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

[User] Why do bad smells actually smell bad to us?

[Assistant]
We smell different things differently because of the way the particles interact with receptor enzymes in our noses.

Bad things smell bad because this is beneficial in an evolutionary sense. When you think about what smells bad it is often things like faeces or rotten food which are also harmful to humans if consumed or even touched due to illness and disease.

So it would be beneficial for early man to have a negative reaction to such objects through smell and those who avoided them would be more likely to survive and pass on their genes which has continued to today while the people who enjoyed the foul smells were eliminated by natural selection.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does rubbing alcohol not damage electronics but water does?

[Assistant]
Rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) doesn't conduct electricity. It doesn't complete an electrical circuit and it doesn't cause iron to oxidize (rust).

Water does.

Edit: Pure water doesn't conduct electricity - as I've been informed 1000 times.


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

[User] [Marvel] What do you think is each NYC based heros preferred pizza?

[Assistant]
Steve Rogers used to go to a little pizza place in Brooklyn with deep union and immigrant roots that shut down while he was on ice. He never ordered more than two ingredients as toppings, and one of them is cheese. He eats pizza elsewhere, but it's not the same. He visits the block still, where an artisanal pickle shop now resides. He likes the pickles.

Peter Parker has half a dozen pizza places he cycles though depending on patrols. He claims each is the best pizza place in the city. He orders a different set of toppings at each place, but only ever orders that topping there. He doesn't really have a favorite topping, but he shares that clip of Jon Stewart mad about eating a pizza with a knife and fork a lot.

Iron Fist orders a mozzarella di buffalo and guancale pie once a week from an italian restaurant that had its oven flown in from Italy.

Dr. Strange made a deal once in the 70s and now every pizza he eats has anchovies on it and no one has seen them get there.

The Fantastic Four have had their pizza orders (and topping choices) mapped out for the next fifteen years. Early in Reed's work on psycho-history, he found a mathematical relationship between the temperature of the sun's photosphere and the pizza orders of the family, then ran the numbers forward and planned accordingly.


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

[User]
How do odour sprays like Febreeze or Lysol eliminate odours in the air?

I understand adding a good smell but is there chemicals in it that destroys the odours from whatever youre trying to rid the room of?

[Assistant]
These work due to chemicals known as cyclodextrins.

Typically a number of glucose molecules in a ring.

Small aromatic molecules are able to become trapped within these rings due to strong intermolecular between the inside of the ring and the small aromatic.

This takes it out of the air and out of your nose!


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

[User]
ELI5: How do space probes such as Vogager 1 and Pioneer 10 operate for such a long period of time in space?

I know it's NASA magic, but how does NASA do this magic?!

[Assistant]
The first thing to realize is that they don't really need much to keep functioning. They don't need fuel, because they can just keep on drifting forever. They need a little bit of power (mainly to maintain communication with Earth, and to keep their electronics warm enough to function. If there's enough to also power any of the scientific instruments on board, that's a nice bonus, but they really don't need that much. We have gargantuan antennae dishes on Earth to catch even very weak signals, so the probes don't need strong transmitters. If they can cough out a weak signal, we can easily do all the hard work on Earth to detect it.

These probes have radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) on board. That is basically a big box containing radioactive material, which can be used to generate power (and heat, which may help solve the heating problem). And while their output gradually declines, they can still last decades.

These specific probes don't use it, but solar power also works a surprisingly long time. It's always sunny in space, and there's no dust or dirt that might otherwise accumulate on your solar panels and prevent them from working.


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

[User]
Our program faculty are GONE!! Advice + Tips for an unsure future.

I am currently enrolled in a graduate program within the California State University system in the U.S. The program is a two-year program that requires a thesis. However, most people finish in 3 years as the thesis component typically takes some time. Last month, it was announced that 1 of the three faculty members would be leaving the program. Today, it was revealed (by students from that lab) that another faculty member would be leaving the program as well, meaning there will only be one faculty member to oversee approximately 21 students. As much as I want to believe that they will hire someone by the start of the Fall semester, I do not know if it will be possible.

With that said, this means that for the foreseeable future, there will only be ONE faculty member to teach all nine graduate courses and conduct research oversight for 21 students (most students will likely be put on hold and therefore delay graduation by yet ANOTHER year or two), and perform whatever additional tasks are needed outside of teaching and advising (i.e., overseeing the program, senate committee work, etc.).

For the most part, the students have been kept in the dark about our future, and it is starting to become worrisome. I was hoping to get advice on what steps the rest of the students and I should take to ensure we aren't left on a sinking ship. One of my initial ideas was to get the rest of the students together and submit a petition to the dean that the thesis component is dropped due to the lack of available faculty to provide the necessary support. I'm not sure what else we could do in this situation. Any advice is welcome and appreciated!

[Assistant]
They cant drop the thesis; they would run afoul of CSU rules and guidelines.

Nothing saying faculty outside the program (or at another CSU) cant be readers on the thesis. Thats the likeliest option.


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

[User] ELI5: A quadriplegic loses the ability to control their body from the neck down, how is it that their organs, ie heart lungs etc, are able to function?

[Assistant]
Paraplegics typically experience loss of motor and sensory function, but don't lose the ability to breathe, pump blood, or digest due to the medulla oblongata and division of the nervous system, which is split up into the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system (nerves in the periphery)

 You peripheral nervous system is divided into two main branches; somatic, and autonomic. Your somatic nervous system is responsible for voluntary movement. Wiggling your fingers, moving your legs, and so on. It is also responsible for receiving sensory input, like when you touch a hot stove or sharp object. It involves typically skeletal muscle and sensory mechanisms in the skin and on the body. Damage to the spinal cord effects these nerves that extend from it, or the ones that travel to it.

The other part of your peripheral nervous system is the autonomic nervous system; this controls non voluntary function changes such as slowing of digestion, bladder relaxation or constriction, increasing of heart rate, etc. The medulla oblongata is responsible for these parts of the autonomic nervous system.

The central nervous system, which contains the brain, midbrain, and further the medulla oblongata, contains your respiratory and heart centres that keep things going, keeps homeostasis happening, and keeps you alive. Everybody who is alive has a working medulla oblongata; it's needed to breathe and pump blood and essentially do anything. Damage to the nerves doesn't damage the medulla; it still does its job and that's why those with permanent nerve damage can still breathe and digest and bleed and keep on metabolizing things to live!

Hope this helped!


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

[User]
If light always travels at the speed of light (perfect certainty in momentum), then how can it have a position?

Light obeys the position-momentum uncertainty principle. Light always travels at the speed of light. Therefore, light never has a well defined position. But it's sunnier outside than inside. This seems like a contradiction. Where did I go wrong? Does it have to do with interference between various modes (each infinite in extent) that combine to form localized packets?

I've googled/wikied this, but didn't find an answer (that I could understand). Thanks for your help.

[Assistant]
>perfect certainty in momentum

This is incorrect. The momentum of a photon is

p = E/c = hf/c

i.e. the momentum is proportional to the frequency. A lower uncertainty in frequency means a higher certainty in position, and vice versa.

Technically, the distribution of the photon's wavefunction in position space and momentum space are related by a Fourier transform, which is where the uncertainty principle comes from.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How did the Empire create half of a new Death Star so fast?

The new Death Star is maybe 1/2 completed, 3/4 at best about 4 years after the first was destroyed. Where did the Empire find the time and money to construct a second one so quickly? Or was the Empire making 2 in the first place?

[Assistant] The first took forever because a death star had never been built before. During construction you learn a lot. This can be applied to future construction projects. Also, the first was built in secret and had to be built slowly so no one would notice a massive construction project sucking up resources like a black hole. The Emperor wanted everyone to know he was building the second. There was no need to hide anything, or at least not to as great a degree.


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

[User] ELI5: When microwaving a bag of popcorn, why doesnt the first kernel that is popped burn by the time the last kernel is popped?

[Assistant]
The process of popping a kernel absorbs more energy than it releases. When there are still lots of un-popped kernels, so much heat energy is absorbed by all these kernels that it prevents the temperature of the oils and steam in the bag from rising to the point where an already popped kernel would burn. Once most of the kernels have popped, the heat energy has nowhere else to go and the temperature goes up, eventually burning the popped ones.

This is why it's almost impossible to get all the kernels to pop without burning some of them.


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

[User] ELI5:Where does the stereotype for "stupid" blondes come from and why?

[Assistant]
There's an old saying: "God gives with one hand, and takes with the other."

The idea is that people generally have looks, or brains, but not both.  Blondes are considered by some to be more attractive ("Blondes have more fun") so it's assumed they are not as intelligent.  There's also the aspect of a lot of men being threatened by an intelligent woman/preferring a more "docile" or unchallenging but attractive one.

A dumb blonde, that is to say someone who is attractive, but doesn't bring much else to the table has the connotation that it would be a good thing as a mate.  So it becomes a stereotype to subtly indicate what is actually supposed to be desirable.


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

[User]
What is, chemically speaking, a smell?

Lights are photons, sounds are waves. How does our nose know which smell is which?

[Assistant]
All matter is made out of molecules (or atoms in case of pure elements). A tiny amount of those molecules will separate from the bulk of the material and go flying around in the atmosphere. That happens all the time, with an intensity that depends on temperature and certein material properties like the boiling point.
Your nose contains receptors, which are basically proteins shaped in a way so they have a hollow. When a molecule fits into the hollow in a certain way (a bit like a key into a lock), the receptor will send a signal to your brain. That signal depends on the shape of the molecule and how it fits into different types of receptor.
That's smelling.


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

[User]
ELI5: French military activity in Africa

The French army is currently active in Mali, and in the past it has been involved in other conflicts. Why? What are the benefits from the French in doing so?

EDIT: I'm not asking about Mali specifically, but about France's military activity in Africa. I know that they have a continuous presence in several former colonies, but to what end? Does France get resources from these countries? Is it to protect French nationals who live there? Is it because France doesn't want to let go of its past as one of the world's colonial empires? Does France feel responsible for these countries becaused they messed them up in the first place?

[Assistant]
France is in Mali to deliver a long-lasting defeat of Islamists (and the separatists though it can't say it out loud to offend some people's sensitivities to any group wanting "independence") to allow Mali to rebuild its institutions. France is interested in Mali because many, many Malians live in France, it is a former colony, a few thousand Frenchmen live in Mali, and it neighbors another former colony in Niger that provides its uranium, so they don't want to risk this Islamism spreading.

The French population has been wanting to disentangle themselves from Africa for a couple generations but they get drawn back in every couple of years because there are so many weak states among their former colonies and they feel pressured to intervene to prevent bad outcomes.


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

[User]
ELI5: What is a 555 Timer and what makes it so versatile?

I've seen many projects centered around 555 timers and from what I understand you can even create logic gates using them. What is a 555 timer, what was the usage it was developed for, and what makes it such a powerful and versatile component?

edit: Wow, I see I'm not the only one with this question. A huge thanks to those who took the time to answer. This has been super informative!

[Assistant]
It's really useful for digital signals for there to be a line that goes ON/OFF/ON/OFF/ON/OFF over and over again quickly. That's a square wave, but it's also what's called a "clock signal," and it's a key part of digital circuits.

A 555 is useful because it's a really easy way to generate a clock signal with a wide variety of speeds.

A couple of really basic examples of when a clock signal might be useful:

* A clock. Every time the signal changes, advance something slightly. Choose the right speed for the signal and the thing that happens, and you've now got a clock.
* Sounds. Send the on/off signal to a speaker. The speed of the signal is now a frequency.

Most importantly, for digital circuits, a clock signal is a critical synchronization tool that's fundamental to how they're constructed.


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

[User]
I believe that professional athletes get paid a disproportionate amount of money for the little contribution they make to society. CMV

According to Yahoo Sports (not necessarily the most credible, but other sites corroborate roughly) the average salary for a NBA player is $5.15 million, MLB $3.31 Million, NHL $2.4 Million and NFL $1.9 Million. This is all per year, and the average. I know that high salaries can skew averages, but these values are more than what an average person would make in their entire lifetime.

I get that these athletes have dedicate their lives to playing a sport, but these salaries are not reflective of their contribution to society. I think its a shame that public service professions don't make respectable wages for the dedication they have to society (for example, teachers, firefighters, EMT's etc...)

Now I know someone is likely to make the argument that the number of athletes is a significantly less proportion of the population than some professions that we'd all agree should get paid more for what they do, and that society couldn't afford to raise everyone's salaries (also the economic consequences). But I still think these athletes get paid much more than they deserve.

[Assistant]
Salaries do not need to be proportional to the contribution to society, it is a simple matter of supply and demand.

The supply of world class athletes is incredibly low. The demand is incredibly high because companies are willing to pay tons of money to advertise at sporting events that tons of people watch.

It is about economics, not contribution to society.


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

[User]
[HALO] Covenant weapons

If forerunner weapons tech was based on hard light technology what led the covenant to develop plasma based weapons in their reverse engineering of forerunner tech?

[Assistant]
Turns out that a 'hard light' emitter, built with less precise tolerances and less efficiently, launches gobs of superheated plasma. It's the same thing, but half-baked. In some ways, that suits the Covenant's purposes better - easier to manufacture, less drain per shot on their cheap & (relatively) simple batteries, easier to maintain, still sufficiently deadly.

IIRC, in one of the novels, ('historical records' w/e) Cortana gets inside of a Covenant destroyer. She sees a way to re-calibrate its plasma cannons, and tunes them up to shoot a sharp, narrow, devastating beam of light - which guts another Covenant ship, but blows their magnetic coils out and renders them inoperable after one volley.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we get nightmares when we are feverish or sick and fall asleep?

[Assistant]
Dreams are not fully understood, and neither are nightmares. Based on empirical findings there are several theories that present themselves.

Based on those different theories there are different explanations and answers to your question, but our knowledge in this area and the brain as a whole is surprisingly limited.

Nightmares are defined as bad dreams.

The most reasonable theory would be the Modern (Freudian) Theory:

Most people today subscribe to this theory that dreams are a connection to our unconscious mind ie. our hidden desires and true feelings.

Hence, when you are sick, the emotions generated in our unconscious mind correlate to those which have been proven to elicit nightmares, as dreams are a reflection of out strongest, most abstract emotions according to this theory.

Stress and discomfort cause bad dreams as a result. Nightmares due to being sick or going through a rough patch in life have the same cause.


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

[User]
Eli5: Why do companies put caffeine in soaps?

Does your body absorb it somehow? Does it help as a moisturizer?

[Assistant] There have been a few studies, according to a "board certified dermatologist at Modern Dermatology in seattle" - Topical caffeine is best known for its antioxidant properties. With topical antioxidants, you can decrease the harmful effects of free radicals created by environmental pollutants and UV radiation, which are what cause fine lines and wrinkles. He goes on: Caffeine has been shown to constrict blood vessels when applied to the skin. It is thought that caffeine may temporarily constrict these tiny blood vessels, somewhat masking the darkness under the eyes. Furthermore, caffeine-enhanced skincare products can decrease inflammation and irritation. They may reduce swelling and feel soothing.


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

[User]
Why was Augustus accepted as a tyrant when Caesar was not?

Caesar murdered was the result of him destroying the Republic and became the sole leader or tyrant. Why is it then that his heir managed to do it without getting killed like Caesar?

[Assistant]
For one thing, Caesar claimed the title of dictator for life, perverting the forms of the Roman government which allowed for the dictatorship for brief periods of time in emergency situations; many Romans still remembered Sulla's unconstitutional dictatorship, and he stepped down voluntarily.

Augustus, however, was careful to preserve the outward forms of the republic. He called himself first citizen and made a show of consulting the senate, even while wielding de facto dictatorial power after his assumption of the tribunician potesta.

Plus, Caesar left most of his enemies alive to plot his murder, while Augustus had them proscribed and killed.

So, the short answer for the differences between Caesar and Augustus: valuing appearances and ruthless practicality.


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

[User]
ELI5:How does a spacecraft like Voyager I and Voyager II still contact earth from so far away.

What  kind of communication device does it use? How does it reach so far?

[Assistant]
Interesting fact of the day: Radio waves are the same as visible light waves. They're just at a much lower frequency.

Radio only goes so far on Earth's surface because there's so much crap in the way (ie: air, buildings, etc.) In space, there's nothing to get in the way.


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

[User] [Marvel Comics/MCU] If Deadpool wanted to explain his 4th wall breaking ability to someone, who would be the most likely superhero or mutant to believe him about our world existing?

[Assistant]
Definitely Dr Strange.

There's a comic where Strange explains to Gwenpool that universes leave impressions on each other, which is why events of one universe manifest as movies or comic books in a different universe. It's not a stretch to think that Wade somehow has the ability to see through to the other end of that tunnel.

Edit: It's likely not really that they manifest as media, but manifest in the minds of the people who *make* the media. So in a way, our universe impresses itself on Wade's mind the same way theirs left an impression on the minds of people in our universe, except instead of making comics or movies Deadpool just makes 4th wall jokes, knowing a version of him is appearing in entertainment media in another universe.


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

[User] ELI5: As it contains the largest uranium supply in the world, why doesn't Australia use nuclear power rather than being heavily reliant on other sources?

[Assistant] It's a matter of politics mostly. There have been a few times in which nuclear power has been suggested, but of course the opposition uses this as ammo at election time. "Will you re-elect the party that wants to build NUCLEAR power stations next to YOUR HOME?" etc etc. Along with that comes the general ignorance about the safety and cleanliness of nuclear energy in comparison to other types. And back to politics again, the greens are of course, staunchly opposed.


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

[User]
eli5: How come when we sit down where someone else has been sitting, it feels warm. Yet when we sit down where we have been sitting already, you dont feel anything.

Potentially dumb question but Ive been curious about this for a while.

[Assistant]
Neuroscientist here.

Your ass is not a thermometer. It senses changes, not real absolute values.

Here is an experiment anyone can do. 3 buckets. (1) gets hot water on your tap. (2) gets normal temp. (3) gets cold water plus some ice if youre feeling spicy.

 Dunk your hands in 1 and 3 for a minute. Then duck both into 2 and see how the temperature feels. Same temperature,  different change.

Anyway, your ass is the same.

New warm seat feels warm because your ass cold and not used to the seat.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why could Anakin not free his mother with the podracer money?

 I have always wondered why Anakin and Qui-Gon Jinn were not able to buy Shmi from Watto after they sold their winning podracer. We're aware that in the economy of Tatooine at that time, a single slave was somewhat comparable to the price of a podracer as evidenced by the second bet placed by Jinn. He offered the podracer Anakin built against the builder, but Watto was reluctant. The bet ultimately went through and Jinn bested Watto ensuring Anakin's freedom. Anakin returns to his mother and presents her with the sizable amount of money they received from selling his podracer. The very same podracer that finished first in the Boonta Eve podrace! Surely this was enough to buy Shmi? We know Jinn wished to free her because he attempted to bet for her freedom. Watto just lost several bets and surely would have wanted the extra money to purchase a new mechanic for his shop, but no records suggest Jinn even offered. Why not? If Shmi had come along Anakin may have never started down the path to the darkside at all.

[Assistant] The podracer profits went towards the cost of the replacement hyperdrive parts. Qui-Gon tried to get Shmi in the deal as well, but Watto refused, instead wagering which Qui-Gon could take with a roll of the dice ("Blue, the boy. Red, his mother."), and as much as he wanted to take Shmi with them, he had no choice.


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

[User]
ELI5: If glass is an insulator, how come when you touch a Plasma Ball, the beam inside goes to your finger/hand?

When a Plasma Ball is on, the beams go all over the place, but when you touch it, it knows your hand is there and they concentrate onto your hand or finger.

How is this possible?

[Assistant]
Insulator is a relative term. Electricity will travel the easiest way it can and in this case, it's easier to go through the glass, through your hand, to ground than it is to travel through the air.

Glass is not as conductive as things like metals so we'll call it an insulator, but that's just relative.


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

[User] ELI5 why we count years in terms of C.E. and B.C.E.

[Assistant]
The Roman Catholic Church, which controlled a major portion of the civilized world for over a thousand years, adopted the Julian Calendar, which is similar to the calendar that we have today. They started counting from the supposed birth of Jesus, calling the new period AD and the period before his birth as BC.

The calendar was later changed a little, and is now called the Gregorian Calendar. The reason the terms BCE (before the common era) and CE (common era) are used is because BC and AD sound religious.


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

[User]
Why are Australian universities so high ranked?

They may not be the highest ranked but globally, so many of them are in the world top 50. What's enabled them to do so well compared to other similar countries like Canada?

[Assistant] It really depends on the rankings youre referring to. In general, Australia is smaller than Canada and can dedicate more resources to fewer schools. Theyve also had explosive growth in students, mostly from China. This combination is a winning recipe for most rankings organizations.


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

[User] ELI5: what is it that makes women sound female and men sound male even when they talk at the same pitch?

[Assistant] Men usually have larger sinuses, which gives their voice more resonance than women. Also, men's voices are usually deeper than women's, so in order to speak at the same pitch they have to make their vocal cords much tighter, which changes the sound. Testosterone is a powerful drug..


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

[User]
[Avengers: Infinity War] What if Hulk had fought throughout the whole film?

Say after the fight with Thanos, Bruce retains complete control over the Hulk.  Tony, Dr. Strange, Wong, and Bruce are facing the Black Order. Instead of the Hulk refusing to come out , he bursts onto the scene. How does the film change?

[Assistant]
Not significantly, as Thanos was already capable of easily beating the Hulk.

Whatever incremental pressure Thanos would feel when fighting the Avengers would probably still allow him to get off his snap. Thor wouldn't aim for the head just because the big guy is there.


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

[User]
Why can the lone star tick bite make you allergic to red meat, if that very same allergene your body starts reacting to has always been present in the meat itself?

So I've heard that getting bitten by the lone star tick will make you allergic to red meat, specifically to saccharide "alpha-gal", present in most mammals, except humans. I wonder why we don't develop this allergy by eating the meat itself. Wouldn't that sugar circulate the body and be detected as foreign anyway? I'm sure I'm missing an important mechanism here, I just can't figure out why the body is fine with it as long as it's exclusively eaten, but after a bite you can't eat it anymore. I'm really curious about this acquired allergy.

[Assistant]
It doesn't happen when we eat alpha-gal because alpha-gal is not dangerous. The immune system confuses alpha-gal with the dangerous tick proteins after exposure to the tick proteins.

Immune cells generally learn to attack proteins. A protein is shaped kinda like a puzzle piece. It has a shape on the outside where it can attach to things.. Immune cells attach to these puzzle pieces so they can't attach to anything else and do damage. That's how they "deactivate" foreign proteins, viruses, etc. When the immune system attacks a protein it creates memory immune cells that keep the shape that fits into that protein puzzle piece so that if the protein returns it can be identified by the immune system, and trigger an attack on that protein.

When ticks bite you some of the proteins & stuff from their recent meals (generally mammals) get into the bite. When the immune system shows up, in addition to the tick's proteins which are causing damage, another thing they find *at the site where damage is occurring* is a mammal saccaride called alpha-gal. They make memory cells to protect against alpha-gal *even though that is not what's causing the damage* - it's just present when & where the tick proteins are causing damage. The immune system is confused.

EDIT: alpha-gal is the only true food allergy triggered by a non-protein. It's not totally known why but the theory is it just *looks* a lot like a protein to some people's immune systems.


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

[User] What experiments are currently being conducted to discover what dark matter/dark energy is?

[Assistant]
There are 3 main experiment types ongoing in the search for a particle candidate of dark matter.

First is what is known as "direct detection", whereby you infer the existence of dark matter in our galaxy by it's interactions with a large body of material (your detector). Typically these are noble liquid and the dark matter interacts with the nucleus of these liquid. The LZ experiment is an example of a direct detection experiment,

Second is known as "indirect detection", where you try and observe the photons produced from the self-annihilation of dark matter in our universe (similar to electron+positron annihilations). FermiLAT is an example of such an experiment.

Lastly is "collider experiments", where you collide particles in a particle accelerator with enough energy to produce dark matter. The detectors aren't able to detect the produced dark matter, instead they infer the existence of dark matter from the imbalance in momentum (should be balanced due to the conservation of energy). The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has a few results for such searches.

I am not so familiar with experiments on dark energy.


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

[User]
[MCU] Why couldn't Jarvis run the Iron Legion the way Tony and Bruce imagined?

Between Jarvis, Friday, Karen and all those other teased ai/operating systems(?) Tony had made, why wouldn't they be able to have a suit of armor around the world?

[Assistant] I guess Jarvis wasn't advanced enough in analysing difficult situations. Let's remember the extremis situation where he activated the house party protocol. He had to order Jarvis to target any individuals with a higher heat signature. It worked well enough but then one armor targeted Pepper. So... Jarvis seems to be limited in this way. If a suit around the world exists and Jarvis would make such mistakes, the program would be shut down immediatly.


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

[User] Can someone explain the confusing part of an article, provided inside, about 'Scientists May Have Finally Unlocked Puzzle of Why People Are Gay'?

[Assistant]
Ok, that IS very vague. I'll try and explain:

The authors mention that the epi-marks that increase likelihood of homosexuality tend to come from the **opposite sex parent**. So, in many cases, a woman, whose evolutionary advantage it is to reproduce and therefore be heterosexual, is passing her sexual insulation, as it were, to a male offspring. This isn't necessarily "advantageous" to the offspring, but having the feminization epi-mark may have been advantageous for *the mother* because it increased her probability of getting laid. The same would be true of the reverse situation, where a father's sufficient exposure to testosterone conserved his heterosexuality, but then was passed to a female offspring, increasing the likelihood of a gay daughter.

Does that make any sense?


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

[User]
What is expected to go on an undergraduate CV/Resume?

I am applying for a psychology REU for this summer and they have requested a CV/resume for my application. I am not sure what to put on there. If I were a graduate student or an upcoming professor, I might have a lot more material but as a young undergraduate I just dont know what to put on it. Should any of my high school achievements go on there if they are pertinent? Im looking for some advice so I can have the best chance for being accepted.

[Assistant] Your career services office is a good place to start, there might also be a branch of the graduate school/academic services that will look over your CV for you. Since it's an academic opportunity, run your CV past your faculty advisor for review. If you don't have an assigned faculty advisor, go to the prof you've worked with the most and trust. Give them at least two weeks heads up to review, they're busy. Typically you do not put anything from high school on your college CV, unless you won like a national award or something.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are potholes generally circular in shape and how do they form?

[Assistant]
Potholes can be caused by several things.

If you are in an area where the temperature drops below freezing the cause is most likely water. When water freezes it expands. Small cracks in the road will hold water and the expansion will open the cracks further. The continued abuse on the imperfection by more ice and traffic only makes it worse.

An imperfection in the road bed can also cause settling. This will cause the road surface to sink. Again the constant abuse by traffic only makes it worse.

Heavy trucks will also damage the road. The pressure of the tires will slowly push the road out of the way. You will notice this on roads where there are shallow ditches in the surface where the tires usually run. Also at intersections the force required to suddenly stop can push the road surface forward.

Rain can wash away the road bed. Heat can cause uneven expansion. Physical damage due to impacts with foreign objects create imperfections.

Maintaining roadways is a complex problem.


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

[User] In the USA...Why do I pay more taxes as an individual, than I would if I was married?

[Assistant]
The tax code in the U.S. is often used to support larger social objectives, like home ownership, caring for children and/or elderly parents, and to support certain nascent technologies (e.g., giving tax credits for installing solar panels). Marriage is one of those social objectives promoted by the tax code. It's slightly cheaper from a tax standpoint (usually--see below) to remain married than to divorce. And, at least until recently with the adoption of gay marriage in many states, this was a way that the tax code discriminated against homosexual couples.

Incidentally, it is not always the case that "married filing jointly" is the best option even for a couple who are married. Sometimes, (e.g., if the spouses don't have similar salaries and the one making less has large medical bills and one can itemize the medical bills) significant tax savings can be reaped by filing separately. Also, particularly as one moves into the upper income brackets, there can be significant disparity between rates when filing separately and jointly.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is dental not considered a health matter and not covered under medical insurance when poor dental health can lead to a variety of life threatening conditions?

In that same vein, why does it seem that no two dentists can agree on the services a person needs? Is the industry less regulated?

Edit: For the folks saying most dental issues would go away if people took care of their teeth- yes and no. Some people are pre-disposed to more cavities and gum disease regardless of how much they clean and floss. Also, if that's the reasoning behind not covering dental and it not being a health matter, why are we still covering smokers or people who develop heart disease or diabetes who refuse to change their diets? Arguing that we should not cover dental because it's largely preventative ignores the high fat/sodium/diets the American public consumes and is likewise covered under medical insurance. Gum disease and tooth decay can lead to life threatening conditions in the same way a high sugar diet can lead to diabetes. What's the difference?

[Assistant] Because health insurance originated in hospitals (as a way to provide a more stable income for them and easier to plan expense for patients) and they covered the people who provided services within hospitals.  Dentists rarely are affiliated with hospitals, so they started their own insurance programs.


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

[User] ELI5: What happens to eyelashes that get stuck below my eyelid that I never get out?

[Assistant] They eventually come out on their own, potentially during REM sleep, but more likely when you're awake.  You often won't feel them if they stay away from your cornea, and you'll just rub it away when it reaches the edge of your eyelid.


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

[User]
CMV: The Lord of the Rings film series is much better than the Harry Potter film series

I was blown away by the LotR trilogy and consider them some of the best blockbusters of all time but was rather underwhelmed by the HP movies.  I don't think HP is terrible but I found them to be mediocre.  They didn't resonate with me.   Here are some of the reasons why I liked the LotR films much more than the HP films.

1.

The soundtrack.

Some of the HP music is great (Hedwig's theme, ending music of 1,2, and 8, Mischief Managed, Buckbeak's Flight, A Window to the Past) but as a whole the HP soundtrack pales in comparison to LotR.  In just the second half of The Fellowship of the Ring you have tracks such as Khazad-dm, Parth Galen, The Departure of Boromir, and The Road Goes Ever On... , Pt. 1.  For me, LotR's soundtrack blows HP's soundtrack out of the water.

2.

The battles.

HP's action is smaller than LotR's in scale but is also smaller in entertainment value.  Wands are almost only used to block attacks, shoot quick projectiles, and send out small to medium size AOE attacks.  The action is often  people shooting offensive insta-kill spells at each other and blocking attacks with little effort.  It is difficult to figure out who is winning and exactly why the victor wins.  LotR varies the action significantly with the characters being placed in more unique situations.  The night time portion of the Battle of Helm's Deep is a great example. The action is varied and constantly keeps the viewer engaged.  The action in HP isn't awful but is nowhere near as good as the action in LotR.

3.

The world.

There are some elements in the world of LotR that I don't like but for the most part the world that the movies show seems natural and the rules are clear.  On the other hand, the world of HP doesn't make any sense.  For example, we are supposed to believe that there are thousands if not millions of wizards and people who know about wizards in a world very similar to our own yet somehow the existence of wizards does not become known to the majority of the population.   The movies have various scenes involving magic that break the audience's suspension of disbelief such as the broom ride over the river in London, the battle at the beginning of Deathly Hallows Part 1, and a dragon flying over London in Deathly Hallows Part 2.  Also, the rules of the world are very inconsistent.  In Chamber of Secrets, it is made clear that the voice of a person is not changed by the poly juice potion yet in Goblet of Fire a major plot point is that a person is able to impersonate someone else notably using their voice.  Hermione has a time turner in Prisoner of Azkaban but then doesn't use it during any of the other movies. LotR has some problems with the world (not enough explanation about Gandalf's power level, no explanation for the eagles, it isn't explained if the other rings have powers or not) but it is far better than HP in this regard.

4.

The Bloat.

I usually am ok with a movie series taking its time to get through the story, but HP really annoyed me.  Large portions of the film could be completely removed without affecting the main plot, the development of the characters, or the state of the world in any meaningful way.  In some cases such as the parts about Gringotts in Deathly Hallows Part 2, you could remove parts of the main plot and you wouldn't lose anything of note.   The romance doesn't affect the characters in any meaningful way.
LotR takes its time but has few unnecessary elements.  Sure, you could cut some stuff out but it doesn't suffer from bloat as much as HP.

5

The Characters.

I really liked the members of the Fellowship since they are friends who are trying to do what they think is right.  The characters aren't perfect but seem like good people.  By comparison, the trio in Harry Potter
is nowhere near as likable.  Ron is a flawed character but it is obvious that the audience was supposed to like him.  I hated him.  He has very few redeeming qualities, adds little to the group, and is mean and disloyal to his friends.  On the other hand, Hermione is much more likeable but suffers from lacking any real flaws.  She comes off as bland since she doesn't even seem like a real person.  These problems with characterization made it difficult to care about the trio.

6.

The Narrative

In LotR there is alot of emotion in the story.  Frodo decides to sacrifice comfort and safety with the Fellowship for the greater good by traveling to Mordor alone.  Despite Gondor not supporting Rohan, Theoden decides to assist Gondor.  Gollum tries to become better and fight against the ring and succeeds for a time.

In HP the main characters don't make any decisions with the same emotional impact save for Harry's choice to sacrifice himself in Deathly Hallows Part 2.  However, we know that he won't die since he gets the resurrection stone right before he goes to Voldemort so much of the emotional weight is gone.  It's difficult to be emotionally invested in the story when you are either not emotionally invested in the characters or know that their decision won't have significant consequences.

These are some of the thoughts I have.   Change my view.

EDIT:

Changed the names of the films from acronyms to their full titles minus "The Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter and the."

[Assistant]
I agree that the Lord of the Rings series is better than the Harry Potter series in almost all but one category: The demography of children.

The harry potter movies (especially the first ones) were made with children in mind (and teenagers). The lord of the rings movies weren't. Even the Hobbit adaptation, which in book-form was more child-friendly, became hollywoodized and more adult in tone and form.

For a child, the harry potter movies probably seem much more magical and immersive, whereas the heavier material in the lord of the rings might be more difficult to take in.


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

[User] ELI5: since whales and dolphins breath air, why do they die so quickly when "beached"?

[Assistant]
depending on what you mean by quick - they can live for at least a few hours outside the water (dolphins potentially a lot longer since weight is not such an issue), so that's not really what i would consider a quick death.

the factors are weight (they are lighter in water, heavier out of water, so they essentially crush themselves), temperature (water helps keep them cool, so outside water they overheat), and hydration (they drink a lot).

when you see people on a beach throwing water on them, its to help with the body temperature issue.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do clothes and towels smell bad when they 're left to dry crumpled up, but fine when hung or dried in a dryer?

[Assistant]
The bad smell you are referring to comes from bacteria on the towel. Those bacteria thrive and reproduce more on a wet towel, than a dry towel. The more bacteria on the towel, the more it will smell.

So the difference is that a crumpled towel has less surface area exposed to the air, and therefore less water evaporating. Since there is more water, there is more bacteria, and hence more stank.

Edit: same goes with other clothes. The dryer a thing is, the less bacteria can thrive. Wrinkles allow moisture to stay longer.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do we wake up?

If we're sleeping and hear a loud noise or someone nudges us we tend to wake up from our sleep. But if no one bothers us what makes our bodies wake us up?

[Assistant] Your brain wakes you up. It has an internal clock which regulates the body, and it can prepare your body to wake up and eventually bring you back into consciousness. If you establish a regular sleeping schedule, your internal clock will adapt to it, often waking you up just before your alarm.


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

[User] I have about $100,000 in student debt. For my own economic well-being, should I be in favor of policies that lead to inflation?

[Assistant]
You should be in favor of any policies that lead to increases in nominal income.

You have a fixed nominal (dollar) payment of $100,000, which must come out of your nominal income stream. Any policy that raises nominal income, helps you.


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

[User] ELI5: Why am I often very tired during the day, but struggle to fall asleep at night?

[Assistant]
What is your activity level?

 How much caffeine do you ingest and at what time?

What is your diet like?

How much stress is in your life, and how much of it is long term worries out of your immediate control (like large debt) and how much is short term stress (such as tasks at work?)


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

[User] ELI5: Why is smiling (showing teeth) considered friendly and reassuring in humans, but threatening in most other mammals?

[Assistant] When a human smiles, it's not the showing of the teeth that is the friendly part but the rest of the face around it. Baring of the teeth is relatively coincidental to the movements of the cheeks and look in the eye; a human can snarl threateningly just the same way any other animal would and that bares teeth just as much as a smile does. On top of that, we now know chimpanzees smile the same way humans do, just a bit less exaggerated.


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

[User]
How do we know the chemistry of other celestial bodies in the universe?

We are able to figure out the elemental makeup of nebula clouds, asteroids, and even the atmospheres of exoplanets.

How is this? Are these just calculations based on objects in the solar system? Or is there a way to detect the chemical makeup of things lightyears away?

[Assistant] Spectra.  Each element emits photons at very specific wavelengths when its electrons dop from excited to ground state.  When we observe light from a celestial body we can break that light down into its separate component wavelengths and determine which elements are present in what relative concentrations.


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

[User] [Star Wars] If you took away a Jedi/Sith's Force powers away, how much of a combatant would they be, with just a lightsabre, but no superspeed, pre-cog, etc?

[Assistant]
Without their precognition, a lightsaber really isn't a great weapon by itself. Their primary usage of it, deflecting blaster bolts, is nearly impossible to do without precog.

Essentially, without the Force, they wouldn't even *be* Jedi/Sith/whatever other religion they were a part of. They'd just be mercenaries trained in a certain style, not much different from the Mandalorians.


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

[User] [Marvel] Does the spirit of vengeance speak to Johnny in the same way as the symbiote speak to Eddie ?

[Assistant] Not really. The Spirit of Vengeance is in control of the Ghost Rider when manifested, but in the same way a mortal's soul is in control of their body. Johnny Blaze didn't even realize it was a separate entity at first, and thought it was a manifestation of his own wickedness.


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

[User]
[MCU] Why does She-Hulk look like a regular woman while the Hulk looks like a 2 ton giant?

I saw some pictures of the cover of a she hulk comic and she just looks like a female body builder. Also the expression she was making suggested she was conscious of things around her as opposed to the hulk which always looks like he has a loose grasp on reality.

So how come the hulk becomes a massive giant while she-hulk just looks like a regular girl that happens to be green?

[Assistant]
Immortal Hulk gives this explanation.

Banner suppressed himself his whole life. He was scared of his long repressed hatred and resentment, so his Hulk became the person he was always afraid he would become- a destructive monster fuelled only by rage.

Walters was ignored her whole life. She didn't fear an inner darkness, she feared never being seen for all her accomplishments. So *her* Hulk became the person she always dreamed of being- strong, confident, beautiful, heroic.

Banner became the person he held himself back from becoming, Walters became the person she was held back from becoming. Gamma mutates are "metaphor people"- what they become is based on the host as much as the radiation.


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

[User]
[X-Men] Quicksilver's powers

Now this is in regards to Quicksilver's powers in Apocalypse, but in general for speedsters, I can understand them being able to control their running, but how can they control the speed at which they fall? Like they can watch people fall in slow motion, because their mind is going faster than normal time, but their own falling speed can't be stopped from becoming lethal.

[Assistant]
With most powers that defy the physical laws of a normal human's body, they have secondary powers to cope with literally everything like that.

In his specific case his mutations actually adapted to that of a person who'd be able to move at those speeds. No real hand waving. He has tougher skin and stronger bones to deal with the impact of running, and of course falling at those speeds. He has a coating over his eyes that allows him to keep his eyes open at those speeds. Tougher joints and ligaments to prevent his body from just separating, and so on so forth.


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

[User] [Castlevania - Netflix] Why is the "Belmont" family name so feared, if they're just normal humans with good monster killing training?

[Assistant] Because they are VERY good at it. They are so good at it that not only did the first Belmont survive the worlds most dangerous profession to breed MORE Belmonts, they were able to build a castle FILLED with things to kill any imaginable type of monster and (this is the important part) DEFEND IT FROM MONSTERS WHO NO DOUBT TRIED TO STOP THE CONSTRUCTION.


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

[User]
ELI5:How do all extra calories turn into fat?

If I eat an extra 3,500 calories of nothing but fat-free protein powder I will gain a pound.  However I didn't eat any fat.  How do all calories turn into "fat" when we overeat.

A second question would be why hasn't human evolution changed our metabolisms because we clearly get enough food to not need to store it up like we did a thousand years ago.

[Assistant]
The wording of your question leads me to believe that you have little background in basic biochemistry so here comes your ELI5 answer, starting at the basics.

When you eat food, your body breaks it down into tiny pieces. The fats and carbohydrates(Bread and pasta etc) get turned into glucose mostly. This is what your cells use for energy, and when there is extra left over, it gets turned into body fat. Proteins get turned into little bits called amino acids. These are basically still protein, just in their tiny broken down form. If you eat more protein than your body needs at the time, your body does not want to waste it, so the next step is to turn the amino acids into more glucose, because your body can easily use and store that. It takes a little more energy to do it this way because it has more steps, but it keeps your body from wasting what you have eaten.

TLDR: Everything can turn into body fat if you eat too much of it.

As for your second question. Evolution hasn't changed our metabolisms for two reasons. First, there hasn't been enough time. It takes thousands and thousands of years for a big change like that to happen, and our diets have only changed like this within the last few hundred years. Second, most of us don't die from it before we can reproduce. For evolution to happen on a noticeable scale, it would have to interrupt our reproduction capabilities on a massive scale. Certainly there are some people that are too obease to reproduce, but for most of humanity, even unhealthy fat people can reproduce and therefor pass on their genes.


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

[User]
CMV: Derrick Chauvin will be acquitted

1. The toxicology report is absolutely damning to the charges against him
2. The Prosecution will have to do " dictatorial" gymnastics to be able to prove his guilt.
3. The maneuver of using a knee to subdue a subject was MPD protocol and,
4. A civil lawsuit is the only thing that has a chance of getting some kind of justice if it is even warranted.
5. Feelings do not give you the ability to prosecute someone for something they did in your head

I think a lot of people have very strong feelings about what happened to George Floyd, as do I.  It was a hard thing to watch, but now that new evidence has emerged like the toxicology report, it is apparent other factors are at play here, and those factors, if found evident, do not constitute murder, or manslaughter.

I understand the eggshell defense kind of comes at play here, and that is literally the only thing saving the DA.  Please, help me understand how DC is guilty of someone's negligent actions.

Lastly, I do not want to hear anything about "How bad he was, and his past actions were terrible."  His past actions have nothing to do with the case, just the actions that potentially lead to his death.

[Assistant]
> 3. The maneuver of using a knee to subdue a subject was MPD protocol and,

But Floyd was already subdued for plenty of minutes. Is it protocol to once you have very clearly subdued somebody, continue subduing them?


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

[User] Apart from Pluto being small what made them decide to change the status of the planet?

[Assistant]
The same thing that happened last time planets got demoted.

Back in the early 19th century they discovered 4 of some of the largest asteroids, and they called them "planets". This situation persisted for nearly 4 decades, but then they started discovering more asteroids. First a few, then after a couple years they were detecting dozens per year. It became obvious that the first 4 asteroids weren't just quirky members of the family of planets, they were fully representative members of a much different population of bodies, and their designation was adjusted accordingly (though asteroids are still called "minor planets" to this day in astronomy).

In the case of Pluto the delay was much longer, but the same thing happened. Starting around the 1990s we started discovering that there were kuiper belt and trans-Neptunian objects (KBOs and TNOs) which were much larger than we had anticipated they would be, some of them even as large or larger than Pluto. It then became obvious that Pluto wasn't truly a representative member of the rocky or gaseous planets but instead it along with Charon and Triton were members of a large family of TNOs. Icy bodies in the outer Solar System that were up to 1000 km or more in radius. Eris, for example, is practically the same size as Pluto and has a somewhat similar orbit (highly elliptical and inclined).

As to why we don't simply consider every notable body to be on an equal level of importance, that's a somewhat complicated question. Partly it's just because it's hard to memorize large numbers of things, and there are already as many TNOs as there are planets.


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

[User]
ELI5 How did planes in the 1940s know their altitude?

They didnt have a sonar or something that would have helped them determine their altitude, right?

[Assistant] The easiest way to measure altitude is by measuring the air pressure. The higher you go the lower the pressure. It is a bit more complex then that. Moving air creates different presures over the hull then stationary air so you need a good place to measure the pressure at or compensate for it. Weather also affects the pressure so you need to calibrate for this, especially during landing. But in general a good barometer is the best way to measure altitude and is still used on airplanes today.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] Does America have a problem with school spellings? Is there legislation to prevent this?

Given the school shootings epidemic, it seems unwise to equip a bunch of children with deadly wands. How do wizard schools prevent school spellers?

[Assistant]
Wizards are more resilient than Muggles and have better medical care. We know from the books that students often fall victim to hexes, curses, or physical attacks and bounce back pretty quickly. (Malfoy was turned into a ferret, the Weasley twins used to prank a lot of people by magic, and Hogwarts is filled with trap rooms and curses that could harm someone).

There are some curses that are lethal or dangerous but they seem to be rare and difficult to perform. Moody told his class that the Killing Curse is hard to perform even if you know the incantation, and Snapes specialty curses are rare and self designed  not something your Adam Lanzas and Trenchcoat Mafia types would all be able to do. Im sure it happens, but its probably not much worse than regular shootings are in real life.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] As the series progresses, is Harry still as famous as he was in his 1st-2nd year for being The Boy Who Lived?

When Harry was just starting at Hogwarts and knowing about the magic world almost every person who saw him made a big deal about him like he was a celebrity in the same level as Lockhart, especially in his first 2 years of school.

Does this still happen after that?

Was people still reacting to him the same way in his later years or even after that?

Side question: How these people new how Harry looked like?? He lived secretly with his family and didn't go out during his childhood so just a really few people new where he lived and later when he was not there he was in Hogwarts. The legend only said that he had a scar in his forehead and that scar was covered by his hair most of the time.

[Assistant]
His fame tends to grow, to his detriment. In the first book, it's just him being the focus of everyone in his school and the only time we've seen him mentioned by non-students or staff are at Diagon Alley and when Mrs Weasley tells her kids not to harass Harry.

In the second, he's strong-armed into a photo-shoot by Gilderoy Lockhart. He's also the victim of some unsavoury rumors as a result of the Heir of Slytherin nonsense.

The third book, things are rather quiet. It helps that the staff are trying to shield him from the knowledge of Sirius Black's association with his parents.

From the fourth year onwards, things go completely to shit. He cannot hide from the press anymore due to the fact that he's in the Triwizard or Rita Skeeter's blatant libel (not helped by the fact that he openly told her to get stuffed so she put out hit pieces on him) or the accusations of cheating levelled against him by the rest of the school, and now everyone wants to know more about him.

From the fifth, his reputation is utterly ruined due to Skeeter's lies during the previous years or the Ministry's slander, but he's successfully vindicated inside the school due to Umbridge's utter tyranny showing the students that the Ministry has something to hide, some violent crimes which everyone is noticing (such as the murder of Igor Karkaroff, former Death Eater and head of Durmstrang) and - by year's end - evidence that Voldemort was indeed back.

Harry's reputation is back to being a prophecised hero in his sixth year, but he's actively against being used in propaganda by the Ministry who are trying to white-wash the abuses they levelled against him last year.

Then he's a pariah again due to Voldemort's taking over the Ministry, but everyone knows that it's bullshit and are actively supporting him.

Then, when the dust is cleared, he's more famous as an adult than he was as a kid.


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

[User] Why does the sound of "nails on a chalkboard" trigger a viscerally negative reaction in many people?

[Assistant] It's a "rough", non-harmonic sound with lots of frequencies in the part of the spectrum that our ears are most sensitive to, centered around 3khz. This is the zone that babies cry in, police sirens, etc. focus on.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do you have to "charge" glow in the dark stuff?

You know how you have to hold glow in the dark items under light to "activate" them?  The only answer my drunken, man-child brain can muster is that it traps the light and holds for later use.  I'm also pretty sure that is incorrect.

[Assistant]
That's actually pretty much correct.

It is called "phosphorescence" and basically means that it doesn't re-emit the light that it absorbs immediately (the way light shining on a red object would just absorb and then reflect back red light immediately at the same strength as the light that hit it, since it is all at once).

Phosphorescent materials absorb the light and then release it *slowly* over time by releasing it with lowered intensity.

That's why glow-in-the-dark items won't glow as bright as the light that was shining on them originally, but they can last longer.


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

[User] Is taking online college level courses viewed any differently then taking the same course in class, for a secondary school?

[Assistant] It depends on the school from which the courses are taken. If youre taking online courses as part of a larger program at a reputable school, its a non-issue. If youre taking courses from an online only school, like Univ of Phoenix or similar, those may not be looked upon as favorably. Of course, this all depends on what youre planning on doing with the courses later.


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

[User] Why did the pages of my book wrinkle as they dried after I dropped it in the toilet?

[Assistant]
You know how napkins/toilet paper/tissues tend to completely disintegrate when you let them soak in water for a while? That's what's happening, but on a smaller scale.

The presence of water in paper disrupts the intermolecular forces that hold individual cellulose molecules together. So instead of staying in place, the cellulose molecules can start to move around. As the paper dries out, the intermolecular forces come into play again, but now all the cellulose molecules are in a different position from before. This leads to the wrinkly or wavy look of water-damaged paper.

In the future, you can minimize the waviness by compressing the book (or just the affected pages) with a heavy object until you're sure that it's completely dry. This will minimize how much the cellulose fibers move around.


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

[User]
Do billionaires pay for everything by selling their stocks?

I know some billionaires get paid $1 salary like the former Steve Jobs and mark zuckerberg. Their wealth comes from the amount of stocks that they own in the company. So if they were to buy things by selling their stocks, wouldnt that drain their ownership in the company? If someone is worth, say 1.5 billion and they buy a 150 million dollar yacht and mansion, wouldnt that drain 10% off their ownership of the company?

[Assistant]
I work for JPM and one of our best products is a line of credit based securitized by their investments (SBL). The lines are pegged to LIBOR so the interest rates are really low. So if their money is earning 8% and theyre paying 3% to borrow against it, theyre still up 5% without ever selling to use their money. Its almost not fair.

EDIT: Elon has been known to live off his massive LOC.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do birds, or other animals with eyes on opposite sides of their head, see? Is it two separate fields of vision or is it some how panoramic?

The title pretty much asks it all.  If a bird is on the ground looking up at me with one side of their face, do they see me and the ground (on the other side of their face) at the same time in separate fields or does their brain make it panoramic somehow? Is it even possible to know?

[Assistant] Some see two seperate things with both eyes, some animals like chameleons have control of both eyes and what they are looking at, horses can see about 340 degrees around them due to eye locations and the shape of their pupils. So it will vary from animal to animal.


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

[User] ELI5: why has silver and gold been historically valuable?

[Assistant] They are shiny, pretty, mostly corrosion-resistant and rare. The are also easily malleable and meltable at relatively low temperatures so can be formed into useful shapes without advanced tools/technology or too much work.


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

[User] [Avengers: Infinity War] Why didn't Thanos just snap and use the Mind Stone later to subjugate the Universe into accepting what happened?

[Assistant] Because he honestly believed that people would be thrilled to have fewer neighbors, and that he wouldn't need to make them accept a new status quo. In his mind, the quality of life was going to be so great, that people would embrace it without coercion. He thinks he's building a paradise.


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

[User] ELI5: How does the gravel under train tracks stay level so the train doesn't make it slide?

[Assistant] More than anything, the tracks themselves are made using strict guidelines. This helps to keep the weight distributed well across all the wood at the bottom and in turn the gravel/dirt underneath it. The gravel also does a very good job of holding the dirt underneath in its place keeping it from moving around.


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

[User]
[Night at the Museum] Why do the wax figurines behave like historical people?

In the first movie, the Teddy Roosevelt statue at some point has a small breakdown, revealing that he is only a statue, never did the things he's talking about and only knows of them because he read them in the museum and heard from guides.

But how does this apply to the huns, Neanderthals and the wax statues that more or less behave like the culture they are from? And why do the Roman and Egyptian people speak English, but pretty much no others?

[Assistant]
Thats not what Teddy Roosevelt said. He told Larry that he *(teddy)* was aware that he was made of wax and not the figure of the century past; that theyre different beings.

He never tells Larry that he only knows of Teddy Roosevelt because of museum plaques. Which seems to be the crux of the question.

Wax Teddy *does* have flesh Teddys memories but he also has the sapience to understand that theyre not the same being; the same person.

As for the other figures knowing English and other languages; part of it is exposure, we see some cases are sound proof so theyre not hearing people speak English enough to make connections.

And some who do hear the language dont put the effort in learning. Because theyre people and people put effort in learning different languages at different levels.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why can't people in the US sue individual police officers like we can doctors?

If something happens to me in the OR, I'm able to sue both the hospital and the individual doctors involved (the reason they carry malpractice insurance).  Why is it then that I'm only able to sue the police force as a whole and not the individual officers as well?

[Assistant]
The state asserts "sovereign immunity". In other words, you can't sue the King (or the King's agents, etc.) unless the King agrees to let you. We don't have a King, but our government retains sovereign immunity.

There are many times you can sue the state even when it doesn't want to let you. Exceptions to sovereign immunity have been carved out of many laws and are commonplace, but one place it is not is in the exercise of police power.  It makes good sense for this to be so, or everyone who was arrested would sue, and the police force would be unable to operate.

Typically the redress for issues with police misbehavior is through the ballot box, not the court system.  The police are accountable to elected authorities, who can, will and do force them to alter their behavior and in some cases waive immunity so a lawsuit against truly egregious behavior can go forward.


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

[User]
Is there ANY scientific evidence to suggest that you can influence the probability of your offspring being a particular gender?

There are many old wives tales and the occassional blog or blogtervisement claiming that you can increase your chances of conceiving boy or girl according to your preference.

Is there any fragment of truth to any of them or are they all complete horseshit?

[Assistant]
If your old wives' tale involves ultracentrifugation of a semen sample to separate sperm by the mass difference between the X and Y chromosomes, then there might be something to it.

EDIT: That's the way it's often done for the livestock industry and perhaps some humans - that or sorting the cells with a fluorescent dye attached to an antibody that specifically binds one sex chromosome or the other. If there were a simpler way, you'd better believe they'd be all over that.


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

[User]
Does the photon sphere around a black hole actually contain a significant number of photons? Or do they all decay into unstable orbits?

I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding the concept here but photons can exist in a 'straight' spacetime path at 1.5 times the Schwarzschild radius? But if on one side of the black hole there is slightly more particles than on the other then wouldn't they warp the Schwarzschild radius at that specific point enough so that the photons in the photon sphere would require a slightly different energy to stay in orbit?

Does the photon sphere actually exist? Maybe I'm misunderstanding the math but wouldn't it be extremely easy to disrupt the orbit?

[Assistant] The orbits are classically unstable anyway. The only way a photon could orbit a black hole is if it were emitted on the photon sphere and tangential to it or far away from the black hole with *just* the right impact parameter (in this case angular momentum to energy ratio).


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

[User] why does a nuclear explosion create an EMP?

[Assistant]
When a nuclear weapon explodes, it releases a lot of high-energy gamma rays as part of its general explosive output. These gamma rays interact with the air molecules around it via the Compton effect, ionizing the particles and stripping out their electrons. These (negatively-charged) electrons and the (positively-charged) ionized particles are accelerated outward by the burst. The electrons travel faster, however, than the ionized particles, meaning that the region close to the burst has a net positive charge and the region further away has a net negative charge. This brief separation of charges produces an electric field that peaks at about 10^-8 seconds. In a few tens of microseconds the field strength falls off, but can still be pretty strong if the yield of the weapon is high enough. This field can be picked up by metallic conductors in the same way that a radio antenna picks up radio frequencies, and can be converted into electric currents and high voltages, which can damage the electronics in question.

The above is somewhat paraphrased from Samuel Glasstone, _The Effects of Nuclear Weapons_ (1977 edn.), chapter XI.


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

[User]
How do baryons (ie. a neutron) react to being hit by a boson?

I know that if a boson is absorbed by an electron, the electron will absorb the energy of the boson by jumping up energy levels and then falling back down and emit more bosons.

However, how does that interaction play out between bosons and baryons? For example, if an xray or a gamma ray hits a neutron or proton directly, how does the particle react? Does the boson impart kinetic energy, does it go right through? etc.

[Assistant]
A boson is just any particle with integer spin. So there are tons of bosons, each with their own couplings to baryons.

Gamma rays on protons can undergo a variety of different processes. Neutrons don't have a net electric charge, so they don't couple as strongly to photons.

The forces between nucleons can be modeled using effective field theories, where the exchange particles are mesons (which are bosons), such as pions.

Also you could include any nucleus with integer spin as a boson, in which case there are a whole host of nuclear reactions which can occur between them.


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

[User]
[Snowpiercer] Do the people at the back not suffer from vitamin D deficiency?

There's no windows at the back and I'm sure they haven't seen the sun in 18 years, which isn't enough time to evolve into not needing it.

[Assistant] Yes they do.  Among many other nutritional deficiencies.  And among the challenges faced by the people in the back of the train, nutritional deficiencies are just one entry, fairly low down the list.


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

[User]
How to reconcile the term 'non-binary', its refusal to belong to a category and its creation of what is essentially another category?

It strikes me the term 'non-binary' is an attempt to leave behind dualistic notions about gender identity and to escape categorisation.

I suppose I'm wondering if it's a fallacy to essentially create a category that is defined by its refusal to belong to a category in a sense?

I'm interested in reading more about this topic so any recommendations would be welcome.

[Assistant]
The problem that you raise about the term 'non-binary' would be a real problem, if the term was instead something like 'non-categorizable.' If someone categorizes their gender as 'non-categorizable,' then maybe they have undermined themselves. But if someone categorizes their gender as 'non-binary'--meaning that it does not fit into a specific \*two-gender\* categorization schema--and if by categorizing their own gender that way they thereby implicitly endorse a \*three-gender\* categorization schema, then they have not undermined their own position in any way.

It is important not to conflate: (a) claiming that something does not fit into either of two particular categories and (b) claiming that something does not fit in any possible category. Those are relevantly different.


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

[User]
How did our ancestors with insufficient vision survive?

This is a question I have bounced around in my head from time to time. I was born with poor vision (-3.75 in my left, -3.25 in my right), and recently underwent LASIK eye surgery. It went perfectly and I now have 20/20 vision.

Eyesight seems to be a trait inherited through genetics (Correct me if i'm wrong on this.), as it seems that people whose parents have poor eyesight are much more likely to end up wearing glasses/contacts/etc.
I imagine that not being able to see clearly ten feet in front of you would have been a severe disadvantage when in any kind of conflict, or even living in general.

My question(s):
How big a role did poor eyesight play while we were evolving from previous ancestors?
Why is it so common in our species despite being an obvious severe disadvantage, really no matter how you look it?

Do other species have issues with poor eyesight as much as humans do? (As in a dog born with poor eyes, not like a bat with naturally poor eyes.)

Edit: A couple of typos and clarity.

[Assistant] There is evidence suggesting that early humans had somewhat better vision than humans today.  To answer your question bluntly, they didn't.  Those with poor eyesight when hunting/gathering was the main food source probably died out.  Since humans no longer rely so heavily on vision (an other senses, for that matter) and there are modern remedies for poor eyesight, it is much less of a factor in sexual selection.


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

[User] [Star Wars] What was the fallout on Yavin 4 from the destruction of a small moon size object getting blown up just above it?

[Assistant] The Death Star was actually rather far from the moon, it's likely there wouldn't be much debris large enough to make it through the atmosphere.  What *was* destructive was the massive imperial counterattack.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How does bringing balance to the force work? Didn't Anakin imbalance it?

Balance of the force requires dark and light, because there is no dark and light, there is only the force.

So doesn't Anakin and the Emperor dying make it unbalanced, being 1 jedi and 0 sith?

Wouldn't balance require equal amounts of dark and light?

[Assistant]
Balance to the Force *does not* require both sides.

Really, balance is the wrong word. It's more in line with harmony.

The Jedi strive to live in harmony with the Force, in it's natural state.

The Sith upset the Force through their use of the dark side, disrupting the natural way of things. This causes the imbalance, which Anakin fixes when he casts off the mantle of Darth Vader and throws Palpatine into the pit.


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

[User]
[DC] Why is the Jokers insanity treated like a superpower?

You hear people say "oh, joker cant be mindraped, he is too insane" or joker can look at Cthulhu and would just laugh, he is just that insane" and so on. I mean, how does simple insanity help you against telepathy and elder gods? Or is it a superpower in itself?

[Assistant]
So these things have two different explanations which actually have surprisingly little to do with each other.

Telepathy. Imagine you are an avid reader of comics, you love them are read them all the time. One day you come across a comic that a real amature has put together. The panels are out of order, the speech balloons don't have any chronological logic, the art is so bad it is hard to tell what is going on and the plot is incredibly convoluted and requires a great deal of background that you just don't have. You can read this comic but it will take a lot of time and effort and will likely give you a headache and be really disappointing. That is what it is like to try telepathy on an insane person.

Witnessing elder things. The reason you go mad when you see elder things isn't magical. The reason is that when you see them it becomes very clear that your life, your society, your planet, even your reality is meaningless in the face of something so vast and powerful. If you were an ant and you saw a kid with a magnifying glass and you could understand what you were seeing that is what it would be to see the least of the elder gods. The reason you go mad is that going mad is an entirely reasonable response to your situation. The joker knows that everything is meaningless and nothing he does matters, so why would further confirmation of that fact make him go any more mad than he already is?


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How is Leia able to keep control over her grief and even show happiness right after her planet and family got blown up?

Right after the Battle of Yavin, she appeared super happy.

[Assistant]
She is a politican, and she have been an important member of the Rebellion for years. This ain't the first setback. Storing feelings like grief to deal with later in private are just an expected part of the job.

Striking a massive blow against the Empire and avoiding getting a second planet with yourself and the bulk of the Rebellion blown up sweetens the deal a lot, too.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] How is Hermione allowed to repair Harry's Glasses outside of Hogwarts?

In The Chamber of Secrets, after Hagrid rescues Harry from Nocturne alley, they run into Hermione and she fixes his broken glasses, how does this not fall under the under age magic rule?

[Assistant]
It's explained in the book that the Trace can only detect magic being used in the vicinity of an underage Witch or Wizard, which is why Fred and George could use magic at their house to make the things they sell, the Ministry knows someone used magic but assume it was the parents and expect the parents to discipline any underage magic use.

Likewise, Hermione is in Diagon Alley, a place filled with underage Witches and Wizards and their parents, as well as others just going about their day. Thus the ministry has no idea an underage Witch (Hermione) used magic so can't punish something like that.


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

[User]
[WH40k/Mass Effect] The Reapers waiting in dark space make contact with a Tyranid Hive Fleet.

This question has three possible sets of parameters, answer which ever one seems most interesting to you.

1.Tyranids arrive right before Mass Effect 3 (in ME universe).

2.Reapers make contact with Hive Fleet Kraken (40K Universe)

3.Reapers make contact with Tyranids in a "neutral" universe where no other factors are taken into account.

[Assistant]
The Reapers are eaten. The Reapers are biomechanical, containing sufficient organic components and reserves to warrant being consumed. They are also infinately fewer in number than the Tyranids, and still bound ny relativistic limitations during combat. In all cases, they would be consumed, their non-organic components left floating in space unless easily digested.

The only complication would lie with their Indoctrination procedures. However, these were shown to be rather ineffective against the Rachnii, which required more direct means of control, so what little information we have about Indoctrination indicates a vulnerability to hive-consciousness, thus potentially rendering the Tyranids immune.

Even if not initially immune, the Hive Mind would develop a way to block the psychic interference.

*edit* If, in scenario 2, it was ONLY Hive Fleet Kraken, the Reapers may win. They probably have enough firepower to neutralise a single Hive Fleet, if gathered together.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What wouldve been the consequences of Dooku outing Palpatine as Darth Sidious in the middle of the Clone Wars?

Assuming he somehow had irrefutable proof.

[Assistant]
Star Wars theory did a vid on this but the timeline was that dooku told everyone at the end of the clone wars.

Palpatine would panic activate order 66 but it wouldnt be nearly as successful and probably just run away but there would be a whole mess with the droids and clones now.


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

[User]
What organ regulates blood pH and how does it measure pH in the first place?

I have been told it is the carotid artery, but I don't know.

[Assistant]
There are small clumps of tissue in both the carotid artery and the aorta which measure pH; the carotid and aortic bodies. There's also a part of the brain exposed directly to cerebrospinal fluid which monitors CSF, and therefore indirectly blood, pH. As for how they measure it, pH is a function of the concentration of hydrogen ions (protons) in a solution- the detectors have H^+ receptors and produce neural signals with strength in proportion to how frequently these receptors are activated.

The actual alteration of blood pH is carried out by the lungs and kidneys. Carbon dioxide is acidic, so increasing breathing rate and so removing more of it increases pH, and vice versa. Kidneys can increase/decrease the exretion of protons and reabsorption of (alkaline) bicarbonate ions in the urine to the same effect, albeit more slowly.


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

[User]
How do I tell my supervisor I want to quit?

I started grad school in 2019 and I feel stuck and inadequate.
I am not the most systematic person, nor the smartest. Nonetheless, I'm in good terms with my advisor; she trusted me a pretty cool project that aligned with my interests, and she is expecting me to redo and re-submit a grant next April.

The issue is I've been struggling with everything lately: my proposal is shit, I can't manage my time to get my experiments on a timely manner, I've had a manuscript on hold for a year, my first MS student had a VERY bad experience, and my current MS student is just not getting things done. Furthermore, two years ago I thought getting involved in extracurricular activities would be fun, and now I'm pretty much responsible of a super disorganized student chapter.

I've thought about it and I realized I'm not a good fit for academia at all. I don't have the skills, and I don't have the drive, so I want out.

When do I tell my professor about this? She gave me a bunch of responsabilities and I don't know how to hand them over. Should I tell her about this the day I'm ready to leave? She's paying for my stipend, so I guess the day I tell her will be the last day for my stipend. I'm also going to take vacations in December, so I don't know if I should tell her before leaving, so I don't have to come back.

And probably the most important question: should I tell her on April (right after we submit the grant)? I don't want her to struggle with no one available to write it.

[Assistant] Talk about it sooner rather than later. Give your supervisor plenty of time to prepare, to transition your projects and responsibilities over to other people while you're still there to help. Tell them you are willing to stay until after the grant is submitted, if they'd like. The absolute worst thing to do is wait until your last day to tell them, giving them no time to prepare.


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

[User]
Why do dogs come in vastly different sizes, but cats are all relatively the same size

Why are there dogs in different sizes from the small teacup dogs to mastiffs.  By contrast most house cats are all relatively the same size.  I know there are some larger cats, like maine coon cats.  However for the most part all cats are about the same size.

[Assistant]
A long history of dedicated, purpose-driven selective breeding programs.

Most of the different breeds of dogs have been intentionally crafted by human breeders over hundreds or thousands of years.  While the same is true (to a lesser extent) for cats, cat breeders focus on coloring and fur more than size and body shape (partially because many breeds of dogs are bred for work, and need large-scale anatomical changes to fit their job).


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

[User]
Why has the non-aggression principle receive so little academic attention?

Although often cited by libertarians online, it seems like the non-aggression principle has received little scholarly attention. Outside of small circles, it appears that the 'nap' hasn't had much engagement and it's hard to find any academic critiques of it. Am I looking in the wrong places, or is this the case?

[Assistant]
This has been asked quite a few times before, but the principal reason is that the non-aggression principle is *redundant*:

1. In order to know what counts as aggression, you need to have a theory of rights.
2. But if you already have a theory of rights, then you don't need an additional "non-aggression principle".

With a theory of rights, you already know everything you need to know about what you may or may not do.

It's actually quite telling that the NAP is mostly used in non-academic circles. Indeed, the way the NAP is wielded by non-academic libertarians reveals just how unaware non-academic libertarians can be of their own assumptions (which is to be expected among non-academic or lay audiences).

Again, the NAP only has content given an underlying theory of rights. So, if someone frequently asserts the NAP, it must be because they already have a particular theory of rights in mind. However, *because* they keep focusing on the NAP, it's likely they are taking their theory of rights largely for granted. Otherwise, they'd just be discussing the rights themselveswhich is precisely what academic political philosophers do!


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

[User] Does the moon have a core like Earth? (if so is it as hot?)

[Assistant] Yes. The moon has an anatomy similar to the earth, with a liquid iron molten core around a solid crystalized piece, and a mantle above all that. It's significantly smaller than the earth's, but almost comparable when drawn to scale. The temperature is about 1/3rd of the earth's core (1600 K as oppose to 5500 K).


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

[User] ELI5: Why is H2O2 called Hydrogen Peroxide rather than Dihydrogen dioxide?

[Assistant] It's got a specific structure (H-O-O-H), making it a "peroxide". It's not wrong to call it dihydrogen dioxide, it's just a little more cumbersome and less specific about the structure of the atoms in the bond.


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

[User] ELI5; How does tearing a muscle while working out suddenly give it space to regenerate and make MORE muscle. Why do muscles get bigger?

[Assistant]
You do not increase the number of tissues in your muscles. Instead, when you exercise a muscle a random selection of fibers in that muscle break down (but do not disappear). Depending on the extent of effort a varying number will do so.

Afterward, those muscle fibers will rebuild and will be a bit larger. Depending on the energy source for the muscular effort there may be some soreness. This is why most training varies from day to day emphasizing different muscle groups. It's better to allow muscles to rebuild while they're (comparatively) resting.

Thus, more frequent break-down and rebuilding event will cause muscles fibers to get bigger and bigger each cycle.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do cats get their claws stuck in clothes etc and nearly rip it to shreds trying to free themselves, when they could just retract their claws?

[Assistant]
Cat claws aren't like Wolverine's. They don't slide into their skin or anything. They are really just tilted back so they become surrounded by the soft parts of a cat's paw. This will not detach fabric that they are stuck to. In fact, to retract them, the paw itself must be brought further back towards the cat's body, which is exactly what they already can't do if they're stuck in some fabric.

Moving the paw around to dislodge it (possibly ripping the fabric in the process) is the instinctual and generally effective behavior. It just isn't convenient for us.


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

[User]
CMV: In Avengers Endgame, Captain Marvel did not need help from the other Marvel women

In the movie, Spiderman gives Captain Marvel the gauntlet and says, "I don't know how you're going to get through all that." And then the women of Marvel come in and say, "Don't worry. She's got help." And then it shows some of them taking down some of the enemy.

Previously in the movie, Captain Marvel took down a massive flying battleship by just flying directly through it like a giant ball of energy. She can easily fly through to her destination without any help at all. Indeed, a substantial portion of the enemy force can't even fly, so she can just go right over them. At her power level, the women really make zero contribution to her accomplishing her goal (which ultimately got thwarted by Thanos).

I thought it was pretty poor writing that the women's team-up had no impact on Captain Marvel's ability to do her thing. Am I missing something.

[Assistant]
Are you talking about out-universe? Because if so, the reason behind that scene was pretty clear: it was an excuse to assemble all the female superheroes for a little crowd pleasing 10 second shot of them looking badass.

If you're talking about in-universe, sure, but this is just one of a million things throughout all Marvel movies that are done that would make no sense in a real-world context.


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

[User] [Marvel] Did the serum change Steve Rogers' DNA so that his kids would also be superhuman, or would they be born sickly like he was beforehand?

[Assistant] I don't know if any future children of Rogers have ever been in the comics, but there was a black soldier who was a sort of prototype before Steve and one of his children was born with the effects of the serum on, and the other was just an ordinary person.  Assuming that the prototype serum works the same as the real one in that regard, we could assume that it could go either way with his kids.