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

[User]
[MCU] How would the events of the MCU play out, if Hela had never been cast out and imprisoned?

In this scenario, Hela -- while still a blood knight who loves war -- decides to go along with Odin's new stance on benevolence. Thor is born, with an older half-sister as part of the family, and Loki is still adopted. Unlike in the main universe, Loki has a big sister, with whom he develops a close sibling bond, to the point where people assume Thor is simply a tag-along.

How would these changes affect the MCU?

[Assistant]
**Plot of Thor movies**

I think Loki would probably actually bond with Thor more than Hela.  The two of them really do get along when you take out Loki's childhood jealousy of him, which he has because Thor seemed like the favorite and was first in line for the throne.  Loki would be super jealous of Hela, and try to scheme to replace her.

But Thor also never becomes the hero/Avenger we know today because Loki's scheme with the frost giants is what gets him cast out to Midgard in the first place, which is where he matures and finds his worthiness.  Then defeating Loki had him cast out where he met Thanos and kicked off the events of the first Avengers.  Malekith would be killed much easier, and the Asgardians would keep the Reality Stone in their vault.

**Basic MCU plot**

So the Avengers don't form when they did (probably going on to form mini-teams), though Cap, Iron Man, and the Hulk are out there.  Iron Man's solo movies play out pretty much exactly the same, without his PTSD in the third but him and Rhodey become heroes together.

Winter Soldier happens since Cap would have been working for SHIELD, where he finds he can trust the Falcon and Black Widow.  Cap would still go after the Buckster to try to bring him back.  Widow, Falcon, and possibly Hawkeye via Widow would be there to support him. Coulson takes over SHIELD in Fury's fake-death.

Ultron is never built and since Loki never brought the scepter to Earth, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Vision are never created.  Sokovia is also not destroyed so Zemo is chill.

Ant-Man's series plays out exactly the same - so he still meets Falcon.

Black Panther plays out slightly differently.  Because Civil War never happened, T'Chaka is still king when Killmonger shows up.  Killmonger kills T'Chaka, so T'Challa fights him and then the movie plays out pretty much the same way from there.

Doctor Strange happens in exactly the same way.

Spider-Man still gets his powers, Iron Man doesn't take him in so he fights Vulture without the suit and still wins.

**Infinity War**

By the time Infinity War takes place, the heroes are much more  fragmented.  Doctor Strange has the Time Stone - Thor, Hela, and Loki have the Reality Stone - SHIELD has the Space Stone - the Power Stone is on Xandar - the Soul Stone is on Vormir - and Thanos still has the Mind Stone.

Thanos needs the Space Stone early so he can get around as easily.  Things actually don't work out for him despite the lack of powerful Avengers.  He probably still fucks up Xandar for the Power Stone so he has the strength to actually fight people.  Then his next target would be Earth.  Because he never used Loki to probe its defenses he thinks little of the planet and has no idea of any Avengers.
He attacks the SHIELD facility where the Space Stone was kept, where Coulson calls in his best people.  Cap, Hawkeye, Widow, and Falcon get the call and get fucked up by Thanos who takes the Tesseract.  Falcon calls Ant-Man for backup in the aftermath, who just got back from his adventure with the Wasp.

Meanwhile Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw show up in NYC for the Time Stone.  They're met by Iron Man, War Machine, Doctor Strange, and Wong.  Wong cuts off Obsidian's hand again, little Spider-Man shows up and impresses Mr. Stark who makes a mental note to take this kid in.  Maw brings Strange to his ship, Iron Man follows but has to duck out when Spidey falls off due to lack of oxygen.  War Machine bursts into the ship to save Strange, he's unfortunately not a match for Ebony Maw - but he distracts him enough for Strange to free himself and escape back to Earth as War Machine is killed.

When Doctor Strange gets back, he finds Tony in the Sanctum with Spidey and Wong and Agent Phil Coulson of SHIELD who is putting together a team to combat these aliens.

**The Avengers form**

The Avengers are Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Wong, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Falcon, Spider-Man, and Ant-Man and the Wasp.  They have to defend the Time Stone against a Thanos with the Power Stone, Space Stone, and Mind Stone.  When Thanos attacks the Sanctum with his forces, he's met with heavy resistance.  The Sanctum's defenses are such that an actual penetration by hostile forces is exceedingly difficult, because it's helmed by two master sorcerers with all of their relics on hand.  The sorcerers and Iron Man+Cap's team hold off or kill most of the Black Order when a beam of light crashes down.  Midgard is under the protection of Asgard and an attack by a non-Asgardian hostile force is worth its best.  So the bifrost beams down Thor, Hela, and Loki who kill all the Outriders.  A three stoned Thanos is either beaten to death by a less heroic Thor or stabbed to death by a more heroic Hela.  Either way he dies.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does inbreeding produce genetically inferior organisms?

A couple of follow-ups:

In terms of dogs--if you have a German Shepard from one family of dogs and a German Shepard from another family of dogs, would it still be considered inbreeding if they mated?

Are the mutts/crossbreeds of today going to be the purebreds of tomorrow and will the current purebreds eventually die out? (via natural selection because they are genetically inferior?)

Tying into the above question, what exactly is a purebred?  Aren't the purebreds of today mixtures of different dogs from the past? (so, crossbreeds of past "purebreds"?)  I ask because it would seem that natural selection *should* have weeded out genetically inferior inbred's (or purebreds) of the past.

Sorry if I seem all over the place with these questions...

[Assistant] If there is a detrimental inherited genetic flaw from one half of the DNA, it can be covered up by a dominant version from the other partner. However, if offspring interbreed too much it starts becoming more probable that an offspring will inherit the defect from both parents, resulting in the defect becoming apparent.


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

[User]
How can you differentiate the influence of redshift from the doppler effect in an expanding universe?

So I learned that the redshift in the light from other galaxies is not due to relative movement, but because space itself expands in the lights way and therefore stretching the wavelength.

How can you tell, that the source of the signal is maybe closer than you think and just traveling away from us, therefore having a positive influence on the redshift of the signal

OR

The source is traveling towards us, therefore negating a little of the redshift (expanding space) by blue shifting (due to the doppler effect)?

I hope I made my question clear, however feel free to follow up.

[Assistant]
They're in general impossible to separate. If there is cosmological redshift, then there is significant spacetime curvature between you and the source. And if there is, there is no canonical way of extending your coordinate system far from you, through that curved region, up to the source. (All the stuff with the clocks and rulers to build inertial frames makes no sense in curved spacetime).

Since the only velocity of the source you can define is just the derivative of space coordinate wrt time coordinate, and the coordinates are essentially arbitrary, the velocity is arbitrary.

Playing around with coordinate changes you can swap bits of redshift between gravitational/cosmological and doppler.


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

[User]
Is String Theory an actual scientific theory?

Just got into a discussion with someone who didn't understand that a scientific theory was not just a guess.  In trying to explain this, we got to String Theory, when I realized I was under the impression that was something that wasn't agreed upon by the scientific community.

[Assistant] So the problem is that even in science there are two definitions of a theory. There's the one you're probably thinking of - The theory of evolution and so forth. Things that are supported by a lot of evidence. And then there's the theoretical physics definition, which is something like "A Lagrangian and its properties", or more simply, "A theoretical framework that allows you to calculate things". As there is no evidence for string theory yet, it falls into that latter category.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do hallucinogens make you hallucinate if they are just binding to the same dopamine and serotonin receptors as other drugs. Why and how do shrooms and lsd and stuff physically alter your vision and make you see stuff you dont see?

[Assistant]
Neurotransmitters are critical in the process of creating neural "pathways", the transmission of electrical signals from synapse to synapse to synapse.  Part of that process is for the neurotransmitters to "bind" (attach) to certain types of receptors on the synapses.  LSD and other hallucinogens disrupt how this process is supposed to work, as they can bind to the receptors but don't work like the natural neurotransmitters are supposed to.

In this way, they actually create spurious pathways in the brain that would not otherwise occur.  In addition, in some parts of the brain they appear to inhibit the operation of the normal pathways, reducing the function of those areas. Part of that action seems to inhibit some of the sensory filtering that normally occurs in the thalamus (IIRC), so other areas of the brain are bombarded with information they usually doesn't have to deal with.  This may cause the formation/use of more pathways than normal, or at least, different pathways.


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

[User] [Economics] Would allowing people to access their credit score, and the algorithm used to calculate it, for free make it more likely for people to be more responsible with credit, improving the economy overall?

[Assistant]
I think it would make us more responsible *by the definition of the ratings agencies,* which is not necessarily the same thing as making smart credit decisions in the real world.

So it may be better that we don't know exactly what they're looking for--we're encouraged to be responsible with our credit according to our own best judgment, without worrying too much about what exact steps we should be taking to goose our scores.

(It's sort of like how standardized tests are a decent way of measuring educational attainment, *until teachers start focusing on teaching kids to take the tests,* at which point everything gets distorted.)


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

[User]
[General Superheroes] Why isnt there a cult of Superman? Or religions forming because of other superpowered individuals?

In our universe if there was an impossibly strong flying superhuman from another planet people would flip out. There have been suicide cults killing themselves over flimsier logic. I imagine most world religions would be shattered in the wake of a literal demi-God walking the Earth.

[Assistant]
In The Kingdom, the not as successful prequel to Kingdom Come, the main villain started out as a young man who tried to start a church around Superman, but became unhinged when Superman told him to cut that shit out.

Similarly in a post-COIE Superman story, there was an old woman living in a bad part of Metropolis who is saved by Superman from some disaster, and becomes convinced that he's a literal angel from God, sent to answer her desperate prayers.

So she gets it in her head that God gave her the power to be able to summon Superman whenever she prays and starts going around Metropolis looking for disasters and troubles, and 'summoning' Superman by praying.

He tells her to cut that shit out, espcially cause she's basically walking into dangerous situations for no good reason, but she isn't convinced.

IIRC, one day she decides to confront a violent gang that was preying on her neighborhood. When someone pulls on her she prays for Superman, but he's on the otherside of the world helping some non-idiot.

By the time he reaches her, she's already dead. But he ends up not even having to take care of the gangsters because all of her neighbors rise up and apprehend/citizen arrest all them out of disgust for killing that old lady.


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

[User]
ELI5:How do betting odds work?

I never bet, but whenever I see betting odds on tv or if a friend is talking about them I have no idea how it works.

An explanation and an example would be much apprecited.

Thanks.

[Assistant]
They're displayed as a ratio representing Dollars bet:payout.

So if you bet on a horse that's a 3:1 favorite, you'll make one dollar for every $3 you bet on it.  If the horse has odds of 1:3, you'll get $3 for every dollar you bet.


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

[User] [Godzilla] Since Godzilla feeds on radiation, how large could a population of adult Godzillas get before becoming unsustainable?

[Assistant] Probably a few dozen adults. The problem is how much space they require near the earth's core that'll be used up. Nuclear and atomic weapons and power plants seemingly over charge them for a short time but the main food source is radiation from the upper mantle leaking out. A few dozen covering the lowest reaches of the sea floor would probably be the max before starvation or cannibalism sets in. Tho some smaller ones will probably nest inside nuclear reactors to absord radiation that way.


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

[User]
What is the difference between radiation that transfers heat and the radiation that we associate with radioactive substances?

So I learned in class that radiation is a form of heat transfer. Is this difference than say, the radiation from nuclear explosions?

[Assistant]
Radiation from nuclear explosions consists of various high-energy particles. The lightest and smallest of those, gamma rays, are nothing else than very energetic photons (light particles).

When heat is radiated, this is also done in the form of photons (mostly infrared photons for something at room temperature), although those photons have far lower energies (to be precise, about 100 million times lower).

So is there a difference between these forms of radiation? Obviously the energy levels are different, but other than that there isn't really a difference between a gamma ray photon and an infrared photon.

Do, however, note that nuclear radiation can take other forms than gamma rays.


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

[User]
How much does it increase your odds of winning in Rock, Paper, Scissors to say best two out of three after you lose a game?

That game would have been one out of one. You have to win the next two games which is 25% odds from there but Im thinking about the advantage you would gain from having the second chance to win. Is it just 50% instant win plus the 25% second chance giving you a 75% win rate using this trick? So your odds of winning go up 25%, right? I just thought of this cheat and keep over thinking and second guessing myself. Thanks!

[Assistant]
It depends how you formulate it. If only you call out "best two out of three" to initiate more rounds after you lose, then we can break the cases down as follows:

You win half the time, so you don't play any more games

You lose the first game the other half, and of those times you only win best two out of three a quarter of the time.

Adding the two you get a 1/2(1) + 1/2(1/4) = 5/8, which means your odds of winning do increase if you are a crybaby.

On the other hand, if your opponent is also going to call "best two out of three" to initiate more games if they lose, then the odds go back to being 50/50.


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

[User] ELI5:What is "bridge mode" on a router, and when it is useful?

[Assistant]
It can mean different things. A home router is often a router and a modem combined, but the router part tends to be pretty crappy.

Bridge mode basically disables the router part, allowing you to use the modem to connect a second device directly to the Internet.

The downside is that you can only connect one device this way (usually). Hence, it is usually used to connect a second, better router. The upside is that the slow and buggy built-in router goes out of the way.

Then there's also bridge in the context of WiFi, which was already explained.


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

[User] ELI5: Why would two countries sign an agreement promising to end to a war, rather than just signing an agreement that actually ends it?

[Assistant] Negotiating an actual treaty takes months and doesn't make for any good sound bites.  An agreement to negotiate a treaty, on the other hand, can be written up on a napkin and signed in a matter of minutes and gives both parties something to wave in front of the media and claim as a victory.


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

[User]
Why are there no neutrons in a hydrogen nucleus?

I know deuterium and tritium exist, I want to know specifically why the most common form of hydrogen has no neutrons.

[Assistant] There's an excess of protons and electrons in the universe compared to neutrons, because a free neutron decays to a proton, electron, and neutrinos with a half-life of a little over 10 minutes if it doesn't become part of a nucleus before decaying. Most of those excess protons are in the form of hydrogen (the only nucleus that's stable with no neutrons in it) because most of the universe isn't hot or dense enough to fuse them into anything heavier.


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

[User]
ELI5:How were last names created? When did this start and how did we get our last names

This is something that I have always wondered..

[Assistant]
Back in the day, villages were small enough there was probably only one Eric, so you really only need one name.  If there were two, you'd use some quality about them to tell them apart...old Eric and young Eric, redheaded Eric and blackhaired Eric, Eric from by the river and Eric from the hills, Eric the weaver and Eric who runs the mill, Eric son of Hubert and Eric son of Morris.

Eventually these got simplified into last names, Eric Young, Eric Black, Eric Rivers, Eric Weaver, Eric Morrison.  If one of those Erics were particular important, his family would want to keep his name around to remind everyone, so Eric Black's kids would be Black's no matter what color their hair was.


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

[User]
[Fallout] How much is the average Wastelander living off, how do they get it and how much is the cost of living?

Wondering this as in-game players can make an insane amount of money selling items, but the prices they sell them for are unreasonable. It is 10 caps for booze for example, but 4000 for a decently repaired super-sledge with high barter - and the Gun Runners! They sell weapons at absurd prices, the kind no one should be able to afford - who are they marketing their weapons to?

How does the average Wastelander wandering around the Mojave or living in a town earn money? Do they just scavenge and sell it, do menial labour (what sort of stuff?) etc.

[Assistant]
I suspect that most people only use currency to supplement hunting and gathering, and they only sell or trade away a meager surplus that they can't personally use--so any "cost of living" figure is going to be a little abstract.

Presumably citizens of strong centralized societies like the NCR or the Legion do more specialized work and thus participate in more market transactions.

And the Gun Runners' primary market isn't individual Wastelanders--they sell mainly to institutions with a lot more buying power. (Just as today, the average citizen can't afford a fighter jet or a tank.)


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

[User] ELI5: How come having the sun visible in your peripheral vision doesnt permanently damage your vision?

[Assistant]
The pupil of the eye is on the front, so you only get the most intense, direct light when you are looking directly at something.  The further a source of light is from the center of your field of vision, the less of the light will get into your pupil and onto your retina.  This will make it both appear less bright (so the sun doesn't dazzle as much when it is in your peripheral versus direct vision) and do less damage.

That said, if you stood staring at one exact spot for long enough it very well could do damage.  But we rarely do that, since our eyes are constantly darting around, especially when outside because there are usually a good number of visual stimuli.


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

[User] Eli5: why do teeth have nerves? Is there a greater reason then just making your day a living nightmare?

[Assistant] Infected teeth can kill you as the infection can easily make it into your blood stream and to the rest of your body. It's best that you're well motivated to fix them.  This is just as true today as it was for primitive man, and probably more important, since we eat so much more sugar now.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Does Darth Vader ever have to attend state functions in his role in the Empire?

Like does Vader show up at signings of new laws, or commissioning of big projects? How about state funerals?

[Assistant]
I don't think so. Vader is not really a public official. He has what Tarkin refers to as "invisible rank" (I think that was the term he used).

He's basically the Emperor's enforcer. He shows up when stuff needs to get done, not to cut ribbons. Also, it seems sort of counterproductive to have him in the public light at all times. He's supposed to be feared, so you don't want to get the public too used to him.


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

[User]
CMV: Secular values and ideals, not Christian ones, are to credit for American exceptionalism and the success of "the West" more broadly.

Conservative pundits like Stephen Crowder, Ben Shapiro, and Denis Prager claim that what makes America, and "the West" more broadly, great are Judeo-Christian values.

However, individualism, civil liberties, democracy, science and reason... All the ideals that make America as great as it is today are thanks to the Enlightenment, which was largely a secular movement. Many of the founding fathers (Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, Monroe) were deistic, meaning they were not "Christian". Jefferson literally wrote his own version of the Bible excluding all the supernatural bullshit and miracles.

And if anything Christian fundamentalism has held our country back, and continues to do so to this day. People that think the earth is flat, that evolution isn't real, that bomb abortion clinics, that create gay conversion camps: they cause a demonstrable harm to our society.

Another thing that throws a wrench into conservative notions of Christian ideals and American exceptionalism is that Eastern societies were far more advanced than the West prior to the Enlightenment. Our numerical system was developed by Hindus, and popularized by Arabs. Advancements like ink, paper, gunpowder, were all made in China. Baghdad, a Muslim city, was a hub for scientific and philosophical advancement. My point is that the Christianization of a civilization isn't correlated with the greatness of said society, and if anything it is negatively correlated. Another fact that exemplifies this is that South America is arguably more Christian/religious than the US and other European nations, but far less successful.

I guess I just don't understand where conservatives get this idea that Christianity and its values are what make America, and the West great.

[Assistant]
I think there were many important secular influences on our country, but the american view of civil liberties was influenced a great deal by John Locke.

One of the premises of Locke's second treatise was that all men were made in the image of God.  This particular Christian influence was one of the sources of the idea that all men are created equal.

This obviously wasn't universal.  Other christians, who disagreed with Locke, used their faith as a premise in arguments for a divine right to rule.


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

[User]
A Neuroscience major I know argued that the mind is separate from the body and modern Neuroscience backs that assertion up. Is consciousness rooted in physical processes?

I apologize if this post doesn't belong here. I attempted to do my own research and I'm pretty sure this is a faulty claim. Her whole argument was that "consciousness is not understood" and that modern Neuroscience thinks of the mind as non-physical.

She's currently studying alternative medicine.

Can someone shed some light on this, given that "consciousness isn't fully understood?"

[Assistant]
Consciousness isn't well-understood, but it is clearly rooted in physical processes. You can build a computer and run a program on it called *Doom*, and you can build a brain and it will run a program we call "consciousness". You could also figure out how consciousness works and run it on a (powerful enough) silicon computer, and you could build a "brain" out of neurons that connect in a different way and run *Doom*.

Anyone who says otherwise is repeating religious or philosophical dogma, or else finds the idea of being "just a machine" so unbearable that they'll be willing to believe anything.

Your friend is studying nonsense and actively making it harder for herself to understand the world. If she intends to work in the field of "alternative medicine", then she will also be a snake-oil salesman who, at best, rips people off (though with the best of intentions) and, and worst, kills people by helping convince them to avoid real medicine when they need it. Good luck convincing her of it, though.


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

[User]
Why do we feel thirst in our throat but hunger in our stomach?

Why do we feel the snsation of thirst in our throats but hunger in our stomach it it because as the amount of water in our body becomes lower less saliva is created making the throat dry?

[Assistant]
When you're dehydrated, your kidneys release a hormone called renin, which activates another hormone called angiotensin.  These do a number of things in your kidneys to help conserve water, but angiotensin also reduces saliva production, which gives you a dry mouth/throat.

When your stomach is empty, cells in the GI tract release a hormone called ghrelin.  Ghrelin acts on your brain to produce a feeling of hunger, and also stimulates acid production and muscle activity in the gut to prepare for incoming food.  This muscle activity is what you are feeling when your stomach rumbles.


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

[User] If golf balls have dimples on them to make them more aerodynamic then why don't cars or planes have them too?

[Assistant]
Because golf balls are so short compared to a car or plane, drag is dominated by sperating flow behind the ball.  By using dimples to trigger a turbulent boundary layer, speration can be postponed thus reducing drag.

Cars and planes are longer more narrow bodies and drag tend to be dominated by skin friction drag.  In this case, maintaining a laminar boundary layer is possible.  Things change a bit as you reach transonic speeds.

The Wikipedia entry on drag has a good diagram right at the top showing this effect.  We talk about Reynolds number to describe which regime we are in.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does restarting my router sometimes help with internet connectivity problems?

I mean, what changes with that reboot that helps?

[Assistant]
Imagine that you start solving an equation in your notebook.

Halfway through you notice that the number don't add up anymore. You try to figure out what the problem is but you can't seem to find it.

So you just tear that page from the notebook and start again from the beginning with a fresh perspective.

This is similar to what happens with your computer. For some reason a mistake was made in its calculation that it's not programmed to recover from. So when you restart the computer it starts from scratch. Now, you can hope that whatever caused the problem doesn't occur again.


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

[User]
The Anthropocentric-Universe Argument: gy = c What does it mean?

I've just finished reading The Godwhale by TJ Bass and in the final pages he refers to this equation: gy = c. He argues that earth's gravity acceleration in metres per second per second x earth year in seconds = light speed.

9.78 m/sec2 times 3.065 x 107 sec = 2.9979 x 108 m/sec

Now I have no idea what that means, if anything. I certainly don't buy that it is some Creator's signature, or as Bass also seems to argue, an indicator of habitable planets. Is it just a curious mathematical coincidence?

[Assistant] An acceleration at Earth's gravity for one year is approximately the speed of light (to within about 3%), under Newtonian mechanics. However, the calculation you quoted the numbers are shrunk slightly to make it match up better: a year is longer than that (it's obvious that 365 x 24 x 3600 is bigger than what's quoted) and gravity is a tad stronger than that. Also, because of relativistic effects it would be about 78% of light speed after a year, which doesn't sound as impressive.


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

[User]
Black hole = magic refrigerator?

Assume I have a large black hole.

And that I have an environment that is extremely hot due to photons flying everywhere.

Let's say I build a giant machine to transfer those photons into the black hole. Not just in the immediate vicinity, but across a vast area.

My question is, is there any limit to how large a machine the hole would be able to cool off by having the material transfer heat into it via radiators or similar. Like, if I built a machine much larger than the actual event horizon that is meant to pass heat into the hole, is there any reason in particular I can't cool the entire machine to the temperature of the hole? Like can I essentially use it as an unlimited thermal wastebin that gets colder and bigger the more heat I throw in it?

[Assistant]
Yes. This is ok. Black holes are actually magic refrigerators. Since, as you note, they have negative heat capacity, you can keep on dumping heat and they will only get colder, not hotter.

However, if what you need is to lose heat, you can just use empty space. Empty, flat space is at a temperature of absolute zero. You can radiate away all you want and its temperature will always stay zero: it has infinite heat capacity.


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

[User]
[Dune] Without computers, how does the high-tech stuff even work? How is it designed and manufactured?

How can a high-tech society, as described in *Dune*, exist without computers? You need them to control industrial robots to manufacture goods for the hundreds of populated worlds; you need them to engineer things like Holtzmann drives to minute tolerances; and a giant piece of machinery like a Guild Heighliner probably needs dozens of them, to control and adjust engine thrust, air pressure, internal temperature, and hundreds of other parameters.

How to they make do without it? It's not like they can put a Mentat behind every CNC lathe in the Empire.

[Assistant]
The OC Bible actually states "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind"; i.e., the ban is on artificial intelligence, not computers per se. Unfortunately, for the masses, the distrust extended to non AI computers. Nevertheless, computers do exist, particularly those made by the Ixians, though their use is limited because of the misguided general mistrust of technology. It is rumored the Ixians skirt the boundaries of the anti-technology proscriptions of the Butlerian Jihad, but the Great Houses turn a blind eye as long as there are no egregious violations. The ruling classes  necessarily traffic in such devices made by Ix, but do not do so overtly for fear of rousing the mobs.

[Edit to add more detail] This actually explains how the Dune society came to be: what appears to be a medieval, feudal society but with the trappings of high technology. The Butlerian Jihad sought to eliminate AI but for the common people, there was little difference between a neural computer and a calculator; as a consequence, all forms of technology is suspect and avoided. A peasant would probably live his life and the most high tech thing he'd probably see is a glowglobe on suspensors ... common enough that he wouldn't even think twice about it. The higher up you are in society, the more exposed you are to gadgets and technological tools, but nothing that would raise your eyebrows. The leaders of their society, the nobles and lords, as well as the specialized guilds, all make use of technological tools as a matter of course; in their position, they have to accept the necessity of it, even if they themselves distrust these tools. And they definitely avoid becoming dependent on these tools, out of their own fear and fear of arousing the suspicions of their subjects.

This also explains the rise of specialized guilds. The manufacture of high tech goods becomes a balancing act between applying computerized technologies, and using skilled labor to replace manufacturing techniques that are too close to the prohibitions for comfort.


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

[User] [Harry Potter] What is the difference between a jinx, a hex, and a curse?

[Assistant]
Curses are the worst of the three, and are intended to cause lasting damage to the sufferer. There is also no generalised "anti-curse" or "curse removal" spell, unlike the other two, although it is possible to block or redirect most of them (with the exception of the Killing Curse) if you recognise what you're dealing with fast enough.

Hexes are the middle group, which generally causes major discomfort but not lasting damage. The effects are permanent until removed by the "Hex Breaker" spell, which works on all known Hexes.

Jinxes are the weakest of the three. They are not permanent,  and can blocked with a Counter-Jinx. In a combat situation, they are generally used as tactical spells to gain a momentary advantage, such as the Trip Jinx.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do we kiss?

[Assistant] Well, scientists believe it's almost like an instinctual mate selection procedure. The better you are at kissing, or the kind lips/tongue/teeth you have, could potentially speak for how genetically superior you are. Not to mention, think about it. All kinds of animals have certain things they do to show off their genetic dominance. Whether it's kissing, or dancing, or having beautiful feathers like peacocks do. Nearly all sexually reproductive living organisms have something they use to initiate intercourse. Ours seems to be locking our feeding organs together and moving them around in a way that happens to feel good.


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

[User]
ELI5:Why does garbage always seem to have a common smell regardless of what's in it?

??

[Assistant] The smell is composed of small Nitrogen and Sulfur based molecules, produced when microbes break down organic matter. So as long as it's organic material. Because these molecules are small, they are easily blown into the air and up your nose. It does not really matter what you start out with, it all ends up as the same sets of small molecules once the bacteria are through with it.


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

[User]
[doctor who] the time lords may be dead but how come the doctor doesn't come across old ones.

the doctor in the new series only ever seems to come across the master. why doesn't he ever come across timelords that are from before they all died. surely there are some here and there that travelled to past the point of the destruction of Gallifrey.

[Assistant]
You don't wipe someone out in a time war by just killing them, leaving their past selves free to get revenge tomorrow. You wipe them out by erasing them.

Casualties in a war between time travellers aren't dead. They're *gone.*


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

[User]
[ATLA] What would've been the naval capability of the water tribe if they had enough wood for ships

I feel like water benders would've easily been a naval superpower if they had resources to build ships due to the crazy mobility boost waterbeding gives.

[Assistant]
We see that when they're in a naval battle, they're pretty fucking unstoppable.  During the Day of Black Sun they had extraordinary mobility and were able to augment the lack of technology with their water-bending to pull off miracles.  We see Katara with basically zero training be an enormous headache for a fire navy ship early on.

If they had a full navy they'd be a total superpower.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do we know that unsolved math problems have an answer?

I was watching Good Will Hunting the other night, and this popped into my head. How do people know that unsolved problems have an answer? Furthermore, the professors in the movie seemed to know pretty instantly that the problem had been solved. Is that realistic? Or does it take additional years to prove that the answer was right? Finally, are most of these problems a result of a lack of effort, like how we could technically count all the sand on a beach, or does it take a genius to solve?

[Assistant]
For a math problem, there may be both constructive and non-constructive proofs.

A constructive proof proves that there is an answer, **and** the answer is given by the proof.

A non-constructive proof is not as good, perhaps, but it simply proves that there is no answer, or it proves that there is an answer but not what that answer actually is.

For example, Euclid's Theorem has a non-constructive proof that there is no "largest prime number".  The problem "What's the largest prime number?" is now proven to have no possible solution.


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

[User]
[Iron Man] How close are we to actually possessing the technology Tony Stark uses in Iron Man?

I'm talking about hologram displays, smart AI/voice recognition, etc, NOT the Iron Man suit technology.

[Assistant]
Hologram displays are in use if you've seen the news. However, they aren't very common and are exorbitantly expensive to use.

*Note: Hologram interfaces are only good if they are being used in the same manner as which Stark uses them in the movies i.e. large tables for standing a round and interacting with in a creative manner. Actual holographic interfaces in a computer (Like in Mass Effect) would be painful to use as it puts a lot of strain on your wrists and arms and would put you at greater risk for arthritis.*

Smart AI are really far off. At least fifty years at the minimum. More likely to be over one hundred years.

The Arc Reactor is effectively a miniature fusion device. Not happening for at least 50 years.

Exoskeletons and such are still in development but may see use in the decade or so. Robotics technology advances at an extremely fast rate.

The automated drones that Vanko used in Iron Man 2 are technically possible but would require an adaptive AI which may exist in twenty years or so. If it was coupled with a human operator, more likely ten.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are galaxies round as a pizza instead of round like a sphere?

[Assistant]
Ever watched one of the many videos that the astronauts on the ISS send back to earth? They're fascinating! Many videos involve water (or other liquids) and how it behaves in free fall. Put a bunch of water together, just floating, and it will stay a sphere.

If you spin it, however, it flattens out like a pizza! Centrifugal force from the spin causes the molecules to try to escape, but water's tendency to stick to itself holds it together at low speed and makes the water go oval. If you did the same thing with a more sticky substance (like pizza dough) it could go faster and flatten out even more before breaking apart.

You could have a spinning sphere if the water was able to spin in every direction at once, but since the molecules bump into each other, they all cancel each other's movement out until they're all moving in the same direction at the same speed. That's why galaxies mostly all spin like pizza dough.


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

[User]
Would a NIT(Negative Income Tax) without the existence of an income tax just serve as a basic income for everyone but without costing trillions of dollars like a UBI would?

Abolish the income tax for everyone(replacing it with a Land Value Tax) except for people that earn below a certain income threshold, but for these people make it a negative income tax, wouldn't this be better than our current welfare state and also any form of  UBI.

[Assistant]
> ... replacing it with a Land Value Tax ...

There are probably very few countries that could raise enough revenue that way. A very high land value tax in one country would cause investors in that sector to flee to other countries.


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

[User]
ELI5: why are most cars front-wheel drive, but motorcycles and bikes are rear-wheel drive?

You're really going to need to dumb this down for me. I know very little about engineering and physics. For whatever reason, I woke up with this question on my mind. Hope someone can explain it to me.

[Assistant]
Most cars are FWD for two somewhat related reasons; packaging and cost. Generally speaking, FWD powertrains are less complex, require fewer parts, and take up less room than a RWD car; this makes the car lighter, cheaper to produce, and increases cabin space.

Motorcycles and bikes are RWD mostly due to the interference with the steering and/or engineering difficulties that would result from running a chain to the front wheel. It's much easier to run the chain to the rear wheel that never turns.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are the Baby Boomers considered the worst generation?

[Assistant] Generally because they inherited a hard-won and prosperous welfare state but then proceeded to dismantle it in the name of short-term profit at the expense of their children. This current generation are the first who, on average, are going to be worse off than their parents, and the policies of deregulation and privatisation pursued in the 1980s are directly responsible for that.


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

[User] How can water extinguish a fire, but can make a grease fire worse?

[Assistant]
When extinguishing a regular fire, water does two things: It cools down the burning substance and it smothers it, depriving it of oxygen. Both of these things work well because the water forms a thin layer on the surface of the burning object / substance.

But when you throw water on burning grease or oil, something else happens. Since oil/grease is hydrophobic and less dense than water, the water will pass through the oil and sink to the bottom. You then have the water trapped by a layer of burning oil that is hotter than the boiling point of water. The water is rapidly brought to boil and when that happens it expands to well above 1000 times its volume as it turns into a gas.

This rapid expansion quickly pushes the oil away, breaking it up into tiny droplets. In the form of droplets, the oil has far more surface area than what it had before, giving it much better access to the oxygen in the air and therefore speeding up the rate of combustion.

So instead of a contained volume of burning liquid with limited surface area exposed to the air, you suddenly have a cloud of burning droplets, which are burning much more intensely than before.


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

[User]
ELI5: Do Cubans get to pick their job?

Communism means the government owns all the factors of production. Factors of production are land, labor and capital. So if the government owns all labor doesn't that mean the government has to assign jobs to everyone?

[Assistant]
Cuban communism is unique. There is free education and health care. But no one was told what to study. So doctors and nurses chose their vocation. Private enterprise in some form is being permitted. So some doctors now drive taxi type cars for the tourists for the money.

Cuba actually has three kinds of currency. It is amazing.


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

[User] Since kitchen microwaves heat things by "jiggling" the water molecules in them, would something completely dehydrated not get hot inside one?

[Assistant] A microwave has a powerful sort of antenna that emits around 1000 Watts of power. This energy is sent in packets of light with a specific spectrum (mostly 2.45GHz) called photons and these photons interact with different types of molecules. The water molecules, for example, are bipolar and they will rotate to align with the varying field. Fats will often do this as well. Some substances have molecular shapes more friendly to this process than others. It largely depends on what you are heating and things like the fat content and the phase of the matter.


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

[User]
[Mad Max] how is knowledge of mechanical engineering preserved?

So a lot of factions have vehicles - bikes, cars, and most of them are cobbled together from lots of different parts. But how do they know how to make working, driving cars? How do they know how to keep an engine running, or how to fix issues?

The only three possibilities I can think of would be these:

1. It's a broadly master-apprentice system, where someone who has the knowledge takes an apprentice and teaches them everything they know. But is this realistic in smaller groups?

2. They learn from pre-collapse material, like engineering textbooks and manuals. But these are usually made with the expectation of a full school education in mind, so how useful would they be? Also, you'd need to be able to read.

3. They reverse-engineer existing vehicles. So your warband manages to tear the tires off some unfortunate wastelander's car, you murk them and then take the thing back to your hideout. But there the problem is that it's an endless cycle.

[Assistant]
Mostly 1, there are crews that preserve that knowledge and they pass it onto the younger generation.  Its most realistic in the smaller groups, but the knowledge is very specialized.  They don't know how to fix cars, they know how to fix THAT car.  The knowledge itself become nearly religious in nature.  Given that the vehicles are typically critical to the group's survival, preservation of that knowledge is a survival activity.

Two is also a possibility, but most humans do not know how to read.  Some still do, and those kinds of humans will probably have some manuals about.  Further, in some of the manuals there are enough pictures that some processes can be replicated without a firm grasp of the text.

Three is more scavenging than reverse engineering.  You have two broken cars, the more broken is stripped and now you have one working car.  The cars that they use are also very different than the cars we do.  They are much more similar to cars from the 50's, where there are no significant electronic components.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] The Sith rule of two, could there be multiple sets?

Could there be more than one master and apprentice somewhere in the universe they are just too secretive and don't know about each other?

[Assistant] The point of the rule of two is to guarantee that no Sith master would be defeated by a coalition of weaker foes, thus weakening the Sith as a whole. It is certainly possible that multiple pairs could exist, but this puts both Sith Masters in the awkward position of their apprentices having allies. More than likely the two Masters would kill their apprentices and establish a pair of their own.


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

[User] ELI5: why can quicksilver and scarlet witch be used in marvel movies from two different intellectual property owners, such as x-men and the Avengers?

[Assistant] Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch are mutants, but they have also been a part of The Avengers team pretty much since its beginning. Fox have the rights for the X-men, but Marvel has the rights for The Avengers, and Quicksilver and Scarlett kinda fall in the middle, which gives both companies the right to use them - as long as Fox doesn't mention The Avengers, and Marvel doesn't mention mutants.


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

[User]
CMV:Cyclists should share the pavement with pedestrians rather than go on the road with motorists (unless there is a specific cycle path of course)

There's probably lots of good reasons why cyclists are better off on the road than the pavement, but I can't find any data about whether this is true, it certainly seems as a motorist that cyclists are an inconvenience slowing down long lines of traffic. Considering all the people that are injured as cyclists while pulling out at junctions, when cars or larger vehicles don't see them, it seems less people would be killed or injured by cyclists cycling on the path. I guess there are some higher speed limit roads that have no path though. Sometimes when I'm cycling I just want to go on the path and coast at 3mph, so maybe there could be a 5mph limit although I guess that would defeat the object of cycling for commuting cyclists. It's not the most well considered CMV but this is how I feel at the moment.

[Assistant] Roads are occupied by responsible, predictable adults/adolecents.  You also (legally) have to be sober to drive on the road.  Sidewalks are not this way.  Small children and drunk people *can* legally use the sidewalk, and they won't be as predictable as adults.  Kids can stop, trip and fall, or not look behind them before crossing unpredictably to the other side of the sidewalk.  It's pretty easy to avoid collisions between fellow walkers, and even runners, but cyclists would have a much harder time coming if a toddler jumped in front of them at 10 or 15 mph.  They would likely hit the toddler and/or crash and harm other pedestrians.


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

[User]
[General] Do zombies poop?

We know zombies eat, brains mostly, so they must *need* to eat, on some level right? What happens to the.. uh.. food afterwards?

[Assistant] Well, according to The Zombie Survival Guide and survivor accounts in World War Z, they continue to eat until the meat fills up their insides. Whether it bursts from their gut or their colon is a matter of circumstance.


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

[User] ELI5: The proliferation of credit cards happened before the proliferation of the internet. How did credit cards work before the internet?

[Assistant]
Stores would run a card by using a small machine that made an imprint of the card number on paper and then theyd send those forms to the credit card company for billing.

The credit card company would pay the store and then bill the customer.

But then they started using phones to relay the account number to ensure the credited amount would be authorized.

And then POS terminals got connected to the internet and the system modernized to what we know now.


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

[User] ELI5: Fashion shows. Why are the clothes so goddamned ridiculous and people treat it with such seriousness?

[Assistant]
The Fashion Shows you see with the 'goddamned ridiculous' clothes are not about producing clothes for people to actually wear. They're more like 'concept art' of directions fashion designers would *like* fashion to go in, but don't have any hope of selling. Sometimes designs are thrown in that are intended for celebrities to wear to big events, like awards shows. They are opportunities for designers to show off, stand out, and get noticed, which is the number 1 priority for fashion designers, especially if they are new and not entrenched in the industry.

The Fashion Shows you DON'T see are 'Ready to Wear' fashion shows, which showcase clothes that are prototypes for designs that will actually end up in stores. These don't gain nearly the TV coverage that the 'Concept' fashion shows do because they're a lot more boring. They're a lot more likely to be attended by buyers for chain stores than paparazzi or fashion photographers. These shows are for established designers who already have a market and are not worried about making a name for themselves because they already did that. Think Calvin Klein or Versace (before he died.)

Occasionally you will see one of these well-entrenched types at the 'Goddamn Ridiculous' shows because they have some concepts they want to show off that are not 'Ready to Wear'. When that happens, it's just like an artist having a public showing. They have new ideas and new concepts they want to get out, and hey, if some of it sells, then that's butter on the biscuit.


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

[User]
ELI5: How do power plants know how much electricity to generate?

Are power plants constantly overproducing electricity to be safe? What happens to the excess energy? What happens if there isn't enough energy to supply the grid?

[Assistant]
There are many different kinds of power plants with different performance characteristics, and they're used in combination to ensure that the supply of electricity matches the demand as demand changes throughout the day.

In one group, you have the "base load" power plants. These are typically things like large coal and nuclear plants that produce electricity very cheaply, but need to run at 100% production all the time, and take a long time to turn on or off (on the order of several hours up to several days). These just run at 100% production all the time.

Next you have the "peaking" power plants. These are typically natural gas plants that produce electricity more expensively, but can be turned on and off quite quickly (sometimes within a few minutes). These are used to handle the times of highest demand, and only run for a few hours a day, if that.

Finally, you have "load following" power plants. These are plants that can modulate their output to ensure that the right amount of power is available when it's needed. There are a lot of different kinds of plants that can do this, though sometimes they have to have some modifications from the standard design to allow load following operation. These are used to handle the fluctuations in demand outside of peak hours, when they'll be running at full output and the peaking plants will be used to produce the extra supply necessary.

The grid is constantly monitoring the amount of load currently connected and feeding that information back to the power producers in order to ensure the correct amount of supply is available.  Small fluctuations are handled by the grid itself: the miles and miles of power lines and other infrastructure act as a giant capacitor and can either store up excess energy when there's an oversupply or discharge it if there's an undersupply.  The grid changes frequency slightly when that happens, and the grid operator tries to ensure that those frequency changes balance out so that the average frequency of the power system is consistent over the long term.

If there's so much load that there isn't enough power generation supply available to satisfy it, the grid will disconnect some customers to bring things under control.  The details depend on the specific legal framework and operational systems in place.  In some places, large power consumers like factories or office buildings can agree to be the first ones disconnected in exchange for getting a deal on their power bills.  In other places, the grid operator will impose rolling blackouts via some specific schedule.  There are some other ways to do it as well.


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

[User]
ELI5: What is happening when one commercial is interrupted by/for another?

When I am watching television and it goes to commercial, occasionally and not too infrequently, I will see what is clearly the first five or so seconds of a commercial, and then it will quickly fade out and be replaced with a commercial on a completely different subject. Why is it that these commercials are being interrupted? And why is it so often so rough rather than a smooth interruption/transition?

[Assistant] Those are national or at the least very large area commercials that get cut short. Companies who pay to have their commercials show over all of the regions that a particular cable company caters to sometimes get overwritten by "local" commercials. These spots cost less but won't show up everywhere, just a specific region. It sort of just plays over whatever commercial is on the national broadcast :)


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

[User] [Star Wars] How/where did Palpatine practice his lightsaber skills while in office?

[Assistant] Probably with sparring droids. They may not pose quite the same challenge as a full-fledged Jedi Master, but they'd help keep him from getting rusty during downtime. Alternatively, teaching Maul and Dooku probably gave him plenty of practice.


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

[User]
[Alien Franchise] How different would the human / xenomorph fight be if the whole embryo process was non-fatal?

like, if the chest-burster came out your butt / mouth instead of your rib-cage.

[Assistant] It would go far worse for us. The number of aliens was being limited by the number of hosts. It's one of their main weaknesses. With the ability to produce multiple creatures from a single host, the threat they pose gets even higher.


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

[User]
[Minecraft] Who built all of these abandoned structures around the world?

Desert temples, ocean monuments, abandoned mineshafts, dungeons, jungle temples, nether fortresses, strongholds, end cities, end ships, shipwrecks, woodland mansions, you name it. Who built all these amazing works of architecture now inhabited by nothing but monsters? There don't seem to be any sentient beings except the villagers and pillagers, and they mostly stay confined to their villages. Is there some lost civilization that just disappeared?

[Assistant]
As the cannon Minecraft series showed, the denizens of the world have age cycles and procreation. Also it shows that the monsters are a great threat to them, which means there are probably nomadic civilizations that go from place to place quickly building structures, and civilizations that tried to make a city or stronghold to farm and protect, but eventually due to a mistake like a random fire or creeper explosion, have their strongholds overrun forcing them to flee and build a new one.

So basically all the abandoned ruins are probably just fallen strongholds from civilizations long past.


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

[User]
ELI5: What is actually happening in your brain when you suddenly remember something?

Earlier today I couldn't remember where I'd left my sunglasses, I wandered round a bit then suddenly remembered where they were. What was happening in my brain? How can information be missing and then suddenly pop into my head? Thanks.

[Assistant]
There is a common misperception that memories are stored like books in a library where you can grab a memory and flip to the correct page. If that were so, why do most people need to sing the alphabet song when asked, "What is 3 letters before M in the alphabet?" instead of immediately replying "J"?

Our memories are actually stored like strings. We have to access them from one end to read through the contents in order. These strings are found through certain triggers. In case of the question above, our memory of the order of the alphabet is triggered by the song we sing in our head (or out loud). Scents, sounds, tastes, and other senses can be triggers for our memories.

When you are looking for the memory of your sunglasses' location, you are literally grasping at the straws of your memories. Moving around can help trigger you to grab on to the correct string.


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

[User] ELI5: If you were in a space ship traveling at the speed of light (or extremely close to it) could you walk or even move in the direction of the space ship's motion?

[Assistant]
Yes. From your perspective, it would appear to work normally.

Let's say light speed was 60 mph just to make it simpler.
Say you also have Alice standing still outside the ship watching it go (with a telescope, so she can still see it when it's really far away), and Bob standing still inside the ship.

Alice sees your ship going at 59 mph. You walk forward. From Bob's perspective you're going forwards at 3 mph. Nothing weird. You keep walking for an hour and go 3 miles (it's a big ship!).

From Alice's perspective, you're going forwards at 0.3 mph\* inside the ship. You keep walking for 10 hours and go 3 miles. From what Alice can tell, your time is going slower - this applies not just to walking, but also the clocks inside your ship, your ship's computer, everything in the ship. This is time dilation.

\* Not a calculation, but a made up number in the right range.


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

[User]
ELI5: What is a memory leak?

I've always wondered what a memory leak is - often when software is updated I see fixes on memory leaks.

[Assistant]
Think of memory like books in a library.  The librarian lends them out, and expects patrons to return them in a timely fashion.

If patrons don't return them, then those posts are unavailable to everyone else.  And if patrons get in the habit of borrowing lots of books and never returning them, the library will soon run out.

That's pretty much what memory leak is, a program asks the operating system for memory, then forgets to let the OS know when it is finished with it.  If that request for memory is inside a loop that runs several times each second, the program can wind up using much more memory than it requires, the OS will eventually run out of memory to give.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do sometimes soft blankets feel warm and sheets feel cold in the same condition?

[Assistant]
Think of it this way, a blanket doesn't make you warm. It stops the heat from leaving.

Your body warms the air around you. A fuzzy or fluffy blanket is harder for the air to escape than a sheet, so there's more time for your body to heat it up, and it takes longer for it to float away, so you have warmer air around your body.

This is the opposite of what a fan does. A fan doesn't make the air cooler, it just blows away the warm air that's around you.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is canned soda always so much colder than bottled soda, despite them being in the refrigerator just as long, or long enough to where they should be just as cold?

[Assistant]
When you touch something and it feels cold, that's because heat is leaving your body and flowing into the cold object. This is called thermal conduction, and different materials conduct heat at different rates. This is measured in Watts per meter Kelvin, and **the higher this number is, the faster a material conducts heat**.

Glass has a thermal conductivity coefficient around **0.8 W/mK**. Aluminum's is around **239 W/mK**. That's a big difference! If you measure the temperature of both liquids right out of the fridge, they will be the same temperature. But the one in metal feels colder in your hand because it is taking heat from you faster than the one in the glass bottle. This means that the drink in the glass bottle will actually stay colder for a longer period of time, since it will take longer for the liquid to absorb the same amount of heat.

Fun fact: this is also why the benches in saunas are made of wood, not metal. Wood doesnt conduct heat quickly enough to be uncomfortable or to burn your skin in the kinds of temperatures a sauna creates, but metal can.


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

[User] ELI5: What is Google fiber and why isn't it in many places?

[Assistant]
It's Internet (and TV, but not phone) service provided in a few cities so far. It's provided over fiber optic cable, which allows very high speeds. Other providers use fiber optic cables too, but they are either not used all the way to the end user's home (e.g. using coax copper cable there), or they simply set the speed lower than technically necessary. All that user data has to go to / come from somewhere, so it's more expensive to allow full speed.

It's not in many places because it's very expensive to install fiber to every home and business in an area. The fiber itself is much less expensive than the installation - planning, digging, permits, etc. Think about how much it would cost to dig up the street near a single family house, then branching off and installing a cable into the house. Then multiply that by the number of homes in the neighborhood or city.


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

[User]
[General] ELI5 the history and cosmology of your favorite fictional universe?

Are there Gods in your universe? are there beings who might as well be gods?

are there extra dimensions or parallel universes? do they play significant roles in the histories of this universe?

does time travel effect it in any significant way? is it circular? cyclical? linear and constantly changing?

Are there forces in this universe beyond those described by our ideas of physics?

Who are the great races in this universe? when did they live and what sorts of power have they had? who were the great individuals and what did that achieve?

What sort of technology is at work? what sort of societies evolved?

[Assistant]
I personally love the Fallout Universe. A ultra advanced to 1950s style America that destroyed the world in atomic fire. While keeping many old religions (Christians, Mormons, and apparently Lovecraftian horrors) you also see the Church of Atom. A religion that took the atomic blast and turned it into a universe creating event. The Brotherhood of Steel, a cult devoted to the very technology that shattered the world. The Followers of the Apocalypse are a peaceful group favoring humanitarian aid over preaching. And through all this, each one has a nugget of legitimacy. From dark forces altering minds to go mad to borderline miracles being achieved almost every decade.

A world shattered, but a world filled with men and women finding faith in even the darkest places.


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

[User] [LOTR] What are the Dead Marshes? Why do they exist?

[Assistant] They're a swamp, nothing more. Over the years several battles were fought on or near them, and the slain either fell into the swamp or were buried nearby and drawn into the mire as the marshes expanded. The bodies, preserved by the peat, can still be seen beneath the water. Will-o-the-wisp tends to form near the bodies, tempting travelers to accidentally drown and become one more body in the muck.


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

[User]
How can something be unnatural when everything comes from the nature itself?

Blow my mind.

[Assistant]
I think the term *unnatural* is a description of something that would not occur in nature if it were not from human intervention.

I understand that we (humans) are also natural and perhaps you could argue that technology is just a *natural* process in our evolution therefore nothing is unnatural. However, we tend to think of ourselves as above nature for the purpose of the word 'unnatural'.

The reason we think ourselves above nature may be because we are so much more consciously evolved from every other animal.

With that said, plastic is unlikely to occur in nature, so it would be a man-made, unnatural thing.


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

[User]
[Batman] How does Joker keep finding a new abandoned amusement park to hide in?

Surely Batman has them all under surveillance by now, right? And for that matter, why exactly does Gotham have more than one or two in the first place?

[Assistant]
Due to a feud between two eccentric entrepreneurs (or rather, three: Carlo Geroldy and the Solomon Brothers), Gotham experienced a big boom in various amusement attractions, all of which eventually went under during a recession.

That explains where they came from; as for who's getting them to Joker, Gotham villains rely on Sherman "The Broker" Fine to locate properties that can be converted into suitable villain lairs.


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

[User]
[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer] Why doesn't Santa Claus have more Reindeer?

Santa says to Rudolph, "Without your father, I'll never be able to get my sleigh off the ground". Does he not have any derivative reindeer? If not, why not?

[Assistant] He did. Rudolph's mother for example. However, the 8 he uses are the best of the best. None of the other reindeer can match what they can do. If he looses one of those, it might take 3 or 4 of the others to match what the one he lost can do.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Why does Qui-Gon tell Queen Amidala in Episode I that the Jedi can only protect her, not fight a war for her but in Episodes II, III and in the Clone Wars show theyre seen leading a war against the separatists?

Also doesnt Windu say at some point theyre keepers of the peace, not soldiers yet he, Obi-Wan and others get the rank of General?

[Assistant]
Thats the entire point of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith (better explained/outlined in the Clone Wars series). The Jedi lost their way. They were consumed with war and to bring back peace at any cost and it destroys them in the end; allows the Sith to outsmart them and nearly erratic them.

I think Qui-Gon meant that literally. There are not enough Jedi to be an army and to fight a war without the Clones. Obviously no one knew about the clone army in The Phantom Menace.


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

[User]
[MCU] Were there any people who blamed the Avengers for the Snap ?

In Endgame and Wandavision we see some people casually talking about Thanos, so that means that the Avengers were clearly upfront about what had happened. So was there not one person who blamed the Avengers for not stopping him ?

[Assistant] Law of averages says there was at least one, and likely quite a few.  But at that point, everyone was in damage control mode and by the time anybody had space to breathe, it likely wasn't really a hill worth dying on.


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

[User]
Why do scientists say TrES-4, the largest discovered exoplanet, should 'theoretically not exist'?

I understand it is partially because the planet is so big of course, but I would like a more in depth answer, I couldn't find any.

[Assistant] It's much larger than jupiter, but much less massive. This is somewhat paradoxical. Jupiter itself is a gas giant, with a good portion of the planet being clouds of gas. For an even larger planet to be even less dense doesn't make much sense to scientists, as all the gravity of the planet should pull in the gasses to form a more dense ball. Since the gravitational constant doesn't vary throughout the universe, a planet of a specific mass really only has a certain range of sizes that make sense, and this planet falls outside that range.


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

[User]
[Kayfabe] Why is it that when a wrestler becomes a special referee they suddenly gain the durability of one?

I mean they get beat up all the time and can keep going. But once they put on the uniform they turn into a stack of cards.
What gives?

[Assistant] When they're reffing, they haven't gone through pre-match preparation, and they're not expecting to be assaulted. So if it actually happens, it comes as a shock they weren't set up to absorb, so it has a greater effect on them.


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

[User]
[dragon ball] why didn't kaioshin ask beerus for help?

I know that Beerus didn't exist at the time, but within the universe. Why didn't kaioshin tell Beerus about Majin Buu instead of Goku and Gohan? he could have contacted whis, to wake him up saying that this was an emergency.

[Assistant]
Because he's the God of Destruction. It's entirely possible that Beerus would have deleted the Kais for waking him up, then left Buu alone. You don't try to aim a God of Destruction. Goku is the only person who has ever successfully done so, as far as we know.

Also, remember that Shin's actual plan was to stop Buu from waking up in the first place. Which would have actually been successful, had Vegeta not used the opportunity to settle a score.


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

[User] ELI5: How did Mexico defeat France when they were clearly outnumbered?

[Assistant] At the battle of Puebla?  The French weren't ready for a fight, and the Mexicans were.  They had made much better defensive preparations than the French forces expected, so the French attacked expecting an easy victory and weren't able to react when they met stiff resistance.


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

[User] ELI5: Why are DJ's treated like artists, with a stage name and everything, and their own 'shows' people get tickets to, when they just play other people's copyrighted music?

[Assistant]
"Art" is a form of expression.

Imagine that 100 people are going to be showing up to your house in an hour. How will you entertain them? Playing music is a good option. Do you have the right music to play? Would you just turn on the radio? Go to Pandora?

Radios have commercials. Songs don't always compliment one another.

But let's say you don't want to risk having your party fail due to poor music selection... so you spend some time listening to songs, figuring out which ones compliment one another, which flow together, which ones get the crowd pumped and excited, and which ones give them a short breather so they can get ready for the next song.

But crap... that takes a lot of effort. Sure, pressing "play" on a machine may end up with a similar result... but you don't want to use a machine for this. You want to learn the fine-motor skills and muscle memory required to fluidly operate your music gear covered in buttons and switches. Like an audible chef, you craft a meal of sounds and rhythms for the crowds' ears... you manage to completely hide and obscure the pattern of song selection from the crowd to the point that the entire experience feels like one long ride of enjoyment. All those songs made by all those other artists might as well be different brands of paint being combined onto the DJ's percussive canvas.

So, to answer your question, the reason that people pay to see these shows is because these DJs provide a service that **not everyone** can do. And, sure, while the entry barriers to becoming a "Dj" are not very high, some Djs are simply better than others and can provide better experiences than their competitors.... so much so that fan bases develop and seek out opportunities to exchange their money (which plays no music) for temporary exposure to auditory stimuli that is otherwise unavailable.

At the end of the day, an experienced, talented DJ (just like any musician) can combine layers of sound in a way that taps them directly into the minds of their audience. That's pretty neat.

Imagine yourself on stage with some tables, wires, and buttons. Before you is a crowd of thousands. They are there because you have created something that meant something to them. You are there because you are an artist.


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

[User]
What are the implications for Einstein's theory of general relativity for Kant's metaphysics?

Kant argued that space and time were a priori fields that our mind uses to give structure to our perceptions. Einstein then showed that space and time are relative, as well as part of the same field called "space-time". Are there any philosophers or physicists who thought about how these two very fundamental ideas of space and time relate to each other?

Do they contradict each other? Do they complement each other? Do they together lead to an entirely new insight?

[Assistant]
In the transcendental aesthetic Kant argues for the transcendental ideality of space as the form of outer sense and for the transcendental role of this pure intuition as the condition for the a priori syntheses involved in geometry. And then this sets up a larger argument extending through the transcendental analytic, according to which geometry is then a pure science of the relations holding between spatial things, so that we can know apodictically that physical things must be adequate to geometrical description, and this thereby furnishes us with an epistemology justifying one of the methodological peculiarities of modern physics.

The way these issues develop in the critical response developed from Helmholtz through Mach to logical positivism is that philosophers will increasingly distinguish different senses of space: intuitive space, as the space of our imagination and visual perception; formal space, as the space constructable in geometry; and physical space, as the space of physical relations.

The challenge is that these senses seem to be collapsed, or at least intrinsically connected, on Kant's view. As, on Kant's view, it seems that intuitive space provides the conditions for formal space and these two jointly provide the conditions for physical space, such that if intuitive space is Euclidean, then so must formal and physical space be.

Whereas, on the critical reception, these three senses of space become more independent. I.e., on this later view, it could be that intuitive space is Euclidean, but that doesn't mean formal space has to be, and indeed it seems that mathematicians can construct a variety of formal spaces, including both Euclidean and non-Euclidean. And since this freedom of mathematicians permits us to think of these different spaces, there is likewise a freedom in physics to choose which of them is adequate to the demands of physical theory, as happens in the choice of non-Euclidean geometry for space as constructed in general relativity.

Underpinning this move is the rejection of Kant's dual-source model of knowledge which categorically distinguished between intuition and understanding as joint bases of cognition, and which manifests in the distinction in Kant's epistemology between the transcendental aesthetic and transcendental analytic. On Kant's view, this mooring of understanding to intuition, as joint factors, restricts the capacity of the understanding to posit mathematical structures to those which can be exhibited in intuition. Conversely, on the later view when the understanding has been unmoored from a supposedly distinct doctrine of intuition, it is free to construct whatever mathematical structures can be grounded on merely the principles of conceptual construction as such.

And then the experimental challenge would be: if it turns out that scientific findings demand this later approach, then this would provide us with a prima facie reason to prefer it over Kant's.


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

[User] ELI5: If CPU speed is improving, why have clock speeds not increased all that much in years?

[Assistant]
Rephrasing the question, "if clock speeds have not increased all that much in years, how is CPU speed improving?"

Imagine you own a warehouse that ships koalas from New York to Philadelphia.  These are the finest koalas and absolutely MUST be delivered as quickly as possible.  You buy a truck and send it to make your koala delivery.

Over time, you want your deliveries to get there faster, so you switch to a much faster truck.  This happens every year, until you run into a big problem.  Your truck is getting speeding tickets!  This means the driver has to pull over to the side of the road and he ends up losing time while he receives his ticket.

The solution?  MORE TRUCKS!  Now you've got 4 trucks carrying your precious koalas instead of 1.  They can't go any faster than the speed limit or they'll get pulled over, but you can ship way more koalas this way.

The trucks are processor cores.  Eventually, you run into the speed limit (heat).  Go over the speed limit, and you get pulled over (overheat).  When you switch to 4 trucks (cores), they're not individually faster, but can carry WAY more koalas in the same span of time you used to by only using 1.


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

[User]
Why is it so easy to heat a room but at the same time very difficult to cool it?

To clarify: I know we've AC units but those are much more expensive than a heater and at the same time consume much more electricity. Also the process is much more complicated. For heating things, we've a bunch of tools and processes, the easiest, nowadays, would be to use a wire and apply apply a current to it. Boom, heat.

And everytime we cool something, we've a heat 'output' as well. Heating is so 'easy' for us, that we managed to heat up an entire planet and we didn't even try to do that.

I know that 'cooling' something means drawing energy away from it, which in turn means it should be possible to cool something and get electric or kinetic energy instead of heat out of it.

 Am I missing something? Why is, apparently, nobody doing that?

[Assistant] It's mainly because of the second law of thermodynamics. In an isolated system, say for example a room. Any energy you put in will follow entropy and disperse until it reaches a balance. But to cool something down you need to create an imbalance, witch is directly fighting entropy and therefore requires more energy.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do I feel worse after sleeping for a little bit (say 3 hours) as opposed to pulling an all-nighter?

[Assistant]
This may be due to something called "sleep inertia". It occurs when you're awoken from deep sleep or when you're sleep is interrupted during your normal sleep cycle.

It is worse when you are sleep deprived and have sleep debt.

Science doesn't exactly know why sleep inertia occurs.

Even though you feel worse after sleeping for only 3 hours, you will be able to stay up longer than if you hadn't slept at all.


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

[User] What social and economic changes made fast food companies (like McDonalds, Whataburger and Burger King) so successful?

[Assistant]
A good place to start is the *McDonalization of Society* by George Ritzer. Currently in its 8th edition. The four main findings are predictability, calculability, efficiency, and control.

Whilst the book has McDonald's in the title, it not really about it, but applying these aspects to other businesses and society at large.


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

[User]
Why did the lightest elements in the dust cloud (H, He) form the sun when the heavier ones, Fe etc, would be more affected by gravity?

Just a science question my physics teacher couldn't answer, and after thinking deeply, taking note that there is little to no air resistance and so the only factor determining the force of gravity is weight, I wondered why on earth would the H and He condense into a ball and not the Fe and heavier elements?
(at the birth of our solar system, from the remnants of the past supernova/nebula)

[Assistant] Iron and other elements have fallen into the sun as well. It's just that when the sun ~~ignited~~ warmed up it blew away the remaining lighter gasses in the (inner) solar system, leaving just the heavier dust and junk that would form the planets.


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

[User]
ELI5: How can Animal Keepers get really close to animals like Tigers or Lions and not be killed?

I've always thought that large cats like Tigers and Lions were almost always hostile, yet you sometimes see gifs of animal keepers basically hugging those types of large cats. How is this possible?

[Assistant] Most animals don't know whether or not they can kill a human, so they won't try unless in a desperate situation. Also, trainers usually imprint on animals at a young age so that they feel comfortable around the trainer, basically like adopting them.


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

[User] [Marvel/X-Men] This thing called the Phoenix Force showed up and wants me as a 'host', seems interesting enough but what are the benefits and drawbacks to doing this?

[Assistant]
The X-men will show up to to kill you. Recently the Avengers also got in on the action. Shiar will also want a piece.

The Force will also control your autonomy and use you like a puppet. There are not a lot of benefits.

How famous are you? You might not survive unless you are on a a list team.


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

[User]
[LOTR] Why did Aragorn, who was only very distantly related to the former kings of Gondor have a better claim over Gonder than the Stewards who had ruled the country pretty well for like 25 generations?

Doesn't ruling Gondor for such a long time give the stewards some legitimacy? Besides I'm pretty sure the lines of Gondor and Arnor split over 3000 years prior to the beginning of the events of the book. Even taking into account the Numenorean longevity, they're still pretty distant aren't they?

On a side note: why didn't the Dudenain go claim Gondor immediately when the Witch King trashed Arnor, instead of choosing to wait for so long before making their move?

[Assistant]
Back when they were two realms under one king, it became something of a tradition that the High King directly rule Arnor and appoint a relative to manage Gondor. Elendil did it with his son Isildur and Isildur did it with his nephew Meneldil, as Isildur's brother, Anarion, was dead and his own sons were too young.

When Isildur died, his son Valandil became King of Arnor, but did not claim the title (either in name or in practice) of High King of Arnor and Gondor and Meneldil continued to rule Gondor. When Meneldil died, rulership of Gondor passed to his son Cemendur without contest from Valandil. This essentially broke the kingdoms in two, with the line of Isildur ruling over Arnor and the line of Anarion ruling over Gondor.

There was an attempt to repair this break after the death of Ondoher (king of Gondor) and all of his sons. Arvedui (from Isildur's line) attempted to restore the position of High King. His arguments were:

1. He was a direct descendent of Isildur and the position of High King was never formally abolished.
2. His wife was Ondoher's daughter and therefore she was heir to Gondor anyway.

The Steward and Council of Gondor rejected the claim and gave the crown to Earnil, another descendent of Anarion. This basically was a formal rejection of any claim of the line of Isildur to the crown of Gondor. There was little Arvedui could do, as his own kingdom (now the kingdom of Arthedain, a fractionof Arnor) was dwindling (he would indeed be the last King before the creation of the Dunedain).

This strictness, however, would backfire when King Eanur would die, the last living descendent of Anarion. With no other heirs, the Stewards could hardly claim the throne after thousands of years of saying that only descendants of Anarion could do so.

So the Dunedain attempting to claim the throne and reunite the Kingdoms would be tricky, given this history. The reason why it was Aragorn was basically because every thing happened right for him:

1. The ruling Steward, Denathor died, and his "heir", Faramir was in a coma.
2. He fulfilled a prophecy only the heir of Isildur could fulfill.
3. He was pivotal in helping prevent Gondor from being overwhelmed by the enemy.
4. He displayed healing prowess associated with Kings in Gondorian culture.

Even then, he basically waited for them to choose him, rather than assert any claim. He allowed Gondor to be ruled by a noble council until settling the small matter with Sauron.

So basically he proved himself militarily, politically, and socially, and anyone that might oppose his crowning was dead, leaving only people whom he personally lead to victory or saved the life of.


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

[User]
what is the process for writing data on a cd and how do dvd players read the data?

'Computing' Sorry im 13 and my English is patchy at times. Thank you in advanced :)

[Assistant]
A CD has microscopic tracks consisting of tiny holes and flat areas. When the right kind of laser light is shined on a flat area, it is reflected back, but when it shines on one of the holes, it is not. A CD player works by shining a laser on the CD and keeping track of when the light is reflected back and when it isn't. It rotates the CD in order to follow the entire track and the laser can move inward or outward in order to follow tracks on different parts of the disc.

From the stream of holes and flat areas measured by the CD player, it can reconstruct the original data, be it music, a movie or computer files. DVDs work in essentially the same way, but the tracks are much closer together and the holes and flat areas are smaller, which allows for more information to be stored on a DVD.

Writing data to a CD is done primarily in two different ways. First, there's the industrial production, where CDs are created in large quantities. This starts by creating a master disc, which is done by taking a more powerful laser and using it on an empty CD, burning holes in the CD where needed. Once the master disc has been created in this way, it can be copied by using the master disc as a sort of mold.

Creating a CD at home works a bit differently. For home use, you have to buy special recordable CDs, often called CD-Rs. A CD-R has a layer of transparent dye between the protective plastic and the reflective surface. When the dye is exposed to a powerful laser, it will burn. The burned dye is no longer transparent, which means that it will no longer let light through to the reflective layer to be reflected back.

A CD recorder has a more powerful laser than a CD player and it uses it to burn the dye in places where a normal CD would have a hole instead of a flat area. In these places, the laser light from the CD player is not reflected. In other places, where the dye is not burned, it lets the light through after which it is reflected back.


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

[User]
[Pokemon]Some Pokemon show an intelligence comprable to humans. They have no legal rights? Would it be legal for me to staff a garment sweatshop with nothing but Pokemon, not pay them and never give them breaks? And also throw any that complain into a meat grinder and then feed them to the rest

I would imagine this sort of thing has to be pretty widespread. Is this how garments are made in the Pokemon Universe?  What other Industries are predominantly staffed by enslaved Pokemon?

[Assistant] I feel like everyone who ask these kinds of questions is either forgetting or ignoring the fact that even the smallest, most unassuming of these creatures can shoot laser beams. They aren't doing anything they don't want to.


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

[User]
[ELI5] Despite the obvious budget differences, why do some tv shows look so much cheaper than movies?

Like, from a cinematography standpoint? If you have shitty actors, shitty costume design, a shitty story or shitty dialogue, thats one thing, but why do some tv shows seem like they are just filmed so poorly, with no depth to the images, and a very...I dont know, non-cinematic look?

So many times I try to get into a tv show and I just cant because the filming style makes it look so, so fake. More like Im watching a play than an edited and polished piece of video entertainment. I notice this most often with sci-fi or horror tv shows.

Is it really just a matter of not having a high enough budget to pay for highly skilled camera operators and editors? Is it just inexperienced filmmaking on the directors part?

[Assistant]
Backlighting of actors is a major factor and it doesn't happen on shows with larger sets, or shows that are recorded on film often. Another thing that happens a lot is that the sets are evenly lit so they can film multiple angles at once. This is for speed of filming, but it also makes everything look bland.

Basically, tv, and especially low budget tv, is on a smaller budget and tight deadlines, so they don't move the lights around between takes or camera angles, at least, when possible. This makes everything look bland and cheap.


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

[User] [Back to the Future] How did Doc Brown construct a time-train with only the technology and resources of the 19th century?

[Assistant] He also had a hoverboard from 2015, a walkie-talkie from 1985A, knowledge of future technology nobody else at the time had, and at least a decade to work on all of those things. He's also a genius to start with.


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

[User] ELI5: How did bed bugs survive before modern beds?

[Assistant]
You must understand "bed bug" is just a common term not the scientific. Bed Bugs are a louse that feast on people while they sleep. Humans have used bedding for generations, things as simple a stack of hay. The bugs simply find places to hide, and come out at night to drink your blood while you sleep.

Extending on that further when you have bed bugs they aren't just in your bed. They get in your clothes, in the carpet, in the furniture. They find any place they can to hide. Your entire home needs to be sprayed and it takes several treatments. They are invasive and elusive.

tldr bed bugs is just a "cute" name, they infest other places and hide in other places than just beds.


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

[User]
How do you look at cheating on ones partner sociologically?

I've asked this before but it got deleted. Basically when someone cheats on their partner is there a way to look at it through the sociological lens? Instead of the usual "wow what an asshole/bitch"?

[Assistant] You could research what factors are associated with higher or lower rates of extra marital affairs across communities.  Gender equality in relationships, sex ratios, and religiosity for example, might be associated with different rates. A quick search on Google scholar pops up a lot of such studies.


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

[User]
ELI5: can sperm/eggs be cancerous?

was randomly thinking about how I was warned so heavily in school about cancer in the testicles. I was wondering, since my understanding of sperm is basically their a cell with half your DNA in it, could a sperm cell have cancer, and do we know what would theoretically happen to a fetus (or baby assuming it lives somehow) if that sperm was the one to get inside the egg. I think it would probably be the same result but just in case it's not, could the same happen to an egg?

sorry if this isn't appropriate for ELI5 but it seemed like the right place to ask.

[Assistant] No. Cancer is by definition abnormal cell growth. Since sperm and eggs can't divide on their own, they can't be cancerous. It's possible to have germ cell cancers (germ cells are the cells that produce sperm and eggs) but it's impossible for a gamete to be cancerous itself. A zygote, however (the fertilized combination of an egg an sperm cell) can grow abnormally, and be cancer-like, although this will never produce a viable pregnancy.