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

[User] ELI5 - How can astronomers determine what a planet/moon is made of, just from a few pictures of it?

[Assistant]
Spectroscopy.

Notice how different things are different colors?

This is because different chemicals absorb, emit, and reflect light differently.

Not only do we know how *nearly every* chemical absorption/emission spectrum (what light they absorb, emit, and reflect). We can predict it via quantum electrodynamics (Quantum Mechanics) for chemicals we haven't gotten around to inventing and testing yet.

To go a step further this emission spectrum changes based on temperature the chemical is at. So knowing all of this a powerful computer (or a powerful computer in the 70's/80's... your smart phone is sufficient today) can decompose the spectrum and find a planet/star's temperature + chemical composition.


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

[User] ELI5: Why can't we artificially inseminate endangered species like pandas and rhinos in order to raise their numbers?

[Assistant]
Increasing their numbers doesn't solve any problems. They're being wiped out in the wild, through habitat destruction, poaching, etc. Having 'more to die' doesn't fix the 'to die' part.

Additionally, artificial insemination isn't a surefire mechanism, and once your population is low enough you run into problems with a lack of genetic diversity that you can't overcome with more of the same genes.


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

[User] ELI5: Where are all these resources coming from to build cars and electronics and medical equipment? Are we running out? Are we seriously going to start mining other planets and asteroids for resources?

[Assistant] We're digging up the resources from underground.  We probably won't run out out of most things for a long time.  Some of the things we use could be recycled better.  Sometimes we don't recycle things because it's cheaper to dug up new stuff than try to recycle old stuff.  If we started running out of stuff to dig up, recycling would start to look better.  We'd probably recycle enough to not need to mine other planets or asteroids, but it's not inconceivable.  We might be running out of oil that's easy to reach.  We use oil to make plastics.  If we run out we'll have to make plastics a different way, figure out how to recycle plastic better, or use alternative materials.  It's unlikely that there is oil off earth, because oil is probably a  product of biological processes.


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

[User] Heart monitors measure heartrate, is there a heart strength as well? Is there an advantage to faster weaker beats or slower stronger beats?

[Assistant] Heart strength is a measure of muscle contractility and can be measured by either cardiac output (heart rate times the amount of blood that is pushed out with each contraction), or ejection fraction (the percent of blood in the left ventricle that is pushed out with each contraction). This is most significant when someone has heart failure because it can tell you both what type of heart failure, and to what degree. Typically fast and weak beats are not good because it means that blood wont flow well, this is common is certain arrhythmias. Slower (60-100 beats per minute) and stronger beats are usually better. Others may be able to add more, but hopefully this is a good starting point to your question.


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

[User]
The Oh-My-God particle was calculated to be travelling at 99.999999999999999999999510% of the speed of light. Is there a point where that percentage of c is so great that it becomes indistinguishable from the actual speed of light?

Just to clarify, I'm wondering if one of the Planck units could be exceeded(?) at some percentage of c.

Edit: Let's take something like length contraction: would at some percentage an object appear shorter than its Planck length? Is that even a problem to the universe?

[Assistant] No, because we don't measure the speed of these particles directly.  The velocity is calculated from a measurement of the particle's energy.  There will always be experimental error, of course, but you could never mistake it for a particle traveling at c because such a particle would have *infinite* energy.


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

[User]
[Elder Scrolls] Why has Tamriel's technology barely advanced through the centuries?

Nirn's (or at least Tamriel's) technology has barely advanced through the centuries.  For instance, technologies in Skyrim are pretty much the same as they were back in Oblivion and Morrowind, which took place hundreds of years before.  Compared to Earth technological advancement, Tamriel's is FAR behind; there are no signs of muskets, explosives, and the only signs of steam-based things are in the Dwarven ruins.

Why is this?  Speaking of the Dwarven ruins, you would think that with the amount of Dwarven ruins throughout some parts of Tamriel, that its people would have begun to reverse-engineer some of it by now.

[Assistant] Thanks to the widespread availability of magic, things that pushed the need for greater technology in our world haven't quite been acted upon in theirs. While you may think they have stagnated in technological advancement, you must think about the dates involved. It's only like a 400 year gap between Morrowind and Skyrim, IIRC. That could be like the difference between 800 and 1200 AD on earth: which isn't much.


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

[User]
ELI5: What's happening when someone breaks their neck and dies instantly?

Sometimes I hear about a broken neck causing someone to be paralyzed. But many times I see (in movies and TV, admittedly) some badass Jack Bauer type character kill a dude by breaking his neck. And I've heard stories about car accident victims dying instantly because of a broken neck. Why is that?

[Assistant] Generally the issue comes from severing of the spinal cord. If it is cut above the C3-C4 area, you will lose the ability to breath. This, combined with the loss of motor function to the rest of the bod, causes paralysis and relatively quick death. Not that the person probably won't die of asphyxiation instantly, but since they will be paralyzed you won't know the difference from a distance. Depending on the severity of the broken neck, you can also have issues with obstruction of blood supply to the brain.


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

[User]
Why do old recordings have so much static/hissing/background noise to them?

Whenever you listen to old recordings (before 1960ish) you hear a persistent background noise that's quite loud. I think all recordings, even today, have some, but not nearly the same amount as they used to.

[Assistant]
It's pretty much because technology has gotten better. For very old recordings (those that were made to wax cylinders or cut directly into records) there's the inherent hiss of dust and just the sound of the material being dragged past the needle.

As technology advanced, and electronics were first introduced, there was still the inherent noise that comes from the amplifier tubes.

The first real move towards electronic noise reduction, though was through filtering and equalization curves. When making the recording, the sound going into it would go through an equalizer that would increase the energy at frequencies towards the center of human hearing, and de-emphasize those towards the edges. The player would then do the reverse, flattening out the response curve again. This was actually one of the early functions of the RIAA, to standardize this equalization curve. It's still present in record players to this day.

Since the 1960s, though, technology improved rapidly. Using larger tape (more signal), running the tape faster (again more tape), better quality electronics, the switch to transistors, all reduced the noise in the recordings.

With the advent of digital recording, starting in the 80s, noise in the original recordings became pretty much moot. With the switch to full digital mastering, it's even less now.


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

[User]
ELI5: What is nostalgia, how does it work, and why do I feel it?

I was recently watching Avatar: The Last Airbender on a whim, and ended up doing a marathon over a couple weeks watching the whole thing. I watched the show all the time as a kid, and loved every second of it. These days, I don't really find much enjoyment out of watching it, since it's aimed towards kids. I did, however, feel a lot of nostalgia, even finding myself crying for just about no reason while watching the show. It got me thinking... why am I even nostalgic for this show? I don't have any memories of it that stick out, and my childhood wasn't abnormal in any way. Everything I've searched on the subject is either too vague or confusing, and so I ask you to explain this like I'm five. What IS nostalgia, how exactly does it work, and why am I feeling it?

[Assistant]
*nostalgia* is the happysad feels you get when something in the present remembers you of something in the past.

it works with memory. your brain has little boxes full of memories. each box has a time and a date on it. you cannot see inside the boxes but your brain can.

sometimes what you can see or hear or touch or smell or taste reminds your brain of something that you saw or heard or touched or smelled or tasted in the past. then your brain will go to that memory box and open it and stick its tongue inside to make sure it's just right and then it will drink the contents of the box and then it will vomit those memories all over your face. then you feel happysad.

you feel it because Never Forget.


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

[User] Are callouses made of living tissue?

[Assistant]
Most of the skin on the outside of your body is made up of many generations of dead skin cells that have flattened and bonded together to make a thick disposable surface.

Callouses are just thicker parts of dead skin cells that make up your epidermis.


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

[User]
[ELI5] The shoes used by curlers.

Of course I have been watching curling on the Olympics. The players' seem to have shoes that allow for some grip control yet they also slide extremely fast along the ice when they want to.

[Assistant]
Curler here.

The soles of the two shoes are different. One is a rubber-soled "gripper" with heavy tread, and the other is a plastic "slider" with no tread. Depending on whether you want to stop or slide, you use one foot or the other. There is no regulation about which shoe is which, or even that you must wear particular shoes.


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

[User]
[Matrix] What would have happened if the Agents won any of the fights they lost in the movies?

So Smith captures Morpheus. Let's say that Morpheus cannot resist the truth serums and whatnot and spurts out the code (ie. "123").

So Zion is destroyed, right? The One, which is necessary to facilitate the rebooting of the Matrix and rebuilding of Zion would be messed up as Neo wouldn't survive much longer. That would mess up the Architect's plans to have the One make the choice between two doors.

Another example is the Agent wanting to "delete" the Keymaker (which would be a problem for Neo completing his purpose).

Were the Agents programmed to not meet their objectives? Were they even aware of the fact that this is the sixth Matrix?

[Assistant] If the agents had succeeded in their attempts to break Morpheus then the Architect would know that Neo is not The One but merely another failed candidate. Smith makes reference to an earlier version of the matrix ("a paradise") so they have some knowledge of the big picture. (Unless Smith had privileged knowledge, which is possible as he seemed to be a leader and asked the other agents to leave the room before really hammering Morpheus).


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

[User] How does synthetic food flavoring work? How is it that ,for example, pizza flavored chips sort of taste like actual pizza?

[Assistant]
Chemists determine what molecules are responsible for what our bodies recognize as "pizza" or "grape" or whatever flavor they want to duplicate, then either isolate these compounds from natural sources (for natural flavors) or synthesize them from other compounds (for artificial flavors). Often what we think of as "pizza" or "grape" is more than one compound that is mixed together. However, some flavors are very recognizable from one compound (e.g. "grape soda" flavor is methyl anthranilate).

There are lots of laws that govern what kinds of compounds can be used, and what they must be labeled as (natural flavors, natural with other natural flavors, artificial, etc.) that vary from country to country.

Flavor chemistry is as much an art as a science, and flavor companies pay lots for people that are able to blend compounds in the right proportions to duplicate the flavors we taste in nature. A flavor chemist would be an interesting AMA.


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

[User]
Are there any non-detrimental effects resulting from climate change?

I recently read that due to climate change, certain plants will start growing again in areas that could not have grown for thousands of years. Are there any other effects that could be seen as objectively positive in regards to diversity of species, species populations, or other misc. factors generally regarding the "health" of the planet?
Btw; I am not trying to bait a "is climate change real" debate here; I believe in climate change and that we should avoid it, I just want to learn more about the side effects.

[Assistant]
There will likely be a lot of changes, probably many that are good locally, probably lots that are bad locally and globally. Human civilization has adapted to the present climate conditions, so any significant change, good or bad, is likely to disrupt a lot of things, especially food production. Disruptions in food production leads to famine, which leads to war and mass human migration. Which disrupts stuff elsewhere.

For example, it has been postulated that nordic countries will experience longer, warmer summers and milder winters, which can be considered good regionally. However, if somewhere else millions of people have to relocate, the same nordic countries begin to seem like a paradise to climate refugees. If they then descend en masse to these countries, their societies may collapse from the massive demographic shift.

Eventually humans will adapt to whatever the new climate is once stabilized, but the transition may be catastrophic.


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

[User] ELI5: If the human body temperature is 98.6 degrees, why does a 98 degree air temperature feel uncomfortably hot?

[Assistant]
We are at 98.6 degrees because our body constantly creates heat and constantly loses heat to the outside. It levels off at 98.6.

If the air is the same or close to your temperature, you will not lose any heat to it. If you are still outputting the same amount of heat as before, but now you aren't losing any of it, you will become much hotter than you were before.


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

[User] What did Nietzsche mean by Art is the proper task of life.

[Assistant] Everything we perceive is a personal creation; we make it all up. Nietzsche said we are all better artists than we know. A true (conscious) artist takes responsibility for creating in congruence with will. Nietzsche advises that we consciously embrace this responsibility.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why can humans eat leafy greens like spinach and its extremely beneficial, but cant eat generic grass for any nutritional value?

I ask this as I munch on spinach like a cow.

[Assistant] Greens like spinach have much thinner cell walls than grass. It's like the difference between tearing through a garbage bag and a brick wall. Cows can do it by chewing, swallowing, regurgitating, chewing again...


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

[User] [Star Wars] Why weren't EMPs used against the droids or ships?

[Assistant] Because EMPs are an outdated weapon that has friendly fire potential. They already have ion weapons for dealing with droids, and regular weapons do just fine as well in most cases. The regular battle droids are cheap, essentially disposible bots that can be easily tossed in waves at people, and the relatively tough B2 Super battle droids can go down pretty quickly to regular weapons.


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

[User] ELI5: Why is it that "mom and dad" is much smoother and natural to say rather than "dad and mom"?

[Assistant]
It just has to do with the way our mouths shape the sounds.

"Ma Mand Ad" flows together nicelike, the end of "and" and beginning of "dad" are natural because there are no more than two consonant sounds together and they are a single syllable sound.

"Da Dan Dmam" is awkward because you have the NDM sequence in "and mom" so you're making more work for your mouth, and the sound is jerky and disconnected, basically adding a vocal pause that feels wrong, because by reversing the order we can retain the meaning and say the exact same thing, so your brain wants to say it the easy way.


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

[User]
[WH40K] Why does the Adeptus Mechanicus need a fighting force?

I have heard murmurs of previously unseen units at their disposal and was wondering why they need a unique army. surely an army of guardsmen could defend the Techpriests...

They are so close to Holy Terra surely if there was any trouble we could send help pretty quickly.

[Assistant]
Because they had a fighting force before coming into the Imperium's fold. The Mechanicus' military is, essentially, a relic of the times before the Emperor came.

They are also, for lack of a better term, a personalized army that the Mechanicus can do with as they please. They can't give direct orders to Astartes or Imperial Guard units, but they can have their Skitarii do whatever they damn-well please. When you are under the protection of two of the most powerful forces in the galaxy, having your own mini army to fuck around with must be kind of awesome.

Are these units used extensively? Not at all. In fact, many military individuals will never come into contact with a Skitarii.

So to answer your questions, they DON'T need a unique army. But they already have one, so why not keep using it?


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

[User] [Avatar Legend of Korra] In book 2, episode 7, what kind of fire bending is that old lady doing ? Is is similar to how a water bender bends spirits?

[Assistant] Fire Benders are actually bending Chi to make fire.  Most bend their own directly into fire.  This old lady is somehow bending another person's chi directly and not making it fire.  It's more similar to water bender healing than it is to what they do to spirits.


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

[User] [Clone Wars] How does Anakin have a Padawan if he's not a master?

[Assistant]
All Jedi Knights were allowed, and in fact encouraged to take a Padawan learner. Actually, Masters who sat on the council were less likely to have a Padawan because they do not "go out on missions" with any frequency.

A better question might be why they gave one of their best and busiest generals a padawan in the middle of a war. And the answer of course is Obi-Wan's and Yoda's hope that a Padawan would help anakin mature, which it did. But the way the council handed Asohka's situation and the end of The Clone Wars likely completely undid any good progress anakin had made.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Does Magneto's hatred of humans extend to his parents and fellow victims of the Holocaust?

I'm not familiar with 100% of Marvel lore, but an aspect of Magneto's character kind of doesn't sit right with me:

He hates humanity, but what about his parents? They weren't mutants, but he clearly loved them and still misses them.

What about the fellow Jews/Romani/homosexuals/etc who were killed and victimized during the Holocaust? Most of them were humans, and their deaths clearly motivate his Mutant-supremacy agenda (to prevent a similar massacre of Mutantkind).

Are these people just "exceptions", or is his anti-human crusade more nuanced than I'm aware?

[Assistant]
It's a little more complicated than that.

Magneto doesn't hate humans or humanity, firstly. He considers them like less advanced lifeforms- not to be randomly abused or treated cruelly without reason, but if at any point mutant desires are measured against human ones, the human must lose, every single time. If humanity would accept their proper place and leave mutants to their own devices, there would be no conflict.

Unfortunately, segments of humanity have chosen to consider mutants as a threat, and he's personally seen during the Third Reich the horrific things humans will do to those they consider dangerous.

Humanity have made the situation an 'us or them' one on his mind, and since the greater mass of humanity isn't stopping the ones hurting and hunting mutants, then they all get painted with the same brush- enemies in a war for survival.

Anyone that dies or gets hurt in this war are just like any other casualties of war, an unfortunate necessity. In fact, if winning meant every living human died so that mutants lived free, well, he'd kill the very last one himself.

Basically, when humans stop being worthy of contempt, he'll stop having contempt for them. Until then, they are simply a problem to be solved.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do I look NOTHING like my family?

I know that genes play a huge part on how much you look like your parents but I don't. I'm hispanic with straight light brown hair and green eyes and my family looks are along the line of dark brown/black wavy-curly hair with brown eyes. I know only one family member that has light eyes which was my dad's aunt, but other than that, nobody else. I'm also tall compared to my family 6'2-6'3ish and my family is about anything ranging from 5'0 to 5'9. Can anyone explain this to me, I've searched everywhere but I still haven't found an explanation to this.

Just so you know in advance I'm not adopted, I spent nearly $100 for a DNA test and I'm a math for both dad and mom.

[Assistant]
The short answer is that genetics is complicated.

We'll keep it to a simple version to start with, and only discuss genes as having two possible types: *recessive* or *dominant*. You get one copy of each gene from your mother, and one from your father. For a recessive gene to be expressed (ie, blue eyes), both copies have to be the recessive gene. That is to say, if even one is the dominant gene, then it will dominate, and you will have the trait it codes for. Generally, a dominant gene is shown by a capital letter, eg "E", and a recessive gene with a lower case, eg. "e". Two copies of the dominant is written as EE, two copies of the recessive as ee, and one of each as Ee. These are called *genotypes*. The physical representation of a genotype is called a *phenotype*. Both EE and Ee have the same phenotype (external appearance). Someone with a dominant phenotype may be either EE or Ee. A recessive phenotype **has to be** ee.

Taking the example you used, brown eyes is coded for by a dominant gene in humans. If we call this "B", and the recessive green-eye gene "b", then we know you have the genotype "bb". You mentioned one of your relatives has light eyes, this tells us that there are likely to be some copies of the "b" gene floating around your family. For you to have two copes of "b", you must have gotten one from each of your parents, thus their genotype is Bb. This is how you've gotten green eyes even though your parents don't; they each have one version of the green-eye gene, it is just hidden. You mentioned that your family is hispanic, the most common gene variant in that particular population group is "B", so the chances of two people with Bb meeting is relatively small, hence why your extended family don't have many green eyes. As for your siblings (if you have any), the chance of a child getting two copies of "b" from heterozygous (one of each) parents is 1/4.

Now, that's a simple case of genetic inheritance, known as *Mendelian inheritance*.* Height is a bit more complicated. Rather than a single gene making you either "tall" or "short", there are at least 15 different genes, each of which will add or take a few centimetres. The combination of genes you got by random chance may have boosted your height.

The other complicating factor is the *nature vs nurture* debate. Namely, for most traits, the actual outcome is a result of a combination of your genes (nature), and your environment (nurture). As a general rule of thumb, nutrition has improved markedly over the last century, and this has contributed greatly to increased height. The average height a few centuries ago was 5ft or less, it's now close to 6ft in a lot of Western countries. The genes in the population haven't changed, people are just eating better and thus able to get the full "potential" out of their gene combination.

*For those who want to know more, eye colour isn't really properly Mendelian. Both blue and green eye colourings are recessive. They're "co-recessive", and if you have both you'll get some combination of green/blue. "Co-dominant" genes (some blood types) also exist, as well as various levels of dominance / partial expression.


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

[User]
[Fallout] How much do we know about the Civil Rights situation in Prewar America?

The prewar Fallout 'verse is set up as an alternate history where the culture of the 1950s continued indefinitely, at a time when the average American was perceived as happy and prosperous. Except for non-white Americans. In the '50s segregation was in full swing. Many of the singers featured on the Galaxy News, New Vegas, and Diamond City had to stay in segregated hotels while touring.

America doubled down on the red scare and conservative patriotism, do we have any reason to believe they'd let up on civil rights?

I don't remember seeing any signs of segregation remaining (like a prewar "Colored Bathroom" sign), but we also don't really see many parts of the country where segregation was featured so heavily.  Do we have any evidence that the Civil Rights Movement happened in Fallout's America?

[Assistant]
Segregation apparently ceased to be an issue by the time of the convergence from our timeline, but human rights in general were in an absolutely atrocious state. The America we know, where the first amendment is more than just lip service to our nation's ideals, was almost completely gone. Protestors were regularly gunned down in the streets, political dissidents were jailed and American citizens were strongly persuaded to report on one another for thought crimes.

Also, automated security turrets were extremely prevalent and people could be murdered by a robot at a moment's notice for failing to wear the correct security badge in a workplace.


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

[User]
Are there visible "clouds" in space?

I've recently played the game Star Citizen and was quite confused that there are actually cloud-like structures in space. I thought they would not exist in reality so I searched the internet for answers. But couldn't find any.

I know, it's a game. So it might just be a fantasy element. But I also know that there are tons of gases in space, which can take up a lot of space. But can you actually see them? I've seen pictures of nebulas as well but if I understand it correctly, you can only see them with some color correction or something?

Can someone help me understand this please?

[Assistant]
Nebulae are real, and are visible with a small telescope, or even *just barely* with the naked eye.

You can just barely see a bit of fluffiness around one of the stars in Orion's sword. There's also a bit of faint cloudiness visible in the Pleiades star cluster. These are actual nebulae that are visible with the naked eye. They're just far away and quite dim.

You can also sort of make out the dust lanes in the Milky Way, as darker splotches on the Milky Way - although there's a lot of foreground stars as well, so it's quite subtle.

If you look through a telescope, or use a spaceship close to a nebulae, the brightness doesn't actually change - it just covers more of the sky. It will be visible as a faint grey cloudiness. Sometimes it might be thick enough to look basically black.

The density of these clouds is really quite low though. They're only visible because they're so huge - often many light years thick - and that does add up to a decent amount of dust and gas along your line of sight. So it's not like the space opera trope where you can hide in a nebula for a sneak attack, because nobody can see more than a few hundred metres or whatever. It's the same thing as asteroid fields, which are exaggerated for drama in space opera. In either case, in reality you could be right in the middle of one and barely even notice.

These nebulae *do* have colour to them, but these colours aren't easy to see when they're so dim. If you use a normal phone camera and point it through a telescope, and set the exposure to be really long, you can indeed see some colour in these nebulae, without any special post-processing. However, because there's nothing particularly special or unique about human vision, in astrophysics we sometimes colour things to give the most information and best contrast, rather than mimicking what a human in a spaceship would actually see.


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

[User]
ELI5: Cern's new Particle Discovery

When I heard about cern's discovery of a new particle I didn't get excited. I keep seeing people on facebook posting about it, and I know I'm a buzzkillington, but it doesn't do anything for me since I can't understand it. I'm glad that scientists are conducting this research, but I can't pretend that I'm 'excited' about it since I have no fucking clue what it is. So Basically, can anyone explain what the Cern new particle discovery hype is about? I'm lost.

[Assistant]
It's actually two new composite particles that are in a group known as baryons. Basically, there are a list of fundamental particles in various groups known as the standard model. One of the groups of particles are known as quarks. Three quarks bound together form a baryon.

In working with quarks and another particle known as gluons, we have a field known as quantum chromodynamics (QCD). This is a major component in our attempts to validify the standard model of physics.

The discovery of these two particles isn't important in the same sense as the discovery of the Higgs boson, because they are not fundamental particles. However, our current model of QCD makes many predictions on how the standard model behaves, and one of the predictions made was that these two particles were supposed to exist.

The two main implications in this discovery are:

1. The accuracy of our QCD model is further confirmed because it made the prediction before the discovery. You know a theory is strong if it can make accurate predictions of real life, especially if it can do so before a discovery because it means the foundations of the theory are strong.

2. The observations made in the experiment were unusual in the sense that most detectors would produce a "fuzzy" signal, but the LHCb detector has shown that it can generate precise data.

**TL;DR** it's more of a discovery that confirms our theories rather than one that brings about new physics.


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

[User]
Is perfumery a branch of art?

I've been wondering whether perfumery is a branch of art or not. Part of the reason is because I want to make a thesis about it and make it relevant with philosophy of art (and philosophy in general). Does anyone know where do I have to start? I'm so confused because there's a deadline for me to propose about the topic of the thesis to my professor and I really want to talk about perfumery because I love fragrances. Thank you in advance.

[Assistant]
there is visual art, auditory art, and cuisine art (taste), so why not olfactory art? Perfumery as an art simply relies on the often ignored sense of smell.

but yeah, you could read Deweys Art as Experience.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Megafauna in the space around Exegol? Found an entry on Wookiepedia that says "Exegol's nearby space was littered with the remains of megafauna, resulting in a cloud of red gas and stardust to form before the world, posing a navigation barrier." What?

So there were bodies so thick in the space around this planet for some reason that it blocked out communication and navigation?

Am I reading this correctly?

[Assistant]
Remember the slug that the Millennium Falcon ran into on their way out of the Hoth system? That, or something like it, is presumably what they're talking about when they say "megafauna."

Though you're right that seems like an impossible amount of biomass.


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

[User]
ELI5: If English is a Germanic language, why is it so difficult to read texts/understand speech in other Germanic languages?

I also speak Spanish, and I find it a lot easier to read text/partially understand spoken Portuguese and French (both of which are Romance languages), whereas the other Germanic languages (Dutch, German, Danish, etc.) are almost completely indecipherable for me as a native English speaker.

[Assistant]
English is the dirty bastard of Germanic languages.

It is not German, it is rooted in the same early language group that gave us modern German/Dutch/Icelandic and the rest.

English was heavily influenced by the Romance language group, particularly through old French, when the invading Normans brought it along.  Toss in some Gaelic influence, more Latin for the 'scholarly' types, and you end up with a language that bears only a passing resemblance to its Germanic cousins.


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

[User]
How is a pentaquark possible?

LHC apparently found one, but I don't see how. It supposedly has 1 antiquark and 4 quarks, but with 4 quarks would it require 2 quarks of the same color charge, which isn't allowed in superposition? I thought only mesons baryons tetraquarks and hex a quarks would be possible.

[Assistant]
For the easiest way to circumvent any exclusion principles, imagine the compostion:

up quark,
down quark,
strange quark,
bottom quark,
charm anti-quark with all spins aligned and colour charges in a way that the whole thing is colourless. Of course this is not a very probable composition, but it shows that it is easy to fulfill all rules and get a penta-quark.


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

[User]
ELI5: What is the difference in Bourbon and Whisky?

A friend of mine and I are drinking tonight, and trying to decide the differences between bourbon and whisky. Discuss!

[Assistant]
Bourbon is a specific type of whisky, similar to how IPAs are a specific type of ale.

All whiskey is made from fermented grain that is then distilled and aged in barrels. There are legal requirements to be called bourbon (at least in the US). To wit:

* The grain mixture must be made using at least 51% corn

* The distilled spirit must be aged in unused charred American Oak barrels. To be called straight bourbon it must be aged for a minimum of 2 years.

* Initial distillation must be to at least 160 proof

And a few other minor requirements.


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

[User] ELI5: When driving why do some bugs splatter hard onto my windshield, while others seem to get stuck in the wind stream and pass right over it?

[Assistant]
It's a bug weight thing.

A lot of insects are super light. They have small bodies and the lightest of breezes flings them away.

Others have small wings but flap them really fast, or generally don't fly very far with them so they don't have to deal with a lot of wind... and those insects are often heavier. It would take a lot of wind or breeze to move them out of their path.

Now, when you're driving fast, your car creates a "wind" around it. Unless you're going really fast, that deflecting wind will push away almost all small, very light insects and they won't collide with your front glass windshield.

But it does NOT deflect heavy large insects or even heavy small ones with small wings. It just doesn't knock them out of the way fast enough.

So.... booooosh, and there's that green splat-smear that takes half a tank of wiper fluid to deal with.

(P.S. if your car has a flat front, even tiny and very light insects will whomp into it. The air flow around your can't save 'em all... and so you get a speckled grill as a result.)


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

[User] Is there any way of mitigating testicular pain?

[Assistant]
It hurts more than other regions due to the nature and number of nerves there.

Having a response to being hit in that region that causes a lot of pain is a great evolutionary incentive to keep that area safe; after all, that's the only area that can pass on your genes. It also allows that area to be sensitive to other stimulation, another great evolutionary boon. Unfortunately, probably due to sperm production having to happen out of the body, they are very unprotected.

As to why nature has left us with no coping mechanism it's again probably due to the benefit of keeping this area safer; if you make it very painful then the animal will try even harder to keep it safe.


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

[User]
If economists are highly skilled in research and data science why is their demand going to increase by only 4000 jobs over the next decade? The skills that economists possess are crucial to businesses, governments and R&D firms so why isn't the demand for economists increasing at a rapid rate?

The increase of 4000 jobs is predicted by US bureau of labour statistics.

[Assistant]
Sounds like this is conflating "quantity demanded" with "demand". There are not many well trained economists when looking at the entire US labor market. Are qualified economists able to find jobs? Do skilled economists receive a wage premium compared to other professions that required similar levels of training? Do many people with economics training end up being employed in unrelated jobs? These are better measures than just the number of jobs by itself, it gets at the interaction between supply and demand.

An organization usually has to be pretty large to benefit from employing an economist. More often they contract that out to another firm, because they only have a small need for detailed economic analysis. Many small businesses (restaurants, beauty salons, specialty retail, boutique software, etc...) don't need highly skilled economic research to increase profits by a few percentage points. The margins they operate under make that a net loss after paying for the research.


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

[User] What state of matter is a blackhole classified as?

[Assistant] It doesn't really make sense to classify a black hole as a state of matter, but the closest thing would be a vacuum. Given of course the proviso that our knowledge of black hole interiors is limited on both a theoretical and observational level.


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

[User] ELI5: Random: Is it really just algorithms?

[Assistant]
Yes: most computers (such as an ipod) which generate random numbers do so with what's called a *pseudorandom generator*.  This is an algorithm that produces results which are "close enough" to being random that it usually doesn't matter.  A CPU is incapable of producing true random numbers by just doing math.

Some computational tasks, such as scientific simulations, need true random numbers.  When these are required, a special peripheral device is often added, called a hardware random number generator.  This uses physical effects, such as thermal noise, to generate true random numbers.


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

[User] [Revolution] Shouldn't diesel engines still work since they aren't dependent on electricity?

[Assistant] Maybe it's not the engines that need electricity but making the diesel does. Coal you just dig out of the ground no refining needed. Diesel comes from refining oil. A much trickier process. Maybe it's too dangerous to refine Diesel without electricity.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Did Emperor Palpatine live in personal extravagance during his reign?

I'm wondering if the Emperor cared for expensive clothing and accommodations or was he more concerned with concurring every last inch of the Galaxy?

[Assistant]
Yep.  The Emperor's wealth was incalculable, and he liked showing it off.  For example, he was known for his lavish gardens in his skyhook, in orbit around Coruscant; skyhooks themselves are symbols of great wealth and prestige, and the Emperor's skyhook was generally known as the largest and most opulent.  Prince Xizor, upon visiting the skyhook, tried to hire the Emperor's chief gardener away from his post.  The gardener then died of an unfortunate accident, which tells you how the Emperor feels about someone else potentially having a nicer garden than him.

Apart from the wealth represented by the city-sized skyhook itself, the Emperor's skyhook was also filled with priceless artifacts and treasures.  The Emperor kept his most valued trinkets in his skyhook, preferring to leave the relatively less valuable stuff (but still exorbitantly priced) in his Palace on Coruscant.  These treasures served no real purpose, the Emperor just liked collecting them, and he was rich enough to do so.


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

[User] ELI5 : How do we know cold is the absence of heat and not the other way around?

[Assistant]
Temperature is a measurement of energy, specifically kinetic energy on a molecular scale with warmer things having more of this energy than colder things.
Because we warm something up by adding energy we define warm/hot as the presence of this energy. Since there is nothing that we can "add" to make an object colder, cold is inherently the absence of this energy or in other words, the absence of heat.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why does seafood go bad faster than land food?

It seems that fish and other seafood goes bad more quickly than land animal meats, and when it does, it goes bad seriously, being more likely to result in food poisoning. Why is this?

[Assistant] ELI5 Version:  The parts of a sea animal we're eating often live at temperatures just above freezing, so does the "stuff" that helps the body of the animal operate.  If you put a beef steak in the fridge, the "stuff" (enzymes) just shut down, where as if you put fish in the fridge, the enzymes are continuing to function at the lower temp.  Bacteria can feed off the breaking down of the enzymes/bio product since they're still active.


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

[User] ELI5: Why can't we feel the g-force of the world spinning so quickly through space?

[Assistant]
You actually *do* feel it.

Because of your angular momentum, there is a slight centrifugal force acting in you, pulling you away from the center of mass of the planet. This effect, however, is small and is matched by the centrifugal forces experienced by everything around you  which all have the same or nearly the same angular momentum.

You're not *aware* of this force vector because there is never an appreciable and swift change in the acceleration it provides  there is no *jerk* of it.

Since gravity provides acceleration towards the centre of mass of the planet, our brains are used to constant acceleration and think of that as "steady" and "normal". We perceive not the acceleration itself but the *change* of acceleration  termed the *jerk*.

So, in short, you're not aware of it because they're not jerks about it.


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

[User] ELI5 If we actually remember just a fraction of what we learn in school/college what purpose is it actually serving for us intellectually.

[Assistant] It isn't the knowledge, it is the application.  You are learning to crunch through a thousand pages of material and to later do something with the important concepts.  You will learn to balance life, partying, and writing a comprehensive article 20 pages in length in a week.  You will learn what a deadline really means.  You will learn to look at long held beliefs in a new light.  You will become critical of information that is offered to you.  You will learn to live, smarter.  Plus they give you a fancy paper at the end that will prove to employers that you can sit in the same town, working, for four years.


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

[User]
[MCU] Do the parts that fall off the Hulk revert back to Banner size?

Like his fingernails, hair, and teeth?

(How does dead tissue like fingernails grow in size anyway?)

[Assistant]
Most likely they do not. There is an else worlds tale where only the survivors of an apocalypse event are the Hulk and a swarm of mutant cockroaches. These roaches seem to rely on the Hulk as their primary food source as well.

So if Hulk parts did revert there is no way the swarm would be able to sustain itself, since at this point Banner is a frail old man.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why are we not allowed to see the photographic evidence of Osama Bin Laden after he was killed in his compound?

The pictures of the other 4 people killed at the compound in Abbottobad have been made public. Why aren't we able to see the pictures of "Geronimo"?

[Assistant]
Because terrorists would use that image as a rallying point for more support and recruitment.

Bin Laden was an old, sick man and he died badly. The public release of the photos of his corpse don't add any value to his death to the US, but they would have an unlimited propaganda value for terrorists who want to make a martyr out of him.

The less material they have to work with, the better.


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

[User]
Does running the car's A/C at 65F require less power than running it at 60F?

Or when I set the A/C at a higher temperature it just means that the cold air from the A/C is mixed with hot air from the outside?

[Assistant]
It depends on the system in your car.

In some cars, the dial sets the temperature of the air blowing at you. The A/C compressor runs the whole time, cooling one air stream as much as it can. That cool air gets mixed with a certain percentage of warm air, which you get "free" from the heat of the engine, so the resulting stream has a temperature of 65 degrees. If your car works like this, there's no difference in energy.

In other cars, there's a temperature sensor inside the cabin, and the dial determines the target reading. If it's too warm, the A/C comes on for a few minutes; then once the air gets cool enough it shuts off again. (That is, it works like the thermostat for central air in a house.) If your car works like this, you will spend less energy cooling it to 65 than at 60, because the compressor will not be running as often.


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

[User]
[The West Wing] Was Josiah Bartlett a Good President?

The documentary focused entirely on the dynamic between Bartlett and his senior staff, but how successful were his policies? How was his administration viewed by the general public? How is he remembered in 2018?

[Assistant]
Generally speaking, yes, Jed Bartlet was a good president.

While ostensibly a Democrat, Bartlet was actually fairly centrist in his policies and preferences, and often crossed party lines to work with the Republicans. This meant that while he wasn't as popular among the more extreme fringes of either party, he was generally recognized as an effective leader and statesman by the more moderate factions of the two major parties, as well as moderate independents.  Some examples would be willingly ceding power to Speaker of the House Glenn Walken, a Republican, in a constitutionally rigorous manner during the Zoe Bartlet kidnapping crisis, and appointing both a conservative and a liberal justice to the Supreme Court when two openings came up.

Furthermore, the Bartlet administration's policy implementations were generally seen as effective. Stuff like the program to boost teacher numbers by sending them to college, and intervening militarily overseas when atrocities are committed, were some of Bartlet's more notable accomplishments during his two terms.

On a more personal note, Jed Bartlet had qualities that appealed to all kinds of people.  For those who preferred a more intellectual president, Jed Bartlet had the ability to remain the smartest and most eloquent guy in the room even when he was in a room full of doctors, scientists, and Nobel laureates (it helped that he was a Nobel Prize winner himself, of course).  For those who look for strong personal values in their president, Jed Bartlet had an unflinchingly strong moral code based on his personal Catholic faith.  And for those who just wanted the president to keep the country running, Jed Bartlet was able to end a government shutdown caused by a budgetary deadlock by personally walking to Capitol Hill in an attempt to get Republicans to talk to him.

Of course, Bartlet's detractors would say that he was no saint, and that actions such as concealing his multiple sclerosis was proof of that.  They do have a point, because Bartlet's MS did disable him at least twice during his administration.  Furthermore, there are people who say Bartlet did not do enough, that by trying so hard to compromise with Republicans, he ended up watering down his own administration's initiatives, leading to inertia and getting stuck in the status quo. Again, these people do have a point, there were many policy initiatives that Bartlet could have pursued, but ultimately did not.

On the whole, though, Bartlet was an intelligent, knowledgeable, morally upstanding, and effective leader.  Could he have done better?  Yes.  Could he have done more?  Yes.  But the stuff he did do, the stuff he did accomplish, will ensure that history will remember him as one of the better presidents.


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

[User] ELI5: What allows me to exhale at different temperatures? For example, I can warm up my hands by breathing on them. While on the contrary, I can cool them off too.

[Assistant]
You can only breathe out a single temperature: warm.

However, fast-moving air has the ability to pull surrounding environmental air into its flow (a process called "entrainment").  So when you purse your lips and blow, the air you're breathing out is mixing more with the cooler air around it, making the end product feel cooler.

To test this, get something like an empty toilet-paper tube, cover one end with your hand (lightly, so air can still escape), and blow through the other end.  Without much surrounding air to pull in, you'll find that the air you blow is warm regardless of how quickly you blow.


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

[User]
ELI5 - Can usable guns be made from titanium?

I noticed during recent traveling that a titanium implant does not register with metal detectors or any other scanner at the airport. What stops people from making guns from titanium or other similar metals?

[Assistant]
Regulations that exist that require detectable metal in the firearms for that very purpose.

Titanium doesn't make a very good barrel, it expands and flexes to much. Titanium alloys have been used in the frame on certain models, but those trigger the metal detectors, not only because of the alloy material, but because the barrels are still chrome molly alloy steel.

Titanium alloys aren't used in barrels for the same reason, too much expansion and flexing under heat and pressure.

The same qualities that make them a great frame for aircraft and other vehicles make it a poor material choice for a barrel.


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

[User]
Patients coming to you with a self diagnosed Disorder

How often does this happen and what do you think of it? Are they typically right? And do you sometimes think they answer your question so that it fits there self diagnosis?

How are you working with someone like that?

[Assistant] Happens all the time.  Even if they haven't assigned themselves a diagnostic label, everybody comes in with some idea of how to describe what's going on for them and how they think they got that way.  Often fairly accurate, but could usually still benefit from some refinement or nuance, and that just becomes part of the work we do.


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

[User] [Star Wars] Would Han Solo get along well with a pre-dark side Anakin?

[Assistant] I could see their friendship having its ups and downs. They'd be buddies sometimes, for sure: talking about ships, their swashbuckling adventures, talking about ships, roasting members of the Jedi Order and such, talking about *more* ships, etc. But other times they'd butt heads over how to solve a problem (assuming they get sent on a mission together or something like that). It'd be really amusing to witness. However, if Han starts flirting with Padme, it's all over.


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

[User]
Do we have a wider field of view when our pupils dilate in the dark?

In the dark our pupils get wider, which I would imagine means there is a larger angle of light that we can see, and the opposite for our pupils shrinking in brightness. Is this actually how it works?

[Assistant]
Your field of view is determined by a patch of light-sensitive receptors that activate neurons on the back of your eye. Additionally, the stereo image collection of two eyes.

While more light is collected, the opening of your pupil does not significantly affect your maximum field of view.

Think about it like this, if you if you take the glare guard off a camera lens, more light comes in, but It doesnt change field of view because it is already collecting the maximum possible angle.

Only a very tiny pinhole is required to obtain a very wide angle at distance.

A larger field of view would come from, say, placing our eyes further apart (fish).


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

[User] ELI5: How do radio stations know how many listeners they have?

[Assistant]
Surveys, (primary Nielsen), and user engagement - it's one of the reasons they run competitions on air. Only a tiny fraction of listeners respond, but the size of that fraction is relatively consistent.

Edit: As mentioned in several other comments below, some people have listening devices (PPMs) that send data back to Nielsen. A range of people are selected to cover different demographics.

Internet radio is over a two-way data connection anyway.

Corrected spelling of Nielsen.


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

[User]
[DC]How would various DC heroes react to being thanked by a civilian?

Superman, Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter are all approached and thanked for their heroism by a random individual. How does each respond?

[Assistant]
Superman smiles, shakes hands and says it's a pleasure and makes the civilian believe it truly is.

Batman gives some words of advice to avoid being in a situation of needing saved and leaves the civilian wondering how Batman knows where they live.

The Flash says you're more then welcome and offers to let him take a picture with him.

Wonder Woman responds that she was only fulfilling the duty of a warrior and wishes the civilian well.

Martian Manhunter informs the civilian that he is happy to help and his thanks is appreciated but not necessary, he is simply doing his part for his new home.


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

[User]
ELI5: Scientifically, what is the difference between color film and black/white film? What changed and allowed film to be in color?

What gives? I understand the basics of how film cameras work, but for the life of me I don't understand what changed.

[Assistant]
Black and white film consists of a single layer of material that changes opacity based on the amplitude of light that flows through it, regardless of the color of that light.  This produces a film 'negative'.  The negative is then processed so that it doesn't change color anymore and is then used to expose another layer of film to produce a standard image that can be projected.

In color film, the film may have three layers or three chemicals that change opacity to match hues of cyan, magenta, and yellow.  This produces a color negative.  When this negative is processed and exposed to another layer, you get the inverse of cyan (red), magenta (green), and yellow (blue), which can then be projected and matches the colors of the original photography subject.

Negatives are usually preserved as much as possible, since they represent the highest quality version of the original image.


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

[User]
[Marvel] Is Wolverine stronger with or without the adamantium skeleton?

Without the adamantium he has a seemingly unbeatable healing factor. On the other hand, indestructible skeleton and claws. Which makes him more consistently stronger?

[Assistant] Physically he is stronger with the skeleton, since his bones without the adamantium are just bones, so lifting something heavy can still cause damage to those bones. With the adamantium, if his muscles can lift a thing, he can lift it; no worrying about stress fractures.


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

[User]
[DC/Marvel/General] Why is oversight something that sits so poorly with most superheroes?

Nearly every time, whenever someone brings up the idea of checks and balances for superheroes like the Justice League, Avengers, and so on, they always treat it as a totally negative thing that no good will come from. The League in particular was absolutely disgusted at the thought of being kept in check via contingencies should they act out of sorts, either voluntarily or via brainwashing, something that happens nearly all the time. They seem wholly convinced that they're above the law, that they're perfect people who can do absolutely no wrong and the idea that they need to be kept in line so they don't abuse their powers is something they find utterly insulting, or even a sign of ingratitude for their services.

What's up with that?

[Assistant] I can't speak for DC, but the issue in MARVEL generally involves not just oversight, but being forced to be part of a government organization, and by extension, potentially being forced to  do things they don't want to do.


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

[User]
[Dune] How would the Guild react to a Noble House doing their own space travel?

The Guilds' monopoly on interstellar travel stems from the monopoly on safe long-distance travel. Which stems from their use of prescient Navigators mutated through the spice.

The two key operating words here being safe and long.

What would happen if a Noble House had two planets within one Solar System under their fiefdom? In this situation, the use of pre-Holtzman drives that don't need a Guild Navigator is again feasible.

Pre-Holtzma FTL being so slow that their use outside of a solar system is logistically pointless but confined to one system their use becomes beneficial for administrative and economic purposes.

[Assistant]
They wouldn't care. The important part about interstellar travel is the connection to the rest of the Imperium. You can call yourself a noble house all you want but what's the point if there's no one around to care? If you can't import vital supplies, including the spice that extends your life and that you're probably addicted to? If you have your two little habitable planets, good for you. No one in the imperium cares.

If you try to cut yourself off from the imperium, well, the Emperor probably won't appreciate that and will send his Sardaukar after you. If the planets are worthless, maybe he'll just ignore you and you go back to being just some guy with nominal control over two planets until you die and someone else takes over and decides to rejoin the imperium - if they can get into contact with anyone to do so.


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

[User]
[Mad Max] Is there any evidence that the rest of the world is in the same situation?

Is there any information on Europe, Africa and America?

[Assistant]
Not much information directly tied to the other continents but plenty of circumstantial information.
During the events of mad Max there was a major resource shortage leading to both a water and oil crisis and several small wars for the dwindling supplies.  Between mad max and road warrior these small wars escalated into nuclear war but how far the nukes went is unknown other than Australia being able to see mushroom clouds.  By the events of thunderdome radiation was extremely high in some places and no water is visibly available near bartertown.  Fury road takes place on the sea floor off the coast of Sydney Australia with the events of the video game showing the sea floor extending farther than 500 miles out.

Assuming the videogame is canon then the rest of the world is severely screwed.  Without the Pacific Ocean to regulate weather and the mentioned big wet event hinting at the ice caps melting the world is in a bad way.  Most of Eastern Asia and the western half of South America and North America will be in severe droughts and suffering ecological collapse.  That large of a population displaced will put a strain on the unaffected regions ability to produce food and extreme weather like dust storms and lightning storms will become prevalent.  The combination of refugees radiation and extreme weather will destroy nearly 2/3rds of the population of earth alone with direct warfare during the oil and water wars killing millions according to the comic tied to Fury road.

While nations like India and China are the most at risk from weather changes and sea level other African nations and the middle east will find themselves the target during resource wars since they have the largest untapped resources with the smallest militaries compared to places like Brazil and Russia.  While i doubt Europe and South America will be as arid and barren as Australia is they'll likely be heavily bombed and war torn until disease and radiation turn them into deadly ruins worse than the sparsely populated and resource poor Australia.


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

[User]
Why is the James Webb Space Telescope being launched from French Guiana?

Why is it advantageous to be closer to the equator for launch?

[Assistant]
The equator is the point of greatest circumference perpendicular to the axis. This means that the surface of the Earth is moving fastest along this line, because it covers a greater distance in the same 24hr period. Starting with a greater velocity makes it easier to boost craft up to a speed that achieves a stable orbit.

It may also be desirable for certain types of orbits as well.


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

[User]
ELI5: What are the likely effects of heavy drinking on a person's overall mental and physical health over the course of a few years? And what makes someone an "alcoholic" versus a "heavy drinker"?

Say, for example, someone was drinking a little more than a gallon of cheap-o vodka every week (goes through about 4.75 liters a week) for a year or more... What kind of effects will that likely have on said person? If that person suddenly stopped drinking cold-turkey for three weeks for financial reasons and did not have any withdrawal issues, does that mean he or she is probably okay physically?

And would that amount make someone an alcoholic automatically, or are there other factors that make someone an alcoholic versus a heavy drinker?

I am concerned about a loved one's drinking habits and am not sure I need to be because aside from being a little groggy in the morning and a little cranky until the day gets going, the amount of alcohol doesn't seem to be doing much negative impact to him.

[Assistant]
First off you need to tell whatever person that quitting "cold turkey" could kill them...to go from almost a 5th(750ml) a day to nothing could lead to brain imbalances which would kill you. He needs to taper off or, preferably, see a specialist who will give him drugs while he sobers up.

Secondly, regarding the effects of someone who drinks that much- just google "encephalopathy". What now is just "waking up cranky" will eventually turn into essentially a mentally handicapped person. Encephalopathy is irreversible, btw.

Best thing you can do in the meantime is get the alky to take B1(thiamine) vitamins every day, that will help a lot as alcohol(ethanol) disrupts the thiamine distribution in the brain.

Bottom line: Almost any college age kid alky handle that amount of booze, but once you enter the "dirty 30's" and beyond- don't plan on living much past 50-60yo if you keep imbibing at that pace.


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

[User]
[Warhammer 40K] Hi, I'm a cryogenically preserved human from the 21st Century who was just unfrozen!

Hi, my name is Ted. I was born in 1990 in San Francisco. When I was twenty-five, I decided to be cryogenically preserved due to my inoperable brain cancer in the hopes that sometime in the future I could be cured. It seemed like a long shot at the time, but holy God, it turns out that it worked! The people who discovered the ruins of the laboratory where I was kept informed me that it is the 41st millennium. Holy shit, humanity survived to the year 40,000! Anyway, some weird looking doctors with grey skin just examined me, and I'm wondering how life on Earth is nowadays. Did we ever get flying cars and travel to outer space?

[Assistant]
I give you about five hours before you're either shot by a hive ganger, executed for Heresy by a street ecclesiarch, or arrested by the Arbites.  If you live through the next 24 hours, here's what you need to know:

> ***It is the 41st millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the master of mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die.***

> ***Yet even in his deathless state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperors will. Vast armies give battle in his name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst His soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Astra Militarum and countless planetary defence forces, the ever-vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat from aliens, heretics, mutants  and worse.***

> ***To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruellest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.***


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

[User]
What value do cryptocurrency investors add to society?

I guess same goes to stock investors as well. My idea of an economy is you produce goods/services for society and get rewarded with currency, which you can then spend on good/services that other people produce. You can only take as much value out of the economy as you put in.

But this must not be correct because that very simplistic theory breaks down when it comes to investing. When someone makes a million dollars off dogecoin, they didnt create a million dollars of goods/services for the economy. So why should they be able to take a million dollars of value away? All they did was hold an asset that appreciated tremendously, but where is the value created?

My knowledge of economics is very limited so any explanation of why my simple economic theory is incorrect would be appreciated.

[Assistant]
Stock investors are investing in companies that theoretically create value. Capital is aggregated through investment to make things possible that would be otherwise impossible for most people not named Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk. They obviously hope that as their underlying firm creates more and more value that their ownership increases in value. This is a very important aspect of an advanced economy.

Crypto investors on the other hand are not investing in anything of inherent or intrinsic value but rather theyre speculating that someone will pay more one day despite the underlying asset remaining inert and unproductive.


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

[User] [Star Wars] In Episode IV, Darth Vader is Grand Moff Tarkins lackey. In Episode V, Vader is second only to the Emperor. Did Vader get a promotion?

[Assistant]
I don't know if it'd be accurate to call Vader Tarkin's "lackey," but Tarkin was one of a tiny handful of officers Vader actually respected from when they fought together in the Clone Wars. The Death Star is Tarkin's command, and while aboard it, Vader defers to him out of a combination of that position of command and the personal respect described above.

As for his position in ESB, after the rebels won a major victory at Yavin, presumably the Emperor has decided to take a more personal hand in matters, in this case by putting his right-hand man more directly in charge of operations.

The thing to understand about Darth Vader is that he kind of exists outside of the official hierarchy. If he turns up and starts giving orders, you better be ready to obey them or he's going to turn your ass inside out and use you as a sockpuppet.


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

[User] When Fisher says "The Vampires Castle was born the moment when the struggle not to be defined by identitarian categories became the quest to have identities recognised by a bourgeois big Other.", what does he mean by "identitarian categories"? Who sets that "identitarian categories"?

[Assistant] Identarian categories are just what you'd expect, like being gay, or being black or being trans or whatever. These categories aren't set up and defined by any particular social form, and certainly not by the intentional actions of any particular human or group of human, but rather by a vast combination of social forms, including the groups themselves in general, political movements, the state, business and so on.


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

[User] ELI5: Why does a tilt-shift" effect make a picture look like a miniature scene?

[Assistant]
Imagine two scenarios:

* A: a real-life city with tall buildings, photographed by a drone and
* B: a miniature version of the same city, photographed from the same angle to look roughly the same as A.

In A, everything would be sharp, because everything is far away from the camera.

In B, you could focus on the top of the buildings, making the streets blurry, because the tops of the buildings are so very close to the camera (because it's a miniature and you had to go very close to it).

Try it out with your eyes: hold your finger close to your eye and look at it. The stuff behind it will be very blurry. Now look at something further away. The stuff behind it won't be nearly as blurry.

So what if you take a wide angle shot of a big, real-life city, and make the tops of the buildings sharp and the street blurry? Well, you can "cheat" and trick your mind into thinking that it's tiny. That's it.

You can do this in Photoshop or you can do it with a tilt-shift camera. The two will result in a very similar effect in this particular example.


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

[User]
ELI5: Why do some PC screens appear to inverse colors on the screen depending on the viewers angle?

For example, looking at a Lenovo Thinkpad from an angle about 45 degrees from parallel to the screen makes the image appear inverse without colors.

[Assistant]
This is caused mostly by the TN LCD's, or Twisted Nematic. These LCD's are cheap and energy efficient, but suffer from poor viewing angles due to way that it bends light through different filters to achieve different colors, or to block light. When you view the display at different angles, you can see past these filters and see the different colors that are supposed to be hidden.

IPS and VA LCD's do not have this issue, though they can suffer from slightly more dim images at sharp angles.


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

[User] Would someone with an economics degree from the U.S.S.R. be employable in the United States as an economist?

[Assistant] Depends almost entirely on work experience. Someone with an econ degree, even from a US school, from the 1980s would not, in general, be employable as an economist. However, if they had been working as an economist for the last 40 years, they definitely would be.


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

[User] [Overwatch] How many lines of code would it take to program an Omnic? do the Omnics program other Omnics? Is the technology used to create Omnics available to the general population?

[Assistant]
Omnics can only be created by an Omnium:  an automated, self-improving factory which gained sentience (kinda like Skynet).  There were only 3:

- Australia: destroyed, which created "Mad Mad" land.

- Detroit: currently deactivated

- Russia: under omnic control, causes 2nd Omnic Crisis

And while an omnic could probably make some changes to the code within the Omnium, the amount of code required is far greater than any single omnic can write. If at all, since the Shambala think omnics aren't coded, they're imbued with a soul.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What is the dark side cave on Dagobah?

I have rewatched The Empire Strikes Back and played The Force Unleashed 2, and still have confusion about the Dark Side cave Yoda talks about. What is it? What is it's potential? And what has other people seen in the cave?

[Assistant] It is the site where a powerful Dark Jedi died. The abilities of the cave are the result of that Jedi's Force Echo, basically the same technique that allows for the existence of Force Ghosts, in a more abstract form.


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

[User] [Batman] Has any villain ever had their insanity cured by Arkham Asylum so that they could re-enter society?

[Assistant] In the Animated series in the 90's, Harley had been successfully rehabilitated of her criminal insanity. However, in an excellent commentary on poor oversight of the government, she apparently hadn't been evaluated by an occupational therapist, and did very poorly her first night shopping. The theft alarm went off and she took it very personally. The misunderstanding led to hurt feelings and an eventual relapse, much like other criminals who are ill-equipped to deal with normal life outside the walls.


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

[User] ELI5: How do bugs manage to stay stuck to car windows whilst travelling at high speed? Are the suckers super strong?

[Assistant] It is partially due to the boundary effect. Basically, air that is touching the car is not moving relative to the car (air is sticky) but assure further away is moving (again, relative to the car). The boundary layer is the area Close to the car where the air is moving slower. IIRC this boundary layer is a few centimetres thick, so anything small enough doesn't experience the full air speed.


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

[User]
International Space Station end of mission plans?

With all its instrumentation and ability to gather data, would a good end of mission plan be to thrust the ISS on an escape velocity from orbit into deeper space to gather more data for us?

It seems like a waste to destroy this thing with a re-entry or dismantling it.

[Assistant]
The ISS is hideously massive, at about 450 metric tons. Orbiting at 7.7 km/s it's 2.5 km/s short of escape velocity. Even with a highly efficient rocket engine (450 seconds Isp) it would take 350 metric tons of fuel to send it away from Earth. Ion propulsion might be cheaper, but still far from feasible.

And why? The ISS would make a terrible space-probe. It's a station, designed to sustain and be sustained by six scientists performing experiments in LEO. Why would it have any experiments on board which can be performed autonomously AND would be specifically relevant away from Earth, if that's the exact opposite of what it was designed for? The few that might fit the bill definitely aren't worth lugging around all the rest of the station for.

Some components could be re-purposed for a new station, but even there you should be careful. Even (or perhaps especially) in space stuff will suffer various wear and tear. Your cheap second hand module could end up costing a whole lot more than you bargained for.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] Does Darth Vader have multiple suits?

Vader always appears in his iconic black suit, matching helmet, gloves, and chest console.

Does he have any other more formal suits for events?

Does he always wear the exact same suit or does he have many if the same?

[Assistant] He has only the one suit. He does keep a few full suits worth of spare parts aboard his flagship and at his castle. After any action he performs he retires to a surgical suite where the damaged parts are replaced and his body is given a variety of treatments to fend off infection or further degradation. Within a few hours his suit is restored to pristine condition and his body while not fully healed is at least kept from further decay. Vader himself rarely ever appears at any formal function or diplomatic events and always wears the same suit he does when killing enemies of the empire. His presence isn't one of diplomatic cooperation but an implied threat of execution at the hands of the emperor. Only the most naive or secure members of imperial society feel at ease around Vader.


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

[User] Why does ice stick to metal spoons?

[Assistant] It's not actually a chemistry effect but a physics one. Metal is a very good heat conductor which means it can change temperature very rapidly. What happens as you touch the spoon to the ice is that the warm spoon heats the ice up and a thin layer melts into water. But this removes the heat from the spoon. There's plenty of ice and the spoon is now cold so that thin layer of water freezes again - with the bottom of the spoon in it, trapping it in the top layer of the ice.


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

[User] [star wars] how powerful were the Yuuzhan Vong technologically?

[Assistant]
Extremely. The yammosks could coordinate the entirety of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion force to nearly the degree of a perfect hive mind. Their armor and swords were capable of stopping lightsabers. Their weapons could melt the hull of a Mandalorian ship like butter, and for shielding they created *singularities*. They could also use these to mimic an Imperial Interdictor and drag ships out of Hyperspace, with the added bonus of everyone on that ship being knocked unconscious. They controlled their ships by *directly interfacing with their ship's mind.*

The Yuuzhan Vong had a huge technology advantage over the Galaxy. Their defeat was entirely strategic and political in nature, and if Wedge Antilles hadn't been able to outmaneuver and kill the Warmaster Czulkang Lah at Borleias, they might have actually won.


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

[User] ELI5: What exactly is 'Obamacare'? What is it supposed to do? And why is it so controversial?

[Assistant]
one of the most controversial aspects is the mandate that everyone **must** have health insurance, or face tax penalties.

here is the rationale:

hospitals must treat sick people (or people that need emergency treatment) even if they cannot pay (because they are uninsured and cannot afford the sometimes $1000s of medical bills).  The hospital must re-coup the cost of treating these people by getting reimbursed from the government (tax dollars) or having the people who *can* pay pay more.

"Obamacare" forces everyone to have insurance, so everyone *can* pay because their insurance will pay for them.  Some people don't have jobs that offer health benefits, and cannot afford to buy private insurance.  To solve this, the government offers need-based subsidies to all of those people.  The government already does this for extreme poor (Medicaid) and the elderly (Medicare).

**Proponents** say that this will drive down the average cost because insurance companies divide all of the costs amongst all the people in the "insurance pool".  So, if there are a lot of people in the insurance pool, the average cost is less for each person.  They also say it will drive down the overall costs because of **preventive health care** like going for an annual physical or cancer screening, which an uninsured person would otherwise not go to (and therefore only be treated when the shit hits the fan).

**Opponents** say that it is constitutionally invalid because the government cannot force every person to buy a private good like insurance (just like the government cannot force you to buy an American-made car).  They also argue that its a "state's-rights" issue, and that the decision should be on a state-by-state basis.  Opponents of the law would say it would cause an increase in health care because of the bureaucracy (it would take out profit margins) and because people would **"free ride"** or obtain healthcare services that they do not really need because they are not paying for it.  For example, opponents might say that every Jane Doe will go rush to the doctor everytime she gets a cough, and there would be tremendous lines at the doctor's offices and hospitals since people are not paying out of pocket.


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

[User]
eli5: the difference between typed and untyped languages

Hello,

Can someone please eli5 the difference between typed and untyped languages (technology/programming like Java, Python)?

[Assistant]
This subject is a little confusing, because people often incorrectly reffer to dynamically typed languages (like python or javascript) as untyped languages. Those languages are not "untyped" or "typeless". Every value has a type, but the programmer often doesn't have to specify that type explicitly when writing code (for example when declaring variables). The type is inferred at runtime from the actual values and a type of a variable can change at runtime as well (this is the dynamic part). This is in contrast with statically typed languages (like C or Pascal), where you have to specify what type a variable will be before you use it, and it can't just change it's type after the program is compiled.

Of note is that not every language that uses type inference is dynamically typed. An example of a statically typed language where you usually don't have to specify a type is Haskell.

It's not impossible to create a language that is actually untyped (as in, there is no concept of a type), but such languages are just theoretical, like typeless lambda calculus, and usually of limited use. If you want it to run on a computer, the values have to have *some* type, even if there is only one type in the language.


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

[User] [Matrix] When Agent Smith gives his humans-are-a-virus speech he says that "every mammal on this planet instinctively develops an equilibrium". What mammals is he talking about, isn't life on Earth extinct?

[Assistant]
It doesn't really matter because he was flat wrong about that. There isn't a single mammal that "instinctively develops an equilibrium" on the planet, before or after the machines took over.

Take deer, for instance. If given the chance they will multiply and multiply until there are far too many deer for the ecosystem to support, then a bunch of them die off from starvation. The only thing that keeps them in check are predators like wolves, and those wolves would happily kill off all the deer and end up starving, if they were able to.

According to Smith's views on humanity every single animal on the planet is a virus, humans just happen to be better at it than any others.


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

[User] ELI5: Why do cheap cars look cheap? Isn't it a matter of design? Can't they make a cheap car that looks like a ferrari or any good car?

[Assistant]
The flip side to cheapness is that you have to sell a lot of the car. In order to do this, you babe to appeal to a lot of people. Which means features like good storage, economy, passenger room, etc. In addition, you have to use simple construction techniques to keep the cost of parts low.

All these things add up to a basic vehicle. The design has to accommodate all these things, which limits the styling somewhat. Supercars are only intended to go fast and not much else, so most of their interior space is given over to the engine, cooling systems, and suspension. But with a family car, you want a lot of interior space, which means less for the engine and other systems, as well as a blocky, inflated design.


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

[User]
[Harry Potter] How did the wizarding world react to the Cold War?

First Year Hogwarts student here. So I learned about the Cold War back in the muggle school I attended before being old enough to join Hogwarts and the whole concept seemed terrifying. We don't seem to learn much about muggle related history in Hogwarts so I was wondering if anyone knows how the wizarding community and other factions unknown to muggles reacted to the ever increasing threat of nuclear armageddon. I know a lot of wizards are dismissive of muggle affairs but surely something of this magnitude and severity couldn't have been ignored, after all everyone, magical and muggle alike, would have been effected by something that catastrophic right?

[Assistant]
The Russian and American magical folk made sure those idiot Muggles never blew themselves up.

The witches and wizards of the British Isles didn't really care. They are often too busy fighting the newest Wizard Hitler they somehow create every god damn generation.


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

[User]
Can anyone recommend some interesting philosophical fiction?

Something like Waiting for Godot or No Exit. I have some free time and would like to find something interesting to read.

No topic in particular, what is your favourite piece of philosophical fiction?

[Assistant]
A lot of Phillip K Dick's work touches on philosophical themes in interesting ways: *Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep*, for one.

People love Dostoevsky's *Brothers Karamazov* and lots of other things he wrote.

Voltaire's *Candide* is a great, short, fun read.

Kafka's *The Trial* is another one that often gets a mention.

*Nausea* if you want to go on a Sarte kick.


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

[User]
[Marvel 616] Why did Tony Stark have a secret identity while saying he and Iron Man are associated?

For a long time in the comics, Tonys second life as Iron Man was kept as a secret. But what was the point of that when he publicly admits to being Iron Mans boss? Evil guys would still come after Tony and those close to him, since Iron Man was more or less seen as just a random dude Tony pays to put on the armor and do what he asks.

[Assistant]
Because he reached a point where he couldn't plausibly deny all the times that Iron Man was seen in the same places as Stark, or all the times he used company resources to support the project. He didn't want to admit to being Iron Man, but he also couldn't plausibly claim the overlap was a coincidence at that point. So the "bodyguard" pretense was cooked up. After that, it suddenly makes sense why Tony disappears in a crisis and Iron Man shows up.

As for people gunning for Tony because he was connected to Iron Man, *people were already gunning for Tony because he's Tony*. The whole story of Iron Man kicks off with an attempt to assassinate or enslave Tony Stark before Iron Man is even a twinkle in his eye. Stark is one of the biggest movers and shakers in the US military-industrial complex, has more money than Solomon, and can build doomsday devices; who cares about his hired goon?


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

[User] ELI5 why older cartridge games freeze on a single frame rather than crashing completely? What makes the console "stick" on the last given instruction, rather than cutting to a color or corrupting the screen?

[Assistant]
The way games usually work is that there is a large part of the executed code to calculate the game world (i.e. where is everything, what values does everything have, what is the next step for the AI, etc.), and then render the scene in one go and update the screen with that new scene rendition. The graphics card will just put on screen whatever it was last told to output, forever.

So if any of that fails, you are stuck with whatever the latest "update the screen" did.

In modern software, the game runs in a container, which is monitored by the operating system, and as soon as a crash is detected, the OS will kill that container, present a nice error message to the user, and then continue on as if the game was never started.

In older consoles, the game was basically taking direct control of the console's hardware, including the graphics card, so if the game crashed there was nothing there to detect that crash and order the graphics card to display something else. Same goes with input controllers etc., so your only option was to unplug the power supply and reboot the console.


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

[User]
Cmv: Popular kids arent usually the bullies, unpopular kids are.

Throughout all of my life, Ive been a really shy, nerdy, and awkward kid. Im not that attractive, Im short, have a gap in my teeth, and have noticeable acne. In other words, a perfect target for bullying. Yet despite this, about 70% of the people who didnt like me were not the popular kids, but the unpopular kids. When I first started getting into sports, the only people who supported me were the popular, varsity athlete level kids with like 1k-2k followers, while the kids who talked shit about me had 30-300 followers.

I know anecdotal evidence isnt the most reliable, but even still, it wouldnt make sense for most people to become popular if they were big assholes, and I feel like media doesnt represent bullying accurately.

[Assistant] It was the popular kids that bullied me, and because they were popular, they got a lot of other students in on their 'fun', and the teachers were more reluctant to do something about it. Their bullying was multiple times worse than when another of the unpopular kids tried to bother me. The teachers stopped that pretty quick.


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

[User] [Batman] Does Batman believe in God?

[Assistant]
Yes and no.

He acknowledges that there are incredibly powerful beings in the universe that govern and run the cosmos- beings that, by any reasonable definition, are gods. In *that* sense,  he's a theist. He'd be delusional not to be.

But he doesn't *worship.* He doesn't really acknowledge divinity or holiness, in the sense that a divine being is inherently superior to or entitled to worship from "lesser beings". They're very powerful beings, sure, but so are most of his friends. If nothing else, it's hard to be awed by a god's majesty and power when your mates Clark and Diana could kick its ass.

Basically, he acknowledges god's existence, but he doesn't believe in him. That's what people mean when they say he's an atheist- not that he doesn't acknowledge godlike beings  exist, but that he doesn't believe in beings worthy of worship.


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

[User] [Marvel] Is there a Belle Reve/Arkham equivalent in the Marvel universe?

[Assistant]
Gotham has Belle Reve, New York has The Vault: a super-prison with cells adapted to each prisoner's powers, protected by Guardsmen (professional guards in low-grade Iron Man suits) and Sentinels.

Eventually, the Vault was replaced by the Raft, an island with mostly the same functions and tech. The Raft was heavily damaged by Electro, so Prison 42 came about. Again, with similar tech and methods, but this time the prison was in the Negative Zone, another dimension filled with hostile natives that didn't enjoy this intrusion. Unfortunately, a jail break there meant that the Raft became the go-to location again, right up until Mayor Jameson 'gifted' it to Spider-Man.


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

[User]
[Star Wars] What happens if Anakin wasnt found by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan?

Does he just love his life as a slave never knowing about the power inside him? Or does he eventually realize he has a connection to the force?

[Assistant] Considering his passion for pod racing, he likely would've eventually earned enough money to buy his freedom. But he'll gain more fame, especially as the only human to be able to compete. Palpatine would have definitely noticed this as he's interested in pod racing (though that might not be canon anymore), and he would've discovered Anakin. Without the Jedi, his fall would've been more swift and since he wouldn't have the trauma that locked his power, he would've been very formidable.


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

[User]
[Doctor Who] What would it take to make the Doctor just give up and leave?

Are there any circumstances in which the Doctor would emerge from the TARDIS, take a good look at the evil and tyranny that was going on, and then just get back in the TARDIS and go find something else to mess with?

Any situation in which he'd say: "Well, this mess is clearly an internal matter, and cannot be fixed by outside interference. I must leave them to sort it out, regardless of how many people die along the way."

Any situation in which he'd say: "This is too horrifying to confront. I'm going to run away and hide."

[Assistant]
The Doctor has a history of sometimes letting some situations play out without his interference, usually because there is something to gain in doing so. He didn't stop WWII, for instance, because the lessons involved in it's resolution would be important to Humanity in the future. He also didn't stop Pompeii, and only interfered with the loss of the first Martian Colony after having a bit of a mental lapse.

So, he does sometimes step back and say "Nope, they gotta sort this one out themselves".

As for the second point... He literally laughed in the face of the immortal, Universe transcending personification of Evil, and regularly butts head with Great Old Ones. No, i don't think there's anything that would make him run and hide, at least not indefinitely. To buy time to come up with a plan? Sure, he does that all the time.