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

[User]
CMV: People walking/biking in public places should adhere to the same "rules of the road" as when they're driving cars on public roadways.

As the title states, I have believed all my life that when walking in public areas, especially those with heavy foot traffic, we should behave with the same actions as if we were driving cars.

if you drive on the right side of the roads, you should walk to your right on the sidewalk, same goes for if you drive on the left side of the roads, you should walk to your left. Or not stepping out in front of other people that are clearly going straight, look around corners before stepping out into the main isle of the super market, look over your shoulder to see what's behind you before coming to a dead stop ect.

The sheer mindlessness and selfishness some people exhibit in public has bothered me for my whole adult life and I'm starting to think that I have the unpopular opinion here.

[Assistant]
Ive always been taught to walk on the opposite side of the road, if no sidewalk, so that way you can see when someone is coming especially if the road is close to the curb/walk space.

People not paying attention is a huge problem. Some are like me and look at their phone because they dont want to be seen. Much less accidentally look in someones direction.


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

[User] ELI5: How does character movement work in games? Is the character actually moving through an open world, or is the map just moving judged on your control?

[Assistant] It's nearly always the first. Basically, everything in the game world has a position in (x, y, z) coordinates, just like in math class. It's much more efficient to change the one value for your character's position than it is to change the values of everything in the entire world.


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

[User] [Batman] Precisely how does Batman's villains interview for potential applicants to be their henchmen or goons? What's the hiring process look like?

[Assistant] The animated Harley Quinn show shows this process. While it may not be canon for all universes, it's basically a villainous office building with HR, breakrooms, and in office parties on the weekends, all alongside the armory, technology divisions, control room, and other superhero/villain necessities.


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

[User]
ELI5 What is it specifically about substances like mercury and lead that kills you?

I understand something like Carbon Monoxide which physically takes up space that should have oxygen there but what about lead in my blood kills me? Is it a chemical reaction that steals nutrients? Does it puncture blood cells?

[Assistant] Many proteins in your body incorporate atoms/molecules of specific metals like iron, copper, manganese etc. Those metals are crucial to how those proteins function. Heavier metals, like mercury can be put into those proteins by mistake. This means the protein will no longer work. Depending on what the protein does normally, that can cause lots of problems.


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

[User] [Black Panther movie]the king of Wakanda is always either the son of the last king, or a Wakandan aristocrat who got the job by beating up and/or killing the last king in single combat. This system has never (before) resulted in a king tyrannical enough to abandon Wakanda's isolationist philosophy?

[Assistant]
Don't think of it as a philosophy, think of it as a religion.

In the past millennia, only a fraction of the kingdoms that existed have ever changed religions, and even then usually happened during periods of dramatic unrest or external pressure.

The king of Wakanda is, in effect, a divine ruler whose people have lived under what seems like uninterrupted prosperity for centuries. The idea of isolation was a core theological principal, that effectively defined the kingdom and it's justification for rule.

And, it's suggested that it hasn't always been perfect. There are legends and rumors, but they've always managed to stay committed.


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

[User] Electrons have mass and therefor curve spacetime. Why can't we measure that curvature to find position or speed without collapsing the wave function?

[Assistant]
Measurement in quantum mechanics doesn't really have anything to do with our ability to measure things. It's referring more to what information is physically possible to obtain and what happens when that information is obtained.

In other words it doesn't refer to any specific means of obtaining the position or momentum of a particle, any method is the same. By definition, if the position or momentum is "known" in some way, the wavefunction is collapsed: it doesn't matter how we got the information.

If you were to measure an electron by measuring its gravitational field - which seems a *bit* impractical but it's your dime - it's no different from measuring it by, say, probing around for an electric field.


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

[User]
[Marvel/DC] Do characters in-universe ever play who-would-win?

Have we ever seen heroes or villains talking out who-would-win types of scenarios among each other? If so, is there anyone over at Marvel who tends to get the "with prep time" qualifier that often gets attached to Batman?

[Assistant]
Superman himself is once asked by a girl he's saved who would win in a fight between himself & Batman.

After she dismisses his first answer of the Joker he tells her Batman would win. When she asks why he admits he'd let Batman win since "if you knew Batman, you'd know, it'd mean a lot to him".

And there's always the Flash & Superman races that the two hold for charity sometimes.


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

[User]
If two black holes approached each other along the same axis (no mutual rotation), would the collision create gravitational waves?

From visualizations of gravitational wave generation, it seems like most g-waves are given off as the black holes/neutron stars rotate around each other and slowly approach each other.  If they collided in a head-on collision, would the collision still generate gravitational waves?

[Assistant] Gravitational waves are created by systems that have a changing quadrupole moment. A non-rotating head-on collision doesnt have a quadrupole moment so there should be no gravitational waves produced.


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

[User]
CMV: Sports students should not get special treatment or exemptions.

One student's extracurricular hobby shouldn't come with special allowances, exemptions, and treatment unless other students also receive the same allowances, exemptions, and treatment.

This bothered me as a student, and infuriates me as faculty.

It's simply not fair that random athlete #2254 gets to skip a class for their hobby while another student would otherwise get a grade reduction for such an absence.

It's also not fair that student athletes should get priority grading. As faculty I recently got a request from the administration to submit grades to athletes first. Fuck. that.

What reason should student athletes receive special treatment? What is the rationale that sets them apart from any other hobby or extracurricular?

[Assistant]
Would you hold music students to the same standard?

In high school we'd have about 5 days off school to travel to and from national marching band finals or an out of state competition. In the winter, percussion ensemble would do the same for about 5 days, and the concert band would take anywhere from 5-10 day tour somewhere as well in the spring. Occasionally to support these trips we'd hold some extra rehearsals during the school day, which we were also exempted from class for. Teachers were always very lenient with assignment due dates and makeup work. College was very similar in terms of schedule and leniency with professors.


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

[User] Is there a scientific explanation for why we care so much about celebrities beyond their accomplishments (e.g. films, music)?

[Assistant] One theory is that humans have been evolutionarily conditioned to gossip as a form of information sharing among small groups or tribes, since in primitive times such information about people and events might prove vital to your group's survival.  Celebrity fixations act upon this natural impulse.


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

[User] [Final Fantasy Tactics] I'm pretty sure this "judge" is taking bribes or something they are literally imposing laws that only make it harder on my team to succeed. Is there a superior court I can appeal their rulings and judgements to?

[Assistant]
Unfortunately, no, at least for the first game.

>!The Judges are working for the crown who, due to the fact that the "Ivalice" that the games exist in are fake worlds accidentally brought to life by magical tomes, are actually being ruled by a kid who selfishly rejects his home world and is trying to stop his brother from ending the spell. They have a clear goal in hindering you.!<

You *do* get an edge later, but that's due to a criminal creating their own anti-law cards that can cancel/nullify the judge's authority.


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

[User]
When electrons give off energy to return to their ground state energy levels in the form of light (incandescence), where do the photons come from?

It's my understanding that the reason things visibly glow when heated is that the electrons have been excited to a higher energy level, and in order to return to their ground state energy level, they give off radiation, some of which is within the visible spectrum, causing the glow. Anyway, when electrons "give off" photons like this as visible light, where do the photons come from?

[Assistant]
What is a photon? Is it a particle? Yes, but also no. "Particle" is just a loose term we use to describe more complex phenomena on the quantum scale. It's more accurate to describe a photon as a quantized excitation of the electromagnetic field.

That's all that any "particle" is, an excitation of a field. For many particles you can't simply create a solitary one out of a bunch of excess energy, because of certain conservation laws. You can't create an electron by itself, for example, due to charge and lepton number conservation. But you can have a neutron decay into a proton, an electron, and an anti-electron-neutrino and keep the books neat and tidy (including mass-energy conservation). If you have a ton of excess energy you could create an electron and an anti-electron (positron) and also keep things balanced. And indeed, if you have the energy to spare, you can create such things out of nothing. Photons have no charge, all you need to be concerned about is conservation of energy and momentum, so anything that couples to the electromagnetic field can create photons if there's energy available to do so.


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

[User] ELI5 what are benefits of goats compared to other livestock? Why did people around the world decide to raise them?

[Assistant]
Goats are sort of the default livestock because they can usually make do. Smidgen of grass on rocky soil? Goats will eat it. Cows are big and need more land and resources, but any farmer can string a few goats on a leash and let them graze. Chickens and pigs don't give milk or have useful skins.

Vegetarian? Just drink the milk. Religious prohibition? They're kosher and halal.


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

[User]
ELI5:What can a US president really do, can he build a wall? Offer free health care for all?

Without the help of the Senate, can the US president really do anything at all?

For example, build a wall between Mexico and the US? Ban a certain group of people? Create free health care for US citizens?

Or, putting it another way, regardless of who is elected to the white house, the Senate could still order a wall to be built, or offer free health care.

So, in the end, does it really matter who is ultimately 'in charge'?

I understand he can *propose* a law, (or can he?), but that could be laughed at by the real law-makers, (or even the constitution court).

[Assistant]
This is a very complicated question, and in some ways the answer isn't even certain. The simplest answer is that the president has *The Executive Power,* and all that it entails.

At an ELI5 level, the U.S. President has a number of straightforward powers, including:

- **The power to veto laws** - It the President does not a agree to a bill passed in Congress, it does not become a law (and thus is not legally binding) unless Congress overrides the veto, which requires supermajorities in both houses of Congress (which are hard to get).

- **Command over the armed forces** - The President has the final authority over the military, and serves as the ultimate decisionmaker for military strategy and action.

- **The Pardon power** - The President can pardon someone convicted or accused of a federal crime.

- **The Appointment power** - The president gets to nominate people for senior government positions, although Senate approval is needed for many positions.

- **The responsibility to execute the laws** - The Constitution charges the president with faithfully executing the laws, which means using the departments of government to ensure that the will of the legislature (and thus the people) as expressed in law is carried out.  This covers everything from making sure people are prosecuted for crimes to keeping the parks open. It also covers things like "executive orders" where the President makes a policy that governs the behavior of government officials and employees (other than those that work directly for Congress, the states, or the executive.)

There are some others as well, like representing the U.S. abroad, and "executing laws" has expanded considerably after Congress created agencies that have a lot more power that is delegated to the agency or the president to use to make and enforce regulations.

The complexity comes in because Congress has power to, and many of those powers are somewhat open ended.

So, take the wall.  If the Congress doesn't give the president money to build the wall, then he can't build it.  But what if the president orders the military to build the wall --since he's the commander in chief?  Can he repurpose the money? Can Congress pass a law saying the money for the military can't be used that way?  and on and on.

Likewise, the President has tremendous power over diplomacy, but banning a religious group might be unconstitutional, so it's possible that the ban could be ordered, but the Courts would overturn it -- raising the question of who would enforce that ruling (since that's the executive's job).

As a result, some of those questions don't have definite answers, just likely ones.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it that the orange juice I buy that contains "Over 22 Whole Oranges" costs $1.89, yet I'd pay nearly 5x that to buy 22 whole oranges?

[Assistant]
Used to work in an orange packing shed. The juicing oranges were usually the lumpy, weird shaped ones that can't be sold loose, and don't fit nicely into the packing boxes. They all get lumped together in a bin, so would be much cheaper to transport. There's also more of them than the nice "Grade A" ones that get sold loose.

There were also "Grade B" oranges which were perfectly fine to eat but couldn't be sold in America because they were "ugly". I.e. Have slight marks or be differently coloured. These usually went to less economically developed countries.

Remember the produce you buy in shops is the most aesthetically pleasing pick of the crop :)


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

[User]
[WH40k] What would it take for a "civil war" to spark between the Ministorum and Mechanicus in a sector?

Say a system in a sector contains both a Shrine World and a Forge World, separated by a rich asteroid belt that has causeda great amount of tension over mining rights between the two factions. Then, unknown opportunists causes something catastrophic to one of those two worlds, who naturally blame the other, and is seen as an act of war. Knowing that both these factions are utterly integral to the survival of the Imperium's survival, how would this conflict manage to escellate into a sector-wide conflict? And how long/big would the conflict need to be before the rest of the Imperium is forced to squish it?

Edit: While both the Ecclesiarchy and the Cult of Mars maintain their own fleets and military, I wonder how the Sector's Naval Battlefleet would react; as it is woefully unclear if one or the other is rebelling against the Imperium; would they simply attempt to blockade the warring fleets from eachother? Attack them both?

[Assistant]
The Ministorum would need evidence of heresy in its Mechanicus neighbors to justify a war, and the Mechanicus would only be goaded to conflict by the destruction of a much-revered technological marvel.

In the former case, the Inquisition would likely be involved before escalation to war, striking at the top of the Hierarchy and recommending further cleansing action thereafter.  In the latter, the Mechanicus would need a damn good pretext to avoid being blasted into oblivion by nervous or opportunistic fleet commanders; namely, that whatever the Ministorum has stolen or compromised was essential to some nearby war effort.  At that point, they rely upon leveraging the military hierarchy against the Ministorum rather than bringing the matter to war outright.

TL:DR  By the time the tension escalates to war, it'll be a matter for the Inquisition or Sector Generals.


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

[User]
[DC] How do the other supervillains think of Black Adam?

I noticed that tons of supervillains team up all the time, yet I hardly seen anyone team up with Black Adam.

Are they afraid of him or something? He is a scary and powerful dude after all who can snap any minute.

[Assistant] 3 words. Dont visit Kahndaq. If everyone in the world knows you as that guy that likes to start violent shit for thrills and or money, Black Adam is more than willing to decapitate you the minute you pass the country border.


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

[User] If there are no nerve endings in the brain, then what's responsible for the pain we feel during a headache?

[Assistant] The textbook answer is that there are pain receptors in the "Meninges". The Meninges is a big thick membrane that surrounds your brain. In humans it really is quite a thick layer (in smaller animals it is more like saran wrap) and it's full of blood vessels and pain receptors. The story goes that headaches/migraines are causes by abnormal expansions and constrictions of the blood vessels in the  Meninges which activates pain receptors there.


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

[User]
Could Carbon-group elements like Silicon and Tin form complex chains just like Carbon? (i.e. Hydrocarbons)

I know about how Carbon can form long chains with other Carbons and Hydrogen to form Hydrocarbons.
Can other carbon group elements do this as well?
Can Silicon, for example, form long chains in a similar fashion to Carbon?

[Assistant]
Silanes are the direct analogue of alkanes, with silicon replacing carbon. They are less stable than alkanes though, especially as the chain gets longer.

Silicon can form many polymers, but the most common ones have oxygen in the chain - those are known as silicones.

Polysilanes are like the silanes except longer and with organic side groups. And those have a tin analogue, the polystannanes.


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

[User]
How to form a better ability to understand raw philosophical texts?

Ive taken multiple philosophy courses so far and I always struggle understanding the raw text. I dont take much away from certain readings from thinkers like Kant or Hegel and only start to get the basics once they are explained in class. I know some of these thinkers are extremely complicate but how can I start to be able to better understand these raw texts without explanations from professors?

[Assistant] Read more slowly, reread frequently as you go, take notes as you read, review your notes and edit them and review parts of the texts until you have a good set of notes, supplement your descriptive notes with argument analysis of major arguments in the text, discuss your interpretation with someone who has an understanding of this material, and keep doing these things regularly (minimally, 1.5h sessions 3x/week) over an extended period of time (minimally, two years).


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

[User]
[Terminator] How would Skynet even know that its plan to kill John Connor or Sarah even worked?

The only answer I can think of is to find the remains (If any) of the units it sent back.

[Assistant] It's more like Skynet sacrificed its own timeline to build an even stronger Skynet. The point of sending time-travelling terminators isn't just to assassinate future resistance leaders, it's also to upgrade Skynet to the point where it becomes impossible to destroy just by attacking a central server.


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

[User]
[Stargate Atlantis]In an alternate Timeline McKay spent several decades lecturing at a community college near the SGC. How did he manage to last that long without getting fired for saying or doing something inappropriate to a student or other staff member?

Rodney regularly sexually harasses women and treats his underlyings like shit, but they give him a pass on all that stuff because he understands ancient technology better than anyone else(apart from Sam).

A regular community College would be totally unaware of that, and thus have no reason to tolerate his crap.

[Assistant] Maybe he doesn't have the same level of self importance - it had to inflate his ego a bit when he volunteered for and was able to go on a special mission, and periodically save everyone's lives.  Lecturing at a community college, he may just see himself as an average person who is too smart for his job rather than "McKay saves the day again!"


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

[User] ELI5: Stock market crashes. How do they occur and once they do, is all money basically just gone with no way of getting it back?

[Assistant]
Imagine you have a valuable collector's item, for example a home run baseball that was signed by some big name players.  Other fans have made you an offer to buy it, saying they'll give you $100 for it.  Personally you feel that it is more valuable and that they player that hit it is going to be an all-time great, and that someday when that player is in the Hall of Fame that the baseball will be worth $300.

Now imagine some new piece of information is revealed.  Maybe the player is found guilty of performance enhancing drugs, or his career turns out to be a total flop, maybe he loses his nerves on social media and becomes widely disliked.  Nobody cares about your baseball anymore and you have a hard time finding someone who would even buy it for $10.

The underlying value, growth prospects, and analysis you had done to previously calculate the value of the baseball is undermined.  It has simply become worth less.

Imagine you had a full collection of stocks like this, that you were planning your whole budget and life around, knowing that at any given time you could sell them all off at $300 per share.  You were planning to sell it all for your retirement someday, but the 'bubble' burst, and you realized that you'll hardly be able to get a fraction of what you had planned.  There wasn't necessarily any money that was 'lost', aside from the costs accrued in acquiring the security, but your net worth has dropped away.


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

[User]
Reviewing a "meh" paper for a super low impact journal

For the first time I've been directly contacted to review a paper! Yey! I'm important!

I've dug out what journal is it and it turns out it's a real one, with more than a decade of history, an impact factor and a real publisher (i.e.: not one of the spammy fake ones).

However, turns out the impact factor is 0.4 (in my field 2.0 is average). That's why I've never heard of this journal before. The paper itself is extremely boring and repeats some instrument characterization (not even experiments) that have already been published 5 years ago by many groups.

So... What should I write in my review? I mean... there's nothing seriously wrong with that paper. But I'd suggest outright rejection in another journal. On the other side, I don't want to be "that" reviewer that always kills it for the poor undergrad from a thirld world university.

How do you change your strictness criteria according to the journal, if you do?

[Assistant]
I change strictness in impact, but not strictness in quality.  In other words, there needs to be a place to publish those not-interesting-but-need-to-be-cited papers, otherwise we're falling into the "it's all got to be novel/life changing" trap that governs the big name journals.

Quality still has to be there, of course, but if instrumental characterization is something that needs to be done, and in your mind needs to be referenced by future groups, then by all means it should be published somewhere.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How many Jedi did General Grievous kill?

So how many Jedi has general Grievous killed during the Clone Wars?  and which ones were in  of Canon (Disney canon) and EU(legends) (names would also be appreciated)

[Assistant] This is yet another example of the writers not giving us hard numbers - we know he killed several, but we will never know the exact amount. Could be two dozen, could be two hundred, but it's probably less than one hundred which is still a significant amount given that there were ten thousand Jedi before the Clone Wars started.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why lotions, soaps and other non-ingestible products need to be "gluten free". I thought it was a gut issue.

My lotion indicates that it is gluten free. Why does this matter, assuming people don't eat lotion. I've seen this on soaps, shampoos and other toiletries. I thought gluten sensitivity and celiac disease were based in the gut. This trend seems to have gotten out of hand.

[Assistant]
Congratulations, you are smarter than the target market for these products.

Gluten-free is primarily about marketing. The number of people who actually suffer from gluten intolerance is tiny. The amount of money to be made from selling gluten-free everything to everybody is astronomical.

That's the entire answer.


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

[User]
[Superman/DC] Do major villains and world governments know by now how Kryptonite affects Superman? Is Superman even a threat anymore if he ever went rogue?

I'm not talking about the Injustice timeline, I'm just asking in general. If Superman suddenly decided fuck it, and attack earth without holding back, would he be easily subdued due to everyone knowing he's weak to Kryptonite?

How much of it is on Earth and who would have it?

[Assistant]
Kryptonite's effects on Superman are well known

>would he be easily subdued due to everyone knowing he's weak to Kryptonite?

You know who has lots of Kryptonite? Lex Luthor.

You know who gets beaten by Superman a lot?


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

[User]
Are there any extinct animals recorded in cave paintings that we don't otherwise know about?

Could there be cave paintings containing animals we haven't found fossil records for yet? And if there were, how would we tell if the animal being depicted was actually real and not some made up creature?

[Assistant] Not as old as cave paintings but still pretty old is the Set animal. Some sort of canine with a forked tail, square ears and a long curved nose. Could be fanciful or a stylistic representation of a known animal or something that went extinct we haven't identified. Most experts lean to the fanciful, but we really don't know and the other gods are associated with real animals.


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

[User]
CMV: Advocating for policy that makes your life worse because you believe it's better for society shows virtue

I see over and over again on reddit, people criticizing mainly right-wingers for "voting against their interests" or something of the sort.  Now say what you will about their politics, but specifically, the argument that someone should vote for their own interests is a flawed one.  I've also seen the argument used in regards to the rich advocating for higher taxes, or things of this sort. I believe it shows virtue to stand up for the beliefs you hold even if they harm you personally because you think it's better for society as a whole.

When I think of politics I like to imagine a thought experiment I was shown a while ago.  Imagine you're going to be thrown into a society, but you have no way of knowing if you'll be born to the richest or poorest family, born extremely smart or stupid, born with a disability or extremely healthy, no way of knowing what gender, race, etc you will be.  Essentially try to create a society without your personal bias.  I believe this is the best way to conduct politics.

People voting in their own interests taken to the logical extreme would have the majority voting for their own interests to the detriment of the minority.

[Assistant]
The underlying point of the criticism of voting against ones interest is that those who do it are brainwashed. That's not virtuous to be fooled into consenting to a system that mostly benefits the wealthy at your expense.

What would be virtuous would be a rich person advocating for higher taxes on himself.


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

[User]
[The Terminator] What if Kyle and Sarah had managed to drive off after the terminator had it's flesh burnt off at the end?

Let's say the movie proceeds the same way, but at the end, instead of going into a confined building with the fucked up crippled terminator, they manage to steal a car, and drive off.

What happens if they could escape to say, South America, or some other country?

What happens if the terminator is discovered without a flesh cover?

[Assistant] Cops get reports of walking skeleton, investigate, lives are lost, government responds, exoskeleton is taken to secret research facility. Would-be Cyberdyne employees are coincidentally selected for their chosen academic fields, and continue development on duplication. American weapons development gets a huge jump forward, making more advanced machines that humans will have to fight. Hopefully manual weapons are also improved,  so we can keep up in the eventual war against machines.


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

[User]
[Loki, I guess, but really just time travel in general] If time is always on a set path, how do people create branch timelines?

So in episode one of *Loki*, we learn that >!variants can come from anything, without time travel even being involved!<. So if time is always on a set path, and everyone is always supposed to do what they do at the exact second they do it (basically meaning no free will is allowed), then how does someone suddenly achieve free will and branch the timeline?

[Assistant]
>So if time is always on a set path, and everyone is always supposed to do what they do at the exact second they do it (basically meaning no free will is allowed), then how does someone suddenly achieve free will and branch the timeline?

Simple: this premise is false. Time *isn't* always on a set path and *not* everyone always does what they are "supposed" to do at that exact second.

That's why the TVA exists, to find people that deviate from that set path and "prune" them.


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

[User]
Question about downvoting

The downvoting guideline says:
>downvote only those comments which detract from the discussion (distracting memes, off-topic jokes, pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo, and anti-science rhetoric).

What about wrong answers? If we are almost positive that an answer is false, should we downvote?

[Assistant] I think a more objective and probably more effective way to handle wrong answers would be to provide a constructive answer in response to the wrong answer detailing why they are wrong but providing a more correct answer. Instead of down voting them, just don't vote at all.


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

[User]
Why is Fosbury-flop the most efficient way to do high jump ?

While doing some research about it I saw that it allows the jumper to keep his center of mass below the bar. But in pole vault they also keep their center of mass below the bar but with their body facing the bar.

If one approach is more efficient than the other to keep its center of mass below the bar, why does high jumper don't adopt the technique of pole vaulter (or vice versa) ?

[Assistant]
Both techniques use the same principle.

Basically you just draw an arch over the bar. The high jumper touches the floor with his feet on one side so his head will go over the bar and land on the other side. The pole vault guy touches the floor with the pole, which he touches with his arms. So basically he touches the floor with his arms, so his feet go over the bar and land on the mat.

And because the body does this arch, the center of mass doesn't have to be above the bar.


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

[User] Is it possible to replace someones blood type if you slowly drain all their blood and replace all the bone marrow with new marrow etc?

[Assistant]
Yes, in fact only the bone marrow replacement is required for blood type switching. If you replaced the bone marrow of someone with type A blood with the marrow of someone who was type AB, for example, there is almost no risk of the newly generated white cells attacking the current red cells. Your body is more complicated than this in real life and there will be other related problems (other antigens outside of ABO, existing plasma antibodies, etc.), but your basic idea is correct.

This blood type switching is seen all the time in bone marrow transplants (BMTs). Your red and white cells all come from specialized cells called hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) but the primary consideration in a transplant is how the white cells will react, since they are more immunologically active in the body and will be responsible for any major catastrophic autoimmune events. This is controlled through human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching when looking at BMTs.

ABO matching is a secondary consideration and mismatches do place the patient at higher risks of harmful events such as uncontrolled destruction of the red cells, but these risks disappear within a few months as new compatible red cells are generated by the bone marrow.


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

[User]
EIL5: Why does the US protect/spend funds on Israel

What gains do we receive from defending israel, also a backstory on why their is fighting between palestine/israel.

[Assistant]
A variety of reasons:

* After the fall of the Shah in Iran, the US was looking for another strong ally in the Middle East. Israel, as a more "Western" country, was an obvious choice to play the role of a regional "police force."

* Israel has occasionally provided aid to the US, as both a reliable voting partner and military ally *outside* of the Middle East. In the 80's, Israel's actions in Central America and Africa helped accomplish what the US couldn't politically.

* There are strong economic ties between the US and Israel, particularly in the IT and security sectors.

* There's also what is sometimes called the "Israel Lobby". Lobbyist groups (some Jewish, some Israeli-American, some Zionist Christian, etc) pressure politicians and media to supporting Israel, virtually without questioning their policies (a dangerous position to take with *any* country). Arguably, their influence is beginning to fade, at least as far as public opinion goes. A greater percentage of young Jewish Americans are starting to question Israel's policies, for examples. But support for Israel is still quite high among politicians and many businesses for the reasons above.


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

[User]
ELI5: What makes CRISPR a *synthetic* biology innovation?

I'm hoping to understand the nature of synthetic biology, as a lot of the explanations I've received assume a lot of internal knowledge.

[Assistant] Previously, we have believed that cellular DNA is like words chiseled into a stone tabletwhat is written there is constant and unchangeable.  The discovery of the CRISPR system has challenged this belief.  DNA in some species now is more like an internet server.  Viruses come in and try to hack the server to change its programming.  The CAS protein is like a firewall that recognizes someone attempting to infiltrate the system.  CRISPR is where the firewall stores its blacklisted IP addresses.  CAS adds the IP address of the invading hacker into the web host to prevent the viruses from editing the server.  Now that scientists know that this blacklist exists, we can add all kinds of things to the blacklist that arent IP addresses.  We can access the part of the server thats meant to be changed and make the blacklist (CRISPR region of the genome) store our information.  The full use of CRISPR has not yet been realized, but the fact that we can insert specific genes into living cells is a huge breakthrough.  The synthetic part comes in with us adding that information where it doesn't belong.


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

[User]
CMV: The new wave of Progressive Politics is deeply rooted in an archaic christian-like mentality that the world is made up of the "sinners" who need to repent and the "righteous" who are without sin, and that is toxic.

Note: this post isn't a criticism of BLM, or LGBT rights, or any of those incredibly worthy causes. It is not a criticism of the cause but a criticism of a specific sub-section of activism surrounding it.

The vocabulary I have seen used in the recent political turmoil has me concerned, because it echoes of religious notions. The world is "sinful" (world ie the "system" in "systemic racism") and anyone participating in it is either a "sinner" or someone "righteous" oppressed by the "sinful world":

\- There's the "sinners". They are "sinners" due to their inherent privilege they are born with, which means they can't help but be racist/sexist/capitalist/etc. They grow up in a sinful world which turns them into sinners. And therefore, they need to acknowledge their sinful ways, publicly, openly, and repent in the aim of doing better. Just like in Christianity, a sinner who sees the light and confesses their sins can be forgiven. One who doesn't, and refuses to apologize for their sins, cannot be saved.

\- If you die without repenting for your "sins", you die a "sinner". And if so, then that is all you will ever be: it doesn't matter what else you did in your life, a sinner's a sinner. Just like in Christianity, no matter what other actions you have committed in your life, no matter the good or bad. It doesn't matter, because you were a "sinner".

\- And finally there's the righteous. Those who are without those sins. Because they were not born with certain types of privilege, they are not tainted by the "sin" of having privilege.

This worldview is toxic for the same reasons why the Christian concept of sin is toxic. It turns the complexity of human experience into a binary, and it makes people ashamed of just being human and participating in a society that has its flaws (like every society).

[Assistant]
It sounds to me like the only (weak) point of analogy, that in both cases, the problem is omnipresent.

Yeah, in Christian theology, every person is born with sin.

And according to anti-capitalism, the entire world runs on a capitalist economy that exploits the working class.

The big difference is that in the former, the solution is explicitly personal, (faith in the saviour Jesus Christ), and the latter is **explicitly intended to be** a description of global sociatetal systems, not of individual morality.

If we are comparing apples to apples, then progressives are much LESS focused on individual virtue, than conservatives are.

When you look at a problem like racial inequality, the conservative position begins and ends with "Well, maybe black people should do less crime, clean up their act, raise their kids, etc." It's all about how the individual blacks should all start to act virtously one by one, act very righteous.

The progressive position that if you subjugate a group for centuries, then their ongoing inequality will be baked into every levelof how they are raised, policed, employed, housed, etc., it permeates all of society and that is what you have to undo.

Which one of these sounds more inspired by Christian dogma?

You are basically criticizing progressives, for language that was designed to counter the individualistic, virtue based morality of *actual Christian* conservatives, just because the way they talk about all-encompassing problems, vaguely sounds at a glance like Original Sin.


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

[User] Eli5 why they put blankets on people after a plane crash with survivors or shootings?

[Assistant] Depending on the circumstance of the injury, shock can involve sudden drop in body temperature due to organ damage or blood loss. Too much drop in body temperature (below 95 degrees) can lead to hypothermia, which can result in death. This is more of a cause for concern the colder it is outside because the lower the temperature outside, the more rapid the loss of heat. The other concern is that our bodies are good at regulating their temperature. Until they're badly damaged and can't operate properly.


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

[User]
Can something be too cold to burn?

If we want to put out a stack of sticks from our lawn, removing the fuel or oxygen is pretty easily done. Simply take away the unburned sticks or smother the fire with sand, a blanket, etc.

What about denying the fire heat, though? Without changing the amount or availability of the fuel or oxygen, like introducing compressed (and cooled) carbon dioxide, is it possible to steal enough heat from the fire to make it quit burning? If this is possible, I suspect it would have something to do with slowing the atoms to the point the fire can no longer sustain itself, but for some reason it doesn't coalesce into a consistent process in my mind.

Sorry if this is too elementary for this sub. I actually have a decent understanding of different sciences (physical science, physics, astronomy, a little chemistry, etc), but this explanation has always eluded me.

[Assistant]
Former US Navy trained firefighter here.

This is exactly how water extinguishes a fire.

There are four components to fire:  fuel, oxidizer, heat, and a chemical chain reaction.  Remove any one of those components, and the fire goes out.

Water extinguishes fire by absorbing heat, cooling the fuel to a temperature below its combustion point.

Blowing out a match or candle works the same way:  it cools the fuel to below the combustion point.

Carbon Dioxide displaces air, getting rid of the oxygen.  It also provides some cooling, but usually not enough to be effective by itself--it's the displacement of air/oxygen that extinguishes the fire.

We fight forest fires by depriving them of fuel.

Dry chemical and Halon extinguishers break up the chemical chain reaction, causing the fire to go out.

Firefighting foam creates a layer on top of liquid fuels, sealing out air.

Stomping a cigarette butt breaks up the fuel into smaller pieces, which are consumed before the fire can spread to fresh tobacco.  It also displaces oxygen.


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

[User] ELI5: What is the difference between resistance and impedance?

[Assistant]
Resistance is the purely electric effect of resisting current flow, while total impedence is the combination of resistance, and the contribution of magnetic inductance and capacitance in an AC system that resists current flow.

They have the same units, but DC only uses resistance, while AC uses resistance and impedence, depending on what you need to know.


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

[User] ELI5: If the reason that red wine is stored in tinted bottles is so it doesn't spoil, why is is white wine not?

[Assistant] Most people enjoy the vibrancy of new white wines. There are white wines that can be cellared and enjoyed after many years but these are not very common (depending on where you are). Therefore the packaging accounts for how most of the wine will be consumed - within a few years.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] what would happen if I opened an airlock and stepped outside while in Lightspeed?

Stepped, floated, whatever. If I exited my ship whilst in Hyperspace, what would happen to me? Would I fall out of lightspeed and simply be drifting in space, be torn apart, or what?

[Assistant]
You'd fall out into hyperspace. And that would be the last anything would ever sense of you.

Hyperdrives don't just move ships FTL, they actually shift ships into a subdimension, one with looser laws of physics than realspace.


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

[User]
[Elysium]Why did they limit access?

In Elysium most of the people seem to live in uitter squalor on the planet surface and a tiny elite live in lavsh luxury on an advanced space station.
From what it looks like the technology is present to automate pretty much everything and provide this level of luxury to everyone, why do they limit this wealth to such a scarce few?

[Assistant] Because, as history shows, the haves are NEVER eager to share their wealth with the have nots. Elysium (the station) is the ultimate example of "fuck you, got mine", to the point where the rich didn't even want to live on the same PLANET as the poor anymore, despite still relying on exploiting them to maintain their lifestyle.


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

[User]
ELI5: What makes light so fast?

I'm not good at understanding complex concepts in physics, so I was hoping that someone could explain this to me like I was five. What makes light so fast? Why can nothing else in the universe, besides darkness, travel so incredibly fast like light can?

[Assistant]
LY5, the more something weighs, the harder it is to make it go fast. Throwing a baseball is easy and you can make it go 50 mph with some effort. You can't push a car that fast because it weighs so much.

Light weighs nothing and so it can go at the speed limit of the universe. Which we call the speed of light.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is hot water better at cleaning things than cold water?

[Assistant] Since high temperature will cause water molecules to move around relatively faster, it will also cause the hydrogen bonds between them to form and break at a higher rate (that is why hot water vaporizes more quickly than cold water). In addition, the high temperature increases the water's energy, and this energy may be used to break bonds between dirt and curtains for which colder water will not have enough energy.


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

[User] [MCU] So... who is in charge of Kamar-Taj now?

[Assistant]
I would presume that Wong and the other Elders retain leadership roles in Kamar-Taj. Steven is stuck looking after the New York Sanctum, while Wong and the other Elders alternate between who is minding the London, Hong Kong and Kamar-Taj locations.

Once Steven becomes Sorcerer Supreme, he takes leadership of Kamar-Taj. But even then, he still bases himself as the New York Sanctum while his associates (such as Wong) mind the Kamar-Taj Temple and the other Sanctums.


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

[User] When Neil Armstrong made his first footsteps on the moon, did the dust make a crunch similar to walking on freshly packed snow?

[Assistant]
Probably not. The lunar regolith has the consistency of fine dust or sand. It was probably more like walking on really dry soil (the kind that goes everywhere when you walk on it) than snow. Even though there is very little atmosphere on the moon, the astronauts would have been able to hear themselves walking around because the sound from their footsteps would have traveled through their suits.

Edit: Plug your ears and walk around. The sounds you hear are probably similar to what the astronauts would have heard.


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

[User] [Marvel Ultimate] How did J. Jonah Jameson react to Miles Morales becoming Spider-Man after Peter's death?

[Assistant] At first he was pissed that someone was using Spiderman's identity, (Ultimate Jameson knew Peter was Spiderman and treated him like a son) but after seeing that Miles was just as heroic as Peter he came around to the idea. Jameson was eventually killed by Norman Osborn for refusing to tell him who the new Spiderman was.


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

[User] [Star Wars] why can't someone just program R2 to speak basic?

[Assistant] They could, all it would need is an updated vocabulator and some tweaks here and there, they don't because why would you need an astromech droid to speak basic? That's not what it's for, leave the fancy words to the protocol droid.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it that I can by a 2" thick novel for ~$6, but a 20 page children's book will cost me $15-20?

[Assistant]
Books aren't sold by weight or volume. They're sold by what people will pay for them.

The children's book costs more because it costs more to produce (hard cover, color pages with images). They charge more for it because of that and because they know what people are willing to pay for them.


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

[User]
Eli5: Why does the coin drop after hanging up the pay phone

I always see in the movies that when they hang up a pay phone, you hear a coin drop. Whats the reason for this?

[Assistant] The coin goes into a sort of escrow holding. That is it doesnt fall all the way into the bank, in case the call isnt completed. Instead its held in this escrow feature until after the call, when the coin is dropped into the bank. If a call doesnt complete, the coin falls into a different mechanism for the coin return.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is everything made in China?

[Assistant]
I don't know how specific of an answer you are looking for, there are a lot of factors. But basically china is known to be keeping its currency at artificially low rates. When their "dollar" is weaker, we can buy more shit from them with our dollar. about 6 yuan to one USD. This is important because assume they pump out a toothbrush that costs 1 "dollar". We can now buy 6 of those. this is the ( cheap imports)

On top of that, the laws in china regarding labor, factory safety, workers rights, are much less strict than our own. So they can legally work someone long hours for shit pay in a rusty building.

Long story short, its cheaper to pay someone 5 Yuan an hour. ( less than 1USD) and then pay to ship it overseas than it is to build the factory here, hire unionized workers for 10 bucks an hour. AND deal with all the legal stuff. Pensions, Workers comp etc.


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

[User]
[DC] How does Batman deal with the problem of DNA?

Batman bleeds. A lot. Batman/Bruce sleeps around. A lot. When compared to the general population Batman's (therefore Bruce's) DNA is at countless crime scenes. He has children. He's even been cloned. Bruce has also been arrested, framed for murder and imprisoned. His DNA is surely on file. He's also been captured and unconscious around many a villain (some of them mad scientist types) who could easily have acquired is genetic material.

My point is - how does he keep his identity secret when his genetic footprint is so clear to see by those inclined to look?

[Assistant]
Would his DNA be on file?

He's very rich and powerful, has little interest in following the law, and was after all found not guilty every time he was arrested.

It would be relatively easy for him to make a few phone calls and get it removed (or hack the database if that doesn't work). The GCPD is notoriously both corrupt and poorly equipped, after all.

He'd only really need to worry if someone searches batman's DNA during that relatively short period before he can pull strings to remove it, or if a villain for some reason took Bruce Wayne's DNA specifically. Both rare enough he has a decent shot of avoiding it.


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

[User]
How does your body 'know' when to give you a fever?

When you get a common cold, you don't get a fever. When you get the flu, you often do to kill the virus in your system. What determines whether your body goes into a fever or not and how does it know when to do it?

[Assistant] The immune system produces many types of inflammatory mediators. One class of mediators is called Interleukins. Of these, IL-1 and IL-6 have an effect on the hypothalamus causing the body to reset the temperature higher. This is what causes fevers.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40,000] How does the Imperium decide which primitive Xenos deserve pre-emptive extermination and which don't?

Throughout the lore, the Imperium has come across primitive Xenos races and either exterminated them before they became a threat or decided against it.

The Tau are a famous example, saved only by last-minute chance.

How does the Imperium choose?

[Assistant] It's up the Ordo Xenos, for the most part. They evaluate a species' intelligence, psychic potential, reproduction rate, aggression, toughness and many other parameters. Each xeno race is taken into consideration not just on its own, but also as a potential subject or ally to other xenos or to Chaos. The Ordo Xenos tends to err on the side of caution, with the main consideration behind choosing *not* to exterminate a race being that the resources that would be employed in doing it are needed elsewhere.


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

[User] What are some of the biggest and most important questions psychology researchers are trying to answer atm?

[Assistant]
The development of morality and ethics and how people come to grossly violate them. There are scores of known factors that influence both that support survival of the individual and their society - cultural values, permission from authority, etc... There are also theories that there are universal or innate ethical and moral boundaries meant to ensure the species survives - incest, killing another in self-defense, etc.

Research of these topics are as old as philosophy and psychology themselves. Very interesting and if fully understood would have effects of criminal justice systems, parenting styles, perceptions on community world wide.


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

[User] ELI5: What is the scientific 'gain' to be had from mashing elements together to create new elements that have half lives measured in miliseconds? Other than filling up the periodic table and giving them fancy names how does science benefit?

[Assistant]
We can't really observe why a nucleus stays together or how that works. You can't really watch something not do something. What we can do, however, is make many kinds of nuclei that don't stay together and pay attention to what happens. Then, we look at all of those different behaviors and make really solid inferences about how stable nuclei work and how the particles interact with each other and what role they and various forces play in that mechanism by seeing what happens when they *don't*.

Think of it like using footage of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse to understand engineering principles that inform us why other bridges don't collapse.

Additionally, as a bonus, the engineering that goes into devising the experiments to develop the theory side of things sometimes leads to technological advances.

Edit to add: there's a running gag in Calvin and Hobbes, where whenever Calvin asks his dad anything about how the world works, the answer he gets is comedically ridiculous. In one strip, Calvin asks his dad how they know the weight limit for bridges. Calvin's dad explains that they build the bridge, and then drive bigger and bigger trucks over it until it collapses, then rebuild the bridge and weigh the last truck to make it over successfully. This is actually pretty close to what we're talking about here, except there are so many more dimensions than weight and there are things we can learn from a truck that was three times too heavy for the bridge that we couldn't learn from a truck that was only two times too heavy.


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

[User]
[MCU] When I watched Civil War, I was extremely nervous for Ant Man the whole time. What if someone gets it into their head that the best non-lethal way to beat him is to damage his suit? There's a good chance he dies horribly, right?

I mean, you fight Iron Man, you expect the suit to get banged up. But Ant Man's suit might as well be a space suit in MCU. Are there failsafes or anything?

[Assistant]
Only if the wearer attempts to shrink or grow while the suit is compromised. Don't forget that the helmet is retractable/removable depending on the version. Also remember that Hank attempted to go subatomic before wasp but was unable to due to the suit being damaged so depending on how the suit is harmed determines what side effects are. But it won't be detrimental if the wearer is already grown or small. It protects the wearer against pym particles but those are what's used during the shrinking or growing process, it's a much lesser degree to maintain the size. Remember the goat was what was dying not objects during the tests so it adds a layer of protection here, but the suit itself, while offering some trauma resistance isn't thick enough by any means to not be torn, as Scott was able to be tazed and also said he felt cold when riding an ant.

So through and through, it's not immediate death for the wearer if the suit is compromised during combat, it's much more likely however for the wearer to be stuck in whatever size they are at if it is damaged.


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

[User] ELI5: Why my medicine costs 14k for every dose. How is it even possible for a chemical to cost that much?

[Assistant] You aren't paying for the actual chemical, you are paying for all the research that led to the creation of that medicine.  It may take a company millions or billions of dollars to find, test, and build manufacturing to develop a new drug, and then it may cost nearly nothing to manufacture each dose.


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

[User]
In Virtue ethics how are the virtues themselves decided?

In Aristotle's Ethics he assumes from the start what his virtues are, and they seem quite relative to Athenian society. He denounces adultery, cowardice, and shame from the start but on what grounds is this the case? These virtues seem relative to what is acceptable in that society, rather than being canonical. For example, adultery was seen as somewhat normal in Sparta, and even shame/humility is an essential part of Christian ethics, so how are we to accept these virtues as real rather than relative? On what grounds does Virtue ethics assume that its virtues are good and conducive for happiness? Couldn't being intemperate make me happy in many situations?

[Assistant]
> On what grounds does Virtue ethics assume that its virtues are good and conducive for happiness? Couldn't being intemperate make me happy in many situations?

This is a confusion about what is meant by happiness in virtue ethics - it seems like you are just imagining utilitarian happiness, but what the virtue ethicist means is something more like "flourishing" or, for Aristotle, 'a total and balanced actualization of your function.'

> so how are we to accept these virtues as real rather than relative?

Check out Martha Nussbaum's argument in "Non-Relative Virtues."  Roughly, she argues, that some of this stuff presents itself through natural language.  So, while we do find that some of Aristotle's *emphases* are cultural artifacts, we can still do analysis past that.


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

[User] [The Matrix] Why didnt the machines use cows or manatees for their energy source and skip the keep the brain entertained issue altogether?

[Assistant]
The Matrix wasn't just used as a power source, it was a solution for peace. The first version of the Matrix was designed to be a paradise, to give the humans everything they needed and wanted. The goal wasn't extinction of humans, but peace with them. Ultimately, the solution to the Machines was to put the humans in a dream. In addition, with the sun being blotted out(which the humans did as a last attempt to stop the machines), there probably aren't many animals left.

Other interpretations of the Matrix have the humans be a part of a neural network which runs the machine's logic, but this isn't really necessary when taking this approach.


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

[User]
I suspect the Flash is stealing my newspapers, is there anything I can do?

After a sternly written letter to my local newspaper about the misconducts of mr.runningsuperfastthroughmygarden, I know see my newspaper disappearing every morning right when I want to grab it from my threshold. I suspect it's some kind of sick joke of him to get back at me for exposing him to the world. Is there anything I can do to stop him from doing that or at least get proof its him?

[Assistant]
Yeah. The Flash is a dick. A petulant man-child who more often than not steals people's coffee and papers when he is late to the next meeting of the super-"Lets-save-the-world-today"-Friends.

But here is what you do. Cancel your newspaper delivery and find someone with a one-off newspaper printer. If you are not someone who likes elaborate pranks this may not be for you.

You start printing your own papers. Sometimes print yesterdays paper, but fresh again, and with slight alterations. Someone's hair is now black, last nights game was won by the other team, things like that.

You start small, with things he wouldn't notice at first. Then you start getting bigger. One paper is from last year, commemorating the 75th year of Titanic's succesfull maiden voyage. A paper, printed fresh like all the others, from april 1969 about how Buzz Aldrin was the first man to step on the moon.

Hopefully he starts thinking your house is the center for some temporal vortex, he brings in the team, you get to meet superman and hawk-girl (Hello bedtime fantasies). Then they see nothing is wrong. But Flash keeps showing up. You swear you haven't gotten a paper for months, you have no idea whats wrong.

Then you start dropping words into the middle of articles. "wake up" will appear in the middle of something about talks in the middle east. "Please wake up". over the course of the next few months they appear more and more frequently in the articles. Soon, one day, all it says is "Wake up" over and over again.

Thats what the fucker gets for stealing your papers.


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

[User]
[Fallout] Why do people use bottle caps for currency?

The NCR seems capable of mass producing paper money, and the Legion is able to find enough gold to make coins, so why does everyone use bottle caps?

[Assistant]
Universal availability, durability and the inability to reproduce it.

Nuka Cola was available almost the world over, meaning you have a standard currency regardless of the community you are dealing with.

Bottle Caps can be stepped on, crushed, tarnished and thoroughly beaten and still be recognizable.

The fact that no one can really reproduce them means you have a consistent 'global market'. The value doesn't change with the overproduction of a currency.


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

[User]
Would people actually be wealthier if they paid less tax?

If a government set all taxes to zero, would everybody actually be more wealthy? (Leaving aside the loss of government funded services for the time being) Would prices simply rise as people have more disposable income, undoing the benefits? Or would incomes decrease because people could settle for lower wages?

What evidence is there on this topic?

[Assistant]
There arent many places with zero tax, but since youre looking for evidence, its easy to compare average incomes and average prices in a high tax area vs. a low tax area. The challenge is determining whether the differences are due to taxes or many other factors.

In the US, we all pay the same federal taxes, but state and local taxes vary widely. You could do some very interesting studies comparing the two largest states in terms of population and economic output: California (high income tax) and Texas (zero income tax). But there are so many other differences that one could refute many of the arguments that say the differences are due to taxes.


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

[User]
ELI5: why do so many athletes who were great in college fail at the professional level?

It would stand to reason that if you're the best quarterback or point guard at the college level, you'd go on to be the best of your draft class in the NFL or NBA.  But often it just doesn't work out that way - aside from the obvious train wrecks like Vince Young, JaMarcus Russell and Ryan Leaf, you also have the likes of Joey Harrington and Heath Shuler, who don't appear to have any character issues but just couldn't get it done at a professional level.  (Meanwhile, seemingly marginal players like Tom Brady or Kurt Warner go on to tremendous success.)  Why is it so hard to transition from college to the pros?

[Assistant]
At the college level there is likely to be only 1 or 2 draftable players per team.  At the NFL every player was good enough to make it into the NFL.  It's much easier to be a lone superstar at the college level.  For the NFL football is MUCH more a team sport.  Players frequently get into trouble in the NFL when they arrive thinking they are going to be the superstar on the team just like they were in high school and in college.

Frequently those players adapt and play well in the NFL.  Sometimes they don't adapt that well and are not successful at the pro level. Playing at the pro level uses many of the same skills as the college level but it's not exactly the same.


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

[User] Do tiny insects like crickets and spiders have hearts that beat and pump blood like humans? Also how does their brain interpret the world around them as far as survival goes?

[Assistant]
The thing about insects is that they're built differently than humans. Because they're smaller they don't require closed tubes to deliver blood all over their body. They don't have a heart that looks like a human. Instead they have a small open tube structure that pulses like a heart to help distribute the blood through the body of the insect. So yes they do have a beat but it's not technically not from a heart.

Also they don't have a brain like humans either. They do have clusters of nerve cells called ganglia. Again they're much smaller than humans and don't have as large of an area to cover. Insects also have less nerves due to their smaller size and so process less information than a human. So their "brain" doesn't need to be as large or organized either.


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

[User]
Skyrim why can I, using my Khajit walk into cities when others can't?

I have seen a number of traveling groups camping outside of cities. Treated horribly. And yet, no one inside the city seems to acknowledge that I'm not Nord. Sure I'm not a nazi
Elf. But still. I feel like I want to share some solidarity with my fellow cat people.

[Assistant]
You're the Dovahkiin, and that matters. You aren't really a Khajiit, not metaphysically, but rather a Dov. The Dragon within is more important than the cat without. Your body doesn't matter all that much. You are a metaphysical Prisoner, a prophetic Hero with freedom throughout the Aurbis. Your existence has a weight of meaning beyond most mortals, and your power could rival some of the Princes.

Whether they notice it consciously or not, the guards at the cities are swayed by that. Of course, it won't stop the racists of Skyrim completely, but perhaps they just minutely get the sense that they shouldn't try to keep you out. In addition, a lot of the time (in Whiterun, especially) there are exceptional circumstances.


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

[User]
When you look at a really bright object, what actually causes your eyes to experience pain?

I've always wondered this. How does your body know when the photon flux is too high? Does it work like a photodetector in that it measures a bio-photocurrent? And what kind of mechanism reports/interprets this information within the brain?

[Assistant]
Good question. It's called a pupillary light reflex. It's a reflex that controls the size of the pupil to allow a controlled amount of light into the eye so that it can be focused on the retina. In the retina there a number of cell layers each with a specific purpose; one cell layer is the ganglion cell layer which houses the photosensitive ganglion cells that detect light entering the eye an create and electrical impulse.

These ganglion cells connect to the optic nerve which then connects to the pretectal nucleus of the midbrain bypassing the lateral geniculate nucleus (the part for visual perception) and the primary visual cortex (the part that processes all the information to see things).

From there, the neurons connect to the Edinger-Westphal nucleus which axons go along the oculomotor nerves where parasympathetic nerves connect to the ciliary ganglion. This ganglion has small neurons that innervate the pupillary constrictor muscle to constrict the the iris and control the size of the pupil by making it smaller.

Now what would cause the eye pain in intense light? Well coming from a low light setting into a well lit setting (such as going outside on a sunny day when being inside all day or opening the eyes after a long sleep) the eye needs to adjust according to the intensity of the light. To do this, the pupillary constrictor muscle quickly contracts. This will strain the muscle resulting in a painful sensation or even a spasm until the pupil can adjust.


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

[User] I've heard we share 99% of our DNA with chimps but only 50% of our DNA with siblings. Please explain.

[Assistant]
When talking about chimps, we're talking about genes encoding for specific proteins (or all the other things that DNA does) being in the same place on the same chromosomes.

Since you and your siblings are (presumably) both human, you have 100% of your DNA in common in that sense (unless one of you has some genetic malformation/mistake due to other factors).

What the 50% figure means is that the specific variations for genes (like hair or eye color) has a 50/50 chance of being different from your siblings depending on what version you got from each parent. The gene types and positions on your chromosomes are the same, just what version you get is different.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does lightning strike from ground up but appears to be from sky to ground?

[Assistant]
Its actually both. Lightning first strikes from the cloud to the ground, but this isnt bright enough for us to normally see. These branching pathways keep going until one touches the ground, at which point the intense lightning we see follows that same path back upwards.

This all happens so quickly that we cant see it without taking a video and slowing it down. And because we dont really see the ground shooting lightning out into the sky when there isnt a storm, it naturally appears that the lightning is coming from the cloud.


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

[User]
[Dragon Ball] Can Fusions do things against their fusees will?

So it's said that Gogeta and Vegito are more than just Goku and Vegeta sharing a mind, but are entirely new people.

If for example Goku and Vegeta wanted to fuse so they could spar with Beerus could Gogeta just refuse?

Or could Gogeta just have an opinion that Goku and Vegeta disagree with? or is he forced to think a certain way because his fusees do?

[Assistant]
Fusions can definitely act in a way that those who compose it wouldn't. The best example is Gotenks hamming it up and pretending he was losing a fight with Buu in the time chamber.

I don't think individually either Trunks or Goten would have done that but together the gestalt of their personality, Trunk's arrogance with Goten's childishness, created a being who would.

Now directly answer to the example you gave no. Gogeta would always be down to fight someone strong like Beerus because he's Goku and Vegeta, who for different reasons are always down to fight someone strong.

Maybe if someone was weaker than them Gogeta would refuse to fight because of Goku's spirit of fairness and Vegeta's disinterested weak opponents.


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

[User]
Eli5: How does hormonal acne work?

What hormones are involved? How does that affect your skin?

[Assistant] Some changes in hormone levels, caused by stress, or natural changes in your body, can increase the amount of oil (sebum) your skin produces. This oil exits through tiny holes in your face, your pores. That oil is thick, and because the holes are tiny these holes can get clogged, creating pimples or acne.


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

[User]
Why is quartz found around gold deposit areas?

Quartz being a crystalline structure grows of it's own accord, but gold being an element was always there to begin with, so why is quartz populous around gold?

[Assistant] The gold wasn't always there.  The ultra hot water bringing the dissolved quartz up from the depths also contains minute amounts of dissolved gold, silver, pyrite, etc. It's when it rises and cools that the minerals drop out. The gold, as a metal, has an actual crystalline structure, just with one element.


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

[User]
Using biology to reduce drag

In theory, would I be able to reduce drag using 'fish scale' like coverings? Particularly towards the rear of a vehicle? Would strategically placed 'scales' be able to reduce drag (possibly, like a golf ball's dimples?) or additionally increase downforce?

Additionally, would mechanized scales, able to be computer controlled and moved effectively, improve handling, reduce drag, increase downforce, and counter other aerodynamic forces? Completely impractical, but in theory would it be aerodynamically useful?

[Assistant]
(Mech. Engineering)

At the rear of the vehicle, a zone of low pressure is created because air is forced to move into the space left by the vehicle.  Because the air impinging on the front of the vehicle is at higher pressure, this creates a net force on the vehicle, which is a major component of drag.  Adding things like fish scales, dimples, ect... towards the rear of the vehicle would thicken the boundary layer of air (air moving more or less with the vehicle) around the area the scales or other protrusions cover.  Although for some specific cases this might have a net positive effect on vehicle performance, there is no universal mechanism for why this would be a good thing.

On the front of the vehicle, however, there could potentially be a benefit from boundary-layer thickening by adding dimples, small protrusions, ect if that increase in the boundary layer helps make airflow over a sharp discontinuity in the vehicle's shape (junction between windshield and hood in some cars, ect...) flow more smoothly.  This might help eliminate some frictional drag on the vehicle itself or possibly help maintain a smoother flow of air over the vehicle, which might prevent the formation of energy-wasting vortices, ect....

However, whenever possible, smooth, generally teardrop shaped vehicles are best.  Fish scales are mostly a protective coating to keep parasites out and assist fish in maintaining an different osmotic balance inside their bodies than in the water they live in.  Also have you ever handled a fish?  Most fish who do a lot of swimming have sleek, smooth-to-the-touch bodies.


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

[User]
Before Newton, how did people explain falling apples?

As I understand it, Newton posited the gravitational force.
Prior to this, what was/were the dominant explanation(s) for why things fell toward earth?

[Assistant]
The answer will depend on how far back you want to go.

Way back with Arisistotle it was basically thought that the earth element pulled things towards the center of the universe.

From there many individuals separately began to describe this attractive force that pulled stuff to the earth, and even began to calculate/quantify it.

So its not really true that Newton came up with the idea of a gravitational force in the sense of some sort of law of nature that made apples fall from trees.

What Newton did was develop a law of universal gravitation that could actually be applied to everything. At least everything up until we started seeing relativistic effects.

His mathematical equations/proofs showed that the same force that made apples fall to the earth was what made the planets move, and that the force was at least correlated with mass. Prior to Newton the two were not unified, and many thought they were separate phenomena.


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

[User] [DC] If Flash stands on a manhole cover that's then blasted into the air by an explosion, would he be damaged, or unharmed because his body is accustomed to those kinds of forces?

[Assistant]
Speedforce only grants Flash immunity to forces he (well, it) causes. That's why he isn't damaged by an Infinite Mass Punch, but you can knock him out with a Regular Left Cross.

However, Flash's reaction times are fast enough that he could recognize the explosion and get away from it before it overtook him. He could also (probably) speed-steal from the explosion itself, nullifying it.


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

[User]
[General anime] What the fuck is with everybodies hair?

Everywhere I turn I see people with wacky colors and 7 foot long hair and it seems to just multiply and get bigger the farther from the head it goes.  How is this even possible?

[Assistant]
Although the hair styling is more an artistic choice, wacky hairstyles and varied hair color help distinguish otherwise similarly faced characters. This allows production with dozens of artists keep a consistent look rather than attempting to draw varied faces, though it was done in the past, and clearly evolved with the artists responsible as they drew more.

Hair color is also used to give hints about that characters' personality, as is their eye color. Though what each color means has evolved over time.


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

[User]
ELI5: How are old movies and tv shows remastered into HD?

Event Horizon spawned this question.

Edit: I know Event Horizon isn't that old, but it's what I am currently watching.

[Assistant]
Older movies and Event Horizon (great movie!!) qualifies, don't have a resolution because they're shot on real film so they are analogue, meaning you can digitalise it in HD no problem. You simply capture it in 1920x1080 pixels and you have yourself a full HD version.

More modern filmes shot digitally are much harder to interpolate to a higher resolution as you have to add pixels where there are no pixels.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can Lego and other animated movies that I see all over Netflix use Spiderman and other characters in their films with The Avengers characters when it's a "rights" issue for live action films?

If I'm not mistaken, Sony owns the rights to Spiderman/X-Men properties while Disney owns the other Avengers characters...which is why we won't see them together on the big screen.

So what makes it ok for these animated, particularly Lego, films to do what many of us want to see in the live action blockbusters?

[Assistant]
Because it's not a matter of ownership, it's a matter of licensing. Disney/Marvel "owns" the rights, and they license them out to various entities that allow them to do various things. Licensing out the rights doesn't give the other person absolute right to do anything they want, nor does it prevent other people from also getting rights to do stuff.

Though they are referencing characters from the Marvel universe, the LEGO Characters are very much novel creations as are those in the Super Squad Universe and other animated series. Lego worked out a deal with Marvel to create the LEGO versions of the characters and no doubt part of that agreement was to be allowed to create games and animation based on them as well.


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

[User] ELI5: why is the skin on a bald/shaved head so shiny compared to the skin on the rest of your body?

[Assistant] bald guy here. your hair normally soaks up most of the oils your head produces, thus giving your hair a shiny luster. its especially noticeable if you haven't washed your hair in a few days. if you have no hair the oils tend to just sit there and shine.


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

[User]
We spend all our time focused blaming teen mothers, but never talk about the fathers. Aren't fathers equally, if not more, responsible? CMV

Our national dialogue when it comes to teen pregnancy and abortion is always focused on the mother. I have never in my life heard a real, substantive, worthwhile discussion on the use of condoms in our society. It seems to me it's much easier for a guy to put on a condom right before sex, than for a girl to take a pill every single day of the month, making sure she refills it on time so it doesn't disrupt her cycle. I realize both consenting adults are responsible for the results of their actions, but I don't see why females contraception is the focus of every news report surrounding teen pregnancy, but fathers get a free pass.

[Assistant]
The mother and the father both made the decision to have sex without adequate protection. The pregnancy is both their fault.

However, the mother is the only party with the legal right to abort, or put the child up for adoption. She decides to keep the child and raise it herself so it's her "fault" she prematurely enters motherhood.


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

[User] ELI5: If gravity is always pulling everything closer how is the universe constantly expanding?

[Assistant] Short answer is that we dont actually know. All we know is that everything in the universe is red shifting and the rate of the expansion is increasing. Currently we just chalk it up to dark energy, but we have no idea what this dark energy actually is, what produces it, where it is, if it exist, or how to measure it.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does food taste "Bad" and why do some humans like food that others don't?

I personally don't like mushrooms and seafood, and I was personally wondering about why some food tastes bad for some people. Is it a precaution for potentially poisonous food or was it developed by our food surplus and variety? Also, why do some people like food that others don't? Is it because of culture and is it genetic not to like foods your ancestors did?

EDIT: In the title I meant to say why does SOME food taste bad. Sorry for being careless.

[Assistant]
Culture plays a massive role in taste and appreciation of food. If you grew up eating salted fish, you are far more likely to enjoy it in adulthood. For a more western equivalent cheese is not terribly appreciated in Asian countries, and is definitely considered an acquired taste for older generations.

There are some genetic and evolutionary factors as well, kids go through a phase of disliking bitter foods 1. because toddlers put everything in their mouths 2. most bitter things are poisonous.

There is a theory that if you dislike the texture of some foods that you may have a minor allergy. Coriander (cilantro)  is often used as proof - parts of the population taste a nice herb, others taste soap and it has a soapy texture in the mouth. Those who taste soap have a minor allergy to the plant.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Does the Jedi Order have a "Bible" or equivalent religious text?

[Assistant] The Jedi have a holocrons, which contain the wisdom and lessons of past Jedi Masters. There is no specific 'Jedi bible', and instead they follow an mostly oral tradition. There are Jedi texts and scrolls, but no central unified document. Presumably this is due to the changing nature of both the force, and the Jedi order itself.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] How casual is interstellar travel?

Your average civilian on an average planet in the Republic, how likely do you think it is they have visited another planet? Trying to make a real-world analogy, would visiting another star system be seen like visiting another country, i.e. your average civilian only does it once a year or so?

[Assistant]
> would visiting another star system be seen like visiting another country, i.e. your average civilian only does it once a year or so?

That's a good analogy for it, but it's not accessible to the average citizen. To be specific, it's more like taking a plane. Middle class citizens would be able to afford going on trips once a year, though the ticket for the trip is only part of the cost. Poor people might have to save for quite a while, depending on the planet and rich people have their own personal ships.


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

[User]
I'm on a starship traveling from the Milky Way to Andromeda. I look out the window. What do I see?

Specifically, the visible starscape around the ship. We are not going faster than the speed of light and this trip will take millions of years.

If the ship is much closer to one galaxy than the other, will the light from it dominate all the rest?

If the ship is roughly at the halfway point between the two, do surrounding galaxies appear as stars in the sky or bright clusters?

Or would the starscape be completely dark except for the closest two galaxies?

This is my first post in this subreddit. Apologies if this breaks the "Avoid hypothetical questions that require speculation" guideline, but I think it is theoretically possible to move between galaxies. Hopefully I didn't break a rule my first time.

[Assistant]
>Or would the starscape be completely dark except for the closest two galaxies?

Pretty much, yes.

The only stars you can see as individual stars with the naked eye are within a few thousand light years. The Milky Way and Andromeda would be visible as faint patches of light a couple of degrees or so across. They would look like faint white clouds, as the Milky Way and Andromeda do from Earth. You might be able to make out some other smaller galaxies - the Triangulum galaxy is roughly in the same direction as Andromeda - but they won't be as easy to see as the big two.

Unless you're extremely lucky, you likely won't be near any "rogue" stars hanging out between galaxies. So the sky will be completely black except for faint patches of light for each galaxy.

If you're closer to one galaxy than the other, it will just take up more of the sky. But you should still be able to see both galaxies, as you are able to from Earth.


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

[User]
How do physical forces, such as gravity, of two objects solve their effects on each other simultaneously?

Say we have two objects in space orbiting each other and we want to understand how each object affects the other object. We can calculate the forces at a point in time by freezing the system and using those values in whatever equation we are using. This is how a computer simulation works, with each iteration the variables are consecutively calculated based on the current system state. In reality wouldn't the forces be instantly applied to the other object?

[Assistant]
1) the physical world is not a system of equations nor is it to be though of as a computer numerically solving those equations. The equations are a *model* to describe and predict phenomena in the physical world.

2) our current established fundamental theories (which are the standard model and general relativity mostly) are local theories, which means things interact only with things that are at the same point or in the immediate vicinity.

Therefore, long-range interactions are actually mediated by fields through local interactions. Translation: planet A interacts with the gravitational field at the point where it stands. That bit of field then affects the bit of field slightly outwards, and so on until you have reached a certain distance from A. The planet thus carries around a structure or feature in the gravitational field, which we call the potential or gravitational well, that extends way out into space. This well has always existed along with the mass of the planet, and each bit of it is "supported" by the slightly inner bits until you reach the planet itself - every bit only knows about nearby bits. So when you place planet B at a distance, B is affected by the field *there*, and receives a force from the field.

Effectively you see a interaction at a distance, but fundamentally all interactions are really local.


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

[User] ELI5: How do they calculate volumes of lakes and oceans when the depth is inconsistent and the shape is irregular?

[Assistant] For lakes they do extensive charting. You can look up Great Lake charts and see that they have depth readings throughout the entire lake. From there, they can estimate the volume by assuming some gradient between the locations of their readings. The more readings that are taken, the more accurate the estimation will be. Its probably similar for oceans.


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

[User] [Disney's Hercules] If Hades never attacked, would Hercules have never achieved godhood?

[Assistant] He was still living in Thebes where crime, natural disasters and monster attacks were common, so he should still have plenty of chances to prove himself a true hero. Though it may take him more years to realize what that means, he is still fundamentally a good person with the right skills living at a place where opportunities won't be lacking, so I'd say he'd probably achieve Apotheosis eventually.


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

[User] [Genral] If time were stopped and a certain object (car, person, etc...) moved through space, would it push the air and photons out of its way? What would the moved through space look like afterward?

[Assistant]
If time were literally stopped, and not slowed down 1000's of times, the moving object would be effectively moving at 100% lightspeed.  This either means it now has infinite mass, or is like light and completely massless.

If it has infinite mass it's well over the mass needed for any schwarzschild radius (so will instantly act as a black hole), which ive never really seen a speedster/time manipulator do inadvertently, so we could go with option 2, which would be time going reaaaaly slowly, in which case they'd be just going hundreds of thousands of meters per second - there'd be massive shockwaves as the air being pushed out of the way would have incredible momentum added to it.

again, that's not really something i've seen.. so that leaves secondary powers/mutations/whatever.

They probably have a secondary power to smooth out how their powers interact with the world - allowing them to either completely stop time without turning into a blackhole or turning into light, and move things around without massive shockwaves and temperature changes crashing around them.


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

[User]
ELI5 Why we laugh

What's the point of laughing and where did it come from? It just seems like an unnatural response in nature - for instance, dogs don't laugh. ELI5 please!

[Assistant] Back in man's early days, it was used to signal that everything was okay. Laughter's supposed two main components are incongruity and safety. Incongruity means something isn't right. Safety obviously means you are far from harm.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do our hands, feet, thighs, and some other parts not get pimples as much as the rest of our body?

[Assistant] Most of these parts of the body just do not have much in the way of sebaceous glands in the skin that produce natural oils. These glands are different from sweat glands. Way back when our species used to have a lot more hair, this oil helped protect our fur and keep it shiny. We are more prone to pimples now because we don't have as much hair anymore, so this oil pretty much just sits on the surface of our skin and clogs our pores. Pimples are bacterial infections inside the sebaceous glands that happen as a result.


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

[User]
ELI5: Do dogs have bonds within their families?

Like are they attached to their siblings or parents more than other dogs?

[Assistant]
Yes. Most social organisms do. There is something called the Hamilton rule which was the first quantitative description of a phenomenon called kin selection; meaning that an organisms will risk its life (and/or ability to reproduce) to save the life (and/or the ability to reproduce) of those who are closely related. The more closely related the organism that needs saving is, the less likely the organism in question will risk its own safety and ability to propagate its own genes to save another organism. The rule is represented by the following equation:
rB > C

"r" being the relatedness of the actor to the receiver of the altruistic action (a parent would be 0.5 for example)
"B" being the reproductive benefit to the receiving party
"C" being the cost to the altruistic actor

So if the risk is less than the benefit to the recipient times the proportion of shared genes (relatedness) the organism (such as the dog in your example) will put forth more risk in order to preserve those who are more closely related to them, than others who are not.


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

[User]
[DC] How strong is Superman right now?

So I heard Superman used all his Solar energy and is now weakened. How strong is he now and what happened to his powers?

[Assistant]
He's still strong but not Superman strong. He can lift about a ton, he can't fly but he can super jump, and he's not bulletproof.

He lost his powers from repeatedly using his new Superflare ability, which expels all his solar energy like a bomb. Originally it just made him lose his powers for 24 hours, but now he's lost them for much longer.