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

[User] ELI5: How can lightning strikes cut trees in half, but whenever it strikes a human you don't usually hear about losing limbs?

[Assistant]
The tree splits due to the pressure of the boiled sap inside it, not due to the lightening chopping or physically striking the tree.

This happens in a tree because there is enough resistance to the flow of electricity.  When there is enough oomph, like a lightening strike, the electricity is able to overcome the resistance but this creates heat and a lot of it.

There is a lot of moisture in trees aside from the normal sap and this will boil into steam when heated up.

Steam takes up much more space than the liquid it used to be and because it cant escape this will cause the tree to rupture, split, or explode.

Edit: Unrelated cause but trees will also explode in the winter if enough of their moisture/sap freezes.  Water -> ice takes up less space than water->steam but still more than the water itself.


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

[User] ELI5: In light of the article about the 19 year old female lifting the truck off of her dad to save his life, how is it physically possible for a human to do that even with the high amount of adrenaline that is present?

[Assistant] The human body is incredibly durable and much stronger than we normally assume, this is because when we're calmly exerting ourselves (like in the gym) we're aware of the stress the load puts on our body, and as such we are cautious to avoid injury.  With massive amounts of adrenaline that awareness fades to the background. It allows a person to use the upper limit of their capabilities, possibly damaging themselves in the process. Another factor is just how much was needed. Most people picture superman lifting the car over his head, when in reality even a fraction of an inch can give the needed escape room to survive.


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

[User]
Inflation is 5% so why are prices going up more than 5%?

In Canada inflation is 5% now. A 5% increase on everyday goods isn't too noticeable, but Often prices are going much higher than a 5% increase. Why is this?

[Assistant] 5% inflation does not mean that every goods price is going up by exactly 5%. It means that an average of the price increases is 5%but some goods will have larger price increases, and some will have smaller.


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

[User]
[Dragon Ball] How can Fortuneteller Baba be centuries older than her brother, Master Roshi ?

She began her fortune-telling around year 250, but Master Roshi was born in 430.

[Assistant]
I see several possibilities

* Adoption

* Spiritual brother/sister

* Brother/sister in arms

* Some friends are like family.

* The origin of those dates could be from filler which is not canon.

* Time Shenanigans.


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

[User] Why do we "Weigh" things in kg,g,and mg, if grams are units of mass? If I've got some powder on a scale and it reads 40mg, is it actually calculating the weight and then dividing it by 9.8 to tell me the total mass of the powder on the scale?

[Assistant]
> Why do we "Weigh" things in kg,g,and mg, if grams are units of mass?

We measure mass by exploiting Newton's 2nd law: F=ma. The acceleration due to earth's gravity at its surface is about 9.8 m/s*^2*, so we can measure an object's mass by measuring the force gravity exerts on it and then dividing by 9.8 m/s*^2* (using F=ma --> m = F/a). If you know the force on earth's surface (ie weight) then you know the mass, and vice-versa.

> If I've got some powder on a scale and it reads 40mg, is it actually calculating the weight and then dividing it by 9.8 to tell me the total mass of the powder on the scale?

Yes.


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

[User]
ELI5: What would actually happen if a Junior Mint fell into an open body cavity during surgery and then sewed back in?

Let's say the seinfeld scenario actually happened.. would it actually hurt the patient in any way?

[Assistant]
Assuming the junior mint wasn't sterilized (not sure if one can be), the patient would almost definitely develop sepsis.  If something isn't done about that soon, the patient will die.

If you could actually sterilize one, what would probably happen is the patient would be in pain for some time and not know why.  The junior mint would be melted by body heat pretty quickly, then the various ingredients absorbed.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why did the Rebellion never use the Death Star tech?

My wife brought this up yesterday. The Rebellion had access to the Death Star technology. They got the blueprints for both the Death Star 1 and Death Star 2.

We also know that the Death Star's laser can be changed from anywhere to 1% power as seen on Scariff to 100% as we saw with Alderaan. The DS2 was also able to accurately fire a correct burst into a ship in RotJ to destroy a Rebel Corvette. That was no where near 100% power, as only that single ship was destroyed by that shot.

We also know the tech can be miniaturized, as shown in The Last Jedi. According to Finn, the First Order's bunker buster laser was "Miniaturized Death Star Tech."

Why did the Rebellion, after having the schematics from both the DS1 and DS2 never miniaturize the weapon tech for themselves and put it on their own Corvettes? It didn't need to be the planet destroying kind, but certainly could have had uses for ship-to-ship combat, or hell, X-Wing to AT-AT combat.

I don't think it could have been a lack of resources, as the Rebellion/New Republic seems to take over a large portion of the galaxy after the defeat of the Empire.

[Assistant]
The empire needed the resources of several planets to build the Death Stars. They had research facilities on dozens of others and it took those facilities to miniaturize the technology.

Yes it absolutely was a lack of resources that stopped the Rebellion from using any of that technology.  They were barely able to function not spend time and energy on research, development and overblown technology that didn't pan out.

After the rebellion the New Republic wouldn't use it because of the negativity associated with it. The Empire killed some 2 billion innocent people on Alderaan with the technology. The Republic didn't want anything to do with that.


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

[User]
Java projects that would look impressive in an entry-level interview?

I'm applying to an entry level software developer apprenticeship program, and the final step of the admissions process turned out a lot more intimidating than I expected. The last 8 minutes of the final interview will apparently be reserved for me to show off a project I'm proud of. The logical solution is to dig up some of my old college projects, but aside from group projects, I wasn't exactly the best at commenting back then and many of them were from when I just started programming, so I'd probably have to rebuild from the ground up anyway.

The direction I was given was that the project should be "complex, but within my ability to explain". Though admittedly, I don't have the best grasp of what's considered "complex" for an entry level position. Maybe I'm actually overqualified, or maybe I'm in way over my head, I just don't have much frame of reference.

The projects I can remember off the top of my head are *Battlecode*, *Hunt the Wumpus*, *The N Queens Problem*, *Game of Life*, and *Sudoku*. I'm worried that since all of these are really famous programming exercises, it would make anything I present look mediocre, if not inherently suspect. I'm probably worrying for nothing, but that's just in my nature. Can anyone spare any advice on what kind of project would probably be ideal for an interview like this?

[Assistant]
If its a backend role, maybe stand up an api and attach it to a database with some dummy data and do something cool with it?

If all you have to fill is 8 minutes you could probably fill the time with a smaller project of that scope.


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

[User]
[The Witcher] Why don't Witchers traditionally use ranged weapons or shields?

It seems to be more of a stubborn show of pride much like the medieval British in refusing the crossbow rather than a practical decision. I get that training for a decade or longer with Witchers who *also* refused ranged weapons and shields will teach you to opt for the standard dual swords/bombs/potions/Signs combo, but surely as monster slayers rather than proud warrior clans the Witchers must have seen the benefits of ranged weapons and shields? Sure they've managed alright thus far and can cope with what they have, but wouldn't it be made much easier if they could snipe a cyclops from a distance with a longbow? Or defend themselves from dragonfire with a heat-resistant shield rather than attempting to dodge the attack or withstand it with Quen and potions? After all, Witchers only wield one sword at a time and could wield some sort of shield on their non-sword hand (potentially strapped to the wrist to allow smoother Sign usage). Is it still about breaking tradition like Geralt suggests when Vesemir hands him a crossbow?

On a related note, would a Witcher who found themselves in a modern setting utilise our firearms and explosives, or insist on typical Witcher methods still?

[Assistant]
Monster 3 times your size is trying to hit you, do you want to dodge it, or do you prefer to give up your arm and try to block the blow with the shield.
Shield is a hindrance, instead of using both hands to make the swings hitting harder, you have one hand blocked, and in most cases you can't even use the shield effectively. Learning to use your speed and powerfull blows is strictly better than rely on a small chance that you will be able to use shield in the fight.

Bows and crossbows takes 2 hands, meanwhile you can shoot fire and telekinetic blasts without having to put away your sword, using one hand to form signs.
Igni is always better than any arrow could be.


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

[User] [The Mandolorian] Antigravity seems to be ubiquitous and cheap to the point of disposable - Yoda-baby's floating stroller was dumped as garbage. How's it work? Is it how ships reach space? Can you stack gravity plates? Turn them off?

[Assistant] Yes, gravity's a solved problem. Go back and watch Star Wars and pay attention to the speeders. Even when they're parked, they stay in the air. Even Rey's hunk-of-junk popsicle bike on Jakku. Antigravity is so trivial in Star Wars that someone as poor as Rey was doesn't bother turning off their repulsorlifts.


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

[User]
Is the left/right, creative/logical divide of the brain an outdated simplification, or a useful model?

I don't know where I've got this thought process from, but I think I learnt that the brain maps the 'yin and yang' of creative logical in a much messier way than simply left right? What is the current understanding of the brains functioning areas please?

[Assistant] The logic versus creative seems to be out of favor and kind of had left a bad taste in the mouths of researchers based on how it was popularized. But there's a researcher (Iain McGilchrist) who had proposed that the division is more like "big picture work" versus "details". The left hemisphere handles the really detailed stuff, the right the bigger ideas. He has a book, _The Master and His Emissary_.


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

[User] What is the difference between Hulk's, Wolverine's and Deadpool's healing abilities?

[Assistant]
Hulk draws mass from another dimension to fill his wounds and his healing is enhanced by gamma radiation. It's the fastest of any of the trio. It combats absolutely everything.

Wolverine simply generates tissue rapidly to heal. His is the slowest of the trio, blocked in part by the adamantium in his bones. His healing factor comes naturally, and is the only one to do so. It combats most everything.

Deadpool's healing factor is a mere copy of Wolverine's and, while not the fastest, is extraordinarily efficient. It combats everything except his pre-existing cancer.


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

[User]
eli5: Why do intrest rates fall while average living costs increase?

I live in Germany and my interest rates plummeted over the last 10 years. I always thought, that interest rates existed to level out inflation. But I did some research and found out, that inflation rates are actually pretty stable. Meanwhile average living costs increase. How does all this fit together?

Sorry for bad english :)

[Assistant]
Interest rates are controlled by central banks and are used as a tool to meet Government policies to manage the money supply and the tradeoffs between inflation and economic growth. Interest rates are however only one influcence on either of these factors and are not the core reason why costs rise or fall.

It's not simple to Eli5  but Inflation is a result of the herd behaviour of a complex web of billions of human interactions where the price / value of millions of goods and services are constantly changing. When everyone expects prices to rise they adjust their behaviour according. In this way Central Banks have a role to guide these expectations as well as to intervene to control inflation by using interest rates to affect a change in behaviour.

What is relevant to OPs question is that almost all central banks have a Government mandated policy of targeting a low positive annual inflation rate e.g. this is 2% for the Bank of England. This is because a low positive rate has been determined to produce the best conditions for long term sustainable economic growth

Ever since the financial crisis of 2008 intrest rates have been kept near historical lows as central banks used low rates to prop up demand and support the economy....by making money cheap it is easier to invest. It was also not seen as a good thing to raise interest rates too quickly following an economic crisis and during a period of repaying debt. It is also a matter of many debates whether they should ever return to previously higher levels. There has also not been a trigger to do so in major economies such as a case of runaway inflation or boom that would have caused Central banks to raise them quickly to act to dampen down excessive inflation.

TLDR Interest rates are a tool to control inflation..they are not it's route cause. It is possible that they may move in either direction at the time of higher/lower inflarion in response to wider economy wide issues.


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

[User] Is there a maximum frequency sound that air can support? What happens beyond that point?

[Assistant] In air, molecules go 68 nm between collisions on average.  The speed of sound is about 330 ms^-1.  Dividing gives 4.8 GHz.  That's the absolute limit though; you're not going to see practical transmission anywhere near that high.


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

[User] Is there a reason why the more dangerous frequencies (UV, X-ray, gamma) and the "harmless" frequencies (radio, IR) on the EM spectrum are separated by the visible wavelengths?

[Assistant]
Try not to think about it like the two regions are "separated" by the visible light region. Saying like that kinda puts the cart before the horse.

Those frequencies aren't inherently visible. Our vision evolved to be sensitive to those frequencies that are highly abundant from the sun. The fact that there are two regions on either side of it, one bad one harmless, is a coincidence.


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

[User] [MCU] If they could successfully extract Vision's stone, would he have had any powers? If so, what powers would he have that were independent of the stone?

[Assistant] Without the stone he'd sbe on par with Ultron: strength, flight, durability, intelligence, internet connection.  Though his mind stone specific powers (phasing, shooting energy beams, changing his appearance) would be gone.


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

[User]
ELI5: What happens to America when it can no longer pay off its debts?

Obviously America has insane amounts of debt like in tens of trillions and increasing constantly. Not sure if it is possible to ever pay that amount off, what can be done about it? if anything?

[Assistant]
When a country wants to borrow money, it does so by selling bonds...buy a $100 bond today, and you can redeem it for $105 in a year.

That's who the US owe it's money to, whoever holds the bonds.  Most of the bond holders are US citizens and businesses...the US basically owes all of this money to itself.

If the US wouldn't pay it's debt, that would mean when a holder tried to redeem their bond, the US says, oops, sorry, no can do.  This is called defaulting.  If the US defaulted on all of its debt, a few things would happen:

* The bonds would become worthless - everyone, from China to a personal retirement account to a school district's investment fund, would lose the money the put into bonds...mostly Americans
* The US couldn't borrow money anymore - if you default on your debt, people don't lend you money again...not being able to borrow greatly harms you economy
* The US dollar would devalue - since the US couldn't borrow, the only way they can get more money is by printing it
* There would be rampant inflation - so not only would American's lose their bonds, the value of their savings would shrink
* Foreign investment would leave the country - why get paid in US dollar when their value is shrinking

This is basically what happened when Argentina defaulted in 2002, and they still have a lot of trouble borrowing money and attracting foreign investment.


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

[User] ELI5: The differences between atomic, nuclear, and hydrogen bombs.

[Assistant]
Short version: "Atomic bombs" use nuclear fission (the splitting of atoms) to make a pretty big explosion. "Hydrogen bombs" use nuclear fission _and_ nuclear fusion (the combining of atoms), and in theory can make explosions without any upper limit. "Nuclear weapons" can mean either.

Elaboration:

"Atomic bombs" derive their energy exclusively from the fissioning of uranium-235 or plutonium-239. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima, for example, involving one piece of uranium-235 being shot into another with conventional explosives. This created a supercritical mass, starting a nuclear fission chain reaction. The bomb dropped on Nagasaki was of a different design, one where specially-created explosive "lenses" of a TNT-like explosive were used to spherically compress a ball of plutonium to very high density. This too created the supercritical mass and subsequent explosion. The latter type of bomb, the implosion bomb, is the most common type of atomic bomb. The largest pure-fission bomb ever created by the USA was around 500,000 tons of TNT equivalent. (The Nagasaki bomb, by comparison, was about 20,000 tons of TNT equivalent.) There is an upper-limit on the yield due to the fact that having too much fissile material (uranium-235 or plutonium) in one place is dangerous.

Hydrogen bombs derive their energy from both fission and nuclear fusion. Basically they work like this: an atomic bomb (of the implosion type) sits at one end of a heavy container. At the other end is a lump of fusion fuel (a material made of very light atoms, usually an isotope of hydrogen or lithium). At the center of the fusion fuel is another lump of fission fuel, and the fusion fuel lump is wrapped in a heavy material (e.g. depleted uranium or lead). When the atomic bomb inside the casing explodes, it first releases a burst of X-rays and gamma rays. These are reflected off of the inside of the casing, and end up compressing the fusion fuel. As it compresses, it starts another fission reaction at its center. Pushed from both the outside and the inside by essentially two atomic bombs, the fusion fuel starts to undergo nuclear fusion. This releases a lot of energy, and a lot of neutrons. These neutrons can then induce fusion in the casing around the fusion fuel, if it is fissionable material (like depleted uranium, which normally doesn't fission, but under such conditions can). The result can be a very large explosion  many millions of tons of TNT equivalent. In most modern hydrogen bombs, about half of the yield comes from fission, and half comes from fusion.  All of the weapons in the current US arsenal are hydrogen bombs developed to fit into a very small space, so the warheads are only about the size of a trash can but they have an explosive yield of 200,000-400,000 tons of TNT. In theory, you can make hydrogen bombs as big as you want, because fusion fuel has no maximum limit (unlike fission fuel), and you can "chain" such bombs together, one bomb setting off the next. The only limitation is practical size. The largest hydrogen bomb ever detonated had a yield of 50,000,000 tons of TNT equivalent, and was about the size of a school bus.

"Nuclear weapons" is a category for the above that doesn't really distinguish between the above two major types. It became more popular in an era (the late 1950s onward) where people stopped really caring about whether fission or fusion was present in the warhead or not. It is, strictly speaking, a more accurate team, as "atomic" is not really specific (electrons are part of atoms, too, so chemical reactions are just as "atomic"; it is the nucleus that makes nuclear reactions stand out). The term "thermonuclear" is used when it is intended to indicate that fusion reactions are taking place, without using the "hydrogen bomb" notation.


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

[User]
[General SciFi]I want to build a spaceship. How would I go FTL

I know that a Warp Drive might work, just as anything including Wormholes. My question is: Is there anything else which might not be widely known and just as or even more possible?

EDIT: I'm serious! I *really* need to get off this planet!

[Assistant] The Traveller RPG has a different take on warp drives.  Every warp jump lasts the same amount of time (approx. 1 Earth week).  However the more powerful your drive is the further you can travel in that time.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] What do wizard born children do before they go to Hogwarts?

So if you're a wizard or a witch, you'll get your letter from Hogwarts when you're 10 or 11 years old. Muggle born will of course study at a regular school until that, but what about the ones raised in the world of wizards? They have to learn basics like writing, reading, mathematics and so on, right? But from who?

[Assistant] A wizard or witch, born into the community at large does not tend school. They stay at home and learn the basics of the wizarding community from their family, and help out around the house. It is an ancient system. The magical society does not accept change very easily. It might sound strange to keep your children at home for so long, but if you roll back the clock a century (or so) in the muggle world, you'll find that children didn't ever attend school. They grew up helping around the house, (farming, cleaning, sewing, or whatever needed to be done) and when they were old enough they entered into an apprenticeship... generally with either their father, or somebody in the local town. The average age for apprenticeship was 13 or 14, so when you view it this way, the magical community is actually fairly advanced (in the grand spectrum) for providing a full rounded education for their children at the tender age of 11.


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

[User] [Worm/Marvel/DC] What power classifications from Worn would DC and Marvel characters have?

[Assistant] You are casting a super wide net here...  Any particular characters you are interested in?  The power levels in DC tend to be significantly higher than that of Worm.  Superman would have multiple 10s for example.


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

[User]
[Game of Thrones] What is the state of religion in Westeros given all the recent happenings?

I'm a lowly Northern Westerosi farmer and I'm having a crisis of faith.

Short weeks ago, we were bundled into Winterfell and witnessed an army of undead kill half of our population. I overheard that the only reason we managed to survive was thanks to some 'Lord of Light'? There was a red priestess who set the swords of all those foreign riders aflame, and she was the one to light the trenches too. I had never heard of the Lord of Light but he seems definitively real so I thought maybe I should be praying to him now.

But then there's the Bran Stark guy, or sorry, the King Stark guy. I heard he has weirwood vision or something like that. I hear that the leader of the undead army was specifically trying to kill him, and that he has vision of all things past, present, and future. Maybe we should pray to the Old Gods? Maybe we should pray directly to this demigod King?

Then there's the Seven, those Gods they worship in the south. I hear their grand Sept was destroyed a few years ago. And now Kings Landing has been completely destroyed, alongside thousands of their devoted followers. It sounds like they might not have any power, maybe they're not even real.

edit - then there's some drowned god the Iron Born like right? Sounds like BS to me but has there ever been evidence that its a religion worth following? With so much in flux right now, I'm willing to keep my options open.

So who should I be praying to at this point? Who is everyone else in this country praying to now?

[Assistant] Some smallfolk in the Riverlands have seen the Light and now follow the Lord of Light.  Whether this has anything to do with the rumoured "Brotherhood without Banners" is unknown.  The Old Gods have protected the north for millennia, and belief in their power still runs strong in the North.  The Faith of the Seven still remains strong in the Reach and other distinctly southern Andal regions, as the Faith relocated to the Starry Sept and continued its operations with the support of the Hightowers. The Drowned God is something the Ironborn believe in, but according to them, only the Ironborn can receive his blessing, so not much point trying to pray to him.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do doctors have such long shifts, when they know most about the perils of sleep deprivation?

My friend often works 30 hour shifts, sometimes with only 3 hour breaks in between. It's easy to imagine doctors messing up under those conditions, and it also isn't healthy for the doctors themselves.

[Assistant] The standard of shifts was established by a hospital chief medical officer who regularly did cocaine back when that was legal. As such he was able to do extremely long shifts and expected it of his fellow doctors. Since then it has become industry standard and changing it is slow because of cost. Doctors are salaried positions and so working longer than a normal 8 hour work shift does not cost the hospital more money, so they hire as few doctors as possible and work them as long as possible. This practice in reinforced with the fact that there tends to not be enough doctors in all but the largest cities to hire many more.


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

[User]
Have there been any studies on IQ differences since the dawn of the internet and, specifically, the 'Google generation'? Are scores trending in any way in the last ~15-20 years?

I was born in 1980 and when I was 6 I was lucky enough to get a FULL hand me down set of Encyclopedia Britannica from 1979. They were 7 years out of date already but they were all my family could afford. I know a lot of kids that had much less than that for reference materials.

Now, anything a child wants to learn about is available to them. Every resource imaginable. Everything you could ever want to know.

Does this instant access to information somehow trend the IQ scores one way or another?

[Assistant] Iq scores, by definition, can't trend. A score of 100 is defined as average for your age group peers. Above 100, above average. Below 100, below average. Ergo, if the average "intelligence" changes, so does the scoring. That being said, even the developer of the IQ test thought it was not useful for determining intelligence as there are many different facets to intelligence.


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

[User] [Vampire Romance Novels] Help! My teenage daughter has fallen in love with a tall, dark and brooding denizen of the underworld, should I shoot on sight, or is there a way I can tell her to break it off?

[Assistant]
The only way to stop this is to find an equally tall, dark and brooding vampire hunter . When the two of them fight she'll interpret it as the two of them competing for her love. The Vampire Hunter will win and then one of two things will happen.

1. The Hunter will go the classic man with no name and say that his life is too dangerous for her to tag along in. She'll get over it within a few months.

2. The hunter decides to stop their life of danger and settle down. You can now shoot that person because they are not undead and thus are susceptible to any type of firearm.


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

[User] ELI5 : What is the significance of the new pictures of Pluto and why are scientists so excited?

[Assistant] We have never gotten any good pictures of pluto.  It was discovered 85 years ago and the best we ever saw of it was a few fuzzy pixels and we're about to get great high-quality images of both it and it's moon.


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

[User] What is the space time continuum?

[Assistant]
Imagine a completely empty square room.  One corner has a black dot in it, just so you can distinguish it from the other corners, and then the 3 walls that meet at that dot are colored red, yellow, and blue.  Now you can place a ball *anywhere* in the room, and then measure it "x-feet from the red wall, y-feet from the blue wall, and z-feet from the yellow wall" and that will give you the coordinates of the ball.

Now imagine if you took the same ball and threw it around the room.  In order to locate the ball now you don't just have to say where it is, but also *when* it is there. "x-feet from the red wall, y-feet from the blue wall, z-feet from the yellow wall, and t-seconds after you threw it".

So really, space-time is just a way of locating objects in the universe by both their location related to other objects in space and their location related to other events in time.  The term space-time-continuum is just a way of saying that when doing math about predicting where an object will be you have to treat time somewhat like the other dimensions in order to give the location of an object.


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

[User]
CMV: OnlyFans should change their age minimum to 21 and not 18.

A lot of people see OnlyFans as more similar to Instagram than to a cam site or other selling sex sites.

Influencers are promoting their OnlyFans on Instagram to their millions of young followers and with the popularization of sex positivity being equated with being liberated, (which it definitely can make people feel liberated), a lot of young teens will see these influencers shamelessly joining OnlyFans because they make thousands of dollars from it. I have no problem with this, but as they influence on other things, they will influence others with this action as well)

Teens will think that once they turn 18, they can take the easy way out and make thousands on OnlyFans too. But it wont work that way for them. It is difficult to build a fan base on any social platform, even if youre showing your booty.

There are millions of young people who are making next to NOTHING on OnlyFans and you dont see them. All you see is Bella Thorne, Trisha Paytas, and Bhad Bhabie making millions from it.

So. To my CMV. When I turned 18, I got unwanted attention from older men who were waiting for me to turn 18. Now that was a small group of men but still, a lot of (women especially) can relate.

I left high school knowing two things: that men wanted me for my body/sex/the way I look, and that a lot of hobbies I liked as a teenage girl were ridiculed. Like Twilight, One Direction, (which I kept quiet about because I saw other teen girls get made fun of for liking) and even video games because I must be a fake gamer.

Its overall difficult for teen girls to have high self-esteem when they feel like their hobbies and interests are lame but they can gain attention through their looks.

I AM NOT REFERRING TO EVERY TEEN GIRL THAT EVER WAS BUT IT IS A LOT OF TEEN GIRLS PERSPECTIVE DUE TO SOCIAL MEDIA WITH ITS FILTERS AND OVER SEXUALIZATION.

When I was 21, in University, with a job, I had brand new hobbies and new career goals then when I was 18, I shiver at the idea that I would have ever considered a sugar daddy or selling photos online as it doesnt align with my values now.

Back in the day, some sleazeball 25 year old would show up to a high school party and start talking to 17-year-olds to try and get them involved in porn once they turn 18. Things have become A LOT more influential since.

The internet is forever and thinking of a teen who wanted to try their luck at OnlyFans at 18 later regretting at age 21 because there are naked or suggestive photos of them online forever. There is now a looming fear that these photos will cause problems for future jobs.

I would love to live in a reality where your boss cant choose to hire you because they find out you were once on OnlyFans, but thats not reality. They will judge you for it.

Social media is making teens built to be insecure and they are exposed heavily to the idea that sex equals easy money its all a lie. Most of these influencers who just post ass shots are escorts. They make little money from paid promotions. But teens dont see that.

Will OnlyFans ever change their policy, probably a big NO. But my view is that it would help save some teens from regret. If someone has had a few years of adulting and they then choose to post on OnlyFans, thats cool, but lets give them a few years to think about it. I believe it would make a great change in allowing young people to find out who they really want to be, a chance to see what the world has to offer them and what they can offer back.

I AM IN NO WAY BASHING SEX WORKERS OR TRYING TO SAY THEY SHOULD BE LIMITED IN THEIR WORK. I JUST THINK ONLYFANS SHOULD CHANGE THEIR POLICY BECAUSE OF ITS CLOSENESS TO SOCIAL MEDIA AND HOW IT IMPACTS TEENS WHO WILL WANT TO TRY IT TO MAKE A QUICK BUCK.

(Also didnt even get to the users of OnlyFans, but thats for a different day, so Im just speaking on the posters)

Also I know that there are so many reasons why this would never happen, but its just my view of what I would like to happen. They cant just kick out all these 18-20 year old all of a sudden I know. Maybe it can be a new policy for new joiners.

Ok thats it! Let me know what you think :)

[Assistant] To summarize, your view is that the minimum age should be raised because 18-year-olds are more susceptible to pressure than 21-year-olds? If that's the case, what made you decide that 21 is the age at which the influence of external pressure is low enough to be acceptable?


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

[User] Are there materials that are good at conducting heat but not electricity or vice versa?

[Assistant]
Actually there are materials that are designed to do exactly this for use in thermoelectric generators - they're called 'phonon glass electron crystals' or PGECs.

Other guy isn't wrong they are very much intrinsically related (it's called the wiedemann-franz law). Overall THERMAL conductivity is the sum of contributions from the vibrations within the material (phonons) and the motion of electrons. But what you can do is minimise the former without really affecting the latter, for example by having lots of layers of different material (therefore introducing interfaces that scatter phonons) as a kind of composite. You've then significantly reduced thermal conductivity without sacrificing electrical.


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

[User]
[LOTR] How did allying with Morgoth further Sauron's plan?

Doesn't Morgoth want to destroy everything and Sauron wants everything to be in perfect order through force? How was Sauron going to prevent Morgoth from destroying everything once the First Age Noldor elves were defeated?

[Assistant]
Sauron was originally attracted to Melkor because of his awesome power and his ability *and will* to effect his designs on the world quickly.

Theres also a strong argument to be made that Melkor originally wanted control and subjugation of Arda before slowly falling into a nihilistic pursuit of total destruction. His goals were aligned enough with Sauron at first for them to find plenty of common ground in their vision of Arda. Its even stated that Sauron admired Melkor so much that his ultimate goal while being the Valas lieutenant became to see Melkors ambitions come to fruition.

After Morgoth is finally defeated in the First Age, Sauron is ashamed to return to the Valar for judgement - he resented the idea of going from the second most powerful being in Middle Earth to a repentant prisoner for eons. No, Sauron had already chosen his side and began to pursue his own original goals.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do cars make a ticking sound for a few minutes after turned off?

I'm a car guy myself, and even I don't really know the answer to this.

[Assistant]
It's contraction of the various metal bits that were heated by combustion, and are now cooling. Sometimes that contraction causes an individual piece of the car to exist in either tension or compression, which is only alleviated when the force gets to great and something slips marginally. That slip produces the popping sound you hear.

You'll notice the same kind of pops if you have an oven range with resistive heating elements.


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

[User] ELI5 why is white rice cheaper than brown rice if it's the processed form of latter?

[Assistant]
White rice is just brown rice with the bran removed. The bran has oil in it which can be extracted to form another product, rice bran oil. By splitting the cost of production between two products a lower price can be provided for the white rice.

Another factor is that the oil in the bran means that brown rice can spoil more easily than white rice. Shorter shelf life and more costly transportation means brown rice pushes brown rice to be more expensive.


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

[User] Does the brain invert the image percieved back upright if you wear inverted goggles for a certain period of time?

[Assistant]
Yup! Some cool research done on this over a century again (G Stratton, if Im remembering the name correctly). The brain adapts to prism glasses and similar input shifts relatively quickly. It also adjusts back (and if you changed back and forth over time, your brain would get quicker at switching gears.

Similar thing happens with changes to sound input. In a study they put molds into the pinna (outer ear thats the visible part) which is the part that usually helps us determine up-down directional info from sound that we otherwise couldnt figure out from inter-aural timing/volume. People sucked at localizing sound for a while, got good at it over time, but then upon removing the molds, the brain seems to shift back into old mode and was quickly able to properly and accurately determine location from the normal input.


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

[User]
Eli5: How did AutoCAD become the industry standard for drafting when it is horrendously buggy and prone to crashing?

Ive used a lot of post-2010 versions of AutoCAD over the years in a variety of offices and at home. Its the buggiest program Ive ever used by far. Even sometimes something simple like editing a text box makes the whole program crash to desktop. Looking around on the Autodesk website and other forums shows me this is well known about AutoCAD. How did it become the standard over other CAD programs despite this huge cost in productivity?

[Assistant]
I used the Autocad 13 version in the early 2000s at school. It does not matter how buggy it is if it is the only program available, or the program that managed to get into the school. It was one of the first digital drafting programs to gain any kind of success, and they cut a lot of price deals to get into schools meaning that they got firmly established before their competitors could. Once a school is dedicated to a program ecosystem it is not easy to switch, even if it is buggy.

And while it was buggy for us, it was better than the other option which was drawing by hand.


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

[User]
CMV: There was no SJW mob demanding Mr. Potato Head to be gender neutral

There was no one banging on the front doors of the headquarters of Hasbro yelling YOU MAKE THAT POTATO HEAD GENDER NEUTRAL RIGHT NOW, GOD DAMN IT! They did this all on their own volition as a marketing scheme to get woke points to boost sales. Yeah, you risk pissing off some consumers, but the likelihood is those people will  fall for this bullshit narrative thats currently pushed that this angry group of people petitioned to make Mr. Potato Head gender neutral, which re-directs the anger at people being too easily offended these days The reality is that no one actually gave a shit about a plastic potato in the first place.

[Assistant] There's one thing you get wrong: Mr. Potato Head has not been made gender-neutral. He is still a male potato, and Mrs. Potato Head is still a female potato. The only thing that's changed is that they now belong to the "Potato Head" line of products rather than the "Mr. Potato Head" line of products, since one is male and one is female.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why are basketball officials so much more touchy than football officials?

Is there an answer beyond "That's just the way it is?"

Football coaches yell and curse at football officials routinely without flags being thrown.  Yet when a basketball coach or player vehemently questions a call, even without cursing, an official will often call a technical foul.

[Assistant]
Part of it is the courtside experience is a core part of basketball both for the image but also for a very important set of clientele. Also, since Allen Iverson, the NBA has worked very hard to sanitize their image and shy away from "street ball."

The refs can take it, but it's very much against the rules.

That's commenting more on the attitude and cursing than questioning calls. The latter is probably due to delay of game being a very real threat in Basketball where in football most of the game time the ball is not in play.


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

[User]
Would shooting down a nuclear missile result in a nuclear explosion?

Regarding a successful missile defense system, intercepting a nuclear missile launch.

[Assistant]
No, detonating a nuclear bomb requires a fairly precise set of conditions. The fissionable materials in the device are stored in a subcritical state. That means that on their own, they're not dense enough to cause a chain reaction.

The actual detonation involves pushing the fissionable materials into a supercritical state, where a chain reaction occurs naturally and this causes the actual explosion (and in the case of a thermonuclear bomb or H-bomb, this also sets off the fusion reaction that amplifies the total explosive power). There are multiple mecanisms to achieve this, but they all rely on rather precisely controlled explosions of conventional explosives.

If a nuclear missile is shot down or otherwise blown up in a way that doesn't trigger the conventional explosives in the right way, then the nuclear reactions won't take place. However, there may still be fallout from the radioactive fissionable materials in the device being spread out over the nearby area.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why did Germany lose World War I?

I've only recently developed an interest in history, and this is probably really basic, but it still confuses me - what led to Germany conceding defeat when they did? They'd beaten Russia and Belgium, occupied large chunks of France, created puppet states in the east, and their allies had all held on. What made them surrender in 1918?

[Assistant]
Once the French held through the initial German attack, Germany was already in trouble. Their whole plan for the war was based on defeating France before the British Expeditionary Force could become established on the continent to off-set the German numerical advantage against France. Now Germany faced their long-time nightmare scenario, a sustained two-front war.

Four years later the British blockade had pretty effectively isolated Germany from international trade in that time, and this was crippling them economically. The Allies meanwhile could still trade over the sea because of the superiority of The Royal Navy. Germany's Navy failed to starve Britain the same way (though the UK still struggled), and their policy of unrestricted submarine warfare only brought the US into the fray.

Even with the the influx of troops from the east in the German spring offensive of 1918 (codenamed MICHAEL), it was a pretty much a last-ditch effort of an exhausted Germany. When the Allies and newly arrived Americans stalled the offensive, it was only a matter of time. The Germans could no longer replace (or feed) their troops anymore, while the Allies would only become stronger. When Germany completely lost the momentum to the Allies by fall 1918, they decided it was time to throw in the towel.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do Most Heisman trophy winners not do well in the NFL?

Is it just a lot of hype for the players who then can't handle it? Or something more?

[Assistant] Quarterbacks at the college level deal with a whole different type of defense and game then the NFL. That's why a lot of those quarterbacks who can scramble for big games in college turn out to be a bust. Players in the NFL are too quick and the defenses are too much for a scrambling quarterback to do very well, especially right after college.


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

[User] I rinse my fruit and veggies and pat them dry. are they really clean or is this just theatre?

[Assistant] Rinsing fresh fruits and vegetables is a good idea for getting rid of dirt. I'll let others handle the discussion of how it likely doesn't remove pesticides. Just make sure not to rinse them ahead of time--only just before eating. Many leafy plants wilt from getting wet after they've been picked.


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

[User]
ELI5: How are graphics still improving on consoles that dated hardware compared to gaming PCs?

Just looking at GTA V stuff and this came up.  You would think with hardware that is 8 years old that things would have plateaued a while ago.  What is going on?  Are things becoming more efficient than I thought, hence the improvements?

Edit: Forgot to put "have" in the title, sorry!

[Assistant] Its pretty simple really. Think about legos. When you first start playing with them you can build some stuff, a car, maybe a house. After three years of using legos youve gotten pretty good. You can build the big sets no problem, your still following patterns and diagrams but your improving alot. After six years of playing with legos, your the master now ; capable of building complex pieces just using your imagination and some creative uses of novelty pieces you can build whatever you damn well please.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Could a Jedi survive until the end of the Empire by hiding in the lower levels of Coruscant?

I know some might say they would be right under Palpatine's nose, but it still seems like a much better place to hide than on some distant planet. The distance between each planet isn't such a big deal for Vader and the Empire considering Hyperdrives are a thing. If Vader finds out a Jedi is hiding on a far away planet it wouldn't be that hard for him to fly over with some troops and have the search around.

On Coruscant this would be impossible. The place is made up of thousands of layers and each one covers the entire planet. I can't imagine its layout is easy to navigate, and the Empire wouldn't be able to rely on hyperdrives to cover great distances. Much of it probably isn't traversable by vehicle at all.

The manpower that would be needed to search for a single Jedi in such a labyrinth would be unimaginable. And this is all assuming the Empire knows that a Jedi is hiding there. If the Jedi were to keep a low-profile then it would be that much more difficult for the Empire to find them.

[Assistant]
Highly unlikely. The empire heavily leveraged gangs as an unofficial branch of the imperial military. They funded and ignored syndicates willing to work with imperial space for a small tithe to weed out more disruptive gangs. A jedi bounty is worth too much for a gang seeking imperial favor to ignore. Every syndicate would be looking high and low on coruscant for Jedi refugees so it's unlikely a jedi could survive for long in the lower levels without exposing themselves or using the force or light saber training they knew.

And in legends the emperor ordered a sweep of the lower levels following an attack on the surface by gangs following the crash of grievous' capital ship. Thousands of clone troopers and coruscant police went level by level nearly 200 levels down to find hostages and punish any criminals found. A Jedi wouldn't be able to find safe haven in those levels after that. Further down it's even more dangerous just to be there without a syndicate protecting you or a ruthless reputation proceeding you.


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

[User]
Saturns rings - are they "temporary"?

I recently read "Bang!: The Complete History of the Universe" by May, Moore, Lintott and there was a casual mention that humanity is lucky to be around to see Saturn's rings.  They implied that the rings had "recently" (astronomically speaking) formed or will "soon" dissipate.  They mention something about the rings being inherently unstable.  I haven't been able to find any other references to this concept.  Is this true?

[Assistant]
Yes, even in space there are solar winds, as well as frictional, tidal and gravitational forces acting on the rings that will continue disturb and little by little, will ultimately destroy the orbits of the particles composing the rings.

Note: Even Earth had rings for a good long time after the formation of the moon... but with our moon being a relatively large body, and the Earth being a relatively small planet, and all of it being so close to the sun, the particulates were rapidly swallowed by the moon, the Earth, or just swept out into space.  Saturn is in a much more ring-friendly situation, but they will dissipate as well.


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

[User] ELI5: Why if I sleep with the fan on I wake up with a sore throat?

[Assistant] I think its because you keep air circulating that it will become dry, as a result when you breathe in it will dry out your throat, making it sore in the mornings, take a glass of water to bed with you for just before you fall asleep and as you wake up, it will make a difference, alternatively turn the fan off and sleep with fewer sheets.


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

[User]
CMV: I am not being unethical by not cutting down my personal CO2 emissions.

I believe that climate change is a big threat to future generations and that the world needs to reduce its CO2 emissions, by yesterday.

But in my personal life, I continue to go on intercontinental flights, I continue to drive a big car and live in a big house with patio heaters in the garden.  Why don't I scale down on those things? Because it wouldn't make a difference. Even if I were to live like a monk, not a single additional gram of carbon would stay in the ground.

Before you say "but if everyone acted like that...", consider the nature of the global free market economy. The latent demand for energy is almost limitless. What is limited is the global supply. Who ultimately determines how much CO2 ends up in the atmosphere are not the consumers but the producers.

Thought experiment: What would happen if 200 million people in a rich country like America were to refrain from flying because of their concern for the environment? The oil price would drop temporarily, the price of plane tickets would drop, and the remaining 100 million (who are not concerned about CO2) would say "thank you, suckers" and buy bigger cars, take more flights, etc. Soon, oil consumption would go back to previous levels. The only thing that would change is how the energy pie is distributed.

Even if we could persuade 95% of the world population to reduce their personal energy consumption, there will always be millions of people, somewhere in the world, who simply don't give a shit. They would all own personal 747 if they could afford it.

What do we learn from this? That CO2 emissions can *only* be tackled on the supply side. There are two realistic ways of achieving this. Government intervention (taxes, regulations) and investment in alternative energies.

I am a consequentialist.  Since me *individually* conserving energy will not significantly alter the global outcome, I don't consider it unethical to "waste" energy.

What I can and should do as an individual is to vote for political parties who impose carbon taxes and invest some my savings in renewable energy startups.  Those actions are of real consequence, and am an not being a hypocrite for going on a beach holiday in Bali (though I will not lament when I can no longer afford it).

[Assistant] Your argument implies that supply is completely independent of demand. If 95% per cent of the population stopped using oil products, the price of oil would drop significantly, and there would be less incentive for companies to continue searching and extracting more oil.


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

[User]
How or why do babies know how to start breathing once they are born, yet they can live inside a fetus and breath no liquid in?

Does this mean, if some how we could oxygenate our blood and rid our selves of carbon dioxide via a machine. we could stop breathing?

[Assistant]
When babies are inside the womb, oxygen is provided via maternal circulation.  The mother breaths in and oxygenates her blood, and some of that blood is shunted towards the placenta, where gas exchange can occur with the fetal circulation.  Fetuses have a different type of hemoglobin (the oxygen carrying molecule in red blood cells), that bind oxygen tighter than adult hemoglobin, which allows this exchange of gases from one circulation to the other.  The fetal circulation avoids circulating blood to the lungs by shunting blood from the right side of heart (pulmonary circulation) to the left side of the heart (systemic circulation)

When babies are born, there is a tremendous amount of stress, and babies will often cry.  This influx of air changes the pressure inside the lungs, and it will inflate the lungs.  Also, over time, those shunting mechanisms will close or atrophy, allowing normal right sided-->pulmonary, and left sided-->systemic circulation.  This all occurs gradually over a matter of days to weeks as the baby will begin relying on its own circulation.

Yes, technically, if we can oxygenate ourselves via circulation and rid CO2 some other way, we can not breath through our lungs.  But this isn't very practical.  Having an IV access would be open access from the circulation to the outside world (increased risk for infection), and having a machine to remove our CO2 sounds a little silly, when our body is doing a damn good job!

Patients who often cannot breath on their own either because of disease or trauma are often mechanically ventilated, but it usually just assisting the ventilation-perfusion mechanism that we already have.


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

[User] [Star Wars] In what ways did the Empire do nothing wrong?

[Assistant]
It provide peace, prosperity, and order to the Core Regions of the Galaxy. Petitions for the betterment for the citizens of the Empire are no longer hampered by bureaucracy and corrupt senators.

Military-wise, the Stormtrooper Corps and the Naval Corps are both meritocracy instead of relying on political connections and being a warrior monk of a debunked and fraudulent religion.


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

[User]
CMV: Nature isnt just wild plants and the animals that roam the wilderness. Humans are a part of it too. Even our modern cities and technological advancements are natural

This very interesting discussion came up in an environmental anthropology class that I recently took. Its something I never thought of and this idea started to change my idea of what we consider the natural world. After all...

Humans arent separate from nature. We are a part of it just like any other biological organism. We have made massive technological advances but we and everything we do is natural. Nature allowed for us to make said advancements and everything traces back to it.

The modern cities we live in are just as natural as the small settlements our ancestors made out of wood, for example. A modified stone tool is just as natural as the smart phone Im using to type this.

[Assistant]
The things made by mankind are, by definition, not natural.

> existing in or caused by nature; **not made or caused by humankind.**

Regardless of the fact that humans arose from nature, having a word that differentiates between the things humans have made and the things humans have not is useful in a variety of contexts.


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

[User] ELI5: When memorizing people are told to memorize in chunks (7 chunks is what I always heard as a kid) because information outside those chunks are harder to recall. If so, why is it easy for most people to memorize complete songs?

[Assistant]
Couple of reasons:

- You memorize the song in chunks too.  You memorize a verse or a chorus (or even just a line in the verse/chorus) then you memorize the next one.

- Tying it to music helps **a lot**.  Our brain is much better at remembering if you can tie information to other senses or sensations.


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

[User]
ELI5: Is Google licensing its Fiber Optics?

I just noticed today that AT&T is also offering gigabyte internet. Coincidentally they are offering in the same cities as Google Fiber.

First I thought Google was licensing, then I thought that would be introducing their own competitions to the cities. So who owns the Fiber Optics in those cities?

[Assistant] Google isn't licensing their fiber optics. What's happening is that Google is succeeding in their goal to force ISPs to step up their game. Google believes fast, affordable internet should be available to everyone. The current market is happy for a single ISP to have a monopoly over each area. Google is breaking that pattern by building their own fiber optic network, offering blistering speeds for a relatively low price. This is spurring the competition to make changes to stay competitive, so companies like AT&T are building their own fiber optic networks to compete with Google's.


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

[User]
[LOTR] Why wouldnt Strider tell the hobbits about Gilgalad and Elendil while on their way to Weathertop?

He says that he doesnt think it should be told with enemies so nearby, but gives no reason for it.

[Assistant] Middle earth is very superstitious when it comes to the Enemy. The story of The Last Alliance can't be properly told without mentioning Sauron, and with the Nazgul so close, and the Ring right there, Aragorn probably believes that dark magic would happen, leading the Wraiths right to them.


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

[User] If China is keeping its currency artificially low, how does it avoid inflation from printing more money?

[Assistant] The Chinese government pegs its currency in order to control its money supply. The Chinese government decides upon an exchange rate and purchases foreign reserves through a process called sterilization in order to maintain the predetermined exchange rate. Sterilization is carried out by the Chinese central bank by exchanging US dollars for Yuan and then purchasing back the newly distributed Yuan through selling Chinese government bonds. Government bonds do not create inflation, while Yuan in circulation do. This is a technique that China has used for several years to ensure a stable currency. This process is used by several other countries, including Switzerland, Hong Kong and Tawain.


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

[User]
Is the effect of electric field extending to infinity like the gravitational field? If no, to what distance do they extend?

I might be terribly wrong but I just thought of this based on Coulomb's Law. The r or radius/distance in the equation could be replaced by any large number and the electric force would still not be zero albeit so low that it's negligible.

[Assistant]
Yes, in theory the electric field has unlimited range. However, there's a fundamental difference between the electric field and the gravitational field and that is the presence of two opposite charge polarities and the mechanism of "screening" that is a result of this.

When it comes to gravity, the "gravitational charge", being mass only comes in positive quantities (as far as we know). But electric charge exists in both positive and negative quantities. Because the electric force causes positive and negative charges to attract each other, a "naked" charge will eventually be surrounded with oppositely charged particles it has attracted and these oppositely charged particles work to "screen" the electric field to the outside world.

So while there's no fundamental limit to the electric field and it follows the same 1/r^2 falloff that gravity does, in reality constant long range electric fields tend to not last indefinitely.


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

[User] ELI5 What is the differences between Hepatitis A, B, and C?

[Assistant]
The hepatitis viruses (including D and E also) were identified in a time when biologists and medical professionals knew very little about viruses, or where able to classify them appropriately. The word hepatitis means "inflammation of the liver," so naturally this is what all the hepatitis viruses have in common. They all cause some form of inflammation in the liver which leads to symptoms that are similar.

Hepatitis A is in the picornavirus family of viruses, same family as polio. It's an illness that people get by drinking or eating contaminated foods (this is refered to as fecal-oral transmission) often in third world countries where sanitation is poor. It looks and feels way worse than it is, lasting only one month and almost never killing anyone who gets it.

Hep B is a member of the hepadnovirus family. It's transmitted through sex and needle sharing, making it a blood borne pathogen. It looks much like hep A at the onset of illness, resolves, but unlike hep A which has no carrier state, hep B has a carrier state which often times develops into chronic hepatitis (chronic liver inflammation) over the course of many years, and often presents with kidney failure and even liver cancer. whether or not this occurs depends on the persons immune system. Unlike hep A, when we find hep B infections we treat them aggressively with antiviral medications.

Hep C belongs to the flavivirus family, same as West Nile virus. It is transmitted only through blood, which makes it most common in people who share needles. Unlike hep B, hep c infections become chronic most of the time, leading to liver cirrhosis (hardening) and also liver cancer, same as hep B, but much more commonly. Infact, hep c is the most common cause of hepatocellular carninoma. We treat hep c as we do hep b, but cannot vaccinate against it (as with hep b) because the virus itself is too variable in the way it coats its outer shell.

In summary, the hepatitis viruses are not a family of viruses. They are a group of viruses from different famililies that all happen to affect the liver in some way.


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

[User] ELI5: What was the Wirecard scandal? and what does Germany's current chancellor Scholz has to with it?

[Assistant]
Wirecard was a whole big convoluted mess which boils down to a simple fraud.  Essentially, in order to secure investments from outside sources, Wirecard claimed that it had about 2 billion dollars in cash reserves that it just...didn't.   And it manipulated financial disclosures to make it seem like they did.

What did Scholz have to do with it?  Not really anything *directly*.  But at the time this happened Scholz was minister of finance for Germany and oversaw the governmental apparatus that was responsible for preventing this sort of thing.

Scholz wasn't involved in the fraud.  But his political opponents claimed he failed to do his job and discover it sooner.

There were a lot of questions whether this would impact his political future.  Spoiler alert, it didn't, as Scholz is now the German chancellor.


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

[User]
[Horror films general] Why is God so absent while His followers get tortured, mind-fucked by the Devil?

The Devil and his minions can always toys with humans and the only way to stop them is to hire a Priest with specific knowledge about exorcism, even through it's not 100% guarantee of success.

It seems like God is not even caring about His creation, he never hear the cries and pleas of the priests begging for Him to help the poor soul with a demon in his/her body.

[Assistant]
Because Satan makes a bet with God to test the faith of humanity. God takes up the bet and lets Satan put humanity to the test to see if they remain faithful even through suffering.

See the Book of Job for another example of this.

God allowed Satan to kill Job's wife, children, and servants. Not only that but Job's wealth was taken away and he was afflicted with horrible diseases.

And all because of a bet. God can't seem able to turn down a bet. He's a gambler.


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

[User]
[xmenmovies] Are the mutants always destined for extinction due to time travel paradoxes.

So in Days of Future Past the future is mess and the Sentinels have won. The mutants are on the brink of extinction and it doesn't appear like it is gonna get better. Wolverine however travels back in time and changes the timeline. This causes mutants to be exposed at an earlier date to the world. We know the world and the people in it have changed when Logan wakes back up in the present . A few years later all the mutants have been hunted to extinction in the new timeline after we leave off in Days of Future Past. Are the mutants always destined for extinction ? Does time want to happen and that even if they fix this timeline it won't really matter ? Will the end result be the same ?

[Assistant] It's the nature of mutation. Because of random mutations, each mutant has a random power set and power level. Eventually mutants will be born with the power to destroy all life on Earth. Either all the mutants die, or Earth suffers an apocalypse.


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

[User] [vampire lore] If I drink enough holy water, will my blood become toxic to vampires?

[Assistant]
I know of no Catholic rite that involves *consuming* holy water, and vampires have been shown to be able to drink the blood of those who have been subject to the rite of baptism anyway, so... no.

Note that being splashed with holy water does coincide with the Catholic rite of baptism, so that should help you understand why it causes vampires pain.


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

[User]
ELI5 - How do Open Source recreations of games stay alive?

Stuff like Open Morrowind, the browser Diablo game, the handful of Doom games, and others more seem like they'd be taken down immediately by the company owning the IP.

 I mean sure, the maker built everything from scratch and from the ground up, but if it looks, walks, talks, and plays like an already existing and beloved game, how come companies don't take note?

[Assistant]
Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they just don't care about old IPs or the company that held the IP is defunct. Sometimes the company will feel like it's good advertising or an indication that these old IPs are still valuable, and they might try to do something with that information later on down the line like making a mobile game, or remastering a golden oldie.

Game Freak, for example, is pretty notorious for using cease and desist orders against romhackers and fan game makers.


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

[User] [Marvel] How many characters in-verse are aware of Stan Lees existence?

[Assistant]
In the 616 Marvel Universe, pretty much everyone. Stan Lee was a celebrated biographer and journalist, who along with Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby, published comics about the real life adventures of the Fantastic Four, and other heroes. Stan Lee's work in adapting the early adventures of the Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and even those outlaw heroes the X-Men, based on news reports, interviews with heroes when possible, and a little bit of creative license, made him one of the most famous people on the planet.

While Stan Lee is no longer with us, the legacy he made of Marvel Comics publishing the most accurate comics, based on the amazing, fantastic, sensational, and incredible real events happening around us, and the great work he did with amazing co-creators, will last forever.

Excelsior.

Or, to get back to your case, anyone who pays attention to the news and can identify an important journalist would know about Stan Lee and his team at Marvel Comics.


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

[User]
How does space affect heat-seeking munitions/weapons?

Really three questions.

Hey folks. I'm a SciFi Writer. I have a few questions, to inform a short story I'm working on. Thank you in advance.

Anyhow, on to my questions.

1) I can remember reading or hearing that heat travels through space via radiation. How would this affect heat seeking missiles (suppose a craft is targeting another craft)?

2) Since, according to Wikipedia, heat is a form of electromagnetic radiation, how would electromagnetic pulses affect this? Assuming the characters did some faraday cage stuff, could an EMP be used as a countermeasure (even if they can't directly disable the munition)?

3) In lieu of using heat to track, would it be viable to have weapons that track via light (ie the light of engines)? I've written it in so far like this (assuming heat is a no go), and the Humans use fast-moving reflective flachette to reflect light from their engines and the sun to fool such devices.

[Assistant]
Heat seeking missiles / munitions detect infrared radiation to home in on their target.

Every object emits so-called thermal radiation, which is just electromagnetic radiation (just like light). The amount and wavelength of this radiation depends on the temperature of the object. Hot objects will emit more thermal radiation that has a shorter wavelength (= more energetic). On Earth, almost all objects we encounter emit most of their thermal radiation in the infrared part of the spectrum. This is why we often associate infrared with heat.

If an object is hot enough, its thermal radiation will start to shift more and more into the visible part of the spectrum (which has shorter wavelengths than infrared). This is where the expression "glowing hot" comes from.

Heat seeking weaponry detects the infrared radiation being emitted by the engines, which emit far more IR radiation than the surroundings. This will be the same in space as it is in our atmosphere, though the temperature of the engine of a spacecraft isn't necessarily the same as that of a jet engine.

While it's true that thermal radiation is a form of EM radiation, blocking it with a Faraday cage is effectively impossible. A Faraday cage requires the mesh width of the walls of the cage to be smaller than the wavelength of the radiation. IR radiation starts with wavelengths of the order of magnitude of a micrometer (and the range runs up to about a milimeter, but for hot objects like a running engine, this part of the range is not very relevant). So you'd effectively have to build a solid cage around the engine. In addition, the cage would, through heat transfer, heat up due to the engine it is surrounding. Unless the cage is very large (and heavy) compared to the engine, its thermal radiation spectrum will becomes just as obvious to detect as that of the engine. So no shielding thermal radiation.

As for your last question, yes, in principle that is possible, but the light emitted by the engines may be shielded in some way, by keeping the engines within a largely closed housing. Thermal radiation can't be shielded and the only way to become undetectable by thermal radiation scanners is to lower the temperature of the craft to be equal to that of the surroundings. Which is not going to be comfortable in space.


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

[User]
Can I be a "picky" Wittgensteinian?

I have noticed that sometimes I will take a (late-period) Wittgensteinian approach in response to questions; other times, however, I won't. For example, in response to the question "When does a mass of sand become a 'heap'?", I'd just dismiss the question on Wittgensteinian grounds. But if I were asked about being, then I'd turn to Heidegger; if I were asked about gender, I would turn to Foucault or Butler.

Is my approach contradictory, or am I "allowed" to only take Wittgenstein's approach to certain problems? If so, is there any way to delimit which problems I can dismiss in a Wittgensteinian way?

(Apologies for any lack of clarity in my question.)

[Assistant]
I feel that a lot of philosophers do that (think that some but not all problems arise from linguistic confusions), but I'll stay with a P. Horwich quote from *Wittgenstein's Metaphilosophy*:
> One doesnt need to endorse Wittgensteins general anti-theoretical
metaphilosophy in order to appreciate that some problems in philosophy are
spuriousbased on muddled presuppositions and calling for dissolution.

I'd see no problem with that as long as you try to be consistent on your use of wittgensteinian methods (and not just use it as a tool for easy refutation while maintaining other positive views that could be just as easily dissoluted), because there are two distinct theses at hand: (1) *ALL* philosophical problems arise from the "bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language"; (2) only some problems do.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What does Boba Fett spend his money on?

He's clearly one of the top Bounty Hunters, rarely fails a job, and charges premium prices. Where does all that money go?

BONUS QUESTION: What does the droid IG-88 spend his bounty hunter money on?

[Assistant]
>He's clearly one of the top Bounty Hunters, rarely fails a job, and charges premium prices. Where does all that money go?

You gotta retire one day. Plus his kit is not cheap.

>What does the droid IG-88 spend his bounty hunter money on?

His plan to take over the galaxy with an army of droids. They actually take over the second Death Star in the middle of the Rebel attack.


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

[User]
What happens when lightning strikes in the ocean?

Typically, when electric current goes through a small body of water, like a bathtub, the water carries current and results in someone sitting in the tub being shocked.

However, obviously when lightning strikes the ocean, the whole world doesn't get electrocuted. So...

How far does the ocean (or any large body of water) carry current? What determines this?

[Assistant] According to Wikipedia, an average lightning bolt consists of 30KA and 100KV, thus when it strikes the water it will need to go through 3.33 Ohms of resistance before dissipating. A meter of salt water at 20 Degrees C has 0.20 ohms, so assuming a straight path down, worst case scenario (think a string of resistors in a series circuit) will reach a depth of 16.65 meters. This is assuming that the lightning doesn't dissipate in more than one direction which is unlikely.


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

[User]
[King of the Hill] What is it about Bobby that Cotton likes so much?

Given that Cotton regularly berated Hank for his supposed lack of masculinity, why was he so fond of Bobby -- a boy who has shown time and time again that he ain't right?

[Assistant]
I think it's sort of like all the surplus unconditional affection that Cotton withheld from Hank basically overflowed down to Bobby and Good Hank.

Plus Cotton seems to respect Bobby eccentricities and sensitivity because he totally owns it.


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

[User]
ELI5: What is the difference between the Classical concept of full employment and Keynesian concept of full employment

I am having a hard time on understanding the concept. I have minimal knowledge on economics and I am seeking here for an explanation about this. Thank you people.

[Assistant] In classical full employment, everyone has a job. In Keynesian full employment, everyone who wants a job has a job. If someone is moving from a Walmart stocker to spaceX engineer, its probably a good thing that they were unemployed for a month.


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

[User]
[Mass Effect] What would happen if the Vorcha were uplifted instead of the Krogan to fight the Rachni?

The Vorcha also seem like suitable candidates for the Rachni wars. They are tough, breed fast, insanely adaptable, and regenerate.

[Assistant]
They would have gotten their asses kicked as Krogan are warriors from the moment they are born, and vorcha are nothing but scavengers.

The Rachni would have wiped the floor with them, proceeded to destroy the citadel species, and by the time humanity arrives to the stars they find it covered by an empire of homicidal spider things under control of the reapers.


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

[User] ELI5: What's the difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance?

[Assistant]
Tax avoidance is legally reducing your amount owed to the lowest you possibly can. This can be done thru itemizing expenses, qualifying for credits, etc.

Tax evasion is intentionally deceiving the tax system to get a lower tax amount owed. This is abusing and defrauding the system and can lead to significant penalties, charges, and jail time.

The main difference is that tax avoidance is legal, as you are avoiding paying unnecessary taxes or paying more than you should, while tax evasion is illegal.


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

[User] [Sponsored Content] What sociological/economic/statistical evidence is there that always online DRM contributes to sustainable software development and innovation?

[Assistant]
This is a very good question!

First of all, as the FBI has proven, piracy contributes to economic decline. This is due to the well known effect of sociological dispersion.

Imagine the economy like a giant oil tank, ferrying money throughout America! Now imagine that this oil tank was attacked by selfish pirates! The oil leaks everywhere, much like pirated software leaks throughout the ecosystem. And now the tanker company has to clean up these leaks, much like how our friends at Electronic Arts protect us from virus infected pirated programs.

DRM is like a metal shield for the oil tanker, but this is passive. The pirates really want oil, no matter what the costs, and so they drill through the walls of the tanker.

Now mind you, it's not the company's fault, but rather the pirates for drilling.

Studies have shown that always on DRM takes regular, passive DRM a step further by actually fighting back! Now imagine that the tanker was protected by the full force of the United States Navy!

This is what the online connection in the DRM in games like Sim City does - the servers protect the game from evil pirates, keeping your gaming experience safe, legal and economical.


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

[User]
CMV: Killing animals for pleasure is wrong

Hi all!

I've recently been thinking a lot about the subject of ethics and how they apply to the treatment of animals in the modern day and age (especially in the food/meat/dairy industry, obviously). I've come to the conclusion that I could get rid of animal products in my diet and go totally vegan without any health risks, so the only thing that is still making me consume meat is the taste of it. I also believe that due to how supply & demand works, I am paying for the animals to be killed.

And this is where this CMV kicks off, I believe that it is wrong to kill animals just for the sensory pleasure. The main reason why I think so is probably empathy and the fact that they are sentient in at least a similar way that we are. If there was overwhelming evidence to conclude with certainty that animals are basically like robots, are incapable of any psychology whatsoever, then I guess I would change my mind.

EDIT: Wow, there are a lot of responses and I will try to go through them all but I need to finish my work for today first :P

EDIT2: Im starting to respond more today. If I don't respond to a comment then it's probably because someone else already responded and stated something better than I could, I will likely just comment underneath that response and say that "I agree", for example.

[Assistant]
what about invasive or overpopulated species?  Would you be ok culling them in order to preserve the indigenous species?

Obviously it would be ideal use them for food, fur/skins, etc. but even if we don't, there would still be a benefit to preserving the other animals in the ecosystem.


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

[User] ELI5: How would a civilization that does not use money (like in Star Trek) work?

[Assistant]
Assuming we're talking specifically about futuristic societies, they're post-scarcity - there's no longer that battle for resources. Because of virtually infinite energy, everyone and anyone can live a life of leisure.

If you look at Star Trek, Deep Space 9, you'll see a few examples of a place where money and/or barter -is- used - the black market. Ol' Quark trades the Latinum (which, canonically, is something which can't be replicated) for the assorted goods which can't be (safely, discreetly) replicated - weapons, stuff like that.

Similarly, take a look at Star Trek: Voyager - you've got limited energy on the ship, so people trade replicator rations back and forth for whatever people will trade for.

It all boils down to scarcity - as long as there's no scarcity, there's no need for money.


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

[User]
Why does your throat get sore?

This might be a really silly question, sorry.

When you get a cold, why does your throat get sore? I understand why your nose might run or get blocked and why you might have a cough or a headache etc, but I can't think of why your throat gets sore. What immune purpose does it serve?

[Assistant] Long story short, when your cells become injured or infected by bacteria or viruses they kill themselves. When it's dry out the mucus that normally lines your throat dries up faster than it can coat/keep your throat clear and clean and the cells lining your throat die or get killed by your immune system to prevent other cells from getting infected. Normally these cells come in layers, the outside layer is supposed to die but just like your skin if you go too many layers down it hurts or becomes sensitive.


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

[User]
[Avatar] Did Ozai care for Zuko in any capacity outside of practicality?

Like, at *all?*

[Assistant]
He didn't even care about Azula outside of a practical capacity.

also you know if you've ever played ck2/3 you know you'd have done the same as him (ie fucking over zuko to insure azula is your heir) in a heartbeat.  In the game, not with real kids, unless you're actually also a sociopath, but point stands.


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

[User] ELI5: What is the difference between Country A printing more currency, and Country B giving Country A currency? I understand why printing more currency can lead to inflation, but am confused about why the second scenario does not also lead to inflation.

[Assistant] Printing more money is like having a pizza that is cut as 8 slices, and you cut it into 16 slices. You have more slices but it's the same amount of pizza. Getting money from another country is like another country giving you a second pizza. Not right now, but down the road you need to give them back a pizza, or possibly more than just one due to interest, but hopefully by that point you have enough pizza to pay them back.


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

[User]
How is fresh water created on remote islands surrounded by the salty ocean water? In other words how did ancient societies get enough drinking water in Oceania? Do the islands just have to be big enough?

I was just watching a video about the Mahjapahit(?) and they mentioned how a certain island was important for its drinking water. What does that mean? What process occurs to let some islands have fresh water?

[Assistant]
Freshwater isnt so much created as collected on islands.

The term you are looking for is freshwater lens.

Essentially, if conditions are right, rainwater can collect in the soil of an island and float on top of the more dense seawater far below in the soil.

If this is a sustainable system, then everything is good.  People can drill down and tap into the freshwater, plants can grow and rainwater will periodically replenish the lens.

If the sea starts to intrude (violently or repeatedly) into the lens, then mixing occurs and problems start.  The freshwater becomes brackish (or completely mixes with the sea) and everything depending on freshwater is in trouble.


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

[User] ELI5: Where does the cholesterol come from in shrimp, where is it located? They don't feel greasy or fatty.

[Assistant]
The membrane of every animal cell contains cholesterol.

That being said, if you're worried about it, don't. Dietary cholesterol (e.g. from egg yolks or shrimp) have only a small effect on your cholesterol levels. It's the trans and saturated fats you have to worry about, so go easy on the cheeseburgers!


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

[User] ELI5: If I broke my leg 5000 years ago, how would have my tribesmen have treated me?

[Assistant]
Into the soup pot you'd go.

KIDDING KIDDING.

Five thousand years ago tribes and farming communities would have had someone specializing in medicine. You likely would have been splinted and doing something like bedrest while the rest of the tribe looked after you as much as they could.

However in some societies if you were already old and infirm, and there were shortages of food and such, and if the tribe was hunter/gatherer and had to move around a lot by walking, they might have abandoned you.


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

[User]
What do I say to someone who claims everything they claim or state is just their opinion?

I would get in arguments with people and then suddenly they would just say its their opinion and I should respect it. Its very frustrating because its never goes anywhere.

[Assistant]
You could ask them any number of things:

* Why are they presenting their opinion as fact if it is merely an opinion?
* Why should their opinion be respected if it is not rooted in fact?
* Do they have an obligation to update their opinion if the facts contradict their opinion?


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Clone troopers have a brotherly relation with their fellow troopers, but they seem oddly unfazed when their brothers die right beside them. How come?

So I have been rewatching 2008 Clonewars and after watching countless troopers get slaughtered, surviving troopers seem oddly ok after watching their brothers get blown to pieces.

Are they engineered to suppress grief? It's just so odd that to say you love your brother and to be ok after watching them be gunned down.

[Assistant] Well we can't usually see the expressions on their faces.   But they're trained to expect and cope with this sort of thing, it wouldn't do to break down in sorrow during a mission.  Fight now, grieve later.


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

[User]
[Marvel] When faced with a global threat, why doesn't Tony Stark just outfit all the Avengers with their own Iron Man suit?

The members with no powers, like Widow and Hawkeye, would actually be useful and those with powers can seriously be buffed. What better than Captain America? A Captain America that can fly and shoot shield rockets.

[Assistant] He's outfitted a few people before, but they all end up ditching the suits eventually. By the time you're in Stark's radar, you've spent hundreds if not not thousands of hours honing your skills and abilities. Putting on a suit would add a new variable and you'd have to spend even more time training just to use it properly. It actually hampers their skills when they need to be at the top of their game.


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

[User] ELI5: if wifi is just a different frequency of radio signal, why can't we broadcast free wifi to everyone from radio towers (like we do with radio)?

[Assistant]
A radio station is like a man giving a speech to a crowd. If you want to make the crowd bigger, all you need is a louder speaker system.

WiFi is more like a conversation -- your computer asks a specific question ("Can you tell me the Wikipedia article on cheetahs, please?") and receives a customized answer ("The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large feline...") Even with powerful sound equipment so that everyone can hear everyone else, you just cannot do this with one guy on the stage. There is just no way he could hear everyone in the audience -- even if you gave them all megaphones, it would just be an onslaught of noise. Furthermore, he could only answer one person at a time, so it would take forever to get an answer to your question.

What you really need is lots of people on the stage to handle multiple conversations; that is, lots of WiFi base stations, each used by only a few people at once.

EDIT: Thanks for the gold and the nice comments. A lot of people are complaining that this explanation seems to rule out the possibility of cell phones or LTE. Well, no, it doesn't. It just says there is a limit to the number of people who can use a single cell phone transmitter at once. And yes, the frequency you use is important, as is the bandwidth. But this is ELI5.


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

[User]
[Marvel's Wolverine] Wolverine is over 200 years old, shouldn't he be extremely intelligent/wise or have a slew of people working for him. kinda like vandal savage but maybe not to that extent?

They make my boy wolverine out to be a bitch in these movies, first of all we need a rated R wolverine flick for the true fans who grew up watching him. Now that i got that outta the way, wolverine should be if not smart an extremely wise man, with friends in high and low places all over the world. Like in the last Wolverine movie we see he made a friend in japan many years ago (which didn't really turn out good for him) but still. So what, wolverine never made any money, never invested anything, never started a company? what did he spend all that military money on? He and his brother had to be high rank in the military until they fucked up and got killed(kinda). I'll give you guys 70-80 years of him being a "renegade" moving from place to place not holding a job for too long after that the man surely would of matured and grew to learn how to manipulate people and things for his personal interest. His story could be so much better. Oh and what no kids, no love or wife before jean? Am I the only one who wants to know or better yet recreate the hundred years wolverine lived before meeting professor x or before he met stryker?

[Assistant]
why? He hasn't devoted his time to anything of that nature, he's suffered brain damage often, and he's a mutant so he's naturally got the public against him.

Life doesn't just fall into place for an old person, you've got to forge those relationships if you expect them to be there in the future, you've got to actually invest and or stock pile your money if you want to do anything with it, and if you want to fight in several wars, seemingly never aging, you've got to change your identity meaning no high ranking in the military.


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

[User]
[The Boys] WTF was Stormfronts lightning working on Starlight?

I know the real answer is the probably classic meta we needed Stormfront to be winning the fight, so yes, but Im really curious if theres any possible sane in-world answer that doesnt involve absurd mental gymnastics.

After making a very fine point multiple times that Starlight is an energy absorber, Annie is mysteriously blasted around by Stormfronts lightning and seemingly isnt absorbing much, if any, of it. Id expected Starlight to say, Surprise, bitch, and go to town, forcing Stormfront to fall back to hand-to-hand since her energy attack would power up her opponent. Really took me out of the story for a minute.

So how on Earth is Starlight able to pull enough energy from a car to kill a man and cauterize Hughies wound yet lethal lightning bolts are not only affecting her but not powering her up enough to turn Stormfront an Aryan corpse?

[Assistant]
Too much energy way too fast. Maybe someday Starlight could learn to harness lightning and make use of it, but apparently not yet. Would be cool to see her learn this in future seasons tho!

Modern trolleys run on high voltage, but they have built in lighting arrestors in order to dissipate the huge spike of energy that comes from a lighting strike.


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

[User] A very bright light can damage your sight, and very loud sounds can do the same to your hearing. Can a very strong odour damage your sense of smell?

[Assistant]
Both a bright light and a loud sound are high concentrations of energy, but a strong smell is a high concentration of particles. That means the smell can get saturated to the point that it really can't smell any stronger.

[edit]: any smell that would damage your olfactory sense receptors would likely do so at any concentration. Corrosive chemicals cause less damage at lower concentration but there is no point where the damage would suddenly start like it does with light and sound. Furthermore extreme concentrations of chemicals and particles tend to experience state changes so you could argue that a high density of smell might drown you, but if you stick your head in a bucket of liquid and inhale it probably won't be your sense of smell that is damaged.