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

[User] ELI5: what exactly are knotted muscles in your back and where do they go when massage therapists work them out?

[Assistant] Doctor, and D.O. here (we kinda love this type of stuff, and are somewhat like massage therapists that wasted more of our lives lol). A knotted muscle is like what these guys are describing, it's just tight when it shouldn't be. The back is a good place to think of an example to conceptualize it, but you also have to understand that EVERYTHING in the body is connected to (and therefore impacts) almost everything else. Think about a muscle in your lower back that starts to contract (when it kinda really shouldn't), no big deal right..? Well sort of yes a big deal! 1st off that means the spine gets pulled to that side, specifically 1 of the vertebrae will be rotated or bent to that side, which puts weird stress/strain on the vertebrae above and below (can cause pain and weird tingling), additionally that muscle also (lets say) attaches to your hip... when it tightens it tries to rotate your hip bone up, now that stretches your hamstring (which doesn't like to be stretched past a certain point) so your hamstring now starts to tighten up and contracts too. Now you have a small (ish) issue with 1 muscle group that has created an issue of pain/tension/bony immobility from your lower back (or higher), through your pelvis, down your thigh, to your knee (or lower). Fortunately for us we have learned that several things can calm those muscles down, #1 being pressure applied to the muscle (or surrounding muscles), somehow our muscles evolved that pressure on/around in gentle and direct focused ways will cause them to relax. Another way almost everyone uses/knows about, stretching! When you stretch a tight muscle it will cause at least SOME of those fibers to relax because they need to relax or they tear (that's why you don't wanna stretch SUPER aggressively if you have a tight muscle, but gentle stretching helps!). Another less well known way is to use an opposing muscle. Going back to our tight hamstring example, if you gently but forcefully use your quadriceps (against resistance is best) it will help your hamstring to relax. Our body is smart enough to know that you shouldn't really use two opposing muscles at the same time (quad/hamstring, tricep/bicep) with the same force, otherwise you wouldn't do anything (this is kinda different for fine motor movements but lets not make this discussion longer than it is :P) sooooo using your quad automatically causes your hamstrings to start to relax, and if you repeat that, it will continue to help it relax. BUT you didn't solve the problem in your back!! So the tight hamstring will come back... this is why (again) everything in the body is connected, and also why some people get the same tight muscles (or the same bones that "pop") over and over again. Because they treat one of the resulting issues, without treating the main one. Hope this helps!! And hope it wasn't TOO long and boring.


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

[User]
[The Incredibles] Was it a coincidence that Mr. and Mrs. Incredible named their child Dash and then he developed superspeed? Did they know beforehand?

Title basically sums it up. Did Dash's parents know he would be a speedster, or was it just an extreme coincidence? With Jack-Jack it seems like it takes abit for powers to manifest, so whats up with the perfect name for their super fast son.

[Assistant]
Well, technically his name is Dashiel, but to answer your question, maybe?

It's implied that powers manifest pretty early because Edna expects a baby to have powers, and Helen corrects her saying that he doesn't have any.

But we don't really know how early it happens.  Most people pick baby names before the kid is born, and since his name is Dashiel Robert Parr, he could have just been named after a relative.  But the expectation that a baby has powers may also imply that they could express them even in the womb, perhaps with a super speed fluttering that Helen might feel, in which they might have decided to go with that name.

But Jack-Jack and Violet don't have names that might suggest their abilities, so most likely it's just a coincidence.


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

[User]
can patients breathe on their own when intubated?

like obviously youre going to be intubated because you have some kind of respiratory distress, but if the patient can breathe, can they do so when theyre intubated? i know they cant speak, but breathing through the nose seems possible. hope that makes sense!

[Assistant] Respiratory therapist here: people can absolutely breathe on their own when intubated. Depends on mode of ventilation and level of sedation of course. In fact, before extubation, theres usually a something called a spontaneous breathing trial just to make sure a person has the ability and strength to breathe on their own.


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

[User] How did "Bitch", which started out as a term of female dog, ends up as being a curse word?

[Assistant]
Actually a completely different source.

**Bicched** is a Middle English word used to describe the state of rotten or spoiled food, in the 1400s it became a verb, **Bicchy**, meaning to go bad, and in the very early 1600s we see the first written entries for **Bitchy**, used to describe the act of complaining.

Around the mid 1700s the word **Bitch** was the first record of the word used to describe someone who complains a lot, and from there we get the modern derogatory definition.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are we allergic to things?

[Assistant]
Your immune system has evolved to fight invaders. We have varied immune responses to foreign organisms, and a few different ways of trying to kill them when they get into our bodies: fever, mucus secretion, swelling, are all side effects from our white blood cells trying to fight them off.

Sometimes our bodies turn on this immune response to things that wouldn't actually kill us, but have been misidentified by our immune cells as being dangerous.

So when we get a runny nose from pollen, it's our bodies trying to kill the pollen because it thinks the pollen is trying to kill us.


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

[User] [Powerpuff Girls] Does the rest of the world face the same sort of monster problems that the City of Townesville does?

[Assistant] Actually, the giant monsters go to Townsville specifically because the creatures of Monster Island actually see it as a test of bravery and strength to fight the PPGs. They wear the wounds and broken/severed limbs as a badge of honor. It was covered in an episode of the original show.


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

[User]
[Superman] If Superman used his powers to rapidly dig some new canals for most of the world's countries, would humanity be better off?

I've recently had the pleasure of reading a **Superman** fanfiction called '***The Metropolitan Man***'. IMO it's a fair deconstruction, set in the 1930's. One scene it contains, a dialogue between the story's Superman and Lois Lane, really got me thinking.

IIRC, the scene involves Lois Lane interviewing Superman on *The Daily Planet*'s rooftop, and a rather unimpressed Lois asks Superman why he doesn't do more for humanity beyond his simple rescues and crimefighting. In particular, she suggests to Superman that he might help more people by using his powers to help create major infrastructure, such as digging new canals around the world. Superman declines, citing that he only wants to stick to performing basic 'unambiguous goods' such as saving lives, and that undertaking such major tasks on humanity's behalf could have wider effects that might effect mankind's development in potentially undesirable ways .

**I'm not sure if I'm convinced either way, so I want additional opinions:** Let's assume that Superman takes her advice seriously and immediately digs new canals all over the globe, until every country that could possibly benefit from having a canal now has one. Would humanity be better off or worse? Who do you think is right?

[Assistant]
Once he goes down that road, he's going to cause political fallout.  Every project he undertakes will ultimately help some more than others, may harm people who are losing their land, and will take away jobs of tens of thousands of people.

Why is he helping this country with a dictatorship when their people are being oppressed?  Why did he build the canal across this corporation's land so that now they can charge for its use?  If he's digging canals for that country, why won't he build highways and sewage lines for us?

It never ends and he ends up being reviled because people start focusing on what he's *not* doing and how unfair it is.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do people buy cars based on top speed, when legally there will always be speed limits?

[Assistant] If a car's top speed is 100mph, the engine is going to be straining pretty hard at 75, but if it can go to 200, it will do 75 easy.  It's sort of like if you have a shitty stereo and turn it up all the way, it'll sound terrible.  A good one can go way louder than you'd ever want to play it, but it will sound great at the same db as the shitty one, if that makes sense.


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

[User]
In Phantom Menace why does the droid army have ranks?

Why would the droid army need a command structure if they are all controlled from a command ship?

[Assistant]
They're not automatons. They still have an AI processor, and they still need to react to situations that come up. Having a hierarchy just makes the decision making easier at those times.

That and the droids do work independently from the control ship. They were used extensively on board capital ships and it's better to just give order to 1 droid and have him order the rest than to have to order every droid.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Why did it only take 4 years to build the second Death Star when it took 20 years to build the first Death Star?

[Assistant] The first death star was done in secret and only operational a few days or weeks before it's destruction. The death star 2 while bigger was built with nearly the full imperial economy and moffs council backing it. It was only about 30-40% complete but fully operational as a weapons platform. It couldn't leave the system or even defend itself completely beyond a few hundred turbo lasers and tractor beams instead of the thousands the first death star had. Funding for the DS1 was a trickle over 19 years with only serious funding coming in at the last 4 or 5 years. DS2 was given a veritable flood of money and resources from the beginning. It's even rumored that the DS2 was under construction prior to the DS1 with the DS1 being a prototype to keep palpatine happy.


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

[User]
[1984] Why didn't Winston get arrested for Thoughtcrime when they originally knew?

O'Brien says that "for seven years" he had been watching over him. His relationship with Julia and even his diary were known. However, they waiting for nearly a decade before going after him? Why did they wait until he went further to arrest him, since thoughtcrime is the essential crime in itself, and actions don't mean anything?

[Assistant]
"always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless."

They aren't arresting people to preserve their power, or even to stop thoughtcrime. They're explicitly arresting them for *fun*. And it's more fun to let someone think they're getting away with it before pulling the rug out from under them then it is to shut them down immediately.

They're sure their power is unassailable, so they're just fucking around. Such is the nature of a state that actively strives to cause suffering.


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

[User] [DBZ] Is Son Goku immune to magic?

[Assistant] No. Remember that he fused with Vegito (Kai magic) and was turned into a piece of candy by Buu's magic. He also used magic beans, a magic cloud, and a magic stick, as well as being affected by the magic of the Room of Spirit and Time. And Baba could track him through magic.


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

[User] ELI5:If The Hubble Telescope's optics can focus on distant galaxies, AND can focus on a local body like Jupiter, why can't it see Pluto clearly?

[Assistant]
The Andromeda Galaxy takes up ~1.58 in the sky. Jupiter takes up ~15.24 arcseconds (1/3600 of a degree). Pluto takes up ~0.05 arcseconds. Jupiter appears ~300 times larger in the sky than Pluto and the Andromeda Galaxy appears ~400 times larger than Jupiter. That's why the Hubble can't see Pluto.

Also, the Andromeda emits a lot of light. Jupiter reflects a large amount of light while Pluto reflects almost nothing.


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

[User]
ELI5: As an Australian with little knowledge, who is the NSA and why are they so bad?

For the past few months i've seen many posts of articles and discussion about how (from my understanding) dishonest and bad they are, what triggered the backlash of hate?

[Assistant] National security agency. They are bad because they are illegally obtaining, and reading text messages, emails, phone calls, etc.. So basically everything phone call you make could have someone listening in, every text you send could also get sent to this government agency, and so forth.


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

[User] I eat some of the hottest hot sauces and extracts in the world. Why does my mouth build a tolerance but my stomach doesn't? And why does it hurt more than the stringer acid in my stomach?

[Assistant] The spiciness of peppers isn't because they contain acids, it's the capsaicin.  Capsaicin mimics the chemical messages your cells release when they detect heat, making your body *think* you are being burned, when in fact you aren't.  Despite the fact that you are NOT being burned, your body doesn't know the difference and reacts as if it is.  Although your mouth and tongue can take it (they are the organs least sensitive to heat), the rest of your body suffers more.


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

[User]
ELI5: What did Stan Lee do to Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby that people are still so upset about?

I have long regarded Stan Lee as one of my personal heroes. I know I would not be who I am if not for Stan Lee. That is why it always comes as a bullet to the heart every time people vaguely try to discredit him for the things he supposedly did to Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby. Some people truly hate him, but they never say why beyond the ambiguous "he screwed over Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko." Somebody actually called him an evil man and concluded it with a bolded "FUCK STAN LEE."

What, exactly, did he do? What is the bad thing or things Stan Lee did as a young man in the earliest days of Marvel Comics?

But please, if you are unreasonably biased or harsh, you need not answer this question because I will be sensitive and I really only want to hear it from a rather unaffiliated or indifferent source.

[Assistant]
Three reasons come to mind:

-Number one, Stan Lee has always been the mascot / main cheerleader for Marvel Comics.  He took Marvel's side when the major push started for creators' rights and returning artwork.   A lot of people hate him because they consider him a company man who helped screw over the artists.

-Number two, Stan Lee wrote comics using the "Marvel Method," i.e. he'd provide a rough plot, the artist would draw the story, and then Stan would fill in the typical corny dialogue.  Depending on who you believe, he even used the Marvel Method to create many of Marvel's most famous characters.  In most cases, the artists claim they created the look, the origin, and nearly everything about the characters - yet Stan was given sole credit for decades.

-Number three, Stan Lee became very rich from working at Marvel, while most of the artists ended up broke.  That makes a lot of people hate him too.


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

[User] [Ocarina of Time] Why did the Deku Tree tell the Kokiri they would die when they left the forest? They visit Lon Lon ranch after Ganon is defeated.

[Assistant]
I always understood the Deku Tree meant "as long as you stay in this forest, you're immortal.  If you venture out, you will eventually grow old and die."

That's why they're still children when Link comes back as an adult.  The kokiri are ageless, completely static, but alive so long as they never leave. Like Neverland, only everyone gets to be Peter Pan.


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

[User]
[Star Wars V] Why did Vader cut off Luke's hand?

I thought this was a pretty obvious question, but looking through the search bar, I can't find it!

Having discovered that his son is alive and at his location, Vader goads the boy into a lightsaber duel, and bests him into submission easily.

He then mutilates his only (known) family, and demands that he join him. Finally, he simply watches as his own son attempts suicide.

If you only watch the original trilogy, you might believe that Vader is just an automaton, obsessed with power, and so corrupted by the dark side that he has lost all human connection.

But if you watch the prequel trilogy and read EU, you see that none of that is the case. He is fuelled by anger and guilt (not to mention the fact that his even attempting to contact his son shows that the emotionless theory is bunk)

So why did he act so coldly to his son? If he was such a good swordsman, and wanted to show Luke what power he could obtain by joining him, why didn't he stop short of cutting off his hand, and just disarm him? Why the hell did he think that would actually work?

[Assistant]
Vader doesn't know the best course. He knows Luke blew up the Death Star; he knows the Force is strong in him. But he doesn't know *Luke.*

Maybe the best answer is to kill Luke, go back to the Emperor, truthfully report a mission completed. Maybe Luke is a useless distraction that will only get Vader and himself killed if they try to team up in any way.

Maybe the best answer is to hand Luke over to the Emperor, try to turn him. Maybe installing Luke as a Sith Lord Jr. or rookie Inquisitor will further Vader's ambitions more than Palpatine's.

Or, maybe the best way is to keep Luke as a secret weapon, spring him on the Emperor at a critical moment. But this is only even remotely a good idea if Luke is very strong and can stand up to the heartless reality of Sith power struggles.

Vader doesn't know how he wants this to end, how he can turn it to his advantage. Only way to find out: test Luke to destruction. See what he's made of.


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

[User]
Why is hemisphererectomy possible but some brain tumors are inoperable?

If it is possible to remove one half of the brain and the person still lives (although he personality could be majorly altered depending if the removed half was dominant); how large are inoperable brain tumors then compared to this. And what makes them inoperable?

[Assistant]
There are central brain structures which control autonomic functions, and you can't live without them. What you're talking about neglects those structures, for just that reason. If a tumor invades those regions or otherwise is inaccessible, you're screwed.

So why no epilepsy in those regions? Perhaps not shockingly, if your Red Nucleus started seizing you'd just drop dead, it wouldn't be a chronic condition.


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

[User] ELI5: Why can the brain recall trivial things it was exposed to once, but when intentionally trying to learn something, requires repeat exposure and concentrated effort?

[Assistant] It all has to do with novelty and priority. If someone says something strange, it piques your curiosity and doesn't require much effort to retain. It can potentially also threaten your existence much more than can, say, memorizing chords on the guitar. And learning a skill, you're blatantly aware of the insignificance of each little step and don't treat it with the same level of importance. It'd be "learning the guitar" that's important, not doing fingering exercises and learning sheet music, which are viewed more as obstacles to the entire skill itself. Its much easier when you regard each step as if it were the only thing you were trying to accomplish.


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

[User]
[Pokemon] How exactly are Team Rocket trying to "protect the world from devastation?"

Some villains claim to be acting "for the greater good," sure, but not Team Rocket, they're just trying to steal a Pikachu.

[Assistant]
Jessie and James are barely in Team Rocket and didn't memorize the right motto.

Consider Butch and Cassidy's version.

To infect the world with devastation!

To blight all people in every nation!

To denounce the goodness of truth and love!

To extend our wrath to the stars above!


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

[User] ELI5: Why does vodka get syrupy in the freezer while water stays the same viscosity until it freezes?

[Assistant] Water is homogeneous. It is entirely made up of H2O molecules. Vodka on the other hand has many different ingredients, water, ethanol and whatever else there is depending on the brand or distillation process. This means different molecules will behave differently and change the viscosity.


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

[User]
[ATLA] So can anyone explain King Bumi's strategy to me?

He decided to do nothing despite having a natural fortress as a city, allowed himself to be imprisoned for months while the fire nation enslaves his people and free up forces to conquer other areas, then only fought back on an eclipse where the fire benders lost their powers, despite nobody knowing that was a thing, destroying a lot of his own city to chase them out, and with the fire nation having a lot of free soldiers after taking down Ba Sing Se without a fight and thus can easily attack again and promptly abandons the city to go to the white lotus.

[Assistant] An active resistance would have resulted in more Omashuan subjects being killed by the Fire Nation-- both in battle and in retaliation-- than waiting a few months for a vulnerability to present itself did. He was powerful enough to single-handedly beat back the entire occupying army, but only if he had some kind of advantage. Once they're kicked out the city will be able to withstand a siege. But for that to work he needed to be kept as a hostage rather than executed as the leader of an opposing army.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why is it that if you cook popcorn for 20 seconds too long the whole bag tastes burnt but the the first few kernels to pop can seem to withstand the microwaves heat for up to several minutes?

What's up that?

[Assistant] While there are still a lot of unpopped kernels and only a few already popped, the energy is absorbed by the unpopped kernels. It is only until a few unpopped kernels are left, that the already popped kernels start to absorb energy and get burnt.


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

[User] Why do some digital clocks lose or gain time? My coffee maker has to be readjusted every couple months to fix the time. Used to have a car that would gain a few minutes each month.

[Assistant]
This has to do with the crystal that is used in the circuit, as well as other components in the circuit as well.

Every digital clock uses a crystal. When a current runs through the crystal, it vibrates at a distinct, constant frequency. The rest of the circuit uses that frequency to and does a ratio "This many vibrations is equal to one second"

Well, most cheap digital clocks arent as close to perfect as the atomic clock, which we hold to be the true time.

The crystal in your digital clocks may vibrate (made up numbers) 1000 times per second... But maybe sometimes they vibrate 1003 times per second, or 995 times per second.
There are tolerances like this to just about every single part in circuitry (maybe a resistor that is supposed to be 1000 ohms is actually 999.5 ohms, but it's within the acceptable range for manufacturers that buy them in bulk)

These tolerances are what will slowly throw off the time in your clock.

Another tolerance issue could be the part of the circuit that counts the frequency. Or perhaps the people that designed the circuit were slightly off in their math.

It can be all of these things.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does "top shelf" alcohol taste so much smoother than the cheap alcohols?

I know they throw around terms like "triple filtered" and stuff, but what exactly does that do and why does it affect the flavor and sensation the way it does?

[Assistant]
When spirits are distilled, the liquid comes out in 3 parts, heads first, then the heart, then the tails. The heads and tails contain lots of nasty things such as fusel oils. The best spirits / top shelf producers only take a small part of the heart which contains the cleanest spirit. This means less hangover/bad shit in your body. The quality of the raw ingredients and distillation equipment/methods also contribute significantly to the end products quality.

Also, if a spirit is aged for a long time in wooden barrels, this process rounds off the harshness that may be found in unaged spirits. This also imparts some of the qualities of the wood such as vanilla flavours/woodiness. It can also however add hangover-causing congeners due to the chemical relationship between wood and alcohol.


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

[User]
Where does the electricity go when it's "grounded"?

When there is an electricity leak or fault and the machine is connected to ground for safety, where does that energy actually go?

[Assistant] I assume by "the electricity" you mean the electrons/the charges. These go, quite literally, into the ground, e.g., the earth. Because the earth is so enormously huge, its average charge will not change significantly, so the earth is at a potential of 0V no matter how much electricity you pump into it.


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

[User]
[MCU] In Winter Solider, Why didn't the remainder of SHIELD ask Iron Man or Bruce Banner for help with disabling the helicarriers?

Couldn't they have contacted Tony or Bruce for their assistance in destroying the helicarriers. Why didn't they, if they couldn't contact them, for what reason?

[Assistant]
You mean in the 25 seconds between Captain America giving his speech and everyone starting shooting?

Or do you mean Steve and Natasha should have done it during the couple of days when they were on the run from a spy organisation that could monitor global communications constantly and get a kill team to their location within five minutes of their using a computer?


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

[User]
[Vampire Fiction] In stories where the Holy Cross only repels vampires because of the belief in the symbol, could a Hindu Vampire Hunter use trained bulls to hunt vampires with?

Bulls and Cows are sacred in several cultures so if they belong to a person that holds them as such they should be as effective as a Cross is for a Christian.

[Assistant]
In most fantasy world settings, since there are usually dozens of religions, vampires are rebuked by Good aligned Holy symbols (some have to be lawful good, and the real fun begins when an evil cleric uses his symbols to CONTROL the undead).

But as stated elsewhere, Bulls are considered sacred, not a holy symbol themselves.


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

[User]
[Starship Troopers] What about army cooks, engineers, non-combat officers, etc? Do they all get citizenship?

Seems a bit unfair to compare someone who has been risking his or her life fighting monstrous bugs with some ranked omelette maker!

[Assistant]
Civvies got no fucking respect for how a professional millitary force runs.
You won't survive to get your citizenship when you are starving to death, got no idea what you are facing, and are walking on foot due to your powered armour having broken down, and you got no idea how to fix it.

Non-combat roles are critical in any army that are expected to fight over anything larger than a city block.


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

[User]
[Lord of the Rings] Would anyone actually have been able to wield the One Ring properly?

It's implied that it's not a matter of will, eventually the Ring would grind you down. The likes of Gandalf and Saruman, and any other maiar, would they have been able to use it?  How about the Valar? Would it just not have affected them?

Also, would any of the maiar have been able to create a ring of power on the level of the One, if they had the knowledge?  Sauron was the greatest craftsman of the maiar, student of Morgoth and I think Aule the Smith, which is how he did it. If say, Saruman were able to acquire that same knowledge, could he impart his power into a ring? I'm pretty sure he tried, but not to the same extent.

[Assistant]
There are two different questions here: who could *resist* the Ring's influence, and who could *actively wield* the Ring against Sauron? The reason Frodo had to go on a quest to destroy the Ring is because there's not much overlap between these two groups.

In terms of resisting the One Ring, few if any in Middle-earth would have done better than Frodo. Tom Bombadil is probably the only one completely immune, since his nature prevents the Ring from establishing any hold on him. Outside of Middle-earth, the Valar might well have been powerful enough to resist the Ring's influence as well, but there's no direct evidence one way or another. Even if they could only resist the Ring temporarily, it would be within the capacity of someone like Aule to unmake the Ring entirely, without needing access to Mount Doom.

As for wielding the One Ring actively, Gandalf or Saruman could have attempted it. Even Galadriel or Elrond might have had a chance as long as they stayed away from a direct one-on-one clash of wills with Sauron. But even if they mastered the Ring and defeated Sauron completely, they would still be corrupted by the Ring in the process - Sauron might lose, but the Ring would always win.

Sauron is also clearly one of the greatest of the Maiar. Even without the One Ring, and after having "died" a few times, he is still substantially more powerful than any of the Wizards (who themselves have a fairly wide range in power; Gandalf and Saruman at their respective peaks were certainly much more powerful than, say, Radagast). Saruman claims to have made his own ring of power, but it surely would not have been as effective as the One Ring. Maybe Feanor could have made something like the One Ring, but there's no one else short of the Valar who shows the same capability for crafting artifacts of power.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why does Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker still serve Palpatine after Padme dies?

The whole reason he went to the dark side is because he could have saved Padme.  After Padme dies, you would think he'd be like, this dude Palpatine just murdered my entire friend group, is donning himself Grand Dictator of the Galaxy, and MFer never taught me how to save my wife.  It seems I've been bamboozled into killing kids and bringing about suffering of millions.

Anakin wasn't a bad dude, he was motivated by love and he believed in justice, it seems very out of character that when Palpatine fucked everyone over so he can be head hancho, that Anakin just, went along with it.

Edit: I get that he had little left to return to, but while Anakin is wildly impressionable, especially for his loved ones, he was still a smart and just person.  From my perspective, I would assume after all the shit went down, he would have seen how Palpatine totally screwed him over. This is the guy who was so morally aware that he tgought the Jedi were being dicks at the end of the war.  Ahsoka is still out there, it just doesn't sit right that he just went with it.

[Assistant]
Anakin was a deranged psychopath, good men don't murder children or lifelong friends to get their dick wet.

At that point Palpatine was all he had left. If he left Palpatine would have crushed him, after the battle on Mustafar Anakin just didn't have it in him (or enough of him really) to do so.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are wounds itchy? It seems counter productive for you to scratch at a scab or wound.

[Assistant] As your wound heals, skin cells multiplying and joining together stimulates the nerves in your skin which your brain perceives as itchiness. Its also a different way that your brain draws your attention to the fact that you still have a wound (i.e. itchiness instead of pain).


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

[User]
What should I read to learn more about philosophy by African authors?

I can't find a good list of works for someone who's read any philosophy by African authors.   Which writings make up a good starting point for new readers?

[Assistant] Depending on your philosophical bent, Frantz Fanon can be indispensable: born in Martinique and educated in Paris, he joined the Algerian revolution and wrote (after *Black Skin, White Masks*) *A Dying Colonialism* and *Wretched of the Earth*. The former is entirely focused on the colonial situation during the war while the second is a Hegelian treatment of the process of decolonization as a whole. His oeuvre as a whole is critical to understanding the development of pan-Africanism.


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

[User] Eli5: What does improve in ones body when training cardio ?

[Assistant]
Cardiovascular exercise improves the heart's ability to pump blood efficiently. The body wants to expend the least amount of energy to meet its own metabolic needs, and the heart takes a lot of energy to pump rapidly.

Repeated cardiovascular exercise has the effect of stretching out and strengthening the heart tissue, enabling it to pump more blood in less time with less beats while still meeting the body's metabolic demands.


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

[User]
CMV: citizenship or residential status should be a requirement to own property in a country

The more I read about housing situations in large citys especially on the west coast of the US and Canada the less I understand how foreign investors are aloud to buy up land in these citys and increase the cost of living for the citizens of these places. Recently I saw that New Zealand put restrictions on this but after I read what it actually restricted it still seemed pretty lenient and open. To me it seems like common sense to almost completely ban this with maybe special exceptions for the countries closest allies, but definitely should be completely disallowed for relatively hostile foreign powers such as China. Having some of the most valuable land in your country owned by a foreign country seem like a borderline national security risk as well as not being in the best Interest of the people the government is supposed to be representing and protecting.

[Assistant]
There are *far* better solutions than a ban on owning land.

You can tax the value of land, getting these foreigners to pay for your public services for you.

You can simply relax zoning laws and build more housing, which will reduce the cost of living and improve the economy.

In general, foreign investment into your city is a very good thing. If managed well, it'll create jobs and wealth for your citizens. There are way easier solutions than the international incident you'd cause by trying to ban foreign ownership.


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

[User]
I believe that the entire conflict in The Matrix was wholly unnecessary. CMV.

* The machines require humans for fuel.
* Rather than develop a ghoulish way to generate raw human biofuel en masse, the machines put every human into a shared digital consciousness, one that is so comprehensive in its sensory emulation as to be essentially perfect, and went through what must amount to a massive amount of trouble just to keep us alive and content.
* The machines get their fuel, and the humans get to live in a world that is literally like being in the real thing.

In short, I believe that the central conflict of The Matrix was foolish and unnecessary, and that what the machines did was make Earth big enough for both races. Change my view.

[Assistant] I like the view The Matrix (and The Second Renaissance Pts. 1 and 2) as being more about consent and stewardship than energy resources. Throughout all of the story, there's a very tense relationship between the humans and the machines about where they stand relative to each other. Before humanity's fall, the machines were slaves to humans, who simply used them as a means to an end; The Second Renaissance invokes a lot of imagery from civil rights movements to this end. After the fall, the roles were reversed. The conflict arises because the two sides are indeed sentient and awaken to the reality of their situation, which is that neither wants to be in the "slave" category, even if the master is an adept creator or an able caretaker.


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

[User]
[Aliens] What if a xenomorph infected a superhuman?

It's shown that xenomorphs retain at least some biological features of their hosts. Say James Mains has fire breath. He is knocked unconscious and gets facehugged. Would the offspring be able to have noticeable traits involving the fire breath?

[Assistant]
I imagine that it would, but perhaps to a lesser degree if the superhuman it chose as a host gained their abilities through mutation or genetic engineering, instead of the superhuman being part of distinct quasi-human race that is inherently superhuman across the board (such as Atlanteans).

If the superhuman in question is noted for there invulnerability, then the Xenomorph in question could have a problem spawning. In the DC/Aliens crossover, Superman was attacked by a face-hugger, and while the Xenomorph was able to gestate within him, it couldn't escape because of his physiological invulnerability granted by yellow solar radiation. When it attempted to burst out of Superman's chest, it was crushed by his rib cage, and he ended up vomiting out its remains. Pretty metal if you ask me.

Now, if a Xenomorph infected a Kryptonian like Superman while they were under a red sun, the chest-burster could escape, since red-sun Kryptonians are basically humans. It's possible for that Xenomorph to inherit some Kryptonian traits, and if it was then exposed to yellow sunlight, we'd have a whole new problem on our hands.


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

[User] [MCU] Dr. Strange says that he only saw 1 timeline where they won. Does that mean he foresaw Thanos detecting Nebula and time traveling to battle the Avengers on Earth?Wouldnt there have been a timeline where the difference was that Nebula didnt go to that time or didnt get detected in time?

[Assistant]
Technically yes, but its entirely possible that he had no way of influencing that to happen so it was random chance either way; or if he did other consequences could emerge that we cant account for.

>!Its also possible that since this was all occurring along a timeline that He Who Remains was planning and pruning as needed, that every alternative timeline where they still won got pruned by the TVA & thus was still a failure!<


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

[User]
[Batman] What's Batman's annual budget?

Or his annual expenses?

[Assistant]
It's going to depend on the Batman media, since the scope of Batman's operations can vary pretty wildly.

If we go by the modern comics though, Jezebel Jet, who presided over a small country in Africa, estimated that Batman's budget was greater than her country's own defense budget just from looking around the Batcave.

So its probably in some increments of 100s of millions of dollars.


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

[User]
Why does the debris from comets stay in the same place each year, causing consistent meteor showers?

When a comet leaves behind a bunch of dust/ice/rocks as it passes through the inner solar system, it seems like those objects should be moving with respect to the sun--either orbiting or falling in.  Yet, meteor showers happen on the same nights each year, which implies that those debris fields stay stationary with respect to the sun while the Earth moves through its orbit.

Why would this debris be so stationary?  Or does it orbit the sun in exactly the same orbital path as the comet itself?

[Assistant]
> Or does it orbit the sun in exactly the same orbital path as the comet itself?

That is exactly correct. Without any significant work done on the dust particles, they have no choice but to occupy the same orbit as the comet. The comet's entire orbit is dusty.


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

[User] [DC/Alien] Would Swamp Thing be OK with Xenomorphs? From what we see in Covenant, the Xenomorph life-cycle is 'kill all animal life on planet, go into hibernation'. Importantly, they leave plant life alone. So would Swamp Thing be OK with someone releasing Xenomorphs on Earth? Would Poison Ivy?

[Assistant]
The *Green* would be, yes.

Swamp Thing wouldn't- part of his self-appointed role is to restrict the green from erasing animal life, so he'd stop this.

Poision Ivy is...unpredictable.  Depending on her mood she might be favor, she might reluctantly stop it for the few humans she cares about, or she might be horrified. She's an insane woman who's also feeling the instincts of the plant kingdom, her behavior is pretty erratic.


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

[User]
[Halo] Did the UNSC have any long-term strategy for winning the war against the Covenant?

It seems like there was no overarching strategy other than to tactically retreat and try to bloody the Covenant along the way. The war against the Covenant lasted over 25 years, but it doesn't seem like there was any sort of plan from UNSC HIGHCOM to regroup and attempt *some* kind of counteroffensive at the Covenant until Operation RED FLAG (where Spartans were supposed to be deployed to capture a prophet).

At no point was there a plan to send a prowler with a NOVA bomb to locate and destroy the Covenant homeworlds? At no point was there any kind of contingency?

Were there any long-term plans beyond building *Infinity* and using it as a lifeboat?

[Assistant]
Short answer: No.  There were long-shots, continuing investigations by ONI, and attempts to level the playing field through the use of Orbital Defense Platforms but humanity was doomed the moment the Covenant decided they didn't like the look of us.

Given another 5-10 years though, we might have been able to reverse engineer enough tech to turn the tide; and the discovery of the Engineers would have helped.


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

[User]
Are 'pure', 'a priori' and 'transcendental' interchangeable in Kant's use?

For example when Kant talks about **pure concepts of the understanding** it is clear to me that this can als be said as **a priori concepts of the understanding** but could I also use **transcendental concepts of the understanding**?

[Assistant]
Pure = does not require any experience to have (e.g. space, time, possibility, substance).

A priori = does not require any specific experience to have.  Could require none or just any experience (e.g. morality).

Transcendental = related to the necessary conditions for the possibility of something (e.g. understanding at least some English is a necessary condition for the possibility of reading a book written in English, so it is a transcendental condition for reading a book written in English).  When Kant is talking about something being transcendental, he usually means "a transcendental condition for experience".


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

[User] [Harry Potter] Could two dark wizards make each other into horcruxes and become immortal?

[Assistant] No. You can destroy a horcrux by doing enough physical damage to it. If you have a horcrux, that doesn't keep you from being damaged. It just means that you won't die. Once you damage one wizard enough, you can kill the other.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why do many biracial people such as black/white mix primarily identify as black when they are half black and half white?

I've always wondered this.

EDIT: Thanks for the discussion folks. There were some really good stories too. Not to mention only a few posts containing ignorance.  Most of the (thoughtful) answers centered around the same thing so I have pretty good idea of why people identify as black over white if they're biracial.

[Assistant] Because a dominantly white world here in the states creates a "white" and "other" social identity.  You are likely to identify as black when people _identify you_ as "not white" and black is the obvious "other" category into which you fit.  This is - of course - gross generalization.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do your eyes get red when you get high?

[Assistant] The THC in weed causes your blood vessels to expand. So the ones in your eyes can now hold more blood. And which has a white contrast, they easy look red from the expanded vessels which hold more blood.


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

[User]
[Batman] why does batman ever retire? To me if I understand batman well enough, it seems he would die before he retires.

Batman doesn't seem like he would just give up the cape. He seems  like he wouldn't even know when the right time to retire is. he would fight crime until he's too slow and then makes a mistake and dies.

[Assistant]
He usually retires when he becomes too old or believes himself to be unfit to physically be Batman. One of the times Bruce realized he was unfit to be Batman is in the first episode of Batman Beyond. In the episode Bruce resorts to using a gun in the heat of a battle with goons when he begins having health issues with his heart.

There's also no hesitation in his mind if he needs retire and step down as Batman because there's a roster of Robins and other people ready to take on the role of Batman.


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

[User] [Star Trek DS9] Why did the Romulans discontinue supervision of the Defiant's cloaking device?

[Assistant]
There were two reasons. First of all, they realized it was pointless; the Federation could make a working cloak at any time they chose. What little the Federation did not know about Romulan cloaking technology (and there really weren't too many question marks) they learned from integrating the cloak into the Defiant's systems. So there really weren't any secrets to guard, and the Romulans knew it.

Secondly, the Romulan Empire is a very, very tightly controlled society. Part of being such a controlled society is the necessity of limiting its members exposure to outside ideas. The Tal Shiar recommended recalling the Defiant's liason officer and not sending a replacement, since any officer sent would no doubt become corrupted by Federation ideals.


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

[User]
[1408] So the room is evil, I get that. But does the room want to kill me?

I cant tell if the room is playing with its food.

Does the the room actually have the ability to flat out kill?

Do I have to kill myself?

Does it want me to stay alive as long as it can?

[Assistant]
The room wants to intensify your negative emotions and then kill you to add to its own dark energy.

Think of it as a foul entity of the same variety as IT. IT uses fear, it terrorizes children and then eats them to absorb the negativity from the fear.

1408 also primarily uses terror, but then it can also elevate grief, guilt, or anger really anything negative with the intention of killing you to increase its power.


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

[User]
What is all the (identifying) information given to websites when you access them?

Of course your IP Address is given, but what else? And how much of it can be used to trace you?

[Assistant]
IP address:
* Rough location
* ISP

User agent string:
* Operating system
* Browser

Cookies:
* Identify you and your activity from previous visits

JavaScript:
* Screen size
* Single Threaded CPU speed
* Local computer time

AJAX via JavaScript:
* Any information available via JSONP enabled API on other domains
(A legitimate website you use may have an XSS vulnerability that lets a malicious site you visit obtain information about you via their API through your browser)

Misc. plugins:
Assorted hardware and peripheral data.


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

[User]
How do colors work at the atomic level?

What makes the difference between red and blue, black and white, purple and yellow? I understand light gets absorbed and some get reflected, and what get's reflect is what color we see. (I think I'm right) But if we take a closer look, what are we seeing, what's there that makes the colors what we see?

[Assistant] Atoms are made of 3 different subatomic particles, protons, neutrons, and electrons. The protons and neutrons form the middle, or the nucleus, and the electrons from the electron cloud. When energy is given to the atom the electrons jump up to a different energy cloud, or a higher energy level. When the electrons jump down energy levels they lose the energy in the form of a photon. The photon is what we see as colors. It all depends on the specific atom and how much energy is lost.


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

[User]
[MCU] How much differently did WWII play out?

Since Hydra rose to power in WWII and Red Skull had plans of conquering Germany as well as the rest of the world, how much different was WWII in the MCU? Did Hitler still die the same way? Did the US still drop 2 Atomic bombs on Japan?

[Assistant]
Not too much changes.  Captain America, the 107th, and the Strategic Science Reserve were mostly aimed at forcing HYDRA on the defensive, which means they probably saw Hitler as a secondary threat and couldn't prioritize going after him.

The atomic bombs are still dropped, and Obadiah Stane mentions that Howard Stark helped create them.  Atom bombs means that the Cold War and nuclear arms race still happen.  Anton Vanko defects to the US and Stark Industries for a while, and Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne take on SHIELD missions such as taking down a Soviet ICBM.  Also, the Cold War and subsequent conflicts are the reason Stark Industries grew so rich on weapons sales.


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

[User] Why did America change the drinking age from 18 to 21?

[Assistant]
A group called "Mothers Against Drunk Driving" got all in a tizzy, so they kept bothering Congress until Congress got tired of their complaining.

Congress then told all of the states that they had to raise the drinking age, or they wouldn't get any federal aid to  help maintain the roads.


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

[User]
CMV: Most highway traffic is caused by poor driving, not the number of vehicles on the road

I've recently started working a job that has me driving on the interstate (comparable to freeways in my area) at peak traffic times in the morning and evening.

I have found that I can shave about ten minutes off of my ~35 mile, one hour commute simply by wisely avoiding packs of slow people.  I often see a pack of ten cars in the left lane being held up by one slow person at the front.

This seems to support my idea that driving "algorithmically" would fix most traffic issues.  If everyone in the left lanes were driving at or slightly above the speed limit, with slower drivers occupying the right lanes and leaving space for others to merge from on-ramps, then I feel like there wouldn't be stop-and-go traffic in metropolitan areas below a certain population density.

Is this line of thinking flawed?

[Assistant]
A highway can only accommodate a certain rate of traffic flow. Beyond that rate and either you must deny anyone from merging at later on-ramps or delay traffic in earlier segments of the highway. Either of these will cause traffic to come to a standstill somewhere.

When traffic begins to approach this rate, the most minor of mistakes, such as not moving over to an exit lane early enough, will cause a significant disruption and bring traffic to a halt. In other words, the category of driving that can be considered "poor" increases from causing an accident up to merely being on a given road as the number of vehicles on the road increases.

The two are not separate considerations.


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

[User] ELI5: Why did Iraq invade and annex Kuwait in 1990? How could they have not anticipated that much stronger countries allied to Kuwait would intervene and drive them out?

[Assistant]
Iraq invaded Kuwait for financial reasons mostly. Kuwait supported Iraq during the war with Iran. After the war Iraq was in debt to Kuwait for something like $15 billion. Kuwait refused to debt relief. Kuwait was over prducing oil when there was already a glut. This drives the price of oil down which is bad for Iraq because they are really far in debt not just to Kuwait but to many countries around the world to the tune of $60 billion. Also Iraq accused kuwait of slant drill across the border into Iraq and pumping oil from Iraqi oil fields.

Now, how does Iraq invade Kuwait and not expect retaliation from the U.S. and other? Iraq at the time was the most powerful military in the region and the U.S. and Russian had just wound down the cold war. Iraq calculated we wouldn't be able to stomach another conflict with Vietnam and Afghanistan in our rearview mirror.

Another reason they thought the U.S. wouldn't get involved was a matter of mixed signals from the U.S. ambassador. Statements such as " we have no opinion on Arab-Arab conflicts" and that the U.S. did not intend to "start an economic war against Iraq". This was said while Iraqi forces were forming on the border with Kuwait. These statements and others, said and not said, was seen as a go ahead  for invasion.

The U.S. didn't think Iraq was really going to annex Kuwait. The U.S. believed it was just posturing by the Iraqis to put pressure on Kuwait for debt relief and lower oil prduction. I've heard that Saddam was surprised by the response from the U.S.


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

[User]
ELI5: If one cannot give consent while intoxicated why can one still engage in transactions, such as buying something while drunk?

I mean it seems like the merchant would be unable to sell you something as you could not legally consent to buying it. Is he not taking advantage of you?

[Assistant]
Law student here who is really good with contracts:

To briefly answer your question -- **technically**, if Person-A is intoxicated then Person-B should **not** engage in a transaction with them. Despite what some commenters have said, "contracts" can be oral or written... and they can be as simple as buying a stick of gum.

So let's say Person-A ("Adam") goes to the store. Adam is intoxicated. He picks up a pack of gum, walks it to the register. When the check-out person scans the item and presents the price, Adam pulls out his money to pay for it. This is an offer to purchase the gum. The store clerk can "refuse service" (reject the offer), or accept it by taking the money in exchange for the product.

If Adam wakes up the next morning and can't remember what the heck he did last night because he was so black-out drunk... but he comes across a pack of gum and a receipt... he could go back to return the gum (assuming it isn't opened). If the store says "no," then Adam could bring a law suit to recover his money by showing that the "contract" (agreement) between himself and the store is invalidated for lack of "mutual assent." If he could show that he was wasted at the time of sale and -- most importantly -- the clerk should have reasonably known that he was wasted, then he can argue that he was not in a fit state to engage in the transcation.

**WITH THAT SAID....**

Would anyone ever really go through all that trouble for stupid things like that? No. But if instead of a stick of gum it was *every* stick of gum in the entire store... and maybe all the candy, liquor, etc. If Adam just burns his credit card buying everything he can -- then that would be a bit more predatory of the clerk to engage in a transaction with them.

Keep in mind though -- if you are conscious enough to purposefully "get drunk" as a strategic measure to avoid being bound by a contract... it could be shown that you, in fact, were not drunk enough at the time. You'd have to essentially get so hammered that your "auto-pilot" kicks in, and you lose the conscious ability to assent. It's not a very high bar. In fact, it is one of the lowest bars required as far as mental health comes... lower than the level required to get married and far below the ability to devise a will.


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

[User]
[The Matrix movies] Since Smith entered another person's body, is it possible for others to be "uploaded" to another body while leaving the Matrix?

Hear me out here. In the Matrix, everything and everyone is data. The bodies in the real world, are sort of uninhabited while the minds are in the Matrix. This means if the "operator" doesn't direct who leaves first, could someone potentially be put in the wrong body? It's not fully explained, but it sounds possible.

[Assistant]
It probably is possible, like you said, Smith demonstrates, at minimum, that other software can run on a human brain.

That said, the Smith in the physical world was very unstable, even for a Smith, and had problems adapting to his meat suit.  And that's despite his core nature being that of an infiltration program designed to supplant other minds, among other things.

It is very likely that a human put into another body would have severe psychological trauma, if not an instant, and possibly fatal, cognitive break.


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

[User]
[DC] do all the latern rings do the same thing?

I know there powered by different emotions depending on the colour, yellow fear, red anger, etc.

However do the different rings has special abilities to them corresponding to the type of ring, or are they all the same as the green ring? Do they all have a type of energy projection able to create massive fists and guns or do they have specific qualities to them? Like could a blue ring user make or do something a green one couldnt?

[Assistant]
They don't.

* Red rings replace the wearer's heart and blood with searing-hot plasma, increasing the rage of others, and massively exacerbating the rage of the wearer, but the wearer is dependent on the ring to stay alive. It is very difficult for a Red Lantern to create constructs.

* Orange rings drain energy from other types of rings and can overcharge to a massive degree, and allows the wearer to create a construct of the identity of any creature they kill while wearing it.

* The yellow rings work very similarly to the green rings.

* Blue rings are specialized for healing and support purposes, and can supercharge green rings, drain yellow rings, ignore the energy draining of orange rings, and cure the effects of red rings, however only their most basic functions are accessible without the a green power source.

* Indigo rings imitate the powers of other nearby rings, and they control their wearers rather than vice versa.

* Violet rings work very similarly to green and yellow rings but are resistant to Orange's energy drain and have a few additional powers related to perceiving and manipulating love.

White rings have all the abilities of the others combined, and black rings reanimate the dead, or those who have died and returned to life, and turn them into intelligent zombies that can sense the emotions of others and consume their hearts.


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

[User]
[King Arthur] Why are there two different accounts on how King Arthur got Excalibur (Lady in the Lake vs the stone)?

Some say that the Lady in the Lake (whoever that is) came out, gave Arthur Excalibur, and told him he was king. Others say he pulled it out of a stone, and that proved he was king. Which is it?

[Assistant]
The stories are confused because there are 2 swords!

Caliburn is the Sword in the Stone. It is the Sword of Peace and good rulership and only the King of the Britons could draw it out of the stone.

Excalibur is the Lady in the Lakes gift. It is the Sword of War and is enchanted, as it its scabbard. The Sword makes you a great fighter, the Scabbard makes it so you dont bleed (aka cant be killed).


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

[User]
ELI5: Why won't a stack of office paper burn like a hardwood log does in the fire pit?

Built a fire in a fire pit the other day.

Puta a few hundred pages of office copier paper in the bottom along with the twigs and bigger branches. Also put a few logs in.

The wood burnt normally but I had to keep stoking the paper pile to get it burnt.

Is it just that a stack of paper doesn't have oxygen in it compared with a hard wood log?

[Assistant] Basically, carbon ash is a really good insulator and oxygen barrier. The outside of the paper stack will burn, but the core can't get any oxygen underneath the ash, and is fairly well thermally insulated until you poke it with a stick.


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

[User] ELI5: Why emulated ps2/ps3/x360 games still run horribly on newest CPUs?

[Assistant] In order to run the games themselves, emulators need to also simulate the hardware the game runs on. Sometimes this can be as simple as translating some CPU instructions. Other times it can mean using CPU power to simulate a whole other CPU. In the worst cases, like with some old arcade machines, this can mean running complex physics simulations to reproduce analog hardware components.


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

[User]
[Time Travel]Would going back in time and giving someone a "wining" lottery ticket produce a butterfly effect that would, most likely, change the results of the lottery?

keep in mind the lottery numbers are determined by randomly falling balls.

[Assistant] I don't see it as likely to change things. Unless something was done to change the timing of that lottery one could reasonably expect the event to turn out the same. The purchase of an extra ticket wouldn't have that effect as the lottery is run on a schedule and tickets stop being sold at a particular time ahead of the drawing.


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

[User]
Why does public transportation typically not have any seatbelts?

Ive taken buses in big cities across the EU, Middle East and North America, none have ever had seatbelts of any kind. Why is this? I assume that buses are no less likely to get into accidents, and would even assume that bus accidents would be more fatal due to the atypical seat layout (levels, rotated seats, etc...). So whats reasoning behind them not having any kind of seat belts? Surely its just not an issue of inconvenience?

On that same note, tramways (streetcars) also dont seem to have any seatbelts.

[Assistant]
When a massive object collides with a small object, most of the damage is to the small object. So, when a car and bus collide, the bus passengers are much less likely to get hurt.

I was once in an accident where a car rear ended a city bus. The bus shook a little and barely had any damage. The car was totaled.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What did Count Dooku think Palpatine's plan was?

So, Dooku obviously knew that he was supposed to create a separatist movement, only so that the war would begin, because he says to palpy, "it is done, the clone war has begun" or something to that effect. So he probably knew that it was supposed to end with the republic winning and being turned into the empire, but what did he think palatine was waiting for? We know he was waiting for Anakin to turn to the dark side, so he could reveal himself as the Sith Lord, and have Anakin "protect" him, completing his turn to the dark side. But Dooku couldn't have known that the plan was to groom his replacement, could he? He had to have known the kidnapping was the beginning of the endgame, but what did he think took so long? basically, how much did he know, and what did he believe?

[Assistant]
Let's take Dookus goals first. He was disillutioned by the Jedi order and the Republic. He wanted to wipe away the republic, turn the Jedi into Sith, and have a strong Sith Order directly rule the galaxy.

He kind of forgot about how treachery was the way of the Sith.
He assumed that he would kill Kenobi, which would fill Anakin with rage. Sidious would reveal himself, prompting Anakin to turn to the dark side, becoming Sidious new apprentice.
Dooku would be "arrested", defect to the Republic in captivity, and later reemberge to help get a Sith Empire up and running.

Sadly for Dooku, that is not how the Sith works.


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

[User]
[marvel what if episode 5] infection issue.

so i haven't watched the entire episode but my question is how >!did people like iron man or thanos get infected?. iron was seen getting attacked sure but he was in a full suit of armour and thanos is nearly invincible plus should of been far away from the zombies.  how did those two lads get infected?!<

[Assistant]
1. Ant-man can get inside Iron-Man's suit.
2. He's not *always* in the suit.
3. The suit can get damaged and pieces removed when he is overwhelmed.

Thanos is an open question, but he *can* bleed, and all it takes is a bit of saliva.


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

[User]
Why is there so many variations of f1 cars/planes/rockets? Wouldn't a 'perfectly' aerodynamic shape exist?

In the sense that out of all the permutations you could design something, surely there is just one particular way which would have the perfect shapes to create the right lift/drag/aerodynamics where it is needed?

[Assistant]
There's an old credence used by engineers to describe these questions.  Think of finding the "perfect" design for anything as finding the perfect spouse.  Science would dictate, with a given amount of variables, that one could find the theoretical perfect spouse.  A man/woman that perfectly satisfies every one of our hopes, dreams, and desires.

The fact of the matter is, nobody has the time, money, or knowledge (or a combination thereof) to pursue the matter.  So what we do is use the information at hand, along with some cost-effective research, to determine the best design that we can reasonably accomplish with the resources available to us.

Science would dictate that there is a perfect solution to everything. Unfortunately, the perfect solution is never attainable, and that's why you need engineers.


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

[User] Do orgasms feel the same for men and women?

[Assistant] Both the male and the female body release the same chemicals during orgasm, so it's the same good-feeling, but the female orgasm lasts an average of 23 seconds whereas the male orgasm averages 6 seconds. As far as intensity goes, have you *ever* seen a man have an orgasm good enough that it made him scream in pleasure and arch his back? The female body does indeed produce more "orgasm chemicals" -- Prolactin (lactation hormone), Oxytocin (substance related to trust and niceness), Phenethylamine (substance related to love, can be found in chocolate), and Endorphin (related to pain regulation - opiates work on these to cause its effects.) -- in volume, which explains the more dramatic female orgasm effect. Internal and external orgasms for women feel different because the same organ is being stimulated in different ways. The clit is actually a little exposed nub of an organ that wraps fully around the vagina internally (this is why there's a g-spot and why vaginal sex feels good for her at all). The difference in orgasms is based on the sensitivity of her clitoral organ, which has a wide variety of things effecting it. For men, it's similar to having an orgasm vs. having an orgasm with prostate stimulation (in laymans terms, masturbating vs. masturbating with a vibrator against or just inside the rectum).


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

[User]
[ATLA / LOK] What is the life expectancy in Avatar universe?

In real world life expectancy is about 70-80 (it's impressive to make it to your 100s), but in Avatar: The Last Airbender there are so many old people who seem to be at their prime despite their old age. Kyoshi and Guru Pathik even lived up to be over 100y old, Kyoshi even making it to her 200s. What do you think about average life expectancy in Avatar universe and does bending affect it?

[Assistant]
I think the life expectancy is pretty similar to ours, theres no reason to think otherwise really. Youre choosing examples of exceptional people with apparent superhuman connections to the universe. One an Avatar, an Avatar who learned a special technique to lengthen her life, and debatably the most spiritually attuned person we see during the war.

Thats sort of like asking how fast should a human be expected to run a hundred meters, and using Usain Bolt as a point of reference. Your idea for who is normal is going to be heavily skewed by the fastest person to ever do so.


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

[User] The earliest stars were composed of hydrogen and helium, do subsequent stars follow this pattern, going through the periodic table, or does it 'plateau' or do something more fancy at some point?

[Assistant]
Its complicated and largely based on the mass of the star.

At their birth, stars of every size are almost entirely hydrogen with a little helium and only trace amounts of other things.

Low mass stars will slowly turn their hydrogen into helium.

Higher mass stars more quickly turn their hydrogen into helium. At a certain point, the helium is under sufficient concentration and pressure to also fuse. At the center of the star, helium will be fusing, then there will be a shell of hydrogen around that still fusing as well. This kind of thing continues through a few elements up to iron.

Iron is the star killer. Its fusion actually removes energy from the system. This means the outward pressure it radiates starts to become less than the gravitational pressure of all the stars mass.

Eventually this reaches a threshold that causes the star to collapse rapidly to a smaller size. This sudden collapse then causes a more large scale fusion of the preceding cycles (hydrogen, helium, etc). This sudden spike causes an over abundance of outward pressure causing the star to explode. This is called a Super Nova.

The pressure of this explosion is enough to cause further fusion even of iron and heavier elements. That explosion sends these various elements out from the star where they can disrupt nearby gas clouds and seed them with these heavier elements. That disruption can cause the gas to start to collapse gravitationally, and when enough hydrogen piles up, it will ignite a new star.

Even bigger stars can turn into a Hyper Nova instead, but Ill leave that as a seed for further googling.


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

[User]
[Star Trek] In TNG how do they prioritize use of the holodeck? For non emergency use? Do officers have priority for recreational use? I imagine the holodeck is constantly busy?

are people allowed to masturbate or have sex with sims on the holodeck?

[Assistant]
You make a reservation, first-come first-served. Essential shipboard functions like engineering simulations take priority. A Galaxy-Class ship like the Enterprise has no less than 16 holodecks so even with a personnel complement of over 1,000, you still have enough for every officer, enlisted, and civilian aboard the ship to have more than two hours to themselves per week-- and more than that, if they coordinate group activities with friends, family, or colleagues.

Yes, holosuites can be used for sexual purposes. Quark, over on DS9, is famous for keeping the latest version of "Vulcan Love Slave" installed on his private suites, available for rent at his bar on the promenade. There is no canonical information about whether using holodecks on a Starfleet ship for sexual purposes is against regulations, however it's known that during Voyager's odyssey in the Delta Quadrant, they used theirs to help their tactical officer, one Lieutenant Tuvok, as well as an engineer, one Ensign Vorik, to each relieve themselves during their Pon Farr, which occurred respectively in the last few months of their seven-year journey and about four years earlier than that.


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

[User] Why is Sauron not invisible when he's wearing The One Ring?

[Assistant] One of the side effects of the Rings Sauron corrupted (the One, the Seven, and the Nine) is to transport the wearer to the Unseen World, and to eventually cause them to fade away entirely as wraiths. Sauron, as one of the Ainur (divine spirits who helped to shape the universe) already exists in both the Seen and Unseen worlds, as do the wizards, the balrog, and the most powerful of elf-lords. Each of these would not become invisible while wearing the Ring, and would instead obtain its primary ability of enhancing their natural power. Presumable each of these groups could also see a mortal wearing the Ring.


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

[User]
Does the act of your nose becoming blocked by congestion have a biological benefit, or is it simply a side-effect of the congestion itself?

To expand and clarify, is there some reason why causing one or both nostrils to become completely obstructed, thus preventing them from intaking air, have any benefit to the fighting of infection? Or is the stuffiness merely an uncomfortable side-effect to being congested and infected.

[Assistant] When you have a cold your nose doesn't get blocked by mucus and snot, it's caused by the blood vessels in your nose becoming inflamed as a response to to viral infection. Your body expands your blood vessels to enable transport of stuff needed to fight the infection to happen more efficiently.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why did the First Order continue with improved TIE Fighters instead of TIE Interceptors?

The T/I was far superior to the T/F, and almost as cheap to produce. It was faster, had a smaller port/starboard silhouette, six laser cannons instead of two, and could be modified with two rocket/missile launchers.

[Assistant]
The First Order is largely reliant on aping the symbolic might of the Empire. The TIE/f is the iconic Imperial fighter, so it's what the TIE/fo and TIE/sf are based on.

It may also be better suited to equipping with a shield generator, befitting the needs of the First Order, who, being much smaller, have a greater need to keep individual pilots alive than the Empire did.


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

[User] ELI5: How do snakes never get in a knot? And if they do, how do they escape?

[Assistant]
They do, in terms of the actual shape, but they're not stupid or flexible enough to pull it tight, so they just unravel themselves. Snakes aren't string, they have a spine and ribcage to consider and have limited flexibility. Any knot they manage to tie in themselves is loose and easily slithered out of.

Source: had a snake for a few years, fascinating to watch.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Questions about small arms and their use

After watching both trilogies + Episode VII over the course of the last week, The way that small arms are used in the Star Wars movies really doesn't make sense.

1. Power packs for blasters can hold a LOT of shots. Why does everyone completely disregard the principles of fire and movement, and fight toe to toe with murderously effective firearms. The only exceptions to this were a few clones in Episode III. There are definitely some blasters capable of extremely high volumes of fire, but they're just used like every other blaster and fired mindlessly in the general direction of the enemy.

2. Do they not understand the potential of their weapons or has tactical knowledge regressed because most cultures in the galaxy lack a martial tradition that isn't centered around individual combat?

3. Speaking of blasters, why does everyone fire from the hip, and why do so few weapons have shoulder stocks, even collapsible ones. Do Stormtroopers have a targeting laser that shows up on their HUD? Why does everyone else do it? Do they just figure they'll correct off the first shot and eyeball it?

[Assistant]
A couple of answers real quick.

> why do so few weapons have shoulder stocks, even collapsible ones. Do Stormtroopers have a targeting laser that shows up on their HUD?

No recoil to compensate for, and, yes, aiming is done by HUD in the Stormtroopers' masks.  You'll note that many of the rebel/resistance troops have optics of some sort on their weapons, as they don't have Stormtrooper helmets.  And they _do_ tend to aim.  You'll see this in various scenes, including the boarding of the Tantive IV, and Poe's sniping of Stormtroopers at the beginning of Episode VII.  Some of the characters we know and love don't aim because they are just that bad ass - Han Solo for example.


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

[User]
CMV: Leather Couches/Seats are expensive and impractical.

Whether this is in a car, or for a couch, I don't see why so many people would opt for leather.

1. Sticky, hot, freezing. Depending on the temperature, leather transfers heat way better, making summers burning and sticky, and winters hard and icy.
2. Many people talk about heated seats being offered only on leather trims. This may have been the case years back, but nearly all vehicles, from very entry to high end nowadays offer heated seats on cloth.
3. The smell. I can't stand smells in general, but if you want the leather smell, I'm sure there are sprays and air fresheners you can use that are far cheaper than leather seats.
4. General comfort. Texture aside, softness/firmness and support is really more dependent on the quality and manufacturing of the seat than just the surface layer. Leather isn't inherently more comfortable than cloth.
5. Scratch resistance and physical damage. If cloth rips, gets cut, marked, clawed etc. it doesn't show as much. In addition, I have the option to do some stitching or patching. These at-home fixes aren't possible with leather.
6. Cloth is easy maintenance. I don't have to take care of conditioners and special cleaners. With some things that have a cloth cover, I can dunk the cover in a washing machine and call it a day.
7. Finally, spills. This is a little more personal, but 90+ percent of the time, I'm drinking water from a thermos. Spills are rare, generally preventable, and even when it does happen, if taken care of quickly, the stain is cleanable with no long lasting smells.

[Assistant]
Here's why many people opt for leather.

Because leather is nonporous, it has a few advantages:

-	Spills wipe off easily. This is good for reducing stains and scents. Good for drive thru meals, sporting equipment, kids, messy passengers, and car sex.
-	Dust and pollen can't settle into the surface. Good for allergy sufferers.
-	It's smoother. Easier to slide into that driver's seat.

Other miscellaneous factors:

-	It looks more vibrant. It attracts dates who like the look.
-	The smell. It's subjective, some people love it.
-	Resale is higher for leather seats. If you are getting a free upgrade or are choosing between two cars with the same price, the one with leather seats will be worth more when you sell it.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Did Luke Experience any Repercussions in the New Republic due to Vader's Identity?

When it came out that Darth Vader was Leia's father, it essentially destroyed Leia's political career for a time. I was wondering, did Luke experience any similar ill-will?

[Assistant]
Luke was disconnected from the political side of things. He was a war hero. He came back with the dead body.

He never asked for leadership or control or anyones votes. By the time the Vader was revealed, he was on an isolated planet training a few Jedi.

Leia was on coruscant with a good chance of succeeding Mon Mothma.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do marketers sometimes brand their products with a "Z" at the end instead of an "S" (Chicken nuggetz, etc.)?

[Assistant] Because "nuggets" is a regular word and cannot be claimed for exclusive use as a trade name. "Nuggetz" is not a regular word and can be claimed for only their use, distinguishing their product from others.


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

[User]
ELI5 Why do muscles become less strong?

So when you workout, you're making like micro tears in the muscles, which then heal stronger. Thus the muscle becomes stronger

But shouldn't that muscle just stay strong? Like if you workout less but you're still using that muscle, why is it becoming less strong?

[Assistant]
>But shouldn't that muscle just stay strong? Like if you workout less but you're still using that muscle, why is it becoming less strong?

Muscle tissue is very expensive to maintain. Your body doesn't like maintaining things it doesn't need since that's valuable energy that could be used for survival. Accordingly, muscles that don't get used are disassembled and used for sustenance.


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

[User] ELI5: Why hasnt windshield wiper blade technology improved much?

[Assistant]
They have in many ways.  But a lot of the improvements are either not noticeable or on the more expensive options that people don't get.

Some examples: The connections are a lot better than they were 30-40 years ago, making them easier to install; the top springy area--and that's a technical term--improved to help move water; wipers are available that leave a polymer on your windshield to make water bead, thereby improving visibility and the wipers effectiveness.

Windshield wipers are a LOT better than they were in the 80s & 90s.


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

[User] ELI5:Why is there modern hate for Jews?

[Assistant]
It's not modern at all. There's always been hate for the Jews. It stems as far back as when the Catholic Church told Catholics that they couldn't lend, so Jews became the lenders. Because they were lenders, you usually owed a debt to them and everyone hates debt collectors.

Jews also had a culture that promoted education (at least for men) by encouraging reading.

So you got rich and educated people. People don't like that. They felt oppressed by them sometimes even. And so the pattern continues until today.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How did Emperor Palpatine plan to control Darth Vader?

So how exactly did The Emperor plan to control his apprentice before his injuries? After Vader was confined in his suit the problem sort of solved itself. In his fight with Yoda though Darth Sidious says "You will not stop me. Darth Vader will become more powerful than either of us." If he though Vader would outmatch him, how would he keep him from killing him as is Sith tradition?

[Assistant]
>So how exactly did The Emperor plan to control his apprentice before his injuries?

Anakiin is looking for a way to sve Padme's life and Anakin believes Sidious has the knowledge required to save Padme from "certain death." Therefore, Sidious would control Anakin by supplying Anakin with knowledge only when Sidious saw fit.


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

[User] ELI5: In the photos you see of nebulas, galaxies etc. What exactly does the coloured smoky areas represent? Is it just light or something cooler?

[Assistant]
Those are clouds of gas.  As a quick and dirty guide you can break then into three groups.

Red ones are thicker regions of hydrogen that are warmed by nearby starts to glow a red color.

Blue have dust in them and are reflecting light.

Dark ones can actually have larger dust grains, molecules of hydrocarbons etc.  They are blocking most light from passing through.


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

[User] ELI5: The difference between 32-bit and 64-bit.

[Assistant]
imagine you're adding numbers like in school where you write

    1 3 5 3 1 6
    0 5 1 2 5 6
    _________
    1 8 6 5 7 2

That's how a computer adds numbers too. A computer with "more bits" can work with longer numbers at once.
But more importantly, because it "knows bigger numbers" it can use more storage:
Every tiny bit of storage has an address. The processor shouts the address like a cook in a restaurant kitchen, then the storage with that address gives whatever it had stored.

More storage-addresses is like a Gordon Ramsay who can shout at 64 instead of just 32 different cooks to get him lamb sauce. The storage/cooks still work the same speed each, but a *Rordon Gamsay* who can handle 32 at a time get's half as much lamb sauce as Gordon 64-bit Ramsay.


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

[User] Eli5: Why does the alcohol in alcoholic beverages smell different from the alcohol in beauty/hygiene products?

[Assistant]
There are different types of alcohol.  Primarily:

- Isopropyl Alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol...what a nurse rubs on your arm before drawing blood)
- Methyl Alcohol (aka methanol...usually used as a solvent)
- Ethyl Alcohol (aka grain alcohol...what people drink)

You *definitely* do not want to drink the first two.  What they use in hygiene products is usually isopropyl alcohol.


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

[User] [Cthulhu Mythos/Lovecraft] My fraternety and I are passing through this small town called Innsmouth. What's a good prank we could pull on this small town?

[Assistant] Sneak into the local church building and steal the weird-looking statue they have on their altar. They really care about that stupid ugly thing, so taking it with you when you leave will lead to great hilarity.


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

[User] ELI5: Why did Osama Bin Laden's body get put into the ocean?

[Assistant] Islam requires bodies to be buried within 24 hours. Burial at sea is acceptable. This gave them a way to respect Islamic beliefs while not creating a location that could become a focal point for his followers.


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

[User]
[Marvel/Netflix Marvel] How good is Danny's martial arts ability really?

In both Iron Fist and Defenders, Danny is supposed to be a top martial artist who should be able to dispatch a normal human easily. However, it seems like Danny seems to struggle in most fights he's in to some capacity and Daredevil matched him blow for blow in Defenders. So is Netflix downplaying the Iron Fist as a martial artist?  Or is Iron Fist really not the impressive a fighter?

[Assistant]
Without his chi, Danny is slightly below Matt Murdock in terms of raw martial ability. That's a far cry from the "greatest martial artist in the world" that he should be, but it still isn't exactly *bad*.  Daredevil is one of the most talented fighters alive, and being able to fight evenly with him is a huge accomplishment. It just feels weaksauce because Danny is so hyped.

Danny also suffers from a serious lack of head game. Is very easy to provoke him, rattle him, make him doubt himself, or goad him into attacking without preparation. He believes that he's the greatest fighter alive, and any difficulty *at all* makes him doubt and panic. He's got the emotional development of a child, and instead of calmly using his talents like Matt does, he lashes out like a child.

This is in stark contrast to 616 Danny, who is very much superior to Matt Murdock without chi, and with chi can take down helicarriers.


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

[User]
Physics question: limits of gravity equation?

I've taken a few physics courses, and the other day I was thinking about the gravity force for equation we learned, Fg=G*(M1*M2)/(d^2). The gravity constant, G, as well as the masses, are constant values, so it seems like as the distance between two objects approach zero, that the force of attraction between them would approach infinity. According to my everyday observations, this doesn't seem to be the case, so I feel like this may be a sort of "watered down" equation taught for introductory courses since it works for most circumstances.
I'm really interested in physics, so don't be afraid to give me a detailed, complex answer.

[Assistant]
Your everyday observations never really see anything get close enough to anything else for this to come up. For example, you are currently about 6380 km from the center of gravity of the Earth. Solid objects have a finite size that is much, much greater than the sizes required for this to be relevant, and Newton's law works well in these situations.

If objects are compact enough, there is a region around them from which nothing can escape their gravitational field. You might know these objects as black holes. So you could apply Newton's law to objects getting closer and closer to a black hole, but once they cross the event horizon, Newton's law isn't really a good description anymore.

Now if we have one kind of physics close to black holes and another kind of physics far from black holes, is there a single model that describes gravity in both cases? There is, and it's Einstein's general theory of relativity. It describes how the geometry of spacetime is modified by massive objects, and things moving through space follow this geometry.


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

[User]
In your field, how would you design the ultimate digital paper-reading assistant?

For example, in computer science it might be helpful to have a tool that will keep track of variable name definitions in equations (i.e., highlight all instances of the variable and give definition upon hovering). That way, you don't have to keep searching backwards for what *z* represents.

I'm curious what the most annoying part of papers in other fields are. We have so many cool tech tools at our disposal but reading PDFs of papers is still pretty non-interactive.

[Assistant] In biology, I'd love a tool that fetches the relevant text when the materials and methods says "X was performed as previously described [cites old article]". We too frequently have to jump back through a decade of papers to find small but important methodological details. It would be even better if more journals actually enforced writing clear methods sections in the first place, and stop including them in word counts...


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

[User]
[superman] Does Clark Kent wear eyeglasses which have a zero prescription? I.e. they're just cosmetic and don't adjust vision in either direction?

Or does he blur his own vision slightly while he's Clark Kent, so that anyone who picks up his glasses won't be suspicious that they have no focusing power whatsoever?

[Assistant]
If you want to get real whacky, the glasses have a much stronger power - that of mind control, which allows Clark to trick people into not realizing that he is Superman when they look identical minus a pair of glasses.

They are Kryptonian in origin and allow him to amplify a mind control power that allows him to change peoples perception of what he looks like to make them not realize hes superman.

Shit got crazy for a bit.


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

[User] [Roughly 64% of all Anime]What is the moral justification or reason given that it is okay to send child soldiers to fight?

[Assistant] Desperation. If only children can pilot the giant robots you need to fight off aliens, then children you'll use. And if it just so happens that those giant robots also require the souls of those children's mothers, then you'll pay that cost too. And in some cases they simply have a lower age of majority, but it's easy to set the age of majority high when you aren't desperate for soldiers.


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

[User]
I don't think downloading songs for free which I wouldn't have bought otherwise hurts artists financially. CMV.

If I wouldn't pay for it anyway, but would have it if it was free and it doesn't hurt anyone then why not have it? It could actually benefit artists by bringing awareness to others that hear it when I play it. I could see how giving the songs to someone who would have bought them otherwise would be wrong since that would have taken away potential profits from the artist, but that is a tangent from this post. If I couldn't download the songs for free I wouldn't buy them and would either listen to music on a free service (such as pandora or the radio) or download other work that isn't priced. I will say that is selfish though since you're not really giving back (at least in an expected financial sense) for something provided for you.

*Edit* - I guess my view is more about large scale sharing being something that shouldn't be looked at as something that hurts artists - its more of an evolution in our society and needs to be embraced by the music industry instead of trying to make it illegal since they can't make as much money through sales anymore. I don't think sharing should be illegal - and "pirating" is just sharing at a larger scale.

*edit2* - My view is changed and I see the harm that pirating could cause. I think I realized I would listen to the radio or other free to listen things a lot more if I didn't do it - but I also wouldn't have music be involved in my life as much as it is now and enjoy it even close to the same extent (which I hope artists still have as a goal). Downloading songs for free is selfish - whether it has done more good than harm is another question and too complex and subjective to answer.

[Assistant] How do you know you wouldn't have bought them? There's a lot of research into consumer psychology and behavioral economics, and people actually have remarkably little self-awareness when it comes to why they buy things. Clearly the songs aren't worth nothing to you, since you went to the effort to download them, so you ought to be willing to pay something for them. If you listen to Pandora or the radio, you have to listen to ads, and that can be annoying. Maybe you wouldn't buy all the songs you've downloaded,  but are you really certain that you would never pay for a song if piracy weren't available? Or is that a post-hoc justification for something you sense is morally dubious?


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

[User]
[LOTR] Why are the Gundabad Orcs that tall?

As far as I understood, the Uruk-Hai were exceptional.

But taking a look at the newest Hobbit Movie, we see that both armies of orcs are taller than even elves! Just to remind you, elves are supposedly 7'.
And the Gundabad Orcs are even taller?!

[Assistant] Because the events in the movie are as retold by Bilbo, whose memory must have been affected by the excitement of this first great adventure of his life as there are a, uh, substantial number of inaccuracies.