get nervous, your body releases adrenaline. This provides a lot of extra energy. If you are just sitting there, bouncing your leg is an easy way to expel some of that energy.
Could also just be something that is unique to you that attempts to take your mind off of whatever is making you nervous.


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

[User]
[Back to the Future Part 2] When Marty went to 2015, shouldn't he have arrived at a timeline where he mysteriously vanished in 1985?

It's not as though he was in Hill Valley again until 2015 once he got in the Delorean, same with Jennifer. Those two and Doc should have wound up in a timeline where they just went missing, yes? Did they just visit a parallel universe?

[Assistant]
The Delorean travels through time faster than the ripple effect of time changing.  This explains why Old Biff came back to the 2015 we already knew, but then disappeared as past events within the timeline caught up to him (deleted scene).

When Marty travels from 1985 to 2015 we are seeing the most likely future. This would also explain why Doc is in such a hurry to get his plan done and save Marty Jr., he knows that the ripple effect will catch up to them if they don't return to 1985 fast.

This also explains why Doc is in such a rush to get Marty to the future at the end of Part 1.  You'd think, they have a time machine, what does it matter if they go and fix the future now or next week? Well, since Marty just changed his family's history during the events of Part 1 there is a ripple effect catching up to him.  Marty still remembers the old life (we see his reaction to his rich good looking parents after he wakes up), but in time the ripple effect will overwrite these.  And perhaps in this new timeline Marty never had any reason to seek out and work for Doc.  Doc needs to get to Marty before their history from the original timeline is erased, so Marty still remembers him.


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

[User]
Does the energy required to heat water increase as the water temperature increases?

First time poster. Sorry if this should have been a physics question.

If I had water that was 10 degrees Celsius, and I wanted to raise it to 20 degrees Celsius it would require the same amount of energy in joules to do so every time correct?

So if I wanted to take that same water and raise it from 20C to 30C, would it require the same amount of energy in joules as the example above?

Practical use:

I'm about to build a solar heating setup for my pool. I built a controller for the water pump that will pump pool water through the heating coils on my roof. The controller has a temperature probe that will sit inside the coils. The controller senses the temperature inside the coils. Once the water reaches a 'high' temp set point the pump starts running. Once the water drops below the 'low' set point in the coil the pump turns off and waits for the water in the coils to warm up again.

I'm trying to figure out if there's an optimal 'high' temp set point I should be aiming for. I can set it up to 99 Celsius. But perhaps it's more optimal to have it cycle at (for example) 60C if the temperature will climb more slowly after that.

The idea being that if that's true, theoretically I'd have better results if the pump cycles more often.

[Assistant] The heat capacity of water is basically constant in the temperature range you specify. To be technically correct, the heat capacity of water increases over this range, but for what you are describing it is negligible.


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

[User] ELI5:Why is an amount of dried herb said to be stronger than the same amount of fresh herb?Don't they come with the same amount of chemicals that give the herb its unique flavor?

[Assistant]
When you take out the water, you have the same amount of stuff that is unique to the herb, but less water.  So the amount of unique stuff is a higher total percentage of the remaining stuff, making it more potent.

Imagine you mixed a gatorade with water 50/50.  That dilutes the Gatorade taste.  Imagine you take that water back out.  It now tastes more gatorade-y.  Because it's a higher percent Gatorade compared to total mass.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are horses so submissive to humans?

Why do horses just do our shit for us and carry stuff without ever rebelling?

[Assistant]
Horses are, in the wild, part of a large pack, where there is a strict hierarchy. They thrive when they feel secure in their place in the pack, even if it's at the bottom. So, if you take control as their herd leader, they will, with proper training, be submissive.

Then again, a lot of what you do with a horse is more like co-captaining than a straight up dominant/submissive relationship (though ultimately you, the human, need to call the shots).


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

[User]
CMV: in terms of utility, reward, and cost, there is no better hobby than cooking.

It's all there in the topic. Learning to cook is useful every day, allows you to save money and improve your health through a good diet, and gives you a skill that is transferable to truly every walk of life. While there are many great hobbies out there, cooking is by far the most practical. Since you can use it every day, and in the process gain enjoyment both from the act and from the product, it's also likely the most enjoyable.

Note that for the sake of simplicity I'd consider stuff like pickling and related food preservation hobbies to be cooking most of the time.

About the only possible counterargument I can think of would be in time investment. However not only does that apply to all hobbies, but also a skilled home cook can often prepare home food using slow cookers and pressure cookers and things to take as much or less time than simpler meals.

Edit: gotta go chop some holes in my floor and then make dinner. Loving the conversation though, will be back in a bit.

[Assistant] Exercise is even better -higher utility as measured by longevity and well-being.  Similar cost.  And of course you can get all the benefits of a cooking hobby by living with a cook but nobody can exercise for you.


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

[User]
ELI5 Why do horse hoofs need so much care, and why do they need horseshoes?

Wild horses seem to get by just fine without people caring for them. How does all this care make their hoofs different/better than if they stayed natural?

[Assistant] Wild horses are constantly wearing down their hooves on rough plains, rocks, gravel. Just like our own finger nails, if you let them get too long they split, can lead to infection etc. Trained horses on the other hand have relatively soft stables and paddocks so their hooves don't wear the same way and periodically need to be trimmed. Working horses on the other hand (like mounted police and draft/carriage horses) spend a good chunk of their day on pavement which would wear down their hooves too fast, hence the shoes.


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

[User]
[Star Wars: The Old Republic/Star Wars in general] Why is there so much wasted space on capital ships?

I can understand hangars being really big and having lots of space to land ships in, but why is the bridge on a Sith Empire capital ship so large?

These ships are built for war, so why does The Empire allow for these ships to be built with so much wasted space?

[Assistant]
I don't know about The Old Republic, but in the modern era they're not built for war, exactly, they're built to intimidate the Empire they patrol.

They're supposed to be huge and frightening compared to anything the local systems might be able to put up against them.


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

[User] [Halo] If the Covenant saw the Forerunners as their gods, how did they see the Precursors?

[Assistant] They didn't know the Precursors even existed. No species in modern Halo did until after the human-Covenant and even then it's only a few people in ONI it would seem. As far as the Covenant was concerned they ascended to Godhood and no species had ever been above them before that. To them, the Forerunners were the apex of technological achievement.


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

[User] Do the books Bilbo and Frodo wrote actually exist as their own or are they the Hobbit and LOTR respectively?

[Assistant]
It's actually one book, called the Red Book of Westmarch. A single volume within which is contained Bilbo Baggin's account of going to the Lonely Mountain in the company of Thorin Oakenshield called "There and Back Again". Later, his nephew Frodo Baggins expanded upon the tale with his "the Lord of the Rings" written in the same book.

Incidentally, this one meager volume is essentially our only primary source from the Third Age of Middle Earth.


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

[User]
[Dune 2021] Ornithopter engine?

What type of engine do  Ornithopters use as they appeared to make a whining noise when starting up and what advantages did they have over rotary wing aircraft like helicopters?

[Assistant] They use a type of electric engine. We don't fully understand the technology at play in them but it's far superior to rotary and fixed engine aircraft and combustion engines. The main advantages was having far greater maneuverability and higher top speeds as well as extreme engine efficiency. One could cover hundreds of miles without stopping in a fraction of the time as a modern aircraft and turn almost instantly in any direction. They can also operate at great altitudes that modern aviation wouldn't be able to reach without stalling.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do most TV shows start their seasons in September?

I'm just curious why they don't start during the summer, when most young people are completely free and can watch their show more easily. Is there a strategy behind releasing the season in the fall?

[Assistant] Well the current thinking is that premiere times don't matter as much as they once did, and these days networks are more inclined to debut shows all year round.  But young people don't actually watch a lot of TV in the summer, because although it's true that they are completely free, they would rather hang out with their friends and such (or at least this used to be true; dunno what you kids are up to these days).  It's the reverse of why Hollywood releases all their big movies in the summer, and sort of related to the reason they don't schedule the best TV shows for Friday or Saturday.  But anyway, people actually start watching more TV in the fall, so that is historically why they did that.


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

[User] If a pipeline is developed to pump sea water into the desert, would that create a natural precipitation system and irrigate the surrounding land?

[Assistant]
There was a project the British were considering back in the early 1900's called the Qattara Depression project. The idea was to create canals to allow water to flow downhill into a huge area of the Sahara that is below sea level. They would create an inland saltwater lake, and generate hydroelectricity along the canals.

Fishing, transportation and water supply would be revolutionised and it would bring industry to some of the poorest parts of the world. Eventually the lake would turn hypersaline due to evaporation but it would last for a while. It was also believed it would improve the climate of Europe, and turn the surrounding areas into Savannah.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is it that when a person takes a nap in the afternoon/evening they wake up feeling incredibly gross and feel more tired after?

This happens to my girlfriend and I often. We'll take a nap then 15-30 min later when we wake up we feel more tired and kinda gross. Sometimes I even feel that my senses are heightened or some rush is going through my body. I've read that taking a nap later in the day is not good because it'll keep you up later in the night as you try to sleep. But never really read anything about the feelings I get after taking these dreadful naps.

[Assistant] Sleep inertia. If you are going to nap less than 90 minutes (a full REM cycle), *only* do it for 15 or less. You will start entering deeper sleep and be groggy afterward otherwise. Bonus for a caffeinated power nap!


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

[User] ELI5: How do animals with white fur manage to keep it clean all the time, even after killing a animal and getting covered with its blood. Usually white is the hardest coulor to keep clean as it stains easily.

[Assistant]
What people tend to forget (or perhaps be unaware of) is that animal fur is not really comparable to say human made fabrics. So stains on white linen or cotton is very much harder to get rid of.

Animal fur is actually most of the time covered in sebaceous secretions, eg oil from glands in the skin (which we notice if we dont wash our hair for a while, it gets greasy). This makes the fur alot easier to clean when the animal grooms itself, or when swimming or rolling through snow. Things just dont stick as easily. Compare to say a waxed fabric. That also repels water and dirt, and can often be cleaned just by brushing it.

 Furthermore the individual hairs have no natural spaces or holes in them where foreign material can get stuck. Fabrics are usually made from intersoven threads, and these threads can absorb liquids and other impurities either inbetween the threads, or within the threads themselves (between the fibers). Hair or fur is made of dead cells which sit so closely together that nothing can really get in between them.

And yes, like some others have noted the fur is also shed and renewed, making the dirty patches go away.

Tl:dr:
Fur is greasy and does not allow for dirt to be absorbed into it, it is also continually renewed.


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

[User] Eli5: Why is the U.S. Dollar so powerful?

[Assistant]
The same thing that makes any currency powerful: Demand for the products you can buy with it. A better question to ask is, "Why aren't other currencies as strong?".

The simple answer is size and *safety*. There are only so many economies on a scale of the American economy, so the possible contenders for a substitute for the U.S. dollar as the de-facto reserve currency of the planet would be the Euro and the Yuan. Both of those currencies have some fundamental problems which keep them from being more enthusiastically adopted.

In the case of the Euro, the problem is the currency is not backed by a unitary state, and in a larger geopolitical problems plaguing the EU, like Brexit, the various economies in crisis which are part of the trading bloc, do not support investor confidence.

In the case of the Yuan, there's a unitary state, and certainly nobody thinks China is going to up and vanish, or break up, but investors are even more distrustful of the PRC leadership than they are of the fragmented confederation of the E.U.

And once you exclude those two countries, there's really not much in the way of options. Japan? India? The United States is the country that's big enough, rich enough, and least likely to default on the obligations of their treasury, or co-opt the wealth of the people positioned on the dollar.


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

[User]
How do eyeballs regulate temperature?

It was a really cold day, I thought maybe my eyes were cold, but I did not know.

[Assistant]
Like other parts of the body, the eye can regulate its temperature by increasing or reducing the blood flow to the choroid (layer of connective tissue behind the eye).

Your eye probably felt cold because it has a moist surface - evaporation of fluid off the surface of your eyeball would, much like sweating, reduce the temperature of the surrounding tissue, however since the eye does not have as well-developed thermoregulation as other parts of the body you would feel the effects more.


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

[User]
CMV: Minorities shouldnt get special treatment due to their predecessors being oppressed.

Growing up in Oklahoma, the main minority that gets benefits based on ethnicity is Native Americans. Theres Indian education, where as long as your registered as a Native, you participated in special events, some related to their culture, most events were not, and the students were given items just for passing a test. Im not talking about like, pencils or small little knick knacks. They would give iPods, TVs, and other very valuable and expensive items to these kids just for doing what was expected of every other student.

My neighbor is a member of the predominate tribe where I live, and due to his ancestors, he pays $7 a month for his rent, while having a truck that would take me months to save up for.

This isnt even mentioning the various financial aid/scholarships that goes into colleges. If there was a scholarship that only goes to white people, there would be outrage over it.

I understand that there is still racism in America, and still oppression, but I dont believe that its significant enough to warrant this kind of special treatment. I believe that with all of the previous resources given to these people, and the amount of time that has passed since the widespread oppression occurred, the pseudo-favoritism shouldnt occur at all.

Hopefully this doesnt come across as racist or anything similar, but its a viewpoint Ive had and I would love to hear other opinions on it, and if theres evidence that all of these additional resources are justified.

[Assistant]
Native Americans are not getting things "due to their ancestors being oppressed." They're getting things as a member of sovereign nations that made treaties with the US government, which were pretty much constantly broken, and because their tribes sovereignly own businesses like casinos which subsidize their lives. You don't complain about people in Alaska getting a per capita petroleum payment, do you?

Reparations/Affirmative action is a separate conversation from what you're raising about First Nations people.


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

[User] If a person were to die on the moon or Mars, would the body decompose?

[Assistant]
The body would decompose due to the bacteria on the skin within the gut and from the enzymes released from cell death. Upon death, this would begin decomposing the tissues immediately.
There, though, is a balance between this decomposition and the drying out that would occur from the body being in a water free environment. If in a spacesuit, the body would decompose faster than it would dry out because it is a sealed environment and conditions would be adequate for the bacteria to survive and destroy the tissue, but if the body was just left on the moon or on Mars, the lack of water and high temperature (on the moon) would lead to a rapid dessication of the body and would give you the mummifying effect mentioned by others.
The lack of air wouldn't really have an effect since many of the bacteria are anaerobic (don't use oxygen). NASA has actually sent contaminated probes into space (accidentally contaminated) and when they returned, the bacteria on them were still alive.


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

[User]
ELI5: The Chinese Room Thought Experiment.

Was playing "The Turing Test" lately, the game, by Square Enix,  and it keeps on mentioning about this "Chinese Room Thought Experiment".

Already done the Googling, but I still don't really understand it quite well.

Anyone could ELI5 about what is it and what does it do?

[Assistant]
It addresses the question of whether a computer program which can carry on a conversation and pass the Turing test would actually be conscious and understand the conversation.

Suppose you are locked in a room where a chute delivers cards with Chinese characters on. You speak and read no Chinese, but you have a book of instructions where you can look up the symbols and pick a symbol to pass back through the chute. A Chinese speaker outside the room might pass you a question and receive a sensible answer, and believe that there's a Chinese speaker inside. But you still have no idea what they're asking or what you said, you're just following instructions.

If a computer program appears to us to be intelligent, is there a real intelligence inside the box or is the computer just shuffling cards with Chinese characters on?


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

[User]
[Avatar] Would Ozai's plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom have worked?

There seems to have been a pretty narrow window where the comet buff was in effect, and Ba Sing Sae is basically on the opposite side of the planet from where they launched the airships.

Was this plan ever viable or was it just an extension of Ozai's megalomania? Were all the fire nation troops on the ground under orders to go scorched earth in conjunction with the airship fleet's approach?

[Assistant] If the plan was just to do it all during the power boost Sozin's Comet granted then no, it was far far too limited a period to burn down the whole Earth Kingdom, but if Ozai wanted to kick off the genocidal campaign and his rule as the Phoenix King with a bang it certainly was the way to do it in his mind. However there's nothing to suggest that the operation to burn down the Earth Kingdom was going to end with the passing of the comet.


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

[User]
How are uranium atomic bombs and plutonium atomic bombs different and similar chemically?

I know one has uranium-235 isotopes and the other has plutonium-239 isotopes but that's about it.

[Assistant]
The Little Boy bomb used high-enriched uranium. That means that the uranium fuel was composed of, on average, 80% U-235, the rest being U-238. It had a very simple method of "assembly," that is, the formation of a supercritical mass at precisely the moment desired (detonation). The goal was to make a solid block of about 64 kilograms of U-235, which is more than enough to explode. To accomplish this, they shot a cylinder composing about 60% of the total mass into a target "spike" that was the other 40%. It was literally just shot through a large gun barrel, so they call this a "gun-type" design. It was a very crude use of material, and only about 1% of the uranium in the weapon underwent fission. Yet it still released some 15,000 tons of TNT worth of energy.

The Fat Man bomb, the plutonium bomb, worked very differently. It used plutonium-239 as the fuel, as you know. Plutonium-239 cannot be used in a gun-type configuration because of impurities in the fuel that make it likely to "pre-detonate." In other words, if you tried to shoot two pieces of plutonium together, they would have a tiny explosion that would just blow the fuel apart; it wouldn't really undergo a full nuclear blast. (The impurities are the isotope plutonium-240, which is formed when breeding plutonium-239 in a nuclear reactor. Plutonium-240 has a relatively high spontaneous fission rate so it increases the number of neutrons floating around.) Instead, they had a small (subcritical) amount of plutonium fuel in the shape of a sphere. Using specially designed explosives, they compressed the ball into several times its original density. This caused it to be a supercritical mass. Using explosives to make a internal, compressive force is known as implosion, so this is the "implosion" design. The Fat Man bomb contained only 6.2 kg of plutonium  over 10 times less material than the Little Boy bomb. It had almost the same yield at the Little Boy bomb, though (20,000 tons of TNT), so you can see how much more efficient it was (about 20% of its material fissioned).

There are more details, but those are the chief differences. Note that while you can't use plutonium in a gun-type design, you _can_ use uranium-235 in an implosion design. For this reason, the Little Boy design was basically a one-off weapon, developed for the war and never used again. (A few other gun-type design weapons were later built for very specific purposes, like making nuclear artillery shells, where the diameter of the weapon is very constrained.) The implosion design became the basis for future fission weapons, with the goal being to make the weapons smaller, use less fissile material, have bigger booms, and so forth. When you put U-235 into an implosion weapon, it has slightly different engineering properties (it has a slightly higher critical mass), so it's not just a case of swapping it in or out, but it's not so different enough as to be considered a very interesting distinction.

As for the chemical differences, they are less interesting and less important than the physical differences between the weapons. Uranium and plutonium have very different metallurgies and chemistries (plutonium is the odd duck here  it has unusually complicated metallurgical properties), but for the purpose of the bomb that is not as relevant, because the plutonium is alloyed in a way that makes it relatively stable (in Fat Man, it was a plutonium-gallium alloy that kept the plutonium stabilized in the delta phase  that isn't very interesting, or very meaningful, unless you're really curious about plutonium metallurgy). Both types of bomb derive nearly all of their energy from nuclear reactions, even though they were initiated by different types of chemical reactions (the assembling explosives, which were just conventional high explosives).


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

[User]
[Umbrella Academy] Why not just knock on the door?

Minor spoilers for Season 2 follow. The title is cryptic to avoid spoilers.
**Why did Diego and Five break in to Hargreeves' office in Season 2 of UA? Why not just knock on the door and say hi?**

In Season 2, Diego and Five decide they want to talk to Hargreeves, so they break into his office in the middle of the night. Hargreeves, understandably, is not happy with this, shenanigans and stabbings ensue.

But... *WHY?* At this point, they have no reason to mistrust him. In fact, they seem to be expecting an actual meeting (Five mentions being nervous just thinking about the prospect of meeting Hargreeves). So, why on earth are they breaking in?

[Assistant] I think given all the lies, half truths and manipulations that they all endured during the events of season 1 and their childhood, I'd say they had plenty of reason not to trust Hargreeves. Especially once they suspected that he was somehow involved in the Kennedy assassination plot.


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

[User] [Half-Life] Is City 17 the capital of Combine-occupied Earth? Is Breen in charge of the world, or just City 17?

[Assistant] Hes in charge of the world or what's left of it. City 17 was chosen to be his capital and he works directly as liaison between the combine and the human forces. Breen isn't exactly like president of the world hes more like the factory supervisor making sure the combine don't need to send more troops through to strip mine the planet while humans are still there. He keeps the flow of goods from various mines, factories, and farms coming and going on time to and from all over the world. City 17 is the closest thing to a major political seat of power but to call it a capital is like calling the stock yard next to a slaughterhouse the cow capital.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do humans think other sentient beings would use radio signals to communicate with other intelligent life?

What if radio waves are a human exclusive invention, and sending these signals out are a waste of our time? Please someone ELI5.

[Assistant]
Most of scientists who are looking for other species, accept that other species might use other methods of communication but since WE don't have access to those methods, radio is our best option.

The scientists looking for radio waves aren't expecting all other life to use radio waves but they are hoping that if we stumbled upon radio as one of the best ways to transmit long distances, then it's logical to assume that someone else might have stumbled upon it as well.

Additionally radio is a relatively low tech solutions so they are also hoping that, even if this imaginary race moved beyond radio waves to something else, they might recognize that others haven't advanced that far and still use radio to send a message.

There's no denying that it could all be a waste of time though but until we are able to detect other signals that are capable of traveling hundreds of light years it's the best option we have to find other life.


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

[User]
Why do cats bury their poop?

Is there a logical/evolutionary reason as to why they bury their poop?

[Assistant] Hides the scent of the poop from their predators in the wild. It's become so instinctive to their species that kittens litterbox-train almost instantly. One of our cats learned from a pet rabbit in one day.


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

[User]
[Squid Game] 1,000,000 Won sounds like a lot of money to owe someone, when it's really only ~$851. Would someone who THINKS this is a lot of money be allowed to attend the games?

Inspired by the TikTok video, where an American THINKS he owes a fortune, and thus enters the games.

Would such a person be stopped from attending? Would the Salesman let such ignorance go unaddressed?

[Assistant]
It really depends whats at stake for that sort of money.

You owe 5000$ to the bank? But youre otherwise healthy and your family doesnt hate you? Maybe not a big deal.

Moms dying, needs medicine, and you owe 200$ to Vinny who wants to chop out your liver just to prove a point? Maybe thats important to you.

Money is valued differently by different people depending on their circumstances. Who can judge?


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

[User] How do you forecast wind? I understand being able to forecast things like rain, snow, and sunny days based on cloud formations? But how can someone determine if a day in the future will be windy, and how strong that wind will be?

[Assistant]
Weather forecasting actually \*starts\* with figuring out the winds: you need to know how hot and cold air and humidity are moved around by the wind before you can forecast temperature and rainfall.

It all starts with Newton's second law of motion "F=m\*a", and estimating the forces on any given mass of air to find out how it accelerates.  Air pressure, gravity, and friction are the most important forces, but the fact that the Earth is rotating plays a key role too.  As the forces move the air around, the temperature and pressure change, so it's a pretty complicated set of interacting equations.

In the vertical direction, there's usually a balance between air pressure forces and gravity which we call "hydrostatic balance".  In the horizontal direction, usually air pressure balances against "Coriolis forces" caused by Earth's rotation.  This is called "geostrophic balance".  Geostrophic balance causes the wind to go in a circular motion, orbiting around regions of high and low pressure.  But to go beyond this, to find out how those high and low pressure regions change over time and actually predict the weather, you really need a computer.

I hope that's a satisfying enough answer: to get into more detail than this, unfortunately you need at least a couple years of preparation in calculus and physics to understand the equations.  It's not an easy problem!


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

[User]
[Yugioh] Was Yugi's transformation into the Pharoah physical?

It's odd that nobody would comment on his sudden accelerated puberty.

[Assistant]
Sort of. The only noticeable change is is hair gets a few streaks of yellow and his voice changes.

His friends have commented his change is personality when duels. But they dismiss it thinking it's just him focusing. There's also the fact the Millennium Puzzle that changes him into pharaoh can affect people's minds.

It probably gives everyone the illusion that nothing's changed unless Yugi or Pharaoh outright tells them otherwise.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Where the hell did the First Order get its resources to build that ginormous Death Star knock-off?

You would think SIS would have found out about not only about the First Order, but prevent them from building one and caught off their magic income!

[Assistant]
Well, to be fair, the planet itself wasn't constructed, and it isn't totally hollowed out.

Sure, there are a whole lot of resources that would be required to construct the "weapon-y bits" of Starkiller, but not so much that it would be unfeasible, especially in a galaxy where you can build two moon-sized space stations relatively quickly in secret.

As for finding it, that would also be very difficult given that it was being constructed in the Unknown Regions, which is basically just a giant, mostly empty patch of space that has remained almost totally unexplored.


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

[User]
CMV: Church revenue should not be tax exempt.

Churches (especially in the Southern US) are very large and have a very consistent income. I personally was raised LDS/mormon so I will be using numbers based off that specific church, though the numbers are still comparable with other religions. l was told my entire life that I was to give 10% of my pretax pay to the church. The church has 16.3 million members worldwide and 6.68 million members in the U.S. The average household income in the U.S. is $46,800 meaning that on average each family is giving $4,680 annually in tithing. The average American household consists of 3.14 people. Meaning there are around 2,127,388 active LDS families. So on average the church is receiving $9,956,175,840 completely tax free.

[Assistant] Do you think all nonprofit organizations should also have to pay taxes? And if we cant tax their profits (as they have none) what part of their transactions do we tax? Overall value? Donations or fees received?


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

[User]
[Pokemon] Why does breeding Manaphy with Ditto make Phione and not more Manaphy?

Usually Ditto breeding results in more of the same parent Pokemon, but Phione doesn't even evolve into Manaphy.

[Assistant]
It's a quirk of Manaphy/Phione biology, as far as we know.

Speculating, Manaphy are a branch of Phione created under special circumstances, but are still the same species underlyingly -- thus they only produce more Phione in normal situations.


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

[User] Are dragons cold or warm blooded?

[Assistant]
They're warm blooded--no question.  They are able to remain active in cold temperatures, with little or no slowdown to their movements and actions.

Cold-blooded animals move slower as the temperature decreases; muscles function much less efficiently and effectively when cold, and cold-blooded animals are unable to regulate their muscle temperatures.


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

[User]
[Legend of Korra] How is there more sky bison?

Appa was literally the only sky bison. How did he reproduce?

[Assistant] >It has been said time and time by the creators that Aang found new species of flying bison and winged lemurs following the Hundred Year War and it was noted during the second book of Korra that a remote tribe in the Fire Nation raised a herd of flying bison which was not wiped out during the genocide.


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

[User] ELI5: What is DNS cache poisoning?

[Assistant]
So imagine you've got a massive phone book with everyone's names and phone numbers in.

If you think you might need a particular persons number often (say, your friend 'Bob'), you might write a copy of Bobs number down on a sticky note instead of going and taking the time to find their number in the phone book each time. It saves you time and effort. This is your 'cache'.

Now imagine that your evil house mate comes along and replaces that sticky note with a different one with the same name but a different phone number. Next time you go to call Bob, you don't bother with the book and just look at the sticky note that you thought you had. Only its been tampered with, and thus you end up calling someone else. And that person you call pretends to be Bob.

Now without realising it you could be telling someone else something you only originally intended to tell Bob.


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

[User] ELI5: I just read about a tiny hormone chip which is inserted into your arm that can prevent all periods and pregnancies for a few years. How does this work, and is it trusted? If so, how is this not a very big deal?

[Assistant]
A small pellet or rod containing etonogestrel. It releases a constant amount for a few months to a year, and the hormone acts similar to birth control pills to prevent ovulation, and thus pregnacy.

The actual procedure is simple. A small incision is made and the device inserted and the skin is sealed with a stich or glue to allow the skin to heal over and seal it in.

It can help prevent menstration by preventing the body from ovulating and shedding the uterine lining monthly lile it does normally.


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

[User] ELI5: How do bunker busters penetrate then blow up? Instead of just blowing up on impact?

[Assistant] The explosives used are not set off by impact but need ignition. The initial impact of hitting the target sets a fuse, delaying ignition so that the buster can dig in from its momentum before exploding.